A personal reflection on faith, life, and the work of the hands

Category: On Sight

Reflections shaped by books, moments, and things that catch the eye.

  • About Smiling

    Long has smiling been a contention which I struggle with. Years back, someone told me that my expression seems unfriendly to others, even when I personally does not feel that way. My default neutral face turns out to be an unfriendly one. So through these years (~5), I have been contending with myself to make additional effort to smile more, intentionally.

    I even openly shared with my missionary team that this is something that I needed attention/reminders on should they see me being “unfriendly”. So even after the mission period at Japan, till this day one of my fellow members still reminds me this when we meet up.

    Since changing church, this “smiling thing” have been turning more natural it seems. I suspect this might be due to the proximity of the church, where we are active in doing community pastoring, and there is a need to, for the lack of a better term, “put up a face”. But I do noticed myself smiling abit more. Also, perhaps, since my previous church’s location is quite far from home, I don’t see the need to “act”, or “wayang” as the locals understands it, as the probability of keep running into people whom I try to evangelise is low.

    This morning I woke up early, went to a marketplace nearby church to get some chee cheong fun (steamed rice noodle rolls), which I think is the best in Singapore. While on this “pilgrimage”, I noticed alot of people does not smile. What an irony, for one who does not smile himself, started to noticed his surrounding only after he started to do so. God is doing a work in me on this smiling aspect. And perhaps, with His grace and mercy, we can bring His presence even more into our community, and more will start to smile.

  • Men for God by David Pawson

    Finished reading my first book for 2026. Men for God by David Pawson. In fact, this is the 2nd time I have read this book.

    This time around, I find that I can appreciate Pawson’s teaching and sharing deeper. Possibly due to my age, or due to the current state of the world – The 2026 world is vastly different compared to 2020.

    Pawson touched on many matters of manhood. By far the most important lessons that I personally appreciate most would be that the manner of how we believe Jesus’ return would be, will shape the manner of how we act for our lifetime.

    Amillenialism, postmillenialism, premillenialism, or even as Pawson’s friend jokingly suggested, panmillenialism, seemingly determines by far on how we think and act in our daily lives. Even to the extend of how we work at our workplaces.

    Some other keypointers that I’ve gathered from Pawson’s book would be men should rise up and be responsible for ourselves, for our family, for our church, and for our society.

    In addition, the motivation for a men’s fellowship should of course be anchored upon Christ, but also be motivated by the following:- Fear of God, Name of Jesus, Power of the Spirit, and Love for the Brethren.

    I feel that this book is a must read for Christian men, especially for Husbands and Fathers, and aught to be re-read time and again as a succinct and clear reminder for our role as men that God has created in our time.