My Doodling:
Check out all the exclusive live interviews by City News with some of the most greatest generals of God during the Church Growth International-Asia Conference 2010. Indeed, CGI-AC 2010 is a historic event that will launch the Church to another level in Asia! Click here>>>
My Read of the Month:
Title: The Book that Transforms Nations- Asia Edition
Author: Loren Cunningham
Published: 2006
Genre: Missions/Church history
Ratings: 
In this awe-inspiring book, Loren Cunningham succinctly presents his readers with short stories of past reformers and various interesting case studies of transformed countries to induce readers that the bible is powerful and all capable of building a nation from scratch.
Notable nation builders such as William Carey, John Wesley, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Dr. David Yonggi Cho were some of the few names mentioned. One common trait of these mighty men of God was how they recaptured spiritual leadership in influential areas of society namely: family, religion, education, entertainment, mass media, commerce, government.
Mr. Cunningham goes to explain how these nation builders taught and discipled others and “when a critical mass of people have the Bible and apply what it teaches in their lives, a nation is transformed…whenever a critical number of people abandon the Bible and stop applying it in their personal lives, that nation begins to destroy itself.”
A case in point would be the current upheaval spiritual state of Europe that has led to economical instability. Sadly, most of the people in these nations have departed from their Christian heritage and have turned away from God. According to Loren, their (Europeans’) view of the church and belief in God have been reduced to that of being an outdated and irrelevant faith that impedes progress.
The only shortcoming of this book is that it doesn’t delve deep enough into the autobiography of these nation builders. It merely presents a summary of their highlights and accomplishments. Other than that, this book is a soul-satisfying read that never fails to stir my spirit and faith in becoming like one of His “nation builders”.
Who should read it: Mostly suitable for Christians of all stages of maturity as it presents an informative snapshots of the history and milestones of the new testament church. And highly recommended for aspiring missionaries.
The biennial Asia Conference will be bringing and uniting Christians from all over the world under one roof from 26 May to 30 May 2010. And it’s open to ALL and amazingly FREE!
If you’ve not registered, the weekend sessions are accessible. Don’t miss out on the once-of-a-lifetime chance to be in the same room with some of God’s generals of our age!
If we take a quick glance at the past global trends, we can easily traced the Hand of God behind each of these emergence of new technology that had enabled His word to spread exponentially.
Below are some of these past major breakthroughs of existing technologies:
And today, we can observed how the emergence of the Internet in the mid 1990s has tremendously shaped our world into a global village; greatly accelerating the speed of globalisation through the easily-accessible exchange of information for economic or social reasons.
With the Internet, we’ve seen how businesses have adopted and leveraged on the Internet by further expanding their reach and operations across the globe.
Governments are also slowly realising that the old model of central governance is becoming almost impossible to lead a nation in this 21st century as the Internet has given more ‘power’ to the people th an ever before.
What about His Church? How have we capitalise on the opportunities of the current trend of globalisation? Are we still stuck in old ways?
Uniting the Church as one
Today’s globalised world has opened new doors of opportunities for churches within a nation and around the world to unite as a body to collaborate towards fulfilling the Great Commission.
No church, denomination or movement is the best or has the best strategy or method in accomplishing God’s work. As the saying goes, “Together everybody achieves more”. And may I add “faster” too.
But above the call of duty to fulfill the Great Commission, isn’t it the prayer of Jesus that His people may be one just as He and the Father are one? (c.f. John 17:20-24)
Hence, I believe that in this opportune era, we as the Church ought to make deliberate initiatives to walk in His heart beat as one body so that the whole world may know that we’re truly His disciples (c.f. John 13:34-35) as God is love.
And I think there’s no better way to spread the message when we become the message!
Below is a reproduced article that I had recently wrote for City News Print Weekly. It was a report of a speech Former UK Minister Tony Blair made when he stopped over in Singapore last month. He provided his views on global trends and challenges facing today’s world. Enjoy the read.
“The speed of change in our modern world is just too overwhelming and nothing is left untouched by the pace and depth of the nature of change. In our fast-changing world, you cannot stand still,” he said.
It is crucial that one be open-minded. Blair viewed it necessary as “new thinking and new ideas do not come to closed minds.”
In our modern world, where different races, creeds, cultures and religions live side by side, it is vital for individuals to see themselves as global citizens.
Hence, individuals ought to have the humility to learn from others who are different from them. It is when one becomes closed-minded, intolerable and disrespectful toward others, that he or she becomes limited in development.
In today’s inter-connected world, success also is built on partnerships between individuals.
