As working for the Lord

Our Friday group has been looking at the topic of work for the past 2 weeks, it’s been thought provoking and challenging for me personally.

Came across a passage which I should have familiar with in Colossians 3:22-25

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

However, I realized that I am actually seldom (if ever) think of work in this way. Especially if you feel that your work environment is less than your ideal. For sure I will still uphold my work ethics and integrity as a Christians, but often I don’t know what’s the reason behind that except that it’s what expected of me as Christians.

The passage seems to demand something more, it demands your heart and your attitude and that’s harder, way harder than just being a “good worker”. You can still be an honest and hardworking worker but resent your work and hold grudges all the times.

And to think that this passage was originally directed for Christian slaves, I honestly don’t know how they do it.

Am I sinning for not consciously thinking that I am serving Lord Christ in my daily work?

How can the inheritance be a motivator in my daily work?

Indonesia Bisa

Went to Indonesia Bisa (concert) last night. It was a great experience watching the great bands of Indonesia performing (Dewa 19 and Andra & the Backbone (AATB)).

Although Dewa 19 supposed to be the highlight of the show, I think AATB stole the limelight. The audience seemed to know AATB quite well and they responded to the band the best compared to the other performers that night. I think the highlight was the duet between AATB and Jessica Mauboy on Sempurna. I hope that they consider recording this song together.

I quite like DewiDewi, one of the vocalists got a very strong and husky voice, very nice rock sound. I’ve never heard AATB songs before, they sounded better on stage compared to their recordings (well, I only just watched some of their clips on the youtube ..), their songs are quite nice. Dewa 19 was ok too, Once was charismatic as always, Separuh Nafas was a fitting opening song for them, but the songs after that weren’t that interesting (I want to break free, Sedang ingin bercinta).

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I went home with a back pain (3.5 hours standing) and half deaf, but I was quite satisfied watching DewiDewi, Mulan, Jessica, Dewa 19, AATB, The Rock Indonesia all for just a mere $10. Definitely value for money. Keep on rockin!

2 books – 47 biggest mistakes by property investors and No Country for Old Men

47 biggest Mistakes made by Property Investors and How to Avoid Them – Hellen Collier, it was an OK book, I couldn’t remember reading anything new from other books and magazines..

No Country for Old Men – Comac McCarthy. Normally people read the book and then watch the movie. I watched the movie first and it made impression to me (especially the antagonist Anton Chigurh, played brilliantly by Javier Bardem), so much that I don’t mind reading the book after knowing the story. It was a very good reading, I loved it. It’s hard to describe why I like the book, perhaps it’s the style of writing which unusual, perhaps it’s because I can relate to Sheriff Bell’s reflections of his life. Despite the ending which a little bit hanging, I do think it’s a book with one message at least. And that message is: If you stumbled across a scene of a drug transaction gone wrong, leave it alone.

That’s number 10 & 11 finished. Currently reading 3 books in parallel, blame it to my short attention span: Getting things done, The best Software Writing 1 and The Way of The Turtle(another gem discovered on Bowen Library).

Frustated

After few weekends inspecting properties on Hurstville and Parramatta, we finally found one in Parramatta that fits what we are looking for in an investment property (a near cash flow positive).

So I’ve got everything almost ready now, got the loan arranged etc. So it’s just a matter of signing the dotted lines I thought. But I was in for a shock on Friday when the I got the strata report back.

Apparently there are problems with the building caused by negligence on the builder part. The Owner Corporation(OC) has been painfully trying to chase up the builder to rectify the defects but to date it still hasn’t succeeded in doing so.

While I think the defects will be fixed sooner or later (if the builder won’t do it, the OC will claim it from the building insurance), but it is still potentially a troublesome property. And for your first investment property, you don’t really need that extra problem (not to mention special levies that might be needed to cover the legal fees to bring the builder to court).

I’m really disappointed with this development, honestly speaking we are quite tired inspecting units already.. Wife will give the strata inspector a call tomorrow, ask for some opinions on the seriousness of the problems. It is quite unlikely that we will go ahead with this property.

Use your head not your heart (keep telling myself again and again, as I really fond of this property). Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Inside Little Britain

Just finished reading Inside Little Britain few days ago (thanks again Randwick Library). It’s a biography of David Walliams and Matt Lucas on their hit TV comedy Little Britain. I admire their talent as comedians (and actors?), so it was a good read finding a little bit more about these guys.

Number 9 finished.