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Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
a good weekend
these few days have been really really busy. on top of that, i found out that my schedule's filled till schl starts, with only one or two days to take a breather :( however, these few days are passing joyfully, with an awesome knowledge that the God is with me. His peace, joy and love has been felt even more in this past weekend, and im so grateful for His presence and His assurance.
yesterday during BS, Auntie Kum Lin talked about loving the unlovable. this point came about when we were talking about the Beatitudes. (Matt 5:7) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. this point convicted me strongly, and at that point i reflected on whether i've been fufilling this command, if i've been choosing to care largely for certain individuals that i choose, and not do the same for the rest. God revealed to me that i've been sacrificing more of my time, my effort, to reach out and to care more for those whom i feel i have a 'connection' with, and those who i can click better with. This is quite disturbing as ive lacked effort in reaching out to those who i feel are better taken care of in the hands of others due to different personalities. However the Scripture commands me to love everyone regardless of who they are.. and to love would mean to spend time with them, to show equal care and concern as i would if im in that situation.
During worship today i was reflecting again on this, and i was asking God to teach me to love unconditionally. to love the unlovable, and not to pick and choose who to love more. I felt as if i was hitting a brick wall when i asked God to teach me, until the Holy Spirit instructed me to receive His love. to not struggle with trying to conjure up more love in myself, but to receive from the source of Love. and that reminded me of the verse - Not by might, Nor by power, but by the Spirit.
I was so encouraged by that. so encouraged that I had a bigger God who could help me in whatever i fail to do, and in also my weaknesses & faults.
such a patient God, we serve :)
would like to end with this song by Chris Tomlin - Made to Worship. was listening to this while gg to church (introed it to my mom too!!) and i hereby declare, this is my current crush. (on the fact that it speeds up my heart rate)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Varsity Christian Fellowship FOC!!
fantastic camp.
The Message
the way they dig into the word.. it inspires me. the teaching/preaching by this guy tt is now studying theology in scotland was REALLY good.
topic one: why christians study (day 1)
topic two: engaging God's world - our small hopes and God's shalomic kingdom (day 2)
topic three: waiting on God - an exposition of Isaiah 40:27-31 (day 3)
topic three impacted me the most... think i shall share some of the notes i took here.. be blessed!
theme verse - Isaiah 40:27 to 31. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Introduction. historical backgrd
Isaiah- a book based on prophecy. plight of Israel- moving into exile/ destruction. they have forsaken the Lord and turned away from Him.
Isaiah 1:10 - theyre compared to Sodom. whole of Isaiah 1- emphasis on religious practice and ritual. hearts distant although they mantain religious practices.
Israel's position (v27) - shattered hopes and dreams. their position of exile's a way of God disciplining His pple.
Israel perplexed - in the stage of exile. perplexed due to the tension of their beliefs. theyre no longer in the rhelm of God's blessings, therefore theyre confused. davidic convenant in 2 samuel 7 states that God would bless them and discipline them (defn of Fatherhood of God) to bring them to maturity. however, Israel forgot about the discipline part and thought that the blessings of God would always be upon them. thought that God favours His pple at the expense of His Holiness and His justice. Christian life therefore should be a time of refinement and blessings. crisis of our faith because of our inbalanced picture of God?
Israel's problem (v28-29) --"Do you not know, Have you not heard?"-- that cry is an expression of a fundamental problem in Israel's spirituality.
1) lack of trust in God's omnipotent power. turning to men, not God. had political alliances that day- trusted & depended more on them than on God. v15- Prophet challenging viewpoint of human powers-- the nations are described as inconsequential and insignificant, contrasted with God.
2) did not trust in God's wisdom (v28)
William Caper: Judge not the Lord by our feeble senses. saints in the past- after experiencing Gods power, they give a name to God. they knew the essence of God. made a personal discovery.
3) does not trust God in His benevolence. rooted in Gen chp 3. Adam and Eve did not trust that God was a good God and He knew whats best for us. think God is out to get us.
