Tag Jesus and the Marketplace

After 15 years…

andrewong2024 3 Comments

mortons HKThis photo was taken with my wife at Morton’s Steakhouse during our trip to Hong Kong in this January.

I had made it one of the highlights of our trip to dine at this swanky american restaurant to celebrate my wife’s birthday as it was also at Morton’s Singapore that I had proposed to her on her then birthday.

Between God and I, Morton’s bears a significant role in my walk with God. It is a place where I hold precious memories and lessons that He taught me and made me the person I am today.

I’ve not told this story of mine…..

When I’d decided to wholeheartedly follow Christ in 2000, a lot of changes took place swiftly towards burning the bridges to my past life. One of them was my job.

Back then, I was a club DJ and had my own small business supplying manpower for pubs and clubs. I wasn’t making a lot of money, but it provided me a decent living. And as a school dropped out and an ex-convict, it definitely boosted my self-worth and ego that I was “somewhere” and “made it”.

The other perks of this job was it fitted well with my then lifestyle of music, booze, drugs and sex, So you can imagine how tightly I would be holding on to this identity. It was everything I knew and it gave me everything I enjoyed then.

But Christ saved me and spoilt the devil’s party…..

Not too long after, I was confronted with the inevitable. I knew I had to quit DJ-ing. The lifestyle and the environment was no longer appealing as it was before. And I recalled how I was having this casual and candid conversation with God…

God: I would like you to quit your job.
Me: Really? But this is the only skills I have and its my ‘ricebowl’ leh… How?
God: Trust me.
Me: Hmmmm…
God: *silence*
Me: Ok la… since You say so, I will do it!

Back then, there wasn’t much choice for me when I browsed the recruitment classifieds. Being a dropped out with no qualifications but just a secondary school studies, I could only look at the odd jobs section which mainly featured jobs for F&B or hospitality.

One day while browsing, a particular ad caught my attention with an inner prompting by the Holy Spirit to call the number. The job offered was as a server (or waiter).

I called and an interview was arranged for the next day. I just went with an open mind and heart and at the end, I got the job! However, I did not accept it right away and requested to reply the next day.

I can recall how I was both in awe and in shock! In awe in how God was moving and in shock because I was trying to accept the implications of such a change.

I struggled in making a decision cos…..

In the eyes of the world I was making a move backward. It obviously looks like a downgrade from where I was at that time.

“How would my friends think of me?”

“What would they say about it?”

“How was I going to explain this radical move?”

But I decided to follow through in obeying God. Hence, I chose by faith, to accept the job.

I reckoned it was more important for me to be bothered more by what God thought of me; what He would say about me and be more concern over His approval rather than man’s approval. And I saw in the spirit that this was a promotion in His kingdom.

After accepting my new job, I gave away my entire music collection and DJ stuff that could have easily been worth in the thousands. I felt like Peter and Andrew who gave up their nets to follow Jesus.

I was now going to be a “fisher of men”…..

My time serving as a server at Morton’s for more than a year was one of the best moments with God as that’s where I discovered my passion- serving others and making a difference.

God used this job to shape my servitude as His disciple which has laid a foundation for me where I’m now able to build on and carry with me wherever He plants me and in all I do.

More importantly, choosing to obey and follow Him allowed me to discover WHO I AM in Christ towards building my security in my identity as His child rather than in what I do for a living.

Amazingly, I later also discovered that this job in Morton’s was God’s arrangement in advance to provide for me when God led me to bible seminary.

As the enrollment was a full time stint, my work allowed me to switch to a part time employment when I requested for it!

Today after 15 years…..

I can look back at how that first step of obedience has led me to: a life of His abundance and goodness.

Now, if I need to browse for a job, I’m no longer confined to one section of classifieds. And He has graciously given me upward mobility to be His ambassador and influencer in the marketplace.

Now, I know God doesn’t lie as I have no lack and He has been my Provider at every stage of my life. Even providing the finances for me to further my studies and to eventually graduate with a bachelor degree. And also provided the means to be His ‘tent-maker’ while in Vietnam.

Now, I’m paired with a wonderful person I call my wife whom God has entrusted me to lead and love. If you told me I would be married back then, I would have laugh it off as I saw myself unworthy or unfit for such an enormous commitment. But God thought otherwise and I believed Him.

Now, because of experiencing how great and good God is from these past 15 years, I am expecting more from Him in the years ahead!

So to those reading this, never undermine the possibilities of how your simple obedience to God can take you to. Trust Him because God loves you and is faithful!

Christianity through Arts and Creativity

andrewong2024 4 Comments

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.

Makoto FujimuraThere 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>>>

Christianity: The Need for Relevance

andrewong2024 10 Comments

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 !

Soccer-Pro Scores for Jesus in EPL

andrewong2024 1 Comment

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.

Linvoy Primus

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>>>