When You Think You are Absolutely Right!

13 Nov 2013
What does Hitler, Paul the Apostle, King Rehoboam of Judah and the Pharisees have in common? 
The common thread they share is that they were all at one time - self deceived! 

Hitler set out to annihilate the Jewish race because he really believed that the removal of the Jews will mean a stronger and superior Aryan race/nation.
The Pharisees plotted to kill the Jesus whom they thought was a 'blasphemer' because Jesus claimed to be God.
Paul persecuted Christians severely and had the endorsement of the authorities to go to Damascus to do the same. He was trying to destroy the church whom he believed was a cult and a threat to Judaism.
King Rehoboam believed that by demanding a greater sacrifice from the 'lazy' Jews, Israel would be a stronger nation. He imposed higher taxes and exacted a heavier load on his subjects.

They thought they were absolutely right when they were in fact absolutely wrong. Their thinking was faulty but they thought they were orthodox/ fundamentalist. They then made decisions they deemed correct even though their actions were harmful, flawed and terribly destructive. Yet they believed that they are doing what is right and that God is on their side.

Self deception is the worst form of deception. To be deceived by others is to be told a lie as the truth by another person/ group. These can receive counsel and with correct information and they can come to a realization of how wrong they were. Self deception on the other hand is more dangerous because the self deceived person has totally convinced himself to believe a lie as the truth. In fact the lie becomes the truth for which they will defend arduously and propagate passionately. They believe deeply that others are the ones who are deceived.  They are in total denial of their wrong and they can develop a 'Messiah complex' to save others or destroy their 'enemies'. They can make dangerous decisions and yet think they are championing a good cause. They are capable of doing evil and yet think they are helping God, They have mistaken the voice of the devil to be the voice of the Holy Spirit. They are a danger to themselves and others,

Some characteristics of a self deceived person ....
1. They believe they cannot be wrong.
2. They are proud but think they just have deep convictions on a certain matter.
3. They refuse to receive a different opinion or counsel because they 'know' they are right.
4. They have concretized their conclusions and positions. They only speak and no longer listen.
5. They are judgmental and critical of others different from them; fault finding.
6. They are self righteous.

Paul thought he was really serving God by dragging Christians into prison. No amount of arguments can alter his mind. God had to use drastic intervention - knock him down from his steed and blind him with a shaft of light. The resurrected Jesus spoke to him in an audible voice. Paul was thankfully shaken out of his self deception. Only then, did he realize that He was fighting against God. He repented.

How do we keep from self deception?
1. Scriptures say 'guard your heart for it is the well spring of life'. Regularly do a self heart check. Quickly search your heart and spirit when you feel an uneasy feeling develop. Neglecting the promptings of the conviction of the Holy Spirit will soon harden and de-sensitize the heart from God's voice.
2. Remain teachable and humble. Be open to correction. Accept the possibility that you can be wrong.
3. Listen deeply before you defend your position. Bring the differing information to the presence of God and let Him speak to you.
4. Be honest and open to the Spirit of Truth to guide into all truth. Always be tender and yielded to Him.
5. Read the scriptures carefully and apply proper principles of interpreting it.
6. Realize you don't have and don't know all the truth. You don't hold the exclusive rights to all truth.
7. Don't underestimate the devil - he is called the ' father of lies', ' serpent' and 'deceiver’. He comes disguised as an angel of light. He speaks enough truth but adds a spin on it, that over time, totally distorts the truth without the person realizing it. He is full of guile and trickery, having myriads of ways to lure and blind anyone from the truth.

So when you think you are absolutely right, think again. Listen, listen, listen especially to God. 

Jude 20,21 (NIV) But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

1 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)[18] Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise* by the standards of this age,* he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 

 1 John 1:8 (NIV)
[8] If we claim to be without sin,* we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.*

Job 15:31 (NIV)[31] Let him not deceive* himself by trusting what is worthless,* for he will get nothing in return.*

Stronger When It Should Have Grown Weaker

16 Oct 2013
Through the pages of history, it has clearly shown that the church when persecuted, gets stronger when it should have grown weaker, grows bigger when it should have grown smaller, continues loving when it should have been crushed by hatred.

This is the genius of God - the life of Jesus flowing in the church. His life is unstoppable. After all, the enemies of God killed and buried Jesus, but He conquered death with resurrection power. They tried to stop his ministry, but his teachings covered the earth as the waters cover the seas. They cursed and blasphemed him, but today, Jesus is worshipped and adored by more in every generation and nation.

Philippians 2:10,11 will happen one day, as prophesied.

It is good to hurt yourself with this.

