Simple Shepherd Models of Profound Worship - Part2

God is first, is possible to say almost spontaneously, you loose appetite for the things that you were after before. For a short glorious moment, sheep became unimportant to the shepherd, going to Bethlehem is. For a short glorious moment career is no longer your world, family is no longer your god, reputation is no longer your idol. For a short glorious moment, the shepherd says who would take care of the sheep? I’m sure they are worried but at that point in time, worshipping God is so overwhelming that Holy abandonment is there, for the first time they longed for obscurity, for the first time they gained fresh confidence, for the first time a hunger is felt inside.

Simple Shepherd Models of Profound Worship - Part1

What kind of worship God honors? What kind of worship pleases the Lord? The issue of worship is fragile, instead of uniting, somehow due to the selfishness and self righteousness of men it cause division among God’s people. Some worship in silent way while others worship in a jolly way and to some degree the tension is built. Let’s not escalate the tension but let us focus ourselves in the record of the scriptures reminding us that the worship of God must be done in such a manner that it is not complicated nor cheap.

Reason for the Season - Part2

We celebrate Christmas not because it just happens to be a holiday. We celebrate Christmas because it is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Without the birth you know what? There will be no Savior, we are on our own. Without the birth there will be no Savior and without a Savior, there will be no hope, and without hope no eternal, no heaven. But actually Heaven is just a consolation the real reason why we want eternal life, because we want to spend it with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reason for the Season - Part1

All over the world people are busy. The crowd in the malls, wrapping presents, wrapping gifts, setting up Christmas trees, installing lights in homes, cooking big dinners, going to Christmas parties, singing carols, people from everywhere at all ages and many are wishing merry Christmas but what’s the big deal? What is the excitement all about? True the world is excited and busy, there can be no doubt about that but most of the people have no idea what Christmas is all about.

Christmas Dawn Prayer Meeting Message

Let me express my deep gratitude to all of you who took time to wake up early today to worship with us. Our prayer is for all of us to celebrate a worry-free and worship-filled Christmas this year and the whole of next year. Worry-free? Worship-filled? Is this possible? I believe that this is not only possible. . . this is also God-honoring! When we worship, we are choosing to trust God over and above our circumstances . . . and in prayer, we choose to tell God our needs and sincerely offer to him our thanks. As a result, God grants us peace amidst the atmosphere of fear and panic . . . a peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace whose birth we celebrate.

Let our dawn prayer meetings be done in grace and from the heart, meaning, no one should come to church obligated or pressured. Out of our hunger for God, we offer to him five (5) mornings of prayer. Together with God’s people from our church and other churches as well, we wonder in worship. Let there be holy expectancy in our hearts. It would be good to come earlier so we can start to pray and prepare ourselves for worship. While the service is going on, let us focus our hearts and minds on Jesus. This is also an appropriate time to pray for our brethren in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, which, recently, were devastated by the storm ‘Sendong’. White envelopes are available for your free-will offerings for the purpose of helping the people of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.

Christmas is God’s invitation to worship . . . let us therefore, like the shepherds, the Magi, and the people that surrounded the stable on that first Christmas, respond to God by spending time with Him and His people in prayer. Prayer connects us to the Prince of Peace and the Prince of Peace empowers us to live life and celebrate a worry-free Christmas.

‘When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were and they fell down before Him and worshipped Him.’ ….Matthew 2:10-11 NLT
Let the wise men inspire us to worship instead of worry.

Prayerfully,
REV. ARNEL TAN

What Did Paul Said About Worry - Part2

The truth and the thought that Christ will return again to get all the redeemed, must remind us that let us joyfully cultivate the liberating expectation of being with the Lord one day. Therefore our hearts must not be on the things of this world i.e. coffee maker, cars, house and lot, careers… Enjoy them but if you put your heart there enter the password “worry”.

What Did Paul Said About Worry - Part1

How do we joyfully respond to the pressures of worries that is happening every day? From bouncing ball to bouncing checks that happen everyday. Remember when Paul wrote the letter regarding the exhortation about the worry and how we can overcome it, it is not addressed to the general public. The audience of Apostle Paul is not everybody but rather, to the believers of Philippi because if you’re not a Christian you have all the reason to worry.

Pulpit To Pew

The pressure of a busy Christmas is obviously on the loose! To stay calm and worshipful is a continuous challenge for us all. Let us pray this week that God will stir a holy expectation in our hearts to truly become worshippers of Christ . . . the reason for Christmas. Let us focus on Christ as the center of our celebration in church and family as well. Worshiping God is not done solo . . . it is a corporate act of a redeemed community. Therefore, as we come to God’s house on December 21-25 at 5am each morning, we seek to spend time in worship and in prayer.

It is in this season of rush that we choose to hush. Probably the only rush is likened to the shepherds who said . . .” Hurry, let us go to Bethlehem to worship the Lord!” Come to church early, we will open the church doors by 4:00am. Come early so you can spend time in prayer. During the service, focus your minds on God; sing from your heart and offer your prayers . . . and, most of all, take time to be silent and to listen to God. You will not hear an audible voice but you will experience a unique kind of peace that passes all understanding.

Let us come to worship with a welcoming heart . . . expressed with our open hands for others and open hearts to welcome everybody. Let us listen intently to the word as it is proclaimed . . . I’m sure God is trying to say something to you and to all of us. After our time of communion with God, take time to go back to the community as a minister of grace. By the grace of God make a difference and be a blessing to others. Today starts our preparation for a worry-free and worship-filled week. By the way, our regular prayer meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays will still go on because not everyone can come to our early-morning prayer meetings.

As Pastor Jim Bryan Smith says,” Our holy expectation should turn to holy obedience.” Christmas is God’s invitation to worship, to relate to the Father, to experience friendship with the Son and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and to see the wonderful oneness of the body of Christ in this city of Davao! Come with hope and hunger for God!

Prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL TAN

What Did Jesus Said About Worry - Part2

I think when Jesus said birds, He’s referring to those little ones. But there are three things to learn, they have a Heavenly Father who feeds them, you know when two birds are talking they’re talking about us, they’re chatting about us “look at this human beings they're worried” and the other bird said “I have tumor but I don’t worry” you’re heavenly Father said what? Would you like to repeat that to yourself, how many sack of rice you consumed? How much is the sack of rice between 1912 and 2011 and it’s increasing but your heavenly Father feeds you.

What Did Jesus Said About Worry - Part1

The issue of worry is not that simple at all, to be honest with you, unaware we become defenders of worry instead of being delivered by God from worry. Many times as I preach the sermon "don’t worry" it ends up being misinterpreted by good people who say the pastor preached about don’t work, the pastor preached about don’t study or more, or so the pastor preached about don’t save, none of these things are true. So therefore today let’s go to the records of the scripture and ask ourselves in this Christmas season, should I spend it in worry or I should become the shepherd or the wise men whose focus is to worship.

Thanksgiving to God - Part2

A lot of you don’t know how to pray when you’re well, but you know prayer when you are tested. I remember my good friend Mr. Daniel So, their life is okay, income is fine, spiritual life is superb, until God allows brokenness, how? The wife got cancer. Then Mr. So, when the wife wass operated on that day, for the first time, forgot about Singaporean posture, in the middle of the hospital, wept, cried in Mandarin he prayed help us Lord! What an experience.

Thanksgiving to God - Part1

It is in this passage that we begin to see the heart of Jesus. Where? Jesus said “did I not cleanse ten, where are the nine?” Then, furthermore, Jesus said “only one gave thanks and then a foreigner?” The statement of foreigner is not a statement of prejudice but rather, our Lord wants us to realize, assuming that the rest of the nine were Jewish and the one is a Samaritan. It is safe to say that if you’re a Jew you have sufficient background of who God is compared to a none Jew.

Pulpit To Pew

As we enter the month of December, it is timely that we all start around the Lord’s Table. Before food, parties and activities drown us all, we need to check our anchor and make sure it is grounded in Christ. Just in case our anchor breaks, it is wonderful to know that Christ is stronger than our anchor! Let us make a conscious and free choice to make this season a time of drawing near to God through prayer. Join us for our Dawn prayer meetings starting December 21-25 at 5am to 6am. Though this has been a Christmas tradition in our church from way back 1997, let us prayerfully savor it’s freshness by acknowledging the presence of God!

Let us remember in prayer the family of those brethren from the Victory Chapel fellowship who died in a vehicular accident on their way to attending a Thanksgiving service. As a community, we grieve with them and will be open to any possibilities of ministering God’s comfort upon them. As you read these items, please pause and pray for God’s comfort on them. Our weekly feeding of the children of our Moslem friends in Barangay 76 is ongoing every Thursday. Thanks for the leadership of Pastor Bobby and Pastor Leones and other volunteers. Please pray for them and for Jethro Adang and Omega and their kids who are doing community work in Myanmar. Let us remember in prayer the ministry of the Samaritan’s Purse, a ministry of compassion for the kids in Mindanao. Pray for God’s strength and joy as the team meets and trains for the distribution of gifts next year.

Prayer is indeed the expression of the helpless and prayer is the language of our church. Make this month a month of Prayer . . . a time to draw near to God; a time to listen to His voice and a time to obey His will. We cannot and must not do these alone . . . we need God . . . we need each other. We do not move solo . . . we move together; we move by His grace for His glory!

Living The Welcoming Faith - Part2

You miss a lot if you only have selected friends, you must have a lot of friends regardless of their backgrounds, culture and races. Be a welcoming saint, let me put it this way that it’s not only prejudice in the Philippines but prejudice all over the world. Prejudice is there because people are rich or poor, brown or white, yellow, black, white, regardless of the color, because people are generally proud. Proud of our color, proud of our race. Nationalism is good I think we should be proud to be Filipinos, but if we feel superior towards others because we are Filipinos, or Chinese, or Americans, or whatever, that my friend, is prejudice.

Living The Welcoming Faith - Part1

The Christian faith is a welcoming faith, meaning that it is God’s desire that no one should be left out. It is God’s desire while He favors a few, like He favors Israel, it is at the back of the mind of God that while one group is favored it will result that many will be benefited out of the favor that He gave to that group. So, if you pass the let exam this year and so you are now a certified teacher, call that what? Favor from God. So what is the purpose of that favor? So that many students under you would be blessed. In other words the reason why God blesses us, so that others will be blessed.

DESPERATE PRAYERS

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.’ Psalm 34:18NLT


Brokenness is a unique work of grace that leads us to cry to the Lord! Such a distress call is not only an acknowledgement of helplessness but an evidence of a surrendered will! It is in this kind of desperation that the stubborn heart is now tender to hear God’s voice and to submit to His will. No boastings; no demands for special treatment (crumbs from the Master’s table are enough); no more embarrassment about one’s desperate situation.

Desperate prayers like these get God’s attention. No one can pray like this without a sense of grace being awakened by God in the heart. Honestly, nobody wants to be in a desperate situation where we all go through the ordeal of being helpless. Yet, it is in this kind of storm that grace is so tasty and flesh is so silent! It is only by God’s wisdom and perfect timing that He allows such moments of desperation. God knows when and God knows how. It is only when one puts his trust in God that desperate times turn to moments of refreshing grace.

Prayers are not, in the real sense, true prayers when they are not uttered in a sense of desperation. By God’s design, lessons of dependence are best learned in times of desperation. How remarkable is God’s answer to desperate prayers…He offers no one else but His Presence to be so close. Think about it what one could possibly need more when God’s Presence is so close? Everything about what God wishes to give is marvelously compounded in His very nearness! In fact, He is not only near, in the person of the Holy Spirit…He resides in us!

When the helpless and desperate call on God, they will have nothing else but God Himself! Let the word of God and the Spirit of God stir hearts and let His work of grace show more unexplored desperation inside and in so doing, knowing God deeply becomes not just a theology but a lifestyle! For the first time there is immense beauty in desperation!

God Answers Desperate Prayer - Part2

What is a desperate prayer? It is a prayer that contains no more boasting. Remember the Pharisee? “Lord I am not like that tax collector” that is not a prayer, that’s boasting. Desperate prayer - no more time to boast because there’s no more to boast. Listen grueling fugitive, afraid like David when he learned to pray. You don’t learn prayer robed, crowned, powerful, high salaried, well sought, you don’t learn anything there. Desperate prayer have no other alternatives. I always smile when I heard that woman bleeding, in the gospel of Mark, 12 years of bleeding and Dr. Luke or Mark said she got worse in the hands of her doctor.

God Answers Desperate Prayer - Part1

Are you desperate? Maybe a lot of you would say yes but let me qualify, some people are desperate but what is actually happening is they are not desperate, they are bitter. There’s a big difference. Bitterness is not brokenness, some people say I am helpless but actually what they mean is I am angry. Anger is not desperation, desperation in the wrong way can lead you to do crazy things, but desperation in the right way to lead you a life that is dependent on God.

ENDING WELL IN GRACE

“The people of Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua…..”Joshua 24:31NLT


Beginnings may be impressive, it is in how we end that matters the most. The life and leadership of Joshua is a powerful model of a life and ministry that ended in grace. The entrance of Joshua into the arena of leadership was a total shock to him. Perhaps, in his mind, he was only prepared to be Moses’ assistant forever. God, again and again, assured Joshua of His abiding presence as he lead His people to the promised land. Here, an amateur leader starts his leadership and begins his journey of learning grace. It is here that Joshua learns that the lessons of grace are all about being broken before God.

God’s way and his style are totally different from ours. It is here Joshua humbly bowed down to the ways of God more than to his military wisdom. Who could forget the crossing of the Jordan; the battle of Jericho; the embarrassing defeat at Ai; and not to be forgotten, the inclusion of Rahab into the family of Israel! All of these episodes spoke of GRACE! This created a powerful impact in the life of Joshua and was obviously seen in his leadership as well. Joshua ended with a legacy of grace accorded to him by God’s people, while others just sadly faded away.

Joshua respected God’s people and gave them space to choose whom they would serve. Such exercise of grace made such a powerful impact to the nation of Israel that they served God throughout the lifetime of Joshua! This is a rare record of leadership . . . a whole nation serving the Lord! Grace made such a more powerful impact than a code of rules and legalistic monitoring of compliance. Such an impact is never achieved by effort or sacrifice . . . this is absolutely by GRACE! Ending in grace leaves an impact on the leader himself and leaves a legacy that continues to make an impact on others. A life lived in grace and a life that ends in grace leaves a timeless lesson that grace is here so that NO MAN CAN BOAST!



REV. ARNEL C. TAN

Ending Well in Grace - Part2

How do you live grace? Grace and the lifestyle of the gracious minimize pressure while guilt heeds up performance. However guilt and graceless servants of God thickens the iceberg and choke the remaining surviving whales. How is Joshua gracious? Respect for others, becoming a friend so you can share the gospel to that person. Give space, for people to think, space for people to decide, space for people to choose. You know solitude is so important not because you want silence but there’s a space wherein God can move and do whatever He wants to do to you.

Ending Well in Grace - Part1

It is comforting to know that the totality of life doesn’t begin on how you start. It all comes to the point on how you end. The message this morning is a timely reminder that more than what you think the end of life is sooner than what you expect. Life is short, it is shorter than what you think it is. Life is no longer measured by years today I measure it by the Sundays, there are 52 Sundays in one year. So if every Sunday you are present in church you just heard 52 messages. My prayer is that when you hear God’s Word, we may be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit that whenever God’s Word is preached, lives are being transformed by the power of God.

When Death has Come - Part2

When you die where will you go? Others would say I will know when I go there, too late. You know I’m shocked today when people can entrust themselves to the people that they don’t know. You take a taxi and you don’t even know the driver as you put your life in his hand. You go for surgery the doctor is barely not known to you and he opens you up. You go to a high story building and trust that it will not collapse, you climb up on a mountain with adventurous people, you ride a zip line and you put your life in danger. You trust those things who are not trustworthy! I appeal to you, would you trust Someone who can say I’ve been there? He is Christ our Lord!

When Death has Come - Part1

Is it okay to come to cemetery? What if they pray for the dead? We no longer pray for the dead what should i do? Just be there and don’t contradict and just pay respect for their belief, let them know who you are, but never turn to be a persecutor, it’s still good to be persecuted but not to be a persecutor of anyone else's faith. By that, I assure you that you have a greater chance to share the gospel to them than bulldogging them now. But deeper than that, this morning, I have two things in my mind. Number one, to challenge those of you who are afraid to die and by the way who is not afraid. Number two is to somehow bring back to our minds that, if we don’t think that life is short it affects the way we live. It is on the premise that the more we are prepared for death, the more we understand what the Bible says about death, the more we live life responsibly.

LIVING AND DYING WELL

“And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.”
Hebrews 9:27 NLT


This short verse provides a lot of details that one needs to know regarding death and living. Here we see that death has already been fixed as an appointment. Everyone has their own appointed time. The time element may not be the same, yet the road to that appointment is common to all. After death comes judgment. We are not given much detail here but we know from the Bible that all who trusted Christ will never be condemned any more (John 5:24), meaning, believers in Christ need not fear this time of judgment. On the contrary, those who rejected Christ in life, though alive, are judged already (John 3:18) . . . unless that person repents while still alive.

These doctrinal issues are important to us because they greatly affect our way of life! The Lord settled everything about death and dying for those who are His. The date and the manner God’s children die is still a mystery to us. I think it should stay that way . . . a mystery. Knowing all the details will not make life enjoyable but horrible. God in His grace only revealed the general details, for God knows how much reality we can tolerate and still live meaningfully. If a person is sure about His relationship with Christ, his concern will not be much on death but on how to enjoy the life God has given him today.

Living well is the result of being prepared for death. It is in this life that we need to live a life that glorifies God! It is here that humility and grace are much needed, for in heaven, all of us will be perfect and pure. It is here that our generosity is best needed and appreciated . . . for what would one need from another in heaven? It is also here that we take the gifts of grace daily given in the form of fresh chances to live life—an opportunity to make godly choices and the grace to be transformed in our attitudes into the ultimate likeness of Christ’s attitude. It is also in this life that the opportunity to serve and make a difference is much needed.

All true believers of Christ need not fear death nor be plagued with the manner of dying. All is already well taken cared of. Yet all true believers must find life as an opportunity to live with fresh joy, and a heart eager to do the Master’s will! Instead of worrying about death, we might as well focus on why God extended our lives thus far. Living meaningfully in grace and praying fervently with God’s people must occupy our time. In other words, the direct application of our assurance of salvation is not only in the future but it sets our life now into a wonderful motion of hope and meaning! We can choose to live well for Christ has conquered death!


Joyfully and prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL C. TAN

STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART

This past week has been “hectic” for me . . . my speaking schedule piled up. It was only by the grace of God that all went well. Normally, when this happens, I am immediately alarmed about getting into an impulsive mode again. Thank God for the ministry of the Holy Spirit that nudges me to slow down and pray. How quickly I forget what I preach. Thank God for His patience towards forgetful ministers like me. I am refreshed by what Henry Nouwen said “Sometimes we need to disengage, not only from our busy world but also from our busy spiritual disciplines, in order to gain fuel for the journey”. God’s grace is so refreshing that it leads us to Christ and not to what we do for Christ!

It is also here that I paused, and once more, enjoyed a deep drink from the well of God’s grace. Our observance of spiritual disciplines such as prayer, bible reading, fasting, solitude, are means and to an end and not the end itself. I remember the words of our Master “…come to me those who are heavily laden and I will give you rest! (Matthew 11:28). Spiritual rest in grace is accomplished when we disengage from a strict observance of “spiritual disciplines” which subtlely turns into a new form of legalism. Such detachment leads us to find strength in Christ alone!

