Loud, louder and even louder

Published from my 'Worship Today' blog.
The common progression in a worship service often goes from loud to louder and then even louder.
Worship leaders often believe that, that is the way to go. To give their very best and to worship from the heart requires, so they think, a corresponding increase in the decibels.
The result of this myth is not better worship but has led to many half deaf musicians and yes, half deaf congregations too.

There are certainly times to be loud as we celebrate the bigness and greatness of God. But to do that every week in every service and every moment of the service makes it 'boring' and even irritating at times. There is no variety in it. Good musicians understand tension in a song. They know the correlation of the loud and soft side to music.
More than that, it is the failure to understand that we can experience God in quiet moments.
God wants to speak in quiet moments.
His voice can be heard if we do not drown it out by the overwhelming loud music and our self interest of feeding our own emotions. Don't fall in love with your voice or the sound of the band. We do need good sound. I am all for it. But still the primary goal is more than the sound. It is God. Fall in love with God's voice and let Him speak. It is after all, His meeting.

Quiet moments can be very powerful and life changing.
Moses, alone in the back side of the desert, was changed when He heard God speak from the burning bush. A crushed Elijah trembled when he heard the still small voice of God. The preceding strong wind, earthquake and fire did not make a dent on him. Jonah repented in the belly of the fish. Joshua and Gideon rose up with courage and great confidence from their personal God encounters. Jeremiah shook off the discouragement when he was thrown into a dry and lonely well; cause there in that dark pit God lit the fire of His word to burn in the prophets bones. John receive the revelations in exile on Patmos.

So the next time you lead or play for a worship service, don't just go loud and louder. Take a detour to the quiet side. You may just find God waiting for you and the congregation.

Maybe I am getting older and growing more mellow to prefer the quiet. Yet again, I think I am actually understanding more about the beauty of dynamics in worship and appreciating the movement of God when He speaks and we actually listen to His matchless voice.

Ps.46:10  Be still and know that I am God;
Hab.2:20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

From Chickens to Champions

Enlarge The Vision

It all starts with a vision. A vision of better things to come.
There are four verbs in Isa.54:2 Enlarge, Stretch, Lengthen, Strengthen. Each of these action words require effort, determination and sacrifice. One's willingness to do extra work begins with a captivating vision. It becomes worthwhile when we catch a grand vision of what things can be. We will be willing to go the second mile, carry the excess load, push through unpenetrable barriers for a worthy and glorious cause.

When Isaiah saw the vision, the nation of Israel was in tatters. Dust, ruins, darkness and despair were in charge. Many Jews were deported as slaves to faraway lands. The misery seem to last without end and the glimpse of relieve only came when they were told that it would endure for 70 years. In those dire times, Isaiah saw a vision that encompasses 3 areas. A vision so grand and majestic that invigorated the people of God to prepare for better days soon to come.

1. Isaiah saw a vision of multiplication. "Isa.54:1 The barren woman will sing because more will be her children than the woman who has a husband. Isa.54:3 ...you will spread to the right and to the left." The population was almost decimated except for a small group of survivors. God told them they will multiply again. There will be so many that they will grow and occupy the length and breadth of the land.

2. Isaiah saw a vision of battles won. "Isa.54:3 your descendants will dispossess nations. Isa.54:15b ..whoever attacks you will surrender to you. Isa.54:17 No weapon forged against you will prevail.." They will no longer be victims but they will be victors. They will move from slave-hood to son-hood. They will no longer run away like chickens but rise up as champions.

3. Isaiah saw a vision of restoration from brokenness. Isa.54:11,12 "O afflicted city lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations of sapphire....rubies..sparkling jewels...precious stones." It goes beyond just rebuilding, it moves into beautifying and significant value increase due to the materials used. It means that God will make things far far better than before.

God's will is to increase the church and increase the ministry's impact in the world. Many will find joy and peace in Jesus. God wants to increase you, increase your influence, increase your standing.  2016 is not a year without battles, but a year of battles won. You will experience many victories. Shattered dreams will be resurrected and perfected. It is going to be better than before. Far far better. Enlarge the vision. It's time to believe.

Isaiah 54:2-3 (NIV) “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

Overcoming 4 Weaknesses of Our Prayers

The Spirit of God helps us to overcome 4 weaknesses of our prayers.
What are these 4 weaknesses?
1. We do not know what we ought to pray for. We often pray selfish prayers. We have our own prayer list but it can be far from the list that God has. Our list is shallow and narrow. It is often self focused, self serving and self directed.

The Spirit's list is totally different. The list is written by God himself. The things that are important to Him. It is about the Kingdom, it has eternal impact whereas our list is about ourselves, our families and even our church only. It is alright to pray for personal items, but it is not alright to stay only at that level.

2. We sometimes do not feel the urgency of things. We miss his timing. We miss what He wants to get done at a certain time. Right timing is important. Queen Esther was made by Mordecai to understand that intervention to save the Jews requires immediate action. Praying and acting after the specific dateline is over will be useless. The church was in much prayer for Peter when he was thrown into jail. They were not occupied in praying for the distribution of food or some other church programs.
The Spirit has the perfect timing. He might move you to wake up and pray in the middle of the night. A burden for prayer may suddenly land on you while you are driving or working behind your desk or cooking. When this happens, obey the Spirit of God. He is strongly nudging you to get into His presence and uphold the person or situation in prayer immediately.

3. The Spirit guides us pray in specific details to fulfill the plans of God. We may pray for the right concerns at the right time but still pray for the wrong outcomes.
This is because our ways are not His ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
We may pray for deliverance, but the Lord may want us to go through the fiery ordeal and teach us a valuable lesson. We may pray for provision but the Lord may want us to give up that pursuit.
We may pray for success, but the Lord may delay it because He knows what it can do to you if you have the success now.

Paul says ' we do not know what we ought to pray for.'
The Spirit of God knows the mind of God and helps us to pray specifically and accurately the will of God. When we pray in the heavenly language, the Spirit who gave us that utterance will guide our prayers to fulfil the exact will of God.

4. We often lack passion in our prayers. Passion speaks of what we feel and also how much we want what we are asking for. Lifeless, cold and repeated prayers will not be effective. The Holy Spirit expresses his burdens in us and causes us to respond with deep groanings. The Spirit wrenches our hearts and prayers beyond words are released. It can sometimes sound like a pregnant lady going through labor. In the same way, the Spirit prays through us so intensely as He uses our prayers to birth things in the spiritual. Great power is unleashed to invade the spiritual realm.

Be transformed in your prayer life with the heavenly language of the Spirit. Let the Spirit fill you and lead you in your prayers. A transformed prayer life, transforms the pray-er and the situations prayed for.

Romans 8:26 (NIV)
[26] In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit* himself intercedes for us* with groans that words cannot express.

(The Power of the Heavenly Language Part 3)

The Power of the Heavenly Language Pt 2

Prayer brings us to intimacy with God.

Rapturous joy fills our hearts, when we are in communion with the one who loves us the most.

Heaven opens up and his glory floods our very being.

Yet there are times, a believer struggles to pray. 

The stresses in one's life, preoccupies the mind and burdens the soul.

The flesh dominates the consciousness and our spirit is weak and dull to His presence.

Rom.8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

At such times, we need to humbly come to Him and confess that we are far from Him, that we are struggling to focus and that we don't feel like praying at all.

Confessing our weakness, we call on Him to help us.
We pray to ask for help to pray.

Then start to pray in the heavenly language.

The heavenly language is the means the Spirit comes to pray for us.

He comes alongside and brings the strength we need.

He awakens and stirs our spirit. 

He silences the flesh and helps our mind to be collected in focus on God.

He ushers us into the presence of the Majesty.

He provides the words of the heavenly language.

The Spirit of God does not chide us in our sputtering feeble prayers.

He does not mock us when we ask for help in such a seemingly elementary spiritual discipline.

The fact is, we are actually incapable of any spiritual progress apart from Him.

We are not as great as we think we are.

And He knows it. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Therefore, God's Spirit delights in us asking Him to help.

He dashes to our side when we whisper his name.

He hears our faintest and frail utterance.

The Spirit comes to us. The Almighty comes to us when we call on Him. 

With all that God has to attend to - the salvation of the world,the healing of the sick, the defeat of injustice, the battle against evil...etc He still comes and comes quickly to the least of His children calling Him to assist in their prayers.

He comes.

He comes to help.

To help us in our weakness to pray.

The Power of the Heavenly Language Pt 1

Have you ever run out of words to praise and to pray?

You do not know how to pray for a particular need.

You are not certain of what the will of God is, and your prayer is reflective of that uncertainty.

You struggle to connect with God and His presence seems so distant. 

You are weary and dry in your walk with God.

You lack power in carrying out the work of the ministry.

You need the heavenly language.

But what is this heavenly language?

It is the language of the Holy Spirit. When a believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit, He gives the believer the ability to speak in other tongues. These unlearned tongues can be languages of the past and present. When the 120 disciples first received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, the volume was so loud that a crowd of more than 3,000 people gathered around them. These people who came from different regions and the surrounding countries heard them speak in their own local languages. They heard at least 15 languages spoken. They knew that the disciples were Galileans.  Mind you, the disciples were not students from a foreign language learning centre. These simple Galileans were speaking fluently in different languages and they were all declaring the wonders of God. (Acts 2:1-13)

The heavenly language can also be the language/s of angels. Whether angels speak only one language or different angelic languages, I do not know. Paul does state in the famous love chapter of 1Cor.13:1 that a believer can speak in tongues of men and of angels. (tongues of...angels) I will assume that there is more than one angelic language. Angelic languages is of a different kind from every known human languages. Yet, through the Holy Spirit, we can access and have the ability to speak in angelic languages. This is a priceless gift that no man, nation or linguist can ever teach a believer.

Tongues are a means to aid the believer to praise and worship God in a different dimension.

The Holy Spirit enables the believer to break through the limitations of our minds and our vocabulary and releases our inner self to freely glorify God. A believer filled with the Spirit is not inhibited by what he knows and the words he knows. His spirit is set free and enters into a new level in praising the matchless God. A new found freedom and deep inner connection with God is experienced.

In your personal and corporate worship time, release the language of the Holy Spirit and let your spirit soar free and boundless to declare the greatness of God. Enter into the private chambers of the Lord and let your praise gush forth from your deepest of the deep within you. 

My tweets in March 2015

@ArisSiew  If you want to go far in life, look up to Jesus daily and look within your heart regularly.

If fear is at the driver's seat of your life, remove him right away. Fear will always crash you.

Any contamination of the heart is a weight that will slow you down. Get rid of them and the excuses they give for staying.

Train your eyes to look inside your heart and mind; your ears to what your mouth is saying. Your inward health is key to your happiness

My tweets in February 2015

@ArisSiew  Do what is right with no fear of people of might.

@ArisSiew  After any crash, rise up, wise up, step up and move up.

@ArisSiew A wise leader knows when to give away power and when to give away his position.

@ArisSiew Leaders destroy lies, or lies will destroy a leader.

My tweets in Jan 2015

@ArisSiew: A person is not fit to lead when he puts his pleasure ahead of the pain of his people.

@ArisSiew: A leader run towards crisis, not from it. He looks for solutions, not dig for skeletons.

@ArisSiew: True religion sacrifices oneself so that others may live. They are life givers not life takers!

@ArisSiew: There are those who talk well but seldom do. And there are those who can't speak well, but quietly, do.

@ArisSiew  Be FEARLESS in chaos. Cancel fear with faith and you can change your life.

@ArisSiew. Face your deepest and ugliest fears if you want to fulfil your destiny.

@ArisSiew. When fear tries to push you back, PUSHBACK YOUR FEARS with greater determination.

@ArisSiew. Fear draws a line, stares you in the eye and dares you to cross it. You either stop, turn around OR shout 'In Christ I can' and cross it.

@ArisSiew. In Christ I can do the things that I and others say I can't.

My Tweets June/July

@ArisSiew: In a tough and mean world, clad your soul, actions and words with the full armor of grace and gentleness.

@ArisSiew: Don't allow the little irritations of life to puncture your heart and rob you of peace but irrigate it often with the rain of His presence.

@Aris Siew: Many devise excuses, tell lies, or give reasons why it can't be done when the same efforts could be harnessed to move ahead

@ArisSiew: Dependence on God is not a lecture to be given. It is the air that we breathe, the dynamo of our strength, the reservoir of our wisdom

@ArisSiew: Too many are building empires, while their souls are in tatters and ruin. Spiritual poverty is the worst poverty..

