On 21st and 22nd March 2008, we’ll be having our Easter Production, “Broken”.

Venue:
Location
Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya
No 6 Jalan 13/4
46200 Petaling Jaya

Politics are usually not posted here on ThreeDs, but as the elections draw nearer, here are a couple of websites to help us out:

1) http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarbi.asp

Key in your IC number and you’ll be getting your information, your polling district, your state assemblies and your parliamentary, so at least you know where you are voting. Also helpful would be the place you are voting. Usually, it’s in a school or a hall near your place. For myself, it’s a school about 3 minutes away so I can imagine our whole family walking to election like the old days =)

2) http://undi.info

This is also a great site for us to track who on earth are we voting for. We get to vote for parliamentary as well as state, so click on the year and click on either state or parliamentary to see who are the candidates in your area. Frankly, you should be seeing their mug shots plastered all around the place or see them busy campaigning. I really pity the folks that need to clean up the mess after the elections….

So there you have it, for those voting, it is our duty to participate. I never used to think like that, but apparently my patriotism seem to have increase a little over the years. After all, no matter where you are in the world, Malaysia is still our country, and God made us Malaysians to love our country, despite her obvious shortcomings.

Marilah Undi!!

Eight years ago, in February 2000, the world lost her greatest comic creator ever, Charles M. Schulz to colon cancer. He was 77 years old and his strip Peanuts ran for the last time. Every comic strip, from Dilbert to Simpsons to Calvin & Hobbes have Charles Schulz to thank, for birthing a new generation of comic genius that has never since been duplicated.

As a kid, I don’t really read much comics; stealing here and there from my brother’s Spiderman and X-men stash. Instead, I was pretty stuck with the comics my Dad used to read: Peanuts. I remember we had tons and tons of Peanuts books bought in the 60s and 70s. Dad cleared it out some time back and have always expressed regret for doing so, because those were such classics.

I haven’t met a lot of people who appreciate Peanuts a lot. Sure, lots of people love Snoopy toys and merchandise, but the Peanuts strip was always bigger than that. When Peanuts first came out in the early 50s, the comic industry never had anything like it. A philosophical group of children, capable to feel the angst, joy, frustrations of the adult life, yet retaining the wondrous nature that makes them children. Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson is probably the only reasonable successor to Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts. In Calvin & Hobbes, I see much similarity to Peanuts, perhaps a little more grandiose and artful, yet lacking the simplicity of Charlie Brown and his gang. In fact, in Watterson’s words, he drew inspiration from Charles Schulz:

“While growing up, I collected the annual “Peanuts” books and used them as a personal cartooning course, copying the drawings with the idea of someday becoming the next Charles Schulz.”

As I poured over Peanuts comics the past few days, I realize the genius of Charles Schulz. That his comic strip is timeless. When I read it as a child, I didn’t quite understand the humor of it, but was influenced by the strip subconsciously. In fact, my first attempt of writing a book (when I was just about 7), began the very same way as Snoopy begins his novels:

As I grew older, the characters became more meaningful to me. I recall my all time favourite cartoon was a TV special called “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”. I watched it like a few hundred times, and as I grew older, I bought a copy from Amazon. I remembered going to flea markets in Australia looking for old Peanuts books and reading them. It wasn’t for the humour, and that’s why a lot of newer generation readers don’t ‘get’ Peanuts. It was a worldview that was offered by Schulz, through his characters. It appealed to a child of 5 and to a child of 99.

I am closely acquainted with the whole gang: Wishy Washy Charlie Brown, his annoying sister Sally Brown; the fussbudget Lucy Van Pelt and her genius brother Linus and Rerun. Schroeder, the Beethoven genius. Peppermint Patty and short sighted Marcie. ‘Pig Pen’ who is never clean, Violet, who disappeared in the later years, Frieda with her cats, Franklin the first African American comic character. Who can forget Snoopy, and his family: Spike, Olaf, Andy and Marbles from Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. And I’m even crazy enough to remember Woodstocks Beagle Scouts: Bill, Conrad, Olivier and Harriet (the girl bird!).

To many, those names won’t sound too familiar, except for Snoopy.

To me, Snoopy wasn’t the main star. It was Charlie Brown.

