ON 17 September, 106 men gathered at Ming Ong Methodist Church, Bintulu, learning from morning till dusk, on how to be a man, a husband and a father after God own heart.
Two speakers from Methodist Theological School, Rev Khoo Ho Peng and Rev Thomas Lau Sie Ngiu, were invited to help these men to be spiritually equipped to be heavenly heroes.
Rev Khoo spoke on “A man After God’s heart” and “A Man’s Emotions”. His message was taken from Mark 12:28-31 “The Great Commandment” (love God with all your heart and soul and mind). He took King David as an example. David repented earnestly from his mistakes with sorrowful heart which led him into an intimate relationship with God.
Rev Khoo thus encouraged all brothers-in-Christ to learn from King David to love God with all their heart and soul and mind. Submit their will to God, avoid hypocrisy and misjudging others. Learn to live humbly.
He also reminded that men often neglect and suppress their emotions which create inner hurt that often leads to abusive actions. Therefore, men should learn how to recognize and manage their emotions. Then they can understand the feelings of others to an extent that they will become heavenly heroes with a high sense of EQ.
Through activity like “emotional dice”, the participants first learned to share their emotions.
Love your wives as yourselves
Rev Thomas Lau on the other hand shared on “A husband and a father after God’s heart”. He stated 3 principles on loving your wives as yourselves according to Ephesians 5: 25-31.
1. Learn from how Jesus Christ loved the Church, that is, active in making sacrifices. As the head of the wife, the husband should take up the role of spiritual leadership, determine to be the first to say “l love you”, “Thank you” and “l am sorry”. Use “the five languages of love” to treat your wife, just as Jesus Christ used water and His Word to cleanse the Church to make it pure.
2. Love your wife as yourself, always cherish her and care for her.
3. “Become one flesh” means you have to be independent (from your parents) so that your wife will have a sense of security; and “to be united to your wife” means a sense of deep understanding and fulfilling the needs of your wife, which includes closeness in sexual life.
Rev Lau then used Ephesians 6:4 to explain the duty as a father, especially in the application of love and righteousness just as our heavenly Father has shown us. He pointed out two principles:
1. Do not discourage your children by making them angry. This does not mean to spoil them, instead you’re not being unreasonable, or using abusive language or actions to demoralize them, or denying their thinking, feelings and needs which would make them lose their self-esteem and hope.
2. Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. This is to use the teaching of the Bible and personal experiences to lead them to become a person after God’s heart.
Apart from the inspiring theme talks, the participants also enjoyed a movie called “A Family Man”. As the group sharing was all men, the discussions brought lots of enthusiasm and laughter.
At the closing of the day, these heavenly heroes also received “love letters” from their wives and children which had been arranged ahead of time. It was a very touching moment. Some of the men responded with texted messages to their wives. With teary eyes, these men smilingly treasured these special gifts of love.
“Heroes” mean those who are brave to accomplish a difficult mission or a good deed and are remembered by people. I believe these men are on their journey to becoming Heavenly Heroes. Let’s pray that one day their loved ones will applaud what they have sacrificed for the family.
Heart talk by participants
– Through this camp l learnt that it is not difficult to be a good man if we
are willing to learn. Thanks to Turning Point Centre for preparing this
special course for men. It was very relaxing and I’m blessed.
– It was great! I hope more men will join this camp next time.
– It was a good camp giving clear instructions on how to be a good father and husband. It also reminded me how to apply the biblical teaching practically. This camp is worth campaigning for.
– I was enlightened by things that I have not heard before. I also realized the importance of reading the Bible. I hope l can share my experience and the Bible with my children.
– l have decided to be a good husband and father.
– A good course and the message was just what I needed.
– A great camp! l will join again next year. Is there one for ladies.
– I learnt how to be kind to my wife and children so that they can see the love of God in me. I pray that l will persist in my practice.
– Very precise and detailed in discussing about marriage and the ways to treat our children.
– I was refreshed at the camp. I also learnt how to return to God to entrust Him and allow Him to lead me on my journey to become a Heavenly Hero!
– We need to manage our marriage and home using the words of God.
– It was very useful for my future application. I am still single but I
thank the Lord for this course which was arranged with great care by
the Turning Point Centre from designing the booklet, venue decoration to the food and refreshments.
Provided by Turning Point Centre, Bintulu Translated by Christina