A Reflection On MYSM

And so the 2-day MYSM has concluded...

The theme - Grow In the Grace of Christ

We had the 3 Chins, delivering powerhouse sermons one after another to exhort and edify all of us.
Thank God for arranging His 3 dedicated workers who labored hard to prepare the sermons - Pr SC, Pr CAQ, Pr DC.
God remember their work and keep them strong in the faith to lead us onward.


In honesty, I know that my heart wasn't fully prepared for the event. Regardless of how I kept reminding myself prior to the MYSM that I had to consecrate and prepare my heart, I still fell short of the goal I had set.

Maybe it was the lack of sincere prayers,
Maybe it was the lack of total consecration,
Maybe it was the weakness of the flesh to keep to His Commandments;
Yet, Christ in the fulness of His grace, accepted me, along with all my shortcomings, blemished offerings and imperfect devotion.

This ascension on His holy mount was accompanied by Tribulation, Temptation and Distress. Some, I failed in the battle, while in others, barely making it.
Yet, coming to the Holy Temple, God's mercy and grace were never lacking.

Perhaps Christ wanted me to learn lessons, hard ones at that in order to make me See clearly with spiritual eyes, Hear better with spiritual ears, Sense better with spiritual touch.
My prayers seemed to have gone unheard and I felt weak in the Spirit.
It was distressing and painful, feeling that God wasn't listening.
I felt like I was grasping in the dark for something that I wasn't sure of, something that I didn't understand fully.


Nevertheless,
Every sermon pierced through my heart and soul, bringing warning and encouragement to me. Every testimony inserted at the right moment admonished my spirit, rebuked my pride, and revived my hope.


Satan doesn't waste his time on unbelieving souls. He spends all his effort in striving to bring down those who love God. Those who truly love Christ should be ready to undergo all afflictions.


It was in the concluding sermon that I awoke to my folly. Many questions richoted through my mind:
Was I letting myself be ruled by Satan, to give him a foothold first and then ultimately, a throne to sit on, in the Church?
Was I letting Jezebel corrupt me inwardly while maintaining a hypocritical face in front of others?
Was I letting myself make secret offerings in front of an Idolatrous Altar hidden behind the Pulpit?
Would I fall to pride to seek after man's applause and not God's acceptance?
Would I make the Church of God become my stage in the future?
Would I grow lukewarm and glory in my past work for Christ?

These questions are important and need to be constantly asked by ourselves when we serve Him. The reason: Every individual makes up the Church, and the Church must be loyal and reverent to Christ; Every individual must be faithful and godly.

The last prayer for the Holy Spirit, I confessed:
My weaknesses, My sins, My infidelity, My wretchedness, My baseness, My reluctance, My unworthiness.

I experienced God's calming reassurance in that prayer.
Listening to His still, soft voice, I know that He spoke to me.

Lord, let me learn to love you with my heart in it, help me grow in your grace which you so unsparingly pour out on us, everyday.

Are You BUSY?

Babylonian SYSTEM: (Read even if you're busy)

Satan called a global convention of demons.

In his opening address he said,

“We can't keep Christians from going to church.”
"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth."
"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their savior."
"Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ."


"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"


"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted, with maniacal glee.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.
"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."
"Keep them from spending time with their children."
"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."
"Entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive."
"Keep the TV, DVDs, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."
"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."


"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."
"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."
"Invade their driving moments with billboards and road-rage."
"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes."
"Engulf them with stocks, shares, investments, betting et al to store up perishable treasures which blind them from the future crown of glory."


"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "
"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."
Give them headaches too!
"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."
"That will fragment their families quickly!"


"Give them Santa Clause, Presents, Mistletoes, Parties, Revelries to deceive them about Christmas and the true humble significance of Christ's birth."
"Give them an Easter bunny, Easter eggs, Hot-X Buns, to deceive them about Eostre/Ishtar/Astarte/Ashtoreth, to blind them from the saving grace of Holy Communion."


"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive in all aspects."
"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."


"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, clubs and movies instead."
"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"
"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."


"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus."
"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."


"It will work!" "It will work!" cried the insidious schemer.

It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.
Having little time for their God or their families.
Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

You be the judge.

Does "BUSY" mean:

B-eing
U-nder
S-atan's
Y-oke ?

An Ascension Prologue

Hebrews 10:25
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

Find Peace...
Find Jesus Christ

Join Mid Year Spiritual Meeting
at Teluk Kurau and Adam Road Churches, Singapore
26-28 May 2006 (Fri-Sun)
____________________________________________________________

I got this through the (e)mailer today. As I read it, I thought of a recent conversation I had with a fellow brother. He mentioned that the MYSM wouldn't really be too big an event for regular, sincere attendees of services, given that their weekends were already filled to the brim.
Friday Evening Service - Sabbath AM & PM Services, Choir Practice, various Meetings - Sunday Youth Service.

In that regard, what he said does make sense. Yet a nagging feeling within me said that there was something more: a spiritual, deeper dimension to the MYSM and all spiritual convocations for that matter.
I leafed through the Psalms and found one of ascents.
Psalm 122 was one such paean of King David to the ascension upon the hills of Jerusalem.

I believe the Israelites were brimming with expectancy, hopes and dreams - of the renewal and revival from God.
They ascended thrice-yearly (Ex 34:18~23) & we do so biannually (at least in Singapore).
I don't see much of a difference today. It is still the same God, and we the same chosen people coming before Him, for a similar important event.

It is an extension of what many of us are already experiencing every weekend. But it is even more so a Holy convocation, appointed by God through the Church for us.
The hope is that we all prepare our hearts, set aside our time, and dedicate our Spirits to the worship.

'I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.” Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!'
'Where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to the Testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD' - (Psalm 122 : 1~2, 4)

Purpose

So I just thought I should define the background and direction of this Weblog and its Title.
I guess I drew inspiration mostly from Proverbs 27:1 which goes "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth."

We like to plan ahead, to ensure things run according to our designs.
We plan our study timetable(though we hardly keep to it - haha)
We plan our workflow, our projects, our lifestyle.
We plan for meetings, games, movies, events.

Lots of plans but so little time. That is a familiar feeling isn't it?

Tomorrow,
We shall have lunch at the great new cafeteria,
We shall catch that latest movie at 7:30pm,
We shall meet at the train station before heading for tuition class,
We shall do this and that,
We shall take our ease, eat, drink and be merry...

Instead,
Shall we attend service since it has been set aside for us members?
Shall we put aside our appointments with our friends to worship God?
Shall we hasten our footsteps to His sanctuary and pursue His holiness?
Shall we strengthen the bond of the fellowship among the brethren?
What is God's plan for our Tomorrow?
Since we do not know what tomorrow may or can bring forth (adapted from Ecc 8 : 7), seize whatever time and oppotunity given to us today to consecrate ourselves to Him.

Truly, given that I sure don't know what tomorrow may bring forth, I decided to make use of my time to write some useful things, in the hope of edifying myself and even others.
If any of you are edified, I give thanks to God.

Let's live our lives like Tomorrow may never come.
Not to indulge in this life's revelries,
But to strive for sanity & sanctity through the help of the Spirit.
Definitely we are all weak, thus all the more ought we to pray for one another to undergo constant renewal.


For the simple reason that I wish for this blog to serve a worthy purpose, I shall not bore you all out too often with ramblings of my day et al. Thanks for taking time to read. (I know some are real lenghty! :P)

Who Turned...?

Who turned...
From the Sunlight
From the Love
to a realm of dusk, distrust, displeasure
to seek after fleeting events,
which be self-seeking, scourging, sinister

Who walked...
Away from the grasp,
to sway to the dust.

Who dimmed the lights?
Who lost the fight?
Non! Non! he cried
All but you took flight


Contemplations in the grey matter did abound:
Turn from the swaying fetters, turn around.
your spinning-top is dizzying the soul,
your sinning thoughts are quenching the spirit.


He calls to you but chose you to hear not?
Far too often you got tangled in the knots
Drowning that voice, you then end up with nought.


Arise, Awaken, Affirm
Let the Accuser despair you not
Get the Blinker back on top
Set your heart to turn back now


The Word...
is faithful, true and sure
to bring you back from that seizure
and renew your mind, heart and spirit

On thy knees thou ought to fall,
only then can thou rise tall

But first,
to remove those stones thou must,
& confess thou trespasses that obscured.

He is faithful till the end
Never letting His Hand go.
So with hyssop thou must cleanse
& seek Him now to cure thy soul.

Sherpa Walk

In unspoken words, the Sherpa communicated to his followers. The members of the expedition placed their trust in the guide. They were on hostile Himalayan terrain, but nevertheless continued to moved upwards from the Base camp, navigated through jagged obstacles, faltered and quavered a little but at last reached their destination.
----------------

As part of a teambuilding activity, everyone in my department had to be blindfolded and placing our hands on the shoulders of the person in front, we formed a train. Our leaders were the only ones with 'sight' and brought us through the path of the unknown.

Along the way, we met with uncertain slopes, distorted vegetated landscapes, walls, descents and uneven steps. You get the picture. While blindfolded, one is severely hampered in her/his motions. The only source of guidance and assurance came from the 'sherpas'. On our part, what was needed were Trust, Communication, Perserverance, Teamwork.

The game was called Sherpa Walk.

While the activity was meant to be a team-building one for corporate comapnies, it certainly went further for me. The micro-scale obstacles were conquered without much difficulty because we worked together and trusted the 'sherpas'.

Some of us may be facing macro-scale problems in our lives today. It could be severe abjection, burdensome illnesses, financial strains or the various vissicitudes of life that just seem to be unending. We feel the toll of gravity upon our feeble shoulders and wish to give up because it seems to be the easy way out.

It is difficult. It is seemingly impossible. No one seems to understand your pain and troubles except you.
But God knows every single one of your tears. He keeps them in His bottle, close to His heart - Psalm 56:8
He who did not forsake the Israelites but instead "guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night" - Psalm 78:14, would He not all the more be your guide today?

What is needed of us is that we be Righteous in His sight, be Humble to confess our inadequacy. Put your Trust in Him, Communicate with Him on your knees, Perservere in His promises, share your troubles with His Team (our brethren), let Him be your Guide, even unto death.

Sherpa Walk took 22 minutes. With God as our Guide, our Walk of Faith will definitely go much further and longer into eternity.

The Lord's Prayer

The "Our Father" Prayer: Do I Really Mean What I Pray?
I received this in my email recently so I thought I should share it.
Examine how well you live what you pray as you meditate on the following:
_____________________________________________________________


I cannot say OUR if I keep my faith only to myself and never share it with others.

I cannot say FATHER if I do not trust in His loving and complete concern for me, forgetting that He always answers prayers how and when He knows is best.

I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if I am so attached to the ways of this world that I neglect to seek God first in everything.

I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I am unwilling to let His holiness penetrate my life and help me grow in my own holiness.

I cannot say THY KINGDOM COME if I am not using my life to bring His love into the world.

I cannot say THY WILL BE DONE if I live by my own ideas of morality or choose to follow the world's standards instead of taking heed to His will.

I cannot say ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN if I am not devoting my life to serving Him here on earth.

I cannot say GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD if I am not willing to be generous with whatever God gives me.

I cannot say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES if I don't want to put forth enough effort to change.

I cannot say AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US if I still hold a grudge, if I'm still angry, or if I still insist that other people change.

I cannot say LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION if I deliberately or knowingly place myself in a position to be tempted.

I cannot say DELIVER US FROM EVIL if I'm not actively fighting against evil through deeds of love and service for everyone in my life, especially those who cause problems.

-------------------------------------------

Thereon, the email concludes.
Some of my random thoughts to the unmentioned portion of the Prayer:

For Thine is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory, Forever. Amen.

• Let's bear in mind that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) so we ought to fix our focus more on His Spiritual kingdom
• Remember that He alone sustains the whole world in His powerful hand, suspending the earth over nothing (Job 26:7)
  
• Ascribe glory to Him only and strive to live in peace with Man (Luke 2:14)

Verily, verily, If we keep our peace with Him, He will not fail to do all He promised.

Dimensions of The Cross

During a morning prayer session before Youth Service today, Bro B mentioned something briefly that caught my ear. Perhaps I had not thought of it in this manner before thus the intrigue.
In my own words now, I shall attempt to expound on it. Given the brevity of the statement, I may not be complete in my explanation. You all can help to add to it.

How do you view the Cross? Definitely, it is a symbol of Salavation that was born out of Grace and Love (but let's save this for another entry). The cross is a symbol of our relationship with Christ and also with our fellow Church Brethren.

How so, you ask?

• Wasn't it always just the symbol of our relationship with Christ, since it was only through the cross that we were reconciled with Him?
  

No doubt about that.

For this is first and foremost, of paramount significance to our faith as true Christians.
This is the vertical relationship we share with Christ our God.
Vertical being a Straight channel, Upright, Unbroken and Total.
Picture Christ hanging upon that accursed tree, His body as a sacrifice, that we might attain a perfect reunion with the Father.
That is the vertical relationship we have with Him, Top-down first and then a Bottom-up thirst.


The church is the Body of Christ. She is the beautiful bride betrothed to Him and she was bought at a price, the ransom of the Son's blood.
We, His children, are the Church.
We who once were scattered far and wide have been brought back to the fold by His hands.

The Hands that were stretched on the cross continue to encompass His Church today, reminding us of the horizontal relationship we share with each other in the Church.
Horizontal being Outstretched, Undeviating, Level and Balanced.
Once again, we picture Christ and His nail-pierced hands outstretched on the beam, drawing His last breath, undeviating from His purpose, He asks the Father to forgive them, even us.

We need to emulate His example today. Every individual in His Church was saved by His hands. Who are we to condemn? Why should we be partial?

Let us pursue that horizontal relationship with all our brethren in the Church, knowing that it was Christ who first extended His arms for us and to us.

The Vertical and Horizontal dimensions of the Cross, explore them here :
Ephesians 2 : 14~19

General Elections 2006

In consideration of the Zeitgeist, I thought it might be quite fun to comment on the 'hottest' topic at the moment.

General Elections are due to take place tomorrow in Singapore. Who will you vote for?
To get the full stories of events leading up to the Polling Day tomorrow, well, you won't find them here. (Go read the newspapers since this is not a political blog)

In any case, this is the first time in all my years, that the elections have been successful in obtaining a slight interest from my person. Then I figured I'm not that old yet :) Yay!
The political crossfire between Big Brother, the wannabes and the great pretenders have occupied the frontpages for weeks. It all ends tomorrow.


But somewhere, some place, in ages far beyond our grasp, someone had already been elected. His mission and manifesto was simple :
To provide Peace, Salvation and Hope to His own elect.

God chose His own Son to come to the earth, to lead the lost sheep - His chosen people - back to His fold. That vote of confidence was cast so that we might be reconciled with God.

"Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put my Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles." - Isaiah 42 : 1

Oh yes, we suddenly remember that we were chosen by grace, not of our own merit. Despite not being the initial heirs, we have been promised an inheritance far greater than lift upgradings or Progress Package payouts. Consider for a moment the blessings we have received and the future hope of Glory.

How curious it is that the Elected One of God has elected us to be Joint Heirs with Him. He had chosen us, right from the Beginning.

In the perrenial Spiritual Elections, you have a choice too.
Who gets your vote?

Cycling

You get on the bike
Pedal power gets you hyped

Cruising along straight Paths
Taking Corners
Edging up Gradients
Whizzing down Inclines
Decelerating at Red Light Indicators
Hitting a Dead End, you turn back,
Resume your pedalling.


Then you start pondering
Isn't the Life of Man a parallel?
Oh yes,
All of it the perfecting by the Sculptor

Take a breather
Top up your Body Tank
Invigorate yourself

After all, the night is at infancy and,
Oddly enough, the streets are stirring,
Urging you to venture

Your Guild is a mixed bag
Some really fast, some really just enjoying the breezy twilight
Yet all are pursuant to the tacit understanding
Of Fun, Fellowship, Felicity.

Thank God for the blessing.

Reflections On an Ongoing Metier

The greenhorn had evolved into someone more in tuned with the necessary requirements. The hours were nearly fixed and there was a subtle certainty in the way his days went by.

As the rooster crowed into the rising sun, he takes a walk, one that leads him to a berth.
No sooner, the meandering troop arrives, with much cacophony nonetheless.

In half a circle, he arrives at the landing. Disembarking, he scurries along together with everyone else. No sooner, he reaches the familiar place and starts his day.

Just 8 months ago, everything seemed so foreign to him. Meetings, Schedules, Datelines, Paperwork and Teleconversations. At times the work seemed to overwhelm him, like a sudden rising wave engulfs a solitary surfer in the sea. At other times, things were calm and the current was steady.

Yet in all things, he started to see that it was the blessing from something more powerful, something more celestial, heavenly, a blessing that only the Omniscient One could bestow - the Blessing from God.
Definitely, the Hand of God was shaping the future as the days went by. What was lacking at times was his own desire to see that guidance from above.

The inner circle wasn't exactly big. 4 seats of power, his being the least, yet at the same time, the highest amongst his contemporaries. A humbling paradox but also an opportunity to learn as much as possible, as far as required. It was a solo gig, a companionless one at that.
But he was appreciative of that for it gave him time and space to read, meditate and ponder upon that Mirror of his soul - One which for the moment still remained tarnished by the world, but nontheless seeking for constant polishing, to at last attain that perfect reflection of the Word.

A sea of faces, an endless set of numbers and dates, they all come and go.
Who knows what tomorrow may bring? All he needed was to do his part and have the faith that to put his hand in His Hand.