Is the Bible Real?

IS THE BIBLE REALLY THE WORD OF GOD???

Many doubt the validity of the Bible as God’s Spoken Words. Up till today there is still debates after debates on Biblical arguments and as we all know, not everyone believes that the Bible is the Real Stuff. There are many things we could alkf about which might shake your faith but one thing I tell you – the Bible has always been and will always be THE REAL STUFF...

Why?

Many reasons I can give you. But today I will share on one powerful reason that will surprise you.

If you want to know whether the Bible is really God’s Word, look at the Jews.

In Genesis chapter 12 God said to a man named Abram (later Abraham):

Genesis 12:2-6
The Lord said to Abram,
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and I will make you a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

These are the words of God that will change the whole world thousands of years later. The call of Abraham has a sevenfold structure if you notice: (1) “I will make you into a great nation.” (2) “I will bless you.” (3) “I will make your name great” (4) “you will be a blessing” (5) “I will bless those who bless you.” (6) “whoever curses you I will curse.” (7) “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

And the number Seven is a Biblical number of perfection. Therefore, the call of Abraham was a perfect call in which God will use to bring the Good News to all people on earth.

This is the REAL STUFF:

If you notice, all of the promises of God to Abraham have been fulfilled. Hundreds of years after God made these promises to Abraham; the great nation had indeed appeared and numbering in millions! They were led into the promise land by their Jewish leader Moses.

God warned them that if they disobeyed God, He will cause them to be scattered and be spread throughout all the earth when their enemies attacked them. They did not heed God’s warning and disobeyed God many times. But by God’s grace and compassion, God promised that He will bring all of them back into their land again.

In the Bible, the Israelites were attacked by a lot of enemies but each and everyone of their enemies were wiped off!

In 606 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar took the Jewish captive to Babylon and returned in 588 B.C., and after a long siege he burned the city and temples. But in the end as God promised, they were brought back to their homeland again. But in 70 A.D., Titus the Roman conqueror attacked their city and removed them once more from their homeland. He destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the people.

Then for almost 1900 years the Jews wandered around the earth as strangers who were persecuted from every side! During the World War II Holocaust, more than 6 million Jews were put to death in Nazi concentration camps!

Then against all odds, on May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was reborn and every Jews started to return from all over the world! And since then, they have survived numerous wars such as the 1956 war with Arab, 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Holy Day War (Yom-Kippur War), 1982 Palestinian guerillas war and many more. Yet they grew in numbers!

God also promised that all peoples on earth will be blessed through Abraham. This promise came through as well! All descendants of Abraham are Jewish people and Jewish people have been a blessing throughout the earth.

A short list of Jewish people who had contributed greatly to the world:

1. Albert Einstein, Physics
2. Levi Strauss, Jeans, 1873
3. Maurice Levy , Lipstick, 1915
4. Lazlo Biro, Ballpoint Pen, 1938
5. J. Robert Oppenheimer,, Atomic Bomb, 1945
6. Edwin Herbert Land, Instant Photography, 1947
7. Denis Gabor, Holography, 1948
8. Peter Carl Goldmark, Long Playing Record, 1948
9. Robert Adler, Television Remote Control, 1950
10. Edward Teller, Thermonuclear Bomb, 1952
11. Paul M. Zoll, Defibrillator, 1952 and Cardiac Pacemaker, 1952
12. Gregory Pincus, Contraceptives, early 1950s
13. Charles Ginsburg, Videotape, 1950s
14. Gordon Gould, Laser, 1958
15. Stanley N. Cohen, Genetic Engineering, 1973
16. Jason Lanier, Virtual Reality, 1989
17. Niels Bohr, Physics
18. Karl Marx

And the list goes on... Moreover, 22 percent of Nobel Prize winners are Jews!

God promised Abraham that he will make him into a great nation and true indeed. The Jewish population in the world is now more than 14million!!! It is about 20% of the whole world’s population! Wow! Jews fill every corner of the earth today as prophesied in the Bible!

So now do you believe that the Bible is true?

While filming a movie in Israel in 1976, two Christian filmmakers named Josh McDowell and Don Steward met with a very high official of the Israelite government. They asked him how did the Jewish people managed to survive so many wars and tribulations that should have made the Jewish people extinct. His answer was:

“Although most of the people in my country would claim to be atheists, don’t you believe it. I think that all of us know deep down inside that some force greater than us has been protecting this nation.”

And we all know that the “force” is the Almighty God.

The Jews are the Bible's testimony.

-Zlwin Chew.

Bus Company Live

Hey hey! =) Grace Youth Leaders Outreach has organized an event for all of you out there who has um nothing to do? =) no la haha.

