^{Luke 54} And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 

God spoke to me as I was praying about the church. Astonishing word came to me as I just heard this thought went right through me. This is so encouraging as we begin to see signs of new ones coming to our church. May the Lord continue to work in amazing ways. We want to be part of God’s plan and purpose. His ways and not my way. The idea of total turn around only speaks of the glory of God, nothing of what men can do. I believe the Lord God will do great things as we put our faith in Him. Only after wearing out so much trying on our own, we begin to feel the stress and burden that it is such an uphill climb. Only that God breaks in and shows His glory. Praise the Lord He is never too late neither too early.

What does Incarnation mean to us? John 1

There is no way to approach God and see his glory in the old testament. The consequence of seeing God’s glory is death. Moses found that out very quickly. He spoke to God Ex 33: ¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence….. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” But deep inside Moses, he longed to see God’s glory.

Why couldn’t he see God’s glory? (That means he couldn’t see God’s face). Why?  Because the God of the universe is absolutely holy, righteous, glorious, beautiful, but humans are sinful. The center of gravity for man’s life is himself; his accomplishment, his goals, his desire. But God’s center of gravity is His holiness, beauty, righteousness. These two systems clash when they meet. It’s just impossible. It’s like 2 solar systems approach one another, with 2 different centers, they will clash & some will be spun out of the orbit!

 The missing chapter of all these is the incarnation of God. When Christ became man, he became like one of us, totally man, and totally God, a theology that’s hard to comprehend. Its like us in the kingdom of God, and in the kingdom of the world. We carry the divine nature, and the fallen nature of mankind too. The one who can redeem us must be a man like us because he has to be like one of us. However, he must be God too, because only the blood of God can redeem us. Not a human, who is sinful. Therefore only the incarnation of God to become a man can truly redeem us and save us. And by that incarnation, we can now behold God’s glory! Hallelujah! Because he tore away the veil. The veil in the temple is torn by his death on the cross. The barrier between man and God is abolished.

 You see all of us are running away from God, and at the same time running to God. Running away from God because of our anger and fear. Anger because things do not always works out the way we wanted it to be, and God seems to have his own way. Running to God especially when we need him, when we are humbled. In other words, we can’t live with Him, and at the same time, cannot live without Him!! What a wretched man!

 But now, Jesus has made a way so we can see God’s glory in Him. He brings all the forgiveness and restoration and healings in our lives. He is our savior! That’s why we can see God face to face in Jesus without being consumed. Because our sins are taken away in Jesus. The incarnation of Jesus made this possible. That explains why we are always in this tension of running away and to God. That’s why this world is always so full of turbulence and at the same time the beauty of God. The solution is in the incarnation of God to bridge that gap. He is our missing chapter. With Christ in us, that tension is gone, and only in Christ alone.

1 peter 1⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

 You have not seen him and you believe in him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory! That’s seeing the glory of God that eluded Moses. That’s our call today. How can you  be filled with that inexpressible joy? Do you feel that as a Christian? Paul said all his sufferings are nothing compared to the incomparable joy! 2 Cor 4: ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.^[1]

 How can Paul honestly take in all the punches of life like ship wrecked for 3 days, flogged, imprisoned for the gospel etc., and he calls it light and momentary troubles? That’s the biggest joke of the bible! Why? Because he sees the eternal glory that far outweighs them all. He sees the incarnated Christ, the glory of the risen Christ. Can we see that? Don’t think the river is it, no!  There is an ocean out there. Don’t mistaken the river as the ocean in our lives, go for the ocean. Rejoice with inexpressible joy with beholding the glory of the living God.

 John 1: ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.^[2] 

 We have seen his glory!! CS Lewis calls this as the weight of glory!

http://hopenychurch.org/sermons/2013/7/8/god-became-man-incarnation-john-114-18

I believe that all pastors should be trained in theological seminaries if they want to plant churches in the big urban cities successfully. A major problem in many churches: Many pastors in churches are not equipped to handle theology because they are never trained theologically (one that digs below the surface), which is a shame. This alone should be a BIG topic of debate and soul searching . 

 

There is a cry to be equipped theologically especially if Christians want to plant churches in the big urban cities of the West like New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Shanghai etc. We should respond to that and cultivate & empower a desire and hunger for theology, instead of inhibiting it. 

 

Judging from what I’ve read and observed, we can do with more theological training for pastors and church planters. If pastors are made aware of this, many would want to catch up! And we should let them and encourage them! We should let God do a new thing! The best way to equip the pastors, is to ask them to go to seminaries that are reputable and theologically sound. (like Gordon Conwell, Trinity, Westminster) Their churches should support them financially for such courses. They are the heros of our movement! The church planters! They deserve it.

 

 

We need to heed the call, and raise young generation of theologians, equipped to be pastors (& to assist pastors) of the 21st century urban churches of the world!

I had my 1st session Introduction to Theological studies. Amazingly the professor is a pentecostal. We had great conversations about the Pentecostal theologians…Reformed form about 95-99% of the theologians & thinkers of America today or the world!! Wow! Pentecostal theologians is like the new kid in the block like one pastor quipped to me. Where have we been?? I wonder? So I am glad I enrolled in Gordon Conwell with a good diversity mix. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-most-expensive-places-to-live-in-the-u-s–163648923.html

Manhattan is the most expensive city in America to live. Average home price is $1.35 million. That explains why planting a church in this city is vastly different from planting one in the midwest where house costs less than $200,000. Currently we live in Queens, Forest Hills, which ranks # 6 most expensive place to live in America with the housing costs averages $630,000.

We need a strategy that actually brings in the incarnation ministry of Christ into the city. No use living remotely like 1-2 hours commute from Manhattan where our church is located and our target group is. I have learnt remote pastoring doesn’t work. I know that our church planting effort requires funding that’s higher than all other cities. 

6. Queens, New York

Forest Hills Gardens (COMPLICATED/FLICKR)Queens, the third borough in New York in America’s 10 most expensive places to live, in 2012 had a cost of living index of 148.3. The indexes of all three sections of the Greater New York metropolitan area rose from the previous year. Staten Island and the Bronx make up the rest of New York City.

Market prices in Queens, New York:
Half-gallon of milk – $2.58 
Monthly rent – $2,152 
Home price – $630,189 
Gallon of gas – $3.879 
Haircut – $17.79 
Movie ticket – $12.48 
Bottle of wine – $8.96

1. Manhattan, New York

Afton Almaraz/Getty ImagesManhattan, New York, once again ranks as the most expensive place to live in the U.S. The city in 2012 had cost of living index of 225.4 — more than double the national average.

New York has remained America’s most expensive city since 2007, when the Cost of Living Index released the first edition of its annual report.

Market prices in Manhattan:
Half-gallon of milk – $2.34 
Monthly rent – $3,902 
Home price – $1,303,421 
Gallon of gas – $3.967 
Haircut – $22.21 
Movie ticket – $13.33 
Bottle of wine – $9.67