Giving tithe has been a very basic custom in many of the churches today.
But many do not really know why do that do it for.
They just follow what they are told to do.
For me, when i give my standard tithes, i always will wonder where the money will go and will be afraid that it will not land up in good hands so i don't really dare to give much.
For others, they give it very unwillingly.
Ask yourself, do you give because the person next to you give?
Do you give reluctantly?
Do you give without praying about it?
Do you give because you are forced to give because of things like pride and face?
Do you give God just tips of your money?
when it comes to money issue, everyone gets sensitve over it because it is a neccessity.
Thats why, when they are asked to give, many would rather not give and terms tithes as a bad thing.
This blog post is going to talk about "the beatitude of giving", basically, what is giving tithes all about.
oh! btw, many of the points here is by Benny Ho, this is one of His sessions from the seminar.
Many always say, "money is the root of all evil"
True?
The Bible says in 1st timothy 6:10, "For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil..."
The money issue is equally as important in the eyes of God.
Why?
A Bible scholar estimated 5280 verses on the subject of money.
16 out of 38 parables refer to money and possession.
When the Bible talks about giving in terms of money, it always speaks of tithes and offerings.
Do you know the story about the israelites making the gold calf and worshipping it instead of God when God already brought them out of egypt, split the red sea..etc.
The same gold that is used to make the gold calf causing God bringing a curse on the people, is used to build the tabanacle, bringing the presence of God in.
This signifies and brings both a blessing and a curse.
"tithes"-"tenth", "10%"
Tithing is rooting theologically in the sovereignty of God in our lives.
Progression of tithing....
Before the Law which means before God give Abraham and 10 commandments and everything else, tithe is volunteery.
It is stated in Genesis 14:17-20, the last part states, "Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."
It is the first time tithe is mentioned and this took place 430 years before the law was given.
The "him" here refers to Melchizedek (he is both a priest and a king) representing Christ because Christ is the only guy besides this king that is both king and priest.
Thats why "the priesthood of Christ" is called the "priesthood of Melchizedek"
Here is a prophetic picture of Jesus.
Other similarities is that Melchizedek started by giving Abram Bread and Wine and Abraham in return gave Melchizedek a tithe.
During the Law, tithe was made compulsory.
It became compulsory and people do it as an act of obedience.
In Malachi 3:8, tells us that the consequence of disobedience in the Old Testament is that you come under a curse.
In the book of Haggai, it talks about coming under a financed curse.
We end up with holes in our pockets and we come under a famine of finance.
After the Law, tithe was given willingly.
tithing is mentioned 10 times specifically in the NT. 3 times in the gospels by Jesus Christ Himself and each time He did not remove it. Instead, He took tithing to a new dimension under grace.
Today, we give 10% out of obedience and gratitude but we can give the other 90% out of love.
There is this story that he told..very funny de!
Here goes...
There was this China man that has 10 gold coins and he saw a beggar on the way..the beggar looks super pathetic and out of compassion, the china man gave him 9 of his coins.
Instead of feeling a sense of gratitude, the beggar followed him to an alley and robbed his last coin out of him.
when i heard it, i was like huh!
But i realised it is just like us, God provide us with so so much and we still want to hold back the 10% of what he gave us!
The purpose of tithing is in 1st timothy 5:17, 18.
It is to upkeep the lives of the church and its workers
Under the law/Old testament, the people are commanded by Law to pay..
Under the Grace/New testament, the people are compelled by love to Give.
It is proven in 1Corinthians 13:3, "if I gave all i possess to the poor but have not love, i gain nothing..."
God looks at the 1)The principle of Proporation (1corinthians 16:2)
God does not look at the quantity of money, God looks at how much of the total amount of money that you have that you are willing to sacrifice for Him.
It is not the portion but the proportion that matters.
2corinthians 8:2-who ever said that the poor cannot be generous?
2)The principle of Priority.
The simple reason for this is that if you do not put th as priority, you will end up giving God the leftovers.
If we don't cultivate to give when we have little, it will be very difficult to give when we have much.
It is just like if it is to hard to give God $10 out of the $100 that you have, when you earn $1000000, it will be even harder for you to give God $100000.
1Corinthians 16:2, Malachi 3:10.
There is a story about a $50 note and $2 note.
They were all old notes and ready to be recycled and they were having convo, the $2 ask $50 "so where have you been? The $50 dollar note say, "i have been to hotels, restaurants and to this hotel and to that hotel..etc."
The $50 dollar note ask $2 note, the $2 say, "oh! i have been from churches to churches to churches..etc."
3)The principle of Purpose
2corinthians 9:7- we are giving as an act of worship and this should be intentional, not just giving God tips. Pray about it and set the money aside for God.
4)The principle of privacy
matthew 6:1-4-the principle behind this is that when we give, we tend to forget about it and not rmb and exalt yourself or think how generous you were.
5)The principle Privilege
It is not a mindset as to, "I don't have to give, it is that i Get to give."
It is not supposed to be a sacrifice but a joy.
2Corinthians 9:7
2 corinthians 8:4
The whole notion behind this is that IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE IT WILLINGLY THEN DON'T GIVE.
There is this story, "The mother gave her little girl $1 and $0.50 and told her daughter, to test her. She said,"you can choose to give God $1 or $0.50 as offering then the other you keep."
After the service, she said the girl which she gave. The girl say, "I gave the $0.50". The mother sounded slightly disappointed.
The mother ask why?
The girl said," Cause i feel more cheerful if i give $0.50 than $1.
There is nothing wrong with it!
God asks us to be a cheerful giver.
6)The principle of Profit
2corinthians 9:6, luke 6:38, Proverbs 11:25 and Acts 20:35.
Somebody once said, "money is like cow dung, if you keep it and stack it up, it stinks, but if you spread it around it makes things grow!"
God loves to see his children enjoy themselves, have a party.
It is ok to go shopping and buy a car and enjoy life.
But money shouldn't be used to upkeep one's lifestyle according to the income of that person.
Don't fall into the thinking that "If I have a greater income, i must max it up."-becomes a hindrance to God's kingdom.
It is ok to have a million dollars but live a lifestyle of $100 thousand.
God loves you all!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
FAITH a gift? a hope?
Hello!! oh! i just signed up for some seminor at some church, i think it is called st john methodist..etc.
Anws, the speaker is Pastor Benny Ho.
Today was the very first session and i am greatly enriched in the fundamental knowledge of the Bible.
I learnt alot from it and i want to share something that i rmb was debated quite a few times between church ppl.
It is the Topic on, "Is faith a gift from God? So does that mean God chooses who he gives faith to?", "is Faith=Hope?"
Christianity surrounds the topic of faith and i think it is very interesting to know about what he has got to say about this.
There are basically 2 kinds of Faith, "worldly faith"-seeing is believing and "Blibical faith"-believing is seeing.
There are alot of verses in the Bible about faith.
some of them are, john 11:10, 2corinthians 5:17, Heb 11:6, Heb2:3, Rom 14:23, Romans 5:1-2.
Why is Faith so important?
In Ephesians 2:8 it mentions that we are saved by grace through faith.
What it means here is that we access the grace given by God by exercising our faith.
What is not faith?
1)Faith is not HOPE
Backed up by verses Heb 11:1 and 1Corinthians 13:13
The difference between FAITH and HOPE is that HOPE exists in the future while FAITH is now!
What do i mean?
The reason why the 2nd coming of Christ is called the "blesses hope" is because it is a hope for the future that has not yet come.
Faith on the other hand is saying, "i am saved now because i have the faith."
Benny Ho continues saying,
HOPE says, "God is going to do something for me."
FAITH says, "God has done it. God is doing it. God will do it."
The word "hope" is a steady expectation of good whereby it is confirm going to be fulfilled. (totally different from a "wish")
Also, Hope lies in the head while faith lies in the heart (1 Thes 5:8)
Hope-mental attitude of expectancy
Faith-attitude of the heart
Believing with your heart does not mean you deny the facts from the brain.
This is proven by Romans 4:18-21, the Abraham story. Abraham recognises the facts and believe with his heart.
