Recharge Camp

Hasn't this year gone fast?! Already, it's September. Winter has gone and spring has come.

The Recharge Youth & Young Adult Convention has crept up on us quickly! For those who haven't heard, it's on between 21-23 September at Mount Tamborine Convention Centre.

Make sure you check out their website for info on the programme, speakers, and how you can register. There will be a group of people from our church going up, either for a day or camping for the whole weekend. So give us a yell if you are interested in going.

Personally speaking, the Recharge Camp last year was great. It's fun to hang out with other Christians. A great place to meet and make new friends. A wonderful opportunity to learn and converse with others who love God!

So mark your calendar and get yourself ready for some serious fun!

Quick info:

When: 21-23 September 2007
Where: Mount Tamborine Convention Centre
Cost: Camping packages start from $40. Accommodation and meals packages from $97
Website: www.recharge.org.au

Self help church

Self help is big business. Everywhere you look, there's people, books, seminars, websites or dvds teaching you how to achieve your financial success, reach your potential, be happy, win friends and influence people, and the list goes on. The movies, songs and media also reinforce that idea of self fulfillment. We're persuaded to think that we are invincible, that we can achieve anything and dreams that we put our minds to. Like this song from the Disney movie Prince of Egypt,

"...There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe"

And so we believe in our abilities, our intelligence, our will and our own infallibility. This mindset encouraged by the world we're surrounded by each day is slowly creeping into our churches today. Going to church is like going to Bunnings or watching a DIY program to find the missing pieces and the tips for the project of 'me'. It's as if the church has become a centre for self help. 7 ways to handle conflict, 3 steps to spiritual contentment, 5 methods to unlock your potential... If you have a problem, the church has the solution. And often it's practical and doesn't conflict with our lifestyle, only improves it.

Ok, an example. In the book excerpt of Bobbie Houston's I'll have what she's having, it uses Diana and Mother Theresa as examples to encourage us that "We too can take whatever is in our hand, and believe for it to bring healing to others". Very well. Except that it's God who heals, not us. How about "Imagine a friend in need, and your immediate response being, "I HAVE THE ANSWER!" How awesome would that be?" It would be awesome to be so resourceful, but would also kill our need for God and make us God to others, if you know what I mean.

Churches are turning into inspirational self help gatherings. We go there for motivational speeches to heighten our emotions and lift our spirit. We judge it by whether we come away feeling good and positive and having our needs met. Rarely are we confronted and challenged with the bad, ugly and reality. A lot to tackle the problems we have, but not the problems in us.

To me, they seem awfully similar to the 'Secret' for positive thinking and the law of attraction. Ophrah says, "You can really change your reality based on what you think." You can see how she blends God and self help together in her interview with Larry King.

Another example is successful programs, courses and methods that spread like fire and are being used by other churches who are seeking the same success. Churches can easily slip into self sufficiency and human reliance, creating our own reality rather than submitting to God's plan. That's the difference between self and God reliant.

I feel that in our modern churches today, the fear of God's disappearing, the hunger for His word's diminishing and the desire for holiness got pushed aside. Churches no longer hold the attraction or the power in our world today not because it doesn't have anything to offer, but that the same offerings can easily be found somewhere else.

God's blessings

A friend was wondering this week if a random telemarketing offer of a bargain travel deal is God's blessing for tithing faithfully. In the face of consumerism and increased exposure to prosperity, I'm wary of any Christians making such an assertion. Not that I don't believe God could bless us in such a way, but it seems too hasty to draw that conclusion out of such circumstance.

We can easily fall into a trap of thinking that it's God blessing us every time say, for example, when I see something I want go on sale in the store.  Or something that I think is good happens. The danger of this is that we are making God our excuse for granting ourselves desires of our heart. What we think is good doesn't necessary mean that God thinks that it's good too. In Luke 6:20-26, Jesus told his disciples who are to be blessed and who will be in trouble. This clearly doesn't only include good things.

It's true that the scripture also says all good things come from God. But good in a way that causes us to ripe spiritual benefits and that include bad things in our eyes. Or else why would James asks us to count it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds? Because as he explains, it will build our character so that we may be mature spiritually.

So if something, however good it may look to us, if it doesn't deepen our relationship with Christ, I'm more inclined to think that it's from us and not God.

An old hymn "Count your blessings" sums it up well.

