Comments(2) Watch this short, inspiring and spirit-stirring clip of Pastor Kong Hee of City Harvest Church addressing his congregation in vision casting for the Kingdom.
Comments(1) 
I am convinced that the Church should be the most powerful institution or organisation in this world.
Potentially, the Church has phenomenal power and influence at her disposal with as God the CEO.
However, I think today we see that the Church do not seem to command such a position which is rightfully ours.
Instead of the Church influencing the world, the contrary seems more apparent where the world has influenced the Church.
This is sad.
Reclaiming our position
In influencing our world, the Church needs to start by gaining a foothold in every one of these territories- government, education, business, media, arts & entertainment which is commonly known as the marketplace.
The marketplace is the very heart of the nation. And in order to win a nation towards discipling a nation, we need to engage our marketplace.
According to a survey done in the US, it reveals that up to 90% of believers felt that they weren’t trained for their calling in the workplace through their local church. I think it is safe to say that most churches in Singapore do face a similar predicament.
Generally, the Church is operating more like a cruise liner instead of a battleship. And there are a couple of reasons for our lack of influence according to Os Hillman. They are:
The gospel of the kingdom
Another key reason of our lack of influence with our world is that we preach and live out a gospel of salvation.
A gospel of salvation is incomplete. What we need to preach and live out is the gospel of His Kingdom as salvation is just the first part, but not the end goal of a Christian. Living out the gospel of the kingdom will impact our will, intent and purpose, manifesting a culture and society reflecting Jesus’ nature, values and morals.
As a kingdom is the governing impact of a king’s will over a territory or domain, his influence over a people, and a government led by a king. Therefore, a Christian after being saved needs to continue to live under the sovereign rulership of Jesus in his/her life where he/she is- with friends, or with the family and in the marketplace.
This is where local churches comes in to disciple and equip its members to discovering and fulfill their calling; releasing each one into ministry towards fulfilling the Great Commission.
Consequently, this will produce an extended Church that reaches out and influences the world, and not a nuclear Church where God’s power and influence is confined within the walls of the Church.
Comments(0) Listen to Lance Wallnau as he shares insights on how the Church can (and should) make a relevant impact in our world to touch lives for His redemptive purpose.
It’s a less than 3 minutes clip that would change the way you see the Church.
Comments(2) 
Is work simply just work for you?
Do you view your work or job as not-so-spiritual in comparison to church-related activities?
Our work is a ministry
If we think for second that our jobs in the marketplace are insignificant in comparison to what we do in church, then we are horribly wrong.
From Scripture, we can see that God expects us to approach and handle our work in a sacred manner; as an act of worship unto Him. Therefore, sloppy and laziness at work is indefinitely not what God expects His people to be associated with.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24
Given that we spend an average of 160,000 hours at work in our life-time, this provides us with a large window of opportunity to impact and touch lives around us.
With our work or jobs, this divinely provides us an “entry vehicle” into the marketplace (mission field) to sow and reap the harvest. Therefore, our work is given to us for His purpose- using our gifts/talents to serve Him and others around us.
Shining at work
Personally as I understand this biblical truth and His purpose more, I started to pray more at work. Every morning I ask that the Holy Spirit to empower and use me for His redemptive purpose towards fulfilling His Great Commission.
I see that the onus is on us to shine for Him with our work. And this is not an easy feat as we have a higher standard to reach. As His followers, we not only need to perform our jobs professionally with excellence, but also set an example of living an upright life.
With such a high calling, I am convinced that you and I need to pray more to rely on Him carrying out our roles and responsibilities at work.
Comments(0) Continuing on our “Jesus in the Marketplace” Series, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice is President Bush’s national security adviser since 2001. She has been called “the most powerful woman in the world” and “Bush’s secret weapon.” This is her story of how her faith impacts her life and work .
Unlike most evangelicals in politics, Rice has not been outspoken about her views on abortion. She supports parental notification and a ban on late-term abortions but questions the role of government in the larger abortion debate.
Though she has neither affirmed nor denounced gay marriage, she has cautioned Americans to debate the issue with sensitivity because “real human beings” are involved.
“I worry a lot about the government and the church … about trying to legislate morality,” she says. “I worry a lot that what we have done [as evangelicals] is to sound judgmental and exclusive in the way that we talk to people about the role of our faith. Whatever the issue—homosexuality or abortion or whatever—this tendency to speak in such loud and judgmental tones has really hurt the message that we’re trying to deliver.”
“In fact, what’s very interesting to me is that if you think about the way that Christ tried to meet those who did not believe, it was quite opposite. He didn’t shout at them. He tried to meet them where they were.”
Read the full article here>>>
Comments(4) 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>>>
Comments(4) 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.
Comments(1) Proudly presenting the first story for “Jesus and the Marketplace” series that will hopefully inspire and empower us, Christ-followers to live our faith relevantly and powerfully in our marketplace. Here’s Linvoy Primus’ testimony told by Jeremy Wilson for The Guardian.
Primus was 27 when he found his faith and is convinced that the correlation between that event and a dramatic improvement in his football career is no coincidence. The likes of Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson and Lauren have joined Portsmouth over the past year but he remains an automatic choice in a team who have been in the Premiership’s top six all season. Among Pompey supporters he is the club’s most popular player.
“I know that, win, lose or draw, life will still carry on,” he said. “I do my job properly and to the best of my ability because God wouldn’t want me to misuse the gift he has given me.”
His faith initially made him the subject of dressing-room banter but he never hid his beliefs and praying has now become routine for a growing group of Portsmouth players before matches. “The people who have found the Lord at this club have had their lives changed - Kanu, LuaLua, Sean Davis, Andy O’Brien, Benjani,” he said. “We are not scared to say we pray together before games. We’ve got the laundry room at the club - there’s two washing machines behind us and about 45 minutes before a game we link our arms and just pray that we can glorify God.”
Read Linvoy Primus’ full story here>>>
