Just growing...

Today's the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, and it marks the end of Chinese New Year/Spring celebrations... which equates to no more visiting and hong pau's... oh well ;p There's always next year right? ;) hehe...

Been thinking about these 15 days of 'celebrations'. Nothing really special about them. Just that these days have a natural classification--"the 15 days of the New Year". Easier to remember them this way. And honestly, I encountered with "blogger's block" after last Wednesday. Yes, I know this sounds terribly silly to have "blogger's block" but I just did. I just sat there in front of the white screen and thought that I knew what I wanted to share with everyone. But no satisfactory words came. Hehe... oh well...

So, a whole load of tiny snippets in my life have just been accumulating this past week. But one question remained after it all... what kinda Christian am I? What kinda Christian will I be the next CNY?

Why this question? Well for one, I sat in at a Sunday School class (Kindergarten level) last sunday to see if this ministry was one where I could serve in. (The Sunday School Superintendant approached me and asked me to give it a go) And I must say I enjoyed myself pretty much :) The kids were really adorable and one word comes into mind--innocent. Yes, at that level, they are largely innocent of the world around them. From there, 1 Cor 14:20 came into mind...

"Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature."

1 Cor 14:20.

In the context of 1 Cor 14 and the issue about tongues in the church, this verse was a real standout. In essence, Paul went down to the crux of his faith, what occupied his thoughts and motivated his actions-- The gospel. This, he explained in Chapt 15. And prior to 1 Cor 14, Paul talked about the greatest way in exercising one's gifts in Ministry... Love. (1 Cor 13). So, from 1 Cor 14:20, Paul exorted us to be mature in our thinking, in our understanding of the gospel. Also, he wants us to be infants, not children mind you, infants in evil...

Therefore, I was left thinking again... how am I as a Christian? Am I mature in my understanding of the gospel and do I strive to be like an infant in the area of evil?

I think that I am maturing, (note the continuous tense) in my understanding of the gospel. And I really thank God for all the people He placed in my life to sharpen my understanding. Special thanks to those who were guiding me 2 years ago, a time period that I can say was life-changing... you know who you are, thank you for being faitful in passing the good deposit to me :) Personally, I have A LOT MORE to learn and A LONG, LONG, LONG way more to go in this area of being mature in my thinking and actions but I know that my Lord is faithful, and that He'll lead me all the way.

Infants in evil... an even LONGER way to go. In this area however, I once again thank those who I hold myself accountable to and in giving me firm and wise advise in the different areas of life.

So, how am I as a Christian? I'm a growing one. Not grown, not fully mature... just growing. Also, I pray that I'll also be able to help others grow in their walk with Christ. In the meantime though, as I eagerly wait 30 days for Good Friday, 222 days for my 23rd birthday, 305 days for Christmas, 312 days for 2006, 352 days for CNY and an unknown number of day for the coming of Christ, I wanna grow... for I'm just growing and glowing for my Lord :)

Servanthood

"For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake."

2 Cor 4:5

As many of my friends have already mentioned in their blogs, this should be the goal for ministry in the Church :)

When I was thinking about the above verse, what moved me more wasn't the first part, but more of the second.. "your servants for Jesus' sake".

Paul the apostle, this great man of God, didn't consider himself superior to both the Jews and the Gentiles. This man, for the sake of the gospel, identified himself as a servant towards the Corinthians. There was none of that, "Hey, I'm the one slogging in the sun out here, could you hurry up with the cup of water already!". He was dedicated to sharing and proclaiming the gospel to all he met... with words, with sweat and blood, with love. Here was a man who didn't just obey Christ for the sake of being faithful... he loved Christ with ALL his heart. And thus, he loved the people with ALL his heart as well. He spared no effort in encouraging his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. As John Chapman taught from Acts 20:17-25, here was Paul's efforts in his Ministry...

