it’s good to be home!!

i’m currently sitting at my desk in the church office mulling over my to-do list and emails that have piled up into a small mount over the last 3 weeks. yes, it’s good to be home

as tempting as it seems, i’m resisting the natural response to throw myself back into ‘productivity’ (see, that’s my default mode). however, i know that it would be a crying shame to do that – especially since i am on the end of one of the most life changing trips in my life.

you see, what i thought was going to be an easy going, fun-filled, relaxing (& eating holiday) turned out to be much much more. many of you have probably seen the photos of disneyland, of the inch deep pizza (where i looked sick), the aquarium and so on so forth. many of you watched our ‘fun’ (yes we use that word loosely!) and laid back video update (thank you, those of you who sms’d just to tell me how tired i looked). what the photos couldn’t show you, however, was just how much God’s presence and voice was with us over the whole trip. i know for one, my life will never be the same.

let me tell you about some of the environments where this happened:

- one of the largest and most spiritually mature churches in the western world, led by pastor Rick Warren – we had to take a shuttle bus from the car park to their auditorium – the whole place was huge and felt like disneyland!

- Erwin McManus’ church situated in the heart of downtown LA – we worshipped God and heard the bible preached in a theatre that was used other nights of the week for trendy concerts and arts. the pre-service loop was from a live DJ, and an artist painted throughout the service

- NewSong church located in Irvine – the campus was filled with thousands of Asian Americans – one of the many campuses spanning across the US, India, Bangkok, Mexico and London

- North Point Community Church & the Buckhead campus – one of the key churches we as a ministry have been learning from throughout the last few years. you’d be hard pressed to find another far away mentor who have influenced us as a leadership more than Andy Stanley.

- Louie Giglio’s new church plant – Passion City Church where Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman (amongst a few others!) are the worship leaders – through their ministry, we sing songs like “How Great is Our God”, “Heart of Worship”, “God of this City”, “You Lifted Me Out”… and the list goes on

- our sister church in LA. men and women who are across the ocean who share the same passion and vision for God’s Kingdom and renown.

in every different environment, we learnt something new and God challenged us with something. there were places where the four us went where we walked with lenses of students and learning. there were places that gave us new ministry ideas and strategies. then there were places where tears filled our eyes the moment we walked into the room and we just stood in awe of God and worshipped Him with all of our hearts.

it’s definitely been a trip filled with exciting experiences. on top of hearing some unbelievable preachers and communicators (too many to list!); personally, i’ve got to engage in one on one conversations that have encouraged and challenged me so much with men who are absolute heroes of the faith:
- the executive pastor one of the most innovative and largest churches in the US
- a couple of guys who are not only leading a large church they planted, but also a network that trains church planters (with even a church planter in brisbane!)
- one of the leading voices in missiology today who consults with some of the most influential churches in the west (they call him the obi-wan-kenobe of australia)
- a youth pastor who is my age who has done missions work in 42 countries across the world
- a church planter who was mentally retarded yet has built a student ministry of hundreds
- the founder of a campus ministry that has reached hundreds of university campuses over the last 3 decades
- and the list goes on

in all of these places and conversations, it was like God was putting together a jigsaw puzzle in my heart about His purposes. i’m so assured and confident of Jesus’ promise when He said that “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”

all those things have excited me so much, but it really does fade in comparison with the thought that the same Holy Spirit who is working across the world is alive and well in us. His gospel – Jesus saves – is changing us every single day, and outside of knowing Jesus and following Him, everything else is cheap.

out of that place, He invites us to get on board with what He is doing – since the beginning of time, through the book of Acts, through the lives of our early church Fathers, what He is doing today is so many different expression of the body of Christ around the world, what He will continue to do (with or without our help) – and what He will do in and through our lives if we believe in it, and follow Him.

i’m excited to be home in time for build Unidus because i know the privilege it is to build God’s house. i know He will do something great in and through us. le’ts partner together to do that.

can’t wait to catch up with all of you!