Confess and Renounce

Proverbs 28:13 (New International Version)

¹³ He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

I was going to share this verse at English Service yesterday. But it was sooo hectic that I couldn't find the verse when I was leading. If you were there yesterday, I just want to clarify that the Bible says confesses and renounces them.

Renounce (according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary) means:

1 : to give up, refuse, or resign usually by formal declaration
2 : to refuse to follow, obey, or recognize any further

At worship training yesterday, I was also reminded to build a habit of confessing sin to prevent it from accumulating and from desensitizing our hearts.

Leading ES this week was a bit interesting, started from last week when we started to do preparation.

As we prepare for English service last week one of the musician asked if he can join for practice on Sunday right before the service because it was kinda hard to find time to practice in weekdays. At the end we managed to squeeze in some practice time in the weekday, right before they have practice for pemuda.

On practice day, one of the musician who has the keyboard was running late because he had to commute to SF that day. Had he gone home first to get the keyboard, we would have started practice really late and would potentially disrupts the other practice too. Thank God for our sister Kathy who kindly let us borrow her keyboard (and who happen to live in the same complex with ko Roy, where we had our practice) so we can start practice on time!

On Sunday, we noticed that we missed bringing the projector. We thought we can borrow from Indonesian Service, but it turned out that no one brought that one either. Thank God for Ping2 and Leticia who kindly picked it up from storage so we can have projector for English Service. There are still other obstacles on that day....I am so amazed how God use them all to humble me.

Last week at our smallgroup I learned about owning our responsibility. Honestly, as these things happens I was very very tempted to point fingers to others and to put blame on circumstances. Yet God gently teaching me to be more prepared next time =)

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Shrek the final chapter

Caution: may contain spoilers.

Went to watch shrek yesterday......It was ri-donkey-lously good! Well, at least I enjoyed it a lot!

I loveeeee animated movies, simply because they usually have a simpler story line (although they don't always make sense) and have simpler take home messages.

One of my favorite lines was when Donkey asked Shrek why would he traded his real life if he had everything he cherished. Shrek answered, "Cause I did not know it (my life) was perfect until it's gone."

I know it's just a movie (an animated one!) but when I heard that line, I couldn't help but to reflect on my own life. Yes, sometimes life can seem to be a boring routine, but God never waste our time. In every season of life, I believe God provides us with enough stuffs to carry on. Hope we all don't have to learn it the hard way like Shrek :p

Let me share a prayer I found in Proverbs 30 with you.

Proverbs 30 (New International Version)

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.