The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water."
The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.

Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: "Break Forth Into Joy."

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days!

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm - prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 pm there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 am. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 pm. Please use the back door.

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement Friday at 7 pm. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 pm at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

Posted by SK at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm reminded today to not stop dreaming, regardless of what might have happened in life. Through disappointment, pain, loss and betrayal, the follower of Jesus is called to keep on dreaming.

Not small dreams about the self, but big dreams about others; about the world. Not to fall naively for the dreams sold by self-motivated dream merchants who may sometimes disguise themselves as religious leaders. Not to buy into the offers of dream merchants who sell dreams that appeal to our own carnal desires for existential significance...

...but to dream the dream of God.

Posted by SK at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What's keeping me busy?

This.

It's newly done.

Posted by SK at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have often heard it being said that when You close the door, You open the window so that we can see Your work.

You've closed the door to me. But You've closed the door that the gates of the Kingdom might be opened wide for me.

My Lord and my God.

Posted by SK at 3:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A thought that occurred in my mind over a conversation with a couple of friends about the spiritual life:

What breaks your heart reflects what captures it.

Posted by SK at 2:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Crossing over - into anything - is a hard decision to make. As you walk into a new life, a new sphere, a new unknown, you leave behind the wealth of the past together with all the familiarity and the control you have over it.

The question is, will you do it?

Even if you knew for a fact that crossing over would leave you in a state of utter nothingness, would you do it? If there was nothing to be got from crossing over, and all you could take along with you into the new unknown was a conscience and a conviction, would you do it?

To leave behind the beauty of recognition, fame, admiration - or maybe just acceptance - in search of a newly discovered something that may leave you with nothing except that something on which to cling - would you do it?

Walking into the dark with no sight of the future, embracing everything that is unknown and alien to you… does that not sound like the paschal mystery spoken of in your faith? So much for talking about it; now is the challenge to live it out.

But if you're afraid of trouble, don't do it!

Some people prefer to just linger by the wayside, waiting for you to give accounts of your adventures through the darkness. They enjoy listening to those stories - even being challenged by those stories - but would never walk a mile with you through those adventures. No siree... the stories alone are enough to keep their adrenalines pumping.

Really, you have got to be foolish enough to cross over. You have to choose to either be wise enough to withhold such a foolish decision, or to be foolish enough to follow the voice of the wise Spirit and cross over.

You’re invited all the same. It’s just a matter of whether you’re foolish enough to follow.

Coming?

Posted by SK at 1:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In the past one year, Christian leaders in Malaysia have been encouraging responsible citizenship by instructing Christians that they should vote. Voting is the responsible exercise of one’s right as a citizen, they say.

So here we are at the brink of the major elections. Of course no one knows when exactly the date will be. But how effective the exhortation of the Christian leaders to the Christians in the nation has been remains to be seen through the response of the grassroots Christians themselves at the election event.

Because the message has been so resoundingly transmitted again and again that “to be a responsible citizen is to vote at the election”, I’ve been pondering over this message very intensely. Something in me hasn’t quite vibed with this message as yet. And then I realised why:

When you cast a vote, you’re not just casting a vote to choose the people you think are to be the deserving leaders of the nation. Anyone who casts a vote actually casts a double vote. You are not just casting a vote for a particular leader, but you’re also casting a vote of confidence in the electoral process itself! It matters not who you vote for; just by turning up to vote is itself a reflection of your confidence in the electoral process. In this sense, your vote is a double vote.

Let’s face it, if we didn’t think that our votes actually mattered, we wouldn’t have shown up to vote, would we? And if you think that your vote actually matters, then it’s an indication of your confidence in the electoral process. The fact that you actually show up to vote means you’re placing your vote, not just for the leader you choose, but also a vote of confidence in the electoral process itself.

So here’s my question: what if being a responsible citizen may also mean casting a vote of non-confidence in the electoral process by not turning up to vote?

Posted by SK at 8:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.

Refrain:
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

2. Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.

3. Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.

4. Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone.

5. Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come.

Posted by SK at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty.

Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.

Whatsoever I have or hold, Thou hast given me; I give it all back to Thee and commit it wholly to be governed by Thy will.

Thy love and Thy grace give unto me, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.

Posted by SK at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

The above are the words of Jesus. What a contradiction from the image of Jesus as the Prince of Peace. The very Lord who claims to be the restorer of all good things into perfect order here speaks of himself as being the source of division even in the most basic unit of society - biological families.

Surely, he does long for peace in the world; just not at the expense of truth. Surely, he desires for the restoration of order in the world; just not at the expense of his Kingship, and for some, his call in their lives to place him in a position of utmost importance such that they have to leave their families to obey his call.

