Reasons to leave
Why Not?
By WONG SAI WAN
Friday December 4, 2009
The number of Malaysians leaving to settle down in other countries is growing and this worrying trend needs to be studied.
MALAYSIANS are a well-travelled lot and there are very few countries in the world where at least one of our countryman cannot be found eking a living there.
In my travels as a journalist in the past 25 years covering various assignments, especially the visits by the Prime Ministers, the only place I could recall where I did not meet a fellow Malaysian was Ulan Ude, the capital of Buryat - one of the isolated former Soviet republics in Siberia.
Former diplomat Dennis Ignatius wrote in his column in The Star last month that he estimated that there were about one million Malaysians living abroad, half of them in Britain and the United States.
According to Ignatius, there were more than 300,000 in Britain, 200,000 in the US, 95,000 in Australia and 50,000 in Canada.
I even met a Malaysian in Peru who together with his Taiwanese wife had settled down in the South American country where he exports seafood like abalone to Asian countries. Even in Africa, where I have visited more than 10 countries, I met at least two of our countrymen in each of those nations.
This shows that we are a resilient lot and can make a living anywhere in the world. It is something to be proud of.
However, when Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay told the Dewan Rakyat on Monday that a total of 304,358 Malaysians left the country between March last year and August this year, it must have surely rung alarm bells in the halls of power.
If it did not and the government leaders are not worried, then they better sit up and listen.
The number of OUR people migrating overseas in that 18 months is more than double that in 2007 when 139,696 migrated to other countries.
Kohilan admitted that the figures may be higher because they were derived from only those who had registered with Malaysia’s representative offices abroad.
On top of that, the deputy minister said the figures included 50,000 students who left to study abroad during that period.
So even if we exclude these student numbers, that’s still over 250,000 capable Malaysians who have left the country to settle down elsewhere — and we can be sure that they are well qualified, otherwise their new home countries would not have accepted them.
I dread to think of how many doctors, engineers, accountants and other professionals we have lost. This does not include expert brick-layers, artisans and even artists who have chosen to seek their fortune elsewhere.
Many of our 50,000 students will also not return home.
I have made it a point when I am overseas to meet with our students, especially those about to graduate. It is not a difficult thing to do because the Malaysian missions often organise meetings between visiting VIPs and the students. I just stayed back to meet them afterwards and many of them tell me that they do not intend to come home immediately after their graduation.
Most of them want to stay back to gain some experience and some even admitted that they had already applied for their PR (permanent resident) visas.
Even at 250,000 (excluding the students), this means that we lost about 1% of our population - now that is a worrying figure if this trend continues, especially since these are among our top talents.
Labis MP Chua Tee Yong, who had asked Kohilan the question about migration, had wondered whether the higher number of migration was a result of the political climate after the March 8 election, to which the deputy minister replied that it was a ‘’weak factor’’.
And Kohilan stated that the reasons for them migrating were for better education, business and career prospects. In other words, they left because they don’t think their future in Malaysia is bright. Something must be done to reverse this trend.
The Government has drawn up an extensive brain gain programme to attract ex-Malaysians or those living overseas to come home but that is not a proactive move. Why get them to come home when in the first place we should try to get them to stay?
The authorities must examine the reasons why 1% of the population left in just 18 months and will this figure go up again? Are there any particular policies that are driving these good people away?
We have drawn up all sorts of incentives to attract foreigners to come here, ranging from tax incentives to the Malaysia My Second Home programme. Isn’t it more urgent and cheaper to retain our talents?
I hope that the authorities will not just dismiss this latest increase in migration as just an over-reaction by certain ethnic groups only.
Back in the 1970s, many non-Malays left because they felt insecure after the May 13 incident and the introduction of the New Economic Policy. In the late 1980s, there was another spike in migration after the Ops Lalang crackdown in 1987 and again it was mostly non-Malays.
However, a former Australian High Commissioner told me that in the past few years the number of Malays seeking to migrate has increased tremendously. But to me that is not the issue. Why not?
Because it would be against the spirit of 1Malaysia – we should treat brain drain not as an ethnic problem, but as a national issue.
> Deputy Executive Editor Wong Sai Wan’s son will soon leave for overseas to study but the boy says he will come back although the father is unsure.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wanted: Intercessors
5 Nov 2009
Dear Prayer Partner,
1. TQ 4 your prayers. We do not take it for granted for we understand and realize the power of prayer – especially intercessory prayers.
2. In the last mail, I talked a bit about ministering and praying for Sabah so that they may be revived for the Lord. I had even nicknamed it R-Sabah.
3. A few days ago I received an urgent invitation to preach in a camp in Sabah. The original speaker cannot stay for the whole camp and I was invited to substitute for him. They anticipate over 1000 people to attend it, as it is a combination of 3 churches. Pray that the Lord will minister to them and revive Sabah for the glory of God.
4. It will be a pretty tight schedule for me for the next 2-3 weeks. This weekend I will be teaching for 9 hours on How to Interpret the Bible to a group of church leaders in Klang Valley. I will also be preaching for their Sunday morning service. Pray that they will fall in love with the eternal Word of God.
5. I will be back to rush 3 assignments for my Doctorate in Ministry. Then I will attend one week of lectures (Mon-Fri, 8am – 5pm) on how to handle stress and burnout in pastoring. This is my 5th module out of 7th.
6. Three days later, I will fly off for the abovementioned camp in Sabah. Pray for me as I will preach and minister in 4 services in 2 days. The next day, I will fly off to Kuching to preach in an Iban camp. This annual Iban camp would probably have 2,000 over participants. Pray for me as I preach on Laborers for the Harvest.
7. I fly back and a week later I will be preaching in an English camp in Klang Valley. One or two days, I will be off again to Sabah for 2 weeks of intensive ministry (at least 2 camps are confirmed). The first week, Jessie and Ana will be with me. Ana’s first trip to the land below the wind!
8. I share in detail so that you will keep us in prayer, as I may not have time to write. Ministry is hectic and can be stressful ~ we need all the prayers we can get!
9. Pray for Jessie as she juggles between Ana, work, her own family, ministry and an impatient hubby (me!). Without her and her complete dedication to the calling we have, it would be near impossible to do the things that God has entrusted me to do.
10. This month is her birthday and I would be away on the day itself (Nov 28). I would appreciate your prayers for her and drop a word of blessing and encouragement to her. It’s never easy to be the spouse of an itinerant speaker.
