Upgrading to What Ends?

TITLE: UPGRADING TO WHAT ENDS?
SCRIPTURE: Proverbs 3:1-2
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: Feb 1st, 2015

"My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity." (Proverbs 3:1-2)

Night View of Marina Bay Sands

It was nice to be back on familiar grounds, somewhat familiar grounds. Having left Singapore for nearly eleven years, I notice the huge changes in the small island country's landscape. Up North, the Woodlands area has become a major Northern hub. Down South, the Marina Bay area has been transformed to a sprawling architectural wonder, with Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay as the popular attractions. Even locals can testify of the great transformation of the old to the current new. If it is a big change for them, what about people like me who had not seen such changes for so many years?

The transit system has been expanded with the Circle Line and the DownTown lines. The North-South and East-West lines have been augmented with additional interchanges and greater connections to the rest of the MRT network. Dhoby Ghaut for example is a major interchange that connects to three different lines! I was surprised to find myself in the middle of Plaza Singapura, which itself had also been transformed. That is not all. Even the streets and roads I was familiar with had been modified to make way for the new infrastructures in the business district. There are more office towers, more shopping centers, more food offerings, and of course, more people. As I traveled on the very efficient transit system, I noticed that most of the people had smartphones and pretty covers. Many had data plans and were constantly connected to the Internet. I watched people more engrossed in their bright screens. Back then, people were mainly texting, staring into blank space, or simply dozing off. Nowadays, people seemed to be always awake, always doing something with their phones, and always streaming or reading something in front of them. If one is a working professional, a student, or someone below the age of 60, chances are, they would be online.

Fake Religion

TITLE: FAKE RELIGION
SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 7:1-8
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date:January 24th, 2015.

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: “ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless." (Jeremiah 7:1-8)

Key Question: What looks and feels good but is really not good?

This week, I read about the story of a bank in the Eastern part of China that was just opened a year ago with more than 200 customers. Promising 2% interest rates every week, it attracted many small businesses from ZheJiang province to open accounts at this new bank. Called the “Nanjing Mou Village Economic Cooperation Unit,” this bank has a beautifully designed location with fully uniformed bank tellers. There are official letterheads and deposit envelopes with a logo and all. One customer even deposited 200 million RMB with them. But there was one problem. The bank was fake. After one year, no one suspected the problem until one businessman who had deposited $2 million, saw the interest credited to his account and tried to withdraw the money. He couldn’t. He complained. The bank shut down. Police arrested five persons. In total, more than 32 million dollars were swindled out of ordinary people. This is the first time I read about fake financial institution that looks real on the outside but totally fake on the inside. Five people were arrested, but for the 200 customers, many may never recover their hard earned money.

Persevering Saints

TITLE: PERSEVERING SAINTS
SCRIPTURE: Romans 5:1-5
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: January 19th, 2015

"1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (Romans 5:1-5)

Powerful movie of Enduring Perseverance
Go watch it!

Last week, I watched "Unbroken," a powerful movie based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand which describes the life of the WWII hero, Louis Zamperini.  This man survived storms, scorching heat, hunger and thirst for 47 days on the open seas. Captured by the Japanese at the height of WWII, he endured ridicule and shame. He was tortured and humiliated by his cruel captors. His body was physically broken. Emotionally spent, the easiest thing for him was to give in to the demands of his captors or to simply die. No. Zamperini chose life and endured all things. The Japanese leader, Mutsuhiro "Bird" Watanabe, in the prison camp tried to break Zamperini, but failed to crush the spirit of his prisoner. In fact, Watanabe was instead broken from the inside out. All because Zamperini chooses to persevere regardless of the hardship and torture inflicted upon his flesh. It reminds me of Jesus' words, " Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).

The Heart of Prayer

TITLE: THE HEART OF PRAYER
SCRIPTURE:Philippians 4:6-7
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: January 10th, 2015

With lots of good intention, many people would rally their fellow believers to pray whenever they encounter some life challenges. It could be health related. It could be some major project milestone. It could also be travel concerns or some dangerous situations a loved one is in. Those of us in ministry would be familiar with such a request.

• Please pray for me, for journey mercies.
• Please pray for my family member who is undergoing some treatment.
• Please pray for the persecuted Christians in country X.
• Please pray for my upcoming job interview.
•  
•  

Maybe, prayer is simply an anxiety reliever. After all, didn't we read in Philippians 4:6 which calls us not be be anxious about anything, but to present all of our requests to God? Indeed, in the spirit of neutralizing our anxieties, we can ask people to pray for us. A closer read tells me something else. Philippians 4 can be interpreted as a personal call to the one reading the letter. It is Paul calling the Philippians not to panic, not to let anxieties and worries overwhelm us. Instead, offer it up to the Lord in prayer. For in prayer, we let the Spirit of God still our hearts and minds, to give us the peace of God that we all need for that moment and beyond.

Maybe, prayer has something to do with a hidden hope. A hope that the journey will be safe; that the family member would have good health results; that the persecution of Christians would stop; that the upcoming job interview would be positive; and so on. This hidden hope is simply wanting to see personal desires fulfilled. More importantly, it is an acknowledgment that we can only do so much, that there are many things not within our own control, that we need help with the fulfilling of our  hopes. Who else can we go to when things appear to be spinning out of control?

Serving with Grace and Gratitude

TITLE: SERVING WITH GRACE AND GRATITUDE

Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: January 2nd, 2015

A Happy New Year 2015 to all my readers and friends.

For the first time since the launch of SabbathWalk, I took a two week recess from my weekly writings. It was not because I didn't have the time or the motivation. Neither was it because of some urgent work to be done. It was simply because I had a longer family vacation, the first real one in years. Since starting pastoral ministry, it has not been easy to take a vacation during the Christmas season. Take last year for example. I had to preach consecutively throughout the Advent. I had to organize various events, coordinate with different people, set forth a theme, and ensure that everyone were able to have a meaningful time of worship during the Christmastide. As for my family, they tagged along sometimes dutifully, but mostly lovingly. Ministry is a strange juggle between family and Church, between private thoughts and public words, between members you know and strangers yet to be known.

The Celebrity Reflection (inaugurated Oct 12th, 2012)

We traveled on the Celebrity Reflection to the Caribbean. For seven days, we walked, played, relaxed, and ate on the magnificent flagship of the cruise company.It was a thing of beauty, an engineering achievement, as well as a floating luxury hotel. With nearly a third of the passengers on board serving the other two-thirds, the large ship can hold a maximum of 3046 people. With a beam 123 feet, a length of 1047 feet, and at least 15 decks, this floating paradise can cruise about 24 knots (about 40 land miles per hour). Being the newest kid on the block, it contained some of the most modern technologies. I was especially impressed by a large stabilizer under the ship which made the ship less susceptible to water turbulence, reducing the level of seasickness among passengers. I could attest to the overall ride being stable and quiet. For the most part, I felt like this was the most stable ship I had ever traveled on. It made me wonder about stabilizers in general.

The Church as Hope-Bearers

TITLE: THE CHURCH AS HOPE-BEARERS
SCRIPTURE: 2 Cor 13:11
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: December 14th, 2015

"Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:11)

I have just finished a book called "Churchless" with mixed feelings about the state of the Western Church. The authors are owners and members of Barna Group, which is a private, non-partisan, and research organization that serves to identify and interpret cultural trends, especially relevant to the Christian community. They begin with some grim news about the increasing number of people who are no longer attending church services. They define the "unchurched" as people who say they are Christians but have not attended a Christian church service in the past six months. With particular interest on those who are Christians but not involved in any Church, they made this conclusion: "Invite a friend to church on Sunday" is no longer an in-thing. This week, I look at three necessary things. We need to understand the current cultural movements. We need to find ways to connect them both in or out of the Church. We need to find ways to show the unchurched that Church is worth it.

Walking with the Dying

TITLE: WALKING WITH THE DYING
SCRIPTURE: Job 7:13-16
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: December 5th, 2014

13When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, 14even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 15so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. 16I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning. (Job 7:13-16)

Synopsis: We have often heard and read about people wanting the right to die. What about the right to live? Caught between the rock and a hard place, how do we walk with people who are dying? In this article, I will argue that it is not what we say or do, but how much love and care we put into being present. 

A) The Right to Die

Death is that inevitable end to a human being's time on earth. Dying is the lonely journey to that end. Put together the two and we will have a potent mixture for fear. How do we walk with the dying? What if the dying want to be assisted to die? Recently, a couple of stories hit the mainstream media. One of them is Brittany Maynard's widely publicized decision to die at an appointed time of her choice.  At 29, Brittany was already suffering from splitting headaches. Married just over a year, she and her husband had been hoping to start a family. Until the headaches got the better of her. Her doctors gave her the bad news: Brain cancer. Not only that, due to the aggressive nature of the cancer she had, doctors estimated she had only six months more to live. Not wanting to let her family see her suffer through palliative care, and knowing that there was medically no chance of survival, she set off for Oregon, the state that allows patient assisted dying under the "Death with Dignity" provision by the state. She planned her final day to be November 1st, 2014.  She explained her painful decision on video and news of her decision to die triggered many responses from both pro-life as well as advocates for mercy dying.  One notable response was a letter by Kara Tippetts, who was also dying of cancer. In that moving open letter, Tippetts bared out her soul with the words that deeply reflect how she felt:

"Suffering is not the absence of goodness, it is not the absence of beauty, but perhaps it can be the place where true beauty can be known. In your choosing your own death, you are robbing those that love you with the such tenderness, the opportunity of meeting you in your last moments and extending your love in your last breaths. As I sat on the bed of my young daughter praying for you, I wondered over the impossibility of understanding that one day the story of my young daughter will be made beautiful in her living because she witnessed my dying. That last kiss, that last warm touch, that last breath, matters — but it was never intended for us to decide when that last breath is breathed."

Mary's Song - The Magnificat

TITLE: MARY'S SONG - The MAGNIFICAT
SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:39-56
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: December 1st, 2014

It's the most wonderful time of the year, so goes the popular year end song. After American Thanksgiving, and the infamous Black Friday sale, many stores and retail shops switch to Christmas sales mode to capture the spirit of giving, of discounting, and of frantic buying. Many Churches follow the traditional format of Advent themes. This year, my Church will look at four songs, that make up four sermons prior to Christmas. Yesterday, I started off with my sermon on Mary's Song.

The Magnificat is Latin for "glorifies" or "magnifies." It is a joy unspeakable from within that needs a channel of expression. Words and explanations do not quite cut it. It has to be sung out loud with pompous gladness and gusto. Two themes are evident from the song of Mary.

Questioning God

TITLE: QUESTIONING GOD
SCRIPTURE: Job 38:1-3
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: November 24th, 2014

1Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: 2"Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."

I have been following with some interest an open letter online about why a former believer left her faith. It contains various reasons and faults with the Christian religion. Most of all, it stems from a tragic loss of her father, which was made worse by certain insensitive comments that tried to explain it all.

At the same time, I have just read through twenty-four earnest and honest reflections of faith from the standpoints of atheists, believers, agnostics, and various perspectives. Many of them had one thing in common: Faith Under Trial. Some of these respondents who had "left the faith" were raised in rather religious circumstances. They go to Church. They followed the educational processes. They essentially kept with their parental expectations. Until one day, the water bag broke. Skepticism gives birth to sarcasm, followed by plain dismissal of formerly held beliefs. All it takes is a shaking down of the nice image of a big and friendly God who is all loving and all providing. Whether it is cancer, loss of a family member or a friend, or some tragic circumstances, at some juncture, we will all intersect with the pain-and-suffering station of life.  When that happens, questions turn into doubt; doubt turns to fear; and for self-professed "former" believers, fear coupled with frustrations soon turn one away from God.

• "God, where are You?"
• "God, why is this happening to me?"
• "God, are you there?"
• "God, hello? You there? Why don't You pick up my prayer?"
• "God, God, God? Why are You so quiet? I'll try again tomorrow."
• "God? You'll probably sleeping."
• "God? Are you real?"
• "God? Maybe there is no such thing as God."

Let Our Lives Speak, not Speed

TITLE: LET OUR LIVES SPEAK, NOT SPEED
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 34:8
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: November 14th, 2014

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." (Ps 34:8)

We have all heard about the fast-paced lifestyle. With so many things to do and so little time, we zip through the highways. We wolf down our meals. We hurry our kids. In a world where every second seems to matter, we easily grow impatient with incompetence. We become frustrated when the driver in front of us cruises at the posted speed limit. We wonder why the bank teller can chat so casually with the customer she was serving even when the line is long.

What if we allow this kind of crazy speed through life to enter our relationship? What if in our rush to get things done, we push others to travel at our expected speed instead of their natural pace? Ever heard about how a twenty-year old young man pushed over an eighty year old lady just to reach the cashier first? Or how this cartoon urges us to "Stay in Queue" even when the line in front of us does not appear to be moving. The story of Martha and Mary demonstrates how the busyness of activities can mess up our sense of priorities. Good works are noble tasks, but when we try to force people to pander to our expectations, the nobility quickly evaporates. Work first, pray later. Get things done first, leave people alone. Move first, love later. Even in the presence of our Lord Jesus.

(Picture Credit: www.allaboutgod.net)