When you look at others
With their lands and gold
Think that Christ has promised
You His wealth untold
Count your many blessings
Money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven
Nor your home on high

Blood Diamond

The Ladies Beyond Diamond conference reminds me of a diamond of another sort and a conference of another kind.

Blood Diamond
Set in Africa and against the backdrop of Sierra Leone's civil war, Blood Diamond is a movie that shows us the workings of the jewelry industry and the human exploitation and bloodshed that's involved and so intricately linked to satisfying the demands in life. Whether it's basic survival (killing for diamonds, exchanging diamonds for money), power (trading diamonds for arms), accomplishing one's ideal (funding civil war with diamonds) or greed (smuggling diamonds, bringing illegal diamonds for higher profits).

Not only the imagery of child soldiers, but what the main character Danny said when he was confronted by his conscience lingered in my head for a while. He was reflecting upon his past and wondered sometimes "if God would forgive what we [Africans white or black] did to each other. And then I realised that God has left this place long time ago." I couldn't help but wonder if God could leave a place full of his creation behind. The country as portrayed in the movie clearly has no fear of God. And it's not hard to find such a place in our world today.

Has God abandoned them? I think not, but He won't and can't interfere when He isn't allowed to. Because they refused even to think about God (Rm 1:28), so God let these people go their own way (Rm 1:24), let them follow their own evil desires (Rm 1:26) and let their useless minds rule over them (Rm 1:28).

Child Soldiers
It's not hard to see how evil manifests itself in kidnapping and turning children into ruthless killers. It's not just in the movie, but in real life, there are up to 200,000 child soldiers in Africa alone.

It's hard to imagine how once happy, innocent and hopeful boys could turn into cruel people disregarding human life and gaining respect by killing. The scriptures came to mind about the influence that the people we surround ourselves with have on us. It says The righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray (Prob 12:26) and He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm (Prob 13:20).

This also reminds me of the movie Ripley's Game where in one scene, Ripley said to the "innocent" man he forced into killing that the good thing about doing terrible thing is: you don't remember it after you've done it. It speaks of the state of our evilness as in Romans, the more we entertain it, the easier it gets. And so it's the same in our daily life that the more we focus and surround ourselves with things and thoughts of the world, the easier it gets to be one of them.

Women's Conference
I've been to quite a few women's gatherings, but one that I attended 8 years ago stood out in my mind. In this weekend retreat, all women are divided into groups that they learn and share and look out for one another for the weekend. The talks are by different speakers and topics mirror the stages of our Christian growth followed by a discussion. There are also other activities where all women can have fun together.

I distinctively remember the volume of gifts we received throughout the weekend. We were all showered with gifts constantly and most evidently at the dinning table. But the difference is these gifts all contain messages that reminds us of God. I also remember very well one activity that was very powerful in helping to draw me closer to God.

The talks, the meals, the activities and the gifts during the entire weekend were designed to build up the body of Christ and growing stronger Christian women. To me, that's the kind of gathering that's worth spending my time in. And I wish there are more of this kind of conference in churches today.

Small Groups Get-together

Small Groups are not just lists of names, and the times and places we meet. They're about real relationships and real people who have much to offer. People like you (as leaders and participants), who are part of the Body of Christ.

This Small Group Get-together is a great opportunity for groups to get to know people in other groups, within our church family. This is a great time to meet new friends, and catch up with old ones. So let's come together and encourage each other in love, sharing a little of ourselves and our lives with brothers and sisters in Christ. Let's have a great time out in God's beautiful Creation, sharing a meal and enjoying each other's company.

Bring yourself, your group and your friends! You don't have to belong to a small group to come along. Everyone's welcome, and maybe you'll find a group to fit in to!


What: A BBQ
Date: Sunday, August 19
Time: 12:00PM
Place: Shuster Park, Heather St, Tallebudgera (click here for directions)
Food: Please talk to your small group.

Insider story of Hillsong

There's a bit of publicity surrounding the launch of Tanya Levin's People in Glass Houses, an insider story of a former Hillsong goer.

The book is a recount of Tanya's spiritual journey and her experience at Hillsong. Before the book release, Andrew Denton interviewed her on Enough Rope about her experience and her book. And the Sydney Morning Herald has written a review on the book.

Hillsong is the biggest church in Australia and the most influential among the Christian community with its music widely used by churches. Its popularity of course has attracted some attention over the years. The main criticisms are mostly about Hillsong and their counterparts' view on money and wealth that has obviously prompted BRW's article God's millionaires in 2005.

Prosperity doctrine is foundational to the growth of the Pentecostal movement now gaining momentum as our society is getting richer. My first taste of this was during my visit at Hillsong about 9 years ago. Brian Houston was speaking that day and what left me with a lasting impression was his illustration using a front row audience's $10 note. Lifting the $10 note, he presented the message of tithing by emphasizing on the giving of $1(10%) to God and the rest of $9 being ours. And God will multiply that and bless us with more. I remember thinking that that $9 isn't mine, it's all God's and it's not to be used for my pleasure but for God's purposes.

Jesus came so that everyone would have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). But that abundance or fullness is in knowing Christ and not in material possessions. In other words, being rich spiritually. Being successful is living a life that is in line and fulfills God's plan in our lives. It doesn't necessary equate to a good life.

The disciples in the early church go from place to place preaching the word of God, enduring persecution and relying on others to support them. They were poor materially but rich in spirit. Their focus was on fulfilling the mission that God has given them and not on the reward that they may receive. As in Psalm 56:16-17, God delights more in a broken spirit and a contrite heart than material sacrifice that we can offer.

I wonder why Jesus wasn't wealthy. Was he not giving enough that the Father should reward him financially? Or did he simply placing his priority in fulfilling God's mission in his life?

Prosperity doctrine appeals to our fallen human nature and our desire for a good and comfortable life. But it's at odds with the examples we see in the Bible (see my earlier post riches in God's eyes). What's of concern is many churches in other denominations today are modelling their church on the success of Hillsong without careful consideration of its validity from God's perspective or realising the danger or implications it may have.

David Collis' Kingdom Coffee: (mega)church means business provides some good insight in this issue and Jim Reiher’s The eye of the needle is said to be a must for those who wants to think through the teachings of prosperity. There's also The lord's profits and Hillsong's own website for those who have further interest.

What about welcoming?

What does it take to welcome someone?  I've been hearing about people from our church not feeling belonged or included.  

To be able to show interest to unfamiliar faces requires maturity and effort.  It's never hard to stay in your own crowd, but church isn't for social purposes.  And if we're all brothers and sisters in Christ, wouldn't we want to know one another?  And if the church is a body, doesn't it make sense that the better we know our fellow hands and feet and eyes and ears... the smoother and effective our body will function?

I remember the sermon by Pastor Bill a few months ago on unity using the story of Cain and Abel and Cain's question of his role as his brother's keeper.  What struck a chord with me from that is the message to extend our welcome and friendship to one another, whether they are strangers or people who we seemingly have nothing in common.  We aren't expected to know everyone in one day, but as part of the family, shouldn't we be as Pastor Bill puts it, to show interest and care in one another?

The welcoming team does a great job in making people feel welcome especially for new people.  But that's not enough.  That mindset needs to permeate into everyone who claims to be in the family of God.  That's what the scripture talks about being in one mind. For me, I've long made it my personal policy to meet new people and catch up with those I don't get to talk to for some time.  My small group knows about this and everyone is encouraged to do the same.

Yes, it's not easy because it takes us out of our comfort zone.  And requires a focus that's on the 'other' and not 'us'.  With my moving around a bit in my earlier years, I've been to many churches.  You may have felt the same as I did when you step into a new church knowing no one and feeling a bit awkward or strange and not surprisingly opted to be the first one to leave after the service.  But the experience of people coming up to befriend me has blessed my heart and forever changed my way of treating others.  It makes me want to do the same to others.

Are you interested in those who you don't know well or have seemingly nothing in common? (btw, isn't having the same heavenly Father the most awesome common ground we share?)  Have you been looking around for those who're standing on their own and make an effort to talk to them or are you too absorbed in your own circle?  If you're serious about God's kingdom, won't you be your brother's and sister's keeper and lavish them with your interest, attention and care?

Affluenza is spreading fast!

This World Vision video clip is a great parody on our materialistic culture. Coming from Thailand, where extreme poverty is a reality, I know how hard life can really be. Now that I'm living in Australia, it's easy to forget how hard life is for most of the world's population. This is a country of plenty, and most of us are very comfortable - our struggles here really don't compare!

Watch the clip. It speaks louder than words.