Some of the Christians only have Head-faith which is basically an intellectual acceptance of God without the heart.
I read things like people from somewhere around the world, the practice of their church is that whenever someone is sick, the person is not allowed to take medication, only to pray and pray, hoping that God will heal the person.
If the person dies, they believe that it is because their family or the people around them do not have enough faith.
However, Benny Ho mentions that FAITH IS NOT A PRESUMPTION
Faith is acting according to what God says (God's will) but
Presumption is acting according to what we want (self will).
Faith is a response to God's initiative (totally dependant on God) but
presumption is taking on our own (dependant on our own interpretation).
Faith, God carries the promises through
presumption, we carry it and try to make it come true on our own
When we are desperate, it is always easy to fall into presumption.
Don't make promises on God's behalf!
Do not claim that God has spoken when He has not. (Deuteronomy 18:20,22)
Don't go beyond what the word of the Lord has said and act according to what you may think is the best in the situation. (1Sam 13:8-14)
It can lead to disastrous consequences.
What then is faith?
Faith is a GIFT to us by God (Heb 12:2), his son and the holy spirit(Romans 12:3)
There is no need for us to work out the faith because it is already inside you. (John 5:2-9)
Everyone has enough faith to last you for one lifetime!
What we need is just to exercise our faith in God for ourselves.
Anyone can pray for themselves because each of us got a measure of Faith.
Just like in matthew 17:20 about faith as small as a musterd seed can move mountains indicating that God is not looking for how much faith you have. It is not the quantity but the quality!
To end of, this is something that pastor benny Ho mentioned.
"You don't need to have great Faith but you just need to have Faith in a great God."
hope you all learnt something from this! because i did.
God bless you!
Anws, the speaker is Pastor Benny Ho.
Today was the very first session and i am greatly enriched in the fundamental knowledge of the Bible.
I learnt alot from it and i want to share something that i rmb was debated quite a few times between church ppl.
It is the Topic on, "Is faith a gift from God? So does that mean God chooses who he gives faith to?", "is Faith=Hope?"
Christianity surrounds the topic of faith and i think it is very interesting to know about what he has got to say about this.
There are basically 2 kinds of Faith, "worldly faith"-seeing is believing and "Blibical faith"-believing is seeing.
There are alot of verses in the Bible about faith.
some of them are, john 11:10, 2corinthians 5:17, Heb 11:6, Heb2:3, Rom 14:23, Romans 5:1-2.
Why is Faith so important?
In Ephesians 2:8 it mentions that we are saved by grace through faith.
What it means here is that we access the grace given by God by exercising our faith.
What is not faith?
1)Faith is not HOPE
Backed up by verses Heb 11:1 and 1Corinthians 13:13
The difference between FAITH and HOPE is that HOPE exists in the future while FAITH is now!
What do i mean?
The reason why the 2nd coming of Christ is called the "blesses hope" is because it is a hope for the future that has not yet come.
Faith on the other hand is saying, "i am saved now because i have the faith."
Benny Ho continues saying,
HOPE says, "God is going to do something for me."
FAITH says, "God has done it. God is doing it. God will do it."
The word "hope" is a steady expectation of good whereby it is confirm going to be fulfilled. (totally different from a "wish")
Also, Hope lies in the head while faith lies in the heart (1 Thes 5:8)
Hope-mental attitude of expectancy
Faith-attitude of the heart
Believing with your heart does not mean you deny the facts from the brain.
This is proven by Romans 4:18-21, the Abraham story. Abraham recognises the facts and believe with his heart.
Some of the Christians only have Head-faith which is basically an intellectual acceptance of God without the heart.
I read things like people from somewhere around the world, the practice of their church is that whenever someone is sick, the person is not allowed to take medication, only to pray and pray, hoping that God will heal the person.
If the person dies, they believe that it is because their family or the people around them do not have enough faith.
However, Benny Ho mentions that FAITH IS NOT A PRESUMPTION
Faith is acting according to what God says (God's will) but
Presumption is acting according to what we want (self will).
Faith is a response to God's initiative (totally dependant on God) but
presumption is taking on our own (dependant on our own interpretation).
Faith, God carries the promises through
presumption, we carry it and try to make it come true on our own
When we are desperate, it is always easy to fall into presumption.
Don't make promises on God's behalf!
Do not claim that God has spoken when He has not. (Deuteronomy 18:20,22)
Don't go beyond what the word of the Lord has said and act according to what you may think is the best in the situation. (1Sam 13:8-14)
It can lead to disastrous consequences.
What then is faith?
Faith is a GIFT to us by God (Heb 12:2), his son and the holy spirit(Romans 12:3)
There is no need for us to work out the faith because it is already inside you. (John 5:2-9)
Everyone has enough faith to last you for one lifetime!
What we need is just to exercise our faith in God for ourselves.
Anyone can pray for themselves because each of us got a measure of Faith.
Just like in matthew 17:20 about faith as small as a musterd seed can move mountains indicating that God is not looking for how much faith you have. It is not the quantity but the quality!
To end of, this is something that pastor benny Ho mentioned.
"You don't need to have great Faith but you just need to have Faith in a great God."
hope you all learnt something from this! because i did.
God bless you!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My Very First Interview
Hey people, just wanna share with you all something real cool=)
I went for a job interview at raffles place on mon at around 4.30 pm.
I was so scared cause it is my very first job interview and i didn't have much of an experience regarding the interviews.
So i have no idea what is it going to be like.
Plus, i was super worried because i was looking for a temp job with a pay of 6.50 and above and can only work for 5 days a week and not 5.5 days and i have to take leave here and there.
Like everything is so not confirmed.
I am supposed to go for a trip to batam with the real people 3 days at the end of march, then from april 1st to 8th i going on a Japan trip with my mother and i am probably going for church retreat from the 7th to 11th june.
So that means i got to keep on taking leave to go for so many holidays.
Which job will want me?
Am i going to tell the person about all these?
As for the 5.5 days, it means to work on saturdays half day too.
But i cannot because i got CAMY training (creative arts for media youth) as they train for my case, vocalists.
It is a commitment on sat 11am to 1pm and i cannot replace it with my job.
And my mother wanted me to find a job asap.
I worry about all these for a few days.
The amazing thing is that when i pluck up my courage with joshua's encouragements and prayer and joseph and samuel's smses, i manage to go for it.
And when i came out i just felt very happy.
Although it is a small little achievement and it may seem nothing to many, it is something big to me^^
I was really thanking God for helping me pull through.
But the job offer was that it is 5.5 days at tan tock seng hospital as a telecommunicator.
And the cool thing is that the job offer is mid april to end of may and its 7 bucks per hour.
Its all just nice and the date is just nice because i don't have to mention about taking leave anymore.
After i left the place, thanking God in my heart, the person called me once again and said that its 5 days and not 5.5 days!
Everything just fit so nicely!
God is in control.
And as for all those who are choosing their career or even which courses to go for universities or have already chosen their courses, here is a word of encouragement.
"we worry when God seems silent on specific issues such as what career should i choose? The truth is, there are many different careers that could be God's will for your life. What God cares about most is that whatever you do, you do in a Christlike manner. God is much more concerned about your character than your career, because you will take your character into eternity, but not your career."
Hope that helps and comforts some=)
God loves you!
I went for a job interview at raffles place on mon at around 4.30 pm.
I was so scared cause it is my very first job interview and i didn't have much of an experience regarding the interviews.
So i have no idea what is it going to be like.
Plus, i was super worried because i was looking for a temp job with a pay of 6.50 and above and can only work for 5 days a week and not 5.5 days and i have to take leave here and there.
Like everything is so not confirmed.
I am supposed to go for a trip to batam with the real people 3 days at the end of march, then from april 1st to 8th i going on a Japan trip with my mother and i am probably going for church retreat from the 7th to 11th june.
So that means i got to keep on taking leave to go for so many holidays.
Which job will want me?
Am i going to tell the person about all these?
As for the 5.5 days, it means to work on saturdays half day too.
