work and play

hullo everyone! sorry i missed posting last week. busy busy busy! =P


Work
1. subang rally - it was very 'charismatic'. for my thoughts concerning this, refer to my post on kepong baru scf camp. i believe that God was present and that people were ministered to, and i am thankful for that. however, i felt that i had to remind them of the inter-denominational nature of schools' work. so, when we had our slot to promote SPM Bible Knowledge and our Camps, i took the opportunity to say something about it. later, i managed to talk personally to some of the committee members. they understood where i was coming from and said that i wasn't too harsh, so i hope that they will take heed and be more sensitive to this aspect of running scf activities.

one girl did say that i should have spoken only to the leaders and not the whole congregation. to tell the truth this had never occurred to me. when i was talking with God and wrestling over the question of whether or not to say something about the 'charismatic-ness' of the rally, somehow i saw it as a dichotomy - speak or stay silent. my brain did not come up with alternatives like 'speak only to the leaders'. if i had done that, it would have had less potential to embarrass the leaders, and also have avoided confusing normal participants who didn't see anything wrong with the way the rally was run.

however, in talking it over with The Wife, she brought up another point: if there was anyone in the crowd at all who felt uncomfortable with the 'denominationally biased' situation, my words may have brought relief and comfort to them. it let them know that they were not alone in feeling that way, and that they were not wrong. even if there were only one or two such people in the crowd, i think that it was worth it to say what i said.

2. speaking at PPBC - it was great to be back in PPBC, to see familiar faces and old friends there. my message was on 2 timothy 1:7. basically i tweaked my 2 sessions from Bukit Mewah scf camp into a sermon. thanks for your prayers and support; they didn't stone me. =P in fact, the very opposite: the church was very supportive and encouraging. people came up to me, thanking me for the message and some even telling me specifically which parts had been most helpful to them. thank God for all those encouraging feedback! =) may the transforming power of God's Word continue to be at work in and among them.

3. speaking at St. David's SCF - last friday i drove all the way to melaka to speak at this school's scf. the journey was longer than i thought! i was surprised to learn that the distance from seremban to melaka was actually further than the distance from seremban to pj. anyway, i spoke to them about Priorities, from Matthew 6:19-24. nothing new, but then as ecclesiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun... and i think that often, the problem with Christians is not that we need to hear something new, but that we don't practise the old things that we've already heard and 'known'. if our 'knowledge' of the Word doesn't change the way we live our lives, i wonder whether we really 'know' anything at all. and so, i hope that they will take the Word of God i've spoken to them and really apply it in their lives...

4. ZMax Planning Meeting - this is happening tomorrow night... probably won't be able to go home to The Wife. =( and i am no longer the coordinator for this camp after running it for 2 consecutive years; next year, christina is stepping up to the helm. i'm sure she'll do a great job. =)

5. taiping trip - this is happening this weekend... more time away from home. sighz... anyway, got to prepare for scf meetings, church deputations, logistics arrangements and etc... we'll be visiting 3 school scfs in taiping. please pray for meaningful times of fellowship and ministry with students, teachers, church leaders, churches, and youth fellowships. thanks! =)


Play
this has to be the highlight of last week... The Wife and i went to watch the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast and it was simply fantastic!!! the costumes! the props! the dancing! the singing! the music! the lighting and effects! wonderful, magical... words fail me. the songs continue to ring in our heads. and i fell in love with this fairy-tale, all over again...

this post is already long and wordy enough, so i won't elaborate further on this. suffice to say that we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, and that we think our money was not wasted. =) i may write up another post about it some other time, though. unfortunately The Wife's camera decided to run out of battery, so i can't post any pics from this outing of ours. here's a pic stolen from the net, instead:

thank God for beauty, grace, music, and happy endings... indeed He gives us all good things to enjoy. 'til the next post, God bless! =)

p.s. the word 'play' has a double meaning... it can be the opposite of 'work', or it can refer to the Broadway production. just thought i'd point that out, in case you missed it =P

kepong baru scf camp

to boot it up, here's a pic of us holding up our bibles at camp:

and now, here's the promised post about kepong baru scf camp =)

i mentioned in a previous post that this camp was interesting. one reason for this is that it was much more charismatic than most scf camps are. this has it's pros and cons...

a general principle of any scf is that the ministry is inter-denominational. students come from many different churches... some speak in tongues, but some don't. some have a full band in worship, but some have only a piano. some dance and jump up and down when they sing, but some stand stock still. some have worship leaders, but some have open worship. some have a set liturgy that they follow, but some just 'flow with the Spirit'.

this broad range of variety leads most scfs to be balanced, in teaching as well as practice. it's usually not good to let one particular kind of church 'flavour' dominate the ministry, because that may cause students from other churches to feel or think that the scf belongs to 'their' church, not 'our' church. also, it may cause confusion and conflicts. so sometimes for the sake of unity, certain compromises have to be made.

i think that this is great, because christians from across the spectrum of denominations are meeting each other, working together, and learning about their similarities and differences. in a way, this is just what Jesus was praying for when he asked that 'they be one as You and i are one'.

however, sometimes if the teacher-advisors or the majority of the student leaders come from a certain denomination, then things may begin to lean in the direction of that particular denomination. in this case, all the camp speakers were from a certain charismatic church, too, which explains my opening statement that the camp was unusually charismatic.

one of the speakers wanted to teach about speaking in tongues, but she's familiar with SU's ministry (she's sent her sons for SU camps time and again) and after a chat with her, she gracefully agreed to modify that section of her message. i'm thankful for that.

the dangers of denominational bias in an inter-denominational fellowship aside, the camp went well =) many campers testified that they felt God's presence and that they had been ministered to. so, let's thank God and pray that He will continue a deepening work in their hearts. Amen! =)

and to shut it down, here's a pic of us all at the waterfall we stream-trotted to:


p.s. this is gonna be a busy weekend. the subang rally is on this saturday, and i'll be speaking at People's Park Baptist Church on sunday. i covet your prayers. thanks! =)

i want to die.

no no no, not in a suicidal way. this is what i'm talking about:

"i tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." - John 12:24

i guess all of us have something that we need to die to. a part or extension of ourselves which is not in line with what God wants for us, or a desire that threatens to develop into a lustful obsession, or a thing which is becoming more important to us than God.

some people have to die to DOTA.
some people have to die to shopping.
some people have to die to porn.
some people have to die to a dream, of being or doing something that they're not called to be or do.
some people have to die to calculative selfishness.
some people have to die to arrogant pride.
some people have to die to ____________

you fill in the blank.

just like anyone else, i have my fair share of struggles. sometimes things which are supposed to die insist on coming back to life though we kill them again and again. so tiring.

nevertheless, we do not give up, because the promises of God's Word are Yes and Amen. in Christ, the victory is already won. in that sense, we have already died; and yet, we must die daily.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

do you want to die? =)

p.s. kepong baru scf camp was... interesting. i'll post about it later, when i get the pics. in the meantime, u can read firsthand camper accounts here and here. =)