JUST A LITTLE FAITH

It's been awhile - probably some months ago - since I last walked the streets of KL Chinatown at night with my street- ministry brothers and sisters in Christ. Counting down 2 days to Chinese New Year 2026, the area around Petaling Street was jam- packed with vehicles and people; foreign tourists and locals. The area had been “cleaned up “ considerably. The dinghy back-lane where pimps and prostitutes worked their trade now had a long mural painted along it. But as I was told, they had simply shifted their business to the front.  Eateries were full to over-flowing, some popular ones had queues spilling out onto the road. Lanterns and lights made for very nice photo backdrops. But in the midst of all that, there were shadows lurking in dark corners, on benches at the bus-stops, in open spaces, along side-walks 

       

I have seen them time and again, but I never can get used to the sight of the folks hanging out on the streets. I am sure no one would intentionally want to live that way – homeless, destitute, wandering around with no hope, no meaning. Some have been that way for years.  Behind every face we see is a sad story, a broken life. As we walked on, I was asking God, please send me to someone who needs You.

There were “regulars” gathered at the spot where a certain charitable organization would distribute food-packs. I started talking to a woman who was with her husband and another male friend, who was obviously drunk. They had no time for me, as the group distributing food had arrived.  Further down the road at the bus-station area, there were so many others lounging on the benches. We approached 3 men. 2 were sitting, the other was lying down. They were all Christians.

The one lying down said he had fallen and hurt both legs some time ago. A doctor had confirmed no fracture, and told him to go “urut. I very much doubted that part of his story. But the point is  he was still in pain. I asked him if he believed Jesus could heal. He nodded but added, he had been lying there for many days, unable to move. The brother with me released the Word, praying for everything that was out of alignment in the man’s body be re-aligned properly and healing to come. I remembered the Acts 3 story of the lame beggar at Beautiful Gate. And I was moved to call this man to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus Christ, as I spoke life and strength into his legs. Then we both lifted the man up, one at each side of him. He stood, took 1 step, and another and another. He said  his shoulder hurt. So we prayed again, calling him to lift up his hand. It went up, slowly but surely- higher and higher. His whole countenance changed. I could literally see his faith shine, every trace of doubt gone.   As much as I know we pray in faith, but I am still very much the "ye of little faith" type that Jesus rebuked, since I  rarely get to see instant results when I pray healing for people. So seeing this guy miraculously healed right before my very eyes was such a beautiful moment for me.    

As we walked on, taking the route by the mall, I noticed a woman sitting on the kerb-side. She was eating a late dinner . Her body was “decorated” with tattoos and she had lots of “bling-bling” on her -earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces. I plopped myself down beside her, saying hello, I want  to rest a bit, can? She smiled. There were several others hanging around the area. Every now and then, the men who passed by would speak to her. She would smile, laugh and answer back in a language I couldn’t quite understand.

I waited for “Ms Bling-bling” to finish her dinner, before I asked if she was a foreigner. She replied father Msian, mom foreigner. She wasn’t at all shy when I enquired about her family. Apparently  she had married and been divorced by 4 men.  At age 39 now, she was already a grandmother, since she first married at age 14. One of her kids had been placed with the Welfare Department (JKM) after her latest divorce. I expressed my surprise, because usually it’s the men who marry multiple times, hers is the other way round. She laughed.

At that moment, I just felt led to say “God sees the pain behind your laughter.”  Immediately I saw her eyes change although she was still smiling. I told her simply everyone in our lives can leave us, but there is One who will never leave nor forsake us. I shared with her the God who feels our pain and Himself suffered pain as He hung on the cross, to set us free from our past. I could see her eyes full of unshed tears. She kept saying I don’t know, when I asked if she wanted a new life, a real life where she doesn’t need to hide behind false/forced smiles and laughter, pretending she is ok. But she wasn’t prepared to commit. I knew there was no point pushing it, so I left her with a simple prayer that God would bless her to know Him.  I had sown the seed. Let someone else harvest it some day.

