Currently Reading The Thought of God By Maurice Roberts see related

Worship at CBC...

During class, the professor read out of the book "The Thought of God" by Maurice Roberts.  He read one part about our attitude towards worship, at it really hurt me, because I feel like I need to improve many thing in my heart before I worship:

It was said of the early church that its attitude to God was characterized by "fear" (Acts 2:43) [ Äß©È ] and sometimes by "great fear" (Acts 5:5, 11) [ ¬ÆÄß©È ].  The apostle Paul instructs the Christian of his day to behave in their congregational worship services [ ±R«ô ] in such a way that the outsider may have the secrets of his heart [ ¤ß¸Ìªº¯µ±K ] made manifest [ Åã¥X¨Ó ].  The awareness of God's Being was to lead him to fall down on his face confessing, "God is in you of a truth" (1 Cor. 14:25) [ ¯«¯u¬O¦b§A­Ì¤¤¶¡¤F¡C ]

However, this "fear" [ Äß©È ] or reverence [ ·q¬È ] has very largely been lost in modern services of worship.

We are to pay heed [ ¯d¤ß ] to what we sing to God and pour out our hearts to him with grace and not in an unthinking torrent [ «æ¬y ] of sound, as if God listened only to the voice and not to the music of our hearts.

If we get little [ ¤£¦h ] from the sermon, let us augment [ ¼W¥[ ] it by gathering later with Christian friends to discuss the main points. 

"Holiness becomes God's house" (Psalm 93:5) [ §Aªº·µ¥ÃºÙ¬°¸t¡B¬O¦X©yªº¡C ]  We need to remember that when we come to public worship we are coming to something excellent and heavenly.

For me, it really hurt me, because I know that on Sunday morning, I don't come and have the right heart attitude.  Instead, I always say Hi to friends and just keep talking until the piano start playing music.  In my opinion, it's even harder when I go downstairs to attend English worship, because they are busy setting up equipment, so very few people prepare themselves.  Of course, I understand that they need to setup things, since nothing is there. 

But it doesn't matter if I go to Chinese worship or English worship, I discover that my worship attitude is not correct.  Before worship, I talk to friends and ask about how their week is or what they get on their test or how hard homework is or talk to people and say how cute the baby is.  And then when the piano start playing music, I close my mouth. 

And then when the presider says, << §Ú­Ì¦b³o¸Ìµ²§ô >> and everybody stands up to go home, I talk to other people about where to go eat lunch or where to hang out during the week.  I discover that I never talk about the message or talk about how the message impact me or share with other people about how God speak to me.

I think that going to this class really help me think about my relationship with God.  Do I treat God like He is a candy machine?  Do I treat God like He is only a statue at church that I see on Sunday morning from 11:00 - 12:15? 

I need to change my attitude.

What do everybody else think?  Have you seen this in CBC?  Or have you had similar experience about yourself?

Currently Reading Tyranny of the Urgent (5 Pack) By Charles E. Hummel see related

Book - Tyranny of the Urgent!

Ever since I started my class on Christian education, I have learned a lot.  Sorry for not updating sooner, but I think I want to share what I learn in class.  I hope that what I say can help many people in CBC and maybe even challenge «C¦~¹Î«´ (Youth Fellowship) and/or ¦¨¦~¹Î«´ (Young Adult Fellowship), and maybe even the other Chinese and English fellowships!

Everyday, I will learn something different, so hopefully I will try to update frequently!

Tyranny of the Urgent («æ¨Æªº¼É¬F) - Charles E. Hummel ( º~¼¯º¸ )

This book is a very powerful book.  Even though it is a small book and only 15 pages, when I read this book, it hurts me because it is very honest.  Here are some sections:

Several years ago an experienced cottonmill manager said to me, "Your greatest danger (³Ì¤jªº¦MÀI) is letting the urgent («æ¨Æ) things crowd out the important (­«­n)."...We live in constant tension between the urgent («æ¨Æ) and the important (­«­n).  The problem is that the important tasks rarely must be done today, or even this week.  Extra hours of prayer and Bible study, a visit with that non-Christian friend, careful study of an important book: these projects can wait.  But the urgent tasks call for instant (°¨¤W) action - endless demands pressure every hour and day. 

We realize we've become slaves (¥£¤²) to the tyranny of the urgent («æ¨Æªº¼É¬F).

I think that this is very true, especially for me!  I sometime have to call up my friends or talk to my parents or finish a project or check my e-mail or watch a TV program or relax at home or play sports...

These are all "urgent" things, because it is what I need to do...but they are not the important things.

Important things = spend more time reading Bible, spend more time pray to God, spend more time evangelizing to friends, etc.

But when I look at my time, I realize that I always do "important things" instead of "urgent things."  For example, sometimes I will think: "I will do 15 minutes devotion, because my TV show comes on in 15 minutes."  I never think: "I'm going to do devotion, and it does not matter to me if I miss my TV show or not."  I need to change that!

