Life is like a TV show

Sunday, March 28

We are right behind. @ 19:47

Just ended a long session of clarification and make certain decisions together. Decisions which are absolutely clear and obvious even without any explanation or transparency in full. Simply because we trust the leadership which has gone through fire and the very man who has been making many extreme sacrifices. Basically, the leadership whom I have trusted and encouraged by ever since a young age of 15.

Looking at Sun, I'm not a fanatic fan who'll follow her news closely, but the way she lived her life has touched me very much. Especially when she came back to worship with us during the leader's appreciation meeting. The very thing she said is still intact on the tablet of my heart. "Let's take back what belongs to the kingdom of God from the hands of the Devil because we are the children of God".

Pastor who is the person whom I do not have close fellowship or encounter with has always inspired me. His preaching was not the only element that inspired me to go on in this ministry which some would say requires the most sacrifices or even my walk with God. It is his lifestyle which inspired me so much. So much that I felt ashamed when I look at myself because of the measure of his discipline, sacrifices and the successes he has made. I simply whine at little things I face. Little, compared to him. Members would say that I can be a mature spiritual friend but when I see the things he do, the answers & responses toward certain matters, I felt that I am just a babe.

Looking at the co-founders of the church, I could not comprehend why critics would need to be so hard on them. Many would say that it was due to the massive influence they have on society and people. And some would stereotype that every non-profit organisation has to go through a deep and hugh scrutiny after the NKF and Ren Ci case reported a few years back. However, do they consider what impact will their critics be if critics are not constructed in love?

Having done all, yet have not love, is nothing.

Everything voice back to what God says. I think it would be ridiculous to judge a economical problem with a marketing knowledge because there are certain things are taught the opposite of each other. Similarly, don't use the wisdom of the world to judge what God says because no matter how you break things down, it will never seem to make much sense. What the World says is true: Foolishness to the world is wisdom to God while wisdom of the world is foolishness to God because the carnal mind is enmity to God. That's precisely why we need to share the gospel because this world has been perverted.

Things are also about balance. While God wants us to be knowlegeable as knowledge is power, wise in the decisions we make, God also wants us to have a child-like faith. "It is even more difficult for a 'rich' man to enter the kingdom of God rather than a carmel to go through the eye of the needle." Do you comprehend what is He trying to say?

Just because Pastor is the representative of the church, he had to go through much scrutiny and negative claims and false accusations. I was grieved when I realise the accusations made against him because people did not find out the facts before criticising.

When a miracle did not come true, the people complain. When the people needed an answer yet found nothing, the people complain. When someone took the first step even though it was difficult to set the example to help others, the people complained even more. So what exactly do you want?

It was the same thing I spoke to some of my members about. When nothing was done, you complained nothing was done. But when a change came resulting from a decision to do something, you complained even more because something was done. So what exactly do you want? How then can you be pleased while there are many oppositions from what you request? Who then should we please since there are so many different type of request, some, an exact opposite to one another?

Have you been in such situations? Do you like it? Reflect.

Again, the biggest hurt that we can get are from the people that are dearest to us. I could not comprehend core members of the church criticising certain topics publicly and hurting the leadership who is driving the whole church, hurting the man who started the church which without him, we wouldn't be who we are today or where we are today or what we are doing today.

On one hand, I agree about the freedom of speech issue which has always been the issue for decades of years. But on the other hand, I would hope that people would think before questioning issues that have no ground facts. And I urge these people to get their facts right before questioning otherwise you will seem like an ignorant critic trying to question anything that is on the surface. However, I am not against clarification as some would very much hope to know. But again, if we are bounded by law, how then can we reveal? Do you understand?

At the end of the meeting today, it really stir up the leadership to stand in unity. The very thing that tries to break or divide us would be powerless in the place of agreement. The leadership stood with Pastor and his vision and would be very glad to run together. Honestly, I would still stand with the church even if I am a member just for a fact that I wouldn't be who I am today if not for this spiritual family.

I must emphasize that the substantial amount of time, effots and sacrifices put into this family does not result out of a herd mentality, some call it peer pressure. Neither am I following blindly without understanding or much thinking. When we did not outrightly voice out or be critical towards certain topics does not mean we do not consider the things we are doing. And certain critics are absolutely uneccessary to get people thinking.