But i cannot because i got CAMY training (creative arts for media youth) as they train for my case, vocalists.
It is a commitment on sat 11am to 1pm and i cannot replace it with my job.
And my mother wanted me to find a job asap.
I worry about all these for a few days.
The amazing thing is that when i pluck up my courage with joshua's encouragements and prayer and joseph and samuel's smses, i manage to go for it.
And when i came out i just felt very happy.
Although it is a small little achievement and it may seem nothing to many, it is something big to me^^
I was really thanking God for helping me pull through.
But the job offer was that it is 5.5 days at tan tock seng hospital as a telecommunicator.
And the cool thing is that the job offer is mid april to end of may and its 7 bucks per hour.
Its all just nice and the date is just nice because i don't have to mention about taking leave anymore.
After i left the place, thanking God in my heart, the person called me once again and said that its 5 days and not 5.5 days!
Everything just fit so nicely!
God is in control.
And as for all those who are choosing their career or even which courses to go for universities or have already chosen their courses, here is a word of encouragement.
"we worry when God seems silent on specific issues such as what career should i choose? The truth is, there are many different careers that could be God's will for your life. What God cares about most is that whatever you do, you do in a Christlike manner. God is much more concerned about your character than your career, because you will take your character into eternity, but not your career."
Hope that helps and comforts some=)
God loves you!
Monday, March 1, 2010
The MATRIX + ppl's conversations
I know some of the people are waiting for me to post up a post about the sri lanka mission trip that i just went to..this is not the post. I'll post it soon k!
Just wanna share with you all things that struck me in singapore.
I was watching the show 'Matrix' as you can see from the title of the blog post.
It was shown on channel 5 like today night.
I watched it quite a few times and only until today's one i realised something very interesting.
Actually i only watched the last 30 min of the show.
My brother who hasn't watched the show yet asked me, "how come the man who died can rise again de?"
This scene is whereby the lead actor was shot like many times by the 3 matrix guys wearing black suits and sun glasses, being able to transform to be anybody anywhere.
His heart beat stopped as blood starts flowing out.
I answered my bro saying that "oh! cause he is the chosen one ma..so he won't die."
My mother added on, " he is here to save the people, he is like the saviour."
All these things struck me at that point of time thinking that it is exactly like Jesus Christ.
The show didn't had any ending, the ending was just the lead actor walking out of the telephone booth saying things like, "I came, not to give an ending, but a beginning." ," To free the people from living a life under rules, boundaries, to be controlled to a life without."
It stuck me once again.
It is the same for us, Jesus came to save us, everyone of us from being under the control of ourselves and satan.
He came, to free ourselves from ourselves means, to free us from self-centredness, from wanting to do things 'my' way, arrogance.
He came to free us from what satan can do to us, not only our physical, but also our mind. things like temptation, hurts to our body, negative and bad thoughts.
He came to free us from being trapped within all these and free us from being manipulated by satan.
Jesus is the chosen one, only His blood and sacrifice can stand in place of everyone and redeem everyone from sin, providing the only way to heaven.
He saved us from hell to heaven for the simple reason, He love us.
Thats why he came to earth to endure all the many sufferings and ridicule of his own creation as the people spit and laugh at him just to show us God in human form and to understand us as human beings.
What better way to understand something but to be in it and with it.
He had to endure the pain not only physical, getting wipped and cut but also the mental and spiritual, to be separated from His father.
This separation is like trying to tear two deep lovers up.
The seperation cuts and tears the heart of Jesus.
But it is neccessary for the sake of us to gain freedom, a way out and for Jesus to do the will of His father.
Jesus came, not to give everyone an ending to life, but a beginning, a new chapter into eternal life.
Many of you have heard this like a trillion times.
Even if you are a christian, you can always come back to the main focus of what you are actually believing in and thank God for it.
Come back to the basics.
Even if you are feeling dry in your spiritual walk today, always know to praise God because of this truth.
For those who haven't believed.
Jesus has given His life for you which is like everything he ever had.
It is only up to you now. its free for you to accept.
Your worth is worth the blood of Jesus Christ
Oh! there is another thing i want to share.
There was once, not too long ago, my mother said something to my bro and i overheard it.
she told my bro,"You must be neat like me"
my bro said,"why must i be like you."
She said, "because i am your mother, i expect you to be like me."
Even human beings like my mother understood this concept.
The Bible always talks about being more like Jesus, if we are true christians, we will hold characteristics that Jesus showed and had so that when others see us, they will know that we are different from the world and know that christ lives within us.
Even a mere human being like my mother expects her child to follow her good points what more God?
I am sure God desires and expects so much more from us because He perfect.
we can never be compared to God, the gap between us reaching God's expectations is too great.
Thats why Jesus christ came down to provide a way out, to close this gap inorder to us to have a relationship with Him.
There is such a thing called 'grace'.
'grace' is unmerited favour.
That means, we do not even deserve it but God still did it for us.
This grace and forgiveness from God of our sins shouldn't be something that we abuse.
It shouldn't be like, oh, i did something wrong, nehmind la, God will forgive me anw, so its ok to do it.
It should not be taken for granted but it should spur us to stop sinning or even struggle to stop sinning.
it should be, oh, God loves me so much, i shouldn't do anything to upset him and make him cry, God please forgive me.
There is another scene that i saw...
I was on the way for tuition and while waiting for the traffic light, there was this grandpa and a little kid.
The grandpa was teaching the little kid, "cannot cross when it is red man ah, it is wrong, cross only when it is green man."
It got me thinking that alot of times even if our parents teach us all the good stuff and the correct things to do, we always end up not doing it and rebel against it when we grow up.
things like jay walking starts to come into play.
it is not as if we don't know it is wrong but it is just that we do not want to do it thats all.
the question is, why?
this is for you to think about. it will be good if you all can contribute the answer to the comments or something.^^
God bless you!
Just wanna share with you all things that struck me in singapore.
I was watching the show 'Matrix' as you can see from the title of the blog post.
It was shown on channel 5 like today night.
I watched it quite a few times and only until today's one i realised something very interesting.
Actually i only watched the last 30 min of the show.
My brother who hasn't watched the show yet asked me, "how come the man who died can rise again de?"
This scene is whereby the lead actor was shot like many times by the 3 matrix guys wearing black suits and sun glasses, being able to transform to be anybody anywhere.
His heart beat stopped as blood starts flowing out.
I answered my bro saying that "oh! cause he is the chosen one ma..so he won't die."
My mother added on, " he is here to save the people, he is like the saviour."
All these things struck me at that point of time thinking that it is exactly like Jesus Christ.
The show didn't had any ending, the ending was just the lead actor walking out of the telephone booth saying things like, "I came, not to give an ending, but a beginning." ," To free the people from living a life under rules, boundaries, to be controlled to a life without."
It stuck me once again.
It is the same for us, Jesus came to save us, everyone of us from being under the control of ourselves and satan.
He came, to free ourselves from ourselves means, to free us from self-centredness, from wanting to do things 'my' way, arrogance.
He came to free us from what satan can do to us, not only our physical, but also our mind. things like temptation, hurts to our body, negative and bad thoughts.
He came to free us from being trapped within all these and free us from being manipulated by satan.
Jesus is the chosen one, only His blood and sacrifice can stand in place of everyone and redeem everyone from sin, providing the only way to heaven.
He saved us from hell to heaven for the simple reason, He love us.
Thats why he came to earth to endure all the many sufferings and ridicule of his own creation as the people spit and laugh at him just to show us God in human form and to understand us as human beings.
What better way to understand something but to be in it and with it.
He had to endure the pain not only physical, getting wipped and cut but also the mental and spiritual, to be separated from His father.
This separation is like trying to tear two deep lovers up.
The seperation cuts and tears the heart of Jesus.
But it is neccessary for the sake of us to gain freedom, a way out and for Jesus to do the will of His father.
Jesus came, not to give everyone an ending to life, but a beginning, a new chapter into eternal life.
Many of you have heard this like a trillion times.
Even if you are a christian, you can always come back to the main focus of what you are actually believing in and thank God for it.
