So folks.... be careful with what you write nowadays

Original Article : Malaysia amends law to hold publishers responsible for user comments (Clickable link)

Malaysia amends law to hold publishers responsible for user comments

Added 6 hours ago by Emily Tan , Be the first to comment

Sedition Act now affects publishers like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google, but many don't believe the Malaysian government is intent on targeting international or corporate players.

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UN says laws greatly restrict human right to free speech

In a move The Economist has described as ‘thuggish’ the Malaysian government strong-armed a series of bills through in the past month that greatly impede the right to free speech for the country's citizens. The worst of the lot are arguably the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which allows subjects to be detained indefinitely, and amendments made to the Sedition Act.

For the marketing and communications industry, the changes that bring the biggest chill of apprehension are the those made to the Evidence Act and the Sedition Act.

"The amendments to the Sedition Act are tremendously repressive and draconian," commented Ong Kian Ming, member of parliament for Serdang (a Malaysian town) and a member of the Democratic Action Party.

The United Nations has urged the Malaysian government to withdraw the amendments made to the Sedition Act as the laws "curtail human rights". 

Digital News Asia explains these changes as follows:

As noted by [Malaysian] lawyer and Digital News Asia (DNA) columnist Foong Cheng Leong last week, when read with the Evidence Act amendments – the infamous Section 114A – the Sedition Act amendments become more chilling.

 The Sedition (Amendment) Bill 2015 creates liability to ‘any person’ and "thus may include owner, host, editor and subeditor" of "online forums, online news portals, and even Facebook Page/ Group owners," he wrote.

Sections 3 and 4 of the Bill introduce the words ‘caused to be published.’ Under the newly amended Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948, a person who, among others, publishes or caused to be published any seditious publication is guilty of an offence.  

So what does ‘caused to be published’ here mean? It seems to cover a website operator who allows a comment to be published on his website (especially in the case where comments are moderated). This also covers a comment or a posting published on a Facebook page," he added.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and Twitter have been quiet on the subject. Requests for comment made to these organisations in the past few days have either gone unanswered, in the case of Google, or have found communication heads unable to comment.

PRWeek Asia emailed Foong Cheng Leong to pose a few more questions:

What power do these amendments give the Malaysian government against the tech giants?

Foong: Our laws may not reach foreign tech giants. However, with the new amendments to the Sedition Act and even under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, it is possible to block the websites of these foreign tech giants. 

What could it cost them potentially to keep operating in Malaysia?

Foong: Possible problems: being criminally liable, servers and other electronic devices being seized as evidence, and so on, during investigation. 

 What are their options? Self-monitor like Tencent?

A self monitoring practice is possible but it will be costly and time consuming. Unfortunately, we do not have takedown notice provision (other than under our Copyright Act) or laws to protect intermediaries, hence monitoring is required in Malaysia. 

One possible option is to have their operations moved out from Malaysia which is detrimental to our economy. 

Do you think lobbying will change these amendments?

Foong: Lobbying for laws to protect intermediaries would be recommended. Other than affecting the freedom of expression, it also affects our digital economy. Foreign investors will have to think twice before setting up their operation and putting their servers here in Malaysia. 

The impact to marketing and communications in Malaysia

Most agencies with a presence in Malaysia were unwilling to comment on the record. As one source puts it, "That’s just the problem, the government could choose to take issue with anything we say."

David Lian, general manager of Zeno Group Malaysia, however, was willing to speak on the subject. "Right now, we have clients asking about the implications of these acts, but without details on the government’s plans to implement, you just can’t plan. It is at present a statement of intent. We are advising clients to wait and see."

Lian pointed out that the bill had been tabled in the past, usually just prior to Malaysia’s elections when the government wanted greater control over dissenting voices. In 2008, the government arrested prominent political blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin for posting anti-government comments and in February 2015, the government arrested a cartoonist for a Tweet he made about the controversial Anwar trial.

