Listen to the Source

Picked a sermon from John Piper to reflect upon during QT today. Sermon is The Food of Christ is to give eternal life. Couple of things which struck me:

People wanted to hear Jesus. In John 4:40-42, the samaritians heard jesus, and after they did, they told the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”. Many of us rely on the church for knowledge, we rely on our pastors to debate on issues. Have heard quite a number of friends say:" My pastor said this, or my pastor said that." It doesn't matter if there is a verse reference attached to it, the point is still from the pastor. Its quite different however, when i hear a person arguing straight from the bible and then using the its principles to address the situation. This is quite different from the previous example, where the pastor has a point to make AND then uses the bible to substantiate his point. See the difference? That said, the pastor's message cannot be totally discredited, just that the verses used runs the risk of being out of context.

The other powerful point is what motivates Jesus to do what he did. In V34, Jesus tells his disciples that his energy comes from doing the work itself. Notice his motivation was not about feeling good or altruistic but explicitly said "the will of Him (God) who sent me and to accomplish His (God's) work". The only people who will have come close to this type of determination are people who run their own business/ or professionals who truly love what they do. Yet, there is no mention of a higher being, just their own love for self achievement and passion. Given that we human beings are built to excel, the question lies herewith; are we putting our energy to use for his Kingdom? Are we engaging in Christian ministry for the right motivations? Various ministries exist, nearly all for the purpose of evangelism. Are we giving any of our energy or time to any of these ministries?

Let us strive for Christ, in body, mind and spirit. For Romans 12:2 says: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (ASV)

Joel

A call for discipline and love for Christ

I apologise if this is written in a hurry. This week is a busy week, 2 law papers due and the stocks are rising, esp the ones i'm tracking. Need to sell them off once i hit the price range and donate most of the profit to CF just like i promised 2 months back.

I had a most meaningful sunday, sharing with Jem and Mel about how we can strive in Christ. Thanks to Jem, i was reminded that the Lord is our friend only in the aspect that we know his plans for us (John 15:14-15). Heads up to Mel for clarifying that Lord is our friend because we know his plans.

14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
For Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.(Isaiah 9:6). We are friends of the bridegroom because we know his plans, but like what Mel said, we are still subservient to him. Let's strive to be in awe of our mighty Saviour, loving Him and developing a relationship with Him. And we can do so because Jesus has died as a one time sacrifice and removed the veil between us and God. All praise to Him.
*** PS: Jem asked if young peeps like himself should look out to more than life beyond their schools, studies, relationships (with girls esp haha... and of course buddies ) and sports. Well if possible, yes, young ppl should attempt to see beyond what they currently have now so that they will not think their current setbacks are permanent. When i was in JC, i couldn't see beyond 3 years, what i was going to do other than running, so i thought every injury setback was permanent. Looking back, that was quite a silly thing to do. But more importantly, i failed to realise that my value was in Christ, that i had eternal life and that was all i needed, more than success in sports or studies. Alas! If only i had read the bible in greater detail to understand the impact of Christ's death on my life. And that's what i got to do now, to remind myself that my treasure lies in heaven and not on earth.

Marry the right person

Watched Buffet and Gates meeting with Students. One single take away from Buffet:

"Marry the right person, it will make more difference in your life. It your aspiration for all sorts of things. Its very important"

I couldn't agree more.

Thanks to Loh Wei for putting up the video at his blog.

There's no Magic bullet

Was talking to a friend yesterday over lunch. He asked me what were the learning lessons that i took away from SMU.

1. There is no magic bullet: You can be well prepared. But life is really a black swan. Not everything goes your way
   
2. Since there is no magic bullet, should you giving trying all together? No, because not trying will definite eliminate your chances totally. Instead just take note of the following:

• Know who you are
  
• Know what you stand for
• Know where your hope lies, which is in eternity, and not in this world.
  

Joel

Trust - a complicated story in a 5 letter word

Its been about 3 weeks since my last entry. I apologise for dropping off the radar. Have been busy with job apps, interviews, birthday celebrations, SMU end of term projects.

This post will central around my interviews and my learning lessons from it. I applied for an advisory and a bank job separately. I heard the competition wouldn't be easy, so i prepared whatever i could for the day itself.

Both interviews finally arrived, the banking interview first and followed by the advisory interview, which was done in groups. Competition for the latter was fierce, with lots of participation during the case study. Nonetheless, taking the advice of my senior, i put in alot to participate and network with the senior partners. Having done my best, i left with the peace of mind. Unlike previous times, i claimed everything in His name and prayed that His will be done. I didn't feel over-confident, but i did feel assured by His Grace.

But end of the day, the tension really comes when things don't work out as planned, or rather hoped for. The call/email inviting me for the subsequent round never came by the appointed time, and my feelings went on a roller coaster ride. People told me to move on, and while i agreed with them, i couldn't help but to feel that it was so unfair. Amidst all this, i was wondering: "Lord what are you trying to tell me in all this ? What are you planning for my life?"

I looked up two church elders from mel's church and spoke to them. Thank God for them, both were full of wisdom. Even though they don't specialise in the same field as me, but they could relate to my situation and gave me lots of spiritual guidance. Some of the learnings lessons from Pastor T.

1. Put God at the forefront of your life
2. Find out as much info as you can
3. Make a decision not based on one opinion but pick and choose the information you think is relevant.

Learnings Lessons from Uncle F.