Anyway, BUS COMPANY will be coming to perform and share their wondeful testimony on how they honored God with their talents. Come and see, hear and believe.

23rd February, Saturday. Grace Klang's Second Hall.

The Fruitless Tree

Above is a picture I took of a fruitless tree I found near my house. I took a few pictures of it and after a week, that very same tree was cut down.

Not only does this fruitless tree make a nice surrealistic photo but it also bears a dreadful reminder to all of us concerning our Christian life.

In the Bible, John the Baptist warns us that the ax is already at the trees, ready to cut down every tree that does not bear good fruits – what more a tree that does not bear any fruit at all. The fates of trees that are barren are evident – they are all cut down. As Christians we are like trees that are called to bear fruits all the time. Yes, many of us can say we do bear fruits but what does the Bible want? God says we are to bear only good fruits. Those who bear bad fruits are close to useless. Therefore, these trees are good for nothing, an eyesore, and they have to be chopped down so that it makes ground for other trees to grow.

Look at the picture. Notice the filthy crow resting on one of its branches.

Are there any “crows” resting on yours?

Luke 3:9
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Bear fruits or bear the consequence!
-Zlwin Chew

Fear Not!!!

Ahhh!!!!

WORMS!!!

Haha. My dad bought back those dead and fried creepy-crawlies from his Laos trip with my brother. Many of us flee at the sight of these yuckies yet many of us has this burning desire in us to try them out =) I have the latter. I have eaten huge worms before in Sarawak during the church’s mission trip and I can sure tell you it tastes like chicken for real haha. Know why? Chickens eat worms =) so in conclusion... You are what you eat!!! Eat the Bible and you will taste as sweet as honey.

Fear Factor...

Build into every human being is an element of FEAR. Since the day we popped into the world our neurons transmits fear to our brains and we cry don’t we? We face all kinds of fear everyday. Some have the fear of heights (thank God I don’t because I love bungee-jumping), some have the fear of water (gosh! Haha). The fear of the unknown is a common fear. We fear what might happen tomorrow and we fear of the “ghosts” around us. Therefore we find people praying to these “ghosts” on special occasions and ask for favor so that they would not harm us *chuckles =)

And I guess one big fear almost everyone has is the fear of DEATH...

It is hard to admit that you are not afraid of dying right? Even I, I dread to die haha. But I am beginning to realize that I don’t have to. I will tell you why in a moment’s time.

I remembered back in 1999, my father had a major heart attack. I could still recall the very day and what happened because it was so stuck into my memory. In the morning my dad brought me out to buy school shoes in Klang Town. Then we came back in the afternoon and he was very tired so he went to bed to sleep. I was downstairs doing something. Then suddenly *BOOM! I heard a loud bang from upstairs. My mother and I quickly ran up and found dad on the floor. My brother quickly moved my dad on a chair and dad was sweating like crazy. His sweat was cold. We quickly contacted our neighbors and shouted for help. Then we got dad to the hospital and then ambulance sent him to another hospital in Subang (Subang Jaya Medical Centre). It all happened so fast. I remembered crying at night because I fear I would not be able to speak to my dad again. I prayed. Thank God he survived that heart attack.
And since then, my dad has been having health problems even till now. In 2002 he had a minor stoke while jogging and fell. He couldn’t remember anything. But thank God he recovered and was fine. I fear that I would lose my father.

My father fears death. Although he did not tell me that but I know he does fear death. He fears the unknown. He does not know where he will be when he leaves this world. With much sorrow I tell you that I have not yet speak to my father about Jesus. It is really hard for me to do so. Really. I have to pray hard and one day be able to share before it is too late.

But why Jesus?

Because only Jesus can assure you that once you die and leave the world, you will have a much better place prepared in advance just for you. The Bible says that “for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) this is the simplicity of the whole Gospel. No beating around the bushes. This is it – the simple truth. God loves us, gave us Jesus to die for our sins so that we will go to heaven to be with God when we die.

There is no need for family members to burn you clothes, money, houses and cars after you die. There is no need for all that! The Other World exists, yes, it does, but not in the way as many of you think. If you go to hell, you burn and that’s it. If you go to heaven, you live forevermore in eternal bliss. Jesus tells us that He is now preparing a place for us so that He can welcome us into eternal life when we die.

There is no need for you to fear death if you have Jesus.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come. – Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941)

And the dawn is heaven.

Career Talk on Saturday

What is next?

What to do now?

Which course to take?

Is there future in biotech?

Can I get a good pay being a television broadcaster?

What should I study if I want to be involved in the NGOs?

Fret not!

