We meet on every Saturdays at 8.00 pm - 10.00 pm, in 86, Tingkat Binjai 12, Taman Seri Rambai
Alternate Saturdays will be Tikar Talk, where we have our casual but yet profound discussions on various topics
All are welcome for our Tikar Talk, we welcome views from everyone

Tikar Talk. Why the weird name?

To be sure, we copied the name from somewhere else. We are not sure why they first used that name, but here are our reasons:

In the West, cultures had it that informal gatherings around dinning table or discussion table were held and hosted by an important person and more often than not these discussions were recorded. Thus we now have the term 'Table Talk'. The most famous table talk in Christianity is a book by Martin Luther titled today simply as "The Table Talk of Martin Luther".

In the Malay custom, especially in the kampung (villages), tikar, or floor mat weaved from mengkuang leaves is a prominent feature in the main hall where the family is gathered and guests are hosted. The people will sit around on the tikar, whether for casual chit chats or during meal time. In the West, the table brings to mind meetings, discussions and most importantly fellowship, likewise the tikar in the East may be properly construed as a picture of fellowship, not least fellowship amidst the scenic greenery of the Malaysian kampung. More portable and more flexible than a table, people here also use the tikar for decoration (hanging on the wall or just lay it on the floor like a carpet), for hiding ugly spot on the floor (like a carpet), for providing a layer of mat against the cold hard floor (whether wood or marble), for whacking one another (rolled up, they can be very good weapons), for siesta (yes! one of the top favourite usages of the tikar).

As God's colony in this country, as a *bangsa Malaysia* (the race of Malaysia), it is our desire to glorify His name through the multiplicity of cultures in our country. Although we are thankful and are deeply indebted to our brothers and sisters from the West for their loving labours and sacrifices to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of the East, we realized that the true religion of god do not belong to the West alone.

From the teachings of the Apostle and elsewhere in the Bible, though less explicitly, we know that it is the passionate desire of a loving Creator god for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It is in His design that all reasonable people, whether primitive or advance, whether learned or unschooled, whether rich or poor, whether Chinese or Indian or Malay, whether Asian or European, whether male or female, come to recognize His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, through the Creation, and thereby acknowledge Him as He properly deserves.

And realizing that no man can live without culture, and that the richness of local cultures need not necessarily be an offense to the practice of the true religion of god, we believe that it is only reasonable to use our culture, that is, our regular and normal way of life, as a vehicle for worshipping god and following Christ. Even as Christianity was introduced to our spiritual forefathers in West, they first understood Christianity in terms of a borrowed culture and languages, and thereafter continue to build the Church to this day in terms of culture peculiar to their own. Therefore, in this post-colonial age, we believe that the people of god in the East should already come to a maturity to be able to interpret the elements of our religion into the language of our own culture.

In the past (and to this day), the Christian religion was seen as a foreign religion, the colonists' religion, the white men's religion. So today, it is our duty, as the people of god in this region to exercise our faith in Jesus Christ through a structure which is built upon an authentic Eastern culture and not a structure which was borrowed from the Church in the West during the infancy of the Church in the East.

So our first step, the tikar - symbol of fellowhip, of family belongingness, of beauty, or elegance. We hope from this humble begining on this humble piece of art, we may continue to explore the truth of god and be His faithful ambassadors in the local context which god has placed us. Our ethos:

1. serious in pursuit
   Our chit-chats are not idle talks - though God forgive us as we will probably end up talking alot of crazy nonsensical stuff - but they are PART of our earnest act of searching and learning the truth of religion and life through fellowships with God's people. We acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ who claimed to be the Truth in person and therefore we are obligated to an earnest and serious pursue of the Truth. We also acknowledge that the Truth of God is not merely religious truth, but an all-encompassing Truth which is crucial to understand reality in all areas of life. Therefore our chit chats are not limited to "church-talks" or "god-talks" or "religion-talks", they are discussions on discovering and learning (and, it goes without saying, afterwards practicing) the Truth of God in all areas of life.
2. casual in style
   Our meetings are not business meetings or academic discourses, they are *lepak* sessions of a bunch of curious, dynamic, energetic, sometimes lost, sometimes found young people. So like the informal table talk, our style is relax, open, unassuming and unintimidating. No one is a doctor of theology (even if one really own such degree), but everyone who attends is a brother or a sister, friends to one another, made common by our submission to one Head, Jesus Christ. No one should feel threaten by their inadequacy just as no one should be puffed-up by their competency.
3. open to the opinions of man and woman
   Everyone is free to share their thoughts, be them answers or questions. This freedom however is guarded by the principle of moral obligation; the freedom of my fist ends where the freedom of your nose begins, the freedom of my words ends where the freedom of the dignity of your person begins. Therefore, no opinion which is not destructive, rude and vulgar is too bad for the chit chat. We recognize that no one is perfect, and no one possesses all knowledge on any subject. Therefore, no one is expected to have all the answers all the time. Questions are inevitable and they only prove that we are human. We also recognize that God gave us the faculty of reason and the faculty of will. Therefore no one should force any opinions to another. Such priviledge belongs solely to our sovereign God who alone is almighty,all knowing and all loving. Our maxims: realistic freedom of expression *and* we agree to disagree.
4. obedient to the Word of God
   We firmly believe that the Bible is given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. It is the complete and non-lacking counsel of and comfort from God concerning everything which is necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life. Therefore we commit ourselves, by the surrendering of our faculty of reason to the Holy Spirit who is our Teacher, to the authority of the Bible. However, we acknowledge that not all parts of the Bible are plain and clear in themselves and through limitations such as human language and creaturely faculties, we acknowledge that we may not understand the Bible completely. Therefore, through studies, prayers and fellowship with the Church, we seek God's wisdom for understanding his words and his mercy when failing to understand them.