Gates in Jerusalem

For those who are thoroughly confused :) by the gates mentioned in Nehemiah, here's a diagram to help you!

Background to Nehemiah

I mentioned earlier in a post here of Rev David Pawson's "Unlocking the Bible" as a great tool to help you in your Bible reading. You can make your reading and journalling of Nehemiah with a lot more understanding and engagement if you read his chapter on Ezra and Nehemiah, page 682. It is very easy reading and provides a wonderful historical background to this book. Did you know there were two exiles, three deportations and three returns? Nehemiah led the third return. His chief concern was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Who lead the first and second return? Go find out! They were all mentioned in the book of Nehemiah.

In case you have not bought Pawson's book, you can get it from our bookshop in church. I assure you this will be one of your best investments for your spiritual growth.

Nehemiah's nemesis

I was just sharing this morning at staff devotion about Nehemiah, as this was the current reading for our journalling. I am intrigued by the three names that kept coming up from Chapter 1 to 6, of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. In the rebuilding of the wall, these three are a constant pain to Nehemiah. They seek all out to do the following to Nehemiah and God’s people:

• Get the Jews to stay at status quo, i.e. be contented with the broken walls. (2:10)
  
• They mocked and ridiculed the people (2:19)
  
• They got angry and question the Jewish people’s will, abilities and hope in rebuilding the wall. (4:1)
  
• They got very angry and started plotting harm against the Jews. (4:7)
  
• They use deception to try to kill Nehemiah (6:1,2)
  
• They spread rumours about Nehemiah (6:5)
  
• They infiltrated the Jews with a spy. (6:11)
  

Yet I noticed Nehemiah incredible responses to all these. He simply turned to God and prayed, and the content of his prayers are simply to re-focus on God as the One who is in control.

Upon the completion of the wall in Chapter 6, these three names disappeared completely as well.

As we do God's work, there will always be the Sanballats, Tobiahs and Geshems along the way. We can easily get discouraged and distracted. Nehemiah had taught me to always turn to God in prayers, and quickly too before we get too discouraged, and trust in Him that He is in full control.

With each challenge, pray like Nehemiah prayed, a simple re-focus on God again.

Journalling on Biblical Insights for Parenting

This comes from Wun Meng (KL Zone). Interesting that he is also focussing his journalling subject on parenting. I am sharing this to give you an example how others are doing their journalling.

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Hi Pr Chris

I have been following the Hungry For God’s Word blog.  I have definitely benefitted and very much encouraged by the materials posted by you.  Thank you very much.

With regards to “Journaling as a personal development tool”, I am extending my journaling into the topic of parenting.  I just started on it and hope to do it once a week, may be increasing the frequency.  Prayerfully I will remain consistent so as to improve myself in the area of parenting.  By the way, by God’s grace, I have been SOAR-ing daily.

I enclose my previous 2 entries on the parenting for your reading.  Next one coming would probably be the 3 chairs principles/the three generations by Rev Nicholas Choo.

Example of a journal entry:

1.        Parenting Insight 1                                                               01 Apr 09

 Freedom of religious expression while young?  The scary result!

 Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)              

 Coleridge was once involved in discussion with a man who firmly believed that children should not be given formal religious instruction of any kind. They would then be free to choose their own religious faith, he reasoned, when they reached the age of discretion. Coleridge did not disagree, but later invited the man into his somewhat neglected garden.

 "Do you call this a garden?" exclaimed the visitor. "There are nothing but weeds here!"

 "Well, you see," explained Coleridge, "I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way. I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself and to choose its own production."

 What happens if we simply stand all year and look at our garden? The weeds grow - right up to our knees! And what happens if a young lad is left to grow unattended - without staking, without pruning, without training? He becomes unshapely, unfruitful, and wild. Poor habits grow in us and in our children unless there is active cultivation!

 

 The burden, then, is fairly and squarely on the shoulders of those of us who are parents. Our children's destiny is to a large extent in our hands! 

Prov 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Dreaming Dreams

Just came back from a 3-day SPO (Senior Pastors' Office) long-term planning. We spend many hours just dreaming about what DUMC will be like 3 years, 5 years and beyond, from now. Very interesting time together. In case you are not aware, SPO consists of Senior Pastor (obviously!), Pr Margaret Loy (CES Director), Pr Mike Ngui (CYD District Pastor), Lee Kok Yin (Adminstration and Finance Officer) and myself. I came away quite excited about what's ahead!

I am reminded about a theme verse we used for DUMC some time back.

1 Cor 2:9

 "No eye has seen, 
      no ear has heard, 
   no mind has conceived 
   what God has prepared for those who love him.

Journalling as a Personal Development Tool

I came across this website about journalling as a personal development tool. Let me quote from it and to give an idea that this is also used as great tool in the corporate world. Very insightful on how you can use your own growth journal in the same way for your personal development.

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Journaling is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to accelerate your personal development.  By getting your thoughts out of your head and putting them down in writing, you gain insights you’d otherwise never see.

Beyond sequential thinking

While your brain is technically capable of processing a great deal of input simultaneously, your conscious thoughts play out in a certain sequence.  One thought triggers the next, which triggers the next, and so on.  Sometimes these sequences have a few branches, but they’re still subject to linear time, and at any given moment, you’re following one of those branches.  These thought sequences have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it’s nearly impossible to see the big picture overhead view of a sequence while you’re stuck in playback mode.

This is where journaling can provide huge advantages.  Journaling allows you to break free of sequential thinking and examine your thoughts from a bird’s-eye view.  When you record your sequential thoughts in a tangible medium, you can then go back and review those thoughts from a third-person perspective.  While you’re recording the thoughts, you’re in first-person mode. But when you’re reading them, you can remain dissociated instead of associated.  This dissociative view, when combined with what you’ve already learned from the associative view, will bring you much closer to seeing the truth of your situation.

Here are 3 other powerful benefits of journaling:

Solve tricky problems.  

Some problems are very difficult to solve when you’re stuck in an associative, first-person viewpoint.  Only when you record the situation and then re-examine it from a third-person perspective does the solution become clear.  Sometimes the solution is so obvious that you’re shocked you didn’t see it sooner.

Gain clarity.  A great time to turn to your journal is when you’re just not clear about what to do. Should you quit your job to start your own business?  Should you marry your current romantic partner?  Are you on the right track financially?  It’s amazing how much clearer things become when you explore them in writing.

Verify your progress.  It’s wonderful to go back and re-read journal entries from years ago and see how much real progress has been made.  When you’re frustrated that your life doesn’t seem to be working out as you’d like, go back and read something you wrote five years ago — it will totally change your perspective.  This helps you in the present moment too by reminding you that you are in fact growing and changing, even when it feels like you’re standing still.

Source: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/07/journaling/

Barabbas & Jesus

In today's reading of the final moments of Jesus' life on earth, I was fascinated to know of another very intricate detail of how God ordered every event and circumstance in our lives. The person who was released in place of Jesus was Barabbas. Pilate could not find anything wrong with Jesus, except that He violated some Jewish laws. He wanted to pass the case back to the Jews but they manipulated him by questioning his loyalty to Caesar. He thought it would be a safe bet to offer Barabbas as an alternative since he is a rebel and a murderer. Surely they would choose Jesus over Barabbas. He was wrong. He has to symbolically absolve himself from the guilt of innocent blood by washing his hands.

Now coming to my main point. Barabbas in Aramaic (the common Jewish language then) means "son of Abba," i.e. "son of the father.". In place of this man, the "Son of the Father (Abba)" died. Is this an amazing insight?

Isn't it amazing too that our Lord thought of His mum even at the point of death? He assured Mary that John will take care of her from now onwards. John took the responsibility instead of the brothers of Jesus, Mary's own children. It may be that Jesus' brothers still did not believe in him, like the situation back in John 7:5. Joseph, his earthly "father" had died earlier. Our Lord sufferings included rejections from His own family members. Four brothers were mentioned in Matthew 13:55 - James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. James later became a leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17, 15:13, Galatians 1:18-19)

Another Wallpaper

Journalling Wallpaper

Thanks Ricky for this wallpaper. Click on this picture and you will get a larger copy.

Shows the creative streak of DUMC members!

Notice the small line at the bottom of the page?

Notice the small line at the bottom of the page in your growth journal?

"How will I be different today because of what I have just learned?"

It is so important for that question to be asked at the end of every journalling session.

Truth by itself will not change life. It is truth applied that does. While we are encouraged to study and know more of the Word of God, it is imperative that we apply the truth in daily living. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are to heap more and more knowledge into our head. We may end up as a person with a big head but a small heart. Knowledge must renew the mind so that we are transformed by it (Romans 12:2).

2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Word of God is active and will seek to influence and transform us.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

"How will I be different today because of what I have just learned?"

A great Bible resource Website

Here's a great website for 20 versions of the Bible: www.biblegateway.com

This is very helpful if you want to read a passage in different translation versions or paraphrases of the Bible to help you have a better grasp of what you are reading. Translation versions are done in accordance to the accuracy of the original text while paraphrases are translation of the Bible into more contemporary language. My favourite is The Message Bible, which is a Bible translated into modern contemporary English. You will not use a paraphrased Bible for serious Bible studies but you would use them to help you understand the passage better. Another paraphrased Bible is the Living Bible.

For e.g.

Psalms 23:1-4

King James Version

1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

New International Version

1. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

3. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The Message

1. GOD, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.

2. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.

3. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

4. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.

There are many good tools too in this site, e.g. Bible dictionaries and Bible commentaries.