Had a very encouraging session to discuss with the PUNJers on the merger of PUNJ and YNYF into STAR
We shared about the following 2 things:
1) Thanksgiving for PUNJ for the year: how it has helped all of us in our lives as Christians
Was really encouraged by the many sharings about how PUNJ has been the "place" (since it's not really the place that we're talking about, but the people!) where the PUNJers find themselves
a) Growing in their knowledge of the Bible and God, and knowing how it applies to their lives. The studies of the gospel of Luke has challenged us deeply what it means to "deny ourselves and follow Jesus", and reminded us to be watchful and not fall prey to "worries and dissipations of the world".
b) Find the fellowship that gives them both joy and accountablility in doing a).
That summed up most of their encouraging sharing.
For me personally, my own BS group have been a great encouragement to me also. They have a very difficult task at my studies. They are supposed to come and learn God's Word and what it means for them. But unfortunately the channel (a.k.a. me) is often times not too clear. So they need to do "double layer listening" to get at God's Word.
Sometimes I would ask this question: Why would they still come back week after week?
As I reflected on this, I was deeply humbled and encouraged at the same time. Humbled because I realised what the answer could not be: it could not be because of me. Encouraged because I'm really seeing people who realise that learning God's Word is important for their lives, that they would bear with me to get to it!
Immensely thankful to God for showing me how He's been working in their lives despite my fumblings, and despite the little that they sometimes get from the studies. Truly convinced of something that was told to me so long ago that I almost forgotten:
"God's Word IS powerful and does work in people. Teach the Word faithfully, and watch how God takes the Word faithfully taught to work in them"
God, please help me to have confidence in your Word both in my own life as I learn, and in the lives of group members as I teach.
2) Things to pray for STAR: our worries and concerns about how this new baby will turn out
Again, great encouragement here listening to the concerns and worries that the PUNJers had. Now I know it's strange to think that listening to worries and concerns can be encouraging. But it was!
One of the key concerns was: Will we be good role models for the younger ones?
Why was this encouraging? It shows so much other-people centeredness! Why would they be concerned about this, unless they were thinking beyond themselves and serving the younger ones?
Simply thankful to see their servant-mindedness!
2 other interesting things happened this morning related to this:
Had a very brief conversation with a TNYFer about how she felt about STAR. The main concern over there: how will they relate to the older ones. Methinks they have no worries on that count, coz the PUNJers are thinking about the exact same other-people-centered thing :-)
The other interesting thing was when I was reflecting on John Ting's sermon this morning. At the end, he was commenting on how extraordinary other-people-centeredness, and he related this story of 2 persons who were actually in an argument because each really wanted to give in to the other, and was fighting for the other's rights. Imagine that happening at a Robinson's sales!
Isn't it interesting that I'm seeing something like that happening not just between 2 persons, but between 2 groups of people, each now concerned about how they will relate to one another?*
Looking forward to STAR Wars next week!!
*: Just in case you think this is nothing significant, coz it happens outside of Christian context as well, think again. Yes, people are concerned about how they relate to others as well, but for what reason? And What motivates them really?
PUNJ: Stands for Poly, Uni, NS and JC. The youth ministry of my church for those 18-25 years old.
YNYF: The New Youth Fellowship ("New" because it came after PUNJ, ha!). The youth ministry of my church for those age 13-17.
STAR: STudents of Adam Road. The REALLY NEW youth ministry, born of parents, PUNJ and TNYF. If you're between 13-25 and you want to know more about Christianity and the Bible with a group of happening people, you're welcomed to join us :-)
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Apologies for the long absence :-(
Harlowz all,
Woah! It's been like 52 days since I last showed any signs of life here :-(
Was reminded by 2 different people (Bee Him and Patrick) about this just today.
My apologies to those who visit this site for updates and found that you have wasted approximately 1 second (variable depending on net traffic condition, of course!) of your time online :-(
But more seriously...
When I started this, it was meant to encourage both Christians and non-Christians alike to think more seriously about what being a Christian means, and being absent for more almost 2 months is certainly not very encouraging!
I can think of many reasons why I'm not doing this, like how I'm busy, like how I don't feel like it, but at the end the root reason is that I'm simply lazy, and I don't care much about you reading this now, when that's possibly a convenient way for me to update you about me, especially when time and energy constraints are on us.
I mean, I get updates about some of my friends that I can't keep up with through their blogs as well. Guess I'm just not as other people centered as I shoud be, even when it comes to my motivations for this blog :-(
For that, I'm sorry :-( :-(
Will try and update this more regularly from now on ;-)
Woah! It's been like 52 days since I last showed any signs of life here :-(
Was reminded by 2 different people (Bee Him and Patrick) about this just today.
My apologies to those who visit this site for updates and found that you have wasted approximately 1 second (variable depending on net traffic condition, of course!) of your time online :-(
But more seriously...
When I started this, it was meant to encourage both Christians and non-Christians alike to think more seriously about what being a Christian means, and being absent for more almost 2 months is certainly not very encouraging!
I can think of many reasons why I'm not doing this, like how I'm busy, like how I don't feel like it, but at the end the root reason is that I'm simply lazy, and I don't care much about you reading this now, when that's possibly a convenient way for me to update you about me, especially when time and energy constraints are on us.
I mean, I get updates about some of my friends that I can't keep up with through their blogs as well. Guess I'm just not as other people centered as I shoud be, even when it comes to my motivations for this blog :-(
For that, I'm sorry :-( :-(
Will try and update this more regularly from now on ;-)
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Hard Question: Being more showy (or not) for who?
Met both my boss's boss, David and my boss's boss's boss for "performance review for FY06", which basically means something like:
"Impress me with your achievements for the past year, so that I can decide on how much bonus to give you"
Had a very candid session with David. Am more open with him, coz he's a brother-in-Christ at the workplace who I looked up to, and also because I had far more contact with him due to some work circumstances. In fact, so far, many of our slightly longer meetings ended up with us praying for what we've discussed and for each other!
With regards to my performance for the past year, I was very surprised to hear that he was very pleased with what I've done in the past year, since I didn't really think that I've actually achieved much in the year. In fact, most of the time, I just felt that I was having a lot of problems "catching up" with the pace of things.
So really thank God for the past year that in so many ways, God has been good, even in blessing me in this way, that though I didn't think a lot of what I've done, my work has indeed helped many that I didn't even know of, and that gladdens me a lot :-)
With regards to areas of improvement, he posed me a challenge which I'm currently looking at very seriously. Here's a paraphrase of what he said roughly:
"I need you to be more 'showy'. You are not very good at making your work known to people, and it's important to do that: seek recongition for what you have done, so that you can be more prominent.
You also need to be more sociable and network a bit more with people, easpecially the key people. Also as a scholar, more is expected of you to be more prominent. There will be occasions where you will be exposed to people 'higher up there'. Take these as opportunites to develop yourself in this area."
I think he has a point in his observation. I don't really fight very much for recognition of what I've done, because I never felt the need to. This is prompted by the fact that I'm staring at these verses on my cubicle wall each day:
Don't these verses tell us that it is only our Lord Jesus that we seek praise from? I've always thought it is only important what He sees of me. I'm driven at work because that is what pleases Him.
If others happen to appreciate what I'm doing, I'm thankful to Jesus for it (as I am for the past year!). If not, it doesn't change much of what I do, since I know that the most important Boss in my life sees what I'm doing.
