Excuses or Just Ignorance ?

Skipping the Sunday Service for the reason of fellowship with unbelievers so that can bring them to Christ? This is one message I received today. This struck my mind as a big blow as I do not understand.

Matt6:33"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Some things come first in our life; others come second; others are less important. We will live best when we put God and His way of life at the top of our list.
I wonder what happen nowadays? Are we Christians just Christians by name sake only? Should we Christians not Followers of Christ?

If we are Followers of Christ, we should respect God, fear God and place God in front of everything we do. This is what I have said in my earlier post, THOUGHT, where we see Eric Liddell was a godly man indeed.

How can we fore-go our once a week Praise and Worship God for the sake of fellow shipping with the unbelievers under the excuse of bringing them to Christ? We know our LORD is sovereign. He knows us even before we are born(Jeremiah 1:5 NIV "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." ). Even our hairs he has counted before we even know(Matthew 10:30 NIV "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." ). Our foremost important thing to do is to love our LORD by praising Him and worshipping Him. For it is "Seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well".

Christmas

O God, may we not miss the true reason for the singing and celebration of Christmas. Please fill us with a wholehearted desire to do what is right in Jesus' name. Amen.

This is an extract of Today Vol.18 Nov-Dec Issue.

Let us remember the remarkable reasons that give rise to celebration and to holiness this season. Jesus came to make us children of God, offering us a future beyond imagining. We are reminded that He appeared so that He might take away our sins and destroy the devil's work. Both sin and devil had to be dealt with so that we might belong in life and in death to Christ.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."

May we take this Christmas occasion rejoice in the coming of our LORD!

FINISH STRONG坚勇不息

The title of the sermon on the BCM's 47th Convocation Night is FINISH STRONG.

Rev Issac Chan began his preaching: "In Ministry it is not how well you began. But it is how well you ended". He gave the example of King Saul who started strong in the Bible but ended disastrously. The other example is Paul who started miserably but ended strong. He gave three points which would help us to finish strong:

1. one needs to remain humble.

2. one needs to remain teachable.
3. one needs to remain accountable.

All in all, one needs to watch his life in doctrine.

Well, it is so true. If we remain humble, remain teachable and remain accountable and watch our life in doctrine, following the doctrine strictly in our everyday life, I believe we can finish strong. Amen.

TRUST

God's Timeless Time
There is no "after" after death. Words like after and before belong to our mortal life, our life in time and space. Death frees us from the boundaries of chronology and brings us into God's "time," which is timeless. Speculations about the afterlife, therefore, are little more than just that: speculations. Beyond death there is no "first" and "later," no "here" and "there," no "past," "present," or "future." God is all in all. The end of time, the resurrection of the body, and the glorious coming again of Jesus are no longer separated by time for those who are no longer in time.
For us who still live in time, it is important not to act as if the new life in Christ is something we can comprehend or explain. God's heart and mind are greater than ours. All that is asked of us is trust.

Devotion from The Henri Nouwen Society

We cannot fathom God's heart and mind which are greater than ours. Isaiah55:9"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Let us just give our TRUST to our LORD.

Assured Eternal Life

Restored to Eternal Life
One thing we know for sure about our God: Our God is a God of the living, not of the dead. God is life. God is love. God is beauty. God is goodness. God is truth. God doesn't want us to die. God wants us to live. Our God, who loves us from eternity to eternity, wants to give us life for eternity.
When that life was interrupted by our unwillingness to give our full yes to God's love, God sent Jesus to be with us and to say that great yes in our name and thus restore us to eternal life. So let's not be afraid of death. There is no cruel boss, vengeful enemy, or cruel tyrant waiting to destroy us - only a loving, always forgiving God, eager to welcome us home.

from the Henri Nouwen Society Daily Devotion.

Therefore, we should give our life fully to Jesus and obey God's will when He calls us, like Father Abraham full of Faith.