Gate of the Year - Minnie Louise Harkins
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

And he replied,
‘Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!’

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention.”

Invictus — William Ernest Henley
OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

I was a little bit of a literary rat when I was younger but I was never much into poetry. Two poems really stand out to me. The first is the “Gate of the Year”, which was introduced to me by the booming voice of Ravi Zacharias when he came down to speak in GTPJ a few years back. The second, “Invictus” was first heard during my revolutionary university years, when the last two lines were perhaps the most inspiring phrases of defiance in the midst of exams and assignments: “I am the master of my fate! I am the captain of my soul!!”

How strange, that these two poems (perhaps the only two that I ever bothered to remember) would have such different extremes in the way life is viewed: One, a gentle submission to life’s vicissitudes, and putting it in God’s hands; the other, very much like our way of approaching exams in Uni, convincing ourselves we are the masters of our own destiny.

William Ernest Henley wrote the poem from the hospital bed, as he was bed ridden early in life due to tubercolosis. He died at the age of 53, after a lifelong struggle with the disease. More ominiously, the poem was used as the last words  of Timothy McVeigh before he was executed, convicted for the 1995 Oklahoma Bombing that killed over 160 people.

Minnie Louise Harkins wrote the words of the Gate of the Year at her home, while sitting at the balcony, and put it aside. It was called ‘God Knows’ back then and it was an anonymous poem written on greeting cards and such. She led a simple life, and most of her works focused on helping people and tutoring students in the London School of Economics. At the start of the second world war, King George VI read part of the poem as his Christmas message to England. It was broadcasted nationally which astounded even Minnie Louise herself. Her subsequent royalties received from the usage of her poem, she donated to charities. Britian went on to fight back the German troops and became the critical lynchpin in which the Allies would launch their attacks from later in the war.

Both poems were beautifully written, but each brought different inspirations to different people. One, a poem that contends the absence of an eternal being, almost struggles with its own rhetoric: is man truly the captain of his own soul? What happens beyond this life, when we are no longer the masters of our fate?

In another, the simple faith in God, as she admits that she has no idea what lies ahead, or how she would approach the coming year. But with trust in the hand that holds tomorrow, she gladly steps forward, knowing there is one who is the master of her fate, the captain of her soul.

Time is always a premium, so says the wise sages of today.

We did a very simple illustration in cell.

All of us have different jobs. Within these jobs, there are different tasks. It can be anything. Something you have done today or yesterday. For instance:

1)    Photostat 15 copies of training materials
2)    Prepare a bill to be passed out
3)    Create a program
4)    Create a Purchase Order
5)    Follow up on client on issues

Now, in your mind, those tasks achieve something called an objective. And to achieve those objectives, you have steps, for instance, picking up the phone, emailing your procurement department etc.

Ok, imagine you are taken back into the middle ages.

Now imagine you are in the same position as you are now and you need to achieve the same task or equivalent.

How would you do it using what we have in the middle ages?

Interesting ideas like communicating via pigeons, doing powerpoint illustration with chalk on a cave wall, riding a horse to client’s place etc came out. But it just goes to show, that through the years, technology have helped us save millions of hours in doing things, and yet, we say time is a premium.

How did we do business before e-mail? Or even fax?

How did anything get done at all without SMS, or video conferencing?

In fact, how did people change channel without remote control?

But still we come back to the same place with God: No time, Lord.

Our walk with God has no shortcuts. Nothing. We need to spend time with God the same way as Daniel did thousands of years ago. We don’t have remote control, sms or email to get God to answer faster or talk to Him quicker. So when we say no time for God, for ministry, it’s simply because we have no shortcuts with the Lord.

Mark 6 tells of an interesting chapter in Jesus’ ministry:

“7Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil[b] spirits. 

8These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” 

12They went out and preached that people should repent. 13They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.”
Actually, the more interesting part is in verse 30:

 ” 30The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

So here we have the disciples, after their short term missions trip, coming back to tell Jesus about all the stuff that has been happening. Instead of saying, “ok, let’s get to work,” Jesus observed that they were simply overloaded and told them to get some rest. It’s interesting.

Many of us work and serve. For me, nights from Wednesday onwards are usually geared for ministry. It’s rewarding in its own way but sometimes, burnout becomes a high probability. When that is close to approaching, Jesus says, come on guys, let’s get some rest. Take a break.

From that line in verse 30, we can derive 3 ways for us to rest and recharge.

1) With Him

He didn’t say, go on a break. He said, come WITH me.

In other words, he’s saying rest, but rest in me.

“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28

Our walk, our relationship with him is paramount. To the newer Christians, the bible says that Jesus is our High Priest in the order of Melchizidek. We no longer need to go to the levitical priests like the old testaments, because Jesus becomes our permanent high priest. He provides the WAY to God, so we can have the WORD of God.

This is a personal relationship with Him. Yes, in James 5:16, God teaches about accountability and confessing our sins to each other, and that we are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), but only God forgive sins. Our confession to each other is for inner healing, but at the end forgiveness only is from the Lord.

“Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” Mark 2:7

So in truth relationship with him is most important. We can have a great relationship with each other, but none of us are high priests that can take away sins. Only Jesus heals. He can heal through us, but the source is only Him. He is the only one that can give us rest.

So, I really do advocate rest from ministries when required. These so called ’sabbaticals’ are actually good, and we shouldn’t judge/begrudge ministers who step back from ministry for a while. I know some might not agree, but we need to look at each case on its own. For instance, if I’ve been serving non-stop and request a 1-2 months break from a ministry to look into my family, career, wedding etc, that’s very viable. It saves ministers from burning out.

