Yap!! For the first time, I lost my mobile phone, wow... what a nightmare. I left it on the table of a restaurant late at night on Tues.
Amazing impact on me when I realised it as I reached back home. The govt campaign: "Lose your handphone, Lose your connections" keep ringing in my mind. Oh No!! My precious biz contacts, I got no backup... What if customers call me tomorrow??
Of course sleep is tough, I was on my bed pleading with the Lord... Oh God, I can't lose my phone Lord, help me... What shall I do? Maybe storm down to the restaurant tomorrow. If they don't have it, I will make a scene and threaten to lodge a police report...
I "woke" up early the next day... called my friend, finally checked out the restaurant number on the web. Then called them during lunch time, and Yes... they have my phone in their office. So I flew down and collect, with such a relief in my heart.
But it is interesting how great my reliance is, on my tiny little i-mobile handphone. Guess I will not let it go out of my sight for a while...
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Prophetic Ministry
(Ezr 4:24) "Then the work of the house of God at Jerusalem ceased. So it ceased to the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia."
(Ezr 5:1) "Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them."
The work of the house of God ceased in Ezra (4) because of a decree from King Artaxerxes and their enemies went up against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease.
When we are pursuing the will of God, opposition from our adversary is to be expected. False help and Discouragement will come... Finally for the Jews, the governmental authorities ruled against them, and their enemies stopped the work through violent means.
But what a difference the prophets make... Ezra (5) is a new beginning, not because of any change in the circumstances but, then the prophets prophesied to the Jews. So Zerubbabel and Jeshua rose up and began to build... Afterwards, they sent a letter, through the governor, to the new King Darius... and the rest is history.
Definitely, all Christians can flow in the prophetic, and I believe that Zerubbabel and Jeshua must have understood the prophetic purposes of God even before they returned to Jerusalem. But when the going gets really tough, the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
The prophetic ministry will be critical as we enter this new season of building and warfare. True prophets of God must be allowed opportunities to mature and to make mistakes. After they are tried and tested, they have to also obtain a platform to speak to the people so that their words can take effect.
"But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, fitted together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of each part, producing the growth of the body to the edifying of itself in love. " (Eph 4:15-16)
(Ezr 5:1) "Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them."
The work of the house of God ceased in Ezra (4) because of a decree from King Artaxerxes and their enemies went up against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease.
When we are pursuing the will of God, opposition from our adversary is to be expected. False help and Discouragement will come... Finally for the Jews, the governmental authorities ruled against them, and their enemies stopped the work through violent means.
But what a difference the prophets make... Ezra (5) is a new beginning, not because of any change in the circumstances but, then the prophets prophesied to the Jews. So Zerubbabel and Jeshua rose up and began to build... Afterwards, they sent a letter, through the governor, to the new King Darius... and the rest is history.
Definitely, all Christians can flow in the prophetic, and I believe that Zerubbabel and Jeshua must have understood the prophetic purposes of God even before they returned to Jerusalem. But when the going gets really tough, the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
The prophetic ministry will be critical as we enter this new season of building and warfare. True prophets of God must be allowed opportunities to mature and to make mistakes. After they are tried and tested, they have to also obtain a platform to speak to the people so that their words can take effect.
"But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, fitted together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of each part, producing the growth of the body to the edifying of itself in love. " (Eph 4:15-16)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Inspired by His Word - a time to build...
"But after they had rest, they again did evil before You..." Neh (9:28)
It is amazing to me that just after 70 years of exile, the children of Israel were so settled in Babylon that only a small remnant chooses to return to Jerusalem, to build the house of God. Although God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to make the proclamation, His own people refused to be moved.
Somehow there is something addictive about rest, not that the Lord wants us to be workaholics, but we need to be mobilised as God leads. It is when David stayed back at the time that kings go out to battle, that he got into trouble. Solomon had rest from all his enemies all around, but he went after many foreign women.
