Rest

Faith vs Hope 信心与盼望

It is through faith
that man finds the path of true life,
but it is only hope
that keeps him on the path.
Thus it is faith in Christ
gives hope its assurance.
Thus it is that hope
gives faith in Christ
its breadth and leads it into life.

Jurgen Moltmann, "Theology of Hope"

是信心
使人找到生命的真道。
但却是盼望
保守着人继续在这道上。
因此是在基督里的信心
让盼望得着它的确据。
因此是那盼望
使基督里的信心
得着它的宽度并引自身进入到生命中。

莫特曼，《盼望神学》（笔者译）

三位水泥匠

有人问工作的三位水泥匠说：“你在做什么？”

第一位说：“你没有看到吗？我在砌水泥。”

另一位说：“我在盖房子啊！”

第三位却回答说：“我正在盖教堂。”

三个人的回答，背后带有不同的盼望特质，第一位只看到眼前所做的，第二位还看到他所做的是一栋房子的一部分，第三位看得更远，他不只看到房子，而且还看到房子的用途。虽然三位水泥匠所做的工作相同，但是眼光不同，盼望也不同，势必会影响他们工作的品质。一位盖教堂的师傅，一位盖房子的师傅，以及一位只在砌水泥的师傅，他们的工作品质一定不同。

Hope leads everything.

For faith only see what it is,

But hope sees what will be.

Charity only loves what is,

But hope loves what will be -

In time and for all eternity.

- Charles Peguy

- 摘自林鸿信，《莫特曼神学》（台湾：礼记，2002），111-112。

*

Just finished an assignment which is due tomorrow (or rather, later at 8.30am). Took sometime off to surf the net. Realised that it has been such a long time since my last post. So paiseh... almost forgot that I had a blog...

Anyway, just to drop a note to all of you that yes, this blog is still alive, just that the owner here had embarassingly forgot about its existence.

It's now into Day 5 of CNY... life is gonna get back to the usual routine.

Move on... Life is exciting. Yes... it is gonna be a REAL exciting and breakthrough week coming up...

God, you know how I am now... Lead me.

Babbling nonsense already... time to sleep.

Cute Little Fellas

My sis was "babysitting" for her friend's hamsters for the past week. 6 fat and chubby ones... really adorable. Caught them cuddling together on Sunday night when the weather was so cold due to the heavy downpour...

Weeweechu

One beautiful December evening Huan Cho and his girlfriend Jung Lee were sitting by the side of the ocean. It was a romantic full moon, when Huan Cho said "Hey baby, how about Doing Weeweechu?" "Oh no, not now, let's look at the moon" said Jung Lee. "Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I do Weeweechu. I love you and it's the perfect time," Huan Cho begged.

"But I rather just hold your hand and watch the moon." "Please Jung Lee, just once do Weeweechu with me." Jung Lee looked at Huan Cho and said, "Ok ok, we'll do Weeweechu."....










Huan Cho grabbed his guitar and both sang...."Weeweechu a melly Chlistmas, Weeweechu a melly Chlistmas, Weeweechu a melly Chlistmas, and a huppy New Year."

10 Questions To Ask To Make Sure I'm Still Growing... Spiritually

Am I more like Jesus than I was a year ago? 2006 is coming to an end. It's time to reflect on 2006 and set my eyes on 2007... it's gonna be a new beginning...

1. Am I more thirsty for God than ever before?

2. Am I more and more loving?

3. Am I more sensitive to and aware of God than ever before?

4. Am I governed more and more by God's Word?

5. Am I concerned more and more with the physical and spiritual needs of others?

6. Am I more and more concerned with the Church and the Kingdom of God?

7. Are the disciplines of the Christian life more and more important to me?

8. Am I more and more aware of my sin?

9. Am I more and more willing to forgive others?

10. Am I thinking more and more of heaven and of being with the Lord Jesus?

Dear God, give me strength and courage to face my ownself. Help me to deal with my own life in areas that have dishonoured You. Let Your Spirit flow in me that I shall thirst for You more. Cleanse me of any unrighteousness. May Your words be the lamp of my feet and the light of my path. Bring in me a new life that not only will I bear the fruit of the Spirit, I shall also put on the armour at all times to be Your great and mighty warrior in Your kingdom. Make me look not just at my own needs, but rather, help me to be more loving towards others and be sensitive to their needs. Hear my prayers, oh God...