Another extreme case, is to take a vacation from all service responsibilities and ministries on a ’sabbatical’. These so called ’sabbaticals’ sometimes go over a year or so. You’d think the church was requesting for kidney donors by the way some make of their ministry. In these cases, unless there is a very special case, most ministers are probably already running on their own steam and looking for a way out. This still remains a cagey subject to some, (I don’t know why–service should become a lifestyle to us anyway), so that will take a whole other post to discuss.

So, the first step in getting our rest: Rest With Him.

2)    By Yourselves

In other words, no activities, except for Him. Corporate prayer meetings are great but at some point, we’ll need to break away and start our own relationship with God. This is a personal one on one time. No girlfriends, no wives, no husbands, no parents, no cell members, no pastors, no worship leaders nobody should define this relationship for you. This is YOU.

Especially couples, it’s very important to understand. Yes, we need to pray and to fellowship together and be familiar with having Him in our relationship, but we must always respect each others time alone. If someone needs to go off some place to seek the Lord, allow that person to do it! I know of a pastor who takes a week break a year to seek Christ at a remote place. The family will need to understand that. Not everything needs to be done as a couple, your private walk is simply that.

This also extends to other parts of your relationship with Christ. I never really understood the concept where some couples come to the conclusion that the guy pays for offering and tithes for the both of them. I’m sorry, that is simply just amazing to me. It’s like, sure, he pays for dinner, he pays for lunch, he pays for the shopping, and yeah, he pays her tithes too.

Why?

The guy likely has little or no control over his ‘better’ half, for one reason, and does not have the gumption or discipline to say no. Or likely, the guy is also misled into this kind of teaching that men should do everything, including paying tithes. It’s your personal relationship with God, your personal sacrifice, your personal giving, your personal understanding. So, please, get away from these, “let’s do everything together!” philosophy. You don’t need to get a mediator to stand between you. We already have one. His name is Jesus.

3)    Quiet Place

Finally, get a place free from everything and use it. This is vital. In our busy lives as executives, engineers, business people etc, it’s really hard to find a quiet place. This is tied down to point 2). It’s your quiet place. Not you and your other half. It’s you. God wants to speak to you and He might not want others being a lamp post in that relationship, including your wife/husband.

This quiet place can be anywhere, in a car, in a retreat, in the mountains, in your special room in your house. It can even be in the toilet, since many guys find that particular room fairly relaxing. Some do it in the car, which is a good option, since it tunes you out from the jam, but special care needs to be taken care in terms of concentrating on the road.

And as always, for the couples especially, it’s vital that the other person should understand: Your date with God is YOUR DATE with God. Tell him/her, don’t be involved. Get your own time.I’ll see you in half an hour, or I’ll call you back. Don’t bother us.

Of course, in a nicer way that that, if possible

Guard your time with God, by yourself, in your quiet place.

Every Christian would be familiar with the famous Sermon on the Mount. It’s Jesus’ breakout moment, in it, lies the basic landscape of Christian tenets. One of the most famous verses in the bible is found in Matthew 5:13-16:

“¹³“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

 ¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

And here’s a look deeper into these passages, in light of our marketplace ministries.

The first thing is to look into the first of these two illustrations: Salt. What does Salt do?

1) Salt preserves food.

In the time that Jesus spoke there were no refrigerators to store the meat and it was very hot. No Panasonic, Sanyo and Electrolux. The meat could spoil in the heat so salt was rubbed on the meat to preserve it. The salt prevented the meat from spoiling. How? According to the wisdom of HowStuffWorks,com:

Salting, especially of meat, is an ancient preservation technique. The salt draws out moisture and creates an environment inhospitable to bacteria. If salted in cold weather (so that the meat does not spoil while the salt has time to take effect), salted meat can last for years.

Society is turning for the worse. I mean, here’s something for us: Jesus never told us that He would bring peace on earth. His goal wasn’t to bring peace to the world because the world has fallen, and in conflict with God, and any change to that would face resistance. Jesus has indeed brought peace and hope to those who call on His name and believe, but for those who reject the gospel, there will not be any reconciliation. In Matthew 10:34, He says it outrightly that He didn’t come to bring peace but the sword. He offers peace, but to the world that rejects Him, there will be division. His message is of peace, but is also controversial and is the truth. Truth hurts, and for those who can’t handle it, they rebel against it. So, the world will never be at peace, as a reaction to His message. Hostility is the effect of His message in the world of unbelievers, not the content. The society of this world has been in decay eversince Man gave the key to this world to Satan.

But if Christians were suddenly taken off the scene there would be even quicker decay. The church is the preservative. Christian is the salt preserving God’s moral standards. Even a small percentage of Christians can have a profound effect on keeping society from decaying just like a little salt can preserve meat. Why do we bother to preserve a dying world? Because of the people. Jesus found us when we were lost, and it is our life mission as Christians to bring this message of hope wherever He places us in.

In some parts of the world, Churches have compromised the Message to accommodate political correctness. Black and white becomes grey; what seemed like a straightforward response is now muted because we no longer want to appear exclusive, old-fashioned, non-mainstream. In many ways, the post-modern culture is easier to adapt than many of the so called hardline teachings we find in the bible. As christians in this age, in this marketplace, we cannot compromise the Word, because that’s the only authority we should base our actions and principles upon.We are the salt of this earth and we are called to preserve what is good in our workplace and society through the truth of the gospel.

It sounds like a great title for a book, doesn’t it?

A simple illustration we used in cell a couple of weeks back on priorities in life was this:

1. Get an empty glass

2. Fill it with golf balls (you can probably fill it with 3 - 4) without it spilling over. Once again our cell host offered to be the Vana White assistant to the illustration.

3.  Ask,is the cup full of golf balls? Can we put in any more golf balls without spilling? (Yes and no)

4. Now, open a bag of kuaci. To the uninitated, kuaci are roasted melon seeds, extremely addictive, usually a delicacy for birds or chinese people who sit around coffee shops. Oh, for some reason, it’s impossible to resist it during chinese new year, especially when watching a kung-fu movie or playing cards. Anyways.

5. Pour the precious kuaci into the cup. (Don’t worry, kuaci is quite cheap). It will fill up the gaps between the golf balls.

6. Ask, is the cup full of kuaci and golf balls? Can we add anymore kuaci without spilling and making a mess? (Yes and no again)

7. Finally, fill in water. The water will seep through the balls and kuaci till it is full. Now you got a great kuaci-golfball cocktail!

8. Use another cup, but this time do it in reverse. Fill the cup with water, then try adding kuaci and golf balls without spilling anything. Is it possible? (No. If somehow it’s possible, you better relook at your steps)

What’s essentially being said is this. The cup represents our life. We have choices to fill it with different things. The golf balls are the important things in life. Our relationship with God, our family, or health, true friendships. Basically, if everything else is lost, and only these are left, your life will still be full.

The kuaci represents all the other stuff that are good to have but not essential. Our jobs for instance. Sure, money is really required. But hey, if we lose our jobs, is that at the same level of losing our family, our kids, our health etc? We can still adjust, if we have our health. Take a lower paid job, adjust expenses etc. Our house, our cars are all good to have, but if we need to scale back to a smaller car, a rented house, we still can do it. It’s nowhere at the same level of losing our faith, or losing our family members.

The water represents all the other things in life. The small stuff. Your sports. Your golf. Your movie times, your hangout times, your parties, your hobbies. If we don’t do these things, sure, we feel like we’re not fulfilled somewhat, but hey, don’t sweat the small stuff.

If we put in the small stuff first in our lives and worry about it, we’ll never have enough room for the things that matter. If we fill the cup with water, we won’t have time for the kuacis and the golf balls. And see, not everything can become your golf balls, because they are big and they take a big part of our lives. Sometimes I find it hard to understand how anyone can obsess over their cars and sports like golf and football and neglect their family or relationships. It’s ridiculous, to devote so much time into silly things like that. There’s a difference between passion and obsession. Passion is controlled, and is positively infectious to others around. A person passionate about his football team is a great person to be around. But obsession is uncontrolled. A person who neglects his duties as a father, husband and continuously choose hobbies over family and God and ministry? He’ll end up miserable, because he has filled his cup with useless water. And worse, he makes others around him miserable.

So, let’s pick the golf balls over the kuacis, and let the kuacis come first over the water.

We had a great time eating the remaining kuacis in the mamak later. Hmmmmm.

Now that we’ve gone through the verses that describes the joy of Peter, the frustration of the author of Hebrews and the outburst of Paul, each using the Milk Metaphor; we’ll look into what this ‘milk’ and ’solid food’ mean to us.
Milk

Milk can be described in a few ways.

One, milk is a very basic, easy to stomach liquid that requires almost no effort on the drinker’s part to take in to them.  All they have to do is swallow the milk.  The diet of an infant consists mostly of milk, because an infant can’t handle anything more complicated.  Spiritual milk for the Christian is the basic teachings of our faith, the fundamentals, and every baby needs the basic essentials after all.

Two, an infant requires someone to feed the milk to them in some fashion; this lessens the load on the infant even more, making it easier for the milk to get in them.
Three, milk is the springboard in to higher levels of food, without it, the infant never matures to the point of learning how to eat solid food. I want to look at a few verses here in the New Testament that deal with spiritual ‘milk’ for the Christian.

Solid Food

One, solid food is complex, deep, and requires a more mature and ready ‘stomach’ to handle.  It is the deeper teachings of the Christian faith; the things that help us grow up even more in to our salvation and bring us from infancy to maturity.  They are the things that hopefully will transform us in to being more and more like Jesus, and more effective for Him in this world we live in.  Without solid food this transformation cannot happen.

Two, as a child grows they begin not only to have these more complicated foods, but they begin to learn to feed themselves as well.  Anyone will tell you that this step is a normal and necessary step in the development of a child, so why not Christians?  This is the other aspect of what it means to have solid food: self feeding.  When you grow up in to an adult most of your food primarily comes from you ‘hunting’ down the food, cooking it, feeding it to yourself, chewing on it, digesting it, and then getting it back out of you (do the rough metaphor yourself lol).  Christians need to do this very thing.  We need to seek out the solid food of the Word, get it in to our spiritual mouths, and chew on it.

This means we must think long and hard on it, meditate on it day and night (Josh 1:8), and hide it in our hearts (Ps. 119:11).  We must let it become part of us as we ‘digest it’ in to ourselves, letting God’s Truth permeate us and become part of our very being, putting it in to practice, putting it in to “constant use”.  This is the step we need to make, from milk to solid food, from babe to adult.  If we just let someone else always teach us, then even if it is ‘solid food’ in the ‘deeper spiritual truths’ sense of the phrase, it’s still basically milk, i.e. spoon feeding.  What happens when we learn to feed ourselves and mature in to adult Christians?  I think these verses speak greatly to this question:

Three, I want to note that even adults still drink in the milk sometimes.  The fundamental truths of Christianity are great to always be learning about and remembering.  It should also be said that having someone give you a glass of milk is never a bad thing (like a sermon on Sunday!), it’s just that you cannot survive on that alone.  A pastor who is teaching and spoon feeding you the ‘simple milk’ all the time will never be enough fuel for you to continue to mature in Christ.

Solid food is primarily a self-feeding endeavor because like it says in Hebrews 5:14, it is by constant (personal) ‘use’ of solid food that a mature Christian is able to distinguish good from evil.  So now when a child becomes an adult, what do the adults do?  They feed the children their milk so that they can move on to solid food, and guess what?  They teach them how to get that solid food for themselves while they’re at it!  It’s the adult’s job to teach the children how to feed themselves, so that they can grow and help mature others.  In other words, you need solid food and not milk in order to grow in Christ to the point of becoming everything God desires for you to be in Him.

In cell, we had an interesting group illustration, although simple, that managed to outline the concept of ‘milk’ and ’solid food’ that was often used in the New Testament.

I had 4 winners of the icebreaker lead the illustration. First, I had my assistant leader pour each of them a glass of milk. Yum. I love milk. Apparently, many do not share my enthusiasm. When asked to describe the taste, ‘bland’ comes to mind. ‘Milky’ is another classic description. Next, I gave each a chocolate chip cookie and asked them to dip into the milk. That tastes a lot better. Finally, I asked each of them to find food in the room and each found bars of chocolate (strategically placed beforehand of course). They then shared the chocolate with the other cell members.

The word ‘milk’ occurs 5 times in the New Testmament and all but one are used metaphorically. Although used by different authors, there is a link between the 3 verses stated here.

1 Peter 1:1-3

 1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Hebrews 5: 11-14:
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

1 Corinthians 3:1-4
 1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?

Peter starts the ball rolling by saying, “Wow, welcome to God’s family! Now, put away the old and crave the good stuff. Crave spiritual milk, like newborn babies.” It was an illustration everyone understood. Babies have an instinct to need milk. That’s the way they grow, it was a natural law. (At this point, I must wonder how lactose intolerant people get about growing up…). But Peter is not done. He goes on to say, “Hey, just taste the goodness of God, BUT from this, you need to GROW UP in your salvation!” Interesting. Peter knew drinking milk was the first step but it wasn’t the end. They had to grow.

Second passage in Hebrews had the writer getting a little frustrated. He’s saying, “Man, there are a bunch of stuff I want to share with you but you’re too young to learn. In fact, you should be teaching others by now, yet, you need to go back to start again!” That’s frustrating. When I was a kid, I hated learning the piano. Hated it. Everytime my teacher came, I regressed instead of progressed. After a few years, I got worse. Imagine, as a teacher, how frustrating that is. The author of Hebrews could have just sighed in resignation when he said, “You guys are still infants, so you are immature. You can’t distinguish good from evil.” You see, it’s not just growing up and getting stronger. It’s the fact that it would protect us, with the maturity we have. We know what is good, we know what is bad, but only if we are matured and we graduate from Milk School.

Third passage, we’ve got everyone’s favourite apostle, Paul. Or maybe not, since he wasn’t a guy you probably want to have a cup of tea with. Paul was often blunt and forward in his writings. If he had to take someone down, he would. He wasn’t out to make friends and influence people. He knew he didn’t have the time for it. He starts his scolding by saying: Brothers. Ah how nice. Not.

The next sentences, he just goes ballistic.  He says brothers a little sarcastically, because he goes,  “you guys are worldly, not spiritual. I can’t talk to you in the way I want. So, instead of the meat of the message, I’m still going to give you milk. God loves you. John 3:16. Be kind. Come to church. Don’t gossip. I’d love to talk to you about the 3 fold ministry or apologetics, but it’s way beyond you. You guys are too worldly, too petty. Come on, grow up!” Now Paul won’t mince his words and he just takes onto another level: “You are jealous, you argue over silly stuff, you guys are just not getting it! Are you carnal? Are you guys just like the world? Haven’t you all changed?? I’m just so sick and tired of your bleating about, ‘Ooooh, I like Apollos because he’s handsome,’ and ‘Oooh, we like Paul because he is the founder.’ Come on, move on. Grow up.”

Or something like that.

You see, we can’t stand by milk forever. We need to move onto something. A Christian who continuously just go to church, sing a few songs and go home, year in year out is like a full grown man prefering to suck milk from a bottle. Isn’t that troubling? If we were all having good steak, pasta, spaghetti, Char Kueh Teow and suddenly this friend of ours, 30 years old, full grown man with no defects, whips out a baby bottle and starts drinking from it. It’s weird.

So, Christians, fellow cell members, we need to get off that milk diet and start progressing to something solid!

I heard pastor saying that Nehemiah 3 was possibly one of the most difficult chapter to read because of its names and such. I’ll have to disagree there, because any chapter in the bible with names like Tower of the Hundred, Tower of the Ovens, House of the Heroes, Pool of Siloam has got my attention. I used to read fantasy books when I was younger and was constantly fascinated with all these exotic sounding names. It makes you wonder, wow, how did they get their names? What happened? How did it look like?

Overall, in chapter 3, the word ‘Gate’ was mentioned more than 10 times. There were 10 gates to note in Chapter 3 and in many ways, it might reference to something symbolic. This is an interesting way to look at these gates one by one:

The Gate Symbols

The Sheep Gate: The Apostle Paul reminds us that we are crucified with Christ unto the world, and the world is crucified unto us. This is the gate that must be kept in repair if you want to grow into a strong Christian.

The Fish gate: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” {Matt 4:19 KJV}. Throughout the Old Testament fishing is a symbol of witnessing to others, of the necessity of acknowledging that you belong to Christ. You witness by your words and actions.

The Old Gate: That is because truth remains the same throughout the centuries. Truth never changes. So this gate calls us back to the basics of life, back to the time-tested paths that have led to stability, security, and order.

Valley Gate: A valley in Scripture always represents humility and the judgment of conceit in our lives. John Stott calls humility “that rarest and fairest of Christian virtues.” If pride is the ultimate sin, then humility, its opposite, is the ultimate virtue. Peter tells us, “God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble,
The world applauds pride. It tries to make every individual feel capable of handling anything that comes. It even applauds arrogance. But God applauds humility. This is the first lesson in the school of the Spirit. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest to your soul,” {cf, Matt 11:29}. One of the reasons why many people are so restless today is that they have never learned to be humble to be meek and lowly of heart.

Dung Gate: It is the gate of elimination, the gate where all the rubbish and corrupt things in the city were brought to the garbage dump in the Hinnom Valley, outside Jerusalem.

It is necessary to have an elimination gate in our lives as well. Paul urges us, “Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit,” {cf, 2 Cor 7:1}. One of the reasons many people are unable to function as God wants is because they seldom use the Dung Gate. They do not deal with their secret sin, with private corruption in their own lives. Jesus warned that doing so may be very painful. He said it may be like cutting off an arm or plucking out an eye. But it is something that has to be done or otherwise it leads to ruin.

Fountain Gate: So here is the Spirit-filled life, overflowing to others. As the Apostle Paul said, “Keep being filled with the Spirit,” {cf, Eph 5:18}. You will notice it comes immediately after the Dung Gate. After the corruption is cleansed away by the consent of the believer, then the cleansing of the Spirit washes clean.

Water Gate: Water, in Scripture, is the symbol of the Word of God. This is the gate that reminds us of our need for the Word of God. The interesting thing about this account is that they did not repair the Water Gate. It did not need repair. The Word of God never needs improvement or repair for it lasts forever. It is indestructible. What it needs is to be re-inhabited.

Horse Gate: This is the gate that reminds us that we are not on a picnic: We are not on a Caribbean cruise. We are on a battlefield! We are going to be under attack. We are going to be assaulted by surprising events.

There is much joy in the Christian life, but it will not always be without struggle. Everybody is going to face battle. We need to be alert to the fact of spiritual warfare.

East Gate: It is on the eastern side, opposite the temple area and facing the rising sun. Thus, it is the gate that speaks of hope and expectation. It is the gate through which the returned Messiah will enter the city of Jerusalem.

What does the East Gate tell us? It tells us that God has yet a glory awaiting those who trust him. The story of life does not end in despair and tragedy. Jesus said to his disciples, “When you see all these things coming to pass, lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption is drawing near,” {cf, Luke 21:28}. We ought to be like tea kettles — even when they are up to their necks in hot water, they are still singing!

Inspection Gate: The word in Hebrew means “the appointed place.” If you are familiar with the book of Hebrews, in the New Testament, you will recall 9:27, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment” {Heb 9:27 KJV} — the inspection!

It is a reminder that we must give an account of our journey: We must learn at last the truth about our lives as God sees it. We will see all that has happened, exactly the way it really was.

Then at the end of the chapter we come again to the Sheep Gate, where we began. The Sheep Gate stands for the cross and the cross must be at the beginning and at the end of our lives. Undergirding everything is this principle, out of death comes life. Out of the subjection of our natural desires to the will of God comes the life of God filling us full and blessing our hearts.

We just got news yesterday that GTPJ missions pledge has gone past 3 million ringgit for next year. This is quite a milestone, I don’t think we’ve gone past that figure before, but more so during a period when we are embarking on an ambitious building program and also the dismal forecast of 2009 many people are predicting. One of the reasons why I stay with GTPJ is the commitment to missions every year. Our missions giving continues to increase despite external circumstances.
Which comes to giving. I think personally, this topic is one of the toughest to tackle. We can talk about ministry, and giving time for His glory, but when it comes to the moolahs, many of us are a little balky at it. There are several reasons to this, and most of it are valid concerns. To address it, we first need to know:

1)  What is tithing?

Generally, tithing defined is one tenth of our gross earnings. In fact, that’s what it means. Tithe means tenth, from where the ten percent is derived. And this is further derived from the Old Testament, I suppose as early as Abraham giving a tenth to Melchizedek, and consequently the children of Israel tithing. Everytime new Christians or potential believers talk about Christianity, they come to the conclusion you need to give 10%, nothing more, nothing less. That’s religious tax.

The understanding of tithing needs to go further up than just saying “OK, that’s my duty. I have to do it.” I don’t believe we have to do it or else we are not Christians, because that’s legalism, and Christianity is a gospel of grace. The foundation of Christianity is compassion and thankfulness and this makes us more consistent givers than any rules and laws can every do. 2 Cor 2:6 onwards talk about the principles of giving:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As it is written:

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.” 10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

 12This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

It’s clear that the motivation for us to give our tithes and offering is not to fulfill a law or duty but as a natural reaction of thankfulness to God. If we give in this spirit, we oftentimes end up giving more than whatever percentages we feel we are tied down to.

We often miss the point in our giving. Sometimes we think by giving more, we cover up our sins. We think by giving more, we have more rights for how the church should be, what music to play etc. And on the other spectrum, some members who don’t agree with somethings the pastor say, simply state, “I won’t give anything.”

