Find Us Faithful

Pa & Ma
Originally uploaded by LeeFamily

On the 28 Jun 2009, Pat and her siblings, the Goh (Kao) family celebrated the lives of their late parents the Rev and Mrs James Kao by remembering the 20th anniversary of their deaths. Both had died of cancer within 6 months of each other in 1989.

Coming together in family worship, we reminisced about Pa and Ma; what we knew of them. Rev Kao was a Methodist Pastor for 40 years. In his career he was the pastor to many churches ranging from small village congregations in Malaysia to large urban churches in Singapore. He was known as a church builder, having raised funds and organised the development for at least 7 churches in Singapore, Malaysia and China. Mrs Kao was ever the dutiful pastor’s wife who cared for 7 children and ever the present companion at his side.

We talked of how both were so committed to the Lord and faithful in ministry. It was not easy to be a minister of the Gospel in the 1940s. My father and mum in law were sent to village churches that could ill afford the minister’s salary, much less feed seven children. Ma would relate how these churches pay Rev Kao in kind, mostly by giving them “kampong” chickens. But they soldier on, faithfully serving God. They were both prayer warriors, noted for spending the early morning and late night hours on their knees, praying. We recalled the many miracles surrounding them wherein God answered their prayers in the difficult circumstances of their lives and ministries.

Considering their testimonies, struggles and service, the advice by St Paul to young Timothy comes to mind 1 Tim 6:6-8 ‘A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough’.

They are fortunate, my in-laws. They found their calling early in life and lived lives of service, godliness and contentment. Ravi Zacharias states “We often find out too late in life that attaining a pursuit and finding fulfillment are not necessarily the same thing. It is surely possible to find meaning without extraordinary success. Many people do. But conversely immense success does not always bring meaning and fulfillment. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to recognise God’s calling.”

Richard of Chichester prayed.
‘may I know you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
follow you more nearly,
day by day.’

St Paul’s advice to Timothy in 1 Tim 6:11-12 ‘But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this (that is the pursuit of wealth and worldliness). Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.’

What should occupy our lives? Do we pursue wealth, happiness, popularity, acceptance? My guess is that the pursuit of godliness is the best path to follow. It was the path chosen by the Rev and Mrs James Kao. I hope that my life will be lived such that long after I am dead and gone, my children and grandchildren would one day sit in conversation and sift through our lives, Pat and I. My prayer is that they would have found that we’ve have kept our Christian faith and have made a difference for them and others. May they find us faithful.

“After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful”

Lionel

Ref Ravi Zaccharias, “The Grand Weaver” Zondervan 2007

Take Me Deeper

Tree: Sturdy,Stable
Originally uploaded by LeeFamily

Calvin Miller in the introduction to his book ‘Into The Depths of God’ told of a family visit made to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Calvin and wife snorkeled in the shallow waters whilst their son scuba-dived. The insightful Mr Miller later wrote, “Ask me if I’ve been there, and I will hastily answer yes. So will my son. However, the truth is that the content of our experience was vastly different. We will both spent the rest of our lives talking about that experience and our enthusiasm will always be exuberant. But only our son really knows the Reef; only he understood the issue of depth.”

We live our lives in the shallows. This is the era where communication by terse SMS and information exchange by 30 sec sound bites are preferred. We are ever so busy moving from one place to another, skipping from one assignment to the next; reading and sending emails. We scarcely have time for each other, to talk and make conversation. Time is short, precious and not to be wasted.

It becomes serious when we apply the same hurry and superficiality to the nurturing of our spiritual selves; our souls. Spiritual depth needs time, contemplation and discipline. It had better be; we are touching the lives of others. Our testimony and witness shape the lives of our friends. We cannot be play-acting, dwelling on the peripherals and hope to get away with it. To be authentic we must go deep; into the very depths of our souls.

Think of a huge tree with spreading branches giving shade. We know instinctively that the roots of this tree must be equally gigantic growing deep into the earth; giving it stability to weather any storm. The Bible described a soulful man in Psalm 1. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.

