Australia, the Epic

the Epic year at uni begins..i missed Australia so much yet without knowing how much till i reached Newcastle and started distributing flyers for the Lighthouse Walk on Wednesday Arvo (Afternoon is Aussie speak)..the coffee certainly helped fight the tiredness and drowsiness while pamphletting..

Getting Barahineban Unit 121 ship shape and ready for 'combat operations' as i term it took the remainder of the Evening..the only fuel i ran on at that point was pure adrenaline, momentum and lotsa Lady Gaga, Colbie Caillat, NeYo, Jason Mraz and Chris Jordan..No Air indeed..and over the next 36 hours, i would be tracking down, recovering, inventorizing and readying my stored materiale for living in Newcastle..thankfully the night brought deep, dreamless sleep for the exhausted which is the best and most restful of all the various stages and types of sleep possible..until about 4 flipping AM in the morning when the sound of distant drums woke me from my silent reveille..tribal witch doctors or drunk freshmen on the road outside Barahineban i'll never know for sure..that cost me 45 minutes of dis-stress before sleep found me with her silken wings again..i glide into oblivion..

and then the alarm rings at 10am and i stretch out a sleep drenched hand to fling it into the furthest corner, cursing the demons of wakefulness in the Master's Name..but sleep she flutters away like a flock of doves in startled flight from a pouncing cat..Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone..as JRR Tolkien's Barrow wright would have it..and i rise to another day's labour, in the fields of golden rye..

oh well, the Bible does say that by the sweat of ye brow ye shall till the earth all ye days, for dust ye are, and to dust ye shall return..lets go kiddo, no rest for the weary..

On The Side of Me

i really enjoy Corrine May..you know, there was a time when she was my Ideal Woman..actually, i think she still is..oh well, thats me being whimsical and quirky..cheers

3 Ministers, One Summer

"I too, am seen as the elder brother and older friend and nothing more. Probably thats why I have so many friends who are girls but they're all not attracted to me as a partner"..that was my response to Ian's comment about the issues with being a professional counsellor and known as one..the perception of members of the opposite sex changes..

I've been blessed to have been taught by great teachers and blessed to have sat at the feet of godly ministers of God's Word who've taught me all i know about the Bible and being a Christian..its really God's grace..i'm going to talk about three of them in this post for they've been some of the most formative in my Christian walk and life here in Singapore..

First, there's Dr E N Poulsen, the Pastor Emeritus of Grace Baptist Church and Professor Emeritus of Singapore Bible College, the minister who taught my father in Bible College for 4 years many, many years ago..An American missionary from the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, he's been in Singapore for the last 53 years! He recently returned to California for what he says will be the last time, because he intends to die and be buried in the mission field of Singapore where God called him in 1955...Now this is a very interesting man who was a naval pilot during the Second World War, actually flying in combat at Guadacanal and Guam..my father and myself recently visited him over the Chinese New Year period in Singapore where he regalled us with stories of eating raw fish yusheng with his chinese co-workers..he gave me good advice that i should finish my studies and work for at least 2 years or 5 before going into ministry..and that in an Asian context, evangelism often involves offering tuition to students in the neighbourhood and telling them about Jesus during short breaks between lessons..of course we should make this clear from the start, but the kinds of pure evangelistic outreach events we do in Australia just don't work well..which got me thinking about Focus..if we have English coaching sessions and breaks where we share 2 Ways to Live with international students, would that work better? we should include that in our advertising so we're not misleading anyone, but is this unscriptural?

Minister no. 2 is the Reverend Fred Abeysekara, an old school and old time Pentecostal man who recently returned from missionary work in Banglore, India..he spoke in Charis Full Gospel Church on Sunday from Matthew 10:1-15..i have not heard a verse by verse exegesis by a Pentecostal minister for a very, very long time..with the exception of my father who even then, sometimes gets carried away.."and proclaim as you go, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food." v. 7-10...he went on to talk about ministry, mission work, service of God and the difficulty faced in the Christian life..of course, i don't agree with everything he preached from a Biblical Theological perspective...but i think often i retreat behind intellectualism and theologising about the Bible which shouldnt be..the thrust of his sermon was right..especially when Rev. Fred said, "i've had people spit on me and hit me for the sake of the gospel..some of them Christians in whose churches i preached, right after the service..the Christian walk and life is Hard and Difficult..but we do it for the sake of Jesus..look to Him"..a far cry indeed from the New Liberal Pentecostals who preach health, wealth and prosperity..now you see why i dislike them and their theology so much? if they're right, that means everything Reverend Fred and my family have endured for the gospel for the last 20 to 30 years has been in vain, because we have far more suffered than been blessed..Of course, few other pentecostal churches in Singapore these days invites Rev Fred to preach..poor man, he preaches too much about the Wrath of God, the sinfulness of man and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the cure..not politically correct in this age of "luv" (not Love as you may notice..as Dr Poulsen says, the Liberals spell it as 'Luv' rather than 'Love' as the Bible spells it)

and no. 3 is Ian Poullier (thats right, my friend, its about you :) a true Christian friend and Counsellor who struggles with singlehood and marriage..he recently underwent an operation for cervical spondelosis because C4-6 of his vertebrae were pressing on his spinal cord, causing numbness, difficulty in his gait and some vertigo..i did not realise my friend, if not i would have been praying for you..i'm sorry for being such a careless friend..he underwent a major surgery which was 7 hours in all and yet, was up and about and discharged within 4 days of the operation..he talked at length about God's Grace, mercy and favour..and i agree and empathise completely..my grandma underwent an operation for cervical spondelosis in 1990 which left her paralysed from the waist down..God is merciful indeed..anyway, he was back in the office last week and counselling students at St Francis Methodist School, even while wearing a neck brace..i always find it refreshing talking to Ian, who never fails to put things in perspective (with that counsellor finesse of his)..from singlehood and marriage to ministry and caring for kids and adolescents..without condemnation and judging and any air of self-righteousness..yet always being realistic and up front..anyways, so that his head doesnt get too bloated (i know you read this space Ian) i'll move on to what he told me about getting some basic training in counselling if i wanted to get involved in ministry..its helpful for ministers to learn how to communicate with distressed people and counsel them with some proper knowledge..and to have some basic bedside manners which don't scare troubled congregation members off..thats something to keep in view for the future..

well, thats enough for tonite..God has been gracious to me in letting me have the fellowship and teaching of these ministers..this is for you.."God rest ye merry gentlemen" indeed..

My feelings after the Architecture Internship

what are my collective feelings after a mnth and half of working in the Architectural Office where i did my "internship"? in the words of Jeremy, "this is for designing buildings without flair, without soul, without passion... just making white goods"

Small Blessings

Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done..Count your blessings, name them by the score, count your many blessings, there'll be many more! the words of the old hymn ring true for me today..and i see why this should be one of my father's favourite hymns..

its been a blessing today to meet some old friends whom i've not met for some time and how the sharing can be a blessing and encouragement for all parties..take my friend R for instance..last saw her 3 years ago when she was still doing a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Social Work at the National University of Singapore..she's grown and changed a lot since those days and i find that today i can have a discussion about the Bible and our respective churches that i couldnt have a few years back because our positions and opinions were often diametrically opposed..of course it was i who needed to mature and not her..she was telling me about her issues with her boyfriend who's still quite a young christian and it was a helpful discussion..she reminded me again about what the Bible actually says about relationships and our priorities in this life..

then over dinner i met 3 of my ex-classmates from St Andrews School..since we started meeting regularly again last year whenever i'm back home they've been a great source of encouragement and a pool of Christian wisdom..one of them will be leaving soon to do mission in (of all places) Japan for a year with OMF..another friend was talking about how his church was asking him to consider full time ministry with youths for a year or 2..sort of like MTS..we've all grown up so much from those noisy,rowdy and girl-crazy boys in SAS when we were 14 and 15..next year it would be the 10 year reunion for the class..i wonder how each of us turned out..and how many people will be going into full time ministry from our batch..whenever i think i must be some kinda weirdo talking about christianity and ministry so much..i look at these ex-classmates and am both challenged and encouraged

and today i heard again the desire for effective sharing and bible study amongst university graduates..i heard once again a university grad looking for a bible study that is able to engage with the issues the person is facing at this stage in life..as i meet Michael tomorrow for one to one bible study, i think we should pray about this..

Surviving Valentines' Day

the words of that Gloria Gaynor song ring through my mind..At first i was afraid, i was petrified...i will survive..and survive i did for Valentines Day this year...

the number of flower sellers out to earn a quick buck would put money-grasping wall-street to shame..in fact, i reckon those condemned executives should come over to Singapore and get a second career selling flowers on Valentines Day..i'm immediately reminded of the case of the Hebrew Midwives in Exodus when i see these flower sellers..you know, they couldnt have children of their own so they became mid wives, they can't get partners so they sell flowers..if you can't beat em join em and if you can't join em...well, enter the catering business..

ok, i shouldnt be so mean..Valentines Day is an amazing tribute to love(of the commercialised, commodified variety) that i shouldnt feel envious of just because i can't get attached myself..that is emininently true and i will be the first to deprecate myself..its lovely to see young couples on the streets of Singapore in their couple T-shirts that spell "L-O" for the guys and "V-E" for the girls but which actually mean"I-D" and "I-O-T"..oops sorry its unevenly split..maybe "FOOL" would do better..

amid all the hype, its easy to see why even the Catholic Church is getting involved..according to a news report in the Straits Times today, the Catholic Church has stated that people have been praying to the wrong patron saint (of love) after all..its not ST Valentine but rather St Raphael who's in charge of people encountering their future spouses..ST Valentine is the quasi-divine dude who Marries love struck sweethearts who shouldnt be together...hmmm..is he going against God's Sovereign Will and getting away with it?

i'm actually a romantic at heart dun get me wrong..true romantics love tragedy and how true love is perfected in death and all that..not that farce i see on the streets of Singapore..and like all romantics i'm comforted by my Senecca and Cicero and Herodotus and all that Stoic crowd..so there, i may not have a valentine..but "Call no man happy until he is dead"..as Herodotus would put it..and "the only man who is hurt by the caprices of Fortune is the man who allows himself to be deceived by her favours first"...I Survived Valentines Day!!!!