The Journey

So, God Created Human Beings...

2010-03-22T22:42:00.003+08:00

I talked about God created the universe in the previous post. The Bible tells us that after God the Creator made the world, he made people- man and woman. Human beings have some similarities with the rest of creation in many ways, but the Bible tells us that 'God created human beings, making them to be like himself.' So even though there are some similarities with animals, human beings are different.

Christians believe there are three basic features that distinguish us from other creation :

Human beings were made to live in a special relationship.

Animals mate and herd together for self-protection, but man and woman were made to belong together in a different way. The relationship between man and woman is very special. God is love. so he made us in such a way that we become like him, able to love and live in relationships. But above all, human beings were made to have a close, loving relationship with God, their Creator, just like a father and his children.

The first human beings were told to live in a special way.

Only God is completely good, but every man and woman knows by instinct what living a good life is about. We all have consciences, though sometimes they may be distorted. Our ability to tell what is right from wrong is another way in which we mirror our Creator.

Human beings were told to do a special job.

Man and woman were part of God's creation, but they were also told to look after it. Genesis 1: 28 says, " God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." They could create things in the same way as God, but they could control, develop and take care of his creation.

Reference: Field, David, A Faith for Life. (Lion Publishing, 1985)

Images source: Google images

I'm Home

2009-12-20T15:57:00.006+08:00

(a reflection from the Parable of the Prodigal Son)

by: Chew Phui Yee

Before I left I could see it in your eyes

The sorrow the pain

When I said, “Let me go, let me go”

Look the riches is waiting for me

The glory the power the love

Just hearing is not enough

Let me see Let me enjoy it

And yes here I am

Having all that I’ve wanted

Lust became my lord and pride became my god

But little did I know

The alternatives that have robbed my soul

The substitutes that have killed my mind

From my ecstasy who can rescue me?

When I came to my senses I thought of you

Would you let me come back I don’t want to die

Make me all you want me to be because I’m sorry

So I made my way home and there’s no turning back

But while I was still a long way off

I saw you’ve been waiting for me

You ran and couldn’t wait to embrace me

How can I fathom your love

That I can be called your child

I was dead and is alive again

I was lost and am found

I was a stranger and now you’re my Father

God our Creator

2009-10-12T22:09:00.003+08:00

Through the ages, people have been wondering and guessed how the earth and all that is in it began. In our century, modern science has suggested a few answers:

- Some scientists believe that everything started with a 'big bang' a huge explosion which started a long chain-reaction and at the end brought life to earth.

- Other scientists say that there's this thing called 'continuous creation' -no evidence of any dramatic beginning, so the universe must have been there.

However, the suggestions do not answer our biggest questions:

-If everything began with a bang, what caused the bang?

-If the universe has always been there, how and why does it exist?

There are some problems that science cannot answer because science is just based on what can be observed. If we want answer, we must look for other evidence.

"In the beginning..."

That's Christianity's answer. You can find this right at the beginnning of the bible (Genesis 1:1) It was God who started everything. Before God, there was nothing at all existed. God started everything with a word of command.

The way God make things and the way humans make things has a big difference. For example, if you design and construct a model, people may say,"Wow, that's really creative!" But you still need to find materials to make the model. God was creative in a completely different way. He started his creation with nothing.When we read further the book of Genesis, we learn another important thing about our Creator- he was pleased with everything he created. That's really unlike us, there was nothing he created that he disliked and wanted to throw away. When it was all finished, God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. (Genesis 1:31)

If we believe in this kind of Creator, it makes a big difference to how we look at this world. Some religions teach that the material world is a hostile place. But Christianity takes a much more positive view. If God made the world and was pleased with it, we can enjoy it too.

Google images

Reference: Field, David, A Faith for Life. (Lion Publishing, 1985)

3 Agape

2009-08-11T00:50:00.004+08:00

A little reflection on China's "One Child Policy"

2009-08-01T14:37:00.009+08:00

I was angry and sad and disgusted after reading about the situation of forced and coerced abortion in China thesis written by Dr. Yap.

It's clear that abortion a sin because once a sperm and ovum is united a new being exists and that would be MURDER in God's eyes. No compromise.

