Interesting Quotes But Comes from the Same Email Source..

...and what does it says?

Are we the body of Christ has this sense of half-way belief/unbelief that we can't be sure what we can do in Christ?

The quotes in question that comes from the same email that i have received from a Christian website

"The Cause of the weakness of your Christian life is that you want
to work it out partly, and then have God help you. That cannot be.
You must come to be utterly helpless, to let God work. He will
work gloriously." ~ Andrew Murray

"To DIE TO SELF, or to come from under its power, IS NOT AND
CAN NOT BE DONE by any active resistance we can make
against it OR by our own power of nature. The one true way of
dying to self is the way of patience, meekness, humility, surrender
and RESIGNATION to God." ~ Andrew Murray

"We Can not please God by what we do for Him in our own human
effort, we can only please Him by surrendering and letting Him work
in and through our lives." ~John Mulinde

“I will die for my God. I will die for my faith. It's the least I can do
for Christ dying for me.” ~ Cassie Bernall, Columbine High Martyr

"We must be careful not to choose, but to let God's Holy Spirit
manage our lives; not to smooth down and explain away, but to
stir up the gift and allow God's Spirit to disturb us and disturb us
and disturb us until we yield and yield and yield and the possibility
in God's mind for us becomes an established fact in our lives,
with the rivers in evidence meeting the need of a dying world."
~Smith Wigglesworth.

Like the sesame street or electric company, the programs asked kids to pick out the item that is different from the rest.

So what is different in the above quotes?

My view is the one from Cassie. I am not saying that she has died in vain for Christ but it is the attitude behind that quote. If we are to be grateful for what Christ has done for us on the cross, then the only thing that will please Him is to believe that He died for us on the cross. Nothing we do, nothing we say can never please God if our understanding of his sacrifice and the intention of our works is in error.

That is the reason why Andrew Murray says that to die to self, that is the realisation that what we do, think, act, speak etc can never please God until we realise, that our works in evangelisation, in charity work and in volunteering for the Church must be rooted in the understanding that what we do has no power in itself to save us from ourselves.

Only when we work out that faith in us from the foundation of understanding that our salvation is already being given to us by God through Christ work on the cross, will God work in us and through us. That's the gist of what James is writing about. James is saying that the work is evident of our salvation.

That's true...but from his writing, unscrupulous reading of the bible can be construed that we ourselves need evidence of our salvation through works which I think is not the intention of James. We love because Christ first love us, and out of this love will bear fruits of works that will give glory to God, and not to condemn us.

I have said the same thing to Ms Lie, that whatever we do, it is through the foundation of the right understanding of His Grace, the unmerited favour of God, that we already have that favour in His eyes and we do things knowing our salvation is secured. So long His blood is everlasting, our salvation is ever lasting on the mercy seat.

We don't need to die for God in order to show our love to Him. We need only to believe and to surrender our propensity to rely on our own efforts to gain the salvation. Salvation can only come through faith in Christ not through our works. Salvation won't come in a feeling of being saved. Just know and belief we are saved. That's it...it is so simple and yet it took someone's glorious life to give us that simplicity.

So please don't destroy the beauty of that act by saying salvation still need our works to apply to us.

The Joy Of *fill in the blanks* In The Presence Of The Lord

Sometimes you never get to know the what the Lord can do just to get you not so pissed with the situation.

Like for instance this new job. How would a person who has both Business and IT background able to get into a Law firm doing conveyancing work? Somehow or rather I have two inklings

a) The Lord wants me to use whatever I have learn in the area of Law.

b) The Lord wants me to understand certain things when it comes to dealing with real estate.

Both of which are useful to know and definitely the Lord understands there are things that will Bless me more.

And the understanding I have after 3 weeks at Characterist is that this place is growing and growing fast but as with all organisations, there are things that will be improving soon by Grace of God through Christ.

And the best part of it all is that Temasek Poly just signed a MOU with ST-Eng(info-sec) to provide a diploma in Digital Forensics. Yes it is a mouthful but it is essentially to safeguard IT resources or ensuring IT evidences can be admitted to the Court of Law during litigation. Something I would not have thought of if I am just focusing on Marketing in IT firms which I have been doing for quite some time.

So what's left is still to trust God in the sea of uncertainties.

Assume good things to come for the Lord has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. So we are now in the Law because Christ has fulfilled what has been demanded by the law 2000 years ago.

It is certainly a weird way to enter a law firm but who can make crooked a path that the Lord has straightened for?

Its Being A Long Time.

I only get to say this because for the past 2 years, it was a financial nightmare akin to the people of God wandering in the desert for 40 years. Yes I know, comparing 2 years to 40 years is a bit of a stretch but Praise the Lord, He is a shepherd that no other shepherd can compare to.

In short, thank God for a job. My criteria for jobs now is simple. Able to feed myself and family, and have time for my love of photography and a family time and lastly, feel that work place not such a drag. I wouldn't know about the last point but seriously, I have the positive expectation that Jesus in is the office.

Now just don't worry. Receive the peace that Jesus bestow upon God's children.

Inception: The power of an idea

This movie is seriously as though provocating as the Matrix. Why it will become one the best movie is because the premise is that whenever we are awake, we assume that the world around us is the truth. And as Pontius Pilate asked Jesus "What is the truth?" we are also struggling to understand the complexity of our being, of our existence and of our reason for being here. Hence our truth is really what we think, what we believe and what we perceive things to be.

So what is truth? Truth is the person of Christ? See the subtlety of the question mark. It is an idea to question a statement, a belief so that we can grow and can believe even more or reject a false notion. But that subtlety is the weapon that the devil has used to create doubt and then slowly replace the conviction in Christ with a false notion, or another god or mammon.

The idea or in another word, suggestion, makes us to ponder the possibility of another alternative possibility to the one reality we are holding on. And that idea is definitely as dangerous as a weapon in one's hand. The power of an idea will lead to the inception of one's belief that will lead to the transformation of a person through the perception of the world around that person.

But how can an idea become so powerful especially in the absence of prove. Why do atheists held the belief, the idea that we come from apes when apes are still around? Why do the buddhist think that there is an everlasting wheel of life, or reincarnation and of kharma? Why do we Christians think that Jesus Christ is the saviour? When did the idea of sin comes in? How can we be sure? An idea, a question, a doubt will lead to either hope or despair...

That's why Apostle Paul says

¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6)

Why do we need to put on the helmet of salvation? Why not the breastplate of salvation?

Instead Paul said the head needed to be protected by the truth of our eternal salvation, and in an instance, we all know that the idea, that we will lose our salvation, is pretty real in this world. Didn't Paul says that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God? But still a lot of people are duped by the idea that we, the real children of God, can lose our salvation.

The notion of an idea, that it can be planted as in the movie, can either grow into a strong tree or wilt under strong persecution. The idea, that Christ is the redeemer, is something that the devil and the world at large is very much against. Look after that idea, and water it with faith by stepping out in faith, will make that idea, the reality.

And what is the reality that is important? We are the children of God.

And as Pastor Joseph Prince says "Right believing leads to Right Living" and may I add that the right believing needs the right idea, the right suggestion and the ability to fight alternative ideas to our hope of our salvation.

This time, the top will drop because our reality is Christ reality and our salvation is real salvation.

An Affirmative Love of A Father Leads to Greater Motivation

I thought that IRON Man 2 does speaks not just personal versus strength of technology, but also about the affirmation of a father's love and our own relationship with our earthly fathers and our heavenly Abba.

The turning point for me in the whole movie was when Tony Start continued to see his father's movie clip for the Stark Convention and witnessed his father's admonition towards him when little Tony Stark played with the model thereby 'wasting' the film footage.

