Last Sunday, we witnessed another friend from our Community Group getting baptised at the church anniversary. Since I have joined the Community Group about 2.5 years ago, I have witnessed 3 people who got baptised from my group and it has been a real privilege to see them grow in their faith leading up to their baptisms and the lives they live after that.
The first one who got baptised is a hilarious person who really helps organise a lot of the trips that we have as a group but she's got substance in her faith. To see her go on to lead Bible study in the group is just amazing. She also regularly goes on "fights" with another person in the group and together they remind me of those minions from Despicable Me. The resemblance is uncanny, both wears glasses, one tall and lanky, the other short. Both of them bring much laughter to the group.
The second is a student who came to our group all quiet and was really new to Christianity. At first, I was a little worried that this might be a little overwhelming and that he might not stick to the group, as I have seen too many people being like that. But he rapidly understood and became more active in the group and it is always an encouragement to see how he has matured in the faith. This is also the person who has and does somewhat random things, like taking selfies inside cupboards in Ikea, dressing up as a pirate on Talk Like A Pirate day and cycling to 3 different franchises of doughnut shops for free doughnuts and Spider Man thermals when we went on a ski trip.
And the one who got baptised on Sunday, she is an Australian who is more Asian than most Asians. I don't mean that she can speak better Mandarin than most Asians. She dabbles in a lot of different subcultures like goth, emo, punk, lolita and a touch of cosplaying, mainly the Japanese variety. Knows Japanese and Chinese culture and history better than anyone I know. Still plays Magic The Gathering, Pokemon and Final Fantasy games. Has audio engineering under her belt and plays bass and is proud of the fact that she married a rock star (or at least to her) and is his biggest fan. And yet her devotion to reading the Bible or wanting to know more about the Bible is just as strong, if not stronger. And she cares for a lot of us in the group which is just amazing. She also says the funniest things and sometimes with no filter on. She once thought that the two new people in the group, both from New Zealand, were secretly dating and when she found out that they weren't, she subtly try to make it happen. Because expectation did not match reality. She also asked me to try and date a person that I mentioned quite a bit and when I told her that she was married, she replied with a matching face saying "Well that's disappointing!"
It's not only the great and awesome things that God has been doing in our church over the past few years but also what God has been doing in our community groups as well. To see these three people and the rest of the people who make up the community group go forward makes me glad I stayed on.
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It seems that Hillsong have been putting up some good content on their site/blog, something that I would have thought to be a bit far fetched to the 5-years-ago-me. Like this on worship leading. I bet more than 80% of churches I've been to don't really do half of the things there or not with the right mindset. This is not rocket science people.
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The gold standard for mixing songs with sermons has always been Shane and Shane's Embracing Accusation with John Piper delivering the sermon snippet. I'm not a real fan of the song used below, but coupled with Matt Chandler and John Piper's sermon snippets I'd say it ranks up there with Embracing Accusation.
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This article came to me in a very timely fashion on stepping down in ministry. It is worth the read.
No Credentials
Monday, October 27, 2014
at
1:04 AM
So many things that I want to write on but haven't had the time to sit down (or in my case, stand up) and actually write them down.
I think it is a recipe for disaster for anyone to ask me for relationship advice yet people still ask of it from me. Me. Of all people, me. It's either that I have done something good or that people are deluded into hearing what I "have" to say. What good ever come out of asking a single person whose one previous relationship went up in flames because he/she botched it up? I don't even listen to the things I say to people.
I think I should have copious amounts of whiskey/bourbon every time I get asked advice. As I am doing this very moment. On a Sunday night.
Also having good whiskey/bourbon stocked is always a win.
***
I am super stoked that my new desktop is coming tomorrow. My current one is about to kick the bucket. Just in the nick of time.
I think it is a recipe for disaster for anyone to ask me for relationship advice yet people still ask of it from me. Me. Of all people, me. It's either that I have done something good or that people are deluded into hearing what I "have" to say. What good ever come out of asking a single person whose one previous relationship went up in flames because he/she botched it up? I don't even listen to the things I say to people.
I think I should have copious amounts of whiskey/bourbon every time I get asked advice. As I am doing this very moment. On a Sunday night.
Also having good whiskey/bourbon stocked is always a win.
***
I am super stoked that my new desktop is coming tomorrow. My current one is about to kick the bucket. Just in the nick of time.
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