Can or Cannot?

About a week ago, Bobby was having lunch with some church friends. The one that sat beside Bobby started sharing his views on Christianity. As he continued, he started to complain how hypocritical some Christians were as they drank alcoholic drinks. “Clearly,” as he continued, “the bible is against Christians drinking alcoholic drinks.”  He continued to point out that Jesus even refused to adhere to His mother’s request about the shortage of wine during the wedding in Cana (John chapter 2). After that, he began to be judgemental with some of the conversations that were taking place then.

Bobby politely got his attention and then started sharing with him on the issue of can and cannot. It was rather a sad reminder that most churches and ministries preached that ‘can and cannot’ list especially to new converts and would be believers. We cannot drink. We cannot smoke. We cannot gamble. We cannot lie. We cannot this and cannot that. Sometimes the list could be overwhelming. Bobby attended a youth service in one of the local churches a couple of years ago. Bobby was greatly surprise that a notice of ’20 cannots’ was pasted on the main entrance. Imagine those youth that went to this service weekly were constantly being reminded of the ’20 cannots’.

Have anyone heard non believers said that they cannot yet believe and receive the salvation because they were not sure whether they can stop smoking or lying or gambling or buying lottery or gossiping or stop practicing corruptions as they were still active in business and in constructions and so on and so forth? Where did they get these ideas of can and cannot? It was not that one could condone these but when one over zealously preached the ‘can and cannot’ list, isn’t one have overlook the grace of God? When one preached the ‘can and cannot’ list, undoubtedly, one will have to look deep into oneself. The I, me and myself will overshadow the grace of God. Without the strength and wisdom from God who can permanently and gracefully kick out bad, unhealthy, depressive and untoward habits?

Back to the conversation Bobby had with the brother, the brother was reminded that the bible was not against drinking wine or any alcoholic drinks. The bible did forbid believers from getting drunk (Ephesians 5:18). Not forgetting also, Jesus did miraculously changed water into the best wine (verse 10) during the wedding in Cana. In fact, this was the first recorded miracles of Jesus during His earthly ministry some two thousand years ago. Paul in 1 Timothy 5:23 also advised Timothy to drink some wine to ease his digestion.

So as Christians, we should not focus entirely on the can and cannot. Instead, when one love God and want to do His will, willingly and lovingly, one bad habit after another will be eliminated. Look upon God and know that he is God. Only Him has the authority and ability to lead us gently and lovingly out of our unbiblical ways. Though it is not wrong for us to remind ourselves and our brethrens on the holiness of our God, we must not be judgemental over it. God bless you.

Our Ears

Bobby was at church this morning listening to a rather long sermon on servant hood. As the preacher preached, she quoted a scripture from Exodus 21:5b & 6 that went like this, “… and (the slave) does not want to be set free, then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he (master) is to make him (slave) stand against the door or the door-post and pierce his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.”

For awhile, Bobby kept thinking, why pierce the ear? Why not a bracelet on the arm or a necklace on the neck or a chain around the feet? Were not these objects more apparent than piercing the ear? Just then, Bobby was reminded on the function of the ear. Oh yes. We hear with our ears. In those days, slaves could not read. Their master had to instruct them verbally. Therefore, by piercing the ear, it symbolised obedient.

All humanity was either slaves of sins or slaves of the righteousness. Christians had publicly confessed through baptism that they had chosen to be the slaves of righteousness. However, how many slaves of righteousness had their ears pierced? By having our ears pierced meant how willing were we to be obedient to our Master, our Lord and Saviour, our Redeemer Jesus Christ?

Let us reflect on our Christian walk with Christ. When we were faced with options, were we readily decide upon the one that pleases Christ most? When we needed to forego our rights, our benefits, our conveniences and even our lives for the sake of being faithful to the call of our Lord, would we willingly respond? When we were wronged, falsely accused, would we want to get even? Were Christians still practiced life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise (Exodus 21:23b – 25)?

Were we involved in church ministries? How was decision made? How was meeting conducted? How was finance managed? How was election conducted? Few years ago, Bobby had witnessed a newly elected Bishop bulldozed his way into office in a merciless way like corporate takeover. Bobby had also witnessed how ugly denomination elections as well as church elections could become and how bickering and backstabbing took place just for the sake of to be elected into office.

Have we had our ears pierced for the sake of our Master? Have we committed ourselves to the one and only living God, the ever faithful and true God? God bless you.

The Leader in You

Today was the installation of the district committee of the denomination that the church Bobby attended belongs to. Naturally the pulpit message was about being a leader and what it takes for the process of leadership to mature within one selves. The scripture quoted was from Colossians 2:6 – 10. It was a beautiful passage to encourage any would-be leader. When the preacher reached verse 8, a stirring occurred within Bobby.

Verse 8 goes like this, “See to it, then, that no one enslaves you by means of the worthless deceit of human wisdom, which comes from the teachings handed down by men and from the ruling spirits of the universe and not from Christ“. How was it possible to be a leader and not be influenced by the surrounding body of knowledge which was not of Christ? The Holy Spirit then impressed upon Bobby that to be a leader, one must acknowledge the Leader in oneself.

After a moment of silent, the still small voice explained that the Leader within was the one residing in one’s heart. He is Christ our Saviour and Master, our Redeemer and our Leader. At that precise moment, Bobby felt like there was a light bulb being switched on inside Bobby. How true it was. True leadership meant humble servant hood. A leader was someone who was willingly submissive to the Leader within.

When a leader recognised the fact that to be a leader was to be a slave, one will always led with knees instead of feet. There were neither personal agenda nor personal interest. The leader will only have one motive and that was to do the will of the Master and to safeguard His holy name. Being the servant slave, the leader will need to be on the knees consistently to seek the views of the Master within, to discharge all leadership responsibilities according to the truths of the Master.

Therefore the single most important thing a leader must do without ceasing was to be on one’s knees in prayers and to spend time in reading the bible, having daily devotions to seek and know the will of the Master and to carry out all His will His way. When a leader was able and willing to be submissive to the Master within, no body of knowledge foreign to Christ will ever be able to influence him.

This was what Jesus said to His disciples some two thousand years ago in Matthew 20:25 – 28. “So Jesus called them all together and said, “You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be your slave – like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life to redeem many people.”‘

True leaders were to serve and even willing to give their lives. They were never the symbol of authority where the masses have to bow down. Instead they were the hope where the masses could count on to do justice and safeguard the peace. Leaders were also the ones that were ready to help at all times and were blessed with wisdom from above as to how to get things done for the benefits of the masses according to the will of the Master within. Are you a leader? God bless you.

Good Samaritan

Most Christians are quite familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan. This passage is located at Luke 10:25 – 37. A couple of days ago, Bobby heard a sermon based on this passage. At the beginning, the preaching seemed quite normal and common. However as the preaching continued, relevancy kicked in. Bobby was undoubtedly reminded on the attitude of life that the sermon was trying to guide its listeners to realise.

The focus was on the three parties involved, namely the robbers, the good guys (the priest and the Levite) and of course the outcast (the Samaritan). The attitude of the robbers was what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is also mine. With this attitude and mentality, anyone who has no regard to others can be considered the robber. This group of people seek to destroy whatever that does not belong them, try to take and keep what they desire even though it does not belong to them and guard selfishly whatever that do belong to them.

Am I the robber? Did I destroy or deface public property carelessly or on purpose? Do I keep hurting friendships and relationships? Did I take and keep what is not mine, like stationery from my workplace? Did I steal time from others by being unpunctual on work and on appointments? Do I selfishly keep everything I have and owned to myself solely like my material belongings as well as my immaterial belongings like my time and talents? Am I a robber?

The good guys come with an attitude of what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours. On the surface, this attitude seems okay. However, deeper reflection on this attitude reveals the ugly truth hiding behind. What is mine is mine. The good guys will not compromise on anything for anything with any of their things on whatever reasonable things. Though they do not desire what that do not belong to them, they will neither share nor extend a helping hand in times of need.

Do I possess this ‘good guys’ attitude? Am I ready to help when needs arise or do I hide away? Am I calculative on every effort shared and demand that the effort must be appropriately compensated? Am I only considerate towards myself even at the expense of others? Do I only take and never give?

The Samaritan was considered an outcast by the Jews. The attitude of this Samaritan is what’s mine can be gladly share. The Samaritan will make use of their personal strength and belongings to shape a better community. They always volunteer on worthy causes. They will never shy away even when they need to sacrifice for any of it. These Samaritans bring warmth to the community. They bring hope. They share love. They are action base people with sincere motives.

