How life should be

Today's sermon was on Proverbs 3:1-8. I find that this passage is divided into four parts, each with what we are called to do, what we are to do and what will happen when we do: peaceful, successful, good and content. 

(1) Do not forget God's teaching but to know it and obey it, and we will have long peaceful days

My son, do not forget my teaching, 

   but let your heart keep my commandments, 

   for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 

(2) Keep steadfast love and faithfulness as a way of life in whatever we do and we will succeed wherever we will be

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; 

   bind them around your neck;  

   write them on the tablet of your heart. 

   So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. 

(3) Trust in God, not self, not materially, not abilities, but put our security completely in God, and our paths with be the right and good paths

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, 

   and do not lean on your own understanding. 

   In all your ways acknowledge him, 

   and he will make straight your paths. 

(4) Fear the Lord, for this is is our whole duty, and life will be full and content 

Be not wise in your own eyes; 

   fear the LORD, 

   and turn away from evil. 

   It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Sounds easy but if you think about it, it is a complete surrender to God, to deny self, to take up the cross and to follow Him. It's the only way it will work. It's the only way life will work. 

pearlie

Christ is risen indeed

I finished reading Köstenberger's book, The Final Days of Jesus, and found it excellent as a companion to reading the Scripture on a day-to-day basis during the Holy Week.

I have also concluded the daily readings everyday with the videos provided here, with this video on the Resurrection Day:

I will do this again next year, and make the passages of the Passion Week, of the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus the focus of my thought, meditation and commitment. 

pearlie

The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived

The church I am attending now does not observe Lent and I forgot that it is Palm Sunday today. This makes me miss the more traditional churches I have attended before. 

Therefore, it is good that I received an email from Crossway: A Day-by-Day Guide to the Holy Week. It is to be followed along with Andreas J. Köstenberger's book. 

The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived

by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor

I have not read it yet, and it will be good to stall what I am reading right now and spent the week reading this in meditation on the final days of Jesus, the most important week of the most important person who ever lived. 

As I began to read the Scripture passages, read the first chapters of the book and watched the video, we found that Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst people with high hopes and expectations. They wanted a political king to free them from the Roman Empire. 

It was a very volatile situation. The people wanted a revolution, the Jewish leaders most probably wanted things to remain status-quo with the Romans, and the Romans were keeping a close eye to all that is happening to ensure things don't go out of hand. 

But with all of that, Jesus has an entirely different and unexpected agenda in mind. 

What began as a small celebration of the beginning of the week, will turn to chaos, but will then in turn become the grandest celebration of mankind of all times. 

pearlie

Technology and the Christian faith

Just when I bought the book, iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives, my husband sent me a link to this article by BBC: How smartphones and social media are changing Christianity. 

There are really so many of such coincidental things that happens to me. But anyway...

I haven't started to read the book yet, but I read the article. It is interesting. 

It says that smartphones and social media are changing the way people practice their faith. They are making people read the Bible more literally compared to reading from the book form, in that they end up reading the text like it's Wikipedia. They are promoting a new kind of mutated Christianity referred to as moralistic therapeutic deism where it is more focused on the charitable and moral side of the Bible, not the Gospel. 

I am not sure what state is it here in Malaysia, but we could very well be getting there if we are not careful. I am already in a Whatsapp group that my acquaintances will often send memes or posters of single bible vereses with no context whatsoever, aiming to make one feel blessed and good. 

pearlie 

What I finally learnt from the parable of the lost sons

I attended the covenant group meeting in church yesterday and it was a very good session.

We watched a video by Timothy Keller and it was a very well done video. In telling the story, he used the metaphor of  dinner table with two chairs on each end, one representing the younger son and the other the older son. It was very effective.




The session lasted quite long, but we weren't able to discuss all the questions in the workbook. But when we were asked what new things we learnt while watching the video, it was this for me:

I have been trained to read passages in the bible contextually, to read them in context with the entire passage, the entire section, the entire book.

I did not see it then but when Keller brought the three parables of Jesus together, it was a new lesson I learnt. He highlighted that in the first two parables, when the shepherd lost a sheep and the woman lost a coin, they both actively went out to search for them and when they found their lost item, they celebrated and rejoiced.

But when the younger son was lost, no one went looking for him. The person who were suppose to go was the elder brother. That elder brother, who represented the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law in Jesus's audience, and probably most of us, only cared for the things he was entitled to, not the heart of the father.

But we have one true Elder Brother, Jesus, who not only went out to look for us, the younger brothers, he gave up everything including his life to come for us.

Now, isn't that amazing grace?

pearlie

So we think we are so great

Today's sermon was an exposition of Luke 4:14-40 and the speaker, Brett Hartman, has approached it in a way I have not thought of before. 

He explained the passage as follows: Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth and when it came to the reading from the prophets, he took the scroll and read from Isaiah, "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD's favor has come."

Jesus then gave an exposition of the passage saying, "The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"

The people were amazed and they were happy with what Jesus has said. They see themselves as good people, under the oppression of the Romans. And so they were waiting for the Messiah to come save them, and to proclaim the year of Lord's favour on them. 

But Jesus see that they have missed the point of the gospel. And so he continued with the mention of two people whom God chose to save: of all the widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, God only chose to save a foreign poor widow, and of all the lepers in Israel, God only chose to cleanse Naaman, a rich foreign. Both of them implying that God had not chosen to save Israel. 

The people became very angry when they heard that. They rose up, drove Jesus out of town and wanted to kill him. They failed this time, but we know, they soon nailed Jesus to the cross. 

The lesson here is that grace means that God is not obliged to save anyone but yet he is free to save anyone. The Israelites cannot have a claim to salvation anymore than the two foreigners can be excluded. 

The speaker also brought a more in-depth meaning to the passage read by Jesus in the synagogue, that four things will happen when you truly encounter God:

1. You will be set free from captive

2. You will open your eyes and see

3. You will be cleansed and accepted by God, no longer be loathed and shunned like a leper

4. You will be set free and no longer be oppressed or be poor in spirit 

We must recognize the deep desire in our hearts and lives that we do not really want to give God control in our lives. We want to be our own god, our own saviour. We want control. 

But how good we think we are, we actually do not have anything, do we? We are indeed nothing. We need the Lord, he is the one in control. 

pearlie 

A contextual look at the three appearances of Jesus after his resurrection

 

Today's sermon is from John 21:1-12. Rev Wong Fong Yang gave a good exposition of the passage and I learnt a lot. 

This was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection and I see now that the context of his appearances were pregnant with meaning. 

The first appearance was when the disciples were so afraid of being arrested that they gathered behind locked doors. Jesus appeared before them to help them overcome their fears.

The second appearance was when Thomas was around and he showed them that he had indeed been resurrected, he is alive. 

His third appearance was by the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Pastor Wong cross referenced it to Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus first called them to be fishers of men. In both events, they were fishing the whole night and there were no fishes, not a single catch. And in both cases, Jesus asked them to lower their nets and they caught a whole lot of them. 

This looks like an intentional reaffirmation of the call of the disciples to be fishers of men of the resurrected Christ. They are not to be afraid, but believe in the resurrected Jesus and be fishers of men to spread the good news of eternal life. 

And there was so much fish and large ones too. Jesus is the resourceful one and he will provide for his own work to be accomplished. We do not have anything, but he he everything. 

His call remained unchanged and we are still called to evangelize and bring people to the kingdom of God. 

pearlie

Run to him and keep running to him: CEP/KVBC 2016 Day 2

 Andrew Reid on "The Humiliated Head of a New Humanity" ~ Hebrews 2:5-18

Today is day two of the conference, and again, it was excellent. The exposition of Scripture and the teaching of the ways to read Scripture were so insightful and useful. It is not so relevant in quoting this and albeit not accurately, but I feel like being drunk in the Spirit with the filling and chewing of the Word for the whole day (Eph 5:18).

I was so exhausted by the time the CEP Preaching Conference Day Two came to a close. And I was telling my good friend that I am in a 75:25 situation, that is a small part of me wants to go home and go to bed. But we persevered on and it was a good decision.

I wish I was more alert in listening to Andrew Reid's exposition of Heb 2:5-18 during the night session but I still managed to get some very good insights from the passage - the type and anti type of the fallen humanity that is us and the perfect human in Christ.

My wow moment was when Reid said, "we share in the flesh and blood of the Savior" and I am now sure if he said the following or if it dawned on me that on top of that we are invited to partake of that perfect flesh and blood that is Christ.

And his closing is a reiteration of why I am in this conference in the first place - run to him and keep running to him.

pearlie

Back to the School of Christ: CEP/KVBC 2016 Day 1

I attended the first day of the CEP Preaching Conference today followed by the KVBC in the evening. It was a long 16-hour day having left my house at 7 am and only arrived back home at 11pm. It was indeed strenuous but a most blessed day as well. 

The speakers we had were David Cook, Paul Barker, Andrew Reid and DA Carson. It felt so wonderful to be again soaked in the Word of God with good insights from these excellent speakers.

I must say I wasn't very sure why when I signed up for this. I had not been attending this conference since the last one I attended in year 2010. I just thought I should get back to it and without much of an after thought, I just went ahead to register and paid for it. 

It was only after this day one of the conference that I know that it was the Spirit who drew me to it. I needed it. Thank you Jesus. 

The best years of my life was when I was pursuing my theological studies, when I was happily wading and swimming deep in the word of God. Ever since I graduated in year 2011, I have not been steeping my life in his Word as much, and I miss it so much. 

And so this is really a back to the school of Christ for me. As a result of the day and night long conference, a yearning for the Word is again growing from the inside. And I look forward to the next two days and from there to more and more of Christ in my life. 

pearlie

The Flimsiness of Our Lives and the Weight of His Glory

I think my fellow partners in the recent production of Handel's Messiah would be quite amused that I am still listening to the choruses! They would have moved on but I am still happily listening and singing along with it.

For one, I will be singing the Part 1 of The Messiah in the KL Wesley choir this coming Christmas season and we have started on our practice and rehearsal. The other reason is because this piece of music is just so wonderfully amazing, profound and brilliant. The musical movements and melody are unequaled. And on top of that, I simply love to sing this kind of music - sacred, oratorio, classical. And the fact that I know the soprano part and all the lyrics is a boon for me because I can sing along in car--my "studio"--as I commute to and fro work. All the 22 choruses!

And this morning, as I was listening and singing to All We Like Sheep, I recalled what our conductor said about it.

All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
The Messiah, by Handel

This chorus is found in Part 2 of the oratorio, where it is centered on the death and suffering of Jesus. Paul, our conductor, remarked why on earth would Handel interject amidst the seriousness of all the arias and choruses in the Part 2 with something so flimsy as this. I know I did say something in reply but I cannot remember exactly what I said.

But as I thought more about it this morning, it is even more apparent to me why Handel did it. And he was a genius for doing so. The very message is in the words and the music of the song. 

The lyrics of the first part of the chorus are: "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way." It is then followed by a complete change of mood in the music (2:42) when the lyrics moved on to "And the Lord hath laid on Him, the iniquity of us all."

It is a fact that we are like sheep and we have gone astray from God. And the music depicted that perfectly in how we live our lives in flimsiness, aimlessness and indifference. Note how the word "astray" and "turned" is sung: erratic and shifty.

And then comes the magnitude and the gravity of what God has done for us, that he has laid on Jesus the weight of all our sin.

Isn't that amazing, the message of the Gospel, how God saved us from our own calamity, and how Handel has so beautifully brought it out?

pearlie