Yearly Archives: 2010
why should I pray?
Two days ago, I embarked on a five-parter with my GII shepherds on the topic of prayer, (loosely) based on JP’s chapter on Prayer in Desiring God. I’ll expand his excellent teaching in order to ensure that the lesson remains relevant and applicable to our context. This was a natural follow-up from my previous lesson on Philippians 4:4-7. Each time we meet for cell, I make us memorise scripture. Although these verses are familiar, I’m fairly confident they have taken a paradigm shift as they store these powerful, dynamic verses in their hearts.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 (English Standard Version)
Anxiety does nothing for you. On top of adding zero benefits to your situation, it also distracts your concentration and injures your soul. Paul dispenses such practical advice – anxiety is so useless and negative that it doesn’t even change or improve your situation. No wonder he warns you against it.
The remedy to being anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything. When we pray, we acknowledge a few things: (1) We openly admit that without Christ, we cannot accomplish anything; (2) We deliberately turn away from ourselves because we have the confidence that God will provide the help that we need – I call this, “Anti-self-sufficiency”; (3) We actively humble ourselves as needy and exalt God as wealthy. No wonder Paul instructed us to turn to prayer!
Allow me to rephrase “prayer and supplication”. Basically, it is to present the request for the first time and continue to present the request earnestly (until something happens, or until the Spirit changes the way you pray). And you do this in an attitude of “thanksgiving” because you recall the many times that God has answered your prayers in the past. This should give you the confidence to ask boldly – for God is a faithful God who would answer prayers (according to His will)! Remember also, that you are actually making known your requests and not telling God about it like He doesn’t know; this gives you the confidence that God already knows what’s in your heart; So your role then, is to verbalise your request(s), and to do it ardently, both audibly or inaudibly.
An easier way to understand “guard” is to imagine our hearts (or affections, passions and emotions) safely protected in a castle that has bricks made of God’s peace. The peace of God supersedes all human understanding, garrisons our hearts and protects it in Christ Jesus – what a powerful imagery! It’s not any other peace that will be in our hearts but that which is subjected to the rule and reign of Jesus. This peace is a result of the Holy Spirt that is at work within us.
We pray because we need God’s direction and support in our often misguided and heavy-laden lives. And the result is God’s peace – which is all that we really need. No wonder Paul exhorts us to rejoice in (verse 4)! Finally, the question then, in light of this knowledge, isn’t “Why should we pray?” but “Why shouldn’t we pray?”
the best way to write song lyrics.
My first-ever self-composed song is called “Neighbour” and I wrote it when I was 18, when I barely knew how to play the guitar and with the only four chords that my fingers could press – G, C, D, Em. This simple song was about the Good Samaritan. A couple of years later, I formed a band with present it to my band, and performed it soon after.
I’m not a prolific or an accomplished song writer like DH or SL but I’ve written a number of songs along the way. I’m a lot better with writing words than music and so I always pay greater attention to the lyrics than the melody. In my journey as composer, I’ve written songs themed on falling in and out of love, worship, about my history, current affairs, popular topics and of course, those inspired by scriptures. Over a decade, I realised that songs based on scripture always stand the test of time; these songs are timeless because they’re based on the everlasting Word of God! Hence, I’m inclined to write more spiritual and scriptural songs these days simply because I want my songs to last.
One of my personal favourite scriptural song is “Tears in a Bottle”, which is inspired by Psalm 56. I remember writing it at my place together with RL and we completed it in about an hour. Upon finalisation, we just knew this would be a good song. He was confident of the melody and I, of the lyrics; I had a listen to one of our live recordings recently and it’s strange to say this, but my own song inspired me to draw closer to God! I’d like to attribute it to the combination of these two components – its lyrics speak to your spirit and its melody speaks to your soul. Simply put, it’s a song that ministers!
There are many ways to write a song but in my humble opinion, there’s nothing better than to write a song based on scripture. If the Word of God has lasted all the ages and still continues to speak to people, then I’m confident that a song based on the Word will last for a long time and continue to speak to people after a long time!
TEARS IN A BOTTLE
Psalm 56V1: Your love is a shelter over my head / In times of fear / The world can destroy my faith today / But I’m not afraid / Many tear me down to see me hurt / They stab me from the back / The ones who wage war against my soul / Oh Lord, please take them away from me
PC1: In Your love, a voice sheds light on me / In Your hope, I hang my portraits of faith on the walls of / My shattered hopes and broken dreams
C: I look at the stars, I gaze at the moon / And marvel at the wonderful You / When I am afraid, I won’t hide my head / I know it’s because You’ve carried me through / Sometimes I’m attacked, sometimes I get scared / But what can mere men do to me? / You watch my footsteps, You carve me a way / Tears in a bottle, You’ll save it for me
V2: My Lord has rescued me from death / When He died on that cross / My shame He bore so willingly / And now I am cured / Countless things I’ve done, I’ve hurt the One / Who sacrificed His Son / And now I realise, I recognise / What a true Friend He really is
PC2: In His love, I’m washed as white as snow / In His hope, I fight the fear of the endless battles / That fiercely rage within my soul
Guitar Solo / Repeat Chorus / Fin.
