End-Time Seminar

Tomorrow, God willing I shall be conducting my 13th End-time seminar. I started teaching on the book of Revelation by way of seminar in 2010 though when I was pastor I conducted a seminar once in Keningau (2005) due to the persistence of my pastor-friend there. Now after last year's hiatus (I only spoke on Revelation twice in a FGB meeting) I will be speaking in local KK church tomorrow.

Crowning Kings

Today is a public holiday in Malaysia on the occasion of the coronation of the 15th Agung (king). It is also my birthday in Christ so I have a holiday to reflect on what it is to be in Christ for 35 years. Three and a half decades knowing Jesus or rather be known by Him. What a privilege, what inexpressible joy!

Naming Sons

Joseph and Moses both named their sons according to what they themselves had experienced in life. It was a monument for what God had done or was doing in their lives. Most God's servants had to overcome incredible odds, no less Joseph and Moses. Joseph was left for dead in the pit by his own brothers and when he was in Egypt he was cast into a dungeon on a false accusation. Yet he rose to be Pharoah's father and ruled over Egypt for 80 years and saved nations and his entire family during a severe famine. The infant Moses was subject to a death edict for all Hebrew boys but he was kept alive in a basket floated down the river and was brought up by Pharaoh's daughter. Even then for 40 years Moses had to run away as a fugitive and suffered the wrath of Pharaoh and the ignominy of his people's rejection. Moses at 80 years old was later sent back to Egypt to deliver Israel out of the bondage of slavery into the promised land. No wonder in their deepest struggles, crises and triumphs when given sons, Joseph and Moses named their sons to commemorate what God had done in their lives.

Love's Power

When I was going for my first theological degree in the early 90s, I remember a song that moved my soul...the power of love. Often times when I sang it I shed tears of joy as the love of God was shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Love was what caused Jesus to come to earth. Love was what made God send his only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. Many things are done in the name of love and how noble and how precious these things are before God and before men. Last Sunday's journey was a breeze because of the love of Jesus in my heart. To be able to serve the Lord on the day when the Christian world celebrates Christ's resurrection was something special. Love makes one gets up in the wee hours of the morning and sings for joy unto the Lord. Love makes one sit before His feet and read His Word for an hour or two but the time spent is as if a few minutes.  It's like two lovers engage in conversation that go on for hours but it seems to them and only to them a few moments, all because of love.

Eagle's Wings

Today I felt I was borne on eagle's wings. I drove from KK at 6am and reached the College before 8am. I joked when I started preaching that I broke my record of travel time from KK to Namaus. The traffic was as smooth as it could be and the weather was as clear as the sun rose on me but shielded by clouds most of the time so the driving conditions were near perfect. When I climbed the hills of Tamparuli on the way to Mount Kinabalu I traversed valleys and mountains. In the early morning mist and clouds usually cover parts of the journey as it did this morning and my fog lights were on throughout my drive to Ranau.

Stocking Up

I have tried my best to limit what I buy to furnish my house in College. More than monetary consideration is the thought of moving out when the time comes. Nevertheless one cannot avoid buying the bare essentials to make a house habitable or a house into a home. As I don't cook often I have been using one cooker but I realised that changing the gas can is expensive so today I decided to buy an electric induction cooker so that if I get hungry I don't have to drive 17kms to Ranau town but can cook up a packet of instant noodles. As day time has become increasing hot I also bought a table fan and it will come handy when they are guests or my cell group meets. I have stocked up tuna in olive oil so if I have bread I just eat sandwich and that will save time cooking rice and washing dishes.

Passover Service

We held a Passover service, kebaktian Paskah on Wednesday at College. It was a hectic day with faculty meeting in the afternoon and preparations for the passover celebrations took several rehearsals. Thankfully despite essay deadlines the students rose to the occasion. We had a first year student carrying the cross in the Simon's cross-bearing enactment accompanied with five tambourine dancers all dressed in red in honour of Christ's shed blood.

Rural Church

I read with interest Dr Michael Kruger's post on the "Rural Church" and the question whether we put too much emphasis on the city church (see here). I am encouraged by the fact that the first century's church seemed to put equal emphasis on the urban and rural mission. While Paul's missionary journeys are often associated with the great cities of the ancient Mediterranean world, it cannot be denied that Paul and his associates did not neglect the smaller towns and villages. Often times, a city church is planted in order to facilitate mission into the interior.

Passover Preparation

I wish the debates in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD resulted in the early Church retaining the Jewish Calendar where we celebrate Passover/Good Friday on the 14th Nisan instead of the current Gregorian calendar of the 6th century AD. Next Monday evening is the beginning of Passover followed by 7 days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In an unfortunate twist of history now the Jewish Passover and Christian Good Friday more often than not do not coincide in time and dates. Yet the Gospels make it clear that Jesus died on the Feast of Passover as a fulfilment that the Son of God has been designated the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. The passion narratives especially of John's Gospel set the death of Jesus in the context of Jewish Feasts where Passover and Feast of the Unleavened Bread take centre place. For instance, the Jewish leaders did not want to enter Pilate's compound lest they became unclean and rendered themselves unclean to eat the passover.

Church in the Jungle

Gereja di Hutan. Although the distance from the College is a mere 4kms but by the time we reached there it was a different world. There stood a beautiful church barely 2 years old in the midst of some dense forest. Along the way we went past just one or two huts but left and right we saw oil palm plantations and rubber trees the two main sources of agriculture in this area. Apparently for the first time I got to know an SIB church that has no resident inhabitants. All the church members come from a nearby village and only on Sunday they come together to worship in this 40 x 75 ft church that could easily seat 500 people.

Second Quarter

Time waits for no one. Until the day when time is no more (Rev 10:6-7) everyone and everything under the heaven and on earth are subject to time. Time passes us by quickly. One hour lost can so easily be one hour gained. Three months of 2017 have just gone by. Today is the start of the second quarter. Three more quarters to go and 2018 beckons. I can only thank God that this past quarter has a semblance of order and routine to it which was a nice change from 2016. I have churned out lectures week after week on John's Gospel and NT Theology. I have preached regularly without running myself to the ground. My foray into interior ministry came to an abrupt halt a week ago after suffering a minor burnout. Today I even managed to spend solid hours reading Johannine Theology by Paul Rainbow (2014). And in the early hours of the morning I almost completed my lecture notes on Paul's theology of salvation and ecclesiology based on Ephesians. Ephesians ranks high in the list of my favourite short letters. I taught an intensive on it once and would not mind doing it again. What's up for the 2nd quarter?