Introducing a Three-Part Chinese New Year Blockbuster

Simply put, the Chinese New Year comes closest to being the largest occasion in welcoming an incoming year as we bid farewell to the old one. It is a happy and joyous event celebrated by billions of Chinese throughout the world and there is so much to see and learn for anyone who is new to this annual ethnic event. 

However in the midst of all the colour, fanfare and gaiety, every Chinese New Year irrespective of where it is held, is also full of little minefields for the faithful Christian. Look left, look right, look ahead and the back, there is a litany of symbolisms, root histories and tales, iconic facsimiles and plenty of semblances that shout back one word clearly to us - PAGANISM. When you know where to look, they are obvious. It becomes a problem when you don't know.

For this Chinese New Year, we are publishing a comprehensive three-part article where we share in some depth, a clearer understanding of this annual event but from a Christian perspective. We begin the first one today and we call it A Christian Standpoint for Chinese New Year.

We hope you enjoy reading it.

God bless.

Starting the Ten Commandments Project

By Administration



Image Source: how2caravan.com

As of last week, Hosanna EFC has begun a twelve-week series on the Ten Commandments with the first two sermons dedicated to its introduction provided by Pastor Simon Tham and Khen Lim. Even as there is much to be learned from the introduction, the following ten Sundays will be even more eye-opening.

A Great Christmas Service

By Khen Lim

Image Source: bondtribeca.com

We did what we had set out to do – to instil meaning and purpose in our Christmas celebration. We sang carols but we also discovered what each carol meant, who composed them and the inspiration behind the work. The liner notes for the carols are given after the end of this article.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Hosanna EFC 2014 Christmas Day Programme

If you're nearby on the very day, come pop in and join us for Christmas. Bring friends along!

If you're not local, there are directions available in the blogsite. Or alternatively you can find us on Google Maps also - just type the name of our church.

See you soon!


Hosanna Evangelical Free Church

The Christmas Challenge

By Khen Lim



Image Source: bestdesignews.com

For every Christian, the single most exciting time of the year will always be Christmas. The birth of Jesus brings with it, hope for mankind and peace upon earth. It is an opportune time to reflect and be really grateful for glad tidings.

It has been two years since the remarkable day of deep uncertainty at Hosanna EFC but to be honest, we have not looked back with trepidation. We didn’t count the days to doom. Even when the coffers looked dry, we believed that if we did our part, God would complete the rest. And when we last checked our accounts, we certainly don’t look bad at all! Praise the Lord!

Veil of Tears - Hope Is On The Way

You can have a part in reaching millions of desperate women with the love of Christ

This gripping new documentary film tells the untold story of millions of women in South Asia who are abused and trampled simply because they are women.

Despite the centuries of oppression, hope is dawning as people begin reaching out to restore dignity towards women, one day at a time.

What the Labels Used on Our Site Mean

Offering an Easier Way to Locate Articles

As it stands, the blogsite currently uses no more than fourteen different labels. BlogSpot offers the label feature so that articles can be broadly or even specifically categorised for ease of access particularly when they become deeply buried in the Archives. As a result these labels are used to bear reference to what the articles are about.

The Inspiration to Write

Where do these articles really come from?

Source: sites.duke.edu


Many often tell me that I can really write. I'm not sure how correct that statement is. As we continue to fill our blog with more and more useful and readable articles, it's easy to forget that while I have been a Christian since the early Eighties, my decision to write is relatively recent.

Lux Mundi Sunday Weekly; October 19 2014

Launching the Lux Mundi Sunday Weekly

"Lux Mundi" isn't just a name given to our blogsite. Hosanna EFC in Malaysia uses the same name for their Sunday weekly bulletin that is available free to all congregants, guests, interstate visitors and speakers.

While we will have a separate article dedicated to the use and adoption of the Latinate "Lux Mundi" for our blogsite and weekly, we have also decided to put our weeklies online as free download resource for everyone who is interested to read.

Reading Third-Party Sourced Articles

From time to time when we come across articles that are of Christian interest, we will have them published here either in its fullness or in part. In both cases we will provide links so that the reader can access the original article at the original website.

When we publish such articles, it does not necessarily mean that we are in full agreement of their authors. It does not also mean that we are in full support of their editorial stand or opinion. The reason for the publication is of interest and may encourage positive commentaries or feedback.

And while we're on the issue of readers' feedback, let it be known that they are individually moderated. We are a Christian blogsite and we are especially mindful of constructive responses as well as responsible writing. We do not tolerate profanities or any expression of vulgarity. Our standard here is to promote maturity, proper writing and also comments that do not offend. Therefore when a comment somehow does not appear even if it had been supposedly published, it is likely because it has not passed the standards that our moderators are placed under to moderate them.


Editorial

Finding Us On Google Map

When coming to visit us, the first thing you musn't try to do is to imagine a church with a steeple or any of such contemporaneous assumptions.

We mentioned in our Warm Welcome note that we're a small church. The emphasis is on the word 'small.' If you have your own transport, it makes things easy. If you have a GoogleMaps-enabled smartphone, you can easily find us because Hosanna EFC is labelled.

For those who use Papago or Garmin GPS navigators, these coordinates - 4.614363, 101.126371 - might come in handy. You simply input these coordinates into your device and your navigator should bring us up on the map and route you to our church effortlessly.

If you can read our blog on your device while travelling but can't access your GPS facility, fear not for we have done some screen captures of Google Maps to give you an idea.

A Warm Welcome

Image courtesy of ministrygreetings.com 


Welcome to Lux Mundi!

In all the years that Hosanna Evangelical Free Church in Ipoh has been in existence, there has always been talk about putting us on the Internet and the farthest we had gone in recent times was to make sure people could find their way motoring to our humble little church. And hence we propped up Google Maps to help us out. And it worked. Just that little add-on helped a few to find their tracks successfully. We had enquiries from other parts of the world as a result. We also had a Dutch student who frequented our church some years back because of Google Maps.

We knew the effectiveness of the Internet. No one needed to tell us the power of reaching others and when one is involved in online outreach, there is no comparison. The problem with us at Hosanna is that we've also been a church with very significant human resource issues.