The angst driven Charlie Brown, the born loser. Yet, in his spirit, he is always the last one off the baseball mound even when a hurricane comes and Snoopy floats by in a boat. Yet, for a zillion times, he still attempts to fly the kite. For a zillion times, he still trusts Lucy not to take away the football as he tries to kick it. For a zillion times, he still harbours the unrequited love to the little red haired girl. For a zillion times, he still makes supper for Snoopy even when he is annoyed that Snoopy prances around him. For a zillion times, he still looks forward to the baseball game even though he has lost every game before that. For a zillion times….you get the picture. Growing up with Charlie Brown, you would never place him as a born loser. In fact, given the lot in life, he has remained both optimistic and tragic in light of the events around him.

I think as Charles Schulz created Peanuts, first as a Sunday school teaching guide and later as an outlet of his view of this world, we each take a character and see ourselves in it. The simple questions asked by Sally, the simple faith of boy genius Linus in believing in the Great Pumpkin and everything his older sister Lucy tells him no matter how stupid it is; the opportunistic nature of Lucy, and her unrequited love for Schroeder; the fantastical daydreams of Snoopy and his lieutenant Woodstock; and of course, the never say die attitude of Charlie Brown.

So after 30 years in this world, I am still reading a comic strip called Peanuts. Perhaps in some ways, my character and thoughts have been moulded a little to the thoughts of these group of children who question about their positions in the world and philosophize in their simplicity.

Peanuts continues to inspire many cartoonists this age, rightly so, since Charles Schulz is the undisputed father of modern comics and the story of Charlie Brown, his beagle and his friends remain the greatest comic strip ever created in history.

Will Charlie Brown ever fly a kite? Will he ever kick the ball that Lucy holds? Will he ever get to kiss the little red haired girl? Will he ever win a baseball game? Will he ever … well, actually it’s better that he never gets to do these things. After all, he’s just good ol’ Charlie Brown.

It’s quite preposterous if you think about it, but it seems that as humans, specifically Malaysian humans, we tend to invent ways to go about a particular system. We don’t like to break the rules outrightly, but rather find a workaround. For instance, the demerit points are only awarded to you when you pay your fines, which are hopefully plugged already by now.

In some people’s opinions, there’s also a ‘cheat’ in God’s system of forgiveness and repentance, also known as ‘Deathbed Conversion’, and since for these few weeks leading up to Easter, we’re pretty much focused on the thief on the cross, this subject should be discussed.

‘Deathbed Conversion’ simply means this: the adoption of a religion just before dying.

Before dying, a person adopts Christianity–or any religion, but Christianity is the most marketable since it doesn’t require any works being done, and it’s all based on God’s grace–to avoid the torments of hell, and enjoy the benefits of heaven. It’s understandable that if I am about to kick the bucket soon, I might as well grab on to whatever I can just for insurance.

Now, it doesn’t mean that these conversions cannot happen: observe the story of the thief on the cross, and true repentance brought him into God’s presence. Also, countless people have come to know the Lord before dying, believing in Jesus Christ just before their death. It’s a reminder of how God loves us, in 2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

It is God’s intention that everyone should hear the gospel and everyone should have a chance to choose Him. If He wants to save a particular person, no matter how bad that person is, who are we to say whether he deserved the grace? Do we deserve anything at all?

Hence, conversions at the end of their lives is very possible, and who knows how many souls have been snatched from the brink of hell at the very last instance.

However, for those who think this is a loophole; or it allows the license to live a life of sin only to repent when you are dying, there are some bad news for them:

1) No one knows when he/she will die. It seems awfully risky to hedge your bet against something that cannot be calculated/determined in any way. Here today, gone tomorrow and an eternity of anguish.

2) It’s not just a verbal confession, it’s a heart’s confession. Recall that the thief didn’t just say, “Lord, I believe you, save me!” He merely says to the Lord, “Remember me WHEN you come into your kingdom.” Jesus assured him because his repentance was real.

3) Chances are, if you are waiting to cheat God’s system, you’re probably on the wrong side of the cross, i.e on the other robber’s side. Remember what the other robber said:

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” - Luke 23:39

He hung there waiting to be saved. He hung there thinking that he has got it made, he had ‘cheated’ the system. He says, “Aren’t you Christ?” or as the others put it, “IF thou art Christ…”.

