Visitors from Church

For the first time since November 7th 2021 when I made my last appearance in church before being barred from entry, a church member and her niece came to visit me. I appreciated her coming immensely and she mentioned that other members asked about my whereabouts, and her reply was that "the pastor had chosen to take long leave" (cuti panjang). "Cuti panjang" in our church parlance is unpaid holidays while you wait for your next appointment or ministry placement. I asked her why she did not tell the members the truth of my leaving and I could see that she felt uncomfortable with that so I left it since she was my guest. She complained that now the church service starts 10 minutes late and that it would not have happened if I were still the pastor. In fact, I denied that punctuality was something I insisted on and I mentioned the name of a deacon who was also very keen to get the service started once the clock struck 9am.

I remember when a student graduated from the Bible College in Namaus in my first year there (2016), she gave me a farewell gift in the form of a clock and she told me that she was blessed because as a teacher, I was always punctual either for the Chapel services or in classes. So when I reflect on what people thought of me, I could only say that time is precious and does the Word not say that we have to redeem the time and count our days? How else would I able to do well in my studies over 11 years of tertiary education with 4 qualifications if I did not value time? How else could I have managed the denomination's finances while preaching 300 times over three years in about 70 villages? As her visit was brief since it was nearly 9pm when they left, I had wanted to ask her about the quality of the preaching since I resigned as pastor. A couple of people who watched the online services when I was still in the church told me that they no longer followed the church's services since they felt my style of preaching suited them more. Indeed, listening to the truth is a great responsibility of all believers. Twice in Acts 20, Paul the apostle said that in his preaching and teaching, he did not leave anything out that could be beneficial to the saints and he proclaimed to them the whole counsel of God. But alas how many people want to know and to do God's will? No wonder Jesus said in John7, "if anyone wishes to do the will of God, he will know whether my teaching is from myself or from Him who sent me".