Archive for the ‘christian’ Category

zi lian post(but also got inspiration!)

Wednesday, November 8th, 2006

today’s my birthday!

wholivesnearyou.com wished me a happy 76th birthday so that’s how old i must really be! why i never qualify for senior citizen discounts ah??? heh heh heh.

anyways i long ago gave up the idea of making birthdays seem like the most important thing in the world. saw this posted up in friendster and thought it really made a ton of sense. some of you may have read it before, but there’s nothing like learning a valuable lesson again :)

$20.00

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,

Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up.He said,

I am going to give this $20 to one of you.But first, let me do this.”

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.He then asked,

Who still wants it?”

Still the hands were up in the air.Well, he replied, 

What if I do this?”

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

Now, who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.

It was still worth $20.Many times in our lives,we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.We feel as though we are worthless.But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,but by WHO WE ARE.

You are special. Don’t EVER forget it.”

If you do not pass this on, you may never know the lives it touches, the hurting hearts it speaks to,or the hope that it can bring.

Count your blessings, not your problems. If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

homesick

Monday, October 23rd, 2006

this is a music video of Mercy Me performing their 2005 hit “homesick”. if memory serves me correctly, the song is honouring the soldiers in iraq. very touching song.

sermon notes!

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006

[note : today's sermon i feel applies to everybody. the speaker is from my church's mother church!]

Series :  Romans 9-16

TopicGrowing Deeper in Love (Rom 12:9-21,13:8-14)

Speaker : SP William Lee (bartley christian church)

1. Introduction

Background of the Roman Church - a mixed community

- gentiles and jews

New Identity, New community and New perspective

Importance of Sincerity in our love

2. The Look of Love - Our Attitudes

a) Sincere love rejects evil, cleaves to what is good(rom 12:9,amos 5:14-15)

b) Sincere love retains spiritual passion for God(rom 12:11,philippians 3:14)

c) Sincere love rejoices inspite of difficulties(rom12:12,james1:2)

3. The Life of Love - Our Actions

Love, without action, is insincere

a) Sincere love respects others above ourselves(rom12:10a,philippians 2:3)

b) Sincere love prays for others faithfully(rom12:12b,philippians1:3)

c) Sincere love responds to the needs of others(rom 12:13,1 peter 4:9-10)

4. The Lavishness of Love - Our Forgiveness

a) Sincere love understands God’s mercy(rom5:8,colossians3:13)

b) Sincere love lives at peace with others(rom12:18,mark9:50)

c) Sincere love returns evil with good(rom12:21,mathew5:44)

5. Conclusion

” Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8(NIV)

church signs :)

Tuesday, October 17th, 2006

aspire!

be one!

bad or good?

count

smokin?

lift up your faith

our management rocks!

sundaes vs sundays

try jesus

you are!

hmm

Saturday, October 14th, 2006

i just joined a cell group after being MIA from the cg scene for 3 years-ish. there were plenty of reasons why i chose to go back now, but i must say the main reason was the fact that i’m now in not one but TWO church ministries(yay superlife and 1st aid!).

 anyways, my cell is made up of people all older than me. which effectively makes me the youngest there. but i’m pretty alright with it. cell group is not all about age you know. and besides, whenever jokes are made about being old, i won’t be targetted! haha.

we discussed quite a number of things and one good point brought up was how during cell we should be able to speak freely without being ‘politically correct’ or ’spiritually correct’ all the time.  which is something everyone should think about!

there have been times when you talk to someone and because you don’t know the person all too well or the person is not the same religion/gender as you, you’re particularly concerned about whether your speech is PC or SC.

but in a cg, we’re all a big big family in God so we should be comfortable enough to share without inhibitions(but within reasonable limits lah)!

for example things that we’ve experienced in life that God has blessed us richly in are definitely share-worthy without having to care if the event was a particularly risque one in the first place or that we don’t have any bible-references from the lesson God gave us. why? cos God’s already involved, He’s all the answers you need combined in one great Being :)

i definitely have a good feeling about cell group.

and its all thanks to God.

faith on a vehicle.

Sunday, October 1st, 2006

jesus loves you

took the above picture en route to sengkang. i know its not exactly the most shocking thing ever, but don’t you think its pretty ? ;)

serm0n p0ints

Sunday, September 10th, 2006

[note : these aren't very good notes. not that the content of the sermon was bad(it was fantastic, but the fact that i may not have copied down all the important points. sorry hor. and erm, i don't have the title of the sermon. my reflections and corrections are in italics.]

