Illusion of Words

Faith In Practice Chapel

I enjoy chapel a lot, it’s a source of spiritual food that I feel I’m not quite getting from church, for some reason. Recently there was a series of 3 chapels on 3 consecutive days, a annual event called Faith In Practice. In which somebody comes and gives a series of sermons, in this year’s case, David Platt.

I have to say that I was touched by the messages, in fact, I could tell that a lot of people loved it too. Normally hardly anybody brings their Bible to chapel, much less take notes. But chapel was packed the 3 days, people bringing Bibles and taking notes, and responding well to the funny parts in the message.

Platt spoke from Mark 10, the story of the rich man who came to Jesus. And you know where this is headed. A much needed wake-up call. Before I proceed with listing the 10 main points of the 3 messages, I would like to direct you to the podcasts of the messages right here, under recent events, or chapels. If you have time to spare, definitely should give it a listen. I’m just going to give a quick run through the total of 113:28 minutes over 3 days.

1. Radical surrender. Modern evangelism, according to Platt, is built on sinking sand. Jesus did not tell the rich man to say a prayer of confession. He told him to give up everything.

2. Radical command. The 5 commands - go, sell, give, come, follow. It isn’t just ‘be willing’, or everyone go sell everything. Still, it’s something to be obeyed.

3. Radical grace. Radical surrender is impossible without God’s grace - with God, all things are possible.

4. The gospel, not guilt, should be the motivation in giving.

5. Understand the use of money and possessions in the context of redemptive history. Mostly about how in the OT, obedience was often rewarded with material possessions. However in NT, Jesus never mentioned that.

6. The dangerous and deadly nature of our possessions. Stuff isn’t bad in itself, but has the potential to be a stumbling block.

7. Jesus does not want to take away our pleasures. In fact, he promised us a hundred times more. Could it really be a sacrifice then?

8. Jesus desires to free us from bondage to ourselves and our stuff. One example is of John Wesleey putting a 28-pound cap on his spending for the rest of his life, no matter his earnings.

9. The cost of discipleship is great, but the cost of non-discipleship is far, far greater. Not only for the billions around the world who may lose the chance to hear the gospel, but also at great cost to ourselves.

10. Our lives will count on earth when our eyes are fixed on heaven. Earth is just a temporary place, a blink of an eye compared to eternity.

Yes, I know it’s a lot of stuff to digest, and this short summary hardly does it justice. In this world dominated by material possessions and love of money, I think this message is badly needed, if just as a reminder.

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Halloween

Twas my first Halloween ever. At least the first real experience of the American-ness of Halloween - particularly the Southern type. There was a church gathering thing out in the country side, where the flatness of West Tennessee was even more obvious than usual. Fields stretched out into trees on the horizon. Wooden barnhouses like those you see in Southern set movies scatter the landscape. We ate chilli - which, for your information, was barely chilli-ish, at least, it wasn’t really spicy. The pot branded ‘Hot’ was just mildly spicy, the one branded ‘mild’ was well, not at all spicy. The rest of the food was pretty typical American food - hot dogs and chips etc.

There was a nice bonfire, which everyone huddled around, because it got really cold. I roasted marshmallows for the first time! Tasted pretty good - crunchy on the outside, melty on the inside. Although the first time I tried to roast it the marshmallows caught fire, and I kind of threw it to the ground, so it was a waste. Of course some people like eating burnt marshmallows - but then I think of my brother and his aversion to burnt food, and I don’t like them too.

Then there was a hayride. Now I never heard of a hayride, and I supposed it was some sort of exciting ride on haystacks - but apparently it was just a tractor pulling a cartload of hay, which you sat on and bumped around the entire field. Not very exciting, and very cold, but the sky was covered with stars. To my shame I couldn’t find the Big Dipper, not even when people tried to point it out. The hayride over, I returned to the comfort of the fire and stared at it while half-burning my knees sitting close to it. Even then I could feel that my feet were numb.

After all this, on the return to campus, I went to the costume party. As expected, it was dark as night in there, except for lots of people walking around and talking loudly, and music. Great costumes. I doubt Halloween will ever succeed much back home - how many folks would dress up? Anyway there were all sorts of people, from a group of folks dressed as the Hundred-Acre Wood, to a table, pirates, ninjas, bananas, fairies, salt & pepper, fork, Pikachu and Ash (singing the theme song) etc. Interesting.

Besides all the new experiences, Halloween pretty much equals Candy. Lots of it. I’ve never eaten so much candy before. And now I have a bag of candy to accompany me for the next few weeks of my life..

Sunset in the countryside. I don’t know about you, but it sure looks pretty to me. Btw, the white streak in the sky was made by a plane. It’s not a wisp of cloud.

Ahhh the fiery redness of fall.

Many pots of chilli… for the competition.

The chilli competition. The little girl walking by wears a bag of small colored balloons - she was dressed as a bubble gum machine. There was another little girl dressed as a whoopee cushion…

Look at the stars.. look how they shine for you… (my neck hurts)

The mesmerizing flames. It just draws you in. I’m not a good photographer though - the color’s turn purple-ish…

The giant cat. Which I assure you is not a Halloween thing - it’s just a big cat that’s all. And oh, the girl has red eyes. Which can be a Halloween thing - of a type.

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Praise and Worship (or rather, Singspiration)

I know that the purpose of praise and worship is to worship God, not to start thinking technically and analyze it. In any case, I can’t help doing the latter. So here I will compare 5 different p&w. I have only been to each of the 3 churches once, so it’s probably not a very accurate reflection of their overall p&w. Stated then, is what I happened to see on one particular Sunday. Note: This is just my opinion, hope nobody gets offended. And also, most of the churches are typical Baptist, quite traditional)

Union Chapels
Voices: Male (lead), female (harmonizing)
Instruments: piano (worship leader), drums, bass, acoustic guitar, keyboard (for organ-ish sounds), violin (occasionally)
The Good: The voices. Sounds really good, especially when there’s the harmonizing part - the female voice doesn’t have to stretch too high for songs like ‘From the Inside Out’. Instruments are also played very well, especially piano and drums. Violin, when used, is just simply beautiful - great short instrumental breaks. I love the hymns too - great that they sing hymns in a new beautiful way.
The Mediocre aka Can-Be-Improved: Not much variation in style - as in it is always the piano starting the song.

Youth Worship back home
Voices: Varies. Usually 2 female, one male
Instruments: Piano, drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
The Good: Instruments probably form the best part here, since it’s a very contemporary assortment of instruments.
The Mediocre aka CBI: Singing. Haven’t yet found one really good singer. Instrument-playing quality can also vary quite a lot - but it’s good that others can be trained.

Church #1
Voices: Two males
Instruments: Piano, organ
The Good: Hm. I guess the singer is pretty good.
The Mediocre aka CBI: Instrument variation. Also, they were singing a too-fast version of ‘I Could Sing Of Your Love’, which was totally weird.

Church #2
Voices: 6 females (one worship leader), one male
Instruments: Piano (worship leader), some sort of sit-on drum, electric guitar, violin, recorders, etc.
The Good: Now that is quite a variety of instruments. Interesting. More lively singing and playing compared to the others (except YW).
The Mediocre aka CBI: So many female voices can be quite a jarring sound. You know, the sharp piercing highness of it all. It’s ok though, just weird.

Church #3
Voices: 2 females (one worship leader), one male
Instruments: Keyboard, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass
The Good: Ah! Now there’s a more contemporary p&w, somewhat resembling the make of YW. Great music, not very outstanding, but everything blends well together. They even look professional with all the headphones!
The Mediocre aka CBI: The voices are not exceptional, especially that the worship leader’s voice doesn’t stand out that much. But still great singing. Overall, this church has the best p&w - and of course, quite an unfair comparison to the others since this church is obviously much more contemporary - it isn’t a real Baptist church.

Well, that’s it. I will say that Church #3’s p&w is the best, Union chapels come in a very close second, and YW’s sits comfortably at 3rd. Although really, they could use some improvement in the singing. But still, we can all worship God, no matter how good the p&w is, no matter the style. God looks at the heart - and I will confess that in doing this analysis, it wasn’t really the heart. All in the brain. I’m sorry.

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In another Land, new things

It seems so surreal. Now, I’m in a foreign land, miles and miles away from home, sitting in front of a white Macbook, with my iPod Touch next to me. Which is so awesome. I’ve always dreamed of a Macbook, and now that it’s here, in front of me, it seems so hard to believe. And it does live up to its hype (generally). Of course, the free iPod Touch is simply great - it’s free after all, and I managed to jailbreak it, so it’s ten times more awesome now.

Anyway, there was church on Sunday, pretty similar to our Youth Worship, what with the people all being stiff and unemotional during praise and worship (which is my style). At least I could understand the pastor preaching, unlike the previous Sunday, where in a fit of boldness, I went by myself to a Cantonese church. I sat there, hoping no one would talk to me and thus notice my inability to communicate or understand Cantonese. But in the end, though I did not know what the pastor was talking about, I was glad I went, because it happened to be Holy Communion Sunday. Away from the comforts of home, God seems ever closer, ever nearer, ever real.

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Youth Camp & History Makers & other misc junk

It’s been a really busy holiday - probably the busiest in my memory, since I’d to go two consecutive camps/conferences. But it’s really worth it.

