Moses and the Torah

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. It was nearly 3:00 in the morning. Anyone could have just fallen right into a deep sleep at this hour. This was what I assumed too initially, but somehow I stayed awake for the whole night. The last time I checked on the clock by my bedside was 4:45am.

What flashed across my mind for the last couple sleepless hours were simply my reflections on what I had learned from my seminary education in the recent three years.

It’s just so weird that the thoughts I had went like I was answering my own questions the whole night or morning.

I remembered telling myself that even if Moses didn’t actually write the Pentateuch, he was still the right person to be considered for its authorship. Isn’t he? Can we suggest anyone else other than giving Moses the credit?

I am convinced the present form of Pentateuch was not written by Moses per se. It was highly probable that it came to its present form in c.700 BC but that still can’t actually prove that Moses didn’t have anything to do with the early writing of the Torah. My guess is even if Moses didn’t actually pen the Torah himself, he would still be an important source for the oral tradition.

The source criticism of how the Torah (JEPD) came together is interesting. I’d keep this in view until I am able to read the entire OT in Hebrew proficiently, otherwise, whatever information I get remains as information instead of knowledge.

Is God reliable?

Going to college did not come easy for me. I worked for few years to save some money before I made that venture. Actually the amount of money I had with me then was not sufficient for college. I took the risk by faith trusting that my “new found” God would help me to get through it.

I was a young believer then. I had the faith to move mountains but I didn’t know how to ascertain God’s will. I believed with all my heart that if it’s the will of God to bless me to study overseas, then there would be nothing but success.

The problem I had at that time was how to know if it was indeed God’s will? I asked my colleague, who is a faithful Christian, this question and he simply told me if nobody objected my plan of going overseas to study, I should be quite sure it was a blessing from God. “God speaks through people,” he said.

I listened to my colleague and trusted in God without a doubt and there I was, after a few years of hardship and endurance, not only had I finished my degree with two majors faster than most students, but I was also blessed with two lovely daughters.

Now my daughters have grown up and they are ready to enter college this coming fall. All these years I thought I could be their provider so that they don’t have to go to college with the same experience I had before. I wanted to make their lives easier but God apparently had a different plan for us. It seems like God desires us to depend on Him rather than on our bank account.

I am a good financial planner and you don’t need to be a good mathematician either to calculate how much money is needed for two persons (excluding myself) to go to college. Whenever I thought about this matter, I was reluctant to comply with God’s will. I was not ready to give up my job. I told God to wait; I had responsibilities to fulfill. Look God, you don’t understand. I don’t mind going through the same experience like before, depending on you for provision, but who will take care of them?

I didn’t hear God said, “I will.” He just let me reasoned with Him and let me recalled all my past experiences with Him. I believed the Holy Spirit had guided me all along in my decision making process. He helped me to eventually see God’s purpose in my life—again I didn’t hear He said, “I will.” However, He led me to see God’s purpose. Since then, I knew I couldn’t continue with what I was doing anymore for God, my heavenly Father, wants me to walk in accordance with His will.

I don’t know right now what the future will hold for me but if God pursues you, you better don’t be like Jonah thinking that you can escape. God, as we see in the Bible, sometimes sends a pursuer to go after the one He calls till the person surrenders to Him. The pursuer can be in any form; it need not necessary be a big fish, sometimes it is that little whisper that will get your attention. It all depends on how long you want to play hide and seek with Him.

Scripture to ponder: Matthew 7:9-11
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Time to take inventory

For nearly nearly half a year, I had posted just one entry on my blog! “I must be too busy for the last six months,” I thought to myself. Was I? Well, as I reflected on my past journey for the first half of the year 2010, I don’t think that was entirely true.

Yes, I was very busied with my Hebrew in the winter quarter when I had an intensive class together with a NT theology, and a long side with these I had to be an intern and a community coordinator but still I was not super busy to the point that I didn’t have any time to jot something down.

I guessed what kept me from posting any entry in the blog was I spent too little time lately with God in reading His Word. I always believe that studying Scripture (with motive) for the sake of passing exams or teaching the Bible in the Sunday school out of duty will not help me draw closer to God at all. Yes, I might gain a little more knowledge about Him for what I had done, but that would not motivate me to share or talk about His work.

