What Does The Father Say About Preaching?

After preaching yesterday, there was one comment that made me deeply ponder...

"Wilson... God is the super star. But today, you are the super star. You got to be very careful."

I was reflecting through this comment. "Did I not preach a Christ-centred message?" "In what way did I draw the attention to myself?" "How can I avoid this?"

Jesus preached and it often drew multitudes to Him. Yet He often withdrew from the crowd when they wanted to 'crown' Him. Jesus never once liked the attention, even though His message & life drew their attention.

I have seen those who said that they never like the attention, but their actions speak otherwise. The things they post on Facebook reveal otherwise.

I guess this is the pitfall of those on the stage - and this includes worship leaders. There is a thin line between receiving affirmation and liking affirmation. The former acknowledges God before us, but the latter acknowledges us before God. It is a very, very thin line and only God truly knows the heart.

I'm not a superstar. Yet I get to feel a very little of what Francis Chan experienced when he was a superstar. This was an area he struggled deeply within. He was a popular public figure. He preached well and strong. But he struggled with liking the affirmation and working towards getting it. His books were bestsellers. His messages were high in demand. The whole thing crushed him. Because he wasn't ready to handle the popularity.

Well, of course, I'm not comparing myself to him. I'm just a father with a son. A simple man. Likes coffee and chips. Period. And I desire to show everyday, normal believers, that everyone can walk in power and love.

Yet this one comment got me really wonder how I should approach the pulpit ministry.

A couple of people texted me few days before the service that they were looking forward to my preaching. A few texted me that they were kind of disappointed that they couldn't be there due to church camp. On the day of service, some told me that they were waiting for me to preach.

But these are precisely the danger of pulpit ministry. I want to do it well because I believe that the message should be preached well. It's about taking the pulpit ministry seriously.

I thank God that I have left full-time church ministry, which means that I won't get to regularly preach at the services. After all, I enjoy reaching out to people in the streets one soul at a time. Life is always simple in the secluded place.

I asked the Father, "How can I handle this?"

He replied, "It doesn't matter if someone looks upon you as a 'superstar', as long as you come to Me and know that I am the One who spoke through you. As long as you know it is Me."

It requires continual communion and gratitude towards Him, to stay in the place of knowing who He is and who I am to Him.

Rest Or Worry Part 3

Rest Or Worry PART 3

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your LIFE, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your BODY, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the BIRDS of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more VALUE than they? 27 Which of you by WORRYING can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the LILIES of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of LITTLE FAITH? - Matt 6:25-30 (emphasis added)

Resting is about recognising our value as God's beloved sons and daughters. When we worry, we are saying, "Father, I am not really valuable to you. I need to work out the solutions. No one is helping me. I must do something."

But when we rest, we are saying, "Father, I am so valuable to you. I am more valuable than the birds and the lilies. My value is the value of Your beloved, treasured, favoured and begotten Son Jesus Christ. In fact, I am so valuable that You gave Him up to live IN me. So I can trust You to provide for me."

As mentioned in part 1 and 2, the remedy for worrying is simply resting. It is an activity of the heart. Resting is about affirming your value and your identity in Christ. However, you can't simply tell someone NOT to worry and simply REST without giving him/her something to replace worrying with.

In the following verses, God lovingly revealed how we can practically REST in Him.

“Therefore DO NOT WORRY, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the GENTILES seek. For your heavenly Father KNOWS that you need all these things. 33 BUT seek FIRST the KINGDOM of God and His RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things SHALL BE ADDED to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about TOMORROW, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matt 6:31-34 (emphasis added)

"DO NOT WORRY, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'" 

Again, worrying is always the revelation that we are looking to the external, temporal and visible. These are the material things that the world (gentiles) seeks - they pursue them; they give their time, energy, focus, mind and whole being to pursue the external.

Yet the Father KNOWS that we need all these things. He is not saying, "Don't bother about the external. You don't need them. You just need the spiritual." He knows that we live IN the world and we NEED them. But the only way to stop us from worrying is to simply DIRECT our attention to something else.

"BUT seek FIRST the KINGDOM of God and His RIGHTEOUSNESS..."

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. - Rom 14:17

The kingdom of God is opposite from the kingdom of the world. The latter focuses on external - eating and drinking. But the former focuses on the internal - righteousness, peace and joy.

