Why Do We Seldom Say This To City Folks?

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NKJV)
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

1 Timotius 6:17-19 (AVB)
17 Perintahkan orang yang kaya pada masa ini supaya jangan angkuh, jangan berharapkan kekayaan yang sebenarnya tidak kekal, tetapi bergantunglah kepada Allah yang hidup, yang melimpahkan segala sesuatu kepada kita untuk dinikmati.
18 Hendaklah mereka berbuat baik, supaya mereka kaya dengan amal kebajikan, sedia memberi, rela berkongsi.
19 Dengan demikian mereka meletakkan asas yang teguh bagi diri mereka untuk hari kemudian supaya mereka dapat hidup kekal kelak.

Don’t Let Go Of Eternal Life

1 Timothy 6:6-12 (NKJV)
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Timotius 6:6-12 (AVB)
6 Kesalihan yang disertai dengan rasa puas membawa keuntungan besar.
7 Kita tidak membawa apa-apa ke dalam dunia ini, dan pasti sekali kita tidak dapat membawa apa-apa apabila kita meninggalkannya.
8 Oleh itu, jika kita ada pakaian dan makanan, kita harus berasa puas.
9 Orang yang mahu kaya tergoda dan terperangkap oleh pelbagai keinginan yang sia-sia dan berbahaya, yang menjerumuskannya ke dalam kerosakan dan kemusnahan.
10 Cinta akan wang punca segala kejahatan. Sesetengah orang memburu wang dengan begitu tamaknya sampaikan tersesat daripada iman dan akhirnya menanggung berbagai-bagai kesengsaraan jiwa.
11 Tetapi kamu, wahai hamba Allah, jauhilah segala ini. Amalkanlah kebenaran, kesalihan, iman, kasih, kesabaran dan sikap lemah lembut.
12 Berjuanglah dalam perjuangan iman yang benar. Berpegang teguhlah kepada hidup kekal; kepada hidup itulah kamu telah dipanggil ketika kamu membuat pengakuan yang benar di hadapan saksi yang ramai.

Acts 5

Verses 2-3

 

But with his wife’s agreement he kept part of the money for himself and turned the rest over to the apostles.

Peter said to him, “Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?

 

okay, the first thought i had.

Did i just see Peter calling Ananias’s wife “Satan”?

thats just mean. i hope Peter doesnt do that to MY wife when she makes a mistake hahaha.

so i checked in the later verses, Peter did NOT call Sapphira (Ananias’s wife) “Satan” while confronting her.

 

so how does Satan take control of us and make us sin?

Well. he just does.

If God can use us to bless others,

Satan can use us to stumble others.

 

Also, I found a key word.

…why did you let Satan take control of you…

Let

Satan cannot use us if we don’t let him.

He can’t touch us or do anything to us, if we don’t let him.

choices. choices. choices.

yet, we DO allow him, don’t we?

i have concluded that we humans are just weak.

we are weak because we naturally do bad things.

the word of God says that we are born sinners.

Ps 51:5

Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

that makes sense, since everyone in the world agrees that it is easier to give in to doing wrong,

and it is so hard to decide to do right.

 

but it is possible to do good and we need to strive for holiness.

this is a reminder to myself.

choices. choices. choices.

 

 

 

Verses 12-16

 

 Many miracles and wonders were being performed among the people by the apostles. All the believers met together in Solomon’s Porch. Nobody outside the group dared join them, even though the people spoke highly of them. But more and more people were added to the group—a crowd of men and women who believed in the Lord. As a result of what the apostles were doing, sick people were carried out into the streets and placed on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. And crowds of people came in from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing those who were sick or who had evil spirits in them; and they were all healed.

 

this reminds me of a thought i’ve been having some days ago.

what is the church, really?

why do people come to church?

we come to church because we admit that we are broken, and sick, and needy, and we are looking for the answer.

we come back to church because we have found the answer and we need more.