God have mercy... In Jesus' name, amen.

面孔的奥妙

上帝为每个人创造了一张独特的面孔，大小约相等于手指伸展开时的大小。然而，在这小小的地方上，却同样包含了数种不同的水……

从眼睛流出来的水是咸的；
从耳朵里流出来的水带油性；
从鼻子流出来的水有臭味；
从口里流出来的水却是甜的。

从眼睛流出来的水是眼泪。眼泪为什么是咸的呢？因为人如果为了伤心而不停地哭，就会哭瞎了眼睛；上帝令眼泪是咸的，不停哭会令眼睛难受，所以人便不会无休止地哭泣。

从鼻孔流出来的水是鼻涕，鼻涕为什么有臭味呢？因为人若吸进一些不好的气味便会死去，所以上帝赐人有鼻涕好保护他。

从耳朵流出来的水带有油性，为什么呢？因为人听到坏消息时，总会承受一定的冲击，若时常记挂予心，便会忧心而死，所以上帝为耳朵中的水加点油份，好让坏消息可以较轻易从左耳入，右耳出。

从口中流出来的是唾液，唾液为什么是甜的呢？因为人有时吃了讨厌的东西会呕吐，身心虚脱，所以上帝使人的唾液是甜的，那么人的灵魂才会返回来。

- 摘自犹太经典《塔木德》

God is good! (Part 2)

God is really wonderful! He is Jehovah Jireh who provides!

Just got back my Greek Exam results yesterday. Scored 29/30 for it! With that and all my other tests results, it is confirmed an A for my Greek 1 module. Praise the Lord! It is indeed a great encouragement for me to press on for Greek 2 in the next semester.

The surprise did not end here. Just this morning, I recalled my scholarship application for my theological studies which I have submitted in June. The coordinator mentioned that I should be hearing from them in Nov. But thus far, no news. So I decided to drop her an email after lunch just now. In just less than 5 mins, she replied and said that my application is approved!!! YEAH!

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME;
AND ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

Life - Chronos and Kairos

“Life is a series of changes—a process of going from the old to the new—from chronos (refers to the general process of time or chronological time) to kairos (refers to the right time, the opportune or strategic time, the now time). Growth, change, revival—all are processes. Life is connected. Not understanding this, we tend to despise the chronos times of preparing, sowing, believing and persevering. We’re not losing or wasting time, we’re investing it. And if we do so faithfully, the shift will come.”

“生命是一连串的改变；它是一段汰旧换新的过程；是从平常（chronos，泛指时间的演进）以至非常（kairos，指恰当、关键的时机或立刻）的过程。成长、改变和恢复，都是一个过程。生命是连贯而非片断的，少了这层认识，便是轻看预备、撒种、相信与坚忍的平常时节。我们其实并没有失去或浪费任何时间，那是一个投资。只要忠心地持守下去，转变的时刻终将来到。”

Adapted from Dutch Sheets, God’s Timing for Your Life (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2001), 17-18. 华文翻译摘自恰克·皮尔斯（Chuck Pierce）和利百加·史次马（Rebecca W. Sytsema），《最美的命定 The Best is Yet Ahead》，李正宜译（台北：以琳书房，2005），8。

Dominoes

Here's another funny clip taken during the RYM camp. All thanks to KK's great idea!

God is good!

