When The Soul Is Well, All Is Well

Can't Preach Without Conviction.

2011-03-16T07:59:00.000+08:00

Preparing several messages a week is not something I find easy. This week I am juggling between the Sunday's message which is top priority and the upcoming messages for the men's breakthrough weekend. On top of that, I just began the process for the preparation of the church camp messages.

But it is not the hours involved preparing, or even the mental effort that's difficult. It's the spiritual challenge. Its kindling my enthusiasm on a given morning with a new pair of passages and a blank piece of paper.

How do you stay fresh?

Quoting the Psalmist, Paul answered: “I believed, therefore I have spoken” (2 Cor 4:13).

Here is the key: convictions keep us preachers preaching. A preacher can preach without eloquence, commentaries or training. But one thing he cannot preach without is convictions. He can perhaps ‘talk’ of spiritual generalities, or convey some humanistic message. But he cannot really preach unless his words are coming from his heart, from the deep burners of his soul.

‘I believed therefore, I spoke’, said the Psalmist (Ps 116:10). What will not only propel a man into the ministry, but keep him there? It's conviction. It's a non-negotiable. And conviction cannot be rushed. It cannot be micro-waved. It comes from struggling through the text to understand the heart of the God behind the text and then coming to the place of surrender to it's call.

Without conviction, the preaching is simply rhetoric, a lot of dazzling words without the depth of His Word darting through the soul. A T Robertson once wrote, "The highest excellence in preaching is where reverent learning is united with great pulpit ability and deep conviction."

Peace Of The World And Peace Of The Lord

2011-02-01T00:33:00.000+08:00

I often like to sit and watch people as they hurry through the streets. They all seem to have a zest for life and an energy and colour that I can only envy. But there have been too many times when I have also found that inside in of all that zest and energy, they lacked hope because they don't have a meta-narrative. They don't have a big story, a big vision, that can give them perspective beyond the ups and downs of their everyday lives. When their health, relationships, and lives are going well, they feel happy and full of hope; but the reverse is also true. When things aren't going well the bottom falls out of their world. They don't have anything to give them a vision beyond the present moment. As a result, they lay broken."

In essence, that is "the peace that this world can give us." In his farewell discourse, Jesus contrasts two kinds of peace: a peace that he leaves us and a peace that the world can give us. What is the difference?

The peace that the world can give to us is not a negative or a bad peace. It is real and it is good, but it is fragile and inadequate.

It is fragile because it can easily be taken away from us. Peace, as we experience it ordinarily in our lives, is generally predicated on feeling healthy, loved, and secure. But all of these are fragile. They can change radically with one visit to the doctor, with an unexpected dizzy spell, with sudden chest pains, with the loss of a job, with the rupture of a relationship, with the passing of a loved one, or with multiple kinds of betrayal that can blindside us. We try mightily to take measures to guarantee health, security, and the trustworthiness of our relationships, but we live with a lot of anxiety, knowing these are always fragile. We live inside an anxious peace.

As well, the peace we experience in our ordinary lives never comes to us without a shadow. Strangely, there is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our life so that even in our most happy moments there is something missing. In every satisfaction there is an awareness of limitation. In every success there is fear of jealousy. In every friendship there is distance. In every embrace there is loneliness. In this life there is not such a thing as a clear-cut, pure joy. Every bit of life is touched by a bit of death. The world can give us peace, except it never does this perfectly.

What Jesus offers is a peace that is not fragile, that is already beyond fear and anxiety, that does not depend upon feeling healthy, secure, and loved in this world. What is this peace?

At the last supper and as he was dying, Jesus offered us his gift of peace. And what is this? It is the absolute assurance the we are connected to the source of life in such a way that nothing, absolutely nothing, can ever sever - not bad health, not betrayal by someone, indeed, not even our own sin. We are unconditionally loved and held by the source of life itself and nothing can change that. Nothing can change God's unconditional love for us.

That's the meta-narrative we need in order to keep perspective during the ups and downs of our lives. We are like actors in a play. The ending of the story has already been written and it is a happy glorious triumphant one. We know that we will triumph in the end, just as we know that we will have some rocky scenes before that ending. If we keep that in mind, we can more patiently bear the seeming death-dealing tragedies that befall us. We are being held unconditionally by the source of life itself, God.

If that is true, and it is, then we have an assurance of life, wholeness, and happiness beyond the loss of youth, the loss of health, the loss of reputation, the betrayal of friends, the loss of a loved one, and even beyond our own sin and betrayals. In the end, as Horatio Spafford says, it is well, it is well, with my soul.

And we need this assurance. We live with constant anxiety because we sense that our health, security, and relationships are fragile, that our peace can easily disappear. We live too with regrets about our own sins and betrayals. And we live with more than a little uneasiness about broken relationships and loved ones broken by bitterness or death. Our peace is fragile and anxious.

We need to more deeply receive Jesus' farewell gift to us: I leave you a peace that no one can take from you: Know that you are loved and held unconditionally.

When You Suffer

2011-01-28T18:51:00.001+08:00

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,

who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 5:10-11

And after you have suffered a little while.
Our suffering is real, be it emotional or physical. “A little while” does not trivialize it. But suffering is not the rest of our story. It will end, and soon – according to this verse.

the God of all grace.
He has remedies, comforts and powers for every need, every occasion, every moment.
He is the God of all grace. And His grace is always sufficient.

who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.
Someday we will all be in glory; just that today some of us are called home before others.

will himself.
Not mediated but directly and personally. Not bare luck but his own loving personal involvement.

restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
Terms upon terms, because God has thought of everything.
Whatever you have lost he will restore.
You lost a loved one, a dear one; God still restores -
the lost strength, the lost joy, the lost hope - God will Himself restore.
However you are weak he will confirm, strengthen and establish you,
so that you emerge whole, formidable, happy.

To him be the dominion forever and ever.
God is still God alone and He is still on the Throne. He is Sovereign in all that suffering and pain. He alone knows what He is about.

Amen. Very few things in life deserve this absolute affirmation. But here is one. Every thing promised will be!

Permission To Dream.

2011-01-11T10:51:00.002+08:00

I am so grateful that God surrounds me with people who give me permission to dream.

I’ve been in meetings before where the leader will share a big vision for a new initiative.

And I’ve seen people in the meetings roll their eyes or give that sceptically look like "Are you sure?" And then immediately share their abridged version of seven reasons this might not work.

Or subtly point out to everyone how much work this is going to add to their already full plate.

But it must be the sheer favour of the Lord that in recent times, I am so surrounded with people who propel me to dream and dream big. I love to get in a room with staff members and ministry leaders who burst into flames with just a drop of vision kerosene.

I believe we have truly entered into that season of faith where we are believing God for the impossible and getting excited about the God who is more than able!

Last week, when my family was celebrating my son's 21st birthday, he told us his great dream about his future. It was so big and grand, I wondered if I will still be alive when it comes to pass. But none of us doubted it's possibility. We all gave him full permission to dream, by our responses, both verbally and non verbally.

A lot of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers have grounded their family members from dreaming big. This is sad.

I also love spending time with other leaders who, through their leadership approach and way of seeing the world, give me permission to dream in my own context.

I am attending a meeting Thursday night which to me is a permission slip for dreaming: to set audacious goals, speak them, pray our guts out, work hard, face the obstacles, do the uncomfortable, trust God through it all and give God the glory when it comes to pass, or try again if it doesn’t. It makes life so exciting. It gives me the reason to wake up every morning with fresh hope and joy.

We all need permission to dream.

To my Wife, my Children, my Staff, the Agape Guy's Ministry Core, the Heads of Ministry (Worship, Rays, Agapeland, Chinese), the Cell Leaders and the Council - thank you for giving one another the permission to dream and dream big for God!

Check this verse in Eph 3:20: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

God is more than able to do more than we are able to imagine!

Permission granted. Go dream.

Exposition Must Be For Application!

2011-01-10T16:17:00.003+08:00

“Sound Bible exposition is an imperative ‘must’ in the church of the living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God himself, through application of the Word and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God.”

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (London, 1967), pages 9-10.

Read To Remember To Get Revelation.

2010-05-07T09:46:00.002+08:00

The reason we need to read Scripture is because we need something to remember. Let me explain. In John 2, Jesus turns the Temple upside down or rightside up. He drives out the animals and turns over the tables. And it says the disciples "remembered" what was written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." If you don't read the Word you can't remember it. It's like not studying for a test. It's real hard to remember what you haven't read in the first place. The reason many of us don't have any revelation is because we haven't read the Word, therefore we cannot remember it. The disciples have a revelation in this moment because they remember what they have read.

Here's a revelation equation: Reading + Remembering = Revelation.

We need to read the Word so that the Holy Spirit can selectively and strategically bring to mind those words that He inspired thousands of years ago. We need to read so that we have something to remember. And it'll lead to revelation.

Your Greatness.

2010-05-03T22:04:00.004+08:00

When you are seventy or eighty, and you wake up from bed one morning and look back on your life, how will you feel about it? Now that you are so old, you won't have to answer to anybody or fulfill their expectations - not your parents, not your boss or business associates or colleagues; not even your spouse. What would you have done with the gift of life? What story would you have left to tell that will keep you still relevant to the younger generation; still inspiring to the future you won't live to see?

The answers to those compelling questions above will be important to you then, so the question should be important to you now.

