Saturday, October 31, 2015

Signed Sealed


Main line of the refrain of our covenant anthem today

Sealed with by chop
My personal commitment and guarantee.



Nehemiah 9:38
Chinese Union Version of preamble to today's bible text 


Sealed
The active word

Exiles retuned
Wall rebuilt 
Covenant written

Why th need for the covenant
The people earliest that they were prone to fall

The way to prevent
Stick to the ord of God

Trust n God
Jerimiah 31:31-43
God promises a new covenant


Will you write a covenant with God?
Seal it with your own name?















Monday, September 28, 2015

20150929 Jonah and Healthy Home

Jonah, Japanese name, prophet from Middle East, 2500 years ago.

Healthy Home
Our teaching and capacity building in the community.
What is a healthy home.
It is one built on shalom: peace.

Multidirectional good relationship with self, others, environment and God.

Jonah was asked to go to Niniveh, hated enemy of Jonah's people: to tell them God has noticed their wickedness and will destroy them unless they repent, change their ways.

Niniveh was 700 kilometer to the East.
Jonah jumped in a ship and sailed to Tashish 700 km to the West.

God sent storm and ship almost sinking.
Sailors found out Jonah was responsible for their trouble and asked him what to do.
Jonah said he must be thrown into the sea.
When he was thrown overboard the storm stopped and a big fish swallowed Jonah.

In the belly of the fish Jonah looked in 3 directions 
Around
Upwards
Forwards

Around: aware of the prison he was in: can not go forwards: can not go backwards : no where to go.

Upwards: he saw God was in charge.

Forwards: He saw that God would rescue him.

After 3 days God caused the fish to eject Jonah on dry ground. God again told Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent.
Jonah obeyed
The people repented.

Jonah sulked: he went to hillside outside town, waiting for Nineveh people to backslide and be destroyed.
He was hot and bothered in the sunlight.
God caused a beansprout to grow and provide shelter to Jonah.
Jonah was comfortable.

God sent a worm
The worm chewed the beanstalk and caused it to fall down.
Jonah was hot again.
And very distressed
And very angry
"It is better for me to die than to live" he complained 

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”







The whole A4 chart