The Peace of Christmas

I would like to share the last Element of Christmas; "The Peace of Christmas" for today. It would be the last post from me in the year of 2010 too.

We will start of the topic with these verses; Luke 2: 6~14.


The Peace Of Christmas.
The peace here we are not speaking about is the peace that comes from worldly materials like filling your hungry stomach, getting good grades, no war and etc...The peace we're discussing is the inner/within which is from God. God's peace can only be available to people whom His favour rests.

How do we know His in us?
--> We only get to know His favour in us when we have a close personal relationship with Him. We can bond a close relationship with God by reading bible, prayers, and also through the Holy Spirit.

Three areas that God promise peace for those who believed in Him.
1) Peace with God
--> In general, sins has cause humanity to suffer and create much problems in our lives. Besides, sins  rob peace and relationship from man with God. No doubt we are sinners and constantly sins
everyday, but if we do confess them and seek for forgiveness, I believe our Father will surely forgive us if only we repent from them, refer [1 John 1: 8~10]  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. What matters of all is Repentance! Repentance! Repentance!

2) Peace within ourselves
--> We can have all the things in the world; personal freedom, items, rights and etc.. but we still have no peace. Why? This is because we felt empty deep within us. Some denied this fact that they feel lonely and empty deep inside, therefore they forced themselves to involve in a busy schedule and constantly find things to do to fill the emptiness. I know how they feel, because I was once like that too. After receiving Jesus as personal saviour, there is no missing piece to our lives because peace is provided by our Father and His son, Jesus Christ. It is important to for the presence of peace because no peace = no security = no joy.

3) Peace with Others
--> God gives us the ability the ability to live in Peace with others. His words in 2 Timothy 2:  23~24 teaches us that Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Furthermore, Jesus command us to love our enemy and those who persecute us. Love and pray for them so that they will understand why we care and love for them one day. Beyond of all these, we are also urged to teach people the values of love and forgiveness. These two values are important in creating relationships, not only with God, but also among us.

**Remember this always: We are not gurantee to be loved by all, but we are to offer God's love to all by words and deeds.** Happy New Year!!

The Joy of Christmas

Today I will continue the 2nd Element of Christmas; "The Joy Of Christmas"

What does the word joy means to you? I still remember this phrase up til now ever since the our Hope Ipoh has celebrated her anniversary. Most people may answer the of feel happiness and etc...But I'm here to share a new definition of the word joy. Joy is like love, as it is not merely emotion but rather a decision.

Three main areas of focus if you want to experience joy. We will use the pneumonics/acronym of "JOY" also.
Jesus
Others
Yourself

For the alphabet "J" the letter symbolizes Jesus, where we should focus/put our eyes on Jesus.  [Galactians 2: 20]--> I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Through Christ lives in us, we are able to experience joy because of His love and our Father's abundant plans that He sets for us. When we have Jesus, we have more than anything else, as you can find the TRUE JOY/HAPPINESS. Remember Jesus in our heart always!

As for the letter "O" it reprsents Others. The second area that we should pay attention to is "Others". Let's discuss the verse related. Acts 20: 35 says that In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Well, these days we even noticed that the value of altruism [selfless concern for the welfare of others first] has disappeared in the society. We can track this even in a restraurant itself! People always choose the best for themselves first then the rest which are not decent/good then give it to others. However, we should never instill/practice this kind of value in us. We can obtain joy by "giving ourselves to others". It means it is not about what we get and what can we get in return, but what we can give to others. The bible also encourage us through Matthew 25:40; “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 

The final area that we are focusing in is Yourself from the letter "Y". It's rather more into attitude itself. We should always have a positive/optimistic mindset. As commands/movements of flesh will be controlled by our mind. Having a right attitude to follow Jesus is very important too as it keeps us continue to follow Him closely and Faithfully. Always remember this point that "noone/nothing can rob anything from us except of ourselves!"

Why putting ourselves last rather than first?
1) God's word have spoken in Romans 15: 1~3  that We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 
2) Lesson through Christ's Character


Conclusion
1) Always remember that Christmas is all about Jesus and Joy.
2) Remember Jesus in your heart.
3) Joy does not obtain trough worldly materials, but through Jesus.
4) Nothing can rob anything from us except ourselves.
5) Give ourselves to others.