The course of your life is deternmined by three things:

1. The Relationships you form
2. The Decisions you make
3. The Actions you take

Each has the potential to change the course of your life.

If you are not doing something with your life, it really doesn't matter how long you live. If you are doing something with your life, it really doesn't matter how short it is. Life does not consist of years lived, but the usefulness of it. Life does not consist of how much you have accomplished or acquired but how well you have lived it to honour your Maker.

Your focus must be beyond yourself. Your life is just too small to give your glory to. You look better and you live a greater life when that life is lived for God's glory.

If you are giving, loving, helping, serving, encouraging, and adding value to others and in the course of it all returning glory to Him who has blessed you with much, you will be living a life that is well lived.

That will be your greatness! Live life to His glory!

There Will Be Divisions.

2010-04-19T09:08:00.003+08:00

The church in Corinth was so divided that you might say it was diced. There were divisions over which apostle was superior, sexual morality, lawsuits, marriage, eating meat, head-coverings for women, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, the resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of believers, and I’m probably missing some.

Paul, who really wanted these saints to “be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor 1:10), said something in chapter 11, verse 19 that is important for us to remember:

There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

Factions though painful serve the church. They provide opportunity to show up the hearts of people. How?

Well through 1 Corinthians Paul tells us how. Like, exposing an unwillingness to submit to the apostles’ teaching is certainly one thing (e.g.1 Cor11:16). But a lack of love is the biggie (1 Cor 13). Paul said love is greater than faith (1 Cor 13:13). And if we have truth and not love, we’re nothing (1 Cor 13:2). Nothing.

There are people in churches who are disagreed over issues and that in itself is not altogether wrong. There will be differences. There will be disagreements. But when we disengage just because we disagree, we have violated a higher rule – the law of love. It shows up the heart. There may be truth but there is no love. And where there is no love, we are nothing. It is the bottom-line measure of discipleship.

Paul said there must be factions. Factions reveal hearts. So in our disagreements and divisions, Paul wants us to measure our motives, words, and actions by the gauge of chapter 13. The less

they look or sound like biblically defined love, the more concerned he wants us to be about the genuineness of our discipleship.

Trust

2010-04-06T07:53:00.003+08:00

I have been wired to be a very trusting person. I love to believe in people. As a result, anyone who knows me - even a little bit - knows that loyalty and trust are my highest values in relationship.

But as someone very smart once said:
An unguarded strength is a double weakness.

So my intense desire to trust others and be trustworthy has - at times - come back to bite me. And usually, the damage had little to do with the actions of the other person. It had everything to do with my approach.

This past weekend, I was led to look at some of my failed relationships in the past where I had so trusted someone only to discover that they had betrayed me. I am not bitter about those relationships. Every failed relationship blessed me with some level of growth (through pain, of course).

And this is what I discovered: I’m learning that it’s as important to define what trust is not as to define what it is. Here are my current thoughts on the subject:

* Trusting someone doesn’t mean they’ll never fail you or hurt you. It just means they wouldn’t intentionally do it, or do it the same way over and over again.

* Trusting someone doesn’t demand that they’re a part of your life forever.

* It’s okay to trust someone in one area of your life, but not in another. Just be clear - with them, and yourself.

* Trust is not a pass/fail class. There are degrees and shades of trust. Discerning the different dimensions is the first step toward developing more trust.

* My level of trust in someone is often about my own moods, experiences, and perceptions. I must monitor these conditions and factor them in.

* People can’t earn your trust where expectations aren’t defined. Everyone you truly care about deserves to understand your standards.

The only one who is completely and eternally trustworthy is Jesus – The man who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.

The Humiliation of Crucifixion

2010-04-03T18:09:00.001+08:00

When Jesus sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane and asked his Father to let the cup of suffering pass him by he wasn't, for the most part, cringing before the prospect of brute physical suffering. He was cringing before the prospect of a very particular kind of suffering that is generally more feared than physical pain. When he asked God if it was really necessary to die in this way he was referring to more than death through capital punishment.

Crucifixion was devised and designed by the Romans with more than one thing in mind. It was designed as capital punishment, to put a criminal to death, but it aimed to do a couple of other things as well.

It was designed to inflict optimal physical pain. Thus the procedure was dragged out over a good number of hours and the amount of pain inflicted at any given moment was carefully calculated so as not to cause unconsciousness and thus ease the pain of the one being crucified. Indeed they sometimes even gave wine mixed with morphine to the person being crucified, not to ease his suffering, but to keep him from passing out from pain so as to have to endure it longer.

But crucifixion was designed with still another even more callous intent. It was designed to humiliate the person. Among other things, the person was stripped naked before being hung on a cross so that his genitals would be publicly exposed. As well, at the moment of death his bowels would loosen. Crucifixion clearly had humiliation in mind.

In the case for Jesus. His nakedness was exposed, his body publicly humiliated. That, among other reasons, is why the crucifixion was such a devastating blow to his disciples and why many of them abandoned Jesus and scattered after the crucifixion. They simply couldn't connect this kind of humiliation with glory, divinity, and triumph.

Interestingly there is a striking parallel between what crucifixion did to the human body and what nature itself often does to the human body through old age, cancer, dementia, AIDS, and diseases such as Parkinson's, and other such sicknesses that humiliate the body before killing it. They expose publicly what is most vulnerable inside of our humanity. They shame the body.

Why? What is the connection between this type of pain and the glory of Easter Sunday? Why is it, as the gospels say, "necessary to first suffer in this manner so as to enter into glory?"

Because, paradoxically, a certain depth of soul can only be attained through a certain depth of humiliation. How and why is this so? It isn't easy to articulate rationally but we can understand this through experience:

Ask yourself this question with courage and honesty: What experiences in my life have made me deep? In virtually every case, I will venture to say, experiences that have deepened you will be incidences that you feel some shame in acknowledging, a powerlessness from which you were unable to protect yourself, an abuse from which you could not defend yourself, an inadequacy of body or mind that has left you vulnerable, an humiliating incident that once happened to you, or some mistake you made which publicly exposed your lack of strength in some area. All of us, like Jesus, have also been, in one way or another, hung up publicly and humiliated. And we have depth of soul to just that extent.

But depth of soul comes in very different modes. Humiliation makes us deep, but we can be deep in character, understanding, graciousness, and forgiveness or we can be deep in anger, bitterness, and revenge-seeking. Jesus' crucifixion stretched his heart and made it huge in empathy, graciousness, and forgiveness.

In the crucifixion, Jesus was humiliated, shamed, brutalized. That pain stretched his heart to a great depth. But that new space did not fill in with bitterness and anger. It filled in instead with a depth of empathy and forgiveness that we have yet to fully understand.

Behold Jesus, our Lord! There is no one like Him.

Utterly Inexhaustible!

2010-03-31T09:09:00.004+08:00

Congratulations to the many who have finished reading the New Testament in 30 days! What a wonderful journey this has been. What a way to grow in our sopiritual disciplines. What a deposit made into our souls. What new habits we have acquired!

Now is the time to keep reading and reading. The Bible is inexhaustible.

Here is a quote from Spurgeon to encourage all of us:

“I have many an old book in my library in which there have been bookworms, and I have sometimes amused myself with tracing a worm. I do not know how he gets to the volume originally, but being there he eats his way into it. He bores a hole in a direct line, and sometimes I find that he dies before he gets halfway through the tome. Now and then a worm has eaten his way right through from one wooden cover to another; yes, and through the cover also. This was a most successful bookworm.

Few of us can eat our way quite so far. I am one of the bookworms that have not got halfway into my Bible yet; but I am eating my way as fast as I can. This one thing I have proved to myself beyond all question; I shall never, never exhaust this precious book. Much less shall I exhaust the wondrous person of my divinely-blessed Lord. He is that bread which came down from heaven. He is utterly inexhaustible.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), II:365.

Here is athe celebration video of the NTin30 journey. Enjoy!

Titanic: Was It All True?

2010-03-22T10:20:00.004+08:00

The other night they screened Titanic again. I was just about to switch channels but I got gripped to those final scenes where the rich and famous would push to save themselves at the expense of the children and women and the poor.

Well did that really happen? I was browsing a book just today, and I saw this illustration. D.A. Carson’s latest work, Scandalous: The Cross and Ressurection of Jesus, is simply excellent. The writing is crisp, the exegesis superb, the theology invigorating.

This is what he says about those scenes of the Titanic:

"Did you see the film Titanic that was screened about a dozen years ago? The great ship is full of the richest people in the world, and , according to the film, as the ship sinks, the rich men start to scramble for the few an inadequate lifeboats, shoving aside the women and children in their desperate desire to live. British sailors draw handguns and fire into the air, crying “Stand back! Stand back! Women and children first!” In reality, of course, nothing like that happened. The universal testimony of the witnesses who survived the disaster is that the men hung back and urged the women and children into the lifeboats. John Jacob Astor was there, at the time the richest man on earth, the Bill Gates of 1912. He dragged his wife to a boat, shoved her on, and stepped back. Someone urged him to get in, too. He refused: the boats are too few, and must be for the women and children first. He stepped back, and drowned. The philanthropist Benjamin Guggenheim was present. He was traveling with his mistress, but when he perceived that it was unlikely he would survive, he told one of his servants, “Tell my wife that Benjamin Guggenheim knows his duty” –and he hung back, and drowned. There is not a single report of some rich man displacing women and children in the mad rush for survival.

