He’s been exposed as a fraud and under professional help at the moment.

Although this is a sad news indeed for us, let us not judging him for his mistake or whatever reason why he did it. Pray for him and also for other Christians who may be feeling judgmental and down about this. Let us all focus on Jesus and the true meaning behind the song (which is biblical and very meaningful; please read Isaiah 53:2-6), and not focusing on a human being who can be sinful and weak.

This news won’t stop me listening to the song. How about you?

The Advertiser was told last night Mr Guglielmucci may release a statement on the situation. To read the news in detail, go to The Age newspaper here.

Introduction

To grow spiritually doesn’t have anything to do with your age, how long have you served in the ministry, your Biblical knowledge, your degree, and your spiritual “position”. Growing spiritually can be seen in dialogues, attitudes, actions, and dedication. Growing spiritually is not depended on situation and environment. Bad Situation and Environment CAN make someone to grow spiritually. The story of Joseph is a living proof of this. Even though his father had 4 wives, jealous and evil siblings, Joseph still grew spiritually even on that kind of environment.

On the other hand, bad situation and environment don’t guarantee someone to grow spiritually. Judas became a traitor among Jesus’ Disciples. To grow spiritually is a choice for someone to do His Word with the strength from God. Too many Christians choose not to grow spiritually and become the doer of God’s Word!

It’s no where surprising if there are Christians in the church who have served long, but their lives do not become a blessing. Even in theological seminary, there can be lecturers and students without spiritual growth even though they’re learning the Word of God every day. They are only focusing on the knowledge, but not on how to do the Word of God in their daily lives. They can serve God many times in a week without having spiritual growth and become a blessing among their friends and families. Their hearts go further and further from God. They do it for the sake of routines, their hearts full of lust. They develop bad characters and that characters are untouchables! Their hearts have hardened like an ice on a heated pool!

Whatever situation we are facing, we can grow spiritually! As a student who lives far from our parents, we can still grow spiritually! Husbands and wives shouldn’t complain about their situations at home or their spouses’ spirituality. You can still grow! Don’t force changes on your spouses, but instead, force yourself to be changed by God through His Word. As pastors, leaders, cell group leaders, ministry leaders, and coordinators, we have to force ourselves to grow spiritually before we can criticize others!

Don’t force the truth of the Word to the congregations, our students, before we have the truth transform our lives! Often the pastors or cell group leaders complain about the spiritual life of their congregations or cell group members. Or even the congregations and cell group members complain about their pastors or cell leaders’ spiritual life. They often forget to look at themselves and reflect on their own spiritual lives seriously. They seldom ask themselves seriously.

Some questions for yourselves that can help you grow spiritually:

• Do I have a good and pure motivation?
• How’s the condition of my own heart? Does it full of negative or positive things?
• Has my heart been clouded by money, materials? or a love for God?
• How’s my sexual and lust life? Do I overcome it or let it overcome myself?
• How are my thoughts? Is it focused just like what Philipians 4:8 said?
• How’s my quiet time with God everyday? Consistently or ups-and-downs?
• Have I gone fasting this week before serving God on Sunday?
• Have I prayed to God today?
• Have I prepared the Word of God carefully in front of God?
• Have I seriously prepared my cell group study?
• Do I have any bad attitude that I have to leave behind?
• Have I given my tithing faithfully?
• Have I become a loyal and good spouse & parent?
• Have my conversations become a blessing to others?
• Have I controlled my emotions and anger so that not to become sinful?
• Have I read any Christian books this month?
• Have I attended any seminars to enhance my skills as a minister of God?
• Am I still passionate about my ministry or it has become a routine?
• Have I becoming lazy at work? Always like a shortcut?
• Do I lie often?
• Do I complain a lot?
• Do I like to talk bad about people, always look at others’ mistakes and weaknesses?
• Do I like to judge others and “label” them?
• Do I still have a desire to spread the Gospel? Have I spread the gospel this week/this month/this year?
• Am I on a discipleship program at this moment?
• Do I really have a passion to see my church grow?
• Have I been listening and giving time to my family just as I’ve been listening and giving time to my congregation?
• Have I become the current Pharisees? (focusing on appearances but not doing the Word of God in my daily lives)?
• Does my spirit burn like fire and serve God wholeheartedly?
• Do I have the courage like Paul that God and the congregation are my witnesses on my spiritual life and ministry?

