25th Sep 2004 (Sat)
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Quote of the Day
After living a messed up teenage life filled with casual dating and careless living, a woman, who has become a christian and is now in her twenties, remarked ..
"Why didn't anyone tell me before that it was wrong?"
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That reminded me that the current casino debate is important. Let us not make the same mistake again :>
Eze 3:18 "When I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand."
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24th Sep 2004 (Fri)
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The Call of God
I used to wonder how do I know the call of God in my life. I have also heard questions regarding how are we suppose to know our calling, especially if we did not hear from Him.
May I boldly suggest this - The Need is the Call.
Example 1 : Jesus
Mt 14:14 "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."
We all know that Jesus did not do anything that is not in the will of His Father. It seems from the above verse that Jesus healed those people because He felt the Need to.
I'm not talking about the common needs we we experienced (like to buy a new discman or watch a movie hehe). I would like to suggest that it is a great need, a strong burden, a deep conviction, to see certain things get done.
Jesus was "moved with compassion" when He saw the crowd. He certainly took the need He felt as an indication of the call of God for Him that day.
Example 2 : Nehemiah
Neh 1:3-4 "And they said to me, "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven."
When Nehemiah heard that the walls back home in Jerusalem was broken down, he felt a great burden. Basically, he wept, and mourned, fasted and prayed.
In those days, the wall of a city represents it's security and safety.
The amazing thing is that through the event, Nehemiah deduced it was God's call for him to go back and rebuilt the wall. Somehow, he even managed to mustered enough faith to ask the King to let him go home to fix the walls.
Neh 2:5 "And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it.""
The rest is history. There were great oppositions, but he prevailed.
The challenge :
If you are convinced that the need is the call of God for you today, what will you do?
Basic Spiritual discipline (eg attending church, cellgp, reading the bible) do help in keeping us in the will of God. But I'm also convinced that it will take us an extra effort to soften our hearts inorder to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Nehmiah wept, mourned, fasted and prayed, and deduced that it was the call of God for him.
What needs do we see around us today? Helping the poor? Giving seat in the MRT? Donating to the blind man on the street? Or be a missionary for Christ?
Let us put aside our busy-ness and commitments, and respond to the inner tugging of the Holy Spirit!
Heb 3:15 ".. Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."
If you see the need, you see the Call of God.
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Centre of the Bible
Phil sent me an excellent PowerPoint slides on the Centre of the Bible!
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23rd Sep 2004 (Thur)
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Help Needed!!!
Anyone has great interest in co-running this website?
No experience required, just pure love for Jesus. Gotta believe that even if only 1 person experienced God through it, it is worth while!
I have simplified it so that the daily update will be as hassle-free as possible! Email me [email protected]
Eccl 4:9 "Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor."
Num 16:47-48 "Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped."
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Excellent Dailies!
Today's daily Devotionals are all so good! I sum up Ulf Ekman's below!
The Gift of Faith
To another [is given] faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:9
> In certain situations, where an extra measure of faith is needed, this gift comes into operation.
> When others start to worry, you are supernaturally calm. When others become depressed, you are happy. When others cannot see solutions to the problem, you know the solution is on its way.
> Faith is the conviction of things not seen, and the gift of faith epitomizes this.
> You are fully convinced about something that no one else is sure about.
> The gift of faith carries you through the most difficult circumstances and impossible situations, past the biggest hindrances.
> The gift of faith is not arrogant; it simply knows that it knows that it knows that God is faithful, willing and able to save, even in the darkest circumstances.
- Ulf Ekman
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22th Sep 2004 (Wed)
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Interpretation of Tongues (Ulf Ekman's Daily Devotional)
To another [is given] the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:10
> It is not about a state of psychotic ecstasy but rather about the Holy Spirit giving one or more fragments of language, whether this is a human language or the language of angels, which we do not understand.
> There have been occasions when I received words that people later have told me they had understood perfectly. But I had not understood anything.
> When the interpretation comes, it is usually not a word-for-word interpretation but a concentration of the most important aspects. It is the main topic of the given message.
> Speaking in tongues for the purpose of building up our own inner man requires no interpretation. This is between God and us, and God understands. However,
> Numerous messages in tongues should not be delivered in a church service without interpretation, for the messages will not be a blessing to the church unless they are understood.
> The emphasis is not on speaking in tongues per se but rather on the clear and effective message that the Lord wants to speak into people�s hearts.
- Ulf Ekman
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21th Sep 2004 (Tue)
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Emergency Phone #
Phil sent me a picture that is so awesome! Since it is too big for this page .. Click below!
Emergency Phone #
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'Interview' with a Jew
I thank God that I have had such a great opportunity to talk to some of God's special people .. Jews! I happened to be attending a course today conducted by an Israel company. I managed to squeeze out some interesting information from one of them .. and its probably my first and last chance to communicate with a Jew. Hope u guys enjoy it!
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Two men and a woman conducted some courses for my company today .. Anat, Erez and Roee! Anat is a young lady, Roee is a big teddy-bear like man while Erez is kinda forties and has those kind of smart eyed look. I was attending one conducted by Anat, and managed to chat with her about some stuff!
What are the kinds of Jews in Israel now?
Two general kinds ..
1) Hebrew Jews
2) Aramic Jews
The Hebrew Jews, which mainly comes from Russia, speaks Hebrews (of coz hehe). The Aramic Jews are those with Arab background.
(I'm not sure of the reason why most of the Hebrew Jews are from Russia. I guess during times like the Holocast, the remnant of the Jews were driven out of their land into places like Russia. The Zionism movement brought many of them home, and thus their culture is now abit mix-up .. just like Singapore!)
What are the languages taught in School?
1st Language = Hebrew
2nd Language = English
3rd language = French / Aramic
Anat spoke good English!!! The guys spoke Hebrews among themselves. She does not know Aramic! She took French in School!
Do they have a bible?
Yes! They even call it the BIBLE .. just that their bible does not contain the New Testament. It should be the same copy that Jesus used during His Ministry on earth.
She was abit 'offended' when I mentioned the words "Christian Bible". She insisted theirs is different and unique. Yes, she spoke of Adam, Eve, and Moses!
What age do they consider as matured?
Girls = 12
Boys = 13
The kids are considered MATURED at those ages. She mentioned something regarding circumcision for boys at the age of 13. Looks like God's people are smart enough to know that girls are more matured than boys at the same age!!!
Is Israel safe?
Yes .. she insisted!
Things to beware ----- Bags ( Every shopping centre checks them .. they may ExPlOdE)
Places to beware ----- Buses, Restaurants and Shopping Centres :>
How about National Service?
Man - 3 years
Woman - 1.5 years
Woman are mostly assigned to office-work though .. hehe! They are very vigilant regarding NS. We play games, they play the REAL thing!
Names?
Anat = Cedar (A kind of trees in Israel)
Erez / Roee = Lion ( One of them .. I know NUTS about Hebrews)
They left a strong impression on me.
- Very intellgent
- Very well dressed
- The 2 man are so Gentleman! They look big and powerful, yet extremely gentle and courteous.
Yes .. I'm impressed by the encounter. Hope all these info helps!
Gen 32:28 "And He said, 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.'"
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20th Sep 2004 (Mon)
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Response from "Unanswered Prayer"
+ Should unanswered prayers or prayers answered in a different way reduce our love for God?
+ Should they reduce our faith in Him?
+ God does not require large amount of faith from us to be considered "faithful"!
+ To struggle and overcome with the Word is actually part of the process of our faith being built in Him.
+ As our character is being refined, we can continuously perservere and mature as His Child.
+ We look to eternity, and not the temporal for we have hope in the Solid Rock!
Sulee
(summarized by kiff)
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If in Doubt .. Say N.O.
Today's <Our Daily Bread> devotional puts a very important point for basic Godliness. Below is extracted from it.
He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. �Romans 14:23
In his book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H. A. Ironside tells about a man who was getting ready to attend a banquet. He wanted to put on a white shirt he had worn on a previous occasion, so he was inspecting it carefully to see if it was too dirty. His wife noticed what he was doing and called out, "Remember, dear, if it's doubtful, don't." The issue was settled. The man threw the shirt into the laundry hamper.
