Fire ACJC

That's our King :)

2008-08-12T21:09:00.002+08:00

amen! :)

God bless.

~helsa

Matthew 7:13-27

2008-05-21T20:47:00.003+08:00

Hey dear CF-ers, do take some time to watch this. It's taken frm

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=19fd9c84c942a08316e0

The sermon is abt 50mins long, yup, it's a little long I know, but it's good. :) Enjoy!

Some people say that the most important thing in this life is to know Jesus. But no, the most important thing is whether Jesus knows you.

Are our lives processes of change?

~Helsa

The Price of Revelation

2008-05-11T09:37:00.004+08:00

Hey all!

This is something that my brother from church,sam david,sent me via email from:D

May God bless you:D

Love,Li Lin

Indulge me a moment. Jesus had such a desire to be made known. Jesus is translated into 'Jehovah Savior' or 'I Am, Your Savior'. Jesus went around healing the sick, casting out demons, teaching as God Almighty would always do. But you see, these works were done to show the world who He really was, that He was the Father, the God of the Old Testament. But the name Jehovah Savior would require more from God. At Gethsemane, Jesus travailed and prayed more earnestly for the cup of suffering to be taken away from Him. I always wondered how long He took to say the next lines, 'nevertheless, not my will...'

On a personal note, the last time I prayed anything 'close' to that pray, I didn't get to 'nevertheless...' until much much later. Sometimes, I don't even go there. Why must Jesus die on the cross? More than just to rid us from punishment. Let this be a perspective change for you as it was in a way revealed to me. It is really a terrible thing to be a secret admirer from afar. The issue with secret admirers is not the liking part, but the intense desire to make known him or herself. God was a secret admirer on earth for 33 years, to which the Bible says,

John 1:11
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

1 John 3:1
…therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. At Gethsemane lies two options:
Stop the suffering, stop the cross and forever be made unknown to Humanity that I am Jesus, leaving us an unrevealed name of God
The Cross and all that came en route to it that the world may know that there is no Savior but I, hence revealing the highest Name to the World.

John 8:28
Then Jesus said to them, 'When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…It was the cross that brought revelation of the name of Jesus. The price of revelation was the Cross. The price God paid for us to know who He is. What does the name of Jesus mean to you? It took a cross for it to be bestowed upon you.

Genesis 22:10-14
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. [11] And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

[12] And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

[13] And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

[14] And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

If you really want to know God, then be ready to sacrifice. To give something as worship unto God. Abraham called his act of giving Isaac, the thing he treasured most, 'Worship'. As Paul says in Philippians,

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (3:10)

Just felt to share this. Be Blessed.

Love,
samuel

2008-05-01T21:25:00.001+08:00

hello it's me AGAIN. Vignette's birthday photos are on my blog! :) Happy Birthday V! loves!

love liz (again.)

2008-04-20T20:20:00.001+08:00

hey guys i've blogged about REW plus isaac's birthday on my blog! go check it out! http://www.onsacredground.blogspot.com/

love, liz :)

2008-04-05T16:03:00.004+08:00

hey it's liz again! just some funny photos i took. enjoy!
(btw i'm feeling better now. thanks you guys! :))

during meeting: isaac with his wooden-peg-earring

scissors, paper, stone!
nah it's just isaac and helsa fighting again.

and here's a video of them arguing. as always. haha.
watch out for the part where isaac does his funny "wave your hands in the air" dance

hi josh.

2008-03-20T22:38:00.004+08:00

hey guys, it's liz again! ok, as requested by helsa, here's yesterday's video og mel and dillon during the cf comm meeting. for some reason we always end up joking and laughing and talking nonsence during comm meetings. haha. for more photos, go to my blog. meanwhile, here's the video! (the funniest part is when mel imitates dillon who said that "but barbecue is so EXPENSIVE") (oh and click play on the first one, i don't know why there are 2 images)

CF Dinner 10 March 2008

2008-03-10T23:18:00.015+08:00

hey guys! Liz here! we had a CF outing/dinner today! those present were me, isaac, helsa, mel, vignette, skyler, jack, dillon, yihui, joshua, sharyl, lilin and jeremy! we had dinner at Thai Express at CityLink. too bad lilin and jeremy had to leave early for church. we missed you guys! but luckily we managed to get a shot of everyone!

at thai express

josh and his spoon trick. i couldn't stop laughing!!!

mel and i

yihui and v

after that we walked around at marina, then we went to the esplanade's roof terrace. haha so romantic, there were so many couples there. we sat down and played the animal game, and sharyl had to do a forfeit! we dared her to go to a pair of girls sitting close by, and tell one of them that skyler thinks she's HOT! hahaha and the brave sharyl rose to the occasion (and humiliated skyler in the process). HAHA.

view from the roof terrace

josh, mel, sharyl

cool musical men at the esplanade

i really had fun with you guys! we should meet up like this more often! :)

John Piper on the prosperity gospel

2008-01-02T17:01:00.000+08:00

John Piper on the prosperity gospel:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ukcV-xtU3hc

-------------------------
hey cf-ers! :) Watched this video on the FireAC blog. Do go watch it. :) Let's always be reminded that our trials and pressures serve as the best times to glorify Jesus. No matter what hits us this crazy year, let's know that His grace is enough, and that the joy of the Lord will be our strength! :)

~Helsa

Christmas

2007-12-24T22:14:00.000+08:00

About an hour too early, but hey who cares? Merry Christmas everybody!

I've heard this somewhere about Santa Claus, so I'll just put it here for the fun of it =)

There are four stages in life which almost everyone will go through

First: You believe in Santa Claus
Second: You don't believe in Santa Claus
Third: You become a Santa Claus
Fourth: You look like Santa Claus

Aye, gone were the days where we waited for Santa to put candy and presents into those socks we hung at our doors!

I guess most of us are at the second stage now, we don't believe in Santa Claus. We give and recieve presents from people whom we know or even don't. We see different wrappers containing presents of different sizes... always curious as to what is inside those boxes.

Carolling, delicious pastries, Christmas trees, flashy lights, beams of smiles from people - all a common sight during this time of the year.

Well, even in this spirit of giving, let us not forget that Christmas (Mass of Christ i.e. celebration of Christ), at the same time, is the birthday of our LORD Jesus Christ!

"For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called wonderful Counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace."
- Isaiah 9:6

"Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you, He is Christ the LORD."
- Luke 2:11

Indeed, our Saviour was born on this day over 2000 years ago. Our one and only Mediator who has and is interceding on our behalf to our heavenly Father even now. This Gift of love and righteousness came to bring light to the world. But the goodness that was brought to us was repaid with scorn and hatred.

Today though, by the death of Christ we are pardoned of our sins. We celebrate the birth of Jesus as one body in Christ, at the same time thanking our Father for the best Gift ever recieved by mankind.

Let us lift our songs of praise and worship to the heavens, proclaiming the day which Jesus entered our world, the saving grace that is sustaining us till today!

Happy birthday Jesus Christ!!

-Jack

Food for thought: Was Jesus actually born on the 6th of January? Somehow I came across that on the net while typing this post XD - http://www.themoorings.org/apologetics/chronology/Chrmas.html

e-commentary

2007-12-08T16:10:00.001+08:00

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GRACE@WORK MAIL 49/07[Friday, December 7, 2007 Edition]

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."(John 6:35 TNIV)

Commentary: Bloody Advent

Reports of killings in the U.S. seem to receive so much more prominence in the media than killings elsewhere. Still, the recent mall killings and suicide in Omaha qualifies as a terrible tragedy by any measure. Here is the Guardian's report:

"The teenage gunman who shot dead eight people at a Nebraska shopping mall before turning the gun on himself had lost his job at McDonald's hours earlier after being accused of stealing $17 from the till, it was reported yesterday.
Robert Hawkins, 19, emerged yesterday as a high school dropout who had spent four years in foster care and had been estranged from his family. He recently broke up with his girlfriend and was sacked from his job at McDonald's on the day of the shooting, the Omaha World-Herald reported. He had also been turned down by army recruiters, CNN reported.He left a suicide note that read: 'I'm a piece of shit, but I'm going to be famous now.'"(Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington, Friday December 7, 2007)

You don't need a PhD in psychology to work out the sources of Robert Hawkins' despair. All human beings hunger for love and significance. It seemed that Hawkins had little of both. He was sacked from McDonalds, for goodness sake. And even the Army didn't want him. He was estranged from his family. And he had just lost his girlfriend. No significance. No love.

There will be eight families who will forever remember Advent, not with joy, but with fear and sorrow. Nothing can justify Hawkins' cold-blooded taking of human life. But we can understand his desperate grasp for fame and immortality. He may have been a "piece of shit" but he was going to be remembered. He was going to be somebody even if it killed him. And others.

The story breaks my heart because Robert Hawkins wasn't a piece of shit. Nobody is. Our hunger for love and significance betray our divine origin. We were created by God and were meant to find our significance and our love in Him. Unfortunately, in choosing to "be like gods (Genesis 3:5)" we cut ourselves from the only true source of love and significance. We died (Genesis 2:16-17).

But God loved us enough to pursue his wayward children by coming as Jesus. Nobody is a piece of shit because God came to offer afresh the relationship that would enable humankind to once again receive the life they needed. The angel in Luke 2:10-14 wasn’t exaggerating when he said:

“’Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’”

I am saddened because clearly the angel's message didn't reach Robert Hawkins. I am saddened because there are many more like him out there, many more in despair, unaware that there is an answer to their deepest needs.

It is especially tragic that such soul hungers are particularly acute in the Advent season where so much is promised by the slogans of the season but so little love is evident. If only the voice of Christ can be heard above the din.

Here are the words of the Christ of Christmas:

Looking for love?
Jesus says: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34 TNIV)

Looking for significance?
Jesus says: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10 TNIV)

Looking for immortality?
Jesus says: "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die." (John 11:25-26 TNIV)

Some of us have gone through life relatively unscathed. Others have gone through the valleys that Hawkins walked. Or worse. But if we were in Christ we would probably have found the resources to survive and grow through our tsunamis. Jesus saves. We must get the news out to the Robert Hawkins of this world.

We wish the Hawkins' tragedy hadn't occurred. But it did. We should take it as a wake up call for all sorts of things. Above all it is a reminder of the lostness of humankind. This Advent many of our churches will be having evangelistic initiatives. May the tears from Omaha remind us that this is serious business indeed.

As Jackson Browne reminds us, all human hungers are finally a hunger for God.
"Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon
Hunger in the banquet, hunger in the bride and groom
Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page
And there's a God-sized hunger underneath the questions of the age."
(Looking East, Jackson Browne)

Jesus said:"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."(John 6:35 TNIV)

Your brother,
Soo-Inn Tan
E mail: sooinn@graceatwork.org

---------------------------------------------------

:)
~ Helsa

God's interesting perspective

2007-10-11T13:24:00.000+08:00

hey people!!

hope you are guys are enjoying yourself, after all, PROMOS ARE OVER!! =)

anyway, during promos last week, God spoke to me in an interesting way. during my quiet time, i randomly fliped to a page in the Bible and i landed onto Ezra 3-6. it is about the Israelites restoring the God's alter, but after building the foundation, they faced oppositions and hence had to stop building. It stayed on that way until it was able to continue building with all the expense paid by the royal treasury.

When i first read these passages, i was given the idea that i'm still building my foundation in spiritual terms and i will be facing many problems as i walk the path in fostering a relationship with God, learning more about Him and follow His will. After coming to that conclusion and wondering what problems i will encounter, i prayed to God and went to sleep.

But the interesting was that, the next day, i flipped the Bible to a randon page again and i landed onto the same page again. This had never happen to before, so i was really bewildered. I re-read the passages again and realise that God actually wanted me to focus on the fact that the Israelites are always praising the Lord our God despite of the situation, when they came into the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, before they start building the alter and after completion. They were also able to speak to the authorities why they continued building despite the oppositions.

I believe that God does not want me to focus on what the problems may be, rather, He wants me to praise Him even when i'm facing an ordeal and just entrust the problem i'm facing and He will see us through, just like how the Israelites manage to rebuild the alter=)

Hope you guys see the interesting perspective and God's wonders like He had given me!
enjoy the week ahead! =) God Bless!

love, viggy

2007-09-07T21:29:00.000+08:00

An email commentary that I subscribe to. :) It really struck me as being so applicable for openhouse. Mountain-moving faith the size of a mustard seed! May such faith take root in our lives. Enjoy! :)
~Helsa

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GRACE@WORK MAIL 36/07[September 7, 2007 Edition]

"Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."(James 2:18b TNIV)

Commentary: Learning from Mother Teresa's Doubts

"But faith goes up and down doesn't it?"I was encouraging a young friend to consider water baptism. Her first query concerned her faith or the apparent fluctuation of her faith. It was a good question and I tried to help her understand the difference between faith, which is more akin to faithfulness, and feelings of faith, which may indeed fluctuate.

As I thought about my exchange with my young friend, it hit me afresh that in many church circles today, feelings are everything. "You know that God is real because you can feel His presence." Which brings me to the recent controversies surrounding the publication of Mother Teresa's private letters. It seems that for the longest time she did not feel the presence of God.