Jesus is merely confronting us with the reality that obeying him creates disharmony even in the family. The intention to truly obey God's calling in totality can (and most often will) lead to misunderstanding, non-acceptance, and ultimately hostility.

This experience wasn't alien to the saints of the past. A young man had a bitter argument with his father and left his family naked. The local bishop had to bring him clothes. The young man was St Francis of Assisi.

And to think we expect things to turn out differently in our generation. How we always manage to fool ourselves. Excuses, excuses.

Posted by SK at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In an age where medical science has discovered an ability to tamper with the human life - to artificially create it, to prolong it, or to shorten it - the modern world is once again obliged to ask itself questions pertaining to life. With such newly discovered power which brings humanity towards an unprecedented potential as well as peril, we are once again confronted with questions such as these: What is existence? What is life? What is the meaning of life?

On 4 January at 4 pm, the International Medical University at Bukit Jalil gathered some 90 students, lecturers and guests before a panel of speakers representing various faith traditions to ponder over the meaning of life. I was asked to speak with the audience on the meaning of life from the Christian perspective. It was entirely intriguing to hear the other speakers presenting their perspectives on the meaning of life from the Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim perspectives. The way in which every speaker affirmed the inherent human search for meaning was heartwarming. At a level beyond our religious convictions, there was a sense of human connection and solidarity.

This inter-religious forum subsequently turned to questions of medical ethics pertaining to life issues. The panel of speakers was asked to address issues such as abortion, active and passive euthanasia, as well as DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) Orders. Once again, the solidarity demonstrated by the panel of speakers was amazing. There was such like-mindedness in the way the entire panel categorically affirmed the utter dignity and utter sanctity of the human life. The panel of speakers felt that the human life is to be preserved with a great sense of responsibility and at all cost insofar as medical science renders it possible. We all resonated with the notion that the termination of life, and even the termination of deliberate measures taken to preserve life, is morally wrong. There was also a consensus that one does not have a right to take away one’s own life or another’s life to alleviate temporal suffering, for beyond finding the meaning of suffering, part of the human quest is to also find meaning in suffering.

I think it is very crucial that the various faith traditions in a nation like Malaysia come together to seek points of common agreement whilst not having to sacrifice our own convictions and creeds. I believe it is no mere coincidence that when it comes to familiar human issues, most of these religions demonstrate very similar values and therefore responses; that life is a very precious gift.

Posted by SK at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

If you grew up with Enid Blyton's books, you'd be entirely familiar with the Famous Five series. As a child, the Famous Five series was a part of my staple diet. Written way before I was born, the series was eventually filmed. Here's the theme song:

Here's a version from the 1990s:

It's so nice to see things you haven't been in touch with in a long while. It brings a moment of epiphany, and you suddenly remember who you are.

Posted by SK at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's nice to take a revisit to the past, to listen afresh to some songs I used to listen to at a younger age.

"Voices That Care" is a 1991 song written by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Peter Cetera and recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians, entertainers and athletes. It was intended to help boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm, as well as supporting the International Red Cross organisation.

Posted by SK at 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have just been reminded by someone that suffering is a form of spirituality in which one identifies with the sufferings of Jesus. I take this teaching as it is, no questions asked. But the more I think about it, the more I feel that there's more reflection to be done on suffering.

I think there's one thing that might be even more challenging than suffering itself, and that is, journeying with the suffering. In a sense, a sufferer has no choice but to suffer. But a person journeying with a sufferer has to will himself into self-denial in order to journey with the suffering and to partake in that suffering together; to choose to suffer even when he doesn't have to.

When accompanying people who are suffering, our desire to be fellow sufferers wares off over time. Journeying with people who suffer is a very tiresome experience, especially when we cannot really understand how their predicament feels.

When journeying with sufferers, we are most often confronted with our own inability to empathise for extended seasons of time. We can empathise only for as long as our own patience permits. It’s not difficult to “help” a sufferer for a limited duration; it really doesn’t take very much out of us. The test comes when we have to share life with a sufferer.

The durability of our patience is a rather apt indication of the extent of our love for another person over our love for ourselves.

When the journey of accompaniment gets too wearisome, we turn away from the sufferer to ourselves and we throw in the towel. Instead of asking, “What about the sufferer?”, we begin asking, “What about me?”

Suffering is something spiritual. But to choose to suffer with the suffering is deep spirituality. It's for those who truly love.

Posted by SK at 2:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Tonight, the voice of God speaks to my heart, asking:

"Did you really think that your pursuit of truth would've cost you nothing?"

"I am the Truth, and it has cost me everything to establish that in your midst.
What did you think it was going to cost you - nothing?"

