将信仰带入人群中间

Today, I accidentally discovered the following news.

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患有先天性心臟病、曾被醫生斷定過不了廿五歲的吳嘉榆老師，
於上週五（三月廿四日）晚已返回天家，
享年廿八歲。其生前任教的聖道書院將於稍後為他舉行追思會。

嘉榆在出生一個月時，已被醫生發現心律不正，所患的先天性心臟病十分嚴重，
自此經常進出醫院，但他卻以無窮的毅力及在生命中經歷了主的大愛，
打破了醫生的預言，讓神蹟發生在他身上，於去年奇蹟地渡過了廿八歲生日。

熱愛教學及寫作的嘉榆雖然體弱多病，但卻熱愛與人相交，他曾在接受本報訪問是表示，
與學生的生命交流經常為他帶來無限的鼓舞，令他對教師這份職業從無厭倦。

在聖道書院任教期間，他又以無限的愛心循循善誘地教導新移民學生，以生命影響生命，
深受學生愛戴，因此曾被冠以「iSir」的稱號，以英語新移民「immigrants」的「i」字，
突顯出其對新移民學生的關懷，這種教學及其對生命永不放棄的精神，
後來更被真証傳播作為題材，邀得陳鍵鋒把嘉榆的故事拍攝成見證劇場版電影。

在嘉榆其中一本著作《用愛叩開教室的門》中，
其母親葉滿良女士曾在書中序言中寫道關於這位愛子的名字，
有著特別的意思：「嘉」代表著美好；「榆」是指榆樹，可給人遮風蔽雨，是為人服務的意思。

嘉榆的生命，豐盛而從不枉過，且更成為了別人的祝福，一切都成就了！
願嘉榆安息主懷，並在此向其家人致最深切的慰問。

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He is my one year senior when I was in the University of Hong Kong. I don't really know him. The only encounter we have is during the orientation period and the fellowship meeting in my first year. He looked normal, similar to other people, though a bit quiet. Yet his name and his image has vividly stored in my heart because of his illness that he was experiencing. A senior member in my group has told me about his illness in a dinner occasion. It's like a film, but it happen to people around you. Maybe for us, we have sympathy for these people because of their suffering. But maybe for these people, it is not suffering anymore and it is a mark in their life. Since then, I was busy in my life and I don't pay particular attention to him because he is totally outside my life circle. Later on, after I have graduated from my undergraduate study, I saw his name and his article again in one of the books in a christian bookstore. The book is a memoir of the university life, and he is one of the contributors. I admire him. He was in my same generation and studying the same university life at a similar time. While at that time I was still wandering in my christian walk and has just started to be more mature, he went far ahead of me and already has the spiritual depth to pen down something to bless others.

So God has finally taken him back. Today I have just realised that in his final years, he has became a teacher, pouring out his life to serve his students, and has writtem several christian books to bless the young people. His life is like a movie. Though his span in this world was short, he has already left a legacy and became a blessing to the people around him. He has lived a victorious life and has walked through the journey that God has called him to be. A life that shines and offer hope.

Reminscient of his life remind me of the motto of the christian fellowship of HKU during that time '将信仰带入人群中间'. May this be our prayers.

On sympathy to the others

Jesus has compassion for the people, and therefore He feeds the Four Thousand (Mark 8:1-10). Without sympathy and compassion, human will become just like a machine. Maybe we are overwhelmed by our ownselves, or maybe our life become too busy or too comfortable, we have gradually became apathetic to others and our heart are growing colder and colder. These two days God has opened my eyes again to see and to be able to sympatheis the others needs. Maybe God has allowed me to see my shadow and my oldself again through seeing their life. I thank God for changing my life, and may one day they can also experience the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their heart.