When a minister “grows”, his/her ministry does too

Observe the verses below, showing that the quality of a  minister can’t be separated with the quality of a ministry:

• Romans 12:11
• 1 Corinthians 15:58
• 2 Timothy 4:5
• 1 Corinthians 9:27
• Acts 20:28

It is true that only God who can grow a church and He is the source of that growth. However, don’t forget one thing: God wants to use His ministers to grow His churches!

That was why Paul said that we are “fellow workers” in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Analysis shows that there is a strong relation between a growing church and its ministers. A minister that grows spiritually will be more effective compared to a stagnant minister. The Holy Spirit helps us in preparing leaders that grow according to the Word of God. Ironically, the ministers themselves don’t want to grow! If that happens, then it will be impossible for a ministry to grow effectively. God uses people who want to grow spiritually! God likes to use people who are lacking in abilities, but He never uses people who like to play with sins, have unrepentant hearts, looking for personal benefits, trying to only please other people, lazy, cowards, invalid motivations, don’t care about His Gospel, and disobedient.

Therefore, it’s important for us a minister to grow consistently. You need to evaluate yourself when you are not having any spiritual growth anymore in your life. Ask serious and deep questions to yourself. Questions that make you feel humble and ashamed, and answer them honestly!

Colossians 2:6-7 gives a way out or a way so that we can keep growing in Christ. We have received Christ as our savior, therefore, we need to live in Christ faithfully, stay focus and Christ-centered (verse 6). Verse 7 advices us to keep growing in Christ. The illustration given here was a living tree. A tree has to have roots, branches, leaves, and fruits If we know about a real living tree, then we can understand fully this verse!

(to be continued)

One day I decided to quit…
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality… I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.
“God”, I asked, “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”

His answer surprised me…
“Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”
“Yes”, I replied.
“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.
I gave them light.
I gave them water.
The fern quickly grew from the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
“In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit.
In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would
not quit.” He said.
“Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared
to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant…But just 6
months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”
He asked me. “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots”.
“I would not quit on the bamboo.
I will never quit on you.”
“Don’t compare yourself to others.”
He said.
“The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.
Yet they both make the forest beautiful.”
“Your time will come”, God said to me.
“You will rise high”
“How high should I rise?”
I asked.
“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.
“As high as it can?” I questioned.
“Yes.” He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
Never, Never, Never Give up.
For the Christian Prayer is not an option but an opportunity.
Don’t tell the Lord how big the problem is,
tell the problem how Great the Lord is!

Sermon Notes: Obstacles in Praying Part II
Fire up your prayer’s life series (IV)

This is a sermon note translated from my church’s Sunday sermon about Prayer life some time ago. This is the fourth series of the “Fire up your prayer’s life”.

OBSTACLES IN PRAYING (part II):

(1) NO PERSISTENCE

Read Luke 11:5-9
Motivation: Luke 11:13.
God wants to teach us to keep praying continually and depends solely upon Him. It’s wrong if you pray continually because you want God to “give up” and just give you what you want! The point is that He knows what’s best for us, but we have to keep on knocking at His door and seeking Him.

Persistence: continuous, determined.

Luke 22:44 - And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (NKJV).
“”..more earnestly”" is to extend (make longer, lengthen)
Jesus was praying in Gethsemane for hours (note: “midnight” until “dawn”, when the soliders came)

Hebrews 5:7 - “”For Jesus , in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared..”"

Acts 1:10-14, Acts:12:5, James 5:17-18 (1King 18 - notice how Elijah prayed)

Persistence in Prayer means committed to pray and wait for His perfect timing. And waiting is not easy!

In Hebrews:
a) Dumyah (Psalms 62:2)
b) Chakah  (Psalms 33:20)
c) Qayah (Isaiah 40:31)

How long should we pray?
(a) Until you know it is not God’s Will (example: David prayed until his son died)
(b) Until God answers your prayer
(c) Until God releases you (when we have a huge burden, that means until God takes out that burden from us). Example: Nehemia.

(2) UNREPENTED HEART

Psalms 66:18, Isaiah 59:1-3.

Sinning is a choice that we do in our life to fight the standard morality of God.

In Psalms 66:18, RA’AH, to enjoy, to approve, to have experience, respect.
There is no way you can live continually in sin and respect God at the same time!