Posted by SK at 3:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This was G.K. Chesterton's contribution:

Dear Sirs,

I am.

Sincerely yours,
G. K. Chesterton

Posted by SK at 3:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes I forget, we do not live in a world of justice. Justice belongs to another kingdom, an unseen kingdom. In our pursuit of justice in this kingdom, we sometimes get crushed by the greater power of injustice.

Injustice is often bred by those in power, those who preach righteousness and mercy and love. But power and these virtues don't sit very well with each other. So in the final analysis, when they're made to choose between power and these virtues, the self gets in the way. Power wins.

At times like these, it is a challenge to remember the words of friends like these:

Justice often fails in our world and even in the church, but our God is just. Let us plod on; you have friends and loved ones who are journeying with you.

And it is a challenge to keep believing in righteousness and justice, mercy and love. Even if these virtues remain unseen for now.

Lord, I want to belief. Help my unbelief.

Posted by SK at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Text: Iona Community
Music: Trad. Scottish folk tune, KelvineGrove

Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown
Will you let my name be known
Will you let my life be grown in you
and you in me ?

Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you
and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoner free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
and do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean in you
And you in me?

Will you love the “you” you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound in you
And you in me?

Christ, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show,
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you
And you in me.

Posted by SK at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The priest, as he was entering the church sanctuary, was greeted by a little boy. He asked the priest, “Father, what do you do?”

The priest was rather dumbfounded at that question and so he fumbled, “Err… I… err…”

The boy asked, “Are you married?”, to which the Reverend Father replied, “No”.

“So you have no children?” The priest said, “No, of course not!”

“Are you a lawyer?” The priest quickly replied, “Well I used to be. But not anymore, since I’m now a priest”.

“So then what do you do?” The priest remained silent. It was just a very difficult question to answer.

The boy then abruptly concluded, “So you’re not married, you have no children, and you’re not a lawyer anymore. So you’re a nobody?”

It suddenly, dawned on the priest that he was a nobody. He walked silently into his chambers after Mass and wrote in his journal:

I am a nobody. I’m an icon of Christ, the God who became a nobody. I’m of no relevance to the world and will always appear to contribute nothing to the scheme of the world. Because that’s what I’m called to be; a nobody. So that when others see me, they see Christ.

Posted by SK at 2:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

- Sr Elizabeth Segleau, SDS -

Religious life is not for wimps,
It is for those filled with courage.
Religious life is not for the lazy,
It is for those who have the fire within.

Religious life is not for those who thirst for wealth,
It is for those whose treasure is set and kept in God.
Religious life is not for those who are their own boss,
It is for those who are obedient in seeking God’s will.

Religious life is not for those who expect to be directed,
It is for those who trust and listen to the Holy Spirit.
Religious life is not for the loners,
It is for those who hope to grow in the company of others.

Religious life is not for those who have a single plan,
It is for those who are ready to help with many plans.
Religious life is not for the grumpy,
It is for those who already rejoice in God’s friendship.

Religious life is not for those who always need to be busy,
It is for those who can remain in the quiet and stay a while with God.
Religious life is not for the militant,
It is for those who are able to be flexible.

Posted by SK at 4:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday criticized a world with luxury for a few and poverty for many and called for moderate lifestyles to ensure fair distribution of wealth amid a scramble for natural resources.

Read more...

Posted by SK at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A conversation between me and a friend [with some parts paraphrased].

Friend:   How was 2007 for you?

Me:   Both 2006 and 2007 have been two of the worst years of my life.

Friend:   Hopefully this year will be better.

Me:   I really hope so too... what about you?

Friend:   It was all right. No super ups, no super downs.

Me:   Your life is quite stable in that sense.

Friend:   I guess so. I don't really like that. I want to do something great. Change the world. Change Malaysia. It feels like I've not done anything significant.

Me:   I can't say I've done great things either.

Friend:   I think you've caused ripples in Malaysia, certainly.

Me:   Strangely, I don't see it.

Friend:   At the very least, you're standing up for your beliefs in this very hard world.

Me:   [Friend's name], sometimes I'd like to think / imagine that I've done great things and very effective things to change the world. But it takes very little to convince me that actually I haven't done anything at all, or that I've done more harm than good.

Friend:   Yeah, I know what you mean. And the treatment you get from some people... We all want to do something great, but doing something great in this world will not yield any great fruit because they don't like the idea of change.

Me:   Yeah, you're a psychologist, you should know.

Friend:   The status quo is crap

Me:   Do u really feel very strongly about this?

Friend:   Yeah. I'm idealistic.

Me:   To what extent are u willing to go to change the world?

Friend:   I would like to devote my career to doing it.

