Are we good stewards of God's gifts?

The following is a parable from Luke 19:12 – 26 about a king and his 10 servants:

Luke 19:12-26 (New International Version)
12He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a]'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' 14"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'

15"He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16"The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 17" 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' 18"The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.' 19"His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'

20"Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' 22"His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

24"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.' 25" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' 26"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

Footnotes: a. Luke 19:13 A mina was about three months' wages.

This is a parable. So when we read it we must be careful. Some of the observations made: The king was only a noble man before he was made king. When he became king, he apparently had higher powers. He gave ten of his servants 10 minas (1 each). His subjects hated him (probably as mentioned by the servant who said he was “a hard man (fierce?)”) The King gave an order before he left: put the money to work (he also called for them to find out what they had earned after he returned). He seemed to expect his money to gain returns (any normal person would) when he came back. 2 scenarios happened here:

There are 2 types of servants and with each type and what they did, something happened to them. Firstly, there are the good servants who abided by the kings order (look it was not a request here. He ORDERED them to invest while he was away). The first gained 10 minas for the mina he was given. The second gained 5 minas for the one he was given. And each of the outcomes, the king put them in charge of 10 cities for the first, and 5 for the second. The king commended: “you have been trustworthy on small matters” in a sense it seems that the order was given to see who abided in him and could be given further tasks (take charge of 10 cities, it’s not an easy task to manage a city I think).

If I were to put myself in the kings line of thought, it seems as if the small task of investment is an indicator of who is suitable for future bigger tasks that I can entrust to.

And then there’s the case of the servant who hid the mina he was given, and did nothing about it. He said:” I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' It seems as if the servant gave an excuse, that the king takes from him what he did not put effort into (sowing) but gains from others. But He is the king! And he had a furious response to the servant: u wicked servant, since you knew what sort of a man I am, (are you not scared?) why didn’t you even put the money in bank so that it earn interest till I came back? And he ordered that the mina he had given be taken away and given to the good servant.

And the people protested, saying the guy already got 10minas, but the king replied, whoever has will be given more, but whoever has none, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

God’s question in advance:
1) What did you do with my son Jesus Christ? Determines where we spend eternity
2) What did you do with what I gave you? Determines what we do in eternity

In our daily lives, do we tell God “let Your will be done?” or do we follow our own ways? Do we use whatever we have for God’s purpose or do we use what we have for our own sakes? Do we abide by the Lords orders like those faithful servants, or do we find excuses like the wicked servant? Have we used what we have in life for our selfish indulgence?

**for more information read this: http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/19_11-27.htm**"

The Criminal on the cross

I had the chance to learn about methods to bible studying. This method involves OIA which means Observation, Interpretation, and Application. Of all the three, observation is the most important. When we conduct bible studies, we want to keep in mind that we want to ask as many questions from what we observe. Although not all of them have to be answered, we try as best to answer each question as we move along. Being meticulous about the things mentioned can be applied using the who, where what when how, approach.


When interpreting verses, we should also keep in mind a few facts about the bible, so that we do not make absurd and extreme interpretations. Firstly, the bible is about the story of God’s salvation to us, and essentially is about how God brings people to Him through different ways mentioned in the bible. We want to avoid making obviously wrong interpretations from just looking at single verses and drawing conclusions, but rather, in view of the whole theme of the bible (which in this case seems obvious that its God’s love and salvation for man). And always, in context of the chapter at least, and prevent asking questions like :”what is the passage trying to say?” but rather making as many observations as possible. Also, if possible, try to use more then one translations of the bible to cross reference.


First and foremost, pray to God for guidance and that the Holy Spirit uses God’s words to speak to us.

The bible passage here: Luke 23:32-43. I’ll be using my Chinese NIV bible and E-sword (a program that allows multiple versions of the bible). If not bible gateway allows you to have as many versions, also an online concordance might be useful in studying God’s Word.


Luke 23:32-43 (New International Version)

32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

36The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

38There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Footnotes:

1. Luke 23:34 Some early manuscripts do not have this sentence.
2. Luke 23:42 Some manuscripts come with your kingly power


Some Observations made:

1) Who was/were present?

a) Jesus

b) 2 criminals

c) Father God

d) “the people”

e) “the rulers”

f) The soldiers

2) What was happening?/what happened?

a) Jesus was going to be crucified along with 2 criminals and there were the above mentioned people watching

b) People were watching his crucification

3) Why do you think the rulers sneered at Jesus? And said "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

a) They probably do not believe that He is the Messiah, and wants to see if He can save Himself If He really is the Christ as He claims.

4) Why do you think the soldiers also mocked Jesus asking to Him to save himself?

a) The soldiers are trained killers (executioners) and its impossible in their eyes that Jesus saves Himself.

5) Why do you think one of the Criminals asked Jesus to save himself and them too while hurling insults?

a) He is probably angry at Jesus as he hurls abuse and demanding Jesus do something to save him if He is the Christ. http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/23_39-43.htm

6) Why did Jesus pray for the soldiers who were executing him, asking the Father to forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing?

7) What is the significance of dividing Jesus’s garment, and casting lots?

a) Clothes were valuable in that day. Few people had more than one or maybe two sets of clothes.

The real significance though is that this was foretold by David in Psalm 22, 1000 years before it happened............

"Dogs (Gentiles) have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing. "

Psalm 22:16-18 NIV

8) What is wine vinegar and its use?

a) Wine mixed with Gall was bitter and probably used to make fun of Jesus which He refused to drink

b) http://www.carm.org/bible-difficulties/matthew-mark/was-vinegar-given-jesus-cross-mingled-gall-or-myrrh

9) Why did the other criminal rebuke the criminal hurling abuse at Jesus?

a) Apparently cos Jesus did nothing to save Himself

10) What is “today you will be with me in paradise."

11) This man (Jesus) has done no wrong

12) Why did they call Jesus the King of the Jews

13) Why did Jesus not retaliate/do anything to free Himself?

14) Cross reference to Isaiah 53

15) People seem to be asking Jesus to prove His identity as Christ by Him saving himself.

16) One criminal seemed repentant of his wrong doing and thinks he deserved his sentence of crucification, while the other seemed unrepentant.
17) Jesus told the criminal who was repentant He be with him in paradise today. Chinese phrase it as 乐园 is there a difference?


Intrepretation (with each intrepretation that we come up with, its best to check with concordance or commentaries that are easily available to us to verify whether the conclusions we draw are sound, and not come up with wild ideas):

It seems pretty much obvious that Jesus was mocked by the people (jeers, the gall mixed wine) who were going to crucify Him, and although He is the Christ, the messiah, who had the power to do something to prevent himself from dying, He died on the cross and as one of the criminals said “did nothing wrong”.


Being repentant on the cross was the only distinction apart from the responses people had. This came from a dying man, who was going to be crucified BUT recognised what he did was wrong and fully deserved his punishment. Yet, when others had failed to see the full glory of Jesus on the cross, he repented seeing on seeing Jesus.


This criminal, had not been baptised, nor likely to have attended any teachings by Jesus, in today's context will hardly be someone we consider to be "saved". This set me thinking. What is essence constitutes a person's salvation? Does it mean if you attend church for years you will be saved? This criminal certainly had not. Does it mean if you are baptised in church you are saved? What about those deathbed cases of people whom we have no idea if they accepted Christ at all? Are they saved? It is possible yet that a person attended church all his life and never understood nor repented before God....?


For it is said in the bible Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Going to church does not mean you are saved, but rather, was there true repentance behind that decision to get to God? It not only takes accepting that we are sinners, but rather also repentance, just like the 2 criminals on the cross. We can say that they have no choice but to accept their punishment as just and fair. Clearly, only one was repentant before Jesus.


And its Jesus's promise to this criminal that we can hope on. We may think we are better than the criminal, but its just that his wrongdoing was exposed before everyone. I'm sure each and everyone of us we have something deep we don't ever want people to know yet we can hope on Jesus's response to the criminal on the cross. If we truly repent in our sins, God forgives as stated in


1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."


This criminal is not named, but I think he must have great faith that day he repented before Jesus, not the Jesus that people saw, who was flogged badly, with wounds all over and nailed to the cross. But he must have saw something much deeper....


43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Lost the chance

Today I was supposed to attend a meeting but I stayed home as my sister had technicians coming in to the house to install the new broadband internet. After that, I went to play online game.. which was DOTA.. my bad.

Jehovah witnesses, the children of a lady who had actually came to the door step before came to "outreach" to me, but I told them I wasn't free at that point of time.. after that, they went off.. When I finally finished the game, they were nowwhere to be found. I should have done something to make them stay.

I turned them away cos I was too engrossed in the game. :X (I also don't know why I did dat)

I could have :
1) tell them to look for me like 30minutes later
2) left them my number/ get their contact
3) throw the game and talk to them
......

Father Lord, I'm so sorry to have failed this time to reachout to them this time. My bad. Hope they come again tomorrow, or something. I hope I wont live to regret the things I did today. If Lord will You grant me the chance to talk to them again.. I trust I will meet them again.. I will be waiting, and not make any more silly mistakes this time.

How many chances can I yet afford to lose?

ThanksGiving and Baptism details for Sunday 6th Dec

Hi people... I'm back!!! exams ENDED yesterday but I slept off my sleep debt hahaha.

Year 2 Semester 1 has indeed been one of the most gruelling periods of my life yet. I find myself at a loss sometimes, facing people, and even God as He drags me along the route I have to go through, no matter how much I'm unwilling to. Then again, I'm reminded of His Great Love that He disciplines all He loves. Sometimes I feel unworthy, but we are all unworthy in the first place. Its not by what we have done to deserve His love, because if it was, we do not deserve it. Its because God loved us so. The price He paid on the cross justified it. He died a heavy price for each of us, making us "worthy" in His death.


Here's a list of Thanksgiving I thought of while on the way to my last paper yesterday (apparently my mind can't think anymore due to studying so I decided to think something else)


1) Thanks my Mum for cooking for me everyday, although I come home late and grumpy and make u stay up late waiting for me

2) Thanks Kwok Kiong, my course mate and buddy for calling me in the (not so) early mornings asking me where I am for lectures.. as sometimes I'm still sleeping at home.

3) Thanks Wee Kian and Haihui, my med chem module group partners who had to do the fronts parts of the report as I came down with a serious flu that time.

4) Thanks Wee Kian for that time of prayer and sharing about how to handle academics

5) Thanks Haihui for influencing me the urgency to study and start studying!! and the rubbish Mafia Wars >_> haha... enjoyed it as a getaway from exam revisions

6) Thanks Zeke for leading our DG even though you have such a busy schedule and assignments due during the Sem

7) Thanks the FOTL (frens of LWN): Thanks God for the place to study, thanks Ruth and Shuying for "chopeing" seats for me early in the mornings and the right influence to study, study and study! Thanks Matthias for joining us... u better come more next sem!! haha.. thanks Jon Lim for wanting to treat us supper during exams.. greatly appreciated. Thanks for all your encouragement. and Ashley! hope u recovered.

8) Thanks my junior DG peeps: lawrence, Roger, kenneth, edison, having u guys and knowing that you all are living a life for God encourages me.

9) Thanks 1723 peeps!: thanks Kaiwei, sharon, weiji, rebecka, Joanna Huang Peng and others who prayed for me throughout this period... couldn't have made it without it.. and Thanks Zhiqi for standing in for Guan Huai for some of the programmes, Thanks Beattie! my dear tuan zhang who oways pops by to ask how I am doing... thanks all dose who dropped a sms wishing me luck for exams...

10) Thanks the DOTA people weiji, cd, weisheng, who play DOTA during dose nights i cant get to study

11) Thanks people in CCC and in the crusade corner who are oways studying there and having fun before the crossroads and the reminder of God each week. Thanks for crossroads each week , the staff, the students who made each crossroads a bridging gap between us all and God

12) Thanks the choir module from NIE each week.. its really an enjoyment to getaway from the hectic studies

13) Thanks SOS buddies! Kannono-chan, Vara, anna, kyo who ask me go to study while I'm in the game xD

14) Thanks pastor Jacob who is going to baptise me this sunday, for allowing me to come slightly late for the baptism classes each week due to studies. And you will be missed after you leave at the end of December...

15) Lastly, I want to thank God:
for having each day brand new to choose to live a life glorifying You,
for forgiving me and guiding me by your Holy Spirit,
for letting me have the chance to await in prayer,
for having the daily food for each day, not to mention the spiritual food
for the reminders in life about who I am,
for the people i meet each day,
for all the family i have,
for the internet so i can blog and rant
for the warm home i'm able to rest in
for knowing You. its the best gift I've ever had.

Be a good steward of my life

As I am going to be baptised soon, a lot of issues are going through my head. One of them of course has been a niggling problem in academic studies. I still remember vividly the days I just received Christ into my life. I was really happy and not worrying for exams even though I had only a month left and alot to study.. but the same situation I'm in today and I can't say the same for what I'm feeling now.

Has... something gone wrong somewhere? Maybe. Yes. It has.

Yesterday's baptism class was on "healthy Christian living". That's besides the point but one important thing was brought up which I felt hit the nail on the spot the problem I'm in.

It is "Serving the Lord" and "stewardship".

Serving the Lord can take on 3 perspective. Firstly, one serves the Lord by worshipping Him, because of the fact that He died for us on the Cross. It is out of a response that we serve the Lord in worshipping Him. Secondly, one can serve God in ministries. Ministries can refer to a specific post in church, where you serve, for example church choir, sunday school, etc. Lastly, It is Serving the Lord with OUR LIVES. Each and every single act everyday can be done as a worship to God, and thereby is serving Him, If it is done for God. In general, any act done to glorify God is serving God.

The reverse cannot be said to be true. One can serve in the Church ministry and yet not be serving God because he can be doing it for selfish reasons, for people's praises, for others to see your ability.

