Recapturing the Evangelistic Spirit

Dear Diary,

A fine morning… the last day of my scheduled leave period, haha… After 11 days of absence, I will be back at work tomorrow. Was planning to go for a massage at the Cathay building but decided against it because I don’t really feel a need for it. This entire 11-day period has been a period of reflection too. I guess it kinda toned down my rhetorical desire to make drastic changes in my life. I have been self-centred all these while, planning everything for myself, doing things for myself… the list goes on. Maybe I should start with what is supposed to be most important to my life and the lives of others. Whether you are Christian or not, I cannot emphasize more the importance of knowing God in Jesus Christ. My heart convicts me so and I know that ironically… as we pursue the vanities of the world, what is most important is given free. It is free but not cheap. Very costly in fact when God Himself had to die for us.

Yesterday, my church has their usual monthly “Friendship Sunday” whereby we dispensed with the usual elaborate Eucharistic liturgy, and the retired bishop spoke in a more informal evangelistic message. In Rt Rev John Tan’s sermon, he quoted a simple statement of truth from the late Roman Catholic nun Mother Theresa, “You will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

That statement rang hard in my mind and heart. Although I profess to trust in God and put Him first in my life, I did not. The next instance, I was wondering why I did not even make an effort to bring someone for a scheduled evangelistic service! I have spoken to my youngest sister’s boyfriend on Christianity on one instance and since he is currently attending a basic introductory course to the Christian faith in my church, I did not really follow up. So the last time, I truly try to evangelise was quite a long while back! How sad. I should have brought a friend of mine to church since I was meeting up with her that same evening.

To kinda confirm my lack of initiatives, my friend whom I never met up one-on-one over a meal told me that she is exploring the Christian faith… which is good! She has gone through a really rough patch and I was trying to motivate her a little over dinner at the Ichiban Boshi at the Esplanade Mall. Learnt from her that there are a couple of our own friends asking about Christianity in recent times too! As much as I was trying to motivate and console her, I thought I got a wake-up call from her albeit unintentionally? It was a nice meal with her and I went home resolved to do something. Late last night, I dropped an email to a former classmate to ask for the return of many of those evangelistic materials which I had left with her for many years. I hope I can start talking to people about God as I did when I was in the university. I changed my MSN nickname to “I want to evangelise once again!”

Incredibly, a person messaged me asking for answers on Christianity the moment I flashed that new nickname! She had strong prejudice against the “hypocrisy” of Christians and the “barbaric actions” recorded in the Old Testament. Hmmm… I told her that let not the people affect her perception of God because we are all fallen people. Christians will continue to sin because we are still humans. Just that we are forgiven because Christ paid the ransom for our sins! As for the Old Testament, I guess she took a very “feministic” perception and I reminded her that it must be read in the context of the culture then.

This song is currently ringing in my head…

Father God I Wonder

Father God I Wonder how I managed
to exist without the knowledge
of Your parenthood and Your loving care
Now I am Your son, I am adopted in Your family
and I will never be alone (x3)
'cause Father God You're there beside me
I will sing Your praises (x2)
I will sing Your praises for evermore(x2)

You can check this song at youtube! Take care!

God Bless,

Andrew