remember your Creator in the days of your youth...

Was preparing for a sharing with my youth fellowship and I thought it will be useful for me to blog it down to remind myself the very things I shared with them in a forum setting:

In one statement, what is your advice to young people today?

Make ALL you do Today, an INVESTMENT in the Eternal tomorrow. (borrowed words from Alan Catchpoole)

Sometimes as Christians, we live disjointed lives, thinking that what we do now on earth has no bearing on our future in heaven. But if we truly understand what heaven is like, we will then know that God is simply restoring us back to what He originally created us for, a life without sin. So it is not so much a reset button He is pressing but a progressive change that is happening.

Have you ever found life boring? Why?

Of cos! Who doesn't in his/her lifetime? Why? Because the things we get ourselves involved in is never fully and totally satisfying. We will always be searching and trying things out this lifetime until we can arrive to a conclusion/thing which can take us through life. It is like a polar bear will only find true satisfaction when it is in the north pole/arctic circle. The zoo can do all they can to give the polar bear the simulated enviroment and chunky fish but it will never fully satisfy it. Similarly, what this world offers can never fully satisfy us. That's why we get bored. Music, fashion, games, they all keep changing cos they cannot fully satisfy. The sad thing is many of us are happy with what the world throws at us. But if we truly know the potential we are suppose to reach and have, we are missing out a lot in life.

How did you truly find satisfaction in God when there are many other attractive things?

It's difficult. I think there will always be this constant struggle. One moment we may think that we have overcomed an attraction, another attraction will draw our attention away. One way to ease that is when we know what truly matters. Think of a kid. Between the choice of his favorite gummy bear and a blank cheque, which one do you think he will take? Reason is simple. He don't understand the value of what the piece of paper can bring to him. And interestingly, here we are laughing at how "blur" that kid is but when someone older look at us, that is the same response they will give when they look at the way some of us are living and making decisions in life. It is interesting that Solomon asked us to remember our CREATOR. Why not remember your God? Or remember your Father? Because if we remember or know who made us and what He made us for, we will know how to live life in a satisfying way. Since He made us, He knows what will satisfy. Know who God truly is. Understand that. That might just help you find satisfaction in God greater than what the world can offer. We can either learn from fools or end up being the fool for people to learn from. I believe that there is nothing wrong with the attractive things in this world. I don't think God would want us to forgo wisdom and be stupid or to dress shabbily and portray an unkempt image. The only difference is it must be done in and within God's set boundary. Now that will be satisfying.

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evan almighty

Movies are always interesting... There is always something to learn from it, be it good or bad. Was at the Xinmin POD where they decided to screen Evan Almighty. Seeing it for a second time does cause me to look out for some of the finer details that would have just fly past me the first time I watched it. And this is THE quote of the movie, IMHO:

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

I'm not sure if the director is a Christian, but this is a quote with biblical grounding. Living in a society that demands instant and pain free results, this is one hard truth to swallow. It is a shame that many Christians do not understand this truth. But it does teach me one thing. Be careful what I pray for. And be prepared for it. :)

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prayer 101

Last week's prayer gathering was interesting... No because I play the guitar out of rhythm a couple of times but the way the initiator was describing the different "types" of prayer. And they are:

* Conditional prayer
- We tell God, "If you answer this prayer of mine, I promise to go to church/do my Q.T/ tithe more etc."

* Threatening prayer
- We threaten God to answer our prayers by saying, "If you don't answer my prayer, I will not serve in this ministry and not give time to read your word..."

* Extortion prayer
- We demand God to answer our prayers saying, "God, you are so powerful, surely sharing a bit of wealth with me is not a problem rite?"

* Resignation prayer
- We simply give up and tell God "I give up, I don't want to do anything anymore"

It may sound comical but I can identify times when such thots do cross my mind, especially the resignation prayer lately. Is this the way God wants us to approach Him in prayer? Definitely not. It is a relationship. We don't talk like that in relationship so why should we be like this when we are communing with God?

