1Chia Tze Yong shares her traditional Teochew Png Kuay recipe.

The Covenant Community Methodist Church Magazine

THE TANCOMMANDANTS

LIVING OUR FAITH AT WORK

The Way to Grow Independent Learners

MICA (P) No: 104/03/2013

LOAVES + FISHES APRIL/JUNE 2014

Exclusive Interview with

NICK VUJICIC

THE PARADOX OF PRAYER

THE TALE OF TWO BRAINS A Special Evening for Married Couples

Come spend time with your beloved over dinner and an evening's special programme.

Highlights include:A sumptuous Chinese dinnerLive music'A Tale of Two Brains' DVD presentation by Max GungarRenewing your marriage commitment to each other

Saturday, 16 August 20147 pmTemasek Club, 1 Portsdown RoadDress: Smart Casual$50 per couple

Register by Sunday, 3 August 2014Limited places

ORGANISED BY CCMC FAMILY LIFE MINISTRY

BRET

T D

AVIE

S CC

BY-

NC-

SA 2

.0

PORT

RAIT

: Ju

An

ITA

LA

gu

nA

CC

BY-n

C-SA

2.0

, B

REA

D A

RT g

EnER

ATED

AT

ww

w.B

REA

DA

RTPR

OJE

CT.

COm

Stir Up A HUnger (Matt. 5:6, ps. 51:10)

Day to night, You can turn the dark into light. You can take a soul that was lost and turn it around.

Lord, on my own, my heart can turn as hard as a stone, But You can make it tender again with Your love.

Stir up a hunger, Stir up a hunger in my heart.

nothing will satisfy me, nothing else will do.

Stir up a hunger, A hunger in my heart.

Stir up a hunger in my heart For more of You.

•

Paul Baloche and Rita Baloche

4 5

CONTENTSFATHERHOODInfluencing Generations,Impacting Nations6

LIVING OUR FAITH AT WORK16

COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS,CHRISTIAN SISTERSA journey of friendship and faith20

THE TANCOMMANDANTSA father and son team12

FATHER'S LOVEExclusive interview with Nick Vujicic10

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, - 1 Tim 2:1

CCMC PRAYER ENCOUNTERSTUESDAYS19 August16 September12 October11 November_

8 pmYouth Hall

OLI

VER

PEN

G C

C BY

-NC

2.0

6 7

Loaves + Fishes is published quarterly by Covenant Community Methodist Church

Level 4, Methodist Girls’ School11, Blackmore DriveSingapore 599986Tel: 64669652 Fax: 64667470Email: admin@ccmc.org.sgwww.ccmc.org.sg

MICA (P) No: 104/03/2013Printed by Oxford Graphic Printers Pte Ltd

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

EditorRev John Benedict Foo

Editorial AdvisorBG David Koh

Managing EditorGoh Eck Kheng

MembersChong Cheh HoonLeanne Pattiselanno

ArtistsAbigail GohGillian Goh

ContributorsChia Tze Yong Michelle ChianAnita Fam Rachel HauMichelle LeeLee Shu-LynLing Kin YewStephanie LowNgui May YeeDennis PeacockeManfred SeahPhoebe SeahSeow Jin KiatBill SyrioJason Wong

ON THE COVERLuke and Tim Tan

ention “Transformers” and almost all thoughts will inevitably centre on the transforming alien robots that have invaded our big movie screens with a series of science fiction films, the first having been released

in 2007 and the latest just this year. The name is derived from these robots’ innate ability to transform themselves into various forms to serve their specific purposes. Where we once viewed a transformer as simply that electrical apparatus used for stepping up or stepping down the voltage of an alternating current, the prevalent view now pertains to that species of sentient, living robotic beings (albeit fictitious) that originated from a distant planet.

So, why this talk about Transformers? That’s because we Christians can somehow look at ourselves as being ‘transformers’. Our Christian DNA requires us to transform. The Bible shows us that we are involved in the process of transformation. Our minds are being transformed. Part of Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to “… be transformed by the renewing of our minds….” Our lives are being transformed. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says we are “… being transformed into the same image [of Christ] from glory to glory….” Our physical bodies will also be transformed. Philippians 3:12 explains that it is Christ “… who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body….”

We’re told that the transforming power of the gospel of Christ can effect a total transformation of our hearts and characters. When we obediently follow Christ and seek to live out His teachings and commands, we will experience an absolute transformation. We become more like Christ.

As God’s community here in CCMC, our desire to be Christ’s disciples calls for that transformation to occur in us. Are you transforming? Join us as God’s people of CCMC to become ‘Transformers’ for God for His highest glory!

Rev John Benedict Foo

GOD'S TRANSFORMERS

REGULARS

Ask Abigail 39Crafts for Kids (pull out)Crumbs 48Good Things 40Getting to Know You 45Kitchen 46Manga Hero 36News Bites 42SOAP 15Songs & Singers 38Food for Thought 44To the Point 19

THE PARADOX OF PRAYER28

LOAVES+FISHES FEEDBACK

Loaves+Fishes wants to hear from you on a number of levels.

We are looking for people to join our editorial committee to plan and publish the magazine.

We are looking for people to contribute to the magazine on an ad hoc basis. If you have a recipe to share, a testimony (short or long) to give, something to publicise in the Good Thing pages, news to report, a Christian principle to edify our readers with, or any other piece of writing, we say "thank you" to you in advance.

SPENDING TIME WITH GOD32

We also want to hear from you about what you think about Loaves+Fishes.

Tell us what you like and what you don't. Tell us about what you want in future issues. Is there an article about a particular subject you'd like? Let us know. Is there a word that you would like illuminated by the Word through the To The Point Bible study page? Let us know too.

Help us make this magazine always relevant to you. Email us at ccmcloavesfishes@gmail.com.

GROWINGINDEPENDENT LEARNERS24

8 9

arthly fathers are privi-leged that we are given the same title as our Heavenly Father. We, His children, call God “Father”.

When we as men get married and have children, our children call us “father”. Have we wondered why our wives don’t get this privilege? Have we wondered why God would share this title with us earthly fathers? Have we considered the awesome responsibility that comes with carrying the title and role of “father”?

My understanding of the impor-tance that God places on earthly fa-thers is something that has grown over the years. I first learned it by observing my own earthly father working hard to feed his eight children (I am number 7), his wife, and his mother. Not only that, but he also inadvertently supported a village in China as my grandmoth-er used to secretly save the spare money that my father gave to her, and sent it back to the relatives in the village they had come from.

Many years later, when I started work as a prison officer in the former Changi Prison, I saw firsthand the impact of fatherless-ness. Initially, my conversations with long-term prisoners were more about trying to match the tattoos on their bodies with the gangs they belonged to, finding out where they got their drugs, and where they hid their guns or weapons. After satisfying this cu-riosity, my interest began to focus on their backgrounds, their lives, their childhood days and growing up years. I started to “see” dots becoming patterns – consequences to children resulting from break-down in parents’ marriages, harsh parenting, physical and emotional abuse. I saw fatherlessness on the faces and in the lives of many inmates. As the saying goes, “It is easier to build boys than to fix men.” Many of the prisoners did

not have fathers to help build their lives. Instead of the hearts of their fathers turned towards them as the Lord instructed in Malachi 4:5-6, their fathers had either turned away from them or turned against them. At times, I seemed to hear the Lord say, “If we can turn hearts of fathers to their children, then we can close down at least half the prisons in this nation.”

From prisons, I moved on to work with abused children and at-risk youths. For six years, I saw the pain caused to children and to fam-ilies as a result of fatherlessness. I came to know of children being beaten so badly that they ended up in hospital. I often wonder why a first world country like Singapore can have such brokenness. Why is it that the richer we get, the poorer we seem to become?

God’s solution for societyWhy did God give us dads the title of “father”? What was He thinking about when He entrusted us to car-ry this same title that He has given Himself? This was what I “heard” Him say to me one day: “Society sees fathers as the cause of many social problems. However, I am sending the spirit of Elijah to turn hearts of fathers to the children. Fathers SHALL BE the solution to these problems.” In fact, I heard Him say, “Fathers have ALWAYS been MY solution to the nations.”

There are two key Bible passag-es through which God has taught me the importance of fathers. In Malachi 4:5-6, we are told that when the hearts of the fathers are turned to their children, the land will not be struck with a curse. That means when fathers are in-volved in their children’s lives, the land and the society that they live in, and are part of, will be strong.

It is interesting to note that God sent the prophet Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers. As I sought understanding on why God used

FATHERHOOD

Influencing Generations, Impacting NationsJASON WONG

Elijah and not other prophets, I received the following revelation. Firstly, when we speak of Elijah, we usually also think of Elisha. Elisha was so inspired by what he saw in the life of Elijah that he asked for a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9).

How many of our children can look to their earthly fathers and ask for a double portion? Children who are abused and neglected DO NOT need and DO NOT want a double portion from their fathers. Children need heroes and good role models. If not, our children will look towards the world for he-roes to worship. If each generation receives a double portion and a double anointing from the previ-ous generation, the nation will be transformed in no time!

Secondly, Elijah was sent be-cause it was God’s desire to “father the fatherless” in our midst. During the time of famine, God sent Elijah to a widow’s house (1 Kings 17). This widow and her fatherless son were living out their last days when God sent Elijah to care and provide for them. When the son died a physical death later (1 Kings 17:17), Elijah was present to raise him to life again. This represents the hopelessness that is tangible when fathers are not around, but God will send spiritual fathers and father-figures to these fatherless families and “raise these children from their death”, restoring the destinies of these children.

Thirdly, Elijah was sent to confront Jezebel and the false prophets who had brought down the whole nation of Israel with their idolatry and Baal worship. There are forces in this nation that are seeking to destroy families, the very foundation of our society. The forces that attack marriages and families are growing stronger each day, partly because we have done nothing to confront their influ-ence. God warned us in Revelation

CARR

IE K

ELLE

NBE

RGER

2 C

C BY

2.0

10 11

2:20 that we must not tolerate the spirit of Jezebel – “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she is seducing my servants into sexual immorality…” Fathers, like Elijah of old, have to rise up and confront the forces of evil, by turning away from immorality and turning their hearts to their wife and children.

CALLEd To BLESS THE NATIoNSAnother passage that we can draw important lessons from concern-ing the importance of fathers is Genesis 18:18-19. We often hear politicians and family-life edu-cators state that “Family is the basic building block of society” or “Family is the bedrock of a nation”, or “When family goes, the nation goes.” Is this biblical? Is there a passage in the Bible that confirms this? In fact, not only does Genesis 18 speak of this truth, it gives em-phasis to the role played by fathers.

Genesis 18:18 records that God appeared to Abraham and said to him, “Abraham shall become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.” What would you do if God told you that you would be a great nation? In fact, not just any great nation, but one that blesses the nations around you? Well, I would probably go for a Masters in Education since we all know that building good schools is important for nation building. Maybe I would also do a Phd in law, as we need good laws to govern a nation well. A postgrad degree in Business would be most helpful as we need to build a strong economy to create jobs. What about establishing a strong military force to defend the nation? What about training in Public Policy, and so on? There would be so many important areas to learn and master in order to build a strong nation that bless-es other nations. But wait, is this

God’s strategy to building a strong nation? Well, His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts!

The secret to building a great and powerful nation lies in verse 19 – “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.” The secret is responsible and intentional fa-therhood! The secret is for fathers to teach their children and their children’s children the ways of the Lord! It is clear from this passage that fathers are God’s secret weap-on to positively influence genera-tions and impact nations!