@ArisSiew: There is too little fruit of the Spirit in too many so claimed spirit-filled lives.

If there was no Baptism in the Holy Spirit...

18 June 2014

If there was no Baptism in the Holy Spirit...

1. The church will be weak, devoid of the power of God.

2. The mandate of the church to be a witness of Christ to the world will be carried out very feebly and easily overlooked.

3. The miraculous will be absent in the church. It will function as any human organization but it will not carry the divine expression of God's power.

4. The church will not be a world wide organization as it is today. The church may not even exist. Persecution in the early days could have easily destroyed the church.
5. The prayer life of the church and individual Christians will be ineffective and ritualistic.

6. The gifts of the Spirit will be lost.

7. Vision for the world and the lost will be blur.

To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is more than an experience, it is a continuous lifestyle. To obtain the experience and not live daily filled with the Spirit is as good as not being baptized in the Spirit at all. The expression of a life that is filled with the Spirit is power and witness.

Acts 1:8 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
(Holy Spirit Baptism = Power + Witness)

The Unpleasantness of Being Convicted by the Spirit

26 March 2014

Conviction is not a comfortable word.

It speaks of a wrong that has been done and then the Spirit of God comes and shines a torch light on it and exposes it right in your face.

He reveals a secret, and ladens us with guilt and calls us to admit and turn from it.

Of course you can minimize the wrong, totally ignore it, or justify yourself for doing wrong instead of repenting and asking for forgiveness. However the consequences are extremely damaging. 

Why is conviction so unwelcome and unpleasant to the modern Christian?

1. He does not want to look weak to himself and to others. Image is more important than truth - which leads to great dangers. The modern Christian is more concerned about impressing others than impressing God.

2. He thinks that only young believers and non Christians should come under conviction. He believes that he is matured and has moved beyond conviction.

3. Guilt is burdensome. He believes in the fantasy that joy and peace is incompatible with conviction and guilt. He believes the ultimate aim of the gospel is to make him happy not holy.

When conviction is aborted by the Christian, it leads to hardness of the soul. He is deceived to think that things are ok when it is not. Greed, pride, compromises and lust can easily gain a sure yet unnoticeable foothold in the consciousness of that believer. External achievements acts as a heavy smog screen to the presence of such spiritual viruses. Often at the height of glamorous success, hell breaks lose, the mighty falls and he becomes another trophy of the devil's sly strategy. Not forgetting the damage it does inside and outside the church.

Conviction is the work of the Spirit of God. A matured believer never grows beyond conviction, in fact he embraces conviction fully knowing he has feet of clay. Conviction keeps him sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Conviction keeps him humble, it keeps him dependent on God. It keeps him free from the tentacles of sin. Let conviction rip into your heart and soften your knees that you may crash before the Holy God, only to be cleansed by fire and then lifted up higher and stronger again by grace.

May our hearts be regularly convicted and bear the fruit of holiness. Stay in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and be thankful for His conviction. He is masterfully honing us to be more like Jesus. 

Poem by Mother Theresa

19 Jan 2014

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true 
enemies; 
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; 
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

(This poem was written by Mother Teresa and is engraved on the wall of her home for children in Calcutta.)

Thank you for a great year.

1 Jan 2014
2013 has been an eventful year for the church. We conducted a major Healing Rally in KL and Malacca, a combine Church camp with KL and all our outreaches, Chinese outreach dinner, Christmas Shoes Musical, Christmas Community Celebration, fed the poor, provided education for the underprivileged children, launched a new initiative for a bigger building, planted a new church and yesterday's Countdown 2014 Under the Stars with a record attendance. New leaders have been raised up, youths are a rising force, and the seeds of a new ministry about to come to life. Completed 6 sermon series - Encounter with God, Servolution, Living lives of Impact, Together, Awakening and Jesus - the Man, Mystery and Majesty.

Firstly, all glory be given to the Lord. It was His favor and grace that has given us good success. As He led us in 2013, He has moved ahead of us into 2014 and His faithfulness will surround us throughout the new year. There is nothing to fear because He is near.

