Reminders...

After a long discussion on ministry today, there's just so much work to do(not that I didn't know before this)...

I need to constantly remind myself of these few things while doing ministry...

1. Ministry is not a heroic act, we work as a team!!! Whether you're alone out there or what, you still need help from your brothers and sisters to jump in when you're dying...

2. Ministry is to build Jesus' church, not for your own respective church or for your own fame...

3. Whatever happens, God is still sovereign and the Holy Spirit will work in the individual to change...

4. Approach people with humility... Must remind myself of the judgment on the arrogance of Assyria in Isaiah 10 and John Newton's quote: I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am... So there's absolutely nothing to be proud of even if your 'theological level' is higher because it's the Holy Spirit's work after all...

5. Must not act like Peter in John(forgot which chapter)... I shall not be the Peter that will lay his life down for Jesus(in that context) and chopped the soldier's ear in order to protect Jesus... Because none of these battles are personal, the world hates Jesus anyways...

6. Do everything for God's glory and not mine or anyone else...

7. Must think theologically and look at the bigger picture- Jesus' church... Theology, Reflection, Practice!!!

Please rebuke me if I ever forget any 1 of these...

Soli Deo Gloria!!!

God is good to me!!!

Woohoo!!! God is good man!!! haha... Haven't been evangelizing or flyering for quite a long period(yes, rebuke me) and did it today!!! So fun!!!

Well, it was pretty good to walk around the campuses and give out flyers to people, but never had the chance to talk much about it... I met this Korean guy who is a Christian and said that his church is looking for other churches to work with them and he even gave me his church's flyer and a paper of the way they share the gospel... It's pretty encouraging to meet this kind of people but guess what, this is a Korean guy and he is doing all these, where are all the Malaysians who call themselves evangelicals??? Though their gospel did include sin and judgment and stuffs, but there's still something understandings that needs to be fixed... Oh well, at least they're trying to preach the gospel which is better than evangelicals who change the gospel into some kind of blessing for those in need...

Another amazing thing happened when I was in the train, I saw this chinese guy reading a chinese version of Purpose Driven Life... I knew I had to do something and suddenly I remembered that I have an emergency flyer in my bible... I took it out but hesitated because I don't really know how to share the gospel in chinese... yes yes all my sinful excuses... As I continue to hesitate, he started to talk on the phone... And man, it was a long conversation, so I started to slap myself in the face(literally) because I failed to do my job!!! So in order to 'redeem' myself, I planned to follow him till his destination even if it means that I have to make 1 big round to come back for the sake of the gospel because there was no sign of him ending the conversation... Guess what, he was heading to Sentral which was where I'm supposed to go... So he ended the conversation as the train arrived at Sentral and I chased him just to give him the flyer and invite him to church...

God is good to me because He has given me people that needs to hear about Jesus!!! Whether or not they will come to church is dependent of God's sovereignty but I've done my part and thanks be to God for giving me such a fruitful day...

Praise the LORD for all that happened today!!!

P/S: If you thought what you will expect me to write in this post based on the title is something like God is good to me because He gave me some kind of blessing, then here's a question for you to think about: Would you want to go to heaven if God were not there, only His gifts???

FWC 2011...

What is truth??? In this current era, most of things we see are relative to something else, so how are we basing our judgment on??? And knowing how foolish we are, how can you even know what you're judging is correct, and maybe what you're basing on is also wrong as well...

So then, what really is truth??? Do you even bother to know it??? As I have said earlier, we are flawed beings, so if we are to know truth based on what we know or experience then it will be very subjective and hence becomes relative again isn't it???

If there isn't any transcendency to reveal all these, then we will still be stucked in our own fantasy of relativism right??? And we are all products of modernity, meaning influenced by culture and all kind of stuffs so then it just proves that we can never really trust our very own judgment because culture is made by you and me...

Therefore in the end, God alone is THE TRUTH because He is transcendent and yet He fully revealed Himself through the bible and Jesus Christ... Well, I wish I can tell more about it but I still have to work on it because I still can't fully grasp it yet...

And my view of ministry has just changed... Before FWC, I thought that there was only prosperity gospel which is heretical, but then what I found in FWC is that heresies can be as subtle as like saying that all these are for God-glorifying purposes, but in the end it isn't... It just depresses and scares me to know that this world is just getting more gloomy and dark...

Well, another thing I've learnt is that ministry is not just about bible-preaching but you are also building that person's theological framework... Theology, Reflections, Practice is what I need to make as a habit!!!

All these are bits and pieces of what I learnt from FWC- The Gospel and Truth right after exam on Thursday till Saturday... I shall never forget these 3 days I had in 'heaven'!!! Seeing so many gospel-centered evangelicals especially people from FOCUS, Australia just gives you a glimpse of light that there are still some people out there who's on your side in preaching the gospel and doing God's faithful ministry but then, it just ain't enough!!!

I pray that I can see more growth in people to come to realization that THE TRUTH needs to be shared because it is THE Truth not A Truth!!!