Christmas 2010

I read in an article recently that this Christmas, President Obama can expect to receive numerous Christmas cards urging him to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. A group called CMEP, churches for Middle East Peace is waging a campaign calling thousand of Christians and non Christians across America to send the card to the President.

Many people would like to seek world peace. In fact there is a movement call COEXIST. I am not sure if you have read or seen it, but you can look it up on the internet. The word COEXIST is drawn such that the C is a crescent representing Islam, O is the symbol of peace, the letter e is attached with the symbol of + and -> which shows males & females. Then the letter X is the star of David and the letter I is drawn to represent the pagan symbol. The letter S is cleverly drawn to show the Yin & Yang symbol to represent Taoism and Confucianism and finally the letter T is drawn as a cross to represent Christianity. The movement is advocating the co-existence of all people, males & females, of all races and religions. The problem is that to co-exist, every one is always playing the waiting game of you first. I can co-exist with you but you have to move first to accept me. And so, we have the Palestinians Arabs tell the Jews to respect and follow their belief and the Jews are saying to the Arabs, no you accept my belief first. Since no one is willing to make the first move, COEXIST foundation is only a nice concept, a nice belief.

Christmas is a wonderful and joyful season and indeed many people would like to associate peace with Christmas. Make no mistake about this, we are talking about real peace. This is not a concept but a relationship.

The bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God. Well, Have you ever wonder how come God has a son? Do you know? I don’t know. I don’t know how and why God has a son but one thing I do know, God’s son is the savior of the world. In Luke 1 we read about the birth of Jesus. The angel told Mary that she will give birth to a Son and she is to call him Jesus, the Son of the most high The child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. (Luke 1:31,35).

Continue reading in Luke 2: 7 “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” And then the angels told the shepherds: But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2;10-14)

This is in fulfillment of the prophecy by Isaiah written hundred of years before Jesus was born. Isaiah wrote: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6).

Isaiah did not say a son is born. But a child is born, and a son is given. The Son is with the Father from the beginning.
The scripture is very clear that a Saviour name Jesus is born. He is among many things, Mighty God, the prince of peace.
Even though the Term "Son of God" occurs 47 times in the King James New Testament. Even though in reference to Jesus, it is a title as the heavenly, eternal Son who is equal to God the Father (John 5:18-24). He possesses all authority in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18), and Jesus had glory with the Father before the world was made (John 17:5).

During his ministry on the earth for about 3 years, Jesus taught and he preached and he performed many miracles. He walked on water, healed the sick. He calmed the storm and raised the dead. You name it. The teaching of Jesus Christ has been passed down to us until today and if you are to ask anyone, most people likes his teaching and most do not dispute his philosophy of love, forgiveness and justice. You know, love your enemy, turn the other cheek and protect the poor and the under privileged. He was harsh towards the hypocrites, the rich who were uncaring and the leaders who only looked after their own interest. Well who would dispute that? But if you are to mentioned he is the son of God, most would dispute. Many today question the identity of Jesus. This is the problem. If we do not accept the identity of the Prince of peace, can we expect peace in the Middle East? In the Korean peninsula? In Pakistan? In Africa and even in our country Malaysia.


One pastor make it very clear:

There will never be peace in the world until there is peace in nations.
There will never be peace in the nations until there is peace in communities.
There will never be peace in communities until there is peace in families.
There will never be peace in families until there is peace in individuals.
There will never be peace in individuals until we invite the Prince of Peace to reign in our hearts.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

So when you have the Prince of Peace reign in your heart, you have peace with God. This peace will bring the peace of God so that you can have peace with each other. It all begins with your relationship with God through His Son.

Ravi Zachariah told of a story that happened recently. With a few evangelical Christians, they were having a dialogues mediating between the Palestine and Israelites, trying to stop the bloodshed that killed so many innocent children and women. . In attendance was Syed Ala,one of the founder of Hamas. This is what Ravi Zachariah told him. “Syed Ala, your son is in prison, You have being in prison. 5000 years ago, Abraham took his son up to the mountain not far away from here. We don’t have to debate if it is Isaac or Ismael since the Muslim believe it was Ismael. But Abraham was about to sacrifice his son. As the axe is about to come down. God spoke to him. Do you know what God said. Sheik shook his head. Ravi continued. God spoke to Abraham “Stop. Do not lay a hand on the boy. For I myself will provide a lamb”. 2000 years ago, God took his son to another mountain, this time the axe didn’t stop. His son, His only son was sacrificed. Until you and I are willing to receive the son that God has provided for us, we will be offering ourselves as the sacrifice for the offering of power and land. Our sons will continue to fight.” You can hear a pin drop in the room in at the moment.