God's way of managing money

People must been hungry or was it the allure of Thai food that brought everyone at the door right on the dot on Sunday? It was an unusual sight to see people waiting at the door of an Ignite event. The food was a little late, but the great taste more than made up for it.

It was a great time of fellowship over lunch too and we had to squeeze to fit everyone in. Then someone suggested introducing ourselves before getting into the talk. And so we did with some interesting detour.

Our speaker Denis worked in one of the big banks for 15 years and has been in the mortgage business for the last 7 years. He showed us a video from Crown ministry stating how important it is to manage our money from God's perspective.

Do you know that there are 2,350 verses in the Bible dealing with financial matters? Well, most of us didn't know that before the seminar.

We all had a chance to think about our life purpose and jot down some goals to help achieve that. Then the 5 basic principles and a sample budget sheet to help us work towards handling money God's way. And a lively discussion followed.

We all learnt something from it and hopefully all put into practice what we've learnt. This seminar is only the introduction of what is a 10-week course. If people are keen to have Denis come back for another session, let us know and we'll organise something.

Connection or prejudice?

I was getting pretty frustrated at work lately because of non-responsive people. One particular project involves a big company in Europe and getting their attention at all is hopeless. The only contact that I have in this company has been non-responsive himself in helping to locate the person responsible for our case. I finally identified a new contact who could help and emailed him twice in the last 3 weeks. No response. A journalist gave me another contact in the same company that may be able to help, so I emailed him with a reference to this journalist early last week. I was hopeful for a reply. But no response. My journalist associate did mention that if email fails me, try contacting via an introduction through him on an online networking site. After 4 days, I decided to try the online networking site. My message to the contact hasn't changed. But voila, I got a reply immediately! This contact refers me to the original contact so I emailed him for the 3rd time, but this time through the network. And voila, an immediate response the next day!

It's amazing how well this channel works. But at the same time, it annoys me to the max that it should work this way. I just can't understand how the same message from the same person (me) delivered the same way (email) and for one even have the same referral (the journalist) could illicit such different reactions just because of how it came.

People say it's who you know and someone was using it as an analogy for salvation through Christ. Relating to that, I thought my case wasn't dissimiliar to Catholics who can only get through to God through their priests. I also thought unlike these contacts, Jesus doesn't treat people who approach him differently. They all have equal access to him, which is clearly not the case with my contacts.

Perhaps in business, you have to behave differently. But last week, I also emailed a VP of a big company in the UK and I got immediate response. So I concluded that it's the individual's value of others and partly the company's culture that shape the way people treat others.

I relate that to the Church and came to think that in the same way, how our church react and treat each other shows how much we value each individual. It also reflects our understanding of the scriptures and how and what the leadership of the church encourages its flock.

Jesus was interested and value each individual because everyone is made in the image of God. Whether we are at church or at work, are we treating and valuing people the way that Jesus would? Or do we relate and treat them based on the world's understanding?

Worship Wars

This article on worship by Steve Camp (yes, the musician) is excellent. Here, he talks about what biblical worship is not in such a clear and uncompromising ways. We know that Truth is the foundation of worship because the bible tells us that we must worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

But what truth, and how does it relate to worship? What about spirit? Is it what we experience emotionally when we worship?

And what about music and worship? Contemporary Christian tunes or hymns?

You can read the article here.

:: Worship Wars
. . . seven perceptions of what biblical worship is not

Spend Wise, Spend Right

If someone gave you $100, how would you spend it? What's the first idea that comes to mind? If we asked around, we'd probably hear ideas like the following:

1. Go shopping for clothes, shoes, DVDs, CDs etc.
2. Spend it on petrol!
3. Buy some groceries.
4. Pay some bills.
5. Donate the money to charity.
6. Deposit it into a high-interest bank account.
7. Put it towards savings for something more expensive.
8. Go out to a restaurant, or the movies, or maybe a theme park.
9. Buy something special.
10. Put it in the church offering.

As Christians, we know that everything ultimately belongs to God, including money. So how do we use God's money wisely? Should we stop spending it on ourselves to buy clothes and CDs? Should we save it, invest it, or give it away?

Join us for our next Ignite event, Spend Wise, Spend Right. Over a yummy Thai lunch (from an authentic Thai chef!) we'll hear from some people who've studied and thought a lot about these issues. Here are the details:

Date: Sunday, June 24th
Time: 12pm
Where: GCCF church house
Cost: $8

Book your spot by Friday, June 22!