Christmas!

Christmas drama this year's a little different. :)

It came in the form of a tour in a theme park, built around the Christmas story. I thought this was pretty innovative. Instead of the play always taking place 2000 years ago, the story is told in modern times, using various technologies to tell the story (no spoilers here since some of you haven't seen it yet... :P If you aren't coming, you should... It's good! :P We're having services at Expo Hall 8 at 10am and 1pm tomorrow.)

One of the messages that struck me during the drama was this: Money can never buy you back time with your loved ones.

This is very true isn't it? Are we getting our relationships right? Do we place emphasis on material things and neglect the ones we love? Do we use things and love people, or do we love things and use people? Are we spending quality time with God? Because all material things we come to possess can never buy us time or favour with God.

Think Christmas is really a time for us to get our relationships right. God Himself wanted to make relationship right with men when he sent Jesus here 2000 years ago. So let us get our relationship right with God, and let us get our relationships right with the ones we love. Let us not miss out on one of the greatest gifts that God has given to us, our relationships with others.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, NKJV)

Random Thoughts at 2am (Part 2)

This is a day earlier than my intended blog entry - I'm writing this just before sending my sis off to the airport for a flight to the US - And yes, once again it's 2 am. I seem to have developed this habit of of waking up at 2 am and not getting back to sleep again. I kinda like 2 ams in the morning. It's quiet, most people have already been snoozing for a couple of hours at least, and there's no handphones ringing, or even handphone emitted radio waves flying around. It's quiet, and I like it.

Once again, I'm strangely awake, and my mind is clear. No troubles of the day to disturb me, no stress of the day to pressure me. It's a time when I can communicate freely with God, and also with myself. To put down the things that inspire me, to reflect upon the things I want to accomplish. Strangely, thinking about these issues in the day could be quite burdensome. There's so much to do, so many choices to make, and many a times, I find that I'm not moving entirely cos I couldn't choose which route to take. I know for sure I can only tread down one path, so I really have to choose carefully.

I probably have been trying to do too many things at once, and maybe also distracted by many things that have come my way. I really need to focus and prune away time spent on matters outside of my primary focus. I've already prune away much of my miscellaneous activities, and I'm trying to see if I can prune away more. I guess this is what focus calls for. I guess, my twice a week blogging might have to become once a week blogging, or maybe even less. But I'd better make sure I've exchanged this time for sometime more worthy.

Well... Back to 2am... I like it nice and quiet... I might keep a habit of waking up at 2am from now, we'll see how things go... :)

My best wish now is to have a totally sound proof room, so I can do a proper quiet time, and also to record the inspirations that come to me. There are many a times when I want to record down something, or maybe just jam a bit on my guitar, without worrying that my neighbour will start throwing their dog at me. :P

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb 11:6, NKJV)

Candlelight Service

Just had the first candle light service of my life at the Expo on Sun. Each of us were given a candle which we lit up at the end of the service, representing our light shining in this world of darkness. The sight of 7000 candles burning in the darkness is really a very awesome sight!


As I watched the candles, I'm reminded of a Sunday School hymn I used to sing in my primary school.

Jesus Bids Us Shine
Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light,
Like a little candle burning in the night.
In this world of darkness so let us shine—
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Let us be the salt and the light of the earth! Let us shine for Jesus! :)

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matt 5:14. NKJV)

Behaving like a Christian

I came across this passage on night as I was looking for a tag verse to end off my blog entry, and I stumbled upon this:

Behave Like a Christian (Rom 12:9 - 17)

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."

As I read the title to this passage (Behave Like a Christian), I had this revelation: This passage is not talking about the Christian *lifestyle* we should adopt; it's more fundamental than that - it speaks of basic Christian *behaviour* we're supposed to have.

Are people able to tell that we're Christians by the way that we behave, in the things that we say, in the things we do? Are they able to tell us apart based on our interactions with them? Are we able to live up to these standards that God has set, and be so accustomed to them that it's internalised in our very bahaviour?