"with tears and with trials that happened to me" (v.19)

"teaching you in public and from house to house" (v. 20)

"testifying both to Jews and to Greeks" (v. 21)

"for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears" (v. 31)

"these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me" (v. 34)

Paul's strength didn't come from himself. Christ was his all in all. Paul's vision was aimed upwards, and as he mentioned in v. 24, "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

"the gospel of the grace of God". This wonderful grace of God, made evident through the life of Christ our Lord... this King himself taught us to wash each other's feet, to serve one another as children of God.

Ministry ain't about leadership, its about proclaiming Christ and being a servant to your fellow Christians.

In my head now is the lyrics of one of my favourite hymns, Servant King. Will end off by typing the lyrics below. May we recognise the wonderful grace of God in our lives, and may we seek to not only constantly obey Him, but to constantly love Him and others as well.

The Servant King

From heaven you came, helpless babe

Entered our world, your glory veiled

Not to be served, but to serve

And give your life that we might live

chorus:

This is our God, the servant King

He calls us now to follow Him

To bring our lives as a daily offering

Of worship to, the servant King

There in the garden of tears

My heavy load He chose to bear

His heart with sorrow was torn

"Yet not my will, but Yours", He said

Come see His hands and His feet

The scars that speak of sacrifice

Hands that flung stars into space

To cruel nails surrendered

So let us learn how to serve

And in our lives enthrone Him

Each other's needs to prefer

For it is Christ we're serving

My tummy's favourite days

Will take a break from sharing about what I've learnt from MM and share from the first few days of CNY (much like everyone else... how boring can I get? :p)

Anyway, due to my stupidity in not bringing a book and the fact that both my grandma's homes "magically" turn into gambling dens every Lunar New Year (the crackling of majong tiles and the shuffling of poker cards is still in my head), I was kinda left with wondering what to do with my time...

In the end, this is what I did for both days of CNY:

(i) watched cheesy and terribley dubbed afternoon Hong Kong movies on Channel 5 & 8 (imagine Jet Li speaking American! Sheesh!)

(ii) imagined myself to be sword-swinging Aragon and bow-wielding Legolas fighting off hideous orcs, trolls, the Witch King and Shelob in Lord Of the Rings:Return of the King on the X-Box (the most enjoyable activity this CNY actually! :p)

(iii) put on fat from all the pineapple tarts, bak kua, kweh bulu, cashewnut cookies, cock-zai, etc.... (no popcorn to accompany the cheesy matinees!)

(iv) collected ang pows (the cantonese have the tradition of giving them in pairs *wink*)

(v) pretended to be a big, bad monster trying to invade my young cousin's "fortress" of pillows and bolsters (I pity the beds...)

Lesson I've learnt from all of this? Bring a good book! And sadly, unless God-willing, CNY might not be the best time, in my extended family, to try to share the gospel as children are trying to "invest" their ang pows in tiles and cards; all in the effort to gain more dividends. Parents then are trying to cover the "losses" of giving out ang pows.

So far, I think my tummy enjoyed CNY the most ;p (not to mention that its growing bigger!)

At the end of the day though.......



I need to start running again... (running kaki anyone?)

Speak the Truth plainly

John Chapman gave this very interesting story during his talk... (i'll try to be as accurate in my recall and interpretation as possible... and if I falter, please correct me. For best accuracy, go buy the cd-recording of his talks :p)

"There was once this evangelistic meeting I (John Chapman) went to and the pastor told me, 'Chappo, we have 25 counsellors ready for all the converts tonight' When I heard that,I was pressured. I mean... Old Bill (Billy Graham) averaged a 10% conversion rate and there were a lot less than 250 people in the room. How was I supposed to live up to that?!"

When I heard that story, I silently nodded. This was so true... we live in a world where results matter the most. Heard the phrase, "By hook or by crook, I want it done"? And I had to admit to myself that this mentality has crept into the Church... oh dear...

Which brings me to the second lesson I learnt...

