The Hole In Our Gospel

Besides the notebooks, I had never bought any reference books from the MLM class. Two months ago, Piek See was promoting a few books during the break. After her recommendation, I was attracted by "The Hole In Our Gospel" written by Richard Stearns, president of World Vision US, and immediately bought the book.

Here’s an excerpt from the Chapter 1:
---------------------------------------------------------------
More and more, our view of the gospel has been narrowed to a simple transaction, marked by checking a box on a bingo card at some prayer breakfast, registering a decision for Christ, or coming forward during an altar call. I have to admit that my own view of evangelism, based on the Great Commission, amounted to just that for many years. It was about saving as many people from hell as possible--for the next life. It minimized any concern for those same people in this life. It wasn't as important that they were poor or hungry or persecuted, or perhaps rich, greedy, and arrogant; we just had to get them to pray the "sinner's prayer" and then move on to the next potential convert. In our evangelistic efforts to make the good news accessible and simple to understand, we seem to have boiled it down to a kind of "fire insurance" that one can buy. Then, once the policy is in effect, the sinner can go back to whatever life he was living--of wealth and success, or of poverty and suffering. As long as the policy is in the drawer, the other things don't matter as much. We've got our "ticket" to the next life.

There is a real problem with this limited view of the kingdom of God; it is not the whole gospel. Instead, it's a gospel with a gaping hole. First, focusing almost exclusively on the afterlife reduces the importance of what God expects of us in this life. The kingdom of God, which Christ said is "within you" (Luke 17:21), was intended to change and challenge everything in our fallen world in the here and now. It was not meant to be a way to leave the world but rather the means to actually redeem it. Yes, it first requires that we repent of our own sinfulness and totally surrender our individual lives to follow Christ, but then we are also commanded to go into the world -- to bear fruit by lifting up the poor and the marginalized, challenging injustice wherever we find it, rejecting the worldly values found within every culture, and loving our neighbours as ourselves. While our "joining" in the coming kingdom of God may begin with a decision, a transaction, it requires so much more than that.
...
Christianity is a faith that was meant to spread--but not through coercion. God's love was intended to be demonstrated, not dictated. Our job is not to manipulate or induce others to agree with us or to leave their religion and embrace Christianity. Our charge is to both proclaim and embody the gospel so that others can see, hear, and feel God's love in tangible ways. When we are living out our faith with integrity and compassion in the world, God can use us to give others a glimpse of His love and character. It is God--not us--who works in the hearts of men and women to forgive and redeem. Coercion is not necessary or even particularly helpful. God is responsible for the harvest--but we must plant, water, and cultivate the seeds.
---------------------------------------------------------------
As a reader with a preference for biographies or autobiographies rather than fictions, I always love to know how others go through their lives. As a Christian, I am eager to follow the steps of those who have "set aside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change their own lives".

The true story of this former corporate CEO has truly inspired me to be one of those use their journeys "to demonstrate how the gospel--the whole gospel--was always meant to be a world-changing social revolution, a revolution that begins with us".

Making Hot Dog Buns

Yesterday, I went to Agape Care Centre (ACC) to help in a school holiday programme. The children had come back from morning activities at Straits Baptist Church (SBC). After lunch, they looked too exhausted to play any games in the afternoon. As many were also absent, Emily, the facilitator, decided to run only a simple activity with them. When I heard that SH was going to make buns, I was very interested to give a hand.

ACC started a hope shop last year by selling cookies and other delicacies on Chinese New Year. Since, they also provide food and drinks based on orders. Besides their chocolate cake that I bought for Albert P's birthday, I had also tasted a few of their dishes and bread when they catered for functions. Even though these single mothers did not have any formal training, their food was always tasty.

For their long-term business, ACC had invested in professional equipments.

This time, they needed to deliver 150 hot dog buns to SBC the next morning. SH prepared an extra amount of ingredients so that ACC children and staff would have some for afternoon tea.