That wife's advice reminds me of the principle in today's text. It's a principle that can be applied to questionable matters of conscience. If doubtful, don't.
The doubtful things the apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 14 had to do with meat and wine considered to be "unclean" by some but not by others (vv.14,21). He indicated that if we have doubts about whether an action is right or wrong and we do it anyway, our action is not from faith and is therefore a sin (v.23). He also pointed out that it is wrong to do anything by which a brother in Christ "stumbles or is offended or is made weak" (v.21). We must never give another Christian a reason to violate his or her conscience.
When faced with questionable practices and a troubled conscience, we would do well to make this our guideline: If it's doubtful, don't!
�Richard De Haan
Ok .. now for some toughies ..
Top 3 Grey Areas
1. 4 D / Toto / Lottery
Pro 28:20 "A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished."
2. Masturbation
Mt 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
3. Pirated VCD / Software / Games
Lev 19:11 "You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another."
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I look forward the day where our homes and workplaces can be free from pirated stuff!
I have started my quest from home. I have resisted buying pirated games / vcds when I started working. I struggled not to install pirated M.S. Office in my home and yes, I am using notepad / wordpad to type letters etc haha!
-- Kiff
Mt 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
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19th Sep 2004 (Sun)
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The Word of Knowledge
What exactly is the Word of Knowlege? After hearing the many supernatural testimonies of Thomas during my Alpha Course, I actually wanted to do a B.S. on this. Thank God Rev Ulf did it as a devotional today .. so I simply repackaged it for u guys!
1 Corinthians 12:8 "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit."
>> Functions together with the gift of prophecy, just as sugar goes with coffee.
>> It is a supernatural word of knowledge. It does not include all knowledge but just a word, a fragment of knowledge.
>> Case Study
When Ananias was sent to Saul, he learned that Saul was at the house of Judas on Straight Street.
�So the Lord said to him, �Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying� � (Acts 9:11).
Through the Holy Spirit Ananias received sufficient knowledge to do the right thing.
>> It is information, revealed by the Spirit that we otherwise would not know about.
>> A word of knowledge is a fragment of facts that the Spirit reveals supernaturally to explain or disclose something in order to assist.
- Original by Ulf Ekman
- Adapted by Kiff Loh
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18th Sep 2004 (Sat)
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Double Agent
I felt like I'm living a double life.
One moment, I was struggling spiritually like a wimp. The next moment, I was preaching like an evangelist when I met up an old friend for dinner!
It sounded like a paradox, but I felt God has always been reminding us to look outwardly, away from our own personal problems and into the lives of others!
Mt 7:12 "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
And I believe the reward will be exceeding great, when we simply trust God and obey!
Enjoy the weekend!
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17th Sep 2004 (Fri)
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- Added babyish pray. (Funny Stuff) Do take it with a pinch of .. SaLt!
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16th Sep 2004 (Thur)
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The 'fortune' teller (Letter from Phil to Bro-In-Law)
Hi bro,
Today, while I was taking my lunch at the hawker centre, a fortune teller approached me. He told me that I will be rich and fortunate in 2 years time. But that I may face disaster very soon. Hence, he asked me to purchase a guang yin plate to protect me from this coming disaster.
I rejected and politely tell him I do not want to. But he came back to me persistently, again and again. He keeps telling me that I have a fortunate life and that I'll be rich in 2 years time. My colleague who was with me then asked him, if he can tell when he can become rich. The man ignored my colleague but keeps telling me that I have to be careful and that the guang yin will help me.
Luckily, phone calls keep coming in, so I just ignored him. But each time, I ended my call, he'll come back to me.. After some time, finally, no more calls came in. He then told me that I can keep the guang yin and that I can donate to the temple after I get rich in 2 years time. He sounded very sincere.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, I found this courage to tell him, "Sorry Sir, I only believes in my God, Jesus Christ". He walked off immediately and quietly..
Cheers,
Phil Chern
kiff: Phil is probably the youngest christian I've known .. 5 months?
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My Greatest Struggles -> UnAnswered Prayers
I struggled with many things in life. But the thing I find most difficult to cope with, is UnAnswered Prayers ..
