Grafted Into Israel's Story

November 23, 2020 in Israel

Jesus’ Response To The Canaanite Woman

We see Jesus made three startling statements in Matthew 15:21-28 to a Canaanite woman (a gentile like us). Statements that are undoubtedly something we either have or will eventually have to wrestle with. Here we see a Canaanite woman approaching Jesus and requesting for Him to heal her daughter who was oppressed by demons. It seems rather apparent that Jesus seldom rejects anyone, yet, we find him not answering her in this one rare occasion.

“I was sent to the lost sheep of the household of Israel.” [Matthew 15:24] was the first controversial statement He made. The first thought I had was, “Wasn’t Jesus sent to save the world? Why would He say that He was sent to the lost sheep of the household of Israel?” This got me thinking and searching.

Following that, Jesus made a rather strong second statement that would probably make us squirm in awkwardness if we were to be present there and then. In his very own words, He said, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” [Matthew 15:26] Did Jesus really say these words? How is it even possible for a loving Jesus to make such a “derogatory” remark?

I encourage us all to approach scripture by not trying to reason Jesus out of situations, fit him into our own human perception of what God looks like or sweep portions of scripture under the carpet for the fear of offense that may come with God’s sovereign election of Israel. Instead, try to wrestle through these words of Jesus and have His word reveal the areas of our hearts that may possibly be resisting the words and truths He so desires to reveal.

Our Vows

November 09, 2020 in Marriage

A Tradition That Realigns

We love creating memories by having annual traditions that remind us of the values we want to model for our child in our family. One of these traditions is to say our vows on our wedding anniversary.

This coming 14th November will be our 5th time saying our vows to one another. The Lord has never failed to realigning our hearts back to His intention for our marriage each time we do it. The very act of saying it again reminds us of our commitment to the Lord and to one another despite our every day failings.

What is the hope of The Gospel?

November 01, 2020

Amidst this unwarranted pandemic and political unrest, what hope does the gospel bring?

The ‘Clickbait’ To Heaven

It was in 2020 that I lost 2 of my aunts in a year. One of them died of cancer, and the other died of Covid19 (She was the first covid patient who died in Singapore). Both of them were believers while most of my relatives weren’t. The pastor conducting the funeral service attempted to comfort my relatives by emphasising the fact that my aunt was in a better place; heaven, positioning salvation and the gospel almost like a clickbait of sorts, an attempt to convince my relatives to accept Jesus into their lives to reunite with her someday.

That got me thinking about :

“What sets our gospel message apart from the rest of varied faiths?”
“What was it about the gospel that provoked and convicted people (and pagans) to embrace a Jewish Man? Even at the cost of their own lives in the 1st century?”
“Are we missing something in our gospel presentation today? What gospel did the apostles preach that gave them the courage to lose their lives for the sake of it?