What kind of christian am i?

There are a few types of christians, and the majority will be, those who puts on a christian tees with “God loves you” in neon green, and goes to church to have fellowship, but has never been challenged to walk in godliness because when monday comes, he will fall back to the ways of the world and occasionally asking God for forgiveness. The second type, is one who realised the sinfulness of his own nature, seeks to find release from its guilt, and that motivates him to go to church, join up all the ministries available, serve and serve and hoping he will find recognition within his community for the piousness he has shown, in hope that will erased all his guilts, but in secret, he struggles and continue to live in bondage of the very sins he tries to erase. Third, one that has a little illumination of what is demanded of being a christian and he did his best, occasionally he fell, and maybe in a season be in sin, until situation and circumstances begin to shake him out of his comfortable sinful zone, and then consoling himself, he is not as bad as the first two or with the world, and takes a little recesses of sinful activities here and there, taking full advantage of the Grace shown by God. Fourth, is the rarest of the rare among christians, and this the scripture said of them as disciples, one who has severe ties with the worldly cares, yet they are not monk, they are very very human, one who genuinely cares for the community for they are his neighbour, one even tho struggles with sin, refuse to remain in sin, moving on because he understands and gift of God’s grace and mercy and coupled with God’s holiness, the holiness is demanded of him. He move on not because he can, but because God empowers him through the knowledge and faith this disciple has in Christ. God doesn’t look at this disciple’s past, because all God sees, is Christ in this man. He struggles alright, he occasionally fell, but he never gives up turning away from his wicked ways to walk what is commanded because he remembers – to obey is better than sacrifice.

Our scandal – Lust

Was reading an article on Christianity Today, and the article revealed that there was a conference of Youth Pastors in a city and the rental of XXX videos went up 80%! Now these are Youth Pastors, not layman like me, and furthermore, i believe in one thing, one way or another, all of us – Men, have been ensnared by this monster call Lust.

Lust is like the ape in our groin, no matter how hard we suppress it, it will rear its ugly head in our dreams, or in situation least expected and it comes with chains, to chain us with guilts and ineffectiveness in our ministry.

There are no victories as most writers wrote books about conquering Lust, etc, or have broken the chain of pornography or masturbation. Not that i do not believe that one way or another they do offer sincerely good advice, but they often fall back into the same trap again.

I believe that there can be victory, it is not an easy road but with discipline and with prayers, it is a possibility of a release.

a) Recognize that we have sinned – Lust, and all forms of sexual perversion is first of all, SIN, and this form of Sin is a trespass against our own body, and our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are charged with the responsibility to take care of our bodies.

b) We cannot beat the monster of Lust by our own strength.

c) The key to victory is a life-long process and struggle – Do not conform to the patterns of this world (the world values – lust, greed etc), but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The key is simply brainwashing ourselves with the Word of God, and living it out in our life. we have since young been brainwashed by the world, its lust, its greed, its hatred towards each other, and others, and we grow up with that mindset, and until and unless we change our OS (operating system), we cannot completely begin to see the freedom and release needed for us to move forward.

d) Continue to think of what is good. Many people tend to go about life without any controlling of their own thoughts, hence, they are creatures of their flesh and desire, and they are consumed by their own lust, but reborn Christians, we are regenerated, and we bear the responsibilities of taking charge of our own thought, and we are commanded to think of what is good, to capture and arrest of thoughts and bring them to the obedience in the lordship of Jesus Christ. How many of us are like those in the matrix plugged in? many…. we are not truly free unless we control the thoughts and actions and put them on the Word of God.

True Worshipper

True worshipper must come to God in Spirit and in Truth! The ingredient that ties these together is faith, for we cannot come to God and please Him without Faith! God, help me to live out the theology, live it out in lifestyle, that in my life, the fruits of the Spirit becomes so part of my character – Love, Joy, Peace and many more and this is Worship. That we live out each day with one single passionate focus – the relentless pursuit of God and Him alone!

Wallpaper!

My first wallpaper i did….. so download and use it for your desktop! To God be the glory!!!

Preview

Click here to get it. (1024 x 768)

What to do here on planet earth?

There are too many courses, and books written about what we are here to do, or how to pursue our dreams etc, but too often these are unrealistic expectations we set. Not that we do not pursue our dreams or aim to excel in everything we do, but those take the push off our drive, and soon, we wonder why we are here on earth for anyway.

Was reading a review of a book and was strucked by something that elluded most people especially christians – accepting limits, walking gently here on earth, and remembering the past. These are some of the practical things about a prudent and godly lives. The time given to us, there is a season for everything, a time for everything, what’s more important, is not to rush through life, but walk gently and humbly with God as a friend, as a worshipper.

Illogical is the common sense of this age

As i was reading on the speech by Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice on her pro-palestinian and anti-israel at the American-Palestinian Taskforce, how the American government has supported the people who celebrated 9/11 attack, who supports terrorism, 95% of Palestinians supported Hezebollah, and many more, how the world today doesn’t make sense, when US are spending so much in Iraq, but neglecting their own in the aftermath of Katrina’s destruction, where integrity is no longer the yardstick to politicians when Blair threatened his administration and bullying them into supporting the Iraq invasion, when terrorists are being trained and educated in top american universities, and homosexuals are tolerated and even celebrated within the church groups! Now, this is what i would say, the days of Sodom and Gomorrah

Prophetic Words for Oct

Got this from an email from Apostle Rod, my pastor. It is an extremely encouraging email as it gave me a clear direction and i thank God for a great man of God!

There are many seasons, and God has revealed to me one facet of the seasons in life, and now, there is a season in the spiritual realm which is on the other side of the coin, and our lives. For details of this prophetic words from Dennis Crammer, click here

In my weaknesses, I am made strong in Him

It has been a tumultous time over the last few days. I realised in my busy schedule of setting up my own company has taken my time in reading His Word and communing with my Father, and I feel tired, not just physically, but it is like a plant removed from the pool of water, that my entire being is deprived of the very sustenance that provides life. Lord, let me be always mindful of the fact, the more busy I am, either with my work or ministry, more time ought to be spent with You O God. I am nothing without You and I can’t do anything without You. Lord, let me walk in You daily, not just for a season where it is winter, even in summer and spring or autumn, the walk with you gets stronger and deeper, from the icy cold walks in winter to the lazy walks along the beach during summer, i yearn to walk deeper each day. Lord, let me come in the quietness and stillness in my spirit and know you are God

Desperate

I am desperate Lord, not for anything but for your grace and your strength, that i might know how i can come into your refuge and rest. I do not know, or is it i am too far from thy favour and grace that i do not know what’s it to be in your rest? My life and heart have been in strife with things of this world, i am being strangled by its cares, Lord do i need to be like the ascetic in order to cut away the cords of this rat race? What’s it about this that yet we profess it to be nothing, yet it could mean the world of difference? i am perplexed, and i desperately need God’s grace and mercy, and i want to run, run away from this world, from everyone, from my cares and woes, from my responsibilities, duties, and obligations and i am tired of being a warrior, i rather be a poet or maybe in no better word, a slacker. Perhaps the cost is too high Lord to be your follower, that it cost me everything for i do not yet know what’s everything. Lord, i want a release, take me away, bring me home or leave me to the fiery depth of hell, any place is better than this world. I wish i can scream, but i can’t, i wish i can pour it out, but i can’t because there is no one there. Who can i say he or she understands, who will lend me support for i shall find none. Truly this life as a christian and a pilgrim is a lonely road and i am resign to walking it alone.

On the gifts of the Holy Spirit

Dave Hunt in his book, the Occult invasion, wrote

“If genuine, the gifts of the Spirit are under the direction and control of God and are provided by His grace exclusively for His purposes and to His glory… Whatever the ‘gift of the Spirit’ may be, it is given in specific instances to effect God’s purpose at that time; it does not become a power possessed by an individual which he can wield at his discretion… It is a great delusion for anyone to imagine that he possesses any gift of the Spirit in the sense that he can exercise it whenever he so desires. And that includes the gift of tongues—a gift which multitudes imagine they ‘possess’ and can ‘practice’ when they please and, thereby, have been led astray… Whatever purports to be the manifestation of a ‘gift of the Spirit’ and is not initiated by Him, but is under man’s control, is not of God but from the occult. (pp. 126-127)”

