Morling Tuesday Chapel: The day is coming

Speaker: Darrell Jackson

Scripture: Malachi 3:16-4:6

Trivia: The German Bible only has 3 chapters of Malachi!

V1: Various interpretations: “Ah look! Surely! The day is coming!” All interpretations emphatic, leaves no one unsure! The best and worst of times! A season of light and darkness! “Destruction”: a cliff-hanger. Fire can be good or bad. 2013 the fire accidentally started by ADF destroyed many homes. 2015 with snow in the Blue Mountains, people cuddled together in the bonfire for comfort. The day of fire is both threat and comfort.

V4-5: “Remember Moses, expect Elijah.” They have forgotten the story that were given to them by Moses! In 2005, missiologist Alan Hirsch made a sermon that talked about the trend towards the death of the institutional church by 2025.

http://www.missionstudies.org.au/page/conference-report/

Institutional centres of worship still dominate the landscape. Be cautious before writing off the institutional church. 400 years after Malachi’s prophecy, the temple was still there. The body of Christ does not need to be constrained by the institution though. Faithful story keeper and storytellers keep alive the stories that anticipate Elijah. The reward for the faithful remnant: “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents.” There is hope.

For you, will it be a warning sign, or a consuming fire?

Morling Tuesday Chapel: A Consecrated life

Speaker: Beth Jackson, Sole Pastor of St. Ives Baptist Church

Scripture: Malachi 3:6-18

First half of Malachi 3: The people of God were weary and worn-down and half-hearted. These worn-down people’s worship wasn’t pleasing God.

Malachi was there to call them back, to their original intent as the people of God.

Most people use today’s verses in reference to tithing.

People keep progressing then falling back. Eg. Joshua leading the people into the Promised Land.

The role of a minister in a faith community is to continually draw God’s people back to the centre. It is an ongoing work.

The people asks for concrete examples: “How do we return to you?”

Let’s begin with the tithes. The people were giving blemished tithes. The people were just covering their bases, but their hearts were not in it.

They were still reserving the best for themselves, “just in case”. “We’ve given up everything for you, Lord. But just what if you don’t come through?”

There was a time in the UK where Beth was paid so little in her ministry work that she was having financial struggles bringing up her children.

“Tithing is biblical, but not Christian. Tithing is simply not radical enough for the kingdom of God.” God wants the best of us, all of it. Justice, mercy and faithfulness.

“Return to me and I will return to you.”

Many people do not stay in ministry for long. Tragic when once faithful servants of God turn away from God when they become disillusioned and the cost just seems to high.

“Great is the reward”: closing in hope. “In the fullness of time, those who have remained faithful, they will be mine.” A Consecrated life.  

Morling Tuesday Chapel: “Where is the God of justice?”

Speaker: Rev Dr David Starling

Scripture: Malachi 2:17-3:5

2:17: “Where is the God of justice?”: Do we really want that question answered?

3:2: “Who can endure the day of his coming?” The silver furnaces were not nice places to be. God as a refiner’s furnace is an uncomfortable confronting image! The process is not a sweet and beautiful thing, but the product is lovely. Launderer of the ancient world were out of town. The process stinks: putrefied urine you soak the clothes before you wash, or strong caustic paints, etc. Seriously traumatic images! Who’s going to come out of this intact?

3:5: The image of a court-room. God is coming to bring justice comprehensively, not selective justice! “I will be quick to testify”: It is you who God will be putting on trial.

3:3-4: There is a different between purifying silver and burning rubbish. The “silver” serves in integrity and uprightness. Some people only talk about the bible as forgiveness of sins. It is the creation of a people who worship God rightly.

God not only redeems, but also reconstitutes us. Some people describes forgiveness as “gift”, and the consecration (worship and service) as “payback”. That is not right. Both are privileges, not “payback” for what Christ did on the cross. God in his kindness, forgives our sins, redeemed us out of trouble, and gives us the great privilege to offer our lives up in worship.

First page of the Gospel of Mark quotes from both Isaiah and Malachi. Isaiah is a promise spoken to Israel in the situation of exile (salvation, homecoming, deliverance). Malachi is a promise given to people on the other side of the return from exile (people becoming weary, cynical, so this involves confrontation). Both promise points us to Jesus. The Messiah comes without warning!

We, even Christians, can feel the temptation to live as if God didn’t see and didn’t care. The temptation to the quiet half-hearted insincerity that goes through the motions of what you do, as if there is no presence of God in our lives.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: Know the times

Speaker: Connie Duarte (Baptist Convention of Canada. Missionary in Portugal for 20 years.)

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-13

When Connie was in seminary, she aspired to be anything but a missionary. Whenever missionary speakers came, she thought, “what if this was me one day”? Eventually she got the call to be a missionary.