To get deep, we need a teacher to make the dive with us, the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 2:10-13 states ‘The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God; except that he not only knows what he's thinking, he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way’. (The Message)

Similarly John Wesley urged his followers to make the dive, going deep into nurturing their spiritual lives, not settling for anything less until one attains the Wesleyan concept of Christian perfection. He explained the goal. ‘We mean one in whom is 'the mind which was in Christ,' and who so walks as Christ also walked; a man 'that has clean hands and a pure heart,' or that is 'cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit;' one in whom is 'no occasion of stumbling,' and who, accordingly, 'does not commit sin. 'This man can now testify to all mankind, 'I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me.' He is 'holy as God who called' him 'is holy,' both in heart and 'in all manner of conversation.' He 'loves the Lord his God with all his heart,' and serves him 'with all his strength.' He 'loves his neighbour,' every man, 'as himself;' yes, 'as Christ loved us’.

Bishop Robert Solomon in his book, The Race, called for discipline to train the soul and thereby achieve spiritual fitness. St Paul also urged the training of the soul in 1 Cor 9:24-27, ‘You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.’

There is a purpose, Wesley taught in the attainment of Spiritual Fitness/Perfection:
Do all the good you can,
to all the people you can,
at all the times you can,
in all the ways you can,
by all the means you can,
as long as ever you can.

Take me deeper O Lord!

Lionel

Refs: Calvin Miller, 'Into the Deoths of God" Bethany House, 2000

Robert M Solomon. ''The Race - Finding the Real Journey in Life' Genesis Books, 2008

Too Much Sanity Is Madness

La Mancha
Originally uploaded by LeeFamily

In an article in the Singapore Straits Times, prominent neurologist Dr Lee Wei Ling wrote about her attempts to climb Ben Nevis in Scotland in bad weather. After accomplishing the feat, drenched hours later and herself searching for an answer as to why she did the climb, she wrote if asked, her answer would be, “For some people, it takes a streak of insanity to make life worth living.”

Reading this article, I am reminded of the Broadway musical ‘The Man of La Mancha’, relating the story of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes. The tag line in this musical is “Too much sanity is madness and the maddest thing of all is to view life as it is and not as it should be”

Think about these two quotations for a while. There is truth in these two statements.

The novel, Don Quixote, is a satirical commentary of early 17th Century Spain under the yoke of the Spanish Inquisition. At such times, the tyranny of the ruling classes and the Church, severely put down the working classes and limited freedom of expression. For years no one dared speak out against the brutalities, social oppression and injustices.

Don Quixote relates the comical adventures of a schizophrenic old country gentleman from La Mancha, a district near Madrid. He donned a makeshift knight errand’s armour and went about the countryside. correcting imaginary wrongs, fighting imaginary dragons and rescuing imaginary damsels in distress. The novel became an instant hit. It is arguably the best written novel for all times. Don Quixote and his squire Pedro Sanchez have become icons of Spain. It gave rise to the word ‘quixotic’ which stands for behavior that is noble in an absurd way. It promotes the notion that individuals can be right while society can be quite wrong and disenchanting. Such individuals should gather the courage to speak up for right even if it is sheer madness to do so.

History relates many examples of groups of individuals who, stricken by a new social conscience brought about revolutionary changes in society. One sterling example was the abolishment of slavery, through the strong social actions of men like William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp and Abraham Lincoln.

As a Methodist, I am proud that many historians have commentated that this new social conscience, that corrected so many injustices, had its roots in the Wesleyan spiritual revivals in 18th century England and America. John Wesley is popularly remembered as the itinerant evangelist and open air preacher. But the gospel he preached inspired people to take up social causes in the name of Jesus Christ.

The book of James has many things to say about faith needing to give rise to social conscience, social concerns and social action. That is the right and Christian thing to do. James Chap 2:15-17 and 4:17 reads “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Anyone then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins”.

