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(Friday, February 29, 2008-)
+11:39 PM]*
# Ups and downs
Today has been a really weird day.
Started of well, got reallllllly off track in the evening, managed to get work done in the afternoon, and some, though very little, work done in the evening.
Yes i've failed again. Wish I could be a better person. Wish it was easier too. But if it was easy, why do it ryte?
Champions are not people who never fail, they are people who never quit. God pls don't punish me just yet, one more chance?
Second Chance? iavbts
the story ends like this;
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(Tuesday, February 26, 2008-)
+11:12 AM]*
# The Lord Is Merciful
As i read the account of one of God's scariest judgment, even in there I have found His mercies.
Firstly, God thought to Himself, should i hide what i am about to do to S&G? (their full names very long, i realised after msg-ing)
God didn't say that to, like, gloat about the destruction He was about to bring. It wasn't like, "Hey Abraham, check out my plan of destroying S&G, do you think a huge tsunami, or an earthquake would look really cool? Or maybe, I'll rain down fire from heaven, yeah, maybe i'll do that cuz it looks much cooler and people will know it's Me." I guess God wanted to tell Abraham cuz what Abraham thought, his feelings, mattered to an Almighty God, quite paradoxical eh.. But i think God really did care, I'm quite sure He did.
Secondly, which Ps Mark (i think) preached that God allowed Abraham to bargain with Him for the number of people at which S&G should be spared.
Third, when God went to destroy the place, He sent two angels to go and check it out, I mean, as if God doesn't already know what is going on at every single point in space, but He still sent two angels to check the place out. This perhaps gave the chance for some people to redeem the city by showing kindness to the angels. Lot showed quite good hospitality by urging them to stay the night with him instead of the city square. He even protected them from the wicked men of the city, both young and old, though i don't quite agree with how he went about bargaining for it. Still, the two angels rescued lot by blinding the men. (See, even the angels were kind for not killing them on the spot)
Fourthly, when Lot hesitated to leave, the angels GRABBED them and led them SAFELY out of the town and told them to run to the mountains. Even then Lot bargained to not run so far, but instead to a small town. Yeah, this bargain got his wife into trouble cuz from that town she looked back, but still, the angels let them escape to a nearer,more civilized place (Zoar) rather than the mountains. Yes, later Lot did hide in the mountains (should have just listened to the angels). The angels were so merciful to bring Lot out, let him escape where he wanted to and then only destroy the town.
But the fifth thing was really nice. Early the next morning, Abraham looked at S&G, and saw the smoke, and the Bible says, God remembered Abraham when he destroyed S&G. God saved Lot because Lot had a friend that was God's friend.
So many times I feel like running this race is so tiring, but this reminds me, that this race isn't a personal race, it's a race for my friends too.
My prayer, is that one day, an angel (or two) would grab my friends to safety, because God remembered me, and my prayers for them. I'm still praying for you guys (=
Nice song of the morning - HOLY,HOLY,HOLY
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
the story ends like this;
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(Monday, February 25, 2008-)
+12:08 AM]*
# I don't have a nice title today
Yup, in case u're wondering why the title is so weird it's cuz im very tired. Today was a fast day.
Had a lot to blog for this week, but never sat down and took the time, so it's slipped off my mind.
Let's see, what happened this week? I bleached a strip of my hair, and the NEXT day got it dyed blue. Two looks for the price of one! For those who saw the bleached version, u got to see my limited edition profile for 24 hours (=
Feel honoured.
(=
This weekend was nice, though i didn't get to play bass this week, and neither will i be able to next week, but combined service was great. Though GoP is sooo big now i barely know half of them.
Come to think of it, it's unthinkable that we not split. The admin of YA alone is so tough, imagine if we had only CFC, we would need like zone leaders, zoner supervisors and what nots. And our worship team would like, get to play only once a month to rotate all the musicians.
Ok, back to reality, I'm still blown away by the 10, TEN, salvations that day after Jacelyn Tay (the mediacorp artiste, yes, her) shared her testimony and the GoP went for the "kill" so to speak, which is really quite the opposite, in the Post Party!
Yup!
Ministry promotion was rather weird. I signed up for 2 Samuel, with a whole bunch of YAs, dunno if we'll last. If i'll last, but if Jayne can do it, i have NO excuse!
Football match. I loved it (= I didn't get to see the victory, but even the 4-0 defeat was not without pride. It shows that we can push ourselves further if we have encouragement! After going 2-0 down in the first half, they continued playing, and it got better, with many more shots on goal, some really great defending, and of course a give away goal in the dying minutes from a corner not defended properly.
But what i wanted to say is congrats to you guys for hanging on in the second half, and more than hanging on, pushed on the attack even more. Overall, a great performance to watch although the scoreline could have been nicer (=
Now im back here, tired and gonna have to start mugging soon, so tata.
Do drop me a message (=
the story ends like this;
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(Wednesday, February 20, 2008-)
+11:12 PM]*
# Value
There's value in all of us. Sadly most of us don't see it. Even worse, some don't believe in it. Wonder which of the two evils i am
Shoutouts to the 5 birthday people this 22nd - Jolene, Joshua, Justin, Song Hon, Goloka
Thanks to FX for Samsung
Nudges to ex-A11 people, u guys keep me alive in uni
Smiles to cellies, cell was nice today
Pats for online people who keep me company (=
the story ends like this;
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+12:38 PM]*
# Unwanted
the story ends like this;
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(Tuesday, February 19, 2008-)
+11:57 PM]*
# Not A Good Day
Not a good day but thanks for not abandoning me
the story ends like this;
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+12:37 AM]*
# Mere Man
"You loved, you loved, a people undeserving"
--To Know Your Name
God, thank you for not just loving me out of pity, out of a caring heart for undeserving, sad, hopeless people. People who constantly turn their back at you. Me, who fails you. Thank you for NOT loving me because im pitiful, undeserving. But for loving me because You know who I am. You know me just like how Einstein knew photoelectricity. Newton and gravity. Kepler and planets. They knew how important, how revolutionary such discoveries are.
God, thank you for loving me because You see what no one else can. You see potential in me maths can't define. You want to discover me. You want me, to discover me, who I am in You. I'm a creation, with a purpose. Obviously, You, the creator, would know what that purpose is. And thank You for still holding on to this "fallen" good. Thank You for not withdrawing Your investment.
Though I don't see it now. Though I'm not brimming with confidence that You are really all You say You are, I want to believe. Help my unbelief. In a selfish way, help me. I know that You have plans for me. And I'm thankful. Though, God, it may not seem that way, but I am. I know there are others who've "paid back" much more folds than I have. Yet You still choose to waste, lavish, pour out Your love, grace, mercy, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, blessings, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and so much more, on what I see as, well, a pretty poor investment.
But I pray that I won't stay that way. I pray that I may grow up. It's scary, it's tough, it's challenging. If I had the chance, I would love to pull a Peter Pan. But I know that is not where You've called me before even the foundations of Earth or even time itself. You chose me, because there is so much You want to do through me. You loved me, not because I'm undeserving, sad, abandoned or needy. But You loved me as one specially created, chosen, purposeful.
I know there is so much more You want to do through me. You see the masterpiece in me. And You would pay so much more, just to let that shine come through.
Thanks, and I want to make You famous someday, the Master Investor.
the story ends like this;
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(Friday, February 15, 2008-)
+12:55 PM]*
# Feb 15 QT
Just a feeling of warmth. A little hunger, yet, a little more peace on the inside too.
Noah, your life must have been quite exciting! Having lots of animals, but never tasting them till you were 601 years old.
Planting vineyard-->Make wine-->Get drunk-->Got naked
In fast forward, those 4 things sounds like a really silly thing to do.
