Sunday, December 20, 2009
I've been twittering recently. At first some people have been telling me to try but anyhow I've finally tried (very obedient indeed). It is an interesting tool to text something at the moment. The time and place as context really helps to record the moment well.
Twittering also gives us closer proximity to people never close before, such as politicans, celebrities etc. Barack Obama may not have a facebook account but you can follow him on twitter.
I've had this funny feeling of myself lately. Through twittering, blogging or interacting with people, I became more aware that I am acting more like an adult yet also trying to retain the child-likeness in me (maybe I am childish). Somehow, we just won't know what experiences or happenings or people have shaped us (except for those really defined and memorable ones) day-in, day-out. But I pray that no matter what, we won't appear as two-faced though we may be acting like two people at different times and places. I just can't be who I am to church friends the same as who I am to the business people or to the army friends but I can uphold the same values.
Alright anyway, I just wanna say that I've read the Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama the second time. I think that people voted for him because he is honest. He acknowledged the problems; he did not try to 'grey' the problems and pray it'd disappear. But he state out clearly what is wrong and to go against political incorrectness at times for the public to know what was going on. This reminds me of a tagline in the movie 2012 "the people have the right to know and to fight for their lives".
He may or may not be the president most remembered and his policies will take time to show its effectiveness. I think people should not judge or criticise him too fast. I think at least he is someone who is true to himself and someone who can say "sorry" and that is a kind of a leadership that we NEED. Not politics that hide.
In terms of communism there isn't much debate or dispute on how it should be carried out, amongst the communist themselves. However, for people who believe in democracy, there is wide variations on what its definitions and ideals are. You may base your ideals on the declaration of independance, or Abraham Lincoln or FDR? I think if they can find out the principles of democracy in the leadership of the presidents they admire, they could find a common pattern and principle which can agree with what the govt is doing despite that times have changed. Within, there is a great heritage and history that principles could be drawn from.
Well well, we have certainly had much access to information right now, with even what presidents are thinking and doing! And twittering makes them much more approachable; they are ordinary humans too. Watch out for Kevin Rudd as well!
Written by
Paul at 11:20 PM
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Today I've attended the wedding of Guo feng and Mei Ling at the Raffles Town Club. It's my first time attending the wedding of someone in our church. The feeling is really different but the atmosphere of love and joyousness is nonetheless there.
Throughout the whole solemnisation, its this time that I am starting to take stock of what a wedding looks like and what are the significance of each segments. The praises to God, the billingual worship songs (for both sides of the family), the Minister's words and thereafter solemnising the wedding, the partaking of the Holy Communion for the couple etc etc...
Throughout the whole ceremony, it's been touching hearing their stories and their thanks to various people. The wedding also showed a short video clip of how the groom proposed to the bride almost a year ago.
All in all, I would say that two people coming together is really one of the things that shows that a marriage is scared, and its only because God is overseeing it. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. (Mark 10:9)
Even non-believers observe this sacred-ness, though not to the sense of what Christians understand.
May God bless this happy couple and to weather the storms of this life together!
Written by
Paul at 9:51 PM
Monday, September 21, 2009
"Delegation does not mean an abdication of responsibility"
Delegation means undertaking responsibility but giving sufficient space and authority to others to carry out parts of the work. You can delegate the work but you cannot delegate the responsibility along with it. I say this because I find that at times when people delegate the work, they hold the person full responsibility for the task. That isn't good leadership because the person you delegate to is still under you. You still need to supervise. There is no such thing of able to completely close your eyes on a single function in the organization as long as you're the one overall in charge of it. Don't delegate the responsibility and start the blame game.
Written by
Paul at 6:25 PM
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
I'm doing spring cleaning. Like literally. The last time I did it is before the Chinese New Year. I usually does this twice a year and I'm doing it now because I am going to ORD!
It took longer than I thought. The more I clean, the more I wanna clean thoroughly. Since I'm cleaning, then I shouldn't "sweep things under the carpet". And perhaps that's why it took so long.
And perhaps I'm entering the next phase of life - it kinda only dawned upon me now that I should throw some things away. And some I couldn't figure out how come I didn't throw them away during CNY?
Things like:
Receipts
Teenager clothes (baggy jeans etc)
Teen pyjamas
Army recruitment gifts that i didn't want. Navy and air force included
Yellow pages (what's a yellow pages doing in my room?!)
Spectacle case (of which I lost the spectacle)
Water bottle cap (of which I've already lost the water bottle)
And a few more...
Things that should be thrown:
-Pioneer magazines(we never read them)
There are also things I discovered I never knew I've got
-Sweatshirts/winter clothing(i've never experienced winter before)
-Many more pair of towels
-More clothes I left them folded but not hung
-A real powerful knife that seems more expensive and sophisticated than the SOG we got.
-A Parker pen with a photograph of my dad and his siblings when young.
-Spaces in the room.
Phew... It's a relief to clean your room once in a while and sweat it all out. It's also nice to organize your room in a systematic way so that when you thought of something, you can pin-point which drawer/cabinet will it be.
I suggest for teachings and documents, it will be good to classify according to topics/series, so later it will be easier to find. There are some people who scans all their teachings and file it in the computer instead. This may allow you to throw all the hard copies away but I advise don't.(When you wanna teach others, you may want the hard copy with you.)
Although I find it really wasteful to throw things away, somethings is necessary to throw. I just pray that Singapore has a paper and plastic recycling program and system in place soon!! To keep Singapore clean, rubbish is "unscrupulously" thrown in some places. There's no room to conserve the plastic bags. There must have ways to conserve/recycle more of these rubbish. When are the habits gonna get cultivated and when is the organization gonna do something about it? We've got so much paper thrown away that recycling companies should salivate at the sight of it.
Corporate gifts are also something that is rather wasteful. For example, we've got keychains with a company logo on it. If its not nice, we wont even use it. What for giving to us? To create an impression? There are nice gifts but don't create corporate gifts for the sake of it. Like there's a particular event (I wouldn't wanna name it), somehow I end up having 5 shoebags! Why would in the world I need 5 shoebags?
And there's also medication. Next time you visit the doctor, if he doesn't tell you what's the prescription, ask him. If he is giving you something you already have, kindly reject it. Many people may not realise how many panadols(paracetamol) they have over the years (if they do not throw them away). It's until I started to consolidate and classify the medicines I have, I then realized I have enough panadols to sell to 5 more people next in que of me in the clinic who need panadols. I've got 88 panadols. If I eat 3 per day, it will be enough for 29 days. I don't need panadols from doctors anymore in the near future.
If some of your stuffs can be reused, don't throw it to the rubbish chute, but donate it to Salvation Army. Visit here for donation bin locations.
There are things we discover we have and that made us thankful. We have more towels than we need. I've got stuff like sweatshirts that I've never used before. There are people in other parts of the world in the cold, without clothing. There are people in the world dying for someone to tell them they are loved yet some people has got so many encouragement cards. Ok this one no one's guilty. We need to spread the love. We need to look for people who have less and not search for people whom we are comfortable with while having alot. Look for people who've got nothing and bless them. I believe we have more room than we thought to be altruistic.
Written by
Paul at 4:10 PM
The third of today's sermon is "Trust God to work out that success for you". I've been working hard to read Economics, praying and thinking... and thinking more. In fact, I think my hair looks overall, whiter. That's a bad thing.
Somehow today's sermon opened a new door for me. It's as if I have stepped out of the wardrobe into the Narnia world.
It got me "corrected" in which I have slipped and erred. That nothing we ever do to try to change, no matter how good our means may be, things will not be changed for the good. All the time, we have the idea to change the world, to make people's lives better, to make the world a better place. The world has been talking about efficiency, less wastages, pollution-free, more accessible waters, global warming and the many other questions and problems that will make your mind go crazy. But the truth is that we ourselves are wicked and sometimes even with good intentions we get entangled with the bad guys and we ourselves acted in the way that we thought we might never have. Only God is able to change the world. Period.
It has already been prophesied that this fallen world is so sick it will eventually be destroyed and people need salvation from this destruction. What we have here can never be the "full" thing. But God promised us that the full things will be when we follow Him and awaits our salvation in eager expectations. The full things - full love, full security, full peace, full joy, full release, full freedom.......
So what are we to do in this world? Do whatever we can that can extend His kingdom. Economics teaches us that people generally work to maximise their own utility, that they will make themselves as well of as possible. People, even spiritual people perhaps, thinks about promotion, salary, their houses, their investments, their cars and so on... If you can think in the eternal perspectives, all these things are nothing. But we will still pursue these. We don't enter "nothing-ness". Now, would be maximising the Kingdom's utility - doing what is best for the Kingdom and its citizens. That means we will buy a car if it extends the Kingdom, we will not buy a car (even if we can afford it) if our country is small like SG, if we are thinking of having money for missions in the long term, if we don't need to travel that much for His Kingdom. We don't buy a car just to make ourselves look better?
I will try one example using MacDonalds'. The burger and fries is good for your health and only the soft drinks is bad, Ceteris Peribus. a person who maximises his own utility per se will find that taking the EVM will be better because he gets more things with lesser money if he were to buy ala carte. However a Kingdom-minded person will buy ala carte fries and burger because anyway he spends less and he eliminates the bad health soft drink for the Kingdom. So as his priorities and vision changes, not to gratify Himself anymore, but for the Kingdom's max, his behaviour changes as well.
and boy, was I foolish to find myself reading more and struggling with my own ability, or more like inability, and wonder can things be done. Can the vision be accomplished? None of all these will count eventually. Though we still have to work hard but with a different realization. Without God, all these efforts, no matter how good intentioned, are futile!!!
Written by
Paul at 9:15 PM
Today's preaching was awesome. Somehow when pastor Jo preach, it always kept me at the edge of my seat and time seems to stand still. I am not exaggerating. I was really engrossed in today's sermon.
His style of unrivalling the truth of the Word of God to make it understandable, get the big picture and then help you make sense out of it - makes it easier to apply. It is sort of letting the Word speak for itself, instead of adding too many other things to make it "look cool". The Word is already good, we don't have to make it better, just explain it out.
Today's sermon was about Nehemiah 2:1-11
How Nehemiah turned his burden into action. He was burdened for the ruins of Jerusalem, he fasted and wept but that still bothered after months. Then he was sad in the King's presence and he took the right opportunity to act courageously. The fact was that he waited for the right opportunity to act instead of rush into things. This principle of waiting for God's right timing is very important.
People who wants to change things may have the impulse to act. They are acting with passion. But people who succeeded in bringing glory to God such as Queen Esther, Nehemiah, Paul and Jesus waited for the right opportunity.
Being rash is a sin and a foolish thing though there will be situations when we FEEL so much to act. Being able to hold up is wisdom. Pastor Jo gave the example of how Jesus maximised the glory unto God by delaying to go to Lazarus even when he was seriously ill. He waited till he was dead then he went! He knew what God had in mind (this is not to say that we delay helping people).
Esther too, waited for the right time to meet the King to give her request. She fasted and prayed and get people to pray with her (same as Nehemiah) and then made herself look probably cute and lovely and the King saw her and called to her.
There is just so much insight to the Word of God. When the Word is being expounded, its just like you just saw something that you didn't noticed it was there all along!
Written by
Paul at 8:58 PM
Tribute to Michael Jackson
A death of a King of Pop has sent so many people shocking. His life was surrounded by awe, curiosity, bizarreness, talent, money, debt, loneliness and legal suits. A boy who started singing at the age of 5 has spent most of 50 years in the entertainment business and living in the lime light. It is unimagineable how all this has affected him since young. He seemed to be the one in the Jim Carrey film "The Truman Show" that all his life was a "show for reality".
With a gift of singing and ability to perform on stage, it has been exploited by his father since the age of 5. And there were all the stories of violence imposed on him, as well as the hurtful words that people or his father gave to him. Not only his father, but the attention he got has also hurt him badly. Probably its his money, probably its his fame and talent, jealousies, illusions in his performances or his bizarreness, people's curiosity for him seemed insatiable. After the tv documentary, "living with Michael Jackson", it was reported for Michael that "it broke him. It killed him. He took a long time to die, but it started that night. Previously the drugs were a crutch, but after that they became a necessity."
There were reports of close friends that says he's such a loving person. And through the watching of the documentary, it just seemed that he has no tinge of aggression in him even when answering questions about the media's attention on him, though he thought and knew how vicious the media can be and is.
It just seemed that he is encircled by mystery - could people believe that he had a skin disease that's why he need a full body make-up to be white? Could people believe that the only surgery he had was his nose? Could people believe that he was really innocent of molesting the boy?
