I have written about 15 songs and this is one of them which I have done as a home recording project. I wanted to do a album but then, in 2005 I was diagnosed with throat cancer. To be precise it’s cancer of the larynx (voice box). In 2007, I had a surgery to remove my larynx and since then I am unable to talk again let alone to sing.

This song was recorded at home on a ZOOM Mini Recording Studio (MRS) which I bought for about RM1300. Everything you see and hear on this video is done by me, from writing the song, singing, doing the music, mixing, video editing, etc, except for the help of a good friend, Su Mei who did the harmony. The song was recorded at the time when I was going through a 32 courses of radiation (radiotherapy). I still was able to do a bit of singing then, so I quickly recorded this song and few others, knowing that soon I will have to lose my voice completely for good.

And just a month ago I picked up some basic video editing. Took out some of my old video clips and started editing to produce this video.

Now you know why it took me 5 long years to do this video.

If you have been a regular visitor to my blog, I guess you may not know that I do sing, at one point of my life. Even while writing this article, a tiny teardrop rolled down my cheek. Yes, I once could talk, shout and sing but now I can only listen to my own voice.

If you enjoy this song, and do wish to use it in anyway, please do contact me. Thanks.

For example:

• · Is it really necessary for good health to drink eight glasses of water a day? No. According to Frederick Vreeman, founder of the department of nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health, the necessary six to eight glasses includes all the different liquids we consume, including coffee and soda. The human body, he says, is remarkably efficient at regulating how much water it needs. “Your body tells you when you’re thirsty.”
• · Do hair and fingernails keep growing after death? No…It’s an optical illusion caused by shrinkage in the skin.
• · Are mobile phones dangerous in hospitals? Not according to a battery of 510 tests with 16 medical devices done by the Mayo Clinic. There have been no documented deaths attributable to the use of a cell phone in a hospital.
• · Take the idea that humans only use 10% of their brains. It’s not true. None of the brain image studies show any inactive areas of the brain. In terms of metabolism, no parts of the brain are shown to not be functioning or are not processing chemicals. However, this does not stop many of the motivational speakers who want to convince people that they have not reached their full potential because they are not using the whole brain.

So many of the ideas and facts we hear come from faulty information in the physical world and the spiritual world.

As preachers we have to be careful that what we state from he pulpit is accurate. When we spout things that can be shown to be false later we undermine our larger claims about the validity of the gospel. (Extract from SermonsNet)

_____________________________________________________________

Last week a guest speaker at our church while preaching a sermon was telling us of a “true” story that happened in a prison in Malaysia. A 20 year old boy was arrested for possession of a pistol. He was then sentenced to life in prison.

While he was in prison he attended the chapel there. And after a couple of years he accepted the Lord. From then on his life changed. He started to minister to the inmates. He didn’t even have a Bible to do that. Whenever he got an opportunity he will share the good news, even to the prison officers.

His life has taken a 180 degree transformation. He was very helpful in the prison. He was like a model prisoner. Even the warden likes him.

Prisoners come and go, but he was there. Many were pardoned by the king but he was always left out.

30 years later a pastor came to the prison to preach. When the pastor saw this guy, he asked if he recognized him. The pastor than told him that he was once a prisoner here and he was one of the guys who has been ministered to by him. And because of him, he is a pastor now. And told him that there are many others who have gone full time doing God’s works and going from prison to prison to preach the Gospel. It’s all because of him.

Wow! I was thinking this guy must be a something. But wait the story is not over yet.

Then this prisoner asked this pastor, why is it that he was refused to be pardon by the king after serving almost 30 years now? Others who had come in before him have left and he is still here.

And this is what the pastor answered. “God wants to use you here in prison to reach out the inmates. God wants you to share the Good News to the prisoners. God got a purpose for you here. Your work here is not done yet.”

Ok, let me side-track here. Would God really asked someone to commit a crime with a pistol and be sent to prison for life and serve His purpose? And to stay there for life! Was that God’s plan? This guy could have killed someone with that pistol. Whether he did or not no one knows.

I know many at this moment are thinking about Joseph. But that is a different scenario altogether. Joseph did not purposely commit any crime. He was framed!

Now back to the story. Really how much of it is true? I know the guest speaker was trying dramatized the story to make it interesting. To excite us and build up our faith. But I would say that there are a bit too many exaggerations here.

Pastors tend to make stories colourful and exciting. And they heard from so and so, and so and so tell it to so and so, and that so and so tell it another so and so. And by the time the story I heard this story, it has been like the10 versions. There might be some facts, but is the whole story the truth? But it’s really important for preachers to just tell as it is. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.

You be the judge!

With his last bit of energy he pulled himself out of bed, struggled across the floor to the stairs, and headed down the stairs into the kitchen. There his wife was baking those aromatic cookies.

As he reached for one—SMACK! He felt a slap across the back of his hand. His wife scolded, “Leave those alone; they’re for the funeral!”

What is a mission trip? A mission trip can be defined as a trip with specific plans to benefit specific people or groups outside your culture. To better understand what a mission trip is, let’s take a closer look at each phrase in the definition.

A Trip:

A trip involves travelling to a place away from your home, and in this case, it means staying away for a designated time and then retuning home. Taking a trip removes you from your regular, everyday activities and temporarily forces your attention on other matters. The fact that a mission trip takes place elsewhere is significant, because the distractions and comforts you normally live with are temporarily replaced with new experiences. Confronting new surroundings and situations can be quite a challenge, both physically and mentally.

With Specific Plans:

A mission trip is not merely a visit to another culture. Rather, a mission trip has a mission, a definite goal. Some mission trips have more detailed plans, such as a village trip to teach classes on irrigation. For this trip, class materials, times, and locations would all be worked out ahead of time. Some mission trips, although they have specific plans, do not have as detailed outlines. A trip to help construct a church or school building in a remote place may not have a definite schedule. Plans for this trip would daily depend on weather, access to tools, and availability of supplies. Whether detailed or general, every mission trip has a specific plan.

To Benefit Specific People or Groups:

Although a mission trip is rewarding to the people participating, the mission itself is to benefit others. All human beings have needs, but those needs are not met equally across the globe. To go on a mission trip is to extend part of your abundance to meet someone else’s need. The needs that mission trips seek to meet are many. Some trips focus on medical needs, some on educational needs, some on spiritual needs. There are mission trips to train people on ways to make a living and trips to help clean up after a disaster. Other trips focus specifically on spiritual conversion or growth. In areas that have full-time missionaries, there are even trips to help relieve these workers for a time.

Outside Your Culture:

A mission trip is directed toward those of another culture. Working among another culture usually indicates travelling to another country, and most mission trips take place overseas. But mission work takes place close to home as well. Humanitarian or church work within your own culture is usually referred to as service projects or outreach work and is different from a mission trip in that no actual trip is usually involved. However, even though a mission trip focuses on another culture, it can take place within your geographical area. There are mission trips available to Orang Asli reservations, among migrant groups, and with inner-city youth, as well as other opportunities. Regardless of the distance travelled, a mission trip involves a trip with specific plans to benefit specific people or groups outside your culture.

So now what is your mission trip? What does it mean to you. What is your mission? Pr what is your trip? Is it another holiday to see a new country? Or to use up your annual leave? Or to go for a ride? Or to mark on your journal that “yes I been to a mission trip” and that makes you holier than others?

How much should a full-time pastor of a church earn?

I know of pastors who earn less than 2K per month. Well, at least that’s a decent amount. But I also know of pastors who don’t get paid from the church. They only received what they called allowance and that allowance could hardly pay for the household bills and car petrol. So what do they do for food? Housing? Children’s education? How did they survive? It is a miracle!

In today’s lifestyle a family of four would need at least 2K to 3K to have a decent and sustainable living. I don’t know how many would agree with that. But to survive on anything less, we have to tighten the belt a little. And that amount doesn’t allow you for a family vacation or a simple luxury.

So how much should a full-time pastor of a church earn?

In a small church like mine, our collections can hardly pay for the rental and bills and other expenses let alone pay a salary for the pastor. Our pastor runs a children’s education centre with 3 other partners, and also she and her husband are doing a multi-level marketing business to support themselves. In other words they are self-supporting.

Is it wrong to be pastoring a church and at the same time running a educational centre and doing multi-level marketing? So if you think it’s wrong, then she either give up her educational centre and multi-level marketing and just pastor the church and starve!

And as I say, I know of many others who are self-supportive. Well, that makes the pastors sound poor. And some will say why a pastor should be poor, after all they are God’s servant and God should provide for their needs!

Then again on the other hand, there are churches with congregations of 400 to 500, and the senior pastor could be earning 5K – 7K per month. And the junior pastors anything from 2K to 4K.

But there are churches with congregations of 1000 to 5000 or more. These pastors take home a salary of not less than 15K per month, with housing allowance, car allowance, children’s allowance and wife’s allowance, travelling allowance – and that could easily work out to 20K to 25K or more per month with all the perks!

And my friend told me that there are pastors, drawing a really, really fat check. 50K each month, and that doesn’t include all the perks! And these pastors drive Mercedes S-class or BMW paid by the church!  Am I exaggerating? Well, find out for yourselves.

Do I envy them? What has that got to do with me? Or what has that got to do with you?

Consider this:

Apostle Paul supported himself by making tents for a living, thus the term “tent making”

In 1 Cor 9, Paul ddi mention that you “Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh grain.”  Yes, it is the right of those who works in a church gets paid by the church. That’s only logical. Those who preach the gospel should get their living from it. That’s their rights. But how much should they get?

In Paul’s own words he said this:

“But I haven’t made use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this now in order to claim such rights for myself. I would rather die first! Nobody is going to turn my rightful boast into empty words!  I have no right to boast just because I preach the gospel. After all, I am under orders to do so. And how terrible it would be for me if I did not preach the gospel!

If I did my work as a matter of free choice, then I could expect to be paid; but I do it as a matter of duty, because God has entrusted me with this task. What pay do I get, then? It is the privilege of preaching the Good News without charging for it, without claiming my rights in my work for the gospel…, All this I do for the gospel’s sake, in order to share in its blessings.

Here Paul is saying, he is doing the work of God not for the money, even he has the rights to it, but for the Gospel’s sake and to share its blessings!

And think about this:

When Jesus noticed the crowd around him, he ordered his disciples to go to the other side of the lake.  A teacher of the Law came to him. “Teacher,” he said, “I am ready to go with you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has a mansion, S-Class Mercedes Benz, 50K take home salary, spouse allowance, children allowance, housing allowance, car allowance, entertainment allowance, holiday allowance, etc, etc”

No! No! No! That’s not the right version! Jesus never said that!

He said, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest!” (Matthew 8:20)

Did it ever occur to you that Jesus, the Son of Man, God’s only son has no place to lie down and rest. He didn’t even own a horse to go around preaching the good news, let alone a S-Class Merc.  He did not have a 1000 seats air-conditioned sanctuary  with all the latest high-tech equipments, He just jumped into one of his disciple’s boat and preached from there. He had to even borrow a donkey to ride on when he entered Jerusalem! The Bible has never mentioned about His mansion or silk robes or gold! Why? Because He never had any of those!

And you think Jesus didn’t have a church of five thousand? Read this:

Jesus got out of the boat, and when he saw the large crowd, his heart was filled with pity for them, and he healed their sick. That evening his disciples came to him and said, “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the people away and let them go to the villages to buy food for themselves.”

“They don’t have to leave,” answered Jesus. “You yourselves give them something to eat!”

“All we have here are five loaves and two fish,” they replied.

“Then bring them here to me,” Jesus said.

He ordered the people to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

Everyone ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left over.

The number of men who ate was about five thousand, not counting the women and children.

Jesus fed the five thousand, not the other way around.

His mission is simply to do the will of God, nothing more, nothing less! And this is what is called to do: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.” (Luke 4:18-19)

His calling is not have plenty of worldly possessions and money. No, His work is to bring the good news to the poor, set the captives free, heal the blind, free the oppressed and to announce God’s Kingdom to the world! And Jesus will work for loaves and fishes!

So, how much should a pastor of a church earn? And how much is enough?

Walking through the forest, a seasoned hiker came upon a broad, slowly moving river. He stopped to gaze over the waters, appreciating the beauty, when suddenly he heard a faint cry coming from upstream. Looking in the direction of the noise, he saw an obviously drowning man floundering in the river and drifting slowly toward him.

The hiker was stunned momentarily, but he sprang into action when he saw the man disappear beneath the waters. Throwing off all of his cumbersome gear, he dove into the river and swam like a madman toward the spot where the man went under.

Upon reaching the spot he plunged below the surface and frantically hauled up the helpless man. Then he laboriously towed the victim to shore. Heaving the lifeless body up on the riverbank, the hiker attempted to revive the man, who eventually spit up water and began to breathe.

Relieved, the hiker paused to catch his breath. But no sooner had he done so than he heard another voice out on the water. Another drowning person! Once again he swam out and pulled the person to shore, a little more slowly this time. As the hiker-turned-lifeguard revived the second victim, he heard yet another cry for help.

All day long the hiker worked, rescuing one person after another as they came drifting down the river. There seemed to be no end of drowning victims, and the hiker didn’t think he could keep it up.

Just when he was about to collapse from exhaustion, he spotted another man walking rapidly beside the river, headed upstream. “Hey mister!” he cried out. “Please help me! These poor people are drowning!”

Amazingly, the man kept walking upstream. The astonished hiker called out again. Without even acknowledging the cry, the man kept going. Indignant and angry, the hiker leapt to his feet, ran toward the uncompassionate man, stood directly in his path, and in a loud voice demanded, “Sir! How can you possibly walk past all these drowning people? Have you no conscience? Must I force you to help me save these people?”

The stranger stopped, looked at him for the first time and said with a calm, focused voice, “Sir, please get out of my way. I am headed upstream to stop the guy who is pushing all these people in.”

Each of us has a role to play in rescuing those who are drowning in sin. Some of us pull people from the water and resuscitate them with counseling, food and shelter, a rehabilitation program, a support group, or financial aid. Affirm those doing these important ministries.

Others of us find our place of ministry upstream, opposing the One pushing people into the river. We do this by introducing those people to Jesus Christ. Knowing Christ sets a person free from sin and releases them from Satan’s power over them.

By itself, pulling people from the water isn’t enough. We need to help people deal with the problem of sin at its source.

David Langerfeld

Little brother Gimlet arose and said, “All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also.  You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him.”

Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, “If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too.  All of his work is on the surface; there’s no depth to what he does.”

To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, “Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too.  The changes he proposes always cut too deep.”

Brother Saw complained, saying, “Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he’s always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right.”

Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, “Brother Sandpaper doesn’t belong here either.  He’s rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way.”

In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter of Nazareth walked in.  He had come to perform his day’s work.  He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a pulpit.  He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools.  When the day’s work was over, the pulpit was finished, and the carpenter went home.  All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them.  No matter which tool He used, no other tool could have done the work better.

We are all “tools”" in Jesus’ tool box.  Each of us has a purpose, ability, and a task to perform.

“For we are God’s fellow workers…” (1 Corinthians 3:9a; cf. 12:12ff).

Read: Luke 9:1-17; 1 Samuel 4-6

The Christian coffeehouse can first be identified by its name. Their names are always either

1. a play on a Biblical phrase (The Upper Room, Daniel’s Den, Jehovah Java)

2. a more subversive spiritual reference (Higher Grounds, Holy Grounds, He-Brew)

or

3. void of any Bible connotation to make non-believers feel welcome, but still have that community-seeking tone that may alert you to Christian beverages lurking inside (Common Grounds, The Crossroads, The Loft).

Upon entering the Christian coffeeshop you will notice that the baristas are especially perky (haha) and that Christian music is playing (this includes Coldplay). Besides these two key indicators, there is not usually a great deal of religious overtone except for perhaps a stray Bible or the latest Focus on the Family mailout lying around. If these factors have not yet tipped you off, note that the drink sizes are probably tall, grande and Goliath, and there is also a message on a chalkboard about their book club. (They are currently reading The Shack. All are welcome!) The coffeehouse also hosts musical guests and said chalkboard announces the upcoming musicians as well. Their musical guests will appear very similar to these four examples.

Example A:

Example B:

Example C:

Example D:

When a Christian coffeehouse is not handy, Christians sometimes convene in Starbucks for bible studies and quiet times, sometimes thinking that a witnessing opportunity may arise. Students at Christian universities and Christian students at “secular” universities also use Starbucks and the like for witnessing stakeouts. They study there and hope someone asks them about their copy of Passion & Purity, Velvet Elvis or Blue Like Jazz that’s lying among their textbooks.
In addition to the potential for outreach, coffee addiction may be one of the few things Christian culture feels it is allowed to have in common with non-Christians. Pastors like to mention their need for espresso in their sermons or in their blogs, and they like to specify the number of shots they order. These pastors (along with worship leaders, deacons, aspiring deacons, homeschooling moms and bros in Christian solidarity) enjoy talking about their reliance on caffeine, often on facebook and twitter. They would not talk as enthusiastically about any other addictive stimulant, but for some reason this one gets a pass.

*It is worth nothing that pastors who identify themselves as part of the relevant/resurgent/emergent epidemic are 72% more likely to mention coffee in their blogs or sermons and/or preach with it prominently displayed nearby.

(Article Courtesy of  Stuff Christian Culture Likes)

     This is raised by just about everyone: Priests and ministers, college students and housewives, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. 

     It’s one of the hardest questions anybody ever asks. 

     Just a few days ago, a close friend of mine, Laurin, passed away after a fierce 18 month battle with cancer. What a horrible experience this was for him and his wife Diana.

     I’ve visited the slums of Sao Paulo Brazil, where 500,000
homeless street kids sniff glue and steal for a living. Sometimes the police hunt them down and kill them, just to reduce the crime rate. 

     Last year my wife spent a week in Mozambique where she saw an infant in her mother’s arms, dying of pneumonia in a hospital waiting room. She met hundreds of other kids with malaria and malnutrition.
     We’ve given some money for a medical clinic, and every bit helps. But the problems are so huge, what little you try to do still seems like a teardrop in the ocean.

     If you took all the parties, the humor, the success and happiness in the world, and put it side by side with the suffering and pain, the comparison would be almost absurd. 

     There’s a lot of sickness and sadness in this world.

     How can God let it go on?

     Well, I can’t give you an answer. I can only tell you a true story.

~~~

     A certain man threatened the Religious Gestapo, who in
turn convinced the Roman government that He was a threat to them, too.

     His followers were disappointed that He didn’t overthrow
the Romans and declare himself King, like the Messiah was
supposed to do. So they abandoned Him.

     The ancient Romans pioneered what was possibly the most cruel form of torture ever devised by man: Crucifixion. They would drive spikes into their victim’s ankles and wrists, smashing his nerves. He would hang there in blinding sheets of pain, slowly suffocating and dehydrating for days, until he finally expired.

     Jesus was whipped and beaten, literally beyond recognition, then nailed to a cross between two common criminals.

     One of these criminals was cursing and shouting at Him in a fit of rage: ‘HEY! If you’re the KING, why don’t you get yourself down from there! And US, TOO!!!’

     The other guy went along with this… for a little while. 

     But he saw that Jesus wasn’t hurling insults at his torturers. Instead He was asking God to forgive them (?!).

     He sobered up. He said to the other criminal, ‘Hey dude, you and I are here because we deserve it. But this man Jesus has done nothing wrong.’

     Then he said to Jesus, ‘Remember me when you take charge of your Kingdom.’

     Jesus simply replied, ‘Today you’ll be with me in Paradise.’

~~~

     Stop the camera.

     What you have here, in this brief conversation, is a snapshot of the entire world.

     You have two criminals who have gotten themselves into a horrendous, awful mess. And you have the Son of God, who has not only chosen to live with us in our world of pain and suffering, but has personally taken all of it upon his own shoulders. 
     Even though he is completely innocent.

     One thief refuses to accept any responsibility for his actions. He’s unwilling to admit that he created the very mess that he’s in. 

     He lives in denial until the bitter end. He grits his teeth and dies in his sin. 

     The other thief comes clean. He recognizes that Jesus possesses divine authority. He admits his guilt. He is required to do nothing, other than to let go of his pride.

     He asks for forgiveness. 

     Forgiveness granted. 

     Jesus’ pardon doesn’t make the cross or the agony go away. But finally the struggle ceases and this man crosses the Great Divide. The intense pain dissolves and he steps into a New World, designed by God Himself — with renewed body and soul.

     That’s a picture of the entire world, right there. 
     You and I are in this mess together, and we’ve all contributed to it.

     We’ve all rejected God in some way or another, we’ve all
committed some kind of crime, and we all experience suffering. 

     The situation is what it is.

     So we have a simple choice: Accept that fact that God has suffered with us — or mock him and be furious because the suffering exists in the first place.

     Which way do you want it???

     The decision is yours. You and I will never get a true ‘answer’ about the pain and suffering we experience in this life. But in the midst of our pain, we have a companion. You and I can have the same conversation with Jesus that this criminal had, and we can experience the same forgiveness.  All we have to do is ask, just like the thief on the cross did on that sad day.

~~~
     This is the last of the Seven Great Lies of Organized Religion. 
     I pray that I’ve helped to strip away all the baggage that the Religious Gestapo adds to the story and reduce it to the bare essentials. I hope this has stirred your mind and your heart.