Words: Joey / Music: Ricky & Joey / 1st Feb 02 / © 2002 FhLY
P/S – I’m silently hoping that this song would make its debut in R-AGE sometime this year and also be featured in the next No One Else album, if we’re gonna produce another.
the big time and the small time.
During the peak of an event that I was a part of, some 30 minutes before it started, the organiser stormed into the room and blew her head off at all the seemingly inconsequential matters. She lost her cool and threw unnecessary tantrums to and in front of everyone. My colleague simply commented, “这种人，做不了大事” (direct translation – this kind of person, cannot accomplish big things). I couldn’t help but agree with his harsh and cruel but very accurate assessment!
Looking back at all the different people I’ve worked with, I realise that I can somehow tell how successful a person is and can be simply by observing how he handles his roles and responsibilities, or by how he responds to stress. To an extent, those who cannot undertake major events are usually those who will crumble when the going gets tough. One man whom I really admire is my uncle and former boss, AT. I cannot find a better word other than “Hero” to describe him; his problem-solving and stress-taking abilities are nonpareil and I really look up to him in that aspect.
Assessing a person based on his capacities to manage pressure is not a fatalistic way of evaluation, but it certainly is one way you could analyse him. Of course it’s always easier to just do what you’re comfortable with and prepared for, so naturally it’s the unexpected that truly tests a person’s competence to cope with the bigger things in life. At least for me it indicates the stage that one can operate on and how big it can get.
Don’t misunderstand me – there’s nothing wrong if you’re only able to handle a small platform at this point of your life. The question is, are you even able to handle that platform? I reckon that discontentment, disappointment and disillusionment will set in when a small-platform person desires and covets a big stage that he cannot handle (and vice versa). So, how aware are you of how and what you are built for?
I guess we’ll figure out the answer to this million-dollar question as we progress through life and figure out the answers while we discover how much we can actually manoeuvre. So remember that one sign of your threshold to handle big matters is simply how you complain about small matters. I remember the three key lessons from KK’s excellent lesson during the leaders’ retreat – do not complain (about your situation), do not justify (your actions) and take responsibility (for yourself).
everybody needs a holiday.
I took this picture when I was in Hallim Park, Jeju, South Korea, together with BB, ST and HY, and I think it looks gorgeous! Beautiful place to go on a vacation. That holiday last July remains one of my all-time favourites. I’m really looking forward to a holiday with the DYLM family after Pierce. (: (All right, that’s all for tonight because I really need to work on my sermon for the GII Pre-Teens services tomorrow morning!)
joey asher | misunderstoodsunshinekid 
top ten things you must know about this blog.
May 12
Posted by Joey Asher Tan
I think it’s high-time to do some housekeeping so why not write it in my favourite top ten format? Whether you’re a new or regular reader, this post should help you to get the most out of my humble little blog/website. I will always try to improve it!
1. Firstly, time to celebrate! I welcomed my 10,000th visitor yesterday! Wooh! I have some plans for this blog and I do hope to execute it in the coming year. Having substantial readership is extremely encouraging. Thank you for your continuous support!
2. Bible-giveaway! I’m desperately trying to give away a swanky, brand-new, handsome denim-covered NKJV bible in my 100th entry anniversary competition. A slight change of rules (exhibiting signs of desperation) – you can leave comments in any entry.
3. Subscribe to msk! Receive my posts immediately and in the convenience of your mailbox. This is faster than checking bloglines, facebook or twitter. Simply submit your email at the top right of the navigation bar. Easy as 1-2-3.
4. Navigate with ease! Rummage through the archives by Recency (last 7 posts), Diversity (15 different categories), Museum (by month, since it inaugurated in October 2009) or Fragments (most commonly used tags). Sorted for your expedience.
5. What’s hot here? The three links of By Popular Demand changes everyday; the amazing WordPress captures the highest clicked links on my blog and reflects it there. See what the others are clicking on when they visit this blog.
6. Add me, okay? Every new post is automatically and simultaneously published on facebook and twitter. So if you don’t want to subscribe (why not!?), you can still keep yourself updated by adding me on facebook and twitter through the sidebar.
7. Stand-alone pages! See the five pages at the top of this blog? I’m currently working on four more and will update the existing ones in time. Nothing much to shout about at the moment, but it’s a work-in-progress.
8. Bygones be bygones! Though I’m not proud of it, my old blogs are still a part of my history. But don’t expect to find as many good reads in an angsty livejournal, a random blogspot and a shorn theshanghaitan. Enjoy the walk down memory lane.
9. 111 and 172! Not bus services but entries and comments respectively – I delight in every single one and it’d be great to hear from you because I write to be read; I’d love to have you bounce off my insights and share what’s on your mind – like you’re re-blogging.
10. Lastly, I write daily! Or at least I try to. I doubt I’d ever run out of ideas. (Pssst, I have 60+ draft posts!) If there’s something on your mind you’d like me to write about, and if I can, I will attempt to. Write in to me and I’ll (try to) write one for you.
Once again, THANK YOU for frequenting this blog. I’ve enjoyed writing as much as you’ve enjoyed reading. Here’s to the next 10,000 visitors…! I can barely wait. (:
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Posted in Affirming Faithfulness, Extraordinary Mundane, Simple Pleasures, Top Ten & Other Lists
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