Category Archives: Retrospective Reflections
Hindsight bias inclines me to interpret past events with an awareness of the present to reveal insights into the future.
i’m officially a student again.
A part of me greatly anticipates my impending degree programme.
I’ve always wished that I was older and a more mature when I studied for my Diploma in Mass Communication in Ngee Ann Polytechnic a decade ago. Of course there is hindsight bias, but I really should have capitalised the vast array of opportunities that were dished out to me on a silver platter; I had the perfect environment to excel academically and glean the most out of an exceptional education that (the original) Mass Communication course offered. There was a stable of outstanding lecturers, an avant-garde syllabus, an established institution and a plethora of commercial contacts at my disposal, but I was young and foolish enough to be embroiled in unnecessary boy-girl relationships, petty class politics and just poor self-discipline.
God is good nonetheless and despite my less-than-satisfactory performance, I have been able to put to good use in my career the things I learnt in school. In 2000 before the course commenced, I expressed interest in journalism and radio (because I enjoyed writing and talking) during the pre-enrolment suitability interview. But in my final year with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I ended up specialising in books publishing, photography and journalism, and did just that in my final year with the Singapore Armed Forces. When I worked in Shanghai, I excelled in something I was weak at during my school days – marketing. As a youth minister, I have ample opportunities to apply everything that I have picked up in the last 10 years; indeed, God lets nothing go to waste.
Today, I get to have a go at academia again.
While I reckon the opportunities for my pedagogical development to be lesser and less dynamic than it was a decade ago, I am confident however, that this time, I will milk this learning opportunity dry. Above and beyond aiming for distinctions, I am more keen to sharpen my mind; I’ve never been this hungry to learn in my entire life.
I urge you then, young people, to make the most out of your education – study as hard and make as many friends as you can, and put in your best for every assignment, simply because there’s so much to learn and enjoy in your scholastic years. I hope and pray that when you reach my age, you wouldn’t be writing a reflection like this because you’d have learnt from my experiences and aptly taken my advice. Otherwise, I’d call you a fool – unlike you, I didn’t have me to learn from.
On my way home from school just now, I told HY that I’m confident that my technical competence and professional experience will put me in an advantageous position to excel in my studies. With a more mature head on older shoulders, I can only stick my neck out and ask God to give me the wisdom to apply what I have learnt and know in my latest attempt at tertiary education after being away for seven years. Unlike the past where I never could quite grapple why and what I was studying for, this time I believe in studying for an efficacious God who lets nothing go to waste. I know that the regrets I’ve expressed in this post will be turned around and result in great returns – not for me, or my future with HY, or my subsequent academic or career pursuits, but solely for the glory of God.
That said, while some parts of me can’t wait to start school, the remaining parts of me just can’t wait to start learning. The air is pregnant with excitement and it fuels my adrenaline for my re-education.
one more and one step toward one will.
This convoluted post is a result of my thoughts flying everywhere tonight.
My heart leaped with joy when I saw the prayer request of one of my leaders. I truly believe that an absolute surrender to the will of God is more liberating than you think it is; for when there is total surrender, there is total protection! I am reaching a point in my life where I see nothing better than to do His will, although I must declare that it’s still early days for me to declare something as presumptuous as that. But that is indeed my heart’s cry!
God established His covenant with us, and it was a covenant that was meant to last forever. He kept His Word and sent Jesus Christ to seal the deal. We on the other hand, can’t even keep to our side of the agreement. So I really thank God for Jesus Christ! The grace of God is shown repeatedly in the Bible and each time I read about it, I can’t help but to think of how undeserving I am of His awesome favour upon me as an unworthy person.
Time is the true litmus test of faithfulness and is best seen at the end of a journey, not at the beginning. I desire to be a righteous man who has faith to believe in God’s promises for my life. My greatest fear and possible hindrance? I fear most for myself of myself, for in my natural state, I am capable of exceeding wickedness and ungodliness – so may the Lord shield me from me for the sake of me!
Let’s not read the Word for information but let’s read the Word for transformation! Now, that’s when the Word will come alive in our lives.
Eternal God of the everlasting covenant, may You alone sustain me in my quest to know You more daily and please You more through active obedience. I need Your grace more than ever to do Your will. Help me. I desire to honour You by being Christlike, for Your glory alone.
a thought to break the silence.
The only way to live for none else but the Lord is to depend on His past, present and future grace, and not return to old sins; the refusal to revisit past evils and the desire to obey with action cultivates an unshakeable faith.
Lord, I desire physical rest for my exhausted body. The only thing that I look forward to more than sleep is to fellowship with You again at 6am. Amen.
originality through imitation (part four) – the quest for imitation.
Previous post: The Commandment and the Trump Card
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So how should the overwhelming victory of Christ affect the way we live?
Conclusion: The Quest for Imitation
After God said, “Let us make Man…” (v26), He brought it to pass immediately, “So God created Man…” (v27); God performed what He resolved. Hence, let’s make our resolutions count – may we walk the talk and practise what we preach! Let’s not exchange empty knowledge anymore but engage in passing on true knowledge. I have resolved within myself to share only the benefits I have reaped from applying the truth into my life after I’ve discovered it.
That’s the reason why I [have] changed the concept of our WOW sharing during cell; it will no longer be a sharing of insights we have gained from our quiet time. Instead of just exchanging information in hopes of education, we will now share illumination in hopes of transformation. I’d like to apply what I have learnt in IDMC 2010 – to discover the truth, apply the truth, reap its benefits, and then pass it on to each other. True knowledge is taking real action!
Let’s take some time to examine the arenas of our lives that we can truly become more Christlike in – be it at home, in school, amongst friends or in church. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to investigate our hearts and minds, and purge the sin in our lives that causes us to be separated instead of consecrated. With that, I humbly conclude that the only way to return to your original perfect condition of creation is through an active and intentional imitation of Jesus Christ, for this will result in our eventual perfection when we finally see God face-to-face.
originality through imitation (part three) – the commandment and the trump card.
Previous post: The Grandeur of the Creation of Man
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Earlier, I have communicated that everything God created was perfect until sin crept into His scheme of creation. I will now examine the ramifications of the introduction of sin.
The Double-edged Commandment
It’s interesting to note that the first commandment to Man was to be fruitful and multiply. Of all the things God could command Man to do, He chose to authorise Man to reproduce. Why? I think it’s because immediately after God made Man, He was so pleased with Man that He wanted Man to propagate this perfection over all the earth and from generations to generations.
However, as we all know it, sin ruined it all – it not only plundered perfection but it also pillaged the intimacy that Man was actually created and destined to share with God. That’s why instead of spawning perfection, we’re propagating imperfection and iniquity instead, over all the earth and from generations to generations. How sadly ruined God’s original plan of perfection has become!
And with time, Man messed up again and again; after Genesis 2, you will read about how Cain killed Abel… And it seemed to get worse and worse as the story unfolded throughout the rest of the Bible until Jesus Christ came to set the record straight.
Jesus Christ the Trump Card
Now, I think this is where God used His trump card, Jesus Christ, to redeem all Man’s mistakes and to restore the fellowship into its intended intimacy.
Only Jesus Christ is the expressed image of God Himself (read Hebrews 1:1-4 and Philippians 2:6-11). That’s the sole reason we must be Christlike and follow His example. It’s not a suggestion or recommendation but a commandment and instruction! To a great extent, Christlikeness is the only route to Man’s final glory.
The grace of God was evident from Creation – God pardoned Man and allowed him to receive a punishment that was lesser than expected. The theatre of redemption reaches its crescendo at the crucifixion; the grace of God was even more evident at the Cross – where Jesus took on a punishment that was more than expected. He bore the entire weight of the world’s sin on His shoulders.
Now, if we juxtapose Genesis 3’s “The Fall of Man” and Matthew 4’s “The Temptation of Jesus”, we will realise that where Man has failed (in sinning against God), Christ has succeeded – this is pivotal to Christianity! Satan successfully ruined creation the first time and attempted to ruin redemption in his second try but Jesus overcame Satan’s overtures and secured the victory over sin and death on behalf of Man; that’s why we must imitate Christ!
