The Biggest Test of Riches that will Last Forever

Are your riches built of gold, silver and all the precious stones, or of chaff that can be burnt or blown away by the wind?

By Stephen Ng

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

IN the above passage, young pastor Timothy was advised by his mentor, the Apostle Paul to instruct the rich people, who were many times more experienced in life than Timothy himself.

They were told that whatever millions or billions that they were hoarding are nothing but the "uncertainty of riches."

When Job, a man of great wealth, experienced calamities that struck him, his family and his wealth, he said: "I left my mother's womb naked, and I will return to God naked. The LORD has given, and the LORD has taken. May the name of the LORD be blessed." (Job 1:21). Empty handed we came, empty handed we will go!

Think about this. Your "millions and billions" hoarded in banks and investments, where will you go? How many millions can you bring with you when it is time to go?

Consistent with What Jesus taught the Rich Young Man

What Paul taught Timothy is consistent with what Jesus told the rich young man, "Go and sell your belongings and give to the poor."

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Think about it. All your life you have worked hard. You have accumulated great wealth that runs into millions or even billions.

In God's economy, the money that you accumulate is not to be kept in the bank to collect interests.

Even secular economists would tell you that money in the bank, if not utilised, will not turn the economic wheel we call the Gross Domestic Products (GDP). This is why the banks will use your money to generate more income for themselves.

At your age, you might as take out a significant amount of money that you have amassed and, after calculating how much you may need to give to your children and wife, and how much you may need to stand by for medical care, food and lodging and the amounts you need to survive, use the rest of the money for chartiy. Some big business onwers such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have set good examples by giving a significant amount of money based on percentage of hteir wealth to bless the world.

Now, Time for Reflection

Charles Dickens' Scrooge: A Christmas Carol was written with this same thing in mind.

When was the last time you engage someone to do a job, and you try to pay pittance for the job done? Even though you know this brother or sister is struggling financially, you choose not to bless him or her with a bonus?

I did a book project for a very rich tycoon, who offered to pay me a hefty sum, and even paid an additional bonus for the job well done. He is not even a believer, but one who understands the hard work put into the book.

When did you last give a salary adjustment to your staff who perform well in the company?

With the cost of living now rising, the pressure is on your staff (especially the ones who are good performers) to keep moving on to the next job until he finds he has reached a "comfortable" level and there is disposable income.

Do not expect the younger generation to eat and drink in small coffee shops that we used to do.

By giving them a good salary adjustment, you are motivating them to perform even better. This was what happened in Union Polymers when the new Managing Director, SH Lee carried out the salary adjustments for us. We saw a big jump in our salaries and many of us were motivated to give our best to the company. Our basic needs were already "met" through the salary adjustments.

Recently, I have a client who is willing to pay me a retainer fee even though I have been trying to get things done for them, but they have been too busy. Impressed, do you think I would not hope to give them my best, especially when they know how to reward me handsomely?

After all the human capital is the most important key to a company's success, and it is in fact, a small percentage of your overall budget.

Why not fork out a million to help the poor?

Your wealth may run into the millions. What happens to your wealth, when you go? It will be distributed to your children and grandchildren. Will they be spendthrift like you? Will they know how to manage their sudden windfall?

Instead, if you take out a million ringgit each, collectively you will be able to bring smiles to a lot of the poor people in our society. Pastors in rural churches need financial support, Christians in social work do not have a retirement fund and live in poverty themselves, Christian artists and authors need fund to build a larger tent so that their books and albums can touch more lives.

Pastor Philip Lyn introduced a very good book to read, "Israel: the Start up Nation." The book talks about how Israel can have the third biggest number of start-ups in NASDAQ. One of the reasons, the authors claim, is because of the network of people with different resources and talents. The one with the idea needs the funder; but they need the engineer who can implement the idea, the marketing talents who can bring the idea to the world. They just get together and they all make it to where Israel is today, technologically with just a population of 9 million.

Remember, it is not about leaving behind a legacy in the form of:

-- the grandest tombstone or the pyramid that surpasses the glory of the Egyptian pyramids

-- monuments will be gone and soon no one cares who the heck you are (don't mind me speaking the ordinary man's language everyone is familiar) -- leaving behind your reputation as a successful business tycoon. That, too, will fade away. It is useful for only a few generations, and soon, people will remember just one name because they heard it mentioned in the history class.

-- It is also not about telling people that you are already giving a lot of money to different causes. People do not want to hear that. What they want is bread and butter, and if you are telling them how much you have given to others, would it not be an insult to them?

