11 Thoughts (plus Subthoughts) After a Week in Penang for a Spiritual Conference
1. We were having lunch with K & S (& S) before driving back to KL today.
I ordered a cheeseburger. It was the kind of burger that’s served on a plate, with sides of fries and slaw, and impossible to fit into your mouth fully assembled.
I took off the top bun and placed it on the plate Adeline was using to feed Seth. (Seth likes bread.)
When she noticed it, Adeline said:
Why is there a burger cover here?
Burger Cover. That’s the word of the day.
- 1.1. What’s “burger cover” in Malay? “Penutup burger”? “Tudung burger”? “Topi burger”?
2. Catching up with “old friends” proves to me again that everything turns out right when you’re seeking what is right in your life and lifework. Grace makes up for your missteps (and others’ missteps against you) and God guides you in a good path.
Even if it’s not the nice upward-trending linear graph you’d envisioned at the start.
3. “Old friends” I met who are in a better place in life than I’d last seen them: D. E. K. S.
I thank God.
4. We are still singing “There’s Gonna Be a Revival in This Land”.
- 4.1. That was the first search result on YouTube. Please don't blame me.
5. No one can tell me what on earth “revival” is, in any measurable, achievable way.
- 5.1. Hence “revival” will never be here, but will remain like the pot of gold at the rainbow.
- 5.2. Maybe the journey is more important than the destination, so the pursuit of revival is good enough, in a pragmatic sense?
- 5.3. I can’t stand that much pragmatism.
6. Some parts of Penang look like Singapore. Is it an “island” thing?
- 6.1. I love the idea of having a beach just a short drive away at all times.
- 6.2. The Klang River just doesn't cut it.
7. Penang char koay teow is good. Penang ho chien is better. Both are better than any you’ll find in KL.
- 7.1. Penang food generally is better than KL food. How annoying to have to concede this. It must be how Windows fanboys feel about Mac.
8. All KL drivers need to watch this video:
- 8.1. All Penang drivers need to watch it twice.
9. The "love of the world" in you is proof that the "love of the Father" is not in you [http://bible.cc/1_john/2-15.htm]. Yet God “so loved the world" that he gave his only begotten Son [http://bible.cc/john/3-16.htm].
Obviously, loving the people in the world is worlds apart (heh, I pun) from loving the constructs of these same people.
- 9.1. If the “world” (kosmos in Greek) is the “ways or systems that people construct”, then perhaps the “world” is also in the church, and some Christians are inadvertently “loving the world”?
When they say and believe:
“You have to pray one hour a day.”
“If you’re not jumping up and down, you’re not passionate enough for God. (I mean, he died for you - can’t you just jump up and down a little bit?)”
“You have to pray loud or it doesn’t work.”
“You have to pray quietly or it isn’t authentic.”
Ad nauseam.
10. It really is more fun to coast along at a “sensible” speed on the highway, rather than driving exactly at the speed limit.
- 10.1. The little time lost is way worth the exponential increase in the quality of ride and conversation.
- 10.2. I have a habit of praying in tongues when driving on the highway.
- - 10.2.1. In between conversations, that is.
- - 10.2.2. I hate the “charismatic kosmos” that keeps charismatics [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_Movement] blind to certain things, while at the same time deluding them into thinking that they see more clearly than others, in these matters.
- - - 10.2.2.1 Maybe it’s because I love the charismatic people, that I hate the charismatic kosmos.
- - - - 10.2.2.1.1. Yes.
11. True religion is a powerful force for liberation.
- 11.1. False religion can be a powerful force for control.
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