God is showing us the way to practically REST - by focusing on the internal - Righteousness, Peace & Joy. When we know our right standing (Righteousness) before Him, we will be AT Peace with Him and BE filled with Joy. Peace is life for the soul, just as joy is life for the body (a cheerful heart is good medicine). God is concerned with our soul and our body. When we affirm our right standing with Him, we find rest for our soul and health.

The second part says, "seek... His RIGHTEOUSNESS". What does that mean? 

1 Cor 1:30 says, "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us... Righteousness..."

Christ is Our Righteousness. The word 'seek' in Greek is to 'pursue, aim at'. Hence, to seek His Righteousness is to pursue and BECOME like Christ. If we want to practically pursue something, it is not pursuing the material (the external). It is pursuing Christ (the internal) to become like Him and manifest Him.

When we focus on Christ and manifest His kingdom, God says that the external things that we need will be ADDED to us. How awesome that is!

How can we NOT worry about the external things? By practically focusing on becoming like Christ and manifesting His kingdom. In doing that, we are resting in our true value and trusting God to take care of our needs. #identity #rest #supply

Rest Or Worry Part 2

Rest Or Worry PART 2

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your LIFE, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your BODY, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the BIRDS of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more VALUE than they? 27 Which of you by WORRYING can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the LILIES of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of LITTLE FAITH? - Matt 6:25-30 (emphasis added)

As mentioned in Part 1, resting is not about inactivity. It is about identity. It is a constant activity to affirm our value and identity. The reason why we can rest is because of the New Covenant that Christ has with the Father.

Some time ago, I asked Him, "Why would You consider the lilies of the field to be more glorious than all the glory of Solomon? Maybe I don't know how to appreciate the lilies more than the riches of Solomon... but how is that possible?"

He said, "Because the lilies neither TOIL nor spin..." Then I was reminded of Solomon.

"I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me... Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had TOILED; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 2:4-7, 11 (emphasis added)

Solomon lived in the Old Covenant; we live in the New Covenant. Solomon could not rest on the inside, because Christ had not finished His works on the Cross. In other words, Solomon had to reap what he sowed, but we can reap what we did not sow.

This is why God said, "Look at the BIRDS of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more VALUE than they?"

The birds neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; the lilies neither toil nor spin. Because the Father's world doesn't work like our world. We don't work FOR rest ---- that's toiling. We work FROM rest.

As worrying cannot add one cubit to our stature, it means that worrying is not an external activity. It is an activity of the heart. In other words, two people can be doing the same outward activity, but each has a different activity in their heart --- one is out of worrying while the other is out of rest. You can't tell the difference outwardly, but you can tell by looking at their soul (LIFE) and health (BODY). This is why the kingdom doesn't work by applying the same method. It works by our relationship with the Father.

The remedy for worrying is to replace that activity of the heart with resting. How?

Jesus said, "Are you not of more VALUE than they?" The next time when you look at the birds and the lilies, you can gladly tell yourself, "Well, I am more valuable than these. And if the Father feeds and clothes them, how much MORE will He feed and clothe me."

The value we have is the value of the New Covenant. It took the death of God's Son to establish the New Covenant. Our value IS the life of Jesus. When we recognise our value, we can rest. Your working cannot increase or decrease your value. But your resting empowers you to affirm your value.

When we worry, we supply what we need. But when we rest, our Father will supply what we need. It is impossible for Him to break this rule, because it means that He has to first 'de-value' us, which in turn, 'de-value' the Cross.

If He compares worrying to "O you of LITTLE FAITH", it also means that He sees you of GREAT FAITH when you simply rest.

In the next part, we will see the practical way to truly REST in Him as He revealed in the same passage. #identity #rest #supply

Rest Or Worry Part 1

Rest Or Worry PART 1

When there are so many things on hand, it is vital to put aside what is URGENT to focus on what is IMPORTANT. Only one thing is necessary, like Mary, and that is to choose His presence. Today, I chose to sit at His feet while I know that I have so many different things that I have yet to do.