Am I a Samaritan? Do I only pay lip service to charity work? Am I willing to go out of my way to ease the difficulty of my fellow humans? Am I ready to be very inconvenient for the sake of other’s need? Am I willing to share my belongings to the needy? Am I available for both my loved ones as well as strangers? Am I willing to be a bit more concern of my surroundings? Do I fake my concern? Am I truly a Samaritan?

Who am I? Am I the robber? Am I the ‘good guys’? Am I the Samaritan? Who am I? Who are you? God bless you.

The Time is NOW

Malaysia always prides herself as a harmonious multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religion country. The peace and stability enjoys by all the different ethnic groups bears witness to the unsurpassed level of respect, understanding and tolerance each group has towards each other that Malaysia is repeatedly regarded as a model country in this aspect. Christianity, a minority religion which makes up about 9.1% (as in year 2000) of the total population enjoys freedoms of worships as guarded by the federal constitution. 

All is seemingly well until about two days ago. On the faithful morning of 8th January 2010, three churches were torched, the Metro Tabernacle at Desa Melawati, a church under the Assembly of God, being the worst hit. The other two churches were Roman Catholic churches. This is the first time that religious tensions in Malaysia have resulted in physical attacks. As far as Bobby can remember, in the brief history of the formation of Federation of Malaysia, there are three instances where Malaysia suffered destructive physical attacks due to internal turmoils. The first internal chaos was 13 May 1969 due to racial discord. The second was bombing in civilian places when the federal backed Sabah state Berjaya government was toppled by a newly formed opposition, the PBS party, in 1985. The third is the torching of churches about two days ago.

Bobby felt disturbed when the news about churches being torched was broadcast in the evening news. Somehow Bobby recalled a question that was hurled to the renown evangelist Dr. Billy Graham by a journalist on the aftermath of that 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York about a decade earlier. The question went something like this, “Why God allowed the attack? Where was your God when America needed Him most?” Calmly, Dr Graham replied, “When America kick God out from their Town Halls, from their Schools, from their libraries and from almost every aspect of their public life and public places, why does America still blame God on the terrorist attack?’

Dr Graham’s reply kept Bobby thinking these few days. What was the message that Christians must heed from these attacks? God has been extremely good to Malaysia and in particular to the Christians in Malaysia. The gospel reached the Malay Archipelago about 7th century but not until 1511 when Portuguese set foot on Malacca that Christianity started taking shape. Christianity became more established when British acquired Penang in 1786 and in 1810, a milestone was reached when Catholic priests from Thailand established the Major Seminary in Penang. Christianity flourished from there.

The gospel is in Malaysia for many hundred years. Christians are relatively free to practice all aspect of Christianity for many decades in this blessed nation. Is it that the time has finally come for Christians in Malaysia to face the reality? What should Christians do after those attacks? Do Christians need to retaliate? Is this a wake up call to Christians in Malaysia and if it is so, what is the call about?

First and foremost, Bobby felt that as Christians, we must all heed the scriptures in Matthew 5:38, 39. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.”  Again in Romans 12:17, 18, “If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody”.

In other words, we need to love everybody. Everybody means all those that we treasure dearly as well as those we do not think much about even to those that might have hurt us and cause us pains. The time is now. Christians, let us all move out of our comfort zone to shower our communities with love. There is too much hatred around us. The bondages of unforgiving have become fortresses surrounding us. Misunderstandings after misunderstandings cause much tension with people around us. We have grown deaf to pleads of the sufferings, of the unfortunate and less privilege people among us.

Let us be proactive to love and to extend our willing hands to mend, to heal and to help in which ever way we can. No longer can we act on the premise of ‘an eye for an eye’. It was said that if indeed an eye for an eye, then the whole world will go blind on day. Let us love with the love of God as in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It is never wrong to love too many. Loving too many is much better than loving too few. In fact, we can never love too many. And it is only through love that we can be recognised as being truly the disciples of Jesus (John 13:35). Let’s set forth boldly and love. The time is now. God bless you.

Great Commandment

2009 is now history. Whatever happened happened. Whatever did not happened, remained not happened. We cannot do, redo or undo anything in 2009 anymore. 2009 will remain as it is. However 2010 is still fresh. We are still in time to plan, to pray and to work on things that matter to us and to God. While Bobby is reflecting on 2009 and visioning 2010, Deuteronomy chapter 6 seems to come to mind. The first nine verses are commonly known as the Great Commandment because these verses sum up what we should do with the teachings pass down by Moses, especially the Ten Commandments.

Bobby was especially drawn to verse 4 until verse 9. These verses go like this; ‘Israel, remember this! The LORD – and the LORD alone – is our God. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. Write them on the door-posts of your houses and to your gates‘.

These verses become rather personal and quite intimate when the first word ‘Israel‘ is change to Bobby. Indeed these very verses remind what Bobby needs to pay attention to for 2010. First and foremost, Bobby must be reminded that our beloved LORD and Saviour is our only God and therefore must put God first in everything that Bobby does. As Christians, we must all be reminded constantly to prioritise God in every aspect of our lives so that we will not deviate from the truths.

Bobby did write up some resolutions for 2010 and make plans, both big and small, for 2010. But when these verses strike up within Bobby, they stir Bobby to consciously base whatsoever that Bobby has plan or will be working on, on God. ‘Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away‘ means no matter where Bobby is, never, never forget that He is God. ‘when you are resting and when you are working‘ means no matter what state Bobby is in, yes He is the number 1, always the number 1 in Bobby’s life.

‘Tie them on your arms‘ reminds Bobby that whatever Bobby does or will be doing to never deviate from the truth. ‘wear them on your foreheads‘ reminds Bobby to meditates on God’s word and that whatever is in Bobby’s thoughts, it must be purify by the truth. ‘Write them‘ signifies declaring and testifying God, announcing that Bobby is Christians and aim to live a godly lifestyle, ‘on the door-posts of your houses‘ focuses on Bobby’s household, on Bobby’s family while ‘and to your gates‘ symbolises the community that Bobby is living in. 

Therefore 2010, Bobby needs to stay closer with the LORD. Bobby also needs to be more conscious about the LORD. It does not matter what Bobby has plan for 2010, as long as Bobby continues to put God first in everything that Bobby does, it will be ok. 2010 will be an exciting year for Bobby. Bobby prays for strength and obedience to live through 2010 as described by these verses and that Bobby will be pleasing to God in 2010. Bobby also prays that all Christians will live a life pleasing to God in 2010. God bless you.

New Year Resolution

Most of us are told to make New Year resolutions. The time is now again for us to work on our resolutions for year 2010. Do you have resolutions every year? Do you think making resolutions are important? Or are New Year resolutions a waste of time? As Christians, if we do spend time on making New Year resolutions, very likely part of our resolutions will have to do with things of our spirituality.

Some of the more common new year resolutions Christians normally have include spending more time in prayer and worship, reading the bible, sign up for ministry and mission trips, attend Sunday service more often, start tithing, etc… However, have we notice that year in and year out, most of our new year resolutions are fairly similar? What happen to the ‘spending more time in prayer’ resolution for last year? Why is it again that it is again on the list this year?

 Ecclesiastes 5:4, 5 stated, ‘So when you make a promise to God, keep it as quickly as possible. He has no use for a fool. Do what you promise to do. Better not to promise at all than to make a promise and not keep it‘. When making New Year resolutions, when we want to be serious about our resolutions and when we pray to God about our resolutions, it is only correct if we act upon it. If we repeatedly make the same or similar resolutions years after years, what is the use of making it in the first place? When promises are made to God, we ought to honour it as soon as possible.

‘Do not make a promise in My name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on My name. I am the LORD your God‘ (Leviticus 19:12). Making New Year resolutions and putting it in the hands of our God is somewhat like asking God to help us to fulfil our promises to Him in the New Year. If we normally fail in keeping our resolutions, should we continue to make New Year resolutions? The answer is yes, we should, though it is not a must.

One of the major problems in listing our New Year resolutions is in trying to be as politically, spiritually, culturally, morally and visibly as correct as possible. We want to make sure our resolutions are what most people would have on their lists. This is not correct. We must ask ourselves sincerely whether the items on our resolutions are really what we want, whether we really feel that those are what we really want to work on in the coming year. When the desire is there, change is possible.

Another major problem we face in making our New Year resolution is in over-emphasising the ‘what’. We always ask ourselves what we want in the list, what we want to achieve, what our mission is and what changes we would like to work upon in the coming year. By over-emphasising the ‘what’, we normally forget about the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. Without the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, we will fail in our pursue of the listed items in our New Year resolution. We must be clear on the ‘why’, not just the ‘what’, so that we are very clear on our vision and mission. With the ‘how’, objectives are listed and goals define. A feasible way can then be charted to achieve it.

Do you make New Year resolutions? If you do, clearly define why you want each of the item as listed and how to go about it in achieving it. If you have not, maybe it is a good time to start now. Just remember to ask yourselves why you want the listed items in your resolution and how are you going to achieve it. Be as quantitative as possible. Set a way to measure every item in your resolution. Do not say ‘spend more time’. Instead say something like ‘once a day’ or ‘three times a week’. With these tips in mind, hopefully you will not need to repeat the same resolutions again next year. God bless you.

Love, a noun or a verb?

Our bible is clear on what love is. This most beautiful and complete definition of love is found on 1 Corinthians chapter 13, particularly from verse 4 to verse 8a. It is stated that, ‘Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience never fail. Love is eternal’.

Our bible is also clear on who love is. 1 John 4:8b made known that ‘God is love‘. Clearly love is a noun. We are told who love is. We read in the bible what love is. In fact, not only God is love, love is also God. The very definition of love as stated in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is everything about our God as we come to know Him.  How then can we live this love as a verb in our daily lives?

First and foremost, we must receive this love into us before we can share this love. We are able to share this love when we have this love and when this love is shared, the love becomes a verb. 1 John 4:19 stated that ‘We love because God first love us‘. We cannot love if we do not have the love but when we have God we have the love. Godless love is not the love we know in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Godless loves always have some kind of unjust motive lurking behind.

Overall, Christians understand love as a noun. However, it is more important for Christians to live out the love as a verb. Love as verb is the very essence of what being a Christian is all about. John 13:35 stated that, ‘If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples‘. Have we, as Christians, loved one another? ‘One another’ does not mean Christians only. It does not mean those that are dear to us only. It also does not mean those lovable people only. Not doubt it includes these but also many more. It includes those that are not lovable, those that are on our nerves most of the time, those that we want to avoid, our enemies and all those that are created in the image of our God (Genesis 1:26, 27).

Have Christians loved enough? How we ought to love? Let us learn from love, our God. One of the most quoted scriptures in the bible is John 3:16. It said, ‘For God loved the world so much that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life’. Our Father in heaven has set a very clear example for all of us to follow. To love as He loves, we must be genuine in our act of love and be ready to give up even the dearest thing we treasure.

To fully grasp the love as verb, we move from John 3:16 to 1 John 3:16, ‘This is how we know what love is: Christ gave His life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for our brothers!‘. And of course, sisters as well. It is said that global warming is getting worse by the hour as humankind continues to emit greenhouse gases. Our earth is getting hotter and hotter. But has it come across our minds that our world is also getting colder and colder by the minutes? When no one bothers to love anymore, our world will lost the warmth of true love. Before our earth is destroy by global warming from the emission of greenhouse gases, humankind might be wipe out from the world by the chill of loveless community.

Understand love as a noun and then set out to live the love as a verb. God bless you.

Merry Christmas

Bobby wishes everybody a very merry blessed Christmas and a joyous new year 2010.

On Being Busy

The following is adapted from a well-known piece circulating on the internet for many years now.

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, “We can’t keep Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth…. We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their SAVIOR. Once they gain that connection with JESUS, our power over them is broken.”

Satan continued, “So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don’t have time to develop a relationship with JESUS CHRIST…”

“This is what I want you to do,” said the devil. “Distract them from gaining hold of their SAVIOR and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!” “How shall we do this?” his demons shouted.

“Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” Satan answered…… “Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!

“Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice,” said Satan. “Entice them to play the radio or I-Pod whenever they drive. Keep the TV, DVDs, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly.”

“This will jam their minds and break that union with CHRIST,” smiled Satan. “Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogues, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.”

“Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what’s important, and they’ll become dissatisfied with their wives,” schemed Satan. “Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night. Give them headaches too! If they don’t give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere. That will fragment their families quickly!”

“Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the
Real meaning of Christmas,” laughed Satan. “Give them an Easter bunny so they won’t talk about HIS resurrection and power over sin and death… Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted. Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on GOD’S creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences. Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from JESUS.”

“Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!” Satan looked very satisfied. “It was quite a plan!” exclaimed Satan.

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there, having little time for their GOD or their families, having no time to tell others about the power of JESUS to change lives.

Now the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes? You be the judge!. Does ‘BUSY’ means Being Under Satan’s Yoke? God bless you.