This vision is specific to our sub-district, but I must say, I'm really excited by this. Where we go, nobody knows ('cept God), but Oh, The Places We'll Go! :)
Alan stressed these two aspects of the vision (which is derived from the church's vision, whicn in turn is a personalization of Christ's Great Commission):
- Quality of our life – What we want to BE
- Output of our life – What we want to DO
1. We want to discover and progressively realize our life purpose in Christ.
2. People who learn, understand and apply the Word of God at a deeper level.
- b. A lot of Christians have not been feeling that the Bible is very relevant and deep in their lives…
- c. IF WE DON’T MAKE THE WORD OF GOD CENTRAL IN OUR LIVES… WE WILL END UP TWISTING THE WORD OF GOD TO JUSTIFY OUR ACTIONS AND THOUGHTS…
- e. *** Their internal values is not quite Word-based… but we don’t know what exactly is Word-based, because we ourselves don’t know the Word of God sharply enough…
- g. WE NEED TO CENTER OUR VALUE SYSTEMS ON THE WORD OF GOD…
- h. Lord… please have mercy on me… I’ve been justifying myself in some areas of my life – e.g. my laziness → I’ve been attributing it to my personality… but it is WRONG in Your sight…
- i. Hebrews 4:12-13
- j. Hebrews 5:11-14 “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers… you need milk, not solid food! But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil… Therefore let us leave the elementary truths and move on to maturity…”
- k. A lot of us are not strong in the Word… hmm… Lord, I think You’ve been prompting me to study the Bible… to be honest I don’t quite enjoy going through… but I have to do it! We should understand and apply the Word of God more!
- a. WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? ask myself often…
- b. In the area of ethics… thinking – not just asking WWJD, but also, WJRNDI? Would Jesus Really Not Do It? For we need to know the proper context too...
- c. We have to be well-informed – like Jesus, who was well-informed (always learning and growing more and more) and well-networked.
- d. Learning to talk about topical subjects e.g. Singapore's Budget for this year - do we know the facts?
- a. One of the outward signs is a willingness and desire to pray in the Spirit.
Praying in the Spirit is an indication of the natural outcome of the willingness and desire to do so... - b. Lists of spiritual gifts: Ephesians 4, Romans 12… etc
- a. We must have the attitude of REALLY wanting to help one another succeed in all aspect of their lives... Not just lobangs… but more than that, helping one another in life, in evangelising to one's loved ones e.g. parents... even in BGR too! But, just to clarify, we help the couple grow in their relationships through accountability!"
- i. Alan shared about 2 couples who came to seek accountability from him, and how he helped them grow in depth of relationship...
- c. If we don’t help one another succeed (and here Alan grimaced), don’t go and pretend to thank God… we MUST help one another! But must be in the spirit of accountability, love and wanting them to succeed.
- Accountability and trust very important… And HUMILITY too! We need to ask people to help us! We can’t expect our fellow bros and sisters to be omniscient...
The DO aspect: 3 points:
1. Start ventures to further the Kingdom causes
- a. Wow… so exciting… haha… thinking about media training… hee hee… thank You Lord for Peter’s idea… haha.. oh I should tell him about my own idea too… adding on to what he said… a media communications solution company… looking at the various forms of media…
- b. Tent-making ideas… Then our ministries will not be in need
- a. Of course, we are very very far from this, but got a very long timeframe…
- b. Enough Christians in a cluster of buildings so that CG will be so much easier… like how got HQ in NUS… imagine! Having HQ in my workplace… =D
- a. Some of our ministries are for the under-privileged, some for the performing artistes… and some are for the HODs, CEOs, etc…
- b. A lot of these people need Christ, despite their exteriors
Hmm... I'm writing these points down, 'cos I want to also capture this vision too. I think the points that struck me most were the ones about how we need to align our value systems to the Word of God, and about starting ventures to further the Kingdom causes.
Of course, this is a very long-term thing, but I think, after reading the Bible and seeing what Jesus said to His disciples, that they will be His witnesses before kings and governors in His name, and He will put words so powerful and true in their mouths that none can contradict them...
And after reading of William Carey, 18th-century missionary who impacted India in so many ways, not just spiritually, but academically, socially, legislatively, morally and even scientifically (he was a hobbyist botanist), and of Mother Teresa... and of many unknown heroes in Asia too, who have given their lives (both figuratively and literally) to sharing the good news of God's love and making an impact on both rich and poor for Him.
I'm reminded so then, that the best human qualifications and strengths don't count for anything much (though they can be used greatly by God too) apart from God, but when we choose to give more and more of our lives, strengths and skills to God as the days go by, then no matter how slow we grow, His power in us can grow exponentially - no, even greater than exponentially. For nothing is impossible with God!
But we need unity of spirit as a community of Christians, because this vision, though Alan and his team developed it, is ultimately based on Christ's Great Commission. And that is the whole purpose of this vision - we must remember the Great Commission.
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
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