Fellowship With God and With Others in the Church

The previous post was about love, here is another article also about love from a devotion which is meaningful.

“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”

3 John 11

Love needs truth to have a backbone. A concern for the truth will determine the proper boundaries between what is faith and what is not. Love needs the support of sound doctrine to be effective. By itself, mere passion can be foolish or destructive. The proper order in the life of the church is “ready, aim, fire”, not “ready, fire, aim”.

But truth needs love, too. John’s concern in this memo is that the church be loving and hospitable, “so that we may work together for the truth”. Let the emphasis here fall on the word “together”. Jesus said the greatest argument for the truth of the gospel would be the unity of his people. Note that he didn’t say the greatest argument for the truth would be an argument! Beyond words and powerful rhetoric, as important as they are is the love of Christ manifest in Christ’s people. The truth is credible only when we proclaim it in the way live together. That’s why Diotrephes is such a dangerous man. He “loves to be first”, gossips maliciously, refuses to welcome other Christian leaders, and even goes to great lengths to prevent others from doing so. That means he is more than an irritant in the church, he is an enemy of the truth.

Pray for your church. Pray that the truth of Christ will be commended to outsiders by the way you live together. Shun absolutely gossip and slander, backbiting and competition, so you can pray and work together.

Love Believes All Things

Pastor Ben Wong spoke about building relationship in our church and its involves loving others. Sometimes we may feel certain people do not "deserve" our love. However, as Christians we are taught to humble ourselves and love each other like Jesus Christ loves us. We all can learn a little from the Daily Bread article below. Today's verses appearing on your left margin is also appropriate 1John 4:16-21

[Love] believes all things, hopes all things. —1 Corinthians 13:7



It was 40 years ago or more that I observed a friend of mine showing great affection for someone I considered unworthy of love. I thought my friend was being taken in, and I was afraid he would be disillusioned and saddened in the end.

When I expressed my concern, he replied, “When I stand before my Lord, I hope He’ll say of me that I’ve loved too many, rather than too few.” I’ve never forgotten his words.

Paul insists that “[love] believes all things” (1 Cor. 13:7). Love “believes” in people. It can see the potential in them. It believes that God can take the most unattractive and unworthy individual and turn that person into a masterpiece of beauty and grace. If love errs, it must err in the way of trustfulness and hopefulness.

Certainly, we must be aware of danger when we see it coming, and become “as wise as serpents” (Matt. 10:16). Tough love may be the best response to irresponsible and foolish people, but we can be too guarded, too wary and distrustful.

It doesn’t do us any real harm to be hoodwinked and defrauded (Matt. 5:38-48). It’s better to believe in someone and have your heart broken than to have no heart at all. British poet Alfred Tennyson wrote, “ ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” I agree. — David H. Roper

Lord, help us to believe in people
And all that in them You can do,
So we can say we’ve loved too many,
Rather than too few. —Sper

Love looks beyond what people are to what they can become.

Corrie Ten Boom 1892-1983

Corrie ten Boom, a prayer warrior who risked her life to hide Jews from the Nazis during World War 1. Her life story is inspiring, especially of her faith in God and also of her prayer life. Here is her story extracted from a devotion.

Then Help Me. Lord

Her prayer was simple and desperate, “Lord Jesus, protect me!”. It was all she could gasp out as the Gestapo beat her. Demanding to know where her family had hidden the Jews. She kept her secret. That night, in jail, her father led the family in devotions from Psalm 91: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”. The ten Booms had hidden Jews from Nazis, surely God Would shelter and hide them, too. However, in the months that followed, Mr.ten Boom died in prison, and Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to the infamous concentration camp Ravensbruck. There, Betsie also died after months of intense suffering.

Corrie ten Boom grew up in a family that was amous for its hospitality. After Worl War 1, Germany was filled with thousands of deprived and malnourished people. Although the tem Booms lived in the Netherlands, Mr.ten Boom, as president of the International Watchmakers, arranged for many needy Germans to be taken into the homes of the members of his organisation. Four young children came to live with his family.

The ten Booms also reached out to their community. Corrie ten Boom started a youth club. Its first law was “Seek Your Strength Through Prayer”. She could not have known then how prophetic that law would be for her personally.

