Friday, February 20, 2009
Have you ever been stuck in an event where you are cornered and there are no obvious remedy or your latest seminar on living life-effectively doesnt seem to alleviate a single problem in your quest to beat your life out from this mud-slime you're in? You sit back, feeling helpless and start wondering if there's really something supernatural out there that could help and if it was there, would it even bother to help you pass this crossroad,perhaps a quick reboot button where you feel like eveything jolts to perfect normality the next morning?? trust me you're not alone...
Today, we cannot escape the obvious reality that exist alongside with our lives, like a parasite that sucks our strength in persuing our dreams.Problems in relationships, career, addictions and a loss of a important family member or friend. The voice within us that tells us "give up!! its not going to help a bit" grows louder and stronger as if its becoming part of our identity.We hope to have one who is much stronger and able to bring us through and out of this,something that doesnt cost us much just some time or maybe monetary sacrifice. We turn to look for a supernatural being that represents strength,power and great wisdom.We do so just as long we can pull ourselves out from the mess we're in.
In the recent news article dated Feb 10 2009 from strait times(singapore major newspaper) , it reported more people seeking solace in religion today,and statistics of worshippers soared during this trying times in the economy. 'I don't ask for much, just for him to be able to hold on to his job,' said Madam Tan, 65, who said she had never been very religious before. stated a mother whose son works in a manufacturing firm.
This singled out that men(male and female) has a inclination to spiritual wellness, most realise it only when they face a major crisis in their lives. We can see from the bible in Genesis(1st book of the bible) that men was made in God's likeness and had a relationship with God himself. Men are naturally spiritual beings, one of the major differences that we have from other species in the animal kingdom is that we believe that there is something invincibly strong out there that we can turn to.When Israel was held captive by the egyptians, they were tortured, made slaves to do the egyptian's bidding.Their work was the dreams of the egyptians to build a powerful kingdom. God heard the cries of the Israelis Exodus 3:7 and led them out of Egypt with great miracles and power Deut 4:34. The people of Israel were taken care during their 40 years of wandering in the desert by the mighty hand of their God who had promised their ancestors to bring them into a land that is good and spacious,into a safe haven where the Israel can enjoy with God's protection and care.Exodus 3:8 . We see from this story of Israel's freedom from slavery that they cried out to God when they were oppressed, robbed of their rights. And God redeemed them and gave them the great gift of freedom.
I'll pause here at this point but return to discuss on men's different expression and response to deliverance(God's redemptive work for men) and the attitute that he expects from us.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
In my previous post(just before I left for lunch), I mentioned about the current situation taken place in the world today, how we view leadership and introduced the role of a leader since the beginning during Genesis. I also discussed how much I respected king solomon in his request to be wise in his governance instead of wealth and power. His people benefited from him as they were well taken care of and were free of poverty.
In the new testament of the bible we see Jesus Christ teaching his disciples on the significance of service to people. We can see that in the book of Matthew 20:26 that Jesus had to use the word "slave" - v27 to reinforce his point on the purpose of leading. "whoever wants to be first must be your slave". And he ended of with his purpose of his ministry in v28 . We can see this idea of leadership in Jesus's very own experience. From the miracles he performed freeing demon-possesed people(Matt 17), healing the paralytic(Matt 9), restoring sight to the blind(Matt 20:21) to the humble demonstration of service by washing his disciples feet (John 13:5) he proved that his resolve on the call of leadership and influence is not through tyranny, might,power and control but the very desire to serve others.What an opposing contrast to what we see in our world today.
In conclusion, I feel that the essence to leadership is not earned by credit but driven by his very desire to serve his people. He should be able to instill hope and confidence to his people in times of trial and continue to draw(with his followers) useful lessons from failures in times of success. and one who appeal to the hearts of the people and not their minds.Leadership development is a lifetime journey...
book I enjoy about leadership
John C Maxwell-360 degree leader
As I read the papers and watch the news these days, I can't help but notice the reports on the financial crisis that has been ongoing for the past few months, dirty politics, war and terror against countries that resulted in the loss of lives, I question myself why such undesirable events can occur, a anomaly,a stain on what we desire something that most people wouldn't favour but it just seems to happen without question. Leadership in the world today equals power and authority. It is the channel in which ways of governance is changed, hordes of men are ordered into battle, decisions that are made which chanfe the face of mankind. And the only candidates that qualify: those who are strong, smart, quick-witted,shrewd, eloquent in speech.
Let me share on what leadership is seen from a different angle,one that I subscribe to from the bible. In general, God created man in His image and gave them the honourable work of naming His other creation(imagine that He could have done it Himself) and the task of ruling in other words caring for them. "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds over the air,over the livestock,over all the earth,.." Gen 1:26. Since the beginning, men has been made and given the attributes of a leader, whether educated or uneducated, degree or without a degree, docterate or not our identity as men gives us the basic but vital qualification to lead.
Given this important call to leadership, the next thing to consider is what kind of leader are we called to follow from our maker, God Himself.
Among the many prophets, kings and judges God called to lead His people, I enjoy and respected one-king Solomon, the son of king David after his reign over the people of Israel. In 1 King 3:5,
God appeared to king Solomon in a dream and asked him what he wanted to be given. Now pause to consider what anyone or even yourself would ask from the sovereign God who makes and creates heaven and everything else. king Solomon gave his request to be a discerning and wise leader ( the bible stated it as a discerning heart to govern) that distinguishes right from wrong. God was please with king Solomon's request and he became the wisest man ever lived or will ever exist in human history.The result: His people were numerous, they were full and merry, and other countries paid tribute to him. 1 king 4:20