In every season, there You are.

I don't know whether to be glad that September is coming to an end. The end of the month marks the arrival of pay day for me. A good thing, considering the fact that I made a heavy duty expenditure this month with the purchase of my Taylor.

September has been hectic so I'm glad that its coming to an end. But with events stacked up in the last quarter, it seems like I've overloaded myself. I really thank God for the amazing people He has put around me to help me with all these responsibilities. People like Julius, my colleague and Programme Manager at work. Keith, friend, XScapade Commandant and superman in church. I really don't know what I'll do without them. These responsibilities have made me realise how far short I am to the standards. I rely on the Grace of God to complete and succeed.

But the thing is, I haven't really been relying on the Grace of God lately. I have been relying on my own ideas and strength. What this means is that I am shortchanging those I am working for. The fact that I am trying my best without the empowerment of God means that the fruits of my labour is second rate and simply not good enough.

I know how to come back though. I know how to get close to God through Jesus Christ. I know how to enjoy the presence of God. I know how to sing to Him, praise Him and honour Him. Its not difficult. I just need to adjust. Too much depends on this. My dream is at stake. Lives are at stake.

Dear Lord, I don't want to be jaded.

My new guitar...

I bought a guitar. This is a picture of what she looks like which I took from the Official Taylor Website.She comes from the 400 Series of Taylor's Acoustic Electrics. More specifically, she is a 414ce, which means she is made of a wood called Ovangkol and has a Grand Auditorium body. This shape means that the sound produced is clearer and brighter. She's nicknamed the performer for her versatility.

She is the first guitar that I have ever owned. Its probably because for many years, my primary instrument was the drums. Well, all that has changed. Maybe because now, I have a song... And when you have a song, it helps to have an instrument that can sing with you. I'm looking forward to bringing her around. She and I are going to see the world.

Your Song for my lips...

"Give justice to the poor and the orphan;
Uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
Rescue the poor and helpless;
Deliver them from the grasp of evil people."
Psalm 82:3-4 (NLT)

It takes a hardcore band like Underoath to really teach us the bible. This is my interpretation of the message in the song 'Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear'.

Psalm 82 is Your Song for my lips. This is Your Work for my hands. So why are we not singing? Why are we not doing? Why have we overlooked the useless, the disgusting, and the unlovable? The reason why the world points and ridicules us is because we look like fools. They stare because the 'freedom' we proclaim has been twisted into chains that adorn our necks, our hands, our feet. The Life we proclaim that Jesus bought for us seems more like death than anything else.

When Paul talked about the Communion or the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:30, he said that is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. (fallen asleep)
The cause? We can find it at the start of the paragraph in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29.
"Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself."
Many of us examine ourselves very thoroughly. We confess and repent before taking our communion. But Paul states very clearly the 3 words that many of us leave out.

Discerning the Body...
The Greek word here 'soma' is translated as body, but the word is also used to describe a group of men closely united into one society or family. It is also used in the New Testament to describe the church. It is my strong belief that Paul was not simply asking believers to examine themselves. But to discern is to make separate or make distinct. As the body of Christ, we are to make distinct the body of Christ; we are to stand out as believers!

Isn't that what the early church, the body of Christ did in the Acts? In teaching & preaching, fellowship & feasting, signs and miraculous healings, giving to those in need, praise and worship. This was the body of Christ in action and it was a body that grew! Is there something in that list that we might have left out? Will we remain cold and ignorant? Will our eyes and ears remain closed to the damned and condemned?

~~~ Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear ~~~

Good God, if your song leaves our lips
If your work leaves our hands
Then we will be wanderers and vagabonds

They will stare and say how empty we are
How the freedom we had turned us up as dead men

Let us be cold, make us weak
Let us, because we all have ears
Let us, because we all have eyes
Good God

How they knew that this would happen
They knew they knew that this would
(We’re so run down)

Good God! Can you still get us home…
How can we still get home
I’m not dreaming
We’re forgetting our forgiveness
Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation

Fascinate...

1. to attract and hold attentively by a unique power, personal charm, unusual nature, or some other special quality; enthrall: a vivacity that fascinated the audience.


2. to arouse the interest or curiosity of; allure.


3. to transfix or deprive of the power of resistance,

I've been thinking of going for Lasik surgery for quite sometime now. It'll probably be done next year when I've saved up enough money. The idea of seeing clearly without glasses intrigues me. I can only imagine being able to see clearly once I open my eyes in the morning. Being able to play soccer without putting on contact lenses. I'm sure many of us who wear glasses have forgotten what its like to live without them. I've had them since I was in Primary 2. I think this rings true especially in Singapore where there is a high rate of myopia.

The problem with myopia, or short-sightedness, is that everything that you look at is a blur unless you hold it up really close to your eyes. But do you ever notice, when you do that, thats the only thing you see. There's really no way to admire an object or picture in light of its surroundings; in the context of its environment.

I think many people, including myself, make judgements based on myopic views. Opinions that are only based on what we've seen and heard when we were holding a person's flaws 10 centimetres from our face. We focus on the bad and the ugly and we forget that a person is still a person.

But I digress... My point is this. Clarity causes me to be fascinated.
1 Corinthians 13:12 --> For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Paul was talking in this chapter about Love and he said that Love is eternal. Even knowledge will pass away. My take is this; if we are walking in Love, that's when we see the clearest. This chapter on Love is talking about Perfect Love. Verse 10 says, "When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away."

Why does Paul compares prophecy, tongues and knowledge to childish ways? There is nothing wrong with prophecy, tongues or knowledge. These are noble, Godly characteristics we should strive after. But when compared to Love, these gifts are likened to looking at the world through a stained window. The emphasis here is Love. When we act in Love or show Love to those undeserving, that's when we see clearly. As if we were seeing Him face to face. That's when we have clarity.

And with clarity, we are able to pick out beauty. I don't want to be short-sighted. I want to challenge the world's thinking and the world's way. That is what Jesus was trying to do when he told us to 'turn the other cheek', 'love our enemies', and 'forgive 70 times 7'. Focus on improving any one of these things and you will see the results very soon. It gets easier to see Jesus in our church friends and in our lives. Most importantly, we see Jesus in people who need Him most. That is what fascinates me. The more I choose to Love the unlovable, the more I see Jesus in them. And ultimately, it is Jesus that draws more and more Love from me.