N.O.W - Where Are You, Sam?

Photo courtesy of Calvin,
more photos on N.O.W @ pieces of me



Photo courtesy of Louis
more photos on N.O.W @ Heaven Knows


Calvin, Frankie & Louis
Photo courtesy of Frankie
more photos on N.O.W @ the funkye blog

Religion Majors on Minor Issues

Paul knew the real essence or major of the new covenant, for he boldly declared : "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith'," (Rom. 1:16,17).

Religion loves to major on minor issues.

Are you religious...? Read more>>>

Shepherd Pie

The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

Mixed Vegetable, Mushroom and fresh Minced Beef cooked with Worcestershire Sauce and favored with a cup of Red Wine...

Boiled Potato mashed with Cream Cheese, Butter, Milk and the aromatic Oregano.

Baked in oven at 180 degree for half an hour.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

"MAN Go"

One year ago, Penny made a Mango Cheese Cake for our Elder Alex's birthday. We celebrated his birthday at our K Group because it was on Friday then. Ever since that night, the word "Man go" kept echoing in my head with the verse from Mark 16:15 kept knocking at my heart... I then released that through this Mango Cheese Cake, the Lord prompted me to share the Gospel through blogging...

Elder Alex with his Mango Cheese Cake - The Evangelistic Cake

Mark 16:15 ~ And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

On the 25th of May last year, Norman helped me to create a blog entitled: "See The World Through His Heart". I did not think hard for a blog title then, it just flown out of me. I felt nice, Penny said nothing, Norman and Adrian said cool, so that's it. My first post was the Mango Cheese Cake ~ An Evangelistic Cake.

Looking back at this one year of blogging, I have seen the faithfulness of our Lord and there is nothing could be written if the Spirit did not lead or prompt. There were times when I was doing the final editing, I was amazed that what I was about to share could be changed totally according to the will of the Spirit. For this, I am referring to the post on Tithing. I encountered the most amazing experience through the post on Fasting that in a flick of a second, I could have the revelation for what to write.

In this one year of blogging life, I can conclude that in every part of the world, the battle is between grace and legalism. What is happening to me in Kuching is also happening in your place. When you are with "grace", you see more and more of Jesus... if you are with "legalism", you see more and more of yourselves...

This one year of blogging life also bought me numerous gracious friend from all over the world. It is amazing to know that though we have never met, we shared the same Spirit and message. Now I am trying my best to recall these friends I met in sequence...

Julie Morris of Voice Of Grace
Lydia Joy of A Joy To Be Me
Craig Glenn of The Rising Sons of Grace
Ryan & Jamie Weeks of Better Than We Know
cybeRange of Christ In You, The Hope Of Glory
Cajetan (Rejoice) of New Covenant Believer
Yaso of The Is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!
Joel Brueseke of Grace Roots
Jim Hoag of Mission Now
Richard of richurch
Stanley Wong of The Logical Christian
Michelle Ben of My Life, My Boy & My Baby

Thank you guys for your gracious friendship through blogging. I also wish to thank all my readers for your support, encouragement and prayer. To conclude this post, I wish to dedicate my favorite Psalm as a blessing to you all...

Psalm 128
A song of ascents.

1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways.

2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.

4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.

5 May the LORD bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,

6 and may you live to see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel.

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the Saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Generation Christ

1 Peter 2:9-10 (New King James Version)

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.


Generation Christ


1 Peter 2:9-10 (Contemporary English Version)

9 But you are God's chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say, 10 "Once you were nobody.Now you are God's people. At one time no one had pity on you.Now God has treated you with kindness.



SIB Grace N.O.W. Generation Christ

It is through His Grace, not by our behavior that we are called Generation Christ!

N.O.W. the Final Countdown

Last night we have our last rehearsal for N.O.W. During the briefing, Elder Tom stressed that from now on, "N.O.W." will be used as the theme for SIB Grace Worship Team event. As the Church is dispensing grace based, Christ centered message to the world outside, the Worship Team is committed to reveal the Generation Christ through praise and worship with the talents and anointing that the Lord had imparted...

SIB Grace presents
N.O.W.
Night Of Worship
2nd May 2009 8:00PM
9th Floor, Crown Tower.

