Wednesday, July 31, 2013

What Went Wrong?


In his play 'Lady Windermere’s Fan' Oscar Wilde has Lord Darlington boldly assert: ‘I can resist anything except temptation.’ While that may raise the odd smile, real-life temptation is no laughing matter.

In his conversation with Eve, Satan distorts what God had said about not eating the forbidden fruit. He argues that, by commanding Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God is withholding benefits that would otherwise be theirs and stopping them from becoming more like God himself. In effect, Satan is calling God a liar. Contradicting what Eve has been told, he tells her: ‘You will not certainly die’ (Genesis 3:4 New International Version).

The story goes on to say that when Eve ‘saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it’ (3:6).

The sad thing about Eve is that instead of taking herself away from what is tempting her, she hovers around it. We tend to do the same. Instead of turning our minds to other things, we continue to mull over the possibilities and remain enticed by forbidden fruit.

When we want to do something that we should not, we often look for ways in which to justify ourselves and make wrong seem acceptable. Little wonder Satan is depicted as a snake, for we know how, in our minds, he can slither around any obstacle to get us to do what he wants.

Wrong things are not necessarily always bad things. That fruit wasn’t poisonous. It ‘was pleasing to the eye’. What temptation isn’t attractive? It always offers pleasure of some sort. It is always desirable in some way.

But, as Eve discovered, the pleasure or promised benefit of giving in to temptation is short-lived. It leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouths.

UK & Ireland War Cry July 2013
Photo
credit: War Cry pictures

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Prayer Requests

1. Please intercede for High Council meeting and General election.

2. Please intercede for 75th Anniversary Celebration and dinner

3. Please intercede for Freddy, Alice, Ailyn, Daniel & Sandy Cheong

4. Please intercede for Kim Aun, Jasinta, Jonathan, Joshua Lim

5. Please intercede for recruits and enrollment of soldiers

Announcements

1. Youth Outing
Date: 28/07/13 (Sun), Time: 7:30pm Venue: Youth Outing
All youth please take note.

2. Cell Group Ministry
Date: 2/8/13 (Fri), Time: 8:00pm; Venue: Corps Worship Hall
Please contact your own cell group leader for more information.

3. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 17/08/13 (Sat), Time: 11:00am, Venue: Community Hall
Please do come and help in the banana leaf ministry. Volunteers needed.

4. 75th Anniversary Dinner
Date: 07/09/13 (Sat), Time: 7:00pm, Venue: Holy Spirit Cathedral
- We wish to include as many Corps members as possible, those who have financial difficulties may please see Bro Tan or Bro Steven for more information.
- To those who still holding the dinner tickets, please return your unsold ticket to Major Brenda as soon as possible.

5. Women's Camp
Date: 20-22 September 2013; Location: Putri Resort, Melaka. Fees: RM250
Speakers: Col. Bronwyn & Lt-Col Evelyn. Please see Major Brenda for more information.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Is Enough Ever Enough?

When we tell a little child not to do something, what does that child typically do?

As a Father, God was generous to our first parents, Adam and Eve. And the Garden of Eden - where they lived - is described as a place of abundance and beauty. God wasn’t a kill-joy. He wanted them to enjoy his creation and gave them the freedom to do so.

There was just one thing - just one single thing - that God told Adam he was not to do. There was a superabundance of trees providing enough variety and more than enough quantity of food to keep Adam satisfied and free from hunger. But he was told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). For Adam’s own good, God warned him of the consequences of any disobedience - death.

But then Satan, in the form of a snake, questioned what God had commanded. He asked Eve: ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”’ (Genesis 3:1 New International Version).

Satan, questioning God, sowed further doubt in Eve’s mind. Eventually, she persuaded Adam. They ate the forbidden fruit and faced the consequences. They were cast out.

Today, little has changed. Satan still questions God, sows doubt, distorts truth and tempts us into disbelief and disobedience.

One consequence is that many people think that God is all about people not enjoying themselves - that he is a thou-shalt-not God. But that’s not the case. On the contrary, he wants us to enjoy what he has given us. Jesus made it clear that abundant life - life in all its fullness - is what God wants for us. It is what he sent Jesus for (John 10:10).

Through his sinless obedience, Jesus also showed that eternal life is not to be found in doing what we prefer or think best, but in living to please God. We have a choice to make.