I discussed this with David, since he is a brother, and we need to face this question, and his view in short is:
"Seeking praise from God doesn't mean it's wrong to seek reasonable human recognition for what we do. The key question is our real motivation behind doing so. If we think we may be having the wrong motivations, then we should pray that God purifies our motivations."
I'm beginning to question whether or not he's right on the issue of motivation, but not so much the motivation of seeking recognition, but my motivations for being adverse to what is called "prominence".
Hard Question
I still think that it is wrong to want to seek recognition "just because I'm a scholar" or for "prominence's sake", which is the motivation that I know I'm still safe from at the moment. But one hard question in the other direction disturbs me.
Why REALLY am I so negative to the suggestion of seeking recognition at all? Am I using God as an excuse for saying that the view of others (particularly here referring to the people up there) don't matter at all?
Before I became a Christian, I was always on about being the best, and desiring recongition for what I've done, though I don't always express it.
But I think I've unconsciously swung to the other (wrong) extreme, thinking that becoming a Christian means only God matters, and no other.
This is of course plain wrong, because the right view is God matters MOST, and others matter because our vertical relationship with God must affect our horizontal relationships with others. We are to still "obey our earthly masters", and that implies a relationship with them that recognizes their authority. This cannot happen if I choose to ignore them.
Using God as an excuse for belittling others (even if that others are the "people up there") is just pure pride expressed in a different form.
I've just gone one round from the pride of being attention-seeking to the pride of being self-focussing, and misrepresented Colossians 3:22-24 :(
I think also a lot of my motivations still comes from my past history of being anti-social. Perhaps it is just another cover-up for wanting to stay the way I am, and refusing to submit that part of my life to God :( :(
God,
I thank You for my brother David, who has helped me to see that I need to examine my motivations for how I'm relating to people at work.
You know my heart, how deceptive it is, and how much I still cling on to my past, instead of submitting them to You. I pray that your Spirit will convict me of the need to repent and give me the will to do so.
Grant me a pure heart to obey!
Give me also wisdom to work this out practically in this situation with clear motivations.
Amen!
"Impress me with your achievements for the past year, so that I can decide on how much bonus to give you"
Had a very candid session with David. Am more open with him, coz he's a brother-in-Christ at the workplace who I looked up to, and also because I had far more contact with him due to some work circumstances. In fact, so far, many of our slightly longer meetings ended up with us praying for what we've discussed and for each other!
With regards to my performance for the past year, I was very surprised to hear that he was very pleased with what I've done in the past year, since I didn't really think that I've actually achieved much in the year. In fact, most of the time, I just felt that I was having a lot of problems "catching up" with the pace of things.
So really thank God for the past year that in so many ways, God has been good, even in blessing me in this way, that though I didn't think a lot of what I've done, my work has indeed helped many that I didn't even know of, and that gladdens me a lot :-)
With regards to areas of improvement, he posed me a challenge which I'm currently looking at very seriously. Here's a paraphrase of what he said roughly:
"I need you to be more 'showy'. You are not very good at making your work known to people, and it's important to do that: seek recongition for what you have done, so that you can be more prominent.
You also need to be more sociable and network a bit more with people, easpecially the key people. Also as a scholar, more is expected of you to be more prominent. There will be occasions where you will be exposed to people 'higher up there'. Take these as opportunites to develop yourself in this area."
I think he has a point in his observation. I don't really fight very much for recognition of what I've done, because I never felt the need to. This is prompted by the fact that I'm staring at these verses on my cubicle wall each day:
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their |
Don't these verses tell us that it is only our Lord Jesus that we seek praise from? I've always thought it is only important what He sees of me. I'm driven at work because that is what pleases Him.
If others happen to appreciate what I'm doing, I'm thankful to Jesus for it (as I am for the past year!). If not, it doesn't change much of what I do, since I know that the most important Boss in my life sees what I'm doing.
I discussed this with David, since he is a brother, and we need to face this question, and his view in short is:
"Seeking praise from God doesn't mean it's wrong to seek reasonable human recognition for what we do. The key question is our real motivation behind doing so. If we think we may be having the wrong motivations, then we should pray that God purifies our motivations."
I'm beginning to question whether or not he's right on the issue of motivation, but not so much the motivation of seeking recognition, but my motivations for being adverse to what is called "prominence".
Hard Question
I still think that it is wrong to want to seek recognition "just because I'm a scholar" or for "prominence's sake", which is the motivation that I know I'm still safe from at the moment. But one hard question in the other direction disturbs me.
Why REALLY am I so negative to the suggestion of seeking recognition at all? Am I using God as an excuse for saying that the view of others (particularly here referring to the people up there) don't matter at all?
Before I became a Christian, I was always on about being the best, and desiring recongition for what I've done, though I don't always express it.
But I think I've unconsciously swung to the other (wrong) extreme, thinking that becoming a Christian means only God matters, and no other.
This is of course plain wrong, because the right view is God matters MOST, and others matter because our vertical relationship with God must affect our horizontal relationships with others. We are to still "obey our earthly masters", and that implies a relationship with them that recognizes their authority. This cannot happen if I choose to ignore them.
Using God as an excuse for belittling others (even if that others are the "people up there") is just pure pride expressed in a different form.
I've just gone one round from the pride of being attention-seeking to the pride of being self-focussing, and misrepresented Colossians 3:22-24 :(
I think also a lot of my motivations still comes from my past history of being anti-social. Perhaps it is just another cover-up for wanting to stay the way I am, and refusing to submit that part of my life to God :( :(
God,
I thank You for my brother David, who has helped me to see that I need to examine my motivations for how I'm relating to people at work.
You know my heart, how deceptive it is, and how much I still cling on to my past, instead of submitting them to You. I pray that your Spirit will convict me of the need to repent and give me the will to do so.
Grant me a pure heart to obey!
Give me also wisdom to work this out practically in this situation with clear motivations.
Amen!
Sharings from ICT 3: Open doors at Khatib Camp!!
As I've shared in the previous posting, there was a lot of excitement during my ICT due to the fact that I'm going to MR. But the REAL exciting thing that happened during this time wasn't that at all. It is what this post will share about ...
Mar 1 Morning, about 7:00 am
I delibrately woke up earlier to do my Quiet Time, so that others in the bunk were still sleeping and I won't be disturbed.
However at least ONE of my platoon mates was awake. I only knew about it when Jingzhou, like a ninja on an assasination mission, crept over to my bed and peered over my shoulder while I was praying, and asked "What are you doing?", which gave me a scare. I've previously tried to share the Gospel with him before and he wasn't too open to it, having some very strong pre-opinions of what Christianity and church is.
After admonishing him for the scare, I explained that I was reading the Bible and praying. I use the Briefing for my QT, and he wanted to take a look at it. After idling flipping through it for a while, he asked:
"So do you really think that Jesus is coming again?"
I thought that was rather strange, because that issue of the Briefing had no article related at all to the Second Coming. I told him that I do believe in the Second Coming, because the Bible is clear that it will definitely happen, and from then on, we had a discussion on Christianity!
It would have been a good discussion, if it weren't for the fact that he was not exactly a quiet sort of person. Our pretty loud discussion woke up almost half the people in the bunk, so it turned into some sort of a "Grill-the-Christian" talk show :-(
It was rather scary, cause I wasn't exactly prepared for it (who would be at 7:00am in the morning?!), and didn't feel that I was able to answer the many questions that we looked at, like these:
1) Have you heard of the Gospel of Judas? What do you think about it?