The Faith of Christmas

I would like to share a short message regarding Elements of Christmas; There will be three parts; "The Faith of  Christmas", The Joy of Christmas", and The Peace of Christmas.

1) The Faith of Christmas
I would like to start of the discussion by these verses, Luke 2: 1~20. The Faith of Christmas will be discussing the two main characters which are Joseph and Mary.

**Joseph**
--> Based on the bible, Joseph is a man with deep religious conviction.
He believed in everything in God said through the angel about marrying Mary.  Did you know that last time men are not allowed to marry pregnant women as their wife, because everything will turn out ugly after that. Everyone will have a different mindset on you regarding marrying a wife which already pregnant. But Joseph said OK, no problem! What we learnt from Joseph is that we need to learn to TRUST God completely. However, it is not easy these days for us, human to trust completely on God, especially what lies beyond our comprehension. In this era of technology, it's rather difficult to make people to understand things from the point of spiritual realm/religious thoughts. Holy Spirit teaches us what is opposite the world if you think of it. This is because in 1 John 2:15 the bible teaches us that " "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them". Therefore, NEVER be overly attached to worldly materials, as it only last temporarily; We should invest in something that last eternity. What they learnt these days are all about logic. Agree?

**Mary**
--> As for Mary, she is a little different from Joseph. Mary questioned/doubted the thoughts of a virgin like her will be able to conceive; Luke 1;34  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” This statement/verse above do apply to us as well. After sometime of accepting Jesus Christ as saviour, our "fire" tends to die down and we began to doubt in God in every aspect. His awesomeness,His power, His mighty and we lost the wonder of God... But I'm here to tell everyone that the God, our Father is still the same; that awesome, mighty, miracle, loving and etc.. However, Mary did obeyed the command at the end in Luke 1;38  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. In the end, Mary did find Her way back/ on the track of Faith. What about you?

Conclusion
a) Let's challange ourself that what God says/promises is true and trust in God completely where we
    put our life into God's hand.
b) With Faith, obedience is required.
c) If Joseph and Mary did not have the Faith in God's work and disobeyed God's command, we 
    wouldn't be saved and ofcourse we won't be celebrating Christmas.
d) Have Faith in God!

A vacation in Penang Part 1--Food

Ofcourse, when comes to Penang, first word that comes to our mind is variety of cuzines*** More into Food than travelling~ But my case a little different, I most of the time in beaches =p. Firstly ofcourse I would like to thank Elden and his family for a warm welcome and providing a good hospitality for me ^^. Thank you uncle and aunty! Let introduce to everyone my chauffeur [not get paid one =p] and tour guide. Both also very handsome geh~ Legacy says that Penang guys are cool and handsome, well you can comment the pic xD.

Chun Hoong- Tour Guide

Elden- Host,Chauffeur & Tour Guide

These two became a very tour guide to me XD. Thanks guys. Let's make the long story short and proceed to the food we chiak~

Cendul yang sedap~~~~

Penang Laksa and Cendul~

Laksa in Penang Road

Me and Chun Hong Enjoying Cendul~

Ofcourse when you step in Penang you cannot forget about Hokkien Mee [Prawn Noodle]

This Hawker Center has the best Hokkien Mee I ate so far in Penang... I've waited almost 45minutes just for a bowl of Hokkien Mee!! My first impression for Hokkien Mee when I firstly step into Penang is their Hokkien Char~ LOLZ...I was like huh? i ordered Hokkien Mee, but this is Prawn Noodle~ Thank God i've been watching Hokkien dramas since secondary school and I managed to survived in Penang, though I can't speak at all but I understand them!

Surprising Facts** Some restaurant present all the ordered dinner dishes withing 5 MINUTES!! I was like what? O_O?? I just sat down for 5 minutes, my chair not even warm yet!

Happy Faces in Penang with the Food~

Peace to you with the Food~

Smiles of Happiness brought by the food~

Not to forget our retarded post~ Taken when decorating Vineyard Community Church in Penang.

