Money and Christians

This is to verbalise my thoughts after a week of being exposed to the sermons and messages conveyed by the FGBMF (Full Gospel BusinessMen Fellowship) ... so-called Ministry of Giving, by some multi-millionaires or Financial Kings from Malaysia.

The Bible is full of guidance against the love of money ... but on the converse, there are many verses on the need to work hard in order to serve God and for the furtherance of His Kingdom. The Bussinessmen are in business to make a profit and if that profit is being shovelled towards the expansion of God's kingdom, that is acceptable and noble. It is also mentioned that God wants to enrich his people and bless them with wealth and abundance of life.

There are some statements which are factual and realistically acceptable by all Christians walking this Worldly sojourn...

1. Money is neutral; possess it but don't let it possess you.
2. Rich or Poor, we are all slaves to money, as money is important to sustain daily living
3. Preaching on wealth creation is the obligation of all churches to motivate and encourage their followers to give affirmative testimonies of God's richness and blessings.
4. Blessed churches would attract more followers and believers.
5. Piousness does not necessarily mean poverty.
6. God owns the whole earth and universe and we ought to be His responsible stewards of his wealth.
7. In the Biblical era, there were many multi-millionaires too, like King Solomons, Kind David, Joseph, Isaac, Abraham etc. Why not now?
8. Some have the gifts of managing wealth on behalf of God, some have other giftings. So not everyone can be Financial King.

In all decison making, including money, first seek God's guidance by prayers; by internalising his Word (read the Bible, listen to sermons) and then listen accurately to God's promptings and signs. If you are totally faithful in your prayers, and if there is peace of mind in making the decision, that must be God's will?

Be Nice, my friends

We meet difficult, unhappy, grumpy, unfriendly and disagreeable people everyday... because often we are one of them!!

But we know deep down inside, we are not nasty people... just that sometimes because of some hurts inside us, we tend to express them outwardly.Very often being nice to the other person can be a relationship risk too. People may think that we have some ulterior motives....
Our initiative to be nice and overtures may get a snub or negative response from the other party. So what do we do? Men are social animals... we just cannot self-isolate ourselves...

To me, if I am genuine and sincere of being nice, I will not worry about what others may think or do or don't do.. that would impact on me.... life will move on happily or leisurely if only we all can let go our own ego..

Proverbs (from the Bible) 18:1 says " An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgement."

Mauao, Bay of Plenty NZ

Mauao, this Mount at the edge of the Mt Maunganui promontory, is only 232 m in altitude, with a base circumference of 3.4km.
I made it the summit on the 5th March 2010 on my first attempt and I found this small mountain an interesting tracking ground as there are many permutations of tracking routes you can take up and down... some easy; some require moderate to excellent fitness.... there was never a dull moment up and down, if you open your eyes and ears....

The view from the summit is breathtaking and so splendidly beautiful on a summer day..... my only fear for the residents in this flat promontory should there be a similar tsunami of 2006...

Hot Water Beach New Zealand

Normal people would go visit the Hot Water Beach and create their own spa pools in the afternoon low tide. I joined them on 4th March 2010 at about 6pm (low tide 5pm - and the best time to get the hot spring is 2 hours either side of the low-tide) - see photos.

The next day, totally unplanned, I woke up early and dared to be different (or you may say crazy) to catch the dawn low tide at 5am! I had the Hot Water Beach to myself from 4am to 5.30am on 5th March, under the bright moonlit and starry sky... it was a bit scarry when the moon was hidden by the clouds once a while - the song "bad moon rising" rang in my ears...I was prepared for any intruder by arming myself with a shovel (from the motel I was staying) and simply naked waist up (with nothing valuable to attract any robber). When I was in the private spa beach..... only the moon could see my entire nakedness....and later it was thrilled to have a shower at the open public shower station at the Hahei car park at 5.45am - carefree, everything hanging loose, cool and refreshing.....

For those who have not been to the Hot Water Beach... there are 2 hot springs about 10 metres apart at the beach which come up from a hot water reservoir some 2 km down in the earth surface, resultant of some volcanic activities some 5-8 million years ago. The spring water temperature can be high as 65 degree C (it actually burns the skin)... a combination of hot spring and cold sea water was a good spa mixture. This is unique to NZ.

Hot Water Beach is situated on the east coast of The Coromandel Peninsula, near a town called Whitianga, about 2 hours drive from Auckland. You can drive all the way to Hahei Beach or you can take a ferry from Whitinga ($4 return for a 20 mins journey) to Ferry Landing, from which you can catch a taxi for another 15 km to the Hot Water Beach.

Go try it. Try it my way?