See you there....

How To Die... Har?

Two weeks ago, right after our Sunday Service, we were so fresh and full of revelation that we started asking each other: "How to die… har?" It was because during the preaching, Elder Alex expounded on the work of the Trinity in us from Romans chapter 8 verse 11…. What a powerful verse it is which expounded the work of the Trinity in our mortal bodies...

It was a week after this incident that the news of the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico was released and it is now causing global concern. This new strain for virus was first clinically identified as influenza A (H1N1). When I recalled that moment in Church, I realized that in a grace based, Christ centered environment, the Holy Spirit is ever ready in dispensing the "now word" through the pulpit or the believers' mouths. It takes a quiet spirit to discern what the Holy Spirit is revealing.

In the time of shaking like this, the only sure and unshakable foundation is the Finished Work of Christ. Through the revelation of His Finished Work comes the understanding of His full redemption and forgiveness of sins, His unearned and unmerited favor and His everlasting lovingkindness for us. If we are still not establish in His Finished Work but on our own work to perform, we are sure to be blown and tossed by the wind of this world because we will always be doubtful for something that we have done or not done to deserve security...

James 1:6-8 ~ 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The Lord said, "It is Finished!". Just rest in His Finished Work and meditate on the following verses from the Bible. Believe and it will start to mean something to you...

Romans 8:11 (New International Version)
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Romans 8:11 (The Message)
It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!

Romans 8:11 (Amplified Bible)
And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11 (New Living Translation)
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Romans 8:11 (Contemporary English Version)
Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.

Romans 8:11 (New Century Version)
God raised Jesus from the dead, and if God's Spirit is living in you, he will also give life to your bodies that die. God is the One who raised Christ from the dead, and he will give life through his Spirit that lives in you

Romans 8:11 (Young's Literal Translation)
and if the Spirit of Him who did raise up Jesus out of the dead doth dwell in you, He who did raise up the Christ out of the dead shall quicken also your dying bodies, through His Spirit dwelling in you.

How to die when the Trinity is working in our mortal bodies... So be encouraged by these different translations of Romans 8:11. Surely, not maybe, the Lord is going to satisfy us with long good life...!

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

Amen!

Well, how to die... har?

Fine Pearl Of Great Value

I have been sitting under Pastor Joseph Prince’s teaching since early 2003. If Pastor Prince claims that it was on the shoulders of great men of God like Kenneth E Hagin that he is able to see further into the Word of God today, then it is my honor to say that I am on the shoulder of Pastor Joseph Prince that I can see further in the revelation of the grace of God. He is indeed my mentor… and I will not have so much revelation on the mystery of Christ if I did not sit under his teaching through his tape ministry. For this, I praise the Lord for He chose to reveal His heart to me in this special way…

In these seven years of his ministry on Gospel Revelation, I have been playing his tapes or CDs in my car day in and day out. Pastor Prince not only making Jesus our friend and our center focus, in a way he himself has become a friend to our family because through his messages, we know quite a lot about him, his beloved wife Wendy, cute little Jessica, his awesome church and his band of leaders… especially Pastor Henry… but one thing for real is that, Pastor Prince does not know us… :)

As a preacher, Pastor Prince has done a marvelous job in pointing us to Jesus. From the way he shares the Gospel of Grace, I always have a feeling that what Pastor Prince has shared is only a tenth of what he had received… hmmm, this is from the principle of tithing. My spirit just tells me that he has a lot of revelation that he cannot reveal because we are not ready yet. The Gospel of Grace will be revealed from glory to glory and our life will be transformed from glory to glory... That is why he always says: “Feed the sheep, not the giraffe!” Now having said that, as I grow under his ministry, the Lord would ask me from time to time where my focus is. Am I focusing on Him or on Pastor Prince…?

Though it is a simple question, it took me years to understand… There were times I would tell the Lord that my focus is on Him… but the Lord showed me that whenever I shared His Word then, instead of quoting from the Bible, I always quoted from what Pastor Prince had said. Instead of quoting what the Apostle Paul had said, I quoted what Pastor Prince had said… For this reason alone, the Lord rebuked me by telling me: “Did Pastor Prince quoted from the Bible? Is he not quoting from what Apostle Paul had said in the Bible? If you can quote Pastor Prince’s name, why can’t you quote Apostle Paul’s name?”

My dear friends in Christ, Pastor Prince has been facing tremendous attack for revealing and sharing the Gospel that Apostle Paul preached. He has been crowned with all sorts of funny name just like our Lord Jesus who had the honor to be crowned by the Pharisee and Sadducee during His ministry on earth. It is a spiritual battle between grace and law..., nevertheless, grace had won this battle 2,000 year ago.

2 Corinthians 3:14-16 ~ 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Those who have their faces unveil know that Pastor Prince preaches the truth in the light of the New Covenant. The problem is with those whose faces are still covered with veil and they cannot see what the truth is. Praise be to our Lord for He is still gracious and patience with each and every one of us and He has the time for each and every one us the same way he had for the Apostle Paul, a onetime church prosecutor…

1 Corinthians 3:3-9 ~ 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? 5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

As we have been enlightened by the grace of God, we are spiritual and mature enough to handle solid food instead of milk. Being acquainted with the teaching about righteousness, we should be wise enough to quote direct from the Bible for what the Apostle Paul had said instead of what Pastor Prince had said. In this way, we divert the tension to Apostle Paul (who is gloriously with the Lord) and protecting Pastor Prince (who is alive and gloriously preaching the Good News) from any fiery drat. If people still wish to attack, they are attacking Apostle Paul and the ascended Jesus who revealed this mystery to Apostle Paul… Friends, even Apostle Peter who was with the Lord day in and day out for three and half years, also find Apostle Paul's teaching hard to understand ...

2 Peter 3:16 (Amplified Bible) ~ Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures.

I am not sharing this purposely to side Pastor Prince but to share with you what the Lord has revealed and taught in my heart… a new wine is to be kept in a new wineskin. Be gracious as He is gracious… Be patience as He is patience…

Once we were like any other ordinary Christian, considered as the hidden treasure in the field with a general identification as "hidden treasure". But now, the Merchant has come to look for fine pearl; and our Lord by His grace and mercy, handpicked us one by one among the hidden treasure. We have been handpicked and identified as fine pearl, pearl of great value because He chose to enlighten us with His grace. Because of His grace, we are now a glorious shining pearl because pearl by itself is already a finished product. Those who have been enlightened by His grace are now crowned with a specific identity call the "Pearl of Great Value" to magnify His finished work. We shine as fine pearl of great value because His finished work shines from inside of us. We are now raise up as Royal Priesthood to administrate blessing of His grace with kingly authority. We are no more under the the curse of the law which administrating condemnation...

Shalom... we love because He first loves us…!

The Secret

Last Friday night before our rehearsal for the N.O.W. Concert started, I received a SMS from Brother Bartholomew saying that he missed Jesus very much...

(Bartholomew is touched by the grace of our Lord and he is on fire for the Lord...!)

Here is the detail of the SMS...

Bartholomew: I miss Jesus so much... do u?

Me: Why miss? He never leave u nor forsake u... :)

Bartholomew: Don't know... Feel want to hug Jesus. How to hug Him since He is in Me?

Me: Rest Brother, do not be troubled...

Bartholomew: Thanks...



The rehearsal started...

Siew Ping is indeed a "New Creation"!

Happy Hour...

Is it cute to have a brother like him? He is not religious, but like a little boy that Jesus said in the Book of Gospel. I don't think I have given him a good answer... until I reached home that night, I found in one of my Blog link that a better answer has been given...

The answer was given in My Life, My Boy & My Baby on You Don't Know This Secret? posted at 9.47 PM that night!

Thank you Michelle for being sensitive to the prompting of the Spirit... You are indeed blessed to be a blessing!

Emmanuel

To strive to obtain love, peace and joy or to pray to God to give you these qualities is a wasted religious energy. Nothing you can seek to do or wish and pray for could qualify you more for life. Nothing can make your life more significant than to simply become aware of His nature and presence in you and His favour towards you.

Hosea 4:6 ~ My people perish through lack of knowledge…

To realize His presence and provision within you, is what sets you free to be who you are. The more aware we become of God in us, the more overwhelmed we are with a sense of total fulfillment and completeness.

Needs disappear into insignificance; He is not a God who is a far off; Emmanuel means ‘God with us′.

Francois du Toit of Thoughts for Life (Daily Devotionals)

Parable Of The Street Lighting

As I was on my way to work this morning, I noticed that the time switch for the street lighting was malfunctioning and the street lamps were not switch off., and the light of the street lamps were overshadowed by the bright morning sunlight. I took time to count the number of street lamps along the road and there are ten sets of them affected by the malfunctioning timer.

From these street lamps, a picture of a biblical scenario on the purpose of the Ten Commandments suddenly appeared in my mind…

After Adam’s sin, the whole world had fallen into sin and was in total darkness. As the purpose of the street lighting is to shine in the night to give light for clear visibility, the Ten Commandments as typified by the street lamps were given to shine on the darkness of this world to show the people of this world the holy requirement of God. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. The law is to show us our trespasses and how ugly we are. Nevertheless, the law could not help us but to point us to the end of ourselves and our needs for a Savior.

Jesus, the Author of the Ten Commandments did not do away with the law but fulfilled the law in the nature of a Man and nailed the requirement of the law to the cross. The entire sin of this world condemned by the law were imputed onto Jesus and His death on the Cross gave those who believe a new birth in the Spirit and delivered the believers from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light.

The light of the Bright and Morning Star is shining much brighter than the light of the law, just like the morning sun light is greater than the street lamps. When we are in the Kingdom of Light, the light of the Law had already done its purpose and we are no more under its scrutiny. We are now under the light of the Bright and Morning Star that gives us life, hope, freedom and continuously impute righteousness onto us… As much as the street lighting are still needed at night in the dark, so is the law. The people of this world who are still in the dark, needs the law to show them their needs for a Savior. But for those who are saved and already in the Kingdom of Light, the law has done with them and they are no longer under law; just like I was driving to work depending on the bright morning sunlight not the street lighting...

Galatians 3:23-25 ~ But before faith came; we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Nagging Is Old Testament

Our Elder just told us this afternoon that nagging is Old Testament... You should not..., you cannot..., how can you..., why are you..., don't do this..., don't do that... are the familiar phrases used in nagging and as we all know, nagging can never change anything...!

What can we do then...? Catch people doing right and catch people doing good... Expose the positive instead of the negative! Impart with grace and call forth the righteousness because those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Finished Work - The Profile Of Christ

On the night of the Passover, there were deaths in every household in the land of Egypt. The spirit of death reigned from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. In the households of the Jewish slave, there were deaths of the innocence lamb and for the rest of the households in Egypt including the Pharaoh, there were deaths of the firstborn from man to the beast…

I wonder how the Jewish people felt especially their firstborn, when they were eating their roasted lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread, waiting for the howling sound of death to echo in their neighborhood… I wonder whether their trust was on the blood of the lamb or they were like many religious Christians, busy examining themselves for the wrong that they have done and busy confessing their wrong doing and “trying” to get themselves right with God. I wonder whether the Jewish people had been taught well by Moses on how to have faith to overcome the night of fear when the spirit of death approached…

From the account of their Exodus, I cannot find Bible verse pertaining to the Jewish people’s faith but in Hebrews 11: 28, the Bible says, “By faith, Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.” And from the account of the Exodus, the Lord brought them out of the land of Egypt full of silver and gold and there was none feeble among His tribes!

Obviously, we cannot find much clue if we are to look at the Jewish people' reaction in finding out the element of faith. But when God instructed Moses, he believed and dispensed the instruction to his people, whoever believed in Moses and acted according to his instruction, God saw them with faith and were saved. The Hall of Faith in Hebrews Chapter 11 recorded only the faith of Moses and which means that when their leader believed and acted accordingly, God see the faith of His people.

For our account in this grace dispensation, our Leader (I am sorry, leader here is not our Pastors, Elders or Deacons), Jesus had been obedient to Father God and acted according to His will until He cried out at the Cross; “It is finished!”… Now, whoever see Jesus’ Finished Work and believe, Father God see them in faith. That is why the Bible says; “Faith come by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.” The Bible is very consistent in using word for the word of Christ is different from the word of God because the word of Christ portrays the profile of what Jesus had done on the Cross! This profile of Christ emits the aroma of God's grace and this divine fragrance releases our faith.

Lets fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God... Praise be the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

Do Not Eat The Meat Raw!

During the time of the Old Testament, lambs for the Passover meal were being slain and not a bone was to be broken in these sacrificial lambs. Passover pronounces redemption and to the Jewish people, the Passover feast has a special meaning. Though we are not slaves, like the Jewish people, we were slaves to our sin, our own wants and desires. Sin was our master until Jesus, the Passover Lamb, delivered us from our "Egypt". The lamb slain during Passover is a foreshadow of the redemption we find in Jesus, our Saviour, our Passover Lamb. The principle of redemption is the concept of bondage to the slavery of sin and freedom from its domination. To be "redeemed" means to be purchased from slavery and Jesus Christ purchased our freedom with His blood as the payment for the redemption. The Good News is; we are redeemed!

Before the Passover lamb was taken to the Temple, the High Priest would tied it for public view so that it could be inspected for blemish. In the same way, Jesus sat and taught in the Temple courtyard for four days. He was inspected and questioned as the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the teachers of the law sought to trip him up in His words and entrap Him. They could not, because He was perfect and without blemish.

Jesus had equal status with God but did not think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, He stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He did not claim special privileges. Instead, He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Like the Matzo bread, Jesus was pierced in His brow by the crown of thorns as well as in His hands and feet by the nails. He was also pierced in His side by a soldier’s spear. He was pierced for our transgressions… He was also scourged on His back until His flesh was all torn and bloody, and His bones were exposed. By His stripes, we are healed…

Like the brunt of the Matzo bread, the full fire of God’s wrath fell on Jesus, burning up our sins into ashes, and at the same time, bring out the fragrance of the offering of Jesus. After the Finished Work at the Cross, our sins and lawless deeds are but ashes and our Daddy in Heaven remembers our sins and lawless deeds no more! If anyone come to you with this ashes in their hands, just sneeze and these ashes will vanish in the thin air...

Exodus 12:8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts.

Jesus indeed was the true Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. At the Cross, He had accomplished the Father's will...

I am concern for those who come to the Lord’s Table with confession of their sin. Although they are sincere, they ignorantly sin against the body and the blood of the Lord the moment they confess their sin. No wonder Prophet Hosea said in the Book of Hosea: “My people are destroyed from the lack of knowledge.” If we confess of our sin before we partake the communion, we are saying the Lamb has not being judged, the Lamb has not been burnt and our sin is still with us. In this manner, we are eating the meat raw. When we are eating the meat raw, we still hold on tight to our sin and therefore, we eat and drinking judgment on ourselves! The Lord says this is an unworthy manner because this manner does not glorify the Father but brings humiliation to His Name! The truth of the matter is, God is Holy and He had lawfully judged and legally punished our entire sins of our life on our Substitute at the Cross. The same sin cannot be punished twice!

If we believe that all our sin had been forgiven, the way we approach the Table is not by the confession of our sins but the confession of our righteousness we already have in Christ. In this manner, we are eating the meat burnt with fire. If we come to the Table with confession of our sin, we are saying the Lamb has not been burnt and judgment for our sin has not been executed. To come to the Lord’s Table with sin consciousness is unworthy. This sort of manner contradicts to the truth and we are eating the meat raw!

Come to the Table seeing our sickness had been judged on Jesus’ body, our sins had been punished and exhausted on Jesus’ body; our poverty had been taken away as He died poor and naked on the Cross and our curse had been removed as He was hung on the tree on our behalf. He had been burnt…

The Lord’s Table is not a place to plead for forgiveness of sin or to claim God's blessing and healing but a place to remember Jesus and celebrate His death for through His death on the Cross, He conquered for all our victories. The Bible says in the Book of Romans that we, as the redeemed one are more than a conqueror. Is this not grace...?

Therefore, renew your mind and do not eat the meat raw!

