Sivin Kit’s Garden

Where was God? An interview with David Bentley Hart.(Interview)
Might jumpinto a book by Hart during Easter to “stretch” me … paragraphs like this is enough to get me excited:

” Christians often try to distinguish between what God wills and what God permits or allows. But does this distinction really help? If God allows something, or creates a world in which evil is allowed, then in some sense isn’t it part of God’s will?

There is no other world that God might have created, not because he is bound by necessity, but because he is infinitely free, and so nothing can hinder him from expressing his essential and infinite goodness perfectly, in and through the freedom of creatures created to be the fellows of his eternal Son. “

POMOPOWERPOST
I’ll pick one glaring statement … “Jesus is Lord and neither modernity nor postmodernity are.”

VineyardSongs.com
nice downloads here

In praise of SLOW
Thanks Maggi highlighting this from Carl Honore, In Praise of Slow. .. “Being Slow means never rushing, never striving to save time just for the sake of it. It means remaining calm and unflustered even when circumstances force us to speed up. One way to cultivate inner Slowness is to make time for activities that defy acceleration–meditation, knitting, gardening, yoga, painting, reading, walking …”

after evangelical terms
can we redeem the term?

It’s quiet now …

Traffic jams in KL nowadays are starting to drive me nuts. But then again, it has always been driving me nuts. some days more than others.

Posting “The Easter Kemunting Holiday” pictures has been therapeutic and is an exercise to suspend time a little longer or learn to re-live moments which often are left behind too quickly.

A conversation at a funeral on Friday made me ponder and wonder again our ethics in evangelism. Lord, have mercy on us …

Highs and Lows can be so close to one another ….

Listening to some fascinating Malay songs right now.

The weather the past week has been in extremes … daytime sunshines and evening storms My health has not been tip top as well. And it’s not just me.

Moved to listen to some English songs now.

I’ve been meeting many unchurched people lately … each has a story to tell, is there anyone listening?

I know I’ve made many mistakes … I know I’ve failed many expectations whether it’s from myself or others.

James 1.22 stood out for me today at the LiFE Group meeting: ”
“And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself.” (NIV)

The space for prayer and meditation at the LiFE Group meeting today was so precious for me. I treasured the moment.

It’s grace when one is offered a second chance … even a third chance …. grace is rare these days.

Physically I was a wreck last Sunday, thankfully I still managed to pull through a 2 hour commissioning service translating here and there for a number of people.

I was surprised to hear some words from my aunty which lifted me up so much when I needed it. It’s just so good to hear them from another human being and especially from one whom I respect and one who’s paid the price in many ways to sow the seeds that now are growing in my life.

She made sure that I heard them again and clearly over the phone during the week. This is the season of Easter, I sense God is doing something to bring new life to me … quietly and gently. I’m well aware the challenges are not over (when are they ever on this side of heaven) I don’t deny there comes a time when even when God places wonderful gifts before us, we may hesitate to recieve them … but these are the gifts of grace he brings to us in our time of need.

Oh yes … My aunty’s name is … GRACE.

I’m always fascinated by the “wonder” shown in a child … and Gareth helps me a lot whenever I tempted to lose this “wonder”. Our trip was full of surprises, one of them was meeting up with the Wong family who happened to be in Cameron for a holiday too! Then we also bumped into our German friends in Jalan Kemunting too!

Left on my own I probably would have cuddled in a bed and slept or found a quiet corner to sleep. But when we go as a family … bringing our kids to the Butterfly farm and appreciating these flowers like these makes us take note of things we’d likely miss if we were left to our own devices!

it’s nice to still manage a family photo …

My DVC rant(via Stephen Shields … amazing DVC linker)
quite a refreshing different take on the matter (I mean movie … or novel). Some juicy sentences like “one of the first rules of exorcism is that you never answer the devil’s questions. … If you are going to risk your eternal soul, it should at least be over something noble and romantic and big. If you are bound to damn yourself, then at least let it be over a torrid and star-crossed love affair, or out of tragic hubris that sought know What Man Was Not Meant to Know, or over some insane and violent of country, or out of desire for titanic powers to manipulate nature or some Byronic despair over a cold world’s rejection of a Great Artiste. “
JKA Smith on Postmodernism
Let’s see when this book will come to our shores ….

