Followers

Friday, January 8, 2010

'Kasih, Pasti Lemah Lembut'



KASIH PASTI LEMAH LEMBUT

"KASIH PASTI MEMAAFKAN

KASIH PASTI MURAH HATI

KASIH-MU KASIH-MU TUHAN

REFF:

AJARILAH KAMI INI SALING MENGASIHI

AJARILAH KAMI INI SALING MENGAMPUNI

AJARILAH KAMI INI KASIH-MU YA TUHAN

KASIH-MU KUDUS TIADA BATASNYA"


Shalom!
the Christian song above is my dad's favourite and it is a must every time he leads in praise and worship. We even sang this beautiful song during his funeral service in St. Francis' Kota Samarahan and all the 300 plus friends and family members sang along. It was requested by his fellow House Group members on top of 'Ku Mahu Cinta Yesus'.

We all were touched that day, not because of his demise but because he cherished and lived out that song through out his moment with Jesus on earth. He is the expression of that song, he loves his children and friends and i know he would do anything to show God's love to us.

The song, in fact, was sang moments before we close the lid of his coffin.

Reflecting on the latest issue and chaos in our country, i am nothing more but to totally agree that we NEED to consider spending time to understand the lyrics of this song. There are a lot of truths and practicality in it especially the chorus that says:

"AJARILAH KAMI INI SALING MENGASIHI

AJARILAH KAMI INI SALING MENGAMPUNI

AJARILAH KAMI INI KASIH-MU YA TUHAN

KASIH-MU KUDUS TIADA BATASNYA"


And finally, 'kasih pasti memaafkan'...Lord, teach us to forgive those who are too carried away by their own short-mindedness and may those who terrorized Your sanctuary repent and believe that You are the sovereign Lord.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

what it means to be Christians

Shalom!
The good Lord has been good to us that we can actually read this very post in total peace; without any worries of riots or suicide bombings around us. Let us praise God for that!
Let us begin by looking closely at what John R.W. Stott had written on 'Christianity':
"Christianity is not primarily a theological system, an ethical system, a ritual system, a social system or an ecclesiastical system- it is a person: it's Jesus Christ, and to be a Christian is to know Him and follow Him and believe in Him"- J R.W. Stott
Even among the believers there are those who still doubt the miracles that Jesus did: did he actually heal the sick? How on earth did he walk on water?? Did he, by any chance, do everything that the Bible says he did??? Is it important to believe that all this happened?
YES, it is important and it makes a big difference, because if we don’t believe and have the confidence that Jesus did all these things, then our growth as Christians will be stunted. In other words, we won’t grow as Christians at all!
Our Christian lives are built on the Gospel (as our foundation) that Jesus lived a perfect life, He died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead on the third day just as the Bible says (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). These events are not part of a myth or a nice story you have to believe by blind faith. These are the things that you can actually KNOW. Our faith is based on things that actually happened.
As we explore the life and work of Jesus, we will have to begin by looking at the historical Jesus through the eyes of those who knew Him. Then we also have to look at his unique God-man nature (Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, not 50-50!) and his ultimate purpose of coming into this world- to seek and to save those who are lost (Luke 19:10).
As I begin my ministry here in Sri Aman, I have planned and identified some areas that needed to seriously be looked into in term of bible knowledge and the prayer lives of believers here. It is time to be solidly grounded on the scripture and rooted in Christ. It is a perfect time to learn to say even a short prayer as part of the condition to deserved to be called ‘Christians’. It is time to be serious in our faith and repent of all the mistakes and wrongs all these years.

(some parts of the articles are taken from 'Growing as a Christian 101' authored by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, with permission)