Week 6 - Bible Study

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...

Hebrews 12:2 shows us the same thing, of having joy in the midst of trials and temptations, from Jesus's perspective. Have joy! When we are in trouble, have joy! But, how many of us can do that? Having joy does not necessary mean that we must smile and laugh. Jesus did not smile and laugh on the cross! Having joy is to have the perspective of God, His assurances, His salvation in the midst of our troubles. Our joy comes from knowing that Jesus has died on the cross for us, and with that, we are more than conquerors over our trials and temptations!

I love this definition of trials and temptations from Su An (is this how you spell your name?), very well defined.

"A trial is something that you are put into, you don't have a choice but to go through it. A temptation is something that you can choose not to do, and it leads you to sin."

Some of us are in the midst of a trial now, some of us just came out of it. Some of us are wondering, :"What trial?". Whatever your situation, just remember that trials are meant to build us up, to teach us something. When God takes time to create a trial for us, it means that he has prepared something to be given to us. Something that without the training, we cannot handle.

Think about Jonah. He struggled by running away, he struggled and was swallowed up by a whale. However, after he obeyed, a city turned back to God. Think about Paul. He probably went through the most trials among us mere humans. However, think about the things that God has given to him, the ways that God has used him. Paul is probably the greatest evangelist of all time. Now think about Jesus. Just his suffering on and before the cross would be enough. The emotional, physical and spiritual sufferings. The end result? The salvation of YOU and ME.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Be strong, persevere, and focus.

CNY + Valentines Special

Gong Xi Gong Xi Gong Xi Ni! Cai Shen Dao! Cai Shen Dao Wo Di Jia Men Kou!

恭喜恭喜恭喜你！财神到！财神到我的家门口！

Happy Chinese New Year to all. A merry occasion indeed it is for the fellow Chinese around, and a long happy holiday for the other fellow brothers and sisters around. Before most of us proceed to meet up with our extended families for a reunion dinner, it is good to take a little time of to reflect on Rev Yong's words.

We are constantly bombarded with cheesy CNY songs singing about all the good things for the season. Sometimes, the songs get so cheap, there is practically no purchasing value to it. However, we still listen to it for a simple reason. Chinese New Year. Many things we do defy common sense, but we still do it. Chinese New Year.

It is important for us, as rational humans, not to mention the fact that we are Christians too, to rethink the purposes of this highly anticipated celebration. Is the focus of the season on the food? The songs? The shopping? The cleaning? The Ang Pows? Or is it about reuniting family and friends?

Let us not be brain-dead, following the flow of the season, brainwashed by the mindless customs and practices and forgetting the purpose of Chinese New Year. The things we have been doing may be brainless, but the evil one is not.

Remember Jehovah Jireh, our God, is our provider, not 财神爷. Remember that this season is for our relationship with one another, not for the customs and practices that we have always been doing.

Lastly, have a good holiday everyone! See you guys soon!

The four words written above is a pun using the same pronunciation for a phrase that means "smile always".

Week 3 - Bible Study

I was about to do a summary of the bible study that we did, when this came to my mailbox. It seemed apt (oh God is good, help me do blog post :P)

Before you read the devotional below, ask yourselves this question, :"Do you genuinely believe in this Jehovah God that we are talking about?"

This devotional summarizes quite a bit of the points that was brought up during the bible study. However, it ends saying that when we receive Jesus, and ONLY when we receive Him, does He come and change us.

So, we should check ourselves, as James is asking us to do. Are we having a genuine faith? Or are we playing church? Do we know what we believe? Are we acting out our faith?

Let us WALK THE TALK, shall we?

Devotion - How Do I Find a Good Church

I believe this, coming in after the welcoming, is apt. This is a devotional that though long, would help those whom are looking for a church to go to.

If you realise that you cannot read the words... click on the pictures for a larger sized picture to pop out.

GKH welcoming!

Wow! There seems to be loads of welcoming done by the CF. It was basically a wonderful time where churches from Kampar came together, and new people are welcomed into this huge family of God. Do browse through the pictures at Felicia's blog.

