Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was good to have some solitude time in the office before my coworkers came back… a time to reflect on what the Lord has been doing in my life, and how He wants to use me in days ahead. Besides work, I have a lot to catch up in my study. The ministry was so overwhelming in the last six weeks plus jetlag adjustment…I was not in the mood to work on my school assignments which are due in a month. Pray that I could calm down, refocus and find time to work on my papers during my teaching trip in China.
This morning, I chose to look at Peterson’s sharing on “anger” management in the light of Jonah’s story. Quarreling with God is a time-honored biblical practice: Moses, Job, David, and Apostle Peter were all masters at it. It is a practice in which men and women in ministry have much practice. We get a lot of practice in this because we are dealing with God in some way or other most of the time, and God doesn’t behave the way we expect.
Jonah is quarreling because he has been surprised by grace. He is so taken aback that he is disagreeable about it. His idea of what God is supposed to do and what God in tact does differ radically. Jonan sulks. Jonah is angry. The word anger occurs six times in this final chapter.
Anger is most useful as a diagnostic tool. When anger erupts in us, it is a signal that something is wrong. Something isn’t working right. There is evil or incompetence or stupidity lurking about. Anger is our sixth sense for sniffing out wrong in the neighborhood. Diagnostically it is virtually infallible, and we learn to trust it. Anger is infused by a moral/spiritual intensity that carries conviction: when we are angry, we know we are on to something that matters, that really counts. When God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah shot back, “I do well to be angry, angry enough to die” [Jonah 4:9].
What anger fails to do, though, is tell us whether the wrong is outside or inside us. We usually begin by assuming that the wrong is outside us—our spouse or our child or our God has done something wrong, and we are angry. That is what Jonah did, and he quarreled with God. But when we track the anger carefully we often find it leads to a wrong within us—wrong information, inadequate understanding, underdeveloped heart. If we admit and face that, we are pulled out of our quarrel with God into something large and vocational in God. Apostle Paul said, “Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life” (Eph 4:26-27).
It takes a self-reflective person to discern what anger implies. God designs “anger” as a device to detect problem inside us. It is like what a red engine light does in our car. When this light is on, it tells you a problem needs to be fixed in your engine. But if the driver chose to believe it was outside factor that triggered the light, then the engine might eventually died down or fatal accident might occur. Anger, therefore, calls for introspection, and the focus should be more on examining the reason of your reaction than the stimulation. Of course, there are times when we react in anger too fast that it is too late to reflect, regret or remorse because a damage is already done. But we still need to examine the cause of our anger in order to prevent future reaction and heal the wound. It is always easier to make a decision not to react in anger before it flares up. That’s why Apostle James advised us, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19-20). Let’s watch out and pray for each other on anger management…
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Devotional 070710
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I thank God for giving me a good night sleep last night. That means I have recovered from my jetlag. Praise the Lord! And next week is another trip to Asia that needs your prayer support again. But His grace is always sufficient for His servants. In my experience, the more I focused on God and His word through prayer and meditation, the more strength and healing power I received from above.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14). As we prepare to pray, to answer the words God addresses to us, we learn that all of God’s words have this characteristic: they are torah (the Law or Principles of God) and we are the target. God s word is not a reference book in a library that we pull off the shelf when want information. There is nothing lifeless or bookish in these words. God’s words, creating and saving words every one, hit us where we live.
The moment we know this that God speaks to us, delight is spontaneous. “The psalms are the liturgy for those whose concern and delight is the torah of the Lord” [James Luther May]. These are not words that we laboriously but impersonally study, as if for an exam. These are not words that we anxiously examine lest we unintentionally disobey a boundary or break a protocol. These are words we take in—words designed for shaping new life in us, feeding the energies of salvation. This delight develops into meditation, torah-meditation. Meditate {hagah} is a bodily action; it involves murmuring and mumbling words, taking a kind of physical pleasure in making the sounds of the words, getting the feel of the meaning as the syllables are shaped by larynx and tongue and lips. Isaiah used this word “meditate” for the sounds that a lion makes over its prey (Isaiah. 31:4). A lion over its catch and a person over the torah act similarly. They purr and growl in pleasurable anticipation of taking in what will make them more themselves, fulfilling, strong, lithe, and swift: “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free (enlarge my capacity of understanding)!” (Ps. 119:32).
This is quite different from merely reading God’s word, or thinking about it. This is not so much an intellectual process, figuring our meanings, as it is a physical process, hearing and rehearing these words as we sound them again, letting the sounds sink into our muscles and bones. Meditation is mastication or chewing food in your mouth. This concept is similar to what Prophet Ezekiel was asked to do, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:1). Apostle John shared similar experience from God, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey” (Revelation 10:9b). Apparently they were challenged not to physically swallow the scroll into their stomach. They were asked to “devour” the word of God like the way we devour our favorite food. The word of God will enter into our soul like food into our body that turns into energy and all kinds of nourishments. Meditation is this “craving” and “devouring” of God’s words.
Once we have the habit of enjoying the word of God through meditation, we can understand and say the same phrase to Satan like Christ, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). We enlarge our appetite for God’s words as we develop the habit of enjoying the spiritual banquet from above. The more you eat, the larger the capacity of your digestion system and appetite you will develop for the word of God. On a contrary, the less you eat, the less appetite you have for His Word. This is dangerous if it is physical eating disorder – you will die of mal-nutrition like anorexia. But many Christian is suffering in spiritual anorexia without being aware of it at all. Have mercy on us O Lord! Deliver many brothers and sisters from this spiritual problem, which will affect their whole being as a whole. Open their eyes to see their “poor shape” and give them inner strength to fix it.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. I thank God for giving me a good night sleep last night. That means I have recovered from my jetlag. Praise the Lord! And next week is another trip to Asia that needs your prayer support again. But His grace is always sufficient for His servants. In my experience, the more I focused on God and His word through prayer and meditation, the more strength and healing power I received from above.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14). As we prepare to pray, to answer the words God addresses to us, we learn that all of God’s words have this characteristic: they are torah (the Law or Principles of God) and we are the target. God s word is not a reference book in a library that we pull off the shelf when want information. There is nothing lifeless or bookish in these words. God’s words, creating and saving words every one, hit us where we live.
The moment we know this that God speaks to us, delight is spontaneous. “The psalms are the liturgy for those whose concern and delight is the torah of the Lord” [James Luther May]. These are not words that we laboriously but impersonally study, as if for an exam. These are not words that we anxiously examine lest we unintentionally disobey a boundary or break a protocol. These are words we take in—words designed for shaping new life in us, feeding the energies of salvation. This delight develops into meditation, torah-meditation. Meditate {hagah} is a bodily action; it involves murmuring and mumbling words, taking a kind of physical pleasure in making the sounds of the words, getting the feel of the meaning as the syllables are shaped by larynx and tongue and lips. Isaiah used this word “meditate” for the sounds that a lion makes over its prey (Isaiah. 31:4). A lion over its catch and a person over the torah act similarly. They purr and growl in pleasurable anticipation of taking in what will make them more themselves, fulfilling, strong, lithe, and swift: “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free (enlarge my capacity of understanding)!” (Ps. 119:32).
This is quite different from merely reading God’s word, or thinking about it. This is not so much an intellectual process, figuring our meanings, as it is a physical process, hearing and rehearing these words as we sound them again, letting the sounds sink into our muscles and bones. Meditation is mastication or chewing food in your mouth. This concept is similar to what Prophet Ezekiel was asked to do, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:1). Apostle John shared similar experience from God, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey” (Revelation 10:9b). Apparently they were challenged not to physically swallow the scroll into their stomach. They were asked to “devour” the word of God like the way we devour our favorite food. The word of God will enter into our soul like food into our body that turns into energy and all kinds of nourishments. Meditation is this “craving” and “devouring” of God’s words.