The first one was the annual youth camp. Perhaps because the location was the same-old-YMCA, a lot of people didn’t go. I wouldn’t have gone, but I was in the committee. At the end, however, I was glad I was there, for I’d have missed the dramatic ‘Case of the 4 Missing People in the Jungle’. Anyway, it’s been a topic dissected through and through, but the end was that they were all found. But pretty dramatic, all the same, seeing all the police cars, and the police dog.

The second was the History Makers Journey, for 8 days. It was held at Methodist Centennial Park (finally! the place that has eluded me since its beginnings), which is a pretty nice place to begin with. Like a 3 star hotel, so the stay is made much more bearable. Well, so I learnt a good lot - and learnt that apparently I didn’t have much of a vision. True, I have dreams, but hardly a vision. Anyway, it was all free - awesome deal - plus all the material. We’re to train other leaders. I’m not sure how to put that into practice. Anyhow, the cd they gave me, I popped it into the computer and - blank. Oh well. Have to remedy that some time.

Upon coming home, I found that my family had gone to the newly opened Popular bookstore. But at least they brought books back, otherwise I’d be jealous through. So I finished Charles Dicken’s ‘Great Expectations’. Great book. It’s been a while since I found a book that truly pulled me on towards the end. I would’ve finished it in one sitting, but that wouldn’t be very nice. So I forced myself to wait till the next day to complete it. So if you like a nice story about an orphan boy who has great expectations, get yourself a copy of it and read.

Oh yes, and the iPhone 3G was announced on Monday. With the back-to-school promo in place, I’m really looking forward to a new Mac and an iPod Touch (well, they only allow rebates on iPod Nano/Touch, so unless you really want a Nano, you might as well get a Touch for $100 more on rebate)

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Passion

There’s something about passion that makes the world fall at its feet. What I mean is, when someone is with passion, you cannot help feeling either repulsed and touched. A speaker with passion can touch many more than a speaker who does not seem to know or love what he is talking about. Passion makes the world a better place, in that without passion, where’d we have all the organizations to help the needy and the poor?

Of course, it isn’t enough to simply have passion. Passion without action is dead, as with faith sans action. I mean, what’s the use of raving passionately about something but doing nothing about it? Action coupled with passion and a good goal can be world-changing.

I suppose each of us have, at one time, been gripped by passion. But it isn’t easy to keep the flame alive, especially if you try to avoid the thing that makes your heart break. Sometimes, action does not really seem quite feasible, but prayer is a sort of action in impossible situations, where you are powerless to help. Now sometimes, of course, one may imagine oneself to be utterly powerless when in fact the opposite is true.

Passion for the God-given vision. If only every Christian had that.

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STMS English

It’s suddenly 2008, I know I haven’t touched this blog in ages, due in part to laziness. Anyway, the past month I was in school, well, still around my home compound, but in the hostel. Which sucked in the beginning, but became better because you know, you eventually get used to something no matter how terrible. I think.

One month isn’t such a long time, come to think about it, even if I was thinking in the beginning: ‘This is going to be the longest month of my life.’ But it wasn’t. It may well be the shortest. So many things happened - actually, one huge thing happened that isn’t worth reiterating.

I’m rambling on here. First things first. What is STMS? It’s Short Term Missions School, a special course created by MTS. There are four versions, STMS Chinese (v1.0), STMS Iban (v2.0), STMS English (v3.0), and STMS College (v3.5). The one I joined is only one month compared to the others.

So what do we do there? We go to classes, learn about different aspects of Christian life and the likes. We live in a great Christian community, surrounded by wonderful people generally after God’s heart.

And what’s the point of it? To learn. To grow in Christ, to get closer to Him. The entire course climaxes in the missions trip - for us, a 6 day 5 night trip to 3 different longhouses.

Ok, so what did you learn? Well, spiritual warfare never seemed so real and alive. I saw the importance of prayer and personal time with God. Nothing else is worth deleting that daily quiet time with God from our schedules. We failed in that aspect, and allowed the devil a foothold. But God works his own miracles, and in His time, we found freedom.

Well, any incident worth mentioning? There was the night at the longhouse. The electricity generator was shut down, and in the darkness, the rain roared above our heads. Oh, I love thunderstorms, but this one - this had a different vibe. Water leaked from the tin roof and you know how tin roofs can magnify the thundering of rain. So what I was trying to say is, we’d just been wearied by fighting in the day, and it seemed like the forces of evil were having the advantage at that time. The most beautiful thing in the entire situation (yes, beauty can be found mostly anywhere, anytime) was that those around me were praying aloud. Crying out above the storm in a intense fervency.

