Eight Random Facts

Tagged by Daniel. Eight random facts about me, myself and oliver....

1. Oliver is very quiet and does not like to be in big group.

2. Oliver likes to play piano, guitar and sing. (But he did not master any of those interests.)

3. Oliver loves to drink Tea Tarik.

4. Oliver has a problem manging time and discipling himself. (In the process of learning :D)

5. Oliver can hold chopsticks very well. (I know this is a very bold statement from indian guy like me. But I can prove it to u.)

6. Oliver treasures true friendship.

7. Oliver likes to play football.

8. Lastly, Oliver does not like to participate in unnecessary programs.

Better sermon...

"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips."

Oliver Goldsmith (Irish Writer, 1728-1774)

Christ! in Her??

This is a true story.

It happened in a little town which situated in the border of Myanmar and Thailand. There was a small church and the congregation was so small that everyone knew each other very well. They had good relationship with one another. There was an active lady who was never late for Sunday services and cell groups. Every Sunday, she would sit in the front row and sang hymns loudly as she could. She consistently tithed. She prayed and fasted during Lent seasons. She fully participated in every activity of the church. She liked to persuade people to come to church. She is like a model for the congregation.

Recently, she noticed a young girl who started to come to church and sat at the back. This young girl covered her head with black shawl and quietly sat in the church. She would leave church immediately after receiving the benediction from the pastor. This young girl did not communicate with any of the church members. As the lady was a good Christian, she looked for opportunities to persuade her to come to cell groups and to participate in the church activities and she did. Yet, there were no changes.

One fine day, the lady saw the young girl on the street. She greeted her. The young girl greeted her too. The young girl asked the lady to visit her because her house was nearby. On their way, still the lady was persuading her. The young girl stopped at small tent so the lady. The lady was surprised because the height of the tent was only 5 feet. It was made of bamboo. Both the lady and the girl had to bend in order to get inside. An 80yrs old man was lying on the bamboo floor covered with a thin blanket. He was on drip. Beside him was a 60yrs old lady. Then the girl said to her father, “Father, this is my friend.” There was no reply from her father at all. Then, the young girl looked at the lady and said, “Do you know that I am a prostitute?” The lady was stunned for a while and shook her head. The young girl continued, “Jesus died on the cross to give life, it is because of him that we have meaning to live. I sacrifice my life by prostituting myself in order to bring life to my parents. This is the best that I can offer to them and to Lord.” The lady could not say anything to her but was amazed for witnessing such great love and offering.

Are we trying to be a good Christian? Are we trying to represent Christ in our community? Are we willing to offer the best to our brothers and sisters, and Lord?

On the other hand, are we the one who is crucifying Christ-like people today? Are we still crucifying Christ?

Church

The church is a foretaste of Kingdom of God. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is already here. It has started. It is a present reality. But he also declared that the Kingdom is to be found perfectly only in the future. How this already/not yet character of the Kingdom can be embraced in churches today? Then, firstly we need to know what the Kingdom of God is. What are some characteristics of Kingdom of God in perfect form? When the Kingdom of God exists in its fullness there will be no sickness, wars, man’s fallen nature and no poverty. All the relationship between Man to God, Man to Man and Man to Creation will be in perfect love, which is the fundamental nature of the Trinitarian God. How can these qualities of the Kingdom can be found today, if we declare that the Kingdom is here?

Woe! The church has such a great responsibiliy and yet most of our churches are busy organizing evangelical campaigns. We are busy choosing which clothes to wear when we go to church. We are busy being involved in programs, for example, men or women's fellowship, youth fellowship, cell groups and special celebration programmes. One ought to note that it is not wrong to participate in these programs. But if one observes carefully, most of us are rushing to finish one programme after another. In our heads, we are thinking how to organize or run those programmes perfectly. Obviously, this kind of environments dose not gives space to love one another. Thus before we start to plan for campaigns or programmes, we ought to practise the fundamental nature of the Trinitarian God. By genuinely loving one another, we can embrace the Kingdom of God in our church.

There will be different types of people in our churches. Among them, let us focus on those who are weak in health, education and wealth etc. Let us take our first step to talk to those who are quiet, shy and those who dare not speak. Let us befriend those. Let us love them as a friend. We may say that we do not have enough time and the congregation is too big. Yes, there is a price to pay for living out the Kingdomic life. But we have no choice but to live the Kingdomic life because we are chosen to be his followers. It is our responsibility. This is what the church is for. Let them taste what the Kingdom of God is like.

Prayer

Truth #2

Assurance of Answered Prayer
Let us look at John 16 and see what it says on Assurance of Answered Prayer.

In verses 23-24 Jesus says: "...I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ... Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." Amen.

"The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (Verse 27)

Our previous reading Assurance of Salvation affirmed that anyone who believes in the Son of God has the testimony that God has given him eternal life. Those who accept God's love and believe in Jesus Christ, by following His command to love one another, are given eternal life. Once we have fulfilled the requirement and become a Child of God, we can turn to the Father. If we ask, we will receive. I want to caution everyone when asking our Father to make sure that what we are asking for is in His and our best interest. "God, Your will be done."

Remember, God's plan comes from His love for His children. For this reason my most important request is for strength to serve the Lord. God loves me and knows what I need, just as a father knows that children need clothes and food.

Dear Father God:
Please give me the attentiveness to follow Your will and equip me with the tools to do it. Amen!

Question: Do you keep a Godly checkbook register and do you know your balances? Can you repay Him?

NO - I am in debt to God so much that I will never be able to repay Him.

My Reflection

Throughout the centuries, people have varieties of expression or understanding on how to pray and what to pray. For the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics, they appeal to the long traditions and learn from them. For example, Roman Catholics practice the Sign of the Cross as an expression of prayer. This is an important part of their Spiritual journey. Eastern Orthodox has richer traditions. For them the Sign of the Cross has great powerful effect on demonic power and tremendous spiritual power. It helps to build up their spirituality.

Sadly, Protestants throw away all the traditions. We do not hold the Sign of the Cross as an important part of personal and public prayer. For most of us, prayer is just asking things that we want from God. It focuses on things that we want although we sound like we are praying for our needs. Our prayers are generally concerned with confession of sins, thanksgiving and asking help. Then we will end by saying to God, “God, Your will be done.” Do we really mean it when we say those words? Do we really know the impact of it? For Jesus, obedience comes in and after his prayer. In Gethsemane, Jesus was so tired that he prayed for God to take away his pain and remove the suffering that he had to go through. He ended the prayer with God’s will and he really meant it. Despite all his sufferings and weakness, he took the painful path. He obeyed God’s will. We may say that we do not know what the will of God for us is. But do we notice that we do not make an effort to know God’s will for us? Do we?

What about our Spirituality? Does our prayer help to build our Spirituality? From my observation, our prayer has nothing to do with our spirituality. It does not build our Spirituality. What is our Spirituality?