Or who knows, maybe on some other night, when I get to walking about the streets again, I will bump into her and this time, she will be ready for God to turn her mourning into dancing. After all, it only takes just a little faith. 

Matthew 17:20 ...For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost, Found and Missing (Again)

She was the only woman sitting with some men at the table. There was an empty seat beside her. I knew it was meant for me. I sat down and said the 1 word that came to my mind then - susah-ke? Immediately she burst into tears and couldn't stop crying as I moved to hug her. It had to be Holy Spirit at work. I had never seen her before in the centre. After awhile she calmed down sufficiently to open up. 

She is a foreigner; having entered Msia  some 6 years ago. She's only 25 years old but had already worked multiple jobs. She had suffered at the hands of some employers. One had such a bad temper he burnt her passport. So she became an illegal immigrant. She had prayed many times she would be caught  and deported back to her home country. But that didn't happen, so with no job and no money, she ended up on the streets of KL. 

This latest (no. 4) boyfriend had walloped her head with a piece of wood, Thankfully there was no bleeding, just a huge bump. That was the reason she covered her head with a knitted cap, as she was ashamed. She had "hooked up" with the guy just recently. He never told her he was married. His wife had come to the field where she was hanging out and humiliated her publicly. So much drama. He had stolen the motorcycle he was using, was on drugs and had kept her hand-phone on the pretext of charging it. She said she was scared he would follow her afterwards. I told her I would accompany her out later after the service concluded. I prayed God send angels to guard her from every harm. 

But as I finished my sermon, I felt I couldn't leave her on the streets. A little voice spoke to my heart "Take her home." But how to get her out as the guy was still hanging around in the centre? In fact he kept looking at her throughout the service, although she had moved to the front to avoid sitting with him. Yet he had followed suit and  shifted upfront as well. 

Thank God for divine intervention. He made sure the man was fully occupied, by Pastor no less , so I could get the woman out of the centre. After dinner, as Pastor talked to the guy, I quickly led her out and straight away drove her back to my place in PJ for the night. 

In the aftermath of things, I realised how God deliberately gets us to be the answer to our own prayers. Sure Christians are supposed to pray about everything, but the problem is we often "leave it up to God" to handle the issue. So many times I would pray God, please help these street people...provide for their needs blah blah blah. That's all well and good, I am sure. But that night when I heard the voice "Take her home", I was ashamed that I didn't even think of it  in the first place. 

 She refused to use the back-room, saying she could just sleep on the floor in the living area. I told her to use the sofa. As we talked, she revealed she is a pastor's daughter. She said she had desired so much to go to church, but she felt so ashamed at how far she had fallen. 

I reminded her of Jesus's parable about the prodigal son, who left the father's house, squandered his money and ended up totally destitute, before he finally decided to return. All the while, the old man was waiting for his lost son to just come home . We both knew she is every inch the prodigal daughter. 

The next morning which "so happened" to be a Sunday, I took her to church, where my Pastor prayed for her. She said she was so overwhelmed. I was supposed to send her off to the MRT station after the service, but at the last minute I felt she should stay on for the session after lunch. Again at Holy spirit urging, I got her to join in prayer to stand for her nation. 

Only after that , I drove her to TBS station to catch the bus out of town because she said she has an adopted Christian sister  in another state  who could take care of her. I gave her money for the journey and thought that was that, thanking God she could begin afresh somewhere else. In hindsight I shouldn't have left her on her own at the station, even though she reassured me she was familiar with the place.

Things didn't turn out well. Apparently she was somehow intercepted by the boyfriend, who took all the cash I had given her. So she didn't manage to leave KL. Instead they both went back to the centre. The Pastor to whom I had already told the whole story wisely separated them, bought a bus ticket online and even got people to escort her all the way to TBS station again. The only hitch was they didn't get to see her actually board the bus, since only passengers holding tickets are allowed into the boarding area. 

That was more than a week ago. She hasn't contacted anyone of us since then. There was nothing we could do anymore, except pray God's hand be upon her to keep her safe and to guide her physical as well as spiritual journey. We may not be able to keep track of her, but we know God goes after every wandering sheep. 