When we direct our children in the Word and the ways of the Lord, our children will bring these truths into the various spheres of society – the schools, the arts and media, the government, the business sectors, the communica-tions field, and of course, their own families. Instead of being adversely influenced and contaminated by the prevailing pop culture and the spirit of lawlessness so evident in today’s society, our children will be able to bring transformation to every sphere of society with godly and kingdom values.

Without the hearts of fathers turned to their children to impart God’s truths and help them to find and fulfill their destinies, the land will be struck with a curse. This is evident when we read the preced-ing verses of Genesis 18:18-19 and the verses that follow after.

“When the men (angels) got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom...” (Gen 18:16) Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me” (Gen 18:20-21).

When God revealed to Abraham what it takes to build a strong nation, He was actually on His way to destroy two cities. What sins did the people of these two cities com-mit? Jude 1:7 tells us that “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surround-ing towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.” And what was the perversion? one of these is recorded in Genesis 19:4-5, “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom – both young and old – surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

God has warned us that sexual immorality and perversion will destroy cities and nations. He has also revealed to us that turning the hearts of fathers to their children will build a great and powerful na-tion that blesses other nations. Are the fathers of this nation ready to rise up and be counted, to make a stand to defend and protect our in-stitutions of marriage and family? Are the fathers of this nation ready to do whatever it takes to fight for the destinies of our children and the future of our nation? My desire is for fathers to hand over a Sing-apore that is better and stronger than the one that we received from our fathers. We owe it to our chil-dren and our children’s children to ensure that this is so. [+]

Jason Wong founded the Dads for Life movement in 2009. He has held positions of Deputy Director Prisons and CEO of SCORE, where he found-ed the Yellow Ribbon Project 10 years ago. He was formerly a Senior Director in the Ministry of Social and Family Development, working with abused children and at-risk youth. Married to Donna, they have two teenage children.

the elijah 7000 movement is a ground-up initiative by fathers to reach other fathers so that they can together accomplish strong marriages, a positive future for their children, resilient families and a godly nation.

this corporate effort aims to honour God’s blue-print for His people by mobilising dads to be more involved and pro-active in taking the lead in the church family. its mission statement is “to turn hearts of all fathers to their children.”

About 700 fathers gathered at Acs Barker road on 31 May 2014 to launch the movement with a God-led sharing of vision and fervent prayers. Helmed by Jason Wong, founder of dads for life movement and yellow ribbon project, elijah 7000 plans to organise equipping workshops, prayer gatherings, family activities and more.

Visit www.elijah7000.org for details and updates.

CARR

IE K

ELLE

NBE

RGER

2 C

C BY

2.0

(( FATHERS, LIKE ELIJAH OF OLD, HAVE TO RISE UP AND CONFRONT THE FORCES OF EVIL, BY TURNING AWAY FROM IMMORALITY AND TURNING THEIR HEARTS TO THEIR WIFE AND CHILDREN. ))

12 13

Nick Vujicic FATHER'SLOVEAN ExCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY MICHELLE LEE

Nick Vujicic was born with a rare condition called tetra-amelia syndrome which resulted in him having no arms and legs. He turned his disability into a strength and now travels the world giving motivational talks and spreading the gospel.

Nick married Kanae Miyahara in 2012 and their son, Kiyoshi, was born the next year.

In an exculsive interview with loaves+fishes, Nick shares about what Christian fatherhood means to him.

How has your understanding of God deepened since you became a father?

When my wife Kanae was pregnant with Kiyoshi and I felt him kick, I loved him. I loved him even before I saw him. I had tears in my eyes, saying to my wife, "Baby, I love him." I never saw him smile, he never did anything to make me love him. I just loved him because he was mine. So that helped me understand the father's love that God has for us because we are his children.

The Bible says He knew us even before we were born. I can relate a little bit to that because I knew Kiyoshi's name before he was born. So, I am very thankful for the unconditional love and the new life God has for us.

How is this understanding shaping your relationship with your son?

It helps me to be a better father. There is no better father than our Heavenly Father. He is the most patient, the most caring, most forgiving, most self-controlled.

I know I am not going to be a perfect father, but I want my son to be happy. I want him to know Jesus and I want whatever God wants for him. Although my parents did not know what God had for me, God always has a plan. All I need to do

is to encourage Kiyoshi about this. I still want to discipline him so

he's not a spoilt brat. I want him to be thankful for what he has, to work hard, save. Also, I am not going to bully him. And if he gets a B at school, or a C at school, that's okay. I had Cs and ds at school sometimes, but I am happy and successful.

You don't needs and As or Bs, but you need Jesus.

I'll push him, but at the same time, I'm not going to push him that hard.

How would you define Christian fatherhood?

Being a father who knows God has helped me so much. I can't imagine being a father with my own wisdom, in my own strength, and my own patience. Fathers need God's patience, God's wisdom, and God's strength.

Without God, I can't even be a good husband.

It's like picking up your cross, denying yourself and following God. So, you need to love more than you are loved, forgive more than you are forgiven, and be more patient than the patience you receive. It's striving to becoming the best that you can be because of God's love.

So, it's about reminding yourself of the promises of God and in reading the Word.

When I'm home, my wife and I always read the Bible together in the morning for 20 minutes to 45 minutes no matter what is happening. We have coffee, Kiyoshi runs around, and we read the Bible.

I read out loud and we pray for each other. That's how we start the day. We see the benefits and the blessings and the presence of God when we do that. [+]

(( THERE IS NO BETTER FATHER THAN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. HE IS THE MOST CARING, MOST FORGIVING AND MOST SELF-CONTROLLED. ))

Michelle Lee, is 13 years old and attends OC.

BOTH

PIC

TURE

S: O

FFIC

IAL

NIC

K VU

JICI

C FA

CEBO

OK

FAN

PAG

E

14 15

(( HE DOESN'T TALK. OR MAYBE I DON'T ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS…. I KNOW IF HE HASN'T THOUGHT OF IT, HE WILL THINK ABOUT IT. I CAN ACCEPT THE SILENCE. ))

fter more than ten years of CCMC church camps, this is the first time that we have had a pair of father-son

camp commandant and youth camp commandant – Tim and Luke Tan.

Luke, Tim's middle son, was interviewed on the Sunday after-noon of camp, while Tim suffered through more than eight hours of conversation/questioning during the long drive back to Singapore from Cameron Highlands.

The interviews are loosely stitched together here.

Luke, how did you feel when asked to be youth commandant while your dad is overall camp commandant? Luke: I thought it was a conspiracy. I just thought it was fascinating that I’m camp commandant while Dad is camp commandant too – especially since he’s been commandant before.

Tim, how did you feel when you found out that Luke was going to be youth camp commandant?Tim: I had a good laugh. I thought it would be a great experience for him.

Luke, did you receive any guidance from your dad?Luke: Besides relaying information from the adult camp committee to the youth, not really. We just picked it up as we went along.

Has he shared about serving God through servant leadership?Luke: Yeah, he has. He’s talked about it to all three of us. What he ex-pressed was to go for what we want to do, what we can do, and how to connect what we love to do in a job and what we can do for God.

Has it been easy to get along and work together on the same project?Luke: Yeah, it has been easier be-cause he realizes that I have respon-sibilities and he’s willing to give me a certain level of trust.

Interviews with Tim and Luke Tan

by Stephanie Low

What are some of the challenges you faced while working with each other?Luke: Only one thing so far. Some-times if he gives really quick in-structions, he does not finish his sentence, so instructions can be haphazard and utterly confusing for everyone else.Tim: Ya lor, communication lor. He doesn’t talk. Or maybe I don’t ask the right questions. So what I don’t understand or don’t know is wheth-er he knows the answer or not, or whether he has thought of the issue or not. But I know it registers. I know if he hasn’t thought of it, he will think about it. I can accept the silence.

How have you been blessed by working with each other? Were there any enriching moments?Luke: I guess it has made us talk more. We don’t really chat and stuff. This has helped us to keep each other in check, and what’s going on with each other.Tim: I know he has a different side to him now. I already know he is a very caring person, but I wasn’t sure about his leadership qualities. Every time he came up to me to ask me to make this announcement and that announcement, I would get some things wrong because I didn’t get the full picture from him.

I also like it that he plays soccer because the other boys don’t. He’s not really sporty but he’s a natural at golf. He also likes trap shooting (shooting clay pigeons). You get shotguns and all.

What is your favourite memory of Luke?Tim: I only remember the tragic moments, like when he slipped and broke his wrist at Lake Tahoe. I had to be in the hospital for six hours.

There’s a few lah, I can’t decide.One is when he caught his first fish when he was about 10. He kept asking me “Are there fish?” It was

THE TANCOMMANDANTS

Left: Luke, aged 4Right: Tim, aged 7

SAN

DY C

HIAN

16 17

LOUISE WONGThe 'How' of an Example

S: Titus 2:7In everything set them an exam-ple by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, serious-ness.

O: Paul taught Titus that integrity and seriousness/earnestness are also qualities or 'how' that form part of the example/teaching and not just the content.

A: Looking ahead, being an ex-ample also depends on the 'how'; integrity, seriousness and earnest-ness are also important compo-nents of setting an example.

P: Lord, I pray that you give me the sense of integrity and earnestness to do good, so that I may be the example that You've destined me to be.

PS LING KIN YEWBe Disciplined

S: Proverbs 5:23 For the lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.

o: If we're not disciplined, we'll be led astray probably by our sluggish ways (6:9-11).

A: I need to be disciplined like the ant (6:6-8), doing the right thing at the right time.

P: May I be disciplined, o Lord! Help me discern when to do what, and do it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

NGUI MAY YEENo Place for Spiritual Arrogance

S: Luke 13:30 And behold, "some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

o: At the door of heaven, there will be those who come to The Lord later but will get into the Kingdom of God before us.

A: This verse reminds me to serve God in response to His grace, and not serve him in order to get into His kingdom.

P: Lord, help me to serve out of loving you, with gratitude for my salvation.

S O A P

SEOW JIN KIATAnyone Can Be Great

S: John 13:14-17Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

o: Jesus' death on the cross is the ultimate act of "washing of feet". And in so doing, provides reconcil-iation with God inspite of our life times of wrong doings and sins. What a relief to be freed from the impossible task of earning salva-tion through good deeds! That said, through the daily grind of life, it is so easy to forget the feeling of re-lief and joy experienced as a result of accepting Christ. How then can we continue to remind ourselves of this precious gift?

A: This passage provides a solu-tion. Jesus tells us that we will be blessed by serving one another and, in this context, serving fellow brother and sisters in Christ. What better way to remember Jesus' gift than through service in a small group – helping and walking with fellow members through life's journey?

P: dear Jesus, thank you for the gift of salvation and the joy it brings. Thank you too for the opportuni-ties to serve. May you give me the character to always serve joyfully, using my treasure, time and talent wisely, so that fellow brothers and sisters in my small group will be encouraged in their journey and not stumble. Most of all, thank you for my small group, an envi-

in Tioman, on our favourite boat – a wooden Terengganu fishing trawler. He was so happy, so elated. So he’s hooked on fishing since then.

Luke, what is your favourite memory of your dad?Luke: When we used to go sailing a lot with the whole family on the open sea; being on holiday in Malay-sia, and we would put our phones away. Now, we go about once a year.

Describe your dad.Luke: He doesn’t seem to like discus-sions, but I get a feeling he enjoys talking – when he’s the one talking. He is a bit long-winded, especially in his briefing, whether for church camp or family talks and stuff. He certainly prefers to do things. Tim: That’s because no one talks. Ming Ying (Tim's wife) keeps quiet; the boys don’t talk.

Describe Luke.Tim: He seldom smiles. When he was a baby, he smiled a lot. Very happy baby. Now, he’s the grumpy one.

