am I willing...

I learnt something from yesterday's YF brothers session on BGR. No doubt I was asked to go help facilitate and help the younger bros in this particular issue, I think I gained a lot of insight from it as well. And here's one takeaway I wanna share to remind myself with.

My Elder was answering this question, "When will I know that I am ready to start a relationship?" and he shared many good and relevant principles for us to consider. And the first one was "When you are willing to remain single for Christ's sake, that is a pre-requisite to marriage." Sounds weird doesn't it? But there is much value in this statement. Because only when one is contented to remain single for the Lord's sake, only then will one be patient to wait for the Lord to send the right one into his/her life rather than start fabricating and scheming your way to get the heart of the other. I recall how I told the Lord I would want to start looking for a life partner from May '09 and now it's already Nov '09 with not much progress. Will I then because of my impatience start to be unthinking and careless in the way I deal with the sisters around me? This is a timely reminder for myself to be sober minded and not react to pressure or circumstances. The other reason why that principle is a pre-requisite is because it will help one to have self-control and not "cross the line" during the dating/courtship phase. Again it is patience. Patience to wait for things that ought to be done during marriage and not the exploring phase, done ONLY at the marriage phase! If I am prepared to remain single for God, then at no point during the exploring phase should I ever think that she belongs to me and defraud her by not treating her honorably in the process.

These are hard teachings, especially in a society that speaks otherwise. But like I always remind myself, "Normal doesn't mean right, Tough doesn't mean wrong".

interesting experience

I was setting up the abseil tower last week and everything seem to go as normal... So as usual, once I finished setting up the 2 lanes, I abseiled myself down. But what was interesting is I suddenly felt fearful! Usually when I conduct programs, it always seem to be an easy peasy thing for me to abseil down, but I don't know why, that day, while I was on my way down, I found myself thinking, "what if the rope give way?", "what if the anchor comes off?", and many other "what ifs". Thinking that maybe it's due to my "too long never abseil liao" syndrome, I went for a second round! But the same fear resided in me...

As I look back at the incident, I am reminded how finite and limited I am as a person. Remembering what Michael taught during church service last Sunday in Psalms 39,

⁴ "Show me, O LORD, my life's end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life.

⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man's life is but a breath.
Selah

⁶ Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

⁷ "But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.

By myself as a person, I am really nothing. Only when I see and live my life in reference to God then can I find true significance, worth and security with this life I have. Thank God for this privillage to have come to know Him!

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.

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. :)