hey... it's me again.. totally zonked today.. been a tiring week and weekend...

guess what? ed silvoso was in town last weekend. he's so cool. he came to speak abt transformation in the marketplace. hearing the testimonies just melts my heart and reminds me that i serve a great God who truly loves His people.

one thing that really struck me was when he spoke abt the redemptive power of wealth. he spoke of the rich and the poor, how the rich were rich and how the poor was rich as well. amazing isn't it? the poor is also rich. they are rich in spirit. the rich, well, we all know that they're rich materially but in the spirit they're poor. not one is actually more important than the other coz they actually do depend on one another for ministry.

how true... how true...

he also spoke about humility and how when he was a young christian someone told him that he has to sell all his possessions to become humble. when he went home to speak to his dad, his dad answered him: only the rich and successful have a choice to be humble. those who fail has already been humbled by their failures.

people, it's a choice you have! singaporeans are mostly rich. but how sad that most feel that material wealth entitles them to be stuck up and proud.

there's nothing wrong in being wealthy but once our dependance switches from God to our wealth, do we know that wealth has become an idol in our lives. there's nothing wrong in being wealthy but once our wealth becomes idle, ie, we just hoard our wealth to ourselves and become selfish do we also know that something is wrong.

another thing that really struck me, what ed said was that poverty is not the "lack of"... it's the fear of lacking.

and that statement rings with the same frequency as jackie pullinger's.

the timings of these seminars was truly divine. jackie's was really to wake our hearts to be compassionate to the needs of the poor around us and ed's was really to wake our hearts to disciple nations not just individuals... for that fire and passionate fire of God to sweep through us and correct our misconceptions of christianity.

i'm inspired by the seminar. we are all marketplace ministers... God has appointed us where we are for a purpose. there're always needy people around. we just gotta open our eyes to see them... and then pick up the courage to bless them.

we don't have to wait to be rich to be empowered to give. every little step in giving is a step taken that reflects the desire in your heart to bless. frankly speaking, most singaporeans are already equipped materially to bless. it's then only a matter of the will.

stepping out requires faith. but faith doesn't just grow overnight. it grows as we act upon it. faith without works is dead. we have to demonstrate what we profess to be true abt God. we have heard that God has performed many miracles. but God has always functioned through the hands of His children. paul performed the miracles. but it was God that caused them.

i feel so blessed and empowered after the seminar. and it makes me unapologetic abt striving as long as i know that i am striving for the glory of God not for an ever increasing bank account. and i know that i can only do that when i know that at the end of the day, God is my provider and my only source of hope.

{ Monday, July 9 }