watch it...

"You need to learn to take breaks." It has been a tiring month with all the planning and planning and planning for year 2009. Was reminded by a couple of people that I cannot be just concerned about doing the task at hand and not take breaks. It can be pretty draining and detrimental if I don't watch it. So, I better make good use of the 6 days leave I still have left to rest my mind a little. God in creation declared that the seventh day is a day of rest not because He is weak. He knows that we need the break and therefore instituted the Sabbath day lest we get caught up with the routine of life and forget to take a step back and commune with Him.

Application: I shall take leave coming Monday and go JB with my mama and sista... Muhahahaha...

It will never be easy...

Have you ever felt tired and defeated as you struggle with your sinful self?

"The hopeful Christian who lives in a sinful world is compared to a swimmer swimming against the current in the open sea with the shore in sight. It is not easy, as the current is strong and constantly pulling you further and further from the shore. It is like the world we are in, constantly influencing us and drawing us away from God. But do not despair! Because of the fact that we are struggling, it shows that WE ARE ALIVE! But the moment the swimmer stops swimming, is the day the swimmer dies. And like how a dead corpse can only drift around the open sea where the current takes, the moment we stop struggling with sin is the day we will drift further and further away from God, tossed around by what the world throws at us..."

As I hear this illustration, I thought it very aptly describes the Christian life and it encouraged me to keep struggling and battling against sin, because it shows that I AM ALIVE!

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called."
1 Timothy 6:12

Just as Paul understood that the Christian life is a battle and thus encouraged the Christians to FIGHT the good fight of faith, let us keep fighting till the Day Christ returns~!

May I Never Forget This Foundational Truth

4Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Sitting through this particular Christo-Camp teaching has reminded me to never forget who Christ is to me. Often we come before God, praying and hoping that He will bless us and grant us good things and expect Him to do as we wished. But isn't that ironic? When we, sinners in need of great help, turn the tables around and start to look at Christ like a sugar-daddy, expecting Him to bless and provide for whatever we ask for?! I pray that the Lord will forgive me at times when i treat Him like a vending machine, hoping that He will answer to my requests without first remembering that I, Tee Ee Han, am a sinner before His eyes, and deserve nothing less than His full wrath. So i pray that the next time before I pray to God for anything, I would seriously consider my tone, my attitude and my disposition.

music is the language of the heart...

A wonderful song that very much encompasses the gospel I believe in...

Across The Lands

You're the Word of God the Father
From before the world began.
Ev'ry star and ev'ry planet
Has been fashioned by Your hand.
All creation holds together
By the power of Your voice.
Let the skies declare Your glory;
Let the land and seas rejoice!

CHORUS
You're the Author of creation;
You're the Lord of ev'ry man;
And Your cry of love rings out across the lands.

Yet You left the gaze of angels,
Came to seek and save the lost,
And exchanged the joy of heaven
For the anguish of a cross.
With a prayer You fed the hungry;
With a word You calmed the sea;
Yet how silently You suffered
That the guilty may go free!

With a shout You rose victorious,
Wresting vict'ry from the grave,
And ascended into heaven,
Leading captives in Your way.
Now You stand before the Father,
Interceding for Your own;
From each tribe and tongue and nation,
You are leading sinners home!

Aren't the lyrics sweet?

Sunday sermon...

Let me share 2 things that God impressed upon my heart today during Rev. Khan's sermon today.

Firstly is as follows:

"It is not only the low points in our lives that we need to be weary of how it affect our relationship with God. We must be MORE weary of high points in our lives..."

He quoted the example of Jonah, of how he ran away after being commissioned by God to speak to the people in Nineveh. Everything seem to work for him. He ran the opposite direction, managed to find a boat, which only leaves the port 2-3 times a year, and got himself a space when the boat is supposed to be loaded with goods. Everything seemed to work well for him, but as we all know, God was just preparing him for a lesson he needed to learn. That is a good reminder for me to be careful, when things are "going my way", to not forget that God is still sovereign over all.

Secondly is this:

"Don't use your relationship with God as a springboard to build yourself up!"

