Ernest & Carmen

I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth-- each man is but a breath. "Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were. Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more. (Psalms 39:9-13)

Everything's falling apart around me...well, ok, I'm exaggerating. It's only lots of little things that really have no real significance in the whole scheme of things, but when lots of little things happen, they amalgamate into big things. And this week's has had more than it's fair load of crap. It's been absolutely horrible and I wanna just fast forward to the good bits.

I empathise with the author of the Psalm. I know it's God who's doing this to me, probably to teach/remind me of something. But I just want him to leave me alone for a bit ("Look away from me") so I can be happy in my short time here on earth. It sounds kinda heretical to my ears, but I can understand the "human-ness" of it. It's just bascially saying "Gimme a break!"

I know I need to trust God to know what He's doing. I have the head knowledge, and I even have the experience of putting it into practice, but each time I'm tested, it's just as hard as the previous time. I don't know how much more my frail body can put up with...and I'm only young too... *sigh*...

<< Ask God to give me endurance and hope when things aren't going right. But also ask Him to be merciful to me in His discipline - even if I am forgetful and I need to be constantly reminded to seek first His kingdom. >>

Don Carson - The Great Need of the Times
(Psalm 1)

• In Hebrew poetry, parallel & contrast is often used for emphasis. To contrast v1, you'd expect something like "Blessed is the man who walks in the counsel of the godly, who stand in the way of the godly", etc. But this pattern is deliberately broken to highlight that there is only one thing needed to contrast the wicked - someone who delights in the law.
  
• This is the one thing that distinguishes a righteous man from an unrighteous man. Thus this is the one thing that hte world needs fundamentally.
  
• v3 in contrast with v4b - a vibrant and fruitful tree and dry and lifeless chaff.
  
• We usually feel that we fall in between one of these two extremes, but the Bible tells us that there's no middle ground!
  
• As Christians, we cannot go on sinning (1John 3:9), but fortunately, when we do "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1John 1:9) because "we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ (1John 2:1b).

Frank Retief - Clarity in Preaching

• Clarity in preaching is hard to define. What is clear to some may not be to others.
  
• Clarity in presentation not equal to clarity in comprehension.
  
• First component to preaching is Theology: we must tell the truth and not just meaningless talk (1Timothy 1:3).
  
• Second component is Method: not by deception or lies (2Corinthians 4:1-2) but demonstrating God's power by their conversion (1Corinthians 2:4-5).
  
• Clarity in preaching is bound up in the preacher - not the style or personality - but their private relationship with God. A real understanding of the gospel that is gripping the life of the preacher will be shown in the way in which they passionately preach the truth.
  
• Preaching is not an art, but a heart - a heart set ablaze by the gospel and burdened by the loss of sinners.

John Chapman - Illustration and Application

• Illustrations should: clarify, re-enforce, provide a time to 'catch your breath', reveal something of the preacher, arouse interest and recall attention, allow an appeal to the emotions, and recognise various learning styles.
  
• Illustrations fail when: too vivid, does not illustration the point made; inaccurate and distract, used in the place of careful explanation of scripture, and too complex.
  
• Two applications point that should be in every sermon - faith and repentence (see Acts 20:21).
  
• Prepare well in advance so you have time to mediate on it, to apply to yourself, and to use personal experiences as illustrations.
  
• 3 aims of a sermon: to humble sinners, exalt Saviour, and promote godliness.
  
• The first 50 years are the hardest

Frank & Beulah Retief - The Preacher's Family Life & Personal Integrity

• A preacher's family is no different to any other Christian individual or family. Same principles and values apply. The preacher is first and foremost a Christian, and should always have a biblical view of marriage.
  
• However, there are often extra pressures & demands place on a preacher's family. For example: You and your family come under scrutiny from the community ("You are the minister's kid. You shouldn't do that.").
  
• Preachers are often so used to looking out for people in their congregration that they neglect their wife and children. We need to protect them because no one else will. Our family is our first area of ministry.
  
• Because of the nature of the work, a preacher's household will need to be hospitable. Try not to idolise your privacy, though there needs to be a balance and a time to draw the line.
  
• Wife needs to be respected as a wife and mother - not another worker in the church. At the same time, she needs to work together as a team with her husband.
  
• The husband needs to take lead of the family and not be an absent father. Keep up to date with what the family has been doing during the day, and also keep the kids informed of what the father is doing.
  
• Keep high standards when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex.

Day #1 :: KCC Centenary Preaching Conference
John Chapman - The Apostolic Pattern for Ministry
(2Corinthians 4:1-6)

• 2Corinthians was written by Paul as a defense for his spostolic authority, and 4:5 ("For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.") is the most succinct summary of apostolic ministry.
  
• The Method - By proclamation
  
• The Message - Jesus as Messiah (Ruler, Judge and Saviour)
  
• The Mode - As slaves for Christ
  
• Conclusion - Colossians 1:28-29 ("We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.") It's hard work proclaiming Jesus as Messiah, but we are slaves to Christ and to the congregation.

