"Let the Fruits show the Tree"

What!! The pastor actually copies his Sunday Sermon outline?!

I was very surprised to come across an article in the internet with the same passage outline and the sermon preached in Church, 2 Sunday ago. 

Sermon Plagiarism? Not sure whether this is acceptable, but I feel that a pastor shouldn’t do this. I actually try other similar sermon outline for his message on my own and it is easily done. Why didn’t he try it out on his own?

The Pastor preached on a 5-fold ministry of the church from the passage in Eph 4:11-13 = (1)Apostles; (2)Prophets; (3)Evangelists; (4)Pastors; (5)Teachers. Many of the Charismatic churches use this passage as the basis to appoint their leaders as Apostles. Also in 1 Corinthian 11:28, Apostle Paul stated that: “in the church God appointed first of all apostles, second prophets,  third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of  healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those with speaking in different tongues.

Go, google “Fivefold ministry” and you will have a better understanding. The leaders are going to appoint an Apostle that is outside their founding leaders. What a big title! Another preacher stated that an apostle is the highest rank, like the General in the army. [I am sure he misunderstood the word, “first” in 1Cor 11:28].

Question Now, who appoint these ministries? Why is there a need to appoint Apostle?

 Answer: God

Question: So, how do we know that someone is appointed by God for a ministry?

My Answer: Let the fruits show the tree. You know that it is an apple tree by looking at its fruits. That is how God chooses it to be an apple tree. If people are blessed by your teaching, then you know what God has appointed you to be. In the same way, if every time you speak, crowd of people accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, then you will know what God has appointed you to be. Likewise, it is for all other ministries and leaders.

Question: So, we don’t need to actually give people label and title?

My Answer: Exactly! The label and title comes naturally after a while when people see your fruits. Just keep doing what is passionate and what you know God calls you to do. Let the fruits that you bore be the label that people will tack on you. This is how God’s calling is. We should call those serving in full-time Christian ministry as “servant of God” rather than preacher, pastor, etc. Then after a while, let people see their fruits and their title will change to be Teacher so-and-so, Pastor so-and-so, Apostle so-and-so, etc.

Question: So, don’t need to appoint Apostle, meh?

Answer: Don’t need, lah.

Matthew 12:33 (NRSV) "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for THE TREE IS KNOWN BY ITS FRUIT."

Agape

How Heavy is My Cross?

Last Friday night, I left the cell group meeting with a very heavy heart.

Hearing one member shared about the struggle of her Christian friend whom I shall call Ginny (can’t hear clearly her name) who has a daughter born with severe intellectual disability. As a result, the daughter could not speak, or do anything. Her daily food is only soy milk is getting very costly now that the girl has grown so big at the age of 15. Ginny has given up her job to take care of her. Every night, both parents have to wake up to clear the child’s throat of phlegm. The girl also has regular visits to the hospital and because of her size, has to be brought there by an ambulance. The family also has 2 younger children.

“Why Lord? Why must Ginny and her husband go through such a heavy struggle daily with this child? Isn’t life very unfair?” I asked silently with a tint of sadness and anger. At that moment, I felt the Spirit prompting: “The Cross”. As I searched through my memory bank, Luke 9:23 came to mind:

And He (Jesus) said to all, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

“It is a daily cross 24/7, but isn’t that a very heavy cross?” I protested.

“Why so heavy?” I puzzled, without expecting an answer.

“Worthy” came the reply.

How heavy the cross that the LORD wants us to bear is measured by how worthy HE sees His children’s ability to bear it. God has considered them worthy and they have soldiered on with this cross for 15 years and many more. If the child is their cross, then we need not discuss whether this child will go to heaven or not, as the cell group did last night. Silently, I prayed for this family that God’s graciousness and strength be with the family as they faithfully bear this cross the LORD has laid on them.

Thinking of Ginny and their cross made me pondered over the difficult situations I am presently going through. Are they also considered my “cross” that I need to bear? No matter how heavy they are now seem so much easy to bear.

How heavy a cross am I able to bear?