There are various tricky situations we encounter in life. For example:

Someone works for the government, which subsidises work-related lunches. One day that person’s company had lunch with another company and the other company paid the lunch. However, everyone got the receipt and claimed it even though they didn’t pay for it. The person’s colleagues started pushing him to make the claim too so it won’t look suspicious.

A university student had to do a group assignment for a course. Other people in the group didn't want to do any work and made her do all the work, then they lied to the lecturer at the end of the course saying the she was the only one in the group who didn’t do any work, and she gets failed.

1Chronicles 12:32: “Men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do…”

How did those guys know what to do? How did they know the times they were living in?

Students should learn to think critically. Not meaning looking at things negatively, but to look at things as they really are. What are we reading, what are we seeing, how can we discover the truth, and identify when the truth is being twisted? What is happening in the world stage? Who has the power and why do they have it? How to explain all of these things to people who don’t belong to the Western world, who hold very different views?

Aspire to be life-long learners who can apply the bible to our times.

Understand the word, understand the world, and know what to do with what we know.

Men from Issachar were not priests. So, this call is not restricted to ordained ministers.

Acts 17:10-11: We need to be students like people of Berea.

To search the Scriptures and find out if it’s true.

They receive the message with great eagerness and examine the Scriptures to see if what Paul says is true.

We don’t always get it right. We need people who lovingly says, “can we go through that?”

What would happen if no one ever questions what they were taught? Eg. Slavery vs abolition of slavery.

Sometimes the gifts we were given are too scary. Don’t fight it though. We can’t but God can. Every type of call is vital. Rejoice in your own call and other people’s calls.

Personal thoughts and reflections:

During morning tea before Chapel, I saw Rev Lau, the senior pastor of our church. We had a chat and he asked me why did I come and study at Morling. I told him that my father passed away at that time and several coincidences happened which made me believe God wanted me to study in the seminary. Furthermore, I wanted to study God’s words firsthand and not through the highly digested materials and opinions provided by the speakers in church sermons. 

At that point in time, I had already done some pretty useful Christian courses. However, although I may take useful notes from some great resources and talks, none of them were my own material. While I may identify strongly with some of the practical tips and testimonies, none of those came from my own experience, and I wasn’t producing enough materials out of my own life experience. I felt like a “copy machine” or “note-taking machine”, just passing on some “good articles and talks” by others, which was rather similar the “forwarding option” of Facebook and other social media. 

It was in Morling that I really started developing my critical thinking skills, and I am thankful for this, because it gave me a much broader perspective. I pray that God give us more wisdom from our life experiences so that we are not just quoting other people’s stuff without any reflection, but that we really do become discerning people who know our times and know how to apply the word of God to our times.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: The Fullness of God

The place where the missionary Dr. George Leslie Mackay came ashore onto Taiwan! Looks like he was kneeling in prayer in this artwork! Photo taken from a trip to Taiwan in 2016.

Speaker: Rachel Stuhr

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19

Have you ever had someone come to you and say, “I’ve been praying for you a lot” (in a serious way, not just out of politeness)? Rachel had a lady whom she doesn’t know well said to her she has been praying for her. She prayed for her marriage, her being a good exemplar for others, her faith, her spreading the word of God, etc. This prayer of Paul is similar.

The prayer is motivated by the many blessings we have in Christ.

V14: “I kneel before the Father.” People kneeling to pray. To kneel to pray is to indicate urgency/desperation/earnest.

The Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name… We pray to the Father, the origin of all creation.

Greek: Pater=father, Patria=family. The two words have similar roots. We derive our origins from the Father, the One whom we come from, the source of everything we know.

Sometimes we are focusing on the things/issues we are praying for, but not on the One whom we are praying to. It’s about God.

It is the Spirit, and Christ in us who give us the strength we need. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Without Christ dwelling in our hearts, what do we have? Exams and assignments are less urgent compared to eternity.

Know and understand the love of Christ. “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” It can be quite unconceivable that God can love us this much. What would happen if we all kneel on our knees praying urgently for the people in our lives?

“That you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God”. The fullness of God. The Spirit will strengthen us when Christ lives in our hearts.

Take this prayer and read it again at home and ask ourselves, “what would it look like if I was doing this?”

Often, we pray for people to feel better/do better/other practical things. What happens if we pray that Christ dwell in their hearts, and change them from the inside out? We can’t force anyone to come to Christ, but we can pray for them. Pray this prayer for them because that is what we can do.

Personal thoughts and reflections:

Today’s Chapel resonated with what has been happening in my life lately again. Last week I made an urgent trip to Taiwan to visit my terminally ill aunt. Although she became stable enough to be discharged from the hospital, she still doesn’t have the desire to be visited by church people or get baptized. So, although the practical aspects of my intercessions for her has been answered, this amazing extension of life is pointless if there is no growth in faith. After all, she is in great agony from the effects of the cancer itself as well as the side effects of the cancer treatment, and an extension of life means an extension of these physical and psychological agonies. Meanwhile, no one can force my aunt to come to Christ. Therefore, I should make the prayer more Christ focused, and praying for Christ to dwell in her heart, so that she can be changed from the inside out.

The emphasis on “kneeling” in today’s talk reminded me of the time I went on a government funded CPD program to Mackay Memorial Hospital in 2016. In my spare time, I went to the Barnabas School of Missions and heard a message by Dr. Allen Lien, a famous evangelist/ medical doctor in Taiwan who went to Africa, who exhorted us to “Pick up the lost tradition of getting down on your knees to break the ground with the groundbreaking prayer!” And a prophetic prayer by another organisation where the intercessor told me “get down and pick up” some of the things I’ve dropped!  At that time, I already knew in my mind the Spirit was telling me to get down on my knees and pray with urgency every day, but my flesh found it hard to do because I was either in the situation of excessive comfort during holiday times, or excessive busyness during Morling College semester times.There didn’t seem to be any stimuli of enough magnitude that made me felt I had no choice but to drop down and pray with urgency.

Well, the situation has changed lately. Ephesians 3:14-19 is a good prayer I can do when interceding for my family in Taiwan… on my knees that is!

Addit 8May 2018:
After a week of break from the hospital, my aunt got admitted into hospital again on Saturday 5May, bleeding more profusely than before.
On Monday 7May, she decided to get baptised.
On Tuesday 8May, she got baptised.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: God responds to prayers

(Photo taken with aunt, grandma and mom during a visit to Korea in 2017.)

Speaker: Daniel Yoo

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-6

Daniel gave a narrative about a ten-year-old Korean boy who said in tears, “I cannot believe in God”. Why? Because the boy thought God didn’t listen to his prayers. The boy’s father was very strict and does not tolerate any academic mistakes. Whenever the boy wasn’t the top of the class, he gets severely beaten. Before the beating, the boy would pray, “God, can you stop my father from beating me?” The prayer remained unanswered. Later, the boy changed his prayers, asking for a stronger body so that he wouldn’t feel the pain. But it didn’t help, and he felt every single pain of that lash. The boy asked, “Every Sunday I go to church, they talk about the love of Jesus. Is this the love of Jesus? Does God love me? Does my father love me?”

Daniel didn’t know how to answer this.

Matthew 11:2-6:

We see John the Baptist put in prison because he considered the marriage between Herod and Herod’s brother’s wife to be unlawful. John heard the news of Jesus preaching the good news to the poor. He asked one of his disciples to ask on his behalf whether he is the Messiah. This is very different from the John who leaped with joy in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary who was pregnant with Jesus came to visit Elizabeth. This is very different from John the Baptist who baptised Jesus and heard a voice from heaven saying, “this is my Son, whom I love”. This John, who declared the coming of the Messiah, is in prison now.

Jesus replied, “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Jesus is essentially telling him, “John, don’t put me in a box.”

Last year, Daniel’s father came to visit him and said, “I was wrong. I thought I could raise you in the ways that was right, but that belonged to God.” A father who never apologised apologised. Daniel’s prayer was answered.

If there are any doubts, take it to Christ and patiently wait, because He reveals Himself and He responds.

Personal thoughts and reflections:

It can be very frustrating when what we pray for seems to be unanswered. It is especially unsettling when prayers for deliverance from abuse/ persecution/ terminal conditions seem to go unanswered.

Around ten years ago, I enrolled in a church course, and they asked us to write down what our burdens are. Being the only Christian in my family back then, I wrote “the salvation of all of my relatives in Taiwan”. They also asked us to write down our one-year goal, two-year goal, and five-year goals. The one-year and two-year goals were achieved quite easily. However, ten years have passed and the five-year goal hasn’t happened yet: getting married and salvation of the whole extended family. God knows the best timing for everything, so I shouldn’t be the one setting the timing (now I wonder why they even set this exercise in the course).

Lately, lots has happened with my relatives in Taiwan. Last month, my maternal grandma was admitted into hospital with life-threatening sepsis. Thank God she survived the incident and is out and about again. However, my instincts tell me that this year will be like 2015 where I had to make four trips to Taiwan. Today, I received news that my youngest maternal aunt, who had just been admitted in to hospital with severe bleeding and pain, has metastatic cancer to her liver and lungs. This is something I am struggling to come to terms with.

Wind back to 2016: my aunt had worked very hard all her life and finally, she gets to retire. She was very happy and travelled a lot. In October 2016, she broke the news that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in July 2016 and already completed treatment, and the tumour became undetectable after the treatment. She told me she had prayed to God during those difficult times. I took her through the prayer to accept Jesus as her saviour. However, she didn’t want to go to church or have church people visit her, and I couldn’t follow through since I live overseas.

The news of her cancer recurrence is devastating for everyone. She is so devastated herself that she doesn’t want to talk to anyone. She had worked so hard all her life only to be hit with terminal cancer within a year of her retirement and had to go through all the pains of the cancer itself and the cancer treatment. I imagine that most cancer patients will pray to God asking Him to cure their cancer (or at least, take away the pain and the emotional distress associated with it). I guess this prayer was partially answered because her tumour did go into remission for approximately a year (which in of itself is already a miraculous outcome for what was diagnosed as terminal cancer). I can only pray that she can have faith in God no matter how things turn out (I really pray that God answers this prayer), and possibly even make a visit to Taiwan this month to be present for my distressed relatives (especially my mom).

Addit: On 12April 2018 (coinciding with the 27th of Nisan, the Yom HaShoah (יום השואה), known in English as the Holocaust Remembrance Day, my prayer has been answered (2 days after the Tuesday chapel). Thanks to God! 

Morling Tuesday Chapel: Impossible births

Speaker: Jess Gough

Scripture: 1Samuel 1-20

Have we ever encountered the experience of trying to help, but not really helping? For example, a toddler trying to help a baby sister by check on the baby but waking her up instead. Lovely, but probably makes things busier.

In the beginning we see the pedigree of Elkanah’s prestigious line. We see Elkanah faithfully fulfilling his duties to God and his two wives. Infertility in the context of the Ancient Near East: Hannah’s primary role as a wife was to have children, but she couldn’t do that, so she was devastated. Could this be why Elkanah got Peninnah?

Judges 21:25: “Everyone did as what they saw fit.”

The description of Eli raises a serious question about the capability of Israel’s religious leaders. A leader who’s unable to distinguish between someone who’s praying and pouring their souls out to the Lord vs a drunken person? A leader who goes straight to accusation (calling Hannah drunk) before investigation the situation further (which was not being very helpful)? This assumption might reflect how Eli is already used to seeing/ the way the people of Israel usually behaves. Even Eli’s sons were scoundrels.

1Samuel 1:10: “Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly.”

Do we need to put on our perfect masks? Laments: praying to God in our pain and desperation. Hannah’s prayer may sound like bargaining though. In the OT, to ask God to remember is to look back at His promises that He will take action. It’s about what God had already done, and reaching out to a God who’s faithful.

Luke 1:46-48: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed...”

We can be certain the One who we call on is the One who cares. To be seen and heard by our faithful God is a blessing, a cause for us to lift up our eyes.

1Samuel 1:20: Regarding the name Samuel, “Because I asked for him.” The Hebrew pronunciation Samuel sounds like “heard” by God, even though it doesn’t mean “heard”. (Actually this topic is under some debate. The Hebrew name שְׁמוּאֵל (Shemu'el) could mean either “name of God” (Shem El) or “God has heard” (Sh'ma El).

God uses an impossible birth to mark that He is doing something significant in Israel! (Think about barren women like Sarah giving birth to Isaac, Rachel giving birth to Joseph, Manoah’s wife giving birth to Samson, and Moses surviving the great infanticide, etc). In dedicating her child to the Lord for his entire life, Hannah is given the opportunity to play a part in this great thing God is doing.

And when the virgin gives birth to a son (plus Jesus surviving the infanticide commanded by Herod), that is the most miraculous event in history! God is doing something big in this world, and just like Hannah, we are given a role to play in that.

Note: blue font=extra things I’ve added in.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: “How will she know unless someone tells her?”

Speaker: Dr Omar Djoeandy, National Director SIM Australia

omar.djoeandy@sim.org.au

https://www.sim.org.au/

Scripture: Mark 8:31-38.

Dr Omar Djoeandy’s son asked, “The dads of my friends lived in better houses, why didn’t you continue to practice as a medical doctor in Australia, so that we can live in a better house?”

Dr Djoeandy replied, “Because it’s about following Jesus and not about ourselves.”

His son then said, “You can just say that you follow Jesus and do whatever you want.”

Can we say we follow Jesus and not follow in His mission?

How does “following Jesus in His mission” impact my life or people in our church?

l   Relationships

l   Ambition

l   Lifestyle

l   Priorities

l   Choices

l   Investments

Background of Dr Djoeandy:

l   Chinese Indonesian Australian.

l   Follower of Jesus since young.

l   16y.o.: convinced Jesus the only way, truth and life, willing to be a missionary.

l   He thought if he did medicine, he can practically show the love of Jesus. Studied in UNSW med 1979-1984.

l   MDiv at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology 1986-1990 (in Africa).

l   1989: Met Kay and married in 1990

l   1993-1997: Medical doctor GP.

l   1998-2003: Associate Pastor at Nairobi.

Jesus, “Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. And they left their nets at once and followed him.” (Mark 1:17-18).

Have we left our nets to follow Jesus? Occupation, security, etc.

For Peter, “leaving their nets” meant leaving his identity and security!

Are we willing to leave our identity, security and personal plans to fulfil the mission of Jesus?

Fight the temptation to follow Jesus on our terms (our terms and conditions we’ve given to Jesus):

Mark 8:31-32: He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Peter telling Jesus off! When was the last time we told Jesus off/stop following Jesus? When life didn’t go well?

Mark 8:33: “Get behind me, Satan” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Reflection/Theory must be translated into action: Reflection/Theory-Action upward spiral.

Whirlpool of self-absorption: struggles, career, fears, lifestyle, mortgage, possessions. The world defines success according to what you possess. Identify where you might be tempted to be self-absorbed?

Jesus directly contradicts the world.

Luke 12:15: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

Dependent upon God as children (more than self-sufficiency).

Mark 8:34-36: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

Empowered to be Christ’s witnesses:

Jesus’ Mission for us is Acts 1:8: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

l   Local

l   Cross-cultural

l   Global

l   Simultaneously and life-long.

Where are you and your church being Christ’s witnesses: local, cross-cultural and global?

The huge need can be overwhelming.

Action required “Just do it”:

l   Pray

l   Give

l   Send

l   Go

Motivation:

l   Avoid guilt or fear: No, this motivation will not last.

l   Love for God and people: This will help us last through ridicule and persecution.

Dr Djoeandy gave up his lifestyle, as a doctor who can afford expensive hotels, to follow Jesus’ mission. Because Jesus died for us.

Paul in 2Corinthians 5:14-15: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Jesus is worthy to be worshipped by all nations.

More from Dr Djoeandy during the Transform lunch session:

Identifying two or three areas where you would like to hear God more clearly about God’s “mission impossible” for you:

Probably can ask the "who, what, when, where, how" questions, but it’s the “who” that is the most important, because this is about people.

Reflection/Theory-Action upward spiral: Action: here and now. For example, if you feel you have a calling for the Middle East, you can first take baby steps and get to know the Middle Eastern people in Sydney!

It has to be “the impossible”, so we can give credit to God. If it something you think is possible, then it’s unlikely to be God’s mission for you.

Ephesians 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

SHAPED:

l   A way of trying to find out what you are suited to do: Spiritual gifts; Heart; Abilities; Personality; Experience; Daring factor.

l   Gifts: Gift of singing is probably the only gift you know quite early on whether you got or not. Other gifts need to be developed: just because you did it badly the first few times doesn’t mean you don’t have the gift. For example, the first time Dr Djoeandy preached, a deacon told him he had no gift in preaching. A few years later, when he preached again in the same congregation, the same deacon seemed to have forgotten what he said several years back and told him how great the sermon was.

l   Heart: What is worth waking up in the morning for

l   Personality: don’t pay as much attention to this part as this is sometimes the least influential part. Introvert can make public speeches, extrovert can still be good listeners.

l   Daring factor (a spectrum): War zone; Bold-extreme risks; Ok with risks; Average; Cautious; Petrified

l   Admit your fears

Living beyond yourself:

l   Your “SHAPED”

l   Your church’s vision and “SHAPED”

l   Needs and opportunities

l   Fruit and Responsiveness

l   Mission organisations

l   Intangible God factor: God’s power in weakness

In community:

l   You cannot do it alone.

l   Paul always functions in community.

l   God is not after superman.

Personal thoughts and reflections:

I found it very impressive that this week’s mission representative, Dr Djoeandy, was willing to go to Africa to studying his MDiv degree two years after finishing his medical degree! It seems like he had a love for people right from the outset, because he mentioned the reason why he chose to do medicine was that he thought if he did medicine, he can practically show the love of Jesus. In my teenage years, my initial reason for choosing to do medicine was a lot more self-centred than his! I felt very challenged by Dr Djoeandy’s talks. A few years back, I might be burning with a greater passion for missions than I am right now: was it because I had greater faith back then, or because I had greater ignorance? As I see more and more of the stark contrasts between ideologies and the realities of serving in ministry, I feel somewhat like the rich young man in Mark 10:17-31! Yet, simultaneously there is an unsettledness in my heart that I need to go out. When we think about what God is calling us to do, we can probably can ask the "who, what, when, where, how" questions, but Dr Djoeandy reminds us it’s the “who” that is the most important, because this is about people. The call has to be “the impossible”, so we can give credit to God. My personality seems to be the “impossible” type for missions and evangelism because I am introverted, find it uncomfortable talking with strangers, find it very draining to get deeply involved with interpersonal relationships, get panicky when I have to speak to a large group of people, lived in so many countries in the process of growing up that I find it hard to develop a sense of belonging anywhere, and there doesn’t seem to be any ministry tasks which I seem to be especially gifted in. Dr Djoeandy tells us that he is extremely introverted and able to do what he is doing now by the power of God, and that the personality part of the SHAPED tool is probably the least influential part, since God is able to use any type of personalities for His works. Instead of focusing on my own inadequacy like the ten out of twelve spies to Canaan, I have to keep praying to God, being honest with what I am afraid of, staying focused on God, being willing to be used by God, and asking the Holy Spirit to help me step out in action.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: the man who hates, and divorces his wife

Speaker: Rev Dr Anthony Petterson

Scripture: Malachi 2:10-16

Unfaithfulness in marriage can have devastating consequences. Recently, a Pastor have resigned due to unfaithfulness in marriage, and this was announced a week before a church plant. It was in the same week as when Barnaby Joyce denied his affair.

God’s ways are the best. The people in Malachi’s days have forgotten this. The book is a series of disputes that the people have with God, and God have with the people. The relationship has broken down. It began with a failure to see God as loving them. They were offering second rate sacrifices and treating the Lord with contempt. The priests’ hypocritical lives were making people stumble.

V10: “Do we not all have one father? Did not one God create us?”

V11-12: “Judah has been unfaithful… marrying the daughter of a foreign god.” People were marrying outside the covenant: women who worship foreign gods. Original Hebrew: These men “bowed” themselves to the daughter of a foreign god. In this way, they profaned the national covenant at Sinai. Against this intermarrying because the nations will turn your children away to serve foreign gods. 1Kings 11: “King Solomon loved many foreign women… these women turned him astray… Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord…” This is a religious issue rather than a racial one. After all, there are many incidences of the OT celebrating the marriages of Israelites to foreign women, who even form part of the family line of the Messiah. It’s not a problem to marry foreign women who are Yahweh worshippers. The Israelites described in Malachi were putting their desires above the Lord’s requirement. They desecrate the holiness.

Christians are to marry those who are Christians. Do missions, but not missionary dating. Sometimes we may end up married with an unbeliever anyways (eg. someone who you thought was Christian but didn’t keep his/her faith). We won’t be made unholy by this, and have the potential to bring faith to them.

V13: “You weep and wail because you are no longer with favour”. Sin always hinders our worship. The people in Malachi doesn’t get it and just asks “why the Lord doesn’t look at us with favour”. Marriage is a covenantal relationship, witnessed by God.

V14: The Hebrew for “partner” here suggests a permanent relationship/bond. To be one in marriage, to produce godly offspring. There’s no strict rule that single parents won’t bring up godly offspring, or godly couples will produce godly offspring however.

V16: The Hebrew is tricky to translate. God hates divorce? Or “the man who hates, and divorces his wife.” There was divorce in the OT. However, in Malachi, the men were divorcing their wives without grounds, which was a violent act towards their wives.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: Technically correct but wrong effect

Speaker: Dr Edwina Murphy

Scripture: Malachi 2:1-11

Edwina has a love hate relationship with iPhone map apps. Great for taking you where you want to go, and you follow the voice. However, you will encounter trouble if it asks you to turn right on a road without traffic light at peak hours. Or you arrive at a virtual location but the location is not there. Directions are important, as to where to go and how to get there. That’s what this passage is doing.

1Peter 2:5. Whatever we are doing, God calls us, in our own situation, to be faithful witnesses.

Malachi 2 starts with a warning: God warns us to protect us. God’s judgments are in line with what we’ve done. It’s like the warning lights we got on our cars. God gives us warnings because he wants to give us life. The priests have dishonoured God, and God will dishonour them. When mothers scold children, eg. “I will leave you alone in the… if you don’t…” If the mother carries it out, it can be child abuse. The mother is more likely just threatening them. But if she keeps doing that the children will stop taking it seriously. God’s warning is not like this. God’s warning is very serious.

The priests are teaching what’s right but doing what’s wrong. The real danger for Morling graduates is probably not teaching the Scriptures wrong, ie. heresy. The danger is to be technically correct, but not be helpful at all: being theologically correct but with the wrong effect. If we are speaking about God’s amazing grace but leaving people with a generalised feeling of guilt and oppression, or a message on joy but leaving people depressed, then we’re getting it wrong. If our preaching and our lives do not lead to building people up in the Fruits of the Spirit, then there’s something wrong. We may have a conviction of sin, but then we confess the sin, and feel the freedom associated with that. Let us not just be people who speak about grace, but be people who are gracious. Sometimes we may take the good news of the gospel but give bad news to people.

How can we know, when we listen to teaching, that it’s leading us right or wrong? We should hone our instincts by being familiar with the scriptures first. Understand God’s word and let the Spirit guide us. Let us be people who live those things out.

Personal thoughts and reflections:

The message of “living what you preach” is a very common topic which I have heard many times. However, in this chapel, I truly sensed a warning for myself when I heard the part on “being theologically correct but with the wrong effect” and this prompted me to think about real life situations.

