Golden Triangle of Theology

To see the fulfilment of the "Golden Triangle of Theology" which I wrote in my "Tuhan Tritunggal" (God the Trinity) book, a collection of essays, I plan to visit these two places in the near future. Next year I plan to visit Sarawak our Bornean neighbour and the year after, Kalimantan to visit Indonesia's new capital and perhaps also Balikpapan and Samarinda, the twin cities of East Kalimantan. In two years' time with the new Indonesian President firmly in place in Nusantara, I pray that I will establish connections between the three major Bornean provinces, the two States of East Malaysia and Pulau Kalimantan.

Joy Inexpressible

It was exultation while it lasted.  But nothing lasts forever on this side of eternity. It went on for exactly three weeks, about mid March to 3rd April 2024. In the past couple of days I did not feel that joy inexpressible anymore. It was glimpse of heaven. It propelled me to preach 7 sermons in two weeks while having a full load of teaching on the side. Surely the joy of the Lord is my strength. We translated the passage last Monday that Jesus said “ask and you shall receive so that your joy may be full” (John 16). It was a line from the sermon on the Mount minus the part on joy.

Serving with Great Joy

I have come to a phase of ministry that I cna this sense of great joy whenever I minister, even in preparation and anticipation I rejoice greatly in the Lord. It is only three weeks ago that I received news that my brother was going to be elevated as High Court Judge and received his appointment from Malaysia’s king and swore his oath of loyalty to the Federal Constitution before a bench of Justices led by the Chief Justice and the Chief Judge of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak.I watched the live telecast wuth pride as my brother took the oath of office and his list of work experience and qualifications were read out.

Anticipation Rises

In less than 10 weeks I am done here. It is welcomed with much anticipation as I am not meant for round the mill grind of teaching without leadership responsibilty. It is hard to imagine what I could have done only if people have eyes to see. My only sermon last July is telling. The knowledge of God is understanding but there is little of knowing God and hence the lack of understanding. Anyhow, it is no loss and no gain for the past 12 months. No loss because inevitably some students will be blessed but others are here just for the qualification.

2nd Quarter of 2024

Yesterday and today I feel a great sense of joy and hope for the 2nd quarter of the year. First, by middle of this year I shall be relieved of my duties of teaching three new courses which prevented me from writing and research. I plan to start writing at the 3rd quarter of 2024 or the start of the 2nd half of the year. I look forward to it with great relish at least to begin John 13-21, being the 2nd volume of my commentary on John’s Gospel. I may also write a book on Revelation, mainly thematic as a commentary will take too long a time.

At the foot of Mount Kinabalu

I am amazed at how my indigenous brothers live in villages, often times at valleys at the foot or sides of Mount Kinabalu the tallest mountain in Malaysia. I literally drove to the end of the road passing by a village I preached in some 5 years ago in Lingkubang. This village is just 1.5 kms further inside but there is a reasonably sized church that could seat 250 people if packed. They announced the attendance at the two services the first attended by 156 adults and 58 children and last night’s service attended by 116 adults.  I wonder where the 40 or so adults had gone, but at the end of the service I realised that 40 missing worshippers were teenage boys because many of the teenage girls greeted me in front as it is the tradition in some SIB churches that the preacher stands in front of the congregation and they come forward to shake hands and bid the preacher farewell.

Preaching Season Begins

I did not realize that my preaching season has commenced again after a month’s hiatus. I had preached three full sermons of 50 minutes and longer. Yesterday in church I preached for 53 minutes in heat without air conditioning as the power box exploded at 8.15am just after I arrived for the 9am service. We waited 15 mins for the fireman to come and they put out the slight fire at the source at 9am sharp. We managed to get the service started at 9.07am without power supply but we opened all the windows so there was plenty of light and a bit of wind blowing through. I felt myself sweating throughout but never once bothered me until the lights came on again in the last 5 minutes of the sermon.

My Preaching Duties are Done!

As for my current place of ministry, my preaching duties here are done. I thank everyone concerned for giving me the opportunity to be the main speaker of the Seminary's Retreat.  I think due to some faculty support, my invitation to speak was not withdrawn despite me leaving the Seminary by middle of the year. It was good to a have "farewell speech" though it was nothing of that sort as I focused on the theme given to me "The Good Shepherd - John 21:15-18". I told the Chaplain earlier that I would speak on the text in my first session and in my second and last session on John 10 where the inscription of the "Good Shepherd' appears twice in John 10:11, 14. The first session was more organised in that I had 17 slides ready but by the 14th slide I sensed my time had run out, truly it was exactly 1 hour, the time given to the speaker each session.

There is no place like Home

Home is where my ministry for the Lord is. Often times I will not go back to my own home except for once a week that I need to make sure the house is in order and my other car is also running well. I try to alternate between the two cars and but my main stay is the Seminary and soon it will be over in just a bit more than 2 months. I will go on my annual leave by the fourth week of May and probably move all my things out by middle of June. This time, it may be strenuous as one ages and unable to do any heavy lifting, but it is a lot easier compared to my several moves back and forth of Ranau between 2014-2019.

“I have given you multiple gifts”

Besides preaching, worship is essential to any Christian gathering. Despite standing between five men I was right in the middle in the front row I was moved by the worship of the whole church. When His people focus on Him, He comes to bless His children with His presence and answers their many needs. I raised my hand, just one hand for the first couple of songs because I did not want to intrude on my neighbours just a few inches besides me.

There is a division among the people concerning Him (John’s Gospel)

There are a number of occasions that John’s Gospel mentioned Jesus being the cause of division among the people. Today I sat between two fellow pastors, one slightly older than I am and the other more than 15 years older already in his retirement but still preaching in his local church. Both cannot be more different. One sang my praises before he preached and I was honoured by him in the sight of the whole church. But as we talked after service he paid great attention to what I said and by now most people know I am moving on from my current place of ministry.