 

but i’m reminded that Jesus said He wasnt here for the rich and the healthy.

He was here for the sick and the needy.

i think that as a church, we need to be more open to these people.

and we need to remember that we are like a hospital of some sort.

when we say “i went to the hospital”, surely someone will ask “oh what happened?”

correct?

because the hospital is the solution of a problem.

and in the hospital the problem is usually a physical problem, and that is the place we trust to have a cure.

 

but everyone in the world has spiritual problems. whether we know it or not.

 we should be the solution of a problem.

people with problems will come to church and be touched by God.

just like people flocking to go and touch Peter’s shadow to be healed.

 

let us be a church that is a vessel of God’s spiritual, mental, and emotional solutions.

 

 

 

Some Old Thoughts

Blogging Money

 

so i did have a few thoughts to write about today,

and i cant help but think that i do blog quite a lot.

i like to share my thoughts.

though its very messy, but i like doing it.

and there are people who genuinely enjoy reading my thoughts.

 

so today, i was thinking:

why dont i register for those ads program where i can earn extra income (even if its a few cents per month).

i can put ads on my blog.

sure.

i update often.

sure.

problem is,

with xanga FREE i cant do it! NOOOOO

if i pay for Xanga Premium then yes i can.

=(

but its quite expensive.

alternative:

migrate my blogging work to wordpress or blogger.

=(

should I?

i feel so attached to this one.

 

 

 

Purpose

 

lots of us dont like to ask ‘why’ at the right time.

this is because we tend to be afraid to look into ourselves to dig out real reasoning.

last week during prayer meeting, my senior pastor asked the whole group of about 20 people:

Why are you here in prayer meeting?

and she asked us to be honest.

dont just give really holy “politically (or religiously correct)” answers.

my answer is too simple.

you know my answer, i’ve shared this last time in a post of random thoughts.

i want to learn to really pray. and the best place to do it is with people who have a great prayer heart and fire.

 

my question to you:

Why do you go to church?

Why do you believe in what you believe in?

 

 

 

Leadership

 

so in my previous post of the same title Leader,

i talked about how a pastor was thinking of training a leader based on what he saw a boy do.

stack the chairs and clean up.

 

well, some of you know that i myself am a leader in my church youth group.

funny thing is,

i had NO capabilities whatsoever at that time.

i was not great with leadership skills, i wasnt good in relating with people,

i hated confronting people, i was pretty happy-go-lucky (not as responsible as i should at my age),

i liked to make jokes at inappropriate times, and i disliked being on stage or in the spot light.

and i wasnt even CLOSE to SMART.

but one thing about me is that i just wanted to be there to help.

i wanted to serve.

i remember being so proud of myself because in my schools Christian Fellowship Club,

i attended every single meeting, i attended every prayer meeting,

and i wasnt even a leader of post in the club.

i was a no one.

even the leaders and the committee members skipped at least once.

anyways i was picked to be a leader because of my commitment.

and i loved my God.

easy as that.

 

question:

Who gets to be leader?

The one who is comfortable under pressure?

the one who is comfortable in the spot light?

the one who is comfortable giving orders?

the one comfortable loving others?

mind boggling.

 

 

 

Sales

 

Did you notice that i dislike selling an idea to people?

i did.

i dont like it when my Amway friends keep trying to sell me their product.

i said no bro.

i dont like it when my dad keeps reminding me about prayer meeting.

i said im going bro.

you know, its not whether i agree with you or not,

its just that you’re a bugger.

this is EXACTLY why i hear SOOO SOOO MUCH about why people don’t go to church.

they have no problem with Jesus.

they have problems with the christians.

what stuck up little humbugs we really are.

 

i have no solutions to this.

maybe we need to be less annoying.

maybe we need to be less proud, then they might trust our words more.

maybe we need to live a more fruitful life, be a living proof.

maybe we need to talk less.

maybe we need to sit back and let God do his thang.

i dunno.

 

what do you think we should do to stop SELLING our religion??