3 Influential Men

My favourite preacher, Dr AR Bernard, was in town over the weekend! I really really enjoy his teachings. He may not be loud and flamboyant, but his words of wisdom will just blow your mind! I want to be just like him! =) Some insights:

* Even when Jesus was resurrected, His disciples still did not fully understand how He was the Messiah. They were still expecting Him to be a "political" Messiah, to take over the government and establish an earthly kingdom. Thus, on some occasions, Jesus had strictly stopped them from proclaiming that He is the Son of God, only because He knew they would misrepresent Him. Yet before He ascended back to Heaven, He told them that He will send the Holy Spirit to them, that they will through the Spirit receive the power to be His witnesses. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we become effective witnesses for Him. Peter, from an unlearned man, became eloquent and articulate, only because of the Holy Spirit.

* And what is it that we are witnesses for? Is it a system of religious thinking, values, a system of success, the church you attend? Nope, you are testifying that the Jesus you believe in is alive, that you have encountered Him and He has changed your life. How do you convince people of the reality of this Person when He is not here on earth physically and His body is nowhere to be found? Your testimony must be so powerful and so impactful. Will success in the marketplace be sufficient? Will your talents, gifts and abilities be enough? No! People are only persuaded by how convinced you are that this Jesus you believe in is alive in your life. By how real this Jesus is to you! Our success is not central! It may be a by-product of our relationship with God, but the main issue is the fact that there is a living Christ that has changed my life.

* It is not "what are we here for?" but "who are we here for?". There's someone out there waiting to be redeemed of the value that is in them. Not what they may be right now, but what they can become!

Talking about redeeming the value that's out there, I am very humbled that God has used me to bring 3 frens to church, who have stayed, grown and are all cgls now! I know it's really not me, but God who did it! But one thing I have recently realised is the power of prayer. I am reminded that then when I was reaching out to them, I really prayed very hard for them, crying out to God almost daily that they will be souls that remain. And that's the power of prayer. So, I am excited about the connect groups that we will be forming cos I strongly believe it will be very effective!

Two other influential men also took the stage this Sunday during svc - Kenny Low and Jack Neo. For Kenny, I would say he is one who dared to dream and dared to believe and pursue his dream. I used to be in Tuition Ministry and those many years ago, he would share about his dream to set up his own school, to break away from the education system present in S'pore and be a principal. His dream has come to pass!

It was really exciting to see Jack Neo on stage and he's very humble and humorous. Pastor dubbed him our society's "social conscience". Very true! His movies make us laugh but also show us the reality of our society's shortcomings. Looking forward to his new movie!