11. As I watch her sacrifice and work so hard and choose to live a simple lifestyle so that I can continue to minister to the various groups of people, I wish I can provide a better life for her. Pray for us. Pray financial breakthroughs. Pray for greater wisdom.
12. Also urgently pray for more intercessors and prayer warriors for us as there are more ministries being opened up for us. But we need more prayer covering so that it can effectively tear down the work of the enemy. Pray for the double portion of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual warfare, and not based on human effort alone.
13. Pray for more advocates for us. We need more people who will speak on our behalf and raise fund for us so that we can do the work of the ministry. I know the current economic situation is quite bad, but it is during such times that God reveal Himself in a greater way. Pray for more regular supporters as expanding ministry requires more finances.
Jesus is the "Amen" because all that He says is true, sure, and valid. His promises and warnings are trustworthy, certain and will definitely come to pass. The truths that He teaches are established and unchanging. He is the Last Word, the finality of all truths.
Dear Prayer Partner,
1. TQ 4 your prayers. We do not take it for granted for we understand and realize the power of prayer – especially intercessory prayers.
2. In the last mail, I talked a bit about ministering and praying for Sabah so that they may be revived for the Lord. I had even nicknamed it R-Sabah.
3. A few days ago I received an urgent invitation to preach in a camp in Sabah. The original speaker cannot stay for the whole camp and I was invited to substitute for him. They anticipate over 1000 people to attend it, as it is a combination of 3 churches. Pray that the Lord will minister to them and revive Sabah for the glory of God.
4. It will be a pretty tight schedule for me for the next 2-3 weeks. This weekend I will be teaching for 9 hours on How to Interpret the Bible to a group of church leaders in Klang Valley. I will also be preaching for their Sunday morning service. Pray that they will fall in love with the eternal Word of God.
5. I will be back to rush 3 assignments for my Doctorate in Ministry. Then I will attend one week of lectures (Mon-Fri, 8am – 5pm) on how to handle stress and burnout in pastoring. This is my 5th module out of 7th.
6. Three days later, I will fly off for the abovementioned camp in Sabah. Pray for me as I will preach and minister in 4 services in 2 days. The next day, I will fly off to Kuching to preach in an Iban camp. This annual Iban camp would probably have 2,000 over participants. Pray for me as I preach on Laborers for the Harvest.
7. I fly back and a week later I will be preaching in an English camp in Klang Valley. One or two days, I will be off again to Sabah for 2 weeks of intensive ministry (at least 2 camps are confirmed). The first week, Jessie and Ana will be with me. Ana’s first trip to the land below the wind!
8. I share in detail so that you will keep us in prayer, as I may not have time to write. Ministry is hectic and can be stressful ~ we need all the prayers we can get!
9. Pray for Jessie as she juggles between Ana, work, her own family, ministry and an impatient hubby (me!). Without her and her complete dedication to the calling we have, it would be near impossible to do the things that God has entrusted me to do.
10. This month is her birthday and I would be away on the day itself (Nov 28). I would appreciate your prayers for her and drop a word of blessing and encouragement to her. It’s never easy to be the spouse of an itinerant speaker.
11. As I watch her sacrifice and work so hard and choose to live a simple lifestyle so that I can continue to minister to the various groups of people, I wish I can provide a better life for her. Pray for us. Pray financial breakthroughs. Pray for greater wisdom.
12. Also urgently pray for more intercessors and prayer warriors for us as there are more ministries being opened up for us. But we need more prayer covering so that it can effectively tear down the work of the enemy. Pray for the double portion of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual warfare, and not based on human effort alone.
13. Pray for more advocates for us. We need more people who will speak on our behalf and raise fund for us so that we can do the work of the ministry. I know the current economic situation is quite bad, but it is during such times that God reveal Himself in a greater way. Pray for more regular supporters as expanding ministry requires more finances.
Jesus is the "Amen" because all that He says is true, sure, and valid. His promises and warnings are trustworthy, certain and will definitely come to pass. The truths that He teaches are established and unchanging. He is the Last Word, the finality of all truths.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
25,000 children die per day due to poverty
Facts About the Worlds' Children
2.2 billion worldwide
143 million are orphans
2 million were HIV-positive at the end of 2007
25,000 die per day due to poverty
3 million have no shoes
Every three minutes in a developing nation a child dies from malnutrition
9.2 million who were born in 2007 died before age 5
One in seven have no access to health services
400 million have no access to safe water
One in three do not have adequate shelter
121 million are not educated
Sources: U.N. AIDS; U.S. DOJ; UNICEF;
2.2 billion worldwide
143 million are orphans
2 million were HIV-positive at the end of 2007
25,000 die per day due to poverty
3 million have no shoes
Every three minutes in a developing nation a child dies from malnutrition
9.2 million who were born in 2007 died before age 5
One in seven have no access to health services
400 million have no access to safe water
One in three do not have adequate shelter
121 million are not educated
Sources: U.N. AIDS; U.S. DOJ; UNICEF;
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Every life is comprised of a few themes
Preaching to the De-Churched: An Interview with Mark Batterson
Michael Duduit
Executive Editor of Preaching
Preaching: Your congregation is also known as the Theater Church. Why is that?
Batterson: I went into church planting with a traditional mindset: meet in a rented facility so you can buy or build a building. Problem is, on Capitol Hill property was going for about $10 million an acre.
Preaching: That's a challenge!
Batterson: Yeah, we were not going to buy property and build something. Long story short, we were meeting in the movie theaters at Union Station, which is the most visited destination in D.C. About 25 million people pass through Union Station every year.
You know, sometimes I'm slow picking up on these things, but at some point I thought to myself: Here we are meeting in a movie theater in Union Station, with amazing screens that we use for videos and worship projection, and there are 48 food court restaurants right outside our front door. And how many churches have their own subway system?
And then I thought to myself: Why would we build a building when we can be at a place like this? So that vision of meeting in movie theaters at Metro stops was birthed. We're now one church with nine services at five locations, four of them movie theaters. And then we own and operate the largest coffee house on Capitol Hill. God has blessed us over these 13 years. And, for what its worth, we are 70 percent single, 20-somethings; so a lot of emerging generation folks are coming to church, and we're doing our level best to reach them for Christ.
