“Jesus wants us more than He needs us.”

Those words ring in my ears. A key Christian leader in the USA who was derailed by a broken experience shared those words. He reflected on the root causes – “I over-estimated my importance. I under-estimated His heart.” 

I believe those short statements capture the essence of the BTS Lectures that took place on 9th October. 

Dr Tan Siang Yang, our speaker, highlighted the contemporary fascination with ‘leadership’ (in both churches and marketplace) as a thinly veiled disguise of our chasing after an elevated sense of self-importance. As I listened to Dr Tan, the words of the fallen leader echoed in my heart again – “I over-estimated my importance.” These 4 little words seem innocent enough but have led to the fall of the perfect Adam. If left unchecked, it will surely bring havoc into my life.

DL Moody once said: “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody (over estimating). He spent the next forty years learning he was nobody (under estimating). He spent the last forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody (rightly estimating).” And in that journey of estimation, the Lord said that Moses became the humblest man on earth.

If our inflated ego is one of the keys to our brokenness, then our under-appreciation of God’s desire is the other key.  As the fallen leader said: “I under-estimated His heart.”

Tozer said: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Dr Jan Johnson, our other speaker, shared that our minds have been scripted with many false notions of God. One of the more common ones is that “God is disappointed in me”.  She perceptively related the bible story of Peter taking his first steps on water in Matthew 14 to her own exciting experience as a grandma cheering her grandson’s first steps. So many of us take Jesus’ words: “you of little faith” as expressing disappointment over Peter. Jan believed those were the words of a loving father cheering Peter’s courageously taking a giant first step of “little faith”. And we well know that faith as small as a mustard seed has the power to move mountains. And as I listened to Jan, I resonated with the words from the fallen leader again – “I under-estimated Jesus’ heart. He wants me more than he needs me.”

In this Covid season, through your prayers, 700 plus people attended this BTS Lectures.  Please continue to pray that they will continue to move away from the negative script of “over estimating our importance and under estimating His heart” and grow into the appreciation that “He wants us more than He needs us”.

Many have been touched and asked for the “link” to use it in their small group discussions.  We have included the “link” below for both Jan and Siang Yang’s talks. May it truly be a blessing to you just as you have blessed us through your thoughtful prayers and generous financial support.

https://tinyurl.com/BTSLectures2021YT

Rev Peter Lin
President