Or some might say, sorry, the Bible doesn’t explicityly tell us to give a tenth of our gross salary, so forget it. It’s strange that we’re always conservative about what the Bible doesn’t say, but on the other hand, the Bible stated that all believers brought their belongings to the church and gave them (Acts 4:34), yet we don’t see the same people using that verse as an example and giving everything to the Lord. It’s true, that those without the spirit cannot discern the spiritual things and everything to him is foolishness (2 Cor 2:14). At the end, if the Spirit isn’t in a person, the very foundation of Christianity (including tithing) is foolishness to him.

Should we tithe? Yes. Will God curse you if you don’t tithe? I don’t know about that. I’ve given lump sum offerings before and all it got me so far was a clearer conscience and a good night sleep. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to get back 10 fold our ‘investment’. That’s why it’s called giving. So what if nothing comes back to me? If it goes out to people in need or bless our pastors in remote outreaches, that’s a better way for that money to go than for a couple of silly golf games or something. The spirit in which we give is much more important. That being said, to say, “I don’t want to give because I feel like a hypocrite giving and because my spirit is not right.”, means that we probably need a long examination of our beliefs and salvation, because that’s seems to be a bigger issue.

Ultimately, God is not mocked, so our feeble justifications are just that: excuses. We are called to be good stewards, and that means taking care of what doesn’t belong to us. Once we realise that and release our tight fisted hands, there’s a promise that we will be blessed in abundance. Whether that’s material blessing or spiritual or whatever…does it really matter?

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” - Luke 6:38

2) Where does our tithes go?

This is a great question. You know we have the white slips of paper at church where you’re supposed to mark which fund it goes to? Well, here’s what I understand:

1) Just put money into the bag - This is what I habitually do. Although sometimes for neatness sake, I put into the envelop but don’t mark it. This generally goes under offering fund.

2) Tithe - Some confusion is over what is tithe, what is offering. Well, they actually go into the same general fund. The general fund is for the running of the church and administration. Which is great. Because you can’t expect our pastors to eat peas and potatoes every day, right? I love our pastoral staff and their work for the Lord! Now if tithes and offerings goes into the same general fund, why have both? Great question. It’s a different desgination for one. Offering is over and on top of what you have tithe, so some people prefer to have separate designations for it. Personally, like I mentioned, I just put it into an empty envelop and be done with it.

3) Offering - As described above!

4) Agape Fund - This is for special funds for the church to help people, like those in need, or require emergency financial assitance. The approval goes through the board for each case.

5) Missions - This goes to missions funding 100%. Allocation to each country/ministry is reported in our AGM report.

6) Building - This is for building fund, and as above, allocation is also reported.

Wow! It’s been ages since I last wrote. Will definitely try to update more, as I’ve settled in (some sort) into my new job.

2009 is upon us. What does it have in store for us?

The church theme chosen is POSITIONING.

What is positioning?

Product positioning: In marketplace, positioning means to place your product or services in the right segment to the right target group and move aggressively into promoting it. It means to spend money on activities that increases branding.

Corporate positioning: When individual work together to achieve the greater good. For everyone to do this, they must have a view of the big picture.

 Individual Positioning: It is the activity that occurs usually right before impact. It’s the key. Without positioning, the impact is futile or weak. Without positioning, all the efforts to create impact is weakened. A badminton player positions himself before a leaping smash. A tennis player gets into impact position before clobbering the ball. A footballer gets into position right before he kicks a curler. A golfer gets into impact position with the driver head lag. A ping pong player gets into position to smash down.

Likewise in our lives, we position ourselves to create the most effective impact. We position ourselves in the word, in understanding the word, in our relationship with Him so that when the times get tough, we can stand on His word and His assurance and it will see us through.

We position ourselves in our families, to be testimonies, so that when others go through hardships, we can be there to help, to counsel.

We position ourselves in church, so that when ministry is needed, we are available.

We position ourselves in our workplace, so that when the time comes for us to be a testimony, our actions will speak for themselves. We can handle high positions of power, and of responsibility.

How are we positioning ourselves in 2009? Will we let 2009 go by not addressing some of the things that have held us back last year?

ThreeDs Cell Vision

4 positions we will need to look into as the new year begins:

Position 1:  To be positioned to grow and strengthen members in the Word (the Three Ds)

The need for spiritual growth has always been there. The Dive, Delve and Dwell are key factors.
Mentorship programs, spiritual parenting, having informal meetups and encouragement  of individuals.

Position 2: To be positioned to impact relationships within and outside of the cell group

Bonding in the cell has always been very strong. For 2009, we need to open our doors more and go the extra mile to follow up with people, starting from those with LIITA. We need to connect not just on a hi bye level, but on a slowly deeper level. Meeting for lunch, meeting for games, organizing activity that includes instead of exclude is key.

Position 3: To be positioned to impact the church with ministry and availability

We move outward from the cell and individual to a larger space, our church. Like a body, everything needs to be functioning . We need to help members identify ministries, or positions they can be in and most effectively.

The church provides the platform. But the people are the ones that need to utilize this platform. Missions, Children ministry, music, hospitality, young adults, prayer, writing etc There are ministries out there to reach further, to ease the running of the church to help out the leaders.

And here’s where we talk about gifts (later in other sessions). We’ve talked a lot about service in church already. It constitutes a horizontal relationship after establishing a vertical one.

1 Peter 4:10-11: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Inward holiness leads to outward love which produces spiritual service. And spiritual service without inward holiness and spiritual service without outward love is hypocrisy, legalism, sham.

SERVE each another.  Peter doesn’t do marketing, he tells it as it is. It’s menial jobs. We have been individually given gifts, so we’re all individuals!

And then there’s more than that. Ephesians 4:7 says the measure of Christ’s gift. He uses that phrase, “the measure of Christ’s gift.” He measures out that gift in different ways. You might have a gift of teaching, of gift of showing mercy, a gift of service, a gift of faith or whatever, but the measure by with which you are given that gift might vary. We have many people in this church with the gift of teaching but it’s different in each case. So you have the measure of the gift.

Not only that, in Romans 12:3 Paul says when God gives the gift He also gives the measure of faith to operate that gift. So you have your gift measured out and then you have the right amount of faith to operate that gift measured out. A measure of grace, a measure of faith is linked with the measured gift for effective use

Position 4: To be positioned to reach out in the market place

Finally, the position in the world. Christians are not called to be separated from the world. We are called to be set APART. Its different. We are living and impacting the world and its values, we are called to be light and salt. There’s no use for light if there’s no darkness. No use for salt if there’s no tastelessness. We are called to heal the broken, give deliverance, to open the eyes and tell the world of the good news of hope of Jesus Christ.

Our workplace is where God can use us the most, and so can the devil.

Our country is the best positioned to be open to the gospel. Christian values are needed more and more.
With desperate times in the coming year, more people will ask about life’s meaning and life’s hope. More people will seek answers, and we need to be in a position to address those questions.

And the question to start off 2009: Will we commit to get ourselves into the positions that will deliver the most effective impact?

Last week we had an interesting topic on healing and how God heals, and why sometimes people don’t get healed. This is an opportune time, since we are heading into the Healing Encounter Conference this week from Ps Bernard Blessing.

Sickness and disease came as a result of man’s fall. When God created everything, all was good. Everything was free from diseases/sickness…but from the fall, these things entered the world.

We can say when sin entered the world, it caused sickness; but as we will see later, some sickness isn’t the direct result of personal sin (John 9), but is there simply for the glory of God when he is healed. Why is there sickness and disease among us? Why doesn’t God heal all diseases immediately? It’s really a subset of the larger question I get from my colleagues: if your God is real, why is there suffering in this world?

Of course, there’s this law of nature. If I continue to eat seafood and bak kut teh every single day, and rebel against the common sense that God has given me, it is simply self abuse.  I expect my body to break down and get clogged up as well. I might as well take an electric baton and stuff it at my neck. Is God going to spare me from a deserved shock?

Taking care of our health is a prerogative of everyone.  Can God do the supernatural and still heal you? He’s God. We can’t ask a question with the word CAN with God. It’s ridiculous. It’s like asking, can oxygen be used by our body?
He CAN! But why? So we can continue to indulge in worldly pleasures and not learn anything? ‘Sickness’ covers any infirmities we may have, a flu you get because you played golf in a thunderstorm, or a tummy ache from eating 20 durians. Like death on earth, disease is still prevalent, hence as Christians we are to discern and accept medical help for common ailments, like what Paul prescribed to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:23).  Trophimus was sick (2 Tim 4:20) as Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:27). Maybe they played golf in the rain? God has provided a lot of natural remedies to our sickness, so use it! There’s nothing wrong with being a doctor =)

What I’m saying is, there are certain things that doesn’t change, natural laws; you put your head into fire, you get fried, simple as that. Or the law of aging. When 80 years old you reach, look as good you will not. The stuff we eat, the air we breathe slowly breaks down our bodies, and that’s the natural process of aging.

Can God heal you from all infirmities? Yes! He can even raise you from the dead, the greatest disease, if He’s not finished with you. But most of the time (thank God), He allows Christians to rest in peace, simply because our purpose in this world is over. 2 Kings 13:14 says that Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died.  It was time to check out. Or in the voice of the Farmer in Babe: “That will do, Pig. That will do.”

Healing and Medicine

I think everyone knows that as Christians, we’re not simply depending on God’s miracles to heal and reject all forms of medical assistance, or not take into account financing like health/life insurance and such. Does it mean we are of little faith? No! But it does mean we are of common sense, and will use the medical assistance or natural remedies that God provides. If you have an exposed wound, for goodness sakes, patch it up instead of walking around and telling God to disinfect in in the name of Jesus. Ezekiel 47:12 talks about practical herbs for healing. Does it mean we can’t buy any health insurance since we have faith God will heal all diseases of everyone at any point of time?

Divine Healing

Now comes the main bit. There are sickness that God can and will heal, even immediately. There is no limitation to what God can do. You can put your farm into that statement. Everything natural, everything supernatural, God is able, because ALL things are possible with God.

God will destroy the works of the evil one and bring glory back to Himself. And hence healing is such an important part of our beliefs. As believers, the gift has been granted. All sickness and disease that represents darkness, that is there to oppress and to destroy the abundant life we are called to live, are already broken.

A person struggling from a chronic disease can be assured that the disease is smashed to millions of pieces and glory will be given to Him. Dead cells are regenerated. Bones are clicked back in place. I’ve witness occasions that makes me a firm believer, GOD is a HEALER.

Many of us sometimes ask, what caused the sickeness? In John 9, the same question was asked: Why is this guy lame? We often ask it. Why am I sick? Am I being punished?

Jesus doesn’t really address the question, because they were asking the wrong question. Enough of focusing on the problem! He says, see what’s gonna happen, it’s gonna blow your mind! It wasn’t about how the person got sick, it was about how God can be glorified in that situation. Healing isn’t an end to itself, it brings glory to God. Sickness doesn’t glorify God, but overcoming that disease gives glory to God. Conquering the darkness, the oppression; delivering people from infirmities, all brings back the glory to God.

You see, we could be asking the wrong question here. All things, events and even miracles MUST glorify God. There’s no compromising that.  Again John 11:4, Jesus speaks about Lazarus’ illness.

“ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.””

