Thank You, Lord!
Lord of Heaven and earth, Lord of the Universe, Thou who art on the throne, and who ordains the powers that be, I praise and thank You.
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and setteth up another. Psalm 75:5,6
Against big money and Hollywood celebrities, film makers, pop idols, bestselling book writers, newspapers and TV networks, against world opinions and all kinds of pundits and pollsters, George Walker Bush won! People may make fun of him, hate him and his very face and name, say and write all kinds of things against him, but does Bush worry? No, he looks cool and upbeat most of the time, and as the night of vote counting begins. Here is a man who does not make decisions based on the polls or to seek the approval of the greatest majority, needing to pass a "global test". Many cannot understand him. Doesn't he care? Is he dumb? Is he heartless? Is he insane? Who does he think he is?
I think I know. It is because he knows who he is: a man under God. He is a man who has put his faith in the God of the Bible and who seeks His approval and will first, above all, and one who has chosen to live by His word and makes His rules his principles.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Isaiah 26:3
Lord, grant Mr. Bush and his team the strength equal to the tasks demanded of them in the coming days, and the wisdom they need. And grant them steadfast and growing faith in Thee.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Election Fever
It's the American elections, but it seems like the whole of the world is involved too. It seems like all of America and of the world too is divided: Bush or Kerry? Right or left, Republican or Democrat, war or peace, right or wrong, God or the devil? I guess it's because of the web that we all can be involved: all the blogs for and against, the breaking news, even the videos and ads can be seen online.
I'm in deep: reading the blogs, watching the debates and videos, and I laugh and I weep. I can't vote, but I can pray. Everyone else is too, it seems, even the atheists, each for his or her candidate to win. Father in Heaven, Thy name be hallowed, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
At the recent Australian elections, our friends, the Leslies in Adelaide were up to their necks in helping to campaign for their former pastor's newly formed party, Family First Party. Amazingly, against the odds, it won several seats and made a real difference in the whole election. And Howard won by a high majority, upsetting predictions that he would lose altogether.
Father, grant that there be a smooth, incident-free election and a clear winner without any doubt or legal tussles ensuing. May Thy mercy and grace be upon the US and upon us all.
Oh yes, I'm rooting for GWB to be re-elected .
Actually, I did vote for GWB in the Malaysiakini poll. An American expat gave up his vote (and his mind) to Malaysians. Sadly, the majority was for Kerry.
I'm in deep: reading the blogs, watching the debates and videos, and I laugh and I weep. I can't vote, but I can pray. Everyone else is too, it seems, even the atheists, each for his or her candidate to win. Father in Heaven, Thy name be hallowed, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
At the recent Australian elections, our friends, the Leslies in Adelaide were up to their necks in helping to campaign for their former pastor's newly formed party, Family First Party. Amazingly, against the odds, it won several seats and made a real difference in the whole election. And Howard won by a high majority, upsetting predictions that he would lose altogether.
Father, grant that there be a smooth, incident-free election and a clear winner without any doubt or legal tussles ensuing. May Thy mercy and grace be upon the US and upon us all.
Oh yes, I'm rooting for GWB to be re-elected .
Actually, I did vote for GWB in the Malaysiakini poll. An American expat gave up his vote (and his mind) to Malaysians. Sadly, the majority was for Kerry.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Righteousness in the heart
Attended the Asia Pacific Family Dialogue from 11 to 13 October with D and Ethan, as participants and rapporteurs. Met people from all over the country and the world, and heard all kinds of interesting facts and figures, comments, queries, anecdotes, from all sorts of speakers, some good, others who have apparently not taken any public speaking courses in their life.
One unforgettable lady was a 30 or 40 something year old gynaecologist from Afghanistan, by the name of Fakhriah Haseem. She had come to learn from all of us and not so much as to share with us how they do things in her country, she said in her halting English. "We are just rebuilding our country now. There is so much to do." The elections for their president were going on while she was preparing to come over here, so she had missed casting her vote. But hey, she's here, and going back to work with the government, the ministry of health, to rebuild her poor war-torn country. I felt really excited to meet her because I had recently finished a book My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban, a Young Woman's Story by Latifa (a pseudonym) and had got a glimpse of what it had been like, living under the oppressive regime of the fundamentalist Muslims, especially as a female. It was worse than prison, it was femicide. And now there's freedom to come out of the house, even of the country, freedom to work and freedom to breathe and live.
Another lady was an old varsity mate whom I hadn't seen in over 20 years. She could recognise me and I her, and we were telling each other how we haven't changed. I guess it means that we don't really change physically through the years, though I hope we grow wiser and not duller. She had done an Arts course and became a teacher in the small town of Mentakab for many years. And now, to my surprise, she had taken up law and is practising in a firm in PJ. She's still single, and the session we were attending was on the subject of the rising number of singles, so we got to talking and realizing that many of our contemporaries have remained single. But they're living full and busy lives as pastors, real estate agents, teachers, lawyers, etc., and looking good.
One thing I took back from the Conference was a little bookmark they gave us with our bags and folders containing this Chinese proverb:
One unforgettable lady was a 30 or 40 something year old gynaecologist from Afghanistan, by the name of Fakhriah Haseem. She had come to learn from all of us and not so much as to share with us how they do things in her country, she said in her halting English. "We are just rebuilding our country now. There is so much to do." The elections for their president were going on while she was preparing to come over here, so she had missed casting her vote. But hey, she's here, and going back to work with the government, the ministry of health, to rebuild her poor war-torn country. I felt really excited to meet her because I had recently finished a book My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban, a Young Woman's Story by Latifa (a pseudonym) and had got a glimpse of what it had been like, living under the oppressive regime of the fundamentalist Muslims, especially as a female. It was worse than prison, it was femicide. And now there's freedom to come out of the house, even of the country, freedom to work and freedom to breathe and live.
Another lady was an old varsity mate whom I hadn't seen in over 20 years. She could recognise me and I her, and we were telling each other how we haven't changed. I guess it means that we don't really change physically through the years, though I hope we grow wiser and not duller. She had done an Arts course and became a teacher in the small town of Mentakab for many years. And now, to my surprise, she had taken up law and is practising in a firm in PJ. She's still single, and the session we were attending was on the subject of the rising number of singles, so we got to talking and realizing that many of our contemporaries have remained single. But they're living full and busy lives as pastors, real estate agents, teachers, lawyers, etc., and looking good.
One thing I took back from the Conference was a little bookmark they gave us with our bags and folders containing this Chinese proverb:
"If there is righteousness in the heart,How true! Lord, grant that we may hunger and thirst more and more for righteousness, for then we will be filled, and satisfied and have peace within and without.
there will be beauty in character.
If there is beauty in character,
there will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world."
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Paradise Lost?
About the hour we landed in the Bali International Airport, on Sept 9, the bombs shattered the morning hustle and bustle in Jakarta in front of the Australian embassy. 9 people were killed, all Indonesians, and hundreds injured. The Indonesian TV channels in the hotel room were all on the scene the whole afternoon. It brought back sharp memories of the Oct 2002 bombings in the Kuta nightclubs in Bali. Asta, our tour guide, did not take us to see the bombed out site.
Everyone tried not to think too much of the bombings everywhere and somehow managed to have a pretty good holiday. We enjoyed the clear skies and seas, the abundant flora and fauna, the handmade artistic products, the spicy and fingerlickin' seafood, and the cheerful and gentle but tough and resilient islanders.
Read Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)'s Anecdotes of Destiny, which includes the story Babette's Feast. The movie of the same title is beautifully made and received the Academy Award in 1986 for Best Foreign Film. I have watched it more than once, each time savouring even more the art and the message. It is quite faithful to the written story, one of hope and redemption, of seeing beyond life here on earth, beyond a life of missed opportunities, unfulfilled dreams and ambitions.
Everyone tried not to think too much of the bombings everywhere and somehow managed to have a pretty good holiday. We enjoyed the clear skies and seas, the abundant flora and fauna, the handmade artistic products, the spicy and fingerlickin' seafood, and the cheerful and gentle but tough and resilient islanders.
