Free from everyone, Slave to All

This year has another 33 days before the New Year comes. But what I could celebrate and am celebrating is the fact that I am free from all men, yet making myself a slave to all in order to serve everyone freely. Sometimes it is important to listen to the common people. As in the past month I have been busy getting my book printed I managed to chat with one of my printers and she said something profound. “When you don’t work for money, you can speak the truth.”

Five Books

I can't praise God enough for enabling me to get my book done from conception, writing, revising, editing, formatting and finally publication. Today I shall be getting about 100 copies of my Galatians' commentary with the rest to follow in the first week of December. When I launched my book on John's Gospel in my former church in early February 2020, I blurted out my desire to write seven books in my lifetime by God's grace. By I qualified my vision by stating that it was so difficult to get one book out that 7 would be a magical number. When a couple of weeks ago, I handed my manuscript to my printers I sang at the top of my voice in my car giving thanks to Him who deserves all glory. Then, in church one Sunday, maybe two Sunday ago, I received a vision of the number of books I would write before the Lord calls me home or He will return in glory to take me to Himself in the clouds and on Mount Zion.

Preaching Every Month since May 2022

It's hard to relax until the book is out end of next week, God willing. I went early to Inanam, one of my popular spots and had breakfast. I had gotten the A5 pdf ready and it will go to the printers on Monday and hopefully the A5 version will be ready by end of November or latest first week of December. I can relax for a couple of weeks, before I will have to start preparing for my Christmas messages. The end of the year comes so quickly in no time this year. At the beginning of the year, it all looked so bleak as I just left my pastorate for some human-made rule. Only the wicked make rules by decree and not let go even when things return to normal. But I did not have to wait very long. By early April, the government announced the endemic phase of the pandemic and all rules were practically over by 1st May which was more than six months ago.

Book is Done, Mission Accomplished.

Yesterday I felt a sense of trepidation when I texted my printers to give the go ahead to print my book, my fifth book and the fourth in three years. With God we shall do valiantly. If you asked me three years ago when I had nothing except my thesis published some years back, I would have laughed like Sarah if you told me that I would have four more books out within 36 months. But I don't fancy starting on another one soon. For the past five weeks when I was editing and formatting my book, I got up way too early and sometimes went to sleep past midnight. Even this morning the aftermath of the completion I got up just after 4am.

The Word of God in Full (Colossians 1:25)

I preached from four OT texts and 2 NT texts for a 56-min sermon. I stopped rather abruptly as I have two more points as I sensed I might be nearing the one hour mark. But after the song of response, I made an altar call which I felt the Spirit prompting as lo and behold about 15 people came forward to be prayed for which was a third of the congregation. It's a small church of less than50 adults. It was a message in which I felt the anointing from the 3rd minute onwards until the end. When I prayed for those who came forward, 10 of the 15 people wept. In fact, I saw one member weeping as I preached as she wiped her tears dry for throughout the sermon. The Spirit was evident at work through His Word. If Christ's Word is exalted, His Spirit works powerfully to convict hearts. I told the church not to be too engaged with end-time prophecy.

Tech for Writing & Publication

I always wonder how John Calvin could have published so much before the advent of modern writing technology. With a laptop I could type for hours and revise and edit many hours thereafter. I just need to click the delete key and correct or add whatever words I want. But even with all the modern tech I find myself wishing that I might be in another career. It is ironic that in the past couple of years when my publishing has gathered steam, I realised as a matter of fact that I am fulfilling my calling, first as a "doctor", a PhD in Biblical Studies. What else does a PhD in the Bible do except writing commentaries on biblical texts?