Justified

The feast of Passover is called Pesach in Hebrew, which means passing over or protection, and is derived from the instructions given to Moses by God. This festival was instituted to remind the Israelite of the exodus from the land of Egypt, from slavery to freedom…

Jesus, the Passover Lamb, was betrayed on the night of Passover. He personally instituted the breaking of bread and partaking of the cup in the midst of this festive celebration also known as the Last Supper. Hence, the breaking of bread and partaking of the cup superseded the feast of Passover as the new era arrived through His death on the Cross. The feast of the Passover was the shadow of the real event to come and Jesus, the Real Passover Lamb was then, about to accomplish all that the prophets had spoken in the Old Testament.

On the resurrection Sunday, Jesus again appeared to His disciples and personally illustrating how a church is to conduct the Sunday Service with the breaking of bread and partaking of the cup.

Luke 24:30-31 ~ When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight.

From the light of this passage, the breaking of bread certainly opens our spiritual eyes and releases our spirit to recognize the resurrected Jesus and leads us to our understanding on the truth of His Finished Work. I want to stress again, it is recognizing the resurrected Jesus! But you may say, “Brother, I know Jesus, He died for me on the cross and He is my Saviour!” Yes, what you say is true but do you recognize Him as the Resurrected One?

If you can recognize Him as the Resurrected One, the nail pierced marks on His hands are telling you that all your sins have been forgiven…, past, present and future! If you believe that all your sin has been forgiven, then the way you approach the Table is not by the confession of your sin but the confession of your righteousness you already have in Christ. He prepares the Table in front of your enemies to celebrate victory instead of mourning for your sin and shortcoming. When we break bread and partake of the cup, we proclaim His death until He comes again. Every time a ram horn is blown in the Old Testament, His death was proclaimed, victory followed. In the New Covenant, every time we break bread and partake of the cup, we proclaim His death, and it is a reminder to the kingdom of darkness that victory belongs to us.

How do you recognize Jesus? Do you recognize the life when He was ministering on this earth? Or when He was at the Cross? If we fail to recognize His resurrection, we are only embracing half of the Gospel. The full gospel completed with His resurrection and indeed, the Lord wants us to recognize Him in His resurrection. His death on the Cross took away all our sin, sickness, curses and bondage while His resurrection justifies that we are righteous! Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

The breaking of bread is powerful providence to enable believers to walk on this earth because as we come together to break bread, we remember once again what the Lord had done and we are also be reminded of our righteous status and a righteous man has no sin but righteousness, no sickness but divine health, no curses in their life but abundant blessing, no bondage but freedom with abundant life. But is it so in the body of Christ? It was not so at the church in Corinthian during Paul’s time and the situation in our time is no any better either. Let see what Paul had to say about communion…

1 Corinthian 11: 28-30 ~ that a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

What did Paul meant by examine himself? The examine himself here means examine the man or the manner he partake the bread and cup? The illustration in Verse 29 says the manner of how man partake not the man who partake. It is our manner of how we recognize His body. Do we believe that His Finished Work at the Cross had already given us the righteousness or we believe that He did not do a good job at the Cross and our present and future sin are not forgiven yet and need us to bring out one by one? It is a wrong manner to come to the Lord’s Table recognizing our own sin for he said, “It is finished!” When we come with a wrong manner, we eat and drink judgment on ourselves. The consequence is weakness, sickness in our midst and many fallen asleep.

When we believe the wrong thing, we are not walking in the truth and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is unable to witness and manifest His power in our life for He only bears witness with the truth. Believer who has fallen asleep is passive and is not threatening to the kingdom of darkness.

So the good news is, if we can understand what Paul was saying and come to the Lord’s Table recognizing the Lord’s body and not our sin, we shall be strong, healthy and is not sleeping!

Romans 4:25 ~ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

By His grace we are justified... My heart is burning within me now and with this burning heart, I wish you a blessed Easter Holiday and may your holiday be happened with His happening!

Branded & Glory

Ever since Adam’s fall, mankind has been trying to recreate and recapture the departed glory through clothing and this recapturing desire started in the Garden with a fig leaf… Among all the creations that God had created, only human being needs to source for clothing externally. Take a look at all the animals of the land, birds of the sky and fishes of the sea have their own beautiful “clothing” glowing out from inside of them. The original life for all the creations are still intact except man. That is why dogs still bark, cats still meow, cows still moo and man, rebel!

Romans 3:23 ~ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

From then onwards, we cannot find a single person in this world walking around without clothing and yet not naked. This includes the "Pharisees" and legalistic hardcore Law upholders… So, there is no righteous one in God's eye and there is no way that we can cloth ourselves back to glory.

Take a look at today’s fashion; clothing is not merely for covering our bodies anymore. It projects an illusion to the people of the world that it can satisfy their search of the lost "glory". We have different kinds of brand, with different designs and different price tags which in turn, are illustrating the classification and identification on the level of "glory" that the world is seeking by satisfying their desire for the lost "glory”. The brand itself is projecting the status of “glory” based on its price tag and design.







For example, there is a big difference between a brand with a crocodile that swims outward and a brand with crocodile that swims inward. They vary in quality and price… and the sense of glorious status that the world is seeking is therefore, constituted by brand, its quality and price.

Our Lord Jesus preached the famous Sermon on the Mount that people who do not know God and the way He works fuss over food and clothing, but we know both God and how He works. We are therefore, to steep our life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out and we will find all our everyday human concerns be met.

Galatians 3:27 ~ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

We as a born again Christian, a new creation united onto Christ, are seated with Christ at the right hand of the Heavenly Father and have already been clothed with the Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. This righteous white linen is radiant with glory and is clothed on a new creation with no history of sin, curses, sickness, poverty, failure, and all types of shortcoming. This is the life that is clothed with grace and truth and as a Christian with born again spirit; we are to align our thinking with grace and truth so that the radiant glory of Jesus’ righteousness can be manifested through us.

We are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and the righteous is like magnet that attracts wisdom and blessing. He is gracious to cloth us with the Righteousness of Christ band we who know both God and how He works are therefore, to freely exercise our faith by steeping our life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. This is grace...

Growing Up In The 60's and Early 70's

First of all, we drank our mother’s milk not cow milk! We were raised up by our mothers who had no maids and they cooked and cleaned while taking care of us. They gave us candy floss (like cotton), fizzy drink, shaved ice and biscuits dripped in syrups; and diabetes was rare. Salt was added to Coke as remedy for reducing our body heat, hypertension was rare also… We drank the real “mineral water” direct from the tap and not from a bottle. We ate candies, bread with full cream sweetened Nestle Condensed Milk (Red Wording milk) and “Golden Churn” butter and we were not overweight.

Our father’s cars had no aircond, CD player, no seat belts, air bags or ABS. Our private taxis were Mercedes Benz and were indeed a special treat for us to ride in one with the cost of $2.00 per trip. We walked to school because there were not many school bus drivers around and our fathers’ responsibility were to earn for the living and not to send us to school…

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, protection cover on doors or cabinets. As children, when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. We did not have Play station, X-box, Nintendo, colour TV, multiple channels on cable TV, DVD movies, no surround sound, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet, no Hifi set, Wifi, and Bluetooth. With a mere 5 pebbles (stones), the girls would have the endless game for the whole day. With a ball (tennis ball is best), we boys would run like crazy for hours. Jumping the box was nice too…

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray. We went to jungle to catch spiders and birds while kids of these days would look for dinosaurs instead... We caught guppies in drains and when it rained we swam there and flu was a stranger to us…

We could spend hours repairing and modifying our old bicycles. We even built wooden scooters out of scraps and rode them down the hill, only to find that we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem by using our feet… and the straps of our "Bata" slippers were reinforced with wire...

We could swing around the Rambutan Trees not for their fruits but for the fun of it. We fell out of trees, got cuts, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts. We were shy to talk to girls until we were 18 and we only had our first birthday parties at 21.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of because there were no laws given to us and yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 40 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

To be honest, what our kids have in their childhood is not actually of their needs but of the leak syndrome from our childhood. This leak syndrome was also part of the inspiration that contributed to the invention and innovation… Anyway, we had grace, freedom, failure, success and responsibility. We learned, we innovate and we live…

You might want to share this with those who do not have this blessing of growing up as kids, and while you are at it, tell your kids so that they will know how brave their parents were.