Trusted With

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,
and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." Luke 16:10


Christ talks about stewardship and its value - the more a steward can be trusted, the more highly valued he is. God gives all believers the same level of starting ground, and then we all, from there, work our way up to be better stewards. No one can boast of a more superior faith than others, because we are saved not by works, but by faith (Romans 10:10). What is meant by being a better steward is to develop our new, Christian life so that it may be more fitting to the calling to salvation that we have received.

In the case of the Thessalonian believers, they were greater stewards of the Gospel, because their acts of love and longsuffering were exemplary and became a model for believers everywhere (I Thessalonians 1:8). Imagine if any church in say, Singapore, alone could bear so distinct and bright a testimony, like the Thessalonian church, that Paul says their faith grew 'exceedingly' (II Thessalonians 1:3, AKJV). In the Bible, this is the only place where a faith has been described as being exceeding, overflowing with abundance, surpassing others. Acts 17 records that Paul was only at Thessalonia for 3 weeks before the believers' escorted him out of the city in view of the violent riot that grew from jealousy. Who else would the hardhearted, jealous Jews persecute now that the preacher of the Gospel was gone? It was under these kinds of harsh conditions that the Thessalonian church was prematurely formed, and yet it grew and instead became an example for other places, some of which were not in as life-endangering places as it. It is without doubt that there was a lot of labour and perseverance required, and because they have been patient and glorified God through it, Paul praises them for exemplary faith, in a sense, a greater, stronger manifestation of the Christian faith. And the Thessalonian Christians suffered because they preserved and protected the Gospel and the faith, according the stewardship they saw they had, not to compromise in face of persecution.

Christ places a test, that the determinant of the value of stewardship is faithfulness. As we have learnt from the Parable of the Talents, faithfulness is the integrity and loyalty to fulfill one's duties, especially the inconspicuous ones, the ones that men cannot or seldom see. In John MacArthur's Twelve Ordinary Men(2002), Andrew is seen, from what is available in the Gospel books, as a quiet servant who saw the value of inconspicuous service. He was the brother of who MacArthur calls, 'the apostle with the foot-shaped mouth', Simon Peter. In the foursome together with the Sons of Thunder, John and James, they were the closest among the Twelve to Jesus. Peter, John and James were recorded as having vied for superiority, or debated over who was greater. As MacArthur has portrayed, Andrew stands in stark contrast with his loud brother, Peter. I was reminded of how these brothers are like the personifications of inconspicuous responsibilities and the otherwise.

We all know what conspicuous responsibilities are - they are the ones that often have an institutionalised ministry for us to serve the Lord. One of the most conspicuous ones, I'd say, is to serve in the music ministry. Be one in the choir, lead the worship or play the piano, for example, during service, serving in the music ministry is often a front-stage service, and it is easy to grow arrogant and forget that the eyes of the audience are not what is important. But I've been thinking more about what the 'little' that we are entrusted with is, and they are definitely not little in value, as the Lord says and judging from the many books written on these little things. The 'little' is the inconspicuous service. I refuse to describe them as being minor or secondary.

Firstly, we are all given stewardship of common grace, things that are given to everyone on Earth, which means both the evil and the good, the righteous and the otherwise (cf Matthew 5:45). Common grace includes time, resources, energy, affluence and health. Take time for example. Even Moses, the meekest man ever, the leader that led the entire Hebrew population on their exodus from Pharaoh Land, prayed, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12).


Procrastination is something that hits us straight in the guilt spot. I don't believe that all non-work time is consists of laziness. We definitely need to rest, on Sabbaths, as God has overtly ordained us to rest after six days of labour, and also every day after the ever-increasing long hours of work. Taking a nap, watching television, or using the computer are all in themselves normative, or in Paul's words, lawful unto the believer. So when do we cross the line between rejuvenation and procrastination? When the things become our lords and control us, making us committing idolatry to God Almighty.

All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient:
all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. I Corinthians 6:12 (AKJV)

And so I think the same goes for everything given to us under God's common grace to all. Got a lot of money to spend? God wants us to be faithful unto our one-tenth as tithes, and not be unfaithful to the Lord as Ananias and Sapphira had been, which led them to immediate death. Will God one day reprimand us, that we have stolen His things? Many centuries ago, God asked His people the same question, and they denied having been thieves of God's blessings. Will we deny as they did too, in purposeful oblivion? If we cannot take care of the things that are so often taken for granted, and available to all, how can we be entrusted with the stewardship of Christian callings?


