Installation of Pastors

On Sunday, our church had an installation of pastors ceremony conducted by the out going Pastor Richard Sim. The two pastors installed were Pastor Meng How from the Chinese congregation and Pastor George from the Iban congregation. Pastor Richard said it was a highlight of his career because he was able to raise two pastors from out own congregations instead of employing new pastors from outside the church. This may be a simple ceremony but it signify the taking over by the new pastors of their respective congregations, and that these new pastors are the new shepherds of these two congregations. To signify this handing over, a shepherd staff and respective members list were given to each of the new pastors It was also a milestone for our church as it was the first time that new pastors were raise from our congregations.

In the evening the English and Iban congregations hosted a farewell dinner for Pastor Richard Sim. ( Mandarin church held earlier) Our leadership was very appreciative of Pastor Richard who came to help our church when we had trouble about two years ago. Now he is retiring and will be living in Perth, Australia. We wish him the best, and may God continue to be wih him and his family.

Biggest Revival in History

The biggest revival in history is happening in China right now. An estimated 30,000 people come to the Lord each day! Although the actual numbers of Christians in China is not easy to be determined, many believed they are about 80 million to 110 million Christians now.

Certainly there are persecutions going on in China but Pastor Dennis Balcombe claimed that they are isolated and usually happened in remote areas. In prosperous coastal cities people can worship relatively freely. But there are still persecutions from the local authorities.

Despite the many reported persecutions by the authorities, it appears that the government is more open to Christianity as long as it is not political. The government also realized that Christianity has brought a lot of positive effects in their society.

To read an article on this click on the title of this post.

Bibles in MicroSD Card

The improvement in information technology is helping the Good News of the Gospel to be spread to all corners of this world. Indeed it is a blessing that Christian organizations such as Bible League is employing now. The invention of digital technology enables tremendous amount of information to be stored in small chip and now the MicroSD card can store even much more like 32 GB of information.

Religious materials are not allowed into many persecuted nations like China and Arabia, therefore using microSD chip is an advantage because it is small, can contain large amount of information and facilitate smuggling of these cards into persecuted countries. Unlike accessing information through the internet which requires internet connection and a computer, microSD card can be inserted into mobile phones and upon their remover leaving no trace.

Thank God for this advance micro chip which enable the Gospel to be shared with many persecuted people around the world.

To read an article on this subject click on the title of this post.

Holiness

What it means to be Holy can be unclear to many Christians including myself. Pastor Jack Hayford wrote a comprehensive article about Holiness I believe will be helpful to many Christians.

Personally I was not sure about what exactly to be Holy really means until I read Pastor Hayford's article.

He said "The Holy Spirit desires to bring each of us to complete personhood. This practical pursuit—our partnering with Him as He comes to help—is geared to make us whole or holy. That’s what “holiness” is really about—wholeness. What the Holy Spirit is up to is bringing the whole life of Jesus Christ into the whole of our personalities so that the whole love of God can be relayed to the whole world."

I have also heard preacher defining Holiness as being Christ-like. Like Pastor Hayford wrote "bringing the whole life of Jesus Christ into the whole of our personalities so that the whole love of God can be relayed to the whole world", I believe this statement really tells us to be Christ-like.

To read the full article click on the title of this post.

Chinese New Year 2012

Chinese New Year 2012 falls on 23rd Jan, 2012 Monday. This Chinese New Year is known as the dragon year. The Chinese has 12 zodiac signs and the dragon is the most popular of all these signs.The dragon is suppose to be powerful and reign over heaven. It is suppose to represent the Chinese emperor. Anywhere it is just a mythical animal unlike the rest of the zodiac animals which are real.

As far as Christians are concerned, we do not believe in all the zodiac signs but we participate in the celebration of Chinese New Year as a tradition. There are positive points in this celebration each year, like looking forward to a new beginning in the new year, forget the past that are not within your control, generally have a positive attitude, and build relation with love ones. On all these points I think the most important one is to build relationship with love ones. During Chinese New Year it is the tradition of the Chinese to travel back to their home at least once each year. No matter where each person is, he /she will travel home to celebrate the new year with family members. It is reported that 3.1 billion people are travelling home in China to celebrate this new year!

Wishing all Chinese readers and those celebrating Chinese New Year a "Happy and blessed New Year!".

How to Get the Most Out of Your Trials

We will never get away from trials. It may be economic turmoil that people face all over the world or any other daily trials we faced. Here is a good article to help us see these trials from a Christian perspective and we pray that we will be able to overcome whatever trial that comes our way.

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. —2 Corinthians 8:2

So how do you dignify a trial? Below are eight steps to getting the most out of your trials.

1. Welcome it. Welcome the trial as you would welcome the Holy Spirit, for it is the Holy Spirit who, with the Father and the Son, is behind the whole ordeal. And in this case, He comes with one purpose: for your own good.

2. Don't panic. Satan's immediate goal when he is given permission to attack is to get you to panic. This is why he is compared to a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8). The reason for the roar is to intimidate and cause fear and panic—to make you think you are defeated even before anything has had a chance to happen.

3. See the trial as a compliment to you from God Himself. This is important. The kind of trial He has allowed you to have is very possibly one that could not be granted to others around you. God gave this trial to you for one reason: you are up to it.

4. Never forget that God allowed it. Satan will want you to focus on yourself, feel self-pity, and blame someone else for it. But realize that this trial has passed through God's filtering process.

5. Know that there is a purpose in it. There is an intelligent, meaningful reason God allowed it. It is to refine you, teach you a lesson, equip you better, make you more sensitive, teach you self-control, and help you guard your tongue. In other words, to make you more like Jesus.

6. Don't try to end it. Don't try to get out of anything prematurely. God will allow it to last as long as it is supposed to last.

7. Don't grumble. It is a sobering thought that God puts grumbling alongside idolatry and sexual sin in the list of evil deeds that brought His wrath down on ancient Israel (1 Cor. 10:1-12).

8. Know that God wants you to pass the test far more than you do. There are two reasons for this. First, He loves us so much and rejoices to see us experience pure joy. Second, it brings glory to Him when we dignify the trial by cheerfully enduring it.

Persecution of Indonesian Christians

It is sad to read many cases of persecution of Christians by the majority Muslim Indonesians. Over the years we have read of many killings and attack on Christian churches in Indonesia. The GKI Yasmin Church in Bagor Indonesia is a good example. The local government sealed this Church although their Supreme court legalized it. The local Islamic groups continued their efforts to persecute the Christians. They had been chased out of their Church and now they have to worship in the parking lot near by. Yet the Islamic groups continued their attack on the Christians there.

Despite the persecution, this is what a religious watchdog said "According to religious persecution watchdog The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and third largest democracy. Although it struggles to maintain religious tolerance, its Christian evangelical count has increased from 1.3 million to 13 million in the last 50 years."

Let us pray for the Indonesian Christians that they may be able to overcome these persecutions.

To read the full article click on the title of this post.

Hate Religion But Love Jesus

On Line evangelist Jefferson Bethke created a video called, "Why I hate religion and love Jesus" which has gone viral on Youtube, now there are 11 million views of this video.

Many people supported it and many also said it may presents a false picture of Christianity to believers and non believers.

To read the full article click on the title of this post.

Prayer Not An Excuse For Laziness

It is a good reminder to many of us Christians. Prayers are powerful but we cannot hide behind prayers and be passive. Pastor Perry Noble of New Spring Church, South Carolina wrote in an article. He encourages Christians to fully participate with God in what we are doing and God will do amazing things for us. He gave an example like praying the pounds away without exercising.

Erik Thoennes, professor of biblical and theological studies at Biola University said“A properly understood biblical understanding of faith in a sovereign God never leads to passivity but active engagement with our world,” he asserted. “God's plan is worked out in and through real life and our actions.”

Throughout the history of the church, Christians had often been major contributors and leaders of great movement, for instance, William Wilberforce with the abolition of slavery, Dietrich Bonhoffer opposing Nazism, and Martin Luther King with the Civil Rights Movement . "

To read the full article click on the title of this post.

Why Can We Trust the Bible

Prayer and Predestination

I came across this article of the above title by Pastor John Piper. He presented it in the form of a conversation between "prayerless" and "prayerful". The main point is to answer why we should pray when God predestines and has control of everything. The conversation is too long to produce here. To read the full text please click on the title of this post. I assure you your efforts will be fruitful to your prayer life!

God bless.

Gospel Gaining in Persecuted Countries

Christians are persecuted all over the world. Open Door USA reported that in countries where Christians are most persecuted are the ones that grow the most. Even in Malaysia Christians are persecuted in subtle ways unlike many other countries where there are violence committed against Christians. Our prayers go to these Christians. The most persecuted country is North Korea and the second group are Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Egypt and others. Just last year after the fall of Murbarak in Egypt, an Egyptian Christian commented that persecution was good for them. The comment was surprising but it seems persecution has resulted in some good for example growth in countries where there are persecution. Countries like China, North Korea, and also Middle Eastern countries. A commentator attributed this growth to the Holy Spirit. Certainly the Holy Spirit is moving among the Christians in many countries. The other reason is the underground churches in China. Recently in the Middle East underground churches are also growing in numbers.

To read the full article click on the title of this post.

Revival Begins with You

Last year, some evangelists came from Canada and they prophesied that revival with begin in Sarawak, Malaysia. This was the same feelings the local Kuching Minister Fellowship have been sensing for about two years or so ago. More Christians are getting together regardless of denominations to pray and to seek God's direction. This was very positive signs. There are also preachers coming here and said that revival will come only if each and every Christian here yearned for it and pray fervently. Revival begins with us. It cannot happen if each of us is not willing and does not repent before God. Just like the Christians mentioned in the Book of Acts, they died to self and they went all out to seek God.

Jennifer LeClaire of Chrisma magazine said "Again, we can’t manufacture miracles. We can’t work up wonders. But we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit to separate the profane from the holy in our own hearts and in our own minds. We can purge ourselves and lay aside every weight that holds us back. We can allow the Spirit of God to do a deep work in us and so the Spirit of God can do a great work through us. Revival begins with you—and me".

Yes! we have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. This was what happened at Ba Kelalan Highland in Borneo in 1984 when revival swept the people there. You can read about it by clicking the title of this page.