How much love do we show? Some recent observations about events happening around me:
1. People complaining others not showing love, but they themselves won't do anything but are only content in complaining.
2. People happily willing to spend the night at someone's place to play games and have fun, and they are more than willing to allow the homeowner to clean their mess in front of them afterwards.
3. People abusing our love and trust of others, expecting others to be there for them when it is convenient for them and ignoring us when we are of no value.
4. People only showing concern at events, but do not show any concern about the root cause of such events, and the impact it has on people. People only show concern to those who are directly affected by the event, but show no concern to us who are greatly affected indirectly by the event.
5. People not realising how much we've done for them and show no appreciation for what we've done, taking things for granted and abandoning us when things don't work out anymore.
The fact that I am posting this shows that I may be guity as well.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Reality of Full Time Ministry in Chinese Churches
At a recent training day, a pastor mentioned that you would know that you are suitable for full time ministry when someone is willing to pay you for it. Several issues flow out of this:
1. Would you be comfortable in taking money for doing God's work? And if you are, then you would want to do it well. But whether a pastor is doing his job well or not is very subjective. What is the measure? If the deacons think you are doing a bad job (but the congregation thinks to the contrary) and you are 'fired' as a result, does that mean you are not suitable for full time ministry? Or should you just change to a different church, although you are attached to the people you are pastoring in your old church? Or should you fight to stay in your old church for the sake of those people you are pastoring as you don't want to abandon them without a leader.
2. Demanding a certain level of remuneration is contrary to the idea of taking up your cross for doing ministry. And on one level you need to have faith in God's providence, but on another level, if a church wants someone that is good, should they pay them a reasonable amount to attract quality candidates to the role as a pastor. I am not talking about smaller churches, but those large churches who have more than enough funding but are not willing to put out the money to attract quality people to be pastors. Maybe this is a process from God for the individual to see whether they are willing to bear the costs of taking such a role. Or maybe we can learn from Hillsong churches.
3. Although in alot of respects, the culture of Anglo churches would suit us more than Chinese churches, the reality is that it is more effective for Chinese to reach to Chinese, even if we speak in English. Does that mean that we need to persevere and endure the inefficiencies of the Chinese church structure and have patience for slow changes to be made over time?
1. Would you be comfortable in taking money for doing God's work? And if you are, then you would want to do it well. But whether a pastor is doing his job well or not is very subjective. What is the measure? If the deacons think you are doing a bad job (but the congregation thinks to the contrary) and you are 'fired' as a result, does that mean you are not suitable for full time ministry? Or should you just change to a different church, although you are attached to the people you are pastoring in your old church? Or should you fight to stay in your old church for the sake of those people you are pastoring as you don't want to abandon them without a leader.
2. Demanding a certain level of remuneration is contrary to the idea of taking up your cross for doing ministry. And on one level you need to have faith in God's providence, but on another level, if a church wants someone that is good, should they pay them a reasonable amount to attract quality candidates to the role as a pastor. I am not talking about smaller churches, but those large churches who have more than enough funding but are not willing to put out the money to attract quality people to be pastors. Maybe this is a process from God for the individual to see whether they are willing to bear the costs of taking such a role. Or maybe we can learn from Hillsong churches.
3. Although in alot of respects, the culture of Anglo churches would suit us more than Chinese churches, the reality is that it is more effective for Chinese to reach to Chinese, even if we speak in English. Does that mean that we need to persevere and endure the inefficiencies of the Chinese church structure and have patience for slow changes to be made over time?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Equination
What better way to take my mind off troubles than playing online computer games.
I have always been fascinated by horses from a very early age. I like the way they move and the speed they get from racing. As I get older, I enjoyed seeing horse races, and later on, learnt about horses through the newspaper and the form guide. At one stage I was so familiar that I even looked at the sires and dams of horses.
I have never liked to gamble excessively, so this interest is purely for personal pleasure.
Anyway, I discovered a game at www.equination.net a few years agao. It is a very realistic horseracing game, where you are the trainer, and you train and breed horses and put them in races that rates from Starter Allowance level to Group 1 level. A very addictive game. I have asked my friend to look after my account for me for 1.5 years but I recently picked it up again, and its so fun, buying and training horses, and looking at their lines and trying to find a bargain and train a winner. Most of my horses are now quite old (over 10) and I have retired them to the breeding barn. Some are still racing at 14. Very unrealistic. But the whole game is really fun and time consuming but I guess if you are not a horse lover, you will find it boring and slow.
I have always been fascinated by horses from a very early age. I like the way they move and the speed they get from racing. As I get older, I enjoyed seeing horse races, and later on, learnt about horses through the newspaper and the form guide. At one stage I was so familiar that I even looked at the sires and dams of horses.
I have never liked to gamble excessively, so this interest is purely for personal pleasure.
