{"id":42615,"date":"2021-03-20T22:29:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-20T14:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/?p=42615"},"modified":"2021-03-20T22:29:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T14:29:50","slug":"lifes-sop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/?p=42615","title":{"rendered":"LIFE\u2019S SOP"},"content":{"rendered":"
PRESIDENTdesk<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n

During the pandemic, many have died because of the virus. But even more have died not because of the virus. We were especially shocked when spiritual elders and friends suddenly passed away without any prior symptoms. We could only sigh at the uncertainty and the brevity of life.<\/p>\n

When we face the unpredictable pandemic, we need an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), so that we are careful. When we face uncertain life, we also need an SOP, so that we can stand firm and walk carefully.<\/p>\n

What is the SOP of life?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Saved<\/strong><\/span>
\nIn life, the most important thing is to believe and be saved, because if we are not saved, then we do not have eternal life, we have only this life and no hope. Whether or not there is a coronavirus, every one of us faces death, because we all have another \u201cvirus\u201d: sin. The Bible says: \u201cFor the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d (Romans 6:23) Christ Jesus died for our sins and rose on the 3rd day. He brings hope and eternal life. So in our short lives we need Jesus, we need eternal life. I invite you to believe in Jesus right now and be saved. What happens after we are saved?<\/p>\n

2. Obedient<\/span><\/strong>
\nAfter salvation, we do not just sit around waiting to go to heaven. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to live a life obedient to God. In general, Asians, including Malaysians, are more obedient to the government\u2019s orders, especially during this pandemic. We follow the SOP strictly, so the pandemic is under control here. But some Western countries tend to emphasize individual freedom, so they do not listen to the governments. They do not wear masks. They also think they\u2019re better medically and can handle the virus. But now we see the disastrous results of the sins of pride and selfishness!<\/p>\n

Obeying the government is also obeying God, because government officials are servants of God (Romans 13:1-7), unless the government asks us to do something against God\u2019s word.<\/p>\n

We need to live a life of obedience to God by keeping the word of God in our hearts and obey Him whenever and wherever. The Bible emphasizes that obeying God is even better than worshipping God! Samuel said, \u201cDoes the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.\u201d (1 Samuel 15:22)<\/p>\n

Life\u2019s SOP is to be Saved and to be Obedient and closely related to these two is to be a Peacemaker. Life\u2019s SOP is Saved Obedient Peacemaker.<\/p>\n

3. Peacemaker<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe most meaningful thing in life besides being saved and obeying, is to help people to have peace with both God and others. Jesus even said, \u201cBlessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.\u201d (Matthew 5:9)<\/p>\n

As children of God, we need to be peacemakers. Through counseling, family worship, evangelism, discipleship, training, etc., we bring before God our family and friends, local indigenous peoples and Chinese people, overseas unreached peoples – all of them whole and perfect in Jesus Christ. Then they are also able to follow the SOP of life: to be Saved Obedient Peacemakers.<\/p>\n

May countries around the world succeed in virus prevention through strict SOPs, and gradually enter a better state.<\/p>\n

And may we all succeed in sin prevention through the SOP of life, and enter a most meaningful life!<\/p>\n

\nRev Dr Tie King Tai<\/span>
\nSCAC President<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESIDENTdesk During the pandemic, many have died because of the virus. But even more have died not because of the virus. We were especially shocked when spiritual elders and friends suddenly passed away without any prior symptoms. We could only sigh at the uncertainty and the brevity of life. When we face the unpredictable pandemic, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,10,290],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42615"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scaccmm.sarawakmethodist.org\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}