In Everything Give Thanks

1 Thess 5:18 ‘in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.’

I visited the Ti-Ratana Welfare Home in Kuala Lumpur with some of my classmates last Friday. It was the final part of a charity drive that the Law Society at my university had organised over the past month. We were to hand over the money collected through our volunteer work, as well as give gifts to the home. We spent time with old folks and orphans: talking, singing, playing with them and helping the kids with homework. It was not my first time at a home, but it had been a while since I went to one and it an enlightening experience nonetheless.

The home has 150 kids and they are cramped into the most Spartan of surroundings. They live on the bare essentials of life. They share rooms, toilets, clothes, toys, books, food, utilities, everything. They sleep in dorms with hard beds and with a lot of other kids. Their clothes are donated, not ironed, and labelled with names. Look at what you’re wearing now, where you stay. Chances are, it’s far better than anything those kids have.

They have about one adult to 35 kids. Can you just imagine how hard it is to get someone to listen to you, let alone demand that they meet your needs? The high school kids there get RM2 a day for pocket money. They don’t get to play computer games or go to the mamak as and when they like. They rely on donations from the public for everything. Some have gone through abuse by family members, and many show the scars, both on their bodies and in their hearts. On almost every aspect, I have it so much better. Chances are, you do too.

In their position, it is impossible to even think of enjoying the things we enjoy everyday. Things like freedom, mobility, choice, variety, love and attention from our families and friends, a good education, a good home, having our needs met, even getting to choose what we want to eat for lunch or what to wear. We take so many of these gifts from God for granted.

The visit reminded me of how lucky I was, how fortunate, how blessed by God. When I looked around the church building that evening, I saw how God had indeed blessed all of us so well, both materially and spiritually. The trip also reminded me of how I should, as a Christian, be less demanding and more appreciative of God’s providence. Sometimes, in fact a lot of times, we not only forget how blessed we are, but insist that God grants us the things we want; our whims and fancies. We don’t realise that what we have is already beyond what others can even phantom enjoying.

Look at your life. Look all the little things in life you enjoy daily, and give thanks to God that you can enjoy them, because so many people don’t. The song’s line rings so true, “Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Stop being too demanding and start being thankful.

Col 3:17 ‘And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.’

where should we stand

Jonathan from LAPCOC here. Although being in the army has segregated me somewhat from the happenings of the youth throughout Malaysia and Singapore, Joan has been updating me consistently on things that have been happening in the recent past. Having also been able to update myself somewhat through the blogs of various youth, I hope to give some exhortation to our youth in general.

As youth of this generation, we are constantly subjected to many different types of temptation, some of which are almost impossible to detect. We constantly fall prey to the various new weapons the devil has in his arsenal. To top this all off, there are minor disagreements within ourselves just to make life a little more "interesting". As a young adult myself, I have seen my fare share of arguments, among youth as well as adults. Some end in a peaceable resolution, some end in one side leaving the church. I want to focus mainly on the disagreements between youth and adults. I hope the people who read this take this in the right light. and with the proper mindset.

More often than not, youth and adults have disagreements of over a few matters: dressing in church, language in and out of church (which is difficult to keep tabs on), and social etiquette of the youth in BGRs with other youth of the same faith. I have probably left out some other things but the above are the things that surface most of the time in my conversations with my dad when we try to bridge the gap between the church leaders and the youth.

So to put in some standards that can help us decide if we are in the right or whether the adults are giving sound advice, here are a few verses that will help.

Christians are to be concerned with transforming, not conforming (Rom 12:2). Is the bandwagon we are jumping on morally correct?. A danger to youth that are weaker in the faith? A danger to ourselves even though we might fail to see it now?

We often want adults to be more modern in their thoughts, to not have old-fashioned thinking we say. Don't be so conservative can? We ask.

My denominational friends always say, we need a new gospel of approach to worship for this new generation. We may not agree to that, but now we embrace new ways of life, new styles of dressing, new lingos when talking to friends such that we are often more influenced than we are willing to admit. GOD DOES NOT CHANGE (Mal 3:6), CHRIST DOES NOT CHANGE (Heb 13:8) and most importantly the BIBLE DOES NOT CHANGE (Gal 1:6-9).

We as the youth of today MUST keep ourselves unspotted from the world (Jam 1:27)
Purity in lifestyle is the key to differentiating ourselves from the youth who are not of the church. We must retrace the line that differentiates the church from the world, a line that worldliness has blurred.

Dancing - We have dancing in proms. From the words lasciviousness and revelllings, we can tell that the bible does not allow these things (Gal 5:19-23).

Immodesty - Although from 1 Tim 2:9-10 we only see reference to women, both guys and girls should be dressed modestly at ALL TIMES. There has been debate often on the dress code of the youth during service. I don't know of a verse that says we must wear shirts and ties to every service. I for one do not feel that we need to go to that extent of formality. HOWEVER, I believe in respecting the decisions of the leaders of my church, any church for that matter. If they decide that it is necessary and keep it as a matter of opinion, I will listen to them.

Impure speech - This is usually the one that kills us all. In one period of our life or another, we would have been influenced to speak in sentences that contain various vulgarities. I for one am guilty of it and give no excuse for my behaviour. It is important to understand the importance of purity in speech especially when we're with our friends who are not of the church. No corrupt communication is to proceed out of our mouths (Eph 4:29).

These are the few things we often contest with our leaders. I understand that we as youth are often open to new experiences and like to try things even if they are often dangerous to our spiritual health. More often than not, it makes it so much more exciting when we have the adults trying so hard to stop us... haha. Just think about where our church will be 100 years from now if we keep giving in to new ideas set before us by the world. Just one a year and we would have deviated from the word so much, we would be no different from any of the denominations. Let us work together to keep our youth pure at heart, mind and spirit. We are after all, the leaders of tomorrow.

1 Thessalonians 5:11-19

11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:11-19

These wonderful words of exhortation were given by Paul to the Thessalonians, who are considered by some scholars to be the 'model church'. They are an encouragement towards better Christian living that I find to be concise, simple and yet profound. It is a far cry from the lifestlye doctrines of this modern age, especially compared to the corporate culture of 'eat or be eaten'.
Today's 1 Thess 5:11-19 might go something like this...

Therefore distress and backstab each other, just as you also are doing.
We urge you to ignore and offend those who are above you and those who work for God, esteem them very lowly because their jobs are inferior compared to yours. Be at war among yourselves.
Now we exhort you, brethen, join those who are unruly, dispose the fainthearted, step over the weak, be over-demanding to all.
Always render evil to everyone, especially if they started it. Pursue what is good for yourself and what is bad for everyone else.
Be quick-tempered and depressed always, pray only when in deep trouble. Thankfulness is unnecessary, you deserve everything; the will of God in Christ Jesus has nothing to do with you.
Quech everybody's spirit. Despise everything spiritual. Accept all other things; hold fast what is bad if it profits you. Embrace every form of evil, it's fun.

Now, which 1 Thess 5:11-19 do you subsribe to?

In God's Name

The Sunday Times of UK published a comment piece at the beginning of the week on the issue that is filling up the pages of our newspapers' WORLD sections. I know this issue probably has little effect on most other people who are not students of journalism but here's an excerpt we can learn from:

Of all the casualties of globalism, religious sensibility is the most hurtful. I once noticed in Baghdad airport an otherwise respectable Iraqi woman go completely hysterical when an American guard set his sniffer dog, an “unclean” animal, on her copy of the Koran. The soldier swore at her: “Oh for Christ’s sake, shut up!” She was baffled that he cited Christ in defence of what he had done.

We are all familiar with the Matthew 5:16 verse Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I suppose the soldier wasn't a Christian. He probably wouldn't have used God's name so freely if he was one. But I've heard many Christians do it (and I admit I am guilty of it too). This article is a startling eye-opener to what non-Christians may think of our conduct and speech.

It's not just using God's name in vain. It's also about making sure that people always think of Christians in a proper way. I guess this is just my reminder to me to be careful what the world thinks of me. I hope it reminds you of something too.

Going to Church?

Why do you go to church every Sunday? A direct answer will probably come to your mind. But before you give me this first answer, think about the question a little, and think about the first answer you thought of. In fact, think about the wording of the question. Is it even scripturally correct to say “go to church”?
What exactly is the church to you?

For Catholics, it is their grandiose and extravagant cathedrals, filled with candles and incense, statues, stained glass and clergymen in robes. They expect to feel God’s presence when they enter these lofty buildings, and feel a celestial aura which they do not feel outside, or so they claim.

For the Salvation Army, it is a charitable organization, whose raison d’etre is to help feed, clothe and alleviate the poor, sick, or war-stricken. For the United Church, it is a social club, where connections and deals are made and where social standing can be cemented. For the Church of England, it is an assembly for the royal family and members of the government, a group with great political clout. For TV evangelists, it is a profit generating machine, through attendance and appearance fees, sales of books and recordings.

For the Mormons and cult groups it is an organization of people who are to be extremely apart from the world and are not to be associated with others who do not belong to the church.

For unbelievers, it is an organization divided over itself, with a confusing and conflicting variety of doctrines, structures and names. For them it is filled with old- fashioned people, hypocrites, extremists, and madmen. Some see it as money orientated, some see it as an obsolete institution, unsuitable for the modern world.

We may scoff detachedly at these prevalent views, but upon closer inspection, we may hold some inkling of them. When we say “go to church”, it is understood that we are going to the building where we regularly assemble with the saints to worship. Yet, the more appropriate way of saying this would be “Going to the church('s) building”, “Going to assemble at the building”, "Going to worship at the regular meeting place” or “Going to worship with the saints/other members”. Using a building to meet regularly in is not contrary to scripture, but the church is not a physical building, in fact it is said that the early Christians had no permanent meeting place or structure.

If something, say a flood, were to render the building we use now unsuitable for assembly, any other place would still be acceptable, and we would still be “going to church”, so to speak. The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ which is translated as ‘church’ means ‘called out ones’. The church is actually its members (I Cor. 12:12-14)- a group separate and called to holy, apart from the carnal world. Do you personally view the church as a building or specific place?

Do you view the church as a social club? You may not think so explicitly, but examine your reasons for coming regularly. Do you come to church to meet friends and catch up over news? To fill up your Sunday mornings with some social interaction? It is not wrong to encourage each other and have fellowship when we meet, in fact it is scriptural (Heb. 10:24-25), but that should not be our primary reason. There are other occasions where we can meet up for leisure, but on Sunday mornings, our main reason is to worship God with the saints.

Do we come to church to get a ‘high’, from the singing, fellowship and sermon? Do we come to get a ‘buzz’ to live on for the week? Do we even come to feel good about ourselves, proud that we are doing something ‘holy’ or ‘religious’? It is good that we are encouraged and spiritually fed when we assemble, but our main reason should not be to selfishly enjoy any warm fuzz feel-goodness in our bodies, or to justify or merit ourselves, but rather to please and worship God.

Do we come to worship for social privileges? Do we brag to our friends that we are active church members? Do we show off that we belong to an elect group of people? Do we feel more privileged, more blessed than others? We may be, but that is no reason to get haughty. We should be thankful of our opportunity to worship, but we should not come to glorify ourselves.

We are to come to the assembly to worship and glorify God, first and foremost (I Cor. 14:26-27). We should come for that reason primarily, not for our own selfish purposes. We should avoid being distracted by things other than this when we sing, when we study or listen to the sermon, when we pray, when we partake the Lord’s Supper, or give our offerings. We should not be thinking about what we will do after the service, what happened the day before or what we will eat for lunch.

So before you instinctively answer my fist question with “To worship God”, think about your intentions and motives first. Remember we must worship in spirit and truth (Jn. 4:24) Are you coming for the right reasons at all?

I want more

Human beings are slaves to desire. Abraham Maslow captured well the substance of human life with his pyramid of needs. When I compare my master goal list of things to do before I die, I see in it all those categories in the pyramid: things I want to buy, places I want to visit, adventures I want to try.

Our life in the human world seems to be built of extensive study to gain knowledge, hard work to gain wealth, eating, drinking and being merry; not because we may die tomorrow, but because we think we may live on this earth yet longer.

It is my dream to either have great wealth, or power, or respect, or knowledge. If not to enjoy it, at least to find out: what would it be like?

The Bible presents an example of a man we all dream of becoming (gender notwithstanding) and work towards: Solomon.

Money, power, prestige - he had it all. Yet at the end of it, what did he have to say for himself? Ecc 12:8-14 sums his life up well with the famous "all is vanity" phrase.

Here is a man who preached sticking to God's word (v11), while at the same time condemning the uselessness of writing books and studying (v12). None of what we do is of any use. None of it will ever make us happy. Because human nature was made for one thing and one thing alone: to obey God's word.

Sparks

About Sparks

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. Romans 14:19

This space was created as a means for youth of the Churches of Christ around the world to share their daily experiences and spiritual experiences with others of like faith.

By sharing our lives, our hopes, our fears and our thoughts on God, Christ and Christianity, we hope that both writer and reader will edify and learn or be edified.

In the process of communicating with each other we hope that the youth will grow closer and increase in love for each other, as well as grow in zeal for Christ.

Recent events have made it all the more necessary for us to communicate with each other and nurture Christian love among the Churches of Christ.

Ultimately we hope that our effort will glorify God and add more souls to His kingdom, both directly and indirectly.

How You Can Contribute

To reduce the workload of the site moderators we currently have only a few writers on the core team.

However, if you have something you wish to share, you may e-mail it to sparks (dot) admin (at) gmail (dot) com.

Our moderators will take a read and if it fulfils any of our objectives we will be happy to post it and credit you.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the team, we are very interested in having you.

Send us a trial article to the same address, stating your intention to join the team, as well as some background information on yourself, and we (the administrators and moderators) will evaluate your suitability.

The only requirements are an earnest desire to help our cause, although a reasonable command of English will help.

Ground Rules

1. All posts must be original works. Anything non-original must be attributed and if available online, a link must be included.
   
2. All posts must at least fulfil one of our main objectives i.e. to Glorify, Unify or Edify (GLUE).
   
3. Absolutely no profanity. Please stick to the safest of safe in terms of language.
   
4. No defamation, meaning do not write anything that may damage the reputation of a person or institution/congregation. This may result in legal suits: something we wish to avoid. Also, no personal attacks.
   
5. Articles should be personal, informal, relevant and spiritually encouraging or helpful to young Christians. We are not looking for heavy doctrinal essays here, although Biblical quotations where appropriate are highly encouraged.
   
6. All posts are subject to moderation by brothers Steven Chan (Klang Church of Christ) and Mark Lim (Damansara Utama Church of Christ). Posts are also subject to editing for grammar and clarification of meaning. Editing will be done by the administrators on a regular basis.
   
7. Any infringement of above rules will lead to removal of the post and a possible ban from posting again.

May this be the start of a journey that Glorifies God, Unifies youth and Edifies Christians for a long time to come.

The administrators,

Joan Ng, Damansara Utama COC
Joshua Chong, Klang COC