Year 2011 (1/1/11)

This post is simple.

PREPARE FOR WAR!!!!!!!

Elements of Christmas (Part 3)

I would like to share the last Element of Christmas; "The Peace of Christmas" for today. It would be the last post from me in the year of 2010 too.

We will start of the topic with these verses; Luke 2: 6~14.


The Peace Of Christmas.
The peace here we are not speaking about is the peace that comes from worldly materials like filling your hungry stomach, getting good grades, no war and etc...The peace we're discussing is the inner/within which is from God. God's peace can only be available to people whom His favour rests.

How do we know His in us?
--> We only get to know His favour in us when we have a close personal relationship with Him. We can bond a close relationship with God by reading bible, prayers, and also through the Holy Spirit.

Three areas that God promise peace for those who believed in Him.
1) Peace with God
--> In general, sins has cause humanity to suffer and create much problems in our lives. Besides, sins  rob peace and relationship from man with God. No doubt we are sinners and constantly sins
everyday, but if we do confess them and seek for forgiveness, I believe our Father will surely forgive us if only we repent from them, refer [1 John 1: 8~10]  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. What matters of all is Repentance! Repentance! Repentance!

2) Peace within ourselves
--> We can have all the things in the world; personal freedom, items, rights and etc.. but we still have no peace. Why? This is because we felt empty deep within us. Some denied this fact that they feel lonely and empty deep inside, therefore they forced themselves to involve in a busy schedule and constantly find things to do to fill the emptiness. I know how they feel, because I was once like that too. After receiving Jesus as personal saviour, there is no missing piece to our lives because peace is provided by our Father and His son, Jesus Christ. It is important to for the presence of peace because no peace = no security = no joy.

3) Peace with Others
--> God gives us the ability the ability to live in Peace with others. His words in 2 Timothy 2:  23~24 teaches us that Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Furthermore, Jesus command us to love our enemy and those who persecute us. Love and pray for them so that they will understand why we care and love for them one day. Beyond of all these, we are also urged to teach people the values of love and forgiveness. These two values are important in creating relationships, not only with God, but also among us.

**Remember this always: We are not gurantee to be loved by all, but we are to offer God's love to all by words and deeds.** Happy New Year!!

Elements of Christmas (Part 2)

Today I will continue the 2nd Element of Christmas; "The Joy Of Christmas"

What does the word joy means to you? I still remember this phrase up til now ever since the our Hope Ipoh has celebrated her anniversary. Most people may answer the of feel happiness and etc...But I'm here to share a new definition of the word joy. Joy is like love, as it is not merely emotion but rather a decision.

Three main areas of focus if you want to experience joy. We will use the pneumonics/acronym of "JOY" also.
Jesus
Others
Yourself

For the alphabet "J" the letter symbolizes Jesus, where we should focus/put our eyes on Jesus.  [Galactians 2: 20]--> I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Through Christ lives in us, we are able to experience joy because of His love and our Father's abundant plans that He sets for us. When we have Jesus, we have more than anything else, as you can find the TRUE JOY/HAPPINESS. Remember Jesus in our heart always!

As for the letter "O" it reprsents Others. The second area that we should pay attention to is "Others". Let's discuss the verse related. Acts 20: 35 says that In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Well, these days we even noticed that the value of altruism [selfless concern for the welfare of others first] has disappeared in the society. We can track this even in a restraurant itself! People always choose the best for themselves first then the rest which are not decent/good then give it to others. However, we should never instill/practice this kind of value in us. We can obtain joy by "giving ourselves to others". It means it is not about what we get and what can we get in return, but what we can give to others. The bible also encourage us through 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.’ 

The final area that we are focusing in is Yourself from the letter "Y". It's rather more into attitude itself. We should always have a positive/optimistic mindset. As commands/movements of flesh will be controlled by our mind. Having a right attitude to follow Jesus is very important too as it keeps us continue to follow Him closely and Faithfully. Always remember this point that "noone/nothing can rob anything from us except of ourselves!"