"So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them - because of the blasphemy - If there be God - please forgive me - When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven - there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my soul.I am told God loves me - and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. --- Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?"(Mother Teresa)

Was Mother Teresa a hypocrite? Was her life a lie? There seems to be such a dissonance between her public persona and the things she wrote. The church and the world are scrambling to make sense of someone who, for much of her adult life did not feel the presence of God yet gave her life to sacrificially care for some of Calcutta's most destitute. What gives?

Christopher Hitchens, avowed atheist and antitheist believes that the root problem is Christianity itself. It is a "dogma that asks people to believe impossible things and makes them feel abject and guilty when their innate reason rebels." ("The Dogmatic Doubter", Newsweek International, September 10, 2007, p.49.) Hitchens believes that Teresa worked so hard to help others because it was her way of compensating for the death of her faith.

"It seems, therefore, that all the things that made Mother Teresa famous --- the endless hard toil, the bitter austerity, the ostentatious religious orthodoxy --- were only part of an effort to still the misery within." (Hitchens, p.50) In other words, the worse her doubts, the harder she ministered.

We will of course disagree with Hitchen's assertion that Christianity is a dogma "that asks people to believe impossible things." Indeed we would argue that the evidence for "impossible things" was so overwhelming that the earliest Christians believed even when it cost them their lives. The basis for Christianity is historical and reasonable for all who truly seek.

We also disagree with Hitchen's conclusion that Mother Teresa was de facto an atheist. We disagree for a number of reasons. Firstly since Mother Teresa is not around to clarify precisely what she meant in her letters, and the actual context(s) in which they were written, we should be cautious about drawing any major conclusions from them.

Next, the present furore about the letters may tell us more about the age we live in then about Mother Teresa. Rev Brian Kolodiejchuk, the compiler and editor of Mother Teresa's letters has this to say:

"The tendency in our spiritual life but also in our more general attitude towards love is that our feelings are all that is going on," ___. "And so to us the totality of love is what we feel. But to really love someone requires commitment, fidelity and vulnerability. Mother Teresa wasn't 'feeling' Christ's love, and she could have shut down. But she was up at 4.30 every morning for Jesus, and still writing to him, 'your happiness is all I want.' That's a powerful example even if you are not talking in exclusively religious terms."(Quoted by David Van Biema in "Her Agony," TIME Asia, September 3, 2007, p.33.)

I was preaching from James 2:14 - 26 recently. Using James' criteria in this passage, Mother Teresa is on solid ground. There is nothing here about having the right feelings as the basis for true faith. Orthodox beliefs are assumed but by themselves do not bring life. True faith, saving faith, is demonstrated by Christ like behaviour. Compassionate care for the poor in particular is singled out for special mention. Interestingly John (1 John 3:16-17) and Paul (Galatians 2:10) also single out sacrificial care for the poor for special mention. I think we need to hear James again in a time where good feelings and individualism reign supreme. Which brings me to another thing that struck me about Mother Teresa.

At every point of her journey she had someone to share her struggles with. Father Celeste Van Exem, Rev. Joseph Neuner and many others served as confessors and spiritual directors to Mother Teresa in her long lonely years. She may not have felt the presence of Christ but she was always plugged into the community of Christ.

I will be the last person to call for a return to the Roman Catholic confessional system. But for all my doctrinal disagreements with the system I acknowledge that it forces my Catholic friends to open their hearts to another believer in a context where they can bare their souls. I am sure that this is by no means a perfect system but I compare this with the superficiality of relationships in many of the evangelical churches I am associated with.

There is therefore much then to be learnt from Mother Teresa on the 10th anniversary of her death. In an age that pushes feel-good feelings as a key focus of the Christian faith, we need to point people towards a faith that is expressed in "commitment, fidelity and vulnerability" and a compassion for people. In a day of rampant lonely individualism, and here the church is not much better than the surrounding culture, we need to hold on to a faith that is expressed in true community. Here then are some things for me to bear in mind when I have my next chat with my young friend considering water baptism.

Your brother,
Soo-Inn Tan
E Mail: sooinn@graceatwork.org

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The Refiner's Fire

2007-08-24T15:37:00.000+08:00

Konbanwa (since I don't know what time you're reading this)!! I am here to get rid of more cobwebs! -wields vacuum cleaner. DIE (really adorable although evil) SPIDERS DIE!!

... Right. Sorry.

Anyway! I'm currently in the school library (I know, so hardworking right?) so I thought I'd drop by to share something with you guys! I can't tell you what it is, though, cos it's a secret! So you have to guess!

Wrong!

Okay, just kidding. Sorry for crapping.

Anyway anyway (for real this time), I was lying in bed last night, drifting off to sleep, when a song and a story came to my mind. The song is one of those kinda old songs that you don't hear for a long time, and when you hear them again it's like you remember so many things that have happened, the times that you've spent with God and the promise(s) that you've made.

But first, the story.

Some time ago, a few women met in a certain city to study the Scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Malachi 3:3).

One of the women proposed to visit a silversmith, and report to them on what he said about the subject. So, she went accordingly, and without telling him about the object of her errand, begged the silversmith to tell her the process of refining silver.

After he had fully described to her, she asked, "But sir, do you sit, while the work of refining is going on?"

"Oh, yes Madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."

The women at once saw the beauty, and comfort, too, of the scriptural expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

God sees it necessary to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for both of us. Our trials do not come at random. Each is with a specific purpose (2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Pet. 1:6-10). And He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure (1 Cor. 10:13).

Before she left, the woman asked one final question: "When do you know the process is complete?"

"Why, that is quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished."

Refiner's Fire, by Brian Doerksen

Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold

Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire is to be holy
Set apart for You my Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for you my Master
Ready to do Your will

Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within and make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin, deep within

---

How many of us can sing that song with utmost sincerity and honesty, to ask God to do whatever it takes to refine us and set us apart, making us different from the world so that we can be used by Him?

Is God really selfish?

2007-08-12T21:52:00.000+08:00

Okay so this blog has been seeing cobwebs and dust lying all around it... Nevermind I'll clear those! For now XD

Anyway, I came across this website which is more or less like a blog.... I came across this post which made me think about what.. er-hem Charles talked to us about when he came over to CF to speak. Remember that guy who was talking about God's glory, of which everything on this earth was made for His glory alone? Yep that's him. Well have any of you actually thought why this God we worship is so "self-centered", only doing things, ultimately, for Himself and not for us? The answer is found in one of the posts.. Take some time to go through it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
When contemplating the subject of God’s glory, I have sometimes wondered why God desires so much to be glorified. Conceit and pride are wrong in human beings; yet it seems odd that a righteous God who honors humility would so loudly proclaim His own glory.

John Piper addresses this question in his book, Desiring God. I think he provides some excellent food for thought, closely related to these previous posts:

“[A reason] people stumble over the teaching that God exalts His own glory and seeks to be praised by His people is that the Bible teaches us not to be like that. For example, the Bible says that "Love seeks not its own" ( 1 Corinthians 13:5). How can God be loving and yet be utterly devoted to "seeking His own" glory and praise and joy? How can God be for us if He is so utterly for Himself?