Israel's promise (v30-31)
God would give them strength beyond what they have. contrast btwn youth vs eagle. if you rely on own strength, can only go as far as your tow feet can bring, compared to the distance the eagle can bring. goes much furthur than your native energy can carry you.
Israel's posture- wait.
original meaning of 'renew' in hebrew- changing energy source, not topping up of energy.
Israel- must change their energy source and rely on God! need to let Him finish His work of providence in their life. eagles fly slowest when theyre flapping their wings and not relying on the wind.
C.S Lewis- "Christian life has never been tried and found wanting, but it has always been found to difficult to be tried."
Workshop - social actions
i signed up for the social actions workshop. had many interesting discussions & watched parts of 'amazing grace'- the life of William Wilberforce. rly respect and admire him. his perserverance, his sacrificial heart. reminds me not to be so inward looking in my Christian life, but to also observe my surroundings and the places God has put me at in society, to use my position to glorify God.
some good quotes...
'To our most bitter opponents we will say: "throw us in jail and we will still love you. bomb our houses and threaten our children and we will still love you. beat us and leave us half dead and we will still love you. but be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. one day we shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.'
- Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
"If the Christian mission is to be modelled on Christ's mission, it will surely involve for us, as it did for him, an entering into other people's worlds. In evangelism it will mean entering their thought world, and the world of their tradegy and lostness, in order to share Christ with them where they are. In social activity it will mean a willingness to renounce the comfort and security of our own cutural backgrd in order to give ourselves in service to pple of another culture, whose needs we may never before have known or experienced. Incarnational mission, whether evangelistic or social or both, necessitates a costly identification with pple in their actual situations. Jesus of Nazareth was moved with compassion by the sight of needy human beings, whether sick or bereaved, hungry, harassed or helpless; should not his pple's compassion by aroused by the same sights?" -- Issues facing Christians Today.
"In our postmordern age, there is a confusion betwwen tolerance and laissez-faire to such an extent that it is sometimes believed that to disagree with somebody is to be intolerant of them. true tolerance, which respects the views of others while disagreeing with them, has be come an empty tolerance which does not bother to engage and amounts to indifference.."
Friends
I made amazing friendships!!!! with my og and with random pple outside my og. it's so heartwarming to know that there are so many sincere Christians out there chasing after God- the best common denominator! :)
Inter-denominational
once again, i think it's really cool to see pple from all denominations gathering together. although our beliefs are rather different, and it may be challenging sometimes, the more impt thing is that we believe in the same God, trust in the same God, & love Jesus. God looks at the heart, not the outward manifestations that we mostly differ from. Sincere hearts that hunger after Him, that longs to do His will. Obedient submissive beings, hearts that respect Him and treats Him seriously, souls that truly seeks Him because of who He is, and not what He can give.
Im truly humbled by this camp. the sacrifices that i see pple give to God, the respect and honour that they bring to God...
there's loads more i can share if time permits. but yea thats it for now.. :)
The Message
the way they dig into the word.. it inspires me. the teaching/preaching by this guy tt is now studying theology in scotland was REALLY good.
topic one: why christians study (day 1)
topic two: engaging God's world - our small hopes and God's shalomic kingdom (day 2)
topic three: waiting on God - an exposition of Isaiah 40:27-31 (day 3)
topic three impacted me the most... think i shall share some of the notes i took here.. be blessed!
theme verse - Isaiah 40:27 to 31. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Introduction. historical backgrd
Isaiah- a book based on prophecy. plight of Israel- moving into exile/ destruction. they have forsaken the Lord and turned away from Him.
Isaiah 1:10 - theyre compared to Sodom. whole of Isaiah 1- emphasis on religious practice and ritual. hearts distant although they mantain religious practices.
Israel's position (v27) - shattered hopes and dreams. their position of exile's a way of God disciplining His pple.
Israel perplexed - in the stage of exile. perplexed due to the tension of their beliefs. theyre no longer in the rhelm of God's blessings, therefore theyre confused. davidic convenant in 2 samuel 7 states that God would bless them and discipline them (defn of Fatherhood of God) to bring them to maturity. however, Israel forgot about the discipline part and thought that the blessings of God would always be upon them. thought that God favours His pple at the expense of His Holiness and His justice. Christian life therefore should be a time of refinement and blessings. crisis of our faith because of our inbalanced picture of God?
Israel's problem (v28-29) --"Do you not know, Have you not heard?"-- that cry is an expression of a fundamental problem in Israel's spirituality.
1) lack of trust in God's omnipotent power. turning to men, not God. had political alliances that day- trusted & depended more on them than on God. v15- Prophet challenging viewpoint of human powers-- the nations are described as inconsequential and insignificant, contrasted with God.
2) did not trust in God's wisdom (v28)
William Caper: Judge not the Lord by our feeble senses. saints in the past- after experiencing Gods power, they give a name to God. they knew the essence of God. made a personal discovery.
3) does not trust God in His benevolence. rooted in Gen chp 3. Adam and Eve did not trust that God was a good God and He knew whats best for us. think God is out to get us.
Israel's promise (v30-31)
God would give them strength beyond what they have. contrast btwn youth vs eagle. if you rely on own strength, can only go as far as your tow feet can bring, compared to the distance the eagle can bring. goes much furthur than your native energy can carry you.
Israel's posture- wait.
original meaning of 'renew' in hebrew- changing energy source, not topping up of energy.
Israel- must change their energy source and rely on God! need to let Him finish His work of providence in their life. eagles fly slowest when theyre flapping their wings and not relying on the wind.
C.S Lewis- "Christian life has never been tried and found wanting, but it has always been found to difficult to be tried."
Workshop - social actions
i signed up for the social actions workshop. had many interesting discussions & watched parts of 'amazing grace'- the life of William Wilberforce. rly respect and admire him. his perserverance, his sacrificial heart. reminds me not to be so inward looking in my Christian life, but to also observe my surroundings and the places God has put me at in society, to use my position to glorify God.
some good quotes...
'To our most bitter opponents we will say: "throw us in jail and we will still love you. bomb our houses and threaten our children and we will still love you. beat us and leave us half dead and we will still love you. but be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. one day we shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.'
- Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
"If the Christian mission is to be modelled on Christ's mission, it will surely involve for us, as it did for him, an entering into other people's worlds. In evangelism it will mean entering their thought world, and the world of their tradegy and lostness, in order to share Christ with them where they are. In social activity it will mean a willingness to renounce the comfort and security of our own cutural backgrd in order to give ourselves in service to pple of another culture, whose needs we may never before have known or experienced. Incarnational mission, whether evangelistic or social or both, necessitates a costly identification with pple in their actual situations. Jesus of Nazareth was moved with compassion by the sight of needy human beings, whether sick or bereaved, hungry, harassed or helpless; should not his pple's compassion by aroused by the same sights?" -- Issues facing Christians Today.
"In our postmordern age, there is a confusion betwwen tolerance and laissez-faire to such an extent that it is sometimes believed that to disagree with somebody is to be intolerant of them. true tolerance, which respects the views of others while disagreeing with them, has be come an empty tolerance which does not bother to engage and amounts to indifference.."
Friends
I made amazing friendships!!!! with my og and with random pple outside my og. it's so heartwarming to know that there are so many sincere Christians out there chasing after God- the best common denominator! :)
Inter-denominational
once again, i think it's really cool to see pple from all denominations gathering together. although our beliefs are rather different, and it may be challenging sometimes, the more impt thing is that we believe in the same God, trust in the same God, & love Jesus. God looks at the heart, not the outward manifestations that we mostly differ from. Sincere hearts that hunger after Him, that longs to do His will. Obedient submissive beings, hearts that respect Him and treats Him seriously, souls that truly seeks Him because of who He is, and not what He can give.
Im truly humbled by this camp. the sacrifices that i see pple give to God, the respect and honour that they bring to God...
there's loads more i can share if time permits. but yea thats it for now.. :)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
after 8 months ... after 8 short months..
disclaimer: *the remaining no. of days is brought about by minusing the vcf camp, all the various uni talks and stuff, and days where i will be busy.