Anyway, I discovered a game at www.equination.net a few years agao. It is a very realistic horseracing game, where you are the trainer, and you train and breed horses and put them in races that rates from Starter Allowance level to Group 1 level. A very addictive game. I have asked my friend to look after my account for me for 1.5 years but I recently picked it up again, and its so fun, buying and training horses, and looking at their lines and trying to find a bargain and train a winner. Most of my horses are now quite old (over 10) and I have retired them to the breeding barn. Some are still racing at 14. Very unrealistic. But the whole game is really fun and time consuming but I guess if you are not a horse lover, you will find it boring and slow.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Discouragement
We are supposed to encourage one another and love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. But often, the reality is more about discouragement between brothers and sisters than encouragement.
In church, if people do a good job at something, there is no encouragement from others. But if there is a small problem, people become critical and judgemental towards you. Why are we like that? Getting the congregation together to talk about how to improve the Sunday services through administrative tasks only results in expressions of personal opinions as opposed to finding a way to enhance our experience of God through worship. Noone talked about how we can be closer to God through worship. We just talked about insignificant things like how to better set out the bulletin. We did not even discussed how we can be drawn closer to God and glorify Him through worship, which should be the reason why we are at church on Sundays. We can say we would like this or that, but when it comes down to implementation, noone is willing to help. How can we change if we lack resources? Why do they even raise it in the first place if there is no solution? Why can't they understand that we lack resources and that I am doing the best I can with what I am given.
And how about parents trying to intervene with their children. If their children comes to me to talk about their problems, and as a mentor I try to spend time with them and talk to them, then don't blame me if they actually do something which is not what the parent wanted them to do. Ironically, in a lot of cases, I am only there as a listener, and try to direct them to think of the reasons why they do certain things. And in alot of cases, I am actually on the side of the parents rather than the kids. If the kids don't listen to me and go and do their own thing, why blame me? I've done the best I can. Ultimately its up to that person to make up their mind as to what they want to do. Why do the parents accuse me of swaying their kids away from them when in fact I am trying to do the opposite in most cases. Why can't the parents confront me about it, but instead they talk about me behind my back? Why can't they appreciate the fact that I spent my own personal time, often sleeping only four hours per night for the whole week, talking to their kids on the phone to help them in critical times, when their kids can't even talk to their parents about it. Why do they like to blame others where ultiamtely they should be the one who should be reflecting on why they were not able to communicate with their kids in the first place. It doesn't help if the kids are using me as an excuse to their parents to justify their own actions.
I actually don't mind people that try to do things and know their own limitations. I dispise people that try to tell the world they are doing everything, but in fact they have done nothing but talk. It is even more sad if all they want is power, and not willing to do anything. At least a woman with a baby knows her own limitations and enlists the help of others. What about the independent woman who tries to implement all these ideas and criticises others, but she doesn't even see that her incapacity in doing a simple task (such as teaching) is causing people to turn away from church. How can I work with this person, especially if I used to respect her in the past?
God, I am weak... let me see your glory and my own flaws instead of seeing the flaws of others... Amen
In church, if people do a good job at something, there is no encouragement from others. But if there is a small problem, people become critical and judgemental towards you. Why are we like that? Getting the congregation together to talk about how to improve the Sunday services through administrative tasks only results in expressions of personal opinions as opposed to finding a way to enhance our experience of God through worship. Noone talked about how we can be closer to God through worship. We just talked about insignificant things like how to better set out the bulletin. We did not even discussed how we can be drawn closer to God and glorify Him through worship, which should be the reason why we are at church on Sundays. We can say we would like this or that, but when it comes down to implementation, noone is willing to help. How can we change if we lack resources? Why do they even raise it in the first place if there is no solution? Why can't they understand that we lack resources and that I am doing the best I can with what I am given.
And how about parents trying to intervene with their children. If their children comes to me to talk about their problems, and as a mentor I try to spend time with them and talk to them, then don't blame me if they actually do something which is not what the parent wanted them to do. Ironically, in a lot of cases, I am only there as a listener, and try to direct them to think of the reasons why they do certain things. And in alot of cases, I am actually on the side of the parents rather than the kids. If the kids don't listen to me and go and do their own thing, why blame me? I've done the best I can. Ultimately its up to that person to make up their mind as to what they want to do. Why do the parents accuse me of swaying their kids away from them when in fact I am trying to do the opposite in most cases. Why can't the parents confront me about it, but instead they talk about me behind my back? Why can't they appreciate the fact that I spent my own personal time, often sleeping only four hours per night for the whole week, talking to their kids on the phone to help them in critical times, when their kids can't even talk to their parents about it. Why do they like to blame others where ultiamtely they should be the one who should be reflecting on why they were not able to communicate with their kids in the first place. It doesn't help if the kids are using me as an excuse to their parents to justify their own actions.
