Good Sunday

The sermon today is on the Five Offices which God relates to His Church – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Teachers. I’ve always had a great affinity to this area – the five pillars on which the church is structured, and each has its unique and importance to the church, one cannot do without each other, and one is not exclusive, but it complements each other! I felt God’s call in the area of teachers.

We went to East Coast after that for cycling and we had a great chat at lunch over at the East Coast hawker centre. Some of the pictures i took with my phone… cool eh.

This is Wan Jun, April and Mercy

We had a great time fellowshipping and talking and we had an hour of cycling which is good, cos of the exercise, and well we had lots of fun. We then met up with some of Mercy’s good friends and went for dinner and continue to talk till 10.30pm and got home around 11 plus which was a good way to end off the day.

The saltless Church

Mercy said something last night from her reading on Spiritual Warfare by Derek Prince, that the church today ought to be taking the offensive, instead of being afraid where the devil will strike next.

The Church today, are more divided on the issues of morality than representing the light to the world in the area of morality, i read about churches blessing gnosticism in Katherine’s sermon that will seek to divide the Episcopal church in America, the blessing of the same-sex marriage and the election of a Gay bishop and pastor, on the other side, the ultra radical charismatic churches flirting with eastern mysticism in their creative ways to break apart the orthodoxy stronghold by compromising on the fundamental teachings of Jesus. Why is the church today, looks nothing like a church that represents solid, uncompromising bastion of stronghold that will stand for purity, holiness, steadfast, fervent, joyful, and world-changing Christians who will walk according to the precepts of the biblical values! No. how far has the CHURCH today fallen……..

A vision

The clock is accelerating and i am standing on a platform of which there are tracks and the train is coming, i must get on the train. The clock accelerating means God is accelerating the destiny of which i am called to, and the track is the Word of God, and the train is the Holy Spirit. To get on the Train running on the Word of God that i will be raised to the level and the role God has called me to. God help me. Amen.

Masterpiece of a painter

As i woke up to the morning sunshine that broke through the windows and to the tune of the someone i love, and the knocks on my door beckoning to wake up and go to work. I began to thank God for who He is. He is a masterpainter, he painted the orange in the sunshine, the birds chirping outside the window, the blazing warmth of the weather to the coolness of the airconditioned room, the music of praise and worship that fills the room, the love of my grandmother, and the voice of Mercy, returning us to a world that we could dare to dream, a place we could sit and talk about her passion and my visions, her heartbeat to reach out to the prostitutes, my compassion for the lost in India, China and in Singapore. This world is bigger than our insignificant chase for health supplements, the chase for money, career, bigger house, or a better car! It is all about You Jesus, it is all about You Lord! Pain before my eyes, the world through Your eyes, that i will look at the people through Your Love. Amen.

Peeling the onion skins

I was listening to Humphrey as he shared about his ‘bad’ experiences at his former church and among the Christians there, i can’t help but remember what i went through at my first church. It is sad to say that sometimes the christians in churches are worse than the non-believers. There are things he said that have been a tremendous encouragement to me, especially when he said, when we lose everything, we are warring against Satan for these will happen because Satan wants to steal our joy and hope; it will tell if our joy and hope are anchored on the material things, and if it is, we will lose our joy and hope when satan takes every wealth, possessions we got. Although i was abit uncomfortable with him being abit touchy… Mercy was trying to control her laughter. Hmmph.

What’s the crux of the christian faith? Sometimes people talked too much about what happened, what they did, how many mission trips they went to, and how much money they gave to God…. i realised the bottom line of a christian faith and walk does not deal with the above, no, not at all, i would rather hear how well you know the Father’s heart, not the million of dollars you gave to God. I want to hear the heartbeat of God, the warmth of Christ’s love, and the comfort of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. I want to come to a deeper love and relationship with God, i want to walk like Moses as a friend God would call, or a Man like King David who is after His own heart, or Elijah, or Daniel, or Enoch or Apostle Paul, or John! Ah! Great man yet their lives all spoke of one single characteristics, they know the Almighty God!

The understanding of the Holy Trinity

I got a revelation (if you call this revelation) while i was er……… doing my big business in the loo. (Well i do get revelation in these times)….. I was thinking of what pastor said about understanding the trinity will lose our mind, while not seeking to understanding it will lose our soul. That sentence triggered off something and as i was pondering on why the understanding of the trinity is so important, God dropped something in my mind.