Why putting ourselves last rather than first?
1) God's word have spoken in Romans 15: 1~3  that We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 
2) Lesson through Christ's Character


Conclusion
1) Always remember that Christmas is all about Jesus and Joy.
2) Remember Jesus in your heart.
3) Joy does not obtain trough worldly materials, but through Jesus.
4) Nothing can rob anything from us except ourselves.
5) Give ourselves to others.

Salvation -- Youth Lesson 2 (27/12/10)

Salvation

Acts 4:12 – Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved

·         Confirms that only through Jesus we can have salvation

Old testament

·         Forgiveness is from giving sacrifice to God

New testament

·         The gift of salvation is given by Jesus’ cruxifiction

·         The covenant of the Passover is being replaced by Jesus’ cruxifiction

·         Living at a time of grace

o   Jesus becomes the blood on the door that protects us from God’s wrath

·         Matthew 26:28 – This is my blood of the (new) covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins

Salvation is

1.       Given to everyone

a.       John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2.       Not earned but given by grace

a.       Ephesians 2:8-9 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

3.       Through Jesus Christ alone

a.       John 14:6 -- Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me

4.       The GREATEST Christmas gift that we receive

How can we maintain our salvation

n  Recognise the greatness and the value of salvation (Faith)

o   Salvation is eternal and will never fade

§  1 Peter 1:3-12

o   If we are far away from God each day, we may lose our salvation

n  Regularly confess our sins (Pray)

o   God will always forgive us of our sins   ß God will never break His promise

§  1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

n  Have a close relationship with Him (devotion)

o   John 15:6-7 – If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

§  If we are close – Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you

§  If we are not close – We will be thrown away and the Devil can get us

What blessing do we receive

o   Eternal Life – John 3:16

o   The right to be God’s child – John 1:12

o   Have an abundant life – John 10:10

o   God’s peace – John 14:27

o   A new life – 2 Corinthians 5:17

o   God will be in us always by the Holy Spirit – 1 John 4:15

Elements of Christmas (Part 1)

I would like to share a short message regarding Elements of Christmas; There will be three parts; "The Faith of  Christmas", The Joy of Christmas", and The Peace of Christmas.

1) The Faith of Christmas
I would like to start of the discussion by these verses, Luke 2: 1~20. The Faith of Christmas will be discussing the two main characters which are Joseph and Mary.

**Joseph**
--> Based on the bible, Joseph is a man with deep religious conviction.
He believed in everything in God said through the angel about marrying Mary.  Did you know that last time men are not allowed to marry pregnant women as their wife, because everything will turn out ugly after that. Everyone will have a different mindset on you regarding marrying a wife which already pregnant. But Joseph said OK, no problem! What we learnt from Joseph is that we need to learn to TRUST God completely. However, it is not easy these days for us, human to trust completely on God, especially what lies beyond our comprehension. In this era of technology, it's rather difficult to make people to understand things from the point of spiritual realm/religious thoughts. Holy Spirit teaches us what is opposite the world if you think of it. This is because in 1 John 2:15 the bible teaches us that " "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them". Therefore, NEVER be overly attached to worldly materials, as it only last temporarily; We should invest in something that last eternity. What they learnt these days are all about logic. Agree?

**Mary**
--> As for Mary, she is a little different from Joseph. Mary questioned/doubted the thoughts of a virgin like her will be able to conceive; Luke 1;34  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” This statement/verse above do apply to us as well. After sometime of accepting Jesus Christ as saviour, our "fire" tends to die down and we began to doubt in God in every aspect. His awesomeness,His power, His mighty and we lost the wonder of God... But I'm here to tell everyone that the God, our Father is still the same; that awesome, mighty, miracle, loving and etc.. However, Mary did obeyed the command at the end in Luke 1;38  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. In the end, Mary did find Her way back/ on the track of Faith. What about you?