When the film was reviewed in the New York Times, the reviewer asked why the producer and director of the film had distorted history so flagrantly in this regard. The scene as they depicted it was implausible from the beginning. British sailors drawing handguns? Most British police officers do not carry handguns; British sailors certainly do not. So why this willful distortion of history? And then the reviewer answered his own question: if the producer and director had told the truth, he said, no one would have believed them.

I have seldom read a more damning indictment of the development of Western culture, especially Anglo-Saxon culture, in the last century. One hundred years ago, there remained in our culture enough residue of the Christian virtue of self-sacrifice for the sake of others, of the moral imperative that seeks the other’s good at personal expense, that Christians and non-Christians alike thought it noble, if unremarkable, to choose death for the sake of others. A mere century later, such a course is judged so unbelievable that the history has to be distorted" (30-31).

Wow! What food for thought!

You Want To Hear God?

2010-03-16T12:36:00.002+08:00

“What is the single most important skill that church leaders needs to have in order to be successful?”

Somebody asked me this the other day, and I thought it was a pretty good question.
I didn’t have to think about it very long… because I just knew the answer was leadership. The ability to motivate and inspire people, and the wisdom to construct systems that reinforce the vision.

But then I thought about preaching… maybe that’s the most important piece of the church growth puzzle. I don’t know of a church that has ever succeeded apart from the anointed communication of God’s Word connecting to people in the context of corporate worship.

At this point, all of the major categories hit me like a flashflood:
leadership, preaching, administration, vision...

How could I ever narrow it down to one “most important skill”?
There are so many skills that are integral to growing a church. Then I thought: there is actually one critical skill that is the foundation of all the others: The single most important skill in growing a church or a minstry is the fine art of hearing from God.

But are you sure you can handle what He has to say?

I hear a lot of people express a desire to hear from God… but sometimes when God speaks, He delivers a very tough message. I’ll give you an example: 1 Samuel 3 is one of the most popular passages preachers use to illustrate “How to hear from God”. But when God finally does open His mouth, the content isn’t very uplifting, warm and fuzzy, or even hopeful. In fact, God’s first message to Samuel was that his mentor, Eli, was about to be judged severely for the sins of his house. And to make matters worse, Samuel had to turn around and personally relay the message to Eli.

Do you still want to hear from God?

� When you ask God to speak to you about His will for your life, make sure you’re ready to embrace the repercussions. Be prepared to obey.
� If you ask the Lord to reveal any sin in your life that is separating you from Him, be very aware that He’ll probably do it.

� When you ask God to speak to you about a financial decision, He might not tell you what you want to hear. Instead, He might fill your ear with what you need to hear. And His instruction might require a deep sacrifice, or a step of big faith.

When God speaks, He doesn’t always just whisper sweet nothings into your ear.
In fact, sometimes the announcement He makes will leave your ears ringing, and your head spinning. Other times, the words He speaks fill your soul with inexplicable encouragement and peace.

So here’s the summary:
God often speaks words of deep comfort.
But He also speaks words of deep challenge.
And you never know which one you’re going to get.

What Would ______ Think?

2010-03-09T22:07:00.003+08:00

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men?
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Gal 1:10

I just finished reading Galatians. And the verse above? I just love this verse from Galatians. It fires me up. I hope it does that to you as well.

This is the question that has been holding way too many of of us back from what God is telling us to do for far too long. This is what keeps us from getting out of the boat and experiencing the tension of faith and this is what keeps us from walking in big, big faith!

Some of you heads of ministries and cell leaders are currently contemplating a bold move of faith. God has told you to do something. He has spoken to you to change something, start something, stop something, grow something, build something, move something… but you just keep revving your engine, fronting like you’re still praying about it. You’re not praying about it. You’re stalling out because you’re more concerned about what the members think and you think too much about "what if it fails" kind of thing. More than what God has said about it.

Dear leader, you won’t stand before the people at the end of your life to give an account. So go ahead. Seek to please God. You answer to Him for what He put in your heart to do.

Some uni student reading this blog needed to dump that charming, spiritually empty guy she’s dating, a long time ago. But what would her friends think? What would the guy think?
Young lady, you need to be more bothered with what God thinks! Look that dude in the eye, tell him the goodbye that God told you to tell him, and date Jesus exclusively for a year, and watch your spiritual life begin to soar again. Then trust God to bring you His guy He has made just for you. That's big faith. That is pleasing God.

Some 36 year old dude with 2 kids, an SUV, and several intimidating loans, car, housing... has a dream to start a business. The plan is solid, and his wife is behind him. But the last time he mentioned it to his friends and in-laws, they all smirked and gave him 101 reasons why it might not work. So he shrugged it off and continues sleepwalking through life; cruisng without faith!
Hey friend: Why are you about to let your no-faith friends talk you out of what God has put inside of you? Who cares whether they think you can pull it off or not? Your God has spoken to you. Get up and step out of the boat. Follow His command. Just please Him. There is nothing more adventurous and more growth triggering than that!

It amazes me how many times we let the opinion of a loser silence the will of our God.

Does God Really Care?

2010-03-09T15:23:00.004+08:00

Mark 4:38
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

The disciples are in the worst storm of their lives. They fear they are going to drown. And Jesus is asleep! They accuse Him of not caring because He’s doing nothing. They ‘awaken’ God to accuse Him.

Did you know that God often 'sleeps' so we wake up!! He will stay silent to get us truly desperate; so that we cry for those things we really need from Him. For the disciples, it was not a time to ask God to stop the storm. It was time for them to discover the authority they had in their own lives. That was what they needed - the revelation that He had given them authority and all they needed to do was to rise up to the faith that He had given them the authority.

Some of us, (many of us) need to stop praying about a thing, stop feeling angry with God because He is not doing anything and speak to the storm ourselves. Take a step in big faith, today!

Devote Yourself!

2010-03-06T22:15:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I finished reading the Book of Acts following the NTin30 campaign. And I cannot get enough of it. Let me share some thoughts.

In Acts 2, 3000 people were converted to faith in Christ and numbered with the believers.

Acts 2:42 begins the description of the strategy for discipling this throng of new Christians: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Did you catch it? They devoted themselves. Who devoted themselves? The new believers! Nobody devoted them to the teaching. They had to do it for themselves. The apostles taught with authority, clarity, and consistency. But the burden of discipleship rested primarily on the new believers, not the leaders of the church.

As church leaders, it is our job to create and sustain processes and systems that responsibly enable people to grow in their faith and move to the next level after receiving Christ. But if a new Christian is not willing to devote himself to teaching, community, and service, and growing in big faith, it doesn’t mean we failed in discipling him. It might mean he’s not yet a truly regenerated born again believer after all. He may still be journey towards it.

A new nature produces an insatiable appetite for the things of God. And that’s an appetite only God can create.

Fast growing churches catch a lot of flack for failure to disciple new converts.
But Biblical discipleship isn’t about spoon feeding.
According to Acts 2:42, it’s an all you can eat self-service buffet.
Get your own plate. Refill your own drinks.

Devote yourself!

Immeasurably MORE!

2010-03-03T07:46:00.005+08:00

WILLOW CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCHEphesians 3:20 is one of my all time favorite verses:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…

That’s a hot verse right there. An astonishing promise. God can do so much more than what you’re expecting.

His performance isn’t limited to the confines of your imagination. The implications of this statement are hard to believe…but simple to understand. It’s a straightforward fact: The wildest dreams you can conceive don’t even compare to the endless power of God.

I must have quoted that verse countless times just this year! And every time I do, I kind of interpret it this way:
God wants to give me more of whatever I’m asking for. God gives BIG and He wants us to ask BIG in BIG faith!
If I ask for a certain level of provision, He can exceed what I need and give me even more provision.
If I ask for favour with a certain person, He can give me even more favour than I asked for with that person. Whateer I ask, God can superceed it!

But I’ve learned that sometimes God doesn’t bless you with more of the thing you asked for.

Instead, He blesses you with something completely different. He rewards you with a different kind of currency. He switches the category altogether. Sometimes the way God exceeds our expectations isn’t by giving us more of what we think we need…He gives us something that He knows we need even more. Instead of repairing the thing that’s broken, He gives you brand new equipment.

In other words, sometimes the immeasurably more takes on a completely different form.

Instead of giving you the promotion at work, He gives you more opportunity to spend time with your family.
Instead of sending you a boyfriend, He sends you more opportunity to serve Him in your season of singleness. Instead of answering your now prayer, He answers a future need.

Sometimes God gives you more of the same.
Sometimes He gives you something even better than that.

Be confident that whatever He gives you is the best for you. But, pray BIG prayers with the BIG faith that God is able to do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine.

How Leaders Should Deal With Disappointment

2010-02-26T08:52:00.004+08:00

There are three stages in dealing with disappointment.

Stage One: Reflection

Dealing with disappointment in a systematic way begins with unfiltered reflection. You’ve got to stare down your disappointment before you can deal with it in a productive way.

Ideally, this process would begin with prayer. And your prayer would be laced with gratitude, along with acceptance of God’s perfect and holy will.

In reality, most of us need a lot of help getting to that point.

I generally start my process of reflection by talking it out with a few people I trust. I have to be selective about who I’m reflective with, because when the wound of disappointment is fresh, I may say some things that I’ll want stricken from the record in retrospect. But it’s very important that I can tell a few close people how I really feel in a pretty raw way. They can affirm the stuff that’s valid, and talk me down off the ledge about the stuff that’s not.

You may be more introspective. Your process may begin with you and a note pad, emptying your disappointments like buckets so you can have the capacity to bring them to others when the time is right.

Above all, don’t neglect to take it to the Lord in prayer. When you do, respectfully state your disappointment to Him. He already knows about it - much more comprehensively than you do. And He can handle it. Besides, He’s the one in the best position to do something about it.

Face your disappointment. Don’t try to sneak up on it from behind. That’s a coward’s way to fight. Half the time, when you stand toe to toe with your disappointments you’ll discover that they’re not nearly as big as you made them out to be. The other half of the time, at least now you know what you’re up against.

Stage Two: Questions

You’ve admitted your disappointment. You’ve laid out your frustrations before God, inviting the supernatural involvement of His Spirit. Now you’ve got to follow up your reflections with questions.

Personally, I start listing every question associated with my disappointment that comes to my mind, indiscriminately, as quickly as I can scribble them down. It’s rapid and it’s random. But I can’t get the right answers until I identify the right questions.

Some questions may have immediate answers. Others may take time to get to the bottom of. And some may have no answer at all…for now.

Questions are the vehicle to transport your disappointment out of the realm of regret…into the realm of potential and progress.

Stage Three: Lessons and Actions

Thorough reflection and probing questions can actually do more harm than good if you don’t follow them through to the final phase: learning lessons and planning actions.

Disappointments are converted from liabilities to assets when wise leaders acknowledge them, analyze them, and then pose the million dollar question: What did we learn from this?

If you keep good records of your answers to this question, you can write a book ten years into your ministry and everyone will think you’re a genius. You’re not. You’re just a good steward of your own stupid mistakes.

Follow that question up with this one: What are we going to do about it?

This part of the process has to be performed collectively. It’s useless for the leader to form these conclusions on his own without transferring the results to the team he leads.

Learning a lesson from every disappointment and planning actions to avoid the same disappointment in the future ensures that the price you pay is not in vain. It’s just tuition.

Hentak Kaki!

2010-02-18T09:26:00.002+08:00

Are you living with a high sense of momentum or have you fallen into maintenance mode in your leadership?

Years ago, when I was teaching school, the younger of us would use a term to describe the more senior teachers – hentak kaki. Marching on the spot. Movement without motion. These were seasoned teachers who were just going through the routines of the job without heart or passion or any conviction. They had lost energy, passion or vision. I vowed to myself I will never allow myself to come to that place. And for a leader, maintenance mode is a dangerous thing.

When a leader hits maintenance mode he suffers from boredom, feels unchallenged, let’s opportunities pass him by, settles for good enough, has no more dreams of the future, no longer carries a passionate energy and worst of all he stops looking for God-sized things to happen. He stops praying big prayers. He does not desire for his faith to be stretched.

If you stay there too long it has a negative impact on your ministry or organization. Here are five common dangers when a leader gets stuck in maintenance mode

It breeds a spirit of complacency among other team members be it staff, core-team members, cell members
It causes the organization to miss prime opportunities. God may be leading you to walk on water, grow your faith but you are unchallenged. You prefer to stay comfortable
It causes others to settle for mediocrity
It reduces fresh movements from the hand of God
It brings growth to a halt

Now what causes the deadly maintenance mode?

Here are a few questions to help assess what cause us to drift into maintenance mode and some suggestions for finding our way out.

Is it a spiritual issue? You may be stuck because you’re simply not hearing anything new from God. He led you to the place you are currently serving and when you first arrived you had vision, momentum and inspiration. What do you need to do to get a fresh word from God again?
Is it a physical issue? If you’re tired, stressed and unable to sleep then your maintenance mode problem may be because you have not enough rest, recreation and reflection. It’s difficult to build organizational momentum when you don’t have the physical energy to move things forward.
Is it a mental issue? We can get lazy mentally when we are no longer on the cutting edge, not reading, watching others, or learning. Mental laziness can lead to a lack of creativity and innovation. Practice exposing your mind to something stimulating every week to keep your thinking sharp. Read, write, reflect, find a group with whom to bounce ideas.
Is it an emotional issue? Sometimes as leaders we run so hard and fast that we get emotionally drained and it’s all we can do to maintain our baseline responsibilities. Practice the spiritual disciplines. Read the Word. Reflect. Let God speak to the soul. Pray unhurriedly. This time of quiet reflection will keep you emotionally filled and fuel your creative energies.
Is it a relational issue? There are times we allow others to drag us into maintenance mode. Make sure you have people around you that challenge you, stretch your faith and thinking and dream about future possibilities with you. And on the flip side make sure you’re not spending too much time with people that drain you.

A "Yes-Man"?

2010-02-12T10:41:00.008+08:00

Recently I had to think again about this whole issue of the kind of people a leader surrounds himself with. I heard an allegation recently that I surround myself with only 'yes man'. If that was true then I am really an insecure leader. And I will never be developing people to reach their highest potentials. I will also be sacrificing God's agenda for the church, for my own selfish intents. This is serious.

I thought deeper and then I realized that those who made that allegation (and are no more around) probably confused agreement for allignment and subjugation for submission. If a leader were to expect 100% agreement from those under him, then that is wrong, for we will not be able to agree with everything. But yet a leader must expect allignment to the vision, goals and core values of the organization or ministry he leads. Similarly, a leader cannot force anyone to do as he says and he must not write people off when they cannot do what he says. That's subjugation, not submission. Submission comes with ownership and people must be journeyed into ownership.

I’ve never served under a leader that I agreed 100% with everything he or she said or did. My guess is your experience has been the same. But agreement is not the basis of loyalty. Loyalty is rooted in relationship and respect regardless of differing opinions, approaches or philosophies. No good leader will compromise with the need for loyalty, allignment and submission. And all three virtues does not make us 'yes-man'; instead they make us Christ-like.

How do loyalty, allignment and submission play out in a the dynamics of an organization? These are the things I look for in those who work with me:

(1) When a leader disagrees with a decision or the direction of the organization, he or she speaks only with those who have the authority to represent that concern.

(2) The leader demonstrates a positive attitude even in the face of personal doubt. He may disgree but he doesn't disengage.

(3) The leader avoids using negative body language to communicate frustration or dissatisfaction with the leadership.

(4) The leader seeks to clarify issues upfront because he values the relationship with the leadership and he values allignment to the organization.

I am so grateful I am surrounded with people who are not afraid to share differing opinions and disgree without compromising with the attitudes of submission, allignment and loyalty. They are secure people themselves and that helps to keep the runway the Lord set for us free from clutter.

Leadership Is Influence

2010-02-08T10:47:00.003+08:00

There are no shortcuts to having an influence. You have to earn it.

No one owes you to come under your influence, not even your family.

Sometimes someone who is trusted can help you get a moment to influence others, but you still have to earn it yourself to keep it.

If you do what you’re called to do and you are faithful to stick with it over time, there’s a good chance you’ll have influence.

Relationships are the foundation of for influence. If you can’t build relationships, you can’t have any influence.

The person who yells the loudest doesn’t necessarily influence others.

If you never stop and listen, you probably won’t get be able to influence either.

If it’s just about you, you don’t have an influence.

You’ll lose your influence if you don’t continue to use it for positive change. You have to move people to a better place.

You’re more likely to leverage your influence if you are authentic and transparent that engage both the head and the heart.

You’re more likely to keep your influence if you ask questions.

If people can’t have access to you and your daily life, your influence is probably shrinking whether you know it or not.

Influence are established over time and lost in an instant.

Lots of people want to be an influence but very few are gifted to be that influence and even fewer are humble enough to keep it.

The Determining Factor: Leadership

2010-02-06T09:17:00.003+08:00

"Everything rises and falls on leadership."
Lee Robertson

I spent much of January re-thinking and reflecting on the grave need for leadership everywhere - in the marketplace; in the church; the small group; in the family; in marriage. I had a few challenges and continue to have these challenges that demand the exercise of proper biblical leadership this past month. Teaching two sessions on leadership to over new 25 interns in the church cause me to further sharpen my thinking on the subject.

I am going to simply list some of these thoughts down so that I can come back to it in the course of time for further reflection and refinement.

What is more important than leadership recruitment is leadership development. Most leaders are under-developed and many seasoned leaders do not even see the need for continual development. But here are some reasons why anyone who is in leadership must keep developing his/her leadership skills:

1. Leadership is the determining factor. The single greatest hindrance to ministry growth is the lack of true leadership.

2. Leadrship ability determines the size of a person's ministry.

3. Leadership ability determines the quality of people in a person's ministry.

4. Leadership ability determines the number of quality leaders in a person's ministry.

5. Leadership ability determines the climate of a person's ministry.

6. Leadership ability determines the long term impact of one's ministry.

7. Leadership ability (and his faith in God's ability) allows a person's ministry to multiply.

8. Leadership ability enhances a person's ability to handle changing and challenging times.

God is looking for leaders. His desire is to find them and get fuly behind them, as He told King Asa:

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth
to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
2 Chronicles 16:9

Here is what God told Ezekiel:

I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
Ezek 22:30

That is a sad verse. Because of the lack of leadership, a nation was destroyed. But it is also one of the most encouraging statements ever made. If there had been a leader, a nation would survive; a family would thrive; a people will triumph! One leader can make a big difference.

Horizontal or Vertical?

2010-02-05T18:02:00.003+08:00

“Some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. . . . What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”

Phillipians 1:15, 18

A church can be controlled by a horizontal dynamic of winners-and-losers, the people focused on each other, disappointed with each other, grumbling about each other, offended with one another — self-righteousness bumping up against self-righteousness, hurting and getting hurt. And simply going in circles, counting for nothing in the Kingdom of God.

Or a church can be controlled by a vertical dynamic of response to Christ, the people looking upward, amazed at Him and his grace — broken but grateful sinners coming together because all they need to be happy is Christ himself. And then pointing one another to Christ Himself and encouraging one another towards more and more Christlikeness!

I have heard of churches that are dysfunctional. They have many problems - leadership problems, financial problems, resource shortage, human failures. But if Christ is being preached in such a church, even with impure motives, that should be enough to make us happy. It is the reason why we go to get out of your church. We go to be pointed to Christ and to become more like Christ so that in Christ our dysfunctionalities are healed and He is magnified.

And if you require more, who gave you the right to overrule the Lord Jesus Christ as your only treasure and satisfaction and sufficiency?

Are Leaders Made or Born?

2010-01-29T19:19:00.006+08:00

I have always appreciated the responsibility and opportunity to be a part of developing leaders. When I became a parent, I resolved in my heart that I will raise my two children to be leaders because the best gift one can give to the next generation is the gift of leadership. So my wife and I raised them to take responsibility and to express thought and feeling and to be involved in leadership opportunities from young.

This week, I had the opportunity to teach about 25 interns at church on leadership and I pondered again this difficultly-simple question: “Are Leaders Born or Made?”

I know that God has uniquely wired each of us with specific DNA and for some people that includes the natural ability to take the lead in almost anything. But taking the lead does not make one a leader. It just shows that one is a good initiator or organizer. He may even be a gifted administrator or mobilizer. But that does not make one a leader. Because a leader is more than just an effective organizer or communicator or administrator. A leader is one who brings influence, good or bad. And one can be good at teaching and good and organizing an event or mobilizing a campaign and yet have no influence over the people they 'lead'. Leadership is all about influence!

With this in mind, I find myself instilling things into my two children that will prepare them to be that next generation of leaders and world changers of the future. I want their lives to impact, not just impress. You can impress with your skill sets and charisma but you can only impact with your inner substance and character. Leaders impact more than impress.

If we take a look at the lives of Jesus’ 12 disciples and ask the question: “Were they born leaders?” I would say, probably not! A better question is: “Were they born for leadership?” Absolutely, but not without being molded and shaped into the instruments that Jesus had in mind. He worked on their character. He build into their lives. He taught them to trust in God. He stretched their faith.

None of us are born leaders. But we are all born for leadership and we should place ourselves in the hands of the Lord through mentors and coaches and parents and godly leaders and ministry opportunities so that our lives get shaped and molded for leadership.

And for those of us who are parents, we should raise our children for leadership. It is the most needed gift we can bless the future generation with: godly leaders raised from our homes.

Why Care For The Dying Elderly?

2010-01-24T00:00:00.000+08:00

I heard a story from a lady this week that left me thinking. She was the mother of three children and, while they were all still young, in school, her father, already a widower, suffered a stroke that left him severely debilitated. He has unable to take care of himself and needed assistance.

Being the dutiful daughter, she had him move in with her own family, at great inconvenience to her husband and children. So many of their family routines had to be adjusted and re-arranged to accommodate her dad’s presence. Their life changed radically.

At a point, her father’s condition deteriorated to the point where she had to take him to a hospice where he could receive full-time care. But, even then, she still needed to visit him daily, often having to take one or more of her children with her. This went on for seven years. Daily, she and one or other of her children would have to go and spend some time with her father.

During those years, many times, in large and small ways, she apologized to her husband and children for the inconvenience this was causing them. Eventually her father died. Several years after the funeral her eldest son, now a working young adult, said to her: “You know, mum, all those years that we had to arrange our lives so much around Grandpa and his illness – that was really a precious time. That was a great gift to our family!”

How can the life of someone like that, someone whose life and existence can weigh on us like a burden, be a blessing? I asked myself this questions because I have an adoptive mother who is frail with age and both of my wife’s parents are needing more and more assistance and health care. And one of my good friends is now struggling with what to do with his dad who is suffering from severe dementia. How are we gifted by having people like that in our lives?

The answer is part of a deep human and spiritual mystery, a part of the secret of love itself. We give life to each other not just in what we actively do for each other, but also, and sometimes especially, in what we passively absorb and are unable to do. Helplessness brings a special Presence of God into a room. We give life through our activity and we also give life through our passivity. We bring a blessing to the sick when we visit them, but we also leave their presence blessed by having visited them. There is love in giving, just as there is love in receiving.
Just the other week, my wife and I attended a wake. The lady’s dad had passed away suddenly and without knowing the Lord. She was grieving but our presence so encouraged her, she told us how blessed she was that we came. We came to bless her but we went back blessed having visited with her. There is a love in giving, just as there is a love in receiving.

And the gift does not always look or feel like a beautifully wrapped Christmas present. The gift can, initially, seem like a burden, an unwanted imposition, an awkward inconvenience, an unfortunate duty. But those feelings themselves eventually contribute to the depth of the gift.

We see this mysterious aspect of love illustrated in the Gospels when they describe how Jesus gave his life and his death for us. Each of the Gospels has two very distinct parts: The early parts of the Gospels describe Jesus’ activity and how he gave his life for us by what he did for us. The latter part of the Gospels describe Jesus’ passivity and how he gave his death for us by what he passively absorbed for us. Appropriately this latter part is called The Passion (from the Latin, passio, meaning, passiveness.)

Today, we struggle to understand this, intellectually. Sadly, today, we tend to define life and meaning almost solely on the basis of health, productivity, usefulness, and what we can actively contribute to others. What can we bring to the table?

And so we ask ourselves: What do the elderly who can no longer live on their own contribute to our lives? What meaning is there in the continued existence of a person living with full-blown dementia? What does someone who is mentally handicapped bring to the community? Why prolong the life of someone who is in the final stages of a terminal illness? And: Why keep a debilitated Grandpa in the house when he disrupts our normal family life?

The answer: Because a person in this condition, at some deep level, is giving us a precious gift, namely, the gift of depth and character.

Why Are We So Offended All The Time?

2010-01-22T20:18:00.004+08:00

Let me start with the caveats. Many people suffer at the hands of others. The world can be unfair, at times mercilessly so. Millions of people in the world are genuine victims, right now. All of us will be at some point, whether it’s for small matters or large.

But we aren’t all victims, not all the time anyway. And not for everything. But why are we so easily offended? Why are we in such a hurry to be hurt?

Being offended is actually easier than being right. To prove you’re offended you just have to build up some moral indignation and tell other people about it. To prove you’re right you actually have to hear out the offender and look at both sides of the matter and marshal evidence. Then you have to weigh the matter with great objectivity, probably by running the issues through some others who will help you see if you yourself have been bias and if there have been some blind spots. All that involves courage and emotional strength and maturity. To prove you are right is hard work. But that is what Jesus says we must do when we are offended. “Leave your gift...first go be reconciled with your brother.” (Matt 5:24)

But the problem is, many people choose instead to be offended rather than work out the relationship through biblical reconciliation. Being offended simply nails down the opponent. Because if there is offense, there must be an offender. And offenders are always perceived as wrong. You offended me. So you are wrong. And no opportunity is given for the so called offender to explain himself or share his heart.

All we expect is apologies. Sometimes, no doubt, because a genuine sin has been committed, apologies are in order. But often we demand apologies just because we are the one offended. It’s a way to shame those with whom we disagree. It forces them to admit failure or keep looking like a weasel. The weakest offense-taker can now bully good people who are tirelessly running the race of faith through their emotional manipulation that goes with chronic offendedness. Because people everywhere are more sympathetic towards those who are offended.

As Christians, we worship the Lord who was grossly wounded on the Cross physically and emotionally. Many were offended by Jesus and in turn they wounded Him to death on the Cross. And on the Cross, Jesus took God’s offences against us, sinners, and nailed it to Himself. In so doing He broke the power of offences so that we are first reconciled to God and then to one another.

Because He is our Lord, like Him, when we are offended we should do what He exemplified for us to do – forgive and reach out in love. When we see someone offended by us, we should show them grace. When we do that, we tell our soul that we live by the power of the Cross.

But we have no reason to wallow in our hurt. And carry a spirit of offences. Absolutely no reason.

Jesus

2010-01-16T20:47:00.004+08:00

Jesus Christ. No one is more loved and hated than Jesus Christ.

The name Jesus is derived from the Old Testament name Joshua, which means, “Yahweh God is salvation.” The title Christ means one chosen and anointed by God to be the Messiah who delivers God’s people.

Roughly two thousand years ago, Jesus was born in a dumpy, rural, hick town, not unlike some heartland corner in Singapore of thirty year-old, run down low-rise blocks, with stray dogs and cats lying about the neigbourhood and dirty old men squatting for a smoke at the void deck.

Jesus’ mom was a poor, unwed teenage girl who was mocked for claiming she conceived via the Holy Spirit. Most people thought she concocted a crazy story to cover the “fact” she was sleeping with with some guy after school, up in a her flat while her parents were still out, at work. Jesus was adopted by a simple carpenter named Joseph and spent the first thirty years of his life in obscurity, swinging a hammer with his dad.

Around the age of thirty, Jesus began a public ministry that included preaching, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and befriending social misfits such as perverts, drunks, and thieves. Jesus’ ministry spanned only three short years before he was put to death for declaring himself
to be God. He died by shameful crucifixion like tens of thousands of people before and after him.

At first glance, Jesus’ résumé is rather simple. He never traveled more than a few hundred kiolmetres from his home. He never held a political office, never wrote a book, never married, never had sex, never attended the poly or university, never visited a big city like London or New York, and never won a soccer match. He died both homeless and poor.

Nonetheless, Jesus is the most famous person in all of human history.

More songs have been sung to him, artwork created of him, and books written about him than anyone who has ever lived. In fact, Jesus looms so large over human history that we actually measure time by him; our calendar is divided into the years before and after his birth, noted as b.c. (“before Christ”) and a.d. (anno Domini, meaning “in the year of the Lord”), respectively.

No army, nation, or person has changed human history to the degree that Jesus, the homeless man, has. Some two thousand years after he walked the earth, Jesus remains as hot as ever.

I love Him. He is still as relevant today as He was then. I love to serve Him. There is no one worthy of my life like Him.

My Jesus. My Saviour. Lord, there is none like You!

The When And How Of Rebukes...

2010-01-13T16:33:00.003+08:00

“If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him.”

Luke 17:3

Two if-clauses here. First if-clause:

If your brother sins — that is disobedience to what is clearly stated in the Bible and the sin is against you, only then you do have a right to rebuke him. Not a demeaning humiliation. Just sit down with him and say, “Brother, here in [the biblical text], God says . . . . But last Tuesday, you and I were in that meeting and, as I recall, you said that or you did this . . . . Brother, I can’t see how that behaviour lines up with this verse. How do you see it?” No vague generalities, but verifiable facts, as it is clearly addressed by the Bible.

We need to have the freedom to rebuke one another’s sinful and foolish behaviour. But let’s be gentle and respectful. Let’s offer the brother an opportunity to explain himself. After all, there might be more to it than one realizes. And avoid the the phrases “always” and “never” (”You always/never . . .”). They blast the brother to pieces, with no dignity left.

Second if-clause:

If he repents, forgive him. Conditional forgiveness? Yes. The Lord is explaining how to restore the relationship. We must forgive unconditionally and absolutely within our hearts. But for the relationship to be restored, there must be confession of sin. How can a sin be forgiven, if it’s never been confessed? So hopefully the brother says, “You’re right. I didn’t see it that way at the moment, but there it is in the Bible. I was wrong, I’m sorry, and it won’t happen again. Is there anything I can do now to fix the situation?”

What he needs to hear from you is, “Dear brother, thank you for receiving what I said so humbly. It’s why people respect you. I do forgive you, and wholeheartedly. Thank you for asking about follow-through. Yes, there is something positive that would help. Let’s work on it together. What would you think of . . . ?”

The Lord makes these practical things clear. He is wise. Let’s follow Him.

My Christmas Reflections

2009-12-28T22:49:00.002+08:00

My family had another wonderful Christmas season this year. Wonderful because we had a couple of dinners in our home where we had different groups of people come celebrate the season with us. We had our very own Christmas Eve family dinner. We also enjoyed the love of many who gave us thoughtful gifts. We gave ourselves to share the Good News of Jesus Christ individually and as a church with the Christmas Musical at Victoria Theatre. In all it was indeed a wonderful time of the year for us all.

But for many people the thought of Christmas brings fatigue. It’s not the spiritual aspect that causes the tiredness, but the the overly decorated shops, the shopping, the lights, the Christmas trees, and the carols that begin to echo through our malls already in early November.

And so it is asked: What has all of this, or any of it, got to do with the birth of Jesus? Wouldn’t we honour Jesus more if we spend the money we lavish on Christmas on the poor instead? Don’t our Christmas celebrations serve to obliterate our awareness of Jesus’ birth more than highlight it? Valid questions.

Our Christmas celebrations, admittedly, do start too early, are too-commercially driven, do focus too little on anything spiritual, and do not take the poor sufficiently into account. And so it is easy to be cynical about the Christmas. It contains too many excesses.

However, with that being conceded, we need to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water. Just because something is done badly by the world does not mean it should be cancelled. What is called for, I believe, is not the cancellation of the tinsel, the lights, the socials, the gifts and the food that surround Christmas, but a better use of them. There are good reasons to cancel the practices with which we surround Christmas, but there are even better reasons for keeping them.

What are those reasons? Why continue so many of these practices when, almost invariably, they degenerate into excess and fatigue? Because we have a congenital need to celebrate, pure and simple. As human beings we have a healthy, God-given, genetically-encoded need to sometimes make festival, to have carnival, to celebrate an elaborate Sabbath, to park our cautiousness for a few hours, and to live life as if there wasn’t any reason to pinch our dollars. Christmas is Sabbath, the supreme Sabbath.

There are seasons in life, and these should be on a regular cycle, that are meant precisely for enjoyment, for family, for friends, for colour, for tinsel, and for good food. There is even the occasional time for some prudent excess. Jesus gave voice to this when his disciples were scandalized by a woman’s excess in anointing his feet with perfume and kisses.

All cultures, not least those who are economically poor, have times of festival where, explicitly or implicitly, they take seriously the words: The poor you will always have with you, but today it is time to celebrate. Christmas is such a time, meant for festival.

There is a God-given pressure inside of us that pushes us to celebrate and instils in us an irrepressible sense that we are not meant for quiet gloom, and carefully measured-out relationships, but that we are meant ultimately for the feast, the dance, the place of lights and music, and the place where we don’t measure out our dollars and our hearts on the basis of just having to survive and pay our bills. The celebration of festival and carnival, even with their excesses, help teach us that.

Christmas is such a festival. In the end, its celebration is a lesson in faith and hope and love.
To make a festival of Christmas, to surround Jesus’ birthday with all the joy, lights, music, gift-giving, energy, warmth and evangelism we can muster is, strange as this may sound, a prophetic act. It is, or at least it can be, an expression of faith and hope. It’s not the person who says: “It’s tiring, it's too much work; let’s cancel it!” who radiates hope. That can easily be despair masquerading as faith. No. It is the man or woman who, despite the world’s misuse and abuse of these, still puts up a grand Christmas tree in his living room, strings up the Christmas lights round that tree, turns up the carols on CD, passes gifts to loved ones, sits down at table with family and friends, and flashes a smile to the world; he is the one who is radiating faith, who is saying that we are meant for more than gloom, who is celebrating Jesus’ birth, echoing with the angels, “Glory to God in the Highest, And on earth, peace, goodwill towards men.”

So my family had a wonderful Christmasthis year – with a house well decorated with Christmas cheer; with friends coming over for festive meals and with us sharing Christ with a lost world.

I am so looking forward to another great season of Christmas celebration....next year!

Year End Reflections: A to Z For 2010

2009-12-19T11:44:00.006+08:00

Revisit your Ambition. This is a great time to do it. Go back to those early dreams and ask God if you need to revise it and renew it. Ensure that it is alligned to the Word and God-inspiring.

Breakaway from the common and popular unless you want to remain unchanged. A lot of people do what they do because it has always been done that way. They do it without thinking about the reasons and the meaning behind what they do. Breakaway from what is norm. Seek God for something new, something purposeful, something uncharted, unrehearsed.

Care for the concerns of people that you care about. Think about being more of a blessing than you have ever been before, especially if you are over 40. Before 40, your life is baout getting but after 40 it is all about giving.

Demand more from yourself than anybody else ever will in the arena of the spiritual disciplines. You can act when someone asks you to act (external trigger) or you can act simply because you want to grow (internal trigger.) In the long run, internal triggers always work better.

Engage fully with what you are doing. It is not worth doing anything half-heartedly. Even if it is fun, engage in it fully. You only have 365 days in a year. With weekends and holidays gone, you have close to 250 days. That’s about 6000 hours. With sleep and some TV and rest, you get close to half of that available to you. That’s about 3000 hours. If you are not engaged in these 3000 hours, you can be guaranteed that you will be stressed out in whatever hours outside of those 3000 hours.

Fail fast. Fail often. Fail brilliantly. If you fear failure, you will stop taking risks and when you stop taking risks you will do what is common and popular (in other words risk-free). And you will never know what you miss unless you take some risk.

Give first. You get back so much more when you give and what you get back will have greater retrnal value than you can possibly imagine.

Humility is an “invisible” competitive advantage. With the world changing at breathtaking speed, there is no guarantee that what worked yesterday will work today and what works today will work tomorrow. Humilty helps you grow with greater grace. It oils your life for change in a fast-changing world.

Intensity wins. Big time. Think about the time you were playing a game and were totally engrossed in it. Those were the moments of high-intensity. Winning was important but at that particular moment, you were just playing with high-intensity. That is the way the game of life is played. With high intensity. Intensely hunger after God Increase your intensity by a notch or two in 2010.

Join a team. Join a movement. Join a tribe that wil forge for you a strong sense of community. Join something that will make help you make a bigger difference in this world. You can only do so much on your own. With the right tribe, the possibilities are endless.

Knowing what NOT to do is equally important as knowing what to do. Before the start of the year, think of a few things that are not worth continuing. Dis-engage from these activities gracefully so that you have more bandwidth to do things that do matter. Think a decade, not just a year. 2010 is the beginning of a whole new decade.