If I am not close with God, how can I share with others about Him?

I hope this summer I can spend a little more time in devotion before I get too tied up again with many other things in a new academic year. Amen.

It's total obedience

I can’t remember what causes me to think in the past that Jesus was very willing to die for us. Is it because of my understanding of him as our savior and thus he is destined to die for our sin? How selfish was my thought then and how shallow my understanding of God’s salvation.

Last week, when I was reading the passage where Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, I noticed that the narrative in the synoptic gospels was contrary to what I thought.

In Mark 14:33, Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled. He told his disciples Peter, James and John that his soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He prayed to the Father to take “this cup” from him. Apparently, Jesus’ will was not to die in the manner as he predicted. Instead, he asked the Father to spare him. He knew the Father is able to do everything. Nonetheless, one thing Jesus never wished for was to go against his Father’s will.

Jesus is sinless. Going against the Father would be sinning against God. Jesus is obedient to the Father even though it means death.

Death on the cross is a horrible death. Its punishment is to torture and shame the political prisoners to deter those who intended to rebel against Rome. It was instituted to bring shame, pain, and fear onto the traitors who failed their mission. Crucifixion in public crushed the rebel’s spirit of being the hero. It was a powerful symbol of death brought by Rome to defeat those who rebelled against the empire.

Jesus did not defend himself for all the charges brought again him but that did not mean he volunteered to die on the cross. Crucifixion was not what Jesus wanted and he actually prayed three times to have the cup removed from him.

Mark 14:39 says, “once more he went away and prayed the same thing.” What did Jesus pray? If you don’t think Jesus said the same thing as in v. 36 “Abba Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (NIV), you can look up Matt 26:42. Although it is a bit different here, still he meant the same.

“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” In addition, Matthew stressed Jesus prayed the third time, saying the same thing in v. 44.

Have you ever prayed the same thing my friends? I did. Most of the time I pray to the Father to do my will but Jesus is just the opposite. He prayed that the Father’s will be done even though it meant death to him on the cross. It is about obedience isn’t it? Obedience comes out of submission rather than willingness. Jesus was never willing to die. If it is of willingness, I don’t think he would have prayed three times in one night. If Jesus were willing, he would have said, “Yes, Father. I will.” We know that Jesus didn’t say that. Instead, He left us a greater lesson to learn from him and that is – OBEDIENCE!

When God called me to leave everything back home, I was never willing. I know the Father’s will is always good for us. He never fails to keep his promise and neither will He ever hold back his blessings for his children, but I found it hard to let go of what I have. I struggled with God for a while until my pastor told me, “Brother, it is about obedience, about submission, about trust…”

Yes, it is not about whether I am willing to obey but whether am I obedient to Him. Amen.

About predestination and election

About the doctrine of predestination, I’m still more inclining towards Arminianism. When I read about the debate between Jacobus Arminius and his colleague, Francis Gomarus, a firm believer in predestination in the strictest sense, I tend to find it hard to believe that God makes salvation available only to those He chose beforehand. It’s hard to face the fact that Jesus’ atonement is limited to some or he died only for the elects.

The five doctrines or the hallmark of orthodox Calvinism came out from the Synod of Dort (1618-19) maybe easily remembered by the word “TULIP.” No, it’s not about the spring flower; it’s about some theological aspects of Calvinism, which some people find it hard to identify with.

T= total depravity
U= unconditional election
L= limited atonement
I= irresistible grace
P= perseverance of the saints

Jesus said no one can come to Him unless the Father who sent Him drew that person (John 6:44), it argues well for the predestination of the elects. Sin, by definition, is our rebellious attitude against a holy God, so how can we a sinner turns to God if it is not by His saving grace? In essence, the followers of Calvinism are saying salvation is all in all and through all God’s grace – the sovereign will of God to predestine who would be saved.

Of course, not many people, including non-Calvinists would deny the sovereignty of God. According to the understanding of Arminius, God’s predestination of who would be saved is not about election for it means God rejecting others, but it relates more to His divine foreknowledge of who would respond to Christ’s unlimited offer of salvation.

If my interpretation is correct, it means when you are saved, it’s because God already knows you will respond to His invitation of salvation, and thus God predestines you to be saved beforehand. The ‘good’ thing in such case is we are being given an opportunity to participate in God’s redemption work. Nonetheless, such idea is exactly the primary reason that Calvinism against. Salvation belongs to the Lord, how can we have any part in it?

