16/3/2017 (relating to others)
Many things have happened at the same time.
A housemate has moved away and a new one is moving in. A colleague has suddenly
resigned and the clinic became short-staffed. Both of these incidences were
complicated and not peaceful. My mother just had a knee operation and got upset
at me because she thought I didn’t care about her. The roof on my investment
property had a hole with water leaking into a tenant’s room and the whole roof
will need replacing. Rev. Fu told me that’s pastoral life: putting out fires
all the time. Like firemen, spending much of their valuable time fighting
fires rather than igniting fires for Christ in their community.[1]
We really have to ask for God’s wisdom and be selective
about what to sort out first, and placing appropriate boundaries to
interpersonal relationships that consume too much of our energies. When thing
become overwhelming, even great prophets like Elijah prayed that he wanted to die
(1Kings 19:3-4).
22/3/2017 (personal devotion)
Having spoken to Keith a week previously
about subject selection for Baptist accreditation, I saw the subject Transformational
Discipleship MCO100 on the handout he gave me. However, this subject is not
compulsory for part-time students, so I ignored it. Then at supper time today,
Gayle, the course coordinator for this subject, suddenly walked right up to the
table where I was sitting and started chatting with us. So I asked her about
this subject, and she mentioned that people applying for Baptist accreditation
will need to do this subject for a minimum of 8 semesters! Sounds like just the
right time to enrol into it, given that I will most likely complete my MDiv by
2019 and accreditation by 2021.
1/4/2017 (evangelism)
Acts 20:21 talks of repentance and faith. We
started studying a discipleship series called “Abundant Life”, by John Stott.
Rev. Fu opened the series by saying faith and repentance is both simple and
difficult simultaneously. The gospel is simple: we just have to accept Christ
as our saviour. However the process of repentance and transformation is
difficult because handing the control over our lives to God is always a big
struggle. While we are in this body, we will experience the pull of the old
beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions, but we must see ourselves as new people,
adopted into God's family, who need not yield to the lures of the flesh (Romans
8:12-17).[2]
Why don’t people come to Christ? Some heard bad things or had bad experiences
with Christians. Some think they’re happy in life without God. Some don’t think
they have time in their lives for God. What brings people to Christ? Usually when
they encountered a difficult situation, or when they find they finally have
time sit down and think about these things. There are many other scenarios and
these are just a few examples.
13/4/2017 (relating to others)
As I start seeing more closely what a
pastor's job entails, I find it so important for people who are serving in
ministry to develop a high sense of self-awareness, constructive
self-reflection and good communication skills. It's just so easy for any of us
to fall into the trap of seeking relationships in the congregation for our own
fulfilment (eg. a sense of accomplishment, of being idealised, of being a
spiritual authority figure, a need for personal intimacy or even for sexual
gratification in the cases of extra-marital affairs and sexual abuse.)[3] Our
task is to bring other people before God, so that they can learn to depend on
God, not on us, because it is God who is our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1). Some ministers may even become so addicted to the
sense of connection that arises from ministering, counselling, and offering
spiritual direction that they create an unhealthy interdependent relationship
with the parishioner.
23/4/2017 (call: gifts/ relating to others)
This is the first time I am serving as a MC
for the church. I am quite thankful for this opportunity because I am trying to
discover my gifts through serving. I haven’t been exposed to the whole
congregation on the stage frequently, so I still have a lot to learn. I find it
challenging to focus on God as I am doing this task today because I have to
think about what’s the next thing to do. Reflection has two central components
- experience and reflective activity on the experience.[4]
True learning involves the integration of knowledge and experience, so I still have
to get out of my comfort zone sometimes. Today, Rev. Lau challenged us in his
sermon with Colossians 3:11, asking us to try and chat with people we don’t
usually chat with after the service. So I chatted to people I am less familiar
with and ended up having lunch with them.
7/5/2017 (relating to others/ call: gifts)
I am quite passive when it comes to
interpersonal relationships. This is something I am praying about and trying to
working on practically. Luckily there are several mature Christians with a zeal
for God who started approaching me in the church, and I am learning a lot from
the interactions. A sister approached me about playing the piano for the Sunday
service. We got to know each other better through a cup of coffee and prayed
for each other. In addition to doing work in ministries and receiving spiritual
guidance from mentors, we also need spiritual friendships like that of David
and Jonathan in 1Samuel 23:16 (Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him
find strength in God), where there is mutual commitment to a Christian life and
care for each other’s growth in Christ.[5][6]
13/5/2017 (small group facilitation)
At the end of each lesson from Abundant Life,
we have a discussion and prayer time. This Spirit-led task is vital according
to Ephesians 6:18-19. On 8/4/2017, Rev. Fu asked me to facilitate one group
discussion on the spot. I opened the discussion but didn’t have much to say
afterwards. That’s when I realised the importance of preparation work. Later, I
got hold of the teacher’s manual and realised a lot of preparation work is
needed before the class, eg. praying for the students, reading the teacher’s
manual and class notes, thinking about the aims of the class and what
assignments to give to the students for practical application.[7]
There also needs to be some flexibility and experimentations on what approaches
work best: Previously the group was divided into two for a fifteen minute
discussion. Today, a different approach was used: people discussed in pairs for
five minutes. The discussion seemed much more lively this way.
14/5/2017 (teach)
Jesus commanded us to make disciples and
teach his commands in Matthew 28:19-20. Two weeks ago, I was asked to lead today’s
Sunday Adult Bible Study. So I was able to prepare. This bible study is much
more systematic and in-depth than the ones I’ve led before, so I had to spend
time look up the commentaries. I also had to translate everything I read into
Chinese, which was very time consuming because English is my stronger written language.
Although I tried my best to prepare, I think teaching is a skill that comes by
experience (eg. time management, how to redirect the discussions etc.), so I
need to do more of it. It is widely known that only growing leaders produce growing
Christians[8],
and there is no short cut. I personally learned a lot through the preparation
work and the discussion today.
3/6/2017 (teach/ personal devotion)
“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on
every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew4:4)
This is the first time I am leading
Abundant life. The lesson is on “reading the Scriptures”. I can’t think of what
explanations to add in after each point because the material seemed pretty
straightforward for me, while Rev. Fu can always think of something. In the
future, I may have to “practice” a few times with Rev. Fu. Although this lesson
is very basic, surprisingly I was never taught this technique of reading the
Scriptures before, which is a more firsthand way of encountering God through
the Scriptures. In fact, I was previously too heavily reliant on devotionals
written by other people.
The technique:[9]
We pray for the help of the Holy Spirit in
understanding the Scriptures. We can even sing a song of worship. We speed read
approximately 3 chapters of the bible a day with the aim of getting through the
whole Bible in one year. Each day, we pick one verse to do our personal
devotion on and underline/make notes of what really stands out for us
personally, and pray about it.
People are getting more electronic these
days, so we even discussed how to put in bookmarks and make notes on Bible
apps!
4/6/2017 Further reflective thoughts on Pentecost Sunday:
It’s been a time of challenge, self-doubts
and learning. For me, this is the first time doors are opening up for practical
training with mentoring and feedback. However, in the middle of the semester, my supervisor had a family
emergency and had to go overseas for 1.5 months. It has been extremely
stressful for her, but as a result of this event, her parents accepted Christ. Why
is this a time of self-doubt? This experience made me realise that my
foundations in Scriptures and personal devotional time is not very solid. There
is still a big room for improvement in my communication skills and
interpersonal skills. There still doesn’t seem to be any clear calling in the
direction of ordained ministry. I still feel pretty incompetent in most ministerial
tasks. At the same time, there is more guidance and blind spots are coming into
my conscious awareness so I can learn about how to better strengthen my spiritual
foundations. I can only rely on God to equip me to whatever He has called me
to. There are still plenty of opportunities to learn and I pray that God
continue opening the doors.
Bibliography:
Boa, Kenneth.
Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual
Formation. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2001.
Dawson, Gerrit Scott., Adele Gonzalez, and
E. Glenn Hinson. Companions in Christ.
Participant's Book: A Small-Group Experience in Spiritual Formation.
Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2001.
Donahue, Bill. Leading Life-changing Small Groups. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
Malphurs, Aubrey. A New Kind of Church. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.
Osmer, Richard R. Practical Theology: An Introduction. Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008.
Stott, John. The Abundant Life Teacher’s Manual. 1981.
[1]Malphurs, A New Kind of Church,
8.
[2] Kenneth
Boa, Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual
Formation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 102-04.
[3] Schmitz, Staying in Bounds,
125-126.
[4] “Transformational Discipleship Program Foundation Module 1”, 12.
[5] Gerrit Scott Dawson, Adele Gonzalez, and E. Glenn Hinson. Companions in Christ. Participant's Book: A
Small-Group Experience in Spiritual Formation (Nashville: Upper Room Books,
2001), 251.
[6] Donahue, Leading
Life-changing Small Groups, 84. We all want friends to “hang out” with. But
friendship without accountability produces little spiritual growth. Good
friends really care about us, challenge our thinking, and remind us to maintain
our commitments.
[7] Stott, John. The Abundant
Life Teacher’s Manual (1981), 1-4.
[8] Donahue, Leading
Life-changing Small Groups, 45.
[9] Stott, The Abundant Life
Teacher’s Manual, 26.
