Skip to content

Sivin Kit's Garden

Planting Seeds for a Better World

Menu
  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing
Menu

Post-Holiday Desert

Posted on 16 September, 2003 by admin

Just came back from a two-day & two-night holiday. I can’t recall when was the last time May Chin, Gareth & I had a time like this. Timely!

Lots of much needed sleep … and lots of potato chips (i.e. Mr. Potato, Pringles & Roller Coaster, wow! wee!)

Amused by “overstatements” like this place is the largest whatever at the highest whatever … and then you see a pretty big area… but doesn’t feel like largest … another funny one was an arrow pointing to a “garden”, after stepping in it looked like BLC’s backyard (in space as well as plantation). I hate it when church & Christians talk like that as well…

Talked a lot (May Chin & Gareth), played a lot (with Gareth) … He had loads of fun with his dad), walked quite a bit …. ate quite a bit as well.

Munched a couple of newsweek articles in the bathtub …. the one on “Autism” got me thinking about Type-E (Emphatizing) & Type-S (Systematizing) in guys and girls …

The latest issue of “Cutting Edge” really nailed some important thoughts on Children ministry & what is true education in a Christian context (this issue is not up yet on the website).

Nothing much on TV … in fact nothing at all! (more time for talking & listening?)

Picked up Dallas Willard’s book The Divine Conspiracy again …. and decided to restart where i kind of didn’t get going the last time. Richard Foster, one of my favorite author and founder of Renovare says that “The Divine Conspiracy is the book I have been searching for all my life.” (wow! I must read this … ) … Some gems so far (I just managed until the Introduction, my comments in brackets):

– “My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, expecially among those who believe they already understand him.” (p.1, I feel FRESH is the word … there’s just so much noise and confusion nowdays even in the Malaysian Christian world. Worse is people dogmatically representing Christ when it’s just dishing out solutions reflecting more of their own values. OUCH! I want the Fresh hearing anytime! In fact Rev. Wolfgang’s message did that for me for a Gospel text))

– “… Jesus and his words have never belonged to the categories of dogma and law, and to read them as if they did is simply to miss them. they are essentially subversive of established arrangements and ways of thinking.” (still on p. 1, Willard is nailing it again … how often we Christians miss it, and then those who are not Christians miss it as they try to figure out what we are saying … Change is needed. Humility precedes change …)

– “It is the failure to understand Jesus and his words as reality and vital information about life that explains why, today, we do not routinely teach those who profess allegience to him how to do what he said was best. We lead them to profess allegience to him, or we expect them to, and leave them there, devoting our remaining efforts to “attracting” them to this or that.” (p. 2, OUCH ! OUCH & triple OUCH ! This got me re-examining how I approached evangelism 7 discipleship the past three years … some gains & some losses indeed.)

– “More than any other single thing, in any case, the practical irrelevance of actual obedience to Christ accounts for the weakened effect of Christianity in the world today, with its increasing tendency to emphasize political and social action as the primary way to serve God. It also accounts for the practical irrelevance of Christian faith to individual character development and overall personal sanity and well-being.” (p.3-4, what a mouth full … to chew on! following up on the Bonhoeffer bug I caught this year … Obedience is a good word and a much needed word!)

– “The Bible is , after all, God’s gift to the world through his Church, not to the scholars. It comes through the life of his people and nourishes that life. Its purpose is practical, not academic. An intelligent, careful, intensive but straightforward reading – that is, one not governed by obscure and faddish theories or by mindless orthodoxy – is what it requires to direct us into life in God’s kingdom.” (p. 5, Go Willard … preach it brother! Again, the Scriptures play a central part in my quest for True Christianity plugged into my context!)

I admit that didn’t taste like desert … but a little buffet of goodies that require time for digesting …. that’s what a great book does to you … (especially ones you need to read again and again!)

Couldn’t do as much reading as I wanted to. But then, this trip was more of a family trip and I loved the time we could spend together, having meals together, play together, walk together … laugh together, pray together …. my personal spiritual formation was still there but family formation took precedence for the last two days. And that’s timely!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Moved to Medium
  • The End | The Beginning
  • I Will be Back …
  • It’s Been a While …
  • GE13 Malaysia: Who to Vote for? (A Christian Contribution)

Recent Comments

  • Malaysia: Government Vows to Review Web Censorship Law After Protest · Global Voices on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • List of Participants in Internet Blackout Day! « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • Join Us and Support Internet Blackout Day « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • JB on Imagining My PhD Journey
  • Alex Tang on Imagining My PhD Journey

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

CALENDAR

September 2003
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Aug   Oct »
  • Academics
  • Bangsar Lutheran Church
  • Beyond
  • Bible
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Christian Year – Lent
  • Church
  • Conversations
  • Emergent/Emerging Churches
  • Events
  • Family
  • Five Sentences
  • Friends in Conversation
  • Fun stuff
  • Gracious Christianity
  • Ideas
  • Images
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Lists
  • Lutheran
  • Lutheran Church in Malaysia & Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Meditation
  • Micah Mandate
  • Mission
  • Movies
  • Music
  • New Stuff
  • Norway
  • Norwegian Notes
  • Personal
  • Philosophy
  • Podcast
  • Preaching
  • Prezi
  • Project 365
  • Random Links
  • Random Thoughts
  • Random Tweets
  • Random Utterances
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • RoH Malaysia
  • Second Thoughts
  • Seven Series
  • Simple Steps
  • Spirituality
  • Technology
  • Theology
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • World
  • Worship
  • Writing

Archives

  • November 2020
  • November 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • June 2003
  • May 2003
  • April 2003
  • February 2003
  • August 2002

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Pages

  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing

Social Media

© 2023 Sivin Kit's Garden | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme