lkyouths

Carolling!!

2009-12-26T18:53:00.010+08:00

Yo LKYouths!!

It was a glorious 24th Nite as you sang, jiggled, giggled, bringing Christmas cheers and it's true meaning into the homes. Shall we give Esther and together with her team of organisers are big *clap* for putting all together & having such a creative set of songs!!

What was especially warming was the coming together of carollers from 2 other churches. Their participation is a testimony of the Christian love that is shared ... churches without "walls".

Here are some of the pics from carolling!!

Thank you for "telling the good news on the mountains"!!

2009-12-25T10:27:00.002+08:00

HEY ALL
THANKS FOR COMING DOWN TO CAROL!
HOPE YOU HAD FUN!

LOVE,
ESTHER

2009-12-22T21:13:00.003+08:00

HEY GUYS!
I'm sure you guys are quite hyped up about carolling! (Okay maybe it's just me.) I get excited when I think of you guys singing Jingle Bell Rock. Hahah! Okay now I think it's just me. Just to update, I thought today was lots of fun. I'm not sure about the rest of you but I really hope you have fun too! :D

Just one question: "Why are we carolling?"
Take some time to think about it yeah. (:
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Anyooooohow, thurs, the girls are going to get RED/GREEN hair extensions. With regards to what time and where, check here for more details. Or call me! :D
Soooooo, thurs, 4.30pm at church. DON'T BE LATE COS THERE'S GOING TO BE LAST MINUTE PRACTICE. BRING WATER, AND WEAR RED/GREEN.

SEE YA'LL.

SENTOSAAAAAAA.

2009-12-16T13:38:00.002+08:00

Our sentosa trip yesterday basically consisted of:

1. Getting veryvery black/burnt

2. Sitting in the water and doing practically nothing

3. Playing monkey with a frisbee

4. Playing captain's ball

5. Playing ultimate frisbee

6. Playing soccer (for the guys, duh)

7. Playing cards

8. Running around on very hot sand

9. Ending our trip with shopping @ candyempire

10. Dinner (?) Idk i left before that hahaha.

So yeah, it was fun, no matter how tiring it was!
Oh and luke from ccbc joined us hahaha super random but yeah. The next time we have these kind of trips, BE SURE NOT TO MISS IT!

A great time of fellowship and bonding. All those who werent there, we missed you :(

Christmas is coming soon, see y'all at carolling on the 24th!

2009-12-14T20:14:00.002+08:00

Hey all!
I don't know if you all check this place for updates or what, but I'll just update it just in case!

There's a rehearsal for the Hi-Tea on the 20th December, Sunday, 1230pm onwards.
Just wanna say thanks to those who replied to my sms about lunch. You'll get your foooooooood! :D

And there's another one on the 22nd (tuesday), 1pm!
Just take note of these two dates okay! Thanks.

And, wear WHITE TOP for christmas Hi Tea,
RED/GREEN top for the one on the 24th! (And bottoms that are longer than knee length! :D)

That's all!

P.S. Yg, you don't have to mass message them, I'll do it! :D Thank you!

2009-12-10T09:04:00.003+08:00

HEY EVERYONE!
ESPECIALLY THOSE BACK FROM ISAAN.
Okay, I've got no clue who actually reads this blog but I'm here to blog a little! :D

Anyway, you guys are invited to sing with the band on the Christmas hi-tea on the 25th of december with Mark's band! :D Cos we're awesome and we know it. Hahahah! But anyway, I need you guys to be down on sat (12/12) at 10am in church to practice the songs mark is going to choose and to go through the sequence of the whole thing.

And yeah, carolling practice will be on the 19th! Time and date will be confirmed! Will msg you guys again.

See ya'll sat! :D in the meantime, REST WELL! :D

Love,
Esther(:

Youth Leaders' Retreat 2009!!

2009-10-07T23:58:00.006+08:00

Yo!!

The youth leaders' have a great time Hangin' Out @ Mt Emily!! (that's the hostel's name .. get it ... get it ...). Anyway, it was a mentally draining time and we dug deep, examining self and ministry. In the short frame of time, we also manage to squeeze time to "ti deng long" ... not much of "shang yue" (admire Moon) as it was quite cloudy. Here are some pics ... check out more @ Flickr

Final term.

2009-09-13T18:05:00.003+08:00

It's the final term of the school year! Everyone's gonna be busy preparing for the eoys but dont forget to set aside time for the Lord each day :D
Cuz...."I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" Seek strength from the Lord during this tiring and difficult time (preparing for exams are ALWAYS hard, ugh) and everything will be over as soon as you know it.

Meanwhile after all your holidays start i'll have to do my O levels.
Butttt anyway.

I've no idea what to blog bout, just adding another blog post and ENCOURAGING MORE PEOPLE TO BLOG. Ahem, if you wanna blog on this but your name isnt on the list, then just tell yg/esther/krist/myself and we'll add you.
If you wanna blog but dont know how to, ask esther. I volunteer her for tutorial lessons.
But if you're such a noob like auggie who doesnt even know how to sign in, there's nothing i can do for you.

Reminders:
1. Youth camp 2009 (26th-28th November)
Combining with CCBC, talking bout BGR.
2. CBYW (28th November)
K, if you cant make it for youth camp you can still come for this :D
3. Isaan mission trip (4th-11th December)
Lawl, join the dance team. I wont be thinking of the dance so you wont look retarded doing it HAHAHA. A time to step out of your comfort zone to spread God's word.
4. Youth leader's retreat (2nd-4th October)
Keep all the youth leaders in prayer as they come together to decide bout stuff for the youths in LKBC!

K im done. I need to start studying. And stop procrastinating.
Ugh.

And i changed the photo! It's a little ew. But whatever.
ESTHER DO SOMETHING BOUT IT :D And where's krist when we need her.

We're BACK!

2009-09-11T21:56:00.005+08:00

Hey guys. Okay, I'm not sure how many people actually come to this blog or read it. But as you can see, it's under renovation. Hahahah. Kinda anyway. If anyone could tell me how this layout looks, I'll be really really grateful. (:

-♥-

Anyway I thought I'll just blog a little about the past events. We had the overnight prayer which no one really blogged about. Well, I believe we all had a lot of fun that night and thought about a lot of things as well. (:
What was especially meaningful was the traffic signs part. What the signs meant to us and all. I'll share about it one day.

Auggie caught yawning!! Hahah. Okay, maybe he was talking.

PRATAAAAAAAA for breakfast! :D

Next event was the dead sea scrolls which most of us went for and it was combined with CCBC. It was awesome to see fragments of the dead sea scrolls even though they didn't have the book Esther, and everyone started laughing. Funny meh? Don't have the book Esther then laugh. ):

Lol. Okay. So we had fun. (: Anyone wanna blog about it please? TY!

Past to Present

2009-07-14T22:56:00.013+08:00

Yo LKYouths!!!

Yes ... it has been sometime since I've seen blog activity and many thanks! to Joylynn for posting something. Nostalgic pics! I hope that this blog will continue to serve as a historical record of living LIVES together....

So from the past to the present. Here are some pics/videos from the recent Youth Sunday!

For more pics and videos, check out the LKYouths Flickr!

Yg

Because, just because.

2009-07-13T18:41:00.002+08:00

This blog is so empty and dead, i feel really sad ): There's nothing much for me to post, but i've recently scanned in some pictures hehehe so i shall just post them here ;D
There's more pictures la, but i havent had the time to scan it.

Have fun spotting where you are! And sorry la, YAs, but i kinda dont have photos of you. For reasons unknown hahaha.

Mid-Week KNOWN: Where is the Love?

2009-04-20T23:06:00.005+08:00

Dear LKYouths,

We've come to the end of this season of KNOWN but the lessons are far from over. Be transformed ... this reflection is a very difficult "medicine" to swallow. However, we do need to first confess that we're all 'in need of a miracle healer' to some extent.

The Question
What’s the big deal about loving others?
The Point
God commands us to love Him, love ourselves, and love others—even enemies.

A. Loving others is a reasonably difficult command.
§ Read Matthew 22:37-40
§ God commanded us to love Him with all that we have. Is loving God easy or difficult? God commanded us to love ourselves. Is loving ourselves easy or difficult? God commanded us to love our neighbors. Is loving our neighbors easy or difficult?
§ Why are these verses referred to as The Great Commandment? Why is this so important?
§ In your opinion, why is loving others a reasonably difficult command? What makes it difficult?

B. Loving those who hurt us is a more difficult command.
§ Read Matthew 5:38-42.
§ This passage starts with the Old Testament law of reciprocity, “An eye for an eye.” In essence this approach to life meant if someone did something to you, you were perfectly within your rights to do that same thing back to him or her.
§§ As difficult as it is to turn the other cheek, the really tough part is next.

C. Praying for our enemies is a near-impossible command.
§ Matthew 5:43-47
§ There are two near-impossible commands here: Mission Impossible #1: Love your enemies. Mission Impossible #2: Pray for those who persecute you. Why would a loving God give us what seem like impossible commands?
§ Do you think God hates anyone or anything? Do you think God has enemies?
§ Scripture makes it clear that God hates sin. It was God’s wrath that was poured out on Jesus for our sin. God has people who oppose Him, and oppose His ways. Before you followed Christ, you were God’s enemy. Why would God ask you to love your enemies?
§ God consistently asks you to do things that seem impossible from your human perspective so that others can see His power demonstrated through you in the most difficult things.

D. We demonstrate the character of God when we love in hard situations.
§ Read Matthew 5:48
§ God makes it plain now that He is asking you to do something that is impossible, humanly speaking. Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. God is love, and His love is perfect. His Spirit is also alive in you. His love is alive in you. He wants the pattern of your life to become a dependence upon Him to do what only He can do.
§ In your opinion, what do you think it means to be perfect as God is perfect? How can we go about doing that?

Conclusion
§ God is not asking us to do anything He has not already done. Before we came to know Him, He sought the best for us when we didn’t deserve it. When you treat people the way they deserve to be treated, you are just like everyone else. When you seek the best for others, even for your enemies, you are like God.
§ This isn’t going to be easy. Visualize some of the people who have mistreated them. Visualize themselves loving their enemies by seeking the best for them. Your enemies know God is involved when they have mistreated you, and you are still a blessing to them.
§ Just in case all of this idealistic talk has not convinced you that you should live out this impossible challenge, listen to the Word of God. Read Proverbs 25:21-22.
§ I see some of you smiling. Let’s pray.

Yiguang

KNOWN Midweek Session: Where is the LOVE?

2009-03-28T15:01:00.004+08:00

Yo LKYouths!! WUZ UP!!!

This week's reflection.

The Question
How can I know that God loves me?
The Point
Jesus died for you—to show you God’s love—when you least deserved it.

The Bible includes the greatest love story of all time.
§ We are going to take a multiple-choice test to see if you know what the second greatest love story of all time is. Which of these would qualify: Romeo and Juliet, Ricky and Lucy, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
§ If love seeks the best interest of others, these options aren’t very good. Romeo could not have what he wanted—Juliet—so he commits suicide. Ricky and Lucy were always arguing—and they slept in separate beds. We all rooted for Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston, until his “love” changed; now it is Brad and Angelina.
§ Lots of people will tell you they love you. But love is more than just words. Words are only known to be true when they are backed up with action. Love is more than conditional acceptance. It is more than loving someone until something better comes along. Real love has permanence.
§ Read Romans 5:6-8. God has told us that He loves us in His Word. God has also shown us that He loves us through His actions.
§ Dictionary.com defines demonstrated. Demonstrated—to have displayed publicly and openly. God demonstrated His love with more than just words. God demonstrated His love with unconditional acceptance. God demonstrated His love in a very public and permanent way. God demonstrated His love for us when we were still sinners—we can’t get our lives “right enough” to earn salvation.

God’s love provides us with an eternal relationship.

§ God loves us even while we are sinners and doing those things that He hates, the things that separate us from Him. There should be a space between the cliff faces. Nothing we do—good works, volunteerism, giving to charity, good grades, honesty, purity—will ever be enough to get us back to God and the relationship that He desires to have with us.
§ God demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus who laid down His life on a cross so that we could walk from what we deserved (death, the wages of our sin) to His gift (eternal life through Jesus Christ), from sin to God, and from death to life. How do we make that walk? By faith—place the poster with the word, FAITH on the crossbeam.
§ Read Romans 6:23.

Conclusion
§ Read 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.
§ God demonstrated His love for you openly. That demonstration demands a response from us! Will you DEMONSTRATE your FAITH, and give your life to Christ? The beauty of love—God’s love—is seen clearly in the birth, life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Consider this: What is Love?

Time to get serious ....

Yiguang

2009-03-07T10:52:00.002+08:00

Because i feel guilty for not blogging for a long time, i shall blog (:
Kay, fine i know screwtape was like a week ago, but still. It's good to relieve memories. Hahaha.

I made it just on time for the play, and honestly speaking for the first part of the play i was a little confused. No wait, make that very confused. I remember i kept asking jer what was happening and she would be like "I dont know either!"
But as the show progressed, i guess i kinda started to understand what was happening, and the show was seriously really cool. Idk how to explain it, but it was quite interesting to see how C.S Lewis portrayed the devil, and referring to God as the enemy and all. (Fyi, God's not our enemy he's our friend ;D) So overall i enjoyed the play very muchhhh.
And after the play we went out for dinner with some ccbc people. So it was a good time of fellowship! Carl's junior ftwwwww (:

Church tmr, budget meeting so there's no KNOWN! Quite sad really, cause i kinda like KNOWN ): But still, cya all in church tmr!
(And quoting auggie on fb, 'Be hip and eat with the yas and youths!' Hahaha LUNCH IS ON AUGGIE TMR ;D;D;D)((Im kidding, but please feel free to join us, or them for lunch for a time of fellowship!))