But what happened was some of them, even pastors, free-willingly aborted their baby once they got pregnant unintentionally. Then they gave excuses saying that they had no other options, that there's no way out because of the overpopulated China and that they think abortion is not wrong because fetus is not life.

The Bible says that:

"As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. " (Ecclesiastes 11:5)

I think these Chinese should really be educated. If they agree on one child policy, OK. Fine. So, instead of killing their babies or abandon baby girls or making fetus into fetus soup to be consumed by their men who want to increase their sex vigor (allegedly so), they should be educated and learn that God made the birth cycle in a woman in such a way where she can only become pregnant when she ovulates. God therefore gives us an example of birth control (she can only be pregnant at certain times of the month). Well this is just an example. But I pray that Christians in China would seek God more when they think that there is no way out.

Haha...

2009-07-12T19:22:00.002+08:00

One day a stranger (chinaman) approached me and asked,

Chinaman : 你会说中文吗？(Do you know how to speak Chinese?)
Me : 我不会 (I don't know)
Chinaman : ....

Getting rid of pest

2009-06-05T09:12:00.004+08:00

One day 3 pastors were having lunch together in a restaurant. The first one said, "You know, I've been having problem with mice that dwell in my church. I've tried everything; baits, poison, cats...but nothing is working."

The other one said, "Well, I've been having problem with cockroaches and lizards in my church. They are driving me crazy. I've also tried everything; Ridsect, roach baits...but they don't kill them all."

The third one said, "I once had problems with mice, cockroaches, lizards and termites in my church too. But I baptized all of them and made them members of the church. Since then, not one came back!"

Little Kevin

2009-03-07T21:54:00.004+08:00

Kevin (not his real name) is a dyslexic child in one of my classes. He is very weak in languages. He can't read and write even a simple word and his teachers are very concerned about him. Any teacher would say, "We really can't do much."

In all the B.M. spellings I gave him, he would write :

1. hfrjikh
2. fhieoid
3. fflmnn
4. trmbgf
5. fllgdmc

He can't sit still, he is a restless child who would go around disturbing his classmates and speaks unintelligibly. Most of his classmates would bully, tease, beat and despise him because of his weakness. I could see him feeling helpless and hopeless, but I've never seen him cried. Many times, I would try my best to protect and comfort Kevin whenever he was bullied and teased. But of course, I would still punish him whenever he's naughty.

I kept encouraging him to study for his spellings, at least. He would nod his head but showed no confident.

One day, I was touched by this little boy as he gave me a sheet of stickers to express his appreciation. Despite his disabilities, I believe God can do amazing things in him, because God can use anything, no matter what circumstances or condition, and he does everything for His glory!

2009-03-01T17:52:00.002+08:00

"...The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."

Job 1:21

Why?

2009-01-29T14:58:00.004+08:00

by Michael Card

Video source: www.youtube.com

Why did it have to be a friend
Who chose to betray the Lord?
Why did he use a kiss to show them?
That's not what a kiss is for.

Only a friend can betray a friend,
A stranger has nothing to gain.
And only a friend comes close enough
To ever cause so much pain.

And why did there have to be
a thorny Crown pressed upon His head?
It should have been a royal one
Made of jewels and gold instead.
It had to be a crown of thorns
Because in this life that we live
For all who would seek to love,
A thorn is all the world has to give.

And why did there have to be
A heavy cross He was made to bear?
And why did they nail His feet and hands?
When his love would have held Him there.
It was a cross for on a cross
A thief was supposed to pay.
And Jesus had come into the world
To steal every heart away.

