Faith Family and Finance

Have you ever felt like running out of gas in your walk with God? You’re doing a lot for Him and yet you feel so distant. It’s like riding a stationary bike – you are busy spinning and sweating but you are not going anywhere.

When a religious leader asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is, Jesus answered “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And he followed up and said the second is like it, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

Jesus used the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate how to love our neighbor (Luke 10:30-37). Then he used the story of the two sisters Mary and Martha to illustrate how we should love God.

Luke 10:41  “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about MANY THINGS,
Luke 10:42 but only ONE THING is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

An insight that comes to mind when I read these verses was the difference between many things and one thing. When we find ourselves doing many things to please God, it is really born out of duty. But we need to just find the one thing to get to Him. That is born out of our pure devotion to Him.
Martha wanted Jesus to tell Mary to help her.  But He said that Mary has chosen what is better. God is not pushing us to do many things. He is calling us to do just one thing and that is to enjoy him.
Remember, ministry is just an overflow of our relationship with God. Not the other way around.
Matt. 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS will be given to you as well.
When we seek the ONE THING, then ALL THESE THINGS will follow.

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I am reposting a blog by Craig Groeschel. He is the Senior Pastor of Lifechurch.Tv in the U.S. – a cutting edge church that ministers using internet as a medium. They produce top calibre videos to make the gospel easy to understand and relevant for our times. He emphasizes that while the modern church needs to be relevant in its preaching method, it should not replace substance with style and dependence on the Holy Spirit with gimmickry. A good reminder for all of us who are called to pastor. The blog goes:

The [American] Church is not lacking for “cool” pastors. Like a single guy who is trying just-a-bit-too-hard to impress a girl, some churches are simply trying too hard to be cool.
I’m very encouraged to see a shifting in direction. For years, many of us seemed focused on:
* Designing relevant church experiences.
* Producing entertaining videos.
* Creating inviting environments.
* Crafting sermon series to draw a crowd.
* Writing sermons with shock value and plenty of humor or stories.

While all of the above can be effective tools, many of my friends are intentionally moving in a stronger direction. So many great Christian leaders are seeing far better results with:
* Bathing a sermon in prayer.
* Fasting regularly.
* Practicing personal confession and repentance.
* Preaching from the overflow of time alone in God’s word.
* Caring deeply for others in biblical community.

I’m thrilled so many leaders are placing less emphasis on being cool and more emphasis on being like Christ.

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We are called to disciple, lead and preach. Not just to entertain people.

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I am so grateful for this church. I got saved  23 years ago as a sophomore student and got involved in the life of the church. I’ve seen the church grow from a handful of people to now almost 40 thousand (in Metro Manila) in 13 locations. Back in 1986, we knew everyone in church by name (no kidding). It was so small that during a mid-week service if the worship team would go to the stage to sing, about five people would be left sitting in the congregation (a little exaggerated here).  I knew as a young believer that the honor of God is to be pursued at all cost – even in the way we do church.

By honoring God in church, it means that we build this church around God and not around a pastor or a group of pastors. We want to give God the credit always. We give God the honor by honoring one another – by not keeping offense and spreading it like wildfire. By God’s grace, we have not seen any church split after twenty five years of doing ministry. We may not agree on everything in a meeting in the conference room but when we go out (after a decision is made) we are in full support with one another.

We honor God in church by realizing that this is His body and that we need to walk united and connected with one another. Jesus will not come back for  mutilated bride but a glorious church without spot, blemish or wrinkle.

Eph. 5:27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Jesus loves His church. He gave His life for His bride. Let us honor Him by keeping the unity of the faith.

I love this Church!

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Had a great time in church service yesterday. The presence of God was there. We started with a new series entitled www.victory (The what, why and who of Victory). This month we are celebrating 25 years of Victory as a church. We are culminating it with a celebration in Araneta Coliseum on July 24. Get your tickets now. We hope to see you there.

Yesterday, we talked about honoring God. This is the ultimate motive of why we do what we do. We give God the credit. We honor God because He is worthy. We worship him for who he is and not just for what He does or give us. We are to honor God not just in church on Sunday but everyday in every way. We honor God in our marriage, in our family, in our work, in our finances and even with our body.

One of the verses that stuck to me is found in Malachi 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me. The Israelites were in a backslidden state and was warned by God through the prophet Malachi.

We are to set our hearts to honor God. Not because we fear that He will curse us but out of reverence and gratitude.

Before doing anything, ask yourself the question ,”Will this thing honor God?”

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This past week I have seen 4 funerals of people that I know. Two of them are family members of church members and the other 2 are celebrities – Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.
One thing I notice about funerals is that friends and relatives would  honor their dead through eulogy which is a tribute to the person who passed away.
I was deeply touched by the stories and testimonies that friends and family shared about the deceased. Those were wonderful words of appreciation.

Eccl. 7:1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.

Solomon said that death is better than birth because death is the summation of a person’s life. What will people say about us when we are finally lying down in our casket?  What would you like them to say about you? The words spoken are dependent on how you live your life NOW and how you will nurture the relationships that you have.

While I agree that words of honor should be said about a person when he is dead to summarize his life’s accomplishments and celebrate the relationships that he made. We need to take the time to honor our loved ones while they are still alive.  Let them hear how much we love and appreciate them.

Do not wait until they are dead before you say those beautiful speeches.

Say it while they can hear it.

In contrast, a wedding is an ocassion where the couple openly say what they feel for each other.

I like going to  weddings. It’s a celebration of a couple’s love for each other.

Tonight, I am officiating a renewal of vows ceremony for a couple in church. They have been married for 25 years.  They will be expressing their commitment to one another. And they will do it publicly before friends and family. They will say how much they love and appreciate each other and will make a promise that they will be faithful to the other until the very end.

Of course, words of affirmation should not just be said during the wedding ceremony but should be a regular part of the married life.

1Th. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

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I was checking my facebook yesterday when I saw many of the status notifications say that MJ is dead. I asked myself, who’s MJ? Michael Jordan? Magic Johnson? Mick Jagger? Then I turned on CNN and saw the breaking news. It was Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson died at 50. He was supposed to start what he termed as “The Last Curtain Call”- a 50 day concert tour. He accomplished a lot in terms of being a “genius” of an artist. Received numerous awards and accolades. He re-invented pop music and funk. Thus, getting the title King of Pop.

But the sudden death of MJ has sent a lot of tremors in the entertainment/ music industry around the world. Millions of fans are grieving because of the demise of their idol. As the different TV networks are giving their tribute to the king, you would realize how much he shaped the music world in the last 5 decades. But there were also negative things that were said about him. On June 27, 2009, the final curtain did close on Michael Jackson. The King of Pop met the King of Kings.

I realized that no matter how famous or infamous you are, we ALL have ONE SHOT at life. Life is short. Our life on earth is limited. Our time is ticking away. Everyday, we are closer to our appointment with death.

Heb. 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

The question is, “Are you living your life to make a positive impact in this generation?”.
Next question, “Are you ready to meet your Maker?”

Don’t be a fool. Live life to the full.

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2Chr. 24:1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

2Chr. 24:2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.

Joash was a young boy when he started ruling over Judah that’s why he needed a mentor. He did a lot of reforms including the repair of the temple. He did what was right in the eyes of God as Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Joash did a lot that was good. But he did not go far enough. The high places were still there and the people continued to sacrifice to idols.

2Chr. 24:17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.

2Chr. 24:18 They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols.

As long as Jehoiada was living, Joash served the Lord but when the priest died, Joash started to drift away and worship idols. He started listening to the advice of bad people. We must be careful to choose who we listen to for advice. We need to surround ourselves with godly men who will give us good counsel.

In the end, Joash was killed by his own officials who plotted against him.

2Chr. 24:25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

As leaders, we must have the tenacity to follow through. Its not how we start that’s more important but its how we finish the race. We cannot just ride on our past successes and stay in our status quo. Joash started something very noble and had great intentions. But in the end, his life was the total opposite of what he started. It was good (start) but not good enough (finish).

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