Honestly, I don’t have any answer as to who (Calvinists or Arminians) are more accurately reflecting the theological truth of God’s predestination. I simply believe that our God is faithful and just, and He will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins. Since God is faithful and just, He will forgive us our sins not only on certain days but everyday, and will purify not only my sins but your sins as well. Amen.

Hear the Word of God:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1&2)

The Book of Revelation

I know many people like Revelation, including my professor who has the class to do an exegesis of several passages of the text. Personally, I don't really like the Book of Revelation very much. I find that it is kind of hard for me to relate the meaning of the text with our everyday living.

Though every book in the Bible is canonical and authoritative and should be given the same weight and attention, most of us in some way have developed our own canon within the canon - a tendency for loving certain books more than the others.

I am no exception to the above nature as well. I often find myself quoting more frequently from the gospel of John and the Johannine epistles in the NT. In the Old Testament, I like Exodus and Deuteronomy the most.

I recalled one of my pastors (who is really good at preaching and interpreting Daniel & Revelation) said many years ago that Revelation was written by the same author of the gospel of John. But, I am now pretty convinced they were two different authors. The literary style and the language used in both the books truly did not resemble each other. These two books of course are of different genre, and thus they should not be expected to look similar; however, they are simply too far apart! If you read John's Gospel and the epistle of first, second, and third John, you'll agree with me quickly they were all written by the same author, but different from the one wrote Revelation.

The big question here is, if Revelation was not written by Apostle John, who was the one on the island of Patmos (Rev 1:9) ? What happened to Apostle John? If Revelation was written by Apostle John, then who wrote the gospel of John and the epistles? Who was "the disciple whom Jesus loved" described in John 13:23? Unfortunately, no one seems to have an answer ready for this series of question. Most theologians, nowadays, instead of confirming one or the other, they generally say there is a lack of evidence to even pinpoint the books in questioned were written by Apostle John. Perhaps, the safest way to say it is they were both come from the Johannine community, and it is possible that Apostle John could have asked someone to write on his behalf.

I know any answer offered here would fail to satisfy one's desire to know the fact. But the truth is, there is no concrete information available for us to make any claim. The best thing is to leave the matter to individual interpretation. What we must know and believe is, in my opinion, there was an apostle by the name of John in Scripture rather than so much of a deal now as who wrote the scripture. Amen.

Sermon on the Mount - a picture of eschaton

In my own reading of the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7) many times before it's never occurred to me that this particular passage could be viewed as a picture of eschaton (about end-time.)

I, like most people, generally assume Jesus’ discourse on the Mount is a radical call to his followers for entering the kingdom of God. It’s a sermon on radical discipleship. Its message was beyond the comprehension of its hearers. It went against all norms and worldly teachings.

Jesus began his discourse with “You’ve heard that it was said…..But I tell you.…” in almost every first sentence of the paragraph. All the stuff he spoke about in his discourse is not even easy for “faithful” Christians to follow suit. When common people (non-believers) read of such extreme instruction like “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (5:44),” they would think it is a senseless world.

However, to the Anabaptists, not only they won’t think of the world is senseless, they see it as a kingdom about to come, which motivates many of them to live and act out in anticipation of the coming. They see that the Sermon is not just about how to be a better individual Christian. It is a picture of how a church (the faith community) is to look. To them,

“It is an inauguration manifesto of how the world is supposed to look with Christ ushered in God’s kingdom. “

“It is about Jesus’ invitation to all people to become citizens of a new kingdom, a messianic community, where God is creating a new world.”

“The Sermon is eschatological, it concerns with the end of things – the final direction toward which God is moving the world.”

Anabaptists’ theology believes that when the people have that picture and know where God is directing them, then the church would know where it supposes to head its way. The rationale–we can only act within a world which we can see. If you see the picture depicted in the Sermon on the Mount, and it is the picture of the future, now you will have to start to live out that picture.

So do you see that picture?