We don’t imitate Christ just because we were taught to do that in Sunday School or because our pastors tell us to do that over the pulpit; we imitate Christ because the Bible has clearly stated His overwhelming triumph over the evil one! In all sense of the expression – Jesus Christ FTW!
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Next post: Conclusion – The Quest for Imitation
originality through imitation (part two) – the grandeur of the creation of man.
Previous post: Introduction – The Quest for Originality
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Again, I state that the best creation is the original creation. To understand why I say it is the best, let us first examine the grandeur of the creation of Man; this blew my mind when I pondered over it studiously.
The Last Creation
Since Man was the last item God created, he obviously did not participate or had any hand in the creation of the world. No wonder Job was rhetorically and categorically rebuked by God in Job 38:4 – “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding”. Man certainly wasn’t present at first creation!
And there are two obvious merits in being last place. It was first an honour. God added on to His already perfect creation (only He could do that!) and it resulted in Man. I think that’s why God added “very” to “good” in v31. Then it was a favour. To be the final jigsaw of the masterpiece meant that Man could fit in perfectly with all that has already been created. This simply means that Man didn’t need to adjust to his environment because it was custom-made for him! Think about it – no one wants to move into a halfway-renovated house.
The Latest Creation
Is there a difference between last and latest? In my opinion, the former speaks of a(n pre-)arranged order and the latter indicates actual chronology. The whole of creation was already there for Man at the point of his creation. As such, according to Genesis 2:19-20, everything was there for Man to contemplate upon (that’s why Adam named every creature) as well as to take comfort in (as every plant was given for Adam’s consumption), according to Genesis 1:29. What a privilege! I think Adam must have been an extremely creative person with a formidable vocabulary to be able to name every single living thing!
The Lone Creation
The creation of Man was truly unique. Through observation, you’ll realise that everything that was created before Man was by God’s word of command (see vv3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 16, 20, 24) and this signified authority. However, for the creation of Man, it became a word of consultation (see v26). It was as if the Trinity personally undertook this creation together and it signified God’s affection for Man. Doesn’t it give you a warm fuzzy feeling to know that we were made out of love!?
A self-esteem check here; think about it for a moment – Man certainly seemed more important to God than day and night (v3), land and sea (v6), heavens and earth (v9), plants and creatures (vv11, 20, 24), time and season (v14), sun and moon (v16)! If that doesn’t make you feel special enough, then I think you have serious esteem issues! Come on, you and I are more important to God than all that! WOW.
Also, note that the creation of Man was conclusive and not concurrent; in the ESV translation, everything else created was with the conjunction, “And”. But for Man, it was with the conjunction, “Then”; To me, the real business of creation was in making Man because everything seemed to be leading up to it. Hence I think it’s not far off to say that, in the observation of Man’s consecrated creation, we were already set apart by God from the beginning of time; no wonder we are called to be set apart for God today.
The Likeness Creation
This is the part that overwhelmed me because I felt that Man was undeserving of God’s grace. With the greatness of Man’s creation etched in our minds, we must realise then the gravity of this magnificent creation which involved the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That distinguished Man for he was to be dedicated and devoted to his divine Team of designers. As if being the last, latest and lone creation wasn’t enough, God made Man to be the only creation in His likeness. WOW!
Observe – I think God really stressed the significance of creating Man. He described this creation with two different words of similar meaning – “image” (Hebrew: Tselem) and “likeness” (Hebrew: Damuwth); to me, this really manifests the intense identicalness Man has with God.
So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that at the point of creation, Man was perfect. After all, could there be anything more perfect than this? You can’t perfect perfection! If you add, alter or abstract anything away from it, it will no longer be perfect. Sin was added, the nature of Man was altered and the likeness of God was thereby abstracted. What a tragic ending to what was intended to be a beautiful beginning!
