It's That Time of the Day

The following is an article I wrote back in 2005 (according to the file's date stamp): 

It’s That Time of the Day by Shearn Sya

Quiet time… The ever-elusive ingredient to healthy Christian living almost all Christians struggle with. What makes it so difficult for us to set aside a mere slice of our entire day to devote to our Almighty Father?

            Almost every Christian knows that quiet time is required of us. Indeed, it is not forced down our throats, but it IS something we should be doing every day without fail, and we know that. Before we go further into the matter, however, let us first have a look at the question of the hour: What is quiet time?

            There is no specific guideline to quiet time. The Bible does not say ‘Thou shalt doeth quiet timeth before thy head hitteth thy pillow’ or something. However, a fairly common definition of quiet time would be: setting a certain period of your time each day to personally spend with God, usually accompanied with prayer and meditating upon His word. This time is up to the individual. Some do it in the morning, before they even brush their teeth, some do it while brushing their teeth, and some even do it while driving (though this is not advisable. Driving + Closed Eyes = Bye Bye). King David did his quiet time before he went to bed at night - When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches. - Psalms 63:6.

            There is also no specific time limit for quiet time. The author of Psalms 119:97 meditated on God’s word all day long. Most of us do not do that, however. We usually need a specific time to allocate, turning it into a slot in our busy, busy schedule. How long each individual dwells and meditates on God and His word each day varies from person to person. Some may have so many responsibilities to fulfill that they have perhaps only ten to fifteen minutes per day to spend in God’s presence, when everything is still, before they have to jump back into their worker bee’s suit and buzz around as usual.

            The activities undertaken during quiet time also vary. Some prefer to follow a specific study guide to the Bible, others would use a daily devotional, such as Our Daily Bread, while some just read the Bible from cover to cover. Prayer is often an axiomatic ingredient in the quiet time recipe. It may be favorable to simply be still and meditate upon the Lord and His word, while some prefer turning on some soft music to help them worship at the same time, and a few turn up some rocking praise songs to jump about to (Note: This is not very conducive for being still….. obviously). Whatever works for the person coming before the Lord; it’s a personal choice.

Why is quiet time so difficult to be consistent in, then? Many people tend to allow it to fall into the ‘routine’ category. When the same thing is done day in, day out, at the same time, in the same posture, wearing the same clothes, etc., the mortal body will almost certainly try to go into self-automated mode. Can you imagine quiet time reduced to a three second prayer of ‘ThankyouforthisdaypleasseforgiveoursinsandblesstomorrowinJesusnameweprayamen.’ every single day at 9:23 p.m., on the floor, 14^th tile from the door of the room, head bent over at a 23º angle, clothed in a creased pair of Smurf pyjamas? Though the situation may not be so extreme in most cases, it isn’t particularly far from ridiculous. Those who find they are able to do quiet time consistently and meaningfully have found it helpful to keep it fresh with new material, new ways of worshiping God, etc. It does not hurt to have accountability in your spiritual life, either. Though it may not reach the scope of someone doing quiet time with their spouse, it is still possible to have a prayer partner to start off the daily devotional, then have your own personal meditations and so on, and wrapping it up with a prayer with your partner. United, we stand. Divided, we make excuses.

However, fear of routine is not the only excuse for quiet time shirkers. A common excuse people use would be that they are too busy. A day is divided into 24 hours. An hour is broken down into 60 minutes. A minute is comprised of 60 seconds. Of the 86400 seconds per day, how many of those are spent unconscious? How many fly past when watching a half hour (1800 seconds) TV program? How many disappear in a 2 hour chat session with people you will probably see the next day in school/college? When you come right down to it, how busy can you be to not afford a slice of your 86400 second day to devote to the one who created you? The one who gave you the ability to sleep? The one who created the actors in the TV show you follow so religiously? The one who created topics to talk about for 2 hours?

Laziness is often another excuse. Or forgetfulness. Or exhaustion. Or opportunity. The excuses just go on and on, but that’s all they are – excuses. When there’s a will, there’s a way. When there’s God’s will, there’s a road map, BMW convertible, and an adorable puppy to accessorize your passenger seat.

God bless your time with Him.

The Loneliest Battle

This was a Youth Ministry assignment.

