I woke up today (2nd) to the European Final when Spain scored its second goal. This is the first time I get to see a live match in the wee hours of Hong Kong. Spain is too strong, so it is not entertaining at all. July is a busy month. I preached in the morning and did baptism in the afternoon yesterday. I have two more sermons to do, one on the third, and the second on the fourth Sunday, thankfully none from scratch. The bonus is I am a few sermons from completing my next book. The last weeks have been good for prayer as I spent more time on praying for family, friends and peers. Praying for them really affects your view of them. You become more compassionate and positive in the way you relate to them.
For two days in a row I received compliments on my new book. On Wednesday (4th) we said goodbye to Prof. Simon. He has been very encouraging for the short time we know him He especially likes the illustrations. On the way home our 10pm bus was stuck for an hour at TsingMa bridge due to a collision on the bridge. Fortunately, no one had to go to answer nature's call, except for the bus driver. At least, it is better than big business, he admitted. On Thursday (5th) I bumped into the Editor. He also enjoys the illustrations and creative writing.
It has been such along time I have not received feedback, but yesterday we received wonderful SMS feedback from friends immediately after my message yesterday (15th):
"今天葉牧師講道叫我有很大得著, 我的工作面臨考驗."
"葉牧師, 多謝你今天地訊息, 給我有很大的提醒."
I am not starving for attention but compliments are always welcome and edifying.
Today (19th) I learned from a friend a new Cantonese slang, which is “跌watt” and a netizen explains that it means, "体力下降,动作变慢." Simply said, his battery is low and he has lost his motivation for ministry.
At my urging, my favorite free Bible software (20th) has decided to answer the call and add Chinese script to its software, except it is in simplified script:
Dear Victor,
We will add the CUV to the next ISA version.
See picture: http://www.nexteon.nl/demo/images/CUV_Chinese.png
André
Scripture4All.org
I had a double dose of campus nostalgia today (22th) when former DTS president Dr. Charles Swindoll came into town and had lunch with graduates. His voice boomed like no other man in the late 70s I know. I was glad to be at the airport to see him and his team off. The best came in the morning when former professor Roy Zuck told me that he has finished editing the English version of my book Parables of Life. The ever-so-humble man wrote:
Victor,
I just now finished going over your manuscript. You did a great job. Good expositions, good illustrations, good study questions, etc. It took me 12 hours...
I made a number of minor changes here and there. I hope you are pleased with what I’ve done. One thing you’ll note is that I’ve added a comma before “and” in a series of three or more items. This is a commonly accepted rule. I enjoyed your many trilogy phrases and words.
Thanks for the opportunity to edit this for you. Did you say you have another one you are working on? If so and if I can help you with that too, let me know.
Gratefully,
Roy Zuck
Swindoll was a blast. At 77 years old he spoke as if he was from a radio broadcast. I accompanied my former colleague, who was in charge of seeing them off at the airport, holding Swindoll's bags for him when he checked in. When he said, "Thank you," I replied, "It's the closest I ever get to you." He smiled and said, "Like my kids say, 'What's the big deal?'" His team fortunately missed the typhoon that hit Hong Kong the next day, the strongest in my four years here. The No. 8 signal was hoisted from 6pm till 10am today (24th). The winds were howling so strongly outside our apartment corridor that Wife pleaded to go inside to the bedroom. We came home after her Chinese herbal doctor appointment just in time to see the supermarket close at 6pm, so we could not get any food, but we could survive on her canned fish diet.
A few days ago a preaching student said he wanted to do what I do in the future and asked for tips to prepare for it. I thought abut it these few days and woke up to four words in the morning (29th): language - different ways of thinking, literature - selection of words, learning - heading overseas for higher learning, and leaping - trying new things.