Read Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)'s Anecdotes of Destiny, which includes the story Babette's Feast. The movie of the same title is beautifully made and received the Academy Award in 1986 for Best Foreign Film. I have watched it more than once, each time savouring even more the art and the message. It is quite faithful to the written story, one of hope and redemption, of seeing beyond life here on earth, beyond a life of missed opportunities, unfulfilled dreams and ambitions.
Achille Papin writes to his love, Philippa, who is gifted with an angelic voice but misses the chance to become a famous opera singer: "... As I write this, I feel that the grave is not the end. In Paradise I shall hear your voice again. There you will sing without fears or scruples, as God meant you to sing. There you will be the great artist that God meant you to be. Ah! how you will enchant the angels. ... Babette can cook. "
And later, Philippa echoes his words to Babette: " Yet this is not the end! I feel, Babette, that this is not the end. In Paradise you will be the great artist that God meant you to be! Ah!" she added, the tears streaming down her cheeks. " Ah, how you will enchant the angels!"
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Fair is foul, and foul is fair
"How goes the world, sir, now?"
"Why, see you not?"
"....Fair is foul, and foul is fair.
Hover through the fog and filthy air."
This is the world we live in: where the rich and privileged are admired and feted, the poor are despised and shunned; the handsome and beautiful are sought after, the plain and ugly not worth a second glance; the strong and powerful rule and lord it over others, the weak, young, old, disabled, female, are neglected, taken advantage of, or worse, oppressed and subjugated.
This is the world we live in: where possessions maketh the man, things are more important than people, self-advancement and fulfilment than relationships, and one is judged by his colour, clothes, his outward appearance, not his heart.
I forget who now, but someone wrote about we humans being in a state of amnesia. We have forgotten who we are, who made us, who our Creator is, why we were made, why we are here on earth. So this is the upside down world we are in: where things are opposite to what they should be, where fair is foul, and foul is fair, as Shakespeare put it in Macbeth.
We lie and rationalise it (harmless white lies), we lust, we seek to possess more and more, we hurt each other in anger and hatred. We kill in a rage or in jealousy, in revenge, in the name of a god or in delusion.
I suppose that's why when the Son of God came to earth, we couldn't recognise him. As the prophet Isaiah said, many years before Jesus came and fulfilled his prophecy,
"Why, see you not?"
"....Fair is foul, and foul is fair.
Hover through the fog and filthy air."
This is the world we live in: where the rich and privileged are admired and feted, the poor are despised and shunned; the handsome and beautiful are sought after, the plain and ugly not worth a second glance; the strong and powerful rule and lord it over others, the weak, young, old, disabled, female, are neglected, taken advantage of, or worse, oppressed and subjugated.
This is the world we live in: where possessions maketh the man, things are more important than people, self-advancement and fulfilment than relationships, and one is judged by his colour, clothes, his outward appearance, not his heart.
I forget who now, but someone wrote about we humans being in a state of amnesia. We have forgotten who we are, who made us, who our Creator is, why we were made, why we are here on earth. So this is the upside down world we are in: where things are opposite to what they should be, where fair is foul, and foul is fair, as Shakespeare put it in Macbeth.
We lie and rationalise it (harmless white lies), we lust, we seek to possess more and more, we hurt each other in anger and hatred. We kill in a rage or in jealousy, in revenge, in the name of a god or in delusion.
I suppose that's why when the Son of God came to earth, we couldn't recognise him. As the prophet Isaiah said, many years before Jesus came and fulfilled his prophecy,
"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry groud: he hath no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.And when Jesus came, He came to turn the world right side up. He said things which shock our amnesiac brains: love your enemies, bless those who persecute you, blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, it is more blessed to give than to receive, the last shall be first, and the first last, whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it, whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all: For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And He laid down his life for those who had rejected and despised Him, and He rose again. Thank you, Jesus, for coming to turn us back to our Maker and to turn us right side up to become who we were meant to be.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53: 1-6
Monday, August 30, 2004
Church Robbed
Three men armed with parangs - they came, they took what were not theirs, and left 19 people, mostly women, shaken but thankfully unharmed. These things happen every day everywhere, all around us, but last night, it happened at our church, Hope EFC, during a seminar for the chinese congregation. We lost 3 guitars, 1 old amplifier, the collections from the 2 services of the day and David's LCD projector, besides all the personal effects, keys and handphones of all those attending the seminar.
Another evidence of the growing materialism and decadence of our society. People care more for money and possessions than for other humans. We will rob, steal, snatch, cheat, lie and kill to get what we want, what belongs to others. We are supposed to love people and use things, but we do the opposite. What wretched creatures we are! Who will rescue us from these bodies of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24)
Another evidence of the growing materialism and decadence of our society. People care more for money and possessions than for other humans. We will rob, steal, snatch, cheat, lie and kill to get what we want, what belongs to others. We are supposed to love people and use things, but we do the opposite. What wretched creatures we are! Who will rescue us from these bodies of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24)
In God will I praise His word: in the Lord will I praise His word.
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
I will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth." Psalm 56:10,11; 58:11
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
The KJV
I've fallen in love with the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. I've read through several other versions, including the KJV sometime ago, and had been wanting to get back to it. Then in June, I found an almost brand new copy in our fave bookstore, Payless Books in Ampang Point, and grabbed it at RM10.90 only. A gift from Heaven!
Every morning I read 3 chapters, one Psalm, one Old Testament (Ecclesiastes now), and one New Testament (Romans). As the old hymn goes: "Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life." They lift up my spirit, fill my soul, satisfy my heart and mind. Not only that, they challenge me to change, first the thinking, then the behaviour. Most of all, they reveal God to me, the Lord Jesus Christ in ever increasing glory and majesty. As Simon Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:68
I did some online search on the KJV. There are some Christians who hold the view that the KJV is the only version we should all read. I believe that God works through many ways and that the many versions and translations that we have now are a blessing to mankind. My first bible was a gift from my Christian classmate Jennifer. A non-christian who knew little of Christianity except what the school curriculum taught, which was precious little, I came to know God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through reading the Living Bible, a paraphrase by Kenneth Taylor. Later, I went on to the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, the New Living Translation and the Amplified Bible. Debates continue on the positive and negative qualities of the different versions (see the KJV only , the Living Bible, and why so many translations links). I thank God that He has enabled various people through the ages to write all these and also to translate into the many languages and tongues of the people groups of the world so that all men and women and children may be able to read His word and come to know Him. He is a God who speaks in all our languages and He is not silent!
From the KJV link, I found out more about King James, the King who commissioned the translation of the Authorized King James Version (KJV) of 1611. English history forgotten or not learned before, including the interesting fact that he was a friend and patron of William Shakespeare, who of course used the KJV and wrote Macbeth based on his family history in Scoland (King James was a Scot and Macbeth was known as the Scottish play.) Well, guess what, I'm reading Macbeth now, aloud, and enjoying it a lot, in between others like Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife.
Every morning I read 3 chapters, one Psalm, one Old Testament (Ecclesiastes now), and one New Testament (Romans). As the old hymn goes: "Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life." They lift up my spirit, fill my soul, satisfy my heart and mind. Not only that, they challenge me to change, first the thinking, then the behaviour. Most of all, they reveal God to me, the Lord Jesus Christ in ever increasing glory and majesty. As Simon Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:68
I did some online search on the KJV. There are some Christians who hold the view that the KJV is the only version we should all read. I believe that God works through many ways and that the many versions and translations that we have now are a blessing to mankind. My first bible was a gift from my Christian classmate Jennifer. A non-christian who knew little of Christianity except what the school curriculum taught, which was precious little, I came to know God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through reading the Living Bible, a paraphrase by Kenneth Taylor. Later, I went on to the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, the New Living Translation and the Amplified Bible. Debates continue on the positive and negative qualities of the different versions (see the KJV only , the Living Bible, and why so many translations links). I thank God that He has enabled various people through the ages to write all these and also to translate into the many languages and tongues of the people groups of the world so that all men and women and children may be able to read His word and come to know Him. He is a God who speaks in all our languages and He is not silent!