I suppose when people have a sense of elitism about their faith, it can sometimes be a pretty dangerous thing. Let’s imagine I am feeling pretty down and hopeless, perhaps even angry at God because of some really bad events in my life. Then a person comes along and starts talking nonstop about himself/herself, about how God has made him/her so joyful and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, therefore all Christians should be joyful and powerful, or else there’s something seriously wrong with that Christian… As a listener, I’d imagine that instead of feeling “joyful and full of power”, I’d feel even more depressed and powerless. Or, if I am not a Christian, instead of receiving the gospel as “good news”, I’d be thinking, “So this person is telling me that all Christians are full of joy and power? Then I can’t be one because I can’t imagine myself meeting that standard. It’s a religion for the elites and I’m not good enough.” Or “So here is this salesperson telling me how this “product” works so well on him/her. Well, I am not him/her! This person does not even seem to understand my situation and keeps talking about irrelevant stuff. How can he/she assume that this product will also work on me?”

It’s easy to make other people stumble, and most of the time we don’t mean it. In fact, if I had caused someone to stumble, that person wouldn’t exactly come to me and say, “you caused me to stumble”. It’s more likely that the person will just distance himself/herself from me and not say anything (unless he/she is a very close friend). Gotta pray that I don’t become a stumbling block for others, but be more empathetic and compassionate in my approach to people.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: Following God wholeheartedly

(photo taken at the Sea of Galilee where Peter was asked by Jesus 3x "do you love me?" note that in the series of Q&A in John 20, Jesus kept asking in "agape" love, and Peter kept responding in "phileo" love)

Speaker: Rev Dr Marc Rader

Scripture: Malachi 1:1-14

This opening provides the foundation for the book as a whole. This beginning is also the end: It’s the last book of the Minor Prophets. What’s taken place at that time? Hosea opens with speaking about the judgment of the Northern Kingdom. Then the shift of the twelve (minor prophets) goes against Jerusalem. Babylonians came then Persians. By the time of Malachi, most of the drama was in the rear vision mirror. Yet, most haven’t changed at all. This book still opens similarly to Hosea. It is again about misplaced love. Hosea was asked to marry a prostitute who does not love Hosea wholeheartedly. Malachi opens with God saying to Israel, “I have loved you people, but you asked how have you loved us?” This question should not be asked. The people asking this question are like self-centred children who took God’s love for granted and denounced the election.

The Levites were accused of not giving instructions in Chapters 2, but they did give good instructions. Half-hearted sins: they’re not turning away from the Lord, but they lack the ability to whole-heartedly follow the Lord. “They still show up, but they don’t really put the effort in”.

Chapter 3, v13-15: Israel asked “What do we gain by carrying out His requirements?... Now we call the arrogant blessed”.

“I have loved you, but you asked how have you loved us?” God doesn’t even answer the question the people are asking. People are apathic, because of the loss of hope. We forgot God’s great love. God is putting the question into the people’s mouth, to drive them out (similar to when God asks Adam “where are you?”). Malachi is trying to activate the people’s faith again. Faith allows us to persevere. When we have that faith, where we can see what we’re heading at, this drives us to persevere.

Contemporary questions:

We sing about following Jesus, “no turning back”, but have we ever been distracted from Jesus? How are you following Jesus? In a straight-line running? Or?

“I surrender all”. Do we take anything back from Jesus? Do we want to take control again of our life? What are our expectations in ministry? For instance, expecting people would listen to me? Jesus came to serve and not be served.

What kind of effort are we putting in as we prepare for ministry?

What are we praying for? How many people’s prayers are just to get through this week? Just praying for myself? The world is hard, and will just get harder, can we imagine God transforming the world?

We study this all the time, but can we activate our faith? How do we get reminded about why we are following Jesus?

Personal thoughts and reflections:

Been quite frustrated last week. Felt like there’s a big mismatch between visions and reality. I already sensed that huge things are happening in the spiritual realm worldwide. I believe that in the presence of the Holy Spirit, powerful transformations happen, as our God is unlimited. However, in my workplace, in my family, in ministry and even in my own self, it seems as if nothing powerful is happening. It seems as if things like positively influencing people I encounter in the workplace, family members turning to Christ, effectively leading a group in church, and the development of the fruits of the Spirit are not happening. Maybe there is something happening but I cannot see it yet and am acting like the lukewarm Israelites in asking God “what have you done in my life?” Actually, God had done quite a lot already, but I am probably just too impatient and want to see more things happening. Maybe I haven’t been focused on God enough. Today’s chapel serve as a reminder that I need to be wholehearted towards God. Therefore, I pray to God for more faith.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: Domestic and family violence

Speaker: John Beckett

Scripture: Ephesians 2

Relationships that are in God’s purposes:

V11: “Remember, formerly you who are Gentiles by birth… at that time you were separated from Christ…” Paints a picture of a group that’s pushed aside. “But now, in Christ, you who once have been far away are drawn near”. V14: “dividing wall of hostility.” The barrier was destroyed, reconciled to God. Through Jesus this new peace has been established. V19: “You are no longer foreigners or strangers, but fellow citizens. You are members of His household, the family of God!”