Some of my unanswered prayers are 6 years old. Some only a few weeks. Yet most of them get on my nerves every other day. I tried all the tricks, ranging from persistent prayer to totally give up. Yes .. I'm tired .. rather tired >_+
The bible seems to be rather 'elusive' regarding this. So I decided to sit down and examine scriptures to find out how many options do I have to handle such them!
Option 1 : Persist in Pray
Lk 18:1 "Then He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart"
Mt 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
I find this option works with most of my prayer request to God! I am convinced that God has always wanted us to persist and believe. If we do not let our impatience get the better of us, option #1 is the way to go!
Yet I find it an excruciating pain to face what looks like a 'dead' situation! The more I persist and pray, the greater my disappointments became, and the smaller my hope diminished. Probably I belong to the type with faith smaller than a mustard seed :(
Option 2 : Give it up
Before you think I mumbling rubbish, look at this.
Mt 16:25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
I often told God I can't live with those prayers unanswered. And I can't really be fully happy and satisfied until they are fulfilled!
Yet the truth is, we can probably live happier if we stop thinking about those stuff!
1 Tim 6:6 "Now Godliness with contentment is great gain."
Option 3 : Pray, Trust God, and Put it aside. Rinse and Repeat
I recently used this principle with great success! Yes .. great success for one week.
Mt 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
The bible carefully instruct us not to worry, but to trust that God will provide all our needs if we put Him first! God has always been very interested in our needs and wants, but He would rather want us to seek Him first than trying to use every ounce of our energy to chase after dreams that will be broken.
After one week of short success, I still had to come crawling back to my prayer closet. The good feelings seemed to have faded, and I am once again thrown into the sea of doubts.
"God .. its not happening!"
Option 4 : Give it up again ..
Sorry to disappoint you guys, I have ran out of options.
Job 1:21 "And he said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.' "
I found that when I told God I cannot be happy without my prayers answered, I am actually saying that He alone is not sufficient for me, and that its His duty to fulfill my legitimate needs! This sounded so selfish and unthankful!. I hate to admit it, but I guess its kinda true.
I find myself losing my sanity when I thought I have exercised so much faith to make it happen, and yet the 'mountains' still did not move an inch.
Mt 16:25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it .."
Our Lord Jesus mentioned this during His ministry on the earth.
Jn 10:18 :"No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."
God seemed to be telling us that if we dare to let go, dare to let our dreams die, we can depend on Him for a resurrection! I am remined that I had to 'die' to many of my desires and prayers so many times before God actually bring them alive.
Jn 12:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."
When we "lay it down", and say "God, You alone is enough for us. We will love You even if You did not answer our prayers the way we want it.", God may just give us the power to "take it again"!
Ok guys! thanks for reading. I will leave you with Daniel and Friends! This is .. faith!
(Our dear King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to sent Daniel's three friends to the burning furnace for refusing to bow down to the gold image)
Dan 3 :16-18 "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
(My flu seems to be getting into my brains) Good nite!
Kiff Loh
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15th Sep 2004 (Wed)
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Teaching / Children Ministery
From : The Upper Room Devotional (15th Sep 2004)
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
-Mark 10:14 (NIV)
THE school where I serve as a mentor gave me a lapel pin which reads, "A Volunteer Angel." I spend time with young girls, tutoring them, teaching them good hygiene skills, playing board games, and sometimes just listening. They come from different backgrounds, but all have one common need - encouragement. They are happy to find that an adult really wants to spend time with them.
One of the girls I mentor is very shy and has low self-esteem. She often asks me, "Why do you spend time with me?" I tell her it's because she is an important person. The smile on her face is the greatest reward a mentor can receive.
As I work with these children, I remember the Bible story about Jesus welcoming children. How excited those children must have been to hear Jesus say, "Let them come." By doing so Jesus showed them that they were important, and I suspect he also took the time to listen to them. What the disciples saw as an inconvenience, Jesus understood as an opportunity for ministry.
In a similar way, each of us has opportunities to welcome and encourage those whom some might push away. When we do so, we become part of shaping the future.
Connie Coppings (Kentucky, U.S.A.)
Dear God, thank you for the wonderful blessing of children. Teach us to be good teachers and wise counselors to them. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen