So happen to stop by the blog and found out what shaun has written is truely inspiring. I wonder always and ask could just if He could turn back the time to these good old days. Wouldn't reliving it be good? Now we could only reminisce the times we had. Oh well. let me share my memories with you.
My history wasn't as long as shaun's. Just a very short one. Barely 2 years i guess. I firstly didn't even know the existance of ISCF until i was elected to help out in SMI christian fellowship. You can call me a noob or anything but seriously, i didn't trust it would work the way it has been. Differences has already set it apart. So when Kar Mun (SMI cf president 08/09) ask me to go for ISCF meeting, i was like cool why not? Then got to meet new faces like shaun, shas etc. etc.
And for the camp for 2008, i was ask to be a helper in the camp. I was pratically the telephone operator for most of the campers. Your parents phone me first before directing them to you guys. I know it's hard to get a line in the campsite.
The camp went on as a start of a revival to most of us, a really life changing and eye opener to me. I am more committed and on fire to serve than before. Mini revolutions and stuff like that. CF in most of the school just grew bigger than ever before. Fridays was like the happening day.
We serve God like what the prophet Joel in the bible prophecied. Prayers has been happening in school every morning. Kudos to those who participated especially those in Anderson who woke up and prayed at 5am in the morning before school.
As the transition went by from 2008 to 2009, it was time to pass the baton in ISCF. The next in line was serene. During the time, 2008 iscf camp was the benchmark and most of us wanted it better. Shaun, me and serene took the first steps, which is prayer. Three of us gathered to seek God first and like a jigsaw puzzle, things started to piece together. People start coming in. Things started to happend. So we had mamak gathering, pasar malams, outing and even an overnite prayer in vineyard church. .
In the camp 2009 was even greater than before. You people are like so crazy for God like never before seen. I can see that with God nothing is impossible. There are some setbacks in the camp but God is always gracious to carry us through. You people even requested for a gathering after the camp and we managed to do it at Jenny's house (thank you jenny =) ).
Finally, it was for each of us to go separated ways. Time to pass the baton to the younger generation. Sad though it may seem but it was truely a great memory. To some you might have grown cold and revert back to when you were before. To others you might have lose heart and lost your faith. To some others, you might be serving everstronger. Whatever it is,if you ever lose heart or lose fatih in yourself and God, lose the Consuming fire burning in your hearts, look back to these two years. How God has blessed you. You have planted and water the seeds in Ipoh by the time you spend in prayer, with bruise knees and lots and lots of tears.
I still do get news from Ipoh. RECESS revolution, High praise.. these are the things you guys have paved ways for through the two years of interceding and praying for Ipoh. YOU ARE PART OF IT knowningly and unknowningly.
I wouldn't mind actually if we could once again gather for fellowship, as for thanksgiving for what God has done. It would just be too awesome. You people have been a blessing to me and i thank you all for that. And whatever you do, seek God first and he will prosper you along the way until you overflowth.=)
Blessed,
-aaron-
(iscf 08/09)
P/S: If you have any stories to share, do leave comment stating that you wish to do so, so we can find you and post the story form your viewpoint.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Its been a long time
Just hope someone still visit this blog, its been dead for a year. This is just a small tiny revive. Anyways, its been a long time since anyone here last posted, but thats not important anymore. This post here is not about any of the inspirational post. Just a personal post from me. Again, i don have a specific title of it, just some randomly important information or whatever u may call.
I will just start how we started by iscf. I don have a specific term to name the group, to me this is not a club, society, youth group or a church. More like family, but not just a family(sorry for the confusion). Anyways, i still remember 3 years ago, that was 2007 few weeks before my spm. By that time my old fren shas (who was the leader) came back from KL and started his form6 around that time before the exams. Some of u might not know, iscf has been existed for quite sometime, just that it disbanded and revive back again a few times. Currently i don know what happen to iscf now(the present), heard from some people that is already disbanded due to some reasons. Back to the point, so i was discussing with shas to start back iscf and we did 2 weeks after the discussion of our 1st meeting somewhere around september 2007.
That time the group was still very small, just few of us. Shas,karmen, charis, wendy and myself. I still remember the 1st meeting we did nothing more, just praying for vision. It was wonderful, as months went by, this group began to increase. Though i left for college on january, but my heart was still with this group very much, i come back for meeting whenever and however i can. Prior to that, the camp was intiated(that was for yacf camp 08), we formed the committees though some already left, but i still remember the time we had worked together. And this how the family grew.
Up to now, sometimes when i got free time i will just view some of the blogs that posted about their experinces in camp on 08 and 09. Is not so much about the camp, is about the time we spent together in 8 days. Friendships were built, some of the guys had some crush, etc etc. And very sorry for those who are not fitted in this family, maybe u belong somewhere, i don know, again thats not important. Its been great knowing everyone of u. Now some of u guys are my best frens i ever had, i still keep in touch with u guys(sorry for those who are not,i only can focus a few at the same time).
Iscf had/has been the great part of me during 08/09. Part of me still live there and part of me still died there(not sure whether is still alive or not). I still remember at the end of the year 08 and 09. U guys are the only companions i have, where i hang out with u guys the most occasionally and frequently. I didnt go back to my formal church due to my 1 church policy and lotsa things about it that i don wish to go back. There u guys were, some of u still with me. I appreciate that, i am glad that i am part of your life, hopefully now still is, u guys actually took away my boredoms, U might not know up to now i got nothing left in ipoh. The only reason why i still wanna go back to ipoh during 08 and 09 was mainly because of my family. Thats all i have left there, nothing much, partly of the food as well :-) But besides that, there were u guys still in ipoh, thats the big bonus and another main reason which gave me the reason to go back. Thanks so much.
I don know about u guys how u all feel, but to me that was everything at the moment. The pasar mlm time, sometimes lunch outing,sleepover,party and prayer meeting(was during 2008, intiation for the camp 09). It was fantastic, there was the bond still link(i don know about now). And ya, the caroling for christmas.
What i wanna say, things might have change, sometimes is painful for the memory to live on and is very hurt to hear that iscf is dead(just my assumption). Currently, im in elsewhere, still reflect back about the time alot. Is hurt at the same time is joyful. Significant moments still live on and will forever live on. I do realize some of u have changed alot that including me. But lotsa things i still cherish which was and is forever the same. End of this year(2010), not gonna be in Ipoh, will spend time here, not gonna spend time with u guys anymore.gonna be working, is actually the 1st time for so long that u guys are not here with me for my holiday. But what is the most significant at the same time heart breaking is the memory. I don think i gonna be any happier than be with u guys (whoever u are).
Thanks for letting me be part of your life and to those who made my days in ipoh wonderful and awesome [u guys know who u are :-)] I haven't been so expressive, everyone has their 1st. God bless u guys, to those who having problems and troubles, He is watching, something is wrong doesnt mean is wrong all the way. Continue to trust Him, ever feel like slacking just know when to come back and know how to stand back up.
Regards,
Shaun(ah Nien)
(served iscf from 2007-2009)
I will just start how we started by iscf. I don have a specific term to name the group, to me this is not a club, society, youth group or a church. More like family, but not just a family(sorry for the confusion). Anyways, i still remember 3 years ago, that was 2007 few weeks before my spm. By that time my old fren shas (who was the leader) came back from KL and started his form6 around that time before the exams. Some of u might not know, iscf has been existed for quite sometime, just that it disbanded and revive back again a few times. Currently i don know what happen to iscf now(the present), heard from some people that is already disbanded due to some reasons. Back to the point, so i was discussing with shas to start back iscf and we did 2 weeks after the discussion of our 1st meeting somewhere around september 2007.
That time the group was still very small, just few of us. Shas,karmen, charis, wendy and myself. I still remember the 1st meeting we did nothing more, just praying for vision. It was wonderful, as months went by, this group began to increase. Though i left for college on january, but my heart was still with this group very much, i come back for meeting whenever and however i can. Prior to that, the camp was intiated(that was for yacf camp 08), we formed the committees though some already left, but i still remember the time we had worked together. And this how the family grew.
Up to now, sometimes when i got free time i will just view some of the blogs that posted about their experinces in camp on 08 and 09. Is not so much about the camp, is about the time we spent together in 8 days. Friendships were built, some of the guys had some crush, etc etc. And very sorry for those who are not fitted in this family, maybe u belong somewhere, i don know, again thats not important. Its been great knowing everyone of u. Now some of u guys are my best frens i ever had, i still keep in touch with u guys(sorry for those who are not,i only can focus a few at the same time).
Iscf had/has been the great part of me during 08/09. Part of me still live there and part of me still died there(not sure whether is still alive or not). I still remember at the end of the year 08 and 09. U guys are the only companions i have, where i hang out with u guys the most occasionally and frequently. I didnt go back to my formal church due to my 1 church policy and lotsa things about it that i don wish to go back. There u guys were, some of u still with me. I appreciate that, i am glad that i am part of your life, hopefully now still is, u guys actually took away my boredoms, U might not know up to now i got nothing left in ipoh. The only reason why i still wanna go back to ipoh during 08 and 09 was mainly because of my family. Thats all i have left there, nothing much, partly of the food as well :-) But besides that, there were u guys still in ipoh, thats the big bonus and another main reason which gave me the reason to go back. Thanks so much.
I don know about u guys how u all feel, but to me that was everything at the moment. The pasar mlm time, sometimes lunch outing,sleepover,party and prayer meeting(was during 2008, intiation for the camp 09). It was fantastic, there was the bond still link(i don know about now). And ya, the caroling for christmas.
What i wanna say, things might have change, sometimes is painful for the memory to live on and is very hurt to hear that iscf is dead(just my assumption). Currently, im in elsewhere, still reflect back about the time alot. Is hurt at the same time is joyful. Significant moments still live on and will forever live on. I do realize some of u have changed alot that including me. But lotsa things i still cherish which was and is forever the same. End of this year(2010), not gonna be in Ipoh, will spend time here, not gonna spend time with u guys anymore.gonna be working, is actually the 1st time for so long that u guys are not here with me for my holiday. But what is the most significant at the same time heart breaking is the memory. I don think i gonna be any happier than be with u guys (whoever u are).
Thanks for letting me be part of your life and to those who made my days in ipoh wonderful and awesome [u guys know who u are :-)] I haven't been so expressive, everyone has their 1st. God bless u guys, to those who having problems and troubles, He is watching, something is wrong doesnt mean is wrong all the way. Continue to trust Him, ever feel like slacking just know when to come back and know how to stand back up.
Regards,
Shaun(ah Nien)
(served iscf from 2007-2009)
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Prophet, the Widow and the Miracle
Taken from
2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”
And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
1) God's people is not exempted from needs. (v 1)
You see, we are still humans. We have needs to fulfill. There is no one in the bible who does not have needs to be fulfill. The basic daily meal, for instance, bread for lunch or dinner is a need. In v 1, we see that the widow is being chase by creditors and her sons are about to be taken as slaves. Slavery is actully permitted in Old Testament but it's very humanely dealt with in God's eyes and law according to the Book of Exodus (Exodus 21 v 2). The question of why does she owe people money we don't really know and we don't want to speculate anything but she needs the money to fufill meet the her and her family needs though her husband is a prophet. God's people are not exempted from needs.
2)God's desire is always to meet the His people's needs. (v 2)
God do care about us. Elisha didn't ask the woman to go away but to know how can her situation be helped. God do provide to our needs but many a times, we never see it through God's perspective. We are always complain that God never give me this or God never give me that and God is very bad don't give me everything I want but note, is it really a need? Our earthly parents can be the best expression of how God is. Our earthly parents doesn't give us everything we want because they know what is best for us and what we really in dire need of. God could be express through this and many times better than what our earthly parents is because humans have flaws but God is perfect. God always answers in 3 ways:
YES I'll give you now.
WAIT I'll give you later. You are not ready to handle it.
NO I'll give you BETTER than what you could ever imagine.
3) God's miracles always requires our partnership and effort ( v 1 - 6 )
We have to first make known our needs to God. Although God knows what we are thinking and what we really need, we have to ask also (Matt 7 v 7). Secondly, God requires our partnership in the process. Like the widow, God ask her to borrow vessels from her neighbours. She went obidiently and do it but put yourself in the shoes of the widow, people knows she owe creditors money and most likely will turn her away emptyhanded. She will face a lot rejections, mocking and even maybe being beaten up.
Like the kid in New Testament who offered the 5 loaves of bread and 2 Fish. Maybe it is the only meal he have for the day before he return home but he step up, have faith and offered it all to Jesus and the miracle of feeding the 5000 people came through.
It's never easy but the first step of doing it is the step of partnering and giving our effort into it. We always say we wanna change this and that in Ipoh and Malaysia but we have to have faith, obediently step out, offering fully whatever we have though we are lacking and just do it when God calls you to.
4) God's provision should be utilized accordingly.
(v 7) Look at the instuctions given by Elisha:
a) Sell the oil.
God knows the widow needs money to buy food to live on. To buy, she needs money. Selling off will generate the money. (Coverting the miracle to fit our necessity -God is very specific)
b) Pay the debts.
The widow could have just runaway with her sons with the money from the oil. But Elisha specifically told her to pay the debt. It is a just debt (fair debt plus interest).
"Render to Ceaser what is Ceaser's, Render to God what is God"
God wants us to be righteous and just people. Pay your bills, pay your income taxes, pay what you owe people, pay what you owe the bank, PAY YOUR TITHES- don't rob God. This is a reminder for the future, don't runaway and cheat taxes and debts. No bribes, no kopi money, no under table money. You think you can get away now but wait till you face God. How righteous will you be? How just will you be?
c) Live on the rest.
Don't indulgence the rest leftovers. Use to the optimum of it. Don't misuse what God has given regardless of money, talent etc etc.
2 Kings 4:1-7 (New King James Version)
2 Kings 4
Elisha and the Widow’s Oil
1 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”
5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”
And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
1) God's people is not exempted from needs. (v 1)
You see, we are still humans. We have needs to fulfill. There is no one in the bible who does not have needs to be fulfill. The basic daily meal, for instance, bread for lunch or dinner is a need. In v 1, we see that the widow is being chase by creditors and her sons are about to be taken as slaves. Slavery is actully permitted in Old Testament but it's very humanely dealt with in God's eyes and law according to the Book of Exodus (Exodus 21 v 2). The question of why does she owe people money we don't really know and we don't want to speculate anything but she needs the money to fufill meet the her and her family needs though her husband is a prophet. God's people are not exempted from needs.
2)God's desire is always to meet the His people's needs. (v 2)
God do care about us. Elisha didn't ask the woman to go away but to know how can her situation be helped. God do provide to our needs but many a times, we never see it through God's perspective. We are always complain that God never give me this or God never give me that and God is very bad don't give me everything I want but note, is it really a need? Our earthly parents can be the best expression of how God is. Our earthly parents doesn't give us everything we want because they know what is best for us and what we really in dire need of. God could be express through this and many times better than what our earthly parents is because humans have flaws but God is perfect. God always answers in 3 ways:
YES I'll give you now.
WAIT I'll give you later. You are not ready to handle it.
NO I'll give you BETTER than what you could ever imagine.
3) God's miracles always requires our partnership and effort ( v 1 - 6 )
We have to first make known our needs to God. Although God knows what we are thinking and what we really need, we have to ask also (Matt 7 v 7). Secondly, God requires our partnership in the process. Like the widow, God ask her to borrow vessels from her neighbours. She went obidiently and do it but put yourself in the shoes of the widow, people knows she owe creditors money and most likely will turn her away emptyhanded. She will face a lot rejections, mocking and even maybe being beaten up.
Like the kid in New Testament who offered the 5 loaves of bread and 2 Fish. Maybe it is the only meal he have for the day before he return home but he step up, have faith and offered it all to Jesus and the miracle of feeding the 5000 people came through.
It's never easy but the first step of doing it is the step of partnering and giving our effort into it. We always say we wanna change this and that in Ipoh and Malaysia but we have to have faith, obediently step out, offering fully whatever we have though we are lacking and just do it when God calls you to.
4) God's provision should be utilized accordingly.
(v 7) Look at the instuctions given by Elisha:
a) Sell the oil.
God knows the widow needs money to buy food to live on. To buy, she needs money. Selling off will generate the money. (Coverting the miracle to fit our necessity -God is very specific)
b) Pay the debts.
The widow could have just runaway with her sons with the money from the oil. But Elisha specifically told her to pay the debt. It is a just debt (fair debt plus interest).
"Render to Ceaser what is Ceaser's, Render to God what is God"
God wants us to be righteous and just people. Pay your bills, pay your income taxes, pay what you owe people, pay what you owe the bank, PAY YOUR TITHES- don't rob God. This is a reminder for the future, don't runaway and cheat taxes and debts. No bribes, no kopi money, no under table money. You think you can get away now but wait till you face God. How righteous will you be? How just will you be?
c) Live on the rest.
Don't indulgence the rest leftovers. Use to the optimum of it. Don't misuse what God has given regardless of money, talent etc etc.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Revival(part 2)
But what seems to be the problem today? it seems that things have gotten worse in the past centuries.
• Despite increased funding for law enforcement and stricter laws violent crime has increased 500%
• Sex education programs have proliferated and at the same time illegitimate births have increased over 400%
• The divorce rate has quadrupled
• Single parent homes have become the majority
• More than 200% increase in teenage suicide
there are so many more things in general that can be listed on, name it u have it.
Today there is still hope!!
Revival is possible as long as God is God. Jonathan Edwards argued that God grants light when the darkness is the greatest.
When there was disinterest in religion, gross immorality, rampant unbelief, God poured out his undeserved, gracious blessing.
Do it again God!
1. IF MY PEOPLE WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES
God has said, "If my people will humble themselves." God will visit us when we reach a point of desperation. When we surrender that pride, when we give up the idea that we can do pretty good on our own, and we get down on our knees and admit things are not as they should be, then God will come to His people. God says that the first thing I am looking for in my people is a spirit of humbleness.
David said in Psalm 51:16,17, "You, O Lord, do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart..."
Jim Cymbala in Fresh Wind Fresh Fire: “When I was at my lowest, confounded by obstacles, bewildered by the darkness that surrounded us … I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power.”
James 4:6-10 – “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
The next thing we must do to attain revival is that we must pray
2. IF MY PEOPLE WILL PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE
Are you pretty satisfied with the state of the church today – with the devotion to God in your own heart? Revival will not come that way. "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face." God never sends revival to those who don’t want it enough to even bother asking for it in prayer.
The king in Nineveh said, "I want you to put on sackcloth and I want you to call URGENTLY on God." Urgently – that means with a sense of emergency and with intensity. People who pray revival prayers are those people who pray long, hard, intense, and unyielding prayers from the depths of their hearts. One person calls this full-throttle praying.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." That is Full Throttle praying and that is exactly what God is looking for!
One person said, "I prayed for revival in my marriage for a whole week and nothing happened." That’s not revival praying. Some say, "I’ve been praying for a whole month for revival at my church and nothing’s happened." That’s not revival praying either. Those who pray revival prayers are desperate, whole-hearted, never-ending petitioners of God. They never give up. They never quit.
Dwight L. Moody, that famous evangelist from Chicago went on vacation to England. He wasn’t planning to do any preaching; he was on a sabbatical. But he met a pastor there who said, "Mr. Moody you’re so well known, would you come and speak at our church?" So he went to preach the next Sunday morning.
That afternoon Moody wrote in his journal that they were the deadest crowd he had ever seen and that the only thing worse than preaching to those people was that he had promised to go back that night and preach again. But as he preached he noticed that the atmosphere had changed, he did not know just why.
At the close of the meeting, he was led to give an invitation for those who wanted to be saved to stand. Something amazing happened. A great crowd of people stood. He didn’t know what to do. So he said, "Maybe you don’t understand what I am asking. So when we are dismissed if you believe you are unsaved and you need to be saved come over to this little room and meet with me." When the service was over, he went to the room it was packed!
He left the next day for Dublin Ireland. Shortly after arriving there, he received a telegram from the church to return, “Come back. Revival has broken out." So Moody got back on the train, went back to that church and preached 10 straight nights. And hundreds of people came to Christ.
Not long afterwards, he learned the secret. An invalid lady, who could not attend the church, was praying for a mighty outpouring of the Spirit upon the church. She prayed for months. Once she saw in the papers accounts of some of the Moody meetings in America, and although she had never heard of Mr. Moody before, she began to pray that God would send him to her church in London for a revival.
One Sunday morning, her sister returned from the service and informed her of Moody’s presence and his preaching.
She spent the whole afternoon in prayer that God would make that night a night of power. And God did!
Charles Spurgeon – “Whenever God determines to do a great work, he first sets his people to pray.”
We need to be like Jacob. Remember when He saw an angel of the Lord at the brook Jabbok, and he wrestled with him all night. The angel in the morning said, "Let me go." What did Jacob say in Genesis 32:26, "I will not let you go until you bless me."
The preacher challeges us to pray that way. pray that God will send revival to whatever place it is and to say, "God I’m not going to give up until it comes."
3. IF MY PEOPLE WILL TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS
Repentance is not only for the hardened sinner on Skid Row. Repentance is often required of those of us who have accepted Christ and are inside the church. Our Lord said to the church at Ephesus, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works" (Revelation 2:5).
Real repentance involves confession of sin and turning away from it.
When Paul preached at Ephesus, the Bible says that "many came, and confessed, and showed their deeds" -and not only that, they turned from their sins, and made a bonfire of those things which should not have been in their homes.
Our sins need to be confessed, and if we have wronged another person, we need to confess (like Zaccheus in Luke 19), and make restitution.
If you have spoken unkindly to a brother or sister in the church …
If you stole something from the place where you work--for the sake of honesty and for the sake of a clear conscience, get those things made right! It won’t take long.
We need to go to the person who has been wronged and say, "I have sinned; I’ve done wrongly toward you; I apologize; will you forgive me?" We must never be ashamed to do that.
Jacob was told that he had to put away the idols that were in his household and be clean before the Lord if he wanted to experience the blessing of God and his reviving power (Gen. 35:1-4).
Joshua commanded the nation of Israel that they also had to “throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD” Joshua 24:14.
Isaiah said, “Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!” (Isaiah 1:16-17).
God wants us to be clean persons, channels through whom his blessings, witness, and interventions in this world can flow.
If we are to be clean we have to renounce all bitterness, wrath, malice, harshness, unforgiving spirits, filthiness, and immorality; in short, anything that would “give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:27).
• Despite increased funding for law enforcement and stricter laws violent crime has increased 500%
• Sex education programs have proliferated and at the same time illegitimate births have increased over 400%
• The divorce rate has quadrupled
• Single parent homes have become the majority
• More than 200% increase in teenage suicide
there are so many more things in general that can be listed on, name it u have it.
