Hey all,

Just had our time-out and just wanted to share my reflections, if it might encourage you :) I'll just put here what I wrote down on the paper la:

"I got stuck at v2 (if you didn't have the time-out paper, Ivan asked us to read Eph 5:1-21) - "live a life of love, just as Christ...gave himself up"
What drives me?
- Is it the demands of school and church, one after another? That is a good way to live, but it misses the point.
- Rather, it must be the love of God that drives everything I do.
What excites me when I wake up in the morning?
- Is it the things I need to get done?
- No, it must be the love of God that excites me when I get up in the morning.
The love of God is not only a sentimental feel good. More than that, the love of God has the power to direct my life. Why? Because knowing God's love wraps my heart around God's heart.

Here's a call back to the simplicity of Deut 6:4-5 :)


ryan

Aright as i promised i will post something. here we go

I would like to encourage kenneth here. Our Lord loves each of us. He created us in a very special unique way. Even twins have their own differences. No one is the same in His creation. Kenneth, in other people's view of you, you may feel that you are out of place, but our Lord has great plans for you to do His will. You have different talents and no one is greater than the other. Focus and turn your eyes upon Jesus. Our Lord will not abandon us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He will carry you through the storm high above the storm. Remember, you will go through the storm but He will definitely see and protect you through the stormy weather.

I believe that if you commit yourselves to our Lord Jesus and wait upon Him, He will show you His plans for you to glorify and worship Him.
Claim His promise - ASK (Mattehw 7:7):"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Joshua 1:9: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Woah Elza, Awesome walked with God at West Coast Park. A quiet and top rated park at our west side. haha. ok i believe God will be in control. He will let you go for the youth camp. He won't let his/her child behind. He will do/make something today. We will be praying for you all the way. I believe God will answer our prayer just like my mission trip which i can go due to H1N1 disease. So remember we live by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please God.

And again ASK (Mattehw 7:7):"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Walk your Talk.
L - Listen to His Words;
O - Obey His Words; and
P - Practise what you have learn from Him.

We want you to know today
And never to forget
The Lord above loves you so much
He’s not finished with you yet!
- Lowndes.

Shalom
Joel Chua

Hey all, I'm just smiling while reading your posts. And Joel Chua, yes hope to hear from you soon! This is what walking with God is about. Such a beautiful journey right! God didn't promise an easy journey, but He promised to journey with us.

THAT's the beauty. There's a song that goes "Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you - There is no greater thing."

Go have a listen when you have time. It's not the modern hillsong kinda song. But the lyrics are so powerful it could put you to tears. Haha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svlK4H51iGI&feature=related

I hope you can make it for tomorrow's Church@Prayer too:
730pm, Harding Road

First time the church prayer meeting is led by the youth. But come not in support for the youth, but in support of the need for the church to pray. Don't worry you can sit with your friends anyway so it won't be awkward trying to pray with adults or people you don't know. Haha. Hope to see you there. David and some others have put a lot, of prayer and planning and effort into this prayer meeting. He also got some of us to pray for this prayer meeting every night for 10minutes at 10pm for the past week.

Leave a quote with you:
"Prayer is significant, not just for what it can do for you, but more for what it brings you back to: prayer brings us home to God.

God declared "My house shall be a house of prayer" (emphasis mine) Isa 56:7, Matt 21:13

Ryan

2 Wonderful post and I enjoyed reading it.

To Kenneth:
I know it's a weird emotion, it's a weird feeling. But you know, nobody in the world will understand what you're feeling except yourself, and i guess this thing is solely between you and God. But it is always good to share with the group, so that we are always kept update on each others' personal life and we are able to pray for each other. But, no worries about how you're feeling, don't get too caught up by it, don't think about it too much. Sure, it's good to meditate and try to figure out the problem, and it's good to be sensitive to God and try to hear from him what he is trying to say, or would like you to change, but, you should always be mindful not to allow this "things" to dictate how your day will be, more importantly, don't let it stick t0 you.

