Happy People

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

Happy, Wise People : Children, Simpleton and the Wise .

One Saturday, my nephew Matthew came over my place and spent the whole day over (because Mommy and little brother were unwell and Daddy was "nursing" them).

We were spending the day in the house as we were under "strict order" from his daddy that we are not to step out of the house, basically we are not to be gallivanting outside.
So we stayed in house watching TV, playing toys, listening to music, did some coloring and numbering. While gallivanting indoor, it caught me that Matthew were "singing" two songs a few times, pretty "senseless" songs.

The first song's lyrics "I'm very clever!"
The second song's lyrics "Jumping is so fun."

For the first song, it is sung after he "accomplished" some tasks.
For the second song, it is just "ad-hoc" (well, at least from my perspective) behaviour.
Both songs were performed with great joy. At one point, I asked him when he was performing the second song, "Is jumping really so fun?"
And he replied a matter of factly "Yes, jumping is very fun!" (But I did not follow him and jump with joy. I was thinking.)

In the book of Nehemiah, Chapter 8, there is a record of the people of Israelites weeping when the Book of the Law of God was read and explained to them. But the Levites, Nehemiah and Ezra who were instructing them in the Book of the Law said to them "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep. Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve."

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.


Children - are joyous because understanding has not been taken away from them (yet!).
Simpleton - are joyous (maybe) because understanding has been sealed within them
(I cannot say for sure and this may seem a very cruel comment but that is the way I see it at times. I do stand to be corrected.)
the Wise - are joyous because understanding has returned to them.


"Jumping is so fun." "I'm very clever!"
My nephew is indeed very clever and happy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. And their joy will be complete.
Be merry!

Some thoughts on Marketplace Ministry

Extract of Ps Peter Tan's Testimony

“My spirit man is not only malnourished, it reflects nothing of the power and glory of my God.”

I have been reflecting about my spiritual life, especially after reading the testimony of this man Ps Peter Tan. (www.eaglevision.com.my/txttestimony.htm)

I know many a times at church, we spoke about Spiritual Awakening, Renewal, On Fire, Moving in the Spirit

I have extracted the portion that caught me especially, that caused me to really reflect the stage of my spiritual life.
It was this man’s fervency and seriousness in (the things of) God that move me.
I know I need to rebuild my spiritual life.


TESTIMONY OF MY LIFE AND MINISTRY by Ps Peter Tan

While I was there I continue on seeking the Lord. It was during that first year when I came out that the Lord showed me a vision of my spirit man. He showed how my spirit man was just malnourished. I want you to know that intellectually I had good bible knowledge. My grades in seminary were always 90 marks and above. So the vision of my malnourished spirit man had nothing to do with bible knowledge. But bible knowledge and spiritual growth are two different things. God showed me that my spiritual life was dry, empty and malnourished. I found in that first year when I came out the Lord dealt with my spiritual life.
That was when the Lord told me to take one year where I read nothing but the Word of God. I took every promise from Genesis to Revelation personalize them and for about eight hours a day meditated and meditated and prayed in tongues and meditated and prayed in tongues and meditated. For one year I read nothing but the Word of God. I read no newspaper; I read no books not even Christian books. And I meditated on the Lord. About six months into that meditation the Lord began to teach about His gifts. How His word of knowledge operates. I began to feel what I call now the tangible anointing that I never felt before. I began to understand that was the gift of the Spirit working.

Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)

If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God’s passion. And, if Daniel Fuller was right, God’s passion was the display of His own glory and the delight of my heart.

What is the point of life - To be happy? Or to glorify God?

Unspoken for many years, there was in me the feeling that these two were at odds. Either you glorify God or you pursue happiness. And that is why I was confused and frustrated for so long.

Enjoying and displaying are both crucial.

Delighting in God is the way we glorify Him. Seeking happiness in God and glorifying God are the same.

Jonathan Edwards says God’s purpose for our lives was that we have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and these two are one passion.

Now we see that in creating us for His glory, he is creating us for our highest glory. He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

With these discoveries, I now felt free to embrace God’s purpose for my life revealed in the Bible. I didn’t have to be afraid that I must choose between pursuing His glory and pursuing my joy. I was free to experience the single passion for God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all people. I was rescued from a wasted life. Now life could have ultimate meaning – the same meaning God’s life has: enjoying and displaying His greatness.

God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion.

Science & Miracle - Two sides of the same coin

Two sides of the same coin - if two things are two sides of the same coin, they are very closely related although they seem different.

Last Sunday Sermon shares from Mark 6 and Jesus spoke to the disciples “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.” The Scripture also explains despite witnessing the miracles, the disciples have not understood as their hearts were hardened, callous, dull, their minds were closed, lost the power of understanding.

This is the 4th sermon that spoke about Fear.

We fear when things gets out of order - an order that our mind can conceive, understand or plan.

But God who brought order into chaos (thereby our observance of Science), has the same power to bring chaos into the “order” of thing (thereby our observance of Miracle).

Science and Miracle are actually two sides of the same coin. It is just a bit difficult to work it in the "reverse" order.

Lift Your Vision High

Lift Your Vision High We're In A Way We've Never Been Before
Lift Your Vision Higher And You Shall See The Glory Of The Lord
For Without A Progressive Vision We Will Dwell Carelessly
Without A Progressive Vision We Will Dwell Carelessly
Lift Your Vision Higher And You Will See The Glory Of The Lord.