As Tony continue to watch the footage, he actually saw the funny side of his father (that's where he got his off the cuff humour from) and then his father's own personal message to his son, affirming Tony of his ability to see his father's secret work and to tell him, he built up all these for him.

Another image of father's love is when the nemesis, whiplashes' father apologises to his son and with a heavy heart bequeth whip-lash the technology he shared with senior stark.

My feel is that the real story behind the iron man, is not what we wear or show on the outside but what we has on the inside, that made us a man in the eyes of men. Not because our physical attributes but the spirit we have in us.

Hence, it is appropriate that the man in our lives, the fathers and brothers are the people who make us men, is given a fair airing in the show It is really time to show, that fathers ARE important to a child's life and a positive father figure, make ordinary men into iron men.

The other thing we should really see, is also the love our of fathers, especially the love of our Abba in heaven. As senior stark shows Tony what he has done for him, so has our father in heaven, show us the promises of heaven on earth as it is in heaven, the blessings He gave us through the sacrifice of His Son, so that He can call us His sons and His men!

Our Father in Heaven has affirmed us by loving us. Now we do not live in condemnation but under the unmerited favour of God!

Translations: Missing Verses is a big issue?

Today I was forwarded a website that teaches about the the problems of other translations and the purported reference to the view that KJV is the only accurate translation of the Bible.

To put things into perspective, I have always have the understanding that the content of the message is more important than the language to bring about the understanding of the content.

That means, if a meaning of a passage has being distorted to a point because of the lack of a few words, then it is definitely a very very serious issue. At this point, I would also want to say that to quote an 'accurate' verse from the Bible but out of its context, is as bad as taking the few words out of the Bible. The reason is simple. If the REAL meaning is lost, then we have misrepresented God and I will say there are a lot of people who has quoted Bible verses out of context too.

To me, so long the Bible verses are very close to what the original Bibles are saying and say what it means, that is the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Translation of the Hebrew Bible the Septuagint, then it is a Bible through and through (the inspired word of God). If a translation is purported to lead Christians away from the true meaning of being a Christian or has lead some Christians to misunderstand the true love and Blessings of the Lord, then that translation can be said to originate from the pit of hell.

Do you know that the hebrew language and also greek has deeper meaning than what English language can hold. For example the word 'Peace' in English which is used to translate from the Hebrew word 'Shalom'.

Here's some meaning from the word 'Peace' (just Google 'define:peace')

• harmonious relations; freedom from disputes; "the roommates lived in peace together"
• the absence of mental stress or anxiety

And here is the definition of the the word 'Shalom'

(Hebrew, `peace'). Common Hebrew greeting. `Shalom' indicates security, contentment, good health, prosperity, friendship, and tranquility of heart and mind.

From just the definition of the word 'peace' to the word 'shalom' in the actual usage of the language of Jesus time (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), then you can see, the Hebrew word has much more meaning than what the word 'peace' is ascribed to.

So does that mean KJV is wrong to translate the Bible as such since it has changed the meaning of Shalom into a meaning that is much shallower and much poorer as in peace? Would that make KJV a mistranslated Bible as well?

That's the thing about language. We cannot fathom to enormity of certain words in Hebrew and we have lost a lot of the gifts of God and don't understand the enormity of Jesus sacrifice on the cross because of lost meanings. Isn't that worse than taking out some verses that does nothing to change the meaning of the message?

I have this page to recommend for people to read:
http://www.bibletranslation.ws/kjv.html

The very best test is to ask yourself after reading the NIV, am I still a Christian, that is a person that do not the deity of Christ, who is the Son of the Most High? Do I believe that I have been born again as a Christian and my sense of shame and sin is nailed on the cross with Christ? Do I believe that I will be given a new life and become a new creation through Christ?

If the answer is yes to anything of the above, then you are touched by God through His Word and has become His sons and daughters despite the 'shortcomings' of the translations.

To me, the most important thing we should look out for, is the condemnation that springs out from the misinterpretation (not translation alone) of the Bible verses, to chain people to the yoke of the Law whom our Lord has set us free from. And secondly, we as Christian brothers and sisters should do the right thing, to preach God and His Gospel as Paul is preaching....to point to the benefits of Christ sacrifice on the cross.


Please go back to this page (http://www.hissheep.org/kjv/a_comparison_of_the_kjv_niv.html) and then ask yourself, did the translation of a passage actually changes the fundamental meaning of the Bible? Did the missing verses cause you to lose your salvation? In all battles, fight the right ones and win it through Christ's understanding.


I just take out some of the purported verses from the website for some comments:

Matthew 6:13 KJV "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." NIV "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." The NIV leaves out "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen." Everything pertaining to His Kingdom and Deity is left out."

Wilson's Refrain: Does leaving that part out changes God's diety in anyway?

Matthew 8:29 KJV "And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" NIV "'What do you want with us, Son of God?' they shouted. '"Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?'" NIV leaves out "Jesus, thou", degrading the power of the verse concerning His deity.

Wilson's Refrain: Read the NIV passage agin. Did it not the demons are talking to Jesus Himself? So why the elimination of "Jesus, thou" degrade Jesus power since the demons has acknowledge Him in the first place?

Matthew 9:18 KJV ". . there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him. ." NIV "While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, 'My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.'" NIV changes "worshipped" to "knelt before." Men kneel before their own kings and queens, but they do not worship them.

Wilson's Refrain: Yes, people kneel before Kings and Queens and they do not worship them. The thing is this, what difference would it make to you as a reader? It is the following act of reviving the daughter that is most important, He did the miracle of resurrection! Do you become a believer because the Bible say the ruler worshipped Jesus or because you believed that He did resurrect the girl?

Besides, the KJV can said to be translating from the perspective of someone who has already received Christ as Lord and can easily use the word worship if the people involved has knelt down. The fact is that the people did kneel, they worship him or not is the contention. But this contention doesn't deny the fact that people did ask Jesus for help and the very fact Jesus was asked, shows He did has an awesome power and that fact is the fact we should bring out of the passages as a witness to His power.

So if NIV is a newspaper, then using the word 'knelt' is a correct way of describing what has happened since it is describe as an action. To put the word 'worshipped' can be seen as a form of prejudice (that means putting meaning behind an action that may not be there in the first place) and thus also another form of mistranslation.

Matthew 16:20 KJV "Then charged He his disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ." NIV "Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ." NIV leaves out "Jesus," as it does in numerous verses.

Wilson's Refrain: Without the word 'Jesus', would you as a reader understand that the verses is refering to Jesus as well? I guess many of us would so this is really an unnecessary accusation. I would also use this verse to comment about leaving the word 'Lord' to denote that Jesus' deity is being denied. What utter nonsense.

Mark 1:14 KJV "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God." NIV "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God." NIV says "the good news" and leaves out "the gospel of the kingdom of God."

Wilson's Refrain: In the first place, the word 'Gospel' means 'Good news'. So what is the problem? The author is basically finding saw dust in the eye of NIV when the author fails to see the log in his!

Luke 11:2 KJV "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth." NIV "He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come." He isn't "Our Father" but just Father, and He isn't in Heaven, because that tells you something of who He is and points to Him as the Heavenly Father, so both references to heaven are removed. He must be here on earth. The reason for this is that the New Agers and Catholics believe in the "universal fatherhood" of God. My Father or Our Father becomes "The Father." This can be seen in some of the verses below: John 10:30,32; 14:28, etc. He is Father to all, and with it is the "Brotherhood of man." Then what happened to doing His will? Most people today want to do their own will, and justify it, and say that is the way it is supposed to be. But that is not the way it is supposed to be. We are to say "If the Lord will. . ." James 4:15 KJV "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Satan wants you to do his will, and not the Father's.