We will bring light to your questions. This Saturday the Grace Youth Leaders Outreach (former Youth Energy) has organized a Career Talk for every one of you out there and good news is it is totally free of charge!

The Young Adults Fellowship (YAF) has got a team of panels together to share with us on five different areas: Information Technology, Music, Engineering, Finance Business, and Communications. With their in-depth knowledge and years of experience in the working world, they will share with you on the job aspects of these courses and a lot more. So don’t miss out on this event.

I have friends who till now do not know what they want to do. They are either stuck with a few choices on what course to take or they are stuck on no choice at all! This is a crucial time of your life as you transit from school life to pre-adulthood. So come and join us this Saturday and be blessed.

Event: Career Talk
Date: 26th January (This Saturday)
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Venue: Second Hall, Grace Klang

This event is brought to you by Grace Youth Leaders Outreach and the Young Adults Fellowship.


This is my soon-to-be Psychology lecturer. Isn’t he just cute and adorable? =) I love him. He looks so cute. Hehe. By the way, I am going to study Psychology in HELP University College starting in April. (See you there, Cyan, Joy Ooi, Ivan, Grace, and many more) and I am also studying Theology in Alpha Omega International College (former TCA). =) I hope and pray I can manage my time well.

Franklin Roosevelt's Quote

Bryan Ong wonders why “feet”?

If you have noticed, my new second header says “You can make a difference in the world if you have both your feet up in the air.” Yea, you ask “Why feet?”

Everyone walks around with their two feet on the ground am I right? You are different if you have your feet in the air. You are unique in that sense that everyone walks on the ground but you have your feet in the air. You are distinctive and one of a kind. That is why I chose feet.

You see, we are talking about taking dominion over different areas of our lives this year and the rest of your life. We as Christians will definitely know of one area which we need to take dominion of – the world. God, since the beginning of time, has created man to rule over the earth. In Psalm chapter 8, David sings of God making humans “ruler over the works of Your (God’s) hands,” and “placing everything under his (man’s) feet.”

As I always say, we live in a world darkening day by day. As each moon ends its shift, the cry of the earth not knowing her Savior gets louder and louder. Everyday we read of news of people committing suicide in the name of god and killing in the name of god. Rape cases and murders are like a norm for us nowadays. Teenagers selling images of their naked bodies on the internet is so rampant. Online sex is not new anymore and people defiling themselves as they like without the feel of guilt. Brothers and sisters in church are bad-mouthing one another when we are suppose to love. Fathers raping their daughters when they are suppose to protect. So-called Christians falling away from their faith and turning towards other gods when they are suppose to worship the True One. Doesn’t this call for the help of us Christians?

Jesus’ greatest mandate was given to us right before he was taken up to heaven to be with God. His mandate can be found in Matthew 28:19-20 and it is known as the Great Commission. Jesus commissioned us to go into the world and make disciples and to baptize them and teach them to do the same with others. That is the main call and mandate by which we must live for. Your life is not yours for the taking.

We are called to be different from the world. We are in the world but not of the world! The world lives by its worldly standard but we of higher call live by God’s standard! Why are we imitating the world when the world is supposed to imitate us? Do you think you will make any difference if you do everything the way the world does?

You talk like the world, how then can you tell them about Jesus?
You sing like the world, how then can about God?
You work like the world, how then can you serve God?
You are materialistic like the world, how then can you seek God’s kingdom?
You see like the world, how then can you see what God wants you to see?
You love the world, how then can you say you love God?

One last one from me but not the final –

YOU BLOG LIKE THE WORLD, HOW THEN CAN THE WORLD SEE GOD IN YOU AND YOUR LIFE?

Talking about taking dominion of the world for God, you can not even take dominion of your own relationship with God.
Quoting from Pastor John, “You can forget about taking dominion of the country and nation if you have not taken dominion over your relationship with God.”

Only RADICALS can make a difference.
I dare you to be RAD!
And if you are a blogger, I dare you to BLOG GOD and I dare you to be READ!

You can make a difference in the world if you have both your feet up in the air.

A radical is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air. – Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1882-1945

Bold. Distinctive. Full of Character.

Bold. Distinctive. Full of Character. Just like the men who drink it.

Whoa! =)

What a nice propaganda by Guinness. What do you think?

You know, as far as I know, alcoholics are the main cause of many problems. Alcoholics destroy families, friendships, relationships and ultimately themselves. Alcoholics beat their wives and cheat on them and give their children a hopeless father. There are women alcoholics as well.

You can find beer-drinkers everywhere especially in the restaurant. Many times at night around 11 something when I go for supper with my dad I will see one or two old men sitting alone with a cigarette in hand, his shirt unbutton, face looking sulky and lifeless, watching television and having a bottle of beer on the table. Familiar? This is what you can see everywhere.

