WE ARE ARMY

Will wonders ever cease? I think not.

2010-01-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

As Christians we have the power of God dwelling within us. We have the power and authority of God to create miracles. I'm beginning to believe more and more that every Christian can have access to any of the spiritual gifts. The only difference being the level of anointing, authority and "office" that the Christian has. I recently read a book by Dr David Yonggi Cho (pastor of the largest church in the world, located in Korea) who wrote about this.

To every Christian out there who doubts, I tell you this... I am living testimony that miracles in today's day and age are possible. Not only possible, but like Bill Johnson says, it should be a NORM.

I've slowly trained myself to believe this. Every time I meet a person who is sick, I will often pray for them to be well. Sometimes the miracle is discernible to the human eye, sometimes the miracle happens later or sometimes, God does not want a miracle to occur there and then.

Personally, I am very motivated by the verse John 9:³ “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him (NLT).

Jesus disciples asked Jesus why a man was born blind. Was it the sin of his parents or his own sin? They had perfectly good Biblical basis for thinking that way. But Jesus said This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.

So I go out into the world and I pray for people with sickness or injury with this motivation. That the power of God would be revealed.

Now just 3 days ago, I visited a friend of mine. He had a pulled hamstring and was in great pain. He could barely walk and he couldn't straighten his leg. I was filled with compassion (just like Jesus, heheh) and I was thinking of different ways to help him. Take him to the doctor? No. Ask Kelvin my physio friend to help him? No. Then just before I left, I realized, what a doofus I am. I should pray. It was hard because my friend was a non-Christian and I had evangelized to him once and it was hands down the WORST evangelism I've ever done as I was a bit too passionate and it made things awkward.

So I asked him if I could pray and he said yes. Then I told him because most people don't realize that I want to pray for him right now. He was a bit confused and asked me if I wanted to kiss his leg or something. I made a joke about how filthy his leg was.

I believe that we should lay hands on the injured part if possible. Speak clearly in English (not in tongues) and speak with authority, commanding the sickness to leave. We shouldn't talk like "beggars" according to Dr Yonggi Cho.

The difficult part was getting my heart right with God. I had boldness in my armory but sometimes my heart isn't right before God. There are two temptations.

Cynicism - a position of unfaith thinking that it won't work anyways but I'll give it a shot.
Overconfidence/Arrogance - expecting it to work, sort of feeling entitled to a miracle, treating God like a miracle machine/genie

You don't actually intentionally want to think or feel in those ways but the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. You need to have an imputed faith.

At that moment, I got down on my knees and prayed holding the injured leg with my hands. I had peace and confidence in my spirit. I prayed out loud in clear sentences. Rebuking the sickness and praying for the restoration of the injury. I also made sure that I always said, "In Jesus' name", invoking the power of Jesus' name so that the power is Jesus' and not mine.

I stood up and asked him how he felt. He said, 'thanks so much for praying for me. The pain is still there. But... wait a minute. It actually feels a little better'. I said, that's a good sign. Shall I keep on praying? He said OK.

I prayed again, asking for complete healing. Same procedure. I stood up again. This time his eyes opened wide in amazement. He said, "Wow" with a bit of a stutter. He was amazed. As cool as you like, I asked, 'what happened?'. He said, 'LOOK AT THIS' as he straightened his leg. 'The pain is almost all gone. Its a huge improvement!' as he walked around the room. I said, 'Amen. Praise God'. I asked him to document the rate of healing in percentage. He said after the first prayer it was 5% improvement, after the second prayer - 60%!!! I prayed a third time and he said there was no discernible difference but he was still super thankful and amazed. He said thank you so much. He said, 'Your praying is amazing' which I laughed off and said, no, its not about my prayer. Its about God's power.

Now the door is open. I will bring the gospel to him soon.

I urge you, dear reader, move in the supernatural. Move in healing. Crucify your pride and fear and take a leap of faith. It can open doors and hearts of people to come to Christ.

I praise God and rejoice! He has done a great thing today! He has brought glory and honour to his great name! Amen.

FUN FACT: I've seen three 'clear' miracles in the last 3 years, and they were all leg injuries!!!

2008: I prayed for this non-Christian guy at Monash whilst at his home. I prayed 3 times and his leg got increasingly better. His limp disappeared at the end of the prayers.

2009: I prayed for this guy in my life group when I was mentoring him at his home. He had a leg sprain and limp. I prayed 3 times as well. His limp disappeared and the pain was gone by the following morning.

2010: I prayed for my friend at his home. He had a pulled, possibly torn hamstring had a limp and could not straighten his leg. I prayed 3 times. The 3rd prayer had no discernible effect but the limp disappeared, he could straighten his leg and 60% of the pain disappeared.