Exploration of the purposes of God:

How would you describe the purposes of God for creation? Part of the new purpose of God is to draw together a new community, a family. Not just abstractly bring people from one state to another. Reconciliation and renewal of relationships is the heart of the purpose of our lives.

Brokenness in our family relationships:

Gender relationship in the beginning of Scripture, being joyfully relaxed in each other’s company. Fracturing of relationship with the fall. Family violence is one of the most confronting examples of brokenness caused by human sin. Families are meant to be safe places, places of trust. God has a special intention for the marriage relationship and it is a picture of the relationships in the new humanity. Not just physical violence. Includes emotional, verbal, sexual, financial, spiritual and social forms of abuse too. An attempt by one partner to control and create fear in the relationship. Don’t just focus on the victim’s perspective. Also look from the perspective of the perpetrator. How should we respond as God’s people in the family of Christ? Not a hopeless situation. Jesus opened up the way for forgiveness and reconciliation. The cross is good news for the victims and the perpetrator: to change people, break down the walls of division. Perpetrator: the message of grace. But doesn’t mean the church condones violence.

Theological arguments condoning violence (consciously or unconsciously misused): Suffering is a direct punishment for sin/ enduring the suffering, turning your cheek, bearing your cross. Submission of wives to husbands.

Our role as God’s people:

Hope. Safe spaces for victims to come forward. Spaces for rehabilitation of the perpetrator. Change in community. We have a role to demonstrate something different to our culture. What were is to look like as God’s people to challenge that culture? Do we as a church have to humble ourselves? We got some internal issues to deal with.

Morling Tuesday Chapel: In Christ

It's cool, to be back to school.... ? The textbooks have all arrived for the Pentateuch (but this might be the subject I'm dropping if I feel too stressed about two subjects in one semester).

Speaker: Rev Dr Ross Clifford

Live by the Spirit and not the law. (Romans 1&7.)

Not a set of rules and obligations.

Value all. (Galatians 3:28. Acts 10.)

Love our neighbours as ourselves. First universal statements on human rights.

Eyes open to the spiritual. (Ephesians 6:10-20.)

Often, we divorced our theology from the spiritual realm. We are being watched by a heavenly audience and in a battle with the devil.

Word reliant. (Ezekiel 37.)

Prophecise the Word on the dry bones. Spirit to give life. Word and Spirit are both important.

Vision of resurrection. (John 20:1.)

Women went to the tomb on the first day of the week. First day of the new order… a new people.

Humility. (James 1&4.)

If we are to be involved in ministry, always remember it’s done in humility when it’s done in Christ. It’s not about promoting you, but promoting the gospel. Living out the faith in humility.

Servanthood/resilient. (Romans 1.)

Transformation happens because we are growing in Christ and knowing Christ together.

Ultimately they don’t want your paper degree, but who you are in Christ.

Personal thoughts and reflections:

Really struggling this week about whether to do one subject or two subjects this semester. On the first day of class doing Romans, can see it’s a very big subject. In fact, during this class, I can already find many of my old concepts about the Protestant paradigm and Lutheran interpretations of Romans being tipped over! The Pentateuch is also very big and important. 

I came to Morling to equip myself so I can serve God better. Whilst I’ve certainly learned and benefited a lot from Morling, there is no clear calling for ordained ministry so far. The calling in career missions is still very clear, so I am certainly going to continue working as a doctor. Whilst the qualification of MDiv itself is not that important for me, I am already quite close to the finishing line. I can either finish the MDiv off very soon at two subjects each semester, or do it very slowly at one subject each semester. Life is not about qualifications and I do not want to be tied down with studying forever (life on earth is too short and time passes too fast… drastic changes are happening globally). When too much head knowledge is flowing in, I find it hard to have enough time to go into full swing at practical application in a communal setting because the studies are keeping me too busy (what a paradox). Don’t be mistaken though, what I am learning is highly relevant to my everyday life: There had been many triggers for personal reflection and I have been benefiting a lot in personal growth. There are also large amounts of big pictures and visions flowing in as I looked over church history, theology, pastoral care studies, biblical studies and exegesis.

The advantage of finishing quick is that I won’t be stuck in one place and can shift my focus to the next stage should there be a calling for something new, eg. putting more time into a particular ministry whilst still working as a doctor, shifting to a new location, or getting married and having children (imagine studying with a screaming baby: not impossible, but very difficult) etc. The advantage of finishing slower is obviously the better quality of learning (I am compromising my academic achievement by doing the MDiv so quickly), lesser stress, and… perhaps more time to wait on God to see whether there is calling for ordained ministry? Regardless of whichever path I take, lifelong learning and growth in Christ continues even when I finish the MDiv qualification.

The Tuesday chapel time changed this semester to 12-1. Suddenly realised this new timing made me really rushed for work in the afternoon, don't know if I can keep attending.

Anyway, gotta pray hard to God and get more Spirit-filled.