the published and unpublished works of angeline koh

Many things happen in a blink…
© Angel’s original . Written April 2003
Published in The Frankelite, Editor’s column . April-June 2003

Several years ago, I was on a conducted tour around the quiet countryside of Ireland when our humorous tour driver said, “Don’t blink, everyone. We are going to pass through the smallest town in Ireland. If you blink, you will miss seeing it.” Sure enough, we zipped through the little town in a blink. I do not even remember its name.

Many things happen in a blink.

In a blink, we witnessed the total destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. In a blink, the 24-year regime of Saddam Hussein was removed when superpower USA launched “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. In a blink, the world was hit with the mysterious Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), causing panic, paranoia and even paralysis.

In a blink, Singapore which prides itself on its First World status, saw PSA Corporation, Housing Development Board and Singapore Airlines go through “restructuring” (= “retrenchment”). In an instant, the rich are made poor when businesses collapse while surgical mask manufacturers are made rich because of the sudden demand.

In a blink, I saw the closure of my sister Cynthia’s short 37 years on earth.

How then should we live in a time when a blink could bring about cataclysmic changes in our lives?

In Psalm 103:7, David said that God “made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.” Both the Israelites and Moses witnessed the same events, but only Moses had insight into God’s ways.

In a race, blinkers or hoods fitted to the horse’s head force the horse to look straight ahead instead of being distracted by surrounding horses. Jockeys will tell you that a little blinker can make a great difference to the racehorse’s performance.

Moses who wrote Psalm 90, had blinkers that kept his eyes and heart fixed on God. The Israelites on the other hand, had a different kind of blinkers that blinded them from understanding God’s heart.

If we are to thrive in such a time as this, we need to shield our eyes and heart with blinkers that will keep our focus on the Lord Jesus instead of on the many things that stir up our innate fears. We also need to ask God to remove whatever blinds us from understanding and responding to His ways.

In the midst of uncertainty, one more certain event will happen in a blink that will not only change our lives but also change us forever. The apostle Paul said, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52).

In a blink, all wrong will be set right. God will complete what He began at the Cross and permanently remove suffering and death. In a blink, Satan, God’s enemy, will be no more. In a blink, Christ, the Hope of our glory will be revealed, and we, His people, will be resurrected and transformed.

In a blink, I will be reunited with Cynthia .

It is in the light of this hope that the apostle urges us, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

There are many around us living between blinks and in much fear. There is still work to be done and a race to complete. Do you have blinkers that keep you from knowing and responding to God’s heart? How are you living between blinks?

What will it take for us His disciples to go beyond seeing His deeds to under-standing His ways?
© Angel’s orginal . Written January 2002
Published in The Singapore NavNews March-May 2002

There is little to show for their night of hard work. Tired, the men berth their two fishing boats by the water’s edge and proceed to wash their nets. A fisherman’s routine is interrupted by the request of the master; “Peter, put your boat out a little from the shore.” There were his companions James and John and their partners, but he singles out Peter. Two boats, but he chooses Peter’s. Peter obliges.

From the boat, the Master continues his amazing teachings as people jostle their way closer to the edge of the lake to hear the Master. Peter listens in the comfort of his boat. The crowds wonder if they will witness more miracles today; he who sits within arm’s reach of the preacher can tell how his own mother-in-law was healed of a severe fever. When the preaching is over, the Master turns to the fisherman and tells him, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

“Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything,” replies the experienced fisherman to the carpenter~teacher, “but because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Instantly, there is a catch so great that the nets begin to tear. “Come and help us!” Peter shouts to his fishing partners. There is a frenzy of activity as the dumbfounded fishermen haul in the catch. The two boats are so full of fish that they almost sink. When it dawns on Peter what had happened, he instinctively falls at the master’s feet and exclaiming, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

What was it about the catch that had made Peter see his own sinfulness?

A crowd, but Jesus singled out Peter. Two boats, but he singled out Peter’s. Jesus was out to catch, not the crowd, nor the fish, but the heart of a fisherman. The master had tweaked an everyday event in his life – he made a miracle out of the mundane so that Peter saw himself for who he really was and who it was who stood before him. That intrusion and others that came in Peter’s life left markers that would change him forever. The fisherman was caught.

Nothing happens by chance. In the Old Testament, the Israelites saw the deeds of God but only Moses understood the ways of God (Psalm 103:7). What will it take for us His disciples to go beyond seeing His deeds to understanding His ways?

I have found if helpful is take time keep a journal, but more importantly, to reflect on the significant events. Until I take a step back to look at them, I miss the costly life lessons that God is teaching me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Why Christians must read
by Gene Edward Veith, Jr., published by Crossway Books
© Book review by Angeline Koh . Written 2001

Quite heavy reading but very thought-provoking. Communication (words and language) is vital to our ministry as disciple-makers. We spend extensive time in the study of the Bible (content), but we also need to give attention to the means by which these precious and unchanging truths are being communicated (or manipulated). I realise that the quotes here come to you in fragments but I hope it will stir up enough interest for you to want to read and to do so widely and wisely.
“What a superb resource this is! It resonates with profound perceptions of how good literature works to enrich and illuminate us. Dr Veith proves himself once again to be a knowledgeable guide through the landscape of the written word.” – Author Luci Shaw.