2009-03-03T10:43:00.003+08:00

Hey everyone! I'm back! But not to really post about sunday, but rather my thoughts on screwtape letters. Hahah. Auggie, John and myself missed about half the show, due to band prac. Hahaha. But at least I caught the second half of the show.

I thought the show was interesting in the sense that it was different from most plays that I've watched. The setting was dark and mysterious. Personally, I find these kind of plays mind-bogging, and interesting. Screwtape, (played by Dick Su) was a senior demon trying to mentor Wormwood, an inexperienced tempter. He uses various methods of tempting 'the Patient' and trying to get 'The Patient' to sin.

The play made me think. About how the devil is trying to make us mortals sin. It shows how much the devils want to confuse us and later, making us sin. For failing to get 'The Patient' into hell, Screwtape is angry with Wormwood and later punishes him.

Overall, the play was very much enjoyable, though there were some dreary parts. There were some funny parts too! So it was awesome. And I bet everyone who went had a great time! :D

Cheers.

Mid Week KNOWN series: Salvation

2009-02-20T00:01:00.006+08:00

Hi!

Here's the mid-week reflection .... There are quite a few reading passages. Read through them .. it's worth it.

The Question:
Why is my sin such a big deal?
The Point:
Because of His holiness, God takes every sin seriously.

A. God is completely holy.
§ Read Exodus 15:11.
§ Exodus 15:11 states that God is “glorious in holiness.” God is holy. His name is holy. Any place where God is present is holy. Holiness is a characteristic that originates with God and is unique to God. God’s holiness means He is perfect and spiritually pure. He is set apart from mankind in His holiness. The affect of His holiness on mankind should be one of reverence, fear, and awe.
§ The prophet Isaiah had a vision of God’s holiness. Isaiah watched as the angels surrounded God on His throne singing, “Holy, holy, holy.” Read Isaiah 6:1-5. Isaiah quickly recognized that his own sin separated him from God. Isaiah understood that such sinfulness could not coexist with such a holy God.
§ Read Revelation 4:8.
§ When you compare these three Scripture passages, what do you discover about the holiness of God? What does it mean for God to be holy? Why do you think John included the phrase that creatures “never stop saying” that God is holy? In your opinion, why is that important?
§ Read Revelation 4:9-11. John, the apostle, was privileged to view the holiness of God through his vision of heaven in Revelation. From beginning to end, the Scriptures attest to the holiness of God.

B. Humans are completely sinful.
§ Last week we looked at the sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. By the time the events of the life of Noah occurred, mankind had become completely sinful—sin was “widespread on the earth”. Can you imagine a world in which “every scheme his [humankind] mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time”? Read Genesis 6:5 and compare this description of humans with the description of God in Exodus 15:11.
§ Read Psalm 53:2-3; Isaiah 64:6.
§ Though our sin may be directed against another person, ultimately every sin is against God. Perfect in His holiness, God cannot tolerate anything that violates His holy character. Habakkuk 1:13 says of God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing...” Therefore, sin creates a barrier between God and mankind.

C. God is completely serious about sin.
Read Numbers 16. Korah and his group of followers challenged God’s selection of Moses and Aaron as leaders of the Israelites. This was a rebellious act against God. Moses called on Korah and his followers to appear before God so God could settle the matter. Korah, his followers, and their entire families paid a serious price for their sin.
§ The holy wrath of God had its affect on the Israelite community. They responded much like Isaiah did, with a new understanding of the potentially fatal power of God’s holiness on sinful humanity.
§ Read Acts 5:1-11. This New Testament story occurs near the beginning of the early church. A couple, Ananias and Sapphira, lied to the leaders of the church about their profit from the sale of land they owned. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was that they wanted the best of both worlds: sell the property and make a show of giving it to the church, but keep part of the proceeds hidden. They lied to the church and to the Holy Spirit. God dealt with their sin severely by striking Ananias and Sapphira dead.
§ The holy wrath of God had its affect on the early church community. Great fear seized them all. They understood that even though Jesus had died on the cross to save them from their sins; God still took their sin very seriously. They had a renewed fear of displeasing a holy God.

Conclusion:

§ These passages and stories describe the God of the Bible. However, the Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God is still holy, people are still completely sinful, and God still takes sin seriously today.
§ So, back to our question for this session: Why is my sin such a big deal? It is a big deal because of who God is and what sin does to our relationship with God.
§ We all have sin in our lives. We deceive ourselves if we say we don’t. Because of our sinfulness, we are separated from a holy God. 1 John 1:8-10 tells us that if we confess our sins God will forgive us.

Spend some quiet moments confessing to God sins that you've been struggling with.

Yg

2009-02-09T16:30:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday's topic was on "What's the problem?" Yeah its in red because its a problem itself.

Firstly we learnt that "We are sinners because we are evil." According to the oxford dictionary meaning, EVIL is defined as morally reprehansible: sinful, wicked. Some of us may think that we cannot be evil because we didnt kill, steal, smoking when underage, engaging in underage sex. "everything underage" as said by dear James. Thats is where you are wrong. Romans 3:10-12 says that "there is no one righteous, not even one." Because God is holy, every sinful/wrong thing that we do displeases him. That itself makes us evil. Qouting from Augustus: even telling a white lie to prevent a friend from being expelled from school is a sin. Therefore, no matter how good a person thinks he or she is, the fact is that we are all sinners. We sin because, unlike God's character that is pure and holy, we are evil.

Secondly, we learnt that "Because we are evil, we choose to do wrong". Ever wondered why we choose do things that displeases God without Thinking? Because we are evil by nature. In order to overcome this instinctive action, we have to FEAR God. Yes FEAR God. What does fearing God mean? some may ask... Well fearing God mean to give Him the due Awe + Respect + Reverance. Fear in this instance does not mean that God is not a loving God, it means that we need to fear doing evil things. All these evil deeds are recorded by God and during judgement day God will judge us accroding to that. Yeah it seems scary with the 'Judgement day thingy' thats why we must fear God! If we truly had a fear of God, a sense of awe, then our conduct would be redically different from what it actually is.

In conclusion, we are sinners because we are evil and as a result of our evil we choose to do wrong and sin. This leads to a broken and destroyed relationship with God because God's nature is not evil and cannot sin; God cannot allow sinful people into His presence. He is holy and righteous in all He is and does. Our problem is sin.

Lets ask God to give us the strength to resist our own desires and that we will all be God-fearing people. yeah i'm done.

P/S I used more than a para from the book sry abt that.

Mid Week KNOWN Session 4: Right and Wrong

2009-01-31T22:33:00.003+08:00

Yo LKYouths!!

We've come to the last session of the KNOWN series on "Right vs Wrong". Last Sunday we explored the important question:

The Question
Can I do whatever I want if the Bible doesn’t condemn it?

Consider ...

A. It’s not just about you.
§ Read 1 Corinthians 10:23-24.
§ Illustration: In the summer of 2007, Andrew Speaker came out of obscurity into the spotlight—for a very negative reason. He had a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, a highly contagious and deadly disease. Knowing he had TB but showing no outward symptoms, Speaker hopped on a plane to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon. When doctors confirmed the strain of TB he had, they found him in Rome, told him to stay away from commercial flights, and put him on a “no-fly” list. However, Speaker ignored the officials, and took a complicated route of flights to Canada and sneaked across the border to the U.S. because he wanted to be treated there. He was eventually put into quarantine in the US and started treatment. Authorities did not pursue prosecution, but he has been highly criticized by many people. One person wrote, “I’m glad HIS wants and desires were met. But at what cost?"
=> This is a great illustration of the ideology “It’s all about me.” We live in a culture that tells us to focus on our own needs and desires and wants. This guy wasn’t concerned about the safety of others. He was concerned solely for himself. But for us as Christians, it’s not just about us. Sometimes a personal choice isn’t just personal. We’re called to look out for the needs and interests of others.

B. It’s about God.
§ Read 1 Corinthians 10:31.
§ Whatever we choose to do, we must ask ourselves what the aim is. When facing a choice—from getting a job to listening to music—our first question must aways be,

“Does this give glory to God?”

Sometimes the answer will be very clear. But other times, the answer is a little murky. Maybe the question you should be asking instead is,

“Does this action point back to me, or does it point to God?"

If we’re honest, we’ll admit that a lot of our decisions are based on selfish desires and wants.

C. It’s about other Christians.
§ Read 1 Corinthians 10:32
§ Think of a Christian you admire. It could be another student in the youth group, a parent, a volunteer, a relative, or another church member. Reflect on the things about that person they admire. Is the person you admire sitting in this room.
§ You have no idea about the impact you have on another person’s life. Somebody watches every one of us at some point. Somebody looks at your life to know how to act. We may not know it, but a younger or less mature Christian is often looking to us for leadership.
§ The text is not referring to legalistic, self-righteous, picky people who would be offended by anything we do. It’s a careful line to walk.
§ When considering whether or not to do something, ask yourself:

o Will what I’m doing cause somebody else to stumble?
o Will it tempt a person to sin?
o Does it encourage others?
o Does it strengthen others?

D. It’s about non-Christians.
§ Read 1 Corinthians 10:32-33.
§ The phrase “try to please everybody” has an interesting definition. It can mean “to soften one’s heart toward.” So what does this mean for you as a Christian? For Paul, his heart was soft toward non-Christians. His heart went out to them. He wanted them to know Christ. In fact, he cared about them so much that he was not seeking his own good but their good, so that they would be saved.

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians. These are people who acknowledge Christianity with their lips, walk out the door, and deny it by their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”—Brennan Manning

§ When considering whether or not something is OK to do, ask yourself:

Will what I’m doing make people want to know Christ? Will my actions give someone a wrong idea about God? Our calling as Christians is to set a good example to those who are indifferent to Christianity.

E. It’s about following Christ’s example.
§ Read 1 Corinthians 11:1.
§ What was Christ’s example? Call out ways in which Christ set an example for us to follow. (Love. Selflessness. Putting others before Himself. Humility.) That is His example. And when it comes to determining whether or not a course of action is right or wrong, it would be wise for us to think of the example of Jesus. He sacrificed Himself for the needs of others. We should do no less.

The Point

§ When making a choice, you must remember that your decisions impact others.

Pls spend some quiet moments in reflection.

2009-01-28T15:12:00.003+08:00

Let team mega-awesome do their job for the week.
It's wednesday and I hope you guys have been collecting your angbaos and getting richer each day yeah. Hahahah. When you strike it rich, please remember the mega awesome star, ESTHER CHAN! Hahahah. Okay moving on.

On to the lesson taught on sunday.
Even thought I joined the younger ones on sunday, I feel that I learn a lot from them too. Hahah. It's funny to see the entire class look at Grace's face for the answer. Hahah. And we all (including me) have that 'huh?' look on our faces sometimes. But when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. :D

What do I do when the issue of right and wrong is not clear?
I struggle with this a lot.
At the first part of the lesson, we played a small game where we were to determine what is right, and what is wrong. (I think I should bring a camera on sundays man, so I can post lesson photos. Cos it's so hard to explain! Never mind.) So we started with some easy ones.
1. Murder
2. Shoplifting
3. Eating meat
4. Dowloading illegal MP3s
5. Cutting yourself
Then the hard part came.
6. Tattoos (A few said it was alright)
7. Listening to heavy metal (I said it was wrong btw. Hahah.)
8. Watching R(A)21 movies when you're below 21
9. Watching R(A)21 movies even after 21 yrs old.
10. Working in a casino?

Those were the main ones I remembered. A lot of us said yes and no to certain of the few hard ones. So are they right or are they wrong? Tattoos, yes, no? Casino.. Yes, no?

Well through this, Grace began the lesson.
There are 4 ways to watch out on whether your choice is right. (sounds like the price is right . okay whatever. )
1. Will my choice honour and glorify the Lord?
Think whether this choice of yours glorifies God. Romans 14:6-8

2. Will my choice be a hindrance to others?
Romans 14:12-15,20-22
Do not be a stumbling block or pitfall in your brother's way. Be careful of your choice.

3. Will my choice build others up?
Romans 14:19
So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.
Don't tear your brothers down, instead, build them up. Give them lots of encouragement.

4. Am I fully convinced my choice is right?
You have to be convinced that the decision you make is correct. When in doubt, don't. This is important and when you're in doubt, you're doubting whether you are doing the right thing, which will most probably be wrong.

So, not sure whether that's the right choice? Follow the four steps and I'm sure God will lead the way. Even when the Bible is not clear on an issue, we can still make good choices.

well, back to the 10 choices, tattooing and all, when in doubt, DON'T!

note to y'all, SCREWTAPE LETTERS! PLEASE GOOOOOOOO! :D Cos the awesom-est people will be there! Hahah. It'll be lots of fun. Really! :D (i feel like an advertisement.)

2009-01-28T11:13:00.002+08:00

Hello, yes it's me again. And you'll be seeing my posts here like every week, so yeah.
Please i beg you, dont get sick of me. But if you do right, then good lah. So then you can blog instead of me.
Anywayxzxzxz, i know a lot of people missed lessons on sunday cause of cny, so i shall try to make this as concise as possible.

