小息

東 主 放 假, 休 息 9 天.

唔 好 意 思, 請 再 光 臨!

死亡,別狂傲 - Death, be not proud

Ruth Bell Graham remembered

Just flipped through the TV channels and watched Ruth Bell Graham's memorial service. Still trying to gather my thoughts, I don't know what to say except that I'm blessed by it.

She showed us how to live through the four seasons of life in a godly way. Even as she aged, in her ailments and in her dying, she quietly inspired.

Unplanned, Billy Graham, the great evangelist of our times, stood from his seat and addressed the crowd during the memorial service. Looking frail, he lives to testify how God answers a wish that his wife shared during an interview, that in their "autumn and winter" times the last ounces of their lives would be used by God.

To learn more about her life and be blessed by it:
http://billygraham.org/RBG_TimeToAdore.asp

To read about her memorial service:
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07060087.htm

Death and Dying

Rev. Richard White, the officiating pastor at Ruth Graham's memorial service, preached about Jesus's striking response of tears towards people's grief and of agitation/anger directed at death from John 11.

I almost forgot that I felt that kind of anger towards the ravaging power of death at dad's deathbed. As I listened to Rev. White, a cord within me was struck. I remembered the anger and still feel it. The fact that the living and the dead are cruelly separated attests to its viciousness. Despite the hope we have in Jesus, death was triumphing. Death would at least for amoment triumph in everyone of us.

Recalling the Apostle Paul's famous phrase, "Where, O death, is your sting?" (死啊, 你的毒勾在那裡?) in 1 Cor 15:55. Paul's not merely being poetic; he must have been subjected to many close-to-death occasions.

Yet Rev. White notes, "Death doesn't have the last word. Jesus does." Jesus proclaims, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25). Amen.

Blog title is borrowed from 蘇恩佩's 《死亡,別狂傲》.

利未記 CD

從 朋 友 借 o黎 李 思 敬 博 士 主 講 o既《 利 未 記 釋 義》,  C D 共 12 隻,  現 聽 到 第 6 隻。可 以 講 o既, 就 是 一 個 「正」字!   

利 未 記 o既 教 導 原 來 是 很 practical,  真 係 唔 聽 唔 知。 剛 剛 聽 完 第 7 隻,  學 到 新、舊 約 中 奉 獻 與 獻 祭 的 中 心 點 都 是「 順 服」, 而 屬 靈 領 袖 的 根 本 領 導 素 質 也 是 「順 服 上 帝 的 帶 領」。 幾 時 獻 燔 祭, 幾 時 獻 平 安 祭, 獻 D 乜 , 點 獻 法, 重 點 其 實 並 不 在 於 物 件、 程序、 或步驟, 乃 在 於 小 心 著 意 去follow 上 帝 instruction 的 心 態。 從 大 祭 師、祭 師 的 順 服 上 帝, 百 姓 學 習 順 服 上 帝; 新 約 主 耶 穌 所 獻 那 更 美 的 祭, 就 是 存 心 至 死 的 「 順 服」。 教 會 領 袖、 團 契 職 員 帶 領 屬 靈 的 家, 也 應 存 這 樣 順 服 跟 從 上 帝 心 意 的 態 度。「正」!

book-shopping spree

My summer break is officially inaugurated as I begin my book-shopping spree. Just exaggerating. I only purchased John Ensor's Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart online 15 minutes ago, after reading this quote:

"Brothers, it falls to us to be the initial risk takers in matters of the heart. Headship means being the one to go ahead and ask. It is ours as men to suffer the embarrassment of rejection if need be. It is our role to initiate. Get to it right merrily. We are the hunters. They are the quarry. It is for men to strike out into the forest and look. It is for women to crack the twigs and stir the leaves so we know where to find them."

Will share more if it's good.

I Owe U

About a month ago 2 friends gave me a gift in the form of a cheque. The "fresh" cheque has sat on my desk for several weeks. While the money may make things a little easier, accepting it places me in an uncomfortable "I OWE YOU" state. (The debt incurred is not the money, since it's a gift, but the kindness behind such act). I don't want to be there. So I communicated my intention to return the cheque, and got a REBUTTAL.

Henri Nouwen's idea that "accepting grace" from others is a lesson to be learned even if such act exposes one's vulnerability has been in the back of my mind ever since I read With Open Hands. I remember a Christian couple also handed me a cheque many years ago when i quit my full-time job to go back to school to study music. I thanked them whole-heartedly but didn't cash the cheque. They were disappointed. Last year I received financial support from more than 15 people for my "Friends of Anhui" trip. It wasn't easy writing the letter to solicit monetary support. Yet my pride was not at stake as the whole thing was for the cause of the students there.

After the rebuttal, I shared with another friend, a heavy-weight receiver herself. When she and her husband quit their full-time jobs to attend Fuller Theological Seminary, many friends pooled their resources together to support the couple's tuition, living expenses for several years. Here's her enlightening thought: There's no way to repay such kindness. And very often it's difficult to directly repay kindness to the person(s) from which we received. What we can do is to outflow grace and kindness to others who are in need and who we may come across in the future. This's the spirit of the Body of Christ.