 Jesus the good and great Shepherd will bring them all - the black sheep -  the  hurt, lost,  missing "somewhere out there" -  home to Himself somehow anyhow.... “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?" - Luke 15:4 

UPDATE: A week later, she was back in KL. I met her at the regular Saturday street-feeding I serve in. She said her sister outstation had no place for her, but at the very least, had put her in touch with a relative who got her a job as a cleaner. She kept apologizing to me for all the trouble, the money lost, etc etc. I just reminded her to live as daughter of  God Most High, her Abba Father who has already opened new doors for her, bringing her back to Himself. 

Miracles Still Happen

 It was the last day of my fast. As usual my flesh wasn't at all keen to abstain from eating since I like food , but I have learnt when God tells me to do something, I better just obey , like it or not. In the morning, I did something I hadn't done for a long while. I think I have grown so used to praying my "usual"  prayers , God must have yawned ho-hum as He hears me day in day out. But that day, I wanted my fast to end on a bang, so I prayed an audacious prayer. 

It was a Saturday; I would be going down to KL as usual for the street-ministry I am involved in since  20 years ago. My usual prayer is Lord, You bring the people, You save them. But that Saturday, I prayed, God, give me 1 soul today.  It certainly wasn't anything like the passionate cry of  John Knox "Give me Scotland, or I die!" that ignited the Scottish reformation back in the 16th Century.  I uttered the prayer, because I suddenly realized it had really been a long time  since someone from the street said yes to my sharing. As I recall the last street-friend who opened his heart to the Jesus I was sharing about was a foreigner who has since returned to his home-land. And that was years before Covid. 

I drove down to KL in prayer-mode. There weren't that many people who had come into the parking-lot where we hold our usual Saturday food-distribution. The old faces were there, and I saw a couple of new ones. There was an empty chair beside one, so I just plopped myself down beside the man and started talking...about Jesus (what else). He said he believed all gods, all religions. (Just like me, once upon a long time ago) He had even gone overseas on a religious pilgrimage, but although he participated in all the rituals, he felt nothing in his life changed.  I liked that he wasn't shy to engage; he asked me to clarify about sin, why Jesus is different. He questioned my testimony of how my late husband and I came to believe in Jesus at the lowest point in our lives then, face-to-face with cancer and death. 

We talked as he ate the food distributed. I noticed his right hand hung limp by his side, so I asked what happened. Apparently it became paralyzed as a result of a car hitting his motorbike when he was young. So he had learnt to use his left hand  adeptly, and had been working several jobs in the past.  That started the ball really rolling as he told of how he witnessed his mother's  dying moments in 2019 , how everything in his life went "downhill" from that point on. The worst happened  just 3 weeks ago in December 2025, when someone stole  his wallet containing his  IC, passport, money, everything. He showed me his police report. 

I asked him how he knew about our street-work. He said he actually didn't know but someone from the street  brought him all the way right into the parking lot. And then he revealed something astonishing. He said before that, he had prayed God send someone to help him. That was when it all "clicked" for me. I told him I had prayed for 1 soul for Jesus. We looked at each other, as it sank into us that a miracle had happened. God had answered his prayer and mine - together.  Without the human-angel who personally  walked him to this place, without me taking the empty chair next to him (even though there were other empty chairs and other new faces around),  he would not have heard about the God who is different from all other religions; the One who came from heaven, incarnated as a human, to die on the cross , taking  all the sins of mankind, bearing our punishment, so that all can be saved from hell's fire . He would never have known that Jesus loves him so much as to arrange everything so perfectly for us - 2 strangers - to meet in his most desperate moments. 

And then came the "clincher" - he asked me, "So how now, what do I have to do?" Not coincidentally, the Pastor had just shared about how ordinary people can be used by an extraordinary God if only we would repent and believe in Jesus. So it was after 7 years of going downhill , in this 8th year (biblically 8 represents a new beginning)  , most timely indeed,  this man stepped up and out into a new life, as he willingly readily accepted Jesus in a parking-lot.  As I prayed for him, to be healed of the hurts he had experienced , especially of the loss of his beloved mom, he teared up. He said he hadn't cried since his mother died. We both  knew that was the release he needed.  