Come back to the basics.
Even if you are feeling dry in your spiritual walk today, always know to praise God because of this truth.
For those who haven't believed.
Jesus has given His life for you which is like everything he ever had.
It is only up to you now. its free for you to accept.
Your worth is worth the blood of Jesus Christ
Oh! there is another thing i want to share.
There was once, not too long ago, my mother said something to my bro and i overheard it.
she told my bro,"You must be neat like me"
my bro said,"why must i be like you."
She said, "because i am your mother, i expect you to be like me."
Even human beings like my mother understood this concept.
The Bible always talks about being more like Jesus, if we are true christians, we will hold characteristics that Jesus showed and had so that when others see us, they will know that we are different from the world and know that christ lives within us.
Even a mere human being like my mother expects her child to follow her good points what more God?
I am sure God desires and expects so much more from us because He perfect.
we can never be compared to God, the gap between us reaching God's expectations is too great.
Thats why Jesus christ came down to provide a way out, to close this gap inorder to us to have a relationship with Him.
There is such a thing called 'grace'.
'grace' is unmerited favour.
That means, we do not even deserve it but God still did it for us.
This grace and forgiveness from God of our sins shouldn't be something that we abuse.
It shouldn't be like, oh, i did something wrong, nehmind la, God will forgive me anw, so its ok to do it.
It should not be taken for granted but it should spur us to stop sinning or even struggle to stop sinning.
it should be, oh, God loves me so much, i shouldn't do anything to upset him and make him cry, God please forgive me.
There is another scene that i saw...
I was on the way for tuition and while waiting for the traffic light, there was this grandpa and a little kid.
The grandpa was teaching the little kid, "cannot cross when it is red man ah, it is wrong, cross only when it is green man."
It got me thinking that alot of times even if our parents teach us all the good stuff and the correct things to do, we always end up not doing it and rebel against it when we grow up.
things like jay walking starts to come into play.
it is not as if we don't know it is wrong but it is just that we do not want to do it thats all.
the question is, why?
this is for you to think about. it will be good if you all can contribute the answer to the comments or something.^^
God bless you!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Bintan and simplicity
hey hey! sorry for not updating for quite a long time..have been kinda busy and stuff with the real programme! and i just came back from my first mission trip! Bintan!
My misson trip in Bintan is only a 3 day 2 night mission trip. sat, sun and mon.
The whole real team, we basically allocated tasks for different people..some did preaching, MCing, organised tuition lessons, children's programme, testimony sharing..etc.
The food places that we went to were so good! really super nice!
For me, i had to lead the second day of the children's church.
I am going to talk about my experience leading the children's church programme.
For me, i am a person who is not really a leader..
I am better at following..i just cannot really lead.
Joey (the person in charge of the whole real programme) purposely placed me in a leadership position).
At first when i heard that i needed to lead a children's programme for like 2 hours, i got scared but at the same time thought it will be ok..cause i love children and i had some dealing with children background (because i was in children's ministry two years back) so i had confidence that i would be able to communicate with the kids.
I was placed at the first children's programme which was held at sat night.
But somethings cropped up and i was placed at the second one on sun morning.
For the sat night's one, we went to a house and there were alot of children! and the house is kinda small..i think there were about 40 to 50 of them squeezed in a small room.
I got a shock when i saw it.
My group wasn't the one leading the children's programme for the first night so i just sat back and observe the situation, thinking of ways as to how to improve my programmes planned to better cater to the lack of space and so many children.
The other group did worship songs followed by one of the guys from real team, samuel stepped in to drag time because the group which is leading,didn't know what to do.
He was real good.
It was like he was basically born to do it kind because he was able to capture the attention of the kids and really had fun with the limited amount of space..doing magic tricks, games..he can bascially run the whole programme by himself.
The group was really glad that he came to save them and i was too..i was really very amazed at how he is about to connect with the kids despite the language barrier.
Next on the schedule was origami...they had to learn how to fold paper hearts as the group that is leading took over from samuel.
during this time, i really panicked.
i sat aside and really try to think of ways to connect with the kids on the sun morning's programme..i was very motivated to run it well for my children's programme (but it didn't last for very long.)
As for the origami hearts, mine also had origami but it is cranes instead.
but because of the huge amount of children and little manpower, the children soon got restless and started to walk around and go into the room i was in.
So i thought it was ok to play with them and stuff but i realised i was pulling them away from the leading group.
Anws, the children's programme was bascially kinda screwed up if not for samuel who is not even supposed to run any children's programme to step in and help.
There were alot of unexpected and everyone left with a heart that is very discouraged.
For me, my motivation disappeared, and i thought to myself, "i can never be as good as samuel..how am i supposed to connect with the kids?"
And all the other negative thoughts start to pop up in my mind...things like, i will not be able to lead..i am not even born a leader..
And all the past failures in church with regards to me leading worship, me as a person, critisisms that i recieved from people, from leaders at start to come in..and i just felt totally drained out and i was so confident that i am not able to do it..it really took away all my happiness.
That sat night after the service, i talked to joey (because he noticed there was something wrong with me) and i told him stuff..
He is one person that motivated me quite abit...there was something that he said that i remembered..."the reason why i gave you this role is not because i have confidence in you..but it is because i have confidence in God that God can work through you."
I was afraid of failures..i was afraid at how people look at me as a failure..and how incapable i am..
I keep on telling him, what if i fail?
he said that it doesn't matter whether i fail or not. fail then fail la...so what?
i got really comforted.
Samuel also keep on telling me that i am able to do it.
that sat night, alot of people came to leng shan's and i the room to help.
Whether related to the programme or not, they all came to help.
these people were..david, joshua. kah sheng, leng shan, samuel, nigel and jia liang.
I asked for ideas and stuff..we did rehearsals for the skit, created by josh. we did story telling by nigel and many others.
The best thing is that it lastest till 4 am in the morning!
And we had to wake up at 6.30 to 7.
Even gaomin who didn't really know why i am so stressed out and quiet wrote for me a note as encouragement.
Josh wrote a note for me too..
Before i lead the children's church thingy on sun morn, people like joey came to encourage and motivate me once again! He kept on saying that i can do it and he will be there to jia you me and stuff..
As for samuel, he pulled me aside and prayed for me..
As for joshua, he keep on telling me that he will be there so got him to back up..don't need to worry.
Leading the children was a very tiring experience because alot of actions and energy is required..
But after the whole thing, i felt very happy about it and it was a success for me personally.
How i wish i am able to stay there with them like longer.
I just got really amazed at how small little things that people do can really speak into the lives of some..
A simple "hello" or a smile can actually brighten some who had a tough day..
A simple hug can actually make one feel loved and accepted.
A simple tap on the back can actually make someone feel so so encouraged.
Simple words like, "well done"," jia you!" "don't worry", "i'll be there"..etc.
can actually touch someone.
There is no need to create fanciful words or actions just to impress someone or speak into the life of someone..
This is one of the beauty of simplicity.
The sad part is, not many people do so..
If you were to ask me what is the top thing that i gained from this trip to bintan, i would say the friendships forged.
i am just really glad and contented to have friends like these in my life to lend me a helping hand in my times of helplessness.
Really wanna thank God for it.
SIMPLICITY OF FAITH
On the journey back to singapore, on the ship, i went to the top level which is open air to look at the scenery, i also learnt some stuffs.
Looking at the sky, the clouds and the oceans, seeing the sun setting, looking at the birds flying in the air so freely...so many colours all around me and with the wind blowing my hair all around...
It was such an enjoyment for me..because i was finally out of city life..out of places with buildings and concrete structures..i love connecting with nature and just to look at it, enjoy it and appreciate it quietly...
One of my two dreams is to become a pilot..because i love the sky and to be with it.
Looking at far away airplanes fly past, i really wish to be the one driving it...
Anws, coming back to the topic, i was looking at the sky, clouds and the seas i was just simply stunned by how big this thing is!
Its like you look all around, there is no ending in it...you don't see an end..the sky and the oceans stretches across a large large area..too big for me to see or comprehend.