今天早晨起床后，心情并不是很好。或许也已经好久没有那么迟才起床，一整个早上显得有点“手足无措”，不知道要做什么好。总的来说，可以用一个“显”字来形容（注：“显”乃是福建话，意思是“闷”）。

就在大约10.30am，手机突然响起，收到了一则简讯。拿起电话一看，原来是我的“新约解经”老师潘博士。刹那间，心里头突然感到紧张万分，心想：糟糕！一定是我的期末解经专文写得不好，要重做了！心中的担忧并非没有理由的。刚过的这个学期，尤其是“新约解经”这一课，成绩都不是很理想。4个各10分的小报告，不是7分就是6分。20分的呈现（presentation）更是不堪设想，才拿11分！（这《启示录》可真是要了我的“命”！）所以啊！这最后的40分专文不得不加把劲儿才行！虽然能够赶在期限那天交上，心中还是忐忑不安，不晓得是否有做到“解经”，还是在“胡扯”……

终于鼓起勇气面对“现实”，手指继续往下按，将“判决”看完。潘老师写到：
"Junhui, in e midst of stressful marking of assignments..." Stressful? 完蛋！"... i'm glad u hv done such a piece of good work tt gives me some relief and lifts my spirit up! Thks! Dr Phua" WOW!!! I just can't believe my eyes!!!

看完之后，心中的喜悦是非以笔墨能所形容。我急忙回了个简讯给老师谢谢他。那儿知道没过多久，他又回复，还说他给了我38分，甚至希望我看完他在报告上的评语后，将文章做些修改，再考虑去投稿，看是否能够在一些学术期刊上刊载。WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! I REALLY CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!! 你知道吗？潘老师可是出了名的严（aka “猫”，福建话，吝啬的意思），要从他手中拿高分真的是不容易。如今还能够得到他的赞赏，真时高兴。

感谢上帝……

“但愿荣耀归于神，直到永永远远，阿门。”
ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὐς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν.
加拉太书1：5

Different Versions of "The Good Samaritan"

RYM was having the annual camp from 27 to 30 of Dec this year. Had lots of fun time! Below are the skits put up by the 5 groups of people. Basically, they are based on the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37, but in different versions... enjoy!

1. The Hip-Hop Version

2. The Chinese Opera Version

3. The Multi-Accent Version

4. The Musical Version

5. The Bollywood Version

科技这！·#￥%……—*!@#$%^&*东西

科技这东西有时候真的不能够太过依赖它。当它发起疯来时，一方在苦等，另一方则在拼命打，不管怎样就是无法使双方联络上。结果？一方认为对方没有心，另一方只能喊冤，死无对证…

上帝啊！这是怎么一回事儿？！

Jokes

Two rich men were talking over coffee one day and one of them said to the other one. Hey I tell you my driver is really stupid. If you don't believe me I'll show you." He called his driver Ah Beng over and said, "Ah Beng, here is a $10 note, go to the car showroom and buy me a Mercedes". To which Ah Beng replied,"Yes Sir! Right away, Sir!" and rushed off to the Showroom.

The rich man then turned to his friend and said, "See, I told you he was stupid." The other rich man said, "That's nothing, you want to see stupid, I will show you stupid." And he called his driver, Ah Seng. "Ah Seng, go home now and check to s ee if I'm at home." To which Ah Seng said, "Yes Sir! Right away,Sir!" and ran home. "See what I have told you? He doesn't even have enough brains to know that I cannot be atvhome if I am here."

Later on, the two drivers met on the road. Ah Beng said to Ah Seng, "Eh, you know my boss is sooooooo stupid. He gave me $10 and asked me to go to thecar showroom and buy him a Mercedes..... Doesn't he know that today is Sunday lah, the showroom is closed!"

Ah Seng replied, "You think your boss is stupid? My boss lagi worse, he asked me to go home to check if he is at home... He got handphone what,he can just call up to check lah, bodoh!!!"

*****************************************************

Beng and Seng excited and locked the car in a hurry, forgetting to remove the key which was in the ignition. Realizing the mistake, Beng asked, 'Why don't we get a coat hanger to open it.' 'No, that won't work,' answered Seng. 'People will think we're trying to break in.'

Then Beng suggested, 'What if we use a pocket knife to cut around the rubber, then stick a finger in and pull up the lock?' 'No,' said Seng. 'People will think we're too dumb not to use a coat hanger.'

The kan cheong Beng shouted, 'we'd better think of something fast. It's starting to rain and the sunroof is open!'

******************************************************

Ah Beng ordered a pizza and the waitress asked if she should cut itin six or twelve pieces.

"Six, please. I could never eat twelve pieces."

******************************************************

"Oh, look at the dead bird."Ah Beng looked skyward and said "Where, Where got?"

******************************************************

A pregnant woman gets into a car accident and falls into a deep coma. Asleep for nearly six months, she wakes up and sees that she is no longer pregnant. Frantically, she asks the doctor about her baby. The doctor replies, "Ma'am, you had twins! A boy and a girl. The babies are fine. Your brother came in and named them."

The woman thinks to herself, "Oh no, not my brother, he's an idiot!" Expecting the worst, she asks the doctor, "Well, what's the girl's name?" "Denise," the doctor says. The new mother thinks, "Wow, that's not a bad name! Guess I was wrong about my brother. I like Denise!"

Then she asks the doctor, "What's the boy's name?" The doctor replies, "DeNephew."

***************************************************

To impress his date, the young man took her to a very chick Italian restaurant. After sipping some fine wine, he picked up the menu and ordered. "We'll have the Giuseppe Spomdalucci," he said.

"Sorry, sir," said the waiter. "That's the owner."

走出黑暗的世界

走出黑暗的世界吧，朋友
虽然外头依旧是漆黑一片
然而那里有暖和的阳光
有轻轻吹拂的风

走出黑暗的世界吧，朋友
虽然外头依旧是漆黑一片
然而那里有花儿的芬芳
有人间真情的温暖

只要你把你的双手伸出来
把你的心窗打开
你的眼睛已被无情的手遮掩
请不要让心灵也给掩盖

走出黑暗的世界吧，朋友
关心你的朋友在切切期待
希望你和他们分享生命的曙光
陪伴你走过漫长的黑暗

-陈洁仪，走出黑暗的世界，《心痛》专辑

昨天在车上回家的途中，无意间听到这首陈洁仪的歌曲，内心突然有很多的感触。

人生有起有落，有时的确仿佛置身在黑暗之中。然而，黑暗会在什么时候离开，取决于自身是否要从这黑暗中走出来。曙光一直都在心门外等待着直透封闭着的心灵。只要稍微将心窗打开，让它从缝隙中进入心房里，黑暗霎时间就会消失。要知道的是，黑暗并非存在，黑暗之所以是黑暗，是因为光不存在。生命会处于黑暗，是因为没有了光……

走出黑暗、自我封闭的世界吧。关心你的朋友正希望与你分享这道曙光……

πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ

Feel a bit weird for being at home so early on a Sunday afternoon... no choice, cos tml will be having Greek 1 Exam from 9.15am to 11.15am, need to be a good student to come home and study. Can't possibly not do what I preach, ya? Can see the youths mugging so hard for their O's and A's, reminds me of my good old days during Sec, JC and Uni times... Now memory seems to be not as good as younger days, "hard disk" seems to be able to hold only temporary files and will "self-delete" the files after a short period of times... probably need to change the "hard disk"? hehe...

Anyway, do pray with me. Not just for the Greek exam tml, also for my 2 assignments due this Fri and next Tue. Fri's assignment is on NT Exegesis, need to write a 4000-word paper on Mark 11:12-33. Tue's assignment is on Pastoral Foundation, will be writing a 2500-word paper on "Divorce and Remarriage". Both got materials already but need the time to put my thots in a logical manner.

Will also be preaching on 19/11 at Hakka Methodist Church Youth Service. Can only prepare after handling up my 2nd assignment. 25/11 will then be preaching at our very own Youth Service.

