Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Ultimate Test

This is one of those days. I got up with a thought in my mind. "its ultimately about obedience." I am thinking about discipleship. What makes a true believer? Not the "True Jesus Church" but with what one does with God's command. Anyone who wants to be a believer cannot run away from the demands of the gospel.

I guess that is why at the end of it all Jesus says not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of God. Only those who obeys His Word.

Having said this, i must also add a word of caution. Obedience is not something that comes natural to many of us. Frankly speaking, most of us struggle and even fail miserable at the task of obeying God. Maybe, this is why the scripture tells us that we need the help of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:13).

Labels:

posted by Pastorpher at 2:08 pm 2 comments

Saturday, October 13, 2007

True Believers


Have you been following the latest reality show on TV called, who wants to be a superhero? http://www.scifi.com/superhero/about/ Well, i have not been religiously following, but once a while had a brief preview.
If you have been, you will know what i am writing about. Do you know what is the difference between "fat mama" and "feedback"? Well, i see it, Feedback believed in the role that he was projecting and fat mama had good traits like feedback but was not too convince of the character that she took on.
As i thought about this, my mind thought of the gospel implications to this lesson. How many of us are actually convicted about the Calling that God has placed in our lives. It important to have good qualities (no one would disagree with that), but are we willing to take another step further into beliving and living out the "risky discipled lives" that Jesus has called us to live?

At this juncture, i am reminded of what Mathama Gandhi said about Christians: if Christian only would have lived out what they speak about, half of India would embrace Christianity. I am not sure of the exact quotation, but i think i remember hearing something about it.
How far are you willing to go for what you believe? the world is dying to look for true believers

Labels:

posted by Pastorpher at 11:55 am 0 comments

Friday, October 12, 2007

Discipleship

On this weekend, our church leadership will be involve in a planning retreat. One of the key area of focus is discipleship. I remember Howard Hendricks once asked the question, "what does a disciple look like." I know that the question sounds simple and easy, but give some thought to it. How do disciples look like? Would you know one, if you bump into them? What picture can we paint about a disciple? How do you produce them?

Jesus said, "go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything i have commanded you."

Labels:

posted by Pastorpher at 9:24 am 5 comments

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Heart Transplant

Ezek. 36: 26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and gv you a heart of flesh."

The more i work with people, the more i realise that it is difficult to handle the matters of the heart. I am talking about my heart and the hearts of others. What we see on the outside (the make up and hair style...etc), can easily hide the matters of the heart.


As a Pastor, i realised that i can preach a sermon only to find people reacting in an opposite way (in the matter of a few minutes). Sometimes, it can be very discouraging and heartbreaking. At times, it also makes me feel 'inferior'. Do people accept what God had convicted me about? Am i wasting my time?


I thank God that often times He stops me from rattling away. He whispers, "its not about you." I guess the greatest challenge at the end is whether the preacher himself is converted by the Word that He preaches. The more i think about it the more i realise that only God can give us a heart transplant.

Labels:

posted by Pastorpher at 2:08 pm 3 comments

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Church Membership

Jesus says, "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word," (John 17:6).



For some time now, i have been thinking about the decline of church membership, especially college and young working adults (talking abt the migration of Methodist to other churches). I felt strongly we should do all that we can to retain this good folks in our Methodist Churches.



A shocking news came a few months ago when one of "my" young people, decided to attend another church. My first response is to ask the person to come back and to contribute to the growth of our church. Had something like one hundred reasons why she should stay on in 'our' church.



But, i saw a lot of changes...good changes in this girl as a result of attending this church. Slowly, i began to let go of my mission to pursuade her to come back. The important thing was that she was alive in the Lord and began experiencing God in an intimate way.



Recently, in my church biblestudy we were thinking about the above verse. It slowly dawn on me that we can not claim anyone to be a "Methodist", "Baptist" or "Assembly of God". They all first and foremost belong to God. They are not ours, and we do not have any exclusive rights over their lives.



The important thing is to realise that God has entrusted them for a little while. What are we doing with them? Are we revealing the Father to them, or are we drawing attention to ourselves? If we are faithful at attending to those who are entrusted to us, i am sure God will add to our fold more people. But the question ultimately is not about numbers, but about being faithful to God.



I know that as a Methodist Pastor, i might be shot for putting this thoughts in my blog. But, these are some thoughts currently fresh and brewing in my mind. If Jesus, the Lord of Lord and the King of Kings can take a stewardship approach towards discipleship, can we do otherwise?

Labels:

posted by Pastorpher at 3:48 pm 11 comments

------------------------------