UK & Ireland War Cry July 2013
Photo credit: The War Cry


Sunday, July 21, 2013

Tong Sing & Irene Baby Dedication, July 21, 2013



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Prayer Request

1. Please intercede for Jimme Lee & family.

2. Please intercede for Devi, Kaseh & family.

3. Please intercede for Mahen Daren, Lectchimi, Krihore, Dashalini, Pravayarni, Somansri, Vennila, Pavithra.

4. Please intercede for Hock Hin, Grace and Matthew Tan.

Announcements

1. Youth Worship
Date: 21/07/13 (Sun), Time: 7:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
All youth please take note.

2. Soldiership Class
Those who wish to join soldiership class, please stay back for the class. Do see Major Tan or Brother Tan for more information.

3. 75th Anniversary Committee Meeting
Date: 28/7/13 (Sun), Time: 12:45pm; Venue: Corps Worship Hall
All committee members please take note and attend the meeting

4. Prayer Ministry
4th Friday of the month, all brothers and sister are encourage to pray at own convenience time for the Corps Ministries. Please see Major Tan for a copy of prayer request list.

5. 75th Anniversary Dinner
Date: 07/09/13 (Sat), Time: 7:00pm, Venue: Holy Spirit Cathedral
- We wish to include as many Corps members as possible, those who have financial difficulties may please see Bro Tan or Bro Steven for more information.
- To those who still holding the dinner tickets, please return your unsold ticket to Major Brenda as soon as possible.

6. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 17/08/13 (Sat), Time: 11:00am, Venue: Community Hall
Please do come and help in the banana leaf ministry. Volunteers needed.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Marriage - God’s Design For Life?

It can be hard to enjoy some of life’s rich variety of experiences when you are on your own. Often we get far more pleasure from what we have or what we experience when we share it with another person.

According to Genesis, Adam - the first man God created - had a comfortable life. God provided ‘trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food’ (Genesis 2:9 New International Version) and company and help in the form of animals and birds. But none of those creatures were adequate companions for Adam.

So, ‘God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man’ (2:21, 22). The debate over whether these words are to be taken literally or metaphorically can mean there’s a danger of losing some splendid truths contained in them.

With a rib missing, Adam would never be complete. In being united with Eve, Adam got his rib back - he was complete once more. Bible scholar Matthew Henry explores this idea further: Eve, he writes, was ‘made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.’

Genesis 2:24 reads: ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.’ The King James Bible talks about Adam ‘cleaving’ to - or adhering strongly to - his wife. This indicates God’s intention for the strength of their bond.

But no relationship flourishes without commitment and the investment of time, care and attention. It is God’s design that marriage should last. A good marriage requires the mutual determination to be married for good.

UK & Ireland War Cry July 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Welcome Cadet Sunday, July 14, 2013



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Prayer Request

1. Please intercede for 75th Anniversary Celebration & Preparation

2. Please intercede for SAFE Fellowship, Dr Goh & Capt Harry Haran

2. Please intercede for Seow Hwee, Loo Thoe & Khye Lin

3. Please intercede for Soon Bee, Wei Lin & Ethan Ong

4. Please intercede for Ah How, Yen Wong, and Tian Seng.

Announcements

1. Youth Drama Practice
Date: 14/07/13 (Sun), Time: 7:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
Youth please take note.

2. Soldiership (Membership) Class
Those who wish to join soldiership class, please stay back for the class. Do see Major Tan or Brother Tan for more information.

3. Cell Group Ministry
Date: 19/07/13 (Sat), Time: 8:00pm, Venue: Cancel due to SAFE Fellowship on 20/07/13.

4. SAFE Fellowship (Pot-Bless Dinner)
Date: 20/07/13 (Sat), Time: 7:00pm, Venue: Community Hall
Guest Speaker: Capt Hary & Dr. Goh. Please bring a dish to share and please see Mrs Tan for more information.

5. 75th Anniversary Dinner
Date: 07/09/13 (Sat), Time: 7:00pm, Venue: Holy Spirit Cathedral
We wish to include as many Corps members as possible, please see Bro Tan or Bro Steven for more information.

6. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 17/08/13 (Sat), Time: 11:00am, Venue: Community Hall
Please do come and help in the banana leaf ministry. Volunteers needed.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

We're In Charge

Look at the way humankind has taken over the earth. Everywhere we go, from the coldest Arctic or Antarctic to the remotest equatorial rainforest, there are people. And humankind has not only populated the planet, but also taken control of it.

So it’s amazing to read in the opening book of the Bible, written thousands of years ago, about God telling the first people he created to ‘be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’ (Genesis 1:28 New International Version). It was also God’s intention for humankind to rule over the earth and all the creatures in it.

