God Is In the Business of Impossible (Genesis 17:15-19)

“God continued speaking to Abraham, ‘And Sarai your wife: Don’t call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I’ll bless her—yes! I’ll give you a son by her! Oh, how I’ll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her.’ Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, ‘Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?’ Recovering, Abraham said to God, ‘Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!’ But God said, ‘That’s not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I’ll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever’”
(Genesis 17:15-19, The Message)

Sarai was 90 year-old when God gave her a fresh start. No longer would she be known by the old Babylonian name she had been born with. From Genesis 17 onward, she would be called “Sarah” – Princess – and she, like her husband (Abram, previously renamed as Abraham), would be the mother of nations. Name is so important. It represent who we are, our origin. Good name is crucial for a new identity. Abraham and Sarah’s names are God’s prophesy of what they would become.

I’m thinking of Abraham… how his faith were stretched… he had been called upon to believe some wild things (Up-In-The-Sky-Kind-of-Promises!) over the previous 30 years. But the thought of his 90 year-old wife would “give you a son” was too much. Too impossible for him – and probably too stress – that he laughed! Abraham being Abraham, he gave God a suggestion, a solution: “Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!” What he meant was, “Lord, why couldn’t Ismael, be the son of the promise? Let him be!” Perhaps Abraham truly love Ishmael. Perhaps Abraham sick of waiting. Perhaps he felt bad for the boy Ishmael, son with the servant woman Hagar. Illegitimate or not, he was till Abram’s flesh and blood.

Let me reason for Abraham… Hey, Ishmael, his son, was already there. Why wait? I think it is quite awesome if God were to make a great nation out of Ishmael (in fact, God does it). But to imagine an as-yet-unborn son of a 90 year-old woman? To me and Abraham… that was impossible to imagine...

About two thousand years later, God did the same impossible promise. Elderly Elizabeth who were barren bore a son, John the Baptist and Mary, a virgin, bore child Jesus the Messiah (read Luke 1 and 2). Both were impossible cases, but as Gabriel, the archangel said, “Nothing, you see, is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37, Msg). God had His own plans, His plans will come to past. He is in the business of impossible. “That’s not what I mean,” God insisted, “Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son.” God was doing something utterly new to Abraham. In the end, Sarah gave birth to a son named Isaac (read Genesis 21).

When God plans to do something, something great

Hold fast to His promises, He keep His promises,

Remember: “Nothing, you see, is impossible with God”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and My Fellow Malaysians, Let Us Pray for Pastor Raymond (Missing for A Week Now)

One of the saddest crimes is kidnapping or human stealing. Every day whether you turn on the news or go on the web, you always see kidnapping crimes going on worldwide. This is probably the most severe form of stealing. In the Old Testament this was punishable by death. Exodus 21:16, for example, says, “Kidnappers must be put to death, whether they are caught in possession of their victims or have already sold them as slaves.” This was what was happening back in the slavery days. It is not applicable today, but still, this law shows how serious this crime is (I checked: A Malaysia’s 1961 law states that kidnapping carries a life sentence or a death sentence, preceded by a whipping).

According to police, Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo, 62-year-old, of DUCM (Damansara Utama Methodist Church) is believed to have been abducted by a group of masked men after he was seen driving along Jalan Bahagia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, in his car between 10.30am and 10.45am on Monday, 13^th February 2017. It has been exactly a week since his disappearance. “My children and I are very anxious for Raymond,” writes Susanna Liew Sow Yoke, Raymond’s wife on her message thru WhatsApp, “How can this blatantly happen in broad daylight in the peaceful place of our home land.”

Susannah continues, “I believe that the people who took my husband from me are no ordinary abductors because of the following reasons:

§  They were masked

§  The abduction was professionally and deftly executed, taking less than 60 seconds

§  The abductors had money, or were backed by money, or by an organisation with money as the cars they used were expensive SUVs, at least one of which was a black Toyota Alphard

§  The abduction was planned, timed and executed at an opportune moment, which suggests that they were waiting for my husband who drives an old Silver Honda Accord bearing number plate ST 5515 D.

Someone in the group calmly filmed the entire abduction while other masked members of the group re-directed the traffic. According to witnesses, at least five masked men were involved. According to CCTV footage, at least three black SUVs stopped in the middle of the road.”

Koh and his wife has been involved in many church charity and community work with a group called Harapan Komuniti, which he founded more than 10 years ago. Harapan Komuniti holds free tuition classes for children and English lessons for adults. Koh is well-known for the controversy in 2011 where the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) accused him and his NGO for proselytising Muslims following a disrespectful raid on a thanksgiving and fund-raising dinner at the DUMC. (Actually, Jais raided without search warrants). Demi Membela Al-Islam wordpress on their 14^th October 2011 entry accused Koh and Susannah of converting people – especially Muslims – to Christianity (and putting Koh, Susannah, and Daniel Ho’s pictures as wanted figures). These liars accused them of gaining lots of money, around RM30,000 – Rm40,000 for every convert from the Christian Organization from Australia. This is a lie from the pit of hell! If it were true, I shall quit my job and focus on converting Muslims in Malaysia and beyond. The Worldwide Christian conspiracies (which is fuelled by hundreds of rubbish ‘literatures’ sale in Malaysia’s bookstores under the “Agama” section) is created by small-minded, spiritual-freak, die-hard religious people!

But I won’t deny pastor Koh’s involvement in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, to the Malays. He is an evangelist, he evangelized people no matter who they are, provided that his audiences are willing to hear the News. No manipulations. No force. Not for worldly reasons. I believes he evangelize to the Chinese, the Indians, the foreigners, the marginalized and disables, the rich and the poor, children and adults. The Good News is for all people, no other race is lower or higher than the other. That’s what pastors – and Christians – supposed to do! I’m proud of Pastor Raymond.  

If you’re not keen of the fact that he is a Christian pastor (you refuse to be move by his faith), then you should be compassionate for him as a person, as a law abiding citizen who has done nothing more than help the underprivileged regardless of race, religion or nationality. As Malaysians, we should stand together asking for mercy and justice. Dear polices, please update us of your investigations? Dear government officials, why nobody say anything? Dear government-based media (national TVs) why there is not a single news report of this kidnapping? It’s been a week for God sake!

Let us continue our prayer for Pastor Raymond Koh and his family. Susannah writes, “Let us persevere in prayer for the prayers of the righteous avails much. Let us continue to love God and do good to our neighbours. Raymond would be very happy today if he knows not only Malaysia is praying for him but also the whole world. Raymond always stood for justice, righteousness and truth. He always reached out to the poor, needy and marginalized. He even loved his enemies. Jesus was his example.” Amen.

[P.s: The family of pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo is offering a reward of up to RM10,000 for any information on his whereabouts. Please WhatsApp Jonathan at 011-3973 2670]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Simple Book Review: "Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ" (1996) by Robert H. Stein

Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ (1996)
by Robert H. Stein

This book is very scholarly, I mean, technical but not that hard to understand. It seem like Professor Robert Stein aims at writing this book for seminary students. Prof Stein is a fine evangelical New Testament scholar. In this book, he draws together the results of a career of research and writing on Jesus and the Gospels. “Every episode in the life of Jesus is here treated with historical care and attention to its significance for understanding the life and ministry of Jesus.” To me, this book give inquiring minds a sure grounding in Jesus the Messiah.

This book is divided into 2 parts and 19 chapters:

Part One: Key Issues in Studying the Life of Christ

1)    Where You Start Determines Where You Finish: The Role of Presuppositions in Studying the Life of Jesus

2)    Where Can We Go? Sources for Studying the Life of Jesus

3)    When Did All This Take Place? The Problem of Chronology

Part Two: The Life of Christ

4)    Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary: How It All Started

5)    What Was the Boy Jesus Really Like? The Silent Years

6)    The Baptism of Jesus: The Anointing of the Anointed

7)    The Temptation of Jesus: The Battle Begun, the Path Decided

8)    The Call of the Disciples: You Shall Be My Witnesses

9)    The Message of Jesus: “The Kingdom of God Has Come to You”

10) The Person of Jesus: “Who Then Is This, That Even the Wind & Sea Obey Him?”

11) The Events of Caesarea Philippi: The Turning Point

12) The Transfiguration: A Glimpse of the Future

13) The Triumphal Entry: Israel’s King Enters Jerusalem

14) The Cleansing of the Temple: God’s House – a Den of Thieves

15) The Last Supper: Jesus Looks to the Future

16) Gethsemane, Betrayal & Arrest: God’s Will, Human Treachery & Governmental Evil

17) The Trial: The Condemning of the Innocent

18) Suffered Under Pontius Pilate, Dead and Buried: Despised & Rejected, a Man of Suffering

19) The Resurrection: “Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead”?