Preaching: The vast majority of your people come from an un-churched or de-churched background. How do you go about reaching those "de-churched" folks?
Batterson: That's just someone who grew up going to church but quit going. I've read statistics that as many as 61 percent of 20-somethings quit going to church at some point, and we kind of get them on the rebound. It's amazing how many people were checked out for five or 10 or 15 years, and we find them or they find us on the rebound. We love being a church for those folks who left the church for one reason or another. That's really who we're targeting and part of the reason why we're trying to meet in marketplace locations. It makes it a little bit easier for them to walk in our front door.
Preaching: As you do that, tell me about the approach you take to preaching. If we were to come to one of your locations next Sunday, what might we see and experience?
Batterson: Those of us who are preachers, we eat and sleep and breathe these things called preaching and teaching. I'm going to say up front that even 13 years in, I'm still trying to find my voice; and I make no apologies for that. I have not arrived, and I continue to try to sharpen my edge as a communicator. I do that by listening to a lot of podcasts—I have a steady diet of preachers in my own life.
If I were to describe one thing that makes us somewhat unique, it is that while we are very biblical in our approach, we do try to brand our sermon series. Let me give you an example. We did a series on First and Second Timothy that was expository in nature; but instead of titling it "First and Second Timothy," we decided to title or brand that series "Potential" because we felt like it was all about a guy named Paul who saw tremendous potential in a kid named Timothy. By branding it that way, we felt like it would speak to some of those deep desires in people's hearts to reach their potential.
We're not watering-down or dumbing-down the message of the gospel. In fact, you're never going to reach your potential outside a relationship with Jesus Christ as Creator and Savior. So, we're pretty straight up in the way we communicate from Scripture—we don't pull punches—but we also try to bring a little bit of creativity to bear in branding those series in a way that wouldn't just appeal to the people sitting in our church but encourage them to invite their un-churched friends.
Preaching: How long would a typical message be for you?
Batterson: (Laughs) I think I'm at a stage where I'm getting a little bit more passionate, and sometimes that means I get a little bit louder and a little bit longer! Typically speaking, I usually preach anywhere between 37 and 43 minutes. Our service times are about 65 to 70 minutes, so we don't have long services; and sometimes I have a tough time keeping it in check. But on a normal weekend, somewhere right around that 40-minute mark.
Preaching: There are a number of people who insist that because of declining attention spans, preachers have to offer shorter and shorter messages. Yet it's fascinating that pastors who have churches that are reaching lots of young adults today are not preaching 15- or 20-minute sermons.
Batterson: Number one, I think that young adult demographic has a longer attention span than we give them credit for. But you've got to be a good communicator, and you've got to utilize story and illustration and find ways to mix it up. The other thing I'm finding is that they want you to get in their faces and speak the truth. They want you to challenge them, and I'm very encouraged by that. I think it's a great day for preachers with this upcoming generation.
Preaching: A friend of mine speaks weekly to between 800 and 1,000 20-somethings, and he started out trying to be very creative and innovative. Finally they came to him and said, "No, tell us what the Bible says, what it means, and what we should do about it." They really want to know the truth of God's Word.
Batterson: I think that's bullseye. That doesn't mean there isn't an appreciation for creativity. We try to bring creative elements into play. I've often said that I think the pulpit is the least effective place to preach. I mean, if you can get off-site and preach in a creative location—listen, Jesus preached from boats, you know? Yet I've come to an even deeper conviction this year that it's not my creativity that's going to change people's lives, it's the Word of God. It's the Word of God that will not return void, so we need to preach the Word. I would say, "let it rip." We need to put it out there and go for it.
Preaching: You've got a couple of great books that have become very popular with churches in terms of launching bible studies, and sermon series and other things. The first one has one of my favorite book titles of all time, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. That's just got to be one of the all-time best book titles ever done. And then another one that you have is called Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God. Did these grow out of your own preaching ministry?
Batterson: They did. Here's a little back-story on In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. The entire book really revolves around one little story kind of buried in Samuel about one of David's mighty men, Benaiah, who chases a lion into a pit on a snowy day and kills it. It's just an amazing story. I heard a preacher preach out of that text when I was 19 years old, Michael. And somehow that story just captured my imagination and kind of got into my spirit; and I thought: If I ever write a book, I would love to write a book on that story because I love Benaiah and this idea of chasing lions.
I held on to that idea. And so years later I wrote that book—it came out in 2006—and did a sermon series as well. For both books we actually created Web sites—chasethelion.com and chasethegoose.com—with all of the videos and graphics and transcripts and anything anybody could ever want, and it's all customizable. And so hundreds of churches have done series on those books, utilizing some of those resources on those Web sites; and it's been really neat to see a lot of churches just get the DNA of those books and utilize them on a church-wide campaign.
Preaching: Your most recent book is Wild Goose Chase. What is that book all about?
Batterson: Well, you know the Celtic Christians have this name for the Holy Spirit, An Geadh-Glas, or the Wild Goose. I love that! It sounds a little sacrilegious, but what a great description of the Holy Spirit—you know you can't track or tame a wild goose. There's this kind of element of danger, or a little hint of mystery. And what a great description of what it's like living a Spirit-led life—you're not going to know where you're going all the time, and that might cause a little anxiety; but we also have another name for it, adventure. And so really it's a book that invites people into the adventure of living a Spirit-led life or chasing after the wild goose. It's a book that invites people into that adventure of following after the Holy Spirit.
Preaching: Both books came out of sermon series that you did. Do you preach mostly in series, and how far out do you plan your series?
Batterson: We do series the entire year. Occasionally in between—just to take a little bit of a creative breather—we'll do a buffer Sunday. Sometimes we'll call it PBJ Sunday, peanut butter and jelly. We'll kind of strip it down, not a whole lot of creativity.
We'll often celebrate communion those weekends and do kind of a back-to-basics message. But by and large it's sermon series.
We do a staff retreat in November, and we begin strategizing our sermon series for the next year. By the time we're done with that meeting we will have a rough strategy of those series that we're going to do throughout the next year.
By the way, this might be really kind of a helpful tip: we do an annual survey every year before that retreat; and one of things I do in that survey is to pitch a dozen sermon series ideas to our congregation and say, "Which one of these series would be most helpful to your spiritual growth?" And we track those numbers—the ones that come back with a very high percentage, it's a pretty good bet we're going to do those series. And then, interestingly enough, the ones that come back very low—in other words, the series that people don't want to hear—those series will often end up making the cut, too, because we're wondering, "Why don't you want to hear about this?"
