Yom Kippur & Preaching

I preached a 30 min sermon last night at 9.15pm. I was supposed to preach at 7.30pm before dinner but the meeting was delayed so the chairman announced that dinner would be served first before the sermon. First the natural then the spiritual. It was a good move since for more than an hour I was wondering how to cut short the sermon as minutes passed without most of the guests present. But I had waited in the Lord's presence since 6.30am and I was filled with power and the Spirit of the Lord when I stepped up to the podium. I preached about 3 things. First, the Day of Atonement and Jubilee based on Lev 25, 8 to vv 13. Then, the acts of God towards men who love Him based on Psalm 91,14-16. The third on team ministry as it was a men's fellowship soccer tournament. I shared why it was important to mark milestones in one's life. Jubilee is only celebrated once in one's lifetime and it is important to make it count. Interestingly it was on the day of Atonement, 10th day of Tishri that the trumpet is blown marking the year of Jubilee. In Psalm 91, there are two states of men and one action of man but God acts in 7 different ways.

Yom Kippur & A Fresh Start

That's it! I have finished my book. I added a half-page Prologue and a full-page Synopsis. I have reached 61,000 words and 144 pages. I think it is a good number, even given the formatting, etc with photos and maps, the book will be not more than 150 pages, depending on the font size. Tonight I shall be preaching at a State-level Men's Fellowship. It has been raining since last night but I pray the turnout will be good with expected 40 tables to be filled. I will preach from Lev 25:8-13 on the Day of Atonement Yom Kippur and the blowing of trumpets in Jubilee. Menandakan batu peringatan dan pelayanan berpasukan (Marking Milestones & Team Ministry). It will be a fresh start for me. I will move on to another stage of my book project, sourcing a publisher and a translator of my book from English to Malay.

Finishing Touches

I am putting the finishing touches to my book. A table of contents is being finalised with each chapter divided into 7 to 12 sections. I think when all the maps and photos are put in the book will be about 120 pages or 60,000 words. You may read it in 2 sittings.

4th Month of my Sabbatical

I am pleased that my sabbatical has finally bore fruits. God's timing is always perfect. My friend suggested that I should write a book on 10th September and I started the next day. When he called me three days ago I was just about to finish.

Memoirs of a Modern Missionary

I thank You, Lord for You have not abandoned the works of Your hands! For the past 20 days, I was occupied with writing my memoirs and it is now finished. It may not be in the league of Nehemiah's wall completed in 52 days but originally I had thought I needed at least 3 months but I had finished the first draft in less than 3 weeks. The table of contents for the first four chapters are found below (photo - my 4-year old son in Melangkap, near Mount Kinabalu, the first place of my missionary endeavours):

Epilogue

I thought I was going to finish my book today. It's past 52,000 words and I am into my last chapter, the Epilogue. I have decided to leave out theological reflection and retain its narrative character throughout. I thought my chapter on my sojourn in Singapore would be brief but it came up 18 pages' long. Today I spent some time with my brother and his family and then dropped off some things for my dad in my other brother's place. How blessed if brothers dwell in unity as the Psalmist declares. How blessed is my father who has four sons, like arrows in the quiver and who dare to assail him?

Rosh Hashanah 5775

Blessed New Year, 5775 according to the Jewish calendar (see Times of Israel's article here). Today is the 1st of Tishri, the 7th month, the commencement of the sacred month where the two most important ceremonies will be celebrated,  Yom Kippur10th Tishri (3rd Oct evening) and Sukkoth (Tabernacles) on the 8th October. This is especially significant year for me as we enter the day of atonement, the shofar will be blown on the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25). The root word, Jubilee comes from yovel, a ram's horn (shofar). Why is the shofar blown?

Ministry in Ranau

I had a 24-hour trip to Ranau,  2-hour drive from Kota Kinabalu. It was along to route to Mount Kinabalu. It was a difficult drive tailing several lorries uphill under heavy rains. I arrived at 5pm in Ranau and found it so refreshing compared to the heat in KK. It must be about 20 degrees, and temperatures could fall to 16 degrees at night. My friend called me just I parked my car and later an elder of the church came and took me to my hotel. We proceeded to dinner where another 8 church leaders turned up. It was wonderful catching up with old friends. The last time I ministered in a Ranau church was in 1998, some 16 years ago.

Writing Technology

I must now think with technology, writing is no longer the strenous process of 30 years ago with type writers, etc. Now I carry my Macbook Air, 11inch laptop with me everywhere and I will type on the keyboard whenever I feel I am in the mood to write. It is one of the lightest laptops around with 1.05 kgs.

Leadership (Good & Bad)

I think I will add a chapter on Leadership (Good & Bad), probably the most reflective of all chapters with strong biblical and theological undertones. Thus far, all completed 7 chapters are narrative, a story of events that I feel most significant and momentous in my life and ministry. I do include a verse or two here and there but 95% will be pure narrative.

I was born to be Pastor

I took a break from writing and it is now past 40,000 word mark. I watched China Insight on CCTV and I saw the jams in Beijing subways. I am glad that Singapore's MRTs are not so crowded. In the programme, a train driver spoke about his pride of achieving a safety record equivalent to the distance of 22 trips around the world. He shared how once he slowed down the train by instinct as he was turning a corner and then he saw a girl in the middle of the track. Because he had slowed down, he could stop in time. He remarked, "I was born to be a train driver." What were you born for?