Life is like a TV show

Monday, July 13

My view about Terence's writing. @ 20:45

I came across a few articles online which aimed to challenge Christianity and this is my view about the whole thing. I may not be a great writer but at least, I get the message across that you guys may understand.

Initially many people considered about his view which was written in a different angle from what we have learned in church. Sometimes, what he wrote seems to make sense however when we put our experiences, encounters and conviction as the base of reasoning, we realise that we cannot agree with his view.

As a Christian, I believe in having balance and order in everything we do because God has such a character and personality. The moment an extreme is considered, chaos and misleading truths will arise. For example, in the case of Christ in culture, on one hand, we have lawlessness, on the other, we have religiosity. But we need to balance ourselves between these two extremes to maintain our boundary as we are in the world but not of the world. In this way, we are able to chew gum and walk at the same time. Literally; we bring Christ into culture and society and grow in our relationship and understanding of God.

Regarding the issue that people are affected, or in a more serious case, stumbled by what he wrote in his articles, I think we ought to remember our encounters or experience with God and the reasoning that we based our faith on in our daily life. Like what Pastor said last Saturday, the stronger you are in faith, the lesser the reasons you need to have.

It is true that we refer the message and interpretation that preachers preach back to the Word because many false teachers will arise in the end days. However, it should not solely be referred back to our own understanding and knowledge or even research. Because it can be a biased view if we establish our debate, argument or even faith on what others claim or say without referring back to the Word. This is Christianity that he is challenging, not any science fact or knowledge. So you compare apple with apple, not apple with an orange.

It is true that human has rights especially rights to freedom of speech or what they want to write. However, because we have freedom, we have choice. We make decisions and choices in what we want to say or write and not because it is a duty or requirement due to freedom.

Honestly, I would have taken a whole different approach if I want to grow in my faith through reasoning.

Firstly, if you want to challenge Christianity, it would mean challenging a religion when our focus is not a religion but a relationship with the One. Laws are included to guide and set a certain standard in life but not to control or bound us down. Hence, indirectly, you challenge God’s character and principle. Not really a great thing to do because God is sovereign.

Secondly, you have a choice in what you write because you have freedom. You write because you want to edify and educate but not to stumble people further especially if it is a biased stand, view or truth. So when you write, consider those who are weaker in faith, other people’s feelings and protect those whom you love. You write those articles not at the expense of them.

Thirdly, you got to go back to the beginning why you started all this. To me, it seems to steer in the focus to an obsession to scrutinize what the pastors have preached. The writer started all these writings because he wanted to reason everything that he has learned since young and verify its consistency. In the beginning, it was not meant to sway to such an extreme as it should be a balanced view. Therefore, know which camp you are in, so as not to confuse your stand or even identity & meaning!

Fourthly, the writer has forgotten and forsaken everything that he has experienced with God so far and missed the point that we were saved by grace through FAITH. God knew that we could not handle the magnitude of the truth and He also chose not to throw pearls to the swine hence most of the times (NOT EVERYTIME) we walk by faith and not by sight. Certain things that we do not understand would have to be taken through the faith approach. Just like Moses could not understand or even comprehend how he could bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt except to have faith based on what God has spoken to him. Furthermore, if the vision is for an appointed time, things happen according to timing, not immediately. It would then be absurd to verify what was spoken with what is currently happening or what will happen next.

Lastly, when we read of the scripture, we take the WHOLE truth and NOT only parts of the scripture which benefits us or parts that we like. An example of the consequence of such behaviour is the cheap grace mentality. His argument seems to arise out of the bits and pieces of information that he hear from the sermon. He took the part that he wanted to debate on and started writing without considering that the preacher preached both sides of the coin. Wouldn’t it be a misrepresentation of his stand about that preacher or sermon? Is an inaccurate article the thing that a journalist would aim for or take pride in at the end of the day?

In conclusion, I just want to say that if ever you want to do such a thing, consider and count the cost before writing them. You write because you want to grow in your faith through reasoning, not to stumble yourself further or stumble others and agree with your stand. Come back to where you started and be focused again.

Sunday, July 12

God spoke on 11 July 2009. @ 12:29

GOD SPOKE.

Honestly, from Thursday till yesterday, I was really praying and asking God like how? How to really grow this CG? How to really be a leader?? Is this CG really destined to small, like so small??

On Thursday, when I told my Dad that we are not having CGM at our house because we were planning to do visitation as many people couldn't make it for CG. He commented that our group is really small and we look "sian".

A certain extent is true when you have a strength of 20 and the atmosphere of excitment is there. But another extent is also true when you have a strength of 10 and fellowship & discipleship is better because attention is concised to a smaller attention.

Even when I was giving BS to Ivan, I was still questioning what was I to do? What can I do to make this CG grow once again? CG attendance don't seem to pick up and the people are wondering & probably wavering too.

During worship, I gave up everything and humbled before God in worship and simply asked "What do You want me to do? Show me!"

He showed me 2 things.

First, our relationship with & love for God precedes ministry. When Jesus gave Peter the calling for his life, Jesus first asked: "Peter DO YOU LOVE ME?" Then He commanded: "Feed them"

Ministry will always aride out of our love for Him and this is only possible if we have a relationship with Him. Never expect to have the compassion or strength to care for others when you are not filled with the love of God & the joy of the Lord.

Secondly, the result of growth is not the matter, but pleasing God is the more important thing. Even though the CG is not really growing, but I know that God is well-pleased with what I'm doing as I obeyed and willed to Him. Therefore, don't confuse man's expectation of "success" with God's expectation of "blessed".

So be careful not to fall into this confusion or lie. Sometimes, it is so convenient to place the expectations of society/group/people upon ourselves that we become an auto-pilot person/leader. As this happen, gradually, we think that we can attain success & blessings based on what we know or what is told without a need to pluck into the spiritual realm to search for the deep things of God. We slowly become blind and deaf to the things of the spiritual and end up with a hardened heart.

When we apply the same principle and expectations but no positive result seems to happen instead the negative result magnified! We stumble & wondered why God never bless or probably He is lying. Or even think whether we have applied the right principle or we are not doing well or not praying for the right things. Or even thought maybe God is testing us or challenging us to think out of the box for creativity! But we fail to see that actually we've never been walking the walk where Jesus is Lord.

In conclusion, be near to Him, so close that you can hear His heartbeat. Because He will, definitely will reveal the deep things to those who are faithful & loves Him.

Note: I shared many times about the deep things of God. But do understand that this revelation should agree with the Word & it is not only revealed to you alone, but to those who are faithful. Therefore it should not be a revelation that is so unique that no one has ever heard.

Friday, July 10

Night Cycling experience on 09.07.06 @ 00:51

I went night cycling on 6th July 2009!!!!!

WOW!! Great experience I must say. It was really a time to learn endurance and push the limits physically.

I cycled from my home to the Kallang Stadium MacDonald at the Old Airport Road to meet my friend and we continued cycling to the near-by petrol station to pump air for my bicycle wheels.

We took the Tanjiong Katong Road route to East Coast Park.

Then from ECP, it connected to Tanah Merah where we can view the entire Airport Terminal One to Three which I think is considered the Changi Coast Connector which connects East Coast Park to Changi Beach.

When we reached this area, it was almost 11pm to 12pm, so the entire route was extremely dark. On one side, you can see the airport, on the other side, you can see the dark forest in the dim lights. In fact, some places don't even have street lights at the pathway that we were cycling on!

We reached the Changi Beach Park and headed to Changi Village to grab a bite and drink. By then it was almost 12.30am to 1.30am, my legs were already aching and I was feeling tired physically.

A cat was sleeping peacefully on the seat beside my friend! WUAHAHAHAHA.. It is not scared of people.

After a Nasi Lemak meal & a cup of ice Teh-O, we continued cycling through Nicoll Drive, passing by the Old Changi Hospital (OCH)! It was a horrifying experience because there were swamps of flying insects lingering at the road next to OCH. We went past around three parts of the road that was invested by these insects! *DISGUSTED!*

From there, it connected to the Loyang Connector which led us to Tampines Avenue 2 and I passed by my old territory; Tampines Junior College!

We took the Simei route instead of Bedok and passed by Expo which led us to Tanah Merah. When we were cycling towards Simei, there was an interesting thing that happened. There was a rat that ran across the pathway and circled around the lamp-post and ran back again. It was like doing a shuttle run like what we did for NAFA!! WUAHAHAHAH.. So stupid!!! And my friend commented that it is a hamster?! OH MAN.. A HAMSTER with a long tail???? (Edited by the courtesy of my friend) It was so obvious that it is a RAT!!! A dumb rat!!!!

From Tanah Merah, it connected us to Bedok, Kembangan, Eunos, Paya Lebar, Aljunied & Kallang (following the MRT route).

At Kallang, my friend and I splitted and took a different route to get home. I continued to cycle to Boon Keng Road and headed back home!

By that time, it was already 4.15am.

Do you have any idea what is the total distance we have cycled???? It is a TOTAL OF 54.7KM!!!!!

This is the breakdown:

From my house to Dunman Road = 5.1km

From Dunman Road to the entire ECP Connector towards Changi Connector = 12.5km

From the end of ECP Connector to Nicoll Drive = 10.9km

From Nicoll Drive to start of Tampines Avenue 5 (using the Loyang Connector) = 10.4km

From Tampines Avenue 5 to Expo (through Simei Avenue) = 3.3km

From Expo to Kampong Eunos = 6.1km

From Kampong Eunos to Boon Keng Road = 4.4km

From Boon Keng Road to my house = 2km

I took a photo of myself outside the lift after the whole cycling trip!

A tired face after bathing and waiting for my hair to dry so that I can sleep!!

This is the front white light that I borrowed from my brother.

This is the rear light I used.

I am pointing to the area where there is a bump because it is bruised. It will take a few days for the purple colour to surface!

There is a red patch near my wrist because of my watch!

Both my hands were RED!

I managed to sleep at 5am plus because I need to wait for my hair to dry before sleeping and woke up at 9.30am BECAUSE it was LW's CONVOCATION!!!! WHOooosh.. DEAD TIRED!!

Thursday, July 9

FUN. @ 16:18

I really think that sometimes God has a fun-loving character, someone who enjoys ADVENTURE.

Honestly, as I've mentioned that many of us had great expectations for service last week that we will have a breakthrough attendance since we had a great CGM on Thursday! But it didn't happen that way.

On Tuesday, God showed me a vision of empowering my helpers to do a greater work which is as simple as being led by the Holy Spirit during CGM today. I was so excited when I shared with them yesterday, they were super excited too!

Today, actual CGM people coming is only 4! Because Michael & Alvin was not feeling well, Alyscia had to view houses. I had to inform Ian about the condition and change our plans of not moving in the Spirit during CGM but into 1 to 1 visitations.

The funny thing is that we all felt that the CG is on the way to breakthrough! We prayed, fasted and seek for this breakthrough to come to past but the vision is tarrying.

Perhaps, the vision is for an appointed time! We cannot grow weary of well doing because a miracle is already in the process of happening.

When I received news that CGM is gonna only be 4 of us, I was kinda lost of what to do until I prayed.

I knew that God was dealing with some issues and training the leadership to handle these issues before giving us the breakthrough that He has spoken to us. It was a matter of preparation that was needed to be completed so that when the growth is given to us, we will not flop again instead we will have the capacity, ability and strength to handle it.

Luke 11:9-13

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

We all know that when God give, it will never be 1 or 2 grains, but it will always be BAGS OF HARVEST because He will NEVER SHORT CHANGE us! And every stumbling block will be our stepping stone. Every disappointment will be made to a NEW appointment!

So lets tarry and wait for it because it will surely come to past!

Monday, July 6

Random. @ 16:57

I was listening to 1 of the soundtrack of Twilight which gave me the "feeling" to blog.

Today, I felt a certain urge to say that I want to get attached! Haha. Sometimes, having someone who really know you in and out, someone who is physically present with you, will make you feel like nothing is impossible because you are never alone. But sometimes, I really wonder if there is really someone out there that I'm looking for?

Was fellowshipping with LW at One Fulleton on Saturday. I was dead tired at 12.45am and really really wished someone who drives can just send me home. Little things that guys do to make you feel loved.

I ever told Ian that I'm a team player, not so much of an individual player. When the CG was totally not doing well last year, I felt discouraged, alone & even lost about what to do. At that time, I really really hoped God could send someone to really be there and encourage me. But I knew that He will never give me something that I was not ready to handle, when it was just not the time yet.

But God, being the gentleman, was patient and showered me with love, acceptance and His presence. He is constantly there. Even to the extent to say that it was not my fault that things turn out this way. Even so much to say that He holds everything in His hands and everything is under control. The mess that I created is dealt with day by day through prayer and fasting by His grace and mercy.

Last Saturday, it was suppose to be a big day but it ended up as a big disappointment for many of us in the CG. The attendance was dropping, we felt hopeless and lost at what to do. But like what this song says "Hold on. You've got it all, just hold on." I told them that this is just the 1 time thing which does not mean that the CG is going back to backsliding again. It is a test. Our perseverance, endurance, patience, obedience and our trust on Him is put to the test.

It is a decision. What say you? What do you choose?

I chose to say that the CG is still breaking through, breaking the fallow ground and the walls of Jericho will come tumbling down! It was never impossible for a miracle to happen after you been through 1 year of trials and testing, and you still find God faithful and still being there.

He says that those who love the Lord will by no means enter the gates of Heaven AND they will also know the deep things of God. He has a plan which He dosen't mind sharing with those who are faithful to seek after it.

He has a plan. Even a plan to bring 2 person who complements each other together. Sometimes, when we wait a little longer, we start to doubt. But when the plan is not revealed, we start to waver wondering if miracle is ever going to happen. So know His heartbeat. He will tell you what is going on.

Wednesday, July 1

About me today. @ 00:55

Many of the times, I told myself that i didn't want to fight for things with people. So when people wanted it that way, I'll give it that way.

Some say that I'm a too nice person that I'll always move aside and let people have their way. Because to me, I never wanted or needed to have a recognition or even a reward.

Sometimes, I was given the responsibility to do certain things and some people would gradually take over and others would think that this person was in-charged. And to me is, if you really want to do it, then ok lor, let you do it ah. Because there is no need to fight over such things. And to me, I have no need to do such things to prove anything.

But today, during leaders' meeting, God showed me a whole different point of view. This whole thing about giving people the responsibility that was first asigned to me actually created an impact in me subconsciously.

Everytime when it happens, I would take a step back and be a follower rather than a leader. This happened so many times that I was used to be a follower, a sheep-dog rather than a sheperd. After a while, when I was given a task to do, I would question myself if I am capable to accomplish such things when in the past this are little things. As a result, I was afraid to make mistakes, to be accessed or judged by others. I was also afraid to open up totally to God, to let Him do what He wants do, to let Him deal with what He wants to deal or even to let Him have His way.

Fear builds up, complacency sets in.

It time to push the limits for myself and start to take ownership of what God has given and be a leader, rather than conveniently take a step back and blend with the wall paper.

It is time to be like the woman of the issue of blood who crawled her way through just to touch the garments of Jesus to be healed. It is time for me to step out of my comfort zone and be a sheperd once again. For I am called and chosen for a purpose like this. And God knows us so well that He knows we are the best candidates for the situations that was given to us.

Now is the time to do greater things. To do the things that I have never imagined that I could do. To be a sheperd and give directions and vision.

Lastly, MingJing shared a word during leaders' meeting today.

One thing that really impacted me is "The Word becoming flesh"! Sometimes, God spoke to us about something, yet the Word did not take root in us because we did not work on it or even do the things that God directed; the Word did not become flesh. So what is God speaking to you now which have not become flesh? Allow the Word to take root!

Also, he shared that it is tough to rise up from a helper to a leader because there are many things to pick up and learn. But many of the times, we are excited when we are rising up. One very truth that he said was, it is even much tougher to sustain as a leader for a long long time because it is like a marathon race. So we constantly need the zoe life of God to sustain this long walk with God until we join Him in Heaven!

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Life is like a TV show

Monday, July 13

My view about Terence's writing. @ 20:45

Sunday, July 12

God spoke on 11 July 2009. @ 12:29

Friday, July 10

Night Cycling experience on 09.07.06 @ 00:51

Thursday, July 9

FUN. @ 16:18

Monday, July 6

Random. @ 16:57

Wednesday, July 1

About me today. @ 00:55

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