John Stott(1) narrated a story of a homeless woman who turns to a country vicar for help but he in turn, perhaps because he was busy promised to pray for her. She later wrote this poem,

“I was hungry,
and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned.
and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.
I was naked,
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick,
and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless,
and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely
and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy, so close to God
but I am still very hungry – and lonely – and cold.

Yes, there were shameful instances when the Church should have spoken up against injustices but chose to remain silent. These were times when it would have appeared to be madness to revolt. To make the rational decision for inaction and omission may appear to be the sane thing to do. At such times, perhaps too much sanity is madness or as Wei Ling says, it pays to be mad sometimes.

Lionel

Ref 1: John Stott “Issues Facing Christians Today. Marshalls Paperback, 1984.

Father's Day and Prayer

Apparently it's Father's Day in everywhere except for Australia and New Zealand. So, to all Fathers out there, Happy Father's Day.

One of the rather strange things about being a Christian is the fact that we consider God to be our Father. We've even been instructed by His Son to consider ourselves adopted into his family, which is a pretty good deal.

We are even instructed to start our prayers by acknowledging this - "Our Father in Heaven..." (Matthew 6:9). I've even heard of one or two Christians who address Him as Dad when they pray. It's the great secret to Christian prayer. Fathers have a habit of doing what's best for their kids and God is no different, in fact, being all-knowing, he has a tendency to know what's really the best for us (Matthew 7:9-10).

So give your Dad a call to wish him a Happy Father's Day today and, if you're Christian, give Our Father a prayer as well. He's a very good Father.

Distilled From God’s Vineyard

Rutherglen Wineries
Originally uploaded by LeeFamily

Rutherglen is a town in Australia’s Murray Valley famous for the wineries around it. The first planting of grapes for wine occurred in the 1850s. The green scenery, clean air and clean rivers make the valley a perfect backdrop for inspirational food and wine tasting tours.

I like visiting vineyards. Apart from the pleasing sights of grapes growing in rows and rows of neatly placed vines, vineyards bring to mind the environment and milieu for Christian growth. The Bible uses vineyard as an agricultural imagery in many references relating to the nurture of Christians and Churches.

Isaiah 27:2-3 notes “In that day— "Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.” This is a wonderful picture of the Lord God tending to the vineyard which is the faithful people of God. John 15:1 Jesus said, “I am the vine and my Father is the gardener.”

Vineyard
Originally uploaded by LeeFamily

One observation is that individually, the grape vine is not impressive. They are spindly and weak plants. They need to be supported on the wires. But together rows and rows of the grape vines planted on the hillsides are a beautiful sight to behold.

Thus, it was not surprising when our church wanted to start a Senior Adult Fellowship, that we should call this fellowship the Charis Vineyard League. It is a recognition that individually we are very weak and unimpressive individuals. But hopefully being supported in the fellowship and expressing our interdependence for one another we will become that Vineyard which is fruitful because God looks after us.

There is much God has to work at with our individual lives and the future of our League. As the Gardener, He will prune the branches to the very centre of the mother stem of the vine. This will encourage the growth of new shoots which will grow through winter, spring and summer until the vines become laden with bunches of grapes. At which time the vineyard will become aglow in the evening sun. Then in autumn, the ripened grapes are gathered, mixed and pressed. From this milieu the fruit of the vines become distilled into vintage, much valued wines. This is how we hope to see ourselves as the Charis Vineyard League. All of us having matured and ripened at the prime of our lives would be brought into a Christian fellowship, each bringing the different experiences, so that new wines - products of service, will venture forth as fruits of God’s vineyard.

During the inauguration of the Charis Vineyard League, the Bishop Robert Solomon remarked, “As we grow older, as our strength and abilities begin to decline, we learn to lean more heavily on God. The spiritual lesson is to know that apart from Him we cannot do anything of significance."

Robertson McQuillan wrote, “God planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so that we may concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever.”

Lionel