Christian Living

Dealing with pride

2009-09-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Pride is the reason of division

Pride is considerably a destroyer to people and the body. When we have this, we become paralyzed, unable to move and do the things that God has for us. So often, that Churches split up because of this. We can do things for the glory of God. We can do things to serve Him. But if this is reigning, it creates division and this is one of the things I saw on my entire Ministry.

Forgive and forget

God doesn’t leave His people with an unfinished problem, unsettled. He wanted to fix things for His glory. Jesus said to humble ourselves unto Him and He shall lift us up. I forgot the last part- He shall lift me up. I focus on the word humbleness. It won’t be easy to beg a person to forgive you even if you know you have no fault. The Bible is found in us. We are the living bible and a living testimony. It is where the body dwells because it becomes a mirror of truth. What you can read in the Bible should manifest in the body. If we don’t live the word we read and preach, there is no light in the Bible and as we walk in the light of the gospel, we carry God’s love which is built in to us since we have the first encounter with God. So pride should disappear so we can create a good atmosphere in the body of Christ. Not division. Pride has to be dealt with the Church, first of all, among leaders and then to the body. We need to overcome this and learn to forgive, forget and move on forward.

Stand firm and be humble

I cried many times when I see Churches broken up. Some people are happy because it becomes multiplication. It can be right, but if the fruit of the multiplications becomes bad, and we multiply because of pride, it shall not prosper no matter what we do. There should have a fundamental truth being laid aside and so with good intention so we can carry on building His Kingdom. The road is very narrow indeed to enter the Kingdom of God and we need to stand strong so that we are not going to be carried by the wind when it blows where we stand. Stand firm yet remain humble in the sight of God.

Expecting great things from God

2009-09-17T13:36:00.001-07:00

Looking for an Apartment

I have some interesting encounter today. One of the sisters has asked me to find a flat or apartment that she can share the rent. In just few minutes, I called up somebody whom I have not in contact for so many months. It was not even 30 minutes that things had been settled and agreed and felt like, they knew each other for many years. It is amazing that God uses people around to connect us to one another.

Part of Church wall being painted

Secondly, when we arrived at the Church, we saw a changed on our wall near the front door. Newly painted with a color that matches inside our building. Basically the wall looked ugly outside but God touched somebody’s heart to paint it. Though he painted only some part of it which looked nice actually, I am thrilled to wait and see the next part. I expect great things. I have seen so many miracles in the Church and this is very obvious. Somebody saw that the one who painted the wall was the employee of the guy who owns a pottery shop who is always against us. He was upset because of our noise. We did try our best to minimize our music when we know it is his rest hour but it's been difficult for us especially when a lot of people coming to the Church. He doesn’t want to hear our music and he ended up switching off our main electricity so we can’t play any instruments and sometimes he is calling police men to stop even in the middle of our worship service. I remember when we had a big meeting in the Church and he just turned our lights off. I felt a bit embarrassed. One of our Elder talked to him and tries to explain things but he was really aggressive and furious. He never had been good to us actually. But we rejoiced today knowing that God touches his heart. God will do more things. More miracles, more surprises. I am so encouraged. Praise the Lord. Expecting great things from God, Attempting great things for God, huh!

In His service,

Nova

Receiving God's Blessing

2009-09-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Reminder

It's really a blessing to have a person next to you, someone who always remind you anything that concerns your daily routine. I'm glad, my husband just reminded me to update my blogs from time to time. We were talking via Skype since he was away for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, he was not feeling for few days. Last Monday, he was unable to go to the office and stayed in the hotel the whole day resting. Thank God he is better now.

Our new guitar

So today? We have a blessing received which we thank God. Somebody donated a new guitar for the Church and I hope this one gets better than our old ones. We needed to replace the one we had because we found it difficult to fix and I really praise God for His faithfulness. Oh, we shall have a very beautiful sound on Sunday. I believe without the guitar, we still can worship God if our motive really is to worship Him with all our heart. But if we have instrument? Oh, that would be more fantastic "Sing a new song unto the Lord"! He is always a good God and a prayer answering God, Hallelujah! Give Him praise.