As a full time Christian worker, I often get comments from people saying how 伟大 it is for me to give my time to serve God. It does feel good to receive comments like this. Or when I go to churches to speak and receive good comments from it, it is easy to become proud, thinking that it is MY accomplishment. So may the Lord remind me of my frailty and be humble to render all praise to Him!

words of wisdom 101

Was reminded of this quote over a strudel table...

"It is not how useful you are but how you make yourself useful for the ministry..."

Indeed a good reminder lest I think that the reason why I am still in SYFC is because of what I can contribute... May God be pleased to use me for His purposes...

"dun stress k?"

I now realized how nonconstructive such a comment can be when it is just used as a passing statement. No doubt people who mentioned it has good intent, like I've used statements like "Relax lah brudder...", "No stress k?", on countless people, hoping that it can be a source of encouragement and comfort to the person undergoing stress (e.g. 'A' levels, project deadlines etc.).

But after I myself undergoing much "pressure" from the planning of TeenGames, I guess the kind of encouragement people under going stress (me included), are looking for is more than just a simple statement like this. Perhaps what people under going stress are looking for are words of affirmation WITH action. Simple things like, "How can i pray for ya?", "Is there anything I can do to help?" or providing visible and practical help to lighten the burden the person may be facing would probably be much more appreciated. Nonetheless, I must say first that i still value very much people who drop statements like these, because it shows that care at the very least.

This simple incident has reminded me of how great a God I believe in. God knew the plight I am in. In my sin, I am helpless and unable to do anything about the burden of sin within me. God did not just stop short at saying, "Well guys, don't worry too much about the consequences of your sin k?", but He did something about it to help us, even though we don't deserve it! Thru the death of Christ, the solution of the super duper huge problem all man has been solved!

Guess i would need to be a liitttllleee bit more careful when i make such simple remarks to people and be a liitttllleee bit more willing to do more than just make a statement like that.

How much fwweeling leh?

A question that constantly plagued my mind when it comes to relationship is,

"How much should feelings play a part when it comes to finding a life partner?"

So i decided to consult someone "wiser" and below are excerpts of what was shared with me:

"That's a tough question to answer... Feelings should play a part but it cannot be THE part because feelings will not last... You have to consider this, "Can you live with this person for the rest of your life?" rather than focusing on whether there's chemistry between the both of you... if both parties are committed to the relationship, one of the things both parties would do is to guard the feelings that first bind them together because a relationship cannot be emotionless... you have to be real. Don't try too hard to look impressive around her and create a false feeling. Be real!"

After hearing it, I think one of the things I have come to conclusion is, what matters is not the lovey dovey feeling I feel towards the other person, but how much I understand the "sinful" part of her and am willing to work through those differences with her. (P.S: and of cos being real around her and not trying to look impressive)

Thank God for clearing up some of my thoughts through a short conversation like that.

Top 10 All Time Meaningful Songs...

Nope, it's not secular songs, rather it's Christian hymns and songs that have ministered to me throughout my life as a Christian. My CG conducted this simple exercise in preparation for the coming CG. I guess such exercises are helpful in causing me to search my "database" and pick out the lyrics of songs that are really meaningful. They are not in order, so here they are...

1) O Holy Night
2) Immortal Invisible God Only Wise
3) It's Your Blood
4) Hide Me In Your Holiness
5) Make Me A Blessing
6) This Is My Father's World
7) We've A Story To Tell To The Nations
8) In Christ Alone
9) Search Me O God
10) It Is Well With My Soul

This is definitely not an exhaustive list but they are definitely songs which tide me thru moments of difficulties and encouraged me to move on in my faith and my ministry.

My First Post~!

Yayyy~! Finally managed to get my own blogsite alive and kicking. Must thank God for allowing me to bump into ourblogtemplates.com for letting me find a template i like.

I think the motivation to blog came as my response after hearing a couple of messages from church and sermons to remind me to be a thankful worshipper. So I guess it is only right for me to do this simple thing as an expression of my love for God. So hopefully from now on, I will be more aware of the good God is and will be doing in my life and give Him the credit.

Cheers...