In March later this year, Ravi was in Damascas for the follow up meeting, In the meeting was a leading Cleric name Syed Hussein. In the midst of the discussion and translation, Ravi said that this gentle cleric bend over and spoke to him.. He said “May be it’s time for us Muslim to stop questioning if Jesus died on the cross and to start asking why he died.” Ravi said he never heard this in all his dialogues with other Muslims. He asked the cleric if he can quote him and got the permission that he even wrote an article about it.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are asked to get into the relationship with the son of God. He is Jesus. He came to died for sinners and then he rose from the dead and reign forever.

A story was told about a man in the Louvre looking at the famous painting of Mona Lisa. As he looked and looked, then he shook his head and said something like this painting is nothing special\. It’s not a nice painting. Then guard who was standing near by said to him. “Excuse me, sir. This painting is no longer on trial.” Mona Lisa is already established as a master piece and no one is asking your opinion.

So is Jesus Christ. The Bible has spoken and Jesus Christ has lived and proved He is the Son of God. He is no more on trial. Many today would like to question his identity but the fact is whatever your opinion is, He is still the Son of God, the prince of peace.

Jesus Christ born as a child into this world is not a knee jerk response by God to a tragic world that is plummeting towards destruction. It is not a last patch-job or a stop gap measure. This is a grand scheme of plan. It is a calculated choice. CS Lewis says it well: The Son of God becomes man so that men can become sons of God.

The Iphone is run with many small application programs call Apps. This Apps is very easy to use and can be customized easily. If you don’t like it, you just delete it. If you like it, then you can change the setting and run it the way you like it. We treat God like this Apps. We think we can customize God to fit our liking. We delete the part we do not like and squeeze or bend the part into our liking. But we need just to receive the gift from God, His Son, the prince of peace. Let the prince of peace reign in your heart. We don’t even have to customize it. Just receive him as you are and as He is. Once you have this relationship with Him, you can then have peace with Him.

The news gets so much better when you trust the Lord Jesus Christ with your whole heart. The Scripture promise that he who have the Son have the life, but he who does not have the son, does not have life. And if you are without Christ and have not placed your trust in the Son of God, just follow this simple prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I realize my sin separate me from you. I need your forgiveness and I thank you that Christ died that I may be forgiven. I believe He died for me. I believe He is alive today having been raise from the dead. I take Him as my Saviour and Lord.

If you have make this decision today, congratulation because you have found true peace and I would encourage you to get hold of any of the church members or oversight. Let us help you as you begin your walk with Christ. It will not only transform every Christmas from now on. It will change your life.

Building God’s House (1 King 5-8; 2 Chr 1-7)

The God whom we worship does not need a house to dwell in. Since He is all presence, He can be anywhere. Yet, after years of guiding the Israelites through the desert, God would one day gave instruction to Moses to build a tabernacle for him (Exodus 25). And when the tabernacle was completed, we read that the glory of God filled the whole tabernacle. Then came David who started the initiative to build a magnificent house for God. This was however, only to be realized by Solomon, his son.

And so after many centuries, we see God's house, which in the term of the world, we call it church, was built. Small church, big church, beautiful church, not so beautiful church, simple church, not so simple church are literally being built all over the world. Some of these churches are even national monument or heritage property. In fact if you are to visit some of these countries today, such as Italy, UK, a visit to church will be included in the itinerary but unfortunately not for the right reasons.

The building of the temple was recorded in details in 1 King 5-8 and 2 Chr 2-7. Let's turn to 1 King 5 and read concerning the temple preparation. In one of Moody's daily devotion, we read that Solomon's building of God's house were centered on

1. God's peace (1 Kings 5:4,5)
   

David had wanted to build a temple but his kingdom had been in a constant state of inner turmoil and wars with external powers. God had given Solomon peace - the right time for building the temple.

But now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well. So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. For the Lord told him, 'Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.'

2. God's promise (1 Chr 17:10-14)

We read in 1 Chr 17:11-14 that God promised David that his son would build the temple. The building of the temple was not Solomon's own vision.

" 'I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.'

3. God's purpose (1 Kings 5:5; 2 Chr 2:4)

Solomon's project was directed to the purpose of God. It is for His name and to worship him. 2 Chr 2:4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on Sabbaths and New Moons and at the appointed feasts of The LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.

In the building of the temple, there were many parties involved: King of Tyre (V10), Sidonian loggers (V6), Gebalite craftsmen (V18). Gentiles were an integral part of the project foreshadowing the words of Jesus in Mark 11:17: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'.

4. God's Glory (2 Chr 7)
After the temple was completed, Solomon brought the ark into the temple and held a big dedication ceremony. The people came and Solomon offers thousands of animals (22,000 cattle, 120,000 sheep & goats), prayer and feast for 14 days (1 King 8:65). Then we read in 2 Chr 7 that the glory of the Lord filled the temple. (Also 1 King 8:10) Indeed, the temple itself reveals the glory of God. Compared to the earlier tabernacle, the temple was vast in design. The tabernacle (Exodus 26) was only 675 square feet while the temple recorder here (v2) is 2700 square feet – four times bigger. And while the tabernacle was mostly curtains and dirt floor, the temple was covered in costly material. We have so much detail description on the floors, walls, ceilings – cedar, pine, gold as well as the carvings of cherubim, plants and flowers. In short, it tells us the God loves beauty and design. He is a God of splendor and glory.