I don't know about you but I'm really challenged to live up to these standards. It's not easy, but I will try. Won't it be nice if people can just say this about you: "This guy must be a Christian... Look at the way he behaves..." Let's try to do this shall we? :)

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21, NKJV)

Random Thoughts at 2am

It's 2am in the morning. Woke up at 12:30am, and couldn't get to sleep after that. A lot of things's been on my mind lately, and it's been a while since I wrote anything, so I guess I'll put some of my thoughts here, share parts of my life here, take my mind off matters, and perhaps catch some sleep when I'm done. =)

(When I started my blog, I just wanted to share my thoughts and feelings, didn't want this to be all spiritual food. Cos life is about balance, we're all spirit beings living a natural life. =))

It's been a horrendously busy period for me, and it does get a bit draining at times. I'm juggling between 3 projects right now, and I've been working non-stop since I arrive at the office, and all the way til the end of the day.

It's a constant struggle against the flesh to keep working. The temptation to "relac a while" and "zuo bo" is really great, but I understand this is not the way God wants me to work, so I've been fighting it off. I asked for growth and breakthrough, so this stretching is a natural part of it I guess. :P

We're all human, and we constantly struggle with this thing called our flesh. Many a times we need to discipline our flesh to do what our mind wants to do. For me this means working hard at work, and still sticking to my planned schedule for my after work programme. There's so much I want to do, so I really have to fight off the temptation to ROC (Army term: relac one corner).

It's not easy, and I've not been too successful with my after work programme. But I know it can be done once you put your heart to it. This is a revelation that I got after reading through the Bible this year. I've tried many years, and I've never finished it in a single year, so this was one of the challenges I commited myself to early this year. Of course the "motivation" helps, but I know for many times, it's this challenge that kept me going on.

So I guess I've to keep pressing on for my after work programme.

Been trying to write songs for a while, and all I've put together are little scraps of many different songs. I know many of these can be expanded on to form a complete song, but it's either I've been distracted by too many ideas and not focusing on one, or I've not spent enough time thinking through what I've wanted to write. Perhaps I just don't know where to start. I don't really know. The inability to produce gets a little disheartening at times, and it's not a nice feeling at all.

OKies, time to Zzz... See you all soon... =)

Next service is going to be a candlelight service. Never had one of these before, I'm sure it's going to be special. Going to ask my friends to come join us for this. I'm sure it's going to be good. Service's always has been... ;)

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Tit 2:11-14, NKJV)

First Service at Expo

Just had my first service at Expo on Sunday. :)

Wow... It was such an awesome experience attending church service with 7000 others. The presense of God was so strong from start to end of the service... Really enjoyed the presense of God very much that day...

Pastor shared a very good word during the preaching of the Word. About how God loves us as a heavenly Father, and His perfect love casts out all fears. I do not need to fear, but have faith that God will pour out His blessings upon us, because He loves us. God's love flowed freely through the whole place, and I was so touched that I cried buckets.

God spoke to me at that moment, and I scribbled these words in my notebook to capture the moment: God loves me as His child. He will never leave me nor forsake me. No matter what comes in life, I do not need to fear, because my Father loves me, and His perfect love casts out all fear.

There is no fear in Love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18, NKJV)

The Other Side of the Mountain

What Pastor Kong shared during the offering message last Fri impacted me quite a bit.

He shared about Abraham bring his precious only son Isaac up to the mountains to sacrifice him unto the Lord. Unknown to him, God had already prepared a ram for himself, to replace Isaac as the sacrifice. And as he climbed up this side of the mountain, God was bring the ram up from the other side.

The mountain was separating Abraham and the provision of God, so Abraham couldn't see the provision God had made for him. (He probably won't have recognised it if he saw it anyway. :P) It was until he was about the plunge the knife into Isaac that God revealed his provision for him.

When God provides the vision, he will provide the provision. Sometimes we just have to wait, because our miracle is over the other side of the mountain. We might not see it yet, but it is slowly moving towards us. It might not come in the form that we expect it to be, but God knows better. We just need to be patient and keep climbing. Our miracle will meet us someday, on the top of the mountain! :)

I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. (Ps 121:1-2. NIV)