Dude, if I can do it. So can YOU!!! There's nothing special about me. I still sin. I still stuff up. My walk with God could be better. But I choose to live by faith. You should try it sometime.

The Reason For God

2010-01-05T03:46:00.000-08:00

The Best Book I've Read all year!!!

Voted the best apologetics book of the year by Christianity Today as well. I first heard about Pastor Tim Keller from my former pastor in Malaysia, Rev Wong Fong Yang who pastored me for 2 years at City Discipleship Presbyterian Church in Subang Jaya. He went on one of his many trips around the world to Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC pastored by Tim Keller. Notice the link (Presbyterian). He raved about Tim and his modern church and how we can learn from Redeemer.

So when I saw the book on the shelves at my local WORD bookstore in Frankston, I picked it up. Interesting cover and he starts the book with a quote from Darth Vader. How cool is this guy? So I bought it. He's as smart as he's cool. As witty, as logical, rational. He quotes so many sources and examples and presents his case immaculately and structured brilliantly. He is the best new writer I've read this year.

The book is divided into two. 1st half he answers the 7 most common questions he faces from non-believers and in the 2nd half he establishes a strong case for faith. He makes us realize that behind every doubt, there is an inherent worldview held by the atheist.

Below is an excerpt from the website

Why does God allow suffering in the world?

How could a loving God send people to Hell?

Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive?

How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”?

Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God?

These are just a few of the questions and doubts even ardent believers wrestle with today. As the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced “doubts” skeptics bring to his church as well as the most important reasons for faith. And in The Reason for God, he addresses each doubt and explains each reason.

Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.

This guy is the man.

Myer

2009-12-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

I now work at Myer Frankston, the major department store in my town, Frankston. There are interesting people at work. Like, most of the population, most of my colleagues are unbelievers. There are some who believe though. There is a Greek orthodox Christian guy who goes out with a Catholic Australian girl of Malaysian Chinese origin.

In my department, there’s this 17 year old blond kid who told me his mom had him when she was 16. I’m not sure if his parents are married. He told me about how he broke up with his last girlfriend. He asked her out after meeting her once. He told me about how for people his age, a four month relationship is a pretty long one. He’s a nice enough lad. He let me swap shifts with him so I could go for life group and church. I’m not sure how I can reach him, all I know is he needs Jesus.

I’ll tell you a secret. I’m afraid. I’m uneasy about evangelizing to people at work. I’ve conquered the fear of evangelizing to friends but I have not overcome the fear of evangelizing to colleagues or strangers. But yesterday I invited blondie to church for Christmas service. As per usual, a non-committal response typifies our generation. He may have family plans so its justified. I’ve done my bit, now its up to God to bring him to church.

There’s this other guy. He’s 23 like me. He’s worked at the home entertainment department for 2 years now. He’s a nice guy, teaching us how all the processes work. In Myer, I’m the only non-Australian around. There are 2 Chinese Australians and 1 Sri Lankan Australian so you can see how I would stick out. Anyways, yesterday this guy, lets call him spiky, told me he enjoys Christmas because his girlfriend buys him lots of gifts. I asked him if his girlfriend has a lot of money and he said, ‘Of course she does. She’s a stripper’. To say I was unprepared for that was an understatement but I kept my composure and said ‘oh, OK’ in as casual a manner as I could. I lack the boldness to evangelize to him. I echo Paul as I pray.

19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6)

Witnessing in November

2009-12-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

This post was meant to come out in November but I was too busy to write it and post it. Here is a short report about my exploits.

1. I live with this Indian Australian bloke who taught me to watch cricket.

One Thrusday he asked me what happened at CCM the week before. I had the privilege of explaining what I knew about the history of Israel, God’s people, how three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam all branched out of father Abraham. I guess you don’t always have to talk about Jesus like a broken record all the time. Occasionally, mixing it up and talking about Israel is good. Who know? God could use the history of His people to lead someone to salvation. We just don’t know, we are just called to proclaim.

2. One Sunday night, I was on a train home and some dark skinned guys (the kind of guys your mom would ask you to stay away from) asked me for some change. I said I had none. As I walked away, I paused because I realized I had some in my bag. Then I remembered what I told God I wanted to do. To give away tracts to people who asked for money.

As I paused, another one of those guys, like a vulture sniffing out rotting flesh, swooped on me. Before I could count my money he was upon me. I asked him how much he needed and what he needed it for. He said he needed 3 dollars for some food because they missed the last train and had to spend the night at the station. I said OK and said, ‘but you have to take this as well. Take it and have a read’. Its not like they are in a position to say no. God only knows what happened in their hearts, whether they read the tract or threw it into the bin. But I rejoice because I was faithful and obedient to the call of God.

3.I got hired by Myer so I had to go for my induction session which was all the way in the city because there weren’t that many Christmas casuals at Frankston so I had to join the city induction session. There were mostly Australians.

There were a couple of Australian Chinese and there was this huge, hulking guy next to me who looked like The Great Khali.

I found out he was from Bangladesh. He was a gentle giant, speaking kindly and courteously. His name was Hasham. God presented an opportunity to talk about religion and I dived in. H was interested and open to know what Christians think. He spoke reverently about Jesus, talking about Him with an admiration one would think a Muslim would reserve for Muhammad. He even told me something I never knew before, that Muslims believe that Jesus, not Muhammad would return as judge on judgment day. How cool is that? But I knew I had to get to the point. To let him know that however wonderful he thinks Jesus is, its not enough. He has to call Him Lord. So I used my opening gambit, the ‘did you know that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God?’ which he heard before and countered with ‘but nowhere in the Bible is it written that Jesus explicitly said ‘I am the son of God’ ‘. I wasn’t armed with a Bible but I knew there would be plenty of conversations where its apparent that Jesus is referring to himself as the unique son of God. Quite a few in John, I think. But the Spirit quickened me to the passage where Jesus calmed the storm.

After he did that, the disciples worshipped him. I told H that in the Bible, no character would ever accept worship from another person. Even angels ask people to stop worshipping them for it is a sin. The only instance of a guy accepting worship that I know of is in Acts where Herod acknowledges the worship of people calling him god. Immediately, the angel of the Lord struck him dead and worms proceed to eat his corpse. How incredibly gory and awesome is that? I don’t know if H will be saved. I think there is a chance as he is open. I will probably never see him again but I am confident that I played my role in his journey and I praise God for using me and making me obedient to His call.

My Favourite Book of the Year 2009

2009-12-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

I try to read as much as I can. I wouldn't call myself a voracious reader but I think reading is essential to life. The book I read the most every year is the Bible so it is excluded from contention. Most of the books I read are Christian literature. This year, my favourite has been a book I've only bought recently.

SPURGEON GOLD
compiled by Ray Comfort

This is a book of quotes by one of the finest preachers ever to walk this earth. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Known as the Prince of Preachers. He was a British minister who lived in the 1800s.

In this book, Ray Comfort compiles nuggets of Spurgeon's wisdom specifically about evangelism. It is some of the most inspirational words I have ever read. When I lack zeal, I read this book and it fires me up.

Its almost like a book of quotes. I used to read CS Lewis quotes a lot. They would be packed with reason, wisdom and insight. Spurgeon's are packed with passion, zeal and inspiration. Any person serious about winning people to Christ has to read this book.

The Need To Get Your Heart Broken

2009-11-01T23:35:00.000-08:00

Its funny. I just wrote another post about a broken heart for my other blog. But that was a more worldly and carnal post. Right now, I’m talking about witnessing to our friends. I was witnessing to a friend who I’ve been trying to reach all year. Her heart is cold as stone and she’s pissed off with God who she doesn’t believe in because her greatest sin is ‘not believing in Jesus’. I think I made a big mistake by trying to explain things to her in a certain way, it just made things more confusing. Well, I’ve tried so many ways so I just kept trying different ways to explain things. Maybe I’m not in tune with the Holy Spirit enough. Maybe my prayer life sucks. I don’t know. I just try my best.

What was good was that she finally revealed her ‘secret blog’ to me and I read what she really thought about God. It was a no holes barred, full-on catharsis. Quite frankly, it was heartbreaking. I guess its just a small glimpse of what prophets like Jeremiah felt as they mourned the unbelief of their hearers. The danger is that it would drive some Christians to discouragement and inactivity because they lose hope and think their actions are futile. Instead, what we should feel is deep compassion and concern about the doom that people are facing.

It may sound simplistic but the greatest tragedy is dying without Jesus. Many of your friends, hundreds of people you know are heading that way. Do you care enough to at least warn them?

Sharing with Friends

2009-10-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

Sharing your faith with friends isn’t something that is so difficult that it is untenable. Think about it. You recommend good places to eat to your friends all the time. You recommend good movies to your mates all the time. Is it really so hard? In a sense it is, but in a sense, its not. One of the main deterrents is probably the fear of man. Fear that others would think you are weird. But that is pride. That is like saying that the work that was done by the apostles and Jesus himself is beneath us. It is like saying the work of evangelism is not worthy of our time.

Another main deterrent that is equally horrible is apathy. Ray Comfort calls it ‘depraved indifference’. As Charles Spurgeon once put it, God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into Hell! Our compassion for others should overwhelm our apathy and pride so that witnessing becomes something we do on a constant basis! Not once in a blue moon! If we pray, sing, read and do church regularly, why do we not witness regularly?

I have set myself the goal of witnessing to as many friends and acquaintances as possible in Frankston by the end of the year. I had to start in my own home. I have two housemates who are open to listening about Jesus but yet to receive him. I ‘reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment (Acts 24:25)’ but as of yet there is no fruit. Hope springs eternal. I just found out an acquaintance of mine listens to indie music. Maybe that can be a springboard to a witnessing opportunity.

Your Grace Is Enough

2009-08-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

You know, its hard being a soldier of Christ. Its hard to proclaim the Law to people. Its hard to proclaim Christ to people. The task being as hard as it is we face opposition from many other sources. One of them is feelings of inadequacy. We feel as if we don't know enough. OR we feel as if we're not holy enough to tell people. Yes, these feelings are common to me. Especially when I fail God i.e. sin. But really, we're just a drowning man telling another drowning man that there is a lifeboat. The main problem is convincing the drowning man that he actually is drowning.

Today I want to celebrate the song (and accompanying passage of Scripture) that lifts my spirits whenever I feel inadequate.

Your Grace Is Enough is written by Matt Maher and popularized by Chris Tomlin. It is the FIRST song to reach 100 plays on my iTunes! Yeah! Its true. I often need God to lift me up and remind me that despite my failings his grace is sufficient for me.

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's restless heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God of Jacob
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me (x2)

remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaches out to us
Your grace is enough for me
God i see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me
For me

2 Corinthians 12

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Lord help me boast in my weaknesses for I want Christ's power to rest in me.

I am so poor right now but I will not be ashamed of my poverty. I will boast in it for it forces me to rely on God and God's power will rest on me!

Conversations with Buddhists

2009-08-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

God blessed me yesterday with an opportunity to witness. I've been challenging myself to witness weekly and as long as I've been writing this blog, by God's grace it is working so far.

The key is really to make time for it in your schedule and turn any openings you find in conversations with people towards God.

Yesterday I was in a car with a Buddhist friend of mine who comes for life group but is reluctant to stay during discussion. So she comes for life group but never hears the gospel preached.

From my experience, one important facet of sharing the gospel to Buddhists, Muslims or people from other faiths is to first ask them about their faith and be genuinely interested in their faith.

Which is exactly what I did last night. When the time came my friend was fully ready to hear what I had to share about the work and person of Jesus Christ. I brought up the Lewis' Trilemma argument. I didn't have time to go further but I believe I did it right last night with the opportunity that presented itself. Praise God.

Buddhists can be really nice and moral people. But let us not fall into the trap of admiring their morality lest we forget that they are still sinners.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Let us remember that all have sinned and all sin is despicable to a holy and righteous God.

Who is Jesus Christ?

2009-08-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

We just had campus evax(evangelism) today. Promoting the Alpha course for CCM, Sam, Hannah and myself went forth into battle while other soldiers were sidelined by class, placement or assignments. I don't condemn them one iota as it is a Christian's duty to attend class and do well. I was inspired by this interviewer who went around asking people "Who is Jesus Christ?" and taping their response. I decided that this could be a good conversation starter as we handed out fliers.

Its always better to have a plan or system when you do public evangelism unless you are a seasoned veteran which none of us are. So this is the plan of attack that I taught the troops.

Stephen/CCM Member: Hey, how you going?

Stranger: Not too bad.

Step/CCM: We were just doing a simple survey around campus asking for students' opinion on a matter. Can I ask for your opinion?

Stranger: Sure

Step/CCM: Who is Jesus Christ?

Stranger: Some religious dude.

Step/CCM: I think that is the most important question that everyone has to answer. Who is Jesus Christ to them. Would you be interested in finding out more about him?

Stranger: Not really

Step/CCM: Well, I'm from a club on campus called CCM and we're doing this course to help understand more about Jesus and the Christian faith. If you ever feel like finding out more, we meet near uni. Here's a flier.

Stranger: Cheers

Step/CCM: Have a good day.

After a few role plays we were good to go! Our work today didn't bring any obvious results but our confidence is in Christ. We only obey his command.

Alms for the Poor

2009-08-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

An issue that sparks some debate among people. When a beggar comes to you and asks for money, do you give? The argument for not giving is that they will never learn how to find a job, they will use the money for drugs, alcohol, etc...

The argument for giving is that God only commands us to love people and be kind to the poor (as opposed to overanalysing every moral action we take). What the poor actually do with the money is between them and God. Just like in Les Miserables where Bishop Myriel actually protects Jean Valjean, the man who just robbed him of his silverware, from the authorities. (Actually, that doesn't apply to this scenario. But its a cool story.)

An idea came to me awhile ago but I haven't actually put it into action. The idea is: whenever people ask me for change, I would first give them a tract, ask them to read it and then give them the money.

Hopefully their consciences would lead them to read the tract and God would use the tract to speak to them.

