Sunday, November 29, 2009
Great Service with 2 Saved Today!
At the Church I spoke for in Shah Alam, Malaysia this morning, we had an incredible experience. The worship was over the top, the message was clear & strong and the response time at the altar was like it was out of a dream! The prophetic ministry was razer sharp and the Lord touched so many in an awesome way! But my favorite part was when two Tamil, Hindu guys came to the alter and I was honored to lead them in the prayer of salvation! Hearing them reject all other beliefs and put their trust in Jesus was awesome! As soon as they said "amen," the power of God hit them like a tsunami and they went down in the power of God and experienced His presence as they lay there side by side, spending precious "carpet time" with Jesus! This is what it's all about!!!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Group Foto from Youth Camp in Port Dickson, Malaysia
We had a great time at Youth Camp at Port Dickson in Malaysia! We're posing in front of an amazing climbing wall. The activities that the campers enjoyed between the sessions were team building, survival type. This rustic site is used by businesses and organizations but it worked great for our group as well. Fantastic! We were in the midst of palm tree groves (the kind that they harvest palm oil from) and the campers stayed in permanant tents. For those of you wondering, the other white guy in the picture is my friend Pastor Steffen from Germany, a committed servant of God who lives in Malaysia. 
Friday, November 20, 2009
"Overwhelmed"
The dictionary describes the word “overwhelm” as being upset, submerged or overthrown. You could say that to be overwhelmed means you have lost or been buried.
The Apostle Paul said that he was: (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)
hard pressed on every side – but not crushed
perplexed – but not in despair
persecuted – but not abandoned
struck down – but not destroyed
Often when I think I’m going under or when I have suffered a set back of some kind, the feeling that I have is that I am overwhelmed. When this happens, I just want to sit down right where I am even if it’s on the floor and just give up. I imagine it would be like that last moment just before you drown or when you are about to lose your grip while dangling high in the air just before plummeting to the ground.
I believe that though Paul FELT perplexed, his experience with God and more importantly, the Word of God told him different: that he should not despair. That when he was perplexed (didn’t understand why he was going through his challenges), that “God’s ways are higher then our ways.” When persecuted, he undoubtedly remembered that God’s Word promises persecutions but that God never abandons us while we are suffering through them. And that when he was struck down, knocked to his knees, that he was not destroyed and that he could by God’s power, get up again.
I want to turn the word “overwhelmed” into a SIGNAL. When we begin to feel overwhelmed, that is the time to turn the tide and overwhelm the enemy, overwhelm our circumstances, conducting spiritual warfare by using the Word of God! And if we are having difficulty releasing scripture from our mouths or going into effective prayer, then let’s get some music going to overwhelm our negative, depressive and defeated thoughts or maybe some group prayer.
One of the most important things that we must do in order to be able to speak up and rise up the way Paul did, is that we must overwhelm our own feelings, emotions and human understanding with the reality of God’s Kingdom in the light of His Word.
Another more common word in the Bible which is similar to “overwhelm” is “overcome.” Here are some scriptures to start overwhelming our emotions and circumstances with (all in NIV):
John 16:33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
· What did Jesus say to do? “Take Heart!” That means BE ENCOURAGED!
1 John 4:4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 5:4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
· A hint on this one. You can’t overwhelm the world without FAITH
1 John 5:5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
· Come on! You gotta believe it right NOW. It will be easier to believe it if you will start confessing these scriptures.
Another word that I associate with “overwhelmed” is “HELPLESS.” Helpless is how I feel when I’m overwhelmed. I get to a point that I realize that there is literally nothing else that I can do to affect or change a circumstance. This is how the flood victims here in Manila felt while they were watching their possessions destroyed or when a mother held the lifeless body of her drowned child. It is how the Father of a household feels who has lost his job and comes home after spending the day looking for a job with no good news and with no groceries and the family is going to go to bed hungry. This of course is more severe in the nations of the world with no welfare system. If they don’t have relatives with resources, they will eventually die of sickness or starvation.
Here’s the one I personally don’t love to experience: You have a deadline... maybe to pay something. You have been praying and praying and have truly done your best. You have believed that God would not allow His name to be tarnished by you being late. (Have you ever tried to use that one on the Lord? I have!) “God, you said that I am the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower!” And you really “felt it” while you were praying it!
Then the call comes from the landlord or the finance company and you find yourself saying these words. “I’m sorry but I simply don’t have it. I promise to pay as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.” Then you hang up the phone (or worse, close the door) and that flood of despair comes. That unmistakeable disappointment that comes even causing you to question yourself. “God? Whatever it is, I’m sorry. Show me where my mistake was... I repent... Please help me to pay these bills, to find a good job, to manage my resources better.”