The issue/question we were addressing is 'How do i know if my choice is right/wrong'.
It's basically bout how we identify if things are right or wrong if they arent specifically stated in the Bible. For example, (taken from grace's class), is working in a casino wrong? When i was asked that question (by achan during lunch of all things), i admit i was kinda stumped. The Bible didnt say that 'YOU CANNOT WORK IN A CASINO'. So, how do we even know that what we're doing is the right thing?

Firstly, we must ask ourselves, 'will my choice honour and glorify the Lord'. This is the most important questions, cause we as christians are living and breathing testimonies for the Lord. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of the Lord. We want others to have a good impression of christians, and so they would be interested and thus a door would be open to us to share to them. However, if we make descisions that do not glorify the Lord, we would either be turning people away from Him, or giving others the wrong impression of christianity. And we all dont want that to happen yeah ;D

Next, we must consider, 'will my choice be a hindrance to others'. One example, is the different way people worship. As y'all know, christianity is so-called divided into baptist, charismatics, methodists, etc. Each and every one of them have their own style of worship. Some speak in tongues, whilst others roll on floors (yeah, we discussed that during sunday school and we decided that our church is too small for us to roll). Another example that is closer to us is the conventional christians and the not-so conventional christians. Take the chinese and english congregation in our church. We once had the problem bout using drums during worship cause the chinese congregation felt that it was not edifying to the Lord.
But, from all these, we learnt that if our choice (i.e. the drums) is a hindrance to others (i.e. chinese congregation), we should not do it, cause it would disturb others from worshipping the Lord. Everyone has their own style, but if it causes uncomfort to those around, dont do it.

Oh, then we must also think 'will my choice build others up'. We dont want our choice to be a hindrance to others, but to build them up. An example that auggie gave was that our role as 'older younger youths' (we're the older youths of the younger generation), we have to set a good role model to the 'younger younger youths', as many of them look up to us. So if we dont give offering, they may look at you and say 'hey she/he doesnt give offering, so why should i'. In every choice we make, we must consider the others around us, that we wont tear them down but instead be of encouragement to them.

And the last of the last of the last and the most important.
WHEN IN DOUBT, DONT.
We do things out of faith to the Lord. If we arent sure, we should just completely not do it, cause if we do it, we are doubting our faith and God as well. And doubting God is something that we dont wanna do (:

Yes, im done thankyouverymuchapplauseplease. Oh and remember, screwtape letters on the 28th of february! Bring friends, bring yourself (duh), and text yg by this friday to confirm your attendance. And yeah, we're combining with ccbc.
Also, yg has opened up his house this coming saturday for the sake of cnyyyy. So we can go visit them and play with the kids hahaha. It's a great time of fellowship, this saturday anytime from 3pm-6pm. But tell him first whether you're going lah, dont crash his place pleaseeee.

LKBCYOUTHS HAS A FACEBOOK GROUP!
It's called lkbcyouths/ya so we can let the not-so-young people join as well ;D
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44947397853&ref=mf
(yg, if you're reading this, we strongly advise you to create facebook ;D)

That's all, cya all on saturday/sundayyyyyyy.

2009-01-22T21:48:00.007+08:00

Hi I'm Daniel here : ) I am going to blog about last week's lesson. Last week's lesson was interesting. I learned that the Bible is God's way of telling us what He wants to say. The Bible was written thousands of years ago, and we cannot go around telling everybody that the Bible is true without supporting our statement.
Some of the evidence, some scriptures were found in caves near the dead sea that were preserved for a very long time.For those who have learned about probablity: Science considers any probability higher than1 in 10 to the 50th power impossible yet out of 5000 predictions in the Bible concerning the future, 2000 were fufilled and the probablity of that? 1 in 10 to the 200th power!
This shows us that we must wait and see before disbelieving. The scripture is also an extremely reliable source and even historians that are non-believers use it. Isn't it blatant enough that a normal person couldn't have wrote it? It must either have been inspired or written by someone special, in this case, it was inspired, as we all know that God didn't write the scriptures, man did, but it was He who inspired it. Another point, could 40 writers in 3 different continents speaking 3 different languages 1500 years ago write about the same message? Certainly not! There must definitely be someone behind it, right?
So, three points: To see how perfect and right the Bible is, you must experience the Bible to know just how perfect and right it is. See whether it is the best solution. (It will be!)
Not sure that the Bible is full of wisdom, you must trust the Bible's reliability to experience its wisdom. Read the Bible, focus on one piece of wisdom and trust that what you read is God's reliable word.
Not sure whether it is reliable, read It and do something which has a promise attached to it. Watch God do what He promised.
So I learned that the Blble can be trusted to provide the only standard for right and wrong.
THE POINT: The Bible provides the only true standard for right and wrong.
So if your friends ask you how do you know and prove that the Bible is true, you tell them what I blogged and you can add some more to it.

PS: Happy Chinese New Year : ) See you all on Sunday : )

mid-week KNOWN Session 3: Right and Wrong

2009-01-21T22:26:00.002+08:00

Yo LKYouths!!!

WUZ UP!!! Here's Session 3's mid-week reflection:

Qn: Why should I look to the Bible to determine Right and Wrong?

A. Scripture teaches me right and wrong.
§ Read 2 Timothy 3:16.
§ The word “teaching” in this verse is a reference to sound doctrine.
§ The New Testament church wrestled with false teachers who were not teaching biblical truth. Unfortunately, the Christians still needed to be on their guard against false doctrine.
§ False doctrine is still being taught today. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish false doctrine because it is cloaked and couched in words and phrases that are similar to our own.

One example is how the Mormon church wants to pass themselves off as a Christian religion. They will use words familiar to us, such as Savior and atonement. But at the heart of their teaching, the Jesus they speak of is not the same Jesus we love and serve. For more information on Mormon doctrine, and false doctrines of other faiths and cults go to http://www.4truth.net/. This is an apologetics Web site designed by the North American Mission Board. It is filled with great information to help students know the difference between true and false doctrine.
§ We live in a world where truth is difficult to discern. That’s why Scripture is so important to us.

B. Scripture rebukes me when I do wrong.
§ Read 2 Timothy 3:16 again.
§ There are lots of different words that are similar to rebuke: to criticize someone, to disapprove, to reprimand or to scold. But rebuke is the harshest word of all. Why use this word? And what does it mean?
§ In Scripture, rebuking involves pointing out sin and confronting disobedience. It’s a pretty sharp word.
§ Have ever experience someone who loved you enough to get in your face and tell you the truth about something you were doing wrong. That person loved you enough to be confrontational and even a bit harsh. A loved one’s rebuke and God’s rebuke through Scripture are similar. Both are done out of love, wanting the very best for you.

C. Scripture corrects my mistakes and teaches me to how to do right.
§ Read 2 Timothy 3:16 again.

The word correct and train go hand in hand. One focuses on correcting error, while training focuses on showing a person the right way to go. Scripture teaches us how to do what is right. We are to love our enemies by praying for them. We show compassion because Jesus gave us a model.
§ Listening to the world for instruction is confusing and disorienting and you don’t know whom to believe. However, listening to God’s Word is different. It guides to a good end.

D. You must choose whether or not you will listen to God’s Word

Suppose you and a friend were mountain bike riding one day. Your friend stopped to rest for a moment while you rode on ahead. You came to a railroad crossing and stopped to wait for your friend. As you stood there, you noticed the train approaching. At the same time you saw your friend sprinting on his or her bike to catch up with you, shouting “I’m going to take the lead!” You knew your friend was not going to stop, nor could your friend see that the train was approaching. What would you do? You would do everything in your power to warn your friend of the impending danger. You would not be trying to keep your friend from having fun, you want good for your friend.

§ Lots of people think that the commands in God’s Word are not for our good when they actually are. Because God sees the big picture, He sets forth His Word and wants us to follow it because He wants us to experience good and not the consequences of the bad.

§ Regardless of your warning of the coming train, your friend could have chosen not to listen to you and charged on across the tracks. It was up to him or her. The same applies to us. WE can choose not to heed God’s instructions—even though they are for our good—but we will face the consequences.

Lets take some moments to reflect and memorise 2 Tim 3:16.

2009-01-21T21:14:00.003+08:00

No one's blogging ):
So joylynn the mega-awesome joy and achan the mega-awesome star (?) is gonna blog, YAY US.
And we're from different classes so we'll just be sharing the different things that happened in our class luh.

Basically, we were led in a time of worship by none other than james chan who (obviously) played everlasting God (his favourite song mah) and Jesus lover of my soul. And ps, when i was writing the lyrics i wrote "my closet friend" instead of "my closest friend".
JESUS IS DEFINITELY NOT OUR CLOSET FRIEND KAYYYY. Just to clarify that.

Um, so we started class with "The length is right!" We were supposed to guess the length of the pen and auggie our fantabulous teacher obviously had to turn it into a game cause it's, well, auggie. Anyway like john guessed it right, but whatever. The point of playing the game was to questions how we knew that the bible was setting the right standards for us to live, and whether it was true. Parallel to the ruler, it's like how we know that 1cm is 1cm, and that we know it's true.

We learnt that the:
Bible is the truth and nothing but the truth.
Yes it is. It has been proven, for example that the earth was indeed covered in a massive flood, etc. Also, all scripture is God-breathed and has His authority. Nothing can be more truthful than that. Plus, the bible is written by 55 different people, but the thing is that everything in the bible corresponds with one another. There are no loopholes, no nothing. If that isnt enough to convince you, then idk what is.

We also learnt that the:
Bible is good for us and veryvery beneficiary to us
In Psalms, it is said that the bible revives our soul, etc. It's like a perfect guidebook that we all should follow, it's something that has all the answers in it, and something we should turn to when we're unsure (:

Lastly, we learnt that:
Even if the Bible is sooooo good for us, if we dont follow the bible, we will not reap benefits.
It's like James 1:22, 'Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says'.
Even if we attend sunday school faithfully every week, do devotions and sutff, if we dont follow what the bible says, it wont benefit us at all ):):):
(So y'all know what you should do already lah!)

Kay, basically that's it. Heh, and the screwtape letters signup thing is closing this sunday, invite your friends and attend the thing! Details are on some post on this blog, idk where it is already, hahaha ;D

2009-01-21T20:58:00.004+08:00

Hey yo everyone!
It's me again, in less than two weeks? Hahahah.
Ohh! And I realised how to underline stuff. See!
Awesome righttt? Hahahah! Anyway, I'm not here to show how awesome I am, but how awesome God is!

Why Should I look to the bible to determine right and wrong?
It's a question that I myself ask many times.
Most of us grew up in a Christian family, which christian parents, telling us bible stories since we could say, "ahhhh". HAHAHAH.
Actually nowadays parents are more kiasu, they tell the stories before the babies are born. Hahah. Typical Singaporeans. ANYWAY!

The bible is perfect, full of wisdom and reliable.
Perfect - the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)
Full of wisdom - (Proverbs 11:22-25)
Reliable - (Romans 10:9-13)

So how do we know that it is true??
We question it.
The UNITIY of the Bible.
It is written by 40 writers, in 3 languages, 3 continents, over 1500 years, and yet, there is only ONE message that they're trying to bring across. How awesome is that? :D

The HISTORY of the Bible
Scriptures can be tested through checking with historical accuracy. When the tests are applied, the Bible proves to be an extremely reliable source! Who in the world, but God, can do that?

The PROPHECIES of the Bible
2000 prophecies have already been fulfilled. There is a high probabilty ratio! This is supernatural man. Like look around you, who can do that? Hahah. :D

Not sure the Bible is perfect and right?
Test it out for yourself! Read it, act upon something you read, and see if it doesn't turn out to be the best course of action! You have to read it, and try it out for yourself.
OR do something which has a promise attached to it, and watch God do what He promised!

The point here is...
THE BIBLE PROVIDES THE ONLY TRUE STANDARD FOR RIGHT AND WRONG.
yeah. Awesome isn't it. Amen to the Awesome God. Hahahah.

Advertistment
I hope that those who are asked on sunday to blog, will blog. Hahah. Pretty please? Cos it gets boring if joy and I are foreverrrrrrrrrrrr blogging. Lol. :D Thankyou! Cheers.

See y'all on Sunday!

Why does God get to set the standard?

2009-01-19T21:18:00.005+08:00

ahhhh sorry. i meant to post but it just never got done. anyway, here it is. i'm giving Joylynn and Esther a reprieve from posting :)

WHY DOES GOD GET TO SET THE STANDARD?

At the start of the lesson, Augustus gave us (my class) a set of rules to follow:

#1: Everyone with black hair has to stand up

#2: Those who are not using metal bible-covers have to read their bibles upside down

#3: Whenever he claps his hands. We must say “Auggie is great”

And of course we all guai guai obeyed the first two rules (after complaining, of course) but Auggie had to clap his hands and ask us to follow the third rule a few times before we all responded. (I wonder why xD) We asked Auggie why he didn’t have to follow any of his own rules and why he got to set the standard for our behaviour in class. “Because I’m the teacher”.

So why does the teacher get to set the standard? Let’s put this situation in a normal classroom setting in a secondary/ tertiary/ higher level institution.

Reason #1: In most classrooms, there is a notable age gap between the students and the teacher. The teacher is older- which means the teacher would have more experience, more knowledge, more maturity etc. than the students.

Reason #2: The teacher is in a position of authority. The teacher’s status in the school is higher of that than the students. (Which is why, most of the time, the teachers get to cut queues in the canteen) The teacher has the authority to teach, correct and discipline the students, give them homework, etc. because of their position of authority.