The book continues:

Many of us have experienced Christ's deliverance from the penalty of sin.  Are we letting Him free us from the tyranny of the urgent?  He points the way: "If you continue in my word (John 8:31)."  This is the way to freedom.  Through prayerful meditation on God's Word we gain His perspective.

P.T. Forsyth once said, "The worst sin is prayerlessness.(¤£Ã«§i¬O³ÌÃaªº¸o)"  We usually think of murder, adultery, or theft as among the worst.  But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency (¦Ûµ¹¦Û¨¬) - independence (¦Û¥D) from God.  When we fail to wait prayerfully for God's guidance and strength we are saying, with our actions fi not our lips, that we do not need Him.

I think that this makes sense.  Many time in my life, I try to help other people or give them advice based on what I think is good.  And not many time do I pray about it first, or tell God, "Okay, I don't want to give advice.  Instead, You tell me what to say."

What was the secret of Jesus' work?  We find a clue following Mark's account of Jesus' busy day.  Mark observes that "...in the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed (¦¸¤é¦­±á, ¤Ñ¥¼«Gªº®É­Ô, ­C¿q°_¨Ó, ¨ìÃm³¥¦a¤è¥h, ¦b¨º¸Ìë§i.)" (Mark 1:35).  Here is the secret of Jesus' life and work for God: He prayerfully waited for His Father's instructions and for the strength to follow them.  Jesus had no divinely-drawn blueprint; He discerned (¬Ý¥X) the Father's will day by day in a life of prayer.  By this means He warded off (׶) the urgent and accomplished the important.

For me, I know that this is true.  I know that I need to spend more time praying to God.  But it's so hard!!  Life is so busy and so full of things to do.  But when I look at Jesus' example, I know that I am guilty of not follow His example.  And Jesus was God!  He was perfect!  But he still wake up every morning and pray to God, where nothing could distract him.

Prayerful waiting on God is indispensable to effective service.  Like the time-out in a football game, it enables us to catch our breath and fix new strategy.  As we wait for directions the Lord frees us from the tyranny of the urgent.

He shows us the truth about Himself, ourselves and our tasks.  He impresses on our minds the assignments He wants us to undertake.  The need itself is not the call (¥²»Ý¤£¬O¸¹¥l; ¸¹¥l¤@©w­n±q¯«¨Óªº); the call must come from the God (¸¹¥l¤@©w­n±q¯«¨Óªº) who knows our limitations.

In addition...set aside one hour a week for spiritual inventory.  Write an evaluation of the past, record anything God may be teaching you, and plan objectives for the future. 

Finally, the most strong part of the book:

If the Christian is too busy to stop, take spiritual inventory, and receive his assignments from God, he becomes a slave to the tyranny of the urgent.  He may work day and night to achieve much that seems significant to himself and others, but he will not finish the work God has for him to do.

Now you know why when I finish reading this short book, I feel very, very guilty...

God speaks to me and shows me that there are many, many ways that I can improve my spiritual life. 

I need to stop being a slave to the tyranny of the urgent!

---------

So, what do you think?  Please give feedback!  I would appreciate even a short comment!  I hope that maybe I can help create discussion for everybody!

Currently Reading The MacArthur Daily Bible : Read through the Bible in one year, with notes from John MacArthur By John MacArthur see related

I'm not very good in doing my daily devotions. 

I usually wake up, rush into the bathroom and rush out to work.  And then when I come home from work, I'm really tired and just watch TV and eat and then go to sleep.

But then I found a really good book.  It's John MacArthur's "Read through the Bible in one year."  Everyday, it has Old Testament chapter, New Testament chapter and one chapter from Psalm to read.  You can read some in the morning and then the rest at night, before you go to sleep.  And there are some notes and always questions to think about. 

It's really a big help for devotion, especially when you are either just starting to do daily devotion or inconsistent, because it shows you what to read for every day in the 365-day year.

You can either pick it up from his church Grace Community Church in San Fernando Valley, or you can order it from Amazon.com.  (It's probably cheaper to pick it up, since you have to pay for shipping for Amazon  )

sorry everybody for not writing sooner - life has been very busy for me.

But I am back now!

I was really happy with the sermon that Michael Yung gave 2 days ago, on Sunday.  It was a message on how to appreciate the pastor.  (After he spoke, Rev. Lau went up and said that he didn't know that Michael was going to talk on this subject, and if he knew ahead of time, he wouldn't have let Michael speak!  haha!)

It was a really good message.  It used Paul's letter in 1 Thessalonians, telling how Paul treated the Christians like a mother and a father.  Michael said that this is the way that Rev. Lau treats all of us at church: he cares for us and loves us, but also has to correct us when we're doing wrong.