I felt very comforted as i look at the sky and the moon. and was in awe at how big and amazing God can be..
He is the one that created all these! and i am so super small and insignificant as compared to it..
I mean like if you compare the surface area that i occupy against these things, i will be almost nothing...like zero.
But still, God chose us to govern the whole earth.
The question in my mind was, 'why didn't He choose someone bigger to take rule and control? won't it be better?'
These are sights which you cannot really capture when you are on land and esp in a city area or areas with alot of pollution and buildings and vehicles kind.
Its just like a frog in a well.
we are like frogs..
The sky that we see is only one small area out of the vast skies that are out there.
It is just like what we see in life is only one small little portion of the entire thing..
it is just like God. what we percieve and know who God really is, is only one small portion of His entire being.
I realised that when i saw that the sky and oceans that i can see and comprehend at the position i am in, is very limited..
It becomes more limited when i am in a city, with high rise buildings all around and very little sky can be seen.
so actually the people who are living in the villages are actually more fortunate and blessed in terms of being able to get intouch with nature and being able to get a better grasp and hold of the sky and the clouds.
In the same way, although the villages do not have alot of money, they are able to grasp the goodness of God so much more easily..because they do not have anything much to start of with.
They have more time to spend with God and not get so caught up with things to do and deadlines to reach..etc. they are able to appreciate the simple things in life.
One more thing that i learnt is that even though i can describe so much to you..like the sky, the sun, the moon, the oceans,the waves..etc. You won't be able to get the full picture and experience because you are not in it.
You really have to experience and look at the whole thing yourself to really get amazed by it.
even if i were to take pictures of it and show you, you won't be able to fully understand.
Morever, pictures can only take portions of it..not the whole thing..
Similarly, God is just like that.
I can tell you..God loves you up till the point that He is willing to die for you!
But at the end of the day you can still feel very indifferent about it.
Only when you take a step of faith and experience the love God can give, then you will get the full experience.
Then will you be able to get the picture and be amazed by it.
Alot of people think that christianity and God is a very difficult thing to grasp..alot of theories and stuff..
But actually it is the simplicity of it that keeps the faith going.
It is just that God loves you so so much that He is willing to sent His son down to suffer and die for us so that we can live with Him once again in heaven. We love Him because He first loved us.
Isn't it very simple?
God just wants us to love Him.
That is what keeps faith going...love.
God loves you!
My misson trip in Bintan is only a 3 day 2 night mission trip. sat, sun and mon.
The whole real team, we basically allocated tasks for different people..some did preaching, MCing, organised tuition lessons, children's programme, testimony sharing..etc.
The food places that we went to were so good! really super nice!
For me, i had to lead the second day of the children's church.
I am going to talk about my experience leading the children's church programme.
For me, i am a person who is not really a leader..
I am better at following..i just cannot really lead.
Joey (the person in charge of the whole real programme) purposely placed me in a leadership position).
At first when i heard that i needed to lead a children's programme for like 2 hours, i got scared but at the same time thought it will be ok..cause i love children and i had some dealing with children background (because i was in children's ministry two years back) so i had confidence that i would be able to communicate with the kids.
I was placed at the first children's programme which was held at sat night.
But somethings cropped up and i was placed at the second one on sun morning.
For the sat night's one, we went to a house and there were alot of children! and the house is kinda small..i think there were about 40 to 50 of them squeezed in a small room.
I got a shock when i saw it.
My group wasn't the one leading the children's programme for the first night so i just sat back and observe the situation, thinking of ways as to how to improve my programmes planned to better cater to the lack of space and so many children.
The other group did worship songs followed by one of the guys from real team, samuel stepped in to drag time because the group which is leading,didn't know what to do.
He was real good.
It was like he was basically born to do it kind because he was able to capture the attention of the kids and really had fun with the limited amount of space..doing magic tricks, games..he can bascially run the whole programme by himself.
The group was really glad that he came to save them and i was too..i was really very amazed at how he is about to connect with the kids despite the language barrier.
Next on the schedule was origami...they had to learn how to fold paper hearts as the group that is leading took over from samuel.
during this time, i really panicked.
i sat aside and really try to think of ways to connect with the kids on the sun morning's programme..i was very motivated to run it well for my children's programme (but it didn't last for very long.)
As for the origami hearts, mine also had origami but it is cranes instead.
but because of the huge amount of children and little manpower, the children soon got restless and started to walk around and go into the room i was in.
So i thought it was ok to play with them and stuff but i realised i was pulling them away from the leading group.
Anws, the children's programme was bascially kinda screwed up if not for samuel who is not even supposed to run any children's programme to step in and help.
There were alot of unexpected and everyone left with a heart that is very discouraged.
For me, my motivation disappeared, and i thought to myself, "i can never be as good as samuel..how am i supposed to connect with the kids?"
And all the other negative thoughts start to pop up in my mind...things like, i will not be able to lead..i am not even born a leader..
And all the past failures in church with regards to me leading worship, me as a person, critisisms that i recieved from people, from leaders at start to come in..and i just felt totally drained out and i was so confident that i am not able to do it..it really took away all my happiness.
That sat night after the service, i talked to joey (because he noticed there was something wrong with me) and i told him stuff..
He is one person that motivated me quite abit...there was something that he said that i remembered..."the reason why i gave you this role is not because i have confidence in you..but it is because i have confidence in God that God can work through you."
I was afraid of failures..i was afraid at how people look at me as a failure..and how incapable i am..
I keep on telling him, what if i fail?
he said that it doesn't matter whether i fail or not. fail then fail la...so what?
i got really comforted.
Samuel also keep on telling me that i am able to do it.
that sat night, alot of people came to leng shan's and i the room to help.
Whether related to the programme or not, they all came to help.
these people were..david, joshua. kah sheng, leng shan, samuel, nigel and jia liang.
I asked for ideas and stuff..we did rehearsals for the skit, created by josh. we did story telling by nigel and many others.
The best thing is that it lastest till 4 am in the morning!
And we had to wake up at 6.30 to 7.
Even gaomin who didn't really know why i am so stressed out and quiet wrote for me a note as encouragement.
Josh wrote a note for me too..
Before i lead the children's church thingy on sun morn, people like joey came to encourage and motivate me once again! He kept on saying that i can do it and he will be there to jia you me and stuff..
As for samuel, he pulled me aside and prayed for me..
As for joshua, he keep on telling me that he will be there so got him to back up..don't need to worry.
Leading the children was a very tiring experience because alot of actions and energy is required..
But after the whole thing, i felt very happy about it and it was a success for me personally.
How i wish i am able to stay there with them like longer.
I just got really amazed at how small little things that people do can really speak into the lives of some..
A simple "hello" or a smile can actually brighten some who had a tough day..
A simple hug can actually make one feel loved and accepted.
A simple tap on the back can actually make someone feel so so encouraged.
Simple words like, "well done"," jia you!" "don't worry", "i'll be there"..etc.
can actually touch someone.
There is no need to create fanciful words or actions just to impress someone or speak into the life of someone..
This is one of the beauty of simplicity.
The sad part is, not many people do so..
If you were to ask me what is the top thing that i gained from this trip to bintan, i would say the friendships forged.
i am just really glad and contented to have friends like these in my life to lend me a helping hand in my times of helplessness.
Really wanna thank God for it.
SIMPLICITY OF FAITH
On the journey back to singapore, on the ship, i went to the top level which is open air to look at the scenery, i also learnt some stuffs.
Looking at the sky, the clouds and the oceans, seeing the sun setting, looking at the birds flying in the air so freely...so many colours all around me and with the wind blowing my hair all around...
It was such an enjoyment for me..because i was finally out of city life..out of places with buildings and concrete structures..i love connecting with nature and just to look at it, enjoy it and appreciate it quietly...
One of my two dreams is to become a pilot..because i love the sky and to be with it.
Looking at far away airplanes fly past, i really wish to be the one driving it...
Anws, coming back to the topic, i was looking at the sky, clouds and the seas i was just simply stunned by how big this thing is!
