Strange......

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A blessed day is......

......when you found that the bread of the burger you ordered for breakfast is not burnt.

To those who are feeling dejected: Everyday is a blessing from GOD, so live it to the fullest!

Dun be discouraged. Trust in the lord with all your heart.

P.S. the red colored stuff on the muffin is chilli sauce, not blood.

flash videos

www.donghaeng.net

the site contains short animation flash videos regarding christianity. do go and have a look. some of the videos are quite touching. remember to turn on your speaker because there will be BGM.

the original site is in korean but at the bottom of the home page there are 2 links to let you set the language to either english or chinese. after you enter click on the 'flash' link to watch the videos. enjoy the flash movies. they last less than 5min at the most.

Indeed! God Will Carry You

Until today, i finally had the chance to sit down and really look through our very special own blog that belongs to YAM! yeah!! (certainly not referring to Yam Kai Chow) haha.. kidding.

I came to the post on 21st april by stan about God will carry us through and listened to the song he uploaded. It was assuring and at the same time touching. It caused me to think of the many times our wonderful Saviour had carried us through our tough times as well as our good times. Many a times, as humans, we tend to forget God when we are enjoying and soaking ourselves in His blessings. But when things start to go wrong, we look to God, we pray and we hope. How long can our human hope last us? Wad if our prayers are not answered, 6mths down the road? can we still manage to hold on to our hope? I guess not. At least not for all fellow christians. So what can we do? I came to the understanding that as we pray, we need to ask God to provide us with perseverance and more faith as time goes by. For this is indeed one of the 'short hurdles' we face in our long race to the Glory of God.

times are tough for me now. but i thank God for the constant reminder to have more faith in Him. God is so wonderful. He uses people and things that we come in touch with everyday to remind us. Passed were the times of the Old Testaments where we expect God to show us signs or visions.

The speaker Steve Bryant mentioned today in his introduction which set me thinking about the amount of faith i had in Jesus. The speaker mentioned about his desire to do mission work. But when his wife and him approached WEC, they were told to go to Africa for missionary work. Then the speaker mentioned these. "Worried than being Faithful?" and "Job Security?"

The answer I got from him was: God is Faithful. Go and trust! God will watch over us and provide for us. Surrender your life to Jesus!

No doubt I agreed with his answer and once again I tell myself Have Faith! God will provide!! may all my fellow brothers and sisters continue to put your Faith in our Father and trust that He will surely provide. Its just a matter of the right time.

Stressed out......

From: http://sg.yahoo.com/s/85963

Stressed workers often reach for calorie-rich foods, skip the gym after a taxing day or forego meals because of heavy workloads. Or they indulge in other bad-for-you behavior like smoking, drinking or staying out late.

As the credit and housing crises rattle Wall Street, pressures over bigger workloads, job security and shrinking nest eggs are upending diets and fueling unhealthy habits across the country.

Breakfast is diet Pepsi and two packets of M&M's. For lunch, macaroons and white chocolates filled with marzipan from the farmer's market near Wall Street.

After learning her job would be cut this summer, Kelly Daly started reaching more frequently for the soothing effects of sugar.

"It's a stress reliever. Especially now that a bunch of us are going to be laid off," said the 49-year-old Daly, whose job reviewing medical insurance records in Manhattan's financial district is being cut after 11 years.


I find myself reaching more for the soothing effects of sugar (cheesecake) too.

How do we combat stress using the word of God (instead of cheesecake :p)?

half truths in our contemporary world ...

Firstly, I will like to apologise to Charles as I had to make a decision to put his post on the prosperity gospel offline for awhile as I feel that it might just confuse some of the younger readers we have who have been faithfully following our blog.

I do not have anything personal with my brother in Christ and as I have explained and apologised to him that I took it offline for a few reasons. But not to worry, we have made up over coffee and cheesecake. Not saying that food helps but I believe that our God is a God of reconcilation and He will love to see His children loving one another with His love that He so graciously gave to us. Thank you Charles for forgiving me. :)

Charles has good intentions to inform our readers of what's happening in our Christian world nowadays. Some of you may have heard this term 'prosperity and wealth' gospel but not sure what it is about. So for the benefit of those who are not in the know, this is my humble response.

Back to this issue about prosperity gospel. I think you will see in the video about a pastor preaching strongly against this gospel that is prevalent in our world nowadays. Allow me to share some light on this issue. I will be sharing from various part of Paul's letter to his protege Timothy.

Half truths’ in our contemporary world
In our contemporary world, we should be aware that just like what the church in Ephesus had to struggle with, we in this present age are not spared either. In recent years, we begin to see and hear a new gospel – a gospel that promises health and wealth to Christians. This new gospel introduces making faith statements like “Name it and Claim it”, ‘Positive Confessions’, and teaches things that encourage people to give what they have not for the expansion of God’s Kingdom but so that God will bless them even more through health and wealth.

This new gospel is far from the one which teaches that God gave his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins… From a gospel which sees God taking the initiative to save us from our sins, we see another which says God wants to bless us abundantly with health and prosperity if only we take the initiative to know how to get him to do it.

In Chapter 6 verse 5 (1 Tim 6:5), Paul highlights to Timothy a group of men “who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” Paul goes on to add in verses 9 and 10 which says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Do we see a similarity of the struggles in Paul’s time and now? When we begin to view our relationship with God as one where we offer our money so that we can expect God to bless us even more, then we are no different from those who worship pagan gods. In human religions, pagan gods were worshipped so that they can serve man. In the prosperity and health gospel, Christian truth has been twisted to become a system where God can be coerced, controlled, manipulated and exploited by Christians. Through the work of the devil, false teachers aim firstly to Confuse, then Captivate and finally Condemn our unwary souls to hell.

From a God whom we respond to in love and gratitude to what He has done for us in Jesus Christ to a God who is made to respond to our every beck and calling instead, this has been something those false teachers seek to make us believe. The deceptions become obvious when there is a need to devise human means towards our salvation.

What then should we do? And it is here we return again to Paul’s letter to Timothy.

Standing Firm in God’s Truth (1Timothy 4:6-7)
“If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.”

The truth of the matter - Godly truths and good teachings
Paul continues his letter in giving his affirmation to Timothy that he will be a good minister of Christ if he warns and educate his flock on these things about false doctrines. In his upbringing, Timothy had strong spiritual foundations that were laid down in his Christian life by teachings from his grandmother, Lois and mother Eunice, and also from his many journeys with Paul. Here, Paul reminded Timothy to teach his church members with the foundation of God’s truth and good teachings which he has learned and followed.

As we can see, Paul’s way of dealing with the false teachings was not to concentrate on those errors or how we are to deal with them. Instead he focused on how we can build ourselves up through God’s Word. Building our spiritual lives on God’s Word will mean that we can withstand any kind of error when it comes and that includes godless myths and old wives tales.

In these verses, we also learn the importance of teaching Godly truths both in our church and at home. In order to do that, Christian parents have a responsibility to know God’s word well so that they can teach their children what is right and wrong, what is true and what is false.

In the church, all of us being in this community of God, have a common responsibility to learn God’s word, not to boast our knowledge but to serve one another. As Paul mentioned in his 2Timothy 3:16-17 which says, “All scripture is God breathed and us useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that every man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” As each of us grow in God’s Word, we learn to also pass on what is true to the next generation of believers in the church.

Just like a 4x 100m race where a baton is passed on from the first runner to the last one, this baton of God’s truth needs to be faithfully and carefully handed to each runner so that when the final runner completes the race, the whole team wins. It will be a tragic loss if along the race, someone in the team switches the baton to a carrot, resulting in the team losing the race. It is important to start well in a race but it is also equally important for us to finish well by passing down spiritual truths that we have learnt.

The way to defeat false doctrines is not only by denouncing and refuting it, but also by positively teaching and living God’s truth. In the next verse, Paul explains why physical training is good but training in Godliness is better!

Physical Training is good! Training in Godliness is better! (1Timothy 4:8)
Text: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

I like this verse, in fact I love this verse as it makes a perfect excuse not to exercise when Ian, Hsien Kwang or Joseph persuades me to go running with them. Not to mention my wife who keeps reminding me to go lose weight.

In both the Roman and Greek cultures, competitive sports and activities were the order of the day. And thus we see Paul frequently using illustrations about athletes in his letters always making comparisons between physical training and training in godliness.

And here again we see Paul reminding Timothy that he is to train himself in godliness with all the discipline that a sportsman does to get himself in top physical condition. It was to be Timothy’s constant pursuit. Godliness can be explained as having a right attitude and response towards our Creator God and a heart that seeks after Him. Godliness is the heart and soul of Christian character and the aim of Christian living.

The key to godly living is spiritual self-discipline. We often hear our parents, Sunday School teachers and pastors reminding us of the importance of reading God’s Word, spending time with God in prayer, etc. All these things require us to be disciplined to set aside time to study God’s Word and in prayer so that God can nourish us with His truth and promises. Although physical training has good values in our present life, training in godliness holds promise for both now and the life to come.

This statement has so much truth in it that Paul calls it a trustworthy statement and persuades Timothy to keep labouring and striving towards godliness in verse 9 and 10.

Do not compromise your faith (1Timothy 4:9-10)
Text: “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul warns Timothy of the things to come. In Chapter 3:1-5, Paul says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

And in 2Timothy 4:2-5, Paul gave Timothy this charge:
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”

Paul’s pastoral letter to his protégé has a lot for us to learn today in our context as well. In the world we live in, where the attitude of people especially the youths, is slowly changing to one of ‘whatever’ and ‘anything’. We must learn to discipline ourselves to build up our Christian faith on God’s word. We must not lose our faith by letting false doctrines get to us. We must avoid embracing ‘whatever’ and ‘anything’ that comes our way. When it comes to God’s truth and promises, there is no compromise; there is no ‘whatever’ or ‘anything’ because God’s truth is everything.

We must keep our head in all situations and endure hardship. This will be our constant struggle and we can’t do it by our own strength. And so, all the more we must put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

I may not be so extreme as to shout and scream as I preach but I hope my simple and humble sharing from God's Word can encourage all of us to study His Word each day faithfully and apply it to our lives. Amen.

As you watch the videos, may you have a better light of why some pastors are so against 'prosperity' and 'wealth' gospels!


Donnie Swaggart's sermons


Part I



Part II: "It is amazing......they said 'give give give' and Jesus said 'gave'......you dun get it? They are telling you to give, and Jesus already gave. The modern day greed gospel is nothing more than a ponzi scheme......"

What is a ponzi scheme? Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

"When a preacher say Jesus is a Billionarie wearing designer clothes, it is a lie!"

I must say quite interesting, even though I do not believe in Pentacostalism.


Part III

Signs-No Parking

Sometimes people ask for signs, so that they will do exactly what to do. Funny how sometimes we don't do it when it's obvious. 

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (ESV)

Oh, for those on Macs. You may like to check out this free bible software MacSword with an updated version. ESV is free too. 

He Will Carry You

For those of us who are hurting or facing a painful situation in our lives, this song goes out to all of you.

may the Lord fill your lives with His Love and Peace and Joy always ...

The God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3-11

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

May the Lord comfort you and lead you through the storm.

He Will Carry You



There is no problem too big, God cannot solve it.
There is no mountain too tall, He cannot move it.
There is no storm too dark, God cannot calm it.
There is no sorrow too deep, He cannot soothe it.

If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders,
I know my brother that He will carry you.
If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders,
I know my sister that He will carry you.

He said, 'Come unto me all who are weary, and I will give you rest."

There is no problem too big, God cannot solve it.
There is no mountain too tall, He cannot move it.
There is no storm too dark, God cannot calm it.
There is no sorrow too deep, He cannot soothe it.

If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders,
I know my brother that He will carry you.
If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders,
I know my sister that He will carry you.

Irresponsible parents......a follow-up

A follow-up to my post: http://yammychristus.blogspot.com/2008/04/irresponsible-parents.html

The father appeared and said he did not abandon the kids. He said he is not a good person, but he will visit the kids at the guardian's place and give them some allowances every month. Let's hope he will keep to his word.