Yea. When you are young you drink like a man. When you drink the ladies admire you at how much of beer you can gulp down your throat in a few seconds. You get rough and rowdy. Then the ladies drink as well and after everyone is drunk, their inhibitions are low. You bring a lady or girl to bed and she willingly follows. In the end, everything ends.

Haha. So Guinness calls those men bold? Distinctive? Full of character?

Keep drinking if you want to be like the old “bold, distinctive and full of character” man sitting alone, drunk, bored and hopeless in the restaurant late at night and having no shelter to go home to after that.

Lonely. Abandoned. Hopeless. Full of Regret. Just like the men who drink it. – Guinness Beer (revised version)

Let us see what the Bible tells us of becoming men who are bold, distinctive and full of character.

David was a young shepherd boy bold enough to kill lion and bear in the course of protecting his sheep. He was so filled with love for God and became a fervent worshipper of God even since he was young – using his harp and voice as instruments of worship and praise. Filled with passion and courage, David challenged the Philistine giant, Goliath, killing him with just a sling and a stone. David, the youngest among all his brothers was a boy which is distinctive. He was different from all his brothers for he has found favor in God’s eyes since he was born. David was distinctive and unique. He was full of character. David was humble in the service of King Saul. He had to flee when King Saul wanted to take his life and when David got the chance to kill the king, David did not. David’s brotherly love for Jonathan is one thing we could all learn from. Loving one another and having accountability with one another.

Now David was a man who was bold, distinctive and full of character. And David did not drink beer. David drank daily from the God. He worshipped God and spent time with God everyday and through this fellowship he had with his Creator, he drank God’s love and compassion.

1 Corinthians 10:3-4
They (the Israelites led by Moses) all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Bold. Distinctive. Full of Character. Just like the person who drinks from Christ.

-Zlwin Chew

GY Camp 2007 Committee Dinner!

Last night the Grace Youth Camp 2007 Committee went for the committee dinner at Carey Island! It was great fun and we all had a great time chatting and laughing. The best was the Dinosaur search haha! =) Tell you guys about it in a while’s time.

We ate seafood and I love the prawns a lot! I remembered that GY Camp 2006’s committee dinner we also ate seafood haha. It has been like a tradition or something. Maybe this year the committee should go TGI Friday =) I haven’t eaten there before because you know there are people out there who do not have a thick wallet =(

We had crabs and everyone was crapping away after eating the crabs. I did not touch the crabs coz I was too lazy too break the shell. We managed to dig some secrets out from Sherrene Teh. We even had a match-making ceremony for Su Ling and Sidney! Haha! *ahem! =) Su Ling was blushing all the way home when we teased her about Sidney.

The best part was the Dinosaur Hunt! There was this big poster hanging on the wall in the restaurant and it was all messy and there was the word “Dinosaurs” written below it. So we knew it was some sort of eye illusion thingy and Justin and I were the first ones to go look at it and try find the dinosaurs. And after awhile the other committees members started to join us in the “hunt” one by one. Haha it was really funny and hilarious! I can imagine the other customers in the restaurant staring at us and wondering what are the monkeys there looking at a blue poster on the wall =) we actually spent about an hour or so or maybe more trying to look for the dinosaurs. Penny and Sherrene Cheong were the first ones to see the dinosaurs and they didn’t even have to spend 1 minute! But the rest of us couldn’t find any dinosaurs even after an hour! Brian and I were among the many that can’t see haha. Jeffrey could even draw out the picture for us! Gosh!

The dinosaur picture is below. Try figuring it out and tell me whether you see any dinosaurs or not. Till now I can’t find a single one! Argh.... Geramnya...

This year’s Grace Youth Camp will come and be prepared. It will come very soon. The new committee team will be put in place and planning will start real soon. We are looking for a venue that can accommodate 300 – 500 campers! Whao! 500 is a good number =) so start saving your cash even from today!

And we also celebrated Sherrene Teh’s 42^nd birthday =) um I mean 24^th birthday. We made her stand up on the chair and give a speech. She is going to get married on 10/10/10 haha. So make sure you are free that day ya!

One of the best thing last evening was the sunset at the um... swamp? When we arrived there, Janielle and I quickly ran to the bridge and started snapping away with our cameras. We were taking shots of the dirty lake and nice sunset and posing in front of the camera. It was great. Just too bad that we did not go earlier because then the sun would be a little higher up in the sky. Oh well... As professional photographers say, “If you have water and sun, any kind picture you take, doesn’t matter you are an amateur or professional, will turn out perfectly well.” I find it true haha.

Pictures: