My 2nd Eulogy last night: "The journey of unanswered prayers".

I remember that night when I was looking at Joel gasping for his last few breath and I told myself that this will be his final journey on earth. I told myself that I will not cry. I am not going to shed a tear. I want to hold it all in. That’s how I grieve. That’s how I roll. My son and daughter were also in the room and I thought I was keeping it together for them.

But when I saw my father-in-law, who was holding back his tears too, went over and fell head first on Joel and let out a wailing like a baby, I knew the tear ducts would come crashing like a broken dam. And it did. But then, I saw my son crying like a baby before me. I guess I managed to hold it up longer than him at least.

My point?

The order of nature as we all know it in this world has been disturbed, disrupted.

Why?

Because sons shouldn’t be going before their fathers. A child shouldn’t be going before his/her parent. That’s the worldly understanding of it. That’s the natural order of things. A son is born to take over his father. A son is needless to say younger than his father. A son carries on as his father’s heir. A son therefore attends his father’s funeral and sends him off. Not the other way round. Never the other way. That’s what I meant by the order of nature.

I am a father myself and no father I know would want to see this day come to pass. It would be a heart breaking day to send your son off like this. And that was why I cried too like a baby. I felt the pain, the brokenness, the sorrow, and the grief of a father’s heart. I felt a fraction of what it was like to turn your face away when you see your son hanging at Calvary and dying all by himself, gasping for his last breath.

But then, I was so wrong. I was so mistaken. I have been thinking the way the world has been thinking. I have forgotten that we are in the world and that’s about all – we are not of the world. God’s kingdom works so differently.  Aren’t God’s ways different from the world? Aren’t God’s thoughts higher than ours?

You see, the order of God is different from the order of man. Jesus said that the first shall be last, and those who exalt himself shall be humbled. The weak shall declare they are strong, the poor rich, and the lost found. To live, you have to die to self. And to be successful, you must first be a servant.

So, yes, Joel has left before his dad. He has left leaving behind his loved ones. But it is not the end. Definitely not. It is only a beginning, a marvelous beginning, an endless celebration in fact. He lives on over there even as he expires over here – physically speaking.

His testimony as a son, a husband, a father himself, a believer shines throughout. These memories are just indestructible. They cannot be taken from all of us here. We stand (or sit) here as evidence of how each of our life has been influenced by his life – in small and big ways.

In fact, these memories, the images of Joel’s life and ministry stand as a city on the hill for all to see, and to be inspired, to be encouraged.

Joel indeed fought the good fight. He took this life God has given him – not too long and not too short – and made the most out of it, the best of it. And now, he lives forever in the arms of his Savior. He’s home where he has always belonged.

Let me end with what faith means to me in this journey. We spent 8 long years since 2008 praying for him. Our collective voices as a family cried out to God. But it appears it went unheeded. Our prayers seemed unreciprocated. Underscore “appears” and “seemed”. So let me share with you my beloved the other side of this desperate supplication to God. Let me offer you another perspective from God’s point of view in our struggles with unanswered prayers. I have written it here and I call it, quite ironically, the journey of unanswered prayers.

“This is the journey of unanswered prayers.

It arises from an earnest heart.

It takes its life from the breath one takes.

Our souls incubate her to flight.

Every whisper adds flesh to her existence.

But the journey she takes is a hard one.

It is long and painful.

At times, the pain can be unbearable.

Hope can appear distant.

Joy can be quashed.

And faith can fall short.

The journey of unanswered prayers takes many blows from all sides.

Circumstances conspire to exhaust her.

Time can mocked at her, torture her.

While nothing is impossible for those who believe, yet believing is not what is impossible for the believers.

It is the false hope that makes the journey intolerable.

The uncertainty cuts deeply into the longing, weary soul.

Positive turns are met with negative U-turns.

Improvements we see in Joel turned out to be deterioration lying in waiting.

And peace of mind are shattered by unbidden anxiety.

This uncharted path also seeks to starve us of hope, faith and joy.

Yet, this journey of unanswered prayers does not remain unanswered for long.

It somehow finds her own answers, in her own ways.

The miracle unfolds in her own time.

God’s plans are indeed different.

With time, the season of pain gives way to a season of deeper understanding.

The season of disappointments turns into reason for hope.

The load becomes lighter.

The joy returns.

As the journey of unanswered prayers come full circle, it is an end of one journey and the glorious start of another.

It is the beginning for Joel in a place he will always be singing and praising with no end in sight (that’s what he loves to do, above all).