I am convicted, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to empower the church to be more like Christ. It is not a mean for our own agenda, it has to be God’s. As Apostle Roderick said it so well, to God be the glory, not mine! Lord, let us attribute to You to whom all glory belongs to! Amen

True revival

True revival results in holiness, not signs and wonders. As i was reading through an article written by Charles Spurgeon, he said

Charles Spurgeon warned of the dangers of chasing after signs and wonders. “I am glad of any signs of life, even if they should be feverish and transient, and I am slow to judge any well intended movement, but I am very fearful that many so called revivals in the long run wrought more harm than good. A species of religious gambling has fascinated many men, and given them a distaste for the sober business of true godliness. But if I would nail down counterfeits upon the counter, I do not therefore undervalue true gold. Far from it. It is to be desired beyond measure that the Lord would send a real and lasting revival of spiritual life.”

And I agree. When i measure Revival with the simplistic agenda of seeking God’s heart, i often wonder, were the signs and wonders the end of the pursuit of well-meaning christians? Woe to me if i ever lose sight of that value of true gold, desiring only after God and pursuing Him as i would a lover, not signs and wonders be my motivation.

Robert Liardon

One of the ‘health and wealth’ , ‘name it and claim it’ preacher and writer Robert Liardon who wrote the widely acclaimed book – God’s Generals, and God’s Generals – why they fail and where they succeed, even included himself in the book, was involved in more than one homosexual relationships, with a member of his church and with the Youth Pastor. He gave himself three months leave to resolve his homosexual relations.

Grace

Shall we accept only good and not the bad from God? The famous words of Job who was allowed to be tested by the Devil. Nevertheless, when God allow something to happen to us, there are always abundance of grace and mercy. God will not allow us to go through something beyond what we can handle and that we can trust in God with our lives! Oh how great that grace is, that thy rod and staff shall comfort me.

Traditional Interpretation clashes with unbiblical views

I was reading an article on The Ooze: Beyond Gender and the author Daniel Payne’s expository of the verse Matthew 19:12 refers to the transgender, sexual deviants, and social obstracized of gays and lesbians and that in his words, Jesus, that we ought to accept the homosexual lifestyle of these people. The views of Daniel Payne is extremely shallow and ideals very unbiblical. His expository of the verse is in error, resulting in the wrong application of the verse in context to the Word of God.

Matthew 19:12 – For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

When Jesus talked about this, He was involved in a discussion with the teachers of the Law at that time, and this question was posed to Jesus by the Pharisees in order to tempt Him. If Jesus were to say Divorce is wrong, then he would be rendered unpopular by the culture, If Jesus were to say otherwise, then Jesus would be said to oppose the law of Moses. In either way, Pharisees intended to set Jesus up. However, Jesus answered them by pointing them to 3 important issues when he supported the union of husband and wife in the context of God’s righteousness.

i) He proved by the union between Adam and Eve. Matthew 19:4

ii) The fundamental law of marriage – Matthew 19:5

iii) The nature of the marriage contract – Matthew 19:6

In this three points, Jesus made it clear that marriage like as of Sabbath is of the most sacred ordinances of God. Thus when the pharisees demanded Jesus why did Moses command that a man give give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? In this, Moses gave the command as of ‘allowances’ (Deut 24:1), and is designed to restrain the exhorbitances, than to give countenance of it.

Priceless identity

What price are we willing to pay to purchase our identity? Some spent a fortune to buy themselves identity of successful businessmen, bosses of big enterprises, multi millionaires, multi billionaires, doctorates, but most we are merely chasing after nothing. Is really having a million dollar that important that people are willing to sacrifice relationship, friendship and family to achieve that end? I do not know. What’s more important than such frivilous identity than the child of God? Christ has paid it all on the cross and am i willing to take up my Cross and follow Him? It means, giving up all what the world hanker after – titles, and take up the cross, a symbol of self denial, denying all temporary pleasures, comfort and walk down that narrow path, rocky no doubt, lonely at times, but at the end of the road, where many has gone before me, it will be worth it. Once again, i am reminded of the facade of such chase like the mist, and extremely hollow and what is the chase of my life, so I will decrease and Christ shall increase. Lord, i am here, walking by faith, and use me so all glory belongs to You!