Achieving Life's Full Potential

In the packed sitting of 250 people of mostly youths, I preached a message about how we could achieve life's full potential. I started by referring to an article I read some years back that the brain of each unborn child has more than 1 billion neurons and only about 5% of the brain is used throughout adult's life. I ventured to speculate that the 95% is reserved for those born of the Spirit, having minds transformed, enabled to understand spiritual truths and to communicate with God. In each baby is life's full potential given with the hope that each person could reach his or her full potential in their adult life. I told them about genetic mapping and how one geneticist found that all human beings whatever their race or continent of origin share the same DNA structure to at least 99.99% similarity.

Monday Joys

I started last Monday expecting a normal week with 2 sermons (midweek and Sunday), chairing a leaders' meeting and sharing during Saturday gathering of secondary students. But by Tuesday, two elders pulled out of preaching and my load immediately doubled. As I can't repeat my sermons, I have to prepare 4 different sermons. On Saturday I had a full day's work and fun with the students and I was about to rest late afternoon when an elder told me that a church member's father had just passed away and I was needed to conduct the wake at night. I managed to catch about an hour's sleep before getting on my bike for a 30-min exercise around the block. By 7.30pm I was ready to go and I preached a wake sermon of about 15 mins.

Secondary School Students

Today we had a wonderful time with 66 Secondary school students who attended our welcoming of students' gathering in our church meeting room. It was amazing to see that more than 70 people could fit into our Conference room meant for 40. When the event ended, I took one last trip to take them back to the Hostel and they looked a happy lot as they got off my pickup.

I wanted to gather them, first to welcome them as members of the church family and this was the first time something like this was done since the church started 7 years ago. As none of them knew where the pastor's house-cum-office is, I wanted them to see for themselves the church house and the sanctuary we are building adjacent to it. I also wanted the students' feedback on my plan to start an English service. We discussed the time and day of the planned service. I also told them that beyond the Sunday sermon they needed to study the Bible and for that I am going to plan for a fortnightly Bible Study. I read a verse from Acts 2,17 where during the first Pentecost after Jesus's resurrection, the Spirit is said to be poured out on young people, young men and women, teenagers and youths and they are going to see visions just as the old men will dream dreams. It was a day of dreams as by God's grace the event was a fun time for the students to get to know one another.

It's Friday Again

I can't help feeling deflated every Thursday afternoon and the sense of lethargy could continue Friday morning. After preaching Wednesday night and teaching 3 hours Thursday morning, my energy levels need to be replenished quickly. I thought I only had 2 sermons this week but the two elders appointed to preach tonight and 2nd service Sunday asked me to replace them. That is the beauty of a sole pastor. I dare not accept the title senior pastor because that would normally mean I have 2 or 3 pastors working alongside me but I am the sole pastor. Tonight I will preach a sermon entitled, "A life well-lived" as we celebrate members' birthdays born in March. The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew will figure large in the sermon and we can learn from a man who dedicated his life to a singular mission.

The Lord does not call back his Words (Isa 31,2)

I have not commented on other blogs for a long time and I received the occasional comment in my blog and I like it that way. This is a far cry from my early days of blogging when commenters could get personal and heated exchanges ensued so much so I stopped blogging for almost a year in 2011. But in the past couple of days I had commented on the Anglican Down Under (Notes on 1 Timothy), a blog I followed from time to time for news down under and you can read my comments and counter-comments there.

Lord Send me!

I preached one of my best sermons to date. Only six people plus two of my companions were there to hear it. We went to a church about 5kms away, up a steep hill. We had to go through some bushes to get there but nothing too out of the ordinary except that the church was once filled with people but now most of the early converts had fallen away.

Hudud in Kelantan: Malaysia at Crossroads

I read Kelantan Chief Minister's Malay speech on the tabling of the Hudud bill in full as reported in Utusan Malaysia. The adoption of Hudud or Islamic Criminal Code and Punishments in Kelantan two days ago is a watershed moment in Malaysia's 51 years' history.

Overdrive No More

I found myself running on the overdrive for 11 weeks and suddenly I eased off and have little to do this week except for one sermon outside my church in a nearby village this Sunday and meeting the youth leaders of my church this Saturday. The full moon has long passed and the new moon (solar eclipse) is upon the earth. Last night a deacon preached a 15 min sermon on 1 Pet 2,7 "Have respect for all men, love the brothers, fear the Lord and honour the king." As it is our prayer month I led prayers after the sermon for the nation's security forces, the army and the Royal Police force. It is not easy praying for the police when everything in the country seems to be politicised, from the arrest of several prominent opposition leaders for sedition and many other issues besides. But pray we should, for according to 1 Tim 2 that we need to uphold our nation's leaders and those in authority at all times especially in these challenging times.

World Politics: A Round Up

Israel's elections saw Netanyahu returned as PM for the fourth term and will head one of the most nationalist-religious coalitions ever in Israeli modern history. Will we see the 3rd Temple rebuilt in the near future? Significantly, Netanyahu's first public appearance after the elections was praying at the Wailing wall, the only remaining structure of the Second Temple razed by the Romans in 70AD. The 2-State solution is practically dead as Netanyahu distanced himself from it a couple of days before election day to win over the right-wing camps. Israel will face increasing pressure from EU and US if another Democrat becomes the next President in 2016. The war between Israel and Iran cannot be ruled out though Netanyahu has been warning the world about Iran's nuclear ambitions for the past 5 or 6 years. With ISIS gaining ground and the Syrian civil war in its fifth year, the Middle East is getting more restive and a larger regional war could be on the horizons if the Israel-Iran nuclear standoff does not come to some resolution. Europe is also facing its economic crisis and Greece's troubles are no where resolved and the Euro will face increasing scrutiny as to its sustainability and viability for the whole of Western Europe.

Reading Reports

I have been reading stacks of reports produced by our many AGMs. This is one quick way to learn about the church as most ministries would write two kinds of reports, one for the ministry carried out throughout the year and the other financial report. Multiplied by 5, I have 10 reports on my desk. Reading financial and budget reports can be illuminating to the state of the church, to say the least. Not that we can equate a spiritually healthy church as one that is wealthy and if that is the case 90% of Singaporean churches would be experiencing revivals at present. Reading Revelation tells us that Jesus praised two churches in Asia Minor and both happened to be poor and rebuked a rich church for being poor spiritually and wretched.

Rest & Reflection

Monday is my rest day. I catch up on sleep. I am well rested for the Lord grants his beloved sleep. "Rest here a while (in Ranau)." It has been a non-stop 2 and a half months. At least the AGMs are over for my church and we will begin real work soon enough. Yesterday I took over as Chairman of the church council, another added responsibility and burden. Now the ball is in my court. I will have to take it up and run with it. The leaders look to me for leadership. We have 7 elders, only two of them are younger than me, and one is already 70 years old. Most of them come from the generation that experienced the early 70s revival in Ranau and Taginambur, two of SIB strongholds. They are the second generation leaders, most of whom hold senior positions in the General Council and Executive Council today are from the second generation. Most of them are getting on in years and it is a matter of time the third generation takes over, those who came through the late 80s revivals as youths and they are now in their 40s.