All we know is that he has been such a huge influence on us through his music and dance. He has made people happy kids especially, he has been loving towards his kids, he's had the friendship and support of his ex-wife Debbie Rowe. He is a man that has given alot whether to people in concert or kids with cancer. And probably as he gave, people wanted more. If he speaks the truth, then the media which spilled lies about him were the ones that drove him to seclusion and eventually crucified him. That is the thing that has plagued his life from the beginning - hurtful words.
And I hope we can have a good memory of him, at least for someone who has given back.
His song:
Like A CastleBuilt Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon
Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon
Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night
Written by
Paul at 12:32 PM
The story of Noah has many parallels that we can draw with end times and the church.
1. The ark is used as an instrument for salvation for the righteous, so then the present day ark is the church, an instrument for people to come to know the Lord. The ark will also "keep" the righteous, so then the church should also be used to maintain and see that people's faith last till the end until salvation come about. Hebrews 10:36-29
2. The righteous will have salvation, just like today those who are made righteous by the blood of Christ will be saved.
3. The ark was built according to the pattern and specifications given by God so the church must also built on the Word of God as its foundation. But now the "specifications" is the entire Bible; every facet of it.
4. The ark was built by Noah a righteous man and who was willing to endure suffering to build it. He also built it in faith, and in obedience. Such should be the characteristics of one who builds God's Church.
5. The end of times will be sudden, just like Noah's time. Matthew 24
37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
It sounds terribly wrong if we who are living at the "end of end times" act in such a way as described by Matthew 24 as if its not gonna happen. We gotta make sure we become READY all the time by living everyday and awakening in faith!
Last night I was reading a book that a brother lent to me "People who changed the World". Some people changed the world through love and compassion, some by their intellect, some by their teachings, some by their beauty, some by their "terrible-ness" and some by their discoveries and so on. All in all, these people made an impact to today's world in the way we think and act. Some positive, some negative. Such as Marilyn Monroe probably defined beauty for women and shaped many girls to want to be like her, "to be the kind of woman man wants". But that is not lasting beauty nor true love. Her life story was also pitiful that she died by an overdose of sleeping pills and we've seen her life being exploited by people.
Of course, Jesus Christ has to made it in the list in this book. He is the greatest in love. I think deep inside man, we longed to be great. The question that lingers is how do we want to be great?
Written by
Paul at 7:56 PM
What We Treasure
Psalm 19:7-10
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
This Psalm of David shows us how much he valued God's Word! The Word of God revives the soul, makes the wise simple, gives us joy, gives light to the eyes, endures forever, can be trusted, gives us righteousness and is much more precious than pure gold.
It seems like great and powerful people loves God's Word. (Oh I'm stating the obvious!) They loved God's Word because God's Word represents God Himself. How much we love it is how much we love Him. How much we thirst for it shows how much do we wanna know and seek Him.
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote that we should seek wisdom like gold as well. What are we seeking in this life is really important. Where our conviction lies will affect our lives.
It is good if we can have an insatiable appetite for God's Word in the day and in the night. Then we will always have a healthy diet and walking in the spiritual light. Reading more is better than not reading at all. It is important what we pass down is well thought over and make sure it is in line with the Bible. I've learnt that we cannot teach people who are not rooted in the Word this phrase because they don't even know what is in line with the Bible. They usually just rely on their conscience or general moral compass to determine whether something is right or wrong.
But I'd encourage new believers to read as much as they can of the Bible. If they are hungry for God, I want them to go all out to quench their thirst. If they treat the Word as gold, and seek it like no other treasure, I will rejoice over the many Davids! For if they know how to lean on the Word, how to check on the Word for every subject, how to make it their referee then they will be able to discern right and wrong.
We shouldn't ask people to stop! You stop the good thing, you get the bad thing going. We can stop or slow down the bad thing and get the good thing going. Paul was such a person. He turned all his energy from intensely persecuting the church to intensely preaching the Gospel.
When reading the Bible...
Some may think they are reading Greek
But that's an attitude they gotta rid
A heart that's meek and a prayer that pleads
will allow this "greek" to lead and make you succeed.
Had my first adults' caregroup on thurs evening. Thank God for a brother who fetched me home. Heard interesting stories from the teachers in the caregroup. Had shepherding with a brother today and was great he is making progressive steps as he now regularly reads the Word. Had the chance to host a brother from Hope Kota Kinabalu for a few hours as he observed our youth worship team music practice. He shared some things that had happened to their church and had caused much trouble. Hope people are real people and it is here that we can share our struggles, challenges openly and I wanna hold him up in my prayers that he will be strong and carry on the good things He wants to do.