We see that indeed these principles indeed continue for the new church building. Bigger and more beautiful churches were built as we just seen from the slide show earlier. Indeed many churches were built based on these principles. Although it is sad that many churches has ceased to bring before God the purpose and the glory today. In fact many churches are either turn into museum or even mosques today.

But wait, that's not all. For us Christians, the definition of church is well defined and well understood. We know that the true church is not God's building. It is a community of those believing in Jesus Christ also known as Christians. All the Christians, no matter what their nationality is, belong to God's people, to his Church. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, the church is the dwelling place of God. It is the church that come together that bring out the purpose of God and glorify him. The Church is not a mere human invention. She is the Church of the Living God (1 Tim 3:15). She is his building, his field (1 Cor 3:9), his household and dwelling place (Eph 2:19,22) and his flock (1 Pet 5:2). He chose her before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4) and gave her to his Son (John 17:6,12) who came to this world and purchased here with his own blood (Eph 5:25-27).

If we are to study church history, we will see that indeed the church shaped the western culture from the first century. The church defended the right of human being, stand up for the poor and afflicted. Humanitarianism starts with the early church. The Christian community of the era started orphanage, hospices and hospitals. When the plague hit Rome, only Christians went into the infested area, feeding soup, caring for the dying. It puzzled so many why would they do it. But because of this, the church spread dramatically because the Christians stayed in the city caring for the sick while everyone else left. The women were treated like human being which was not true for the then society. This has impacted the culture so much that within 3 centuries, Christianity became the dominant religion. Constantine was forced to declared Christianity as the religion for the Roman empire because the Christians had taken over the society. It was a glorious era as the church shared the good news of God's love and mercy.

So we ask : the church today – Do we live up to this calling and purpose?

I know it is disheartened to see church do not grow. It is even more saddened to see our brothers and sisters being persecuted and we see the church suffered. Sometimes, we are discouraged to see some churches wiped out completely.

The seven churches in Revelation is nowhere to be found today. What is left in the 7 churches of TRelevation is only a pile of stone or a few pillar structures. Likewise, our church today may not last also. None of us can presume the continuation of any given congregation. In the past, churches had been extinguished, and it is possible it can happen again today.

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey was once the biggest church. Emperor Constantine built it in 360 and it was a church until 1453 when the Ottoman Turk conquered the city and Sultan Mehmed converted into a mosque. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. They cannot worship there since there are too many Christian symbols. Even though they have covered it, many marks still visible.

We do not know what our Grace Chapel will be like in 50 years. The fact that we have lasted 50 years does not guarantee that we will last another 50 years. We all pray that under our watch, Grace Chapel will always be a place where God's purpose and His glory will be revealed. That it is a house where the gospel will be proclaimed and that God is honor and worship faithfully. I want to believe that all of us here will be willing to die for the faith if needed be.

There are indeed lessons for us and warn us that we will disappear if we are like some of these churches in Revelation.

Ephesus church is like our mega church today. When the church grows, instead of giving God the credit, we take credit for it. And so we see mega churches after mega churches and at the end the glory went to the people and not God. And God gave the warning to the church at Ephesus as recorded in Revelation 2. They were successful and Jesus even commented them on their hard work and perseverance. But unfortunately they forgotten their first love.

The Thyatira church is a universal church of toleration. In the name of toleration and peace, the truth is compromise and so the church preached that all ways lead to heaven and Jesus is only a way. In one recent interview in a church in USA, a pastor was asked if the church would accept homosexual member. The pastor said of course they do, just like they have overweight people and people was love chocolate. If we are to put homosexual into the same category as chocolate lovers or those who are overweight, there is no more ground on moral distinction.

The Sardis church, on the other hand is a dead church. Some commentator describe it as a morgue with a steeple. Full of programs and lots of activities tie to Easter and Christmas. But in actual case, the church forgets about the purpose it exists.

And then there is the church of Laodicea where Jesus Christ himself cannot even get into the church.

Indeed, We need to stand guard today. All of us and especially the Youth among us today must realize this foundation. If there is no peace among us, members fight against members, if we forget the purpose and the glory due to God. Grace Chapel will become Race Chapel. When we abandon the gospel, we abandon the means that God has for us. Other means may build the Church in numbers and in dollars, but only the means God has appointed can impart spiritual life to dead sinners and truly make them part of God's Church.

But don't want to paint a bleak picture. Instead, let me encourage you all.

First and foremost, we have to realize one key point here. And that God is the builder of the church. So many times, we forget that God is the author. He is the architect and we are only the contractor to carry out His job. It was Jesus who said "I will build my church". In Acts we read about God add to the church the numbers.

