Teacher and preacher Dwight Hill shared his wisdom with an audience of men at a Men’s Meeting organized by City Harvest Church.
By Ricky Chee
CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh and Tu Jie Rui.
Staying intimate with God and meditating on His words are two important keys to becoming effective ministers of God in the marketplace. Dwight Hill, the author of the Christian weekly electronic newsletter, The Facts Of The Matter for business and professionals, shared his wisdom on these two topics with an all-men audience at a Men’s Meeting organized by City Harvest Church.
Having devoted the past 45 years of his ministry to teaching men and women to follow Jesus and to apply the Bible to their daily living, Hill’s primary focus has always been to help Christians live their lives to fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ.
Held on Saturday, Oct. 27, at CHC’s Jurong West premises, the Men’s Meeting consisted of two sessions; in the first, Hill taught that the primary calling of a Christian is to fellowship with Christ. He said that eternal life is not a place to go to, it is a relationship Christians have with God. Jesus demonstrated this in His earthly ministry–no matter how busy His schedule was, His first priority is always to meet with His Father in prayer.
Luke 9:59-61 spoke of the time when Jesus called some men to follow Him but they were too distracted by their worldly worries. “I think in this modern age, the problem is not the lack of time, but rather the lack of appetite to know Jesus more,” said Hill. “At every point in our lives, there will always be something that prevents us from spending time with God, but no matter what your position in life is, you should always put God first, above all else. Our main purpose in life is to know God and not just to serve Him.”
Hill challenged his audience to “cut away the good in your life that is the enemy of your best”, a declaration that was met with roars of agreement from the floor.
Before concluding the first session, the attendees formed small groups to discuss three questions: How can one increase one’s appetite to know God? What are the fears people have that draw them away from God? And what is the main struggle and solution when it comes to choosing one’s priorities?
The second session opened with Hill talking about the importance of meditation. He reminded the men that when they are doing their quiet time, it is the process and not the destination that is important; with that, he gave them a practical plan to follow: adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication—the first letters of which form the word “Acts”.
Hill shared his personal experience of rekindling his love for fellowshipping with God after being a period of being burnt-out. “We need to slow down and meditate,” he said. “Less is more.”
Such lessons are caught as powerfully as they are taught. The audience engaged in a number of activities, one of which required the men to draw a picture after reading Psalm 1:3–this taught them to visualize the scripture they were meditating on.
Hill advised his audience to pray early in the morning instead of praying at the end of each day. His exhortation to “give God the best of your day before you screw it up” drew laughter from the crowd. His advice to achieving morning prayer was to sleep 10 minutes earlier each day so that one can get up earlier the next day. One should also plan a to-do list for the quiet time and leave it in one’s Bible before going to bed. It is also useful to decide on the time and place, and to have one’s Bible, notebook and writing instruments ready for the next day’s time with the Lord.
Joseph Soh, 37, a driver, felt that the meeting posed as a reminder because many people have their own busy schedule and would hardly seek God daily. Another attendee, Biondi, 24 a student felt that he has learned to meditate more on God’s word and during a crisis; he would be better equipped to deal with the situation.