OMGOSH I HAVE ONLY *FIVE WHOLE DAYS LEFT TO REST, MEET UP WITH PPLE, DO THE STUFF THAT I WANNA DO, GET READY FOR SCHOOL & HAVE FUN BEFORE I START SCHOOOL AHHHH SOMEONE PINCH ME THE HOLS ARE GOING WAYY TOO FAST...
i got to treasure this 24x5 hours of slacking time before the books dominate once again :(
OMGOSH I HAVE ONLY *FIVE WHOLE DAYS LEFT TO REST, MEET UP WITH PPLE, DO THE STUFF THAT I WANNA DO, GET READY FOR SCHOOL & HAVE FUN BEFORE I START SCHOOOL AHHHH SOMEONE PINCH ME THE HOLS ARE GOING WAYY TOO FAST...
i got to treasure this 24x5 hours of slacking time before the books dominate once again :(
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Taste the Source!
back from an awesome camp, an interesting camp, a camp tt spoke tons to me although it lasted for only two days and a half. i'm gonna try to make this post as detailed as possible :)
Met my grp at clementi mrt. was really lost cos they werent holding any signs or smthing so i was caught in the middle of two grps which, after some time, i realized were not my grps hahah. met this really funky girl who started smiling at me & after we found out that we were both gg to the same camp we asked arnd so as to look for our grp. hahah. found my grp members after awhile(CG09) - Limin, Joey, Ming Han & DAVID (im sry i left you out!! =()
ok now i feel that im blogging on details that are really quite unimportant.. lol. so i'm gna just summarize the day and talk about the experiences i had and the stuff i've learnt, and my general opinions about this camp. :)
upon reaching the camp site, two other grp members arrived. one of which was Wee Shi aka Grace. now THIS was such a coincidence, cos she was from GM - two years my senior- and she was from choir!!! when we saw each other we were shocked laaa hahaahah it was a really pleasant surprise to see her again. :) a divine appointment i must say. the other grp member was from AC, which was also called Grace.
for the rest of the day we had worship, ice breakers, games, sharing, supper..etc. the sharing & praying for each other part was fantastic. i was really encouraged by all the testimonies & experiences tt CG9 had. i had a great time getting to know all of them. they're really really nice pple.. heh. and the creation of our cheer was a really funny experience i must say... hahaha. all those crazy ideas...
slept arnd 12plus.
Day 1
Met my grp at clementi mrt. was really lost cos they werent holding any signs or smthing so i was caught in the middle of two grps which, after some time, i realized were not my grps hahah. met this really funky girl who started smiling at me & after we found out that we were both gg to the same camp we asked arnd so as to look for our grp. hahah. found my grp members after awhile(CG09) - Limin, Joey, Ming Han & DAVID (im sry i left you out!! =()
ok now i feel that im blogging on details that are really quite unimportant.. lol. so i'm gna just summarize the day and talk about the experiences i had and the stuff i've learnt, and my general opinions about this camp. :)
upon reaching the camp site, two other grp members arrived. one of which was Wee Shi aka Grace. now THIS was such a coincidence, cos she was from GM - two years my senior- and she was from choir!!! when we saw each other we were shocked laaa hahaahah it was a really pleasant surprise to see her again. :) a divine appointment i must say. the other grp member was from AC, which was also called Grace.
for the rest of the day we had worship, ice breakers, games, sharing, supper..etc. the sharing & praying for each other part was fantastic. i was really encouraged by all the testimonies & experiences tt CG9 had. i had a great time getting to know all of them. they're really really nice pple.. heh. and the creation of our cheer was a really funny experience i must say... hahaha. all those crazy ideas...
slept arnd 12plus.
