So, This Is Religion ...!?

The Ocean of Grace

Aquarium is like religion. Your aquarium and mine are different, we decorate our own aquarium.... When I put things in your aquarium, you don't necessary like it. Even cartoon "Nemo" knows that he doesn't belong in an aquarium!

Don't live in an aquarium but live in sea - the ocean of GRACE!

Aquarium is like religion. We decorate our own aquarium.... Your aquarium and mine are different. Even cartoon "Nemo" knows that he doesn't belong in an aquarium! So, when I put things in my aquarium, these things are not real and lifeless. They are just a decoration.

So don't live in an aquarium but live in ocean that is full of abundance life ~ the ocean of GRACE!

Aquarium is like religion. We decorate our own aquarium.... Your aquarium and mine are different. Even cartoon "Nemo" knows that he doesn't belong in an aquarium! So, when I put things in your aquarium, you don't necessary like it.

Therefore, don't preach from an aquarium but preach from an ocean ~ the ocean of GRACE!

While swimming in the ocean of GRACE, don't try to pick up what is belonging to the ocean of GRACE and place them in our aquarium again...! 

JESUS > religion

Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus || Spoken Word ~ Jefferson Bethke

A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day. At it's core Jesus' gospel and the good news of the Cross is in pure opposition to self-righteousness/self-justification. Religion is man centered, Jesus is God-centered. This poem highlights my journey to discover this truth. Religion either ends in pride or despair. Pride because you make a list and can do it and act better than everyone, or despair because you can't do your own list of rules and feel "not good enough" for God. With Jesus though you have humble confident joy because He represents you, you don't represent yourself and His sacrifice is perfect putting us in perfect standing with God!

Jefferson Bethke

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jefferson-Bethke/339101236109342

How to Walk After the Flesh in 20 Easy Lessons

Author : Paul Ellis
Website: Escape To Reality 
Post Title: How to Walk After the Flesh in 20 Easy Lessons
Written On: 11 August 2011


If you’ve ever taken young children to the zoo, you will know that the big animals are initially more popular than the small ones. Elephants, rhinos, and tigers get more attention than otters, turtles, and geckos. And so it is with works of the flesh.

Ask any Christian to list the works of the flesh and they will likely respond with the list found in Galatians 5:19-21: adultery, hatred, idolatry, murder, etc. Paul calls these the “manifest” or “obvious” works of the flesh. They are the biggies, the elephantine examples of what it means to live apart from God. But the Bible also provides dozens of lesser examples of fleshly living that you may not be so familiar with. I’ve listed some of these lesser works of the flesh below.

Walking after the flesh is when you attempt to get your needs met independently of God. It’s trusting in yourself (your abilities, your understanding) and living solely from the basis of your earthly experience (what you see, hear, touch, etc.). Now here’s the important bit: You can walk after the flesh in the pursuit of both good things and bad things. Paul’s manifest works of the flesh – the biggies – are all clearly associated with bad deeds, but some of the lesser works in the list below are not bad at all. This is a critical point. We are not comparing good deeds with bad but flesh with spirit. And as we saw in the last post, when you’re walking after the flesh even good things can be bad for you.

A classic example of something that is good yet bad for you is God’s law. It is not sin, it is good! But try to live by it and you will find yourself walking after the flesh. Paul said his ability to keep the righteous requirements of the law was ineffective because he tried to do so in the puny strength of his flesh (Romans 8:3). Living under self-imposed law is one of the primary ways we walk after the flesh – hence its position at the top of my list.

Just a reminder: The wrong way to read this list is the carnal way – identifying things you should or should not do. Christianity is a bit like marriage – it’s a love-relationship. You will kill it if you try to reduce it to a set of rules. We are less interested in the what than we are in the how. So how do we walk after the flesh? 

Here are 20 ways:

1. Try to keep God’s law (Romans 7:9-25): Think that you have to do stuff to be blessed (Ephesians 1:3), that you have to perform to stay saved (Galatians 2:21). The old covenant is the fleshly covenant; the new covenant is the spirit covenant.

2. Set your mind on earthly things (Philippians 3:19, Jn 3:12): Keep your eyes on the here and now. “What you see is all there is” (Colossians 3:2). Entangle yourself in the affairs of life (2 Timothy 2:4).

3. Think about how to gratify the lusts of the flesh (Romans 13:14): If it feels good, do it (Romans  14:17).

4. Pursue your goal through self-denial (Colossians 2:21-3): Don’t look. Don’t drink. Don’t touch. Fast twice a week. Practice perfectionism (Galatians  3:3, KJV).

5. Make sacrifices to impress God (Hebrews 10:1,8): Be conscious of your debt to Jesus and consider it your duty to serve. Put your ministry or business before your marriage.

6. Load others with heavy burdens (Luke 11:46): Expect your Christian staff to work harder for less pay. Send the message that the work is more important than their families or their health. Shackle them to your vision. Use emotional manipulation or, worse, scripture, to pressure people to support you.

7. Take pride in your independence (Jeremiah 17:6): Respect no one (1 Peter 2:17). Scorn authority (2 Peter 2:10). Flaunt your freedom (1 Corinthians 8:9). “Who needs fathers? I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12).

8. Worry about your life (Matthews 6:25, Luke 8:14, Philippians 4:6): “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?” Entertain fear and doubt. “I can’t do it” (Philippians 4:13).

9. Cultivate self-belief (2 Corinthians 12:10): “I can do it!” Boast in your accomplishments (2 Corinthians 11:30). Boast in your wisdom, strength and riches (Jeremiah 9:23).

10. See yourself as a victim (Romans 8:37): “Woe is me. I’m not worthy. My sinful nature made me do it.” Blame God (James 1:13). Blame the devil (1 John 4:4). Blame your circumstances (Deuteronomy 28:13).

11. Be a man-pleaser (Galatians 1:10): Wonder, what will my boss think? How will the board react? How will this affect the tithers? Say only what they want you to say.

12. Make plans in a worldly manner (2 Corinthians 5:7, Jeremiah 17:5): Do a SWOT analysis; list the pros and cons; make decisions based on money. Manage the risks and stay in control.

13. Try to grow a ministry (Psalms 127:1, 1 Corinthians 3:6). Work hard to make things happen.

14. Define success by human standards (John 8:15, 1 Corinthians 1:26): It’s all about the numbers. “How many soldiers do we have? How many attend the prayer meeting? Are donations increasing? Are we doing better than last year? Am I doing better than my predecessor?”

15. Nurture your reputation (Philippians 3:8): Put on a good show and make a good impression (Luke 16:15; Galatians 6:12). Be face conscious. Make a name for yourself (Genesis 11:4) and blame the wife when things go wrong (Genesis 3:12).

16. Pray long prayers, especially if others are listening (Matthew 6:5-8).

17. Regard people from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16): Engage in office politics. View new-comers as potential recruits or leaders for your programs. Cultivate task-based friendships. Choose the best-looking man for the job (1 Samuel 16:7). Show favor to the one with money (James 2:3).

18. Sacrifice people on the altar of your principles (1 Corinthians 3:1-4): “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Judge the weak (Romans 15:1). Distance yourselves from those who aren’t as doctrinally pure as you (1 Corinthians 9:22).

19. Combat worldly problems with worldly weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4): Put your faith in politics. Start fights (Zechariah 4:6). Picket the abortion clinic. Protest the gay parade (Isaiah 42:2).

20. Pretend to be Jesus (Matthew 24:24): Draw people to your ministry and build toward yourself (1 Thessalonians 3:8). Teach others to depend on you. Stand in the gap. Try to crucify yourself (Colossians  2:20).

This is a yukky list and frankly, I didn’t enjoy writing it. Just about everything on this list, I’ve done. God help me, some of the things on this list I’m still doing! Don’t let this list condemn you. A better response is to get mad because we’ve been conned! The prince of this world has deceived us into thinking that this is how things are done, that the fleshly way of life is normal. But this is not normal life for one born of the spirit. We act this way out of habit and ignorance. We walk after the flesh because when we were in the flesh this was how we lived:

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. (Colossians 3:7)

I have to say this again: Some of the activities on this list are good! Please don’t think I am against the law or fruitful ministries or planning or praying without ceasing. I am not. But understand that the carnal mind longs to be told what to do when God is much more interested in how we are doing it. Are we trusting in the power of our might or are we resting confidently in His? Are we walking as “mere men” (1 Corinthians 3:3) or are we being revealed as mature sons and daughters of our Father? Flesh cannot give birth to spirit. Neither can walking after the flesh empower you to live the life God has called you to live.

I encourage you to review the list again and ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify those areas that He wants to deal with today. “But Paul, that’s pretty much everything on that list!” Don’t panic! Your heavenly Father knows you are a work-in-progress. Some of these issues can be dealt with now; others can wait. He loves you regardless, without any reference to your performance. He knows everything that you’ve done and everything that you’re ever going to do. It’s impossible to disappoint Him.

In this post I’ve given you 20 generic examples of walking after the flesh. In my next post I’m going to provide some classic examples of walking after the flesh found in the Bible. Then, in the post after that, I will give you a simple “flesh test” that you can take on your own. This test consists of two easy questions that will help you determine whether you are walking after the flesh or the spirit in any given situation. In other words, it will reveal those areas in your life where freedom and joy and peace are about to come bursting through!

Grace Cannot Be Comprehended With Our Minds

A note written by "Rabbi" Andrew Ho in his Facebook page.

Grace cannot be comprehended with our minds. It is meant to be comprehended with our hearts.

For many years, I have always understood grace as a theory and knowledge in my head. No doubt, I could have explained this gospel very accurately and well put together. I could even go to the extend of explaining how grace can produce holiness. Yet, if you were to ask me just a year back, I would in theory told you the same thing. But if I were to be very honest, I have never really experienced it myself. The problem was I never did believed "grace" through my heart, I was merely keeping them as a knowledge, doctrine, theology in my head. Therefore the fruit were not evident.

  

Christian likes to talk about faith, hope and love. In that order, the greatest of these is love. When they talk about this, a sub-standard preacher will generally tell people to "love!" That "love" is the most important thing, we must love others! Yet in imposing a requirement to love is just as good as focusing on works and the doing of things. We have forgotten that the only 'work' the bible requires us to do is believe. To believe is faith. When you start believing, only then hope ensued, and when hope that is in Jesus Christ is alive, only then love grows out of you.

