Category Extra Thoughts

Just some of my many thoughts…

Mixing Christianity with Politics

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Last week, Barrack Obama finally emerged as the Democratic Presidential Nominee against Hillary Clinton after a gruelling campaign since the beginning of this year.

Barack Obama for PresidentThe final battle now sees Obama squaring off with his Republican counterpart, John McCain for the “hot seat” in being the next US President.

Personally, I am rooting Obama for the next US President as he comes across as a leader who is refreshingly different and truly inspires hope and change that is desperately needed in our arena of politics.

Politics, a “dirty” business

In the past, I used to think that Christianity and Politics do not and should not mix.

That old school of thought was due to the misconception that politics was a “dirty” business that was only for the greedy and power-hungry people.

But now with a better understanding of His truth, I acknowledge that what I initially thought was not completely correct. And as it is precisely a “dirty” business that the more Christ is needed to penetrate the arena of politics and to clean it up.

Christ in Politics

Christianity does not exist in isolation. Jesus sent us into the world to permeate our society and its culture with His love and truth.

In fact, Christianity affects every part of our lives and it isn’t just something we keep for Sundays. We cannot and should not limit God and what He can do through us.

The Church needs to engage our world by speaking up and be heard on issues about everything from economics to education, from defence to healthcare, and I believe a Christian perspective needs to be voiced out on all of these things.

As His Church, let’s get out of the ghetto, and take part and influence in what’s goes on in our world!

A Wake-up Call for Us?

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Even as many all over the world remain in anguish and despair over the catastrophic deaths incurred by the tragic wrath of Cyclone Nagis in Myanmar and Sichuan’s earthquake in China, some if not a lot of people may be grappling over why God allowed such tragedies to even happened.

Mourning for the loss livesIs God love? If He is, doesn’t He love the victims of these disasters?

Is God heartless? How can He even allow such suffering to upon so many innocent lives?

Maybe this proves that there isn’t really a God at all?

God does exist

First and foremost, there is God and He exists!

With our finite minds, we can never “box” God up into what we comprehend of Him and the world. He exists even before we existed.

In simple terms, He created us. He’s the source and there cannot be any dispute to that. No one on earth has ever outlived God long enough to proof otherwise.

Whether or not disasters occur or not will not change the fact that He exists.

In fact, isn’t it strange how we never take notice or acknowledge God when things are going smoothly in our lives but when disaster or problems erupted, God suddenly comes into the picture?

He loves all

God loves every single one of us regardless of our nationality, race, gender, background, education or social status. That’s because to Him, we are all the same; we’re His. He created us.

It is precisely because of His deep love for us that He sacrificed His beloved Son, Jesus in order that we might be saved.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Therefore, the right place to look for the answer if God loves us is not at our circumstances like the disasters, but at the cross where He died for us.

The Church to arise

The end days are near just as Jesus had foretold in Matthew and the signs are appearing in increasing frequency and intensity.

Helping the victims of Sichuan EarthquakeOf all people, God is the most grieved. His heart aches the most to see His people going through pain and suffering.

But yet, He has to allow it because in His wisdom, He is working out His purpose.

In view of this, the Church needs to arise with urgency to the call. We need to pray for the nations and share the Good News with greater fervency.

Even in the midst of these disasters, let us manifest and reflect the existence and love of God by being His Hands in nursing those who are hurt, comforting the mourning and helping the destitute around us.

Being an Excellent Winner in Christ

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Manchester United has done it again!

They have added a 17th Championship title to their cabinet of trophies by finishing the Barclay’s Premier League 2007/08 season with a virtuso display of hunger and team spirit.

This team begun the league slowly but leap-frogged over Arsenal to lead the table in the later stage of the season’s second-half, and eventually pipped Chelsea to secure the championship in dramatic fashion!

Playing to win the title

The Champs of BPL 2007/2008But what if the script didn’t turn out this way, and if Chelsea had snatched the championship under the nose of the Red Devils?

