What is Christmas to You?

Every once a year, the whole world is caught up with the festive mood. It’s a joyous occasion to be merry!

As a child, living together with my cousins, we had a Christmas party every year with our neighbours’ kids. We were poor, and the gifts were simple and cheap. Yet, we enjoyed and loved Christmas. Although none of us (including neighbours) were Christians, we still sing: Joy to the World, the Lord is come! The question then, is Jesus Christ really LORD of the world? To be more direct: Is Jesus Christ your LORD? (on further reflection, many of us, including our cousins are now Christians, not sure about the neighbours whom we have long lost touch).

The world is not celebrating because we have found new life through the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, the last two week of December is a festive season passed down traditionally many centuries even before Christ came into this world. You may not be aware of this. But you may probably reason like this, as some of my non-Christian friend do: If only Muslims celebrate the birth of Prophet Mohammed and only Buddhists celebrate the birth of Buddha, why then do non-Christian celebrate the birth of Christ?

Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th AD1. It is likely that the Lord Jesus Christ was born sometime in the Summer-Autumn of 4BC. Luke 2:8 tell us that shepherds are still out in the field at night, which is unlikely in winter. We who have stayed in the northern hemisphere for a couple of years would know that grass start to grow in early spring and last till late autumn. In winter, the whole field is bare and hibernating, unlikely for animals to graze upon.

The Origin of Christmas

The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient "birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D. Mithra was related to the Semitic sun-god, Shamash, and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Rome was well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire. As such, Rome converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples. Variations of this pagan holiday flourished throughout the first few centuries after Jesus Christ, but it probably wasn't until 336 AD that Emperor Constantine (who became a Christian a few years earlier) officially converted this pagan tradition into the "Christian" holiday of Christmas under the church leadership of Pope Julius I

If you move further back in time, the Roman actually adopts it from the Egyptians, one of the earliest civilizations, in about 3000BC. They believe that their dead King-god Osiris was reborn every 25 Dec as the Son, Horus of his wife, Isis. Hence, the mother-child is the chief object of this worship. (sound very much like the Catholic – Mary and Jesus).

Hence, the celebration and feasting on 25 Dec existed long, long ago.

My response to Christmas

The early Apostles never celebrated Christmas. There is no command to observe Christ’s birthday. Some Christians who are aware of the origin of Christmas see the celebration of Christmas as a compromised of our faith to paganism. True Christianity never mixes with pagan worship.

Now that I have told you the truth of Christmas, you are caught in the dilemma. You love the festive mood and the fun and here I am the kill-joy.

No, I am no killjoy. First, I need to ask: What is my motive of celebrating Christmas? Next, how then should I celebrate Christmas?

My childhood Christmas experiences do prepare me for the Good News. So I am not going tell you stop celebrating Christmas. Done in the right way, it creates opportunity for sharing Christ’s love. But, we should not tell somebody that Jesus Christ was born on 25th December. However, I would say that we celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Christ into this world so that those who believe in HIM will be in heaven after they die. (I will avoid Christian jargon like eternal life when talking to non-Christian). It is also a time to spread Christian love and the Gospel. However, I will definitely avoid the partying and merry-making. I don’t usually exchange gift and normally skip that. The gift in Christmas is the gift of Jesus. (John 3:16)

Have a Blessed Christmas!!

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (John 1:10)

Mark Lim

Epistle to Bethany PC

Mark Lim, follower of Jesus Christ the Son of God who richly meets our needs according to His glory and praise to His name.

To all the faithful saints of Bethany PC and those who serve as leaders and teachers because of their commitment to their calling.

Grace and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

I thank my God every time I pray for all of you, how you volunteer yourself as worship leaders and serving as BSG leaders in spite of the lack of zeal the church display. Always rejoicing that your perseverance is being tried and yet standing firm as you labour for Him. This is my prayer, that in whatever you do, that your love for God and His people be seen by all, setting an example for others to follow, to the glory of God.