“If” is a neutralizing word when praying to the Lord of the universe. When tempting Jesus in the wilderness, the devil revealed his identity when he said, “If thou be the Son of God.“ Matthew 4:3. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and the word “if” neutralizes a person’s faith.

Like much of the world, the thief on the left wanted salvation from the penalty of sin, but not from sin itself. He lacked a saving faith. Jesus says, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” John 8:24.

There is no loophole in God’s system. If repentance is real, then changes must be made now. There’s no bargaining, or petitioning, the idea of ‘cheating’ God is an absolute lie of the devil.
Dough Batchelor mentions in one of his sermons:

Did you know that this is the only story in the Bible of a “deathbed conversion”? This one example is recorded so none need lose hope of salvation-even in the end; but there is only one example so none would recklessly presume it is safe to wait till the bitter end. I am convinced that one of two things happens to people who purposely plan on turning to Jesus in the last hours of their life. Either they never can, or they never will.

To say, “I will give my life and strength and means to the devil and then, in the last fleeting moments of my earthly existence, I will turn to God” is the highest insult a mortal can offer God. It is something like offering an ugly, thorny rose stem to your spouse after all the beautiful, fragrant petals have fallen off.

Repentance is a gift from God (Acts 5:31; 2 Timothy 2:24, 25). We cannot predict when we are going to repent. If we have spent our lives spurning the loving invitations of the Holy Spirit, it may be that when the end comes, we will find we have grieved away the Comforter and lost our capacity to repent. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation”? Hebrews 2:3. Then, of course, there is the very real possibility that we could die suddenly with no prior warning, and thus be unable to repent.

“Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul” - Proverbs 24:14a

This is just a fun post, since I’ve got nothing much to do over the next few days….

Whoever named it wisdom teeth really had a wicked sense of humour. There is nothing wise about those teeth, and brings no value at all except to cause a considerable amount of pain for those who are (un)wise enough to yank them out, as I did earlier this week. I had to do it, since my mouth was too small (hard to believe heh?) to accomodate them and they were impacting the other teeth. In fact the proper Bible verse for these ‘wisdom’ could be:

“Wisdom is better than weapons of war” - Ecclesiastes 9:18a

It’s by no means a simple procedure, as it lasted 2 hours and it wasn’t an extraction, but an operation. In my estimation, it’s more of pulling, cutting, pulling, drilling and all sorts of madness that goes with it. I can understand why there is an absolute fear of going to the dentist, but what must be done must be done.

Here’s the update I gave to my cellies:

The surgery was a pretty long one, I went in at 3 and got out close to 5. There were some complications on both teeth where the top root was attached to the sinus, so it took a lot of cutting, drilling and pulling to get that out. Now my sinus is perforated and will take a few weeks to heal over, so dont be surprise if I start to nose bleed every now and then. Pray that I don’t sneeze. Seriously. It needs to heal over and everytime I sneeze or take a deep sniff, the sinus walls breaks and blood comes out of my nose.

The bottom one was also a problem where the root was grown too deep and needed to cut through…I’ve lost my taste buds on my left tongue, not sure if this condition is going to be a long one or you’ll see me licking ice cream with the right side of my tongue for the rest of my life haha! Ok, not so funny…

So, all in all, it was a little more difficult than 3 years ago when my right side wisdom teeth were operated on, but God is good and brought me out of it. Imagine, after finally yanking my upper left tooth (which was the first to go), the dentist had to give himself 10 minutes to rest before resuming his duties. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not at that.

My advice: Don’t mess with the wisdom teeth. Some would be fortunate to have all wisdom teeth coming out nice and easy, you can attribute that to–don’t laugh–your big mouth, capable to hold these extra teeth. Others might be smart enough (ironically) to yank them out when you are younger, 4-5 years ago…the root doesn’t grow so deep and your bone is less dense so that procedure is relatively easy compared to when, say, you cross 30. My brother, like Michelle, yanked all 4 out at once and he was jolly happy he did that before he got any older. And if you know you haven’t yanked any out yet, get yourself to the dentist and take an x-ray. Chances are you might want to pull it out, if it’s not growing properly, i.e causing pain to your other teeth. And it’s my highest recommendation that you do, before you get any older, and give these little fellas time to grow their root into your sinuses or jaws or what not. You don’t wanna be sitting in a dental chair at 40 years old. I’m now like a Wisdom tooth expert after going through 2 op hahaa!! Of course, many people go through life without any worries of removal, and if surgery is not necessary, according to your x-ray and dentist, then you’re fortunate!
Final Note: Not all dentists are good at wisdom tooth operation. My dentist Dr Thurai at Wisma Damansara is really good, and cost a bomb, but it’s worth it. For those who haven’t heard my dental horror story 3 years back, I can tell you if you are not too cringy over it. PLEASE DO NOT go to Jaya Dental Surgery (that’s in Jaya 33 now, G floor). That dentist made a mess of my wisdom tooth 3 years back, and I had to head over to another dentist to complete the procedure. OUCH!