What you will find in the book

The power of words and why Christians must be people of the (written) word (as compared to the tv media)
How to cultivate good literary taste by recognizing books that are spiritual and aesthetically good. Explains how to discern junk from truth and how words can be misused to manipulate and sway from the real issues.
Presents basic information to understand what we read – from the classics to the best-sellers. How the major types of literature (genre) through the ages communicates.

Some extracts
The habit of reading is absolutely critical today, particularly for Christians. As television turns our society into an increasingly image-dominated culture, Christians must continue to be people of the Word. When we read, we cultivate a sustained attention span, an active imagination, a capacity for logical analysis and critical thinking, and a rich inner life, Each of these qualities, which have proven themselves essential to a free people, is under assault in our TV-dominated culture. Christians, to maintain their Word-centred perspective in an image-driven world, must become readers. (Preface xic)

The Word and The Image: The Importance of Reading
Language is the basis for all communication and so lies the heart of any personal relationship. (Matthew Arnold, “The Study of Poetry,” in Poetry and Criticism of Matthew Arnold.) We can never know anyone intimately by simply being in that person’s presence. We need to have a conversation in order to share our thoughts and personalities… God addresses human beings by means of language in the pages of Scripture… Christians have to be in some sense, readers. (Pg 17)

It is no exaggeration to say that reading has shaped our civilization more than almost any other factor and that a major impetus to reading has been the Bible. (Pg 19)

Reading demands sustained concentration, whereas television promotes a very short attention span. Reading involves (and teaches) logical reason, whereas television involves (and teaches) purely emotional responses. Reading promotes continuity, the gradual accumulation of knowledge, and sustained exploration of ideas. Television, on the other hand, fosters fragmentation, anti-intellectualism, and immediate gratification. (Neil Postman, Teaching as a Conserving Activity) (Pg 21)

Language is cognitive, appealing to the mind; images are affective, appealing to the emotions… (pg 21) Postman foresees a future in which we have “people who are ‘in touch with their feelings,’ who are spontaneous and musical, and who live in an existential world of immediate experience but who, at the same time, cannot ‘think’ in the way we customarily use that word. In other words, people whose state of mind is somewhat analogous to that of a modern-day baboon.” (Neil Postman, Teaching as a Conserving Activity) (Pg 22)

Christians must become conscious of how the image-centred culture is pulling them in non-Christian directions. The priority of language for Christians must be absolute. As the rest of society abandons language-centredness for image-centeredness, we must expect to feel the pressure and temptations to conform. But we must resist.

One way to do this is simply to read. A growing problem is illiteracy – many people do not know how to read. A more severe problem, though, is “aliteracy” – a vast number of people who know how to read but never do it…

…the influential and the powerful will still be readers, as they are today. In the ancient pagan world, reading was a zealously guarded secret for the priest and the ruling elite, who, because they had access to knowledge, had access to power… the wielders of influence will always be those who read and write, who still work within the framework of language. (Pg 25)

How language is used to manipulate
The study of how words carry meaning is called “semantics.” Familiarity with basic principles of semantics can help beleaguered Christians cut through the sophistry and language games practised by the secular culture.

Semanticists speak of two types of meanings that exist in words. The “denotation” of a word is its literal definition. Words also tend to acquire some “connotation,” a set of associations that accompany the word…

Connotations… these associations are subtle, non-reflective, and emotion-based. As such, they are very powerful, so that use of “loaded language” can often short-circuit any rational debate. Words with bad connotation may be replaced by words with a good connotation. This is called “euphemism.” …At its worst, euphemism can be manipulative and deceiving, a way to hide the truth behind a pleasant mask…

Some words are so powerful, conveying such overwhelmingly positive connotations, that they are called “god-terms.” …And yet “god terms” can be attached to more problematic issues so that the powerful connotations of the language actually shape the way people think.

…The language used determines the result of the argument. When the sacred language of the civil religion is invoked, rational analysis and moral debate become impossible. The very term of the debate are shifted away from the concrete issues… into the realm of sacred and therefore unquestionable absolutes.

Such rhetoric, although it purports to be secular, is nonetheless religious. It makes use, not of Christian categories, but of civil religion that tends to develop within a society. It short-circuits thought in a way that can enable almost any idea to attract defenders…

The major social and moral debates are often simply battles over language. Indeed, whichever side succeeds in choosing the words our culture uses to discuss these issues will control the way people think about them…

…We think in words. Our attitudes and our behaviour are shaped by the language that we choose, or that we pick up unconsciously from the world around us. For this reason, Christians need to cultivate sensitivity to language. Reading and reflecting upon literature is perhaps the best means to that end. (Pg 50-52)

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Another excellent book on Reading
HONEY FOR A CHILD’S HEART:
The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life
by Gladys Hunt, published by Zondervan Books

Building whole children through books – children who are alive emotionally, spiritually and intellectually. Gladys Hunt’s taste are broad, her advice is rooted inexperience, and her suggestions will enrich the cultural life of any home. The authors gives sound advice on how to choose good books to encourage children to be avid readers. Includes an 85-page list of the best of children’s classics ever. Good for adults too!