Ministry Update March/April 2007

Days are moving fast don’t they? After my previous posting I was thinking, what can I post next? And now as the month comes to an end, I have found so many things to share. Well, last Sunday was a great worship service in church. Partly because it has been a long time since I heard some preaching. Huh? You may wonder. There should be preaching at every Sunday worship service, right? Well, that is the ideal. However, I discovered that many people failed to distinguish the difference between preaching & teaching. Even preachers themselves. 95% of the time, at Sunday worship services, the message was taught & not preached. I remember last year when I conducted a sermon preparation workshop at FGA with some lay preachers. When I asked the difference between preaching & teaching, no one gave an adequate answer. Besides, most of them looked puzzled. And they are not alone. In fact, most people would think preaching is teaching & teaching is preaching. Nope! That’s not it. There is a fine line dividing the two. But before I give you the answer, why not pause awhile & think…what is the difference?

I taught my first Bible class in BM. It went well. I was pretty worried of my lack of fluency in the spoken BM language. But praise God that my students were very patient & helpful. Despite the lack of language fluency, the Lord was with us & we had a lot of fun studying the historical books of the OT. I gave the lecturer evaluation form at the end of the course & received very good feedback. It encouraged me a lot. In fact, the comments were so good, I felt embarrassed reading them! (Perhaps the student wanted to encourage me, perhaps they were aware that I have not marked their tests and assignments yet!)

At present I am doing a self study course on Christian leadership in missions. The books I have to read were great. In fact, they were so interesting I found myself completing the reading assignments so fast! Among the many things I learnt were about planning, communication, team work, team building, management, etc. But one very interesting thing I learnt was this – give and it will be given to you. I’ve always known that familiar Bible verse – ask & it shall be given – but this is a bit different. Only recently did I discover the truth of it.

I found myself getting deeper & deeper involved in my students. Somehow, I just have this passion to give the best of all I have in every single task the Lord entrusted to me. (Be faithful even unto little, eh?!) And it so surprised me when this one student commented that I’m so a pastor because I regularly ask a few of them regarding their progress in studies. Huh? I have always known the pastoral tendency in me is the most and very weakest. But as I pour out care & concern, I received that in return. As I gave, it was given to me. You see, I was in a pretty frustrated moment. Then a simple phone call came to enquire, “hey…heard you were in such & such a situation, you doing ok?” Well, I suppose that’s what pastors ought to be doing. It’s only that I’ve never received such attention. (Thanks Alan…you’re a brother!) And it also taught me how I need to be more sensitive to people I work with and people all around me. (Honestly, I’m pretty “numb”!!!) Bottom line is: there’s still so much I need to learn!

I had a very interesting meeting over lunch with a friend recently. And I’ve learnt so much from her. I have to admit that I’m such a green horn in ministry. After serving in the pastoral capacity and comparing studying about it, I must admit that one definitely need to have a proper balance of the two. Seminary training is redundant without practical ministry. Just the same, practical experiences carry no weight without proper training. There really need to be adequate balance of the two. I praise the Lord for the networking opportunity He is opening to me, locally & overseas. It’s great serving here at the Seminary. It’s fun in the missions department. It’s exciting exploring cross-cultural studies. And those who have had a taste of it will testify to this. Just like my brother Casey from (EAST) Singapore!

Please continue to pray for us at the Seminary. I have a strong conviction that if the Lord should visit us, the most strategic location is the Seminary – the very place where He had given the mandate to train leaders for His church. Join me in prayer for a spiritual revival here in campus. One student impacted is a whole congregation impacted and who knows, that very student may be a denomination head, a mission organization boss, etc.?! Please pray for me as I serve here in the Seminary. I’m having a great time here in the missions department, the graduate school & of course, the BM stream. And my studies? Couldn’t be better! Praise the Lord.

PS: So, have you decided what is the difference between preaching & teaching? Well, when we prepare to preach or to teach, two important elements are (1) to study the passage in its original context & I mean thorough study of it, (2) then the next step is applying it into our contemporary context. The following step is what makes the two different. When we prepare a message to preach, we proclaim it with an element of inviting or challenging a response from the hearers so that they are convicted in their thoughts – enough to spur their heart into acting out their responses. On the other hand, proclaiming the message by teaching is to teach the facts, how it can be applied into our lives and we leave it to the hearers to apply what they hear (that feed their knowledge). Most preachers, myself included, tend to pose a challenge when summing up the message. It is because, after we learn of God’s truth, we need to show our hearers how to apply them and challenge them to actually make that commitment of applying the truth that has been learnt. It’s not accomplished by a showing of hands or coming forward to the front for prayers but it is the assurance that these people are equipped enough and they are convinced enough that they need to actually practice what they hear. Imagine yourself in a cell group meeting. A message taught from the pulpit on Sunday is no different than the teaching you hear in your cell groups. But a message preached is a message that reasoned the head (knowledge), spur the heart (conviction by the Holy Spirit) & expressed through action. Well, in short, preaching is delivering a message containing an “aggressive” urge (challenge) for a response…something absent in teaching.