The Spirit is Stirring Afresh

I did not do well in today's lectures on 1 Peter. In the past several weeks, it has been early rising for me even as I sensed the Spirit stirring afresh in me like before-times when there is a future path to be trodden by faith. After yesterday's exertions of preaching the sermon during Chapel's service plus today's 3 hours lectures, I was reaching the end of my strength - indeed I have laboured in preaching and teaching, Lord for Your glory. Yesterday I waited for 7 long hours before my turn to preach at 11:30am service. It was my last message and the Spirit moved strongly although it was probably more of an academic discourse, part lecture part sermon but with much conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit. My interpreter did better than I had hoped for and again many have prayed for her and for me so that the whole College family could listen to God's Word. After the service and Community lunch I returned home to relax for a while and opened my Bible and it fell to Luke 6 where Jesus said, "Woe to you if everyone speaks well of you. Your fathers did that to the false prophets!"

Martin Bucer: A Reformer and his Times

When I read reformation theology and the reformers that God used mightily in the 16th century, invariably almost without exception, they knew Hebrew and Greek (Latin was a given). From Luther, Calvin, Martin Bucer, Zwingli, and their younger contemporaries like Beza and Melanchthon, Hebrew and Greek were emphasized in the reading and exegesis of Scripture. Martin Greschat, in Martin Bucer: A Reformer and his Times writes: "The clergy did not keep pace with the vigorous growth of knowledge at this moment of history."

Teaching is such a Joy

I got up before 5am this morning, by the grace of God. I had a wonderful 90 minutes of reading Scripture in the silence of the night until the break of dawn. By 6:45am I was at my office, going through first the sermon for next week's Chapel and then my notes on Hebrew and James which I lectured during this morning's class. It was exhilarating experience, teaching a responsive class of 35 students. I found new strength and energy during class time, had tea-break with my students and enjoyed their fellowship.

Preaching Fatigue?

Today's preacher at Chapel started her sermon by saying that "you may preach and preach and keep preaching but nothing seems to happen" is an apt description of what I have been feeling in the past couple of months. Maybe I am feeling preaching fatigue. This morning under some stress I wrote an email wanting to withdraw from Resurrection Sunday preaching. But before I hit the send button, I thought otherwise as this church had been good to me and I wanted to say good-bye to the congregation before I move on to another form of ministry or enjoy a long sabbatical.

Sermonette & Sermon

Today my time was occupied in preparing a sermonette and discussing my forthcoming sermon with my Chinese interpreter. When I went to sleep last night, I did not know what to share with the College's staff at this morning's 9am devotions. I would usually speak for 10 or 12 minutes but today I spoke for 15 minutes since it would be my last time sharing with the staff. I thank the Lord that He is ever faithful, even as I reflected on the text of Isaiah 50:4a, "morning by morning he arouses my ear to hear." This morning at about 7:15am, I heard from the Lord and was pretty sure he wanted me to share from Eccle 7:15-22:

"In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. 16 Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise-- why destroy yourself? 17 Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool-- why die before your time? 18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. 19 Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city. 20 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. 21 Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-- 22 for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others."

Preaching Gains

I would not have titled this blogpost as preaching gains if not for tonight's encounter with three friends of a church which I had gone preaching recently. Today I preached in a church that I was familiar with. Preached there last month for 25 minutes but today I preached a longish sermon of 45 minutes (by mainline standard anyway) on Matthew 3.1-12. It was expository preaching from v. 1 to . 12. I explained the concept of God's kingdom based on Dan 2 & 7 and about the excitement caused by John the Baptist's preaching in the wilderness. I explained what it meant by "all" Judea, not every person, infant or elderly but vast numbers of Jews must have come from Judea and Jerusalem to listen to John preached. I explained that encountering this kingdom means we need to behave or act in a certain way, namely repent. I spoke of the awe of the Anglican tradition that asked members to kneel to confess our sins, the true meaning of baptism.

Leadership, the Critical Element

Whatever it is, whatever the outcome, someone is behind an event or incident. We are not accidents of determinism or fatalism. The forces of history are created by men and men are not mere labels or insignificant pawns driven by the forces of history. Leaders make history. They put their personal stamp on history. Biblical history is full of such leaders. Abraham was one man when God called him out of Ur and he became father of many nations and his descendants are uncountable like the stars in heaven. What if he did not obey? Moses encountered God in the burning bush. What if he succumed to his perceived inferiority? David was a shepherd boy. What if he did not take up the challenge to fight Goliath? Leaders are men who obey God. They stepped out in faith and the course of history is forever changed.

Baghdad, the Worst City?

It is not a surprise that one survey ranks Baghdad as the worst city in this world (see here). It is now in its 12th year of turmoil since the American invasion in March 2003. Baghdad used to be the model city in the 1970s. It was one of the most significant cultural centres in Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East for many centuries. It was a biblical city, near Ur, Abraham's hometown. It is an eschatological city as the river Euphrates flows through Iraq and will be the focus of end-time events as is mentioned by John in Revelation (the sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl, Rev 9, 16) [map from worldatlas.com]

Review of Alan Segal's Paul the Convert

I thought I could finish marking the 35 reviews of Segal's book within 3 days but until now there is no end in sight. Of course, since the holidays started on 8th March, I had conducted a seminar on Revelation and then prepared a sermon for Chapel, but otherwise I have been occupied marking papers of my NT 2 class. Segal's Paul the Convert is one book I would recommend all NT students to read as it contains many interesting and new perspectives not found in the more traditional biographies or studies on Paul.

It's Finished!

My last sermon (a kind of farewell discourse) is finally done! It is about 1,450 words long (30 minutes with translation). I spent more than 3 months in reflection and study of the three passages given as set texts for the day. Yesterday, I started to put my thoughts on paper (computer) and today it took me another 2 hours to revise until I am satisfied with it.

Targums of Isaiah 50.4

As I was preparing my sermon for Chapel based on the assigned text of Isaiah 50.4, I had a look at how the Targums of Isaiah had translated Isa 50.4. In the Targums, the text reads as follows: "The Lord God has given me a tongue to teach, to give knowledge, to instruct the righteous with wisdom, those who weary themselves with the Law..."