Seminar on the Book of Hebrews

From 21st June to 23rd June 2013, our church had the privilege to host Rev.Dr.King Long She from Melbourne Theological School to teach us on the Book of Hebrews.  In fact, it was the sponsorship of one of our church brothers that we had the chance to learn from expert like Rev. She.

Rev. Dr. She graduated from Dallas Theology School with Master and Phd.  He is an expert on the Book of Hebrews.  During his studies his thesis was on this Book.  He has also written several books on subjects in the Book of Hebrews.

The seminar was intensive because of the length as well as the dept of the Book that Rev She has to cover.  He said he was only able to cover pretty much the surface but good enough for our purposes.  Indeed, it is a difficult book with many theological issues that many would like to know.

One of the many issues that most Christians would like to know is whether a Christian is saved once, and he or she is always saved.  From Rev She's opinion he took both positions, that is it all depends on the situation of the believers.  There are two schools of thoughts, one said once saved always saved and the other salvation is not guaranteed. It was scary to learn about the many warnings to Christians in this book. Perhaps it is timely at least for me to learn about these warnings as a Christian trying to follow Jesus my Savior.

On Sunday 23rd June 2013, Rev.She also preached in our church.  His sermon was "The Test of Love".  He said all Christian will be tested.  There are 7 components to this test:
1. Tester
2. Time
3. Target
4. Tasks
5. Trial
6. Turnout
7. Telesis
For detail check here: http://fbcstaf.blogspot.com/

The seminar was opened to churches in Kuching.  Thank God that the turnout was very good.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 5 - The Dead Sea

As part of the Holy Land pilgrimage we also had the chance to spend a night at a hotel by the Dead Sea.  This mystical lake is beautiful.  The lake is located at the lowest land point on earth, about 1338 ft below sea level.  We could see that the bus had to drive lower and lower near to the lake towards the hotel we were staying.  The Dead Sea is 34 miles long and 11 miles wide, so it is very large.

In terms of the Bible there were few references to the Dead Sea.  In the Bible this sea was called,  "Sea of Arabah", and "Salt Sea".  Pre-Biblical times, it was also called "Sea of Sodom" or "Sea of Lot".  The Ammonites and Moabites when advancing to attack King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicle 20 ) of Judah had to cross over from a shallow section of the Dead Sea.  King David was known to have hidden in the caves at Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea.  Ezekiel prophesied that the sea will become fresh Ezekiel 47:8-9.  Zechariah had a similar prophesy Zechariah 14:8.

The now famous Dead Sea scrolls were discovered at Qumran near to the Dead Sea.  We had the chance to visit Qumran.

To the modern visitors to the Dead Sea one of the most sort after experience was floating on the Dead Sea.  Personally, I felt that if I did not try this out, I cannot say I have been to the Dead Sea.  We were staying overnight at a hotel next to the Dead Sea, so we tried swimming in the Dead Sea.  In fact one need not swim, one can float in it!  It was an amazing experience. Thank God for this experience.

Dead Sea - slideshows

Pilgrimage to Holy Land 4 - Petra Jordan

Prior to visiting the Holy Land, I did not realize that the Holy Land also includes territories outside of Israel.  If you examine the map of the Old Testament you will realized that the Holy Land was indeed a wide territory including the present country of Jordan.  Therefore in Jordan of today there are many Biblical sites like Mt. Nebo, Petra and others.

One of these places we visited was Petra, Jordan.

Background of Petra 

Petra is the Greek word for “rock”.  In biblical times it was known as Sela or Selah or Seir.  Between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba there is a valley surrounded by rocky cliffs, with a few narrow gorges leading inside.  Access to Petra is by a narrow crevice called the Siq.  The city of Petra was built inside this valley.  This was a natural protection for Petra as it was in a valley surrounded by high cliffs, with limited access via the Siq.  Petra is located about 170 miles from modern Amman.

Petra was extensively mentioned in the Bible especially as it concerned Job, Esau and Isaac.  Jacob tricked Esau of his birthday rights ( Gen 25-27 ), angry because of the betrayal he and his family left to settle in the new land of Seir or Petra.  From Esau came his descendants the Edomites.  The Edomites lived in this land when the Israelite came out of Egypt during the Exodus about 1445 BC.  The Edomites became the enemies of the ancient Hebrew together with the Amalekites, Moabites and Ammonites.