But is today’s world how God planned it to be? While in many ways we are similar to other creatures, we all know that we are not the same. Something sets us apart. We have an ability to consider and communicate issues which go above and beyond the little world we each live in. We have the potential to choose what is best rather than what is to our own personal advantage. We have these faculties because we are created in God’s image (see Genesis 1:27).

The Bible also describes God as being pure and perfect. In the beginning, humankind was a perfect reflection of what God is like. But then something happened which resulted in that image of God in us being spoilt. Instead of feeling responsible to him for all he had given them and living to please him, the first human beings rebelled and decided to follow their own selfish impulses.

Humankind does indeed fill the earth and has subdued it. But sadly, through selfishness and greed, we have spoilt so much of what God made us responsible for. We have polluted the land, the sea, the air we breathe and even outer space. We have caused the extinction and near-extinction of so many wonderful creatures. We have acquired the capability to destroy ourselves and the world. Sometimes it seems we are in danger of doing so.

Our only hope lies in us restoring our right relationship with our Creator.

War Cry UK & Ireland July 2013
Photo credit: War Cry pictures

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Prayer Request

1. Please intercede for Major Raelton & Lynn Gibbs and family

2. Please intercede for Steven, Casey and Allison Foo

3. Please intercede for John, Shirley, Cheryl, Robin & Michelle Lee

4. Please intercede for Hock Sun, Phee Keat, Tuan Ewe, Tuan Ean.

5. Please intercede for SAFE Fellowship & Capt Harry Haran

Announcements

1.Youth Drama Practice
Date: 07/07/13 (Sun), Time: 7:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
Youth please take note.

2. Soldiership (Membership) Class
Those who wish to join soldiership class, please stay back for the class. Do see Major Tan or Brother Tan for more information.

3. Prayer Ministry
Date: 12/07/13 (Sat), Time: 8:00pm, Venue: Children's Home
All are encouraged to join and share in fellowship.

4.Corps Sports and Outing: Bowling
Date: 13/07/13 (Sat), Time: 3:00pm Venue: Penang Bowl
Please see Sis Jasinta or Bro Kim Aun for more information.

5.75th Anniversary Site Visit & Food Tasting
Date: 13/07/13 (Sat), Time: 5:00pm-7:00pm, Venue: Holy Spirit Cathedral
Committee members please see Major Tan for more information.

6.75th Anniversary Committee Meeting
Date: 14/07/13 (Sat), Time: 12:30pm, Venue: Worship Hall
All committee please take note and attend the meeting 

7.SAFE Fellowship (Pot-Bless Dinner)
Date: 20/07/13 (Sat), Time: 7:00pm, Venue: Community Hall
Guest Speaker: Capt Hary & Dr. Goh. Bring a dish to share and please see Mrs Tan for more information.

8.75th Anniversary Dinner
Date: 07/09/13 (Sat), Time: 7:00pm, Venue: Holy Spirit Cathedral
We wish to include as many Corps members as possible, please see Bro Tan or Bro Steven for more information.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Ending On A High

The Book of Psalms contains everything from praise and wonder at God’s creation to desperate prayers for help and guidance. In this series, we have looked at nine prayers of praise, penance and petition.

Many psalms start with a clear statement of faith and confidence in the Almighty. For example, Psalm 25 begins: ‘In you, Lord my God, I put my trust’ (New International Version). Psalm 27 takes it further: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?’

But, as we also discover, life doesn’t always go according to plan. Difficult experiences sometimes cause the psalmist’s faith to dip for a while. So it is that Psalm 86 does not begin confidently but with the plea: ‘Hear me.’

However, whatever the circumstances, the writer of that psalm never doubts God’s existence. He believes that God will hear his prayers and answer them in his own good time, according to his divine will and purpose.

Neither does he stop his dialogue with God. He may question what is happening to him and ask what God is doing about his problems, but, as he prays, he is reminded of God’s goodness and mercy in his life: ‘You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me’ (86:5-7).

And so the crisis passes, confidence is restored, and once more he is able to sing a hymn of praise: ‘For you are great and do marvellous deeds; you alone are God’ (86:10).

Are the Psalms relevant for us today?

Our modern-day dilemmas may seem very different from Old Testament living, but human nature doesn’t change. We have the same worries, family troubles, disappointments and heartaches - but we also have the same reliable, comforting, loving God to help us face them. If we would like to talk to him about something, we can be assured that he is only a prayer away.

UK & Ireland War Cry June 2013
Photo credit: War Cry pictures