From the KJV link, I found out more about King James, the King who commissioned the translation of the Authorized King James Version (KJV) of 1611. English history forgotten or not learned before, including the interesting fact that he was a friend and patron of William Shakespeare, who of course used the KJV and wrote Macbeth based on his family history in Scoland (King James was a Scot and Macbeth was known as the Scottish play.) Well, guess what, I'm reading Macbeth now, aloud, and enjoying it a lot, in between others like Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
War
Finally finished Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, Book 1 of his Dark Materials. I could only read it whenever I went to the loo. It wasn't an easy book for me, but I persisted to the end because the boys had already finished all 3 of his books. It wasn't easy reading because it was set in a world like ours but not exactly like it, and it had strange creatures and concepts coming from the writer's fertile imagination. It is a world where the Church is a powerful entity but God is unknown. Lyra is a 12 yr old girl who thrown into an adventure which reveals truths about her parents and propels her to search for more about her world and other worlds.
In the midst of all that, I found a nugget: Serafina Pekkala, the Queen of a clan of witches, is talking to Lee Scoresby, a freelance aviationist adventurer, someone like Han Solo of the Star Wars series ...
In the midst of all that, I found a nugget: Serafina Pekkala, the Queen of a clan of witches, is talking to Lee Scoresby, a freelance aviationist adventurer, someone like Han Solo of the Star Wars series ...
"Mr. Scoresby," said the witch, "I wish I could answer your question. All I can say is that all of us, humans, witches, bears, are engaged in a war already, although not all of us know it. Whether you find danger on Svalbard or whether you fly off unharmed, you are a recruit, under arms, a soldier."This struck me because it is true of this our world. We are in a war, whether we like it or not. Ever since the fall of man, there has been a war between good and evil, God and the Evil One, Truth and Falsehood, Light and Darkness. But unlike the Muslim or what they call the Islamist terrorist, the Bible speaks of a war and a struggle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. That is why the Apostle Paul tells us to:
"Well, that seems kinda precipitate. Seems to me a man should have a choice whether to take up arms or not."
"We have no more choice in that than in whether or not to be born."
( pg 270)
"... be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.... so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10-18)We are in a war; question is, whose side are we on? Will each of us be able to say, at the end of our lives, like Paul, that "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"?
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Sweet
How sweet indeed! Like the old song goes:
"How sweet to hold a new born baby
And feel the pride and joy (s)he brings!
But sweeter still the calm assurance
This child can face uncertain days
Because He lives!"
Websurfing, I found out that some people are making a movie coming out 6-6-06 the story of which is that Jesus Christ never existed in history. It is all a fraud, a myth, a great deception dreamt up by the church for power and wealth. Something like Dan Brown' and his ilk. The war is getting fiercer!
And here I am, rejoicing that Jesus not only lived on earth 2000 years ago, but that He died for me and all who believe in Him, and that He rose from the dead and He lives on today. I have read His words and about His life in the Book and I know He lives.
What if He hadn't existed, never came and did what He did and spoke the words He did? How dark the world then! Without the knowledge of truth or love , without hope.
"How sweet to hold a new born baby
And feel the pride and joy (s)he brings!
But sweeter still the calm assurance
This child can face uncertain days
Because He lives!"
Websurfing, I found out that some people are making a movie coming out 6-6-06 the story of which is that Jesus Christ never existed in history. It is all a fraud, a myth, a great deception dreamt up by the church for power and wealth. Something like Dan Brown' and his ilk. The war is getting fiercer!
And here I am, rejoicing that Jesus not only lived on earth 2000 years ago, but that He died for me and all who believe in Him, and that He rose from the dead and He lives on today. I have read His words and about His life in the Book and I know He lives.
What if He hadn't existed, never came and did what He did and spoke the words He did? How dark the world then! Without the knowledge of truth or love , without hope.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Everybody's blogging 2 : Even GWB!
Yep, even the Prez of the US Mr George W. Bush is into blogging. Believe it or not. Read it here. Heh, heh.
Everybody's blogging
I haven't been writing because, inter alia, I've been too busy reading other people's blogs. I've gotten over the first flush of bloggomania, but some other people I know have just got it. Like my dear husband who started his blog quietly while I was wondering when he was going to, and now has overtaken me. He writes far better. Go read his blog. (Elliot just helped me put a link here because I didn't know how to. I'm so proud of him!!! I'm going to buy him a new computer!!! Gotta go!! [written by Elliot, of course])
Jessey Ding started just yesterday, after Elliot told her about his blog. Jessey's is here. And Ethan puts his writings and reviews in his. (Hey, I just learned how to put links, okay?) Ethan keeps an online journal which is TOP SECRET.
Besides these, I also read others like Chrenkoff and Winds of Change (both recently discovered), Eric Mudasi's World View , Screenshots and Malaysiakini (daily) etc.
So much happening at home and abroad, I really need time and space to think.
Jessey Ding started just yesterday, after Elliot told her about his blog. Jessey's is here. And Ethan puts his writings and reviews in his. (Hey, I just learned how to put links, okay?) Ethan keeps an online journal which is TOP SECRET.
Besides these, I also read others like Chrenkoff and Winds of Change (both recently discovered), Eric Mudasi's World View , Screenshots and Malaysiakini (daily) etc.
So much happening at home and abroad, I really need time and space to think.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Only 59, but his body had been abused through years of diseases (diabetes, schizophrenia) and heavy smoking.
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Jesus said and asked of Martha, the sister of the dead Lazarus, and of each one of us. Do you believe this? John had answered Yes, just like Martha. So I think the pastor is right.
Paul wrote on the resurrection of the dead: "The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." ( 1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
Imagine, John with a brand new body, set free from his sufferings, in a place where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain, where the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 21: 1-4)
So there were a few tears, especially for Malliga and Nisha, their 13 year old daughter, and especially at the sight of his body in the coffin, but there was a peace that passes understanding and hope and much singing of joyful songs. He had wanted happy songs at his funeral and he got it, in Tamil mostly and in English.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Good news and bad news
Yesterday morning, got a call from Ipoh. Malliga said John Thava is now in the hospital with bleeding in the brain and water in the lungs. It didn't look good. He has diabetes and had both legs amputated some time ago. Now he's in a coma in the ICU in the Ipoh GH.
This morning I just read the news online: CNN reported that another 6 civilians have been abducted and threatened with beheading by an obscure muslim militant group. Oh no! Look what the Philippines have done! And I hope it isn't true what was rumoured earlier: that the Malaysian government gave $5 million of the $6 million which the Philippines paid to the kidnappers to release the Filipino hostage, besides withdrawing their troops. It made me weep. What will $6 million buy these barbarians now? More weapons, bombs, equipment to destroy and kill, that's what.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Words in red
Lifebuilders Intermediate group at Hope EFC.
Sunday mornings at 11, we dig into our bibles and look at the words in red, the words of Christ: His parables, declarations, sermon on the mount. We did the first beatitude last Sunday: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
Lord, teach us to be poor in spirit, to be humble not proud, to realize our lostness and sin against You, and to call upon You for mercy, like the Prodigal Son who came to his senses and the tax collector who went away from the temple justified by You, rather than the Pharisee.
Celebrating life and food
Liow family before dinner for Joni and Papa's b'days
When the Liows gather, it's crab time! We had two varieties of crabs this time with steamed fish, roast duck, tofu, etc. 12 dishes in all. Everyone is here except for Sook Fern and Chin Hoe who are in KK. Joni is 18 ( the pretty one in the white blouse, of course) and Papa, 72. CH's brother Chin Peng joined us as he happened to be visiting from Penang. He took the photo.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Sensible children bring joy to their father
Yesterday, D's Dad was in the Sunway Medical Centre for an angiogram (noun: the roentgenographic visualization of the blood vessels after injection of a radiopaque substance - merriam-webster online dictionary) and chemo-embolisation treatment. The latter, according to Albert, the doctor son, is "treating the tumour locally thru' injecting chemo agents directly to blood vessels supplying the tumour, then blocking
the vessels off (ie. embolising it) with extremely small beads. That effectively meant destroying the tumor cells both by the drugs as well as killing it by cutting off the blood supply." The procedure was done smoothly, "as planned," according to the radiologist who did it. He's an old classmate of Albert.