So we'll put together that strategy. That sounds better than it really is because about 70 percent of those series will make the final cut. Then what will happen is we get into a year, we just feel like God's moving a little different direction, and we'll pull the plug on one series and plug in another series. It's not a perfect science, but what really helps me is that then I can read strategically months in advance as we're gearing up for different series because we'll know what we're doing. It also enables our creative team to put together elements in advance. So we try to plan out that entire year in advance.
Preaching: As you come into that November staff meeting, have you already sketched out some of your ideas about some of those series? How much of the final decision on the series is yours as opposed to a consensus of the group?
Batterson: We have a teaching team, and I speak about 36 weekends at this point. I used to do 48, but we have two other people on that teaching team. And this year we did something a little bit different. I said to them, "Instead of all the series being my decision, why don't you guys pitch a couple of sermon series ideas; and then you can plug me into the series where you want to do it." I'm definitely a key determining factor, even in delegating a little bit of that responsibility; but it is a little bit more of a team effort than just me making that decision.
Preaching: How many weeks would a normal series be for you?
Batterson: We try to do anywhere between three to five weeks. We think if it's a two-week series, we will not pull out all the stops and do banners, posters, invite cards. It's a little bit pared down because you don't get as much bang for the buck. But if it's a three- to four-week series, then we tend to pull out all the creative stops. We really brand the entire series to the hilt and try to have all of those different elements in place. We've found that if we try to go more than six weeks, we start losing a little bit of the attention span or that series starts losing a little bit of its momentum.
Preaching: Are there certain series you've done in recent years that you've felt really resonated with the congregation?
Batterson: Yeah, you know the very first series that comes to mind is a series we did called the "Elephant in the Church." It's a play on that little phrase the "elephant in the room," an obvious truth that everybody ignores. In keeping with what we're seeing with 20-somethings saying, "Hey, get up in my face. Challenge me. Speak into my life," and in part I think because we're in the bastion of political correctness here in D.C., we just wanted to talk about some of the elephants that are in the church—some subjects that are very difficult for us to talk about, but we need to talk about them. And that series was such a huge success the first time around that it has become an annual series.
The topics will range from alcohol—which is kind of controversial depending on your church background—to consumerism, that we want to challenge people to confront the materialism that we see in the church and in our culture. There's the political elephant, which is an interesting one to preach here in Washington, D.C. We actually did that message right before the last election. And so that series has been wildly successful in part because it's a little controversial. That series, all of the branding, and some of the video trailers that we did, the graphics are available at elephantinthechurch.com. If folks want to think about doing that series, they can certainly use everything we've done. The only think we'd ask is: Come up with some of your own elephants, do it better than we did it and then share it with someone else.
Preaching: Are there some things you've learned about preaching and communication that you wished you'd known when you were first starting out?
Batterson: (Laughs) Fortunately I had a wise mentor very early on who encouraged me to preach one-point sermons. I'm not at all against multiple points or even alliterating those points as a kind of memory tool. But I've found that sometimes saying one thing, and then turning the kaleidoscope to reveal different dimensions of that or to come at it from different angles, I think that can be a helpful tool.
I remember a conversation with a member of our congregation whose name I won't mention, but who was a cabinet member and a name people would know. I was a young preacher, and he was attending our church. I remember he came up to me after one of my sermons and said "Pastor, that was a great series of sermons." He very kindly and in an encouraging way said, "Listen, that sermon was great, but it was pretty long. Your first half was really good, but I forgot it because your second half was really good too."
I always struggle with the question: Can I say more by saying less? I strive toward that. It's kind of the "bed of nails" principle. If you lie down on one nail, it's going to puncture the skin and penetrate; but with a bed of nails, the pressure is diffused across a thousand nails and nothing ever penetrates—it doesn't really make its point. I think the same is true with preaching—we've got to try to have one primary point that we really drive home, and then everything else kind of surrounds that point and helps make the point.
Preaching: You mentioned that you were fortunate to have a mentor. Put on your mentoring hat for a moment. If you're sitting with a young pastor, trying to give some counsel about ministry, about preaching, what would it be?
Batterson: I think one of the first things that comes to mind is, find your voice. Listen to as many people as you can; but at the end of the day, what does God want to communicate through your unique personality? Through your unique life circumstances? Through your unique gifts?
And be comfortable in your own skin. I think early on I was trying to be a pastor, trying to be a preacher. More and more now I'm trying to be myself. And people respond to that, the authenticity when you're just being real. And so I think part of finding your voice is, in a sense, discovering your unique contribution to the kingdom of God.
C.S. Lewis said every life is comprised of a few themes. And I think discovering those themes helps us be confident as we communicate. On the flip side, it helps us realize that if we aren't careful we might ride on those hobby horses and preach on the same things week in and week out. And so part of finding your voice is: what are those life themes that God has woven into your life?
The second part of it is gaining more confidence to preach on tough topics. You know, we are not doing people any favors if we dance around the difficult subjects. How can we complain about some of the sexual depravity in our culture if we aren't talking about it from the pulpit? I know those are touchy topics, they're difficult to communicate about, but we've got to have the boldness. Part of finding your voice is the confidence to be able to communicate on tough topics but do it in a way that is more concerned about being biblically correct than politically correct. And in those moments when God's put something on your heart, let it rip.
My word of encouragement would be to thank God for His anointing. I don't know that I can even define it. I don't even know exactly what it is, I just know I need it. I know when I have it, and I know when I don't. And I think as preachers that keeps us humble.
At the end of the day, I think God's anointing is Him taking whatever message we've communicated and using it beyond our ability. It's an amazing thing — once those sound waves leave our lips and somewhere between there and hitting the ear drums of listeners, the Holy Spirit goes to work. That's when preaching is that wonderful tag team. The anointing of God, I think, can accomplish things in peoples' lives that we certainly can't.
Find this article at: http://www.crosswalk.com/pastors/11607937/
Michael Duduit
Executive Editor of Preaching
Preaching: Your congregation is also known as the Theater Church. Why is that?
Batterson: I went into church planting with a traditional mindset: meet in a rented facility so you can buy or build a building. Problem is, on Capitol Hill property was going for about $10 million an acre.
