A Pastor with a Heart of Love

A few months ago, I heard a pastor who said over the pulpit that he would be inviting another minister to minister at the church. Apparently this minister is trying to get back to ministry, he could be out of action for a period of time for reasons we are not aware of. I believe he must have gone through some form of counselling and restoration process. What the pastor has done is that he has modeled to the people under his care on the importance of acceptance and restoring a person to serve again. For all you know, this minister may still be shunned by others around him. It pains my heart to hear or see Christians who involved themselves in loose talk and gossip with a judgmental attitude. A brother or sister who has fallen away for one reason or another desperately needs love, concern, understanding and oftentimes a simple listening ear. If there is anything we can do for them; that very thing is to pray and intercede for them. May the Lord help us to love them back to His kingdom.

Thankful for the Opportunity

In the middle of June 2000, Monte (my husband) and I left for APTS (Asia Pacific Theological Seminary) in Baguio, Philippines. The Lord miraculously provided for us during those ten months there. One of the many things that I am thankful for was the opportunity to be a part of the worship team. I was not a full-time student and I was merely auditing some classes and yet the Dean of Students allowed me to be involved. What an experience, my team members were from different parts of the world; there were Filipinos, Japanese, Americans, Indonesians and Malaysians. Wow! It was such an amazing time ministering together. The Lord even opened the door for us to minister in a nearby church. The fond memories still lingers in my mind today.

31 Days of Praise

The book 31 Days of Praise is written by Ruth Myers. It was published in 1994 by Multnomah Books. Ruth Myers recounted that the story of this book went back to the 1960's when it began as 'Personal Praise Pages' a twenty-day mimeographed reminder of things for which to praise the Lord. 

The book began during her years as a widow. In her words on page 17 of the book, she recounted: "It was born during my years as widow. It flowed out of truths that had long motivated me to trust and worship the Lord in the varied seasons and experiences of my life-as a single girl in my native land...as a young wife sojourning in Taiwan, in the Philippines, and in Hong Kong...during my first husband's months of intense suffering with cancer before the Lord called him home...during my years as a young widow with two young children."

I like to quote a portion of her book found in pages 155 to 156. She entitled this as Acts of Praise. It reads "Your most basic act of worship...Lord, I'm Yours. Whatever the cost may be, may Your will be done in my life. I realize I'm not here on earth to do my own thing, or to seek my own fulfillment or my own glory. I'm not here to indulge my desires, to increase my possessions, to impress people, to be popular, to prove I'm somebody important, or to promote myself. I'm note here to be relevant or successful by human standards. I'm here to please You. I offer myself to You for you are worth. All that I am or hope to be, I owe to You. I'm Yours by creation, and every day I receive from Your life and breath and all things. And I'm Yours because You bought me, and the prize You paid was the precious blood of Christ. You alone. the Triune God, are worthy to be my Lord and Master. I yield to You, my gracious and glorious heavenly Father, to the Lord Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me to the Holy Spirit and His gracious influence and empowering."

I have reread this book many times. Each time, I am inspired to praise the Lord. We are made to worship God. As we worship the Lord, He brings us to a deeper depth in Him. In the presence of our mighty God, all we see is His glory and grace.

Divine Exchange

A couple of years ago, I heard the song Divine Exchange for the first time. I was so captivated by it. God is so awesome, His unending mercy and amazing grace is so real. Though we are so unworthy and undeserving of Him, He chose to pour His life into us, He chose to bless us so that we can His channel of love and blessing. Let all that is within us bless His holy name!

Divine Exchange

My heart is captivated Lord by You alone
Captured by the awesomeness of You alone
Melted by the grace and mercy You have shown
I stand in wonder

I reach to You the One who makes the blind eyes see
Who breaks the chains of sickness with authority
Restoring what was broken
So it may fly again

I live to worship You
I breathe to worship You
All of my days Your face I will seek
For as I worship You
You lead me to that place
To that place of divine exchange



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Our Eighth Wedding Anniversary

Wow! Monte (my husband) and I have been married for eight years today. I cherish each day that we have together. In many ways, growing a marriage is very much like tending to plants. With ample sunlight, water and good soil, the plants will thrive. If we nurture our marriage with love, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, understanding, and openness, God will cause it to blossom. Marriage is also very much like running a marathon. We need to persevere when the race gets tougher; when we are taken over by exhaustion, we continue to soldier on with the finishing line in mind. God is the one who makes our marriages stronger, meaningful and lasting for His glory.

