Burnt By The Sun

I got toasted out in the sun again today. I only recently recovered from the roasting I got when I went to Kuolai with Br. Mushu’s group back on September 11. That was the weekend six people from our group were baptized - three at Mushu’s place, and three at my home on Sunday, September 12. What a weekend that was - I must have had second degree burns on my back, and I was molting skin for at least two weeks afterwards. This morning’s sunburn came from spending a good part of the morning on Shezi Island, exercising our spirits with Br. Lan, Shuyuan, and Hanyuan. It didn’t go quite how I planned it - somehow I didn’t get around to having everyone scream their lungs out, but it was good nevertheless.

It reminded me a bit of the time I was taken out to the same place, about four years ago, also by Hanyuan, but with Junqiang and Br. Zhuo coming along too, to have my spirit exercised. We did do the shouting thing back then, but it just made me feel uncomfortable. And then, by the grace of God, it started to rain, and we ran for cover to the car. In the car, I opened up more, and talked about how guilty I was feeling about doing the old things I used to enjoy in the past, and feeling bad about them, but at the same time, not being able to stop doing them. Hanyuan gave me some good advice - he told me to concentrate on enjoying the Lord, and not try to give up my old habits by myself.

Today, Br. Lan said more or less the same thing about struggling with temptation, though his sins were much less than mine, and this time I was able to offer the words of comfort, with a nod to the person I was borrowing them from, because he was standing right beside me. The difference was this morning it looked like it was going to rain, but instead of the heavens opening, this time the clouds cleared and the sun came out, just long enough to turn my face to the color of a beetroot. And although Br. Lan didn’t break down in tears as he was filled with the holy spirit, I think it was a good experience for him, and hopefully it will help him in some small way to enjoy the full spiritual blessings of God. 

Interestingly, going back with Hanyuan in his car, he talked about Lan and Shuyuan together - saying he could feel Shuyuan’s spirit more than Lan’s, but that was probably down to the Lan being a newcomer. I had only thought about serving Lan, and had assumed Shuyuan didn’t need any help exercising his spirit.

The Bible passage I chose this morning was Lamentations 3:55-56, because I it came to mind when I was watching the amazing pictures of the Chilean miners being pulled up from the depths of the pit on CNN yesterday.

Big Reshuffle

Today was the day of the big reshuffle. One of the main families in our group has now opened up their home, and they’re taking about 9 people with them, which means we’re back to where we started at the end of last year. Some of the saints in our group are a little worried. Last night, Brother Shuyuan showed me this complicated list of names, that he’d highlighted in different colors and marked with strange symbols - which proved we’d struggle to get a dozen people on Sunday. There was a square beside my name, which matched the square beside the oldest brother in the group, so I’m not sure what the significance of that was - slow at reading Chinese perhaps!

It’s good that Shuyuan cares so much about the new group. And I think we’ll do better than a dozen people. It’s fantastic that a family from our group are ready to go on their own; and like Jesus says in John 15, his father the gardener prunes clean fruiting branches to make them more fruitful still.

At Sunday’s meeting when the changes were announced, Brother Cai shared two verses from the scripture with us - both from the Old Testament - Jeremiah 48:11-12, about not letting wine settle on its lees, but decanting it from vessel to vessel to improve the flavor and aroma; and Hosea 7:8, about needed to flip a pancake so it cooks evenly, and doesn’t get burned on one side and half-done on the other. So change is good. Every so often, we need to be flipped over, and tipped into a new bottle.

Out Of The Wash

I went to see Joey on Friday. He asked me to buy him some snacks - anything, chocolate pies, or anything - and I probably should have gone for a nice variety, but I just went for five packs of chocolate pies. Shopping isn’t my specialty. 

I talked to Brother Cai Wei today (Saturday) about the new brother, Xu Youxin, who is now in the psychiatric ward at Veteran’s Hospital. Cai Wei also happens to be a doctor, so he was able to give me a medical analysis of the situation - he said I shouldn’t worry, and that Xu’s lupus condition is affecting his psyche. Still, the guy being in hospital so soon after getting baptized is a test for our group, and whether we can help him and his family come through their current problems, in and through the love of Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow is the day of the big shake-up, when we’ll finally find out who is going where. It hasn’t been an easy process but hopefully we’ll come out of it washed clean and ready to serve the Lord afresh.