Blessed Dad

Came out from my room and received a card from my son.

This is a precious gift because it comes straight from his heart, since today is not Father’s Day. It’s just a normal day. He just did it because he wanted to. 😍😍😍

I’m a blessed dad.

Lameness

"Papa, I like you because you are very funny. How come you can think of something funny so fast?"

Looks like lame jokes work wonder for all ages.

Moral of the story: Fathering requires you to be lame too. If you need an impartation of lameness by laying on of hands, let me know. By God's grace, I am anointed with it. It is one of the most a̵n̵n̵o̵y̵i̵n̵g̵ important gifts.

Making A Stand

There are some who will speak up and make a stand.

There are some who won't speak up and make any stand.

The former is active and will encounter haters. The latter is passive and live in harmony with all. But the latter has already made a stand BY his silence.

If your beloved child saw a group of bullies continually abusing his friend physically, mentally and verbally, and you tell him, "Boy ah... don't speak up, okay? Just continue to do your own thing and live your life quietly. Be under the radar. Don't get involved with this type of political situation."

Guess what would happen to his friend? Yep. Remain in the cycle of abuse. Like it or not, your beloved child has indirectly contributed to his friend's unjust situation.

Unfortunately, this also happens in the context of church. "Let's just do our own thing, alright. We don't want to get involved. We do not want to make a stand so that we can show love and embrace more people."

That's sensual-love, not God-kind of love. God-kind of love is found in Jesus. Jesus did not remain silent for the sake of harmony (Luke 12:51). He would speak up for injustice (Read: John 8; Mark 15:17). To the degree He loves, to that degree He speaks truth and hates lies and what is on the contrary.

Injustice happens in society when there are more passive Christians (especially Christian leaders) who take a passive stand by refusing to make an active stand.

Perhaps the true pandemic is within the church more than in the world.

Math Question

While doing a difficult Math question, J drew the Math model halfway and came to approach me, as I happened to be there.

He asked, “Papa, is this correct?”

I refused to check as I knew that he’s trying to gain confidence by checking halfway, instead of completing the whole question first.

So I began to declare, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. You have the confidence and boldness in you. The Bible does not just apply to the devil. It applies to your Math. It applies in everything. You have it. You got it. You just believe it. You know how to do this Math question.”

When I was done, he just walked back with confidence to finish his Math question.

Looks like it works. Yay God.

Cultivating The Fear Of The Lord

Cultivating The Fear Of The Lord

While taking my shower, God spoke, “J played game on his aunt’s iPad earlier when you were not around.” At the back of my mind’s eye, I ‘saw’ balloons in the game.

After bathing, I approached J and said, “Why did you play game on iPad at 2nd aunt’s house earlier?”

(He is not supposed to play with iPad games).

He was shocked. I responded, “Jesus told me when I was showering.”

He said, “Why is Jesus so clear and powerful?”

When I was disciplining him, I reminded him, “Why do you think I always know what you are doing?”

He answered, “Because what I see through my eyes is what God sees. He lives inside me. And God also lives in you. So what I see is what you see.” He learnt this many times.

He asked, “How come Jesus always tells you stuff? Do you know what game I played?”

I replied, “I saw a game related to balloons.”

His eyes were wide open, because the game he played has them.

I had to explain why God would reveal stuff about him to me so that he understands both the love of the heavenly Father as well as the fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord has to be cultivated early for the next generation, not just by teaching and saying about it, but also by demonstrating that He knows all things, and that He speaks.

#homeschooling

Shaking The Dust Off My Feet

For more than a decade, a certain lady had been pestering and persecuting me for a decision that my wife and I did in the past. She had been calling, messaging and tracking me down for more than a decade, since 2008.

My wife and I simply, out of good intention and compassion, reached out to her in 2008 and brought her to a church service for the disadvantaged. For she had hearing impairment at that point and she was a believer. And she didn't really have a community in her church where she felt belonged to.

Yet she accused us of tricking her, and constantly questioning our motives ever since. Regardless of how I had explained to her countless of times, she refused to listen and kept on going on. After that episode, it continued for several years.

For a period of time, it was such a distraction that I blocked her contact from my phone as her messages were very toxic and persistent. But she kept changing her numbers and using other numbers so that she could call or message me.

I felt like experiencing a tiny glimpse of what Paul said about his persecutors, sent from Satan to torment him. No matter how I tried to reason and explain, the accusations never came to an end. This lady had a much deeper root than that ----- one of resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. She did not really understand His grace, His love, His goodness and the Gospel. The deep-seated issues found a place to vent ------ I became the target.

It was extremely toxic and demonic in nature. I mean... God still loves her because she is not demonic, but she is influenced and controlled by the enemy without realising it. Just like the Pharisees were.

Two years ago, she continued to contact me again with different numbers and I finally relented and thought that I should give her a chance. Unfortunately, she didn't stop her accusations.

During this period, she had asked for help to transcribe her lessons. I was busy but I decided to help her out of compassion. It took me several nights to transcribe word for word for a 2 hours plus' session as I had to keep rewinding to hear what her lecturer was saying (as her English isn't so good).

If you delay in replying her, she would accuse you of breaking your promise, etc, etc. She would track my posts on social media and continually bombarded me with messages. 

The toxic messages are distractions from the enemy. Today, I have just rebuked her as I decided to shake the dust off my feet concerning her. The accusations and lies do not end. The disciples shook the dust off their feet when they couldn't find a person of peace in the place where they preached. Since she couldn't receive whatever I said in truth, I realised that I cannot help her. Neither do I want to be distracted in the Kingdom.

This is the first person in my life that I decided to cut off my connection with, because of an unrepentant spirit that continually seeks after strife. I pray that God will work in her, and that she would come to the place of repentance and experience the love and the power of the Gospel.