Symptoms of unrepented heart:
- Keep sinning
- Ignore God’s convicting Spirit about the sin
- Turns into a hard heart
- Is more interested in learning how to manage sin effectively than learning how to overcome sin or bad habits victorously
- Have a tendency to be self righteous & blame people

Not to mention I’m in the process of migrating our church’s site from Postnuke to Joomla. I promise to take care of this blog more often after things are slowing down.

Note: 7 of my friends were baptized last week. I’m so excited to see how their lives have changed after they’ve received Christ as their savior :) It’s just the beginning and I’m sure God will work wonders upon them.

This is a sermon note translated from my church’s Sunday sermon about Prayer life sometimes ago. This is the third series of the “Fire up your prayer’s life”.

Our God always wants to hear our prayer. However, most of the time, we have to do some “housekeeping” in our lives first, so that we can pray better.

Read 1 Peter 3:7
“Hinder” or egkopto (from the original language), from military: to break up a road/road block so that enemy armies can’t get through.
This word is being used in a Prayer, meaning that sometimes our prayers are not answered by God because of the obstacles that we created ourselves.

OBSTACLES IN PRAYING
1) IMPROPER MOTIVE / WRONG MOTIVATION
Read James 4:3
• Wrong motives (NIV)
• Spend (NIV)
• Pleasures (NIV)
Motivation is crucial in our life. It’s what drives us forward. The question “Why do we do what we are doing?” has to be asked by ourselves continually.

Spend.
What we spend the most, that’s us. If you like to spend your money on shoes, that means you love shoes very much.

Pleasures (Lust, Hedone; Hedonism)
Often we are focusing on a request to satisfy our own pleasure!

When we pray, we learn not to be self-centered. God sees through our motivations and our hearts.
Read Hebrews 4:13, 1 Chronicles 28:9

How to build the right motivation when praying? When you pray, ask yourself:
a. Why am I asking God for this?

Do I need this? Why would I want this for?
b. Am I willing to lay aside my will so that God’s will can be done?
When the answer to the prayer is “No”, are we ready & believe that He knows what’s best for us?

c. Is it my concern that God gets the glory for it?

(2) Broken Relationships
Matthew 6:14-15, Mark 11:24-26, 1 Peter 3:7 (in the context of praying)

Broken relationships (both horizontally to other human beings and vertically to God) will hinder our prayer’s life!
When we are having relationship problems with our wife, our husband, our friends, our brothers & sisters in Christ, our relationship with God will be affected too.
Remember that the Devil is smart to make use of your current situation! (Ephesians 4)

Before you start praying, start asking for forgiveness. Ask for restoration from God (admit that we are angry, full of hatred, an urge for a revenge, then let go of our rights to judge people). Then, ask God to restore us, to heal us. Let His love heals you and then take a step to forgive & love the person.

Forgiveness is a process. The devil won’t stand still! Read Rome 5:17.

Take out your hindrances in praying RIGHT NOW and have a more effective prayer’s life!

This is a sermon note translated from my church’s Sunday sermon about Prayer life sometimes ago. This is the second series of the “Fire up your prayer’s life”.

Keys to a Powerful Prayer Life

[1] PRAY IN JESUS’ NAME (John 14:13-14, John 16:23-24)

Always pray in Jesus’ name! However, be careful in prayer, as sometimes we always say “In Jesus’ name, we pray”  too often until the meaning is no longer there!John 16:23-24 - “..ask..” ;  “..to Me” - to God, our Father.

Why do we have to pray in Jesus’ name?

Two reasons why a prayer is fulfilled:

• So that God’s name be glorified (John 14:13)
• So that your joy may be full (John 16:24)

Many Christians do not pray because they do not realize that a prayer has power!

[2] PRAY ACCORDING TO HIS WILL (1 John 5:14-15)

Often we pray because we want Him to be closer to us. This is a wrong concept, as He ALWAYS wants to be closer to us. It’s us who often want to stay away from Him!

How to know God’s Will?

Ask according to His will. How do we know what His will is if we never read His words!
For example:
It is God’s will that we have a job (it’s in the bible)
It is God’s will for us to grow.
It is God’s will that He wants everybody to be saved.
Read His Word and you know what His wills are in your life! When we know God’s will, we can pray with more enthusiasm!

Praying according to God’s will, gives us a stronger conviction!  (1 John 5:15)

Translated from the original