Thanksgivings about many things

Hi Everyone!
I was really blessed at the Meditative Service today. Even the theme of the songs chosen reflected our time at cell on friday. Indeed God wants us to repent of the things which become barriers in our relationship with him, thorns and thistles which crowd God out of our lives and relationships.

Indeed Be Still for the Presence of the Lord and His still small voice can be heard! Next week we are having a time of prayer and I look forward to it. (But I will be late cos have to visit the students at the hostel next friday, sigh... i hate clashes) I hope that we can all come with a heart to pray. Perhaps we should prepare our hearts before we come so that we can seek him together as a community.

There are many things coming up which would be a mere activity or busyness if we simply let things run as it is. Like the my hope project, mission trip, outreaches or exams. We want to bring God into each event, season and see Him glorified.

Just a thanksgiving... initially I thought that the mission trip thing was gonna be cancelled cos church wanted a creative arts performing team. I was disappointed. But after Hannah shared that we can still have a teaching english team from 10 /13 to 21 dec, I was really excited. To go back and encourage the youth, prayer walk in the land as well as equipping them with anything that we could share. I'm sharing this so that we can all pray , give, send, pray and go as the LORD leads.

Yesterday in missions conference the speaker said something that struck deep in my heart... because of our attitudes... many times short term missions are high in profile and low in impact. Yup its true especially if we are there behaving like some tourist or thinking that we are gonna feel go and do so much good. Even before we think of going, let us examine our hearts. Are we there to serve? Do we go just because something is attractive to us... like youth or children's ministry is fun? God can use anyone who is humble and avails himself. But God would never use one who is so available but proud.

Well what then can be low profile but high impact? I think that if we invest time and prayer and effort to build relationships, we can sow even more and harvest more. Think about the mentors and pray for them, they sow for 1-2 years and then see harvest. The Indonesian ministry - weekly they sow, pray for them. And last but not least, the my hope project is not another eating event but a sharing one. We must start praying and preparing ourselves and our loved ones. God will do his part to touch their hearts.

So we will still be having the my hope project, one in jocelyn's home and one in mine. I was really glad when cynthia tan said she's not going to missions but going to focus on my hope project and i think that whether we are in singapore or overseas we can still be blessing others with the gospel.

Ok... think my post is too long but I am really glad to share, to see people grow... to hear people going to get baptised - cynthia and jiawei... we are supporting you !!! let us know when you are going to tell your parents. Also we must congratulate Terry for finishing 3 months of bible school!! Yup let's continue to use the blog to share and glorify God!

Cheers :) Carol

Interesting

Heyy check this out

Visualizing The BibleCredit: Chris Harrison, Carnegie Mellon University, and Christoph Römhild, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church
The first illuminated bibles were produced in the early Middle Ages by monks who painstakingly detailed illustrations for their sacred verse. Chris Harrison, a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Christoph Römhild of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hamburg, Germany, present an illustrated Bible with a modern twist. Römhild started with a list of verses in different versions of both the Old and New Testaments that referred to figures or ideas from earlier passages, then combed through both books for additional examples. Using a custom-built computer program, Harrison translated the trove of data into "Visualizing the Bible." Each bar on the graph along the bottom represents a chapter of the Bible; the bar length corresponds to the number of verses in the passage. The rainbowlike arcs represent references from a chapter in one book to a chapter in another. "It almost looks like one monolithic volume," Harrison says.

PS: Sorry couldn't find a larger picture that could be saved and posted.

searching

Searchings.. seekings... askings...

Its been a long 2 years since i got back from down-under.... and i have been down n under since then... ha

been on a quest to find my place and my role in this society .... a place i used to call home... but never did i imagine... that i would be coming back to a changed place, changed ppl, changed perceptions... Aussie has indeed opened my eyes to many things about life and beliefs...

I thought that going to aussie is a temporal "postpone" of my Singapore lifestyle ... but upon my experiences and the understanding of how life is so much more than working for the sake of

money..

sercurity in HDBs, prada bags, fine dinning, grand weddings

the approval of those ard... that everything is "too risky, n u will surely fail" unless its a 9-5 mthly paying job... n.........

the worse of all... the brain wash that the "good life" the "light at the end of tunnel" would be there to embrace you after u give in a good hard work of 40-45 years of your life in whatever jobs .. then u would? have succeeded in life.. u you able able to afford everything you want in life, and take that vacation in swiss or europe.

But from what i had the previlage to see in the hospitals... n in the nursing homes.... this really is a lie..... these 40-45 years are the best years that one will ever have.... and if u work for the security for the golden years... one factor that most didnt account in is sickness.... one cancer / stroke can over nite shake up all the security that one tired so desperately tries to build up over the many Over Time (OT) and dog-eat-dog meetings... i just cannot see the sanity in all these...

i know many will be ready to defend their jobs and gun me down with all these writings... i really aint putting down anyone.. but juz an insight to what GOd is been bringing me thru.. i mean if everyone thinks like me then there will be no doctors for the sick.. no businessman to sell TVs, no farmers to grow fruits... n no pigs to be sucklings..=) guess there is a place where GOd had planned for us... but perhaps mine is really not conventional n might not be in the comforts of Singapore...

however... do think ... think about how not to waste it... waste our lives away.... in Aussie i am fortunate to learn n see , that work is really n should be a small part of our precious life... say one earns 4000 a mth, n work for 50 years... one person life is worth a mere 2.4 million. is that alot..? probably one nice house on top of orchard mrt is worth about 4 million... i really dont think its alot.... juz like King Solomon in his quest to find purpose n meaning in life independent of God ....

Ecc1:2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

n in Neil Anderson : victory over the darkness, he wrote;

Happiness in worldly defination is equated with good looks, relationships with important ppl, the right job, and a fat bank account. life devoid of these "benfefits" is too often equated with hopelessness...

What about life in God's kingdom? the success = happiness and failure = hopelessness dont exist. We are already a whole person and possess a life of infinite meaning and a purpose because of who we are - a child of God-

the only equation that works in God's kingdom is you plus Christ = wholeness and meaning.

Where is your hope today?

Suffocating.................................... !

no this cant be the place i left aussie for.... no there can be more ..... there must be more......... lord i want more......

Joel

hi folks!

know its been a long time since i blogged.. sorry was alittle busy alittle lazy alittle panyze... hahha busylazypanzy fuzzywazzy! hahha

yupz... am uploading a big video of our cell retreat! good times!! wonder how it taste if we catch a bunch of them n cook it chilli crab style.. hahha maybe we fry them first until crispy crispy them it be real nice aye!

hahah been holding out on the pictures and videos! haha i think we shld complie the videos n pictures that everyone got and put them into a christmas edition JK CD! hahah... n sell it for 10 bucks! haha... all proceedings goes to cell fund for end of year party!~ hahha... (how about that huh? )

I arrow shu hui to complie! hahah n erm.. elisa n liz to market n audit the sales! and.... of course treasurer to collect the money! hah oh! n erm... the young men to come up with the cover design and theme! must be christmas-y!!! =)

jiawei..

Result's out...

Got my results on Monday.. Was my best semester, GPA 3.7 out of 4, 3B+ and 2AD. Praise God! Kinda know I will do well cause I put in a lot of efforts and I know God's grace was with me, I could felt His presence and know that He is working in my life, like what I have mention on my previous entry.

Though I did well this semester, but my grauduating GPA is not that fantastic, it's only 3.3 cause I did not do as well in my previous semesters. Dont think I can enter the local U persuing accountancy cause it is just too competitive, especially in NTU. Will give NUS a shot.. SMU is expensive and it takes longer to graduate too.

With GPA 3.3, I think I can get into local U but have to give up persuing accountancy... Another alternative is to do the degree programme offered by Univeristy of London, degree in accounting and finance in SIM. Since the degree programme is accredited by ICPAS(Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore) as one of the route to attain CPA(Certified Public Accountants) other than ACCA route, it is worth considering but expensive =(

I still got about 7 months to think about it.. shall pray and ask God..

-Serene-

grp breakout at elisa's house=)

heys!

wanted to upload a video of jiawei playing boxing on wii but it refused to upload.. keep giving me error on page.. =/ the video was soo funny.. he managed to defeat the opponent by lying on the floor, boxing the air like crazy and kicking his legs in the air.. yeppps and he won the other guy..maybe u all shld try tt tactic the next time you all play boxing on wii

hahah anyways here's the rest of the photos we took that day=)

we had loads of yummy foood! pizza frm pepperoni, spanish bread and garlic bread made by elisa=) yummmy!!!!

elisa's fren - cum van - joined us too!

liz

.faith.

there must be a purpose for our existence on this Earth.

what was shared by jayne on the 7th of sept, the size of Earth as compared to the rest of the universe, simply made me wonder in awe.

i am still seeking and searching.

are you?

you are not alone.

-nonchalantly me, lcq

Birthday!!! And Group Break out!!!!

Group breakout! Nice food. Nice games! Ha.. ha and lots of fun. Imagine iff.... ...we should do it again. :)

























Say Hi to Mun Ching!!! Our new friend!





















Guess whose birthday was it??? Ha... not difficult to find out.


Joy.. :)

Prawning!

I joined Emmanuel to go prawning (fishing for prawns!) last week at Sims Drive (I think). It was quite interesting to see people fish and rather fun to try it myself too. But I didn't catch any...spent most of my time reading..haha. And poor Francis. Spent 3 hours and only caught 2. Lots of the prawns ate our bait and when we wanna hook them up, they slipped away! Argh!

(Francis said we looked like we're fishing from a drain..haha)

The rest of the Emmanuelites had more luck...they caught more. Altogether, there were 19 prawns, a miserable number compared to an Ah Peh who had a basket full himself!

At the end of the day, we bbq our catch and ate them..haha..

Interested? Maybe we can try some day! Hee...

-Jocelyn-

Its nice to have a gathering tmr. The last outing/gathering was in June right? Bowling and all, plus the eating haha... It'll be nice if we can put more effort into knowing on another better tmr, maybe just learn one new fact/thing about each person in your group.

When i think about it, we only meet on Fridays and Sundays (most of us), and the thing is we dont actually get to talk to everyone that much on these days either. There isnt much or any form of interaction for the other 5 days right? So are we just friday and sunday friends, or are we a family?

Maybe it can be a morning msg on the other days, to brighten up their morning, or to ask how they are coping and all, or even meet up for dinner before cell on friday! At least we can get more time to talk! :o) And i think through all these small small things, it can bring us all closer together as one cell right? :o) Then we can support one another better in future.

well, i know there are various personalities existing in jk, but sharing a little more wont kill right :X I not trying to say that we should understand each other so well until we can mindread! haha ( but if you can then good for you and it'll be interesting :P)

i dont wanna see you all as friday and sunday friends, but as family, and neither do i wanna become a friday and sunday friend ;)

have fun tmr! :o)

Working Life..

Started work since 1st Sept, second week of work is coming to an end. Didnt really enjoy work as I have to wake up at 6am every morning! It is a torment to me! Now I know why ladies wanna marry a rich man and be a rich tai tai. my department consist of all aunties, except me, qing yi se all female =(

So far, I get along well with my colleagues ( ren jian ren ai ma.. haha) and they treat me as xiao mei mei.. youngest and adorable ma.. whahahah...

Tuas is known for aweful food, so I hope to slim down since I can swallow food that are not to my liking.. To my HORROR, I got driven out of Tuas for lunch almost everyday. Although the food arent fantastic, it is still better than the food in Tuas canteen. My hope to slim down is dash =(

My lappy died on me.. so I cant blog very often, pardon me ya..

Looking forward to cell tmr..

-Serene-

Check out Persis' wedding blog here!

Hey peeps! Check out her wedding blog here. She's so pretty! Our Persis has also grown up to be a woman already...

http://josephnpersis.blogspot.com/

Hey Xiao Dis. If you all dont know who she is, go visit the blog and you'll know! hahaha...she used to be in our cellgroup, then she left to go to Praise Fellowship congregation (still in the same church), which next year we'll be moving to...


-Jocelyn-

Cell rocks!

Haha, on behalf of all the fellow "young men", thanks for praying for us! Continue rocking on, and don't worry, "young men" keep you all in prayers too!

Last paper of my poly life...

Had my last paper today.. Felt so relieved after that. God has been really shown how faithful He was for the past 2 weeks as I was studying for the exams. It was his strength that I drawn from to sustain me through the weeks and exams.

I couldn’t help thanking God after the exams cause out of the 3 papers I took, I could answer almost all the questions for 2 papers. I knew it was God who gave me the wisdom to do the papers. Xiao dis who are still studying very hard for exams, good luck to you all! Remember to rely on God's strength and wisdom!

I am so happy that I will be exam free for at least 1 year! Whahahaha.. I guess I will start working soon, probably on 1st Sept, still waiting for the company’s reply. Going for another interview tomorrow.. Wish me good luck! Haha!

See you guys on fri!

-Serene-

thank God for you!

dear saints (not just the sajcians, but the real saints....yes, dun look around. it's you!!),

just wanna thank God for this cell...(Awww..).
I think as I sat in the cell today, I thank God for each and everyone of you. Many of you may not have had a great week, but I thank God that you still chose to give thanks to God for his goodness and faithfulness. I'm really touched by your thanksgiving actually....even though I was making a joke out of almost all your thanksgivings. :)
These words came to my mind and I thought it really encourages me. Hope it will encourage you too!
"Your mercies are new everyday. Your faithfulness endures. Your love is everlasting. And your grace, it makes me strong." These are lyrics from Chris' song "Every day". Perhaps someone can tell me where he gets his lyrics from...as in which part of the Bible.
But anyway, I'm encouraged by your faith, knights!

Keep pressing on!!

Cosette SONG!!

Pray

I just felt that I have to share this story. Even though I do not know the exact details, but upon hearing it from my mother who heard from her friend, this is a real life story that left me saddened.

A woman(Singaporean migrant) in Los Angelas had two children. One aged 4 to 5 years old, the other 2 to 3 years old. One day, as the elder son injured himself outside, when the woman was with her children, a person among the crowd suggested that the woman bring her child to wash his/her wound. The stranger even offered to take care of her younger child. So, with gratitude, she left her younger child with the stranger. When she came back, her younger child was gone with the stranger.

In desperateness, she went around searching for her younger child. another stranger offered to take care of her elder child while she search for her younger one. When she came back, her elder child was gone too. Her husband was furious upon finding out and divorced her. She went crazy and is still in an asylum. Her children are still nowhere to be found.

I thought that it would be good to share this. Do keep her in prayer, please. Can't you feel the pain when you read this? Sigh, what is this world coming to? Thank God that we are still safe and sound and always treasure the people around you God bless you with. God bless.

A Retreat to Advance

Hey~~ I enjoyed myself in e retreat : D.. lots of insights of God's words, the little island and the cell~ So nice to have Zan back in the cell too~ Thank YOU all for putting everything together : ) All the hardwork, food, planning, recee-ing, cleaning, mopping, preparing n finally down to eating~ Think i had been reali bless with the Sashimi~~~ n I M STILL LOVING IT~~~~ hahaha~ (No, i did not have tummyach~)

Anyway, i just tot tt, it might not b a bad idea to b blind for 3 days, like Saul, I believe he had humbled himself; be it asking ppl for help to get around or all the way to the loo and to b more sensitive to God's voice~ instead of relying on our own strength~

P.S Hey Hui im~ Once u got ur camera, lets go shoot some animals~~~ HAHAHAHA~~

Yours la,

Terry Theodore

Our Spirtual journey~

Haha~ Wow~ I was at the FOP on sat and thru out e worship, God spoke to me on 3 things~ And I was laughing when the service on Sun started with Eccl 3:1 'There is a time for everything' it was a confirmation to me~

At the FOP, e first message was on Psalm 133:1-2 ' How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes'

Do not belittle the unity of the body : ) When there is unity in the body of Christ, God's annoiting will flow from the head to the toe; everyparts recieve the annoiting~ (Family camp2009 HAHAHAHA ) Ahem. let's stay connected n cont to encourage one another in His love, His word and His Glory~

Yours la,
Terry Theodore

Things in the past, things yet unseen.....I offer my life

Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my heart, alll of my praise
My heart and my hands are lifted to you
(Chorus)
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I've been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life

Think we sang this song on sun. Just want to share that God always use this song
to remind me how faithful He is. He is in control. both things in the past and things in the future.
And what's my respond to HIm? Worship Him cos only Jesus is able to do that. It reminds me of the times when
I was in need and He was there... for providence, He was there.. and will ever be there.

Best lyrics.... (Everything I've been through, use it for Your glory)
I used to think how can God use a person like me... all the pain and hurts that I've been through,
the times when I wasn't at my best. How can God use those times for His glory? Is there anything worth for Him in my life? And I am always humbled cos.. He always tell me that, yes... my life is worth something. It's worthy for Him to love, and no matter what He can use and change it. I just need to trust Him.

Totally humbled and I know that I am mere human and He is God.
Well... Just to share some of my thoughts of this song. Old but really meaningful.

Joy.

Parable of the Shrewd Manager Luke 16:1-13

Pastor Chi Shyan spoke about this parable during service and since we are doing Parables this season, I was inspired to read up and share. But this is just a short snippet. Hee...

I found it interesting that Jesus taught a parable as such. He seemed to condone or even advocate the manager's way of protecting himself. But certainly not! He was actually trying to bring out the shrewdness of the manager and teaching us to make wise decisions as businessmen do, but with the right motives, so that we would accomplish more for the knigdom of God! Jesus didn't commend the manager for doing what he did; it was his master who commended him. In fact, the Lord tried to caution us this undesirable behaviour in verses 10-13.

My focus here is verses 8b-9: "For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldy wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Jesus is teaching us to make use of opportunities for God, with God as the center; like how people of this world is making use of opportunities, but for their own gains. Being children of light, our objective of being "shrewd" is and should always be centered around God and His purposes.

So are you a good steward of what God has entrusted you?
- Material possessions
- Time
- Gifts and abilities
- The Gospel

If not, start doing something today!


-Jocelyn-