Just as water in the three states (Water, Water Vapour and Ice), while they are predominately the same structure H2O in three different state, their molecular structure is different. While we leave the scientists to understand the difference in these three molecular structures, we could understand the importance of water in these three states – water for us to drink, water vapour carry the warm climate in convection, and ice to cool our coca cola down? Yet, we might never understand the molecular and scientific components of these, and the same for the Holy Trinity, we leave the details to the Theologians to understand while we need to understand why three? Because it will affect our approach to our worship, our prayers, and our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. For example. We do not worship the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit will direct the worship to God the Father, nor can we just call on the name of God the Father to save us for the bible says, Call on the Name of Jesus and we shall be saved! See, the understanding of the roles of the godhead will affect how we approach God in reverence and in awe. Ok, revelation revelation…. so exciting.

Is War evil?

Is War evil? This picture was taken from Guardian UK, showing a boy trying to keep his mum from dying as their minivan was bombed by the Israelis as the family were fleeing from their homeland which is five miles from the border.

As we see picture like this, do we question ourselves or even secretly God if this is all wrong, or His mistake or as Kenneth E Hagin puts it, God has lost control of the world which is spiraling down the road to destruction? Or how about when a child reads the bible and realised it is God who commanded the Israelites to wipe out the tribes in the land of Israel when they were moving onto the Promised Land, do they question if our God whom we serve is a violent or evil God? Surely this has been the opinions of thousands of people who seems to think so when they read that, but no one who questioned God has adequately seek to understand why.

God obviously did not lose control as contrary what Kenneth E Hagin said in his book of Prayers. If that’s the case, God wouldn’t be Omnipotent or Omniscient, wouldn’t he? Then the statement to say God’s sovereignty wouldn’t have applied and either that, God wouldn’t care when man kill each other in war, or He is trying hard to salvage what’s left of this lego world. I doubt that picture reflects the reality of God’s awesomeness. Much has been said in the Scripture, that the problem does not lie with God, but in Man. War is ultimately a result of our SIN and it is the Judgment of Sin on its perpetrators. I too, used to struggle with that command God gave to the Jews to destroy the entire nations, wouldn’t the children and women of that tribe be innocent? While we were inclined to minaturize the overall picture, our human concept of what’s right and wrong seems so far off the mark of what’s ACTUALLY right before God’s eyes. For all who sinned, MUST die, is an universal principle that applies to all, and therefore, if God were to judge the nation with a Tsunami wave or earthquake, are we to say God’s evil? or when God allows War to come onto Lebanon, do we point the finger at God to say He is losing control?

We were so quick to judge, and forget, that such “Wars” must come as must the coming of Jesus must happen, and since we are all deserved death, the time given to us today, for sinners, who are alive, is a consideration of ‘GRACE’ for indeed, in the Old Testament, God has withheld His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and until their iniquities have come to the FULL extend and it is ready for the judgment, and I pray that the nations should come back to God before the time is up, and that we might find God’s mercy instead of His Wrath, for God desires Mercy over Judgment!

This war, i know, must come, and i pray for God’s mercy to be on the innocent civilians who died and that through these sufferings, i know God works even beyond what our finite mind can understand to accomplish His greater WILL, for my God is never out of control, and even so, through the fallen humanity, God can still work to bring everything, every history to HIS ultimate purpose even through our wars. And i can be sure, my God will never fail, nor will His Will be frustrated. Amen.

Jerry MacGuire

If there is nothing in the heart, whatever is up there (brain), is meaningless.

haha, what a truth! exactly the way Mercy and the Bible puts in so aptly! If we have great gifts like prophecy, or Healing but no love, we are nothing manz! Whatever we do, do it with our hearts! If we want to play the guitar in the music ministry, play it because you want to, and because i want to play it to please my God! Go to church because I want to, cos i’d love to come together and i want to meet people and encourage their days! Do it as if i am doing all for God, yes, with LOVE! for God loves a CHEERFUL giver manz! A giver of my time, my love, not just my money!

He must increase, I must decrease

To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘ i am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him. the bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater and I must become less.” John 4:27-30

 As i was reading this last night, John the Baptist set the example of a life that’s centered in Christ, to the effect that he is willing and gladly die to himself, so Jesus can become greater. How often, we are doing things for ourselves, for our benefit, for our gain, the only way to be transformed into the likeness of Christ is be like Christ, that’s where Pride must die, that’s where Self must decrease so Jesus in us might increase.

A note in my private journal

I wrote this down on my private journal which i would want to share it here.

The magnitude of God’s grace continues to confound my limited understanding, and beyond my logical comprehension of a Father’s love that cause me to sit at the foot of the Cross and stare at my Saviour’s eyes.

Lord, I could never fully understand the breath and length of Your Love, in the Grace a word so wonderfully wrapped up with so many wonderful things, that envelopes me and it warms my soul, and that i could face the dark valleys where the dry-wrenching pain and cold will seems bearable. I love you my God and Saviour, for in you, i am found, a precious child in fellowship with the Almighty awesome Father.

Church weblog: Church got sued for running a nightclub.