Wilson's Refrain: This is another lame excuse to demonise the translation. Would the expulsion of 'Our' robbed us of the meaning that God is our Father? Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray. By telling them to say 'Father' is as good as telling His disciples to accept God as their Father as in ABBA!! A VERY intimate term...like papa! It has NOTHING to do about Universal fatherhood as the author puts it. No way taking out the word 'Our' constitute the meaning 'THE' Father! Obviously the author is trying to accuse/condemn the translation out of thin air!

Angels are also sons of God. But Angels are NOT sons of God through Christ Jesus, THE Son of God.

I 'love' the last part where he says leaving out the works 'If the Lord will,' means we are doing Satan's work. Gosh...this is going by the word but not the SPIRIT of the meaning of the word.

Luke 11:4 KJV "And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil." NIV "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. '" Even Satanists and Eastern Mysticists desire cleansing from sin, and Satan desires to masquerade as the sin forgiver and destroyer. Example: From the Complete Book of Magic and Witchcraft, part of a Satanic ritual states: "Grant that I may be cleansed by this water from all my sins." So Satan doesn't take this part out. Think about it: why don't they want you to be delivered from evil? This is all part of the conspiracy. First they deny the existence of Satan. They say that Satan is not a person, but merely a "power of evil." Then they assert that Lucifer and the Devil are separate and distinct entities. Satan tries to hide his real identity, and hide behind other names. New Agers say that Satan is a figment of Christians’ imaginations. They point out that Lucifer means 'day-star' or 'light giver' and say that Lucifer is the brightest of God's angels. Albert Pike said, "Lucifer is God." That's the next step in the deception: claiming that Lucifer is a good angel or even God or Christ Himself.

Wilson's Refrain: This is another lame accusation. So if one do not pray 'but deliver us from evil', that means God's redemptive work on the cross did not happen? God forbid!! And to say Satan left that part out means the NIV is of Satan's work!! Goodness! The venom of the author!!

Fact: God HAS delivered us from Evil! And praying or not praying about it doesn't deny you the fact that God HAS ALREADY SAVED YOU~! So what is the author trying to say? Whatever he is attacking has nothing to do with the verse in question!! In fact, I question his faith...is it in the words or in the works of Christ?

Acts 2:30 KJV "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;" NIV "But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne." NIV replaces "Christ" with "one of his descendants," which could be anybody.

Wilson's Refrain: The fact of the matter is that 'Christ' is a title (Christ is the English term for the Greek Χριστός (Khristós) meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew. Or messiah: any expected deliverer ) And this title of the anointed one, can also be anyone, not just Jesus. The fact of the matter is that in Acts 2, Peter is establishing the credentials of Jesus....so even if you put Christ or 'one of his descendants' in the passage, we would conclude very clearly that Jesus is destined for the throne of David.

Romans 16:24 KJV "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." NIV leaves out the entire verse.

Wilson's Refrain: So what if it was left out? What does it do to the meaning of the book of Romans?

Romans 14:10 KJV ". .for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." NIV "For we will all stand before God's judgment seat." NIV does away with Christ and His authority in judgment.

Wilson's Refrain: What if I say NIV is acknowledging that Christ is with God and thus He is God and therefore putting Christ or God is of no consequence? Of course it has no consequence because there will be a judgment by God as in the triune God...so it doesn't matter if it is Christ, Abba Father or Holy Spirit!!

Matthew 25:13 KJV "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." NIV "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." NIV leaves out "wherein the Son of man cometh," changing the whole meaning of the verse.

Wilson's Refrain: The fact is this: IT DOES NOT CHANGE THE MEANING OF THE VERSE..heck...if did not change the meaning of the whole message!! The word 'Therefore' means that there are prior verses to this that need to be read, to justify the last sentence...so taking it out DOES NOT change the meaning of the verse.

I guess I would stop here because just these few verses, you would see the real agenda of the author. It has nothing to do with the real problem problem of translation. If people wants to receive the Lord, they WILL receive the Lord. The meaning of the word of God is still in NIV so much so it will convict people of their sin and lead them to Christ. That means the meaning is correct, the Word as portrayed in NIV is the Word of God.

Even if the Bible is correctly translated but the real meaning was lost, then what good is that translation?

Conclusion:

Brothers and Sisters, there are more important things in the Christian walk. The Bible that you have in front of you, be it NIV, KJV or even Young's Literal Translation, they are water to a parched soul, the Word's of hope and of encouragment. What I want to say is that NIV translation has brought people to Jesus and to God and hence has no real issues at all to deem it as a mistranslation.

If one's salvation is rested on the translation of the Bible, then the Work of Christ of the Cross is of no value at all. But the fact that NIV DID announce the Lordship of Jesus Christ and proclaim the finished work of the Lord, it has done its job to pronounce the Gospel to the World.

In true scholarship, one does not only rely on one translation, but of many. Even KJV do not grasp the full meaning of the greek Septuagint or even the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh so one can even argue KJV is mistranslated as well. So who wins from this debate? The devil.

I would really want you to read this website and to put everything into correct perspective.

http://www.bibletranslation.ws/kjv.html

And Again...Now Pastor Rony Tan Part II

I have now watched the videos in question. The content says as much why non-Christians, especially the Buddhist would be offended with the title "Pastor Ronny Tan Blasts Buddhism" for the video.

I want to really see this video as a whole and here are my comments:

Pastor Tan's 'humour' may have robbed the message's true power with the examples he has used. No doubt, the examples are logical conclusion based on Buddhism teachings but by joking or trying to put it on a lighter side of things has instead shifted the audiences' focus on the Buddhism system of kharma, reincarnation and nirvana (in short, buddhists way of obtaining a very good life) to the 'insults' of being reincarnated to cows, cockroaches and women.

I guess the best approach I have seen or read so far is from Mr Ravi Zacharias' "The Lotus And The Cross" where there is an imagined scenario where Jesus Christ discusses Buddha's teaching with the Buddha himself.

My comments on certain parts of the videos:

1. Is chanting and chanting alone able to bring one towards Nirvana?

My view is that if my history has caused me to be human again, that means my past mistakes that has REAL actions and REAL consequences will affect my 'report card' when I die.

So how would chanting and obtaining the state of Nirvana (which means 'nothingness') being nothing it and of itself with no REAL actions and no REAL consequence able to help me to gain eternal life?

2. The sharing of the episode where the woman in question has 'confirmation' that she has 5 past lives with a tibetan monk.

What it shows that there IS a spiritual force as the Holy Spirit Himself is also a Spiritual force. But there is a good and bad spiritual force that will either lead a person towards eternal life or eternal damnation. So the onus is on the person to understand what he/she is believing.

There will be 'confirmation' for certain beliefs, the issue is the truthfulness of that belief. When you believe in something that is false and get 'confirmation', what you believe is still false unfortunately.

Put an example. I believe in Jesus Christ and in my personal life, there are 'coincidences' in my life that helps and confirms in my belief in Christ Jesus. But to be intellectually fair to myself, I have also read about people's rejection in the historicity of Jesus and the arguments for and against Christ. After I am satisfied that Christ is true, then my confirmation is established on something firm. The question remains "What confirmation does Buddhism possess?"

My own brush with arguments with Buddhism happens with a great friend from Monah Photography Club. We did argue into the night and up to a point we both are red-eyed (we are sleepy). It goes to show the amount of conviction we have with regards to our beliefs.

