Lessons to be learned!

Dear faithful readers,

There's this blog which I've found - Written by Mark Driscoll, one of the pastors at a fast expanding church in USA. Doctrinally sound, this blog would be a good challenge for those of you out there who are actually interested in seriously knowing more about Christianity. Take a read =)

http://www.theresurgence.com/md_blog

In Christ,

Fly_OnD_Wall

Faithfulness in the end times

It has been a little over 10 years being in my house. The front lawn remained unattended to my dismay, filled with weeds and a cluster of thick baby trunks in the middle. Lying opposite, the back lawn was conquered by a whole array of weeds, contorting and protruding themselves out of the limited space they had, destroying the mural that never was.

I looked around, and there was the steel shovel I had been searching for. I got to work. And I think God showed me something.

As I looked around at the semak samun, I recalled several stories Jesus had told. As I cangkul-ed around, I recalled what Jesus said in Matthew 13:24-30

In this story, Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a man who sowed seeds in his field, and an enemy came and sowed weeds. Jesus said the man commanded his servant NOT to cut down the weeds while they were growing, if not it would uproot the good seeds, too. He commanded the servant to wait until they were both fully grown, and then only pull them out.

I stared at my papaya tree, towering well over twice my height. A few years back, this piece of land was deemed barren by my mom (or by her poor planting skills :D)

Stepping back a bit about what Jesus said, to the parable of the seeds in Matthew 13:3-9. He had mentioned that there were four types of seeds;

One eaten by birds

One grew on stone

One grew among thorns

One grew on the ground

I managed to cangkul out the weeds and all rather easily, knowing that they grew among thorns. Some, growing by the side of my brick fence also came out very easily albeit their size because they grew on stone. They had no foundation.

Then I had a glance at the cluster of papaya trees, and noticed they werent fruiting despite years growing sluggishly. I recalled what Jesus said in Luke 13:6-9.

In this story Jesus mentions a man whose keeper asks him to have mercy on a plant, although it has not bore fruit yet, he begs his master to give it more time.

That's what Jesus/God is doing, isn't it?

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,

as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward

us, not willing that any should perish but that all

should come to repentance.

But I had an urge to cangkul at least one of it off. Logic would say that with about 7 papaya trees crowding around in less than half-a-meter cube in infertile soil, you're not going to get much fruit in a long, long time.

So I proceeded. Tried smashing it a bit. Tried attacking it. Even tried bending it downwards, low enough for me to sit on, but it didn't give. Reminded me on what Jesus mentioned also in Luke 6:46-49.

But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?

Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them,

I will show you whom he is like :

He is like a man building a house, who dug deep

and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the

flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against

that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

But he who heard and did nothing is like a man

who built a house on the earth without a foundation,

against which the stream beat vehemently; and

immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.

Brought me back to point b) where Jesus was talking about seeds being planted in what kind of soil. Got me thinking that this is the kind of faith that we need to have in the end times, coz' Satan is going to come with his cangkul, and he's not going to have mercy. He's going to cut you, bend you, sit on you, butcher you, pull you and do everything. But your FOUNDATION is what's going to keep you holding strong no matter what.

Also take note that I picked on the smallest papaya trunk. Even that did not budge :)

Are we having our roots in Christ? Because all other 'rocks' can do is give you false protection, and when the day of testing comes, the ruin will be great. Proverbs 11:31 states, "If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner."

But God is faithful.

2 Timothy 2:13 - If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Wake Up Call

Dear all, I'm Daniel Hong Aan Lee, Form 5, Secretary of the SMK(L) Methodist Kuala Lumpur @ MBSSKL's Christian Fellowship and this is my first post on this blog. I would first like to congratulate the Administrators of the NSCF Blog for working very hard on their postings.



Here's my story brothers and sisters,



Today, I coordinated a special prayer activity during my CF meeting at 1.25pm, after splitting the students (aged between 13-17) into three different groups, each led by a ''Senior'', I ''happened'' to have taken a group with many ''rotten apples'' to lead. As the allocation of groups were random, I had no complain, initially. No doubt they are good Christians, decent boys and all. BUT... What made me furious was the attention these ''rotten apples'' gave me throughout my session. Our prayer topics included praying for the world (persecuted Christians in various parts of the earth), the country (the problems Malaysians face and current issues), MBSSKL...etc



And what were these ''rotten apples'' doing? Disrupting my lecture with all sorts of nonsense, while there are still a number of those students who really want to gain benefit from God's message. I being the ''tool of God'' must in some way gain their attention in the importance of praying. The ''rotten apples'' consisted of CF members aged 15 and below (which basically means Form 3 and below). I'm rather disappointed that they didn't give me my due respect and give their utmost attention for God's message behind my lecture. I applaud those boys in my group who made an effort to shut those ''rotten apples'' up and now I appeal to every Christian young and old to show respect to those who lead sessions, be it in CF or YF. EVERY PERSON deserves respect and if anyone wants to be respected, he/she has to GIVE respect.



More importantly, the topic which I referred to was on PRAYER!!! Which in fact, as Christians should value these things with high regard and be serious with these sort of topics. Because God values EVERY SINGLE prayer.



So now, with my most humblest appeal, I urge all those who tend to make a nuisance in CF to please think twice and to

WAKE UP!!!!

Show some respect and compassion for those who lead sermons, church/CF activities, because being funny during serious issues like those stated, is not Christ-likeness. Once again, I would like to praise the hardwork of all you CF leaders out there who work so hard to be the Salt and Light of this world. Don't give up and always keep praying. God bless you all.



ORA ET LABORA,

Daniel Hong Aan Lee

No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27-30, ESV)



I've heard of people who tell me that salvation can be lost. I know disillusioned Christians who aren't so sure anymore. So how exactly affect our outlook on living as Christians if salvation can be lost? Let's take a look.

If salvation can be lost, how sure can you be that you are saved?

If salvation can be lost, what can we do to ensure that we don't lose it?

If salvation can be lost, what assurance do we have in the death of Jesus Christ?

If salvation could be lost, I think we would be working very hard to keep our salvation, without ever knowing whether what we are doing is ever good enough. How different would it make us from our musl!m cousins?

What does the Bible have to say about salvation?

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14, ESV)

What we see here is that when we are born again, we receive the promised indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that is God's guarantee that He who began a good work in us will complete it (Phil 1:6) In order for us to lose our salvation after receiving the promised Holy Spirit, God would have to break His promise or renege on His “guarantee,” which He cannot do. Therefore the believer is eternally secure because God is eternally faithful.

At the same time, what of people who claim to have believed in Jesus Christ then eventually turned away, even to the extent of denying the existence of God? Will they lose their salvation? At first glance, it would seem so.

What does the Bible have to say about this?

Jesus said that that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-22). This shows that not everybody who professes to be a Christian, really is. 1 John 2:19 puts things into perspective for us: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. What we see here is that these people have not lost their salvation, but rather have not even been saved!

Now having see that we have an assurance in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the He will never let anything separate us from God, we don't have to live in fear of screwing up because of the hope we have: ... you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. We will be conformed to the image of Christ through sanctification (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV). When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit breaks the bondage of sin and gives the believer a new heart and a desire to seek holiness. Therefore a true Christian will desire to be obedient to God and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit when they sin. They will never “live any way they want” because such behavior is impossible for someone who has been given a new nature.

How awesome is this assurance?!

Creation to Consummation - The Temple and God-pleasing Worship

Hey guys! It's been a while since I last wrote anything here.

There's this series of 4 talks at the Luther Centre, PJ on the topic of worship conducted by Rev Dr David Peterson from the 23rd - 26th of June.

Here are the dates and times:

23 June (Wednesday) 8:15pm – 10:00pm
24 June (Thursday) 8:15pm – 10:00pm
25 June (Friday) 8:15pm – 10:00pm
26 June (Saturday) 3:30pm – 5:00pm

The registrations fees are RM10 per session, or RM20 for 4 sessions. Not forgetting to mention that there will be a free shuttle bus service to and from Asia Jaya LRT station, but you have register to enjoy this service.

To register, go to http://www.gospelgrowth.com.my/civicrm/event/register?id=23&reset=1

For more information, contact Shirley at ctc@gospelgrowth.com.my, or 017-385 2319.