Increased Sorrows

From the excitement of last night where I worshipped with a big crowd and today was by contrast quiet and peaceful though I did have time to run a few errands. I quickly returned home to my fortress like Ezekiel felt bound by chains due to the spiritual condition of the church. I have continual sorrows in my heart seeing that there is much I can do but powerless to carry them out. I have sorrows in the heart when I listened to sermons so low a standard that if I were the homiletics teacher I would not have passed my first year students. I have sorrows in my heart when there is so little knowledge of God and God's people busy themselves with worthless pursuits.

38th Youth Conference

Last night I attended our annual Youth Conference (38th) where more than 5,000 youths and some older adults packed the largest hall in town. My good friend preached an excellent message. I met him at the entrance and thought he was going to preach on the third and final night. But he told me he was preaching all three nights as the other invited speaker could not come until the last day's morning sessions. It was electrifying seeing 5,000 youths in worship and hunger for the Word.

Travelling Less

My car is due for service next week after 7 months since the last service. The mileage reads less than 8,000kms in 7 months only about two thirds of what I did last year within the same span of time. I have been travelling less. Only one time I travelled for 5 hours to Salarom Taka into the interior of Murut Tagal tribe. That was last March. Since then I had only preached in KK churches and a couple of rural churches.

Leaders Inspire

In a month's time Kiwis will be voting in the New Zealand General Election. I was not too keen on watching this coming Election thinking that it will be between PM Bill English and Labour's Andrew Little. With the latter's abrupt resignation giving way to Jacinda Ardern as the leader of the Opposition Labour party things suddenly went into a tailspin. I don't ever remember that changing of leaders brought about 9 percentage points boost in the polls within days. Jacindamania has surely taken hold and a Labour victory so remote only 3 weeks ago is now a possibility and in another 3 weeks of campaigning could lead to a change of government, the first in 9 years.

Severe Weather

There were floods in various parts of Kota Kinabalu yesterday and weather in Ranau was no less severe. For three days we were out of regular pipe water and I bathed with rain water in the past few days This morning the song leader asked me to lead prayers for the floods and also for the state of Negeri Sembilan. I took about 5 minutes to explain from Job 37 why we were experiencing severe weather. It is in the hands of the Lord to send gentle or "heavy rain of His strength." Sometimes it is for correction or for his land or for mercy (Job 37,13).

Sure Blessings

I preached from Genesis 22 yesterday to one of the first SIB churches founded just after Second World War. I could see in the church four generations of Christians, the few early converts in their 90s, the leaders 2nd generation believers in their fifties or early sixties, the young adults and youths the 3rd generation Christians and the children some 80 of them of the fourth generation. I shared a message titled "God's abundant blessings for him/her who listens to God's voice.

Only Yesterday

Only yesterday Usain Bolt was unbeatable. But today he fell flat and tumbled onto the track. Only yesterday Joseph Schooling was Olympic Champion for 100M fly but today Dressler is a second faster. Only yesterday I preached in a village church but today I went back there and it had been almost a year ago. Things don't stay the same. It never does. We don't stay the same. We get older and our hair greyer or thinner or both. If we don't improve others around us will. If we don't progress and move forward others will run just a bit quicker and do just a bit better and we will be left behind. If the church does not grow it is dying. If a church remains stagnant it is going backwards.

Consitutional Law

I have to travel about 17kms into Ranau township for a coffee break. After three consecutive days of lectures I thought I needed a coffee break. I was thrilled to utilize my legal knowledge and history by delivering two-hour long inaugural lectures on the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Almost all legal and political issues today have their takes or disputes over how the Malaysian Constitution is interpreted by politicians and judges.

Singing Again

I experienced a revival of sorts this morning. One of my final year students asked me to sing the Greek song which I sang last year. So I duly obliged and sang two songs instead of one after the tea break into our third and final session. Last year my time as Acting Principal was characterised with singing. There was more lively singing in the Chapel services so I was told and I performed several songs in our special services throughout the year and sang the Greek song in my Greek class.

Rumbling in Ranau

I rumbled up to Ranau in 2 hours, delayed by heavy traffic throughout. After more than 100 drives I still find the journey an endurance test with another 20 mins to College. I hope I can rest when I get back to College after a short lunch stopover in Ranau. I need to deliver 3 hours of Romans tomorrow and another 3 hours of Hebrews on Wednesday. Before driving up I spent 2 hours in the morning getting my notes on powerpoint. I will give my best to my students despite the odds and the task of educating indigenous pastors in training.

Battles Ahead

Having ended my 10-day stretch yesterday teaching and preaching in 4 different places I am planning for the battles ahead. I have three sets of lectures from Tuesday to Thursday and then preaching in one of the Ranau churches on Sunday. So I won't be making my journey back to KK and will be focusing on rural ministry for a whole fortnight. I am starting Malaysian studies with the Federal Constitution taking about 6 weeks and will speaking on other legal, political and economic institutions as well.