Pilgrim's Ponderings

Am home after 5 months of being away. Singapore is home away from home for me so its nice going either direction but en-route on the flight I got thinking about just that feeling of going home. My mind wandered back to some (of the very few) travels that i have undertaken. Visiting and seeing new places is always fun and exciting. There's a thrill in walking around unfamiliar areas and seeing faces that can be so different from yours. But at the end of it all you want to go home. Some sense that feeling after months or years even and some within a few days itself. What is it about home that causes this sensation? Just a simple feeling of belonging, a sense of being able to be who you really are. A sense of being with people who love you and want the best for you, a sense of safeness and wellness. Are these not things that make us wish for home when we are away in a strange land? Now for a convicting question... do you feel at home in God's presence, with God's peop...

Well... an entry after a long time mostly due to the pressures of writing other papers and reading many a book here. Today, though, while sitting in Church, there was a moment of inspiration to write here. I was sitting next to this little six year old girl and she was coloring all through the service. she had in her hand a paper that was given to the kids with a few puzzles and mazes and one picture to b colored. I watched as she colored in the picture. It was one of Jesus teaching a few people around Him. By the end of her coloring experience Jesus has orange hair and was wearing a bright blue gown while the sun had gone red with purple clouds. I watched as she moved on to attempt the maze. She spent a few minutes trying to get the bunny to the carrot... it didn't seem to work. So the little genius came up with a better idea. She colored in the maze. The other kids found their way through the maze, but their papers lacked half the color as this little one's. As I kept laughin...

Today the preacher made a statement - "Remember you do not leave God in church when you leave Church.... in fact the reality is when you leave Church you take God with you to your work place and elsewhere. He is always with you and follows wherever you go." I have heard this encouraging statement many times before and am sure you have too. It's an encouraging fact to know that wherever you go God will be there... the psalmist says that too over and over again. I was thanking God for being so caring in my life... and as I thought and meditated on this truth the Spirit of God convicted me of something I needed to address. Our churches today are preaching this message... and while it is true it is only one side of the coin. We rest i God's omnipresence that His eye is watching us wherever we may go... but does God really follow me. Unfortunately i fear that we have allowed this mentality to creep into our lives and ministries. We decide on a course of action and then...

Worship is a key theme throughout the bible. Whether you read the historical books of the old testament of the epistles of the new testament; whether you read the psalms in the OT or even the Revelation of the NT you cannot escape the theme of worship. Gid is God and I have learned two valuable lessons on worship recently (I should have known them before). 1) We dont worship God because of what He does for us. That's only a tiny bit of the whole phenomena, for even if God were not do a thing for us, and even should he seem far away God is still God and deserves worship. God is not God because of hat He does, He is inherently God and thus worthy of all our worship. Thats a humbling truth and negates my feeling like worshiping or not. A correct realisation of who God who is will automatically demand worship n any and every circumstance. 2) God has set ways in which we are to worship Him. If we look at creation, we will learn an awesome truth. God is a God of order. He has order in al...

James 2 talk about faith without deeds. Recently my small group studied and we got into a debate on the role of deeds or works in christian life. The whole problem is that James says that Faith without works is dead... but if your faith is dead then how can it save you? But Paul would say that we are saved by faith and not by works so that no man can boast. Is the bible contradicting itself? Do Paul and James have different theologies on salvation? By no means... so what then is the answer? I think the key is in defining what we mean by works. If I had to read that verse I would equate works with obedience. We do what we do (works) out of obedience to God. This also answers an important ethical question - Does command us to do good or is what God commands good because He commanded it? I would hold to the latter and say in life we are faced with many decisions of differing roads to take... most often the road holds no inherent good or bad, right or wrong value in and of itself. Wha...

Deadlines, papers, assignments, research, competition, unhappy bosses, not so easy to get along with colleagues, blue Mondays.... the list goes on... and you could be forgiven if you thought i was writing about the corporate sector work field. No.... this is an excerpt from the life of a bible college student. One year in bible college has taught me a lot about working hard. It has also taught me a lot about how easy it is to be busy in Godly things and yet not be with God. That's true... in the middle of commentaries on the Psalms, Ex-positional readings on the Old Testament and Homiletical guidelines to preaching the new testament... where is my time to just pick up the bible and say "Here I am God... speak" Sure i have learned many a practical application from classes and chewed on many a scholars ideas of theology and christian living... but if I had to pick the most important lesson i learned here in college... i would have to say its one i always knew... "...

Do you have a testimony of a messed up life which God sorted out? Do you have things in the past which you regret and you are happy that the grace of God wipes away? Well I do. And I am so grateful when I hear many pastors preach about how God in his mercy forgets and wipes clean my past and allows me start afresh. It’s a beautiful and comforting thought. But off late I am also persuaded to believe that He doesn’t just throw my past away. You could be forgiven if you think I am heretic right now, because most of your churches would preach that He does throw it away. But hear me out before you stop reading. I have come to see that God forgives me for all I have done and all I will do in that one moment of grace when by faith I called Him my Lord and Savior. But the Bible says that he removes my sin from me.. and He removes it as far as the east is from the west. That’s it!! He never discarded it. Why would he not discard it? Is he holding on...

Out in the wilderness... when Israel was roaming about... God instituted the priestly order. Aaron and His son were to be the priests of God. Later on an entire tribe of Israel.. the Levittes were to be the priestly line. They had a very high standard on their life. But what was a priests job??Moses was to lead the people.. and he was a prophet... but who was a priest??? Priests served in the presence of God... they represented God to the people and the people to God. They interceeded.. or they stood in the gap. Amazing a calling it is. In the new testament Jesus is our High priest... he Interceedes on our behalf as the bible would teach... and he taught us the way to go approach the Father.... but what is my point in all this "priestly talk". The bible calls us A Royal Priesthood. It never called us a royal gathering of proffessionals, musicians, or anything of the sort. A priesthood.... Look at your life... mong everything else you are upto... do u fulfill God's desire ...

Joshua… what a guy he was. At the start of the book named after him we find that Moses has died and Joshua is now the point man. A huge nation on his shoulders, and as a young leader/army commander he is obviously aware of the huge task that lies before him. He would have to lead the Israelite people into the land of promise. This was no small thing. This was the dream they had been dreaming off way back from the time of Abraham. Joshua must have been scared, apprehensive, fearful and a lot more. Then God speaks. God comes to him and tells him to be strong and courageous, and that God Himself would be with Joshua and that Joshua need not fear. What a promise to hold on to as a new leader. But we (in churches and study groups) often misquote what God actually told Joshua in that very first chapter. While it is true that God told him to be strong and courageous, the context tells us that god instructs Him to be strong and courageous – IN OBEYING ALL THAT GOD HAD COMMANDE...

Back in the days of camel skin and manna there were a group of people who were waiting for God to come good on his promise of making them a great nation with a land of their own. Moses was their leader and they left their life of captivity in Egypt in such a dramatic style it would impress even the most creative Hollywood stunt directors. We find them in the book of the Exodus storming away into the desert leaving the miracles of Egypt and Red sea behind them. Marching on toward Caanan – the promised land. They were gonna have to fight and take the land, but they wee sure because God was with them. Somewhere in the desert, though, they lost the plot. They forgot their God who brought them up out of captivity and took every opportunity to doubt an question the goodness of the throne of God. After witnessing His mighty power and leading presence they still kept demanding more signs of His faithfulness. This rose as a stench to heaven and so none of them entered the p...

“I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from You, maker of heaven, creator of the earth” Psalm 121 :1 – 2 Jerusalem , a city surrounded and well fortified by the mountains (hills) around it. This rocky hilly shield made it much more difficult for invaders to take the city. Strategically, this is a brilliant bonus both from an offensive and a defensive angle. And Israelite could almost be forgiven for feeling secure behind the mountainous shield that ‘nature’ had provided. But from within this city comes a cry and a song… a psalm from the heart of one who walks with God. The Psalmist lifts His eyes to the mountains and looking at the security of them realizes that his help comes from something or someone much greater than these intimidating mountains. What are the securities that you have built up in your life? Take a good look at them, and then take a good look at your life. Does...