2) There are so many religions in the world? What makes you so sure that Christianity is the only true one?
3) There are so many gospels around, like the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary, etc. Are they all true?
4) Isn't the church responsible for errors like thinking that the sun is the centre of the world, and for atrocities like the crusades? How can you believe in what they believe in view of these things?
5) Some say that Jesus' death was not real, that it just appears that he was dead, but he really didn't die. Is that true?
But then I realised that the most amazing thing happened: I was actually already prepared for all these questions!
Is it coincidental that I'm currently doing Just Looking at the workplace and one of the key things we looked at in the course is evidences for Jesus' death and resurrection?
Is it coincidental that having no previous knowledge that there's such a thing called the "Gnostic Gospels", ARPC did a series on it in relation to the Da Vinci Code last year?
Is it coincidental that I'm currently looking at the Gospel of Luke at PUNJ?
Is it coincidental that I once did a course called "So Many Questions", where we looked at how to answer questions such as 4)?
There are no coincidence in God's plan. He has been preparing me all this while for this, even if I didn't see it back then. Thank God that He equips us for His good work!!
We had to end the session because we needed to assemble. Honestly, the first thought that went through my mind then was this:
"I have 2 options now:-
1) I can keep quiet for the rest of the ICT, and if any discussion ever came close to triggering off episode 2 of "Who wants to grill a Christian?", I'll divert the topic, which won't be hard, given the so many other things that people easily want to talk about. Hopefully, these 2 weeks pass soon enough without furthur 'incidents'.
2) What opportunites will come out from this to share the Gospel?"
Was REALLY challenged at that time about what "not being ashamed of the Gospel" means! In the days that came, a lot of "incidents" did happen...
Mar 7 Afternoon, about 2:00pm
As a result of what happened above, I had quite a few opportunities to talk to some of my platoon mates who were Christians, and even pray with them for one another and for the other platoon mates who were non-Christians.
On this occasion, I was going to pray with a brother, Shawn, and we were sharing about the things we wanted to pray for. Jingzhou did his ninja act again, and came up behind us, asking "What are you doing?".
I told him that we were sharing about what to pray for and that we will also be praying for him. He said that he wanted to listen in as we pray, which was kinda awkward. But I guessed that he won't take no for an answer, so Shawn and I went ahead and prayed.
As we was praying, and we got to praying for our platoon mates, I heard Jingzhou sneering in disbelief, which was common, because he has done this before in the past whenever we talked about Christianity. I was going to follow according to what Shawn and I agreed to pray about, but moved for some reason, I decided to add the following:
"God, people some times think that we are stupid for believing in Jesus, and say that it is ridiculous that you can send your Son to die on the cross for our sins. I pray that we will remember that Jesus' death for us and his resurrection is real, and be confident that even if others laugh at us for believing in you, your foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom, and we have real hope in Jesus that you will prove yourself right in the end.
I also pray that you will also help Jingzhou to see that he is lost from you, because he has been rebelling against you. I pray that your Spirit help him see his need for Jesus, so that he can come back to you".
On reflection, I think I know where that came from. At ARPC, we are currently looking at the book of 1 Corinthians, and I was reflecting on this particular passage:
At PUNJ, we just did the parables of the "lost" in Luke's Gospel (Luke 15:1-34), and one of the main points of that passage was: do we, as God's people identify with God's great joy when a sinner that is lost repents and, is found again?
When I looked at Jingzhou, I think I understand quite a bit of what the Bible means by "being lost". There's someething worse than being lost: not even realising that we are lost. I think this is actually true of people all around us, if we would just stop and listen to what people are saying, and catch the unsaid words.
Perhaps there is a collary to this application: do we identify with God's loss when the lost remains lost, and not found?
At that point, I think I did, because I caught a glimpse of what "being lost" looked like.
I did have other chances to talk to Jingzhou after that about what he thought of our discussions so far, but he wasn't that open, so I didn't force it.
But for sure, I'm not going to give up, because Jesus came to seek and save the lost who are like him, and I just pray that God will open his heart.
Will try and invite him to our Easter event...
In summary...
It was an ICT where God opened so many doors for his work, more than what the coward in me was prepared to answer to. I knew with great shame that there were some opportunities where I CONSCIOUSLY chose to ignore. Colossians 4:3-6 is one of those passages which I think comes to mind on reflection of this:
I think for me personally, it is not that God doesn't open doors (v3), but that I fail miserably to live up to v4-6. There may actually be many opportunities around us where we can share the good news with people. It is just that some times we close the door delibrately for different reasons. Perhaps it is fear, perhaps it is that we just don't know how to.
But not knowing how to is not a good reason enough, but should motivate us to train and be equiped, and the great assurance is that God DOES equip us to do His work, as I've realised first hand during this ICT.
God,
Thank you that despite my fumbling, you've equiped and used me (at least where I've been obedient!) for your purposes.
I pray for the seeds that are sown that your Spirit makes them grow. I also thank you for the many encouragements from the fellowship with the brothers, that we may continue to mature in our walks with you, and keep encouraging one another all the more as we see the Day coming.
Amen.
The Briefing: A monthly Christian magazine from the Australian printing press, Matthias Media. Besides thought-provoking articles, it also has a section called "Bible Brief", which is something 20-study devotional-like study on a book of the Bible, or a significant portion of a long book. I use it that for my Quiet Time. Highly recommend it :)
Mar 1 Morning, about 7:00 am
I delibrately woke up earlier to do my Quiet Time, so that others in the bunk were still sleeping and I won't be disturbed.
However at least ONE of my platoon mates was awake. I only knew about it when Jingzhou, like a ninja on an assasination mission, crept over to my bed and peered over my shoulder while I was praying, and asked "What are you doing?", which gave me a scare. I've previously tried to share the Gospel with him before and he wasn't too open to it, having some very strong pre-opinions of what Christianity and church is.
After admonishing him for the scare, I explained that I was reading the Bible and praying. I use the Briefing for my QT, and he wanted to take a look at it. After idling flipping through it for a while, he asked:
"So do you really think that Jesus is coming again?"
I thought that was rather strange, because that issue of the Briefing had no article related at all to the Second Coming. I told him that I do believe in the Second Coming, because the Bible is clear that it will definitely happen, and from then on, we had a discussion on Christianity!
It would have been a good discussion, if it weren't for the fact that he was not exactly a quiet sort of person. Our pretty loud discussion woke up almost half the people in the bunk, so it turned into some sort of a "Grill-the-Christian" talk show :-(
It was rather scary, cause I wasn't exactly prepared for it (who would be at 7:00am in the morning?!), and didn't feel that I was able to answer the many questions that we looked at, like these:
1) Have you heard of the Gospel of Judas? What do you think about it?
2) There are so many religions in the world? What makes you so sure that Christianity is the only true one?
3) There are so many gospels around, like the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary, etc. Are they all true?
4) Isn't the church responsible for errors like thinking that the sun is the centre of the world, and for atrocities like the crusades? How can you believe in what they believe in view of these things?
5) Some say that Jesus' death was not real, that it just appears that he was dead, but he really didn't die. Is that true?
But then I realised that the most amazing thing happened: I was actually already prepared for all these questions!
Is it coincidental that I'm currently doing Just Looking at the workplace and one of the key things we looked at in the course is evidences for Jesus' death and resurrection?