Defining Missional Church
A good one here … “A missional church is a community of God’s people who live into the imagination that they are, by their very nature, God’s missionary people living as a demonstration of what God plans to do in and for all of creation in Jesus Christ.”

The Supposed Faith of our Founding Fathers
I come from a totally different context but see similar impulses … but from an Islamic perspective?

The Catholic Luther
I couldn’t help but pause and go to the link

Great quote from Foucault
Two years ago Ididn’t even know who he was … my favorite quotes for tonight are:
“Develop action, thought, and desires by proliferation, juxtaposition, and disjunction, and not by subdivision and pyramidal hierarchization.”

and

“Do not become enamoured of power.

Pioneer Online Activist Dies
I’m beginning to appreciate contributions of people I never knew more these days.

“The early Christians were known for the way they lived, not only for what they believed. For them, the two were completely intertwined. The earliest title given to them reflected the importance of their kingdom lifestyle. They were not called the people of “the experience” or the people of “right doctrine” or even the people of “the church.” Rather, they were the people of “the Way.” It is equally significant that the Christians were known as “the people” of the Way. More than just individuals who had been converted, they were now a people, a new community of faith, which had embarked together on a new way of life. To follow Jesus meant to share Jesus’ life and to share it with others.”, Jim Wallis, Source: The Call to Conversion, inward/outward

Thanks to Bob Hyatt for this important video clip … good pre or post quote reading.

we were so excited on day two Monday and went to Boh Tea Plantation near Habu. Little did we know like pastors they take their sabbath on Monday

But that didn’t dampen our spirit, we got more educated that’s all .. i.e. don’t go to tea plantations in Cameron highlands on monday! I tried to make Elysia lighten up with our national flower …

Another lesson, the next time .. stop read the sign properly and then decide whether to drive ALL the way up or not. A little pause makes a BIG difference. However, a follow up lesson is needed. After as a fool you still drove up, make the best of it and laugh all the way down. And learn … internalize .. do whatever in order not to repeat the mistake … share with others. Look closely: CLOSED ON MONDAY!

Later we checked out our upcoming August 31 - September 2 church retreat venue. Don’t judge a camp venue by it’s sign board, we’re looking for vintage classic looks anyway.

Nice chalets, walls that’s got “feel” (and history), upgrades inside too - see the little girl crawling on the bed! This is authentic stuff .. minus the “flamboyance” of modern day hotels. There’s lots of history and heritage here… lots of church camps. Some of us came here as kids and teenagers! There are stories to tell.

the tables at the canteen brings me sweet memories … it’s also equipped with a cool vintage pulpit … it’s going to be wonderful!!! I can already imagine. check out that ping pong table!

Mrs. Leong (who’s helping to manage this place) tender lovingly offers these gifts of beauty … for the surroundings. I’ll end this post by reminding myself… the country I call home and the beauty God’s creative work is expressed here. Before we did anything (usually we make a mess of it), God’s natural artistry as seen through the flowers especially has gone before us. We need to follow his lead …

Food .. fun .. friendship … in no particular order I’m looking forward for this … hope everyone invited can make it so … for more info email me!

(From Maundy Thursday,
April, 23, 2006, Bangsar Lutheran Church)

“It is crucial to move from principle to practice — from idea to embodiment. The Word became flesh. And we beheld his glory. The essence, the very being of the ultimate, was there for us to look at, to behold, to touch, to be with. Just as we see God in the historical Jesus, now people will see God in us, as the resurrected Jesus forms us into a literal cell in his own global body.

Of the early Christians it was said, “See how they love one another.” About us will it be said: “If you want to know what God intended for human life to be, free of the idols which can’t produce, which can’t save us, look at that little group, that little cell. That’s who God is. Hang around with them. You’ll be touched by the divine, by eternity, by the holy.”~ N. Gordon Cosby, inward/outward …

John 3:7 - 15

A late pastor once remarked that a lot of people go to church to escape reality. He remarked that some people lived a dream life in church while struggling to keep their lives in order. Sounds very much like us sometimes right? We too, seem too preoccupied with the joys of heaven but do not want to inherit the earth and be its salt.

Like Nicodemus, we have expected to hear the voice of God concerning “heavenly things” but have not stopped to discern the voice of God concerning “earthly things”. It is good that we believe in the unseen (John 20:29), but why is it hard to speak of what we know and “testify what we have seen” (v11)? It sounds more like “How can I love God who is in Heaven when I cannot love my own neighbor who is on earth? (1 John 4:20)” It sounds very harsh but the truth has to be squared out. When this question is brought up, what then does eternal life mean?

For us, eternal life must not just be about living forever (lets worry about that later), but about how we live the Christian life. Just as Moses lifted up the snake on the bronze serpent, how have we lived to lift up the Son of Man? We have done much to lift Him up on the cross, but have we lifted Him up on high, in glory here on earth, and most importantly, in our lives?

By baptism, our faith in Christ implies a love for God and neighbor (1 John 5:1-2). We can begin then, to discern His voice on Earth and live the eternal life by bringing the joy and hope that comes from Easter to those who need and yearn it. By our love and actions, not words, show Christ unto them. Amen.

REFLECTION: Open the ears of our hearts Lord, that we may hear Your voice here on Earth and lead the eternal life gained by faith.

(Meditations contributed by Collin Nunis)

John 3:1 - 8

Nicodemus was a closet disciple. He seeks Jesus out, though surreptitiously in the dead of the night. Why? Nicodemus is a “leader of the Jews”, “a teacher of Israel” (3:10), and a member of the religious party most opposed to the teaching of Jesus. In fact, in John 12, the summary statement says that it was Nicodemus’ own group, the Pharisees, which intimidated the authorities against confessing Jesus.

Jesus does not directly answer Nicodemus’ question. Instead He engages him in a seemingly unrelated topic of conversation. Jesus says that rebirth is necessary to enter the kingdom of God. Of course, Nicodemus the Pharisee has already found religion, so he thinks that Jesus must be referring to physical rebirth. No, Jesus responds, someone who is reborn spiritually knows the experience as surely as one who has been refreshed by an invisible breeze. How can a respected rabbi among the Jews not know this (3:10)? And that is precisely the point.

Nicodemus is the first of what we might loosely call the official clergy with whom Jesus has personal engagement. In John, chapter 7, the Gospel portrays Nicodemus as a defender of Jesus’ right to a fair trial (7:-51); in chapter 19, Nicodemus helps to bury Jesus with honor. Nicodemus did not understand the new birth which Jesus spoke of until the resurrection. What does it mean to be reborn? The new birth Jesus speaks of is a spiritual birth to new life and relationship with God as his sons and daughters.

This new birth is made possible when one is baptized into Christ and receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. God wants to renew all his people in the gift of new life in his Holy Spirit. This new life brings us into God’s kingdom or heavenly rule. What is God’s kingdom? God’s kingdom is that society in which God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

However, this new birth implies change. It calls for a change of heart and mind, most importantly, attitude. It is Jesus who works this change in us, and when we allow Him to take charge, we are empowered to become what we could never have been, and able to do what we ourselves thought we could never do (v8). And if we have not been able to emulate Christ previously, let this Easter be a starting point.

REFLECTION: Lord Jesus Christ, you offer us a new birth in the Holy Spirit. Renew in me the gift of faith and new life in your Holy Spirit. Grant that we allow Your wonders to work in us.

(Meditation contributed by Collin Nunis interesting that when the readings were assigned, I didn’t purposefully give this to Collin who’s a member of the Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia … I appreciate his unique contribution to our series thus far… he even got one of the Jesuit Fathers to guest write for us, this is exciting isn’t it? ~ Sivin)