Its like you look all around, there is no ending in it...you don't see an end..the sky and the oceans stretches across a large large area..too big for me to see or comprehend.
I felt very comforted as i look at the sky and the moon. and was in awe at how big and amazing God can be..
He is the one that created all these! and i am so super small and insignificant as compared to it..
I mean like if you compare the surface area that i occupy against these things, i will be almost nothing...like zero.
But still, God chose us to govern the whole earth.
The question in my mind was, 'why didn't He choose someone bigger to take rule and control? won't it be better?'
These are sights which you cannot really capture when you are on land and esp in a city area or areas with alot of pollution and buildings and vehicles kind.
Its just like a frog in a well.
we are like frogs..
The sky that we see is only one small area out of the vast skies that are out there.
It is just like what we see in life is only one small little portion of the entire thing..
it is just like God. what we percieve and know who God really is, is only one small portion of His entire being.
I realised that when i saw that the sky and oceans that i can see and comprehend at the position i am in, is very limited..
It becomes more limited when i am in a city, with high rise buildings all around and very little sky can be seen.
so actually the people who are living in the villages are actually more fortunate and blessed in terms of being able to get intouch with nature and being able to get a better grasp and hold of the sky and the clouds.
In the same way, although the villages do not have alot of money, they are able to grasp the goodness of God so much more easily..because they do not have anything much to start of with.
They have more time to spend with God and not get so caught up with things to do and deadlines to reach..etc. they are able to appreciate the simple things in life.
One more thing that i learnt is that even though i can describe so much to you..like the sky, the sun, the moon, the oceans,the waves..etc. You won't be able to get the full picture and experience because you are not in it.
You really have to experience and look at the whole thing yourself to really get amazed by it.
even if i were to take pictures of it and show you, you won't be able to fully understand.
Morever, pictures can only take portions of it..not the whole thing..
Similarly, God is just like that.
I can tell you..God loves you up till the point that He is willing to die for you!
But at the end of the day you can still feel very indifferent about it.
Only when you take a step of faith and experience the love God can give, then you will get the full experience.
Then will you be able to get the picture and be amazed by it.
Alot of people think that christianity and God is a very difficult thing to grasp..alot of theories and stuff..
But actually it is the simplicity of it that keeps the faith going.
It is just that God loves you so so much that He is willing to sent His son down to suffer and die for us so that we can live with Him once again in heaven. We love Him because He first loved us.
Isn't it very simple?
God just wants us to love Him.
That is what keeps faith going...love.
God loves you!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sow the Seeds!
Today i wanna talk to you all about something that spoke to me when i attended the sermon on sun for adults like for a short while while waiting for the youth service to start^^
Its about evangelism..
Eh eh eh...don't go off yet k?
hear what i have got to say..esp for those who totally switch off when this word 'evangelism' appears.
But! it is really very important! because it is us christian's the primary purpose of us living on earth!
I think i have said this before..
An example is like you have just watched a super nice movie like "avartar"!
it is super duper good..and you just go around and tell all your friends about it, recommending them to watch the movie like non-stop.
At least this is what i would do if i saw something real good be it food, a restaurant, a shop or a movie..
It just comes out naturally because you know that when they watch it or eat it too, they will most probably enjoy it as much as you do...(unless your taste is really different and unique from the rest) but usually what you enjoy, there will be others out there who will enjoy it too.
Just like this real life example that i have stated above, if God is really good and the amounts of truth that you really get blown over by it. and somemore God's love for you is something that cannot be measured at all. and the experiences that you encountered with God, wouldn't it be something that is so so much better than what you can obtain from this world?
The most important thing is also that it concerns the people whom you meet and love's eternal life.
Shouldn't it be natural for you to share how amazing this God is? and why one wanted to be a christian?
God didn't say go! gifted ones! He includes everyone..
This means that He includes you and me..no one is of any exception.
Even though you cannot really speak very fluently or with good language..God will still want you to do so..
The best thing is that you are not talented in this area..you are not a natural speaker or be able to carry yourself forward properly..
Why is it the best?
Because if God works through your weaknesses, you will see very clearly and amazingly that God is actually working through you and using you because you will be doing things that you didn't think you were able to do it in the past but somehow you manage to do it. something like a miracle.
God also says in the Bible that He uses the weak and poor, but shames the strong and wealthy.
This does not mean that He will actually torture the strong and wealthy. it refers to those who thinks that they are ok and are better than the rest not those who recognises that they are strong..
God choose to use those who recognises that they are helpless and weak..those who recognise that they need God to do stuff because they cannot do it on their own.
Which is true because human beings have limits but God is limitless and huge.
Anws, evangelism can be just a simple invitation like, "hey hey! would you like to come over to my church one day and attend the service?"
Different people react differently to different ways to invitation.
But the focus is that you do not give up trying even though they may reject you like once.
why?
Because you will never know what actually happens every new day!
I mean like the guy can today say i hate church and super anti church but tmr, he may change his view because of the complications and problems in life right?
If you neh try you will never know..
I have also been struggling with the fact that after awhile, i give up on people and move on.
if they reject me twice or thrice, i will not even try to tell them about christ any longer..
but i guess this is not the mindset that we should have because the world around us is really a EVER-CHANGING WORLD...but God is a NEVER-CHANGING God. thats the difference..God is reliable and trustworthy.
Some people like me will say.."but i scared!"
But do you know that the Bible mentions 365 times things like, "do not be afraid!"
That means like God kinda knows that everyday of the year you will face somekind of fear.
cool right?hahaha^^
Anws, the Bible also reminds us to not be ashamed of God's word or He will be ashamed of us.
You will never know, you sharing your testimony or story, can actually help someone else find God or to even grow stronger in their faith?
Grace told me twice that our God is a very "economical" God.
He will not waste whatever experiences that we have..like every single one..but to use these experiences to mould us to become what He wants us to be.
With every triumph over every situation, God is able to use it to bless others who might be facing the same problems later on and you will then be able to relate to them in a more personal level and emphatize with them.
Another thing is that you got to pray things like "Lord, pls lead me to someone today that i can bless." God will open the doors to those whom you can bless.
But the problem is that you must get yourself already in a ready position not to wait till things come but you are not equipt with anything and try to say something and you cannot then end up panicking.
Its just like that particular day you are going for a battle but you are not equipt with anything and on the way to the battle field this guy comes and attacks...of course you will lose out! and lose out in quite an embarrassing manner..
ok, maybe this is not a very good analogy...but i hope you get what i mean..
always be in a ready position.
ready as in being able to share the gospel when you meet anyone along the way, ready to say the sinners prayer, ready to relate to their lives and think, how can God come into the picture?
Imagine, if got chance the people out there are ready to accept the Lord and you are ready, God will be able to use you to touch people's lives! and not for you to panick last minute.
There is need to be sensitive to the opportunities that may come your way..
There is a need to immediately engage the Holy Spirit speak through you..
There is this last thing that we need to remember..and its very important!
"Jesus saves, it is not our responsibility to save but to build bridges."
There is this song that is named, "make a difference". its a very nice song and the chorus goes, "and i will run to the alter, and catch the fire, to stand in the gap between the living and the dead, give us a heart of compassion, for a world without vision and we'll make a difference, bringing hope, to our land."
We don't know who is going to be saved and we do not have the power to save the people that we love and care for even though we may want to..
What we know is that God promises that if we sow as many seeds as possible, the harvest will be plenty.
But to allow that to happen, we need to sow the seeds and not give up in sowing..if you give up, none will be growing at all and there will be no harvest.
Even though some may fall on hard ground and die off without growth, our job is not to grow it, the conditions of growth, like sunlight and right temperature is not dependent on us..we cannot control it. Only God can.
Our job is to sow the seeds!
God bless you!
Its about evangelism..
Eh eh eh...don't go off yet k?
hear what i have got to say..esp for those who totally switch off when this word 'evangelism' appears.
But! it is really very important! because it is us christian's the primary purpose of us living on earth!
I think i have said this before..