After truly reflecting on my problem, I have not been doing EVERYTHING for God. My non-christian friend rightly points out: "You seem to be disciplined in your religion (refering to daily prayer and quiet time), but what happened to studies?" (and it can also happen for other things)

I admit I can't say I'm disciplined in studies... but thats exactly where the problems lie. Everything I have in life is something entrusted to me by God. Why do I separate academics or even other stuff in life by not giving due attention to it? That I'm afraid is my mistake on my part, and I'm glad I saw it when God revealed to me. Everything in life is important, and should be given due attention to.... your family, friends, work....

...and it rightly boils down to a single word "stewardship"

Have I, this caretaker of my life done my job well? Life on the face of this earth is a task God has entrusted each and everyone of us to do. Can I on the day I meet God, say that I have been a good steward of my life, my body, the things he gave me?

Seems that this caretaker is loafing on the job now at least... but its never too late to have a wakeup call..

:D:D

Its 12days counting down to exams and i'm shaken to my roots.. but then I remembered something, exams is Big but... I got a BIGGER GOD. I am so gonna tide thru this just as I have done for my previous..

Looking forward to all the fun after exams!! Our date with DG people, meta, all there is... just have to cross the hurdle now...........

*er-hem* time to sleep :D

Draws me closer yet.. don't let me go

I'm truly amazed by how God has really brought me thus far in life. And listening to fellow brothers and sisters' struggles as they journey their walk with God really affirms my faith, and renews, while reminding me that God is around me, with me and with the people around me.

I am going to be baptized soon in December 6th 2009!! YAY! Thank God. :D

At many a times I feel defeated in life. I feel unworthy, totally disappointed with myself, disgusted, about who I am, and what I ought to be. I feel ashamed to face God sometimes for failing to live by His commandments. But hey, that's why I truly need God in my life. It is because I am not perfect, that I need God to guide and discipline me. In fact, NO one, not a single one of us is perfect just as the scripture has revealed in:

"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
Romans 3:23

God knows, and He did not leave us. In fact he loved us so much to have made a plan for us that each one of us, however imperfect, can and will return to Him, and in Him, made imperfectly perfect.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Not because we do anything to deserve such love, just like how a parent would care for a son/daughter, God loves us, however worthless we feel we are, however wrong the things we have done, however unworthy we are, however imperfect we are.

I'm recently re-accessing my life journey with God and am greatly reminded of something n my life:

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:21

Firstly, I ask myself, do I love God? If I do what is that out of? You see, I was affected greatly when I asked myself this, because Jesus said in John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." Have I kept and abided in His commandment for me? I will like to think this 2 greatest commandments are:

1) "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30
"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5

2) The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:31

Now, what does it mean to Love God your Lord with all heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength? We should recognise that God is the Lord of our lives, and by calling Him our Lord, we place our life's decision making in Him, abiding by His will. And LOVE God. Not just simply love, but it is elaborated in such a detailed way. Heart + Soul + mind + strength... which is in fact everything we have.. loving God not just stays on your lips but should flow deep into knowing God with our hearts, worshiping Him in truth and Spirit (with soul), Minds so that we consciously know who we are depending on and all of our strength (it requires effort).

And the second is loving our neighbours as ourselves. Have we even had our hearts moved to help people in need around us? Some we may know, some we may not know, but Jesus calls us to love others just like how we will love ourselves. Treating people with love that is befitting of the love we have of ourselves. It is indeed a hard thing to do.

I truly give thanks to God, even if there are things not going to what I want in life, but I give thanks for the people He has put around me as a reminder of His love, and Him working through my life, however imperfect I am. I have had the honour to learn about God in the most amazing ways I never have thought of.

Some of the things He brought me through may have hurt me but He sustained me and brought me through each and every of them. He brings me closer to Him, sometimes He has to drag me but I am just at peace knowing He is working in my life.

Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."

He has promised that we will find Him if we truly search for Him. I pray that you too will find Him working through in your life.

Where is all the JOY?

After being a christian for 4 years, recently I'm undergoing really troubled times. Is it because I have not followed God close enough? What has gone wrong? How has it gone wrong? Where has things gone wrong?

A lot of doubts start seeping through my mind as out of my 4 years with God, this is the year I'm treating it seriously, as in, my faith and relationship with God more seriously than my previous 3 years. I see it as a learning point everytime I "suffer" in some sense, telling myself, its something God puts me through to mould me.

Where has all the joy of living as a Christian and enjoying my relationship as God's child all gone to? Am I living it all right? Or is there more to things that meet the eye?

I confess to God that a lot of times I crumble under pressure and give in to the easy way out. I have been too slack in studies, and that explains my poor results. When something goes wrong, I'm quick to find explanations, reasons for things gone wrong.

In reality, are we sometimes living in self-denial when things are obviously not the way they are? Forever I can find 101 reasons to convince myself I'm correct and on the right path. But yet, God shows and reveals the heart of man.

I cannot find Joy because deep down, I have not allowed God to change my life to the fullest extent He can and I'm holding on to things I'm just not willing to let go. But all these have to go, I have to change, and about time too.

God gives us free-will and unless we make that effort to WILLINGLY change and let our lives be entrusted to Him and transformed, we cant. We simply cant by our own efforts do something we were not made to do. My life will not make a change just by knowing what's wrong. I have to make a conscious decision to change and allow God to change me.

^"25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12:25

Am I willing to let Go? Yes.
Have I let go fully 100% now? No.

This is a big major problem for me, as I grapple and bargain with God for things which do not belong to me. Who is the Lord of my life? Is it me myself? Or God? Does not all I "have" come from He who knows me better than I am? What then is stopping me from fully surrendering what's not even mine in the 1st place to God?

The Joy a christian ought to be enjoying out of his walk with God is from God. and until I can truly grasp that I cannot be joyful, for I am constantly trying to fill up the "joy" with things in the world.

Have u, like me, been sapped from the joy we ought to enjoy as God's children, Let me pray for our sakes that we find true Joy in God. The true joy I have just found goes back to the very first day I accepted Christ.

I was happy, knowing my sins were redeemed in Him, I know my life is in His hands. I was happy.. just plain happy to know He works in my life.

Father Lord,
I'm so sorry for always finding excuses for myself.
I know deeply that true Joy should come from knowing you,
for there are many things that give momentarily happiness but
does not give the true joy I should be enjoying.
Help me, Lord, to be realeased from my thoughts and bondages,
that I may live a life surrendered to You, and so rightfully find joy
in doing so.

Lord, you give and take away, all that I have comes from you,
and I want to trust in You to be the Lord of my life.
I truly give thanks to You Lord, for dragging me along so many a times
I just feel like giving up. Thank You for reminding me of the initial Joy
of knowing You. May this Joy and peace be with me, whereever I will go
and till the very end of the days till I meet you..

Amen

God's Love is unconditional

When we like someone or love someone in our lives, be it our family members or our partners, we always expect that our love is returned in a sense that those whom we love will love us. Is this really called love? Will we stop loving those we claim to love if they do not love us? Or even bear a grudge against those people whom we so once loved but ended up in broken relationships?

What is.... Love? My own walk with God showed me the true meaning of God's Love.

