Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The Need and the Urgency of the Gospel!

In order to understand why there is a need and furthermore, an urgency for the Gospel to be preached, we must first come to reckon with how serious the effects of sin are and more so, HOW angry God really is with it.

Romans 1:18 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."


One thing I've come to learn as I continue to study scripture, is that there are no wastage of words. Every single word is key and important to bringing out the extent of the message.

God is not just angry at sinful man, and it is certainly not the kind of anger that we understand (Where you just shoot of a mouth of vulgarities, throw a chair or even physically abuse them).

So exactly how angry is God?

Well, let me just put it this way. God is so angry, that He sent His very own Son to die to overcome death (Not just physical, but a separation from the relationship we were meant to enjoy with Him eternally), the ultimate consequence of sin.

We must understand, that at creation (the very beginning, Genesis), man was created to co-exist in a perfect relationship with God - where He say what what and we do what what! But because man wanted to be God, where we called our own shots and live by our own standards, we went against His warning about eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and there death was born!

Even in this small account, we can see how disgusting sin really is.
Because sin is not just a mere act of doing wrong things, or doing bad things that hurt people.
Ultimately, sin is terrible, because it is an outright rebellion to the God who created us, and a disregard to this relationship He intended for us.

And there are very real consequences to sin - we can see it in how we fail to relate rightly with one another, when we abuse creation, when we hurt ourselves. But the ultimate consequence of sin, is to face judgment by God and finally, to be separated from God Himself.

Now at this point of time, I'm sure many of you will either respond two ways. The first way, is to be really terrified about this truth, because there seems to be no way out of this situation and the Lord of the heavens is coming for you.
The second way, is to just close this link right now and just skiddadle off into whatever you've been doing. But you'd be missing the good part, literally.

Yes, God's justice certainly sounds harsh. But...

Because of His great love, while we were still rebels, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross to take upon the punishment that was meant for us! Unlike us, Jesus Christ was completely sinless and he did not deserve to be mocked, insulted, spat at and finally crucified.

However, that was not the end. For God raised Jesus Christ from the dead 3 days later! Jesus had overcome death, and the consequences of which it bought! And the beauty of it all, was that all those who were God's people, could claim that victory because their Lord had bought it for them with the ultimate price! Not only are we no longer destined for condemnation, but for redemption!

But, knowing and embracing this truth for yourself is not enough (whether you are a Christian or not), because if you truly believe in the message of the gospel, it will totally and radically transform the way you are living your life! You no longer live for yourself, your own sinful pleasures and desires for you have a new Master, and that is God Himself!

This is what everyone needs to know! This is the good news of which we preach! It is life in itself!

So do not fear, let us go out and preach this good news, for it is the greatest news anyone will hear in this life time!

For the dead to know and receive life, what greater thing should anyone need?






Monday, March 28, 2011

Every inch of my mind is screaming,
Every beat of my heart is pounding,
I just want to let go and give in.

But that's not what You have done.
You overcame my death, You overcame my iniquities, You overcame my rebellion against You!

Help me oh Father, to love You without measure. That the love that You have placed in me will resound in all my life, may it consume me and overtake my sinfulness! The hurtful thoughts, the displeasures, the inability to love selflessly! Oh may I die then to ever sin!!

Oh please oh please oh please... May I have the patience and love as You have had on me, though I may be weak and poor, I know in You I am rich in an abundance of Your grace and Your mercy and Your love.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Psalms - the cry of man to their God

As I was sitting in the office one day, I noticed a book titled, 'Singing the Songs of the Brokenhearted'. Curious, I picked it up and started to read.

Before I realised, I was captured by what Bill Crowder wrote in His book about the Pslam writers, one of which was king David. 

He's words were deliberate and certain, he did not withhold the pain or anguish that he felt, he let it all out before the God whom he felt had abandoned him. And yet, David seemed to contradict himself. No, his situation had not changed, but the way he looked at his hardships and pains had turned a good 180 degrees. 