Reason #3: The teacher knows what’s best. The teacher has knowledge that far exceeds that of the students- because the subject they are teaching is their area of expertise. Thus, the teacher would be able to identify the mistakes the students make and correct them, and point out areas that need improvement because they want to do what is best for us in the long run and they want us to do well. The teacher sets the standard because the teacher knows what’s best for us.

Summing up the reasons: The teacher gets to set the standard because the teacher is older, wiser, more experienced, more mature; is in a position of authority over us, and knows what’s best for us.

Putting all these reasons in relation to our theme:

Why does God get to set the standard?

Reason #1: God is much, much, much, older than the oldest human being on this earth. Remember that God created the earth and all that it is in it. It’s hard to fathom how many years back it is- just counting the ages of Abaraham and Noah and their descendants already makes thousands of years! And God already existed before He created the earth. The earlier part of Revelation 21:6 ‘He (God) said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” ’ God has experience, wisdom, knowledge of hundreds of thousands of years! How can we even think we can compare to that?

Reason #2: God is the highest authority. Check out Isaiah 40:25-26 and Romans 13:1-2.

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy one. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Isaiah 40:25-26

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement upon themselves. Romans 13:1-2

Reason #3: God knows what’s best for us. God created us; therefore he knows what’s best for us. This is linked to the example in our binded books on pg15: the story of a man who had trouble with the engine of his Model-T Ford, and after Henry Ford tinkered with the engine for a few moments, the car started up easily again.

No one understands something better than the one that created it. In the same way, God understands us and knows what’s best for us. Look at Isaiah 45:9-10. “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say ‘He has no hands?’ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’ So why does God get to set the standard? Because He created us and He knows what’s best for His creation.

The last reason (which is kinda not related to the classroom thing) is because God…is God. There is no one holier, there is no other God. If God is supreme, there cannot be any other God, because a supreme God has no equals. God is set apart from us because of His power and majesty and Holiness and because He never changes, no matter the circumstance. Standards change- in this modern day world, there are hardly any shades of black and white- the gray ‘in between’ is getting larger all the time.

We cannot deny God. Sure, we can say that we believe in God, therefore we’re Christians. But if we don’t try our best to obey God, we can’t consider ourselves as Christians, can we? Even Satan believes in God. Does that mean Satan is a Christian? No. Those who deny God will not be spared from the fire of judgement. Remember the story of the man who was sent to hell and pleaded with Jesus to let him to back to earth to warn his relatives and friends? Jesus told the man that if they did not believe Jesus Himself, why would they believe him?

No matter how we try to deny it, God is there. He is Holy and supreme and there is none other like Him. Therefore, GOD SETS THE STANDARD BECAUSE HE IS GOD.

Yay ;) I’m done with the post. And on a last note, don’t forget to pray for:

1) those with O level postings coming out soon

2) those with competitions (i.e. SYF and tennis)

3) those with tests coming up and lastly

4) for the expansion and growth of our youth ministry

That’s all for now :D Bye ;)

mid-Week KNOWN session 2: Right and Wrong

2009-01-15T00:02:00.006+08:00

Yo LKYouths!!

Qn: Why does God get to set the standard?

Consider these few points:

A. You can trust God’s standards because He speaks the truth and is truth.
§ People are often known by their character, the essence of who they are.
§ Read Isaiah 45:18-19,22-23. God speaks truth. He does not lie. In fact, He cannot lie because it is not in His character.
§ Read John 14:6. Jesus tells others He is truth. He is the embodiment of truth and cannot mislead anyone.

§ The fable about the Scorpion and the Turtle:

One day a scorpion arrived at the bank of a river he wanted to cross, but he could not find a way to the other side. He saw a frog nearby. He asked the frog to take him across the river on his back. The frog refused, saying, “I will not, because you will sting me.”
The scorpion defended himself, “It would be foolish for me to sting you because then we would both drown.”
The scorpion's words seemed logical, so the frog agreed to carry the scorpion across. However, when they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog. The stunned frog asked, “Why did you sting me? Now we will both die!”
The scorpion replied, “I'm a scorpion. That’s what scorpions do."

§ The point: It was the scorpion’s character to sting. It is God’s character to be truthful. He cannot lie or deceive. Because He is truth, He will lead you in the right way.

B. You can trust God’s standards because He is good and wants good for you.
§ Today’s culture has varying views of God—from the doting grandfather to the wrathful judge. What are the different views of God expressed in contemporary life? Many people view God as distant and not really involved in an individual’s life.
§ Read Psalm 100:5. Just as truth is part of God’s character, so is goodness.
§ What are some evidences that God is good? Can you trust God to be good even though the situation doesn’t look good?

Conclusion
§ It doesn’t really matter whether or not we want to accept God’s truth or His goodness. He will continue to remain consistent to His character regardless of what we do. He is God and we are creation.

Spend some quiet moments to reflect.

Yiguang

mid-week KNOWN Session 1: Right from Wrong

2009-01-07T23:09:00.016+08:00

Yoozz LKYouths!!

Many thanks to Joel and Esther for summarising the session on Sunday. I hope you've been keeping up with the Devotions.

Remember to Question: Is there a standard for Right and Wrong?

3 life principles:
a.There is a standard because it's written in our conscience
b. There is a standard because there is a God who defines right and wrong
c. God set the standard for right and wrong, and it hasn't change

Here're some mid-week activity to reinforce the truths shared on Sunday:

2 Faulty Sources of Truth

A. The Faulty Source of Personal Opinion
§ Read Proverbs 16:25
§ One faulty source of truth is our own personal opinion, intellect, or reason. We stupidly think that we have the capability to determine right from wrong based on our own intelligence, logic, or emotions. There’s a serious problem with depending on our own thoughts to determine right and wrong.
§ Personal opinion is flawed at the core.
§ Here’s another test. Look on the image. Tell me how many different shades of grey are in the center circles?

The truth is, there is only one shade of grey. Our minds become confused by what we see. And just as our eyes can be confused, so can our minds and our hearts. We are human and flawed; we cannot determine truth on our own.

B. The Faulty Source of Human or Worldly Philosophy
§ Read Colossians 2:8-10.
§ Another faulty source of truth is human or worldly philosophy. What kinds of human philosophies are out there? You hear ideas such as: Truth is whatever you make it; Money and power are all that matters; Image is everything; Pursuit of pleasure is the ultimate goal. There are tons of others, but this passage makes it clear that this way of thinking is deceptive. It promises something it cannot deliver. Colossians says it is hollow—seems great on the outside, but empty on the inside.
§ Human/worldly philosophy is empty at its core.

1 true source of Truth

C. The Solution: Living in the Truth of Christ!
§ Read John 8:32.
§ This Scripture tells us a couple of things. First, knowing truth is possible. Truth isn’t playing hide-and-seek. It can be found. Second, knowing truth sets us free. When we are able to live by a real source of truth, we find freedom to live the way we were designed to live. When we live by what is false, our lives reap the consequences. For example, when we live by the lie that sex before marriage is not wrong, then we face the results—emotional trauma, a damaged relationship, physical consequences (such as AIDS and STDs), and possibly a damaged reputation. Living by God’s truth frees us from those results.

Do spend about 15 mins reading through the Bible and thinking ... Have a great time reflecting on these ...

Announcement:

HEAR-Y ... HEAR-Y

Outreach Event: C.S Lewis "The ScrewTape Letters" a stage performance by the Parables Company, a Christian Theatre Company founded by a group of Young Adults.

Click on the link above to find out more. A great opportunity to invite your friends and get them chatting.

Date: 28 feb (Sat) 3pm

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel

Ticket: $29

Student discount: 15%

Group Discount (min 20 pax): 5%

We're likely to combine with CCBC!

For it's Christ we serve,

Yiguang

2009-01-04T18:00:00.003+08:00

Whoa, I think Joel blogged really well. Now I don't even dare to blog. Hahahah. Plus, I just blogged on thursday luh! Unfair! Hahah. Oh well, since my name was picked out of the hat, I shall do this post with no more complains. :D

So today's the first sunday of the year!
Glad to see so many faces at the start of the year! Hahah.
And welcome, Janice, Bernnetta & Samuel!
At first when Auggie said, let's do what we always do to welcome the new-comers, I seriously thought that we were going to sing 'Welcome to the family'. Hahah. We all missed that lots.

Anyway, back to what I'm supposed to blog about.
Is there a standard for right & wrong?
Grace asked all of us that question. And the answers were evenly spread out. Some said yes, some said no, and some said I don't know. (EHH! It rhymes! Hahah. Okay whatever.) But slowly as we went through the materials, many of us changed our answers to Yes. But why?

1. There is a standard because it is written on our conscience. (Romans 2:14-15)
2. There is a standard because there is a God who defines right and wrong. (Exodus:1-2) He is the true God & that is why there is a standard.
3. God has set the standard for right & wrong, and it hasn't changed. (Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus is the same, yesterday, today & forever") The bible sets a standard that will not change. This standard, is God's standard.

I found the illustration given by Grace very interesting. Just wanted to share it with you guys and make my post longer than joel's. Lol.
Let's make a comparison between God and the Prime minister(PM). (Any prime minister. I don't want to get arrested or anything. Lol.) But yes. What's the difference of the standards that they set.

1. PM may make mistakes. But God NEVER makes a mistake.
2. PM may change the standard that he sets. But God NEVER changes his standard. (Isaiah 40:6-8- "but the word of our God remains forever")
3. If one day the PM dies, someone may take over and change the standards. But God LIVES FOREVER. His standard will always be the same. :D

An absoloute standard for right & wrong, DOES EXIST because there is a God. And God's standard is the right and true standard. :D
That was what we covered in our class today! Hahah. I personally found it interesting, because in this age/society, it's difficult sometimes, to differentiate from truth and untruth (if there is such a word). Hope you guys found the lesson interesting as well! :D

I'll like to encourage all of you to take time to do your DJ (devotional journals) this week yeah! And I pray that you guys will enjoy the dj as you read through it. Enjoy your time with God!
See y'all next sunday, yo.

1st SUNDAY of 2009

2009-01-04T12:58:00.003+08:00

Hey guys & not forgetting girls :P

Its the first Sunday of 2009 haha. School must be fun =.=
Aniway welcome to 2009 lolx, and another year of youth fellowship *YAY!!!*
Today had a larger then usual attendence.

Firstly, we welcomed the graduates from Junior Worship -Bennetta, Samuel, Janice.
Great to have ppl joining us as lkyouths grow. Next, Augustus led us in a time of worship.
We sang 2 songs - "You Shine" & "You know my name". Both are very meaningful songs as both tell of how great our God is - all knowing, everlasting.

Then we splitted into two groups. Sec 1 & 2 in a group and all those Sec 3 and older in another.
Unfortunately, the latter was too large a group and the Sec 3s went join the Sec 1 & 2s. *SOB**SOB*

okay, going on, we were each given a A4 sized book, put painstakenly together by Grace. This was to be our bible study & devotion material. yeah and augustus was the teacher for Sec 4 and older.

Going on to the lesson, the topic for the day/week was "Is There a Standard for Wrong & right?"
The answer to this question as many of us blurted out was YES! but the reason?
After brainstorming for a draggy 1 hour, we stumbled on the reason. First there is a standard because it is written on our conscience but our conscience is never specific in the standards for right and wrong. Thus the society we live in, is always changing and so do the standards too.
There also another reason and that is God defines right and wrong. This is seen as in Exodus 20 where God gave the Ten Commandments to the Isrealites.God is everlasting and never changes, thus the standard He set for us is always the same. (Isaiah 40:6-8) Thus God's standard is the absolute standard for right and wrong. In Romans 2:12-15, Jesus Christ is our law. Hearing him is not enough, we have to obey him. God's standards of right and wrong are clear for us to see, but obeying them is a problem.

Let us pray to God to help us to follow His standards and obey them.

Opps! it seems I have said too much so lets end it here. Happy 2009!

Tata :D

It's two o o nine everyone! :D

2009-01-01T12:16:00.005+08:00

I just realised I forgot how to sign in just now.
Hahaha. But obviously it doesn't matter anymore since I'm signed it!
YAY ME! Hahah.

Oh yes! Did you know, that this is like the 100th post?!
What an awesome way to start the new year! Hahah.
YAY! And I get to write out the 100th post.

2008 has been a really awesome year for many of us. Hahah. Lots of activities, a change of new environment. God has definitely blessed us loads. As a ministry, we've bonded, had fun, talked and prayed. Hahah. :D

I think creating the youth blog was a fantastic idea.
For people to look back and say, "hey! I've grown." or to even see people who aren't coming anymore and say, "It's time to get them back."
Being in the youth for so long, seeing people leave and all, I've become numb to these kinda things. It's like, ohhhh, now you see them, now you don't. I don't really care anyway.

Hahah. Why am I starting to sound serious? Gosh.
I guess we could try to start getting the youths back huh.
Updating the blog more often.
Using this blog as a platform of communication for all the lkyouths!
Spread the loveeeeeee man.

Okay next. Today was the dawn prayer thingy. Hahah. It was quite enjoyable, considering many people turned up to do the prayer walk. I did the prayer walk with Jermaine, Joylynn, and Janice. It was really enjoyable as we went to different parts of the church to pray. The playground was the best! Hahah. It was like, remembering the past times when we were kids. Remembering how we challenged each other to the swings. Even how we first met each other then. Lol. Awesome huh, how God works. Hahah.