What attitude should I have when faced with tremendous suffering and trial? Will I be able to response like what the Apostle James said – “Count it all joy, when you met with all kind of trials …” (Jas 1:2-4) 

It was a great lesson that the Holy Spirit is teaching me. I am humbled.

Agape!

The day I volunteered for Community Service

“Can you please donate to charity?” I asked. … Thank you!

Last Saturday morning, I volunteered to sell flags for Apex Harmony Lodge - home for the Dementia.

Tampines Bus Interchange is really a crowded place. Initially, I tried approaching passengers who were leaving the station. Some obliged, others just smiled and walk away. As always, I would say, “Thank you.” I think I have spoken: “Thank you” that morning more than what I have said for the whole year, definitely more than 300 times. 

Not many donated, and I was somewhat disappointed. What am I doing here? I could just put into my tin a hundred dollar and go home. 

Then, an old lady who was pulling a trolley walked up to me and dropped a coin into my tin. I suddenly remembered Jesus' words: "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury". My heart was so touched by her giving. A tear almost drop. I think I can understand how Jesus felt that day watching in the temple when the widow gave her tithes. This woman doesn’t need to give, yet she did. Silently, I said a prayer for her. “Lord, bless her giving. Give to her a hundred-fold, no, a thousand-fold of what she had given! Amen”. 

Then a thought came to me. I will pray for those who give, … and those who don’t. For every donor, I said a prayer for them. For those who I approached but did not give, I also said a prayer for them. I prayed that those who did not give would have their hearts transformed to be a more gracious and kinder person, so that in future, they will be more compassionate. 

At the end of it all (4 hours), I have learnt to be thankful and … prayerful.

Changing Attitude; willing to be Broken

I am careless!



I damaged 2 expensive components while doing some experiment in the laboratory yesterday. Even though the components are free samples, it still spoilt my day. It seldom happens to me. Why, oh why as I began to ask myself again and again.


I have always being very careful in doing experiments and testing, unless I am rushing. As they say – “more haste, less speed”. But then, I am very careful this time round.


In the quietness, I felt some prompting within me. Then I remembered the book that I am still reading by Watchman Nee. It is about being broken for God. We need to be broken in order for ministry.


There is a huge lesson for me in this. Need to change attitude.
Then I remembered the seminar on Be Attitude last weekend.


Blessed are the poor in spirit …
Blessed are those who mourn …


*******************


The story is told of a woman who during the war went to live with her husband in camp on the Mojave Desert. She simply hated the place; the heat was almost unbearable, 50 degrees Celsius in the shade, the wind blew incessantly, and there was sand - sand everywhere.


Finally, in desperation she wrote her parents in Ohio that she couldn't stand it another minute and was coming home.


Quickly came the reply by airmail from her father - just the two familiar lines:


"Two men looked out from prison bars ... one saw the mud, the other saw stars."


The daughter did some real thinking, not only with the intellect but also with her heart. She decided to stick to her post.


She made friends with the natives, learned to love the country, and eventually wrote a book about it.


The desert hadn't changed, but her attitude had. Because she listened with her heart to the words her father sent, a whole New World opened up to her.


Agape

Shaming those who fail to turn up for Sunday worship

A new and powerful way of shaming those who do not turn up for Sunday worship – publish their names on facebook (if they have a facebook account). The name list is not in alphabetical order. My name is first in the list. Clearly, I am the most hated person in Bethany Presbyterian Church now. :(

Only the powerful people in the church dare to do that to their sheep. The pastor’s sister-in-law is the church police now. This reminds me of the temple polices in Jesus’ time. They came and arrested Jesus during the night. … (you know the rest of the story)

Me & My Big Mouth

It has been weeks of deep thoughts!

All because I want to know what God is doing in Bethany. Maybe I shouldn’t ask HIM this question. Who am I to ask the Almighty what HE is doing. And, that kind of questions should be asked by the Pastor, the Elders and Deacon of the church, not me.

Me: “Lord, what are You doing in Bethany?”

Lord: “See all those who stray away and have not return for a long time?”

Me: “Huh! Sorry, have forgotten them …”

Lord: “Not me, I remember them. Always on the look out for them to come back to me.”

Me: “Must need a lot of patience though”

Lord: “Sure have. Want to join me to bring them back?”

Me: “What? Me? Lord, You ask the wrong guy. I don’t have the persuasiveness to talk. I can’t talk lah!”

Lord: “Well, why then ask me what I am doing in Bethany?”

Me: (thinking) “Ooop! Me and my big mouth” :(

Morale of this experience – It’s better not to be able to hear what God is speaking than to hear and not obey. I now know why being an Old Testament prophet is a tough job.

Agape

That's Life!

My colleague is back from medical leave for one month and yet my boss still wants me to report and cover some of his jobs which I was doing during his absence. :(

My feelings are …. %#@^ ??? :(

And the projects -many and difficults -are still in development with problems. (which probably stir up fear)

But my LORD is my strength, I will not be shaken.
He makes my feet like hind feet,
He steers me through the quicksand;
And in HIS strength, I will gladly do what is before me!

Is there a Green Pasture for me?

What can I do if one day I am fired from my job?

For the past few months, I was pondering over this question. With each passing months, the D-day get nearer and the thoughts get more intense.

Since last October, there’s a UK company thinking of buying over our company. They carried out due diligence for quite a number of times and basically audit everything. The company also flew in their lawyer, accountant, and a small team of people. My big boss (the president of the company) was very excited and announced in December that they would make a decision by end of March 2010. He sounded very confident that they will buy us over.
(And that will make him very rich!!)

For me, my position as an engineering staff sound precarious. If they were to reduce head-count, engineering / R&D staffs are usually the first to be replaced by their own people. Moreover, my job scope would not fit into their whole company structure.

For the past 10 years, my company has survived economy downturn and 3 companies who we worked for default in payment amounting to million of dollars. We have always been blessed even in difficult times. Though my bosses are not God-believers, yet I see the hand of God leading me here. Just the other day, I heard my boss, the General Manager (who is not a Christian) saying, “We are lucky, God is helping us.” He knows I am a Christian as I used to share the Christian faith with him.

I have been praying about this for quite a long time. Would I need to look for green pasture? Can I say with confident: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lies down in green pasture …” ?

Would this be the last of me here in this company since the day of start-up?

Then the beginning of April 2010 came. The big boss told us that they decided not to buy our company but will continue to just do business with us. He sounded disappointed but he will look for new buyers.

Thank God, I guess HE wants me to stay here a bit longer.

But still I need to prepare for Green Pasture should the day I need to move. Retirement is not the option at this moment as my children are still schooling. And so the question still lingers on …

What can I do if one day I am fired from my job?

Emails - Thanks for replying

I was a bit surprise to receive a reply from my email yesterday :)

Thank you! :)

I know that people from Bethany Church usually don’t bother to acknowledge or even reply email. Last year I sent out my teaching Power Point on Biblical Narratives to some 20 people – Sunday school teachers, Bible Study Leaders and even church leaders. Yet I did not receive a single reply. So I know that people in the church like to remain anonymous – no reply, no comments.

Recently I sent out quite a number of emails weekly. Perhaps I am intruding into others’ privacy? Am I trying to influence others by my thoughts? We usually sent email thinking that by doing so, it may help others. Usually, the recipients see it as intruding or nuisance. So after browsing it, it is then simply discarded and forgotten.


Well, this is my last term as Bible Study ministry co-coordinator. Once this is done and over with. I will not need to bother others with my many emails, and even my blogging.

Cheers!

Stress here, stress there... Stress Everywhere!

It has been a tough week. Probably, this week going to be quite stressful.

Finally, I received the crystal oscillators (after 6 months of waiting) from my supplier and continued to work on my project. I tested some and it seemed to work to about -20 degrees. The testing procedure is very tedious and we have to use Liquid Nitrogen to cool the cystal oscillators down to that temperature. Unfortunately, most of the crystal oscillators are not working well at about -15 degrees Celsius even though we specified to the supplier that we wanted the crystal oscillator to function properly to -30 degrees Celsius. As the products are going to the United Kingdom, I am getting very concerned. The thoughts, “Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES” kept appearing in my mind. Perhaps, the LORD wants to teach me to be thankful?