Yes, Jesus had come into the world
To steal every heart away.

by Michael Card

Go and Tell

2008-08-16T16:22:00.005+08:00

Long ago there was a man who lived among the tombs
A suffering man being someone he was not
He was living in the darkness
Struggling within his mind
The people had to bind him with chains

Though he could tear the chains apart
He could not break the chains bound by the enemy
Day and night among the tombs and in the hills
He would cry out and cut himself with stones
In agony there was simply no way for freedom

From a distance he saw Jesus
He ran and knelt in front of the Lord
For he knew he could come to Him
Just as he was he came to the Saviour
The living God the source of hope

Now free at last his mind restored
He wanted to follow the Lord who heals
But Jesus told him to tell and share
How much the Lord had done for him
How much the Lord had done for him

The Bible- Mark 5:1-20

Refuge

2008-08-13T11:50:00.002+08:00

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]
2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

Source: www.biblegateway.com

Joblessness, sickness, financial crises, broken relationship...Everything just does not seem right. Peace, prosperity, stability and what not are the things everybody wants. But somehow there will be some points in life that lead to darkness, crises, brokenness. It's like inevitable.

Often on the streets, I see some people wandering on the streets, hair grew untrimmed, dirty and babbling away in their insanity. I asked, "Why?"

But God has again and again revealed Himself as the source of hope and help. He is our shelter and refuge in the storms. All these while many with sickness, joblessness, broken relationship and other odd problems have come to the ministry. I think God wants us to know that He is using a hopeless situation or difficulty to draw people's attention to Him and seek Him. The amazing thing is, God never failed. I see God using His servants to pray for the sick, and they are healed. Some were jobless, one of them even to the point of not able to buy a meal. God's servants prayed and seeked Him, and now our sister's life is going to change because she's going to work next month! Just as it is written in the above Psalm 91:4 "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." God manifested His love and power through His servants who continually pray for many. This is how God reveals Himself.

I just want to thank God for allowing some difficulties and circumstances in order to grab our attention. He wants to teach us to humble ourselves because He knows that we often forget and ignore Him whenever life is comfortable. He often give us warning signs whenever we think that everything will be under control by our human strength, ability and knowledge. If we think everything that we have comes from our own effort, strength, ability and knowledge, I think God would want to remind us that health, opportunity and wisdom come from Him and none other. Everything we have are given by God. He just wants us to know Him, seek Him and come to Him just as we are, because he desires an intimate relationship from us and wants us to worship Him only, just like a father who desires his children just to spend some time to sit with him and chat about anything.

Harry Potter: What Does God Have To Say?

2007-12-18T14:54:00.000+08:00

Harry Potter: What Does God Have To Say?

Pastor David J. Meyer

I am writing this urgent message because I was once a witch. I lived by the stars as an astrologer and numerologist casting horoscopes and spells. I lived in the mysterious and shadowy realm of the occult.

By means of spells and magic, I was able to invoke the powers of the 'controlling unknown' and fly upon the night winds transcending the astral plane. Halloween was my favorite time of the year and I was intrigued and absorbed in the realm of Wiccan witchcraft. All of this was happening in the decade of the 1960's when witchcraft was just starting to come out of the broom closet.

It was during that decade of the 1960's, in the year 1966 that a woman named J.K. Rowling was born. This is the woman who has captivated the world in this year of 2000 with four books known as the 'Harry Potter Series.' These books are orientation and instructional manuals of witchcraft woven into the format of entertainment. These four books by J.K. Rowling teach witchcraft! I know this because I was once very much a part of that world.

Witchcraft was very different in the 1960's. There were a lot fewer witches, and the craft was far more secretive. At the end of that spiritually troubled decade, I was miraculously saved by the power of Jesus Christ and His saving blood. I was also delivered from every evil spirit that lived in me and was set free. However, as I began to attend fundamental Christian churches, I realized that even there witchcraft had left its mark. Pagan holidays and sabats were celebrated as 'Christian holidays.'

As time went on, I watched the so-called 'Christian' churches compromising and unifying. I also watched with amazement as teachings from Eastern religions and 'New Age' doctrine began to captivate congregations. It was a satanic set-up, and I saw it coming. Illuministic conspirators were bringing forth a one-world religion with a cleverly concealed element of occultism interwoven in its teachings.

In order to succeed in bringing witchcraft to the world and thus complete satanic control, an entire generation would have to be induced and taught to think like witches, talk like witches, dress like witches, and act like witches. The occult songs of the 1960's launched the Luciferian project of capturing the minds of an entire generation. In the song 'Sound Of Silence' by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, we were told of seeds that were left while an entire generation was sleeping, and that the 'vision that was planted in my brain still remains.'

Now it is the year 2000. All of the foundations for occultism and witchcraft are in place. The Illuminists have to move quickly, because time is running out.

It was the Communist revolutionary Lenin who said, 'Give me one generation of youth, and I will transform the entire world.' Now an entire generation of youth has been given to a woman named J.K. Rowling and her four books on witchcraft, known as the Harry Potter Series.

As a former witch, I can speak with authority when I say that I have examined the works of Rowling and that the Harry Potter books are training manuals for the occult. Untold millions of young people are being taught to think, speak, dress and act like witches by filling their heads with the contents of these books. Children are obsessed with the Harry Potter books that they have left television and video games to read these witchcraft manuals.

The first book of the series, entitled 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone', finds the orphan, Harry Potter, embarking into a new realm when he is taken to 'Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' At this occult school, Harry Potter learns how to obtain and use witchcraft equipment. Harry also learns a new vocabulary, including words such as 'Azkaban', 'Circe', 'Draco ', 'Erised', 'Hermes', and 'Slytherin'; all of which are names of real devils or demons. These are not characters of fiction!

How serious is this? By reading these materials, many millions of young people are learning how to work with demon spirits. They are getting to know them by name. Vast numbers of children professing to be Christians are also filling their hearts and minds, while willingly ignorant parents look the other way.

The titles of the books should be warning enough to make us realize how satanic and anti-Christ these books are. The afore-mentioned title of the first book, 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone', was a real give away. The second book was called 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', while the third book was entitled 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.'

Sadly enough, this blatant witchcraft has been endorsed by well-known and respected 'Christian' leaders, such as Dr. James Dobson and Chuck Colson, who have proven themselves to be modern day Judas Iscariots. Nothing could be more obvious than that Harry Potter books are pure witchcraft and of the devil. The 'Christian' leaders, however, defend them by saying that good magic always wins and overcomes evil magic.

This is the oldest con game ever hatched out of hell. As a real witch, I learned about the two sides of 'the force.' Apparently, so do many 'Christian' leaders. When real witches have sabats and esbats and meet as a coven, they greet each other by saying 'Blessed be', and when they part, they say 'The Force be with you.' Both sides of this 'Force' are Satan. It is not a good side of the force that overcomes the bad side of the force, but rather it's the blood of Jesus Christ that destroys both supposed sides of the satanic 'Force.'

High level witches believe that there are seven satanic princes and that the seventh, which is assigned to Christians, has no name. In coven meetings, he is called 'the nameless one.' In the Harry Potter books, there is a character called 'Voldemort.' The pronunciation guide says of this being 'He who must not be named.'

On July 8 at midnight, bookstores everywhere were stormed by millions of children to obtain the latest and fourth book of the series known as 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.' These books were taken into homes everywhere with a real evil spirit following each copy to curse those homes.

July 8th was also the 18th day (three sixes in numerology) from the witches' sabat of midsummer. July 8th was also the 13th day from the signing of the United Religions Charter in San Francisco . Now we have learned that the public school system is planning to use the magic of Harry Potter in the classrooms making the public schools centers of witchcraft training.

What does God have to say about such books as the Harry Potter series? In the Bible in the book of Acts, we read the following in the 19th chapter, verses 18 - 20: 'And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.'

As parents, we will answer to God if we allow our children to read witchcraft books. The Word of God will prevail mightily in your life only if such things of Satan are destroyed. This tract has been prayed over, and I hope it has helped you. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us.

Published by: Last Trumpet Ministries International
PO Box 806
Beaver Dam ,
WI 53916

Harry Potter : The Story Behind the Stories

For God So Loved The World...(Part 3)

2007-10-11T12:39:00.000+08:00

...that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

This is the solution!