Me:   When it becomes a career, you won't be creating change. Because it'll be too risky... the price is too high. It's when you're willing to sacrifice your career that change is created.

Friend:   You know what my idea was? I was thinking that I can write books and change the world.

Me:   Books don't change the world, [friend's name]. They can contribute a little to the answer, but they don't affect change. They just communicate concepts which few people attempt to translate into concrete action. Besides, most of the world is illiterate.

Friend:   Then what should I do? I mean, we're coming up against institutions and systems. It's a difficult battle. Changing the world is a lost cause, if you think about it. Many people are satisfied just having a good career, a good family. I dunno, changing the world is not easy at all.

Me:   I guess people like me don't try to "change the world". For me, it's simply about doing what is right.

Friend:   I thought you wanted to change the world too.

Me:   I'm dissatisfied with the state of the world, but it's not my ambition to change the world. It's my ambition to be the right person and to do the right thing... to change me. But in the process of being someone different, of changing myself, it rocks the status quo of the world.

Friend:   Maybe that's the way to change the world, by changing ourselves first.

Me:   Ghandi said, "Be the change that you seek".

Friend:   Wow, good words!

Posted by SK at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

It surely is promising to be an exhausting month to start the year with. But I'm quite sure that by the end of it all, I'm going to be whispering, "It was all worth it". My schedule for this month is as follows:

Writing a Research Paper
“Prospects for Ecumenism in the 21st Century”
World Council of Churches

04 (Friday)
Speaking on "The Meaning of Life"
Inter-Cultural / Inter-Religious Forum
International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

06 (Sunday)
Preaching at Sunday Worship Service
Christian Life Gospel Centre, Petaling Jaya - Malaysia

12 (Saturday)
Academic Research & Personal Consultation
Singapore

18 (Friday)
Conversation Partner at "Conversation with F. LeRon Shults"
Jointly Organised by Friends in Conversation & RoH Malaysia
Bangsar Lutheran Church, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Here are two particular events to look out for:

1. IMU INTERCULTURAL / INTERRELIGIOUS FORUM
The International Medical University has organised an Intercultural / Interreligious Forum on "The Meaning of Life". Each religious group will be represented by a speaker who will share on the meaning of life from his or her particular religious perspective.

I'm honoured to have been invited to represent the Christians in this Forum. But of course, I'm not sure all people who call themselves Christian would approach this issue from the same perspective. So it'll be my "Christian" perspective. But I'm sure it wouldn't be too far off from the official perspective of most ecclesiastical communities.

Date: 4 January 2008 (Friday)

Venue: International Medical University, Bukit Jalil

Hall: LT2

Time: 4pm - 6pm

I'm told that a large crowd is expected at this forum, as it's an issue close to many people's hearts. This event is open to the public, except that visitors are required to get a visitors' pass from the guard at the entrance.

2. CONVERSATION WITH F. LERON SHULTS
LeRon Shults is a professor of theology at Agder University in Kristiansand, Norway, who has authored numerous books.

Friends in Conversation (Emergent Malaysia) and Revolution of Hope (RoH Malaysia) are honoured to be having him here with us for a day to have conversations with us pertaining to issues of discipleship, church, and evangelism.

This promises to be one hell of an event! Ahem...

Date: 18 January 2008 (Friday)

Venue: Bangsar Lutheran Church, Kuala Lumpur

Tentative Schedule:
0930 - 1230 hours     Becoming Human: Changing Lives
1330 - 1600 hours     Becoming God's People: Changing Churches
2000 - 2130 hours     Becoming Friends: Changing Evangelism

LeRon will be flanked by a conversation partner in each of these three sessions, and I will be the conversation partner for the first of the three.

If you would like to have more details on this event, please send me an email.

To January!

Posted by SK at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

A prayer for the new year...

For hopes, for dreams, for decisions, for choices.

For faith.

Bapa kami yang di syurga, dikuduskanlah namaMu.

Datanglah KerajaanMu,
jadilah kehendakMu di bumi seperti di syurga.

Berikanlah kami pada hari ini makanan kami yang secukupnya.

Dan ampunilah kami akan kesalahan kami,
seperti kami juga mengampuni orang yang bersalah kepada kami;

Janganlah biarkan kami kehilangan iman ketika dicubai,
tetapi selamatkanlah kami daripada kuasa si jahat.

Kerana engkaulah yang empunya Kerajaan dan kuasa dan kemuliaan sampai selama-lamanya.

Amin.

Maka langkahlah kami ke dalam tahun baru ini dalam anugerah Tuhan ALLAH.

Dalam nama ALLAH Bapa, Anak, dan Roh Kudus.

Posted by SK at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)