I see Luke as a person with a heart – very caring. He’s the 'daugh-ter' I never had. (Don’t say that.) Sensitive new age boy. He’s a man! He’s going to the army in 2-3 days! Our baby’s going to camp.

I heard you guys did the photo shoot for the magazine.Luke: Someone said Dad looked quite mushy because his arm was on my shoulder.Tim: The photographer made me do that! But I always like to do that when taking pictures with Luke be-cause I know he hates it.

Has your relationship with each other been changed by this project?Luke: Not too much, I guess. I don’t think so. It’s the same.Tim: Too early to say. But he ap-proached me because he needed something done so of course I was happy about that. We’re always

telling him if he needs something, just ask. He’s very independent. He won’t even ask us to send him if he has to go somewhere; he will just take the bus.

What was your relationship like in the past?Tim: Terrible. I don’t know. Ask him. I was a non-existent father. Perpetual-ly at work, travelling. Because I work from home now, I get to see them more. Prior to that, I only saw them at weekends.

I got to spend more time with them when we went together on trips – when I took them on long trips to the US, sailing trips. One of the best things we did was to climb Mount Ophir as a family when Matt was 8 with a couple of families from Blest West small group. Luke: He was not an absentee father but he was gone for long periods of time. The longest was for about a month.

He did not take his faith seriously. This was before Disciple Class, prob-ably the year before the last, maybe before. He got quite flustered quite easily. He would get quite angsty, raise his voice, speak very curtly.Tim: He’s spot on.

Luke, has your attitude towards your dad changed?Luke: Yes, only because I’m quite happy he’s taking his faith seriously and he’s referring more to his Bible somewhat.

If your dad could start doing anything and it could be done right away, what would you want it be?Luke: Spend more time with his dad because Grandpa's getting old. He needs more stimulation. We’ve been trying to play golf with him. Hope-fully, Dad can spend more time with him.

Tim, what do you wish for Luke?Tim: Short answer – for him to be happy. Easy answer.

I’m hoping that one of them will be a pastor. This has been on my mind for the last year or so.

I want them to walk the Christian walk. If they can get into Christian entrepreneurship, that would be my dream.

Would you like to work with your dad again?Luke: This church camp would be known as the Tan family church camp, that’s for sure. I don’t think it would be too much of a trouble. Not that we should, just for the record.(During church camp, Luke an-nounced his and his dad’s official opposition to leading future church camps.)

What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to say to Luke?Tim: This will take till the submission date for your article. Okay lah, make your story easy. Be all (to somebody) you can be. I don’t know what else to say to him.

Luke, what is something you’ve always wanted to say to your dad but have not had the chance to do so up to now?Luke: I want to totally thank him for bringing up all three of us. A lot of the things we’ve learnt from just watching him help us to lead people. [+]

Stephanie Low was on the church camp committee in-charge of the youth programme for the camp.

if you do not do daily devotions or meditate on scripture each day, try the life Journal reading Plan, also known as soAP.

the acronym stands for scripture, observation, Appli-cation and Prayer. it's an easy system that connects you to God's Word.

Give it a go and hear the lord speak to you personally.

ronment of love where there are opportunities to put your Word into practice. For "everyone can be great because anyone can serve" and You, through grace, generate in us the love to do so. Amen.

18 19

he best way to evan-gelize anyone any-where is to simply live our faith. Our most effective witness as

individuals, a church, or a company is to embody evangelism as a life-style rather than a contrived pro-gram. People sense the difference between the authenticity of our love for them in Christ and our targeting them as part of our "soul-winning" endeavors. As in all things, only the real deal works.

Permit me to point out four ma-jor issues surrounding the impor-tant matter of effectively sharing our faith at work. While there are obviously other related issues, here are the ones I feel are most relevant:

1. Our faith and worship must be demonstrated through our work.

2. More than words, our lives witness to our faith.

3. Loving people necessitates bringing God into our conversation with them.

4. All of us must be trained and constantly growing in our skills of "fishing" for men and women.

Let us now examine each of these critical issues in order.

our faith and Worship Must Be demonstrated through our WorkMost Christians believe that the word "worship" describes some-thing we do at church services when we join the congregation in singing, but "worship" means much more than that. The Hebrew word itself describes a heart attitude far more than a particular action.

To worship God means to revere Him, honor Him, and submit our lives to Him. That is what the word literally conveys in the original lan-guage. In other words, to worship God is to posture ourselves in rev-erence before Him in the totality of all we do in life. Worship is then a lifestyle, in the Christian reality, and

(( OUR MOST EFFECTIVE WITNESS AS INDIVIDUALS, A CHURCH, OR A COMPANY IS TO EMBODY EVANGELISM AS A LIFESTYLE RATHER THAN A CONTRIVED PROGRAM.

))

by Dennis Peacocke

Living Our Faith at Work

true worship draws the Holy Spirit into any activity or environment.

As I point out in my book, Doing Business God's Way, work is a holy, eternal calling. Therefore, our work should be an act of worship before our Master who ordained it to be so. To "evangelize" is to invoke the presence of God into the interaction of human beings, especially among the yet unsaved. If then, my work is done self-consciously as an act of faith and worship, I can expect God's presence to attend it and call attention to it. our first form of evangelism in the workplace, or anywhere else, is the incarnating of God's pleasure in our obedient, ex-cellent work as a demonstration to all men of the manifest reality of His presence and life.

More than our Words, our lives Witness to our faith Since most adults spend more time at work than anywhere else, it is my conviction that the workplace ought to be the most opportune setting for believers to draw others into their eternal destiny in God. It is the "evangelistic" context with the greatest potential. It is precise-ly for this reason that our spiritual enemy has made the workplace "off limits" to the Church in terms of adequately training people how to successfully display Christ there.

There is, however, even a more taxing problem than being inade-quately trained by the Church, and it is this: At work, people see the real us; they read our faces more than our tracts and listen to our soulish nonsense more than our "religious conviction." If we're not "living our faith at work," no other "witness" sufficiently counteracts the real us we have put on display. It is for this reason I am so excited about the Holy Spirit's growing fo-cus on Christ in the marketplace. It is going to force millions of believ-ers to put up or shut up or at least shut up until they grow up.

ABIG

AIL

GOH

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men." ~ II Cor 3:2

20 21

loving People necessitates Bringing God into our conversations with themReal love, rather than duty-driven "religious love," mandates that be-lievers live their faith enough to le-gitimize their verbal sharing of it. If you love me, show me; then tell me. Our grand problem as believers is that we simply love ourselves more than our neighbor or, in this case, our co-workers. I am sometimes amused by the quest for a so-called "Christian business." By that, many believe that if you are basically hon-est, pay your taxes, have some Bible verses on the wall and no Playboy magazines in the men's room, you have a "Christian business." Good start, but no cigar.

While we should discuss this issue in much greater depth, my comment on "Christian business" is this: How is the love of Christ and the living out the principles of His Word permeating the business from top to bottom? The law of love in the heart of believers covers peo-ple in prayer and seeks non-plastic ways to share God's love, life, and gospel with them. We should be praying and seeking ways to find genuine opportunities to demon-strate and speak the truths of the gospel with those in the workplace – ways they can see and with words that don't reek of religious plati-tudes or preachy superiority. This observation leads us to our final point of this essential discussion.

All of us Must Be trained and constantly Growing in our skills of "fishing" for Men and WomenJesus told Peter in Matthew 4:4, and by implication to all believers, that He would make Peter a "fisher of men." Fishing requires skill and a great deal of focused attention if one wants to be truly successful. As a general rule, Christians tend to be lousy fishermen.

This issue takes us into the heart of one of my main passions: How

do we as believers successfully get into the "public conversation"? The world is having a conversation, and we aren't in it because unbelievers are not focusing on what we believ-ers want them to be discussing. The world is talking about economic security and prosperity; we want them to be talking about their af-ter-lives. They are talking about taxes and national defense; we want them to be talking about the scriptures. They are talking about job security, crime, and education; we want them to be talking about Jesus, heaven, and the anti-Christ! Let's deal with it, Christians, you catch fish using their food (bait), not the food we want them to be feeding on!

In order to fish with bait the world's fish are biting on, it will require believers to do a glorious thing. We must study what the scriptures say about crime, edu-cation, taxation, national defense, building successful relationships, and economic prosperity deep-ly enough to intelligently get into their conversation and evangelize like Jesus did. We must practice spiritual jujitsu and use what peo-ple give us of themselves and their real concerns and then gently lead them in the direction of Christ us-ing those concerns. This kind of biblical evangelism in the market-place will not only "catch" the at-tention of the unbelievers, it will impact and transform believers in remarkable ways. We will actually learn the scriptures as they relate to here-and-now-reality and how God wants to release His Kingdom and will on earth as it is in heaven, prior to Christ's return.

The Spirit of God is pressing the issue of understanding biblical, economic realities and the ministry of believers in the workplace with a powerful and growing insistence. This necessitates a much deep-er knowledge of the scriptures, a fundamental change in the way

local churches equip their people for broad-based ministries, and a much more elective level of general evangelism. From a more historical perspective, here is what excites me - Martin Luther ushered in the revelation of the priesthood of all believers, and now the Holy Spirit, using the marketplace, is ushering in the ministry of all believers! Go, God! [+]

Dennis Peacocke has gained inter-national respect as a strategist due to his unique way of applying bibli-cal solutions to the many challeng-ing issues facing families, churches, business, and government. A former business owner, Dennis is the found-er and president of Strategic Chris-tian Services, a leadership organiza-tion dedicated to demonstrating the relevance of Christianity to every area of contemporary life. He has authored three books: Winning the Battle for the Minds of Men, doing Business God's Way, and The Em-peror Has No Clothes. Dennis and his wife Jan reside in Santa Rosa, California. They have three adult children and four grandchildren.

This article originally appeared in the July 2002 edition of Business Reform magazine and is reproduced with permission.

BY PS LING KIN YEW

REST FROM WORK

Genesis 2:2-3By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

REFRESHING OTHERS

2 Corinthians 7:13By all this we are encour-aged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed (rested) by all of you.

Philemon 1:7Your love has given me great joy and encourage-ment, because you, broth-er, have refreshed (rested) the hearts of the Lord’s people.

RestTo The Point

GIVING ONESELF REST

Mark 6:31-32Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

REST AND STILLNESS

Psalm 46:9-10(God) makes wars cease (rest) to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says,” Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

REST FROM SIN

Isaiah 13:11I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end (rest) to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

REST FROM BURDENS

Matthew 11:28-30"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Original Word in Hebrew: Transliteration: shabath

Original Word in Greek: ἀναπαύωTransliteration: anapauó

Exodus 34:21Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

22 23

Colleagues, Friends, Christian Sisters

Lee Shu-Lyn and Michelle Chian share their journey of friendship and faith*.

As I moved my things to a desk next to Shu’s, I remember seriously thinking it was perhaps time to call it a day. I had been curious about a front-line job, after having spent most of my career as a technical specialist. So when the opportunity arose, I had asked for a transfer to a client-facing role, without prayerful consideration, and got it. However, being a latecomer to the private banking industry, without a portfolio of clients, one of my key performance indicators was how successfully I was able to prospect new clients and grow the assets in my book. The networking this necessitated was an antithesis to my introvert nature, and I had found it very stressful. What on earth could I have been thinking when I made the switch? Nonetheless, the right question to ask turned out to be “What in heaven could God have been thinking to allow it?” God, in his goodness, had provided just enough clients for me to always stay just under the radar screen in each round of downsizing.