Sort of like, Buy gun-->Load ammo-->Shoot your own foot
But then again, SJ pointed out he's still quite pro for making wine, good enough to get him drunk! Wonder what brand would it be like.. Tiger? :p
But quite amazing would be God's provision through all this. Firstly to honour Him, then to provide for us (=
Class soon, ciaoz!
the story ends like this;
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+1:27 AM]*
# valentine
16"For God so lo v ed
>>>>>>>>the world th a t he gave
>his one and on l y
>>>Son, that who e ver
>>>>>>lbelieves i n him
>>>>lshall no t
>>>>>>>>>>>>per i sh but
>>>>lhave eter n al
>>>>>>>>lllif e.
Saw this in arts today, and to all my friends, happy valentine!
To all those who got the radlove tissues, hope that it has blessed you in one way or another (=
This is what i pray for all of you, that this valentine will truly be a moment of eternal love. John 3:16
the story ends like this;
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(Tuesday, February 12, 2008-)
+12:20 AM]*
# Confidence
Today was quite a revelation. Watched another video sermon, and it was on The Power of Faith.
John 13v3 - Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God
And the really big revelation for me was v4
John 13v4 - so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
I know the word "so" isn't in all the translations, but i thank God it was in the Bible I had. Cuz it showed me that Jesus was confident of His power, His position and His purpose. And because of that, He was confident enough to serve His own creation by the lowliest means of feet washing.
I need to be so sure of who I am in God and His purpose and what He's given me so that I can fulfill God's plan for me (=
And God thank you for leading me to listen to this sermon at this time, and also prompting me to write it down. I know You are still using me, a sinner, unworthy. And for that, I just wanna say thanks (= In Jesus name, AMEN
the story ends like this;
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(Sunday, February 10, 2008-)
+10:59 PM]*
# No-ahh my girlfriend's having a baby
Lolz at the title, most likely only Dawn and Megan or maybe even Jeremy would know where it came from.
Back to reality, Noah and the flood. Yes i said reality. It's amazing to think that the very place I am right now has been totally submerged by water, 6.9 meters of it. Im swimming in space that a great white shark may have swam before. Nemo could have been swimming above my head just as Dory swam around my fingers as i typed.
Ok, enough of the imagination, back to reality. God actually poured out lots of water, underground springs erupted, and 40 days and nights of singing "Rain rain go away, come again another.. decade?" But something I feel that God wanted to do, was to begin a revival.
Revival, not sure where i heard this before (the privilege of being in church for quite a while), but a true revival actually means a restoration to it's original state. What previous state was this? Before Adam even set foot on earth. When the Spirit of the LORD hovered over the waters.
Because only one man was left righteous, God started the most radical revival ever. It must have been tough to be part of that revival. Building an ark for so many years, without even knowing what rain looks like. Having tonnes of room, but having the animals only arriving the day before the flood. Maybe even looking at your neighbours drown and scream out to you for mercy.
Well, we can thank God He's not gonna bring this sort of revival ever again. But this made me rethink the price of revival. Will we still be labouring even when what we want to see has never happened before? Will we still go at it even if we hurt our friend's feelings with our constant nagging of evangelism. What is the price we are willing to pay for a revival. May it be on the scale of Noah.
How so? Just as baptism buries everything of our old self in water, let us have our entire world drowned, just like the days of Noah, and arise, alive only to the one who bought us at the ultimate price.
God send REVIVAL
the story ends like this;
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+12:45 AM]*
# Don't Be Attitude?
It's after the new year. So weird, new year in February.
Anyway, wanna thank God that im safely back, and even had a nice trip, watched 3 and a half movies on the way back!
So much i wanted to blog about, but basically the one i just wanted to let out is one more don't be attitude.
First was the "Blessed is he who aims at nothing, for he will not be disappointed"
Now something i've learnt over the week.. "Blessed is he who has no close family, for he will not get discouraged".
Yes yes, I know all of you can tell me just how important family is, and i don't doubt or deny that. Neither do i doubt they love you the most.
But it's just this. It's the people closest to you that hurt you the most. Sadly, one of the reasons i've been quite... happy this year is that i've had no one to disappoint me. No one to feel frustrated at. I was back to my "seeing the best in everyone" mode.
If a friend is late for 10 minutes, you feel it's ok, and don't even think about it the whole time u spend together. But if family is late for 10 minutes.. u think... he's always like that.. never change.. so old already still can't be punctual.
The disappointment mounts. Similarly, it's much easier to get discouraged when family doesn't do something for you. When friends don't it's perfectly fine, cuz u dun expect them to anyway. But when family forgets... u think, why this person can't show concern for me...
Ok. This sounds really depressing. Im gonna white it all...
But yeah, basically i've been quite happy cuz nobody's been close enough to me to disappoint me. Cuz really, i have no reason to be angry at them. Not to mention all this talk about loving our friends, makes it so much easier to overlook their mistakes. But i realise, if people get close enough to me, the easier it is for them to hurt me.
And to those of you reading this blog, im sorry to say none of you have reached that point where u can hurt me on the inside just by not doing something. Or by being late, slow, unresponsive or whatever. So far, only family's been that close from mid 2007 till now.
But that is not to your discredit. I care lots for you guys, just that, it's still not to the point where... i dunno... yeah, it's just not that close.
And once again, sadly it's my fault. It's not that you guys don't make the effort, but after lots of talking and thinking, i realise that i actually don't have any close friends. The kind that know what goes on with me, inside and out.
I don't have the time. I don't have the right people. It's not the right time. Lots of excuses. It's complicated.
Yeah, so for me, i feel "blessed" that i don't have close family, for that way, my life is currently artificially unscratched.
Hmm. i still seem to be going on. Well, just wanna say i've never thought i'd miss you guys so much. I don't think i say it much. Ironic cuz i talk so much.
Other than that, i think somehow this closer walk with God has sort of dimmed the friendships of this earth. I remember being depressed over who my real friends are. And thought i got that over with when i said i would work on friendships. But realised i never did. God just took it's place. Cuz working on friendships, most of the friends i have are girls, so "working on them" would also be giving wrong signals, so im back to square one, except God's with me in that square.
That makes a whole lot of difference, but it didn't solve the problem. Im still invulnerable. Haha, how ironic. I actually enjoyed the invulnerability but upon scrutiny, realised it's shortcomings.
So yes, once again, "blessed" are those without people close enough to their hearts, for it will never be broken
the story ends like this;
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(Tuesday, February 5, 2008-)
+12:40 AM]*
# Feb 4 CHC Video Sermon
The 5 forgiveness questions.
1-A person should not be forgiven until he asks for it
2-When I have forgiven, I have minimized the pain caused by the offense
3-Forgiveness includes restoring trust and reuniting the relationship
4-You haven't really forgiven until you've forgotten the offense
5-When I know someone else is being hurt, it is my duty to forgive the offender
True or False? Not easy to answer... Anyone care to hazard a (or 5) guess(es)?
And the amazing thing was the 3 Rs from question 3, Repentance, Restitution, Rebuilding Trust
Repentance, we all know. But restitution, it's what we have to do when we want to be back on friendly terms. And i was thinking, isn't that what salvation is all about? Through our acts of restitution, we "gain" God's trust, and we achieve more and more for Him through His power.
This gave me a whole new revelation on what Salvation is all about. Why Christians still "do good". Another dimension other than the fact that we are so loved, but we are striving for a restitution of our relationship to the time of Adam. And how over time, we grow in God as He "trusts" us more.
Thanks goes out to Ps Tan Ye Peng of City Harvest Church. Thanks for being a blessing (=
the story ends like this;
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