I feel contented.

Not in an I’m-so-satisfied-I-don’t-wanna-move on-in-life, that sort of contented. We have been doing the study in the book of Philippians in church as well as a more in-depth Bible study in cell group. As we discussed from the previous cell group about the life of Paul as well as his affection and gratitude for the Philippians, he told them one of the secrets in life; and that is to be contented in whatever situations. This of course is derived from a sense of completeness that comes from God. I do love the Word of God for all that’s in it.

Our Zone Leader, Choon Ean was leading cell, as Shelley was away in Penang. I thought she led the cell group well and during the end of cell, S k y e and I were chatting with her and the conversation got really interesting as we were talking about how she started an independent media ministry called LiveWire. She was telling me about her experiences shooting in Indonesia when the tsunami happened as well as her experiences in East Timor. The purpose of the shoot was to raise awareness of the real need in Indonesia as disasters hit and people’s lives were severely affected. The video was then edited and distributed to churches and organisations here in Malaysia.

Through the conversation, something was ignited in my spirit. It was the familiar flicker of a dream and a vision that was kept in my heart for a long, long time. It wasn’t a coincidence (I believe) that I bought “The Principles and Power of Vision” by Dr. Myles Munroe from Canaanland that weekend too. I began to share quite openly although very briefly that it was something that God has put something like that in my heart for a long time, right from the time when I was still in Melbourne. The stories of Ps Neil Smith’s church in Perth having a media/graphic design wing that is wholly owned by the church further flamed the dream inside of me. Yet when I came back here, I wouldn’t dare say the dream died down, no… it was the otherwise. Because of the realness of the dream, I began to think with even more intensity these days, how should I position myself so that I can see the outworking of the dream in my life.

It was no mistake that God has put me in advertising and prior to that, production. It is also no mistake now that He has strategically positioned me in marketing. All these are building up to something. Brick by brick, building a structure that thrust its structure in the centre of the Rock. What is this something? It’s a dream, a vision, a not-too-distant reality. Dr. Myles Munroe quoted in the book “sight is the function of the eye, but the vision is the function of the heart.”

S k y e and I, we recently bought a few sermon mp3s from Hillsong. One of which we listened with intent on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It was a sermon called “Ishmael” by Ps. Charlotte Scanlon-Gambill. In the sermon, she told a story of a boy whom nobody cared. An outcast by the standards of the society. A hopeless wreck if you were to measure by the rule of the superior education system. Yet, Charlotte loved him. She cared for him. Told him he had a hope and a future. She put up a Christmas gift-giving celebration in her church one day. And this boy, James was invited. He came, he got touched. He wrote a letter to Charlotte telling her that usually, she wouldn’t come to church. Why? Because the world saw him as an Ishmael. But Charlotte saw him as a boy God loved. No lesser than how God would have loved Isaac. So, he wrote a letter, he thanked her for her love. He said, somebody in church once asked him, what is his dream? For James, he never knew the word. But ever since, he said, he in fact had a dream. His dream was to love other people that have been through the same thing as he did. He wanted to help them. He wanted to show that God loved them and He still do. He was not given a gift of sight; he was given the gift of vision.

I want to encourage you. And I want to encourage myself.

That God believes in you. That the dream is not dead. That if God can use Abraham, Moses, Samson, Esther, Matthew, Paul, Timothy, Bill Graham, Myles Munroe, Ps Russell and Sam, and even James; He can use YOU. I’m just gonna finish off with this; Over the weekend, S k y e and I took the step to sponsor 2 children. One from Cambodia and one from Indonesia. How much did it cost us? RM60 and about 5 minutes filling up the form. How much did it made a difference for them? Their whole life. I know a few things now. I know that tonight they will have a bed to sleep on. I know when they wake up tomorrow, they will have food to eat. I know that they will have a book in their hands and they will read. I know they will know God and know of their huge plan and purpose that God has destined for them. And I know I can love them with God’s love.

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”

- James 2:14- 18