Some of you are probably wondering what it is that prompted me to write this. Well you are right that normally when a minister touches a subject, they have recently had dealings within the range of that subject in recent times whether they are willing to admit or not. OK... I’ll share :-)
I have a wonderful guy in my life who is a prayer partner and he has been used by God at times to supply our financial needs. He sent me a message several weeks ago saying that he was sending a donation of $300. Awesome! But it never arrived. He then sent me another message asking if I had received the $3,000. One zero makes a huge difference. I of course worked it out with him so that he was able to re-send the donation in a more reliable way. I was ecstatic that the $300 was a typo and that it was going to be 3K because that is really what we needed. We had recently come to the end of our financial rope having run out of funds and having only 30% of the support we need to survive. This large donation meant that we could go for probably three more months, a cause for many shouts of praise at our house!
When the funds arrived this morning, I found out that the typo was reversed from what I thought. The $3,000 was wrong and it really was $300. I immediately started thanking God for the $300 which is an amazing blessing. But at the same time, I started to wonder where the other $700 I have to have by tomorrow and the many hundreds more I will soon need will come from. It seems too late because international miracles take time... There went my human thinking again and I successfully turned a blessing into a mental struggle. I spent the next couple of hours battling that defeated feeling. I felt overwhelmed, helpless. I started wondering if maybe God isn’t with us here. If we need to go Stateside and hang up the ministry hat until this terrible economy gets better, if it ever gets better. I started to feel sorry for myself and started counting the number of letters, E-mails and messages I have sent to friends and people close to us asking for help that have not been answered. Not even a “no” or an “I’m sorry but we just don’t have it Pst Steve...” Ignored. Helpless. Overwhelmed.
I started crying in the car during the commute on the way to school with Ethan sitting beside me asking me, “Daddy, what’s wrong?!? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who it is and I’ll beat them up!” He is in that phase right now and it actually made me feel better.
But it’s not about feelings is it... I wrote this post and now I have read it for myself. I needed this! I hope you get something out of it too, but even if nobody ever reads it... it has already done me a world of good! I have been confessing and proclaiming these scriptures and I have been overwhelming my emotions and the devil himself! Then I received another green shoot in my wilderness. An SMS (text message) arrived at just the right time. Someone who I haven’t heard from in a long time said that even though he is going through a difficult time right now and just had his first baby, that God has told him to support our ministry $100 a month! My God! I needed that encouragement at just that moment! My little tears of depression turned into huge tears of joy and gratitude!! With that, we reached 40% of the support we need. Only 60% to go!
Just a few hours ago, the 70% seemed impossible but now 60% seems so within reach! What a difference FAITH makes!
I still need that miracle, but I know that it is en route and that though God seldom is early, He is never late! His timing and his method of distribution is perfect! I’m so encouraged right now that I want to run around the block several times and I probably will just as soon as I finish writing!
For those of you who have prayed for us, who are partnered with us and for those who have communicated, even saying “no” or “not at this time,” I want to say thank you so so much! You are awesome! For those of you have happened upon this post, please consider becoming a part of a mutual miracle and supporting our ministry. We need some pretty fast help. Thank you for your kind consideration my friend.
For more information about our ministry and the breakdown of our financial needs, please visit www.pastorstevemckinney.com . Details on how to send a donation are also listed at the top right hand side of this blog.
The Apostle Paul said that he was: (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)
hard pressed on every side – but not crushed
perplexed – but not in despair
persecuted – but not abandoned
struck down – but not destroyed
Often when I think I’m going under or when I have suffered a set back of some kind, the feeling that I have is that I am overwhelmed. When this happens, I just want to sit down right where I am even if it’s on the floor and just give up. I imagine it would be like that last moment just before you drown or when you are about to lose your grip while dangling high in the air just before plummeting to the ground.
I believe that though Paul FELT perplexed, his experience with God and more importantly, the Word of God told him different: that he should not despair. That when he was perplexed (didn’t understand why he was going through his challenges), that “God’s ways are higher then our ways.” When persecuted, he undoubtedly remembered that God’s Word promises persecutions but that God never abandons us while we are suffering through them. And that when he was struck down, knocked to his knees, that he was not destroyed and that he could by God’s power, get up again.
I want to turn the word “overwhelmed” into a SIGNAL. When we begin to feel overwhelmed, that is the time to turn the tide and overwhelm the enemy, overwhelm our circumstances, conducting spiritual warfare by using the Word of God! And if we are having difficulty releasing scripture from our mouths or going into effective prayer, then let’s get some music going to overwhelm our negative, depressive and defeated thoughts or maybe some group prayer.
One of the most important things that we must do in order to be able to speak up and rise up the way Paul did, is that we must overwhelm our own feelings, emotions and human understanding with the reality of God’s Kingdom in the light of His Word.
Another more common word in the Bible which is similar to “overwhelm” is “overcome.” Here are some scriptures to start overwhelming our emotions and circumstances with (all in NIV):
John 16:33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
· What did Jesus say to do? “Take Heart!” That means BE ENCOURAGED!
1 John 4:4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 5:4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
· A hint on this one. You can’t overwhelm the world without FAITH
1 John 5:5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
· Come on! You gotta believe it right NOW. It will be easier to believe it if you will start confessing these scriptures.
Another word that I associate with “overwhelmed” is “HELPLESS.” Helpless is how I feel when I’m overwhelmed. I get to a point that I realize that there is literally nothing else that I can do to affect or change a circumstance. This is how the flood victims here in Manila felt while they were watching their possessions destroyed or when a mother held the lifeless body of her drowned child. It is how the Father of a household feels who has lost his job and comes home after spending the day looking for a job with no good news and with no groceries and the family is going to go to bed hungry. This of course is more severe in the nations of the world with no welfare system. If they don’t have relatives with resources, they will eventually die of sickness or starvation.
Here’s the one I personally don’t love to experience: You have a deadline... maybe to pay something. You have been praying and praying and have truly done your best. You have believed that God would not allow His name to be tarnished by you being late. (Have you ever tried to use that one on the Lord? I have!) “God, you said that I am the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower!” And you really “felt it” while you were praying it!
Then the call comes from the landlord or the finance company and you find yourself saying these words. “I’m sorry but I simply don’t have it. I promise to pay as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.” Then you hang up the phone (or worse, close the door) and that flood of despair comes. That unmistakeable disappointment that comes even causing you to question yourself. “God? Whatever it is, I’m sorry. Show me where my mistake was... I repent... Please help me to pay these bills, to find a good job, to manage my resources better.”
Some of you are probably wondering what it is that prompted me to write this. Well you are right that normally when a minister touches a subject, they have recently had dealings within the range of that subject in recent times whether they are willing to admit or not. OK... I’ll share :-)
I have a wonderful guy in my life who is a prayer partner and he has been used by God at times to supply our financial needs. He sent me a message several weeks ago saying that he was sending a donation of $300. Awesome! But it never arrived. He then sent me another message asking if I had received the $3,000. One zero makes a huge difference. I of course worked it out with him so that he was able to re-send the donation in a more reliable way. I was ecstatic that the $300 was a typo and that it was going to be 3K because that is really what we needed. We had recently come to the end of our financial rope having run out of funds and having only 30% of the support we need to survive. This large donation meant that we could go for probably three more months, a cause for many shouts of praise at our house!
When the funds arrived this morning, I found out that the typo was reversed from what I thought. The $3,000 was wrong and it really was $300. I immediately started thanking God for the $300 which is an amazing blessing. But at the same time, I started to wonder where the other $700 I have to have by tomorrow and the many hundreds more I will soon need will come from. It seems too late because international miracles take time... There went my human thinking again and I successfully turned a blessing into a mental struggle. I spent the next couple of hours battling that defeated feeling. I felt overwhelmed, helpless. I started wondering if maybe God isn’t with us here. If we need to go Stateside and hang up the ministry hat until this terrible economy gets better, if it ever gets better. I started to feel sorry for myself and started counting the number of letters, E-mails and messages I have sent to friends and people close to us asking for help that have not been answered. Not even a “no” or an “I’m sorry but we just don’t have it Pst Steve...” Ignored. Helpless. Overwhelmed.
I started crying in the car during the commute on the way to school with Ethan sitting beside me asking me, “Daddy, what’s wrong?!? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who it is and I’ll beat them up!” He is in that phase right now and it actually made me feel better.
But it’s not about feelings is it... I wrote this post and now I have read it for myself. I needed this! I hope you get something out of it too, but even if nobody ever reads it... it has already done me a world of good! I have been confessing and proclaiming these scriptures and I have been overwhelming my emotions and the devil himself! Then I received another green shoot in my wilderness. An SMS (text message) arrived at just the right time. Someone who I haven’t heard from in a long time said that even though he is going through a difficult time right now and just had his first baby, that God has told him to support our ministry $100 a month! My God! I needed that encouragement at just that moment! My little tears of depression turned into huge tears of joy and gratitude!! With that, we reached 40% of the support we need. Only 60% to go!
Just a few hours ago, the 70% seemed impossible but now 60% seems so within reach! What a difference FAITH makes!
I still need that miracle, but I know that it is en route and that though God seldom is early, He is never late! His timing and his method of distribution is perfect! I’m so encouraged right now that I want to run around the block several times and I probably will just as soon as I finish writing!
For those of you who have prayed for us, who are partnered with us and for those who have communicated, even saying “no” or “not at this time,” I want to say thank you so so much! You are awesome! For those of you have happened upon this post, please consider becoming a part of a mutual miracle and supporting our ministry. We need some pretty fast help. Thank you for your kind consideration my friend.
For more information about our ministry and the breakdown of our financial needs, please visit www.pastorstevemckinney.com . Details on how to send a donation are also listed at the top right hand side of this blog.
Monday, November 16, 2009
An Open Door
Joy and I spent an afternoon at the home of an influential retired Judge on Saturday. He is a passionate man who is heavily involved in politics. His wife is facing her 5th major surgery and we had opportunity to pray with her and we are believing God for a mighty miracle in her life! After that wonderful time with them, we then went to a political rally where I spoke to a group of business owners, politicians and community leaders, delivering a message from the Word of God which was relevant to them. It was a powerful time and gave us more exposure to the community in Marikina as we continue the post Ondoy flood relief work. God is good and we thank you for your continued prayers and support! This would not have been possible if it had not been for your generosity!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Choices and the Car Window
Most everyone would agree that life is about choices. Probably the greatest recurring theme that I have seen in the word of God in recent years would be about making good decisions. I believe that the greatest indicator that someone is “on track” with God is that they make better and better choices.
This in theory brings big “amen’s” but life puts it to the test...
Devin and I ran out to the car the other day to get to an appointment. It was parked just outside our house and when I opened the door, the window crumpled down. It had been shattered but the tint had held it together and it looked like a collage. I looked around and I saw a weed-wacker and other landscaping tools laying nearby and I remembered that a maintenance crew had been working near the car. I looked at the pattern on the broken glass and saw that a rock had probably hit the window. Though the equipment was there, the workers had all run off for a “break.”
I went to our housing association and they assured me that it is in the contract with the landscaping company that they must pay for any damage of this sort. I was relieved since we don’t exactly have a few hundred dollars extra in the cookie jar.
As it turns out, because our car is a year 2000 and an unusual model, the glass is not easy to find. The estimate that we got was from the Toyota dealer and was $225. This is much more expensive then most car windows could be repaired for but I was determined to hold the company to it.
When I talked to the association a few days later to follow up, I found out that the landscaping company wanted time to get new estimates from glass shops for non-original glass.
I was getting tired of driving with a shattered and taped window which not only looked terrible but was dangerous because I could not see to the left clearly. Every time I turned was a major event.
I explained that I did not want to wait any longer and that I expected the repairs to begin immediately. And I further explained that I did not want non-original glass. I envisioned something inferior that might not be a very good fit...
The guy at our association said that he would be happy to enforce my wishes if I demand it, but he explained to me that even though the landscaping company was paying for it, that the crew of 4 guys would be docked for the repair from their paychecks. They had already found a shop that would do the entire repair including the glass, labor and tint for $55. Quite a difference from the $225.
I started to think about those guys and the fact that it was an accident. I also thought about the fact that I really wanted original Toyota glass and that it is my right to demand it. I then swung back and thought about the fact that those guys make about $100 a month each and that I would be causing them each to lose almost a half months income just because I want original glass...
I wanted to take the high road and get the good glass by paying for it myself. A year ago when I was Pastoring a Church where I received a salary, I could have done that and would have done that. But the reality is that I simply cannot do that at this time. Bummer!
And so I decided to go with the cheaper customized glass in order to help these guys out who accidentally trashed my car. If I had insisted on the more expensive glass, I imagine that would have taken some or all of their kids Christmas gifts away. I must admit that when I’m driving down the street in the future, the thought that my window is “inferior” will bother me at times. I suppose that we all need experiences like this in order to get over ourselves... Good choices are hard to make because they prune us, but it is definitely for the better!
They pick my car up to take it for the repair tomorrow at 10am.
This in theory brings big “amen’s” but life puts it to the test...
Devin and I ran out to the car the other day to get to an appointment. It was parked just outside our house and when I opened the door, the window crumpled down. It had been shattered but the tint had held it together and it looked like a collage. I looked around and I saw a weed-wacker and other landscaping tools laying nearby and I remembered that a maintenance crew had been working near the car. I looked at the pattern on the broken glass and saw that a rock had probably hit the window. Though the equipment was there, the workers had all run off for a “break.”
I went to our housing association and they assured me that it is in the contract with the landscaping company that they must pay for any damage of this sort. I was relieved since we don’t exactly have a few hundred dollars extra in the cookie jar.
As it turns out, because our car is a year 2000 and an unusual model, the glass is not easy to find. The estimate that we got was from the Toyota dealer and was $225. This is much more expensive then most car windows could be repaired for but I was determined to hold the company to it.
When I talked to the association a few days later to follow up, I found out that the landscaping company wanted time to get new estimates from glass shops for non-original glass.
I was getting tired of driving with a shattered and taped window which not only looked terrible but was dangerous because I could not see to the left clearly. Every time I turned was a major event.
I explained that I did not want to wait any longer and that I expected the repairs to begin immediately. And I further explained that I did not want non-original glass. I envisioned something inferior that might not be a very good fit...
The guy at our association said that he would be happy to enforce my wishes if I demand it, but he explained to me that even though the landscaping company was paying for it, that the crew of 4 guys would be docked for the repair from their paychecks. They had already found a shop that would do the entire repair including the glass, labor and tint for $55. Quite a difference from the $225.
