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The task that energizes me

6 October 2014 blogpastor Leave a comment

On the subject of equipping, the three main tasks of a pastor are to feed, to care and to lead. Feeding entails the teaching of God’s word to God’s people. This is done through Sunday sermons, facilitating study groups, through cell group learning, and through the equipping stations. God’s people grow by feeding on the explanations and applications of God’s word. It is the hundreds of home-cooked, wholesome meals over many years, and not the occasional Michelin standard restaurant meals that grow you physically. In the same way, it is not the occasional inspiring, moving sermon that grows you spiritually but the faithful interpretation, teaching and application of the sacred text over many years.

On a personal note, the teaching and learning process is my preferred equipping task. It is what God gifted me for and what energizes me. There are pastors that find this task draining. Not I. True, the challenging and exciting moments of selecting a passage, allowing the Spirit to illuminate it, poring over what others have said about the passage, and preparing a message, can sometimes be tense and a struggle. However when all is settled, and the message is delivered and you trust the Holy Spirit to show Himself strong though a sermon that is often “five loaves and two fish”, it gives you pleasure, humility and peace. God’s word has resounded among God’s people and for another Sunday they have been strengthened in the faith, encouraged to hope, and renewed in love. It is fulfilling.

The Ark: a place of rest

2 October 2014 blogpastor 5 Comments

The Ark is a Pentecostal church. What a unique name. Pastor Jimmy Hoo started this church after he left the Emmanuel Assembly of God. It is small fellowship of 30 plus and they worship at the Village Hotel Bugis at 390 Victoria Street on the 6th level. I got to know Pastor Jimmy on Facebook. I was introduced to him by Pastor Peter Sze who also helped linked up quite a few grace-based churches and ministers in the region. We met once with Joshua Lee, pastor Kevin Choo and another minister and talked shop over tea at Funan Center. He invited me to take the Sunday message and I was most happy to do so.

I took a cab there with my wife and my son who wanted to visit. It was the first time I stepped into the Village Hotel Bugis and the hotel function room was the size of two large classrooms. They also had a separate room for the children. I met with the members who were there early and we chatted with Pastor Jimmy Hoo and Mabel, his wife, who was very warm, hospitable and friendly. The service started at 9.30am and like the other grace-based church services I attended, the Holy Communion was conducted every Sunday. Soon I was at the pulpit and preaching a modified version of what I preached in my worship service the previous week at WRPF. I talked about how a Christian can still live under the old covenant and experience the miserable Christian life. I talked about what it meant to live under the new covenant. My main text was from Jeremiah 31:31-34. I drew my three main points and contrasts from the text itself, and drew sharp contrasts of what it would look like if you lived as a Christian under the old covenant or under the new covenant. I enjoyed partnering with the Holy Spirit in delivering the message.

After the service we had and early lunch at about 11.40am at a Bugis Junction food court. I enjoyed the nasi padang and the fellowship and warm banter. Inevitably from the topic of family, the conversation went to ministry and I heard a dramatic and grace-filled story of how this sincere and humble couple were initiated into the message of grace, and how they moved from being burnt-out and effort-driven to a place of rest in the grace of God.

Though many people crowd the Star Vista to hear the grace messages of the New Creation Church, small churches like this also deserves better support and encouragement. I am sure there are people who love the grace message but prefer a small church setting where things are less concert-like and more family-like, less distant and more personal, where they feel less like a spectator and more like a participant. This is one church you may want to explore visiting and being a part of, if you want to learn to rest in His grace, and a have a stronger community life. Pastor Jimmy and Mabel are well equipped with the message, the experience and love to give you the care, the rest and community you need.

Of PSLE and all other dreaded exams

29 September 2014 blogpastor Leave a comment

The PSLE examinations and results can be a forbidding hurdle that both parents and children have to navigate. It is a stressful time for all. Everyone prays and works and hopes for the best. We hope our child will manage to get at least into the express stream. We would even accept the normal stream, and hope he gets into the express stream soon after. We get elated or secretly disappointed if our prayers were not granted.

However, life goes on and reality sets in, and sooner or later we realize that God loves all his children, but they are not equally gifted for academic rigours and demands. Sooner or later we will accept that our children have different kind of intelligences and gifts and we perhaps begin to stumble into a more sane view that life will present unequal economic rewards to people with different talents and opportunities. Some of our children will grow to be adults and surprise us, for despite their academic qualifications, they out-earn the scholars. But is earnings the bottom line that frames our perspective of success? Then how different are we from the worldly minded?

Let me put it to you that God’s purpose in creating us is so that we may glorify God and serve and enjoy Him forever. Staying in this zone is what makes us truly “successful”. You can earn a lot and be highly qualified but yet live a life that disregards God’s purpose. This is a failed life. Or you can be a PSLE failure but live a life of faithful service and fellowship with God. This is the fulfilled life. The one essential thing is whether you fulfilled God’s purpose of glorifying Him and serving people with your God-given talents and opportunities.

Our job as parents is not just PSLE and all the other exam hoops our children have to jump through. It is guiding our children to discover their God-given abilities and to use them for serving people and for His glory. It is imparting the values of service, contentment and God-centeredness to them. As for PSLE and “O” and “A” levels, we do our best to support our children, and discover more about ourselves and our children. Shalom.