Is it coincidental that having no previous knowledge that there's such a thing called the "Gnostic Gospels", ARPC did a series on it in relation to the Da Vinci Code last year?
Is it coincidental that I'm currently looking at the Gospel of Luke at PUNJ?
Is it coincidental that I once did a course called "So Many Questions", where we looked at how to answer questions such as 4)?
There are no coincidence in God's plan. He has been preparing me all this while for this, even if I didn't see it back then. Thank God that He equips us for His good work!!
We had to end the session because we needed to assemble. Honestly, the first thought that went through my mind then was this:
"I have 2 options now:-
1) I can keep quiet for the rest of the ICT, and if any discussion ever came close to triggering off episode 2 of "Who wants to grill a Christian?", I'll divert the topic, which won't be hard, given the so many other things that people easily want to talk about. Hopefully, these 2 weeks pass soon enough without furthur 'incidents'.
2) What opportunites will come out from this to share the Gospel?"
Was REALLY challenged at that time about what "not being ashamed of the Gospel" means! In the days that came, a lot of "incidents" did happen...
Mar 7 Afternoon, about 2:00pm
As a result of what happened above, I had quite a few opportunities to talk to some of my platoon mates who were Christians, and even pray with them for one another and for the other platoon mates who were non-Christians.
On this occasion, I was going to pray with a brother, Shawn, and we were sharing about the things we wanted to pray for. Jingzhou did his ninja act again, and came up behind us, asking "What are you doing?".
I told him that we were sharing about what to pray for and that we will also be praying for him. He said that he wanted to listen in as we pray, which was kinda awkward. But I guessed that he won't take no for an answer, so Shawn and I went ahead and prayed.
As we was praying, and we got to praying for our platoon mates, I heard Jingzhou sneering in disbelief, which was common, because he has done this before in the past whenever we talked about Christianity. I was going to follow according to what Shawn and I agreed to pray about, but moved for some reason, I decided to add the following:
"God, people some times think that we are stupid for believing in Jesus, and say that it is ridiculous that you can send your Son to die on the cross for our sins. I pray that we will remember that Jesus' death for us and his resurrection is real, and be confident that even if others laugh at us for believing in you, your foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom, and we have real hope in Jesus that you will prove yourself right in the end.
I also pray that you will also help Jingzhou to see that he is lost from you, because he has been rebelling against you. I pray that your Spirit help him see his need for Jesus, so that he can come back to you".
On reflection, I think I know where that came from. At ARPC, we are currently looking at the book of 1 Corinthians, and I was reflecting on this particular passage:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."[a] 20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) |
At PUNJ, we just did the parables of the "lost" in Luke's Gospel (Luke 15:1-34), and one of the main points of that passage was: do we, as God's people identify with God's great joy when a sinner that is lost repents and, is found again?
When I looked at Jingzhou, I think I understand quite a bit of what the Bible means by "being lost". There's someething worse than being lost: not even realising that we are lost. I think this is actually true of people all around us, if we would just stop and listen to what people are saying, and catch the unsaid words.
Perhaps there is a collary to this application: do we identify with God's loss when the lost remains lost, and not found?
At that point, I think I did, because I caught a glimpse of what "being lost" looked like.
I did have other chances to talk to Jingzhou after that about what he thought of our discussions so far, but he wasn't that open, so I didn't force it.
But for sure, I'm not going to give up, because Jesus came to seek and save the lost who are like him, and I just pray that God will open his heart.
Will try and invite him to our Easter event...
In summary...
It was an ICT where God opened so many doors for his work, more than what the coward in me was prepared to answer to. I knew with great shame that there were some opportunities where I CONSCIOUSLY chose to ignore. Colossians 4:3-6 is one of those passages which I think comes to mind on reflection of this:
| 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. |
I think for me personally, it is not that God doesn't open doors (v3), but that I fail miserably to live up to v4-6. There may actually be many opportunities around us where we can share the good news with people. It is just that some times we close the door delibrately for different reasons. Perhaps it is fear, perhaps it is that we just don't know how to.
But not knowing how to is not a good reason enough, but should motivate us to train and be equiped, and the great assurance is that God DOES equip us to do His work, as I've realised first hand during this ICT.
God,
Thank you that despite my fumbling, you've equiped and used me (at least where I've been obedient!) for your purposes.
I pray for the seeds that are sown that your Spirit makes them grow. I also thank you for the many encouragements from the fellowship with the brothers, that we may continue to mature in our walks with you, and keep encouraging one another all the more as we see the Day coming.
Amen.
The Briefing: A monthly Christian magazine from the Australian printing press, Matthias Media. Besides thought-provoking articles, it also has a section called "Bible Brief", which is something 20-study devotional-like study on a book of the Bible, or a significant portion of a long book. I use it that for my Quiet Time. Highly recommend it :)
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Sharings from ICT 2: Excited about MR
Been putting off updates here due to:
1) Pure laziness
2) Work seems to have a way of exploding (in terms of load) in your face after a long absence, despite best prior efforts to contain it
3) Due to my mis-adventures on the last day of ICT as explained in the previous post, I'm on a course of painkillers that seems to kill not just pain, but brain as well. Gives me legitimate excuse for 1), ha!
But I'm back now!
As promised, I'll be sharing some reflections from a very eventful ICT that passed me by.
This particular ICT is probably going to be the SECOND most exciting ICT I'll have. The reason is that I'll "MR" during the NEXT one!
What on earth (in Singapore only, I think!) is "MR" huh?
Over here in Singapore, we simply ADORE acromyms, especially short, non-descriptive ones which leaves everyone else guessing, ha!.
"MR", in this case, stands for "MINDEF Reserves", and...
Great, have to explain MINDEF as well...
Basically guys over here need to serve a total of 10 year of ICT before they are put in "MINDEF Reserves" which has the following implications:
1) No more IPPT => no more potential RT, yay :-)
2) No more getting disrupted in the year. I have mixed feelings about this one, since I really enjoyed these breaks.
3) We are (supposingly) "in reserve" and ready for war anytime it happens?!
The excitement!
There was plenty of buzz among us during this ICT!
All of them focussed on what will happen next year, when the End finally comes.
Some had questions, others lament that they will miss out, coz they don't yet have enough years to fulfill the requirements for MRing. Many looked forward to the life without IPPT, though there's not a few who do not lament at the loss of an opportunity for a quick few hundered dollars for the year (being fit does have its rewards!).
We also talked a lot about how we were going to prepare for the Event. Those who knew they were going to need make-up training to fulfill the MR requirements were suddenly very enthusiastic about going for one more ICT this year, though I never did know that they were THAT excited about ICT in all our previous years! We talked about how the parade was going to be like, how we should have a "finale" night of mashmallow bonfire out in the field, and other ways to "end with a bang".
The MR that I really should be excited about!
As I joined my platoon mates in all the excitement, I realised something. There are times like this in our lives when we get all excited about "the End". It can be something like this, or the finals of the World Cup, or even just the last episode of a really exciting/melodramatic serial!
Yet strangely, I don't often share the same degree of excitement for the "MR" that really matters most: the Messiah's Return.
You see the problem with a short, non-descriptive acronym? ;-)
Why the sudden thought?
I guess our recent studies in PUNJ on the book of Luke have struck me a lot. Here is perhaps the most exciting Jewish drama serial on play every week, and we are almost at the conclusion of it!
No story will ever get more exciting than this one: the story of Jesus' life, his teachings on the Kingdom of God, and his mission to save the lost by his death on the cross, and his complete victory in his resurrection about 2000 years ago.
I think sometimes, because our familiarity with the Gospel story, we REALLY lose the wonder of it, as if we've already known it well enough, and it starts to bore us. Even a soapy drama serial (yes, I'm a sucker for these!) moves and excites me more!
I'm really thankful for our studies in Luke, which has surprised me by how refreshing this familiar story is. Week after week, I come to face to face with the same challenge, in different aspects of my life: Who is Jesus REALLY to me? What does following Him mean for me?
And this story is NOT over yet. The End is yet to come. One day Jesus will return to judge how we've responded to Him. We don't know when, but it is certain, and we need to respond to this, either in faith or in rejection. Even treating it like it's not real is not going to stop it from coming (18:20-37).
Yet for knowing all these, I sometimes lapse into complacency and identify more with the people in Noah and Lot's time (18:26-29), being more excited about a lot of things under the sun, but forgetting that the End is real, and that there is something far, far more exciting that just screams for attention: Jesus WILL return again!
I'm far more excited about the temporary and little finales in my own life (which is by no means unimportant!) than about the One that matters most to me. Isn't that odd?
Al well, so much for an epiphany on what MR means to me...
But seriously...
God,
I pray that I will never get tired of Your Story, because it is really the most exciting story there ever is to tell, and I thank you that I'm a part of it, the good part :-)
I pray that your Spirit helps me to remember that Jesus will come, and to prepare for it, above every other thing else.
MINDEF: short for Ministry of Defence, which is the government entity representing our armed forces.
1) Pure laziness
2) Work seems to have a way of exploding (in terms of load) in your face after a long absence, despite best prior efforts to contain it
3) Due to my mis-adventures on the last day of ICT as explained in the previous post, I'm on a course of painkillers that seems to kill not just pain, but brain as well. Gives me legitimate excuse for 1), ha!
But I'm back now!
As promised, I'll be sharing some reflections from a very eventful ICT that passed me by.
This particular ICT is probably going to be the SECOND most exciting ICT I'll have. The reason is that I'll "MR" during the NEXT one!
What on earth (in Singapore only, I think!) is "MR" huh?
Over here in Singapore, we simply ADORE acromyms, especially short, non-descriptive ones which leaves everyone else guessing, ha!.
"MR", in this case, stands for "MINDEF Reserves", and...
Great, have to explain MINDEF as well...
Basically guys over here need to serve a total of 10 year of ICT before they are put in "MINDEF Reserves" which has the following implications:
1) No more IPPT => no more potential RT, yay :-)
2) No more getting disrupted in the year. I have mixed feelings about this one, since I really enjoyed these breaks.
3) We are (supposingly) "in reserve" and ready for war anytime it happens?!
The excitement!
There was plenty of buzz among us during this ICT!
All of them focussed on what will happen next year, when the End finally comes.
Some had questions, others lament that they will miss out, coz they don't yet have enough years to fulfill the requirements for MRing. Many looked forward to the life without IPPT, though there's not a few who do not lament at the loss of an opportunity for a quick few hundered dollars for the year (being fit does have its rewards!).
We also talked a lot about how we were going to prepare for the Event. Those who knew they were going to need make-up training to fulfill the MR requirements were suddenly very enthusiastic about going for one more ICT this year, though I never did know that they were THAT excited about ICT in all our previous years! We talked about how the parade was going to be like, how we should have a "finale" night of mashmallow bonfire out in the field, and other ways to "end with a bang".
The MR that I really should be excited about!
As I joined my platoon mates in all the excitement, I realised something. There are times like this in our lives when we get all excited about "the End". It can be something like this, or the finals of the World Cup, or even just the last episode of a really exciting/melodramatic serial!
Yet strangely, I don't often share the same degree of excitement for the "MR" that really matters most: the Messiah's Return.
You see the problem with a short, non-descriptive acronym? ;-)
Why the sudden thought?
I guess our recent studies in PUNJ on the book of Luke have struck me a lot. Here is perhaps the most exciting Jewish drama serial on play every week, and we are almost at the conclusion of it!
No story will ever get more exciting than this one: the story of Jesus' life, his teachings on the Kingdom of God, and his mission to save the lost by his death on the cross, and his complete victory in his resurrection about 2000 years ago.
I think sometimes, because our familiarity with the Gospel story, we REALLY lose the wonder of it, as if we've already known it well enough, and it starts to bore us. Even a soapy drama serial (yes, I'm a sucker for these!) moves and excites me more!
I'm really thankful for our studies in Luke, which has surprised me by how refreshing this familiar story is. Week after week, I come to face to face with the same challenge, in different aspects of my life: Who is Jesus REALLY to me? What does following Him mean for me?
And this story is NOT over yet. The End is yet to come. One day Jesus will return to judge how we've responded to Him. We don't know when, but it is certain, and we need to respond to this, either in faith or in rejection. Even treating it like it's not real is not going to stop it from coming (18:20-37).
Yet for knowing all these, I sometimes lapse into complacency and identify more with the people in Noah and Lot's time (18:26-29), being more excited about a lot of things under the sun, but forgetting that the End is real, and that there is something far, far more exciting that just screams for attention: Jesus WILL return again!
I'm far more excited about the temporary and little finales in my own life (which is by no means unimportant!) than about the One that matters most to me. Isn't that odd?
Al well, so much for an epiphany on what MR means to me...
But seriously...
God,
I pray that I will never get tired of Your Story, because it is really the most exciting story there ever is to tell, and I thank you that I'm a part of it, the good part :-)
I pray that your Spirit helps me to remember that Jesus will come, and to prepare for it, above every other thing else.
MINDEF: short for Ministry of Defence, which is the government entity representing our armed forces.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Sharings from ICT 1: candidate for Darwin's Award?
Just came back from 2 weeks of ICT today only, which explains my long absence from here. This particular ICT was VERY eventful. Will share more about this in the subsequent posts.
The first sharing is in fact the latest event that happened. Decided to share it first because it is the reason why I will probably have lots of time to do the other sharings:
Did something SO stupid on Thursday afternoon that I would probably qualify for a Darwin's Award.
We were supposed to take our IPPT. I've already passed the test for this year, so was not too keen to do this, but according to "rules and regulations", I still need to take the test, coz my army unit requires that we still take this, in case we are able to better our previous attempts and contribute to this thing called the "Best Unit Award".
Was planning to just take the static station and skip the 2.4km run, which means I would be considered to have failed this test, but since I've already passed prior to this, that result will be taken as my actual result. So, no pressure here.
Ran through the static stations. My results were good enough to get a Silver award if I did well enough in the run. Eventually decided to run, against my original plan, coz:
1) Pure ego
2) Wanted to encourage some of my platoon mates to try to pass theirs
3) There is a extra $100 in the taking if I do get silver.
4) I promised that if I do get silver, I'll "chia" my platoon mates to lunch, but more
So egged on by a series of mixed motivations, I went for the run.
The disaster happened during the last stretch of the run. Decided, again probably due to pure ego to invoke the "special ability" of the IPPT Runner (think computer RPG game!):
Felt something snap in my right leg during the last 20m of the dash. Oops :-( :-(
Thought it was alright after some stretching. Was still ok (ached quite a bit) when I went to PUNJ CLOBS when I booked out, which was btw, a great time of study and fellowship, but I digress...