That would have meant all their hard work and goals scored throughout the season of nine months would amount to nothing.

The one and only objective of being in the league is to win the race for the championship title.

Without aiming and clinching the title, being in the league would be meaningless.

A winning mentality and attitude

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24

Similarly, we as Christians are all in a race of our faith and the goal is to accomplished our purpose and calling as His servants.

At the end of this league or to be exact, at the end of our lives on earth, would we reach our goal? Would we emerge as winners or losers?

As apostle Paul beseeches, we need to live out our faith in such as way that we aim to win. And that can never be achieved with a passive or mediocre mentality and attitude.

Winning with excellence

What distinguishes winners from losers is the hunger and spirit of excellence in achieving the goal or prize.

A spirit of excellence is created and thrusted by our hunger fueled by our love for God and the passion for the lost that needs to be touched by His love.

I think it is not uncommon to be comfortable where we are in life with what we have. We can so easily go about daily losing the aim or purpose of our lives.

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27

Even if we think we are doing well, that would posed a challenge to be continually motivated. Because it is easy to allow the “Rabbit and tortoise syndrome” to creep in when we think that we’re ahead of the rest.

Live excellently and be excellent

Despite winning almost all that is to win in the football world, Manchester United has never cease to evolve, improve and excel in all departments.

Hungry RooneyTheir hunger and avoidance of complacency has seen them striving to outdo not only their opponents, but also their ownself.

Likewise, with continually spiritual hunger for God and to do His will, we can also expect to see the Mighty Hand of God in our lives using us powerfully beyond our imagination.

When we are truly living out God’s purpose for our lives, that’s when we are excelling in every areas of our lives.

And just as it is fair to say that no one wants to support or be associated with a team that always loses and has no spirit to excel (which attributes to Manchester United being one of the most supported football clubs in the world), we cannot expect to win people towards Christ if we do not lead victorious, successful and excellent lives in Christ for the world to see.

Therefore, we need to live excellently and be excellent in Him with the supernatural resources we have in His promises and the power of the Holy Spirit, for Him.

Fulfilling Our Life’s Purpose

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Reaching for our purpose and destinyEach 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 will define what our life purpose is and lead us towards 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.

Reclaiming the World for Jesus

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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.

Christianity: The Need for Relevance

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I believe the world that we live in needs to know how Christianity is indefinitely more than just another religion. Especially for those of us who profess Christ as Lord and Saviour, the onus is on us to accurately represent Christ in a way that is relevant and anew in this 21st century.

It is safe to say that majority of the unchurched view God as outdated, unexciting and boring. How do they formed such impressions?

The answer: The Church.

This surely is ironic and sad since the Church should actually be the truth bearers and for a fact, Jesus is certainly not outdated, unexciting and boring.

We are in the world, but not of the world

I think the problem starts when we Christians become too religious and focus on the do’s and don’ts. The deeds or the outward behaviour becomes the standard rather than the being.

As such, for many Christians, this world is something to stay away from. Everything in society—with all its sciences, philosophies and pop culture—is seen as the work of the devil; something profane and must be totally rejected. Since this world is not our home, we should have no ownership of material assets. As much as possible, we should not have any unnecessary contact with anything “secular.”

However, Jesus says to us, “We are in the world, but not of the world.”

So how can we live in the world, and not be of the world? How are we to be the head in the world, and not be the tail in the world? How are we to function in the world, have a relationship with it, and all the while not be influenced by it?

Understanding the “world”

Is the Bible confused concerning the world, blowing hot and cold at the same time? Hence, knowing the whole counsel of God ’s Word is very important. When the Scripture uses the word “world,” it could mean one of three things:

  1. The world is God’s created order (or masterpiece) for His own enjoyment– The Bible says that though the world is fallen, God still loves it. In fact, He loved it so much that He sent His Son to reconcile all things in the world back to Him (Col. 1:20). So this world, which God loves and Jesus saves, is not totally evil. But nevertheless, it suffers the effects of sin and the way sinners have treated it. Acts 3:21 says that the plan of God now or in this age is to restore all things to its original purpose and intention.
  2. The world also implies physical lands or nations- Jesus says that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). To Christ, used in this context, the world refers to countries and physical territories on planet Earth.
  3. The world is the realm of wickedness and prideful rebellion against God- In this wicked realm, Satan is its prince and god (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). This sinful realm constantly opposes God and persecutes the godly. It is this “world” of pride and rebellion that a believer must not conform his mind to (Rom. 12:2).