Read the full report here>>>
Here’s an interesting story extracted from “Think & Grow Rich”. It’s about noted preacher, educator, and pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, the late Frank W. Gunsaulus who delivered the “Million Dollar Sermon” to create money (in a creative manner) in order to make a difference in his society.
The late Frank W. Gunsaulus was a beloved educator and clergyman who began his preaching career in the stockyards region of Chicago.
While Dr. Gunsaulus was going through college, he observed many defects in the educational system, defects which he believed he could correct, if he were the head of a college.
He made up his mind to organise a new college in which he could carry out his ideas, without being handicapped by orthodox methods of education. But he needed a million dollars to put this project across!
He didn’t have that large sum of money. And could not make any real progress for almost two years.
One day while in his room thinking ways and means to raise the money to carry out his plans, he daunted on him that he had done nothing but think. He finally resolved that the time had come to take action!
He made up his mind, then and there, that he could get the necessary million dollars within a week.
What happened next was he called the newspaper and announced he would preach a sermon the following morning, entitled- “What I would do if I had a million dollars.”
The next morning he rose early, went into the bathroom, read his sermon, then knelt on his knees and asked that his sermon might grab the attention of someone who would supply the needed money.
At the pulpit where he begin his sermon to the audience, he spoke with all his heart and soul of his dreams. He shared what he would do with a million dollars if that amount was placed in his hands. He described his plans in organising a great educational institution where young people would learn to do practical things, and at the same time develop their minds.
When he had finished and sat down, a man alowly arose from his seat and made his way toward the pulpit. That man approached Dr. Gunsaulus with an extended hand and said, “Reverend, I liked your sermon. I believe you can do everything you said you would, if you had a million dollars. My name is Phillip D. Armour.”
Next, Dr. Gunsaulus went to Mr. Armour’s office and the million dollars was presented to him. With that money he founded the Armour Institute of Technology, now known as Illinois Institute of Technology which has been a existing legacy till today.
My Doodling:
If you’re an inspiring social entrepreneur and have plans to create money to give money, here’s an event not to be missed. The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) is organising “Entrepreneurs Meet Social Entrepreneurs“ on 19 May 2010 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Today’s the last day to register so act quickly!
Like it or not, all of us need money.
We need money to meet our personal or family needs, to run a business, to fund a humanitarian project and even our missions work.
Clearly, money is not merely an ethereal felt need. It is a real need. And whether poor or rich, there is no denying that everyone needs money.
Though not life’s most important need, it’s significance should not be taken lightly.
More about money
Money originated as a commodity; it is a medium of exchange and a means to an end.
The truth about money is that it is inanimate; neither good or bad. In other words, it is morally neutral.
Money takes on the character of the person who owns it and controls it. It amplifies what is in the heart of the owner.
A car in the hands of a responsible and careful driver would make it a good mode of transportation, but in the hands of a reckless and drunk driver, the car becomes a mode of destruction endangering lives.
Similarly, a rifle in the hands of a soldier is a tool for security, but placed in the hands of a terrorist, it becomes a deadly tool of terror and evil.
In other words, whether money is branded evil or good is determined by who owns it and how it is used.
Creating money to do more
Imagine with me- “What if most of the existing wealth or money in the world were in the hands of God-fearing people?”
Think about the ease churches would have in sending out missionaries to other countries or the readiness to set up businesses to create employment for the needy or what about just feeding the poor and hungry. The list goes on and on.
Take 48-year-old Mr. Petrus Carstens as an example. His desire to truly make a difference with ordinary lives convinced him to make a drastic decision to become a full-time investor over his pastoring duties for a 4,500 strong church in South Africa.
According to the Sunday Times’ (dated 16 May 2010) article- “Ex-pastor turns evangelist of wealth”, Mr. Carstens was a pastor in South Africa for 15 years till 2002. But later, he realised that besides praying for the poor, he could actually do more by creating wealth to better and further help the people.
“I want to use this money (generating from his investments) for economic empowerment programmes in the developing world,” said Mr. Carstens who has successfully built up an asset base exceeding US$2.4 million within two years since he started investing in 2004 and currently owns 10 companies.
I believe there are many other Christians like Mr. Carstens that are stepping up for the Church into the marketplace in reaching its rightful potential as the Head and not the tail.
God is never opposed to us prospering or getting rich, it is only the wrongful attitude towards handling and using money that He condemns.
With a kingdom mentality and an understanding of the role of money in view of God’s perspective as a means to an end and resource to make a real sustainable impact, we ought to be bold to seek the Lord in prospering us for the sake of the gospel and the many lives that we can potentially be a blessing to.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
Andrew: Inside & Insights 