The pain became more serious on Friday. Definitely not a normal muscle strain, coz I'm feeling muscle strain in the LEFT leg, and the right one definitely doesn't feel the same thing.
Went to the docs for a check-up. Most likely a muscle tear :(
Why is this disastrous?
1) Am now averaging a walking speed of about 1 step every 3s on painkillers :-(
2) Missed 1-2-1 with Patrick this evening :-(
3) I'll miss Class ARPC tomorrow morning :-(
4) I'll miss Chris' Commissioning parade tomorrow :-(
5) I'll most probably miss PUNJ's first ever (and probably last ever) "Arena" event on Sunday :( :( :(
So what was supposing to be a relaxed afternoon became a disastrous outing on the tracks, all because of stupid pride, and with the above disastrous consequences :(
Idiot! If my legs weren't injured now, I'll kick myself in the butt for this!
Times like this really makes me wish that Jesus would come soon and we'll get the "resurrection body" that He promised (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). But that is not yet. For now, He has given us the first installment of it:
God has given us the mind of Christ, that we may know Him and salvation that we need and He brings. It also helps us to live the difficult life of waiting for Him to come again and make all things right again, as we struggle with the fallenness of this world and our own fallenness as well, which includes the physical aspect.
Yup, there is real hope for the Christian who battles the same ravages of the world which others struggle with as well, coz Jesus himself received His resurrection body 1974 years ago, and he promised that one day we share the same privilege as Him.
ICT: Stands for In-Camp Training. Guys in Singapore have to do this about once every year for about 2 weeks each time after they have served in the Singapore Armed Forces for an obligatory 2 years. For me personally, this event translates to "annual compulsory platoon outing", coz I really enjoy catching up with my platoon mates :)
IPPT: Stands for Individual Physical Proficiency Test. Guys have to take this test once every year to prove that they are still fit to "serve the nation". Supposingly the motivation for this is to encourage guys to excercise regularly to maintain their fitness. The test comprises various static stations (like Shuttle Run, Pull Up) and a 2.4km run.
"Chia": Hokkien dialect slang. Means to "give a treat".
The first sharing is in fact the latest event that happened. Decided to share it first because it is the reason why I will probably have lots of time to do the other sharings:
Did something SO stupid on Thursday afternoon that I would probably qualify for a Darwin's Award.
We were supposed to take our IPPT. I've already passed the test for this year, so was not too keen to do this, but according to "rules and regulations", I still need to take the test, coz my army unit requires that we still take this, in case we are able to better our previous attempts and contribute to this thing called the "Best Unit Award".
Was planning to just take the static station and skip the 2.4km run, which means I would be considered to have failed this test, but since I've already passed prior to this, that result will be taken as my actual result. So, no pressure here.
Ran through the static stations. My results were good enough to get a Silver award if I did well enough in the run. Eventually decided to run, against my original plan, coz:
1) Pure ego
2) Wanted to encourage some of my platoon mates to try to pass theirs
3) There is a extra $100 in the taking if I do get silver.
4) I promised that if I do get silver, I'll "chia" my platoon mates to lunch, but more
So egged on by a series of mixed motivations, I went for the run.
The disaster happened during the last stretch of the run. Decided, again probably due to pure ego to invoke the "special ability" of the IPPT Runner (think computer RPG game!):
Ability: Risk injury to 30-year old legs which has not run for like weeks for +3 speed. |
Felt something snap in my right leg during the last 20m of the dash. Oops :-( :-(
Thought it was alright after some stretching. Was still ok (ached quite a bit) when I went to PUNJ CLOBS when I booked out, which was btw, a great time of study and fellowship, but I digress...
The pain became more serious on Friday. Definitely not a normal muscle strain, coz I'm feeling muscle strain in the LEFT leg, and the right one definitely doesn't feel the same thing.
Went to the docs for a check-up. Most likely a muscle tear :(
Result of invoking special ability: 30-year-old legs received serious injury. Movement=0 for at least 3 days. |
Why is this disastrous?
1) Am now averaging a walking speed of about 1 step every 3s on painkillers :-(
2) Missed 1-2-1 with Patrick this evening :-(
3) I'll miss Class ARPC tomorrow morning :-(
4) I'll miss Chris' Commissioning parade tomorrow :-(
5) I'll most probably miss PUNJ's first ever (and probably last ever) "Arena" event on Sunday :( :( :(
So what was supposing to be a relaxed afternoon became a disastrous outing on the tracks, all because of stupid pride, and with the above disastrous consequences :(
Idiot! If my legs weren't injured now, I'll kick myself in the butt for this!
Times like this really makes me wish that Jesus would come soon and we'll get the "resurrection body" that He promised (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). But that is not yet. For now, He has given us the first installment of it:
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?". But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) |
God has given us the mind of Christ, that we may know Him and salvation that we need and He brings. It also helps us to live the difficult life of waiting for Him to come again and make all things right again, as we struggle with the fallenness of this world and our own fallenness as well, which includes the physical aspect.
Yup, there is real hope for the Christian who battles the same ravages of the world which others struggle with as well, coz Jesus himself received His resurrection body 1974 years ago, and he promised that one day we share the same privilege as Him.
ICT: Stands for In-Camp Training. Guys in Singapore have to do this about once every year for about 2 weeks each time after they have served in the Singapore Armed Forces for an obligatory 2 years. For me personally, this event translates to "annual compulsory platoon outing", coz I really enjoy catching up with my platoon mates :)
IPPT: Stands for Individual Physical Proficiency Test. Guys have to take this test once every year to prove that they are still fit to "serve the nation". Supposingly the motivation for this is to encourage guys to excercise regularly to maintain their fitness. The test comprises various static stations (like Shuttle Run, Pull Up) and a 2.4km run.
"Chia": Hokkien dialect slang. Means to "give a treat".
Monday, February 19, 2007
To a friend (perhaps more than one)...
You know, you remind me SO much of myself in the past! Talking to you just brings back the memories.
Your accusations may be just, and they also stung:
"You've already gotten your As, while I'm struggling right now, and you're not me, so a high-flyer like you won't understand what it means to struggle".
True, I'm not you.
But that doesn't mean that I don't know the same fears of failure, and forever "trying to keep up with the geniuses around me", or forever being "not good enough".
I was not brilliant to being with. What I've achieved, I've done so at great cost, sacrificing all the better things in life: friendship, family, love, life and (as I came to know later) ultimately, God. I held on because that's the only thing I could ever find self-worth. Without it, I thought I was nothing.
I've "been there and done that", and it's completely, utterly empty, and you're going down that same path that I've trod once. I wished that were some way you would open your eyes and see that...
Jesus offers you a different way:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)"
Aren't you tired of the ceaseless striving? Why won't you come to Him for rest?
I know also of the anger at God that you feel. The frustration that shouts in the slience of the night:
"God, why have you made me so?! Why all these?! How can I forgive You?!".
No, I do not know exactly what is it that you've experienced that has caused you to harbour such great hatred and distrust. But yes, through different experiences, I too have once lashed at Him before. Perhaps to say that "I don't think I'm good enough for Him" is just an excuse for saying "I can't really forgive Him, because of what He has put me through"?
But you know what? That was precisely what Jesus felt as well when he was on the cross, forsaken by God, and in anguish, He cried out:
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?!". (Matthew 27:46)
He understood what God-forsaken is like, like what you felt, because He was there on the cross.