I want to remind you, brothers and sisters-in-Christ that no one should be put in leadership or as teachers until he has been found to be faithful in the studying of God’s Word, spiritual mature in bearing the fruit of the Spirit, regular in worship services and being found worthy to serve by the members of the church. Those who lead and teach has a great responsibility and accountability and so should set an example to the flock. Do not be hasty in appointing leaders even though there is a great shortage of able people. The pastor, elder and deacons have the responsibility of raising up leaders just as our Lord Jesus Christ who though ministered to the people by healing the sick, raising the dead, teaching the crowd and feeding those who are hungry yet took considerable effort to nurture and train 12 disciples who would later be the pillar of the church. The pastor must likewise, follows the footstep of our Lord Jesus Christ and concentrate on mentoring a few disciples in addition to delivery of his weekly sermons. If he do this, in 3 and half years, the church would have produce many more able “Peter, James and John” just like our Lord Jesus Christ did. Of course, there would be some “Judas Iscariot” along the mentoring process but if we don’t sow, we would not reap. He who does not sow bountifully to produce worship leaders, youth leaders, BSG leaders and teachers so shall not reap bountifully.

Leaders must understand that church growth does not depend on making 3 years or 5 years plan. Neither does it depend on how big nor many facilities the church has. You plant, I water, but actually it is God who gives the growth and increase the number and faith of His people. Like the apostles during the time of the early church who concentrate on prayer and teaching, do not neglect the coming together regularly to pray and seek the Holy Spirit, who is the giver of all spiritual gifts and power for the growth of the church to the glory of God the Father through the blessed name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. We have only one head who is Christ, the head of the church. Pastors, elders, deacons and ministry leaders are but servants who must tend the flocks that are in their charge, not by constraint, but willing, not as domineering but being example to the flock in love, in faith, in purity and in unity. In your zeal and pursuit of spiritual and charismatic gifts, do not neglect the teaching of the giver, the Holy Spirit and over emphasize the gifts. In any dispute among leaders, be tender, kind-hearted and forbearing one another in love.

I commend to you our brother Peter Soh, who for the love of the Lord, give all his time and energy, making many sacrifices to the service of the Sarah Active Centre. Honor such people and learn from their example. Greet Judy and Janice who in their quiet way serve the elderly. The Lord knows your deeds. Greet those who also volunteer occasionally and work very hard at the centre also. The Lord knows where your hearts are. Greet all the saints in the production team for the evangelistic film – Ransom. May all your labour bear forth fruits that will last for eternity in God’s own timing. Greet the church visitation team who always refresh others with their presence. Our brother, Isaac will be going to Yunnan soon. May what he has planned to do encourage others to follow in his footsteps.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all.

Epistle to Bethany PC – the introduction

If there is a church call Bethany PC during the first century, how would an Epistle to Bethany PC read like?

For the past 3 weeks I have been studying and comparing many of the Epistles in the Bible, in particular the Epistles written by Apostle Paul. It is interesting to learn his style of writing. Each of us has a way of writing our thoughts. I am sure you are quite familiar with my style after reading this blog for some time. Many of his letters deal with church problems – false teaching, money problems, leaders quarreling, immorality, and sometimes his leadership is been questioned. Problem doesn’t mean dead church. The issue is how you deal with problems in the church and grow stronger as you solve them. Problems and tensions are part of church growth. It stretches the church.

2 things you need to know before you attempt to write an Epistle. First, you need to know letter structure in Ancient time. Second, you have something to write. Maybe it is an encouragement or information to share, but mostly Christian advices on how to deal with problems.

Let’s start with Ancient letter structure. It looks something like this:

1. Name of writer (e.g. Paul)
2. Name of recipient (e.g. to the church of Rome, to Titus)
3. Greeting (e.g. grace and peace to you from God our Father)
4. Prayer wish or thanksgiving (e.g. I always thank God for you …)
5. Body
6. Final greeting and farewell (e.g. the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you)

Next, are you aware of Bethany PC problems? How would you response to these problems?

There are a few that I can think of. We have a shortage of leaders. We need worship leaders, BSG leaders, committee members, Sunday school teachers, Youth leaders. How do you encourage people to grow up spiritually and take the lead? Also, there are some leaders for no apparent reasons just vanish, never to be seen in church. Then, there is this tension with money issues. The church building is going through many changes. It starts with church extension and building of more rooms. Then, it is church renovation. Soon it will be church upgrading, then more facilities, more music instruments, more IT gadgets, more this, more that and it is going to be never ending. But not more people. In fact we see some 40 to 60 people leaving the Chinese congregation. Also, you may have your view about different form of church worship. Some prefer the reform way, which the English service is following. Others think being Charismatic is more spiritual and will attract more people to the church. How would you give Christian counsel in your epistle?

