A Week of Quiet Time with Him...

It was a painful week… lots of medications, needles, clinics, hospitals.. complete with lots of lessons..

It started with a sore throat that was more regular than I had wished – once a month to be exact – since May… Reflux was also acting up again probably due to stress, so last Wed’s visit to the GP was for antibiotics & throat medication, and reflux pills. Since my 3rd Hepatitis A/B jab was due this week, doctor thought might as well, and a painful one…

Sat’s evening FOP was another encounter that will take another journal… halfway through elbow started to itch, and developed to serious rashes by the time I reach home to inspect closely, was whole body... Rushed to 24hr clinic ($60/consultation b4 medicine!), and yes…another jab. Allergy jabs are no fun, REALLY painful (from a guy that is not too afraid of needles).

Sun MC, went back to regular GP for advise… of the 3 regular medications I had been taking several times now, the antibiotics was suspect (apparently allergies can develop over time), advised to stop but continue with the rest… rashes subsided a little, traces left, was glad. THEN… full bloom again by evening, complete with full dose of itch to enhance effect… sigh…

Mon morning back to “regular” GP (got Frequent Patient Miles), and yes, a 3rd allergy jab (yes, the super painful one, and yes, was alternating arms…). Each jab was suppose to knock your senses out for a day, but this time maybe body got used to it (doesn’t sound good), so worked all day to distract myself from itch…

Tue rashes seemed to return again (sigh), so take GP’s advice – go hospital. By now quite expert already (after dengue & sinus operation – all my first hospital experiences come together one), packed for hospital stay, and went to A&E. This time more solid – 2 even more powerful jab (double the pain kind?!!), kana drip & blood test some more, suspecting possible 2nd dengue attack… Lied in observation room for an hour before declaring blood test negative, not much to do and can go home. CGH very generous with lots of medication, so now I have an impressive collection of any variety… I believe God is toughening my liver…

Tue evening was the toughest, rashes kept coming and going, and they are quite mysterious, appear hear in a contingent (yes, like NDP…) then disappear after the fireworks and calamine lotion, then relocate into another display platform… itch was so bad I celebrated National Day early, sleeping at 3am after completing all scratching possible. I didn’t need to wear red, I WAS red!

Then Wed, all subsided rashes left its dark red shadow all over my body and limbs. New ones kept peeping out by the dozens. Can’t help but identify with Job (some more just finished Job for OTC reading). Then like Job after 37 chapters, after all friends, doctors, wife, and me stopped speaking, God spoke…

Thu - my OTC reading reached Psalm 68. Our God, “a father to the fatherless, defender of widows, provided for the poor” (5, 10), “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens” (19). Wasn’t that what Job comprehended in the end? “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). i.e. God – BIG, me – small. The book I was reading (Max Lucado’s “Traveling Light”), the morning’s chapter was on Ps 23:5 – “You anointed my head with oil”. The shepherd anoints his sheep with oil for 2 main purposes, to repel insects and to heal wounds. “We make request, we don’t make demands. Like the sheep, we go to Him, we bow before Him, and we trust Him. All the sheep knows is that something happens in the presence of the shepherd.”

What more to do but PRAISE! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD was the theme song of the day! I claimed healing each time I see a rash, and no more calamine for you, just smile, peace, claim, sing and enjoy the rest of the day…yes, National Day!

By this (Fri) morning, no more traces of the rashes, and what can more say but… praise be to the Lord! Woke up super early (probably kept awake by all the steroids inside of me), and God planted some simple images to keep, to top up the experience.

Feeling the Rashes - For an entire week, my senses were so well trained, I can detect (without looking) the exact spot and time a new dot of rash appears, marked by the itch…

Watching & Administering – From the very moment I wake up, at anytime of the night, plus about 100 times during the day, I checked every inch of my skin for the condition of the rashes, with a special alertness to new ones…

Claiming & Releasing – once claimed, and released back to the Shepherd, since I am as helpless as a sheep, it certainly makes the day very different, regardless rashes or not…

How close that comes to sin and me. If only this can be the model I live by toward sin, ever alert, superb sensitivity enhanced by dwelling in His presence, not just daily, but moment by moment. From the moment I open my eyes, and endlessly throughout the day, I will check myself through and through of thoughts, attitudes and deeds that are alien to His temple. Watching and praying – the only thing that is worth administering – instead of regret or guilt. Then claiming, the victory, the promise, and then walking out, released into victory, not for the day, but just for the moment, till the next moment, for then I am truly WALKING WITH HIM…

Adding Vision & Purpose to Visions & Purposes

Was reading these words from Introduction chapter of Ps Bill Hybels’ Courageous Leadership (pg 12), and was totally floored by how active verbs and adjectives can add vision and purpose to vision and purpose statements.. and what a divine coincidence to RiverLife's own..

“…churches can become the redemptive centers that Jesus intended them to be. Dynamic teaching, creative worship, deep community, effective evangelism, and joyful service will combine to renew the hearts and minds of seekers and believers alike, strengthen families, transform communities, and change the world.” - Ps Bill Hybels

Dynamic teaching (discipleship) – goes beyond material to address quality of teachers. Crucial if modern busy learners, bombarded by readily available material, make time (and pay) only for good teachers.

Creative worship (worship) – stretches beyond technical & operational achievements. Creativity helps truths go deeper and stay longer in the heart.

Deep community (fellowship) – simple yet profound. Goes beyond cell material & frequency. Depth begets depth in sharing life.

Effective evangelism (evangelism) – weeds out the ineffective, builds on the proven. Tangible & measurable.

Joyful service (ministry) – reminds who & why we serve. Simple yet maintains evaluative mindset to serving.

Renew hearts and minds of seekers and believers alike (Vision 1) – Rom 12:2. Adds focus/reminder on seekers.

Strengthen families (Vision 2) – goes beyond being an “advocate”.

Transform communities (Vision 2) – goes beyond “reaching” or “touching”.

Change the world (Vision 3) – goes beyond “reaching” or “blessing”. Sounded audacious at first, but true calling of the Church of Christ.

Still awed by how a single sentence can encompass both our vision & purpose statements, and added in so much more vision and purpose into them...has to be the Creator of language adding His divine touch...