As I have suspected, the father is a problem "child" also. The grandfather mentioned in the previous post is his stepfather. No wonder the grandfather did not care much about the kids and want them to be given up for adoption.

Be thou my vision......

Gerard just sent us a wma file "Be thou my vision". It is one of my fave hymns too =)...... Just to share some of the stuff I found on youtube:

Nice guitar version:



One of the better singing versions I found on youtube:



Some background abt the hymn:

Happiness is......

I thought it was quite amusing when I read today's Straits Times cover page. If I did not read the small caption underneath the picture, I would think the man is crying because "Oil, rice and Sing$ at record highs". Did ST editor purposely make a boo boo :p ......and to think that the photo is actually to showcase Singapore's Happiest man......

For me, happiness is.......



......when your wife come back early to specially cook dinner for you, even though she dunno how to cook and have a lot of other work to do.

I love u MIC =)

Together for the Gospel

There's this Together for the Gospel conference that just happened, featuring some speakers like John MacArthur, John Piper & R.C. Sproul. It would have been interesting to be there. But here's the next best thing I suppose!

Session I Ligon Duncan - Sound Doctrine – Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry | Play Now | Download
Session II Thabiti Anyabwile - Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church | Play Now | Download
Session III John MacArthur - The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability | Play Now | Download
Session IV Mark Dever - Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology | Play Now | Download
Session V RC Sproul - The Curse Motif of the Atonement | Play Now | Download
Session VI Albert Mohler - Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution | Play Now | Download
Session VII John Piper - How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice | Play Now | Download
Session VIII CJ Mahaney - Sustaining a Pastor's Soul | Play Now | Download

Trials....

Trying to doing my devotion during lunch time in office today(I skipped my lunch..haha) and I thought I could do my sharing here(no objections I hope?)...I wont be attending BS tonite cos I need to attend a wake service of a friend's dad....anyway some of you might know her...Jasmine Tan from GB..her dad passed away on Monday nite...pls keep her in prayers...

some of the verses which I felt serves as important reminders to us in James chapter 1

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.

12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Currently I am going thro many trials...in BB..in family...in school and work..trials seems never ending...I have been praying and asking for God to work in my life...answers seems so far away...there are times when I shouted to God..that why are certain decisions being made that is so unfair to me....things are happening in a way that I cannot agree on...am I not his child?

Before I actually came across this passage...I was talking to Stan and I was grumbling to him abt what is happening and how unhappy and upset I am. I chose to believe that God actually spoke to me through Stanley to have faith in God..yes its his job to preach to us...but he can choose not to. I dont believe its coincidence that I came across this passage..how abt God-incidence?

The passage also mention abt asking God for wisdom.....that anyone who lacks of it should ask from God and not doubt God. In BB especially, I do need wisdom in making decisions. Decisions I make will affect the Boys lives.

verse 9 reminds us not to be overly conscious to wat we have or dun have..all things come from God....for those who have power in any organisation..lets remember that the power does not comes from us but from God. Lets not abuse our power unnecessarily. Be more Christ-like in whatever we say and do and be a good example for pple under you to follow.
For those who is rich...practice stewardship?
For those who are poor or are in lack of anything in your life, doesnt mean God dont love u...God has a plan for u...dun ask me wat is it..pray and ask God to tell u...I dunoe how..but I believe he does have a plan for everyone.....

Well...it seems easier to say all these...but practice what we think and say is more impt...I cant assure anyone I can practice watever I shared..but I will do my best...lets all focus on God and live a Godly life.....cya guys around....

Let the Praises Ring

O Lord,
May you grant us strength for the new day! May our praises to you never cease each day!

Amen.



Oh Lord my God in you i put my trust
Oh Lord my God in you i put my hope
Oh Lord my God in you i put my trust
Oh Lord my God in you i put my hope

In you
In you I find my peace
In you
In you I find my strength
In you, I live and move and breath

Let everything I say and do
Be founded by my faith in you
I lift up holy hands and sing
let the praises ring

Oh Lord my God to you I give my hands
Oh Lord my God to you I give my feet
Oh Lord my God to you I give my everything
Take all I am
Oh Lord my God to you I give my life

In you
In you I find my peace
In you
In you I find my strength
In you, I live and move and breath

Let everything I say and do
Be founded by my faith in you
I lift up holy hands and sing
let the praises ring

For Randy and Daniel......

Would be fun if the drummer can play like that in church :p

Are you a good person?

Read the rest of the tract here

Irresponsible parents......

Reported in today's wanbao, a pair of very young sisters (2 yrs and 3 yrs old) abandoned in Malaysia by their father in a coffeeshop. Quite angry after reading the news.

The father, a Malaysian, was said to have offended the triads and is on the run. The mother, a Singaporean, is only 18 yrs old this year (first gave birth when she was 15yrs old when she eloped to Malaysia with her partner). The father's parents, who sell wanton mee, have refused to take care of the daughter and said they should be given up for adoption. Both the parents are believed to be in Singapore.

As I have said in my previous post, parents must take responsibility for their actions. This type of parent is utterly irresponsible and should be sterilised.

Pray that the sisters will find refuge in a good family soon. Amen.

Just found out......

the P4 boy whom I have been hounding for his homework has a very complicated background. Mother is away working in the states (divorced). Nationality of the boy is Malaysian. Singapore has an "uncle" guardian who help him to secure a place to study, however he doesn't stay with the guardian. Instead, he stayed with another auntie (whom he called jiu4 mu3). If got homework tell the "uncle" guardian no use, must contact the auntie. "Uncle" not willing to reveal much about their background also.

This boy's file has gone missing, and inside are 11 lessons of sentence construction and five pieces of essays. He never pass up work on time. Have asked him to stay back to do his homework. Initially he was willing to stay back, now he just dun stay back to do his homework. I am unwilling to take away his other lessons just to do his homework, and he need to eat during his recess, but it seems that he is now a habitual offender for not passing up work.

