Remember Icarus

Just finished creating my resume and cover letter for an SMU Career Skills Module.

We’re fast entering the time where we’re considering the next phase of our lives – work! The girls from the original JC team have all begun dressing up differently… corporately…

Like many others, I find myself asking if I should come full time (like duh! but it’s good to ask. I deliberately choose to ask myself, to count the cost (Luke 14:28-30)) This is especially so in light of Pastor Kong’s sermon on 1st, 2nd and 3rd space.

I’m gonna share the obvious that the path you choose should be based on your calling, and not out of fear or insecurity. Those who are called to be in the 2nd space should do their best in the marketplace, and not have to fear that they are any less holy/spiritual just because they are not full time. On the other hand, those who are called to be in the 1st space should not fear for their financial security or–this I feel to be more poignant–fear of diminished status amongst family, peers and society.

Well, eventually, it’s not like the spaces are so clearly demarcated. For those in the marketplace, remember that “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power” (Ps 110:3). Every member has a responsibility to chip in to his/her home–remember Pastor Lia’s story of the Korean tycoon from Yoido Full Gospel Church who picked up litter. For the clergy, it’s not like we are holed up in some decrepit cathedral conducting our daily rites. We set our hearts constantly upon those outside the church, on the “highways and byways”. We are to be as saavy and cutting-edge as our “wordly” counterparts, if not more.

For those called to be in the marketplace, I applaud and cheer you on. You are the majority–and rightly so, not primarily because the church can’t support so many full-time staff, but because WE NEED to go out and be the salt and light. The harvest is plentiful; the laborers are few! And I thank God that we have Pastor Kong, who has both great wisdom and great guts to preach about the cultural mandate in the face of opposition from religious Christians. I personally believe that if Jesus tarries, church historians will look back upon our age and identify this as a pivotal paradigm shift in large-scale evangelism, where entire nations and societal subgroups, not just individuals, begin to be discipled.

But for those called to be in full-time ministry, I salute you. You are the minority–and understandably, for not everyone is cut out for radical lifestyle of a full-timer.

Personally, I am beginning to understand what Pastor How meant by the impending “pressures & pleasures” we G-Zoners will face. I have to be honest. I can’t say that I’ve not weighed the options. And a stable, lucrative career in the world sure looks like a better offer if we view it through the lens of rationality. Like duh. But since when has it been about rationality, “pros & cons”, “hedge your bets”? We are fools for Christ. The message of the cross — voluntary suffering — is foolishness to the world, a world laden with self-seeking pleasure, primed by instant gratification, regardless of eternal consequences.

Pastors and the church has given so much to me. It’s one thing to be “commissioned” to go forth to the marketplace — and that is commendable, no less. Yet it’s another to view home as a “launching pad”, “stepping stone”, “spring board”. I have not served on volunteer staff as publications head just to learn the requisite skills and build up my portfolio for a better job outside. I have not grown wings just so that I can fly high and ascend the corporate ladder.

Fly, by all means, if you are called. But if you fly out of insolence… remember Icarus.

If God has called you to full-time ministry, don’t stoop to be king.

Ode to the Creative Soul

Life through the lenses of the creative soul…

Richer, fuller, poignant.
Colours speak. Sounds take shape. Tastebuds sing. Scents can be felt.
Touch–

Immaculate.
The never-ending quest for excellence, beauty–unattainable, but inalienable.

The immensity of time-space funneled into the frivolity of personal fancy. Scenes slow–all is dramatic. Euphoria, and time flies by.
(You have set eternity in our hearts)

Impractical, non-functional, non-utilitarian/
Idealistic, aesthetic, consummate.

Heightened sensitivity. Too fragile! Easily hurt–
Cradled in the hands of the masterful Potter, tempered by love and fire… the creative soul, malleable but indestructible.

Quench this darkness! The face of human depravity stares back mockingly, uglier than the sum of its parts
But in the den of lions the miracle is even more apparent–

The miracle…
A simple Man of bread and wine
The symphony of Grace divine
High King of Heaven for a vagabond?

