On fire for the Lord
美佳之窗 His Window 83（ Jul - Sep 2018）恩典教会
Text by Daniel Woon
Greetings Mega CMC, my name is Daniel Woon,and I am the 10th Eagle Staff of Mega CMC, and a young man who realized his dream and call to enter into full time ministry since the age of 17.
After graduating from the University of Melbourne in 2017, I knew the next step in my life was to pursue my call to be a pastor after finishing my degree in accounting and finance, What made me decide to step into ministry? You see I've always had a burning desire to see our future generations be on fire for the Lord. I could not sleep at night sometimes, because I was spending time thinking how I can help shepherd His flock, how do I show the next generation of Christians just how amazing this God is, and so on and so forth. I knew these desires were not of my own but given to me by the Holy Spirit, and that my life is completely for His kingdom and His glory.
So, I entered into my first full time ministry job in Mega. It's been almost half a year since my first day at office, from not knowing what I should be doing to having verytiring weeks. So far my experience I've had in full time ministry can be summarized based on Psalms 51:10, “O Lord, please create in me a pure heart and renew in me a steadfast spirit”.
Personally, a pure heart in church ministry has always been something I had, however over these past few months it has been a struggle to maintain that same childlike heart as I once did. The realities of church ministries kicks in quickly, with all the paper works and meetings, having to deal with imperfect people as my “imperfect “ self dealing with realities of money, emphasis on “attendance, the task-oriented “ nature ministry can become, and more. It became very clear that the struggle is very real to maintain a simple and pure heart to serve the Lord.
I recall a passage in Revelation 2 and the church of Ephesus, and how they have abandoned their first love in Christ. At times in ministry, this very much becomes the case, where the job can outweigh the simple love we have for Christ Jesus. Sometimes the balance is blurred between relationship with Jesus and loving our neighbors, and making sure numbers show up and running the best and hip church service.
This is my story of full time ministry so far and it has only just begun. No matter highs or lows that are to come, I can confidently say that I am a child of God. My encouragement to you and a constant reminder to myself is to constantly ask the Lord, to renew a steadfast spirit and create in you a pure heart. Life is messy, but the beauty of the gospel transcends our sins and brokenness into something pure and beautiful.