Source: Christianity Today

City shuts down church’s rock and roll
“An organ recital is a church event. This is not a church event.” That’s the ominous argument of Albany (N.Y.) Police Chief James Tuffey, who sent his officers to break up a concert at Trinity Methodist Church and summon pastor Maurice E. Drown to court for running “an illegal nightclub.”

Tuffey says that the church’s taking donations at the door for the youth rock shows (where smoking and alcohol are banned) is akin to charging admission, which makes it a nightclub.

(Actually, according to the Albany City Code, it would not be a nightclub, since the code’s definitions require such establishments to sell or allow the consumption of alcohol. Now, the city might make a case that the church is violating its code by running a “nonalcoholic dance club,” but if Drown’s summons actually uses the word nightclub, it seems clear that he can win his case outright.)

The church has been using its stage for entertainment ministries since 1931 and has long hosted sock-hops, dances, fashion shows, and other events. The Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau even lists it as a “creative meeting space” for hosting outside events. So why the problem now? Ask neighbor Colleen Ryan: “You’ve got a herd of kids standing out there with spikes and studs and what look like prison tattoos,” she told the paper. “We are trying to promote the city as a good place to live in and raise children in.”

Let’s complicate things a bit by noting that the church’s youth music nights, called “New Age Cabaret,” include bands like Drown Retarded Children and Clitorture (which has a lovely song called “Why Won’t Jesus Die” that starts like this: “Why won’t Jesus [expletive] die? Hopelessly turning the pages, the good book of lies. Your moral guide to a self-righteous life. Knees pounded into the dirt, free will has died. In the palm of God’s hands, you’re wasting your life. Slaughter the lamb. Worship the goat. Pry the Lord’s hands away from your throat. Before I pray, I’ll slit my own wrists. Religion of hate, to each his own scorn. All these years of worship have left you with nothing.”

Agree with Chief Tuffey now?

It kinda of saddens me to read about things like this happening in a church and the church allowing bands to perform songs with lyrics that have no difference to what Black Sabbath would gladly sing.

Appointment with Romance

While i was walking to grab a cab at Dolby Ghaut, i told God, God i want to marry her, and i know and i know for sure, i love her, and will protect her with all of my life. And i called her when i get on the cab, she told me that God has spoken and confirmed that I am the one God said she will marry, and i think it is the same time that i talked to God about. WOW. and Mercy said, ah so romantic. Yea, My God is a God of Love and of course, divine romance! I love Mercy with all of my heart, and i want to marry her and i want to grow old together with her. Guess i am getting all romaniticized. 🙂

Gain the world and lose myself

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:25

 The moral of the verse has appeared in many shows, that someone has gain the world but loses himself, his family, his identity. I’ve had my past of which i was what the Bible says “A Godless man” in every sense, but something hit hard, is that does it matter if a man has a huge house, a big car, a glamourous career, but of no virtue, no moral, no principles to live by and heading straight to the furnace of Hell. I pray that instead of me accusing and judging others, Lord, bring in my heart a deep sense of the Fear of God, that I will NOT sin against You O Lord.

Judgment and Mercy

A car went past the red lights and just mere inches away from us as we tried to cross the road at the junction, i reacted very angrily and i admitted, abit to the extreme in my anger that the driver ignored the red lights and could have killed someone. Mercy told me that i ought to love him instead. As i pondered about that on my way home, God spoke to me about the fact that why i shouldn’t lower my standard when comes to what’s right and wrong, but instead of lowering it, desire mercy and compassion which is what Mercy has been saying. I have been an epitome of judgment based on the Laws of God, that all rights and wrongs ought to be put on the balance scales, but i’ve forgotten about Compassion, Love and Mercy, for Mercy triumphs over Judgment. Lord, help me to raise the standard of the LAW in my own life, while desiring mercy for others that i may show Christ who is the only ONE who can fulfill the law and He gave me freedom through the GRACE that triumphs over the Law.

Life philosophy of Calvin

The disease that is more deadly than AIDS or the H5N1 virus (Bird Flu) and has killed millions if not billions every year, this disease does not destroy our immune system, but attack the very thing that we take it so seriously yet in reality of no consequences to whatsoever our life – Materialism. This disease is the bane of every single developed countries, including Singapore, and Christians are not immuned to this. I’ve a chat along the road after Prata with Mercy last night, about having a car in Singapore, while i do not think having a car is an evil thing, but i don’t think it is needed for now, at least not for me, and i think with what I’ve gone through, i have looked past the need for material things, i’ve learnt time and time again, to give up ‘things’ i got in my life which have formed my security and put it on God. So the philosophy of Calvin through the comic has taught me a great deal of biblical truth in things that are easy to understand. Being Happy with what you have is the first step to contentment and fulfilment.