Today is the last day of 2011 and 2012 starts tomorrow. Looking back to 2011 and before that you will note that the world faced economic turmoil, most countries were affected. Because of economic uncertainties many ordinary people all over the world also faced prices increase of foods we eat. Under such circumstances many people are looking for contentment. Contentment is not happiness but more so, joy in the Lord.
I was reading an on-line magazine and I came across this article about contentment written by John MacArthur. I needed to remind myself of these Biblical principles and I believe many readers will benefit from these principles. This is perhaps a good start for the new year knowing the gloom in the world economies.
1. Give thanks in all things.
2. Learn to rest in God's providence.
3. Learn to be satisfied with little.
4. Learn to live above life's circumstance.
5. Learn to rely on God's power and provision.
6. Pre-occupied with the well being of others.
A quote "Contentment is not the fulfilment of what you want, it is the realization of how much you already have".
To read the full article by John McArthur click on the title of this post.
You must have read and heard about positive thinking. Even in the secular world motivators have emphasized the power of positive thinking. But for us Christians positive thinking is not necessary a bad things but it appears that God is left out. Here it is merely about our own thinking, but we know our God created everything and He has plans for us. Power of positive prayer is above positive thinking and it is about focusing our minds on God promises for us and not on the worldly problems. Granted we Christians are also subjected to problems, but these problems are small things compared to God's promises to us His children. As we focus on God's promises we can turn our lives into positive prayers. When we walk with God daily, following His commands we can live our lives as a daily prayer to God. The Bible commands us to pray without ceasing, other than uttering prayers aloud or in the mind, living according to God's command is also prayer without ceasing.
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
Sometime ago researchers said the Shroud of Turin was a forgery. Now scientists claimed that it is the real burial cloth of Jesus.
The scientist said
"There are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological or medical circumstances explain the image adequately," they said, according to the Telegraph.
A professor of chemistry at Pavia University, Luigi Garlaschelli, shared with The Independent: "The implications are... that the image was formed by a burst of UV energy so intense it could only have been supernatural. But I don't think they've done anything of the sort."
To read the full story click on the title of this post.
The Pew Forum Survey found recently that Christianity is the largest religion in the world. There are about 2.18 billion Christians today out of a total population of about 7 billion. The question is what is the main reason for this growth ? It appears that the Christians as a percentage of the world's population has been steady for many years, and the recent growth was because of population growth in countries where Christians are residing. The areas that are growing most are Sub-Sahara and Asia Pacific regions.
In terms of the growth in Asia-Pacific region, China will be leading the growth. Sources said there are Christians in China ranging from 70 to 170 million. No one really knows because the Chinese government out-law the "house churches" (underground churches). Reports from missionaries that there are multiple thousands of these churches in China, and people are coming to Christ by the thousand each day. There is a great harvest in China. There are reports that very soon China will have more Christians than the US. One very encouraging information is that the Christians in China are of "one mind" as far as Christianity is concerned. They do not have problems of denominations issues, because to them Christianity is just believing in Jesus our Almighty God. They are not concerned about the differences. China is the country to watch. There is a movement started several years back called "Back to Jerusalem" movement, that is bringing back the Gospel from China across all nations from there back to Jerusalem. Pastor Peter Tsukahira has prophesied in his book :God's Tsunami", about the movement back to Jerusalem.
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
Most people including me found that it does not make sense that while we are in depression we can worship God joyfully. This I learnt from Pastor John Piper and worship leader Bob Kauflin. Usually we associate our emotional state with our outward activities like worship for example. People usually do not worship when they are emotionally depressed. But John Piper said our emotional state and state of contentment in Christ are two separate things. We can still worship with joy even in depression. John Piper said "A depressed but born again person, Piper added, has a “seed of contentment in Christ.” “And the form it might take is, right now I feel nothing; I am totally numb emotionally. But I have a memory that there was once a sweetness of affection, a sweetness of trust… and I by faith believe it’s still down there because theologically, the Bible says it... I now, in this room while everybody is singing and I don’t have any feelings… I am saying to Him, please restore to me the joy of my salvation.”
Worshipis affirming our satisfaction with Godaccording to Piper, he said "you can be “satisfied with God and weeping your eyes out at the death of your mother.”
The key to worship for the hurting is found in2 Corinthians 6:10: “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
This message about worship is really an eye opener for me.
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
Last evening a Christmas parade was held in Kuching. It was organized by the Methodist Church and the Kuching Minister Fellowship was also invited. In total including branches of churches, there were 27 churches participating in the parade. This got to be the largest Christmas parade so far in Kuching. The organizer expected about 4,000 Christians to attend, but from the turn out at least 5,000 Christians participated in the event.
This year's theme was "Peace in Christ", and it was a fitting team because we all wanted peace for our nation. For the past two years many events have taken place that affected the rights of Christians in this nation. It appears that many of these rights are slowly taken away. It was indeed a show of unity among the Christians in this city and beyond by the number of Christians coming to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus. He came to die for our sins, and to redeem us and give us eternal life. Regardless of denominations, many churches participated in this parade because it is important to be in one body of Christ. We must all join hands to fight the enemies outside, let's stand as One in Christ Jesus.
Praise God that although it is the rainy season now there was no rain last evening. During the afternoon it rained, and the weather was cleared for the parade! Hallelujah! Praise God!
Click on the title of this post to read a news report prior to the event.