The uncle expected the teachers at the school to coordinate together to know his movement. The boy already stayed back at the school after school program. Will be going to the after school program there to hound him for his sch work, as SA1 is coming. This boy seems able to pass, but he only have 50 percent pass in his CA1, and that made me worried. Hope he won't fail this time.

He is starting to be open defiant as he is beginning to make frustrated/discourteous remarks when I chase him for homework. I told him one day when I stop talking to him, means I will not care whether he pass up his work on time anymore. I can be a real nagger at times. Even my wife mic cannot tahan me :p. Another boy in the same class which I have nagged turned his back on me when he saw me approaching the bus stop at the school.

Dunno how it will turn out. Need prayers from all of you. He is an untidy boy who has green color mucus flowing out from his nose when he speaks to u. Hair super untidy too (more untidy than mine, even though now I dun have much hair :p).

To all future parents: we are having lots of kids like this boy in the school now. Think it is every parents' responsibility to bring up their kids well. Every decision we make will affect at least 3 generations of pple. This boy is not alone in the class. I have a few others like him just in the same class. My other classes also have similiar characters.

Pray that all of us will make our decisions well and dun make the next generation suffer.

Amen.

a prayer ...

Lord, we struggle to pray for ourselves at times. Our words and prayers come out with no meaning. But we want to trust in you as you intercede on our behalf as our great high Priest who knows our burdens and brings them to our Father.

Lord, I pray for those of us who are hurting in some way or other. I pray that you will bring us comfort and peace. We may not understand why certain things happen but we want to trust you in your love. Give us strength to hope in you always.

Lord, I pray for those who need wisdom in our life. I ask humbly of you O lord to grant us wisdom that is enough to guide us and not to make our heads too big. Help us to always rely on you in our weaknesses because only when we are weak then you are strong.

Lord, I pray for those of us at work. That you will grant us patience. May everything we do at work be a good testimony for you. May the lives that we meet each day be opportunities for us to be a good testimony for you. May we be able to point those who are lost to you.

I pray for those of us who are married that you will watch over all of us. May you help us to love our spouses more. May you grant to us wisdom and patience in our marriages. For those of us who will be having kids soon, I ask of you o Lord to grant to us wisdom to raise them as godly parents in the way of the Lord. For those of us who have desires to have kids, may you answer our heart's desire.

For those of us who are attached, may you help us to build our relationships upon your love. Grant to us wisdom to lead one another closer to you. Grant to us the discipline to respect one another as well and not to fall into temptations.

For those who are single, may you continue to grant us patience to wait upon you as you reveal your ways for us. In your own divine ways, may you bring the person you have prepared into our lives.

For those of us struggling with temptations, grant to us strength to hold on to you and not to yield to temptations. Lord, we acknowledge that we are sinners and our hearts are sinful. So Lord, have mercy and grace upon us and let us not be tempted beyond what we can endure.

I pray for those of us who are sick or in physical pain. May you bring healing and comfort to our ailing bodies. May you in your mercy grant us rest when we need rest.

I pray O Lord, that you will draw us closer to you each day. Remind us each day to come away to spend time with you. Remind us each day to 'come and have breakfast' with you as we feed upon your word and promises. Help us to apply what we learn as we struggle in this long journey in life.

O Lord Jesus, you who are above us, below us, around us and within us - be our guide as we live our lives for you by the Holy Spirit you have given us. May your name be glorified always.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.

We pray these prayers through your Mighty name, the one name who can save us from our sins - Jesus.

Amen

Charged under Sedition Act........

From: http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/STIStory_227537.html

It was reported in today's straits times that a couple who distributed publications for evangelistic purposes was charged under the Sedition Act. The publications were said to portray islam in a negative light.

Couple charged under Sedition Act
By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent

A COUPLE were charged on Tuesday with distributing a seditious publication to two others.
Ong Kian Cheong, 49, and Dorothy Chan Hien Leng, 44, are alleged to have distributed The Little Bride, an evangelistic material, to Sembawang resident Irwan Ariffin last Oct 19.

They are also said to have distributed the same publication to one Madam Farharti Ahmad at her home in Woodlands on March 6 last year .

It is not clear why they face the Sedition Act and the Undesirable Publication Act when the publication is the same.

Ong, who works in a telecommunications company, and his wife, a bank employee, were represented by Mr Selva K. Naidu.

The police prosecutor sought an adjournment of the case pending a Health Sciences Authority on handwriting specimen.

The couple were freed on $10,000 bail each. Their passports were impounded.

The case will be mentioned on April 29.

Under the Sedition Act, the maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and/or a jail term of up to three years.

The maximum penalty under the Undesirable Publication Act is a fine of up to $5,000 and/or up to 12 months.

It was not mentioned whether the couple were Christians or not, but I believe the publication is a "Chick" tract banned in Singapore.

What we can learn from this lesson: must be sensitive to others when evangelising. I remembered when I was in secondary school, I used to hate my Christian friends who say I will go to hell and the gods i believed in will all go to hell. Wasn't a nice experience, so now and then I remind myself that I should be sensitive to others when I "preach".

Also in today's straits times: was heart-brokened to see an obituary of a six-week old baby. Parents were Christian and they thanked their church members for their help and for God's grace and mercy on them. Hope God will comfort them and help them overcome their grief in their mourning. Amen.

the answer by Corrine May

I believe You are the answer
to every tear I've cried
I believe that You are with me
My rising and my light

Give me strength when I am weary
Give me hope when I can't see
Through the crosses I must carry
Lord, bind my heart to Thee

That when all my days are over
and all my chores are done
I may see Your risen Glory
Forever where you are.

my prayer for all of us today ...

O God, you are our refuge.
When we are exhausted by life's efforts;
When we are bewildered by life's problems;
When we are wounded by life's sorrows:
We come for refuge to you.

O God, you are our strength.
when our tasks are beyond our powers;
When our temptations are too strong for us;
Whne duty calls for more that we have to give to it;
We come for strength to you.

