Wothy manner in the Holy Communion

In our church, there is a tradition to refeclt deeply about our sin when we conduct the Holy Communion. (cf 1 Cor 11). I think though for us now the context is different and we should observe the HC differently.

Let us look at various aspects and its implications

1) Corinthian Context:
People are treating this as a free feed and is ignoring Jesus death, hence Paul rebukes them for their behaviour

2) Incomplete application
since they are sinful in their behabiour -> we should consider our sins a lot.

3) right applicaiton
obviously one should examine oneself whether they are observing HC in a manner worhty of the Lord.
But I aruge that the right manne is:
a) think about our sin
b) think that Jesus has paid for our sin (Christianity that focusses our sin instead of the saving magnificence of Christ usual produce a guilt driven debtor response to the gospel. A Christ focus reflect help us priase God and proclaim his wonder)
c) Think about his return
d) celebrate community - love feast.

Motive for Ministry, Bonhoffer and Implcation for Chinese

There are several views that are widely held in the Sydney Evangelical Circles (and a few other places) about the motives for ministry:

* Servanthood
* Entrusted with the gospel

How do these views interact with the (mainland) Chinese views?

there are classics that are widely available in China - including the works of Bonhoffer. (It's a bargain! Cost of discipleship is sold at about $60 AUD (in aus), and less than 20 RMB in China.)
It has been available for a while. ( how i deduced that: the publisher is Chinese, the cover is very plain, and the cost is very low)

It makes me think: why is this work so popular, and what are the implications for ministry? (both the Chinese view of Ministry, and how we minister to Chinese?)

If you read books like Back to Jerusalem, I have no doubt that you'll be inspired by the miracles, dedication, sacrifice and passion of the Chinese.

Some random thoughts i have as a result of these observations:

1) To what extent is the passion of ministry derived from

a) Cultural norms and values (e.g. collectivism, high power distance) - you can see that china ranks very high in the world in the above attributes:

http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/
http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/individualism/

b) Political /historical factors (e.g. a call for sacrifice for the country is countered by a sacrifice for the gospel)?

2) How much do books form Bonhoffer and the like inform/echo/reflect their theology of ministry?

given the cultural factors mentioned above, one can see why sacrifice (whether from Bonhoffer's writings, or Jesus example of suffering) is a great source of motivating for ppl

3) What can we learn from the (older) Chinese Christians in this area?

We can learn from their understanding of servanthood and discipleship. They are willing to give up all for Christ. We are very unwilling to do that by comparison. THey really do know what it means ot tkae up the cross, and suffer for the gospel, and see the Lordship and example of suffering of Christ very importantly.

4) What area(s) of theology is difficient in the Chinese Christians' understanding of suffering?

From my (limited) understanding, the teaching of eschatology, or indeed, anything about the future (The end Times, Heaven and Hell, BT/Revelation) is limited. This will be a problem for the later generation that are move inidivudalistic/spoilt

5) How does this create a cultural clash for ministry to younger Chinese?

From all the above factors combined, this will be a challenge. In some countries persecution is still a factor, so people ar sharpened in their faith.

In australia, i think we need to be motivated both by the carrot and stick

stick : Lordship of Christ, suffering example
carrot: the Glory of God, the saving power of the gospel both for us and the hearers.

How to form good habits from QT

I have recently added a facebook app abnout my personality:

http://apps.new.facebook.com/mypersonality/index.php?who=757100787

And the outstanding result is my % (or lack thereof) of conscientiousness.

At the same time, i have been thinking about why and how many of us find it hard to take our QT into our daily lives.

the main reason is that we don't reflect on it.

I have thought of a weird method to help us apply our QT. Try to punch holes in this theory.

method:

1) do your normal QT,
2) at the end of the week, look thru what you learnt, summarise all the passages, and pick out a pair of verbs, something that God has done, and something that i do:
3) set your mind on doing it for 1-4 weeks

for example:

Through my QT and the time at Engage conference, i have reflected upon these verses:

Ps 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

John 10:11 The good shepherd (Jesus) lays down his life for the sheep.
John 21:15 Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Jude 3 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints

How does this affect me?

Since God hears prayers, I wait (actively) (Trust a lazy butt like me to choose 'waiting' as something that i have to do :) )
Since Jesus die for his sheep, I fight to feed the sheep (esp. since there's no pastor/older model at church)
Since the truth is entrusted, I contend.

2. Reason and Implications:

I think this is effective since
a) it still helps us to have good bible reading practices. (reading, understanding, summarising, )
b) it makes application concrete
c) habits form when you keep doing it for a month (e.g. AA asks people to quite drinking for a month)
d) Verbs about what we do increases application in our actions and motives, and verbs about what God has done increases our affection for HIm.

What you do guys think? does it work for you?

if you want to try this out, you can post a few pairs of verbs here to encourage each other.