Love your work. How much you love your work shows up in your work. Putting your heart into what you are doing is that “extra” that can make your work extraordinary for the Lord.

Make meaning. Both for yourself and people who you touch. Everybody is in search for more meaning in their lives. And there is no meaning without God so ensure He is in the equation of everything in your life.

Nurture relationships for the long-term. There are only two kinds of relationships – one is long-term and the other one is very long term. Very long-term relationships won’t happen in the short-term or by accident. You need nurture those relationships.

Be on the lookout for opportunities to contribute. Opportunities are everywhere. They come to those people who are ready and willing to put in the effort to capitalize on them.

Passion on the right priorities with the right amount of patience will create profits. Identify your passions. Allign them to your priorities. Patiently wait for God to produce for you the profits.

Question your questions. If the questions you are asking until now have not given the results so far, it is time to question those questions. It’s time to ask new and powerful questions. The Holy Spirit seraches the heart that is open to questions.

Results matter. But they do not matter as much as the process to the results. The journey is more important than the destination. Focus on the process. Leave the results to God.

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Capitalize on your strengths.. AND, find good help to handle your weaknesses. But remember, if you only bang on your strengths, they have a way of becoming your weakness.

Thoughtfulness may not cost you much but people notice it. It shows that you care for them and they are important enough for you to walk that extra mile.

Understand first and then people would want to understand you. If you think someone is not able to understand you, think about the possibility that they might be thinking the same way about you . This is tough but yields great relational returns.

Check your values. They are the foundation for whatever you say or do. The building is only as strong as the foundation and you are only as strong as your values.

Don't lose your sense of Wonder to ensure that you are always learning. You can’t know everything. Not now. Not in a decade and not in a lifetime. Be in a mood of wonder as a student of life. Most of all, don't ever lose your Wonder of God or you lose your ability to worship Him.

Be very careful about SEX. It is a fire. Place in the right location(marriage) it contributes. Taken out of its location, it destrys. Don't let what you have build over the years be burned down in one night.

Yearning for more of God today will yield good returns tomorrow. Be more hungry foe God and His Word in 2010 then ever before. It is a discipline to be cultivated.

Zap negative thinking. Zap laziness. Zap procrastination. Zap skepticism. Zap anything that will reduce your capacity or the capacity of others around you. It is simply not worth carrying the extra baggage. Repeat with Paul: Rejoice and again I say Rejoice!

Lessons From Geneologies

2009-12-16T09:28:00.003+08:00

When you re-read the Christmas narratives in the Gospels, you will inevitably come across the geneologies - the list of names in the line of Jesus. What lessons can we learn from the geneologies?

Here are a few lessons from the genealogies:

1) God's plan is bigger than your past mistakes

Jesus' genealogy is filled with scandal. You have prostitutes and egomaniacs and evil tyrants in the mix. One of the less savoury stories involves Judah and Tamar. I'll spare you the sordid details, but a father-in-law propositions a daughter-in-law who he thinks is a prostitute. And a child is conceived. You could call her children, Perez and Zerah, a mistake.

In fact, in our day, this pregnancy would have been a prime candidate for abortion. But they were more than that. They were part of God's master plan. They were part of the genealogy of Jesus. Can I offer a simple reminder from the genealogies? God is bigger than your sexual mistakes.

2) Who goes before you isn't as important as who you leave behind

Many people who come from dysfunctional families are afraid that they are destined to make the same mistakes their parents made. You wonder if it's in your genes. Can I remind you that you aren't your parents and your parents aren't you. You can break the cycle. You can rise above the mistakes they made. You can leave a legacy. Jesus had some messed up ancestors!

3) You can be part of His genealogy

I love this promise in John 1: "To as many as have received him, to them he gave the power to become children of God." When you put your faith in Christ, you become part of His family,

His genealogy, His legacy!

Teaching Leaders

2009-12-14T13:02:00.003+08:00

In 1 Timothy 3 Paul says , “Elders must be able to teach.” While I value the gift of teaching, requiring it as a quality for this level of church leadership seemed to be so restricting. But now after 20 years in church leadership myself, I totally agree leaders must be teachers.

Leadership is the ability to influence the thoughts, attitudes and skills of others which requires an ability to teach.
Leadership means identifying and equipping future leaders which requires an ability to teach.
Leadership is building a team of people and focusing them on a common mission which requires an ability to teach.

Now before you disqualify yourself as a leader please understand I’m not talking about the traditional standing in front of a classroom and dispensing information. I’m talking about being alert to capitalize on teachable moments, available to debrief successes and struggles of those you lead and being astute of those who are hungry students of leadership in your minstry. Teaching leaders will have a multitude of growing leaders in their wake.

What adjustments do you need to make to become a teaching leader?

When God Is At Work

2009-12-12T01:17:00.002+08:00

In The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God (1741), Jonathan Edwards pulled out of 1 John 4 the biblical indicators that God is at work, even if the people involved are complicating it with their own sins and eccentricities. The true gold of grace is discernible in these four ways:

One, when our esteem of Jesus is being raised, so that we prize him more highly than all this world, God is at work.

Two, when we are moving away from Satan’s interests, away from sin and worldly desires, God is at work.

Three, when we are believing, revering and devouring the Bible more, God is at work.

Four, when we love Jesus and one another more, God is at work.

Satan not only wouldn’t produce such things, he couldn’t produce them, so opposite are these from his nature and purposes. These are sure signs that God is at work, even with the imperfections we inevitably introduce.

Joseph And Christmas

2009-12-10T12:18:00.002+08:00

I have been studying the Christmas narratives again. What a wealth of understand the scripture offer. You can read the Word again and again and you find fresh treasures all over again.

Who exactly is the Joseph of Christmas? He is that quiet figure prominently named in the Christmas story as the husband of Mary and the stepfather of Jesus, and then basically is never mentioned again. He was probably an older man, a safe protector to Mary, a carpenter by trade, upright and holy, humble and quiet, steady and patient.

But what do we really know about him?

In the Gospel of Matthew the annunciation of Jesus' conception is given to Joseph rather than to Mary: before they came together, Mary was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, being an upright man and unwilling to shame her, had decided to divorce her quietly, when an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, that the child in her had been conceived through the Holy Spirit.

What can we learn from this text?

Partly it is symbolic: The Joseph of the Christmas story is clearly reminiscent of the Joseph of the Exodus story, he too has a dream, he too goes to Egypt, and he too saves the family. Likewise King Herod is clearly the counterpart of the Egyptian Pharaoh; both feel threatened and both kill the Hebrew male children only to have God protect the life of the one who is to save the people.

But, after that, the Joseph of the Christmas story writes his own history: He is presented to us as an "upright" man, a designation that scholars say implies that he has conformed himself to the Law of God, the supreme Jewish standard of holiness. In every way he is blameless, a paradigm of goodness, which he demonstrates in the Christmas story by refusing to expose Mary to shame, even as he decides to divorce her quietly.

What actually happened here?

The background, in so far as we can reconstruct it, to the relationship between Joseph and Mary would have been this: The marriage custom at the time was that a young woman, essentially at the age of puberty, would be given to a man, usually several years her senior, in an arranged marriage by her parents. They would be betrothed, technically married, but would not yet live together or begin sexual relations for several more years. The Jewish law was especially strict as to the couple remaining sexually pure while in the betrothal period. During this time, the young woman would continue to live with her parents and the young man would go about setting up a house and an occupation so as to be able to support his wife once they began to live together.

Joseph and Mary were at this stage of their relationship, legally married but not yet living together, when Mary became pregnant. Joseph, knowing that the child was not his, had a dilemma: if he wasn't the father, who was? In order to save his own reputation, he could have demanded a public inquiry and, indeed, had Mary been accused of adultery, it might have meant her death. However, he decided to "divorce her quietly", that is, to avoid a public inquiry which would leave her in an awkward and vulnerable situation.

Then, after receiving revelation in a dream, he agrees to take her home as his wife and to name the child as his own. Partly we understand the significance of that, he spares Mary embarrassment, he names the child as his own, and he provides an accepted physical, social, and religious place for the child to be born and raised. But he does something else that is not so evident: He shows how a person can be a devoted believer, deeply faithful to everything within his religious tradition, and yet at the same time be open to a mystery beyond both his human and religious understanding. It took so much faith in God to obey God based on something unheard of in his day and time.

And this was exactly the problem for any Christian, including the religious leaders at the time the Gospels were written: They were pious Jews who didn't know how to integrate Christ into their religious framework. What does one do when God breaks into one's life in new, previously unimaginable ways? How does one respond to the God who does what He deems fit when it is not something familiar to my background, experience, tradition or preference?

There is a mystery about God and the way He works that will continually demand our obedience. It is then that we have to base our faith on Christ, not tradition, expereince or preference.

Isn't that one of the ongoing challenges of Christmas?

A Life-Enriching Social Environment

2009-11-30T08:27:00.001+08:00

Strong, deep, lasting love amongst us – who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Three ways to create that culture in our ministries and churches:

One, “Outdo one another in showing honour” (Romans 12:10). No flippant put-downs. No undercutting. Not even waiting for the next person to make the first move. But me getting out of my self-concern to lift the next guy up with high honour. Doing this verbally, unashamedly.

Two, “Bear with one another” (Colossians 3:13). Not trying to change one another. Who appointed us to that role? Our privilege is to bear with one another’s “weaknesses and oddities, which are such a trial to our patience, . . . to break through to the point where we take joy in [the other person’s quirkiness]” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, page 101).

Three, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths but only such as is good for building up” (Ephesians 4:29). The people of God filter every word by a higher standard. Even if the words wanting to come out of my mouth are factually true, the real question is, ‘Are my words positively helping the person listening?’

People of God loving one another intensely and openly are a life-enriching social environment.

Such an environment is full of the Holy Spirit. It helps us all grow. Let’s work towards it!

Is There Risk In Your Worship?

2009-11-14T08:55:00.002+08:00

Both Cain and Abel worshiped the Lord. Both brought Him offerings. But the Lord rejected Cain's worship and accepted Abel's. Why?

Not because Abel's was a blood-offering while Cain's was "of the fruit of the ground." The law authorized grain offerings (e.g., Leviticus 2).

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel's worship was acceptable to God because it was "by faith." And "whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

Acceptable worship throbs with a conviction of the heart that God is real and that God rewards.

Cain did not worship God with the psychology of faith. His gift to God was safe: "Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground" (Genesis 4:3). He worshiped God out of his income from his past labours.

Abel worshiped God with the psychology of faith. His gift was risky: "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions" (Genesis 4:4). He gave to the Lord from his breeding stock and from their best parts. The firstborn of his flock had the potential to become an adult animal that could reproduce for him more of its kind. He worshiped God out of his potentials for the future; out of his capital.

Is your worship of God safe or risky? Do you come to God just with the thanksgiving offerings of blessings in the past or do you come to God with your life and all its potentials for the future and lay it at His feet?

It is good to run from safe, no-risk worship. It is good to worship God with a practical demonstration that He alone is the future our hearts will be happy with.

"Let us offer to God acceptable worship" (Hebrews 12:28).

This Isn't It!

2009-11-13T09:09:00.002+08:00

Today we’re witnessing the debut of the most-hyped movie of 2009, starring the most-hyped celebrity of our generation. When ‘This Is It’ premiered in the cinemas, I was so wanting to catch it. But today,I’m a little put off out by the over idolizing stuff that I’m seeing applied to the King of Pop.

In his new single Micheal Jackson referred to himself as the “light of the world.” The movie trailer is full of references to his amazing presence, the hope his music gives, and the fact that he is “at the centre” of everything.

It appears like we are seeing the truest picture of worship you may ever see here. It’s unheralded devotion. People are overcome with emotion. Hordes with voices raised, hands lifted, tears streaming. Isn't that worship?

Horrible god. But amazing worship.

MJ was an incredibly gifted musician: I won’t deny that. But he makes for an incredibly bad saviour. His life was as remarkable and enchanted and weird as they come, but in the end, he couldn’t save himself. He needed the true Saviour to do that for him.

Do I believe that Jackson thought of himself as God or as a Christ-figure? No, I really don’t believe that. But I wholeheartedly believe that there are people treat him as if he was.

Michael Jackson is certainly alive somewhere forever, just as we all will be one day. If his hope was in Jesus, that “somewhere” is in heaven. If not, he is not there.

So our greatest devotion and deepest admiration; the energy behind our raised voices, our lifted hands and our streaming tears must be to the true Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Because in the end, this world and its idols just isn’t it.

Dark Energy or Bright Energy

2009-11-11T21:53:00.004+08:00

A voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:17

"There are many other voices speaking -- loudly: "Prove you're worth something." "Prove you have any contribution to make." "Do something relevant." . . . These are the voices Jesus heard right after he heard, "You are my beloved." Another voice said, "Prove you are the beloved. Do something. Change these stones into bread. Be sure you're famous. Jump from the temple, and you will be known. Grab some power so you have real influence." . . . Jesus said, "No, I don't have to prove anything. I am already the beloved."

Henri Nouwen, Leadership Magazine, Spring 1995.

There is more than one way to be strong. We can be strong with the dark energy of anxiety, because we need approval, or we can be strong with the bright energy of assurance, because we are already approved.

We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. 1 Thessalonians 2:4

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1

Enthusiasm!

2009-11-07T09:32:00.002+08:00

"The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

Every church's leadership culture must have the boldness in Christ to look people straight in the eye and say forthrightly, "Hey, c'mon guys. This is for the Lord. Let's go for it!" Such must be our enthusiasm in serving the Lord. And the leadership must generate that kind of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm reaches for high standards, excellence, accomplishment. Enthusiasm demands of itself the best for the sake of a higher call. Enthusiasm crucifies the too-easily-wounded, silken Self for the sake of Christ. Enthusiasm cheerfully refuses to be held hostage by negative people.

Another word for this kind of leadership is humility.

Self-focused leaders worry too much about offending people. Christ-focused leaders risk offense for his sake. Some people will be unable to join in the enthusiasm. Let them go. Let the joy of the Lord triumph.

That kind of enthusiam is your strength.

The Trust Factor In Leadership

2009-11-06T20:01:00.003+08:00

When one reads a statement like “The Trust Factor In Leadership” it draws out a wide range of emotions. Those emotions are derived from the types of experiences we’ve had with other leaders and leadership in general.

We can break “The Trust Factor In Leadership” down into two simple categories:

1. The Team Trusts The Leader- This is one of the most important aspects of leadership, ensuring that a leader earns the trust of his/her team. Seeking to earn trust becaise of your position will only get you so far. In order for a leader to be truly successful they must have the those virtues that earn them trust: integrity, genuine care and concern for the team, proven track record, boldness, no “yes man” syndrome, a living relationship with God, transparency, accountability … are just a few of the ways that a team will begin to truly trust a leader.

2. The Leader Trusts The Team - This is probably the second most important aspect of leadership. When I say trust your team that means believing in them so much that you don’t micro-manage, you get out of their way, you correct when necessary, you encourage them to lead up, you maximize their strengths and you watch them soar.

George Barna’s new book Master Leaders has one excerpt where this question was asked of many leaders: “How does a leader gain people’s trust?” Seth Godin responded: ”You have to trust them.” That’s simple, but brilliant!

If people don’t trust you, they won’t follow you. On the other hand, I truly believe in and trust my people. I trust them so much that they have no choice but to believe in and trust themselves. If I believe my team can fly, even if they can’t, they will get close to flying.

Help your team to soar, TRUST THEM!

The Joy of Repetition

2009-11-02T18:03:00.003+08:00

Anniversary Sunday - 1 Nov 2009

When the kids were younger (well, even now) they would get really annoyed when I begin to tell them a story that I had told many times before: "You've already told that story," But I would tell them, "I like telling it!"

At the time, my retort served only to further irritate them. I think only now as they are grown that they sort of appreciate why I tend to repeat certain stories. There is just a joy in re-telling them again and again. I did the same in re-telling the history of Agape at our church anniversary yesterday. There is just a joy in such repetitions.

Why? Because we don't just nurture others and ourselves with freshness and novelty. If we only talked with each other when we had something new or interesting to share, there would be mostly silence around our tables. There would also be a lot less humour and wit in our conversations. We don't just nurture each other through novelty and by being interesting, we also, and importantly, nurture family life, our friendship circles, and our workplaces by working and reworking to death old stories, old jokes, and old anecdotes, until that repetition becomes it own story, its own humour, and its own anecdote.

Some things happen in every repetition. It becomes more and more yours. It’s like you own that story. You move from a story teller tobecoming the story owner, like a musician takes ownership of the scores by repeatedly practicing the scales. The accomplishments of art, the efficacy of prayer, the beauty of tradition, and the force of character depend on repetitions to be effective and meaningful.

Many of us know exactly what this means. We have family and friends that entertain and irritate us by mercilessly repeating old stories, old jokes, and old anecdotes over and over until this very repetition becomes its own story and takes on its own character. Sometimes this irritates us and we want to protest, but, eventually we come to appreciate what that brings into the circle of family life, friendship, and community, namely, a colour, a wit, a character, and a peculiar idiosyncrasy that becomes a story onto itself. We don't live on novelty alone, but on every retold story that highlights the irony and colour within our everyday lives.

My own family has been irritatingly famous for this. We are a family that loves the joy of the of retelling old stories. At our dinner tables many of the same stories and jokes get told over and over again. And they aren't always received with appreciation. Not infrequently there is a raised eyebrow ("My God, he's not going to tell that one again!"). But, overall, there is the enjoyment of the old wit, of an old funny incident being enjoyed again, in a fresh new way, both by the one retelling it and by those listening. At our table, what's old and tedious nurtures and carries family life as much what's new and interesting, sometimes more so because the retelling of old anecdotes and stories help highlight our own particular history and character as a family.

I have a way with my humour, to repeat a punch-line over and over again, as if it somehow wasn't heard the first time. My two children will laugh at the fact that I just have to repeat it again. They think I am moving towards senility.

But there is a real reason we repeat a punch-line. We repeat a punch-line because we like saying it! We like the feel of the joy of repetition.

I suppose that is exactly what should happen whenever we repeat the Gospel story. We should do it again and again because we like sharing that story. We own it. It is our story. In the same spirit, we should never get tired of the Communion. Jesus instituted it for our remembrance; that we never ever forget the work of the Cross.

Yesterday, I had the joy of re-telling Agape’s history and we saw God all over again, in the past and in the future. There is a joy in repetition. And that story will be re-told for years to come, in every new generation.