Purpose-driven Run

Greetings to all who are here for one reason or the other,

Judah, a bondservant of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has been called and given a vision to usher in His Kingdom.

In conjunction with the prophetic run that is going to happen on the 15th February, themed "Light Up the Nite", I will also be doing a fund raising. As I was preparing for the run, I got led to adopt a ministry that intentionally reaches out to the prostitutes as the beneficiary. Tamar Village stood out as a ministry in this respect. I got acquainted with a number of ministries in the Geylang area in accordance with God's perfect timing and assignment, and after deliberate pondering and discussions with these ministries, I've arrived at the conclusion that Tamar Village ministry would benefit greatly from monetary contribution. 

Tamar Village is a ministry that puts up deliberate initiatives as attempts to get the ladies off the street, by providing training and employment opportunities. Please click here for more information about Tamar Village.

The fund raising will be done via the following means:

1. Tee Shirt Sales:

One of the major reasons why the beneficiary that I sought after was specifically one that reaches out to the street ladies was because of the theme of the prophetic run: "Light Up the Nite". I believe this is all in congruence, the shirt design, the run, the initiative. As such, I'll be launching a Tee-Shirt Sales to garner support for this movement for a small profit which will go in full sum toward the monetary contribution. 

The design is as attached below: 

2. Fund Raising

Alternatively, you can also show your support for this movement via tangible acts of making monetary contribution which will go directly to the works in Tamar Village. 

3. Prayer

We are a group of people who believe strongly that prayers change and move things, so please do join us in prayer. The running group is a small group of about 10 people, and we have received various things for the run- and one of these is the 7 spheres of influence (media, education, religion, government and law, arts and entertainment, family, business). In conjunction with this interpretation, I receive a vision like this: 

A step that makes all the difference:
a splash of 7 colors!

I have set a personal target as to how much I hope to raise for the ministry, and I would like to extend the invitation to all who desire to make a difference in this often neglected part of Singapore. For keen parties, do contact me at risen.fallen@hotmail.com, and let me know your preferred mode(s) of contribution. 

God bless you abundantly in all that you do, and bless you for your generous heart to give! Amen!

In Christ's amazing love,

Judah

~Matthew 25:40

"The King will answer and say to them, 'truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me."~

HeartCry

I am looking for a tune to these words that I've written about 1 month back. It's a little atypical set of lyrics, irregular word counts, and super lengthy, but I'm not inclined to change any of the words. 
I'm praying for someone who catches the heart of this song to come along and give it a beautiful tune such that these words can minister to anyone who is on a difficult crossroad in life. 
Please drop me an email at risen.fallen@hotmail.com if possible. Thank you so much!
May the goodness of my God pour out unto your life, and multiply manifold gifts and fruits as you steward well what that which has already been given to you! Much grace and much joy, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!

Verse 1

Sometimes my heart wells;

Life circumstances made me ponder;

Why in life a hundred wails,

A thousand weeps;

And many more mourn their hearts.

Pre-chorus

Crying, I've had enough;

Stopping to try;

Closing my eyes;

My door slams shut, but You open a way.

Chorus

You saw me from afar,

You caught me and I was thrown into Your embrace;

Healing my wounds, soothing my hearts,

By Your stripes, I am made new;

Jesus You made me whole again.

Verse 2

Yesterday my eyes swells;

Pain and sorrows stole love's wonder;

Moving on tears heart apart,

I couldn't linger;

To come unstuck, I trust in Your heart.

Verse 3

Since before time Your love compels;

Hope and joy, You promised answers;

By faith and not by my sight,

Your joy is my strength;

In Your Word, I want to believe.

Chorus 2

What could have destroyed my faith; 

I learnt to trust not doubt, knowing Your wonderful plan;

You have promised; You have first loved,

By Your grace, I've been restored;

Jesus You made me whole again.

Bridge

I'll sing You prises;

I'll lift up Your name;

I'll declare Your love;

I'll love like You do.

The Unfair God (the partner in the partnership)

"No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." 

— Oswald J. Smith 

I probably would not be able to fully comprehend until I see for my own, and experience for myself- the kind of thrown-off. When all-time top-Christian-seller Rick Warren lost his son to suicide, when 911 took away the love of many, when people of Rwanda lived through the nightmare of genocide, and many man-made atrocities that haunt the history of... men. Yet, untimely christian reminders ring in our ears, "God so love the world that He gave His only Son..." In moments like these, I did not hear hope, but instead the rubbing of salt on wounds, raw wounds. 

Even if I had wanted to believe... I mean... so many natural marvels, the distant stars in the sky, the vastness of the universe which made me feel so small, and even that solo piece of memory when I was touring an exotic countryside when the sun rose against the backdrop of the blazing horizon... Surely, that must be the intentional works of someone/something beyond. If believing in what we do not see is tough, then attributing all these to opportunistic probabilities requires even more faith...

But... for as far as I remember, well-meaning Christians have come around in sincere intention and hope of pointing me toward God, but instead turned me away. Unanswered questions raged within me, and doubts became anger... If He truly exists, and if He truly loves me, then why... Could it be that He doesn't love me enough... With each piece of news constantly reminding us of an uncompassionate God, I became more cynical... Then, I'm better off on my own... Perhaps it's true...

Stop telling me it's alright when my favorite dog passed away. Clearly it isn't.

Stop quoting me bible verses and tell me things like the joy of the Lord shall be my strength when I'm quashed and dampened. Frankly, I don't care about the joy of the Lord when I can't even cope to make it pass "not sad" myself. 

And did you ever realize, every time you say "I understand", I really want to say "shut up!" because you really don't... 

These are all not true...

First of all, I want to apologize to all if I had been guilty of any of those. I haven't been a real friend, and I haven't been available, and I have not been sensitive enough to care about your true needs, and I have selfishly stuffed you with what I thought were good. I was a pig, but truly, I haven't known better.

ABOVE ALL, I apologize for not having represented my God well. I have done Him a huge injustice and an even huger disservice by acting the ways I did before. Please forgive me. 

God is Good: No Doubt!

Before I began, I want to say that for every bad thing that tainted our journey in life and made it harder than anyone should ever endure, I am sorry. I truly am. I cannot provide good reasons to explain why each of these tragedies has to happen. It's even more difficult when within the Christian circle we always declare that God is all-knowing, everything is in His control, and things only happen if God allows them to. These are anger-inducing. And many hearts are roaring, "THEN WHY?!?" The wake of the rape cases in India shook my convictions before. What kind of purpose, WHAT KIND OF PURPOSE warrants an innocent girl being ripped apart the way she has been... WHAT KIND OF DIVINE PURPOSE?!

(at this point, can I ask for absolute patience and finish the remaining parts of the article? Give me a chance, and give God a chance...)

These are all true, but they are only true in parts. And when these understanding of God are used to explain situation in the world by formulating our own conclusions like those that I have ranted about above, they do not coincide with the God whom I know, whom I have a relationship with. In fact, they contradict so much that either HAS TO be wrong!

Taking off from where I stopped in my previous post about waiting on God, I do have a certain understanding and conviction about who this God is. He is love (1 John 4:8), He came to give life to the fullest (John 10:10), He is a friend (John 15:15), He wants us to be filled with joy and hope, He works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), He has a good plan to prosper us and not harm us (Jeremiah 29:11), and the list goes on. 

And it is so important that we stand rooted and firm in our conviction about our understanding of who this lovely Father is, because the house that has been built on weak foundations will not be able to withstand the attacks in the world, and when the waves come, the house collapse. 

I do not offer an explanation of what I do not know, but what I do know, I hang by them, and I strongly believe that this is how I have been able to continue on this narrow path. Frankly, it has not been easy, except by the grace of God. 

It was even more painful for God.

Having established that, I want to propose this... 

Recall the saddest, most painful experiences ever. It could be a breaking relationship, the passing of a loved one, disappointment with life circumstances, broken promise(s), betrayal... anything. With no intended disregard, can I suggest that in those moments, that amount of hurt that took place within us... Multiply by N times, and that's about what God felt. Cowboy Logan has a sweet understanding of this. He understands, and He will always understand... 

This is easy to articulate, but difficult to comprehend. I probably cannot say this with the same amount of ease when time calls for such conviction to stand strong, but I must declare that "absolute Truth is not contingent on the level of conviction one displays. It is not even contingent on life circumstances, or how things may seem at that moment. If I say that the Truth is my bedrock and my foundation, then when I sway in my stance, the Truth is precisely where I will cling on to to stay anchored, which I ought to have established long before. Truths that sway are not absolute truth because when our circumstance changes, our conviction shifts, and we begin to question. In the latter, the bedrock and the foundation is the self, and "truth" is just a nice word used to increase one's perceived spirituality."

Remember, He always understands and He doesn't just understand, He cares... (Someone who is strong and capable of managing their hurt doesn't mean that they are hurt less. They may seem to be so, but that's not true). I reject any notion of aloneness in the name of Jesus. "God has forsaken us is a complete lie!

When we look on world's tragedy with compassion, also know that He sees it before us, He feels it before us, He has plan for better before us. 

The partner in the partnership.

If those were true, then why... It is very easy to point finger. In fact, way easier than to take responsibility. I think it is about time we rise up in a mature manner to take some responsibility. In the light of free will and empowerment, can we all recognize that perhaps we are partially responsible for all these? History spans over a ridiculous amount of time that stretches beyond record, and at some junctures, there must be some sort of overlap, some sort of intertwining, some sort of entanglement, some sort of ripple effects. A friend once commented, "if every single human does only what God asks of us to do, and live according to His will, then everything would be fine." I feel like adding, if that is truly the case, Jesus can return now, like seriously now. I know that this would potentially open up another floodgate with regards to predestination and free will- like if that's the case, then don't say that He's fully in control, because clearly He's not. Well, once again I have no answer to justify this apparent obsession with the keeping of a promise or the preservation of free will, which if overlooked could mean many more souls being saved from the wrath of eternal burning. IF God really loves all, why that kind of priority: why free will over 100% salvation? I don't know, but this free will must be really important, and when I look at films featuring robotic minions, I think I understand 1% of what without free will would look like. 

Therefore, if we look at some and ask God why the African kids have to starve, why the girl has to experienced raped, why the accident has to occur, here's something to think about/ask ourselves? Have I done anything to alleviate world poverty, have I done anything to improve security in my neighborhood, have I done enough to ensure road safety? It may not be entirely my responsibility, but it has to be someone's responsibility. Look through the internet for inspirational stories and see how God moved in those hurtful moments, and reflect on our own actions. Mother Teresa famously said this "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." It has to start from someone, so why not us?

If you start off reading this article expecting to find an answer as to why bad things happen in the world, and why God allows them, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I cannot provide you with an answer that I do not know, but what I do know, I share and to me these are sufficient convictions to help me look beyond these problems, which in the first place are only hypothesis/suggestions, and at best unfounded allegations against my God. 

Finally, God loves everyone the same. The perceived difference could be because someone somewhere hid away that portion of God's love that God had meant to pour out through them. 

Waiting (on God) and Living (for God)

It's a good day, not a good phase...

This morning I came across a few articles that spoke to me a lot. Studying psychology makes me wonder if those were self-reference effect. Regardless, they spoke to me, a lot. 

Relevant Magazine has some pretty good articles on Christian values, and the two that I read were about waiting on God (Waiting on God is Hard, and That's OK), and the other is about, well, how waiting is a waste of time (Life Won't Begin at Your Next Milestone). Yes, Relevant Magazine endorsed and published both. I could not disagree.

Waiting on God is an art, a skill to master, and possibly a key to unlock huge mysteries about our destiny. 

Think with me: a King has an assignment for his soldiers, and at his disposal he has a group of elites. These are powerful fighters, the most skillful available, the ones who would deliver any kind of mission and execute them to perfection. If we are the king, what might be the first thing we want to ensure of these elites? Good training that they may fulfill their potential; or equipment of the best quality to protect the best assets we have? I say, perfect submission, the pledging of allegiance.