"Wait and see", is the consensus of industry sources. Most are confident that even if the amendments raise a potential risk for clients, the Malaysian government will not use the law to act against corporate entities. Instead, it will be a weapon against political discourse.

"We’re advising our clients to tighten their policies around community moderation and to be upfront about it," said an agency lead.

"I actually don’t believe this legislation will have much of an impact on corporate communications behaviour in Malaysia," said Bob Pickard, chairman Asia-Pacific of Huntsworth. "The market already has a reputation necessitating calculated restraint in public relations and media relations."

The new laws, Pickard added, may however adversely impact the nation’s marketing industry. "Our craft is at its best when freedom of expression trumps even well-meaning efforts which may have the consequence of stifling creativity or squelching insights and, in so doing, holding back the development of a country’s marketing services industry. My best communications counsel for both clients and  governments is to proactively engage the online public as a source of new ideas to be openly shared."

Give God your Dreams

Friday March 27, 2015

All of us have dreams for our lives - aspirations to do something great or become someone worthwhile. When shaped by the purposes of God, dreams guide us to meaningful living.

Abraham had a dream - two dreams, in fact - and both were God-given. Old and childless in a culture of large families, he dreamed of having a son (Genesis 11:30, 15:3). God promised that his dream would come true and added one more. Not only would Abraham have a son, he would have a nation (12:2, 15:5, 17:5). Two big dreams indeed!

And that´s one reason we find Genesis 22 so baffling. Isaac is born - the fulfilment of the first dream and a glimpse of the second (21:1-3) - and Abraham is called to sacrifice him! (22:2). God was asking to have back what He had given. Abraham was to give up both his fulfilled and unfulfilled dreams.

The preparation would have been agonising. Abraham gathered his son, servants and supplies, and walked for days to the sacrifice site where he laid what was most precious to him on the altar (vv. 3-9). And just as the knife was poised to plunge, God intervened and gave Abraham back his dreams (vv. 11-14). Abraham learned two important lessons that day : the true God is not like the gods around him who revelled in child sacrifice, and nothing - not even a God-given dream - comes before Him.

Have you given your dreams to God - both the fulfilled ones and the unfulfilled? It´s the only way to ensure that our dreams are under His hand, and that they don´t become gods themselves. As He did with Abraham, God may well give your dreams back to you or give them back in a new form.

But whatever He does with your dreams, you can be sure it will come accompanied by a blessing (vv. 15-18). - Sheridan Voysey

Read
Genesis 22:1-18
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, 
but the Lord determines his steps.

Psalm 105:19
till what he foretold came to pass, 
till the word of the Lord proved him true

Question to Ponder
What dream do you have for your life?
Have you offered it back to God?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) March 2015 - May 2015 issue

Mongolian's murder haunts Malaysian elite

Abdul Razak Baginda

Mongolian's murder haunts Malaysian elite

By LESLIE LOPEZ / Kuala Lumpur of The Edge Review

Published on Thursday, March 12, 2015 - 17:43.

Last updated on Thursday, March 12, 2015 - 20:17.

In mid-December 2012, a handful of Malaysia’s top lawyers adjourned for late drinks at a bar in a posh Kuala Lumpur hotel after attending a wedding dinner.

What exactly transpired among the group of friends that evening is now the focus of a nearly two-year probe into charges of misconduct against one of the attendees, who has been implicated in the widely publicised murder of a Mongolian woman nine years ago.

After six months of quizzing a dozen witnesses, including those present at the drinks party, a three-member disciplinary panel of Malaysia’s Bar Council is expected to decide in coming weeks whether Cecil Wilbert Mohanraj Abraham, one of Malaysia’s most senior lawyers, did engage in professional misconduct.

He is alleged to have acted improperly by drafting a private investigator’s sworn statement that government critics claim was part of a conspiracy to limit the fallout from the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu by two police commandos.

The officers were at the time of her murder members of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s security detail.

Abraham, who declined to respond to questions for this article, has never made any public comment on allegations that first surfaced in late 2012 that he was involved in preparing the statement by the investigator.
Lawyers familiar with the tribunal proceedings say that Abraham has testified in recent months that he was not involved in any way in the making of the statement.

But the tribunal has also heard statements from other lawyers who have insisted that Abraham had privately admitted his role in drafting the sworn statement, which was also the subject of discussion at the mid-December drinks session.

Disciplinary cases are common in the Malaysian Bar Council, which counts close to 15,000 lawyers as members. The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board – an independent body under the Bar Council empowered to investigate professional misconduct – receives as many as 600 complaints against lawyers annually. These complaints largely involve dishonesty among solicitors who misuse funds belonging to their clients.
Few have attracted the kind of intense public scrutiny as the complaint against Abraham. Here’s why.

For starters, it was the Bar Council itself that lodged the grievance with the disciplinary tribunal demanding an investigation into Abraham.
Then the disciplinary case goes directly to the heart of one of the biggest scandals that continues to bedevil the Najib administration – the murder in October 2006 of Altantuya, a part-time Mongolian translator, whose body was obliterated with hard-to-come-by C4 explosives in a jungle clearing outside Kuala Lumpur.

A one-time political advisor to Najib, Abdul Razak Baginda, admitted to having an affair with Altantuya and was charged with abetting the murder. But he was acquitted without having to present a defence.

Thirdly, there has been renewed public interest in the Altantuya murder in recent weeks. The two police commandos were found guilty of the murder in 2009 and sentenced to death, but their convictions were overturned and they were freed in 2013 over gaps in the evidence. This January, however, Malaysia’s highest court reinstated the convictions.

One of the two convicted killers, Sirul Azhar Umar, was arrested later in January in Brisbane, Australia, after fleeing Malaysia in October, and there is widespread speculation that the rogue officer could shed fresh light into the murder in order to secure asylum and avoid extradition and execution in Malaysia.

In particular, analysts say that Sirul could reveal the identity of the person, or persons, who ordered the two policemen to carry out the murder, an issue that both the defence and the prosecution failed to address in the lengthy murder trial.

Meanwhile, the disciplinary charge against Abraham is another possible window into why Altantuya was murdered.

The following account of events leading to the disciplinary charge and the many twists in the tribunal’s proceedings that have involved Kuala Lumpur’s leading legal lights are based on interviews with lawyers closely tracking the case.

Most of those involved directly in the matter have declined comment on grounds that disciplinary proceeds are held in secret.

The charge against Abraham principally revolves around the affairs of the private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, who died in 2013.

Balasumbramaniam, who had  formerly been attached to the Special Branch division of the Malaysian police, was hired by Najib’s one-time advisor Abdul Razak Baginda to protect his family against harassment and threats from Altantuya.

Balasubramaniam testified in the trial against Abdul Razak and the two police officers in mid-2007. Displeased with the court proceedings, the private investigator signed a statutory declaration, as it is known in Malaysian law, on July 1, 2008, claiming that the police investigations were compromised to protect powerful political personalities.

It included allegations that Najib, who was deputy prime minister at the time, and Altantuya knew each other and had even had an affair. (Najib has always denied ever having met Altantuya).

That statement was made public at a press conference on July 3, 2008, but just a day later, in an astonishing about-turn, the private investigator made a second sworn statement retracting all of his previous claims. He and his family shortly afterwards fled the country and went into hiding.
Balasubramaniam reappeared in November 2009, and in a widely circulated video he recounted how he was forced to sign the second statutory declaration under duress.

He also claimed that he was never introduced to the individual who prepared the second sworn statement and only dealt with businessman Deepak Jaikishan, who coordinated the entire exercise to expunge the damning first sworn statement.

Balasubramiam’s new version of events didn’t amount to much at the time. But it did turn the spotlight on Jaikishan, a businessman with interests in carpet manufacturing who was widely regarded in Kuala Lumpur’s business circles as someone who enjoyed close ties with premier Najib’s family.

Sometime in December 2012, news surfaced that Jaikishan had fallen out with the premier’s family and was facing serious financial problems because of large loans on several property deals that had gone sour.
In what appeared to be an attempt to buy time and also some powerful intervention in his problems, Jaikishan began making public statements backing Balasubramaniam’s claims on events leading to the second statutory declaration.

In several press conferences, Jaikishan acknowledged that he helped facilitate the production of the second sworn statement that Balasubramaniam had said he was forced to sign.

He never publicly identified the author of the second statutory declaration, but there was widespread speculation at the time that Jaikishan was directing the blame at Abraham in private conversations.

Abraham, who started his law career in 1970, is widely regarded as one of the country’s top litigation lawyers. He holds the rare distinction of having acted as counsel for two sitting premiers.

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew appointed him as lead counsel in the late 1980s when the then premier sued Malaysian Star Publications newspaper group for defamation.

Abraham also acted for Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a 2000 case in which the then Malaysian premier resisted moves by political rival Anwar Ibrahim to have him testify as a witness in the latter’s corruption trial.

A former senior partner of Shearn Delamore, one of Malaysia’s most prestigious firms, Abraham is currently a senior partner at Zul Rafique & Partners, a mid-sized legal firm considered one of Malaysia’s most politically well-connected law outfits.

According to lawyers close to the situation, the Bar Council wrote to Abraham on a number of occasions in January and February 2013 enquiring whether he had any knowledge of the allegations made against him with regard to the preparation of Balasubramaniam’s sworn statement.

They say the response the Bar Council received from Abraham’s solicitors was that their client could not provide any assistance on the matter because of solicitor-client privilege and confidentiality.

Things changed dramatically in mid-March 2013. Balasubramaniam died of a heart attack, and days later lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu told a packed annual general meeting of the Bar Council that he had met Abraham a couple of weeks earlier.

Americk, who had helped Balasubramaniam prepare his first sworn statement on the Mongolian woman’s murder, publicly declared that Abraham had admitted to him that he had drafted the second statutory declaration on Najib’s instructions.

Americk also confessed that he and Abraham had agreed that the matter would remain confidential. But he was forced to break that promise after Balasubraminam’s death.

Abraham denied Americk’s allegations in response to queries from the Bar Council in early April. But that did not stop Bar Council President Christopher Leong from lodging the official complaint against Abraham for professional misconduct a day later on April 4.

The disciplinary proceedings moved at a glacial pace for much of 2013, with Abraham flatly denying Americk’s claims about what was discussed at their meeting.

Sometime in mid-March 2014, the case took a surprising twist when the lawyers acting for the Bar Council in the disciplinary hearing were informed of the drinks session at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in mid-December 2012 and that Abraham’s alleged involvement in drafting the second sworn statement had emerged as a topic of conversation there.

According to sources familiar with the disciplinary probe, six lawyers were present at the drinks session. Apart from Abraham, the other senior lawyers included Tommy Thomas, a senior constitutional and corporate lawyer; Johari Razak, a partner with law firm Shearn Delamore who is also a brother of premier Najib; Lim Chee Wee, a former Bar Council president and a senior partner of Skrine & Co; and Darryl Goon of Raja, Darryl & Loh, and his wife Foo Yet Ngo, who is a prominent family lawyer.
The sources say that all of the lawyers present have been asked to provide testimony to the three-member tribunal during several closed-door hearings over the past six months.

Sources say that one of the lawyers did acknowledge that conversations with regards to the second sworn statement did take place, the rest informed the tribunal that they could not recall or that they were not aware of any such discussion taking place.

The tribunal is expected to make a decision in coming weeks, which could see either Abraham liberated from the allegations against him or face disciplinary action, which would result in his suspension, or in the most extreme circumstance, an expulsion from the Bar Council.

In the latter case, too, the questions surrounding Malaysia’s most notorious murder scandal of recent years – in particular why the second sworn statement was prepared – will not go away easily.

- See more at: http://www.theedgereview.com/node/1008#sthash.QsEwN2eO.dpuf

Divine Diversity

Tuesday March 10, 2015

If you´ve ever strolled through a botanical garden or an art museum, you know that diversity makes for beauty. For some reason, however, this doesn´t seem to work within the church.

As we grapple with how our local expressions of the body of Christ are separated by issues of culture, race, socio-economics and theological distinction, it´s easy to believe that our diversity is the culprit for our disunity. Uniqueness and fine-tuned distinctions, however, are part of God´s original creation, intrinsic to the created world that He called "good" (Genesis 1:3-4).

In Genesis there was orderliness and harmony, a beautiful fusion of distinct realities. There was creature and creation, male and female, light and darkness, night and day, work and rest. The Creator separated "the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth" and ordered time around the rhythmic distinction between evening and morning (vv. 6, 8). God´s design was not for a world where everything was the same, but rather a world where all things (with all their multifaceted uniqueness) were gathered together in Him. Creation´s harmony existed because of its shared life in God, not because of any flat unanimity.

As God´s revelation unfolds, we discover that God exists as a trinity, the mystery of God being three-in-one. In God, there is unity and diversity. Humans, those who bear the Trinity´s image, also reflect God´s own reality. We, because of God, share a unity that can never be extinguished. But we are also diverse, each of us offering our unique selves within God´s world.

In Jesus, may we find ourselves living in harmony with one another, even as our unique selves shine brighter. - Winn Collier

Read
Genesis 1:1-31
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness he called "night". And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky". And there was evening, and there was morning - the second day.
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land", and the gathered waters he called "seas". And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation : seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day.
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds : live-stock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, 
In the image of God he created him; 
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.

Revelation 7:9-11
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice : 
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God.

Question to Ponder
What unique gifts has God given you? 
How has He infused your uniqueness with purpose and love?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) March 2015 - May 2015 issue

Always

Monday March 9, 2015

I was talking with a friend whose marriage had ended in a divorce. For years he tried to apologise and to rebuild a relationship that was broken. His wife, however, was bitter over an event that she couldn´t forgive - or forget. The event involved a loving act he had done to help her, but she didn´t see it that way. And her heart became stone.

The prophet Malachi brought a message of love and forgiveness to God´s people. Though they had sinned against God and had for decades been brutally carried off into exile as a means of His discipline, they had been permitted to return to their homeland. Knowing they were beaten down from their experiences in Babylon, God said to them, "I have always loved you" (Malachi 1:2). The people, cynical and sceptical, retorted, "Really? How have you loved us?" God then declared His control over human events and His promise to deal with Judah´s adversaries (vv.2-5) - something very loving!

Later, He said, "I am the Lord, and I do not change" (3:6). Had He allowed His people to be brought into captivity due to their sin? Yes. Did He love them enough to do so? Yes. Had He patiently waited for the returned exiles to repent of their lack of true worship and to stop doubting Him? (vv. 7-8, 13-14). Yes.

God stood before His people offering unchanging love and forgiveness. But He also sought the right heart response : "Those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said" (v.16). Of those faithful believers God said, "They will be my own special treasure" (v.17).

Due to difficult events, perhaps your heart for God has grown cool and has started to harden. Remember that He waits for you with open arms (Luke 15:20). You´re the special treasure He loves - always! - Tom Felten

Read
Malachi 1:1-5
An oracle : The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi
"I have loved you," says the Lord.
"But you ask, 'How have you loved us?'"
"Was not Esau Jacob´s brother?" the Lord says. 
"Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."
Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins."
But this is what the Lord Almighty says : "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. You will see it with your own eyes and say, 'Great is the Lord - even beyond the borders of Israel!' "

Malachi 3:6-18
"I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'"
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "
"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the Lord Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the Lord Almighty.
"You have said harsh things against me," says the Lord.
"Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' "
"You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.' "
Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

Psalm 103:1-5
Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle´s.