  

Many people falls into the trap of understanding through the mind. There will be a lot of reasoning, a lot of intellectual discussion so called. Yet in all these things, it produces absolutely nothing. For as long as these knowledge are thought just as another piece of doctrine, it is of no power unto your life. I have a friend that came to understand the gospel of grace almost the same time as I do (9 years ago). As a matter of fact, he knows much more than me. He would have listened to more sermons and read the bible more, and understand them better too. Today, I don't even know if he still goes to a church.He perhaps had more understanding than I do, but one thing he lack. He had tried to reason out the gospel with his mind, but never let his heart receives it. He had probably a lot of head knowledge. Therefore, the gospel did very little in helping him change.  If you sit through with him through a sermon, he would have so many criticisms on the preacher's message. So much so, you'd feel stress even hearing about them.

It is only in recent months, when I am faced with a worrisome situation, difficult people or temptations. I started to keep reminding myself of the grace of God, Jesus' sacrificed and love. I kept telling my heart such as and be reminded in every way. Every time I am faced with a situation which I would, in my previous self take things to the extreme. I later found out that I have a greater capacity to overcome them as I do so. Then I started to realize that in the process of such, I am actually becoming a quote and quote "holier" person than I was. I may have "overcame" sinning. I was surprise, I was very surprise. What I have been telling people it is possible, I am now experiencing it myself.

  

I have also the privilege to sit down with people who thinks they know a lot about the "gospel of grace". Sitting with them, they would love to think that I am a humble student, looking to learn from their infinite wisdom. Of course, many times I would just sit and listen while nodding my head going "yes, yes, I agree with you. I can understand where you're coming from". Me being as lowly as I can get, I don't get a lot of talk time when I am with adults. They would love to be on the talking side and I do just listening. If I can offer to you a tip about ministering to people, it is not about imparting knowledge to the head. You try to teach people something, they get it, they keep it in mind, they forget it in time. But when you are able to touch their hearts, that, they remember for a long time.

  

So I am not looking to tell people more about what I know in the doctrine. I am looking to share to people and impart it to their hearts. I do not seek to tick people off with more knowledge or doctrines about Jesus. I relate it to them in a way they can grasp with their heart and encourages faith, encourages them to believe. I find that much more powerful than another theological lesson. For Grace cannot be comprehended with our minds. It is meant to be comprehended with our hearts.

  

For some of you, perhaps you may not be able to understand what I am saying. It took myself a long time to come to realization of where I've gone wrong either. If Abraham had always been a picture of righteousness through faith, than Sarah was the picture of Grace. While king Abimelech and the pagans fell for the beauty of Sarah, grace. They never accepted Abraham, signifying righteousness through faith. Yet we have to understand that grace and righteousness through faith goes hand in hand. If you take just a side, Isaac will never be produced. This is what I coined as the "fascination of grace". Where people are impressed, intrigued by such a beautiful gospel. However they never really receive it into their hearts. They kept it in their head, like a masterpiece in a museum - for display only.

  

How is it possible for us to understand anything if we do not reason it with our head. This my friend is how God works that is far from human wisdom. We would have thought that only when we understand then we are able to believe. That is absolute garbage. If we had understand something so thoroughly, we would not need faith to believe in it. It doesn't take faith at all.

  

When you receive him and believe His grace through your heart. That is faith in action. Then you will find yourself receiving revelations that strikes as divine understanding. A much more superior form of knowledge, that is wisdom. The Holy Spirit will come and reveal to you more things than you had thought, and when right believing is involve, the right doing will follow suit. Only then the fruit will be evident. God bless.

THIEF and ABUNDANT in Chinese Character - A Tale of Two Cove...

THIEF and ABUNDANT in Chinese Character 

John 10

9  I am the door. If anyone enters in by Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. 

10  The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

We are all vessels.
盗 (thief) = If we (our vessels) contain anything that is secondary, we have been robbed!
盛 (abundant) = If we (our vessels) contain the finished work, it results in the abundant life.

Who Is The Teacher?

Who Is Our Teacher?

By Mick of Searching For Grace on January 22nd, 2010 

Pastor Moses has no problem with the theology that Jesus is in every believer, and that the he is our teacher, it’s just that he doesn’t really believe it will ever practically work.

John on the other hand, believes if Jesus was simply lifted up more by Pastor Moses and the church could see Jesus in the glory of his finished work, then they would all realise just how much they can trust in Jesus, the teacher that they all have within them, to lead them and teach them in life.

Fruits

Religious people are more concerned on bearing fruits than the condition of the root. Their religious minds have been blocked from seeing that the law demands bearing of fruits while grace graces the condition of the root. The famous passage from John 15 is therefore causing a lot of concern among the religious Christians and therefore had been frequently used to demand fruits from their followers.

John 15:5 ~ "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:6 ~ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

My friends, plants do not strain and struggle to produce fruit. Instead, by planting them on good soil, with adequate exposure to sunlight and water, fruits are produced effortlessly. Same thing happen to us as a born again Christian, with adequate exposure to the SON of Righteousness, with the constant irrigation of the living water from the word of Christ and planting ourselves in the soil of grace (good soil) instead on the law (soil mixes with stone), good fruits are produced naturally in our life without any effort. 

