Okay, I admit the title to this post is a bit tacky, but I’m in a tacky kind of mood.
I actually can’t believe that it’s February and January 2012 has already come and gone.
During the first sermon for 2012, Joseph Prince shared on “Unceasing Fruitfulness” and one of the things he mentioned was that the tree of life had 12 fruits. These fruits speak of 12 different blessings for each month of the year. Looking back over the last 31 days, I can say that I’ve experienced the blessings of God.
It’s a bit difficult to say which one blessing is the one fruit for January, but here’s some of the things that I’m grateful for in the last month:
- First day of the year: a brilliant sermon at New Creation Church on “Unceasing Fruitfulness” to set the scene for the next 364 days (actually 365 as this year is a leap year). In the year of drought, I can experience unceasing fruitfulness as I meditate on God’s word! Amen.
- Ling and I had a great time in Singapore for holidays, with plenty of eating and shopping and spending time with her side of the family.
- At work, I won a difficult appeal in the Refugee Review Tribunal for a Coptic Christian from Egypt. The Tribunal accepted that Australia owed my client protection obligations. The Immigration Department is now processing the remaining requirements and I expect that this client will be granted permanent residency in the next couple of months. I don’t care what people say about the refugee situation in Australia, but when you sit across the table from some guy whose life is on the line, all the ideological grandstanding about boat people and border protection goes out the window. This guy is extremely relieved!
- We got to go to the Influencers Conference (or parts of it) and heard some inspiring preaching. A friend of mine had booked for the entire conference and wasn’t able to make it, so Ling got free use of his pass for a whole day!
- We had a great jam session with some old friends from Full Gospel Assembly.
- We had the opportunity to meet with an apostolic leader in the city and I sense that God is starting to open new ministry doors in 2012 (even though I feel a bit disenfranchised at the moment not being part of a local church). I’m also privileged to be able to serve alongside Shaw Cheong and Judy Low in some developing projects as part of Grace and Fire MInistries.
- We started going to Faith Community Church for the month and I was completely floored by Pastor Benny Ho’s sermon last Sunday. I’m on the way towards building a strong, consistent devotional life.
- My blog is going well. It’s only been going since December and as at 31 January 2012, it’s recorded 1353 views! (Okay some of that was me looking at the blog myself, but most of it was legit!) I hope it’s been a blessing to others so far!
And to cap it all off, on the last day of January 2012, a friend told me that Pastor Benny Perez had tweeted my blog. In fact, his church had tweeted it first, and then Benny Perez retweeted it. What an honour. I’m actually not sure how twitter works exactly, but I’m thankful that at least on this occasion, my writing has gone half way around the world!
So looking back through January, I’m thankful for all that God has done for me. I’m deeply loved, highly favoured and greatly blessed!
The Worship Revolution 
Hey Lester, thanks for blogging 🙂 I’ve been enjoying your writing for the past few months immensely and above enjoyment, it’s been really encouraging.
Your writing so often overflows from the joy you have in your heart, and growing up in church and the worship ministry, so much of what you write resounds in my spirit.
Keep writing and honouring God through this form of worship!
Send my love to Ling!
Cheers, Angel
Hi Angel! Thanks for the encouragement. You won’t believe how encouraged I am to get good feedback. Sometimes you write all these things and you wonder if anyone is reading or learning stuff. Sometimes I just think: it’s ok because if nothing else, it’s a record of my walk with God so I’m just filing away some archives of my life. But definitely getting feedback is much more encouraging, so thanks!
And yes, I think those of us who grow up in church and ministry often have a very different perspective on things, so it’s actually cool to identify with others in the same boat.
I’ll pass your love to Ling, definitely.
Thanks again
Lester
Hey Lester, just to let you know that I enjoyed reading your posts as well. They are just so heartfelt and sincere. You do have a gift of writing and you should consider putting more of your thoughts on paper and bless the Body of Christ! Keep it up, bro! Good to see you in the church too…glad to know that the message last week resonated with you. This is a year where God will realign our hearts back to Him and I know that it has to start by us paying attention to His Presence and His Word. There may be challenges in 2012 but our God is on His Throne! The River of God is still flowing and we will still bear fruit in Jesus’ Name! He has put another word on my heart for this week along the same vein and it is entitled: “Walking With God”! Can’t wait to release it this weekend! See you soon…
Thanks Pastor Benny for your encouragement. I’ve enjoyed putting my thoughts on paper (or on cyberspace). Last year, my friend encouraged me to write a book to capture all the teaching I’ve done, but I thought blogging might be an easier (and better) way, so that’s how I ended up doing this. I’m glad that my writings are encouraging people.
Your message on Sunday really triggered something in me. In a sense, God has spoken to me twice on the same subject. Even though your message was very different to the “Unceasing Fruitfulness” message I heard at the start of the year, it was as if the Holy Spirit gelled both messages in me to spur me into action.
Can’t wait for Sunday. We’ll be at FCC again; it’s supposed to be our last week of our “1 month trial” but who knows, we may end up hanging around a bit longer!
Thanks again
Lester