Health or Wealth ?

A modern adaptation of Ben Franklin's adage, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," is being promoted today in the evangelical world. It is heralded from the pulpit and hailed on television. It has been made the theme of great crusades, fellowship meetings, prayer groups, and volumes of paperbacks sold in Christian bookstores.

Ben Franklin's quote from Poor Richard's Almanac has a 20th-century counterpart in slogans like this : "God wants every Christian well." "No Christian ever needs to be sick." "If you are not successful or do not have an abundance of all things, it is not God's fault." Or how about these? "If you tithe, you can be assured that you will prosper financially." "God wants all His children prosperous."
This collage of glib mottoes on health and wealth is further exploited by formulas calling for the "release of faith," by pleas for you to give so that you will receive, and by the use of gimmicks to produce what satisfies the flesh, not the spirit.

No assurance is given in the Bible that it is the will of the Father for every Christian to be rich in this world's possession and also to be exempt from sickness. In fact God promises in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness".

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Sometimes sickness is allowed for our own betterment and to bring God glory.

[Extracted from Christian Living-Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? by Paul R.Van Gorder]

Sorrow

During a time of grieve, does your friends seem to forget you? They fail to call, or write, or promise to pray. But those are the times when we can sense God's tenderness most deeply.

Pain and sorrow are inescapable facts of life. All of us grieve at one time or another - including those of us who are Christ-followers. For the believer, however, there is something beyond the tears, pain and loss. There is hope. Yet the Holy Spirit is our source of gladness, 'bringing us the richest treasures man can wish or God can send.' - David McCasland.

Sadness, tears, and mourning are familiar territory for everyone on this earth - even for Jesus. Jesus saw Mary and Martha and their friends mourning (Lazarus death), and He too was overcome. Sorrowing with them, "Jesus wept" [John 11:35]

The psalmist David also experience hopeless despair, as he struggled with his own failures, the attacks of others, and the disappointments of life. In Psalm 6:6 he said, "I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears." The depth of his sorrow and loss drove him to heartache - but in that grief he turned to God of all comfort. In the pain and struggle of living without answers, we can always find comfort in our heavenly Father. Just like David, in his frustration, his doubts and fears turned to trust. Psalm 13:5, from his heart he prayed, "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation."

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

The psalmist said that while God's Word gives life, there is still the combination of "comfort in my affliction" Psalm 119:50

Even in life's toughest circumstances, we can, with God's help, enjoy a measure of healing. - Dave Branon

Happiness key to longer life

Everyone wants to be happy. But many fail in their quest to find that elusive prize because they are looking in the wrong places.
Proverbs 16 : 20 tells us, "Whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he." And Psalm 146 : 5 indicates that happiness comes to those who find their help and hope in God.

Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ills, says Ruut Veenhoven of Rotterdam's Erasmus University in a study in 2008.
Happiness can be bolstered by friendship and human community, as well as larger social factors such as freedom, democracy, effective government institutions and rule of law. Happy people were more inclined to watch their weight, were more perceptive of symptoms of illness, tended to be more moderate with smoking and drinking and generally lived healthier lives. They were also more active, more open to the world, more self-confident, made better choices and built more social networks.

Richard De Haan, a writer of Our Daily Bread list Ten Rules for Happier Living :
1) Give something away
2) Do a kindness
3) Give thanks always
4) Work with vim and vigor
5) Visit the elderly and learn from their experience
6) Look intently into the face of a baby and marvel
7) Laugh often - it's life lubricant
8) Pray to know God's way
9) Plan as though you will live forever - you will
10) Live as though today is your last day on earth

Psalm 112 : 1 Praise the LORD. Blessed [Happy] is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.

Proverbs 17 : 22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

What is Wisdom ?

If you are given a heart's desire, what would yours be ?
Solomon asked for WISDOM.
He accomplished so much, yet he found all of them worthless. It's equally provocative to realize that Solomon later seemed to wonder wheteher he had made the right choice. According to the book of Ecclesiastes, which shows us where he was in his thinking at the end of his life, Solomon eventually came to the place where he had serious questions about whether he had really been wise in asking for wisdom. Until he remembered his God (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14), he forgot that we live not merely for ourselves but for the honor of the One who made us to worship and enjoy Him forever.
He candidly stated that his wisdom had only increased his misery (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

Solomon acknowledges that wisdom encourages (1) thoughtfulness, (2) realism, (3) reverence, and (4) joyfulness.

Wisdom encourages thoughtfulness. It encourages a person to use his head.
Ecclesiastes 2:13-14 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.

Wisdom encourages realism. We must come to grips with the real nature of life and death, and God and enduring values.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.

Wisdom encourages reverence for God. We have lost a sense of the fear of God, of the wisdom of obedience, and of the expectation of accountability.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Wisdom encourages joyfulness in the life that God gave us.
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.

[Extract from 'Ecclesiastes' written by M.R.De Haan II]

Mid-Autumn Festival Big Party

For this month Big Party the church celebrated Mid Autumn Festival which falls on 3 October earlier. We held it on the 27th September night where more than 330 people attended. The church santuary were decorated with about 70 lighted paper lanterns while Bro. Wilbur together with Bro. KB birth out a big traditional lantern made up of white polystyrene foam.





There were 12 participants, where some uses polystyrene foam plates, aluminium cans and cardboards to come up with various shapes of lanterns.

Curse God, and die

Deprived of possessions, bereaved by the loss of his sons and daughters, and afflicted with a painful physical malady, Job's wife told him to "Curse God and die" - Job 2:9.

So how should we react to adversity ?

First, if you know Christ as your Savior and are faced with a time of trouble, come to the Lord with a prayer of humble submission. In other words, when you pray for healing or deliverance from some disturbing situation, be sure you do so with an attitude of complete yieldedness to whatever God sees best for you. God may allow our affliction to continue and lead us into a closer walk with Him.

Secondly, have confidence in God. Instead of looking upon your affliction as a sign that God doesn't love you, view it as a mark of His favor. Hebrews 12 : 6-7 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Romans 8 : 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Finally, we should endeavor to develop our faith while we are experiencing afflection. The Lord wants us to trust Him implicity. And our faith will grow if we study the Bible, obey its directives, and appropriate to ourselves the wonderful truths it reveals about the Lord and His promises.

Isaiah 55 : 8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

[Extracted from "How to Get Up... When you're Down! written by Richard W.De Haan]

Mid-Autumn

God is good all the time, His blessing and mercy never ceases and are new every morning. Blessing came early for this year Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) celebration which falls on 3 October 2009. Within a week, we were blessed with 4 boxes of mooncakes despite turning down a regular blesser two weeks ago.

We were blessed with the traditional type such as red bean and lotus seed paste, and the new one from (双胜) Swensen's 'Frozen Delights'. Swensen's pastry skin ice cream mooncakes is a delight for those ice-cream lover as its flavour inlcude durian supreme, hazelnut latte, strawberry peachy mango yogurt, kiwi raspberry, milo, black sesame peanut, mangosteen and sticky chewy chocolate.

traditional mooncakes

Swensen mooncakes with its bag and box

another different variety of mini mooncakes

BLESSED 'MOON CAKE FESTIVAL' to all and happy eating mooncakes.....

Open house

We joined many Malaysians from different ethnic backgrounds thronged the Hari Raya open house of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim this morning. This was my first open house visit but the second for the other friends, who visited our former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah previously.

We started at 11-00 am from Penang and travelled to Permatang Pauh in the mainland. We were heading to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 'rumah terbuka' at Permatang Pauh. The journey and traffc were smooth but we wasted 2 hours searching and asking around for the correct location as we made the mistake of not getting the full address or location but only relied on the publication from newspaper.

After failing to locate the place, we decide to proceed to Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman open house in Penanti constituency. The event was held at Taman Guar Perahu public field. We managed to meet Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here. Penang Pas Commissioner Mohd Salleh Man and other state exco were also present among the crowd. The myriad of food served included roti canai, roti jala, fried bee hoon, lemang, mee rebus and raya cookies.
The open house truly reflect the 1Malaysia concept where people of various age, race and religion comes together to celebrate.

Padang awam Taman Guar Perahu

Our group photo with Penang Deputy Chief Minister I

P/S: too bad we didn't get the chance to take another group photo with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

When you're down, how to get up !

When are you down? You are down when you are depressed.

A major depression is a disabling condition which adversely affects a person's family, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits, and general health. In the United States, approximately 3.4% of people with major depression commit suicide, and up to 60% of people who commit suicide have depression or another mood disorder.

The most common time of onset is between the ages of 30 and 40 years, with a later peak between 50 and 60 years. Major depression is reported about twice as frequently in women as in men, although men are at higher risk for committing suicide.

[From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

Richard W. De Haan, a teacher with Radio Bible Class wrote that in many cases of depression, it's more of a spiritual than a psychological problem. Many people have invested a small fortune in psychoanalysis, shock therapy, and medication without ever really being helped. But they never will become well until they get right with God. He lists 4 essential steps to overcome depression:-

(1) Accept God's Pardon - You see, a person plagued with a guilty conscience finds himself in a most distressing situation. It is therefore imperative for him to begin the journey out of the darkness of depression by receiving the forgiveness and the freedom from guilt that God so graciously offers.

(2) Acknowledge God's Providence - By this I mean that you must recognize that God has a purpose for your life. He has your eternal good in mind.

(3) Admit to God's Prerogative - Romans 9 : 15-16 ... "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

(4) Appropriate God's Provision - Remember, therefore, that in order to live a victorious life and to avoid the depression of spiritual defeat, you must avail yourself of God's gracious provision.

We all have moments in life when we're down. We get the 'blues'. The psalmist cried, "Why are you down cast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:11)

I have finished the race

For the last 2 weeks, I attended 3 wake services, a relative and two church friends. The youngest was in her early fifties and the oldest were in their early eighties. Death rips apart life's closest bonds, leaves hearts broken, ushers in loneliness, and open floodgates of tears. In the valley of grief, the only way to keep going is to trust the compass and map God has given us. You may think the Bible is too dated and old-fashioned to be of value. But the compass of God's indwelling Spirit and the map of the Bible are timeless - always pointing us in the right direction.

Our Lord is faithful and merciful High Priest (Hebrews 2 : 17) who has tasted death for everyone (2 : 9). He is the One who said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (13:5). His promise to be there for us is the bedrock of our security in an unstable world shattered by grief.

John Brantner writes, "Only people who avoid love can avoid grief. The point is to learn from it and remain vulnerable to love".

John 5 : 24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

2 Timothy 4 : 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Man was not made for the present, and the present was never intended to satisfy man. Man's life on earth cannot and does not fulfill the eternal longings of man. This principle continues throughout his existence and even up to the point of death.