Watchman

My article today is not about movie review on the super hero film called Watchmen directed by Zack Snyder. It is about a man named Ezekiel in the Bible.

Last night as I was reading Ezekiel 3, I am reminded of the importance being on guard in the last days. God said to Ezekiel, "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me" (Ezekiel 3:17). I

In the days of Ezekiel, it was common practice for nations to appoint guardians to watch the borders of their territories and warn the people of approaching danger. It was the watchman's duty to sound the trumpet and warn the people the moment he saw the enemy coming. If he saw the enemy coming, yet failed to sound the alarm, his failure was considered a criminal act, and every death brought by the enemy's sword was a murder charge for the watchman.

Just as the watchman appointed to guard the city gates, Ezekiel has a God-given commission to serve as "a watchman for the house of Israel." Ezekiel role was to warn the wicked among his people of the certainty of death if they failed to turn from their sinful ways.

I believe we are called to be watchman too. A watchman that will show the grace of God to the lost. A watchman that brings message of hope and salvation. A watchman that will guard and watch at the "gate" of the church. Being on guard against current trends of deception that are sweeping through the body of Christ..

In Mark 13, we see that Jesus is telling us of the things to come regarding the Last Days. He exhorts us all to be on the alert, to be watchful of the things to come. It seems we have all been called to be in a constant state of watchfulness in some capacity as believers in Christ: "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert -- for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning -- in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep."What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'" Mark 13:33-37

Steven Mitchell writes in his article "Watchman Arise,"

"Since God mentions this ministry several times throughout the Bible with great clarity, we do well to read, heed, and learn to be men and women with this attitude for the church today. While we may not be under the threat of physical invasion today, or living in literal walled fortresses, Satan and his workers seek to destroy and lay siege to the church today through false teachers and ungodly philosophies. He seeks to lead us into false forms of worship and unbiblical teachings that masquerade as truth. He has engineered and orchestrated a full-out assault on the people of God today, complete with deceptive false ministers and non-prophets who no longer view His Word as the primary basis for true doctrine. The church is definitely under attack and, therefore, definitely and desperately in need of watchmen in this age."

Be Blessed.

The Importance Of Small Things

Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. - 2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV

Have you ever gone to a restaurant with somebody whose meal cost $8, and watched them struggle over leaving a tip? They have $2 in change, and they know that leaving just $1 might be thought of as stingy. Yet do they leave $2? Not on your life! That would be too much. Instead they'll waste ten minutes getting change for that second dollar so they can leave $1.50 tip and save themselves 50 cents, rather than "sow generously" and leave a little extra. What would have happened if they'd left the full $2? They would have made the waiter or waitress's day. Fifty cents may not seem like much, but the message that goes along with it can mean the world to someone. It says, "Thanks, you did a good job, I appreciate you, you're valuable." Maybe this message gets lost - your server just sweeps up the tip without counting - but you, the one who "sows generously" will still "reap generously" (2 Cor 9:6 NIV).

What an opportunity. We can increase the happiness of others, and bless ourselves, with just pocket change. This is just one tiny example of the many ways in which the small things we do can have surprisingly big repercussions. Small acts of kindness set the tone for our day. Going the extra mile - whether it's a slightly larger tip, an unexpected compliment or gift, or just holding a door open for someone - costs very little and gets you a lot.

And here's one more thought: we can have mountain-moving faith, understand and explain all the deep doctrines of the Bible and get top marks for personal holiness, yet God's Word says that without love "I am nothing" (See 1 Cor 13:2).

Note: The article is taken from The Word for Today", by Rhema Broadcasting Group in association with The Vine - www.thevine.co.nz.

Balik Pulau

Penang has long been a major tourist destination especially offering its beautiful sandy beaches in Batu Ferringi and also historical attractions in the heart of Georgetown which is the capital of Penang. Penang Island is a paradise for food lovers who come from all over the world to sample the island's unique cuisine, earning Penang the nickname of the food capital of Malaysia. Penang was recognized as having the Best Street Food in Asia by TIME magazine in 2004, citing that nowhere else can such great tasting food be so cheap. Focus for Penang foods normally are within Gurney Drive, Pulau Tikus, New Lane, Swatow Lane, Penang Road and Chulia Street.

Unknown to many new tourist, a small town in the northwestern coast of the Penang Island known as Balik Pulau (simply means 'the other side of the island) has lots of surprises installed for its visitors. Balik Pulau is famous for its durian plantations and it has one of the best durians in Malaysia. Balik Pulau is also known for its ' Assam Laksa', a fish based soup with rice noodles, cut onions, pineapples, cucumbers and vegetables with the sourish "assam". Prawn paste (hae kor) is added as option and cut hot spicy chili to taste. For me, Nan Guang Coffee Shop offers the best laksa in the whole island of Penang. The have 3 selection of laksa soup for their customers. Traditional Assam Laksa, "Siam Laksa' (or also known as 'lemak' laksa) or a mix of both. My personal preference would be "Siam Laksa". Souring a bowl of Laksa goes well with a cup of Nut Meg juice or "Ambra suey boey" juice available in the same coffee shop.

So why not take a drive to Balik Pulau and try something new today. I am sure Alvin Quek and Rachel Fu would agree to this.

Circus in the land!!!

Looks like there is a new circus going on in this land. Much better than The Royal London Circus, I guess. The best part of this circus is that there is a large gathering of "clowns" who makes the nation a laughing stock in the international arena. While the rest of the world is busy coping with global economic tsunami especially in finding ways to reduce inflation and job losses, we are busy showing the world the modern day of ruling a country with Iron fist accompanied with dirty tactics and flip flop decision making. Plus no value given to humanity.......the best thing(or I should call it the worst thing) is that this " clowns" are using whatever government machinery at their disposal to perform their act and to suppress truth . I wonder when will all this nonsense stop and when will this "clowns" starts to focus on the needs of the people who are suffering due to reduction in income and drastic increase of price on essential goods. Somehow we have to blame ourselves sometimes because we are responsible in appointing this "clowns".

I am reminded of a joke shared by friend many years. How true it is today....!!!! Here it goes:

Son: Dad, I have a special report for school. Can I ask you a question?

Dad: Sure son, what's the question?

Son: What is politics?

Dad: Well son, let's take our home for example. I am the wage earner, so let's call me the management. Your mother is the administrator of the money, so let's call her the government. We take care of you and your needs, so let's call you the people. We'll call the maid the working class and your baby brother the future. Understand?

Son: I'm not really sure dad, I'll have to think about it.

That night, the boy is awakened by his baby brother's crying, so he went to see what was wrong. Discovering that the baby had a heavily soiled diaper,the boy went to his parent's room and found his mother fast asleep. He than went to the maid's room, where, peeking through the keyhole, he saw his father in bed with the maid. The boy's knocking went totally unheard. The boy went back to his room and went to sleep.

The next morning...

Son: Dad, I think I understand politics.

Dad: That's great son, explain it to me in your own words.

Son: While the management is screwing the working class, the government is fast asleep (my version would be the government is actively involved in clowning), the people are being completely ignored and the future is full of crap.

When we pray, God works

A friend of mine shared an interesting quote with me yesterday. Here it goes:

When we work, we work
When we pray, God works!

As I reflected on it, it truly speaks lots of truth in it. Psalms 127:1 says "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;". We are totally dependent on God in every aspect of our life. My focus today is in our ministry. Many times, we use our own strength and expertise to get the ministry going. Somehow at a certain junction, we will give up because we have focusing in our strength. Although it is necessary to put in hard work and expertise to toil the land, without a conscious dependence on the Lord of heaven and earth, all of our good efforts will be futile and our ministries will ultimately collapse into ruins.

As the lyrics in Ng Wah Lok’s song, "Every time I pray", espouse: … every time I pray I move the hands of God, my prayer does the things my hands cannot do. When we pray, and we’ll see God’s will done in our lives, in our ministry and in everything we embark on. When we pray, God works!

Be Blessed.

Thumbs up for Slumdog Millionaire

Yesterday evening, myself and Sathy decided to watch the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Now we understand the reason behind the many awards that was given to this movie. Hats Off to the Story Writer, Screenplay, Editor, Director and the whole team involved in making of this film. The music also played much role to make viewers get involved in the situations with much more deeper sense. It is simply awesome especially the storyline about the long and arduous journey of Jamal Malik and his brother Salim, the main characters of the movie, traversed in their relatively short life.

The movie is truly exhilarating and awe-inspiring fable about destiny, perseverance, struggles, true love and how all of them are undeniably intertwined.

There are many lessons that we can learn from this movie. One of it is that all of us are given the free will to choose the path of life that we want to go. In Slumdog Millionaire, Salim, the older brother, decided to choose the path of crime as his destiny but Jamal decided to go through the school of hard knock and work his way out as a Tea Boy a.k.a. "chai-wallah" before winning India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

A true survivor, he draws on his own experiences and lessons learned from the streets to overcome the obstacles that the protectors of the status-quo put in his path. He trusts his instincts, believes in himself and the nobility of his cause. He is comfortable with who he is despite his lowly origins, is confident that he can beat the system, and knows that he is deserving simply because of the higher purpose he is serving.

Slumdog Millionaire is highly acclaimed, named in the top ten lists of various newspapers. On 22 February 2009 the film won eight out of ten Academy Awards it was nominated for, including the Best Picture and Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. It is only the eighth film ever to win eight Academy Awards.[55]

The film also won all four of the Golden Globe Awards it was nominated for, including Best Drama Film; five of the six Critics' Choice Awards for which it was nominated; and seven of the eleven BAFTA Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Film.

Knowing What Season You're In

Be ready in season and out of season. - 2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV

We live our lives in seasons, and seasons have beginnings and endings. So, diversity is the key to longevity. If you don't understand this, you can lose your sense of purpose, because when one season is over you've nothing left to carry with you into the next. That's why successful farmers keep rotating their crops. They plant corn in one field, then when it goes out of season they plow that field and let it rest. At the same time they're busy elsewhere harvesting alfalfa to make hay, after which that field goes through the same process. In spring they change the order of things so the field where corn once grew now produces alfalfa, and so forth.

When Paul told Timothy, "Be ready in season and out of season," he was encouraging him to broaden his spiritual horizons. In Timothy's case he needed to understand there's a time to correct people, and a time to comfort them (See 2 Tim 4:25 NKJV). Timing is so important. The Psalmist compared the blessed man to "a tree... which yields... fruit in season" (Ps 1:3 NIV). To succeed, you must recognise what season you are in!

And you must also understand that God is more concerned with the depth of your roots than the height of your branches; more interested in quality than quantity. With God 'the quality goes in before the name goes on'. That's why He takes your struggles and uses them to cultivate the kind of soil (and soul) necessary to produce good fruit. And one more thing: from time to time He will permit storms to blow away those people and things that hinder what He's working to produce in you.

Note: The article is taken from The Word for Today", by Rhema Broadcasting Group in association with The Vine - www.thevine.co.nz.