The outcome of that argument I realised 3 points that Buddhism do not address:

- The reality of a superior being
- The arbitrator/judge of the kharmic system. i.e. who decides who gets nirvana or not? who decides what/who someone is reincarnated into?
- where is the start of a person's life if I believe in reincarnation? who started the life in the first place?

As you can see from above, the role of a creator/judge was not addressed properly in Buddhism.

Simple questions to debunk reincarnation:

"If reincarnation is true then where is the starting point of all life?"

"How can Buddhism explain the increase in human population but yet the moral fabric of all society has broken down more over the years, judging by the amount of hate/war/disease that people on this earth has suffered. If the teachings of Buddhism is true, then the reincarnated human beings should have enough kharma to know what is right and wrong and all reborn people should know better to build better societies. Furthermore, we should then see LESS people as years go by because not all human beings are saints. But we see more people. Why?"

Fact
- As God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has predicted, human beings will degrade because of the presence of sin
- The presence of sin means there is something that was done wrong.
- How to right the wrong? If the previous generations still has not get it right after thousands of years has passed, then what hope do we have in human endeavours?
- God is the start of all things even giving each and everyone of us a UNIQUE personality. The population growth is due to God's gift of our souls.

Buddhism has some serious questions to answer and those practising it, as in head monks, still cannot answer pertinent, basic questions about their faith in a human system.

By the way, Buddhism is a Philosophy...not a religion.

Modern Miracles

Modern Miracles

After reading the above, it is really a confirmation of sorts that what we go through is not because God is evil, but God has prevented us from greater tragedy. It did not take a Christian but a Jewish rabbi to really understand that God's miracles is in the coincidences we face everyday and/or the luck that was bestowed upon us.

On hindsight, God gave me on Christmas, 4 brand new tyres, not just any model but the best street tyre from none other than bridgestone. God has also blessed me with a tiger decal for the car. Seems like God's hands is on the car even though it has suffered an accident, having to change the hood and the bumper just 2 months after I got the car.

Of course right now I am in the midst of finding myself, trying to really understand what I am going through now after years of finding the path that God promised, the path of Shalom peace where the Abba has set before me in order to bless me and my family.

I don't believe in coincidences. I don't believe that I said something stupid because I am stupid. Angry yes, stupid no. Romans 8:28 says God will turn ALL things for good for those who love God. Honestly if by our own flesh, how do we really love God? So it is through the fact that we are now New creation through Christ Jesus that enables us to love God. And if we love God that means Romans 8:28 holds true. And how do God knows we love Him? Simply by coming to Christ in faith, not works. And if we rely on the finished work of Christ, then Romans 8:28 holds true...all things will be made good for us!!

So I screwed up, and I got into shitty position now as those two young men has thought to themselves when they lost their fiance and girlfriend. They think they cannot go on, and I honestly feel now I am so tired I can be thought of being suicidal too. It is really depressing, really demoralising. But what happened next, they got married to better people and have beautiful families.

I am also lead in a way to marry the woman who is sleeping in bed now. Only God knows what is good for us, we only knew when we look back at our lives. My wife is the living testimony about how God is true and real in my life and still I am so banged up over my job situation.

If that is the case, then it is only fair for God and for myself, to hold true the expectation of good from God (the HOPE of God).

IF I know there's no such thing as luck and coincidences, then hold fast to the faith and believe that God will provide the good stuff.

A Good Article On Tithing

"Thy Kingdom Come" - Zac Poonen

In Mathew 6:5-15, the Lord taught us to pray “Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

The man who prays, "Thy kingdom come" is one who has set his mind and his affection and his desires on things above. He's not one who has put on a dress of Christianity and holiness. His spirituality is not superficial. It goes right through to the very fibre of his being. He is more interested in laying up treasures in heaven than treasures on this earth.

A Christian's attitude to money is one of the clearest tests of his spiritual level, and of whether he is really longing for the kingdom of God to come or not.

I remember hearing a stor! y of a f armer who told his wife one day, "Our cow has just given birth to two calves, a white one and a brown one. And I thought that when they've grown up, we should give one of them to the Lord." His wife asked him, "Which one are you going to give to the Lord, the brown one or the white one?" He replied, "Well, we can decide that later when they grow up." The calves grew up and they became fatter and fatter. One day the farmer came home with a sad face and told his wife, "I've got sad news for you. The Lord's calf just died." And his wife said, "But how did you know which was going to be the Lord's calf? You hadn't decided on that yet." He said, "Oh well, all along I had it in my mind to give the brown calf to the Lord; and it just died this morning." It is like that with most believers. It's always the Lord's calf that dies! They give God what's left over after all their own needs have been met. And because they're not "rich towards God" they remain spiritually poor all their lives (Lk. 12:21).

In the Old Testament God had made a law that the Israelites had to give their "choice firstfruits" to the Lord (Exod. 23:19). This was the only way they could "honour the Lord" (Prov. 3:9). It's the same today. We cannot honour the Lord if we don't give Him our best.

What do we find in our life? Is there always some excuse why we cannot give the best to God. Then it shows where our heart really is. Where a man's treasure is, there will his heart be also. But the man who prays, "Thy kingdom come," is a man who has been delivered from the love of money and material things. He lives for God and for eternity now.

The kingdom of God means the government of God, the absolute rulership of God. It means making Jesus Christ absolute Lord over every area of our life. If we want the kingdom of God to come, it must first come in our hearts, in our homes, and in our churches. In these places we must give no place to Satan or to the flesh. Our longing should be that the kingdom of God should so fill our hearts, our homes and our churches that there will be no room there for anything else.

The Holy Spirit came to bring "the kingdom of God with power" to earth (Mark. 9:1). Our local churches should be a demonstration to the world today of what the kingdom of God is like - that which will one day cover the whole earth. Here is where we have failed the Lord.

When Jesus told us to seek God's kingdom first and not to be anxious about earthly things, what He meant was that if we really wanted to be anxious about something, we should be anxious that the kingdom of God should come on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:33). How many of us are burdened with that type of anxiety - for the purity of the church and the coming of Go! d's king dom? May God find many among us who will seek His kingdom first.

Evangelism and The Iran Threat

Today is another piece of news about Teheran's move to continue with the uranium enrichment program. Goes to show, when global events as predicted by the Lord is going to happen, Obama's appeasement move won't go anywhere.

Abba has already made tons of announcement with regards to Iran's involvement in the battle of Gog and Magog and all these news about nuclear proliferation just highlights the need to be mindful of the events as dictated in the End Times Prophecies.

Coupled with the fact that the more powerful Singapore Churches, namely New Creation Church due to its construction of a multi million church complex, City Harvest because of its glamorous Pastor Sun and Lighthouse Church due to her Pastor's involvement of being careless with words, are now under some spiritual attacks to undermine the power of evangelism of these churches.

The attacks wants to draw attention away from their evangelistic works for Christ and focus on these areas so as to create an environment of distrust amongst the unsaved.

With IRAN making all the warmongering moves, and evil spiritual forces trying to stop the gospel message by any means necessary including undermining the credibility of the Singapore churches all points to the fact that something is boiling rapidly.

Furthermore, popular culture has disaster movies such as 2012, Armaggedon, Sudden Impact, The Day After Tomorrow to name a few that has everyone abuzz about with the current world events. I would suggest that it is the current state of affairs that gives creative impetus to the movies above. It is certainly the sign of times, that second coming is really near.

Accordingly to the scriptures, the second coming will come like a thief in the night for those who are not of God, very much like the bridesmaid who has no oil and was barred from entering into the wedding feast. This is a picture that is coming really rapidly into reality.

