short update

Been a busy week, and more busy weeks to come! Heaps on my plate at the moment, but enjoying all of it :)

- Apologetics assignment on science & Christianity
- Lunch & movie outing with the girls tmr. We're watching WALL-E! YAAAY! Finally!
- Watching Mummy 3 next Tuesday with David. Go Brendan Fraser!
- The evangelistic talk I'd be giving next Friday (3rd Oct) at OCF Murdoch's Social Night.. PLEASE PRAY!!
- More Assignments x 7 (too lazy to list them all down)

Phew! Learning to take it day by day & entrust it all to God!

update...

Yes, my sister asks for an update.. so she shall get one!

Now what have I been up to lately?

Had a chance to do an inductive BS with some OCFers on Monday. I honestly think I probably tortured them by asking them so many questions... Hmm... while I was glad I made them think, I wasn't too happy about the whole flow of how I conducted the study.. so there's plenty of room for improvement!

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Otherwise, have been thinking & wrestling more with the news of the recent death of the 17-year old son of Daniel & Suzanne Prak, missionaries in Cambodia. He went into a diabetic coma (first presentation of the illness) and went to be with the Lord after 4 weeks.

Reading the book of Job in the past few weeks have also raised those questions and issues. Why do good people suffer? And more specifically, why do the people who are the most faithful to God, seeking to serve him, the very ones who seem to have to suffer?

I didn't realise that the question had been niggling at the back of my head all this time, particularly since David first went to Cambodia & shared about another missionary couple whose child had some terminal illness. This recent incident with the Praks just brought it up to the fore.

Was encouraged by a letter from the Praks in response to all that has happened. In it they give thanks and praise to God, that for their prayers were answered. They prayed for complete healing for Andrew, and he's received it. Nothing can be better for Andrew than to be with his Maker.

I find that mind-boggling faith. I guess I know the answer intellectually. I know in my head that God is good, that He is trustworthy, that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, even though we don't understand it at times, and even if it comes at great suffering in this present life. But put in the same situation as the Praks, I don't know whether I'd be able to respond in that manner. To be able to have that kind of strength & deep trust in God. I just don't know whether that "knowledge" has passed from my head to my heart.

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On another note, I got invited by a friend at Seminary to preach at his father's church (his father was ill) this Sunday. It's a small congregation of about 30-40 people. Got a bit of a shock, and was struggling to get to a decision. Wasn't quite sure I was ready to be preaching at a formal church service yet.. Well, final verdict is that I'm not taking it up. Couldn't get to a decision by today, and he needed to get someone ASAP.

Phew.. on one hand, it's a sigh of relief. On another, I'm wondering whether I missed out on an opportunity? Oh well, there'd be more to come. Just not sure whether I'm quite ready yet at this stage.

Discovery Group

It's been a tiring night at OCF, but an awesome one. Had the chance of facilitating the discovery group going through the "Introducing God" course. Just amazed at how multi-national the group was, especially today. 2 from Hong Kong, 1 from USA, 3 from Taiwan. Am still praying for that 1 Korean & 1 Cambodian to turn up next week. God willing, it'd come to fruition!

Am really enjoying the DVD talks and learning from them. In my opinion, the course is a very faithful presentation of the gospel of Jesus and it tells the Bible story of salvation very well. It's based on the "Two ways to live" presentation of the gospel and so it covers the essential areas of creation, sin, redemption and new life sufficiently well.

Next week would be "interesting" as it'd be a rather offensive session where the topic of judgement comes up. Please pray for God's work by his Spirit to be done!

Time to rest! Zzzzzz....

Book Review

Recently had to review this book for one of my assignments. Thought I'd share it 'cos I found it really helpful in thinking about sharing our faith with others. This review doesn't do justice to the book, so I'd recommend that you get hold of a copy and read it for yourself :)

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Dickson, J., Promoting the Gospel (Blue Bottle Books, 2005)

Dickson gives a refreshing insight into what biblical mission entails. Contrary to popular evangelical belief and emphasis (mine included), the means for promoting Christ is not confined to verbal proclamation of the gospel, but also includes prayer, financial giving, godly behaviour, the public praise of God and answering people’s questions.