On setting our minds on above and on earth; Rom 12:1-3, Philippians 4:6-7, Colossians 3:1-3

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12:1-3)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcents all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Transformation and renewal can only come, if we have offered ourselves as a living sacrifices to God everyday. Humans problem came, only when we set our mind on earthly things but not on things above (Colossian 3:2). Setting our mind on things above doesn't mean that we are going to abandon the world. Rather, it is only that our mind are set on things above allow us to fully immerse and engage in this world, and live a fruitful life according to his good, pleasing and perfect will. How many times our soul was troubled and our life was paralysed when we fixed our eyes on our adversities. Yet God is faithful. When we set our mind on above and offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, He will turn every adversities into blessings, and every stumbling block will become the springboard. Then the peace of God will transcends all of our understanding and will guard and fill in our heart; Our life will be transformed and renewed, full of strength and vitality. This is the miraclous power of Christ's resurrection (Colossians 3:1-3).

May this be our prayer.

Make me a channel of Your peace

When praying in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus experienced the agony and loneliness in his heart. His soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He asked His Father to take away the cup (the suffering road to the Cross). Yet He pray 'Not what I will, but what you will'. He obey, and He pray for His Father will to be done.

Then there is the road to the Cross, the way of suffering. He bear the heavy weight of the Cross; He was nailed to the Cross; and He has died on the Cross. He has finished the journey that God the Father has called Him to do. He resurrected in three days time, and by this He claim victory.

What does this meant to us?

It is only through fixing our eyes on God to serve Him and others will bring us real joy, strength and satisfaction. During this Easter, I thank God that I have the privilege to be used by Him in serving in different occasion, which allowed me to be fully immersed in His grace, and remember and experience His love that brought me comfort and peace. We didn't choose to bear the Cross. It is the Cross that has chosen us. He will make the weight light, as His yoke is light and Jesus is carrying it for us.

Make me a channel of Your peace,
where there is hatred let me bring Your love;
where there is injury , Your Pardon, Lord;
and where there's doubt, true faith in You.

Make me a channel of Your peace,
where there's despair in life let me bring hope;
where there is darkness, only light;
where there's sadness ever joy.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek, so much
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved, as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of Your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving to all men that we're received;
and in dying we're born to eternal life.

Judges 2:6 - 3:5: On the Canaanites in our road

Joshua has led the Isrealites to enter the Canaan and drive away the inhabitants there. The Lord has promised different tribes to take possesions of the land each to his own inheritance. So the 12 tribes of Isrealites fights the remaining Cannaites in the promised land. Some tribe did succeed in driving out the Cannaites, some didn't. After the death of Joshua and his whole generation, the Isrealites has fallen into a vicous cycle. They disobey Jehovah God and worship the other idols; They had fallen to their enemies and were in great distress; They repented and seeked for the help of the Lord. The Lord has listened and has raised up judges to deliever the Isrealites from their enemy; After that, they turn away from the Lord again. The cycles keep on going and going, in downward spiral.

So the Lord has allowed their enemy to stay in their land and didn't drive it out. He want to test the Israelites whether they would obey the Lord's commnad which had given their forefathers through Moses (Judge 3:4)

God has promised many goods in our life, and has left us with His spiritual inheritance that allow us to take possession. Yet the Lord didn't make the road straight and didn't drive out the Canaanites on the road. After inheriting their land, the Israelites forgot God. So are we. That's why He has put obstacles in our life journey to test whether we are willing to obey His command and follow His way.

The old testament story is a sad story, for human are intrinsically disobedient and esay to forget God. That's why God's love is so precious, because Jesus has died for our disobedience even though we don't deserve it, and He has broken the vicous cycle in the our life. That's the meaning of Easter.

'I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful' (John 15:1-2)

Che Guevara - The Motorcycle Diaries

Finally I have watched the motorcycle diaries tonight. It's about the one-year travel journey Che Guvera has embarked before he became a revolutionary fighter.

In nowaday teminology, He is a terrorist, a typical communist of those days. He believes in arm struggle to overthrow government in order to liberate the poor and exploited. What makes he to become an revolutionary icon in the third world is his zealous for his belief, his distaste for power, and his 'martyerdom' for his cause. He was the number 3 of Fidel Castro when Castro overthrow the existence government and establish a communist regime in Cuba through arm revolution in 1959. Yet he didn't stay in Cuba to enjoy the power. He carry his 'mission' to export revolution in other African and Latin American country. In the end, he was captured and executed by American CIA in Bolivia in 1967. The Bolivian and the American CIA indirectly make him a martyer by showing his body to the public. Through propogada from the communist regime, and also through his genuine zeal for his cause for injustice, he became a historical figure, and people, especially the people in Latin America and the socialist, still remember him to this days.

This is an irony. Through the past decades, the socialist and communist, though they have a noble cause, has done a great harm and cause a greater misery than those who believe in greed and in grabbing money. This is a sad story in the world.

Before entering into the revolutionary life, Che Guvera has embarked on a travel journey. It was during the injustice that he encoutered in the trip that has shaped his future worldview. He never return to Argentina.

So, even non-christians will commit their life and will die for their cause, so why do many christians, who know God, wouldn't show the same commitment for their faith and the same anger for injustice? Yet even if christians are doing this, it is very easy for them to fall in the pitfall of worshipping an ideology but not Jesus. Ideology is a man-made concept and may lead human astray, but God is the everlasting truth. Therefore, focus should be correct. This is also a pitfall for those who used to cast grand vision. If the vision is from God, we should ask God to grant us a willing us to commit to His vision. Yet if the vision is only a human ideology, then we should be careful.

Yet there is one thing that has inspired me from Che Guevara story. We should ask God to shape our worldview and our outlook of life while we are still young.

SEEC2006 - on the reflection of the teaching on joy, strength and faith

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me(Matthew 16:24). During the Easter time, when we meditate the love of Jesus, who has beared our sin and shame and dying on the cross, our heart becomes heavy, because of his surpassing love and because we know that following Jesus is costly. The road to the Cross is not easy to follow. This is one truth. Grace is not cheap, and following Jesus is costly.

Yet on the other side of the story, sometimes christians was so absorbed by the heaviness of the cross. Together with the burdens facing in their christian walks, lifes become heavy. They walk like a dead man; Their life was without joy and strength; Their eyes are overclouded by their worries, anxieties and difficulties; and their heart was saddened by the heaviness in their life.

If we bear the cross by ourselves, the unbearable heaviness of the cross will make us suffocate, which in turn will paralyse our whole life. For Jesus say 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light' (Matthew 11:30). So often we think that we are carrying the yoke by ourselves. However, for a yoke to work, we need to have a companion who is walking in the same direction with you. The yoke of Jesus is light, because Jesus is the one who is carrying the cross with us. He is our companion. The underlying problem of us is that we are still grabbing hold of things and could't 100% place our trust and leave all our bagguages to Jesus. The heaviness have consumed all our strength, that we cannot realise the fullness which God has prepared in our life. With no strength from God, there is no joy, and our life could not shine.

If we fixed out eyes only on heaven and longing for the perfection that are yet to be coming, it is an act of resignation of life. This is not the true meaning of faith. The destination of faith are both pointing to heaven as well as onto this earth. If our joy and the dreams in this world are God-given, it will become our spiritual inheritage that God has bestowed for us, and we should grab hold and fight for it and give it back to God as a pleasing sacrifice.

We are surrounded by a cloud of witness, and the speaker is one of them. To me, He is Caleb. Even though he is old, but his heart was as young as before, with full of strength. He grabbed hold of his dreams (doctor, soprano and muscles) and work hard towards to attain them. God has answered his prayers, and he has inherited the blessings that God has prepared for him, and he can give his inheritance back to God and use it to serve others in his ministry that God has called him to be.

'Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. (Roman 12:15) If the upbringings of a life is wounds and bitterness, they don't have the lightness to rejoice with those who rejoice. It the upbringings of a life is happy and smooth, they don't have the gravity to mourn with those who mourn. So as christians, when we are joyful, we can easily forgot God and become less sensitive to those who couldn't laugh and who are poor in spirit (Mt 5:3). When we are mournful, we tend to forget that it is God intention for us to be joyful, and the world is intrinsically good and beautiful that we can spontaneously praise for His goodness. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, and a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecc 3:4). If we truely immense ourselves to Jesus, we will be sensitive to Him, and we will be sensitive to the other needs. Yet if don't hear any specific voice, then let's have a joyful heart, because this is one of the fruit that God want us to bear in our life (Gal 5:22-23). He is good.