God deems it so important that the people of Israel who came to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel were listed twice in the Bible, in Ezra (2) and Neh (7). So let us be counted in this labor and fight to rebuild the tabernacle of David as in the days of old. Be encouraged!! The Lord is sending His prophets and His angels to aid us in the work...
It is amazing to me that just after 70 years of exile, the children of Israel were so settled in Babylon that only a small remnant chooses to return to Jerusalem, to build the house of God. Although God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to make the proclamation, His own people refused to be moved.
Somehow there is something addictive about rest, not that the Lord wants us to be workaholics, but we need to be mobilised as God leads. It is when David stayed back at the time that kings go out to battle, that he got into trouble. Solomon had rest from all his enemies all around, but he went after many foreign women.
God deems it so important that the people of Israel who came to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel were listed twice in the Bible, in Ezra (2) and Neh (7). So let us be counted in this labor and fight to rebuild the tabernacle of David as in the days of old. Be encouraged!! The Lord is sending His prophets and His angels to aid us in the work...
"Decriminalising homosexual acts would be an error"
There is an excellent article by Yvonne Lee in The Straits Times Review section today. Pls take time to read it. She is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Law, NUS.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Learning to be a good steward of our finances
Our perspective of the kingdom must be based on knowing the King. As I have contended that much of the biblical teachings on righteousness deal with stewardship, which is management, there is a sure biblical witness that the Lord cares deeply about this. It was this issue in the Parable of the Talents that determined which servants heard "Well done," and which heard "You wicked, lazy slave!"(see Matthew 25:21-26 NIV) That is how important being a good steward is. Whatever He has entrusted us with, we want to see it used to its maximum efficiency and fruitfulness.
This covers everything from spiritual gifts to other resources, including our money. Money is our least valuable resource, but it is an important one because the Lord said that until we learn to handle it correctly, we will not be trusted with the true riches of the kingdom. It would be great to have enough money to feed 5,000 poor people every day, but it would be even better to have the authority to multiply one hamburger to feed 5,000! That is the difference between the riches of this world and the riches of the kingdom.
Many Christians have been claiming the biblical prophecies which talk about the wealth of the wicked being given to the righteous. But we need to first consider who the "wicked" and "righteous" are (see Proverbs 13:22). As so much of the teaching on righteousness has to do with good stewardship, could the "righteousness" that enables one to be trusted with this be a devotion to and skills in good management?
Just as there are four kinds of grace in Scripture, one of which is "common grace" that the Lord gives to all whether they acknowledge Him or not, there is a righteousness which is not really related to our redemption or salvation, but simply doing things right. No amount of this could ever earn anyone the salvation of their soul, but in the area of "common grace," it does enable the Lord to trust them with more things in the natural realm.
Without question, we should esteem righteousness, which leads to salvation, far above just being good stewards of earthly things. However, we are coming to a time when those who are heirs of salvation will also learn to be good stewards in everything and be given authority commensurate with this. We should esteem cultivating and growing our faith above the material, but that does not mean we should not devote ourselves to being the best stewards possible of all that we have been entrusted with. In truth, these are linked. If we are truly growing in faith, we will become better stewards of everything, esteeming and honoring everything God entrusts to us enough to manage it well.
In this "common grace righteousness," as we have discussed, we would have to include Bill Gates and Warren Buffet as two great examples. Both made tens of billions of dollars and both determined to give away their fortunes. Warren Buffet did not have anyone else to give his to except Bill Gates, who he knew would manage it right, and would gain the maximum benefit from it. If the church were operating as it should, his first consideration of giving it to a place where it would be managed well would have been the church. Sadly, it was not, and for a good reason. However, the church will get there. When we come to maturity, we will be the best stewards of everything on the planet.
Again, this is not to imply that all of these billions given away by Gates and Buffet could buy one moment of eternal life, which the cross alone has paid for. All of the earth's riches would not measure as being worth even a penny of purchasing power in eternal matters. Money is simply a tool for our training.
In Matthew 6:24, the Lord declared, "You cannot serve God and mammon." This has been interpreted by many to think it is not spiritual to give attention to managing money, but I submit that this is not the way this should be taken. If we do not learn some basic issues of money management, we will spend our lives serving money instead of having it serve us and our purpose.
To be practical, get control over your finances or they will control you. Every Christian should be financially independent. This does not mean we should be wealthy, but that we should never have to make a major decision on whether we have enough money or not, but on whether it is the will of God or not. Financial independence must be our goal.
Those who have obeyed this will never have to worry about the mark of the beast, because they will have another Source and will not care if they have permission to buy, sell, or trade in the systems of this world or not. That can, and should be, an important goal, but our main purpose should be to be the best stewards that we can of all that the Lord entrusts to us. This is basic to truly honoring Him, which is basic to true worship.
So, before proceeding, I would like to propose a simple budget for those who do not have one. Here it is:
FIRST YEAR
10% first fruits tithe to the Lord
5% to offerings and good works
5% to emergency reserves/savings for major purposes
5% to recreation/entertainment
75% for living expenses including mortgage, rent, taxes, transportation
SECOND YEAR
10% tithe
6% offerings
6% to reserves
5% recreation
73% living expenses
THIRD YEAR
10% tithe
7% offerings
7% to reserves
5% recreation
71% living expenses
FOURTH YEAR
10% tithe
8% offerings
8% to reserves
5% recreation
69% living expenses
FIFTH YEAR
10% tithe
10% offerings
10% to reserves
5% recreation
65% living expenses
With increasing income, resist increasing your standard of living, but rather increase your standard of giving. Resist free spending and invest the money that you would normally spend on things you do not really need. Things will change if you do this.
The Lord promises to those who are faithful to give Him the "whole tithe" that He will "rebuke the devourer" from their lives. Most people do not need more income to get by—they just need the devourer rebuked from their lives. Personally, I have never met anyone who is faithful to tithe to the Lord who has chronic financial problems. There may be some, for other reasons of disobedience, but I have not met them.
Most people are thrown into financial stress because of unexpected expenses, but they will not throw us into crisis if we maintain adequate reserves. Once the emergency reserves are adequately funded, we should turn what we were setting aside for them into investments. If you do this, and learn to control your spending, your investments will provide more income for you than your job. This too should be a goal.
This is a simple draft of a budget, which may need to be adjusted some for each individual, but the goal is to decrease the percentage of our income that we are spending on living expenses, while increasing what we give and what we invest. The Lord does tend to bless the faithful and diligent so that things can happen much faster. However, if He was to give most people enough to pay off all of their debts in one lump sum, they would be right back in debt in short order because they have not learned to correct their bad management practices. Develop a plan that is right for you, be faithful to it as unto the Lord, and things will happen faster. However, we must resolve to do what is right whether He rewards us quickly or not.
This is not some theory that I am laying out for you. It is sound biblical truth, and I have personally experienced what I am teaching here. I do not want to take the time to go over the details of my personal life, but I am sharing what I know to be the truth and what works.
However, for biblical principles to work, we cannot think short-term, but long-term. Set your heart on faithfulness—forever, because it is the right thing to do, not just to get out of your mess. Remember, Satan is always in a hurry because he knows that he has but a short time. The Lord is never in a hurry because He knows that He has eternity. If we are abiding in Him, we will think long-term. DO NOT succumb to "the tyranny of the urgent," but give yourself to the eternal principles of the eternal kingdom. It takes both faith and patience to inherit the promises. Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and the way of the Spirit will always reflect patience.
Last week I promised a statement about global warming, and I will cover this in more detail later. I do believe there is some truth to global warming, though I feel there is also a lot of evidence that some "evidence" for this and its source, seems to be contrived and/or exaggerated. However, no one should be more concerned about preservation and conservation than Christians.