I started to think about those guys and the fact that it was an accident. I also thought about the fact that I really wanted original Toyota glass and that it is my right to demand it. I then swung back and thought about the fact that those guys make about $100 a month each and that I would be causing them each to lose almost a half months income just because I want original glass...
I wanted to take the high road and get the good glass by paying for it myself. A year ago when I was Pastoring a Church where I received a salary, I could have done that and would have done that. But the reality is that I simply cannot do that at this time. Bummer!
And so I decided to go with the cheaper customized glass in order to help these guys out who accidentally trashed my car. If I had insisted on the more expensive glass, I imagine that would have taken some or all of their kids Christmas gifts away. I must admit that when I’m driving down the street in the future, the thought that my window is “inferior” will bother me at times. I suppose that we all need experiences like this in order to get over ourselves... Good choices are hard to make because they prune us, but it is definitely for the better!
They pick my car up to take it for the repair tomorrow at 10am.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Jonah & his 120,000 Converts
We studied the book of Jonah in our Pastoral Staff meeting today. This just as we have been evaluating the effectiveness of our follow up processes in TFI Gateway Mall Cubao.
If you take a look at it, you will see that after being spit out of the big fish, the man of God finally obeyed and actually went to Nineveh, preached repentance and the entire city including the King repented. Amazing!
I have met people who were able to convert entire villages and even towns, but never a community of 120,000. I once met a man who had 10% of his city of 80,000 attending his Church and that was incredible!
This guy Jonah was handed an opportunity to establish what would have been the largest Church in the World, but he developed an attitude. He wasn’t happy that the evil people of Nineveh had received mercy from God. He was disgusted with God, complained to God and left the city, praying that God would just let him die. This is where the story gets more interesting...
God makes a vine grow over Jonah which provides him with shade to ease his discomfort and this makes him happy. But then God, the same God who sent the nice vine sent a worm which made the vine die, the shade go away and made Jonah to want to die again.
God then tells Jonah that he should have tended the vine and defended it from the worm and makes him understand that it was his job to keep that vine, that blessing alive. Do you know the test that we often use on people, seeing if they are able to care for a plant first before having kids to prove they are ready to be parents? This was like that. God might as well have said, “If you can’t take care of a vine, then how can you take care of a Church?” Then God uses this example to describe how He felt about the new harvest of 120,000 souls in Nineveh which Jonah had basically just abandoned.
God showed Jonah that the new worshippers of God did not know their left from their right and that they would need guidance. They would need mentorship or they would die just like the vine.
Ultimately, we do not know if Jonah responded well to God’s message and returned to the city to tend this new flock. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I hope he did!
The lesson for us is that follow up, care for those that the Lord gives us in the harvest truly depends on our attitude today just as much as it did Jonah’s attitude in that day. The Lord gave me a prophetic word at another Church in which I was serving and He told me that unless we care for the souls being saved in our Church, that He would stop sending visitors who would turn into converts. I investigated and found out that we in that Church were not effectively following up and those in the ministry which had the charge to do so were even being “selective,” only making those feel welcome who they liked. It was a wake up call for me then and I remember it now.
We at TFI Gateway are doing a good job following up, but we did discover a weakness. We have been relying on the people who bring the visitors to do the major part of the work of following up and it hasn’t been getting done in a timely manner and with lots of gaps. We have decided to step up our efforts and that our team of follow up ministry folks will become much more aggressive in personally following up with each visitor. And if the person who brought them does so as well, double effort is wonderful!
TFI Gateway people who are reading this??? We need your help and we need some new dedicated, responsible and friendly people to join our consolidation team led by Sister Mina. Please contact us?
I wish I could be Jonah right now and preach a message to 120,000 and they would all get saved. But he was raised up with a very specific message for a very specific time. It was something like this: “You are all going to die 40 days from now because of your sin and God’s anger unless you repent.” God has not told me that about Manila in 2009. But I am challenged... our entire staff is challenged to find out what the exact message for November of 2009 is so that we can be as effective as Jonah was in his day. But then we want to go a step further then he did and heed the command of Jesus, not to go make converts, but to make disciples of all nations!
If you take a look at it, you will see that after being spit out of the big fish, the man of God finally obeyed and actually went to Nineveh, preached repentance and the entire city including the King repented. Amazing!
I have met people who were able to convert entire villages and even towns, but never a community of 120,000. I once met a man who had 10% of his city of 80,000 attending his Church and that was incredible!
This guy Jonah was handed an opportunity to establish what would have been the largest Church in the World, but he developed an attitude. He wasn’t happy that the evil people of Nineveh had received mercy from God. He was disgusted with God, complained to God and left the city, praying that God would just let him die. This is where the story gets more interesting...
God makes a vine grow over Jonah which provides him with shade to ease his discomfort and this makes him happy. But then God, the same God who sent the nice vine sent a worm which made the vine die, the shade go away and made Jonah to want to die again.
God then tells Jonah that he should have tended the vine and defended it from the worm and makes him understand that it was his job to keep that vine, that blessing alive. Do you know the test that we often use on people, seeing if they are able to care for a plant first before having kids to prove they are ready to be parents? This was like that. God might as well have said, “If you can’t take care of a vine, then how can you take care of a Church?” Then God uses this example to describe how He felt about the new harvest of 120,000 souls in Nineveh which Jonah had basically just abandoned.
God showed Jonah that the new worshippers of God did not know their left from their right and that they would need guidance. They would need mentorship or they would die just like the vine.
Ultimately, we do not know if Jonah responded well to God’s message and returned to the city to tend this new flock. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I hope he did!
The lesson for us is that follow up, care for those that the Lord gives us in the harvest truly depends on our attitude today just as much as it did Jonah’s attitude in that day. The Lord gave me a prophetic word at another Church in which I was serving and He told me that unless we care for the souls being saved in our Church, that He would stop sending visitors who would turn into converts. I investigated and found out that we in that Church were not effectively following up and those in the ministry which had the charge to do so were even being “selective,” only making those feel welcome who they liked. It was a wake up call for me then and I remember it now.
We at TFI Gateway are doing a good job following up, but we did discover a weakness. We have been relying on the people who bring the visitors to do the major part of the work of following up and it hasn’t been getting done in a timely manner and with lots of gaps. We have decided to step up our efforts and that our team of follow up ministry folks will become much more aggressive in personally following up with each visitor. And if the person who brought them does so as well, double effort is wonderful!
TFI Gateway people who are reading this??? We need your help and we need some new dedicated, responsible and friendly people to join our consolidation team led by Sister Mina. Please contact us?
I wish I could be Jonah right now and preach a message to 120,000 and they would all get saved. But he was raised up with a very specific message for a very specific time. It was something like this: “You are all going to die 40 days from now because of your sin and God’s anger unless you repent.” God has not told me that about Manila in 2009. But I am challenged... our entire staff is challenged to find out what the exact message for November of 2009 is so that we can be as effective as Jonah was in his day. But then we want to go a step further then he did and heed the command of Jesus, not to go make converts, but to make disciples of all nations!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
800 Kids update...
There are pictures to the right of this post you can click to see from a feeding session conducted in Marikina on October 10.
Though we have received no long term financial commitments to continue the work helping 800 kids in Marikina who were victims of typhoon Ondoy, we continue with the work because God is faithful and He is the source. I know that many of you are praying and I want you to know that prayer works! Thank you!
We continue to feed and run programs in this community weekly. Many have trusted Jesus to be their Lord and Savior and He is changing lives by the power of His love shown through volunteers. We are working and praying towards this work becoming a Church in the next few months. Amen!
Though we have received no long term financial commitments to continue the work helping 800 kids in Marikina who were victims of typhoon Ondoy, we continue with the work because God is faithful and He is the source. I know that many of you are praying and I want you to know that prayer works! Thank you!
We continue to feed and run programs in this community weekly. Many have trusted Jesus to be their Lord and Savior and He is changing lives by the power of His love shown through volunteers. We are working and praying towards this work becoming a Church in the next few months. Amen!
If "It" has already been given, why do you have to find "it?"
Luke 11:8-10 (NIV)
8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
One of the two famous “ask, seek and knock” scriptures found in Luke 11 was part of our text in our staff meeting at TFI San Juan this last Tuesday morning (the other one is in Matthew 7). A point that Jesus made in this scripture is that it is persistance (boldness), not friendship which opens the door so that the one in need may receive help.
Pastor Boni, our Pastor who was leading the devotion made a good point in that regarding the culture of the time and place in which Jesus was speaking, there would have been a compulsion on the part of the townspeople to help because the purpose for the bread was to feed an out of town guest and a community does not collectively want to lose face. This applies to the Church in all cultures because we work together as one body to make certain that we represent our Lord well. This causes us to help at times we might not have otherwise. In Eastern/Asian terms, this means we will often do what it takes for the Church to not “lose face.”
Boy did Jesus nail it though! How many of my readers today I wonder, are glad that God has other ways of providing then through friends?! Friends have often come through, but there have been times when they really didn’t. And even those times that friends did, it was really more the bold persistance which opened the door and then the friendship ended up being weird or strained for awhile. Come on... you know what I’m talkin’ about!
I had a ministry friend and we both had a mutual friend who at the time, had a great deal of money. My ministry friend needed money but the money friend wasn’t moved. Finally, my “money friend” said, “To shut you up, here’s a check for $20,000. I don’t want to hear another word!” And that was that. My ministry friend had enough to get him over the next hurdle. I wish I had been the bold one! :-)
I have at times been caught up in idealism which I spiritualize in order to avoid doing something that I don’t want to do. Early in my ministry, I took to heart a saying by the famous missionary Hudson Taylor. In regards to finances, he told his missionary force to “tell no one but the Lord.” And they always ended up with an abundance of finances which they then funelled even to other ministries in need. Awesome!