Secondly, I want to say a big thank you to all the deacons, leaders, shepherds, staff of PCC. It is your partnership, prayer and persistency that has brought us this far. I have seen your love and devotion to God. Your faithful leadership inspite of major challenges have inspired me and set a powerful example to the church of what true service to God is all about. More are stepping into leadership and you are stepping up higher in influence.

Thirdly, thank you to all members who have rallied behind the vision and purpose of the church. Your desire to live close to God, obey Him and love for others brings great joy and fulfilment to us and the leaders.

Fourthly, God has allowed us to be stretched at different times in order to mature us. Every trial comes with an opportunity to experience His power and grace. It leads us to greater depth in Him and further growth in character. We accepted the 'bitter' and grown to be better. Praise God for working through our lives and especially in our lives.

I have full confidence in The Lord for 2014. He is the the unshakeable Lord of the universe and Lord of His church. He is also The Lord of your life and ours. Let us fix our eyes on Him. He never fails. There are great things in stored for those who fervently seek Him. Let us move to greater and important things in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The impossible is ours for the taking.

The undiscovered is waiting for our arrival.

Victory is calling out our names.

...greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. - John 14:12

PAris & PSheila

When You Think You are Absolutely Right!

13 Nov 2013
What does Hitler, Paul the Apostle, King Rehoboam of Judah and the Pharisees have in common? 
The common thread they share is that they were all at one time - self deceived! 

Hitler set out to annihilate the Jewish race because he really believed that the removal of the Jews will mean a stronger and superior Aryan race/nation.
The Pharisees plotted to kill the Jesus whom they thought was a 'blasphemer' because Jesus claimed to be God.
Paul persecuted Christians severely and had the endorsement of the authorities to go to Damascus to do the same. He was trying to destroy the church whom he believed was a cult and a threat to Judaism.
King Rehoboam believed that by demanding a greater sacrifice from the 'lazy' Jews, Israel would be a stronger nation. He imposed higher taxes and exacted a heavier load on his subjects.

They thought they were absolutely right when they were in fact absolutely wrong. Their thinking was faulty but they thought they were orthodox/ fundamentalist. They then made decisions they deemed correct even though their actions were harmful, flawed and terribly destructive. Yet they believed that they are doing what is right and that God is on their side.

Self deception is the worst form of deception. To be deceived by others is to be told a lie as the truth by another person/ group. These can receive counsel and with correct information and they can come to a realization of how wrong they were. Self deception on the other hand is more dangerous because the self deceived person has totally convinced himself to believe a lie as the truth. In fact the lie becomes the truth for which they will defend arduously and propagate passionately. They believe deeply that others are the ones who are deceived.  They are in total denial of their wrong and they can develop a 'Messiah complex' to save others or destroy their 'enemies'. They can make dangerous decisions and yet think they are championing a good cause. They are capable of doing evil and yet think they are helping God, They have mistaken the voice of the devil to be the voice of the Holy Spirit. They are a danger to themselves and others,

Some characteristics of a self deceived person ....
1. They believe they cannot be wrong.
2. They are proud but think they just have deep convictions on a certain matter.
3. They refuse to receive a different opinion or counsel because they 'know' they are right.
4. They have concretized their conclusions and positions. They only speak and no longer listen.
5. They are judgmental and critical of others different from them; fault finding.
6. They are self righteous.

Paul thought he was really serving God by dragging Christians into prison. No amount of arguments can alter his mind. God had to use drastic intervention - knock him down from his steed and blind him with a shaft of light. The resurrected Jesus spoke to him in an audible voice. Paul was thankfully shaken out of his self deception. Only then, did he realize that He was fighting against God. He repented.

How do we keep from self deception?
1. Scriptures say 'guard your heart for it is the well spring of life'. Regularly do a self heart check. Quickly search your heart and spirit when you feel an uneasy feeling develop. Neglecting the promptings of the conviction of the Holy Spirit will soon harden and de-sensitize the heart from God's voice.
2. Remain teachable and humble. Be open to correction. Accept the possibility that you can be wrong.
3. Listen deeply before you defend your position. Bring the differing information to the presence of God and let Him speak to you.
4. Be honest and open to the Spirit of Truth to guide into all truth. Always be tender and yielded to Him.
5. Read the scriptures carefully and apply proper principles of interpreting it.
6. Realize you don't have and don't know all the truth. You don't hold the exclusive rights to all truth.
7. Don't underestimate the devil - he is called the ' father of lies', ' serpent' and 'deceiver’. He comes disguised as an angel of light. He speaks enough truth but adds a spin on it, that over time, totally distorts the truth without the person realizing it. He is full of guile and trickery, having myriads of ways to lure and blind anyone from the truth.