Do you have some advice for Bethany PC that you want to add in your epistle? Maybe, you can advice the church to have more faith in God, since we are studying the Book of Hebrews. Remember a few years back we see pamphlets written in Chinese all over church claiming that the church will have 1000 worshippers by the year 2008? Well, year 2008 is coming to an end and we should have 1000 worshippers. What is your take on this?

For the closing of your epistle, you might like to include greetings to people in the church, especially those who work very hard. Let encourage them. Tell those who talk too much or write too much like Mark Lim to shut up may be another good advice.

Ready to try writing the Epistle to Bethany PC?

I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1Tim 3:14,15)

Mark Lim

FAITH – Forsaking All I Trust HIM

1. What is Faith?

A practical man says: “Seeing is believing”. A man of faith replies, “Believing is seeing”.

Before a person becomes a Christian, he is a citizen of one world. When he placed his faith in Christ, he is a citizen of two worlds, the earthly dwelling that he is in, and a heavenly citizenship (Phi 3:20). Before he becomes a Christian, he walks by sight. When he becomes a Christian, he has to learn to walk by faith (2Cor 5:7) because without faith, it is impossible to please God or grow in Christ-likeness (Heb 11:6).

What then is (Christian) faith?

The acronym: FAITH = Forsaking All I Trust HIM
Forsaking all doubts against what HE has said.

Faith is believing in what God has said even though it has not come true yet.

2. What has God said?

(1) Eph 2:8,9 – We are assured of eternal life and no judgment of hell by God’s grace. This is the very beginning of the Christian faith – a faith rested in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2) Psa 23 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I have no lack of anything”. David the shepherd boy, experiences it. He devotional thought penned in Psalms 23 become God’s Word to us. We too then can have this calm assurance that HE is our shepherd.

(3) Rom 8:28 – able to trust God that He will work for the good all things, no matter how bad or difficult it is that will happen to me. He has a purpose to allow such things to happen.

…

Do you believe in His Word? That takes faith. If you do, you will delight in His Word – reading, studying and mediating – because that is where we can find His assurance of things hope for, the confidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1).

3. What must I do?

Learning to obey and trust in God what has promised in the Scripture is not easy. But faith can grow as we get to know HIM. That is the Christian journey – a pilgrim (sojourner) in this world.

Faith is best understood with the following story:

During the terrible days of the Blitz, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. In the front yard was a shell hole. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow. Terrified, yet hearing his father's voice telling him to jump, the boy replied, "I can't see you!"
The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings, called to the silhouette of his son, "But I can see you. Jump!" The boy jumped, because he trusted his father.

The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known.

With faith in Jesus Christ, we are seen by the Omniscient Father and we obey what He tells us.

Heb 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Agape
Mark Lim

Empowering Leadership for Christ – God’s way

“What is empowering leadership?”

During our Saturday dinner time, I overheard a sister-in-Christ asking Pastor this question. His answer was that it had to do with the spirit anointing. I thought this is a very important question and so set myself to think about this more.

Talk about “empowering” and the song, “empower me” appears in my mind. I guess that is where Pastor got his word coin up for the theme of year 2009 for Bethany PCES. But is this word used in the Bible? I check the concordance and it is not used in the bible. Next, I search the dictionary and this is what it means: - to invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. Who give the power? What is this power? For Christian leadership, it must be the Holy Spirit who gives the power base on my memory of Acts 1:8.

1. Old Testament Example
Is there any example of Spirit empowering leadership in the Bible? From memory, I think there is, somewhere in the Book of Numbers where God’s spirit come on the elders and they prophesied. Checking it up, it is Num 11: 16-29

The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone. (v16, 17)

(verse 24-29)
So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"

The leaders were bestowed with the spirit (presumably godly knowledge and wisdom to govern) of Moses by God. With that, more leaders are able to do the work of Moses as he has been complaining to God of his burden (Num 11: 11-15). This is the principles of leader reproduce leaders. There is now more Moses. BCPES need more worship leaders, more BSG leaders, and more youth leaders. Where to find? When God did it, it is instant, just get the spirit of Casey (or Isaac, Ginnette…) and put it on Amos, Grace, … and there you have more worship leaders. But this is divine intervention, humanly impossible. So how? Go the slower way, teach, train, practice, practice, practice, evaluate and improve.

Notice that Moses’ spirit is put on the elders and leaders, not anybody. So, choosing the right person is important. How do we know that we have chosen the right leaders?

Spiritual leaders are not elected, appointed, or created by synods or churchly assemblies. God alone makes them – Oswald Sanders, Spiritual leadership, page 18

2. New Testament Encounter
The church of Antioch gave us a pattern how they choose leaders: (Acts 13:1-3)

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

The prophets and teachers were praying, worshipping and fasting, and the Holy Spirit spoke (presumably through the prophets) to choose Barnabas and Saul for the work. But BPCES got no prophets what. Never mind about whether we have prophets or not, that is God’s initiative to occasionally send one or some. Our task at hand is to pray, worship and fast when seeking God for leadership. Not just pass a nomination form and sign your name.

3. Personal Experience
I am always against the way we elect our English Service Committee members. It is not right just to pass the nomination form and usually those who sign it will be by default elected into the committee. I feel that we should really spend some time praying about our needs for leadership. It may sound stupid or naïve but if this is God’s house, He will do something. In February this year, I was spending a lot of time praying for the new election of committee and also for my two Sunday sermons. I asked God a very simple question: “Who should be in the English Service committee?” After many days and weeks of praying, the spirit within me prompted a name that I least expected. But what should I do, “Why tell me, God?” Because you care to pray.

When Jenny approached me with the nomination form, I casually told her to approach Luh Sy also. Not sure whether she got my hint and did approach her. At the last day of nomination, Elder Rosie came to me to get my signature. I told her that she should approach Luh Sy.

“No lah! She’s so busy. She is the chairperson of the Child Care you know.”

“OK, you are right” I replied.

Guess, God got the wrong person this time. Or, was it that I heard wrongly? But at least, I have done my duty and convey the message to Elder. Many years ago, I too have a similar message and Su Lynn joined the English Service committee. Could this time be wrong? It doesn’t matter, my task is to pray. I am no prophet so not to worry whether the message is right or wrong.

Care to join me in prayer?

“Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you …”

Serving Him with you,
Mark Lim

Devotion - The New Covenant “cleanses” my Conscience

Once in a while my “spiritual barometer” will pop out. It is that kind of prompting that tells me that I am not doing right, or maybe I should have done better. I think you may have experience that also. My spiritual barometer works in many ways. But I will just talk about one way – the conscience. Sure you have it also, right?

I was just going through Hebrews 8 to 10, the sermon we heard last Sunday. It’s all about the old covenant and new covenant stuff. The old covenant doesn’t mean much to us. It applies only to the Jews. I am quite sure most of us don’t know much about it unless you have read the Book of Leviticus or attended an Old Testament Theology class. Even though I read the book and attended the class, I still need about 3 morning of pondering over this Hebrews passage before I am able to draw some applications! 2 verses finally hit home to me:

Heb 9:9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. (old covenant)

Heb 9: 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (new covenant)

I couldn’t agree more with these verses. Before I became a Christian, conscience is not so much to accuse or excuse me from my words, thoughts or action. What’s wrong with a seemingly innocent lie to get me off the hook or a little aggressiveness against sub-ordinates to make sure they perform and do their job with diligence? Different people (Christians, I mean) see conscience differently and I believe you have your comments too. But I see God is constantly working at my conscience. 2 issues happened to me recently. Let me relate one of them. I have an engineer working under me for 1 year already. However, he is a slow learner and on many occasions when he made mistakes, my voice would go up a few decibel. Somehow, I felt bad about the way I handled him, because I usually treat every workers with respect, even to the operators and cleaners. My conscience may have bothered me. I decided to be patient with him. I have to use praise and encouragement to help him along. Perhaps, it sounds trivial to you. But it has changed me and the way I relate to people.

Let me simplify my version of Bible study:

Bible Study / Devotion Questions (Hebrews 8:7- 10:18):

Objective: To help us see how the New Covenant has changed our lives and strengthen our relationship with God, others and even ourselves

Warm-Up: How’s your life before you became a Christian? What difference to do you see yourself now (as a Christian)?

1. Observation Question: What is the old covenant (Heb 9:1-10)? What is the new covenant (Heb 9:11-28)?

2. Understanding Question: What does living in the new covenant mean to me?
Heb 9:14 – cleanse our conscience , serve a living God
Heb 9:15- to receive promised eternal heritance
Heb 9:28 – bring salvation to all who believe
Heb 10:10 – to lead a holy life
(What does holy life mean?)

3. Application Question: In which areas of my life is my conscience not right with God, with others, with myself? What specific action should I take to rectify this? (Read Acts 26:16)

So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man (Acts 24:16)


Blessings
Mark Lim

Spiritual Growing Up

What skills should every young person have mastered in the process of growing up?

When I was a boy, there were two skills that I very much wanted to acquire – cycling and swimming. At the age of 12, I would go to the Farrer Park Swimming Pool every Saturday morning alone. There, I would observe how people float, swam and imitated them. After a few months and many failures, I finally was able to swim without the help of any teacher.

My father had a big grocery bicycle, too big for me to handle. Each time when my father was not using it, I would push it around in the car park. I started by trying to balance on the bicycle. After many tries, injuries and on a few occasions knock down by cars, I manage to cycle, all by myself. During secondary school, I picked up more skills – cooking, hiking, canoeing, typing with two hands, and many more.

What about spiritual level? What should every Christians know in the process of growing up? I received an email many years ago by one member of the church and here are the list mentioned:

- Know your way around the Bible. Become familiar with the Old and New Testaments. Choose some special passage and memorize them.
- Develop the confidence to pray in a group.
-Learn how to tell someone about Jesus.
-Understand the basic beliefs of the Christian faith: God, salvation, Jesus, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, the church, what happens after death.
-Be able to pray with someone who is going through a rough time.
-Attend church, and worship God throughout the service.
-Get in the habit of giving to the Lord.
- Learn how to tell a Bible story to children.
- Be able to study a Bible passage for yourself and know what it says.
- Become skilled at working through personality conflicts and differences of opinion to maintain Christian friendships.

I like to add a few more (after you have attained the above):

-Know how to find and obey God’s wills in your life.
-Able to sense to presence of God in your life.
-Know how to make Godly and wise decisions in crucial issues of life.
-Learn how to handle crisis and trial that test your faith.

Has BPCES or our Youth Alive develop our youth and new converts in these spiritual basic skills? Have we prepared them well (in our safe country) so that when they move on in life, maybe to overseas (with no one to check on them spiritually, so to speak) for studies or job attachment, they can still stand firm in faith?

Here in Equipping The Saints, my purpose is to try to provide some guidance in these areas.

Let us heed the word of the Lord to Jeremiah:

"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” (Jer 12:5)

Agape
Mark Lim

Personal Reflection (Heb 7:1-8:6) – What’s my "Priestly" duty?

After hearing the Sunday sermon, many things are still not clear to me. I don’t mean to be offensive to the sermon preached. It is a difficult passage to follow but I just want to be connected to God’s Word. Maybe I am the only one feeling this way. I have no doubt put my faith in Jesus Christ, in response to the sermon final question: where are you putting your faith? But I believe the passage want me to do more than just putting faith in Jesus Christ. This passage is to Christians, not to non-believers. Priest is for believers, evangelist or missionary is to unbelievers (like the last illustration of a missionary reaching out to a Hindu lady). I need to reflect over this passage again.

Talks about priest don’t really mean anything to me. I don’t meet any priest whether I am in church or anywhere, unlike a catholic. What then does a Great high priest mean to me? For a Jew, the two most significant people are Abraham and a priest. That I can understand. Abraham is important because he is the father of the nation of Israel. Priest is important because he helps the Jews to atone for their sin. Jewish life is all about offering, holy days, sacrifice, clean and unclean food, do this, can’t do that kind of thingy and so need a priest. But I am not a Jew. Christian has very little restriction actually. How then does this passage relate to me, a 21st century Christian living in an urban city like Singapore? 2 points I learn today:

1. Chosen to be a Priest (Heb 7:1-28)
In the Catholic and Anglican faith, there are priests in robes and attires. It is good to sometime join a high Anglican worship service like St. Andrew Cathedral. Anybody interested? Holy Communion is on third Sunday worship service at 5pm. You will find it very different from BPCES Holy Communion. You can feel it’s significant. Anyway, a priest is important. Do you know that we Christians actually also have priests? Guess who? Pastor? Not really, Elder? No, lah. OK, a clue: 1Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

All of us are made to be priests, but without any special attire or robe of a priest!! Christ is our Perfect Great High Priest; we are the imperfect little low priests. but still a priest. Don’t like that leh, A bit scary to be a priest. What to do, ah?

