Vocational Holiness and Marketplace Spiritual Formation

This course for STM-TEE will be held over two weekends in June/July 2017 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Vocational Holiness and Marketplace Spiritual Formation

Committed Christians are often concerned about discovering God’s will for their lives in terms of what occupation to take up or who to marry. The deeper question will be to discern what is God’s calling. Another concern is how they are to live and have their being in their workplace and marketplace. There are always questions on how to maintain the vitality of their spiritual life and growth in the modern lifestyle that is extremely hectic and exhausting. This course will deal with Christian discernment or decision-making and the theology of God’s calling and vocation. It will examine Ignatian, Quaker, Puritan and Wesleyan approaches to discernment. The issue of hectic and busy lifestyles will be examined and approaches developed to nurture the spiritual life. The concepts of Missio Dei and Sabbath in their vocations will be developed. Central to this course is how followers of Jesus Christ live out their Christian lives that is glorifying to God in their workplace.

Suitable for people who wants to know more about making important life choices, about Godly decision-making and God’s calling; about Christian discernment; about spiritual maintenance and growth in busy and stressful lifestyles.

Speaker

Dr Alex Tang is a paediatrician, medical educator, practical theologian, spiritual director, author, preacher, Bible teacher, hospital administrator and grandfather. He regards being a grandfather as one of his more important vocations. Alex practice paediatrics at a private hospital and is associate professor of paediatrics in Monash University clinical school in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Aside from a busy preaching and teaching schedule in different churches he also lead retreats in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He is adjunct professor to East Asia School of Theology (EAST), Singapore and several other seminaries. His areas of research are Christian spiritualities, spiritual formation and biomedical ethics. He is married with two grown children and two growing grandchildren.

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Calling, Vocational Holiness and Spiritual Formation in the Workplace

Calling, Vocational Holiness and Spiritual Formation in the Workplace

9-13 November 2015

Malaysia Bible Seminari

Lecturer: Dr Alex Tang

Committed Christians are often concerned about discovering God’s will for their lives in terms of what occupation to take up or who to marry. The deeper question will be to discern what God wants them to be and become. Another concern is how they are to live and have their being in their workplace and marketplace. Central to this is how to maintain the vitality of their spiritual life and growth in the modern lifestyle that is extremely hectic and exhausting. This course will deal with Christian discernment or decision-making and the theology of God’s calling and vocation. It will examine Ignatian and Wesleyan approaches to discernment. The issue of hectic and busy lifestyles will be examined and approaches developed to nurture the spiritual life. The concepts of Missio Dei and Sabbath in their vocations will be developed.

While there will be some overlap with my previous MBS courses, this is a different course which deals with different aspects of our spiritual lives. My previous courses are 2012: Soul Care-The Art & Science of Spiritual Direction (caring for one another in ‘persons-in-formation’); 2013: Leading Change in Spiritual Formation Communities (leadership in a spiritual growing community – ‘persons-in-community formation’); and 2014: Dynamics of Spiritual Formation (understanding spiritual growth – ‘person with Christ-in-formation’). You do not need to have attended my previous courses to attend this. 

Suitable for people who are making important life choices or are interested to know more about Godly decision-making and who are also interested to learn about spiritual maintenance and growth in busy and stressful lifestyles: pastors, lay leaders, church members, and seekers of truth.

Contact: Malaysia Bible Seminari Address: Malaysia, Selangor, Kuang, Lot no. 728 Jalan Kg Sungai Serai邮政编码: 48050

Phone:+60 3-6037 1727

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The Making of a Cylon Raider In Discernment

I find that making model spaceship helps in me in my discernment process. Recently I have to make a major decision in my career and ministry. As an aid to my discernment process, I started assembling this plastic spaceship model by Moebius.

I find that model making helps me in my discernment process for two reasons. Firstly, the slow and tedious painting and assembling slow me down and allow me to catch up with myself. It also slows me down so that I can listen to God, Secondly, the focus and working with my hands helps to free up my conscious thoughts and allows me to listen to my subconscious and my heart. It also allow room for prayers.

first layer

second layer

third layer-filling in the lines

fourth layer

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God's desire, Our desire

The possibility that God's desires for us will correspond to our own deepest desires is a new thought for many people. But if we assume that God's will is something we will not

like, then we'll be tempted to look for happiness on our own. David Benner writes about this in Sacred Companions:

Ignatius of Loyola suggests that sin is ultimately a refusal to believe that what God wants is my happiness and fulfillment. When I fail to believe this, 1 am tempted to sin—to take my life into my own hands, assuming that I am in the best position to determine what will lead to my happiness. As I become convinced that God wants nothing more than my fulfillment, surrender to his will is increasingly possible.

The possibility that I will actually enjoy what God wants for me is radically different from my own infant-believer understanding of God's will. But it is a very biblical concept. The psalmist David wrote, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). My heart's desires, then, are from God. In fact, the desires of my heart may actually reveal the will of God. (Fryling 2009, 111)

Lenten Focus: Following Jesus (1)

You ask me to follow you? To be a fisher of men? Aren't you just a carpenter? And the son of a carpenter? What do you know about fishing? Who do you think you are? And why should I follow you?

What? Yes, I must admit that I have heard rumours of your so-called miracles; the blind can see and the deaf can hear. Me? I'm seeing and hearing just fine. I have a thriving business here and have branches in Tarsus and Derby. That's in Greece, you know. I have a beautiful wife and many children. Yes, children are a gift from God and my quiver is full. Too full, I sometimes feel. I am a respected leader in the community. In the evening I sit at the gate with the other leaders of this community and share my wisdom with them. In the synagogue I have a honoured place by the eastern wall. I serve my God well. I am not fanatical as the Pharisees in following rules. Well okay, sometimes I bend them a bit. Then I am not so crazy as the Essenes with their monastic ideals. I am seeing and hearing just fine.

Erh? You want me to follow you and leave all these behind? Do you know how much work I have put in to become who I am today? You do? Stop looking at me with those piercing eyes! Sometimes I feel that you are looking directly into my soul. I am a good man I am. Well maybe there are a few dark secrets I keep. Okay, okay, more than a few. But then who hasn't? Well maybe I play too easy with the rules in my business. You know what they say, as long as you don't get caught... Will you stop looking at me that way? Yes, I am sometimes a hypocrite in my dealings others and sometimes I pretend to know when I don't. But I do have to keep their respect, don't I?

Again with the following. You don't exactly live in five-stars hotels in your wandering. I like my comfort. I deserved it after working so hard, don't I? What, you want me to shake your hand? Oh, to see your hands. Man, your hand is so hard and rough. So many scars and calluses. Must be hard being a carpenter, eh? No power tools. Okay, okay, you work hard too. Who is going to look after my wife and kids when I am following you? Who is going to take care of my business when we are gone? Your Abba in heaven. You mean the One whose name we must not say. Your Abba? Woh, let me get out of the way. Lightning strike time.

Follow you, Jesus of Nazareth? Give me one good reason why I should. What do you mean I have to give you reasons why I should not?

Meditation: Too many excuses, too little following.



picture source

Spiritual Discernment and Decision Making

One day a young fugitive, trying to hide himself from the enemy, entered a small village. The people were kind to him and offered him a place to stay. But when the soldiers who sought the fugitive asked where he was hiding, everyone became vey fearful. The soldiers threatened to burn the village and kill every person in it unless the young man was handed to them before dawn. The people went to the Pastor and asked him what to do. Torn between handing over the boy to the enemy and having his people killed, the Pastor withdrew to his room and read his Bible, hoping to find an answer before dawn. In the early morning, his eyes fell on these words, “It is better that one man dies than that the whole people be lost.”