Secondly we are entrusted with common Christian duties - to pray in the way that pleases God (as revealed by the best Teacher on prayer in the Lord's Prayer), to fulfil the Great Commission, to be holy, to have quiet time, to be in pursuit of learning God's Word, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and might and love our neighbours...ways that God wants us to take so as allow us to live according to His Will. I find that this is the most challenging stewardship for the Christian. Because it is inconspicuous, it is in nature, not accountable to any person who could exert pressure on us if it were otherwise. Because these are the true actions that believers ought to have in accordance with being Christ-ians, to be changed inside out and thus become a personal witness. And most importantly, because this is the bulk of the spiritual food that we need, spiritual babies and adults alike, that which gives us most spiritual growth and strength, the world opposes it most greatly. Wayne Mack writes in Reaching The Ear of God (2004:34),

...the closer we get to what is most important - what brings us most spiritual power, the more opposition we are going to get from the devil, the world, and our own flesh.

I don't think the right way to approach God's Commandments is to see it through Pharisaic lenses, but to have the wisdom and practice to understand the moral behind it, like how Jesus summarised the greatest of the Law in Matthew 22. I find myself lacking in evangelism and prayer, especially. I know of people who are strong in evangelism and prayer, and others who are equally weak as I am in them. Nonetheless, God answers prayers, and whatever we are lacking in to fulfil our Christians-specific stewardship - be it courage, wisdom, love, intellectual capacity - the Lord gives freely in abundance to the willing steward.

And that would be when the one who is trusted with little, is trusted with much.

Gifts from Above

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

It is easy to thank God for good things - for answered prayers, for blessings that are abundant or not even expected. James says that every 'good' and 'perfect' gift is from our Father, and reading from James 1:2-18, we realise that which is good and perfect takes on an unconventional meaning by world standards. It includes trials, such as the toil of mundane life because of poverty (v9). This is because in trials, the desired fruit developed is perseverance (v3), along with wisdom to transcend above the physical and emotional pain and hardship (v5). Moreover, the person shall receive the crown of life (v12), because through his longsuffering, he would have shown his love for God in the world that hates him (cf I John 1:11).

And thus, James is saying that ALL things are from above - and ALL are gifts: be it a trial or a blessing, for God's ways are higher than ours (Jeremiah 29:11). When undergoing trials, we learn to thank God in them; when a blessing is received, we thank God for them, as Hugh Palmer says. We have an assurance on top of this - our Father is unchanging for all time, just like how the heavenly stars have been placed in space since the beginning of the world. Even stars have their organic cycle of birth and death, but our Father is the Father of these lights also. He is far greater and is constant, unlike 'shifting shadows'. Even as the earth fades away, and as the sky peels open, God will not change, for He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelations 22:13). The Earth will eventually face its judgment - the Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets, the Seven Bowls of Judgment - but God will rule, He will be the Judge who executes righteousness unto the righteous and the otherwise. The world will die, and it has already started dying with sin and physical destruction and contamination, but God remains.

In view of such sovereignty and might our Father - not others', but ours - has, we can be assured and have faith that all things are from heaven...

and all are gifts.

The year hasn't started out as smoothly as I thought - I had a crisis with module bidding in the notorious bidding system, and I'm currently facing another problem that has implications over these 2 years. God answered my pleas, but between the period of supplication and God's answer, I had found myself sharing about how worried I was. And so, how ironic it was! That I would be coming to the Lord in good faith, but worry whether God would answer them after praying. Though not to the extremity of using profanities and crass language, James 2 was a good reminder for me - that I need to tame my tongue to not praise God on one hand, and yet doubt His providence on the other. It's as good as slapping myself in the face. How many times have we proven so fallible, like sleeping James, Peter and John at the Gethsemane? Thank God for mercy and for grace, I know that that 'modular' crisis was for a purpose, to bear in mind that having faith and trust is a growing process, that all things from above are gifts!

On Zeal

Taken from Peter Masters' Biblical Strategies for Witness, 1994:

"4. A matter of zeal

If our personal witness is to be anything more than a five-minute wonder, and if it is to cut through the apathy of those around us, then it must be characterised by zeal. King David said in Psalm 69, 'The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.' When the disciples saw the great fervour of the Saviour, they knew that these words were the right standard for a true servant of God (John 2.17).

Epaphras laboured fervently in prayer for the Ephesians, because he had 'a great zeal' for them. Zeal is a Greek word meaning hot or boiling. It refers to great fervency. And this is what we should possess in the work of reaching lost souls. What is the difference between zeal and conviction, duty and desire? Zeal is the practical energy of our being, with which these other attitudes must be clothed. It is the petrol for the car or the power for the lamp. It is the 'up-and-doing', and the vigour with which we perform. It is the opposite of languor or half-heartedness or mechanical compliance. It is so necessary to build up real fervour and zeal...

The necessity of zeal must be emphasised today because the complexity and bustle of life exhausts and bemuses us to the point that we become relatively tame and insipid in our Christian service. Pastors everywhere find that today's society leaves Christian people worn out and intimidated...

We need to face up to the fact that witness is a matter of creating or setting up opportunities, and keeping up this work constantly. Witness requires a very definite effort against the run of a shy personality, against our natural love of ease and a quiet life, and against difficult circumstances.

Often we know that we shall stir a hornet's nest. We know we shall create untold difficulties for ourselves. An application of initiative and energy, regardless of circumstances or consequences, is true Christian zeal. This may seem all very obvious, but we need to gird up our efforts constantly in this ministry (of personal witness, parenthesis added). All must accept that here is a ministry which will never flourish without a considerable investment of committed effort.

Can we not be more like the apostle when he went to Athens? There his spirit was stirred within him because he felt so strongly his duty to witness to the idolaters of that place."

Zeal is becoming a fresh thing to me all over again. Zeal in the past lost steam easily, placed absurdly ambitious self-expectations, full of callousness like James and John, whom Jesus called the Sons of Thunder, lacked wisdom and was extreme. The witnessing of the early church recorded in Acts 2 has always been very fascinating to me, that they even sold all their goods and 'gave to anyone as he had need'. They had glad and sincere hearts, praising God and God rewarded their communal witness - they enjoyed the favour of all people and added unto them daily the people who were saved.

When I think of how zeal manifests in oneself, I am reminded of Jesus and the apostles, the Reformists, some hymn writers and some Christian preachers today. Jesus cleansed the temple, at the start and end of his earthly ministry, and He mourned for His people, who did not receive their Saviour; the apostles bore the Great Commission and faithfully preached, even unto martyrdom; the Reformists saw their lives cheaper than bringing the Truth and God's kingdom on earth. Though some were blind, clinically depressed or music-illiterate, the hymn writers still fervently wrote hymns to bless themselves and other people in face of their own misery; many Christian preachers face their own problems, perhaps at home, or with worries of financing their outreach ministries, but still preach faithfully and walk in faith. What about average people like us?

It is because we are average, or better still, less than average, that God uses us. For Paul so rightly testifies, 'But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.' (I Corinthians 1:26-29) In our own lives, we can have zeal and shine forth like the light Christ wants us to be. And this zeal will sustain a lifelong ministry of personal witness, to bring people to the Lord and to have fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

I'm reminded that zeal means to have fervent, earnest prayers - not to undermine this powerful tool where we have 'fresh communion with God', as Jim Cymbala puts it. Prayer is the spiritual shrine that allows us to be in contact with our dear Father directly. Zeal also means to make a conscious effort to communicate with others, to have fellowship with the believers and to witness before the unsaved. Zeal means to not forget the daily input of God's Word and intimate prayer, so that we may not be weary or languid in spiritual output. And last of all, zeal means to do all this with fervour for the Lord, to do it joyfully with conviction, passion and love, guided by wisdom.

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord." Romans 12:11

A Daily Plea

Out on the highways and byways of life, many are the weary and sad; carry the sunshine where darkness is rife, making the sorrowing glad.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love, tell of His pow'r to forgive; others will trust Him if only I prove true every moment I live.

Give as 'twas given to me in my need, love as the Master loved me; be to the helpless a helper indeed, unto my mission be true.