Like Elijah, a lot of us need to do nothing so we can enjoy nourishing sleep and much needed rest. Then we can go back to the journey fueled and strong! We value prayer as Christ in the scripture values it. But when prayer becomes a badge of a superior spiritual life over others, then prayer is not God-honoring anymore. Let us remember that nothing done in force can produce a living, vibrant spiritual life. I really believe some of you really need to pray, while in grace, others should disengage from it if prayer has become our identity rather than Christ! In a nutshell, “God, your grace still amazes me”

Those of you who are led by God to join us in our prayer meetings, come and pray with us. While those of you who need to find God by detaching from legalistic spiritual disciplines, do so without guilt. Rest and be nourished by Christ Himself. No wonder the throne of prayer is called the throne of grace . . . where people can come boldly and find mercy . . . where the same grace is given for those who just want to do nothing at the throne of grace but just to enjoy rest in Christ!

Disengage from anything that substitutes Christ . . . for nothing should and can take His place in our hearts! When prayer begins to be a legalistic requirement, step back so you may rest in grace!

Yours in Christ,


REV. ARNEL C. TAN

What if God is Silent - Part2

Now it would be according to the will of God today, that every one of us should reach some measure of desperation, concerning the huge gap between God and us. How do close that gap? Desperation to God’s attention, desperate for God to work within you, like David's lament to God’s silence. I believe the divine will of God today that every one of us would be desperate to have an encounter with the presence of our Lord. We all know that encounter with God would require brokeness from our very being.

What if God is Silent - Part1

The only problem of knowing the future is that, it makes us think that it’s going to happen tomorrow with no inconveniences in our lives. Everybody wants a prophecy, everybody wants to know what’s ahead whether in our career, in our family, what’s ahead in whatever we are doing. But the problem is, if God shows us His plans in order to get there, if God shows us the process in order to get there, many of us would ask God for an alternative based on our own liking.

Lessons from the Wilderness - Part2

Remember that God is gracious not because we deserve it. In Deuteronomy 9:4-6 4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. 5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people”. Let it sink, are you blessed? Grace is the name of that blessing. Overwhelming what? Grace and yet our response is complain.

Lessons from the Wilderness - Part1

In order for us to become a people, a person, a church, a family, a couple that pleases God, there’s a requirement, God must put us in a journey, in a big process by which pleasing God will not only by mouth but pleasing God is both confidence that it is possible and at the same time humility to admit that it’s not possible without God’s grace. After we admit that it is not possible then the Lord straightens us.

Straight From My Heart

I regret that I cannot be with you this Lord’s day because of my commitment to preach during the observance of Mission Sunday in which DXFE was invited to present our ministry. I am thankful that Pastor Cezil will take my place. This is also timely so I can take a little rest from my preaching duties (a delight). Let me share some highlights regarding my physical condition. I am thankful to God for He granted favorable results regarding my blood tests. My blood sugar level is ok, thank God!, but my uric level and SGPT is high. My doctor, (Dr. Dey Brato), asked me to do some diet maneuvers to keep things balanced, and I need to take daily maintenance for my blood pressure. I am thankful to the Lord for this grace, and for all of you who prayed and gave encouragement to me. Let us continue to pray for each other.

For those who are interested for water baptism, please approach any of our pastors for information . . . they will gladly assist you. Always remember that being baptized, though not a requirement for salvation, is a serious spiritual decision, therefore, it must be prayed for and not be taken lightly. It is my prayer that the Lord will guide you with His peace as you decide on this matter. If you need any guidance, again, please feel free to approach any of our ministers.

Let me also thank you for your generous hearts for your prayer and support for the flood victims of the two typhoons in Luzon. Let us also thank God for the leadership of Rev. Arsenio Chan Jr. for leading our brethren in Bulacan as they minister to about 30 families. I am confident that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. The Lord seems to lay a special burden in our hearts for the community . . . let us continue to abound in this grace. Lastly, I am praying that all of you will have a chance to be with us in our prayer meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays, 6pm. Join us as we gather together to call on the name of the Lord! Don’t forget last Sundays message regarding the lessons in the wilderness. I am confident that the Lord will remind all of us of B. A. G.

The Lord is near when we call on Him in truth!


Prayerfully,


REV. ARNEL C. TAN

Living Free From People Pleasing - Part2

If you are a man pleaser these are your favorite word is duty. Try giving flower to your wife on your anniversary and say it is your duty believe me things will change. Second, the cousin of duty, obligation, to those of you who are in mission there’s this mission policy, how many commandments are there? Third, indebtedness oh the Orientals are good at this. Fourth is restriction, and fifth is subservience. These are the words that rule your life. A lot of factors that contributes to our men pleasing tendency and sometimes you have to listen to your critics because maybe they are right. The issue is not about doing what is right but doing it for a wrong reason.

Living Free From People Pleasing - Part1

Whenever you hear God’s Word and come to God’s church and worship with God’s people you go home instead of being peaceful you go home disturbed because the sermon disturbed you. Rejoice and be glad because this is one proof that God’s Word is not staying in your mind it is sinking down into your heart. Without that struggle you just heard something but when struggle is there because it’s beginning to sink in because you find it no longer easy. The more you look at God’s Word easy, peanuts, it’s not sinking but the more realize, Oh Lord how can I do this.

Becoming The People That Truly Loves God - Part2c

Fun is also holiness when you have fun serving the Lord, when you have joy serving the Lord, when your joy is bubbling. When there’s excitement in preaching, excitement in singing and excitement in feeding. What distinguishes us from the world is our holiness and joy. The more you love God, the more that you are not pressured to have the things of the world, you know what’s the result of that? Fun! To have a new gadget is not bad, enjoy your new gadget but more than that you still enjoy and love God.

Becoming The People That Truly Loves God - Part1c

Today, we conclude on the series of the subject, becoming a person that loves God, Part2. When a person influences another person and they become a people who loves God. Before you ask what is God’s will, I think the question is, do you love God? When you talk about God, you should have in mind the three persons of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Last Sunday, we reminded the church why we should not love the world. This day is the conclusion of all the discussion. May I say, as a result of God loving us first, we can now respond to love Him.

BecomingThePeopleThatGodLoves - Part2b

How many of you believe that when you pray, God is not far but near? In fact the Psalmist said “the Lord is near” that Lord speaks of the Triune God, the Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth. I think you missed a lot when you only pray for your necessities, this is so true that God answers prayers, but you miss a point if prayer is only limited to these things and you are not enjoying the fellowship of the Triune God. Brothers and sisters, you are really praying if you no longer focus on the blessings. I would say that if your prayer is only focused on blessings, then the worlds crept in to your prayer.

BecomingThePeopleThatGodLoves - Part1b

Loving God is possible because He initiated it. If God did not love us first the more we won’t know how to love God. Shall I also say this, the more we will never have an interest at all to love anybody aside from ourselves. It takes God to love us so that we would love Him back. However, it is academic that if you choose one thing you have denied another. If you love God you would technically say “I don’t love the world” when I say world we mean the system of the world, we mean the system that defies God, a society that inflates self worship and the search for self significance.

Straight From My Heart
by: Rev Arnel Tan

As God leads us to communion with Him in solitude we begin to see our true spiritual condition. It is in this state that we are confronted by our great spiritual poverty; it is also here that we receive God’s invitation to feast on His word and find great rest in prayers. As we learn to relax in Christ, the more we yearn to listen to His voice and depend on the Holy Spirit to obey His will. Let us not be distracted with other things that lead us to drift away from waiting on Him in prayer.

The following months ahead are most challenging . . . we are called to be more intense and desperate in our seeking God in prayer. It is also in praying that we get our instruction to do what is next. So far we have begun to cross the Jordan . . . we have agreed to obey God in rebuilding the church so we can have a welfare center for the community. Let us pray for the next step. Remember, no one is in a hurry. In prayer, we take it one step at a time. I ask you to join us in fervent prayers so we can always find ourselves depending on God. In our corporate prayer meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays and daily morning prayer meetings, we call on God to lead us. Lead your household to pray for the welfare center and the rebuilding of God’s house.

Remember in prayer Pastor Bobby Narciso and Pastor Judy Leones for their trip to Chang Rai and Burma to visit Jethro Adang and to see what God is doing there. Let us also pray for our services today and that God will touch our hearts and lead us to a deep hunger for His word that we may know how to obey His will. Let us remember in prayer our brethren in Luzon who have been badly hit by the typhoon. Let us also find ways to extend help to them as God opens the opportunity. As we worship and celebrate communion today, let us enjoy once more a unique kind of solitude with the community of the redeemed. Here, we are reminded of Christ as our sufficiency and being broken as He was broken for us . . . a pathway of blessing to knowing Christ more. Amen



"Dear God, Let your children hunger and thirst after Your righteousness. Let Your Word refresh our soul, rebuke our nature, recreate our being and renew a steadfast spirit that longs after Thee, be glorified in our lives today oh GOD. In Jesus name, Amen!"

Becoming a People That Truly Loves God - Part2

The system of the world denies God because when you put God in your system there are many things that should stop. There are many things that you should not keep but you should share. It only not speaks of a system that defies God. Secondly the world speaks about a society that dignifies worship of self, as you translate it, humanism, as pride tells you obey your thirst even when your thirst is immoral. The world out there tells you you’re married but your spouse doesn’t make you happy, look for another one, if it is good, do it, that’s the worldly system. That’s the reason why self esteem is important, self worth is important but we put it over board.

Becoming a People That Truly Loves God - Part1

I now would like encourage the church to listen to the admonition of the oldest apostle of all, John. He was the one who recorded the Word of Jesus, the heart of the gospel, the heart of the Scripture “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” that is a very popular verse. The same John wrote several years later an admonition to the church at his time and the church of our time, “love not the world”. One way or the other we are torn between two worlds, one the world that we should love that God loves, second the world we should not love because it might pollute our love of God.

PROGRESS WITHOUT PRAYER IS PRESSURE

Rev. Arnel Tan

“Then we can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word of God”
Acts 6:4 NLT

The problem of the early church was how to beat the pressure of progress. One thing hard with success is it can be fatal to the spiritual life of an individual or church. Progress is something wonderful to experience and admittedly this has been the driving goal of our hard works. While progress is a positive thing it also has its own side effects. The truth is the person or any organization that experiences progress or success without spiritual reserves will soon wake up facing unbelievable pressure.

The Apostles and the members of the early church showed remarkably deep spiritual maturity when they adamantly stood for prayer as the priority over projects. The prayer lives of the apostles and the prayer life of the church resulted in spiritual sensitivity that enabled them to detect the trap of progress without prayer . . . a dilemma many of us face today. Aside from our depleted prayer lives, we also have to deal with our inability to discern what God desires. I want to clarify that to be progressive is not bad. The issue here is the forgetfulness of many to put prayer above progress.

When prayer has priority over progress, the pressure of progress is controlled. In prayer, we see the difference between our good intentions and God’s approval. The desire to know God is intensified compared to just being busy doing Christian activities. In prayer, pressure is off because we are focused on the one thing that God wants us to do. In prayer, we learn to rest and not join the rat race for further success. In prayer, the Lord develops within us the spiritual sensitivity to detect when something is wrong even when the outside signs say otherwise.

Progress becomes an unbelievable and unending pressure because prayer has taken the back seat. Less prayer leads to prayerlessness. Here, the work that God has started is now perfected by human effort. No wonder Paul used the word “foolish” to rebuke the Galatians regarding their human effort in doing God’s work. The more progress we see, the more prayers we should say. It is impossible to handle the blessings of abundance when we are not in tune with the Giver of these gifts. Warnings have been issued all throughout the Bible . . . from the books of Deuteronomy to the Epistles. We have been warned not to fall into the trap of progress. As the Lord allows His favor to flow, let us be on our knees to pray! If problems brought us to prayer, the more we should be on our knees when things are progressing, for it is here that we are most vulnerable to forget God.

Warning From The Life of Jesus - Part2

Jesus said I did not pray for deliverance for I am made for this hour that you may handle your pain, because if I give up you cannot handle it anymore. Are you ready when God will not deliver you? Is there a prayer that when I lay hands on a child with down syndrome he will be normal again? Is that what you want? If that is what you want and you call it miracle then that miracle is cheap! You will learn nothing. Parents with autistic and down syndrome child confessed more than once said “The Lord sent us this child to teach us to be like Christ” There are some pains that does not need deliverance but on the other hand the danger of being too afraid.

Warning From The Life of Jesus - Part1

When you know the time of your death, would it affect your spiritual life? What preparations will you make until the day of your death? Remember the time of Jesus when his death was near? Though he is fully God and fully man, on the last chapter of his life in this world, you can see both faith and anxiety collide. Faith because Jesus would say I am bound for this, anxiety because Jesus expressed his situation and said I am deeply troubled. You would also see that in the midst of his eminent death people would come to him wanted some counseling and Jesus would explain, as he always explained “I need to die so that many will live”.

Solitude With God - Part2

One of our church member said to me Pastor he did not go to our Baptist distinctive? I would like you to know that in solitude sometimes it’s good to leave this distinctive for a while and to embrace the Holy Scripture. Have you tried to pray out of the Holy Scripture? Ah! it’s powerful! It’s not just my words, it’s praying the Words of God, as our Lord Jesus said “Abide in Me and I will abide in you”. While you are enjoying silence and then reflecting, scary thing comes in. In solitude you have struggle and in that struggle in solitude we become real.

Solitude With God - Part1

What happens when a child of God is growing in solitude with God? If you are not a Christian, if you don’t know Christ, your heart is empty, your heart is void, so when you try to be alone and to be quiet instead of peace you will find horror, you will find guilt, you will find a lot of condemnation. No wonder why noise is your defense. But if you surrender your life to Jesus Christ if you repent of your sins and invite Him into your heart you will realize how foolish we have been to miss the value to be quiet before our Lord.

Overcoming Stress - Part2

The New Seventh Day Adventist (member?), said, I don’t only rest on the Sabbath but in the days of my life I rest from media (?). There’s another one, rest from gadget, and, rest from Facebook included. The day I rested from “facebooking” which I did not regret, Shalom came back, peace in my heart came back. Facebook is helpful but to some degree, it is stressful. So Today it’s not good to have Facebook, that’s for myself, because it robs me of my time of prayer. Jesus said deliberately “no” to the crowd. Are there any urgent matters? There are, but what is more than urgent to that matter is communion with God in prayer.

Overcoming Stress - Part1

As God allows Christ to be fully human let’s ask the question, was He ever familiar with the word “stress”? What is stress? Psychologically they define stress as any change that happens to you and causes tension. If I give you the list and if you want to compute it, it says like this if your score reaches 300 plus, it’s time to slow down or you will burst. Added to that is your worry, added to worry is many foolish things I have committed and therefore there is a consequence to it.

What it Means to be an Ambassador for Christ - Part2

All of us can really start with our life. Some of you would say Pastor, I don’t know how to share the Gospel but you can start with your life. You don’t know how to share or you don’t know how to write words? You can start with your attitude! You can start with the word that comes out from your mouth! How they perceived you right now, do they see Jesus Christ in you? If they really see the change in you, that’s evangelism.

What it Means to be an Ambassador for Christ - Part1

What is the meaning if you are a passport holder? It means it allows you the right to travel around the world, it shows where you came from and who you are. I hold a Philippine passport so I am a Filipino. It shows that I am a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines therefore I am also a representative of my country to the rest of the world. The way people abroad view me will have an impact on how they view my country. Spiritually it is also the same, how the people outside view us will have an impact on their view about Christianity for we represent Christ.

Understanding The Lordship of Christ - Part2

You know how many years that Philippians forgot the salary of Paul? 10 years, and on the 10th year surprise, surprise, support came back from the Philippian Church. Paul wrote a thank you letter said, thank you for the support. If your eyes is on Christ you do not obliged people to support you, you’re fine, because if you read a little further he said because my faith is in Christ, my Master, Jesus Christ influenced me to live simply and with contentment.

Understanding The Lordship of Christ - Part1

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added to you. Would you agree that this verse sometimes is the source of deep disappointment to many? Because we expected that God will give the desires of our heart and He did not. We expected that He will supply our needs on the day that He will rescue us but to no avail. The source of disappointment is not God but misunderstanding of the scripture. But when the scripture is misunderstood of course it will be misapplied. So it is good to understand some basic thoughts, like who wrought it and to whom is it written. Not all promises in the Bible are for us but some for Abraham and some for the Israelites. But by principle we can apply timeless truths.

Lessons From Shattered Expectations - Part2

Remember the movie Hachiko? I almost cried not because of the movie itself but on the part when Richard Gere was barbecuing with his future son-in-law, Michael. Every father should be prepared for this, Richard said to Michael “do you love my daughter?” Michael replied and said “yes sir I love your daughter very much”. The answer was quick and simple Richard said “good because you need to remember that in bad times”. Christians do you love Jesus? “yes” no question He loves us, but there are times that the ways of Jesus is hard to understand. You have to remember that you love Him even in what we call bad times.

Lessons From Shattered Expectations - Part1

The Lord needs to shatter your expectations about Him so that you will know Him. The Lord needs to shatter your expectations about truth so that you’ll really know truth. If you are shock you ask the question what? Or you ask the question why? From what to why give it a little time, I don’t know how long to trust the Lord to touch hearts, to convict people, to change thoughts, from what and why slowly when we begin to see the purpose and perspective of God, our why and what will turn slowly to wow!

STRAIGHT FROM MY HEART

Our week of prayer was a remarkable moment of revival and refreshment from God. I am still overwhelmed with joy as I look back each morning seeing God's people come to God's house to pray. In prayer, we poured out our hearts as well as listened to God. Honestly, that sacred week flew by without even being noticed. Truly, where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty! Let me encourage you all to make prayer your highest calling... and your greatest privilege.


See the wonder of God hearing the prayers of the weak each time we gather for prayers during our prayer meetings. I look forward for more mornings like this in church. I am praying that the fire of prayer will never be quenched in our hearts and in our homes. It is on our knees that we see things clearly. It is with brokenness of hearts that we relinquish our rights and gladly take our responsibilities to serve each other and the community as well.


As for our desire to have a welfare center, the Lord redirected us as we called on His name. We have decided to pray for one more month... this time, prying that God will guide us as decide whether the welfare center will be in the church. Therefore, we are seeking God's guidance as to when we start building it ... plus the attendant renovation of the whole church. This is scary. We call on all to pray and let us cross this Jordan together! What is clear though is that the church agrees not to loan or to pressure people to give via pledges. It is God's conviction in our hearts to simply trust God to bless His people and finish the task. In the years ahead, we look forward to our church being a place where prayer is a priority and service to the community is its expression ... that all may know Jesus loves them.


HALLELUJAH HE IS THE ANSWERING GOD!


Prayerfully,



REV. ARNEL C. TAN

The Lord’s Conviction About Life in the Kingdom of God - Part2b

In the Kingdom of God it is not all about pressuring people, it is recognizing God’s image by recognizing the freedom to choose. It’s not about a contract that you blindly signed, it’s about the calling that you joyfully obey, that’s the Kingdom of God, that’s what Jesus believed. No checking of attendance, and no monitoring of how much you gave. It’s not a Kingdom of God when you fear your pastor sees you wearing pants especially for the ladies. That is a cult. One time our pastor watched a movie and timely a couple is also at the same movie house. While the pastor at the back of their seats is watching, do you think they enjoy the movie? Maybe no, maybe yes. If the Kingdom of God is spying that won’t change you. The Kingdom of God is about people who gladly chose to obey the Lord.

The Lord’s Conviction About Life in the Kingdom of God - Part1b

The Lord Jesus Christ brought issues about the Kingdom of God, one of the issue was who is great in the Kingdom of God? It is shocking that the inside topic of the disciples among themselves was who among them will be great. We are in many ways like that. Who will be the chairman, who wrote this book, who is the bright author of this project. If we are not properly recognized then we react.

The Lord's Conviction About Life in the Kingdom of God - Part2

There’s a big crisis in Baptist church in Negros long time ago because the old pastors have no doctorate degree in theology and they were trained by the old ways in institute. The younger pastors went to Germany, Switzerland and Lutheran, American Baptist Universities and came back to the Philippines with doctorate degrees but they were still assistant pastors. The struggle was, they went to the church and ask, “we have doctorate degrees, why are we paid lower than those who don’t have doctorate degrees? It’s unfair.” Some virus came in. If you ask me, Jesus would have said, you study so you would learn, so you will have burden to those who don’t know and teach them so that they might know. It’s not about doctorate degree but Its about the Kingdom of God.

The Lord's Conviction About Life in the Kingdom of God - Part1

What was the conviction of Jesus regarding the Kingdom of God? How did He transmit those convictions so that it would become a lifestyle? The disciples no doubt were zealous people they were full of energy, full of strength and yet clueless, their understanding of the Kingdom of God is still worldly. Not what Christ wants them to understand, their understanding of the Kingdom of God, is still nebulous. To use the term God’s Kingdom is still very popular today even among Southern Baptists, I have just one concern, I don’t see the King. I only see power and struggles. I talked to one good pastor and said in the Kingdom of God you and I are kings, so you better educate the church to treat pastors as kings. I did not waste time and I said, no we’re not kings we’re servants, see the difference, same text, same word but a lot of misunderstandings.

When God Convicts a Man - Part2

If God initiates an encounter let no man fabricate it. How shock I am to know that they said it was a birthday party and when I got there, there were hymnals, and the pastor showed up and the door was locked and the Gospel was presented. That’s what you call an ambush. That’s not right. Many people will go to hell because of that. Don’t ambush people, respect them. Ambush is not God’s way. If God is doing the ambush, let Him do it and not you. Religion has nothing to do with His works, stop that, God will initiate. I like what father Henry Neuen said “We can only provide a space by which they can meet God”.

When God Convicts a Man - Part1

Sometimes we are tempted to do the convicting part in order to change a man. Sometimes we are deceived that it works because people praise us but in reality the Scripture says only the Holy Spirit convicts. It takes also the Holy Spirit to convict us to stop convicting other people. It is not about my song, my sermon, my faithfulness, or my commitment in discipleship in order to change people but by the Spirit of God that makes people change. If we are after the praise of men, then let’s follow the wisdom that God gave through King Solomon that said “ Let other men praise you instead of yourself”.

Scandalous Grace - Part2

The churches today have a lot of rules being imposed or pushed through the congregation minus the grace of God. The church, instead of a place of comfort and understanding, a place where people can openly confess their sins, seems like a place for persecution. Now, the Republican witnessed the plea of an immoral. Now let us examine this man, a tax collector, who ripped off his fellowmen and worst he worked for the occupied power so the Jews during that time will call him a traitor. But notice, he was standing off in the shadows just wanting to settle his sin to God. This tax collector, standing afar off would not raise his eyes to heaven, beat his breast and said “God be merciful to me for I am a sinner.” Rather than telling God what a great asset he was to be around, this man went to God recognizing his need, recognizing he needs forgiveness.

Scandalous Grace - Part1

Have you ever noticed we quickly judge somebody else’s shortcomings while making all kinds of allowances when we make mistake. We love to judge as we make allowance for our own mistakes. Paul talks about the riches of grace that God lavished, but we strain that grace when we refuse to extend it to others, in order to for us to fully understand the meaning of grace and of mercy. Mercy is the attribute of God that causes Him not to give us what we deserve. We deserve punishment and God withheld it, that’s mercy. Grace is another attribute of God that causes Him to give us what we do not deserve. In reality we do not deserve His love but He gave it anyway that’s grace.

Women Of Grace - Part2

There were many Mary’s in the Bible but whether she was a prostituted woman, demoniac woman, whether she’s a woman of high moral like Mary of Bethany, all of them, in the sight of God needed the grace of God. Mary Magdalene have only one description of her, a woman where Jesus casted out seven demons. We can hardly find out the description of Mary Magdalene as a prostituted woman but the scripture said a woman where there are seven demons that’s all. Maybe implied because that she’s under the control of these demons. She did a lot of crazy things. Maybe she did a lot of physical abuses over her body but the record shows that she’s controlled by these demons.

Women Of Grace - Part1

In those days women are not only second class, when a woman says something, immediately it should not be believed upon. Historically, only in later days even in this most modern democratic country that women’s votes were honored. How many of you saw the post along the highway, “we accept lady taxi drivers” How many of you smiled when you saw that sign? Because it’s in our culture that we know, driving belongs to men and to our prejudice, if someone drives carelessly and recklessly we immediately say it’s a lady driver. Never underestimate a woman driver, it makes you pray. The ministry of women in church is quite controversial especially in the Baptist Church because it follows the leadership of men. When the Lord chose these women not originally members of the twelve disciples, our Lord did not make a big issue out of the twelve because everybody is useful to the Kingdom of God.

Focus on God Rather Than Fear - Part2

When God created the living animals He said “good” but when He finished creating man, He said “very good”, “excellent”. The idea is, we are created in His Image, something in us must follow His excellence by living a righteous life. The Bible said we are created in the likeness of God, we are created having a divine image in us. We are not God but we are created to honor and glorify God. The reason why fear is strong in us is because we are not really following the design of God or we do not have a desire to follow and obey, the reason why there’s fear of uncertainty and fear of consequences.

Focus on God Rather Than Fear - Part1

David’s objective in the Book of Psalm is for us who live today to be encouraged and to direct our confidence to the living God as we face one of the common giant of life, that is fear. These giants many times in our lives so successfully throw us into a corner. Like David, threatened by fear that choked him as he expressed his fear in Psalm 27. The question is what am I going to do? Where will I go? Now if you look at the Bible, the Scripture is full of phrases of encouragement such us “do not be afraid”, “do not worry”, or “trust in the Lord”. These are so easy to read but if you are into this situation face to face with your biggest fear those words seem to be like a manual that is hard to follow.

FROM THE HEART

In light of the recent flashflood that devastated a portion of the city of Davao, I am asking all of you, to first of all, listen to the Lord in prayer. I agree the situation is urgent…so is our ‘listening to the Lord.’ It is important to be sensitive to God’s Spirit so we can help in ways that are guided by God and grace…not by guilt and pressure. When we take time to listen, our response to those in need is more productive. During our prayer meetings last Wednesday and Friday, we all spent time praying and listening to God… and as a result, a team of church members went to help clean the houses of some of the flood victims. As we worship God today and take communion, let us continue to listen to the Lord.

Pastor Bobby Narciso and family were also badly affected by the flood. Thank you for your concern…he is now recovering from the loss. We are in the process of identifying other parishioners who were also affected; so we can extend the necessary assistance. As of the moment, we are appealing to you to help the victims, both from our church community and the community outside our walls, by way of a special offering. We are also thankful that the Baptist Community Response Team vehicle, though in the midst of the flood, was not wrecked. The mission team will be mobilized next week to distribute more relief goods and it is in this regard that we are asking you to share goods…especially bottled water, soap and mats for our team to take to the affected areas.

As we do all these, let us continue to be prayerful and sensitive to the Lord’s leadings, for truly, more than our goods and donations, people will be seeing our attitudes. We pray that they may sense our Christ-like attitude which, in this messy times, will be tested. Again, as we seek God, let us be open to what God is revealing regarding our spiritual state. The relief goods we have collected will all go to the flood victims of Davao City instead of Cotabato City. As you pray, you can also connect with other agencies undertaking the same efforts. What we do as a church is just a fraction of what still needs to be done.

Let us all spend time to listen to God…so we can do what He wants us to do.



Prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL TAN

The Sin of Samuel - Part2

Fatigue is not bad, we are working. This function results to fatigue, neglect and what’s next? Neglect to pray, priorities in life, or communion to God, though the Bible told us “Samuel build an altar in Ramah.” That gives us an idea that Samuel was still sensitive to his communion with God. But for how long before fatigue takes over? I heard of a church when a pastor have a Bible study until 1am and the managers under that small Bible study group and the executive told the managers that they still need to report for work at 8am, and so with the pastor still need to report for work at 8am. While the ministry is strong the neglect of home is pretty obvious.

The Sin of Samuel - Part1

The more you admire your mortal mentors you might be guilty of offending God. What is the sin of Samuel? What is his weakness? Remember no matter how thick the armor, there’s this weak spot. What can we learn about the weakness of Samuel? The weak link in the life of Samuel is not about his morals but a sin of neglect. Is that really dangerous? On the outset it’s not but ultimately this little sin can be fueled by the enemy and blown into a lifestyle of silent rebellion and then later disobedience.

Brokenness in Waiting

By : Rev. Arnel Tan

“Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14 NLT

What is the difference between ‘waiting for the LORD’ and ‘waiting patiently for the LORD?’ I think the first waiting is our response to the circumstances that demands our compliance to wait, while the second waiting is a result of God’s dealing with us in brokenness that results in a willingness to wait for the Lord. Somehow, life is designed by God with many deliberate stops or pauses. We see God’s appointed waiting sheds and from there we gain better perspective and live simple lives of faith.

