The Canaan Hymns - 迦南歌声

If you think those grandiose tales of the early apostles in the early church - doing wondrous miracles, spreading the gospels with much tears & blood - are something that we could only reminiscence today... think again.

Above is the story of a village girl - Xiao Min, whom God has raised miraculously to write hundreds of hymns for the Chinese underground church WITHOUT having any musical education or training. Like many of the Chinese underground church elders, Xiao Min has been jailed at least twice.

And interestingly, her hymns are "categorically" called: Songs of Canaan (迦南歌声). A reflection of Chinese Christians' heart for Israel and their love for the Jews.

Update @ Jan 6th:
As I read Acts 4 this morning, it strikes me how "applicable" is this verse for Xiao Min :)

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

Gaza War

Interesting to note since the days of Joshua (Jos 13:1-3) Gaza has been a place where the children of Israel did not manage to take control...

Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has no intention to bring peace to the region. They don't have the well fare of the civilians in their mind neither are they interested in true peace.

Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech,
For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who hate peace.
I am for peace, but when I speak
They are for war.
(Psalm 120:5-7)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth,
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
(Psalm 121:1-4)

Lucky Sheep

Every now and then, when I am spending quiet time with God, it still strikes me HOW LUCKY, HOW FORTUNATE I am to be a Christian. (It is my intention to use the words - lucky & fortunate - worldly words especially cherished by unbelieving Chinese.)

Both words denote a sense of "undeserving" - which of course is the root of all our blessing - the GRACE & MERCY of God.

To know God - or rather to be KNOWN BY God - is our GREATEST BLESSING. There is no other blessing that can top it. None.

And to know that my "fate" was sealed from the time BEFORE the beginning of time is the most humbling knowledge. And every now and then, I do caught a glimpse of David's cry to God: "What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him."

O the grace & mercy of God...

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
(Eph 1:4-6)



Have u ever wonder why would God chose the MOST inefficient method to spread the Gospel - that is by using us? I mean we are so unreliable!!!

I mean He could flash out some super-duper supernatural super banana miracles to simply shock unbelievers into believers - won't that be easier? After all He has the power.

I guess this is one area that would qualify for the verse:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are you ways My ways." declares the LORD.
(Isa 55:8)

Yet, the super-duper miracles ARE happening every time we share the Word of God. Every time we share the gospel, we sing praises to Jesus, we extol God's greatness - supernatural things are happening.

Let me ask u - Which is a greater miracle: 1) A person believes cuz he witness the opening of the Red Sea, or 2) A person believes after he hears a song....

And that's EXACTLY how one of my "unbelieving" cousin became a glorious believer thru the hearing of this song above. And this is a testimony to the very words of the song - My sheep hear My voice!

O the WISDOM of God!

Back to School

Well, this loudspeaker is about to sound once more across Malaysia when school starts NEXT Monday! Yes, to the groaning & moaning of many kids across Malaysia - holiday is FINALLY over!


Yes, all these doors & windows to classroom will be opened soon and once more the hallways of schools all over Malaysia will be echoing with the "sounds of learning"...


It has been a while since I last stepped into a Secondary School...


Though this one isn't my old Secondary School, but the environment is still familiar. O boy, so much good & wonderful memories... ya, especially the school canteen... yes, I can already imagine all the chaos & screaming comes Monday... :)


Yes, today is school registration day for my son who will be a Form 1 student this year! O how time flies!


Err...no...that's not HOW Malaysian High School is like...


Nope...no...neither does it resemble any of THAT! Thank God!


Ours are waaaaaay better! ;)


Before registration, parents gotta check out WHICH classroom are the kids been assigned to. This could be a very STRESSFUL moment for some parents. You see, in Malaysia, classrooms are usually ranked by "grades". Let me give you some examples:


Typical class "A" student...


Typical class "F" students...

So you can see why the STRESS...



After that, all parents need to quickly report "duty" at different stations to submit all the relevant forms & pay the required fees...


It was good to know some of my son's old classmates will be classmates once more!


Until then...the kids still have one more weekend to ENJOY!

Cousin Teresa & her BIBLE!!!

Hereeeeeeeeee's my cousin Teresa all the way from NYC with her gorgeous, brand new ESV PSR TruTone Bible!!!

Ok, now that the photo session is done, please do read the Bible - the MOST AWESOME book you will EVER read! May the Word of God be a lamp unto your feet & a light unto your path in the days ahead...

Happy New Year, uncle Pete, auntie June!!!

2009 - SHINE JESUS SHINE!

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the people;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
(Isa 60:1-3)

May the Church SHINES in 2009!

Christmas Service

Hey, it's Christmas morning - and it wasn't RAINING!!! It has been like raining for weeks nonstop. My buddy in Seattle & my uncle in New York City are both having major snow storm this Christmas season, and we here too are having record rainfalls.

Christmas service at Crown Tower with brother Frank & his usher team at the front entrance.


This year we all missed my sister, Evelyn, & her kids who are in KL now.


So the usual multimedia task traditionally "reserved" for my sis is now handled by my brother David & my future sis-in-law...


...who had a solo performance singing beautifully testifying the awesomeness of God Almighty. Praise the LORD!



This year, Pastor's message emphasized heavily on the absolute Sovereignty of God in the happenings of the world today, and over our personal life too.



Chin not just help out as a usher but I understanding he also helped to bring a family who have just came to know the LORD... I am waiting to learn more...and that is ON TOP of yet another great testimony about him & brother Frank visiting yet another relative... SO many things to catch up! Wonderful things God are doing in our midst.


Once more, a Blessed Christmas to all my friends & relatives out there! Jesus LOVES u!

Merry Christmas!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simply TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE news - and yet it is TRUE! 

What is the BEST, GOODEST gift one can receive? The salvation of one's soul thru Lord Jesus Christ. And for my blood-bought friends & relatives, this is my prayer for u in this joyous season:

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 

(Eph 1:18-21)

Merry Christmas!!!

Tan Lan Hwa

Last week, "Tan Lan Hwa", a super famous Taiwanese singer in the 70s, dropped by mom's shop. She was here taking part in an evangelical meeting hosted by Blessed Church, a non-denominational church where mom attends. 

Mom has been growing much for the past year in the LORD. One major "fruit" is her love & care for the salvation of this little flock in her shop. Praise the LORD.

She has been busy with much of her church's activities - especially in the area of Gospel Outreach & Christian Fellowship.

 

And a lot more joyful in the things of God.

She has come a long way from 2 years back. To God be the Glory.

"Surprise" Parcels

When I opened my eyes (from a nap), two Amazon parcels were sitting right next to me. Apparently the postman had come earlier and my beloved wife had received the parcels *gulp* on behalf...and gently placed them next to my head...

My mind went blur for about 5 seconds before a light went off blinking: "Could it be...?!!!"

As a matter of fact, I have given up hope on the arrival of my Cambridge KJV Concord & the 2 Study Bibles u see in the pix. I had ordered the Cambridge 4 mths earlier & the Study Bibles almost 3 mths back. Amazon had in fact refunded the money for my KJV and was about to refund my Study Bibles within the day...


Now I am really looking forward to enjoy reading the new Bibles.

And this time, my wife "finally" took an interest in "adopting" the new NLT Study Bible to replace her much tattered NKJV Spirit Filled Life Bible...

My wife, who is totally not impressed/interested with any of my Bibles so far, asked after a while: "Honey, is there a black calfskin NKJV Bible available in the market?"

Praise the LORD for the safe arrival of the parcels.

Doulos

After 7 years, Doulos is back in Kuching last week.


This ship sure brings back plenty of good memories. I remember my very own first visit was waaaaaay back when I was still in Primary School in Sibu :)


Faithfully bringing thousands of books all over the world...even in an age where most are able to buy books easily thru local bookstores or via internet, we must also remember there are STILL plenty of places out there in the world where such conveniences might not exist. Praise the LORD for Doulos.


To show our support... *ahem* - good excuse for me to buy more books ;) - we were able to pick up some real good bargains. I was also surprised at the good selection of Bibles she carries - much more than what u can find in all the Christian bookshops in Kuching!


It was a sweet & sweaty visit. Strongly advise parents to visit Doulos either early in the morning or late afternoon or on rainny days cuz it could get really hot up there under the makeshift bookstore with canvas tops.

And talking about Doulos - Greek word for SLAVE...


...I am happy to see that my sister is finally going to further equip herself for the next few years in a local seminary in KL in answer to the call of God...as a Doulos of Jesus Christ.

Comparing Smythson KJV Bible

It is inevitable that I should compare the new Smythson Bible with some of my other favourite Bibles, namely (bottom to top): Allan ESV1T, Allan Brevier Clarendon, Cambridge Pitt Minion & finally, the new Smythson Brown Mara Calfskin.



It is obvious Smythson Bible matches closest to Allan's Breiver Clarendon. Not just physically but also in terms of what is INSIDE.


For instance, both come with the excellent Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance.


Both are KJV (what else?) ;)


Both open FLAT right out of the box.


Both are equipped with only 1 (nice) ribbon.


However there ARE differences.

First, Smythson KJV is in Brevier Black-face format while Allan is in Brevier Clarendon format. One biggie advantage Clarendon has over Black-face is perhaps the lack of self-pronouncing feature which some find "irritating".

But here, I must say Smythson Black-face is perfectly "readable" and in fact has a significant edge over Allan Clarendon in print quality. The Smythson is very CRISP & SHARP despite the vintage typeface. Much more so than Allan's. And it doesn't suffer from the irregular "print tone density" issue at all! (At least I have yet to find any 2 pages side by side with discernible print density difference).

Even the pictures in the Concordance have better contrast & sharpness in the Smythson's.

(Now, please do not be mistaken in thinking Allan's Clarendon has "inferior" printing. NO, NOT AT ALL! In fact, its print quality is better than most "modern" Bibles in the trade! And also bear in mind that Allan also produces a Black-face version of which I have yet to see its print quality...)

However, I do wish the Smythson Bible has a bigger font. The smallish font (only slightly bigger than Cambridge Pitt Minion) does affect how long one can read in a stretch. In this regard, Allan's Clarendon is much more superior with its bigger font.


While I believe Smythson is slightly better on the inside "technically", it is more subjective on the OUTSIDE.

Update @ Dec 21st:
The more I read from the Brevier Blackface, I realise, the setting sometimes could give u a "very busy" look. It could be especially "irritating" when it is a pageful of names in self-pronoucing mode. I also realise the sharper/crispier first impression could be more due to the darker smaller typeface against a whiter paper (vs Clarendon).

Being a HARDCOVER, it doesn't flex. The cover is as stiff as any hardcover book. Personally, I prefer the limpness of Allan's Bibles...but somehow I find the hardcover (especially one with SUCH a superlative binding) more...scholarly ;)



Without considering the semi-yapp binding & the beautiful art-gilt edge Allan has, both are calfskin, both are gorgeous, both are of the finest binding, both are BROWN & both are superlative. So which will you choose?

I give thanks to my Father God who provides so richly in this Christmas season.