Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus!

How are you? I hope that everything is well over at your end. As I sit here to write another week’s Pastor’s Writes, I have no choice but to admit that time flies scarily fast! It felt like just yesterday that I was seated down to write and now another week has come and gone. Friends, time is by far the most precious commodity that you and I can ever have. And with our society moving ahead so quickly, we really have to seize every moment that the LORD has given to us. I want to ask all of us to spend more time in prayer and draw ourselves closer to God. Apart from that, do everything we can to win our friends. Learn to give up our personal agendas and learn to serve. Learn to care for others genuinely. Time is just too short to be dwelling in disappointments and hurts. Let’s help each other to move on strongly in the LORD. Amen?

And now, I would like to warmly welcome Ps. Pat Mesiti into our midst once again! For those of you who have heard him before, I am sure you are truly looking forward to the ever witty and inspiring Ps. Pat! And for those who have yet to hear Ps. Pat, you are really in for a treat. Ps. Pat is an amazing communicator. Not only is he an anointed evangelist, he is also a very successful wealth creation speaker. Through his teaching, many have found success and live better lives. And I am sure this week is no exception either. I want to encourage all of you to come prepared. Come expectant, knowing that God will do something in your life, especially in the area of relationships!

I know sometimes we think that life is pretty much the same even though we keep coming back to church week in and week out. But I want to assure you that the LORD has done a lot on the inside of you, be it spiritually or the way you think. And it is that molding that has shaped us into who we are today. Never let the devil tell you coming to church is not important. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so actively distracting the believers, would he?

Stay sharp,

KEV

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus!

How are you doing? I pray that this mail finds you blessed and well. First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Dr. Eddie King into our midst. Pastor Ed comes from Knoxville and he has a thriving and vibrant congregation. He is a great teacher of the Word of God and I want to ask you to come prepared to receive and draw from the man of God. I believe you will certainly be blessed.

On the other hand, another week has come and gone and I want to encourage all of you to stay focused and keep close to Jesus. Do not be easily surprised by disappointments or setbacks in life, for they are common. It is how we deal with all these things that builds strength and character on the inside of us. Remember, it is during adversity that we know ourselves better. So, as your pastor, I want to encourage you to spend more time in prayer. Pray not because you have to but pray because you need to know the heart of God. Pray because you need to draw strength and wisdom from God.

Apart from this, I also want to remind all of you to fulfill your Building Fund. April is the final month for us to fulfill our pledges and May is our grace period. After that, we will close our 4th Arise and Build season before starting it again in November. I want to ask you to plan out your finances wisely. Do not be reckless with your spending. Remember to set aside the amount that you have pledged to build the house of God. This is our spiritual heritage. This is our commitment.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen a lot of new friends coming back to church. It is a good thing. We have grown close to 100 people and I am praying that we will have an average of 1650 people by the end of May. Let’s work towards that and pray with greater fervency.

Your pastor and friend,

KEV

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus!

First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new friends and family members back to church once again, especially those who came to church for the very first time last week and those responded to the altar call. It fills my heart with joy to have all of you coming back to the house of God to worship with us once again.

Last week was truly monumental. We had our largest Easter attendance ever, with a total of 3824 people turning up for all of our 5 services and a record of 211 people responded to the altar call. Hallelujah! Seeing so many of you responding to the love of God only warmed our hearts and reminded us that all our hard work was worthwhile. However, that is just the beginning of a very exciting and faith-filled journey. The LORD has indeed prepared a great destiny for all of us to discover. It is going to be a lifetime of ‘WOWS’ and ‘WOAHS’! I am honored to be able to take this journey together with you.

In the next 2 weeks, we have prepared 2 very gifted speakers to teach us the Word of God. Firstly, we have Dr. Ed King. He is a great teacher of the Word. He is going to blow you away with his spiritual insights. Secondly, we have the famous and witty Ps. Pat Mesiti to teach us on one of the most mysterious topics on planet earth: RELATIONSHIP. He is going to share with us how we can stay together without killing somebody. It is going to be a massive weekend.

Invite all your friends to come. Invite your family members to come. I am sure they will laugh, cry and have their lives impacted at the same time. 2010 is really going to be one amazing year that will shape and lift our spiritual lives to a whole new level.
So church, be prepared to run... because I do not want any of us to be left behind.

Love you heaps!

KEV

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the blessed name of Jesus and welcome to City Harvest, Kuala Lumpur!

What a great joy it is to have you with us this weekend!

First and foremost, my family and I would like to wish everyone a happy and blessed Easter! Easter is probably the most important day in the calendar of the Christian church. It is the weekend that marks the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a time of celebration, though it began with Jesus’ suffering. For through it, He overcame death on the cross. As such, those who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Lives would carry a new sense of purpose and destiny. Christianity is built on such solid foundation – that Christ died and is risen. Had Jesus not risen, our faith would be meaningless. Had Jesus not overcome death, there would be no cause of celebration.

Christian faith lies in the person of Jesus, the Savior of our soul. It is not based on a list of principles or a set of rules. Our salvation is not a result of our work or our effort. We are saved because we place our faith in Jesus. Is it that simple? Yes, but that is because God has paid the price for us.

This weekend at City Harvest, we have adapted a story in the Bible to show everyone the magnitude of the love of Christ and the challenges that all of us have to face. Sometimes, life can really be tough. But with God, we know we can overcome all things. With God, we can look at life from a totally different perspective. And my friends, may I invite you to come and celebrate this special weekend with us and at the same time, open your heart to allow God to do a new work in you?

It is my prayer that you life is touched and blessed!

Much love and prayers,

KEV

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

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

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