An example is like you have just watched a super nice movie like "avartar"!
it is super duper good..and you just go around and tell all your friends about it, recommending them to watch the movie like non-stop.
At least this is what i would do if i saw something real good be it food, a restaurant, a shop or a movie..
It just comes out naturally because you know that when they watch it or eat it too, they will most probably enjoy it as much as you do...(unless your taste is really different and unique from the rest) but usually what you enjoy, there will be others out there who will enjoy it too.
Just like this real life example that i have stated above, if God is really good and the amounts of truth that you really get blown over by it. and somemore God's love for you is something that cannot be measured at all. and the experiences that you encountered with God, wouldn't it be something that is so so much better than what you can obtain from this world?
The most important thing is also that it concerns the people whom you meet and love's eternal life.
Shouldn't it be natural for you to share how amazing this God is? and why one wanted to be a christian?
God didn't say go! gifted ones! He includes everyone..
This means that He includes you and me..no one is of any exception.
Even though you cannot really speak very fluently or with good language..God will still want you to do so..
The best thing is that you are not talented in this area..you are not a natural speaker or be able to carry yourself forward properly..
Why is it the best?
Because if God works through your weaknesses, you will see very clearly and amazingly that God is actually working through you and using you because you will be doing things that you didn't think you were able to do it in the past but somehow you manage to do it. something like a miracle.
God also says in the Bible that He uses the weak and poor, but shames the strong and wealthy.
This does not mean that He will actually torture the strong and wealthy. it refers to those who thinks that they are ok and are better than the rest not those who recognises that they are strong..
God choose to use those who recognises that they are helpless and weak..those who recognise that they need God to do stuff because they cannot do it on their own.
Which is true because human beings have limits but God is limitless and huge.
Anws, evangelism can be just a simple invitation like, "hey hey! would you like to come over to my church one day and attend the service?"
Different people react differently to different ways to invitation.
But the focus is that you do not give up trying even though they may reject you like once.
why?
Because you will never know what actually happens every new day!
I mean like the guy can today say i hate church and super anti church but tmr, he may change his view because of the complications and problems in life right?
If you neh try you will never know..
I have also been struggling with the fact that after awhile, i give up on people and move on.
if they reject me twice or thrice, i will not even try to tell them about christ any longer..
but i guess this is not the mindset that we should have because the world around us is really a EVER-CHANGING WORLD...but God is a NEVER-CHANGING God. thats the difference..God is reliable and trustworthy.
Some people like me will say.."but i scared!"
But do you know that the Bible mentions 365 times things like, "do not be afraid!"
That means like God kinda knows that everyday of the year you will face somekind of fear.
cool right?hahaha^^
Anws, the Bible also reminds us to not be ashamed of God's word or He will be ashamed of us.
You will never know, you sharing your testimony or story, can actually help someone else find God or to even grow stronger in their faith?
Grace told me twice that our God is a very "economical" God.
He will not waste whatever experiences that we have..like every single one..but to use these experiences to mould us to become what He wants us to be.
With every triumph over every situation, God is able to use it to bless others who might be facing the same problems later on and you will then be able to relate to them in a more personal level and emphatize with them.
Another thing is that you got to pray things like "Lord, pls lead me to someone today that i can bless." God will open the doors to those whom you can bless.
But the problem is that you must get yourself already in a ready position not to wait till things come but you are not equipt with anything and try to say something and you cannot then end up panicking.
Its just like that particular day you are going for a battle but you are not equipt with anything and on the way to the battle field this guy comes and attacks...of course you will lose out! and lose out in quite an embarrassing manner..
ok, maybe this is not a very good analogy...but i hope you get what i mean..
always be in a ready position.
ready as in being able to share the gospel when you meet anyone along the way, ready to say the sinners prayer, ready to relate to their lives and think, how can God come into the picture?
Imagine, if got chance the people out there are ready to accept the Lord and you are ready, God will be able to use you to touch people's lives! and not for you to panick last minute.
There is need to be sensitive to the opportunities that may come your way..
There is a need to immediately engage the Holy Spirit speak through you..
There is this last thing that we need to remember..and its very important!
"Jesus saves, it is not our responsibility to save but to build bridges."
There is this song that is named, "make a difference". its a very nice song and the chorus goes, "and i will run to the alter, and catch the fire, to stand in the gap between the living and the dead, give us a heart of compassion, for a world without vision and we'll make a difference, bringing hope, to our land."
We don't know who is going to be saved and we do not have the power to save the people that we love and care for even though we may want to..
What we know is that God promises that if we sow as many seeds as possible, the harvest will be plenty.
But to allow that to happen, we need to sow the seeds and not give up in sowing..if you give up, none will be growing at all and there will be no harvest.
Even though some may fall on hard ground and die off without growth, our job is not to grow it, the conditions of growth, like sunlight and right temperature is not dependent on us..we cannot control it. Only God can.
Our job is to sow the seeds!
God bless you!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
One of my experiences at R.E.A.L camp
Hey hey!! sorry for not putting up any post. Just wanna thank those ppl who put up the comments for me..really very encouraging^^really very nice of you all.
Anws, recently i have been very busy with this church programme for O and A levers called R.E.A.L.
Yupps. there are a total of 16 of us in this programme.
This programme is created by the church mainly to help groom leaders..
Basically it is a programme to help us grow spiritually...we will be doing mission trips, workshops, organising events for the next two months (Jan and Feb)..its kinda like working full time in church just that you don't get any salary.
Anws, we had this log in camp from the 28th to 31st dec in G1.
Today, i am going to tell you some of the lessons and reflections i have done^^
Overall, there were alot of first times for me.
It was my first time watching the sunrise (even though i tried like countless of times to watch it but always fail..cause too cloudy or something)
My first time crying so intensely in a camp or even infront of ppl.
My first time being at changi beach.
My first time going to a camp with grace assembly's church ppl.
My first time waking up at 3.30am for an activity in camp.
My first time doing quiet time (qt) so early in the morning and for so long.
When i heard of this log in camp for the first time and saw the videos of the past REAL people
playing games and stuff, i really was prepared heart and mind that this camp is going to be a great one. One that bonds people together, full of action pack games and fun! To help us get a head start and full of enthusiasm for the real REAL programme to start in Jan.
However, i was kinda disappointed at first that it was really tonned down.
It was a camp that had alot to do with writing, listening, seeing and with little moving.
They had games, but it was just for a short while and it wasn't very actioned packed. Everyday, people tell me how wonderful this camp was and how fun it is but i just kept quiet.
The camp was basically made up of workshops on finding out what kind of a person are you, your strength and weaknesses like the (DISCO) which is similar to sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and meloncholic. Also, things like how to read the Bible, forgiveness, being authentic and stuff...etc.
Just things that are very dry to me personally.
Anws, skip to the part about the morning quiet times.
I just wanna share with you my experience for the morning qt.
There was one at east coast around 6.15am and one at 4am at changi beach.
For the changi beach one i didn't see the sunrise, just the gradual lightening up of the sky.
I am going to share with you my experiences at east coast park.
As i mentioned earlier, everytime i have been to east coast, even if i wake up very early, i still
won't be able to see the sunrise...so i always thought that it can only be seen at west coast park.
(funny right? all along i thought i can only see the sun rise from the west!!)
Anws, Before the sun even came out. i looked at the sky getting brighter by the minute.
Filled with several colours. Blue at the outer most, followed by green then yellow then orange and finally red.
I kinda got disappointed once again because the sky gets brighter and brighter and the sun was no where to be seen.
It just reminded me of the many times i failed to see the sunrise no matter how hard i try.
It reminded me basically, of my failures.
I gave up watching and start to read my Bible...my head was facing down and i didn't bother to look up.
Until Gao Min (one of my friend in the REAL team) called out to me to look at the sky.
I was really amazed by the orangy red sun.
I dunno how to describe. It was just amazing and i just sit there in awe of it. It was really beautiful..you all should have been there yourself.
It was a feeling like wow! and my eyes just can't get off the sun rise above the sea...(just that it was kinda small as compared to how i imagined it to be)^^
Anws, back to the main point.
