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

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

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

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

By Not Known What is this spell our handphones have cast over us?  When I studied overseas in the mid 70’s, I wrote letters (by hand not on a laptop or phone – to my then girlfriend in Singapore) four times a week.  On special occasions I would make a phone call from a phone…

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

By Not Known Colossians is a 2000 year-old letter that contains relevant messages for us today.  It was written as a response to problems that had arisen in the church; false teachings had undermined and distracted them from the person and the work of Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of the salvation believers have in…

By Not Known An elder was chatting with a regular worshipper.  “Brother, what’s your area of service?”  He replied, “Err… I’m “just” an usher.”  “Thank God for you. That’s wonderful!”  The elder responded.  “Oh, I’m just volunteering,” that brother replied, “I’m not called like you, elder.” Are you serving in ORPC? Or are you just…

By Not Known The sheer weight of manuscript evidence gives us confidence that the New Testament has been transmitted to us accurately.  We now possess more than 5,750 ancient New Testament Greek manuscripts with some of them dating as early as A.D. 100.  Seven fragments from chapters 4, 5 and 12 of Mark’s Gospel dating…

By Not Known My mother is a woman of prayer.  After coming back from work, mom would go to her room to pray.  Her prayers were long and many times after praying, there would be tears in her eyes.  When asked what she was praying for everyday, she replied, “For guidance in life for all…