Many things can be done on the internet and on-line businesses is a trend. It appears that the Church is not left out in using the internet as a media to spread the Gospel. Personally, I thought that people will just read and go away to do something else, but it seems that beside casual reading those committed Christians who came to know the Lord via the internet continue to become disciples and help to spread the Gospel further. Global Media Outreach found that more than half of those who cam to know Jesus spread the Good News further. This result in itself is a good news for Christianity. In fact the social net work like Face Book has helped millions to know Jesus. The FB page "Jesus Daily", has hits greater than some celebrities like Lady Gaga. The internet has helped the Gospel to be penetrated into many unreached societies. As long as there is an internet connection the Gospel can be shared with these peoples. Another positive point is that many users of the internet are young people and they are the ones coming to Christ. Praise God!
To read the full article click on the title of this post
Last Sunday a Brother popularly known as Uncle Ben shared about he and his teams' experiences in the prison ministry work in Kuching here. Uncle Ben is already 82 years old and yet he has the passion and determination to serve in the prison ministry which he and others have done for the past 18 years. The other members from our church are Bro.Song, Bro.Arthur and Bro.Chin. Since 18 years ago Uncle Ben and his team has baptized about 400 prisoners from the locals as well as foreign countries. At present there are prisoners from Indonesia, Philippines, China and Nigeria. Of late, there are more Nigerians because many initially came to study in the colleges here but committed crimes and were locked up by the authorities. Uncle Ben testified that many of these foreigners received Jesus after they hear the Good News from his team. Praise God! Uncle Ben remarked that in fact we do not need to go out of our country to do mission, the mission field is right here! Hallelujah! Praise God!
Uncle Ben shared that many miracles happened in prison. He related how a prisoner who could not speak well, could not stand straight, but when he came out of the water of baptism he could talk well and stand up straight! He was healed! Praise God! Many prisoners broken by crimes and separated from their families were finally reconciled with their families after they were released. Many of these prisoners were touched by Jesus and appreciated the work of our brothers. Bro.Song shared on another occasion that a Nigerian who was converted went home to his country, but on occasions he still call Bro.Song to talk to him. This ex-prisoner even went home to convert his mother! Hallelujah! Thank God! Even in prison our Lord Jesus is doing mighty work.
There are women prisoners in the Kuching Prison so Uncle Ben appeal to the Sisters in our church to volunteer to help these prisoners. Although there are only 9 women prisoners, there are work to be done.
The other work is helping those in parole. They cannot go anywhere as they like and volunteers are needed to help the prisoners liaise with the Prison authority.
In recognition of their work here,Prison ministry received a certificate of recognition from Prison Fellowship International, USA and also another certificate from the Federal Government of Malaysia.
Our church are very appreciative of the work done by Uncle Ben and his team. We thank Uncle Ben, Bro.Song, Bro.Arthur and Bro.Chin for their work in helping the prisoners to come to the Lord. We pray that they will find favors with the Prison Authority and their help in accessing the prisoners to share with them the Good News. May the harvest be plentiful. Amen.
You may read more information from Prison Fellowship International by clicking on the title of this post.
National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia (NECF) interviewed Pastor Robinson Simunyi of SIB Canada Hill, Miri about issues facing Christians in Sarawak. His answers reflected the current sentiments of Christians living in Sarawak. From observations it is heartening to see Christians from all walks of lives and from different denominations coming together for common purposes. For the past one and the half years we witnessed this trend emerging. The Kuching Minister Fellowship (KMF) here has been organizing monthly prayer meetings in various Churches in the city of Kuching for the past one and half years. I personally attended many of these meetings and I could really sense the spiritual hunger of the Christians and the fervency in their prayers. The prayers were of common interests, like prayers for political fairness in the election process, to elect righteous candidates, fair treatment of all citizens, peace and social justice in this country. Since two months ago KMF has started to organize prayer meetings outside of the city of Kuching, like in Bau (a town about 40 minutes from Kuching), and Lundu another town about 2.5 hours from Kuching by road. Ihe main purpose is to engage the rural pastors and their congregations. Personally, I am touched by the unity of various denominations especially in coming together to pray for our nation and to pray for each other. There is this feeling of belonging to One Church of Jesus. After all, God called us to be in One Church focusing on Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are praying for revival to come to Sarawak, spread to Sabah and Peninsula soon. Revival can happen when we all pray as One.
Read the full interview by clicking on the title of this post.
Canadian teenager Sean Quigley's Christmas song "Little Drummer boy" has gone viral on Youtube. As of now about 786,000 people had watched his video. He is a drummer and interpreted this song in his own way.
I came across this touching video from reading a fellow blogger's page. The message is indeed inspirational. Many of us tend to complain about things that may not be well as we wanted them. Perhaps after watching this video we may think twice before complaining. Many of us are blessed. In fact, as long as you can read this on the internet, you are blessed! Have you think of that?
God has given us so many beautiful things to enjoy, the sights, the sound and most importantly our relationships with our love ones and our fellow humans.
God encourages us and in Hebrew 13:3 He says "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,”.......". As Brother David narrated in the video he says even when we meet others we bring blessings, and we are also blessed.
Be patient in watching this video, it is slightly long. Be blessed by this video.
Bible teachers Rosemarie & David Searle of Melbourne were at our Church last week to teach a series on the Book of Revelation. David delivered 5 sessions of about two and a half hours each session. Revelation is a difficult book for many and his teaching helped many to understand this Book. It was interesting to find that the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament was related to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
On Sunday David taught our church using the subject of "trees" in the Bible. He said those verses on trees in the old testament were referring to the story of Jesus because Jesus died and was hung on a "tree" that was the Cross made from a tree. He believed that Jesus was hung on the tree of good and evil as mentioned in Gen 2:9. At least the tree was the representation of the Cross. In Act 5:29-32 was about Jesus hanging on a tree. Act 10:39 it was about the Jew killing Jesus and hung Him on a tree.
David also shared that the Chinese in ancient time knew about the revelation of God in the Old Testament time. In 1986 the Chinese in Sichuan discovered a 3.9 meters bronze tree. He said that most likely the Chinese knew that it was the tree of good and evil as written in the Book of Genesis. This tree has fruits, daggers representing harm if one eats of the fruits, hand of a woman representing Eve, a serpent representing evil. (see picture of tree above).
There are also many Chinese characters that tell the stories in the Bible.
Video of excavation and assembling the bronze sacred tree
This is the season again, Christmas is around the corner. Like any other years Christians usually celebrated Christmas the "secular" ways. We celebrated Christmas like the world does, buying gifts for love ones and enjoying ourselves just like the world obsessed with entertainment of all kinds. In these processes we forgot about our Lord Jesus Christ on His birthday! We celebrated His birthday but we ignored Him all together! Yours truly here is guilty too. But how are we to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way not like how the world celebrate it? Precisely how can Christmas still change the world?
There is a community of people who work towards changing our mindset as well as changing how we impact our communities in our celebration. Pastors pastors Rick McKinley, Chris Seay and Greg Holder wrote a book "Advent Conspiracy" to change mindset. There is a website "Rethinkingchristmas.com" for people to join this community to share ideas of how to spend less on Christmas on ourselves and spend to help the less fortunate.
We can do likewise here in Malaysia. There are many poor without clean water, electricity and even foods. We certainly can help these poor living in our neighborhood.
Let us be Christ like and give to the poor this Christmas.
A "Merry Christmas" to readers. May God bless you.
Sister Wendy Beckett is a 81 year old nun as well as an art historian. She livse in a mobile home next to the Carmelite Nun in Norfolk. I remember watching documentary about her but did not think much about her story. I have been reading Nicky Gumbel's book "The Jesus Lifestyle" and he mentioned about Sister Beckett. She is not only a nun but an art historian who became famous in 1991 when BBC featured her in their art documentary. That was not what inspired people all over the world, it is her lifestyle, living for God everyday of her life. Since 16 years of age she has been a nun, and that was when she acquired her first habit (dress of a nun). She lives a very simple life devoting at least 7 hours to prayers everyday. This is what she said "My daily routine is simple, but unvarying. I spend as little time as possible thinking about what to eat, wear or what to do next. This sets me free to pray: my raison d’être. I go to bed at 6pm. I used to get up at 3am, but now rise just after midnight. I stay silently praying in my home until I go to the monastery for Mass at 8am. I have two short breaks for coffee and breakfast bran, but, like my hours of work, these are just another form of prayer". She is such an inspiration to many, in this modern world of troubles one can still find people like her willing to give up all material things for God.
She literally lives The Jesus Lifestyle!
To read the full story click on the title of this post.
An author on an online Christian Magazine named 10 basic blessings that Americans enjoyed and said they should not complain as many around the world do not have what they have. Reading through the 10 basic blessings, I found that Malaysians are enjoying quite similar blessings.
For example medical care provided by our government hospitals. Malaysian citizens who use their out patient services pay about Ringgit 2 to 5 per visit ( USD0.6 to USD1.67!). If I am not mistaken that is the cheapest health care services anywhere in this world! Of course you may have to wait a little longer for your turn. Well, there should not be any complaint considering the cost.
Another of God's grace here is that we can worship our Most High God although our country is Muslim majority. Granted there are some restrictions especially to our citizens in Peninsular Malaysia, but here in Sarawak we can worship mostly freely. It is really the grace of God that enables us to worship Him in the many churches in this state of Sarawak.( 40% of this state people are Christians).
In Malaysia we do not have earthquake because our country is not on any fault lines. Floods are only experienced in certain parts of our country usually during monsoon season at the end of each year, but they are under control. Nothing like the great floods that Thailand experienced recently.
You can say Malaysians are a blessed lot. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for His mercy!
"The blessing of the Lord brings wealth and he adds no trouble to it". Proverb 10:22
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
SEMOA stands for Strategic Education Methods & On going Advancement. This is a non governmental organization serving the less fortunate especially the Organg Asli (indigenous people) of Selangor, Pahang and Negro Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. It was founded by Cheh Kim Hock and Rajen Velu about 15 years ago.
This Sunday, Pastor Rajen, Pastor Timothy and their team of another three members were at our church to share with our congregation the work they have been doing with the Orang Asli since the founding of this organization. They were here also to raise funds for the operation of this NGO. Pastor Rajen said their expenses was around RM50,000 per month. The funds came from volunteer organizations and individuals still funds were inadequate.
Since their founding, they have reached out to the Orang Asli who are the natives in Peninsular Malaysia. They are poor and reside in the jungles where there were no schools. They help the children to go to schools. Since than some of these indigenous people have graduated from universities even. Praise the Lord for their good work!
In order to raise some funds, they have produced an album of gospel songs sung in Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language). Two of their singers were in our church to present two songs from this album. I personally do not understand all the lyrics but they were worshipful songs sung by two talented singers. Many of our members bought this album. Some bought more than one copies to give to our Bahasa Malaysia congregations as well as their friends.
This NGO is also working with Grace Community Services of K.L. Click the titel of this post to go to their website.
Hallelujah! Praise God for SEMOA's work with the indigenous people not only bringing them education but the Good News of the Gospel.