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your LIFE, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your BODY, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the BIRDS of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more VALUE than they? 27 Which of you by WORRYING can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the LILIES of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of LITTLE FAITH? - Matt 6:25-30 (emphasis added)

This passage is a continual source of power and strength to me personally. Each time when I meditate on it, I discover fresh riches of His grace.

While we are concerned with the external, God is concerned with our internal. What we eat or drink are from outside in, but our LIFE is from inside out. We are concerned with the material things, but God is concerned with our inner life - our soul. 

"Beloved, I wish that you prosper in all things and be in health, even as your soul prospers." - 3 John 2

There is an order of priority: Soul -> Body -> Material. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. The greatest care has to be the care of the soul, for which God is concerned with.

While we are anxious about what to wear, God is 'anxious' about our health (BODY). Because health is the greatest asset, as compared to Prada, Gucci, etc. You can have $1 million but without health, you really have nothing. What is outside always depreciates, but what is inside will appreciate. This is why men look for girlfriends who are beautiful on the outside but they look for wives who are beautiful on the inside.

God is waiting for us to see what He sees: for us to stop looking outside and start looking inside - LIFE & HEALTH, so that we realise these intangible assets require ONE thing: Complete dependence upon Him.

When we focus on the external things, we WORK for it because it is humanly achievable. When we focus on the internal, we REST for it because it is humanly impossible.

This is why God said, "Do not worry about your life and your body..." We worry because we think that our life has to do with food and our body has to do with clothing, when in actual fact, it has to do with our soul and our health. So we will keep worrying if we keep looking at the external. 

When God said, "Do not worry", it means that He has a remedy. Worrying is an attitude of the heart. What's the remedy? Resting. Because resting is also an attitude of the heart. Resting is not inactivity. It is a constant activity to affirm your value and your identity. The reason why people cannot rest is because they don't know their value. So they tie their value to their achievements - job, work, fitness regime, miracles, signs and wonders, etc. But the moment they stop doing, they feel useless and get depressed. They question their self-worth. The greatest test of a person's value is not giving him challenges and work; it's giving him nothing to do and force him to do nothing - that will reveal his true value.

This is why resting is an attitude where many of us don't live there all the time. And we need to get back to focus on that ONE thing: To sit at His feet and appreciate Him, so that we will appreciate our value in Him.

In the next part, we will see how God graciously and lovingly empowered us to REST, instead of worrying. He is a good, good Father. #identity #rest #supply

Prophetic Word For Mama

I asked J, “Do you have a Word for Mama concerning her work?”

He paused, spoke to Jesus and replied, “Teach them well!”

My wife was shocked. J had never used these words before. It’s absolutely Jesus and a reminder for her to focus on her passion and purpose of teaching and nurturing the children, regardless of politics, leadership and other stuff that took her time and attention away from the precious lives. Jesus!

Significance

Wanting significance and being significant are two different things. The former is about being someone else while the latter is about being yourself. #identity

Wisdom In Parenting

It is always intriguing to me when New Covenant teachers can divide the Old and New Testament (including) the book of Proverbs appropriately, and believe that God the Father does not inflict pain to teach His children a lesson, yet they believe in spanking the child to teach them a lesson.

Sometimes, what we believe in the head is not translated to the heart, especially when it comes to parenting. It's not what you believe that reveals your belief. It's what you live out and practise that reveals what you truly believe.

99% of the time, we spank because we are helpless, lost control, filled with anger and frustration, or wanting control over the behaviour of the child. If this is the way to discipline, I'm pretty sure God just needs to whack us one time and it is done. We will then live in complete fear of the Lord.

The word 'discipline' is often tied to spanking (which includes caning, punishment, etc.) Yet the word 'discipline' doesn't have to do with spanking. It has to do with training and instruction.

Eph 6:4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the DISCIPLINE and instruction of the Lord.

The word 'discipline' here means 'instruction that trains someone to reach full development (maturity).'

There are many ways to discipline a child. And what we need is continual wisdom.

"As you listen to me, my beloved child, you will grow in wisdom and your heart will be drawn into understanding, which will empower you to make right decisions. - Prov 23:19

Parenting requires wisdom, not spanking. In the early stage of J's lives, we applied different discipline ways through the direction of the Lord. What I realise is this... as he grows older, what worked before has to change. And thus, we need to keep having wisdom to parent him.

Parenting is probably one of the most dynamic thingy in life. Because there is no one size that fits all. Get advice as you need, but don't follow the methods. Follow Jesus and His wisdom.

P.S: If you can see Jesus spanking a child, let me know. #identity #fathering

The Law of First Mention

In Bible interpretation, we give weight to the Law of First Mention. Whatever that is mentioned first is significant.

I believe it applies to our children. When we teach them each subject for the very first time, it leaves the strongest imprint and significance in their lives.

Today, J said to me, “Papa, when I grow up, I choose a nice girl like Mummy.”

I took this opportunity to re-iterate what I said to him before.

“A boy must be with a girl. Daddy must be a boy and Mummy must be a girl. There is no other way around it. Every other way is wrong. A boy cannot marry a boy and a girl cannot marry a girl. Two boys can never have a baby. Two girls can never have a baby. It must be a boy and a girl. That’s how God made it.”

And I got him to repeat what I said.

If we don’t give our child the “Law of First Mention”, the devil will. 

Sometimes we Christians are so fearful of taking a stand and try to use the name of Love to keep things under the water. That’s not the Jesus I know. Even Paul was not afraid to confront with truth when he wrote to churches where non-believers were present.

Jesus openly preached the truth, but He walked in Love. He loved people into truth.

Nowadays, we either hide truth and act in love or we preach truth and walk without Love. It is not either or... it is both.

Today, we are so focused on numbers and leading people to say salvation prayer that we don't present the full Gospel. "Jesus loves you and knows you. Would you like to receive Him?" That's not even the full Gospel. I have tried it so many times and almost all want to receive Him. Who doesn't want?

But try adding, "Jesus is the ONLY Way to Father God" and see if they still want Him.

When I presented the full Gospel, some decided not. It's totally okay because not all are ready to receive Him. Sometimes, we want to get a person say the salvation prayer just to add to another new testimony to share with people, instead of truly seeing the person giving his/her life to Jesus. This is why the community that believes in monotheism is the hardest to reach because they know what it means to receive Jesus as God. The rest who believe in polytheism  (like the Chinese) can easily receive Jesus as another god to add to the list of gods they already have, because the more the merrier.

John 6:65-67 - And Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

Please don't set our eyes on salvation numbers. No wonder we have plenty of numbers but not real believers. Because if you present a half Gospel, you get a half believer. The early church gave the full message so that those who were saved continued to live out the Gospel. They didn't even have the issue of "is it once saved always saved" or "can you lose your salvation?" Because when they accepted the full Gospel, they gave their lives to Jesus and period. 

The early church started with small numbers and they shook the whole world. Today, we have the largest numbers but the world isn't impacted much. It's the result of a half Gospel. #fathering101

Sight Words

Recently, J kept forgetting certain sight words. He would ask, "Papa, what is this word?"

So I started asking him, "Can you ask Jesus?"

He would pause, talk to Jesus, and immediately recognise the sight words. My wife was amazed by this.

Apparently, the Holy Spirit is not just here to remind you of all things Jesus had said. The Holy Spirit is also here to remind you of sight words.

Colourful Buttons

Cos J saw colourful buttons and he went to pray them to stick on the wall. A creative smiley face. Need to bring him to do street outreach again soon. #noglue #powerofGod #healing

Lesson From The Late Billy Graham

While the late Billy Graham was a hero to the world, he wasn’t to his family in various areas. This is why he regretted at the end of his life. He said he would spend more time with his family and reduced the speaking engagements, if he could do it over again.

It is good to learn from this general of faith both his passion for the Gospel and his mistake of not fathering his children.

It is very natural for men to pursue ministry (often out of the need for recognition and achievement, but masked as passion for Jesus). It’s a very thin line between the two. Because many of us didn’t have fathers who father us, and thus we repeat the same cycle over and over again.

But when we look to the Father above, we will know what truly matters in His heart.

I believe that the highest call of a married man with kids is to be a father. You are not first a pastor, prophet, evangelist, etc. You are first a son of the Most High, and thus you are first a father to your child. Else God would not be called “Father”. The earthly representation is to represent the heavenly.

Taking ministry to the extreme is wrong.

Taking parenting to the extreme is wrong too. There can be a balance.

After one crucial conversation, Ruth recalled about her father Billy Graham, “I saw how important the ministry was to him — and how little the family was. Things had to look right, and divorce didn’t fit.” 

May we learn from Evangelist Billy.

https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/02/21/divorce-drugs-drinking-billy-grahams-children-and-their-absent-father/

Kingdom Participation

Sometimes, his assistance creates more mess and slows down the whole process of packing. 

This is what the Father in Heaven experiences. He allows us to have the privilege to partner with Him, to participate in His Kingdom work. But often, we mess up His plan and slow down the process. Yet He loves us and still continues to let us participate.  #fathering101 #father #fathering #fatherandson #dadsforlife #dads #dad #fathers #father #parenting #parents #parent #family #families #daddy #baby #child #children #kids #son #sons #babies #kid #fatherhood #love #fatherlove #mum #mummy #mother #blogger

Kids’ Communion With Jesus

Kids commune with Jesus in very interesting ways.

One of the ways is to act cheeky, close his eyes while walking, hold a biscuit, while having some crumbs in his mouth... and wait for Jesus to reveal stuff to him. I like the kid’s way because it is pretty natural.

(And please don’t teach kids to put their hands together to pray).

I like to commune with Jesus with a cup of coffee and biscuit in my mouth. That’s probably the holiest way to approach Him. Because I think He likes the aroma... ahem... I guess those kneeling and prostrating ways don’t really suit me. Did that too often when I was a Taoist. But now... I am set free to have freestyle positions. 😂😂😂🤣

Happy Valentine's Day

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her... - Eph 5:25

We are called to love our wives the same way Christ loved the church. In other words, it's agape and sacrificial love.

Why is this important?

If we can love our wives the same way Christ loved the church, it is true sacrificial love that comes from within, and that will permeate every area of our lives. If we can love our wives that way, we will truly love people outside of our family unit.

But if we love people outside more than we love our wives, it is an indication of self-centred love. It is a kind of love that is not pure. It is a kind of love that is self-seeking. Because we are merely 'showing love', instead of walking in true love.

Merely loving people outside doesn't need to be sacrificial. Because you can 'hit-and-run'. Because you don't need to experience tension. Because you don't need to keep facing the person when issues arise. Because you can easily agree to disagree. Because it is harder to get hurt from people you are not really close with. Because you don't have to lay down your life to serve the same person regardless of any situation.

But loving people inside requires sacrificial love. Because it's 365 days a year; it's 24 hours every day.

"Our role is to love our wives. Christ's role is to love the church." I remember this phrase very clearly, which was shared by Joseph Chean, who was then YWAM Base Director. And he stepped into missions field more than many of us. 

Sometimes, we get it upside down. We step into Christ's role to love the church and we neglect our wives. This is one reason why we see many broken Christian marriages. Because we confuse serving in ministry with loving Jesus. And we put ministry first. That is not sacrificial love. If we search the root, we will come to realise that is self-centred love. It is an identity issue.

Jesus demonstrated amazing sacrificial love, especially for His disciples.

John 13:1 - And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and to the highest degree.

And this, Jesus included Judas, the disciple whom He loved, the disciple who journeyed with Him throughout His ministry, the disciple whom He shared His life and intimate moments with, and the very same disciple who betrayed Him to the hands of His enemies.

I cannot imagine how He continued to love Judas to the very end, to the very last and to the highest degree. But He did it. He gave His life for Judas. It must have hurt deeply. But He wasn't hurt by Judas. He hurt FOR him. For He is love.

May we see His love more and more, so that we can walk in His love. And love our wives the same way He loved the church, and gave Himself for her.

For that is true love, that will permeate every area of our lives. We can then truly love people everywhere we go.

Happy Blessed Valentine's Day to all!

Why Can’t I See Jesus?

J asked, “Why can’t I see Jesus now?”

I responded, “Jesus is in your heart.”

J: But why I can’t see Him now?

Papa: Look up to the sky. Can you see the moon now?

J: No.

Papa: But is the moon there?

J: Yes.

Papa: But can you see it now?

J: No.

Papa: That is like Jesus. You don’t see Him now. But He is there. He is in your heart.

J: I can see the moon at night.

Papa: Yes. You can see Jesus in your sleep.

J: Okay.

Phew. 😅😅😅