She got there before the bookstore opened and she said some people were already waiting (!), so she joined the queue... =P
Monday, March 26, 2007
Tickets! Finally!
My mom got the tickets for the talks for me finally!!
She got there before the bookstore opened and she said some people were already waiting (!), so she joined the queue... =P
She got there before the bookstore opened and she said some people were already waiting (!), so she joined the queue... =P
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Good sermons...
I read this unbelievable post (in Chinese) on how to give a good sermon yesterday.
They should ask a certain person from our church to give a talk on this...
I can't believe there's a formula on that? Four stories and one joke in one sermon...
Of course, jokes and stories are ok, I like them, but I don't believe in a formula, the sermon I heard today, I just remember one story, and frankly most of the time the sermon is not all interesting. God talked to me through the sermon. And you know there's a depth in the message.
Are sermons supposed to be like talk shows? Are we supposed to be entertained? We're supposed to learn from them, not to be entertained by them.
Of course, learning with fun is a great idea, but learning is sometimes without fun. Who can honestly tell me studying for your HKCEE/HKALE is fun??
Good preachers repeat their stories/messages, because that's their (or their friend's) real life experience. I'm sure you can't fill you sermons with 4 meaningful stories and jokes every week.
If you think I'm old-fashioned, conservative and close-minded, you've never endure 10 years of meaningless "funny" story telling sermons... I'll tell you what I prefer after that, real solid Bible teaching!
If you can't think of anything for your sermons, try this! (Preaching materials written by Rev. Yeung Mook-kuk, one of the three Bible teachers I admire most.)
They should ask a certain person from our church to give a talk on this...
I can't believe there's a formula on that? Four stories and one joke in one sermon...
Of course, jokes and stories are ok, I like them, but I don't believe in a formula, the sermon I heard today, I just remember one story, and frankly most of the time the sermon is not all interesting. God talked to me through the sermon. And you know there's a depth in the message.
Are sermons supposed to be like talk shows? Are we supposed to be entertained? We're supposed to learn from them, not to be entertained by them.
Of course, learning with fun is a great idea, but learning is sometimes without fun. Who can honestly tell me studying for your HKCEE/HKALE is fun??
Good preachers repeat their stories/messages, because that's their (or their friend's) real life experience. I'm sure you can't fill you sermons with 4 meaningful stories and jokes every week.
If you think I'm old-fashioned, conservative and close-minded, you've never endure 10 years of meaningless "funny" story telling sermons... I'll tell you what I prefer after that, real solid Bible teaching!
If you can't think of anything for your sermons, try this! (Preaching materials written by Rev. Yeung Mook-kuk, one of the three Bible teachers I admire most.)
Faith in practice 2!!
I just called 世紀書樓, tickets for Faith in Practice will be available AGAIN! Tomorrow! At 11am!!
Anyone wants to go?! I'll ask my mom to go and get them for me!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
going crazy... =P
Anyone wants to go?! I'll ask my mom to go and get them for me!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
going crazy... =P
Gethesmane vs Eden (sharing from the sermon today)
Mark 14:32-36
32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
The most touching part of the sermon today is about the prayer of Jesus.
You can see two important things from the prayer (v 36)
1. "Abba, Father"-- you can see the love between Jesus and His Father, this is a very important point, coz without this, Jesus could never endure the sufferings he would go through.
2. "Everything is possible for you." -- Jesus knows His Father. He understand exactly what He's capable of.
His knowledge on God and their love between them explains the trust Jesus placed on His Father.
Just like another familiar story of Peter and Jesus. Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you truly love me more than these?" Near the end of Gospel of John, Jesus told Peter he could go where he wanted when he was young, but when Peter grew old, he'd be led to where he would not want to go.
What enables one to walk in Jesus' way, not our own way? To bear Jesus' cross?
Not from our own determination. You'll get tired quickly.
From the knowledge of God, knowing that He loves us and He is able to do anything He wanted.
I guess the message (together with what I read from 2 Corinthians today) echoed each other.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.
And it really hits me, coz I'm forgetting the focus here and getting really tired. Focus on God.
Back to the sermon, the preacher ended by telling us, Adam and Eve tried to get control of their own life in Eden, while Jesus surrendered His control to God in Gethesmane. What was started by Adam and Eve, was ended by Jesus.
P.S. This is what I called a sermon with depth... when will I hear a sermon on suffering in my own church? Not just God will rescue you from your suffering, but how to endure suffering... read something unbelievable from the web last night, gonna talk about it in the next post...
32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
Most Christians are very familiar very this particular part of the Bible, you hear it in your church's sermon probably once a year...
The most touching part of the sermon today is about the prayer of Jesus.
You can see two important things from the prayer (v 36)
1. "Abba, Father"-- you can see the love between Jesus and His Father, this is a very important point, coz without this, Jesus could never endure the sufferings he would go through.
2. "Everything is possible for you." -- Jesus knows His Father. He understand exactly what He's capable of.
His knowledge on God and their love between them explains the trust Jesus placed on His Father.
Just like another familiar story of Peter and Jesus. Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you truly love me more than these?" Near the end of Gospel of John, Jesus told Peter he could go where he wanted when he was young, but when Peter grew old, he'd be led to where he would not want to go.
What enables one to walk in Jesus' way, not our own way? To bear Jesus' cross?
Not from our own determination. You'll get tired quickly.
From the knowledge of God, knowing that He loves us and He is able to do anything He wanted.
I guess the message (together with what I read from 2 Corinthians today) echoed each other.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.
And it really hits me, coz I'm forgetting the focus here and getting really tired. Focus on God.
Back to the sermon, the preacher ended by telling us, Adam and Eve tried to get control of their own life in Eden, while Jesus surrendered His control to God in Gethesmane. What was started by Adam and Eve, was ended by Jesus.
P.S. This is what I called a sermon with depth... when will I hear a sermon on suffering in my own church? Not just God will rescue you from your suffering, but how to endure suffering... read something unbelievable from the web last night, gonna talk about it in the next post...
Saturday, March 24, 2007
My theological worldview
This is an interesting quiz, but maybe a bit difficult to do if you don't know the English terms well.
| You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. |
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Faith in practice
My favorite Bible teacher-- Dr. Stephen Lee 李思敬博士 is coming back from Canada to deliver a series of talks. I was ecstatic when I saw the poster at church today, and immediately try to go and obtain a ticket... sigh... no more at the TST bookstore... wonder if it's still available somewhere else...
anyone got extra tickets...??
Here's the details... no ticket...
I just found out that Baptist U graduates have Dr.Stephen Lee as the speaker in their Baccalaureate Service... I've never ever wanted to study in BU until now... not that I was going to graduate this year if I really did. =P
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Difficulty of sermons...
Today, the pastor emphasized the fact that his sermons are VERY hard to be understood. He told us to jot down notes because we would never get his points otherwise...
Well, I think these older people always underestimate us. They think we're still like the generation 30 years ago. Now everyone can go to secondary school, many have college degrees, and you're still talking in primary school level, (it's ok, coz I know there're Christians of different levels in one church, but don't expect us to be awed by your depth... =P Please...)
Then when I got home, I got a call from a colleague of mine who's attending my church. He wanted to borrow the tapes of the guy's sermons and asked me if they'll be available. (I guess it must be good to him.) And he asked me why the one we all hated are leaving...
Which illustrated my point before... God really use different people. As much as we liked to think certain people are our enemy, they are not...
How can other churches do it? Balance the difficulty of sermons...
I'm glad that my friend seemed to be actively seeking God more! Which reminds me again to organise another cell meeting...
Well, I think these older people always underestimate us. They think we're still like the generation 30 years ago. Now everyone can go to secondary school, many have college degrees, and you're still talking in primary school level, (it's ok, coz I know there're Christians of different levels in one church, but don't expect us to be awed by your depth... =P Please...)
Then when I got home, I got a call from a colleague of mine who's attending my church. He wanted to borrow the tapes of the guy's sermons and asked me if they'll be available. (I guess it must be good to him.) And he asked me why the one we all hated are leaving...
Which illustrated my point before... God really use different people. As much as we liked to think certain people are our enemy, they are not...
How can other churches do it? Balance the difficulty of sermons...
I'm glad that my friend seemed to be actively seeking God more! Which reminds me again to organise another cell meeting...
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Christian? Paparazzi?
How can a Christian work as a paparazzi?? Are the two mutually incompatible??
Read this testimony here. It's in CHINESE! And it's a pdf file, pls check out page 4 of the file.
Read this testimony here. It's in CHINESE! And it's a pdf file, pls check out page 4 of the file.
Humanising the Market: An Innovative Perspective on Business
I am not in the business field, for those of you who are interested in merging your faith with your work at business, here's a series of lectures that will be held in HK(!) by Regent College!!!
Here're some of the topics:
* Human Capital: Rethinking Productivity
Rikk Watts
* Humanising Capital: Rethinking Land, Financial Markets and Globalisation
Paul Williams
*Built to Last: Cultivating Spiritual Capital for Sustainable Business
Paul Williams & Rikk Watts
*Living in Exile: Negotiating Faith in a Global Economy
Paul Williams & Rikk Watts
For details, pls check it here.
Here're some of the topics:
* Human Capital: Rethinking Productivity
Rikk Watts
* Humanising Capital: Rethinking Land, Financial Markets and Globalisation
Paul Williams
*Built to Last: Cultivating Spiritual Capital for Sustainable Business
Paul Williams & Rikk Watts
*Living in Exile: Negotiating Faith in a Global Economy
Paul Williams & Rikk Watts
For details, pls check it here.
Monday, March 12, 2007
CGST offers diploma/master of Biblical studies!! Part time only!! Finally!!
I just received the latest newletter from CGST.
Starting from this summer, there'll be diploma & master for Biblical Studies, though in Putonghua, but it's ok! A pity this year's course is in July... and deadline for July leave application is the first 3 days of March... sigh... I'll join next year, probably can't join next Jan, need to take exams... so happy!!!
Take a look if you're interested! Click here.
Starting from this summer, there'll be diploma & master for Biblical Studies, though in Putonghua, but it's ok! A pity this year's course is in July... and deadline for July leave application is the first 3 days of March... sigh... I'll join next year, probably can't join next Jan, need to take exams... so happy!!!
Take a look if you're interested! Click here.
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