It's so true. I forgot that I'm already in the "I OWE YOU" state even before accepting the cheque. How could I repay the sacrifice in terms of time and labor which church friends lent to my family during the past several months? I also forgot that, as a redeemed Christian, I'm living a life under grace. How could I ever repay that?

I have accepted the cheque -- less for the convenience the money temporary brings than for the humbling attitude my action embodies. May it serve as a reminder of how I shall conduct my life.

Artwork by Emmanuel Okoro; picture downloaded from www.degreeart.com.

College entrance exam in China

It's this week. The picture shows that in Beijing parents accompany their kids to the exam venue and bid them good luck. I wish for my students blessings from the Above.

Song dedication: 桐城中學同學

Thanks to Pearl, her friend Angus gave me a CD with the Cantonese version of "You Raise Me Up" rendered by 張崇基, 張崇德, 劉美娟. Hearing the song brings back warm-hearted and beautiful memories of my Tong Cheng friends.

The Friends of Anhui (安徽之友) are getting ready to fly to Anhui again this year. Regretfully, I won't be going. Still, I wonder how the kids are doing. I wonder about their university entrance exam. I wonder about them ...

Searching through my past blog entries, I'm surprised that I have not once mentioned the song "You raised me up" in any of my Tong Cheng reminiscence. It's one of the songs we taught the kids and many just loved it. Here's the long overdue lyric of the first stanza and the chorus:

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

The Good News

¹⁴  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
¹⁵  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
¹⁶  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
¹⁷  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
¹⁸  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
¹⁹  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

1 Cor 15

is Resurrection a big deal?

About 15 years ago I was asked this series of questions, "Why does Paul emphatically note that our faith would be futile and we would still be in our sins, if Christ were not been raised from the dead (vv.14, 17)?" "Futile is such a strong word," my friend continued, "Wouldn't it already mean some achievement that Christ died on the cross to forgive our sins, even if there's no resurrection?"

My friend believed in the resurrection of Christ; he just didn't understand why it's so paramountly important.  I couldn't give him a satisfying answer then.

As I read I Corinthians 15 again today, I came to a deeper appreciation of what the Good News (or the Gospel) is. I could almost feel Paul's energy as he wrote. I just hope my words are adequate to convey at least a small part of the excitment I felt.

The New Internation Version Bible has these subtitles for chapter 15, which I quote copiously in this entry: (i) The Resurrection of Christ, (ii) The Resurrection of the Dead, (iii) The Resurrection Body.  Apparently, according to NIV, the entire chapter is on the subject of resurrection!

the Gospel, in full strength
This is the Gospel, according to Paul: "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (vv.3-4).  

Forgiveness of sin is only half of the gospel; the other half (or in my understanding the more important half and the ultimate goal of the gospel) is that those who belong to Christ will be resurrected, just as Christ has been raised from the dead (vv.23-26).  At the end, Christ will reign and death itself will be destroyed.

²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
²³ But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
...
⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

We who belong to Christ (Christians, Christ-followers) will be given an imperishable, spiritual body. In this future body, we will "bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (v.49). Some will go through death, some won’t; but we will all be transformed (v.51). Wow! Some will and some won't go through death, which seems to be defeating us (v.43); but wait, we’ll be raised ... in POWER. How Glorious!

Resurrection is a big deal
Forgiveness of sin, you see, is only the first part of the Gospel.  To stop right here at the point of sin-forgiven would be missing the eternal boat!   It's, nevertheless, important because it's the prerequisite that leads to the beautiful form that God has destined for us – that we’ll be transformed once and for all with a perfect body and to be placed in a blissful world.  

Now, we're only getting a taste of renewal and spiritual nourishment, day by day.  When the day comes, "in a flash, in the twinkling on an eye," "We will all be changed" (v.51).  We'll be forever satisfied.  I suppose that's the abundant life in full strength that Jesus wants us to have (John 10:10). Resurrection is a big deal because it's a big part of what the Good News is.

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
⁴⁵ So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

afterthought
In this light, baptism symbolizes and testifies the utterly glorious hope that we believe and anticipate. Not only that we die to our sins, but more importantly, we will be raised and changed.  

If you haven't already gotten baptized, isn't it time to give some serious thought?

維他, 肥爸爸, 忌廉仔

It must have been a while -- when I opened my phonebook, 99% of the phone numbers/addresses of friends are clearly outdated. Some have moved because of work, some moved because they got married, some got rich, and some bought a house. Then I saw this name Rita (維他). I knew her from working at BA Asia in Hong Kong "n" years ago. There were like 10-15 of us, boss and workers, who would hang out and do things together - things like going to Lamma Island for seafood on a Friday evening, playing squash, hiking, ...etc.

Although we weren't from the same department, we worked on the same floor. Rita and I got along really well because we talked nonsense all the time. Her entire family consists of her husband 肥爸爸 and her son 忌廉仔. (They called me 龜姐姐.) Her son was in elementary school then. And now, he's getting his Master degree in Australia.

I can still remember her home number by heart. But then, she's moved. Wait, I have a cellphone number written down. I called ... and her husband picked up the phone! Bingo. We spoke for a long time. That feels so good.