I do not represent anybody except myself to say that I am not again the people criticising Pastor, Sun or the church, but I am against their mindset, actions and some of the words they use toward certain topics discussed.

But again, moving to Suntec is a JOYOUS news!! We rejoice and are happy and are not afraid or fearful to possess that place despite of the battlefield going on in the cyberspace.

Tuesday, March 16

Too much.. @ 13:48

It is too much for me to comprehend...

Sometimes we often wonder why is God not answering us or even showing us the glimpse of our future? Sometimes we wonder why is God not moving for us? Why does He take so long to do a miracle? Why does it seem to have a delay?

Everything voice down to the question whether can you take the truth? Are you able to comprehend what He is going to show you? Are you able to rise up to the occassion and not fear the moment He show you a great possibility which you never thought could ever happen.
Hence, He starts from the little and said "Never despise the days of small beginnings". Because these are the days which He taught you simple things that can hold the entire truth and gives you strength to walk the tough walk in the valley yet keep your feet in the right path when you are at the mountain top.

I made a simple request on Saturday to Him to assure me that He is still with me to do the great things after more than 1 year of fighting a fight which seem to go on without His presence and blessings. His little answer to my request has overwhelmed me so much. Indeed, He always out-do our expectations and never failed us in any way.

Since Saturday, I have been receiving a word which would be reconfirmed by Pastor.

On Saturday, the word "renew your mind" burned deeply in my heart was reconfirmed by Pastor Margaret Court who used the exact words and verse to re-emphasize a point.

Yesterday, Pastor preached the word about restoring our youth population and youthful nature by raising the standards of the youth was exactly what I shared with my cell group after the cell group meeting with E366.

He went on to stir up the hearts of the youth and the passion to serve God with commitment. We needed to pray more, read the bible and instil certain spiritual disciplines especially in the youth who seemed to be untamed animals. But what was more interesting was the fact that I smsed my helpers the exact same things like pray, worship, reading the bible in the morning! Michael and Christine can vouch for that.

It didn't stop here.

After the meeting with Pastor, Liwei, Vincent, Christine and I met up to decide whether or not to go ahead with the IC Zone event on Wednesday. Honestly, deep in my heart, my focus was not on the event and thus I didnt really believe that the event was going to be successful. However, when cancelling the event was definitely not the best solution and definitely not a wise decision, we knew that we could only advance with vision, strength and support for one another and not back-out.

As the decision was fixed, I started to believe in the event and start to run with vision for it.

On Tuesday night, I called the main helpers in my cell group and spoke to them individually to inspire and place a certain vision for the event on Wednesday. As I spoke to Yaowen, God reminded me about Acts 2:1, the Day of Pentecost, the day when the people gathered in one place in one accord to wait for the Holy Spirit.

It suddenly became a vision to me for the Wednesday event as I saw in my Spirit man, the Holy Spirit descending onto the youth of IC zone and revival in the whole generation of young people who went for the meeting. At that time, the event on Wednesday was meant to be performances, preaching of the word and altar call. I didn't know how it would be possible to become a spirit empowering moment of power, a new vision and authority.

Wednesday came and Ian could not make it to lead the preaching of the word as Damian hasn't recovered. The event was changed to a prayer meeting. And I was assigned to pray for the spiritual atmosphere and unity of the youth in IC zone, an exact picture of what I saw on Tuesday night.

However, things did not turn out to be how I thought it would usually be. No laying on of hands. No strong power of God hovering over the people like how I always have it during cell group meeting. It was a hard-going yet simple occassion to press into the presence of God.

However, I believe that it was the beginning of a breakthrough though we cannot see it now. It was the beginning of a greater thing which God knew in His heart that this zone, this church of young people are ready and prepared to take up the challenge.

Oh! Not forgetting. I had 9 people who came for the event when initially only 5-6. Out of 9 people, 2 were friends, 1 irregular. 9 people without 1 who went for HCGL class, 1 in army, 1 serving CCH ministry and 1 unwilling due to NS. And I think I had the most people to attend the event last night given that my cell group is small and most of them showed up.

Truly, FAITH is for now NOW NOW!!!!

*God continue to show Yourself strong, great and mighty before Your people that they might know that You are God. Even though I cannot really comprehend things, but I enjoy and am excited everytime I see the things coming to past according to what You are showing me as I open up my spiritual eyes. The exact things.

Wednesday, March 10

My Life, Your Song. @ 13:41

The moment when Pastor announced our new place of worship, I knew that will be the beginning of the blessings that God has promised to many of us.

We have been tried, tested and passed the very challenge that He has set for the whole church.

Just before the Arise and Build started, or SUNTEC is announced, many members of the church faced difficult times and some were on the verge of giving up their destiny, calling and purpose.

I still remember about 2 weeks before "The Day", I was struggling with the thought whether I could even make it to stay as a leader as I battled the expectations of man, God and myself. On that Friday, I told my fellow friend in the leadership that I might just step down and have my group disbanded if my leader insist to have a change in the dynamics of my group. On that Saturday, I spoke with my leader and knew immediately that he gave grace to me and my people through God's grace when he said, "I could only give you another 3 months to try it out again.". I didn't know or even comprehend and understand the measure of grace that was given to me then. On that very same Saturday, Pastor preached about our First Love for God by sharing about the church of Ephesus in Revelations.

The following Tuesday, the leaders met up with our zone sup and spoke with him individually regarding our group growth, tithing and our own personal life. On that very Tuesday, I came to realise that certain groups will be having major re-shuffling. The very group which many would least expect to be affected was fixed and the change was immediate as the admin papers were submitted the following day.

It was suppose to be my group to be disbanded but it was given a second chance. I was given a second chance to give it a try again even though I have been trying upteen times for the past few months since Nov 2008, the month the group officially multiplied into E399 and W518.

I could not understand why was I given another chance when some others seem to deserve more. I could only say it was by God grace that I am still able to serve as a leader with my existing group today even though I battled the thought of giving up all the time.

"His grace is sufficient and His mercies endures forever."

I believe miracles do happen and it is time to challenge ourselves and put our faith to work again.

It is time to grow the little faith.

Sorry for being self-centred.

Felt that sometimes there are certain actions or behaviours I displayed can sometimes result to making a final decision which I feel is rather self-centred.

I felt guilty as I knew that I did not have a definite decision to certain choices as I was standing on the fence, procrastinating. Until to the point when things are taken too far, then I start to state my stand, be firm on my decision and certain boundaries which was suppose to be set a long time ago because I had to. I knew that I did this to protect myself from facing further consequences or possible hurts which could happen.

I wonder how many times I would have to go through this to learn how not to procrastinate or consider something when the outcome is obvious, when I already knew what would it become. I wonder how many times do I have to go through these events before I could face possible hurts without fear but preparedness.

How long more then I could move to the next stage? God knows.. I know He knows..

Read this amazing article online when I was checking my mail.

"How poor sleep can lead to weight gain" by Shopping Lifestyle

Research finding #1:
Women who slept 5 hours or less a night gained more weight than those who slept for at least 7 hours a day.

Research finding #2:
People who sleep 2 to 4 hours a night are 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who get seven to nine hours.

Research finding #3:
People who slept less than 6 hours a night experienced an increase in their body mass index (BMI) more than those who slept 7 to 8 hours.

Research finding #4:
People who slept less than 8 hours a day had larger increases in body fat than those who slept more.

"Lack of sleep disrupts every physiologic function in the body," says Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago. In fact, sleep loss has such an adverse effect on our ability to metabolize sugar, she says, that in one week of severe sleep deprivation (such as four hours per night), an otherwise healthy person will be in a pre-diabetic state.

"One of the more interesting ideas that has been smoldering and is now gaining momentum is the appreciation of the fact that sleep and sleep disruption do remarkable things to the body – including possibly influencing our weight," agrees David Rapoport, MD, associate professor and director of the Sleep Medicine Program at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City.

The reason: Sleep loss can reduce our bodies' capacity to perform basic metabolic functions such as regulating blood-sugar levels, storing carbohydrates and regulating hormone secretion. All of these major activities get out of whack when we're sleep-deprived. Not surprisingly, the balance of appetite-regulating hormones go haywire too so our normal cues for eating are altered.

Sometimes, an undiagnosed medical illness might also cause poor sleep habits, say the sleep experts. Someone with an underactive thyroid gland, for instance, will feel fatigued and gain weight. And someone who suffers from sleep apnea will wake up repeatedly during the night.

Sleep researchers have found that sleep deprivation (even a mild case of inadequate sleep) quickly disrupts normal levels of the appetite-regulating hormones: Increasing the levels of a hunger hormone (ghrelin) while decreasing levels of a hormone that makes you feel full (leptin). The effects can set the stage for overeating and weight gain.

"It's amazing how much people's sleep is reflected in the hormones in their blood," says Emmanuel Mignot, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Stanford University. Sleep-deprived people, he believes, eat more because they're hungrier, they're awake longer and may be tempted by foods everywhere they go.

"When you're sleep-deprived, you may overeat well in excess of the caloric demands, and, therefore, sleep loss is probably also a risk factor for weight gain and obesity," warns Van Cauter.

This could explain why when we're feeling fatigued, we don’t always make healthy food choices: We eat junk food as a pick-me-up during the day when we're feeling sleepy, fail to stick to our healthy eating plan, and snack right before bedtime.

The bottom line? Most experts agree that logging in an extra couple of hours of sleep each night isn't a bad idea, especially if you're trying to lose weight and if you get six hours of sleep of less a night. You may just discover that you aren't as hungry or you don't crave high-calorie foods anymore.

Monday, March 8

The Mediterranean Sea @ 13:51

What's the trend now?!

Black is out. The Mediterranean colors are back! Blue and White.

Drop by the shops and you will see more denim materials are back! The very old look of having baggy denim shirts with tights are skinny jeans are in the market since last year. A simple look of wearing a white shirt with denim shorts can easily be spotted on the streets of Orchard.

As these colors are back, it reminded me about the relaxing times along the beach, sitting down on the sand, hearing the sound of waves, feeling the heat of the sun, seeing the little kids playing at the shore.

I miss the days when I could pop by Sentosa with my friends during the weekdays to get some sun tan.

I miss the days when we played monkey in the beach, chicken run on the sand, simply swimming from one small island to the other.

When could that day come again?

Maybe when I have my holidays in Bali? Or when I take my diving license somewhere on Earth.

God knows when?!?

WOW! My member broke the bubble by breaking the news about where our church building would be at. Honestly, I was not that excited.

But the moment when Pastor asked to roll the video, the cheers and excitment overwhelmed me?!?!

Can you imagine? A church co-owning one of the iconic building of Singapore smack in the central area of Singapore! SUNTEC!!! WOW... Truly, God did a great miracle for us and has never failed anyone of us who continued to believe and sow into the vision.

As we saw the video, we realised the promises of God cming true! The dreams and visions that seemed to be so impossible kept tarrying until today. Through this, we know God is real and is with us wherever we go.

"From this day, I will bless you" - A prophetic word I believe, really placed a certain impression in my heart. But I cannot comprehend what blessings are installed for us as He says that He will do above and beyond what we can think or even imagine.

This is the God we serve and trust. He is BIG. Thus, the dreams and visions that He placed in those whom He called are also BIG. Pastor shared on Saturday "It will cost you nothing to dream big!". And I was reading one of the sermon preached by an overseas Pastor, "Every great things that you see today started from a dream which seemed to be so silly!"

I have my dreams.

But God says "Never despise the days of small beginnings". Big things often start from the little things. So work with what you have today to grow to where you wanna be in future rather than hoping for the future to drop from Heaven.

New imspiration.. Let's start to exercise the seed of faith that has been sowned into our hearts and see how God will move. As He always say "The battle belongs to the Lord!".

Nothing is Impossible by Planet Shakers

I'M NOT GONNA LIVE BY WHAT I SEE
I'M NOT GONNA LIVE BY WHAT I FEEL

DEEP DOWN I KNOW THAT YOU'RE HERE WITH ME
I KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING

THROUGH YOU
I CAN DO ANYTHING
I CAN DO ALL THINGS
'CAUSE IT'S YOU WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
THROUGH YOU
BLIND EYES ARE OPENED
STRONGHOLDS ARE BROKEN
I AM LIVING BY FAITH
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

I BELIEVE
I BELIEVE
I BELIEVE
I BELIEVE IN YOU

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Life is like a TV show

Sunday, March 28

We are right behind. @ 19:47

Tuesday, March 16

Too much.. @ 13:48

Wednesday, March 10

My Life, Your Song. @ 13:41

Monday, March 8

The Mediterranean Sea @ 13:51

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