Regarding the subject of being "Dao". Well, i know sometimes it happens, even in JYM. So, you know, don't be surprised like even in JYM you'll get dao, or perhaps sometimes church mates do it too. Because, well we're all human and we have our flaws, we ain't perfect and never will be. There will be days where we are uncomfortable, days where we are feeling frustrated, days where everything goes wrong, so you know, don't get too worried like whether someone daos you or not.

Personally, I struggle with this subject also. But, more importantly, i've learn to have a big heart and try to look at another perspective, see it that the person had had a bad day. And perhaps, you can even try praying for him/her. That'd be great! So, don't let it bother you. You never know what another person is experiencing:D

To Elza:
I Envy you so much! Haha, you know i wish i had the freedom, the time to just go on a niec slow walk and think about my day, and my walk with God. How nice it is to be able to dwell in God's presence!

Regarding the news about you being unable to go to camp. Well, i'll pray for you! But, don't be disheartened if you can't go, i mean, you'll be missing out a lot, but, there will be another camp again! But, don't give up praying, because, you never know what God might do!

**

Today i went for this prayer meeting for the camp. Well, throughout the prayer meeting i didn't pray at all la, i just sat down and hear what the camp comm was praying about, so i know what's the main focus on this camp so that when i go home, i can take note of the points and pray. Surprisingly i don't know why, i really feel this camp will be something special, something that i will be able to take away from. And, sitting in that room hearing the prayers of other campers, i just feel so encouraged by their prayers. While i was sitting in that room, 1 thought came to me.

You know how so often a few months before the camp, people are really reluctant to go for camps because they feel that this will be another end of year camp, this will be mundane, boring or to such a extent, they believe they won't meet God there. And so often, we have this misconception of a camp and sometimes unconsciously judge a camp success base on the attendance. For example, If you reach like a certain about of people going, then it becomes successful.

But you know, sitting down there in the room, God just spoke so clearly.

Who are we to judge whether a camp is successful? Who are we to say whether the camp will increase the faith of young Christians? Yet, who are we to understand God's plans for the future?
You know, so often it is so much about us. About what we want, about the attendance, the games, whether it'll be fun, or whether we have the TIME. But when we just sit down and ask ourselves what is the camp's purpose. Then will we realise, it is for God to meet us there. It is not about the games, it is not about who is going, who the speaker is, who makes up the band, even if it's hillsongs, it isn't going to make a difference because what will matter is whether God will speak to us.

You know, If the camp only manages to touch a single soul, if the camp only manages to save 1 soul and turn that soul to God. Then the camp is a success, the camp will be fun, the camp will be talked about even until next year. If that 1 soul can change JYM, if that 1 soul can change other churches, then why is the camp not a success? If God uses this large scale camp to meet just 1 person, then who are we to deny God's work? Who are we to deny God's plans? We have to understand the importance of God's plans in our lives. You might not want to accept the fact that this camp will do anything, because it'll change your life!

Sitting down there in that room, i also thought about why do we have to have a combine church camp? Truthfully, i'm no fan of combine church camps.

But you know, the more I thought about it, the more i understood why. You see, St James church does not summarize the body of Christ. Our church is only a piece of puzzle which is part of God's plans which will complete the perfect picture in the end. We have to step beyond the 4 walls of our church, reach out to the other churches, form a bond between us and them so that we'll be strong. The church of God cannot fall, the Church of God have to remain tightly bonded as 1, so that we'll stand firm on good soil.

2 weeks ago during a prayer meeting, David said, A church which is in disunity is a Disgrace. Check out the words used! The word "Disgrace" is actually a very strong word, i mean at least to me, that's why i seldom use that word. You see, if a disunited church is a disgrace, then the members of the church is disgraceful. We as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ's Church cannot be disunited, or else, we'll be shaming God's name. Really.

Therefore, the motive of a combine church camp is not so that we'll have a larger attendance, or so that we are able to attract good speakers. But rather than that, it is to unite the body of Christ, so that we'll stand firm on GOOD soil, so that we can build a strong foundation.

I'm not a fan of combine church camp, but to form a strong bond between Churches for God, i'd do it. Will you join me?

