I have been trying to encourage a lot of our members to find avenues to influence the world for Jesus Christ. Sometimes people have a hard time trying to figure out how they can incorporate their gifts, skill sets, purpose, and passions together. Some people think there is an oxymoron when it comes to being […]
Praise Night 2008
I am looking forward to our annual Praise Night coming up tomorrow. This year we decided to do something different. Usually we have one big praise night for the whole church, but since our church is growing and the number of small groups wanting to participate is large, we are going […]
The 4Ever
There has been something brewing in my mind and heart recently. I was thinking about what it meant to be completely surrendered to God. I think in some of our honest moments, we will have to say that we are not fully and completely surrendered to God, as we would like to think or believe. […]
Someone to Die For
I have stated many time before that the reason why so many movies, which cause us to cry and move us emotionally, inspire us is because they somehow reflect some aspect of the Gospel message. It is not only in the movies but in real life, when we are able to […]
Cutting EDGE
This week, after the retreat, I had some time to think and reflect. I was thinking, “What do we need to do now in light of the blessings that we have received from the Lord?” Especially, with only 3 months left in this semester. What we do in these next 3 months will lay a […]
Faithfulness in Small Things
Today I sort of took a half day from work (ministry), even though I had a lot of things to do. I realized that it is so easy to get excited about ministry and transforming the world, but when it comes to some of the little things around the house it can become very tedious […]
Retreat 2008 Fasting
For the last week and a half, the various small groups have been taking turns in fasting for the Winter Congregational Retreat. There is something about prayer and fasting that brings a church together. Today is our married couples small group’s turn. I am always encouraged to see people who are married (especially those who […]
Winter Retreat 2008 Prayers
Starting tonight, we are going to have our nightly prayer gatherings for the Winter Retreat. A life lesson that I have learned over the years is: Prayer is a priority for preparation. Whenever there is a hunger for prayer amongst God’s people, then it is a pretty good sign that God wants to do something […]
Comparisons to the Sports’ World
I have always been an advocate for drawing illustrations from the sports world. In fact, the Apostle Paul uses many sports illustrations to make a biblical point (1 Co 9:24-27; Gal 2:2; 5:7; Php 2:16; 2 Ti 2:5; 4:7). Thank God for ESPN! The other day there was an interesting article in the Michigan Daily. […]
Prayer Cards for the Winter Retreat
We had a great time of prayer at our church-wide prayer gathering yesterday. It was the first time we implemented the corporate prayer cards that many of our members have filled out in their small groups. At first, it was exciting to see all the prayer cards with various prayer requests. It was also encouraging […]
The Unexplainable Witness
I first heard the news of the December 9th shooting at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs on the internet when I was in Malaysia. It was pretty shocking to hear that a gunman walked in to the church after one of the services and starting shooting. But over the years, I have learned […]
The “H” in the Transformasphere Movement
Last month there was a World AIDS Day on December 1st. It just reminded me of the importance of the Church being in the forefront and the frontlines of trying to show the compassion of Jesus. As many people have said, “AIDS is like the modern day leprosy of Jesus’ time.” This is one of […]
College Students – All Hype?
There was an interesting article yesterday in the Michigan Daily, the UM student newspaper. They titled it, “Students Could Tip Race – If They Show Up.” They gave a list of all the former candidates for presidents who banked on students to win the presidency. But history tells the stark reality that often times students […]
Off Season and Game Season
I have been sharing with people that there are a lot of parallels to sports and our Christian life. In fact, this is the reason why we see a good handful of examples given in the Bible by Apostle Paul. When we are “in season” we are constantly in training, in practice and in games. […]