More importantly, He also showed us WHY He was God-forsaken: He hung on the cross for US, because all of us have forsaken God in the first place.
It's not God that needs forgiveness. It's US. The question is not how we can forgive God for forsaking us. What good is a God that needs forgiveness?
The question is: how can God forgive us when we've forsaken Him?
Jesus showed us HOW: That was why He was there on the cross in our place, so that we can be reconciled to Him. Here's what God says about this:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless (to do anything about our God-forsakenness), Christ died for the ungodly (people who forsook God). Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners (God's enemies), Christ died for us.
We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we've now received reconciliation.
(Romans 5:6-8,11)
Perhaps all that you have been through is a wake-up bell that shouts to you that something is terribly wrong with us and the world we live in, and we need help that only God can give?
I wished there were some way you can see this, and know God for who He is: the God who wants you back badly enough to let His Son die for you.
God,
I know of only ONE way that my friend can see all these.
I pray that your Spirit open his eyes, that he can know You truly and Your love for Him, that he may come back to You, like a lost sheep to his Shepherd.
Amen.
Your accusations may be just, and they also stung:
"You've already gotten your As, while I'm struggling right now, and you're not me, so a high-flyer like you won't understand what it means to struggle".
True, I'm not you.
But that doesn't mean that I don't know the same fears of failure, and forever "trying to keep up with the geniuses around me", or forever being "not good enough".
I was not brilliant to being with. What I've achieved, I've done so at great cost, sacrificing all the better things in life: friendship, family, love, life and (as I came to know later) ultimately, God. I held on because that's the only thing I could ever find self-worth. Without it, I thought I was nothing.
I've "been there and done that", and it's completely, utterly empty, and you're going down that same path that I've trod once. I wished that were some way you would open your eyes and see that...
Jesus offers you a different way:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)"
Aren't you tired of the ceaseless striving? Why won't you come to Him for rest?
I know also of the anger at God that you feel. The frustration that shouts in the slience of the night:
"God, why have you made me so?! Why all these?! How can I forgive You?!".
No, I do not know exactly what is it that you've experienced that has caused you to harbour such great hatred and distrust. But yes, through different experiences, I too have once lashed at Him before. Perhaps to say that "I don't think I'm good enough for Him" is just an excuse for saying "I can't really forgive Him, because of what He has put me through"?
But you know what? That was precisely what Jesus felt as well when he was on the cross, forsaken by God, and in anguish, He cried out:
"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?!". (Matthew 27:46)
He understood what God-forsaken is like, like what you felt, because He was there on the cross.
More importantly, He also showed us WHY He was God-forsaken: He hung on the cross for US, because all of us have forsaken God in the first place.
It's not God that needs forgiveness. It's US. The question is not how we can forgive God for forsaking us. What good is a God that needs forgiveness?
The question is: how can God forgive us when we've forsaken Him?
Jesus showed us HOW: That was why He was there on the cross in our place, so that we can be reconciled to Him. Here's what God says about this:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless (to do anything about our God-forsakenness), Christ died for the ungodly (people who forsook God). Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners (God's enemies), Christ died for us.
We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we've now received reconciliation.
(Romans 5:6-8,11)
Perhaps all that you have been through is a wake-up bell that shouts to you that something is terribly wrong with us and the world we live in, and we need help that only God can give?
I wished there were some way you can see this, and know God for who He is: the God who wants you back badly enough to let His Son die for you.
God,
I know of only ONE way that my friend can see all these.
I pray that your Spirit open his eyes, that he can know You truly and Your love for Him, that he may come back to You, like a lost sheep to his Shepherd.
Amen.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
The missing fruit of self-control
Met up with Patrick last night for our first official 1-2-1 :-)
We started pretty late (around 8:30), and he was quite tired after a long day at school and work with Animal Welfare Group.
Decided that we should skip what we wanted to do (overview of Titus), and just share and pray instead, since we've both not seen each other for a long time (been away from PUNJ for 2 weeks), and also so that he can go back early and rest.
Once again, I got carried away sharing and we ended up leaving only at around 10:15! He was obviously more tired by then!
The signs are disturbing. It is NOT the only instance that something like this has happened. It's happens to me whenever I get a chance to share something. Happens at CLOBS, at DG, at work, and now it's creeping into my 1-2-1 as well :-(
Many brothers and sisters have tried in different ways to remind, gently rebuke, encourage me in this, but seems like I'm just not taking it in :(
Why is this important?
1. It affects me a lot.
2. It clearly affects others a lot (even if they are too polite to tell me).
3. Most importantly, God Himself has a LOT to say about "self-control" to say:
2 points here:
1. Self-control is one of the marks of the Christian.
2. The lack of self-control is a symptom of being of the world.
Patrick, I'm so sorry about last night.
Please keep me accountable for this. God has given you full authority to rebuke a brother of his fault, no matter who he is. That's exactly what Paul did in love to Peter in Galatians 2:11-15, when he saw that Peter was not "acting in line with the gospel" (v14).
God, help me to repent of this bad habit by taking practical and conscious effort, not just because it makes me a better person (because everyone agrees that self-control is good, Christian or not),
not just because it affects others (because everyone agrees that being considerate is good, Christian or not),
but most importantly, because it affects what others think of YOU.
Help me not to turn a deaf ear to the counsel of my brothers and sisters, and most importantly to You.
Amen.
Footnotes:
PUNJ: The young adults cell group of ARPC. Stands for Poly, Uni, NS, JC, but generally anyone in this age group (~17-26) welcomed. And yes, again, it's open to YOU. Drop me a comment if you wanna come and look-see-look-see ;)
Back
We started pretty late (around 8:30), and he was quite tired after a long day at school and work with Animal Welfare Group.
Decided that we should skip what we wanted to do (overview of Titus), and just share and pray instead, since we've both not seen each other for a long time (been away from PUNJ for 2 weeks), and also so that he can go back early and rest.
Once again, I got carried away sharing and we ended up leaving only at around 10:15! He was obviously more tired by then!
The signs are disturbing. It is NOT the only instance that something like this has happened. It's happens to me whenever I get a chance to share something. Happens at CLOBS, at DG, at work, and now it's creeping into my 1-2-1 as well :-(
Many brothers and sisters have tried in different ways to remind, gently rebuke, encourage me in this, but seems like I'm just not taking it in :(
Why is this important?
1. It affects me a lot.
2. It clearly affects others a lot (even if they are too polite to tell me).
3. Most importantly, God Himself has a LOT to say about "self-control" to say:
But the fruit of the Spirit (as opposed to the desires of the sinful nature) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:22-25) But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 In the short book of Titus (which I'm doing with Patrick) alone, "self-control" appears 5 times (1:8, 2:2, 2:5, 2:6, 2:12), and applies to everyone, from leaders to older men, younger men, older women, younger women. |
2 points here:
1. Self-control is one of the marks of the Christian.
2. The lack of self-control is a symptom of being of the world.
Patrick, I'm so sorry about last night.
Please keep me accountable for this. God has given you full authority to rebuke a brother of his fault, no matter who he is. That's exactly what Paul did in love to Peter in Galatians 2:11-15, when he saw that Peter was not "acting in line with the gospel" (v14).
God, help me to repent of this bad habit by taking practical and conscious effort, not just because it makes me a better person (because everyone agrees that self-control is good, Christian or not),
not just because it affects others (because everyone agrees that being considerate is good, Christian or not),
but most importantly, because it affects what others think of YOU.
Help me not to turn a deaf ear to the counsel of my brothers and sisters, and most importantly to You.
Amen.
Footnotes:
PUNJ: The young adults cell group of ARPC. Stands for Poly, Uni, NS, JC, but generally anyone in this age group (~17-26) welcomed. And yes, again, it's open to YOU. Drop me a comment if you wanna come and look-see-look-see ;)
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Friday, February 09, 2007
Identity Lost and Found
On off today for the disastrous weekend at Stagmont camp 2 weeks back. Yes, you do get compensated for working during the weekend, even if you fumbled....
Thought it would be a great day of rest and spending time reading something in a langugage other than Java, PHP, ASP and HTML. Turned out to be a rather "exciting" day.
Morning went back to my al mata to pick up the Hwa Chong uniform from my mother's friend's son for tomorrow's "Back to School" party :-).
That's one of the advantages of having a mother who's some sort of a celebrity in the neighbourhood (come to Clementi, ask any auntie around about another auntie who used to sell "Sun Kuay". That's her).
Was shocked to see a security post at the gate!!
Had quite a bit a trouble explaining that "I am an ex-student going in to pick up school uniform from a student in the school".
Can understand why the uncle in blue looked at me skeptically. I mean, come on, how much more creative can you get than that to attempt to breach the security of a school, right? ;-)
After consulting with some "higher authority" (probably another uncle in blue), he took down my IC particulars and I was clear.
Man, never thought it would be so hard to visit my al mata!
Picked up the uniforms and headed to church office next.
Decided to spend the morning and early afternoon there doing up the Luke study for Sunday. This Sunday's passage is on Luke 12:13-13:21, which was to have a uniquely personal application for me later...
Disaster struck around 11:30am in the form of a question, when I was clearing my wallet of junk : ah... why is my IC not in my wallet?! I was officially "unacceptable" like Tom Hank's character (can't remember the name) in "the Terminal".
Identity lost :(
Panic struck next.
Poured out every single thing I had on me, and nope, no sign of anything pink :( :(
Worry struck next, in the form of all the "what if" scenarios, none of them pleasant :( :( :(
Called the police and Immigration and Checkpoints authority to report the loss.
Prayer struck next. Prayed that I will find it soon. Decided to finish up with my study first, and then start the "re-tracing".
Worry and prayer started playing ping-pong. Intermittent distraction by the loss and praying for the distractions to stop. Can't concentrate at all :( :( :(
GOD struck next. Came to this part of the passage:
This passage is about how Jesus' disciples should not worry about life because:
1. God values us much more than the most insignificant birds or the grasses, which he takes care.
2. Our worrying simply doesn't help at all!
3. Worrying is a sign of that they are like the greedy rich fool in 12:13-21: living without God. Greed and Worry are twin brothers.
4. God knows what we need.
5. He has shown 1) by giving us His kingdom.
In view of the above, we should seek His Kingdom first and be generous, because what will He not give us and why will he not take care of us, when He's given us the most important thing?
The full force of the above applications struck Worry. Felt instantly relieved, and much assured that God knows, is in control, and cares!
Prayer finally won the match :):):)
Did my re-tracing back to Hwa Chong in the afternoon after that. Last hope was the Administration Office's Lost and Found department.
Found!! A kind student picked it up. The staff was JUST about to send it to my place by mail.
Identity recovered :)
Thank God for the personal CLOBS :)
Footnotes:
Languages largely incomprehensible to most people, makes some sense to the IT geeks, and perfect sense to computers. Back
Curry puff-shaped "kuay" with turnip filling. Quite yummy, especially my mum's. Unfortunately the art is likely to be lost by this generation. Back
Pink card with your photo on it. You need this to prove that you are a Singaporean (even if you speak Singlish very well!). Back
Acronym unique to my church. Short for
"Centralized Leaders Of Bible Study". A session where the leaders of bible studies meet up before the actual study to sort out our OWN heresies first before we teach.
Thought it would be a great day of rest and spending time reading something in a langugage other than Java, PHP, ASP and HTML. Turned out to be a rather "exciting" day.
Morning went back to my al mata to pick up the Hwa Chong uniform from my mother's friend's son for tomorrow's "Back to School" party :-).
That's one of the advantages of having a mother who's some sort of a celebrity in the neighbourhood (come to Clementi, ask any auntie around about another auntie who used to sell "Sun Kuay". That's her).
Was shocked to see a security post at the gate!!
Had quite a bit a trouble explaining that "I am an ex-student going in to pick up school uniform from a student in the school".
Can understand why the uncle in blue looked at me skeptically. I mean, come on, how much more creative can you get than that to attempt to breach the security of a school, right? ;-)
After consulting with some "higher authority" (probably another uncle in blue), he took down my IC particulars and I was clear.
Man, never thought it would be so hard to visit my al mata!
Picked up the uniforms and headed to church office next.
Decided to spend the morning and early afternoon there doing up the Luke study for Sunday. This Sunday's passage is on Luke 12:13-13:21, which was to have a uniquely personal application for me later...
Disaster struck around 11:30am in the form of a question, when I was clearing my wallet of junk : ah... why is my IC not in my wallet?! I was officially "unacceptable" like Tom Hank's character (can't remember the name) in "the Terminal".
Identity lost :(
Panic struck next.
Poured out every single thing I had on me, and nope, no sign of anything pink :( :(
Worry struck next, in the form of all the "what if" scenarios, none of them pleasant :( :( :(
Called the police and Immigration and Checkpoints authority to report the loss.
Prayer struck next. Prayed that I will find it soon. Decided to finish up with my study first, and then start the "re-tracing".
Worry and prayer started playing ping-pong. Intermittent distraction by the loss and praying for the distractions to stop. Can't concentrate at all :( :( :(
GOD struck next. Came to this part of the passage:
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:22-32) |
This passage is about how Jesus' disciples should not worry about life because:
1. God values us much more than the most insignificant birds or the grasses, which he takes care.
2. Our worrying simply doesn't help at all!
3. Worrying is a sign of that they are like the greedy rich fool in 12:13-21: living without God. Greed and Worry are twin brothers.
4. God knows what we need.
5. He has shown 1) by giving us His kingdom.
In view of the above, we should seek His Kingdom first and be generous, because what will He not give us and why will he not take care of us, when He's given us the most important thing?
The full force of the above applications struck Worry. Felt instantly relieved, and much assured that God knows, is in control, and cares!
Prayer finally won the match :):):)
Did my re-tracing back to Hwa Chong in the afternoon after that. Last hope was the Administration Office's Lost and Found department.
Found!! A kind student picked it up. The staff was JUST about to send it to my place by mail.
Identity recovered :)
Thank God for the personal CLOBS :)
Footnotes:
Languages largely incomprehensible to most people, makes some sense to the IT geeks, and perfect sense to computers. Back
Curry puff-shaped "kuay" with turnip filling. Quite yummy, especially my mum's. Unfortunately the art is likely to be lost by this generation. Back
Pink card with your photo on it. You need this to prove that you are a Singaporean (even if you speak Singlish very well!). Back
Acronym unique to my church. Short for
"Centralized Leaders Of Bible Study". A session where the leaders of bible studies meet up before the actual study to sort out our OWN heresies first before we teach.
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