The breakfast! Fantabulous porridge I tell you. The best of the best. Of course with lots of pepper, and seaseme oil! Mamamia. Hahah. :D
My wish for the youth ministry in 2009?
Hmmm, to bring all of us back and bond as a family again. And of course, have a closer walk with God.

Have an awesome, blessed and fantabulous 2009!
See ya on sunday!
God bless!

oh yes, TAG MORE! :D

2008-12-29T15:21:00.003+08:00

Yeah, it's me. Hahaha, i felt the youth blog needs reviving. Again. So im back here.
First things first, WE NEED TO REMEMBER TO TAKE A NAME OUTTA THE HAT. If not right, the youth blog will still be, um, post-less.

Anyway, 2008 is ending and 2009's coming which means we're all gonna have to go back to school again ):
I dont like school, why cant there be like 5 days of church and 1 day of school every week instead of the other way around. Wont it be much better? Hahaha, okay im kidding.

With the year ending i think i shall post a year-end post.
Riiiiggghhhhtttt, it's been my 3rd year in youth. Uh huh. And im not afraid to say that im enjoying every single part of being in youth ;D YAY AWESOME. There's been alot of things happening this year. We've gotten a lot closer, more bonded, and more and more like a family in Christ (:
And we also got like new people rising to take on different roles in youth and church as well! We've got John's guitar class and Esther and I have the chords class and stuff, and we see like youths eager to learn up their particular instrument to serve the Lord. Isnt that great ;D
And we got new youth leaders too, YAY.
And i forgot what i was gonna say next. RIGHT. Ah well.

Kay, the post looks long enough. Hahahah, okay then, till next time if no one else blogs again. HEH.
Cya guys next year ;D (it's only three days away.) Dawn prayer on the 1st, yeah be there!
And after that we can all go and drink kopi. HAHAHA.

2008-12-01T18:23:00.002+08:00

HEYHEYHEY!!!!
jermaine here..
so this is my first time posting on youth blog..HAHAH..
i dont really have much to post so this will be quite a short entry....
i am gonna blog about a few days only then..
29/11-combined mission trip day camp
so we had the day camp thing which was actually quite okay...HAHA
i think that most of the lk youths are in the dance!! HAHH..like joylynn,charis,james,seanna, and me!
thanks joylynn for thinkiing of the dance moves..HAAHH..NANANANA!!
then had rehearsal..the skit stuff was quite cool..:)...it was like the prodigal son..i think auggie still makes a better father than the older son..HAHAH..then about the "door"thing..
i am gonna be the narator for the skit during the youth christmas party..actually i dun really have a choice coz kristin made me..HAHA
okay then...so we ended early...and i am still thinking of the NANANAs...
30/11-sunday CHURCH!!
church!! I ushered!..with joylynn...heheh..
anyway..later at youth..we had worship...than had prayer for those we were gonna invite for the chirstmas party....
other stuff...
so...about the mission trip to isaan..i think that we should still continue praying..so that the mission trippers will be able to go there..and that the airport will be cleared...
then we can also continue praying for the people that we will be inviting for the christmas party that they will come....
lets oso pray that we will be able to collect more for the bike fund and that more people will be willing to contribute!!!!
......
so i guess this post is much longer than i expected..HAHH
BYES!! see you on sunday!!

2008-12-01T16:58:00.002+08:00

Hey people! James here! This is my first time blogging ar, so i 'm not so sure how t0 blog. :)
Yesterday Pastor Jimmy said that he is inviting all the youths to his house for a gathering on the 23rd of December! But then.. i cannot go... so sad. Anyway.... Yiguang ask all of us to encourage our friends to attend the youth Christmas party. We all must pray that our friends would be opened to the invitation.

Recently, the isaan mission trip people have been preparing very hard for the trip. Like the dance item. Joylynn, Jermaine, Seanna, Isaac and I have been practicing very hard for it. The dance moves are quite okay lah... except the part where we have to do the face thing which was quite odd, Haha. We had a hard time yesterday doing the balloon sculpting. Actually it’s quite hard leh. The tying of the balloon is already very difficult, but at the end, I manage to make a BALLOON SWORD! WAH! Pro right?

I was surprised when they asked me to do balloon sculpting, however, I managed to do it well! PRAISE THE LORD! Now all we have to do is to pray for the situation in Thailand. PRAY HARDER! Okay, I’ve nothing else to write. BYE.

2008-12-01T12:21:00.002+08:00

Hahaha, i've no idea what im suddenly doing in blogger. But since im here, i might as well blog. Right? Right!

Like, "hi!" -waves.

Reason for this season

2008-11-28T12:07:00.002+08:00

It's the season to be jolly, fala lala la, lala la la. Blink of an eye and it's Christmas again!! How time flies man. Preparation for thanksgiving dinner is still fresh in my mind. Before we know it, another year has passed.

You walk around orchard road and you see posters reading, "Christmas is a time of giving!" It's not so much about buying gifts and exchanging presents ( i won't reject any presents though), but as christians, we know that this season is for a reason! As the advertisement goes:

Price of a candy cane : $2 (because of inflation)
Price of the iPod Nano you've been eyeing for: $238
The gift of God's only Son: Priceless!

Each of us had received a gift from God which is Christ Jesus, and it is the best gift that anyone of us can receive. We do not have to pay a single cent for this gift, instead it was Jesus who paid this gift with His life, just so that we can receive it. For those of us who have already received this gift, let us share this gift with our friends who have yet to hear about this gift.

Besides being a season of giving, for me it is also very much a season of forgiving. The reason why Jesus came down to earth was simply to redeem us from our sins, to forgive us. Even as I approach his festive season, I need to reflect on how I have to learn to forgive, and also to whom I need to seek forgiveness from. Through our willingness to go up to a person whom we might not really like, and to tell the person that you forgive them, will be a really bold move, and it that would reflect God's gracious love through us.

This love and forgiveness that we are willing to demonstrate for one another will reflect a lot about this God we always talk about and worship to. John 13:34-35 says," A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Even as we get busy helping up in the Christmas party, shopping for gifts or even just hanging out with friends, let us give each other and our friends a greater reason for this season!!

Augustus

2008-11-23T17:02:00.002+08:00

Yes, it's me again. But im gonna revive the whole youth blogging thing again. WATCH ME.
Firstly, everyone should go on facebook and play pet society (hahaha, okay im kidding.)

As most of you should be able to tell, im sick today. Physically sick not mentally or anything, kay. And honestly, i've no idea why im sick, i just woke up and fell sick. But anyway, that's not the point. The point is, that i was reallllyyyyy drowsy and tired this morning, and im guessing that if i were to go for training/school this morning, i would just have ponned. Honestly.
But idk why church is different from school, it's like the thing i look forward to every week. Whoa.
I FEEL GOOD (dadadadadadadada~)
((sorry, sick people like me usually get a bit high cause of lack of sleep))

School hols have started, but sad to say i dont feel like im on holiday. I have a mountain of homework left to do, plus training and all. Oh, and there's Issan stuff too. But i really wanna thank God for giving me the strength and grace to go through this whole week (and more weeks to come!). I kinda have fun doing homework cause like it's all online, so i tend to digress. But whatever.

Hmm, im quite hyped up for Issan actually ;D
Cause now i finally feel that im doing something for God, like something BIG. Instead of just receiving, im finally giving. It's a good feeling (:
YAAAAY, AND THE DANCE IS GONNA BE REALLY COOL. (credits to Esther, of course)

I just blogged quite a few paragraphs about stuff, and i havent even talked bout what happened today. Amazing. I think i like talking to myself.
Soooooo, today we had youth. (DUH) And Daryl and Gerald and Daryl's girlfriend (Lynette) came today. Sadly we didnt have a chance to talk to them cause we kinda assumed that they would come down :( But anyway.
Read through James 4 today, "But God gave us more grace!" How great is that. Though we're sinners and all, he still loves us soooo much. We have a great God people (: AWESOMENESS.
Yeah, and there's gonna be a christmas party on Jermaine's birthday tooooo, so have fun preparing guys. (If you dont know when Jermaine's birthday is, shame on you). Dont forget to invite friends and stuff, it'll be a great time, im quite sure ;D
Then we drew names from the blogging hat and it was... ME ;D (cant you tell), and Auggie, which is kinda like the same people who visit this blog like, everyday. Nvm, we'll get more people next time. YAY.
Oh, and this year's p6-es are coming to youth soon. So we should, er, welcome them in (:

I think i should stop. Hahaa, it looks very longggg. Whoooops. (Actually maybe it isnt, it's my paragraphing)

Exams are here... yet again (haha sequel of YG's post)

2008-11-13T00:15:00.004+08:00

I'M BLOGGING!!! It's actually so simple! Yes the tag board is probably gonna be flooded with "I told you it's simple" or things that might not sound that pleasing to the ears. Anyway, it's the time of the year again, and exams are just around the corner. I was studying, and suddenly I felt like blogging. Time to put down my books and share some of my thoughts about exams.

The exams are there to test my knowledge and application about what I have learnt over the past 3 months, and it is tough as we have to cram everything and regurgitate everything. However, there is one test that I tend to forget during these pressing times. It is the test of my faith in God.

This "test" does not only end when our exams end. In fact, the "test" could become much harder for some of us when we receive our results. If we did well, do we praise the Lord and glorify His name? What if we did not do as well? In the past, when I faced such a situation, I wondered if God was listening to my prayers or not. Well that is when our faith in God is really put to the test. Over many years of being a christian, I have matured to understand that God always listens to my prayers, our prayers. Prayers would not guarantee excellent grades, but it is allowing God to be sovereign in my life.

Even as I pray (and I hope you guys pray for me too) and prepare for my examinations, I pray for faith in God, that I would accept whatever results that He decides for me, and also to be able to still glorify His name whatever the end result may be. I trust that God would know what is best for me, because He who began a good work would be faithful to complete it.

Alright I guess its time to sleep! Happy holidays!!

Exam Tips: When you have an open book examination, don't bother bringing your Bible in. It probably would not help. Open your Bible at home, it'll probably be of much help. Haha.. Yes lame lame, but there's also truth in it ok!

Holidays are here ... yet again!

2008-10-26T23:53:00.004+08:00

Yo LKyouths!!

WUZ UP!! how swiftly the acad year has ended. Some of you will be busy with your CCAs ... do I hear Steph and Tiffany groaning ... For those who are heading to Isaan ... yeahh!!! ... exciting times ahead. For the Home Team, without the usual Youth Camp, this holidays may be a little "empty" but I encourage you to make it different. Most of "ministry" is actually done outside of Sunday. It's in the daily, mundane activities of our lives. We wake up, go to work/school, sit on the bus .... do the same old same old.

If you're out in school/workplace/Orchard Rd (sale!!)/Cinema!!, I encourage you to STOP for a short moment. Take the ear phones off, put the handphone away .... be still, open you eyes and ears and capture everything around you. It's as if time SLOWS down (hee .. hee .. like the series Heroes) and you're just letting the world pass you by.
(i) The people ... (what are they doing? what are they talking about? what are their securities?), (ii) the environment (am I bombarded with media? Is everything competing for my attention my belief system & my $$? Is it just to congested ... too noisy?)
(iii) Myself ... Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I going?

But God is moving ... can you feel it? First, you'ld have to convince yourself that HE indeed is there and not a figmentof Yiguang's overly-stimulated imagination.

I came across a helpful website for all seekers (may be yourself or your friends) http://www.christianity.net.au/ . Take a look and test everything ... just like the Bereans in ACTS:

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:11

If indeed you believe the God of the Bible ... how differently will you spend your holidays?

Yiguang
PS: An ISAAN blog has been set up!!! Check it out!!! Link is on the left side-bar.

YL Retreat and Supper ministry08

2008-09-24T12:19:00.008+08:00

Hey yo! I'm backkk. This blog is somehow quite dead except for joylynn and krist's argument over the hat. Hahah. But yeah, tag more, people! Anyway, I'm here to blog about the Youth Leader (YL) Retreat and Supper Ministry 2008, which started yesterday fyi. So anyway, YL Retreat first. Together with Auggie, John & Van. It was my first retreat so I didn't know what to expect. What I thought was going to happen was that there would be a lot of planning involved, talking about stuff to change OTHER people's lives.

In the end, it wasn't so much about changing other people's lives, but instead, we focused more on our OWN spiritual lives. We used a book called 'Making Ripples', simple read, yet what the author wrote made us think a lot. Ohyeah, we went to Marina South Pier too(if I'm not wrong) to just enjoy the breeze in that oh-so-good weather, and talk about stuff. Basically, we had a lot fun too! The place where we bunked in was really nice, had a pretty rooftop garden and really nice rooms. Hahah. Good place to just chill and just R.O.C. (Relac one corner) Lol. Tauheuy, 7eleven trips, playing with the swings near the place we bunked made the time spent, worthwhile.

Greedy pigs pigging out on pizzas

YMCA!

Alright, on to SUPPER MINISTRY 2008! First up, Joshwee's house, at Toa Payoh. So Van, Auggie, Yg and myself made our way to Josh's house with supper in our hands! Hahah. We had oystereggs, satays, fruits, & can't remember what else. Heh. Yupyup, the Wee family people were really hospitable in welcoming us and making us feel at home. We watched firstclass, news, talked about school, soccer, cars and whatnots. Hahah. It was a pretty fun time. Ended the session with just praying for joshwee for his exams that are going to end soon. So josh, HANG IN THERE! We'll be praying for you. (:

Oh! And we played zhongjimima, to finish up the food as well! Hahah. We really had a great time. We're going to visit another house soon, so watch out for us. We might just pop up at your house for supper anytime!