I used that as my basis to never ask for financial assistance and to only “pray the resources in.” One month, I ran out of money and was considering leaving Cebu City, Philippines, where we lived at the time, to go back to the USA with my tail between my legs. In prayer, the Lord told me to ask for $1,000 a month from a guy whose business card I had been hanging on to for some time. I was upset and couldn’t believe it was the Lord because I wanted to be like Hudson Taylor! After a couple of weeks and we were down to canned food for groceries, I wrote the letter. When I was about to mail it, the Lord once again prompted me. “FED EX it!” What?!? How presumptuous and desperate would that make me look?!? I spent the extra $35 to do it and wouldn’t you know it?!? Within days, I got a FedEx from the guy back with the first check for $1,000 and a one year commitment letter. The way he wrote it showed me that he was somewhat annoyed but willing... Strange. After a year, he sent me another letter telling me that no way would he support our ministry any longer. But God had provided a different source by then.
Ask...Seek...Knock...
In 1 Kings 17, while in hiding, Elijah was supernaturally provided for by God through ravens and a hidden brook during a famine. After that season was over, God told him to go to a Widow in Zarephath who He had “commanded” to provide the prophet with food. The interesting thing is that when Elijah approached her, it seemed that she knew nothing about it... that she had evidently not heard from the Lord the same way Elijah had. How disappointing!
Even though she claimed that she would be taking her last supply of flour and oil to prepare a final meal for her and her son to eat and then die, the prophet instructed her to not be afraid and insisted that she feed him. She did as the prophet told her and received an incredible miracle of the flour and oil not running out until after the famine was over.
I wonder how Elijah must have felt. Even though God had already given him the miracle, he had to boldly and confidently continue to pursue it. He could have missed the miracle by getting depressed or by simply not being bold enough.
My conclusion is this. If Elijah had to get bold and ask, seek and knock, then who am I to think I am at some higher level then him!?! Of course we must temper all this with seeking and hearing the voice of the Lord for every situation. At times He will tell us to “tell no one but the Lord” and the resources will simply come. But at other times, He might tell us, “I’ve already given it to you, now go and get it!”
I have recently been giving much money to various people at the leading of the Lord. It has been a stretch of faith because we have no salary and we have little support. I have never been in this severe of afinancial position before and it is certainly been keeping me on my knees. Probably God’s main point!
Today I gave 3,000 more peso’s out (about $60). It leaves me with canned food at the house for the family, ¾ of a tank of gas which should last 3 more days and then what... I don’t know. If I had been the Widow, the next thing would be to die. I’m not alone. I know many many people like this, many who are worse off. Real Widow’s and Orphans with no canned goods or rice.
But wait... there are signs of miracles on the way! There is a guy who sent money from another country to our contact in the USA which hasn’t arrived yet. It should have already, I’m a bit worried, but I know it will make it! There are people we don’t even know about who might be stirred by the Lord to provide in some way in the next few hours or days just as He has done countless times before. And then there’s this new miracle for me... check this out!
I was looking at my bank statements on-line just now and I realize that over the course of the past 4 months, there are certain charges which have not passed through my account. I remember specifically handing the cashiers my debit card, signing the slips and receiving the merchandise. I calculate approximately $1,300 in total. It is just plain weird! More like supernatural! I would think that the Lord in His power didn’t rob those merchants to pay me, but that they received payment from some unknown source. I’ll have to look into it when I pass by the accounting office in heaven after I’m done here on earth. Of course those miracles have met needs already passed, but this gives me courage! Now that I think about it, how often has my gas tank hovered at a certain level when I didn’t have the resources and did not go down to empty until one of God’s resource people had come through! God has His ways of providing and we need not be choosy. He is in control!!! Sometimes I can be like the Prophet and at other times like the Widow. Either way, I belong to the Lord and He will take care of me, my family and the ministry which He has entrusted to us!
I don’t know if this post encouraged you, but it certainly encouraged me! Hallelujah!!! Trust Him today my friend! Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Don’t give in, down get shy and don’t give up! Your Father loves you!!!
8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
One of the two famous “ask, seek and knock” scriptures found in Luke 11 was part of our text in our staff meeting at TFI San Juan this last Tuesday morning (the other one is in Matthew 7). A point that Jesus made in this scripture is that it is persistance (boldness), not friendship which opens the door so that the one in need may receive help.
Pastor Boni, our Pastor who was leading the devotion made a good point in that regarding the culture of the time and place in which Jesus was speaking, there would have been a compulsion on the part of the townspeople to help because the purpose for the bread was to feed an out of town guest and a community does not collectively want to lose face. This applies to the Church in all cultures because we work together as one body to make certain that we represent our Lord well. This causes us to help at times we might not have otherwise. In Eastern/Asian terms, this means we will often do what it takes for the Church to not “lose face.”
Boy did Jesus nail it though! How many of my readers today I wonder, are glad that God has other ways of providing then through friends?! Friends have often come through, but there have been times when they really didn’t. And even those times that friends did, it was really more the bold persistance which opened the door and then the friendship ended up being weird or strained for awhile. Come on... you know what I’m talkin’ about!
I had a ministry friend and we both had a mutual friend who at the time, had a great deal of money. My ministry friend needed money but the money friend wasn’t moved. Finally, my “money friend” said, “To shut you up, here’s a check for $20,000. I don’t want to hear another word!” And that was that. My ministry friend had enough to get him over the next hurdle. I wish I had been the bold one! :-)
I have at times been caught up in idealism which I spiritualize in order to avoid doing something that I don’t want to do. Early in my ministry, I took to heart a saying by the famous missionary Hudson Taylor. In regards to finances, he told his missionary force to “tell no one but the Lord.” And they always ended up with an abundance of finances which they then funelled even to other ministries in need. Awesome!
I used that as my basis to never ask for financial assistance and to only “pray the resources in.” One month, I ran out of money and was considering leaving Cebu City, Philippines, where we lived at the time, to go back to the USA with my tail between my legs. In prayer, the Lord told me to ask for $1,000 a month from a guy whose business card I had been hanging on to for some time. I was upset and couldn’t believe it was the Lord because I wanted to be like Hudson Taylor! After a couple of weeks and we were down to canned food for groceries, I wrote the letter. When I was about to mail it, the Lord once again prompted me. “FED EX it!” What?!? How presumptuous and desperate would that make me look?!? I spent the extra $35 to do it and wouldn’t you know it?!? Within days, I got a FedEx from the guy back with the first check for $1,000 and a one year commitment letter. The way he wrote it showed me that he was somewhat annoyed but willing... Strange. After a year, he sent me another letter telling me that no way would he support our ministry any longer. But God had provided a different source by then.
Ask...Seek...Knock...
In 1 Kings 17, while in hiding, Elijah was supernaturally provided for by God through ravens and a hidden brook during a famine. After that season was over, God told him to go to a Widow in Zarephath who He had “commanded” to provide the prophet with food. The interesting thing is that when Elijah approached her, it seemed that she knew nothing about it... that she had evidently not heard from the Lord the same way Elijah had. How disappointing!
Even though she claimed that she would be taking her last supply of flour and oil to prepare a final meal for her and her son to eat and then die, the prophet instructed her to not be afraid and insisted that she feed him. She did as the prophet told her and received an incredible miracle of the flour and oil not running out until after the famine was over.
I wonder how Elijah must have felt. Even though God had already given him the miracle, he had to boldly and confidently continue to pursue it. He could have missed the miracle by getting depressed or by simply not being bold enough.
My conclusion is this. If Elijah had to get bold and ask, seek and knock, then who am I to think I am at some higher level then him!?! Of course we must temper all this with seeking and hearing the voice of the Lord for every situation. At times He will tell us to “tell no one but the Lord” and the resources will simply come. But at other times, He might tell us, “I’ve already given it to you, now go and get it!”
I have recently been giving much money to various people at the leading of the Lord. It has been a stretch of faith because we have no salary and we have little support. I have never been in this severe of afinancial position before and it is certainly been keeping me on my knees. Probably God’s main point!
Today I gave 3,000 more peso’s out (about $60). It leaves me with canned food at the house for the family, ¾ of a tank of gas which should last 3 more days and then what... I don’t know. If I had been the Widow, the next thing would be to die. I’m not alone. I know many many people like this, many who are worse off. Real Widow’s and Orphans with no canned goods or rice.
But wait... there are signs of miracles on the way! There is a guy who sent money from another country to our contact in the USA which hasn’t arrived yet. It should have already, I’m a bit worried, but I know it will make it! There are people we don’t even know about who might be stirred by the Lord to provide in some way in the next few hours or days just as He has done countless times before. And then there’s this new miracle for me... check this out!
I was looking at my bank statements on-line just now and I realize that over the course of the past 4 months, there are certain charges which have not passed through my account. I remember specifically handing the cashiers my debit card, signing the slips and receiving the merchandise. I calculate approximately $1,300 in total. It is just plain weird! More like supernatural! I would think that the Lord in His power didn’t rob those merchants to pay me, but that they received payment from some unknown source. I’ll have to look into it when I pass by the accounting office in heaven after I’m done here on earth. Of course those miracles have met needs already passed, but this gives me courage! Now that I think about it, how often has my gas tank hovered at a certain level when I didn’t have the resources and did not go down to empty until one of God’s resource people had come through! God has His ways of providing and we need not be choosy. He is in control!!! Sometimes I can be like the Prophet and at other times like the Widow. Either way, I belong to the Lord and He will take care of me, my family and the ministry which He has entrusted to us!
I don’t know if this post encouraged you, but it certainly encouraged me! Hallelujah!!! Trust Him today my friend! Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Don’t give in, down get shy and don’t give up! Your Father loves you!!!
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