Lightness of being #5 Antioch or Nineveh?? (23rd June 2013)

Dear...

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
                    Acts 2:20

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
                    Revelation 6:12

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
                      Joel 2:31

With the haze these few days, it makes sense to remain indoors. But driving home towards the West, one would have seen the setting sun looking a crimson red. Thankfully it is not the moon that is red or one could be witnessing the onset of the end of the world.

This late morning, I braved the choking smog(PSI 401) to meet interesting new friends from an exotic locale  at the Marina Bay Sands(MBS). Quite a marketplace MBS is, and the general air of anticipatory windfall at the casino seems to permeate this place. A nonchalance to almost complacent disregard to the worsening climatic conditions just a few steps away, saved for the glass dividers.

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered:
                        Joel 2:32

Singapore, our beloved nation has become a microcosm of the world. A growing destination of choice for the rich and famous or infamous, and with it a coterie of riff rafts as well as a diverse range of value systems. Our nation has upon its bedrock, the traditional family values, which has sustained our growth as a nation. At this juncture, much as our government has reiterated the importance of the traditional family, our value systems are increasingly buffeted. My friend, who has been a regular visitor to our island for the past three decades, observed that what used to be possible only in the sleazier locales of our neighboring countries, is now easily within easy reach in Singapore.
And maybe it is providential that the inspiration for this sharing has its roots in MBS, for like my friend made in passing, he never imagined it possible that a casino can ever surfaced in the Singapore he used to know, where incorruptibility and traditional values once ruled the roost.

For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?  Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
                    Job 27:8-10

SARs was almost an anomaly for a clean city like Singapore. And dengue fever, one would have associated this scourge with the steaming real  jungles of our neighboring countries rather than an urban center like Singapore. And now with this mother of all haze, are we truly both the victim as well as the accomplice, given that as a financial centre, we not only provided the source of funding for the dominant plantation firms, but also is a safe haven for their largesse?

Sorrow is better than laughter:for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
                    Ecclesiastes 7:3

"The ugly Singaporean." Beneath our veneer of elitism, is a self centered self seeking denizen. It is not applicable to most, but if we are not careful, the "gotong-royong" or collaborative community spirit that was so very much in practice in the days of our parents, but now hardly deliberately practiced in our generation, will not just disappear, but be replaced by a "me first, me only" attitude in our children.
Satan, the devil is a self centered, prideful denizen whose misdemeanors led to his fall.
As a nation, who are we following? Christ or the devil?

Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found:for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
                          2 Kings 22:13

This morning, our good Lord reminded me that thankfully as a country, we are not Nineveh yet, that cruel nation that takes joy in tearing her vanquished  enemies apart. But we are moving inexorably to the likeness of a modern Babel, where money is the common language for the world's wealth that is increasingly converging upon our tiny Red Dot.

Peter therefore was kept in prison:but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
                        Acts 12:5

As a nation that is well ordered and like to believe in the control of our own destiny. SARs, dengue fever and now this haze is a firm reminder of not just our vulnerability, but the reality that we can never, by our own strength, be in control of our destiny.
But thankfully, God is Sovereign and now is the time to acknowledge that reality not just in prayers, but in the way we live.
To exercise the physical body is a challenge in this haze, but why not work on our long neglected spirit man?
What about love for our neighbors? Will you share your limited stock of N95 mask with your neighbors? What about the foreign workers laboring in the hazardous conditions today?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
                          Luke 17:18

Today, the PSI index dropped to 73. A wonderful reprieve as seen in the many who took the opportunity to resume their outdoor activities. But how many of us took time to thank our Lord for His grace? And how many will need to go back to the haze imposed prison in order for them to repent and realign their lives back to Christ?

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
                          Psalms 121:7-8

My 12 year  old Honeywell air purifier breathed its last this morning, after being called back into service after a long hiatus. The exertion must have killed it, though its demise was timed perfectly to coincide with the better weather today.
I have ordered a new Honeywell purifier from the States. It should arrive by early July.
Prayerfully the haze will not return before then. But come next Sunday Jun 29th is Pink Dot day at the Hong Lim Park. The organizers do expect 15,000 LGBTs and their sympathizers to turn up. It is not for us to pray for haze just at Hong Lim Park to smoke them out. But rather to pray that their search for love is realigned to Christ our Lord, for God is love. Satan is lusts. Only Christ can make right the longing in their hearts to be loved that unfortunately lusts cannot fulfill.

And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.
                        Job 28:28

Parts of Johore had a API reading of 700. In Singapore we were blessed with the low 70s.
A strange disparity as if an unseen hand has sheltered us, given our close proximity.
God has given us a reprieve, for us to repent and turn to Him. What must we do?
To seek Him with our all and love our neighbors, for the times are near.
Will we do it voluntarily or do we need to be forced upon our knees when PSI is at 700?

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
                          Romans 13:11

God blesses

Eng Hieang
23rd June 2013