Process Theology (II) - a relational process not entity

According to the view of process theology, God is not an entity but a process. In such case, who is the one directing the process? If God is some kind of a “force”’ which influences directly or indirectly in forming the universe, where is this force first originated then? If every agent in the creation has its own free will as advocated by process thinkers, without the existence of a sovereign will to control or to govern the direction or the development of this so-called “process” there would be chaos in the world. Ultimately, there will be no “process” but problematic disorder in the entire universe.

Process theology seems to focus primarily on the creation aspect of the universe and its interaction on the changing environment of the world. It fails to offer a holistic view about humankind existence in this world. In process theology, humankinds are just passing through time as event rather than being materially or physically existed as substance or being. This theology is pretty much restricted to its own perception of an evolved world with hopelessness.

In traditional theism God is viewed as Creator of the universe, and He is transcendent. God is seen as absolute in terms of power, knowledge, and his presence in all eternity. God is outside of the creation, thus anything that happens within His creation will not change or affect Him. It is within His creation that freewill exists as part of His plan for the natural activities of the creatures. Such empowerment would make all the creatures to bear the responsibilities and consequences of exercising their freewill. God would not affect by the action or freewill of all creatures, however their decision would affect themselves and their surrounding. God, out of His love and compassion for His creation, intervenes for the goodness of His people.

Traditional theism albeit is not a perfect theology for our full understanding of God, it considers a wider scope of our relationship with this God who created the universe. Traditional theists look beyond God solely as just our creator, but He is also a God of providence, who supplies all the needs for the existence of His living creatures. He is not just a God who brings about changes; He lives in the heart and mind of believers. He is not merely a process as claimed by process theology philosophers, He created human beings according to Scripture in His own image that we both have the power to think, the faculty to will, and the ability to feel like He does. We do not have a full picture of why the devil exists as God is good. All we know is that the devil is a “created” spiritual being and there was once in time he chose to sin against God and was permitted to exist until his time to be ended.

Although I rejected the idea of process theology, this however, does not suggest that our understanding of God must be trapped within our present knowledge of Him. Indeed, as modern science continues to develop in many aspects of our life and as we gain a better understanding of our relationship to the surrounding nature and environment, we should further develop a holistic view of God’s wonderful creation. We, on one hand, absolutely do not wish to restrict the advancement of science because of our personal faith, on the other hand neither do we want to let our still limited understanding of science to become the worldview and overstep our faith to claim a Godless world. Amen.

Process Theology (I) - a changing God

Process theology makes some good attempts in explaining the changing world with a new understanding of how ones can view God and His creation from a different perspective. Advocates of process theology found many contradictions within the traditional theism.

According to their view, they see God less as an entity but more as a process. This process changes over time and is carried out by the agents of free will including human’s will. Thus, God in process theology’s view is not omnipotent as classical theist understood. To them, God is actually offering possibilities to influence human’s free will to make things happened. Reality in process theology is not material substances that endure through time, but serially-ordered events, which are experiential in nature.

Process theologians believe traditional theists developed their view of an absolute God from ancient Greek philosophers, and they have claimed something more than what should be understood from the doctrine of God. Process theologians claim the God in the Bible changes His mind and at certain point in time He decides thing differently when humankind acts in certain way. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Scripture was not a God who abandoned His people after the creation. Indeed, this God was perceived in the Bible as the God who interacts closely with His creatures. They argue unless the future is open to change otherwise human being will not have any kind of freewill.

Process theology advocates or thinkers question how humanity could have any freedom if God is in control of everything. If God is eternal and in control, where is the devil from? The goodness of God and the evil of the devil cannot exist at the same time. And if God is in eternity, then He is unchangeable, and as such the prayer or the persuasion of humankind to God is meaningless and futile. Since nothing can change or affect God why does He want us to change. If God is Spirit, how can the material things come out of spiritual thing; it is metaphysically impossible to get something out of nothing.

Process theology no doubt offers a new way of looking at how God can interact closely with His creation, especially with human beings from a distance when He is not in or under the creation. On the surface, process theology seems to make a better connection that creation is actually the overall changing process of all free will agents, which come into existence. However, this theory also does not scientifically explain how the universe comes about. Much of the development of process theology is derived from human own wisdom and understanding of the physical world through observation and power of reasoning. It is philosophical, and not based on empirical studies. It comes with more flaws than the traditional theism.

Where are you God?

