What Is Easter All About

The Easter weekend is here again. It is a remembrance on Good Friday and a celebration on Easter Sunday for Christians. Easter is another essential occasion for Christians besides Christmas.

Is Easter the prequel or sequel of Christmas? It is the sequel. As Christians, we celebrate the birth of Jesus during Christmas. However during Easter, we remember a pivotal event in the Bible, that is the death and the resurrection of Jesus, God's one and only son. This is the crux of Christianity.

Bad News

We have sinned by rejecting and disobeying God. Mankind has committed various despicable acts such as: 

• Sexual Immorality
• Adultery 
• Debauchery
• Idolatry 
• Obscenity
• Lust
• Envy
• Greed
• Rage 
• Selfish ambitions 

among others. There is no concept of "Small" sins or "Big" sins in God's eyes. All these angered God because God is a holy God and because of His holiness, the punishment for sinners is death.  We are all sinners and imperfect people. There is no one who is perfect and righteous except God. We are made to obey Him but we choose not to because we want to take control of our lives.

Good News

The good news is that God still loves us. He loves us so much that he sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to die on the heavy cross, bearing all our sins. Not only that, he resurrected after 3 days, conquering sin and death. He took the punishment for all our sins although He had no sin and defeated sin and death once and for all after He rose. We do not deserve this but God chooses to save us from our sins. God has forgiven our sins because Jesus has paid the price for each one of us. He does not remember our sins anymore. This is the main focus of Easter and the gist of Christianity as mentioned earlier. This is why the cross is an important element to Christians around the world. It not only reminds us of the suffering that He went through before He was crucified on the cross, but also the power of His resurrection, which results in the victory over sin and death, as well as the forgiveness of our sins.

Note:

There is a misconception that Christians are perfect people. This doesn't mean that Christians do not sin anymore after they believe in God. Our human nature is still to sin. However, as Christians, God gives each one of us the Holy Spirit when we believe and place our trust in Jesus. The Holy Spirit will transform us from inside out, help us to sin less and to love others more as we journey with God. All our character, actions and thoughts will be more and more like Jesus as we grow deeper into our relationship with God. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. This transformation is a gradual process throughout our life as Christians.

That is a summary of what Easter is all about

Here are some songs that we can listen and sing to during Easter:

The True Meaning of Christmas

Hi Everyone,

Christmas is the time where we receive presents especially children. Giving presents itself is not wrong but we also need to remember the real meaning behind Christmas. We need to know why Christians celebrate Christmas.

We celebrate Christmas to welcome the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born in a manger through the virgin birth of Mary in Bethlehem about 2015 years ago. The birth of Jesus came through Mary, a virgin who was pledged to be married to Joseph. Before they were married, Mary, a virgin¹, was pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Joseph, who was faithful with the law wanted to divorce her quietly when he heard about her pregnancy as it was shameful  for a lady to be pregnant before marriage. After considering this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him informing him that the baby his wife, Mary is conceiving is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and they are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.^2,3

I became a Christian by trusting Jesus as my God and Saviour during Easter 10 years ago. He is perfect and has no sin yet he bore the burden of our sins and chose to die on the cross for our sins, because of His deep and wide love for us. Jesus, who in very nature God, gave up his rights as God to fulfill the Father's will of saving mankind from sin. We are supposed to be at the cross to receive our punishment yet Jesus took them all. On the third day, He rose from the grave and sit at God's right hand. His resurrection proves that He has conquered sin and death. He died for all our sins regardless of who we are. All our sins are forgiven and we are made right in His eyes. We are saved by grace through our faith in God. He taught us to imitate Him, to be who He wants us to be. As we walk with God, we will bear his likeness and the fruit of the Spirit.

<sup>Below are the references to the birth of Jesus in the Bible. All of the verses are in the New International Version (NIV) translation.

Here are some related Bible verses that describes how God loves us:</sup> 

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV, Bible Gateway)

Romans 5:8-9

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
 ⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! (Romans 5:8-9, NIV, Bible Gateway)

Ephesians 2:8-9

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

(Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV, Bible Gateway)

1 John 4:16-19

¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

   God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:16-19, NIV, Bible Gateway)

Galatians 5:22-23

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23, NIV, Bible Gateway)

Through our faith in God, we learn to be generous and kind. We are also told to be a cheerful giver. We can give Christmas gifts and yet we also need to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. We can also remember the needy and help them as well during this period. We can pray for them so that they can find hope and peace with God.

I would like to share some Christmas songs with you this year:

Chris Tomlin - Adore

Chris Tomlin feat. Kristyn Getty - Silent Night

Chris Tomlin - Joy to the World - Unspeakable Joy

Paul Baloche - Hark The Herald Angels Sing



Avalon - We Are The Reason

Christina Perri - Happy Xmas War Is Over

That's all for now. 