1) Love is not asking for something in return:
When Jesus came to us, He gave us a choice to believe in Him, and for that He would heal us of our sins. He came and died for sinners, righteous, rich, poor, handsome, pretty, ugly, etc etc etc ALL OF US. He came to show His Love for us.

2) Love is unconditional:
Love is not about asking for something in return, instead is only want the person(s) we love to be well, happy. Its not something selfish. Parents naturally care for their children. Even animals take care of their young. Its something God put in us in His own image. You will love someone no matter what happens, even if he or she is disfigured the next moment, did something so wrong to you..... it does not depend on what he/she did. Or whether the person loves you back.

Of course, God created us to enjoy intimate relationships with Him and people around us. Perhaps that is why we so long for our love to be returned. Yet, God himself gave people the freedom of freewill.. and the choice to reject His love.

It is the somewhat similar for us as we are able to choose whom we want to spend the rest of our lives with, we constantly are afraid to go into relationships for fear of rejection. We even face rejection from our closes kins sometimes.. and are unable to forgive for some of the things done wrong to us.

Imagine the hurt, the bleed in the heart when the person died alone in pain, nail-pierced, flogged brutally before that and being hurled abuse at by the people around Him. Worst of all that pain in His heart must have come from the fact that He came to show His Love, for people, you and I, all of us when we don't even understand.

It must really have griefed Him to let Himself be subject to the rejection of so many He loved.

If you and I can understand the pain when we confess to someone we like and get rejected... imagine the pain God Himself felt.

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8

To change or not to change... that is not the question

Last Sunday's sermon was about making changes... I took a whole day to reflect upon that. It seems as if in life we make alot of changes, from small decisions to major decisions affecting our lives, and even those decisions havin an impact on others' lives.

We constantly think of what to change: whether or not to dye our hair colour, whether or not to follow suit the trends of the today world, whether to be tech-savvy, whether or not to choose certain modules to take up in university. Whether or not to change the way we think of people.. whether its right to do the things people commonly do.

"The traditional stubborn way of the old people needs a change!" is something young people nowadays will lament. Maybe some advocates of people who don't want to see changes will say: "We cannot change! If not, we are changing who we are just to suit the new trends. Today change, tommorrow also change, forever changing.. who are we actually?"

With regards to Christianity, that is a problem, too. Already, Christianity has so many denominations and "civil-wars" about doctrines of each other people wonder if we really belong together. Then again now, traditional churches are facing the growing trends of "changing styles" to suit the taste-buds of the younger generation.

I'm not trying to say changing to other styles is not good and I agree with what the pastor said. Since God has allowed mega-churches to grow so much, there is certainly a place for them... and traditional churches have prevailed... there is also a place for them.

The question is: To change or not to change... that is not the question. It is WHAT YOU ARE CHANGING AND WHAT YOU KNOW YOU ARE CHANGING that is a difference.

There are many styles of churches in the world today. And it is down to really preference of which one you can get comfortable with to worship God. But, it is not just changing to suit trends, to adhere to the preferences of people. When we change, we should KNOW what we are changing, and ask ourselves whether the change is God-intended.

There is not as much a big issue here, only question is how do you know if its God-intended. I'm very sure if we do seek Him, he will find the answer.

It is mentioned in the bible that in the end of days, people will raise up teachers for themselves, to hear the preaching they want to hear.. hopefully churches today at macro level know what they are headed towards, and not just changing to suit the people's wants. And at micro level, we don't just blindly follow.

FootSteps..

I'm sure everyone has heard of the footsteps story when a man walks with God. He looks back one day and to his surprise, see only one set of footprints for the last visible part of the journey. Angry, he questioned God :"Why do I see one set of footprints God?? Where are you? Are you even with me?!"

Taking His time slowly, God replied :"My child, I have been with you all the while. The set of footprints is when I carried you in my arms."

*********************************

I have this little notebook/schedule/miscellaneous book I carry with me around each day as I go about my little life. It is going to be full and so I spent a little while to look at the content I wrote..

I must say, I have indeed short-term memory: I forget things very quickly. and looking back at some of the things I wrote, I wondered: Hey, when did I ever write this XD. Some reminds me of the days I miss school :X

"I woke up late again...."

some talked about the various plans for church committee meetings and FOC planning:

"Foc call-up list for main comm...... .... ... Guan huai direction for year 2009-2010... missions trip planning for games"

there's even a song I composed

"Everytime I fell you picked me up, ......."

All in all that night I sat the bus home, I was reminded of the footsteps story, as I looked in the book: It contained anecdotes of my walk with God. One such little prayer went:" I have accepted the post of student coordinator for FOC and I hope God will use me even though I fear I may not be up to it." beside that was a little verse from Exodus 4: (if I don't rmb wrongly, it was about how God replied Moses when Moses asked God why did God choose Him to save the Israelites... where Moses said I don't know how to tell them..)

Some other thoughts were reflections: "We can as christians argue alot about how right we are... but does all that draw people closer to knowing God??" "what does it mean to truly follow Jesus and be a disciple of Christ??" "Lord, I'm so sorry for doubting You..."

The list of things I can pick out from such a little book that can fit into any pocket is yet countless more. It reminded me yet of the fact God is with us and He carried me through all of that I went through.. and alot of things that happened was not recorded. If I did, I probably would have more reasons to give thanks to my Father in heaven.

I feel that it is many a times we look back in good times we will not complain to God but when things go so wrong we blame God for being silent, and not being there. But hey its not true. that was the time He quietly carried us through, cried in our sorrows with us, just as He would rejoice in our happiness.

God is patient, God is kind, God is love and He is with us.

Why do u believe in God?

The most recent issue of Daily Bread has this little article pamphlet about
"Wisdom of Motives".

(the online version is available at this link):
http://www.rbc.org/bible-study/been-thinking-about/2008/04/01/column.aspx

After reading that article, I found myself asking: "Why do I believe in God? Is there a motive behind my Faith in God? Do I seek God for my own selfish reasons?"

Do I believe in God because if I do not I go to hell and If I believe I go to heaven? Did God promise I'll have a good life free of problems and be successful in life? Who is the Lord of my life? Am I the Lord of my own life, and treating God as a means to solve my problems, Seeking Him only in times of deep trouble and then chucking Him aside when things go fine?

Do I see my relationship with God as something I can stand to gain, then I will believe God? What if I cannot gain anything from God? Will I still recognise Him as the God who created all of the universe? Preacher Rf asked a hypothetical question:" If today God decided that if you believe Him, you will not get any salvation, nor go to heaven. Will you still believe in Him, and recognise He is God?"

Our motives speak for alot of things we do: a means to an end.

we study hard so as to get good results
we work hard so we can earn money
we do this this this..... so to get that that that....

Well.., is Christianity like that?? Do we as christians believe God only because we stand to gain something? We tend to forget one thing: God did not have to/ or obliged to save us from our sins. He did not have to come to the world and endure hardship, and die on the cross for us. Yet He did. He did not have to suffer for our sakes but He did.

The only Motive behind what God did was LOVE for us, even when we do not know about His love. Because when you love someone, you will want the best for the person. And when you love someone you don't need to earn the person's permission to love him/her. Just like parents will love their children, its not trying to gain someone's approval.

Here's a verse from Revelations 2:1-4

1"To the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

The church of Ephesus was a blessed church by God, they were adept in their knowledge of God. They had gifts of God but yet, they have forsaken their first love: GOD.

I hope I will not forget that I Believe in God because It was my heart's response to knowing God's Love for me. It is the heart's response to want to know God and His love for others.

Finally a good school day... YAY!

Snoozed for like 45minutes before I even woked up today... BUT!!! Major improvement that I'm finally able to wake up on time by myself. XD

It has really been a long time since I'm able to enjoy my journey to school in a relaxed mood, watching the oncoming traffic, observing people... well Its just another normal day, isn't it?

As compared to the past 2 weeks when I've been rushing to school as I'm always late T.T, I'm finally able to make school in time and enjoying it. Having a time at the start of the day to reflect about God's grace in my life has really been good.

A lot of things are irreversible in life.. and certainly time is one of them, and yet each time I have a chance to quietly look back into life, God is the only one who hasn't changed. And He has never changed from since the beginning of time, and will not change for the future to come.

People come and go, words are said and forgotten, yet, there is someone here who hasn't changed quite a bit. His words will hold forever for He is God of my life and each and everyone of ours. So much has changed in me ever since I started walking this journey with Him, and as I learnt more about Him, I realise how foolish I had led my life in the past. But God is patient, and He always shows me the way and sometimes stubborness just means learning it the hard way.

Sometimes I seem to miss the point of my life: which is supposed to be God. Rushing to school, rushing to complete tutorials, assignments, rushing to eat during lunch breaks.

I miss the days so carefree in some times of my life I can just relax, take a step out of life and reflect upon Him and wonder: hahaha... hmm Lord I wonder why I do some of the things I do. Indeed, I had much joy coming to school today. Not because I woke on time, not because I was finally not late for lessons, not because I finally did revision. But because of Him, who granted yet a fresh day in my life I can renew my heart in Him.

Take my heart
hold my hands
open my eyes
to see Your work in my life

Unsure of myself

A series of events unfolded during the last week so quickly it caught me off guard.
Late problems, sleeping disorders (i sleep 12hrs + daily) and I have trouble motivating myself for studies and life.

That hasn't happened for a long time, not at least during my darkest days when i received Christ when i told GOD: God.. why is my life in such a mess. If you would help me to change everything over I will follow You

Today I'm unsure.. waking up with an unusual fatigue, and doubts about whether I'm really Christian at times. I'm struck: can i love as God does so ever unconditionally? Do i know whats loving others? Am I responsible enough in life? Am I doing enough? Am I....!!! What's wrong with me?? Am i being too complacent and in comfort zone in my walk with God? Am I even walking right with You?

What if? a lot of uncertainty is filling my mind and I have absolutely no answers to. I just hope God will set things right again. I can only rely on Him now.

forgetfulness

I'm not a very detailed person in life, as such I miss out on a lot of important details, or at least those that do not seem important enough to me. This is a niggling problem as I forget things very often nowadays. As the hectic lifestyle of a undergraduate get to me, I even forget I'm supposed to meet my church committee members!

I have found a way to counter that, and that is to keep a schedule book, which is really tough for me as I do not have a habit of planning nor organising my stuff.. but well now I have to.

I realised.. its not just minor details I forget at times. At many points in life, I will also simply forget God's presence in my life, even though He is always around. Why do i say that? Sometimes when faced with a problem, we always seek "practical help" instead of praying to God about it.

I also have a bad habit of worrying... = pessimistic/ negative mindset. I will always think about the future and conclude: "Oh no! this is gonna be so bad." In essence, I forgot to look back in my life and look at how God has indeed brought me through each and every situation I thought I will never be able to pull through, do things I never think I am capable of.

Some may say to me:" hey, where's your self-confidence man?? u need some courage and positive thinking!"

After thinking for a long while and reflecting my problems to God, I found that it hinges on something. Or rather, my self-confidence is lost because many a times I forgot I am in good hands when I'm in God's hands. I try to combat my problems looking to solve them but always fail because the central issue here is that I lost focus with God. Whenever faced with a brand new challenge in life, i flinch because of my insecurities before God.

I'm just not able to leave EVERYTHING 100% to Him, even when I know It will be in good hands. Much less say surender things to God in a situation where I'm so caught up in life and God seems distant, and far.

I remember Jesus talking about the parable of a farmer sowing seeds in different grounds. (there are a few types)
First seeds sown on hard ground became bird food. The second type fell into rocky soil and the roots couldn't grow strong so when winds came, the seedling was uprooted. I belong to the third case: I'm growing up in a weedy soil with all the weeds, suffocating in between so not growing well.

As i think about it, yea.. if there is something I just need to remember that will be: God's grace in my life. I really need to be reminded of how precious His grace had been, is now and is going to be in the future. I shall cast all worries on Him for He cares for me, and NOT forget He is my Lord of my life.

Father, help me remember You are my God. Thank You for saving me and being the Lord of my life.

time to focus back to reading study notes T.T

Here it goes again~~

Its a new year (academic) and hopes are brimming. Especially so after Freshmen Orientation Camp. Its a time I'm actually looking forward to seeing fellow crusaders and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ again on campus, and of course my fun-loving fellowship on weekends in church. :D

It is my prayer that God allows Christians on campus to see that they are on campus for a reason (other than study of course). After reflecting a bit, I think I might have gone overboard with my "invitations" to my church Uni undergraduates while asking them to try joining a Christian group on campus, as some people appear to be offended.

This has never been what I'm trying to do. I WOULD RATHER YOU BE WALKING CLOSE WITH GOD THROUHOUT YOUR 4 YEARS IN UNIVERSITY AND FOR YOUR LIFETIME THAN JOINING CAMPUS CRUSADE. I was merely sharing about how I benefitted from campus crusade because I came to know God so much more. If I offended anyone in the process I'm truly sorry. Its ultimately God that determines your own paths, and of course your own decisions do as God gave us a choice.

I'm not here to hard sell Campus Crusade, and certainly not Christianity. I merely want you to think about something deeper: Are you just gonna study through your 4 years of university on campus? Do you just walk with God on Saturdays and Sundays? I admit sometimes I'm just not good with words and not tactful enough.. its something I'm constantly learning and moving towards to so ya..

Yes you may be serving fervently in church. No problem with that as I'm in no position to pass judgement on you. It's your choice. Case closed :) I just hope u and I are walking close with God and not be argueing whether you and I should take up any ministry on campus.

As I collect back the pieces of the past.. I now live with the hope that I'm in Good hands. God, I'm ready for whatever You have planned for me ahead. Lead me as You know me best.