I've found that I'm always a few days late with my post, so that by the time I blog about it, I've already talked to a few of you about it. Oh well, you just get a second dose of it.

Last Tuesday-Thursday, I took 3 days off work to go the KCC Centenary Preaching Conference, which was held in celebration and thanksgiving for 100 years of KCC preaching Christ crucified. In 3 days, I heard a total of 18 hours of Bible teaching - a boggling amount of stuff for me to take in!! I heard from well-known international speakers like Don Carson, Peter Adam and Frank Retief, as well as highly regarded local speakers like David Cook, Ray Galea and John Chapman. So for the sake of my own understanding, and also for the purpose of encouraging you with what I have learnt, I shall proceed to give a very, very short summary of each talk. If you want more details, you'd have to ask me later.

<< All glory and honour be to our Lord and God who has used the ministry of KCC to proclaim the mystery of the gospel and to glory His Son Jesus. Thank God especially for the great teaching I got over the preaching conference and for the many things I was taught and challenged by from His Word. Pray that I can put these into practice in my life personally and as I seek to preach His Word correctly and faithful in the years to come. >>

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. (2Timothy 4:1-2)

For those of you who've been wondering what the heck I've been going on about...Brightside is coming to an end!! If you still have no idea what I mean, Brightside is the name the house I live in. And last week we found out that the owners are coming back (apparently, so they say...) and they want the house back.

*sniffle* :'(

The name is quite adept for it's history - it has been a place where Christians have been encouraged to shine brightly for Christ. Already we are reminiscing about our days here in this house. Ahhh...all the silly times we had in the corridor...the many parties...the accidents...the massive LAN for gaming...the majority of the Sydney Chinese churches that has set foot in here...but most especially the special friendship that has developed between the various occupants of this place. The many nights we stayed up chatting...sometimes about nothing particular (or something stupid [ahem, Char...]), but often encouraging and fruitful conversations ending with prayer. I've grown much as a Christian in my time here, and also learned much about humility and patience. Nothing like a living together to bring out the best (and worst) in you!

<< Praise & thank God for the wonderful years spent living together in this house. Not only for the encouragement it has been to me, but also to all the people who have been in contact with it in some shape or form. Pray for wisdom as we look for a new place of residence and as we work out new living arrangements. And pray especially that the open hospitality and Christ-like servitude will continue in each of us regardless of where we end up living. >>

We have till mid August to find a new place. Already we have dubbed our new place of residence as Darkside - in rememberance of this house, and in reflection of the true nature of the spirit & atmosphere of the people in the house! :P

Brightside lives on!!

We're now living in the last days...

The time is coming...

Today marks the beginning of the end...

RICE is officially over for 2003 (though there is still the leaders' debrief to go). And what a great joy it was!! I don't have enough exuberant words to describe how I feel!! I guess in some sense it was like how I felt after the fete...but only more so - because we were all directly working to proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I still had a nasal accent while we were warming up for the music. And I was extremely nervous at first - probably because the sound guy made me sing solo in order to test the mics! I couldn't breathe properly - let alone sing in tune! I sounded (and felt) horrible. But as we got closer to the "real" thing, God allowed me to calm down and to have a (reasonably) clear nose and throat.

In the end, it all worked out fine, as did the rest of the evening. I was mighty impressed with the videos and the voxpop and the drama (what a cack! - but still appropriate) and the efficient ushering and the cool welcome pack and the supper and...and of course, the talk!

I thought James presented the gospel really well to gear it for the audience that night. Not only content, but also style of delivery. And an amazing "co-incidence" (all planned by God of course) was that he changed his Bible passage at the last minute and ended up using the same passage (Hebrews 9:27) I used for song leading. So everything tied in quite nicely! :)

In keeping with the previous post of the fete, here's a few highlights which others may not have noticed:

• Walking out at 6:50pm for my first slice of pizza and seeing people automatically group themselves and begin praying. Yay!
  
• Watching the kids trickle in bit by bit until it became a flood of teenagers piling into the church, waiting to hear the gospel.
  
• Seeing Steve "get into the groove" as he jammed with the musos while the kids were coming in.
  
• One of my vocalist in the past performed in a musical called "Godspell", and was in fact the "covergirl" on all the posters, CDs, etc. Greggles decided he'd be *charming* and wore the Godspell t-shirt (with her on the front) on the night!! He wisely covered it up with his jacket for the whole night. Otherwise...
  
• As we sung "Lord I Lift Your Name on High", I could see a handful of leaders literally dancing as they performed the actions to compliment the song. I couldn't help but give a big grin as I sang.
  
• Hearing Jeremy Chan give his testimony confidently and comfortably on stage, and thinking, "This kid is in Year 10 and he's already doing better than me in preaching!!! Shame on me!"
  
