I Preached Against Shrimp Dumpling

I preached against shrimp dumpling last Sunday Service.

Pretty much on fire.

Some told me so. Some discussed it. Some cried. Some shook my hands. Some even told me a shrimp dumpling was left uneaten on table that day. No one dared to eat it.

In case you forgot it, missed it, or are interested in it, this is a very simplified version...


Note: ( ) = My elaboration, or text reference


" Title: Fighting Moment/Nehemiah ch. 4...

My wife said, "It is huge warfare!" when recalling what happened last Wednesday. She went into a neighbor house & led second second Discovery Bible study (go to last message 'Stepping Out... WOW' for God's wonderful guidance). Just when they were ready to study the fall of mankind, 2 Jehovah witnesses knocked the door. The host answered the door. Aden went down as well. The Jehovah witnesses were very sticky. And a baby of our neighbor started crying. Even though the J.W. were gone, the crying wouldn't stop.

The study was then forced to stop. BTW, this group is penetrated by the Baha'i faith people who volunteers to teach them English every Tuesday. For the last 9 months, when we prayed for ways to outreach the neighborhood, the Jehovah witness, Baha'i faith came out forcefully from nowhere. It's really the fighting moment!

(I talked about how Nehemiah called out all people to respond to their enemies...How everyone became an army of ordinary people... Then I switched to Christian role in spiritual warfare in Eph.6:13-18. How all of us should put on God's armor to fight the world, Satan, and our sinful nature...)


Yes. The warfare is fierce. But it is never an even one. Through the victory of the cross, Jesus has taken away the sin of human being. God is willing to grant the gift of forgiveness via Jesus Christ. Satan could no longer condemn our sin & enslave us. We are set free! The strong man had been tied up by Jesus Christ(Mat.12:29). We, as free man, our role is to follow through, go into the house & rob his possession. Through preaching the gospel, we'll set free all those still captured by Satan.

If you get this, the essence of Great Commission comes into light: After being crucified & raised to victory, Jesus commanded his disciples, the army of ordinary people: 'I have won the victory & have all the authority. No more defence. It's time to attack. Soldiers, Charge... Go! Go! Go! Therefore Go and Make disciples of all nations...'(Italics, mine).

If we obey Christ, put on God's armor, bring forth the Gospel & His love, go into a community of desperate people, Satan will be scared to death. Because he is going to be robbed again! (Then I told a story of a church in HK, the church of "no walls." How a pastor has mercy over the homeless in parks. How he visits them every week & later gathers a church of 60 homeless every week in the park, worship, learning God's words...)

Church of no walls are those Christ followers dare to go go go, go into a community, share the gospel & gather believers as a church, right where they are. If according to Jesus' definition(Mat.18:20), church can be in a park, then can church be in campus field? If a church in park is church, then can church be in office? If a church in office is church, then can church be at home? (Then I started to introduce the simple church ministry I am going to do next year... Our Bishop encouraged me to use 15 minutes to talk about this... Normally I don't like to deviate much from the text message!)

The name of our ministry is called "FANS Home"(The Home For All Nations - Mk.11:17) . We have 3 focus:

1. Missional:

God sent His Son to the World. Jesus sent us into the world. Instead of asking people to come to church. We are the go go go people. We are the go go go church. Just like what Aden doing, we pray & pray for harvester. We go into a community. Share the gospel. Identify the person of peace(Luke 10). Convert him(her) + his (her) network, the house. Gather them right where they are as church...

2. Making Disciples & Simple Church:

We make disciples when they commit to come together as a group, even before conversion. 3 DNA will be implanted right there from the start: Divine Truth + Accountable Nurturing Relationship + Apostolic Mission. They will be reading & studying & obeying the words of God. Life will be transformed by the Spirit working through God's words in an obedient heart. Everyone is accountable to others. The neglected but crucial discipline for growth like confession of sin to each other(sure it applies to Pastor!), speaking the truth in love... come back to central stage. And we will be praying for the lost, reaching out for the lost, sharing what we learn each week as a group to our pre-believer friends... We focus on these 3 areas in group of 2-3, from there to every size God will us to grow, 30, 60, 100 times... Simple? Yes. Simple but profound. Simple & reproducible. That makes a movement.

(Where is the shrimp dumpling part? Coming...)

3. The Poor and the Needy:

God calls us to share the gospel not in words only. It will be shared in love. God tells us there is a big world out there needs help... Probably you'll have dim sum after this service, right? How much it costs for a plate of shrimp dumpling? (They replied: $3, $4) How long does it take for you to finish this plate, say if you are very hungry? One minute?!(They nodded.) I want to make you feel sick when you have dim sum today... 60 seconds gone, right after you finish your shrimp dumpling, 24 kids die in the world(refer to my blog message 'Count with me 1, 2, 3...') 24 kids die of malnutrition & hunger in Cambodia, in India, in remote areas of China, in urban ghettos of Mexico... right after you finish your shrimp dumpling. And that $3, $4 can save those 24 young lives. That same beautiful life as we touch, we kiss, we hug, we feed at our home... dies. Die because we only touch, only kiss, only hug, only feed the little ones, the ours! It is a sin for Christian not caring for the poor and needy. It is not about shrimp dumpling. It is about a lifestyle. A lifestyle that is not thinking, caring, loving the poor. This is sin. This is something we need to answer before Jesus(Mat.25:31ff). Our ministry will be taking care of the orphans, the widow, and the poor... Among them, we shall make disciples of Jesus Christ. That is a must!

(Funny enough. After this powerful & straight-forward wording, I came to ask for support...) You can support us in this way:

• Check my blog to know our passion: marcus-jesuswow@blogspot.com


• Persistent Prayers:


• Donation

(And I concluded with 2 Tim.4:7-8...)

Which opponent you don't want to face in battle? A well-trained mercenary army or a well-trained voluntary army. One fight for pay check. One fight from love. Brothers & sisters, God is calling his army to fight, put on His armor, go into the world, share the gospel with love... Satan will be scared to death. Because this army. The army of ordinary people. The army of all voluntary hearts. Fight out of love. To them, they have nothing to lose. Are you one of them? )

I was pretty much on fire.

Walking. Waving. Preaching. Lost in the pulpit.

The life of a shrimp dumpling changed that day. Uneaten. Thanks to my preaching.


The next day. Monday morning. I looked out the window from my room. Still lost in the power of Spirit. Still lost as the focal point on pulpit, I talked to Jesus in open eyes...


"Lord, I know I have the gift of preaching. I am feeling good about it(kind of addicted). I am good at doing it, doing something that is not effective in changing life(I changed the life of a shrimp dumpling, though). Can you take away this gift from me?

But while you do this... can you give me another gift, a gift that I might not be familiar, have not been doing very good. But at the end, people see you, not seeing me. At the end, we see life changed, obedient disciples made. We see your followers love you so so much, that they love the world so so so so much..."

If you happen to be a preacher, I do not mean to offend you. I think there is a higher calling than preaching to a Christian community every Sunday morning. And you know the reason. Sooner or later.

Am I bragging over my preaching?

Instead, this is my confession. The confession of a preacher. The confession of a preacher who looks for something more effective in impacting life, changing life, plus changing the world. We don't need to invent it. Jesus had shown us. Commanded us. It is only our question of following suit or not!