Just before the Semester starts, I pray sincerely for:
1) God to let people see their lives purpose
2) Bless the School admist all the H1N1 frenzy
3) Pray for better management to balance School and ministry
4) My family's health and salvation

Holidays is declared : OVER

Ntu Campus Crusade FOC 2009

Thoughts and feelings about FOC:

Being the first time to serve in a ad hoc project like the FOC is not an easy task for most of our committee members and I’m glad that we handled it quite well this time. Looking for Main committee members started way back in March. However, the main committee was only officially formed after May, and we had a tight schedule to keep with.

Not knowing what to expect, and not having participated in any of camp organizing committees in church, this was truly the first time. There were times where I was scared, because a lot of crusaders were telling me how important FOC was: it determines whether people stay on in Crusade or not. And so I was quite obsessed in a sense… how to make them stay in Crusade?

Thank God He changed that perspective to His own one. It is more important for a Christian, whether he/she joins Campus Crusade is not the point. The whole point is, whether the FOC can allow them to commit their whole lives to God and only God alone. And I was very glad that after FOC, hearing a lot of sharing about how God worked through those who came for the camp, I was very encouraged that God has led our committee and whole FOC this way.

Personally, I have a weak faith and there are many a times I will succumb to fears and insecurities. Prioritizing was also a tough lesson for me, because I have a tendency to do things in the spur of the moment, and most likely following what I want to do. Thus I had to force myself at times to do the right things at the right time. Looking back, and remembering the days in which FOC was conducted, we had a few hiccup moments, but thankfully we handled them well. And it’s a scary situation when all people seem to know you and not the other way around.. ahhhhh help!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of the Main committee members: ALL of You Have done WELL!!

Thank you Yue Qi, for being committed to the committee as PROGRAMS COORDINATOR even though you had to juggle work commitments, and tasks handled to you with unclear instructions(woops hahas). I thought you did well coordinating the worship teams and communicating the ideas our committee had in mind about the worship sessions. You have a cheerful character and have definitely brought joy to our committee.

Thank you Ming Shi, for being the GAMES COORDINATOR! You have done well organizing your subcomm and I know games is a very taxing part of any camps because while the rest of the camp is enjoying their hearts out, you and your subcomm members are sweating and working at preparing the games stations or doing preparations. The games on the FOC received much applause as I chatted with various Seniors and freshmen alike. I’m sure everyone of us enjoyed the games!

Thank you Wee Kian, for being the LOGISTICS COORDINATOR! Despite not having a subcomm you have handled the logistics well and most of the time you are in a “one-man show” taking care of everything that needs to be transported to food, and to travelling to-and-fro from your house to NTU for bookings of venues and checking out of equipments. You are a very responsible servant of Christ and I do learn a lot working with you. My coursemate in CBC as well!! Looking forward to seeing you back in DG too as school starts.

Thank you Rachel, for being the ADMIN COORDINATOR, I’m sorry I still remember telling you when you took up the post that Admin should be very relaxed post.. in fact! Its not! With all the late sign-ups and getting the booklets and packages sorted out to having extra late nights out with other FOC plannings. Rachel you have done a good job! The commitment you show flows out and I can see that God has blessed you richly with a lot of skills to serve Him. May you continue to shine for Him.

Thank you Julian, for being the SENIOR ADVISOR on our team. Your experience and sharings of God’s word definitely adds balance to our team. Juggling church commitments and work commitments is not an easy task. And I’m forever amazed about how you handle your life despite the difficulties. It is very encouraging to see you serve the Lord so fervently. You are indeed blessed with skills that God can make use of for His purpose. See you back in school!

Thank you Shushyan, for believing in me that I could be a Camp IC when I thought not. I’m sure you must have been quite worried cause I keep being late and being not as organized about the work. I’m glad to have accepted the offer that day. Because I think God wants me to learn to trust in Him. I have grown to love praying to Him because I always see you pray your heart out to Him. Thank you for doing the job that I have overlooked and which was important. It must have been busy for you as there are staff retreats, SMC, FOC, recruitment all coming at you at a go.

And finally I want to give thanks to our Father God in Heaven, who made everything possible, filling in whatever we have not done enough, but used all that we have done for His purpose, and thank Him for not forsaking me despite me having almost backslided even before taking up the role of Camp IC. If He did not lead me back, there and then, Chin Wee would probably have left Campus Crusade, and maybe even Christianity and God. I want to trust in You to lead my life, for You are faithful and you know my heart and even myself better than I do.

May all glory be to our Father in Heaven.

Photos XD

Going on Missions! :D

I have always heard a saying "whoever goes on a mission trip in the end gets ministered the most"
Sorry people for not updating regularly. This month has been a busy month for me as I go through reservist, and preparing for missions and FOC :D

It has really been fruitful going through all the preparations, the way I see God work through others, including myself. I even realised something much deeper... as people age, we grow with maturity and away from the worldly attractions like looks, money power.

God has made us such the way that we will age, and as we age, we lose our youthful looks. And people complain why life is hard too. The way I see God see that if we were to stay young forever, and be successful and not die, we would not need God. God hence created us to NEED Him. We may claim we don't, but there's always a past fault, past regret, the past hurts, past emptiness in our hearts that we hold on to. But if we lose all of this to embrace God, we will be set free.

Life.. what is life about? We own nothing to come into this world, and can take nothing away. We do not even know where we come from and where we are going from here. WOW and why are we here..

If life stops at the point we are pronounced dead, what hope is there to live for? if we cannot lose what we did not own to begin with (our life, our belongings, our money, our looks), what do you lose by believing in God?

Back to the start

Visited the Serangoon GB Campsite today.. to do booking.. Well. It has been a nolstalgic day.. as I reached the place, surveying the area which hasn't quite changed a bit. I must say... the place is a reminder..

Back 3 years ago, I know someone who had been in the army for a year. For how long he has enlisted, he has not stepped back into church. All of a sudden, he fractured his hand, giving him ample time to think about his walk with God. The fact was, God had not forgotten him. Despite him being busy in army (or at least he thought he was), he had been lamenting and praying to God. He had wanted to return to church. But, being a new christian and missing out for so long, he felt compelled.

1723 church camp: This guy came back to the camp.. with a cast on his hand. God had not forgotten, and certainly not the brothers and sisters in Christ. As he moved around with unease because of unfamiliar faces, some familiar ones did come back. As the small little group sat on the swing (below, sadly today cannot sit), the group encouraged this guy to come back 1723.

I am that guy, and have not looked back since that day, God decided to use the situation to reveal Himself to me. Looking back, I would never have expected things to become quite the way they are today. For the zhenwei you know today is one redeemed through His Grace, for I would not be where I am in life had God not come back into the picture.

Zhenwei I would say, I knew him. He was one who didn't bother about others around him, individualistic, selfish, felt that the whole world owed him something. He was angry whenever he felt wronged, felt he did not have to answer to anyone for anything. He felt in charge of His own life.

Today, I have lost alot of that zhenwei, perhaps whatever remains is nothing but memories, that never will fade. I lost myself, but found myself in Christ, for what I journeyed brought me Mind Blowing perspectives about people, God, and the way things should be. The focus isn't me, I'm just but one little guy running around on a even smaller Singapore, on a even bigger map which cant even see Singapore..... Today, I live. Not my life, but in Christ I live.

awwwww!!! the swing is blocked off!! ~_~

Christian = not what you do but what He did

Big Thank you to my faithful readers!