As believers we will all say

"Maranatha!!"

And Again...Now Pastor Rony Tan

Just when Pastor Sun has rocked the boat with her dressing, Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse rocks the boat with his words. But one thing is for sure: the Christian faith is to rock one's beliefs about the world and also about the spiritual systems that surround this world.

The Christian faith is an intellectually defendable faith. But before even we can convince people to consider the faith, it is always to do it with utmost respect about people's belief system and sought to convince them of the alternative by allowing them to think it through themselves.

But how to get a person to think when a person has outrightly abuse the recipient of the message? How can one convince the love of Abba God, when the messenger cuts down the person listening to the message?

Agreed. Jesus has called the Pharisees 'a brood of vipers' and 'whitewashed tombs'. But do consider the circumstances surrounding His outrage. Jesus has performed miracles after miracles, teaching people about His message but the Pharisees just go against Him for the sake of their pride, based on their religious works.

I believe we, as evangelists of Jesus' love, should also be sensitive apologists with the likes of Ravi Zacharias. I particularly like Brother Ravi's 'Great Conversations' series where he imagine how Jesus would rebutt political, social and religious debate. The one I admire most is the book "Lotus and The Cross" that talks about the religious thinking and practices of the Buddhist faith.

It is in the spirit of gentleness and love that we ought to emulate in order to engage the world around us. Belittling and doing 'crude' jokes ain't getting us any respect from the very people we try to save.

Ho Yao Sun Did It Again.

Pastor Sun has just attracted unnecessary attention to herself and cause much grieve to the Christian community in Singapore by putting on a revealing dress for the Grammy's red carpet so much so a slit ran across her right breast and the breast line can be seen.

My reaction?

I have seen tons of people revealing unnecessary parts of their body for no reason whatsoever but to gain some 10 seconds of stardom on some deprived nerd's PC. I do enjoy the sight of beautiful women since God is really a great creator and said, "Praise The Lord! She's really beautiful!"

A beautiful woman, it is a gift of God to the person whom that lady is to marry (and one of them happened to be my wife) and it is no crime to be sexy, pretty and exudes sexual charm.

BUT when to shoot that electricity from your eyes to men and when men starts to day dream (or night dream), there's a line being crossed. Am I guilty as I charged others? I admit to that and therefore I do not want to judge a person since God is the best judge there is. Furthermore, God The Abba has judged that I am righteous through Christ, therefore I shall not judge others unless I see them as Holy and Righteous.

So why am I writing this since I said I should not judge? True but we all do have something to say just to understand what we hold as truths.

So here I go.

Is it alright to go naked and therefore there is no such thing as 'revealing dresses' or 'wardrobe malfunctions'? Of course it is ok to be naked because Adam came into this world full of God's glory hence there isn't a reason to have clothes in the first place. But only when Adam and Eve sinned that the clothes became necessary as the Glory left us. In other words, clothes is actually a testament to our sinful nature.

So being dressed appropriately is the mark of a wise man. Why? Simply because we understand clothing is now necessary not to cause discomfort to others and being disrobed, in a way is also a positive statement of oneness in the context of sexual relationship within a marriage.

But when disrobing or even a hint of flesh that has gone overboard that creates the necessary situation for the man to go haywire and the women to go ballistic on their husbands, then one do not act in the understanding of brotherly love i.e. not to create harm by one's actions.

So a person's action is by itself should affect the person alone but in fact, affect the people around them as well. And since we are Christians, then it is only fair that we are mindful of others so as to bring about salvation to all. Isn't that our mission for Christ on this earth?

Apostle Paul has said in Romans 14 that all food is good but if one believes that only certain food is allowed, then help the one with the weaker faith by not offending him. Only when the believer has grown and mature in the faith, then one would realise that food can be sanctified by the Lord and that what we wear has no bearings on how Abba God loves us.

But we ought to be mindful of immature and young Christians and more still of those who are conservative and have yet believed in the Lord's plan of salvation. The Law of Love, means we should not stumble others in the pursuit of one's aims or wants even when those aims and wants would not separate us from the love of God!

So to Pastor Sun: No doubt your dress is talk of the town and personally, even as I am a Christian, I find that it is not really 'fleshing' to the point of being tasteless (Lady Ga Ga is unnecessarily loud). BUT in view of the Law of Love, that's when you ought to reconsider your actions.

Then there's the other extreme, where by a man's thoughts is dictated by what a woman wears. I find it really stupid that in the argument for man's place in religion in other Abrahamic faiths, one has to use a law, to stop a woman from doing a perfectly normal thing just to stop the men from lusting. Doesn't that say that man is unable to fulfill the law of not being lustful since He cannot stop thinking and have to force the women not to wear revealing clothes?

Wouldn't that just show that man is powerless in restraining their thoughts and place that responsibility of the inability to follow law on the hapless women? OH! Isn't that what Adam has done to his wife Eve when Adam says it is Eve's fault when he cannot follow God's instruction?

I say this:

Women, you are attractive because the glory of God has come upon you through Christ. The loveliness of Jesus is upon you. You are beautiful because God has to power to transform what is physical to something that is much more wholesome, more thorough and more 'magnetism'.

Men. We are sexual beings. Accept that and check your thoughts. It is OK to have 'lust' for your wife (not girlfriend and certain not other girls of other status) but when you blame the ladies for your own stupidity and inability to control your tool of sex, you have just lost the mandate of being the man of any house.

Today read the reply from government MFA about their donation. Am really sadden by how calculative our government is when it comes to compassion.

I guess it is time for Singaporeans to wake up and ask oneself. Why are we so self serving? Why are we as a nation has come to a point that no one except oneself should benefit from anything? What has happened to the kampong spirit?

For goodness sake Haiti as a nation is as good as destroyed by one earthquake and our dear friends in government sees 50K is good enough because Haiti does nothing to our economy and our political environment.

In contrast, Nissan, a Japanese car company can donate $100,000 though Haiti is not their most important customer nor does the company has huge dealings with the country and yet we, as a nation, with MFA representing the whole of Singapore gave a paltry sum of $50,000?

If we are Haiti and Haiti is wealthy country and we got hit by Tsunami would we be so smug to say the same thing?

For your info, this is the full text from today's forum reply:

Disaster relief – the S’pore way

I REFER to last Saturday’s commentary, ‘Is Singapore doing too little for Haiti?’ by Ms Chua Mui Hoong. She criticised the Singapore Government for not making a bigger contribution to Haiti after the earthquake when we had contributed far more to disaster relief and humanitarian assistance efforts after the 2004 tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

As a responsible member of the international community, the Singapore Government has consistently made contributions to international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in our region and beyond. Singaporeans are familiar with the contributions we have made over the years, especially to the many countries hit by the tsunami in 2004, and after the Sichuan earthquake.

Last year, we provided humanitarian assistance in the form of cash, supplies and equipment after Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan; Cyclone Aila in Bhutan; Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; the Padang earthquake in Indonesia; the cyclone in Fiji; the earthquake and tsunami in Samoa and Tonga; as well as for victims of the civil war in Sri Lanka; and food aid for internally displaced people in Pakistan.

As a responsible government, we have to examine the considerations and priorities when deciding how much and what type of assistance Singapore can provide after each disaster. Singapore is not in the league of major donor countries, nor do we aspire to be one. Among other things, we have to consider the nature of our relations with the affected country and whether we can provide aid which will add value to the relief efforts when deciding what to contribute, as we have limited resources and cannot respond to every disaster in the same way.