The answer I propose is this: Because God is unique as an all-glorious, totally self-sufficient Being, He must be for Himself if He is to be for us. The rules of humility that belong to a creature cannot apply in the same way to its Creator. If God should turn away from Himself as the Source of infinite joy, He would cease to be God. He would deny the infinite worth of His own glory. He would imply that there is something more valuable outside Himself. He would commit idolatry.

This would be no gain for us. For where can we go when our God has become unrighteous?....
No, we do not turn God's self-exaltation into love by demanding that God ceases to be God. Instead we must come to see that God is love precisely because He relentlessly pursues the praises of His name in the hearts of His people.

Consider this question: In view of God's infinite power and wisdom and beauty, what would His love to a human being involve? Or to put it another way: What could God give us to enjoy that would prove Him most loving? There is only one possible answer: Himself! If He withholds Himself from our contemplation and companionship, no matter what else He gives us, He is not loving.

There is the solution! We praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. If we were not allowed to speak of what we value, and celebrate what we love, and praise what we admire, our joy would not be full. So if God loves us enough to make our joy full, He must not only give us Himself; He must also win from us the praise of our hearts-not because He needs to shore up some weakness in Himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because He loves us and seeks the fullness of our joy that can be found only in knowing and praising Him, the most magnificent of all Beings. If He is truly for us He must be for Himself!

God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When He does all things "for the praise of His glory," He preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be, for Himself.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post found from:
www.beautyfromtheheart.org/labels/worldview.html

Yes, a wonderful post there. Isn't it amazing how God opposes the saying "Practise what you preach" and yet keep the status of being the Most High?

God bless all of you (:

-Jack

Lessons on the Life of Moses

2007-07-29T19:06:00.000+08:00

HEY LOVELIES!
This was sent in an email to me from one of my sisters in church,cheryl wong:)
enjoy!
-lilin

...adapted from The Daily Chase, Tommy Tenney.

Empty yourself, be filled with God's power

And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many
( Matt 20:27-28 NKJV)

Disciples are expected to live with a deeper level of relinquishment than new believers. In the same way, as disciples, those who would lead and feed must relinquish more than they did as disciples.

Moses was educated, trained in all the ways of Egypt, which took him to a high level of accomplishment in the Egyptian society, but it was counted for almost nothing in God's kingdom. (Acts 7:22-23)

Moses was "mighty in speech" until he turned 40 and tried to fulfil his destiny on his own. Then he had an intimate encounter with God that apparently left him a stutterer! Sometimes what we consider " religious eloquence" is really " spiritual stutter", an impediment to true communication with and for the Almighty.

Exaltation at one level is abasement at a higher. That is the power of relinquishment. We cannot pray," Thy kingdom come..." unless first, we are willing to pray," My kingdom go..." (Matt 6:10) We have a tendency to hold onto our kingdom with a death grip, but we need to learn there is a power that comes through relinquishment.

God told His reluctant deliverer,Moses, " When i get through using you, the children of Israel are going to give Me glory. It will not be because of your education, your intelligence, or your ability to speak.. Your leadership ability will not get all the praise for what happens." Give man honor, but glory belongs to God alone.

God performed astounding miracles through Moses, yet as far as we know, God never healed him of his stutter. Sometimes God will leave a mark somewhere on your life as a permanent reminder of the time and place He touched you and changed you forever. It will be a place where He can always get a hold on you.

Moses could tell you about it, if you would be patient with his stuttering delivery. Jacob could tell you about his limp, but you would be able to see that for yourself. So ti was with Paul's "thorn in the flesh". (Imagine meeting these people when we reach Heaven!! Haha..Fabulously cool!) Regardless of the strength of his belief in the healing and delivering power of God, we have no record that Paul was healed or delivered of his thorn. It may have been God's means of getting Paul's attention. Paul put it in this way:

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:for My strength(God's) is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

Moses was at the height of his career. He had power, prestige, wealth and influence with the royal house of Pharaoh.However, he had a prior commitment and divine commission from the royal house of the Most High God of Israel. He was called of God to deliver the children of Israel from their Egyptian bondage, buthe first had to be freed of every shadow of his former house and changed from the heart outward. It took 40 years of shepherding in the wilderness to prepare him for the next 40 years in the place as a deliverer.

The power of faith

2007-07-08T13:28:00.000+08:00

Test of Faith

If cast on enemy, will deal variable damage based on the unit's faith. If cast on allied Hero, it will teleport the hero to safety. Instantly teleports Chen's persuaded units to safety.

Kay sorry random XD! Not the title though. How strong is your faith? That's the question. We have heard of FireAC's goal for revival in ACS(I). Their basis of that? Faith. There are many souls around us who aren't saved. Have you tried evangelising to them? Honestly, I have zero experience in that. I have never tried, nor have I stepped out of my comfort zone. Why? I lacked faith. I did not know what would happen if I tried simply because I did not have faith in Christ that he would help me succeed.

We have all heard of the parable of the sower. The seeds were scattered but only some grew. Let's look at the same parable, but from the sower's perspective. An adult farmer scatters the seed in the field with precision. Every seed falls on good soil and grows to bear fruit. The farmer's child attempts to sow the seeds. However, the seeds scattered fell all over the place, some on the road, some on the rocks and some in the thorns. Only a few fell on good soil.

The key point is: Only a few fell on good soil. None of us can scatter seed with precision. We are all like the young farmer who is trying to sow the seeds as best as we can. The thing is, even as inexperienced sowers, some seed that we sow will bear fruit even though others may go to waste. All we need to have is faith in the LORD that he would follow up from our efforts. If the first seed we sow falls on the rock, try again. If the next falls on the road, try again. Eventually, a seed that we sow will fall on good soil. With faith, we will succeed.

How strong is your faith?

-Jack

J1 CF Outing @ East Coast Park

2007-07-04T21:11:00.000+08:00

hey guys! it's Liz here posting for the first time! haha. well we had a J1 outing yesterday at East Coast Park, and it was super great! i've got some photos of when we were playing Truth or Dare. haha!

dillon doing his pole dance!

vignette putting on her sunblock-moustache

tada!

after more games, those of us present (me, dillon, vignette, jeremy, sharyl and jack) had lunch specially prepared by sharyl! (and it was really yummy!) thanks sharyl! (isaac and mel came after their chinese oral)

unfortunately i didn't get to take many pictures. i know sharyl and vignette have some though! hope you enjoyed the photos, sorry there's so little!

