i’m so encouraged by her

she has been greeting me with a hug every sunday during service. we have not caught up for so long and i finally managed to pin down a date and time to meet with her.

i got to know that she started on a part time job a few months ago. not an easy job as it’s somehow like direct sales. she shared with me how she approached the job she has on hand. she sees it as a way of meeting new people and enlarging her network and circle of friends; all in the hope of making a difference in people’s lives and being Christ’s influence. she shared how there was a case when the resident declined to make any purchase from her in a little hostile way. she went away praying  and communing with God. interestingly, a while later, that man opened the door and asked her to go back. he asked if she was a singaporean and commented that he knows how hard it is for a singaporean to work in singapore. he asked how much did she have left and he purchased all of it and asking her to keep the change.

she went on to share about the job and i hear and see how God is blessing her with favour. she said that she is doing pretty well compared to her fellow collys and she gives thanks and glory to God. she also shared how she is reaching out to her back-sliden boss.

we went on and on. there were 2 occasions that her eyes were watery… . we were so moved as we recount what and how her family and her have gone through the past years with the grace of God.

i’m so moved in my spirit hearing her share. it’s been 6 years since her husband and her came to accept Christ. they started in my cell group and i was reminded as i sat opposite her that it was for people such as her that raised in me the burden for chinese ministry. her life is such a wonderful testimony and comfort to my heart and soul. as i sat there looking at her and hearing her share, the thought that “it’s all worth it” came to me on at least 2 counts. i may be in a spiritual drought now but hearing her and seeing her was like all that i needed to get me going.

and i’m so excited for what’s going to be in stored for her. i’ve seen that leadership potential in her. and a few years back, i saw the need to disciple & build her up. i felt (then and reaffirmed again) that she is to reach a group that most of us who started the chinese ministry cannot do. and that is the mandarin speaking mothers. i’ve seen her grown in this area as well. when she was in my chinese cell group about 4 years back, i remember how she was hesitant and fearful about reaching out to her group of good friends and was actually being influenced by them. subsequently through the years, she overcame that and started reaching out to them; using her life as a testimony and she managed to bring a couple of her friends to church.

and the thought of how this job can enlarge the circle of people she can get to know excites me even more. and i’m sure God will bless her richly in her sales as she focuses on Him and His Kingdom.

i’m also thankful for what God is doing in her family. i can go on and on. there’s so much to share about her and her family… . may the LORD continue to bless their family so that His glory may be manifested greatly through their lives.

what is the purpose of life?

an ex colly shared this with me and it’s very meaningful. i googled and learnt that this was published in 2005/6… but whatever is good for the spirit man and soul and whatever is God glorifying, let’s consume it….

this is a short interview with Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. you will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having “wealth” from the book sales.

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

People ask me, what is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ-likeness.

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

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, “which is my problem, my issues, my pain.” But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God nd others.

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

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

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

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

In the happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

In the difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

In the quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

In the painful moments, TRUST GOD.

And, in every moment, THANK GOD.

Rick Warren’s personal Blog: http://www.rickwarren.com/

We are the reason…

this is my favourite song for carolling. i used to sing the solo for our youth fellowship’s carolling – not that i have the best voice around but because i can hit the lower keys better than the rest

came across this song on YouTube and it’s great! it doesn’t sound anything like my singing LOL, it’s beautiful, have a listen!

we are the reason for the season… we are the reason that Jesus came into the world… He came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owe a debt we could not pay.

have a blessed christmas!

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys we knew we’d find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

*We were the reason that He gave His life
We were the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain
All because of love
All because of love

*Chorus

I finally found the reason for living
It’s in giving every part of my heart to Him (every part to Him)
And all that I do every word that I say (you know I’ll be saying)
I’ll be giving my all just for Him, for Him (every thing for Him)

We are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give (all that he could give all)
To show us the reason to live

#He is the reason to live
(don’t you know do you know the reason
that he came, oh he came to save us
when he gave his life for us) he suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave everything (everything that He had He gave)
To show us the reason to live

all of today – 26 april ’08

stayed up late friday nite to complete a SB layout of debbie & esther… it’s a “princess” theme and i squeezed my creative juices to complete the layout over several nights and alas… i have to say that i’m not satisfied with it… sob sob… as i see all the wonderful layouts of other SB’ers, i know i have a long way to go and more layouts to do to “arrive” lol… it’s ok i guess… it’s just like learning acquiring a new skill – need to put in the effort and practise.

i planned to bring my PC to the vet this (sat morning) but was feeling a lil under the weather and decided to do it another day. caught a small flu bug just before leaving office on friday evening for CG and have popped in 4 panadol cold tablets since friday night till date… the other thing i was planning to do this morning was to go to bugis junction to buy a box of chewy junior for mdm leong & pay her a visit… . i left home at 11.45am and not sure if it’s a prompting, i thought i had better call her to make sure she would be home by the time i reach. true enough, she was going out with her daughter… gift of knowledge(??)… hmmm…. ok… i’m on the PIE now and it’s too early to go to whampoa…hmmm….hmmmm…..

okie, let’s go to toyogo warehouse in toa payoh to get another(!!) storage box for your SB supplies… did that and thot – how about going to whampoa hawker centre to eat that yummy hokkien mee? i actually have not been back to the hawker centre since it re-opened. i did not even go to the temporary one while the old one was being renovated.

i was in our Take It To The Streets t-shirt and it was a very different feeling from what i remember of years back… where you would find fellow brightonites in the same tee having lunch before our Take It activities. there was actually a man who was looking hard at me and my tee when i was at the hawker and i thought, is he one of those who our ministry has reached out to before? and a very quick thot followed – of what we have impacted and left behind for the residents these years? well… with all of men’s limitations & weaknesses, surely, there would have been some “less-than-ideals” but may God turn all of it around for His purpose and Kingdom (Amen!).

and no… the hokkien mee stall was not yet opened… i thot koko said they would be opened for lunch… maybe i remembered wrongly. so, i ended up having wanton noodles for lunch… it sure took me a while to decide what to eat. u know how u planned on doing something and then some unplanned circumstances upset your plans. so many wanton noodles stalls, which one good… ok, this one got article write-up, can’t go wrong. $2 a plate – small plate but ok cos’ can have some more yummy refreshments at the party later. [it was definitely a small plate cos' i was very hungry even before we could have our refreshment later in the afternoon lol ]. the noodles is not bad but spicy and that got me thinking of the guo ji (hmm.. did i get the name right?) wanton noodles in lavender food center *slurp*slurp* wenxin and i have been thinking about that stall’s wanton noodles for a long time now

one of the highlight for the day would be when kk lim told me both his wife and himself went to join zhiming’s CG the night before! wow! i thot that was awesome. he told me lina invited him (how wonderful!!). he asked how come he didn’t see me there. i told him i am in a different CG and ours meet at boon keng. he then said, oh that’s nearer his place and maybe he will join us next time .

there was another ‘progression’ at our sat fellowship. you chun’s lifting of hands was more distinct and for sure this afternoon. i caught up with him and learnt that he is very worried and actually very pessimistic about the condition of his leg. he went for his appointment at the doc on thurs and i think because the doc did not comment on the condition of his leg and that he could not do a scan that he is thinking the worst situation now. he said have to wait for another 2 weeks before he sees the doc again. he kept telling me how his leg doesn’t have the compression, doesn’t have a lot of sensation etc… and i kept telling him he will be fine, don’t worry, don’t be too pessimistic… that i think he must think that i am so un-sympathetic. like what chau yong said, you chun said he will testify for God if he can be healed (and i thought pleasantly to myself – oh, sure it will be a done deal then!) and also to have some time to settle some issues first – this i reckon to be his mum who is in a nursing home. she is actually over 90 years old and actually have been in a coma for the last 7 years already.

after the fellowship at whampoa, chau yong, bao shun and i went to visit uncle tan. he was in a better state compared to last sat. at least, he was sitting up. last week, he was in bed and asleep and couldn’t wake up despite us calling out to him. today, the patient next to his bed told us that he has not been willing to eat and talk much.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and i’m really very thankful for brother chau yong and bao shun. both of them have such a BIG HEART for people. their compassion and how they go out of their way to reach out to people really puts me to shame so many times. bao shun is so thoughtful. he remembered me mentioning the week before that my home PC is down and asked if i had any luck doing what he asked me to do last week. i said no and he asked if he can come to my place to have a look. wow! i thought – but of course! and yup, he helped me fix it for which i’m so thankful and delighted about. remember i was supposed to bring it to the service centre this morning and didn’t… *yippee*…

opps, sorry… had a blog diarrhea

昨天、今天和明天

宝芳姐妹和小组分享了以下的文章.我觉得满有意识的…

昨天、今天和明天

有一位作家说过：”人的一生只有三天，就是昨天、今天和明天。”昨天已经过去，今天就摆在眼前，明天还没来到。这三个日子我们基督徒应如何对待。

　　一、昨天–要感恩

　　记得有一句名言：”忘记过去，就意味着背叛。”这话似乎说得重了，但却不无道理。神给我们的恩典我们不能忘记。昨天可能有忧伤，但得到了神的安慰。昨天可能有软弱，但得到神所赐的力量。在生意上蒙神的顺利，工作有成，家庭和睦平安均是主的恩典。所以要感谢。哪怕身上还有”刺”，也不要害怕，因为主的恩典够你用。

　　二、今天–要努力

　　有人可能留意与已经失去的昨天，也有人寄望于尚未来到的明天，却不脚踏实地掌握已到手的今天。只有掌握今天才有明天的成就。基督徒人生的每一天都是属于主的。所以每一天都应该为主而活。抓住今天，努力奉献自己，努力工作，努力读经，努力学习，努力追求长进。

　　三、明天–要交托

　　我们要把明天以及今后的每一个明天交托给主，求主带领。任何人有再大的本事，都不可能叫明天不来到，也不可能叫明天留住不消失。明天有可能是平平安安，也有可能是烦闷忧愁，但只要上帝与我们同在。不要为明天忧虑，要凭信心祷告交托主。

nick vijicic – born without limbs – a powerful testimony

those of you who were at service last sunday would have come across the story of nick vijicic – the man without limbs. i was touched and visited his website.

nick is only 21 years old. he was born to christian parents and without limbs. the photos that was shared with us by ps lam shocked me. there was one particular one that he was next to a dog… that moved me to tears cos’ i often hold, touch and stroke my dog and seeing nick next to a dog really sets me thinking what’s life without limbs!

nick vijicic has a ministry and the organisation’s mission is to bring people to the love and hope in Jesus Christ. i urge you to take some moment to visit his website to see some of the work he is doing for Christ. may it be an inspiration to the call we have; to be salt and light of the world! may it teaches us to put everything in our lives in the right perspective…

there are many more photos on his website and there are a few which moved me to tears… below is an extract from nick’s testimony which i would like to share…

—————————————–

[extracted from http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.com/]

James 1:3&4 – “…know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I had complete peace knowing that God won’t let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was “so that the works of God may be revealed through Him.” I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it’s God’s will, it’ll happen in His time. If it’s not God’s will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better. I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can’t be used.