And I was so so pleased to see how confident he was when I asked  him afterward where he thought he would be if he died today, straightaway he said heaven. And where is Jesus now? He simply pointed to his heart. I asked him further if he believed God would bless him as we had prayed ; he nodded and said,  "I wait ." Such faith...because miracles still happen...because from the very beginning of time, 

" Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever "(Hebrews 13:8), the One who "saves to the uttermost those who come to God through Him" (Hebrews 7:25)  

IT IS FINISHED

How faithful my God is. For the past month.  I had been asking, waiting for Him to speak.  Certain things   had come to pass, which were not within my control.  A door of ministry  had closed unexpectedly; people had been hurt. I knew I myself needed healing and I needed God to confirm my moving on.  The release came from a least expected source - a foreign Pastor who prayed for me during a zoom prayer meeting gave me a word that this is a season of transition. 

At Christmas  I felt a very heavy burden; I just couldn't "flow" with all the celebration. Knowing the bible never stated the exact date of the birth of Jesus,   I couldn't "reconcile " the worship which was (correctly) all about Jesus, with  Christmas trees,  Santa hats, reindeer hair-bands and Merry Christmas songs . And I am very sure there are people who are not feeling particularly merry or happy.   I was wondering if perhaps it was time for me to just opt out quietly from the traditional practices  of  Christmas.  After all the research into the history of Christmas, reading so many "expert" opinions,  I was still no closer to deciding. Till God decided the issue for me. The Saturday following Christmas, after my sharing at the street ministry I serve in, a man came forward and pressed an angpow into my hand. I assumed he was a "newbie" from the street, as he had long hair and looked just like the rest of my street-friends. I  didn't want to accept it, but he insisted. I looked at the packet, it featured a snowman with a Merry Christmas greeting. I knew it was God's way of telling me,  He can use any and every occasion, He can use any and everything, even pagan things, to work for His good and His glory.  So I didn't have to fret about how the birth of Christ has been so "mixed-up" with man's traditions, even if I personally didn't subscribe to it. 

But I had a shock when I opened the angpow and found RM100. 3 hours later, I bumped into the man again as I was preaching another message in a street-church service elsewhere. It was only then I found out he is actually from a church in Melaka, visiting our work, because he had once hung out on the streets. I told him there was no need to give me such a generous gift; but he said he just felt he should. 100 speaks to me of a double portion 50x2, so to receive God's abundance is my blessing indeed.  

It has been some 5 months after the first renovation works on my house started.  Actually almost everything had been completed by early December.  The whole house had been painted inside out, bathrooms re-done totally,  upstairs flooring had all been replaced, leaking roof  repaired,  stairs patched up and outside porch re-surfaced. Full payment had been settled. But my contractor-friend/brother was so busy he simply left the remaining construction materials, equipment, tools and stuff neatly piled up on my verandah...to be collected "later." I was fine with that. In the meantime, I did a fair bit of DIY myself, with "left-overs"   I re-painted all the very rusty door and window grills in the house,  the back -fence and even the clothes-rack. Plus splashed varnish on the wooden doors and dining table-set.  But I have to admit I will never make it as a painter - my DIY was rather messy. Still, at least it got done, and the house looks pretty decent now. And I can declare, truly, finally it is finished. 

I also  bought a new washing-machine to replace the one I had been using for some  20 years . Actually the "old faithful"  could still work, except that the casing was literally 'cracking up'.  So I thought time to put it to rest. That was when the problem started. The new machine came with a ridiculously short connecting hose. I managed to find a long hose from the  old machine, which had been kept unused because it couldn't fit the tap. It could fit on the new machine; but the problem was with the position of the tap.  During the renovation, a leaking pipe had been repaired, but  now the tap had been shifted.  Which made it very difficult to connect and disconnect the hose . So of course I had to call my dear contractor again. He promised to drop by. 3 weeks down the line, I was still struggling with the hose every time I did the washing. 