Apart from SH and May, the rest of us were not familiar with the making of these buns. First, I was instructed to remove all the packets from the hot dogs. Then I was asked to break eggs, pour them into the flour in the mixer. Next I wiped the wet hot dogs with a clean cloth. When the dough was formed and rose more than two times bigger, Auntie Gek was in charge of dividing it into smaller portions weighing 60g each, while I was entrusted by SH to knead the dough into a stripe and roll up a hot dog tightly.

Andrew, the new employee who had been in the baking business previously, also joined us. At first, SH was still tolerant with the results of our poor performance. When she realized that there were too many buns from our hands which were not presentable, she had to "fire" us. So I helped May who had taken out the rested hot dog buns to brush beaten egg over them. Then May sprinkled roasted sesame seeds on top of them before sending them to the oven.

The dough was transformed into golden shells. The freshly baked hot dog buns looked very appetizing. Those with irreproachable appearance were placed in trays

while those out of shape were put aside for self-consumption. The children were already very impatient to wait for the nice smelling buns to be served.

Nathaniel was a great supporter of his mother SH's cuisine. After finishing one whole bun, he requested another half.

We adults also paused to have our homemade snacks.

When I left the centre at around 5.40pm, there were only 63 buns which had passed the "quality control". SH, May, Andrew and Emily stayed back to achieve the target of 150.

Bon courage!

No Apologies

Last September, after a supper talk, my MLM classmate Josephine invited me to participate in No Apologies Mandarin Training of Facilitators in Melaka organized by Focus on the Family Malaysia (FOFM). As the course would be held on the beginning of the final exams period, I managed to make myself available easily.

Later, I learned that SH, who was doing counseling work at Agape Care Centre, was also recommended by Josephine to attend this course. So when I reached Straits Baptist church at Bukit Beruang on 29st October, I already had a course mate whom I knew.

According to the leaflet, No Apologies is a programme designed for the youth who are seeing an increasing rate of teen pregnancy, abortion, single-parent households and divorce. This character-based curriculum helps young people make wise choices regarding high-risk behaviors, including sexual involvement before marriage. It deals with upholding the value of the individual, marriage, the family and the importance of keeping ourselves pure for our future husband or wife.

Currently there are over 1000 trained facilitators throughout Malaysia which includes school counseling teachers for Wilayah Persekutuan (Kuala Lumpur), Senior Officers from the curriculum department of the Ministry of Education Malaysia and National Health & Physical Education teachers. FOFM is working towards training additional facilitators to meet the demand for more workshops. And since its inception in January 2003, the curriculum has reached over 30,608 youth in various parts of Malaysia and 27,899 (91.16%) of them have taken the Pledge to remain abstinent until marriage. The response and invitation by schools and organizations has also since grown.

During the two and a half days, sessions of demonstrations, role plays and activities enabled us to familiarize ourselves with the curriculum materials and subjects to conduct workshops in the future.

On the third day, we were required to present a segment of what we had learned in the training.

I wish I had been introduced to this programme when I was in the secondary school, for nobody had told me the truth about life, love and sex at that young age. Now as one of the certified facilitators,

I would like you to know that as long as you are single, it is never to late to make a pledge of abstinence until marriage.

Getting Ready For The Spiritual War

Two weekends ago, I went back to Batu Pahat for two events: One was my former secondary school Chinese High School alumni dinner. Another was my former classmate Loke's wedding lunch the next day. During two days, I was well fed with eight-course meals by Chinese restaurants. But what really satisfied me was the spiritual food I had received that Sunday morning at Berean church.

Previously I had attended their services three times. Each time, there happened to be a guest speaker whose sermon about giving or parenting deeply touched my heart. This time because of Ps Ruth's absence, Ps Lydia from Peace church, Kluang was the one who preached.

To the Bereanese, Ps Lydia in her red blouse that day was a familiar figure. I only knew who she was when she introduced her background: Her late husband was Ps Sunther, whose name I had heard at Calvary Life Assembly and during a MLM class last year after he had gone to be with the Lord.

Ps Lydia shared with us how she managed to pull herself together after the sudden passing of her spouse and the following deaths of her other beloved family members and relatives within fourteen months. God revealed to her that it was He who had allowed these things to happen. Ps Lydia did not blame God. Instead, she trusted Jesus who had replaced Ps Sunther as her husband to totally depend on.

During the long mourning period, Ps Lydia still ran the activities of the Chinese service of Peace church, of which she had always been in charge, and at the same time took over Ps Sunther's English service. After witnessing God's work in her life, she walked out of her grief to continue to serve the Lord in a high spirit.

As the second coming of Jesus is approaching, it is urgent for God's people to fight against the army sent by Satan. Ps Lydia used Deuteronomy 20 to remind us to check whether we were prepared to fight against Satan's army.

We will not be allowed to go to the battle field and will later receive no reward from God if
1. we have not committed ourselves to God. (We have not dedicated our house to God.)

2. we do not produce the fruit of the Spirit. (Our vineyard has not produced fruit.)

3. we have not made ourselves ready to be Jesus' bride. (We do not fulfill the promise of marriage.)

4. we lack of faith. (We are fearful and fainthearted.)

I was greatly encouraged by Ps Lydia's personal testimony and her passion to do God's will despite all the tribulations she had gone through.

I'm checking myself to be ready for the spiritual war. How about you, my brothers and sisters in Christ?

Visitors From The Nature

Grown up in a house with limited space for gardening, the insects I often saw at the front yard were butterflies. Since I started to plant vegetables, fruits, flowers and decorative leaves in my present house, different visitors from the nature dropped by in the garden.

During my youth, a song titled "Red Dragonflies" from a Taiwanese boy band was very famous. I had seen dragonflies, but never this colour. Last Tuesday, five days after I had given threaded dragonflies to the Doulos girls as souvenirs, I finally discovered a red one in my garden! This living dragonfly was a great souvenir given by God in return on their behalf:

Grasshoppers were nice to watch when they just jumped from one place to another with their long back legs.

When I saw this fellow, I immediately knew that leaves in my garden had contributed to its fat body. If there were more, I might have considered to deep fry them to get some protein!

Many weeks ago, as I was going to watering the plants in the dark, I noticed a frog on the floor near the tap. It soon disappeared. Yesterday morning when I was cutting grass, this small creature suddenly jumped out and gave me a fright. Then it changed its position and remained motionless next to a pot. Even though I kept moving around it, it was not scared of me.

Looking at these visitors from the nature, how could I ever deny that they were created by our Almighty God?

Prayer Meeting At St John's Hill

Since I attended the MLM classes, I got closer to Sis Christine who is also a Calvarite. Having a passion for prayers, she serves in the intercession ministry at Calvary Life Assembly (CLA). Once she told me that she had been so fed up with a barren mango tree at her house that she commanded it to produce fruits in Jesus' name. And the miracle happened the following month! I was very encouraged by this woman of great faith that I also began to pray for my fruit trees.

For months, she had been been inviting me to attend a prayer meeting at St John's Hill on Saturday mornings. As Saturdays were my "housework days" when I stayed in Melaka, I did not feel like going out.

Last Friday evening, I ushered for Permata Pintar kindergarten graduation ceremony at CLA. I had to postponed my trip to Batu Pahat. As Sis Christine was living at Ujong Pasir in the South of Melaka town whereas my place was situated in the North, she let me put up at her house that night, so that it was nearer for me to drive to Johor the next morning.

She again invited me to St John's Hill and asked me to go back only after breakfast. This time, I decided to accompany her. We would have to leave the house by 5.30am. Lately, my sleep had been shallow and I often woke up at around 5. So I had no problem to get up at such an early hour. Before 5, I was awake. So was Sis Christine who had received a wake-up miss call from a prayer fellow.

