Book Review: Keys to Financial Excellence by Phil Pringle

In his book “Keys to Financial Excellence” by Phil Pringle, he provides us with clear insights on 52 keys to financial excellence and group them under the following 8 categories, namely:

A. Foundations of Abundant Living
B. Principles of Prosperity
C. Principles of Tithing
D. The Laws of Harvest Living
E. Principles of Productivity
F. Reasons to Give Sacrificial Offerings to God
G. Living in God’s Economy
H. Releasing Blessings to Others

Pastor Phil writes from a background of wide experience. As sourced from his blog, he is “the Founder and President of C3 Church International, a global movement of over 240 churches, and the Senior Minister of C3 Church in Sydney Australia. Phil and his wife, Christine, started C3 Church in 1980 and it is now one of the fastest growing, exciting and powerful churches in Australia. An entire global movement of vibrant churches has been birthed as a result of Phil’s leadership and vision as he maintains an uncompromised passion to see cities changed by a contemporary, relevant and anointed church. Phil’s dynamic and relevant preaching has made him a much sought after speaker in both Christian and secular contexts, particularly in the areas of faith, leadership, ministry of the Holy Spirit, church building and kingdom principles of finance and giving.”

In the Foreword of this book, Dr. Dick Bernal, Senior Minister of Jubliee Christian Center in San Jose, California, wrote: “Thank God there are some preachers like Phil Pringle who are prepared to step boldly and unapologetically into the fullness of what the Word of God has to say about money, prosperity, and the power of giving. His revelation of the abundance of God and how that is released through a willingness to give generously to God has become a hallmark of his increasingly influential ministry.”

The book is easy to read and unfolds like a personal sharing by the author with its readers; nothing preachy. There are waves after waves of biblical resources, anecdotes, stories and fresh insights shared generously across the pages of this authoritative guide.  

I have obtained much fresh manna through the revelation knowledge imparted through this book. For example, just when I thought I have learnt all there is to know concerning Malachi 3:10, this book taught me some more.

Consider, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house..”. All along I have thought that this meant the fulltime staff of the church would be taken care of financially as in “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."

But, there is more, as Pastor Phil explains, “Sometimes, when I’m visiting other churches, people tell me they are going to leave because the pastor doesn’t “bring the food of the Word.” I find that, all too often, the problem is simply that these people have ceased tithing. Perhaps someone told them they didn’t think the church was spending its money properly. Maybe they didn’t like the spending levels shown in the church’s annual report. Or possibly they had been experiencing problems with their own cash flow and decided to stop tithing until things improved. Gradually, however, they feel a decrease of spiritual food coming to them in the church.”

Also, consider, “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:11; NKJV) My takeaway on this is that “Success is not just dependent on the brilliance of the plan or the idea, but on being right with God. This leads to His blessing on all that we do.” And, “When Jesus rebukes something it is gone!” This was a biggie for me as Pastor Phil recounted how: Jesus rebuked the wind, and it ceased. (Mark 4:39); Jesus rebuked the demon of deafness, and it left the boy (Mark 9:25); Jesus rebuked a self-destructive spirit out of a boy, and it left him. (Matthew 17:18); Jesus rebuked an unclean spirit out of a person in the synagogue, and it left him. (Mark 1:25); and Jesus rebuked the fever in Peter’s mother-in-law, and it left her. (Luke 4:39)

Then, there are memorable stories such as ERIC STORM TELLS HOW TO BE A MILLIONAIRE: “YOU JUST GIVE IT AWAY” by Peter Lalor (page 47) and “THE COOKIE THIEF” by Valerie Cox (page 8).

This book is worth a re-read for me. Thank you, Pastor Phil for your generous feeding. I have been well fed!

JESUS, Our Best Friend

Many people will find it a great honour to have tea with a person of great stature such as the President or Prime Minister of their country. Indeed, many of you may have had the privilege of doing so from time to time, year after year. But, what if you have the privilege of having breakfast (by the Sea of Galilee would be nice) with the King of kings and the Lord of lords every day? Lunch and dinner are do-able, too.

On 11 August 2006, my cell group leader shared that it is a privilege to be in relationship with God and that serving God is a privilege. Upon reflection, it hit me that we must never take our relationship with God for granted. The danger is that we tend to lose what we do not value.

Once we were part of the crowd, searching for purpose and meaning in life. As the following song puts it:

One day I was wandering, what’s it all about
Life is full of heartbreak, restlessness and doubt
Then a gentle stranger whispered words of love
Pointed me to heaven, wrote my name above

Chorus:
I know where I’m going, and who I’m gonna see
I have a Friend named JESUS, waiting there for me
He has given me something that only He could give
He gave His life in payment so that I could live

JESUS is no longer a stranger to us now, but has become our Saviour and LORD. We began our walk with Him as follower amongst the crowd of new believers, moved on to become a disciple (disciplined, consistent and faithful follower), and, as we keep walking with Him, we can experience Him as a Friend (think of Abraham, Enoch and Moses).