As eldest son, Sunny in the Penang Baptist Seminary, emailed, "Glad to have a doctor in the family and able to make the necessary arrangements in this time of need." Indeed, it has been Albert who has been ensuring that his dad got the best medical advice and treatment available. Maylyn, the youngest daughter, has put off her return to work in Singapore and stayed with dad in the hospital. The costs will be borne by all the 6 children contributing to "a fund for our parents care in the last years of their lives."
Sensible children bring joy to their father; foolish children despise their mother.
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success. Proverbs 15:20, 22(New Living Translation)
the vessels off (ie. embolising it) with extremely small beads. That effectively meant destroying the tumor cells both by the drugs as well as killing it by cutting off the blood supply." The procedure was done smoothly, "as planned," according to the radiologist who did it. He's an old classmate of Albert.
As eldest son, Sunny in the Penang Baptist Seminary, emailed, "Glad to have a doctor in the family and able to make the necessary arrangements in this time of need." Indeed, it has been Albert who has been ensuring that his dad got the best medical advice and treatment available. Maylyn, the youngest daughter, has put off her return to work in Singapore and stayed with dad in the hospital. The costs will be borne by all the 6 children contributing to "a fund for our parents care in the last years of their lives."
Sensible children bring joy to their father; foolish children despise their mother.
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success. Proverbs 15:20, 22(New Living Translation)
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Reading with the boys
I'm doing my best but it's getting hard keeping up with the boys. They're reading faster than I can and finishing whole novels before I can even start on them. I used to read every book with them together or after, and sometimes, before they did, to check it out. D and I read the first Harry Potter book first before letting them go at it. After that, it has been a losing race for us. They finished Lord of the Rings before D. I gave up somewhere in the first book, and decided to just enjoy the movies. Besides, there was always Elliot sitting next to me in the cinema telling me what was going to happen next or what was not faithful to the book.
Now as we can't keep up, we read book reviews and check out authors online or elsewhere, and teach them to do the same. In view of the limited time we have each day, we have to be selective: some books are worth second and more reads, others only once, still others not worth finishing or even starting on them. We also want to be able to discuss the books and their ideas, to enjoy reading with a critical mind.
So I just finished The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Ethan had picked it at the Times sales we went to a fortnight ago; it's a New York Times bestseller he had come across and was keen to find out what it's about. D okayed it (he said no to Jeffrey Archer). The boys finished it in days and went online to find out more about Leonardo da Vinci and other parties named in the book, see the places and the paintings, read the reviews. It's definitely a blockbuster suspense thriller, written with Hollywood in mind. In fact, they've already started working on the movie based on the book. But as for the contents: the author and his protagonist, having rejected the Bible and its message about Jesus as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, are left with a mixed bag of wishy-washy esoteric ideas about worshipping the sun and mother nature, the goddess, murmurs of spirits in the darkness, forgotten words echoed...a woman's voice...the wisdom of the ages...whispering up from the chasms of the earth.
The blurbs praise the book with words like smart, brainy, clever, erudite. Superficially, it appears to be, with scholarly explanations, heroes with spunk and wit, outsmarting their pursuers, solving puzzles and mysteries with their superior intelligence. Question is: Is that true wisdom? The psalmist said, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" Psalm 14:1. The footnote states that the Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient. Thus wisdom is not merely intellectual head knowledge; it includes moral character. It's not just words, it's also behaviour and actions.
As it is written in Romans 1:18-32,
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Now as we can't keep up, we read book reviews and check out authors online or elsewhere, and teach them to do the same. In view of the limited time we have each day, we have to be selective: some books are worth second and more reads, others only once, still others not worth finishing or even starting on them. We also want to be able to discuss the books and their ideas, to enjoy reading with a critical mind.
So I just finished The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Ethan had picked it at the Times sales we went to a fortnight ago; it's a New York Times bestseller he had come across and was keen to find out what it's about. D okayed it (he said no to Jeffrey Archer). The boys finished it in days and went online to find out more about Leonardo da Vinci and other parties named in the book, see the places and the paintings, read the reviews. It's definitely a blockbuster suspense thriller, written with Hollywood in mind. In fact, they've already started working on the movie based on the book. But as for the contents: the author and his protagonist, having rejected the Bible and its message about Jesus as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, are left with a mixed bag of wishy-washy esoteric ideas about worshipping the sun and mother nature, the goddess, murmurs of spirits in the darkness, forgotten words echoed...a woman's voice...the wisdom of the ages...whispering up from the chasms of the earth.
The blurbs praise the book with words like smart, brainy, clever, erudite. Superficially, it appears to be, with scholarly explanations, heroes with spunk and wit, outsmarting their pursuers, solving puzzles and mysteries with their superior intelligence. Question is: Is that true wisdom? The psalmist said, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" Psalm 14:1. The footnote states that the Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient. Thus wisdom is not merely intellectual head knowledge; it includes moral character. It's not just words, it's also behaviour and actions.
As it is written in Romans 1:18-32,
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Thursday, July 08, 2004
The Hous
The Hou and Tan families
Here we are, the Hou and Tan families, at our last get-together on the Expressions4 Concert organised by our church Hope EFC on June 19. Elliot played 2 piano pieces, Ethan drums in a jazz piece (The girl from Ipanema) with Joshua on piano and Andrew on conga. They called themselves Jaeth. J and A also played classical pieces on the piano, and Caleb, the youngest Hou son, played the violin and piano. There were other participants, notably the guests of honour who were a jazz band comprising Andrew William, Ethan's drum teacher, and his 2 friends on electric guitar and bass guitar. So we had classical, pop, jazz and also rock, really loud rock, by our own youth (Bruce, Jonesy, James and Jessy aka the Catalyst).
It's kind of appropriate that we took this picture before the Hous left for the US the next week on June 27 because right from the very first Expressions concert we had 4 years ago, they have been taking up a large part of the programme, with piano, erhu (Andrew), conga (J & A), violin, even though they go to a different church. The next concert won't be the same without them.
Though they are now right on the other side of the globe in Washington state, it's as if they haven't left, thanks to technology. While they were here, even though we don't meet up that often, the boys chat a lot online. Now, not only do they talk by instant messengers, they have audio conversations. Tuesday morning (Monday night over there), while I was out, the 5 of them had a 40 minute conversation! That would have cost a pretty penny if they had used the old phone, but it was totally foc, other than the monthly bill for the internet usage.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Murder in Malaysia
Another senseless murder on the front page of the Star today: a law student home on vacation was beaten to death by a group of men he had apparently confronted because he heard them teasing him as he walked by a restaurant with his girlfriend.
It seems like Malaysia is a very dangerous place to come back to for those who have returned from abroad or are visiting. Canny Ong was here on a short visit from her residence in the US when she was abducted, raped and killed. Earlier there was a Malay woman who had come from her studies in the UK and was working here when she was also raped and killed in a bus. A South African diplomat was abducted and robbed and held for several days before he was released. Tourists have had their bags snatched and I remember at least one who was killed in the process. O Malaysia, wherefore art thou, my country?
If it is dangerous for the visitors, how then for the locals? Not a day passes by without someone being murdered, raped, assaulted, robbed, somewhere in this country. It can be 91 year old grandmother, a manager, a maid, a teenage boy or girl, or a toddler or baby. Was it our former Prime Minister who had blithely said that murder was not part of our culture? Well, murder is certainly part and parcel of Cain's culture, Cain the first murderer, which is that of the world. We are part of the human race. What hubris to think that we are better than others, more civilised, more cultured?
