Terrific Teens: 2009

We'll be going to JB on 21-22 November 2009 (Sat - Sun). We'll be leaving at 8am Saturday and reach Shah Alam at 9pm Sunday. Block the dates on your calendar now!

Er, how much will it cost?

Just a mere RM 20! Fee is for transportation only. Accommodation will be provided by Daya Gospel Centre (Thank you! =D), but please bring your own sleeping bag. Also, please bring extra money for meals ya. Hehe.

What are we going to do there?

We're arrived JB on Saturday for lunch, and we'll probably visit one of the shopping malls. Hehe. In the evening, we'll attend Daya Gospel Centre's Thanksgiving & Dedication Service (dinner provided). More lepaking on Sunday afternoon before we head back to Shah Alam. Expect good fellowship together with the DGC's youth too! =D

So how do I register myself?

Kindly contact Andrew or any of the SAGC youth for the parental consent form, fill it in, hand it back to us together with the fee and we're ready to go!

What are you still waiting for?

JB, here we come!

p/s: For more details, please contact Andrew (016-2387780)

November

There are questions in life which we find it so hard to answer. So hard to understand. And this month, we'll try to tackle few of those.

7th November: What Makes Right Acts Right?

Moral. Ethics. What is the absolute truth? What is the absolute measurement of good and bad, right and wrong? What makes right acts rights?

14th November: Why Should All The Good People Suffer?

Not fair. The world is unfair isn't it. The rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer. Good guys suffer, bad guys prosper. Where is justice? Where is, most importantly, God?

21st November: Holiday Trip To Johor Bahru

We'll be going to JB for a weekend holiday trip! More details soon. =)

28th November: Does Hell Exist?

If God is Love, why is there this place called hell? And would a loving God send people to hell?

Terrific Teens 31/10/09

Forum: Q & A

1. Does leviathan/behemoth exist?

¹ "Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down his tongue with a rope?

² Can you put a cord through his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³ Will he keep begging you for mercy?
Will he speak to you with gentle words?

⁴ Will he make an agreement with you
for you to take him as your slave for life?

⁵ Can you make a pet of him like a bird
or put him on a leash for your girls?

Job 41:1-5

¹⁵ "Look at the behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.

¹⁶ What strength he has in his loins,
what power in the muscles of his belly!

¹⁷ His tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are close-knit.

¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like rods of iron.

¹⁹ He ranks first among the works of God,
yet his Maker can approach him with his sword.

Job 40:15-19

2. When did God create the dinosaurs?

- Created together with the rest of creation

- Existed before and after the flood

- Existed together with humans

- Died off during the Ice Age

3. What happened during the Ice Age?

- Ice covered 30% of the earth

- Global temperature dropped by 5 degree Celcius

- Animals went extinct

- Indirect result of the Flood

- The two ingredients required for an Ice Age, cool temperatures and tons of snow, were dramatically fulfilled immediately after the Genesis flood

- The Flood and its aftershock provide the volcanic dust and gases that bring the summer cooling indispensable for the Ice Age

- Waters from the 'fountains of the great deep' (Gen 7:11) and mixing during the Flood provides a warm ocean. In the mid and high latitudes the warm ocean would cause copious evaporation and produce massive amount of snows

4. Why are there natural disasters (i.e. flood, tornado, flood, etc) if God is love and good?

- God has said in Bible prophecy that natural disasters would grow in frequency and intensity as the end of age (Matt 24:7, Luke 21:25-26, Rev 6:12, 11:13, 16:18)

- The sufferings experienced now in "this present evil age" (Gal 1:4)

- Natural disasters or accidents should humble us, helping us to see our dependence on God to sustain and deliver us (Rev 16:8-11)

- We don't know all the reasons God brings or permits specific calamities or why particular people are made to suffer by them (Rom 8:28, 1 Tim 2:4)

5. We read in the newspaper/internet news that new creatures are found every now and then. Is God still creating? I thought He created everything in six days in Genesis.

² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Genesis 2:2

-It's a new DISCOVERY, not creation

6. How can we say that God creates each one of us uniquely i.e. "knit in our mother's womb" when the process is really a natural genetic process?

¹³ For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Psalm 139:13

- Figurative vs. literal

- The double helix of DNA resembles a thread of yarn which is used for knitting

Monday, October 26, 2009

Terrific Teens 24/10/09

Is The Bible True? by Ian Teoh

1. Unique structure

- 2000 years

- 66 books

- 40+ authors

- One same message

2. Fulfilled prophecies

- Over 1000 prophecies

- 668 fulfilled

- 100% positive fulfillment

His bones will not be broken (Psalm 34:20; Exodus 12 states that the Passover lamb's bones are not to be broken.). Fulfillment: John 19:33.

They will divide his clothing and cast lots for them (Psalm 22:18). Fulfillment: John 19:23-24

He will be given vinegar and gall to drink (Psalm 69:21). Fulfillment: Matthew 27:34, 48.

He will say: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1). Fulfillment: Matthew 27:46

3. Scientific Accuracy

- Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22)

- Almost infinite extent of the sidereal universe (Isaiah 55:9)

- Law of conservation of mass and energy (2 Peter 3:7)

- Vast number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22)

- Law of increasing entropy (Psalm 102:25-27)

- Paramount importance of blood in life processes (Leviticus 17:11)

- Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6)

- Gravitational field (Job 26:7)

4. Historical Accuracy

Bible descriptions matches historical events:

- Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings 14:25-26), recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.

- Revolt of Moab against Israel (2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27), recorded on the Mesha Inscription.

- Fall of Samaria to Sargon II (2 Kings 17:3-6, 24; 18:9-11), king of Assyria, as recorded on his palace walls.

- Defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1), as recorded on his palace walls.

- Campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib against Judah (2 Kings 18:13-16), as recorded on the Taylor Prism.

- Siege of Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17), as recorded on the Lachish reliefs.

New discoveries matches Biblical events:

- The discovery of the Ebla archive in northern Syria in the 1970s has shown the Biblical writings concerning the Patriarchs to be viable. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine. The name “Canaan” was in use in Ebla, a name critics once said was not used at that time and was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the Bible. The word tehom (“the deep”) in Genesis 1:2 was said to be a late word demonstrating the late writing of the creation story. “Tehom” was part of the vocabulary at Ebla, in use some 800 years before Moses. Ancient customs reflected in the stories of the Patriarchs have also been found in clay tablets from Nuzi and Mari.

- The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical legend, until their capital and records were discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey.

- Many thought the Biblical references to Solomon's wealth were greatly exaggerated. Recovered records from the past show that wealth in antiquity was concentrated with the king and Solomon's prosperity was entirely feasible.

- It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the palace walls. What is more, fragments of a stela memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.

- Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son who served as coregent in Babylon. Thus, Belshazzar could offer to make Daniel “third highest ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:16) for reading the handwriting on the wall, the highest available position. Here we see the “eye-witness” nature of the Biblical record, as is so often brought out by the discoveries of archaeology.

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.“

John 20:29

Monday, October 19, 2009

Terrific Teens 17/10/09

Genetic Engineering: Playing God? by Lue Jun Yi

What is genetic engineering?

A. Manipulation of Human Reproduction

1. Artificial Insemination

The process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse. It can be done using the husband’s sperm (AIH) or a donor’s sperm (AID).

2. in vitro Fertilization

A technique of fertilizing an egg in an artificial environment outside the body. Usually, more than one egg is taken out and fertilized at a time to increase the likelihood of success. Embryos formed which were not used to implant in the woman’s womb are normally frozen and used for later implantation/further experimentation/destroyed.

3. Surrogate Mothering

This refers to the carrying of a baby by a woman who is not the biological mother. Ways it could happen: the surrogate may carry an embryo from a married couple’s egg and sperm; or the embryo can be formed with her egg but a sperm from the biological father; or her egg and sperm from a donor; etc.

4. Cloning

The artificial reproduction of an organism which is the exact genetic copy of another living organism. Currently, it has only been successful with plants and some animals.