"But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God"

2 Cor 4:2 [ESV]

This verse reminded me of what was REALLY important in Christian ministry-- Speak the truth plainly.

Do I practice cunning ways and tamper with God's word? Unfortunately... I think I have. You know how music soothes the soul? Well, it's true as psychologically speaking, music reaches out to Man on a sub-conscience level. And in a hands of a master, one could easily hypnotise a group to accept an ideology, simply by having conducive music in the background and communicating that ideology in a soothing "DJ" sorta voice. Emotions can be controlled by the person who has power over what is being played over the PA. And I have been guilty of doing that. (not that I have a "DJ" sorta voice :p)

However, this is not to say that music should be banned. Rather, music should be used to help propel the message of the gospel even further and to make it even clearer to all. The problem however, is that music can and has been used instead to cloud people's judgement on what the gospel really means. Intentionally or unintentionally.

John Chapman shared another story about how John Stott was preaching in India and in the middle of his preaching, he could feel that there was an emotional wave flowing through all who were present and listening. Stott then stopped, told everyone to stand up and stretch awhile before he continued.

John Stott broke the 'moment'. This can be described as one of the 'deadly sins' of a public speaker--to break the 'moment'. However, John Stott did it. Why? Cos he didn't want people to accept and understand the gospel on the backdrop of an emotional high. It wouldn't do them any good.

I feel that this all boils down to the fact that we all get so caught up and worried about HOW TO communicate the gospel that we don't realise that the power of the gospel, is the GOSPEL ITSELF. By trying so hard in fine-tuning the vehicle that is gonna carry the gospel, we fail to focus our attentions to fine-tuning our UNDERSTANDING OF the gospel. And in doing so, harsh as it may sound, we have already turned to disgraceful and underhanded ways...

I personally have tampered with God's Word by thinking that if the gospel is not presented in so and so a way, nobody will pay it any attention. This here is the foolishness of Man's thinking: that his wisdom is greater than God's wisdom-the gospel. What's more, we are not just told to merely avoid or stop all these disgraceful and underhand ways... we're told to renounce it.

Lesson I learnt? Strive to speak the truth (the gospel) plainly and clearly.

Now on a lighter note, please go and check out Yifen's blog. She has provided a real neat summary of some things she has learnt at MM, and I must say this... She is A LOT BETTER at summarizing things than me! :p

One more thing though... I've tried to be as clear as I can in as short a blog as possible and I really would tresure any feedback on my blogs ;)

Anyway, this here's another story that I'll leave everyone with and its about another pastor saying these words to John Chapman before he was to speak to his congregation...

"Preach Jesus Chappo, Preach Jesus."

Don't lose heart

Life has kinda gone full circle in a sense. I wrote my first blog on last year's Project Timothy Bible Conference and now, I'm writing this entry, 45 posts and 11,000 words later, on this year's Project Timothy Ministry Matters Bible Conference ;)

It's interesting to note that the passage that encouraged and taught me the last Bible Conference was from 1 Cor. This time, one of the the passages was from 2 Cor ;p And it was taught by a very good and faithful Bible teacher/preacher, John Chapman. God sure has an interesting sense of humour ;)

In the days to come, I'll slowly outline the lessons I've learnt from the conference in the hope that it'll encourage anyone who reads this blog. For the first lesson though...

"Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lost heart."

2 Cor 4:1 [ESV]

This verse came in at a very, very apt time for me. Discouragement in service is an easy thing to fall into. Personally, there were times where I felt alone. Alone in minisry, in service, in life. "Why, why, why?!" was the repeated question I shot up to God. However, God in all his grace and mercy, kept me sane through His Word and godly friends checking up on me. Despite all this, I guess deep down, I still felt lonely. And I definitely was losing steam in serving...

When John Chapman shared from this verse, I just sat in my seat stunned and speechless. I stared at my Bible, at this verse for a fairly long period of time. Though I was listening to what Chappo (his nickname) was preaching, this verse kept drumming through my mind... "having this minstry by the mercy of God..."

