SET APART CHRISTIANS

4 AM, I hung up my phone after a very long conversation with an old friend. A lot of things were discussed; mainly it was a lot of catching up but truth be told, they were not pleasant to the ear.   It was overwhelming to hear that a few of our friends are not in such a good path. “He told his girlfriend to have an  ABORTION , yet now they aren’t together anymore.” “Finally he has the will to enroll in a college again. Can you believe it? We are graduating soon and he’s just getting started. He's such a  FAILURE .”    Those sentences were just some of the updates I had about our mutual friends. It was that shocking. Looking back, realizing that we came from the  SAME BACKGROUND , the same education and the same lifestyle. Looking now, we are so  APART  by distance and  CONDITIONS . I kept on questioning myself,  HOW did it all happen this way? “ He didn’t get the chance.” “She doesn’t have great parents like yours.” ...

G'day mate! I had tons of fun in Melbourne, exploring the city and the suburbs. I have been walking a lot these days and I can be sure that I am healthier than before. From what I heard, 10.000 steps a day would be enough to fight osteoporosis. Flash forward to the time I found myself standing at Bells Beach, seeing nothing but water a click away from me. I was  enjoying a quiet moment by myself  by  walking on the cliff  side  and  enjoying the view . Suddenly, a question popped up: Where is God? Where does God live? As the creator of Heaven and Earth, He owns the privilege to pick his home. If I was God, my home would probably be Maldives. I would sit all day, enjoying my creations and have relaxing afternoons at the beach while waiting for the sunset with a glass of orange juice in my hand. Think about it. Where would you live, if you were God?    Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in ...

Read Luke 7:1-50 The story talks about Jesus, having a meal at Simon the Pharisee. At this point of time, Jesus was highly controversial. The Pharisees were using anyway possible to destroy Him. In the middle of the meal, a prostitute came into the house and poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and broke down in worship. Before we go further with this story, has it ever occurred to you that this prostitute just walked into the house of a religious leader like a walk in the park? The only possible reasons for this chance are: the prostitute has access to the Simon’s house or that she has been to the house before. In verse 44 Jesus said to Simon, “Do you SEE this woman?” Often times we look through people without seeing them. How often do we look at people as idiot drivers, weirdo, or fat instead of seeing them as a human being? Simon looked at her as a sinful woman, Jesus saw her as a broken human being. Through this perspective, Simon missed Jesus because he was too busy j...

Acts 16:22-26 22  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.   23  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer  was commanded to guard them carefully.   24  When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25  About midnight  Paul and Silas  were praying and singing hymns  to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.   26  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  At once all the prison doors flew open,  and everyone’s chains came loose. Paul & Silas were taking the gospel to Europe. As they advance, the devil was ready to attack. The collision with the devil is inevitable in our life. If you don’t collide against the devil, you might be heading in the same direction ...

Just like the girl in the movie ‘Wreck It Ralph’, we have glitches in our life. 2 Corinthians 10:7-12 7  You are judging by appearances. [ a ]  If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ,  they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.   8  So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us  for building you up rather than tearing you down,  I will not be ashamed of it.   9  I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.   10  For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive  and his speaking amounts to nothing.”   11  Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. 12  We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.  When they measure themselves by themselves and compar...

How often do we miss out because we aren’t receptive enough? As rare as the usage of the word ‘receptive’ might be, the attitude of receptivity might not be practiced as much in this modern day society. Since there is nothing new under the sun, we live in a world where it is very hard to be surprised. Week in and week out we pace ourselves into our church building with knowing what’s gonna happen every single week. 3 or 4 songs. 3 minutes announcement & offering Church News 30 minutes of sermon Altar Call Closing prayer and song Since we know so much about what’s going to happen, sometimes we pass on every week without being receptive enough to give full attention to what God is trying to tell us through the service. Attention  -> Retention  -> Intention  -> Invention That is the power of receptivity. Without the attitude of receptivity, you lose attention to the messages (verbal or non-verbal) ...