Speaker : Sy Rogers (he speaks pretty fast but his words rang thru and thru. for more info on his background click here. he is a pastor who specialize in helping people with sexuality problems)

*there are 3 Appetites a person has

1)Food (for the body)

2)Truth (for the mind)

3) Love (for the soul)

*Counterfeits to those appetites include(there were 3, but i missed out the first one)

- philosophies that promote ideals that do not lead us/reconcile to God

- sex is the 'substitute bread' for non-sexual love

Proverbs 27:27

*What is Love? (ways to build healthy relationships)

1)Acceptance

- when you accept a person for where they are and what they are

- Romans 15:7

- one of the greatest psychological wounds a person can get is rejection

2)Accountability(being answerable to the 'Boss')

- Mathew24+25, Luke 21:34 & 12:35, 1st Cor 3:13-14, 2nd Cor 5:10, Hebrews 5:13 & 10:31 &13:17, James 2:12 + 2:1-2 + 4:11 + 5:8-9

- Lack of love = not caring

- about Christ's 2nd return

- we must be sober, vigilant and focused

- any situation that we mishandle always brings about casualties

- do not break(or even try to) break boundaries

3) Affirmation

- insecure people often doubt their own value

 - therefore they resent it when 'God gives othes but not myself'

 - the grass may be greener on the other side, but how people got their green grass may have been a long and arduous journey. anyway, green grass never stays that way forever.

- grieve with those who grieve for it shows that they matter enough to you for you to share their grievances.

- you feel affirmed when your pain matters to someone who values you

*You matter to God

John 13

*Value each other as God values you

John 15

Ephesians 5

1 Peter 4

*Love covers a multitude of sins

basically his sermon spoke to me in the sense that i realised God's love is so fantastic because He loves me despite what i've done. His love is inclusive and it never fails. even when you do silly things that lead you along the path of self destruction, He always reminds you that you can always do a U-turn by repenting and trusting Him.

you don't have to be perfect for God to love you :) you are already perfect in His eyes.

something to reflect upon

Tuesday, August 29th, 2006

[note : got this thru email from my dad. got me thinking about appreciating my fellow believers and how prayer works so beautifully especially when you are praying for someone else.] 

 A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agree that they had no other recourse but to pray to God. However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing the first man prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.

Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that his wife and he could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven booming,

"Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"

"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the first man answered.

"His prayers were all unanswered, and so he does not deserve anything."

"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings."

"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?"

"He prayed that all your prayers be answered."

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us.

When Jesus died on the cross he was thinking of you!

If you are one of the 7% who will stand up for him forward this with the title "I am one of the 7%".

93% of people won't forward this.

argh my hearing!~

Saturday, August 12th, 2006

seriously. my hearing has been affected these couple of days. i blame no one but myself actually. lol. not that i didn't enjoy myself :)

 yesterday i went to go see the fireworks. i don't know which team was responsible for the dazzling displays but it was lovely.

the new paper kinda scared me by writing an article on how bad the crowd control was. but from where i was standing it was okay.

the crowd at esplanade

yup here's a picture of the crowd. a couple was standing beside me and the girl was literally plastered against me -_-" sometimes i suspect why i always kena these kinda things is because the girl figures better me than some dirty old man. haha.

firewookies!

see the number of people propping their hp cams and digicams up. lol. i didnt take any good pictures cos the fireworks were at a rapid speed but i do have a couple of vids that i will be posting on * my multiply page

today i went for the planetshaker's concert(which was brought in by fcbc). again i felt like an old person so next time i think i'll just stick to p&w concerts by hillsong and don moen.

PSworship team

the worship was a rockin'. i literally could feel the vibrations coming in from the loud thumping music. it was fantastic though. worship is worship, no matter who you're with. its all about Who you're worshipping.

sermon

this pic's of the pastor from their church preaching. he was sooooper enthu and the sermon was primarily an evangelistic one so it was nice listening :)

feel quite beat now lol. okay more (boring) blogging next time.

million dollar view

Sunday, July 30th, 2006

the view from my church's rooftop terrace

isn't the view from my church's rooftop terrace nice? okay fine at least the top 2 pictures. i wasn't very concerned about taking super nice pics. just being up there and feeling the breeze was sweet!

my pastors love calling the rooftop terrace's view "the million dollar view"(partly because the new church building cost a pretty penny to build). anyways, they always encourage us(actually us = those who brought newcomers) to go up and drink kopi, soak in the view and stuff.

sermon was good as usual. but today i think i'll skip on typing out the entire sermon. but generally it gave me a good feeling cos Elder Boey reminded us about how the 'troubles'(john 14:30,16:1-4,20-22) in our lives are things that we should face bravely cos nothing is too tough if we remain in God who has already given us His peace(john 14:27,16:33).

You're all I want

You're all I ever needed

You're all I want

Help me know You are near

sermon lessons.

Sunday, July 23rd, 2006

(am looking into a file-saving thingy where i can download the sermon notes from my church's website and host it somewhere so that you guys can download from here. confusing? yah. i'm also confused. but sometimes they don't put up the notes la. so i'll see about things. *as always, italics in notes are extra stuff/my own reflections. feel free to ignore or read*)

Series : Drawing Back To God

Topic : A Call To Perservere (book of Jude) - Pt 2/4

Speaker : SP Vincent Lun

CORRUPTION IN THE CHURCH(v 1-16)

4 Phases whereby corruption affects the church:

1. Creed  (corruption of teachings)

a) change the grace of God into licence for immorality(v4)

i can't remember exactly what SP Lun was saying about this issue but if i'm not wrong, he spoke about how people would just commit sins knowing full well what they're doing and just console themselves by saying that God would still forgive them anyway.

b) deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord (v4)

one good example is how the Da Vinci Code story claimed that Jesus was married and His 'descendents' were living in France.

2. Conduct (behavior)

a) israel in the wilderness(v5)

the israelites saw God's miracles and were delivered by God when He parted the red sea for them. yet they did not believe and therefore got punished.

b) angels at Hermon(v6)

these few angels did not keep their position of authority properly. they were too power-hungry and therefore were banished to hell.

c) Sodom and Gomorrah(v7)

they were destroyed due to overwhelming sexual immorality and perversion. i always enjoy reminding people that the words Sodomy and Gonnorhoea were derived from these 2 cities. i could be wrong, but i may be right too. heh.

3. Character (v11-13)

a) Cain - man of anger

he killed his brother Abel out of pure jealousy when God favored the latter's sacrifice of an animal over his gifts.

b) Balaam -  man of greed

aye, he was too money-grubbing.

c) Korah - man of ambition

a man of too much ambition. he went on to rebel against moses.

4. Conversation(v16)

What sort of speech characterizes these people?

a) grumblers and fault-finders

b) boasters and flatterers

these people boast about themselves and flatter others, but only for their selfish gain. your conversation pretty much reflects your character. something to think about eh?

A CALL TO PERSERVERE (v17-25)

How do we deal with it?

1. don't be surprised

Have been told by:

a) old testament prophets(v14-15)

Enoch prophesised about God's judgement on mankind. then, mankind was making God really upset and He wanted to wipeout the entire human race. anyway one of enoch's descendents names meant 'after my death the entire human race would be wiped out'(sic). good thing the fella lived 169 years. and his son happened to be Noah, who built the ark! so even though God said He was gonna wipeout mankind He gave warning.

b) new testament apostles(v17-19)

2. deal with this :

a) for yourselves by:

i) building up in faith(v20)

ii)keeping in God's love(v21)

iii) waiting for mercy in hope(v21)

b) for others - 3 kinds of people

i) mental doubt(v22)

ii) mortal danger(v23)

iii) moral defilement(v23)

3. Perservere to the end(v24)

- God's part and man's part in the perserverance of the saints

- watch and pray

sermon notes+sunday sch musings

Sunday, July 16th, 2006

[am typing out the sermon notes. words in brackets are extra stuff]

Drawing Back to God (Part 1/4) : Rediscovering Our First Love

Speaker : Elder Freddy Boey

Scripture : Revelation 2:4, Philippians 2:12

1. Life after salvation : Salvation is a process, not an insurance policy.

- Apostasy : people who are never saved. Jude 3:11,Hebrews 6:4

- Don't be merely saved. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15

(extra : there once was a man who was the 'QC' of the church. he criticised everything and pointed out what was not there in the sermon, worship…etc. so one day when he died and got to heaven, he got taken on a little tour in heaven. he saw his pastor's house. it was a giant mansion. "wow, if his house looks like that, mine must be 3 times it's size!". the 2nd house was his worship leader's house. it was just as big as his pastor's if not bigger. "if her house is like that, mine certainly must be occupying a football field!" the angel led him to his house. to his horror, he saw a barren plot of land with mortar and bricks lying on the ground. "what happened? why is my house not built?" the angel replied "you were so busy building other people's houses, you forgot to build your own!")

- Those who looked back. Luke 17:31-32, Luke 9:62

2. Salvation through His death, Service through His Love

- We love because He first loved. If we do not respond to His love, we wil not love. 1 John 4:19

- Loving God means loving and serving His people. 1 John 4:11,12,20

- Serving without His love is not serving at all. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

- And God's Love is what compels us in our ervice. 2 Corinthians 5:14

3. Beyond salvation, there is accountability. 2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 2:5,3:15-17

[done!]

sunday school artwork

this is a sample of the hands-on material i prepared. and yes, in case you haven't figured out by my previous postings, i am NOT artistically inclined. thankfully my sunday school kids are only 3-4 years old. what do they know about fine art huh? lol.

today 2 girls particularly made my day better. 1 of them, A, is usually quite the stubborn lil tyke. she refuses to sit with the kids on the floor during storytime. however today she was very docile and opted to sit on my lap thru out the entire storytelling and worship. she even surprised me by reciting the memory verse from last week and kids her age don't usually do that!

B is a very cheerful girl(same girl mentioned in my jul2 entry). so today, i took a few pics with her(will nevar post them publicly, so forget about it). was taken aback(in a good way) when in the first shot she reached over to hug me. awwww. when i went outside for a little while, she even tried to follow me(my colleague alerted me by tapping on the glass partition of the door and pointing to the girl from inside the room). when i opened the door, she reached out for me(like the way kids reach out when they want to be carried) and so i picked her up. man. seeing her beam made me day sooooo good. its lovely how kids just love simply, with no strings attached.

its no wonder why God exults us to love like a child, cos their love is the purest of all :)

Prayers That Prevail (by Pastor Benny Ho)

Sunday, June 4th, 2006

[ps : i found this sermon particularly useful for Christians..esp 'older' Christians. for people who want more great sermon notes, go to my church's website and take a look-see at the sermon outlines link. i couldn't copy and paste to here cos it just doesn't flow lah. typed out the whole thing here.heh.more about Pastor Ho can be found this link.]

Scripture Reading : 1 Kings 18:41-46

INTRODUCTION

“A man is no better than his prayer life” - Leonard Ravenhill

“When we pray, he trembles. When we get on our knees, he flees.”

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”

HOW DID ELIJAH PRAY?

1. Prophetic Prayer

*Vs 41 - Elijah told Ahab : “Go, eat and drink for there is the sound of heavy rain”

*Romans 4:17 says : “He called the things that are not as though they were…”

*Hebrews 11:1 says “For faith is the substance of things hoped for,the evidence of things not seen…”

2. Passionate Prayer

Elijah’s prayer life is marked by great intensity and passion.

Elijah stood boldly before the prophets of Baal but he knelt humbly before the Presence of God.

*Hebrews 5:7 “During the days of Jesus’s life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death and he was heard because of his reverent submission”

*Mathew 11:12 “The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force”

*2 Corinthians 10:3 “For though we live in this world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds…”

AJ Gordon : “We have the authority to take back from the devil everything he is holding back. The chief way to do this is by prayer…The cry that should be ringing out today is the great cry : TAKE IN JESUS NAME!”

3. Proactive Prayer

*Elijah said to his servant : “Go and look towards the sea…”

4. Persistent Prayer

7 times the servant returned and said there was nothing there…

Winston Churchill said :

“The nose of a bulldog is slanted backwards so that it can continue to breathe without letting go”

“The usefulness of a postage stamp lies in its ability to stick to something until it gets there.”

AHAB - Man of Flesh, Feasting, Rode on Chariots,Playing

ELIJAH - Man of the Spirit,Fasting, Ran on Feet,Praying

AT Pierson wrote in 1881 :

“These are the days of giant enterprises in commerce and science. Why not carry the same spirit into God’s work? I set forth a proposition that by the year 1900 the Gospel shall be preached to every soul on earth”

AT Pierson gave us the reason in 1895 a few years into the effort :

“We are compelled to abandon hope…because we failed to mobilize PREVAILING PRAYER”

Take All Of Me - Hillsong

Saturday, March 25th, 2006

You broke the night like the sun

And healed my heart with Your great love

 Any trouble I couldn’t bear

You lifted me upon Your shoulders

Love that’s stronger

Love that covers sin

And takes the weight of the world

I love You

All of my hope is in You

 Jesus Christ take my life

Take all of me

You stand on mountain tops with me

With You I walk through the valleys

You gave Your only Son for me

Your grace is all I rely on

I love You so,

and I give up my heart to say

I need You so,

my everything

even when walking thru the valley.

new cd!

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006

bought a new CD today after careful consideration.

i once made the solemn promise that i would only buy christian cds now because cds are very expensive in singapore(unless, of course, you smarten your brains up and buy china-imports but don’t tell anybody i told you, okay?)

so here’s the CD i bought!

reuben morgan is from hillsong

yes the print is very tiny but this is the best photo i got of the cd art.

its Reuben Morgan - World Through Your Eyes

he’s from australia. to be exact he’s part of Hillsong Music Australia where he was a worship leader and composed many songs. he’s talented lah. God really blessed him(and everybody else too, just that his forte is music. but whatever. haha.)

it’s really good so far and i would recommend it to everybody ! :)