2. Duties of a Priest (Heb 8:1-6)
A priest is someone who mediates for others with God. Like it or not, all Christians are priests. 2 things we need to do as priest.

Duty #1 – Pray for one another
Jesus Christ set the example for me to follow. In Heb 7:25, it says that Christ is making intercession for us. Samuel the priest also said it in 1Sam 12:23 (good to memorise this verse)

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.

Jas 5:16 tell us to pray for one another.

Know of anyone who is in need? How about those in your BSG, church, school, …? Pray for them. Pray for those studying oversea, that they are still mindful of their faith in Christ. Pray for those drifting away from Christ, that they may have the desire to come back to Him. Do add to the list. God is never tired to hear you pray. In fact, He invites us to pray. (Jer 33:3)

Duty #2 – Encourage one another
In the Book of Hebrew, the writer after describing about priest and sacrifice (chapter7-10), then tell them in Heb 10:24, 25:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

So, let us encourage one another. Encourage those struggling to come to church. Encourage those who are discouraged with life, financial problem, BGR, etc. Your fellowship and encouragement is important! Everyone is part of the body of Christ – the church.

That is what “priest” means to me. What about you?

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. (1Sam 12:23)

PS: Come to this Friday prayer meeting. I'll will be there!

Agape
Mark Lim

Errors in the Bible?

“The Bible is full of errors and contradictions.” You may have heard of this remark before.

“Sure or not? OK, show it to me some of the errors.” That would be a likely response from a Christian.

To be honest, there are indeed some seemingly “errors” that I know. I believe there are more than I can list, but anyway let me show you some.

Error #1 – Order of creation – man or animal created first?
Genesis chapter one is a systematic narrative of the creation story and human – man and woman are created last, after God created the animals. (Gen 1:24-30). But when you read Genesis 2:7, it described God creating man from dust. He finds the man to be alone, and so God decides to create the animals in Gen 2:18-20. So, who did God created first, man or animals?

Error #2. Proverbs 26:4,5 - to answer or not to answer a fool?
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.

Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

So what should we do, answer a fool or not to answer a fool? A dilemma indeed!!

Error #3 – Who incite David to census Israel – God or Satan?
2 Sam 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."

1Chron 21:1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

So who actually incited David to take a census of Israel, the LORD or Satan?

Error #4 – The Beattitude – Jesus sitting on mountainside or standing on level place?
There is this passage called the Beattitudes in Matthew chapter 5.

In Mat 5:1,2: Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:

There is also a similar passage in Luke 6:17 onwards
He went down with them and stood on a level place. …Looking at his disciples, he said:

The same message but in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is sitting down on a mountainside, while in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is standing on a level place. Isn’t that contradiction?

Error #5 – Temptation of Jesus – order of temptation #2 & #3 reversed in Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke. Who is right?

Gospel of Matthew:
1st temptation – turning stone to bread (Mat 4:3-4)
2nd temptation – ask Jesus to jump from temple top (Mat 4:5-7)
3rd temptation – to worship Satan (Mat 4:8-10)

Gospel of Luke:
1st temptation – turning stone to bread (Luke 4:3-4)
2nd temptation – to worship Satan (Luke 4:5-8)
3rd temptation – ask Jesus to jump from temple top (Luke 4:9-12)

There must be some error. Who is right?


I am sure you to have discover some "errors". Care to share it? How would you respond to such seemingly errors?

Perhaps a thought came to my mind as you ponder how to answer Bible critics. I am no artist and I personally don’t understand why many people say Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawing of Mona Lisa is a master piece. To me it is just another ordinary drawing not worth thousands of dollars. But I know I am wrong, because I know nothing about art. The artists may be right to say that Mona Lisa is a masterpiece. Strange!

Likewise, Bible scholars insist that there is no error in Bible. Strange!

