Pastoral Message (Page 54)

By Not Known Like the foolish Galatians, some of us cannot accept the fact that we can gain salvation by just taking God at His word!   Believing in Christ Jesus Who died for our sins and rose again from the dead for our salvation just isn’t good enough!  Surely it can’t be that simple and that alone — there must be a catch somewhere.  Surely there…

By Not Known They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.   When I first drove through the south side of Chicago many years ago, I was struck by the ugliness of the place.  Boarded-up shops, graffiti-filled walls, overgrown weeds, abandoned playgrounds, wheel-less cars propped up on bricks, etc., were the signs of a neighbourhood that had seen better…

By Not Known Every church must evangelize or fossilize.  Grow or die.  Those are the stark options.  Some churches may increase in number, but has it been biological growth (children of believers/members), transfer growth (transferring from other churches as they marry or move from one part of Singapore to another) or is it conversion growth (increase in…

By Not Known Paul said in Romans 10:15, “And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?”  This was actually part of a series of rhetorical questions that Paul was posing to the recipients of this letter.  For him, there must be some sequence of events prior to anyone coming to the saving knowledge of Christ.  One of which is this: how can…

By Not Known From antiquity past to the present, “peace” was and still is being bargained for and traded like a commodity between opposing tribes and peoples at a price.  In Genesis 12, Abraham traded his wife Sarai for peace with the Egyptian Pharaoh so that his life might not be threatened (vv12-13).  In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and his leaders…

By Not Known One of my favourite Biblical passages is Isaiah 6 when Isaiah had a personal encounter with Almighty God.  What intrigues me is Isaiah’s vision of God’s majesty and holiness.  Through that vision which came about in a year of great significance for Isaiah, the demise of his beloved King Uzziah had occurred  (Isa 6:1).  Perhaps for Isaiah,…

By Not Known If you want to become a good shooter to win Olympic gold, you must have a single-minded desire.  Desire will keep you going to the practice range day after day.  It will keep you attentive to your coach, in fact to anyone who has some knowledge or is savvy in shooting.  Your desire will make you willing to part with big money for the right…

By Not Known We have read many articles about getting out of one’s comfort zone.  But what is a comfort zone, really?  It is “a behavioural space where your activities and behaviours fit a routine and pattern that minimises stress and risk.  It provides a state of mental security.  You benefit in obvious ways: regular happiness, low anxiety, and…

By Not Known What is this spell our handphones have cast over us?  When I studied overseas in the mid 70’s, I wrote letters (by hand not on a laptop or phone – to my then girlfriend in Singapore) four times a week.  On special occasions I would make a phone call from a phone booth after 6pm for cheaper rate with pockets full of coins!  Today I can…

By Not Known What does it mean to “set up” our hearts and our minds?