Smallest Seed

Pinterest Ever wondered why Jesus and John the baptizer assumed radically simple roles in society? Why didn't Jesus come as part of the Sanhedrin or as palace official? Why the son of a poor carpenter? Why be born in a manger? John for one was Zechariah's son, and Zechariah served as priest in the temple. Priests led comfortable and well to do lives, being supplied all their material needs and given special favors by the community as per Old Testament directives. John should have been priest, too, being son of Zechariah. But John gave it up and chose to be an obscure prophet living in the wilderness catching locusts for dinner and risking bee stings just to enjoy a handful of honey. That's beside wearing only camel's hair and a leather belt all his life. Why this radical simplicity? I see it as Kingdom signature. A kind of "company logo" or characteristic mark of the Kingdom. Kingdom people literally care for nothing in this life. Jesus said tha...

Study Make sure you're doing ministry in the glorious church of Jesus Christ, a church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. People who have no knowledge of the Kingdom will just go to any "born-again" church, especially one which has the best facilities.  But a Kingdom person particularly makes sure he attends no less than the glorious church. Non-Kingdom people will tell you not to look for a perfect church. "There is no perfect church!" they insist. But the bible says there is a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle. It's Jesus' church. He died for it. He founded it. And ministry is different in the glorious church. In the glorious church, everyone's ministries are connected and intertwined. And I mean all ministries. Kingdom people know this so well. There is no such thing as "your ministry" or "my ministry" or "their ministry" or "our ministry." More radical Kingdom concepts for ...

Mustard Seed Faith It's easy to see if a ministry is really failing. Remember, God is spirit. The only way to please him is in spirit and in truth. You cannot please God by your church building, church income, membership size or Sunday worship programs. Actually, the ministry Jesus showed us in the bible was so simple. It's super simple, in fact. It's mainly on preaching, miraculous healing, and discipleship. Just these three. We don't have to add anything to this. Jesus did only these three and he did well. He pleased the Father to the max. To see what really makes us fail big-time in ministry, click here to read the article. Preaching You don't have to be a titled preacher to do this. Just share the Word. All you need is knowledge of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. These two equip you to the max. The Word of God is God breathed "so that the man of God may be adequate, fully equipped for every good work," [2 Timothy 3.17]...

Flickr Among clear Kingdom teachings we find in the Gospel is how real happiness is really about compassion. The world often pictures a happy person as one who travels a lot and enjoying posh vacation resorts in the world, eating in fancy exotic restaurants, wearing the best apparels, riding the most expensive cars, owning huge mansions, etc. And all these could be a lot fun, really.  But the Gospel (the good news of the Kingdom) never highlights these things as true fun or happiness. It tells us real fun is what Jesus spoke about in the Beatitudes, which defined the life of Jesus Christ. And foremost among what the Gospel considers real fun is that happy are the poor in spirit . Jesus was the picture of a happy man, although he didn't travel the world or caroused day and night, or shopped till he dropped. Being poor in spirit means you find a lot of happiness in whatever you have or find before you. You're so easy to please. You don't need to look for other thi...

Our Happy Cat One day I told a religious church leader that the Gospel was about how to be happy in life. His eyes widened, like he saw a ghost, and he protested: "The Gospel is about how we can be saved from sins!" I was about to tell him that the Gospel was also about being successful in life and career, but I thought I better not. He might have rebuked me like I were a demon. Of course, the Gospel is about how people can be saved from sins. But it's not limited to that. It's about many other things. It can be about how to deal with your boss or your subordinates effectively. Or how to choose the right career for you. Or how to save money and invest to grow it exponentially. Or how to be healthy and fit. God's Word is profitable for everything because it is about LIFE. And LIFE is not just about being saved from sins. Some folks may be shocked at this, but there's actually LIFE after salvation. And God wants that life to be happy. In fact, ano...

Giphy Christ is coming back soon, so most churches and ministries today work double-time to "evangelize" people by hook or by crook. They'd do anything that works, especially anything that cramps people into their church buildings. The common notion is that the Great Commission is done by upping church membership. Once their churches have become mega in membership, you see the happy, fulfilled expressions on their faces, thinking they have done God's will. And often, they look down on other churches that have remained small and "not growing." To them, growth is none other than numerical (especially financial), although sometimes they may hint on seemingly favoring "quality spiritual growth." But don't count on it. They only say that to sound spiritual. In reality, growth to them is numerical, period. Numbers in membership and finances. Ministry with a Worldly System Almost everyone has forgotten that everything should be done as Je...

Because most churches today are merely concerned of external aesthetics (how beautiful everything in church looks), they belong to what I call the LoGOTO ministry. Nice building, program, income, membership, music, activities, ministries. Nice all, as far as the physical eyes can see. King Saul was concerned about looking good on the outside (LoGOTO). Though he understood the principle of seeking the Lord's favor first before doing anything [1 Samuel 13.12] to win big battles, he did it the wrong way. He felt compelled to do it himself instead of letting Samuel do it. It's important to seek the Lord's favor to win battles, not seek blessings. Many churches just seek blessings but lose spiritual battles. However, there is a Kingdom protocol for getting God's favor. First, worship must be done God's way. That time, the requirement was that only a priest could offer burnt offerings. Saul was not a priest so he should've let Samuel, priest and prophet o...