O God, it is from you that all goodness comes.
It is from you that our ideals come;
It is from you that there comes to us the spur
of high desire and the restraint of conscience.
It is from you that there has come the strength
to resist any temptation,
and to do any good thing.

And now as we pray to you,
Help us to believe in your love,
so that we may be certain
that you will hear our prayer;
Help us to believe in your power,
so that we may be certain
that you are able to do for us
above all that we ask or think.

Help us to believe in your wisdom,
so that we may be certain
that you will answer,
not as our ignorant asks,
but as your perfect wisdom knows best.

All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

a prayer written by William Barclay

BLESSED SPIRIT OF THE KING

BLESSED SPIRIT OF THE KING
Of grace and love the Author
Work repentance deep within
And bend me at Your altar
Melt my heart with majesty
Then show my ruined self to me
Teach me to more clearly see
Your might and will to save me

Here I place without reserve
My soul in faith and meekness
Trusting in Christ’s power and love
To flourish in my weakness
Cause my days on earth to be
Through time and through eternity
A trophy of His victory
A monument to mercy

Teach me to behold my God
And trust His power to save me
Arms outstretched in constant love
Whose strength will never fail me
Help me to commune with Him
Depend and follow after Him
That through my life His peace will reign
And joy be my companion

Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2006 Thankyou Music

Life getting more expensive......

......in S'pore. Yesterday when taking the bus found my ezlink card spoilt, have to pay 90 cents for a two-stop bus ride!!! Ever since they increased the price for movie tickets (10 dollars to watch shows in the weekend),I have been staying away from the cinema even though I am a avid movie goer. To me, watching a movie at the cinema has become a luxury. I also found myself going to the ATM more often to draw money, as 50/60 dollars seem to be buying a lot less things nowadays......

If people like us are feeling the pinch, how about those who are less well-off? It is reported that rising food prices are driving more people in Singapore to join the queue for free meals. Read the full report here: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080414/tap-singapore-economy-food-inflation-pov-06f3cb7.html.

Let us pray for the food prices to stabilise soon. Amen.

Sinners in the hands of an angry God......

From: http://www.sicarii.net/2008/04/14/sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-god/

A revisit to a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, a 18th century theologian/calvinist. Something different from the "God wants you to be rich", "God wants you to be healthy" messages megachurches preach nowadays. I wonder if anyone would be brave enough to preach this kind of sermons nowadays (will affect membership???)?

Your comments?

Would you treat ur mugger to dinner?

Or give him your coat? Someone did over here: http://www.sicarii.net/2008/04/13/luke-629-in-action/#more-679

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”

“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’”

Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”

“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen “didn’t even think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

Christian, what would you have done?

For me, I sure runaway/call police man......think Ian would whack the guy hard too......

What would you do?

Narrow escape from death......

Eight years ago, a US sailor was having his meal onboard the USS Cole when a "voice" inside him told him that he "shouldn't be there (at the mess), get out". The voice came to him twice and he thought he should leave. He left immediately. Moments later, the USS Cole was struck by suicide bombers using a primitive torpedo. The mess was also struck in the attack......

Another case was an American pilot whose plane was shot down in Serbia. He parachuted and found himself in the wilderness, fearing that he would be captured and shot by Serbian militia who knew the terrain better than him. He had no food whatsoever and fed on grass and rainwater. After a week, just before his radio ran out of battery, somebody responded and he was rescued. The person who responded to him was about to give up because his fuel was low, but he thought he should try for a few more times before he return to base, and his persistence paid off. A few years later, the pilot quitted the air force and took up studies in divinity.

Sometimes, we encounter things which drastically changed our outlook in life. Probably God want to preserve the persons mentioned above for his purpose.

I never have God spoke to me (literally as in a voice), but I have promptings which tell me what I should do and should not. Of course, not as dramatic as the two stories (life and death situation) which I mentioned above.

Anyone has any experience to share?

Something to ponder......

Taken from: http://www.sgforums.com/forums/1683/topics/314157

Even though I am not a Rick Warren fan (there are just too many negative stuff written about his theologies), but at first glance a good read......

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond, In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body - but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillion of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life: The goal is to grow in character, In Christ-likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you got to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believ'e that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain."

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people...You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instanfly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before.

I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for you to own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan - to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better...God didn't put me on earth just to fulfil a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Just watched......

a documentary about the 911 New York Twin Towers attack. One of the person interviewed said that shortly after the attack he was injured and buried under rubble in his office. He cried for help and miraculously, someone came to his rescue after hearing his cries. Together with his rescuer, they managed to make their way to safety.

When interviewed, the rescuer said he was making his way down the burning building with his colleagues when he was stopped by a lady, who said there were too much flame and smoke down there, that they should go back to higher floor. The lady then led the rescuer's colleagues away but the rescuer did not follow, as he heard a man's cry for help behind a door near the stairs they were escaping down.

Both of them actually saved each other's lives, as the ones who went away with the lady died that day. God had mercy on them that day, as the rescuer was "directed" to find the injured man. Both saved each other because, without the injured man's cries, the rescuer would have gone back to higher floor with his colleagues. Think it is not too much to say that God pre-ordained them to survive that fateful day.

I feel that sometimes in our life this happen too, as God send others to bring us to safety.

Also learned from this show that religious extremism is deadly and meaningless. Can really feel for the families whose loved ones perished that day.

Every murder is actually a homicide against God. Only God can have the authority to punish, not humans. These religious extremists would have to face God's wrath on judgement day (for killing in his name).

Dreamt that......

I was scolding a person called Matthew (unknown person in my dream) who steal again, again and again (the exact words I used in my dream). Was scolding him that if he do that again and again, thinking that he has grace, grace, grace and grace, God will punish him by disowning him. After that, think I woke up because I was too angry.

Think probably in real life always scolding people, that when I dream also dream of scolding people (I probably become like John Calvin while in my dream :p).

Hope to scold people lesser from now on. It really is bad for health, as even when sleeping can wake up with heart pounding.

Pray that I have the discipline to start a healthy routine and keep a healthy diet. The temptation of eating macdonalds breakfast and reading newspaper is too great......endure!

Amen.

draw us close to You O Lord ...