Conclusion
a) Let's challange ourself that what God says/promises is true and trust in God completely where we
    put our life into God's hand.
b) With Faith, obedience is required.
c) If Joseph and Mary did not have the Faith in God's work and disobeyed God's command, we  
    wouldn't be saved and ofcourse we won't be celebrating Christmas.
d) Have Faith in God!

**I copied some short notes in sermon and I expanded abit**

God’s characteristic 18/12/10

This is the lessons i prepared for the youth for 19/10, hope it will help out~

Love

The greatest expression of love to men is when God send Jesus to die for our sins

John 3:16 --"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God had used many parables to illustrate His love for us

-          Parable of the Lost Son –forgiving love     (seeking)

-          Parable of the Lost coin – not giving up love

-          Parable of the Lost Sheep – love for the needy

The whole Bible surround on this theme (love)

-          The great commandment – love God whole-heartedly, love people passionately

-          1 Corinthians 13:13 -- And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of  these is love.

Definition of love by Paul

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 -- Love is

Ø  patient

Ø   kind

Ø  does not envy

Ø  does not boast

Ø   not proud

Ø   not rude

Ø   not self-seeking,

Ø   not easily angered

Ø   keeps no record of wrongs

Ø  does not delight in evil

Ø  rejoice with the truth

Ø  always protects

Ø  always trusts

Ø  always hopes

Ø  always perseveres

Ø  Love never fails

God’s love is agape love – unconditional love (greater than any form of love)

Justice

Our God is fair and justice

Everything we do will be judged by God at the end of time.

God will give us warning and guidelines

Ø  The old testaments contains very specific laws and instructions

o   When the people sin against God, they are judged

God is fair

Ø  Our human minds won’t be able to understand why God let such things happen, but we must understand that God knows the ultimate plan.

Ø  So do not judge others, cause only God knows what is happening

Ø  Nothing can happen unless God allowed it

Ø  God knows the reason of it

o   Romans 9:15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

God will always keep his promises

1.       Jeremiah 29:11 --For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

2.       Malachi 3:6 – I the Lord do not change

We can depend on God

Even though God will punish us of our sins, He will also give us chances to turn back to Him,

Ø  God judge but before he judge, we will be given enough chances to repent

Ø  We won’t be able to tell that God will not give us chances to repent

Holy

The only thing we need to do is to follow Christ

Ø  1 Corinthians 11:1 -- Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Ø  Leviticus 20:26 – You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own

God should be our standard.

So if God is holy we should try our best to live a holy life, and only through that we can please God.

A holy life is an inwardly task, not an outwardly task.

Holy=humility to God

A stroy of Reminder~

Kenneth's story by Ps Christopher Mun,
Observe the conversation below.

The story begins with  a father asked his son to remove a huge boulder which blocked their way one day:

Father: Son, go remove the block of boulder.
Son    : Sure dad....

The young man muttered all his courage and strength to lift it up, but it was a failure...
Son    : It's too heavy father, I can't do it~
Father: Yes you can my boy.

He tried again once again and it failed again...
Son    :  Told you dad, I can't do it.. 
Father:  Nevermind son, I know you can do it!
Son    :  No matter how hard I try I will never able to carry & remove the boulder, it's
             too heavy!
Father:  I'm standing next to you all the time and you didn't even ask help from me.
             Ofcourse no matter how much strength you use, you still can't lift it. You did
             not even use your full strength yet because you have not call me to help you~

Conclusion~
1) Seek God for strength and guidence no matter what are we facing.
2) God is always waiting for us to seek him anytime.
3) God wants us to rely on Him.
4) God is everything; "Power house",  Provider, Saviour, Healer and etc...

15th MNC 2010 Experience~

It’s my first time in MNC, I longed for it since November before my finals…I was so excited to go this convention. Praise the Lord, 15th MNC 2010 didn’t turn out to be a disappointment, but it’s a blessing for me! Hallelujah, I bet everyone had fun while learning and receiving the word of God. The MNC for this year has a theme of ONE which really imparts a major role in every aspect in Kingdom of God.

Proclaiming My Identity

“We are, we are the army of God”
“Burning, burning the fire of God yeah...”