-Junting

heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyXDDD haha. these past few weeks i've been wishing someone would post so i'd have something to read. so now it's after exams (for me XD) and i wanna post something in return.

i was reading kenneth's post from yesterday. and and i just wanna say to you, that God would NEVER play with you. nor is He this mind controlling geek who laughs evilly (is that even a word?) when you dont get something He is trying to tell you. I asked God once if He had a sense of humour. I am pretty certain He said yes, but added that he would never use it on me. so kenneth? Keep asking.

Matthew 7:7
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Oh. AND AND ryan i had a similar experience with the phone too! I remember my parents were arguing with me in the middle of this year that band had taken up too much of my time and they wanted me to stop going for music prac and all cuz i was too busy. I was really angry at them, but - lemme tell you, they drive a REALLY good argument - and I found myself giving in. It was heartbreaking for me, because I really wanted to be able to serve God in that way, but then again He told me to obey my parents. What was i to do? It was in the car at night, and i was crying in the backseat. I prayed and prayed that God would chande their minds, but in my heart i didnt believe He could. So i replied - "fine, I'll tell claudia I cant make it." I took out my phone and typed the message. and the phone died. It died a total of three times, so i had to type the entire thing out three times, and just as I was about to send it out, my dad just asked quietly "can you leave early on friday night?"

I didnt believe God would do something like this. I thought He would side with my parents. Hey. He put them there anyway. and somehow, God has sustained me throughout this year, and it has been a very fulfilling one. everytime i am scheduled to sing on a sunday, i'm reminded of how much God has done for me, and that He truly cares about how i want to be able to serve Him in this ministry. And He's shown His love for me over and over again. To sum it up, He's Lord over everything.

Psalm 22:28
for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

including electronics.

Friday was very interesting, because my plans were cancelled at the VERY last minute. i was already out of the house and decided that "if no one wanted to go out with me, i'll just go by myself" I ended up going to west coast park to cycle. When i got there, the rental shop had been closed. So I just walked around, and ended up doing a prayer walk. I prayed about camp, that God would somehow let me go, about my results, and kinda did a short reflection on how God has been so good to me this year. Oh and ryan, i'm sorry cuz i kinda got carried away and heh, that's why i was late for music prac. >< But it was a very refreshing time with God.

I remember halfway through there was this stray cat that i wanted to pet. It stopped, stared at me with huge marble eyes like I was going to dismember it or something, and bolted for its dear life. I felt really disappointed, cuz all i wanted to do was make it happy. Then it suddenly dawned on me. How many times have i done this to God? How many times have i scrambled and hidden just because I was afraid of what God wanted to do with me? All God wants to do with us is to make us better. Sure. There'll be tough times, suffering. But if we are willing to submit into His hands, then life will be much, much better than anything else we are trying so desperately to keep away from Him.

One of my pet peeves is that I give in too easily. For example, I've kinda given up hope that i can go for jym camp, and i havent been praying all that much about it. But deep down i really wanna go, and i think it's too early to give up just yet. pray for me k? I'd appreciate it alot.

Elzaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Quantum Physics and "stuff" Hey ppl

Hey Oak! Ok looks like the 19th Monday isn't a good date for us so we'll be aiming for 24th Saturday to be our cell outing okay?

What we're gonna do is what we planned to do last time, which is go Sentosa! Haha. And watch Narnia after that, if there are still tickets lol.

So try to get your schedule out and stuff yeah so when we meet on Sunday we can discuss which date is good. Till then, see ya!

Hey oak, I can finally post after clearing some school work that really tried to kill me. Haha. I'll share more below, VERY INTERESTING, and God was really funny. He's just amazing. How are you guys! Today we had games at the pink house and I felt soo carefree just running around playing games hahaha. I felt like I just threw the school stress away and relived my childhood and go crazy playing fun games. haha. Some of you had to study and go confirmation class, really wished you were here man. I hope amidst your exam stress you're finding rest in God.

Share with you about my week, which has to be the week where it was obvious all the circumstances were designed by God to teach me something impt. Uh oh it's gonna be long so...let's go.

The Story

Last Sunday I had a chat with someone after jym, one of the jymer's parents. We were talking about her son and she said something like this, 'I've learnt that God is always faithful, he always comes to meet our need, but many times it's actually at the very last moment, God comes to the rescue. So all the way till then, we trust and trust and hope and pray'

You know, this is really funny, throughout the whole conversation we were talking about her son, but when she said that, I felt that's going to apply to me in the coming week. It's just in my heart it was like, is God saying that to me? It was a funny feeling haha. And MY GOSH, NOW AS I LOOK BACK ON THE WEEK, IT TOTALLY APPLIED TO ME. I THINK GOD WAS ACTUALLY SPEAKING THROUGH HER.

This Week
I started doing a project for school. I was supposed to start on it the week before, but there was some miscommunication with my friend, I thought he was supposed to do a bit first then pass to me. So in the end, I only started doing it this week, and the deadline is tmr, as in I'm writing on Sunday, tmr's monday. So deadline's tmr and that's a bit last minute but I thought still ok.

So this is how the week went:

Monday
On mon I started working on the project, and I thought I would be fine. It was going quite slowly cos I really found it hard to write on the topic, and I haven't been doing my background readings cos somehow just no time. But I thought I won't have problems finishing it by wed. Anyway I need to finish by wed cos after that we have to start on another project, also due on the same day.

Tuesday
On tues, I got a bit worried. Cos I aimed to finish by wed but I was far from it. OK THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING: I was supposed to play guitar for main service and the practice is on sat. I told myself I'll surely need that time to do my projects. So I looked for a replacement. BUT, as I was thinking of a replacement, in my heart I could sense God saying, 'You don't need to get a replacement, trust me'. Yeah I really heard that in my heart. But I was stubborn, so I went to sms a possible replacement. I typed a message and sent. But my screen said sending failed. I thought maybe some network problem, so I sent again, and it said sending failed again. This time, I started to think, is God saying something. In my heart I tested God (it's not right to test God, but I, ashamedly did). I said in my heart, GOD IF IT'S REALLY YOU, the third time I send will also fail. Then I sent a third time, and it failed! In my pure stubbornness I then pressed a fourth time, and it failed. Haha.

See how foolish I am? I already tested God on the third time, but I insist on the fourth. Then I did an even more foolish thing. I tried to reason that maybe the person was away, or his number has changed, so I'll ask him again another time. Then God convicted my heart - I realised that whatever the reason the message didn't get through, it doesn't matter! What matters is that God has spoken, and he has spoken so clearly - I do NOT need to get a replacement cos I will NOT need to use sat to do the projects. And I'm being stubborn.

So I overcame the stubborness and I decided not to look for a replacement, and I came to the point I could finally could say to myself, God will surely help me, I don't know how, but I'm going to trust him.

On that very night (tues night) I met my project mate to conduct an interview we needed for our project. After the interview, my friend said he'll work on the entire second project. Er you get me so far? We have two projects, I'm working on the first one, and he offered to do the second one, even though we should do it together. When he said that, literally chills ran down my spine, and in my heart I said THANK YOU GOD, PROBLEM SOLVED. Cos now I only need to do one project and I can surely finish by the end of the week. And I surely don't need a replacement guitarist.

BUT haha, that proved to be only the start of what God was bringing me through.

Wednesday
On wed, I didn't work on the project cos I had exam so needed to study.

Thursday
On thurs, I continued working on the project. And this is where it became crazy. For some reason, I realised I actually needed to try to finish the project by friday. The reason is very complicated and hard to explain to you but it's ok, just know I decided to try my best to finish by friday morning. So I had ONE DAY LEFT to finish it. So I stayed up. And I stayed up the whole night till 6AM. It was the most terrible night, worse than getting stuck in the jungle over night (those of you who went adventure camp two years ago would remember that haha). It was worse than that because for some reason I had zero inspiration, I was staring blankly at the screen, I found it so difficult to think. And that went on from evening all the way till 6am. It was so frustrating. And I had to stick through, cos I need to get it done by fri morning. I was awake doing it from the last MRT announcement at around midnight, all the way till I could hear the MRT station's very first announcement of 'please stand behind the yellow line" haha.

AND, even until then, the project still wasn't finished. I had to edit in my friend's parts which was not easy.

Friday
So friday afternoon I continued working on the project, which by the time I was so tired of.

I was finally done on Friday evening.
But I needed to cut down the number of words, we were 600 words above the 1500 word limit. I could not stand looking at the project anymore haha, so I emailed my project team and asked them to help me cut it down.

Saturday
On sat, I took my mind off the project. I went for Sat morning prayer at the pink house and then music prac. Now this was risky, cos if my friends in the end don't help me edit, I'm in big trouble, cos Sunday is church whole day and Monday is the deadline. And I'll NEVER think of sacrificing church. So if they don't help me edit, I'll have to stay up sat night (which is crazy cos I need to wake up at 645am on sunday to play for service), or on sun night (which is crazy cos the deadline is the next day). And btw, these project friends, it's the first time I got to them, we were strangers before this, so I don't know how much I can trust them.

So throughout sat, I just took this big risk and trusted God. After music prac I was so tired cos of all my sleep debt (esp from the night I stayed up till 6am), so I couldnt take it, I went to sleep. In the evening after dinner my friends STILL haven't gotten back to me about whether they'll help me, so I started to panic, and decided to work on it. I was trying my hardest to trust God at this point. It's SAT NIGHT. If my friends decided not to help me, I only have Sunday night to do it myself. That's is too risky, the deadline is the monday!

At 11pm that night (sat night), my friend sent me an sms, asking me to check my email. I opened my email, and in the email, he had written a long list of ways in which IIIII can edit the project. Means, he has not helped me to edit, he has suggested ways for MEEE to edit!! IT'S 11PM SAT NIGHT, I CAN'T STAY UP ANY LONGER, I ONLY HAVE SUN NIGHT TO EDIT. So I told my friend, I really need his help, he said OK he'll do what he can.

Sunday
On Sunday, which is today as I'm writing, throughout the day I tried hard hard hard to trust God that I don't need to edit the project tonight because
1) I'm so dead tired of this project (I've never ever ever felt so sick of something before, to the point that I refuse to touch it even though it's impt)
2) I can't stay up tonight cos I only had 4 hours of sleep last night (I tossed and turned until 3am because I took that nap yesterday which ended up longer than supposed to be!)
3) It's too near the deadline, the project is bound to have mistakes cos you don't get to proofread properly.

After JYM ended, the dread was coming...the truth awaits, haha, DID MY FRIEND HELP ME OR NOT?! After JYM, I couldn't take it, I went to play soccer to shake off the stress. Even though it's the wise thing to go home straight after JYM, cos if I find out my friend never help me in the end, I got more time to do it. But I was so sick of the project I didn't want to care, I just went to play soccer. Haha. But the worry was there.

Then while playing soccer, my friend smsed, saying that he will work on the project "a bit". I was like A BIT?! I can't afford him to just do A BIT, what does his A BIT mean?

On the way home from soccer, I prayed, pleading with God PLEASEE make my friend help me do EVERYTHING. haha. I was seriously pleading inside. I pleaded and pleaded on the walk to the MRT station, and on the MRT.

AND THEN, on the MRT, about to reach my house, I got an sms from my friend, saying that he is helping me do everything. OH MY SOUL REJOICED. HAHA. I was so thankful.

Then I recalled those words:
'I've learnt that God is always faithful, he always comes to meet our need, but many times it's actually at the very last moment. So all the way till then, we trust and trust and hope and pray'

You may be thinking, this project is so trivial, it's just school, why so worked up over it. I agree. But I guess it's what God decided to bring me through this week.

And you may be thinking, why God so good help me slack? It's not slacking, I had worked my socks off on this project and I just could not could not work on it any longer. It's actually the first time I've felt like that - so sick of something to the point I don't wanna touch it anymore even though it's impt. It was part of this journey God brought me through this week I guess.

Conclusion (if you didn't read everything above, read this haha)
God made me trust Him all the way till the last minute.
4 Key principles in life: God is good. God is faithful. God will bring it to past. God will bring it to past in HIS time.
He wants to teach me to trust Him. Even when up to the last minute, when it's do or die, and still, nothing is happening!

:) one crazy week. physically i'm worn out, but spiritually God has taught me a gem. And man, he taught me the hard way.


Ryan

Inspirational

YAHWEH!