Evidently, there is an urgent need for us to change how we think and communicate the reality of Christ to the world. The gospel needs to be re-presented (with its biblical principles intacted), not just represented.

Being relevant and engaging the world

Personally, I believe that God wants the world to envy us (just as how it was depicted in the Old Testatment) and say to us: “We must have your way of life!” Yet, how many among the unchurched are actually jealous of Christians today?

Why aren’t the unbelievers rushing to church every weekend, or knocking on our doors saying, “Help me, I have to get into the kingdom of God! I want to be like you—happy, successful and creative!” Or have we presented Christianity in a way that is flaky, boring and ugly? Have we presented the kingdom of God to be so backward and irrelevant that the world doesn’t want any part of us?

Let us decide to be relevant to our society. We shouldn’t be afraid to engage a world that God has created and always loved. We should not be fearful to engage culture by being as creative, as colorful, and as progressive as we could possibly be for the glory of God.

We mustn’t shun the sciences and arts out there in the marketplace. Rather, we should work hard and excel in the arena of life God has planted us in. As we do that, we will become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Ultimately, we will be able to bring many into the kingdom of God !

The Three Powers of Leadership

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Touching more on the topic of leadership, here’s something insightful and interesting that might help us understand the dynamics of the co-relation between leaders and followers that we can observe around us.

True Leadership influencesAccording to a best-seller book- Principle-Centred Leadership– by Stephen R. Covey, there are three basic levels of power and influence that leadership have over followers: coercive, utility, and legitimate powers.

Here is a brief summary of what these three powers are:

1. Coercive power is a manifestation of the psychology of fear on the part of the leadership/leader and the frightened masses. The former, due to lack of confidence in itself and in the people, unleashes psychological terror and when necessary the ‘big stick.’

The follower follows out of fear that something adverse might happen to him, if he does not. In this case, there is a fear that something bad might happen to him or something good might be taken away if he does not comply. The follower obeys the leader in order to avoid facing adverse consequences.

The follower’s loyalty is superficial and he just moves along for the sake of tagging along. Most of what he does is simply to ensure that his interest and comfort are not affected.

2. Utility power is based on a relationship where there are some benefits that will accure to the follower if he follows.

Both the leader and the follower has some interest to protect. The follower has something the leader wants such as time, energy, personal resources, talent and support. The leader too has something the follower wants such as information, money, promotions, inclusion, security and opportunity.

These followers believe that the leader can and will do something for them if they fulfill part of their bargain. Much of what happens in most organisations today are fueled by this utility power.

3. Legitimate power is based on trust and respect for the people. Unlike the two powers discussed above, legitimate power does not depend on fear and material reward, but rather because the follower tends to believe in the leader and what they are trying to achieve.

As Covey succinctly puts it, leaders with legitimate power “are trusted, respected, honored… And they are followed because others want to follow them, want to believe in them and their cause, want to do what the leader wants. This is not blind faith, mindless obedience, or robotic servitude; this is knowledgeable, whole-hearted, uninhabited commitment.”

Leadership: Character and Competence

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Regardless of the different trends that surround leadership in our marketplace, family, politics and the church. I am with the school of thoughts that the leader’s character plays the foremost fundamental role in his or her credibility.

If a leader’s character is placed in any doubt, he automatically loses a chunk of credibility that would lead in losing the influence he has over his followers.

That is the reason why I believe Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee never hesitates to slap a lawsuit on anyone that would defame his character and credibility as a premier leader. He understands the kind of risk that is at stake which might threaten his influence.