2008-09-01T13:54:00.002+08:00

Yes, its me. And yes again, i havent blogged here in 23476853493742034 hours.
Games day yesterday, at our church backyard(: (fine, the space behind church, whatever).
Lkyouths+John's sunday school class (p1&2 boys)

We played two games, called something and another thing, sorry i forgot the names. The first was to erm tap/step on cards according to number, v.confusing to explain here, and even if i did i dont think you would understand. Hahaha, yeah so basically Team Anything won. That game. But it was kinda unfairrr cause they got three chances and we got only twoooo:( We're nice people though, so we dont complain:D

Next games, was passing water. I shall find some photos and put it up here later, cause its hard to explain without 'live demo'. Pooooor Jerome kinda got soaked for the game cause he couldnt receive the water properly. All it all, it was fun, despite the fact that some of us got wet (like me). Team whatever wonnnn, whooohoooo. Okay, whatever. (Hey, i was put into the correct team! WHATEVER.)

It was a great time of fellowship for all of us, thanks muchh to Van and Esther for organising the games, though quoting Auggie 'Ehh, like orientation lehh.' But who cares! At least we had alottt of fun. Heh.
Thank God for the good weather yesterday even though it was kinda gonna rain but it didnt so yay:D

2008-09-01T09:34:00.004+08:00

I realised I haven't blogged since April. Hahah. But anyway, here I am to blog about yesterday! (: Yesterday's games day was loads of fun. (Come on, you have to agree with me on that.) Planning it with Van was not that difficult and it was quite fun too. We came up with lots of ideas, trying to figure out what games would make you guys interested, and later, decided on the two games, POISON WATER and WILD WILD WET! Those were the name of the two games if I'm not wrong. Lol.

Seeing you guys laughing, having fun and getting wet, we felt that the time we spent planning for you guys, was well spent. The drenched faces of all you guys were hilarious! Especially Jerome. Hahah. He has the classic face man. The way his eyes were closed as water was poured down his face. Hahah. Anyway, all of you had weird faces, and super duper unglam photos will be up soon once I/Joylynn get them from the various people who took pictures!
Anyway, hope you all have a good week ahead!

2008-08-31T22:41:00.003+08:00

Hey! This is my first Blogger post in ages cos' as some people know, Xanga holds greater appeal for me :D

Anyway, the sec 4s are going through prelims at this point, and I believe it's only half-over for most of us. Although it's indeed been a lot tougher than anything we've done before in our secondary school lives, I find that saying a simple prayer to God before the start of each paper truly makes a difference, and it never fails to reassure me and comfort me that in all that I undertake, the Lord is definitely with me. Previously, I relied on my own strength and when my results turned out well, I credited myself for it; However I've come to realise that by our own might, nothing is possible but with God's help, the impossible becomes possible.

And I'd just like to tell everyone else taking exams that the Lord is truly with us wherever we go and in whatever we do, for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (:

Back from the parched lands ...

2008-07-22T12:02:00.019+08:00

Yo LKYouths!! WUZ UP!!

I've not logged in and blogged for almost 1 1/2 months! Many things have happened: new job, June/July events (Combine Baptist Youth Worship, Mission Sunday, Youth Sunday) *whew* and also the sad passing of Samuel. All these combined overwhelmed me for a period and it took considerably longer to get back on my feet than I've thought.

I thank you all for being faithful in your service to God, within the Church and also importantly outside of Church. Do remain steadfast, trusting in the Lord. I was very encouraged @ the unity and enthusiasm that you've put into Youth Sunday in July.

From the sharings to the skit to the decor ... even the "Little Black Book", I observe that all were done with gladness of hearts. To God be the glory.

Joshua's sharing

Esther's sharing

We've also come some way with regards to the study on Ephesians. From Apr - Aug, we've faithfully unpackaged God's Word and dug deep to find "treasures". These are "treasures" that moth and rust will not destroy. Eternal treasures that moulds our hearts to know God. For all the worship leaders during WKRZ, keep the keepin' on!! Keep practising and worshiping God .. not the music. The Holy Spirit within you will guide you.

And for the rest of the year (Sep to Dec), we'll embark on MISSION PREPARATION!!!! Remember, EVERYONE is involved in this, whether you're the Tripper going to ISAAN or one of the "Trooper (home team!)". You're IN!! So watch out for exciting stuff coming your way!

Some things to expect:
(i) Collection for Bicycle Project
(ii) October Edu Tour (Isaan students vist Singapore!)
(iii) Studies on "Why go?" (so .. err ... wat's Mission huh?)
(iv) Skit/Workshop/Games prep + props etc etc ....

*whew* quite a bit of work but LKYouths together with Covenant Community BC & Redeemer BC will be bringing the Good News to the land!

This is my prayer for us going into the last quarter of 2008 ...

Jesus said "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine" (John 8:31)

Guys/Gals, remain in God's Word. Exam stresses are setting in. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)

For it's Christ we serve,
Yg

PS: LKYouths is on "Flickr"!!!! Check out the link @ the side! Older pics can still be seen in the old gallery. Let me know if you encounter problems.

2008-06-18T15:43:00.000+08:00

Church camp videos and photos all inside. Hahaha.
Im lazy to post them up separately so yah here it is.

&someone seriously needs to update the blog. So here i am. Tadaaa. Okay whatever.

GALOBAL DAYE OF PRAYOR! (global day of prayer!)

2008-05-14T20:57:00.005+08:00

Heyyyy:D Hahaha okay for those who didnt go for GDOP, you all missed out on alot.
Krist: I agree! It was a great time, like a huge worship partay.

Your ticket in to an awesome night!

GDOP Program guides. Yes I accidentally brought all those home.

Preparation preparation preparation!

Did ushering for the first time ever, felt quite important! But it was all service for God as well. The ushers had quite a fun time i suppose. Firstly we had to distribute flags on all the chairs, which was quite entertaining as we were all fighting over the chairs. After that (rather tiring) piece of work, we had to guard the entrances to the balcony. Which was rather slack:D Hahaha. When the people could finally go up, then we got busy again.

WORSHIP!

The worship and songs chosen for the GDOP was very impactful, especially since the music was so gooood. One of the most impactful songs to me was 'Great Awakening' (i think thats the song title lah). But the lyrics really meant alot to me.
Followed by that were a few mini-sermons by various pastors. Some of the sermons, especially Reverend Edmund Chan's one, made me realise a few things. Are we actually giving all we are to God? Or are we holding back stuff. Cause God wants every single part of us. But no matter how imperfect we were, God still loves us. Arent we blessed or what!
Basically, in a nutshell this is what happened lahh.

And since it was the Global Day of Prayer, there inevitably would be prayer. We prayed for alot of things such as government, and even people not in Singapore, such as those in the Myanmar disaster.

Praying for the countries of the world

SOOOOOO, if you missed this year's GDOP, you really missed alot.
Which means, you should go next year:D

[Krist! Pictures!]

Kristin here with the pictures! :D Well, obviously.
The whole event was so phenomenal right from the start. The music was just so contagious that we were singing while working, singing even when there isn't any music! So psyched!
It was really really awesome and I think that even though it was held in the indoor stadium (smaller than previous years hence lesser people), the amount of heart put into worshipping and praying wasn't any lesser than last year's.
HUZZAH!

And sadly, we take leave from a beautiful meaningful night.
We were definitely still high even after the event. (:
Yes, that's how good it was. And will continue to be in years to come! :D
-Krist

2008-05-04T16:42:00.007+08:00

heyyy! i'm back like after 4 months i think. yeahh.
anyway, yg asked me to drop a few lines regarding today's session on inductive bible study so that's what i'm going to do. :D

alright, the session started off with joel leading us into a time or worship. haha.
the songs that he chose were, Once again and What Can I Do.
one of the things he said before singing the song, What Can I Do was that when we see all that God has created, what could we do, but give praise to him.
personally i found that meaningful, cos it's true that we can only give glory to God for everything that he has done! :D

on to the main thing. inductive bible study session!
today, we studied, Ephesians 1:2-8a. we circled, 'clouded' & squiggled lines under certain words like, us, we, in Him, etc. haha.
it was kinda fun, as Krist puts it," it's like a mini word search." hahah.
we did a chart as well! -impressive huh. the chart consisted of different questions like what, with, where, etc.
we filled in the blanks accordingly and most of us got all correct! haha.
and we also felt that we kinda understood Ephesians better. right guys? haha.

after the end of the one hour long lesson of hard and torturous inductive bible study, okayy. it wasn't that bad.
but besides that, we celebrated the birthdays of the APRIL babies! :D
& you know what that means. ISLAND CREAMERY ICE CREAM CAKES.
whichhhh, were bought by vanessa and john. so thank them. :D
the cake's really nice btw. (:
i think there were a lot more people who were born in april but only two showed up today.
haha. and they are shuen and stephanie! happy birthday to the both of you. (:

i think i'm done. & next week is the GDOP! come yeah? :D

2008-04-20T17:53:00.002+08:00

Yo:D Im back after who knows how long but im just back lah.
Today was the first inductive bible study lesson! The session was started off with a (very stressed) Matthew leading worship.
'I chose this song Salvation to our God because...errr...Salvation belongs to our God!'
But anyway, it was a job well done:D I was stressed the first time i did it too. Hahaha.
Then we were introduced to our Sunday School teachers -drumroll.
Actually we all know who our Sunday School teachers are lah. We were given the materials to work with for our lesson, then we split into our classes to start the lesson proper.
Firstly, we did a brief overview about where Ephesus is, etc. Plus, we also covered Ephesians 1:1, in which we learnt more about Paul and his relationship to the Ephesians. We also did Ephesians 1: 2-8, which showed us that everything God does for us is good for us, and that we are special cause we were chosen by him.
Tadaaaaa! It wasnt as packed as the one we did in youth camp, so its much more fun:D And easier to summarise.
Hahaha next week is the seminar thing. Come okay!

Reflection on a simple game of Captain's Ball

2008-04-13T15:41:00.016+08:00

Yo LKYouths! WUZ Up?!?!

Or has the greeting grown stale? Swiftly, 4 months of 2008 has passed. Some of us will be entering the stressful phase of mid-year examination or for our final year uni students ... the last set of exams you'll be taking for a long .. long .. while. (yiipee!!)

So where are we (individually & as LKYouths) at? A step closer in our relationship with God or sidelined by other distractions such as worries/concerns or even ... strangely ... too comfortable?

It was not too long ago when we've committed to "Crossing the Line" in respect of our spiritual life. You'll remember me commenting one Sunday that our lives cannot be compartmentalised into different segments of mental, physical, spiritual, emotional etc etc. God made us ONE. Just like the Trinity cannot be separated, each part of ourselves form a whole. Hence, when I address the "spiritual" life, I'm actually referring to YOUR LIFE.

Are you living? Or should I say ... are you ALIVE?

Strange subject title isn't it? but as I rested in the comforts of my home, resting my tired legs (aargghh ... getting old) I think we can draw some comparisons between the simple game of "Captain's Ball" and our LIFE.

The Ball.

This the object of the game. Without it, you've NO game. It would not make sense to "imagine" a ball or even sit around and "talk" about the ball or even "study" about the ball. Without the ball, you just have NO game.

Good thing we've a ball. So the game did take place. As players of the game, we have to "catch" the ball & "pass" the ball. We rush towards the ball. It's NICE to have the ball. It makes us feel part of the game. Imagine if you did not touch the ball a single instance .... it would have been the same as sitting on the sideline. Sadly, even though you may be physically present, you were not really part of the game. You were not involved .... & you did not contribute.

However, having the ball can be stressful. You need to think "what must I do with the ball"? Should I shoot or pass? Who do I pass to? Should I lobe the ball or pass straight or pass under? Decisions, decisions, decisions .... Eventually, the ball leaves your hands & whether you contributed to your side winning or losing really depends on your decisions.

Also, to make the game COMPLETE, there are players of different shapes, sizes and skill. It does not make sense to play on your own. Well, it's sure no FUN!! Yet, by the random "satu" "dua" count, we're divided into our sides. Not by choice, but from a pre-determined system of selection. We've to work together, improve our "play" and "score".

Now ... if JESUS is the "ball" and the game is your LIFE, what are the implications?

1. Without Jesus, there is no LIFE

2. What you choose to do with "Jesus" matters.

3. Whom your other brothers & sisters in Christ are(seemingly random selection of your team members) and how you decide to interact and grow with them matters a whole lot!

I'm talking about your LIFE ... perhaps it's time to treat it more seriously than just a game.

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Hebrews 10:24

Let's make sure we X the line together,
Yg

PS: For more pics ... check out the gallery.

In the Garden ...

2008-03-20T13:31:00.003+08:00

Yo LKYouths!!

WUZ UP!!! How's the 1st week "back" in school? hee .. hee .. some of you hardly had a school break yeah ...

Today's Maundy Thursday. You might be asking ... ehh ...what so special about this Thursday? Well ... Maundy Thursday is the Thursday of Holy Week (the Thursday before Easter). It was the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, sharing a meal with them which we call the Last Supper.

In fact, this celebration was quite a sombre occasion.