B. Manipulation of the Genetic Makeup of Living Things

1. Sex Selection

Two categories: pre-implantation where the sex is determined before conception and post-implantation where the sex is determined after the embryo is formed and then choosing to abort or not to implant (in the case of IVF) what one doesn’t want.

2. Recombinant DNA/Gene Splicing Technology

This allows scientist to redesign the genetic makeup of an organism by deleting, adding and/or changing the genetic code. This has been successfully used in agriculture (GMO), animal farming (breeding of animals with better traits), health care (production of human proteins for treatment), etc.

3. Gene Therapy

The insertion of genes into an individual's cells and tissues to treat a disease. Two categories: somatic cell therapy – genes are spliced and introduced only to the tissues that are affected by the defective genes and only affects the individual treated; germline therapy – genes splicing affects the genetic code in the reproductive cells and changes will be transmitted to future generation.

What is the biblical response to genetic engineering?

26 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."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)

15 You saw my bones being formed
as I took shape in my mother's body.
When I was put together there,
16 you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
were written in your book
before I was one day old.

Psalm 139:15-16 (NCV)

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart...

Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

Don't you understand?

I am the only God;

there are no others.

I am the one who takes life

and gives it again...

Deuteronomy 32:39 (CEV)

Ethics of Genetic Engineering

Monday, October 12, 2009

Indescribable by Chris Tomlin

Terrific Teens 10/10/09

Creation vs. Evolution by Jun Yi

Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree

Discussing the things that are said to be--

Said one to another: "Now listen you two

There's a certain rumor, but it can't be true'

That man descended from our noble race-

Why, the very idea; it's a disgrace.

No monkey ever deserted his wife,

Starved her babies and ruined her life.

Nor did ever a mother-monkey

Leave her babies with others to bunk,

Or pass them on from one to another

'Till they scarcely knew who was their mother.

And another thing you'll never see

A monkey building a nest around a coconut tree,

And let the coconuts go to waste,

Forbidding all other monkeys to have a taste.

Why, if I build a fence around a coconut tree,

Starvation would cause me to distribute to you.

Here's another thing that a monkey won't do:

Go out at night and get on a stew;

Or use a gun, a club, or a knife

To take another monkey's life.

Yes, Man descended, the ornery cuss!

But Brother, he didn't descend from us."

Theory of Evolution:

1. Natural Evolution

2. Deistic Evolution

Theory of Creation:

1. The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God and the biblical account of creation is the only correct belief

2. God is the Creator of all that exists

3. Life did not simply come about by the evolution of organic molecules to simple life and then to complex life

4. Man is created by God and sinned at one point in history

Against Evolution:

1. Evolution is only a theory

2. Big Bang theories has flaws

The probability of producing a “the correct molecular orientation for bacterium” by chance, or from unintelligent origin, is as follows.

The chance of this happening “by accident” is 1 chance in 10^301,029,996.

Incredible! The odds of winning a typical state lottery with a single ticket ar

e about 1 in 10 million, or one in 10⁷. So the odds of assembling simply the correct molecular orientation for the first bacterium (using a very conservative number of base pairs and amino acids) would be like winning the more than 43 million state lotteries in a row with a purchase of a single ticket for each! Just to write that number down will fill 100 encyclopedia-sized books and would take almost 10 years, if you wrote at the pace of a digit a second.

3. Macro-evolution has no evidence to support it

4. Evolution cannot be proven

Against Creation:

1. The creation worldview is non-scientific

2. Sedimentary layers containing fossils do not support a creation worldview

The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. It is like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books…a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.

Albert Einstein

³ I look at your heavens,
which you made with your fingers.
I see the moon and stars,
which you created.
⁴ But why are people even important to you?
Why do you take care of human beings?

Psalm 8:3-4 (NCV)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Case UNcovered!

Yes, it's finally here. Sign up now!

More info, click here. And here.

Terrific Teens 03/10/09

God vs. Science by Lue Jun Yi

Beliefs About God

- Theism

- Deism

- Agnosticism

- Atheism

Definition Of Science

Greek scientia - to attain knowlege

Oxford dictionary - a branch of knowledge involving systematized observations and experiments

National Academy of Science -

…a particular way of knowing about the world. In science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not part of science . . . Scientists can never be sure that a given explanation is complete and final. Some hypotheses advanced by scientists turn out to be incorrect when tested by further observations and experiments. Yet many scientific explanations have been so thoroughly tested and confirmed that they are held with great confidence.

The Truth About Science

1. Science only examines the physical world

2. Science is only possible because there is order in the universe

Relation Between Science & Religion (Ian Barbour's fourfold typology)

- Conflict theory

- Independence theory

- Dialogue theory

- Integration theory

The Truth About The Bible

1. The Bible was not written as a textbook

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

( 2 Timothy 3 : 16 )

2. The Bible is God's truth and science seeks to discover the truth

God & Science

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

CUN Camp 3

Coming soon...

Check out it out this Saturday, 3.oopm during Terrific Teens!

Click here for more info.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Wonderful Maker - Chris Tomlin

October

It's the match of the millennium. The match we all been looking forward. The championship match. Yes, the two heavyweights meet again.

On the red corner, the evergreen indisputable champion, on an unbeaten winning streak, with 26 KOs...

Christianity!

On the blue corner, the underdog, the youthful opponent...

Science!

Round 1 (3rd October): God vs. Science

Does science has all the answers as they claimed to be? Will science knock down God with its 'truth'? And what does God has to say? An exciting round 1 awaits you.

Round 2 (10th October): Evolution vs. Creation

Bring on your evidence. Prove it. Falsify the other. Which theory will outstand the other?

Round 3 (17th October): Genetic Engineering: Playing God?

The new attempt of science to bring down her opponent - God. Will she succeed?

Round 4 (24th October): Is the Bible true?

When all attacks fail, go for his weakness. Will Christianity stand the attack on one of her most important belief?

Round 5 (31st October): Forum: Questions & Answers

Post match press conference. Bring all your questions, media. (Papers will be given out to all to ask any questions regarding the topic during the weeks before)

SAGC Terrific Teens, 3.00pm. Don't miss the match of the millennium.

p/s: Free entrance!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Terrific Teens 26/09/09

A Green Heart by Daniel Lee

Where did all these things come from?

There is ONE single source –

GOD THE CREATOR

Everything was designed carefully – it’s too complicated for it to be an accident or random things taking place.

The Account of Creation - Genesis 1

The Beginning

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

² 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.

³ And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.¹⁰ God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ 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, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹ 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. ²² 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." ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵ 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.

²⁶ 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."

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

²⁸ 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."

²⁹ 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. ³⁰ 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 the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Why should we care?

God is the Creator – and He enjoyed His creations. How do you think He feels when we destroy His creations?

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

It is God’s command to us – take care and look after it

The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. (Genesis 2:15 CEV)

The world is a very small place. We might not realize it but what we do will affect someone around us.

What are the things I do that might harm the environment?

•Wasting electricity, fuel, water all contribute to climate change.

•Litter on the streets – ends up in the sea, killing marine life.

•Buying more and more stuff – more trash

•Supply and demands – shark fin – ecological imbalance

NIMBY Syndrome

•You can put your trash in front of that house next door but not in front of mine…

•Malaysia is fine. We won’t be affected by climate change or dead marine animals wat….

•Let the dog poo in front of his house la….

It’s ok as long as it doesn’t affect me..As long as it’s NOT IN MY BACKYARD!

Is that the way we should treat our neighbours?

The second most important commandment says: `Love others as much as you love yourself.' (Mark 12:31)

Next time when you do something, think

“How would I treat myself in this situation?”

God created all these things around us so that men may know Him

19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:19-20)

Love is not just a feeling – it has to be shown out – through expressions or actions

What can I do?

At home:

Switch off lights, fans and electrical appliances when not in use.

Turn off tap when brushing teeth, soaping or shampooing.

At school:

Use both pages of paper before throwing them away...recycle, not throw.

Make notepad using unused papers from exercise books.

bring your own water bottle instead of buying bottled water in school.

Doing something for the environment is simple – it just takes a little bit of effort and you can do your part for the environment.

What is the environment?

It is God’s creation – His masterpiece which He enjoys very much