My Sons are Taken Care Of!

Working in a law firm makes the realities of day-to-day living even more real for me.

If I only taught music, I would seldom come across the harsh side of life, such as joblessness, serious illness and death. Wisdom tells us to be aware of these realities and prepare for them. We are to give thought to estate planning, to ensure we leave a good inheritance to our children (Proverbs 13:22) and to prepare at least one alternative income channel (Proverbs 27:23-24) in case of financial reversals (job loss or economic downturns).

But sometimes life hits us when we are unprepared. Take the example of the widow who approached Elisha in the following passage.

2 Kings 4:1-2 (ESV) – Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves." And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?" And she said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil."

We see in this situation a devout man, who maybe wasn’t as careful with his money as he ought to have been, or may have been cut down in the prime of his life through sickness. You think such things don’t happen to godly people? Go have a heart-to-heart chat with your pastor and you will find out the truth. It is one thing that I don’t think I will ever understand this side of heaven, how mighty men of God, some greatly used by God to bring healing miracles to others, can sometimes die of illness too. 

So when human effort fails us, does God leave us to our own devices? Or does he intervene to help his people and show us mercy?

2 Kings 4:3-7 (ESV) – Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside." So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another." Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest."

It is easy for me to get this miracle by Elisha mixed up with the one by Elijah, when he met the widow of Zarephath, described in 1 Kings 17:9-15. In a nutshell, God directed Elijah to Zarephath, where he met a starving widow who only had enough for one meal. She gave a small portion of it to Elijah, and God multiplied the rest to last them for the rest of the famine.

As a Word-of-Faith person, I saw in that account Elijah teaching the widow to use the law of sowing and reaping for her benefit. She sowed a token amount of food into Elijah’s life, and she received enough food to sustain her son and herself for possibly two to three years.

But the widow in Elisha’s case received a lot more than that. She received enough for her sons and her to not only pay off debts but even last until her sons grew up and started working. The Bible doesn’t give us the details, but I would not be surprised if this provision miracle was at least twice as rich and twice as long in duration as the one given to the widow of Zarephath.

Why did this disparity? I personally believe it is because of the difference in the seed sown. The widow of Zarephath sowed a token amount of food to a man of God. The prophet who died before his time sowed his life to seeking God. He feared the LORD and lived in a community of people who sought the LORD too.

And the issue of community is very important. We are not called by God to seek him by ourselves. We are to live in community with other believers, knowing that we can mature only in fellowship with other believers…

Ephesians 4:15-17 (ESV) - speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

And that also means being willing to supply the needs of other believers also.

Ephesians 4:28 (ESV) -  Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

The connection between sharing with others and receiving provision is clearly stated in the following verse.

2 Corinthians 8:14 (ESV) - your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.

This is a verse that does not get preached about very much. Think about it. The lazy, who want to find ways to sponge off others, want verses that tell them that they can expect to receive money without having to labour for it and without having  to sow financially into the lives of others first. The diligent who are prosperous and giving to church and the poor don’t want to hear that someday they may lose the material possessions they have laboured for and have to depend on the generosity and kindness of others

How often do you find a verse that manages to offend two very different groups of people?

Conclusion:

I am not sure what God will speak to you from this passage. For me, however, this is very assuring. I know I live my life as unto the LORD, but I have made financial mistakes before. Frankly, I end up worrying about how to provide for my sons. Will they have to suffer for my mistakes and wrong decisions?

So this account in Scripture tells me that no matter how I may have messed up financially, God is still there. He still has the desire to provide for my sons. And knowing that just gives me the assurance to just keep living my life for serving God. I know that my sons will be taken care of!

And I am also firmly reminded to look for opportunities to give, to sow financially into the lives of others. And I am especially serious about sowing into the bereaved families of servants of God. Like it or not, there will be men and women of God who have given their lives to serving the Lord, but have been taken from this life before their time.  They will leave behind families who need help and it is our role, our responsibility and our privilege to be used by God to supply for their needs.

What then are the lessons in this that God wants you to take to heart? Do share, that I too may be edified and encouraged by your faith. Be blessed!

Paying Your Church Musicians

Once we start on a topic involving money, watch the temperatures rise! People tend to get emotional about this issue. Some musicians see it as a matter of respect, others as a means of making a livelihood. Some church leaders and members may feel think, 'it's a ministry, people should do this entirely on a voluntary basis'.

People can get very confused when discussing this, and end up at cross-purposes with each other just because there is a large spectrum of musicians, work assigned to musicians, and different levels of pay. So here are some questions that will help you clarify the matter and help in your decision making.

Important Note:

All this is written for church leaders and pastors who are in a position to decide on church musician salaries. If you are a musician, don't take my material and use it to try and get yourself paid. That's not what it's meant for!

1) How much work is a musician doing? Is the musician

• Just playing?