It was only natural that the ten Booms family would open their home to hide fugitive Jews during the beginnings of the Second World War. It was also only natural that Corrie ten Boom would find strength in prayer to endure the awful punishment the Nazis wreaked when they caught her and her family. The story of her struggles in Ravensbruck and the faithfulness and grace of God for such a time is a classic example of the power of prayer.

Years after the war, Corrie ten Boom spoke at a church in Germany, telling again of God’s amazing faithfulness in dark places and the need to forgive enemies. After the service, to her surprise and profound discomfort, she saw a former Ravensbruck guard walking her way with his face beaming and his nand extended. “Thank you for the message”, he said. “Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus has washed my sins away?” His hands was still extended as hers hung limply at her side. He was the one who had stood by leering as she, Betsie and other prisoners were forced to strip naked to enter the showers. Rage rose up inside, “I can’t do it, Lord. Don’t ask me for this; it’s too much”.

Then she remembered the message of forgiveness she had preached all over the world and in that place just moments before. She also remembered the many times the Lord had answered her simple, desperate prayers. “Then help me, Lord”. She prayed silently. She felt a power rush through her arm and a warmth enter her mind, as she extended her hand and shook his. Once more she cried out to Jesus to help her, and once more he had given her strength.

Brother Ching Nam Sharing on Sunday

Ephesians Ch 6:10-19

Brother Ching Nam shared on the above verses on Sunday. He said he base most of his sharing from Watchman Nee’s work. Acording to him Watchman Nee used word “Stand” to illustrate Ephesians chapter 6.

We are living in the world where Satan is attacking Christians. However, not all bad things are from Satan, some are from ourselves. For example if we eat fatty foods most of the time we are bound to have high cholesterol.

Watchman Nee used “Stand” as defensive weapons unlike present day weapons which are mostly offensive ones. The Lord has done everything. And He fights differently from us. If we fight on our own we will lose.

Like Job he was a righteous man, and Satan could not do anything to him if God did not allow Satan his ways. If we are attack by Satan let us wear the armour of God to defend ourselves. When we face trials, rest on the Lord. Have faith trust in the Lord. Do not be afraid come to the Lord He will lift us up.

Examine ourselves and come to the Lord. In Jesus everything is accomplished. Satan thought he has won when Jesus was crucified, but he was wrong. Now people rise up representing Jesus all over the world.

Why does God trust us so much? He trusted us because we have Jesus in us.

Let us shift from man-centred to Christ centred.

Henri Nouwen-Being the Beloved

Henri Jozef Michiel Nouwen (Nijkerk, January 24, 1932 - Hilversum, September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life. His books are widely-read today by both Protestants and Catholics alike. The Wounded Healer, In the Name of Jesus, Clowning in Rome, The Life of the Beloved and The Way of the Heart are just a few of the more widely recognized titles. After nearly two decades of teaching at the Menninger Foundation Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and at the University of Notre Dame, Yale University and Harvard University, he left to share his life with mentally handicapped people at the L’Arche community of Daybreak in Toronto, Canada. He died in September of 1996 from a sudden heart attack. His spirituality was influenced by many, notably by his friendship with Jean Vanier. At the invitation of Vanier he visited L’Arche in France, the first of over 130 communities around the world where people with developmental disabilities live and share life together with those who care for them. In 1986 Nouwen accepted the position of pastor for a L’Arche community called "Daybreak" in Canada, near Toronto. Nouwen wrote about his relationship with Adam, a core member at L’Arche Daybreak with profound developmental disabilities, in a book entitled Adam: God’s Beloved. Father Nouwen was a good friend of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin.

God Answering Prayers

Hallelujah! Praise God! Last Sunday at the prayer meeting one of our elder-sister arranged for a sister J.C from Chinese church to be prayed for because she was scheduled for an operation on Wednesday. At the same time she is pregnant therefore the operation may lead to complication. Our church prayed for her. On Thursday our elder-sister informed that the operation was a success! Praise God for His faithfullness and His protection. Let us continue to pray for her speedy recovery.

Those who are in need of prayers you are encouraged to approach any elders so that prayers can be arranged.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
James 5:16

Love For Each Others

Recently in Pastor Ben Wong's sharing in our church, he urged us to build relationship with each other as well as to love one another. According to him, and I believe we can agree that it is an important first step for us to build lasting relationship with our family, friends and fellow brothers and sisters. This is also one of the teachings of Jesus.

Romans 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

In the process of re building our church let us endeavour to love others in the church as well as those outside there.