And so I sat next to Shu, and over time, we got to know each other a little better. I learnt that she hated gooey food and ate very badly, so I would feed her dry biscuits across the aisle just to make her eat something. She helped to smoothen my path through back-office wrangles and taught me to be mindful of my “suffer no fools” countenance, which could be quite uncharitable towards other people. I also wondered why this seemingly Perfect Person (she was beautiful, talented and great at her job) allowed herself to be bullied so much and was so hard on herself, and I tried to support her. Somewhere along the way, I learnt she was a Christian but she didn’t seem to have a home church. She had been visiting Toa Payoh Methodist Church since her then P6 daughter had tuition nearby on Sundays. So we became friendly

Shu-Lyn: Michelle and I met 11 years ago in dBS. We didn’t interact much in the course of our work there, and I left before the year was over. I went to UBS, where she also joined a few years after. Our initial roles in UBS again didn’t give us a chance to interact. I would like to think that God finally forcefully brought us together – for my sake.

I was a newly promoted desk Head when Lehman Crisis came. Another desk which Michelle was under folded and Michelle joined my desk. She was the most senior team member on my desk, so she sat next to me. I recall moments through the crisis when I would go up to Michelle and ask: “Have you experienced a situation like this before…. What are some best practices you can share with me?” She was always honest, candid, and never unnecessary in her comments and views. So, even though I was her Team Leader, she was my God-sent wise-counsel, guiding me through a stressful period at work. Through this. I finally got to know Michelle as a friend.

Michelle: Groan, not the energizer bunny…. This was my first thought when I found out that my team in the bank was going to merge with Shu’s, and she would be my new boss. In the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis, amidst wave after wave of restructuring and retrenchments in the financial industry, my previous boss had not survived but I was still left standing.

Shu was then (and still is) a very successful private banker who had become a team leader – her job was to coach her team to attain ever-increasing expectations of new client relationships and sales targets, and to create opportunities, e.g. through various activities and events, for her team to prospect new clients. double groan, there go my evenings as well…

(( SO, EVEN TOUGHT I WAS HER TEAM LEADER, SHE WAS MY gOD-SENT WISE- COUNSEL, GUIDING ME THROUGH A STRESSFUL PERIOD AT WORK. THROUGH THIS, I FINALLY GOT TO KNOW MICHELLE AS A FRIEND. ))

SAN

DY C

HIAN

* Michelle and Shu-lyn answered email interview questions independently. This article is an amalgamation of their replies.

24 25

but I would not say close. Then Shu took a few months of personal time off; I thought to myself, “PSLE Tiger Mom.”

Shu-Lyn: In the year my eldest child Alysson did her PSLE, I handed over the desk to a new hire and took a sabbatical of five months. Due to family circumstances at that time, the kids and I started visiting different churches looking for a new spiritual home. I am not sure if Michelle knew I was seeking a new church, but she knew Alysson was admitted by Direct School Admissions into MGS, and thought it would be a good idea to introduce some MGS mothers to me. She invited me to the 2011 Christmas service at CCMC.

Michelle: When she returned to work, I heard some rumours about her, and decided to speak frankly to her to clear the air. She finally shared with me about her difficult personal path over the previous few months, which she had borne alone. I felt sad that she didn’t tell me earlier so that I could have at least walked the path with her. However, we became closer after she opened up more to me and began to ask me to pray more specifically and actively for her and her family.

When her daughter decided to go to MGS (yay!) over SoTA, I suggested to Shu that Shu might want to come to CCMC to get to know more people in the MGS community, and it was also close to her home. She came with her children for the Christmas Day service in 2011. I then kind of “adopted” her and her children, and tried to make them feel at home in CCMC, and introduced her to other people in the church. They became regular visitors, but not quite integrated into the church family.

(( WHEN HER DAUGHTER DECIDED TO GO TO MGS (YAY!) OVER SOTA, I SUGGESTED TO SHU THAT SHU MIGHT WANT TO COME TO CCMC TO GET TO KNOW MORE PEOPLE IN THE MGS COMMUNITY.

))

Through our bank’s social events, I knew Shu was a talented musician and could sing really well, but for some reason had stopped leading worship some time ago. I heard that CK needed more worship leaders and I encouraged Shu to volunteer for that. But mostly, I just tried to be a loving friend to her.

Shu-Lyn: I loved the “atmosphere” when I attended CCMC. In contrast to the four previous modern/mega-styled churches I grew up in, there is a certain “non-statement/normalness” about this church that makes it very welcoming and inclusive. I also liked the Methodist structure, which I find very sure and secure.

Most important to me, my kids were comfortable here (they were less so in the other places we visited). I was allowed to engage at a pace I was comfortable in, which is important to me as I prefer to live a more private life. Michelle was great. She was always around for me, and I know she was watching (and still watches!) over my integration from a distance, but she gave me the space to make CCMC my own home.

Michelle: Then I had a strong feeling that I should invite her to the June 2012 Church Camp. I was surprised when she agreed to go without her children who were occupied that weekend. I remember the day she was to fly to KL she became ill and I rushed to get some remedies for her in the morning before setting off to camp by car, praying that she would still make it to camp because I felt that this camp would be a breakthrough for her. I was really happy to see her show up that evening.

on the second day of camp, Shu somehow got recruited to be a back-up singer in the worship band.

When I saw her go up on stage to lead worship for the first time in CCMC, I wept with joy. I felt that she had crossed back to the Promised Land to which God had called her previously, and finally accepted the Lord’s gift to her of “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”. (Is 61:3)

Now, as she blesses and ministers to our church community with her gift of leading praise and worship, and her children have begun to follow in her footsteps in the oC and CK worship bands, and her family has become part of the CCMC family, I realise why, against all natural odds, God had kept me in the bank as long as He did – because there was this one wandering lamb which the Shepherd was determined to bring back to His fold. All He wanted me to do was to love my then office neighbour as I would like to be loved.

Shu-Lyn: As one of my efforts to integrate, I signed up for Church Camp in June 2012. I remember falling sick two days before camp, and had second thoughts of attending camp. Within minutes of knowing my condition, Michelle drove over to my home with three litres of cranberry juice to help me get better! Her care touched me and even though I didn’t feel like it, I made it to camp!

At camp one morning, I sang backup for worship impromptu, and through that got to know campers from the worship ministry who invited me to serve. But I resisted. Even though I have pioneered, led and served in cell and worship ministries before, I had for many years felt most unworthy to even worship at a one-on-one level with God.

But I knew I needed to take firm steps back towards my relationship

with God. Back from camp, I felt the priority to first seek out a cell group. I was led to Soul, with cell leader Miriam Wun, and cell to ALL the 9 am worship vocalists and other most sincere, hospitable and charming souls!

Sometime later, CCMC organized a Saturday seminar on the topic of worship which I attended. A couple shared their ministry journey, and it reminded me so much of my own ministry before. The message recounted the story of the woman with the alabastair jar who had led a sinful life. Jesus did not find her unworthy to be at his feet; he not only allowed her to worship him, he even made positive mention of her worship. That touched me and silently broke me as I sat there. I am able now to worship my God, and am available to serve in worship in whatever way I can for his purpose. I really feel so blessed now being part of worship services at 9 am and CK.

My kids and I are very close, and being new to church, they naturally stuck with me at service every week. Michelle encouraged me to integrate them into OC and CK respectively. She introduced my kids to their peers, and for each new friend they made, she would tell me who their parents are! It took a while to happen, but I thank God that they are both attending OC and CK now. It warms my heart to see them find own their Christian circle of friends, and thank God for his provision and guiding hand upon their lives. Alysson and Reuben now also play for worship at OC and CK respectively. God is faithful and good indeed!

CCMC has been a Christian home to my kids and me now for 2.5 years. I thank God for mercifully reeling me in from my period of self-exile. I thank God for Michelle for her single invite to a Christmas service that made such a difference to three lives. [+]

(( THAT TOUCHED ME AND SILENTLY BROKE ME AS I SAT THERE. I AM ABLE NOW TO WORSHIP MY GOD, AND AM AVAILABLE TO SERVE IN WORSHIP IN WHATEVER WAY I CAN FOR HIS PURPOSE.

))

SAN

DY C

HIAN

SAN

DY C

HIAN

2726

hen we were first asked to co-write this article, our in-stinctive reaction

was to politely decline and wrig-gle ourselves out of the situation. The plain truth is we were not confident that we could contribute meaningfully on the topic, as our children are nowhere near the independence to warrant us to share. Furthermore, there are many experienced parents, professionals and educators in CCMC whom we believe are more qualified to give their views.

As an introduction, we have three young children: Faith (S1), Ashley (P5) and Sean (P2). our family joined CCMC from Paya Lebar Methodist Church in 2007, shortly after Faith was registered at MGS. Like most, we embarked on parenthood desiring the best for our children with the hope of nur-turing them to become ‘high-quali-ty’ individuals.

We believe in raising independ-ent learners simply to ensure that they are competent and capable of looking after themselves; and resilient to overcome adversity yet maintain positive social mind-sets, attitudes and relationships. Early investment of time and consider-ation by parents to instil sound character attributes in children will help alleviate anxiety years later or stress over the latter’s well-being. Proverbs 22:6 states – Start chil-dren off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

OUR FAMILY BACKGROUNDBoth Phoebe and I come from big families with humble upbringing in KL, Malaysia. Being amongst the youngest brood in our respective ‘mega’ families by today’s norm, we shared everything, and our clothes, books, toys and other things were hand-me-downs. Our older sib-lings often acted as our surrogate

parents or guardians for much of our growing years when our par-ents worked to upkeep the family. Consequently, we had plenty of freedom since young to choose and make decisions for ourselves. We were also taught responsibility early, as we helped with domestic chores and made do with little resources to get on with life.

In fact, I left home at eighteen to pursue my tertiary studies in the UK. Those were indeed trying years, as I had to juggle between studies and part-time work to partially finance my college fees and subsistence. My friends then often quipped that I had a long-term industrial attachment, both as cook and cleaner, throughout my student years in college, followed by grad school.

As for Phoebe, her family could not afford to pay for her higher ed-ucation so she joined the Malaysian national carrier at eighteen. She kept to the same vocation until we got married 10 years later. To me, she has done well and earned her degree from the university of life!

Under such circumstances, we grew up quickly and accepted the notion that the secular world truly did not owe us much, unless we were competent and capable to look after ourselves. Looking back, we benefited a great deal from the independent living, and felt blessed to be given the opportuni-ty to experience such unique life journies at a relatively young age. This backdrop was foundational to who we are today as it influences the way we think, our triggers, value system, habits, preferences, and ultimately our approach and parenting style.

ROLE MODELLING AND OUR PARTNERSHIP In his Father’s days sermon entitled “Like Father, Like Sons”, our LCEC Chair, david Koh, spoke succinctly about the importance

GROWING INDEPENDENT

LEARNERSby Manfred & Phoebe Seah

ABIG

AIL

GOH

28 29

(( YOUNG CHILDREN ARE GENERALLY IMPRESSIONABLE – MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO – AND THEY ARE CONSTANTLY TUNED INTO OUR ACTIONS TO LEARN AND MODEL AFTER. ))

our family time together is sacred. We figured early that the best gifts we could give our children are our time and availability.

RAISING INDEPENDENT CHILDRENIn wanting the best for our chil-dren, we often indulge in doing things for them instead of letting them learn on their own. When Faith and Ashley were still little, Phoebe used to spend numerous hours each week fussing about their homework, especially the arts and crafts assignments. often, she ended up finishing the girls’ work for them. Not surprisingly, the girls learnt nothing, and worse, became overly reliant because mummy was the person to fix it! Sounds familiar? We have since put a stop to such unwise interference and life went on without major set-back. overprotecting kids only fuel their anxiety and, worse, develop an entitlement attitude in them. Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to disci-pline them (Prov 13:24).