Jesus is grace personified. He is the mediator of the New Covenant and He is the vine. If bearing fruits is our concern and our duty, then this branch of us is definitely not abide to the vine and is withering. We, as New Covenant believers are spiritual being and should never try to justify ourselves by law… or else we are alienating ourselves from Jesus and we have fallen from grace. Jesus is then becoming of no effect to us because we are  now what John 15 verse 6 says, and no more in the vine….

Galatians 5: 4 ~ You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

My friends, Galatians 5:4 does not say when we sin we are alienated from Christ but when we try to obey the commandments. Abide in Jesus give us victory over every situation. So is His grace because He had conquered everything for us. Our victories in every situation are fruits, our success in every area of our life is fruits, our well being is fruits, our health is fruits, and family harmony is fruit…

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace and if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned...

Listen To Him!

The famous account of the Mount of Transfiguration signified the universal Summit between the God Head and the Ministry Heads of mankind. It was intended for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the Summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult decisions. The news of this Summit had considerable media exposure as this event was well covered in the Good News of Matthew, Mark as well as Luke.

In this account, our Lord Jesus was bringing His disciples Peter, James and John up to Mt. Hermon, the venue of this Summit. As Peter speaks of Stone, James speaks of Supplanted while John speaks of Grace in Greek respectively, Jesus was in actual fact, attending this Summit with a walking agenda of “To replace the Law with Grace”.

During the meeting, Moses, the Ministry Head of the Law Ministry and Elijah; the Ministry Head of the Prophetic Ministry appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus, who is grace personified. They spoke about the Jesus’ departure, of which He was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. Jesus’ death was always and still is, the centre theme of Heaven. Peter, the Head Boy from the School of Disciples, witnessed this splendid moment and with amazement, out of his religiosity he voiced out his suggestion of making three tabernacles: one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

Our friend Peter, was like anyone of us who is religious, like to put Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the same level. It is out of our religiosity that we start the Sunday Service by allowing Elijah to point out our sins and subsequently followed by our confession, then followed by praise and worship. Moses will then take over the pulpit to tell us what wrong with us, how and what we should do. To end the service, we will then allow Jesus to step up for the altar call…

While Peter was suggesting of putting Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the same level, the Holy Spirit descended as cloud and enveloped them which made them very much afraid, and they were interrupted by a voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to Him." Listen to who? When the voice had spoken, they found no one but Jesus… Moses was gone and so as Elijah.

This meeting adjourned with a warm affirmation of "do not be afraid" from the Lord. The resolution of "LISTEN TO HIM" i.e. "Replacing law with grace" was agreed...

In this dispensation of grace, are we really in tune with our Heavenly Father’s will? The Old Testament prophet calls out our sin to remembrance while the New Covenant prophet calls out the righteousness of Christ in remembrance. The law of sin and death tell us how and what we should do while through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free and tell us what the Lord had finished doing at the Cross. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Him.

We are to LISTEN TO HIM from the start to the end of our service not Elijah and Moses…

LISTEN TO HIM... listen to Grace!!!

Intense Prayer

By Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace

What’s Really Going On?
By mick on September 30th, 2009

The last conversation Pastor Moses had with Eric, he told him “While you’re doing all the annoying jobs around the church, I’m praying intensely”

Unfortunately, Eric doesn’t know that ‘Prayer’ is Pastor Moses’ code word for ’sleep’

What’s really going on?

Ya Eric, I agree with you. Your Pastor is actually praying in “NOSE” right now, and is indeed, intense...

Religious Obligations

I just love this comic strip from Mick Mooney... Though we may live in different part of the world, from a different social background, brought up from a different culture..., it seems that we are walking through the same Christian path...

I'm convinced that this spiritual influence is from the same religious spirit, and this is happening in different parts of the Body of Christ! Therefore, if we are not of GRACE, we are of the work..., if we are not of FAITH, we are of the Law..., if we are not of the SPIRIT, we are of the flesh...!

If we are not being enlightened in GRACE and established in Jesus' RIGHTEOUSNESS, we will never understand what kind of message Mick is trying to bring across...

By Mick Mooney of Searching for Grace

Religious Obligations
By mick on September 25th, 2009

Pastor Moses often talks about how Christianity is not a religion, but John is a little confused. It seems Pastor Moses likes to the idea of Christianity not being a religion, but he’s still preaching about religious obligations every week?

Building The Kingdom

By Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace

I Know you Pastor Moses, next is fund raising!!!

The Kingdom Is Within Us
By mick on August 26th 2009


Luke 17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.

Church Orientation

Again, I can't help myself but to post this comic strip from Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace because I was from that sort of environment with the same obligations portrayed by Mick. I was wondering and wandering in that religious wilderness for 7 years, 7 perfect years! Wow... praise God it's 7 years not 40 years! Gosh... What a life...!

By Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace

Church Orientation
By mick on July 22nd, 2009

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

You have to love the good news (Gospel of Grace) of Jesus Christ. Through His perfect finished work upon the cross, we now enjoy the blessings of a relationship with God that does not depend on our religious performance, but upon His glorious grace!!

Unfortunately Pastor Moses (one of the characters in my comic strip) seems to have missed that point!

Nemo Knows, Do you...?

Have you ever thought of those fishes in the ocean? Even though the water in the ocean is salty, the bodies of these ocean fishes are not affected by the sea water. Their fleshes are fresh and not salty. When we cook them for our meals, we still need to put salt to make them tasty. Hmmm… interesting right?

For all I can understand is that, these fishes are alive! They just live out their life as fishes in the ocean! Nobody ever taught them on how to be fishes in the ocean. They just have the ability to pursue life in the ocean because they are not rebellious. They obey the instinct given by the Creator!

Christians are the same. We are righteous because of Jesus’ Finished Work. This mighty divine exchange had already happened at the cross. If we are believers, we are new creations. As new creations, we just need to live out our righteous life, the abundant life given by our Lord.

We do not need to perform to deserve our righteousness anymore! To be radical, we don’t even need to be taught on how to live a righteous life; because the Holy Spirit is already in us convicting us of righteousness! If we are those Christians who still choose to perform to deserve our righteousness, we just promote among ourselves another form of religion. We are worst then those fishes in the ocean, as we are rebellious to our Savior. It is sad to see that majority of the body of Christ today still try to live like a Christian (be righteous) instead of living out their Christian life (righteous life)!

If those fishes are trying to perform to be fishes in the ocean, life will be tough and they will end up dying in the ocean. Look at those dead fishes. In order to prevent them from decaying, they are preserved through seasoning with salt. This kind of fishes is called preserved salted fish! We can try our best to preserve them, but they are dead, being seasoned with salt, laid under the sun to be dried and end up hanging in the grocery shop for sales. Salted fish do not have the life to choose for themselves what they want and where they want to be. They are just helpless and being manipulated.

If we are Christians and still trying to be a Christian, we are as good as those salted fish. Religious people will try to preserve us through their religious teachings, demanding our performance to be righteous. We are being seasoned by their legalistic salt, laid to dry on the stones and bound by our religiosity from choosing what we want and where to go. We are also helpless and live a manipulated life in a religious kingdom…

Our Lord loves to use natural things of this world such as fish, bird, bread, stone, serpent, fig tree, lilies in the field to teach the mystery of His truth. His grace is ever present and fully lavished in our midst. Out of His outrageous grace, He lavishes His Spirit to convict us of righteousness. We need to come to our senses and respond to His conviction that we are righteous by faith not by work. Only through our establishment in His righteousness then we can start to appreciate His grace!

Romans 5:21b ~ so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace can only reign in a believer who is Christ conscious and righteousness conscious. If we are still full of sin consciousness, we have fallen back into law and we end up trying to justify ourselves through our law keeping and self effort.

Galatians 2:16 ~ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Once we can understand that it is all about His grace, we will start receiving His abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness and we will reign in life through this one Man, Jesus Christ.

I do not want to be a salted fish. I do not want to be a Christian being preserved and manipulated by religion. I want to be those fishes in the ocean knowing that they are fishes belong to the ocean and just following the instinct given by the Creator. I want to be a Christian knowing that I am forever righteous and live out the righteous life that my Savior had given me! He had come to give me His abundant life and He had told me that His sheep knows His voice! I just want to click on to His frequency of Grace and receive the abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness.

Even Nemo knows that he belongs to the ocean not aquarium… As for me, I know I belong to Jesus not religion. Hmmm... what about you? Nemo knows, do you...?

Back To The Basic

To be a doer of Word is to believe that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. How hard it can be for the Body of Christ to believe that they are righteous? It is very very hard...... cos' the Body of Christ has been "Christianized"!

Yes, we have been "Christianized"! We need to go back to the basic… go back to our first love… go back to the time when the Holy Spirit first convicted us of righteousness. It was in John Chapter 16 that Jesus first expounded on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin, the Body of Christ of righteousness and to judge the prince of this world!

When did the Holy Spirit first come to convict of the Body of Christ of righteousness?

It was at the Upper Room when the Day of Pentecost had fully come. The Holy Spirit came like a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and He filled the whole house where the 120 disciples were sitting. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

How long since the Body of Christ has been convicted of righteousness?

Since then, it has been two thousand years… all these while, the Body of Christ has been struggling to be taught on the issue that is actually their own rightful nature, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus... What a conspiracy?

If you are a man, do you have to be taught on how to be a man? Or, if you are a woman, do you have to be taught on how to be a woman? But Christian, as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, still need to be taught that we are righteous. Duh…!

Thanks to all those religious and legalistic teachings that encourage deserved and merited favor… this type of teaching is "Christianizing" the Body of Christ. We need to be "gospelized" by the teaching on undeserved and unmerited favor! It is all about His grace, His undeserved and unmerited favor! The Lord is stirring up Gospel Revolution to “gospelize” the world and the Body of Christ… That is why we need to be brought back to the basic as the time of shaking is here… so that things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
Hebrews 12:23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12:25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
Hebrews 12:26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO HEAVEN."
Hebrews 12:27 Now this, "YET ONCE MORE," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

We just need to believe that we are righteous by faith; we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This is our rightful identity. By believing we are righteous by faith is our only work that we need to do to prove that our faith is not dead. The rest are blessings for which we only have to say Amen, to the glory of God through us.

It is so easy because of His grace. Let us go back to the basic and start majoring on the major... let us "gospelize" the "Christianized"!

Faith Without Work Is Dead?

