Holy Spirit Fathering Part 2

I was disciplining J in the car last night. I asked him to pray and reflect, and asked Jesus what happened.

He said, "Jesus said that I was disrespectful to Papa."

I said, "Now you pray and ask Him to give you a picture."

He prayed and said, "Papa, is it any picture?"

Papa: Yes.

J: I saw a pair of spectacles.

Papa: Can you ask Jesus what it meant?

J: Jesus said that I need to be thankful. People in other countries don't even have what I have.

Papa: That's right. Jesus showed you spectacles because you are seeing with limitation. You can't see how blessed you already are compared to other people. But you are a thankful boy, so you can be thankful. If you are thankful, you will see well.

We need to train the next generation (especially our own children) to hear God so that they can respond to Him when we are not there for them. We can't be there for them forever. But God the Father will never leave nor forsake them. #fathering101

Holy Spirit Fathering Part 1

J has great memory capability. He literally ‘thrashed’ my wife playing the memory cards. Proud with his ability, he came and challenged me to play the memory cards with him.

He said, “Papa, I have very good memory. Let’s see who will win. But you cannot pray in tongues.” He meant that I should not rely on the Holy Spirit to help me remember.

I replied, “Why can’t I depend on the Holy Spirit?”

J: No. You cannot. You have to depend on your brain (he meant memory).

Papa: I prefer not to depend on myself. I want to depend on the Holy Spirit. We should never depend on our own ability.

J: Alright.

Throughout the game, I intentionally spoke in tongues so that he learnt about dependence upon the Spirit.

The outcome? I ‘thrashed’ him and won the game. Of course, with my memory, it would not be possible. But with the Spirit, nothing is impossible.

J was humbled by the power of the Holy Spirit, as he learnt that God is greater than his ability. #fathering101

Cultivating The Heart of The Next Generation

J asked me about satan, lucifer, heaven, earth, angels and hell earlier, which inspired me to write this post.

When I shared with him that satan is the father of lies, and that lying is to follow his nature, he replied, "Lies are like fire, and truth is like water." Well, this blew my mind away, coming from a 6-year old. My wife said, "This must be God teaching him, because nobody ever taught him this."

Then he was pretty worried knowing what would happen when Christ returns. So he requested to pray for some family members to know Christ. He added, "Mei**** is my best friend in school. She must know Him." And we prayed together. It was the first time I saw such fervor, earnestness and urgency he had to commit these people in prayer. That really touched my heart and reminded me why I left full-time church ministry.

The test of ministry is not the ministry without, but the ministry within. By that, I mean our family. It is often easy to do ministry out there, but not necessary within the family. Family is the revelation of our walk, not just our talk.

Women have no problem putting family first. But most men have such problem and we need to learn. I had to learn it too. The main issue with men lies with the need to have achievements out there in the world. And we are not just talking about non-believers. Many believing men are the same. Only the context has changed, from striving in the worldly things to striving in the spiritual things. The need to produce results and achievements in the spiritual context is the revelation of the Fall and the root of insecurity, without proper fathering of the heart.

So one can be a spiritual giant in the eyes of many, but still be driven by insecurity because of a lack of fathering. In fact, many heroes of faith struggled with this, resulting in them pursuing spiritual position and popularity in the spiritual world. Nothing has changed much since times past. Men are still working for recognition in the church.

The first Adam during the Fall showed us the failure in protecting his family (Eve) by focusing on the tasks on his hand. But the last Adam showed us the success in protecting His family (the world and the church) by laying down His life, His popularity, His fame, His achievements (plenty of miracles), etc.

Christ Himself has given us a model to follow (Eph 5:25; 1 Tim 3:4-5). And the criteria to judge if a person is able to take on spiritual leadership is always FAMILY.

It is with this and the message that God spoke to me before I left full-time church ministry, that drove me to realise the highest call of men, first and foremost, is to be a father (for those who are married with kids), because God is our FATHER. This is a tough message to hear because men cannot accept the role of a father... it is one that has little recognition in the world as compared to their achievements. Most of us men want to be heroes out there, but our family prefers us to be heroes at home. If we are heroes to the world but zeroes at home, we have missed the whole important thing.

I love signs and wonders. But signs and wonders are not the key to resolve social problems. Take a look at Indonesia and some other nations and you will know what I meant. In fact, just look at our own nation and you cannot deny that while miracles can lead people to know Christ, they cannot disciple the hearts, especially of the next generation. Read the book of Corinthians - the carnal believers who moved in powerful signs and wonders.

If we want to impact the society, we must cultivate the heart of the next generation. And it begins right at home --- your own children. #fathering101