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_______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Church 1. Quote God perfects his imperfect servants within an imperfect Church
Clash of civilisations 1. The temple at Saiburi Nestled along the road leading south to Malaysia is a temple dedicated to the love of a Chinese man for a Malay princess of Patani. This temple in South Thailand is famous because of a curse associated with the events surrounding its building. Legend has it that a Chinese trader from a wealthy scion of a family in Bangkok had fallen in love with a Princess of Patani. She was a Muslim and had requested this young man to convert to Islam from Buddhism. He had readily agreed but with much opposition from his family. As a wedding gift, he would build a mosque for her at a place chosen by her.
The wedding day drew near but the opposition from the family of the groom had turned very serious. The sister of the young man had threatened suicide should the wedding go forward. The wedding did go forward, and the sister of the groom carried out her suicide on a piece of land adjacent to the mosque. In her last dying breath she cursed the wedding, and the mosque saying that it will never be built.
The mosque since then had never been built. A shrine dedicating the death of the sister has since been turned into a temple. And this is the temple that one would see as one drives south down the road from Saiburi town.
Moral of the story. Wherever civilisations clash, the results are horrendous for all to see. At the heart of the clash of civilisations is sin and its terrible consequences. May hurting mankind find true peace in the Son who is the gift of the Father. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Eden When Adam and Eve lived in the garden before the fall, they lived in harmony with God and his creation and with themselves. This was heaven on earth. They knew good and was innocent of evil. Satan tempted them with the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and lured them to eat the fruit. When they ate of it, their eyes were open and they possessed the knowledge of good and evil. They had known good all their lives but now they were not innocent of evil.
Christian kids are also like that. Properly brought up in good Christian homes many kids are living in pre-fall like conditions. Love and joy surround them. They are full of the knowledge of good but innocent of evil. They are however, susceptible to the temptations of Adam and Eve. Satan will come to tempt them with the knowledge of evil. They would dare them with these words, "You have known good all your life but you have never experienced life in the raw. Experience life in the raw by... taking this trip, this drug, this step...(variations of these can be many)". What Satan is doing is to tempt them with the knowledge of evil. This is the same temptation that faced Adam and Eve. A child will be lured to take the step of following the temptation and ultimately they become disobedient to their parents. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ God's attributes 1. Outlier points Often, in the course of a scientific investigation, one gets outlier points which do not seem to match expected results. Scientist in these instances would check the methodology of the experiment to ensure that what is obtained is not because of experimental error. Having ruled this out, outlier points usually point to new insights and possibly breakthroughs in the scientific world.
Moral of the story. Our relationship with God sometimes produce outlier points. God as we know him does something that is unexpected. Rather than to reject him as powerless and not real, persistent follow through of these seemingly unexpected behaviors of our God usually yields new insights into his character and our place within his orbit of influence. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Power manifestations 1. The red cloth He had rented his house to an Indian witch doctor who also happened to be a practicing lawyer. The rental paid for the house was a welcome addition to his monthly income and Joseph* did not complain. As long as the money came he was not too concerned at the source of that income.
Joseph was a good father and a Christian. He had attended Church every now and then but made sure that his family came to Church regularly. Life was good until the 1998 economic crash that struck many of the countries around Malaysia. Joseph lost his job and the money earned from the rental of this house was therefore critical. However, the witch-doctor had not paid rent for 9 months. To evict him and get a new tenant was difficult, because the house was haunted originally. Many tenants had looked over the house but when they heard that ghosts inhabited some of the rooms, they had rejected the offer, even when the rental quoted was low and the house located in a nice and prestigious neighbourhood.
The Indian witch doctor had left the house in a hurry because the spirits in the house was too much even for him. He had converted one of the rooms as a temple and an idol of a deity was ensconced in it. Many had come to consult him for 'services'. Casting spells and ensuring good luck involved placing charms and photographs of clients in the skull of a baby. But now even the spirits was too much. He had been seen vomiting blood outside the house on the day that he fled.