Martin Voegelin of Mission Net said prayer is a relationship and not an activity. Last evening in our Life Group (Cell group) we were studying the subject of relation to God, and one part of the study was on prayer, and our discipleship material also said the same thing. According to Martin due to this misunderstanding many are hindered from living a prayerful life. He was talking about European experiences, but I believe it is applicable everywhere.
Personally, prayer is like blood flowing in my body. If one do not pray it is like not having blood in our bodies which means we do not have life.
In relation to answered prayer Martin said "And as prayer ceases, so too do the answers to prayer - our relationship to God becomes ineffective and boring.”
How true, Jesus said if you do not ask you do not get.
Prayer should be every Christian's FIRST resort and not Last.
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
Christians are commanded by Jesus to carry out the Great Commission - sharing the Good News till the end of the earth.
One of us can have an impact on strangers that we may never know. Even one soul comes to the Kingdom, Heaven rejoices!
Blogging is another way of impacting others for Christ. Someone out there may be influenced by what we shared. Nevertheless, share the Good News with others, you may change their lives for Jesus.
Here is an inspirational video. Watch it! God bless.
Last Sunday, the monthly prayer was conducted at Lundu, a small town about 2 hours drive from Kuching. It has been the Kuching Minister Fellowship's (KMF) objective to pray and bless the churches outside of Kuching city. Last month it was held at SIB in Bau.
It was encouraging to see a few hundred Christians from various denominations attending this prayer meeting. Of late we have been witnessing the coming together of various denomination for a common cause, that is to pray as One body. Despite our traditional differences we know the central focus should be Jesus our Lord.
Church members from Kuching were also there to pray with our brothers and sisters in Lundu. Churches from Lundu were e.g SIB, Anglican, Catholic, and independent churches.
We prayed for our nation, political leaders from the government and opposition parties to uphold justice and to carry out policies in righteous manners. The pastors from Lundu were asked what were their important needs amongst the Christians. A pastor said that we need to pray for the young people who are very much involved in worldly matters and not interested in church, she also requested to pray for them to be kept away from vices. One pastor also requested for prayers for the pre-school pupils who are alleged to be taught Islamic ways in school. Recently there are news on this subject in the local newspapers as well as on-line news. To read this article click on the title of this post.
Praise God that all churches are coming together to pray and uphold each other. We are also praying for revival to come to Sarawak.
Just completed reading a book about the work of missionary Jim Elliot written by his wife Elisabeth Elliot. He was a missionary to the Aucas Indians of Ecuado in the 50's. As a result of his ambition to spread the Gospel to the Aucas he paid with his life at the age of about 28 years old.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
He was wise to know he cannot keep the Good News from the lost, and that he had won because he is in the Kingdom of God.
This famous statement was made by him when he was studying in America.
He was known as a Godly person who related to God in all he did. Even at that young age he was already walking closely with God. What an inspiration for many to carry out the Great Commission and be missionaries. Jim Elliot was like a modern day Paul who gave his life to many and knew he had gain and is in the Kingdom of God.
Many had thought he wasted his life by dying in the hands of the Indians, but when we examined the impact of his life in inspiring so many missionaries to go to share the Good News with the losts,he indeed died for a Holy cause.
Watch this touching story of two friends who met in the hospital and how one of them tried to cheer up another who could not see because his eyes were covered by bandages.
Whom we meet is not an coincident but an appointment by God.
I recalled my own experience recently when God arranged for me to meet a fellow brother from another denomination during an Alpha course. Right away I was able to connect with him although I just met him a short while ago. Only in Christ we can do that, I believe.
Like any relationship all parties involved muust work at it. The marriage relationship is under threat all over the world. Even in country like Malaysia about 40% of marriages fell. If I am not mistaken this issue is also a big problem in Western countries.
Well, is there any hpe for the marriage institute? I believe so if we are willing to obey God's commands on marriage. Oh our part if we are wiling to work at it, that is husband and wife.
I read an interesting article on marriage in The Star, a Malaysian national newspaper on how we can work at our marriage. Click on the title to read more.
For those singles you still can learn a thing or two.
The ship Logos Hope is now in Kuching Port. They are here from 28th Oct to 13th Nov 2011. Children are especially excited about going on board this ship not only to enjoy at lease 5,000 titles of books but various activities organized by members of the ship to teach and reach out to people here in Kuching.
I still remember more than 20 years ago the Doulos a smaller ship came to Kuching and it was moored up river near to the town because it was smaller. That was a great time for me a non believer than.
Last week our youth members had the chance to stay over night on board ship. They must have a great time on board.
On Sunday four members of Logos Hope came to share in our church. The more senior member, Pam from Perth Australia shared about how she came to join the ship as a teacher on board and her testimony of how God had called her to use her talent to help others on board. The other three were from U.K, Mexico and Jamaica.
The three younger members entertained the children at the Sunday school.
Quote" A tiny, exquisitely made box found on an excavated street in Jerusalem is a token of Christian faith from 1,400 years ago, Israeli archaeologists said Sunday.
The box, carved from the bone of a cow, horse or camel, decorated with a cross on the lid and measuring only 0.8 inches by 0.6 inches (2 centimeter by 1.5 centimeter), was likely carried by a Christian believer around the end of the 6th century A.D, according to Yana Tchekhanovets of the Israel Antiquities Authority, one of the directors of the dig where the box was found.
When the lid is removed, the remains of two portraits are still visible in paint and gold leaf. The figures, a man and a woman, are probably Christian saints and possibly Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Unquote.
The author may be an American, but what unite Christians everywhere are applicable. Certainly there are many issues that have divided Christians over the centuries, but there are many things that unite Christians too. Here are six things :
1. Secularism
Christians all over see this as a common threat to Christianity. Some ways can be subtle but in many ways they are direct "attack" on Christianity. Like banning prayers in American schools, wearing Crosses to work in certain hospitals not allowed in U.K, making abortion lawful in many countries, banning Christian worships in many countries, and the list goes on. Here Christians find common grounds against the enemies.
2. Service
As Christians we are called to serve others and not be served. Threat our neighbors as ourselves. We can see the tremendous out pouring of Christian aids to the tsunami and earthquake in Japan recently, and other humanity aids Christians are doing all over the world.
3. Creation Care
We are stewards of this earth, and we are to take care of the environments. We need to care for this earth which is the only place to can live ( at this moment until you can live in space!). Global warming,disaster that cause environmental damages, pollution and others, they are our "babies".
4. Technology
Technologies like the internet is power. It helps the Churches to evangelize to people groups that were not possible in the past. Now, with the internet the Churches can bring their messages to the masses as long as you have internet connection. In places where Bibles are not allowed, you can read Bibles in so many languages on the net. Praise God for technologies!
5. People like Tim Keller
Keller a Pastor, intellectual, and a person who has tremendous influence in the Christian community around the world. He is "a model for the sort of Christian leader who will build consensus and spark enthusiasm among a diversity of Christians in the years to come".
6. Resurrection Hope
Christians agreed "1) Christ will return and reign, 2) Evil will be defeated once and for all, 3) Justice and peace will abide, 4) The dead in Christ will rise, and 5) a new creation will ensue."
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
It is the inspiring story of Eugene Cho, a Korean-American Pastor of Quest Church, Seattle who challenged himself to live a simple life style. It may be easier if you are single, but he is married with children. Despite the material riches he had, he and his family were willing to give up all material things to live a simple life.
In this world people strive for upward mobility, but he strives for a downward mobility like what Jesus taught Christians. Be humble, you want to be first you must be last. This is totally the opposite to what our world demands.
Things are not important but relationships. he said "When we stayed with friends, we were reminded what was most essential in our lives: It was the people right in front of us. Faith and Hope in Christ. My marriage. My children. My community."
He also quoted G.K Chesterton:"There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."
This lifestyle is a challenge to all Christians to live a simple life.
He is the founder of One Day's Wage, a movement to alleviate global poverty.
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
This was headline news all over the world about one week ago when a van ran over a 2 year old Chinese girl in Guandong China. In fact two vehicles ran over her. 18 people passed by the girl but no one helped until a woman came to her aid. This incident outraged the world. What have come to our humanity? People don't seem to care for fellow human anymore. I believe one ingredient that is lacking is the love Jesus prescribed for all humanity. Sadly not many come to know Him and follow Him as disciples.
Our follow man is our neighbor and Jesus taught: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31
Note: read a news article by clicking the title of this post.
Check this at You tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ke9XYk9zX8&feature=related
Last evening, a few brothers and a sister from FBC attended the Kuching Minister Fellowship (KMF) monthly prayer meeting at SIB Bau. For the past one year or so the monthly prayers meetings had been at Churches in Kuching city. It was given to understand that KMF wants to bless the churches outside of Kuching city, hence the first prayer meeting was held at SIB, Bau. Bau is a town about 40 minutes drive from Kuching.
The prayer was attended by Churches from Kuching such as Faith Methodist, Good News Fellowship, High Priest Church, FBC, Emanuel Baptist, Christ Baptist, Calvary and Anglican Church. From Bau we had SIB and Methodist Church Bau.
We witness the heart felt prayers of those who attended. People from various churches worshiped in unity for a common purpose of praying for our nation as well as for revival to start in Sarawak.
From the slide show you can see the first slide of a picture that resembles the map of Malaysia, Peninsula on your left and Sarawak & Sabah on your right. About two years ago a group of pastors gathered to pray at Lundu, during a break in the evening they saw this picture in the sky. It was vivid and the pastors realized that it was a revelation from God to pray for our country. Since then many wonderful and fervent prayer meetings had been held in Churches in Kuching.
Thank God for His leading. Let us continue to gather to pray in one accord regardless of denominations. In God's eye all His children are One.
Note : The next monthly prayer meeting will be on 20th Nov 2011 in Lundu.
Here is a true and inspiring love story of a couple who married for 72 years and died together in an accident holding hands. This is really what real love is about.
A recent poll by Life Way Research found that frequent Bible reading can turn you liberal on many societal issues like abortion, capital punishment,homosexuality and others. The researchers were surprised by this result. On the other hand it may not be so surprising because God wants us to follow His commands and He meant good for us if we obey Him. Liberalism here is not about anything goes, but about God's instructions for us to live a righteous life, thus living with consideration for others and upholding God's commands. As we discover the truth of God while reading the Bible, it some ways we become more liberal in judging societal issues. This phenomenon may be discovered in America, I suspect it applies through out the world.
"Frequent Bible reading has some predictable effects on the reader. It increases opposition to abortion as well as homosexual marriage and unions. It boosts a belief that science helps reveal God's glory. It diminishes hopes that science will eventually solve humanity's problems. But unlike some other religious practices, reading the Bible more often has some liberalizing effects—or at least makes the reader more prone to agree with liberals on certain issues. This is true even when accounting for factors such as political beliefs, education level, income level, gender, race, and religious measures (like which religious tradition one affiliates with, and one's views of biblical literalism)."