Sounds familiar? The above lyrics are from the song Army of God. Well, through this I’ve realised that this is another identity of mine beside than the children of God and HIS servant. I realized the importance of the being an army of God. This is because we are going to have war; not with the world, but having spiritual warfare all the time. Being an army itself carries significant values; bold, courage, sacrificial and be prepared for war. Bold and courageà this will encourage me to share gospels with the non-believer often. Sacrificial à We need to know what it takes to follow Jesus closely. Every Christians should know that we might need to make some sacrificial in life in order to follow Jesus Closely. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be like the Rich Young Man in Matthew 19: 21~24 who want to follow Jesus closely but don’t want to sacrifice his precious. Preparation à I need to be ready in a few fields; spiritually, mentally and emotionally to be involve in spiritual warfare and also to wait for Jesus’ Second Coming. Jesus’ second coming is one of the motivations to keep Christians to continue to live in lives.

Poor and Lost Souls

It’s sad to say that we living in a world where wrong seem right. It’s pretty disappointment and sad to see youths today spend most time in cyber cafes rather than in churches. Near Elden’s church, Vineyard Church Community [VCC] lays many cyber cafes around it. What I see is the cyber cafes are full of youth during weekends but churches seem not filled by youths? But why is that happening? It seems that youths today has lost the vision of God in their eye sight, they rather seek virtual world and to walk in the darkness to fill their emptiness, to mend their pains and sorrows rather than seeking God. The people need the Lord badly; therefore Christians should start giving our lives to reach out to this people to tell them how great our God is, how God shines light through the darkness through our prayers and cries by giving us hope, HIS agape love for us by receiving the word of God and share them out boldly. **Dear Christians, we must remember that only WE can share the Living Words of HIS, not others!**I’ve learnt in the convention that we do not need much knowledge, but just trust and believe by faith the work of God through Holy Spirit that will guide you.  Let’s try our very best to help them to find their way back to God again and let them taste the gift of salvation. “They will never know the sweetness of the honey unless they taste it themselves.”

Roar of the Lion of Judah

RWAR~ Of course Jesus is the our King of our lives, the ruler of our lives and Kings of all kings; just like the analogy of lion rules over the whole jungle. To testify this, Jesus is the King of all Jews as discuss in the book of Gospel; Mathhew. I believe the King has chosen us for purposes. Therefore fellow brothers and sisters, I believe it is time to rise up as ONE and work with the lord to expand the kingdom. I use the word with because; only by His grace and the others Faith, people can be offered salvation. Besides, it is important to obey His words; listen to His commands and voice NOT your emotions! Sometimes, we may be confused by our emotions; being “toyed” around by the devil. If we did  not follow His commands and do as our emotions, God will be not be with us and displeased because we are not doing according His will. Then, whatever we do will not be successful if God is not with us. It is essential to read bible constantly so that we can differ which is from God and which is from the devil. Furthermore, we must have the Kingdom Mentality. Everything is we accomplished is for our King; to honour Him and to glorify HIM. It is important to have a “servant heart” to serve HIM full-heartedly; no matter in a big or small tasks because HE sees your heart & motives [sincerity] not based on quantity.

Therefore, what’s best for us is to seek God so that we can ensure we are doing things according to His Will. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this pretty long article, perhaps I should write more often. I would have regretted if I miss out this MNC 2010 because it’s a marvellous experience! Remember, our God is Love; may HIS love takes us deeper to continue to praise and worship HIM. God Bless~

MNC 12/9/10

Whoo!! My first MNC and it was in Penang my hometown. So it won’t be right if I didn’t join right? Haha. But thank God I join because I had learned a lot during the convention. Before coming to the convention, I only had one hope that is to get my fire back on. But it seems that God had given more than I asked. Praise God!! (This is quite a long post…hahax)

