Ordinance or Obedience - Part2

Every time I see a doctor with stethoscope I want to borrow it once in a while. I had a counseling last week, many counseling those who will be baptized and I don’t know for whatever reason, I put the stethoscope and start counseling people and they took me a picture and I really look like a doctor, I love it. You really want that? Don’t you know the meaning of that? Chaotic life, willing to be disturbed anytime. Are you too safe? That your schedules cannot be disturbed. Are you too private? That you no longer sensitive to the needs of others or are you willing to have a chaotic life willing to be disturbed by God anytime?

Ordinance or Obedience - Part1

Peace, peace, there is no peace. Should peace be purchased for price of change and slavery? Forbid it oh mighty God, give liberty or give me death. We longed for God’s peace but is it the peace that God wants? Or the version of peace that we want. Today we answer the question, which is more important, ordinances or obedience? Are the ordinances of religion not helpful? Not at all, are the structure or the order of worship Sunday morning not needed? No, they are needed, however these things, ordinances of religion are tools, not ordinance. God desires obedience but somehow we hit the wrong balance, because today our Christianity is more of religion, and its rituals and its requirements, rather than freedom in obeying God.

Can God Interrupt Your Schedule

If you say “If the Lord wants” what is the meaning of that? Meaning if the Lord wills or in other translation if the Lord permits. The center of everything is not on what I want but what God wants. That is the core truth of being the follower of Christ. It is no longer about me but it is now about Christ. But to actually apply, we must be reminded that we are unable to do that by our own strength. We need the strength of the Lord which leads to a question, can God interrupt your plans?

IF THE LORD WILLS

“If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that…”
James 4:15


Saying “If the Lord wills” is not only a mere religious expression that wishes for good things to happen . . . it is a declaration of total dependence on God and total distrust to self. Many people can say “If the Lord wills” for many reasons, however, there should only be one reason for saying and living this . . . the desire to Honor God! This is the kind of life the church should also live. Our good planning without consulting God becomes arrogant and evil in His sight. “If the Lord wills” . . . invites us to take time to wait in prayer and when things are clear, it prompts us to obedience.

Can God interrupt your plans? Yes. It is here that we bow down to God especially in the most irritating interruptions that He might allow. God’s ‘HOLY CHAOS’ destroys our sense of false order and false security. Self-centered order is actually subtle chaos, while the seeming “disorder” from God ultimately produces holy calm. The bible is full of stories on how God’s chaos intervened and made His ways known to us. Up to what point can God intervene in your plans? This can be so invasive—leaving no room for our privacy. When God destroys our plans, only then can He fill us with Himself!

In the long run, living the lifestyle of surrender to God’s holy chaos ultimately produces the true holy order that we need. Instead of fear, this is a journey of faith and an endless humbling experience of seeing how our ways are so foolish. It invites us to worship and lessens our worries; intensifies prayer and simplifies faith! A mysterious and yet sacred route to freedom is first to be liberated from our addiction to control and turn this into our devotion to obey God! Whenever you say “If the Lord wills,” welcome God’s holy interruptions into your very ordered life!

Prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL TAN

Timeless Principles for a Godly New Year - Part2

Life is short. My earnest prayer is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. There’s a lot of deception to go directly serving Jesus without knowing Jesus. Know Him first, surrender your life to Him and then serve. And if life is short, the temptation is to run it my way or to run it God’s way. I would rather have a Holy chaos which is run by the Spirit of God than religious order that is run by men. Believe me, I’m thinking of living a life that is Spirit-filled. Not only Spirit-filled but Spirit-led, Spirit-controlled, Spirit-empowered.

Timeless Principles for a Godly New Year - Part1

My prayer this new year is not to add more resolutions or to pressure you to have one but rather today, being the first day of 2012and first Sunday of the month let us take a timely pause to look at the scriptures and ask ourselves how God would like me to live life for his glory. And the answer, we live life not to please ourselves but pleasing God. Mysteriously the moment a person put God first in his life, I don’t know how it happens, for the first time you are so satisfied inside. But the moment a person put self first with all the wise arguments available, when you’re alone at night, you cannot deny the emptiness inside. Let us realize that our own version of an orderly life is chaos to God, on the contrary what it seems chaotic to God if we only see His purpose is the most orderly life ever.

Straight From My Heart

We started the year with a solemn commitment to be in cadence with God’s will. To do this, we must remember that our plans must be a result of our fervent prayers. Worshipping God will be our preoccupation instead of worthless worrying. Honestly, we cannot do this on our own strength . . . we need help. God is our gracious helper and through His people, we continually remind and stir each other to prayer instead of panic. Congregational gathering for prayer is still a priority of our church. Here we learn to pause when God says wait. It is also in prayer that we learn not to delay when God says `go’.

Like James, we all learn to say “If the Lord wants” . . . not as a dutiful religious chant or cliché but rather from a heart that eagerly desires to do what God wants! This is neither an easy task nor will it be smooth. When we want God’s peace or calm, we will be open to God’s disturbances in our own lives. For us to learn not to trust in our own plans, whether it be in the business world or in ministry, we relinquish to God our addiction to always be in control. We do not put things in our own hands and do it on our own time.

To walk in this direction, we really need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us in whichever way He wants. When things get so complicated and demanding, we focus on Jesus so we will not drift from simple faith. Promptly, we pray whenever we are tempted to succumb to panic and pressure. We let His word be our guide and not man’s opinion about His words. It is here that I ask you to pray for God’s wisdom for me as I continue to prioritize prayer and the study of God’s word. Along with this is my appeal that we all make time for our spiritual nourishment by taking time to worship and pray more fervently. As we partake of communion today, let us make time to really wait, wonder and worship the Lord that we all may live worry-free lives.

“If the Lord wants” . . . not a slogan but a principle in life living a God-centered faith!

Prayerfully,


REV. ARNEL C. TAN