1. Paul in Romans 13:13-14, NIV
13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

2. Paul in Colossians 3:12-14, NIV
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

3. Peter in 1 Peter 5:5, NIV
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favour to the humble”

It is so important that we are well-dressed because everyone whom we meet needs to be able to see these articles of clothing being displayed in our daily lives.

1. The Reality of Trials

We all have to experience many trials in our life.

2. Our Response to Trials

Three words stand out in the above passages – joy, perseverance, faith.

3. The Rescue from Trials

Two examples are God’s dealing with Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and the message of Jesus Christ to the church in Philadelphia.

4. The Reward through Trials

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1: 12, NIV)

Perhaps this may help us to react differently when trials come our way!

Afghanistan is the worst place in the world to be a mother and Norway is the best, with stark differences in conditions for women and children in the two countries, a report by the non-profit group, Save the Children, says.

In Afghanistan and the nine other countries at the bottom of the Mothers’ Index, compiled by the nonprofit group Save the Children, mothers and their children endure “grim conditions,” with one in six kids dying before age five and one in three suffering from malnutrition.

Nearly half the population in the worst countries to raise kids lack access to clean water, and only four girls for every five boys are enrolled in primary school.

Most of the other bottom-ranked countries in the index are in sub-Saharan Africa. From worst to less bad, they are Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Mali, Sudan and the Central African Republic, the index says.

The top 10 countries, in order, were the five Nordic nations of Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland; followed by Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Women and children enjoy excellent health, education and economic conditions in these countries, the report says.

In Norway, for instance, “skilled health personnel are present at virtually every birth” while in Afghanistan, only 14% of births are attended, the report says.

The average life expectancy for a Norwegian woman is 83 years; in Afghanistan, it is 45.

More than eight in 10 Norwegian women use a modern method of contraception, and only 1 in 175 will lose a child before his or her fifth birthday.

”At the opposite end of the spectrum, in Afghanistan… less than 16% of women are using modern contraception and one child in five dies before reaching age five.

”At this rate, every mother in Afghanistan is likely to suffer the loss of a child,” the report says.

Save the Children researchers documented conditions for mothers and children in 164 countries: 43 developed nations and 121 in the developing world.

Germany, Spain and Britain ranked just outside the top 10 of the index, while the United States was 31st, just above Luxembourg and Belarus.

Malaysia ranked 36th, along with United Arab Emirates.

(The Sun, April 11th 2012)

How far have we fallen short of God’s basic teaching that all mothers and children are created in God’s image and are of equal value!

1. The Father calls his Son, “beloved”

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. (Luke 9:35)

2. Every Christian is “beloved” of God

To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)

What was true of the Christians in Rome can be applied to every believer in Jesus Christ.

3. The Apostle Paul calls individual Christians “beloved”

Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. (Romans 16:8)

Do we ever call our Christian friends “beloved”?

4. “Beloved” Christians must work out their own salvation

5. “Beloved” Christians must love each other

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. (1 John 4:11)

All the Scriptures are taken from the King James Version. Although the word ‘beloved’ may be old-fashioned, it is good to remind ourselves of these important truths.

As of February this year, an accumulated total of 860 people have been sentenced to death for various offences such as murder, drug trafficking, firearms and kidnapping.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said this based on statistics from the Prisons Department in a written reply to Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Bukit Bendera) in Parliament today.

”Of the figure, 616 cases are in the process of appeal in the Court of Appeal, 94 in the Federal Courts and 150 in the Pardon Board.

”Thus, the death penalty has not been carried out as all those convicted are (in various process of) appealing their sentences,” the minister said.

Hishammuddin further said the statistics also showed that since 2005 to 2011, 79,487 prisoners were caned.

”Of this, 46,338 or 58.3% are Malaysians while 33,149 or 41.7% are foreigners,” he said.

In a press conference later at the Parliament lobby, Liew said the number of people sentenced to death has increased from the figure in February last year.

Comparing to a written reply he received last year, he said as of Feb 22 last year, 441 executions have taken place between 1960 and 2011 while 696 people were sentenced to death.

He said during a roundtable discussion held in Parliament by opposition MPs last year, they collectively felt there is a need to review Section 39 (b) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

”We are not asking for a total abolishment of the death penalty but we are urging that judges (who preside on such cases) to be given discretion when it comes to deciding such cases,” said Liew. (The Sun, March 27th 2012)

It should be noted that no figures are given either for the death of prisoners whilst in police custody or the number of alleged criminals who have been shot dead by the police.

Executions, death row and caning – not a very good record for a country which is seeking to be regarded as developed.

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
We too, on our Christian journey, can share in the events of that Easter Sunday evening. We can share in the disciple’s experience of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. (John 20:19-23, NIV)

1. His presence with us
‘Jesus Christ came and stood among them.’

2. His gift of peace to us
Jesus said ‘Peace be with you!’

3. His purpose for us
‘As the father has sent me, I am sending you.’ In order that we can carry out this purpose, he gives us the Holy Spirit.

4. His pardon of us
Only God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, can forgive the guilt of our sins. ‘If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1: 9, NIV)

We must ask God to forgive us when we sin and we must forgive ourselves when we know that God has forgiven us. We must forgive those who sin against us. And, as it says in Verse 23, when people come to us concerning their own forgiveness, we can tell them that they are forgiven or that they are not forgiven, depending on their attitude and action.

His presence, his peace, his purpose and his pardon – this is what the risen Lord Jesus Christ offers us, not only at Easter but on every day of our lives.

1. Our Time of Need
This may include personal sin, lifestyle, family/friends, accommodation, unemployment, workplace, finance, health, bereavement, local church/NGO and so the list goes on and on.