10 Oct 2013

Hurting oneself is not recommended in almost all cases. We question a persons psyche when he/ she enjoys being afflicted with pain. It is abnormal to hurt yourself except in this one area. You can and should hurt yourself when it comes to this!

Truth. Truth is powerful. Speak and act in truth even when it hurts you. Confess the truth when you make a blunder. Own up to your mistake and take the heat like a man. Act in truth even when it disadvantages you.

Losers are born when they stray from truth or add a spin to it. They open the doors for darkness to invade. Darkness is always destructive, never constructive.

The disadvantage of truth is temporal, but the disadvantage of falsehood is permanent.

When you speak the truth, truth itself will be your best ally. It will then promote you, win the respect of even your enemies and multiply your influence. When a person of truth speaks, it thunders with heaven's authority. It has the power to move armies, break steel walls and silence the most convincing of arguments . 

Hope can shine brightly in every institution and nations can be healed when truth is spoken and held up high. 

What's Holding You From An Incredible Life? It's Not What You Think!

7 Oct. 2013

Everyone wants to move ahead and accomplish something with their lives.

They want to be somebody, be at some place better, feel happier or change some part of the world. Live an incredible life! Unknown to many, the 'D' factor is holding them back.

The 'D' factor is the 'Defilement' factor.

To defile means to make unclean, a corrupting element. Many things can cause defilement, but the chief cause of defilement is that little muscle in our body called the tongue. All muscle and all mischief. It sets the direction of one's life. It is like the rudder of a ship. Small but huge in influence. 

James the brother of Jesus describes it as untamable. Yes, we are dealing with the untamable beast. It has held back success, damaged lives, divided partnerships and murdered dreams.

The tongue is naturally negative. The tongue cuts, curses and condemns. It releases a toxin that poisons and imprisons the hearer and the speaker. 

Do a check up on your words......I cannot make it; I am not good enough; I can't do it; life is not fair; he is *#+?; she is *#+?; it is her fault; I want to punch ........ - if these words and other negatives make up the major portion of your communication, your tongue is defiling you, damaging you and destroying you. Your tongue is making you sick and weak. A negative tongue is stealing your success right under your nose.

"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,* and these make a man ‘unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean';* but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.'”  - Jesus in  Matthew 15:18-20

Stop right now and reverse the damage.

Command your tongue before it commands you.

Change your words to change your life.

Words have creative power.

Positive words creates positive environments and positive feelings.

Positive words give out energy and life.

Positive words invigorates, sparks enthusiasm and releases strength.
God spoke this world into being. He spoke and it was created.

Speak words of faith, blessings, encouragement, hope, possibilities and power.

Confess the word of God. Measure your words with His word.

With God's help, God's Word and following God's pattern of speech, you can tame the untamable beast to serve you to live an incredible life.

Your rise in life is determined by your level of praise you release into life.

You Cannot Climb Mt Everest Alone.

We can do some things well; but we cannot do all things well and great things by ourselves. On our own, we can conquer some hills, but we cannot climb Mt Everest alone. Regardless of how committed and talented a leader is, he can only do so much as he is limited by his own mind, ability, strength, resources and time itself.

To go beyond some small achievements and increase one's influence, he needs the help of others. A team is required to accomplish mega things. Without a team, a leader is resigned to small wins. The bigger the vision, the better a team is required.

Moses was bogged down by settling all the disputes of all his countrymen. He had no private time and family time. He was close to a classic burn out. His father in law insightfully saw Moses problem and gave him a timely advice. I call it the 'Jethro Files'.

In Moses' situation he was to...

A. Identify what his role as a leader was. 

1. He is the priest of God to intercede for the people.

2. Teach them the decrees and laws.

3. Show them the way to live and their duties to perform

B. Identify other leaders to assist him.

1. Select and train capable leaders.

2. Appoint and commission them to serve as judges.

3. The leaders handle all the cases and only the difficult cases come to Moses.

The results were that - Moses enjoyed his family, kept the sanity of his mind and led well throughout his lifetime.

Other leaders were raised up and their giftings utilised. They found their place in the community.

The people were satisfied cause their problem were addressed and  their needs were met.

To apply the Jethro Files to your situation, ask and do the following.

1. What are the things that only you can and must do personally. You do the leading. 

2. Select and raise up other leaders to do the other tasks, things that you do poorly, and things

you don't know how to do but are essential to the organization. Find leaders that complement you. 

3. Teach them values of the organization and imprint the vision into their hearts,

4. Choose capable, teachable and trustworthy persons to represent and serve with you.

5. Empower and trust them to make decisions and run their ministries and projects.

With a good team you can do many things.
With a great team you can do amazing things - even conquer Mt Everest.