Finally after several postponed dates, he turned up on the very last day of 2025 - 31st December,  and within 1/2 hour, fixed the problem tap in a most ingenuous  way. Instead of simply re-positioning it, he  added a new tap. I was most amused for now there were 2 taps connected together.  It was another of God's "just-in-time" moments for me. On the very last day of 2025, I get a new "gold" tap on top of my existing "silver" one. As I turned both on, water gushed out simultaneously, interestingly in different ways. I wondered what more "double portion" things God has prepared for me.  Water has always held a special significance for me, ever since I was told my Chinese name  means "little river." I was reminded of Jesus' declaration in John 7:38, that out of the bellies of those who believe, shall flow rivers of living water. 

Immediately thereafter the word of the Lord came to me: The silver and the gold is mine.  I checked the full context from 

Haggai 2:4-8 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’

Early in the morning of 1st Jan 2026, I cycled out to the nearby playground as is my daily routine.  

The unusual sight that greeted me made me laugh, as I knew what it meant. There was a big group of foreign workers wearing Alam Flora orange vests gathered together. I asked one what they were doing on a public  holiday. He said work, no holiday. God certainly has a sense of humour.  I observed how their grass-cutting equipment was all neatly laid-out on the ground, the supervisor was ticking off their names and giving instructions. I would be a fool if I didn't get the message....work, under command of the "Big Boss upstairs."

I felt so reassured, as I applied the Word to myself. Knowing that despite whatever shaking that's going to happen in my life or in the world  in the year/s ahead, I will just have to keep working whatever God gives me to work, for He is with me, His Holy Spirit is in our midst, and wherever place God puts me, He will give me peace. No need any other New Year greetings or blessings. Very Cukup already. 

THE JUST-IN-TIME GOD

 It had all started from the trickling water flow from the house taps. I had assumed quite erroneously it was due to low water pressure in my area, since that was what people said umpteen years ago when we moved in. So the whole family had lived with it; making do with booster-pump water heaters for our baths. But it came to a stage where I was getting fed-up of taking so long to wash dishes at the kitchen sink and waiting for the washing machine to do its job. So I asked a Christian brother serving together in street ministry, who "so happen" to be a plumber/contractor. One house visit later, he said my house pipes are already in "cancerous" stage, must replace the front portions . The rear external piping was (thankfully) still ok.

But then my son had the bright idea of renovating the 3 bathrooms. Well, to be honest, this house is really old. We have stayed in it for about 30 years since we bought it over from the first owner way back in 1980s, which means it should be some 40 years old. 90% is still in its original condition. So it's really run-down in most parts.  Actually I know it's time for major renovation, just been putting off thinking of the inconveniences. I really didn't fancy moving out to temp lodgings  for goodness-knows-how-long to cater for substantial renovation. But as my contractor-brother puts it, can just do it portion by portion stage by stage. So that's how the whole thing just snow-balled from pipes to bathrooms,  now to flooring and painting, from basins to roofing, doors and windows.

Once they moved the rubbish dumpster into the doorway, I knew it was gonna be real messy and noisy. I did regret a bit after giving the green light to my friend to start the job straight away. It seemed the wrong time, as my no 2 daughter had just returned from America for a 1 month home-rest. Now she had to put up with all the hacking, drilling and dust everywhere. But she's such a sport about it. No complains, just a comment that maybe I should have thought more about the timing.

Point taken. On the other hand, at least my son wasn't around during the heavy works. He went off overseas for a 2 weeks break, which as it turned out was the  right timing, at least for him.

And talking about right timing, it really is. There was a long-standing problem with the big glass sliding door in the living room. It couldnt "slide" smoothly to close. For years I had to literally lift the whole glass slab up to push it along the grooves as far as it could go. When my contractor -brother called his friend , the expert took 1 look at  it, and said its in such a  dangerous state the whole sliding door could collapse anytime. The very next day he dropped by to fix it. Talk about right timing.

