Articles
Effective Prayer
Written by Trisha Khoo
"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according
to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
1 John 5:14-15
The Bible tells us in 1 John 5:14-15 that we have a prayer answering God. And while John writes about this confidence that we have, he quickly qualifies it with the important phrase in verse 14 – if we ask anything according to His will. The key to the effectiveness of our prayer is to pray in line with God's will.
We need a paradigm shift in the way we view prayer. If we come to God with our shopping list of wants and desires, we set ourselves up to be disappointed. Not that God doesn't answer them, but in His sovereignty He may hold back or in His goodness and mercy, grant some of these requests.
Kingdom Expression
Written by Trisha Khoo
It is not difficult to fall into the trap of thinking that salvation is the end all of Christianity; that when we say the sinner's prayer and we come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we are set. If that were the case, then the giants of the New Testament like Peter, Paul and John would not have had to do anything to spread the gospel. They could have sat back and relaxed; after all, they had already encountered the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the Bible is clear that while we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved for a multi-facetted purpose that is largely to glorify our Father in Heaven.
Perhaps one of the key goals as a Christian is that of good works so that God can be glorified. We see this term "good works" used often in the New Testament. In Ephesians 2:10 we are told that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works and in Titus 2:14, Paul teaches that Jesus redeemed us, His own special people who are zealous for good works.
Discipleship
Written by Trisha Khoo
In his book Radical, David Platt states that the megastrategy of Jesus is to make disciples. As a church, we believe it is important to be part of Jesus' strategy but we are keenly aware that only disciples can make disciples. That's why we have a goal to have everyone in some form of discipleship.
But most people would think as Christians, they are already disciples. The Bible, however, makes a clear distinction between one in the multitudes who followed Jesus but solely for the signs and miracles, and the disciple who intentionally followed Jesus to learn from Him. At CVCC, we desire to develop disciples, and we have laid out the core values of our discipleship initiative – accountability, body building and commission – to focus on that.
The Engine That Is Prayer
Written by Trisha Khoo
Anyone who drives a car will tell you that the heart of a car is really its engine. Without it, a car is really just a block of metal. Likewise, prayer is the heart of the church. Without prayer, church is just a group of people operating a religious treadmill.
Even as Covenant Vision grows and the programmes increase, we cannot ignore the fact that we cannot run without prayer. The prayer ministry that is today the Covenant Vision Prayer Powerhouse operated in Rev Francis Khoo's (then Bro Francis Khoo) home even before the Ministry was birthed. A group of people faithfully came together every Monday evening to pray. Through the years, we have seen many initiatives come forth through prayer. The church was formed after years of seeking God and travailing. We have also seen many breakthroughs and lives transformed through prayer.
The Rise of New Media
Written by Trisha Khoo
New Media is defined simply by Wiktionary as interactive digital media, such as the Internet, as opposed to traditional media such as print and television. In the last decade, we have seen new media grow at exasperating rates resulting in rapid globalisation and the rise of virtual communities.
Whilst some dub the Internet as a "monster", something they would rather shy away from, we can't ignore the fact that more and more people are jumping on the information bandwagon and benefitting from it. Technology has come so far and has bridged geographical boundaries, allowing people thousands of miles away to form relationships and build communities. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogs etc... these have now become mediums through which people, especially the next generation, now connect and communicate.