When we reached the parking at the foot of the hill at 5.40am, two cars were already there. We followed a man who was holding a light to climb up the stairs to St John's Fort. This fort with cannons facing inland was originally used as a Portuguese chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist.

A few people had arrived even earlier. We picked any seat we wanted, either standing or sitting. After a short while, an elderly man said an opening prayer. Then we started our worship accompanied by guitar.

As we sang, more people joined. I recognized Diana and Ps Edmund Smith's faces in the dark. While we were praising the Lord with songs and prayers, the sky slowly became brighter.

We also prayed for our nation and Melaka, the gateway of Christianity in Malaysia.

Many of these twenty over people had been faithfully meeting at St John's Hill on Saturday mornings since 1994. I was told that whether it rained or not, these people of God would not miss the weekly gathering.

Over fifteen years, they had witnessed a lot of good changes at the surrounding area. Bushes were cleared and shelters were built. They did not have to pray inside cars during raining days.

Next time you pass by St John's Hill before 7 on a Saturday morning, welcome to say hi to this group of prayer warriors who are praying for the land where you and I are living.

Doulos Team At My House II

How did my three simple dishes manage to match every one's eating habit?

The pizza was topped with vegetables. In addition, I cooked hot dogs for those who ate meat. After I boiled eggs and potatoes, some were put aside in a small bowl for Salome. Then I added grilled fillet cut in cubes into the rest of the salad. Thank God I did not pour in any mustard or mayonnaise, for I found out later that the girls preferred other seasonings or no dressing at all. At first I also wanted to cook spaghetti as a third dish. Constraint by the time, I cancelled it, Actually, the quantity of the first two dishes was just ideal to fill our stomachs and to allow a little more space for the dessert. All the dishes were shared by five and there was hardly any leftover.

Previously, I had given a short account of my encounter and walk with God to Salome in French at CLA. At my house, I told all the girls a more detailed story. During the meal, we continued our conversations about our faith, world view and differences between our cultures, their experiences in Doulos, etc.

Each of us had interesting backgrounds: Essie had spent her childhood in Japan where her American parents were serving God as missionaries. Salome came from a modest family and a church with a very small congregation in her home town in Germany. By God's grace, she was miraculously able to join the Doulos team with the financial support from churches in all over her country. From Tracy's personal testimony on the stage last Sunday, I learned that she had been born and grown up in South Africa before following her family to migrate to Australia. Etna had enjoyed her two-year travel by ship so much that she had applied for another six-month extension.

After the dinner, I invited the girls to watch a movie in DVD. They chose the famous "Phantom Of The Opera" which lasted more than two hours. When the long musical finally ended, it was exactly midnight. So we had spent a wonderful evening relaxed at my house.

When I woke up the next morning, I suddenly had an idea: We would say the Lord's prayer according to the languages we mastered. Though Essie could not quite remember the Japanese version and I forgot to take out my French bible, five different languages were used to declare the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth: English, German, Spanish, Mandarin and BM.

As I had to send the girls back to the church office by 9am for the devotion with the CLA staff, I prepared a simple breakfast. While we were having bread and hot drinks, it was also the last moment of fellowship at my house. We wrote words of appreciation to each other. The girls also left me a picture of them while I gave them a threaded dragonfly each as a souvenir.

Etna had a good rest at my house. Tracy felt very encouraged when I told them that I wished I were already committed to Jesus when I was at their age. My apple crumble the previous night had brought back to Essie memories of autumn with her family in the USA. Salome had regained interest in speaking French after she met me. I was very honoured to be a blessing to these lovely girls who were still strangers to me five days earlier. I also thanked them for being a blessing to Malaysia, Melaka and me.

I especially thank God for giving me a house to open up to these sisters in Christ. I know actually He was the one who opened the doors. I believe it was just the beginning. God will continue to grant my wish to see the world through my guests from all the continents.