Question to Ponder
What difficulties have caused you to doubt God or to turn from Him?
How does the fact that He always loves you encourage your heart today?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) March 2015 - May 2015 issue

Words of Life

Sunday March 8, 2015

Sitting on my back porch in the waning daylight, I enjoy watching as patches of grey, red and blue flit through the air. Busy wings then grow still as the birds gather on my newly acquired feeder. A few years prior, thieving squirrels thwarted my efforts to feed these feathered wonders. Moving its location and even oiling the pole was not enough to keep the wily rodents from robbing the birds of the seed. Then, a friend introduce me to a spring-loaded feeder that closes if anything heavier than a bird lands on its ledge.

Like a bird feeding at a never-ending supply of seed, the apostles came to experience - in every sense of the word (1 John 1:1) - that Jesus was the "bread of life" (John 6:35, 48). Others who were initially fascinated with the Messiah´s ability to meet their physical needs were all too willing to walk away when Jesus called them into intimate relationship with Him (vv. 58. 60. 63-66). But Peter, when given the same challenge, responded by saying "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life" (v. 68).

Like thieving squirrels, the things of this world can strip men and women of their God-intended destiny. From false philosophies to personal criticism aimed at the heart, people look for life giving provision in the words they hear around them - only to find that they have been robbed of hope (Proverbs 18:21, 26:28).

Jesus came offering words of life. Words of hope. Words of love. As representatives of His kingdom, we´re commissioned with offering the same to those we encounter. Life will always bring moments of frustration, but whether we´re speaking to close family or perfect strangers, we must take up the challenge to be life givers, bearers of the seed of truth. - Regina Franklin

Read
John 6:45-63
It is written in the Prophets: "They will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. You forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

Isaiah 55:8-13
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth : It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord´s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."

Question to Ponder
Who speaks life giving words to you on a regular basis?
How those words influenced the way you see yourself or your circumstances?
How can you speak words of life to others?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) March 2015 - May 2015 issue

To those of you who call yourselves Christians, take your time to read this article and reflect on it.... because I know of some "Christians" who actually will react the way these Churchgoers reacted in the article.

If Jesus / God can forgive.... who are WE as sinners to condemn?

Original Article : The Pastor´s Son (Clickable Link)

The Pastor’s Son

Author Unknown

Like many inspiring movies and books, this short story may be fictional. However, the impact that this work will have on its readers is very real. Enjoy!

One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church.

She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children.

It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans.

This is when the problem began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son.

The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting.

As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand.

The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past.

As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be. He began to speak and his statement was this:

My fiancee's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?

The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters.

Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely, then it cannot cleanse us completely.

If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Psalms 55:231 John 1:9

A Humble Confidence

Saturday March 7, 2015

After helping his team win American pro football´s 2014 Super Bowl, a corner back declared in a post-game interview that he was the best play at his position, and opposing teams should send only their best players against him. His comments sparked a national discussion on the role of courtesy in sports. Although his remarks offended some people, you can´t deny that he´s supremely confident in his abilities.

What about believers in Jesus? Are we allowed to be confident, or is that somehow opposed to our calling of humility? (Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3). The apostle Paul doesn´t seem to think so. In 2 Corinthians he makes it clear that we have reason to be confident before God because we are qualified and competent (3:4).

But he also clearly states that this isn´t based on our own merits but on God, who has qualified us (v. 5). And He hasn´t approved us to pursue our own ends and purposes. No, we´re to be ministers of the new covenant that we have in Christ (v.6). And so, we can be confident in our abilities, as long as we recognize that it´s God who makes us good at what we do - and what we´re called to be is ministers of the gospel.

Sometimes I lament that I have nothing of any worth to bring to the kingdom, when that isn´t true! At other times, I recognize my abilities and am confident in them - failing to remember that they´re not suppose to be used for myself. So I often live in one truth or the other, but not both.

In Paul´s words, I find a rare balance between confidence and humility; I can be confident because God has qualified me, but I remain humble because I know that the work for which He´s qualified me is not my own. It´s His! - Peter Chin

Read
2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Philippians 3:1-10
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 
Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh - though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more : circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Psalms 71:1-6
In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of evil and cruel men.

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
From birth I have relied on you; 
you brought me forth from my mother´s womb. 
I will ever praise you.

Question to Ponder
How are you doing at balancing humility and confidence?
How are you living out the fact that God has made you competent as a minister of the new covenant?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Mar 2015 - May 2015 issue

Rescue

Friday March 6, 2015

In discussing the premise of the film The Amazing Spider-Man, director Marc Webb writes, "This is the stuff of classic tragedy. It´s about trying to do good, and by virtue of trying to do good, bad things happen. It´s what [the mythical Greek King] Oedipus does - he goes out and tries to save the city, and he ends up sleeping with his mother." Webb laughs. "His efforts are noble! But the irony of it is that he causes damage by trying to do good. That is, to me, the most resonant thing of tragedy. Spider-Man is saving people and the world, but it´s at his own expense."

In writing about how to serve others, When Helping Hurts author Brian Fikkert says, "The.... church should have a profound sense of urgency to spend ourselves 'on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed.' "

Fikkert says we should remember, however, that "good intentions are not enough. It is possible to hurt poor people and ourselves, in the process of trying to help them."

I believe that every good deed I´ve been part of in East Africa, where I live, has traces of things that went wrong or were counter productive. For example, by giving a child a scholarship to attend a school, I created a temptation for his father to stop working and providing for his son.

However, through serving, giving and doing we can play a part in expressing God´s love to others - joining Him in doing good, seeking judgement and relieving the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17). We can do the right things, even though at times imperfectly (Psalms 34:15).

May we reflect the heart of God as we reach out to those in need, living out His loving, compassionate, rescuing ways (vv. 6, 17-19, 22). - Roxanne Robbins

Read
Psalm 34:1-22
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
my soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles. 
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life 
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the broken hearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

2 Corinthians 1:9-10
Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.

Question to Ponder
What steps can you take to follow God´s wisdom and lead in helping others?
How has He rescued you?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Mar 2015 - May 2015 issue

Sing Your Way Home

Thursday March 5, 2015

Nine year old Willie might have saved his life simply by singing a song of praise. The boy was kidnapped from his driveway by a stranger. But the kidnapper then dropped him off unharmed after driving around for hours. Willie says he continued to sing the song "Every Praise" by Hezekiah Walker until the kidnapper grew tired of cursing and telling him to shut up.

Paul and Silas had a somewhat similar experience. Accused of trying to evangelise the Romans (Acts 16:21), they were severely beaten and thrown into prison. The jailer locked them in the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in stocks to prevent their escape (vv. 22-24).

At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God. Suddenly, a massive earthquake caused all the prison doors to open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off. But amazingly, not one prisoner left! (vv. 25-28).

The jailer was terrified, for he knew that he would be executed if any of the prisoners escaped. Undoubtedly, he was impressed by their faith in God, their composure and the unabated joy that Paul and Silas showed even when they had been unjustly treated and illegally punished (vv. 37-39). Most of all, the jailer was touched by their concern for him, for they hadn´t tried to escape when they had the opportunity. Wanting to know more about their faith, he asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (v.30).

Miraculously freed, Paul and Silas saw their freedom not as a means of escape, but as an opportunity to witness (vv.31-32). "[The jailer] and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God" (v.34). They certainly could sing with young Willie, "Every Praise, every praise is to our God. Sing hallelujah to our God." - K.T.Sim

Read
Acts 16:16-40
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody´s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don´t harm yourself! We are all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God - he and his whole family.
When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: "Release those men." The jailer told Paul, "The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace."
But Paul said to the officers : "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out."
The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia´s house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

Acts 5:26-42
At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man´s blood."
Peter and the other apostles replied : "We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead - whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honoured by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them : "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advice you : Leave these men alone! Let them go! For it their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Question to Ponder
Consider your life circumstances : is there an opportunity for you to tell others about Jesus?
Is there a reason why you can´t rejoice in Him?

**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Mar 2015 - May 2015 issue