This morning, as I opened my email, my boss forwarded a mail from a potential customer wanting me to send them 2 sample products for their evaluation in 2 or 3 weeks times. Suddenly, my stress level shot up.

My mind shouted: “I don’t have the material to build the samples!”

There you go, any stressful week ahead. How should I answer the boss and the customer? Would I loose a very good business opportunity?

How would I “rejoice always, and give thanks in all circumstances”?

Surely, I will pray continually.

A worship service that is so … different!

“What do you think about today’s worship service?” I casually asked my 16 years old daughter yesterday as we were on our way home.

“Eh, it’s so … different!”

“What’s so different?”

“Just different, lah!” She still couldn’t find the words to describe the experience we had in this church's service.

Yesterday, we had an opportunity to visit a church near our home. My first visit to this church was May last year. The feeling of Spirit’s presence was just as strong as it was then. The worship bulletin did not have any mission statement or purpose, the theme for the year or any announcement. There was no need to remind worshippers to worship God “in spirit and in truth” on paper. It was written in every hearts that are present. The songs still linger in my minds as I am writing this. The whole service ministers to the hearts. Perhaps that was what my daughter meant when she said, “It’s so different”. She was sitting between me and my wife. I could sense her complete attention during the service.

The worship handouts just contained the outline of the sermon, wonderfully and clearly layout. There were also insert of the church mission activities. When I saw the sermon outline, I knew we were going to have a dynamic speaker even before he spoke. The topic was on revival. This grandfatherly preacher was able to swings our mood as he injected humor to make us laugh and illustrations to bring tears to our eyes. At the end, hundreds came down to response to the altar call of re-commitment to Christ.

I left the worship service wondering why I am still staying with my presence church after 24 years there.

Devotional Thoughts: Loosing & Finding Love

We all rejoice when we hear that a couple in the YA! is pairing up. :)




But it saddens me when another couple breaks up after many years of relationship. One choose to remain single, the other moves to a new relationship (seen from the Facebook photo and status). The single remains hurt; the other is probably enjoying the new relationship.

Yah! Can sense it mah! Read and see their FaceBook posting, lah.

We who are friends are still wondering, questioning, and learning from the episode. And praying for them also.

Do you?
Well, at least, I am

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Lost and found … emotions are often triggered when I loose or find something. Just a few days ago, I picked up a ten cents coin early in the morning while walking to the HDB car park. It is not the amount, but the sudden small impulse of hilarious feeling is enough to brighten the outlook of a new day. (naïve feelings?)

As I turn to today’s Daily Bread devotion, http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/10/29/devotion.aspx
(Luke 15:4-24)

my mind just wanders to those couples who have lost or found love, relational love.

In the 3 parables, what cause the shepherd to loose a sheep, the lady to loose a coin, and the father to have a prodigal son? Perhaps they are careless?

But the point of the parables is to rejoice when a sinner repents and come to Heavenly Father, whose name is LOVE.

So when you find something, treasure it and don’t loose it again, especially love.


TREASURE the things that you have found, especially LOVE! :)

Claustrophobia? !#@ :((

It was so cramped!!

Like craps all squeezing inside a basket.

I guess the youth themselves feel it. All 25 of them (or more?) cramp into a room meant for 10!!

This was my first visit to the BCPES youth sing-piration yesterday since they shifted to this place. And got a shock!

Why is it that the youth has never given a proper place to fellowship and run-wild, and be creative with their time together?

If I were to invite my lecturer, Dr. Koh who taught me on Christian Education from SBC to give a talk to these youth, I will surely get a scolding from her.

“Mark, didn’t I teach you that facility and environment is important to learning?”

“The size of the room is inversely proportional to the age of the student.”


Our youth need space!!


OK, just abit Kay-Poh here.

Mask?

It's kind of hard to see through people, ... until the mask is down :(

People see us as goody goody and maybe spiritual when we start serving in church ... BSG leader, Sunday school teacher, committee member, worship leader... but really are we getting right with God?

Serving in church becomes our mask! Recently heard something sad. Had to pray really hard.

If it is true, it is scary.

Very likely, it is true, from my own discovery.

How sad, the mask is there and I miss it.