What was the change? Well, David remembered the God whom he was crying out too. He knew, that that very God was the one who would save him in His own terms - in His own time and ways. 

When we read the bible, do we take time to recognise and understand who the author truly is and what he writes about? Because what makes them credible, is not simply the beautiful words they write, but it is the truth in all that they pour out.

Psalms would be a good read to study, let us not take for granted the cries of the saints, for there is much value in their words.

Monday, March 7, 2011

The science behind our conscience

Many of us take it for granted, that we still have a conscience that is still sensitive to the sinful tendencies of a sickly condition.
For those who truly trust and obey in Christ, we have an eternal joy, for the records of our debt has been fully cleared once and for all. We can enjoy being able to see the full immensity of our sins.

Sounds crazy. Enjoying the fact that we can see our sins.
It is a beautiful and amazing thing, to be aware of our sinfulness. Because it enables us to be able to respond rightly to it.

So the next question to ask is, why should we need to respond to our sinfulness rightly? Namingly, because we are the creations of a Holy Being. When we respond to our sinfulness rightly - in repentance, we are remembering the relationship that we have with God. We are responding to who God is in our lives and what He has done.

So what has God done to allow us to respond rightly to Him in our sinfulness? He has redeemed our conscience and cleared us of the debts that was recorded against us.

Our conscience is like a record of our sins - past, present and future.
What condemns us, is not the act (Because the act many times can be covered up with a quick-fix solution), but it is the fact that we did whatever we did.

For example, I could have knocked over my friend's laptop , that being the act. But I can easily cover it up by possibly buying a new laptop, I mean why not, and just simply changing everything back to it's original state, he would never notice the difference, problem solved. Wrong.
The fact that I did it, still hasn't changed, no matter what the end result is.

It's the same thing in a relationship. If you start off with the wrong intentions, sinfully, it doesn't matter what the end result is. Yes God can work and He will work in His own way to salvage the situation (even though it may not be in the way you expect it to be), but never for one moment can we live with an attitude - taking for granted that we have our conscience that tells us what is right and wrong.

An our conscience grows proportionately to our knowledge of God in our lives. The more clearly, accurately and personally we know God, the more we will be aware of our sinfulness and hence, being enabled to respond to it.

Let us pray, that our conscience will remain tender, so that we can relate and respond rightly to God in everything that we do and we say and think about.

For the way we live our lives, determines the state of our heart, in our relationship with God.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Suffering is gain

The bible never talks about how to avoid suffering, or how to live a  more comfortable life.

It always talks about how to prepare for suffering, what it is for and why it is actually a good thing. One does not have to look deep into the scriptures (to study and contemplate) to realize that as God's disciples, we will face suffering and it is for our good, for the good of the people around us and ultimately, it glorifies our Master.

Look at the apostles, look at the saints of old, look at the missionaries. Were they super humans? Were they a higher class of christians? Were they any less human then we were? No! They had families, they had struggles, they hungered, they thirst, they felt emo, they felt alone, they felt pain, they felt agony, but through it all, they found joy in having lived a life that simply pleased the One who gave it to them in the first place.

Now I look at my own life and the life of my friends around who call ourselves Christians. I think we should be deeply ashamed of ourselves. Life gets a lil bit rough and we start crying out, "Oh how unfair life can be!"

Why We Can Rejoice in Suffering


This was an article written by the people at desiringgod.org and I think all who call themselves disciples of Christ should read this.


Truly, let us not fear for what makes us inconvenienced, weary or even stretched, for these are marks of a true Christian. No I'm not being masochistic, but there really is true gain in being stretched and suffering for the sake of Christ and His mission for us.


Let us never forget for a moment, that our lives are not our own to live as we please, or to fear to give, for our Redeemer has payed the ultimate price for our sins already. Let us not live as if we are our own kings, let us not live as though there is no need for sacrifice, let us not live as though people don't need the Lord, let us not live at all if we do not treasure our King.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Can do, must do mehs?

Seriously. Yes I do agree, every open door is an opportunity, but it may not be the right way out. I've heard the phrase many times, "If God didn't want you to do that, He would've never opened up that option!"

Really? So why not be a prostitute, or a beggar, or even a murderer? For what it's worth, those options will never be closed. But the questions we have to ask ourselves at the end of the day is, is it the right thing to do?

You don't have to be a Christian in order to know, that we all have choices to make, and the decisions we choose, affect not just how we will live after that, but it is a reflection of how we have already been living.

This verse captured the essence of the previous statement that I just made.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:21 (ESV)

You can't hide what is in the innermost of your soul, because it will surely show in the things you do, the decisions you make and even the things you say and think about. That's why it is there.

Many times when we look deeply and intently behind why we make certain decisions, we'll not find something so pretty as what most people see. 

So then how should we live? Is there anything that guides how we should live our lives? Should we even care, pertaining to the previous question?

This is where I make my stand. Yes there is an ultimate and perfect standard of what life is all about.

Contrary to what it seems, it's not about having the perfect job, the perfect wife, being morally upright or even being selfless.

But it is recognising first and foremost, that we are the worst, most notorious, vile beings that possible could exist on the face of the earth. So much so, we are worst than dirt. 

I mean think about it, dirt never thought about dirty thoughts that objectify another person. Dirt never treated someone else like dirt. Dirt certainly never killed anyone. And dirt most probably never hated anyone.

Oh so this is where I share the Christian message right? This is where I tell you that there is a God who condemns people, who strips us of our rights of enjoying life, who sets so many laws and lords over us like a tyrant but still seemingly loves us to the deepest ends of the earth?

Wrong. His love for us goes beyond the furthest star, and even all of creation.

We can talk all day and debate with a million reasons why you would and many other people out there in the world say that He is not so great after all. I mean if He did create EVERYTHING, why would there still be good people dying on the streets, natural disasters killing the innocent, and even helpless people being raped and abused across the nations?

But let me just ask you this question. If God didn't exist, would the selfishness of man cease to exist? Would lust, temptation, pride, sexual immorality, hurt, pain, agony, sorrow, sadness, loss, depression still remain? And the list would go on.

The point here my friend, is not to convince you that I am right. Or that you should become a Christian, I mean so what if you did, that doesn't solve the many problems we see around us.

What I'm letting you see for yourself, is that there is a very real problem, and that we are in need of a very real solution. And that solution, can only be found in the Creator Himself.

Christianity, is not a way of life, it's not a moral code of living and it's not even a religion.

Rather, it is a call, to trust and obey a God, who loves us so, that HE gave His one and only Son to die so that all those who believes in Him, shall not face the eternal consequences of the wrath of an angry God for people who turned against Him, but be able to live a life that pleases Him - the One who created us, loves us and continues to sustain us as His children.

Let me leave you my dear friends, with a song that has touched my heart, and I hope it will bless you this day as well :)

This Life I Live

This life I live is not my own
for my Redeemer paid the price
He took it to be His alone
to be His treasure and His prize
The things of earth I live behind
to live in worship of my King
His is the right to rule my life
mine is the joy to live for Him

I died to sin upon that cross
I'm bound to Jesus in His death
The old is gone and now I must
rely on Him for every breath
With every footstep that I tread
what mysteries He has in store
I cannot know what lies ahead
but know that He has gone before

There is a voice that pierced the grave
a power that rolled the stone away
A sound of life I know I'm saved
the voice of God has called my name
So I will rise and in the air
behold the glory of the king
I will not fear to meet Him there
I know my life is hid with Him.

Peace be with you this day :)

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

How can I be a better speaker? How can I connect with people better? How can I touch people with the words of a song?

It's simple, really. Love God and Love man.

One life lived that sings a song that is pleasing to my King.