His comment sobered me . I can't imagine if it had collapsed on me as I am the one who always pushes it open every morning, so I can sit in the living room, looking  out into the garden as I do  my  morning devotion. I had been so used to living with it for so long, not realising the danger of neglect.

But God is so merciful. At just the right time, He brings the right person to deal with the problem. Now the glass door slides so well. And I didn't even have to replace the whole thing. The guys just took it down, fiddled with the bottom, vacuumed the grooves, and put it back up.

Next were the kitchen windows. The stretch of single glass panes (the old-fashioned type)were replaced with whole sheet- clear glass. Suddenly the kitchen is so bright. Though I half-regretted I didn't choose frosted glass which would have somewhat blocked the neighbours from seeing everything  from 

their upstairs room. Reminds me nothing can be hidden from an all-seeing all-knowing God; He doesn't need clear glass to look into my (or anybody's ) soul.

I am so blessed to have a contractor  I can trust so  I don't have to wonder  if I am being overcharged. He doesn't recommend tearing down the whole house, just replace what's really needed. 

It took longer than I expected (more than a month)  to do up the 3 bathrooms. I just found out contractors don't work on rainy days on top of weekends, at least mine doesn't. Apparently it's because when it rains,  the foreign workers can't travel to the boss' place to be ferried to my house. Furthermore there's shopping and delivery of fittings to factor in. To add to the time stretch, things can't be installed till the paint dries. Man, I didn't know it was so complicated. But it really does look nice, once it's all done-up. And best part is  the toilets and showers work properly now, so it's money well-spent.  Having said that, there's still lots of major works ahead, like replacing the entire upstairs parquet flooring, fixing a leaking roof, and  re- painting the entire house. My head spins just thinking of the time and cost. I reckon I will need to pay a visit to the EPF office soon to dig into my retirement account.

So whilst I sit in the midst of all the dust, which somehow still clings to the floors despite all the sweeping and mopping, I ruminate over what this  brother says...some things can't be rushed. Some delays are necessary to perfect the job at hand. That's quite a profound truth, not just for renovating houses, but spiritually as well.

Waiting, especially waiting on/for God, is never easy. I reckon for me,  it's a life-long process of cultivating patience and trust in a God who's never too early and never too late, but always just in time - His time. We all yearn to get immediate answers to our prayer requests . We want things done asap. I learn that's not how my God works. He's not my personal Santa Claus to present me my heart's desires. Quite the contrary. I have got prayers still "outstanding" for 20 years. So why do I still keep on praying? Because my prayers are grounded on His promises, and His word says all His promises are Yes and Amen, in Christ Jesus. 

ALWAYS ON THE RIGHT SIDE

 I have been on a movie-binge lately. But really 2 hours 50 minutes is a long time to sit in front of a screen. Still ...hey, it's Mission Impossible (MI) 8, apparently the final instalment of a long-running 30 years old franchise. Plus a 62 year old Tom Cruise in it. So of course I must watch the movie. Though I didn't expect to have to pay for a more expensive IMAX tix as they (cleverly) limited the sale of the normal price seats for certain screening days . Still I was already in 1U, had already spent on (over-priced) lunch and roti-boy snacks, what's another extra RM4 (at least still got senior citizen discount) to experience IMAX for the first time. The seats are bigger, more comfy (can tilt back a bit ) the screen bigger, sharper focus and louder sensurround.  So it adds a little bit more pizzazz to watching one of my fave actors rip-roaring in his element of saving the world yet again. 

This time, it was like seeing bible prophecies regarding the end of the world being played out in Hollywood style. A scenario which actually is already a reality in our world, with the rise of AI these days. In MI, this parasitic AI Entity, the anti-God,  has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe, corrupted digital information in cyberspace and is poised to launch a nuclear holocaust on earth. It has taken over  to create  a New World Order, feeding false information, playing on human fears, creating havoc, antagonism and division, amongst humankind.  All levels of  law enforcement, government, and defence systems have been compromised. The goal is human extinction. Certainly this doomsday scenario is real enough. In our age of social media, all sorts of "news' come through the small smart device which I am very sure  almost the entire world is constantly hooked up to.  We keep checking this little thing called our handfone  every other second. Even whilst we are eating, lying  in bed, sitting on the toilet bowl, or waiting in our cars at traffic light junctions. This generation really no longer knows what's real or fake anymore. The scary thing is some of us don't even care. 