Finally, to the non cringy type, here are the culprits. (Some have curiously wondered what they looked like) I have to return them to the dentist so he can submit it as a sample to the university to study it. Apparently, I’ve become a case study to them. For those who do not prefer to see it, you should stop reading now.

As in now.

Now.

Now.

Now.

OK, warned ya, here goes:

Here’s the upper tooth. Those 3 roots were stuffed into my sinus so we all had a jolly time yanking them out and creating a hole in my sinus. So now, water will leak through my nose for no apparent reason, so if it happens in front of you, at least you know I’m not purposely trying to gross you out. It’s quite weird though, I tilt my head one way and water comes out. I shouldn’t mess around, but it’s pretty boring sitting around and not being able to talk much and just watch DVDs. Follow up on Monday and hopefully my sinus heals, or you’ll have a cell leader who has a leaking nose! No, if it doesn’t patch up on its own, I’m headed to an ENT specialist to fix it with a procedure.

The bottom one had to be smashed into smaller fragments. Half of it came out easy enough, but the other half stubbornly stuck to my jaw. After cutting it further, we finally got it out. I don’t think everyone’s case would be as troublesome as mine, since mine is becoming a case study (unless they case study every tooth?) Just have a visit to your dentist, and if you’ve got to pull it out, do it immediately before those roots grow deeper and the bones get denser!

Now for ice-cream the whole week!

Luke 23:39-43:

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

These five verses have always fascinated me. The story of the thief on the cross. The criminal, the sinner, repenting and being saved. It’s the most famous deathbed conversion. More than that, it distinguishes Christianity from all the other religions in the world: a direct reference to our salvation justified by grace, and a gift; not by any works, that we may boast of (Ephesians 2:8-9). If someone mentions that the Bible supports karma, then this story goes out the window. I’m not sure if the thief had any resources to give a million bucks to charity in order to balance his karma.

But let’s get back to the thief and the lesson he represents.

Here’s perhaps a possible background of him. He could be a Jew, since he knew much about Christ’s kingdom and about Jesus being the messiah. He was crucified outside Jerusalem along with Jesus, and in usual cases, the Bible would make mention of a person being a Gentile. He was probably very bitter (who wouldn’t be, nailed up there and being made a spectacle), and he probably wasn’t expecting to be crucified on that day (as it was Jewish custom not to bury during Sabbath, which was the next day), so as he was led up to the cross, he railed at Jesus along with the other thief (Matt 27:44).

How often are we like that? Whenever trouble befalls us, when something bad occurs, when we fail to get that promotion, when we lose someone we love; we ask God, if you are a loving God, why? Save us from this situation, save us from these issues! Post modernism has made us think that God should behave in such and such a manner. Why doesn’t He punish evil? Why did he allow that rapist to repent and be saved? How could He allow children to suffer? In our finite minds, we make provisions to understand the infinite.

But let’s understand that the crucifixion process is a long one. And understand that the situation by no means is a quiet one. People are yelling, cursing, throwing things at them and the whole scene was just noisy, dusty and probably very hot. The thief must have saw how the soldiers and the so called religious leaders came and spit at Jesus, mocking him with a crown of thorns and signs. He must have saw how battered and destroyed Jesus’ body was from the flogging (which he himself and the other thief probably did not go through).

And above all, he must have saw the way Jesus endured the torture, with no anger, only compassion. In his mind, perhaps all the lessons he had learned when he was younger, in rabbinical school, or if he was poorer, he would still be familiar with the Messianic prophecy of God become man. Imagine the thief, hearing Jesus pray:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34). And in his heart, the thief wept at the love of Christ for his revilers.

Then the religious rulers mocked Christ. At this point, the thief must have refrained shouting back at the rulers , possibly knowing his voice, as a criminal would not be heeded. Likewise, he kept quiet when the soldiers mocked Jesus.

But when the other thief BLASPHEMED Jesus, something snapped. And he lashed out. How dare a criminal, a person condemned to death think it is in his right to blasphemed the Son of God? Now before going farther, we need to understand that the Romans didn’t design the crucifixion in a way that easily supports conversation between the crucifixees (if there’s such a word). Every word, every breath is agony; because as the body heaves to breathe, the nails chafes the bones of the hands and pulls at the feet. Jesus, His skin already stripped behind suffered excruciating pain, because His exposed flesh will grate against the rough, splintered cross, as blood poured out from His temple from the crown of torns.

So for the thief to actually speak out, or cry out to the other thief and talk to Christ, it must have been an agonizing experience.

He cries out:

1. Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?

Here he acknowledges Jesus as God. And in the same breath, he puts the other guy in place, reminding him that as he reviled Christ, he was no better. In fact, he was worse as the next thing he said:

2. And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong

He proclaimed Jesus’ innocence and confessed his sins and wrong doings.

3. Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.

And finally he repented and asked God to remember him. I like the last part. Here he’s looking across to the other cross, to the next person who is also dying and he says: WHEN you come into your kingdom. For an outsider, it must sound so ridiculous that while dying, they can talk about coming into a kingdom! There was no way they were going to live past the day and still, there is the mention of kingdom inheritance. What does it all mean? It took the thief a few hours to completely understand Jesus’ mission in this world. That the kingdom He is establishing is not of this world. That He wasn’t here to free the Jews from Roman oppression, but save the world from sins. It’s amazing that the thief comprehended this, and the disciples, after 3 years with Jesus, still struggled to understand it.
To which Jesus replied, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Now I know it doesn’t actually state the thief repented verbally, but he did in his heart, because Jesus assured his salvation and salvation is by repentance (Luke 13:3).

Even at the final moment, the thief finally came to his senses and despite of all he had done, despite of even reviling Jesus initially, true repentance allowed him to be an heir to the Kingdom. Was he saint? No. Was he a good person? Probably not. But the grace of God is such, that while the thief has been condemned by man to die; he still has a choice of where he’ll be in eternity.

We all do.

When I read the Bible, sometimes, questions crop up: some related to what I’m reading, others totally off track. One of the off track question I usually have is this:

While Jesus was being crucified, what was happening in the province of Foshan, Guangdong?

I.e, we know that the world was already populated by the time the events unfolded in the New Testament. Rome already ruled the known world in Europe, the Han Dynasty ruled in China. This was also when Buddhism first entered China. But while we have a magnifying glass on all that is occurring in Jerusalem, what about the rest of the world?

I believe God was setting things in place all over the world for the greatest movement of missions and evangelism ever. Remember, Jesus said in John 14:12:

‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father’

Jesus wasn’t saying that we will become greater than Him, or become a God, but he meant that with the Spirit, after He returns to the Father, the church will have a wider influence on the world quantitatively. He knew the church movement would spread from Palestine to the rest of the world. He foresaw the amazing growth in Korea, in China, in Malaysia.

To paraphrase, He was simply saying: “World, get ready for the Flood of the Gospel.”

Back to Foshan (I chose it since it’s my ancestral hometown), they might not watch the news on what just happened in Jerusalem, but their hearts were already prepared. In Ecclesiastes 3:11b: ‘Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.’

And in Acts 14:16-17:”In the past he (God) let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony.”

Eternity in Their Hearts, by Don Richardson is a fascinating look at world cultures and ancient religions and how they tie in to Christianity. I have often heard some of my friends arguing that the story of Jesus is not new. Other ancient religions have stories about a man who became God, or God sending His son, and became a miracle worker etc, and that Christianity ‘borrowed’ ideas from these pagan religions.