Investing into your bank account in Heaven

Meanwhile the money that you bring out will not only help to grease the small businesses and help them to do well, but it will become a blessing to many people. You are already saved, and you are now exchanging your earthly wealth into eternal wealth.

When they do well, the money will eventually find its way back to your own coffers.

This is God's economy. This is also what economists find to be the way how a country's economy works. Money must circulate, and the more the money circulates, the greater is the GDP. Please share this with your rich friends. You are doing them a favour by reminding them to seek first the kingdom of God, "...storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."

END.

Wow! Look at these fruits!

After sharing this blog post with a number of pastors, one senior Pastor Ang shared with me these pictures. It's so wonderful to see the photographs of what came out of a small plot of land in her own garden!

Praise the Lord! At the request of a sister-in-Christ, Lovelle, Pastor Ang allowed her and a few friends to do some gardening on a regular basis.

Anyway, I have always complained why Malaysia has so much land to grow trees which are unproductive, but no one bothers to grow fruit trees. We are also blessed with so much sunlight and rain, yet the country still has to import food from other countries.

Just look at what they have produced! Click to view:

Now, I was just talking about the idea of using the land around a particular church. Guess what? Now, Lovelle has offered to meet with the church people to see how she can assist them.

Lovelle has learnt about the 200 square feet square concept for End Times food security. Divide the land into four smaller squares. On one plot, grow vegetables; on the second plot, grow fruit trees; on the third plot, rear quails (instead of chicken) for the meat and eggs; and keep the fourth plot to rear fish. This, according to her, is self-sufficient.

My idea which I shared with the church earlier was about bringing together their senior citizens (especially those whose children leave them at home during the day). Let them have their tea, fellowship, perhaps, a game of chess together. Do some simple horticulture to keep themselves occupied. Create some job opportunities for them, especially for the older ladies who can still drive around to provide pay-as-you-ride services to the community. This will give them some form of income while making themselves useful.

Let's pray and see what can come out of this idea. Hope that more churches blessed with land would do something productive with their premises on weekdays.

To encourage you, read this blog post to see what the others have produced. END.

As this is a blogpost, I have not spent too much time polishing up the English.

What to do with the stateless people in Malaysia?January 04, 2023

By Stephen Ng

Malaysia has only two options to choose from: either kick out all the stateless people from the country OR to give them a new lease of life and allow them to contribute towards the economic development of the country.

Some of them have parents who may come from Thailand, Indonesia or the Philippines, but growing up in Malaysia all their lives, their parents’ motherland is just as alien to them as an earthling landing on Mars.

Sabahans often begrudge the infiltration of Filipinos into their territory, but can anyone tell me who exactly is to blame if our borders are so porous to both neighbouring countries.

We are to blame

Is it because of corruption? If yes, what has the Government done all these years to arrest the problem?

Didn’t we have the Royal Commission of Inquiry and most of us know about Project IC, but no one has been criminalized for it, why?

After the RCI, people are just lukewarm and keeping quiet, instead of suggesting that the government should do anything about it.

Even if a few people pick up their pens to speak, would the voice be loud enough for the government to take the suggestions seriously?

Malaysians have themselves to blame for the problem of statelessness either through human trafficking or our porous borders.

Think About Their Future

Some young people are less fortunate as their parents did not have the means to obtain citizenship, either through the legal or illegal channels.

Some of these children born in the country are raised here their entire lives. Without citizenship, what will become of them? Without an education, will they instead turn into thugs?

Please think of the future of these young people who will still be living in our midst. Think of them as your own children, if some day you have to flee the country with your children.

We are all sons and daughters of Adam, from the three main stocks of the human race. Whether “Caucasoid,” “Negroid,” or “Mongoloid,” our blood types are basically A, B, AB and O groups. It is red, not green or yellow.

Therefore, I appeal to all Malaysians, especially the Unity Government now under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim, to just give stateless people, especially the younger generation their blue Identity Cards and allow them to have a future and contribute towards the development of the country’s economic growth.

A word to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Azalina Othman Said: the stateless issue does not only affect children who were born overseas to Malaysian mothers, but also young and old alike born and raised in Malaysia without citizenship.

All Members of Parliament should start looking at the Hansard dated 30 January 1962, and study how this amendment to the Federal Constitution has brought so much pain to the stateless people.

It is time to embrace the plurality of our social fabrics and build a rainbow nation like South Africa after the dismantling of the apartheid regime. We are already three decades behind the nation which Nelson Mandela rebuilt based on reconciliation.

As fellow Malaysians, we can capitalize on each other’s strength to compete with the rest of the world and become the next Malaysian Tiger, altered from its original moniker after a Sarawakian brother told me why Sarawakians feel they are left out in this country they are part of.