On the outset, to ‘wait upon the Lord’ means a circumstance leaves us no choice … like, we wait for flights, for the weather to calm down, for our numbers to be called while falling in line at government offices or movie houses. Waiting is a part of existing. Waiting patiently for the Lord is the result of God’s dealing with us in brokenness. ‘Waiting for the Lord’ is compliance while ‘waiting patiently for the Lord’ is friendship. It takes brokenness to see this point and more brokenness to appreciate and desire this state of waiting patiently for the Lord.

How long is our waiting time? Honestly, it is difficult to tell or to predict. One can be certain the Lord will meet us at His appointed time. It is here that we are confronted with the humbling truth that we are not in control of everything. It is here that we see our helplessness. It is also here that we hear the invitation of the Almighty to cease striving and to slow down … and know God. This is not easy to appreciate … but when we learn to wait patiently for the Lord it becomes a hunger hard to deny.

The delays and denials are actually preparations for the blessings that God is more than willing to give. Why is it so necessary to be broken before enjoying whatever God wants us to have? It is because in being broken, we actually learn to savor and truly enjoy God’s blessings. Here, God is honored and we are humbled. In waiting patiently, our need for grace is so clear, our dark side is exposed and our prayers are intense. It is also in waiting patiently that our appetite for the glory of God and for Him to be glorified grows strong and deep. Waiting, praying, worshipping patiently is now the delight of our souls.

The Sin of Eli The Priest - Part2

We have messed up our priorities today as we see ourselves as provider. You know what’s good in Filipino culture? “I don’t care if I am in poverty as long as my children will have diploma one day when I send them to school.” Is that good or bad? That’s good but that’s also bad because the father’s priority is not sending your children to school and give them education, the father’s priority is to worship God and from there to get instructions from God how to raise children. Now, you who you are provider, look what have you done. You have provided too much education but you have not worshipped the Lord your God but honored your kids.

The Sin of Eli The Priest - Part1

This is the generation today that we are not aware that perhaps maybe we are honoring our kids more than God. There’s a bill in congress that they might pass to outlaw spanking our kids of course there’s abuse rather a father long time ago. A father in the name of Eli. His story is very sad. I think we learn more on sad stories than success stories. Success stories will lead us to smile but sad stories will lead us to prayer. Being a father is not easy but here’s the question, if being a dad is not easy, why are we not led to prayer? Why we are led to work more, earn more? Instead of pray more? When it’s about prayer the father would say your mom prays, your dad works. I think it’s the other way around. Fathers should pray.

God’s Calling to Samuel - Part2b

You are a child of God by faith in Christ, amen. May we remind the church, we are not the only child of God, there’s a lot of others who trusted Christ and they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Answering the call is not about me but to exalt God. All of the songs the modern ones specially the “me” songs, that’s true but the entire truth is for the glory of God. So when I read the Bible and it’s all about me “I don’t like my devotion today I was not touched because I read the Book of Numbers, boring to read this book and that book” because it’s all about what? Me. Ministry that is all about me and at the end of the day there’s no recognition, no nothing because nobody recognized who? Me.

God’s Calling to Samuel - Part1b

What is your calling to God personally? What is your calling to your church? What is your calling as a family? What is your calling as a single person? What is your calling as a married person? What is your calling as a professional? We realize that the call of God is not planned by men but of God, the verse reference, “suddenly the Lord calls Samuel.” To whom it is called suddenly? To Samuel, to God it’s been planned no sudden is for God. God’s call won’t stop until an answer is given. A lot of us way back high school days or we were still in college and we were young but now we are not young anymore we are mature we thought that God’s calling has faded. No way. It is still there.

Brokenness In The Life Of Moses - Part2

Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” There’s meaning to the name, it is not about Gershom growing up to be a foreigner in some place or some land, it was actually a confession by Moses of himself of his own experience, He gave the name Gershom because Moses lived as a sojourner in a foreign land. In other words he’s now beginning to realize who he really was. Moses became a pilgrim whether in the land of Egypt and in the land of Midian. He was a pilgrim in the land of Midian and that he declared who he was, and that is, his own identity. In other words Moses were now rooted more deeply with the God of Israel.

Brokenness In The Life Of Moses - Part1

Deep wounds of the past create a burning commitment never to see these sorts of things again happening. So even Moses flight from Pharaoh his natural impulses still have control over his life. Although he’s in a different location now remember he flees a different set of people. Moses exhibit what comes naturally. “Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.” Moses acts comes naturally to defend those who are oppressed because he have a problem himself with injustice.

Waywardness as a Result of Brokenness - Part2

A pastor breaking the rules only to get caught and then repented, integrity is lost. What else is lost? Vitality to life is lost. David prays “Let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice”. “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” Now many of us look like discouraged, we look like there’s no joy, there’s no vitality in our lives, there’s no energy at all maybe because of the sin that is hidden in our lives.

Waywardness as a Result of Brokenness - Part1

There are brokenness brought about by pain and wounds of life and God leads us to a point that we are just simply broken. But there are also brokenness not as a result of woundedness but as a result of our waywardness and God breaks us. It is as a result of personal decisions that were gone so bad that our lives began to unfold and get shredded. What do we do? God’s Word tells us what to do.

Woundedness a Sister of Brokenness - Part2

Remember Job when he was struck by the devil with the skin disease? Then Job’s wounds became even more deeper as he shared his agony with his friends about the depth of his wound, “Oh that my grief were actually weighed and laid in the balances together with my calamity! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; Therefore my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.” Hard to imagine a wound that pushes us to the edge, because we simply do not understand. And there are certain wounds that we will never understand. This kind of wounds re-emerges when we are convinced that God hates evil and will not use evil against His chosen ones and the answer is wrong.

Woundedness a Sister of Brokenness - Part1

Pain is a gift. In fact Dr. Paul Brand illustrates the gift from lepers and leprosy. He said without pain sensation they are susceptible to cuts, bruises in their extremities, the hands in particular, they are vulnerable including their fingers being cut-off without them knowing they don’t know if their fingers touched something that is burning. And so, pain is a gift and it warns, it alerts, it informs. Pain is a gift from even more horrible wounds in our lives.

Pulpit To Pew

FROM MY HEART

Let me greet all fathers today a Happy Father’s Day! I am hopeful that this day will bring joy and celebration to each of our families here in church. As a father, I am also thankful for allowing me to preach in just two services today and the afternoon will be a special time for me and my family. In order to enjoy the true meaning of celebrating this day, I think it should be done out of love and not obligation or guilt. I am sure that the pressure to express and the pressure expected is high. It is here that I would like to pour some oil of grace, that the tension to express and expect be done away with.

Let us remember that the heart of any celebration is done from the heart . . . minus the guilt trip. Therefore, let us not pressure others to celebrate the way we do. Let everybody enjoy the freedom on how they will or will not celebrate today. To simplify things, let us all have grateful hearts everyday, Take time today in prayer for your “dad” . . . most of all, take time to worship our Heavenly Father together with all other saints.

Not everyone is blessed to have good memories of their fathers. In fact, others are traumatized when they remember the abuses of their own dad. My suggestion is to give them space to grieve and not pressure them to celebrate. Rather, offer a silent prayer for healing. Let us remember that not all families here in church are complete. Let me encourage you . . . even though you are not complete, you are still a family! And by the grace of God you can still rejoice!

To my fellow dads, if your wife or kids remember you today, humbly give thanks. If they don’t, humbly accept, for there just are things in life which we cannot demand. To the children, find time to pray and somehow give your dad a break today . . .how you express your thanks is your style. And to those who have been so disappointed with their dads, I suggest, bring it to God in prayer so you will not have bitter hearts. Express your grief to the Heavenly Father. He is in charge of transforming . . . not us. If you never had a dad in the flesh, thank God . . . in church, God gave us a lot of “dads”.

“Pray like this…..Our Father….” Matthew 6:9

HAPPY NO PRESSURE FATHER’S DAY TO ALL!!

Prayerfully,
REV. ARNEL TAN

Brokenness In the Life of Naomi - Part2

Rejection is not easy, we have too much pride, too much of us, that’s why we are hurt so badly. Lord why are you doing this to me and Lord why now? And even though our future is in Your hand it is hard to be broken still. Naomi felt that way. Wherever she went she felt a corner and there’s nowhere to go. God was hamming her in, what does God want? Certainly He wants our attention. It is easy to say He has my attention maybe but I think God wants our attention the way He expects the kind of attention from you. Maybe the kind of attention that we’re giving Him is not enough and He wants more and then He breaks us.

Brokenness In the Life of Naomi - Part1

When everything you try to do as good as you can, always ends up with a close door, you try very hard and yet life seems to be against you. There is a day where nothing seems to work or where everything seems to go wrong. Think about those moments and ask what God is up to. What does He want in my life? Why does He allow many things in my life to happen that are negative as far as I can see? What’s the use of endurance in such moments when everything in life seems to be out of step with what I want to do? These are some questions in life when we experience the rock bottom of our life or brokenness.

A Subtle Take Over - Part2

A beginning of subtle take over is a tolerated greed. What is a tolerated greed? I want that, I want it now, I want it right away. It is also a case of unconfronted or unchecked desires, you call it dream, achievement, hard work but deep inside it is greed and there’s this difficult one, the wounded pride. It is no longer the issue of land about Naboth who said to King Ahab “no”. If you are a person who no longer can accept a “no” then you just turn to be a monster even when you are a king. If God can accept a “no” how can you not accept it? Sometimes power, influence and even the things that you have done to others tend to buy their hearts but it should not be, but always give them the freewill to say either yes or no.

A Subtle Take Over - Part1

I have a question for you that you must answer on your own and between God. Is it still an issue for you today to ask the question how did I get this property? How did I own this car? How did I own this house? Or how did I win this woman? Or how did I ever get this position? It’s a scary question because all the while, it will reveal some subtle take over along the way. To be honest it is easy to say to wait for your turn and wait on the Lord but the longer it is the more irritating it becomes.