Blogger doesn't allow larger images, so the text would be hard to read... I chucked it down below for the benefit of those who want to look at something more legible than (what appears to be) dummy text (lorem ipsum dolor sit amet):

The Loneliest Battle

by Shearn Sya

Let me introduce you to John. John is a regular sixteen year old guy who attends church every Sunday with his parents, is the President of the youth group on Saturdays, does well in school, hangs out with the right crowd, and seems to have his life all together. Except for a certain habit that tempts him every night in the privacy of his room. A habit that no one would witness. A habit that he could not possibly share about during youth group. A habit that he couldn’t tell his parents about. A habit that he desperately tries to put a stop to but like a crown of thorns it digs into his flesh the more he tries to remove it. A habit called masturbation.

We live in a world that tells us that, as long as you’ve hit puberty, being a virgin is something to be ashamed of. Take a look at any magazine at a newsstand and you’re likely to find something to do with sex on the cover. Fashion demands for plunging necklines and shorter skirts. Sex scenes and jokes about sex in movies and TV are normal. And let’s not forget the Internet. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on Facebook socialising with your friends or you’re researching on communism - somewhere along the way you’re probably going to run into a banner about an x-ray scanner that sees through clothes or a social networking service just for sex. All this and more constantly bombard us with sex, sex, and more sex. Take this Gospel of Sex and mix it with a teen’s natural hormones and you’ll probably end up with someone like John.

John is not a rare breed. He’s as common as you and I and every other Christian teen. And let’s face it - what he struggles with is something many of us struggle with. Whether we were born and bred as Christians or we just said the Sinner’s Prayer last week, we are still vulnerable to all kinds of sin. So what makes masturbation so different? Let me give you an example.

Remember those epic battle scenes from the Lord of the Rings? Picture hordes of Uruk-hai and every assortment of Dark Creatures you can think of thundering their way across a flat plain towards your armies of Dwarves, Elves, and Men, all armed to the teeth and ready to do battle. Now hit Pause. Let’s start up our cognitive Photoshop and do a little editing on that picture.

Leave the forces of Sauron alone, but edit out all the Elves, all the Dwarves, and all the Men, except for one young soldier. Now zoom in and replace his broadsword with a pillow and substitute all his heavy plate mail armor with a pair of boxers. Click save.

That is a picture of John. He’s being assaulted by Uruk-hais each time he goes on the Internet. Nazguls lurk behind each page in every magazine he flips through. A Balrog leaps on him when he watches a movie. Cave trolls occupy the conversations his friends have with him. And he faces all these monsters alone.

John can’t fight the battle alongside others because even though sex is everywhere in the world he lives in, he can’t talk about it in church, the one place in his life that agrees with his conviction that masturbation is wrong. It would be too embarrassing to talk about it to anyone, or even to ask for prayer. So what is left for John? He prays for God to help him, and he makes a commitment to change. He dons some shiny new armor and wields a wicked sharp sword, and even gets a gatling gun air-dropped in. And it works... for awhile. Then one day when his armor’s cracked and rusty, his weapons are broken, and he’s tired, frustrated, and lonely, Sauron attacks, and he’s back in Mordor.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that even with God masturbation cannot be conquered. It’s very possible that God delivers you from the bondage of masturbation and that’s the end of it. If that were so, then all’s very well and good. I’m just saying that many times, God’s plan for us doesn’t include the easy way out, and a good struggle is in order to build us up.

So what does the sensible man do when faced with an army? The first thing he does is RUN! (Rambo would stand his ground, but notice I mentioned ‘sensible.’) Fleeing from temptation is one of the most crucial steps in dealing with masturbation. Rather than venturing into an Uruk-hai training camp hoping to avoid any unpleasant encounters, avoid the camp altogether! If you’re aware that going online at night gets you tempted, then don’t go online at night. Even safer, move your computer out of your room and into a public area.

What does the sensible man do next? He recruits his Legolases and Gimlis to help him watch his back. Knowing that you have a problem with masturbation isn’t enough. You need to find someone or someones to keep you accountable to the commitments you make. When you feel tempted, grab your phone and make that call right away. Whether your friend prays with you or just chats with you, it would be much tougher to yield to masturbation when you know full well that your friend’s going to ask you about it the next day.

“Now hang on a sec. That’s it?” you ask. “I just keep running with others watching my back as I run some more?”