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless
till they find their rest in you;
so lead us by Your Spirit
that in this life we may live to Your glory
and in the life to come enjoy You forever;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.

Amen.

Went to see doc today......

and was told that my blood pressure is slightly high (140). So bro stan, u are not alone :p

For those of us still with normal BP, better take good care of yourselves man. Exercise regularly and sleep early. Think when I go back school gonna tell my students to pass up their work on time so that I dun need to shout :p

Pray that my BP be able to return back to normal soon.

stuff we didn't know about Eric ...

some stuff about Eric ...

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/115-32.0.html?start=1

Free teabag......

Yesterday while inside the car my bro ask me........

Bro: Did u hear about free teabag?

I: Nope. Got meh?

Bro: Got!

I: So good har? Where got free teabag?

Bro: What teabag? I was saying about free T-I-B-E-T!

I: Oh......

Felt it was quite funny that I got the message from my bro wrongly. The word "free" always strike a cord with Singaporeans. People always dash to queue up for free stuff. I too, would want to know where teabags are given for free.

Sadly, we seldom see people queuing up to listen to the gospel(except in those prosperity churches where a different gospel is preached).

We are always so caught up with the things in this life that it is no longer attractive for churches to preach a gospel which emphasizes sin and repentance. Instead, people want to hear how much money God can give you, how he can solve your money/emotional woes.

Yes, the gospel is free, but it is not cheap. By over-emphasizing on certain aspects, it not only cheapens the gospel, but also lead people astray.

When we feel like giving up ...

hi friends. I shared this with the music team today. Hope it brings encouragement to those of us struggling in life. Hope this blog can be one where we share our journeys in our Christian life. I did this passage a few weeks back and well it did not really strike a chord in my life till these few days. It just shows that sometimes when we do our QT, the passage may not be relevant to us for that day but God's word has a way of coming back to us in our life to remind us of his goodness and faithfulness.

How has the Word of God impacted your life this week? Has his Word become relevant in your everyday life? Do share and pray tell :)

Psalm 42:1-11

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. [a]
[b] As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and 6 my God.
My [c] soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

I am sure all of us have our bad hair days or like the expression says 'woken up on the wrong side of bed' where everything we planned to do or do seems to go wrong for us. Many of us have experienced days when things were going on well and we tell the Lord that nothing is going to shake us. Then out of the blue, we are overwhelmed by circumstances beyond our control and doubts begin to fill our hearts and minds. It could be our struggles with ministry as we serve the Lord. It could be some struggles in our personal life.

But the struggles have become so bad and like the Psalmist, we ask ourselves:
“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?

We see many servants of the Lord going through hard times in their lives. Moses for one had to open up a Complaints Counter to listen to the ‘mountain of complains’ that that Israelites had. No food, no meat .... are but some. I don’t know which was more tiring for him – climbing up Mt Sinai to meet God or to be at the foot of the mountain of complaints listening to complaints after complaints from the Israelites. He was besieged with so much complaints that he could not take it anymore. In Numbers 11:10-15, we read that Moses basically had it and he told God that this burden of his people was too heavy for him and basically he told God to kill him at once.

In 1 Kings 19:4, we read about how Elijah’s life was threatened by the very people he was trying to reach out to. He was so discouraged when he found out that Jezebel had a death warrant for him. He ran for his life and told God in v4 “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life …”.

Even Paul had his moments of depression. In his letter to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 1:8, we see Paul’s struggles
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.


Even Jeremiah was driven to the point where he struggled with the many sufferings he had to endure while bringing God’s word to the people. In Jeremiah 20:8-9 CEV it says

“…Your message has brought me
nothing but insults
and trouble.
9Sometimes I tell myself
not to think about you, LORD,
or even mention your name.”

And in v19, Jeremiah asks of the Lord
18Why did I have to be born?
Was it just to suffer
and die in shame?”

Just looking at some of the many struggles that the servants of God before us have gone through, I can identify some of their uncertainties and hopelessness that they felt and like them felt that it is better for God to take away my life then for me to feel the pain, the hopelessness and the burdens we face in life.

Allow me to share my recent struggles in life.

It's been a few draining weeks of being unwell and struggling to make sense of certain things happening. And just when I thought things were going a bit smoother, Bam! another thing happened.

My sis had a bad fall on Sat and told me about it on monday. I was looking forward to my rest day but ended up ferrying her to the company doctor and also to get an xray done. when I reached her place, the swell was so bad that it looked like a watermelon on the outside. and she was telling me its a sprain??? Gosh! I told her it looked like its broken!!!

So after xrays, it was confirmed. She broke her last metatarsal bone on her right foot and she joins the elite group of footballers like David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, etc for the dreaded curse of the metatarsal bone.

Took leave on Tuesday to bring her back to SGH to get it in cast and hope she recovers in 6-8 weeks time. After that, I went to do grocery shopping with her so that she has somethings to eat at home. Brought back memories when we - my sis, my brother and I were staying together on our own and we learned to take care of one another.

I hope it will be a good break (in a literal sense as well) for her to reflect her own journey with God. She has been offered a job in Shanghai and was leaving this month to sign the contract of 4 years. I was telling her to stay behind here as she has a family here to look after her. My words fell to deaf ears and I am thinking perhaps this recent mishap is somehow God's way of dealing with her stubborness. I pray that the Lord may be merciful to her and be patient and may one day bring her back to his loving arms. I find it a struggle to talk sense to her at times. How do you try not to sound so preachy when you are supposed to be a 'preacher'?

I am really tired and just really really drained ... physically and emotionally ...

Coming back to today's sharing. In verse 5 of today’s reading, we see that the Psalmist was going through some hard times too. In v3, we read that his tears have been his food day and night and as he pours out his soul, he is wondering where is God.

In v5 he says
“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and 6 my God.”

In v8, the Psalmist remembers the Lord’s steadfast love. The Psalmist also has a song which he sings to remind him of God’s love and keeps him company even at night. And this song has become like a prayer to God in his life.

