A retreat with a good "treat" @ New Norcia

We went up (North-West) to have a retreat @ New Norcia recently with some young leaders. The retreat's very short, but very good. There's nothing supernatural about New Norcia, but we had a good time due to some good food (yum!) without the need to cook or to wash (wa ... ha!), had a bit of space to walk around. 

Some snapshots ...

Below is the picture of the monastery's guesthouse where we stayed.

This is the church there founded in 1846.

In reflection, the Lord has revealed to me my deep desire for significance as a person. There is nothing wrong if I've become significant someday in some way, yet a desire (leading to pursuit) of it may be an issue. If it becomes the driving force for anything great or small that I'm working hard towards, there is then a danger of taking over the place of God in my life.

I haven't got any quick fix to the issue, but among the "list", it seems to be one of the things that I need God's help for me to wrestle with.

"Have mercy on me, O Lord!"

An enjoyable but exhausting retreat (Day 10)

Today we went out for a ministry retreat with the guys only. It was a good time with lots of prayer, worship, and encouragement from and for one another. 

We spent time "dreaming" about the men's group this year. It really seems that God has already "sparked" something among the younger men here in church. 

"Lord, take charge here, it's your Church!" 

A silent retreat (with Labyrinth walk) - Part 2

On my second walk, before I entered the labyrinth I sensed the movement (though tiny) of the trees, which made me think about this saying, "樹欲靜而風不息，子欲養而親不在". It made me ponder a longer than expected while. When I thought about my unfulfilled responsibility to my parents. I felt a bit of ache when this came up.

I finally entered the "circle", and another thought came up as to the relationship with some people. I cannot but tell God I'm such a weak person, I don't have any great achievement. There are heaps and heaps for the Lord to cut and trim.

I walked and walked feeling more hopeless, suddenly I found myself seated at the centre of the labyrinth - it's the place to meet God. A usual verse came to me, "Have mercy on me, O Lord!" (Ps 86:3a). That's not special, as this is my favourite verse. Strangely though, I felt compelled to not just recite "a" verse or half a verse (to be exact), but to read the entire chapter which that verse comes from.

This is striking. It's very hard to forget this moment. I think time has stopped there, because I stopped my negative thinking after reading the entire chapter of Psalm 86. I was told God alone is God, there is no other. His work is wonderful, no one can fathom. He will show kindness to me, and He will hear my cry for help ... 

Wow! How comforting and strengthening it is to hear God's voice this way!!!

This retreat proves very rewarding because I no longer just cling to that half verse (ie. 86:3a) for survival, but I got a whole chapter to read, reflect, chew on and draw strength from. 

Ha .. Ha .. Ha .. Hallelujah, praise the Lord!

A silent retreat (with Labyrinth walk) - Part 1

I came back to Perth from HK feeling weary (partly due to the mid-night flight ... or because of the draining holiday in busy HK). Anyway, the first thing I wanted to do therefore is getting some rest in a divine way - retreat.

Picture of the Labyrinth in Nathanael's Rest, Mundaring WA Australia

I was hoping to bring to God myself, yes my true self, in the hope that God would continue to break me and mold me for His use. I've got a simple purpose - "Lord, show me what is not pleasing to you", as I prepared for the 1st labyrinth walk of the retreat.

After the 1st labyrinth walk, God has very quickly revealed to me 3 things that come between us. My bad temper towards others (mainly my family) made me guilty and ashamed. My discontentment has driven me to think about how to obtain more wealth. My pursuit of personal fame (both academic and professional achievement) has put all my strength and focus on ... me, me, and me.

I'm sure God isn't pleased as these things have kept coming back haunting me year after year. I realize these are the little yet powerful demons in my heart which I don't have a quick fix to.

Here I am ... I need a heart surgery Lord. Please help me.

The "Encounter" at a recent Leaders Retreat

On 15/11 (Sat), we had a Pastors/Elder/Deacons retreat with the 3-fold purposes of team-building, personal reflection, and forward planning. Getting 3 things done in one day (to be more precise approx 5-6 hours) is very ambitious.

Anyway, what impressed me most is the time alone with God and with the Scriptures (the OliveTree on my PDA actually) on hand. God's word spoke loud enough this time when I read Mt 6:24. It struck me that we cannot serve 2 masters simply because we cannot. When something is of a higher priority, then all others will be of a lesser importance or somehow squeezed to become 2nd or 3rd .... That's the same with everything that concerns us.

With the timing in mind and the global situations right now, it seems that God has shut all doors for what I've planned to do apart from my utmost calling. Having digested this, and sat with the thoughts and my feelings after I shared it with my wife, I seem to be more clear on what God wants me to do - to give 100% for the Gospel's sake.

How big is your memory?

Memory is a secret, a powerful secret that makes you willing (or sometimes involuntarily) to pause in the midst of busyness, and often feeling hesitant to move forward as the brain is doing “replay” of past memory clips.

I realized this as I recently visited New Norcia – a monastic town of the Benedictine Community. It’s perhaps my 4th or 5th visit there. While spending my afternoon walking around the place there, I was drawn to a recall of a tiny memory of seeing a few guys playing balls at the back of a college-like building. That memory could be dated, I think, back to 2001 where we have got a PAC 3-congregation combined youth camp. I have no idea why that moment of the guys ball-playing so vivid in my mind, but it’s just there stuck firmly in my brain. Then more memories came to “show up” concerning some other youth camps I organized and co-organized over the years.

It’s interesting in that afternoon we were supposed to start meditating on the gospel’s parables, but I seemed to have a good time “replaying” all those moments, thoughts, excitements in my mind’s video player. I found out that we all have memories (the good ones and sometimes bad ones) which wouldn’t easily be gone. What amazed me though is as I reflected and gave time that afternoon to thinking about those memories, I feel more intact as a person, and it gives me a sense of wholeness and fulfillment. That’s really interesting, isn’t it? But I don’t understand why. It’s worth exploring …

生命重整年

最近在思想很多事情，包括下半年或未來1-2年的事奉、生活、家庭、經濟等等。恰巧今年正是全職事奉的第7年了，好自然想反省一下自己的事奉及生命。經過這段時間的思想、考慮和禱告，我深信今年我不是要甚麼大展拳腳，展翅高飛，更上層樓，我所需要的係回歸於造我並呼召我的主，重拾起初對上帝的愛及信心。

無錯，今年理所當然的是生命重整年，沒有甚麼大志，沒有甚麼理想，乃是簡簡單單把生命整頓一下，盼藉著以下3個"R"，去預備為主走更遠的路。
1. Re-construct and re-habilitate my life, as a child of the Father
2. Refresh my calling, as a man of the Creator-God
3. Re-ignite my passion, as a minister/servant of my King

Labyrinth walking – what and why?

I have started to enjoy the exercise of Labyrinth walking. As a spiritual exercise to cultivate an awareness of the presence of God in one's life here and now, Labyrinth does tremendous help to set aside time and place for an individual for reflection and an opportunity to get in tune with the Creator-God.

Finding time for God is difficult – we all know that. So we got to "make" time for it. If you don't schedule for it, it will never happen. Do it today and reap the benefits, or let it be gone and you'll miss everything in life. It may not have to be the walking of Labyrinth, but just a good and quality time with God out of your routine schedule, which is sure to inspire and help us better focus on what is the most important in life. Ultimately, our life choices are in our hands, and it is us who can make it happen or not.