In growing independent and resilient learners, there are some key character attributes which we ought to develop in children from young. We should first encour-age, make them feel that they are worthy before they are expected to embrace these important traits.

competenceProvide them with the belief

that they are competent and capa-ble of taking care of themselves. This goes beyond academic excel-lence, balanced with simple day-to-day life skills and knowledge. Encourage them to exert their best in all endeavours, with particular focus to develop their strengths. Teach them how to fish instead of fishing for them. Being competent, consistent and socially aware will help them gain credibility, which reinforces self-belief of the child.

respectShow them respect and con-

fidence in their abilities. This will boost their self-esteem and awareness. Teach them manners, gratitude, and how to respect, hon-our and be considerate to others. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Give them your time and availability, prefer-ably undivided attention; listen to them intently to train them how to communicate and express their feelings.

responsibilityAllow them to make decisions

early in life, but demand account-ability so that they learn to take responsibility for their action, mistakes and failures. Help them have clear understanding of what is expected and hold them account-able for delivering their end of bargain. Teach them to do the right thing, even if it will cost them.

self-controlGuide them to exercise self-con-

trol over their lives. Giving them age-appropriate freedom helps them to define and learn their own limits. Refrain from excesses or extravagant living, but teach them how to share, have simple needs, and appreciate the value of money and how to manage their resources early. Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. Punish them with the rod and save them from death (Prov 23:13-14).

Positive attitudeInspire optimistic thinking to

deal with stress and disappoint-ment in life. Refrain from nagging. Share with them that failures in life is a given, but it’s about how we get back up. Explain that failure is never the end of the world and emotional management is key to

resilience. Affirm all wins – big and small – and always encourage opportunity to bounce back for any temporary setback.

loveShow them how to love prop-

erly: parental love and respect for each other, and parent-child relationship in the family. Treat all children fairly with no favouritism. Teach them about God, and His eternal love. Help them to trust and obey God, and how to pray regularly. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor 13:7).

CONCLUSIONThe Godly principles grounded on competence, respect, responsibil-ity, self-control, positive attitude and love in our children will devel-op a deep sense of independence, security and confidence that will prepare them well for a lifetime.

In his sermon “Loving God is to obey and to Teach” (1 John 5:3a; deut 31:12-13), Pastor Kin Yew reminded us that to love God is to keep His commands and to teach His children. Therefore, we have the appointed responsibility purposed by God to nurture our children to become independent and resilient individuals, and be committed to helping them be-come the person they were born to be.

Phoebe prays daily for and with our kids, for them to be rooted firmly in faith. God’s grace is all sufficient, and if not for His power to influence, no parenting theory or application would help to raise good children befitting His will.

Finally, Faith, Ashley and Sean are still very much work-in-pro-gress! We certainly hope to meet God someday and be given a thumbs-up for doing a reasonable job – at least for trying our best in developing and growing three young ones under our watch! [+]

of positive role modelling to our charges. In essence, good and effec-tive role modelling is key to raising responsible children.

Everything starts with us par-ents. Our children are constantly watching our moves, even when we think they were not looking or listening. We can preach and talk all we want, but if our subsequent actions are inconsistent with the instructions prescribed (ie. walk-ing the talk), we lose credibility immediately. Young children are generally impressionable – mon-key see monkey do – and they are constantly tuned into our daily ac-tions to learn and model after. They would pick up our mannerisms, follow how we speak, love, respect, handle difficult situations, manage conflicts, deal with pressures, and share our trust and faith in God.

So, have we created and fos-tered a warm, loving, safe, relaxing and fun atmosphere conducive for healthy spousal and parent-child relationships and trust at home? Today, as our children are bom-barded with a multitude of dis-tractions in school and through social media, preserving a healthy home and family setting is critical. Children pay particular attention to how parents deal with situations and each other on the domes-tic front, and how much mutual respect, honour and love we show and express to one another.

There was a period I had to travel overseas frequently for work, and hardly spent time with the family. during my absence, Phoebe used to share stories (almost ritualistically) with the children about me, my work, travel activities etc so that we remained constantly connected. She also insisted that I call to speak to the children every night before their bedtime, wherever I was on the globe. Phoebe used these oppor-tunities to reassure them that they are precious and well loved, and

Manfred heads the Small Group Ministry in CCMC while Phoebe is a teacher in Covenant Kids.

30 31

(( WE GENERALLY THINK OF PRAYER AS SOMETHING THAT INFLUENCES ExTERNAL EVENTS. BUT SCRIPTURE AND THE PRAYER WARRIORS AMONG US TESTIFY TO THE POWER OF PRAYER TO BRING INTERNAL GROWTH. ))

Find my keys, Jesus," Tim prayed. He had been a Chris-tian for only a week—not much time to formulate

a theology of prayer. He retraced his steps. The keys were not there.

What was he to do now? "Jesus, please help me find my keys," he continued praying. Days went by. "Jesus, please help someone find my keys and return them to me."

Instead of confident presump-tion, the tone of Tim's prayers increasingly took on an air of humility. Instead of a focus on his needs and agenda, he developed an openness to God's intervention, on His terms.

By the time someone found and returned his keys a week later, Tim had come to realize that prayer was much more than an intercom system at a fast-food drive-in. Besides marshalling the help of a compassionate God, prayer is a means God uses to change us.

When I ask people about the primary influences that alter their actions and shape their lives, they rarely mention personal prayer. Maybe this is because we generally think of prayer as something that influences external events. But Scripture and the prayer warriors among us testify to the power of prayer to bring internal growth.

Jesus certainly felt the need of His Father's influence. Many have used Mark 1:35 to illustrate Jesus' commitment to prayer. After an extremely hard day and night of teaching, healing, and exorcising demons, He got up "very early in the morning, while it was still dark, – left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."

But the thing that fascinates me as much as Jesus' commitment to prayer in this situation is the in-fluence that particular prayer time had on His life.

Its impact becomes apparent when Peter and the other disciples finally find Jesus. They tell Him,

"Everyone is looking for you!" (v. 37). And what does Jesus say – "Well then, let's go for it"? No, He says, "Let us go somewhere else." In effect He tells Peter, "I can't be controlled by other people's agendas. I am about My Father's priorities."

And what were His Father's pri-orities? Verse 38: "Let us go some-where else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come".

People wanted Jesus, the mira-cle worker. And what a temptation for Him – steady work, adoring fans, little or no flak, a ready outlet for compassion, a lot of excitement – not things normally associated with the more mundane task of preaching.

But what gave Jesus the strength to resist the agenda of the crowd and the temptation to spend His time on urgent pressures rather than important priorities? Simply put, it was the time He had spent alone with His Father.

Reflecting on the influence of such time with the Father, John White writes in The Race:

"We are influenced by the peo-ple we associate with. The more powerful or the more distinctive the characters of people we rub shoulders with, the more time we spend with them, the greater the likelihood of change. It follows that if we spend time daily in the company of our Creator God, a profound impact will be made on our existence....

"Our values alter once we start meeting regularly with God. Some things that once seemed important shrivel and lose their fascination, while others swell in significance.... We will see people differently. We will pity people we once feared; es-chew people we once cultivated; pray for people who once enraged us."

Jesus knew that private time with the Father made the differ-ence between going along with

THE PARADOx OF PRAYER

by Bill Syrio

ARTW

ORK

BY

BAN

KSY

(ALB

ERTO

ELI

A VI

OLA

NTE

CC

BY-N

D 2

.0)

32 33

the flow or controlling the flow. Whether it was sorting out how to use His time, choosing His disci-ples, or committing Himself to en-dure the crucifixion, a realignment of perspective was in order. And if Jesus needed the course of His life shaped through the practice of prayer, how can we do without such influence?

Here we confront the paradox of prayer. We desperately need it and yet we desperately avoid it. Why?

MoRE WITH LESSOur culture does not support a pace of life that naturally cultivates prayer. Our tempo is more often set by McDonald's and Macintosh. And while God listens to our hurried McPrayers, they will do little for us in terms of opening our ears to hear Him or inviting the kind of profound impact of which John White speaks.

Jesus did not live in a fast-paced culture like ours, but He faced an-other, more significant time issue: three short years to complete the story of salvation.

Just thirty-six months of min-istry meant that a lot of people would go unhealed, untaught, and undiscipled. But at the end of His life Jesus could still declare, "It is finished." He had not accom-plished all He could have; but He accomplished all He needed to. discerning His priorities within the quiet confines of communion with His Father made that crucial difference.

Jesus' dedication to prayer came partly from realizing that prayer gave Him more time, not less. It helped crystallize the im-portant priorities and dissipate the merely urgent ones. While we may never fully understand how prayer affects God or how it adds power to the outworking of His inten-tions, we do know that the practice of prayer helps us.

doING WHAT doESN'T CoME NATURALLYSuch alteration doesn't happen overnight. And that brings us to another reason behind our lack of prayer. It is hard work. You would not think prayer would be difficult – didn't God create people for fellowship with Him? Prayer should involve a perfectly natural link of intimate communication, shouldn't it? And sometimes, to be sure, praying does bring the kind of immediacy that comes through in a crystal-clear phone call.

But the breach of fellowship initiated in the Garden of Eden has brought the curse of frustrating toil to more than just our vocation-al pursuits. Prayer requires us to concentrate, to stretch our atten-tion span and yet not see much im-mediate feedback. This is exhaust-ing work – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

I find very few who express a natural inclination for prayer. For most of us, it can be harder work than almost anything else we do. Realizing this has actually been one of the best discoveries of my Christian life.

My avoidance of prayer is sim-ilar to my avoidance of any hard work. By nature I am inclined to take the path of least resistance. We all are. But just as it is foolish to think we can obtain a quali-ty education without effort, or excellence without discipline, or wisdom without perseverance, or a good relationship without invest-ing time, so we will not be suc-cessful at prayer without paying a price. The greatest goals demand the greatest efforts. So where do we start?

HABIT-FoRMING PRAYERLet's face it, a private time of prayer – and its complementary discipline of personal Bible study – will be more likely to occur if we plan it. I recommend sched-

uling prayer after something you do regularly. I swim early in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It dawned on me a few years back that afterward I could automatically go to a local restau-rant for orange juice, a raspberry danish, and prayer. Since we are creatures of habit, why not build some quality habits?

Because I find disciplined prayer more difficult than a hard workout, I'm more likely to skip prayer than to skip swimming. So I put the activity I'm most likely to complete into my schedule and let the automatic routine carry me through my prayer time. Others may use an activity they really enjoy as a reward after they've completed a time of prayer. Not that prayer is punishment – I'm just realistic about human weak-nesses!

Include times to meet for prayer with other Christians in your schedule. often I find corpo-rate prayer will "jump start" my own prayer life. But whether it's personal, one-to-one, or group prayer, the key is putting it on the calendar. You will be most likely to pray if it's a part of your schedule.

PRAY "BIG"Whenever you pray, work on "pray-ing big." The refreshing develop-ment of conversational prayer that came in with the "Jesus movement" of the early Seventies was built on a desire for more intimacy with God. People were tired of asking God to "bless all the missionaries" and wanted to get specific. But such intimacy can immerse us in a pattern of detailed prayer that limits us to the simple concerns of making it through the day.

Sometimes when praying, it is better not to concentrate on specific requests. Instead, allow a passage of Scripture or a hymn to focus your attention on larger concerns. Try using Acts 1:8 as a

model for big prayer. On successive days of the week pray for your "Jerusalem" (your neighborhood and work situations), "Judea" (your city and state), "Samaria" (the nation), and "the ends of the earth" (the world).

Paul's prayers in Eph 1:17-19 and Eph 3:14-21 provide anoth-er helpful model in praying big without losing a sense of intimacy. He asked God that Christians at Ephesus "may have power, togeth-er with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Eph 3:18-19). Wouldn't you love to have friends praying those kinds of prayers for you?

PRAY THE PSALMSI use the psalms in my attempt to "pray big." As I read slowly through a psalm, I pray its words at the same time. The psalm acts as my meditation guide merging Scripture, my thoughts, and prayer together. Such prayer greatly expands my sense of God's pres-ence and helps immerse me in His larger concerns.

The Psalms have been the prayer book of the Church for centuries. They are aptly termed by one Church father as the gymna-sium of prayer. Praying the psalms can become a focused workout, increasing our muscles of faith for spiritual warfare.

KEEP IT FRESHOnce you have built a healthy habit of scheduled prayer, what do you do when boredom sets in? When you feel like your prayer life needs a major overhaul, it may be helpful to find a prayer partner to encourage you. Together you could formulate a prayer plan. Consider beginning with the Psalms or other Scripture as a guide to "big prayer."

or, try implementing some small changes. I have found that

walking while I pray helps to keep me fresh and alert. Try praying out loud and raising your hands. Add singing, a prayer list, or a journal. Pray over ideas you have read about in Christian literature. Use the requests in the Lord's Prayer on subsequent days as a stimulus for prayer.

Whatever you do, realize God wants the opportunity of these private prayer moments to shape you. As God's change agents in this world we must first be changed, and prayer is a primary means the Lord uses in that process. Prayer can give us new direction, new motivation, new attitudes, new val-ues. Nothing less is fitting for new creatures in Christ.

“Prayer is a most profitable and expedient means of obtaining purity of heart, the eradication of sin, and a receptiveness to virtue. Not that you should imagine that the purpose of your prayer is to tell the Lord what you want; for he knows well enough what you need. Rather, the purpose of prayer is to make you ready and able to receive as a clean vessel the grace that our Lord would freely give to you.”~ Walter Hilton [+]

Bill Syrios operates a real estate investment company, Stewardship Projects, which is based in Eugene, Oregon. He was formerly an In-terVarsity Staff member working at the University of Oregon.

This article is reprinted with per-mission from discipleship Journal.

(( WHILE GOD LISTENS TO OUR HURRIED McPRAYERS, THEY WILL DO LITTLE FOR US IN TERMS OF OPENING OUR EARS TO HEAR HIM OR INVITING … PROFOUND IMPACT.

))

ARTW

ORK

BY

BAN

KSY

(STE

EV H

ISE

CC B

Y-N

C-SA

2.0

.jPG

)

34 35

he title "Spending Time With God" immediately brings to mind the idea of attending church services

and personal devotion. The image of Bible study and prayer also comes to my mind. Indeed, God is Spirit – He is omnipresent. He is everywhere and hence, He is with us at all times! Spending time with God is therefore, about us being aware of His pres-ence, about man building a relation-ship with his heavenly Father. The quality of our relationship depends on how much time and effort we spend in nurturing and cultivating it.

After giving it further thought, I figure that spending time with God involves some of these basic ap-proaches of prayer, studying the Bi-ble, worship, service, and fellowship.

Spending Time With God In PrayerPrayer is an intimate time when we communicate with God. Looking at the examples of Jesus in the Bible, our Lord consistently made deliber-ate effort, going out of the way to spend time with God.

• In solitude – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1:35, also in Luke 4: 42-44).

Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowd say I am ?” (Luke 9:18).

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God (Luke 6:12).

• Jesus urged his followers to pray in private.

”But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Fa-ther, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matt 6:6).

What a wonderful privilege we have in this period of grace, that we are able to confess our sins, inter-cede for others, make petitions, pour out our hearts to Him directly and be cherished by Him!

Spending Time With God In His WordWhile we may find God speaking to us through sermons, pastors, spiritual leaders, Christian music, books etc., the Bible is always our primary source. God speaks to us through His Word! It is vital for every Christian who desires to grow spiritually, to dedicate a substantial amount of time in reading, reflecting and meditating on His Word. Personal devotions, small group Bible study, guided Bible study programmes such as the Bible Study Fellowship, Disciple Course, Precept Upon Precept, SOAP etc, provide excellent platforms for a be-liever to learn and know God better!

Our Lord jesus participated in learning the Scripture during his formative years (Luke 2:41-51).

• The Spirit of God is found in His Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all thing were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind (john 1:1-4).

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and in-tentions of the heart (Heb 4:12).

• Through His Word, God sancti-fies us and equip us to serve Him.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for train-ing in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16).

Spending Time With God In Serving / GivingThe book of James urges all believers to be engaged in serving God.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (james 1:22).

Likewise, Mark 10:45 – For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Ngui May Yee

SPENDING TIME WITH GOD

When we serve God, we are ef-fectively giving our time, energy and resources in the building of His king-dom, for the benefit of His people. It brings us out of the cocoon of passiv-ity, ushers us into a world of active faith in our Sovereign God.

For we are God’s handiwork, cre-ated in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10).

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:10).

Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great as-surance in their faith in Christ Jesus (1 Tim 3:13).

We are each created with a spe-cial talent to fit God’s specific pur-pose in this universe. Discovering and putting our talents into His service is both challenging and exciting! By giv-ing and offering our services (money, time, energy, efforts), we are turning our devotion away from the world and towards God. There is no better way of life than to live for Christ!

Spending Time With God In Worship Worshipping God is a time we sim-ply turn our attention away from the worldly affairs, come into His pres-ence and focus on Him, in praise, thanksgiving and adoration.

We can worship God in many cir-cumstances: either alone or in an as-sembly, in our personal quiet time or in a group/family/church setting. We seek to be still in His presence, know-ing that He is God. Singing songs of praise, hymns, giving thanks, con-fessing our sins, pray, soaking in His Word, rededicating our lives, renew-ing our commitment to Him and so on, do help us to put God in the right perspective and to experience Him in a greater capacity and grow in our re-lationship with Him.

On the other hand, there are or-ganized spiritual retreats which offer us opportunities to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of our regular

CLO

CKW

ISE:

STE

PHEN

PLA

T, S

EAN

MCG

RATH

BO

TH C

C BY

2.0

, FL

IGH

TSAB

ER C

C BY

-NC

2.0,

WIK

IMED

IA

36 37

life, bringing us into extended periods of worship and reflection, allowing us to refresh and recharge in the Lord.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship (Rom 12:1).

Psalm 100 captures the essence of worship beautifully:

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.Worship the Lord with gladness;Come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God.It is He who made us, and we are his;We are his people, and sheep of his pasture.Enter his gates with thanksgivingAnd his courts with praise;Give thanks to Him and praise his name.For the Lord is good, and his love

endures forever;His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Spending Time With God In FellowshipSpending time with fellow Christians is meant not just for social interac-tion, but also for encouragement as well as providing accountability for our faith.

As reasoned in the book of He-brews, we assemble with other be-lievers not just for ourselves, but for the sake of other Christians ‘let us consider one another’.

And let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meet-ing together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Heb 10:24-25).

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin (1 john 1:7).

Summing UpIn practicing all of the above, the sin-gle most important factor that we need to guard is probably our heart attitude towards God. Be still and know that He is God. We need to be still, shut out the noise in the world, then we are able to hear God's voice (Psalm 46).

Spending time with God requires us to put God on the throne of our hearts. Failing which, our prayers may become self-centred, our Bible study may become self-seeking, our service may be a platform for self-glorifica-tion, our fellowship may degenerate into gossip or meaningless chatter about worldly pursuits. The result of such activities may hold little or no value in the eyes of God. Hence, we need to make deliberate efforts to place God as the prime focus in or-der to build a meaningful relationship with Him and be an effective disciple of jesus!

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be trans-formed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12:1)

Let us fix our eyes on jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, en-dured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:2)

May the presence of God be with you always! [+]

Ngui May Yee and her husband, Francis, have been worshipping in CCMC since 1995. They have two teenage sons, Sean and Ian. May Yee serves in CCMC as a 9 am Sunday school teacher and organist for the 11 am service.

(( WE NEED TO MAKE DELIBERATE EFFORTS TO PLACE GOD AS THE PRIME FOCUS IN ORDER TO BUILD A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM… ))

TOM

AS M

UN

ITA

FOR

CEN

TER

FOR

INTE

RNAT

ION

AL F

ORE

STRY

RES

EARC

H C

C BY

-NC

2.0

SPIRITUAL RETREAT30 October to 1 November 2014Venue: To be annoucned

Retreat Director: Rev Barnabas Chong

Register with Raymond Chowraymond.chow@ccmc.org.sg

After three days, God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto land.

Then, Jonah obeyed God and went to preach to the Ninevites. They repented and God forgave them, but Jonah was angry that God spared the enemy of Israel.

Outside Ninevah, God provided a vine to shelter Jonah from the hot sun.

However, the next day, God sent a worm that ate the vine, making it wither.

JONAH The prophet who thought he knew better than God.

Manga by GILLIAN GOH

God spoke to Jonah, commanding him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Being a stubborn fellow, Jonah did just the opposite - heading directly away from Nineveh on a ship to Tarshish. Jonah "ran away from the Lord."

Jonah took matters in his own hands and told them to throw him overboard.

First, they tried rowing to shore, but finally tossed Jonah into the sea. The water immediately became calm.

In response, God sent a violent storm which threatened to sink the ship. The terrified crew cast lots and concluded that Jonah was responsible for the storm.

Growing faint in the heat, Jonah selfishly complained about the withered vine.

God scolded Jonah for being concerned about a vine, but not about the lost people of Nineveh.

Jonah was swallowed by a great fish sent by God. In its belly, Jonah cried out to God in repentance.

40 41

Dear Abigail,Over Sunday lunch, my wife and I were discussing Dr Carl Wieland's recent presentation in church about creation, evolution and the Biblical account in Genesis.

Our five-year-old son was with us, and we did not think he could follow our points about Adam and Eve and how God expelled them from the Garden of Eden.

I suppose he didn't because, later that day, he gave his mother his drawing of a car with three people in it. The driver, a bearded man, had two passengers: a man and a woman. When asked, my son said that it was a drawing of God, Adam and Eve.

When questioned further, he said that he just drew what we were talking about. What did we say to mislead our son?

Puzzled

dear Puzzled,In your discussion, did you and

your wife say that God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden?

Speedy help from yours,Abigail

Dear Abigail,I have been thinking of approaching the altar prayer team after service, but I worry that others will think badly of me.

Shy

dear Shy,In preparing to answer your question, I asked the altar min-istry prayer team to tell me who they have prayed with and for what. They refused to tell me even though I was persistent. Imagine that! They refused Abigail!

However, after I changed tack and asked about the range of prayer concerns, they were more forthcoming.

Among other things, the team has rejoiced with expectant par-ents, encouraged kids bogged down by exam stress, supported

those who are reaching out to friends and family, and prayed for those who are ill.

So, unless you are carrying a big banner proclaiming the reason why you wish to have prayer support, no one will know.

Don't be shy. Be eager for bless-ings!

Prayerfully,Abigail

Dear AbigailI overheard some people chatting after Sunday services about enjoying a spiritual spa. It sounded so good. Where is this resort?

Stressed

dear Stressed,CCMC has organised spiritual spas in Johore and Changi.

Treatments offered include the following:

Massage: I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LoRd sus-tained me (Ps 3:5).

destressing: Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28).

Oil therapy: To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Is 61:3).

Detox: The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing (Is 51:3).

Meditation: I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways (Ps 119:15).

Relaxation: Be still, and know that I am God (Ps 46:10a).

The next spiritual retreat is from 30 Oct to 1 Nov. Please con-tact Raymond Chow (raymond.chow@ccmc.org.sg ) to register.

Refreshed,Abigail

ASK ABIGAIL

ABIG

AIL

GOH

Songs & Singers

40

What would you do if your life were whipped out from under you and in a flash you went from the life you knew to standing face to face with our Creator? How would you answer for yourself and the life that you’ve led up till now?

The song Galaxies by owl City, a one-man electronica project created by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, is based loosely on the space shuttle Challenger’s tragic explosion in 1986. The song takes a first-person perspective of the shuttle’s flight commander and what it might have felt like to be “suddenly taken from reality into eternity in a split second”. The lyrics of the song are a “vivid portrayal of the idea that even amidst tragedy, victory can be achieved through Christ and through Him alone” making it a veritable anthem for anyone trying to walk the straight and narrow.

Young certainly knows a thing or two about trying to keep focused on living a God-centred life even while numerous worldly temptations and distractions stand in the way. Plucked from obscurity and launched into su-per stardom, Young went from his day-job at Coca Cola and making music in the basement of his parents’ owatonna, Minnesota home to becoming a platinum-selling crossover Christian artist in 2009 with the album "Ocean Eyes" and mega-hit song, Fireflies. Much like the flight commander who had the world literally at his feet, reality to Young is one of fame and fortune with endless possibilities and yet, he stays decidedly, and very wisely, grounded in his faith. He sings “Hercules, you've got nothing to say to me, ‘cause you’re not the blinding light that I need” in recognition that being at the top of the game and being powerful by the world’s standards does not immunize you from disaster or troubles. The only real way to survive the precariousness of worldly success is to know the Lord and have an intimate walk with Him.

Just as the lyrics “dear God, I was terribly lost” parallels the journey of Young’s own life “before I came into a saving relationship with the Lord”, it also echoes the same feeling of desperation and loneliness we feel when we go through hard times. Amidst darkness and hopelessness, we gain this awareness of how small and helpless we truly are and how much we need God as our guiding light to lead us through. Above Him, there is nothing truer and surer. Just as david wrote in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shep-herd, I lack nothing”.

Galaxies reminds us to keep on our toes and to be ever aware of where our “telescope” is pointed because it is so easy to lose track and wander off the narrow path. Like Young who makes it a point to read God’s word daily and surround himself with great people, so too should we be diligent in keeping our eyes trained on God so that our choices, desires, inspira-tion and actions align with His. Even as we may find ourselves bracing for impact, we can rest assured that even if the sun went dark, we can be courageous and unafraid because our North Star would “never leave us nor forsake us.” (deuteronomy 31:6). The message of the song is clear: God is the saving grace of the galaxies and if we have him, we do not have to endure the terrifying realities of life on our own. [+]

GALAXIESOWL CITY BY LEANNE PATTISELANNO

OW

L CI

TY

42 43

do You HAVE Good THINGS To SHARE?Send your recommendations to ccmcloavesfishes@gmail.com

Good ThingsGood Things

POCKET FUELPerhaps your Instagram

feed is getting predictable – photo after photo of people

in perfectly-flattering posts, equally perfect-looking food, and perfectly-filtered landscapes. Or perhaps you don’t even have an Instagram account. If you’ve barely gotten past setting up an Instagram account and are looking for something worth following, or you simply want another way to be reminded of God’s word daily, check out Pocket Fuel!

SAFELY PLUGGED INThe media entertainment offerings out there can be a maze, if not be-wildering when parents try to suss out suitable content for whole-some family fun.

Award-winning Plugged In (www.pluggedin.com), a Chris-tian portal for safe entertainment choices online is a Focus on the Family site designed to 'shine a light on the world of popular en-tertainment while giving families the essential tools they need to understand, navigate and impact the culture in which they live'.

Covering a wide genre of enter-tainment – movies, videos, music, TV and games – Plugged In gives insightful reviews along with well-researched articles and culture clips to spark Christian dialogue in growing the desire to follow the command in Col 2:8 – See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which de-pends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

There is also a nifty mobile app when you need to check in a jiffy if a particular movie or media product is suited for your child. Worried about undesirable pop-

ups? Plugged In, in partnership with Clear Play and Net Nanny, provides safe and useful monitor-ing resource tools to mitigate the problem of unwelcome intrusion by online predators and their kind.

Movie Night is another popular tool kit designed by family experts to guide parents in opening up conversations with their children through well-crafted discussion pointers to differentiate what is good, bad and harmful. do check this web portal out and be plugged in as media savvy parents!

|| Chong Cheh Hoon

GOODNESS GRACIOUSI first stumbled upon Gracesmiths while I was at a flea market, not re-alising it intentionally incorporat-ed Biblical references until I looked past the visually-appealing covers

of its notebooks. What I like about Gracesmiths

is how it rather subtly incorpo-rates themes inspired by the Bible without focusing too much on doe-eyed angels and other more conventional figures which tra-ditionally come to mind. I found Gracesmiths’ logo interesting as well, as it’s meant to look like a gift ribbon to show how tying gifts can be a parallel to how God’s love and grace tie up relationships and bonds between people.

Gracesmiths offers a range of items, including notebooks, decals, and jewellery, which can be purchased on its online store (gracesmiths.com). Unfortunately, they have rather limited stock of some of their products as many of their items are handcrafted. But then again, if you’re looking for something special, like a croissant- or fish-shaped pouch, Gracesmiths is a good place to look. Not only is it Singaporean and God-inspired, it also supports social initiatives like Saught, a social business which creates products from landmines and unexploded ordinance to sup-port sustainability in post-conflict countries.

|| Rachel Hau

The Pocket Fuel Instagram account offers daily devotions, in the form of meaningful Bible verses in attractive and striking typography designs, lovely backgrounds and appropriate captions.

The picture above shows Proverbs 31: 25 that struck such a chord in me that I used it as my phone wallpaper for a while.

If you want to see (and read more), why not follow Pocket Fuel? If you’re looking for something more tangible (and are also willing to fork out some money), the people behind Pocket Fuel also sell phone cases, shirts and even shower curtains.

|| Rachel Hau

SPORT FOR SOCIAL GOODThe SportCares program was launched in late August 2012 under Vision 2030: Live Better Through Sports. SportCares is an initiative to help improve the lives of underprivileged children, youth-at-risk, needy seniors, people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities and the disadvantaged in our community.

Using sport as a means for social good, SportCares links up underprivileged beneficiaries with passionate volunteers and commu-nity-spirited donors. Its flagship football program – Saturday Night Lights (SNL) – has been able to help 300 youths develop good val-ues and a sense of purpose.

SportCares has also served to bring together communities, rais-ing funds to help people live better through sport and by promoting volunteerism through its Young Mentors Programme.

For more information on this meaningful programme and vol-unteer opportunities, go to http://www.sportsingapore.gov.sg/about-us/sportcares or SportCaresSG in Facebook.

|| Leanne Pattiselanno

TRANSLOCATED JAPANESEThis neighbourhood Japanese restaurant operated under a different name in Sunset Way. Since moving to 16 Chun Tin Road, it has been aptly renamed Tenza, which means 'translocation' in Japanese.

Tenza stands out as one of the few mid-priced Japanese restaurants that serves fresh grated wasabi with sushi and sashimi.

Another excellent point that is evident even before your orders arrive at your table is the friendly, efficient and discreet service.

Certainly, the staff says irasshaimase enthusiastically as you step into the space defined by a long bar (well stocked with a range of sake) and two rows of tables, but the waitresses fade away, reappearing only when required.

The quality of the seafood is a notch up from the average, and is served properly chilled so as to enhance textures and flavours.

You will find all your favourite fare here, and also specialties like tiny river crabs and marinated fugu (pufferfish). No wonder it's popular for family meals out as well as for couple time.

|| Goh Eck Kheng

44 45

News Bites

4544

MAYFAIR PARK RECOGNISES CCMC

CCMC has been awarded the David Naidu Award for Community Bonding by the Mayfair Park Neighbourhood Committee. The award, named after the late immediate past chairman of the neighbourhood committee, recognizes the efforts of organizations or individuals 'who have made a significant contribution to build, bind and bond close ties in Mayfair through sustained and vigorous participation in its various programmes and activities to nurture a more caring and committed community.'

In the letter explaining the award, the neighbourhood committee wrote that they have been 'greatly touched' by CCMC's 'warmth of spirit, your love and your generosity at our Christmas celebrations each year.' It also recognised that the church regularly rallied its members to sponsor the… children of the Sembawang Family Service Centre who have been annual guests at this event.

The committee recorded its gratitude that CCMC has always

News Bites

remembered and graciously invited the members of the committee to the special activities and social gatherings organised by the church. 'This has made us feel that we are truly members of a caring fraternity of friends who have embraced us and made us part of their community.'

The presentation ceremony was held on 28 June 2014 at the function room of Mayfair Gardens. Ms Sim Ann, the Advisor of Mayfair Park Neighbourhood Committeee, presented the award.

|| Goh Eck Kheng

CAMP IN THE HIGHLANDS

CCMC's camp this year was held in Century Pines Resort, Camer-on Highlands, from 6-9 June. The theme was iConnect with God in the setting of His natural provision.

dr Tan Lai Yong (above), who served 15 years in medical mis-sions in Yunnan province with his family, and currently director for Outreach and Community Engage-ment at the College of Alice & Peter Tan, NUS, was the camp speaker.

Tim Tan, the church camp commandant confessed that he was extremely apprehensive about everything, but the camp commit-tee came through together, espe-cially in the last month before the camp. "People picked up the balls

MGS RECOGNISES CCMC

CCMC has been given the Methodist Girls' School Mrs Margaret Goh Award for 2014. The award, named in memory of Mrs Margaret Goh who passed on in 2002, is given annually to recognise selfless service to the school.

Mrs Margaret Goh was an alumna and teacher of MGS who became chair of the school board. She was also a founder member of CCMC.

The award was given to the

church to recognise its sustained service and committed partnership with the school.

Among CCMC's service to MGS listed in the award citation are chaplaincy, prayer partnership, hosting of foreign scholars during Chinese New Year, involvement in discover Jesus Week and Love MG, as well as support of school development.

The award was officially presented at the MGS Founder's day dinner on 25 July 2014.

|| Anita Fam

that I dropped," he said.The highlight of the camp was

the nature walk on day 2 along Sungei Ringlet to the Forestry Camp, then to Parit Falls and through the Sungei Pauh Camp Site and up and down jungle paths to the strawberry farms.

on the way to the Forestry Camp, a few campers were stung by disturbed bees, but with quick and decisive action (including dr Tan getting a lit cigarette from the forest rangers and asking Ps John – who had absolutely no experi-ence in the task – to blow smoke in the area), there were no serious injuries.

At the Forestry Camp, dr Tan gave the first meditation of the walk, asking campers to think about where they plant and where God has planted them. He shared about how transplanted trees can only trust the planter and thus, in the same way, we must trust God when he transplants us from our comfort zones to new, unfamiliar places where he gives us space to grow and mature as Christians.

After that, campers planted saplings provided by the forestry department in a clearing along the river which flowed past the forest-ry camp (above).

The next stop was a pictur-esque forest glade where James Wang, who works for the National Parks Board in Singapore, shared about God's creation and Christian stewardship of nature (above).

Tim said: "What excited me the most was the nature walk which I suggested. I was so worried about how to run the activity, but help came from everywhere." For example, Nicholas Auyong took an extra hour-long detour on his drive

to camp to the Pahang Forestry Department's nursery to collect the saplings.

on the day before the walk, it was discovered that the planned area within the Sungei Pauh Camp Site for James' talk became una-vailable because the camp grounds filled up unexpectedly.

