It's all about people - reflections on Matthew 14:13-21

Those who are familiar with this passage would probably remember a sermon or two being preached on it. And the focus was likely to be on the magnitude of the five thousand (and more, including women and children). After all that's what the heading says - Jesus feeds the five thousand. However, it actually starts off with Jesus mourning John the Baptist's death.

So while reflecting on this episode I realised that in ministry we meet different categories of people, just like Jesus did. 

Original collage (see below for image credits)

There are the precious few likeminded ones whom we may not need to say much to yet know exactly what we mean and how we feel. Even though Jesus and John the Baptist had very little time together, I'm sure they were constantly in each other's thoughts and prayers. We draw mutual strength and encouragement just by knowing that we are there for each other.

Then there are those who follow in our footsteps, the ones we teach, coach and mentor. They may not take over our ministries but they are certainly a big part of the legacy we leave behind. In fact, our disciples may do even greater things (John 14:12) because we have patiently sown into their lives.

Of course, there will be the people whom we minister to. We may not necessarily have a close relationship with them, unlike the earlier categories. They may seek us out like the crowd did Jesus, or sometimes God may lead us to find them (eg how Jesus went to Simon's house and healed his mother-in-law cf. Luke 4:38-39). Regardless of how He met them, Jesus always had compassion for them.

Do you have people around you who fall into these categories? Then we would do well to consider how Jesus related and responded differently to each group of people and learn from Him.

Image credits:

1. Jesus and John the Baptist taken from a scene in the series "The Chosen"
2. Jesus and the twelve disciples taken from a scene in the movie "Son of God"
3. crowd photos

• https://i0.wp.com/www.demystifyasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/asian-people.jpeg
• https://jooinn.com/crowd-of-people.html#gal_post_86976_crowd-of-people-6.jpg
• https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/crowd-gm536292325-57563024
• https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/group-of-happy-people-looking-at-camera-gm1029925066-275975340

Love is...

Here are some reflections I've had over the past week while doing some art. 👩‍🎨

Day 1:

I've had the idea to paint a rose to represent 'Love' for quite a while yet didn't have the courage to start cos drawing a rose is challenging!!! 😅 Well, this morning I had a brainwave and decided I would use a stencil 💡 

Easy peasy, or so I thought... here I am trying to create the stencil but it's much harder than I had imagined. It'll take much longer (and probably some arm pain along the way) to achieve. 😬

But isn't that what we've already been told? The first quality of 'Love' is that it is long-suffering ♥️ so please be patient with me as I continue working on this piece...

Day 2:

It's still work in progress but at least I managed to complete the making of the stencil after a whole day of cutting, slicing and carving - bit by bit 😅 

Ended up with not just arm pain, but also finger, wrist, shoulder and neck pain 😜 Reminded again of another quality of 'Love' - perseverance! 💪❤

Day 3:

I'm actually done with the artwork but thought I should feature the stencil (again... haha!) 

It served its purpose quietly, never calling attention to itself but giving the spotlight to the picture that's produced through it. And when it is finished, it's ready to be discarded with nary a complaint.

Just like 'Love', it does not boast and isn't self-seeking. Instead it is willing to sacrifice itself for the sake of the beloved.

Day 4:

Confession - while making the stencil I actually tore it at a couple of places. 😜 

But while using it, the stencil covered over my mistakes and there's no trace of them in the picture.

'Love' also holds no grudges and forgives everything. In fact, the greatest love of all has covered over and borne all our sins so we can be blameless. 

Day 5:

I know I'm really milking this 'object lesson' but while doing the art work, more and more insights came so I can't bear to waste all the wonderful analogies between the stencil and 'Love'. 🥰

For instance, while colouring in the spaces it's inevitable that I'll rub/push against the edges of the stencil, and some of the colour goes onto it. But when the stencil is lifted off, we see the picture formed through how the stencil had 'protected' specific areas of the paper. 

In the same way, 'Love' will always protect the beloved, often by setting boundaries and even taking on the harm. Sometimes the purpose may not be immediately apparent but if we try to shift/defy the boundaries, we may miss the picture entirely. 😅

Day 6:

Final lesson from the stencil before I reveal the artworks - promise! 😅 

Notice the plural? Well, after completing one picture I thought, "Why not do another one since the stencil can be reused?" And I did.

In fact, if I wanted to I could keep using the stencil again and again, and it would gladly continue to produce picture after picture.

In the same way, 'Love' keeps giving and giving without any concern for self. The focus is on the welfare of the beloved alone.

Day 7:

Ta da! Here it is (finally!) The first of two artworks created using the (by now all-too-familiar) stencil I've been talking about for the past few days. And how apt to end off with the final verse of the 'Love' chapter that I've been quoting from... ♥️♥️♥️

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Day 8:

And here's the second picture produced by the 'famous' stencil that you've been reading about this past week. The quote is translated from Latin:

“Omnia vincit amor: et nos cedamus amori” — Virgil, Ecl. 10.69

As we approach Christmas, I pray that we will all experience the greatest and truest 'Love' of all and that our hearts will soften and surrender to His Love. After all, as Christina Rossetti has written:

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine,

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,

Love Incarnate, Love Divine,

Worship we our Jesus,

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and all men,

Love for plea and gift and sign.

The opposite of fear is…

Here are the notes from an activity that I facilitated for a group of artists, followed by my own sharing of what I received while doing it.

Question: What do you think is the opposite of fear? (choose one only)

1. Faith

2. Hope

3. Love

4. All of the above

Answer:

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4:18a

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

→ Only when we have experienced His perfect love and unconditional acceptance are we able to 

• Trust in Him fully that everything He has planned for us is for our good

• Believe that He will never leave nor forsake us

• Base our hope on His unfailing promises

• Face all adversity without fear

Often, it's a matter of changing our perspective to see things from God's perspective. The next activity will hopefully help us to do just that.

Activity:

1. Using your digital sketching/drawing app, write down all the fears (including worries & anxieties) you have.

2. Draw the outline of a big heart around all your fears. Colour it in slowly, stroke by stroke, to cover over all your fears while giving your fears to God and asking Him to reveal His love for you.

Play these songs while artists are drawing and colouring the heart:

I Will Fear No More by The Afters 

Stand in Your Love by Josh Baldwin

3. Write on the heart key words to help you remember what He spoke to you just now. You could also draw pictures/symbols to represent what He has shown you.

Play this song while artists are writing/drawing on the heart:

Rest in Your Love by Martin Nystrom 

4. Take turns to share. 

Closing prayer. 

Sharing of what I received:

I heard Him say in this order: Rest, Peace, Joy, Assurance. The last word - Assurance - came as a surprise but it reminded me of my favourite hymn after I had just received Christ, Blessed Assurance (by Fanny Crosby). We have assurance not only for eternal life beyond this life, but He also assures us of His loving presence, protection and provision in this life. God brought me back to my early days as a Christian, to my first love for Him, and the joy that results from a childlike faith in Him.

1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect communion, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight.
Angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. 

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest.
I in my Savior am happy and bless’d,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

Lord, make my mess into Your message

 

Notes from a recent sharing with a few artists.

1. View the following and share responses:

- Broken Hallelujah by Dawn Schneider

- O Come, All Ye Unfaithful by Sovereign Grace Music

- I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin (with paintings from Arts Release Creative Studios)

2. While thinking about all the problems and challenges you've faced this month/year, draw lines across a piece of blank paper using a pen/fine tip marker - they can be zigzag, wavy, curved, spiral etc, and in any direction.

Next, colour in the spaces created by the lines while allowing God to show you where and how He had showed up in the midst of your troubles. What do you see in your picture?

Egs of the kind of drawing can be found at

- Nandrigal Yeatrukollum (Accept My Thanksgiving) by Jeswin Samuel (with video of Aimee drawing and colouring in)

- Endless Praise by Anne Soh

- By His Stripes by Anne Soh

- Big Picture by Anne Soh

Bible passages (read aloud while artists are colouring in, then share insights after):

Psalm 42 - aspects of this Psalm can be seen in the painting Broken Hallelujah, also it reminds us to draw near to God in our lowest moments and put our hope in Him even when the solution isn't apparent

Jeremiah 18:1-6 - the clay may look messed up but the potter has a plan to mould it into something good / useful / beautiful, and God uses it to tell Jeremiah a message for the nation.