So when you think you are absolutely right, think again. Listen, listen, listen especially to God. 

Jude 20,21 (NIV) But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

1 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)[18] Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise* by the standards of this age,* he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 

 1 John 1:8 (NIV)
[8] If we claim to be without sin,* we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.*

Job 15:31 (NIV)[31] Let him not deceive* himself by trusting what is worthless,* for he will get nothing in return.*

Stronger When It Should Have Grown Weaker

16 Oct 2013
Through the pages of history, it has clearly shown that the church when persecuted, gets stronger when it should have grown weaker, grows bigger when it should have grown smaller, continues loving when it should have been crushed by hatred.

This is the genius of God - the life of Jesus flowing in the church. His life is unstoppable. After all, the enemies of God killed and buried Jesus, but He conquered death with resurrection power. They tried to stop his ministry, but his teachings covered the earth as the waters cover the seas. They cursed and blasphemed him, but today, Jesus is worshipped and adored by more in every generation and nation.

Philippians 2:10,11 will happen one day, as prophesied.

It is good to hurt yourself with this.

10 Oct 2013

Hurting oneself is not recommended in almost all cases. We question a persons psyche when he/ she enjoys being afflicted with pain. It is abnormal to hurt yourself except in this one area. You can and should hurt yourself when it comes to this!

Truth. Truth is powerful. Speak and act in truth even when it hurts you. Confess the truth when you make a blunder. Own up to your mistake and take the heat like a man. Act in truth even when it disadvantages you.

Losers are born when they stray from truth or add a spin to it. They open the doors for darkness to invade. Darkness is always destructive, never constructive.

The disadvantage of truth is temporal, but the disadvantage of falsehood is permanent.

When you speak the truth, truth itself will be your best ally. It will then promote you, win the respect of even your enemies and multiply your influence. When a person of truth speaks, it thunders with heaven's authority. It has the power to move armies, break steel walls and silence the most convincing of arguments . 

Hope can shine brightly in every institution and nations can be healed when truth is spoken and held up high. 

What's Holding You From An Incredible Life? It's Not What You Think!

7 Oct. 2013

Everyone wants to move ahead and accomplish something with their lives.

They want to be somebody, be at some place better, feel happier or change some part of the world. Live an incredible life! Unknown to many, the 'D' factor is holding them back.

The 'D' factor is the 'Defilement' factor.

To defile means to make unclean, a corrupting element. Many things can cause defilement, but the chief cause of defilement is that little muscle in our body called the tongue. All muscle and all mischief. It sets the direction of one's life. It is like the rudder of a ship. Small but huge in influence. 

James the brother of Jesus describes it as untamable. Yes, we are dealing with the untamable beast. It has held back success, damaged lives, divided partnerships and murdered dreams.

The tongue is naturally negative. The tongue cuts, curses and condemns. It releases a toxin that poisons and imprisons the hearer and the speaker. 

Do a check up on your words......I cannot make it; I am not good enough; I can't do it; life is not fair; he is *#+?; she is *#+?; it is her fault; I want to punch ........ - if these words and other negatives make up the major portion of your communication, your tongue is defiling you, damaging you and destroying you. Your tongue is making you sick and weak. A negative tongue is stealing your success right under your nose.

"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,* and these make a man ‘unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean';* but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.'”  - Jesus in  Matthew 15:18-20

Stop right now and reverse the damage.

Command your tongue before it commands you.

Change your words to change your life.

Words have creative power.

Positive words creates positive environments and positive feelings.

Positive words give out energy and life.

Positive words invigorates, sparks enthusiasm and releases strength.
God spoke this world into being. He spoke and it was created.

Speak words of faith, blessings, encouragement, hope, possibilities and power.

Confess the word of God. Measure your words with His word.