In those days it was usual for a servant to wash the guests feet on arrival. On this occasion there was no servant present and none of the disciples volunteered to do the menial task. Instead, Jesus got up and washed his disciples feet, giving them an object lesson in humility and service.

The word "Maundy" comes from the Latin for 'command' (mandatum). It refers to the command given by Jesus at the Last Supper, that his disciples should love one another.

It was later that night, after the meal, as Jesus and His disciples were praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus was arrested and taken to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest. On Friday, He would die.

You might ask why do we observe these age old events? They call us to move behind the joyful celebrations of Palm Sunday and Easter, and focus on the suffering, humiliation, and death that is part of Holy Week. It is important to place the hope of the Resurrection, the promise of newness and life, against the background of death and endings. It is only in walking through the shadows and darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday, only in realizing the horror and magnitude of sin and its consequences in the world incarnated in the dying Jesus on the cross, only in contemplating the ending and despair that the disciples felt on Holy Saturday, that we can truly understand the light and hope of Sunday morning!

I'ld like to show a video clip that Jeremiah shared. It's a dramatic presentation of how loved we are by Jesus. Question is ... do we also love HIM just as hard?

For it's Christ, and only in HIM, we're SAVED!!
Yg

Rescue the Perishing

2008-03-02T23:37:00.002+08:00

Hi all,

For all who were @ the worship this morning, Augustus introduced this new song "Rescue the Perishing"

It's a pretty Intense (a capital "I") one. From a web-search, I realised that it was adapted from an old hymn written by Fanny Crosby, a blind American poetess, often known as the queen of gospel song writers. The original hymn was penned in 1869. This was her moving account of writting this hymn:

http://www.joyfulministry.com/rescuef.htm

Other hymns by Fannie J. Crosby include "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me" , "Blessed Assurance"

Wow! When I heard the contemporary version by Billy Foote (praise the Lord that he kept 90% of Fanny's original lyrics!), I was close to tears as I'm reminded of this Holy calling by God to all who have believed in Christ, this calling that is popularly known as the "Great Commission". Have we heard this label so too often that we've forgotten it's true significance and our responsibility?

As I'm writting this entry my eyes wander to my unsaved Mum, Sis & boyfriend who are playing with Shalom in the hall. My thoughts on my Dad who's heart has been hardened by bad experiences. "Dear God, use me to lead them to you."

From the above dated accounts, I'm also reminded how God has and continues to use Worship leaders/songs/ music as vessels to knock on "doors" of hardened hearts, to call on significant ones amongst the congregation that HE has chosen to heal & save. So, lets not take our roles as Lead Worshippers/Musicians lightly.

Here's the contemporary version that is beautifully sung by Rebecca St James. Enjoy ....
(I've included the other verse from the original hymn in "white")

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Chorus (refrain)
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Church open your eyes once more,
And see what Christ died for,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save!

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

Refrain

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Refrain

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Refrain

Bridge
As we playing our songs, while we singing them well
Have we forgotten the lost, the reality of hell?
If we say we love God, wanna see His will done,
Will we offer our lives, or just the songs we have sung?
Do we even care, when will we care?

My Utmost for His Highest
Yg

Almighty God

2008-02-17T23:11:00.004+08:00

Hi Everyone,

Here's the song I introduced today. Titled: Almighty God. Songwriter: Tim Hughes

"The heavens declare the glory of God
the sky declares the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

Almighty God
The rising Sun that fills the sky
The starry host that lights the night
Reflecting Your glory
The mountain heights, forever stand
The rain that falls to soak the land
Respond to Your glory

[Chorus]
Almighty God, in every way
You are above and beyond understanding
If we did not praise, the rocks would cry out
Glorious God, high above understanding yeah

The vast expanse of earth and sea
Held by You in harmony
Speaks of Your glory
All You’ve made, since time began
Life itself; Your perfect plan
And it’s all for Your glory

[Bridge]
Cre-a-tion joins as one to sing
“Glorious God.”
So far above all earthly things

And for those who'ld like to learn how it's played:

For it's Christ (and only Him) we worship!
Yg

2008-02-08T01:51:00.000+08:00

>>this is waaaay overdue (part of this was typed more than a week ago) but i'm here!

going on to fuel2...

firstly, i've found that the hardest part of fuel is actually doing the DJ's. i can't honestly say that i look forward to doing DJ's every night. sometimes i just want to go to bed. especially because i usually do my DJ's before i sleep so i don't have to rush them. and by that time, i'm both physically and mentally exhausted. it's hardest nearer the end of the week cos all the days of sleeping late begin to catch up and i feel like just letting my homework and the DJ's go cos "there's always tomorrow". it's easy just to let all the DJ's slide. "never mind, i can always make up another day..." but that never happens. and i'm sure i'm not the only one feeling that way...

but i have to remind myself that:

1) i can't get closer to God without reading His word
2) if i have time to do other stuff then it's not right to forgo reading the bible. i remember our TTP lessons from youth camp :) - God needs to be the number one priority in our life
3) it's easier to be taken unawares by spiritual warfare if we don't read God's Word regularly...i've experienced spiritual warfare quite a few times and get into huge quarrels with my family, always before i do Worship on sunday or something for the church. and i don't want to repeat the experiences again. or be led astray.

going on to the actual thing...

Session 5: How do you know the Bible is true?

it's difficult to tell the truth between fact and fiction sometimes. but how do we know what we have been reading and studying and learning from for years- the Bible- is sound doctrine? all evidence IN the Bible tells us that the Bible is in fact, the Word of God.

"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prephecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21

The Bible states all scripture is God-breathed. but we can also find external evidence that the Bible is indeed, true and the Word of God. for one thing, the time lapse between the actual events that occured and the first appearances of the Scriptures is much shorter (hundreds of years shorter) than the time lapse between other events recorded in history and their recordings. and furthermore, these recordings (like wars and stuff we learn in history) are taken as the facts!

so why not the Bible?

the events in the new testament happened over a thousand years ago. (yeah, cos now is 2008 A.D.) and the stuff in the old testament happened thousands of years ago. and there are so many versions of the Bible and so many different chapters are verses and so much stuff that happened, and it's amazing that the main gist and order of the Bible has remained the same after so many years. the Bible has been translated into so many languages, yet after all these changes the Bible still remains God's Word.
Exodus is still after Genesis, Leviticus is still after Exodus, John is still after Luke which is still after Mark which is still after Matthew...

"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:6-8

and the word of God stands forever and ever and ever! :) even in our modern world, where everything is constantly changing, we can still count on the Bible to be relevant in our daily lives. sometimes i'm puzzling over a problem or hesistating over what to do, a verse from the Bible just pops into my head. and it helps, though it doesn't provide instant solutions. i pray about it, but sometimes i willingly disobey as well :x
haha...that's precisely why reading the Bible regularly and maintaining a close relationship with God is important.

finally done. anyway, we need to pray for:
1) people to feel the need to turn up for prayer meetings
2) crossing the line this year :)
3) everyone not to be distracted and to do DJ's regularly
4) spiritual warfare that may happen in the church (well, if there's no spiritual warfare that means we're not moving in the right direction right?)
5) the health and wisdom and discernment of the deacons, pastors, and elders, especially whichever pastor that is preaching on sunday
6) cell groups!
7) for people in the churh to step up and serve :DDD

Lastly, PTL for giving Rebecca a good recovery!

Happy CNY everyone!

2008-01-27T17:27:00.000+08:00

hahaha i havent been here in so long! school's started and everyone is really busy i guess.
fuel2 has been exciting for me, the learning about what our worldview is, what is the truth, why is it important to know what we believe, and finally this week's how does God reveal himself. though the topics *may* seem different, i feel that bascially every week i am being reminded about one thing.

you see, in the first week, we were taught to align our worldview with God's because he is great and powerful. we're so small but then he still loves us so much. but are we taking these things for granted? similarly, today we talked about how God shows himself to us, one of which was through nature. but how many of us actually appreciate it? in session two, i realised - do we actually treasure the fact that we are Christians? many of us come from Christian families, therefore we sometimes may forget that we are actually Christians and continue to live our lives like other non-Christians do.

are we taking God for granted?

we need to pray to God that we will treasure him and do our quiet time consistently.
read the bible, pray everyday!
hahahah:D

Ready for solid food ...

2008-01-08T00:15:00.000+08:00

Hey Everyone!!

It's been a llllllooooonnnnnggggg time since I blogged.

Guess what ... the few paragraphs below have been kept in the "draft" since 6 months ago!!! Yes!! I've left this blog entry unfinished .... I first wrote this after the Youth Sunday in July. But as I read through it now, I begin to see God @ work amongst LKYouths since then!! Isn't this kool?!? I've left the title unchanged. Check it out ....

----------entry on 20/07/2007--------------------

"But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Hebrews 5:14

Yo LKYouths! WUZ UPPP!

It's been sometime since I shared on the Youth Ministry and I think it's about time I drop a few liners as a review of all that's happened in the 1st half of 2007 and where I believe the Lord is leading us to.

In Oct 2006, the Mentors and Youth Leaders huddled together to pen down their dreams for the youth ministry. These are displayed in the form of a mahjong paper @ the noticeboard. Some of these dreams are:

1. Authentic Youth Ministry

2. Passionate Youth Leaders

3. Youths that cannot stop hanging out with one another

4.
----------------------end of entry ----------------

Guess wat .... I believe these dreams have already been fulfilled!!! Hallelujah!!!

On a serious note ....

Year 2007 was very eventful especially the month of Dec. It's seemed like God had been building ... building ... building us up to culminate in the last month of 2007. However, I'm not referring to events and we've had a fair bunch of them starting with

(i) Youth Camp
**CROSSING the LINE**

(ii) Isaan Mission Trip

(iii) Xmas Party

ending with ...

(iv) Thanksgiving Dinner

*whew*

I'm referring to IDENTITY. God is building up a Youth Culture within LK, "to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:14

1. Youths that desire real relationships with God. Not satisfied with "ok lor". Not satisfied with "that's what my parents/pastor/mentors say". Not satisfied with "this is what the world is telling me".... but desire an intensely personal relationship with God!

Convince yourselves that God is .... God! Strip away the packages that we've "boxed" HIM in. If God is God, we cannot begin to imagine how BIG HE really is.

To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to? Isaiah 40:18

Youths that are not satisfied with "lukewarm". Youths that sing "my Redeemer lives" because we believe it is so and not because of its pop tune/beat.

2. Youths that desire real relationship with each other. No more just talk about "ehh ... what game are you playing on PSP ehhh" or "what's that kool riff you're playing". Lets get real. Remember our first video session of Fuel2, when asked by the teacher "so what do you believe" there was this guy in the drama who answered, " Well, nobody talk about such stuff!!"
Well .... we do talk about such stuff because these stuff really matters. This is what church is about ... not the white walls, not the carpet flooring, not the air-condition. Just plain & simple ..... doing life together .... the good, the bad & the ugly.

You know what guyz/gals .... check out Jesus' comments on the 2 points above:

28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31

"1. Youths that desire real relationships with God" : Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

"2. Youths that desire real relationship with each other.": Love your neighour as yourself

I think we're ready for "solid food".

So what's installed for yr 2008?

I dunno ... but I cannot wait to find out : )

Hang on for the ride .... and in all that we do, lets keep it real ....

For it's Christ we serve,
Yiguang

2007-12-25T10:38:00.000+08:00

let's say this Christmas has been a lot more meaningful than the previous ones. i'm not sure why, though.

this year's Christmas was different in a way because firstly, when my mum asked me what i wanted for Christmas i just shrugged my shoulders. "i don't know". because i didn't really want anything. i mean, i had everything i needed. i remember when i was sec1 almost three years ago and i was still after new phones, mp3 players, digital cameras...but that changed after a mission trip to Cambodia at the end of sec1.

the situation in Cambodia is sorta like Issan...i saw how the people stood strong to their faith even through disownment by some of their families, the poor conditions they were in, and i began to appreciate how much i had.

this year, i started to think about how commercialized everything was. all the gimmicks, billboard advertisements, TV ads, Internet influence- basically mass media to get us to buy stuff because "it's the season of giving". i started to think how non-Christians were celebrating Christmas even though they didn't even know what it meant. i saw how even people of other religions played and sang Christmas carols as if they were regular, nice songs with no meaning to them at all. i saw santa claus pasted everywhere to signify Christmas was coming. why santa claus and not Jesus?

i heard some people boasting of what their parents bought them for Christmas in sec2. i saw classmates comparing presents, the quantity, the quality, the expense of some of the gifts they received...and i found it relevant to the ten commandments we learnt during WKRZ. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven , where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also." and i found that i didn't really find a need to hanker after materialistic stuff because that's not what Christmas is all about.

and i found myself really thinking through what Christmas should mean. so i finally came to a conclusion. this year, Christmas to me is about [because we really don't know when Jesus was born] commemorating and celebrating the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, because without Him we would not be saved. and it's not about the gifts we get, or how much we have or don't have but about how [as the saying goes] "Jesus is the reason for the season".

Experience in Isaan

2007-12-22T12:14:00.000+08:00

Woah, I finally managed to figure out to post something on the youth blog. Having come back from the mission trip in Isaan, one of the biggest take-aways that I have had is to understand the purpose and importance of fellowship. We all know that we are members of God's family. The Bible continually refers to God as our Father and us as His children and even He refers to the church as His bride. Christianity is relational and faith without love lends no meaning to what we do for God.