Once we have the habit of enjoying the word of God through meditation, we can understand and say the same phrase to Satan like Christ, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). We enlarge our appetite for God’s words as we develop the habit of enjoying the spiritual banquet from above. The more you eat, the larger the capacity of your digestion system and appetite you will develop for the word of God. On a contrary, the less you eat, the less appetite you have for His Word. This is dangerous if it is physical eating disorder – you will die of mal-nutrition like anorexia. But many Christian is suffering in spiritual anorexia without being aware of it at all. Have mercy on us O Lord! Deliver many brothers and sisters from this spiritual problem, which will affect their whole being as a whole. Open their eyes to see their “poor shape” and give them inner strength to fix it.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Devotional 060710
Dear brothers and sisters,Thanks for your prayer support. I had a wonderful time at the Family Retreat. The couples came from different churches and locales. Some of them were frequent members of this retreat (It was the 19th one). Some came with and from a broken marriage and home. All of them were eager to improve their marriage and family. And one fourth of these participants were pre-Christian friends. Praise God for His work in our midst. Many raised their hands to seek divine strength for their marriages. Five expressed their desires to invite Christ into their lives as personal Lord and Savior. Even though they had not resolved many of their marriage issues, they learned to seek divine intervention and obey God’s principles for their marriage and family. Pray that God will enable these couples to experience major break through in lives. Indeed, prayer is our life-line with God and our ultimate source of strength from Him. However, we seldom utilize this powerful gift. Let’s see how Eugene Peterson shares about the importance of a prayer community.
Here in this great gathering for worship I have discovered this praise-life. And I’ll do what I promised right here in front of the God-worshipers (Psalm 22:25). The praying people, whose prayers are the Psalms, prayed as a worshiping community. All the psalms are prayers in community: people assembled, attentive before God, participating in a common posture, movement and speech, offering themselves and each other to their Lord. Prayer is not a private exercise, but a family convocation.
In the presence of God, “alone” is not good. Call a friend, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” By ourselves, we are not ourselves. Solitary confinement is extreme punishment; private prayer is extreme selfishness. Prayer, in itself, is not an automatic good. It is possible to practice prayer in such a way that it drives us deep into a manipulative, calculating egotism. And it is possible to practice prayer in such a way that it bloats us into a prideful pretension. Jesus was not indiscriminate in his praise of prayer; some people who prayed got a severe tongue-lashing from him.
Prayer often originates when we are alone. Deep within us are “sighs too deep for words.” We pray our guilt, our hurt, our cheerfulness on the spot, not waiting until we can meet with a congregation or get into a church. All the same, for these prayers to develop into full maturity, they must be integrated into the praying community.
And prayer continues into places of solitude. We pray on our beds at night, silently and secretly when surrounded by unbelievers, deliberately withdrawn from society in order to cleanse the “doors of perception” [William Blake]. We neither can nor should be with others continuously; and we are with God continuously.
But the believing community at worship, at regular times in assigned places, is the base of prayer. All the psalms were prayed in such communities. This is not obvious on the surface—we are apt to think of a shepherd on a grassy slope, or a traveler on a dangerous road—nevertheless, it is one of the assured results of devout research, confirmed in the practice of Israel and church. We are most congruent with the conditions in which the Psalms were produced and prayed when we pray in a praying congregation.
Being a private and introverted person, I treasure solitude time with God through contemplative prayer. I don’t think Peterson nullify our solitude time with God. He wants to remind us the value of congregational prayer or praying community. It is true that we tend to focus more on ourselves in private prayer than in public prayer. Once we focus on ourselves in prayer, our prayer becomes an extension of self-centeredness. The more you focus on your needs and problems, the more we become more narcissistic or self-centered. If we only treasure our personal prayer time but not the community prayer time, we miss the values of praying together as a Body of Christ – which tend to focus more on the attributes and agenda of God. Have mercy on us O Lord! Help us to value our time of praying together with the community of faith.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Devotional 300610
Dear brothers and sisters,
It is good to be back home! But I am leaving tomorrow for another preaching engagement at Reddings, California (about 5 hours drive from San Francisco Bay Area). Afterward, I will be preaching at Vancouver, Canada before I head out for China on 7/15. Please remember me in your prayer.
During my travel, I was using a set of devotional material by Dallas Willard that I had downloaded to my iphone. It was short yet thought provoking. It provided me a passages to meditate upon, with the limited free time I had during my stay in Thailand. Our training program was so packed that I hardly had time to study the books I brought with me (I managed to do it on one Saturday afternoon). The weather was another factor - it was so hot that your body became tired easily, and it was really hard to concentrate when your body was sweating at all time. I could understand why the pace of people in rural area of Southeast Asia tends to be so slow. Praise God that a business man in Bangkok has donated an airconditioner for our center after we shared with him our needs. It will definitely improve the learning condition of our future training program.
The Word of God is His supreme creative power. Genesis described how God created the universe by His Word. God rules by the power of His Word. Jesus defended Satan's temptation by God's word, and healed by His commanding Word. Willard said, "Even though God is supreme and could force anyone to do anything, he works evey day through words, understandings, allegiances and alliances." God exercises His power through Words. And His word is indeed the lamp to our feet and light to our path. The consensus of the entire Christian community upholds the primacy of God's word in everything, but in prayer we seldom use God's word to answer His prompting. Prayer is always in an answering mold - God puts His agenda and idea in our mind, we then utter our response through prayer. Without first listening to God's word, our prayer becomes empty and meaningless. Situation is another way God communicates His word to us. You may not hear God's gentle voice in silence, but you see the circumstance around you that may prompt you to pray. Instead of uttering your plead in haste, spend time to meditate your circumstances in the light of God's words. Then, pray to God in an answering speech. You will be surprised how He will interact with you through His words.
Just as Jesus reminded Satan while He was fasting in desert, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word coming from the mouth of God" (Matt 4:4). Yes, we live and are sustained by the power of God's word. Amen.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Ps. click on the slide show in my blog to see other albums from my trip.
It is good to be back home! But I am leaving tomorrow for another preaching engagement at Reddings, California (about 5 hours drive from San Francisco Bay Area). Afterward, I will be preaching at Vancouver, Canada before I head out for China on 7/15. Please remember me in your prayer.
During my travel, I was using a set of devotional material by Dallas Willard that I had downloaded to my iphone. It was short yet thought provoking. It provided me a passages to meditate upon, with the limited free time I had during my stay in Thailand. Our training program was so packed that I hardly had time to study the books I brought with me (I managed to do it on one Saturday afternoon). The weather was another factor - it was so hot that your body became tired easily, and it was really hard to concentrate when your body was sweating at all time. I could understand why the pace of people in rural area of Southeast Asia tends to be so slow. Praise God that a business man in Bangkok has donated an airconditioner for our center after we shared with him our needs. It will definitely improve the learning condition of our future training program.
The Word of God is His supreme creative power. Genesis described how God created the universe by His Word. God rules by the power of His Word. Jesus defended Satan's temptation by God's word, and healed by His commanding Word. Willard said, "Even though God is supreme and could force anyone to do anything, he works evey day through words, understandings, allegiances and alliances." God exercises His power through Words. And His word is indeed the lamp to our feet and light to our path. The consensus of the entire Christian community upholds the primacy of God's word in everything, but in prayer we seldom use God's word to answer His prompting. Prayer is always in an answering mold - God puts His agenda and idea in our mind, we then utter our response through prayer. Without first listening to God's word, our prayer becomes empty and meaningless. Situation is another way God communicates His word to us. You may not hear God's gentle voice in silence, but you see the circumstance around you that may prompt you to pray. Instead of uttering your plead in haste, spend time to meditate your circumstances in the light of God's words. Then, pray to God in an answering speech. You will be surprised how He will interact with you through His words.
Just as Jesus reminded Satan while He was fasting in desert, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word coming from the mouth of God" (Matt 4:4). Yes, we live and are sustained by the power of God's word. Amen.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Ps. click on the slide show in my blog to see other albums from my trip.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Devotional 210510
Dear brother and sister,
Good morning. I will be leaving tonight for my preaching trip to Toronto, Canada, and it will embark a preaching marathon that involves 30 sermons and 5 geographical locations until July. You may not hear from me during this period of time. Hope that you will remember me in prayer, and continue to draw close to the Lord each day for your own well being.