Love, Liz

LoveMG

2007-07-01T14:11:00.000+08:00

LoveMG was a blast! The whole auditorium was mostly filled with girls (surprise surprise...) and a couple of boys.. mostly from ACJ and ACS(I). It was a night of praise and worship for the LORD! There was an impactful sermon in which many souls were saved and many Christians rededicated their lives to Christ. Then there was the MG song where moans of protest came from the boys (:

So back to the impactful sermon: I just felt that something like this ought to have a place in this blog! Well it was a sermon about chairs.. I'll try to type out the whole sermon as closely as I remember it to be... without putting in the countless "everybody say (insert word here)"s XD

Well the speaker started off with telling us about chairs and how important chairs are in some situations, including an incident in the bible. If Jesus appeared in front of you now and told you that you could ask Him for ANYTHING in the world, what would you ask for? Well James and John had an opportunity close enough. And they asked for chairs. Chairs to sit at the left and right hand of Jesus Himself in heaven.

Now, in our lives, there exists four different chairs. A red one, a green one, a grey one and a black one. And everybody, Christian or not, sit in one of the chairs. So what do the chairs represent?

The red chair

The colour of this chair represents fire. It represents Christians who have the burning passion and fire for God (FireAC anyone? haha). These kind of people enjoy worship sessions and can never get enough of it. They have a burning desire for an intimate relationship with Him and will maintain it.

The green chair

Or also the chair of growth. Christians who are sitting in this chair are seeking to grow closer to God everyday. They do their QT, read the bible and pray consistently to grow closer to Him. These people are in the stage where they only want to see their faith grow with each passing day.

The grey chair

Neither hot nor cold aka lukewarm. Sadly, the chair in which many Christians sit in. These Christians neither have the sustained passion for God nor do they deny His existance. Yes, these people are Christians. But what are they doing? They are content with their current relationship with God and do not do anything to improve it. They sit in their comfort zones everyday and do not outreach to others. The speaker pointed out that this is the only chair with the 'eject' button. God will push that button when He comes again.

The black chair

Those who have sinned and have not repented, those who have heard the word but have not accepted it, those who have know ABOUT Jesus but do not actually KNOW Him. These are the people sitting in the black chair. I prefer to call them pre-believers. When Christ's kingdom returns, judgement will fall upon them if they are not saved in time and they will be condemned for eternity.

Everybody is sitting in one of these chairs. Those in the red and green chair will have access to heaven, while those in the grey and black chair will not. The question now is not which chair you want to sit in, but which chair you ARE sitting in.

Ok.. so that's more or less the whole sermon. After that sermon, the pastor called for everyone to close their eyes, and take a moment to think about which chair they are sitting in. He then called for those people in the black chair who want to be saved, followed by those in the grey chair to raise their hands. When he called them out to the front, virtually the whole auditorium moved up! The number of souls saved... it was tremendous. Praise God!

Well I just pray that majority if not all of us are in the red or green chair! But regarding the red chair.. XunLiang and I had a short sms chat after the event.. and so I'll want to add this too. Part of the red chair is taking the extra mile for God. So what is this extra mile? To be ushers. Yes. Ushers. We can be all on fire for God, preach to everybody we know and plan worship sessions in our available time. The thing is, can we do better? Preaching to pre-believers is one thing. Ushering them to the red seat is another.

The next time you see an opportunity, usher the person to the red seat. Not just to Christianity because that may mean the grey seat or the green seat. Not that the green seat is bad, but as soon as you see progress, usher the person to the red seat!

God bless (:

-Jack

Christian Fellowship Lunch Outing!

2007-06-30T11:20:00.000+08:00

Fellowship.

It is derived from the Greek root word "koinonia".It means to hold something in common and and living in community together.It denotes interdependent relationships.Koinonia is used nineteen times in the New Testament and in addition to being translated as “fellowship”, it is also translated by the words, “contribution,” “sharing,” and “participation.” A close study of the usage of this word shows that action is always included in its meaning. Fellowship, you see, is not just being together, it is doing together!

Taken from http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=437

Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;but exhorting one another:and so much the more,as ye see the day approaching." I really had a lot of fun with all of you!

On Friday,29th June,ACJC CF went out to celebrate Melanie's birthday a day after her birthday.We went to Clementi's PizzaHut and ate pizza,partook of a delicious ice-cream cake and had fellowship with each other!

Enjoy viewing the pictures!There are some blurred pictures which I didn't post on this blog. If you want the, do ask me and I'll them to you! Thanks!

I had so much fun with all of you! Yi Hui and Jack... we missed you two! But it's all right... there will indeed be future opportunities to bond together too:)

Love,Li Lin

ACJC CF:)

Sharyl was trying to fall asleep, so she conked her head on the table,

resulting in a loud "BONG" sound.

Oh and behold... ISSAC... our new CF President!

Taking another photo in the ladies' washroom!

Melanie looking stunned.

Melanie making a birthday wish!

Vignette playing with dry ice!

Candid photo taken by Helsa!

Vignette and Helsa, the new CF vice-president, chilling out together

Dillon is camera-shy.. as USUAL.

Well...at least he pretends to be.

What are Dillon and issac talking about?

Say CHEESE!!!

Dillon is distracted.

If you can see us...

From left:Dillon,Charlotte,Helsa,Li Lin,Melanie,Elizabeth,Vignette,Sharyl,Jeremy

Group photo! AHH! It's blurred!

Helsa and Li Lin taking a photo in the ladies' washroom!

Hope Mi and Li Lin:) Fellow ROCKers in church:)

Melanie dissecting...I mean,cutting the cake.

Vignette acting cute!

WOW!

Melanie and Li Lin at Clementi MRT Station

Elizabeth,Vignette and Sharyl! Elizabeth's face is beautified by

Melanie's finger!Sharyl's back is beautified by shy Dillon,who was sporting enough

to be in the photo by posing with two fingers:)

Li Lin,Melanie,Elizabeth and Dillon

Dillon...WHAT are you doing with your hand?

Melanie said I looked like a tourist because I was so excited about

taking photos at the MRT station!

Watch as Dillon defends himself from being captured on camera!

"Mummy, can you buy me the pink power ranger toy please?"

Elizabeth,Vignette and Sharyl!

Eck. Sorry it's not vertically upright!

Charlotte,Helsa,Li Lin and Melanie

Another photo!

SMILE!

Meet the organisers of this whole birthday celebration...

JEREMY and VIGNETTE:)

Seriously,guys.

Happy photo!!!

Helsa and Melanie!

Melanie and Vignette!

Melanie's ice-cream birthday cake!!!

*squeaks*

Melanie took FIVE puffs before blowing out all the candles...

(-_-)

Melanie posing merrily with her birthday cake!

Sweet Charlotte and Helsa cutting and serving the birthday cake to all of us:)

Melanie's birthday cake.