Day 2
woke up at arnd 7? had morn worship & message.. games.. grp bonding time.. sharing.. had this really cool activity where the leaders roleplayed as representations of pple from different pple grps eg. gays/lesbians, clubbers, pluralistics, atheist, emo.. etc, and we as a grp had to try and reach out & evangalise to all these pple. this is one of the highlights of the camp for me. this is my first time doing street-e (trial run) and i felt that it taught me the tools of how to reach out even more effectively. Limin, my grp leader, pulled me aside after that and asked me to share with the camp about how i felt about this, and what i learnt.. i almost declined cos i was really really scared, nervous and all (hundred over pple lah =S) . hahaha. but turned out real fine (although i made a few mistakes out of nervousness & was laughed at sigh) and i had a free book! thank God. supper.. card games ( w everyone ) & heart to heart talks (with wee shi and limin) till 4 plus in the morn. made more friends cos of interactions between grps & spontanous convos & mutual friends...had fun while at that.
Day 3
woke up at 6plus/7 feeling exhausted but still in high spirits.. started brainstorming for our presentation like half an hour before performance time.. some of the performances were hilarious.
ok those were the summaries. (haha got quite tired of writing them as you can tell from the diminishing length..)
Experiences.
1) my first time worshipping in a setting outside church, outside my usual comfort zone. it was a really diff worship experience - it felt abit restricted. but i could sense God's presence all the same. this camp got my exposed to fellowshipping with bros and sistas in Christ from different denominations. interacting w pple from a diversity of denominations made me think, alot. and i think God was trying to show me how impt it is for the body of Christ to stick together, and to get to understand one another better. to embrace the fact that although we have different belief systems, we share a common denominator - Jesus Christ, and a personal relationship with Him. i saw that in almost everyone i met, most of them from diff denominations. their testimonies, their intimate prayers to our Father, their openness and super nice personalities all testify to the fact that they love God, and they have a close walk with Him. it doesnt take manifestations of the Spirit or supernatural stuff to be a true blue Christian. what matters much more is the sincierity of our heart in pursuing Christ for who He is... and our desire to draw near to His side. i was greatly encouraged at the sight of this, and i felt that the Holy Spirit was trying to emphasize this truth to me using this camp. i feel that it was also rather timely that before the camp started i talked w Joel (Hannah's bf) online about the diff denominations and stuff. it sorta opened my mind up and got me thinking and sharing with him what i felt about it - that it's so impt to keep an open mind, and to build inter-denominational relationships. it's the love of Christ that binds us together :)
2) my grp was wonderful. seriously, theyre super nice pple! and our grp leaders, Limin & Joey.. I TOTALLY LOVE THEM. more meet ups coming up!!
3) evangelism. campus crusade is all about evangelism, and im so glad that the camps' emphasis was on that. so really truly glad. while the role-playing was taking place, i felt my Spirit really crying out for the saving of souls - this camp shook me to reality - the reality of millions out there who needs to know the living God. even tho it was role playing, i felt myself crying internally esp for the emo person and i think God breathed a certain hunger in me to want to do street-e. this part of my Christian life has somehow been dormant for quite awhile. although i've always been wanting and longing to just give out tracks on the street, or to do street-e with friends and all, i've never ever found the courage to & i keep thinking about the govt and stuff, and how it's banned in Sgpore, and the sensitivity about racial stuff and everything.. but im trusting God to open out opportunities for me to sow seeds into prebelievers...
all in all, this camp was an eye opener to me. in fact, uni life is rather different and new to me.. exiciting yet scary(NUS is so big + im so bad at directions = LOST) but im trusting that He was provide the next step for me (wht courses should i take..) and He will lead me to taking the right CCA too...
next up, Varsity Christian Fellowship!! :)
P.S: a shout out to Hannah - sry once again for missing your flight. am with you in Spirit. & cya soon ;)
Friday, July 3, 2009
i love this song to bits...
i sung this so much yesterday Hannah woke up this morning with the tune in her head... lol. sry Nahhan. and Joel. ha. (i knw you guys are reading this) ytd was a fab day btw. swimming... shopping at expo (was a super crazy time..)...thai express...pnp. not the activity itself.. but the people within it & God present in it.
and today's going be another fantabulous day woohoo bringin the patriotism out baby
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