About 400 BC the Edomites were driven out by the Arabian Nabateans.  The Nabateans made Petra their capital and controlled the important trade routes between the East and the West.  Caravans passing through these routes had to pay taxes to the Nabateans who became very wealthy enabling them to build beautiful palaces, temples, theatres and tombs hewn out of solid rock in the valley.

In later centuries trade dried up as trade routes were conducted between the Orients and Europe.  Petra was forgotten for centuries and it became a legend.  Ancient people claimed that references to Petra were figment of imagination as this city was just a legend.  They claimed the non existence of Petra was the proof of unreliability of the Bible.  They were wrong.  God is never wrong!  In 1812, Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt disguised as an Arab Sheik discovered the lost city.  It was incredible that such a picturesque place existed just about 161 Kilometres south of Jerusalem! Due to unstable Middle Eastern political situations, visit to Petra was near impossible only in recent years this city is readily available to tourist visits.

Petra Jordan - slideshow

Pilgrimage to Holy Land 3 - Prayers and Worship

About a month before our group departed for the Holy Land, we spent time praying corporately as well as on our own.  Right from the start we knew that this trip to the Holy Land was not an ordinary tour but a special visit.  Each of us have our heart set on visiting the Holy Land as a pray and worship unto the Lord.

This discernment was confirmed when we reached Israel from Jordan.  As soon as we got onto the tour bus, our tour guide, Jack reminded us that we were in Israel not for a tour but for a pilgrimage.  Some how the way he talked to us was unlike a tour guide, more like a lecturer instructing us what we should do.  We accepted this tone of voice as we were there for a pilgrimage and not an ordinary tour.  We want to experience the places where Lord Jesus had walked, and also how the other people in the Bible had spent their lives in various Biblical sites we were to visit.

One of the highlights to this pilgrimage was that we had devotion every evening of the tour.  Each of us were assigned to take our turn.  I must admit that initially I was apprehensive about sharing a devotion.  Thank God I learned much more in preparing for the devotion.  Before the start of each devotion we sang worship songs. We could feel the presence of our Lord in each of these devotions.

Beside, prayers and worship during devotional time, we prayed in many of the sites we visited.  Many of these sites were located in churches, and that were appropriate setting for prayers. Each time we prayed in these locations, the Lord was with us, and many were overwhelmed with emotions, especially feeling of the suffering our Lord Jesus had gone through.  One example, was while praying at the pit where Jesus was locked up for a night before His Crucifixion in the house of Chief Priest Caiaphas.  It was heart breaking to witness this pit with a hole on top where Jesus was let in, that was the only entrance and exit.  It was total darkness in those days.  Just imagine that!

Each of us is not the same after this pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  Certainly, reading the Bible presented new perspectives and understanding.  One could now imagine the places written in the Bible that we also visited in Israel.  Awesome! Yes, our God is A W E S O M E!

"Oh God thank you for this touching visit to the Holy Land, we felt your presence in this Land, our lives are changed forever as it is part of your plan for each of us.  Thank you Lord, bless you in Jesus Most Precious Name Amen."

Prayer and Worship - slideshow

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 2 - St.Anne, Jerusalem

Our pilgrimage especially to the Old city of Jerusalem brought our group to St.Anne Church on 22nd April 2013.

The church is located at the start of Via Dolorosa near the Lion's Gate, the Muslim quarter of Old Jerusalem.  This was a former Islamic seminary.  In 1856 the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid presented to the French for their support during the Cremean War.  This church is now owned by the French government and administered by the White Fathers, a Catholic order.

The church is blessed with amazing acoustic with the sound beautifully confined within the church that appealed to our sense of hearing.  The sound of music and songs produced from here is beautiful and fantastic.

Only when we were at the church, we were told by our guide that we can sing if we would like too.  Prior to this we did not know we could sing there.  We were the second group in line to sing when we got into the church.  As soon as the previous group finished, the Father in charged directed us to assemble in front of the church.  Our Sister Chuei Lian directed our group by gathering us and suggesting the songs.  As we observed from the previous group, they only sang one song.  We started with "Amazing Grace", and as we started, many of us had tears in our eyes as we were touched by our Lord.  As we got into our second song, "You are so good" written by our Brother Leslie Yeo (award winning song) more felt God's touch and some broken out in loud cries of repentance, and submission to God.  We sang the third song "I love you Lord", followed by repeating Amen, Amen, Amen in different tones, which was very beautiful.  The most amazing thing for us was that we were allowed to sing three songs instead of one!  Why? Because most group only had time to sing one song.  We were blessed as there was no new group immediately after us, the Father in charged urged us to continue singing!  Hallelujah!  Praise God!

St.Anne Jerusalem - slideshow

Sample of the sound produced in this church.  This is a video from Youtube. Listen to the acoustic.

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 1 - A Testimony

Thirty two of us from our church just returned from our pilgrimage to Israel the Holy Land.  It was indeed an awesome experience to be literally walking on the land where Jesus walked more than 2000 years ago.  At the same time feeling what He would have felt in the different climates at different times.  This was certainly not an ordinary tour like when we visit foreign land.  In fact our team prayed over the month before going there.  We also read up study guides given to us by our pilgrimage leaders.  The whole idea was to get as much as we can before embarking on the journey.  We also felt that this pilgrimage was an appointment made by God for all of us.  Each of us has a story to tell of how each came to join this pilgrimage. My own circumstance was indeed God's answered to my prayer.  When I approached our leader that I wanted to go, she told me that since I was going alone I need to find a room mate otherwise the tour cost will be prohibitive. I thought to myself where am I to find this room mate, so I prayed and asked God that if it was His will for me to go He will find me a room mate.  Sure enough the following day a sister from our church called saying another brother was interested to go and be my room mate!  Praise God!  That was how I joined this pilgrimage.  I was already familiar with this brother and I was blessed to be his room mate.  We prayed every morning while in the Holy Land, and on several occasions both of us were touched by the Holy Spirit, and tears flowed.  Another occasion was when we sang at St.Anne Church in Jerusalem, all of us felt the presence of God and many broke down in tears. Personally I have not cried so many times in such a short period, it got to be the touch of God.  My heart, and mind were prepared for this pilgrimage, and I believe God saw in me as well as the others.  In fact, our Israeli tour guide reminded us that we were not there for a tour but a pilgrimage.  That confirmed our objective of visiting the Holy Land for a special pilgrimage and not an ordinary tour.  In many of the Biblical sites we prayed and meditated on the events of that location.

Praise and thank God for the privilege to visit and be blessed in the Holy Land.  Also for the personal encounter with Jesus right where He walked, taught and crucified and resurrected. 

"Oh God thank you indeed for this opportunity to walk where Jesus walked and to feel the presence of our Lord in the Holy Land".

Why Should Christians Care about Israel

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/39018-why-should-christians-care-about-israel
As a group of about 32 of us are preparing to make our pilgrimage to Israel, I came across an article explaining why Christians should care about Israel.  It is a given that Israel is the chosen land of God, and the Israelite are the chosen people of God.  There is no two ways about this.  As Christians we are children of God and He is the same God who chose Israel as His "home".  Against all odds, as it was prophesied in the Bible the nation of Israel will stand, thus in 1948 the modern state of Israel was created by more 660,000 returning Jews.

We Christians are forever connected to Israel, even if you do not like what ever is happening politically in Israel today.  We are also connected to Israel spiritually.  The historical connection is important because biblical times were recorded in history, and when we want to learn about God we have to study the historical facts.  You cannot understand Jesus fully if you do not know the places He has been, preach, teach and communicated with His disciples and the Jews.

Overall most of the media gives negative views of Israel and its policies.  But the realities in Israel and its surrounding are different.  People of different races and religions live together and help each others.  Like in the hospital you have Jewish doctors working side by side Arab doctors.  Similar patients from each race treated each other without any issue.

There is a good article on this subject, the author wrote very well please read it at the link above.