Look at what it says:

"Happy Birthday Mel"

Melanie receiving her birthday present from CF!

Issac got whacked by Sharyl on the head with er...

Melanie's black-humungous-vanguard-sheet birthday card!

Issac,very glamourous photo hor?:P

Sharyl and Vignette saying hi in the ladies' washroom!

Dillon is SO spastic! He was playing scissors-paper-stone with Melanie and I.

Helsa caught this spontaneous picture of him:)

From left:Charlotte,Helsa,Li Lin,Melanie,Elizabeth,Vignette and Sharyl!

What on earth is Vignette thinking about?

What on earth is Sharyl doing to her face?

P.S. I hope nobody hates me after reading this...

2007-06-25T12:57:00.000+08:00

There are probably a million reasons why I shouldn't be blogging when I have Econs and Maths papers tomorrow, but I started thinking about this post last night and after that I couldn't sleep until about 3.33am. So here you go.

I actually started by thinking about Stalin. For all those who don't take History, all you need to know about him is that he's a demented psychopath who authorised the Soviet troops to rape up to 2 million German women. I was just thinking about how he should be tortured, when for some reason, my mind went off to think about the disciples and how they were martyred. I guess most of us know about how the disciples went out to preach the Gospel and everything. And some of us may know about how Peter was jailed. But what kind of ending did the paths that they chose lead them to?

I'll tell you at the end of this post, just to keep you in some suspense. XP

Recently my church had a two-day conference. During one of the plenary sessions, the evangelist, Reverend Tim Hall, showed us a video of what he had been doing in other countries, like what has been going on. It was probably the most powerful video I'd ever watched. There were clips showing people previously crippled, walking without assistance. One lady's arm had been twisted, and they showed a clip with her sobbing and her arm held out straight. There were so many healings that I can't remember all of them- and I don't think they showed all of them.

There are two scenes that I remember very clearly, however. One shows Rev. Tim Hall standing on the platform, speaking to the unseen congregation with a group of people worshipping with outstretched arms behind him- I think it was an altar call. So Rev Tim was just speaking to the other people, when suddenly the people behind him started falling, slain. (By the way: slain is when the Holy Spirit just suddenly comes upon you and takes hold of you and you just fall backwards. It's hard to explain, it's basically evidence of a really strong anointing and presence of God.) Rev Tim himself was surprised, he said, "And we haven't even started praying yet!" Then he started praying for them, and he just went and touched their heads, really quickly, like one second per person, calling forth for the Holy Spirit to touch them. And they just kept falling, one by one, the moment they were touched.

In the other scene, Rev Tim was standing on the platform again, speaking to a huge congregation. And when I mean huge, I mean MASSIVE. It wasn't like the LT or even the hall. I don't know if it was a stadium. But there was a HUGE crowd, faces for as far as I could see, and they were all raising their arms to Heaven and praying. And Rev Tim just said a few sentences and swept his arm out in front of him, and people started falling, like a wave. I am NOT exaggerating, seriously. It was like dominoes, or something. I could feel the Holy Spirit's presence, just watching the video. Again, not exaggerating. Watching the way God had transformed the lives of those who had been physically healed, as well as His Spirit taking hold of such an enormous crowd... Sort of makes you want to cry out to God to ask Him to do the same thing somewhere near you. Somewhere like ACJC, perhaps?

I'm not going to use the word 'revival', because like Kenneth from ACSI(B) said, the word has been overused as well as misused, and I don't want to end up doing that too. But I do believe- along with some other people- that God has something in store for ACJC. Something that's bigger than any of us, bigger than anyone in the world. Something probably far better than anything any one of us has ever dreamed of.

'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Luke 10:2a' A verse some of us have probably heard over and over. Two verses down, however, it says, 'Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.' What if, one day God comes down to ACJC and tells you, yes, you, to stand up in front of your clique, or your class, or your stream, or your level, or your school, and tell them about Him? Will we be too afraid? Will we say 'Lord, I don't even know most of them, they'll probably hate me on sight or jeer at me!'?

God's moving, guys. Question is, what are we going to do about it- if anything at all?

Back to the disciples.

Whoever told you the disciples had an easy life lied. They started out fine, as peaceful fishermen leading the same peaceful routine, day in, day out. It would have been more than easy for them to remain that way. But they didn't, they chose to follow Jesus- the path less-travelled. And they didn't become rich. They didn't get bags of fan mail telling them how wonderful they were. Most of the time, wherever they went, there would be people who hated them and what they did. Now let's take a moment to try to imagine what you would have felt like, if Jesus told you, "go and make disciples of all nations", and you said, "okay, Lord, I'll do as You ask of me," and you go to places all over trying to tell people the Good News so that they can be saved, and you end up receiving hostile treatment.

Makes you wonder why they never gave up, doesn't it?

I don't know if mine is the absolute right answer, but I think that they held on because they remembered, and they believed. They remembered the Commission that Jesus had given to them: To go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20).

Wait, Lord. All nations? Wow. Um. Y'know... I'm not sure if I can really do that. Kind of difficult to do that, don't you think? What if I die? Those stones can be really lethal...

A modified version, but probably what most of us would have felt- I know that that would probably have been my immediate, no-need-to-think-about-it, response. But thank God the disciples didn't do that, otherwise history would have been changed forever.

The point is, the disciples probably knew it wouldn't be easy. Even if they hadn't, I'm sure they found out soon enough. But they didn't give up, because they remembered and believed.

It's easy for us to say yes, Lord, we'll do anything and everything for You, even going through a fire!

The stone comment earlier wasn't random, you know. James, the brother of Jesus, was stoned to death. And the stones in those days weren't like the nice cute little pebbles, or even like the gravel on roads. They were big, rough, and probably sharp. Paul was beheaded. If I remember correctly, one of the disciples was dipped in a vat of boiling oil- and still did not die. Peter was imprisoned, tortured, and finally crucified upside-down, because he deemed himself unworthy of dying in the same way as his Lord and Master had.

In His love and mine,
Mel

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Do we mean what we sing?

2007-06-21T16:51:00.000+08:00

Heya guys! Terms are only in 4 days time!! Should be almost done with your studies by now =p If you need any help you can ask me! I’ll try to help if I can to the best of my ability for Bio, Chem, Maths and Econs.. For GP/Chinese… go away XD Some of you are prolly wondering how come I’m posting though exams are so near…

Well you see, while I checked back on this website 1 or 2 days ago.. I finally updated my Adobe lol so yeah was the first time I heard the song being played.. Then I felt that God wanted me to talk about this.

You know the beautiful music that you hear right now? Yes, all of us are probably familiar with the song “Here I am to Worship”. This song has been used in many worship sessions indeed.

Now, the thing is, has this song been sung/played so many times that it has lost its meaning? Well the meaning in the song itself has definitely not been lost. But what about to us?