God entrusted the world to man to take care of. It is a gift of unfathomable beauty, glory, and value, and to not take care of it as we should is an affront to the Giver. For now, I just want to say that we should do the right thing by the environment regardless of global warming, and it is a God-given mandate to us. Christians are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, which means we should have the answers to every important question. I will have more to say on this later, but we have been made stewards of the earth, and we will be accountable. The Lord even said in Revelation 11:18 that He will "destroy those who destroy the earth." We should be wondering why Christians lag so far behind in addressing the important issues that face our world when we are called to be far ahead and showing the way.
I am praying for all who read this Word for the Week to hear on that great judgment day, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV) Those who will are those who take what they believe to be the word from the Lord and apply it to their lives. They do not just hear the words of the Lord, but they obey them. Such are the ones who are building their houses, financial and otherwise, on the Rock that will endure any flood that comes. If you think the Lord is speaking to you about any of these things, do them.
This covers everything from spiritual gifts to other resources, including our money. Money is our least valuable resource, but it is an important one because the Lord said that until we learn to handle it correctly, we will not be trusted with the true riches of the kingdom. It would be great to have enough money to feed 5,000 poor people every day, but it would be even better to have the authority to multiply one hamburger to feed 5,000! That is the difference between the riches of this world and the riches of the kingdom.
Many Christians have been claiming the biblical prophecies which talk about the wealth of the wicked being given to the righteous. But we need to first consider who the "wicked" and "righteous" are (see Proverbs 13:22). As so much of the teaching on righteousness has to do with good stewardship, could the "righteousness" that enables one to be trusted with this be a devotion to and skills in good management?
Just as there are four kinds of grace in Scripture, one of which is "common grace" that the Lord gives to all whether they acknowledge Him or not, there is a righteousness which is not really related to our redemption or salvation, but simply doing things right. No amount of this could ever earn anyone the salvation of their soul, but in the area of "common grace," it does enable the Lord to trust them with more things in the natural realm.
Without question, we should esteem righteousness, which leads to salvation, far above just being good stewards of earthly things. However, we are coming to a time when those who are heirs of salvation will also learn to be good stewards in everything and be given authority commensurate with this. We should esteem cultivating and growing our faith above the material, but that does not mean we should not devote ourselves to being the best stewards possible of all that we have been entrusted with. In truth, these are linked. If we are truly growing in faith, we will become better stewards of everything, esteeming and honoring everything God entrusts to us enough to manage it well.
In this "common grace righteousness," as we have discussed, we would have to include Bill Gates and Warren Buffet as two great examples. Both made tens of billions of dollars and both determined to give away their fortunes. Warren Buffet did not have anyone else to give his to except Bill Gates, who he knew would manage it right, and would gain the maximum benefit from it. If the church were operating as it should, his first consideration of giving it to a place where it would be managed well would have been the church. Sadly, it was not, and for a good reason. However, the church will get there. When we come to maturity, we will be the best stewards of everything on the planet.
Again, this is not to imply that all of these billions given away by Gates and Buffet could buy one moment of eternal life, which the cross alone has paid for. All of the earth's riches would not measure as being worth even a penny of purchasing power in eternal matters. Money is simply a tool for our training.
In Matthew 6:24, the Lord declared, "You cannot serve God and mammon." This has been interpreted by many to think it is not spiritual to give attention to managing money, but I submit that this is not the way this should be taken. If we do not learn some basic issues of money management, we will spend our lives serving money instead of having it serve us and our purpose.
To be practical, get control over your finances or they will control you. Every Christian should be financially independent. This does not mean we should be wealthy, but that we should never have to make a major decision on whether we have enough money or not, but on whether it is the will of God or not. Financial independence must be our goal.
Those who have obeyed this will never have to worry about the mark of the beast, because they will have another Source and will not care if they have permission to buy, sell, or trade in the systems of this world or not. That can, and should be, an important goal, but our main purpose should be to be the best stewards that we can of all that the Lord entrusts to us. This is basic to truly honoring Him, which is basic to true worship.
So, before proceeding, I would like to propose a simple budget for those who do not have one. Here it is:
FIRST YEAR
10% first fruits tithe to the Lord
5% to offerings and good works
5% to emergency reserves/savings for major purposes
5% to recreation/entertainment
75% for living expenses including mortgage, rent, taxes, transportation
SECOND YEAR
10% tithe
6% offerings
6% to reserves
5% recreation
73% living expenses
THIRD YEAR
10% tithe
7% offerings
7% to reserves
5% recreation
71% living expenses
FOURTH YEAR
10% tithe
8% offerings
8% to reserves
5% recreation
69% living expenses
FIFTH YEAR
10% tithe
10% offerings
10% to reserves
5% recreation
65% living expenses
With increasing income, resist increasing your standard of living, but rather increase your standard of giving. Resist free spending and invest the money that you would normally spend on things you do not really need. Things will change if you do this.
The Lord promises to those who are faithful to give Him the "whole tithe" that He will "rebuke the devourer" from their lives. Most people do not need more income to get by—they just need the devourer rebuked from their lives. Personally, I have never met anyone who is faithful to tithe to the Lord who has chronic financial problems. There may be some, for other reasons of disobedience, but I have not met them.
Most people are thrown into financial stress because of unexpected expenses, but they will not throw us into crisis if we maintain adequate reserves. Once the emergency reserves are adequately funded, we should turn what we were setting aside for them into investments. If you do this, and learn to control your spending, your investments will provide more income for you than your job. This too should be a goal.
This is a simple draft of a budget, which may need to be adjusted some for each individual, but the goal is to decrease the percentage of our income that we are spending on living expenses, while increasing what we give and what we invest. The Lord does tend to bless the faithful and diligent so that things can happen much faster. However, if He was to give most people enough to pay off all of their debts in one lump sum, they would be right back in debt in short order because they have not learned to correct their bad management practices. Develop a plan that is right for you, be faithful to it as unto the Lord, and things will happen faster. However, we must resolve to do what is right whether He rewards us quickly or not.
This is not some theory that I am laying out for you. It is sound biblical truth, and I have personally experienced what I am teaching here. I do not want to take the time to go over the details of my personal life, but I am sharing what I know to be the truth and what works.
However, for biblical principles to work, we cannot think short-term, but long-term. Set your heart on faithfulness—forever, because it is the right thing to do, not just to get out of your mess. Remember, Satan is always in a hurry because he knows that he has but a short time. The Lord is never in a hurry because He knows that He has eternity. If we are abiding in Him, we will think long-term. DO NOT succumb to "the tyranny of the urgent," but give yourself to the eternal principles of the eternal kingdom. It takes both faith and patience to inherit the promises. Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and the way of the Spirit will always reflect patience.
Last week I promised a statement about global warming, and I will cover this in more detail later. I do believe there is some truth to global warming, though I feel there is also a lot of evidence that some "evidence" for this and its source, seems to be contrived and/or exaggerated. However, no one should be more concerned about preservation and conservation than Christians.
God entrusted the world to man to take care of. It is a gift of unfathomable beauty, glory, and value, and to not take care of it as we should is an affront to the Giver. For now, I just want to say that we should do the right thing by the environment regardless of global warming, and it is a God-given mandate to us. Christians are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, which means we should have the answers to every important question. I will have more to say on this later, but we have been made stewards of the earth, and we will be accountable. The Lord even said in Revelation 11:18 that He will "destroy those who destroy the earth." We should be wondering why Christians lag so far behind in addressing the important issues that face our world when we are called to be far ahead and showing the way.
I am praying for all who read this Word for the Week to hear on that great judgment day, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV) Those who will are those who take what they believe to be the word from the Lord and apply it to their lives. They do not just hear the words of the Lord, but they obey them. Such are the ones who are building their houses, financial and otherwise, on the Rock that will endure any flood that comes. If you think the Lord is speaking to you about any of these things, do them.
Learning to cut off the unnecessary...
For the past few months we have been addressing the subject of our time, especially as we prepare the way for the kingdom by taking up the call to preach the gospel of the kingdom. As we see this present world collapsing into increasing discord and disorder, the kingdom will be marked by increasing peace and order. We must therefore order our own lives according to kingdom principles and be a demonstration of the kingdom. We will see an increasing contrast between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God, and between the lives of those that have been built on each.
As we have discussed, the whole nation, and much of the world, was traumatized by the mismanagement during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. However, it was not just the government, but the large charities as well. I received some heated emails from leaders of a couple of these large charities, which I had named in this Word for the Week, wanting me to apologize, but I do not apologize for the truth. I said what I did to try to help them, not hurt them, but the defensiveness with which they took my comments told me that it was unlikely they would acknowledge their problems, much less correct them. However, that can change and it must. Inefficiency, or burying our responsibility, is a sin, and it is why the one servant in the Parable of the Talents was called a "wicked, lazy slave" (see Matthew 25:26).
I also know that the leaders of these large charities may have been honestly offended by my comments. By this I mean that they really do not see the inefficiency in their own organizations. I believe many in government positions are the same way. In fact, I have almost never witnessed bad intentions on the part of anyone in government charities which are being run inefficiently. Many really do not know how to do it any better, and sincerely think they are managing their operations as well as they can be managed. This is an honest, understandable mistake, which is why I do not get offended by those who get offended at me for trying to address these things. However, we must do better. The church and Christian charities can and should lead the way in this.
To get where you are supposed to go, you have to know where you are. In general, I think the church is one of the most inefficiently run organizations in the world. The simple fact that we tend to build these huge, expensive buildings to be used for just a couple of hours one day of the week, and then mostly sit empty the rest of the week, should tell us something. This expense would certainly be worth it to reach one person with salvation, or to help one family stay together, but why not use our resources to help many more?
We at MorningStar are also wrestling with the same issues. We know that we can do things much more efficiently than we are, and we also realize that it usually takes time to implement needed changes. The first thing that must change is attitude. If all of our staff and employees begin to look at waste as their own tithes and offerings being thrown away, they become diligent. For the most part, I think that attitude has been permeating our organization, but we are also constantly finding bottlenecks and people who are very busy doing things that we don't really need done, or at least are not priorities. That is a key to efficiency—prioritizing. This is needed with our time, our jobs, and the duties within our jobs.
I have come to believe that without engaged, proactive, wise leadership, most organizations will quickly gravitate to spending 90 percent of their time on what bears less than 10 percent of the fruit. It is just as true of churches and ministries as any other organization. We must learn the lesson of pruning. Well-managed fruit trees are pruned of branches that do not produce fruit so that they do not sap the resources that would otherwise go to the branches which are bearing fruit.
As we address budgeting, we need to look first at what needs to be cut off totally. Think about this—almost 100 percent of the people who become wealthy through investing start by learning to not buy anything they do not really need, and putting what they save into an investment. Most of these have a goal within a certain period of time of making more off of their investments than they do from their job, and those who are disciplined in keeping to their plan usually get there much faster. However, the key that most investors attribute to their success is first learning to control spending.
Many people buy cars to carry the maximum people that they will need to carry when they only carry that number of people a couple times a year. They would do much better to drive a smaller car and just rent a bigger one when they really need it. People build homes the same way. They live in huge houses that must be heated, cooled, and maintained, for the once or twice a year when the whole family comes. Instead, they could rent a much nicer resort for a lot less for those times.
Of course, there can be emotional ties to the homestead, but are these brief, fleeting feelings of nostalgia worth what we are paying for them? Maybe they are to you, but perhaps if you and the family thought about them in relation to their actual cost, and how much more you may be able to do for yourself and your family if you were not bearing these costs, everyone would probably vote to sell.
Much of our lives are spent cleaning and dusting things that we really do not use and may not even really like—get rid of them. Prune back. If you are a "pack rat," you are an inefficient person and a lot of your time, energy, and resources are probably being needlessly consumed by this stronghold of insecurity. You will be amazed at how much better you feel when you get rid of some things.
Of course, efficiency is not everything. Sometimes love requires us to be extravagant, as the Lord is sometimes with us. However, inefficiency probably hurts more people than most of our other big social problems combined. Here is something for you to consider: I cannot prove it, but I feel sure that many church splits are the result of the Lord allowing things to happen to prune those churches of things they would not deal with themselves. Let me elaborate a bit more.
One of the enemy's main strategies in the last days is to "wear out the saints." Many are being worn-out by the multitude of projects and causes they are pressured to join out of guilt, but these really are not accomplishing anything for the kingdom. Again, a car can have 300 horsepower, but what good is it if it is stuck in the sand and not going anywhere? Many are putting out a lot of effort and consuming a lot of energy, but they really are not accomplishing anything except expending time and energy that could be going to what really bears fruit.
Again, we were bought with a price, and we do not belong to ourselves, but to Him. We are servants, stewards, and we will be judged by how well we have managed our lives and the resources entrusted to us. The Scriptures are clear that this is a big deal to God and should be to us. It starts with us. We are called to be the light of the world, which means we should be showing the way.
Next week we will continue to address how this should affect us personally, and we will tie it together with global warming, which is becoming one of the biggest issues of our time. I am not saying yet whether I think it should or shouldn't be such an issue, but it is, and if we are the light of the world we should be able to address it with clarity and wisdom.
As we have discussed, the whole nation, and much of the world, was traumatized by the mismanagement during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. However, it was not just the government, but the large charities as well. I received some heated emails from leaders of a couple of these large charities, which I had named in this Word for the Week, wanting me to apologize, but I do not apologize for the truth. I said what I did to try to help them, not hurt them, but the defensiveness with which they took my comments told me that it was unlikely they would acknowledge their problems, much less correct them. However, that can change and it must. Inefficiency, or burying our responsibility, is a sin, and it is why the one servant in the Parable of the Talents was called a "wicked, lazy slave" (see Matthew 25:26).
I also know that the leaders of these large charities may have been honestly offended by my comments. By this I mean that they really do not see the inefficiency in their own organizations. I believe many in government positions are the same way. In fact, I have almost never witnessed bad intentions on the part of anyone in government charities which are being run inefficiently. Many really do not know how to do it any better, and sincerely think they are managing their operations as well as they can be managed. This is an honest, understandable mistake, which is why I do not get offended by those who get offended at me for trying to address these things. However, we must do better. The church and Christian charities can and should lead the way in this.
To get where you are supposed to go, you have to know where you are. In general, I think the church is one of the most inefficiently run organizations in the world. The simple fact that we tend to build these huge, expensive buildings to be used for just a couple of hours one day of the week, and then mostly sit empty the rest of the week, should tell us something. This expense would certainly be worth it to reach one person with salvation, or to help one family stay together, but why not use our resources to help many more?
We at MorningStar are also wrestling with the same issues. We know that we can do things much more efficiently than we are, and we also realize that it usually takes time to implement needed changes. The first thing that must change is attitude. If all of our staff and employees begin to look at waste as their own tithes and offerings being thrown away, they become diligent. For the most part, I think that attitude has been permeating our organization, but we are also constantly finding bottlenecks and people who are very busy doing things that we don't really need done, or at least are not priorities. That is a key to efficiency—prioritizing. This is needed with our time, our jobs, and the duties within our jobs.
I have come to believe that without engaged, proactive, wise leadership, most organizations will quickly gravitate to spending 90 percent of their time on what bears less than 10 percent of the fruit. It is just as true of churches and ministries as any other organization. We must learn the lesson of pruning. Well-managed fruit trees are pruned of branches that do not produce fruit so that they do not sap the resources that would otherwise go to the branches which are bearing fruit.
As we address budgeting, we need to look first at what needs to be cut off totally. Think about this—almost 100 percent of the people who become wealthy through investing start by learning to not buy anything they do not really need, and putting what they save into an investment. Most of these have a goal within a certain period of time of making more off of their investments than they do from their job, and those who are disciplined in keeping to their plan usually get there much faster. However, the key that most investors attribute to their success is first learning to control spending.