I actually don't mind people that try to do things and know their own limitations. I dispise people that try to tell the world they are doing everything, but in fact they have done nothing but talk. It is even more sad if all they want is power, and not willing to do anything. At least a woman with a baby knows her own limitations and enlists the help of others. What about the independent woman who tries to implement all these ideas and criticises others, but she doesn't even see that her incapacity in doing a simple task (such as teaching) is causing people to turn away from church. How can I work with this person, especially if I used to respect her in the past?
God, I am weak... let me see your glory and my own flaws instead of seeing the flaws of others... Amen
Streams of Praise 2006
My first time at a Mandarin Christian concert. I enjoyed it alot as I knew alot of the songs there. Thank God for giving me the wisdom to understand mandarin, so that I can have an insight into their sharings and prayers.
I enjoyed Hillsong more though, the atmosphere was more relaxed and people were more free to convey and express their emotions. Streams of Praise was a little forced in alot of respect, especially the actions to songs which they devised.
Looking forward to praising God with our voices as we live in His glory forever in heaven!
I enjoyed Hillsong more though, the atmosphere was more relaxed and people were more free to convey and express their emotions. Streams of Praise was a little forced in alot of respect, especially the actions to songs which they devised.
Looking forward to praising God with our voices as we live in His glory forever in heaven!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Hillsong Concert 2006
"How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God..."
Seeing thousands of pepople coming together to praise Him, lifting their hands up in reverence to our Lord, dancing away for Him because we are free from the bondage of our sins. Being drowned in the music, as we reflect on our own relationships with God. Seeing people willing to be converted to God, through the gospel message exposed in the music. Seeing people releasing all prohibitions to praise and worship our God. All these are like seeing a slice of heaven on earth.
Although Hillsong has their issues such as the prosperity doctrine and commercialism of religion, most of us can still learn alot from them, especially from the way they worship our Lord. We tend to withdraw our emotions when we are singing praises to God. Maybe we should learn to set ourselves free, to come before God in worship just as we are, so that we can learn to experience God personally through worship.
I wanted to kneel down and thank God for his salvation during the songs about the death of Christ. I was happy dancing away when I realised that in the resurrected Christ, I am now free. As we sang the last song at the concert, I was trying to hold back tears as I remembered how great God is to each one of us.
It is disappointing that some people missed out on these experiences by attending the concert with preconceived judgemental ideas.
Seeing thousands of pepople coming together to praise Him, lifting their hands up in reverence to our Lord, dancing away for Him because we are free from the bondage of our sins. Being drowned in the music, as we reflect on our own relationships with God. Seeing people willing to be converted to God, through the gospel message exposed in the music. Seeing people releasing all prohibitions to praise and worship our God. All these are like seeing a slice of heaven on earth.
Although Hillsong has their issues such as the prosperity doctrine and commercialism of religion, most of us can still learn alot from them, especially from the way they worship our Lord. We tend to withdraw our emotions when we are singing praises to God. Maybe we should learn to set ourselves free, to come before God in worship just as we are, so that we can learn to experience God personally through worship.
I wanted to kneel down and thank God for his salvation during the songs about the death of Christ. I was happy dancing away when I realised that in the resurrected Christ, I am now free. As we sang the last song at the concert, I was trying to hold back tears as I remembered how great God is to each one of us.
It is disappointing that some people missed out on these experiences by attending the concert with preconceived judgemental ideas.
Cry of Battle
How do you continue to fight a battle when you are all alone? How do you fight when your troops don't even know that they are already engaged in battle? How do you use your troops if they are lazy and lacking experience, not willing to help or step up? How should you feel if your commander resigned, leaving all the troops behind without someone to lead them in battle, and leaving you crying out for someone to lead? How should you feel if other worthy generals leave as well, leaving the troops in the hands of unworthy generals who are there for ulterior motives instead of concentrating on the battle. How should you continue?
Should you still care for the troops if they don't even need your care, and don't understand how important the battle is? Should you still continue if the only battles your troops face are the battles between themselves?
Maybe our focus is not on inadequacies (whether they come from us or our troops) but on the true commander leading us, the Great One, who will lead us into victory. But maybe victory will come at a cost, a cost that may be too great for us to bear.
If noone is willing to pay the cost, then why is there a troop in the first place?
Maybe they will only appreciate when all worthy generals are gone. But even then, they may be too ignorant to know the difference.
Should you still care for the troops if they don't even need your care, and don't understand how important the battle is? Should you still continue if the only battles your troops face are the battles between themselves?
Maybe our focus is not on inadequacies (whether they come from us or our troops) but on the true commander leading us, the Great One, who will lead us into victory. But maybe victory will come at a cost, a cost that may be too great for us to bear.
If noone is willing to pay the cost, then why is there a troop in the first place?