Today there is still hope!!
Revival is possible as long as God is God. Jonathan Edwards argued that God grants light when the darkness is the greatest.
When there was disinterest in religion, gross immorality, rampant unbelief, God poured out his undeserved, gracious blessing.
Do it again God!
1. IF MY PEOPLE WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES
God has said, "If my people will humble themselves." God will visit us when we reach a point of desperation. When we surrender that pride, when we give up the idea that we can do pretty good on our own, and we get down on our knees and admit things are not as they should be, then God will come to His people. God says that the first thing I am looking for in my people is a spirit of humbleness.
David said in Psalm 51:16,17, "You, O Lord, do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart..."
Jim Cymbala in Fresh Wind Fresh Fire: “When I was at my lowest, confounded by obstacles, bewildered by the darkness that surrounded us … I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power.”
James 4:6-10 – “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
The next thing we must do to attain revival is that we must pray
2. IF MY PEOPLE WILL PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE
Are you pretty satisfied with the state of the church today – with the devotion to God in your own heart? Revival will not come that way. "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face." God never sends revival to those who don’t want it enough to even bother asking for it in prayer.
The king in Nineveh said, "I want you to put on sackcloth and I want you to call URGENTLY on God." Urgently – that means with a sense of emergency and with intensity. People who pray revival prayers are those people who pray long, hard, intense, and unyielding prayers from the depths of their hearts. One person calls this full-throttle praying.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." That is Full Throttle praying and that is exactly what God is looking for!
One person said, "I prayed for revival in my marriage for a whole week and nothing happened." That’s not revival praying. Some say, "I’ve been praying for a whole month for revival at my church and nothing’s happened." That’s not revival praying either. Those who pray revival prayers are desperate, whole-hearted, never-ending petitioners of God. They never give up. They never quit.
Dwight L. Moody, that famous evangelist from Chicago went on vacation to England. He wasn’t planning to do any preaching; he was on a sabbatical. But he met a pastor there who said, "Mr. Moody you’re so well known, would you come and speak at our church?" So he went to preach the next Sunday morning.
That afternoon Moody wrote in his journal that they were the deadest crowd he had ever seen and that the only thing worse than preaching to those people was that he had promised to go back that night and preach again. But as he preached he noticed that the atmosphere had changed, he did not know just why.
At the close of the meeting, he was led to give an invitation for those who wanted to be saved to stand. Something amazing happened. A great crowd of people stood. He didn’t know what to do. So he said, "Maybe you don’t understand what I am asking. So when we are dismissed if you believe you are unsaved and you need to be saved come over to this little room and meet with me." When the service was over, he went to the room it was packed!
He left the next day for Dublin Ireland. Shortly after arriving there, he received a telegram from the church to return, “Come back. Revival has broken out." So Moody got back on the train, went back to that church and preached 10 straight nights. And hundreds of people came to Christ.
Not long afterwards, he learned the secret. An invalid lady, who could not attend the church, was praying for a mighty outpouring of the Spirit upon the church. She prayed for months. Once she saw in the papers accounts of some of the Moody meetings in America, and although she had never heard of Mr. Moody before, she began to pray that God would send him to her church in London for a revival.
One Sunday morning, her sister returned from the service and informed her of Moody’s presence and his preaching.
She spent the whole afternoon in prayer that God would make that night a night of power. And God did!
Charles Spurgeon – “Whenever God determines to do a great work, he first sets his people to pray.”
We need to be like Jacob. Remember when He saw an angel of the Lord at the brook Jabbok, and he wrestled with him all night. The angel in the morning said, "Let me go." What did Jacob say in Genesis 32:26, "I will not let you go until you bless me."
The preacher challeges us to pray that way. pray that God will send revival to whatever place it is and to say, "God I’m not going to give up until it comes."
3. IF MY PEOPLE WILL TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS
Repentance is not only for the hardened sinner on Skid Row. Repentance is often required of those of us who have accepted Christ and are inside the church. Our Lord said to the church at Ephesus, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works" (Revelation 2:5).
Real repentance involves confession of sin and turning away from it.
When Paul preached at Ephesus, the Bible says that "many came, and confessed, and showed their deeds" -and not only that, they turned from their sins, and made a bonfire of those things which should not have been in their homes.
Our sins need to be confessed, and if we have wronged another person, we need to confess (like Zaccheus in Luke 19), and make restitution.
If you have spoken unkindly to a brother or sister in the church …
If you stole something from the place where you work--for the sake of honesty and for the sake of a clear conscience, get those things made right! It won’t take long.
We need to go to the person who has been wronged and say, "I have sinned; I’ve done wrongly toward you; I apologize; will you forgive me?" We must never be ashamed to do that.
Jacob was told that he had to put away the idols that were in his household and be clean before the Lord if he wanted to experience the blessing of God and his reviving power (Gen. 35:1-4).
Joshua commanded the nation of Israel that they also had to “throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD” Joshua 24:14.
Isaiah said, “Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!” (Isaiah 1:16-17).
God wants us to be clean persons, channels through whom his blessings, witness, and interventions in this world can flow.
If we are to be clean we have to renounce all bitterness, wrath, malice, harshness, unforgiving spirits, filthiness, and immorality; in short, anything that would “give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:27).
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Revival(part 1)
The word ’revival" means "to make fresh and strong again; to bring back to a good condition.” One of the keys to the true meaning of the word revival is found in Psalm 85. In the first three verses of Psalm 85, the Psalmist recalls the way God worked so majestically in the past history of Israel: “You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.” Then in the following verses he says, “Do it again God!” Verse 4,6: “Restore us again O God our Savior … Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"
It is the nature of all created things to wear out and to wind down. It is the nature of a fire, to go out; of sheep, to wander; of love, to wax cold; of the church, to drift; and of people, to forget.
As a result we need to be revived and restored to the early devotion we had for becoming loyal disciples of Jesus Christ.
Acts 3:19 is a good definition: “…times of refreshing from the Lord”.
There is a difference between a revival and an evangelistic campaign. An evangelistic campaign is something the church decides to do. Revival is something God does. Revival is a work of GOD! (“Will YOU not revive us again…”).
Stephen Olford writes: “Revival is the sovereign act of God in which he restores his own backsliding people to repentance, faith and obedience.”
At the same time, a true revival will result in the church having a greater impact in society as Christians become serious about living lives of full devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ before a watching world.
EXAMPLES OF REVIVAL
There have been examples of extraordinary movements of the Spirit of God throughout history.
One example is the tremendous movement of the Spirit of God in Korea (1906-1910) with 80,000 added to the churches. Since the Korean War, 15 million have come to Christ in a nation of just over 40 million.
Another example is China. There were less than one million Christians in China prior to 1950. Primarily in the last 25 years the Spirit of God has added 70-90 million believers in a nation that contains one-fourth of the world’s population
In our nation’s history we have experienced three major revivals:
FIRST: The Great Awakening about 1740 in the time of George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards. All of society was dramatically affected. Thousands came to Christ. The Great Awakening became probably the major unifying factor among the American colonies at that time. Laid the spiritual foundation for the beginning of our nation.
SECOND: The Second Great Awakening at the beginning of the 19th century. 1785-1820. Taverns were closed, families were reconciled, young people became serious in their pursuit of God. Thousands came to Christ.
The Gospel came to Hawaii during this period. Henry Opukaha’ia was the first Hawaiian Christian. In the late 1700s his entire family was killed during a tribal war on the shores of Kealakakua Bay on the Big Island. As he fled from the battle with his baby brother on his back, someone threw a spear and his little brother was killed. In his grief, he pled with the captain of the Ship Triumph, harbored in the bay, to let him come on board and leave Hawaii. Eventually he ended up in the home of Timothy Dwight, the President of Yale College and the grandson of Jonathan Edwards. There Henry came to faith in Christ. He attended Yale College, learned Greek and Hebrew and became a scholar and an evangelist with a passion to go back to Hawaii to tell his own people the Good News of salvation in Christ.
But Henry Opukaha’ia died of Typhus fever before fulfilling that vision. Christians on the East Coast of the United States read his memoirs and said, “If Henry can’t go, we will go.” That led to the arrival of the first missionaries to Hawaii in 1820. Just six months before the missionaries arrived, in God’s wonderful providence, the Hawaiian people had overthrown their idol system and rejected their gods. They realized their gods were false and unable to rescue them from the many diseases they were dying of as a result of foreigners coming into Hawaii at the time – eg. the sailors on the whaling vessels. For that six month period the Hawaiians were a people without a religion. The Chief Kahuna of King Kamehameha prophesied that someone would come to tell them about the true God. Then the missionaries showed up and the rest is history!
The spiritual awakening in Hawaii between 1820 and 1840 is considered to be one of the greatest movements of the Spirit of God in the Western Hemisphere. Thousands of Hawaiians turned to Christ. Titus Coan, an early missionary on the Big Island would baptize 500 converts at a time with a broom! Churches were started all over the islands.
The missionaries gave the Hawaiian people a written language and taught them to read and write. Within 18 years the ENTIRE Bible from Genesis to Revelation was translated and printed (10,000 in the first edition – a copy of this original edition can be viewed at the Mission House Museum Library in Honolulu). Hawaiian churches today celebrate the third Sunday in February as “Henry Opukaha’ia Sunday”, recalling how God used his testimony to bring the Gospel to the islands.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Heart Of A Servant
Verse:
Standing in awe of Your grace
Setting my feet in Your ways
Entering into Your presence
To behold You face to face
Lord of all heaven and earth
holding me in Your embrace
Unfailing love that surrounds me
Oh God I stand amazed.
Chorus:
My Jesus My Lord You're the love of my life
Wherever You go wanna be Your side
No longer I but Christ living in me
Serving You for all eternity
My eyes set on You in this race that I run
No longer my ways let Your will be done
Make me a servant my heart's ever true
Clinging to the cross I'll follow You
I'll follow You.
I don't think i need to post any further about this post, you can check out the song in youtube.
Standing in awe of Your grace
Setting my feet in Your ways
Entering into Your presence
To behold You face to face
Lord of all heaven and earth
holding me in Your embrace
Unfailing love that surrounds me
Oh God I stand amazed.
Chorus:
My Jesus My Lord You're the love of my life
Wherever You go wanna be Your side
No longer I but Christ living in me
Serving You for all eternity
My eyes set on You in this race that I run
No longer my ways let Your will be done
Make me a servant my heart's ever true
Clinging to the cross I'll follow You
I'll follow You.
I don't think i need to post any further about this post, you can check out the song in youtube.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
the ISCF encounter
This blogpost was suddenly inspired.. I was about to sleep and dis just came dat's y is so late at nite..
The best thing about ISCF is not the place but the people. ISCF ppl hav experienced God in a different and much more out of the ordinary. When I first came to noe about it, I thought : It's just another movement or christian association wannabe. But countless times I was proved wrong; the reason is bcoz the people in it are much more mature in terms of walks with God. My most memorable moment was not the camps (sorry to dissappoint), it was just before the TNT concert. Though the concert wasnt much of a success, I still remember vivdly the moment the call for prayer before the event starts. It was the best time ever actually when those serving dat day gather to pray, united as one, on the stage. Believe it or not, God was there in our midst. And when the team on the stage starts praying, the people who where present but werent in the team started praying along on the floor. Prayer makes alot of difference and I believe every christian will agree on dat. And when christians unite and pray, stuff do happen though we don't see it in the natural, though the concert wasnt very much of a success in terms of number of people accepting Christ. But that moment with God, praying, surpasses everything. Sometimes events doesnt work out as successful as thought bcoz God is in control. He has His ways and plans which are absolutely higher den ours and we couldnt argue on dat wid God. God knows the best.
Note: For those who werent there and haven heard of dis, do join in whenever, where ever there is a prayer going on. Maybe the person in charge will call u to join, maybe not but I could say u r most welcome 2 join actually in any prayer. More people, more prayer, more power. It's something u couldnt be shy of and it will determine how ISCF is gonna be.
For those who always stand at the sidelines when a prayer is going on, it's time 2 step in and pray together.
THE CHANGE HAS COME. are you ready to seize the moment and make a difference?
The best thing about ISCF is not the place but the people. ISCF ppl hav experienced God in a different and much more out of the ordinary. When I first came to noe about it, I thought : It's just another movement or christian association wannabe. But countless times I was proved wrong; the reason is bcoz the people in it are much more mature in terms of walks with God. My most memorable moment was not the camps (sorry to dissappoint), it was just before the TNT concert. Though the concert wasnt much of a success, I still remember vivdly the moment the call for prayer before the event starts. It was the best time ever actually when those serving dat day gather to pray, united as one, on the stage. Believe it or not, God was there in our midst. And when the team on the stage starts praying, the people who where present but werent in the team started praying along on the floor. Prayer makes alot of difference and I believe every christian will agree on dat. And when christians unite and pray, stuff do happen though we don't see it in the natural, though the concert wasnt very much of a success in terms of number of people accepting Christ. But that moment with God, praying, surpasses everything. Sometimes events doesnt work out as successful as thought bcoz God is in control. He has His ways and plans which are absolutely higher den ours and we couldnt argue on dat wid God. God knows the best.
Note: For those who werent there and haven heard of dis, do join in whenever, where ever there is a prayer going on. Maybe the person in charge will call u to join, maybe not but I could say u r most welcome 2 join actually in any prayer. More people, more prayer, more power. It's something u couldnt be shy of and it will determine how ISCF is gonna be.
For those who always stand at the sidelines when a prayer is going on, it's time 2 step in and pray together.
THE CHANGE HAS COME. are you ready to seize the moment and make a difference?
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