The Yearly Review

By Not Known There are only two more days before 2014. I have always found it tremendously helpful at this time of the year, to spend time reflecting over the past 12 months of my life. God has always used these times of reflection to teach me certain lessons. These in turn, help me look…

In Praise of Forgiveness

By Not Known Mark 2:9 raises the question – Which is easier, to forgive sins or to heal the paralyzed man with a mere word? Sin is paralyzing. It renders people unable to have a close relationship with God. It prevents people walking in His ways and moving beyond their present circumstances. Rather than healing…

Have you turned on the GPS?

By Not Known Recently my clan had to make our way to a family gathering held in the northern part of Singapore. It was not the first time ‘up north’, but we always had difficulty with the roads leading there. This time, we decided to use turn-by-turn (GPS) navigation on my phone. As we travelled,…

The Beginning of the Gospel

By Not Known It is interesting that Mark did not begin the Gospel from the birth of Jesus Christ.  Neither did John when he began his Gospel from the beginning of time – when the Word “was with God in the beginning” (Jn 1:2). Instead, Mark began from Isaiah’s prophecy where the word of God…

2013…?

By Not Known Today is the sixth day of 2013. Have you had a meaningful start to the year? What did you do this last week? Let me guess… packing up last year’s Christmas presents, getting your children ready for their first school-day, getting into office early to clear backlogged emails, chasing up some post-Christmas…

Sigh or Shine

By Not Known Today is the second last day of 2012, and what a year it has been! I did a Google search for a listing of significant events in 2012. A cursory glance through a search result drew my attention to two words: ‘killed’ and ‘shot’. Events featuring ruthless politics, vicious wars, and massive…

Rejoice in the Lord Always

By Not Known Joy comes naturally from faith and is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  Until the heart believes in God, it is impossible for it to rejoice in God.  On other words, unless we turn to God in repentance and receive Christ into our hearts by faith, there can…

What have you given this Christmas?

By Not Known This is the third Sunday in Advent and it is traditionally associated with love.  We often hear about peace and hope at Christmas but love is what brought our Saviour to us.  For God loves us so much that he gave.  Love gives. A couple of years ago, a group of Christians…

You might miss Christmas!

By Not Known This is the second week of December. All around the shopping belt, the festive lights are up, the festive decorations are on the facades of shopping malls. On our personal calendars, there is much shopping to do, travelling, parties to plan and attend during this Christmas season. So many events, so many…

Parousia (par-oo-see’-ah)

By Not Known The word advent derives from the Latin adventus, which is the translation of the Greek word parousia. The New American Standard New Testament Greek lexicon defines the latter word as “presence, the coming, arrival, the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgement, and set…