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Prov 30:5a)

Mark Lim

Devotion Time – Being in the Presence with God

We are all busy people. Busy with work. Busy with studies. Busy with church duties. It has been said that the way of Satan is “Noise, Hurry & Crowd”. As gregarious people, we fear solitude. We fear silence. We dread stillness. Our fear of being alone drives us to noise and crowd. Technology – TV, MP3, mobile phone – useful for building human relationship, when over use can be a hindrance for building divine relationship.

But at the heart of the Christian calling is solitude, the way to a meaningful relationship with God. Through the years, I learn that the way to God is “Silence, Stillness & Solitude”.

It all began when I first became a Christian. The word – QUIET TIME – I was told by my follow-up leader is (1) Pray, (2) Read a Bible Passage, (3) Meditate on the passage, (4) write a personal application, (5) Close in prayer.

Call it quiet time, devotional time or even personal time, it is that moment to be treasured and seek the Lord while He may be found. Gradually, time for prayer includes time for listening also. Listening? Listen to who? We were taught that prayer is conversing with God. In life, we know that “People hear what you say. But true friends listen to what you don’t say” Solitude is like that. There is no word needed. It is the moment with God without words, the calm assurance of “being with God”. There is no need to “doing for God”.

Whatever ways your devotional method is, it doesn’t matter. It is that time you wait upon the LORD. That is the essence of being in the presence of God.

Do share with each other what you learnt from your devotional time!!

Do not let the busyness of life lure you away from the presence of God, like this poem:

No Time

I knelt to pray but not for long
I had too much to do
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.

All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.

No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry.
No time to give to souls in need,
But at last.....there is time to die.

I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes,
For in His hands God held a book,
It was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said,
"Your name I cannot find,
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time."

(author unknown)

Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. (Isa 40:31 NASB)

Mark Lim

Heard a good Sermon lately?

What do you think about our church Sunday Sermons? So so lah !

Can you remember last Sunday sermon? Probably can.

Like what? About growing up and babies thingy.

For many of our church-goers, Sunday sermons would probably be the only intake of the Word of God. So preaching the Word of God is extremely important and a high calling. Preachers must remember that people have a very low retention of the message. So, it is the onus of the preacher to make his message clear, simple and relevance to the hearers. Just what make a message click with the congregation?

(1) The title
This is the first thing the congregation will see in the bulletin before the preacher starts his sermon. The title must prepare the hearers and trigger them to want to know what the sermon is about. Title likes “Growing Up” is a good title, it reminds me that I need to grow up (spiritually) even before I hear his message. It is short (2 words) and easy to remember (not hard difficult pronunciation words with unknown meaning). Title like “Donkey work & Excess Baggage” only reminds me of a rubbish collector at the airport check-in counter! I don’t know about you, but that was what I imagined when I read the title of the sermon. Clearly, such title has no bearing to his message at all, after hearing the sermon. Perhaps a better title would be "How God chooses leaders". Try re-writing a title if the title doesn't sound suitable.

What about sermon without a title?

It just shows that the preacher is not prepared at all!! He doesn’t know what to let the congregation focus his message on. If you encounter sermons without a title (which happens once in a while), challenge yourself to give a title after you had heard the sermon. Titles must be short and easy to remember. Title should tell you what the message is all about and also trigger you to act on the message. Sometime a question can be a good title, which I use quite often.

(2) Sermon Outline
All good preachers have a sermon outline. Excellent preacher prints it out for the hearers. This is the skeleton of the sermon, without which the sermon cannot stand. It just collapse and the congregation will find it difficult to follow. I always give my sermon outline to the congregation, but sometime it does not appear in the bulletin (to my dismay). Sermon outline must be easy to remember. If there is no sermon outline, try to write it out yourself as you hear the sermon. Good sermon hearers write good sermon notes. During my student days, one of the hallmark of a first class honour engineering student is good note-taking. Train yourself to do this and you will one day progress to be an excellent Bible student, teacher and preacher.

(3) Illustrations
Illustrations are windows to the sermons. They give light and illuminate the message so that hearers can understand what is preached. Most often, it is the illustrations that linger with the hearer long after the sermon is forgotten.

(4) Applications
All preachers must tell the hearers what to do after hearing his sermon. They must build a bridge (from the text) to make the sermon relevance to hearers (in their 21st century circumstances). Do make an application after each sermon. For me after hearing “Growing Up”, my application is to continue writing on this blog to help those interested how to grow up. I actually wanted to give up on this blog already!

Remember to reflect on the sermon throughout the week!

Can you remember the previous Sunday sermon? Wow! Difficult lah.

Can you remember the 4 points of hearing a sermon? Title; Sermon Outline; Illustrations; Applications.

Great!!

Jas 1:22 (NSRV) " But be doers of the Word, not merely hearer who deceives themselves"

Mark Lim

Growing in the Word of God

Two components that are indispensable for Christians to grow spiritually are prayer and knowing the Bible. Let’s start with the Bible. The Bible is the written Word of God (2Tim 3:16, 2Pet 1:20). Jesus Christ is the incarnated Word of God (Rev 19:11). So the primarily way to know our Lord and Saviour is by dwelling into the Bible. There are 5 ways to do this:

1. Hear (Rom 10:17) - sermons, CD, internet, …
2. Read (Rev 1:3)
3. Study (Acts 17:11, Ezra 7:10)
4. Memorise (Psa 119:9,11)
5. Mediate (Psa 1:2,3) - quiet time, devotion, personal time …

It has been said that:
After 24 hours you may accurately remember
- 5% of what you hear.
- 15% of what you read.
- 35% of what you study
But you can remember 100% of what you memorise.

Trying working on all these aspects of knowing the Bible.

Prayers and Word are integral of the Christian life:
Jesus said this (John 15:7) - "If you abide in me and my Word abide in you, ask whatever you will and it will be done to you."

Mark Lim

Can a genuine Christian lose his salvation?

Bethany P Church English Service is now studying the Book of Hebrews. So it is appropriate to pop out an age old question. Can a (genuine) Christian lose his salvation?

I had a conversation with a Polytechnic Christian friend some years ago at Downtown East, Pasir Ris. He seems to be doing well in life. After some casual talk, I asked, “Which church are you worshipping in now?”

We were in the same team in the Polytechnic Navigators. We occasionally went evangelism together, brought others to Christ and participated in many Christian activities.

“I am no longer a Christian. My wife is a devout Buddhist.” (Silence for a while)

As I bade farewell to this long time friend, thoughts continued to linger in my mind for many days. I honestly believed he was a genuine Christian. Would he come back to Christ one day?
If he doesn’t, is he going to Hell? Is there then really an assurance of salvation? I was fearful for myself. If my friend, who seemed so zealous for God can call it “quit”, what assurance is there for me that it would not happen to me also, maybe not marriage but some other life issues? “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?” Didn’t Jesus Christ said that “he who endured to the end will be saved, (Matt 24:13)” which mean those who don’t would not be saved?

After seriously wrestling with all these questions with no convincing answers, I decided to sign up for the graduated diploma class in Singapore Bible College. Three and a half years of studies have taught me to be more careful and circumspect in reading the Scripture. Study has trained me to look beyond mere words but the context, circumstances and historical situations which shape the writing of Scriptures. The availability and access to Christian resources is a major advantage of being alumni of Christian college.

So back to the very important question for us Christians who are still on this earth: Can a Christian lose his salvation? Or, will my friend go to heaven, if he dies without coming back to faith in Christ?

Ask a Methodist, and his answer will be, yes, a Christian who deny his faith in Christ and die without returning to Christ will lose his salvation. Heb 10:26,27 – “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”. That raging fire is Hell as in Rev 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”

Ask a Presbyterian, and he will say no, a genuine Christian will never lose his salvation, because Jesus Christ promises us in John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” In John 10:27-29, Jesus said that none of his sheep will be snatched away. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” If a Christian fall away never to return, then that Christian is not a real sheep. So my friend is not a genuine Christian after all!!

Ask a Baptist, and he will also say as the same as a Presbyterian that a true Christian will not lose his salvation. But if a true Christian fall away never to return, then he will still be saved (and enter heaven) but, he will loose all his rewards and receive a stern rebuke from the Lord. (1Cor 3:15) “If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”

Sound confusing and Christian disunity? What do you think? Share your thought!

Mark Lim

Equipping The Saints

Ephesians 4:12,13 (NRSV)

To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.