This book is very helpful for my personal and groups study on the Gospel :)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

During the Covenant Making Abram Fell Into a Deep Sleep, So God Slapped Him? (Genesis 15:10-22)

“God said, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon.’ [Abram] brought all these animals to him, split them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he didn’t split the birds. Vultures swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram scared them off. As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy…  When the sun was down and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch moved between the split carcasses. That’s when God made a covenant with Abram: ‘I’m giving this land to your children, from the Nile River in Egypt to the River Euphrates in Assyria—the country of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites’”

(Genesis 15:9-12, 17-21, The Message)

Either you don’t understand what you’ve just read or you’re saying What?!! to this bloody business, I find that this encounter is interesting. Abram killed three large animals, cut each in half through bone and muscle, and laid the pieces out. But lucky birds, their bodies remain in one piece (but probably their heads were chopped off. Easy dead). Imagine the smell of meat and blood. Thus, Abram had to scare the vultures off.

I assumed Abram probably recognized the making of the familiar ritual – the Cutting of a Covenant – during the Old Testament period. When two kings made a covenant, they sometimes cut an animal in half and walked between the pieces as way of saying, “If I don’t keep this agreement, may I be like this animal.” Sometimes both parties walked between the pieces, sometimes it was only the weaker of the two kings.

“As the sun went down a deep sleep overcame Abram and then a sense of dread, dark and heavy.” Many commentaries tells us that Abram woke to a vision of God. In a form of “a smoking firepot and a flaming touch” God passing between the pieces of the animals. If it was God, then I assured you, it was not the weaker of the two parties putting Himself on the line for the sake of the Covenant, but the stronger. The only One. I interprets it as of God was saying, “If I don’t give this land to your offspring as I have promised, may I be broken like these broken animals.”

God came to the man and woman who waited in faith. There is no record of Abram walking between the pieces since God’s Covenant is not a bargain between equals. It is totally dependent on God’s initiative of grace. Abram role – our role even today – is to receive what God gives, obey what God commands and so live in the enjoyment of God’s blessings. I learned, through my darkest moments, when I don’t understand why I have to wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled, I know that that is precisely the moment for faith to hold on to God’s Word and to say,

“I know that the God who has brought me to this point is not going to let me down now, so I am going to confirm my commitment to Him, whatever the appearance may be, because He is committed to me forever. Amen.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

A Lesson from Impatient Wife, Soft Husband and Proud Servant (Genesis 16:1-6)

“Sarai, Abram’s wife, hadn’t yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, ‘God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her.’ Abram agreed to do what Sarai said. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.

Sarai told Abram, ‘It’s all your fault that I’m suffering this abuse. I put my maid in bed with you and the minute she knows she’s pregnant, she treats me like I’m nothing. May God decide which of us is right.’ ‘You decide,’ said Abram. ‘Your maid is your business.’ Sarai was abusive to Hagar and Hagar ran away”

(Genesis 16:1-6, The Message)

This is both encouraging and troubling: Abram’s life of faith was up and down like roller coaster. Encouraging because mine is like that too; and troubling because his doubtful- attitude is like mine too. Huh. In Genesis 15 we saw Abram believing God’s big-scale promise to make him a great nation. But in the next chapter we see him taking matters into his hands again.

Knowing Sarai couldn’t possibly bear children at her old age, she invited Abram to sleep with her maid Hagar in hope that she would bear a child (on behalf of her since Hagar was her bondage-servant) who would be the beginning of Abram’s great nation. At least start with one child. The promise, after all, said that Abram would become the father of great nation – it didn’t specify that the children he fathered had to be legitimate. Hello!

So Abram slept with the servant woman – clearly put: having sex – and she got pregnant. Soon Sarai began to realize what a mistake she had made. Hagar the Egyptian “looked down on her mistress.” She became proud, and probably felt loved by Abraham because she bore his child. This is a better drama than TV3 Malay drama. So Sarai could no longer stand the sight of Hagar. In her eagerness to help God keep His promise and in her unwillingness to wait for God’s timing and somewhat became queen control, Sarah traded in her dignity, and Abram (sadly) had let her. It was a tragedy, disastrous. Abram became soft. Hagar became proud. Sarai became abusive.

Wait. That’s what I learned from this story. It’s hard, but wait for God is the best thing to do. On waiting Charles H. Spurgeon writes, “If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Abram, Look at the Stars, Look How They Shine for You (Genesis 15:1-6)

“The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.’

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’

And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness”

(Genesis 15:1-6, ESV)

By now Abram was an old man. His wife, Sarai, was old too – in fact, decades beyond childbearing age. So when God came to him in a vision (you may called it ‘dream’) and repeated the promise He once made with Abram, it’s not hard to understand Abram’s doubt and fear. “I continue childless,” he said, “and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus [his chief servant].” Lot, his nephew has gone; and Abram had left his families behind. Since he doesn’t have any children or other close relatives, by law of the land, his chief servant will inherits his properties (unless he go back to his home town). I imagine it was a painful thing for Abram to think about: It wasn’t even a distant relative, but a servant who would inherit everything he had worked for.

Even though God seems to be ‘last-minute’ to me, it wasn’t what He had in mind when He promised to make a great nation of Abram. He wasn’t talking about servant(s) that will inherit his properties and promises. No, as unlikely as it sounded, God was going to give Abram his very own son.

God took him outside the tent [still in a vision, probably in spirit?] and told him to look up to the heavens. “Number the stars,” God said, “if you are able to number them.” [Again, I imagine Abram tried to count the stars with his finger and murmured 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…] “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram probably lifted his head once more, this time he looked at the stars not as numbers but possibilities. He took in the vast and shimmering sky – each star a son, a daughter, each one a blessing to the rest of the world. And somehow, Abram’s faith restored – Abram believed again.

I hope that this story – God’s Story – will lift up your faith again, restore your believe in God’s promises again, hope in Him again. May God’s righteousness be with you as you believe in His goodness and promises in His living Word.
[P.s: I’m not sure what “counted it to him as righteousness” mean; could it be God counted Abram as righteous because of his act of believe?]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Simple Book Review: "Letters to Home: Young Malaysians Write Back!" (2016)

Letters to Home: Young Malaysians Write Back! (2016)
edited by Ooi Kok Hin, Aish Kumar & Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin

I seldom read books by local writers. I plead guilty. It turned out I’m very impressed by this book. 24 universities, 7 countries and 1 hope, hope for Malaysia. “The voices and issues discussed reflect the diversity you’d expect to encounter in any modern and plural society such as Malaysia,” writes Ooi Kok Hin, one of editors. “You will find stories and essays about nasi lemak and the brain drain, JPA scholarship and Malaysia Airlines, politics and economics, welfare and ideology, immigration and refugees, cynical Malaysian and idealist Malaysian, interracial marriage and financial literacy, and even heaven and hell.”

0) Introduction

1) Sakuras Are Beautiful, But Nasi Lemak Is Better (by Azalia Zaharuddin)

2) Separating Ketuanan Melayu and Affirmative Action (by Fikri Fisal)

3) Investing Without Returns (by Ng Jung Kian)

4) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (by Aish Kumar)

5) Semantics and the Voters Psyche (by Zaryff Razali)

6) Pendatang (by Tan Heang Lee)

7) The Global Competition for Talent Between the United States and Malaysia (by Billy Hoo)

8) I’d Love to Get to Know You Better. Wanna Go Out and Have a Chat? (by Nurul Ismawi)

9) To All Malaysians, Welcome Home (by Ooi Kok Hin)

10) Do Not Ignore the National Language (by David Lim)

11) Are We Doing Enough to Protect Our Environment? (by Rexy Prakash)

12) Chasing Heaven, Finding Hell (by Tharmelinggem Pillai)

13) One Teh Tarik, One Nasi Lemak (by Abdul Rahman Shah)

14) The Change From Within: A Kelab UMNO with Non-Malays (by Shamil Norshidi)

15) Our Disabling Attitude Towards Malaysian with Disabilities (by Shahir Shukor)

16) To Intermarry Or Not to Intermarry? (by Benedict Weerasena)

17) Imperialist Linguistics: Why My Language is Better than Yours (by Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin)

18) Of Reading Books and Money (by Achmad Bakhtiar M Yuni)

19) Dear Typical Malaysian (by Justin Lim Jia Tian)

20) Us Rude Malaysians! (by Sarah Syahirah binti Abdullah)

21) Curbing the Mahasiswa, Creating the Pelajar (Fikri Fisal)

22) The Great White North: Things You Might Not Know About America’s 52nd State (by Nizhan Faraz Risal and Eddy Arief Zulkifly)

23) A Walk In Kelantan (by Asyraf Muiz Roslan)

24) I Work Hard but Still Get Less (by Hasbullah Faudzi)

25) I Can Only Hope (by Ian Chew)

26) A Letter to My Students (by Izzat Adha)

27) Leaving the Orphanage: An Adventure Upon the Coming of Age (by Puteri Eleni Megat Osman)

28) Nasi Goreng Kampung vs. Nasi Goreng USA (by Mohamad Syazwan Abdul Rahman)

29) It Takes All Kinds to Make a Nasi Kerabu: Celebrating Diversity in Harmony (by Mohd Izzuddin Ramli)

By favourites are chapters #1, #2, #5, #6, #8, #9 (most dear to Sarawakians, especially), #10, #11, #12, #16, #20 and #26. I recommend this book for students, staff worker, politicians, and for those who care about Malaysia – and what others think about it :) [P.s: Kamu boleh jumpa buku ini di Popular dan MPH Bookstores. Berharga RM20.00 je]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.