I just stuffed two of the Navigators' 'Bridge' tracts into my wallet. Lets see how we go.

Soldiering On

2009-08-24T01:43:00.000-07:00

Nothing very interesting to report. In the time I haven't blogged I have witnessed to a bunch of different people in different ways.

I spent an afternoon with a strong atheist friend having a constructive argument (debate?) with him about the validity of Christ's claims to be God and defending Christianity's relevance.
I failed to share Christ much with my friend's mom but I suspect others already have. I didn't feel led to share with her at length, strangely enough. I may have missed the Spirit's leading. I won't know. I ended up giving her a tract my good ol' dad wrote as I drove her to the airport.
I continued witnessing to a friend I have been witnessing to all through the year. Defences still strong. The apathy of this person humbles me. It reduces my best arguments to dust. Yet I am confident that whenever Christ is preached, God can use the words I've spoken. His word will not return void.

Have you witnessed this week?

SALVATION IS HERE

2009-07-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here
Salvation that died just to set me free
Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here

Its true!!! Its true!!! God is gracious! We have seen the first salvation of the year in Frankston!
How wondrous, how glorious it is to witness a person moving from darkness to light! It is the work of the Holy Spirit, a miracle. For only God can change a person's heart. No amount of persuasion of ours would work without God's hand.

It was one of those things where everything fell into place perfectly, so perfectly that it could only have been orchestrated by God. All I did was to be obedient in witnessing!
I had planned to go with Hannah to witness to her friend after church on Sunday. Problem was, my friend Jo Ann also planned to come visit me and I was also meant to go have dinner with David and his friend. I'm like... agh.. overcommitting yet again.
But David had already met his friend without me on Saturday night. Then, Jo Ann stalled too long and decided not to come. So my whole evening was free.

FLASHBACK: April 09' HOPE Oceania Convention. I decided to be serious about my witness in Frankston. I told the Lord I would fast (or abstain) from my favourite snack, chocolate especially chocolate bars i.e. Snickers, Picnic, Time Out until I see the first salvation in Frankston. So everytime I saw chocolate, I was reminded of my desperate need to witness (because not being able to eat chocolate is no fun at all! haha..).

After witnessing, I waited for a sign from the person to confirm to me that the person was ready to accept Jesus. The person said some things which confirmed it to me. I explained what accepting Jesus meant using the EE points (1. Repent 2. Believe in Jesus, his death and resurrection 3. Accept Jesus as saviour 4. Accept Jesus as Lord) then I lead the person in the sinner's prayer.

After that, the person offered me chocolate and I was about to reject it but as I held it in my hand it dawned upon me that my fast was over! It was the Lord's way of telling me good job, son. Here, have some chocolate.

As I rejoiced on the way home, the enormity of what I had just done started to sink in. The Lord had used me (and Hannah of course!) for His glory! To turn a sinner to salvation! There was no greater thing you could do on this planet! There is no greater joy!*

I was feeling downright low, no I was crushed the day before because of my job situation. But the Lord was gracious. The Lord reminded me once again of my purpose in life! I do not live to be the best marketer around! I live for Jesus! I live to share the gospel of grace! I started jumping around my room like a monkey praising God (thank God I was home alone) and shouting at the top of my voice. I knew I had to shower so I continued praising God there. I kept singing Salvation is Here and Shout Unto God by Hillsong United. You know how when God touches people, they usually weep. Now that happens to me too, sometimes because of the guilt of my sin (Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret 2 Corinthians 7:10) sometimes because of intense stress but how God usually touches me is by infusing me with an incredible sense of joy that manifests itself in "holy laughter" or "laughing in the spirit". You know how people usually break down during slow, worshipful songs? There I was being a monkey in the shower singing Shout Unto God (A real fist pumping song)... and ZAP! I broke down... laughing!

As wounds which mar the chosen one, bring many sons to glory!

*To be politically correct, the only greater thing you could do is accept Jesus yourself and the joy of your own salvation should be the greatest joy.

Evangelism Explosion

2009-07-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

When I was 19, I did my first and only evangelism course so far called Evangelism Explosion. Although I don't use this method all the time or even the complete method, (in fact I use it very little now) it was an excellent training course for me to give me a framework for evangelism and training me to talk to strangers about God.

This being the internet age, I just found out you can actually access the full EE Gospel Presentation online for free!!! Whee!!! EE Learning Cards

Healing & Campus Evax

2009-07-24T01:13:00.000-07:00

At lifegroup we just wrapped up the book of James. A favourite of mine. Lots of key scriptures in there including...

James 5:
14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

One of my favourite passages, it talks about the power of prayer in healing. It has worked for me before. God has actually used me to bring about healing in a way that to me is amazing. A minor miracle. I have prayed for people with limps and they no longer limp after prayer.

So it was really interesting what happened yesterday. I was on the way to buy food for LG (KFC Wicked Wings! The bomb!) when I met an acquaintance of mine who was on crutches. She was a Muslim girl. Now I haven't actually done much evangelizing to Muslims before but I boldly asked if I could pray for her. I told her God had healed people before through my prayers. She allowed me to and I prayed.

Nothing tangible happened. She still walked with a limp and she wasn't healed.

Amazingly, I wasn't discouraged. Previously, I would always be discouraged when people weren't healed. But this time I wasn't. I knew in my heart that I had obeyed and that was enough! I knew this in theory ages ago but to actually experience it was novel.

Later that night Kelv and I prayed for Jake who had back and knee injuries. Despite our wholehearted prayers there was no change.

Twice in a day eh? It matters not. The Lord is sovereign. He heals when He wills. All we are called to do is pray. And I will keep on doing that even though I see no fruit till the day He calls me home.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Campus Evax (Evangelism) is something that has been dead and buried in HOPE Melbourne. While the campus evax scene has been thriving in Brisbane, universities under HOPE Melbourne have not been 'campus evax-ed' to for ages.

So we started again this week, merely handing out fliers for a CCM (Campus Christian Movement) event. I wasn't there. It was a team led by the capable Hannah! Incredibly, first time in ages doing campus evax and God brought fruit out of our labour! A new guy (Christian) came to the meeting! Let's hope he stays and that he joins HOPE Frankston as well.

Witnessing in the Workplace: Ginseng Boss Part 2

2009-07-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

The glory of God! At work! Today! Hallelujah!!!

God moved at work today! Guess what?

Ginseng boss is/might be interested in coming to church!!! And he might bring a posse!
HOLY COW! All this from one conversation? God is moving! He is powerful!

Basically he's interested because his sister is a churchgoer who has not been going to church recently. That's how he described her. Don't ask me. So he was interested in my church because its in Frankston, near the workplace.

Boss: Stephen, what time was your church service again?

Stephen: About 10am and I finish at 1pm. Do you need me to come in on Sunday?

Boss: Naah. Nothing like that. Just that Alice here works on a Sunday. And she is interested in going to church. So I was thinking since your church is nearby she might be able to go there.

Stephen: Cool. What about you?

Boss: Well, I have to open the restaurant at 12.

Stephen: Oh, that's cool. Service ends at quarter to (12). (Although it doesn't usually cause we fail to end on time).

Boss: Oh alright.

Stephen: So you can come if you want.

Boss: Well, the only reason I would come to church would be to accompany my sister who is a churchgoer.

Stephen: So she doesn't go to church now?

Boss: Not recently because of her work schedule. But she wants to go badly. She is a strong believer. Can I get your church address?

Stephen: I don't have it on me now. I'll bring it tomorrow.

HOW AWESOME?!?!?!? Lots of prayer needed. Basically one of the questions he asked was.. lots of people go there yea? I'm like... not really, we're a small church. SO I REALLY HOPE that he won't mind going to a small church and the CONVENIENCE will OVERPOWER the smallness. I also told him we're heavily Asian so that might be a good thing!

LORD, please work here! I did my best! The rest is up to you! Well, I should still pray fervently. Not exactly a strength of mine. But I should improve.

I actually have a major interview tomorrow. Ahh! God, go there before me and may your favour rest on me. Amen.

O Praise Him!

2009-07-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

So you think you can worship? Naah.. Its not a new reality TV show. God forbid. Recently, I have been very inspired by a video of this guy singing David Crowder's 'O Praise Him'. Thanks to Phil who has been showing this video at church every week for over a month. Its truly inspirational. If we love Jesus so much, why doesn't our worship overflow everyday in this manner (look at guy in video)? Do we only express our worship fervently at a Hillsong concert? What about everyday in our bedrooms? What about on the streets like that dude? Respect!

Witnessing in the Workplace: Ginseng Boss

2009-07-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

There are many Christians out there who don't evangelize because they think its too hard or that God can't use them. Well, the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few so I'm quite sure God wants to use every Christian cause there's a lack of Christians working in the field. Evangelism isn't rocket science. Furthermore, evangelism isn't just sharing the full gospel message... BAM... Holy Spirit moves... people realize they are sinners... tears... full on CONVERSION! Obviously that is the desired outcome. But that doesn't happen all the time. In fact it doesn't even happen often. Many an evangelist will tell you that. Pastor Bill Hybels is very candid about his evangelism and many times he doesn't even go into the gospel presentation (Bill Hybels - Walk Across The Room). Personally, it has only ever happened to me ONCE! Amazingly that was when I was just starting to evangelize and was a nervous wreck with no composure. Which goes to show that any conversion that happens is God's doing and not ours! That is a story for another post but really, I feel I am a lot better at evangelizing now but that wonderful, glorious scenario has not occurred ever since.

Let me tell you, I have only (knowingly) brought 3 people to Christ, but I only prayed the sinner's prayer with the first guy. Does that mean I didn't bring those other people to Christ? No. I would say I played a significant part in those 2 other people's conversion. However, each conversion that happens is the work of the Holy Spirit and God uses MANY people to bring about a single salvation. I personally believe that there can be dozens or hundreds of people that God uses to bring one single soul to salvation. So even though you don't see it now, what you sow into a person's life can reap salvation later on! I can say this because I have seen it happen in friends I have evangelized to! It can be done! There's evidence from my life to back me up!

Anyways, I just wanna praise God for a divine opportunity that he gave me to share with my boss at work. Hopefully this will shatter some misconceptions about what evangelism is all about. I personally believe that the basic building block of evangelism is to just get people to think about God and eternity.

I work at this restaurant in Frankston called Ginseng. Wes from church told me that he was going to bring his lovely wife Julia to Ginseng for her birthday dinner. I asked for permission and my boss kindly allowed me to spend a few minutes talking to them at dinner in the middle of work! The restaurant was almost empty so he could afford to let me do that. The boss' cousin talked to me asking me about them and I told him that they were friends from church. He then told me that he and the boss used to go to church when they were kids.

As I was collecting my pay I started talking to the boss about the restaurant business. I told him that my housemates and I talked to Wes about Ginseng and he decided to come for the Peking duck. Boss man was grateful and continued talking. I could sense that he was interested in talking to me and not just making polite conversation. Armed with the knowledge that he was a former churchgoer I brought up the topic of church and God. I found out that his sister and many of his friends are strong Christians but he didn't think that church was essential for him anymore. He thinks (like many others) that all you have to do in life is be good to people. I brought up eternity and the conversation was progressing. Then we both got calls on our mobiles. After that a bunch of boss man's friends showed up and I knew the evangelism time for today was up. I said my goodbyes and praised God in my heart for giving me the opportunity to share about Him. I was glad that I obeyed His promptings without any hesitation. Hopefully this will be a springboard to more evangelism opportunities and that boss man might be saved!

See, not too hard isn't it? Plus, God can indirectly use other people as well to create openings! If Wes hadn't come yesterday night I would not have had the opportunity to talk about church and God! Wes was unknowingly used by God to create an avenue for me to share about God! How glorious is our GOD! The whole earth praise Him!

The Man Piper and WOTM

2009-07-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I just thought I'd put up some resources as well, as in stuff I use personally.

1. John Piper Sermons

John Piper is the man! He is the bomb! Writer of Desiring God, one of the most influential and eye opening books I've read (excluding the Bible of course). He helped me understand a lot about God through that book and I have become a fan of his teachings ever since. You can get all his sermons on his website http://desiringgod.org for free! Also, you should buy his books but that will cost you some money.

Here's a link to the section on evangelism: CLICK ME

2. Ray Comfort's 'Way Of The Master' Method

Ray Comfort's WOTM (Way Of The Master) is seemingly popular in America. I have seen people doing street preaching in Frankston who use this method and although I doubted the street preacher's theology at the start, but I decided to be obedient and 'test everything but hold on to what is good' (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and after buying and reading the book, I am convinced that Ray Comfort's theology is sound. Reading the many testimonies from his book and site, there are numerous pastors and Christians who opposed his methods first but after searching the Scriptures have agreed with him.

His method is highly controversial and confrontational in direct opposition to the modern evangelism methods we are accustomed to (Four Spiritual Laws, Evangelism Explosion). He even goes to say that these methods are counter productive. For that he has predictably been branded an arrogant snob. I don't think he is though but neither will I label other evangelism methods as the work of evil.

I can't exactly explain everything in one post. You have to check it out yourself.

CLICK ME

Till next time, run the race, keep the faith.

Here I Go Again

2009-07-08T21:54:00.001-07:00

This is one of the best songs regarding evangelism (mind you there aren't many). It accurately depicts the doubts and uncertainty going through a Christian's mind as he/she struggles with evangelism.

Casting Crowns - Here I Go Again

Father, hear my prayer
I need the perfect words
Words that he will hear
And know they're straight from You
I don't know what to say
I only know it hurts
To see my only friend slowly fade away

Chorus:
So maybe this time
I'll speak the words of life
With Your fire in my eyes
But that old familiar fear
is tearin' at my words
What am I so afraid of?
'Cause here I go again
Talkin' 'bout the rain
And mullin' over things
that won't live past today
And as I dance around the truth
Time is not his friend
This might be my last chance
to tell him that You love Him

But here I go again
Here I go again

Lord, You love him so
You gave Your only Son
If he will just believe
He will never die
But how then will he know
What he has never heard?
Lord he has never seen mirrored in my life

Chorus:

But here I go again
Here I go, here I go

Chorus:

This might be my last chance
To tell him that You love him
This might be my last chance
To tell him that You love him

You love him, You love him
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid of?
How then will he know
What he has never heard?