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing; out of my life may Jesus shine.
Make me a blessing, O Saviour I pray, make me a blessing to someone today.

(Adapted from Make Me A Blessing, 1924 by Ira Bishop Wilson, whose sister taught him to play the violin and the organ while at home. 12 years before the hymn was written, he was enrolled in Moody Bible Institute at Chicago and met his friend, George Shuler, who composed the music for the lyrics he wrote.)

Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre Museum

Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre Museum
National Museum of Singapore
Dec 9, 2007 - Mar 16, 2008
S$4 for NSF, senior citizens, full-time students, S$8 for adults



I loved the exhibition. My favourite piece among the 140 artefacts is the Borghese Ares, a simple, beautiful sculpture of the Greek god of war with a handsome face. It was only till later that Ares was portrayed as a god of the battlefield, complete with armour and weaponry to kill. Often paired up Venus de Milo, where Aphrodite, the spiteful and promiscuous Greek goddess of love, holds an apple in one hand, the two masterpieces represented the value of peace in the old world, upholding love of humanity above war. It's a pity that Venus de Milo was too precious to leave Paris, so only its half (still the dearest artefact in this exhibition!) came.



There were many, many artefacts made of Pentelic marble - I could say almost all, save the terracotta and metal pieces. Pentelic marble was renowned for its quality and beauty in ancient Greece, and was quarried near Athens, the heart of the metropolitan civilisation. It was first used to construct the Parthenon in Athens in 5th c. BC, a temple presumably built as a shelter for a statue of Athena made out of gold and ivory, both of which have perished. Under the ambient lights in the gallery, the marble still shimmered, like white sand mixed with bits of silver. The literal personification of this old, old rock makes me wonder what history the Borghese Ares, along with other statues and busts, has witnessed through his marble eyes. Looking at most of them made me imagine what it was like to live inside a statue, to see every curve and detail being born under the skilful hands of pious artisans, being worshipped and marvelled by the ancient Greeks, witnessing their downfall with the invasion of the Persians and the Spartans, to being buried for centuries and finally being recovered in the modern world. Pentelic marble sure wasn't affordable for the common folk. Sadly, I thought, the effort, resources and exaltation have gone to false gods, and thus, gone to spiritual waste. These works are artistic, aesthetic masterpieces indeed, far more complicated in technicality and conception then the first idol that was made at the foot of Mount Sinai in Exodus 32. However, the pain and woes that came along with sin and judgement were far more painful then the Israelites facing Moses' fury and not entering the Promised Land - they were contaminated even from within, with sexual diseases and illnesses from overwhelming merrymaking, and a meaningless life plagued with a void they refused to resolve with Christ, even after they had heard of Christ in Israel, not far from Greece. The Book of Acts recorded, "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter." (17:32) The America of the ancient world turned away from the Prince of the glory and the Kingdom above!


Various statues and busts of Athena, note the detail that extends even to the strands of hair and the hands of Athena which have been lost. A significant number of statues and steles were found in broken pieces, only to be pieced together after.


It was a little disappointing that many of the statues of ancient Greek gods and heroes were reconstructions. I thought the Louvre was saving the best for somewhere else, but no, the original artefacts have been lost. Juxtaposed against the ephemerality of a past heralded glory is the declaration of the Living God to all generations, that He is the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending...which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Rev 1:8, AKJV). There were faithful artisans who carefully copied every detail in the 1st-2nd c. AD, one of which was the greatest Classical sculptor, Phidias. In fact, I think all of the reconstructed models in the exhibition were done by him. It must have been an exciting time in history that Phidias was doing something to preserve the statues, the tangible idols the Greeks chose to cling on to, because some of them were in a vulnerable, perishable state by then. These models have survived till today, and despite some tarnishes here and there, they represent the flawed beauty that has withstood the test of time.


Funerary Stele: a slave holds a baby who reaches for his mother (not in exhibition). Mothers are usually depicted as being seated to convey a sense of immobility and the loss of agency to mother her children, amidst final rest and stability with death.