Again, we need to approach it and recognize that it’s not the sickness that glorifies God, but  rather, the event that happens (resurrection in this case).

Why are so many Christians sick?

Here’s the tough bit. As Christians, healing is already provided in the atonement. That’s important to understand. It’s something that God has instilled in us when we become his child. It’s no longer something unreachable, but as something attained. Hence, healing from the creator is evident in a believer’s life.

Why then do committed Christians still suffer, why are they still sick, or dying of disease? I remember praying for a friend of mine who had an accident, yet, he died and I asked the question, “God, why?” I’ve come to the conclusion that there are many things I don’t know about God and why things happen. I know that’s not a good answer, but I don’t have any, without making my own assumptions.

I’m not going to say that they have inner sins or lack faith or lack knowledge, because I simply don’t know. There might be some spiritual baggage, or unforgiveness, or something that needs to be healed spiritually before physical healing takes place. God makes it clear in 1 Thes 4:3 that God’s will is for us to be sanctified. But at the end, I’m not going to say I have an answer to everything. Jesus didn’t really answer all the things that the Pharisees or his disciples asked either, just the correct ones.

God has His own timing in all things. His ways are not our ways. Lazarus was sick, but Jesus delayed his coming, and he even died, but at the end, God was glorified. Is there instantaneous healing? Well, most of the healing in the New Testaments were instantaneous granted upon request, and definitely brought much Glory to God , and in turn believing in God (which we have agreed is the reason for healing).  There were other times that Jesus attended to other people first (Mark 5), as in Jairus case, when his daughter was sick and Jesus attended to the woman with blood disorder first, even though Jairus came first. Due to the delay, the daughter died; yet, Jesus rose her again.

Henry Blackaby in his book Experiencing God, talks about his child Carrie, struggling with cancer. They prayed for healing, but it took more treatments and testing and after a period of intensive prayer, the doctors declared that the cancer is miraculously gone. Blackaby notes that during the course of prayers, lives around him also changed. People increased their faith, student prayer groups found life, church prayer ministries revitalized. The healing didn’t happen immediately, it took time. They had to undergo trials and testing of faith. They might have asked, “God, if it’s your will to heal, why are we going through this?” or they could just focus that whatever the outcome and whatever time, they hold on to Romans 8:28 and know it will work for good. God is in control of all things. At the end, all glory was reflected back to God.

Can that 3 months become 3 years? I’ve known couples who went through years of praying and received miracle babies when medically they cannot have children. See how God will heal. But we mustn’t always think that healing is fast food, and every request is gratified instantaneously. God calls us to be patient in affliction, and bear our tribulations because from it, comes perseverance, and perseverance character and character, hope.

Healing Conference

So what do we expect in healing conference? First and foremost, YES, God has come and broken the power of darkness, i.e death and disease. Will he heal and break the powers of darkness and disease? Yes! I believe diseases and sickness will be healed, because God has brought Rev Bernard Blessing to GT at His appointed time to do His appointed work, and to put to shame the Devil and his shenanigans. Through the conference, God will heal, God will restore, God will provide and He will get all the glory for it. He’s God, and I believe miracles will happen, not because of anything we do, but because He is God.

From our side, like the lame man who was positioned through the roof to Jesus, we need to be in that position where we believe in faith that He will heal and transform lives and draw lives back to Him! We need to consecrate ourselves and come back to the Father, the source of life, and trust Him before we see the gifts of the God manifested in our lives.

I always believe in God’s sovereign will in all things. We have a God who is HUGE. He’s not a God to be manipulated by Human beings. He’s not obligated or forced to do what we ask and request. But we approach God with boldness and confidence, because we are his children and we have a God who loves us very much. And we have a God that works miracles far beyond what we can imagine or think! We just need to come to him in prayer, ask, and receive his response as a child. He will give us what is best for us, I trust that. We must always believe that if God puts us through a process, it’s for good, never for evil.

If you have a loved one who is ill, bring him/her. Like the centurion who believed in faith in proxy for his child, we stand and believe that our loved ones can be healed by God’s mercy and power. I believe God’s glory will be shown, and that’s why it’s going to be an exciting conference, because healing will take place, simply to reflect glory back to God.

Finally…

As I’ve said in cell, we can’t know everything that God intends. I don’t think that’s the general idea. We need to align ourselves with what God is doing, period, and not overspiritualise every single thing and He will lead us a day at a time. Divine Healing is about God, not the pastor, not the church, not the conference, no, not even the miracle. We need to remove our focus from man centered Christianity to God centered. We need to remove our obsessions with miracles and focus on the miracle worker. We need to stop running after blessings, but run to the blessor. We need to arm ourselves with the armour of light and understanding. We need to ground our faith on solid ground, that is the word of God; and be wise even when we hear the word of God. Yes, God has told us not to judge others. Yet, we are also called to be discerning and test all things.

For me, I will admit I don’t know everything that God intends for everyone. I believe God is compassionate and loving and called me to have a personal relationship with him. Whether hardships, weakness, sickness or dryness, I am called to look to Him and He will give me rest. As He heals us or through us as vessels, He gets all the glory. As He refreshes, He gets all the glory. I don’t think I am missing any blessing by having this thinking, because I am just the clay; I do not say to the potter, do this and do that.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Is. 55:8). 

He shapes as He will and He uses us as He wills, and I trust Him that He will shape me the best way that He intends. Wealth, health, prosperity is in God’s standards and His will; abundant life is to His standards! There’s a beautiful song that we sing:

In His time, In His time.
He makes all things beautiful
In His time;
LORD please show me everyday,
As your teaching me your ways
That you’ll do just what you say
In your time.