South Enland Easter Conference 2006

I remember there was once a term called 'institutionalization'. The negative meaning of this word is that it used to describe a person who has suffered the ill-effects of a long-term residence in a particular institution. Maybe this may also apply to those who have joined a christian conference. Suddenly, we don't get use to our original normal life.

It is better for me to write down some memorable moments in the camp before I forgot. There was times that the sermons did enlighten my mind and give me a great challenge, and the message has vividly stayed in my heart. There was also times that I felt annoyed by some of the 'long-winded' talks that I just want to walked away if it was not the inner voice asking me to stay and cool me down.

In 2 King 4:1-7, when the widow kept pouring her little oil without holding back, all her empty jars become miraclously full. This was one of the story that the speaker used to encourage us to pour out our life and fully use our gift in whatever circumstances, even it maybe logical in human eyes. If the widow didn't obey God , and just dip a little portion of oil instead of pouring all in the empty jar in order to save, no micale will happen. To pour out our life to serve God is a blessing, yet sometimes we desire to hold back, because we want to protect ourselves. To a certain extent it is true, yet without pouring out all, God's power cannot work through us.

In the camp, God has offered me a chance to lead worship again. I still remember the time when the fellowship had just started, I had to lead worship in a frequent and regular basis. The workload has drained me, and somtimes the 'quality' was not good. Thanks God that there are more and more people are joining the fellowship who has shared a lot of burdens in this area. I haven't led worship properly for almost a year. Maybe this is the reasons that gives intensity. That day I have consumed all my strength and focus my heart in it. After leading the worship (around 25 minutes totally), I felt extremely tired and couldn't receive a single words from the speaker afterwards because my brain didn't function anymore and has gone blank. Yet looking back, it seems that God do want me to experience again the taste of 'pouring out all'. It will consume all of your strength, and it will give passion and intensity, and it will be used by God to bless others.

In the camp, brothers and sisters are getting closer to one another. You can have your own space, yet you can feel that we are connected to one another. Everyday, you can meet with many familiar faces. You can feel their presence besides you. You can see their faces and their smiles in a distant, and you can hear from their laugh. The mere fact of living under the same roof and seeking God together with your brothers and sisters in the same time is already a blessing.

The above is just part of the things I would like to share. However, I have to stop now, because my eyes are heavy and my brain cannot work anymore tonight. Hope that I can write more this week, if time allows, as it is good to recount the blessing of the Lord.

晚年周恩来

Just finish reading the whole book 晚年周恩来, which help me to have a better grasp and deeper understanding of the contemporary history of communist China and the life of 周恩来. Normally when you reading this kind of biography, one questions that you may ask is, if you were place it in a position as in 周恩来, how will you response to the turmoil political environment of that age? The general comment of the book is that if it is not of him, the extent of damage of the cultural revolution done to the contemporary China will be much worsen; Yet if it is not of him, the cultural revolution will not last so long. Yet sometimes it is difficult to ask this kind of counterfactural or 'what if' question. I believe that he has done his best subject to the constraint he is facing. Some may claim that he was weak, yet all the 'strong' man was out-manoeuvred and gun-downed by the treachery of 毛泽东, and it is only 周恩来 who can preserve and save the country from ruin during the cultural revolution.

Yet this is also the saddest things is - The country was ruined by one person because of his desire to grab the power and to get rid of his political enemy (once they called each other 同志) who will challenge his authority, and nobody can stop it. Another saddest things is, nowaday some people still don't know the history and place much admiration on this person.

I was used to having long hours meeting when I was in undergraduate, but today after a 6 hour meeting my mind seems to go blank. It was a state where I am tired but I don't want to go to sleep. The meeting was good and constructive, and God has allowed us to settle many issue. Yet life is full of ongoing issues that are yet to be settled. For the past 2 weeks God has been good to me, that suddenly there was a lot of social activities (friends wedding & graduation ceremony, visitation by old classmates...) which brought me ease and reminiscent of friendship & memorable moment in the past, as well as news in the present. Now April has come, and I should have to work harder then.