About the end times (brief thoughts)

Mark 13:1-37
And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!" And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."
And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked privately, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?" And Jesus began to say to them, "See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
"But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hours, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But they one who endures to the end will be saved.
"But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation that God created until now, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard, I have told you all things beforehand.
"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I saw to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or in the morning - lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.

I find it amazing how our Lord Jesus responded to the question posed by Peter, James, John and Andrew - you notice they were interested in "when" and "what are the signs"; but the Lord Jesus had more important things to teach them. Sure, it is coming, but the "when" is not the most important. There are other more important things the Lord Jesus wanted to warn them about. I suppose we as a people of God are a type of Peter/James/John/Andrew, interested in the signs and the time, but losing sight of the more important things:
- false christs and false prophets are coming, selling you a gospel of health/wealth/prosperity, don't be deceived by them!
- Yes, there will be earthquakes, famines, wars and rumors of wars, but these are just the beginning of birth pains... (Birth of what you may ask, I believe the birth or the ushering in of a New Heaven and a New Earth)
- in these last days, you will be tortured and flogged and mocked, but endure! For he who endures to the end will be saved! Be on your guard, don't be surprised when these things happen to you.
- "when" will this happen? Even I don't know. Only the Father knows. So, keep awake, stay awake. Do not let yourself be found asleep by the master when he returns.
- Stay awake in what? I believe to stay awake in the work that God has commanded us to do, stay awake with the responsibility that God has given us charge of. And ultimately, this work/responsibility is the debt to love one another. (Romans 13)

A glimpse into times past

Excerpt of diary entry from February 18, 2008:
[This was after reading When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy, and True Stories of Passion & Purity by Elisabeth Eliot]
Lord, several nights ago I made a commitment to hand over the pen to you. To let YOU, the author of love, write my love story. Lord, those true stories of passion and purity have changed my perspective on biblical relationships and marriage...

[Not an excerpt. But a recollection of the night] March 17, 2008:
Setting: Salina, KS. The MISSION Spring Break Retreat
I stood alone by the lake. Reflecting on what it meant to hand over the pen to God. Oh God you are the perfect author! Write my life oh Lord! I surrender all to you.
I was young in the faith, and perhaps a little rash and foolish, making bold statements, and frequently falling short of my proclamations, not too different from the apostle Peter, when he was young in the faith as well. Before I left the lakeside, at Salina KS, during The MISSION spring break retreat, I told God: I will wait one year. I will wait one year.

[One year later] March 17, 2009
Setting: Stroud, OK. The MISSION Spring Break Retreat
I stood alone by the lake. A different lake. I remembered what I said one year ago in Salina, Kansas. Did I wait for one year? On the surface I did, but deep down in my heart, I had struggles. Of course I was not perfect. But I refused to give up. I came to the Lord with all honesty: Lord, I am weak. Lord, I have failed. Give me strength O Lord. One more year? Yes Lord, I will wait one more year.

[Another year later] March 18, 2010
Reading this diary entry, I guess I must have been somewhat occupied with “Prayer at the Plaza”*. I suppose when you set your eyes on God, and stop looking around for a potential future mate (the wife that I continue to wait for), He takes you on a different field trip. The marriage and the relationship and the dating/courting can wait. It’s a slight break from the previous years’ entries of surrendering my love life to God, nevertheless, enjoy the excerpt:
The date is March 18, 2010. The time is 1:34am.
I am not able to sleep. I believe the Lord kept me awake for good reason: To write down in an organized fashion what He has been speaking to me in days past.
I sought the Lord regarding the theme of the prayer meeting.
He answered – James 4:7 and 2 Chronicles 7:14. “Submit yourselves...”
I sought the Lord regarding the motivation of the prayer meeting.
He answered – Matthew 6 – the Lord’s Prayer. “Hallowed by Thy Name...”
I sought the Lord regarding the ammunition for the prayer meeting.
He answered – Ephesians 6:10-18 – The Armor of God.
The writing ended at 3:30am. It was a very long entry.

* Prayer at the Plaza was a open air prayer meeting where Christians from different organizations came together to pray and intercede for the expansion of God’s Kingdom in Wichita State. I take this time to remember the valiant and heartfelt efforts of the following ministries/churches: Chi Alpha, Christian Challenge, Campus Crusade, Campus Ministries at Wichita State, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Ekklesia (from Eastminster Presbyterian Church), Students of the Cross (from the University Lutheran Center), International Students, Inc. (www.isionline.org), and The MISSION.

