Sunday, March 28, 2010

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

WOW! Another week has come and gone... and we have finished the first quarter of the year! Church, I want to encourage you to keep pursuing your dream, to keep pressing on, don’t give in and don’t give up! If there is anything worth pursuing, it must be a life used to the fullest for the glory of God! So, seize your day! Amen!

Last week, I began a new series on DISCIPLESHIP and immediately I received lots of positive feedbacks. Many have made up their mind to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ and are willing to be discipled. It is not easy because we need to dismantle our old mindsets and value system. Furthermore, a lot of our old habits that are ingrained in our lifestyle and attitude need to be fixed. But I believe this is something that we cannot compromise. It is so fundamental to our church that without it, I do not think we will be who we are today. No one who is half-hearted can build a strong church. Without a set of fixed value system based on the Word of God, we cannot do anything great for our LORD. Hence, I want to challenge all of you to rise up! To make up your mind to go one step further in your walk with God. Choose to be discipled. Do not worry about being too tired. Do not always think of needing to rest. Do not retreat. Do not take a break because that break will break your spirit! I have been a pastor for a long time, and I have seen many who have lost their faith and their zeal the moment they take a step back. Church, the world will continually fight for our commitment and our passion. If we do not put our heart to the work of God fully, the world will eventually have it! Therefore, let us do all we can to protect the sincerity and the integrity of our heart. Let us serve and follow Jesus faithfully all the days of our lives, because that is the only one thing that will last for all eternity.

Lastly, on another note, I also want to encourage all of us to invite lots of family and friends to church next weekend as it is our Easter services. Our target is to have 3500 friends and a total of 100 decisions. I want to encourage all of us to work hard and pray as hard.

Let us grow our church!

KEV

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

Hi! How are you doing? I pray that this week’s Pastor Writes finds you blessed and overflowing with God’s blessings. The last 2 weeks had been very exciting as we saw 1401 and 1461 people in church respectively. The growth has been really encouraging. And with all the Friends’ Nights in full-swing, we are seeing more and more new friends coming to our church. It is a good thing seeing new friends coming to our church but it is quite another to assimilate them to be a part of our spiritual family. Church, I want to encourage all of us to build real and meaningful relationships with them. Be genuinely interested in them. Find ways to build bridges into their lives and be a blessing to them. Don’t just focus on the numbers. It is a good thing to have a lot of friends coming to our church but it is pointless if they do not come back again. In the last couple of years, we have seen our attendance soared beyond the thousands especially during our Big Days! However, not too many of them are contained.

This year, I want us to re-strategize. I do not want us to only focus on the quantity but also the quality. And in order to achieve that, we need to activate our Caring System and maintain a consistent discipleship lifestyle. This is a lifestyle where we get involved in our members’ lives, challenge their value system and help them to realize a better way of living with Christ. It is not automatic, neither is it easy. It requires a lot of hard work and love! A lot of patience and tons of commitment!

Church, let us do things differently this year. Let us go the extra mile in building the kingdom of God.

Your friend,

KEV

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Dear Church,

Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

Last week was a phenomenal week for all of us belonging to the City Harvest family. My family and I were in Singapore to hear the announcement of the new building first hand. The day was filled with much expectation as everyone began to guess where it could be. I, for one, thought it was somewhere near the golf course facing the sea. WOAH! I thought how cool it would be if our church’s convention center faces the sea, with a row of cafes and retail stores lining the coast! Phew! Simply perfect! So, after the long wait we finally got to the service. The praise and worship was awesome and the presence of God was strong. Though there were no signs or billboards, one could sense everyone had a placard hanging over their shoulders, waiting for the super huge announcement saying, ‘Pastor, where is our new home?’

Finally, the time came for Ps. Kong to deliver his message. He preached with passion and anointing. Half way through his sermon, he said, ‘A picture paints a thousand words. But a video paints a trillion words. Video crew, let’s roll the video!’ The fast-paced and effects soaked video clip got everyone cheering and screaming at the edge of their seat! At one point, a glimpse of the new site, blurred by the CGI effects flashed across the screen. But no one could make out where was that. Or perhaps no one could believe their eyes seeing the familiar gigantic structure for the first time. 2 minutes into the video, the actual site was zoomed in from outer space. And now, without a shadow of doubt it is indeed the well-known Suntec International Convention Centre! Oh man! The excitement was unbearable. I felt like my heart was exploding. Can you believe it? What? Am I seeing this for real? After that, we must have clapped, cheered, screamed, praised and roared for a good 2 minutes. There were almost no dry eyes in the house. Yes, we have secured a substantial stake in the consortium that owns Suntec Convention Center! WOW! What a victory! Such unspeakable joy! God has indeed been good to us. To own a stake in an established convention center and turn the largest indoor hall into our church is even more mind-boggling and more ground-breaking than building one on a new site! Kudos to Ps. Kong and Sun – for their wisdom, faith and a never give-up attitude.

Now, we can rejoice and smile each time we drive past it. We can quietly say in our hearts, ‘We have a share in it.’

And as if that was not a news big enough, CHC Singapore will be moving into their new home 12 months from now – March 2011!

2010 is really going to be an amazing year!

KEV

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Dear Church,

Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus!

In the last 2 weeks, we have had a few very powerful and life-changing prayer meetings. During our 1st Midnight Prayer Meeting, the presence of God was so strong that we prayed and prayed for close to 2 hours. After that, it was so easy to just intercede and linger with the Holy Spirit.

4 days later, we had our 2nd Church Wide Prayer Meeting of the year. This time round my plan was to get everyone to focus on the cross and Jesus. After the lights were turned off and a picture of the cross was projected on the screen, I could just feel the whole atmosphere lifted as everyone just kept on praying and praying. Many were in tears as well. At 9:30pm, I thought it was a great time to end the prayer meeting as all of us had encountered God. However, I was quite surprised that no one wanted to leave. After all, prayer meeting was for us to meet with Jesus. And we did. As a result of that, I began to teach how to befriend the Holy Spirit and how we need to remember that He is the host of our church and not a guest. Too often, the Holy Spirit is like a visitor. If we are lucky, He turns up. However, I do not want our church to just have a visitation. I want an inhabitation. I want us to learn how to create the space and the atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to work freely among us. That way, lives can be touched and transformed. And truly, that is what the church of the living God is all about!

Church, this is our vision. This is what we have been called to do. Hence, let’s learn how we can flow with the Spirit of God and work alongside Him.

Let us build a strong church in our generation where God is REAL!

Praying with you,

KEV