I came home yesterday totally drained after my long talk with my sis and just being worried for her spiritual life. It's times like these you wished Jesus was at home to welcome you and ask you to come and sit down with him and spend time with him. It's also times like these you feel so burdened and wished you have one word from him to give you light for the way? And it was then i opened up my email and saw Roy sharing us with the beautiful song - Salvation's Song. I broke down and just cried to the Lord asking him for forgiveness in having so little faith in him. And there and then I placed my burdens before him knowing that "he is there to lift me, heal me and forgive me, gives me strength to stand again, stronger than I was before." The song touched my heart so much that it kept repeating itself in my head over and over again the whole night through.

"Loved before the dawn of time
Chosen by my Maker,
Hidden in my Saviour:
I am His and He is mine,
Cherished for eternity.

When I'm stained with guilt and sin,
He is there to lift me,
Heal me and forgive me;
Gives me strength to stand again,
Stronger than I was before.

So with every breath that I am given
I will sing salvation’s song;
And I’ll join the chorus of creation
Giving praise to Christ alone."

As we go about in our Christian life, we may have to face many trials in our lives and at times, we are driven to desperation to make sense of what’s happening. And sometimes we are driven to the point of asking the Lord to take us home.

Paul encourages us by telling us that “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Can we learn from Paul that when things go wrong in our lives, we ought not not to rely on ourselves but on God?

Can we like the Psalmist put our hope in God and sing a song of praise to our Saviour and God?

Instead of feeling ‘suicidal suicidal …’ like Sean Kingston does? Can we sing a song to our Saviour who brings us hope and salvation in our times of hopelessness?

The Peace of the Lord be with you ...

Read about the comments about a blog's post and this worries me......

http://www.stillhaventfound.org/2008/04/07/christians-money-and-investing-for-the-future/#comments

A blogger named Stephanie said:

Pastor Prince on Sunday shared that next 2 weeks, Lord has get him to have special prayer for those who want to invest in His House in 1 north. Maybe you could ask HS to give you direction in this area. This would be a better investment, as the seed and harvest principal works. For me, yes, I have already parked my saving there.

and

The will of the Father is not just to save the poor from their poverty. The will of Father is to save the human race from darkness, poor and rich all need to be save. This is the direction Lord is leading NCC, so dun go against the flow.

I was at the chain prayer meeting a few weeks ago. As we prayed for 1 north, Lord came Mightily thru Pastor Lian. He said supernaturally, the money for His House, will be thru His blessing of money to the people and from the people it goes to the church.

Also, He said that supernaturally, skilled craft men will be send to build His House. What Lord shared in that meeting sound like His building of His Tabernacle in Exodus and He wants the best things for His House. Are you telling Daddy God that He should not spend that much money for His own House?

With more souls save in future, the money can then be used to help the poor. Look to Jesus, learn more about Him and let Him lead you to where you should be.

Before you are ready, don’t worry for the poor first. Lord let me sit under His teaching for 1 year of learning. He bless me to be a housewife so that I have time for Him. 3 weeks ago, He send Pastor Daniel to open the door for me. This is from sitting at the foot of Jesus and learning all that I could learn about Him and I am still learning. I don’t worry about the sick out there. When time ready, Lord will surely lead me to heal them all. Hope you get what I meant.

Are Christians discerning enough with regards to what they hear at their churches? What is your take on it?

Mic has an revelation last night.......

......during our bible study when we discussed about Salvation from the Reformed perspective. Initially, she said Christ died to form a connection between God and Man. God is the "power supply" and in order for man to tap on this "power supply" they must have faith. She claimed that after Christ formed the connection, man must exercise their faith in Christ in order to be saved.

My questions to Mic were:

1) If Christ merely died to form a connection between God and man, it means that Christ just provided a means for people to get saved (only made man savable), but did not get anybody saved?

2) Mic said Christ died for "the world" (everyone). I asked her whether the world means "God's elect" or "everyone" (whether Christ died for everyone including the Canaanites, the wolves and the son of Perdition Judas Iscariot). After thinking a while, she said no.

3) Can man have the ability to believe in God by himself? What do we mean by God "drawing" people to him? Does God's role merely end at "drawing", and after that it is still up to man to exercise their faith? Or is it a on-going thing in which God will be the finisher for our faith?

We also discussed the book of Romans about God saying that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and that the potter has power over his creations. I told Mic that the reformed perspective is that all man deserved death, but God is gracious enough to extend his grace to his church (the elect). The elected were elected unconditionally and the rest were "bypassed".

Mic claimed we must look into the context of the book of Romans. I agreed with her, however, but I still think these verses in the book of Romans tell us a lot about God's sovereignty. We concluded that election is a mystery.

More to be discussed next time......

Any comments?

How to tachi fatty food away......

From today's sunday times. Think it is quite funny :p



Think besides learning tachi moves and cutting down on unhealthy food, we should also pray for strength/endurance/discipline and at the same time exercise to have a healthy body. Our body is the temple of God and think it is time for major "renovation" for some of us at YAMMY ministries......

Have you done ur quiet time?

To big bro Stan: I just did mine today.

How about you guys?

:p

Do not worry about what you eat......

However, many times, we forget about this. Recently, Singaporeans have been snapping up rice from the supermarket for fear of rice shortage. When I had dinner with mum today, she said everywhere is the same, that people are buying up all the rice at the supermarket.

Of course, we slurped up all the rice on our plates just now. A grain of rice would be more expensive than gold soon. Even the canteen auntie where I worked had increased her price by 20 cents. OUCH! If Singaporeans, who are considered better-off, are beginning to feel the pinch, how about those staying in poorer countries?

No doubt, the recent price hikes in almost everything have caused many worries for Singaporeans. When I was living with my parents, I do not need to worry about paying utility bills, conservancy fees etc. Now, I have to be careful not to leave the TV/Lights/Fans on when I leave the room. I realise why my bro, who was paying the utilities bill at my parents' house, told us to use the aircon less.

Life have many worries, but as Christians, we know that God will see us through these worries. I am forever grateful to God for providing me with what I need. When I was getting married/getting a new house, God provided for me. He even surprised me with a lucky draw win when I had no money to buy furniture. When in certain months I am rather tight, some extra income would just come at the right time. God is indeed faithful.

I want to stress that I am blessed, but not to the extend of super-rich, like certain emergent church pastors claim Christians should be. I am a wretched man, whom without the grace of God, would be nothing and can do nothing.

In these four years as a Christian, God has stood by my side. No doubt, my life has it ups and downs. But God has seen me through. My Christian-walk also have its ups and downs, but I have faith that God will preserve me till the end, as what he has promised.

Let us be thankful for God's providence, and also be able to stand firm in times of adversities. Let us pray for the people in other countries who are affected more than us by the recent price hikes.

Amen.

God is man-centered?

From http://www.stillhaventfound.org/2008/03/18/thoughts-on-new-creation-church-man-centered-or-god-centered-part-two/

The author said:

It doesn’t sound right, does it? To say that God is man-centered. But I believe that’s to a certain extent true. I mean, what is the Bible all about? From the very beginning to the very end, the Bible is a story about God as a missionary God (Announcing The Kingdom, Arthur F. Glasser). Whether we like it or not, the whole Bible is all about God’s mission in this world - His mission to rescue man through His Son Jesus Christ. Yes, God was on a mission to rescue us! The whole Bible is all about this “mystery” (Ephesians 1:9) of God saving man being revealed progressively.

and

I agree that the cross is in a sense a sign of our great depravity. Is it also a sign of man’s great worth? By even entertaining that question, I’m getting into dangerous territory. People like Washer and Piper want to make man as little as possible and God as big and magnified as possible. And that’s why they say the things they do. I understand where they’re coming from. But I think that sometimes this can be overdone. Was the cross in any way a sign of man’s great worth? I think I’ll have no problem saying that there’s a bit of truth in that. It’s not because man deserves the cross. But because man is made in the image of God and is special in God’s eyes. I don’t think we do God or the Bible justice when we ignore the important fact that though fallen, man was made in the image of God. We’re different from animals and plants. While we’ve fallen and we’re sinners, that doesn’t mean we’ve suddenly become nothing of value in God’s eyes. I think that’s going to the opposite extreme.

What is your take on this?

To Mr. Atheist......this is a good one =)

From: http://realchristianity.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/belated-april-fools-day-athiest-is-this-you/

You look at the human body and say to yourself, “This must have been the product of an accident. A long time ago absolutely nothing from absolutely nowhere exploded and not only created absolutely everything, but also created order and it all occurred as a random accident.“

Dun waste your cancer......

Quite a good read from John Piper's desiringgod.org

The article says:

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Most of the time when we are sick, probably we would think how suay (hokkien slang for "unlucky")or indulge in self-pity. However, when Pastor John Piper was struck down with prostrate cancer, he said he is happy that now he can trust more in God than in himself.

Many "Christians" nowadays even deny that God allows believers to become sick. A prosperity preacher, had uncurable cancer. Even before she died, she proclaimed that she is not sick at all. Needless to say, she died shortly after that.

Christians are not exempted from the bad things in life. Too much positive things are being preached at the new emergent "churches", to the extend that people now only want to hear what they want to hear. They do not want to hear that men are sinful. They only want to hear that Christ has healed all their "sicknesses", including the "disease" of poverty. They said being rich is a sign from God to make others believers. Christians should not be sick. If you are still sick, you are to be blamed for your own lack of faith.

This is the kind of gospel which people "itches" to hear nowadays.

In contrast, Reformed Christians believe that sickness is part of God's plan for us. Even when we are sick, we should take the opportunity to witness to others how God has ministered to us in our sickness.

Which gospel do you believe in? Can we give thanks to God in times of sickness as we did in times of health?

Your comments please?

Does God love everyone?

One of the Christian blogs which I frequently visited put this up: http://www.sicarii.net/2008/04/02/does-god-love-everyone/

It is interesting to note that the saying "God loves the sinner, but hates the sin" is probably coined by somebody else and not found in the bible.

What is your take on this?

Another toilet break......

Similiar to the incident which took place in Singapore recently, it was reported today in Straits Times that in West Africa, an Al Qaeda man also escaped from custody when he asked to go to the toilet. The guard, who was arrested after the incident, was said to walk away from the door where he was guarding to talk to his friends. The Al Qaeda man took this opportunity and fled. He was said to be wearing civilian clothes and his pursuers lost him in the crowd. It was not sure whether the man was limping or not......

And interesting, a website reports that Al Qaeda means.....TOILET! No wonder they have been making their escapes from toilets!

From here: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/fakealqaeda.html

Fake Al Qaeda

"Ana raicha Al Qaeda" is colloquial for "I'm going to the toilet". A very common and widespread use of the word "Al-Qaeda" in different Arab countries in the public language is for the toilet bowl. This name comes from the Arabic verb "Qa'ada" which mean "to sit", pertinently, on the "Toilet Bowl". In most Arabs homes there are two kinds of toilets: "Al-Qaeda" also called the "Hamam Franji" or foreign toilet, and "Hamam Arabi" or "Arab toilet" which is a hole in the ground. Lest we forget it, the potty used by small children is called "Ma Qa'adia" or "Little Qaeda".
So, if you were forming a terrorist group, would you call yourself, "The Toilet"?

The more terrorists flee from the toilet, the more likely we would be put in harm's way. Let us pray that the guards would be more vigilant and terrorists can no more escape from the toilets.

A meaningful blog post: Just Stop It Already!

From: http://www.sicarii.net/2008/03/29/just-stop-it-already/

When is the last time we just tell ourselves stop it already? Think I am guilty of this one too :p

Excerpts from the blog:

“That man is horrible!” he sputtered, his face red with anger and his fists clenched, “Not a word of comfort, not a word of encouragement, nothing!”

“Well, what did he say?” I persisted.

“Two words.”

“What? Get out? Go away? Shove off? What?”

“Stop it!”

“No, tell me.”

“Stop it!”

“Come on, seriously, tell me what that pastor said to you!”

“Ugh, you idiot, he told me to ’stop it’ and that was it.”