SMACC-ACA Christmas

Please do join us for Christmas at SMACC-ACA:

Christmas Eve - the ACA Christmas celebration 7pm at ACA. You can get the details from our ACA blogsite.

Christmas Day - 10:30am SMACC Family Christmas Celebration - family friendly with something for the kids as well as adults. It's in the Multi-Purpose Hall beside the main building at St. Mary's Cathedral.

Boxing Day - SMACC1 and 2 congregations will meet together at 5pm at the Multi-Purpose Hall (ACA will meet as usual in the Ampang centre).

What You Celebrate as a Church Is Just as Important as What You Believe

Another great article from the Gospel Coalition website. We must celebrate the Gospel, not our church expressions. Click here for the article.

God is in the manger

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor who opposed Adolf Hitler and was later martyred. Here he is, writing from prison in 1943 to his fiancee, on how the Christmas message sustained him:

Be brave, my dearest Maria, even if this letter is your only token of my love this Christmas-tide. We shall both experience a few dark hours - why should we disguise that from each other? We shall ponder the incomprehensibility of our lot and be assailed by the question of why, over and above the darkness already enshrouding humanity. We are being subjected to the bitter anguish of a separation whose purpose we fail to understand. And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger.

SMACC Guest Night: The Gift of Christmas

Come join us for a fun evening of food, fellowship and the word of God! Feast on delicious yummy food while you hear about the true meaning of Christmas. There will also be games and ice breakers, a Q&A session plus you get to listen to some wonderful Christmas carols! No worries on the parking as it is free and easily available!

We only have 70 seats so hurry and register as it is on a 1st come, 1st served basis! Only RM20 for SMACCers and RM10 per guest and we would appreciate if payment can be made during SMACC services. If you are a non-SMACCer but want to come and bring friends, please drop us an email at smacc.events@gmail.com or call Carol at 017-3337797. Hope to see you there!

Book review: Dug Down Deep

I sometimes dread telling people that I studied literature at university. Their eyes, formerly blazing with interest (especially if they’re aunties on the lookout for prospective matches for their daughters), now glaze over as they try to process this new piece of information. "So, er, Shakespeare?" is the inevitable response. It doesn’t help that I don’t look like some cool and artsy figure with a goatee – when a friend tells you that you have a "muka A-Maths" you know you’re not the human personification of the iPhone!

I suspect the word ‘theology’ has the same effect. Talk about worship and love and forgiveness and you are (rightly!) bound to get an enthusiastic response. But once ‘theology’ enters the conversation, eyes glaze over. It’s not cool and sexy; on the contrary, theology calls up images of grumpy old men arguing with each other using long and obscure words, before they adjourn for dinner to eat babies or something.

Thankfully, Joshua Harris is cooler than me (known to one entire generation as the guy who wrote the "Christian dating" book), and he’s on a quest to restore theology to its rightful place. That is, theology as necessary to a warm-hearted, compelling vision of who God really is. As he says in his introduction: "We’re either building our life on the reality of what God is truly like and what he’s about, or we’re basing our life on our own imagination and misconceptions. We’re all theologians. The question is whether we will be good theologians or bad theologians, whether what we know about God is true or false." (p.11)

What makes this a unique read is that this is less textbook and more memoir. Reading Josh Harris is like having a conversation with him over a teh tarik. He consistently reflects on stories and events in his own life and the lives of others and then connects them with theological truth. In other words, he doesn’t just tell you about the doctrine of Scripture or how Jesus is fully God and fully man, but he shows you why this matters, and why these doctrines are so dear to him.

Another major strength of the book is the emphasis on what he calls "humble orthodoxy". Josh Harris understands that if he believes the gospel, than "humble orthodoxy" will be its natural outworking. "Orthodoxy" because the gospel has a specific message, filled with specific content. It is to be treasured and guarded (2 Tim. 1:13-14), for this is God’s unchanging truth, and "a distorted gospel rots the soul" (p.220, 2 Tim. 2:17-18). And yet "humble" too, because the gospel reminds us that we are all sinners. We haven’t got it all together. We fall all so easily into pride. We want all so acutely to be right. "The message of Christian orthodoxy isn’t that I’m right and someone else is wrong. It’s that I am wrong and yet God is filled with grace. I am wrong, and yet God has made a way for me to be forgiven and accepted and loved for eternity." (p.231)

I commend this book unreservedly. And I pray that in the Malaysian context, we too will rediscover the big point of this book. We will rediscover that theology and doxology go together. We do theology, not for our own names, but that we might know and love Jesus more and more and be conformed to his image.

Brian K

Note: this book should be placed in the SMACC Library soon.
Preview chapter 1 here.

Two recent Gospel Coalition pieces

The Gospel Coalition has two insightful articles, one on singleness and one on the glory of the gospel in any church situation.

† Singleness with Purpose
† No Greener Pastures with the Gospel

Workplace Ministry Malaysia

Evangelism in the Workplace

It is not easy being a Christian at work. Even tougher doing evangelism in the workplace. Join us at our next event as we pray, think and discuss how we can encourage each other to do so. We'll share a meal together, as well as practical tips, examples, scenarios, testimonies and Q+A. There will be resources to help equip us to be better witnesses for God at work.


Date and Time: Saturday, 27 November 2010 @ 6:30pm

Venue: Skewers Bar and Restaurant, SG-01 Subang Avenue, Persiaran Kemajuan SS16 Subang Jaya. (Google Map)

Cost: RM40 full price and RM30 for non wagers. Drinks at own cost.

REGISTER NOW

On evangelism and relationship

We all know that part of being a Christian is to sharing our faith with others. But we struggle with the tension between simply dumping all that we know unto some unsuspecting person on the one hand, and never getting round to talking about Jesus on the other, hiding behind the curtain marked "Waiting for the right time".

Here's a thoughtful perspective that helps us remember that relational evangelism actually begins with a healthy relationship with Jesus.

Short interview with Piper

A short interview with John Piper in South Africa on suffering, and passion as a Christian

Here I stand, as it unfolded...

Ever wondered what it would have been like to have been there when Martin Luther made his stand? (Or maybe, you're not even sure what Luther's stand is?) Then come and watch the scene unfold...

Guest Service this Sunday

There will be guest services at SMACC1 and SMACC2 this Sunday, where the message of Christianity will be clearly explained. There will be a few people getting baptised (and we get to share in that joy with them!), and there will be food afterwards. Do come along with family and friends! :)

Taking a break from the Lord's Work

We get our identity and value in what we accomplish in our work (the number of people we serve, the number of things we are responsible for, the number of things we get done) and not from who we are in Jesus. This is a huge and significant issue that no amount of vacation is going to solve. Longevity and health in ministry will be a result of who you are in Jesus, more than what you do for Jesus. 1 John 5:21 warns us about idols. Ministry can and has become an idol for a lot of us...

Might that be you? Then read on...

Thinking Theologically Conference 2010 - The Word of God

At this year's TTC, we focus on the important evangelical doctrine of Scripture.

As Christians, all that we do in the end must turn on our understanding of this doctrine. Just what does it means when we commit to upholding the Bible’s authority? Can we explain it in the face of multiple other claims to authority that we ourselves acknowledge? Is Scripture unclear in any way? In what way is Scripture authoritative when authorities conflict with what the Bible says on an issue of controversy? Just how far does Scripture’s authority go?

From November 4-6, 2010, at Port Dickson. Click here to register!

Solomon on social media

If Solomon were alive today and we were to ask him how we are to relate to one another in this digital world, if we were to ask him how we can honor God in our use of all these social media available to us today, here is how he might respond...

Global Gospel, Global Era

Here is a thoughtful paper from David Wells and Os Guinness on Christian discipleship in a globalised age.

An excerpt:

Christians are by definition great communicators, and the global era is by definition the great age of communication, so the potential for outreach in the global world can hardly be overstated. With the destruction of traditions, the collapse of traditional certainties, and the melting down of traditional roles and allegiances, there is greater political liberty, greater social fluidity, greater religious diversity and greater psychological vulnerability than ever before in history. As a result, human beings in the global era have been described as “conversion prone,” and more open than ever to consider new faiths. We therefore face the prospect of spreading the Gospel in a manner that is “freer, faster, and farther” than ever before in the church’s history, a prospect that must be seized with faith and courage.

At the same time, it would be naïve not to see that the increased challenges to mission and evangelism are equally powerful, and must be faced frankly...

The paper is worth a careful read in its entirety.

Making the most of Sunday mornings

...There is absolutely nothing like the local church. The church universal is God’s global display of his life transforming grace. The church local is one of the most profound experiences of that grace this side of eternity.

Hebrews 10 informs us of the value of the local church–it is the training ground for the age to come. In the local church, God’s people are to “stir one another up to love and good works . . . all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (vv24-25).

If the local church is the believer’s training ground in which to prepare for the Lord’s return, we ought to think very carefully about how we "do life" together in the church.

How might we do that? 4 suggestions:
1. Come to church
2. Sing, and sing loudly!
3. Talk to people
4. Let your fellowship extend beyong your corporate gatherings

For an expansion of these 4 points, you can read the whole thing here.

Stephen Hawking, God and science

Here's an article by Alister McGrath on Stephen Hawking, God and the role of science.

Following Jesus

© Josh Harris 2010. Posted with permission.

Light in the workplace - notes on the launch event

On the 21st of August, we organised a Christians in the workplace event. "Be a light in the Workplace" was held as a dinner social to get Christians together, and to think through the impact a Christian can have in the workplace. We held it at a neutral venue, MeatWorks, in order to create a relaxed ambience and a conducive environment to look into the Bible to see what God has to say about work. 40 of us from various churches enjoyed a nice 3 course meal and heard a short talk and testimony before grilling a panel with questions over desert and coffee. We hope this launch event will act as a springboard to spawn a network of Christians from different churches, excited about seeing their workplaces as a platform for ministry.

The theme of the evening was based on Matthew 5:14 – 16, where Jesus calls us all to be a light that others may see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven. It also serves as our mission statement: Bringing Christ to Work; Pointing Workers to Christ.

Many Bible-believing Christians have 2 common misunderstandings about the workplace. God appears absent and/or disinterested in our Monday mornings; he is there only in church on Sunday. This often translates to a compartmentalised view of life, where God's Lordship is not expressed in every sphere of our life. Our aim, therefore is to be “Bringing Christ to Work”. Secondly, many Christians fail to see the workplace as a place of witness. Yet the workplace is where we spend most of our waking hours. Our colleagues are amongst those we interact with most regularly. It is where a non-Christian will see the way we deal with deadlines, work pressures, difficult colleagues/bosses, tough commitments, even office gossip. Our aim, therefore, is to to be “Pointing Workers to Christ”.

As Christians, we are light (Matthew 5:14). If we are clear that God is working out his purposes even in the workplace, then we would surely want to be working in line with his will, doing good. We would want to point our work colleagues to our Father in heaven with our words and deeds, that they might praise Him rather than ourselves.

There was generally positive and constructive feedback from the evening. We hope future events would be even more helpful to those coming. Even more, our hope is that all of us will be challenged to be a light in the workplace, pointing our work colleagues to Christ.

The next event will explore this theme of evangelism in the workplace in more detail. It will be happening on the 27th of November, 7pm in Skewers Restaurant, Subang. For more information, contact Gary Lee at Gary.Y.Lee at shell dot com

Gary Lee

Koran burning and the Gospel

Here are a couple of articles to help you think through a Christian response to the threat by Terry Jones to burn Korans. Hope you find them helpful.

http://www.sie.org.au/briefings/the_limits_of_freedom/


http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/09/07/burn-couches-not-the-quran/

Klang Valley Bible Conference 2010

The Klang Valley Bible Conference (KVBC) is back for its 2010 edition! This year, we welcome back Dr. Don Carson, research professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and an active Bible teacher worldwide. He will be preaching on selected parables of Jesus.

Date: September 13th - 15th, 2010
Time: 8.15pm - 10.00pm
Venue:Clubhouse of the Tropicana Golf and Country Resort
Fee : Free!

See you there!

Word Works - Isaiah

Word Works is 2 days designed to help Christians to learn to read the Bible better. We encourage you to make the effort to be equipped for reading the Bible faithfully, in order to minister to the saints and to the growth of God’s people (Eph 4:11-12).

Isaiah is sometimes called the “Fifth Gospel”. In this work of immense power and breathtaking scope, the God of Israel announces himself as the God of all the world, and reveals his great plans for Israel and the nations. The book of Isaiah deals with themes that are foundational to the gospel by which we are saved: sin, judgment, grace, faith, atonement, salvation, justification and hope. Isaiah contains the clearest indications in the Old Testament of the universal scope of God’s plans for the world. It focusses on a figure called the “servant”, whose sacrificial death will bring justification for many, and will lead to Spirit-empowered evangelists proclaiming the good news to the world.

Here's your chance to get a handle of what can be an intimidating book, as well as an opportunity to grasp more deeply the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lionel Windsor, who is currently working on his PhD at Durham University, will be speaking.

Register here,spaces are limited!

The power of example

Timothy and Epaphroditus. 2 names, 2 different kind of people. But both commended as examples by Paul to us, encouraging us to live for Christ, and to serve one another. (Phil. 2:19-30)

Peter Sholl, via the Mexican president Avila Camacho, reminds us that the Apostle Paul himself too is commended to us. In him, we see the value of personal example.

One more contemporary example are the Littles. Libby Little reflects on suffering for the sake of the kingdom, an article made more poignant by the fact that her husband, Tom was murdered shortly afterwards, along with 9 others, in Afghanistan.

May we, like them, keep on striving for Christ and his kingdom.

Be a light in the workplace

How to be a light in the workplace? Come along to think through how we might be "Bringing Christ to Work, and Bring Workers To Christ" as we look at the bible, listen to testimonies, grill a question panel and enjoy a delicious 3-course meal on Sat 21st Aug 7pm. Not to be missed!

Training the next generation to hope in God

From a Bob Kauflin talk on Psalm 78

The Nowism of the Gospel

...Jason's problem was that he was lost in the middle of his own faith. It had become harder and harder for him to connect the beauty of what he believed to the gritty and often difficulty realities of his daily life. Jason's problem was that he carried a gospel around with him that had a great big hole in the middle of it.

Jason could explain to you what it meant to say that he had been "saved by grace," and he knew that he was going to spend eternity with his Savior. His problem was in the here and now. Day after day, in situation after situation and relationship after relationship, Jason didn't carry with him a vibrant and practical sense of the nowism of the grace of Jesus Christ. Yes, Jason believed in life after death, but he desperately needed to understand life before death; the kind of radical life you will live when you understand what Christ has given you for the life he has called you to right here, right now....

Read the whole thing.

Checklist for the day

See how many of these things you have already completed (or can still do later today)...

1.  Have you read your Bible and prayed?
2. Have you given God thanks for something?
3.  Have you encouraged someone?
4.  Have you considered your sin? (and have you repented of it?)
5.  Have you told the gospel to anyone?
6.  Have you given God praise for his character?
7.  Can you think of a way to serve someone you love?
8.  Can you write someone a (brief) note/email that might help them through a struggle?
9.  Can you protect your eyes and heart from lusting on your way home?
10.  Can you remind yourself of the gospel?  (it is never a bad time to recount this glorious truth!)

Please don't make this a list for the super-spiritual (if you did a lot of these things) or the spiritually poor (if you didn't do any of these things).  Why not simply pick one or two new ones and incorporate them into your day tomorrow?

Deepak Raju, 9Marks

7 suggestions to encourage good preaching

1. Pray for the preachers. Pray specifically that they will work hard at the Bible passages (1 Tim. 5:17) and preach them faithfully, passionately and in a way that engages with us.

2. From time to time, tell the preachers you are praying for them and looking forward with expectancy to the sermon. That will be a great encouragement and incentive to them to prepare well.

3. Be there. You may be surprised what an encouragement it is just to have you there, and what a discouragement to have you absent.

4. Thank them afterwards for things you learned. Don't flatter or just give them very vague comments about how good it was (if it was). Try to be specific and focus on the biblical content of the sermon, rather than just stories, anecdotes or illustrations. Tell them if there was something in particular you found helpful.

5. Be prepared to be constructively and supportively critical. Ask the preachers to help you see where they got a particular point in this passage; this will sharpen them up if, in fact, it didn't come from the passage, or indeed the Bible. It will encourage them to stick more to the Bible more next time. Be humble and respectful in the way you do this; remember, it is much harder to preach than to criticise preaching.

6. Relate to your preachers as one human being to other human beings. Remember that the best sermon by a remote preaching hero, heard on an MP3 recording, is no substitute for the word of God preached by a human being face to face with other human beings in the context of trust and love.

7. Be on the lookout for gifts of preaching and teaching in the church, and be ready to tap someone on the shoulder and suggest they develop these gifts and get further training. Mention these ideas to the pastoral leadership team in your church.

From Listen Up!, Christopher Ash, Director of Cornhill Training Course, London

Creation to Consummation 2010

Creation to Consummation 2010 from Steven Lee on Vimeo.

Creation to Consummation 2010
The Temple and God-Pleasing Worship
4 talks examining the Bible's overarching story, especially on the topic of worship
with Dr. David Peterson, former principal of Oak Hill Theological College
Luther Centre, Petaling Jaya
23-26 June 2010

Click here for more info and to sign up!

7 suggestions on reading the Bible

Seven suggestions for how we should read the Bible:

1) Reverently. Remembering the Bible is the word of God, the revelation of the Creator and Redeemer, means above all reading the Bible reverently.

2) Prayerfully. We have the Spirit to guide us into truth.

3) Collectively. Reading the Bible solely or merely as an individual plays into the notions of modernism. Reading the Bible collectively is a good antidote to such privatized, individual reading....Reading the Bible collectively also puts us in the historical and global community, which means that the Bible is not our individual possession.

4) Humbly. It's helpful to read the Bible humbly, to be careful not to equate our interpretations of the text with the text itself. The Bible is innerant, in other words, but our interpretations are not.

5) Carefully. We also need to read the Bible carefully, which is to say there is a place for hermeneutics and rules of interpretation....Reading the Bible carefully also entails reading the Bible canonically. In previous ages of the church, this was referred to as the "analogy of faith," which amounted to reading particular texts of the Bible in light of the whole Bible.

6) Christologically. The Bible is ultimately the story of Christ. All of it points to or away from him, like spokes from the hub of the wheel. All of the Bible eventually finds its end, its design, its purpose in Christ....It's not too much of a stretch to say that we understand a text fully when we connect it to Christ and his mission.

7) Obediently. Reading and interpreting are first-order activities that lead to the second-order activity of obedience and practice (James 2:22-26). Reading and interpreting the Bible is actually the easy part, compared to taking the Bible seriously enough to act upon it.

From Stephen Nichols and Eric Brandt in Ancient Word, Changing Worlds: The Doctrine of Scripture in a Modern Age

SMACAGOW 2010 talks online

Book review: The Reason for God

Those, like me, who find it hard to shy away from “heated discussions” will more than likely be keenly aware of the difference between winning the argument and pointing people to Jesus as Lord. Many times I’ve walked away from a conversation knowing very well that I’ve spent too much time arguing over questions about Christianity, and too little actually explaining the gospel, or for that matter even preparing the ground for the gospel to be proclaimed. It’s a problem, I feel, that is shared by many popular Christian apologetics books. There are some excellent books explaining the gospel, but my non-Christian friends often have so many questions to sort out before they would even begin to read those. On the other hand, the books that do start to answer these questions can be too limiting. They often present themselves as the the be all and end all in the argument over issue X, and are content to leave it at that. It's like my fiery conversations all over again, never pointing people to the next step.

The Reason for God however, is different. It deals with many of the same issues - “How can you say there’s only one way to God?”, “Can the Bible be trusted?”, “Hasn’t Science disproved Christianity?” - and yet there is a difference in the way Tim Keller treats these issues. As you read each chapter, you begin to realise that his focus isn’t on answering the question and winning the argument as such, but to convince the reader that the reasons for rejecting Christ are not as watertight as first thought. From that point, he then argues that faith in Christ is itself an intellectually honest and compelling way of looking at the world. What stops Tim Keller’s book from falling into the same trap as others is his honesty on the limitations of his method. Even when arguing for Christian faith, he is upfront in admitting that his arguments are “rationally avoidable”, ie. there is a way of explaining your way out of any of the arguments without resorting to stubbornness! As a result, his arguments focus as a means to encourage the reader to stop putting up barriers and to engage with the gospel of Jesus Christ, rather than to land the knock out blow in the argument itself.

For the Christian reader, there is much encouragement to be found in reading this book as an intellectual and compelling defence of the faith that we all share. More than that, it provides a useful corrective and exemplifies how to point to the gospel through our discussions for those, like me, who can get lost in the fog of arguments. For the non-Christian, although this may not be the book that helps them make the final connection that Jesus is Lord and King, it may help them reach a position that they would be prepared to begin investigating more closely the claims of Jesus Christ that they may never have thought reasonable before. A recommended read.

Mark Wilson, formerly of SMACC

Notice

As we are all away on our annual church camp, SMACAGOW this weekend, pleased be informed that SMACC1 and SMACC2 will not be happening in St. Mary's at 10.30 or 5pm. You're always welcome to join us at King's Hotel in Malacca, simply arrive by 10am!

False gods and our Saviour

We have a great big God. But we do not always live as if this is true. We replace him with something else in our affections. Those are some of the reminders and challenges we were thrown this past Sunday. As we further reflect on Acts 17:16-34, here are some helpful thoughts from Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods.

Keller defines an idol in this way:
"It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give...A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living."

From the Notes section in his book, he lays out a list of potential idols to which we might fall prey:

• Theological idols: Doctrinal errors that produce such distorted views of God that we end up worshipping a false god.
  
• Sexual idols: Addictions such as pornography and fetishisms that promise but don’t deliver a sense of intimacy and acceptance; ideals of physical beauty in yourself and/or a partner; romantic idealism.
  
• Magic/ritual idols: Witchcraft and the occult.
  
• Political/economic idols: Ideologies of the left, right, and libertarian that absolutize some aspect of political order and make it the solution, eg, deifying or demonizing free markets. [or in our context, elevating a particular political party to the position of national savior]
  
• Racial/national idols: Racism, militarism, nationalism, or ethnic pride that turns bitter or oppressive
  
• Relational idols: codependency, “fatal attractions,” living your life through your children.
  
• Religious idols: Moralism and legalism, idolatry of success and gifts, religion as a pretext for abuse of power.
  
• Philosophical idols: Systems of thought that make some created thing the problem with life (instead of sin) and some human product or enterprise the solution to our problems (instead of God’s grace).
  
• Cultural idols: Radical individualism (typical in the West, making an idol out of individual happiness at the expense of community); shame cultures that make an idol out of family and clan at the expense of individual rights.
  
• Deep idols: Motivational drives and temperaments made into absolutes
  - Power idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if I have power and influence over others"
  - Approval idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if I am loved and respected by _________"
  - Comfort idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if I have this kind of pleasure experience or a particular quality of life"
  - Control idolatry: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of ___________"

Finally, Keller calls us back to the gospel of grace as the only remedy for our idolatry:

If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors. We stop trying to redeem ourselves through our pursuits and relationships, because we are already redeemed. We stop trying to make others into saviors, because we have a Savior.

...If you only try to uproot [idols], they grow back; but they can be supplanted. By what? By God himself, of course. But by God we do not mean a general belief in His existence. Most people have that, yet their souls are riddled with idols. What we need is a living encounter with God.

...Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol... We want to love Christ so much more that we are not enslaved by our attachments.

What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Love in Hard Places - free PDF

This book by D.A Carson explores the aspects of Christian love that we find hard - loving our enemies, forgiving those who've hurt us, etc. It shows some of the important ways in which the love of Christians is a reflection of the love of God, and enables believers to develop an appropriate understanding of how to love in the hard places of life. It's now available for free as a PDF.

Not always an easy read, but I'm sure there will be much reward from your labours! =)

On my way to heaven

Mark Ashton was for many years vicar of St. Andrew's the Great in Cambridge. He discovered he had cancer in 2008. In this article, he writes movingly of the prospect of facing death as a Christian.

An excerpt:

While physical things spoil and go dim, spiritual things grow brighter and clearer. I see my sin very clearly. I see how much it still controls my life. I think how little time I have got left to make further progress against my pride, my irritability, my grumpiness, my selfishness. I need to keep short accounts now, because I may never have time to make amends or apology in this life. The Bible speaks to me about this with ever greater authority and relevance. Each day as I open it, God speaks straight into my heart by his Word. And it tells me of what lies beyond this life. I can see the end of life. It looms over the horizon, and I am encouraged to think it will not now be long before I am there. As the distance between me and the finishing line decreases, I am encouraged to believe more strongly that I will make it. I know it is God’s work and not mine that will get me there, but it is still reassuring to know that the time is short and the opportunity to fall into gross sin is diminishing. I have less and less chance to betray our calling in some way, and I am comforted by that thought. I have always been aware of the huge depth of depravity of my own heart and the threat that poses to me every day. Now there are many fewer days left to face that threat than I thought.

Read the whole thing.

Mark Ashton went to be with the Lord this past Resurrection Saturday.

The Prodigal: An Animation

The Prodigal: An Animation

Song from Sons & Daughters, Sovereign Grace Music

You held out Your arms, I walked away
Insolent, I spurned Your face
Squandering the gifts You gave to me
Holding close forbidden things
Destitute, a rebel still, a fool in all my pride
The world I once enjoyed is death to me
No joy, no hope, no life

Where now are the friends that I had bought
Gone with every penny lost
What hope could there be for such as I
Sold out to a world of lies
Oh to see Your face again, it seems so distant now
Could it be that You would take me back
A servant in Your house

You held out Your arms, I see them still
You never left, You never will
Running to embrace me, now I know
Your cords of love will always hold
Mercy’s robe, a ring of grace
Such favor undeserved
You sing over me and celebrate
The rebel now Your child


(HT: Sovereign Grace Music)

SMACAGOW 2010

SMACAGOW 2010
not long to go!

28th-30th May
Theme: Forgiveness
Speaker: Paul Harrington
King's Hotel, Malacca

Remember, the dateline for signing up is this coming Sunday, 16th May.
For more info, you can always email smacc.info at gmail dot com

Do come, it'll be great fun!

Tracking Paul's missionary journeys

It can be hard work keeping track of Paul's travels in the book of Acts. So thank God for modern technology. =)

If you have Google Earth or a Google Earth plugin installed on your computer, you can actually trace Paul's first missionary journey on it. There are also short descriptions of each place along with the corresponding Bible verse. You can download the file and/or preview it here!

Alternatively, here are interactive maps of Paul's first, second and third missionary journeys respectively.

Book review: Cross-Examined

During my days as an A-Level student, I grappled often with my faith. What was being a Christian all about, really? This was further exacerbated by a belligerent friend, a self-described “skeptical Christian” (although I think he was more skeptical than Christian!) who kept hounding me with the question: “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?” So one Saturday, with nothing better to do, I ended up in a tiny, nondescript Christian bookshop. As I browsed aimlessly, one title caught my eye. The blurb won me over, promising a better understanding of the cross, and I parted with some cash.

Looking back, this was probably all in God's providence. Because years later, I still have that book on my bookshelf, and I still think it's the best introductory book on the cross available today. More importantly, it strengthened my faith. That book is, of course, the book presently under review: Cross-Examined.

Mark Meynell is currently the Senior Associate Minister at All Souls Church, London, having previously served in Uganda. In this book, he explores afresh the meaning and significance of the death of Jesus. For at the cross “we find both God's answer to a suffering world and our own answerability to God”.

This book is divided into four parts. The first part communicates the shock of God on the cross in vivid terms. Meynell then moves on to explaining the reality of sin: its pervasiveness, mastery and consequences under the headings “United Nations”, “Fatal Addiction” and “Divine Justice”. Part 3 reveals God's gracious salvation plan to send Jesus. Meynell draws our attention to the wealth of biblical imagery concerning salvation. Salvation is like a diamond, multi-faceted in nature. When we encounter words such as justification, redemption, reconciliation, cleansing and triumph, we understand a little more what Paul means when he refers to “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you” (Col. 1:27)! Finally, he brings it all home, relating the cross and resurrection to our experience as Christians. Are we ready to live cross-shaped lives as we follow Christ? Will we recognise Him as the One to whom one day every knee shall bow?

What makes this book especially valuable is how readable and accessible it is. Meynell is a gifted writer, and frequently weaves in striking illustrations, thought-provoking quotes and useful analogies in making his points. It's simply a pleasure to read, something that cannot always be said of Christian books! The structure of the book is another strength. Meynell takes us through the big story of the Bible in a way that is clearly linked, and his emphasis on getting us to read specific Bible passages is helpful. The summaries at the end of each chapter are a great way to review and reflect on what's just been said. The centrality of penal substitution is strongly affirmed, but in a way that doesn't completely overwhelm other metaphors of salvation employed in the Bible.

I was sad to hear recently that this book is now out of print [update 25/5/10: it's back in print!], which indicates to me that the book isn't as well-known or highly rated as it deserves to be. If you ever do stumble across a copy, I recommend you snap it up. It helped open my eyes to the grandeur of God's amazing grace, and I trust it will do the same for you.

Note: This book is in the SMACC Library

Brian K

John Piper in Chinese!

Here is a resource you might find helpful -

Desiring God, the ministry of John Piper, is now available in Chinese.

Prayer - God and us

Restraining pray’r, we cease to fight;
Pray’r makes the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees

So writes the hymn-writer of yesteryear, William Cowper. All of us, though we know in our heads the value of prayer, often struggle with it. We find ourselves too busy, too tired, perhaps even feeling too guilty. So let's take a moment to consider the very act of prayer.

Prayer, very basically, is talking to God. That's a simple enough definition. Yet sometimes we miss out just how shocking that is. Prayer is talking...to God! The God who made the universe, who has taken the initiative to reveal himself to us, and who has blessed his people with salvation and grace. This is who we are addressing when we pray. But we can pray as the Lord Jesus taught us: “Our Father in heaven...”

Prayer is an expression of dependence. In a world where the strong are applauded and the compulsion to save face very real indeed, to get on our knees is to be counter-cultural. It is hard to admit we are weak, though that is what we are. And so prayer actually exposes our hearts. To wrestle with prayer is to wrestle with truth claims. Do we choose to believe that we are independent, in control of our destinies? Or can we face the truth that we are weak in every way: spiritually, mentally, even physically? When we pray, we acknowledge we're not in control. We are, in one sense, giving expression to the gospel. We are helpless, we need God. So we pray.

And God delights in the prayer of his children! He isn't recording the hours we spend in prayer on a spreadsheet, ready to point the accusing finger at us. He wants us, instead, to exercise the privilege we have in Christ. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13). He is ready to welcome the desperate and act justly (Luke 18:1-8). He is more than willing to comfort the repentant sinner (Luke 18:9-14).

Moreover, our grasp of the gospel affects the orientation of our prayers. If God is the loving creator and ruler of the universe, if we have rebelled against him, if corruption affects every part of reality, if God in his grace sent the Lord Jesus to take the punishment we deserve, and ultimately to reconcile all of creation as its king (Col. 1:19-20), then the shape of our prayers will reflect these truths. It's no longer about us. It's about God and for his glory. We might pray, then, as Paul does for the Colossians, "asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:9-10)

Prayer isn't just an individual activity, it's corporate too! Paul appeals to his fellow Christians to strive together with him in prayer, “by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit” (Rom. 15:30). We are bound together by the Spirit (Eph 4:3), who unites us to Christ, through whom we have access to the Father. So let's strive together, encouraging each other in the hard but joyful work of praying.

Brian K

Be Thinking.org

As you can see, there are a host of useful links in our sidebar. I thought I'll draw your attention to one in particular today.

Do you find yourself feeling a little lost whenever your friends bring up objections to the Christian faith? Or do you struggle with doubts of your own? Or are you a non-Christian starting to explore the claims of Christianity? Be Thinking.org is there to help you think through some of the tough questions on faith and reality. It aims to better prepare Christians to communicate the good news about Jesus, and how being a Christian should work itself out in our lives.

Do check it out!

Gospel intentionality and mission

"Being gospel-centered means we’re word-centered (because the gospel is a message; it is good news), and it means being mission-centered (because the gospel is a message to be proclaimed; it is good news)...

Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality. It means doing the chores, having meals, watching sports, and so on with an intention to talk about Jesus, to pastor one another with the gospel, and to share that gospel with unbelievers. It's about a whole life lived in mission and community, in which we're always looking to build relationships and always looking to talk about Jesus. "
— Tim Chester

Doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality is to live, within the rhythms of everyday life, in such a way that opens up opportunities to communicate the truths of the gospel. Jonathan Dodson has 8 suggestions what doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality might look like. In light of the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20), how might we, here in Malaysia, live with gospel intentionality? Feel free to throw in suggestions in the comments!

Resurrection: Not just an afterthought

“[After] All that stuff about science and physics, and the complications of physics and things, what it really comes down to is the resurrection of Jesus...It’s so petty, it’s so trivial, it’s so local, it’s so earth-bound, it’s so unworthy of the universe.”

So says noted atheist scientist, Richard Dawkins, in a debate. And though we no doubt deeply disagree with him, we sometimes find it harder to explain why, exactly, it's so important. If all our debt has been paid on the cross, why the resurrection? Here, very very briefly, is a non-exhaustive list why resurrection is key.

Firstly, resurrection tells us that the Davidic King is now ruling. King David prophesied that the Messiah would be enthroned when God raised him from the dead (Psalm 110:1, Acts 2:34-35). Here is a King whose reign is all-encompassing and all-conquering. The empty tomb of Jesus testifies to the fact that He is that King! No wonder the disciples were transformed! God raised him, they saw him, they lived for him.

Secondly, resurrection tells us that new life really is found in Christ. Negatively speaking, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Cor. 15:17). We know that sin leads to death. Jesus, in dying on the cross, has taken our punishment upon himself. But in rising again, he demonstrates that the cross has done its work. Sin is completely dealt with! We know we are truly justified (Rom 4:25), and death is no longer the end. We can rest, wholly assured.

Thirdly, resurrection tells us that we presently have new power. In Colossians 3:1, Paul can say of Christians, “you have been raised with Christ” (past tense). In one sense, we have been resurrected already. The Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:9-11) is the same Spirit who dwells in all believers. Resurrection gives us a glimpse of life in the future. But that future resurrection life begins to bear fruit in us today as we walk God's way.

Fourthly, resurrection tells us that a new creation is coming. Peter praises God for his great mercy in granting Christians “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3). Jesus' resurrection will not be the last. His resurrection, instead, guarantees that it will be the first of the many who trust in him (1 Cor. 15:20-21). And through the resurrection of God's children, all of creation groans in hope too, as it awaits complete renewal (Rom. 8:18-23). Far from abandoning the earth, God will one day reshape it.

Resurrection, unworthy of the universe? On the contrary, the universe is unworthy of such a momentous event. Christ is risen, hallelujah!

Brian K

Secured by Christ on the cross!

Everything that we know and appreciate and praise God for in all Christian experience both in this life and in the life to come springs from this bloody cross.

Do we have the gift of the Spirit? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Do we enjoy the fellowship of saints? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Does he give us comfort in life and death? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Does he watch over us faithfully, providentially, graciously, and covenantally? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Do we have hope of a heaven to come? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Do we anticipate resurrection bodies on the last day? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Is there a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness? Secured by Christ on the cross!

Do we now enjoy new identities, so that we are no longer to see ourselves as nothing but failures, moral pariahs, disappointments to our parents—but deeply loved, blood-bought, human beings, redeemed by Christ, declared just by God himself, owing to the fact that God himself presented his Son Jesus as the propitiation for our sins? All this is secured by Christ on the cross and granted to those who have faith in him.

- D.A Carson, Scandalous

What's so good about Good Friday?

If you've ever wondered just what is so good about Good Friday, come along to St. Mary's Cathedral (opposite Dataran Merdeka) this Friday, 7pm to find out!

Introducing Jesus course is still on till the end of february...

Shal Home

Shal Home is a care home for mentally ill patients. We are very priviledged to be able to visit them every Friday to share God's word with them. We had special celebrations with them both for Christmas & New Year's Day.

The Christmas Celebration

The residents of the home who were able to join us as we started off the day

                             Christmas carol singing!

A dance performance by Dewi, one of the residents in the home

Another very special performance by Benjamin (also a resident of the home), singing 'Sinner man'

Next, handicraf time! Make a paper heart & write the words 'Jesus Loves Me' on it.

                Now onto serious stuff: The gospel talk

The important questions : Who is Jesus & why did He come?

After that, we treated them to snacks; special Christmas cookies baked by Joanne : )

              Ended the celebration with a group photo. 

New Year's Day Celebration

  A great song to start off the day : God is so good! Here they are singing the words "He took my sins"

Singing "Now I am free", what a great way to remember the work that Jesus has done for us on the cross!

Reading the bible together, the passage for the day was Hebrews 10:19-25

The first application of the passage in the form of a game: Charades (things you see when you look up)

Dialogue illustrating our 1st point of the bible reading: Look up to Jesus

Next game illustrating the 2nd point of the bible reading: Balancing a book on your head and walking forward : )

Dialogue 2: Look forward to the eternal life that we have because of Jesus

           Finally, sharing snacks with them : )