Above all else

Last Sunday's sermon was about friends. Oddly, I have just been to the company's crisis counselling course (for BCP purposes) which says that counsellors are not supposed to be friends, they are supposed to help you feel better. I suppose there's a place for both. Why? Because really good friends, like parents to their children, are supposed to render value judgments and solutions (which don't necessarily make you feel better). On the other hand, friends won't always be able to help or offer solutions, but in such cases, they're still there for us. The premium to be placed on the support and prayers of true friends is more than we realize. How can we ourselves be a valuable friend to others? Here are 3 suggested elements: (a) steadfast loyalty (b) shared vision (c) selfless giving How is loyalty evinced between friends? Obviously, helping when in need - Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity". Also, protec

This November, my family and I will be off to China on a short mission trip. This time, I'm not only bringing my kids but also my parents! My kids really enjoyed themselves last year (or so I like to think) and I'm really looking forward to seeing the place again. At last week's team building get-together, each of the team members shared their expectations for the trip. My expectations were as follows: (a) to set an example for my children, so that they grow up with the paradigm that going on mission trips is NORMAL behaviour, and not a big deal. Otherwise they will end up like me, thinking that I am doing God a big favour by going. This will be our third trip as a family, and things have gotten easier from the first time to the second time (the first time, Daniel was still pram bound!), so hopefully we can maintain this discipline and enjoy it more and more as well. To be honest, it has not been difficult - both trips I've gone to have been amazingly fun! (b) to demons

God has been faithful to our office group, even as our activity has fluctuated as wildly as our stock price. Can't be helped I guess - sometimes work is just crazy. But just last week, when I thought the meeting would have to be abandoned, J introduced T to the group and T came for the lunch meeting. There were just the two of us, but God demonstrated that He always provides, just in time, and I think we had a nice time sharing and praying. Thanks for keeping me company T :) In contrast, the zoo trip probably counts as the very height of our activity in the 9-10 months since our re-inception in January 2007. In my view, the zoo trip was an unqualified success - from the preparation and fundraising to the execution and aftermath. In fact, I just met 2 of the children at our recent charity run, and was very happy that both of them remembered me from the trip and (at least out of politeness if nothing else) appeared to be happy to see me too :) Now to this week's sharing. We know

This picture is of Damascus, circa 1677. I've found it important for me to draw near to God, as work threatens to gobble up more and more of my attention. As usual and unfortunately, God always gets more attention in a crisis :p Now, to my thoughts for this week, which are utterly plagiarised from what my wife shared with me haha :) Acts 9:1-17 describes Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. There are a number of interesting bits in this passage. When Saul is blinded by the light, he says "Who are you Lord (Adonai)?" (Acts 9:5). This suggests three things - one, that he doesn't know who the light is. Two, nevertheless, he knows that the light has authority. Third, he wants to know who the light is. Saul was a busy man. He was an important man. In fact he was just on his way to Damascus to take prisoner the Christians, in a fit of self-righteousness. I'm sure that like me, you have often felt like Saul. We feel busy and important (especially at work), doin