This end-of-year holidays is gonna be quite packed with stuffs... Youth Camp, Christmas Rally, etc. Need also to think about next year's plan for RYM.

πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ. (Philippians 4:13).

RYMers in Action!

I love to watch our youths putting up skits... they are just marvelous and full of creativity! Don't ever think that "shy and demure" describes their usual behaviour... They are just the perfect Superstars-to-be!!!

To Every Little Good Thing in Life... Cheers!

In case you are wondering what Yangyang mentioned in my tag box, this is the video clip... Enjoy.

其实你不懂我的心—乌撒的故事

2Samuel 撒下6：1-8

约柜对以色列民来说，是具有重大的意义的。约柜是上帝在颁布《十诫》之后，吩咐摩西去造的（出25：10-22）。里面除了有十诫的法版，还有一罐吗哪（出16：32-34）和亚伦发了芽的杖（民17）。这些物件代表了上帝的律法、上帝的供应和上帝的主权。总得来说，约柜象征了上帝和祂的荣耀与以色列民同在。

在大卫成为王之前，因着与非利士人的一场战役中，约柜落入了非利士人的手中。然而，上帝因此使到非利士人受到极大的祸害，导致非利士人无可奈何地将约柜交还给以色列民。约柜从此在亚比拿达的家中至少二十年之久（撒上7：1-2）。大卫作了以色列的王，自然希望将约柜运回耶路撒冷。

将约柜运回城，当然是刻不容缓，更是值得大肆欢腾一番。就在三万大军游行队伍启程回城时，运载约柜的牛突然失蹄。眼看约柜即将落在地上，乌撒伸出了手来扶着约柜。然而，此举却使上帝大怒，一气之下将他击杀。

上帝为什么击杀乌撒？他的一番好意，为什么竟然遭到如此天遣，甚至赔上性命？上帝曾几何时变得如此蛮不讲理，专横霸道？

相信许多人在读到这段经文时，总是无法明白为什么会是这样的一个结局。若我们从“好心”的角度来看，的确显得上帝的不公平。但是，倘若我们深入地看圣经，我们不难发现在乌撒被惩罚之前，他已经犯下了不可饶恕的罪。那究竟他犯了什么错导致他如此的下场？

“用抬那么麻烦，用车更方便，又快！”

在造约柜之后，上帝清楚嘱咐了约柜必须用杠来抬（出25：12-15）。乌撒不但没有这样做，反而学了非利士人的做法用车来运载约柜。

“还是让我来，或许这一来能够一举成名！”

乌撒天真地以为任何人都可以运载约柜，或许他心中想借此提高他的名声。然而，他忘了上帝曾嘱咐只有利未人中的哥辖族人才可以抬。乌撒不是哥辖族人，根本没有资格做这件事。

“约柜在我家已经二十年了，有什么我不知道的？！”

经验之谈成了他的致命伤。上帝的意念可高过人的意念。

“上帝没有我还真不行。你看，祂连自己的约柜都看不好！”

自以为是，狂妄自大。上帝可是全能的。

“拿艮之地可非圣洁之地！”

地是上帝所造的，是上帝看为好的。

如此评论乌撒或许有点苛刻，但是无可否认的一点是，他确实不清楚上帝的嘱咐，更别说懂得上帝的心意。暂且反缓脚步想想我们自己的状况，我们是否也不知不觉中落入同样的处境？要明白的是，并非所有的事情只要我们认为是好的就可以任意、执意去做。重要的是要问问自己：这是否合乎上帝的心意、指示和教导？无可厚非，我们必须尽心尽力做上帝国里无愧的工人。但倘若我们尽力做得只是顺着自己的心意而非顺服于上帝的主权，那么一切将都是枉然…

让我们不断寻求上帝的旨意，贴近祂的心，去做对的事情。即使并非是我们心中所要，让我们一同学习顺服于上帝吧！

分享于更新基督教会

异象2007会议

2006年10月24日