WalktheWord

Simple life and Generousity

2008-07-10T18:34:00.003+08:00

Last weekend I bumped into a church friend who has on her way to Seremban to donate a brand new Toyota MPV costs more than RM100,000 to STM. Interestingly she drives a Kenari but had such a generousity to donate a hugh MPV to the Seminary. Such is a simple lady who live a simple life and use the God has given her to bless others. Normal, we tend to spend more on ourselves, and if we have the balance, we would spend on others. Knowing her for many years, she remains to a simple and humble life although I know she is capable of living a more luxurious life. Now, that's what I call as living a simple life and channel what what we earn to bless others.

Servant leader

2008-04-08T17:39:00.002+08:00

I was sharing 3 learning points about leadership from Matthew 20:20-28 to a group of teenagers aged 11-18. Just to share with you too.

Lesson 1 (Vs 20-23): Being a leader is not about seeking self-interest.
Unlike James and John's mother who ask for a return for her sons because they followed Jesus, thus asking the question "What do I gain from becoming a leader?", we focus is to seek out God's purpose through us by the leadership role we play.

Lesson 2 (vs 24-28): Christian leadership is about serving others. It is about putting other people's interests first, serving them in light of the attitude of a humble servant.

Lesson 3 (vs.28):Leaders are clear about their mission and are he committed to do it
Jesus knew the reason he came into the world is to save you and me from the punisment of sin. A leader knows why he is appointed, he knows his responsibilities and carries them out well with full commitment even when it is difficult or even when it is not enjoyable.

10 reasons to sing

2008-04-03T12:15:00.005+08:00

I will be sharing something about my singing experience with a choir group that I'm current attached with, next Sunday at a church where we will be singing. As I'm still deciding what to share,the idea of sharing my joy of sing came to mind and I listed 10 things.
1. We are created to reflect the glory of God
2. We are called to speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual song
3. God speaks to us through music and songs
4. We are reminded of God's goodness and faithfulness
5. We sing as a response to God's deeds in our lives
6. We share God's message of salvation
7. We learn to worship God together
8. When we don't know how to lament to God, songs helps us to express to Him
9. We are humbled by the fact that God gives us the ability to sing to Him with the voices He has given us
10. We bless others when they are ministered to through our singing

Clean and Unclean

2008-02-06T11:00:00.000+08:00

I'm back to the beautiful city of Ipoh to celebrate Chinese New Year and I shall be facing one of my greatest challenges i.e. to over eat during this festive holiday. My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook and somehow, I always have trouble controlling how much I eat. So I told myself that I shall be very cautious to control my diet this round.

I was reading Mark 7 this morning on how the Pharisees were accusing Jesus and His disciples taking in food with unclean hands because they did not follow the Jewish traditions to wash their hands before eating. It is interesting to see Jesus' reply in versus 14-23; that nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' For food doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body. But what comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' Verse 21-23 records, "For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

So as I was busy being concern of what and how much I should be eating this holiday, God reminds me once again to also keep a check on what my heart produces. Well, my prayer is that may this CNY be a time where I share of good and pure thoughts as well as a sharing of kind deeds with friends and family.

For those of you who are celebrating Chinese New Year, may this year be a year full of love, joy and serenity. And to those who are travelling or on trips, have a safe and enjoyable time!

Domino

2008-01-31T19:00:00.000+08:00

Last weekend I had the chance to go back to Ipoh to worship at my husband's home church. That Sunday was rather special to me as it was my first experience hearing the message shared by the Sunday School kids and teachers. The theme of the message was on 1Cor 13:1-13. What was really interesting was that the Sunday School put all of us through the message just as how they would normally do in a Sunday School week. There was a short sketch, story telling, short message and even an illustration session.

I enjoyed the illustration about loving others. The teacher first used dominos to demonstrate the "domino effect". Then she explained that loving others is first experiencing love for ourselves first before we can truly love others. Once we are touched by God's love, the love will overflow in our interaction with others and this effect continues on. Another interesting point is that dominos need to be position near enough to run a "domino effect". So i about loving others. We can't love others from afar. True touch of love is when people experience a sense of belonging, understanding, acceptance and trust built through personal relationship. We need to genuining draw close to people just as how God would draw close to us. So it was a good reminder as I reflect on my relationships with people and how I could share God's love more by reaching out to people instead of waiting for people to come to me.

Becoming a Change Agent

2008-01-29T17:03:00.000+08:00

Hello! I'm back!! Yea, I'm back from silence...been busy with wedding preparation and rushing out work after coming back from year end holidays. I was running through John Maxwell's book "Developing the Leader Within You" and found this comic which I find quite funny but yet a good reminder that we are change agents to make our own little world better. Enjoy!

Bonus

2007-11-09T08:46:00.000+08:00

This month is one of me and my colleagues' favourite month. It's bonus time!!! I have already started spending even before the real cash comes in...as I would normally say..."aiyah...just charge it to bonus la..."

