I went for this singing thingy in school last week because the school’s disciplinary teacher said she will minus 30 penalty marks for every student that joins. I had near to 50 penalty marks haha so I thought I could just go and sing la. So I went and there were 50+ people altogether, all of us sang and 10 out of 50+ were chosen.

And I wondered what we were chosen for. Then Andy told me that it was a singing competition. And those that were chosen will compete in the next round then 4 out of 10 will be chosen to represent school for the next round. (gasp!) I didn’t know! Haha.

The next day Andy told me that I was one of the chosen 10 for the next competition. So we had to perform on the 28th July, last Saturday. And worse of all I wasn’t even fluent with my lyrics. By the way, it was a...

PERTANDINGAN LAGU PATRIOTIK...!

My song was Sejahtera Malaysia. It’s a nice song and one of the only few Malay songs I know. So that morning we had our competition. All of us were dressed up nicely and with make-up (for the girls). We had our performance and I kind of nervous before my turn. But well I stayed cool and prayed, “God, let me glorify Your name.” – and I went and did my song.

The results came out...

I got THIRD PLACE!!!

Wee Hee!!!

I was happy and thanked God. The first and second place was taken by two Form 6 Malay girls, third me and the fourth a Form 5 Malay guy. The four of us will represent our school in the next level of competition which we are to go against our neighboring school. Our next competition is on the 30th August.

Like I told God that I want to glorify His name whether we win or not, so this post is dedicated to God =) Thank You, Lord Jesus for helping me!

Ok you must be thinking, “What if Zlwin lost? Will he still post on his blog?”

I will! God gave me a voice. The voice is the first instrument of worship that makes music if there are no other musical instruments around. And no matter how bad you think my voice is, I still love it muahaha =) And I thank God that I have a voice, with it I can pray, I can shout, I can proclaim, I can scream, I can edify and I can tear down.

One thing about our voice: voice can only be produced with the presence of tongue.
Our tongue is one powerful weapon, you can either use it to tear down people or build up people. You can choose to gossip about someone or pray for that someone.

Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out from your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ask yourself today: Does your voice glorify God? The things that you speak, does it help people to build them up or help the devil to tear them down?

I will end with this,

When your ear hears of a problem (gossip), do not let your tongue spread the problem, but use your tongue to pray.
Christians should talk less and pray more.

God bless!

It may be long but please read through. You will certainly be blessed. I am not joking. Forget about what’s going on with you or with me and read this post.

There are all kinds of prayer we can pray to God. Praying is talking; praying to God is talking to God. It’s still a mystery why Christians don’t like to pray; in fact they don’t see the need. Oh well, I am not talking about that in my post today. I am going to share with you a testimony, one great testimony. No matter what we pray or how we pray it or what words we use, God still looks beyond the mind and speech and into the heart – and He listens, weighs our prayer and answers according to His will.

People don’t see the need of having something when they already have everything – or so they think! Have you ever tried sharing Jesus with someone but he just seems not to be interested in hearing? I admit it is really hard for someone to see why they need Jesus or salvation when they are living in a luxurious lifestyle. You try your best to share the Gospel with them but each time they brush you off and shoos you away.

Why the need for Jesus when I have everything?

Pastor John shared a pretty long time ago; in February 2007 during the 50 hour Prayer event in church. He shared about how he prays for his non-believing relatives. It is hard for him to get through to his relatives because they don’t see the need for Jesus. These people lives in big houses packed with plasma TVs and filled with so many rooms that you need a map to go around the house. They have a well paid job and sit in a position where everyone looks up to them. They have beautiful family, uncountable cars and so on. With all these things no wonder they do not see the need for something else – Jesus.
Now before you go on reading, I am not discriminating those who are rich in the secular world ya, read on and I will explain.

Ouch!

Pastor John told us that he prays a rather not-so-good prayer for them. Well, in short; a devious prayer fueled by Christian motive and agape love.
He prays something like, “Lord, shake up their lives. Pull the rug off their feet and give them problems. So that at times of desperation and confusion, they may be more receiving towards the Gospel. Amen.”

And boom! It then occurred to me to start praying that too. In fact he has shared this with me last year but I don’t recount praying it.
You see, my dad and elder brother are non-Christians and they are so called free-thinkers. Only my mum and I have come to know Jesus. So it has been my heart’s cry for years for my dad to get saved. And my dad is very hardened when it comes to Christianity. Once he told my mum’s friend who tried to share the Gospel to him, “You are very welcomed to come to my house anytime but there’s only one rule; don’t try to preach to me.”

Here’s the juiciest part! Read on!

So I prayed that prayer... And recently a lot of bad happenings have been going on in my family and especially my dad. He has been going through a lot of problems and it affects the whole family including me. I may be putting on a happy face when you see me in church, but you do not know how much I am crying inside. You do not know what I am going through and please don’t judge, I have enough of problems. If it weren’t for shoulders I could cry on, friends whom I could talk to, friends who pray for me, I think I would have fallen away. But I am not going to!

Problems after problems have been coming my way. And for the past 2 months, it got worse. You have no idea what my family is going through and what is going through in my personal life. Well, just to give you a glimpse, it involves a court case – that’s all I am going to say. Stop judging and start praying for me. So yea, I prayed that prayer for my dad and suddenly everything is coming so fast!

WOO HOO!!! YAY!!!

God is a good God. He answers prayer! After all these bad happenings and problems there, I almost wanted to give up but there it was – a ray of hope! I see signs of dad starting to open his heart to the Gospel!

1. Two Fridays ago, on the 13th, at 11.30 pm I went downstairs to watch the Gospel of John DVD, and I was praying that dad would watch too. I played the DVD and dad saw the starting a bit, then he when and took a newspaper and PRETENDED to read but I know him well enough, he was actually watching the movie. It was a 3 hour movie and he sat through till 2am! Praise the Lord!
Last time when I played any Christian videos he wouldn’t watch and would sometimes ask me to turn it off. God is good!

2. One day during this week dad suddenly asked my mum about Jesus! Wow! Dad asked is it true that Jesus told us to forgive people not 7 times but 7 times 7. Gosh!!! I wondered where he heard that or read that from. It is true, Jesus said that in Matthew 18:22 and Luke 17:4. It doesn’t mean we have to count how many times to forgive, but it means we have to have complete and unlimited forgiveness. Number 7 is the number of Completion and Perfection for God created the world in 6 days and rest on the 7th.

3. Dad claimed that he heard Jesus talking to him! Wow! I don’t know whether it was in a dream dad heard that or what but what I do know is that God does speak to people through dreams and through circumstances. I do not know whether dad was telling the truth or he was just mistaken, but one thing is for sure –
GOD IS STARTING TO ANSWER THE SECOND PART OF MY PRAYER...

Pray together with me for the salvation of my dad and brother. Continue to pray that through this hard time my family is going through, there will be a joy to reap. A joy of seeing my whole family going to church together one day... Continue to pray with me.

It is now your choice whether you want to pray the very same prayer for your family or relatives or friends. But remember; this is a very dangerous prayer, God answers and you better be prepared to go through what He will send.

Standing firm,
Zlwin Chew




Family Potrait taken two years back. I look so different back then haha.

This is a first time ever collaboration picture post by Pinko and Shannon.

Last Saturday after YE, Shannon dragged me into the girls’ toilet *GASP!!! Nope! Before your mind goes wild thinking of what we did there let me tell you that nothing like what you are thinking happened.

No I wasn’t molested don’t worry haha. We did something there! In fact we did a lot of things there! It was fun =D First it was just us then *tada a few others joined us... haha. We had a great time in the toilet. We used Shannon’s camera to capture those amazing and unforgettable moments. The memories in the toilet captured in pictures. How sweet. We wanted to spend more time there but I was tired so we decided to leave lor. They opted me to bring my camera this Saturday so we could take better pictures. Gosh! Haha.

All in all there were about um 7 of us in the toilet. Taking pictures and having a good time. So here are the pictures:

Enjoy =)





















Well =D so what were you thinking of when I you read that? The church's toilet has been renovated and it looks really classy now. We just love the mirror, too bad the boys’ toilet’s mirror is just a plain one. I guess the flowers make the girls look prettier when they look at themselves in the mirror.

As for guys, we look rather good and handsome with or without flowers right?

Haha. Tata! Have a good day!

Please read the post below this post.

Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Christians run about doing this and that. We fill our schedule up with so many things: concerts, events, performances, rallies, parties, camps, outings, and the list go on. Before you point your finger at me and accuse me, I want to get this right; I am not saying all these are bad and no good yea. It is good and I am encouraging that you attend these events. Don’t stop here yet, this is not the ending of this post, read on.

It is really sad to see Christians not doing what they are all called to do. Yes, we are called to pray, to read the Bible, to evangelize, but we lack the understanding of one main call – the call to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)

The Great Commission was the last words of Jesus before he was taken up to heaven. It is found in the ending of the Gospel and was clearly shown in the four Gospels of the Bible. I am going to make this as simple as possible:

The Great Commission has four mandatory commands:
1. Go
2. Make
3. Baptize
4. Teach

Four simple mandates but yet Christians so frequently overlook them. I have more to share with you about the Great Commission; God willingly I will share with you more as I continue to blog and as I continue to learn more about this verse. But for this post, I am going to bring your attention to one main theme in the Great Commission – Discipleship.

Jesus had thousands of crowd following him wherever he went. The crowds came and left but only the disciples whom Jesus chose stayed with him all the time. For three whole years, Jesus spent most of his time with his twelve disciples. He ate with them, he taught them, he walked with them, he slept with them, and he traveled with them and did everything with them. They were a part of Jesus’ life during his three years ministry. Everything that he had known from the Father he taught his disciples (John 15:13-16) and he called them his friends.

Jesus set an example for the Great Commission. Jesus went (go) and chose twelve me. Then he made them his disciples (make). After that he made them as a part of his family (baptize) for the next three years. And Jesus preached to them and taught (teach) them about the kingdom of God.

This next section is a very critical section. You have to really get it. Many do not, but those who do, think about it. Please read carefully:

This is your Christian Goal. This is every Christians’ Goal:
There is only one goal in life. That is to build ourselves up to the maximum that God has intended for us and to reach others to help them achieve the very same goal.

This is the one thing you will do for the rest of your lives. That is what Jesus while he was on earth. All other things are of second importance and extras.
Your paper qualifications, your job, your pay, your financial wealth, your cars, your houses, your positions – all these are extras.

Do what you can to gain the extras but be very careful not to be too obsessed in getting the extras. These extras, for example your position as a general manager in the office, is to allow you to have a bigger influence. As a general manager, you can reach out to people of high positions that you can’t reach out to if you are just a normal office clerk. As an established musician you are able to reach out to other musicians that a ballet dancer can’t reach out to.

Remember to focus your hearts and minds on this one thing – the Great Commission. And always keep in mind that all the others are just extras to help you. Do not get too into the extras that you forget the Great Commission.
You will not be able to bring fame to heaven, you will not be able to bring your Mercedes cars to heaven, and neither will you be able to bring your bungalow nor your guitars or drums. Only two things you will be able to bring to heaven, you and the people that you have successfully reached out to.

Remember:
There is only one goal in life. That is to build ourselves up to the maximum that God has intended for us and to reach others to help them achieve the very same goal.

All the rest are extras and they don’t matter much to God.

Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the Gospel of God’s grace.

Building myself and reaching out to others,
Zlwin Chew

How can I shout?

This is one question frequently asked since the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. A question asked by everyone but only some would have the passion to really find out the answer. There are a lot of answers to this one question. But today I am going to share with you the basic of shouting (evangelism).

Evangelism is basically sharing the Good News. Sharing the Good News means to share the faith you have, to tell people about the hope that you have. And it all starts with one thing – it starts when you pray, “God, give me a passion for the lost.”

When you pray that simple prayer, which is more than enough reason for God to plant in you the seed of compassion for the lost. And once that seed is in you, God will water it as you continue to live in Him and cause the seed to grow into a big big tree. And once that tree is big and mature enough, people will start to come and taste the sweet fruits that your tree has. And that sweet fruit is non other than the hope you possess, the Gospel you read, the God you believe in.

Alexander McClaren said,
“You tell me the depth of a Christian’s compassion, and I will tell you the measure of his usefulness.”

In the book of Acts chapter 4 and 5 we see the account of Peter and the other apostles being put to jail because they were publicly sharing their faith. In Acts 4:7-21, the high priest Annas and Sadducees put Peter and John in jail because they didn’t like what Peter and John were doing. The next day, Peter and John were brought out for questioning and the persecutors ordered them not to preach again. Filled with the Holy Spirit (v8), Peter and John replied,

Acts 4:19“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen.”

After further threats, Peter and John were released because the persecutors had no valid reasons to put them in jail. And in Acts chapter 5:17-42 we see that Peter and the apostles were persecuted once more. This time it wasn’t only Peter and John but it included many other apostles, from this we could see that Peter and John’s fire had burnt and cause many others to follow what they were doing – evangelizing.
The persecutors captured the apostles and put them in jail. Overnight, an angel of the Lord came and rescued them. Upon their release, the angel told them to go into the temple courts and continue to share the Good News! Wow. Talking about getting out of a lion’s den and going into a bigger lion’s den! The apostles would have thought that God was joking. But no, they did as told.
The next day the persecutors couldn’t find them in jail and found out that they were preaching in the temple courts, they got furious and sent for them for questioning.

Acts 5:29
Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men!”

Peter threw them a question in Acts 4:19. But it was clear that the persecutors had not understood Peter’s question. And in Acts 5:29, Peter answered the question he threw at them in chapter 4.
At the end of chapter 5 we witness the daring act of Peter and the apostles right after their release from the persecutors:

Acts 5:42
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

From this beginning, the result was the whole world turned upside down. The book of Acts records of the beginning stages of evangelism. It was because of Peter, John, Paul and the other faithful men and women of God’s compassion for the lost that we now know the Good News. They were the pioneers of evangelism. And all this started when they had the burden for the lost.

Paul had a great compassion and burden for the lost:
Romans 9:2-3
I have great sorrow and ceasing anguish in my heart.
For I wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.

Jesus, the Son of God, had compassion for the people:
Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Paul was one great mover and shaker of the early Christian church. He was once a Jesus-persecutor himself but later he was transformed into one of the greatest evangelist ever.
Jesus, the Son of God sent down from heaven to save the world, also had a great burden for the people. He cried out to the people saying how He wanted to gather all of them together under his arm but the people were unwilling.

We need to have a burden like Jesus, we need to echo the sentiment of Paul, and we need to have the compassion of Peter. These people changed the world with one little but powerful thing - the compassion and the burden for the lost.

So start crying out for that burden now. And with that truthful cry, God will do the impossible in you and through you.

Matthew 9:37-38
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into his harvest field.”

British pastor, C.H. Spurgeon,
“Winners of souls must first be weepers of souls.”

God said, “Let there be light.”
And there was light.

The world was created by God’s own hand, but because of men, the world fell into darkness. And ever since, men have always walked in darkness. But for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in the Son will not die but have everlasting life.

A man walking in the dark knows not where he is heading. A ship sailing in the dark knows not where she is sailing. You living in the dark know not why you are living. Darkness is something that blinds. Our eye can not see through darkness. And that is why God saw the need for redemption.

Jesus tells his disciples that he was and still is the light of the world (John 8:12)
Jesus came so that men could once again see. He came as a light shining through the darkness (John 1:5) but yet the darkness has not understood him. In John 1:5, the darkness that Jesus meant might have been the world. The world is full of sin, and because of sin, the world is in darkness. As each day pass, the world gets darker and darker and little by little darkness is consuming the world.

John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not understood it.

Never will we understand the light,
until we realize that we are nothing but sinners.
Never will one turn to the light,
until he desperately wants the Redeemer.
Will the world understand the light,
will the world hate the darkness.
The world has not yet understood the light,
the world does not know Jesus.

John 12:35-36
You are going to have the light just a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light,
before darkness overtakes you.
The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
Put your trust in the light while you have it,
so that you may become sons of light.

Wake up, you people who belong to the light.
Go and tell people about Christ.





















These pictures were taken by me - up in the clouds, thousands of feet above ground, in an airplane.
As I capturing with the camera the beautiful view out of my window I was reminded of how magnificently God created the earth and everything in it – including you.
God bless...

YOUTH ENERGY’S SUMMER BASH 2007.

Ok Su Ling, you can stop bugging me now haha.

Guys, here are the pictures some of you might have been waiting for for so long. I was caught up with a lot of other stuffs so it took me quite some time to post the pictures.
If I am not mistaken, Janielle has already posted pictures of it, but nevermind, I am going to post it for my faithful blog reader, Susu.

And I would like to publicly thank SARAH PANG for doing a great job organizing this event together with her team. Those that I would like to acknowledge are:

Sarah Pang (organizer)
Jason Pang (Romeo, love the dance yo. And the decos too)
Shannon Keng (stop bossing around ;p )
Tan Aisha (very supportive)
Shirlynn Chung (thanks for the ball haha)
Evelyn Chung (oh you lil cutie!)
Ong Yoke Pei (thanks for helping me with the Wall of Fame)
Andy Darrel Gomes (thanks for the leaves dude!)
Arthur Keng (love to serve)
Janielle Beh (the batiks rock, girl!)
Leong Su Ling (poser...) haha
Pastor John (thanks for the prayers you have invested in us)

And to those I missed out (which I don’t think I did) please forgive me because I am a very very forgetful person. But hey, God remembers! =)

A big thank you to all the Summer Bash committee members. Let’s work together again as we go on with L.I.F.E.

God bless!

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

YOUTH ENERGY’S SUMMER BASH 2007.

P/S See the YE Wall of Fame and check whether your face is there, if not, tell me and I will update it. The Wall of Fame consists of pictures of YE-ians, both old and new. We are one family in Christ. Therefore I find it appropriate for us to have a family portrait hehe.