Thursday, September 03, 2009
Its 130 am and Im still quite alert. I should really be sleeping as early as I can since it seems that my recent string of late nights have resulted in an outbreak on my face (horrors!). Just when I had saw the last of such things since my trip to the doc... sigh...whats yours will be yours... no running away.
Anyways, not sure if its the very filling Vietnamese dinner I had thats yet to be digested or because I was just reminded that people do still update their blogs and yes, there are people who read them. Ok, maybe not mine. But this post is just because...
Its been over a month since I have returned to Adelaide. Although physically nothing much has changed, there has been quite a tsunami of change in other areas. Lots of fresh faces in OCF that have somewhat filled the vaccum that the oldies have left behind. People have announced they are together in a relationship, getting married or having a baby. I hereby declare that there is an epidemic of the virus - "The Good News Bug", well at least in my life.
So to pass on the virus, let me count my blessings... Thank you God for:
And many more....
In case, you missed it... this post is just because... my God is good =D
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Ecclesiastes 4: 10
If one falls down. his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up.
Do you have many friends? Or are they mostly acquaintances?
Who do you count as friends? The people who have you as a friend on facebook?
Recently, Our Daily Bread had a passage about friends and it wrote, FRIENDS...
...listen to our heartaches without blaming us for having problems.
...defend us when we're under attack.
...are happy when we succeed and sad when we fail.
...give us wise counsel to keep us from making foolish choices.
...even risk making us angry for the sake of making us right.
Who does these for you? They are the ones who are your true friends. Perhaps you may not have many. But that is ok, for 1 real friend is worth more than a 100 acquaintances. But if you realize that no one helps you up when you fall down, perhaps its time to re-think how you yourself have been a friend to others, as how you treat others is the same way people treat you.
Just because you don't think highly of me
Doesn't mean that I'll think less of you
I'm really ok if you say you dislike me
For I live to please God and not you
I know I can never make everyone like me
But neither is there anyone just like you
I have to be who God wants me to be
Constantly changing by mercies anew
But should you ever be upset with me
To let me know is up yo you
My prayer is that we may spur each other to be more like Christ
To clothe one another with love and not lies
May we both be praised for being good and faithful
For that's what it means to live life and live it in full
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I knew that one cannot have the cake and eat it
But I truly thought that we could beat it
I stood by you when your world rearranged
But overlooked how you too have changed
I believed that we could weather things together
And treasured your friendship more than you discovered
I miss the days when I had your unconditional support
Especially because now we hardly ever talk
Life often ends up being complicated
With simple things becoming convoluted
My concern was seen as an annoyance to you
When all I wanted was your honest view
I thought you knew you could trust me
To share your thoughts over tea or coffee
My naive mind assumed it was the geographical distance
And never would have thought that you’d become reticent
Until I realized I could lie to myself no more
And admit that you’ve walked out of my life’s door
I hope that you may soon chance upon this
And tell me that I have gone amiss
That all I have an overactive imagination
And our bond will last till the next generation
I never liked cold wars and never will
My prayer is that we can get together for a meal
Regardless of whatever misunderstandings
And let Christ’s love rule our beings
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
1 Corinthians 13 – The famous chapter about love. It is often used at weddings, even when neither bride nor groom can truly be considered Christians. This chapter also contains the verses used by a certain denomination to support their view that tongues no longer exist, hence churches or people who speak in tongues are wrong.
To me those verses have been used out of context and the view that tongues no longer exist is a stand that obviously overlooks the following chapter. However, in my conviction to correct wrong thinking, I myself have lost focus of what is truly important. The self-righteousness in me wanted to believe that correction was out of love. But I think a little soul searching would reveal that my real motivation was pride.
I have admitted before and will admit again that I struggle with pride. All these years, I have struggled with kicking “I” out of first place and putting God there. It is truly His grace that He has humbled me on many occasions, bringing me back to Him. But I am far from having a heart of humility and the process of reaching there will be a long and painful one that only ends when I meet Him.
The last few years I have debated whether or not I will stay in my present church. I thought that by giving myself 6months to serve and get connected will help me make the decision more easily. I have reconnected with old friends and made new ones. I have seen areas where I can serve. But the reasons why I considered leaving and still do, remain or have become even larger. It is now almost time for me to return the Adelaide, and things are not any clearer. However, I pray that at the end of the day, when I do finally make the decision to stay or leave, my real motivation would be out of love, not pride or comfort. A love for God that is displayed through a love for others.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
enough frivolities and back to the serious stuff, and if your wondering if this is gonna be another long one... well, i think it might be...haha
My OCF has been sending out a number of emails trying to get its members to fill up a spiritual gifts test and then submit their scores. Not quite sure what they plan to do with that data but I decided to finally give it a go when they gave the online link that allowed you to do the test online and have it analysed automatically instead of counting manually. If any of you are interested this - http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/ (warning: it has a total of 140 questions so allow yourself sufficient time)
Im just gonna share my results with everyone so your can either or disagree with my self evaluation. I've grouped the gifts with the same score. There are a total of 28 different gifts according to them (in descending order):
1. Faith, Encouragement, Exhortation
2. Hospitality, Music, Mercy
3. Missionary, Giving
4. Leadership, Pastoring, Writing, Poverty, Helps
5. Administration
6. Wisdom, Knowledge
7. Teaching, Discernment
8. Apostle, Prophecy
9. Craftsmanship, Celibacy
10. Miracles, Evangelism, Healing
11. Intercession
12. Tongues speaking, interpreting (score of 0)
Im not gonna go in depth today as to what they actually are about. Will prob do another series where I copy and paste the definition given by the website and discuss their significance in my life. However, one thing I must mention about the last 2 gifts is that I believe they still exist (contrary to some belief) but I think 10 years in a BP church have quelled whatever latent gift I might have had for these 2. I remember my parents praying for me to receive the gift years ago, but like the talents that were buried, gifts that are not used eventually will be taken away...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
And one my faves won! I think they totally deserved it. Whilst many other acts simply went with their audition piece, Im glad they managed to be so creative and flawless despite the time constraint.
This is the last semis.. and it was better than the finals. Well... he had less than 24hours to recover and prepare so its kind of unfair.
Now... time for me to find another time waster.... hahaha....
Lord I'm sorry for the things I did not say
Or the actions that remain undone today
My life ought to lead others to You
But those around me never knew
This is not about whether I have a gift
Or a burden in which I have to lift
Its about the commandment you gave us all
To go to the nations, schools and shopping malls
And help others be more like you
Just like Peter, James, John and Matthew
So Lord help me never to forget
That this is my mission not my debt
Without you it is doomed to fail
But thank God for the cross and the nail
Friday, May 29, 2009
actually i took a break cuz BGT didn't show on wednesday due to the champions league... haha... ok, back to BGT semi finals no. 4.
this little boy was cute but he wasn't one of my faves in the auditions. however, i found him really lovable here. i have one question: how much did he spend getting the costumes and props? and does he cover the cost or the show does?
now here is a great example of what 'young at heart' means. check out this 73 year old man who clubs 7 days a week! i think his backup dancers were all the friends he made there...
Thanks to all the blogs i referred to (countless) for html code help :) (esp. cyn' and sixseven)
Adobe Photoshop Elements for supernatural abilities