Praising God,

Nova

Unexpected Circumstances

2009-09-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

God plans your day

Yesterday was my plan to write a blog but because of the circumstances occurred; I wasn't able to do it. It was one of my days that I will not forget.
I meant to visit a brother’s house who, happened to be away. As I saw the bus, it stopped just where I was standing the driver saw a sign from me that I had to ride so I took a ride. I just realize that it was a wrong bus and I had to stop and take another bus. So the bus I was riding was the right one and I thank God I arrived to my destination. I was checking things the house if everything was alright and tied up the mess of the cats, I close everything well and also the utility room which was opened when I arrived. I informed a dear brother in the UK while I was on my way that I closed everything and the utility room. So when the bus stopped near our place, I came down undecided whether I go to the Church yet not. Few minutes after I came down to the bus, I received a message from a brother that the utility needs to be opened because the neighbor needed to use as they are building a new house opposite. In other words I needed to go back again and re open the utility room. As was riding a bus, I realized that I passed their place and I needed to stop but the driver was also confused on my reaction, so I reached at the end of the village which too far from where I should stopped.

Confusing day

During those hours of messing up, I couldn't imagine how many songs I already sung as I was interceding especially of the things that happened to me. I tried to comfort myself as I found it very confusing day. I should not be upset because this happened maybe and it meant to happen to teach me something. I couldn't understand what happened generally.
I had more plans that day. That I will go to the market and buy some fruits and vegetables since the bus station destined to load people nearby but it was closed. I arrived at the Church at 2:00 pm, praying, reading God's Word, printing my Sermon outline to be ready on Sunday and fixing a place for computer. When I finished doing things and ready to go home, I tried to call a taxi because it was still far for me to walk with carrying lots of things on my bag and a bag of groceries but my phone was dead so I couldn't even call a taxi nor our Elders or leaders who have a car to drop me home. My husband was a bit worried if I was alright who knew I've gone too long and not informed. He is away for 3 weeks and not knowing exactly what's going on could be worrying for him but I praise GOD that everything was fine and we only need to bunderstand e patient from time to time.

God is in control

Sometimes in our life, things happen in an unusual way. We couldn't but it's there. We can't drive things the way we want. I had more plans that day but It wasn't me who handles my Day. I had more plans that day, but God showed me His way. Thing happened like this is designed by God, not ours.
God bless your journey in Christ,

In Christ alone,

Pastor Nova

Call to serve God

2009-08-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Struggling

There are times in our life that we don't know the answers of our questions. Times that no matter what we do, we can't make it nor can we straighten every areas of our life unless we build our strong faith in God. We can trust God in many ways.
Personally, I do struggle many times. Struggle for my job as I am also working while at the same time Pastoring a Church. Responsibility is not really easy but I have hope in God that my labor will be in vain. Since I started the ministry, 8 years ago, The Church survives without giving the finances to the Pastor. Sometimes, the enemy is trying to pull me down to quit and better to sit down rather than being a Pastor for years without salary and struggling financially. Often, people are coming to me to ask for a prayer upon different aspects of life and started to pray for them. I love to be with people and to hear their burden or difficulties because in this way, it builds me up too. It strengthen my walk with God. I usually gain strength when people are coming to me with needs in heart. Sometimes, their problems are always the same and the same as mine too. Pastors did not come from heaven directly. Pastors are human with the same need and the same heart. We carry the same things. Pastors are not above or on the top. We are all the same to one another. I am just curious to know what it would be when the Lord comes and see us laboring in His vineyard. Some sitting on the nice chairs, some are not. Some living in a luxury house and some are not?

Ministering to people

I am handling differently nationalities which initially it was mainly Filipinos. God cause us to grow as we respond to His Word. I am not a great Pastor. I am not on the top. I am from the root and trying to crawl and hold on to the ground which the Lord Himself. We are not even a perfect Church but we just trust the Lord's grace in our lives. Our Church is not rich nor the author of this blog. I usually walk 35 minutes before I can get to the Church. Our house is a bit far from our Church. We don't have a car and I don't know when to have. If you pay taxi all the time, you ended up bankrupt.

Sacrifice is a part of our serving

We have to realize that if our serving is genuine and pure, we shall understand the word SACRIFICE!Give the best.
As am writing this blog, there are some Pastors who may have a similar situation that I have and I believe God is blessing you thus far. It may not be finances all the time but He is blessing you in your relationships, family, health and other aspects of life.
Be blessed. Be strong. Be still and know that He is God.

Sunday Service

2009-08-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

God says something....

It's been a great day today. great service. God is a revealing God. We had a guest speaker from North Carolina named Pastor Greg and He spoke about The Purpose of Man. The message was really direct and it was really a great opportunity to invite him preaching the Word. During the Sermon, he was led by the Holy Spirit to pray for some people and I opened my ears to hear very well what he was saying to each one. Very seldom that our Church experiences this things and I was glad to take the opportunity to listen and be aware of what God is saying to our people. As a Pastor, we really need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our Church and that we shall know what God is saying to the congregation. Very often we invite speaker and have a different menu. Usually, our Church need to hear new things from invited speakers and I guess it is very exciting to realize that there are some needs that need to be met spiritually. God be praised!

Crucified with Christ

2009-08-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

What is really meant by Christian living?

What is really meant by having Christ in our lives? All Christians automatically live the life of Christ. No doubt. No question. But the thing is, do we all live the life that we meant to follow?
Living a Christian life would not be that easy thing to do but this is what we receive. Living a Christian life means, we've been consecrated. Living a Christian life is a Commission that we all need to respond. The very common problem for us all the time are finances, health and relationship. It became a roller coaster in the area of life, yet God walks with us. He is always with us daily. The fact that we are already decided to follow Him, we already separated from where we were before and stepping into a place where God wants Us to be. Once we say yes to God, we crucify our flesh and that means we can not crucify Him again and again and again. We always go back to the place where we started. People like to repeat things as if they want to sin first and then go back to God and sin first and go back and ended up asking for re-Baptism. Paul mentioned about crucifying our flesh. I am crucified with Christ: Neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20.

No turning back

We already decided to follow Christ. There is no way of turning back. There is no way of going back. There is no way of repeating what you've done in the past. And in this time, where we must make an effort to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Yes we can sin from time to time, Yes we fall from time to time but we need to stand strong and defend our faith no matter what happen. At the end of the day, we are the one who could benefit the things we have labored. Salvation is individual. We need to fight the good fight of faith till Jesus comes.
God bless your day.

Without God, we can do Nothing

2009-08-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Abide on God

Praise the Lord. Today’s very strong Message is found in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I, in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
There are times in our life that we think we know everything. That we can do things by our own ability, by our own strength and by our own knowledge but at the end of the day, we need to turn to the Lord, We need to comeback to Him. We sometimes are lost on our own ways but if we remind ourselves from time to time, He will show us up in a positive way.

Evangelizing at the park

On our Evangelism yesterday, we met a Bulgarian lady. She does not speak English well so we just gave her 2 tracts. As I looked upon her face, she seems to be lost. She might have a problem or dealing with something that she could not find a solution yet.
We are all in the same situation sometimes. Times that we don’t find way out on our troubles. Times that we don’t see any good reason to live, yet God stays the same. We may be like roller coaster on our problem, looking in many directions in life, yet at the end of the day, if we turn to God and be open to Him, He would help us lighten our burden. God may not promise us a smooth sailing, but He promises us a safe landing(Pastor John Hagee) . It is by abiding with God, It is by turning to Him that we can find a bright future on our problems because truly, without Him, we can’t do anything. We wanted to Minister her but none of us speaks Bulgarian. . I am still bothered thinking about her till now but I trusted God He will Minister Himself to her and show Himself in a very special way. God bless.

importance of Soul Winning

2009-08-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Book of Dan Corner

Yesterday, I was reading Pastor Dan Corner's 21 Important Truths about Soul Winning. I found his writings very useful and beneficial especially for the Church. Soul winning is the first thing a born again Christians should do because this is the command of God for us. I experienced a lot of things when it comes to soul winning few years ago. The Church I was attending in Taiwan under the Leadership of Pastor Merly and Loui Ong did Evangelism in different towns. I remember when the Lord asked us (few of us really) to spread the Gospel, we went to Changhua County, so coming from Tou Liou is a bit far distance and we needed to ride a train and spend the whole morning Evangelizing the lost. We did experience different people with different views in life. Some they are angry and upset but we carry on proclaiming the Gospel. The Bible tell us that "When people reject you and the Gospel, they are really rejecting the Lord and the Heavenly Father." Luke 10:16. I usually don't take it serious when they don't like me Preaching to them coz at the end of the day,I am doing it for the Lord and besides, It is a way of planting seeds in their hearts and one day, someday, in the fullness of time, God will soften their hearts and they will realize how precious every Word of God is and how wonderful it is to be born again. It is not a word alone but a relationship to our heavenly Father that matters much. In Him you will have peace and security in life.