• For some services or all?

• Leading the practices and settling the music arrangements for a not-so-musical worship leader/pastor?

• Small group leader (giving some form of pastoral care) for the rest of the musicians?

You will have to decide on how much work should they do before it's justified to pay them. This will be largely based on how much you want from the musicians (demand), how easy it is to find what you want (supply) and how much time it takes to fulfil those duties (price).

I had this conversation once. A member of church staff was asking me how to find and hire a pastor who would be highly qualified, possess a wide range of skills, be willing to go the extra mile especially in terms of working overtime AND do it all for a wage that is lower than the market rate.

I had to tell her that if they do not already have such a church member with such qualifications volunteering in the church, it's nearly impossible to find such a person. I threw the question back at her: if you were highly qualified, widely skilled and habitually go the extra mile for whatever organization you work for, would you rather do it for lower wages or for higher?

And if someone whom you don't know (from another church, perhaps) claims to be highly qualified, widely skilled, willing to go the extra mile and is willing to work at your church for a lower wage, wouldn't you be suspicious? I know I would be!

Some churches bring musicians on staff, but they also give the musicians other duties as well. They may double as administrators, do some pastoral work, lead other musicians or even write songs for the church. Most musicians I know dream of a cushy job where they are paid a good wage for sitting down behind their instruments and doodling all day, but if they ARE good musicians, they will have skills and abilities that carry over to other types of work as well. Consider the precedent we see in this passage of Scripture:

2 Chronicles 34:12-13 (NIV) - … The men did the work faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments- had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries, scribes and doorkeepers.

The ability to lead other musicians carries over to the ability to lead other people. The attention to detail that some people bring to playing music is great for admin and accounts work, while the creativity some musicians have carries over to other forms of expression as well (such as writing).

2) Where does your church stand on the performance and participation scale?

If your church is more performance-based (putting up a show to wow people) rather than participation-based (getting worshippers to sing their hearts out), then what you want from your musicians will probably harder to acquire. It can take many years to develop skills suitable for performance, and not everyone with such skills actually enjoys putting up a show week after week, service after service... It will be easier to justify paying musicians for such specialized skills.

But if your church is more participation-based, and your vision is to mobilize a large portion of your congregation to volunteer, then you cannot indiscriminately pay all the volunteers. So you will have to plan out some guidelines, such as those who serve at small group do so on a volunteer basis, while you pay those who serve for the main service. If you come from a small church, start having some idea about it now, so you aren't caught off-guard when your church expands.

What I personally believe is that if your church believes in mobilizing the people for the ministry, especially for the worship ministry, then you will want to pay the musicians who lead and teach the other musicians.

1 Tim 5:17 (NIV) - The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

But if you want to pay your musicians based on the principles of how you pay church elders, what you require from your church musicians should also be based on what the Bible expects from elders. More on that later…

3) Besides paying musicians, other things you can do for your musicians include just paying for petrol and guitar strings (many musicians appreciate even such small gestures) or making sure they have food if they are playing for an evening service. You may want to sponsor them for a seminar/conference or pay for them to take a couple of months of music lessons.

One church I know gives a stored-value farecard for travelling on the Singapore public transport system to two of their musicians. Those two musicians are foreign students studying in Singapore, and such students usually have a tight budget (Singapore public transport isn't cheap). You can guess how much they appreciate this gesture! Use a bit of creativity in finding ways to show appreciation to your church musicians. And sometimes simple ideas are the best.

4) Finally, ask yourself what are YOUR expectations from the musicians?

If you pay them, what else do you expect from them other than turn up and play? Are they going help you manage the equipment too? Are you expecting their 90% attendance for Sunday services? Evening bible study meetings? Small group fellowships? Will your church expect a certain level of consistency and discipline in their personal prayer and devotional life? And if you pay for their music lessons, are they committed to serving in the church that is investing in them?

And here is the question I do not often hear addressed: when do you stop paying a musician? For example, if you appoint a musician to teach the rest of the team and this musician does not teach effectively, are you going to stop paying him or her? Once you pay musicians a wage, they have a corresponding obligation to your church. And if they agree to that obligation and you find that they are unable to fulfil it, what are you going to do? How will you handle the situation?

More complications that can arise: For example, if you decide to pay only the head musician and not the rest of the band, that could give problems. What if I am one of the musicians and I happen to think the guy in charge is a total incompetent, a waste of church resources, and that the money would be better spent on ME? The same thing applies even if you pay every musician but pay the head musician a bit more.

Yes, money complicates things. Then again, Paul doesn't avoid these issues. In the above passage (1 Tim 5:17), he said the elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor (financially). This opens a can of worms - how will you know if they are doing well? Who decides? What will you do if church members disagree with your assessment? Handling all these worms is part and parcel of a pastor's or church leader's job.

So if you are new to this, I hope this post has helped you anticipate and plan for any problems that might come up, so that you will not be caught off-guard when issues arise. Be blessed!
 

When You Meet Simon the Sorcerer

May was the month I studied the Book of Acts. And when I looked into Acts 8 one day over dinner (I was eating by myself and flipped open my Bible for fun) some thoughts came to me.

Acts 8:9-11 (NIV) - Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

In this day and age we are likely to meet Simon the Sorcerer again, spiritually speaking.

Witchcraft and sorcery, obvious use of the occult for self-gain, is not only easily available, it is now fashionable. When I was a teenager I would see the occasional book on spells in the bookshop and think it was a joke. Now you can get detailed instructions on performing and casting spells for free. Just search online!

Because it is now so much easier for people to practice sorcery again, it is likely that we Christians will meet a real genuine sorcerer (or a Satanist or a person with occult powers) sooner or later.

Acts 8:12-13 (NIV) – But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

When was the last time you preached to a Satanist? Or maybe a priest of some other religion, who happened to have supernatural powers? I used to assume that they would never give up the powers they had and turn to Christ, because in order to get their powers they probably sold off their souls permanently and weren't interested in getting them back.

But Satanists do turn to Christ. I know one personally. And I know two powerful evangelists who have no hesitation to declare the resurrection, love and power of Christ to Satanists, witches and priests of other religions. And they do have some success, mainly because they were gutsy enough to pray for God to show signs and miracles to others through them.

You would think that a witch who could curse people with deadly sickness or get winning lottery numbers from spirits would not be impressed when you pray for them and they get healed of headaches. But they are. I have heard of them breaking down and crying when God heals them in the name of Jesus. Of course, these two evangelists have seen God heal more than just headaches through them. But it started from them daring to pray for signs and miracles to confirm the Word they preach.

One thing though, it requires you to accept that signs and miracles are still available to the Body of Christ today. If you believe that the Book of Acts was just meant to be a fluke, a transitional period, and signs and wonders are not meant for us today, then you will have great difficulty witnessing to Simon the Sorcerer when you meet him again.

Acts 8:14-17 – When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This was a turning point in Church history. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritan believers was not only a reminder to the apostles that the command of Acts 1:8 (to preach the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the earth) was still in force, it was also a sign of reconciliation between the Jews and the Samaritans.

And yet in the midst of the Holy Spirit's demonstrated approval of the reconciliation, someone much more worldly-minded could miss or ignore the significance of this event…

Acts 8:18-19 – When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

First, he may have been looking at the whole matter from the perspective of potential profit. If he could bring the Holy Spirit upon anyone whom he laid hands on, he may have been thinking about charging people for receiving the Holy Spirit.

But I personally don't think this is the reason, because as long as the apostles did not charge for laying on of hands, Simon the Sorcerer could not charge for it either. No one would pay him for the Holy Spirit if they could receive the Holy Spirit free of charge directly from the apostles, right?

Second, he may have assumed that the apostles themselves received this ability as a result of giving someone else money. Or that they achieved this ability at great personal sacrifice and training, and deserved to receive monetary compensation for all their efforts and dedication.

This was most probably how he himself received his powers. He either paid someone who had those powers to teach him and then practiced and trained very hard to master those powers, or he sought out spirits to teach him. And in case you do not know, those spirits would have demanded a heavy price from him in one way or another in return for giving him those powers. They may have demanded animal (or even human) sacrifices or that he perform elaborate rituals that are time-consuming and difficult.

(in a nutshell, that is what my ex-Satanist friend taught me about the nature of witchcraft and sorcery…)

So Simon probably thought that was how it was for the apostles. Look at Peter's response.
Consider Peter's rebuke. When Peter rebuked Simon for thinking he could buy the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit, Peter was implying that this gift was free of charge also. It was not given only to those who had the money to pay for it. That was not how the apostles received this gift, or the gift of working miracles. They received all their gifts from the LORD freely, and so they likewise imparted them freely too (Matt 10:8).

Acts 8:20-23 (NIV) – Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

This is a serious matter. Once you think you have to buy the gift of God, instead of receiving it freely on the basis of faith, the above passage tells us that your heart is not right before God (vs 21), it is wickedness (vs 22) and you are full of bitterness and captive to sin (vs 23).

Does this also apply to trying to buy the gift of God with good works, piety and devotion? Think about that…

Acts 8:24 (NIV) – Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."

Now we come to the final question: was Simon the Sorcerer saved? Why did Simon the Sorcerer make this offer?

Yes, I believe so, because he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). But he certainly had a faulty understanding of his salvation. Remember, the Apostle Paul had not yet appeared on the scene to explain in greater depth how we can freely approach God on the basis of faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18).

Notice that when Peter ordered Simon to pray to the Lord (vs 22), Simon refused and asked that Peter pray for him instead (vs 24). This tells me that Simon himself was still afraid of approaching the LORD in prayer, especially when he has sinned. His own faith was not yet established to the point that he could pray to God himself and know God will freely pardon him (Isa 55:7).

This has two implications for us that I would like us to ponder together:

1) Do we believe we have to buy from God what he has freely given us on the basis of faith?

If we believe that, and teach others the same, our hearts are not right before God. Moreover, we will find ourselves captive to bitterness and sin (vs 23) as Simon the Sorcerer was. We will find ourselves stumbling when we try to work for what God has already given us, instead of believing God's Word and trusting in his goodness.

2) People who have a background in sorcery or witchcraft usually have greater difficulty believing in the goodness and forgiveness of God.

Please be patient with them, especially in this area. They need more time and effort to be established in this aspect of the Christian faith. So if you are the one who will follow-up with them after they believe in Jesus or if you have to disciple them, pay careful attention to this area. It is very easy for them to slip up and start relating to God the same way they relate to whatever deities or spirits they served before. And we don't want that to happen!

Conclusion: I personally believe that we will encounter more people with occultic powers in this day and age. We need not be intimidated, in fact, we should be confident as we share Christ with them. The case of Simon the Sorcerer gives us some lessons and thoughts to consider, and we will do well to learn what we can from this passage of Scripture. Be blessed!

Matthew 25 Musings

Did I mention that I've been doing inductive Bible study this year? After going through the Bible in a year last year, I realized that I don't know the New Testament as well as I would like. So I got started on a more intense study of the New Testament.

Here's something interesting I found.In Matthew 24 Jesus shared about the signs of the end-times. Matthew 25:1 starts with "At that time...", which tells us that the rest of the chapter is especially relevant to living in the end-times. What happens if we look at the rest of the chapter in that light?

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-13)

Notice all that the virgins in this parable had in common - they were all waiting for the bridegroom, they all became drowsy and fell asleep and they all had oil for their lamps. The only difference was that the wise ones had enough oil for themselves to last a long time. In other words, they expected that the wait would be long.

Does that tell us that the way to be ready for Jesus' second coming is to expect that it would take a long time? Hmm...

Another interesting thing I noticed is that the wise virgins did not help the foolish ones. Their first priority was to ensure that they had enough for themselves. They took personal responsibility for being ready. They set boundaries for themselves; they chose not to share their oil with the unprepared virgins, and Jesus did NOT chastise them for their 'selfishness'. On the other hand, the foolish ones probably expected that if they did not have enough oil they could always beg some off the wise virgins.

Not smart.

The Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30)

When looking at this parable, many people apply the principles in this lesson to everything else except what it was talking about in the first place - money!

Matt 25:16-18 (NIV) The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Here's the interesting part - the master commended the servants who doubled the money entrusted to them (Matt 25:21, 23). The servant who did not lose any of the money (Capital Preservation, they call it) was called wicked and lazy (Matt 25:26). Wonder what would the master have done if there was a servant who lost the money or spent it all away frivolously, thinking it was his own money?

Can you imagine wearing a T-shirt with the logo "Jesus is coming back. Double your money QUICK!"

But that wouldn't be too accurate a logo, would it? We are not to double our money; it's not ours in the first place. Everything in our stewardship came from God in the first place (1 Chr 29:12). Many prosperity teachers promote the idea that we are to prosper in our finances so that we can give money to further the gospel. The problem with that idea? It's not our finances in the first place; it's God's. Meanwhile, other bible teachers react by roundly condemning the idea of financial prosperity for God's people. They ignore the scary part of this parable: We are to double our master's money or be condemned as wicked and lazy.

In other words, are those teachers guilty of spreading wickedness and laziness amongst the servants of Christ? Food for thought...

The Sheep and the Goats (Matt 25:31-46)

If we were to sum up this teaching, it would be that Jesus sees what we do for the least of his brothers as what we have done unto him. Here's the question: who does Jesus see as his brothers?

There are three possible answers:

1) Humanity in general? Possible, since Jesus repeatedly addressed himself as the Son of Man.

2) The Jews? This is likely, since Jesus himself was a Jew, a descendant of David (for example, Luke:18:38)

3) The believers - Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. (Heb 2:11, NIV)

Remember, whatever group we choose to apply this principle to, we need to make sure that we do not exclude the Jewish race. Remember, at that exact moment Jesus gave us this teaching, there was no body of Christ yet, since the Holy Spirit had not yet at that moment baptised us anyone into the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13).

That means that the most immediate application of this principle ought to be to the Jews. And that Jesus sees how we treat the Jews as a reflection of how we regard him.

In Conclusion:

Maybe we could sum up this chapter as:

1) Be prepared for the long term;

2) Double HIS money; AND

3) Watch how we treat his people.

What do you think? Be blessed!