Sunday, September 24, 2006
Pastor How shared with us that God has a toolbox He used to change the world. Inside this toolbox there are many tools that He can use. But each tool has its own unique properties, shape, function and value. God could not change the world if the toolbox is only filled with hammers; neither can He do that only with a couple of spanners.
We are all God's tools. God uses us to change the world, God uses us to impact the society, and God uses us to spread His love to others who have yet know Him. And each of us has our very own personality. Each of us has our very own SHAPE!!!
We are unique. We are used by God in different aspects of life, in worship, in preaching, in evangelism, in ministry, in peoples work.
We can be a hammer, demolishing all the evil works of the Devil;
We can be screws of different shapes and lengths, going deep down into the hearts of different kind of people;
We can be the screwdrivers, tightening the screws into these people so that they can have a strong foundation in God and not backslide.
We are all different in one way or another. Apart from our physical appearances, we have different personalities, different abilities, and different experiences in life....
Know your SHAPE!
Pastor's How talks about the importance of serving for God through ministry, but hidden beneath serving God, the message was clear. We are different! I am special and unique.
Spiritual gift, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences. That's our shape.
Knowing yourself is one thing, but knowing yourself in a good way is more important. What am I gifted to do? What are my interest, desires and passion? What talents and skills do I have? What experience do I have?
[Ephesians 2:10] For we are His workmanship, created by Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk with them.
God shaped us to be different from others. He gave us all a different purpose in our life. But still, there is one similarity that we share: we are created in the image of Christ! To be a mirror of His deeds, to be a reflector of His love...Praise the Lord!!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Pastor Joakim Lundqvist's seminar on SCHOOLS is really impactful.
It left a huge footprint in my heart.
Now I know that 'Taking the school" is not just about the numbers but more importantly, it is about the many lost lives that can be saved through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yes! The amazing thing is that when our church grow in numbers at such a fast rate, it is hard to believe that every single soul saved is actually a life transformed; a once purposeless life that has now found the correct path, the path that God wants us to go.
When people see this group of on-fire Christians who jumped and clapped and screamed during praise and worship, eagerly copying and responding to what the pastor says during sermon, and always with a smile hanging on their face, what is even more difficult to believe is that these are the people who use to take part in gang fights, fails almost every test and drink alcohol...
Behind every smile on their face is actually a scar that used to hurt them so much, it is more than just a physical scar, it is an emotional scar that pierce right true the heart and stay there forever,
But when they saw the light that comes from the Father in heaven, and truly experienced the relationship between the Father and the Son, their scars were healed.
Their lives were changed.
[Luke 19:10] For the Son of Man has comed to seek and to save that which was lost.
That is the purpose of taking the schools, to seek what is lost. To bring those who are lost to the correct paths, to heal them from their emotional scar, and to tell them that there is only one Person that is the Lord over all things in our life, and that is Christ Jesus our Lord.
So many testimonies of how young Christians who are below the age of 20 sacrifice so much time and money because they want other souls in their schools to be saved. And that is because they have the "Others" mentality, and they do all they could with what they have.
Pastor Joakim shared a phrase that I really like: If there is a price we will pay, even if the price is big, we will pay it anyway.
Even when the price is to raise Swedish currency 50, 000 just to buy bibles for their school as Christmas presents, a group of Christian did it, and they got their money by selling away all their mp3s, digital cameras, televisions and basically everything that is valuable in their house and belongs to them.
What you reap is what you sow, the group of students managed to get many souls saved in the end.
We really need "Others" Christian in our church. If this group of students can do it, similarly we can do it too. It is just that whether we are willing to pay the price, whether we are willing to be more radical for Jesus and sacrifice what we have for a greater and better purpose.
Like what shiwei told me, "taking the school" will not be just a slogan but something that our hearts should be willing to commit to.
A mission to fight the Devil for our schools, for the nation, for this generation, for Jesus! Hallelujah!!
Personally, bring schoolmates to Christ has been a great challenge to me; I have always failed to persuade my friends to come to church. But now, I am inspired by Pastor Joakim's seminar to take up the challenge again. It is time for the battle against the devil for our schools once again.
I would like to declare once again: Hwachong belongs to Christ!!
-----
Oh I feel like dancing,
It's foolishness I know,
But when the world could see the light,
They will dance with joy, like we're dancing now.