Let us turn our attention back to building of God's house by Solomon. Even though Solomon was the wisest and most intelligent man that ever lived, and even though he was the one who was going to build God's temple, yet God gave the plan of the temple to David and not to Solomon. It is really amazing to read in 1Chronicles 28:11-19 that the wisest man in the world had to be told how much gold he should use for the lamp stand and how to make forks!

You will notice that principles lay down by God for building the physical church, the temple is applicable to building the people church today. God does not reveal His plan for building the church as the Body of Christ, to clever people with good planning or management skills. What is needed is humble obedient heart.

In the 70s and 80s, Romania was ruled by the dictator Ceausescu who hated the church. He is known for demolishing churches as well as synagogues. One day he was driving through a section of the country and came across a beautiful church. He ordered his staff to have the church removed. The staff then told him that it was not a good idea as the people would revolt. He told the staff to hide the church. Now how do you hide a church? So the staff proposed to build tall building around it so that the church will not be seen. Work began and the government started to build tall apartments and office building surrounding the little church so that it is hidden. What happen is that when these buildings were completed, people living in the area began to attend the church and it grew. Remember, when it is dead end for us, God opens the way.

Another recent story that I heard was on Back to the bible radio broadcast by its President, Woodrow Kroll. For years, Back to the Bile would like to reach out to the Maldives which is 100% Muslim country. The country did not allow them to broadcast there so they broadcast from the nearby Seychelles. Because of this, it caused a diplomatic strain between this two countries and Back to the Bible has to pull out their broadcast. However, after a few months, BTB begin to broadcast and really aiming at the islands and the government of Maldives was so angry that they begin to publish in the local newspaper a full page ad that tell their people not to tune to this particular frequency. God is working behind the scene and indeed only He knows how many in Maldives actually have a chance to listen to the gospel and response to it.

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many building tumbled and even the church buildings were not spared. But one very encourage news reported all over the world is that among the many bodies that came to aid, the church and Christian organizations were one of the most actives. From Catholic to SDA to the many different denominations in the protestant church, help was almost non-stop. Newsweek reported churches were helping churches. Same stories were reported by Times herald, Fox news and so on. This is a picture of the church building is down but the real church is standing up.

So Let's not be discourage but be encouraged. As long we involve God (Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.) We just have to plant the seed and God will grow it. (1Cor 3:6-7) I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. so neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. Our responsibility is such that we STAY FAITHFUL and be weary of the pitfalls.

Thank God, It's Good Friday

A young girl step into the elevator and with the biggest smile said to the gentleman in the lift “TGIF”. The man looked at her and replied “SMIOT”. She looked at him with a very puzzled look and said, "TGIF" again. He responded once again by saying, "S-M-I-O-T". The girl then put up the biggest smile and say it slowly, “T-G-I-F” but without hesitation, the man replied equally slow, “S-M-I-O-T”. The girl was a little exasperated and decided to explain things; Thank God, It’s Friday, get it? The man answered, "SMIOT. Sorry Miss, it’s only Thursday".

Friday! it’s the day of the week the world all look forward to and so the term “TGIF” is synonymous with party and relaxation. But today is Good Friday and we all can say TGIF. Good Friday – The Friday before Easter, when the crucifixion of Jesus took place. TGIGF. Thank God it’s Good Friday.

Of course to many people, What’s so good about Good Friday? In fact, it is a day of remembrance and more appropriate to call it Mourning Friday since the disciples were grieving over their assumed loss. In some churches, for Good Friday, they cover all of their statues, pictures, and crosses with black cloth to symbolize the mourning they’re remembering. What’s so good about that? The problem with many of us Christians is that we live in a Good Friday World. By that I mean we are caught in the depressed and hopeless world. It is hard to accept suffering, illness and hardship. Some of us may have relationships problems, financial difficulties and shattered dreams. The trials of living on this fallen planet make this mourning Friday seem long. This is true isn’t it for the disciples. The Lord is crucified. They moaned and they were despaired. Their dream of ruling with him is shattered. In fact they gave up completely and went back to their fishing.

The story was told about Martin Luther deep depression. One day he woke up to find his wife dressed in black and look like preparing for a funeral. Thinking that one of their relatives has died, he asked his wife, who has passed away. She answered him, “God!”. “Don’t be ridiculous. God is not dead”, He said. To this, his wife answered, “Then why are you living as if God is dead!”

This morning I believe we can look at the cross and get some things good out of it and ask the question what does the cross mean to me? After all, the heart of the cross is the gospel (ie good news) and the heart of the gospel is the cross. There must be something good for us. But don’t just see Jesus hung on the cross from afar. Lets come closer to the cross and listen to Him. Jesus did say something. Was He cursing? Was He condemning His enemy? Or was it a self-pity cry?

When we put the accounts of the crucifixion together from the 4 gospels, we see that Jesus uttered 7 sentences which are known as the 7 last words or expressions of Jesus. We will take a look at 3 of them this morning.

But first, let’s set the stage back to Jesus betrayal at the garden. Jesus was in much agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, so much anguish that he actually sweats blood. Then came the betrayal, Judas with his band of people to arrest him. He is taken to Sanhedrin Court but not before meeting Caiaphas and also the kepo, busy body Annas, the Father in-law of Caiaphas. While standing before his accusers, they question and probe in hopes of discovering false evidence so that they can take action against him. When Jesus responded that he is the Christ, the Son of God they were quick to accuse him of blasphemy and he is condemned to death. They spit in his face, strike him with their fists, slap him and mock him with the words prophesy to us, Christ who hit you. Since the Chief Priests and Elders cannot administered capital punishment, they bound Jesus and led him before Pilate. When asked are you the King of the Jews, Jesus answered it is as you say. That was enough, they wanted Jesus crucified but they still need to put on a show to release a prisoner during the Passover, they choose Barabbas as opposed to Jesus. The crowd was in no mood of forgiving and they shouted crucify him; crucify him even though Pilate could find no fault in him. Remember, earlier Peter had denied him and all but one of the disciples were seen nearby (only John hang around) to even lend a moral support. When Pilate realized that Herod is in town, he wanted to wash his hand and push the matter into Herod’s hand. Herod, too was in no mood to help Jesus except that he had hoped to see Jesus perform a miracle. When nothing happened, Jesus was led to the Praetorium by the governor’s soldiers, he is stripped and they put a scarlet robe on him along with a crown of thorns on his head. They then proceed to put a scepter in his hand and repeatedly begin striking him over his head again and again, after which they took off his clothes, he was scourged and flogged. Imagine the physical and psychological torture Jesus endured the whole night until the morning. Then, they forced the beaten and battered Savior to carry his own cross down the way of the cross (Via Dolorosa) to Calvary hill. There they crucified Him together with another two thieves.

1st observation:
One of the very first word Jesus said as recorded in Luke 23 was 34"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." But who was the one who was wronged and suffered here? Who is the one got spat on? Who was the one that was whipped? Who was the one having crown of thorn pricked on his head? It was Jesus. He was sneered, “save yourself”. He was mocked and gambled with his garment. He experienced pain and insult and at the very point when the pain is fresh and the nerve not yet dull, Jesus prayed for his enemy. Hard to believe, yet it is true. Remember, during his early ministry, when Jesus healed people, he said “Your sin is forgiven”. But yet on the cross here, shouldn’t he had said “I forgive them all” but instead he was asking the Father to forgive. Do you really think the people do not know what they are doing? Judas knew he was betraying his good friend. Pilate couldn’t find anything against Jesus and still sentence Jesus to be crucified. The Sanhedrin had to produce false witnesses and trumped up the charges against Jesus. The soldiers knew he was innocent. Of course they know. What Jesus meant is that these people do not understand the enormity of the charges they are doing. They have no idea of the implication of their crime. But even then, it does not mean that they do not need forgiveness. Observed two things here: First by asking the Father to forgive, Jesus is telling the people he also forgave them. Because Jesus forgives, we also need to forgive those who wrong us. Jesus left us a model to forgive. There is no need to carry that burden of unforgiving spirit with us. Secondly, Jesus is saying that he had made it possible on the cross for us to repent of our sin and to receive forgiveness from the God, the Father . Jesus is the bridge that links the repented sinner to God. He is the mediator between man and God. He brings the two warring parties together. He is the channel that brings forgiveness to us. It is here on this cross that Jesus provide a substitutionary atonement where he took our place. Because of Him, a repent sinner is forgiven by the Father. For us today, we cannot claim innocent like those people that Jesus prayed for. We know, for the Bible give us a full account of what happened. We must response to this invitation from Jesus.

2nd observation:
Jesus said: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” What a pleasant confirmation. The two thieves that flank the sides of Jesus represent our world today. We have believers and unbelievers. The believers as opposed to the unbelievers are repented sinners who recognized the state we are in and acknowledge to Jesus as “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. The gospels recorded that initially both thieves insulted Jesus (Matt 26:44) but here in Luke 23 we read that 39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" while the other thief had a different attitude. 40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." The first thief show no faith and no respect. He thinks Jesus is like a good luck charm, to be called and used as he wished. Hey, save yourself and save me lah! But the second thief showed us a few attitudes: 1) He feared God. Don’t you fear God, he asked his companion. 2) He admitted his wrong deeds. He said we are punished justly. 3) He accepted the punishment as deserved. For we are getting what we deserve. 4) He acknowledged Jesus as righteous because he knows Jesus is going to heaven 5) He also acknowledged that Jesus is the king because he believes Jesus is going to His kingdom and 6) he pleaded for help and called Jesus to save him- Remember me.

Both thieves wanted to be saved from death. But their approach to salvation is so different: 1) 39"Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 2) 42"Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom!" Guess whom did Jesus save!

While on the cross, Jesus continues to display himself as the selfless one. Even when the rulers sneer at him, “He saves others, but he can’t save himself”, they acknowledged that Jesus’ presence here not for himself. Jesus died with selflessness and compassion on the first Good Friday. Another observation is that Jesus’ answer is today. Not tomorrow, not after you have stayed in purgatory or after you have undergone some transition. Not after the rupture or in the millennium. We don’t understand it. And we cannot prove it. We can’t tell you where paradise is but Jesus promised. “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

3rd observation:
Almost towards the end when Jesus was about to take His last breath. He said “ It is finished” (John 19:30). When Jesus said “It is finished”, what did he mean? Did he mean it is the end of hunger? No we still have baggers. Did he mean his death has got rid of diseases? No, we still have problem of sickness. Or did he mean it is the end of all suffering? Definitely not. Then what does it means? Its means the end of the need for the sacrifice for sin. Never again will God demand another price to be paid. His Son, Jesus Christ was the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for all our sins. The penalty for sin was paid in full. The payment was finished. When Jesus said, “It is finished”. It is finished. You will subtract the work when you try to add something into it. There is nothing require from us except to place our faith in Him. In a recent interview, Tiger Woods was seen wearing a Buddhist bracelet and he said he will wear it for the rest of his life and this is what he said. "In the Buddhist religion you have to work for it yourself, internally, in order to achieve anything in life and set up the next life. It is all about what you do and you get out of it what you put into it. I am always continuing to work.” No. We don’t have to. By putting our faith in Jesus Christ, your eternal salvation is secured and settled once and for all in heaven. It is finished. This means that the cross is the final confrontation with sin. Its means that the old life is over and that we are brand new and there is a new life for us to live.

The cross presents to us the irony of thing. The creator was put to death by his creatures. It is the offended that offer forgiveness. It is the one being captured, offer us freedom. It is the one who give us living water cried out “I thirst”. It is the one who is sinless that was punish for other’s sins. But the beauty is that in this irony, we find love, mercy and hope.

Conclusion

Of course, the dying words of Jesus are not His last words. For Good Friday is only the beginning. Jesus may be dead on the tree on Friday but Sunday is coming. He will resurrect on Sunday. In fact, the very first words after His resurrection were “Why are you crying?” (John 20:15). Yes we do not have to be Good Friday Christian, because there is forgiveness, there is promise of paradise and there is resurrection. Best of all, It is finished. We do not have to do anything except to accept the provision. So indeed, TGIF, Thank God It’s Friday. Thank God it is Good Friday.

Claims of Bible - The arguements

I have been thinking how do we make Chinese New year relevant to us in the church today. Chinese New year, like most other festivals, calls for a time of celebration. Celebrate the new and discard the old.

Then I thought about what Alison shared with us a couple of month ago. If you still remember, she said that the God we worship is Chinese because like our parents, he provides for us everything (1 Tim 6;17). In most Chinese families, the parents pay for our living expenses, school fees and we can stay with them even after we got married. Alison is right and as Asians, we are aware of the close knit family that we all are. Not only the Chinese, even the Indian also practice the same principle of all living together and that the parents take care of all.
If this notion of a father who is the head of the family and take care of all affairs is not new to Asians. Then why is this God of the Bible who supplies all our needs is kind of alien to a lot of Asians? Why is it that it is difficult for us to relate this great God of ours to many other friends and relatives around us. While tradition and cultural barriers may be part of the reasons, most people reject the gospel because they think it is not important and salvation can wait.

The phone ring and the little boy answers. The caller recognizes the boyish voice and asks
“Can I speak to your dad?”
“No!”
“OK Can I speak to your mum then?”
“No”
“Why not? and why are you whispering?”
“I am inside the closet.”
“Why are you inside the closet”
“I am hiding inside the closet and they can’t find me. They are all looking for me. He He He. They even call the police and Bomba. They are all here looking for me”

You may be like the little boy thinking it is so much fun to play hide and seek. In this case, playing hide and seek with God. While all effort is out there to look for you, you think it is fun that no one can find you. But, Just one caution, time may run out on you.

There are two things that is 100% certain and you cannot avoid. These are death and income tax. You may be able to cheat on your tax but you will not be able to cheat death.

The Niagara fall stands at 170 feet high and many people performed amazing stunt by walking across on tight rope or plunge down the fall in barrel or similar device. In 1911. Bobby Leach, although not the first person, successfully plunged down the mighty fall in a steel barrel. He survived the stunt although his knee caps were damaged. Many years later, while on his daily walk in Christchurch, New Zealand, he slipped on an orange peel. He was hospitalized. His fractured leg became infected and had to be amputated. 2 months later he died. Even the greatest dare devil cannot escape death.

So the question is where will you be in eternity? The Bible has many claims. And many big claims. Jesus Christ himself had made several audacious claims. Among them are he is the only way to heaven and no one can come to the Father except through him. Jesus Christ also claimed that he will prepare a place in God’s house for those belong to Him. And then there is this awful news that all sinners will have to face God one day and be judged. The Bible is very clear that whoever believe in God’s son, Jesus Christ will be saved and spared from the punishment of sin. In short, Believe in Jesus and you will avoid hell and enjoy heaven. A serious consequence indeed. But what if this worst scenario is not true? seems like an important question to figure out what will happen to me eventually. This is probably why the question is still being debate today. But today we are not going to look into whether the claim is true or not. Instead, we will look into the argument whether we should act regardless of the claim. An argument that both the pro or anti Christian can agree on.

When faced with uncertainty about the future, it becomes useful to look at all the different possibilities in order to compare them side by side. So here we are, there are two possibilities with the claim. One is False and the other is true. But since you believe that no one in either camp is able to say for sure if the claim is true of false but let’s agree that both is a possibility.

The next thing we are to look into is on what action we are to take with the claim. We have two columns for taking action and taking no action. This gives us a grid with 4 boxes and each box gives us a scenario for the future.

The first box is wasted money, wasted time and wasted resources. You are conned but you still enjoy peace, love and you live moral life. You still enjoy life but you missed out the pleasure of sinful life.

The second box turns out to be a right choice. No action needed since the claim is false. Nothing lose. You are no different from a orang utan or a mosquito. No real purpose in life. Eat, climb to your tree top, sleep and wait to die.

The third box still involves cost and resources. But it turn out to be effort well spent. Because there is believe, you live a life fulfilled, happy, content and purposeful. Because it turn out to be true, you know you will be in heaven for eternity.

The fourth box is the worst case possible. You were wrong. The end result is you have no salvation. You live a life like the Orang utan as in the second choice above. No only you lack purpose in life, you were at lost for every struggle and worst of all, despite all your effort, you end up in Hell, the last place where Christianity warned about.

The argument can be broken down into row or column thinking. Your future roughly fall into 1 of the boxes. While the claim may or may not be real, we cannot tell which row our future holds, but we can know for certain what our future will be because we control our action in each column. So it is like buying a lottery ticket and waiting for the jackpot to fall.

From the above, we see that take no action when the claim is false and take action and the claim is true turn out to be the correct choice.

But there is a consequence when we take action when the claim is false as well as take no action when the claim is real. But it is clear that the cost of taking no action has a very serious consequence because its effect is far more significant than if you take action but the claim happen to be false.

So it is clear that the cost of not doing outnumber the cost of doing. It is your inaction that has far greater significant.

At this point you may ask “How could a loving God send people to hell?” Max Lucado clears the misconception.
No. 1 God does not send people to hell. He simply honors their choice. In fac if you think about it, hell is the ultimate expression of God’s high regard for the dignity of man. CS Lewis said : “There are only two people of people in the end: those who say to God “Thy will be done” and those to whom God says “ Thy will be done.” You choose hell, hell you go. No, God does not send people to hell.

The second misconception is that God does not send people to hell. People do not go to hell. Sinners do. It is the rebellious, the self centered sinners. So, how could a loving God send people to hell? He doesn’t. He simply honors the choice of sinners.

Make this Chinese New year special. Celebrate with a purpose. Start taking action by making the right decision because the choice is in your hand and you control your own future.

When Big God Uses Little People

Our God of the Bible is described as One with no beginning and no ending, the Alpha and Omega.
He is described as omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, meaning that He has unlimited powers, He is universally present, and knows all things. Our God is the Author, Creator and Sustainer of all things. He made the heaven and the earth by His great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:17). He is indeed great!

As we read the bible from Genesis to Revelation, we witnessed God’s amazing stories from creation to redemption and finally to glorification. Throughout the whole events God always engage in people. God could have accomplished all things without involving any people at all. And guess what, Our God is big, very big. Yet He likes to use us, people, little people, very little people. All the people used by God were little, insignificant, obscure people. In fact none of them were great but full of imperfection.

Abraham was an idol worshipper and he was too old. Moses stuttered. Noah got drunk. Jacob was a schemer.. David's armor didn't fit. David was too young. David had an affair. Solomon was too rich and has too many wives. Naomi was a widow. Samson had long hair. Jonah ran from God. Gideon and Thomas both doubted. Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal. Elijah was burned out. Paul was a murderer. So was Moses and David. Hosea's wife was a prostitute. Joseph and Mary were nobody. John the Baptist had weird wardrobe and diet requirement. John Mark was a quitter. Martha was a worry soul. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. Timothy had ulcers. Peter was afraid of death. All the 12 disciples were little ordinary fishermen or tax collector or some unknown profession. The list goes on and on.

If Jesus Christ himself is lowly being a carpenter’s son, there is no reason for us to think that God will use special people. In fact, if we care to read through the genealogy of Jesus Christ, we will find among his ancestor, murderers, prostitutes and adulterers. All of them are just ordinary unknown little imperfect people. Yet they all accomplished God’s purpose in this earth. King David violated at least 60% of the 10 commandments. True, we all have areas of weakness and have experienced failure at some level, but God will still use every one who makes him or herself available to God. We must serve faithfully and ensure that using the gifts and talents he has given to each of us are not wasted.

Let just quickly sum up their accomplishments when they were used by God.

-Abraham- Idol worshiper became father of nation
-Moses – murderer, run away became the leader and led the Israelites out of Egypt
-David – Shepherd boy became most beloved king
-Esther – Gentile lady became Queen and save her people
-12 disciples are ordinary people who led and spread Christianity
-Apostle Paul, murderer and having a torn in the flesh became the most powerful writer who was used by God to give us so much truth

So what was the secret?

Let’s look at 2 little people.

1 Puah in Exodus 1. Puah was a midwife in Israel who was told by Pharaoh to kill all the baby boys because the Israelites were increasing in numbers. The Israelites is going to outnumber the Egyptians as they become mightier by domination in population.
In the latest news in December , 2009, I read that USA currently has 308 million people and by 2050, it will have close to 399 million people and by then, the white will no longer be the majority. With the lower birthrate and immigration, Hispanic, African and Asians will be slightly more than 50%. You see birthrate changes the demography of a nation or even a continent.
One of the plans of Islam is to dominate the world by populating the world, and that strategic plan is something that Pharaoh was very concerned about the Israelites.
A little more than 20% of the world's population today is Muslim. The growth rate of the Muslim population which averages 1.9 percent between the years 2000 and 2006 is far higher than the world's population at large, and that's 1.2 percent.

Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, in a speech which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on April 10, 2006 said: "We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe - without swords, without guns, without conquests. The fifty million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades."

- "Allah mobilizes the Muslim nation of Turkey, and adds it to the European Union."
- "That's another 50 million Muslims. There will be 100 million Muslims in Europe. Albania, which is a Muslim country, has already entered the E.U."
- "Bosnia, which is a Muslim country, has already entered the E.U. Fifty percent of its citizens are Muslims."
- "Europe is in a predicament, and so is America. They should agree to become Islamic in the course of time, or else declare war on the Muslims."
17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Puah was willing to disobey Pharaoh because she feared God. When queried by Pharaoh, she told him that the Hebrews woman was so strong that before they arrived, the mother had already delivered. Yet we did not read about Puah being punished by Pharaoh. In fact we read 20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. That’s why the population continued to increase. You see when you are working for God, He protects you.

2. Obadiah in 1 Kings 18

We first read about Elijah in 1 Kings 17 where he announced to Ahab the wicked king of Israel that there will not be rain on the earth for 3 1/2 years. Now he is going back to announce that the rain is coming.
3 and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD. 4 While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)
Now let’s be clear about this little unknown person Obadiah. He is not to be confused with the prophet Obadiah as Obadiah is simply a very common name in Israel. He was an unknown who worked for Ahad. Yet this was the man used by God to further His kingdom.

But he feared God greatly. And while Jezebel, the wife of Ahab was busy killing people, he had hidden 100 prophets in two caves and fed them with food and water. Ahab was the most wicked king and yet Obadiah dared to hide behind him and the evil queen to save the prophets speaks volume about his faith in his God.

Verse 3 tells us that he is a devout believer in the Lord and verse 12 tells us that he had worshipped the Lord since his youth.

But because he was loyal and an excellent worker, Ahab trusted him. Now do you think Ahab would ever have done that had he known this man was hiding the prophets of the Lord? Absolutely not! So we have a man here who is a good citizen of the state, but he does what he knows is right even though his king does not. He serves the Lord God.

Today, even in the 21st century we still read about many committed Christians willingly defile the authority because of their faith. Go to persecution.com, Barnabas or Voice of Martyr web site, we read that from China to Africa to India, all over the world, many are willing to stand up for Christ even to the point of death.

Remember Corrie Ten Boon? She opposed this evil in her society and joined the underground movement in an attempt to hide Jews from the Germans and to smuggle them to safety. These kindly, law-abiding people broke every rule in the book to save the lives of the men, women and children being hunted by the Nazis. Their home became a hiding place, but the cost of their bravery was betrayal and ended up in the dreaded Ravensbruck concentration camp where her sister perished.

God used two little people unknown Puah and Obadiah to further his kingdom by protecting his people and his prophets. Notice the common denominators of these little people used by God:

1. They make themselves available and ready to spring into action
2. They feared God and not man
3. They have faith in God
4. As a result, they were courageous and responded to God’s calling and were used by God mightily.

What about us today? Are we ready to be used to further his kingdom by increasing the population of God’s people and preserving his people by sharing the gospel to all and to support his ministry.

Just like Obadiah, God can use our faith. We take courage that we too can in our work place, our community , our school, and in our little area of contacts be strong and stand up for our God and be used by Him.