Go Look For A Clown Then...

“HE IS BORING!!!”

Yikes! How can one actually make such a statement? Well, you can but then... Sigh... It is your opinion anyway.

Well, I don’t know whether I am suppose to post this or not but whatever it is, I have already posted.

On the 20th April, which was two Sundays ago, Pastor John Beh was preaching in Grace Klang Youth Church. He was preaching about the Joshua Generation which can be summed up with, “The Joshua generations are people who obey God.” Apparently, there were a few youths who were dead bored by Pastor John’s preaching and they voiced out their complain to someone (not to be named) and new traveled (gossip ya know...). Then it reached to my ears and I was kind of furious actually, honestly speaking. I didn’t believe someone would actually complain about such a thing.

So here I am voicing out in this blog for all to read.

Right from the day I met Pastor John until today I have come to understand the way Pastor John preaches his sermons. He doesn’t coat the cake with honey and beautiful icing with berries on top and serve it on your lap.
His preaching may be hard to grasp at times but this is the whole idea! If you are really serious in wanting to know what he shares, you will pay your utmost attention and will write down notes. Then go home and read them through hand pray to God for a revelation.

Jesus speaks in parables so that it is easy for the hungry to understand but hard for the crowd with desperate heart to understand. It is either you get it what he shares or you work your way through to find out what he means. Gone are the days when preachers preach sweet sermons mixed with sugar, spice and everything nice. Gone are the days when preachers preach what the crowd wants to hear. This is the day when God’s Word pierces the hearts of all listeners and convicts them with spiritual truths. This is the day when people will start to hear what they don’t like but need to hear.

Pastor John’s messages are full of spiritual truths. How can you eat solid food when you need people to feed you with only MILK?!

How can the church grow if we were to preach the same old message again and again? We need to go deep into the Word of God, not the surface. The longer you stay on the surface the longer you will stay a baby. Be a Christian diver who goes deep into the ocean of the Word of God.

I don’t remember anywhere in the Bible Jesus preaching with jokes. If you want to find a preacher with lots of jokes up his sleeves, Pastor John Beh is the wrong candidate. He preaches with the Holy Spirit.

Go look for a clown.

Hebrews 5:12
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
(The exclamation mark was in the Bible. This shows how frustrated the writer was when he wrote it.)

Hebrews 6:1
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to spiritual; maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that leads to death and of faith in God.

Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

This man rocks!

YAF ANNIVERSARY 2008

The Young Adult Fellowship (YAF) celebrated their 3rd anniversary last Saturday at Uncle Herbert Ong's house. All three YAF (Klang, PJ and USJ) came together to celebrate this memorable event. For the history of YAF, go to Hwai Tah's Blog and read up.

At the celebration we had the honor of having our Senior Pastor, Pastor Henry to come and share his heart with us. Also with us was Pastor John Beh who also shared and encouraged the YAF.

The big box you see in the picture is the Time Capsule. YAF came up with the idea of the Time Capsule. It was basically a box where we put anything we want inside. It will only be opened on the 10th Anniversary which is 7 years from now. We wrote letters and put them inside, some of them brought their underwears haha. Joking =) I wrote two letters, one for myself and one for someone else. The placing of our stuff into the Time Capsule was very sentimental for me hehe. Didn't cry though =)

That's all. Enjoy the pictures. Go to http://www.zlwinchew.blogspot.com/ for the pictures! 137 in all! =)

The difference? I wasn't in this picture haha. I was behind the camera you see =)

Your official photographer! =)
Big thanks to Hwai Tah for lending me his new Nikon D60!!! Awesome camera!


One of the treasured shots that I took that night =) nice eh? It's not in Hawaii, it's in Commander Herbert's house.

Third Eye to Testify

I don’t know how I got the passion for photography but I think it started when I went to Hong Kong with my dad about 2 years back. I don’t really remember. I think may be in 2006 when I played guitar for Inter-School Rally and the worship team had a lunch at Sunway Pyramid after rally. All I remembered was I started to get hooked to my dad’s camera.

Since then I have been so into photography but still I don’t know terms such as ISO, Aperture, Exposure, etc. All I know is that I am quite good in having people pose in front of the camera. Like the Spiderman picture and a lot of the Clique 5ive’s outing pictures. Love’em all, especially Suba, she always come up with good suggestions for shots. I also love taking radical kind of picture. I bring my tripod almost everywhere I go. The recent radical shot was taken during Yun Ling’s farewell. A group of us just sat down in the middle of the busy Sunway Pyramid shopping mall and I set my timer to 10 seconds. People were staring at us wondering what are we doing, protest or something ah? Haha =)

I hope that you are aware that I am actually running a little photography business as a part time job. I don’t charge very expensive but I hope you will consider me. I will tag along in your outing with friends and just snap pictures for you guys. My photography blog is at www.zlwinchew.blogspot.com . Hope you check it out. And check out www.mayzhee.blogspot.com also. She hired me for a photo-shooting session, the picture on her blog header is the picture I took =) the one with her lying on the book.

I believe that we Christian photographers out there should be able to capture God’s glory and show it to the world. Incorporate Bible verses into your pictures and share it with the world. God created everything that is in the world and whatever He made is beautiful. That is why the camera can capture the awesome beauty of God’s creation – from the minute flea to the gigantic tree and huge forest to the vast sky and the beautiful sun. God’s creation and their beauty testify for the existence of the Almighty God. Use your skills in photography and make Him known through your lens, your third eye.

Um, that’s about all for today’s post.

College life is tiring =(

The following pictures have been taken long long time ago in front of my mirror. No Photoshop effects whatsoever in the pictures, it’s pure creativity and lighting and timing.

__________________________________________________
The following two pictures are my favorite. They are considered my best shots and so far I have never come across any picture like that. I will have to remind you that they are not edited in any form, I only added my name there and also reduced the size. The shots were taken in a plane up in the sky.

Youth Church

YOUNG PEOPLE!!!

This is the place for you! Come and join the Youth Church Service and be encouraged by the Words of God. If you are serious about changing this world for Christ, start by coming for the Youth Service and be equipped spiritually.

GRACE YOUTH SUNDAY SERVICE

Venue: Second Hall, Grace Klang

Time: 10.31am

See you there! =)

*Picture taken by Adrian. Edited by Poh Leong.

Radical Jesus... A Continuation.

In my previous post, RADICAL JESUS, I shared with you guys on how Jesus came and was on the side of no man except God. During the time of Jesus, the five political parties were among the most prominent and for a normal person; we would carefully watch our mouth so as not to hurt any group. We will normally be on the fence and siding for every political group so to keep our life safe. But Jesus was radical, he came and he spoke against every political party and their different beliefs. He went against the Zealots, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Herodians. He was for no one except God and God alone. That’s radical!

Today, I am going to share about the following verses,

Matthew 5:38-42
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

One may read in dismay thinking, “Does Jesus want us Christians to be weak and powerless?” I do not blame the person who says this. I once thought that it was rather ridiculous to do what Jesus told us to do. How could I let someone slap me on my right cheek and give him my left cheek to slap as well? Ridiculous! How can I be like a dog and carry my friend’s bag for a mile and I have to add another mile to it? What?! And if someone sues me for something, I have to give him more?! Huh?! This doesn’t make sense!

But if you are of the Kingdom of God, you will understand the simple message of Jesus in this Scripture (Jesus’ message was never meant to be hard to understand, it is either black or white, not grey). Read carefully the next paragraph and grasp it with a discerning spirit.

Of common sense, we would definitely go for appropriate revenge (an eye for an eye), but Jesus calls us to do the perfect opposite: reconciliation. Reconciliation is a new and radical way to approach injustice by a nonviolent resistance and active peacemaking. You may think of it like this:

1.
If a person strikes you on your right cheek, they have given you a backhand slap. During the time of Jesus, the Romans were the ones in power and the Jews were the ones under oppression. It would be normal for a Roman soldier to slap a Jew in those days. If you were to respond by slapping him back, that would reduce you to the same violent level as your oppressor. You would be just like him. If you were to walk away and leave him, this will make you seem weak, powerless and coward. This gives your oppressor the victory. The third choice is to turn your other cheek and let him have that too. Now if your oppressor were to hit you on your left cheek, he will most likely use the palm of his hand. This degrades him even more to the violent level. By doing this, you will have shocked him and shown yourself not weak, powerless or violent but rather strong, courageous and dignified. You have indirectly told him how violent he is. Now you are the victor and the stronger person. You have defeated him in a non-violent way.

2.
The rich people during the time of Jesus always oppressed the poor. A rich landowner would normally take a peasant to court if he has not enough money to pay his debt or tax. If you were take to court by the rich landowner and the landowner sues you for your garment, Jesus tells us to strip give the landowner our underwear as well! Your “generosity” makes you look defenseless and exposed. The other way round, your situation actually exposes the naked greed of your oppressor, making him look like a heartless person filled and clothed with greed. Again, by being radical you have defeated your oppressor the Kingdom way.

3.
If someone like a Roman soldier who forces you to carry his heavy backpack for a mile, you carry it another mile. By your willingness to carry it an extra mile, you have shown yourself to be a generous human being, strong, powerful, self-controlled and dignified. You have told him, “I am not dominated. I have free will.” Although the first mile may be forced, the second mile is done out of your gift from God – free will.

These do not necessary show you the exact rules you must follow if you face this kind of situation. Rather, they are the examples of the active, creative and transforming ways of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was radical in his speech and lifestyle and he calls us to be radicals as well.

We cannot afford to do as the world does; we need to be radical in order to make a change. Do you dare to be rad?

Atheism, Agnosticism and Humanism.

Many individuals nowadays who rejected the Christian claim have embraced other views. Most state that there is no God, contradictory to the Bible’s claim. Others state that even if there is a God, He is unknowable and unreachable. All these claims will not hold up under the simplest investigation.

There are currently 3 major beliefs or alternatives to Christianity. They are Atheism, Agnosticism and Humanism. Let us look and disprove each claims made by these three groups of people.

1. Atheism
Atheists claim that there is no God. The affirmation by the Atheist cannot be held dogmatically (a principle laid down by authority as being incontrovertible). This is because for any Atheist to make that statement with authority, he needs to be able to know the universe entirely and possess all knowledge. How can one who knows nothing about the universe and everything else claim and affirm that there is no God? If there is one person who possesses all knowledge about everything from ants to the universe, then by definition he would be God.

We can’t say that apple falls from the tree due to gravity unless we know what gravity is. You can’t say that there is no one living in the Sahara Desert until you see the whole desert and closely examine every square inch of it.

Therefore, we see that unless Atheists are all-knowing, they cannot make a dogmatic statement that God does not exist! He can only state that he is uncertain whether or not there is a God. And this view is called Agnosticism.

2. Agnosticism
An Agnostic is usually someone who is uncertain about the existence of God. Some Agnostics are aggressive in looking for the truth and for that we give applause. It is rather important that we seek to know the truth than to eat and receive whatever that has been put unto our plate. If you just accept whatever people claim is right, then you are nothing but a puppet. The fact that Agnostics are uncertain about the existence of God makes it logical that they should try examining the Bible. Therefore, Agnosticism is not grounds for rejecting Christianity but rather grounds for examining Christianity.

3. Humanism
Humanists are people who believe that men (and women) can solve all of his own problems. Today, Humanism is quite popular in our culture but the Humanist’s claim fall on two accounts.

First is that no human can set up true and right principles and standards of justice and values in the world without God. If one man says that killing is wrong but another man says that killing is right and both thinks that his view is right; then who will decide between them? Tell me, who?

Who would decide between the Nazis race and Jewish race in World War II? Both the Nazis and Jews had their own set of principalities and values and standards but who was right? Both sides claim to be right and thus who will decide between them?

Everything is all a matter of opinion if there is no existence of God! Because without God, everything can seem right in the eyes of man, and that includes murdering and raping! Think.

All three beliefs fall under simple examination.
The failure to consider each statements made here in this post is the failure to think and reason.

Jeremiah 29:13
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.

RADICAL JESUS: DARE TO BE RAD?

What is your impression of Jesus? Do you imagine seeing him sitting down with little children playing on his lap? Do you see him as a humble and fragile man? Do you see him as a soft man who does not express his anger?

Jesus was a radical person. But to what extend was he radical?

First and foremost, Jesus was Jewish. He wasn’t a Christian. Christianity existed only after Jesus died (and rose again of course). During the time of Jesus, the Jewish people were ruled by the Romans. The Jewish people probably felt that they should not be ruled by the Romans. They would think, “How can the people of God be ruled by those ruthless and ungodly Romans?” There were different kinds of political parties that time as there are now.

Here is a short description of each active political party:

1. Zealots – They were a group of people who were very zealous about their faith in God. They would rise up as one and go against the Roman government and rebel if they wanted to. They would create war and revolution in the name of God, believing that God will give them victory like how God gave little David victory over the giant Goliath.

2. Herodians – They were a group of supporters of Herod the King and were joined by another group called the Sadducees. Currying favor from the Roman government was their main goal. They will tend to be nice towards the government and believes that the only safe way is to cooperate with the Romans and play their game.

3. Essenes – This group of people thought that the Zealots and Herodians were naïve and wrong. Their solution is to retreat to the desert and start a new life over there. They would isolate themselves and start a new community out in the desert away from society in order to please God.

4. Pharisees – This group of people thought that God would send them a Messiah if only there were less or no sinners in the city. They believed that God would liberate them if there were fewer prostitutes, drunkards and Roman collaborators. Their answer to freedom is through religious purity.

Like the common political scene in Malaysia and in the world. Each political party would gather for themselves more power. The Zealots would launch terrorist attacks; the Herodians would dispose the Zealots and suggest that all should work together with the Roman ruler to gain peace. The Pharisees will go out into the streets and rid the streets off prostitutes and drunkards. The Essenes would quietly retreat to the outskirts and build a community there.

Now let’s see how radical Jesus was.

1. Jesus spoke in front of large crowds and he spoke boldly and passionately about God, or you can even say that he was very zealous about God. Then you think, “Hmm. Maybe he is a Zealot since he seems so zealous.”

2. Jesus did not promote violence but promoted peace and forgiveness. Then you think, “Hmm. He can’t be a Zealot. Zealots are full of violence and would never talk about peace. Maybe he is an Essene.”

3. Jesus shared the Good News to everyone he encountered during his years of ministry. Then you think, “Hmm. He can’t be an Essene. Essenes would not care about others and only care about isolating themselves. May be he is a Herodian.”

4. Jesus always talks about hard and powerful stuff such as “the Kingdom of God”. Then you think, “Hmm. He can’t be a Herodian. Herodians do not promote God; they are all full of Herod. Maybe he is a Pharisee.”

5. Jesus tells the people not to be like the Pharisee because they were all hypocrites. They wash only the outside of the cup and don’t wash the inside. Then you think, “Hmm. He can’t be a Pharisee since he tells the people that Pharisees are hypocrites.”

If Jesus was not a Zealot, Essene, Herodian and Pharisee, then who was he?

Jesus’ message and lifestyle goes against all the political and religious parties of his time. He was neither this nor that. People were confused about whose side was he on. Jesus shared about forgiving when forgiveness is one word that wasn’t in the vocabulary at that time. Jesus shared about peace when the Zealots were all of violence. Jesus shared about not being like hypocrites when the Pharisees are in that category. Jesus shared about going out to save the lost when the Essenes would only go out and isolate themselves from the world. Jesus was not ashamed to tell the world about God and only God when the Herodians only talks about how great their ruler is.

JESUS WAS RADICAL.

ARE YOU?

Continuation of this post will be posted soon.

*For further reference, read Brian D. McLaren's book - The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the truth that could change everything.

I Got Tagged by Lauren =)

This post was posted because my dear friend Lauren asked me to. This is actually my first time posting this kind of thing. Lauren, I will take some time off and do this for friend's sake =) Haha. You having holidays huh? Okay I can drive already, will call you up soon. See when I am free. Will be. Um hopefully haha. Okay enough, I will start doing this tag now. Sorry if I sound too crappy.

Remove 1 question from below and add in one of your own for that personal touch. Tag 10 people and notify them.

1. At what age do you wish to be married?
Before 30! Hopefully I will settle down around 25-28. Because I want to raise children who will follow in my footsteps and paint the world in pink =) haha.

2. What is something you have to do in this life time?
Spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people I encounter in my lifetime! This was, is and will still be my main thing. Why then do you think that God didn't just take you up to heaven the moment you accepted Jesus? It is because God wants you to share your faith! Simple answer.

3. How would you want your life to end?
I want it to end with joy and celebration by my friends and family for a life well spent.

4. If you can have 1 dream come true, what would it be?
To be able to own a Canon EOS 450D with all the equipment that Keane has!!!

5. Do you believe you can survive without money?
No I don't. I need money to be able to live. One thing I must be careful is that I must have control over money and not money having control over me.

6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
This is one serious answer to this question and I mean what I am going to answer.
I am afraid to lose my PASSION I HAVE FOR GOD. Really.

7. If you win $ 1 Million, what would you do?
While not many people will agree on this idea, I will give my thites! Then I will buy my dream Camera! And go for Theology classes. Bring my parents for holiday! Pray for guidance in using the money! Haha! And pray that I would not be hungry for more!

8. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
I should love everyone but I can't say that I have got to that level yet. So yea. Anyway ya, I would confess haha! Andy bro, I still love you. Really miss those good times and dread those ugly times. Take care ok. *hugs.

9. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.
LAUREN tagged me!!! 3 good points about her? Gosh! How can? Can I change it to 300? I am pretty sure I can see alot of good points in her. She swears alot and that is actually not a good point but one good point is that she knows when to watch her mouth. She is a good friend of mine, we used to meet up in between tuition breaks and go for a drink or something. I remembered she sent me a Valentine gift to my school few years back. I was really touched. We haven't met for a really long time but I believe we can mend our relationship. She buys me alot of shirts! Pink shirts! I still have all of them except one that I accidentally bleach it sigh. Love that. She is a good friend to those around her. Lots of other stuff, maybe I can write an essay haha. Miss you, Lauren.

10. What requirement you wish from your other half?
She must share the same conviction that I have. My conviction in life is this:
Our life is not ours for the taking but God's for the using.

11. What kind of person you hate the most?
I like Lauren's answer. Go to her blog and read it. I hate the ignorance the person has, not the person himself.

12. If you are given the chance to go back to the past and make a difference, will you?
I would love to but NO I WON'T. I believe the Word of God in Romans 8:28 -
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

13. What is your most embarrassing moment in your entire life?
Haha!!! Lauren has a funny answer. My most embarrassing... Once when I was a little boy, I went to my house toilet to pee and I didn't zip my pants properly, so you know it kind of zipped my "thing" and I cried in pain. My neighbour, a lady, who was a maid, came to help me unzip my "thing". Man! She saw my "thing"!!! Ahh!!!

14. What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
GOD...

15. How do you define life?
Life is NOT just about being born, growing up, having a family, having lots of money, going for holidays, having kids, growing old and then die. Get this right. It is NOT!!!
There must to be more to life than this...
If that is life to you, then you have lost it.

16. If you have the chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
My stubbornness and ego-ness.

17. Who is the person that you can share all your problems with?
GOD...

18. What's your weakest point?
My disability to change.

19. What's the thing that you're most proud of?
MY GOD... He saved me by putting His life on the cross.

20. What is the one thing you regret most?
Not knowing God at an earlier age. I'm not trying to sound spiritual but that's the truth. I am happy for people like Janielle who have a family who brought her to such spiritual maturity at such an age. I wished I came to know Jesus at a younger age. Anyway like I said, everything happens for a reason. Janielle would say, "Everything that happens now will serve its purpose in the future." Amen to that.

Tag 10 people.
None. =)

This is for you, AY.

To Ay:
Interesting thoughts and conviction you have there my friend. Since you are so proud of Satanism do you mind telling me your real full name? I am sure you believe that Satan gave you a unique name and you should not be shy to let the whole world know who you are right? =) Reply me in my Cbox with your full name if you want so I can start appreciating your thoughts when I know who you are. If you are shy to let the world know then you can privately email me at zlwin.jesusfreak@gmail.com I can assure you I won't reveal your identity if you do not wish to be known.

So you bought a Satanic Bible huh? Cool. Mind telling me what are the contents? Does Satan ask you to share your wealth with the poor? Does he also tells you to provide shelter for the homeless? Apart from that does he gives you command to seek peace and love? I would be interested to know its content though =) Does he tells you to forgive people who have hurt you or he tells you to repay with vengeance? Do reply me since you are so interested in the Satanic book.

You commented that we (Adrian and I) look laughable? Well thank you =D I have achieved my goal then haha. I wanted to make people laugh when they see the picture. That is me, I am a colorful person with a colorful personality and I love to have people laugh at me at my stupidity whether be it intentional or unintentional. Thank you for your nice compliment =)

A New Beginning!

The time has finally come and this is no April Fool's joke!

There will be a new beginning and it is not about me. Pinko has not betrayed his favourite colour and fell in love with GREEN instead. No! Pinko is not Greenko and never will be. The green is just a gimmick to get your attention haha.

A bigger change is about to happen. One that will mark the beginning of a powerful chapter in the history of Klang.

GRACE ASSEMBLY KLANG will be launching the YOUTH CHURCH this coming Sunday (6th April 2008)!!!

Do not miss this historic event in Klang!

Venue: Grace Assembly, Klang. (Second Hall)
Time: 10:30am - 12:45pm
Date: 6th April (This Sunday)

Come and experience the change and be a change yourself. New beginnings and new trends in taking dominion! I'm excited! Are you?

...

When there is nothing to smile about, look around you.