Kundasang, here we come!

Our youth group had a short 2D1N trip up to one of the most visited places in Sabah - Kundasang. It's cold and very close to the majestic Mount Kinabalu. Here are some of the places we visited during the trip. This post is going to be more pictures displayed than words.

"A picture worth a thousand words."

First day: Canopy walk in Poring, Ranau

Entrance fee for the main entrance is RM3 for adult and RM1 for students. Canopy walk fee is another RM3 (adult) and RM1.50 (Student). Not to forget RM5 per camera/handphone camera. (Although I have doubts how will they be sure people won't take out their phone in the middle of the canopy walk teehee :))

The first of the five canopy-walk trails. It starts out with a reasonable height.

Strong and sturdy tree. Wonder how old it is.

Took this on our last stretch of canopy walk. Finger serves as a standard to show how tall the tree is! It's soooo tall! I must admit that it is quite daunting to look straight down. Feels like you're a step from falling. *gulp!*

Canopy walk: checked!

We checked in our Asparagus Cabin in Kiram's Village, Mesilau at about 3PM. It's a two-storey cabin with two toilets, a kitchen (with kitchen utilities, refridgerator, stove, gas), a living room, a dining area, balcony, and 4 bedrooms. For 12 people (18 max with extra mattresses). It's quite cold during the time of our visit.

Picture: Habel, Nina and Paul were starting up the barbecue and some chickens on the grill. 

Jeremiah and Faye beating the cold by switching their jackets. Yeap

Our humble but filling dinner prepared by Ninawau and team.

Our view in the morning as we do our morning devotion. Super love the serenity this place delivers!

Some woke up earlier than the rest, so we decided to go for a walk out from the Village.

Kiram's Village offers a range of cabins with really cute name of vegetables. Highly recommended if you're looking for a place to wind down, relax and just soak in the nature. Perfect for family. Oh, they also have restaurant that serves quite a variety of food like fried rice, etc. 

Jamming sessions with the bright sound of ukulele.

Sunday service at the cabin. :)

Paid a visit at Desa Dairy Farm, Kundasang. 

Can you spot the hidden Mickey? ;)

OMG.... Rosemary!!!!!!!

So that concludes our short trip to Kundasang. Although it wasn't long, I personally think it's just nice for a nice time of fellowship as well as relaxing and enjoyable! 

Nethy

Be blessed!

T-camp Tambunan 2011

9-11 December
Venue: SIB Pekan, Tambunan.

Photo courtesy: Vievia Viavie

....... Since camp ended, I haven't got the REAL time to relax and just blog about the camp. Only "now", i got the time and chance to write this blog down. :) (This post is quite lengthy but anyway, happy + blessed reading!)

On the 9th, after my lab session finished around 4PM, we headed for Sis Ju's house before departing to Tambunan for the camp. I really THANK GOD that our lab finished sooner than what i'd expected. We reached there just in time for the night open service to start. The camp was great! I believe everyone was blessed and God has been so good all along the camp. A good place to stay, delicious food (the cook was really good! and i'm quite an eater.) and new sisters and brothers in Christ that I came to know too! I was having great flu a week before the camp and again, thank God, my flu was subsiding by the time camp start. 


Here's the things that we all learned (information) from the camp that motivates us to be who God wants us to be (transformation)... And as usual, imma write it in numbering form for easy reading. :)


1. What happen when Jesus is here? (Mark 2:1-12)
Because Jesus is here, we have the Word of God with us. We always receive His words. THAT is much more of a big deal than witnessing or experiencing miracles. Miracles are temporary while God's Word never ceases. Nothing can beat God' promise. 2011 years ago Jesus proclaimed the gospel and guess what? He's still doing it now! Why? Because HE is with us (Did someone just said Emanuel?)
So yes, God is with us. Question is, why is that sometimes we are acting like He is not with us?


Verse 3: It describes 4 friends who helped their sick friend to meet Jesus for healing. We, Christians, have to be like the 4 friends and NOT the other way round. Christians nowadays are focusing soooo much on people's or their friend's differences and not their needs of knowing Christ. (their religion backgrounds, which denominations, and the list goes on...) We shouldn't be doing that. Don't build barriers. Build bridges. Because the differences and other stuffs doesn't really matter since the most important thing is that, Jesus is there.


Two is better than one. There are many believers who are anti-social. They prefer the idea of being alone rather than mixing with people. Yet, in some cases, they like to see people who are active in church. For example, a young man who are anti-social likes to see active young ladies in church. They will grab such active people by hooking up with them or dating or etc. But not only this, they will ask the girl to be like them as well, who are anti-social. Another example, guy who is a believer but often finds himself angry or jealous or uncomfortable when seeing his partner being friendly or ministering actively. (the root for this example probably due to insecurity or possessive characteristic. So watch yourself out.) Furthermore, marriage shouldn't be with such a people. Both partners should be complementing each other, not canceling each other out. They should not be a stumbling block when it comes to ministry and even with your relationship with God.


Verse 5: This verse shows that when Jesus is there, the critics or religious people will also follow closely behind. Simply don't give up when you get offended because God is with us. The critics may be even from the church leaders. But don't be discouraged. Don't be too sensitive. In ministry, there must be people who's gonna bad-mouth about you. But don't worry, God is with us!


Verse 10: It says that Jesus has the authority to forgive our sins. 
When we are already forgiven, we will celebrate it with singing and dancing. People who don't express their joy (e.g. church service) don't feel that they are sinful enough to confess and think that they are not worthy enough to go to hell. Arrogance.
We believers sing and dance for Him. No other reason but Jesus. Many people spend a lot of $money$ to cleanse their sins (e.g. rituals, holy places/lands). But in the reality: Only Jesus can forgive us. If we always realize that we, the unworthy, are forgiven by God, we will always celebrate it!


2. True worship (Matthew 2)
True worshippers are not passive but active. The journey of the wise men to meet baby Jesus in Bethlehem takes about 2 years. These wise men came to find baby Jesus only to worship Him, because they know Jesus is the Messiah.Truw worship experience extraordinary experiences. True worshipper who worship in Spirit and in truth will not sit around and wait. He/she will be active, not spoon-fed.
Verse 2: The wise men were asking around about the birth of King of Jews until the whole Jerusalem knew about their question.


Change of the heart is essential in true worship. A true worshipper realise who he is. One who only knows God's words but doesn't execute them will only be deceiving himself, like the Pharisees.


3. God is love but love is not God (1 Kor 14:1-5)
A person filled with God's love always think about how he/she can give. A mature believer learns how to love and how to forgive. Believers who has spiritual strength (kekuatan rohani), is able to forgive eventhough they are persecuted even 'till death. True love is willing to take the first step of openess (keterbukaan) in order to forgive and to give. Learn to love, bless and pray for your parents. When we strive to learn and seek God's love, we will have the chance to bless people!


4. The vine and the branches (Yohanes 15:1-8)
Don't do things that doesn't bear any fruits (spiritually) or results. Every branches that bears no fruit will be cut off by God Himself.
There are 3 stages of growth: Fruitless --> Bears fruit --> Fruitful
There are a lot of people who are like accesories (anting-anting), not the fruitful branches (ranting-ranting),
It is impossible for people to grow spiritually without God's words.
Verse 4: This verse says and remind us that, wherever we are, whatever we do, be reminded of how God is with you! Talk to God constantly. (pray without ceasing.)
DO NOT dwell in performing or doing church activities alone! But remain in Him so that you may grow from the inside out. It is essential to have an intimate relationship with God in order to grow spiritually in Him. Thus, being born-again is important for believers. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 
Ok, lets read it again... Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8) 
Let this scripture sinks into our spirit and be amazed by how God work when we draw near to Him. :)
If we do not have a close relationship with God, we will experience boredom in life. We need to do something about it (e.g. pray), not God. It is US who follow God, not God who follow us. 
When we are fruitful, we are giving glory to God! 


Personal thought: 
As i end this post, my simple prayer would be that none of us be astrayed from the ONE truth that sets us free. I pray that although many of us come from different backgrounds, let's stay united in prayer. Let's focus on what unite us. I just feel that the clock is ticking quite sooner than we thought 'till Jesus' second coming. It has been going on in my mind for some time now so i might as well share this here. I feel that there is seriously no time to waste. This year is Jubilee Year for Malaysia, as we all know. Last year's at Malaysia Day Celebration in Holy Seal City Mall, God's message has been: "Consecrate yourself." Amen.

Be blessed! ^^
Nethy.

YLTC 2

Venue: Kionsom Retreat Baptist Centre

Date: 30 September – 2 October 2011

            …and so I got there with Kenny only during the second day.

Had a refreshing time there with the Lord.  At this point of writing, I’m not sure what to write (It had been awhile I’d last write something long). Be patient with me and read through patiently as I unwind my packed thoughts while writing this down. I am not sure what to expect when I join this camp. Or maybe, give? But anyhow, I know something’s gonna happen there. So here it goes… These are all during the sermons by Ps. Ong (like before, Imma do it in point form for easy reading and mind-processing) =) :

1) If you love God, you will obey Him.

Love birthes obedience. True love hates sin, it will not have anything to do with sin. We should love God more than our life (obey God). If we truly love God, we will realign our life plan ACCORDING TO HIS COMMANDMENTS and we will stop live life recklessly (dengan sewenang-wenangnya)

If we live in disobedience, we won't experience God's presence because God hates sin!

  

John 14:15-26 [Jesus promised us Holy Spirit] 

Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. The "world" represents unbelievers. He is not given to the "world" but to God's people. But nowadays, even God's people deny/reject Holy Spirit because they do not know Holy Spirit.

Develop a deep relationship with Holy Spirit. IT IS CRUCIAL (sangat penting!) Because without Him, we would not mature in Christ and would not progress spiritually. Remember that we are from dust and will go back to dust~ Don't depend on our dust-liness strength. (When you think you're strong on your own feet only, think again.) Depend on God (D.O.G.)! We are living our spiritual life because Jesus is alive, He has risen from the dead.

Stop being hypocrite and stop living for this "world". It is harder to live for Satan than for Jesus. Living for Jesus gives us joy, peace, serenity and harmony (It does!!)

Live righteously (Hidup dalam kekudusan). Don't follow your emotions but fear the Lord. (Yeah, don't let your emotions deceive you. I've been there and it really stings. Deal with your emotions, trust me, Holy Spirit will help you get through it. You'll be amazed!) 

Live a life with principles (of God, of course~), according to His commands.

2) PADI (bukan mamam...)

John 15:8-13 [Be fruitful]

P- persekutuan@fellowship

A- alkitab

D- doa

I- injilkan

No matter what, protect the body of Christ by obeying His words and be wise... Live for Jesus, not for your emotions. 

When choosing a partner, think carefully and PRAY. Don't rush but ask God about it and listen (when listening, come to God with a neutral mind because sometimes we tend to create an answer and assume that its God's voice padahal suara hati kita sendiri!) [Jangan tersenyum2 baca nie blog sudah la ah..]

See how things go about that person. Is he suitable or not? Does he fear God or not? Does he say grace when during your 1st date or not? 

(Notice that boy-girl relationship is very much highlighted during the camp, right? I think its a call for youths to really rise up and make a difference in our distorted youth lifestyle. Biar orang nampak kita lain daripada yang lain. Sebab they need to know the truth and the truth will set them free~~~ Dare to be different! One influenced person can influence the rest of the people ^^) 

If I am spiritually healthy, I will proclaim the Good News to people no matter how.

After this camp, when you're alone, satan will IMMEDIATELY attack you through your mind, play around with your thoughts, try his best to inject negative thoughts in your head. FIND an accountability partner!!! Don't be alone and keep all your feelings to yourself! Join fellowship... (In our fellowship, we share what we've gone through the days and just share to the group what we are having and we'd encourage one another through His words and lastly pray for one another. So, fellowship IS important!)

Final thoughts: Every camp, God is giving something new in each and every one of us. Keep expecting more from God. Keep your fire burning. Be sensitive to Holy Spirit. If you fall, quickly run to Jesus and confess your sins. He is ready to forgive... 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just 

and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9

I don't know when we will meet again but till we do, lets keep on praying for one another and be an agent of transformation that carry God's love wherever we go. Ada Amen? 

Amen... ^^

YL camp (8-10 July '11)

We went to this camp only on the second day. We couldn't make it on the 8th. But thank God for His goodness and perfect timing that we can join the camp! I learned so much through this camp.

I really wanna share it to all but couldn't find the time to blog this down. Yet, here I am now seated in front of this lappy, eager to share/bless y'all... =)

(Imma do it in point form so it might appear clearer.)

1. Beragama@Bertuhan? (Religious@Godly?)

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. - John 3:6

The most important thing is not about denominations or religions, but its about having a personal relationship with God and truly knowing Him.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life! - John 3:16

Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we have become children of God. Everlasting life is more than heaven. It starts when one receive Christ! Everlasting life does not starts in heaven, its about knowing God (truly knowing Him) here on earth! It doesn't matter how long we live on earth, what's most important is the quality of life we lived for Him. (Quality not quantity.)

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, 

the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you sent."

- John 17:3

2. God is a loving God, He's not a dictator.

At the camp, pastor shared about his testimony upon meeting someone who said to him (face to face) that God is a cruel God. He justified his saying by stating - that unless we believe in Jesus, we are doomed for hell. How cruel is God for asking us to believe first in order not to go to hell. In other words, he is saying that God is simply a dictator.

But pastor answered him wisely that he is wrong and will always be wrong because he is thinking with his human, fleshly mind. This was his reply to the man accusing God of being cruel:

We are already placed under punishment, not because we don't believe in Jesus but because of sin! 

Since the fall of mankind into sin, all human beings are doomed for hell. Whether we like it or not, we are already under God's punishment (di bawah hukuman). So God sent His only Son to redeem us so that we will not perish but have everlasting life! To believe in Jesus is not a torture or a death sentence, it is the only way out!

This makes me think for a moment after hearing pastor said all this. How many people have fallen into Satan's lies? This priceless truth I hope everyone will catch it and keep it in their mind and our God is a loving God, not the other way round. In 2009 I have been born again. Never even once I ever regret it. All of us who is in Him are His children. Amen? (Amen...)

Galatians 3:26-29

3. Obey obey and obey...

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee form you! 

James 4:7

Our mindset plays a vital role in directing the path we should take in life. We should want to live a healthy lifestyle, as God want us to live. Obedience to God makes us more mature in Him. The more we obey, the more we will get to know Him and the more we mature in Him. To obey God is to love Him. Many Christians have too much informations regarding the Word of God but there are very seldom fruits that one can see from that person's life. Impression without expression leads to depression! Too often we got ourselves impressed with the sermon by pastors and leaders but we do not put it into action. This will create depression within our inner man (Holy Spirit).

Apply the knowledges you gained and God will transform you and you will be submissive to His leading.

When we obey Him and His kingdom, we can fight the devil. Those who do not submit to God finds it very hard to fight the devil! Satan is powerless. He is a CREATED being and his power are lying and deception (penipuan). That's why he is called as "the father of all lies". We have the power given from God to fight against satan. But first we have to change our mindset that we are victorious & have the power to resist the devil. Stop living in defeat because its all been done by Jesus on that cross 2011 years ago! The devil is afraid of Jesus' blood.

When we realise that we're actually in a battlefield and not a playground, we will become more aware of our role in Christ! To fight against satan, we must know, understand and memorize God's Words.

4. Draw near to God...

"Come near to God and he will come near to you. 

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

- James 4:8

Once we take the initiative to draw near to God, He will surely draw near to us. Wherever we go, always remember God. Talk to Him wherever you go. (pray without ceasing)

Also, in order to totally focus on God we must not let the desires of our hearts drown us and bind us in chains.

5. Live by faith, not by sight.

As the children of Israel goes out from Egypt and into the promised land (but first through the desert), they complain and murmur among themselves. As the result of their action of disobedience, they did not go into the promised land that God promised them. Only Caleb and Joshua entered the promised land because of their faith in God. Read Numbers 13-14.

Complaining is a silent killer that kills severely. And in this case, their complains kills and cancel out God's promise for them. This apply for us even today! Whether we notice it or not, we have the power to cancel out God's promises in our life. Gossip is the major disease that spreads so easily nowadays. God hates gossip and so should we as His children. So don't miss out and never take God for granted! We should want to see how God looks at us and not how people look at us because at the end of our life, it will all down to between you and God. 

Let's pray for God's protection upon us and continue strengthening us according to His ways!

Let's bless bless and continue to bless! Yeehaa~~ =)