Well, yes, that’s it. You just keep running and the running will get easier until eventually you look up one day and you notice that you’re nowhere near Mordor and that there’s not an enemy in sight. And while you were running, Gandalf the Technicolored came along and zapped the daylights out of Sauron and gang. God wins the battle for you. All you need to do is have faith and persevere.

That’s what John is doing. The battle still isn’t over for him. But it’s only a matter of time until it’s won, and until then, he’s not so lonely.

fin.

A Burning Tragedy: An Exegetical Application of Amos 7: 1 - 9

(Click the image to enlarge)

Disclaimer: This spoof newspaper page was created to illustrate how an exegesis of Amos 7: 1 - 9 may be applied in the form of an article designed to highlight the consequences of unrepentance and blatant chasing of worldly desires in the face of obvious warnings and evidence. There is absolutely no malicious intent towards Israel both as a nation and as a race. I merely took the visions of Amos literally and exaggerated them to a fanciful, modern-day context.

A Fondue of Fun, Fellowship, and Finishing First

Fans crowed with delight and others hid their faces as Allen 'O Anthropos’ McClymont thundered towards the basket under the scorching sun, deftly dribbling the ball around the flailing limbs and futile attempts of his opponents as they tried to slow him down. Time seemed to slow as McCylmont leaped gracefully into the air, soared over faces slack with disbelief and slammed the ball home just as the final second on the clock ticked off into awed silence. The nasal shriek of the buzzer was drowned by the deafening roar of the crowd filling the sweltering air.

The above may not have been a very accurate account of actual events, but it certainly captures the sense of excitement that reverberated throughout the campus at Seminari Theoloji Malaysia on the 6th of July 2009. For the first time in Malaysian history, three seminaries came together in the spirit of competitive camaraderie to face each other under the banner of the Malaysian Inter-Seminary Games in several sporting events, including basketball, volleyball, futsal, table tennis, and even carrom.
Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM) displayed its dominance in the court by remaining undefeated in all bouts of basketball and volleyball, and fought hard against the Bible College of Malaysia (BCM) in the futsal finals, but BCM showed true determination and was declared the victor of the futsal division. Malaysia Bible Seminary (MBS), however, was not to be left out, and utterly annihilated all competition indoors, securing victories in table tennis (both singles and doubles), as well as carrom.
After a hard day of pushing the athletic prowess of seminarians to the limit and a time of refreshing corporate prayer for the needs of the nation, the overall trophy based on each seminary’s cumulative performance was finally awarded to MBS with much rejoicing from its students. A relieved BCM came in at a close second, with STM close on its heels. Winning evidently wasn’t everything, however, as relationships were formed and strengthened with the promise of more interaction to come between the seminaries in the near future.

*

McClymont slipped away into the darkness, away from the frenzied throng composed of many giddy with triumph and many more still reeling from their defeat. ‘Next year,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘Next year.’

________________________________________

Disclaimer: Anything in the article found in italics are a work of fiction.

Author’s Note: I would, however, like to acknowledge that Mr. Allen Brian McClymont of the STM faculty has graciously consented to my taking creative liberties with the use of his persona in the writing of this article.

Time

I guess this was gonna go up sooner or later. If you've noticed the dates of my blog entries, there's been a two-day (I think?) gap between my last entry and this one. Care to hazard a guess why?

No, my life isn't uninteresting enough to merit nothing to blog about. No, I haven't been playing games although that's possible. No, I haven't been chasing girls, aunty or otherwise. No, I haven't been doing nothing but cleaning my room.

If you haven't guessed what the reason is by now despite the title and your monitor burning a nice picture of a clock into your retinas, I recommend Sudoku.

Anyway. Past two days has been chock full with stuff. Loads of stuff. First thing of note was the fact that I was voted student representative for my year. Now, I hope you don't think that I'm blowing my own horn or anything (those who know me well enough also know the extent of which I blow my horn in the car - not very impressive). We initially wanted to vote the natural extrovert that everyone usually crowds around, but he declined due to family commitments. Excuses! Next tossup in the vote was the one who voted the first guy, which happened to me. Me and my big mouth. I initially wanted to decline as well, since I know that leadership isn't my strength, and I'm more effective as a community builder from the inside, but the existing Student EXCO President mentioned that leadership isn't his strong point too, and that clicked something in me. I could look at this in two ways: it could be a burden, or an opportunity. I figured that I could run from this now, but in the future I was likely to be chucked into a leadership position anyway, given my choice of profession. Might as well prepare myself now, eh? Besides, I don't think it's that big a deal at the moment.

