Monday, May 2, 2011

Labor Day, May 2011

We returned from a night's stay in Shenzhen yesterday (1st) due the Labor Day weekend. The 4 Points hotel was worth the RMB$599. We went to Coco Park (購物公園) and Book City (書城) on the first day. This morning we splurged on their RMB$139 breakfast buffet, eating a little over three hours to cover lunch as well to save money. There is nothing like a breakfast buffet catered by Westerners. In our first year here we had breakfast at Wangfujing provided by the hotel, but the style was too Chinese. after breakfast we headed to Shenzhen Univeristy and then caught a train to Hong Kong via Luohu. There are American stores in Shenzhen thst I do not even see in Hong Kong, such as Papa John's and Coldstone Creamery.

It's been a marathon of sorts the last few days. I just finished preaching two messages today (8th) and will speak another on Tuesday, culminating with four sermons since Thursday (5th). I am most satisfied with the work I did on Ephesians 5 marriage text, a passage I have never preached on in over 20 years of ministry. I was surprised but not shocked because I usually do the vows but not the sermons at weddings. The next three weeks would require less from me, though I have three more consecutive Thursday night messages to go.

Today (10) is a public holiday in Hong Kong and I spoke for a church at a one-day retreat in Wu Kai Sha's YMCA near Ma On Shan. It is a beautiful place, the most impressive retreat center I have been locally. The location, which is near the beach, is also clean and picturesque. I was glad when the talk was over because I had to spend a lot of time on 2 Peter 1, but the personal reward in preparing it was gratifying, too, one of my best. After the morning session I joined Wife for bakery at Simply Life. The food there was fantastic and the line was long. In the afternoon it was so hot and humid that I had to turn on the a/c to nap. In the evening we sat by the rocks for the first time at the beach, a highly enjoyable experience.

Yesterday (19th) a door to ministry unexpectedly closed, but maybe it's for the best because returning to the grind of pastoral ministry is not an option to me, especially as local ministries do not multiply. I have a ten year window in ministry open, so I must use it the best way possible. This week I have started to work on my new book on Bible Couples, so there is life beyond the horizon. Be patient, my soul!

There is good news this week from the publication end. My editor told me on Tuesday (24th) that he is happy with the work and that the materials for my new book on Bible Couples are stronger and more practical than my previous work on Parables of Life. I know it not a knock on what I did before but I was still quite taken back by the assessment, as I was quite pleased with the former. Well, I cannot complain about the compliment and he certainly has the experience.

Wife and I had a two-hour retreat today (28th), praying for a house locally, ministry, work, unsaved relatives, friends, churches, health, and Jon Hon. The latter's book on prayer inspired her to suggest a retreat. The weather was perfect for a morning outdoors. In the afternoon I worked again on the book before I send the first draft to the publisher after the weekend.

Today (30th) I finished all the observations I began a few days ago for the 18 chapters in my new book. It was quite a task but I learned a lot from it. Writing down all the Who, When and Where from the original text certainly helped me in exposition.