@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.
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
If there was no Baptism in the Holy Spirit...
18 June 2014
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.
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.
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)
(Holy Spirit Baptism = Power + Witness)
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
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.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
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.)
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.)
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
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.
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
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
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.*
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.*
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
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!
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.
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