From what he shared, he isn't a kind of person leaders or people may like. In fact people misunderstood him that he is giving trouble, or persuaded him to join another church. However, deep in his heart I believe he loved the church. Even as many forsake the church, he didn't. He kept on giving feedbacks and telling the pastor eventually what's wrong on the ground. There are many men that wants to change things. Before we can change things that are bad in the world, we also have to first change things in the church so that it can be good. Before you can allow the sick to come into your clinic to be healed by you, you gotta ensure your clinic is hygienic and condusive to conduct your practice too. Thank God for this brother.
Written by
Paul at 12:18 AM
Mother"s Day Diary
Awoke with a good sleep, a good 9 hour sleep. Spent quiet time with the Lord, followed by writing Mother's Day card. I communicate with my mother in Chinese so I wrote a Chinese card, to know that my Chinese has really deproved. I even had to cross out two words, which was really ugly.
Then went to my grandma's place. Had a good meal with both my mum and grandma. Then followed by going to town to buy shoes with my mom. Its a long time since I last shopped with her. In the past, she would go with my sis instead. Thank God I didn't wait very long before my mum chose a pair of good shoes for herself. I am more concerned of the comfort of the shoe as I don't know what is nice and what's not nice. I think some women shouldn't buy shoes that only look nice but doesn't fit their feet. If your shoes is too tight or unfit, you will feel uncomfortable, then you'd have (to spend extra money) to buy iSqueeze from Osim. (that's what the advertisement says.)
Wanna thank the Lord for my grandmother. My mum shared to me that my grandmother is like an evangelist. She brings her past tenants to come to know the Lord. She brings the people around her to know the Lord including her current maid, who was also baptized. I didn't know that! I feel ashamed that I haven't led a single soul in my camp to know God thus far, which is what I'm desperately praying for and inviting them to church as well.
This year is considered one of the most fruitful mother's day I've had.
Reading the biography of a hero of faith: "The Autobiography of Geroge Muller" Wiki him here!
Written by
Paul at 11:33 PM
Counting down to about 4 more months to leave the Army... Lately's beeen rather calm as I transit to the adults group. Been reading Charles Spurgeons' sermons in camp. Wow really thank God for the free software available and also me getting a Blackberry. Though it has no cameras but its not bad a phone. The downside? You can't use wi-fi for the GPS. The GPS just doesn't work like the one people uses in their cars :( Many services have to use the data plans instead of wi-fi...
Anyway, I'd just like to comment that Charles Spurgeons' sermons are terrific. I would really like to preach like him, his spirit, his intellect and his passion. I don't mean to preach exactly like him but to have some of these qualities. Though it is written in old english, but we can still understand, and probably learn to appreciate what made him the "Prince of Preachers" in his time.
One of the sermons that struck me is about the Remembrance of Jesus, as Jesus said "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19
It seems to suggest that we as Christians DO forget Jesus, we do pass by days in a week without Jesus. We left Him in the church. It may seem impossible that the King of kings and Lord of lords, the highest of all creation be forgotten, but it is true. I have never heard a sermon that expounds about the significance of the remembrance of Jesus before and it gave me a new understanding. Jesus instituted the Holy Communion for a reason and an important one. This was instituted when he knows he was going to die and people don't do unimportant things at the last hours of their day.
As Christians and the child of God, our Lord ought to be the one we pleases the most. He ought to take the highest place in our lives, in our decision making and in the priority of all that is related to us. Yet we do get distracted by other things, other comparatively insignificant things. If God is the highest, what can be higher than him? And it is in the devil's plan for us to mis-focus. The focus on the micro instead of the macro, to focus more on the things that matter less than the things that mattered more. Lives would not be lived in regret if we were to live in such a way we do not neglect what really matters. I believe some people lived in regret because they realised they have all along been chasing something that didn't mattered more. They pursue their careers overly much they lost their marriage or they did so much to compete with others and ended up with no friends. And if we were to use such relative terms, what kind of priority would you give to Jesus, the one who bought you at the highest cost? And what scales will you put him in your everyday living and prayer?
Having tasted that the Lord is good and we lived because of His grace, I wonder what will I give to receive this blood sought pardon were I to stand at the gates of hell one day.
I would wanna remember Him every hour I'm awake and not to live a life of sin no more.
Written by
Paul at 12:30 PM
PolyDINS camp 2009 is over! Really had a good time playing, fellowshipping with the brothers in this camp. Our young brothers Sye Kit, Jullian and Joshua joined us. Sye kit lost his voice in the camp, Jullian was the game master throughout playing that single game which I kept dying... I still owed them a forfeit. Joshua was the little brother that is playful but can be serious on God too!
On the 2nd day evening, Richard, Edison and a sister from NS group (Aileena) and I went to Eilton's commissioning parade. We met Karshun and Ken over there. Can really see Eilton's joy and of many other cadets in the parade - one of them even threw his cap before the time haha.
Today's workshop is the only one of the two I attended. Wanted to hear more about pubbing and clubbing... Anyway, today's workshop on euthanasia was enriching. I was impressed by how one of the group presented. The way they share you can tell that they are excited and simply wants to do what is right before God, yet also not being unempathetic to the situations of the people in the case study.
It's only in situations that makes the Bible comes even more alive! We don't know how useful and powerful the Word of God is until its got something to do in real life situations! But we need to have the habit of turning to the Bible FIRST when problems come. When we apply the Bible according the right principles, God is glorified!
As Ritchie was talking about timings and circumstances of a person when to pull out the life support machines from the loved ones, I thought of this...
In Jonah chapter 1, there was a huge storm and the people may die as the ship threatened to break up. After which, they came to a situation of voluntary euthanaisa by Jonah himself (verse 8-12), which Jonah claimed is the solution to the problem. But the people onboard were sailors who didn't want to take innocent lives. They tried their best to row the boat. But finally only on the last resort, they threw Jonah off the sea (verse 13-15). Their conscience was clear as they never intend to take innocent lives. And because it was the plan of God, the seas calmed and the people believed and worshipped the God of Jonah.
We must believe that when those tough situations happen, it always happen for a reason. Of course it will not happen to everyone. I was thinking of the hard choices between financial ease and euthanasia some people have to make, I am just so thankful I am not in that kind of situation. But if it were, it is for a reason. Hold still to hope and pray. If things are not going in the right course, may God disrupt our plans!
Written by
Paul at 10:17 PM
We need the Holy Spirit very much!
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is not just an influence, but He is the One who works in every part of our life all the time - that is Spirit-filled. There are not many people who believed in the works of the Holy Spirit today. They don't believe ordinary people can be so close to God, so wonderfully counselled by Him. They don't believe in miracles, or the power of the Holy Spirit or the gifts of the Spirit. They do believe in becoming a better person but they don't quite understand we can't be good on our own. We need to simply allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. We need to surrender our rights, and allow Him Mr Holy Spirit to work in us to bear fruits of the Spirit. When we are in sync with Him, fruits are borne naturally as a process. But sadly, many people do not believe that.
I was prompted by yesterday's service to really speak about this to the congregation during the worship time. We can't just be a Spirit-influenced church but a Spirit-filled church. This is not something I think about alot recently but something the Spirit spoke to me during the worship time. We need to be filled, let Him reign in every part.
We are filled by the Spirit by
-Praying
Praying in words and in tongue. Having a prayerful heart - we can talk to God anytime in our hearts!
-Keeping in step with the Spirit
Desire to walk with Him. Obey His Words.
-Teachings
Right teachings allow the Holy Spirit to move powerfully. We need to be balanced to not go to one extreme to justify everything is from the Spirit. Let's find out from the Word to see if such cases exist first. Another extreme is to deny works of the Spirit and thus restrict Him. He works according to how much we believe. But a third possible outcome, is ignoring. This is the most common after a church becomes established. The Holy Spirit is not filling our lives as much but we use just so little of His power. We may pray in tongues when we pray together, believe in gifts and fruit of the Spirit but not releasing His power in our lives by fellowshipping with Him enough! We probably forget about Him most part of our day! Its important to fellowship with Him by praying in our hearts, speaking in tongues etc.
We need to be "elevated" to the spiritual realms and see the powerful work of the Spirit that will cause our Gospel message to be displayed in a powerful way.
The more we understand the Word, the better position we are in to allow the Spirit to work, the more balanced we become as a result.
Written by
Paul at 3:56 PM
"Madness is either used to the effect to conspire or to inspire." - Anonymous
This is true. Madness is all around. Politics, Economics, Social and everywhere is madness. Madoff was recently sentenced to jail for a madness of a fraud that reaches $85 billion. Before him, many Ponzi schemes had already occured. In Christianity, it is also madness. When we look back to its history, we see the Gospel spreading even to greater geographical areas and with greater intensity under the pressures of persecution. It is not a religion for the faint hearted.
It thrives under hardship and people are even willing to get martyred for it. This must be something mad. If only Jesus is mad, one person we might be able to accept but to have his followers follow him to such great extent under the knowledge that he was crucified; that is unbelievable.
So madness is everywhere, whether for a good or bad cause. The early church's commitment and faith in the Lord that brought them so far ought to inspire us. People like to come up with ideas that the principles of the Bible do not work a few centuries after, in the 1980s, in the 1990s and then now when we're over the millennium. People can come up with all sorts of excuses when they do not know what the Lord has in mind. But every revival that happened, it is the preacher's life and love for the Lord that enabled them to accomplish great things, never about human ingenuity. Human ingenuity may last for a while but only when the Holy Spirit moves things or drop a Word upon us can we be changed and anointed to do His work. So are you ashamed to be mad for the Lord, do you dare to be different from the rest, to obey the Lord, His Word as it really is?
That is what's gonna make the difference.
Written by
Paul at 11:56 AM
This blog is back!
Today's Biblegateway verse was quite meaningful.
Psalm 139:23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
For the past week, I kind of realized how God treats us sometimes. When there is an area or issue in our lives that is not being settled, and God is displeased about it, communication is broken. But God is not like man. He will let us know through signs... maybe our prayers go unanswered, maybe we face certain failures or He will speak to us through His Word. But if we still fail to get the message or chose not to listen, He gets silent. When the matter worsen, then there comes discipline.
However, let us not be weary in following the Lord for He is always good and the One who loved us the most. When we feel our communication with God is broken, we should evaluate our lives. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit everyday so we can walk in His will. Let us not just rush into busy ness in ministry for if our lives are not right, we will not see much success or victory that the Lord gives.
Written by
Paul at 8:30 PM
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Written by
Paul at 6:54 PM
1 Corinthians 13:5
It(Love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love is not rude. Love is not self seeking. Love is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs.
I am reminded once again what love is. In my daily dealings with people, as a not so gentle and rather straightforward person, I think I've tread the ground of offending people without being intentional. Joking with people without being funny. Communication in error. Like a bull banging around rashly, there's much more wisdom to be acquired. Oh how I wish I can transform in a flash haha. Holy Spirit please help me.
Yet I'm looking forward to having a depth of character that pleases Him...
Written by
Paul at 6:58 PM
I've just arrived at Elias Road. I feel very blessed at this point of time. Taking this time to just blog.
Was having flu the whole day, gotten worse during dinner time. I felt better after heeding Andrew's recommendation to drink a hot drink, probably a hot milo. I shared and discussed with Liyan certain things tooo.. God really has great plans unfolding for all of us. None left out. The main thing is everyone stay close and walk with Him.
On the 3rd of Jan, my 90 year old grandpa left this world into eternal dwelling. It was a loss but there's a mixed feeling of assurance and joy. During that time of mourning, I didn't experience the kind of sorrow like there's no tomorrow... with Christ, things seem more in place. And I also got to build a closer r/s with some of my relatives. My aunt used to be a Hope Chiangmai member and she shared many interesting stories to me. I'm amazed how God not only changed me, not only my family but also my extended family to my relatives. I know things are still not perfect in many ways but it is really a far cry better than the past. I am thankful.
I didn't intend to share to anyone except Andrew, Liyan and Huimei but I end up sharing to one more person. But anyway thanks to everyone I replied to in sms for the comfort and concern.
One thing became evident to me. Everyone is works in progress. No one is perfected entirely. There is more to the things we thought we've already overcome. The good becomes better. The better keeps getting better till it is perfect in every way. One person might feel he is humble (and yes indeed to a certain extent) but then he realizes he needs to be humble in other circumstances. He is put to pressure to whether is it a matter of humility or doing the right thing or the method at that circumstance. Even when we've grown in humility, there is more spaces to grow. In trusting God, there will be more areas to trust. In love, there is more to just the current state of love.
1 Corinthians 13
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
As he put childish ways behind him, he is also constantly maturing to become like an wise old men. Wise old men yea that's what I wanna be!
Written by
Paul at 1:13 AM
I've been back from Missions trip! With 4 wonderful team members - Jorris, Lemuel, Magdalene & Lestari. Really enjoyed the funny times, the joy of serving the people, the team effort, everything! Unfortunately, Santono was unable to join us.
I have too much to blog. But its written in my own journal. I am addicted to missions. No matter how far the people are, we must move forward to find them, get them, help them. The effort must really be great. If we have powerful teams, like how Jesus trains the Twelve, we can go anywhere and we won't be afraid.
Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Yes we will not fear anything for we know God is with us. I find that whenever we are plunged into missions, we have no choice but to know God is there. All da time! Last night I came back alone from Kuching. Its my first time travelling alone and the airport I'm arriving at is at Johor, not Changi. There is some fears of travelling on a budget airline alone, taking a taxi from JB to customs. How I wish I could stay with the team haha. However, I have to leave. I know only God is with me now; the dependency on Him just increased. As Christians, its impossible to be alone because God is omni-present. Somehow that fact deepened into us when we are overseas.
With that greater dependency on God, that's probably why we see and feel and know God is with us every step of the way during the trip. Many hiccups occurred but we never panick. Its almost an unspoken understanding that if God is not with us, we wouldn't be here. Precisely because Jesus is real, we need to get out of our country and fulfill His plan in as many places and people as posisble! It should not be just tourism mindset to get experience of other cultures or places but its missions mindset! We should step out to evangelize in our local area, to get into missions globally, God is with you! We should not fear to teach God's Word, share testimonies witnessing or personal conversion story!
Really thank God for the trip!
Written by
Paul at 1:45 PM
This week is really one great and awesome week! Shared my testimony of how God answers our prayers! We are really close to 50. I also testified our weakness all the more shines God's goodness. There's an incident I "acted smart" by acting in advance and acted differently from what I ask of God. End up my advance move was redundant but nevertheless God was faithful to answer...
Yesterday was really a very long day. By the time of Vision Night, I'm already very tired but seeing our NYP bros and sis around, I'd really like to not waste any moment of it being tired. And after some thought, I decided not to go ahead with the teaching but to share from the heart instead. Though it feels different without something to follow, the points may be a little jumbled up, I hope that the vision we live and breathe for will nonetheless impact some hearts.
I really love NYP, the whole of it. The people in our church. Its like we are really different and really "indescribable." In NYP, we do have problems but there are also great and wonderful committed people who are loyal and go through thick and thin with me and with us, the team... What makes people wanna rise up to go through this narrow road? It's still amazing to me.
It also amazes me how it may seem to have no benefits to others yet the blessing is tremendous! Being a leader in church is not easy, its not always happy, its not what you think and expect often times. But the experience with God in every adventure is there - the need to trust, the need to think biblically and courage to act upon it, the blessings of God in providence for your ministry/people/your own needs, the power of the Holy Spirit acting beside you as if telling you answers to a exam qn u don't know (its called counselling, not cheating heh heh), the supernatural ability that enables u to do things you could never imagined and many much more more more! Then there's a reward, u made long and lasting friendships, u are able to see eternity and the big picture, u will feel such great sense of fulfillment when you see people's lives changed and being used for God, the sense of purpose and meaning is tremendous, the vision, the family God has blessed me with spiritually and naturally too...
Those who seek power and positions here may get disappointed. I recently discovered that I myself am really becoming more uncompetitive. Its like I don't like to race with others. If somebody wants an award, wants a credit, wants the mrt seat, then just give it to him. There's a time I was encouraged to take part in something because they know I was gonna win, then there is this "glory and honor" thingy... I just gave it up, I felt it pointless to get certain things that don't last or for ego's sake. I used to be very "aggressive" in ministry in goals and I stretch people much more. Now I feel "pain" when people get stretched a little. I think I'm spoiling some people... But yet again, I want to act in love. Father, I want to balance both. NYPians, it's time to stretch more and let's not only do more for God, let's grow in our thinking and mature in Christ.
I like these verses very much. I hope we can strive for this vision in our discipleship.
Colossians 1:28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
Ephesians 4:13-15
13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Yeah, and with this, I'm finally moving my blog! This blog is really hard truths for some, hope the next one will be something that can inspire people and bring the love of God to their hearts :)
Written by
Paul at 12:15 AM