God is real...

A lot of people rejects Him but One day, we All Stand at the judgment day coz whether we close and open your eyes, there is an audible voice that is whispering to you again and again, that there is God! Think about it!

He Who Overcomes

2009-08-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Encountering people

When you encounter different people, you'll have a different impression, positive or negative-bad or good.I've met a lady and if you would see her, you will think everything is fine, that things are all in the right place. But behind the smile, there are some hurts. Moments of hurts. Moments of battle. Moments of wrestling. Inside is a big scramble. The feeling of "hurts" is something that we all experience in life and we all need to overcome.

Buying a pair of shoe

Autumn is a time to prepare for a winter. We need to prepare jumpers, jackets and shoes to protect the coldness when we go outside our house.
One Saturday morning, My husband said, "Let's go to the shoe shop to buy a pair of shoes for you!" So, then I was excited to go with him. While in the store, I was trying to fit the brown Birkenstock which i liked and then he bought it for me.

The pain

First day of using the shoes was so painful. It hurts to my feet which i can't almost wear it out. My husband felt sorry and asked not wear my Birkenstock because it was very hurting but i insisted! I wasn't happy not to wear it because first of all i know that it was expensive and at the same time it is good brand and the quality is good. So though it was hurting for me, though it gave me difficulty in walking, i was ddetermined to wear it because i had in mind that i was wearing a good shoes with a known brand. I felt good about it despite of 8 hours pain. but then I was determined to continue wearing it. I know, that it will only be painful for the first time and indeed, in 2 weeks of pain, I got used to it! I felt great!

Pain turns to joy

Sometimes our life is the same. When you want God to do something for you, when you want new thing. something new. new life. new creation. you are decided to follow Christ, stepping into something new to you, things that you haven't done before is an exciting thing to do!
Newly born again Christians are vulnerable which needs to be taking care of.
As we decided to be in union with God, there are a lot of hurts. there are a lot pain. But we need to get used to it because that is where God wants you to be!
We like new things, but not all new are easy to use. We may determined to follow Christ but there are some things that discourage you. The enemy is trying to pull you down, but you Need to Continue on! you Need to Persevere! Because in all that hurts you encounter, There is a better thing than that. There is peace, there is joy, there is life Eternal. The Bible says: To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Rev. 2:7,Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev. .2:10, He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. Rev. 2:11, He who overcomes , and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels - as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. Rev. 2:26-28

Persevere till He comes...

Most of the time, we thought of giving up. most of the time we thought of running away. most of the time thought of stop going to the Church. We immediately looking for a solution, looking for another option. But since we already stepped into following God, we shall continue to do so until He comes!

Foundations for a Righteous living

2009-08-15T03:57:00.000-07:00

Best book of Derek Prince

I kind of learn a lot of things regarding the book I was reading entitled "Foundations for a Righteous Living by Derek Prince. From time to time, I open it up for some references that I needed to. This is one of the Best book I ever read and studied. It talks about the Foundation for Faith, Repent and believe, New Testament Baptisms, Purpose of the Pentecost, Laying on of hands, Resurrection of the dead and Eternal judgment. Here, Derek Prince explained this topic so clearly verse by verse. I want to share it because it seems to me that it is very beneficial to those Pastors and Leaders of the Congregation who are teaching and Ministering to their people. It is really an effective reference tool for Counseling and Witnessing. I used most of the topics here for counseling people in our Church and high light some on my Preaching topics. It's really helpful.

Keep on Believing

2009-08-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Believing God to do something

So many people are struggling, whether born again Christians or not. Struggle to believe the miracle working power of God. I would understand that but the word Believe is a matter of your choice. I am not a perfect one but I do believe that when God says to you Something, He will bring it to pass, He will bring it to completion. If you believe first of all that God has a plan for you, that you are special child of God, that you are called by God, believe that He will fulfill it because He is a fulfilling God. He can fill and refill your needs inside and outside. Believe is a matter of going forth. You don't need to step back but go for it. You don't need to back out because there is no way. You don't need to go back to the past because you will have no future there! God had showed me many times that believing is something we need to have so we can grasp the thing that God intended for us.

Choosing God in your life

The moment you choose HIM, you choose to believe that He is your God. You choose to believe that He is your Father and if you choose to believe that your He is your Father you can easily come to the point of Knowing that He is in control of everything in your life, that He knows about you, that He knows you are in need, that he knows He can mend something that is broken in your life. You need to believe that in Him there is no impossible because He is the God of possibilities. You may think that it is easy to say but am telling you, I did experience the same thing. Your circumstances is not different from other people and hearing what God says about you. You may need a miracle today in your life, but as you begin to step into acknowledging His Power in your life, He will fill and refill you. He will show His Miracle Working Power!

Evangelism

2009-08-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Evangelizing the lost

We are having a Bible Study every Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Winter last year, there were quite good number attended and since it is Summer, some people are on a holiday, some goes to the Mountain and some prefer to stay at home. As I was sitting down meditating and thinking the Lord had reminded me of going out for Evangelism. We haven't done this for so months now and God is reminding to go out and Preach the Gospel. I can't call this as Seasonal but as we may ALL KNOW, this is the great Commission we could every have.

The Commission

The biggest Commission Christian could ever think of is what JESUS told about in Matthew 28:19- To go and make Disciples of ALL NATIONS, Baptizing them in the NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT GOD HAD COMMANDED And He said, I am with You ALWAYS!.
One of the biggest failure of the Church I guess is not doing the very commandment of God and just waiting for people to come to their Church! No unbeliever will just go inside the Church alone. No fish wants to go to the Net itself unless somebody is catching! No fish wanted to be hooked intentionally! If they are hooked, It means somebody hooked them, Somebody did it!

My confession...

Today is a day where God has reminded me all these things. I confess, I am not great Pastor, I still need to learn a lot of things. My 9 years of Shepherding the flocks are not enough to be knowing everything. Everyday for me is a teaching and learning and I felt awaken today that people around me need Salvation, I felt awaken today that I should not be contented with the same people in my Church and almost the Same numbers! Our Church building is average. You can put 250 in the room. In fact, we are going to buy another 100 chairs but we need people to fill it in. As am writing at this moment, I feel that I need to confess, I feel that God is telling me to "GO" and Preach the Gospel outside not only the Inside! God is reminding me about the lost sheep and left the 99.
God is saying the importance of One Soul to comeback to Him. He knew the others are fine! He knew others are doing well, He knew others are Saved so He is looking for One Single Soul.

Obeying God's voice...

We have Evangelism Ministry in our Church. They usually go out and share. Normally I am in the Church and taking care of some things that has to be prepared on Sunday Morning Service but God prompted me to do this and Am glad that today is a divine time that I could also share this to our Church leaders that we will go out for Evangelism next Wednesday. I believe, as you step in obedience to God, He will do the rest. He will bring more fruit in His Sanctuary. He will bring more blessing to every individual, every members of the Body including our families.

GodblessYou!

SAYING AMEN

2009-08-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

Observing God's flocks

Today, I'm so blessed of what God has doing in our Church. New things are going on, people are coming to our Church not because they are invited but because of God Himself invited them. Sometimes, It is so hard to invite people and tell them to come to the Church, maybe some of them are afraid to be born again, afraid of a long sermon, afraid of a sudden change of life or afraid of being exposed of what they are doing. Every Church has different ways on how to invite people, some are having free lunch, or they even give packs of canned foods etc. or depending upon how they see vision for their Church.
Honestly speaking, I am not that great Pastor or Preacher you can really imagine. When I am not Preaching on Sunday, I usually take the back seat, looking up the Church and listening to our invited speaker. Normally, people respond to the Word of God by saying, AMEN!

Let your yes be yes....

Everybody can say Amen, Yes, Praise the Lord saying the agreement of the one Preaching God's WORD but that does not end there! Saying Amen, means looking forward to be doing or trying to do what God wants. To agree with God is having a covenant with Him that we shall be doing what He asked and I think a lot of us misinterpreted this concept. It is also making a vow to God and when you make a VOW, you need to make sure, you are doing your part because it is sacred. This is why a lot of us find it difficult to wait on God's answer because we are also not faithful of what we said and agreed with God. We cannot fool God.

Say words only if you can make it...

If you think you are doing this to Him, you better have to repent and ask God to forgive you and do exactly what you and God had covenanted with.
I know it is not easy but I guess, there are a lot of things that we somehow neglect and missed. We pick things what we like to say, and we pick things what we like to do but at the end of the day, It's all about God, It's all about Him. At the end of the day there are only 2 choices, to serve and not to serve, Heaven or Hell?