Sin became the blot of water on a canvas of oil painting – it ruined everything. We must come to understand that God cannot have any part with sin. So know that when you sin, you bring about damage and destruction to what was formerly a perfect creation – you. Thank God for His saving grace through Jesus Christ!
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Next post: The Double-edged Commandment and Jesus Christ the Trump Card
originality through imitation (part one) – the quest for originality.
Over the next few days I will post a series of my reflections (and study notes) from one of my morning devotions last week. I shared it with the GII Shepherds on Tuesday night and I was encouraged to hear their “check-out” (it’s something I get them to do at the end of my teaching sessions). In my preparation, I expanded my half-page handwritten reflections into a four-page lesson; hence I’ll take HY’s advice and separate this sharing into a four-part series instead of dumping the entire lesson into one entry, for better consumption and digestion.
On a side note, I remember telling HY and EL that I’m starting to think and write as if everything that I communicate or compose is a sermon. Is this an occupational hazard of a(n aspiring) preacher? I mean, it’s so weaved into my cognition process that I do that even in my devotional and prayer journaling! And the crazy thing is that I actually enjoy thinking, writing and speaking like that because this discipline forces me to streamline my thoughts and increase the efficiency in my choice of words. You may realise this if you’ve been reading my blog for a while.
But I digress. Here’s the first of four parts, which will bring us through to Sunday.
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Originality Through Imitation
Quiet Time Reflections on Genesis 1-2
By Joey Asher Tan
Introduction – The Quest for Originality
This is my umpteenth attempt at re-reading the Bible from the beginning. However, unlike the earlier efforts, I have a new zeal for the Word of God and I’ve determined within myself to find a revelation of Jesus Christ in every sitting.
So, in an all-too-familiar restart, I read the first two chapters of Genesis a little differently; I read Genesis 1 telescopically and Genesis 2 microscopically and I urge you to do likewise. You will then realise that Genesis 2 is actually an in-depth look at the sixth day of God’s cosmic creation.
By God’s impeccable design, Man was created by God to bear His image and to be the master of all life on earth. The making of Man concluded God’s creation process and with that He declared everything to be excellent in every way; Man was the icing on His cake and the cherry on His pie!
It was truly a privilege for Man to be come alive by the breath of God (nothing else in creation has that invocation!) and to be given the free will to make his own decisions. That to me, along with Man’s purpose to be God’s image-bearer, was the grace of God.
Creation then reveals the centrality of Christ in this manner – Jesus came to redeem and restore us (more on redemption and restoration later) to the original requirements of intimate fellowship with God. At this point in time, I asked God two questions: “What has creation got to do with Me? How is creation even relevant to my daily living?”
There is only one point which I will attempt to prove through this sharing.
I humbly opine that the best creation is the original creation. And that is in the image of God. I think this is why we are constantly called to imitate Christ, for Christlikeness is the expressed image of God (or the closest you could get!). We must realise that when we are Christlike, we are actually being original in its truest form. That in effect is saying, the more we are like Jesus, the more original we are! No wonder Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
In a day and age where the clichés of being true to yourself and being original has become an over-emphasised and highly overrated aspiration, the Word of God interrupts us with a counter-culture challenge. Think about it – what’s so good about wanting to be who you’ve always wanted to be? According to what I have read, I see zero benefits; at this point of my life, I’d rather be more like Jesus than to be more like Joey. The older I get, the more I know my(wretched)self the more I conclude that there’s no glory in wanting to be myself.
So we arrive at a point of application. Throughout our lives, there’s always someone we look up to and desire to model after; he or she could be a parent, pastor, peer or even an onscreen personality. Everyone has heroes in their lives. I was instantly challenged to cultivate a solitary desire to mimic Jesus above and beyond any of my mentors. I’m not called to be Jesus, but to be like Jesus. And I think this universal truth applies to all serious believers who desire to showcase God’s glory through their lives.
Do me a favour, will you? Read Genesis 1-2 again and rediscover that, in light of our fallen nature, the best creation is truly the original creation.
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Next post: The Grandeur of the Creation of Man
joey asher | misunderstoodsunshinekid 