Winter Care-Package 2024
As I was preparing the winter care-packages and trying to figure out what to include this year, I felt the Lord put this verse on my heart. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. – 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (NIV) As I kept repeating verse 6 to myself I felt like God wanted…
What Is The Kingdom Of God?
Over the past couple of months, we’ve heard much about the kingdom of God. It was part of the training that we hosted with Donna, and a few weeks ago I had a chance to speak on the topic of the upside-down kingdom. The kingdom of God has also been mentioned in many of the messages we’ve heard over the summer. But what is the kingdom of God? I think all of us have a sense of what the kingdom of…
The Little Things
Comparison is a killer. Have you ever wondered whether you have enough confirmation from the Lord when it comes to a decision? In my experience, I get mental “nudges” from the Lord. Subtle, but for the most part quite effective. Sometimes, however, it feels almost inadequate compared to the other ways God communicates to us. I’ve heard quite a few stories of how people received confirmation from the Lord from dreams, visions, the audible voice of God, etc, and sometimes…
The Gospel Of The Kingdom
Jesus came to preach The Gospel of the Kingdom. In our different church traditions, we have learned a lot about the Gospel of Salvation and the Gospel of the church. The Gospel of Salvation is focused on getting saved while we are here, so that when we die we have a place secured in heaven. However, Jesus is often not Lord over every area of our lives. Church becomes compartmentalized and become one part of our lives. The Gospel of…
The Power Of Grace
He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9 When I was in my twenties, my favourite movie series was Marvel’s The Avengers. I remember the first Avengers movie being released around the time I got married, and I think that year I watched the movie at least three or four times! By the end of the series, they had introduced a megavillian named Thanos. Thanos was such a…
Patient Endurance
It is October 2024. At the beginning of the year, we felt the Lord guide the Lifespring Family towards Patient Endurance. Just over 10 months in, am I more patient? Can I endure more? I don’t know. I still feel weak, I still feel broken at times, and I still ask, “have I/we made any progress?” Yet, in God’s goodness, I felt God say, “that is exactly where I want you to be.” One of the challenges the Lord has been putting…
Grateful
Happy Thanksgiving! During this Thanksgiving weekend, we think of all the things and people we are thankful for in our lives. As a church family, we are truly blessed with so many good things, but most importantly, we recognize that we have a person to be thankful to. God is the source of all the good in our lives, and I encourage you to take a moment this week to express your thanks to God. If you can, express your thanks…
Children Of God
I really enjoyed Joe’s message on Sunday. He speaks with such integrity and you can tell what he’s saying comes out of a genuine love for God and a genuine care for others. The part of Joe’s message that stuck out to me was the understanding of what it means to be a child of God and the different stages. As a systematic thinker, It was helpful for me to see what each stage involved and how it compared to…
God Wants ALL Of Us
Have you ever felt like not talking to God because you felt awful and messy? For me, that happened a few weeks ago. I was trying to salvage my day by having some time with the Lord, and it was not going very well. I was stewing over a misunderstanding that I could have easily avoided and was quite frustrated with myself. Honestly, that “quiet time” with the Lord resembled venting session more than anything else. After I vented over…
Be Patient. Be Kind.
It was such a joy to have our elder, Joe Chong, speak to the Lifespring family. Joe has been and continues to be one of the greatest leaders I have ever served under. A man who doesn’t just tell you to seek the Lord but shows you how. Thank you, Joe, for loving God and loving this family. We are so blessed to have you as an elder of this church. As Joe was speaking, one of the many gems…
Whatever My Father Tells Me To Do
At this stage in my life, one of the things I’ve been thinking about more and more is how I can give back to my parents. I thought to myself that if my parents ever stopped helping me and doing things that a parent would do for their children, I would be content. It’s not because I’m superman or super independent and invincible. It’s because everything that they have done for me since I was born until now has been…
God Wants Our Hearts
It seems like so long ago, but it was only 2 months since our Family Weekend. The many seeds planted over that weekend continue to germinate and challenge me to this day. As I got to know our speaker and connect with him, I felt a great love and care for him. He was a man that truly loves Jesus and genuinely cares for others. I listened to his teaching and testimonies and watched him interact and connect with the…