Stay tune Part 2 with the journey of Avalon in visiting and hunting Life Forms in many places in Penang~

15th MNC 2010 Experience~

It’s my first time in MNC, I longed for it since November before my finals…I was so excited to go this convention. Praise the Lord, 15th MNC 2010 held from 4th tp 7th December 2010, in Komtar Dome Penang didn’t turn out to be a disappointment, but it’s a blessing for me! Hallelujah, I bet everyone had fun while learning and receiving the word of God. The MNC for this year has a theme of ONE which really imparts a major role in every aspect in Kingdom of God.

Proclaiming My Identity

“We are, we are the army of God”
“Burning, burning the fire of God yeah...”

Sounds familiar? The above lyrics are from the song Army of God. Well, through this I’ve realised that this is another identity of mine beside than the children of God and HIS servant. I realized the importance of the being an army of God. This is because we are going to have war; not with the world, but having spiritual warfare all the time. Being an army itself carries significant values; bold, courage, sacrificial and be prepared for war. Bold and courageà this will encourage me to share gospels with the non-believer often. Sacrificial à We need to know what it takes to follow Jesus closely. Every Christians should know that we might need to make some sacrificial in life in order to follow Jesus Closely. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be like the Rich Young Man in Matthew 19: 21~24 who want to follow Jesus closely but don’t want to sacrifice his precious. Preparation à I need to be ready in a few fields; spiritually, mentally and emotionally to be involve in spiritual warfare and also to wait for Jesus’ Second Coming. Jesus’ second coming is one of the motivations to keep Christians to continue to live in lives.

Poor and Lost Souls

It’s sad to say that we living in a world where wrong seem right. It’s pretty disappointment and sad to see youths today spend most time in cyber cafes rather than in churches. Near Elden’s church, Vineyard Church Community [VCC] lays many cyber cafes around it. What I see is the cyber cafes are full of youth during weekends but churches seem not filled by youths? But why is that happening? It seems that youths today has lost the vision of God in their eye sight, they rather seek virtual world and to walk in the darkness to fill their emptiness, to mend their pains and sorrows rather than seeking God. The people need the Lord badly; therefore Christians should start giving our lives to reach out to this people to tell them how great our God is, how God shines light through the darkness through our prayers and cries by giving us hope, HIS agape love for us by receiving the word of God and share them out boldly. **Dear Christians, we must remember that only WE can share the Living Words of HIS, not others!**I’ve learnt in the convention that we do not need much knowledge, but just trust and believe by faith the work of God through Holy Spirit that will guide you.  Let’s try our very best to help them to find their way back to God again and let them taste the gift of salvation. “They will never know the sweetness of the honey unless they taste it themselves.”

Roar of the Lion of Judah

RWAR~ Of course Jesus is the our King of our lives, the ruler of our lives and Kings of all kings; just like the analogy of lion rules over the whole jungle. To testify this, Jesus is the King of all Jews as discuss in the book of Gospel; Mathhew. I believe the King has chosen us for purposes. Therefore fellow brothers and sisters, I believe it is time to rise up as ONE and work with the lord to expand the kingdom. I use the word with because; only by His grace and the others Faith, people can be offered salvation. Besides, it is important to obey His words; listen to His commands and voice NOT your emotions! Sometimes, we may be confused by our emotions; being “toyed” around by the devil. If we did  not follow His commands and do as our emotions, God will be not be with us and displeased because we are not doing according His will. Then, whatever we do will not be successful if God is not with us. It is essential to read bible constantly so that we can differ which is from God and which is from the devil. Furthermore, we must have the Kingdom Mentality. Everything is we accomplished is for our King; to honour Him and to glorify HIM. It is important to have a “servant heart” to serve HIM full-heartedly; no matter in a big or small tasks because HE sees your heart & motives [sincerity] not based on quantity.

Therefore, what’s best for us is to seek God so that we can ensure we are doing things according to His Will. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this pretty long article, perhaps I should write more XD. I would have regretted if I miss out this MNC 2010 because it’s a marvellous experience! Remember, our God is Love; may HIS love takes us deeper to continue to praise and worship HIM. God Bless~