Rest In Peace....!!!!

Rest in Peace!!!

Today (31st January 2008) was a very tiring and energy-demanding day for me and some of my friends as well.

First of all, it was Thursday. Every Thursday morning (beginning from 7 am until 7.30 am) all the Anglican students are expected to attend the Morning Anglican Worship and so I have to wake up as early as 6.30am in the morning. On normal weekdays, I will normally wake up at 7 am and my girlfriend will have to wake me up by making a phone call (she’s in JB, so don’t get the wrong impression that she’s beside me on my bed, NO).

Ok, then the ‘Western breakfast’ after the service was a sort of encouragement for me as throughout the weekdays, we have been fed with nonsense breakfast menus until we all are fed up literally.

The first class at 8am in the morning was ‘the Book of Mark’ lectured by Prof. Edwin Buck. Couldn’t really hear his voice but anyway, Eisu and I had a great time ‘bluetoothing’ Jacob with silly pictures of ourselves. The class was a 3 credit hour class and only God knows how sleepy we were!

10 minutes after the class was over, we were still drowsy with Prof. Erwin’s ‘sleeping pills’ and yet, there was ANOTHER chapel service to attend and this time it was for the whole of STM community beginning from 11.15am until 12.30pm. The sermon was delivered in almost an hour and my God, I really wanted to sleep at that moment…!

The torment is not over yet!

Straightaway after the service, it was lunch time. I really thought that I could have a straight-to-the-bed rest after lunch BUT I had to stay back for a short steward group meeting in the canteen. I lost that opportunity…

I really need that short rest coz we have Educational Management class under Dr. Herbert Tan at 2pm!

The class finished at 4.30pm and to make things worse for my life in STM, the gardening was scheduled at 5pm!!! Actually it wasn’t really a gardening session but rather a weekly ‘gotong-royong’. Honestly speaking, I think only 12% of STM community agreed to have it weekly. Monthly sounds better to me. There I was, scrubbing the toilets with the help of some girls (I was the only guy in my section!).

Straightaway after the ‘gardening’ thingy I rushed to the Multi Purpose Hall to have our praise and worship practice for the next day which is BM Friday service. I am on the drums as usual and Miss Ho would definitely eye on my beat and tempo on the drums tomorrow morning. I remembered somewhere in last year she scolded me in front of the congregation in the chapel “don’t abuse the drums!” and I wasn’t even playing, I was getting the drums ready for the worship. Funny right? I will tell you more about her in my series of best selling novels in years to come.

Immediately after the practice session was over, I rushed to the field for FOOTBALL. Somehow, there were more than 20 players on the small field, and I can hardly touch the ball. What an evening I had! Non-stop actions right from morning and now I am in the field playing hectically. Thank God I didn’t faint during any of these ordeals…!

Then came dinner after football and shower and guess what? A replacement class for Educational Management class under Dr. Herbert Tan after the dinner…(O_o)…! 7.45pm till 9.25pm…

So here I am, tired and worn out. Not to mention burned out. A pail of laundry is waiting for me but it’s better to ignore it at the moment. All I can do now I sitting down here on my chair, too exhausted even to sleep! And sharing this life experience of mine with you is a beautiful thing to do because amidst of my weaknesses and shortcomings, God showed how mighty He is! Amen?

MT 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

When have you experienced guilt? Read Psalm 90:8 and ask God to show you some of your secret sins.

I experienced guilt every time I see a lost soul wandering aimlessly around me. I really wanted to share the Gospel with them especially to the Malays but this country is a bit weird in her policies. We have the freedom of religion and are supposed to be able embrace any religion that we want (that’s the theory), plus evangelism to other faith but it is not happening here. Even if it does happen, it is done secretly.

I felt guilty whenever I heard Jesus’ command which is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. My hands are tied. I felt guilty for something which is beyond my power. Is it really my fault?
I began to develop prejudice, suspicion and hatred towards those people who imposed this ridiculous law. I felt guilty over and over again when I see people died without having the chance to know who Jesus really is. In a broader context the failure to evangelize to my own people who have not yet accepted Christ also evoked guilt within me.

There are other personal things and secrets in my life that triggered the guilt in me. Some were done when I was in my secondary school; some were done against my parents (mostly). Whenever I think about those things in the past I will smile thinking how foolish I was. But then, came to realizing that it is possible for the mistakes to reoccur, I was afraid and came to the conclusion that I cannot runaway hiding from my sins unless I come to God and confess.

In Psalm 90:8, the psalmist stated that “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance” because he realized that all sin are seen in the eyes of God. As Adam had hid himself from God when he realized that he was naked, there is no way we can run from God’s judgment and will. In the end of the day, we still very much depend on His grace as we all have sinned and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23).

This is the God that I serve, love and worship. I know how small and weak I am compared to His limitless power and glory. I can run, but I can’t hide. Lord, open my eyes that I may see my secret sins and repent. Transform me by the power of Your Holy Spirit. I want to be like You. Teach me to always do what is pleasing in Your sight. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in Your sight. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

listen to people's heart

As counselors, part of our duty is to listen to our counselees’ cries carefully and patiently. Listening is one of our five senses, thanks to God, that enables us to sense and hear and listen to our surroundings. In counseling, we may find listening as difficult. Meaning, there are hindrances that caused this to happen.

From the book which I’ve read entitled ‘Who Cares?’ there are a lot of things that contribute to difficulty to listen. The discipline of learning, as we can find in James 1:19, is part of the general personality trait of self-control. Most of the time when we are trying not to be ‘wrong’ in front of our counselees, we tend to be quick to speak and slow to listen.

Again, it will come back to our natural ‘quick to speak’ attitude because in most cases, we were NOT actually listening to what our counselees came to share in our offices. He or she came, expecting us to listen but we, on the other hand were not listening but were actually preparing what to say to them (while they were sharing their problems etc.).

So, listening is so difficult because we are not so ready to listen, so to speak.
The counselor’s listening ability may be improved by discerning to what God wants to say to them through the scripture. In James 1:19, we all are urged to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. It does sound helpful, at least to me.

We also must not concentrate too much on what our response to the counselees should be. Listening intensely to what they were saying will improve our ability to listen and to understand what their problems are and what they really need to hear from us as counselors.