March 17/18/19, 2011 [A date in the future]

Diary entry: BLANK

Obviously, March is not yet come. I have not forgotten about the beauty of a marriage where God is the matchmaker. I have not forgotten about the sovereignty of God; I have not forgotten about my responsibility as a child of God, as a soldier for Christ, as a follower of Jesus. Until now, I still do not know what God has in store for my love life or who my future partner is (for those of you who know me well enough and are chuckling, please refrain). But I do know these things: God will sovereignly reveal at the divinely appointed time; and I will continue with my heated pursuit of God with renewed fervor and passion. I will allow nothing to stand between me and my God. Nothing.

A correct view of works

Often times, we do "works" of righteousness in order to earn the favor of God. My upbringing has been such that I do works (earn good grades) in order to earn the favor of parents. This is in stark contrast to the biblical view that we do not earn the favor/love of God by works, but it is by grace, through faith in Christ, that we have been justified and set right before God.

But that doesn't mean we throw works of righteousness out of the window. The problem is not works in itself; the problem is our misguided theology on works. And so I asked God, teach me the proper role of works in the life of a believer. That was yesterday. God is good. The Holy Spirit told me the answer today through the Word of God.

Follow me through the Word of God. Proverbs 7:1-5
1 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers; write them on the table of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

Keeping the commandments of God is essentially doing works of righteousness. What is the consequence of keeping His commandments? You will live. When you commit yourself to works of righteousness, you will live. Have you ever noticed, dear brothers and sisters, a sense of lifelessness and death and drudgery when we get ourselves entangled in sin? (hatred, sexual immorality, coveting, idolatry, gluttony, drunkenness, orgies, etc.) Observe His commandments, and thou shalt live!

God does not stop at general statements. God goes on to provide a few more details, teaching us to put his words to practice.

Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye - Let the precious lessons of the bible be the utmost craving of our eyes; not food, not clothes, not precious stones, not jewelery, not cars, not fashion accessories, not gadgets, not musical instruments. Instead, His Word.

Bind them on your fingers - we keep His commandments by the way we do things. How do we drive? How do we teach? How do we sell products? How do we manufacture goods? How do we balance the accounts? How do we forecast company profits? How do you chat online? What do you chat about? Bind the commandments on our fingers, observe righteousness through our daily chores and activities.

Write them on the table of your heart - When our fingers are moving, what are the underlying motivations in our hearts? Is it for self praise? Self glory? To polish the boots of the boss and in the process ignore principles of righteousness? Or is it to honor God by observing His commandments?

So, God has covered it all. Keep His commandments through our eyes, fingers, and hearts.

How are we to learn about His commandments? I'm not talking about memorizing the ten commandments, though it does start with that. I'm talking about having wisdom to apply good works, and having insight as to what situations to properly apply them. Answer is here - say to wisdom, "you are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend. I believe God is teaching us that wisdom and insight comes from close and constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We are to treat the Holy Spirit, not as some source of power to be utilized, but as our sister, our intimate friend. How do we interact with our sisters, or our friends? We talk to them, we confide our secrets to them, we open ourselves to them, we are honest with them, we listen to them, we learn from them, etc. What more the Holy Spirit of God then?

Keep my commandments and live. I believe the opposite is implied - failure to keep the commandments result in death. Who or what causes death? The forbidden woman, the adulteress, the smooth words. I recall the smooth words spoken by the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden, I recall the smooth words spoken by Satan to our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. Sin was knocking on the door. Friend, DO NOT open that door, DO NOT let death step in through the gates of your heart. Eve (and Adam) opened the door, and death was the result. The Lord Jesus kept the door firmly shut, and He gave us life.

Keep the commandments of God, do righteous works, that you may live, and not suffer death.

Jehovah Jireh

It will soon be almost six years of walking with the LORD; almost four years after I received my Baptism in the Holy Spirit (I will never forget the frigid hour or so spent outdoors in Minnesota in January). I am moved to write a brief account as to how God will provide.

In 2006 February, I was blessed with a job – student assistant at the World Trade Council of Wichita.
In 2007 May, I was blessed with a job – Customer Service Representative at Dean & Deluca
In 2008 August, I was blessed with a job – Graduate Assistant to Dr. Dharma deSilva
In 2010 September, I was blessed with a job – Lecturer at Taylor’s ADP.

People have been asking me
- Why did you go to Wichita State? Why not somewhere better with the results you have?
- Why didn’t you find a job somewhere else besides Wichita? Why not go to big cities?
- Why don’t you try better universities for your Master’s? Why stay stuck in Wichita State?
- Why did you come back to Malaysia? Why not work in the US?

I look back in the context of how He has provided, and one thing I can say is this: where the LORD commanded me to go, there He provided for me as well. I have to admit, I’ve been a little shy about sharing the primary reason for my going to Wichita, staying put in Wichita, and leaving Wichita – it is this: God said it was timely to stay put, and later on, it was timely to go. I am reminded of Pastor Mark Chen’s sermon (@ Livingwater Missions Baptist Church), about heeding and obeying the will of God. This was one of the passages in Scripture he used. Numbers 9:17-18 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped.

Perhaps in the decision to go to Wichita State, I did not consult the Lord, for it was not until Dec 25, 2005 that I was awakened to the presence of the living God, and it wasn’t until Easter Day 2006 that I accepted Jesus as Lord AND Savior. But thank God, by His mercy and His sovereignty, I wanted to go ONLY to Wichita State (for no particular reason that I can recall).

And so, lo and behold, I wasn’t actively looking for a job, and great Dr. Dharma deSilva cracked the question at me (perhaps after scrutinizing my behaviour in class). “Do you want a job?!?!” I replied, “Uh... yeah.” Quickly and curtly Dr. deSilva commanded, “Come see me in my office tomorrow!” And thank God for the kind (and stern) professor, I was given the job. I don’t really recall any lengthy interview process – perhaps I submitted a resume, but for formality’s sake. And so I was blessed with my first job – no active job hunting, no running all over the place, no interview.

2007 May. Graduation time. I still hadn’t learnt too well about what it meant to pray to God about my daily decisions. I did have a yearning in me to live the surrendered life, but being a young Christian, I grasped only the general principles and didn’t know operational specifics. Thank God for His grace and goodness, for Someone (He felt like a nice-natured person) was telling me: apply for the OPT, work for a year, find a job in Wichita. I recall some dear friends who sojourned to Kansas City and even to Chicago to find jobs under their OPT; and I decided to stay in quiet ol’ Wichita. I tried applying in places like Cessna Aircraft, Hawker Beechcraft and Spirit AeroSystems, not sure in what capacity I could be of service to them. And Dr. deSilva suggested something I never thought of. “You like fine foods don’t you? Why don’t you try Dean & Deluca?” In a sense, it was amusing – shifting gears from the aircraft industry to the fine foods market. And so, I got booked for an interview with the IT Department at Dean & Deluca. Needless to say, from a technical know-how standpoint, I flunked (Excerpts – Interviewer: What do you think about integrating Web 2.0 into the company website? Me: ... *blank stare* ... Could you tell me what’s Web 2.0? I’m not familiar with the term...; Interviewer: Do you have any experience with programming? Me: Erm, unfortunately, no.)

Thankfully, from a personality standpoint, they liked my enthusiasm and my knowledge of the company – and so I was sent over to Customer Service for another interview, this one much easier to handle.

So this time around, I didn’t hunt too far, wasn’t sending resumes all over the place, went for two interviews [technically speaking flunked one; and honestly I think it was the Dr. deSilva connection that sealed the deal (thank God for this good man)]. I was blessed with a job in Wichita. Praise God! I mean, think about it, what are the odds of an international student working at an American Fine Foods Company? Note of humour: You have to bear in mind that Customer Service Representative means that you are verbally interacting with mostly American customers over the phone. Then, I still had a tendency to pronounce “three” as “tree” and “the” as “duh”. But taking orders from customers who had an American Express Card soon fixed the “three” problem.

2008 August. As the months came closer to the end of my one year job at Dean & Deluca, it was decision time again. God was already, slowly but surely, transforming me from the inside out. Long gone were my own dreams of going to George Mason University, doing a PhD at one of the Ivy Leagues, and become an intellectual giant of great stature. My life was not for me to live out my own dreams, but to seek the will of the Father. I learnt to hear His voice, to think in light of God-given wisdom, to pray without ceasing, and God said, stay put in Wichita, and return to Wichita State for your Master’s. You see, I was offered an extension for my job at Dean & Deluca. In the end, I kindly rejected the offer. There was work to be done in Wichita State. And I think, for the first time, I experienced a peace that surpasses all understanding, having done the will of the Father (after praying to Him first and foremost).

So, how was God going to provide? I thought of going back to Dr. deSilva as a graduate assistant; I felt the Lord leading me back there. Looking back with hindsight, I see better the Lord’s miraculous work in providing for me. You see, university budgets are such that one professor is usually assigned one Graduate Assistant (GA), sometimes several professors share one GA. So there was already a GA in Dr. deSilva’s office, and the GA wasn’t graduating anytime soon. So how could I possibly get the position? Well, turns out that he was offered another work position elsewhere, and he wanted to leave his GA position. However, being the responsible person that he was, he did not want to vacate the position without finding a proper replacement. And we talked, and made arrangements. And the job of GA was handed to me. No interviews, no job hunting, no running all over the place. Updated my resume a little, for the sake of office record keeping.

The Lord was true and faithful to His word. Hallelujah! And of course, He still is true and faithful.

The time came for me to make another key decision. Where to go after the Master’s degree? In short, the LORD said, “Shu Guan, it’s time for you to go home.” Almost five years of life in Wichita was about to come to and end. Good and dear Dr. deSilva persuaded me to stay, to do a PhD, but I kindly refused; the LORD had spoken, I was adamant in my decision. As I went back to Malaysia, I knew the LORD was going to provide again. How? Where? When? Well, it was high time once again to have faith in God.

I landed on September 2, 2010. Two weeks later I think, I decided to pay a visit to the lecturers at Taylor’s ADP. That was the primary motive. I also, however, wanted to find out if there were job openings in the upcoming semester. You see, in my rational mind, the soonest I could start teaching would be January 2011, because Fall 2010 had already been progressing for one month. And so, when I saw my good ol’ lecturer, I asked him. “Sir, got any job openings in the near future ah?” I think he paused or froze for a while. “Why, you want to teach ar?” And I said, “Yep!” Then he looked at me, as if he was sizing me up or something, “You really seriously want to teach ar? Not an easy life you know... So, you sure?” I said very firmly and enthusiastically, “Yes!”. So my lecturer took me to go see the big man, only to discover that big man was off for a meeting somewhere else. You see, it was also conveyed to me that another lecturer had JUST submitted his letter of resignation. He was teaching the subject that I was doing my Master’s in. Coincidence? No. Divine Providence? YES. Did get to see the big man the next day. Went through a quick interview, submitted a slightly updated resume, definitely did not search high and low for a job. God provided, once again. I got the job within one week.

“Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped.”

I’ll probably be in Malaysia for at least 5 years, seeing how I was n in Wichita for almost 5 years too. Of course, I could be totally wrong. They key is to remain all ears to the voice of God, so that at His command, we set out, and at His command we encamp. I know not when or where He will send, but this I do know: that He will bless and provide beyond human measure wherever He sends us.

Jehovah Jireh – the LORD our Provider. Bless His Holy Name.

January 12, 2011 (afterthoughts on All Nations XA promo video)

Diary entry: (originally intended to be afterthoughts, but as I wrote, the diary entry took on quite a different turn)

January 12, 2011 (afterthoughts on All Nations XA promo video)

God, I come to you expressing my heartfelt thoughts. I really miss the wonderful experiences and encounters I had with warriors and contenders of the faith - but more than that, I miss those intimate encounters with You. Perhaps it's the conference setting, perhaps it's the ceaseless prayers of the faithful, but there was something so much richer about You at those places. There was an intensified manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
It was not hypnosis. It was not hype. It was not the lighting.
It was the heart of a people united in believing God for the impossible and supernatural. It was the stiffened resolve and concrete faith of a people refusing to surrender to the voice of doubt. It was the open heart of the children of God inviting the LORD of hosts to Glorify His Name in their midst. The people gathered, and God came down.
And hands were raised in adoration and worship unto the LORD.
Knees were bended in humility and meekness before the LORD.
Heads were bowed in deep sorrow for sins committed against the LORD.
Tears were shed in realization of the great mercy of the LORD.
And so we lifted our faces,
looking at the Father on high,
looking at the Lord Jesus seated on the right Hand,
listening and giving ear to Truth spoken through the Holy Spirit
It was a divine moment. It was a supernatural moment.
It was not mere chance. It was not coincidence.

"COME! Come to the altar! And offer up your lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God on high! Come and be my ambassador! Come and be my high priest! You will be in chains, you will be despised, you will taste the spit of society, but I have overcome it all! One day, very soon, the judge of all the earth will do right. The LORD hears the desire of the afflicted; the LORD WILL strengthen their heart, the LORD will incline His ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more."
"Surely I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Blessings in Christ,
Shu Guan

A quiet morning [Written on July 22; published on July 28]

The Holy Spirit of God has already reminded me three days in a row to put this down on paper; and when God reminds you three times relentlessly about something, you know it's important.
Serve God and worship God, even if it means going to hell at the end of the road.

I pause, as you contemplate on the words written above.

Dear friend, if you are a Christian, this is not to remove the assurance you have received from God concerning your salvation. This is not to say that you are destined for hell if you serve God and worship God (with the power of the indwelt Christ of course). BUT, this is to say, continue to serve and worship God, even if life looks dim, as if no bright future beckons; even if you are called to recant or deny Jesus, and threatened with death and torture upon refusal to do the fore-mentioned - yes, serve God and worship God, even if it means going to hell at the end of the road. Why? Because He is worthy to be obeyed and loved and adored, He deserves all of our undivided attention and service.

I was listening to a sermon by Paris Reidhead, titled "Ten Shekels and a Shirt", and he made a similar statement in his sermon. This was on Sunday night (July 18). I had listened to the sermon a few times a few months back, and never quite made sense of how brother Reidhead could say something so harsh and so insensible as to the effect of "serving God even if it means going to hell at the end of the road". But when human reasoning receded, and the Holy Spirit of God began to pour out the wisdom of the ages, my eyes were opened.

In the days of Noah, when he was building the ark in preparation for the Great Flood, he was also a famous preacher - famous in the sense that everybody knew him, but did not welcome him. Can you imagine how Noah and his family were rejected, ridiculed, mocked at, perhaps even threatened by society at large? You have to remember, the Bible records this age as a time of exceeding evil.

Let us recall the Apostle Paul as well. His life was far from a life of comfort and painlessness. Read and see how he was persecuted and tortured time and again; when he was locked in jail, he sang songs of praises (Acts 16:25); when he was imprisoned on a ship, caught in a storm, seemingly devoid of hope. he preached to the soldiers a message of hope (Acts 27:21-25).

Or even of our dear Lord Jesus, whose life was a living example of a living hell, or so we think. And yet he was devout to The Only Father, he continued his life of obedience, adoration and worship. He continued it all, even unto death on the cross.

Dear reader, there will come a time in your walk with Christ, or perhaps it has already come, where life on earth will seem like a living hell. God is not mad at you, and God has not forsaken you; on the contrary, God is sharing with you the very nails that pierced those hands of compassion - fellowship with God is meaningless if we do not share in his sufferings. Look to the glory that is set at the end of the road, where we will be raised in new bodies of glory that can never perish, spoil or fade.

If you are living in an atmosphere of extreme comfort, detached from all the trials and sufferings that the Lord Jesus went through, which present day martyrs have gone through as well, I want to gently rebuke you for your unwillingness to suffer for Christ. If you are suffering for the righteousness of Christ, and life seems like a living hell, and you are going through a dried, parched and weary stage of life, be encouraged, God has not forsaken you and holds true to His promised deliverance. Life may seem like hell now, but ask for sight from the Lord Jesus, and He will teach you the future glories that are in store.

I close with these verses - 1 Peter 1:6-7.
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

What is required for a church to grow?

July 19, 2010 [A day spent in the backyard]

God, you have gifted me with both the ability and compassion to write. Let me use it to bring glory to your name. What I am about to write, surely you have already laid on the hearts and minds of countless people from countless generations; it has already been written about prior to my time, and it will be written about subsequent to my time. Is what I'm doing redundant then? Merely repeating the same ideas from times past? Would it not be more efficient for me to just read instead of rewriting?

If writing is to be viewed merely for its function of the dissemination of information, perhaps this activity might be relegated to the racks of redundancy. However, I would like to suggest to both the reader and listener of this short article that writing is more than just recording information. When one is engaged in writing, the mind is sharpened. Undoubtedly, reading also sharpens one's mind; however, my purpose here is not to discredit reading, it is to give due credit to the benefits of writing.

So how does one sharpen his or her mind with writing? Knowledge of grammar is a must. Familiarity with a wide range of vocabulary is necessary. Punctuation is of great importance. One must not neglect sentence structure. Where does one begin or end a paragraph? That is of tantamount significance as well. The processing of information in one's mind and the unique expression of ideas through the strokes of a pen - this is no simple mental activity as well.

Dear reader, I do hope with sincerity and some certainty, if you have not been convinced about the wholesome mental excersie that writing provides through its intricate web of interrelated activities and disciplines, you would at least give it due consideration.

Now that we are done with introductions, allow me to express what God has laid on my heart.