This time's bonus will be slightly different because there are people that I really care about and want to support them financially. I know this time, there won't be much for myself to enjoy. The idea of how to apportion the money this time really makes me think how I can use the money God has blessed me with. Hopefully this round, I will use it wisely.

There's so much we can do with our money. But what makes money more meaningful and fulfilling is how we use it to bless others. Yes, no doubt it's nice to splurge on myself but strangely enough, the inner sense of satisfaction is even greater when I put aside my own wanting and spend my money on other people in need. Wonder if you have experienced something I did?

Giving

2007-11-01T07:56:00.000+08:00

I was going through some old pictures and caught my eyes on a picture I took with some young friends in Bangladesh. I remembered how friendly and helpful they were.Although most of them in the village I visited only have a meal a day, they were always in smiles. Though poor, they gave offering during church service. During my visit, they made me little crowns made from leaves and gave me sweets and tissue papers when those were considered luxury items to them. Before I left the village, they gave me a free ride on their bicycles touring me around a few beautiful villages because they remembered that I had mentioned the desire to do so.These friends had taught me a simple yet important lesson about giving. It was truly a matter of the heart. Irregardless the value of the gift, the most important thing that makes the gift beautiful is the sincerity of the heart. If one may gift a great gift but clearly portray insincerity or unwillingness to give, then the gift has been devalued. It is not how great our gift is which more than often serves to show how great we are, but the intention of serving the other person that makes giving a beautiful thing.

What clouds our minds?

2007-10-25T08:36:00.000+08:00

More and more voilent cases are reported in our newspapers the past 5 years. And often on the road, I would see young guys driving at high speed...moving from third lane to first lane interchangeably. These bothered me as I wondered where people get such voilent ideas to hurt other people; where do people get the habit of driving in such a dangerous way???

I think a lot of such behaviours are influenced by what we see on the TV/movies. I am not against watching the TV/movies but I do think that what gets into our minds, subtlely do influence our thoughts. I think we should guard our minds by guarding what we watch and read- to make a conscious choice to select only materials that nourish our minds and not poison it. What we take in is what comes out of us. We may not be aware of the dangers of the sexual and violent scenes we watch on the screen but beware, because these are the things that can rule our conscious mind to influence our actions when we leave our minds unguarded.

Inner beauty vs outer beauty

2007-10-23T08:47:00.000+08:00

How much would you spend on your skin? Some friends of mine spends about RM300-500 a month of skin care and facial. In 1 Peter 3, Peter told the women that their beauty should not come from outer adornment but inner self- a gentle and quite spirit. So, since we should be busy building inner beauty how much should we focus and spend on outer beauty? Are they really important? Any one has any comment on this?

Washroom chats

2007-10-22T08:48:00.000+08:00

What do we talk about most times when we meet our colleagues in the washroom? Often, it is a place where people find solace and relief by expressing their heart out about something or someone. It is where we hear the latest gossips on people and events, rumours, complaints, and grievences. Worst still, it is so tempting for us to join in the conversation and make them juicier.

There is a Hokkien saying i.e."Oo chui kong bak lang, bo chui kong ka ki" which, in literal translation means that we have mouth to comment about others but no mouths to comment on ourself.

The Bible in Philippians 4:8 says "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think of such things."

As I reflect on this verse, I reminded and encouraged once again to make washroom chats one that is of such mentioned in Phil 4:8 and not the opposite which often is far easier to do and shamely more exciting.

Keep The Good Things Going

2007-10-19T08:30:00.000+08:00

A friend asked me if I know anyone who could share about Jesus Christ and the Gospel to her father who was having cancer. I was shock. "But aren't you a staunch Buddhist?", I said. "I just want to be sure that my father would be at somewhere safe when he dies", she said. I was just so surprised that a Buddhist would want her father to be a Christian.

Apparently, this friend had attended a missionary school and I'm sure she had experience God's love through her teachers.She knew about Jesus but decided not to accept the Gospel. Somehow, many years later, when death of the closest person dawns upon her, she knew that only Christ is the only way to salvation. Being a stauch Buddhist did not give her that sort of assurance of salvation.

Her father did accept Christ three days before he died. The family had a Christian funeral. "I have peace that my father is at a safe place now," she said to me. But sadly, my friend has yet to become a Christian although she knew that only through Christ would she be promised eternal life. I'm still praying for her salvation each time I remember her. Would you have someone like my friend whom you could pray for today?

Sometimes, we wonder if we do make a difference within our circle of friends and family. I think we do when we truly live by God's word. They may laugh at us or accuse us for doing wrong. But this encounter I had with my friend made me realised that we do make a difference for Christ although people may choose to ignore it.

Praying for Perseverance

2007-10-18T07:38:00.000+08:00

I was reading James 1:2-4 yesterday.

"Consider pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Many times we pray that troubles and trials will go away but these are the ones that will strengthen our faith and develop greater perseverance. Ultimately, that we may be mature and complete.

So I thought, perhaps I should start praying such a prayer today:

"Lord, help me to consider it pure joy when I face trials of many kinds, because I know that the testing of my faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."