Because God is holy, sin has SEPARATED us (humans) with God. We live in a world of relationships. There's a relationship between God and humans too. Simple. Think of the relationship between a child and his parents. It was great in the years of his childhood. Obedient, happy, loved parents and parents loved him. But, all sorts of bad influence came to him during his adolescence. As you could have guessed, he started to become disobedient, had bad company, fought with parents and finally left home. Broken relationship. Broken hearts. Can you imagine how the parents felt? Relationship is something very real, very true. The description was talking about disobedient (sin), broken relationship and finally,- separation. It applies to all kinds of relationships and when we talk about the relationship between human and God, it's the same story (see Genesis 3). So in a nutshell of Genesis 3, God made Adam and Eve, happily at first (because they were in the dwelling of God), then the serpent (devil) came to deceive, they chose to disobey (because God created men in such that they have FREEWILL instead of being a 'robot'), that led to the terrible consequence of SEPARATION.

You see, humans have choices. We can choose to do or to have whatever we want, making decisions. But, there must be consequence(s) and we have to bear it ourselves, whether good or bad.

We can do nothing about redeeming ourselves by doing charity, meditation, donating blood and so on in order to 'cover' our sins. Sin is sin. And there's no way to keep it from coming to us by ourselves. Bear in mind that the consequence of sin is going to a very hot, fiery, horrible and definitely unfriendly place called the Hell. Hey, I didn't 'create' this term myself. It's in the bible (see Revelation 20:11-15). I want to make the point here by an illustration, a common situation. Let's say a man who was once righteous and good but evidence has shown that he committed a murder against his wife's boyfriend. He went up to the judge and said, "I was a good man. I gave so much to the charity and contributed to the country. What I did was out of anger." Do you think the judge would release the man because of the 'good' things he had done in the past? So, my point is God is holy and righteous. Everything we do has consequence(s). The consequence of sin is death and hell.

But God is God. So, if God is God, there's nothing too difficult for him or anything that he cannot do. And whatever he does, it is done because he loves us so much, SO MUCH that no one can ever describe.

So, more than 2,000 years ago, he came out with this idea that since we could not redeem ourselves from sin, he would come to redeem us HIMSELF. OK, I cannot die for your sin because I myself have problems (sinful). You also cannot die for my sin because you have the same problems as I. So, the only way was that God, being the righteous and holy, die for our sins. Yes, the whole idea is "God died for our sins". Wait, I haven't finished with the story yet. The man (murderer), sure was going to get his penalty according to the law. He was surely going to die. But, lo and behold! The judge was the man's father! Finally, the judge stood up and said, "Yes, surely he's going to get his death penalty. But, I'm going to bear the penalty for him." Do you know what it means? It means that the judge (father) was to die for his son (murderer). Again, I want to stress that there's nothing impossible with God because he is God.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. - Matthew 1: 18-25

Jesus' birth was a no ordinary birth because he was conceived of a VIRGIN and was from the Holy Spirit (God). This means that, God who was eternal and so BIG, humbled himself to become a foetus and eventually a baby human. This means that the Lord Almighty came to the earth to live a life of an ordinary man but SINLESS because he was God, in order that he could sacrifice his life and died on the CROSS, so that the blood that he shed would wash away our sins. This is redemption. But that was not the end of it. On the third day after Jesus died, he rose again (he was resurrected-see Matthew 28:1-10). In this way, sinful men who were supposed to die and be thrown into hell eternally will live an eternal life in heaven with him IF we believe in Jesus Christ, to restore the relationship with God, even when we are dead physically (our soul and spirit is saved). Because of the restored relationship, God could do amazing things in our lives beyond what we could imagine and comprehend.

Romans 5:6-11 says:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 10:9 says:

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

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

This is the GRACE of God. Grace is something given to us free eventhough we did not deserve it. Take a look at this situation. An Indonesian maid was alone at home doing her household chores as usual. She was wiping the master's antique vase when suddenly she got loose of it and the 500,000 dollars vase fell onto the floor and was broken into pieces. Terrified, all she could do was to stare helplessly at the shattered pieces of clay for a moment. She thought to herself, "That's it. Not even my whole life of work will I be able to pay."

The master came back. Still trembling, the maid told him what happened and apologized. She could feel her heart leaping with joy and was overwhelmed with great relief when her master told her that she was forgiven and that she didn't need to compensate.