1. How so many Christians are struggling with life because they let themselves be consumed by the world's rules: Matthew 13 talks about the parable of the sower and how many Christians are like seeds who fall among the thorns, believers who hear the word but the worries of this life and deceitfulness of wealth choke them.
2. Whose power is it really?: (John 15:1-17) "I am the true vine ... Remain in me, and i will remain in you."At the end of the day, we are merely the branches and no matter what human effort we put in, if we don not remain in him, then we are on our own. Claiming His name while not truly remaining in Him is.... futile.
3. Believing that i remain in good hands and will not fall (Romans 8:28): The story used here is not unfamiliar to me, but its a good reminder. When you watch a movie, you feel anxious when the main character is going to be injured/killed. But if you knew the end of the movie and that the hero will survive, will you still feel the same way? In life, if we knew the outcome of our circumstances, will we still feel angry against God when things don't go our way? And we do know God's promise in Romans 8:28. It shouts loud and clear that God's ending for us is always a positive one. If only we had a crystal ball to pin point this postiveness! But we don't, and in the meanwhile, we need to trust and be clear (jobs and financial freedom aside) where our true hope lies.
4. Live according to God's rules: Too many Christians get so disillusioned after repeat failures that they let go of their convictions and morals, and follow the world's standards. Then what is the point of a 'living sacrifice?' (Rom 12:1-3) How true (and challenging) it is, not to conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the RENEWAL of your mind.
5. Trust God!: Seems like the first 4 points have been pointing to this. All this while i've always thought that the burden of being the main provider for Mel & my future is mine and mine alone. But Uncle F. told me:" God is your main provider! You are only the receiver for yourself and Mel. Thus, trust him and obey his Word, along with the faith that he will provide adequately for your needs". I cannot understate the 'obeying'part. And this includes the daily reading of His word, prayer, self control over sin, and living life as a Christian. Its kind of easy to just remember the hope part and treat the whole advice session like a motivation talk, but let's be honest here, that kind of mindset does NOT set you apart from Non-Christians. its only the walking with Him, keeping in step that makes the true difference.

So that's what i learnt, and i believe that God has purposely put me in this situation because he wanted to tell me this, that trusting is more than claiming His Name or giving credit to Him. Its about the full journey. Putting Him as the forefront, having a real relationship with him. The rest leave it to him. Extremely meaningful.

Don't get me wrong here, i still have to keep applying and preparing for other interviews ya.. Its just that the G Factor should not be limited to job hunting/achieving something, but rather it is the cornerstone even before i embark on any initiative.

Joel

Angsty over Barclays 08 Annual report - Barcap Performance Metrics

I'm like reading Barclays 08 annual report and i'm feeling irritated. This is why. Pg59 reports on the performance of barcap (Barclays capital investment bank). Apart from a principal transaction gain of 2bn (due to their heavily discounted Lehman acquisition), they would have made a lost of 960m GBP. Now look down at Performance ratios- Return on average economic capital. Why did they include the transaction gain? Isn't it a one off?

Dissidents might argue that economic capital include the risks of the investments, including that of Lehman, therefore validating the inclusion of the transaction gain. But from the New York Times, its seems that the purchases included a mere 207m GBP residential real-estate mortgage securities. In which case the economic capital should have increase from the previous year. But it didn't. In fact it fell by 626m GBP (owner est.) from 2007. It is unfair to reflect the gain in a discounted asset as economic reality when it has no part of your operations till recently. Barcap should be honest and say they (like the rest of the banks) didn't do well.

There must be a certain justification management used, probably some accounting methodology which we will never know of, but nonetheless, the observation is a interesting one. To a large extent, the principles of accounting are used to justify the economic behavior ( perceived by managers) of the firm.

Bloomberg snipes & the implications for Government intervention

Sick, didn't go for AT class today. Woke up at noon and watched a some Bloomberg news

1) Scares of Deflation result in creeping inflation: Governments, scared that their economies will face deflation, rapidly try to combat it by investing into infrastructure. There are questions and implications here:

a) Is the country ready for infrastructure? Will more infrastructure result in a stronger demand for goods and services ? see ' The IMF warns about surplus countries and global imbalances' @ http://mpettis.com/

b) Stock markets have been booming, property markets in asian countries. A huge flow of capital unable to work conventionally as deposit rates remain depressed, this moves into 'less bad' assets (note the new mid term mantra is invest in ' less bad' , no need to be 'good')

c) Inventories kept artificially low to maintain pricing power. Yup, that's right, apart from saving on storage costs, companies control supply, allowing them to maintain their prices at a high level ( or at least as high as possible)

In addition, George Soros is investing into clean energy. Bloomberg's tagline --> Political responsibility funded by private capital. Reminds me of what i learnt in accounting theory. See Ross L. Watts and Jerold L. Zimmerman ' The Demand for and Supply of Accounting Theories: The Market for Excuses' . The paper argues that alot of the accounting concepts such as depreciation, accrual accounting, economic income come about by government intervention, and most of the time, the decision is the product of lobbyists, corporates, all arguing under " public interest" justification to serve their own interests. Its not conspiracy theory, but rather its an unconscious result of how the private sector influences the government in decision making and agendas over a long period of time. Of course, in the short run, governments do have the say. But in the long run, if they do not follow the market (ie private), then they are left behind. More on the government and how they influence their own economies in my next post.

Joeyhops.