• As supper started, thinking "Wow!! What a night!"
  
• Seeing the WS leaders engage in a chip eating competition (and I was told later, also a cordial-syrup drinking competition). I deny any association with these people!!

There are many more of course, but a picture paints a thousands words. So for all you faithful readers and pray-ers, here's a link to the photos for both the FETE and the FATE.

Enjoy!

<< Praise God for the amazing way in which He has worked through the ministry of RICE. Praise God that the night all went smoothly (even my croaky voice was ok) and that 18 kids came to know the Lord Jesus that night. Pray for the all-important follow up work now that is happening in all the churches, that these kids will grow in maturity in their newfound identity as God's chosen people. Pray also for the future of RICE, that it will continue to be a platform for unified gospel ministry to build up the fellowship of believers and to reach out into hopeless and lost world. >>

Had another meeting on Sunday for church camp. Our theme this year is Grow Up & Get Out - the idea being that we need to grow up in maturity under God's Word, and we need to get out of our comfort zone and not be so complacent.
(for any WS GLUE people reading this, we didn't rip off your mission statement!)

The irony was that people at the meeting wanted to do anything but get out of their comfort zone. We spent most of the time working out room and transport arrangement, and people had all sorts of opinions about who should be with who. Basically everyone wanted to be in a room/car with people they know and get along with. No one wanted to be in a room with a new comer, or with someone of a different age group, or with the more troublesome people, or...

What happened to getting out of our comfort zone? What happened to removing cliche groups and getting to know other people? What happened to meeting together as one body of Christ to encourage one another instead of hanging out with your best friends (who you see/talk to several times a week anyways) to chat about the latest movies and sport results?

Afterall, these arrangements are only for 3 days and nights. We're not asking you to be stuck with them for the rest of your lives!!

<< I know I often have high expectations for the people around me, so please ask that God will grant me patience and love as I work with this team. Pray also that this team (myself included), and indeed the entire church, will develop an attitude of selflessness and humility shaped by the model of Christ Jesus and the powerful Word of God. >>

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." Philippians 2:1-2

Feeling extremely tired at the moment - but not because of the FETE on Saturday, but because I have a cold! :(

But I must say - the FETE for RICE went off with a blast!! It was great seeing all the leaders working together to make the whole day happen. Lots of us didn't know each other, but we were still able to get along side each other and offer our help - often outside of their allocated stalls. Perhaps a few fond memories of the day to share with you all:

• Seeing everything being setup over a period of 1.5 hrs - from a normal school playground transformed into a proper fete with everything you'd expect from a normal fete.
  
• Putting up the cardboard cut-outs from Video Ezy and lining them up at the entrance, making a spectular pathway into the fete.
  
• Steve trying his pickup lines on the cut out of Angelina Jolie (playing Tomb Raider).
  
• Watching the kids line up outside as we prepare to pray at 12 noon - and seeing them all rush in as soon as the gate was opened!
  
• One young kid who finally managed to collect 5 stamps and came to the prize stall to check out what goodies he could redeem. After much thinking, instead of getting one of the cool toys we had, he decided to get a shaving set for his Dad! (Awwww...how sweet...I should've given him another prize just for that)
  
• The mob that gathered around each time the leaders were to have cream pies thrown at them. When I was in the hot seat myself, all I could see were dozens and dozens of little hands holding out their coupon desperately wanting to have a go at their leader. Almost like the crowd that cried "Crucify him, crucify him!" (yikes, scary thought)
  
• The horrified looks on some faces when Liz Woo (WSCCC) bought out the infamous ox tongue.
  
• The entire fete grinding to a halt when the talks were on Center Stage. Great to see people still focussed on the gospel and the real reason that we were there for.
  
• The mob (again) that swamped the prize stall at the end of the day wanting to get at all the leftovers at a bargain price!
  
• Hearing people asking each other whether they were coming back the following Saturday.
  
• The body of Christ united in one Spirit and one purpose - to preach Christ crucified.

Clean up was not too bad afterwards - depsite not having a hose to wash things down. Plenty of hands to help out. Afterwards we all went home and had a good shower, and then 20+ leaders came back out to have dinner at The Ranch. A good night of fellowship and sharing about the day, ending with some previews of photos taken.

<< Praise and thank God for the good weather and for making it all happen so smoothly. Continue to pray for the hearts and minds of the non-Christians who came along - that they were challenged by the short gospel presentations, and that they will come back this Saturday for FATE - and that ultimately they would come to know Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. >>

<< Pray for the organising of the FATE outreach, that all the leaders will be re-energised and ready to go. Pray that as this RICE event reaches it climax at the talk, that the message will be thought provoking and appropriate for the kids. Pray also that Greg (one of my vocalists) and I may recover from our colds quickly - not merely for the sake of our health, but so that we can proclaim the gospel through our songs. But most importantly, pray that God will be glorified in all that we do. >>