STOP PRESS!!

Dear friends,

I have perpetually moved on.....to a new link as of the following:

http://ansonfclef.multiply.com

And I also have all that I've blogged in my Blogspot page last year transferred into that new site, so PLEASE don't browse this page ANY MORE but instead, go straight to the above site OK? Appreciate your attention and you will be able to see more about me and the current happenings....

Adieu!

Regards,

Anson

Singing on earth(as it is in heaven)

Worshipping God for His name:

Day and night they never stop saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come." (Revelation chapter four verse eight)

In this first congregational response found around the heavenly throne in the book of Revelation, the living creatures are worshipping God for His "name". In other words, they are focusing right in on the essence, nature and character of who He is. Time will come later to thank Him for all he has done - but the first step is simply to worship Him for who He is. It's surprising how often we see this vital element missing in some of our worship gatherings here on the earth. We skip right by the soul-gripping wonders of who God is and start singing about what He has done for us. Don’t misunderstand me - thanksgiving for His work in our lives is a wonderful and essential ingredient in worship - but the danger is to miss out this first step - praising His name - and automatically begin on the wrong foot. For to do so makes the worship more about us than it ought to be. Worshipping God for who He is helps us to ensure that our worship truly is "all about Him".

The living creatures cry out that God is "Holy, Holy, Holy" - pointing us both to his "otherness" and also to His Trinitarian nature. Next they remind He is the Almighty one - and the eternal God of yesterday, today and forever. Each part of the phrase is a pointer to His unfathomable worth. There are so many other names of God found throughout the scriptures. Each one is yet another revelation of the all-deserving wonders of who He is, and reminds us of the all-consuming offering of our lives that His worth commands. To worship God for His name is a vital ingredient in our worship.

Worshipping God for His works:

"You are worthy our Lord and God To receive glory, honour and power, For You created all things, And by Your will they were created And have their being." (Rev. 4:11)

This expression of praise sounds forth from the joined voices of the twenty four elders. Falling down before the heavenly throne they proclaim another element of response which we must be sure to include in our earthly worship gatherings - praise for His works. We worship Him as the God of all creation - the One who spoke into being every living thing. Creation may well be one of the most under-used pointers to God by lead worshippers today. Psalm 19 tell us that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the works of His hands - and that there's no speech or language where their voice is not heard. That being the case, shouldn't we begin to use aspects of creation a little more as a pointer and reminder of the great worth of our God? We live in a privileged age - the Hubble Telescope may well be one of the best worship leaders here on the earth! All the time scientists are giving us previously unseen views of the astounding works of God. Used sensitively and creatively these images can be an incredible tool in aiding us to worship God for His works. It's essential we worship Him as the Creator God.

Worshipping God for His wonderful acts:

"You are worthy to take the scroll And to open its seals, Because You were slain, And with Your blood You purchased men for God From every tribe and language And people and nation." (Rev. 5:9)

Next we find the living creatures and elders joining their voices together to sing a new song - and they sing of the wonderful acts of God. Specifically, they sing of the cross - the most wonderful act of all. It is an act of remembrance. We praise God for His name, and we praise Him for His works ñ but it’s essential we also remember and respond to Him for His wonderful acts.

There are many ways we can respond to God in worship for His wonderful acts. Take a look through the Old Testament and so many times we find the people of God remembering the mighty acts of God and His deliverance. The Psalms themselves are full of lyrics recounting the story of a saving God working wonders on behalf of His people. As God's people today, we should do the same. As Psalm 103 urges us, "forget not His benefits". He's the one who forgives all of our sins, heals our diseases, and crowns us with love and compassion. We look back over thousands of years of the people of God - the miracles He worked in their midst and the love lavished upon them. We re-visit the miracles and many kindness of Jesus as He walked this earth working wonderful acts. And we can also respond as a church family - frequently testifying to the journey we've been on together. We re-visit the times where God has lavished wonderful acts on our community, or the life of a particular individual in our gathering. When it comes to worshipping God for His wonderful acts, we must look at both the "micro" (our local little stories) and the "macro" (the big picture of how God has worked wonders in His people through history).

It's essential as lead worshippers that we pay attention to what we're singing about - and why. These heavenly songs are a great place to start, displaying for us a biblical model toward a healthy worship diet: praising God for who He is, all He has made, and for His wonderful acts of salvation and kindness.

My personalized links

The following sites make up my personalized links:

www.myfmusical.faithweb.com
www.dumc.com.my
www.heartofworship.com
www.normstockton.com
www.harmony-central.com/Bass
www.bassplayer.com
www.normstockton.com
www.edfriedland.com

Praise before Victory

"And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
MARK 14:26"

Praise is greatly honoring to God! In the Old Testament account of King Jehoshaphat, God's people faced a seemingly insurmountable enemy who was determined to destroy them. Yet God assured them that they would "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord" (2 Chron.20:17). The people of Judah believed God. Their army was led by singers, offering praises to the Lord for their promised victory, and the victory came. When King David led the procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, he praised God with all of his strength (2 Sam. 6:12-23). David's praise was pleasing to God, and God's powerful presence remained in David's kingdom to give him victory against every enemy.

Jesus was about to go to Gethsemane and to the cross, where God's greatest victory would be accomplished. He led His disciples to sing a hymn. The disciples were all about to fail Him, and Jesus was about to be cruelly executed, yet Jesus insisted that they praise God.

Their praise looked beyond the cross to God's ultimate victory. Praise is rooted not in circumstances of the moment but in the nature and Trustworthiness of God.

We ought to rejoice when God asks us to proceed in the work of His Kingdom because we know the victory is already secured. We should never focus on the problems and failures of others. Rather, we ought to focus on God's assurance of victory. If we have trouble praising God with a song in your heart as you serve Him, it may be that our focus is not on God, but on our circumstances.

Thots from God's Word to ponder 3

Proverbs 6:23-26 NIV

For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,

keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes,

for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

My ex-colleague once shared this to me, I think 2 years ago about things/passions I personally hold dear in my life and how they can be above God, and the prostitute, he related, is NOT necessary the immoral woman that we comprehend, but even pleasures that we hold dear, if they run out of control, COULD JUST BE LIKE THE SNARE/TRAP of the PROSTITUTE.......Thanks, David Gary......

Thots from God's word to ponder 2

Psalm 119:165

"Lovers of Your Law have found great peace; nothing can make them stumble - not even distress."

Thanks to Paul Sebastian, my Cell Leader for this valuable sharing

Tribute 2 Ming Fang

Something about my short stay back in Sitiawan last weekend:


10.30 pm 24/7/2004 @ Rosebery Net, Sitiawan, Perak


I popped by that place just to check email and internet, after buying my bus ticket to KL and getting some info regarding the newly-opened Sherwood Marina Cove in Teluk Batik near Lumut town. On opening the Yahoo Messenger, I found 2 pals online; Chris Leow and my old schoolmate, Khairul Hisham who came in later. I asked if Hisham ever got in touch with his old pals lately including Kok Soong, and he said yes and later I asked him about the latest news about a distressed old schoolmate: Lim Ming Fang, whose brother, Ming Juan was my classmate. Hmmm.....how time flies and so I missed that nice, lanky bloke I met during my schooldays........ Little did I realize that I was in for a shock. Ain, Hisham's wife had found out that Ming Fang had passed away in a nursing home in Ipoh (2 months earlier) and the email thread that he received from various parties reads as follows:


Email 1:
The facts: As you all know from last month's email thread on Ming Fang, he has been afflicted with some sort of muscle disease that has incapacitated and immobilized him. A few of us have been planning in the last few weeks to visit him at the Moonlight Care Centre in Ipoh this weekend. So I tried calling up the number posted by Gnana earlier to get the exact location ofthe place, and to find out how he is, and if there is anything we could bring for him. But instead, I got a house number instead of the nursing home. So I googled for the nursing home this morning, and emailed the link to Ain's addy with the new telephone number since she has more leeway with phones at her workplace than I do at my workplace. Joy, for tomorrow Saturday the 19th, we will finally visit our old friend which I last saw early 2002. At about 10 am this morning, Ain called me up and told me that she has learnt that Ming Fang died last month in the nursing home, and that he has been there beforehand for more than a year. According to the personnel that spoke to my wife, his body was claimed by his mother and the church, and was returned to Sitiawan. He also had some visitors from Sitiawan whose names Idon't recognize. Before his death, Ming Fang could also identify his visitors, and recognize who's who. That's all I have now. Does anyone have his mother's home number?


Email 2:
Saturday morning I called up the Moonlight Care Centre myself. More facts: He was interred into Moonlight with a mental problem, at first. He had epileptic seizures, during which he was quite self-destructive(i.e. bashed his head to the wall, suffocated himself). He could walk on and off. When he was okay, the lady who talked to me said he was a nice guy. He talked about his days in school all the time. He was in the Pasir Putih location at first but when his medical condition worsened he was transferred to Canning Gardens. The doctor who came to see him a number of times from Sitiawan was none other than our own Dr. Chua Bee Sim. He died peacefully in his sleep, apparently of cardiac failure which is the norm for cases like this I was told. Rest in peace, Kane.


However, I did not shed a tear though, as I received that sad piece of news but I realized that Ming Fang did not REALLY pass away in vain as he has just returned to the heavenly Father. At that juncture, a realization came to my mind that life on earth itself can be sooooo short.....my heart just went out to him as I could recall seeing him getting ministered by Pr Aris (Praise City KL) during the Merdeka weekend in 2002. From then on, I tried to obtain some info about him from another pal formerly of the Christian Life Centre in Sitiawan (where I found out Ming Fang got saved), Khay Sern as well as Kok Soong himself.....now that Ming Fang's back in the everlasting arms of Jesus, all I can do now is just to keep waiting........Rest in His everlasting peace, "Kane" M.F. Lim........

Thots from God's word to ponder

Luke 6:45 - The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Psalm 119: 11 - I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.