"There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) Lord, have mercy on this land, the government and the people. Forgive us our pride and self-righteousness, our unjust laws and judicial process, our ill-treatment and abuse of immigrant workers, asylum seekers and visitors, the old, the young, the disabled, the poor, the aborigines. Let Your light shine through this land, let Your love and peace prevail.
It seems like Malaysia is a very dangerous place to come back to for those who have returned from abroad or are visiting. Canny Ong was here on a short visit from her residence in the US when she was abducted, raped and killed. Earlier there was a Malay woman who had come from her studies in the UK and was working here when she was also raped and killed in a bus. A South African diplomat was abducted and robbed and held for several days before he was released. Tourists have had their bags snatched and I remember at least one who was killed in the process. O Malaysia, wherefore art thou, my country?
If it is dangerous for the visitors, how then for the locals? Not a day passes by without someone being murdered, raped, assaulted, robbed, somewhere in this country. It can be 91 year old grandmother, a manager, a maid, a teenage boy or girl, or a toddler or baby. Was it our former Prime Minister who had blithely said that murder was not part of our culture? Well, murder is certainly part and parcel of Cain's culture, Cain the first murderer, which is that of the world. We are part of the human race. What hubris to think that we are better than others, more civilised, more cultured?
"There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) Lord, have mercy on this land, the government and the people. Forgive us our pride and self-righteousness, our unjust laws and judicial process, our ill-treatment and abuse of immigrant workers, asylum seekers and visitors, the old, the young, the disabled, the poor, the aborigines. Let Your light shine through this land, let Your love and peace prevail.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Murder Mysteries
Today is D's birthday, he who doesn't believe in making a big fuss of days and anniversaries. Still, Happy Birdday, dear, and Many Happy Returns! Pray that you may grow wiser and more like Christ each new day.
Lately, D has taken to reading murder mysteries, following my good example. He's always been reading tomes on theology, philosophy, education, especially home education, apologetics, Darwinism and creation science... He started with PD James' Death in Holy Orders, then bought Michael Connelly's Lost Light to compare between a British and an American murder mystery. James is slow, philosophical and eloquent while Connelly reads like a movie thriller with more action and drama. Now he's reading In the Presence of the Enemy written by Elizabeth George, a California resident whose mystery novels are set in England. EG's elegant, meticulously plotted Scotland Yard murder mysteries have been compared favourably with PD James' polished literary eloquence.
For a while, a few months ago, I was enamoured of both these ladies, especially with PD who was past 80 years old when Death in Holy Orders was published in 2001. Both books, together with several other novels, had been given by Suseela who had bought them second hand from Payless Books and finished with them. After that intro to PD, I found other titles, including an Omnibus PD James, and have read the following:
Death of an Expert Witness, Shroud for a Nightingale, The Skull beneath the Skin, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, Original Sin.
Of EG's, I've only read one more of her many: Deception on His Mind.
Satisfying, gratifying, and instructive.
What you learn: that in a murder case, one, everyone is a suspect, especially the immediate family and near relations and friends. Everyone is capable of murder, given the circumstances and opportunity.
Two, there are no secrets after a murder is discovered. The investigator probes and digs and unveils past events, actions, words... all is laid bare and will be revealed in a court of law if someone is charged with the murder. Witness the recent murder trials of Canny Ong, Noritta Samsuddin.
I had enough of murder mysteries after a while, but now I've begun The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's a collection of stories written not by Conan Doyle but in the Conan Doyle style by various bestselling authors such as Anne Perry, Stephen King, Edward D. Hoch. So far the first 3 stories are good enough to make me want to go on with the 14 more.
Concerning my father-in-law, further tests have revealed that the cancer is confined to one lobe of the liver and is operable. Since he is a healthy 77 yr old (age according to the medical report), the doc recommends it, although statistically, the mortality rate for these kinds of operations is 20%, i.e. one in five don't make it out of the operating room alive. D's brothers and the 2 sisters in Singapore are now communicating by email and phone and praying.
Lately, D has taken to reading murder mysteries, following my good example. He's always been reading tomes on theology, philosophy, education, especially home education, apologetics, Darwinism and creation science... He started with PD James' Death in Holy Orders, then bought Michael Connelly's Lost Light to compare between a British and an American murder mystery. James is slow, philosophical and eloquent while Connelly reads like a movie thriller with more action and drama. Now he's reading In the Presence of the Enemy written by Elizabeth George, a California resident whose mystery novels are set in England. EG's elegant, meticulously plotted Scotland Yard murder mysteries have been compared favourably with PD James' polished literary eloquence.
For a while, a few months ago, I was enamoured of both these ladies, especially with PD who was past 80 years old when Death in Holy Orders was published in 2001. Both books, together with several other novels, had been given by Suseela who had bought them second hand from Payless Books and finished with them. After that intro to PD, I found other titles, including an Omnibus PD James, and have read the following:
Death of an Expert Witness, Shroud for a Nightingale, The Skull beneath the Skin, A Taste for Death, Devices and Desires, Original Sin.
Of EG's, I've only read one more of her many: Deception on His Mind.
Satisfying, gratifying, and instructive.
What you learn: that in a murder case, one, everyone is a suspect, especially the immediate family and near relations and friends. Everyone is capable of murder, given the circumstances and opportunity.
Two, there are no secrets after a murder is discovered. The investigator probes and digs and unveils past events, actions, words... all is laid bare and will be revealed in a court of law if someone is charged with the murder. Witness the recent murder trials of Canny Ong, Noritta Samsuddin.
I had enough of murder mysteries after a while, but now I've begun The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's a collection of stories written not by Conan Doyle but in the Conan Doyle style by various bestselling authors such as Anne Perry, Stephen King, Edward D. Hoch. So far the first 3 stories are good enough to make me want to go on with the 14 more.
Concerning my father-in-law, further tests have revealed that the cancer is confined to one lobe of the liver and is operable. Since he is a healthy 77 yr old (age according to the medical report), the doc recommends it, although statistically, the mortality rate for these kinds of operations is 20%, i.e. one in five don't make it out of the operating room alive. D's brothers and the 2 sisters in Singapore are now communicating by email and phone and praying.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Birthday and departure date and books and heaven
Yesterday was my birthday and I spent most of it in my favourite places: bookshops! Lunchtime, I took the boys to MPH at Jaya Jusco to use the 15% voucher which can only be used on a card member's birthdate. I bought Dorling Kindersley's 1000 Inventions & Discoveries. It's more for the boys than for me.
After a quick dinner at the Wangsa Square hawkers and dropping off the boys for their Malay language tuition, David and I drove to KLCC to visit the Times and Kinokuniya book stores. Times had sent a birthday voucher, so I bought Volume 7 of the Encyclopedia of Malaysia series: Early Modern History [1800-1940. David bought a Teach Yourself Jazz book from Kinokuniya and got a lovely big yellow umbrella with the words "Teach Yourself" on it Free. How appropriate: We are homeschoolers, and we teach ourselves!
So it's not just me, but D and the boys too, who love books, nay, are crazy about them, and do not mind spending on them. I give books for birthdays and Christmas most of the time, and we lend them out regularly. We also receive a lot of books as gifts (Sook Fern has given one which I have yet to collect from Si Khoon's later), and as second hand donations - homeschool books, novels etc. which we either use ourselves, give away or loan out.
So, I was thinking that when I go to heaven, Lord, I'll probably be happy to work in some industry to do with books, like a library, a bookshop or a school? Or maybe I could be a scribe or some kind of writer. Here and now, I'm thankful for what the Lord has given me: a husband who loves books and does not stinge on buying good books, boys who have come to love reading and enjoying good books, and homeschooling which allows us to read and learn together and enjoy great literature.
Talking about heaven, last Saturday, we received news that D's father, the boys' 79 year old Kong Kong, has liver cancer. He had been losing weight for some days and Albert, D's younger bro who's a gynae, arranged for him to have a medical checkup that morning. Tomorrow the results from the tests will come out and give a clearer picture of his condition and what may be done. According to Albert, at his advanced age, not much can be done and it can be quite a fast decline in health. My father in law has taken the news calmly apparently and seems prepared to wait for "the eventuality". He hasn't told his wife yet though, and the 4 sons are planning to meet with him and mother and tell her after the second opinion results are confimed tomorrow night. It will mean changes and adjustments have to be made.
When I shared with Jessy, my downstairs homeschool mom and prayer partner, she prayed for healing and asked forgiveness for us saying that "nothing much can be done". Strangely indeed, none of us, including father in law, cried out instinctively for healing from God. Why not? D said that death is also a healing from God. It is a release from the trials of this life, the end of a long hard race...as Paul said, " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race..." I think that uppermost in all our minds is that God's will be done and His name be glorified, whether in life or death.
Si Khoon, my ever optimistic bro, told me over the phone last night about a 60 something wife of his client who had just overcome serious liver cancer using a new powerful drug. The whole treatment costs over RM80,000. Yuen Pin, D's dentist cousin, whose Dad also had liver cancer, had a different tale. Her Dad decided not to undergo any treatment but let the disease take its course, with only pain killers to ease him. He died within 4 months of the diagnosis. But, YP said, those 4 months were the most precious memories she has of him and the family. There was time and opportunity to say many things left unsaid so long, and to prepare his widow and children for life without him, and for him to prepare himself for life in heaven.
I think that is the grace of God: for Him to give us this time of preparation with Father. It's better than for him to drop dead of a heart attack or of an accident and leave us suddenly. That was what happened last Sunday morning when Lingam got a phone call just as the sermon was about to start, and it turned out his younger brother had just died of a heart attack in the hospital, and he had to leave then.
Today is also the day Linda, a 40 something wife and mother of 2 grown sons, is going through her second course of chemotherapy at the UH to fight the cancer in her liver. Her first course was against the cancer of the colon some time back. This time the drug is more aggressive and powerful, and we're praying that the side effects will be minimal and bearable.
After a quick dinner at the Wangsa Square hawkers and dropping off the boys for their Malay language tuition, David and I drove to KLCC to visit the Times and Kinokuniya book stores. Times had sent a birthday voucher, so I bought Volume 7 of the Encyclopedia of Malaysia series: Early Modern History [1800-1940. David bought a Teach Yourself Jazz book from Kinokuniya and got a lovely big yellow umbrella with the words "Teach Yourself" on it Free. How appropriate: We are homeschoolers, and we teach ourselves!
So it's not just me, but D and the boys too, who love books, nay, are crazy about them, and do not mind spending on them. I give books for birthdays and Christmas most of the time, and we lend them out regularly. We also receive a lot of books as gifts (Sook Fern has given one which I have yet to collect from Si Khoon's later), and as second hand donations - homeschool books, novels etc. which we either use ourselves, give away or loan out.
So, I was thinking that when I go to heaven, Lord, I'll probably be happy to work in some industry to do with books, like a library, a bookshop or a school? Or maybe I could be a scribe or some kind of writer. Here and now, I'm thankful for what the Lord has given me: a husband who loves books and does not stinge on buying good books, boys who have come to love reading and enjoying good books, and homeschooling which allows us to read and learn together and enjoy great literature.
Talking about heaven, last Saturday, we received news that D's father, the boys' 79 year old Kong Kong, has liver cancer. He had been losing weight for some days and Albert, D's younger bro who's a gynae, arranged for him to have a medical checkup that morning. Tomorrow the results from the tests will come out and give a clearer picture of his condition and what may be done. According to Albert, at his advanced age, not much can be done and it can be quite a fast decline in health. My father in law has taken the news calmly apparently and seems prepared to wait for "the eventuality". He hasn't told his wife yet though, and the 4 sons are planning to meet with him and mother and tell her after the second opinion results are confimed tomorrow night. It will mean changes and adjustments have to be made.
When I shared with Jessy, my downstairs homeschool mom and prayer partner, she prayed for healing and asked forgiveness for us saying that "nothing much can be done". Strangely indeed, none of us, including father in law, cried out instinctively for healing from God. Why not? D said that death is also a healing from God. It is a release from the trials of this life, the end of a long hard race...as Paul said, " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race..." I think that uppermost in all our minds is that God's will be done and His name be glorified, whether in life or death.
Si Khoon, my ever optimistic bro, told me over the phone last night about a 60 something wife of his client who had just overcome serious liver cancer using a new powerful drug. The whole treatment costs over RM80,000. Yuen Pin, D's dentist cousin, whose Dad also had liver cancer, had a different tale. Her Dad decided not to undergo any treatment but let the disease take its course, with only pain killers to ease him. He died within 4 months of the diagnosis. But, YP said, those 4 months were the most precious memories she has of him and the family. There was time and opportunity to say many things left unsaid so long, and to prepare his widow and children for life without him, and for him to prepare himself for life in heaven.
I think that is the grace of God: for Him to give us this time of preparation with Father. It's better than for him to drop dead of a heart attack or of an accident and leave us suddenly. That was what happened last Sunday morning when Lingam got a phone call just as the sermon was about to start, and it turned out his younger brother had just died of a heart attack in the hospital, and he had to leave then.
Today is also the day Linda, a 40 something wife and mother of 2 grown sons, is going through her second course of chemotherapy at the UH to fight the cancer in her liver. Her first course was against the cancer of the colon some time back. This time the drug is more aggressive and powerful, and we're praying that the side effects will be minimal and bearable.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Pro -life or Pro-choice
I know! I haven't written for 9 days today. This is the life of a homeschool mum of 2 fast-growing always-hungry teenagers (Ethan is 14 and Elliot is 12) living in a 2500 sq ft apartment. So, as I've mentioned, I read in the toilet, and I take days and weeks to finish a book.
I finished Richard North Patterson's Protect and Defend a few days back. It's a thriller dealing with the divisive issue of abortion in the context of the politics of a new president of the US nominating a new chief justice to the Supreme Court.
The author is biased towards the pro-choice and paints a sympathetic picture of the lady lawyer who helps a teenage pregnant girl go to court to declare a state law mandating parental consent for a late term abortion unconstitutional and void. The parents of the girl appear in the court case in support of the law. The conversations, testimonies and cross-examinations are painful to read. The girl and her lawyer insist on an abortion because the foetus has been found to have hydrocephalus or water on the brain and may not survive long after birth. But the reason put forward for abortion is that the girl's mental health and reproductive rights may be infringed, i.e., there is a 5% chance of her becoming infertile if she were to have a classical C-section which is the only way of delivering such a foetus.
The parents argued that a life is a life and they were prepared to take care of the girl and the baby. Loss of the ability to have more babies is not to be compared with the loss of a life. One can always adopt.
The story was probably inspired by the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v Wade which involved two feminist lady lawyers (one of them named Sarah as in the book) helping or, you could say, using a pregnant young girl to challenge "the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life"
The decision of the Court effectually opened the gates to abortion on demand in the US. The majority judgment, written by Justice Harry A. Blackmun, is the most convoluted argument I've read recently, basing the right of a woman to abort on her right of privacy.
"The Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy. In a line of decisions, however, going back perhaps as far as Union Pacific R. Co. v. Botsford, 141 U. S. 250, 251 (1891), the Court has recognized that a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution.
"This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
"We, therefore, conclude that the right of personal privacy includes the abortion decision, but that this right is not unqualified and must be considered against important state interests in regulation."
Then he went on to find that a foetus is not legally a "person" and to divide the gestation period into three trimesters with differing rules as to how the State may regulate the right to abort.
I felt a little sick after reading all that as well as a few other websites on the subject. In Malaysia, abortion is generally illegal unless the doctors certify that continuation of pregnancy or delivery of the baby will threaten the life or physical or mental health of the woman. But the fact is, abortions take place every day here as in the US or Canada or elsewhere in the world.
To me, abortion is murder, or more precisely, infanticide: child-murder, the killing of an infant before or after birth. The pro-choicers will say, what about those who were raped, what about when it affects the physical or mental health of the pregnant, especially the very young females? It is not easy at all to answer these. I found a website www.standupgirl.com which was set up by a young girl to let "young women who've had or wanted an abortion tell their stories." "So you're pregnant, scared and alone?" Becky says "I know. I was there too, and I'd like to help." Now there's something pro-active and pro-life!
I finished Richard North Patterson's Protect and Defend a few days back. It's a thriller dealing with the divisive issue of abortion in the context of the politics of a new president of the US nominating a new chief justice to the Supreme Court.
The author is biased towards the pro-choice and paints a sympathetic picture of the lady lawyer who helps a teenage pregnant girl go to court to declare a state law mandating parental consent for a late term abortion unconstitutional and void. The parents of the girl appear in the court case in support of the law. The conversations, testimonies and cross-examinations are painful to read. The girl and her lawyer insist on an abortion because the foetus has been found to have hydrocephalus or water on the brain and may not survive long after birth. But the reason put forward for abortion is that the girl's mental health and reproductive rights may be infringed, i.e., there is a 5% chance of her becoming infertile if she were to have a classical C-section which is the only way of delivering such a foetus.
The parents argued that a life is a life and they were prepared to take care of the girl and the baby. Loss of the ability to have more babies is not to be compared with the loss of a life. One can always adopt.
The story was probably inspired by the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v Wade which involved two feminist lady lawyers (one of them named Sarah as in the book) helping or, you could say, using a pregnant young girl to challenge "the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life"
The decision of the Court effectually opened the gates to abortion on demand in the US. The majority judgment, written by Justice Harry A. Blackmun, is the most convoluted argument I've read recently, basing the right of a woman to abort on her right of privacy.
"The Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy. In a line of decisions, however, going back perhaps as far as Union Pacific R. Co. v. Botsford, 141 U. S. 250, 251 (1891), the Court has recognized that a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution.
"This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.
"We, therefore, conclude that the right of personal privacy includes the abortion decision, but that this right is not unqualified and must be considered against important state interests in regulation."
Then he went on to find that a foetus is not legally a "person" and to divide the gestation period into three trimesters with differing rules as to how the State may regulate the right to abort.
I felt a little sick after reading all that as well as a few other websites on the subject. In Malaysia, abortion is generally illegal unless the doctors certify that continuation of pregnancy or delivery of the baby will threaten the life or physical or mental health of the woman. But the fact is, abortions take place every day here as in the US or Canada or elsewhere in the world.
To me, abortion is murder, or more precisely, infanticide: child-murder, the killing of an infant before or after birth. The pro-choicers will say, what about those who were raped, what about when it affects the physical or mental health of the pregnant, especially the very young females? It is not easy at all to answer these. I found a website www.standupgirl.com which was set up by a young girl to let "young women who've had or wanted an abortion tell their stories." "So you're pregnant, scared and alone?" Becky says "I know. I was there too, and I'd like to help." Now there's something pro-active and pro-life!
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Singapore History
On the Nice bus from KL to Singapore last Wednesday, I started on, what else, a book by a Singaporean lawyer Philip Jeyaretnam. It's his third book, Abraham's Promise, (pub. 1995) about an old man, Abraham Isaac, who grew up in Singapore and lived through the Japanese Occupation and the politics of the newly independent Singapore. For a young man, the author certainly drew a credible character in Abraham and the times he lived in. It was like a walk through history, his own as well as that of the country.
I felt like I went through the time tunnel to the 50's and 60's too when we visited the Images of Singapore Museum on Sentosa Island. The mannequins were so well done they seemed almost alive. The whole display of the historical events and daily life in the streets and shops and festivals was artfully and superbly put together so that, as I said, I felt like I was back in those days when I was a child. I recognised kitchen implements and china, and a baby chair made of bamboo which doubled as a small table when turned over. Hey, I used to sit in that chair when I was a toddler!
Then suddenly, as we were walking along the exhibits showing the Japanese Occupation period and turned the corner, we saw... my name in big black print on a banner! It was the Sook Ching operation! It was to purge or wipe out the Chinese rebels. Under the operation, thousands of Chinese young men were rounded up and examined as to whether they were rebels or harmless. It was arbitrarily done, as those with glasses or those with tattoos may be deemed dangerous and sent to be killed. Those who passed the test were given a stamp on their bodies or clothes, a stamp of life.
When we came home and I did a google search on Japanese occupation and my name, wow! 342 results. I didn't know that my name meant "to eliminate" in Chinese. Did my parents when they gave me that name? I must ask them soon.
It was in Feb 1942, that fateful month in which the "impregnable fortress" fell, that the Japanese Imperial Army carried out an operation to purge people who were deemed anti-Japanese. Local Chinese came to term this as "Sook Ching" which, literally translated, means "to eliminate". The Chinese had supported the war effort in China through fund-raising campaigns and the boycott of Japanese goods. Besides that, they also served as volunteers in the defence of Singapore and Malaya. So they were the natural targets.(http://www.mindef.gov.sg/history/index.asp?cat=histdisp&id=1)
Quote
"...I will never understand how decisions affecting life and death could be taken so capriciously and casually. I had had a narrow escape from an exercise called "Sook Ching", meaning to "wipe out" rebels..."
Senior Minister, MR LEE KUAN YEW in "The Singapore Story - Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew".
The thought came to me too: what if my Dad had been killed in the war before he could marry my mother and before I, the eldest of his four children, could be conceived and born? Why I wouldn't be here then, I wouldn't exist! And neither would Ethan nor Elliot today.
No, I don't believe the decisions affecting life and death were arbitrary and capricious in God's view. They may have seemed so, to the human eye, but because I believe in a God who made and designed me and each and every one of us humans, they were not at all in God's plan and story. History is not merely the story of man but even more, it is His Story, His working in and through man.
I felt like I went through the time tunnel to the 50's and 60's too when we visited the Images of Singapore Museum on Sentosa Island. The mannequins were so well done they seemed almost alive. The whole display of the historical events and daily life in the streets and shops and festivals was artfully and superbly put together so that, as I said, I felt like I was back in those days when I was a child. I recognised kitchen implements and china, and a baby chair made of bamboo which doubled as a small table when turned over. Hey, I used to sit in that chair when I was a toddler!
Then suddenly, as we were walking along the exhibits showing the Japanese Occupation period and turned the corner, we saw... my name in big black print on a banner! It was the Sook Ching operation! It was to purge or wipe out the Chinese rebels. Under the operation, thousands of Chinese young men were rounded up and examined as to whether they were rebels or harmless. It was arbitrarily done, as those with glasses or those with tattoos may be deemed dangerous and sent to be killed. Those who passed the test were given a stamp on their bodies or clothes, a stamp of life.
When we came home and I did a google search on Japanese occupation and my name, wow! 342 results. I didn't know that my name meant "to eliminate" in Chinese. Did my parents when they gave me that name? I must ask them soon.
It was in Feb 1942, that fateful month in which the "impregnable fortress" fell, that the Japanese Imperial Army carried out an operation to purge people who were deemed anti-Japanese. Local Chinese came to term this as "Sook Ching" which, literally translated, means "to eliminate". The Chinese had supported the war effort in China through fund-raising campaigns and the boycott of Japanese goods. Besides that, they also served as volunteers in the defence of Singapore and Malaya. So they were the natural targets.(http://www.mindef.gov.sg/history/index.asp?cat=histdisp&id=1)
Quote
"...I will never understand how decisions affecting life and death could be taken so capriciously and casually. I had had a narrow escape from an exercise called "Sook Ching", meaning to "wipe out" rebels..."
Senior Minister, MR LEE KUAN YEW in "The Singapore Story - Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew".
The thought came to me too: what if my Dad had been killed in the war before he could marry my mother and before I, the eldest of his four children, could be conceived and born? Why I wouldn't be here then, I wouldn't exist! And neither would Ethan nor Elliot today.
No, I don't believe the decisions affecting life and death were arbitrary and capricious in God's view. They may have seemed so, to the human eye, but because I believe in a God who made and designed me and each and every one of us humans, they were not at all in God's plan and story. History is not merely the story of man but even more, it is His Story, His working in and through man.
Saturday, May 22, 2004
A fear that paralyses or a fear that liberates?
Just finished reading Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde by Harold Lamb (1954), one of the the boys' Sonlight Curriculum Yr 5 readers. This was a man who struck fear while he was alive in the 13th century, killing and ordering the killing of thousands. Years after his death, his name still stood for fear and his commands to conquer and vanquish, to wreak vengeance on his enemies were carried out by his sons, grandsons and generals. The word "horde" meaning a large crowd of people (n. sometimes disapproving) comes from the Mongol word "ordu".
"From the Roof of the World to far-off Baghdad the survivors lived in such fear that most of them no longer tried to protect themselves. The very sight of a nomad horseman made them helpless.
'I was on the road with seventeen other men,' one of them related. 'We saw a Tartar horseman coming up to us. He ordered us to tie up our companions - each man to bind another's arms behind his back. The others were beginning to obey him when I said to them, 'This man is alone. Let's kill him and escape.'
'They replied, 'We are too much afraid.'
''But this man will kill you,' I said.
'Still no one dared disobey the Tartar. So I killed him with a blow of my knife. Then we all ran away and saved ourselves.'" (page133)
Yes, there is a fear that paralyses: fear of men, what they can do to us, what others may say or think of us. If we seek the approval of men and their praise or honour, we will have no freedom to be truly ourselves or be truly at peace within. But there is a fear that sets us free from all other fears and lets us be ourselves.
Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 5, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matt 5:28-31)
Psalm 112: "Praise the LORD.
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.
...
He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." (Ps 112:1,7,8)
Proverbs 9: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Prov 9:10)
O Lord, teach me the fear of You, to delight in obeying your word, to be able to say with Peter and the early disciples, when the crunch comes, "We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
Update: Genghis Khan's mausoleum found - CNN report here.
"From the Roof of the World to far-off Baghdad the survivors lived in such fear that most of them no longer tried to protect themselves. The very sight of a nomad horseman made them helpless.
'I was on the road with seventeen other men,' one of them related. 'We saw a Tartar horseman coming up to us. He ordered us to tie up our companions - each man to bind another's arms behind his back. The others were beginning to obey him when I said to them, 'This man is alone. Let's kill him and escape.'
'They replied, 'We are too much afraid.'
''But this man will kill you,' I said.
'Still no one dared disobey the Tartar. So I killed him with a blow of my knife. Then we all ran away and saved ourselves.'" (page133)
Yes, there is a fear that paralyses: fear of men, what they can do to us, what others may say or think of us. If we seek the approval of men and their praise or honour, we will have no freedom to be truly ourselves or be truly at peace within. But there is a fear that sets us free from all other fears and lets us be ourselves.
Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 5, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matt 5:28-31)
Psalm 112: "Praise the LORD.
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.
...
He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." (Ps 112:1,7,8)
Proverbs 9: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Prov 9:10)
O Lord, teach me the fear of You, to delight in obeying your word, to be able to say with Peter and the early disciples, when the crunch comes, "We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
Update: Genghis Khan's mausoleum found - CNN report here.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Murder Most Foul
Murders, passion killings, assassinations, hired killings, suicide bombings, televised beheading... all these and more fill the papers and the online news daily, in this country and all over the world. How red our planet must look to God, with all the shed blood. It has been this way since the days of Adam and Eve, when Cain killed Abel, the first homicide,nay, fratricide, precedent to countless others. Now we have patricide, matricide, parricide, femicide, genocide, infanticide, suicide... and more.
Why, O God? Why do we go on hurting and killing one another?
Not too long after Jesus had been crucified, buried and resurrected, James wrote these words: "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)
And the prophet Jeremiah wrote many hundreds of years before Jesus came: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9)
He answered his question in the next verse when he quotes the Lord saying: "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
The crux of the matter is that we're all sons of our forefathers, Adam and Eve, and we all share the same nature and heart: deceitful, desperately corrupt, covetous, selfish and murderous.
Has this or that one committed murder? Condemn him not alone. We are all as guilty. Given the same circumstances and pressures and trials, who can say that we would not have done the same or worse.
Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders shall be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca (an Aramaic term of contempt)', is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, "You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matt. 5:21-22)
Who then can stand? Lord, we need you to save us and to give us the power and teach us to love, to truly love you and one another as you have loved us.
Why, O God? Why do we go on hurting and killing one another?
Not too long after Jesus had been crucified, buried and resurrected, James wrote these words: "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)
And the prophet Jeremiah wrote many hundreds of years before Jesus came: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9)
He answered his question in the next verse when he quotes the Lord saying: "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
The crux of the matter is that we're all sons of our forefathers, Adam and Eve, and we all share the same nature and heart: deceitful, desperately corrupt, covetous, selfish and murderous.
Has this or that one committed murder? Condemn him not alone. We are all as guilty. Given the same circumstances and pressures and trials, who can say that we would not have done the same or worse.
Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders shall be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca (an Aramaic term of contempt)', is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, "You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matt. 5:21-22)
Who then can stand? Lord, we need you to save us and to give us the power and teach us to love, to truly love you and one another as you have loved us.
Life, Death, Murder
At any one time, I’m reading several books, placed in different parts of the home. There are books in the toilet, the kitchen and in the living room. The one in the kitchen, which I read while I’m waiting for the water to boil or the food in the microwave to be done, is a G.K. Chesterton mystery by Kel Richards called “Murder in the Mummy’s Tomb”. It’s a fictitious story using the character of G.K. Chesterton and his wit and wisdom in the solving of a murder mystery.
Chesterton appears as a welcome blast of fresh air and real life after a few chapters of dry desert forgettable characters and conversations. The day after he arrives at the archaeological expedition in Egypt, the narrator, a young archaeologist named Flinders, tells him that someone has been murdered, stabbed to death, and comments, “It’s tragic.”
“Most assuredly. Murder is always tragic,” agrees Chesterton.
“A sad death,” Flinders says.
“You mistake my meaning. It is a nonsense to think of a death as tragic, since we shall all die. Life is a fatal condition. No one gets out of here alive. None of us shall escape death. No, the real tragedy is that a living man has now become a murderer.”
Then when Flinders says that it is extraordinary to think that the murderer may be a member of their expedition, Chesterton remarks that it is not strange at all, but entirely natural, in fact.
“Murder is the oldest crime of all. The inclination to murder runs in our blood. We should not be surprised that a race who will kill their God will kill each other. The truly remarkable thing is that so many of us succeed in exercising restraint and venting our homicidal passions in more innocent ways, such as kicking a doorpost or writing a poem.”
Chesterton appears as a welcome blast of fresh air and real life after a few chapters of dry desert forgettable characters and conversations. The day after he arrives at the archaeological expedition in Egypt, the narrator, a young archaeologist named Flinders, tells him that someone has been murdered, stabbed to death, and comments, “It’s tragic.”
“Most assuredly. Murder is always tragic,” agrees Chesterton.
“A sad death,” Flinders says.
“You mistake my meaning. It is a nonsense to think of a death as tragic, since we shall all die. Life is a fatal condition. No one gets out of here alive. None of us shall escape death. No, the real tragedy is that a living man has now become a murderer.”
Then when Flinders says that it is extraordinary to think that the murderer may be a member of their expedition, Chesterton remarks that it is not strange at all, but entirely natural, in fact.
“Murder is the oldest crime of all. The inclination to murder runs in our blood. We should not be surprised that a race who will kill their God will kill each other. The truly remarkable thing is that so many of us succeed in exercising restraint and venting our homicidal passions in more innocent ways, such as kicking a doorpost or writing a poem.”
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