FAQ 5 - What if I miss a day?

FAQ 5 - What if I miss a day? I feel really bad about it!

Answer: Well, in some sense it is good that you feel bad about it because you want to be responsible for what you have committed yourself to. The worst that can happen to you is indifference, where you couldn't care less whether you have missed a day or not. So take to heart that you do care about how you are doing. But do not let a single set-back pulls you away from your objective, that is, to know God better through His Word daily. It is meant to be a liberation for our soul, not a burden, as John Foster aptly titled it in his book, "Celebration of Discipline". 

My suggestion is, no matter how many days you may have missed (hopefully lesser as you progress), celebrate the successes that you have. For e.g., instead of saying "I missed 3 days."

you proclaim "I completed 4 days!" It is a half empty or half full perspective.

So if you do missed a day, it's okay. Relax! It is not a test. Remember, journalling is for  our good. God never meant it to be legalistic and a burden. If it is, then we need to repent for suggesting it to be so! Keep to time following the dates of the reading even if you miss a day or more. You can catch up with the previous days’ reading later when you have the time. Your goal at this stage is to make it a habit to complete 21 days of reading. It may feel like it is regimented but it will soon become a joyous habit!

FAQ 4 - What if I get nothing?

FAQ 4 - There are times when I read the particular passage, I really can't glean anything out of it. It is almost like a blank. What should I do?

Answer: Relax-lah, bro (or sis)! I think we are just too performance oriented in some sense. If it's a blank, then tell the Lord so and I don't think He's going to fault you on that. I think you are more upset with yourself than anything else. If there's really nothing, then write on that page: "NOTHING TODAY!"

Is that okay? Perfectly so. Tell you what. Instead of getting frustrated, try relaxing and focus on the Lord. Speak to Him and you will be surprise to hear His gentle voice. Maybe something is troubling you. Maybe you are tired, or frustrated over something. Remember, it is not the form or method. It is about you setting aside a time with God. There may be times there's nothing to say. There will be times there are plenty to say. But set aside a time each day with this Lord that you love and that in itself pleases Him ,whether one full page or a singel line. Maybe write what's in your thoughts or write a simple prayer. Or just copy the whole or partial passage onto. that page. Remember, it's just a precious time with your Heavenly Father. He enjoys that time with you, not what you can produce for Him. :)

FAQ 3 - So many gems in one passage

FAQ 3 - There are so many gems in the passage I am reading. I am really confused which verse I should focus on for my journal.

Answer: I find many people very tensed up about this because they are coming from a Bible Study approach. You must remember this is not a Bible Study. My advice is, park the other gems somewhere for your own personal Bible Study. Just pick one thought (could be one verse or a few verses) for your journalling. Focus on what God is saying to you rather than what you are trying to "milk" out of the passage cognitively. Let it engage your heart more than your mind. If you are still confused, quieten your heart and pray, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you. Remember, God knows the needs of your heart at every moment of your life. He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13)

FAQ 2 - The Notepad problem

FAQ 2 - The 5 things I am suppose to have in my journalling: Bible, Growth Journal, Pen, Bible Reading Plan and Notepad. I have a problem with the Notepad. I know I am supposed to write down on it anything that distracts me from my devotional time, to sort of park aside my thoughts so that I can focus on my time with God, rather than being distracted by what I have to do that day. I realized that I can keep going to these thoughts I have just penned down and it's not even something I needed to do. What should I do?

 Answer: Obviously, whatever the issues are, they are troubling you. Isn't this a great indication that there are some unresolved matters in your life? Because you are quietening or slowing down yourself enough for these matters to show you some warning lights, maybe you should pause and ask God why this is so. Nothing happens without a reason. Put aside your journalling for the time being. Even this notepad can be used by God to help sort out your issues. That’s why it is important for us to spend daily time with God, an important pit stop to repair, refuel and recharge. It is not about being legalistic with regards to your journalling. It is not about how many times you have done your journalling, or whether you are following the reading plan faithfully. They are important but what is even more pertinent is hearing the voice of God about your life. He can use anything to speak to us, whether your Bible, Growth Journal, an inner voice, or your Notepad! If you need further help, maybe you should seek for wise counsel with regards to your issues. Realization and awareness is the start to resolution.

Training on how to journal (22 Mar) - FAQ 1

There were about 35 people signed up and about half of them have not done journalling before. The other half wanted to sharpen their journalling skill.

I have arranged for another class to be done on 5 Apr. Please sign up if you need help.

I noted some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) in this class which may be of help to you:

FAQ 1. I have tried journalling for one month and I am loosing momentum. What do you think is wrong?

Answer: I simply blurted out: "Are you sharing with others what God is saying to you and written down in your journal during your devotion?" Often times words would come out from my mouth which contain certain wisdom which I know has to be from the Lord because it comes out almost spontaneously and when I catch my breath after that question, I could almost hear myself saying, "Where did that come from?" :)

I really believe the key to sustainability is the sharing and doing. When we can share with others what God is saying to us, there's a greater tendency to do it as well since we have just made ourselves accountable to someone. Sharing and doing bring to life the Word of God and devotion and journalling become dynamic.

I want to suggest that you find different platforms to share:

a. Cell Group time - volunteer yourself to share with the group (Keep it short! Don't preach a sermon)

b. Ask your CG leader to allow for weekly sharing of one key journal entry in sub-groups of two or three during CG time.

c. Your spouse or children on a regular basis.

d. Prayer or ministry group, men's or women's group, if you have one.

e. Seek out an accountability partner and share regularly over the phone or meet in person.'

f. Those who are internet savvy, blog it or email your thoughts to a group of friends who will read what you write. Again, keep it short.

A sister shared after the class that her family was rather confused in the what's and how's of journalling. She felt that the class has been extremely helpful in these two aspects. She can now go home and help the family.

See how a little training and equipping can bring about a little more confidence and clarity!

Now Everyone Can Journal!

Mustard Seed to a Mustard Tree

My post on Ashton, small mustard seed to a mustard tree, here's a visual.

Thanks Den for the image of the mustard seed.

 

Matthew 13:31-32

³¹He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. ³²Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

   

Angels in Heaven

16 Mar 2009 - Matthew 26:47-68

My imagination was on overdrive when I came across this verses during journalling time:

 

⁵²"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

After Apostle Peter drew his sword and cut off Malchus' ear, Jesus made these statements. You must remember, the whole host of angels were watching the scene unfolding before them. The Logos they knew, who was with the Father in the beginning (John 1), who became Jesus after coming to earth, was going through a difficult unjust episode of Him being arrested. They may or may not know the Father's plan that His Son must go to the cross to die for men's sin. But they must have held their breath waiting for the Father's command, "Go!". Twelve legions of angels would have swooped down (if we imagine them in bodily form!) to rescue the Logos.

How many are 12 legions of angels? One legion in the Roman army is 6,000 soldiers. 12 legions will be 72,000 soldiers. This is almost like the scene you can imagine in the final episode of Lord of the Rings. Yet they held their breath and the Father did nothing. They could be weeping and heart broken knowing what's to come of their Logos! Maybe some may have expressed their frustration, looking longingly at God to give the word. Jesus knew this too, but He relied on God's timing. "Not the this time, my Son!" How else would the Scriptures be fulfilled?

I asked myself, how many angels are there in heaven? If one third of the angels who rebelled against God were expelled from heaven, the army of good angels is twice larger than the host of demons. We are on the winning side! Let me do some research and see if there's a good guess how many angels there really are. Maybe in the subsequent post?

There are so much happening in the spiritual that we are completely ignorant often the spiritual battles fought. There are novels written about these angelic battles and it sure gives you an  insight into God's protection over our lives. You should do some studies about angels and be encouraged in these words:

Psalm 91:11 ^For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

What's my point? Sometimes when we are in despair, when God seem silent, we are reminded that things happen for a purpose. There's a cloud of witnesses watching us (Hebrews 12), including God, our Lord and His angels. Because He said He will never leave us nor forsake us, we rejoice and have hope in the midst of the circumstances. Will we persevere in the midst of uncertainty that our Father knows best?

Ashton's Journal Entry

I shared during my sermon last weekend Ashton's journal entry. He is my twelve year old son, youngest of the three boys. His favourite cartoon is Calvin and Hobbes.

23 Mar 2009

SOAR

Scripture 

Matthew 13:32 Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.

Observation 

Even if you are the smallest, you can become the largest and people will look onto you as an example.

Application 

Although I am small, I can become the biggest example in the group.

Response 

Dear God, I know that I am small, but Your words tell me that I can become an  example.

Now Everybody Can Journal

A great book to help you in understanding the Bible.

This is a great book to help you understand the Bible better when you read it. Written by one of my favourite author and preacher, David Pawson, this is a really thick book covering Genesis to Revelation, costing about RM60 when I bought it. It is worth every sen! It is a compendium of eight separate volumes in the "Unlocking the Bible" series. Very very readable as most of it is a transcription of his teaching sermons. For e.g., before you embark on the Gospel of Matthew per your Bible Reading Plan for your journalling, read the chapter on Matthew in this book. It will set the context for a better understanding of the passages that you will be reading and journalling.

Unlocking the Bible opens up the word of God in a fresh and powerful way. Avoiding the small detail of verse by verse studies, it sets out the epic story of God and his people in Israel. The culture, historical background and people are introduced and the teaching applied to the modern world. Eight volumes have been brought into one compact and easy to use guide to cover both the Old and the New testaments in one massive omnibus edition. (Amazon Website)

Each chapter gives you a great overview of intention and meaning of a whole bible book. Often when we read, we take short passages, rather than reading a few chapters to understand the context of the passage, focussing on the trees and missing the forest. This chapters will give you the context to bring out the best in your reading.

I have given this as a book gift to all PJ North 1 Cell leaders in 2007. Time to take this out if you have conveniently left it into your bookshelf. :) 

I have asked Burning Bush to stock this book. Please check with Chee Beng.

Trilemma - Lord, Liar or Lunatic

In my sermon this weekend (Jesus-Source of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18), I quoted C.S. Lewis (Author of 'Chronicles of Narnia) on what is now popularly known as Lewis' Trilemma about Jesus. It's reproduced here. For further reading, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis

He himself was an agnostic but when confronted with the claims of Christ, he said the following:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.”

 “You can shut Him up for a fool, you spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

The Reality of Hell

In today's reading of Matthew 24:29-51, most of us would gloss over verse 50-51

^50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ^51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is a description of hell, something we are not comfortable talking about and probably not researched further. God must have thought it important to include many of His thoughts about hell in scriptures. Go to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and there are many good bible tools in there. Search for the words "judgment", "hades" and "hell". Here's an excerpt from something I have kept for my sermon illustrations. Good mini article:

Many things we don't know about hell. But Jesus and the New Testament writers used every image in their power to tell us that hell is real, it's terrible, it's something to be feared, and something to avoid. In his description of the last judgment, Jesus taught that some would go to eternal punishment, some to eternal life (Matt. 25:46*). In other words, hell will be as real and as lasting as heaven.

The horror of hell is not physical pain. After all, the Bible tells us hell was "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41**), and they're not physical beings. Rather the fire and outer darkness and the thirst depict spiritual separation from God, moral remorse, the consciousness that one deserves what he's getting.

Hell is disintegration -- the eternal loss of being a real person. In hell the mathematician who lived for his science can't add two and two. The concert pianist who worshiped himself through his art can't play a simple scale. The man who lived for sex goes on in eternal lust, with no body to exploit. The woman who made a god out of fashion has a thousand dresses but no mirror! Hell is eternal desire -- eternally unfulfilled.

But there's another side. G.K. Chesterton once remarked, "Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human personality." Hell, a compliment? Yes, because God is saying to us, "You are significant. I take you seriously. Choose to reject me -- choose hell if you will. I will let you go." 

Lieghton Ford, Good News is for Sharing, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co., p. 34.

That was his way of stressing the fact that the very God who loves us is the one who respects our decisions. He loves us, but he does not force his love on us. To force love is to commit assault. He allows us to decide. He loves us, he encourages our response, he woos us, he pursues us, he urges us, but he does not force us, because he respects us.

No one who is ever in hell will be able to say to God, "You put me here," and no one who is in heaven will ever be able to say, "I put myself here." 

John Hannah.

*Matt 25:46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

**Matt. 25:41 ^“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

In my next post, I'll point you to a wonderful article about heaven. A Christian philospher biblically answers some of the most interesting questions we can ask about heaven!

Making "Observation" a little more exciting!

Observation can be alot more exciting if we apply a little of our gifted imagination. Try reading the passage first time through. Then as you read it the second time, try putting yourself next to the person or in the perspective of the person in the story. Ask yourself some of these questions and imagine!

• What was the mood like? Frustration? Joyful? Sad? Happy?
• What was the tone of voice? Angry? Fearful? Unsure? Excited?
• What was the person feeling?
• What was the smell and taste like?
• What was the surrounding like?
• What was he/she thinking?

Or imagine yourselves to be a movie director. How would you direct that scene? How would you instruct your makeup artist, costume designer and set director?

If anyone has an interesting observation, feel free to comment it here to help others!

What's good about having a common Bible Reading Plan

It is true that it takes about 21 days to make something a habit. Different theories abound. Some say 28 days. Others 40 days. Whatever it is, repetition and perseverance, if we want it bad enough, will help form a habit. Let me add something else: ACCOUNTABILITY.

First of all, there is a need to be convinced this is good. (Motivation)
Secondly, implement a schedule to help you make journalling a habit. (Method)
Thirdly, get someone to ask you how you are doing on a regular basis. This is accountability. (Managing)

1. Motivation - If you have not viewed Pr Wayne Codeiro's video sermon on this, please get hold of the DVD from your Cell Leader. I guarantee you that you will be motivated. It is really about setting aside daily time with God and His Word. We let the Word of God study us

2. Method - We use a journal to pen our daily thoughts. It provides a log of how consistent we are. Writing helps us to be more precise in our thoughts and often when we seem to have difficulty getting something out of the passage, writing helps us process our thoughts further and before we know it, there is a page full of spiritual gems.

3. Managing - Because we are human and therefore tend to become lazy, a human touch from someone else will help in encouraging us to persevere. This is the part I appreciate the most and with the common Bible Reading plan, I find that I am able to have a conversation on the same passage with my wife, children, fellow church staff, cell leaders and my fellow MAG's (Mentoring and Accountability Group) men when we meet. It is so good to be able to be on the same page. If you don't have one, go here: http://public.dumc.com.my/events/BRP-Jan-Mar-09.pdf

I have been journalling consistently now for 3 months. It has become a habit and joy and the best thing that has happened to me recently. I hope you find this a joy as well.

Available SOL training to enhance your journalling

To leverage on the hunger for God’s Word in journalling, we want to help you handle the Bible better with some basic principles of observation and interpretation. In case you are not aware, there are some courses available to make your journalling become even better and sharper with some basic principles in handling the Word.

• Bible Study Principles (BSP) 1 – moved to Mar 15 from Mar 1
• Bible Study Principles (BSP) 1 – additional class on 25 Apr

Note other biblical courses in SOL brochure

• Basic Doctrine I (SOL 1)
• Understanding the Bible (SOL 1)
• Basic Doctrine II (SOL 2)
• God’s Story (SOL 2)
• Bible Study Principles II (SOL 2)

Pr Chris Kam

Teo Wun Meng (KL Zone)

Welcome to DUMC's Blog for Journalling

Friends,

We are all excited and motivated by the testimonies we have been hearing about journalling. The heart of journalling is to encourage YOU to go to the Word of God daily to feed YOURSELF on His Wisdom and Truth. It is to allow the Word of God to study us and to transform us more and more into His Likeness!

This blog allows you to post your testimonies and encouragement via words or photos.

As a start, we have asked cell members to email a photo of a creative way of using the HFGW's stickers, to remind them to journal.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (New International Version)

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Happy and blessed journalling!

Pr Chris Kam