So, in other words, grace is like a free gift. But in fact it is something more than a free gift, of course. We might have received many free gifts from dealings but which one of them was without any condition? For instance, there were times when I drove recklessly and nearly killed myself and others in just a split of a second, but somehow I escaped any tragedy. So, this is grace, because I was supposed to die for being reckless. But now, I'm sitting in front of this machine composing about God's salvation which I hope through this, God would touch your heart and let you know that he loves you too, so much.

God knew that we are all sinners. He knew that there's no way we could go except to hell. We did not deserve eternal life because we were against him in the first place. But, he loves us so much that he gave himself as a sacrifice in order for us to have life.

If you asked me, "How could it be so simple and easy that by just believing in him, we could have eternal life in heaven?"

Well. Just believe. Because the redemption had been done. Say it simple and easy as you want but I would always remind myself that such grace had cost him his life.

So, by FAITH we are saved. Faith is something that we cannot see but we believe and know it is there. It is just like a friend gave me a present, a small box wrapped nicely with colourful wrapping paper. It was not my birthday or Christmas. So, I would consider the present as grace because I didn't deserve it. Apparently, I didn't know what was inside the box, but I believed that it was something sweet and nice. So, I would consider my belief as "by faith". But that's not the end of it. In order for me to receive the present, I had to open my heart and be WILLING to accept the gift. Well, you know some people would go, "Aiyah...no need lah, don't want lah." Finally, I had to stretch out my hand to receive it and say "Thank you."

Do you want to believe in Jesus today and accept him as your personal Lord and Saviour? If you're willing, simply say this prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen."

You can always talk to God anytime, anywhere in your own language through prayer because he is a God who listens and answers.

If you've said the prayer above, Congratulations! You are now a Christian.

I'm more than willing to hear from you and to get to know you. You can e-mail me at chewphuiyee@gmail.com

Once

2007-09-07T15:19:00.000+08:00

The Lord reminded me today, when I was driving, "You only live once, on earth. Only once."

流出的赞美

2007-08-15T22:24:00.000+08:00

D Bm
从我心流出赞美声音
G A
我要拿起我 guitar 来歌颂你
D Bm
从我心流出感谢声音
G A
全心全意来赞美感谢你

Chorus:

F#m Bm
虽然生活会不如意
G A
求你给我一颗单纯的心
F#m Bm
我要学习信靠你主耶稣
G Bm A
因你的爱改变了我生命

D Bm
从我心我要说我爱你
G A
我要拿起我 guitar 来回应
D Bm
从我心我要来荣耀你
G A
全心全意来爱和荣耀你

Song of Moses and Miriam (Exodus 15:1-3)

2007-08-02T17:55:00.000+08:00

Chew Phui Yee

G D Em
I will sing praises to the Lord
G D Em
For he is highly exalted
C D
The horse and its rider
G D Em
he has hurled into the sea
C D
He is my strength and my song

C D G Em
He has become my salvation
C D Em D
He is my God and I will praise him
C D G Em
My father's God, I will exalt him
C D
My Lord my warrior
C D
The Lord is his name

For God So Loved The World... (Part 2)

2007-07-08T14:55:00.000+08:00

For God so loves the world...that's what urges me to share this. I was thinking, "God, you love me so much. How can I not tell others that you love each and everyone as well?"

For me, sharing gospel is like a privilege. It is fully by the grace of God. Not everytime will the opportunity comes. I know that sometimes, I can't just share in a direct way. However, I want to learn to grab every opportunity given. I cannot do this by my own, I need God's grace. If only one soul is to be saved, it is better than none. I MUST say this: Jesus loves you.

Let me share about some of my feelings and anxieties before I accepted Christ. I often thought to myself: "Who am I?", "Why am I here?", "Why am I so weird?", "What can I do?", and one particular thought haunted me when I was a kid: "What is the taste of death? What will I see after I breathe my last?" and "Why do I live when I need to die someday?"