Woops sorry dear readers.. I have been looking or monitoring the amount of people coming to this site daily actually but did not want to blog another post just yet because I thought the previous post shared something very important and I wanted to see if people really come back to check for more... and Thank God for u guys :) here's another question that has probably mind-boggled me as I grappled with God when He challenged me to bring upon my cross and carry it:

Sometimes.. I wonder as a christian.. What does it mean to be a Christian?

Does... going to church make you one? Oh and how about taking up multiple ministries to serve in? Hmmm.. how about participating in church activities and do what is "right" so I appear as a "good christian" in others' eyes?

Sadly, I was mistaken and misled too. I thank God for showing me why I was all but almost fruitless in my 4 years walk with Him. However this is not the fault of the modern church. Its the very weakness of our hearts that make us vulnerable and missing what God intended for us in the first place. The question is: "How did I thought what I did makes me a christian?" This is how.

True enough if we try hard, we can become a good christian in PEOPLE's EYES:
1) wow.. there are people who can tell you bible stories and memorise verses like drinking water
2) hmmm.. we can do stuff we do in ministries, adept at planning programmes games for people
3) we can point out OTHERS' MISTAKES in church, WOW
4) We pray anywhere, everywhere, best if others see so we are holy O_O
5) We share the gospel and bring others to Christ! wow I did alot!
6) we are able to jump to our Religion's defense when people attack it
7) (no offense but...) some churches believe gifts like speaking in tongues is a sign of the Baptism by the Holy Spirit.. so if you don't you aren't christian (what was that again??)
8) ..... Last BUT not least wearing a big Shiny Cross on your neck

You will notice that there is a 101 things that People WILL recognise you as a christian.. from what you do. However, is that what I'm looking for in my walk with God?? Getting people to acknowledge me as a christian?? Is that it? NO!! It isn't! Being a christian = knowing God, abiding by Him, and having love for one another... NOT SHOWING HOW CHRISTIAN YOU ARE!

There's a sad fact of the modern church we have to acknowledge. Christians are supposed to be moral upright people.. well or it just happens that we "cover up ourselves" so well no one knows what goes on inside while we appear a "good" christian in others' eyes? Don't believe it? Surf the net.. how many church pastors had scandals or extra-maritial affairs exposed? How many christians are doing things people don't see and when people finally sees it it shocks us? Are we deluding ourselves or others?

What is the problem here then??
It is when we try to earn the "christian title" to be called and recognised as one by other people.
Read that sentence again. Read it again. So.. What's really being a christian?

The missed point of being a christian is thinking we can earn recognition, and others' approval when we look to others to fulfill that emptiness in our hearts which only our Mighty God can fill.
WE ARE TRYING TOO HARD TO BE A CHRISTIAN IN PEOPLES EYES. When it is supposed to be one in God's eyes.

So, if not what does it mean to be a Christian? The focus is God and Jesus Christ and if we follow God and accept that we are a christian because of what HE DID FOR US, NOT WHAT WE DO.
Does it mean I can do something today to make God love me more? Or to put it another way, to do something sooooo bad that God really loves me lesser than others? I'm sure you know the answer in your hearts.

If you too, like me, have been distracted to become a christian in others' eyes I pray for you my dear brother/sister. For if we confess that we have lost our focus of God and looked to people to recognise us as christians, God will forgive us and draw us closer to Him.

Recently, I had a sister who was really troubled by something she faced. She can speak in tongues, however she is thinking of joining another friend in another church whose congregation do not believe in speaking in tongues..

My immediate response to that was: "Do you really think its important to know the truth about tongues?" Think deeper guys and you will know if God looks at your heart first or whether you can speak in tongues and appear to people as one christian who has the gift of tongues. After I shared with her my take on this.. she turned around to ask me: "So Is that why you asked me if it(speaking in tongues) was important?" I thought that God was showing me at that moment that when she was worried about how people looked at her, she was distracted from God. And I assured her: " Don't worry, that's what people look for, you know God doesn't".

No wonder we find a familiar verse in our bible, from Matthew 6:
⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
I think.. here.. the people are hypocrites for they vie to look and appear as christians in peoples' eyes. And the bible tells us they have received their reward (people's recognition) in full. however, we are urged to have a close relationship with our Father instead.

Lastly, I just wanna say: Whatever knowledge about God, the truths you know, the stories you heard about God does not make you a christian. Having a Relationship with the Father Does.

So what does it mean to you to be a Christian now?

So You Think You Know Jesus?? o_0

"well churches are full of hypocrites...! been there, done it, and got the scars.. not going back..." "Jesus would probably laugh his head off or weep to walk into one of YOUR so called churches today" "YEA right you non-believers burn in hell for your dis-belief"
"well..... you Do not really know who He was, do you?"
(all these conversations are not targeted or intended to offend anyone. if it did, apologies)

Contents:
1)Pretext
2)Who is/was Jesus Christ?
3)What did Jesus looked like? What did He do?
4)What are we arguing with non-believers about?
5)Church as Christ's Body and why so many divisions?
6)Fundamental Questions to faith
7)Our filty Rags
8)Faith Through Grace

Pretext
Non-Believers:
I'm not here to tell you or argue with you about who Jesus was. Here is not an attempt to present an arguement to you. This is an invitation to invite you to know personally about Jesus, who He was and what He did for us =^^= you are on the right page (yes you are and read on).
Born Again Christians:
Again, I'm not here to attack any of christianity's divisions or to disapprove what other churches and our fellow brothers and sisters are doing. This too is an invitation to re-examine your Christian walk with God. We as Christians (some think we are exclusive) sometimes think we know God more than others. But is that always true?

Who is/was Jesus Christ?
A historical figure at most to some, a Son of God to many faithful, Jesus Christ probably created an impact to humanity like no one else did. What did He do to create such an impact? Certainly this is something you would have to find out about Him. He lived around 6BC to 30AD. He went around performing miracles of healing, teaching the Word of God (a Rabbi or teacher). He was crucified for "claiming" to be God, for this is a question some people resist:" How can God be human or take on a humane form?" But, was Jesus a lunatic? Was He mad or arrogant to dare to make such an audacious claim that He is GOD? Can someone who is described by others as a teacher who teaches good things and helping out others wherever He went yet at the same time be a mad man thinking He IS God?

What did Jesus looked like? What did He do?
Probably the only bible record about His looks are recorded in

Isaiah 53:2b (NIV)2: He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
To put into simple terms in today's context: Jesus looks are ordinary. If He were to appear in Orchard Road, probably He wouldn't even raise the attention or catch the eye of any onlookers. He is someone who will not even make someone desire Him. Yet, He was able to influence people wherever He went and although the Bible only records He had 12 disciples, He must have had more followers (because after His death, the disciples picked someone to replace Judas, and the person chosen was someone who had also followed Jesus for some time).
Perhaps what was striking about Jesus was His LOVE for people, regardless of whether you are the prostitute, the poor, the blind, or someone society would reject, He embraced them with Love and forgave them. Can you imagine having to accept someone you do not like as a friend? Can you bring yourself to love someone, regardless of whatever wrong He/She might have done to you? The most prominent thing He did was to die on the cross for you and me. Even ages before you were born, He died to atone for our sins. (By sin, it is not human's standards but just mean falling short of God's standards, for example, telling a lie, being angry and hating others) He gave us an invitation: that whoever believed in Him, He forgives us of our sins. And, He promises you the right to be God's child this minute.