Perhaps, these ancient religions weren’t so different after all. Jesus tells us that he didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Could it be that ancient religions already understood the concept of a saviour, a supreme God and His love? Perhaps Christianity, contrary to our beliefs, wasn’t so ‘foreign’ or ‘western’ as we thought. After all, as events unfolded in the New Testament, God was not blind to the needs of the world. The cultures and beliefs of these so called pagans might be slowly shaped to be receptive of the gospel, as soon as the flood began from the city of Jerusalem, to all Judea…and the rest of the world. These are some of the questions Don Richardson brings up, which changes the paradigm of how missionaries entering new cultures will think.

Personally, we need to be a little careful in saying that all ancient religions and culture are stemmed from God. That all pagan beliefs is proof of ‘Eternity in their hearts’. For instance, God would never endorse the killing of thousands to satisfy the gods during the Mayan or Aztec rule. Mythology, to me, constitutes idolatry and should never be confused with ‘eternity’ being in their hearts. This book is interesting, but like all books, read carefully and reference back to the Bible often. The Bible remains the one book that is infallible, so don’t neglect it in your studies!

Here’s an excerpt from Probe Ministries:
Don Richardson’s book, Eternity in Their Hearts, illustrates how this theory shaped the missionary effort in China and Korea. In ancient China, the Lord of the Heavens was referred to as Shang Ti. In Korea, he was referred to as Hananim.

Over the centuries, the Chinese departed from the worship of Shang Ti and adopted the beliefs of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism that taught the worship of ancestors and the Buddha. However, even after two thousand years, the Chinese still mentioned the name of Shang Ti.

The first Christian missionaries to China arrived in the eighth century A.D. In the years that followed, instead of capitalizing on the residual monotheistic witness already in the land, missionaries imposed a completely foreign name to the God of the heavens. They emphasized that the God of the Bible is foreign and completely distinct from any God the Chinese had ever heard of before. As Don Richardson writes, “Those who took this position completely misunderstood the real situation.” Roman Catholic missionaries adopted new terms like Tien Ju, Master of Heaven or Tien Laoye for God in the Chinese language.

When Protestant missionaries arrived, they debated as to whether they should use Shang Ti or another term for the Almighty. Some argued that there should be a new name for a new thing. Those who chose to use Shang Ti did not take advantage of the full meaning behind the term. As a result, Protestant missionaries did not have as great an impact in China as they were to have in Korea.

In 1884, Protestant missionaries entered Korea. After studying the culture, they believed that Hananim was the residual witness of God. As these missionaries began to preach utilizing this remnant witness, their message was enthusiastically received. Instead of introducing a foreign God from the west, they were reintroducing the natives to the Lord of their ancestors whom they were interested to know. The Catholic missionaries who had been in Korea for decades were still employing designations for God from Chinese phrases like Tien Ju. As a result, the Korean people responded to the message from the Protestant missionaries and Christianity spread throughout the country at an explosive rate.

I was playing last week with Sean on the keys and towards the end of the YA service we had a few members leaving, some to Australia, some outstation for work placement. Amidst Pastor Julie’s voice, I heard the faint tinkling of a song that brings back memories of a time when we-the youth of GTPJ-were preparing our great adventure overseas, stepping past the threshold of adulthood and all that lay beyond, with excitement barely contained. I was a little surprised that most of the younger musicians were completely at loss with this song, a song that can rightfully stake its claim as the song of our generation, the voice of the close bond all of us have, forged in happiness, strengthened further in sorrows.

In each farewell, some even in airports, we played this song. Temporary farewells to meet again in the future; and farewells from this earth to also meet again one day.

And I remembered playing this song on the guitar as a few of his closest friends spent the final night sleeping over in his place, as he peacefully rests before taken away in the morning, to be reunited on that glorious day in the future.

I hope this song doesn’t fade with our generation but continues to drive the message of fellowship and friendship to the young people of GTPJ. Here is the rendition of ‘Friends Forever’ by the biggest names in CCM: Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael Tait, Point of Grace, Mac Powell, Anointed, Avalon, Joy Williams and of course, the original singer, Michael W. Smith.

Friends Forever

Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
I can’t believe the hopes He’s granted
Means a chapter of your life is through

But we’ll keep you close as always
It won’t even seem you’ve gone
‘Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
‘Cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends

And with the faith and love God’s given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you live in
Is the strength that now you show

We’ll keep you close as always
It won’t even seem you’ve gone
‘Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
‘Cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go
In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long
To live as friends