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Last week was an eventful week as I made a trip out to Hong Kong and Singapore. In Hong Kong, I reconnected with some of our alumni and met up with some pastors and ministry leaders. It was an eye-opening trip as I heard about some of the great things that God is doing in Hong Kong. Even though I visited Hong Kong a few times before, for some reason this trip was different. I really felt like God opened my eyes to the harvest and gave me a greater burden for this great global city.

God also used my trip out to Singapore to remind me of the great need for believers to be a visual display and a viable demonstration of God’s love. When the Church, which is made up of people begin to live out its calling to be the salt and light of the world, we will see transformation start to happen.

I am thankful for the privilege of witnessing firsthand all that God is doing out in this region of the world. I am also humbled to know that God is trying to raise up people in our churches to take up the Macedonian call (Ac 16:9-10).

During my flight back to Jakarta, I was able to jot down some of my thoughts from my trip. I wrote down five major lessons and reminders from this trip:

 
 
As I am seeing some of these things firsthand, it is making it hard for me to go back to the States; but I know that God is calling me and my family to go back and raise up more Kingdom workers who will eventually go to some of these nations and build God’s Kingdom. I am just privileged to have witnessed it. The best is yet to come!

 
As we are preparing for our return to the States, Christina and I have realized that there are a lot of things that we need to get in order. For one thing, we need to purchase a car. Right before we moved out to Indonesia, we sold our Honda Odyssey.

I thought I would be done with the days of a mini-van since our kids are getting older, but after seeing this video I am thinking that it might not be so bad. This might be Toyota’s way of making a comeback after all their safety recalls problems.

I love it when people try to keep things fresh.
 
 

 

 
 
 
One thing great about Indonesia is the amount of holidays they have here due to religious observances. There is definitely a lot of tolerance for the various religions because everyone is trying to live in peace with one another. Couple of days ago was Ascension Day (commemorating the day that Jesus went up to heaven after His resurrection), therefore it was a national holiday.

With the relationships that I have been built with some of the international church pastors in Jakarta, we have been able to build some trust with one another. With this trust, we were able to join our congregations together and participate in a joint worship service for Ascension Day.

It was a powerful time of worship.

It was a powerful witness to the rest of the Body of Christ.

Through this gathering, God reminded me once again of several importance things:

 
 
One thing that I couldn’t help noticing during this joint Ascension Day service was the fact that we were exactly in the center of Jakarta and lifting up the name of Jesus. It was really a prophetic statement. It is my hope and prayer that we, the greater Church of Jesus will ripple out to reach the city and to all the people groups of Indonesia with the Gospel.

 
Whenever discussions revolve around religion, it is always a heated and charged discussion. The reason behind this is simple: Religion is something personal. Therefore whenever our faith is attacked, a religious person will do everything in order to protect and defend the basic tenets of their faith. In this way, religion has been one of the catalysts for some of the wars throughout history. It is usually not a very pretty picture.

This notion of religion being an emotionally charged topic was illustrated perfectly in the recent South Park episode where they parodied Islam and Muslims’ reverence for the prophet Muhammad (note: spelling varies depending on the source).

In fact, after it was aired there were death threats leveled at Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park. The threat came from various blogs and websites. One person in particular is Zachary Adam Chesser (a.k.a. Abu Talhah al-Amrikee), who posted something on www.RevolutionMuslim.com. Chesser said that he wrote what he did and put the picture of a murdered Dutch filmmaker to raise awareness and to show the severity of what happens to someone who mocks Muhammad. But he clearly reiterated that it was not a threat, but rather it was just an explanation of what would be the most likely outcome, if anyone criticized the prophet or Islam.

It is very clear – Islamic law prohibits any forms of depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.

Even with the recent failed terrorist car bomb attack in New York’s Times Square reminds us of another example. As facts are coming out, there is some speculation that this was linked to the South Park “transgressions.” But as the investigation is underway, authorities are finding out that the car bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad was upset at the U.S. treatment of Islam. The court evidence shows that Shahzad has some ties to the Taliban militants by receiving explosives training in Pakistan’s Waziristan region. Shadzad was also in contact with people in Pakistan prior to the attempted car bombing.