2. Our Responsibility
We are to ‘approach the throne of grace with confidence.’ Note that the One who reigns on this throne is our heavenly Father. Note also that it is a ‘throne of grace’, from which God pours out his love (which we do not deserve) on us. Grace is undeserved love. We are to approach the throne of grace ‘with confidence’, believing that God will both hear us and act in his own way and in his own time.

Of course, we can only approach the throne of grace through Jesus Christ, the son of God, who has opened up the way for us by his death, resurrection and ascension. We make our requests ‘in his name’ and ‘for his sake’.

So we approach the throne of grace with both our own needs and also the needs of others.

3. God’s Response
Firstly, we are promised that we will receive ‘mercy’. God loves us so much. Secondly, we will find ‘grace to help us in our time of need’. For each of us, the ‘how’ and the ‘when’ will be different but God promises and so we can have confidence that we will find this help.

KOTA KINABALU: The killing of sharks in the vicinity of the world’s premier diving haven of Sipadan is setting off alarm bells among conservationists who want immediate safeguards in place to protect the fast diminishing species.

International and local divers have filmed dead sharks with their fins removed while diving around popular spots around Sipadan and Mabul and other reefs and islands in the east coast of Sabah.

Tourists continue to see sharks being finned along the beach near the village in Mabul Island and the carcasses thrown back into the sea.

“This is not good for Sipadan’s international image,” Sabah-based non-governmental organisation Borneo Conservancy headed by Daniel Doughty said.

Borneo Conservancy, which is pushing for the creation of the Semporna Shark Sanctuary, is hoping the state government will put in place a sanctuary ahead of Sabah’s plan to ban total shark hunting.

Conservationists in Semporna said their ground teams had witnessed the finning of sharks “once every two to three days” over the last 12 months.

“With an average of more than 50 sharks seen dead each day, we estimate that the number could be much higher as we don’t see sharks being finned,” said a conservationist who declined to be named.

The proponents of a sanctuary said dive tourists had shown videos of dead sharks being dumped on reefs in Mabul.

“Sadly, more tourists are seeing these images for real on Mabul Island and in Semporna and they have complained about the lack of protection for sharks and marine life in this world famous dive destination,” said the conservationist.

Doughty said there was a need for the state to have a shark sanctuary in Semporna as an immediate measure while waiting for changes to federal laws to facilitate a ban on shark hunting in Sabah waters.

“The shark population is depleting; we must act now,” he said, adding that an online petition for the setting up of the sanctuary had gained nearly 12,000 signatures from at least 40 organisations involved in shark and marine conservation worldwide.(The Star, 10th March 2012)

We must say a definite “NO” to shark’s fin soup or any other shark delicacy!

Almost every one of the over 15,000 Malaysians awaiting organ donor transplants suffers from kidney failure.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin revealed that of the 15,078 patients seeking an organ transplant in the country, 15,055 are for kidneys.

“The others awaiting organ donors include liver failure patients and heart and lung patients,” he said when launching the World Kidney Day celebrations at Dataran Merdeka yesterday.

Muhyiddin noted that the number of Malaysians requiring dialysis treatment owing to kidney failure had increased from 7,837 in 2001 to 22,932 in 2010.

To help the less fortunate cope, he said the Government had allocated RM171.1mil to non-governmental organisations between 2001 to 2010 to provide subsidised dialysis treatment for 23,390 individuals.

He added that RM20.1mil in capital grants were also provided to NGOs to buy dialysis machines over the last decade.

At a press conference later, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that although 188,147 people had registered as organ donors, the number was still low compared to other countries.

“The number represents a donor ratio of 0.6 per million population compared to Spain where it is 35 per million population and five per million population in Singapore,” he said.

However, Liow noted that greater awareness programmes had helped increase the number of people coming forward to pledge their organs from 7,500 in 2005 to 28,000 last year. (The Star, 5th March 2012)

I must confess that I am not an organ donor. (There is no age limit!). How about you and your family?

Raptor Watch, one of the region’s biggest bird-watching events, promises yet another exciting spectacle this year.

Organised by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) in partnership with the Malacca government, the event will take place for the 13th straight year at PNB Ilham Resort, near Tanjung Tuan, on March 10 and 11.

Every year, spectators get to see thousands of raptors, also known as birds of prey, migrate north to their breeding grounds in Siberia, China, the Korean peninsula and Japan from their winter refuge in the south.

Tanjung Tuan, which is gazetted as a forest reserve, is the nearest landfall across the Straits of Malacca from Indonesia and is an important site for the birds to rest or catch thermals before continuing on their journey.

Due to its importance to migratory birds, the 60ha site is designated as an important bird area by Birdlife International.

MNS conserves the forest reserve by promoting Raptor Watch, through which it raises awareness of raptors and the need to conserve their habitat.

Visitors come from Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines and Thailand. Last year, about 2,000 turned up.

This year, MNS hopes to get even more spectators to take part in activities, which include guided walks, eco-talks, games, arts and crafts, an obstacle course and a treasure hunt.

MNS head of communications Andrew Sebastian said last year’s raptor count went up to 57,000 birds over more than 40 days.

”This year, we have spotted 141 raptors, which may seem like a small number, but this is a good sign, as it means the birds will come in big numbers in March.”

For details, visit http://mnsrw2012.wordpress.com

(New Straits Times 23 February 2012)

The term ‘raptor’ is derived from the Latin word ‘rapere’ meaning ‘to seize’ or ‘to take by force’ and may refer to all birds of prey, which include hawks, eagles, falcons, vultures and owls.

The visit of the raptors provides an interesting insight into life in Malaysia.