I'm gonna read this entry again a couple of months in the future and laugh at my naivete, I'm sure.

We also had a class on Time Management. I dunno if I was expecting it, but wow, life on campus is gonna be pretty similar to the life I had before I came here. Namely, having a crazy full schedule where sleep is a necessity rather than a luxury. It's unlikely that I will be able to have my preferred 8 hours of sleep, and will be more accustomed to 6 to 6 and a half hours of sleep per day. Oh well. Studying, reading, and assignments will be taking up a huge chunk of our time. I'm also the kind that procrastinates. I really don't want to do that this time, especially with the huge amount of dire warnings put forth by our seniors.

Next day we had our annual retreat, where I finally met all the other students on campus... The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years. My roommate finally turned up, and turned out to be a Chinese guy who speaks little English, so communication is scarce. We pretty much co-exist peacefully. His answer to all my questions are usually 'Also can.' Although I'd wish for more responses than that, but that'd suffice regarding stuff like keeping the windows closed after six to avoid mozzie buffets.

Got ambushed the night before by the student worship coordinator to play bass the following morning. Turned out all the training I had under Susan paid off. Was able to apply and share with the band members with suggestions, band dynamics, etc. Was again ambushed today in the afternoon to play for tomorrow morning. I guess things aren't that different here after all, hehe.

I think I'll wrap it up for tonight. If you've noticed, this entry isn't very entertaining. I don't feel particularly inspired or witty at the moment, but there's just two days' worth of stuff to share that I wanted to chuck down before I forgot. There's actually more, but this has to do for now.

'til next time.

- Shearn

The King of the Jungle

"What makes the lion the king of the jungle? And before you answer that, ask yourself another question: which jungle is he king of?"

*Crickets*

(No, he's not king of the cricket jungle, I'm just using some sound effects there, for those unfamiliar with the implication of sounds, actions, or various onomatopoeia sandwiched between asterisks)

Anyway. That was the question posed to us today from our Critical Reading & Writing lecturer. Following the deafening silence that trailed his question, I finally plucked up the courage to say something about his hair (the lion, not the lecturer). I was lost on the jungle bit, since I thought lions only lived on African cliffs overlooking all other animals neatly bowing to the lion cub being dangled precariously over the edge of a cliff by an ancient baboon... but I digress. My lecturer's point was that we have to think beyond face value. He was basically suggesting that whatever we read or hear or ingest in whatever form, we should do so with an open mind, while considering the author's contextual influences, be they cultural, denominational, lingual, sexual- wait, that's not right... genderial? *Shrug*

Let me pause a second here to voice some concerns on the academic side of my theological pursuits. I had my very first taste of the ailment known as studentdebatingtheologicalissueswithlecturer-
withotherstudentinterjectingwhiletherestofusgetrestless-isis.

I'm amazed to say that I didn't forsee this coming. When I finally realized it, though, I groaned, winced, and gritted my teeth inwardly (all at the same time!) at the thought of many many many more to come. Especially for the inevitable many that would spawn not from the pursuit of new perspectives or conviction challenges, nor the strength of their own convictions, but for the sake of being right and/or imposing their values upon others.

I understand that the practice of excessive tolerance greatly contributes to phenomena such as gay churches and the like, but honestly, considering the fact that we're all from different denominations with different experiences and different backgrounds, tolerance and loving acceptance is totally, completely, essentially, and necessarily required (redundancies for emphasis). Not only is it the right thing to do, but tarnation! I ain't never gonna be wastin' no time on needless debates none (quadruple negatives for fun) when there's more important stuff to be learnt. I suppose the crux of the matter lies in whether we have the faith and security in our own convictions to know that they hold true for ourselves without needing others to reaffirm us with their agreement. And if our convictions be challenged during this time, all the better! What better way to be convicted of a conviction than sticking to it despite the challenges, rather than plain and simple close-minded stubbornness.

Back to the lion.

The baboon dropped the cub and the lion ate the baboon.

The End.

A New Beginning

Wow. I'm blogging. I've swept and mopped my room twice. I've wiped all the shelves and drawers. I bathe like 3 times a day. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. I did my quiet time before anything else. I did 50 pushups after that. I've neatly organized my clothes and articles. I'm drinking 8 glasses of water per day. I just did a full gym workout. I made my bed in the morning.

What's going on, you ask? (Or maybe you didn't, but I'm gonna tell you anyway)

I'm in a monast- err... seminary.

Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM), to be exact. Although we don't speak Bahasa Melayu here, so I dunno what's with the official Malay spelling and all. Anyway.


Yesterday was action packed. I set off for Seremban after teary goodbyes after church service, with my shoulders damp with many a female tear (not really). I got to my room and unpacked and settled in. Then I look outside my window and lo and behold, there's a big blue Volvo parked below it with a shiny KL Wesley car sticker on the windshield, and a map to Seremban peering up from the driver's seat. Nice try, William.

After I went out to explore the place (my dad crashed on my bed to verify and deem it fit for the pursuit of somnaiac festivities), I discovered William and Jon. Surprise surprise! William has a couple of pics of the room and the compound, so go look if you're interested: http://pigies.multiply.com/photos/album/51

After they went off (both parents and frienthers - friends and brothers, geddit?), I went hunting for a broom and mop and pulled a Sus-... umm... I mean, I cleaned the place really well. My roomie is probably a senior, and he won't be in until orientation is over (next Monday), so we'll see who he is then, and if he has any qualms about me and the way I live or vice versa.

We then went out for dinner at a foodcourt - chicken rice @ RM 3.50.... took about 20 minutes to come though. Guess they catch 'em live here. Then we went to Giant to buy stuff we needed. Ended up buying stuff like mozzie spray, mozzie zapper (can you spot the common denominator?), extension, new HUGE alarm clock, laundry basket, etc. etc. The bill came up to about a hundred and twenty bucks. Heh.

Today we went through a couple more briefings... Mainly going through the student handbook and stuff. No guy and girl can be alone together in any one place. Drats. There goes my chances with that lonely looking aunty. Oh well. I'll console myself with the fact that I HAVE INTERNET ACCESS IN MY OWN ROOM OMGWTFBBQROFFLECOPTER!!!111oneone. It cuts off at 12 midnight and starts again at 6 in the morning though. That's apparently a new rule, 'cause of abuse (?) from seniors. Oh well, at least I'll have less reasons to stay up late, and maybe get the sleep I need.

During the briefing they had 3 geeks come up (yes, it takes one to know one). They were the.... *Drum roll* Cyber Team! *Trumpet fanfare* .... *Wipes tears* They're basically your knights in shining firewalls - they help you with any IT related problems you may have. Actually, it's quite a good idea, plus I really salute them for actually going through with it. I know what it's like to be reasonably IT savvy and have billions of people ask for your help - not that those people are a nuisance, but mainly 'cause it really takes a lot of extra time and oodles of patience to help 'em out. These guys are willing to actually announce that they can solve their IT problems. The older folks were gazing at them like they were Jesus on wheels. I don't mean that literally though. But those folks were sure getting dewey-eyed.

On a related note, they have this student community forum thing, and the English was... how do I put this delicately... the English was interesting. Anyway, I volunteered my services as English editor (I don't wanna sound snobby about it but they really need one for the sake of the international students) and they seem eager for more help. So maybe this is the first of more ministries.

Oh speaking of languages... I'm getting a real headache from all the translating between English and Mandarin and vice versa. The majority of the students are taking their studies in Chinese, so sometimes it feels like us bananas, brownies, and international students are left in the lurch when they get carried away elaborating when they're on the Chinese translation bit. And it was real difficult for us to know when to switch off and on. There's this really nice Cambodian guy whose English isn't impeccable either, and he ended up missing out stuff 'cause he didn't know when to start listening... They translated their own stuff seamlessly. It was like, "Neemen hen pentan, nee kei wo siau, so you should follow the Student Handbook carefully."

But apart from those minor hiccups, all the people here are very nice. I'm not the youngest! The youngest is an Indian dude named Samuel, age 22, who happens to be the one I'm closest to currently. The Chinese dept. students are probably gonna form their own clique, so I'm mainly left with the Indians, foreigners, East Malaysians, and English speaking Chinese uncles... But they're all very nice. I've realized I'm not as shy as I used to be, and everything's pretty groovy right now. I know the work load is probably gonna be crushing in the future, but I'm pretty optimistic about life here at the moment.

Praise the Lord for His grooviness.

And uhh... I gotta go wear some clothes and go down for steamboat dinner, hehe.

'til next time...

- Shearn