Rock wall climbing, 24th June 2006

Salvation Army together with MAPs will be organizing a rock wall climbing session on the 24th of June near Jesselton Heights. The session starts around 10am till 4pm. Cost per pax is RM25 inclusive of lunch. Those interested please kindly submit your names to Kevin as soon as possible.

Are you Connected?

For a number of years Ken was a capable professional man, a dedicated church worker, and a leader in his community. Outwardly he functioned very well. However, people had difficulty in getting close to Ken because he seemed aloof. His family relationships were not good and he had ulcers. Vaguely sensing an inner emptiness, Ken joined a recovery group where he discovered that he was repressing man! y of his emotions.
Ken is still in the process of rediscovering his repressed self. Fortunately, since learning to recognize and express many of his true feelings in healthy ways, his ulcers have cleared up, and his family relationships have improved considerably.
Unfortunately, many people are taught to ignore their negative emotions. As John T. Raffa wrote in Psychology for Living magazine. "They believe you should hide such feelings—deny, deny, deny—and become nothing but a robot instead of what God made us, beings with feelings."
Obviously, the early Christians didn't act this way otherwise they never would have been known for their love one for another. Peter, James, John and Paul all emphasized the need to be honest, to be open-faced, to walk in the light, to openly confess sins and faults, and to love one another. Closed people are unable to fully love, neither can they have any kind of emotional intimacy in marriage and close relationships.
Only as we walk in the light—in openness and honesty—we have true fellowship or connection with both God and other people. And only then do we open ourselves to fully live and fully love—and become open channels for God's love to flow through.
"If we claim to have fellowship with him [God] yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7, NIV).
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please reveal to me every barrier in my life that blocks my feeling close to you and my loved ones so I can know true intimacy with you and the ones I love the most. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

www.30gigs.com

Hmm 30 Gigs of space for email!! that's a lot of space......anyone interested. I've gotten mine (kevinhan@30gigs.com)

2nd June,8pm - Youth Home Group@Church

This week's homegroup is at church....see you there. Remember to invite your friends!

Declaring God's Favor

The Lord is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words. I sought Your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your word. Psalms 119:57-58

Have you ever declared the Lord's favor in your life? Actually it's quite easy to declare God's favor for our life. "Father I thank You that I have your favor. Yoiur favor is opening doors of oppourtunity and bringing success into my life. Your favor is causing people to want to help me."

So go out with confidence expecting good things to come your way. Anytime you need God's favor in your life say in exams, when you need a parking space or when you are looking for a job shout it out and declare the Lord's favor in our life. Simply declare, "Father I thank you so much for all the things You have done and the things You will do, I thank you especially for YOur Favor and I know You are going to make a way for me to where it appears that there is no way right now" It's sometimes difficult to trust in Him, but keep on persisting and keep on looking till the opportunity arises. And when the opportunity arises remember to thank God for His favor.

Blessings
Kevin

28th April - Off we go to Batu Feringghi

We are going to Batu Feringghi for dinner and shopping tomorrow night. Any of you guys wanna join us??? If you do want to join us....just be at Rachel Spoelman's house at 7pm sharp.

Recommended Book to Read: Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen

Your Best Life Now Devotional - Book

Your Best Life Now DevotionalJoel Osteen
Daily Readings From Your Best Life Now: 90 Devotions for Living at Your Full Potential by Joel Osteen#1 New York Times bestselling author Joel Osteen offers 90 days of inspiration to help people reach their full potential. Joel Osteen's 90 days of motivational thoughts, inspirational messages, and helpful Scripture verses will strengthen our faith-in God, in others, and in ourselves. By applying these truths, we will be able to rise above our obstacles and live in health, abundance, and victory."Allow God's Word to refresh you and to reshape your thinking, speaking, and daily activities." - Joel Osteen

"I've been reading this books and I've really been inspired and touched by the many ways God wants to bless us and to give us His favor. Many times He wants to bless us but we don't let Him do so cause we block Him out of our lives. AnywayI hope you guys and gals will take a look at this book and read it.You will really be Blessed by this book.

Kevin's Recommendation : 4 biji Bintang

21st April, Youth Home Group

Time: 8pm
Venue: Kevin's House

I've decided to have home group at my place this Friday since it's a day off for Aunty Erika. Be nice to me when u're at my house ya or i will let the dogs loose. hehehee. Just joking.

Topic: PRAYER (ARE YOU PRAYING?)

Last night was the 1 and only prayer rally in Penang for the whole year. Believe it or not only 1. Even Youthwave this year isn't doing any prayer rallies. There seems to me that the practice of prayer seems to be diminishing from our daily lives.I personally believe that prayer is our superweapon against the evil one. I confess it's sometimes not easy to pray, but it's utterly important to do so. Let me focus on some fundamental facts on prayer..

What is prayer?
The simple answer is this: prayer is talking with God. We pray when we open our heart to the Almighty.True prayer is honest, humble and personal.

The main reason i'm writing this topic is this -

Why Pray?

1) It is a great privilege to pray. Can you think of any greater honor than to have an audience with the One who rules over ALL creation? We have been invited to talk with the one who put the stars in place. We are invited to seek counsel from the One who is truth and wisdom. We are invited to sit down with the One who knows all things. The Puritan John Preston lays it out very plainly,

2) We should pray because we are in a fierce battle. Constantly we are warned of the Devil's intention to neutralize and demoralize us. We are told that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:10).

3) Prayer is a deterrent to sin in our lives. In the quiet times of private, honest prayer God exposes the rationalizations and the excuses that we use to cater to sin. In prayer God holds a mirror up to our lives so we can see the way we really are. . .and repent.

4) Prayer makes a difference. I can't tell you how it "works" . . .I know that circumstances change when people pray. Diseases are sometimes healed, strength is imparted, guidance is given, hearts are softened, needs are met. I know that when I pray for others it helps them. But I also know that when I pray, I am changed.

I've also added some additional points here as to why prayer changes things:-

(This were taken from a missions pamphlet)

PRAYER CHANGES THINGS
1.Prayer obeys Jesus’ command to ask the LORD of the Harvest to send out the workers
2.Prayer brings us into God’s presence, which changes us.
3.Prayer reveals to us God’s plans so we can cooperate with Him in them.
4.Prayer invites God’s participation & presence in the process
5.Prayer removes hindrances to the Gospel
6. Prayer prepares the hearts of unbelievers to hear the good news.
7. Prayer releases resources necessary to accomplish the task.
8. Prayer insures protection for workers and their work
9. Prayer releases spiritual power to fulfill the call.
10. Prayer exercises divine authority to change situations & people.
11. Prayer IS the battle! <------------ i like this one, when i was younger i always imagine myself in battle with the enemy, now with prayer i imagine a battle with the enemy and i imagine the enemy losing the battle. How can i imagine that the enemy will lose the battle? See next point
12. Prayer maintains the Victory. With prayer we will maintain the victory....so do you want to let the enemy gain a foothold in your life or in your family, in ur home, in ur workplace, in your heart? The answer is a 100% NO. What must you do to stop all the enemies deceitful plans? I tink you know the answer. My challenge to all of you reading this is to start praying and remember that if we don't pray we are losing the battle.

Dutch Sheets writes: Tell my leaders to PRAY more and work less. The sense he had was this: If we pray more we can work less.

Some interesting Prayer Websites for prayer

http://www.24-7prayer.com/cm/

Mall Hunt 2

Youth Home Group 31st March
We are having another mall hunt....it will be more xciting, fun and certainly more challenging....
Please meet in church at 7pm sharp before we take off.