The author, Lmt, relaxing at leisure
Tamu IBC Service; 11 September, 2010
IBC - Half-filled
IBC Tamu. Leaders' gallery
IBC Choir presenting group songThe Days gone By:
Moreh, the 11th September, 2010:
Crossing the Border for The Cross: I was invited to preach in IBC - Immanuel Baptist Church, Tamu, Myanmar. The 500 odd membership Church had half of its members attending the Sunday morning meeting on that day. The singing was full-throated, the music passable and leaders enthusing. It was always my pleasure to have been offered the pulpit there in the lively congregation of Sagaing Division's north west border town.
Tithe-Hype: One thing that attracted me inside the church building was the writing on the wall, "Lung-tup: ......Kyats; Musa: ........Kyats". Translated roughly, the writing meant, " Target (Tithe): .....Kyats; In Hand: .......Kyats". The notification on tithe-stats was simple, succinct and straight. The preliminaries of church, service, however, were not. I liked their sense and style of brief dialect usage. brevity, certainly, is the soul of wit; if not of soul-winning.
The Message: The text was taken from Ecl. 1: 1 to 11. King Solomon lamented over the earth and its inhabitants as a Scientist (Nothing is changed -v. 4-7) first and later as a Philosopher(Nothing is new; v. 8-11). The end-result of everything he did with great hopes turned out to be vanity. What the king of wisdom kindled but left unsaid was that the only things of spiritual value, that would keep us in good stead, in the life beyond death, are the ones we do reluctantly, now, for our Lord. To that I added my own experience on the Solomonic line of thinking.
Life of Monotony: An old college joke: Put Mona and Tony together and it becomes monotony. Jokes aside, our lives too are not different. At times, I ask myself. Why do I work? To get money is the logical answer. Then, why do I want money? To buy food for sustenance. Why should I buy food-stuff? To gain and maintain strength, every guy who is not insane would say. Okay. if someone asks me, why do you have to gain strength? The only rational answer at my mental disposal will be, "I need to gain strength to enable myself to work". So, it's back to square one: the first question. Monotony.
I endorsed Solomonic take on Lifee: It dawned upon me that I had to give my IBC audience something novel that they could identify themselves with. Yes, there was nothing new. I wake up every morning to wash up, meet people, attend meetings and get ready in haste to either go to Moreh, the place of my placement, or drive at break-neck speed from Moreh in order not to be late for an importing meeting at Imphal or my DHQ, Chandel. Nothing new. The only new thing is that I had to break another door-lock and buy a new one. In geeting ready in a hurry at Moreh, I leave behind Imphal-key and vice versa. In my case, it is "ready in haste and repent at leisure". I could see folks in the pew bursting in amusement.
Is Life Worth Living? Solomon questioned>. The implied meaning is that generations of people came and went. Old systems gave way for new ones. Lifestyles and fashions changed, decade after decade, but the essence of life and permanence of planet earth remained the same. "As sure as the world", the Author echoed. And one sure thing man wants to undo, but cannot, is the brevity of life and the certainty of death. That there is a time for everything which chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes elaborates, may as well be the wise Author's between-the-line appeal to his future readers to "choose the precious from the vile (Jer 15:19)" in the limited time-frame offered between birth and death.
The Closing Impact: Men fear death, I geared up to wind up my message, so that might the sermon hearers may not think loud in their minds, "the good rain and the bad preacher do not know when to stop". We all go for life insurance. But what does insurance insure for the one who saves and suffers to pay up the periodical premium installments? For all his sacrificial living and saving, someone else will get the deposits and benefits after his death. Is it worth the trouble?
The Cross is Best Insurance Policy: I challenged the attentive congregation staring straight at me from the pew, that the should try the only true life insurance, that is having Lord Jesus as one's personal Saviour. In Christ, and trusting Him totally, you have eternal life insurance you will benefit now on earth, and in the life beyond death. So, taking up the cross is the best insurance policy. The collective nodding on the pew, by itself, proved my point. Confession of sin, setting things right with God and men and receiving forgiveness of the Lord are the only affordable premiums you have to pay to get your life eternally covered, here and thereafter.
The Key Players in IBC: Pastor Thangkhopao Haokip runs the show in IBC affairs. He conducts the services in the Baptist congregation. The fact that the Pastor enjoys the support of a motivated team of fellow-workers makes his job easier. Rev Khupthang, the General Secretary of KVTBA, under the fold of which which IBC comes, seldom throws his weight around IBC affairs. He has better things to do in the Lord's vineyard. KVTBA stands for Kabaw Valley Thadou Baptist Association. The prominent NW Myanmar Christian Association is anchored to ZBC, Falam, Chin Hills-based Zomi Baptist Convention of Myanmar.
The Crutches: Mrs Tingkholam takes good care of the Women issues of Immanuel Baptist Church, Tamu. Flaunting a permanent smile wherever she goes, the Women leaders had given a run for her male colleagues in her organisational set-up. Fresh from a Theological course done in Bangalore in India, Brother Douthang is the vibrant Youth Pastor of IBC. A close interaction with the Youth leader made me convinced that not every student of Theology takes the course to be a Me-ology.
GGMI To Make Its Tamu Debut: God willing, Go Gospel Ministry International is going to hold its first service in the outhouse hall of IBC on 19 September, 2010. The idea is to evangelise Tamu and its neighborhood through Gospel music and searching sermons. The medium of preaching will be English interpreted in Burmese. The target: Every community of Tamu. Soul in hand: Nil. The hall had been constructed by KVTBA with generous contributions from Pu Thangminlen Kipgen, Hon'ble Chairman, Hill Area Committee, Manipur and Pu Seiboi Singsit, respected Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Govt. of Manipur. May God bless them a hundredfold.
Attached below is the GO GOSPEL theme song that I wrote in 2007. The Go-Gospel Concert song had gone global with the Amazing Voice of Zoram, AVZ C. Lalhmingmawii making it a part of the recently launched Gospel Goes Global Video album.
GO GOSPEL
Author: Lunminthang Haokip
Tune: Seigoumang Lhouvum
1. Love of men makes the world go round,
Love of God saves many who are hell-bound;
Sway of the crores lures the world to strife,
Way of the cross leads the soul to life;
That you love’s the way you want to go,
Let’s love the Lord and Gospel’s way go.
Say no to yourself and life of ease,
Say no to old-self and type that tease;
Things that please you are food for the flesh,
Links that bless you will the soul make fresh;
Turn shy from thy stray, it’s God’s good spell,
Let’s deny ourselves and go Gospel.
2. In the morning, ev’ry news is a bad news,
In ev’ry mourning, sorrow’s deal is due;
Greed to grab serves demands overdose,
Losers spared to breathe pay thru their nose;
If there’s no cease-fear in this sad spell,
It’s because we don’t live the Gospel.
3. Go ye, says the Lord, ye preach and teach,
What you get freely, give and reach each;
We go- but the pace is really slow,
We give but not fit to make ‘em grow
His voice let’s listen, set to hasten
That the earth by Gospel be shaken.
No comments:
Post a Comment