Ministry « The Upper Room Diaries

February 7, 2012

Getting out of a Spiritual Rut

It has been eight months since I started work at Grace Assembly. In these times I was busy with projects like the 40 DOC Campaign (Jun-Aug), Missions Emphasis Weekends (Jul) (Oct), Missions Trip (Nov), Movie Event (Dec), and the Missions Convention (Jan) that just past. It has been projects after projects. All these need time to plan, prepare and execute, and time really flew past just like that!

After the Missions Convention, my boss told me to take the CNY week off. And for once, I had the chance to clear my offs — like the stay-home-and-not-answer-emails kind. Usually when I am given a break of some kind, the reality is that I had to work from home. And so I rested. Frankly speaking, it was only then that it hit me that 2012 has arrived and I am in a new year.

Something interesting happened during the break. I started to pick up my phone, and became really engrossed in gaming. You see, I am a gamer breed. I love RPG games. For that week I game from morning till night, whenever I am awake and away from Serene, until I get tired and go back to bed. That intense gaming antics is largely fueled by to a sudden realization of new-found freedom. A sense that I deserve to indulge in something I loved to do, and I have got the time to do it.

To cut the story short, I ended my one-week break feeling mildly satisfied. I am actually more tired than I used to be. Surprisingly, the week that I am back to work, and especially during the weekend services, I realized that I could not sense God at all. I became spiritually numb. The cure for this condition became strikingly urgent. This is largely because I still have to pray for people, and people expect me to hear from God. My job, and the things that I do demands that I hear from God. I had to restart my devotional life.

Here is what I found out in my struggle to restart myself.

Ever since my passion became my job. It became tough to distinguish between doing devotion (the task) and real devotion (the heart) between God and myself. Heck, even the English words used to distinguish those two are the same! Looking back, I realized that the progress in my devotional life happens be a balance of two issues. First is the foundation, which is the heart of devotion. Second is structure, which could be said to be the task of devotion.

FOUNDATION

Let not the task of doing devotion, rob you of your devotion for God.

In the many times to which I picked up the Bible, much of it is to prepare for a teaching or preaching session. Nowadays it became rare that I pick up the Bible and read it just for my own enjoyment. I suppose that this is the tendency of all ministers. As much as their job can portray them to be the closest to God (since they are always in contact with the Word of God), they can be so “used to” God that they take can take God for granted. Resulting in the irony of being the furtherest away from God!

Since the primary catalyze of my willingness to sprint back to God is hinged on my job, I would need to watch myself not to let it become my primary motivation. I have to make sure that my seeking of God is not to satisfy other’s impression of me. I seek God because I love God, not because I want to do certain things better.

If we are to get out of a spiritual rut, we must first get our motivation right.

STRUCTURE

Let not your devotion for God, rob you of the joy of doing devotion.

As the saying goes, “Change is inevitable but Growth is intentional”. Perfection is not the issue, but Growth is! Leaders all the more need to be progressive in their growth. I realized that one reason for my devotional slacking is that I have misused my freedom. Using my freedom I removed myself from all the usual routines which I used to have. I stopped praying the moment I wake up, I stopped reading devotional materials and all I wanted was not God, all I wanted is to complete that game. Looking back, it was rather silly for me to think that my closeness with God would still remain the same.

Structures are there for a reason. It is the same as how a clutch is used until the disabled can walk on their own. Structures and routines are needed to build that solid devotional foundation. Sure, you can say that devotion is more than just reading the Bible, reading Quiet Time material, and the one minute prayers, but how are you doing without it? Most of us need to do devotion, to help us be devoted to God. And this is not wrong. Doing so does not degrade us to become second-rate Christians.

If we are to get out of a spiritual rut, we need to be disciplined about our routines.

BALANCE

I believe that the two points above are to be held in tandem. After all, a pure motivation without a disciplined routine makes you crumble fast. However a disciplined routine without a pure motivation makes you forget who is your God! As I had a quick overview of what I wrote, three tips comes out fast:

In your everyday life, make time for God.
Guard your devotional life fiercely.
Tools like devotional materials merely point you towards God. Look to God! Not to the tools.

It is my prayer that every Christian can use this as a quick guide to kickstart their own devotional life with God.

February 2, 2012

“Contrarian Lessons on Leadership” by David Lim

Just finished attending the monthly AG ministers’ training session. This month I have the privilege to hear Rev. Dr. David Lim to speaking on the topic titled “Contrarian Lessons on Leadership”. What a day this morning was! Never had such input for a very long while. Great to hear lessons from his broad experience in the ministry. Here are my notes. A little scant, but they are the points that spoke to me.

1. Don’t be married to the Church

Ministers, go have a life!

Many of us do not realize it but we may be a part of the problems we have in our church. We may have a need that we do not know. For example some of us have a need for approval. Some of us have a need for success, and a need to hold our position because we think we are irreplaceable.

2. Rest in order to serve. Don’t serve hoping for a day of rest.

The key to spiritual warfare is rest. When you are tired it is often the case when you feel everything is against you.

3. Be concerned but don’t be responsible for final results.

We should move the church forward. Thus it does not matter who gets the credit. The future of the church does not rest on you.

4. Don’t worry about mistakes. Learn from them.

You will make mistakes. But God is sovereign. Yes things must be efficient, but usually this is not the case in real life. But God’s timing is God’s timing. God can make a bad timing a good timing. Singapore is a high-demand and unforgiving culture, but we must remember that our God is a forgiving God.

5. Servanthood is the best path to spiritual leadership authority.

Every structure is flawed in a certain way. But every servant serves no matter what. Servanthood means that you will see best to work within a given structure and not just stand back and criticize it. A servant learn to work in every type of situation.

People will see your sincerity because a servant has no hidden agenda.

6. Don’t seek excellence all the time.

You cannot give your best at all times. You will burn out. Prioritize to give your best energy for the greater issue.

The key to impromptu, is preparation. Spend more time on the more important points, for example the first 3 minutes of a sermon as that is what captures attention.

7. Less is more.

Busyness does not necessarily mean that you will accomplish more in leadership.

Leadership and Management is different. Many of us do management. But leadership is about seeking God and making the few key decision. Many of us make few key decisions along the leadership line. Make sure you get it right. You will need your best state of mind. Don’t be too busy that you miss getting that right.

8. Seek to work yourself out of a job, and you will always have a job.

Move up, and let others take over. Think about succession and impartation.

Many of us serve God with everything and some of us put all of our finances into our ministry. Hence some of us are fear retirement because we don’t know how to exist. Plan your retirement well. This is so that you can still serve God aside from the money factor.

9. The more you release to God, the more you are in control.

We are working with things eternal. Seeing peoples’ lives change, can we ever claim glory in that? That is the work of God! Our total dependence is on God. Our role is not to do the work of God, but to protect the work of God. Don’t do anything to hurt and hinder the work of God.

10. Not all battles of right and wrong are worth fighting for.

Some battles will make you look “small”. It is important not to look small in front of your congregation. This will happen when you fight the wrong battles. Fight only if the health of the church is at stake an for the glory of God. See long term implications. Fight only battles you can win, but most battles do not have to be fought… God fights for you. You be patient.

11. See the big picture, but don’t forget the basics.

Instead of just knowing theory, be the example.

12. Love must be dis-interested.

“Dis-interested Love” is a theological term. It means that a love that is willing to pour out everything for them. But if the person does not respond, it is up to them. Jesus loves us in this manner. Biblical agape love is purposeful, unconditional, sacrificial and also dis-interested.

All you can do is all you can do, and you have to release it to the lord.

13. Know where your bottom line is.

Your bottom line should not be success, getting your way, or having good reputation or getting attention. Make it your bottom line to glorify God. This would go a long way as this would make you endure certain pains of the ministry so long as your pain would glorify God.

November 11, 2011

Compassion is Key

Matt. 9:36 – Jesus had compassion on the multitude when they were “like sheep having no shepherd.”

Matt. 15:32 – Jesus had compassion on the people when he fed the 4,000.

Matt. 20:34 – Jesus had compassion on two blind men when he healed gave them their sight.

Mark 1:41 – Jesus had compassion on a leper and healed him.

Mark 5:19 – When Jesus removed the demons from the man, Jesus told him to go and tell his friends about the compassion (or mercy) that the Lord had for him.

Luke 7:13 – Jesus had compassion on the widow of Nain when He raised her son from the dead.

Whenever Jesus did some big miracle, it was out of compassion. At Mark 1:41, the translators even went on to say that Jesus was “indignant” — which means a feeling of being angered by unfair treatment.

Sally, one of my esteemed colleague, used to be based in Hong Kong with OMF International. During her time there, she was the personal secretary of James Taylor III. James Taylor III was the great-grandson of J. Hudson Taylor, one of the legendary missionaries to China in the 1800′s. James Taylor passed away some three years ago at the age of 79. I recall that just this Tuesday, Sally told me some things about the Taylor family that little people knew about.

1. James refuses to speak to her in English, always in Mandarin.

2. There was once James’ children came home and told him and his wife to hide because their school friends were coming over. The children thought that their parents looked too different from the rest of the people, and are ashamed to introduce them to their friends. They forgot that they themselves are also Caucasians! The children thought that they were the same as the Chinese locals.

3. When James’ son got married, they are so proud of their daughter-in-law. This is because their daughter-in-law is a Taiwanese, and they say “finally we have Chinese in our blood!”

This is the extent of their dedication to the Chinese people. When I first heard all these from Sally, tears filled my eyes. I cannot help but think “wow, God can really bury the love for a certain people so deep in the family that it runs for generations!”

Now, my point.

I am not trying to say that since Jesus had compassion, so must we. If that was my point, many of you must be thinking, “but that was him, God gave him that love for the Chinese, not me.” Or, “thats Jesus! Jesus is God, but I am not God!” Now this is precisely my point — compassion is God-given. Compassion cannot be mustered up within ourselves. Compassion is a state of being, we either have compassion or do not have compassion. You cannot have more compassion or less compassion. We cannot minister without compassion; but God gives compassion.

“How much do I love the men and women in their culture? How much do I believe that God loves the children? How much confidence do I have in the potential that God has put in the youths?” When I was driving back home today, I found the Holy Spirit asking me these questions before hitting me with the key word “Compassion”.

Ask the Lord for that love for the people you minister to. Ask God to flood your heart with love for the His people. We cannot minister without God touching our hearts. God needs to meet with us today.

“Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from any tie but the tie that binds me to your service and to your heart.” - David Livingstone, a legendary missionary to Africa.

The Upper Room Diaries

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