Preaching: That's a challenge!
Batterson: Yeah, we were not going to buy property and build something. Long story short, we were meeting in the movie theaters at Union Station, which is the most visited destination in D.C. About 25 million people pass through Union Station every year.
You know, sometimes I'm slow picking up on these things, but at some point I thought to myself: Here we are meeting in a movie theater in Union Station, with amazing screens that we use for videos and worship projection, and there are 48 food court restaurants right outside our front door. And how many churches have their own subway system?
And then I thought to myself: Why would we build a building when we can be at a place like this? So that vision of meeting in movie theaters at Metro stops was birthed. We're now one church with nine services at five locations, four of them movie theaters. And then we own and operate the largest coffee house on Capitol Hill. God has blessed us over these 13 years. And, for what its worth, we are 70 percent single, 20-somethings; so a lot of emerging generation folks are coming to church, and we're doing our level best to reach them for Christ.
Preaching: The vast majority of your people come from an un-churched or de-churched background. How do you go about reaching those "de-churched" folks?
Batterson: That's just someone who grew up going to church but quit going. I've read statistics that as many as 61 percent of 20-somethings quit going to church at some point, and we kind of get them on the rebound. It's amazing how many people were checked out for five or 10 or 15 years, and we find them or they find us on the rebound. We love being a church for those folks who left the church for one reason or another. That's really who we're targeting and part of the reason why we're trying to meet in marketplace locations. It makes it a little bit easier for them to walk in our front door.
Preaching: As you do that, tell me about the approach you take to preaching. If we were to come to one of your locations next Sunday, what might we see and experience?
Batterson: Those of us who are preachers, we eat and sleep and breathe these things called preaching and teaching. I'm going to say up front that even 13 years in, I'm still trying to find my voice; and I make no apologies for that. I have not arrived, and I continue to try to sharpen my edge as a communicator. I do that by listening to a lot of podcasts—I have a steady diet of preachers in my own life.
If I were to describe one thing that makes us somewhat unique, it is that while we are very biblical in our approach, we do try to brand our sermon series. Let me give you an example. We did a series on First and Second Timothy that was expository in nature; but instead of titling it "First and Second Timothy," we decided to title or brand that series "Potential" because we felt like it was all about a guy named Paul who saw tremendous potential in a kid named Timothy. By branding it that way, we felt like it would speak to some of those deep desires in people's hearts to reach their potential.
We're not watering-down or dumbing-down the message of the gospel. In fact, you're never going to reach your potential outside a relationship with Jesus Christ as Creator and Savior. So, we're pretty straight up in the way we communicate from Scripture—we don't pull punches—but we also try to bring a little bit of creativity to bear in branding those series in a way that wouldn't just appeal to the people sitting in our church but encourage them to invite their un-churched friends.
Preaching: How long would a typical message be for you?
Batterson: (Laughs) I think I'm at a stage where I'm getting a little bit more passionate, and sometimes that means I get a little bit louder and a little bit longer! Typically speaking, I usually preach anywhere between 37 and 43 minutes. Our service times are about 65 to 70 minutes, so we don't have long services; and sometimes I have a tough time keeping it in check. But on a normal weekend, somewhere right around that 40-minute mark.
Preaching: There are a number of people who insist that because of declining attention spans, preachers have to offer shorter and shorter messages. Yet it's fascinating that pastors who have churches that are reaching lots of young adults today are not preaching 15- or 20-minute sermons.
Batterson: Number one, I think that young adult demographic has a longer attention span than we give them credit for. But you've got to be a good communicator, and you've got to utilize story and illustration and find ways to mix it up. The other thing I'm finding is that they want you to get in their faces and speak the truth. They want you to challenge them, and I'm very encouraged by that. I think it's a great day for preachers with this upcoming generation.
Preaching: A friend of mine speaks weekly to between 800 and 1,000 20-somethings, and he started out trying to be very creative and innovative. Finally they came to him and said, "No, tell us what the Bible says, what it means, and what we should do about it." They really want to know the truth of God's Word.
Batterson: I think that's bullseye. That doesn't mean there isn't an appreciation for creativity. We try to bring creative elements into play. I've often said that I think the pulpit is the least effective place to preach. I mean, if you can get off-site and preach in a creative location—listen, Jesus preached from boats, you know? Yet I've come to an even deeper conviction this year that it's not my creativity that's going to change people's lives, it's the Word of God. It's the Word of God that will not return void, so we need to preach the Word. I would say, "let it rip." We need to put it out there and go for it.
Preaching: You've got a couple of great books that have become very popular with churches in terms of launching bible studies, and sermon series and other things. The first one has one of my favorite book titles of all time, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. That's just got to be one of the all-time best book titles ever done. And then another one that you have is called Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God. Did these grow out of your own preaching ministry?
Batterson: They did. Here's a little back-story on In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. The entire book really revolves around one little story kind of buried in Samuel about one of David's mighty men, Benaiah, who chases a lion into a pit on a snowy day and kills it. It's just an amazing story. I heard a preacher preach out of that text when I was 19 years old, Michael. And somehow that story just captured my imagination and kind of got into my spirit; and I thought: If I ever write a book, I would love to write a book on that story because I love Benaiah and this idea of chasing lions.
I held on to that idea. And so years later I wrote that book—it came out in 2006—and did a sermon series as well. For both books we actually created Web sites—chasethelion.com and chasethegoose.com—with all of the videos and graphics and transcripts and anything anybody could ever want, and it's all customizable. And so hundreds of churches have done series on those books, utilizing some of those resources on those Web sites; and it's been really neat to see a lot of churches just get the DNA of those books and utilize them on a church-wide campaign.
Preaching: Your most recent book is Wild Goose Chase. What is that book all about?
Batterson: Well, you know the Celtic Christians have this name for the Holy Spirit, An Geadh-Glas, or the Wild Goose. I love that! It sounds a little sacrilegious, but what a great description of the Holy Spirit—you know you can't track or tame a wild goose. There's this kind of element of danger, or a little hint of mystery. And what a great description of what it's like living a Spirit-led life—you're not going to know where you're going all the time, and that might cause a little anxiety; but we also have another name for it, adventure. And so really it's a book that invites people into the adventure of living a Spirit-led life or chasing after the wild goose. It's a book that invites people into that adventure of following after the Holy Spirit.
Preaching: Both books came out of sermon series that you did. Do you preach mostly in series, and how far out do you plan your series?
Batterson: We do series the entire year. Occasionally in between—just to take a little bit of a creative breather—we'll do a buffer Sunday. Sometimes we'll call it PBJ Sunday, peanut butter and jelly. We'll kind of strip it down, not a whole lot of creativity.
We'll often celebrate communion those weekends and do kind of a back-to-basics message. But by and large it's sermon series.
We do a staff retreat in November, and we begin strategizing our sermon series for the next year. By the time we're done with that meeting we will have a rough strategy of those series that we're going to do throughout the next year.
By the way, this might be really kind of a helpful tip: we do an annual survey every year before that retreat; and one of things I do in that survey is to pitch a dozen sermon series ideas to our congregation and say, "Which one of these series would be most helpful to your spiritual growth?" And we track those numbers—the ones that come back with a very high percentage, it's a pretty good bet we're going to do those series. And then, interestingly enough, the ones that come back very low—in other words, the series that people don't want to hear—those series will often end up making the cut, too, because we're wondering, "Why don't you want to hear about this?"
So we'll put together that strategy. That sounds better than it really is because about 70 percent of those series will make the final cut. Then what will happen is we get into a year, we just feel like God's moving a little different direction, and we'll pull the plug on one series and plug in another series. It's not a perfect science, but what really helps me is that then I can read strategically months in advance as we're gearing up for different series because we'll know what we're doing. It also enables our creative team to put together elements in advance. So we try to plan out that entire year in advance.
Preaching: As you come into that November staff meeting, have you already sketched out some of your ideas about some of those series? How much of the final decision on the series is yours as opposed to a consensus of the group?
Batterson: We have a teaching team, and I speak about 36 weekends at this point. I used to do 48, but we have two other people on that teaching team. And this year we did something a little bit different. I said to them, "Instead of all the series being my decision, why don't you guys pitch a couple of sermon series ideas; and then you can plug me into the series where you want to do it." I'm definitely a key determining factor, even in delegating a little bit of that responsibility; but it is a little bit more of a team effort than just me making that decision.
Preaching: How many weeks would a normal series be for you?
Batterson: We try to do anywhere between three to five weeks. We think if it's a two-week series, we will not pull out all the stops and do banners, posters, invite cards. It's a little bit pared down because you don't get as much bang for the buck. But if it's a three- to four-week series, then we tend to pull out all the creative stops. We really brand the entire series to the hilt and try to have all of those different elements in place. We've found that if we try to go more than six weeks, we start losing a little bit of the attention span or that series starts losing a little bit of its momentum.
Preaching: Are there certain series you've done in recent years that you've felt really resonated with the congregation?
Batterson: Yeah, you know the very first series that comes to mind is a series we did called the "Elephant in the Church." It's a play on that little phrase the "elephant in the room," an obvious truth that everybody ignores. In keeping with what we're seeing with 20-somethings saying, "Hey, get up in my face. Challenge me. Speak into my life," and in part I think because we're in the bastion of political correctness here in D.C., we just wanted to talk about some of the elephants that are in the church—some subjects that are very difficult for us to talk about, but we need to talk about them. And that series was such a huge success the first time around that it has become an annual series.
The topics will range from alcohol—which is kind of controversial depending on your church background—to consumerism, that we want to challenge people to confront the materialism that we see in the church and in our culture. There's the political elephant, which is an interesting one to preach here in Washington, D.C. We actually did that message right before the last election. And so that series has been wildly successful in part because it's a little controversial. That series, all of the branding, and some of the video trailers that we did, the graphics are available at elephantinthechurch.com. If folks want to think about doing that series, they can certainly use everything we've done. The only think we'd ask is: Come up with some of your own elephants, do it better than we did it and then share it with someone else.
Preaching: Are there some things you've learned about preaching and communication that you wished you'd known when you were first starting out?
Batterson: (Laughs) Fortunately I had a wise mentor very early on who encouraged me to preach one-point sermons. I'm not at all against multiple points or even alliterating those points as a kind of memory tool. But I've found that sometimes saying one thing, and then turning the kaleidoscope to reveal different dimensions of that or to come at it from different angles, I think that can be a helpful tool.
I remember a conversation with a member of our congregation whose name I won't mention, but who was a cabinet member and a name people would know. I was a young preacher, and he was attending our church. I remember he came up to me after one of my sermons and said "Pastor, that was a great series of sermons." He very kindly and in an encouraging way said, "Listen, that sermon was great, but it was pretty long. Your first half was really good, but I forgot it because your second half was really good too."
I always struggle with the question: Can I say more by saying less? I strive toward that. It's kind of the "bed of nails" principle. If you lie down on one nail, it's going to puncture the skin and penetrate; but with a bed of nails, the pressure is diffused across a thousand nails and nothing ever penetrates—it doesn't really make its point. I think the same is true with preaching—we've got to try to have one primary point that we really drive home, and then everything else kind of surrounds that point and helps make the point.
Preaching: You mentioned that you were fortunate to have a mentor. Put on your mentoring hat for a moment. If you're sitting with a young pastor, trying to give some counsel about ministry, about preaching, what would it be?
Batterson: I think one of the first things that comes to mind is, find your voice. Listen to as many people as you can; but at the end of the day, what does God want to communicate through your unique personality? Through your unique life circumstances? Through your unique gifts?
And be comfortable in your own skin. I think early on I was trying to be a pastor, trying to be a preacher. More and more now I'm trying to be myself. And people respond to that, the authenticity when you're just being real. And so I think part of finding your voice is, in a sense, discovering your unique contribution to the kingdom of God.
C.S. Lewis said every life is comprised of a few themes. And I think discovering those themes helps us be confident as we communicate. On the flip side, it helps us realize that if we aren't careful we might ride on those hobby horses and preach on the same things week in and week out. And so part of finding your voice is: what are those life themes that God has woven into your life?
The second part of it is gaining more confidence to preach on tough topics. You know, we are not doing people any favors if we dance around the difficult subjects. How can we complain about some of the sexual depravity in our culture if we aren't talking about it from the pulpit? I know those are touchy topics, they're difficult to communicate about, but we've got to have the boldness. Part of finding your voice is the confidence to be able to communicate on tough topics but do it in a way that is more concerned about being biblically correct than politically correct. And in those moments when God's put something on your heart, let it rip.
My word of encouragement would be to thank God for His anointing. I don't know that I can even define it. I don't even know exactly what it is, I just know I need it. I know when I have it, and I know when I don't. And I think as preachers that keeps us humble.
At the end of the day, I think God's anointing is Him taking whatever message we've communicated and using it beyond our ability. It's an amazing thing — once those sound waves leave our lips and somewhere between there and hitting the ear drums of listeners, the Holy Spirit goes to work. That's when preaching is that wonderful tag team. The anointing of God, I think, can accomplish things in peoples' lives that we certainly can't.
Find this article at: http://www.crosswalk.com/pastors/11607937/
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Why I Kissed Facebook Goodbye
Christians Foregoing Facebook for 'Digital Fasting'
Bobby Ross Jr.
Religion News Service
In the world of faith-based social networking, evangelical Christian leader Mark Oestreicher commanded a huge chunk of cyberspace.
Known as "Marko," the technological hipster amassed 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers and 2,000 daily readers of his blog.
But then he decided he'd had enough -- and unplugged from his online circle of friends.
"It's not that I don't think online connections are real. It's just that they are perpetually superficial," said Oestreicher, former longtime president of Youth Specialties, a company based in El Cajon, Calif., that specializes in youth pastor training materials and seminars.
In an age when many religious leaders embrace the latest technology and even "tweet" from the pulpit, some -- like Oestreicher -- are reassessing the potential negative impact of online overload.
"Unplugging has become essential to my spiritual journey and truly hearing God," said Anne Jackson, an author, speaker, and volunteer pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tenn. "For me, all the noise can drown that out if I'm not careful."
Jackson, author of the book "Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic," maintains a church leadership blog at Flowerdust.net that draws 150,000 page views a month, by her estimate.
She has 6,700 Twitter followers.
But earlier this year, she closed her Facebook account -- saying goodbye to 2,500 friends -- and committed to spend less time on Twitter and her blog.
She finally acknowledged what her husband had hinted for a while:
She had become a little obsessed with her online persona.
"For me, Facebook was a problem," Jackson wrote in an essay titled, "Why I Kissed Facebook Goodbye."
"I don't believe everyone should quit using Facebook, or be afraid of it if one hasn't started," she added. "We just need to be aware of the ways any form of media can interrupt our time with God or those closest to us."
Balance is the key, said Peggy Kendall, an associate professor of communication studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., who has researched the impact of technology on society.
She bristles at the notion that online connections are "perpetually superficial."
"While there are certainly limitations to online communication, there are also significant benefits to communicating online that one can only rarely experience face to face," said Kendall, author of the forthcoming book "Reboot: Refreshing Your Faith in a High-Tech World."
In the old days of youth ministry, a pastor might endure years of junior high gym nights and overnight retreats before a student would feel comfortable enough to share deep hurts and uncertainties and ask authentic questions, she said.
But in an age of texting and instant messaging, a student might divulge "intensely personal things" within days of getting to know the youth pastor, Kendall said.
Students "have found that the hyperpersonal nature of online communication provides them a safe place to be real and communicate freely," she said.
Rather than unplug entirely, Kendall advocates that people of faith periodically "fast" from technology -- to assess what's helpful about their online activities and what's simply distracting.
This concept has become a "huge conversation" in the classes that theology professor Dillon Burroughs teaches at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"I call it `digital fasting,' although I recommend short breaks since it is like asking someone my parent's age to stop using a phone or reading a newspaper," said Burroughs, a former pastor who networks extensively with ministry leaders and has more than 38,000 Twitter followers.
During the week, the Rev. Margot Starbuck, a mother of three who works as a writer and speaker, said she writes, blogs and typically replies to e-mails within minutes of receiving them.
"If I'm not at my computer, I'm wondering what I'm missing," said Starbuck, an ordained Presbyterian pastor who lives in Durham, N.C. "I check e-mail first thing in the morning and often as the last thing I do before bedtime. I am not proud of that."
Even on Sundays, when she wasn't technically working, she found herself staying busy with e-mail and computer games.
So, she implemented what she calls "Unplugged Sabbath" -- no computer all day long.
"When I wake up in the morning, when I'd typically start mentally tuning in to work on the computer, I find I have nothing better to do than crawl in bed with my daughter," Starbuck said.
"After worship, when I don't have to be about my own business, I'm freed up to take a hike with my family and be entirely present to them,"
she added. "By the time evening rolls around, I don't even want to check the e-mail that's backed up all day."
In Oestreicher's case, he said he's not suggesting that everyone delete online profiles and stop using the Internet.
Rather, he said he made a personal decision to choose "best over good" and stop constantly checking his Blackberry for updates.
Trying to maintain hundreds -- and even thousands -- of online connections distracted from his real-life relationships with his family and colleagues, he said.
Months after unplugging, he voiced surprise at how little withdrawal pains he experienced.
"I think that was primarily because I so immediately saw a return of four things I was hoping for: time, presence, focus and creativity," he said. "My family could tell the difference, and my co-workers also. It was rather astounding, actually."
c. 2009 Religion News Service. Used with permission.
Bobby Ross Jr.
Religion News Service
In the world of faith-based social networking, evangelical Christian leader Mark Oestreicher commanded a huge chunk of cyberspace.
Known as "Marko," the technological hipster amassed 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers and 2,000 daily readers of his blog.
But then he decided he'd had enough -- and unplugged from his online circle of friends.
"It's not that I don't think online connections are real. It's just that they are perpetually superficial," said Oestreicher, former longtime president of Youth Specialties, a company based in El Cajon, Calif., that specializes in youth pastor training materials and seminars.
In an age when many religious leaders embrace the latest technology and even "tweet" from the pulpit, some -- like Oestreicher -- are reassessing the potential negative impact of online overload.
"Unplugging has become essential to my spiritual journey and truly hearing God," said Anne Jackson, an author, speaker, and volunteer pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tenn. "For me, all the noise can drown that out if I'm not careful."
Jackson, author of the book "Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic," maintains a church leadership blog at Flowerdust.net that draws 150,000 page views a month, by her estimate.
She has 6,700 Twitter followers.
But earlier this year, she closed her Facebook account -- saying goodbye to 2,500 friends -- and committed to spend less time on Twitter and her blog.
