BOREDEM
When Christians said "I’m bored today because I have nothing to do", they are not consumed with the passion for God and the purpose of God. If they are, their "free" time will be purposeful in the eyes of God.
When Christians said "Prayer meetings are boring", the root problem is that they are not consumed with the issues concerning God. If they are, they will either be sitting, kneeling or prostrating position for the whole prayer time wrestling with God. There is no need of a variety "stunts" to make the prayer meeting interesting. Churches who adopt such "stunts" usually have high attendance in the prayer meeting. Attendance in prayer or Attitude in prayer? A Christian with prayer substance can adapt to any prayer structure.
"You only need to bring a hymn book and the Bible to come before the presence of God. But these days, the church gets herself busy setting up tons of equipment to feel the presence of God.", said A.W. Tozer of the American Church during the 50s. The object is God himself, not the liturgy. It is not the Tent or the Temple but the presence of God through the Ark of the Covenant.
If Christians have a prayerful life on their own, they will have no problem coming together in a prayer meeting because they want to share the encounter collectively as they do when they were on their own individually. It is said that people come because of convenience. Convenience can either come naturally or by deliberately making it. The former happens once in a blue moon and the latter happens regularly.
If Christians were to recite "I will love the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, with all mind and with all my strength" in the beginning of each day and conscious of it through out the day, what is boredem?
How to love God with "all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and with all my strength" when being locked-up in prison? If one can succeed in this, just think how much can be done in freedom.
DEALING WITH THE PAST
It was said that “what is done cannot be undone”. There are certain things in life that the past can be undone. One, is to forgive and to ask forgiveness. A divorced person who becomes a Christian will seek to reconcile with the ex-spouse. If both are not married again, then get married again. If remarrying has taken place with either one, being friends again is the next best thing to do.
Anyone who stole things or borrowed money in the past before becoming a Christian should return what were stolen and money borrowed with interest. If the victims of these loses are no longer around and cannot be found, the next best thing is to give the monetary value to the poor.
There was a short man who believed in Jesus when He was on earth. He rectified his past by returning 4 times the amount what he had cheated where twice the amount was only required by the law, and gave half of his possessions to the poor. Asking for forgiveness is active rather than passive.
If a man who is now a Christian and had in the past murdered someone and was not caught, should he surrender himself to the police? Is it enough as he had already asked God for forgiveness?
GREED FOR POWER
Many children died in the recent hostage taking of a school in Russia. All because of a clash of ideology of two groups of people to hold power. 2000 years ago, a baby boy was born to be King. The king of the day, Herod, felt threatened and ordered the massacre of boys aged 2 years and below. Greed for power really blinds and men are capable of evil to get it. It’s like the Lord of the Rings. God Himself is all power and doesn’t need to crave for more. He has the power to save and to condemn. Do not fear men who can only destroy the body. But fear God who can destroy both the body and the spirit.
BAD WEATHER
Rain is generally termed as bad weather because it spoils the plans, the programmes or the agendas of people. Such a perception of bad weather is very self-centered. Rain and shine are part of God’s way to balance the eco system.
Hurricane or typhoon can be termed as bad weather when it causes destruction of properties and lives. This bad weather is not from God (except for Genesis 6-8)but from the consequences of sin. When Man - the crown of creation - falls, the whole of the nature world also falls. As long as sin is still around, the bad weather is here to stay. At the meantime, do plan for both shine and rain programme. Either way, we can give thanks to God who let the sun shines and the rain falls on both the good and the evil.
