I visited the blog of my previous pastor recently and noted that he is offering for sale (at half-price) the Crocs that I had given to him and his youngest son for their birthdays in May 2007. Those shoes cost $104.90.
Afternote:
Just discovered that his blog has just been made "private". Hence, you will not be able to see the details by clicking on the link above.
However, Google keeps cached copies of what have been posted earlier, so here it is, as shown on the right...
He plans to donate the sales proceeds to a worthy cause, and this gesture of his has inspired me to do likewise!
I have left on his blog the comments you see on the right to thank him for inspiring me accordingly.It is currently awaiting moderation, so let's see if Wordpress has a feature that prevents this from being published as well. The one I left regarding the midweek services has still not seen the light of day :-)
Anyway, I had initially planned on getting him an iPhone as a farewell present sometime in July 2007, but discovered that the phone can only be used in the USA with AT&T, so I did not get down to doing so. Since I was prepared to set aside US$399 (which is about S$595.67 at the prevailing exchange rate) for that present, this sum will now also go towards that worthy cause.
I also had wanted to buy Disney-designed Crocs for his two elder sons whose birthdays are in September. I asked his wife for their shoe sizes and favourite colours, but she declined the offer. The $109.90 that was meant for those shoes will likewise be channeled to that worthy cause as well.
I have thus written up a cheque of $810.47 ($104.90 + $595.67 + $109.90)
* $104.90 being the price of the 2 pairs of Crocs I bought in May 2007
* $595.67 being what the iPhone would have cost.
* $109.90 being what the other 2 pairs of Crocs would have cost.
I am sure the recipient would be grateful to my former pastor for this :-)
11 comments:
Yo Mal!
It's just too bad I'm a size 8 and my kids are way past 4 years old, otherwise I would have grabbed myself a good deal for a "worthy" cause ;-)
You know, it's your fault that those crocs are up for sale - you should have bought a better gift, something that your ex-pastor can't bear to part with ... eg. an ipod, a palm treo, creative zen vision, portable GPS, 20in LCD TV, ...
Anyway, feel free to give me a gift anytime ;-) I promise I won't sell it away (even if it's something i don't need), not even for a worthy cause.
Hi Stan
Truth be told, I was a little hurt when I first read about how little those shoes meant to him.
Then, I felt the LORD telling me, "Son, how do you think I feel when the world rejects My love?"
As recipients of the grace message, we have to live this out ourselves by extending grace to others, especially those an observer would say do not deserve it.
After all, grace is unmerited, and something that is not deserved.
It would mean making ourselves vulnerable to rejection time and again.
But God has not give up on mankind, so I will not give up on my dear ex-pastor either, and still continue to love him (and link his blog to mine) :-)
Hi Mal,
After embracing the grace message, I realised that the hardest thing for me to learn was not about extending grace to others, but rather to accept grace from others.
Grace requires humility. I have to humble myself to realise that I received a gift not because of what I had done to earn it or what position I am in.
When you gave me the book "Walking on water" recently, I immediately accepted it with thanks to you and thanksgiving in my heart. Previously, I would have felt "pai seh" because I hardly knew you, and that was the first time we actually met face-to-face.
The greatest obstacle to embracing the grace gospel is pride. The way we receive gifts from people reflects the way we receive from God. Through the sale of your crocs gift, your ex-pastor has unwittingly revealed more of himself than he realised.
Hi Stan
Hmm... Come to think of it, what you say is absolutely true!
When you offered me the bowl of mango pudding, I wanted to pay you for it at first. Then I realise that it was my pride preventing me from freely accepting, so I "repented" and decided to receive it with gratitude and thanksgiving.
I am learning to accept gifts graciously, so when Doug asked me out for lunch two weeks back, I gladly allowed him to pay for it :-)
Hi Mal and Stan,
Amen! Fully amen to what you guys have shared.
As much as I marvel at how grace can transform a person to be the greatest giver, I marvel even more at how the person must first indeed be transformed into a great receiver.
Think, the key word is ‘receiver’, not just a ‘taker’, ‘snatcher’ or ‘grabber’…A lot of us in our sincere bid to avoid being a selfish or self-centred ‘I, me and myself’ person, we swung to the other extreme of becoming a proud and self-sufficient person leaving no-room to receive grace from others.