Hence, we had responded with more significant contributions when Indonesia suffered the devastation of the tsunami and various earthquakes – because it is a neighbour with longstanding and close ties and we were in the position to deploy our military and civil defence assets so that they could carry out effective missions.

The amount or type of humanitarian assistance given by the Singapore Government is not intended to match the scale of a disaster. In the case of massive disasters in countries beyond our own region, our contributions often cannot be more than a show of moral support and a gesture of sympathy to the affected country.

The support from Singapore for Haiti need not be demonstrated just by the Government. Singaporeans who want to make a contribution can do so through the Red Cross and other groups, and indeed many have. The Singaporeans who have gone to Haiti on relief missions amply demonstrate their compassion for the victims of the earthquake.

Sudesh Maniar
Director, Public Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Avatar: Another Matrix Like Movie?

One thing that I really appreciate Hollywood Jesus and kept my subscriptions with HWJ is simply because you see the good in everything just as Jesus has done to the people around Him.

And so in this film, I see a lot of spiritual parallels as well.

I am talking about rapture. That God will give us a new body to house our reborn spirit. Yes it is a second birth in spirit but I am particular interested in the closing scene of the movie when Jake actually go through the same ritual to 'transfer' his soul/spirit from his old body to his Na'vi body and it is his new body that he gets to fly, to run (when he lost the ability to run, I can sense immense and intense joy when he first uses his alternate body's legs) and to do much more than the old human body can do.

Oh yeah, and to 'feel' your 'ride'. That would be the dreams of drivers and fighter pilots.

The message is clear. The environment is of paramount importance and the people in the environment, no matter how primitive, is important as well. For the movie to come out during the closing of the UN copenhagen talks, means the planned impact the movie wants to portray. Still everyone can sense the disappointment of the talks.

And I also agree, to love the earth is what we are supposed to do as keepers of God's creation. As sin has done to our lives, this aspect of stewardship is also less than ideal.

As Jake is the 'type' that shows how Christ comes to earth so that HE can tell us what is to become of us if we still live under the old covenant. Jake is also the messenger to save whatever he could save.

The best part is when Jake conquers the 'big bad red bird', which I think is a representation of satan and the act itself confirms his standing as a great leader to the Na'vi.

And the act on the cross, and the resurrection confirms Jesus' standing in the eyes of God and of Men as the firstborn of the new creation. The parallels is indeed very very obvious and I do not think Cameron is a devout Christian to make his vision of 10 years in the making, a Christian movie.

In my book, there's no such thing as coincidence and Avatar is no coincident. And so is the Book 'Left Behind', the movies 2012, 'Armageddon', 'The Final Impact' and all other disaster movies.

All point towards the imminent return of Christ and pop culture has in some ways confirms both the claims of the Bible about the End Times as well as harking the 2nd coming.

Maranatha!

And Again A Proclaimation of Judgment From Shekinahtoday.org

Today I read 2 very different news articles. One deals with the planned ordination of a openly gay priest to be an assistant bishop and the other article proclaiming doom and gloom for the house of God especially with regards to the pulpit.

Those who knows me understand that I do not subscribe to the notion of 'lucky' nor 'coincidence'. There are things that are, no doubt, bad and if we are to understand God's way of doing things and His motivation to do certain things, the bad things will be used for the ultimate aim for our good.

That's why it is call God's grace. We screwed up doesn't mean God is not for us. And if God is for us, then it is our eternal hope (the very meaning of hope is the positive expectation of good) that on the account of Christ, we shall and will and at the moment, received THE BLESSING (Brother Copeland's message) at no account of our behaviour. So if God is for us, who can be against us?

Now in view of the proclaimation of the judgment of the pulpit due to hidden sins and with the understanding of who Abba really is then this I would have to say.

Those on the pulpit are not saved. They may have the knowledge of being priests or being lay leaders or being 'spiritual' but they know not God the Father. If they are, they would have abhorred at the notion of same sex marriage and relationship.

If one is really the under-shepherd of the Lord, then do consider the notion that if same sex relationship is enough, why God did not make another male to become Adam's helper and instead Abba decided to introduce a female? And if the female is not important, Abba would not have created a female in the first place too.

So my above statement underscores my belief that a female can be a leader of the church as there was a female Judge in the history of Israel. And the reason that are 2 sexes reflects how God views the sex issue.

And there is also the report that the African nations of 'prosperity' gospel has wrecked havoc in the Christian community. Being in a Church that was always being accused of worshipping money, it is easy to see the indignition when the Church leaders have misplaced God's real intention to bless everyone and then gorge themselves mad with the offerings & tithings from their flock.

Then I have to turn to the Temple practices in the Bible. The question are:

- Were the priests given the fat of the animals to eat by God?
- Were there poor people in the midst of the worshippers?

Both are yes and it is a reflection of what we do see in Church also. But can we safely judge that the preaching of Shalom, that is the fulfilment of all things good in the lives of believers, is bad?

It cannot be.

The message is a good message: That God is out to Bless everyone and out of that Blessings, the congregation is able to tithe faithfully and offer more financially to help the Church's work. As much as people want to dumb down the Blessings message, they have mislabel it as 'Prosperity Gospel'.

Some may be out and out operation in money grabbing and I will definitely support any action against preachers who do not have the heart for God and for His people to be corrected. But the message of God's Blessings through Christ MUST be preached. Blessings of Christ is the Blessings of Abraham's seed and Abraham's nation and is ordained by God to be passed to His people and the Blessings are to be given to those in need.

Hence the congregation has given out of their plenty and more are out of their poverty but God will definitely know what to do who has given out of their poverty. As Jesus has praised of the poor woman's contribution to the temple, He will know what to do to help.

So the clutch of the issue is the leaders who HOARD the Blessings from the Congregation and NOT the message of the Blessings. It is this HOARDING that caused the congregation to see the greed and they follow the example. May God, in His wisdom and Love, help the leaders but if they are not of God, then the proclaimation of judgment will be true for them as well.

However all these points to the 'falling away' that the good book has predicted all along. It is another chapter in the history of mankind in the eyes of the God of the Jews and Christians that this world is indeed falling apart; in morals, in the physical and in the spiritual and this paves the way for the current age of Grace to end.

So when will this judgment come?

My view is that the 'salt of the world' will be taken away really soon and the very action of this 'taking away', as the mass media has now known as 'The Rapture', will provide the backdrop for God's judgment to take place.

Why not now?

Very simply. Just see where Jesus has said with regards to His first coming and His Church age (which is now). In Luke 4:16-21 He comes to the synagogue and open the book and Isiah and read

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’ And He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him'

And if one were to look through the book of Isaiah and read through the whole passage that Jesus was reading (which was Isaiah 61:1-2), the Lord did not mention "And the day of vengence of our God".

This is wholly significant and sets the tone of how we should share the message of judgment on the internet and in emails and on the pulpit of the Church. If we are of Christ, hence we are called Christians, then we follow what Jesus Christ has been preaching in His synagogue. That is to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and stop at the message of vengence.

So I am always sad when Christians keep preaching judgment without the even handedness of the message of God's salvation.

God has not come to judge now; He has come to save.

How can people turn over a new leaf when we keep pressurizing them about the coming punishment without the message of how to avoid the punishment?

Time for us to stop preaching doom and gloom like what Moses has done by striking the rock instead of speaking to the rock (NUM 20:8). In the process of proclaiming judgment, we have misrepresented God the Abba as a judge instead of a loving Father in Heaven.

There is definitely a distinct difference between 'correction' and 'condemnation' and judging is definitely a form of condemnation which can only be correctly and fairly executed by the all knowing God.

2012: Why the Mayans stop at this date?

