My Tweets June/July

@ArisSiew: In a tough and mean world, clad your soul, actions and words with the full armor of grace and gentleness.

@ArisSiew: Don't allow the little irritations of life to puncture your heart and rob you of peace but irrigate it often with the rain of His presence.

@Aris Siew: Many devise excuses, tell lies, or give reasons why it can't be done when the same efforts could be harnessed to move ahead

@ArisSiew: Dependence on God is not a lecture to be given. It is the air that we breathe, the dynamo of our strength, the reservoir of our wisdom

@ArisSiew: Too many are building empires, while their souls are in tatters and ruin. Spiritual poverty is the worst poverty..

@ArisSiew: There is too little fruit of the Spirit in too many so claimed spirit-filled lives.

If there was no Baptism in the Holy Spirit...

18 June 2014

If there was no Baptism in the Holy Spirit...

1. The church will be weak, devoid of the power of God.

2. The mandate of the church to be a witness of Christ to the world will be carried out very feebly and easily overlooked.

3. The miraculous will be absent in the church. It will function as any human organization but it will not carry the divine expression of God's power.

4. The church will not be a world wide organization as it is today. The church may not even exist. Persecution in the early days could have easily destroyed the church.
5. The prayer life of the church and individual Christians will be ineffective and ritualistic.

6. The gifts of the Spirit will be lost.

7. Vision for the world and the lost will be blur.

To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is more than an experience, it is a continuous lifestyle. To obtain the experience and not live daily filled with the Spirit is as good as not being baptized in the Spirit at all. The expression of a life that is filled with the Spirit is power and witness.

Acts 1:8 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
(Holy Spirit Baptism = Power + Witness)

The Unpleasantness of Being Convicted by the Spirit

26 March 2014

Conviction is not a comfortable word.

It speaks of a wrong that has been done and then the Spirit of God comes and shines a torch light on it and exposes it right in your face.

He reveals a secret, and ladens us with guilt and calls us to admit and turn from it.

Of course you can minimize the wrong, totally ignore it, or justify yourself for doing wrong instead of repenting and asking for forgiveness. However the consequences are extremely damaging. 

Why is conviction so unwelcome and unpleasant to the modern Christian?

1. He does not want to look weak to himself and to others. Image is more important than truth - which leads to great dangers. The modern Christian is more concerned about impressing others than impressing God.

2. He thinks that only young believers and non Christians should come under conviction. He believes that he is matured and has moved beyond conviction.

3. Guilt is burdensome. He believes in the fantasy that joy and peace is incompatible with conviction and guilt. He believes the ultimate aim of the gospel is to make him happy not holy.

When conviction is aborted by the Christian, it leads to hardness of the soul. He is deceived to think that things are ok when it is not. Greed, pride, compromises and lust can easily gain a sure yet unnoticeable foothold in the consciousness of that believer. External achievements acts as a heavy smog screen to the presence of such spiritual viruses. Often at the height of glamorous success, hell breaks lose, the mighty falls and he becomes another trophy of the devil's sly strategy. Not forgetting the damage it does inside and outside the church.

Conviction is the work of the Spirit of God. A matured believer never grows beyond conviction, in fact he embraces conviction fully knowing he has feet of clay. Conviction keeps him sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Conviction keeps him humble, it keeps him dependent on God. It keeps him free from the tentacles of sin. Let conviction rip into your heart and soften your knees that you may crash before the Holy God, only to be cleansed by fire and then lifted up higher and stronger again by grace.

May our hearts be regularly convicted and bear the fruit of holiness. Stay in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and be thankful for His conviction. He is masterfully honing us to be more like Jesus. 

Poem by Mother Theresa

19 Jan 2014

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true 
enemies; 
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; 
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

(This poem was written by Mother Teresa and is engraved on the wall of her home for children in Calcutta.)

Thank you for a great year.

1 Jan 2014
2013 has been an eventful year for the church. We conducted a major Healing Rally in KL and Malacca, a combine Church camp with KL and all our outreaches, Chinese outreach dinner, Christmas Shoes Musical, Christmas Community Celebration, fed the poor, provided education for the underprivileged children, launched a new initiative for a bigger building, planted a new church and yesterday's Countdown 2014 Under the Stars with a record attendance. New leaders have been raised up, youths are a rising force, and the seeds of a new ministry about to come to life. Completed 6 sermon series - Encounter with God, Servolution, Living lives of Impact, Together, Awakening and Jesus - the Man, Mystery and Majesty.

Firstly, all glory be given to the Lord. It was His favor and grace that has given us good success. As He led us in 2013, He has moved ahead of us into 2014 and His faithfulness will surround us throughout the new year. There is nothing to fear because He is near.

Secondly, I want to say a big thank you to all the deacons, leaders, shepherds, staff of PCC. It is your partnership, prayer and persistency that has brought us this far. I have seen your love and devotion to God. Your faithful leadership inspite of major challenges have inspired me and set a powerful example to the church of what true service to God is all about. More are stepping into leadership and you are stepping up higher in influence.

Thirdly, thank you to all members who have rallied behind the vision and purpose of the church. Your desire to live close to God, obey Him and love for others brings great joy and fulfilment to us and the leaders.

Fourthly, God has allowed us to be stretched at different times in order to mature us. Every trial comes with an opportunity to experience His power and grace. It leads us to greater depth in Him and further growth in character. We accepted the 'bitter' and grown to be better. Praise God for working through our lives and especially in our lives.

I have full confidence in The Lord for 2014. He is the the unshakeable Lord of the universe and Lord of His church. He is also The Lord of your life and ours. Let us fix our eyes on Him. He never fails. There are great things in stored for those who fervently seek Him. Let us move to greater and important things in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The impossible is ours for the taking.

The undiscovered is waiting for our arrival.

Victory is calling out our names.

...greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. - John 14:12

PAris & PSheila