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
I was reading a fellow blogger's blog call seniorsaloud.blogspot.com where I discovered this touching story. Jesus commanded us to love one another. Without any word spoken this short film conveyed the message of love loud and clear.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34
This Sunday, our church was honored with a visiting missionary Dr. Lin Zhong Mu who was commissioned by Emmanuel Baptist Church, Kuching in 2007. Now he and his family is based in Hong Kong. His mission is in China equipping the believers for mission back to Jerusalem. He is the founder of Strategic Mission Alliance International (SMAI)and its main objective is to equip the saints in China.
There are two prophecies for China :
1. Back to Jerusalem - movement initiated by Mark Ma in 1942 with a vision of bringing back the Gospel to Jerusalem and its vicinity.
2. Renewal and emergence of broken down restructured churches A)The churches were broken down 1949 – 1979 (30 years)- the churches were in disarray B)The churches restructured ( house church) 1979-2009 (30 years)- during this period many house churches emerged as compared to the official church. Official churches are those approved by the Chinese Government. With the split of house church and official church, how are the Christians going to work together?
3.Reverse Flow – flow from China to Jerusalem. Recent prophecy of China for the next 30 years (2009 to 2039). This is exciting time as many in China are getting prepared for this reverse flow. Dr.Lin said we must take action now before it is too late.
Historic Perspectives 1889 to 1919 (30 years) – Republican revolution 1919 to 1949 (30 years) – Military revolution 1949 to 1979 (30 years) – Political revolution 1979 to 2009 (30 years) – Economic revolution 2009 to 2039 (30 years) – Faith revolution
Next 30 years is exciting even the Chinese government is secretly studying how to handle the rising Christian faith as to integrate it into the Chinese society. They recognized the importance of the Christian faith in their country. Dr. Lin said during the next 30 years dramatic changes will take place, there will be greater freedom to worship despite the present persecutions. He is looking forward to seeing large scale worship even at Tian Ann Meng Square! By 2035 China will become the greatest Christian nation on earth!
Three Money Principles for SMAI 1.Jacob’s righteousness ( Gen 31:38-39 2.Law and ethical up rightness 3.Faithfulness in smaller things
Your Response – 3 Ps 1.Praise and give financially 2.Prayers and communication with workers in the fields 3.People – visit the workers
Christians are fervent in their worship and they follow God's calls on their lives to the extend of relocating their families to new locations whenever God instructed them. Dr.Lin has met many of these young families and young people who are really hunger for God and His mission.
Let us pray for Dr.Lin and all the missionaries and Christians in China. May God be with them.
Our church had ran 4 Marriage courses since last year. The main organizers of The Marriage Course (TMC) are none other than Bro. Howe Tung and Sis.Chuei Lian. We are all very blessed by the work of this lovely couple. They are assisted by Bro.Arthur,Bro.Chew,Bro.Chai Say,Bro.Chin Luke, Sis.Amoi,Sis.Stella,and Sis.Teck Lan.
After the last TMC that was completed late last month, Bro.Howe Tung and Sis Cheui Lian felt the need to bless the local pastors with their own marriage course. Like any event that needed funding, they sorted and got about 6 sponsors from our church to finance the event. Bro.Fan Ngian and Sis Siang Li, the Advisors of TMC came from Kuala Lumpur to help conduct the 3 days session at Lundu, a seaside resort about 130 Km from Kuching. The National Director of Alpha Malaysia, Bro.Lei Wei was also there to launch the event.
The course was indeed encouraging and helpful to the pastors who work very hard and had not much time to relate to their wives. This course helps them to learn new ideas to build lasting marriages. There were 12 pastors and their wives attending. The TMC Advisor Bro. David and his wife also attended.
Sis. Chuei Lian said: "Thanks everyone for your prayers & support ! It is so heart warming to hear the testimonies ! Thanks for blessings our pastors in Sarawak!"
Thank God for all Bros. & Sis who supported this event in prayers.
It is well known that Steve Job claimed to be a Buddhist after his visit to India. His wedding was presided by a Buddhist monk.
But there was interesting facts about his earlier years. Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research wrote "Steve Jobs was baptized and instructed in the Christian faith, so we can do a bit more than talk about "common grace," we can also hope that God, in His own ways, at times and places of His choosing, may have worked in Steve's life, at the last, a remembrance of the gifts from Christ He had received in His life. Unless you have been with a person in their last days, you have no idea what goes on in a person's heart and mind in the closing days and moments of life. Let us pray God brought back to Steve the remembrance of what he had been taught as a young man in a Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod confirmation class, taught by my friend Rev. Dr. Martin Taddey, now deceased."
Therefore, we do not know what was his mental condition regarding his belief in his last days. Only God knows. Let us pray for his wife and children to come to faith during their life time.
To read the full article by Ed Stetzer click on the title of this post.
The world mourns the passing of a great innovator recently - Steve Job. The world may see him as an iconic computer technologist, but evangelical Christians see him as an "evangelist". Calling him an "Evangelist" sounded odd because he was not even a Christian! Well, the work he has done at Apple Computer enabled the Gospel to be spread to places where it cannot reach with old technologies or methods. With advances in internet technologies and the devices like iphone, ipad which enable owners to have access to the Gospel.
Dr.Michael A.Milton of Reformed Theological Seminary commented "Through Apple’s technology, the Gospel has been getting through to what the professor dubbed the most hostile places on earth as well as the most hostile ideological places in the secularized Western world."
He said “In God’s common grace, He used this man’s innovation and creativity to build a new Roman Road to the world – a pathway through the extremities of a world still held in the tyranny of despots and dictators, poverty and radical religious fetters,”
We read many stories in the Bible where God made used of non believers to further his kingdom. Like the Romans in St.Paul's time built extensive roads systems that enabled the Gospel to be spread far and wide, indeed "to the end of the earth".
We pray for Steve and thank him for inventing devices that enable the Gospel to be spread to many unreached places on this earth.
It is indeed an amazing true story of a young woman just 22 years and yet she is a mother to 13 orphans in Uganda.
Kattie Davies is an inspiring Christians to all of us. Young people at her age would not give up the good life in any part of the world. No i phone,computers,rock music and many other modern "must have" of this young generation. She chose to serve the orphans and needy in Uganda. She is a matured Christian although she is just 22 years old. She is living a life commanded by Jesus for all Christians.
Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Proverb 19:17 "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done."
To read the full article click on the title of this post.
Last night the Mothers' Union Choir from Diocese of Seoul Anglican Church performed at St.Thomas Cathedral, Kuching. It was a rare opportunity to witness these talented mothers performing classical as well as modern Gospel songs. This choir is entirely made up of mothers, hence the name. There were 35 mothers in the choir.
They have held performances in Japan,Philippines,St.Paul's Cathedral London,at Lambeth Conference and others. The conductor was Professor Gabriel I.H.Cho of Sungkonghoe(Anglican) university. The organist was Fides H.W.Lee of the same university.
Some of the songs performed were "Serve the Lord with gladness-composer George F.Handel, "God is with us allthe day"-composer J.M Martin,"Since Christ my soul from sin set free-composer J.M.Black, "Holy Spirit Revive Me-composer Geonyong Lee and others. They also performed a Mandarin song "Mo Li Hua" and a Korean folk song "Arirang".
St.Thomas' Cathedral's own choir also performed a few songs. (ladies dressed in black).
The performance was very entertaining and those mothers were indeed very talented. The conductor got everyone to join in to sing a Korean Gospel "Holy Spirit Revive Me" in Korean.
The Cathedral was packed, probably several hundred people were in there.
Praise God for a fantastic performance!
Click on the title of this post to read a news article of their visit.
Once again our Church had the honor of Pastor Ben Wong from Shepherd Community Grace Church Hong Kong coaching our leaders over the weekends.
On Sunday he preached at our Church and the main theme of his sharing was "Go Make Disciples". He said from his travel around the world most Christians leaders are that Jesus is coming back soon. In the last days there will be great harvest. Indeed now we are witnessing great harvest in the Middle Eastern countries. Like in Iran Christians are growing at 19.7% a year, Afghanistan is growing at 16.7%,and Saudi Arabia is growing at 5%. America is only growing at 0.8% per year.
The problem is that Christians are afraid and they let the gates of hell beat them. We must stand up and fight back. We have God in us, and we should stand and fight back to win souls for Jesus. The harvest is plentiful but workers are few (Matt 9:37). There is no problem with the harvest, but the workers. We stay in the comfort of our Churches.
Pastor Ben said he is afraid that we will be inward looking as we move into our new Church building at the end of this year. He said we must never be inward looking and do not be distracted by the new church building. Jesus did not say "Come to church", but He said "Go" make disciples. He said "the best defense is the offense".
The Great Commission is "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:19-20
A while ago I blogged about the "Reading Bus" a program to help rural children to read. This program was pioneered by Pastor Cheli and his wife Mei who have now relocated to Kuala Lumpur.
Beside this reading project, Pastor Cheli and his wife has also started a after school centre in Kuching. This was specially to help students who are poor in their studies. Understand that a nominal fee is collected.
Since the relocation of Pastor Cheli and his wife Mei the job has been taken over by Pastor Fong Che Chung who is the product of the after school centre.
"Fong Che Chung, 25, is one of those who benefited from Bethany Home. Fong, who is now an assistant pastor with Bethany Ministries, said he had failed every subject in the SPM mock examination at school in 2003 before his friends urged him to go to Bethany Home.
“It was about a month before SPM and I had totally lost hope. But I decided to come to Bethany Home as I had nothing to lose.
“During that month, I came every day and studied mainly with my friends, who taught and helped me to understand the various subjects. Questions that I did not know how to answer previously started to make sense,” he said."
Pastor Che Chung is now a full time pastor with Bethany Home Ministry, Kuching.
To read an article on this subject click on the title of this post.
The Alpha Workplace course started on 22nd July 2011 and it ended last Friday 23rd September 2011. About 58 staffs of KTS Group Kuching attended this course. It was indeed an inspiring journey with so many members of their staff attending Alpha Workplace course in one place. This could be the largest Workplace Alpha ever conducted in the state of Sarawak.
Many people were touched by the Holy Spirit in this course. Some started as nominal Christians, and now they repented and are hungry for God. Praise God that the Holy Spirit had been working in their lives!
Hosts and Helpers from Trinity Methodist, Faith Methodist, Tabuan Anglican, and First Baptist Church were there to assist KTS from the start of the course on 22nd July 2011. It has also been an encouraging journey for many of the Hosts and Helpers to see so many people being moved by the Holy Spirit.
This workplace Alpha at KTS Group was the work of the Holy Spirit and it was not work on man. Glory to God!
A note of thanks to Bro.Tony Wee for helping in recording this video, Sis Doreen for volunteering to be recorded, and Bro.Lau for recording the video.
Watch a video testimony of Sis. Doreen Sim of the insurance division at KTS, Crown Tower Kuching.
Rob Bell the pastor who wrote Love Wins which created controversy in the Christian world a few months ago is leaving the mega church he founded. He was accused of being a universalist that saying everyone will be saved eventually regardless of what they believe. This did not sit well with many theologians including Pastor John Piper who tweeted "Seriously, as before, may you fare well, Rob Bell. http://dsr.gd/otctwX" after the book came out. Now Piper's prediction has come true! Other famous pastors/authors have written books countering Bell, like Francis Chan who wrote Erasing Hell.
His book created confusion and many believe he got the wrong theology that is the reason for so many people opposing it.
To read an article on this subject click on the title of this post.
On 10th Sept 2011, Bishop Rev Hwa Yung of Methodist Church Malaysia was here in Kuching to address the issue of bribery and corruption at Trinity Methodist Church (TMC). He has written a book of the same name. The book has generated a lot of interest in these subjects especially in present Malaysia. No doubt corruption is an issue in many countries, but as our country is going through a political transition it seems that corruption is on everyone's mind.
Rev Hwa Yung's book was a result of a paper on corruption he prepared for the Graduate Fellowship while he was studying for a PhD in the USA in 1992. He didn't want to make the presentation but was directed by God to take up the challenge as he did not know much about the subject prior to his presentation.
Rev Hwa Yung said basically we human have 3 struggles, a)money b)sex and c)power. Many people failed because of these issues including pastors.
How can we take truth of God and make it alive in the real world? Rev Hwa Yung suggested three models :
Separation Model - separate from the world which rebels against God.
Indentification Model - Christians are salt & light of the world (Matt 5:13-16), To live simultaneously under God's law.
Transformation Model - we live in two realms but as Christians we can change the structure/systems to be God-comforming.
He suggested an integrated model of the three models that is called Incarnational model.. This model assumes that we practise identification only to the extent we allow transformation.
What can we do ?
1. Never commit or condone active corruption practices. 2. Avoid as much as possible passive acceptance of corruption i.e paying for something that no doubt is legitimate. 3.Aim for transformation –for the greater good, for better quality of service, so that lives of others may improve. 4. God will speak to us individually and He expect differently from each of us. 5. Never lose sight of God’s call for us to be SALT and LIGHT.
In the nut shell do not participate in corruption, we must be committed to change and God will help us.
Beside Rev Hwa Yung lecture, five brothers shared how they handle corruption and bribery in their work. We had a doctor, an architect, two consulting engineers and a developer sharing their testimonies from the workplace.
Overall, a very interesting and informative seminar on corruption and how as Christians we should respond to this issue in our daily lives.
Dr. Chaiyot A-je Kukaewkasem(Dr.Aje) is an Akha from Thailand. I had the honor to meet him while attending the Haggai course here in Kuching recently.
The Akha people lives in five countries, China,Thailand,Loas,Cambodia and Myamar. All together there are about 2 million Akha in these five countries.
It has been an inspiring experience to meet Dr.Aje. He is not only a PhD holder in science, he is also a pastor to his people. He and his American wife is pastoring a church in northern Thailand and have various social programs to help his people. More and more of their people are turning to God. Hallelujah! (Click on the title of this post to read Operations World report)
As soon as Dr.Aje came into the class at Haggai I could feel his humble presence and felt connected to him as a Christian brother. Indeed, it was a joy learning from him. He made the subject of pluralism easy to understand. I believe all the participants enjoyed his teaching.
He showed Christ in what he is doing and in his treatment of other people, a person we all can emulate. Praise God for such a humble person and pastor.
Here is a video of Akha people. Not all Akha people are Christians, please pray for Dr.Aje and his ministry to the Akha people.
Top: picture of praying for Dr.Aje during our Haggai course. The colorful weaving on his coat is of Akha design.
The 6-days Haggai Institute 3rd National Seminar held at 360 Hotel, Kuching has just concluded on 17th Sept (Sat).
This was the first time in the Haggai Malaysian history for two languages seminar to be held at the same time, that was Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) and English seminars running together. Thanks to the organizing committee in making this possible. There are 34 participants, 17 from Bahasa group and 17 from English speaking group. Participants came from various parts of Sarawak. For Bahasa speaking some came from Indonesia.
Three brothers from our church attended.
The faculty members were Pastor Aries Siew (Malaysia), Pastor Tay Wah Seng (Malaysia), Robert Leong (Malaysia), Dr.Aje Chaiyot (Thailand), Alex Tan (Malaysia), Rev Wong Kim Kong (Malaysia), Joseph Tan (Malaysia), Jeff Wei (Malaysia). All the speakers were world class as most of them also conduct international seminars all over the world.
Subjects covered, Biblical Mandate,discipline,effective communication,pluralism,effective witness,Biblical stewardship and setting goals.
All these subjects were relevant to evangelism. But personally I was touched by personal sharing of Dr.Aje who is from Akha tribe of northern Thailand. He said his people are in 5 countries, Thailand, China, Loas, Myamar,and Cambodia. He came from a very poor family who did not even have a pair of slippers when he was young. Yet he managed to complete his PhD. God called him to minister to his people. Now he is also a pastor, as well as evangelist to his people. He was very humble and despite his high education he was not arrogant.
The other faculty member whose teaching and personal sharing impacted me was Alex Tan from Penang. He is a high ranking manager in Intel Malaysia. His personal testimony was touching. He shared how his right eye was healed when he prayed and was faithful to God. How his financial problems were solved when he obeyed and tithe as commanded by God. His teaching was clear and effective. A fellow brother said that his subject of Biblical Stewardship conducted on the last day of the course was like a "cap" for the whole course.
I remembered Billy Graham said "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life". It is true from my observations.
All the participants have a God-encounter from the testimonies shared on the last day of this course. Most are fired up to go out to share the good news. Many are already doing some work in evangelism. This course help us to arm ourselves to do "the battles" out there.
