Serving as if there is no tomorrow

 John Wesley said he would preach as if it were his last sermon. And he preached for more than 50 years. I now take the approach that my ministry can end anytime and I will serve as if there is no tomorrow. There is no plan B but I know if one door closes the Lord will open another. There is no reason to flog a dead horse. Anyhow I was invigorated last Sunday as we prayed for 10 or 11 children dedicated by 9 couples.

Ten is the Number

This morning I was almost glad that I shall be going outstation this weekend. I had had another exhausting weekend. With teaching a preaching seminar on Saturday from 9am to 2.45pm in a village 90 minutes away and then preaching a 44 min sermon yesterday, I laid in my bed at 5pm Sunday but just could not fall asleep. There were just so many things in my mind, not least after my sermon I prayed for 10 children in a dedication service.

Crossing the Finish Line

I had a sense of my frailty this morning. I declined an invitation to speak in a village 4 hours’ away. Why did I accept an invitation to speak in a village 5 hours’ away next weekend? Perhaps out of nostalgia since I spoke there when I turned 32 years old. Now more than 29 years on I am still pressing on in the Lord’s work and I sense I might be reaching the end, almost crossing the finishing line. Even my city ministry may be reaching the end as the last council meeting reported a constant deficit.

After Monday

Monday, being a rest day is also a stressful day as a jammed weekend ministry can easily boil over to Tuesday before one regains one's bearings. It was like that for me in the past weekend. I went to bed last night tired, but praise be to God that I had a good night's sleep before getting up before 5am. It is rare that I can sleep until 6am nowadays. As I feel refreshed, Tuesday is the day that I could run some personal or family's errands like going out with my wife for shopping and stuff. It is one reason that I don't like council meetings on the Tuesday nights because I had to rush home to rest and often would not get enough done before being occupied by church work.

Dead Tired

Today at noon I slept like a log. I got up at 2pm for my lunch and now preparing for a day-long seminar in Kota Belud this Saturday. I had had one of the busiest weekends imaginable. After Friday night prayer meeting, I got up early on Saturday to go to our pastors' fellowship 18kms away. My house is far from the district within which my local church is located so most of our pastors in that district live in the East of the City while I am in the West side. But preaching 35 minutes to my fellow pastors took some energy and then a formal meeting followed by lunch fellowship. I did not reach home until 2.30pm after a 4am start. I rested for a little while and went to church again for the worship rehearsal at night. I felt I needed to and I was glad I did as I had to offer advice how to improve the lyrics of the songs (write proper Malay) and also train the reader how to read the biblical passage for Scripture reading.

Middle of August (A bit of History)

August throws up quite a few surprises. I applied for a writing scholarship ready for next year, but I leave it to the Lord whether I get it or not. It will be in the winter months and I will see whether I can last for a month of the cold a few degrees Celsius. For a couple of days, suddenly the weather changed from extreme heat to cool weather, in the low 20s at night and I am already feeling the chill. I can't imagine living in a cold country, but as they say humans are resilient when we are forced either by design or compulsion, humans normally survive under the harshest conditions.

A New Beginning

A well wisher, a friend from Singapore texted me when I told her of my impending 30th anniversary in full-time ministry last November. On the day itself on 1st Dec, I received this message: "A New Beginning [for you pastor]" and a token with a number, 888. She was my student in my class on Revelation twice in Singapore, two night classes, first for 16 hours in 2009 and the second, 40 hours a MDiv course for 14 weeks. I really felt the Lord spoke to me through that, in that my current ministry signals a new beginning for me as if I have come a full circle.

First Week in August

My son and his wife had left Sabah to return to New Zealand. They were back in Kota Kinabalu for three weeks. And the first week of August is about to be concluded. It's been amazing week, but the struggles of church life remain. In the elders' meeting, I told them that with the pastor gone for one week (last week I preached in another SIB church) and I did not attend the rehearsal, it was reported to me that the music was way too loud.

Planning for August

After a hectic month of July, I think I will have a busier August. Starting tonight sharing and leading Friday’s prayer meeting. Then on Sunday preaching in another SIB church nearby and this is the third SIB church beside my own congregation that I preach within the month. It is unusual for a church pastor to go out so often but beginning next Sunday I shall be preaching three consecutive weeks in my own place until the end of August when I shall travel into one of farthest interior churches there is in Sabah.

Confronting a Brother

Why relationships fray or be broken down altogether? Often times, outwardly people remain nice, but their hearts are filled with hatred, ready to backstab one's friends or foes at any given time. A few days ago I confronted a brother who did me great wrong. The incident of his transgression took place about 3 months ago. Over 30 minutes we talked and I tried to convince me what he did was uncalled for, unjust and shameful (though not in those strong words).

July is the Month

I am nearing surpassing 10,000 readers of my blog third month in a row. I have preached from East to West of Sabah from Sandakan to Tuaran and my own congregation in the north-east of Kota Kinabalu. July has been the month of many blessings. My son and his wife came back home from NZ unexpectedly and we have them for 3 weeks before they return to Auckland next Monday. My youngest brother also dropped by in KK and we had dinner and off he went to Australia his permanent home if he is not travelling to UK and Singapore.