Elohim is not ashamed to be called your Father. You are made in His likeness and image.
“In the beginning, God created…”

Who is this we see in the very beginning? He who burst forth light, sprinkled stars across the universe
He who felt the rhythm of the oceans, the drone of the foundations of the earth
He who chuckled with delight as His boundless imagination shaped every crevice, sprouted every plant, birthed forth every living organism
He who danced as He breathed sentience into the nostrils of man…

He who brooded over darkness… hovering, incubating, hoping…

In the hands of the Creator, one’s biggest weakness becomes one’s greatest strength. Sing, creative soul!

Service with AR Bernard

What an awesome night! It’s so surreal, our photos would put Salvador Dali to shame. I’m so proud to be in HOGC, so proud to be under Pastor How & Lia…

Dr. AR Bernard’s sermon, completely mind-blowing. For those who are interested to find out more:

(Please note that in no way am I saying this is 100% Gospel truth. This is just my personal interpretation (susceptible to flaws), based on research and hopefully revelation, which I hope will help in some way…)

Essentially, the word hypostatic originates from the Greek: ὑπόστασις, {“[h]upostasis”},”hypostasis”, translated reality or person

At the heart of the subject of the hypostatic union is the ‘Incarnation‘ – that God actually took on human form and dwelt among us. Isaiah 7:¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (which translates: God with us)” Hundreds of years later, the prophecy is reaffirmed: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”^[a] which is translated, “God with us.” (Matt 1:23). Dr. Bernard went on to quote John 1 (Read it! Bible Scholars agree that it is one of the most poignant of passages) v. 14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”

So we know about the Incarnation… what about hypostatic union? Basically, it means that Jesus was the union of two natures (Divine and Human) in one hypostases (Reality, Form). The Church fathers concluded in the fifth general council in Constantinople in 533 AD that this meant:

1. The Incarnate Jesus wasn’t just God indwelling in a man. (I.e. it wasn’t as if he were a baby and he could think and feel like God, knowing all things.)

2. The Incarnate Jesus had a rational soul. He had his own mind, will and emotions – it wasn’t as if He were a puppet controlled by Father God (umm… that’s as far as our finite minds can fathom). That is why Satan could tempt him, that is why Jesus could say that whatever He sees the Father doing, He does (John 5:19), and that’s why Jesus had to say “Not my will but yours be done” when He was about to go to the cross – Jesus had an independent will, but he willed to align that will to that of the Father God.

3. Christ’s divine nature was retained and unchanged. He was 100% God, and 100% Man. Not 50% God and 50% man (commingled).

The significance of the hypostatic union can be understood when you read these passages:

Romans 5:¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. ¹⁶ And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
¹⁸ Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hebrews 4:¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

1 Corinthians 15:⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.”^[d] The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord^[e]from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear^[f] the image of the heavenly Man.

Here’s the logic: the first Adam sinned and fell short of the glory of God, and the result was death to all mankind. Christ was born into the world (Incarnation), and there was hypostatic union (Divine and Human nature in one “hypostases” (reality, person)). When Christ died, he was qualified to be under Adam’s line because of his human nature. However, because of his divine, sinless nature, he fully satisfied the “wages of sin” and became the propitiation (atoning or appeasing sacrifice) for our sins. Christ became the last Adam, and also the second Man. Romans 8:²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Colossians 1:And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…

Arrgh! Heavy stuff! But wait, what on earth is anthropological hypostatic union?

Anthropology is the science and study of man. It comes from the Greek comb. form of ánthrōpos denoting “human being, man”.

The hypostatic union pertains to Christ having two natures in one form.

The anthropological hypostatic union pertains to us humans, born-again Christians, having two natures in one form.

Jesus is the “firstborn among many brethren”. When we become saved, our old nature dies and our spiritual nature comes to life.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17)

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:3-11)

²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts

(Eph 4:22)

If you refer back a few paragraphs, you will see the parallels between the hypostatic union and the anthropological hypostatic union:

1. When we become born again, it isn’t as if our spiritual nature takes over immediately. The fact that Paul says in Eph 4:22 to put off the old man shows that we have to make a deliberate effort to make sure that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Rom 6:6).

2. We still have our own rational souls. That is why Dr Bernard talks about us growing intellectually, socially and emotionally… not just spiritually. As Pastor How clearly puts it – we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Our core identity is the spirit, and it is manifested through our unique personalities (soul), acted out by our bodies.

3. The old man and new man are not commingled in us, although we are one hypostases. This is important. The old man is dead! When you become a Christian, the old has passed away. I would think of this as having the “fountain” and “root” of sin destroyed. The only problem is that we have to put away the old man. As has been preached before, in Roman times, one form of capital punishment for murders was to tie the deceased’s body to the murderer’s back. The body would slowly decompose and the bacteria would eat into the murder’s back, causing him to die a slow and painful death. The key is to put the old man away (cut it off!)– get rid of old habits. Watch out when the devil or people try to convince you otherwise — that as a Christian, your identity is still that of the first man, the first Adam.

Just as the hypostatic union was Christ coming down to take the form of a man, so the anthropological hypostatic union is man going up to become like Christ.

Just as Christ underwent Kenosis (Phil 2:7 “⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges” (NLT)  Strong’s G2758), even so, we must learn to put on the new (divine nature).

That is why you have 2 Peter 1, showing the incremental steps to putting on the new man.

The beauty of tonight’s sermon becomes even more apparent when you take into account the context in which Dr. Bernard preached it. If you know, he’s been on a run on Kristos Kai Kosmos – Christ in culture – which I believe many of us have heard.

The Church is the body of Christ – His epistle and ambassadors on this earth. If we are to manifest Christ in culture, then the Church is to do it.

Just as boy Jesus, in his hypostatic union, had to increase in wisdom and stature, favour with God and men before he was released into ministry at the age of 30, even so, the Church of God, in our anthropological hypostatic union, will be increasing in wisdom and stature, favour with God and men even as we are poised to fully impact culture, society and the world.

The future of HOGC’s amazing. I’m gonna be a part of it… will you be?

Dark Skies

Sunrise @ Punggol

Went for a sunrise shoot at 530 am at some uber-ulu place at Punggol Beach together with Marcus, Glenn and Jun Jie.

Didn’t manage to get the “yolk”… sky was quite overcast. But the lights across the shore were enticing…

Haha… Speed 3!

There’s a certain magical feel to dawn… Sun was up within 15 mins.

Trigger-happy Glenn, the-sacred-one-with-car Marcus and guru JJ.

Father’s Day Lunch

Cooked for my dad for father’s day… good thing we said grace.

If it doesn’t taste good… at least you can make it look good

love and sacrifice

Back from a week in reservist. The pace is so slow… as Garrett aptly put it, it’s like going from gear 5 to gear 1. It feels strange… you’re not trying to ooze out efficiency out of every minute that you have. Not rushing about frenetically. I don’t like missing church of course, but this “forced break” is kinda good in a sense. Makes you stop and think – not just with your head but your heart.

Happy that Pastors are getting their rest too (albeit in a much nicer place – understatement of the month). Can’t wait for them to be back, but also wish that their time there would feel as long (to them) as possible! Haha.

Have been reading the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, recommended by Dom. It’s quite interesting. We often think that outliers (people who break out of the statistical norm) come about because of their personal talent, drive to succeed and individual effort. Yes, those are important ingredients, but no man is an island. We are where we are because of our family background, the decisions and influences of others… the opportunities given and sacrifices made by others.

As I was going home in a cab, I just felt so led to start conversation with the taxi driver. He’s 63 – worked in the police force for 27 years and has been driving for 12. And, you know the best way to get an NSman to open up is to talk about NS. So he started pouring out his whole life story… How he’s the oldest of 11 siblings, joined the police at around ‘65 (!), sacrificed to use his $300 monthly pay (an average sum in those days) to support his family…

Two things came to my mind:

1. The cab was awfully slow. He was so engrossed in sharing that the speed crawled to 40 km/h at times. But I didn’t mind. I felt that this 63 year-old guy has been driving for 12 years… passengers in and out everyday. How many people actually bother to make conversation with him? As I just sat there and listened to him finally getting a chance to talk, I just had this strange, visceral love for this man. Just this individual.

It’s quite funny how many of us Christians sit through sermon after sermon on love… yet what we develop is a love for humanity in general, not for humans in particular. ‘Love your neighbor’ becomes reduced to something conceptual…

I was reminded of what Pst Lia shared: one of the big reasons for King David being called a “man after God’s own heart”… is how he loved the individual. The rejected and downtrodden came to follow David when he was fleeing from Saul, and eventually grew to become his famed mighty men (1 Sam 22). How else would they have joined the fugitive David unless he loved them and listened to them? David… was spotted by God by the way he took care of his sheep when he was just a young shepherd boy. He was just a teenager when he wrestled a lion and a bear to rescue his flock (1 Sam 17:34 – imagine Jordan doing that ). And for that reason, God anointed him to become shepherd over all Israel.

2. Sacrifice. What an unpopular word it is today. You have ‘I’-phone, ‘I’-pod, ‘I’ as Time Person of the Year… Parents suing their children, children suing parents.

The old taxi driver only completed secondary school education and left his studies to make ends meet for his family. Today his siblings are doing well; his three children have been put through University and are now married and have their own children.

We are where we are today because of the sacrifices made by our parents and our loved ones… because more than 10 years ago, a young man called Seow How and a young woman called Cecilia decided to lay down their crowns, sacrificing the material comforts due to them and poured out their lives to love people…

The next Outlier in society tomorrow… the Pastors, Worship Leaders, Evangelists of the next generation aren’t going to come simply by their own efforts. It’s gotta take a lot of love and sacrifice on our part. A man after God’s own heart? Love… and sacrifice.

Next week’s reservist will be a place where lives will be changed. And more so in the Zone Camps next week.

Living in different times

Today, Sidney was slicing boiled eggs for Red Rain hospi before the RR Prayer meeting. He actually brought his own knife for it. The hospi crew were remarking on what a strange sight it was to see a man painstakingly preparing food at the chopping board… Well, we have a chef in the making!

Some people wonder why most chefs are men and women aren’t given the opportunities to rise up in the culinary industry. Well… let’s put it this way: men cook to bring back the dough, but women cook to warm the soul There’s nothing like good ol’ mom’s cooking (when you actually do return home to eat… lol).

Some people are wondering about the new Red Rain songs. Yes, it’s not as catchy; melodic lines aren’t as straightforward. But hey, this is music nowadays. Music has evolved.

It’s like coldplay v.s. U2. While I will always prefer U2, you have to admit that Coldplay is more ’sellable’.

U2’s era was the Joshua Tree era… the time where black was black and white was white. Where The Streets Have No Name, Pride, With or Without You… songs that made you believe that music had an inherent power… that you could actually change the world (at least, from a non-Christian perspective).

Coldplay’s songs are melancholic, amorphous… reflective of a more postmodern era where everything is grey and relative.

Bono… flamboyant vocals, electrifying charisma, uplifting lyrics but in a class beyond the reach of the masses. Chris Martin… far less sound technically and not exactly um… very good-looking, but able to connect to the listener, able to rouse the crowd to sing along…

I’ll always prefer U2 (haha, “shut up and sit down”, protesters!) … but you know the mandate for “the genre-defining band” has been passed to Coldplay when you hear ‘No Line on the Horizon’.

In the same way…. many of us will always prefer the old Red Rain fare… catchy, melodious and “jumpable”. But we’re living in different times. To remain relevant… for an evangelistic band to remain relevant…

Oh, how the world cries out for Someone who’ll understand them. I’d gladly dress up in postmodern garb for the chance to bring across that which is timeless, eternal…

Controversy

Swine flew… I’m actually starting a blog! You know me, I’m really not a facebook/twitter/blog guy… but I’m trying to make an effort to communicate with people and not just gadgets.

Anyway, how can the writing ministry editor not have a say. I’ve been inspired to blog because of the recent spate of events where people blogged something controversial about something that happened in church. The issue has thankfully been resolved, but the controversy surrounding the blog posts remains. I may not have a complete picture of what’s been happening, but here are a few thoughts on controversy:

Jesus was highly controversial. He seemed to be the complete antithesis to the religious order of the day; he broke all dogmatic boundaries that could be broken. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, dined with sinners and taxpayers; conversed with a Samaritan woman, commanded his disciples to eat his flesh and drink his blood, said he would destroy the temple in three days, said that he came to bring a sword and not peace, to set a man against the members of his own household (Matt 10). I’m sure we’re pretty convinced that Jesus was controversial!

I’ve always wondered. Why did Jesus have to do this? Couldn’t he make his messages a little more sensible, less extremist? Couldn’t he have just told the rich young ruler in more politically-correct language that he needed to “work on some personal issues” rather than giving him the cold, hard ultimatum of selling all his possessions? Why did he have to shroud the Eucharist in such freakish terms like “eating flesh” and “drinking blood” – two of the most horrible of sins to a Jew in that day? Why can’t Christianity be a little more rational and less mystical… why don’t we all follow Jefferson’s ideal. Keep the moral teachings of Christ and remove the senseless “miracles”.

I feel the key to understanding all this is in 1 Pet 2:7: “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “ The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “ A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.”

To the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, God was afar off – too foreboding to even approach, too terrible – wrapped in clouds and thick darkness, with lightning (Deut 5:22). To Moses however, God was a friend who talked face to face, a God full of patience and mercy. To the masses, Jesus spoke in parables – so that though seeing, they may not see, though hearing, they may not understand (Lk 8:10). But to the disciples, the parables were explained; the secrets of the kingdom of God were made clear. What does this all mean?

“Offenses will come”. Controversies will arise. But at the end of the day, it’s what’s in your heart that counts. This is really based on what Pastor How preached about during his sermon on offenses. If in your heart you are always doubting Jesus, always unsure of his real motives… the moment controversy arises – when you hear Him asking to eat his flesh and drink his blood – you leave him. But if you know Jesus’ heart, if you know that there’s something special about this person… that He’s not any ordinary man… you’ll be like Peter. You may not fully understand in your mind what Jesus is talking about, but in your heart you say, “To whom shall I go? Only You have the Words of eternal life”.

If you only seek the hand (provision) of God and not his face (presence), i.e. your understanding of God is only by what you receive from Him and whether you get your prayer requests answered or not – then you’ll be like the immature Israelites who griped at every trial about not getting meat, not getting water… you’ll shun the presence of God when in fact, the actual reason for leaving Egypt was not just to enter the Promised Land, but to get to know the God of their fathers – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But if you’ve encountered God in the lowest moments of your life and come to understand the God I AM – the perfect strength in our weakness, our all-sufficiency, then you’ll be like Moses who told God, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here”(Exo 33:15).

Controversies are such that they elicit a necessary response from us. They force you to take sides; you can’t sit on the fence. Controversy is the line in the sand that Jesus drew when the crowd tried to stone the adulterous woman caught in the act. Controversy is Joshua saying, “Choose you this day whom you will serve”. Controversy is the litmus test of our hearts.

If your heart would stand with the leadership of HOGC, standing UP for the leadership of HOGC is only a reflex response.

If you value truth over political correctness, speaking the truth in love is the only natural thing to do.

Better the rebuke of a friend than the kisses of an enemy.

Controversies will come. Where is your heart in all this?