What is required for a church to grow? Those of you who have a very Christo-centric view of things - and by Christo-centric, I do mean God-centric - would undoubtedly and instinctively respond "Jesus!" Excellent, but let's not stop there, let's not resort to one word responses, let's not succumb to mental or intellectual lethargy. What did Jesus do? What was Jesus the very personification of? He loved, yes; and He is love. But out of this foundation of love, out of this wellspring of love, what was the outflow? What are the tangible things that God has blessed us with? I would like to emphasize three points today: Education, Encouragement, and Empathy. The intelligent reader must realize that this is not a book, nor is this an attempt to provide a conclusive and all-encompassing view of what a church needs. And by church, I am referring to it in the biblical sense of a body of believers. This is merely a short essay, but nevertheless, this small piece of work is dedicated to the glory of God.

Education. This has been an institution and activity of prime importance in human civilization. I may be wrong, for I am no expert at ancient civilizations, nor even at the history of the Middle Ages, but I seem to get the impression that in times past, education was limited to that in the home (in current day terms known as "homeschooling"), but in recent centuries, there has been a proliferation of education as the mass-societal level, the building and estbalishing of schools, universities, churches, colleges, various centers for learning. Be it institution or activity, one cannot deny that education is important. In specific reference to the church, by which I mean a body of believers (and that is what the Bible says as well), a church needs to be educated in order to grow. That is why we have weekly bible studies, that is why some pastors carry a more educational approach in the presentation of their sermons, that is why we have a church library. Think of it this way - being well educated in the Word of God, being fed and nourished with the Word of God, the believer as an individual and the collective body of blievers are therefore armed with the knowledge of God's law and moral absolutes, and will erect walls and gates of protection against the enemy. Let me remind you as well, Jesus was and still is The Teacher, He is our Rabbi, He is the Word of God.

We will not stop at education. Encouragement is important as well. A parent is delegated by God the sacred responsibility of educating their child, teaching them the ways of the Lord; a parent also has the responsibility to encourage the downcast child. The Christian life is full of challenges and temptations, difficulties and disasters, and it is our job as a body of believers to mutually encourage each other and lift each other up from the depths of despair, from the pain and anxiety, from the darkness of the deep, and this we do with the Word of God, a light that has come into the darkness, a man who has been exposed to every trial and temptation and triumphed over it all. You will notice, that some pastors also carry a more encouragement type of approach in preparing their sermons. Part of the reason why we have prayer meetings is so that we may encourage each other with praise reports, or that we may seek encouragement through prayer requests. Even in small group meetings, or discipleship sessions, we share life experiences and life lessons as well. Do we not call upon our God as Jehovah Jireh? Are you not encouraged that He provides in the midst of your poverty? Do we not call upon our God as Jehovah Rapha? Are you not encouraged that He heals you in the midst of your sickness? Do we not call upon our God as Jehovah Shalom? Are you not encouraged that He provides peace in the midst of chaos?

We finally arrive at empathy. For the purposes of this idea we refer back to the family or the example of parenting again. The parent teaches, the parent encourages, and the parent also provides a shoulder for a child to weep on. "I know your pain", "I identify with what you are feeling", "I've gone through the same problems as well..." These are the phrases that come to mind. Do we as a church care for each other? Do we have compassion for each other? Do we perceive what grief is going through the person's mind? Do we weep? Let me tell you this. Jesus wept. Every single ounce of pain you feel in your heart, Jesus knows. He knew the depravity of the people of Jerusalem when he wept. He know of how God Almighty was being robbed of the glory that He could get out of the people of Jerusalem because of their sin and idolatry. And he wept. Friend, when was the last time you cooked a meal for someone not for pragmatism or utilitarianism but for the glory of God? When was the last time you dropped by another friend's place to visit, and show care for his or her life? When was the last time you closed your mouth and opened your ears to the friend who wanted to talk?

Just because there are no signs of encouragement or empathy, that does not mean we throw education out of the window. Just because a bird is not flying due to a broken left wing, that does not mean we throw the right wing away (Credits to Dr. A.W. Tozer for the analogy of the bird). My friend, it would be the right and sensible thing to do - mending the left wing. Keep the education, and introduce encouragement and empathy as well.

Dear Christian brethren, I leave you with a final word. Thank God that He has sovereignly and divinely appointed people around us who educate, encourage, and empathize. But, at the end of the day, the Holy Spirit of God is the best person to educate, encourage, and empathize. When you look to the left and to the right, and find no human soul, you can look up to the heavens, go down on your knees, and thank God that He has put in you His Holy Spirit.