Cheers,

Roger Koo

¹ Bible Gateway passage: Luke 1:26-38- New International Version

² Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 1:18-24  - New International Version

³ Bible Gateway passage: Luke 2:1-21  - New International Version

Wars

Hi Everyone,

There is still war going on in various countries at this age. World War III may be imminent with the nuclear threats of North Korea. War is still going on between Israel and Palestine. Wars may be caused by people disagreeing in politics, ideology or past history. Humans want power and control over all things. It corrupts the minds of people and leads to violence, greed and malice. When this happens, people choose to attack one another instead of negotiating with one another. We do not want wars such as World War I and World War II to repeat itself. We should be able to forgive one another and move forward. We cannot dwell in the past any more.

We should make efforts to make peace with one another although we disagree on various things. There are always disagreements and differences in opinions. We can negotiate and have a win-win situation. There must be no more killings and massacre of innocent lives such as the genocide during Pol Pot’s regime and Hitler’s assassination of the Jews. Discussions can be arranged to solve all these issues. Compromise may need to be made as well. World peace can be achieved if we make efforts.

Israel and Palestine

Israel and Palestine have been at odds with each other for a very long time. The leaders of Israel and Palestine have made efforts to have peace but they still have not reached a mutual agreement yet. Leaders of both countries should continue to discuss on all the disputes without any disagreements. Both countries should not further agitate the situation further by imposing other conditions or expand their settlements. They should settle the territory disputes once and for all. The war and dispute between these two countries needs to be stopped. More innocent lives will be killed if the war continues on.  More information on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the peace talks can be found here such as:

• Wikipedia, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• BBC News – Middle East Crisis
• Human Rights Watch – World Report 2013 – Israel / Palestine

The territorial rights including the borders for each country should be returned accordingly. Those that belong to Israel belongs to Israel and those that belong to Palestine belongs to the Palestine.

Japanese War

The Japanese was involved in the World War II which causes the US to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The Japanese actually apologised to the world. This is the list of apologies issued by the Japanese government after the war.

The British has conquered and ruled a lot of countries many years ago including Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan and Nigeria. All the countries gained independence after World War 2 ended. All the countries are part of the Commonwealth of Nations organisation now. Commonwealth countries have common values and goals such the promotion of democracy, human rights and free trade. There is no more war and colonization any more. Our country used to have war against the British to fight for independence. After independence, the war has ended.

We have been living in peace and harmony with each other regardless of nationalities and religion for a long time. There are a lot of multi-cultural cities in the world such as Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Sydney, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, Bangkok and New York. In all the cities that I have visited, I can see Chinese there. There are Chinese churches in Bangkok and Jakarta. There are Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians living in Melbourne and Sydney. Expatriates are also living in various countries to support the operations of companies and for transferring of technology to developing countries.

An interesting fact to note is that all of us are embracing each other’s cultures, products and technology. We embrace the good values of other countries. Almost every country is a multicultural country. Let's take a look.

Entertainment

Gangnam style dance originating from South Korea is so popular that Glee also made a cover in one of its episodes in Season 4. We listen to English, Chinese and Malay songs on radio. One Direction, Westlife, N-Sync, 98 Degrees are some of the popular boy bands from the U.K and the U.S. A lot of people like K-Pop bands such as Super Junior, Beast, Girls Generation and Wonder Girls. We are interested in Japanese animes and Hong Kong and Korean drama series. We also watch drama series such as CSI, NCIS, House, Chuck, 24, Glee, Scrubs, The Big Bang Theory, Law and Order SVU, Bunheads, New Girl, Miss Advised, American Idol and The Voice. We watch blockbuster movies such as Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, Iron Man 3, Life of Pi, The Avengers, Les Miserables, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Finding Nemo and Infernal Affairs. Roda Impian was adapted from Wheel of Fortune. Business news are widely available through Bloomberg, CNBC and Business Insider.

Technology, Cars & Brands

Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes, BMW are car brands that we buy and appreciate. Some of us prefer Chery. China made things are common. Printers sold in Australia are made in Malaysia.  Most of us use social websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We like to own an IPhone, IPod, Samsung Galaxy series such as Tab, Note 2, S4, HTC One, Windows Surface Tablet and Amazon Kindle among others. We use the PC everyday. We like Nike, Adidas and Reebok shoes.

Food

We have various restaurants showcasing the different cuisines of other countries. In fact, Papparich and Kayu Nasi Kandar has opened outlets in Australia. We have restaurants such as Tony Roma's, San Francisco Steakhouse, Sushi Zanmai, Baverian Bierhaus, Dae Jang Gum, Amarin, Dapur Penyet, Shihlin Taiwan Snacks here. Most countries have Japanese, Korean, Western, Chinese, Thai, Taiwanese, and Malaysian cuisines served.

Others

We all dream to work in Google or Facebook.  Most of us want to learn Mandarin to improve our command of this language. Everyone likes discounted offerings from Groupon. All eyes were on China and London when they hosted the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the London Olympics in 2012. We support international football teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. 

Do you notice that the idea of all these things above come from various countries such as U.S, U.K, Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and others? All of these things unite us. These are the things we share in common although we are from different countries.

In a nutshell, please do not start a war again in this age. Please live peacefully with one another embracing the good values of various cultures. If we can embrace each other's technology and culture, we can also end the war. 

Cheers,

Rogerkoo