Mercy... the fact that I'm saved, that God chose me to me his servant, his instrument... thank you Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you that despite all my terrible wrongdoings, my sin, my evil, you chose me. Christ, in all his goodness, WANTS to involve me in his ministry! Hallelujah! What a miracle! Why? To me, there's no logical explanation. I mean, God can do his work himself--he's powerful enough. But yet, He chose me to get involved. And Paul the apostle says there in that verse... "Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we DO NOT LOST HEART" Yes, though its only human to feel down and in the dumps, but we do not lost heart cos God saved us. God's gospel redeemed us from the pit of sin and death. And in the light of all that, we... DO NOT LOST HEART. (this set against the backdrop that Paul had every reason possible to lose heart... to know what he went through, read this).

God has given me this gospel. Saved me through it. And "his light shines in my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ"(2 Cor 4:6). And as a response...

"[7]But we have this treaure (look above) in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. [8]We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; [9]persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; [10]always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies."

2 Cor 4:7-10 [ESV]

Amen.

Quote for the day

Looking forward to this weekend's Ministry Matters conference... thus, I'll be absent for church service Sunday morning. May the Lord also grant me wisdom to share what I'll learn from the conference

Memorable quote for the day:

"Grace isn't a license to sin, it's a license to repent"

Did Jesus rise from the dead?

I just finished reading "The Case For Christ" by Lee Strobel. Excellant book, for both Christian and non-Christian alike.

And well, this excerpt is the bit that touched me the most. In context, Lee was interviewing Gary Habermas, PH.D, D.D. one of the world's leading theologians in the area of the Resurrection. Lee asked Gary about what he thought was the importance of the Resurrection of Christ and this was Gary's answer... (this may be a bit long, but it's really worth reading)

"I sat on our porch," he (Gary) began, looking off to the side at nothing in particular. He sighed deeply, then went on. "My wife was upstairs dying. Except for a few weeks, she was home through it all. It was an awful time. This was the worst thing that could possibly happen."

He turned and looked straight at me (Lee). "But do you know what was amazing? My students would call me--not just one but several of them-- and say, 'At a time like this, aren't you glad about the Resurrection?' As sober as those circumstances were, I had to smile for two reasons. First, my students were trying to cheer me up with my own teachin. And second, it worked.

"As I would sit there, I'd picture Job, who went though all that terrible stuff and asked questions of God, but then God turned the tables and asked him a few questions.

"I knew if God were to come to me, I'd ask only one question: 'Lord, why is Debbie up there in bed?' And I think God would respond by asking gently, 'Gary, did I raise my Son from the dead?'

"I'd say, 'Come on Lord, I've written several books on that topic! Of course he was raised from the dead. But I want to know about Debbie!"

"I'd think he'd keep coming back to the same question-- 'Did I raise my Son from the dead?' 'Did I raise my Son from the dead?'-- until I got his point: the Resurrection says that if Jesus was rasied two thousand years ago, there's an answer to Debbie's death in 1995. And do you know what? It worked for me while I was sitting on the porch, and it still works today.

"It was a horrible emotional time for me, but I couldn't get around the fact that the Resurrection is the answer for her suffering. I still worried; I still wondered what I'd do raising four kids alone. But there wasn't a time when that truth didn't comfort me.

"Losing my wife was the most painful experience I've ever had to face, but if the Resurrection could get me through that, it can get me through anything. It was good for 30 A.D., its good for 1995, its good for 1998, and its good beyond that."

Habermas locked eyes with mine. "That's not some sermon," he said quietly. "I believe that with all my heart. If there's a resurrection, there's a heaven. If Jesus was raised, Debbie was raised. And I will be someday too.

"Then I'll see them both."

Strobel, L. 1998, The Case for Christ, pp 326-327, Zondervan, Michigan.