WORSHIP GOD WITH ALL YOU ARE

I enjoy the worship a lot. I mean seriously a lot. Rarely will you have the chance to express. Most of the time is due to fear and shyness that others might be looking. But God reminded me of a point while worshipping. Worshipping is just between you and God. So we should not care about how people view us, but how God see us. So when we praise, just dance just go all out in worshipping. Be like King David, who danced without care of his status of King when the Ark of the Covenant is returned to Jerusalem. An all-out praise and worship to God is pleasing in His eyes for sure. I do hope that I can keep it up. :D cause I do know that it will be quite awkward if the whole congregation is standing while you are jumping. It requires great faith and courage, but it is how we should worship. 100% in worship~

Vision & Mission

During the worship session, I once saw a flower upside down. It stem faced towards the heaven, it’s flower to the earth. I think God is trying to tell us is to give the fruits, the best, the out pouring of blessings to the earth. Let the seeds fall on earth. But for the stem, let our ‘nourishment’, our dependence be from God. Nutrition (bible and prayer) from God, blessings to the earth.

I also realized another thing; this one is actually more for my church in Penang, for my youth group. But I think I can share it here. In summary, God wants us to be serious, ( I mean seriously serious) to really come before Him and pray and intercede for His will. God won’t use a church/individual/live group who don’t pray to start a revival. We all should have known that it is only through God that we can do it, not by mind, not by strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to pray in unity, pray with a common vision, pray with desperation and expectation. Only then, God will start to reveal His plan to us.

UNITY

I really for the first time felt like a family in soooo many churches. 1500 people gather together for a common vision. I really felt all of us had a common enemy. The lessons are good and I can’t help to notice that we are keep requested to pray for our leaders. And I remember I wrote inside the notes, that leader are often discouraged, lonely and need to be strong……..How about let’s not have this happen. Let’s support our leaders! Bro Chee Lim =D and all live group leaders. I learned that we need to share their vision, impart them as our own and fight together as ONE. Let’s not let bro Chee Lim cry in the corner. Haha! Come on~! Let’s unite as one to bring souls for Christ. That’s our vision right? Haha ;)

2011—Year of Hope

I felt something, ONE was the theme for 15^th MNC, ONE is also the them for A4J this year. All are talking about revival, igniting and mobilizing the Christians to rise up! I won’t call that coincidence, cause I also received a project from God to start to unite the churches and Christians in UTP to start a prayer group. It’s time all of us start rising up as ONE. 2010 is a year to gather God’s people. Im sure 2011 is the year to start going out to do God’s work. To put things into action! Whooo!! Thinking of it is getting me excited..haha…Let’s go!! I can’t wait for 2011. A year of Hope~~!

Get Off The Shores!! (29/11/2010)

This is gonna be a short post...=D

This few weeks is a down the hill, sinking, free falling type of week. It seems like my spiritual life had reach a new level of rock bottom desperation and depression. Why? temptations and lack of self discipline and the constant fight between the body and soul to honor and not to honor God. I won't elaborate long, but it's definitely weeks of constant struggle.

But I'm glad is over. And like a phoenix, I'm sure I had resurface stronger and tougher. One thing I learn is that we should always be 100% submissive to the Spirit of God. Cause the enemy is at the door waiting for the slightest moment to strike. Unless we depend on the person that sees the whole picture, we will not be able to go on. And many times, self-discipline is what we need. God has different tasks and expectation from everyone and that's when people start to go wary because our body is always longing to return to the world. So, I'm sure everyone need self-discipline. To control~

And the second is perseverance. Had anyone ever watch WW2 movies of the US marines in the pacific? Often, when they perform amphibious landing on hostile territory, they will be constantly bombed, shelled and fired on in the open beaches. And how do you overcome, there is no turning back to the boats. So they have to push forward, forward to find their enemy and to get out of range of the artillery shelling. And that's exactly what we should do. Even though we are attacked or suffering, we must persevere, to find out the main problems that cause this and to bravely push ourselves forward to a better future. Only that way one can win. Set our eyes on the prize and trust me God's guidance, and surely all suffering will come to pass and we will emerge victorious and stronger.

Romans 5:3-4
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.