Because of these bible verses in the Epistle of James, the amount of laboring in the Lord from a believer has been used as a checklist to monitor the level of faith a believer has...

1. James 2:14 ~ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

2. James 2:20 ~ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

3. James 2:26 ~ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

This Epistle from James, the Elder of the early Churches in Jerusalem then, was written to the twelve tribes of his Jewish counterpart scattered among the nations. This Epistle was the first letter ever written in Bible time at around AD48 to AD62, about 15 years after our Lord was glorified and the birth of churches at that Feast of Pentecost.

The Jewish believers then were struggling between putting their faith in the Lord and obeying their Jewish tradition which derived from the Commandments. They were torn between two lovers (Law and Grace), feeling like a fool... It was their transitional period and time then was tough. Because of the fact that, all the Jewish people were equipped with the knowledge of the Mosaic Law from their young age, this Epistle from James was written to encourage them to live out their knowledge through faith by trusting their Messiah, as He had already accomplished the law at the cross. Nevertheless, due to their religious background and that transitional period, this Epistle was somehow, written with legalistic aspect because during that period of time, the message of grace was not yet given as Paul, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentiles was still in Arabia being ministered by the Lord.

I would conclude that James was ministering to his Jewish counterparts with “a bit” of legalism because in Galatians chapter 2, Peter was led to draw back from eating with the Gentiles and separated from them when he heard that certain men came from James were in Antioch. The most obvious evidence of James’ legalism is that, it was not even James himself but certain man from him coming to Antioch that caused Peter to withdrew from Gentiles… If James was not legalistic then, why should Peter, a well known Apostle in the New Testament who ever walked on the water, who ever preached a message that saved three thousands, was afraid of these certain men? I don’t think we need to be a rocket scientist to understand this contradictory situation and we see lots of this happening in a legalistic churches... :)

As Paul saw that many were led astray by Peter’s hypocrisy, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentile, rebuked Peter as he saw him (his act of hypocrisy) not acting in line with the gospel. If you have the revelation from these two examples, you will know that Peter’s testimony was actually the living testimony of what James was saying as faith without work is dead. Peter had witnessed and knew of the Gospel and yet he did not act in line with the gospel. A living example of faith without work is dead! If you don't believe the gospel, you will not have faith. Therefore, how can a dead faith produce good work? It is all hypocrisy!

The problem here is not work, the problem is not faith either. The problem is, Peter did not believed. Believe what...? Believe the gospel...! In John 6:28, people were asking Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" And Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Oooh… faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Seeing is one thing, witnessing is another thing; if only Peter would have believed the word of Christ instead of depending on his religious knowledge, faith is just a branch of his right believe and the work, will subsequently be the fruit from that branch of faith!

Wow... there is hope for all of us because even Peter could fail to believe... and the Grace of our Lord is ever super abounding so that one day, yes one day, we all will believe!

Have you been hearing the right message? According to Paul, who wrote two third of the New Testament, our faith is dead if we do not act in line with the Gospel! Are you hearing the message of the Gospel or you have been thinking that the Gospel is only for the Gentiles? Paul was using the Gospel to measure Peter’s faith and Paul said there is no other Gospel but one - the Gospel of Grace!

So, faith without work is dead, but faith without believing the TRUTH is also dead. How can a dead faith produce any good work? It is not what we can work out, it is what we have believed. Please put the cart back before the horse, right believing produces right living. When we believe the right thing (the truth), our faith is right. When our faith is right, our work will be right. When our work is right, our faith is not dead!

So why worry so much about our faith? Do not fear, just believe.... the Gospel of Grace!

What A Quiz...

It was all started with a few of us taking up the quiz in Facebook on "Which Singapore church are you best suited in?" and the result are New Creation Church. All of us were having the same result and I found out that the trick of this quiz is on question # 3: i.e. What else do you do besides attending services? If you don't choose the given answer "I like to listen to Hillsong and DVD sermons", for sure you go other church, like... mmm???

At first it was a happy exchanging of words among close friends then came a friend of Samuel and Jennifer, contributing his comment… Wow… Religious people as what I’ve learn from Pastor Prince's sharing do exist… From his comment, I find it interesting to steer up the religious wave (I usually don’t do this sort of thing) to see how big the wave can go…



Here it goes…

Jennifer: we go 2gether-gether ok?? ;)

Penny: yeah..........

Jennifer: felicia & calvin took the quiz too..hehe! same result.

Felicia: Yoohoo!!!

Xxxx Xxx: hmm... some people say that new creation church preaches health and wealth gospel, a feel-good version of the Truth...

i'm not saying they are wrong or anything, just saying be careful and always exercise discernment, ok. =)

Alan: Jesus heals the sick... that is health. Jesus multiplies 2 fishes and 5 loaves... that is wealth! He is the same yesterday, today and forever... hmm good discernment!!!! Amen!

Felicia: AMEN PASTOR! :D

Xxxx Xxx: Yes, Jesus heals the sick. when He was on earth, He healed every sick person who came to Him - there is no record of Him ever refusing to heal someone.

yet, after He ascended to Heaven, although His disciples continued to heal (and yes, i do believe that the gift of healing is still active in the church today), the incidence of healing was no longer 100%. see how Paul told timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and his frequent illnesses in Timothy 5:23. or see how Epaphroditus was sick and almost died, in Philippians 2:25. why not just heal them, if we were able to heal at all times and in all cases?

so the fact is that, in spite of the purest faith and the most fervent prayers, God does not always heal. we may not understand why one is healed and another is not, but it is something we have to deal with. yet this is a fact that one almost never hears from the lips of those who preach the health and wealth gospel. and yes, God can prosper us if He chooses. Promotion comes from the Lord (Psalm 75:6-7). yet reading Jesus' words, "you cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24), and His reply to the rich young ruler, "go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" (Matthew 19:21) and paul's words in 1 Timothy 6:10, "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil"... all these verses show us that there is something wrong with the kind of gospel that can blithely proclaim that all God wants to do is to bless and prosper you.

God does not want to make us happy - He wants to make us holy. and that means struggle, sacrifice, disappointments, dying to self, and etc. not the hollow promises of health and wealth that some churches peddle.... once again, a disclaimer - i do not say that New Creation Church is one of these. just that this kind of teaching is becoming prevalent among some churches, and we would do well to be careful and practice discernment. =)

Alan: 2 Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

Father, whatever promises that he doesn't want, please give to me and I say, " Amen!" to Your glory...

Felicia: I want also.. Amen!

Xxxx Xxx: lol... i do not deny, and neither do i reject, the promises of God. so, alan and felicia, if you're hoping God will give you my "rejected blessings", too bad, they're all mine! =D

but... here's a promise (or is it a warning?) that ties in with what i was trying to say earlier... "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine... Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

one thing that makes the health and wealth gospel so dangerous, is that it's exactly what we want to hear. we must not 'censor out' the difficult, hard, challenging parts of the gospel. ok? =)

Felicia: aww.. shucks.. hehe.. but God's promises for me are sufficient for me and much more. wouldn't mind rejected blessings to come my way.. hehe

Samuel: Xxxx Xxx.... some people say is not good enough...what do you say? What's important is whether you know or not? Why listen to what other people say?

Matthew 16:13-20. Jesus asked his disciples who he is? They replied, 'some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. But Simon Peter answered 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God'.

Let's not argue on what others say... find out for yourself... the bible is simple to understand but really a mystery for some... as the truth is kept a mystery to those that do not appreciate the generosity and abundant grace that comes from the father of lights. Why cast pearls before swines?

Alan: You are reasoning with your mind... discernment is from our heart... Many people tell you here you don't want to listen... It is not what people say, it is what you think... Repent (renewal of our mind) from reasoning than you can discern. What we are doing here is discerning the truth not reasoning the truth. It is not about NCC but it is about Jesus... Grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Samuel: Yup...let's not rob fellow believers of what Christ has so graciously and freely given...it has never been cheap grace but it was the most 'costly' sacrifice- if you can put a value to it, that God has given. It cost Him His Beloved Son. If the greatest miracle (which is salvation) came by us believing in the finish work on the cross, tell me why is it that you need to work out your salvation. It has never been about 'you + Christ=salvation'. The equation in the bible has always been 'Christ+0=salvation'. If you can work out your salvation then there is no need for Christ in the first place. Let's not 'Pharisize' our faith in Christ by complicating it with our self effort. It all begins with pride and not humility to say that you can live a perfect life without sin. No one can but Christ. That's why you need to fully depend on Him and His willingness to bless you out of your socks. There's so much to share but I doubt you will discern what we wish to share with you…Xxxx Xxx.

At least the rich young ruler know that he can never meet God's standard of a perfect life. Jesus wanted him to realize that he can never reach God's standard. Neither can anyone say that he or she can fulfill the 10 commandments fully. You fail in one you fail all ten. And it's your thoughts that count. The Christian way of life, if there is any is an impossible one, that's why you need Christ in us to live His life through you. Let's not get carried away with our self righteousness. It's pride bro... pure pride... Are we now trying like the Galatians who were initially saved by grace trying to fall back on our self efforts to reach God's standards? Rightly discern the old and new covenant bro... and you will not be confused. Do not pour new wine into old wine skins. The root of evil has never been money bro....it's the love of money...How are you gonna bless your neighbor if you yourself cannot even support your own family?

How is it possible for a believer that believes that God will not prosper him to sell all that he possess.

If you believe that God can put sickness on you and make you suffer to teach you a lesson so that you can be tough then you might as well think of your earthly father to be the same. Does it make sense for your dad to decide one fine day to take all your privileges away, send someone to mow you down with a truck, or send someone to rob you and beat you up so that you can learn self discipline and become tougher? Of course not. If your earthly father loves you very much, how much more do you think your Heavenly Father? He did not spare His Son, don't you think He'll will give you much more... and much more...and prosper you and give you health?

Samuel: That's why Paul in Romans wrote this...'And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't (even life). The angels (even angels) can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the... Read More deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord'. Jesus is really, really good. Let's not take away what he has suffered and paid dearly for on the cross.



Well, what do you say? As for me, I’ll say, ”Preach it Bro… there are still a lot of "unbelieving believers" out there...!"

Tag

He did not qualify for any of the official religious positions that were available … yet God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every other name. His background was a bit dodgy, too dodgy for some to associate with Him … yet before Abraham was, He is. His authority was questioned because He did not submit Himself under the ‘covering’ of any of the groups of His day … yet the Father acknowledged Him and that was all the recognition He needed. The religious structures of His day could not contain Him … and still He does not dwell in temples or organizations made by human hands...


