The sermon is preferred differently by people of different temperaments. The sanguine (the “I” in the DISC) will like messages with moving stories embellished with dialogue, and content with relational elements. The phlegmatic (S) needs sermons that reassure, comfort and encourage them constantly. The melancholy(C) prefers to dive deep into analysis, interpretative details and arguments about the Biblical text. The choleric (D) will want to be challenged by a sermon calling them to do things that produces results and make a difference, and have sure-fire practical steps of action.
This alone presents a challenge to the preacher. Can he add elements to target each of these unique temperament preferences in most sermons if not every sermon? Such a sermon would then have to have a moving story or relational element added if the text is not a narrative. It would have to be positive, comforting and encouraging. Based on a text that is not ignored, the sermon has to arise and be systematically built up from a careful interpretation of scriptures that include nuances and alternative interpretations. It would also have to point to a lack, gap or need in the hearers so big they would be motivated to want to do something about it. It would have some practical steps of plugging the gap at the end. This is a tall order and when you consider the many other roles and responsibilities of a small church pastor it appears almost impossible to do this consistently over a long period of time.
Feeding the church is like feeding a family. Every child has different preferred, or favourite and despised dishes. It can be so opposite and impossible. One prefers rice, another rather eat noodles most of the time. One hates fish because of the bones inside, others love whole fish and find the Dory too bland. Most love curry but one has the runs when she eats spicy. So like any smart mother, the pastor has to plan a balanced menu of sermons of different kinds: topical series that are easily digestible by most; sermons for special occasions like Easter or missions Sundays or anniversaries; deep book studies of Old and New Testament; and standalone sermons that addresses some challenge that the church or society is facing. And major on what the apostle Paul majored, “We preach Christ and Him crucified” – the finished work. Furthermore, church members, like family, have to learn to understand and embrace this variety of approaches out of love and respect for other family members. Church is family and this is what family does.
Hagia Sofia: church turned mosque turned museumGymnasium at ancient Sardis (city of one of seven churches in Revelations)Beautiful chapel that celebrates Lydia's conversion in Philippi (Greece)
Packed itinerary
We landed at dawn and began with a one day tour of Istanbul. It was a wet, windy and cold day. However we toured the main tourist sites and still managed to squeeze in an hour of shopping at the grand bazaar in the late evening. We visited the ancient ruins of the cities where the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation once existed. They are all in modern day Turkey. Then we crossed over to Greece by bus and visited holy sites, ancient ruins and museums in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. From Athens, we flew and transited at Istanbul, and flew back home.
We stayed at eight hotels in ten days. That should say something. It meant living off our suitcase. It meant early morning calls that mercifully became sane morning calls in Greece. It also meant being on the road on average about 2 hours between sites. We all expected it as this was a familiarization tour and they were trying to give us a sampling of as many different religious sites as possible within the limited time-frame. This survey would then help us to choose from a wide range what we think is suitable for ourselves if we want to lead a tour from our church in future.
The group picture taken at ancient Laodicea
Personal highlights of the tour
The fellowship was wonderful. There were 39 participants in all – mostly pastors from different denominations and background. There were Methodists, Baptists, Assemblies of God, Independents, Brethren, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Vietnamese Alliance. As there were about 25 meals we had together I got to hear many inspiring stories of pastors, and how they were called and what their churches were about. A few of these pastors had successful careers. But they heard the call and became pastors in mid-career changes.
Fellowship over mealsBaked fishSaladsSoupsLamb cuts and other meatsSweet dessertsOld friend Pastor Richard & Nancy Loh of Queenstown Baptist ChurchRenewed fellowship with pastors' prayer group leader Rev Sng Chong Hui and wife IreneThe ladies enjoyed the fellowshipPastor Ezekiel giving the devotion at site of Lydia's conversion at Philippi
Naturally the pastors were deployed to give devotions at the major sites. It was edifying to hear God’s messages to the seven churches in Revelation come alive with probing relevance and power across the centuries. I was blessed. For me it was like a personal invitation from the Spirit to look more deeply at the book of Revelations and consider preaching it through in the church. The book lit up like a burning bush.
Sela, boss of tour company leading us in the WI-FI equipped busExcellent informative guide telling us about ancient Ephesus toilets that St Paul probably used!
This subsidized tour was well organized and packed. The tour guides that were handpicked for us were very good in terms of their expertise, people skills and humor. The Bible Society of Singapore and the Omega Tours and Travel did a thoughtful job of planning all these and selecting the local tour companies to partner with. We had our meals at restaurants and most breakfasts and dinners were in above average hotels. Not sure about the cuisine, but I preferred the Turkish meals to the ones in Greece for the greater variety. There were salads in every meal and I never ate so much vegetable in any ten days of my life till now.
Short cut on the ferry to and from the European and Asian parts of TurkeyAt Parthenon, ancient temple dedicated to goddess Athena, in Athens acropolisAdmiring ladies hairstyles in the Acropolis Museum, Athens
If I were to plan a pilgrimage/study tour for the church I would concentrate on Turkey. I would do the Istanbul bit, fly to Tarsus, get lost in the Cappadocia caves, do the seven churches circuit, and have a day cruise to the island of Patmos (part of Greece). Such a pilgrimage/study tour would focus on the book of Revelations and the relevance of its message to us. I feel the Revelations tour can be impactful. And add some restful elements like staying to linger an extra day in a city, and having some fun shopping or hot air ballooning. Adding Greece in would be too much. Have a separate pilgrimage for Greece, probably with a missional slant.