A Pleasing Sacrifice

The woman who lavished expensive perfume on Jesus found in Matthew 26 verses 6 to 13 was reprimanded by people around her, she was deemed to be foolish. They echoed: "Such a waste, the money could have been put to good use, maybe even for a more worthy causes." The reason why they could not comprehend why she did what she did is because they have not encountered the Lord Jesus; they had not experienced the love and mercy of Christ. They did not comprehend the height, the depth, the width; the extent of the love of God. They certainly had not tasted His goodness and graciousness.

Giving our lives to the Lord is not a 'big' price in view of all that the Lord has done for us. He has given us joy for our sorrow, release for our pain, peace for our anxiety, laughter for our tears, gladness for our heaviness, freedom for our bondages; the list goes on and on. We can never ever out give Him. The woman who lavished precious perfume on Jesus did the right thing; oftentimes people do not comprehend why Christians sacrificed high paying jobs, the promise of a huge bank account at retirement, the luxuries this life offers for the things of God. Only those whose lives have been touched and transformed by the Master can comprehend that what really consume us is the life and light of Jesus, the precious and abiding presence of our Lord. May our life be a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord, may He consume us through and through and our deepest desire on this side of heaven is "Lord, let your will be done in us". Someone once said that the best place we can be is to be in the will of God.

The Lord has blessed me with Monte

A couple of days ago, Monte was away for one night due to some work commitments. My mother was over to spend the night at my place. As we lazed around, the conversation geared towards Monte. I shared my heart with my mother telling her that Monte is an excellent husband. As I reflect on the highs and lows; the ups and downs, the victories and the challenges, my heart wells up with gratitude for the blessing that God has poured into my life.The Lord brought us together and grace us with His loving presence daily. Time really flies, on 20th March, we would have been married for eight years. As I have told my friends at different occasions, I certainly enjoyed my single hood but I have to say that I enjoy my marriage so much more. I look forward to many more good years with him. He always loves, believes, encourages, trusts, motivates, supports and inspires me to pursue and love the Lord without reservation.

The Robbery

I wrote the following script for seven and eight year old children. The children enjoy playing the different characters. The setting is familiar to them.

The Robbery

Melissa Tan, a seven year old girl is playing with her toys. Look at her! She is beaming from ear to ear. She is certainly having a great time playing with her toys. She has Barbie dolls, Monopoly, Scrabble, Uno, Boggle, Cluedo and many others. In fact, she had a cupboard full of toys and game sets. She could play all day and all night if she is allowed to do so.

While Melissa is enjoying herself, her daddy and mummy have gone to the market to get her favourite food and that is fish balls. She loves them. Yummy! Yummy!

Just at this time, guess who showed up? The thief! He walks gingerly to the front door and peeps into the house. He notices that Melissa is alone at home and there is no adult around. He manages to enter the house and upon seeing the thief, Melissa screams her lungs out. She yelled: “Help! Help!” The thief warned her to be quiet or he would harm her. He uses a rope to tie her up and stuffs a handkerchief into her mouth. She screams but she could not be heard as the handkerchief is in her mouth.

The thief roams throughout Melissa’s house. He takes all the toys and game sets. As he is taking off, the door suddenly flew opened. Lo and behold, Melissa’s daddy and mummy are at the front door. Mr Tan is fuming. He shouts at the thief as Mrs Tan calls the police station. Meanwhile, the thief begs Mr and Mrs Tan for a second chance. He cries out: “Please let me go, I am sorry, I will never steal again”. Mr and Mrs Tan do not relent. The policemen arrive within a short ten minutes. Again, the thief begs the policemen for another chance but they refuse to listen to him. They handcuff him and send him off to the police station.

Mr and Mrs Tan untie the ropes and remove the handkerchief from Melissa’s mouth. Melissa cries as her parents hugged her tightly. She says: “Daddy and mummy, I am so glad that you are home.”


Script written by Tan Jee Fong on 20 February 2007

The Great Explosion (a mime)

I wrote the following script for Primary Three students (9 year old children). The mime allows the children to vividly express the varied emotions involved in the story.

The Great Explosion (a mime)

“Boom!” a great explosion had taken place. The people were running everywhere. There was utter confusion. In their panic, people lost their loved ones as they were running away from the site of the explosion. People pushed and shoved one another to get ahead. The scene was extremely messy and maddening.

Fear was written on each face. They are fearful of what had happened. They are fearful of the unknown. What will happen to them now? What are they to do?

Many were injured, many were crying out in their pain and agony. Help! Help! Many needed medical attention badly.

In the midst of the confusion, people were looking anxiously for their loved ones who were separated from them. They looked high and low in desperation.

The people were filled with despair. They felt that doom day had come. There was no hope and there was nothing anyone could do to help them. They cried out and asked why such a terrible thing had happened to them.

After two long days, help finally came to them. They were jumping with great joy. Some were clapping and waving their hands. They have hope that a better tomorrow is coming to them.

The End

Explanations

Paragraph I
“Boom!” a great explosion had taken place. The people were running everywhere. There was utter confusion. In their panic, people lost their loved ones as they were running away from the site of the explosion. People pushed and shoved one another to get ahead. The scene was extremely messy and maddening.

From the start, the people will be walking around as they are living their normal lives. Suddenly, a loud explosion is heard. They will all lay down on the ground. Sixty seconds later, they will rise to their feet and begin to run around in confusion. Some are pushing and shoving others.

Paragraph 2
Fear was written on each face. They are fearful of what had happened. They are fearful of the unknown. What will happen to them now? What are they to do?

At this point, every person will be lying back down on the ground. One group will emerge and portray their fearful faces and use their body gestures to show the fear that is in them.

Paragraph 3
Many were injured, many were crying out in their pain and agony. Help! Help! Many needed medical attention badly.

As the previous group goes back down to the ground, a new group emerges. Many are hurt. Some are screaming in excruciating pain. Others are limping around with no one to help them.

Paragraph 4
In the midst of the confusion, people were looking anxiously for their loved ones who were separated from them. They looked high and low in desperation.

As the previous group goes back down to the ground, the next group comes on. They are walking around in great anxiety, searching for their loved ones. They walk aimlessly in desperation.

Paragraph 5
The people were filled with despair. They felt that doom day had come. There was no hope and there was nothing anyone could do to help them. They cried out and asked why such a terrible thing had happened to them.

The next group will portray the image of great despair. They are hopeless and helpless. They do not know what they can do now.

Paragraph 6
After two long days, help finally came to them. They were jumping with great joy. Some were clapping and waving their hands. They have hope that a better tomorrow is coming to them.

To signify the passing of two long days, everyone will be lying on the ground for a full minute. Help finally came. They all jumped up in elation. They are overjoyed. They are celebrating and dancing now.

Script written by Tan Jee Fong on 30 November 2006

Cotton from the Tree

Cotton flowing from the tree
Seem so llight and free
Carried by the wind
With such sweet serene
As I gaze at them in awe
They continue to soar

Composed by Tan Jee Fong (15 February 2007)

Oh, I Love Nature

The river flows
The flowers grow
Oh, how I love nature
The trees are tall
They will not fall
Oh, how I love nature
The mountains resound
The birds are never bound
Oh, how I love nature

Composed by Tan Jee Fong (9 February 2007)

I wrote this poem while I was in training with eight year old children during my Speech and Drama programme.

Flowers in the garden

Flowers, flowers in the garden
See them but they are not to be eaten
Purple, yellow, white and red
Oh. how they make my heart so glad

Composed by Tan Jee Fong (5 February 2007)

I wrote this poem while I was in training with seven year old children during my Speech and Drama programme.