Being thin ain’t fun, you get kidded a lot and you get a lot of advice about eating and other lifestyle habits. When I got home this summer break, the initial conversations with anyone I met seemed to be over-run with the topic of my weight. So hey, now am back in Singapore and in God’s own humorous way He has given me a room mate who is very knowledgeable in all these weight issues an has promised to draw up a diet plan toward the end of me putting on a bit of weight. But why am I sharing my anatomical woes out here?? Well as I got reading about weight gain programs and techniques, I learned more and more that it is all about growing the muscles. Not just pure gluttony as I presumed I would have to indulge myself in. One of the articles said “it’s not just about eating a lot, it is about eating enough … enough of the right things that is” Now unfortunately I am an over-excited bible college student so I tend to see a spiritual angle to most things, and faithfully I saw one in th...

Every feel like you are praying to a blank wall? Or maybe that God is teasingly covering His ears and not paying attention? Or just ever sat back and wondered - why pray? I have... (just n case you were feeling alone). I have asked it from a purely human point of view - Whats the point of prayer... God doesnt seem to be answering? I have asked it from a theological point of view - Whats the point of prayer if God already know everything? And as I ran round in circles over the issue of prayer I came up to another question. I found it in a book entitles - Prayer... by Philip Yancey. The question being - Does prayer change God.. or does it change you? I realised humbly that prayer in fact was designed not for me to lift to God my petitions and requests... but more so for me to converse with an almighty God who loves me. When i truly learn to pray for all its worth... prayer begins to change me. Petitions may still go unanswered... but the changed me will not take it to heart... God m...

Bible College is great!! Studying theology is more than what I thought it would be!! And when I came home over the holidays I felt a difference in my confidence to lead worship and even to preach. It was fabulous and releasing. I even got a few compliments after service. Stuff like “It really shows that you have been to bible college” or “Very good man, you must really be studying hard in bible college there” the best was “I’m glad you went to study and we are supporting you, it’s money worth invested and it shows”. I must admit these did get to my head. But God is so faithful, and in the last year and a half He has especially been faithful in His task of teaching me humility. To that end, as I reflected on preaching as gift and whether I have it or not and as I looked back over the last few months God taught me something new and fresh. I had been basking in the light of these compliments and in some tiny way had justified being sent to bible college and verified that I ...

I was roaming with a friend around Singapore yesterday and we decided to go check out the riverfront area. Things were fun, there were lights set against a lovely sunset hue and people buzzing about. A cafe across the river was playing some U2 numbers and since Singapore National day is coming up there were a lot of people running round busy with rehersals. We picked a spot so as to be able to see the practice for the fireworks display and the air show. Was quite awesome helicopters and jets and.... *ouch*.... something went in my left eye. For some weird reason both my eyes shut and my hands immediately reached to rub the foreigner out of the eye. My brain alerted whatever it is behind the eyes to send tears gushing so as to flood the object out and instantly my whole body went into auto pilot mode - "fix the eye mode" A common everyday incident.. should i blog bout it??? Mmm... but is that how i deal with sin as well. God has bought me, saved me, called me His own a...

Have you ever wondered what one week of your life would look like should God chose to take His hand of it? Would it change much? What would change if there would be any change? This annoyed me for the simple reason that even though I am in Bible college there are many weeks that my time didnt have anything that was characteristically God's doing alone. My life seems to be filled with many activities that I could be achieving in my own strength. Yes i know that the strength in my body and the air in my lungs itself is a gift from God. But what bothers me is when I see the life of Christ it seems packed with activities that ran on God's agenda and in God's power. A usual day starts with the a mental argument of whether to get up now or sleep for just a few more minutes, carries on to the mundane activities of navigating through traffic, and the usual routine of work which sometimes offers a few surprises - good or bad. Some times the evenings bring times with friends...

Genesis 3:1 - the serpent asks Eve - "Did God really say you would die if you eat the fruit?" And eve entered into humanity's first conversation with the devil. It didn't take long after that for the devil to draw her away with lies and deceit. A sunday school story and content for many messages around the world, but how true in our day. The oldest trick of the devil is still one of the biggest stumbling blocks in our churches and believers lives today. Doubt is his biggest weapon. He knows we study the bible, and he knows we listen to awesome worship songs. He knows he cannot fool us with an outright lie... but if he can create a doubt, then he can get you thinking. If he gets you thinking he builds up a conversation with you. Once the conversation is happening he slips in varying degrees of lies and before you know it you are in too deep looking for a way out. How often have you heard a smoker say "but did god really explicitly say i cannot smoke? show me where...