Take a moment to go through the lyrics of this song.

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Chorus:
Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
Oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor
(Chorus)

Bridge:
I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross (x4)

Call upon the name of the LORD and be saved (x8)
(Bridge)

Sometimes we sing this song and just hear it as a melodious tune. Have you ever stopped to think about what each and every part of the song actually means? Just like the bible, not a single word goes to waste in our worship songs. There may be different ways as to how people see this song but here is how I view the words of this wonderful song:

“Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness, opened my eyes let me see”

Jesus is the One who gives the world light and lets us see. He came down to this sin filled world just for our sake and taught the people how to tell right from wrong.

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”

“Beauty that made this heart adore You”

Ok, honestly, I don’t have a very clear idea what this part really means. But if you ask me, I’ll say it’s because we were sinners before. And the LORD is so holy that all sin and evil shun Him. We are an exception though. Through the grace and love of God, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us that we may be able to love Him though we have sinned.

“Hope of a life spent with You”

One aim of all Christians is definitely to spend the eternal life that God promised us with Him. It’s not so much about heaven or the gift but Christ who is the giver.

Read Exodus 33:1-6
In these verses, the LORD told Moses to lead the people to the promised land but He would not go with them. The people had the gift but not the giver and hence chose not to go.

“Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God”

Our Father in heaven is truly the One and only who is worthy of our songs of praise and worship! Before Him, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess He is God!

Psalm 95:6
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

“You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me”

Our love goes out to the LORD everyday! He is worthy of all our praises and worship and is a God of endless wonders.

"King of all days, oh so highly exalted, glorious in heaven above"

Even from the start, Jesus was King over the whole universe! After He died for us on the cross, He rose again and is now attended to by the angels of heaven who unceasingly sing His praise, glorifying Him every moment.

"Humbly You came to the earth You created, all for love's sake became poor"

How many kings in the past would leave their royal palace and riches just to join the peasants in their daily toil with absolutely nothing? Not a single king, but only one King. After creating the earth, Christ came down to our level just to show us the love He had for us. He left behind His throne in heaven, His unlimited riches and became one of us.

“I’ll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon that cross”

In my opinion, these are the strongest words in the song. Our King actually died on the cross for our sins. God loves us so much that he cannot bear to see us pulled away from His side by sin for the price of sin is death. Jesus paid this price for us by taking our sin and was forsaken by His heavenly Father because of that.

“Call upon the name of the LORD and be saved”

We were all sinners before only waiting for judgement to come upon us. But we were saved the moment we acknowledged Christ as our saviour and because we shout out to the LORD for forgiveness, He has given it to us!

Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This song is only one of the thousands of songs out there which were composed to praise the LORD. Whenever we sing a song of praise, let us not sing it without really thinking about the words and much less not meaning it at all. No more sessions of empty worship!

Happy studying!
God bless =)

-Jack

Exam woes!!

2007-06-16T22:25:00.000+08:00

Well to start off, I would just like to say... that doughnut story is really nice and meaningful =)

Well brothers and sisters, mugging really hard I guess? Jiayou! Only 1-2 more weeks of hardcore mugging!

I'm sure there are quite a few of you who feel the same way as me... exasparated... stressed... worn out... messed up... can't think of anymore cause my vocab is really bad (which is prolly why I do so badly for my GP)...

ANYWAYS, even as we go through this period of terms and stuff, remember that God, in His boundless love and grace, will always be there for you! Whenever you seek strength and encouragement, approach Him and He will definitely give you more than you asked for! Our God is truly our All in all. Amen? Recall one verse in the bible:

Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Most importantly though, no matter how busy you are, always remember to set aside time for Him! God delights in our fellowship with Him so QT remains one of the most important things in our daily life =)

Oh! A reminder/note to everyone who reads this. We're meeting FireAC from ACS(I) on the 4th of July (not june sorry) cause we're linking up with them. So feel free to come if you want to! If you need more information on this meeting, drop me an email at jack_choo@hotmail.com

God bless!

-Jack

pushups for a donut (:

2007-06-14T20:28:00.000+08:00

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the Western United States. Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course in his or her freshman year regardless of his or her major. Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.

One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200. That's pretty good, Steve," Dr. Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" again asked Dr. Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it."Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson' s class.

Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

"Sure." Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"Joe said, "Yes."Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Dr. Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?" Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?" Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want." With perfect obedience, Steve started to do ten pushups.

Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!" Dr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" Sternly, Jenny said, "No." Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more Push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten....Jenny got a donut.

By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.

Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely. Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want." And Dr. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on.

Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?"

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut"Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

Jason, new to the room hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he said, "give me a donut."

"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut "Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was profusely dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was no sound except his heavy breathing, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a donut?"

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Professor Christianson quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.

Then Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him?"

Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes. Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, pleaded to the Father, 'into thy hands I commend my spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."

Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile. "Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor, adding "Not all sermons are preached in words."

Turning to his class the professor said, "My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid. Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it laying on the desk?"

- Author Unknown

I hope this story touches you as much as it has moved me. :)

-helsa

Why pray?+Testimonies:)

2007-06-08T09:52:00.002+08:00

Thanks God for this awesome blog!

This is Li Lin in the house blogging! It has been a really long time ever since I have blogged. I think it’s beautiful how God moves and loves every single one of us. He loves us regardless of our education, literacy level and career positions.

I have been watching two online church sermons about prayer. The first one is called “Why Pray?” By Sister Tenny Spears. The second one is called “What happens when you pray” by Sister Terri Spears (Sister Tenny’s daughter). They have truly created a vast impact on me and have changed my perspective of what prayer means. Now I know and believe wholeheartedly on how prayer changes things. I shall talk more about that later.

I would like to share a testimony with all of you.

Recently, I went to the Pre-University Seminar. It’s an event where all the different JCs, polytechnics, IP schools and vocational institutes gather together to present on particular themes on Singapore, which was previously assigned to them. ACJC presented on “A Cosmopolitan Singaporean”. All of us AC-sians were dispersed into different seminar groups. We had different seminars, presentations and learning journeys to various places, such as Hwa Chong International school. The fun thing was, all the seminar groups had to come up with an innovative presentation for a project by the end of three days. I had SO MUCH FUN filming crappy and funny videos with my group members!I had just gone for a seminar group gathering last week. I really do miss them!

I thank God for presenting us with the many opportunities to see Him moving in Pre-u Seminar! There were 11 of us sitting in for a group of sharing. Most importantly, I thank God for showing me to the hungry:) Nothing encourages me more than their hunger and desire to know more about You.

There is this guy from MI who has been through a lot of adversities and struggles in life. He had recently accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour on Easter day, but was banned from going to church. His mother told him she wouldn’t allow him to go to any church unless it was near his house. He lives in Punggol, and guess what, my church is on the NEL line too! Tabernacle of Joy church is in Chinatown. Brendon from church is willing and enthusiastic in giving him bible study lessons. Please pray for him! If you want his name, please do come and ask me! This guy loves God so much and he draws really beautiful portraits of Jesus and other Biblical characters.

There is this other guy from SAJC who was super duper interested in hearing and listening to me telling him testimonies. I’m not sure how we even began talking about God. It was in the middle of a seminar. I began telling him testimonies of how God sent a revival to Cedar. There was that testimony of how God stopped the rain just on time for the school’s outdoor NDP celebrations to commence in 2005. That was that testimony of how my geography notes were lost and most likely stolen just the week before my common test. God had been so merciful to still provide me with my sister’s geography notes and the test marks really showed His almighty grace and mercy.

He often has a nagging doubt on how it is possible to feel God so tangibly. He says that he will look at Christians praying intensely and wonder how they are able to feel God in such a personal way. I told him it is something that cannot be explained logically, for God works at the heart and is about faith. And when faith carries us forward, God will give us a personal revelation about Himself. There have been too many miracles in Cedar and I know God is a miraculous God-He will keep pouring out miracles when He hears our prayers and requests.

I was re-united with my primary one classmate at the Pre-university seminar. I could still recognize him because he still looks the same all these years! We exchanged numbers. Later on this week, I was mass inviting a lot of friends to an amazing race called ZERO HOUR organized by my church. To my surprise, he called me and said he was going to register online. He was coming for Zero Hour!!! PRAISE GOD!!! My friend from SAJC is coming too!!! Their two replies produced an alchemy of inexplicable joy in me!!!

I think God’s plans are so great and big! Like how He had arranged for him and I to reunite after 10 years of an absence of communication. He is undergoing many trials in life too and I think it’s time for God to come center stage in his life. Zero Hour will be the first stepping stone. Please pray for his heart to be softened and find the answer in God!!!

As I am an ENFJ, as described by the Myer-Briggs personality test, I crave and desire for one-to-one talks with people. God was so good to let me have heart-to-heart talks and sharing of testimonies with two of my other seminar group friends.

Helsa is linking up with a girl in her group too and is going to invite her to church. Please pray for the girl too!

I was really inspired by Kenneth from Fire AC who shared with us his testimonies. In fact, I’m even more fascinated by Fire AC, the Christian ministry first formed by the BB boys this year in ACS (I). He made sure we had daily Christian fellowship sessions at the amphitheatre in the NTU hostel.

He reminds me so much of Gareth, our big brother in CF. Oh man…I really miss the J2 CF seniors….

Here are some snippets of the sermon I watched…

*IF ANYONE WANTS A COPY, I CAN BURN THE SERMON FOR YOU.ALTERNATIVELY, I CAN GIVE YOU THE WEBSITE ADDRESS AND YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT. PLEASE JUST ASK. I’M BURNING THEM FOR MY OTHER FRIENDS:)

WHY PRAY?

Ezekiel 22:30-31

God is totally just. If you sin, you have to face the consequences. However, when we pray, we intercede and have the privilege of being the defense attorney in mercy. We can plead for God’s mercy.

God has to exercise judgment if no one pleads mercy.

God desires to exercise mercy. His love seeks for an intercessor to intervene.

John 14:13-14,John 15:7,John 16:23-24,James 4:2,Luke 10:19

We pray so that we can pray for His will to be brought to earth, just as it is in heaven. God begins working when we start praying. God wants us to pray for His will in fulfillment. Whatever we ask for which will glorify Him, we can consider the deed done. Just leave the timing and season up to God.

Revelations 8:3

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.

There isn’t one prayer, which has ever been wasted.

God loves us so much that he keeps all our precious prayers in a golden censer. That really spoke to me because I have been falling short and become tired and weary after praying the same prayers day in and day out for four years. But I know they will come to pass and I shall leave the timing up to God. How comforting it is to know that my loved ones will come to know Him all just because I have prayed and made that request to God!

Ezekiel 36

God says “I will” so many times. He has such great plans to prosper His people.

But in...

Ezekiel 36:37,
Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock.”

We have to ask God in prayer for the nations, loved ones and schools before He can give them to us!!! He is waiting to bless us, He is just waiting for us to ask Him!!!!

Take care people:)

Love love,Li Lin

Everything To Me

2007-06-04T12:28:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone, me again! :) This time I figured I'd share a song that means a lot to me. It's called Everything to Me, by a Christian band Avalon. It's a beautiful song that carries a very powerful message of God's love and the way it has transformed us from the inside out (yes Li Lin, your favourite song). Usually I'd go through the song verse by verse, talking about what each line means to me- but I think I'll let the lyrics speak for themselves. Hopefully you'll see what I mean in the end.

To all those whose lives have been touched by Him, in one way or another.

I grew up in Sunday school
I memorized the golden rule
And how Jesus came to set the sinner free
I know the story inside out
I can tell you all about
The path that led Him up to Calvary

But ask me why He loves me
And I don't know what to say
But I'll never be the same because
He changed my life when He became

Everything to me
He's more than a story
More than words on a page of history
He's the air that I breathe
The water I thirst for
And the ground beneath my feet
He's everything... Everything to me

We're living in uncertain times
More and more I find that I'm
Aware of just how fragile life can be
I want to tell the world I've found
Love that turned my life around
They need to know that they can taste and see

Now everyday I'm praying
Just to give my heart away
I want to live for Jesus
So that someone else might see that he is... (go to chorus)

In His love and mine,
Melanie

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

CF CAMP was a blast. :)

2007-05-31T17:47:00.000+08:00

Okay so Mel asked me to update the blog. :D

Well I really have quite alot to say but I've already blogged about it on my own blog.

So I guess you guys can get over there to read my post on the 2007 CF camp. :)

http://li0nheart.bizhat.com

God bless!
-Skyler

Three Trees

2007-05-23T16:51:00.000+08:00

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty." Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull." Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me." (Does that sound familiar to some of us? :))

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest. At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship. When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Much as I wish I'd written this story, I didn't. It's one of my favourites, you can find it at http://www.skywriting.net/inspirational/stories/three_trees.html. There are many other inspirational stories there, go check it out if you have the time!
Anyway, I put this story up because nobody else is posting anything (except for maomao's post which was eons ago). So hopefully this will get the ball rolling, so post whatever you like NOW! Just make sure it isn't insulting, duh. Haha.

In His love and mine,
Melanie

Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see. Hebrews 11:1

under construction

2007-02-19T19:52:00.000+08:00

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

lets pray

2007-01-25T09:04:00.001+08:00

Lets pray
That God will tread and upon soil and make it fertile
Lets pray
That In all things, we serve our King in love
Lets pray
That we never ever stop praying!

Gareth