All men and women hunger for God. The hunger is masked and misinterpreted in many ways, but it is always there. Everyone is on the verge of crying out “My Lord and my God!” but the cry is drowned out by doubts or defiance, muffled by the dull ache of their routines, masked by their cozy accommodations with mediocrity. Then something happens-a word, an event, a dream---there is a push toward awareness of an incredible Grace, a dazzling Desire, a defiant Hope, a courageous Faithfulness. But awareness, as such, is not enough. Untended, it trickles into religious sentimentalism or romantic blubbering. Or, worse, it hardens into patriotic arrogance or hypocritical pride like Pharisees. The pastor is there to push the awareness past subjectivities and ideologies into the open and say “God.”
You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant (Timothy 4:3-5).
This is how Satan wants to accomplish by pushing people into busy routines in order to distract or detour us from the pursuit of God. Deep down inside, we have this void that is craving for fulfillment. We thought success and materialistic wealth were the answers. But when we acquire them we are still unfulfilled. We thought we would be satisfied when we need a little bit more. But the void remains and the inner craving cries even louder. Then we turn to self-help books or spiritual disciplines like yoga or transcendental meditations to calm our restlessness from within. We choose to believe in our own ability and will power that can accomplish all things. We want to be our own god. Even when we come to a dead-end street, we still choose to look around instead of looking UP to God. Have mercy on us O Lord!
Some one may can say that this kind of stubborn and rebellious spirit distinguish human being from animals. This is the kind of fighting spirit that enables men to conquer nature and subdue the world. But this is also a self-destructive stupidity of mankind that prohibits us from drawing close to God in humility.
Perseverance and fighting spirit are good if they are under the lordship of Christ. In another word, if we persevere out of obedience to Biblical truth, then it is a commendable behavior. The Bible highly encourages people for this holy pursuit, “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). Fighting or unyielding spirit can be a blessing from above, if we apply it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and for the sake of standing firm for the Truth. Remember His promise for us, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10b).
Your brother in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. I will be leaving tonight for my preaching trip to Toronto, Canada, and it will embark a preaching marathon that involves 30 sermons and 5 geographical locations until July. You may not hear from me during this period of time. Hope that you will remember me in prayer, and continue to draw close to the Lord each day for your own well being.
All men and women hunger for God. The hunger is masked and misinterpreted in many ways, but it is always there. Everyone is on the verge of crying out “My Lord and my God!” but the cry is drowned out by doubts or defiance, muffled by the dull ache of their routines, masked by their cozy accommodations with mediocrity. Then something happens-a word, an event, a dream---there is a push toward awareness of an incredible Grace, a dazzling Desire, a defiant Hope, a courageous Faithfulness. But awareness, as such, is not enough. Untended, it trickles into religious sentimentalism or romantic blubbering. Or, worse, it hardens into patriotic arrogance or hypocritical pride like Pharisees. The pastor is there to push the awareness past subjectivities and ideologies into the open and say “God.”
You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant (Timothy 4:3-5).
This is how Satan wants to accomplish by pushing people into busy routines in order to distract or detour us from the pursuit of God. Deep down inside, we have this void that is craving for fulfillment. We thought success and materialistic wealth were the answers. But when we acquire them we are still unfulfilled. We thought we would be satisfied when we need a little bit more. But the void remains and the inner craving cries even louder. Then we turn to self-help books or spiritual disciplines like yoga or transcendental meditations to calm our restlessness from within. We choose to believe in our own ability and will power that can accomplish all things. We want to be our own god. Even when we come to a dead-end street, we still choose to look around instead of looking UP to God. Have mercy on us O Lord!
Some one may can say that this kind of stubborn and rebellious spirit distinguish human being from animals. This is the kind of fighting spirit that enables men to conquer nature and subdue the world. But this is also a self-destructive stupidity of mankind that prohibits us from drawing close to God in humility.
Perseverance and fighting spirit are good if they are under the lordship of Christ. In another word, if we persevere out of obedience to Biblical truth, then it is a commendable behavior. The Bible highly encourages people for this holy pursuit, “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). Fighting or unyielding spirit can be a blessing from above, if we apply it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and for the sake of standing firm for the Truth. Remember His promise for us, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10b).
Your brother in Christ,
Lawrence
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Devotional 200510
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. Every day is a great day because it is a gift from above. I thank God for giving me another new day to experience His wonderful grace and mercy. If we focus on the faithfulness of God and learn to count His blessings each day, nothing can detour us into finding satisfactions by worldly means. The core of spiritual discipline is learning to choose godliness in our encountering with all things and all people in life.
There are a thousand ways of being religious without submitting to Christ’s lordship, and people are practiced in most of them. We live in golden calf country. Religious feeling runs high but in ways far removed from what was said on Sinai and done on Calvary. While everyone has a hunger for God, deep and insatiable, none of us has any great desire for Him. What we really want is to be our own gods and to have whatever other gods that are around to help us in this work. We are trained from an early age to be discriminating consumers on our way to higher standards of living. It should be no great surprise to pastors when congregations expect us to collaborate in this enterprise. But it is serious apostasy when we go along. “And Moses said to Aaron, ‘What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?’” (Exodus 32:21). Aaron’s excuse is embarrassingly lame but more than matched by the justifications pastors make for abandoning worship in our enthusiasm to make the congregation flourishingly successful.
Our Lord Jesus predicted what would be coming,"Brother will betray brother to death and a father to his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt 10:21-22).
It is not easy to stand counter-currently against consumerism that is taking place around us. It is almost like a choice between being faithful to Biblical mandate and being rejected by religious consumers. It is hard to grow a church without compromising to the needs and expectations of your consumers in the congregation. Even though the word of the Lord is not taking place in the church of America yet, the trend is leaning toward this direction: majority of people in this nation will hate you because of your steadfastness in Biblical principles. But the promise of God also affirms those submitting to Christ’s lordship: those who remain faithful till the end will be saved.
Can we slow down the growth of church if it means compromising to consumerism? Can we give up a building project for new sanctuary if it has to please the religious consumers who donate to the project, by building a golden calf? I still remember the gentle word of this little nun from Calcutta, Mother Teresa: “we are not called to be successful but to be faithful.” In this world preoccupied by desire for success, let’s be reminded that we are called to be faithful – faithful to God’s words, faithful to His priority or value system, and faithful to Christ who is the author of our faith and salvation. A great awakening is on the way, I pray that a great revival will come upon the Body of Christ in North America. The Church in America is not dead yet. She is very much alive and strong but among the ethnic community in America. Praise God that there are still faithful remnants who stand firm in their faith today. Just as God affirmed Prophet Elijah in his hopeless uncertainty, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal (materialism, consumerism and individualism etc.) and all whose mouths have not kissed him” (1 King 19:18). God has preserved and will continue to raise up His prayer warriors to turn the spiritual tide. Remember. The victory was secured on the cross two thousands years ago. We just need to be courageously watchful and don’t let the dying evil force to lure us into its scheme of destruction.
Stand with you in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. Every day is a great day because it is a gift from above. I thank God for giving me another new day to experience His wonderful grace and mercy. If we focus on the faithfulness of God and learn to count His blessings each day, nothing can detour us into finding satisfactions by worldly means. The core of spiritual discipline is learning to choose godliness in our encountering with all things and all people in life.
There are a thousand ways of being religious without submitting to Christ’s lordship, and people are practiced in most of them. We live in golden calf country. Religious feeling runs high but in ways far removed from what was said on Sinai and done on Calvary. While everyone has a hunger for God, deep and insatiable, none of us has any great desire for Him. What we really want is to be our own gods and to have whatever other gods that are around to help us in this work. We are trained from an early age to be discriminating consumers on our way to higher standards of living. It should be no great surprise to pastors when congregations expect us to collaborate in this enterprise. But it is serious apostasy when we go along. “And Moses said to Aaron, ‘What did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?’” (Exodus 32:21). Aaron’s excuse is embarrassingly lame but more than matched by the justifications pastors make for abandoning worship in our enthusiasm to make the congregation flourishingly successful.
Our Lord Jesus predicted what would be coming,"Brother will betray brother to death and a father to his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt 10:21-22).
It is not easy to stand counter-currently against consumerism that is taking place around us. It is almost like a choice between being faithful to Biblical mandate and being rejected by religious consumers. It is hard to grow a church without compromising to the needs and expectations of your consumers in the congregation. Even though the word of the Lord is not taking place in the church of America yet, the trend is leaning toward this direction: majority of people in this nation will hate you because of your steadfastness in Biblical principles. But the promise of God also affirms those submitting to Christ’s lordship: those who remain faithful till the end will be saved.
Can we slow down the growth of church if it means compromising to consumerism? Can we give up a building project for new sanctuary if it has to please the religious consumers who donate to the project, by building a golden calf? I still remember the gentle word of this little nun from Calcutta, Mother Teresa: “we are not called to be successful but to be faithful.” In this world preoccupied by desire for success, let’s be reminded that we are called to be faithful – faithful to God’s words, faithful to His priority or value system, and faithful to Christ who is the author of our faith and salvation. A great awakening is on the way, I pray that a great revival will come upon the Body of Christ in North America. The Church in America is not dead yet. She is very much alive and strong but among the ethnic community in America. Praise God that there are still faithful remnants who stand firm in their faith today. Just as God affirmed Prophet Elijah in his hopeless uncertainty, “I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal (materialism, consumerism and individualism etc.) and all whose mouths have not kissed him” (1 King 19:18). God has preserved and will continue to raise up His prayer warriors to turn the spiritual tide. Remember. The victory was secured on the cross two thousands years ago. We just need to be courageously watchful and don’t let the dying evil force to lure us into its scheme of destruction.
Stand with you in Christ,
Lawrence
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Devotional 190510
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The Psalm we read in prayer meeting this morning reminded me, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect” (Psalm 18:32). Our Father God who is perfect desires His children to be perfect, even though He understood we could not do so by our own strength. That’s why He empowers us daily to approach perfection. Our desire to please God and do His will is the fruit of the His Spirit. By our own nature, we have no appetite to seek godly things. Only when the Spirit of God comes upon us, we desire to listen to His Word and do His Will. Amen?
The people in our congregations are, in fact, out shopping for idols. They enter our churches with the same mind-set in which they go to the shopping mall, to get something that will please them or satisfy an appetite or need. John Calvin saw the human heart as a relentlessly efficient factory for producing idols. Congregations commonly see the pastor as the quality-control engineer in the factory. The moment we accept the position, though, we defect from our vocation. The people who gather in our congregations want help through a difficult time; they want meaning and significance in their ventures. They want God, in a way but certainly not a “jealous God,” not the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Mostly they want to be their own god and stay in control but have ancillary idol assistance for the hard parts, which the pastor can show them how to get. With the development of assembly-line mass production, we are putting these idols out in great quantities and in a variety of colors and shapes to suit every taste. John Calvin’s insight plus Henry Ford’s technology equals North American Religion. Living in golden calf country as we do, it is both easy and attractive to become a successful pastor like Aaron, who gave the kind of god (golden calf) that his congregation wanted [Exodus. 32].
Jesus said, “Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character” (Matthew 7:15-16, The Message).
This is a warning especially for us pastors, even though I am not pasturing a congregation right now. How easily we will yield to the pressures or expectations of our congregation who are brain-washed by consumerism and materialism. Our role as preacher is supposed to warn the people of God from the penetration of worldly values. But a lot of time, we yield to the worldly expectations instead. If Christians do not penetrate the world like salt and light of the world, then the worldly mindset or influence will penetrate the church. This is happening in the church of North America and in Europe. The Church lost her influence in society and is constantly shaped and molded by societal values.
When Christians are too busy with life and with programs within the four walls of the church, they really don’t have time to think or discern what is right and wrong in terms of their attitude toward things. They will easily just do whatever the world does and attitude that goes with it. When majority of the congregation adopts the worldly thinking about god or spirituality, they will easily pressure the church to give what they want; otherwise they will withhold their donations or go to another church. Once the church falls into Satan’s scheme to adopt the spirit of competition and desire for success, she will unconsciously build the golden calf for her congregation just like Aaron did for the Israelites.
Have mercy on us O Lord! Satan is all out to destroy the influence of God’s work on earth before its end time arrives. This spiritual battle is real and severe only if church pastors, leaders and congregation are aware of it. Satan will give whatever ‘growth and success’ to lure the church into its scheme. Pray that the church will stand firm in her teaching and commitment to discipleship making – something that will empower the true followers of Christ to lead godly life. Just as Apostle Paul said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5), we need to restore Christ-like mindset in both pastors and parishioners in our church today - indeed, we need to pray for revival within the Church in North America.
Love you with the attitude of Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. The Psalm we read in prayer meeting this morning reminded me, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect” (Psalm 18:32). Our Father God who is perfect desires His children to be perfect, even though He understood we could not do so by our own strength. That’s why He empowers us daily to approach perfection. Our desire to please God and do His will is the fruit of the His Spirit. By our own nature, we have no appetite to seek godly things. Only when the Spirit of God comes upon us, we desire to listen to His Word and do His Will. Amen?
The people in our congregations are, in fact, out shopping for idols. They enter our churches with the same mind-set in which they go to the shopping mall, to get something that will please them or satisfy an appetite or need. John Calvin saw the human heart as a relentlessly efficient factory for producing idols. Congregations commonly see the pastor as the quality-control engineer in the factory. The moment we accept the position, though, we defect from our vocation. The people who gather in our congregations want help through a difficult time; they want meaning and significance in their ventures. They want God, in a way but certainly not a “jealous God,” not the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Mostly they want to be their own god and stay in control but have ancillary idol assistance for the hard parts, which the pastor can show them how to get. With the development of assembly-line mass production, we are putting these idols out in great quantities and in a variety of colors and shapes to suit every taste. John Calvin’s insight plus Henry Ford’s technology equals North American Religion. Living in golden calf country as we do, it is both easy and attractive to become a successful pastor like Aaron, who gave the kind of god (golden calf) that his congregation wanted [Exodus. 32].
Jesus said, “Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character” (Matthew 7:15-16, The Message).
This is a warning especially for us pastors, even though I am not pasturing a congregation right now. How easily we will yield to the pressures or expectations of our congregation who are brain-washed by consumerism and materialism. Our role as preacher is supposed to warn the people of God from the penetration of worldly values. But a lot of time, we yield to the worldly expectations instead. If Christians do not penetrate the world like salt and light of the world, then the worldly mindset or influence will penetrate the church. This is happening in the church of North America and in Europe. The Church lost her influence in society and is constantly shaped and molded by societal values.
When Christians are too busy with life and with programs within the four walls of the church, they really don’t have time to think or discern what is right and wrong in terms of their attitude toward things. They will easily just do whatever the world does and attitude that goes with it. When majority of the congregation adopts the worldly thinking about god or spirituality, they will easily pressure the church to give what they want; otherwise they will withhold their donations or go to another church. Once the church falls into Satan’s scheme to adopt the spirit of competition and desire for success, she will unconsciously build the golden calf for her congregation just like Aaron did for the Israelites.
Have mercy on us O Lord! Satan is all out to destroy the influence of God’s work on earth before its end time arrives. This spiritual battle is real and severe only if church pastors, leaders and congregation are aware of it. Satan will give whatever ‘growth and success’ to lure the church into its scheme. Pray that the church will stand firm in her teaching and commitment to discipleship making – something that will empower the true followers of Christ to lead godly life. Just as Apostle Paul said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5), we need to restore Christ-like mindset in both pastors and parishioners in our church today - indeed, we need to pray for revival within the Church in North America.
Love you with the attitude of Christ,
Lawrence
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