Read more from >>> Hear Him- He Blew Our Definition Away

Resurrection Life of Christ

In Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 10, the Word of God says we are called by the Name of the Lord. The name “CHRISTian” is derived from Resurrected Christ and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Since the death of our Lord at the Cross, those who called themselves Christian are the believers of the resurrected Christ and they are all after the cross under the New Covenant. If only Christian can understand why they are called Christian because of the fact that there are still a lot of Christians belief in the shadow of the Old Testament that is before the Cross and of which they have no part in it. Christians are born again through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the born again Christians are baptized into His death…

Romans 6:3 ~ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

We participated in Jesus’ death when the Holy Spirit placed us in Christ and made the things that He died to accomplish a reality in our lives. This happened the moment we accepted Christ as our Saviour and we were born again by the Holy Spirit with a brand new, righteous identity called “New Creation”. Christ was buried and raised again on the third day and appropriating what Jesus did for us require our cooperation.

When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country. Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. This is the life of a New Creation, the resurrection life of Christ! Every born again Christians had participated in the death of their old man through Jesus but not all Christians cooperate with Christ in His resurrection life, which in fact, is a by-product of being put to death in His body.

Without much understanding of this big and sensitive word called “sin”, Christians start digging out their dead bodies (which they call resurrection life) and go back to obey the Law, busy dealing with their sinful action. This is not the by-product of dead to sin but a by-product of a Christian religion trying to deal with sin through the Commandments and commune from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Let's see what Paul (who was once a Pharisee and had the understanding of the Ten Commandments from inside out) had to say about sin and it is important for us to understand that he was talking about the sin nature, not sins, an individual action of sin. Out of the forty-nine times this word sin is used in Romans (“sin” thirty-seven times; “sins” four times; “sinned” five times; “sinner” one time; “sinners” two times) forty- seven times it’s talking about the old sin nature (“old self”) in the NIV version, not individual actions of sin. We know this because the Greek word from which “sin” and “sins” was translated forty-seven out of the forty-nine times isn’t a verb but a noun. If you remember English class, a noun always described a person, place or a thing.

We are never being addressed as an individual but addressed under a governmental representative of Adam or Christ and the same applied to the Israelites in the Old Testament as well. They were represented by their High Priest. So as Adam sinned, we are leave with our sinful nature but praise is to the Lord, our Lord Jesus who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf and through His righteousness, we are all made righteous.

A resurrection life of Christ is a life of truth living out by the grace of God through faith. Our Lord Jesus said He came to give us life and life more abundantly. This is the abundant Life from the Tree of Life. Hey friends, don’t go back to the shadow while we have the Substance. Don't go back to Law while we have the grace of God. We are a New Creation with resurrection life of Christ… Religion deals with the fruits (our actions) while our Lord Jesus dealt with the root (our nature) …

If you have put your trust in Jesus and because of your faith you called yourself a Christian, you are forever righteous. Commune from the Tree of Life and the resurrection life of Christ will manifest …

Lord, Can I Help You...? (Repost)

The people in Sarawak is celebrating Gawai Festivel on 1st and 2nd of June. On the first day of the Gawai celebration, we went to Kampong Chupak, 38 KM from Kuching, to visit my colleague. Kampong Chupak is a beautiful village with beautiful mountain range and Paddy field. On our journey to the kampong, I took a short video clip while I was driving and I want to share it with you... :)

Road to Kampong Chupak

During this holiday, I took my sweet time to read through my own blog again... and I was touched by this blog post and I decided repost it again...


Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking pass the hospital’s swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there… Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out.

When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act, she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered Edna to be mentally stable.

When she went to tell Edna the news, she said,
“Edna, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is you're being discharged; since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and save the life of another patient, I have concluded that your act displayed sound mindedness… and the bad news is … Jim hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry… he’s dead.”

Edna replied,
“He didn't hang himself; I put him there to dry....”
“Can I go home now…?'



This is not a real story; but a secular joke circulating through e mail. Well… have you heard of this joke before? If you had, never mind, my focus is not on the joke but on your reaction after you have heard of it.

Man… I laughed, I even shared with my friends and we laughed… but the Lord intervened by putting a thought in my mind in the midst of our laughter, i.e.…

“The accuser of the Brethren” has his influence over legalism and religious teaching. As such, a legalistic and religious mind is as good as a mind that is “mentally challenged”. Under that sort of religious influence, we ourselves tend to put people to dry without our understanding of the knowledge of God and still we thought we are helping God... and Lord, can I help you, is always our cry...!

It is sad to see that there are many Christian today still labouring to please God through their effort. These are sincere people but they just trying to reach God through their own approach… earn their righteousness through their good deeds and law keeping… without the knowledge of God.

And God by His grace and mercy does not look at us the way we look at Edna. Despite of our “insanity”, He is still faithful and patient to show His love for us, guide us and lead us out of our insanity. This is grace…

I was a victim like Jim in the story who was “put to dry” by legalism and religion. I was dried out totally… Praise God the dew of grace moisturized me and… I see Grace!


"Well, can I go home now...???"