He begins by presenting a case for promoting the gospel and then examines the challenge of pluralism and the inevitable call for Christians to follow Christ in mission. As he states, “our entire life, including our social life, should demonstrate the Lord’s desire to have fellowship with sinners” (p41). He then proceeds to address the various means in which the gospel can be advanced and people drawn to Christ.

The strength (and thesis) of this book is that it draws attention to aspects of missions in the Bible that have often been neglected or sidelined. Dickson rightly points out that we have often tried to fit people into the role of an “evangelist” while neglecting the other means in which the gospel is advanced. Nevertheless, a chapter is devoted in exploring the actual role of the evangelist.

In particular, I found the chapter on giving “an apt reply” an eye-opener. Dickson contends that while learning to present a gospel outline is helpful and necessary, more often than not our opportunities for sharing our faith come in our day-to-day conversations with people. The power of an appropriate reply or comment should not be undermined and he calls for an emphasis in conversational explanations of the Faith in training for evangelism. Moreover, he points out that the apostle Paul himself makes a comparison between his apostolic speaking of the gospel to the everyday speech of believers in general in Colossians 4:3-6. A review of the Greek used in those verses show

…a thematic parallel between Paul’s obligation to proclaim the gospel word and the congregation’s duty to answer in their everyday word. In effect, what bold proclamation is to evangelists, gracious answers are to believers in general. Both activities have profound missionary significance. (p152)

Another not commonly regarded aspect is the role that the public praise of God can take in advancing the gospel. Surprisingly, this notion is a well-established theme in the Old Testament and inherent in the theology and practice of the Jewish people. The communal praise of God in the synagogue or temple was one of God’s ways of drawing the Gentiles to worship him. This idea is also taken up in the New Testament by the apostle Peter.

In addressing our contemporary context, Dickson maintains that “the number of visitors in our services is directly proportionate to the level of enthusiasm felt by those who regularly attend” (p138). This brings us to consider how our regular corporate worship times in church can be enhanced firstly for the regular worshippers, and consequently for visitors. It also challenges the commonly held view that evangelistic church services are the main means for drawing unbelievers to Christ. On the contrary, he asserts that normal church services conducted exceptionally well will not only inspire the regulars, but also draw in visitors and promote the gospel to them. While Dickson does not go into lengths of what such a service should look like, he gives us a few clues from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians – that it should be an intelligible declaration of God’s wonders for the benefit of God’s people.

In his chapter “being beautiful”, he points out the fact that people can be won to faith “without a word” through godly behaviour. He provides solid biblical support for “the gospel being a necessary and sufficient cause of faith without always being the primary cause of faith” (p99). This not only stresses the impact that good deeds can have on unbelievers towards the gospel, but also brings assurance to those in positions where it is inappropriate or impossible to speak of the gospel.

To the question, “So where does actual gospel proclamation fit in?”, Dickson remarks:

...speaking about the Faith is the icing on the cake of mission. It may not be where the bulk of our day-to-day mission activity lies but frequently it is the most obvious part of the mission and, once tasted, will often be the sweetest. (p109)

Overall, this book represents a holistic treatment on the issue of Christian mission. It challenges the church not only to view it one-dimensionally, but to consider the manifold aspects involved in it and to encourage all believers to be a part of it.

Sleepy photos

More baby Amy photos!

Baby Amy!

Here's a photo of Amy :)
Sucking her fingers??!!!

baby visit

Went to visit Soong Leng and baby Amy at the hospital this morning. Such a pleasant baby! Apparently she hasn't cried very much since birth.. just a short "WeAH" at the time of birth and that's it! Probably because her mum is a very good natured person herself, so I guess the baby just takes after her :)

Guess I won't be needing those ear-plugs after all :P

Anyway, baby Amy was busy sleeping... only opened one of her eyes for a short while..

Will wait for David to take some photos later in the arvo before I'll have any to post up!

A baby is born!

She's here! She's here!

Who?

Baby Amy! My housemate (& David's sister-in-law) just gave birth to a baby girl this morning! Hip hip hooray!

Will post up some photos when I get them! Muahahhaa..

Oh boy, it was an agonising morning for me. I knew Jonathan & Soong Leng went to the hospital early this morning (6am), but didn't get any news till about lunch time. Only found out from John Ho over MSN that the baby was already born around 8-9am in the morning! Geez.. all that agonising for nothing! Haha..

Anyway, praise God that both mum & baby are well :)