Help me learn to communicate rightly with you, Lord...

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shocking!!

My blog is now 1 year old!! Simply amazing... Amazing because I didn't think that I can sustain this blog for so long... I guess it was a good time to remind myself whether this blog has lived to serve it's purpose. There are just so many things I can be grateful to God for, just that my laziness has hindered it from being published. But all in all, I thank God for this channel of giving and do pray that even in the coming year, I would be more disciplined to blog down God's goodness in my life.

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He is Our El-Roi

Thought I should record down the testimony I gave in my church service a month ago to remind and remind and remind and remind me again and again and again when the going gets tough. So below is a transcript of what I shared:

Have u ever felt really really down and just dun feel like carrying on? I felt like this just 2 weeks ago when I was tasked to plan for a particular project. I felt like Job (read Job 3:1-4, 11, 24-26), cursing the day I was tasked with the project when i was thrown by a barrage of questions and issues. With my 13 years as a Christian and 3 years ++ in full time ministry, I still thot I had experienced enuff difficulties to be able to handle anything. But this time was so bad, I could hardly put up a smile. So it was kind of fake, where I had to put up a smile in front of students but then after that, I sink into what young people would term as 'emo-ness'.

The thought of running away and giving up was very strong. I tried to reason with myself saying that since there's no joy, might as well don't do since we are supposed to serve God cheerfully. But God reminded me, through songs, people, book but especially His Word, that running away is not the solution! The flesh always thinks about running away on the sight of difficulty because it is not within it's comfort zone but running away when it comes to serving Him has never been a solution in God's dictionary. I think of Jonah, Moses, Joshua etc.

Allow me to share with you just one thing that helped me bounce back and shook me up to put me in the right perspective when it comes to serving Him. I am currently doing my devotion on the different names of God, and God very timely showed me that He is a God who sees, our El-Roi. (Gen 16:13) Even though people may not know what is going on within me, even though it may seem like an impossible task ahead, God sees all these things. And if He sees, I can be assured that He is in control and on top of the situation. He is not a God who sees but is helpless or a God who likes to see me suffer. He is moulding me. This simple truth turned me around.

I do not know if I will fall again, but one thing I know: He is my El-Roi, the God who sees. Finally it is not what I can do, but what God can do through me. And if God called me to the task, I can be sure that He will qualify me for the task ahead!

But what actually comforted me the most about the experience God put me through is that it was an encouragement to the others in my church (at least 2 that I know of). I guess that's when I must be mindful of all that the Lord puts me through because it can be a source of encouragement and comfort for others around me.

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what's necessary is often not what's easy

I bought my grandma out to eat yesterday and I must say that it is quite a feat to do it by myself. At many points I felt my patience running think and begin thinking to myself, "Why am I doing this?". First of all, walking to the restaurant alone is a challenge in itself. Given the condition of my grandma, it took us 30min before we reach the place which I would usually only take 7min. Then upon reaching the place, she started complaining and say "Why come here? Waste money.". Within me I was like, "Hello, I bring you out to eat, just eat can?". What's the saddest part for me is throughout the whole journey to and fro and the meal, I tried to strike conversations with her but somehow it just couldn't connect. I either get a blank look or a disconnected reply. Apparently the only thing that gets her talking is when she complains about my sister and my father.

As I reflected upon the whole encounter, my first reaction is to give up and not bring her out too often next time. But God timely sent 2 reminders, through a sister and a brother, to tell me to not give up but press on because this is something necessary. I guess what my grandma wants is just to spend time with her, physically. So though I may not be able to strike a conversation this time round, I can always try again the next time. I can't expect a ONE time immediate effect to take place with my ONE time effort. And though it may feel a little irritating and frustrating at times, if I don't keep showing concern for her, I may not have the opportunity to do so next time. I guess these are good enough reasons for me to bring her out more often the next time. :)

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