Philip's Dream Team

Many a times when we think of ministry we tend to think of it in terms of evangelism, music, mission, youth etc. It is so easy to compartmentalize that to several hours a week of ministry or service rendered.

Last Sunday during our adult church school as we were discussing the topic of ministry, Ivan, our friend from Singapore raised a good question. He asked “ What is the scope of our ministry ?”

For me , ministry is 24/7 . It has no boundaries. We are to minister whether we are in church, at home, at work or in the community. That is how the love of God is spread. Whatever ministry we are called to do in church, or whatever field of work we may be in... we are to do everything as unto the Lord.

To minister effectively, we must spend time with God.... listening to Him. As we listen to Him, we will be able to have the knowledge and the strength as well as the boldness to minister. This is very important because at times when we are too consumed about doing good we end up doing what we think is good and sadly enough it could be the wrong move. Over eagerness could lead us to say or do the wrong things. It might make us insensitive to people's moods or feelings. In ministering , we must also learn to wait at His feet.

I remember once a visitor came to my school for an official visit. Oddly enough she began to share her personal life with me. There and then I heard the Lord said... “Tell her why I want her to wait , tell her the best is on the way. Tell it from a parental perspective”. I mustered up all my guts and told her and prayed for her. She cried and cried. This was a case of listening to God who gave the knowledge, the strength and the boldness to minister. But there was another time when I met another lady whom I did not get an opportunity to minister to until much later. Again it happened in my office. After a few visits I had an opportunity to pray for her and I was glad to have waited coz the timing was only right then and not before.

I wish I can say that I have ministered well in every occasion, but that is not the case. There is room still for much improvement. My prayer during this month of Lent , is that ... may our hearts be opened to His heartbeat, may our ears hear His voice and may our hands do His bidding . Let us move in the power of His presence so that wherever we may be, we are ministers of our heavenly King.

Isaiah 57:15
For this is what the high and lofty One says —
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
"I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.


When Heather was about 4 years old, one day she came back from her school and told me she could recite Bible verses that her teacher had helped her to memorize. Isaiah 57:15 was one of the very first scripture verses she memorized. Needless to say, both Doreen and I were hugely impressed by Heather’s ability to memorize the entire verse at such a young age, and since then this verse sank into my mind so deeply that God began to teach me concerning His ways of dealing with His children, a demonstration of His amazing love. Here, Isaiah painted a beautiful picture, highlighting the vast contrast between the lofty One, the Almighty God in His holy place, and the lowly ones, those who are contrite in spirit. It seems unimaginable for God to reach out to the lowly, but the good news is…. God did it ! He reached down to us and save us ! and He is still doing that today for us ! No wonder the Psalmist proclaim this : “For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies”.(Ps 108:4).

So, who are the lowly and the contrite in spirits ?
I searched some Bible commentaries and found 2 possible explanations:
1. Those who are humble. The pride and self-righteousness of the hearers in Isaiah’s time were the stumbling block in the way of their acknowledging God. We could be guilty of making the same mistakes today by thinking that we can do all things on our own without God. Without the grace of God, we can’t even carry on our daily routine and lead a normal life. So, be humble. Thank Him for your life and acknowledge Him, worship Him and honour Him for who He is, and He shall revive you.

2. Those who are spiritually dead. To revive is to bring life to the dead, or the almost dead. Many times I ran into the problem of having my mobile phone with me but failed to realize that the battery was dead. So I could not be connected at all. You see, I could carry on having a dead battery in my phone, making fake calls all day long but that doesn’t change the fact that my phone is dead, unless I recharge my battery. To revive a dead spiritual life is to be recharged by God’s power. I know none of us, even if it is true, would like to admit openly that our spiritual life is dead. But the most beautiful thing here is that if you happen to fall into the category of the spiritually dead group, you are “qualified” to receive God’s mercy according to this verse, at the expense of Jesus. You may be lowly and contrite now, but God promised to be with you ! When you re-connect with God, you will be transformed to be alive in Christ. So, no matter what state you are in right now, God can revive You and give you a new beginning. He has done so for me, many times. If ever there is a time when we most needed to be recharged spiritually, the time is now. When you look around at the political turmoils in many parts of the world, as well as in Malaysia, you will realize that we need revived Christians to fight on our knees, in earnest prayers.

Here’s my song: Revive us now. Hope it brings encouragement to you today.
To my God, who live in high and holy place
To my King, the high and lofty One
Thank You for remembering us
Thank You for being with the contrite and lowly in spirit

Revive us now Lord, revive the spirit of the lowly,
Revive us now Lord, revive the heart of the contrite
We humbly seek You face for Your healing touch
Lord, make us whole again.

Revive Us Now

Recently I spotted some mobile company adverts that read “What berry are you?” across the town. Never gave it a thought until few days ago. I had an opportunity to lay hands on one berry which is different from my blackberry. You see, there are many berries around: The original Blackberry, than you have the Blueberry, Touchberry, Crackberry ….. the list goes on and on.

This blog is not about mobile phones, but the point is, God just impressed this in my heart: what berry are you ? or rather what fruit do you produce ?
The Bible says that we are known by our fruits. Fruits are the end-product of an amazingly long process of happenings in a plant. Fruits give character to its tree. Fruits give reputation to its tree, or even its planter, the farmer. Good fruits will verify that the soil is good, the planting method is effective and the weather is conducive.

Like-wise, Christians are known by the fruits they bear. We can try to look good as a Christian, but if our minds and our lives have not been renewed daily by God’s grace, and if we have not been willing to let the Holy Spirit to work through us, then the fruits that come out from us will not be as pleasing as we thought it would be. And just like fruits might look good outside but rotten inside, we might look attractive from outside, but not pleasing to people around us when they get a little closer to us.

Here’s something I believe we can do to produce good fruits:
1. Spend quality time with God daily. Good tree needs good nutrients. When you spend time with God, dwell in His Words, meditate on His promises, be transformed in your mind daily by listening to God’s voice, you will be nourished with solid daily bread each day, and you will stay healthy spiritually.
2. Live a life of worship. It is not enough to think of praising God as a “join-in” activity. We don’t worship only when we are in church (early enough) to catch the ‘singing session’ or when someone plays worship CDs around us. Rather, make it a point to start praising God yourself. Make effort to play worship CDs in your car, at home or sing praise songs to God anywhere, anytime. By the way, worship is not about music only, worshipping God is actually honouring God. When we live a life of worship, we live a life of honouring God in everything we do, in our thoughts, in our action.
3. Be a blessing to others. Love is a verb. To love someone is to make your love felt by someone you love. The Bible has an entire chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 that talks about what love is, and what love is not. To put it simply, we can’t just talk about love and never lift a finger to help others. When love is not effective, there is no good fruit shown.

So, what berry are you ? True colours will tell.

Here’s my fruit tree song, hope you like it.

Blessed is the man
Whose delight is the law of the Lord
He’s like a tree planted by streams of living water
Who yields it’s fruit in every season
He prospers with good fruits.

Lord, search my heart, change my mind,
Fill my heart with love
So that I bear good fruits,
Pleasing to You.

Lord, purify, sanctify,
Make me more like You
So that I bear good fruits,
In every season of my life.
The Fruit Tree Song