The Future is Now!

My wife and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary this year and we indulged ourselves in a well-deserved three week holiday to Europe. In our own little fantasy world of the “Love Boat” era of the 70’s and 80’s, we decided to bring to realization that dream by signing up for a cruise in the Mediterranean. We spent a week in Italy on our own and joined a 12-day cruise from Venice to Istanbul and back. It was a thoroughly enjoyable holiday where we can withdraw from the routines of life.

In our staggered conversations throughout the trip in between celestial idle moments to exploring the ancient ruins of Italy, Greece and Turkey, and the beauty of the Greek islands, I thank my wife for standing by me for 25 years and we thank the Lord together that we could travel like this as best of friends. We enjoyed each other’s company more than ever as we enter into the early stage of our greying years and empty nest. We are beginning to understand and appreciate our promise to each other when we got married that we look forward to growing old together. Having been a pastor for twenty years, I have witnessed the heartaches of many broken or mediocre marriages. Marriage for some is like a prison cell, waiting for the day to get out. To others, and I am not sure which is worse, they live in mediocre co-existent, each living their own private life.

I often wonder what happened to the youthful ideals of love conquers all and why some couples even bothered to get married in the first place to get where they are today. For that, we are thankful to God that while we have our fair share of rough edges, the Lord has sustained and kept us together. There was a sense of déjà vu in this trip because I thought I saw a similar image before, of us in such a trip. I had a picture of what my marriage would be like, my family and my life. In fact, it is better than what I saw then. In some sense the future is now. I had a picture of what kind of husband I will be when I got married, the kind of father when I had my first child and the kind of influence I can be to people around me. It was then I started investing into the future. The future has now arrived. It is a sobering thought as I remember the life verse God gave me in my 20’s. James 4:14 “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

I was reminded that life will be short and whatever we do, for most things, we have only one shot at doing it right and the consequences, good or bad will have a rippling effect for years to come, not only to us but for many others as well. I remember crafting out in my early years what the future will be like, and little by little over the years, I invested into that future. Financial advisers have been extolling the power or miracle (some would say) of compounding interest. It is learning to save with patience and discipline, a bit at a time over a life-time, that we are assured of a good retirement. Life is not that much different really. The daily discipline of spiritual growth, relationship building and wealth creation is a responsibility of every person and the disaster of the lack of it is evident in so many we see years later.

If you are in your first half right now in your life, “maybe next year” is your worst excuse. You have far more important things at stake than you think. This is the power of vision. Life is like a mist. Don’t live to regret it later. My future is now, and a little more to go! You will be saying this too, soon.

What makes life meaningful?

I posed the above question on facebook and received a few interesting replies.

Paulin Tan

If, throughout the course of my life, I can manage to positively influence another's life or ... bring up a brood of kind, compassionate and good kids who can help make the world a better place.

Norma Sit

Knowing God. Life itself. Family. Work.

Michelle Yu

When I make the best out of everything, appreciate and remain a thankful heart through seasons of life- be it an up or a down. From there, impact others positively and that they will be able to see this grace I carry through my life this far, that 1st comes from God.

Paul Messal

Obedience and Love.

Daniel Lim

Purpose beyond one's self.

Jennifer Lee

People and revelation through conversation about the LORD

Antony Mark Brown

Knowing our identity in God; which gives me purpose and identity. This gives me meaning.

Andrew Goh Hwee Liang

Is when we know what we can do for God.

It is quite interesting to see how different we are as men and women in our understanding of life. Men generally place their meaning on what they do and women on relationships. Notice how we men use words like "purpose" and "do". Women use "influence", "knowing", "appreciate", "conversation".

That's the beauty of gender difference. We both bring a richness that completes the picture. We need though to forge a clear theology of who He is. Meaning in life is both "doing" and "being". I for one think that meaning in life is really about firstly knowing that you are loved. Remember when you first fell head over heels in love with this amazing person? Remember when you woke up every morning after that filled with a sense of purpose? That was a teaser to how we can fall in love with God and be filled with meaning in and for life.

Someone said it is a settled conviction of how much God loves us. Meaning becomes clear when we know we are loved! That must be the starting point before we can make any sense out of life!

The "One Another" Principle

Doing nice things to each other must be something difficult and not the fleshly norm. That's why Apostle Paul writes about it frequently. These are exhortations given to Christians and for good reasons too!

Jesus Himself commanded the same. John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

Loving one another will be a hallmark of the new Christian faith and this will stand out the definitive mark of the Christian community. 

I. Positive Statements from Apostle Paul

1. Romans 12:5 - we are members of one another (KJV) (Ephesians 4:25)
2. Romans 12:10 - be devoted to one another 
3. Romans 12:10 - honour one another above yourselves
4. Romans 12:16 - live in harmony with one another (NIV)/be of the same mind one toward another (KJV) (Romans 15:5) 
5. Romans 13:8 - love one another (1 Thes 3:12; 4:9; 2 Thes 1:3)
6. Romans 14:19 - edify one another (ASV) (1 Thes 5:11- encourage one another)
7. Romans 15:7 - accept one another
8. Romans 15:14 - instruct/admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
9. Romans 16:16 - greet one another (1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12)
10. 1 Cor 11:33 - wait for one another
11. 1 Cor 12:25 - care for one another (KJV)
12. Galatians 5:13 - serve one another
13. Galatians 6:2 - bear burdens of one another (KJV)
14. Ephesians 4:2 - forbearing one another in love (Colossians 3:13)
15. Ephesians 4:32 - be kind and compassionate to one another
16. Ephesians 4:32 - forgive one another (KJV) (Colossians 3:13)
17. Ephesians 5:21 - submit to one another
18. Philippians 2:3 - regard one another as more important than yourselves
19. Colossians 3:16 - teach one another
20. 1 Thes 4:18 - comfort one another (KJV)
21. 1 Thes 5:11 - encourage one another/build each other up
22. 1 Thes 5:13 - live in peace with one another
23. 1 Thes 5:15 - be kind to one another

II. Negative Statements from Apostle Paul

1. Romans 14:13 - don't judge one another
2. 1 Cor 6:7 - don't have lawsuits with one another
3. Galatians 5:15 - don't bite and devour one another
4. Galatians 5:15 - don't destroy one another
5. Galatians 5:26 - don't provoke one another
6. Galatians 5:26 - don't envy one another
7. Colossians 3:9 - don't lie to one another
8. Titus 3:3 - don't hate one another

III.   Summary

1. 23 different positive statements
2. 8 different negative statements
3. Total of 31 different statements (plus 11 duplicate references)

Note: All references in NIV unless indicated.

Wounded Soldier

In my nineteen years of ministry as a pastor, I have recognized that the unseen inner emotional wound is sometimes deadlier than a physical wound. Physical wound will eventually heal, leaving behind nothing more than an unsightly scar. We know our physical wound is healed when there’s no longer any pain when we press on it.

However, emotional wound is quite a different story. It can remain with us for the rest of our life. The wounds open up or close, or heal, depending on our receptivity for help. The worst part of emotional wounds is that they will be inflicted on other people, causing even greater wounds. In some sense, they are “transferable”.

Decent looking men or women may carry inner wounds, passing unnoticed until they rear their ugly heads. Inner wounds are inflicted in so many different ways. It can cripple a person for life. The tongue has great power and nothing hurts a person more than unkind words. “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21)

The emotional wounds in our human souls are like tuning forks resonating to anything that will bring out the hurt in us. The enemy takes cognizance of that and uses it to his full advantage. In the battle field, the enemy has a simple strategy and that is to wound or maim a soldier so that it takes another healthy one, or more, to tend to him. The army’s fighting strength is weakened in the process. If you think about it, that is a powerful strategy. In fact, some weapons are designed purely to maim and wound as they leave a lasting crippling effect on the rest.

How is this worked out in reality? The enemy will wound as many as he can in the Church so that healthy Christians will be distracted to tend to the wounded part of the Body and not be involved in the battle out there for the souls of men and women in the kingdom of darkness. Counselling and ministry for broken Christians keep the Church busy in tending to them. Broken marriages and families, hurtful words, unkind actions etc. are all damaging weapons of spiritual warfare. When the enemy wounds a man, he gets the whole family. The church then springs into action deploying healthy Christians, who are precious resources to counsel and minister to the wounded Christian.

Hence, instead of focusing on ministering to the lost, church leaders are often preoccupied with tending to the hurts of fellow Christians through counselling and prayer. All these can be avoided in the first place if God’s people are truly transformed and are renewed disciples of Jesus Christ. As the battle field of spiritual warfare is in our minds, our minds must be renewed (Romans 12:2). Discipling Christians to be strong to avoid and overcome the onslaught of the enemy should thus be our priority. 

Our challenge often is also not from without, but from within, which is why Christians are exhorted in the Scripture to love one another. In fact Jesus prays for us about this in John 17. The community of God is called to build up one another. The best strategy the enemy can deploy is to cause Christians to hurt one another.

Apostle Paul warns the church about “quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder” (2 Corinthians 12:20). He speaks strongly against lawsuits among fellow believers without exhausting the avenue of Christian mediation (1 Corinthians 6:1-8) and the creation of factions within the church (1 Corinthians 3). He abhors those who disunite the church by false doctrines and encouraging “unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind” (1 Timothy 6:4b-5a)

The enemy knows he is powerless with a frontal attack because Christ has nullified his power through the cross. His strategy is thus to cast discord among God’s people. If we recognise that strategy, then we can overcome the enemy by simply practicing what God has commanded, which is: “to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.” (1 John 3:23)

Hence, one of our most powerful weapons of spiritual warfare is love. Without love, we are a resounding gong or clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13). We are nothing and we gain nothing. Out of the triad of Faith, Hope and Love, the greatest of these is Love (1 Corinthians 13:13). So as disciples of Jesus Christ, let us keep ourselves emotionally healthy and spiritually strong by loving each other. We should start with our own family.