May 17, 2025

8 Quality Characteristics #2: Gift-based Ministry

An important component of worship each Sabbath is tithes and offerings. This is considered an important aspect of worship to God, for we acknowledge God as the giver by returning back what He has given us. That’s why Jesus considers the widow’s two mites much more valuable than the rich people that gave more money (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4). 

In a similar way, offering your gifts for God’s ministry is an act of worship. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10. God has given each one of us unique gifts, and using the gifts for God’s ministry is a great way to acknowledge God and His gifts for us. God also rejoices when we use our gifts for God’s ministry. We can see that from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. The reaction of the master when the two servants doubled their talents shows us how much that makes Him happy. On the other hand, the master’s response to the last servant that did not do anything shows a strong contrast. 

A blessing that we get from using our gifts for God is that your gifts grow. We know this from the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 in John 6. When the little boy gave his small sack of lunch to Jesus, He multiplied that to feed everyone present. When we use our gifts for God’s ministry and church, God will help us grow our gifts and use it for a greater ministry. 

What is your gift? What do you like to do? I pray that each one of you will offer your gifts to the Lord, that He will guide your gifts to be used for the healthy growth of our church, and that He will multiply it. I pray that the Master’s blessings be upon each one of us. “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:21.

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May 10, 2025

8 Quality Characteristics #1: Empowering Leadership

Recently, I was at the conference office for a pastors meeting for two days, and the guest speakers on Natural Church Development, and they talked about eight quality characteristics that all churches should have. I would like to share them here each week.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:12, “for equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying the body of Christ.” Empowering leadership is what Jesus did for His disciples to expand the kingdom of God. The disciples of Jesus came from different backgrounds, where many were fishermen, a tax collector, and such. Most of them did not stand out in terms of social status, but Jesus empowered them with the Holy Spirit, as we find in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”

We see similar examples in the Old Testament as well. God called Moses out of the wilderness after 40 years to lead God’s people out of Egypt. God chose young boy David, over his qualified brothers, as the next king of Israel. A generation before that, God empowered Samuel in his childhood to be the spiritual leader for God’s people. God empowered Queen Esther to rise up in times of crisis for her people. God uses people for His work, He works through us.

I remember the time when I gave my first sermon, I was in sixth grade. My dad told me to give a sermon one day, which did not make any sense. I didn’t think I was old enough or qualified by any means to give a sermon, but he empowered me. He walked through the steps of what I needed to do, we rehearsed and prayed. It was a special moment for me. Empowering leadership will come in different forms, but it is an important characteristic that is needed for our church today. I know we all can be leaders, it’s time to empower you with the Holy Spirit.

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May 3, 2025

After swimming, I went to the locker room to grab my shampoo to take a shower. While I was unlocking the combination to my locker, I heard two men on the other side talking to each other. Apparently, they didn’t know each other too well, but one common theme brought them together in a passionate dialogue, basketball. One was a young Afro-American in his 20s and the other was a Caucasian American in his 60s. They started talking about the Bucks playoff game from the night before where the Bucks lost to the Pacers. They were trying to analyze the game to see why they lost. They were getting excited and their voices got louder (not in an argument, just passionate). 

I went to go take a shower, and when I came back, they were still talking about basketball. In fact, another older man joined in the conversation. This man grew up watching Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Talk about the generational difference and the cultural difference! As I heard these men passionately talking to each other about basketball, I wondered to myself, what if that passionate conversation was about Jesus or the Bible, that would have been really cool.

It would be an amazing intergenerational experience for us to see different generations and cultures come together and talk about Jesus and ministry in church. Maybe talk about the Bible verses they read this past week, or talk about the people they prayed for this week, or brainstorm for ministry ideas they can do for the community. Paul said in Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” We tend to talk about what occupies our mind. If our mind is set on godly things, that is what will draw our conversations. I pray that we will always think about God and His Word and that becomes the center of our interactions with one another in church and in the community. 

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