God's Calling to Samuel - Part 2a

How did God prepare Samuel for the task? How did the purpose of the Lord fulfilled in the call of Samuel? How do you glorify God in your call? What adjustment are you willing to make? Adjustment may mean transfer, resignation, or leaving a good job for a lower one, adjustment means temporary separation for a time.

God's Calling to Samuel - Part 1a

What is your calling? Like Samuel called to ministry as a priest and a prophet, this message may not be only for a full time missionary or full time ministry, not at all but what about if God calls you to be a teacher, God calls you to be a godly police officer, God calls you to be a righteous businessman, God calls you to be a married person, God calls you to a singlehood and a lot of calls. What we want to achieve to this message is to create a desire in our hearts to be sensitive enough to listen and willingly obey to God’s calling.

She Almost Lived an Uneventful Life - Part2

When you surrender to God do not shortcut discipleship, do not shortcut spiritual growth, do not shortcut maturity, do not shortcut brokenness. Because I surrender there’s no need for shortcuts. Because I learn to surrender, there are no demands. I see that throughout the scriptures like Abraham, like the prodigal son, no demands. So if you’re still demanding to God you have not learned surrender. If you already surrendered to God then there’s no need to hurry. If you learn to surrender there’s no pressure. If you learn to surrender there’s no envy.

She Almost Lived an Uneventful Life - Part1

This woman, the Shunnamite was afraid of God, she would like to deal with the man of God, not God, which is opposite of Hannah, Hannah said I want God, the Shunnamite said I want the man of God. Our word for today is safe. I want the prophet because it’s safe, I cannot stand God. So Holy, so direct, so frank, so powerful. I want this prophet and just give him food, give him house, give him love gift, he will do you good.

“SHE ALMOST LIVED AN UNEVENTFUL LIFE”

“SHE ALMOST LIVED AN UNEVENTFUL LIFE”
BY: Rev. Arnel Tan

“The she said, “ Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say,”Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up?”
2 Kings 4:28 NLT

The Shunemite woman almost lived an uneventful life. Thank God for His intervention, she did not go on living safe. What is a spiritually uneventful life? It is a life too safe that faith in God is no longer required or needed. It is a life too secure that there is no more room for surprise or shock. It is a life too protected that danger is not familiar. On the outside this life seems ‘ideal’… but what most of us don’t see is that this is a life too afraid. It is afraid to love so it won’t get hurt; afraid to serve so there will be no criticism; afraid to help lest help is rejected; afraid to care, to grieve and eventually, afraid to grow.

Not only the wealthy woman from Shunem treads this path. This is the path that many unknowingly tread in their hearts and through their spiritual journey. To expand the idea further, this is the road many churches tread… so safe and so afraid to obey God! God cannot agree with a kind of life that involves no risk… that requires no faith. Thank God for His timely intervention, we are spared from this kind of life. How God intervenes will forever be a mystery, yet the result is a great adventure of faith.

‘Living by faith’ is not a life of reckless irresponsibility nor is it suicidal… it is enjoying the Presence of God in this journey of life. The journey does not guarantee safety or immunity from pain and pressure… rather, it is leads us to God and to avail of His abundant grace so that we are equipped with hope and Godly enthusiasm. In this journey of faith, God stirs a deep hunger in our hearts like the unexplainable stirring in the eagle’s heart to soar high instead of feeding with the hens. Like a sea lion heeding the call of the waves of the sea for him to be the sea lion he was created to be. As the eagle is called to leave his false nest with the hen; and as the sea lion is called to leave his little pool, God calls each of us to leave our safe lives by surrendering to Him.

Many are so deeply entrenched in their ‘safe mode’ that it now requires that God steps in and pulls us out of this rut. God’s methods are not easy to understand… but by faith we choose not to doubt His motives. If the woman of Shunem never had a son, she never would have learned to care, love and later, to release. Unlike Hannah, she was too afraid to even verbalize to God what she longed for – a son! Her addiction to safety almost denied her the adventure of faith… so when the boy died, all her fears came true. Thank God the boy lived again. You know, even if the boy did not make it, having had a son for a while was worth it all - she knew how to be unselfish… she became a MOM!

HANNAH: A WOMAN OF PRAYER

By: Rev. Arnel Tan

“Sir do you remember me? Hannah asked. “I am the woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord.”
1 Samuel 1:26 NLT

In many ways, Hannah modeled to us the importance of prayer. From her life, we learn to bring all our sorrows to the Lord. I think it was not an accident that she did not bring her burden to Eli, the priest, who was at that time, sitting at his usual post, waiting for people to pray for. Perhaps, Hannah knew that her problem needed more than a man of God… she needed to talk to God directly! It is a remarkable display of spiritual maturity when God’s people grow dependent on God and not on His servants. In Christ, we who have trusted Him as Lord and Savior, have full access to the throne of grace. It is in this throne where we pour out our hearts and it is also here that we receive mercy from God. Honestly, our access to the God’s throne of grace today is far better than during Hannah’s time, yet so few of God’s children pray… really pray.

No one wants to be sorrowful or add to the problems one already has, yet mysteriously, these unwanted problems are royal invitations… so we can be ushered to the throne of grace. Without these problems, most of us would not have learned how to pray. The moment a child of God, or a sinner, calls on God in truth, solutions to our problems are not instantaneous. One thing is true… God draws near and draws close to those who call on Him. During those stormy times, God’s Presence becomes our refuge and rest… so we can go through it all. His Presence is more than enough!

In prayer, we come to Him, not as perfect individuals but needy ones. Honestly, due to the intense pain of the soul, our words may not be enough nor pleasant. It is here where we say a lot of things we don’t really mean. When we release the venom of a wounded soul, it does not look perfect… in fact, it is messy. God understands the mess and honors the brokenness of the heart which is learning a fresh lesson of surrender. Hannah did not only bring her sorrow to God in prayer, she also learned surrender… meaning, she no longer demands; no longer wants short cuts; no longer seeks revenge; no longer is in a hurry and no longer controlling.

“Hannah prayed” may be a short inscription… but it is a loaded one. Prayer brought her to depths of communion with God and taught her the joy of surrender… and ultimately prepared her to receive her granted request. What is remarkable is that Hannah no longer needed sorrow to bring her to God. Even God’s surprise of giving her a son brought her back to God—who is greater than any surprise! ‘Hannah prayed’… ‘Jesus prayed’… ‘the early church prayed’… and when you and I pray, we step into a loaded journey of surrender and surprise. Amen.

Sorrow Surrender Surprise - Part2

When you surrender to God do not shortcut discipleship, do not shortcut spiritual growth, do not shortcut maturity, do not shortcut brokenness. Because I surrender there’s no need for shortcuts. Because I learn to surrender, there are no demands. I see that throughout the scriptures like Abraham, like the prodigal son, no demands. So if you’re still demanding to God you have not learned surrender. If you already surrendered to God then there’s no need to hurry. If you learn to surrender there’s no pressure. If you learn to surrender there’s no envy.

Sorrow Surrender Surprise - Part1

In prayer we learn the joy of surrender. It is not always joyful to surrender to God because sometimes what God likes I don’t like, what I like God doesn’t like. Surrender is not a picture of someone threatened. The picture of biblical surrender is a marrying someone willingly, lovingly, giving life for the other. We will not come to a point of surrender to someone until we know from our hearts that we love that someone. You don’t surrender precious things to strangers. It is assumed that there is a deep relationship.

Hannah a Woman of Prayer - Part2

What is the promise when you really pray and when you call on the name of the Lord? The Lord is close to those who call upon Him in truth. Who is close? The Lord, it did not say the blessing is close to those who pray but if you just want the blessings you don’t need to go with God the devil is already sufficient if you just want a good life, wealth, health and riches. But if you choose to go with God, He gives you more than the blessing, He gives you the ultimate blessings of all and what is the ultimate blessings of all? The ultimate blessing of all is Himself!

Hannah a Woman of Prayer - Part1

Hannah is barren woman and she bears no child. In those days if you are barren there’s a lot of judgment of people who will classify you to a category of condemned , judged by a society as accursed by God if a woman cannot bear a child. She lives in a family that was not ideal, her husband married two wives. Remember the truth what the Bible records is different from what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches the lifestyle of long time ago but they disobeyed God’s plan. In the garden it was Adam and Eve and the story of Hannah’s husband was an Adam with two Eves that is a problem! Whenever we compromise, we compromise God’s standard and we are in deep trouble. You know what’s the second big trouble? When we do not listen to God anymore.

Reflections Concerning Mothers and Motherhood

Written by DCBC Admin Saturday, 07 May 2011 11:45



“No man is poor who has had a godly mother.” – Abraham Lincoln
“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.” – Honore’ de Balzac
“Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have seven children and only one theory: love them, especially when they least deserves to be loved.” – Kate Samperi
“Making decision to have a child—it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Elizabeth Stone
“If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever you do well matters very much. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Adorable children are considered to be general property of the human race.

Rude children belong to their mothers- Judith Martin

“The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the highest standards and is content with nothing less his best.” Hamilton Wright Mabie
“Motherhood brings as much as joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own. “- Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons
“ A mother understands what a does not say.” –Jewish Proverb
“The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother’s side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother, and to become fully independent.” Erich Fromm
“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.”- Cardinal Mermilled
“Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.” Lin Yu-tang
“Every mother is like Moses. She does not enter the Promised Land. She prepares a world she will not see.” Pope Paul VI
“A mother is the most precious possessions of the nation, so precious that society advances its highest well-being when it protects the functions of the mother.”- Ellen Key
“Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world.” Kate Douglas Wiggin

Is There a Hope for the Overconfident Church of Laodicea - Part2

The Laodicea is well known in the medical field for the eye, but Jesus says you are blind spiritually. What a dangerous prayer when you ask the Lord “Lord show me my real spiritual state”. A friend of mine shared to me which I heard long ago from Pastor Jim Cymbala, He said, that “There are two spiritual states of our soul either you are drawing close to God or you’re falling away, no neutral ground. Which one are you?

Is There a Hope for the Overconfident Church of Laodicea - Part1

When we say lukewarm church its not to be interpreted as not so evil and not so good because people might think that we want to be lukewarm which is not so good and not so bad. Most people think that it would be a better choice but, it is evil. It’s not about being good or evil. The church of Laodicea has become indifferent. Their over confidence resulted to their being lukewarm. It is interesting to take note of their background. The city of Laodicea is a wealthy city, wealthy in the sense that there is a banking system or commerce, branded clothing like Versace and other brands, well known in the medical field for the eyes. Their popularity spread out. As a result, it affected the church. It should be the church should infect the world but one way or another, the world infects the church. The church should be a model of righteousness. Now, they are cousins of this world. That’s why Jesus says to them “you are lukewarm.”

Come to the Table

By: Rev. Arnel Tan

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Rev. 3:20 NLT

It is in the church of Laodicea that Christ gave his severe criticism for their being neither hot nor cold; it is also here that Christ made the most intimate offer of coming in . . . to share a meal as friends. An offer, made not to a particular individual, but to the whole church. This is a chance to change from being lukewarm into being ON FIRE for the Lord; not as a busy worker, but as a dear friend. Here, we see the heart of Jesus and His desire to have fellowship with His church. Nothing should replace that intimacy . . . no project, no matter how noble, should replace the enjoyment of God’s presence!

The table of God, through the observance of the Lord supper, is one example of how Christ invites His busy or lukewarm church to come aside and once more savor what matters the most in this journey of faith. We come to His table at his invitation . . . not at our initiation. Here, we lay aside all that we call urgent or important to give way to Jesus; here, we repent; we rejoice in our forgiveness; we are refreshed by His nourishing and welcoming presence. The wafer and the cup remain as to symbols. Yes, symbols representing eternal treasures.

This meal, shared with the Lord, is a glorious moment of cleansing and commissioning. We are warned by Paul not to abuse this communion like the Corinthian believers . . . for abusing the privileges of friendship destroys intimacy. The requirement is not a perfect or sinless life but a repentant heart ready to reconcile with God. A heart that is broken is a heart that is blessed. As Jesus offered the bread and blessed it and broke it, so shall we be blessed so we can live a life that shares the blessing of being broken. Today, we open our hearts to Christ and say, “Come in, Lord; take away our lukewarm hearts . . . set them on fire for Your glory. Cleanse our hearts that we may enjoy Your presence, not as a stern Judge . . . not as a stern judge . . . but as with a close friend. All of these we do in remembrance of Christ! Amen.

See The Resurrection of our Lord in 3Gs - Part2

It is our prayers that the Lord’s radiance of God’s love baptized our hearts today. Not only God’s radiance of love but God’s life, not every green is alive some green leaves are plastic but the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, brings life. The resurrection of our Lord speaks about chance. Let me tell you when was the last time you pray from our Lord for another chance?

See The Resurrection of our Lord in 3Gs - Part1

What can the resurrection of Jesus Christ do to us? In our problems, our regrets in life, and our fears for the future. There are many resurrection facts in our minds but we must confess that resurrection remained a fact and so we pray Lord, send resurrection fire in our heart. Is there hope for us? Honestly most of us asked how the resurrection be an important part of Christianity.

Philadelphia The Church That God Will Bless - Part 2

Why did God blessed the church of Philadelphia? “You have little strength and yet you obeyed My Word and did not deny Me” says the Lord. This is the surprising element, the church that God will bless is not a church that is strong, the marriage, the man, the husband, the wife, the woman and the ministry is not basically strong but weak. The church that God will bless is the church that know that they are weak.

Philadelphia The Church That God Will Bless - Part 1

When we see a church or a person so mightily blessed by God, do you want to take note? If you take a look at the church of Philadelphia the Bible tells us that The Lord opened the door that no one can shut. Here we are, asking the Philadelphia church, what have you done that God has blessed you? In today’s message we will find out some surprising elements that Philadelphia enjoyed. The blessings of God more than the church merits.

The Dead and Dying Church of Sardis - Part 2

Desiring to do what is right is not easy to do. There were times that we can turn our wrong to right by the grace of God. Also there were times that we cross the boundary line and the consequences which are now called beyond repair.

The Dead and Dying Church of Sardis - Part 1

Desiring to do what is right is not easy to do. There were times that we can turn our wrong to right by the grace of God. Also there were times that we cross the boundary line and the consequences which are now called beyond repair.

Thyatira Jezebel Preach Here - Part 2

We see religion as the one who will transform our behavior it’s not true because religion can only warn but only God who can transform. But what happens when religion is silent immorality becomes normal like relationship without marriage. The warning and rule of church is helpless to change but it is God who will change but God will use warnings from the scripture and God will hold us responsible without warning those who sinned. In fact His Word is a welcome and also a warning to us.

Thyatira Jezebel Preach Here - Part 1

We should respect other religion which means that we should not burn Koran. We should not say things against other people. We should respect them as they are given freedom by God what they want to believe. Side by side we must able to communicate in the most polite way that while we respect them it does not mean we agree with them. There is a boundary line between respect and agreement. The problem of Thyatira started when they don’t know the difference anymore between respect and agreement.

Welcome and Warning

by: Rev. Arnel Tan

“Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds.” Rev. 3:22 NLT

The church of Thyatira is so excellent in making people at home in their church. It is their strength to sincerely minister to the wounded and make them feel warm. A welcoming church is so needed now a day, a place of refuge and rest. It is here where acceptance and grace truly abound. The Thyatirian church is a place to be and a people to be with. While they are sincere in their desire to make people at home and let grace abound they went to the other extreme of not giving them warnings from God’s word.

It is in this church that Jezebel a false and immoral “prophetess” was allowed to be an influential teacher of the church. While respect for others is crucial and necessary it is does not mean agreeing with sin or tolerance of sin. God is not expecting us to transform others, it is God’s expectation that we stand against sin and error! It means we warn people of what God says about sin, by all means the warning must be done in love and grace not being judgmental or arrogant. It is not about being someone holier than the other but fellow sinner reminding each other of our tendency to fall apart from God’s grace.

Acceptance to join us in worship is given to all who wants to worship God. However, the worship of God includes listening to the warnings of God. The church of Thyatira cheapened grace by disconnecting it with truth and pulling from God’s glory! This time the Head of the church, Jesus Christ gave the stern warning to Jezebel and those who sinned with her. Despite the strong words of warning you can still sense the soft and gentle voice of welcome as God invites people to REPENT! To still avail of the chance to do things right for God’s glory. God’s warning is not a joke, yet his heart is still soft on those who repent!

The purpose of welcome and warning in church is for all of us to repent. Repentance is not being perfect but being humble to admit we sinned and to avail of God’s grace to grant us freedom from the life style of sinning. Grace equips us to be strong and trains us to be discerning. Grace grants us a new and fresh beginning despite of the consequences to be paid. The scar of sin no longer highlight the horror of the past but serves as a warning that our need to be broken and humbled is not ended. Authentic biblical warmth and honest heralding of God’s warning go together. Welcome God is merciful, warning God is holy and just. Believe we need to feel the welcome so we will hear the warning. Amen

The Church of Pergamum - Part 2

God told Ephesus you are kind but you went overboard, you don’t check who stand on the pulpit anymore. Everybody who speaks God has anointed. Anybody who is silent equals humble, anybody who is eloquent is spiritual how could you be so blind. The Pergamum church became selective. Grace was cheap, how disconnected to the truth. Grace and truth became cheap grace, convenience and tolerance became a cheap peace.

The Church of Pergamum - Part 1

Scars are marks of something worth suffering for, you don’t like it, but somewhat in the sovereignty of God suffering came and you are scarred while tattoo sometimes is just a product of boredom and a message of insecurity and crisis that is so deep of impersonality. If Smyrna have scars and Pergamum as a church at one time have scars they were true to Christ but later as times go by their scars turn something to artistic, it came into a tattoo.

Uncertainty of the Future - Part 2

To know the future is another kind of pride, it is arrogance, it poisoned us, and it is a waste of life. Do not challenge the Lord by not recognizing him in our life and whatever you are doing, know God. Yes God gives us freedom but there are consequences for not trusting Him. When we make plans and ask God to give us direction that is wisdom. When we make plans without taking God into consideration that is presumption.

Uncertainty of the Future - Part 1

When you look at our surroundings there are things that are happening beyond our grasp. That is why mankind always demonstrated unquenchable desire to know the future. That is why a lot of people go to psychics, a lot of people read horoscopes, some people are obsessed trying to learn the future but the truth of the matter is none of us know the future.

Sacred Scars of Smyrna Part 2

The effect of prosperity to Christian churches today is prayerlessness. Let’s give respect to the suffering individuals and similar suffering churches around the world like Smyrna. We don’t know who is life is at stake because of their faith in Christ. We are too comfortable and we too have not come to the point of gaining scars for Christ sake.

Sacred Scars of Smyrna Part 1

Smyrna is a church that is well acquainted of what is suffering is. Not that they liked it but they learned from it. As a result of that they received a letter from our Lord Jesus given to the angel a letter of affirmation, a letter of encouragement. The Lord is so close, near, and intimate for those who suffer for His sake.

Modern Gods - Part 2

Even if they are still there, the material is intact, the seminaries, strategies are there, but, if love to Christ is gone, everything is gone. Take it so seriously, God was asking the Ephesian church to repent not just to be busy. Not just work their lives until death for the work sake, but to remember that the Lord is so interested with His workers rather than just his work.

Modern Gods - Part 1

Love is very essential in our relationship with our Lord, it is our identity, our Father loves us but it should not stop there. We aught to love God also, but we cannot out-love Him, that’s a reality. Like in the time of Apostle John the love that is intended to God has a lot of rivals even today. Though we are Christians a lot of time of worship is so tainted but unknown or known to us, we find our identity on idols and not on the living God.