My favourite sites: the ancient Ephesus site, and Parmukkale“cotton castle” in Turkey; and the Meteora in Greece.
Taking a selfie at Ephesus ancient library ruinsEphesus amphitheaterParmukkale "cotton castle": a World Heritage siteSoaking our feet in the mineral water supplied by hot springsParmukkale: natural hot-springs and beautiful terraces of carbonate mineralsMeteora - Greek Orthodox monasteries built on top of rock formations - coolMonks and nuns in those monasteries which permit visitors and touristsHow heavy loads were carried up in the old days
53 delegates from 6 countriesPraying for "Papa" Khoo
The FGB Making Disciples in Marketplace School
My daughter and I took a taxi and arrived at Changi Cove for a 2pm registration on a Saturday. I have been hearing about kingdom and the marketplace. During a recent Israel holy land tour we dropped by Mt Carmel and visited Peter Tsukahira’s ministry centre. He talked about the kingdom. The next year in 2013, Peter was the main plenary speaker at the Love Singapore Prayer Summit and he enlarged on the same theme. At the same summit, I met Georgie Lee who shared passionately about FGB Gatekeepers and their training camp. In 2014, Benny Ho called together a roundtable for pastors and marketplace leaders to have a dialogue. I met Georgie again and he invited me to attend a Making Disciples in the Marketplace (MDM) School. After some prayer I decided to attend it from 7-10 March 2015.
An evening for foreign delegates to see the city skyline
There were 53 participants from six countries including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, and Indonesia. My daughter and I were so tired we both took an afternoon nap, and woke up late for the first session. What a way to start. The sessions were back to back and intense. There were fifteen sessions in all: five sessions every day: two in the morning; two in the afternoon; and one at night. We were well fed with good food and tea breaks before and after every session. Here are some takeaways from the 3 day school.
Blogpastor’s five key takeaways
Firstly the truth that there are many teachers and not many spiritual fathers, and fathers are what we need above teachers, systems, strategies and methodology. The key difference and distinguishing mark of the father is love, love, love. The spiritual father loves authentically. Teachers do not. Many excel in explaining or expositing, few love well, love fully and truly. I felt weird when they kept calling Khoo Oon Theam “Papa”. With time, I saw that they were affectionate in their relationship with him. They had received a lot of love from him. They naturally called him Papa Khoo. The Catholics got it right. Their priests are called Fathers not Reverends. Fathering is an excellent image of Christian leadership. I saw that in Khoo Oon Theam. Of course I don’t know him well enough, but I could see a genuine mutual affection amongst the FGB team and him. The bottom-line is love after all. Elder John of the Bible knew it. Eagle saints know it. So does “Papa” Khoo.
Secondly, the vision of discipling must go beyond the individual, as in most models, but must embrace transformation of comprehensive aspects of society. It is a vision that goes beyond one nation to globally reach all people groups.
Speakers praying and imparting to delegates
Thirdly, I learned that most Christians fly below the radar’s detection range. They live moral lives, and try to do their work well, keeping their heads down, be inconspicuous and stay out of trouble, rather than choose to seek change so that God’s name is glorified. They would not upset the peace nor confront injustice nor wrong. MDM School advocates and empowers God’s people to activate God’s salt and light in the workplace. It gives them a sense of purpose in what would occupy a large chunk of their lives in terms of effort and hours: the workplace. Suddenly the gospel is seen to be highly relevant and not compartmentalized conveniently in some weekend activity. The school has a structure and process that works for FGB Gatekeepers and they have assembled quite an experienced and influential group of committed leaders or “elders” from the marketplace. It is for us pastors to re-shape it for the local church.
Fourthly, I believe this vision has revitalized the Full Gospel Businessman (FGB) of yesteryear. The FGB played a pivotal role in spreading the charismatic experience and message in the 1980’s and 1990’s. This role of seeding the denominations and churches had resulted in the leaven leavening the whole lump except for a few exceptions like the Bible Presbyterians, the Presbyterians and the Chinese and Malayalam churches. Then with the churches renewed the FGB seem to have gone into a season of hibernation, a dark night of the soul if you would like. The good news is they have come our purified and deepened in vision and this is sparking interest among FGBs in other countries. They have seen a fire in the East and it has thawed their hearts and they are travelling long distances to catch the fire for their own people.
With Galven who did a definitive history of the charismatic movement
Fifthly, I liked it that they were serious about inter-generational impartation and mentoring. There was deliberate and intentional discipling and coaching of younger leaders. A few of them in their thirties led part of the sessions with their mentors who are in their sixties. It’s wonderful to behold. Seeing parents and their young adult son working together in the ministry is heart-warming. An example was to see Georgie and Evelyn Lee, who are leaders in the movement, with their son Galven, who was there to facilitate. Galven was researching the charismatic movement of the 70’s in Singapore. I first met him when he was doing research for his studies in NUS. He interviewed me as a witness to the revival in Dunearn Technical Secondary School. Out of that revival, World Revival Prayer Fellowship was born. He obtained a first class honours student conferred jointly by NUS and the National University of Australia. His thesis traces the history of the charismatic movement in Singapore. At last we have a rigorously researched piece that withstood academic standards of the highest order.
As a student of educational methodology and curriculum, I do see that some tweaks are needed but even as it is the MDM School can impart enthusiasm, the spirit, the dynamism of the vision. Catch the heart of the vision which is actually a spirit of fathering and apostolic initiative. Seek to contextualize it for your church or workplace situation, for it has to be contextualized.