What are we arguing with non-believers about?
I almost want to apologise having to write this but probably if you meet someone who argues with you about Jesus, he is probably more interested in proving Christianity wrong than to learn more about Jesus. Enough said on this, would you put down all the arguements aside and want to know Him more? And Christians, don't think we are HOLY. Just being able to win the debate on questions about faith may make you feel "good" defending your faith and "doing" something for God. God did not tell you to do this, but told us to spread His gospel, and teaching people to abide by His teachings, while having love for one another, so that we may be recognised as the CrossBearers (everyone of us are). Are you the christian remembered by people as arguing with them how right you are and how wrong they are, or are you showing who Christ is through your daily actions? So what if you win all the debates and distant more people from GOD? What are we arguing about? Is there a need? There is such a thin line drawn between knowing whats right and being arrogant about it.

Church as Christ's Body and why so many divisions?
Probably this is where most non-believer's eye-brows are raised.. How come there are so many different churches with different teachings? Christians like to fight among themselves so much huh? Or even some deemed as "extreme" variations of the Christian faith?? Christ describes the whole church, WHOLE CHURCH as a body of Christ, not just Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, even if you were to consider Johovah Witnesses, or Mormons.. are they Christians? This Body of Christ, is headed by Jesus Christ Himself, and the church is the body who is IN Christ. How can this body function when we are sometimes fighting one another? To this I have no answer. Some say cults are cults because they do not believe Jesus as the Messiah, and that some reject the notion of Jesus being the Messiah or saviour. But, I ask you. If you regard and know Jesus, He wouldn't care if you are in any of the divisions above. He would probably just ask you: " Do you believe in Me? " Do you as a christian have Love for even those who are seen as believers of cults unlike yours?

Fundamental Questions to faith
I have come to doubt God at alot of times. Here is my testimony of how God led me to know Him even more each time I doubted Him. Alot of happenings challenged my previous concepts about who God and who Jesus was. For example, can I love others as He did? Can I love for example someone who did me wrong? God showed me His love is different. At least from what I thought it was. Whenever I doubt Him now, I'll go back to these fundamental questions:
1) What made me believe in God in the first place: For his love for me was even before I believed in Him, and I admit I'm a sinner, not only recognising, but believeing too in His promise that He forgives and washed our sins in His blood.
2) Do I know who Jesus Is?: the bible describes a heart wrenching part for people who thought they knew Jesus in the end of days in Matthew 7 (NIV): ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Do I really know who Jesus Is? Or am I only following "what I THINK He is?"

Our filty Rags
Alot of people think by "doing alot for God", we can earn our way into heaven. Immerse yourself in mission trip, serve others in Church, teach sunday school, pray for fellow brothers and sisters. BUT what is that true attitude behind all that ministry? Is it not a heart for God and that is yielded to God? Imagine meeting Jesus and he said :"I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Who are you serving for? Yourself? For this is what the bible said about our good deeds and service we do (of course all these are good works and i'm not saying you should not do them): Isaiah 64:6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." At most, what we Do FOR God is like filty rags at best if we think we are righteous in doing so. What is mentioned here means that what we do for God is not the point BUT whether we habour the right attitudes and motives "doing" what we do for God.

Faith Through Grace

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

John 1:12

Jesus promised.. a salvation that's free.... WAAAHHH so good!! Where got free stuff in this world? Surely got strings attached. But that's the fact. Salvation is free. He gave people the freewill to choose Him. However, living the christian life is NOT. Jesus said to the rich man who ever asked him how to get to heaven. He replied: "give up all you have and follow me" Are we willing to surrender all we have, pick up our own cross and follow Jesus? What He promised is not a rosy picture smooth ahead of you but He promises to stay by you.

So, you think you know Jesus?

3rd time unlucky... is it me... Dx

Hello!! This can be considered my first official post after exams.. It has indeed been a long time. And has had an upheaval impact on my walk with God, because too much has taken place. Things are not the same as before. Be it happy or sad times. HOWEVER, one thing to be glad is I now know God so much better.

I have signed up for mission trip this year too.. same as previous 2 years. I HAVE NOT had a chance to go on mission trip for some unknown reason....
-1st time was because of political reasons the country rejected people going into it for religious purposes..
-2nd time was because Bangkok airport closure..
- and now.... its the pig swine...

OR IS IT JUST ME???? I have a feeling if i cant go yet again for mission trip it may be God telling me thats not my harvest field. I have something to do here. Nonetheless, its 2 months away from the embarkment date. I still strongly believe that I have a huge chance of going this time.. despite all the odds stacked up against it.

No matter what, I believe that God has control over all the things thats happening. And if i really cant go again, I will accept that its in God's plans.

Had missions trip training today...! and we are learning how to make use of gospel material (cute stuff) to spread gospel to the children... perhaps what Jesus thought of children is best found in the following verse:

Luke 18:15-17 (New Living Translation)

Jesus Blesses the Children

¹⁵ One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him.

¹⁶ Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. ¹⁷ I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

Love the children.. and have childlike faith like them.. for God loves all. He gave us a right to become His child, if we believe in Him.

And as usual, I chatted with the bubbletea shop uncle and auntie. Having chatted with them countless times, I have grown to understand the way they view religion, and their concepts of faith. In our conversations, or topics of interest, we would always discuss the happenings of the world around us. And I'm beggining to notice a trend. Because the shop is just opposite our church, auntie and uncle meet a lot of christians each day.

They have their views and takes on christians.... ---> why are some christians like !@#$%^. This we cant deny.. of course, christians are also human and we do make mistakes at times. (our conversation has always been inclined to talk about people and faith at times, which is probably a good sign that they are listening to my gospel spreading)

One thing that probably makes it hard for them to accept Christ is the way some christians behave (we are like non-christians, sometimes sadly). Another thing is their own sets of beliefs in for example "Guan Yin Ma" like my mum. For someone younger than you to come and tell you what you have firmly believed in for the past 40-50years of your life is false will simply blow you away.

Nevertheless, the fact that God has allowed me to have a chance to converse with them speak volumes about God. I would never have even bothered to speak to them if i'm a non-christain. As I access my life. I used to think before I became a christian that my life is ABOUT ME. But after knowing who God is, I can certainly say that its not about me. Its about all of the people around you and whether they know God that sparks the outreach and warmth in peoples hearts.

I see glimpses of God through the warmth, hope, love that He promised everytime it dawns upon me that I'm so ever small.. and who am I? If Singapore is so small, and I'm even smaller, certainly there is much more to life than just me. Its not about me.

Have you found what your life is about too?