(Pic- Praying together with one of my oldest friend and fellow minister. Pastor Lawrence's support and
wisdom has been invaluable to my ministry. His influence on my life has been significant)

THE POWER OF CHEERING

Dear Church,

I was watching both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on TV last week and was amazed at the reception and cheering that both Senator Barrack Obama and John McCain got from their supporters when it was their turns to address the gatherings.They were visibly thankful and touched by such overwhelming and thunderous support as they kept clapping and cheering despite nearly more than 10 'thank you's from the two candidates to get them to settle down so that they can start their speeches which were frequently interrupted by more cheering and clapping. The cheering seemed to impart greater and greater hope as the convention went on.

On the flipside, there is an equally great power from criticism which has plunged our national morale to our lowest level since independence. Instead of hope, the citizens of our country are feeling greater and greater despair.

Folks, cheering or encouraging one another can make or break a person or a nation or it can propel us into greatness. There is such a fine line between greatness and defeat that lends great credence to the power of cheer or encouragement.

We read in 1 Sam 23 how Jonathan encouraged David when the latter was relentlessly being hunted down by King Saul and often despaired of life eventhough the prophet Samuel had anointed him as king. David rose above his discouraging situations in life and soon achieved greatness in the annals of Israel. In part, he has Jonathan, his cheerleader to be thankful for.

For decades, China has been criticized for their lack of press freedom, religious persecution, pollution, corruption, trading red-tapes etc. China's leaders rose above the world's criticism and through the Olympics showed the good side of China that critics have overlooked. Criticism have a tendency to cause us to focus on what is bad and forget that there is a lot of good in the situation.

But you asked, 'Pastor, what if the person is wrong? Should we not criticise so that he/she will change?'

Folks, the biblical solution is to speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15

We only earn the right to correct a situation if we do it out of love for the person and not just because we want the other person to change. The operative word is 'love'.

Each of us have the power of cheering and encouragement to take another brother or sister to greatness. You have the power to bring our church to the next level of destiny that God has meant New Life to be.
Grace and I attempt to be your strongest cheerleaders which is one reason why we take the trouble to write birthday greetings to our leaders year after year. We never get tired to say the same things over and over again if they can cheer or encourage you on. Our desire is for our church to be a church made up of the most encouraging people the community has ever known.

We cheer for you because we believe in the great destiny our folks are heading for and we hope you too will cheer for us so that together we can build New Life into a great church.

Cheering for you,

Pastor Ron and Grace Hee