Apr 24 2011 dcfc english Worship [The Master & The Disciple] Luke 24: 28-36

CHRISTIAN, CALLING WITNESSING

The Lifesaving Station

Date: 6/2006.101

23-25 Sept 2011 ACBC Missions Conference (Mandarin) – Matt 28:18-20 The Great Commission

Some of these new members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those who were saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Not the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as a sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club's decoration and there was a memorial life boat in the room where the club initiations were held.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and some of them were foreigners. The beautiful new club was in chaos. Immediately, the property committee hired someone to rig up a shower house outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities because they felt and pointed out that they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. A small number of members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. The small group's members were voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast.

They did.

As the years went by, however, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old station. it evolved into a club and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.

Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters but most of the passengers drown.

Application:

As disciples of Jesus, our primary task is to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). To put it another way, we are to go and save lives. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget our purpose. We need to recover our passion for lifesaving. We need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (James 1:22)

CHRISTIAN, LIVING AGAINST CULTURE

Adventure in Philippines

Date: 11/2005.101

2005-8-21: Saipan

DCFC English Worship 22 April 2007 - Rom 12:1-2

Sept 2007 FWC Retreat: The Kingdom is Here - Kingdom Transformation Rom 12:1-2

Sept 3-5 2011 RCCC Retreat [Renewing our first love for Christ] Renewing our minds for worship Rom 12:1-2

Personal 1997 in Philippines

At that time, I was working in a bank in the Philippines. We were usually driven thru and fro our offices and the hotel by local drivers. On that fateful day, the office informed me that they were short of drivers and had assigned a new driver to me. That evening, as I went to the car, there, standing before the silver Honda Civic was a young man - not more than 18 years old. He informed me that it was his first day of work. Wow! First day? So I asked him, "Do you know the way back?" "Yes sir! Yes sir!" Well, as long as he could bring me home, then I am Ok with it. So I hopped on the back of the Honda Civic and started reading the papers. My stomach was growling and I was thinking of the nice little Italian restaurant beside my hotel. I should be sitting before a delicious plate of seafood linguine in about half an hour - or so I thought!

45 minutes later, I was still zooming through traffic, going in circles. What was taking so long? It was supposed to be only half an hour. So I asked the driver, "Do you know the way back?" "Yes, sir! Yes, sir!" "You sure?" "Yes Sir!" Well, what can I say, if he's so sure? So I kept quiet, trying to appease my growing impatience and growling stomach. 15 minutes later, we were still in traffic. By this time, I was pretty sure we were totally lost. Then, to the east, I saw Shang-rila hotel in a distance. That was where I was staying - not at Shang-rila, but at the little hotel beside it. So I asked the driver, "Are we lost?" "No sir! No, sir!" "No? Then why is Shang-rila on our East when we are going west?"

Suddenly, both his eyes widened like two saucers, "Aah!" It was as if some light had gone on in his head. I scoffed and thought "He finally gets it!" I was momentarily pleased with myself for pointing this out to the driver! Well, I said momentarily because in the next instance, he swerved into a single lane road which went eastward. I was heading home. But there was one small tiny problem. We were going in the opposite direction on a single lane road! We were going against the traffic. As I was facing that bus barreling toward us, blaring its horn, I shot a quick prayer to the Lord and prepared myself to meet Jesus! There was no way out! At the last moment, my skillful driver went up the pedestrian pavement, kept going against the traffic, until finally he turned into another main street, the right directions this time. Going against traffic was one of the scariest experiences of my life.