And for the living, for us all here, his family, his friends and believers, we look back at the trail of this journey of unanswered prayers, and we see not the pain, the sorrow, and disappointments anymore.

The trail behind us has changed completely when we choose to see it not through our own eyes, but through the eyes of our Savior.

The tears of this journey has turned to rejoicing.

The brokenness is made whole.

The sadness transformed to joy.

Faith is restored,

Peace returns for good,

And love finally conquers all.

The love of a father for his son.

The love of God for us.

Now I know what Isaiah 55:11 means when it says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” 

Tonight, the journey of unanswered prayers find her rest and assurance in this scripture.

For every prayer offered did not return unto God void.

But it accomplished so much for those of us who keep trusting, keep believing.

Joel has finally returned home to much rejoicing.

It is victory forevermore.

It is life eternal.

It is joy unconditional.

Rest in peace Joel.

Love, family.

Amen.

Cheerz.

He fought the good fight - Joel Goh, RIP.

My brother-in-law fought the good fight, stayed the course, and won the crown of glory - all in one relatively brief lifetime of 38 years. He has definitely won my heart as I watch him on that bed heaving his last breath last night.

In fact, I saw how he left this world. It was one of those rare moments where I witnessed a brave fight to the end.

I always wonder what is a good death, and I found the answer in Joel. Since his tumor in 2009, he never let up. He was as faithful and as hopeful as the cancer was as painful and as dreadful.

And last night, he let go and let God. Yet the foreign invasion took nothing of the Joel I knew. My brother-in-law gave nothing good and inspiring of himself away. He kept to the end the best of himself even when life has given the worst of itself to him.

He even dictated the terms of his own demise. In his afflictions, Joel ceded no concession to pain, morbidity and death. He told them off and got them to stay on their side of the line.

He loved ceaselessly. He didn't let pain and hopelessness destroy over him. He still wrote to others to encourage them in his dying days. He sent them songs in the Whatapps to tell them in no uncertain terms that God is still as real to him when he was well as when he was sick.

He passed away living an authentic life as a father, a husband, a friend and a believer.

Death could have changed him. It could have made him bitter, withdrawn, broken, angry, and lost. But it did none of that.

Death's schemes flopped big time. In fact, Joel turned it around last night. He valiantly changed death, he transformed it into life.

Death was supposed to signify the end, but Joel transformed it into the beginning. That is, the beginning of life, eternal life. Death was supposed to take away faith, but Joel added more of it to his fight.

Death was supposed to rob hope, but Joel saw the things of the world growing strangely dim while the things of eternity growing brightly as the morning rise.

And death was supposed to bring pain and sorrow, but Joel stood in the gap with the Lover of his soul and converted all that to deeper love, greater hope and a brighter tomorrow.

Indeed, death is not for the dying. It is for the living to contend with. For Joel, death lost its sting and hold on all that is joyful, faithful and hopeful in him.

Joel conquered it by not letting it take his spirit and soul away. He in fact lived again to tell of his glorious victory. This time in a more firm and permanent place - our hearts.

Last night, I kept my tears to myself until my father-in-law went over to his son, hugged him intimately, and broke down like a baby. It was there, that image, that moment, that I kept my tears no longer.

No amount of pretenses and false bravado could withstand the demonstration of a father's love and devotion for his child. It was a transforming moment and I was reminded of my own love for my son and daughters.

And love had the last word that night. Love told death off. Love lived on because love never give up, let go and fail.

On that deathbed, I did not see a dying man. I did not see a departing brother-in-law. I did not see Joel's final hour with his loved ones.

On that deathbed, I saw family. I saw tears of endearing memories. I saw hearts poured out in love and devotion. I saw even more life than the expiry of it. So, death has indeed been defeated. I have no doubt of that. Death died that night and life lived.

Goodbye Joel. Your words of encouragement will linger strong. Your life testimony will never fade. Your songs of grace and love will resonate in the quiet chambers of our hearts.

We will miss you because we love you. But don't turn back now because there is a greater joy waiting for you. A celebration prepared for you. A gathering of saints rejoicing with you. A love unconditional, surpassing everything on earth, waiting to embrace you.

Run away Joel. Run towards it. The author and finisher of your faith awaits. We are here merely to send you off to a better place. A place you have prepared all your life for.

Take care bro. Have a wonderful trip. Go home in perpetual peace and glory. See you when I see you. Cheerz.

Men for Christ: Living Out Our Faith.

What do you get when you take a man, his journey and his faith, and put them through the prism of life? You get a book entitled “Men for Christ: Living Out Our Faith” of course.

This is an honest book. It is written by 21 men, grown men, wounded men, crying men, successful men, devoted men, and fallible men. They are captains of their own industry with well-known academicians, honorary editor, ex-politician, banking head, senior pastors, renown doctors and a local history professor with a first-class honors degree leading the charge.

But they are also men for Christ and their life demonstrates to the reader and the world what it takes to be a true follower of God. These men could be anyone’s mentor and the mentee will undeniably be better, richer and wiser for it. You can’t possibly walk away from the book after reading it and learn nothing.

The message in the book is well summed up by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee in the Preface: “No man is perfect, so it is important that we do not put anyone on a pedestal.” That’s honest self-incrimination for you even before you flip to the first chapter. Humility is indeed embodied in 21 successful lives lived for Christ.

In the book, you will read about their unshakeable belief, their candid failures, their testimonies of faith in the marketplace, and their love for their Savior. Their faith is simply poetic elegance in a world of disruptive challenges.

You will also see a mirror reflection of your own struggles in theirs, and you will come to know the reality of Christ in your life more deeply, intimately and completely. The beauty of the book is that it does not pretend to have the answers. It does not tell you that as a believer, all you need to do is to name it and claim it. But in living their life in trust and obedience, their personal narratives as they unfold in the pages stand as reliable guideposts to point you in the direction you should take in your own journey of faith.

What I like about the book is that it walks you through each life with deep insight, humble faith and raw honesty. These grown men mince no words. They tell it as it is. Their masculinity comes in a form of readily admitted spirituality of vulnerability and their clay-like life is exemplary of what the Master Potter can shape and fashion when broken dreams and broken lives fully and humbly submit to Him.

Yes, they are not perfect, but they are enduringly inspiring. Their journey sets the beaten path for the reader of faith because each step they take, that is, their failures and successes, follows closely in the footsteps of their Savior.

In the book, you have one grown man who openly admitted to this: “Every night, I cried to sleep. I cried incessantly until I could cry no more…I slept curled up like a foetus in the mother’s womb.” (Patrick Liew, Founder of Success Resources).

Didn’t they say strong men shed no tears? Well, the truth is that they are only strong because they dare to cry before the Lord as they surrender everything to Him.

To me, tears are never a sign of weakness. It is on the contrary the emblem of maturity for the mark of woundedness is also the true mark of spiritual leadership and stewardship. Here I recall this scripture: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

You will also read about a loving father who had signed up as a patient at the Institute of Mental Health. The reason? Because one of his children was afflicted with a mental health problem, and in his own words, he wrote: “I had decided to do this to learn first-hand the dynamics at play when a mentally unwell person is under treatment…as it turned out, it was a very useful exercise in self-discovery.” (Hsieh Fu Hua, Chairman of UOB and Tiger Airways Holdings).

One may be tempted to ask here, “It is really necessary to admit oneself into IMH just to learn about mental illness?” The answer to that is succinctly spelt out in the man’s own words: “Emerging from this journey, I began to appreciate better one’s “inner core of being” which dwells in the depth of the heart, soul and spirit. This core may be sensed as we learn and try to draw nearer to God.”

At this juncture, let me speak a word or two as my takeaway from the book. All the contributors have a story to tell, a story of their life in the lowest depth and at the highest point of their struggles and successes. For them, the savouring highs are meaningless without first overcoming the crushing lows. And overcome they did not so much by confronting the circumstances around them, but by meeting the challenges within.

I earnestly believe that the greatest battle in a man’s life takes place in his consciousness where his conscience meets the serrated-knife-edge of a thought that seeks to derail him, an idea that tempts him into sin, a notion that lulls him into sleepwalking through life, and an image that draws him into captivity. This crossroad is where the first step to overcoming begins.

What makes a man a man for Christ is when he draws the courage, faith and hope from God to face his own Calvary, and nails his self to it, one nail at a time. Only when he is done with the self is he then ready for the world, that is, to be a testimony of true worth and impact for the glory of God.

One contributor in the book said, “The challenge is we need to manage ourselves. But the honest truth is that we are very unprepared for that.” (Lee Han Kiat, Halftime Certified Coach and Roundtable Facilitator). The corollary truth to that is that we can’t do it alone.

In the book, Bishop Emeritus Robert Solomon wrote this about redeeming our maleness: “We cannot approach Christian discipleship with tools and techniques. We need to follow Christ intimately.” The wise Bishop also said, “It is not so important to solve the problem, but to love the person.” And emulating our Savior as he offered himself as a living sacrifice is a good place to start in redeeming our manhood,  our maleness, our masculinity.

What touched me deeply about the book is that you have a father who gave up his promising career (fast-track promotion from finance director to CEO) for his son when his frequent absence from family caused his eldest son to ask him, “Daddy, why are you abandoning me?” (David Ang, PBM headed Dads for Life and chairs Kum Yan Methodist Church). And this scripture quoted by David Ang moved me deeply as a father of three: “…He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…” (Malachi 4:5-6).

You also have a businessman, the CEO of Far East Organization to be exact, who is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ when he made this declaration in the secular marketplace:-

“I cannot be a Christian on one hand and a businessman on the other. I am a Christian first and a businessman second. One cannot compartmentalize; first and foremost, one has to follow Christ. I make it a point to subtly let my prospective business partners know that I am a follower of Christ. Christ is a shield that I put in front of me, and He guides the way that I do business, of which the means is more important than the end.” (Philip Ng).

Imagine that, an accomplished leader in the business world humbly admitting to all that he is no more than a simple follower of his Savior, a willing vessel for His use. You can’t help but have this conviction that their successes are not so much the result of answering to the call of their board members, trustees or equity investors, but to the call of their loving Redeemer.

And last but not least, you have a lawyer, pastor, academician and psychometric analyst (all rolled into one) who struggled with a broken heart when his prodigal daughter told him this one day: “Dad, I am 16. I want to have my independence. I want to move out of this house, I want to go and be on my own.” Dr William Wan then replied, “You’re only 16.” And his daughter said, “According to the law, I’m an adult now.” Thereafter, his daughter asked him “for a bus ticket to Canada where she was born” and “in Toronto, she was part of the drug scene for seven years.”

Where is she now? What is she doing? You will be pleasantly surprised. But you will just have to get the book to find out for yourself. Trust me, it’s worth your while.

I can actually go on to write here about a dentist-turned-itinerant-pastor who took care of his mother who has dementia and his father-in-law who has Parkinson (Dr Tan Soo Inn). Or a Bishop who shares his heart out about men, sex and pornography.

Or about a barefoot doctor who left for Yunnan for 14 years to care for the poor, share knowledge with them and love the people (Dr Tan Lai Yong). Or an editor of Impact Magazine and founding elder of RiverLife Church who once had this strange conversation with an earnest lady in Church who asked him, “How big is heaven?”. He then gave the impression that it was “ginormous” and asked her why she asked. The lady replied, “Because there are people I want to avoid in heaven.” (Dr Andrew Goh).

The book has its light moments and the many serious and enlightening ones. If you want to be inspired by the unsung Biblical heroes like Samuel and Ebed-Melech, or allow a scripture or two from the Old Testament to lift your spirit (Assoc. Professor Ho), or learn about the science of evolution and the life-giving spirit of Creation (Dr Aw Swee Eng), or understand how history had transformed a passion into a personal calling (Dr Ernest Chew), or learn why women are natural-born leaders in the church (Dr Robert Solomon), or just read about the lives of grown men, that is, excellent leaders in their respective field, and most of all, imperfect Christians following their perfect Savior, you can’t not pick this book up and read it for yourself.

What endears me to the book is that it doesn’t tell you that all will be fine, just have faith and believe, everything will fit nicely, and that God wants you to prosper – full stop.

Alas, life is much more than that. It is much more than wealth and health even. And these men in their own ways and words have taught about and given me that insight (or foresight) in a way that coincides perfectly with these words by CS Lewis: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

This desire is definitely not about self-enrichment or self-glorification. It goes beyond what this world can ever hope to offer. It is a perspective that is eternal. It is a hope that surpasses all earthly pleasures. It is a joy and peace that are beyond human understanding. This desire is out of this world because we came from out of this world. And if this world is not our home, then all our earthly possessions are not ours to own. We are faithful stewards and not ranch owners.

Let me end with this quote by Soren Kierkegaard found in the book: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Indeed, the men in the book understood this well. Theirs is a life that is humbled and empowered by their past, and with that authentic transformation, they draw the courage, love and hope to live fully for Christ in the here and hereafter. Cheerz.

One thought to rule them all.

Today's paper (5 October) is about an outrage of modesty. A driver, who rented a room in a flat, "lifted the blanket of his housemate who was sleeping and took a photo of her topless." The driver was jailed for 12 weeks after pleading guilty. This was not his first offence of insulting a woman's modesty.

When the woman woke up to find the shirtless driver over her bed, she screamed and he tried to stop her from calling the police. When the police checked his handphone, they found 70 obscene films in it.

In another report, a man, suffering from a "delusional disorder of the jealous subtype" repeatedly stabbed his wife because he suspected she was having an affair. CJ however reduced his sentence from 9 years to 7.5 years in an appeal because it was essentially a "one-off incident which was out of character."

Still there's another a case yesterday when a young man took up-skirt video of a lady going up the escalator. He was arrested and jailed for it. What the police found in his room was numerous such videos where he took together with the faces of his victims. He would then file them in his private catalogue by ranking them in order of appearance and beauty.

Lesson? Just one. It's about one thought. You see, if you have one ring to rule them all, then in life, for most people, it is one thought that rules them all.

It is said that an average person can have four thousand thoughts a day, but not all of them are useful and rational. While most thoughts fly us by, harmless and frivolous, for the mentally sick and obsessed, one thought often reigns undisputed in their mind. It takes precedent over all other thoughts.

There is a case of an Ethiopian schoolgirl called Bira who was obsessed with the thought of eating the wall of her hut. She couldn't stop thinking about it. This one thought dominated her every waking moment. It is reported that by the time she was 17, she had "eaten eight square metres of the wall, that is, more than half a ton of mud bricks."

Another victim from Brazil called Marcus had OCD and it was focused on the shape of his eye-sockets. He just can't resist touching them with his fingers. Before long, Marcus prodded himself blind.

I can go on with other examples of how one thought rules in the mind of a suicidal person, a self-mutilator, a rapist, a murderer, a religious fanatic, an abuser, and a compulsive masturbator, but you get the point.

Indeed, the mind can make heaven out of hell, and hell out of heaven.

The late David Foster Wallace, a brilliant author and university professor, gave this advice to his graduating class in 2005: "...think of the old cliché about the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master. This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expressed a great and terrible truth. It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in the head. They shoot the terrible master."

David took his life by hanging himself in the patio of his home in 2008. His reason? The obsession of one thought centering around the smothering pretension of keeping up with grandiosity, that is, "the constant need to be and be seen as a superstar." For him, it was "a false sort of smart" - an inauthentic living that he could bear no longer.

Epictetus once said, "Men are disturbed not by things, but by their opinion about them." And a rapist is disturbed by the opinion of lust. A murderer, by hate. A suicide victim, by hopelessness. And a self-mutilator, by self-loathing.

While the mentally sick needs immediate help, the clinically well needs to take back control. He or she needs to exercise effective autonomy - for in most circumstances, there is no robber of one's free will.

Let me end with this. I don't see a man's action, whether good or bad, in isolation. He may claim to be the captain of his ship and the master of his fate, but all it takes at times is one obsessed thought and it will capsize his ship and reverse his fate in the blind conspiracy of the ripe time and circumstances.

Gandhi was once asked what he would do if he was given the gift of omnipotence. He said he would give it away, instantly. I guess given the right time and circumstances, that is, omnipotence, even the best of us will come under the most severe testing. Gandhi knew that intimately.

I sincerely believe that if you give flirting a chance, it will bloom into adultery. If you give lust some space, it will soon lord over a territory. And if you give hate a room, it will stock up a murderous inventory.

Thus never say never for the most unrepentant of sinners, and the most celebrated of heroes.

So, if the first cut is the deepest, then the first thought is the most devious. If left unchecked, it grows into a weed garden that swallows the whole forest.

Yet, in all circumstances, we are still the master of our fate provided we live consciously, purposefully, and intentionally. Cheerz.

Den of robbers - a modernised affair.

When the Master entered the whole city, it was stirred and one of them asked, "Who is this?" The crowd replied and affirmed his identity and birth place. The Master then entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there.

Before that, he saw many who were peddling their self-made brands, feel-good gospel songs and heretic teachings.

At one corner, the religious merchants were busy promoting themselves. They were dressed in their finest flannel grey suit and black tie, boasting to the crowd how they were highly favoured and blessed. They were loose with their tongues, quick to tout to the hungry patrons one scriptural promise after another, bending each one of them to suit their own purpose.

Without shame, reflection and humility, these millionaire preachers in the temple courts fashioned God in their own image, each of them claiming spiritual authority and gnostic knowledge on the interpretation of the gospel. In the marketplace of competitive beliefs, many were speaking in their Master's name as a front to promote themselves. They lifted Him high in order to lift themselves even higher.

One preacher claimed to be the exclusive channel chosen for performing miracles. He spoke ceaselessly about his decades of success leading the healing ministry, which has expanded internationally. He enticed with the gospel of "miracle seeds" as the carrot of hope in return for the emptying of pockets and bank accounts. He strung out one testimony after another that seemed to testify to what he alone can do more than what he can do as a humble vessel for his Master’s use. He enthralled the crowd with the laying of hands to deliver the physically afflicted. However, most of these claims of healing went unverified and his victims often returned time and time again because they were enslaved to false hope propagated on stage and not delivered and free from it.

In anger, the Master overturned their tables.

Another booth at the temple courts was pulling in the crowd like starstruck lemmings. But it did not escape the Master’s eye. The setting was dimmed for effects and the stage was big enough for singers and dancers of sparing attire to sway and gyrate to the mesmerized crowd.

When the preacher came in, the Master glared in disbelief. She was immodestly covered. She projected an unwholesome image. She was playing a role no different from a harlot. But yet, the crowd went wild, extending their hands and giving of their money to the seedy preacher for reasons that the Master could not comprehend.

At this time, the Master reacted and stormed the stage, rebuked the people and overturned their tables too.

And there was yet another religious trader whom the Master also confronted. He was to be the last before the Master thrashed the place completely. This ingenious marketeer was charming and spoke with eloquence and confidence. They all usually are. They are like magnets to draw in the crowd and honey to milk them for all their worth.

The Master noticed that this preacher was clad in leather and tight jeans and he had sprinkled stardust in his well-groomed coiffure. "What are you selling to my people?" the Master demanded. "Sir," came the trembling reply, "this is what you have been preaching all along. It’s the gospel of superior love. It is a love that resigns all believers to just sit still and receive. Nothing is expected of them. It’s a love that drives them to insuperable gratitude. It is the gospel of radical grace. I am starting a revolution here sir."

The Master then pointed to the books on display and said, "And these books that you charge a price for speak about this revolution that you are now promoting?" He nodded frantically. "Yes sir, many have been touched by the message. It is transforming lives, changing hearts. It's all inside my books. Testimonies after testimonies thanking my ministry. They are even coming in busloads, snapping up my books, and attending my talks about you. I have become a resounding success and an all-time bestseller because of you. I even have a worldwide television ministry seen by tens of thousands!"

By this time, he thought he was buttering up the bait for the final bite. But the Master would have none of it and said, "Well, you don't need to thank me for that. You’ve created your own success. Your fame is yours to keep, not mine." 

Then, the Master turned to the other merchandise on the table, that is, the bundled CDs, DVD albums, daily devotions and online sermonettes, and asked sternly, "And all these are for sale too?"

"Yes sir," he said, excitedly. "They come in various prices, $29.90, $119.90 and $350.00. It's to give your people variety sir. All of them sold at an affordable price, at your people's convenience. I have condensed your Word for them into portable sound bites and your people have the option to go straight to them if they need to know your Word. It's all at their fingertip sir. Forget about bulky pulp paper that runs into thousands of pages. I am moving with the time sir. I call it faith in the Marketplace, and I am not even collecting a monthly stipend from the church for all this. "

The Master squirmed with disgust and said, "More like self-profit in the Marketplace, and you have enlarged your estate enough.” With that, the Master readily overturned his table.

That day, many tables of false teachings and self-serving prosperity gospel were overturned. While the lost and poor struggled outside the temple courts, the touters of His Word flourished within at the people’s expense.

These preachers may have been selling different gospels to the people, but they all shared one common factor. They were all incredibly wealthy. They had funds rushing into their personal coffers like a broken dam in no need for repairs anytime soon.

They had money, millions even, kept in a locked vault under their unfettered control, which they had spared only token sums to help the needy, the poor and the hungry. They lived in mansions on earth and traveled with class and extravagance and with an entourage, that is, a cabal of bodyguards. Some even owned private jets to chauffeur them around the world to thousands of fans dying to receive them with unquestioned adoration and cash offering in their hands.

Alas, they have created for themselves heaven on earth and have sadly sworn allegiance to two masters and not one. What is even worse is this, they have at some point in their faith conveniently used the name of one to serve and pay homage to the other. As to which master they are beholden to, your guess is as good as mine.

After all the tables were turned, the Master left with these parting words: “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.
” Cheerz.