Hosea 1 & 3 - the prophet's life is way messier than any makjang K-drama plot but God uses it to reveal His redemptive message for the nations.

John 8:2-11 - instead of answering the men immediately, Jesus started writing in the sand. Some translations say He was drawing lines, much like what we did in this activity. Ultimately, people were convicted of their sin and the adulterous woman was forgiven.

→ Whether it's through pottery, drama, drawings or any other artform, when they depict how God shows up in the midst of our messy lives, He will use our artworks to bring across His message of forgiveness and redemption.

Therefore…

Habakkuk 3:17-18 - we will rejoice in the Lord even though we may be going through hardship, pain and suffering, and don't see any results.

→ When stories / artworks project hope while being authentic and “firmly aware of the brokenness within which we live and build, suffer, expect, laugh and cry,” (Seerveld, 2000) they will become vessels to change the hearers and “heal our wounded souls.” (Mead, 2017)

References:

1. Calvin Seerveld, Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves: Alternative Steps in Understanding Art (Carlisle: Piquant, 2000), 112.

2. Geoff Mead, Coming Home to Story: Storytelling beyond Happily Ever After (London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017), 3.

God inspires, we transpire

Notes for a sharing session with some artists:

 

1.     Read Psalm 1

 

2.     Transpiration in plants 

o    Water absorbed from the soil by the roots is pulled upwards through the plant and evaporates through stomata on the surface of the leaves 

o    Nutrients from the soil dissolved in the water help the plant to grow - more transpiration equals more growth 

o    Transpiration also helps to cool the plant down

→ We need to be grounded in the Word (soil), filled with the Holy Spirit (water), and create good works (transpire) in order to grow healthily.

 

3.     Some external factors that affect transpiration

o    Water level in the soil

o    Air temperature

o    Humidity

o    Air movement ie wind

→ Make sure we place ourselves among people who encourage us to be creative, and also get the right training, resources, and conducive environment to boost our creativity.

 

4.     What happens when plants don't transpire

o    Wilt if due to soil being too dry

o    Explode/burst if due to other factors that prevent transpiration

→ Keep soaking in the Holy Spirit and keep creating!

 

5.     Transpiration is part of the water cycle 

o    Water vapour released into the air forms clouds and falls down as rain

o    Water is essential to all life on earth

→ Creative works inspired by God change the atmosphere and will bless others by sending them showers of love, joy, peace, hope… all that is essential for an abundant life! The impact could also be remote like clouds that are blown far away - transcends space and time.

 

6.     Different plants

o    Have different rates of transpiration 

o    But all plants transpire!

→ We have different gifts and talents, different skills and abilities. But everyone is creative as we are made in the image of the Creator! Don't compare with others cos we're all unique. Just be assured that God has equipped each one of us uniquely to produce the good works that He has prepared us to do/create (Eph 2:10).

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither –

    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

 

"Conspiracy in the Court" (2/2) - Foothold vs Stronghold [SPOILER ALERT]

Continuing from my previous entry about this drama...

When the chief of the local police (Park Chul-Min) first receives a bribe from the merchant Yang Man-Oh (Lee Chun-Hee), he has given Man-Oh a foothold by allowing him to smuggle in a ship load of illegal goods. However, as he continues to accept more bribes from Man-Oh, he relinquishes more and more ground to the merchant who can then keep smuggling in and selling off even more illegal goods.

 

At the same time, Man-Oh is sending bribes to other officials including some high-ranking ministers. Gradually, he builds up a stronghold where he has control over all those corrupted officials who have accepted his bribes. So much so that they give him permission to conduct all kinds of illegal activities under their noses.

 

Similarly, if we sin and give Satan an opening to cause a one-time disturbance then it is a foothold. However, if we continue to sin and allow him to gain increasingly more control over our life, then it becomes a stronghold.

If the police chief had come clean after receiving the first bribe and stopped accepting further bribes, Man-Oh would not have been able to gain control over him. By the time the merchant has extended his control over the many corrupted officials, they already find it extremely difficult to stop him and his illegal activities.

In the same way, we need to confess and repent of our sin that gives the devil a foothold and kick him out. Otherwise, if we neglect to do that and the enemy builds a stronghold in us (eg addictions or negative thought patterns), it would take much more effort to remove his control over us.

Read more about "Conspiracy in the Court" - Power vs Authority

"Conspiracy in the Court" (1/2) - Power vs Authority [SPOILER ALERT]

This drama is only eight episodes long but it was so difficult to understand initially due to the fast pace, convoluted storyline and countless mysteries and secrets that were only unravelled much later. So reading the recaps after viewing each episode really helped me to follow the plot.

While I was watching this series, I also happened to learn about the difference between power and authority in a course that I'm attending. And I realised that some of the characters actually illustrated these two concepts really well!

Police officer Park Sang-Gyu (Jin Yi-Han) serves in a small town and his team consists of a handful of scaredy-cats with no martial arts skills whatever to boast of. As the team leader, he's not much better off. In fact, when they confront a group of smugglers at the dock, he backs up and hides behind his team while ordering them to charge ahead, which of course they don't.

As a result of their incompetence, they are entirely knocked out by just one smuggler! So although Sang-Gyu has the authority to enforce the law by virtue of his position as a police officer, he doesn't have the power to exercise his authority due to the lack of ability.

As he is lying on the ground contemplating his next move (of how to surrender!) a master swordsman flies off a nearby rooftop and single-handedly overpowers the smugglers! It turns out that he is Seo Joo-Pil (Han Jung-Soo), Sang-Gyu's good friend and fellow officer from the police HQ in the capital city. 

After this incident, we see Joo-Pil hanging around Sang-Gyu a lot more than before and he helps provide the fighting power for Sang-Gyu whenever he has difficulty reining in the criminals. Unfortunately, midway through the drama, Joo-Pil is killed in an ambush.

Sang-Gyu is promoted - the King himself bestows him with the Royal Sword which increases his authority greatly. However, he isn't deployed more capable men in his team. So even when he wields the Royal Sword before some villains to signal his authority, they scoff at him and easily overpower him and his ragtag team as he can't rely on Joo-Pil's support anymore.

On the other hand, Sang-Gyu's nemesis, the merchant Yang Man-Oh (Lee Chun-Hee) has gathered a great deal of wealth which grants him power over many of the officials including Sang-Gyu's police chief (Park Chul-Min). Although he doesn't have any authority, he bribes these officials who then allow him to conduct his illegal activities without any liability (see my other post about the impact of this corruption). That's why he can openly taunt Sang-Gyu and challenge him to a power contest.

Because of his trespass, the chief has given over his authority to Man-Oh by default. He no longer has any say and instead is at Man-Oh's beck and call. As Sang-Gyu knows about the bribery, he doesn't respect his chief's authority anymore and defies his order of letting Man-Oh and his minions go about their shady business scot-free. 

We are very much like Sang-Gyu in the sense that we have been given all authority by the King of kings over demons and to heal diseases (Luke 9:1), as well as to defeat the enemy (Luke 10:19). However, on our own we lack the power to exercise this authority. We need a helper like Joo-Pil. And God has sent the best Helper in the form of the Holy Spirit so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can perform signs and wonders, and bring people to Christ (Romans 15:19). Not by our own power or might, but by the Holy Spirit alone (Zechariah 4:6)!

We must be careful though, that we do not hand over our God-given authority to the devil. If, like the police chief, we sin against God, then we lose our right to this authority and the enemy will gain control. Rather than allow Satan to have an opportunity to accuse us and usurp our authority in Christ, we need to keep ourselves pure and unstained by constantly cleansing ourselves of all sin through confession and repentance before God (1 John 1:9). 

Read more about "Conspiracy in the Court" - Foothold vs Stronghold