Having just watched the movie 2012 with all its spectacular special effects and loud sounds, one would be hard pressed not to be entertained by it. The funny thing about it all is this: What would one think about it if you are inside the reality of the movie?

Let me get this straight. The movie predicts that a super huge tsunami will hit earth higher than the roof of the world but the Bible did say that God would not use this method to rid the world of its inhabitants.

But does that mean if there's no water, there is no judgment? If there's a coming judgment, what form would it come in? The end times prophecies holds those answers so the impending destruction of the world as we know it will come.

What I do want to share is not about the judgment that is to come, but the person who is executing these judgment. Is God really that bad that He has to plan THE coming destruction of the late great earth?

Consider this scenario. If you have an enemy that wanted you to die a horrible death and plot his way to cause your untimely demise, would you have known of it prior to the execution of the plot?

Now put that logic unto God and His plan of destruction. And then see the similarities that is happening NOW against the warnings from Noah. For a powerful person to tell you what He is going to do to you if the direction you are going is leading you to an evil end, what kind of person is He?

Focus on what God is doing NOW. He is giving ALL OF US, a way out. The only way to let us know there is a way out, is to let us know there way forward is doomed to destruction. If we judge God in accordance to what He is GOING to do as opposed to what He has done NOW will give us the wrong impression of God and His work on earth at this very moment.

So my conclusion: He is now trying to save ALL of US (including the U.S.) NOW from the future destruction. In that sense, He is showing us great love.

But how does HE do it?

a) His message of salvation comes before the message of the end times. Jesus teaches about His redemption first to all his disciple and only reveal much of the destruction to his surviving disciple of the original 12, John, nearing to his death bed. He has actually gave us the solution first, that is to accept Christ Jesus before telling us the impending doom.

b) He let us know the signs of the times. I am not an avid reader of the Bible but The Holy Spirit kept reminding me specifically all the events that are happening or have happened that eluded to some elements of the prophecies.

c) For those who DO NOT read the Bible, God has make the people known through fiction. Remember the 'Left Behind' series? Its popularity won't be that great if not for God's intervention. There are people who criticise Jerry Jenkins writing ability and if that's so bad, then in the natural, the books won't be flying off the shelves.

d) Movies about the end. Although the means and methods of destruction are myrid, all comes to the same conclusion, the same message: The human race is coming to an end. These movies are not just entertainment, it is a wake up call to question about your eternal state if you do come to a physical end to this life. Examples? Titanic, Armegeddon, Deep Impact just to name a few.

And these movies, with its predictable endings and formulaic methods in story telling, shouldn't keep getting box office hits one after another. It is not just people's taste for destruction (yes that show the depravity of men) but also God's hands in making them accessible to the public for the warnings.

e) I think the Lord has made the mayan calendar into a huge prominence for those who don't believe in the message of the Bible. The reason for doing so is because God wants to get people to think of solutions of the destruction. Hence the green movement, the nuclear non proliferation treaty...all human endeavours to eliminate the possibility of the demise of the human race.

Are we succeeding? Nope from the looks of the APEC meeting in Singapore, economic growth (the love of money) is still the top priority, with increase carbon emissions or not.

I personally believe that God will not work with the Mayans and to go with the schedule that the Mayan's have set, 21 Dec 2012. That would have given the blood thirsty mayans, the epitome of evil, great honour in the eyes of men.

But the signs of the time for the destruction is pretty obvious and ominous. And I believe that the Grace of God through His great love for fallen men has halted His end time plans numerous times to allow more people to come into salvation through Christ.

My message is that there is a great convergence of end time messages in the last 2 decades. One leading to year 2000 and now 2012. I believe it is in accordance to the design of God. Jesus did say, during His time on earth, that He did not know the time of the 2nd coming as only the Father in heaven knows. I believe Jesus now knows and as the High Priest of humans here, He has continually petition not to execute THE plan to end this age and at the same time, warning after warning of the end times is happening now.

I do want to say something about the movie. It shows the cracking up of the sistine chapel during one of those major earthquakes (Richter scale 10.5?...that's beyond 10!!) and one imagery still etched in my head, the crack between Adam the man, and God (remember the ET phone home finger to finger image?); as if Director Emmerich is trying to say here, "God is not helping!" Nothing can be further from the truth!

And I leave with this. I am so glad that there is the teaching about Rapture. Even in the movie 2012, the word 'rapture' is linked to the Christians elluding to the end of times. I don't think all the warnings of God would do great justice to His providence and His love for us believers if He did not execute the greatest exodus of human history prior to the destruction of modern earth.

Think about it. If He love us so much to warn us, then what is the point of the warning if He cannot save us in the first place? That's why I question mid and post tribulation scholars if they really know their Abba God.

I hope to see you in the air when the Lord comes for me.

Yesterday...And the best Psychologist

Yesterday was one of those rare days where no matter how you go about doing things, mentally it just couldn't cut it. I was not sharp enough, I was not fast enough and depression starts to creep in. 'Weird' couldn't explain it.

So today, I decide to proclaim the good forecast for my life. I am in the Lord's favour. I shall be favoured by those I met today. I shall be filled with joy, not of this world but of the Lord's and I shall conquer all the nonsense that the Lord has disdained for.

Still what happened was when preparing my cuppa for the day, the worries about money and supply, of my usefulness in this world and my concerns (yes, concerned mean worry) that all that I did is just so repetitive (housework, working, projects) and has no meaning at all.

Lo and behold, Pastor Prince daily devotional also greeted me with this title "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled". I always say there's no such thing as luck and certainly no such thing as coincidence.

Jesus said and still saying to us "Shalom I leave with you, My Shalom I give to you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid".

Shalom is a very very inclusive word. It encompassed all the good things that a man would ever need to feel contented. Imagine having not just any shalom, but the shalom of God. With that kind of Shalom, even the darkest and the most depressed will be joyful.

In the end, the problem lies in the realisation, or the lack of, the God's Shalom peace is already at hand. I shall even say, it is here in me. Just that I did not turn to it when I have the chance and in the end my heart get troubled.

Today and the days and months and years to come, I proclaim the shalom peace will guard my heart from troubles.

@Joyce: The Lord is the best psychologist

Michael Belk...good photographer...but

I was given this link about Mike's project, portraying Jesus in photography. I must say it was really well done (600K USD of his own money. If it is not well done...goodness!)

The link: http://www.thejourneysproject.com/Gallery.aspx

Then I happened to click on 'Embrace' in his Parables Collection and this is what he says

"Jesus’ statement, “No one comes to the Father except through Me,” has been accepted by Christians to mean that only those who accept Jesus as Lord will live with Him in eternity. Yet, if Jesus came as the Savior of the world, for all people, for all nations, where does that place all other religions? Assuming His statement is properly understood—that everyone must come through Him to spend eternity with Him—then what is God’s plan for the two-thirds of the world’s population that is non-Christian?"

At least Mike got it right. He died for all who has sinned. That means Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Chinese, Africans, Indians...all ethnic groups, all cultures.

And what is God's plan for 2/3 who are not Christians? Mike's answer

We are God’s plan! For everyone who knows the Gospel story, Jesus commands that we “go tell all nations the good news” He has shared with us. If we will not take time to love and reach out to the people of other religions, how will we ever find a way to share our faith with them?"

That's so true...we are called to spread the good news. To make disciples of all nations. Jesus great commission for us.

So what's there to complain?

Well having a Methodist background I have been trained in the 4 spiritual laws of salvation.

That's the thing...even when we share about Jesus, there is 'law' involved. There's a compulsion to do something. I am not saying Jesus is bad and compulse us to do something against our will, I am saying religion is making us feel inadequate if we do not share about the gospel.

You know what will lead me to share about Jesus? Relationship with Him. it is not about the doing, it is about the knowing.

Just the other day I was 'talking' to a sister in christ and during the conversation where she shared about her fears, her disappointment and frustrations in life, I just share Jesus, His plan for us and His hope in us. What I am surprised is not about the content of the sharing, but my transformation that I can just share like that.

Once you KNOW Jesus, you have stepped on the way to heaven, you have gone through the door to heaven. And when you do so, you have tasted Jesus, and it will be a very very easy task to talk about him.

Doing God's work, especially His great commission, is not using our strength and our puny wisdom but to use His Words, use His power and use HIS wisdom to share, to talk and to pray for the people around us.

And in this case, Mike's photo of Jesus amongst the people of different religion is a powerful statement and one that will help to lead you to talk about Jesus easily.

Don't be scared of letting go of the 4 spiritual laws when sharing God's LOVE. Love is not encased in words alone...it is in touching of the listener in his or her heart...it is talking about you as a disciple and beloved of God...that is more compelling than any 'laws' or 'guide books' about sharing Jesus.

Vance Havner asked...

"And what is wrong with the old method of scaring the ungodly with
a sermon on hell?" - Vance Havner

Well the old method says something about God that is true but not the image the God wants to portray.

Let's look what Moses has done in Numbers 20. God told Moses to command the rock to bring forth water but instead, Moses was so angry he struck the rock twice. Look at the Grace of God. Despite not following instructions, God still give water to the people.

But does that has consequences? Yes, Moses was not able to enter into the Holy Land while he was alive (Moses did enter the land at the Transfiguration of Christ).

What has this got to do with modern preachers of God's flock?

God says in Numbers 20, this is to show God's holiness to the people. But notice the difference in God's command and Moses' action. What God wants, is to show compassion in front of the congregation and what Moses did, was to show the anger of God.

No wonder God is angry. Would you be angry if the someone you trusts misrepresents you in terms of the message and how it was transmitted?

Instead of making people put faith in God, Moses has instead put fear into them.

So the key point is this.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So if God do not give us fear, then who are we to instill fear into people? When the message of hope is needed, when the message of comfort is needed, we went around and proclaim the coming judgment?

No! People needed to hear words of comfort, of power and of deliverance precisely because they are already in deep shit in the first place. Imagine you are drowning, and the person whom you are asking to save you then preach to you "son! have you received Christ? If not you when you die, you will go to hell!"

What would that make of you as a person? Would the drowning person respond to you immediately?

Hence, now it is easy to understand why God is so angry with Moses in the first place because with one action, it causes multitudes to misunderstand God and cause them to lose their salvation.

Did you ever encounter anyone who questions God's love because of the presence of hell? It always goes like this "If God is the God of Love, then why send non-believers to hell?"

Unless one is ready to get into a theological argument and has prepared oneself and understand the real GRACE of God, the person who put across this question won't be convinced.

So, let's present the Gospel of God in its true entirety. God comes so that He can save us from the problems we have NOW. Maybe not in the way we want, but at least God will know what to do with our lives, for His Glory. Hell, in various forms is already here because of sin. The power of sin is in the law. And law in essence means our inability to meet God's standards and thus our perpetual anguish over our inability to perform and our constant frustration with live in general.

Tell of Jesus as He is the Rock to be commanded...not as a rock to be struck. Commanded to do what? To pour forth living water that brings forth hope, love and faith...one who drinks from it shall not be thirsty ever again.

Tell of Jesus as He is the saviour of our circumstances. Tell Jesus as He is the hugger of humanity. Tell of Jesus as someone who is extremely approachable and not the harbringer of death and destruction. His time NOW, is a lover...so don't go over board proclaiming Him as the Judge and juror. He is..but now is not the time...His time NOW is saviour, brother and lover.

So Mr Havner, do you still want to preach hell and give prominance to the fallen one or the risen one? Show THE beauty of God's Kingdowm on Earth and heaven through the love of Christ and Abba God, you will have people clamouring for Christ!

A Band, A Jersey and Childish reaction.

Let me be straight about this. I am a Liverpool fan. But as fans goes, I think there is a fine line between being a supporter and being a hard arse about how the jersey was treated.

To equate the jersey as a national flag is bordering on being ludicrous. No wonder girls are wondering why boy are still boys when it comes to such things. There are better things to fight over and this to me, if this incident reflects how childish a liverpool fan behaves it is really a sad day indeed.

Right now they have 80 over people petitioning Electrico to apologise and The New Paper is none the wiser. I say stupidity all around.

Today I seen 2 'deaths'

Today I seen 2 deaths.

One of which is of course the passing of Michael Jackson and the other is the passing of Kodachrome.

Yes both are unrelated but they are significant in a way that shape the world culturally.

MJ is of course the King of Pop, and his music will be forever remembered. I grew up in his music from Billie Jean to his Egyptian inspired MTVs. At 50, it is an age where youthfulness and experience brings about the best of both worlds, and to go at this time seems so much like a waste. RIP MJ.

Kodachrome, to the uninitiated, is colour film that heralds the era of personal photography in colour. Without colour, we won't be enjoying the sights and imagine the sounds of faraway places. We also won't enjoy our photos as much. As a photographer, colour is as much a part as I am as God has intended for man to enjoy the joys of creation and thanks to this colour film, we can enjoy it that much longer in time.

Both 'demise' are part of me, and it is really hard to see them go and both reminded me about Solomon's wise sayings.

"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever" (Ecc 1:4)

They are here for a reason and both show the positive side of life with positive influence but MJ also shows something that Solomon also has experienced. The 'meaningless' of life.

With power of influence, money and adoration, MJ still isn't happy and we all know his issues and ups and downs. He just shows us something that the Lord wants us to understand and Jesus has made it really clear..."Seek ye the righteousness of God and all these things shall be added unto you"

Although the verse talks about material needs, I say the word 'ALL' has a deeper meaning than just material. It includes the joy of having the material needs with the appreciation of ABBA's love and providence.

Just as Solomon has everything he needs because of God's grace, what he lacked was the ability to enjoy it at a level of appreciation. He 'enjoyed' anything and everything that fancies him but still did not 'enjoy'.

I believe that Jesus is the hole that needs to be plugged, in order to fully enjoy the things we have and the people around us.

Nevertheless, rest in peace MJ and 'Thank You for the Music' and to Kodachrome 'Thank You for Colouring my life'

This is really a good piece!

THE QUESTION that CHANGED MY LIFE
-by David Ryser.

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school
of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly
searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with
Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across
a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short
version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this:

Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece
and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and
became an enterprise. Some of the students were only 18 or 19
years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand
and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding,
"An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha,
the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not
imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was
self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless,
I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked
such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be
a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going,
and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued,
"But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"

The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or
spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the
presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were
on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was,
"Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought
aloud. God had taken over the class.

Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about
her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a
business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her
question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically,
is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we
love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him.

... I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not
know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates
in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what
we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would
bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him
for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we
can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business,
merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded
to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that's pretty
intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love
someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone,
is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or
prostitutes?

I was pondering Martha's question again one day, and considered
the question, "What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?"
I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does
what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but
only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, "What would
happen if God stopped paying me?"

For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover
my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of
God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He
never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please
understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The
issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is
the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings
in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have
earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any
conditions? It took several months to work through these questions.
Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by
my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed
with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in
my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved,
but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.

So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute?
There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for
that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both
places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no
substitute or unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I
mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another
look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.

-Dr. David Ryser.