Thank God it's Friday!

Cell Meeting at Bandar Manjalara

Throughout the week, God is the primary part of my activities. Personally, I find that God's presence is always there - whether I am catching the news on TV or cleaning the dogs' poo poo. Trust me - God is interested in your every activity. His presence is not invasive but He is there! Whatever I may be doing, I can pause and just reach out to Him. There is nothing mysterious about this because God has created us to be connected with Him. So day in and day out, He mingles with us and makes Himself known in our events. Sunrise and sunset - then it's Friday again!


Thank God it's Friday! 


Why are most people happy about Fridays? Well, I believe it is because they can take a break on the weekends. Those who work a five-day week are the happiest of all. For us who are preachers, weekends mean work. Many pastors have meetings on Saturdays. Sundays are reserved for sermon deliveries, counselings and other ministry stuffs. However, there are lay people who work just as hard during the weekends. They are the ushers, greeters, worship leaders, musicians, backup singers, sound technicians, counselors and disciples doing all types of chores in church. We, pastors, get to rest on Mondays but these lay workers go right back to their jobs. To these dedicated servants of God, I salute you all for your faithfulness.


Some people have this strange idea that pastors and preachers only work on weekends. They believe that the clergy have it easy on the weekdays. They may have a point there. I do not know about other ministers but I better begin by evaluating my own weekday's schedule. Let me see if I can remember what I did for the last seven days.


Last Friday, I spent the morning conducting a two-hour training at Global Ministry Team in Cheras. The drive there from Bukit Rahman Putra took almost two hours. Grace was my driver and a real blessing. After the lunch with Sis Lilian and Bro Jason, I came back in a taxi to complete the PowerPoint slides for the Church Growth Seminar. The evening came quickly and without dinner, Grace and I drove to our Cell meeting at Bandar Manjalara. There I conducted a bible study from the Gospel of Mark.


Saturday was a whole-day affair - conducting Church Growth training at Diakona Church at Rawang. Monday to Wednesday were spent reading, researching, editing, writing and preparing sermon for Sunday. Managed to visit a doctor on Monday for some antibiotics for a claw-wound on my finger. Tabby Boy had accidentally clawed one of my left fingers and after a week, it had become infected.


Apart from taking care of pets, I had to take care of wife too. She was not feeling well and so needed a little tender loving care. Visited the in-laws and thankfully no outlaws to visit. Wrote blogs and checked emails took much of the time too. Spent a little time writing an email to my former boss to encourage her to buy organic yagons from my friend, Pastor Feztus. This Singaporean minister is helping the tribal farmers from Yunnan, China. Researched about how the truths of the Bible are hidden in the Chinese language. Mmmm... very interesting. Got started with 'Beyond Half Time' written by Bob Buford. Another mmmm... very interesting.


Thursday came with more works on the PowerPoint for Sunday's sermon. Pastor Sim came for our weekly meeting at 3 PM. Praise God for this brother - he really loves the Lord and His people. He wants souls to be saved and his church to grow... so badly that he is willing to do anything to make it work. Spent couple of hours evaluating the results of the Force Field Analysis and the day was pretty over. Then Mercy and Goodness vomited three piles of smelly stuffs. One in the master's bedroom and two in the living room. Must have eaten some really bad stuffs. No more junk foods for them! Paused and cleaned! Cleaned and paused to breathe... and mopped! The dogs were hanging their heads down and looking real guilty. But did not scold the dogs... maybe because I am a real civilized and converted guy. Assured Mercy and Goodness that it was okay with daddy... just don't do it too often.


Grace arrived home from work really late and off we went to enjoy Singapore Hokkien Mee and pork spare-part soup at Kepong. Realized that last night the space in my stomach had reduced in size. The tummy remained big but I just could not eat that much anymore. Found out that King's Confectionery offered 'buy one get one free' after 10 PM and so we bought enough pastries to share with Grace's parents and siblings.


It's almost noon and back to the bible and my sermon. Oh, got to do little studying on the Gospel of Mark too... so that I do not talk nonsense at cell meeting tonight. Ciao and God bless!