She finally acknowledged what her husband had hinted for a while:
She had become a little obsessed with her online persona.
"For me, Facebook was a problem," Jackson wrote in an essay titled, "Why I Kissed Facebook Goodbye."
"I don't believe everyone should quit using Facebook, or be afraid of it if one hasn't started," she added. "We just need to be aware of the ways any form of media can interrupt our time with God or those closest to us."
Balance is the key, said Peggy Kendall, an associate professor of communication studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., who has researched the impact of technology on society.
She bristles at the notion that online connections are "perpetually superficial."
"While there are certainly limitations to online communication, there are also significant benefits to communicating online that one can only rarely experience face to face," said Kendall, author of the forthcoming book "Reboot: Refreshing Your Faith in a High-Tech World."
In the old days of youth ministry, a pastor might endure years of junior high gym nights and overnight retreats before a student would feel comfortable enough to share deep hurts and uncertainties and ask authentic questions, she said.
But in an age of texting and instant messaging, a student might divulge "intensely personal things" within days of getting to know the youth pastor, Kendall said.
Students "have found that the hyperpersonal nature of online communication provides them a safe place to be real and communicate freely," she said.
Rather than unplug entirely, Kendall advocates that people of faith periodically "fast" from technology -- to assess what's helpful about their online activities and what's simply distracting.
This concept has become a "huge conversation" in the classes that theology professor Dillon Burroughs teaches at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"I call it `digital fasting,' although I recommend short breaks since it is like asking someone my parent's age to stop using a phone or reading a newspaper," said Burroughs, a former pastor who networks extensively with ministry leaders and has more than 38,000 Twitter followers.
During the week, the Rev. Margot Starbuck, a mother of three who works as a writer and speaker, said she writes, blogs and typically replies to e-mails within minutes of receiving them.
"If I'm not at my computer, I'm wondering what I'm missing," said Starbuck, an ordained Presbyterian pastor who lives in Durham, N.C. "I check e-mail first thing in the morning and often as the last thing I do before bedtime. I am not proud of that."
Even on Sundays, when she wasn't technically working, she found herself staying busy with e-mail and computer games.
So, she implemented what she calls "Unplugged Sabbath" -- no computer all day long.
"When I wake up in the morning, when I'd typically start mentally tuning in to work on the computer, I find I have nothing better to do than crawl in bed with my daughter," Starbuck said.
"After worship, when I don't have to be about my own business, I'm freed up to take a hike with my family and be entirely present to them,"
she added. "By the time evening rolls around, I don't even want to check the e-mail that's backed up all day."
In Oestreicher's case, he said he's not suggesting that everyone delete online profiles and stop using the Internet.
Rather, he said he made a personal decision to choose "best over good" and stop constantly checking his Blackberry for updates.
Trying to maintain hundreds -- and even thousands -- of online connections distracted from his real-life relationships with his family and colleagues, he said.
Months after unplugging, he voiced surprise at how little withdrawal pains he experienced.
"I think that was primarily because I so immediately saw a return of four things I was hoping for: time, presence, focus and creativity," he said. "My family could tell the difference, and my co-workers also. It was rather astounding, actually."
c. 2009 Religion News Service. Used with permission.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Malachi 2:14 the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her
Malaysian falls to her death after discovering affair
Other News & View
Compiled by MAZWIN NIK ANIS, TAN SIN CHOW and A.RAMAN
Tuesday November 3, 2009
A MALAYSIAN woman fell to her death from the 11th floor of an apartment in Singapore after discovering her husband’s extra-marital affair, reported China Press.
Xu Ya Niang, 54, was seen sitting on the edge of the kitchen’s windowsill by her daughter before she fell to her death at 5.40pm on Sunday.
It is learnt that she had earlier confronted her husband over his alleged affair with another woman but he instead threatened to divorce her.
According to her daughter, Xu was depressed over the past few weeks after seeing her husband walking with a woman.
“We stopped her from committing suicide a few times before,” said the daughter.
She said her father was aware that her mother was sitting on the windowsill as he was browsing the Internet in the living room.
Other News & View
Compiled by MAZWIN NIK ANIS, TAN SIN CHOW and A.RAMAN
Tuesday November 3, 2009
A MALAYSIAN woman fell to her death from the 11th floor of an apartment in Singapore after discovering her husband’s extra-marital affair, reported China Press.
Xu Ya Niang, 54, was seen sitting on the edge of the kitchen’s windowsill by her daughter before she fell to her death at 5.40pm on Sunday.
It is learnt that she had earlier confronted her husband over his alleged affair with another woman but he instead threatened to divorce her.
According to her daughter, Xu was depressed over the past few weeks after seeing her husband walking with a woman.
“We stopped her from committing suicide a few times before,” said the daughter.
She said her father was aware that her mother was sitting on the windowsill as he was browsing the Internet in the living room.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
God has given us a spiritual compass to guide our path
Our Spiritual Compass
Theme: The Bible is our spiritual compass.
Object: A compass
Scriptures: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
I am sure that probably all of you have seen a compass. A compass is used to find the right direction to get you to where you want to go. The compass has four main directions, they are North, South, East and West. The needle of the compass always points North. If the needle is pointing in that direction (point to the North) and I want to go South, I would go that direction (point in the opposite direction from what the needle is pointing.) With the needle pointing North, if I wanted to go East, I would go in that direction (point to the East.) If the needle sometimes pointed North and at other times it pointed to the South, East, or West, I would never be able to use the compass to find my way. I would wander around, hopelessly lost. The compass must always point in the right direction if we are going to use it to guide us.
When we are trying to find our way through the journey of life, God has given us a spiritual compass to guide our path. That guide is the Bible, God's Holy Word. The truth that we find in the Bible never changes. It will always point us in the same direction. It will always point us to Jesus.
Some people use their feelings to help them to decide what they should do. That's no good. Our feelings change from day to day and they cannot be trusted. Besides that, just because we feel good about something doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do.
Some people choose what they will do by what's popular. That is no good either. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do, does it? Tomorrow everyone might be doing something else.
There is only one thing that we can trust to always point us in the right direction, and that is the Bible. It will always point to Jesus and Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me."
Father, we thank you for giving us the Bible to be our guide through life. Help us to remember that we can always depend on the Bible to point us in the right direction. Amen.
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