Like many, I went through many falling downs and some brokenness. They made me admit that I'm just a human being. They made me admit that I've done countless of wrongs and sins. Sins creep in when we don't realize it. Then, it begins to build up until at one point we mess up our lives. Wait, it doesn't mean that only stealing, robbing, killing, raping are called sin. Usually, when we say, "You've sinned!" to a person, we're expecting a furious stare, then a reply, "Neither did I kill nor hurt nor rob. You @#$%^&..."

Well, I remember I stole my classmate's colour pencils when I was in primary 1. I began to lie when I was like 3 or younger and continued to lie. People say that sometimes we lie for the benefit of others. But, lie is lie. Lying have brought me troubles and many broken relationships. The truth is, most people would not admit that things messed up because they themselves have sinned. Divorce, addictions, children running away from homes, sexual issues (adulteries, homosexuality etc), wars and yadda yadda... And so, people are in for a game called "The Blame Game". We hear, "It's not my fault, my husband has got a mistress", "My wife did not take care of my children", "She shouldn't have dressed up sexily"...

Don't we sometimes feel tired of a disorder world? What is sin? Why do we continue to sin and make mistakes eventhough we know that doing this and that is not right? And ultimately, what is the end or consequence of sin and what does it has to do with knowing God?

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"- Romans 3:23

For God So Loved the World... (Part 1)

2007-06-19T13:45:00.000+08:00

Don't you think life is just amazing? Don't you think that the world is too amazing? Do you think you are an amazing creation because you have a brain to think and to help your body to function well? The whole body system, the hands, the legs, the hair, the senses? The trees, the mountains, the rivers, the seas, the rainbows, the sun, the stars and the sky? Have we all taken all these for granted by ignoring who's the creator?

Take a look at our watch, our clothes, our tables and furnitures? Does not each of these things has a maker? This is logic. Common sense. The world did not *Poof!*...*Bang!*...appear by itself as claimed by some people. I once believed it. But how could it appear by itself as its complexity is far beyond things that we see and perceive everyday? And remember, even the simple physical things like clothes and furnitures have tailors and carpenters who made them. Well, think about it, there must be someone created it. You don't have to be a some over-loaded science professor or philosopher to grasp this. Think about the complexity of the universe. Its vastness is infinity. Think about the smallest things in the world. You might have thought of the body cells to start with or DNA and what not. Is that the end of it? Absolutely not! It's absolutely infinity! There are too many wonders which are impossible to be seen with our naked eyes.

Mari Bersorak (Come, Let Us Sing)

2007-05-29T12:34:00.000+08:00

Come, Let Us Sing

Come let us sing
Come let us sing
Come with praise and adoration to the king (x2)

For He is worthy of praise for He is Lord
Who was and is and is to come
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
He is Jesus Christ, He is Jesus Christ
He is Jesus Christ the Lord

I've just translated the song into Malay:

Mari Bersorak

Mari bersorak, Mari bersorak
Mari nyanyi memuji nama-Nya (x2)

Hanyalah Dia yang layak dipuji
Dulu, kini dan selamanya
Tiap lutut bersujud, tiap mulut mengaku
Dialah Yesus, Dialah Yesus
Dialah Tuhan Yesus

Singapore December 2006

2007-01-14T19:13:00.000+08:00

Cycling at East Coast Park (a very nice place)

At uncle's home

Mum's birthday

All are invited to the "Old Street"!

2006-12-14T14:36:00.000+08:00

I think this is going to be the one of the greatest drama!!! Come and watch!!!

Dalam SayapMu

2006-08-04T13:28:00.000+08:00

*Malay version of "Wings of Love"
By: 葉晨星
Translated by: Chew Phui Yee

Ku berjalan dalam lembah kelam
Tiada yang ku takut s’bab Kau bersamaku
Ku berlindung dalam naunganMu
Engkaulah Tuhanku
Ku percaya

Bawaku dalam naunganMu
Bawaku ke pangkuanMu
Bawaku hingga akhir masa
Bawaku dalam sayapMu

Face to face

2006-08-02T14:01:00.000+08:00

During my stay in Singapore, I followed uncle and Lioba to "Marriage Enrichment Seminar" at their church by an invited speaker. I went there because otherwise I would have nowhere to go. Although I'm not married and not even in a relationship yet, I found that the seminar was beneficial because I got to know some of the relationship issues faced by married couple and also some advices on better relationship. Well, good for me also.