Competence for success

Is character (though important) the only quality required in a leader?

What about competence? Have we overlooked or undermined the importance of this prerequisite in a leader in our over-zealousness pursuit for character?

If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success

Ecclesiates 10:10

Imagine that you are in an office of a surgeon. And you observe his certifications from the courses of his training he had to undergo through medical school. Furthermore, you had read raving testimonials of his past successful surgical operations.

If he were to operate on you or one of your family members, I believe you would give him the full trust as he has provided enough confidence for you to allow him to perform his duties regardless whether he has a good or bad character.

As your life or your family members’ lives are at stake, you would most naturally and definitely seek a surgeon that is most qualified and experienced. If the surgeon has a good character, that would be a bonus. But in no circumstance should I believe we would subject our lives to a untrained surgeon who has a good character.

Likewise, can an uncompetent leader win the full trust of his people to follow him or her even if he or she has a good character?

Character for sustainability

The character of a leader forms the moral block or is the backbone of who the leader is, and can be describe as the capacity  to lead.

The greater the character of a leader, the greater is the leader’s capacity in leading in terms of quantity and quality.

Because leadership is such an intense and demanding role where the leader is constantly subjected to criticism, abuse and rejection, he or she must have a strong inner will and power to confront and deal with these while rallying and trudging forward. And character provides that sustainability.

In the face of such challenges, the leader’s character aids in the focus of his vision and meekness to deal with the strain in relationships around him as he leads.

The leader’s unwavering character provides the stability and confidence that the followers need as a beacon and anchor especially in marching through the difficult moments.

Leadership in 21st century

In this knowledge-based era where much is expected with the progress of mankind, I believe competence is an equally important quality in a leader that is expected and required in the 21st century. But it should be ideally built upon a leader’s character as the foundational quality.

Therefore, the immenient challenge for leaders today is to attain these two invaluable qualities that should be clearly displayed with constant renewal in his or her life.

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

2 Timothy 2:20-21

What we truly need in this day and age are cutting edge leaders that are with the capacity, ability and the drive to raise the bar of morality, service and innovation to add value to our communities and industries by leading and creating opportunities where everyone is able to share and enjoy quality holistic living and sustainable success.

E.N.D.U.R.E.

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In our walk with God, there will be times where we need to hold on to our faith even when things around us do not look favourable.

Its through times as such where the determining factor in whether or not we experience success lies in our endurance in holding on and outlasting the stretch.

There is power in endurance or in our fortitude!

Here’s an acronym of ENDURE to help us better understand and apply endurance in our lives:

Embrace God’s purpose in our situation
Nurture our spiritual roots
Direct our attention to Jesus Christ
Use our experience to help others
Rely on God’s power
Expect God to bless us!

How Faith in Action Looks Like

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The best illustration that I can think of faith in action is two hands clasping together and moving along.

Obviously, one hand belongs to God who is our Father and Shepherd, with the other hand belonging to us, who follow His lead.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ

Romans 10:17

Just as explained in scripture, “faith comes from hearing the message” which can also refer to His word or promise.

His word is His bond

Imagine when God speaks His rhemma (spoken or personal) word to you; it is a promise from Him to you saying that He will do this or that, whatever your situation. That is Him reaching out His Hand to you and beckoning you to grab hold of it to deliver you our from your situation.

Our faith is in action when we believe what He told us and grab hold of His Hand to lead us towards His promise. This also describes how our faith should be in active mode, and not in a passive mode.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

But I guess many of the times, we either don’t trust God enough to grab hold or to hold on all the way enough (due to adversity) to see His promise come to pass.

Partnering with God

Therefore, faith in action is really a partnership between God and Man. And we must be convinced and convicted that God will do His part as He is faithful (never lies), all-powerful (can do all things) and is perfect (blameless).

Hence, the matter of seeing God’s promises coming to fulfillment mainly lies on the shoulders of Man- our part.

We must and need to really know He is God to be able to trust Him enough with our lives to hold His Hand and partner with Him.