God the All (Valley of Vision)

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This is my ‘modernisation’ of Valley of Vision’s prayer on ‘God the All’.

O God whose will conquers all,

There is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying You and being engaged in Your service; You are my all in all, and all enjoyments are to me what You make of them.
I am well pleased with Your will, whatever it is, or whatever it should be in all situations, and if You want me to decide for myself in any moment, I would choose to refer all to You, for You are infinitely wise and cannot go wrong, as I am in danger of doing. I rejoice to think that all things are at Your disposal, and it delights me to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise, and all I can do is to adore and bless You. What shall I give You for all my benefits? I am caught between the two, not knowing what to do.
I long to make some return, but have nothing to offer, and can only rejoice that You do all, that none in heaven or on earth shares Your honour; I can of myself do nothing to glorify Your blessed name, but I can through grace cheerfully surrender my soul and body to You. 
I know that You are the author and finisher of faith, that the whole work of redemption is Yours alone, that every good work or thought found in me is the effect of Your power and grace, that Your sole motive in working in me to will and to do is for Your good pleasure.
O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much about man’s creaturely power and goodness, when, if You did not hold us back every moment, we should be devils incarnate. This, by bitter experience, You have taught me concerning myself.
Amen.

The Lord’s Supper (Valley of Vision)

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This is my ‘modernisation’ of Valley of Vision’s prayer on The Lord’s Supper.

God of All Good,

I bless You for the means of grace in the finished work of Christ. Teach me to see in it Your loving purposes and the joy and strength of my soul.

You have prepared for me a feast; and though I am unworthy to sit down as Your guest, I wholly rest on the merits of Jesus, and hide myself beneath His righteousness. When I hear His tender invitation, and see His wondrous grace, I cannot hesitate but must come to You in love. By Your Spirit enliven my faith rightly to discern the Saviour and enliven our spirit to apprehend the Saviour.

While I gaze upon the emblems of my Saviour’s death, may I ponder why He died, and hear Him say,

“I gave my life to purchase yours, presented myself an offering to rid your sin, shed my blood to blot out your guilt, opened my side to make you clean, endured your curses to set you free, bore your condemnation to satisfy divine justice.”

O may I rightly grasp the breadth and length of this design, draw near, obey, extend the hand, take the bread, receive the cup, eat and drink, testify before all men that I do for myself, gladly, in faith, reverence and love, receive my Lord, to be my life, strength, nourishment, joy, and delight.

In the supper I remember His eternal love, boundless grace, infinite compassion, agony, cross, redemption, and receive assurance of pardon, adoption, life, and glory.

As the outward elements nourish my body, so may Your indwelling Spirit invigorate my soul, until that day when I hunger and thirst no more, and sit with Jesus at His heavenly feast.

Induction: A New Beginning

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dsc01678Yesterday, I was inducted as the Pastor of Hertford Street Baptist Church (Upper Mt Gravatt, Brisbane).

For those who do know me, this is part of a long journey that God has taken me on. I remember being at CMS Summer School in 2006, considering my university offers and asking God what to do with my life. Since then, God has been shaping me, growing me, maturing me and moving me toward full time pastoral ministry. Through the journey, God has humbled me to my knees to grasp what it means to have my hope built in Christ’s work on the cross alone. He has given me glimpses of His saving work, as I have had the privilege of seeing people come to Christ, grow in Christ and live for Christ. God has equiped me and given me the weighty responsibility to teach and preach His word, and to proclaim the Gospel to a world that needs Jesus. I have met many godly brothers and sisters on the way. I have benefitted from the generous support of God’s people. Wow. What a ride. Praise be to God for the journey thus far.

For those who I continue the journey with, it’s a new beginning in many ways. I’m about to get my hands dirty in full time pastoral ministry. I am about 2 months away from married life and all the joys and struggles that brings. I have already crossed paths with new brothers and sisters, and I’m sure there will be more who will join the ride. One thing I’ve learnt to hold onto is the goodness of God. God is good. He works for our good and His glory. He’s already worked in the most definite way by sending His son to pay the penalty of our sins. He will direct our paths as we motor ahead to an exciting yet unknown future.

Thank you to everyone who has been there for me (and Angela) over the past years. Thank you for the encouragers, the rebukers, the ones who picked me up when I was down, who taught me, trained me, spoke (sometimes hard) truths to me, who challenged me, who prayed for me, who chilled out with me, who served with me, on and on. Before this blog goes whichever way (food posts or thoughtful theological bites), I just want to honour and praise God for the fellowship, partnership and unity we have in Christ Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Welcome!

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Welcome to my new blog. It will be a mix of spiritual food, real food, and my personal reflections or thoughts about life and ministry. If there’s anything you really want to see written about here, feel free to post below. Stay tuned for new posts here!