Let us retrace some of the history before this event came about...

UTAR came to Kampar, and brought in many many students. In such a big harvest field, came many faithful servants of the Lord to work the field. Some came in earlier, some were here even before the existence of UTAR, but all worked towards the same goal, for the same God.

Came 2009, when most of the churches are more or less established, having a group of people being discipled under their care. It was then, a realization came, and the first inter-church prayer meeting was organized. Not many turned up, but it was the beginning of a long legacy to come. A legacy that shows the unity of Christians in this small place called Kampar.

This GKH welcoming will be part of that legacy, a legacy that is still to be built up upon.

Genesis 11:6 The Lord said, " If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them..."

I have a secret dream. It is to see a stadium being built in Kampar, where all the Christians will one day gather, praising, singing, praying to our Jehovah God. I wonder if it will one day happen or not...

Campus welcoming!

Sorry this post came late, the recent happenings are just too exciting to... well... post.

So, this is how we started the welcoming last Thursday. With random hugs for everyone... err... Actually I was not here for the starting, and i'm glad I was not around when THIS happened...

There were also people who acted cute...

New friends played with us...

I think this is how it is supposed to be played... hmn...

Eric intimidating others...

Chatting in the midst of it all...

And stripping each other down... eh? REALLY??? oh man... what has become of CF...

This is Ray trying to be a HEN... GAI (in cantonese)

Lots of smiles...

Lots of laughters...

And many weird moments. I think they saw something weird going on.

Definitely something weird...

I think this looks weird enough...

This is weird too...

And thats Anthony fiercely trying to win over... erm I mean in the game sense... you know?

Then of course a lil prep talk by our CF chairman!

A lil prep talk where our machas were not listening! Hohoho!

And this marks the end of our... sanity... welcome to the new sem people. Welcome... to... OKU-mess

Prayers - the instant cure?

I was reading this for the past few days (courtesy of Derk), and I found it genuinely interesting, though terribly long in length. A truthful search for the "efficacy of prayer", as the essay is titled.

It talks about prayer as a request, meaning that whether God grants us what we want, is totally up to Him. It is the same as an appeal. We make appeals to court cases, and we also make appeals to our UTAR management. However, the final decision still lies with the upper management, in this case it would be God.

With such an ambiguous percentage of getting our requests answered in a favorable way, what then is the purpose of prayer? Something we can think about.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

We are asked in this verse not only to pray, but to pray with thanksgiving. What are we supposed to be giving thanks about when firstly, we are not even sure if what we pray for will be granted?

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I have a friend. His mother had cancer, when it was announced, it was a 4th stage cancer. If my science is correct, that is also called terminal cancer. We prayed fervently, we cried and we pleaded. How could a mother be taken back to heaven when her child is still so young? Then the second opinion from another doctor said that he could not scan the cancer cells. Hallelujah!

We continued to pray, to press on, until we can see a complete healing. However, things started to turn into a roller coaster ride here. The cancer cells started appearing and disappearing, making us, the people praying, in a tug-of-war with the forces of darkness.

In the end, the mother of two died. Are His ways still higher than our ways?

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I have a pastor. He suddenly had a stroke. Apparently the arteries broke in his brain. The brain was experiencing severe pressure due to the accumulated blood, even his eyes were on the verge of bulging out. Doctors gave him a 1% chance of recovery, but told the pastor's wife that chances are slim, just to make things sound milder.

The church prayed, pleaded, and fought for his life. He survived, and in barely 6 months he is able to walk and talk already. The church is even looking forward to the day that he can continue to stand at the pulpit, preaching.

Does this mean that His ways are higher than our ways now?

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I believe in all occasions God works for the unity of His body. My friend's family was brought closer together, when in the past the family has very little reason nor time to come together. My pastor's "mishap" brought together brothers and sisters in Christ from far and wide, current and in the long past. In all these God was working.

God may not relief some of us from our pain now, but we can be sure to know that God is in control, doing His good work to completion.