President Obama in his press conference said, “This incident is another sobering reminder of the times in which we live around the world and here at home, there are those who would attack our citizens and who would slaughter innocent men, women and children in pursuit of their murderous agenda. They will stop at nothing to kill and disrupt our way of life.”

Bill Maher has even jumped into the discussion. He challenged the claim that Islam is a “peaceful” religion. I thought it was a very bold and honest interview with Anderson Cooper.
 
 

 
 
 

Incredibly, there are some similarities between Christianity and Islam, well, at least more than what we see at the surface (i.e. theology, Christology, views of salvation, etc). Both religions seek to claim to have the “truth.” Both religions seek to “convert” people. Both religions demand devotion from its followers. Both religions have “extremists” who take some of their holy writings out of context and justify their actions. The list goes on and on.

But in the midst of these surface or general similarities, I couldn’t help but to notice the reaction of people towards the two religions. I decided to put it in a question format to help us think through some of these issues:

 
 
As I am asking these questions, I am challenged by the Muslims’ passion for honoring their great prophet. Do I have just as much passion and is my emotion stirred when people attack or negatively talk about Christ?

But as I look at Christ and the various Gospel accounts of his last days here on this earth, I sometimes get disturbed and a bit angry. Why didn’t his disciples do anything to defend Jesus? Why didn’t Jesus call upon the twelve legions of angels (Mt 26:53) to destroy the people who were going to hurt Him?

This is when I realize that strength is found in what seems like an “apparent” weakness (2 Co 12:10). It is always harder to love people than to destroy them. It is always harder to forgive people than to get revenge. It is always harder to be humble than to demand our rights. It is always harder to obey God than to do what we want to do. It is always harder to deny ourselves than to be self-centered.

In essence, Jesus did the harder thing and took the road that many people would never have gone on. Maybe this is why I am drawn to Christ more each day. I am humbled to know how unique He is compared to anyone else in history. I am just amazed at how different He is than me, but yet, He calls me to be more like Him.

The difference? The Apostle Paul said it well to the people of Philippi:

 

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Recently I received an e-mail that I found very interesting. Here is the content of the e-mail:

 
 
Just to set the record straight, I did not respond to e-mail. Instead, I labeled it as spam mail and blocked the sender’s e-mail address.

But as I was thinking about it, I realized how smart these guys were in appealing to some of the basic desires of a person. We all want to be known and to know that we have significance. When they use phrases like, “you were… chosen,” “who’s who,” “share prominent… space with thousands of fellow accomplished individuals,” and “salute your achievement” for some reason it calls out to our pride and ambition.

I couldn’t help but to think to myself, “What have I really accomplished? Do I really need some organization to validate me or the work that I am doing for God?”

This just helped me to put all things in perspective. In fact, it was a good heart check for me. Once in awhile it is good to ask questions such as:

It is not easy to develop a heart that does all things for the audience of One, but this is the pursuit. If not, we will be convinced either we are better than we really are or we will forget God’s grace in our lives. No wonder there are many examples and references in the Bible that remind us that pride comes before the fall (Pr 11:2; 16:18; 18:12), but grace is always given to the humble (Pr 3:34; Jas 4:6; 1 Pe 5:5).

As I am getting older and slowing entering into an early mid-life crisis, the appeals to my pride and ambition are greater. This is when I have to keep on reminding myself of what is important. It is simply that my name is written in the Book of Life and that I am known by the One that matters the most. It is hard, but I am thankful that sometimes it takes these kinds of e-mails to remind me of this truth.

 
I don’t know how many of you have heard or seen Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford University Commencement speech. Usually graduates, who sit under the hot sun, rarely remember the content of the speech that is normally given by a famous person during their commencement. Honestly, I don’t even remember the graduation commencement speech of my graduation.

But there is something about what Steve Jobs shared in his speech that really espoused some important principles in life. Even though it was from a secular perspective, there were some biblical truths that resonated with me. Through the power of personal stories, I have this strange suspicion that this is one speech that many of the 2005 Stanford graduates will remember.

First, check out his speech below. It is worth every 14 minutes and 11 seconds of it. Then I will give some of my thoughts.
 
 

 
 
There are several things in his speech that struck me:

Perspective. Passion. Priorities. These things help us to understand our purpose in life, as well as to enable us to praise the One who gives us all things according to His will.

 

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As Christina and I are preparing the family, the team and the church for the transition that is coming up in July, we started to talk about what it would be like if we stayed longer in Indonesia – like 5 years or even 10 years longer.

This sparked a good discussion.

I shared from my perspective that if we stayed longer in Indonesia, our relationships with people would be stronger and deeper. We would be able to see a greater impact. I also shared how we would be able to reach more people with the Gospel and see more open doors to engage the society.

In the midst of this discussion Christina said, “Then why did we only commit for one year?” For some reason this caught me off guard.

My only response to her question dealt with the issue with the kids. Then I asked, “When we were trying to decide whether to come to Indonesia or not, could you really have committed to a longer period of time, in light of the kids?”

Her response floored me.

She simply said, “Yes.”

Then, I pressed Christina and told her that I thought the major issue for her was with the children.

She responded by saying, “If we prayed and believed that God wanted us to commit longer than one year, then I would have been ok with it because I trust you and I would have followed you.”

Wow! After trying to contain my inflated ego, I sat there speechless.

It is true how hindsight has a way of helping us seeing things more clearly in the present. If I knew what I know now, I wonder how things might have been different.

Not only was I encouraged by her response, but I thought about my role as a husband, a father and a pastor. There were 3 things that came to my mind:

The idea of making decisions by knowing what we know now is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we need to go through things without fully knowing everything in order to grow in faith and trust; but then, as we begin to comprehend things now, there is a greater responsibility to obey God’s will on the decisions for the future.

This whole discussion with Christina has been a challenge for me in the area of faith, trust, and obedience. It is my prayer that with what I know now that I will be able to make decisions in the future that will maximize God’s honor and glory.

 

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Many of you have probably heard of the axiom, “Trials will make you more like Christ.” But the more I think about it, I realized that this is not necessarily the case. In fact, I have been guilty of preaching this misnomer for years. Even in my counseling sessions, I have encouraged people to have the perspective of enduring through trials because it will produce Christ-likeness.

It is important before I proceed that I establish what I am NOT saying. I am not saying that trials “cannot” make us more like Christ. The Bible teaches that trials can produce character (Ro 5) and there are whole books that talk about the benefits of trials (Job and 1 Peter). Anything is possible. What I am referring to is the “assumption” that just because we go through trials that somehow we will “automatically” become more like Christ.

Being out here in Indonesia, I am coming to the conclusion that trials do not necessarily make us more like Christ, but it reveals more of who we really are.

Think of it this way:

Why is it that when two different people go through trials, one can really go through it with joy and hope and then be transformed by it, while the other person will get bitter and even turn away from God. If trials are really supposed to make us more like Christ, then the outcome of the two people should be the same; but this is not always the case. In fact, it is more common to see people turn away from Christ.

I want to propose that trials are more revelatory in nature. It simply reveals who we really are and where we are in our relationship with Christ.

As we go through trials, we have a choice. We can either humble ourselves and conclude the truth of who God is (that He is Sovereign, loving, purposeful, etc) or we can turn self-centered and deny everything we know and learned about who God is. Honestly, there is really no middle ground; and too often we find ourselves wanting to trust in God, but we constantly lean towards what is natural in the flesh.

This is why we have a lot of practicing Christian-Atheist – Christian in our heads, but in practice, we are Atheist because we live as if God does not exist.

Therefore, trials are more like a catalyst to reveal who we really are. Trials should spark a greater dependence on God and inspire trust in God’s promises. It is like every sports team that prepares during the pre-season and regular season. All the months and years of practice come down to the championship game.

In the championship game of trials, all the devotion times, all the prayers, all the bible studies of who God is, all the church gatherings, all the blessings that we have received from God, come down to that moment of what we will do when trials come our way. Once again, there is no middle ground. We will not win the game by just holding on to the ball and wishing that we made the shot. We have to make the choice whether to trust in Him or trust in ourselves.

We were destined for greatness. If you don’t believe me, just look at the cross. It is game time and we want Christ to be glorified in the midst of our trials, so we need to do our part as God is already doing His part.

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

 

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This past week, I had the privilege of speaking at Karissa’s chapel. The best part of it was being introduced by my little girl. Not only did she do an excellent job, but I was so humbled by her joy and excitement when she saw me.

Before I went up to speak, Karissa and some of her classmates were leading the praise time. Well, let’s just say that they were playing a CD and leading the group with motions. I couldn’t help but to notice the purity of their worship to God. As I followed along, I was reminded of Jesus’ words, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:14).

There is something about having a child-like heart that brings delight to the Father’s heart. Here are some lessons that I was reminded of on that day:

 
Before I share some thoughts, check out this video. For those of you born in the late 80’s and 90’s, this will not have much significance to you. But for those of us who lived our younger years in the 80’s this video will make a lot of sense. It might even bring back some warn fuzzy feelings.
 
 

 
 

It is amazing how things evolve, especially in the area of technology and the gaming world. As I look at some of the games that are out there now and reflect on the simple days of Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Centipede, and Defender, it is amazing how far we have come. The graphics are now more real life than ever.

As I was thinking about the evolution of technology, I started to think about my own personal evolution as a person. Not only when I look at some of the pictures from my younger years, but also seeing how my perspective has changed in different areas, it makes me realize how important it is to constantly be growing and changing.

Even with the various changes, I have also come to realize that there are some things that simply do not change. In fact, they have been consistent in my life for many years. I guess this is what a lot of people call “conviction.” I have always held on to the belief that “opinions can change, but convictions cannot change without changing you.”

There are a lot of “opinion changing” things that have happened throughout the years, but I am thankful that some of the core convictions that God has deposited in my heart that have not changed. In fact, they have only gotten stronger.

These are things that I have given my life to and these are the things that I will continue “waste” my life on until the day I die. What an awesome privilege.

 

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I have been working on my message for the Sunday Celebration sermon series called, “The Price.” This Sunday I will be covering “The Price of Freedom” by preaching on Romans 6. It has been an interesting study for me because it reminded me of a principle that has been proven true over the years, not only in my life but also in the lives of people that I have counseled over the years.

So often in the midst of trying to find ourselves, we forget that it is only by losing ourselves that we will truly find ourselves. Jesus said in Luke 9:23-25, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

In our search for our identity, we frequently base it on the things of this world – our grades, career, family, reputation, friends, and the like – rather than on the Gospel and our relationship with Christ. This is why sometimes we feel as if following Christ is restrictive and more of a burden, than finding true joy and freedom.

The story of the “prodigal son” (Lk 15:11-24) describes our plight so well.

When the younger son was at home with his father, he felt restricted in his freedom and confined to his father’s rules. This is why he made the audacious request of his share of his inheritance and decided to leave home in order to find himself and enjoy his freedom.

But the irony of the story (which by the way is often times our story) is seen when we notice what happened when he started to experience his freedom. Instead of finding himself, he lost himself further into sin. In his freedom, it turned out that he was really enslaved in the grip of sin. It was only when the prodigal son repented of his rebellion that he realized true freedom was found in his father’s house.

He then made the long journey home.

We are only able to find ourselves when we are willing to lose ourselves to Christ. Conversely, when we lose ourselves to the things of this world, then we will never find ourselves.

True freedom is found when we are in obedience to the One who laid down His life for us. This is the process of losing ourselves in order to find ourselves.

 

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What an awesome weekend we had here in Indonesia! As I was giving more thought to it, I realized that this was the first Easter we celebrated outside of Ann Arbor in 14 years. It just felt different – in a good way.

Last week, we were busy getting ready for Good Friday and Easter weekend. But in the midst of all the busy preparations, one thing we realized that we could not neglect was prayer. We knew that God had to be the one that would reveal Himself to the people that we would be bringing to church. Those of us who were serving in the celebration also knew that God had to anoint us in order for our presentations to be Spirit-filled. Therefore, it was good to spend time in prayer in our LIFE Groups and even in our own personal times with the Lord before the weekend.

We had a full day with a packed Sunday Celebration and then an Easter lunch that followed. After the food and fellowship time with one another, we had our baptism service. As I was hearing the testimonies, I was reminded that God is truly alive and He desires to work in the lives of His people. When I looked around, I saw so many of the baptism candidates’ families and friends who came out to witness this important moment. I was just privileged to participate in baptizing the candidates. This was our first baptism here in Indonesia and God blessed it tremendously. We were humbled.

Now, we are in the process of filtering through all the response cards that we received after the message on Sunday. Already there are some awesome testimonies of people responding to the Gospel message. We are praying that many of the newcomers will join our small group ministry so that they can get plugged in to our community.

One thing that we (those of us who are here) cannot deny is God’s faithfulness. We realized that God loves His people more than we ever could and that God uses weak people like us to present the message of Easter. It is simply another demonstration of God’s grace and His power at work. How can we not praise Him?

 

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John Stott in his book, What Christ Thinks of the Church writes, “The cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough to it for its sparks to fall on us.”

This quote by Stott helped me to visualize the need for God’s sparks from the cross to fall on me once again. After so many Good Fridays, it is easy for me to speak about the cross from a third person perspective. It doesn’t help that I had to prepare and preach on the cross every year during this time. After awhile, it becomes more of head knowledge than heart knowledge.

I will never forget the times when the subject of the cross came up and how it would bring tears to my eyes. I think that initial realization of the horrors of the cross really humbled me. To think that it was my sins that crucified Christ on the cross was a bit overwhelming. Even when the movie, “The Passion of the Christ” came out, it helped me to see the suffering and the crucifixion of Christ with a whole new perspective.

Recently, I was challenged to revisit the cross. Usually people say that the longer you have been a Christ-follower, the more humble you become. I think the truth behind that statement lies in the fact that the longer you have journeyed with the Lord, the more you realize your need for Christ. We start to see more of our weaknesses and our sinfulness. We realize how different we are from Christ. The fragility and flawed nature of our character remind us of our need for mercy and grace.

This is why the closer we are to the blazing fire of the cross, the more our love for Christ will be kindled by the sparks of the cross. The cross magnifies our sinfulness, while at the same time amplifies God’s love and grace. This is why we are constantly drawn back to the cross. May the sparks fly on us as we stay near the cross, so that our hearts will burn with a fire that will never die.

 

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Whenever I have some quiet moments to think and just envision about the future, the topic of leadership often comes to my mind. In any organization, a lot of things are dependent on the quality of leaders. This is why leadership gurus have always said, “Everything rises and falls with leadership.” In my leadership journey, I definitely see the truth behind that statement.

There have been times when my effectiveness as a leader was compromised because of various hindrances; whether it is a bad attitude, lack of love for people or a character flaw, some of these things impede the ability to lead successfully.

This is why I have always argued that leadership is really a process and something that has to be developed. In some ways, it is really an art. There are a lot of elements of leadership where it is methodical and it just requires basic discipline. But yet at the same time, there are a lot of things about leadership where it requires an aptitude in listening, looking, and learning.

Whenever I tell people that we are all called (or will be called) to be a leader, I get an incredulous look. One major reason is that people always see leadership in the context of the church and then automatically think that it means being a leader of a LIFE Group or some other ministry. But whenever I make the comment about everyone being called to be a leader, I am referencing to the various roles that we are currently in or will be in.

If we define leadership in the words of John Maxwell, then “Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” If we have this perspective on leadership, then it is easy to see how we can become leaders (influencers) to our friends, family, classmates, co-workers, and even strangers. By God’s grace, if we are able to make a positive influence in people’s lives, then we will be able to participate in God’s work of transformation.

In order for us to grow in leadership, then we have to keep practicing, testing, and developing our skills. As God has given me relationships and connections with various people, I am committed to helping them develop their leadership skills. Also, I have to keep in mind that it is not only a one way exchange because there are a lot of things that I learn from the people I am training. It usually comes from their insightful questions and their hunger to learn.

I am trying to develop a thought regarding training people for leadership. The word, “laboratory” is defined as, “any place, situation, set of conditions, or the like, conducive to experimentation, investigation, observation.” It is simply, “a place for practice, observation, or testing.”

What would it be like to have a leadership laboratory where we are developing current leaders and even producing future leaders? We will probably have to create avenues where people can “practice, observe and test” their leadership skills. This might have to be another project we will have to start up soon, especially in light of wanting to raise up more leaders for future church plants.

In the meantime, I will be writing short LEADERSHIP LAB thoughts on Twitter to get the process started.