Joseph tried to cleanse his house. He turned to a temple situated nearby for the cleansing of his house but the temple priests there had demanded exorbitant sums of money for the service, and he did not have much. A red cloth which served as a curtain behind the idol still hung in the room. The temple priests had remarked to him that special services were needed to remove the cloth as it possessed great powers. Anyone who touched the cloth will sicken and even die. At his wit's ends, he turned in desperation to God.
A number of Christians from his home Church, came to the house one day and in a simple manner of prayer with much fasting, they cleansed the house. They removed the red cloth and placed it in the dustbin. They dug up various iron objects in the yard and threw them away. Iron knives found in the rooms which were haunted were also removed and disposed. Much prayer was given in the removal of these items. The skull was not found presumably taken away by the witch doctor. The Holy Spirit was invited to dwell in the house once again.
Joseph repainted his house and was able to find a tenant for the house. After the cleansing, the house was not haunted anymore. He not only regained his house back, but with the Lord's help found new faith in Jesus and his power. (Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals) _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Sex (adultery) Someone said that indulging in adulterous sex is like consuming food. Just as we like to tickle our palates with an assortment of foods, just so sex should be. Eating one common food daily is boring even if that food is good and healthful. Carrying the argument over to the realm of sex, this implies that having sexual relationships with one woman is boring. And that one must commit adultery with a number of women in order to enjoy sex.
While we use this argument to justify our roving and adulterous behaviour and seek to legitimise it with the argument that adultery is but a function of a healthy appetite, there is another dimension that we must consider.
Just as food can be made a perversion so also it is with adulterous sex. The old Chinese Emperors were not just satisfied with wholesome and good food but over the course of their reign began with a healthy appetite which soon developed into a taste for the exotic that soon degenerated into food perversions. Ultimately we hear of them eating a special kind of mutton as the ultimate food. This special mutton is an euphemism for human flesh. What started out as a quest for the exotic soon perverted into cannibalism.
Moral: Sex like food if not placed within healthy, wholesome and godly boundaries will ultimately become a perversion. Sin 1. The power of sin From 'The Lord of the rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien we read the story of Deagol and Smeagol who found the ring of power while fishing. The ring is a representation of the power of sin and all its consequences.
"No one ever found out what had become of Deagol; he was murdered far from home, and his body was cunningly hidden. But Smeagol returned alone; and he found that none of his family could see him, when he was wearing the ring. He was very pleased with his discovery and he concealed it, and he used it to find out secrets, and he put his knowledge to crooked and malicious uses. He became sharp-eyed and keen-eared for all that was hurtful. The ring had given him power according to his stature. It is not to be wondered at that he became very unpopular and was shunned (when visible) by all his relations. They kicked him, and he bit their feet. He took to thieving and going about muttering to himself, and gurgling in his throat. So they called him Gollum and cursed him, and told him to go far away; and his grandmother, desiring peace, expelled him from the family and turned him out of her hole."
Moral of the story. Sin indeed confers power to those who are completely yielded to it. Satan had revealed to Adam and Eve in the garden that they would be given the knowledge of good and evil when they ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. In eating the fruit, they were empowered with forbidden knowledge. The sin residing in evil and wicked men will make them powerful and without scruples, and sin will enable them to reek havoc on others and their lives. Sin waits to enslave and when it does, completely masters those who yield to it. The Lord warned Cain with these words, If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it. (Genesis 4:7). Smeagol succumbed to the lust for power and in the end was mastered by it.
Suicide 1. Symington's Sadness Mr. Symington was a great botanist with the Forest Research Institute in Malaysia. As the Chief Research Officer, Mr. Symington had helmed the research activities of the Institute for many years and had personally amassed a great deal of information. Now he was ready to publish his life's work in a manual entitled "The forester's manual of Dipterocarps." The manuscript had been sent to a publisher in Kuala Lumpur for publication and if fate had not intervened, the book would have arrived with great fanfare on the tables of foresters all over the world. As misfortune would have it, the Second World War had broken out and with the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Symington did not see his life's work published. When the Japanese forces overran the defenses of Kuala Lumpur, Symington and many of the expatriate staff were evacuated to Singapore. Symington himself was sent to East Africa to wait out the war.
Seeing that the manuscript would have been lost in the bombing of Kuala Lumpur, and fearing for the worst for his book, Symington in the throes of his depression, committed suicide. The world had lost a brilliant scientist and a good man.
However, unknown to Symington, accompanying the Japanese forces was a Japanese Forester and scientist who had together with foresters around the world eagerly waited the publication of Symington's book. When he was posted to Kuala Lumpur, he enquired after the manuscript and found that they were intact and had escaped the ravages of the first attacks on Kuala Lumpur. With blessings from the Field Marshall of the Japanese forces in Malaya and with his own funds, this Japanese Officer published Symington's book. Alas, Symington had committed suicide, and did not enjoy the glory and praise that would have been due to him.
Moral of the story. Suicide is the final act of a beaten man. The Lord bids us to be patient. _______________________________________________________________ Testimony 1. The Bomoh's apprentice-A testimony from a Sengoi tribe She had been the most adept of his disciples. At the death of the master Yusof she had inherited most of his little spirits. Her fame as a healer, finder of lost things and counselor had increased. Many had come to consult her powers. There was a catch. The spirits which she reared were taking over her life, her body and her family. She yearned to be free but she was captive and enslaved by them. Her daughter was a Christian and had suggested to her to turn to Christ in order to be free.
One day she went to Church but lost her way. The next week she tried and after meeting with the Local Preacher there invited the little church to her house for prayers. She shared that the demons were now making life a hellish place for her family and requested cleansing for her family and herself. The Church prayed for her and invited the Holy Spirit to dwell in her house. Spiritual disturbances continued unabated over the next few weeks. Her sufferings which included mental torture and spiritual anguish increased rather than decreased. Those who prayed for her counseled patience. When she confessed her sins and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour and renounced her indebtedness to the spirits, her situation changed. The attacks became less and she was able to function as a normal person again. Her whole family was baptised and came to the Lord.
Fervent and persistent prayer by the Church and the whole Christian community to which she belonged finally gave her freedom. After three days of prayer and fasting, she vomited green slime and excreted reddish black feces. When she recovered from her faint, she testified that she was free. She has been free ever since although the emotional and psychological scars from her deep bondage to the spirits continue to persist. Deep healing from these will take time. (Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals) _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Word of God 1. In the "Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien, creation of the universe is brought about by the word of mouth of God issued forth as music. Currently science has shown that matter exist, relate and interact within the universe in obedience to certain immutable laws of physics. In biology, scientists have discovered that all of life is governed by information stored in its DNA. One scientist recently has attempted to set this stored information in the DNA to music. These are interesting perspectives to the biblical narrative of creation as recorded for us in the book of Genesis. Scriptures record for us that the Lord God created the heavens, earth and all of life by his word. Science reminds us that at the basis of all existence is information and by this points to the truth that indeed all of creation is underpinned by his word.
Worship Praise song As I come to thee on bended knee, And have my arms wide open, Even as I receive the kiss of thy presence, Upon my lips, my heart, my soul and mind Lord, my heart overflows with thanks, And gratitude in thy abiding grace
As I come to thee, prone in my heart, I humbly bow my knee I wish within the depths of me a love so strong, For thee and thee alone Lord, my heart overflows with thanks, And gratitude in thy abiding grace
As I gaze upon the cross on the hill, Where my saviour died for me, I lock my hands in prayer to thee, My Saviour and my God, Lord, my heart overflows with thanks, And gratitude in thy abiding grace
Worship Poem The Pain The pain, the pain, O, Lord my soul, Sharp, searing, throbbing and numbing pain, Why, O why, this placement on the anvil? Why O why the hammering blows?
My head, my heart are in a thousand shards, Spluttering and shatterings, the visions are gone, Darkness, black as night, inky blackness, I swim in it, it covers all.
Lord, I turn to you, I cling to the hem of your garment, I grasp and cling, I will not let you go, Depart from me, and I am lost forever.
Turn to me, O Lord, Let you love, suffuse me, Let your light shine through the cracks of my soul, And make me whole again.
You can put me whole again, I seek your face and rest, Knit me once again into your wholesome will, Pour me into your cup and gather the waters, Fill me as you would, for your Spirit enlivens. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ |
