Andrew: Inside & Insights

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.

It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Isaiah 55:8-11 (New Living Translation)

Each one of us carry within us a seed of greatness or a vast potential that is just awaiting to be unearthed and unleashed.

This can be represented mainly through our dreams, passion, talents, desires and aspirations.

Don’t lose sight and connectivity

The harsh reality is that in most cases, this seed or potential never get to see the light of day and are left buried in our graves.

Somehow as we grow older, we get caught up in the humdrum of making a living. We begin to sub-consciously or even consciously to do the things that we feel we have to, instead of doing the things we love to.

Gradually, we lose sight and connectivity with our dreams, passion and aspirations. These possibilities eventually become ideals and fantasies.

Our purpose in life is a life of purpose

On the onset, our purpose is not to live a life of self-indulgence where we use our God-given potential and talents only for our own benefit.

Our true purpose is to be a blessing by serving others by contributing to human society with what we have been given.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

We must understand that each one of us were created for this purpose, and the responsibility is on us to discover it. Unearthing and actualising this would ultimately bring us true fulfillment as we live a life of destiny.

Do all that you can to live it out

From the day we were born, our purpose have been calling out to us. As mentioned earlier, it is revealed through our dreams, passion, talents, aspirations and desires in our hearts, and as well as through the circumstances that have trained us to become who we are today.

The challenge is for us to keep stretching ourselves out from our comfort zones and to be courageous in charting towards the direction God is leading us. If not, dogma, people’s expectations, trends and status quo would chart our life purpose towards living a life of mediocrity.

As it is, we must do all that we can to keep those dreams alive by staying connected to them in all that we do and see as we draw closer to God through His word and prayer.

Only through Him can we be empowered to live out our purpose and to fully actualise our destiny as it is He who planted the seed of greatness and eternity in our hearts and minds.

My Doodling:

I’ll be away for a week to Vietnam to visit and fellowship with some friends there. During this period, I may not be able to update this site as frequent as I would like to. Most grateful if you keep me and those I am going with in prayers. Thanks! =)

In this second installment of “Jesus and the marketplace” series, Makota Fujimura is a Christian artist who paints Christ-centred arts. He lives and works in New York City, and is an elder in a Presbyterian Church.

There are no crosses in Makoto Fujimura’s paintings. No images of Jesus gazing into the distance, or serene scenes of churches in a snow-cloaked wood.

. . . After the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Centre, three blocks from Fujimura’s home, his work explored the power of fire to both destroy and purify, themes drawn from the Christian Gospels and Dante’s “The Divine Comedy.”

“I am a Christian,” says Fujimura, 46, who founded the non-profit International Arts Movement to help bridge the gap between the religious and art communities. “I am also an artist and creative, and what I do is driven by my faith experience.

“But I am also a human being living in the 21st century, struggling with a lot of brokenness _ my own, as well as the world’s. I don’t want to use the term ‘Christian’ to shield me away from the suffering or evil that I see, or to escape in some nice ghetto where everyone thinks the same.”

By making a name for himself in the secular art world, Fujimura has become a role model for creatively wired evangelicals. They believe that their churches have forsaken the visual arts for too long - and that a renaissance has begun.

Read the full article here>>>

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:5-8 (New International Version)

Evidently as we observe over the years that the Church has lost its influence in the world.

It is a far cry from how the early Church started as depicted in the book of Acts. Since then, the Church has slowly retreated from our original place of influence.

But now, it seems that God is moving His Church to fill that void to reclaim our God-given authority in being the head and not the tail in this world with the power of the Holy Spirit.

We need to engage our culture that ultimately shapes and influences our values and lives towards the Truth, the Way and the Life.

Watch the 5min video clip from www.reclaim7mountains.com below:

Personally, I think that engaging our marketplace especially in the arena of business or economics makes perfect (and biblical) sense.

Our global marketplace is the missions field and our jobs are the means to engage with people and our culture with the ultimate goal of making the gospel available to the lost with our lives.

Business through the eyes of faith

Business is, after all, an institutionalisation of God’s intention for us to work and to serve each other. It is a legal structuring of work where we express dominion over creation and provide us the opportunities to plan, organise, lead, follow and develop skills in a number of areas- all mirroring godly qualities.

With the fact that some business people do not place moral principles very high in their decision criteria, Christians, therefore, have this particular opportunity to be salt and light to the business world, and thereby demonstrate what it means to be ethical and moral, but yet still experiencing success.

So the challenge is on us Christians who are in the marketplace of business to view our work as a ministry in impacting lives, and not merely as a job to earn a living.

The mandate is clear that we need to win the souls of every spiritual sphere, corner and territory in this world for Christ.

My Read of the Month:

Title: Cyber Rules: Strategies For Excelling at E-Business
Author: Thomas M. Siebel
Published: 1999
Genre: Business/E-commerce
Ratings:

I picked this book up to gain more knowledge and insights about doing business through the internet. I didn’t expect much from this book as it was published in 1999. And now 9 years forward, the internet has grown exponentially and is ubiquitous.

As this book was written when many still weren’t open to the power of the internet with its potential still pretty much left untapped, this book provides very outdated information. But it does present good case studies on why businesses have to tap on the internet in order to remain competitive in a global marketplace.

On my personal intake, I am more convinced that every business has to ride on the internet if it wants to thrive and be around for a long time as the internet has become so integrated in our daily lives that it is the very means to connect to your consumers or stakeholders.

Who should read it: If only you have no other book to read or else get an updated version.

Picture taken proudly with my healthy and handsome new-born nephew, Tristan and his sister, Jaime on 11 April 2008.

During Easter Service on 23 March 2008, I was given the opportunity to share about my 8-year journey with God since the day I made a commitment to follow Him whole-heartedly.

This was my third time being able to testify of God’s love and power in my life to the congregation. And despite having to serve my reservist over that weekend, I was divinely granted permission to leave for that particular Sunday.

I recalled that my first time was sharing my conversion story through “The Time is Now” brochure in 2001. The second time was told by one of the Pastors through his sermon about living a life in God’s purpose with my testimony about my studies in 2006.

However, this third time was done with me sharing live on stage. It was special and I took it as a personal tribute to give God all glory as my Saviour and Lord.

Below is the recorded version of my Easter Testimony: