FAITHFUL TO OUR CALLING UNTIL THE VERY END

Watched a rerun of the movie Titanic with my family. My favorite scene was the 4-piece string band playing beautiful, soothing music on the deck while others were frantically scrambling for their lives. When the end was imminent, the leader of the band thanked the group and told them how it was an honor to have played together with them. As his group members walked away to join the rest of the passengers to look for a lifeboat, the leader of the band remained and started playing on his own. Hearing that, the three members turned back and joined their leader and they played on. What a depiction of devotion, faithfulness and dedication to the task and fierce loyalty to one another!!.

I was glad to read that this scene was real and not made up just for the movie. Harold Bride, the Titanic junior wireless operator who survived gave eyewitness account in his interview with the New York Times, "The way the band kept playing was a noble thing. I heard it first while we were still working the wireless, when there was a ragtime tune for us, and the last I saw of the band, when I was floating out in the sea with my lifebelt on, it was still on the deck playing 'Autumn'. How they ever did it, I can't imagine"

From Pastor Lily Chin[above] (One of our pastors/intercessor/my prayer partner) who looks after the Myanmar Ministry-

On 24th June i had a vision of Jesus and myself in a garden. There was a small tree which began to grow big and as it grew, the Lord put me on His shoulder so that i can touch the heights of the tree. I saw a good fruit and i wanted to pluck it but the Lord cautioned me "No human tampering." So i let go of my hand in obedience and know what, that tree became a masterpiece! I guess the Lord is still working on this. On the days that followed, other prophetic words came "I will set the pace for you and will expand My truths within you."
Today during staff devotion the Lord reminded me that as we stay consecrated to Him, He will open the Red Sea and we can pass thru. He will work wonders in our midst. Pr. Ron also shared that in the life of Abraham who tried to run ahead of God and ended up in a mess because he tried to depend on his human effort. Sometimes God in His mercy and wisdom wants us to bring our vision before Him and allow it to "die" before He can do a complete and thorough work in us. There is a compelling demonstration of the work of the Holy Spirit to do that in us as we consecrate ourselves to Him. After all He is the Potter and we the clay. Amen

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people" (Colossians 3:23 TEV).

How do I know if I'm doing my work for the Lord?

Two characteristics will show up in your attitude: excellence and enthusiasm.

First, if I'm doing my work, not for the boss but for the Lord, I'll do it with excellence. That means I give it my best shot—I do the best I can because I'm not doing it for anyone's approval, except God's. I do it with excellence, being the best I can be.

Second, I do my work with enthusiasm. I'm working for God, therefore, I do it with a cheerful attitude. "Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically" (Romans 12:11 NLT).When you are working with all your heart, motivated by the love of Christ, your work is transformed into an act of worship for God.

-Rick Warren

Smile the moment you wake up in the morning

because of all the opportunities and blessings

your Heavenly Father has waiting for you.

He crowns your days with His goodness

and your paths with plenty.

Your smiles reflect your faith in a God

who will take care of you in every situation.

PREPARE FOR ENLARGEMENT
"This church got life, she’s got enthusiasm….I like coming here" - Kindah Greening, CEO of King’s Organisation, Gold Coast, Australia.

A few weeks ago, Pastor Kindah Greening came to preach to us and he prophesied upon the church at the beginning of his sermon and to Grace and I at the conclusion. Please read these prophetic words carefully, embrace them prayerfully and receive them by faith.
Love,
Pastor Ron Hee

To the Church:
There is a flow; there is a dynamic; there is a presence; there is a power here…and I want to tell you this, that…the waters of God and the waters of His anointing are going to go deeper and wider…and the spirit of the Lord shall touch your minds and shall touch your spirits…and these are days of preparation. For I will lay upon the foundation and I will build the house greater and you shall know what it is for the spirit of the Lord to touch you. But you said, "I’ve been touched". But I declare to you that I shall come again and I shall touch thine eyes and you shall see a new perspective…for the spirit of the Lord shall touch this house and He shall impregnate a spirit of growth and a spirit of enlargement and there shall be an enlargement of your hearts; an enlargement of the purposes and the will, and the anointing and the presence of my spirit, saith the Lord. Hallelujah!!"

To Pastor Ron and Grace:
For a new door of opportunity shall be opened before your eyes. Too long, too long, too long…the place where you dwelt - too long. It's not a physical expression but a spiritual expression. Its time to breakthrough. Time to ENLAAARRRGE your tents! Stretch forth! Father, in the name of Jesus, bless, bless, bless. The horn of the oil! Even as of old, Samuel took a horn and he poured it upon the servant David and I declare unto you that even as David knew a level and a degree of expansion of anointing that I should take the horn of oil of my ability, my presence, my anointing and I shall express it through your thoughts, hearts and minds and you shall grow with great authority, greater anointing and you shall rise as a commander of the Lord’s house.
You shall inspire the minds, the spirits and the hearts of my people to rise to greater heights. For it’s being said through your lips, that "The Best is yet to come"- that good things are going to happen. And the spirit of the Lord shall cause your words and experience to correspond and you shall bring growth and enlargement and expansion to the house.
The horn of His presence, the oil shall touch your eyes, to bless, to protect, to shepherd, to encourage His people. You shall protect them from the wild beasts of field. The touch of His presence is over your lives because of the hunger, because of the thirst, of the great shepherd concern. Not like a Saul but like a David that shall protect the people, from the heat of the sun, protect them from the elements, place a wall of protection around their lives. This is the day I shall touch and expand you.

As we approach Father's Day, let us remind ourselves that we are children of our Father in Heaven. See His face of compassion towards you. See His arms outstretched towards you. See his eager eyes looking out for you. See the gifts waiting for you as you feel safe and secure in His arms that are wrapped around you (Luke 15)

One of my dreams is to have a piece of land where we can care for children with learning disabilities (autistic, adhd, dyslexia ec), the orphans and the elderly etc. The land should be nicely landscaped and green and the atmosphere should be warnth and caring because these special ones are God's creation and they should be properly cared for. For a start, New Life has a centre in Cheras, Sri Eden, which is a centre for Children with learning disabilities. We are thankful to the Lord that we have some very dedicated and passionate qualified teachers who are serving these children with much love and personal attention. I paid a visit to the centre the other day and took some pictures of these children in their classrooms. If you are interested to contribute your time or finance to help us at this centre, please contact me at 03-78763133.

PARENTS' APPRECIATION LUNCHEON

We combined the Mothers' and Fathers' Day celebrations and organised a Parents' Appreciation Luncheon at the Oriental Restaurant in Jaya 33, to provide our church folks an opportunity to honor their parents' the traditional way- tea ceremony! Many heart-felt and appreciative words were written and spoken to the parents. It was so good to see the parents and the children connecting. Grace and I were especially touched by our son, Nicholas, who was in tears as he read his appreciation to us. That in itself was priceless.

I shared a short message on how the Bible commanded Christians to honor their parents and obedience to this command comes with the promise of long life and prosperity in the land (Ex 20:12; Deu 5:16). Non-Christian parents need not be concerned that their children will not be filial to them when they become Christians. I also told them that embracing Christianity is not embracing a foreign religion as the Chinese civilization is so much older than the West and many Chinese characters contain Biblical imagery. This tells us that the Chinese knew about the Christian God even before the West.

I've never seen a generous person who wasn't happy.
God simply loves to shower blessings on the generous.
Be generous to someone today.

Grace and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary recently at the beautiful Pangkor Laut Resort. The great service, gourmet food and the spa and massage made us feel truly pampered. This holiday was like another honeymoon for us (hee...hee..), but certainly much better this time in so many ways because our love for each other has grown deeper and richer because we faced so many challenges together through these 25 years that have made us appreciate and grateful for each other. Grace is truly my lucky star. Without her love, encouragement and belief, I would not have done or become who I am today. I am so thankful for her. With wonderful children like Sarah and Nicholas and with such a great church family, I could not have asked for more. I just want to thank God for everything.

It's only as we become open about our lives that we experience authentic fellowship. The Bible says, "If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other..." (1 John 1:7-8 NCV). It happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. They share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help and prayer. Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection, and being hurt again. Why would anyone take such a risk? Because it's the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says, "Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed" (James 5:16 MSG)- Adapted from Rick Warren's Devotional

New Life's first mission trip to Cambodia- 1994

My heart of laughter brings health to my body (Pro 7:22). I can laugh in every situation because my Father is in control. His goodness will prevail in every area of my life. His love makes me confident for the future.

Pictures of Grace's plants around the house

At the time of writing, the H1N1 virus or Swine Flu has nearly reached pandemic proportions.
11 countries are already affected and nearly 300 people are confirmed cases. In times like this, it is good to return to the word of God and know that God's people do not need to fear.

God has assured His people that He is our hiding place, our strong tower, our refuge and our fortress.
When we put our trust in the Lord, He will shield us, protect us, hide us and deliver us from any plague.

Ps Chris Leong, Ps Richard Toh and I did the fifth LPPKN (Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara) Smartstart Program Praperkahwinan at the Tropicana Golf Club. So far we have taken more than 50 couples through this pre-marital program which is highly subsidized by the Government. The couples only pay RM60 which include materials and two buffet meals and one tea break. The Cantonese will say 'ho die'- very worth it. The lessons which are very critical to a successful marriage include 1. Our expectations 2. Our Love Language 3. Conflict Resolution 4. Finance 5. Sex 6. Understanding our partner's upbringing (which impacted a great deal on his present personality and behaviour). If you are planning to get married or if you are newly married, please contact my secretary, Shirley Tan and she will help you make the arrangements. This investment will be much worth your while.

Last Saturday, Grace and I invited Hana, Pastor Patrick, Bee Long and one of Grace' work colleagues, Ron Renten to a performance of the Malaysian Philharmonic. This is maybe my fifth time to the MPO and I continue to be fascinated by the wonderful music that comes from such perfect synchronisation and harmony from an orchestra of violins, drums, tubas, flutes, cellos, bassoons, horn etc (thanks to Hana, I can at least identify some of them). We listened to the 1911 Russian revolution through music. It was a treat!!

On Tuesday night, I joined Grace as she hosted SHE (Safety, Health and Environment) managers from all over the world for a dinner cruise around the Putrajaya Lake. The buffet catered by Shangri-la was nice and the mood and conversation was relaxing. It was an enjoyable experience as we went on the deck after dinner to take in the night scenes around the lake. At the end of the cruise, one thing I told myself is to read up on PutraJaya so that I will be more knowledgeable when taking visitors there. This is the pride and joy of the nation and I need to be conversant on it.

Rick Warren- You must decide you will look to God only as your source of supply. You need to tell God that you're going to look to Him alone to provide for your needs and that you won't look anywhere else.We get ourselves in trouble when we confuse the channel with the source. God may use your paycheck from work as the channel to supply your needs, but your employer is just the channel for God's provision—and God can shift to another channel anytime he wants

You can discover more about someone through one hour of play than many hours of conversation.
Plato

While driving home after my haircut today, I was pleasantly surprised to hear an interview on BFM of the positive effects of FUN (one of our themes in New Life) on productivity, turnover and profitability.

I am not a 'FUN' person so this will be one of my personal goals this year.
I also want to help our church folks enjoy church and also serve with joy and happiness.

Fun stimulates Creativity.

Do you go to church out of a sense of Privilege or do you do it out of a sense of Patronage?

"To patronise a church is a dreadful attitude as if God needs you- God can do perfectly well without you.
It is a privilege to belong to a church; we do not patronise it, we do not support it,
we count it a privilege to draw grace and love
from Christ through fellowship."
David Pawson again.

"I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing"

The Church of Laodicea

David Pawson wrote, "You only have a live prayer meeting in a church when people in the church feel they need God. If you do not feel you need God, you do not go to the prayer meeting. If the church does not feel the need every week of God's grace they do not get on their knees for it."