The ability to wait on God builds up the level of trust in God's character. It helps us to look beyond what we can see, and believe that all things work for the good of those who love Him, and called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). All of us know that it is easy to praise God in the joyous moment and lift His name on high in our victorious march; a significantly smaller number of people might be aware of the call to worship through the pain and the treacherous in Romans 12:1 when it says sacrifices are acts of spiritual worship; an even smaller portion of believers can confidently thump our chest and say I can do that! But it is through waiting on God that we know (gain confidence) about the kind of Father our God is, and it is through waiting on God that we can declare "I am Yours regardless of, the dark clouds that may loom above, because You are much greater than my pain" (Bring the Rain, MercyMe). 

Waiting on God inculcates patience. Patience not just in waiting, but also patience to trust in God's perfect timing. It took Moses 40 years working for Jethro, Jacob 14 years of working for Laban, Israelites 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus 30 years of growing up, Abram (Abraham) 100 years to see Isaac, Israel 500 years of silence before Jesus came, David about 15 years before becoming king over Israel. Those are all very long periods, but when we read the bible, the time scale is minimized- 40 years can be just a few chapters, 500 years were contained within the space between Malachi and Matthew, and 15 years could be just a few verses apart. These long periods became hard to comprehend. Becoming more educated only made us more self-reliant and confident about ourselves. "Hey God, I am ready!" "Do you hear me, God? I really am ready!" These kinds of rants keep going on and on within our head, but are we truly ready? Trusting in God's timing also means that we concede that God knows better- that if He says "it is not now" then it really MUST BE later. Until we are able to do that, we can never really say we are ready. 12 year old Jesus knew the bible well enough to debate with the religious teachers, but He only started His ministry when He was 30. Talking about readiness... 

Hindsight may be a good teacher, and we look back and think "wow, I learnt, and by that I have gained wisdom." But God has the benefit of possessing not just hindsight. He has oversight, foresight, insight, all at once. The amount of information He has access to at any one time point in time is just ridiculous, and it is even more ridiculous to insist that "I know better and God does not understand". By thinking that, we already discredit whatever kind of wisdom we gained from our good teacher. 

Waiting on God keeps us in our position. If the spiritual realm speaks of ranks and files, we have an hierarchy, and we live in one.  While it has been absolutely true that God has made us in His image, which made us a powerful people (this can be contentious because in our weakness His strength is seen, but I'm of the belief that a powerful God cannot have weak people. If He has given us authority and He said we will receive power, I have no reasons to not think that way), it does not contradict God's good plan for humanity- He did not intend for us to abuse these gifts, and He did not intend for us to create messes. Who knows that if we give a child 50 bucks, he is likely to splurge it on a lego or a barbie set in full amount? True power lies in our ability to control and utilize it to its full potential (my learning point from Frozen). Hancock's initial irresponsible demonstration of abilities did not come close; Elsa's deliberate attempt to not let them know, don't let them see was not that either. It takes one to fervently wait upon God to learn about this partnership. Waiting on God teaches us discernment; waiting on God teaches us to hear His voice; waiting on God teaches us to recognize His hands moving and His heart beating; waiting on God teaches us to do only what we see the Father does; waiting on God helps us to recognize that we are not ready lest He makes us so; waiting on God protects us from working from presumptions; waiting on God helps us to recognize correctly the truly powerful one; waiting on God helps us to put our faith in God instead of ourselves. 

Hebrew 12:6 says that He disciplines those whom He loves, and the 3 aforementioned pointers point toward this love.

Waiting on God is an active process. It is the phase where we learn and become so that we can know and do. It becomes a waste of time when we fail to see the purpose and start living the future. Credit cards allow us to spend future money; jumping the gun allows us to live the future life. Both come with a consequence- indebtedness. We have to pay back, and often it leads to detour because the borrowed time has to be returned, to let us learn what we should have learnt, and undo our mistakes which could have been avoided if we had learn. 

Life doesn't start at the next milestone. Like a good film, the build up to the climax gives the context, builds the story, and brews the emotions- all are essential. Live the moment (fully) to set the movement (proper). Ecclesiastes puts it nicely: there is a season for everything. We cannot live the introduction in lackluster fashion, only hoping to come alive when the climax unveils. A mind that is out of season sets the person up for disappointment simply because we do not  know enough, and simply because we do not prepare enough, and simply because we are not ready enough (when it comes). Trust in God's lesson plan for us and learn what we have to at this moment. It's gonna be worthwhile! 

So yes, waiting is difficult, and a warped understanding of waiting is always going to be a waste of time. Otherwise, go and wait... 

Good Advice

Stumbled across this piece of article and my! Really good ones! Especially simple life wisdom which we have easily overlooked- the first one: don't say but, say "and"! And many more!

http://thoughtcatalog.com/michael-koh/2014/01/14-people-share-the-best-advice-theyve-ever-received/

Reflection (2013)

I want to forgo the usual rants about how the year had been long, filled with ups and downs, or even character building. That has to be the case- the default-anyways. As we grow older, our responsibilities increase, and more is entrusted to us, and with more things filled into the same amount of time, it definitely has to feel longer; 365 days, with more things, especially when the complexity level heightens, it is difficult not to have both ups and downs in any single year; with the ups and downs, having come through a year, it must have been character building anyways.

What truly has been THE lesson of 2013 is really how “what it looks like may not be what it really is”. Of course there were many other good insights and takeaway from this year, but I think none can deviate much away from this. It began with the development of an aversion toward this: “I love you that’s why I want to share the good news with you” versus “I want to convert you, that’s why I am loving you”. Both look alike,but the heart of it differs so much! Subsequently, I realized that the same principle could be applied in practically every interpretation, which is why doctrinal differences emerge. When works are done apart from the big purpose; when works become an ends to itself; when purpose and works swap role, and the former becomes the fuel for the latter… Matthew 7:22-23.

The gauge of a person’s spirituality cannot be measured by his/her works- it’s not by the number of healing, the sophistication of prayer, the amount of mission trips, the number of conversion or things of sorts, but by the person’s fruits. So what if we are getting visitations from angels, and so what if we are moving in marvelous ways… Saul was an appointed king who voided his anointing by not bearing fruits- he was handpicked, he had the best, but he failed to bear fruits… Even as I move into the spiritual realm, I am cautious. While my beings shout "let it go" along with Elsa from "Frozen", I want this to be an overflow indeed. Not an active pursuit, but let this seeking birth out of a desire to steward what God has put within me. During the covenant service, one line read "let me be filled; let me be emptied", the second half caught me and reminded myself of what I did in Kupang and Tanjong Pinang over the past 2 years. People can have millions of opinions about how things are done, and people can have preference of how they want to serve, but for me I just want to love. That's why I chose to be with the kids, that's why I chose to hang around with the locals. 

My 3 principles of my faith:

1. Just love (love anyways)

2. Guilt, doubt, fear, I want no part in any of those.

3. Optimism is a Christian trait.

Take it in- I think the Christian notion of “not caring about what other people say” should be taken in the context of knowing in your heart and spirit that you are (attempting to) pleasing God, that is why what other people say don’t matter. (Unfortunately, many people use that to justify the lack of efforts or laziness or convenience on our parts). I am thankful because I’ve been justified and my fruits had been witnessed, by His grace, I’ve indeed been justified.

By that, I’m learning to be more careful to assess the fruits of others and decide for myself who are swine and dogs (Matthew 7:6) and to whom I should offer my pearls. I know I have much to offer, but that is only for those who can and will receive.

Also,I’m learning to assess my own walks and not get absorbed into the forms. Some people do evangelism a certain way, others have a certain bible study format.These are all useful tools, but I’m more concern about the heart…

I had a lot of fun in 2013- Gold Coast, Taiwan, Kupang, minor episodes of nitty stuff- but I think that one lesson had been a threading theme.