The next night, instead of thunderstorms, the skies were lit by stars. The funny thing was, only above our area were the skies clear. Far into all other directions, thick clouds blocked the stars. It was simply breathtaking. Like God was saying, ‘Have faith in me, it’ll all be alright.’ It was a great comfort to our battered and sore souls.

Is that all? Hardly. But it’ll do no good to bother you with too long an essay. So I end here.

Okay, last question, I promise. Why aren’t there any pictures? It’s like so boring, who will read it? That’s an extremely good question. I mean it. Well, I didn’t really take any pictures of the entire thing on my part, and even if there are pictures, they’re only of the graduation part. So why I don’t put them here? Because 1. the camera is quite far. 2. the computer’s usb hub sucks. 3. I’m not going to spend precious time trying to make the camera connect, i.e. let the computer ‘discover’ that there’s something in its usb hub. 3. uploading pictures too takes some effort.

But just to appease your appetite for pictures, here is one.

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Bible Camp

The Youth Worship Bible Camp, “Knowing God and Making Him Known” was held successfully from 29-31 May at YMCA. Despite a mere 33 people (a far cry from the intended target of 80-100 people), perhaps God had a different plan.

Arriving at YMCA, we had our ice-breaking and games, the standard procedure for camps. Then in the afternoon, we had our first theme talk by our speaker, Auntie Hazel Jeremiah. It was entitled ‘God Knowing You’ and Auntie Hazel reminded us of our position in Christ, how we are loved dearly by God. After a quick break, we looked into Moses’ calling and learnt various lessons in the session called ‘Getting to Know God’. The second theme talk was at night. We ‘followed’ Paul and Silas to Macedonia after they were called by God in the talk ‘Getting Directions from God’.

The second morning was almost torturous. Most did not sleep well on the rock-hard pillows, but those who did could barely get up at 4.30 am before the prayer time at 5 am. Few had waken at such an early hour to pray except for the previous camps. But soon the morning’s talks and discussions were underway. Theme talk 3 was ‘Returning to God’. In the story of the prodigal son, we focused our attention on the wonderful father who symbolizes our dear Father in heaven. As the Holy Spirit moved, we all knelt on the ground in a fervent time of prayer. Tears were shed in that awesome moment.

After that, we had a fast and pray session. Yes, that meant no lunch. But fasting has a deeper meaning than just the sacrificing of food. Anyways, we then watched the movie ‘Facing the Giants’, an inspirational Christian film which I have reviewed in the column of movie reviews. It was a fresh change in the movie world of bad morals and wickedness. Faith in God was no behind-the-scenes hint.

On that night, we had the final theme talk which was . This straightaway led to the altar call, where we were asked to line up in 3 separate lines to be prayed for under 3 different problems. Again, we saw participants moved to tears. Then we went into talentime. The room was filled with laughter and joy as different groups presented their various funny skits. Some had talents for drama, others had their talents elsewhere, but everyone did their best and had fun.

A late supper ensued afterwards to ensure that everyone still had energy for the next session - sharing and commitment. In the room, all the lights were turned off and everyone sat in a circle, staring into the dim light of the candles surrounding a cross which sat on a table in the middle of the room. It was the first time I saw everyone - yes, every single person - share something. Despite the malfunctioning microphone, voices were loud enough for everyone to nod their heads to. After each sharing, the question “Do you want to shine for Christ?” was posed and the participant went up to the table and lit his/her own candle. Of course, everyone lit their candles (even if the person didn’t want to, which I doubt, there would probably be some discrimination…).

The tired ones went to sleep after that, but some stayed up late talking. The next morning, after group devotion, we had breakfast and departed for home.

There have been some changes in the participants. Some prominent, others subtle. I see new youths full of potential. I see youths changed for the better. I only pray that the fire in their hearts keep burning, even to spread it to those around them. Last of all, as the popular and influential word during the camp which I suppose has not much meaning but is nevertheless spoken, just ’supervise’!

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Youth Magazine?

Well, the board did not so much as to approve the magazine/newsletter/whatever, with the reason of a church yearly magazine that did not receive much attention from youths.

Ah well, I guess no more ‘glamorous’ position of being the editor. It’s okay, though. There will always be a reason for this rejection, and whatever the reason may be, I know it’s for the better.

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Youth Magazine??

It all came like a sudden hurricane, catching me off-guard. Suddenly during the Youth Worship service it was announced that there was going to be a Youth magazine/newsletter, and I was the chief editor!

There was the after Easter Sunday service 3-minute chat, in which they nodded their heads at me and pretty much decided everything. I thought it was all just something that may transpire in the far future. Not in just one week!

Oh well. But this is quite exciting, to be the chief editor. And furthermore, my mom is an editor too so things won’t be too confusing.

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