Time has wings: Easter 2018

In the picture: Every Easter, the “red-centred” guavas harvest in my garden! In January, I also discovered that the fig tree in my garden which I thought was dead is actually alive and bears fruits (just that I did not pay enough attention to it to realise it harvests in Jan)!

I don’t know if turning 35 does something to one’s physiology, but my sense of time has changed. I often felt like time has wings and now I feel it’s flying away fast! If one generation is defined as 70 years, half of it had already gone past like the wind!

I know that I will come face to face with God one day. Will it be a “Welcome, good and faithful servant,” or a “I never knew you”? I already thought of this question a long time ago. I’ve always been the type of person who thinks very far ahead. In fact, three days before my dad died unexpectedly in 2013, he told me I had this conversation with him at the age of 7 and he already knew I will become a Christian one day:

“Will everyone eventually die?” I asked.

“Yes.” He replied.

“They why did you guys let me be born?” I asked.

Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? I wasn’t exactly the happiest kid in the world at the age of 7. Luckily, things changed at the age of 8 when I moved to the US and received the Gospel there. I’m not sure how visible the impact of God’s work on me and my immediate family looks to others, but there are some very serious issues internally within myself as well as interpersonal issues within the immediate family that God had already transformed supernaturally.

For instance, there was one time in 2008 where I almost fell into clinical depression and God just took that awful feeling away suddenly during a prayer (instantaneous, fraction of a second type of action)! Previous self-help books could not do that! Another miracle happened on a Wednesday where I suddenly decided to take a quick peek in a church that was close to where my grandma lived in Taiwan. My dad, who claimed to be atheist and stayed far away from churches, suddenly followed me in because he thought I was just taking a quick glance. Coincidentally, the pastor of the church was standing at the entrance and started a conversation with my dad, eventually leading him to the prayer to accept Christ as Saviour! I see that as a miracle! Sadly, my dad passed away unexpectedly two days later. Imagine how horrible it would have been if he had died without praying that prayer!    

Despite the tragedy of his sudden passing, this prompted me to think more deeply about my accountability to Christ in my short little life. That was when I decided to make an attempt to equip myself better for Christ by enrolling at Morling College.

In a sense, God is like my doctor: He had already done many internal works on me like a surgeon… Yet I am a very impatient patient of God, often demanding him for faster and more visible results externally. Paradoxically, one of the reason why I am so impatient is related to my accountability to Christ: Facing Him one day and not being able to come up with enough examples about the impact of my life on other people’s lives.
I mean, I impact on people as a doctor, but what about on the matters in relation to eternity, ie. as God’s vessel to bring others to Christ? Here is a story to illustrate the point:
https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/01/20/35/60-minutes-munjed-al-muderis-luis-montalvan

This is a fascinating story about a leading Sydney surgeon who was a refugee from Iraq, and a former US soldier who lost a leg in Iraq!
Sad twist to the story though: You can apply the most amazing medical technology to help someone... and still not be able to save that person... but I think Dr Al Muderis still made a very positive contribution to Luis' life as there are some joyful moments captured on camera.

I must constantly remind myself to stay connected to the true vine (John 15:5): only when the love of Christ overflows would I have enough love to give to others. And instead of ripping at the unripened fruits, to wait patiently for the fruits to be ready.

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.

The Joshua Era: Into the promised land

Upon reading about the passing of Billy Graham this morning (considered by many to be the father of modern Christian evangelism), the first thing that sprang to my mind was the passing of Moses. The passing of a great servant of God and a great leader of the people of God… marks the time of a shift in generation, from wanderers in the desert to warriors entering into the promised land.

And out of curiosity, I had a look at the Hebrew Calendar and saw that coincidentally today is the 7^th of Adar, which marks the traditional date of the death of Moses. It is also the date of Moses’ birth!

I pray that this will also mark a shift in the Church of Christ. Too many times we see the body of Christ attacking itself and getting nowhere (not unlike the Israelites in the desert). To move into the era of Joshua and into the promised land, not only do we need eyes of faith, but the body must move in unity whilst allowing different body parts to perform its distinct functions. And it’s not just the church leaders doing all the work, but the priesthood of all believers where all the people of God need to mobilise.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/billy-graham-1918/

Another interesting thing to note is, Joshua=Jesus! Yeshua is the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Joshua.” Iesous is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name, and its English spelling is “Jesus.” Thus, the names “Joshua” and “Jesus” are essentially the same; both are English pronunciations of the Hebrew and Greek names for our Lord.

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.

2018 Melbourne Trip: Australian Open and Sovereign Hill 24-27Jan

Australian Open + Australia Day public holidays: taking my mom, who still plays tennis 6 days a week, for a short retreat to Melbourne! The last time I was in Melbourne (and also the first time) was ten years ago: I came with two med school friends and I remember driving and driving along the Great Ocean Road and when I drove into the city I got really confused by the tram tracks! This time I didn’t have to drive at all! Took public transport for AO, one day tour for Ballarat, and had a kind hearted friend who took us around in his car!

It felt like an “eagle’s eye view” flying a small plane to Melbourne (but missing the sense of the wind blowing). Back in my childhood, I enjoyed jumping from high places because it made me feel mighty (actually I still do now), I like racing with the other kids to see who ran/ ice-skated/ swam the fastest, etc. I even liked grabbing lizards and white mice to play with! I was used to doing things independently and making important decisions for myself from a young age. A day before embarking on this Melbourne trip, someone prayed with me. From my background, she had an impression that I am like an eagle: do not like being “ruled over by others”, need a large personal space to “flap my wings”, do not like to be geographically restricted to one place but prefers being able to cross the nations. Although I have a high sense of achievement, I feel a weak sense of relational attachment with people. Five years ago, the sudden passing away of my father made me revaluate my relationship with him and realised that I did not make space for quality time with him while he was alive. It was by the grace of God that he accepted Christ two days before he suddenly passed away. Therefore, I’ve been trying to slow my pace down in the last few years to make room for family and friends in my life. I still have significant deficits in the area of interpersonal relationships, but everyone’s speed of growth is different in different areas, and I can only do so much.

By the time we got to the Southern Cross Station via the Skybus, it was pretty late. We took the tram to the Victorian Markets, which was still very crowded at 9:30pm.

I think we got more than what we bargained for with the Thursday AO day ticket: we watched three games, with the number one and number two females included! The final game became an extended game: initially Kerber didn’t play well in the first game, caught up in the second game, and we really couldn’t tell who would win by the third game!

Came to Sovereign Hill on Australia Day. It’s like a time travel to Australia 170 years ago. In 1850 quite a lot of Chinese came to the area for gold. Some lost their lives in this dangerous environment, some stayed and had Caucasian wives, so some locals look Caucasian but have Chinese surnames. Found gold smelting interesting, but my mom didn’t find it as exciting because my grandfather was a goldsmith. 

We also visited the Ballarat Wild Life Park and St Anne’s Vineyards. Got to see the quokka and the wedge-tailed eagle!

Ate some specialty foods:

·         Lune Croissants (very crunchy skin)  https://www.lunecroissanterie.com/

·         Mr Miyagi (Very unique but in small bites and very expensive. The person paying the bill felt like crying from “the damage”.)  https://mrmiyagi.com.au/

·         Koko Black hot chocolates https://www.kokoblack.com/

·         Ling Nan Restaurant’s seafood

·         Tsujiri Green Tea puffs and ice-cream http://www.tsujiri.com.au

·         The Glass Den (Very colour foods, but confuses people’s taste buds, eg. The green flaky material makes people expect something sour instead of parmesan cheese) https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassDenCoburg/

Visited a few areas: Chadstone Shopping Centre (for rich people); Brighton Beach (got some very colourful bathing boxes); Docklands