Church Robbed

Three men armed with parangs - they came, they took what were not theirs, and left 19 people, mostly women, shaken but thankfully unharmed. These things happen every day everywhere, all around us, but last night, it happened at our church, Hope EFC, during a seminar for the chinese congregation. We lost 3 guitars, 1 old amplifier, the collections from the 2 services of the day and David's LCD projector, besides all the personal effects, keys and handphones of all those attending the seminar.

Another evidence of the growing materialism and decadence of our society. People care more for money and possessions than for other humans. We will rob, steal, snatch, cheat, lie and kill to get what we want, what belongs to others. We are supposed to love people and use things, but we do the opposite. What wretched creatures we are! Who will rescue us from these bodies of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24)

In God will I praise His word: in the Lord will I praise His word.
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

I will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth." Psalm 56:10,11; 58:11

The KJV

I've fallen in love with the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. I've read through several other versions, including the KJV sometime ago, and had been wanting to get back to it. Then in June, I found an almost brand new copy in our fave bookstore, Payless Books in Ampang Point, and grabbed it at RM10.90 only. A gift from Heaven!

Every morning I read 3 chapters, one Psalm, one Old Testament (Ecclesiastes now), and one New Testament (Romans). As the old hymn goes: "Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life." They lift up my spirit, fill my soul, satisfy my heart and mind. Not only that, they challenge me to change, first the thinking, then the behaviour. Most of all, they reveal God to me, the Lord Jesus Christ in ever increasing glory and majesty. As Simon Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:68

I did some online search on the KJV. There are some Christians who hold the view that the KJV is the only version we should all read. I believe that God works through many ways and that the many versions and translations that we have now are a blessing to mankind. My first bible was a gift from my Christian classmate Jennifer. A non-christian who knew little of Christianity except what the school curriculum taught, which was precious little, I came to know God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through reading the Living Bible, a paraphrase by Kenneth Taylor. Later, I went on to the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, the New Living Translation and the Amplified Bible. Debates continue on the positive and negative qualities of the different versions (see the KJV only , the Living Bible, and why so many translations links). I thank God that He has enabled various people through the ages to write all these and also to translate into the many languages and tongues of the people groups of the world so that all men and women and children may be able to read His word and come to know Him. He is a God who speaks in all our languages and He is not silent!

From the KJV link, I found out more about King James, the King who commissioned the translation of the Authorized King James Version (KJV) of 1611. English history forgotten or not learned before, including the interesting fact that he was a friend and patron of William Shakespeare, who of course used the KJV and wrote Macbeth based on his family history in Scoland (King James was a Scot and Macbeth was known as the Scottish play.) Well, guess what, I'm reading Macbeth now, aloud, and enjoying it a lot, in between others like Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife.

War

Finally finished Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, Book 1 of his Dark Materials. I could only read it whenever I went to the loo. It wasn't an easy book for me, but I persisted to the end because the boys had already finished all 3 of his books. It wasn't easy reading because it was set in a world like ours but not exactly like it, and it had strange creatures and concepts coming from the writer's fertile imagination. It is a world where the Church is a powerful entity but God is unknown. Lyra is a 12 yr old girl who thrown into an adventure which reveals truths about her parents and propels her to search for more about her world and other worlds.

In the midst of all that, I found a nugget: Serafina Pekkala, the Queen of a clan of witches, is talking to Lee Scoresby, a freelance aviationist adventurer, someone like Han Solo of the Star Wars series ...

"Mr. Scoresby," said the witch, "I wish I could answer your question. All I can say is that all of us, humans, witches, bears, are engaged in a war already, although not all of us know it. Whether you find danger on Svalbard or whether you fly off unharmed, you are a recruit, under arms, a soldier."
"Well, that seems kinda precipitate. Seems to me a man should have a choice whether to take up arms or not."
"We have no more choice in that than in whether or not to be born."
( pg 270)

This struck me because it is true of this our world. We are in a war, whether we like it or not. Ever since the fall of man, there has been a war between good and evil, God and the Evil One, Truth and Falsehood, Light and Darkness. But unlike the Muslim or what they call the Islamist terrorist, the Bible speaks of a war and a struggle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. That is why the Apostle Paul tells us to:

"... be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.... so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10-18)

We are in a war; question is, whose side are we on? Will each of us be able to say, at the end of our lives, like Paul, that "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"?

Liow Yen Yi, in blissful slumber  

Sweet

How sweet indeed! Like the old song goes:
"How sweet to hold a new born baby
And feel the pride and joy (s)he brings!
But sweeter still the calm assurance
This child can face uncertain days
Because He lives!"

Websurfing, I found out that some people are making a movie coming out 6-6-06 the story of which is that Jesus Christ never existed in history. It is all a fraud, a myth, a great deception dreamt up by the church for power and wealth. Something like Dan Brown' and his ilk. The war is getting fiercer!

And here I am, rejoicing that Jesus not only lived on earth 2000 years ago, but that He died for me and all who believe in Him, and that He rose from the dead and He lives on today. I have read His words and about His life in the Book and I know He lives.

What if He hadn't existed, never came and did what He did and spoke the words He did? How dark the world then! Without the knowledge of truth or love , without hope.

Everybody's blogging 2 : Even GWB!

Yep, even the Prez of the US Mr George W. Bush is into blogging. Believe it or not. Read it here. Heh, heh.

Everybody's blogging

I haven't been writing because, inter alia, I've been too busy reading other people's blogs. I've gotten over the first flush of bloggomania, but some other people I know have just got it. Like my dear husband who started his blog quietly while I was wondering when he was going to, and now has overtaken me. He writes far better. Go read his blog. (Elliot just helped me put a link here because I didn't know how to. I'm so proud of him!!! I'm going to buy him a new computer!!! Gotta go!! [written by Elliot, of course])

Jessey Ding started just yesterday, after Elliot told her about his blog. Jessey's is here. And Ethan puts his writings and reviews in his. (Hey, I just learned how to put links, okay?) Ethan keeps an online journal which is TOP SECRET.

Besides these, I also read others like Chrenkoff and Winds of Change (both recently discovered), Eric Mudasi's World View , Screenshots and Malaysiakini (daily) etc.

So much happening at home and abroad, I really need time and space to think.