Don't Keep Your Promises

25 Sept 2013
A promise gives hope and makes people excited. The promise-maker can become popular very fast and receive the support from the people he made the promises to - a deal, a favor, a commitment. His ratings go up. Because he is reaping the initial rewards, he is tempted to walk away and not do the hard work on delivering his promises. He goes to another group and makes new promises and start taking the benefits again. Making promises and not keeping them is very common.

It is effortless to break a promise. Many people are doing it regularly. However, consider some results a promise-breaker will get.

1. Make a lot of people angry.
2. Make people distrust him. His bad reputation will catch up very soon and start to precede him. 
3. Frustrate people and make them feel betrayed .
4. Kill team spirit.
5. Invite loads of criticisms.
6. Sabotage his own dreams and ambitions and then wonder why he failed.
8. Live like a hermit, for the people close to him will leave him. Families fall apart.
9. Be his own worst enemy.
10. Endure an unfulfilled life.

There will be a immediate cost to pay when you keep your promises but to break them incurs a much much higher price tag over a much much longer period of time.

Stop Breaking and Start Honoring your promises.
DONT JUST BE A PROMISE-MAKER; BE A PROMISE KEEPER!

'Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?...He...who keeps his oath even when it hurts…He who does these things will never be shaken.' Ps.15:1,4,5

Who is Doing the Watching?

14 Sept 2013

Tough times are intent to stay. Darkness is gathering for one final onslaught. The future is uncertain, but certainly unstable. Before one crisis subsides, another and another and another emerges. Even strong men falter in their steps. Look outward and there is chaos. Look inward and there is confusion.  It's time to look upward to Christ and you are certain to find calmness, confidence and courage.

The Psalmist pens this song ' I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from. My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.' (Psalms 121:1)  Trusting in the Rock of Ages will see you through tumultuous times. God is unchanging. He is immovable. He is the Strong Tower. He is the Resurrection and the Life.

"God watches over you, yes ordinary you.

He will not sleep or slumber and neglect you.

He is your shade to protect you every second of every 24 hours.

He will keep you from all types of harm.

He watches over your every movement.

He watches over you now and in the future."

(My version of Ps.121:3-8)

God is watching over us, paying meticulous attention on us.

Let's be watching Him....and peace will never be far away.

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween

Halloween

Background

“The celebration of Halloween, also known as the witches' new year, is rooted in the ancient pagan calendar which divided the year into Summer and Winter by two fire festivals. Before the birth of Christ, the day we know as Halloween was part of the Celtic Feast of Samhain (sah-ween). This feast was a celebration of Druid priests from Britain and France and commemorated the beginning of Winter.

It was a night on which the veil between the present world and the world beyond was pierced. The festivals were marked by animal sacrifices, offerings to the dead, and bonfires in recognition of departed souls. It was believed that on this night demons, witches, hobgoblins, and elves were released en masse to harass and to oppress the living. For self-preservation many Druids would dress up as witches, devils, and ghouls, and would even involve themselves in demonic activities and thus make themselves immune from attack.” - Hank Hanegraaff

Activities they do on Halloween

Dress up like demons, witches, skeletons and monsters…

Attend parties in such demonic costumes.

Tell ghost stories or watch ghost movies.

Visit haunted or spooky places

Children – trick or treat – going from house to house asking for candy, guising

Carve and light up potatoes and pumpkins, place it in front of the house to ward off evil spirits.

Should Christians be involved in Halloween and Halloween parties?

What Christians should not do.

1. The Chinese celebrate the ghost festival – would you dress up like a ghost or demon and organize parties during that festival? I guess not. We should respond the same to the Western version of the ghost festival.

2. The power of darkness is glorified. There are those who invoke spirits and offer sacrifices to the dead and spirits, celebrating Halloween is a channel to invoke the powers of evil– Do not participate in it. Christians should exalt the Lord and worship him only.

3. Christians should dress up to reflect the beauty and light of God and not disguise themselves as evil beings. Avoid every appearance of evil.

What Christians can do?

1. Engage those who celebrate Halloween and tell them the background and spiritual significance of this practice. An opportunity to declare the truth.

2. Do not be afraid of the powers of darkness and know that they are defeated by the resurrected Christ who lives in us. We do not disguise ourselves to look like evil to escape evil but live in the light to defeat evil. Declare the power of the Lord to those who fear.

3. A time to remember our departed loved ones and the departed saints for all the good that they have done and give thanks to the Lord for the impact they have made.

Rev. Aris Siew