Running Life’s Race: Wisdom from a Teacher
I had the privilege of spending some time this week with an older gentleman who has spent his life in obedience to God’s call by working in the mission field in India, as well as in pastoral, teaching, and bible college ministry. In recounting his experiences to me, I just felt encouraged and refreshed by the wisdom and insight of a life spent following after God.
I recorded some of the thoughts that he shared with me for future reference. Here are some of them:
A Verse Which Sustained Him Through His Life and Ministry
Jeremiah:17:8 – “He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
He emphasized the importance of getting our roots deep into God’s Word (represented by water). It is the essential key to fruitfulness in and out of season.
The Importance of Bible Study
He shared that a worrying trend that he’s noticed in Singapore (after working in bible college ministry) is the lack of biblical study and teaching, which has often been replaced by programmes and ministry activities. While not diminishing the need for programmes/outreaches/cultural relevancy/etc, he continually emphasized to me the importance of knowing the bible.
Hunger was the key that helped him to get into the bible. He just got to a place where he was desperate enough to cry out to God to give him a love for the Word, and pursued that for many years. That hunger has kept with him throughout the past twenty years, though there have been seasons where that desire has been stronger and weaker.
He spoke admiringly of teachers in his life who have taught in the Word, and he still holds them in high regard. This revealed to me a man who is still fascinated by God’s Word (even after years of teaching), and knows that he has barely scratched the surface of His Word after more than twenty years.
He still maintains the spiritual discipline of getting into the bible, with most mornings spent with about two hours in the bible before his daily responsibilities.
He also suggested the importance of waking up early to seek God even in the midst of a busy schedule. He believes that the spiritual refreshing and renewal from that time will sustain a person through even the most busy of schedules. He warned about succumbing to the enemy’s tactics to wear out the saints as quoted in Daniel:7:25.
Relationships and God’s Testing
He shared a life situation that happened where it seemed like the people around him just didn’t seem to understand what he was going through, no matter how he tried to explain things. He felt frustrated in that situation, but after some time he realised that God was testing him to see how he would respond. Sometimes when things don’t seem to go our way and no one understands, God is waiting to see the response of our hearts to the situation.
Following God’s Call
He shared that one will never know how God will connect the dots in a person’s life to fulfill His plan. He shared of how God directed him and his wife with supernatural confirmation to work in Tanzania, only to spend two weeks actually there and the rest of his year in other parts of Africa due to permit problems. At the end of that year, he received a sudden phone call regarding a crisis vacancy in India. He had to make the decision to stay or go within one night, and he prayed and felt a release to go to India. He has since had twenty years of fruitful ministry in India. While travelling in and out of India to renew his visa, he found himself transiting through Singapore frequently. Through a series of events, he found himself working with a church and bible college in Singapore as well.
Matthew 23: What NOT To Do As A Spiritual Leader
Matthew:23:1-12
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ”The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
“Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
1. Preach something but not do it.
James:3:2 states that “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” That means to say that all believers (including spiritual leaders) will mess up once in a while, especially in the area of speech. The caveat here is the issue of consistency and conscience, where the Pharisees’ lifestyles consistently did not match up with the things they taught, and their consciences had become hardened to the point where they saw no need to adhere to what they preached. Spiritual elitism had bred where they probably felt they were ‘above the rules’.
2. Put heavy burdens on followers, but be unwilling to help.
The burden of leadership isn’t just about getting things done. It is about helping followers grow and become all that God has called them to be. The Pharisees saw their followers as a means to an end, and as resources that were to be utilised to serve their ministry agendas only.
True spiritual leadership will involve bringing people together to serve a determined goal/objective, but comes with the ability and desire to bring out the best in people and release them into the maturity, gifts, and sphere of influence that the Creator intends them to possess.
3. Be more interested in how you appear before men rather than who you are before God.
Nobody with some understanding of Scripture would consciously want to do this. (See the life of Saul.) However, unresolved rejection, hurts, unsanctified ambitions, hidden judgements, unrenewed mindsets and unbiblical worldviews can blind a person to this. I’ve had to struggle with this a lot, because this can be SO subtle, and is so deeply ingrained into our culture that we can easily fail to identify it in our lives.
4. Desire earthly titles and positions, and not servanthood.
It’s interesting that Jesus told his disciples to not call anyone ‘teacher’ or ‘father’. To have leaders with these qualities are actually desirable. We need leaders who have the understanding and insight to teach, and the Apostle Paul further highlighted that there were (comparatively) many teachers, but few fathers. When Abram was promoted in his spiritual calling, his name was changed to Abraham, which meant ‘father of many nations’. (Genesis:17:5)
The issue was one of spiritual identity. The true and primary identity of a spiritual leader is a servant. Though one may function as a teacher, preacher, leader, pastor, and even be a spiritual father, the primary identity of a leader is servanthood.
Servanthood has absolutely no privileges, unlike fathering and teaching. As much as we need true spiritual fathers and teachers (and i would suggest that all leaders should grow in these areas), leaders might remain as servants in their hearts, and function primarily out of this identity in leadership. This was the crux of apostolic leadership in the early Church and clearly exemplified in the life of Paul.
PS. I’m still doing some of this, honestly. Let’s persist in getting these out of our lives!
Fire
Release the sound of a mighty rushing wind,
Love’s cry of a great awakening.
Release the hands that heal the broken ones,
touched with the fire of Your holy love.
The Lifestyle of Daniel: Thoughts on Daniel Chapter One
I was just reading the book of Daniel again today, and decided that I would jot down some of my thoughts on Daniel chapter 1.
Daniel:1:1-6
1 During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. 4 “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.” 5 The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.
6 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. 7 The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names:
Daniel was called Belteshazzar.
Hananiah was called Shadrach.
Mishael was called Meshach.
Azariah was called Abednego. (more…)
A Call to Rage Against the Dying of the Light – John the Baptist
“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”- Dylan Thomas, “Do not go gentle into that good night”
John the Baptist was a burning and shining lamp for his generation (John:5:35), and lived a life marked by spiritual zeal, intensity, and focus. Yet, our hearts today are so often lukewarm. We derive our contentment from distractions and temporary pleasures that do not truly satisfy.
Why are so many people attracted to rock bands that display raw passion and rage? Could it be that we were created to live with an intensity, zeal, and passion that go far beyond our wildest dreams?
What do you live for?
Where are those who would rage against the dying of the light? Where are the burning and shining lamps of this day?
I believe that the life of John the Baptist holds an important message for us.
May the flame within our hearts burn brighter day by day, month by month, and year by year; until the close of our days.
“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” – Ephesians:5:14
Abraham Lincoln’s Call to Prayer (1863)
At our church’s corporate prayer gathering last night, we had a time of prayer for different nations, including Singapore. Without going on too much about the need for prayer at this point in our nation’s history, I think the words of Abraham Lincoln would explain this issue much more clearly.
Abraham Lincoln wrote this statement for a national day of prayer: confessing the state of the nation, and declaring the need for humility and God’s mercy. Perhaps some readers might find these words to be strangely appropriate and prophetic of our times, as I do.
Here is the prayer: (more…)
Video: Love – Jaeson Ma
Here’s an incredible song and video, with a true message for our times, from Jaeson Ma. He actually got the words for this song spontaneously as he listened and spoke over the audio track! Spread the love and send this video around!
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