Maybe they will only appreciate when all worthy generals are gone. But even then, they may be too ignorant to know the difference.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Expense claims
Do people feel guilty claiming for expenses at a professional services firm?
Is it right for a lawyer to claim $150 for having lunch with a secretary of the legal counsel of a client, treating that as a client marketing expense. Is it right for a boss to claim $7 for having coffe with me, telling me that he will pay for my coffee, but in the end claiming it from the firm as a staff expense?
In desperation I claimed the following expenses today successfully. If other people weren't claiming everything, I would have paid for these expenses myself. But I felt so guilty after I claimed them, as I don't feel right in doing so. The expenses I claimed include:
1. Half of my airfare to HK - claimed to internal marketing, since the last time I went to HK for my friend's wedding, I actually did a presentation at our HK office.
2. Coffee with client - I knew this person before I realised that he is also a client of the firms. I had coffee with him the other day, and I kept the receipt. I claimed this as a client expense.
3. Bottle of wine with collegues - We went to a drinks night organised by the firm, and we stayed back afterwards when everyone was gone. Since all our bosses have left, they weren't there to pay for the extra drinks, so I paid for a bottle of wine for me and my collegues. I claimed this as a staff enterntainment expense.
Maybe I should just do my own thing and ignore how other people are exploiting the firm.
Is it right for a lawyer to claim $150 for having lunch with a secretary of the legal counsel of a client, treating that as a client marketing expense. Is it right for a boss to claim $7 for having coffe with me, telling me that he will pay for my coffee, but in the end claiming it from the firm as a staff expense?
In desperation I claimed the following expenses today successfully. If other people weren't claiming everything, I would have paid for these expenses myself. But I felt so guilty after I claimed them, as I don't feel right in doing so. The expenses I claimed include:
1. Half of my airfare to HK - claimed to internal marketing, since the last time I went to HK for my friend's wedding, I actually did a presentation at our HK office.
2. Coffee with client - I knew this person before I realised that he is also a client of the firms. I had coffee with him the other day, and I kept the receipt. I claimed this as a client expense.
3. Bottle of wine with collegues - We went to a drinks night organised by the firm, and we stayed back afterwards when everyone was gone. Since all our bosses have left, they weren't there to pay for the extra drinks, so I paid for a bottle of wine for me and my collegues. I claimed this as a staff enterntainment expense.
Maybe I should just do my own thing and ignore how other people are exploiting the firm.
Farewell, pastor and family..
Its hard to imagine that four pastors have left our church in the past ten years. All of us should reflect why this is the case. Maybe our church has a whole has become too critical and judgemental, instead of showing compassion and appreciation for what our pastors have done. We failed in the lesson of submission, not allowing our pastors to lead our church, and reducing his role to a speaker and administrator.
Our current pastor and his family have just left our church. Its hard when you have developed a personal relationship with each member of the pastor's family. I guess its not like that I will never see them again. They are just a phone call or email away. But I guess the relationship is different now. I guess there used to be two levels of relationships with them - friendship as well as a relationship of being fellow workers in Christ. It is inevitable that both relationships will be lost, as we become busy with our own lives and serving in our own way.
Should I be angry at their departure, for not hanging in there and be more persistent? I don't know. But maybe I should have supported them more in times when they needed support. I don't know. Maybe all of us have a role to play in their departure and we don't realise it.
I guess noone is perfect, and that applies to that pastor and his family. But our pastor is God's annoited one and we should treat him as such. Respect. Love.
Is it ever right for a pastor to leave the church? I used to think it is right if the pastor was a church planter or when the pastor receives another calling from God. But thinking deeper, who are we to judge what is right or wrong? I guess we should trust God when a pastor leaves and trust on His provision.
Is it ever right for us to leave the church for another church? Maybe this can be a topic for discussion on another day!
Our current pastor and his family have just left our church. Its hard when you have developed a personal relationship with each member of the pastor's family. I guess its not like that I will never see them again. They are just a phone call or email away. But I guess the relationship is different now. I guess there used to be two levels of relationships with them - friendship as well as a relationship of being fellow workers in Christ. It is inevitable that both relationships will be lost, as we become busy with our own lives and serving in our own way.
Should I be angry at their departure, for not hanging in there and be more persistent? I don't know. But maybe I should have supported them more in times when they needed support. I don't know. Maybe all of us have a role to play in their departure and we don't realise it.
I guess noone is perfect, and that applies to that pastor and his family. But our pastor is God's annoited one and we should treat him as such. Respect. Love.
Is it ever right for a pastor to leave the church? I used to think it is right if the pastor was a church planter or when the pastor receives another calling from God. But thinking deeper, who are we to judge what is right or wrong? I guess we should trust God when a pastor leaves and trust on His provision.
Is it ever right for us to leave the church for another church? Maybe this can be a topic for discussion on another day!
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