New Year Resolution Finalised

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So after one month of thinking and one week of retreat into Chiang Mai to hear from God, I guess I am more than ready to share my New Year Resolutions for the year. Basically, these are thoughts which I have shared here over the past few weeks. But before that, some thoughts and reflections from the Chiang Mai GC.

This particular GC is the first GC in the 5 years masterplan that HIM is embarking on. CATALYSE is the buzz word for this and this includes 6 priorities and 16 initiatives. Sound pretty exciting. And we are challenged to think about our passion for God, His presence and His power. The invited preacher, Ps Bill Wilson, is someone who backs his words up with his life. Fascinating person and inspiring preacher and just in case you are thinking, he is not those type of charismatic preacher who fluff up words to inspire but he's really a down to earth preacher who preach the Word with theological underpinning and a life lived in action. Anyway, one question from this GC, what makes us angry? What do we see that makes us angry for God?

As I think about this, I will say that it is the inadequacy of the believers to explain their faith that makes me angry. I admit that my passion is in the area of Christian apologetics and if I have the chance, I will want to set up a ministry within Hope to educate people of Christian apologetics. Why? Because the bible asks us so:
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. - 1 Peter 3:15a
Preparing to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope we have is an act of reverence towards the Lord. We need to be able to explain to people why we believe and why Christ in particular. This is a biblical imperative. That's why I always think that fidelism is a philosophy within Christiandom that is doomed to fail for all the believers who choose to believe in the philosophy. One reason is because it is not biblical. Ultimately people fall away for a reason, and therefore will come to the Lord with a reason. I will ask you why you believe in Christ, and you will need to give me an answer. To say that faith requires no reason is a contradiction in itself because you reasoned that out. Enough said.

And this is what I am angry about.

Of course, another thing I am angry about is sometimes seeing people responding to God and in the end, becomes NATO. In particular, I do think that I am passionate enough to want to start thinking about the possibilities of missions in my life, be it sending people, helping people to go or even going myself. This is a topic that can be left to discuss in the future.

And so, how about the resolutions?

Firstly, it is to do the things that I am currently doing in a better way. Lead the CG better, disciple my sheep better, relate with people better, play the guitar better. Basically, I will still be doing the same things as I have done last year, but there is always room for improvement. So need to do them better.

Secondly, as I have shared, it's to be more sound minded in my decision making. This is nothing new as well, since I have shared this in a previous post.

Lastly, it's Spirit-leadership. Again, nothing new. But let me just share a few things regarding this. Over at Chiang Mai, I believe that God is speaking to me and confirming to me about this aspect of my life. It is quite fascinating to see that God confirms all these during the teaching sessions by the pastors. The only question is how can I measure my life accordingly? Fruits of the Spirit perhaps? Certainly.

In any case, I will stop here for now.

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