Above all else

Really meaningful lyrics.  I like this band a lot!

Recently there was an article in the Straits Times stating that my church was told by the authorities to compensate one of its employees after she was fired for committing adultery with another church employee.  According to the article, the church was willing to allow the woman to keep her job, but only if she attended counseling and broke off her adulterous relationship.  But this didn't work out, so the church terminated her employment.  The newspaper headline was essentially "Church told to compensate employee for adultery". If I had read that anywhere else, I'd have thought it to be a silly parody.  Sadly, it's not.  The world has gone mad. Remember, an employee's right to employment is not absolute merely on the grounds that she is pregnant.  Take a simple example.  If an employee in your company breaks the company's policy and steals from the company, it's justifiable to sack that employee, even if that employee is pregnant.  Yet what...

I attended the Singapore Corporate Awards on Wednesday night.  I thought there was an interesting common thread between the three winners of the "Best CEO" award, which is awarded to companies with market capitalization <$300m, between $300m and $1b, and >$1b respectively. All three companies - 2nd Chance Properties, Sheng Siong and DBS - are clearly very different in size, the nature of business, and corporate environment.  And I think it's safe to say that it would take equally capable, but very different skillsets to be an effective CEO and run a successful business in each of their respective fields. But there was a common thread in the acceptance speeches. The first acceptance speech focused on how, when that CEO was not yet a success, or during tough times when it seemed the business would not make it, his wife gave him unconditional support. But now, in better times, they enjoy the success together.  A great example of the "for richer o...

Scene: Mummy teaching Daniel 听写, Daddy folding clothes Mummy: 受到伤害... means get injured. Daniel： *scribble scribble* OK ... Mummy： 对付敌人... means deal with your enemy. Daniel： *scribble scribble* OK Mummy: 三五成群 Daddy: How can one small family wear a MOUNTAIN OF UNDERWEAR in one week??! Daniel: *scribble scribble* OK... er, Mummy, how to 造句 mountain of underwear? Daddy: *facepalm* WHY WOULD 三五成群 mean mountain of underwear?? Daniel: *facepalm back* HOW WOULD I KNOW??? You said it!

I met an old friend for lunch this week.  We recently re-connected after years and years.  My wife went for the wedding dinner of her friend (I ducked out!) and happened to be seated at the same table as my friend, and somehow the topic of primary schools came up, and it was discovered that the fellow was my classmate in primary 1! Anyway, I really enjoy meeting this friend of mine, because he is a transparent, frank guy.  He doesn't pretend to be a super holy guy, he doesn't pad his words, and he challenges me with how he openly wrestles with God, and struggles to do the right thing.  Some people think wrestling and struggling to obey God demonstrates a lack of faith and obedience.  Maybe.  But sadly, I think most of us don't even bother to wrestle with God.  We completely avoid confrontation with God and quietly do our own thing instead! For men, this is especially when it comes to career decisions and making money.  I've often...

The sun comes up; it's a new day dawning It's time to sing your song again Whatever may pass And whatever lies before me Let me be singing when the evening comes Bless the Lord O my soul, O my soul! Worship His Holy Name Sing like never before O my soul! Worship Your Holy Name...

I was at the 2013 G12 Conference "Breath of Life" last weekend, and as usual, many great speakers were invited to attend, and we had thousands of people from Singapore and many other countries in attendance.  There was one particular speaker who had a church of several hundred, much smaller than many of the other speakers' churches.  I remember thinking, as he spoke, that in comparison to the other speakers, his ideas seemed rather "small-scale" and more suited for running a good cell group rather than a big church.  Mundane things like, be welcoming and relevant to visitors.  It was also clear that, unlike the other speakers, he was not a full-time pastor, and had a secular day job.  This further added to his "regular guy" persona, with merely "regular guy" observations and ideas. I confess that at the end of his session, I was not especially impressed.  He was just another guy, maybe like me, holding a job, with a family, and trying t...