Sivin Kit’s Garden

It’s quite an akward week to start our “spiritual friendship” group. For me, it was in and out of hospitals with Mom last week and May Chin this week. Both are doing alright now. For our big bro who initiated the process down with Denggi and his son admitted. But, thankfully it was a better week for the third person especially when it comes to setting boundaries in work.

Our first meeting face to face with all three of us was yesterday morning.We’ll be meeting monthly and I really looked forward to something like this. I was hoping to start one myself (which I think I’m doing something a little different with Emergent Malaysia). But I suppose, it’s better for me personally to just enjoy accountability, support and spiritual formation with these two brothers.

Our Big Bro was kind to give us this particular book to guide our reflections and thinking. It’s nice to receive gifts not just in the form of books (which I don’t mind) but more in the form of acceptance, openness and mutual discernment.

Looking forward to personally work through these questions in the coming months:

# What is my calling?
# How do I live it out in the midst of difficult relationships or moral challenges?
# Will my vocation change as I enter a new stage of life?
# As I cope with competing needs and demands, how can I craft a balanced, ordered way of living?
# Where do I find the courage to follow God’s call?

i’m glad I managed to share a little at Sunway College Christian Fellowship. I’m not sure whether I confused them more by my presentation style but they looked pretty interactive in their eyes then stoned.
The post-CF meeting at A&Ws was good … one of them commented that I’m the first speaker who actually joined them for dinner!!! I must admit that felt good. And it made me wonder, are we pastors or leaders-type rushing around too much that we miss good old relationship times? … for me I learnt as much as they did around the open conversations after finishing our Mozza burgers, Root bear float and waffles! Both the food and thoughts were yummy!

I’ve really enjoyed my interaction with college university students lately and older secondary school students. Their hearts cry, and observations plus insights have been very helpful to me personally.

Managed to pop in the Kairos Seminar discussing on the Passion of Christ. The three panel speakers did very well actually in my opinion.

I also enjoy listening to the so called “Christian thinkers” or intellectuals. There’s always space to “push” myself a bit more in this area and not be complacent with where I am. I guess, if the students keep me to the ground, these guys allow me to fly a little bit.
The three areas were … Talk 1: Pastoral and Evangelistic relevance of The Passion of the Christ
, Talk 2: Critical Perspectives on Jesus films, and Talk 3: The Crucifixion: Historical Context and Theological Significance. All three I felt somehow able to sqeeze through to the about 250 crowd. I enjoyed it with or without the multisyllable words too bad right now the movie is banned in Malaysia. hmm ….

I’ve yet to watch the movie and have already decided to do so as the hype is already cooling off. In Malaysia, not much hype actually. I guess, I need to watch it to really have something to say. Oh .. well … in due time.

For serious students of the Bible …

Here’s the Old Testament Gateway

I’ll be running to this gateway a couple of times since we’ll be swimming through proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes the next few weeks.

Here’s the New Testament Gateway

Well … I asked both of them to blog and their entries have been sporadic or almost non-existent. But, It was good to see alwynlau putting in a sudden surge of blog-energy! Check out his playful rendition of “Why did God create Mosquitoes?”

Yew Khuen is another guy I’m looking forward to hear more. After a long absence, his come back post Originality and Creativity seemed to get his brain juices pumping again. Looking forward for more.

We’ve met once together and hope to meet again. After Jason Clark’s encouragement we’re trying (and it’s very slow) to form a kind of Emergent Malaysia co-hort (for more check out emergentvillage & emergent-uk). At this stage, we just want to get the conversations flowing. Personally, I hope it can be a “safe place” for us to do not only “critical” thinking but more importantly a place where “constructive” proposals and ideas can be shared to help us move forward. If anyone (from Malaysia) is interested please mail me.

May Chin, Gareth and I are getting back to normal life after the last few days. I recall a song by Scott Wesly Brown we used to sing when we were teenagers.

if He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders,
I know my brother that he will carry you …
if He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders,
I know my sister that he will carry you …

All these years He has not failed to carry us especially when we need it. He has not failed to do so even now. For that we are thankful … and for the “little hands” of others who’ve extended their prayers, support and care, we are grateful as well.

Don’t know how to “feel” in the face of the “unexpected” yesterday.

Life is so fragile …

The blame game is not going to help anyone.

Somethings are more important than others …

It’s alright to grieve and it’s ok to be alone

There’s a time for everything …

God’s grace is somehow “sustaining” us.

I’m thankful I managed to survive and actually communicate to some degree to the participants at my two hours session on Lutheran Pietism at Taman Midah Lutheran Church. I must admit, my mandarin is really rusty!

It’s been sometime since I interacted with those involved in the
Chinese-Mandarin speaking Christians more indepth. I realized that there’s something emerging as well. Though different but worth listening … sounds like the struggle is more towards how to grow out of “conservatism” or worse some polished form of “fundamentalism” … hmmm maybe some interaction might coming up soon.

May Chin and I were talking about how “timely” Dr. Voon’s sharing this morning during the Worship about “the contemplative life” based on the Mary and Martha episode with Jesus. I felt that God used her sharing and our time of silence & reflection to draw me closer to Him and what we humans are really all about - i.e. relationships. Good stuff!

It was quite fun to all pretty much all the continents represented in our little community of worship today. We only had Latin America missing. We had the Finnish duo, the Aussie resident aliens, and a new comer from Bostwana, and of course the Malaysians! And the scripture reading during worship was from Revelation and how the magnitude worshiped the lamb that was slain … awesome glimpse what’s really in God’ mind!

Looking forward to a “Sabbath” tomorrow … mine is supposed to be on Monday. Thursday I’ll be speaking in a college CF, and then on Friday a secondary school CF evangelistic meeting. But, for now … learning to enter some kind of REST. It’s been quite a week … and it will be another interesting week.

BTW, the Tom Yam flavoured KFC was so so …

Where can I go with May Chin for our second Honeymoon? Options are now expanding after looking at these pictures!

speechless …

Thanks Maiken for introducing us to your beautiful dwelling place! For more click here Get a feel for the islands…

After an extended chat with someone yesterday afternoon, I realized that the “struggle” we face is truly not against flesh and blood … it’s bigger than we think.

There’s a distance when one is reading a blog or even commenting on someones blog. Meeting face to face makes the whole interaction more vulnerable. Definately more unpredictable. More dangerous? And yet .. more real, and “incarnational” … more rewarding and open for surprises?! No wonder, “God made his dwelling (tent) among us”
Is the world of achievement and drivenness and distrust the “real world”? or is there a more “real” world that’s we would all prefer to live in, be part of or even help construct (or usher in)?

How about reading the Bible as Film? (Thanks Robert Farrar Capon) Got me back to a playful mode this morning …

Glad I could chat with someone today online, appreciated her honesty … but I do struggle to understand why one makes the choices he or she makes.

Got a referral for an African to come to BLC this week from my Charismatic church pastor friend … it was funny, but quite delightful to read the mail and later call this African young man studying in Malaysia.

Hmmm .. I think the people I’m meeting are going to be waiting for me .. what can happen around the conversations at dinner. Wonders I suppose …