What dawned upon me was, if i were to give up and walk away, not waiting for God's timing, i would have missed the sunrise.
The devil could be reminding me of all the failures i had in the past to stop me from waiting or even trying to wait and perservere.
I couldn't have seen the sun at all.
Only, if i were to wait patiently and perservere until something happens (PUSH), the rewards are definately worth watching and getting.
It just like the life that we face.
For me, alot of times because of our anxious hearts, we cannot and fail to wait for God's timing.
We want to do things on our own and do the action first then pray later.
My friend once advice me..she said, in everything you do, pray first then do not do first then pray.
Alot of times we do already then in desperate need then seek God and beg God for help.
We usually fail to see that we are to always seek God's will and timing in prayer before we do the stuff.
Only if we were to be patient in every problem we face as we hand it over to God in prayer, waiting for His timing.
Through this, then we can discover amazing products at the end.
The question is, are you willing to wait?
Some people may think that the sunrise is something so common...nothing special, esp those who get to see sunrise and sunset to often and they get so used to it.
Try to think of the sun in a different light.
What is it made of?
How come it is always on unceasing fire?
Who could have created such a huge and amazing thing?
Another thing that struck me was how amazing God can be as i watched the sky, the sea and the air inbetween. God made them to be seperated, not mixing any of them together.
It just so perfect if you can imagine it..how come these layers do not mix when in the outer space, the water can float around and mix kind of thing..
Hearing the splashing of the waves and watching the water go up and down in a repeated cycle with so many so many(billions or trillions) of creatures living within it. Some of us may not have seen these creatures before like evidently. But, we do know it is there because of TV shows and books featuring it. There are even some creatures deep deep down and we only know they exist through machines..not even human beings can get down so deep.
Just like the TV shows and books showing us the things of the unseen, the Bible works the same way.
Just like how the TV shows and books are written and created by people who have went, search and explore the oceans and seas, the Bible is written by people who have experienced God and even seen Him.
They are the witnesses of Jesus.
The question is, are we going to trust the source even if the things are unseen and untouchable by us?
How much are we going to trust?
How reliable is it?
If what we can see like the sun and the surface of the oceans is already so amazing, what more the things that we cannot see?
This camp has really made an impact in my life.
Not that it is really fun and exciting.
But that this is the only camp that taught me the essentials to life.
To be able to know yourself and relate to others,
To love like how Jesus did.
To work for the eternal life.
These can only be done through prayer, reading of God's word, fellowship and worship.
This camp is truely different and it leaves memories like no other.
Thank You Lord
Anws, recently i have been very busy with this church programme for O and A levers called R.E.A.L.
Yupps. there are a total of 16 of us in this programme.
This programme is created by the church mainly to help groom leaders..
Basically it is a programme to help us grow spiritually...we will be doing mission trips, workshops, organising events for the next two months (Jan and Feb)..its kinda like working full time in church just that you don't get any salary.
Anws, we had this log in camp from the 28th to 31st dec in G1.
Today, i am going to tell you some of the lessons and reflections i have done^^
Overall, there were alot of first times for me.
It was my first time watching the sunrise (even though i tried like countless of times to watch it but always fail..cause too cloudy or something)
My first time crying so intensely in a camp or even infront of ppl.
My first time being at changi beach.
My first time going to a camp with grace assembly's church ppl.
My first time waking up at 3.30am for an activity in camp.
My first time doing quiet time (qt) so early in the morning and for so long.
When i heard of this log in camp for the first time and saw the videos of the past REAL people
playing games and stuff, i really was prepared heart and mind that this camp is going to be a great one. One that bonds people together, full of action pack games and fun! To help us get a head start and full of enthusiasm for the real REAL programme to start in Jan.
However, i was kinda disappointed at first that it was really tonned down.
It was a camp that had alot to do with writing, listening, seeing and with little moving.
They had games, but it was just for a short while and it wasn't very actioned packed. Everyday, people tell me how wonderful this camp was and how fun it is but i just kept quiet.
The camp was basically made up of workshops on finding out what kind of a person are you, your strength and weaknesses like the (DISCO) which is similar to sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and meloncholic. Also, things like how to read the Bible, forgiveness, being authentic and stuff...etc.
Just things that are very dry to me personally.
Anws, skip to the part about the morning quiet times.
I just wanna share with you my experience for the morning qt.
There was one at east coast around 6.15am and one at 4am at changi beach.
For the changi beach one i didn't see the sunrise, just the gradual lightening up of the sky.
I am going to share with you my experiences at east coast park.
As i mentioned earlier, everytime i have been to east coast, even if i wake up very early, i still
won't be able to see the sunrise...so i always thought that it can only be seen at west coast park.
(funny right? all along i thought i can only see the sun rise from the west!!)
Anws, Before the sun even came out. i looked at the sky getting brighter by the minute.
Filled with several colours. Blue at the outer most, followed by green then yellow then orange and finally red.
I kinda got disappointed once again because the sky gets brighter and brighter and the sun was no where to be seen.
It just reminded me of the many times i failed to see the sunrise no matter how hard i try.
It reminded me basically, of my failures.
I gave up watching and start to read my Bible...my head was facing down and i didn't bother to look up.
Until Gao Min (one of my friend in the REAL team) called out to me to look at the sky.
I was really amazed by the orangy red sun.
I dunno how to describe. It was just amazing and i just sit there in awe of it. It was really beautiful..you all should have been there yourself.
It was a feeling like wow! and my eyes just can't get off the sun rise above the sea...(just that it was kinda small as compared to how i imagined it to be)^^
Anws, back to the main point.
What dawned upon me was, if i were to give up and walk away, not waiting for God's timing, i would have missed the sunrise.
The devil could be reminding me of all the failures i had in the past to stop me from waiting or even trying to wait and perservere.
I couldn't have seen the sun at all.
Only, if i were to wait patiently and perservere until something happens (PUSH), the rewards are definately worth watching and getting.
It just like the life that we face.
For me, alot of times because of our anxious hearts, we cannot and fail to wait for God's timing.
We want to do things on our own and do the action first then pray later.
My friend once advice me..she said, in everything you do, pray first then do not do first then pray.
Alot of times we do already then in desperate need then seek God and beg God for help.
We usually fail to see that we are to always seek God's will and timing in prayer before we do the stuff.
Only if we were to be patient in every problem we face as we hand it over to God in prayer, waiting for His timing.
Through this, then we can discover amazing products at the end.
The question is, are you willing to wait?
Some people may think that the sunrise is something so common...nothing special, esp those who get to see sunrise and sunset to often and they get so used to it.
Try to think of the sun in a different light.
What is it made of?
How come it is always on unceasing fire?
Who could have created such a huge and amazing thing?
Another thing that struck me was how amazing God can be as i watched the sky, the sea and the air inbetween. God made them to be seperated, not mixing any of them together.
It just so perfect if you can imagine it..how come these layers do not mix when in the outer space, the water can float around and mix kind of thing..
Hearing the splashing of the waves and watching the water go up and down in a repeated cycle with so many so many(billions or trillions) of creatures living within it. Some of us may not have seen these creatures before like evidently. But, we do know it is there because of TV shows and books featuring it. There are even some creatures deep deep down and we only know they exist through machines..not even human beings can get down so deep.
Just like the TV shows and books showing us the things of the unseen, the Bible works the same way.
Just like how the TV shows and books are written and created by people who have went, search and explore the oceans and seas, the Bible is written by people who have experienced God and even seen Him.
They are the witnesses of Jesus.
The question is, are we going to trust the source even if the things are unseen and untouchable by us?
How much are we going to trust?
How reliable is it?
If what we can see like the sun and the surface of the oceans is already so amazing, what more the things that we cannot see?
This camp has really made an impact in my life.
Not that it is really fun and exciting.
But that this is the only camp that taught me the essentials to life.
To be able to know yourself and relate to others,
To love like how Jesus did.
To work for the eternal life.
These can only be done through prayer, reading of God's word, fellowship and worship.
This camp is truely different and it leaves memories like no other.
Thank You Lord
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