The speaker highlighted one of the most common issues in communication. He said that in a survey about people's preferrences on the way of communicating with others, SMS was the number one choice. Second choice was the chat room like MSN Messenger(my favourite), third was e-mail, forth- telephone conversation and lastly, the least preferred way of communication was face-to-face. Of course, he specifically linked this with how couples communicate.

This is a very interesting topic because communication is part of us, it's part of our lives. Unless we are confined in a dungeon (for example) all by ourselves, whether we like it or not, almost everything is about communication. Ways and means of communication vary over time, besides affected by culture, technology and so on.

I'm actually more interested in talking about face-to-face communication (the one least preferred). I'm appalled when I read an old newspaper article about how people fell in love with each other through IRC and ICQ. I'm not sure of what's the latest trend now but I always like to debate about this 'Internet chatting' issue. I admit I like to play MSN Messenger with friends but I'm more reserved on with whom am I talking to. I'm not against the technology and I'm not saying it is all bad but I think it is good to be critical about the consequences it could bring, especially those who want to find 'soul-mate' through chat room.

So, this Malaysian young girl was saying how she met this Dutch guy in a random Internet chat room, how he sounded sincere, honest and caring like no one else, and how he finally converted to the girl's religion and became her fiancee. The basic question is: How did she know whether the guy was not a wolf in a sheep's skin? People may even deceive each other in the real world. What more in a cyberspace where we wouldn't even sure whether the guy was telling the truth about his gender, for example? In a real world conversation, we sometimes able to judge a person by facial and voice expression and body language although there are times when disorders happen. Communication breakdown is common because humans aren't perfect. Disorders happen in real world conversation and what more in cyber world where people are not able to judge a person or situation by mere words. The word 'judge' I mean here doesn't limited to that of whether the other party is an angel or devil.

I personally have had a lot of problems even in face-to-face conversations. Sometimes, I got so frustrated that I wished I were mute. I also faced no less problems in the 'text messaging'. Honestly, I'm very fearful of receiving scoldings or reprimands via SMS because sometimes text expressions are very vague, I wouldn't know exactly about the feelings of the sender which I could judge through his or her voice, facial expressions etc., so as a result it left me guessing. To an extreme point, it would be depressing because I could have perceived a message as a big issue over a small matter. Sometimes, if not properly conveyed, a text message could be misleading in addition with the usage of SMS language like 'gr8' instead of great, 'abt' instead of about, 'lg' instead of long. As a result, it could lead to misunderstandings.

I would like to share what I've learnt about the various reasons why people prefer text messaging or other ways of communication instead of meet and talk in person. One of the reasons is that it's a convenient way to avoid embarassment. For example, it is always easier for a person to say sorry via SMS than to say it straight to the face. Another reason is that people are sometimes afraid to communicate verbally because they cannot 'delete' and 'edit' the words that come out of their mouth. Moreover, text messaging is again a convenient way to express feelings such as "I love you". I think all these have to do with humans' pride.

No matter how chaotic a face-to-face conversation could be, I think it's still the ideal way of communication. Jesus demonstrated face-to-face communications when He was here more than 2,000 years ago. He did not use other means of communication. He personally came.

I want to share what I've read about how Jesus honestly revealed Himself to His disciples straight to their face in John 14:5-14

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Another issue is that we may be culturally bound to say things indirectly. That's why we have the tendency to go round and round but end up not hitting the point. We may mean something but people may perceive differently. What I learn from the Bible is that Jesus was very straight forward in no matter what He did; in His teachings, while performing miracles, when He was healing the sick and comforting the people. He was even so straight forward in rebuking the people (see Mark 7:5-8).

For that, I begin to appreciate people who are straight forward even when they rebuke me, face-to-face. And no matter how hard it is for me to speak, I think I should learn how to communicate. It's a lifelong learning anyway. It's also why God has given us a mouth and two ears; to speak up and listen. What an amazing grace, we even talk to Him by literally open our mouth and voice out prayer and praise.