Many people buy cars to carry the maximum people that they will need to carry when they only carry that number of people a couple times a year. They would do much better to drive a smaller car and just rent a bigger one when they really need it. People build homes the same way. They live in huge houses that must be heated, cooled, and maintained, for the once or twice a year when the whole family comes. Instead, they could rent a much nicer resort for a lot less for those times.
Of course, there can be emotional ties to the homestead, but are these brief, fleeting feelings of nostalgia worth what we are paying for them? Maybe they are to you, but perhaps if you and the family thought about them in relation to their actual cost, and how much more you may be able to do for yourself and your family if you were not bearing these costs, everyone would probably vote to sell.
Much of our lives are spent cleaning and dusting things that we really do not use and may not even really like—get rid of them. Prune back. If you are a "pack rat," you are an inefficient person and a lot of your time, energy, and resources are probably being needlessly consumed by this stronghold of insecurity. You will be amazed at how much better you feel when you get rid of some things.
Of course, efficiency is not everything. Sometimes love requires us to be extravagant, as the Lord is sometimes with us. However, inefficiency probably hurts more people than most of our other big social problems combined. Here is something for you to consider: I cannot prove it, but I feel sure that many church splits are the result of the Lord allowing things to happen to prune those churches of things they would not deal with themselves. Let me elaborate a bit more.
One of the enemy's main strategies in the last days is to "wear out the saints." Many are being worn-out by the multitude of projects and causes they are pressured to join out of guilt, but these really are not accomplishing anything for the kingdom. Again, a car can have 300 horsepower, but what good is it if it is stuck in the sand and not going anywhere? Many are putting out a lot of effort and consuming a lot of energy, but they really are not accomplishing anything except expending time and energy that could be going to what really bears fruit.
Again, we were bought with a price, and we do not belong to ourselves, but to Him. We are servants, stewards, and we will be judged by how well we have managed our lives and the resources entrusted to us. The Scriptures are clear that this is a big deal to God and should be to us. It starts with us. We are called to be the light of the world, which means we should be showing the way.
Next week we will continue to address how this should affect us personally, and we will tie it together with global warming, which is becoming one of the biggest issues of our time. I am not saying yet whether I think it should or shouldn't be such an issue, but it is, and if we are the light of the world we should be able to address it with clarity and wisdom.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
But the Cowardly...
"He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Rev (21:7-8)
It is clear from Rev (3:5) that for those who fail to overcome in this life, it is possible that their names be blotted out from the Book of Life. Therefore, I conclude that not all Christians will be saved, or put in another way - Christians do go to Hell...
The promise in the above verses is for every Christian to overcome and enter into sonship. But the two biggest obstacles for us, are being cowardly and unbelieving. To overcome our sin nature, we will need to tap into the grace of God in faith, like when we first receive our salvation.
"Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16)
"Therefore, brothers, having boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies having been washed with pure water." (Heb 10:19-22)
We must have great boldness to draw near to Him, to confront the little foxes in our lives, for the Lord is not pleased with anyone who draws back. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of the brethren, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching...
Please do not stay in the outer courts, there is no guarantee that you will survive the trampling of the Gentiles.
It is clear from Rev (3:5) that for those who fail to overcome in this life, it is possible that their names be blotted out from the Book of Life. Therefore, I conclude that not all Christians will be saved, or put in another way - Christians do go to Hell...
The promise in the above verses is for every Christian to overcome and enter into sonship. But the two biggest obstacles for us, are being cowardly and unbelieving. To overcome our sin nature, we will need to tap into the grace of God in faith, like when we first receive our salvation.
"Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16)
"Therefore, brothers, having boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies having been washed with pure water." (Heb 10:19-22)
We must have great boldness to draw near to Him, to confront the little foxes in our lives, for the Lord is not pleased with anyone who draws back. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of the brethren, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the Day approaching...
Please do not stay in the outer courts, there is no guarantee that you will survive the trampling of the Gentiles.
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