About God's presence in my previous post what I meant was a spiritual presence. It is not like God is leaving us. God is the God of Immanuel. When we can't feel the presence of God, what happen is we're falling away from God. Paul said (Rom 8:38, 39) nothing can separate us from the love or presence of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is sin; our disobedience to God causes us to separate from His presence.

We like to think that if we go to church, we'd feel His presence. If we come to pray to Him, we'd feel His presence, but we know this is not true. There are times we did all these and yet we can't sense His presence.

We imagine that we can lock God in a room and so when we come to Him, we'd find His presence. How naive are we sometimes. King Solomon knew better that it is impossible to take captive of our mighty God.

After the completion of the temple he prayed, "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (2 Chronicles 6:18a)

So, where are you God?

You'll know it when He is there…by the Spirit He gave us. (1 John 3:24b). Amen.

Psalm 84 - The joy of worhsip in the temple

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.

Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.

For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you.

In ancient time, the only place where Israelites could find God was to go to the tabernacle or temple. The temple is where the Lord dwells, particularly the holy of holies. No one can enter the holy of holies besides the high priest. This is the place where the deity makes His presence known to His people Israelites.

Pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle were visible to the people.

How to maintain the presence of God in the tabernacle or temple is by sacrificing animal. All the animal sacrifice at burnt offering is not just for the atonement of Israel’s sins however. It is also for the purification of the tabernacle–the dwelling place of God. If the tabernacle was defiled, God would leave the people.

How nice it is that we can now have access to God and pray to him anytime and at anywhere through Christ Jesus. Amen.

Today's food for thought - Genesis 3:1-4

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

My brothers and sisters, "Knowing good and evil is very different from being able to choose good and reject evil." (Andy Crouch)

For if we do not reject evil, there is no benefit of knowing good and evil. I believe it is God's intention for human to live in a world without evil rather than to know good from evil.

God actually says it in a firm but positive and pleasant manner to the man, ""You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (2:16-17). The serpent, however, turns it around and presents in a provocative and deceitful manner to the woman by playing on the words, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (3:1b) to lure her to focus on the one forbidden tree in the garden instead of all other fruit trees she was free to eat from.

Truly, there is no goodness come out of evil but deceitfulness and lies. Let's us fear God and shun evil always, and do not be wise in our own eyes. Amen.

This is my Father's world

I truly rejoiced when our professor began his lecture today with this beautiful hymn.

Jesus is the true light

As I usually do - to come to the Lord's presence to ask Him, "Lord, what do you have for me tonight?" He leads me to John 1:9

"The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world."

It is not a statement. It is a promise and this promise was fulfilled by Christ Jesus who came into the world two thousand years ago. I think this is a good topic for sermon.

If I were to preach a sermon on this, what would I say and how should I say it? The title is long, but the promise of that true light gives hope to many - The true light that gives light to every man and woman was coming into the world.

I must admit that I am always fearful of not being capable of preaching a 'good' sermon in church when I am given the opportunity in the future. I am afraid of giving a 'lousy' sermon that discounts God's powerful word because of my inability and non-readiness.

Of-course, the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts the people's heart but we as God's servant must be accountable for what we say though not for the results of what people will response.

Right now, I only want to tell you don’t be afraid of darkness, my friends. Jesus the true light was in the world. It is a matter of whether you recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. To those who received Him, and to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

We are the children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, but born of God. Yes, we are born of God. What do we mean by born of God?

We are from God; we belong to God. We are no longer an orphan in the spiritual realm. We have a Father who loves us; a Father who would give His inheritance to us through Christ Jesus.

We need not wait to get to heaven to receive that inheritance. Jesus the true light of the world had come, who had ushered the kingdom of God into the world. All we need to do is to receive Him and to enter God’s kingdom by faith.

There is victory in God’s kingdom over the dominion of darkness, over the power of sin, over the principalities so long you let the reign of God rules in your mind and heart. In all things that you do, acknowledge Him Jesus is your savior, your true light in the world, and you will receive hope and direction from the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus Christ return in the eschatological 0r end time, we will receive His full inheritance in heaven. Amen.

How do you run a church?

Learning how to run a church efficiently and especially to be effective in church ministry is something every pastor and Christian leader looks forward to. I believe none of the church pastor or leader somewhere along in their ministry path has never been pondering over the question what a church must really do? Without doubt we must have spent numerous resources and timeless effort in doing everything right for the church to strife for its best – that is to win souls for Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we must humbly admit to a certain degree our effort often is of little success. We wonder sometimes if God is with us at all.

A book about the “Spirit-led” Ministry of the “Missional Church” by Craig Van Gelder shades some light on the matter. Van Gelder is a guru in pioneering the framework of the Spirit-led ministry of a missional church. He spends his lifetime interpreting what is missional ecclesiology: an important concept of understanding how a church could participate in God’s mission for the world versus what a church should do in its mission.

I have been serving in the church as lay leader for a decade in different capacity. I must say during the time when I was serving as Executive Chairperson of the local church board, numerous occasions and lengthy discussion was spent to define the church mission statements or what the church objectives are. Pastors and fellow brothers and sisters in the committee have also pondered over the one crucial question: what God is doing in our church? However, a lot of time, we have easily mistaken what a church must do in its existence as similar to what God wants us to do. We faithfully hold onto the duties and responsibilities of a church and diligently carry out its plan for mission, outreach, social concerns, teaching and sharing of the gospels. We lay them before God and earnestly seek Him to bless our work.

If you have read the preceding mentioned book by Van Gelder, you would have known it is entirely two different things on what the church wants or decides to do for God and what God wants the church to do for Him. The essence or critical difference here is who initiates the activity. Traditionally, and it is still true today, we would like to ask God to bless what we do. It is not too difficult to have a group of people to brainstorm what are the things a church can do. We usually do not have the trouble to come out with a physical long list of activity or program for the members to implement those events enlisted for their good cause and intention, however, if we put this to the perspective of Spirit-led ministry of a missional church, it appears clearly that we are heading in the wrong direction!

Spirit-led ministry as its term implied - the Holy Spirit is the One who initiates the activity. It is letting the Holy Spirit to lead us to participate in God redemptive work in Christ Jesus through the church. It is an exact opposite of laying down before God the work of the church for His blessing. In real sense, we are actually demanding God to accomplish the church’s agenda on our behalf.

I presume what is significant or the central idea or theme of the book is to be able to see the mission of God for the world – the “missio Dei.” God the creator who creates the world through Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit in the beginning, likewise, He would reconcile the world to Himself through the same Christ and by the work of the same Spirit in the present day. Our responsibility therefore, is to have faith and be able to discern what God is doing in our church for His people around us. Amen.

A navigation system in life's journey

GPS navigation device is something you really like to have if you want to travel around in a new environment. When I first came to the US, without the GPS unit, I would need to study the map for directions each time before I set out to my destination.

I have to be extra cautious as not to miss any street sign I had written on my self-drawn map. If I happen to turn into a wrong street or went beyond my map-area, I would have trouble knowing exactly where I am. When this happens, a short twenty-minute drive could usually end up into more than an hour or so.

With a GPS unit, each time you make a wrong turn, the little device would ‘recalculate’ and re-navigate you to your preset destination. Depending on how far you’ve deviated from the original route, sometimes it guides you back on path quickly in the next one or two turns whereas there are other times you will have to pass through areas that look scary and eerie before you find your way again.

This experience likened me to the thought that God also whispers ‘recalculating’ whenever we go off His course. In life, there are certain major decisions we make which can actually change our course, the so-called life turning-point decision. Some of which maybe made in accordance with His divine’s will and some which may lead us to fall out of God’s will.

The point here is that when the living God says ‘recalculating,’ would we depend on Him to guide us back on the right path? I know there are times we like to switch off the navigation unit after hearing the repeated ‘recalculating’ at every turn especially when we already know a different route to the destination. Do we also shut God out when we can’t put up with His warnings? (i.e., hardening of heart)

It is without question that most of us would not depend on assisted navigation when we already know the direction. The question is, however, do we know our destiny in life? Even if we’re goal oriented, there are always obstacles and unforeseeable circumstances which could block our way.

Let’s be humble and obedient, my friends. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as [the Israelites] did in the rebellion (Hebrews 3:15). It took them 40 years to wander in the wilderness before they entered the Promised Land

The Bible says in Proverb 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

God also gives us a GPS navigation unit in life – the Bible. In Isaiah 30:21, God says, “And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ Amen.

What is GPS? Read this: http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/