 Back to movie-land, how does one fight an unseen enemy that's totally non-physical? Well, I don't understand the technicalities of source codes, genomes and all that jargon. But the method is quaint : it's akin to capturing a genie into a bottle. That involves a complicated plan of unlocking the Entity's source code which is in a hard-drive buried in a long-ago sunken Russian submarine under some ocean, which no one knows where. And then infecting it with an external  "poison pill" designed by MI computer-man Luther. So Entity can be controlled instead of being the controller. Cap it all with a  5D digital "coffin"  - a secure server vault - to bury the Entity hopefully for eternity. Apparently can't just press delete coz that risks the  unpredictable collapse of interconnected global systems which Entity already controls.  Yea, the plan is complicated, and the process of pulling it off is... totally impossible. That's why it takes the MI team to do it. 

So the master-spy Ethan Hunt rises up from self-imposed exile after doing everything contrary to official orders in his past missions , answering to his President's call and trust that "You were always the best of men in the worst of times." I like that line. That's a reminder to all Christians to choose to be "the best" as we live on this earth, especially in the worst of times that are surely coming soon. Not to be the smartest, happiest,  richest, or bravest, but simply to be what Lord Jesus called  the "light of the world" that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14). 

As in Luther's last pre-recorded message to his old-time friend Ethan: "Our lives are not defined by any one action. Our lives are the sum of our choices...this life is not some quirk of fate. This was your calling. Your destiny. A destiny that touches every living thing ..You have always been on the right side, brother." I want to be found on the right side - of God, " to live a life worthy of the Lord, to please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might...to have great endurance and patience..(Colossians 1:10-11) 

Endurance is what a 62 year old Tom Cruise as super-spy Ethan portrayed - fighting fit, strong, healthy hunk of a man , still handsome in spite of the wrinkles, showing off very admirable biceps and toned torso, whether running on a treadmill or stripped bare to swimming trunks, literally drowning in the depths of the Baltic Sea or sprinting through the streets trying to save Luther.  After all, MI would not be complete without the crazy death-defying stunts that literally takes the viewer's breath away. Well, at least I held my breath, almost biting my nails watching Ethan trapped in a submarine as it sinks deeper and deeper dragging him down in mazes of swirling waters, missiles and hatches. Even as he has to ditch the special decompression chamber which is his only life-line to make it back to the surface. 

But of course the hero lives to fight another day....in another fantastic impossible feat of a dog-fight across the South African sky, literally "hanging out" on bi-planes. He never misses a beat, although he missed the pilot's seat in one of the scenes. I didn't know whether to laugh or to gasp, as he realizes he's in the seat without controls and has to quickly change positions as the plane is about to crash. Not to mention he's got only seconds to fit the poison pill into the hard-drive device to alert the team on the ground or else World War 3 is going to explode. 

The tension is no less on the ground too, as his  comrades-in-arms  struggle with bombs and contraptions. All are working against time, and against humans out to spoil the rescue plan. So there are unexpected attacks which necessitate last-minute on-the-spot changes to plan B.  Timing is indeed everything, down to 0.1 seconds - in the blink of an eye-  at the exact right moment, simultaneously as  our hero up in the air in another continent plugs in, the heroine on the ground cuts the wires - Entity is "archived", frozen in its bottle, unable to escape or act anymore.  So finally we viewers can all heave a huge sigh of relief and relax back in our seats. 

How true, it's all about timing. Bible puts it this way in Galatians 4:4  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons"  In God's perfect time, Jesus Christ came to earth to save mankind 2025 years ago. This time around, as our world hurtles towards its end-time, though no one knows what, when or how, those who believe God's word know enough to not fear or despair. As Luther tells Ethan, "I have no regrets" even though he knows he will die but at least he can save a whole city. And he can say, "..I will see you again..." That sums up the hope we have in Christ Jesus, we die but we live again, when it's all over on this earth, there's a much better place to meet again for those who hang on to Jesus as the only Way, Life and Truth. 

 Apparently there will be no more MI after this "Final Reckoning" movie. If that's true, that's sad, at least for me. But I have my doubts since the ending is still left tantalizingly open: whoever holds the bottle with the "genie" controls the world. So what if our hero turns rogue  instead? What if Entity escapes from its "grave?" So many what- ifs in movieland.  Meanwhile the real world counts down to its own inescapable final reckoning. 

"But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live" - 2 Peter 3:10-11 

 

  

 

Not the Usual Hero

 So yes, I had to go catch the New Avengers, of course; since the opening scene featured the star jumping off our very own Merdeka 118, 2nd highest building in the world. And of course I wanted to 
find out why or rather what's so new about the legendary Avengers. Well, it's...new indeed. A more human/e angle to the super-heroes and heroines that Marvel has dished out over the years. "Disposable delinquents" was the term  the character Ghost called the team of misfits. And in the words of the lead star Yelena " You have the wrong people. We have all done bad things." (Ahem, haven't we all?!) Even the name they adopted Thunderbolts*  from Yelena's childhood sports team who never won a single game sets the mood for this movie - a bunch of ex-super heroes now turned losers all haunted by their own inner demons. 

Of course there's got to be a super-villain as well. Which comes in the form of a dark being called the "Void" morphed out of Bob, a guy with serious depression issues who had volunteered for an illicit, secret Super-Soldier experiment cooked up by a female megalomaniac Valentina. She succeeds  in "birthing" Sentry ,  intended to be the invincible super-hero to replace the Avengers. But the dark side of Sentry is Void, which terrifies with his ability to turn people into literal black shadows .

The movie is well-paced, witty, and action-packed, as any Avenger movie should be. But this one came with a lot of heart.  We get drawn into each character's dark past,  as Yelena puts it "there's something wrong with me... an emptiness, a void..."  Haven't we all felt that way? It  eats you up inside, coz your life is rendered totally meaningless, no matter what you do, and your past misdeeds haunt your days. 

That's a fact of life really. All of us have dark places in our hearts. Some never quite get out of the shadows that swallow and imprison us, individually as well as collectively.  Ever efficient Valentina disparages this rag-tag team as  "defective losers, antisocial tragedy in human form. I can't think of a worse group of people trying to work together." A contrast to how the Red Guardian Yelena's adoptive father sees it - as a group which  "Has Makings Of TEAM...That Can Raise To Glory! Bring Light From The Darkness!" How very "Christian"- Immediately I thought of how believers in Jesus Christ are to be God's team,  to be light of the world, salt of the earth, to bring glory to our Maker, Redeemer and Savior.  

I liked how Red Guardian comforted Yelena, who's stuck in her loser paradigm, "When I look at you, I don't see your mistakes." Again that's so....Christian. I am  reminded how a loving merciful Father in heaven looks differently at us. It's not that He is blind to our mistakes and our sin.  Just that He has done everything necessary  to wipe them all out through the death and resurrection of Jesus. That's how His light penetrated into and filled the dark void of my life. Turning emptiness into a new meaning beyond myself. 

Another very "Christian" moment was during Bob's fight with his dark side the Void, mocking him ,  “You thought you were going to be some great man? A savior? You can’t even save yourself.” Echoes of those who mocked Jesus  as He hung on the cross, saving all of humankind from the darkness of sin that's covered the whole earth, just like the creepy blackness that swept over New York city in the movie. 

The ending is such an apt "tease" into the next-to-come  movie, as Valentina cleverly turns her own downfall into a PR exercise, introducing the bunch as the New Avengers, losers re-branded as Avenger-z. Reminds me of how everyone, no matter how much of a loser we think or others think we are, can be transformed  into "more than conquerors through Him -Christ-  who loved us" (Romans 8:37)