What left a great impression on me was the display of funerary steles, marble sculptures that were placed at a person's tomb. Death was a subject to be avoided in ancient Greece, in view of the depressing journey and afterlife in Hades. The polytheist ancient Greek religion saw that all mortals were to enter suffering in Hades and separation through death. There was no hope of escaping Hades or whatsoever, unless one was a semi-god, like Perseus or a god (in mythology, of course). I think this greatly explains the self-forcing cycle of myth creation and embellishment - the people embraced carpe diem and sought pleasures and desires of the body, indulging in sex and violence, which in turned made their treasure trove of myths and legends of their gods equally obsessed with sex and violence too. Gods had affairs with one another, and sometimes with mortals, and held competitions even for petty reasons, and were deeply biased, allowing men to kill one another for selfish reasons. The afterlife of an unsaved Greek seemed hopeless to me, and I feel that this lingering fear and unwillingness to part is poignantly immortalised in the steles of mothers, who most probably died of childbirth if the stele depicted her with her young children. The mothers knew there was nothing she could do, nothing to fulfil her role as a mother, to see her child into adulthood. Her child needed milk, who was she going to ask it from? Will the slave, being young and ignorant, know how to take care of the baby? What about her husband? Will he leave for another woman and forget about their child altogether? And lepers were definitely contained and hid away from the city, but what if her child had it? It would be so painful. And what if she died of some disease no one could treat? She had already died, and brought her worries with her into the tomb.


Another funerary stele: A mother, seated, hands a dove to her child. As children were not deemed to be persons important and significant in their own right, not much detail was given as to how they were depicted in ancient Greek art in the few times they are represented, usually in steles. They are usually portrayed as miniature adults instead.

And so I thank God greatly, that in Christ, mothers need not fear about their children, because God's love protects and keeps us, in a family that will continue to testify to His grace and in a larger, spiritual family for eternity. What's more, we have a Heavenly Father, who is far better than our earthly parents (Matthew 7:11) who can see us through our lives on earth, and even has the power and grace to help us through it. In Reaching the Ear of God by Wayne A Mack, it is noted that the most important relationship with God with which we should identify is Him as our Heavenly Father. The earliest relationship that Jesus preached about was God as our Father, in Matthew 5:16 and has been a main identity of God through the New Testament.

In conclusion, it was definitely a wonderful trip to the museum, to see what has been talked so much about right before me. It was a pity I couldn't touch them, and for a while, I envied the preservation workers who could, nor was photography allowed. But looking beyond the statues and their past glory, I'm reminded of Paul's call to our true God for the Greeks in Acts 17.

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Scales and Arpeggios

I've been pretty worried about my progress on learning music. I'm definitely going for that ABRSM Grade 5 Theory Examination, though I haven't signed up for it yet. But now that I've quit music school and I'm still having trouble finding a violin teacher, I'm recontemplating my motivation for picking up this challenging instrument again. I can either practise it academic-style, going for examinations which will spur myself to play it, or do it just for leisure. I'm considering the cons of both choices though, that the interest might be killed, or that I might give up on the newly learnt instrument altogether.

But for now, here's a video that a close friend sent, something to be tickled about and something every truly cultured music student knows.

Twenty O Eight

And here comes Twenty O Eight, another year of struggling in the peat bog of readings, projects and essays, with half of the time spent in oppressive living conditions. School aside, I think I'm pretty much un-antagonistic about this coming year. Surely I cannot expect a smooth-sailing year because challenges and problems are bound to happen, just like how they did last year. 2007, that is. And so, it is wonderful being very much aware that God has been walking alongside me through this university chapter in my life. He has shown me much grace and mercy, that I cannot claim any credit for myself but to love and fear God more. For this, I give God utter thanks and glory for my failures, achievements and growth, spiritually, academically, socially and emotionally.

I'm reminded of the hymn frequently sung watchnight services, Another Year is Dawning (Frances Havergal, 1874).

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

And as it says, another year to walk closer with the Lord, and to do His work. Moses, the world's meekest man ever, prays, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Ps 90:12, AKJV) Be it a year of grace, providence, disciplining or labour, my prayer is to be a faithful steward of His Treasures, that I may not enter the gates of Heaven empty-handed and ashamed of His abundant grace. The suffering people of the early church encouraged each other by greeting each other, "Maranatha" (Jesus is coming). Indeed, Maranatha! Will I come unto His throne empty-handed? Or will I be praised as a good and faithful servant worthy of His Kingdom?