I encourage everybody to download his sermon from our church website!:

http://www.wlacbc.org/asx/wlacbc_10092005.asx

today, when going home, I suddenly started to think about this song:

Shall We Talk -  ³¯«³¨³ (Eason Chan)

©ú¤ë¥ú¡@¬°¦ó¤S·Ó¦a°ó
¹çÄ@¦b¤½¶é¸úÂá@¤£·Q³Ü´ö
¥ô¥Ñ¥Ø¥ú¡@¯d¦bº©µe¤@¨¤
¬°¦ó±æ¥À¿Ë¤@²´´N¦p»@¯d°ó

«Äµ£¥u¬ß±æÅw¼Ö¡@¤j¤H¥uª¾¹D±H±æ
¬°¦ó³£¤£¤jÀ´±o§V¤OÅé«ò¹ï¤è
¤jªù¥~¦³ÁµÁ¬¡@°jÅT«o¦p¦P¤Ûı
Shall we talk¡@Shall we talk
´N·í­«·s¤â©ì¤â¥h¤W¾Ç°ó

³­§ÚÁ¿¡@³­§ÚÁ¿¥X§Ú­Ì³Ì«á¦ó¥H¥Í²¨
½Ö©ÈÁ¿¡@½Ö·|¥i´d±o¹L©t¿W±´¤à
Ãø±o¡@¥i¥H¦P®y¡@¦ó¥H¡@­­n§Ò¿Ð¨ª»r
¦pªG¤ßÁn¯u¦³Àø®Ä¡@½Ö©È¼ÉÅS§ó¦h¡@§A§O©È§Ú

¿Ã¹õµo¥ú¡@µL½×¤°»ò³£¬Ý
±¡¤H¦b¤À¤âÃä½t¥u´±³Ü´ö
­­Y¨IÀq¦üª÷¡@Áٽͤ°»òÅÊ·R
¹çÄ@¦bµoÁn¾÷¾¹­±¯ºµÛ¦£

¦¨¤H¥u±H±æ¦¬Ã¬¡@±¡¤H¥uÅ¥¨£©Ó¿Õ
¬°¦ó³£¤£¤jÀ´±o§V¤O¬Ã±¤¹ï¤è
Á®½¸­±¹ïÁµÁ¬¡ °jÅT¤]¦p¦P¤Ûı
Shall we talk¡@Shall we talk
´Nºâ¤úÃö¶}©l¥´¾_¡@§O»¡ÁÀ

³­§ÚÁ¿¡@³­§ÚÁ¿¥X§Ú­Ì³Ì«á¦ó¥H¥Í²¨
½Ö©ÈÁ¿¡@½Ö·|¥i´d±o¹L©t¿W±´¤à
Ãø±o¡@¥i¥H¦P®y¡@¦ó¥H¡@­n§Ò¿Ð¨ª»r
¦pªG¤ßÁn¯u¦³Àø®Ä¡@½Ö©È¼ÉÅS§ó¦h

³­§ÚÁ¿¡@³­§Ú¿Ë³­¥¿µø²´²\½Ö¶^±o¦h
µLªkÁ¿¡@°£«D©¼¦¹¤w¥¢¥h¤F¯à¤OIJºN
¹aÁn¡@¥i¥H¹çÀR¡@Ãø¹L¡@«oÁפ£¹L
¦pªG¨IÀq¤Ó¨I­«  §O­n»´»´±a¹L  

©ú¤ë¥ú¡@¬°¦ó¥¼·Ó¦a°ó
«Ä¨à¦b¤½¥q«Ü¦£¡@¤£»Ý³Ü´ö
Shall we talk¡@±×¶§¥Õ»°¤@½ë
¨IÀq¥O§ÚÅ¥±o¨£³­¨àÁnÁn­

For those who don't read good Chinese, the song is about someone looking back on the past.  It talks about all the times when he/she was a young kid.  For example, the kid wants to keep playing in the park and not return home to drink mom's soup.  It say about how kids only care about fun things, and adults only care about the future.  Then it asks: "Why don't both sides care about the other side?" and concludes the first section with "Let's start over and walk hand-in-hand to school." 

Then the chorus say: "If you scared of being honest, it's okay.  You don't have to be scared of me."  It means that you can be honest with each other and not scared, and can be close and talk openly and share everything with each other. 

It then goes on to the next 2 verses, and talks about getting older: When we are dating or other parts of getting older.  Same thing happens here between parents & kids, here, too. 

It's actually a very, very touching song.  If you understand Cantonese, you should try to hear if it you have not already.  I even remember that at last year's §G¹D·| (Evangelistic Meeting), they sang this song and many people were wiping tears. 

I think it's touching because people (especially students or people living away from home) understand and remember that when they were younger, they take their parents for granted.  So, now, when parents are far away, we feel really bad for all the times we don't really appreciate them in the past, and we don't take time to actually sit down with them and talk to them.

Does anybody else have many memories when singing this song?

--------------

It is very weird, because today, when I started to sing about the song, it's like God spoke to me and said, "Have you talked to me?"

And I feel very, very weird. 

I feel sad that because of this song, I think back to when I was little.  And becaus, I didn't talk to my parents much, I'm very sad. 

But now, God is asking me if we talk daily or not.  And if we don't, do I feel bad, too???  If not, why?  Does that mean that I'm more sad about my relationship with my parents versus my relationship with God?

----------------

What do the rest of you think?  Do you think it makes sense?

(UPDATE): Maybe later, I will write English translation to the song, so everybody can understand better.