Worse of all, unconsciously, we apply the same attitude in our interaction with our dear Heavenly Abba! (Even worse than this, when we are urging and exhorting others to be a poor receiver of His grace and love too!) Thus we alienated ourselves from the ‘commonwealth of faith’(see Eph 2:11-22).
Frankly speaking, since when are we truly deserving of anything from our Abba except through the reconciliation and redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ?!!
So let us hold fast to our great calling to be a ‘reconciliator’ to reconcile (give, minister, supply...) our world to the loving arms of our Heavenly Abba even as we are first reconciled (received, ministered, provided) by His grace. That is to be done with or without the approval of men – thus as what Mal you have rightly put; to participate in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings – the suffering of being rejected, not just being rejected but rejected by His very own!!
Mal, stand fast and stand tall, returning good for evil as your precious faith refine by fire will be precious and will have good rewards!
Shalom
Dougtheman
Hi Doug
Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Pastor B and I used to be very close until he found out I embraced grace teachings.
Been seeking to be reconciled with him since he left PLMC, but I suppose he is not ready for that just yet...
Not giving up though, because I am trusting God to make all things beautiful in His time :-)
Hi Malcolm,
I saw your story.
Someone who very close to you , and now seem like cut off his relationship with you.
You try to reconcile with him, but the other party seem like cannot accept you.
Bro , nothing much you can do.
Seem like you got to move on, bro.
Hi Malcolm,
although this post has been very long, but it caught my eye the most ever since I had been here.
Particularly because I was from PLMC before, and yes, also believed in grace.
And of course I would have known Ps B since he was from PLMC for a year.
I want to ask you, when you buy all these things for his son and him, although you meant well in your good intentions, how would you think he should have taken it? In gladness, jumping for joy? Or in anger, that you might use this gifts to win his heart and thus win your war of words concerning grace? Or what is the response you are expecting which I don't know?
No offense Malcolm, I did not ask this to put you in a tight spot, I just want to see your heart.
And I have chosen to remain anonymous. I have heard your name rattle in PLMC before, and even though I have left PLMC for more than a year, I think I am not ready to see my name on your blog or you writing anything about me.
But I do want to see your heart, and if I can see your heart, I just might choose to reveal myself to you.
You do not have to post this comment if you want to. However you would need to post your reply. Its even okay if you want to ignore this comment.
Thanks!
Hi anon
You have raised a very good question.
Ps B joined my cell in Jul 06 and we got along extremely well. Only after I revealed my stand on the grace gospel sometime in Jan 07 did he start to "withdraw" away his friendship, so to speak.
I had to no problems remaining a friend of his, and agree to disagree with doctrine.
When I bought those Crocs in May 07, I had a sense of peace in my heart. In fact, I guessed his shoe size correctly and saw that as a divine "inspiration".
Alas, when he blogged about selling them, I felt very very hurt. But then, it made me realise how hurt God must be when people reject His love. I was also reminded that gifts are gifts -- the giver should not expect anything in return.
It's ok for you to remain anonymous if you don't feel comfortable for your name to appear on my blog.
But if you don't believe in coincidences, and see your stumbling upon my blog as a divine arrangement, then maybe you can send me an sms at 90295677 and we can continue this conversation offline.
I am curious to know which church you have moved on to. Newcre? ;-)
Hi Malcolm,
I might give an sms to you to ask you about this after I pray and ask the Lord about it. Thanks for posting it online, but actually I thought it would have been dangerous to post your hp no. online.
Anyway, you probably have not met me before, because we were in different services(I do not belong to the adult congregation). And of all my more than 10 years in PLMC, I have not met you before.
I have not ventured into NCC as my home church. However I am gathering at a house in a group for church and fellowship.
That was just to give you a hint of who I might be.
Thanks for your reply.
Hi Malcolm,
After prayer and counsel, I decided not to sms you nor reveal myself.
Thanks though, I have exactly no reason on finding out what happened between you and pastor b, that's why I will cease finding out.
That's because, I was only inwardly upset for both you and pastor b's response with each other. Anything more is not exactly my business.
Thanks for putting in an effort to try to clarify with me.
Be blessed!
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