Then the Pastor closed the Bible, called the soldiers, and told them where the boy was hidden. And after the soldiers took the fugitive away to be killed, there was a feast in the village because the Pastor has saved the lives of the people. But the Pastor did not celebrate. Overcome with a deep sadness, he remained in his room. That night an angel came to him and asked, “What have you done?” He said: “I handed over the fugitive to the enemy.” Then the angel said: “But don’t you know that you have handed over the Messiah?” “How could I now?” the Pastor replied anxiously. Then the angel said; “If, instead of reading your Bible, you had visited this young man just once and looked into his eyes, you would have known.”

What would you have done if you are this Pastor? Would you consider justifiable that one man should be sacrificed for the lives of the whole village? Would you felt that you have obeyed God by letting the Bible speak to you this way? Our first impression is that the Pastor did right. Is he not considerate of his village? Did he not seek the will of God through his Word? Is it not better that one should die so that others may live; especially if the one who is to die is a stranger? In fact he should be commended for his wisdom and piety.

However the angel was not happy. The fugitive is the long awaited Messiah. The Pastor asked a question which millions of persons before him have asked since they nailed the Prince of Peace onto a wooden cross to die, “How could I know?” Would it have made a difference if he has known earlier? Of course it would. He would have been willing sacrifice himself and his village for the Messiah. Or would he?

I believe that the Pastor had already made up his mind to save himself and his village even before his deliberation. He had already decided that the fugitive, this outsider, should be sacrificed for the greater good. His deliberation was just to find reasons to justify his actions. He agonised in prayer and in his meditation throughout the night, but just cannot find the peace until a random passage in the Bible confirmed what he had already decided. That would have explained why he did not go to meet the fugitive. It was a small village. Could it be that he was unable to meet the person he had already condemned? On hearing about the arrival of this fugitive, he would had already resolved to give up to the soldiers whom he knew is on the heels of this fugitive.

The Pastor’s greatest weakness is his failure to see that all men reflect the face of God and are all of equal value. If he did, he would no more willing to give up the fugitive to the enemy as he would give up any of his villagers. His second failing was to make up his mind first and then seek God’s counsel.

I wonder how often in our lives have we decided upon a course of action first, and then ask God to justify our actions? Having made up our mind, we would spend days, months and years in a struggle with God, and our conscience looking for confirmation and justification. We would interpret all circumstances and events to support our decision. We accept only the counsel of people who say what we want to hear. And we pick from the Bible passages that agree with our assessment while rejecting the rest. We suppress the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit and our conscience, resisting the sense of unease, and sometimes attributing it to spiritual warfare. We believe that the strong impression that we sense in our heart are a confirmation from the Lord, not suspecting that our hearts are capable of great self-deception. Then we proceed with the course of action, convincing others that it is God’s will or even worst that we speak for God. The result of these is often catastrophic. People are hurt, ministries disrupted, and our souls are severe injured. What is not of God will not endure.

So when we want to discern the will of God, let us be honest. Let us truly seek his wisdom and counsel and be open to listen and accept his guidance. We need to move into a place of solitude as Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane to listen. There is the need to fast and pray; disciplining our bodies so that we can be open to God. We need to adopt the attitude of listening to the whole counsel of God from the Bible, not just selected verses. Listening also involve hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking into our lives and by the Spirit through the mind of God, understand the circumstances and events in our lives. Spiritual decision making is not testing God as Gideon did with his fleeces. Last but not least, let us listen to the discernment and thoughts of our fellow Christians in our community. We share the same baptism and the same Spirit. If the Spirit has spoken to us, then he would have spoken to others too. If the other members of our community of faith do not agree with our plan of action, it will be wise to stop and take stock.

There is a great need for Christians to learn spiritual discernment. For too long, we have leaned unto our own understanding, using our minds to make decisions, and to discern a course of action. We must avoid what the Pastor has discovered. What seems right in our own eyes may not be right at all. We all need spiritual sight in our discernment. Let us beware that we do not unintentionally crucify Jesus again.

Soli Deo Gloria