Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.

- 2 Samuel 10:12 -

But something else took place, something you wouldn’t have noticed immediately.

CCC was still locked when we came. Brian, Lara, and I decided to start anyway and sat on the sidewalk. At that moment, a tour bus came and stopped at Straits Meridian Hotel, at the end closest to us no less. The passengers started alighting and taking their luggage. But because there was quite a number of them, they had to wait as the bus driver took the bags out. While waiting, they conveniently stared at us (We took a few peeks at them in the beginning). It must have been a strange sight to see – three young people sitting in the middle of the sidewalk singing songs to the tune of a lone guitar while having their heads bowed and eyes  closed in earnest.

For a while there we were nervous at the stares, afraid that they may cause commotion or harm, in light of the situation. I began wondering if it was better to have waited. But then I felt God saying, “Would you truly be willing to declare My Name in public?” Without word we unanimously were emboldened to continue praying and singing as if no one else were around.

As you would know it, the minute Joel and Jonathan came, the tourists had all disappeared into the hotel. The bus, which engine was turned on the whole time causing distractions, was turned off at that exact moment.

Coincidence? I think not. It was a small challenge with bigger meaning.

- Charmain

Have a merry loverly and warm God-blessed Christmas. Meet family, have joy, cherish with love, and most importantly, celebrate the birth of our Lord. =)

To the near end of a year, ready for a special year ahead. More time to spend with God.

-Lara.

Since it was one month after thePlan, we decided to do a check-up on our hearts. It was a good time. We asked ourselves these questions that you can use to do your own heart check. =)
- Do you believe in Jesus?
- Have you been praying regularly?
- During prayer time have you been listening to the Holy Spirit?
- Do you read the Bible at least 3 times a week? (excluding church)
- Are you thanking God daily for what he has blessed you with?
- Have your thoughts been pure?
- What have your actions been saying about you?
- Are you blessing or cursing people with your words?
- Do you have an accountability partner?
- Do you journal down your thoughts and what God has been speaking to you?

- Are you running away from Christian friends?
- Would you seek counsel from non-believers rather than your pastor?

After that we partook communion as a sign of thanksgiving and reminder of our commitment to our Lord.

“A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you.” Ezekiel 36: 26-27

On the 17th we sought for direction. We wanted to know where God is taking us as individuals, and then hope that LYPG will be a platform for us to encourage and build one another up toward those callings.

As it is, earlier that morning, Lara wrote about callings without knowing we were going to pray about it later. Here is what she wrote, published with permission.

I was just thinking God chooses us for different individual callings. Sometimes it’s not always how you perceive God would choose you, but the exact opposite. The main importance is to always be available to his call. Just  a little something like how one goes to apply for a job, you let the representative of the company know you are available, and if the company is interested, you get a call.

God’s calling is somehow a little different though. You don’t choose when you want to be available, but you have to be always always available to His call. Available, ready, and committed. And, like how you get a job just by presenting what you’re good at to the company, God made you who you are for a reason. No doubt we get corrupted with sin sometimes, but if we live to our perfect calling in God, or are aware of it, God can use us for His kingdom.

- Will Durant

We have all asked ourselves these questions at one time or another. Through these series of posts I want to prove there IS a God.

Our culture may dismiss God as irrelevant to our existence and give the impression that God is on a long vacation. Otherwise why didn’t he do something about the flood, the earthquake and hurricane that just happened a month ago? This popular myth may provide some of us with the sense of freedom and autonomy, but ut has not delivered us from boredom, anxiety, suicide, stress, drugs, and crime. Victor Frankl observes, “ More people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” How shockingly true. According to Erich Fromm, one of the leading psychiatrists, people suffer from “an inner deadness. They live in the midst of plenty but are joyless.”

History has repeatedly confirmed the tragic truth that when people ignore and turn away from God they descend into the abyss of life without meaning or purpose. There is no song of hope, only the cry of despair.

The reality of God’s existence has serious consequences to human existence. It has profound philosophical implication on all matter of reality. Can men live without God? Reflect first on the relevance of God before looking at the reality of Him. The existence of God plays a significant role in our lives. Superficially many do not acknowledge this but on a deeper reflection, the relevance of God is inescapable.

I once read a story about a New York police officer who saw a man about to jump off a bridge, obviously the man was about to commit suicide. Approaching the man the police man said , ” Give me ten minutes to tell you why I think life is worth living, then you take ten minutes to tell me why life is not worth living. If I am unable to convince you, I will let you jump.” According to the story, after twenty minutes they joined hands and jumped off the bridge. This poses serious questions. Is life really worth living? Is there value in a material world and purpose in a random existence?

The absence of God in reality is the absence of goodness, joy, truth, value and life itself. Many of our brilliant minds have understood only too well the truth that the rejection of God logically implies the rejection of all that is fundamental to God. God is not a secondary issue but an ultimate factor. I am not trying to prove God the way I would try to prove apples and atoms. Because the very nature of God demands an approach that transcends the normal and the contingent.

If God is the cause of the universe, He must be beyond and greater than physical dimension. Therefore we may discover the effects or evidence of God in the universe but not necessarily observe the essence of God within the universe, for the profound reason that he transcends space, time, and matter. The skeptic who says, “Show me your God!” and demands a scientific proof , is extremely simplistic. Neither am I saying, you have to be a genius to know God.

This story of a man who went fishing illustrates an important truth.

Every time he caught a big fish he kept throwing it back into the lake, and each time he caught a small one he kept it. A puzzled observer, watching him and his peculiar process of selection, asked him what on earth he was doing. The man fishing replied,” I only have an eight inch frying pan and so the larger fish won’t fit.” The trouble is, many a skeptic rejects God because God won’t fit into their naturalistic philosophical “frying pan”. The truth is there are realities which go beyond, way beyond, our limited paradigm and to reject them just because they don’t fit into our limited scientific category is to be a poor metaphysical “fisherman”.

The question of God’s existence is an issue which presses upon all of us and it demands a rational response. The meaning of life is to find the meaning for life, and the purpose of existence is to discover the purpose worth living for. If there is a God knowing him will be the ultimate key to our existence. This truth would be the greatest for all mankind.

Unlike other questions, the question of God has cosmic significance, for it touches every realm of our existence and provides the basic reason for our being.

Come back soon for “Does God exist?” part 2! I have to go, like every other student, to study.

xo Cathy

Certain portions of this post have been taken from Christianity for Septics By Steve Kumar

Marcus called Cathy and me the night before and shared about what happened at Kulim’s LYPG. I can say we were both very encouraged after that and excited for LYPG.

Cathy led us in this session. She asked us to read Psalm 43 and pray whatever was impressed upon our heart from it. Her words, “I felt God give me this verse the morning itself… it couldn’t have been more perfect for this time.” We spent about 50-60 minutes praying. This is what we got in our order of sharing.

Charmain: Word for Malacca and LYPGs all over.
- Ezekiel 4:2 — We are laying siege around the cities, preparing for battle.
- Joshua 8:24 — This is when we take over the city. And when we do, we need to break down all strongholds.
- Joshua 8:8 — We’re gonna set the city on fire yeah!
And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.

Timothy
- Encouraged by Psalm 43, especially verse 1 in praying for an ungodly nation
- and verse 3, that what was done in darkness will be revealed in His light and truth.
Psalm 43:1 — Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

Cathy
- Hebrews 5:1-11 – We are high priests. I felt that we’re not living on par with God, and how he wants us to live.
Hebrews 5:1 – For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:

Lara
- got the phrase ‘Children of God’ and 1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
- God loves us. He’s our Father. He sees us as heirs. Those who have not seen him do not know Him. We know Him, we have seen Him.

Summary: Revival and change will come. But we as children of God ought to reflect our Father’s heart, and as high priests ought to set and live up to God’s standards as examples.

We separated the prayer points for thePlan into 7 cards (and there were 7 people!) and took turns to pray. Overall we kept praying for calling and change of heart for the participants.

Those who were there, if there’s anything else I forgot to put in, please let me know.

All praise to God for another good prayer gathering. A major prayer need is our planning and preparations for MYPG 4. Oh and yes, our video report is coming out soon too! =D