For sure, God anoints us for roles such as shepherd, under-shepherd, king, priest, and prophet. Yet, God desires that we do not neglect spending time with Him in intimate fellowship so that He can impart His secret things (great and wondrous truths from His word) through the Holy Spirit, our Helper. Just as we share our secrets (aspirations, dreams, visions, etc.) with our close friends, God will do the same with us when we cultivate a close fellowship with Him.

And, we can become a friend of God when we choose to obey His word and the Holy Spirit. God is not a dictator who insists that we must obey Him. The truth is that God, our Creator, knows what is best for us and everything that He desires of us is actually for our own benefits, first of all. When He sees us arranging our lives under His principles, He rejoices over us because His blessing will be ours to receive. Remember, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10b; NKJV)”

In Jeremiah 7:23 (NLT), God said to the Israelites, “Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!” What a privilege it is when God is for us! The choice is ours to make by deliberate acts of obedience to His word. Hear then the words of JESUS: “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, FOR ALL THINGS THAT I HEARD FROM MY FATHER I HAVE MADE KNOWN TO YOU. (John 15:14, 15; NKJV)” What an awesome privilege it is to be a friend of JESUS!

Have we failed our Friend, Jesus, or grieved His Holy Spirit, our Helper? Repent, come back to embrace His good, acceptable, and perfect will for us. As Jesus asked Peter, He may well asks us, too, “Do you love Me?” Jesus could see that despite Peter’s failings, he (Peter) loves Him in his heart of hearts. Let’s love (agape) Jesus at all times, and He will guide and lead us towards His plan and purpose for us through the times and seasons of our life.

“Thank you, JESUS, for being our Friend. You are the best friend we can ever have. Help us to nurture our friendship with you, day after day. Amen.”

(Scripture quotations are taken from:
- the Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
- Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. All rights reserved.)
© Copyright 2006, by Michael S K Chu.

(Free to Share article posted by me with FaithWriters.com on 18 August 2006)

Seeing Jesus Face to Face

During the worship segment of a City Harvest Church service on 22 June 2013, we sang of seeing Jesus face to face according to the line in one of the song. The very thought of it caught me by surprise and stirred up my inner man.

For the longest time, as believers, we treasure the experience of being in the very presence of God during our personal Quiet Time and in a congregation of believers. But, I suspect that it’s not very often that we entertain the thought of seeing Jesus face to face, be it in the here and now or hereafter.

In Genesis 14:18 Abram saw Jesus when he had communion with Melchizedek king of Salem (Peace), who is the Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ -- the Prince of Peace. Jacob struggled with God at a place he then called Peniel (Face of God) for he has seen God face to face there, and his life is preserved with God giving him his new name, Israel. (Genesis 32:30)

In the days of Jesus’s sojourning on earth, many people living in Israel had had the opportunity to see Jesus. Though they saw Him, the great majority did not see Jesus for who He is. As Jeremiah 5:21 puts it prophetically, they had eyes and see not as well as ears and hear not.

Before his proclamation of the coming Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6, the prophet saw the Lord and described his encounter in Isaiah 6:1-5 (NKJV):-

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. ² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one cried to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!” ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.””

Not having seen Jesus would not make us less of a believer in Him. As Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Whether we have seen Jesus or not, we can still receive a revelation knowledge (Gr. epignosis: true, accurate, thorough, full knowledge of God) just as how Peter, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, perceived Jesus to be the Christ and Paul spoke of how the gospel which was preached by him is not according to man, but came through the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).

If Jesus has a Facebook account without a picture of His face, we could still learn much about Him through his writings. And, that’s just like how we obtained much of what we know about Him through the Holy Bible and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

As John, the disciple who has a thorough grasp of how much God loves him and described himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, had seen Jesus again while he was exiled in the island of Patmos, it could well be that the Jesus he beheld would be one whom we are unfamiliar with, depending on our knowledge of who Jesus really is in the fullness of His glory. John said, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” (Revelation 1:17a; NKJV)

Take heart, it’s fine to wanna see the face of God and live. Though Moses did not get to see His face in the Old Testament, he did see Jesus face to face on the Mount of Transfiguration in the New Testament. As Jesus said, he who has seen Him has seen the Father.

In anticipation, much as we desire to see Jesus face to face, I think God is anticipating the look on our faces, too, when we see Him face to face.

For now, the next time we sing Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus by Helen H. Lemmel, it would (I hope) bring greater depth and richness to our walk of faith.

Why even pray for the haze to dissipate?

Even as the haze covered Singapore for the past few days it was not a priority for me to pray for it to dissipate. After all, it was forecasted that the haze would persist over the next few days or so.

But as I was about to go out this morning, I felt really bothered by the discomfiture or nuisance, if you will, of the ash particles irritating my nostril and decided to get aggressive by calling for divine mercy and intervention.

The upsurge of energy to confront the haze took me by surprise and I received an assurance that somehow the haze would be dealt with – to what degree, I knew not. Nevertheless, it was an uncanny kind of peace which is unexpected but heartfelt.

With mild anticipation of divine intervention to clear up the haze, I went about my errands. By the afternoon as I was heading for church, the haze had dissipated significantly and the sun was shining brightly. All Glory be to God!

For sure, many others had been praying for the haze to dissipate. As for me, it was a real encouragement to see an answered prayer unfold in one afternoon right before my very eyes. That God cares for us and hears our prayers.