Back to the world of the big giants of the legal fraternity.....Enter ye yet once again to that pinkish brown building smack in the centre of town, where I fervidly step into every single day of the week, save for the ocassional Sundays that I don't have to work....Oh joy, I kept reminding myself that God had a plan for me and a purpose for me just so to keep me sane in this crazy world of the seemingly lack of legal conscience and integrity......I know I am here to make a difference!
Jet-lag soon struck and I was going about doing things like a dabbler - most amateurly! It was great to be greeted so warmly by my Shearn pen buddies especially Kim, Nisha, Jaymie & Denise!! You guys make my day brighter each day by just accepting the crazy and randomness in my being....
My arbitration cross examination trial resumed again today and I had to conscientiously take down notes when all of a sudden, the atmosphere of the room changed.....From a very normal form of cross-examination, the drama increased and it turned into a very abrasive, argumentative and aggressive kind of proceedings....A squabble broke out and man, we were all in a bad mood, by that I mean counsels on both sides, the arbitrator, the witness and our client!! I doubt anyone would have wanted to be in the room ...Even the cool air from the air-cond did not filter out the hotness of the room...I came out of it feeling very disillusioned and angry !! What should I be writing in my notes?? Let me see....Should I write All hell broke loose??? Both parties engaged in throwing insults and particularly outlandish swearing?? Or go for the more moderate approach of saying the Witness could not agree with the suggestions made by opposing counsel and proceedings were held to a pause where counsel deicded to use a different line of questioning?? Man!! Why was I the one who had to be the Scribe!! And all this go on record as well ...so what should I do?! Why me? Why me?! 
Well, it had to be me right!! Ok , so in the end I wrote what any lawyer with a sense of discretion would write, I wrote "Tea Break" ( they honestly had to go for a cuppa before returning to the room!) 
Later in the day when the session resumed, I was exposed to the many strategy tactics of lawyers - the art of mastering your way around the law or around tricky situations .....put plainly, its the art of how well you know how to play the game of twisting facts or pouncing on your opponents lack of concrete facts by using it to his detriment! I find that rather mendacious but not many will possibly agree with me. So is there 100% integrity there?? Is that what makes a good lawyer??
I returned to the office shattered ....shattered at the sheer unprofesionalism of the highly regarded parties involved but who am I to judge? I am no judge...I am just a dying soul saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus...Somedays I pray so hard that God will bring more Christians into my workplace to be that influence n example to our non believing colleagues and bosses - to really influence the law and justice system we seek to uphold in the right way!! The Christians in the office aren't scarce but not alot of us are seriously taking our mission field seriously...we go about doing our own business and leave the rest to do their own....If its not our concern, why bother? An act of omission - how convenient, isnt it?
But as my cousin Jon always rightly puts it to me, even when we feel like throwing in the towel in this kingdom building business, God has called us to continue to be in the fight in this battlefield! So yeah, I'm still very much in it too Jon, together with you as promised 
Thank God that He is always there to re-align my focus on Him!! It has been a totally awesome and encouraging week for me. One of my friends in UK accepted Christ yesterday in the most magnificent way!! Indeed God convicted her in such a personal way through a sermon she heard in church from Mark 3 about the Calling of the 12 Disciples and she felt that "she was in a sense called to by God, to come to Him" and not long after, the closing worship song by Hillsongs entitled To the Ends of the Earth at the portion with says Jesus I believe in You and I would go, to the ends of the earth, For You alone are the Son of God and all the world will see that You are GOD! Amen!! I am so excited to share in the joy of her salvation and that she has told me just last nite that she finally has found that inner peace in her heart! Khan Kee, I need to mention you in my blog - You made the best decision of your life yesterday!! Thank you for letting me share that special moment with you...God will now be the one guiding you in this new journey and so will Ju Lee and the others in your cell group!
Ps Colin Dye once preached on Uncovering the treasures of the kingdom and its amazing I still remember what he said so clearly ...funny how all of a sudden, that cerebrum of mine works miracles just when I need it He said ask yourself 2 things :-
1) What is the value of the kingdom to you
2) What will you do to get it?
See, true kingdom living is really giving up everything for the Lord Jesus. And Ps Coline really got this right - He shared that we will only obtain the treasure by the dedication and discipline of our heart - to yield our whole lives to the RULE of the kingdom.
How do we possess the kingdom of God then?
1) Die to earthly things, live to heavenly things
2) Reject the temporal and lay hold of the eternal
3)Whatever God calls you to, invest in the eternal not the temporary. Reject the pleasures of sin that robs you of the treasure.
True satisfaction of the treasure is knowing the future joy and fulfilment is on its way...
I guess I was reminded today that I have to let all I value most go in order to really find my place in the kingdom...in this act of surrendedness..
May we all hold unswervingly to our HOPE !! (wink)
And this other thing I learnt about the importance of values in our lives. Today I asked myself about integrity and dis-integrity and I have discovered that the domain of it all lies in the heart, soul and mind of a person.
Yups, so integrity is tough stuff.
I end with this quote from Mark Twain,
"It is curious- curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare"