With God's help, God's Word and following God's pattern of speech, you can tame the untamable beast to serve you to live an incredible life.

Your rise in life is determined by your level of praise you release into life.

You Cannot Climb Mt Everest Alone.

We can do some things well; but we cannot do all things well and great things by ourselves. On our own, we can conquer some hills, but we cannot climb Mt Everest alone. Regardless of how committed and talented a leader is, he can only do so much as he is limited by his own mind, ability, strength, resources and time itself.

To go beyond some small achievements and increase one's influence, he needs the help of others. A team is required to accomplish mega things. Without a team, a leader is resigned to small wins. The bigger the vision, the better a team is required.

Moses was bogged down by settling all the disputes of all his countrymen. He had no private time and family time. He was close to a classic burn out. His father in law insightfully saw Moses problem and gave him a timely advice. I call it the 'Jethro Files'.

In Moses' situation he was to...

A. Identify what his role as a leader was. 

1. He is the priest of God to intercede for the people.

2. Teach them the decrees and laws.

3. Show them the way to live and their duties to perform

B. Identify other leaders to assist him.

1. Select and train capable leaders.

2. Appoint and commission them to serve as judges.

3. The leaders handle all the cases and only the difficult cases come to Moses.

The results were that - Moses enjoyed his family, kept the sanity of his mind and led well throughout his lifetime.

Other leaders were raised up and their giftings utilised. They found their place in the community.

The people were satisfied cause their problem were addressed and  their needs were met.

To apply the Jethro Files to your situation, ask and do the following.

1. What are the things that only you can and must do personally. You do the leading. 

2. Select and raise up other leaders to do the other tasks, things that you do poorly, and things

you don't know how to do but are essential to the organization. Find leaders that complement you. 

3. Teach them values of the organization and imprint the vision into their hearts,

4. Choose capable, teachable and trustworthy persons to represent and serve with you.

5. Empower and trust them to make decisions and run their ministries and projects.

With a good team you can do many things.
With a great team you can do amazing things - even conquer Mt Everest.

Don't Keep Your Promises

25 Sept 2013
A promise gives hope and makes people excited. The promise-maker can become popular very fast and receive the support from the people he made the promises to - a deal, a favor, a commitment. His ratings go up. Because he is reaping the initial rewards, he is tempted to walk away and not do the hard work on delivering his promises. He goes to another group and makes new promises and start taking the benefits again. Making promises and not keeping them is very common.

It is effortless to break a promise. Many people are doing it regularly. However, consider some results a promise-breaker will get.

1. Make a lot of people angry.
2. Make people distrust him. His bad reputation will catch up very soon and start to precede him. 
3. Frustrate people and make them feel betrayed .
4. Kill team spirit.
5. Invite loads of criticisms.
6. Sabotage his own dreams and ambitions and then wonder why he failed.
8. Live like a hermit, for the people close to him will leave him. Families fall apart.
9. Be his own worst enemy.
10. Endure an unfulfilled life.

There will be a immediate cost to pay when you keep your promises but to break them incurs a much much higher price tag over a much much longer period of time.

Stop Breaking and Start Honoring your promises.
DONT JUST BE A PROMISE-MAKER; BE A PROMISE KEEPER!

'Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?...He...who keeps his oath even when it hurts…He who does these things will never be shaken.' Ps.15:1,4,5

Who is Doing the Watching?

14 Sept 2013

Tough times are intent to stay. Darkness is gathering for one final onslaught. The future is uncertain, but certainly unstable. Before one crisis subsides, another and another and another emerges. Even strong men falter in their steps. Look outward and there is chaos. Look inward and there is confusion.  It's time to look upward to Christ and you are certain to find calmness, confidence and courage.

The Psalmist pens this song ' I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from. My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.' (Psalms 121:1)  Trusting in the Rock of Ages will see you through tumultuous times. God is unchanging. He is immovable. He is the Strong Tower. He is the Resurrection and the Life.

"God watches over you, yes ordinary you.

He will not sleep or slumber and neglect you.

He is your shade to protect you every second of every 24 hours.

He will keep you from all types of harm.

He watches over your every movement.

He watches over you now and in the future."

(My version of Ps.121:3-8)

God is watching over us, paying meticulous attention on us.

Let's be watching Him....and peace will never be far away.