Weekly Update 060709: Tract Mission and Jakey makes a Power Play

2009-07-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me, I've been working at a telemarketing company, Telesynergy owned and operated by Indians. I'm not exactly the best at it and have contemplated quitting it for ages. Will probably do so in the near future but that's not the point. The point is I was convicted that I can't leave my workplace without having reached out to some people. I can't just talk about evangelism and not do it. I'd be a crummy hypocrite, the type Jesus hates. From my conversations with several nice and intelligent Indians, I singled out two gentlemen.

1. Sanjay - Incredible gentleman. He gets scolded by the boss numerous times but still carries on cheerfully. In the end the fruitlessness took its toll and he left the job. We had a few conversations about God. Sanjay is a religious man, surprisingly not an out and out Hindu. He is (unknowingly) a subscriber to pluralism, believing in "all gods".

2. Anhkit. An Australian born Indian although he has Iranian or Persian blood or something like that. He has expressed an interest in Christianity. Very loud, boisterous and friendly.

I have acquired the contact numbers for both gentlemen. So I can reach them without having to go to work there. My mission: to give them a tract each. I will acquire their address and send them a tract together with a letter and see how they respond. Maybe I can invite them to church but they do live miles and miles away.

__________________________________________________________________________________

A powerful mate of mine, Jake sent me a very exciting and encouraging text a few days back. He said from conversations with a mutual friend of ours, said friend is close to salvation! I don't know the details yet. Gonna find out soon! Not sure if I should reveal the person's identity yet. Have to ask Jakey.

Till next time,
Sayonara!

In Christ,
Step

Beginnings

2009-07-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

So why start a new blog?

I toyed with the idea of starting a Christian blog for awhile now. Then I had to think of its purpose, target audience, etc. After much deliberating, procrastinating and other external factors, I have decided to make this an evangelism blog targeted at Christians. Note that I said 'evangelism', not 'evangelistic' meaning its a discussion about evangelism not a blog that's meant to reach out to non-Christians (evangelistic).

What do I plan to achieve with this blog?

1. Accountability for myself: My fire and passion for evangelism goes through peaks and troughs. I do not yet have a consistent fire like some great men (Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonkke, John Wesley). Now that people out there know what I'm doing with my time, whether or not I am evangelising, I can be accountable for my time and hopefully force myself to put evangelism a lot higher on my priority list.

2. Encouragement for others: I hope that my readers would also be stirred, get off their bums and start preaching the Word to their own circle of friends.

3. Discussion and learning: I hope to learn from visitors to the blog and hope that what I know can also benefit others. It can also become an avenue for other people to share their stories and struggles. Together, through brainstorming, more ideas will be generated and more people will be excited about evangelism!

4. Prayer support: When we know what each of us is going through we can pray for each other.

5. Church: I did propose to my church leadership during a meeting that an evangelistic blog is a tool for evangelism. So hopefully I will see more people coming to my local church, HOPE Frankston.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28: 18-20)
¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Acts 1: ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

I guess our job is pretty straightforward.

1. Make disciples of all nations. Probably starting with our own. Well personally I'm in Australia so I'm working in a mission field some what (not my home country which is Malaysia)

2. Teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us. Wow, that's hard. I'm not even obeying everything myself.

3. Be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. That's what we're called to do, witness, not convert! Holy Spirit converts! Always! Its just like telling people that the Maccas (McDonalds) soft serve vanilla ice cream (cone) rocks! That's all we can do. At the end of the day people would have to go there and buy it themselves. They have to make their own decision.

And with the ends of the earth thing, its good to dream big but you work on your end and I work on my end, then we'll talk.

My aim is also that other people will write and contribute to this blog. I'm not 100% sure what the best way of doing this is. Maybe I'll ask Kien.

Lastly, with the blog's name, we are all called to be soldiers of the Lord's army. The question we have to ask ourselves is what kind of soldier are we? The Lord will hold us accountable for the life we live on this earth. How much of our life have we used to impact others and bring them into the kingdom? We are kingdom soldiers! Are you gonna be a soldier that spends most of his/her time in the barracks (church) or be out in the field fighting for souls?

The irony is we spend a lot more time in the field than the barracks, just that we're not spending it fighting for souls.

Let me end with a favourite childhood song of mine...

I'm in the Lord's Army

I may never march in the infantry,
Ride with the calvary,
Shoot the artillery,
I may never fly over the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army

I'm in the Lord's army
Yes sir
I'm in the Lord's army
Yes sir