Tim shared: "I prayed and, lo and behold, we found that little clearing in the jungle nearby. That speaks volumes about God’s power. If He wants something to happen, He will make it happen."

Tim has dedicated the nature walk to Noel, the son of church members Michael and Christina Chia, who went home to the Lord in 2012.

"For the sting and bites we endured at the valley of Parit Falls, let’s remember the pain and suffer-ing this young man went through as he fought a good fight. His battle with cancer and how he overcame Death’s Sting to gain eternal life will not be forgotten by his loved ones."

|| Goh Eck Kheng & Stephanie Low

46 47

oH MING CHooFamily Life Ministry, Church Property Management Committee

What is your favourite food and drink?Prawn noodlesWater

What do you appreciate the most in friends?Times together

What don’t you tolerate in others?I never have such issues. I just ignore them.

What is your idea of happiness?Health and the ability to play golf.

What is your idea of misery?Living alone.

What talent do you wish to have?Singing

Which Biblical character do you most identify with?Jesus

What do you like most about ccMc?The closeness of a small church.

What is your motto?Be happy.

FANG QINGOne Community

What's your favourite food and drink?Iced lemon teaPizza

What do you appreciate the most in friends?Loyalty

What don’t you tolerate in others?Dishonesty

What is your idea of happiness?A pink world.

What is your idea of misery?Sadness

What talent do you wish to have?Singing

Which Biblical character do you most identify with?Ruth

What do you like about ccMc?OC

What is your motto?To be a Godly women of excellence with a heart of love.

JoNAS CHUA9 am choir

What is your favourite food and drink?Indian foodChampagne

What do you appreciate the most in friends?Honesty

What don’t you tolerate in others?Hypocrisy

What is your idea of happiness?Peace

What is your idea of misery?War

What talent do you wish to have?Multi-tasking

Which Biblical character do you most identify with?Jonah

What do you like most about ccMc?The people serving here.

What is your motto?Towards excellence.

Getting to Know You

More than 200 years ago, John Wesley devised sets of questions for the discipleship/spiritual accountability groups he organised.

The questions have their origin in the small group started when he was a student at Oxford — one which some sarcastically called 'The Holy Club'.

The first list appeared about 1729 or 1730 in the preface to Wesley's second oxford diary. Similar questions appeared in his 1733 A Collection of Forms of Prayer for Every Day in the Week. As late as 1781, Wesley published a list of questions like this in the Arminian Magazine.

Typically, these questions were asked in groups comprising two to three men or women who met regularly to hold each other accountable in their walk with Christ.

This arrangement reflects Hebrews 3:13 – Encourage one another daily… so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Here is one set of nearly two dozen questions similar to what John Wesley gave to members of his discipleship/accountability groups:

(1) Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?(2) Do I confidentially pass on to

others what has been said to me in confidence?(3) Can I be trusted?(4) Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?(5) Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?(6) Did the Bible live in me today?(7) Do I give the Bible time to speak to me every day?(8) Am I enjoying prayer?(9) When did I last speak to someone else of my faith? (10) Do I pray about the money I spend?(11) Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?(12) Do I disobey God in anything?(13) Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?(14) Am I defeated in any part of my life?(15) Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?(16) How do I spend my spare time?(17) Am I proud?(18) Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?(19) Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?(20) Do I grumble or complain constantly?(21) Is Christ real to me?

Food for Thought

BY GOH ECK KHENG

times of extended retreat give us a chance to come home to ourselves in God's presence and to bring the realities of our life to God in utter privacy. this is impor-tant for us and for those we serve…. on retreat, we rest in God and wait on him to do what is needed. eventually, we return to the battle with fresh energy and keener insight.~ ruth Haley Barton

We are commanded to stop (literally)… rest, relax, let go, and make time for Him. the scene is one of stillness and quietness, listening and waiting before Him. such foreign experiences in these busy times! nevertheless, knowing God deeply and intimately requires such discipline. silence is indis-pensable if we hope to add depth to our spiritual life.~ charles swindoll We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. ~ Mother teresa

JOHN WESLEY'S COVENANT DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS

CERE

ZO B

ARRE

DO

48 49

Chia Tze Yong’sPNG KUEHTeowchew Rice Cakes

(Makes 35 to 40)

For the filling 4 cups glutinous rice200 g pork lard, cut into small cubes, fried till brown, oil separated from lard 10 shallots, sliced7 large Chinese mushrooms, diced and fried100 g dried prawns, cut into 1 cm lengths and fried120 g peanuts, boiled till soft150 g sweet chopped turnip (chye poh), washed, squeezed dry, fried till brown and fragrant50 g Chinese celery (ken chye), cut into 1 cm lengths

For the skin 600 g rice flour200 g glutinous rice flour6 cups water3 tablespoons oilRed food colouring

Png Kueh mould

To make filling1) Prepare items above as stated.

2) Cook washed glutinous rice in a rice cooker with 3 tablespoons of lard oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons soya sauce.

3) Fry the sliced shallots in oil till brown and crisp. Set aside.

4) In the same oil, fry the cooked rice with all the other ingredients, except the celery and crispy

Tze Yong has been a member of CCMC for 16 years. She learnt to cook early in life from her Teochew mother and peranakan aunties.

She said, "Cooking and baking is never a chore to me, but a gift from God. Hence, I am happy to be able to serve in CCMC's refreshment ministry. It is a joy to bless others with home-cooked food."

Tze Yong suggests that a Png-Kueh-making session with friends or family members is a good opportunity to relate and bond with one another. Besides, you can make the Png Kueh to suit your own taste.

Kitchen

shallots for 5 to 8 minutes till well mixed. Add soya sauce and pepper to taste. Lastly, turn off the fire and mix in the celery and shallots.

To make skin1) Boil the 6 cups of water with the oil and a few drops of red food colouring.

2) Put the rice flour and half of the glutinous rice flour in a big basin. Mix well.

3) Add half the boiling water into the flour and quickly mix to cook the flour, adding ½ cup tap water as you mix. Add more of the boiled water if the flour is not cooked. Then knead in the balance of the glutinous rice flour with a little more water. Knead till the dough is smooth and not sticky.

To make Png Kueh1) Pinch off enough dough to make a ball the size of a golf ball. Flatten the ball and place 3 tablespoons of the filling on it. Wrap the filling in the dough and press this into the mould to shape it. Unmould by knocking and continue making Png Kueh with the remaining ingredients.

2) Place the Png Kueh on a plate lined with a muslin cloth and steam for 20 minutes. Brush the cooked Png Kueh with a little oil. Serve hot with chillie sauce and sweet sauce. You may also fry the steamed Png Kueh before serving.

50 51

Crumbs

LIFE SAVERConcordio (Gerry) Galistan Soliano

Around 5 o'clock on the grey, driz-zly evening of 30 May 2014, Gerry Soliano, the site supervisor of Mayfair Gardens condominium, heard shout-ing from the swimming pool.

He initially thought it was ram-bunctious children at play, but when he heard the tone of Rashid his secu-rity superintendant's voice, he knew that an emergency had happened. He immediately got someone to call 995 as he ran to the pool.

By the time he got there, the pri-mary school boy had been pulled out of the water by his distraught mother. The child had been lying unconscious on the bottom for some time; his lips had already turned dark.

Gerry checked for vital signs. No breathing. No pulse. He immediately started CPR, giving two quick blows into the boy's mouth. He also pushed the stomach gently to get any swal-lowed water out. The boy regained consciousness for a split second but lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Gerry gave a third blow and he felt the boy's vomit in his mouth. He had, by then been performing CPR for some 10 minutes. This was the sixth life he had saved using CPR, a skill he had learnt as a regular in the SAF.

Gerry concluded: "It was by God's grace. I believe that God wanted the boy to survive. I was only the instrument."

For this heroic act, Gerry was given a special award by The Mayfair Park neighbourhood Committee.

IF YOU KNOW THESE THINGSThat’s the trouble, Lord!These many yearsI’ve read your BookAnd yes, I know ‘these things’.But do them…?You know, o God.Times, when the still small voiceof Spirit speaks,dawns self-reproachand sense of need prompts hurrying footsteps….‘Father!’‘I know, my child. It happens!I’m glad you’ve come. Still love you!There’s the path! You’re learning!’

~ Roy Rohu

PERSPECTIVEMan's works do not even come close to the works of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit does not work, all the efforts of man will come to naught.

~ John Sung

The Chi Rho, a monogram composed of the first two capital letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, meaning Christ, is one of the earliest forms of christogram.

Also meaning "good", it was orginally used by Greek scribes to indicate particularly valuable or relevant passages of writing. Thus, although not technically a Christian cross, the Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion of Jesus, as well as his status as the Christ.

The Chi Rho was used by the Christian Roman emperor Constantine I as the design on his military pennant.

http:

//w

ww

.hon

king

donk

ey.c

om

AMENBREADEARTHFATHERFORGIVEHEAVENKINGDOMNAMETEMPTATION

WORD SEARCH

MAZE

Here are some fun puzzles for the whole family to solve together. Can you tell what Bible themes or stories that each puzzle is based on? (Answers are on the back page of this section.)

BIBLE PUZZLE FUN

http://www.lessons4sundayschool.com/

FIND THE HIDDEN OBJECTSSPOT 12 DIFFERENCES IN THE PICTURES

Pic

ture

from

htt

p://

josu

eapa

ricio

.com

http:

//w

ww

.less

ons4

sund

aysc

hool

.com

CCMC Men’s Fellowshippresents

A TALK BY LIM SIONG GUAN

The former Head of the Singapore Civil Service and past Permanent Secretary of key government ministries shares his diverse experiences and fresh insights on

leadership in his new book, The Leader, The Teacher & You.

In this talk, Lim will give a Christian perspective to the contents of the book, examining the notion of leadership as being other-centered so as to enable people

to be the best that they can be.

~

Thursday, 2 October 8 - 9.30 pm

CCMC Youth Hall

ALL ARE WELCOME

ANSWERS

Bible Themes or StoriesWord search: The Lord's PrayerMaze: jonah and the big fishSpot the difference: The Good SamaritanFind the hidden objects: The Prodigal SonRebus: Love of and obedience to God

Spot the DifferenceDonkey's earDonkey's bridleDonkey's sweatDonkey's hoofStrap on bedroll on donkeyBottle Good Samaritan's shawlGood Samaritan's eyebrowGood Samaritan's mouthGrass between menInjured man's hairShoulder of injured man

If me, will O + what I com+ +d.

REBUS

U UUJohn 7x2:5x4-5

And this is : that we in O+ +dience

2 his com+ +ds. As U have h+ +d

from the +gin+R+N , his com+ +d is that

U in . 5-3 John 9-8:3X2

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness - 2 Timothy 3:16

56

DA

nIE

L w

EBER

CC

BY-n

C 2.

0

For ThoSe TeArS I DIeDMarsha J and Russ Stevens

You said you’d come and share all my sorrows; You said you’d be there for all my tomorrows. I came so close to sending you away, But just like you promised, you came here to stay. I just had to pray.

And Jesus said, “Come to the water, stand by my side, I know you are thirsty, you won’t be denied. I felt every tear drop, when in darkness you cried, And I strove to remind you, It’s for those tears I died.”

Your goodness so great, I just can’t understand. And dear Lord I know now that all this was planned. I know You’re here now and always will be. Your love loosened my chains, and in You I’m free. But Jesus why me?

Jesus, I give You, my heart and my soul. I know now without God, I’ll never be whole. Savior, You opened all the right doors, And I thank You and praise You from earth’s humble shores. Take me I’m Yours!