Exactly one year ago today…
The Esmobile fell into the hands of thieves.
Dear Esmobile, I remember you with great fondness. You were, are and forever will be…my first love car…
September 25, 2009
Full Time Ministry as a Career Path?
Been questioning recently about where I am vocationally.
This came at the right time: Concerning going into full-time ministry young.
Reproduced here:-
During the 70s, responding to the full-time calling as a late teen (between 17-19 years old) was the “in-thing” among the churches I was associated with. Today,many denominations have shyed away from that model, prefering more matured people who holds at least a Bachelor’s degree and have worked a number of years in the secular world. Theoritically, it seems to be a good direction to go but in reality, how many young adults in their mid-twenties would be able to respond to full-time calling? Reason is very simple: most of them at this age would have gone into the workforce having a car loan to service. For those who are already hitched, they would also be making plans for their big day and possibly have a joint house mortgage to pay back. basing on the present low salary that most churches offer, no sane person in this age bracket would go full-time! Hence, we still need to challenge young people to view full-time ministry as a career path. Church leaders at the same time should draft out a proper career path for them which involves training in theology, management, leadership, etc and also financial remuneration.
I would also like to highlight an idea that I got while reading Fred Smith “Learning to Lead”. How can a young pastor help an auto mechanic, a stock-exchange remiser or a sales executive? It’s difficult for a young pastor to have the depth of the necessary understanding that can only be accumulated through years of knowledge and experience. But he can point people to the appropriate resources i.e. older in-house advisers esp. if they are elders of the church. In business, they have staff advisers, consultants and specialists that they can call upon to meet particular needs, why can’t we apply the same principle in the church? The church board must stand behind their young pastor and groom him to lead the church. Of course he will make mistakes (plenty of them!)but the wise leader will stand with him.
~ by NECF Leadership Commission
September 24, 2009
My Cars
Don’t know whether to feel ashamed or angry…
And then I remembered he also did this…
I owned a Kelisa. That one got stolen last year. I really liked that car. It was my first car.
I now drive a Myvi. I also like this car.
Should I feel cheated?
September 15, 2009
SEMPENA HARI MALAYSIA
August 24, 2009
Share Stories, Play
More from ‘Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies”
On Sharing Stories…
We need story, poetry, play, and song to replenish the wellsprings of imagination, to feed the spirit, to foster compassion. Indeed, I would go so far as to claim that there are certain kinds of understanding that we have no access to except by means of story.
A repertoire of stories binds the people together, reminds them of who they are and of the mysteries that keep them all in relationship to divine powers. Told again and again, their stories offer hope, issue warnings, give direction, guide hearers through dangers, and point toward what can’t be told.
On ‘Play’...
I’m amazed at how many people I encounter seem to have been taught to dismiss their feelings when they read or write or work at solving problems. At risk of reinforcing the damaging stereotype that humanities types are a touchy-feely lot, unlike their brethren in the “hard” sciences, I will admit that I myself practice literary criticism by doing unabashedly what I often must persuade hesitant students to do, which is to put feeling first: to start my analysis of the work in question with where and what it made me feel – anything: outrage, compassion, amusement, confusion, or even boredom.