Spending 10 days over in Thailand with the people there, with those who came from LKBC, Redeemer Baptist, Covenant Community Baptist and Grace Baptist; the work done there in Isaan was made so much more powerful and real to me due to the relationships created, bonds developed and time spent fellowshipping with one another. To be honest, I spent very little time actually ministering to the Thai kids in the schools and the strangers that we met on the streets of Udon Thani. However, as I watched individuals like Spencer, Esther and Weiling minister with their actions and words, there was joy in my heart as I saw my fellow brothers and sisters pleasing the Lord with their faith and service.

Though we are back in Singapore, I know that fellowship never ends. I am thankful that I have been gifted with a greater appreciation for why we as Christians were never meant to soldier on in this World alone but together with each other, serving our God, our lord as a body of Christ. I have been touched in understanding that every single person who comes to church is precious to God's eyes and if God who is all powerful and all mighty can love someone regardless of who he or she is, what more us right? So to conclude, I pray for God's guidance that even as He blesses us with the joy derived from fellowshipping with each other, may we also be sensitive to respond to anyone who may feel left out or alone and invite them to share in our relationships. Amen.

2007-12-09T21:03:00.000+08:00

Woohoo!!! I can post here YAY :D
First and foremost hi GUYs & GALs!!!!!
This is my first post sia....

Anyway, the Youth Camp's over *SIGH*
It sure was fun yeah! I learnt more about God and Definitely more about every Youth.
The inductive bible study... I agree it was tiring but...
it sure opened my eyes to many things which is *hidden* in God's word 0.0
yeah yeah! I learnt that it is because of Salvation that we do good deeds...

it was the First time for many of us... for me huh? it was my first time playing in a band.
was hard in the beginning ( my pick even fell inside the guitar lawl) but i did it in the end.( with the help of God ) :D

TTP was fun and greAt too! We learnt that we should straighten out our piorities and
find place God fiRst. We did thru a series of bidding, games and some reflection...

oh yEah the 'Band of Brothers' and 'Candle War' was great. it allowed me to get muddy and dirty haha XD

Thinking back now... I feel more alive in Christ now then I was before.
Quiet Time was superb, I could really spend valuable time with God which i never did for a long time.....
I pray that all of us will contiune what we learnt in the camp at hoMe.

Thats all from me :D

May the Lord be with the Mission Trippers to Isaan,
Thailand and have a safe journey there! I will be prAying for U guys!

Signing off............

2007-12-09T16:21:00.000+08:00

hahaha youth camp rocked right? (yahhhh)
okay anyway this year's youth camp was really meaningful to me.
i tried like many things i never tried before, like leading worship.
hahah i remember that two years ago when i was asked to share something i started crying.
so for me to lead worship, is like a feat for me manss.
-applaud. thank you thank you.

also i got to know some of the youths alot better, the fellowship was really good:D
plusplus the intensive bible study was good too.
although it was super tiring and erm, tiring.
but got shou huo mah.

and for me, i went for TTP. so idk how the flood program was like.
but the TTP really helped me remember to prioritise and what not.

lastly, THE FOOD'S GOOD.
im kidding.
the food was good though.

EVERYONE LETS CROSS THE LINE:D

2007-11-29T20:26:00.000+08:00

...this is almost two weeks overdue. that's why the info here may not be 100% accurate...

[i have no idea why my name appears twice in the profile list. what did i do?]

18/11/07
joshua chan led worship last, last, week.

and later, we went through a more in-depth study of the ten commandments. these the commandments in brief and their meanings:

1) You shall have no other gods before me
2) Do not worship/create any idols in any form
= these two tie in with each other and place emphasis on God being the first priority in our lives. this means placing God before anything else, e.g. celebrities, pop idols, gaming...and is not just restricted to man-made idols.

3) Do not use the Lord's name in vain.
= saying "omg" and swearing on the Lord's name has become common practice as even on TV we hear people swearing "omg" and other profanities. how many of us have been influenced by society, culture, mass media, or our friends around us that we too have started to say these words?
"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

4) Keep the Sabbath Day holy.
5) Honour your parents
= lots of kids honour their parents. even more kids don't. whether we're 2, 12, or 20, we still have to honour our parents cos those are the people that God chose to bring us up, like it or not. this means obeying our parents even when we don't feel like doing it, not being rude to them... especially hard to keep since i don't know how many times i have broken that commandment this past week...and this reaps rewards for,
"Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." Exodus 20:12

6) You shall not murder
= Matthew 5:22
"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subjected to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' [that is a term of contempt, much like our modern day swear words] is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."

7) You shall not commit adultery
= looks easy to do..."But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already commited adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28...but this extends to not only literal adultery, but also how we think.

8) You shall not steal
= stealing includes buying pirated movies, downloading and watching online or other people's videos or music and not just robbery or shoplifting. here joel brought up that the reason for this commandment was partly to make us earn what we want.

9) You shall not give false testimony against your neightbour.
= who is our neighbour? 'neighbour' is not just the person living next door to us. this commandment includes gossiping, slandering, lying to save face/get out of trouble/scapegoating etc.

10) Do not covet.
= "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

and we learnt that it is not necessary to be perfect to be saved, cos Jesus has already paid the price for us. but the ten commandments are like a mirror, where we can view our own faults. for without the ten commandments or the bible, will we know that stealing or adultery is wrong? so all in all, the commandments are guidelines to our everyday living. we look into the mirror to adjust our appearance, so in the same way, we look to the ten commandments to adjust the stuff that we're doing wrong in our lives.

25/11/07

last week esther and joylynn led worship.

first we went through an overview of the ten commandments. and then we wrote ten of our own personal commitments on a piece of paper. they could or could not be related to the ten commandments, but some of us did use the commandments as references.

the thing about the ten commitments is that they are personal, as well as about stuff more relevant to us as individuals, so it's more meaningful cos just the ten commandments by themselves can be put into different contexts.

like "You shall have no other gods before me". can mean placing computer games or pop idols before God, and may not exactly referring to the idols of other religions. so the idea is to set commitments that are do-able, will be relevant to our own lives and a challenge to keep.

and afterwards, we were giving craft materials and a mirror. we have to use the mirror and our ten commitments to create something that we'd look at often to remind ourselves of the commitments we are making.

i guess that's all. remember to pray for youth camp, those having exams, people on missions, and crossing the line in '08!

Commandment 5 -honouring your parents

2007-11-12T13:07:00.000+08:00

Hallo guys,

I published a post in July (25th July) on the above topic.

Since we are on the topic of the 10 commandments, now is a good time to have a read on that! I suspect this particular commandment is pretty difficult to put into practice!

Prayerfully,
Jere

WKRZ on the 11th

2007-11-12T10:12:00.000+08:00

hey! i'm back after so so so so long. haha. okay maybe not so long.
anway, today we continued with the ten commandments.
first, auggie led us in a time of worship with one song: Jesus, lover of my soul.

then Jere showed us a white board which was completely white except for one dot. okay. EVERYONE thought it was a dot right?? haha. almost everyone noticed the dot instead of the huge white board. some even said that the small little tinny whinny dot was more obvious than the white board itself.
actually, Jere wrote the word sin on the white board to illustrate that even a small sin was very obvious.

later, we broke up into smaller groups to discuss about the ten commandments, what they mean to us and what were some of our experiences with regards to breaking the ten commandments. i mean most of us break the commandments sometimes. don't we?

haha. okay. so we broke up into three groups, namely, the ZHA BO MEN (as suggested by Vanessa, as usual. haha.), Auggie's group and Jere's group. we went into different rooms and had our disscussion.

the girls discussed quite a lot of issues and our experiences with regards to breaking the ten commandments. it started off with the reading some verses, namely,

Matthew 5:22 - under commandment six
Psalm 119:9 - under commandment seven
Matthew 6:20-21 - under commandment ten

which were on the piece of paper, then we went on to the disscussion which included toothburshes (laughs) and sibling rivalry between you-know-who. haha. we almost finished the whole list, when the guys came back in. then we realised that they didn't finish the list either. they only did like FOUR! haha. so we, ZHA BO MEN are the faster species. :D

the dicussion showed us that we should use these rules as a guildline and change ourselves so that we should not break most of the rules. it also allowed us to reflect what we have done and make sure that we learn from our mistakes. through the discussion, we were able to learn from each other's mistakes. :D

that's all i guess. so i'm done. remember to pray for those who are still having their exams. :D

2007-11-04T16:05:00.000+08:00

hahaha im back! after quite a long time eh?

yeah today we had our first wkrz after the month-long break. we were doing the ten commandments today as well as for the next three weeks (i think).
so today was kinda an overview thing:D

first off, jere led us in this time of worship, followed by a game.
hahaha yeah actually we all played the game before but we still played it.
aiya fun mah.
the objective of the game was to pass the ball in sequence in the fastest time possible.
(sounds familiar?)
yeah we got like 2.62seconds. right? i think so.
so anyway, the lesson learnt was 'teamwork', 'communication', 'method'
there's actually more but i cant remember.
the main point was METHOD.

next, jere then passed each of us a piece of paper with the ten commandments printed on it.
we were supposed to jot down whethere we've been following them, or not.
after that we then rated ourselves on a scale off one to ten for each of the commandments&added up the score.

even though we dont get into heaven based on the score we gave ourselves,
(cause JESUS saved us)
its still important for us to obey the commandments cause its like our guideline, telling us what is right/wrong.
so the ten commandments are still important!

yeah okay im done.
remember to continue praying for those who still have exams!

Kite Flying at Marina!

2007-10-17T14:12:00.000+08:00

Hey peeps, van the man is back! Haha jk jk though i know i can be a she male at times.. Hehe..

Anyway, guess where we (Bi Yu, John, Auggie and I) went last Sunday? Sentosa? Town? Nope it's neither of those places. We went kite flying at Marina! Wootz! =)

And eh.. Actually we did go to town but only for lunch at Food Republic and it's really such a small world man! When we are just about to leave Food Republic, we not only bumped into Esther and Joylynn but also their families and Aunty Hannah and Uncle Thiam Chong. Wah! It was just like a big family eating togther. Thinking of it, it kinda reminds me of reunion dinner man. Haha.. ok ok i know i am thinking too much again.

It didnt take us long before we reach Marina Bay and we were just thankful for the good weather - sunny but windy. Indeed, the wind helped us alot in flying our kites but it was real hard work just pulling and releasing the kite man. Hehe.. And I guess God also knew i was struggling and sent me an angel to help me. There was this super enthu uncle who couldnt wait to see my kite flying high up in the sky that he gave me so many tips and even helped me with flying the kite. He was just like my Shi Fu. Haha.. But i guess i disappoint him in the end because shortly after he left, my string broke and the kite flew into some construction site. So sad! Just when i thought i was kiteless, my angel came back to my rescue again! He gave us a free kite! Haha.. I couldn't have thank him enough.

As for the rest, Auggie's kite got torn and fish's kite was still flying steadily. John was the champion man! His kite flew high into the sky for hours!

It was only around 5+pm that we stopped flying our kites and then, it was chill out time! It was just so cool to sit down on the grass patch taking non-stop pics of ourselves, chit-chatting and also enjoying God's creations - the beautiful blue sky, the big white clouds and the tall skyscrapers. Shall show you guys the pics! hehe..

Nice scenary with special effect..

Our pinky kites..

My kite and Fish..

Watch out for Spider John! Lol..

May the force be with you.. Haha..

Sorry Auggie if your pics are not here cox we only took pics after you left. Hehe.. Anyway, it was an enjoyable time for all of us and won't you agree that we had good fellowship together!

In the midst of all the fun times, lets also continue to pray for brother John who has just entered the army. Got a call from him that he is mentally stressed and it's hard to follow the marching steps. Hehe.. Also, lets not forget Samuel who is in OCS (Officer Cadet School), it must be tough for him as well. Lastly, pray for those having their major exams too! =)

Youth Mentors & Leaders Retreat

2007-10-01T14:01:00.000+08:00

Hey Peeps! Blogger chic Van is back again! Voom voom.. Hehe..

Anyway, hope you guys had had a good week just like the Youth Mentors and leaders did while we had our retreat. And guess we went? We had our retreat at Mount Emily! Sounds familiar? Ok ok, if you think it's overseas then you're wrong man. It's actually in Singapore and it was the place where the Singapore idols stayed! Haha surprised right.. I didn't know where it was too at first but it was just such a cool backpackers inn. It had a cool rooftop view, cool chill out area and cool bedroom. Everthing was cool, cool, cool man! Haha..

Us hanging out at the rooftop

Informal shot

What a picturesque view from Mount Emily!

In the midst of all the fun, of course we also had to get down into some serious business. We had short worship sessions and it is something that i enjoyed doing as i see the youth leaders and mentors singing praises and glory to God. Talking about worship, heard of the song ' I could sing of your mountains forever'? Well, it doesnt exist at all but i actually requested for that song instead of 'I could sing of your love forever'! Haha.. I'm just so blur man! Bi Yu will upload the video of me making that mistake on this blog, so check it out. You guys will definately laugh your hearts out! Lol.. Besides worshipping God, we also had a review of 2007 and looked into going beyond 2008. All in all, it was a fruitful session as you see God's people (us) coming togther to brainstorm, plan, pray and ponder on the different articles that were provided to us.

There was also a good time of fellowship as we eat together and our meals were always so yummilicious man! Breakfast was provided by the inn and it was even in buffet style. For one of the days, we went to Banana leaf Apolo for lunch. Nice fishhead curry they serve there! As for dinner, we had Pizza Hut delivery and it was so romantic to eat at the rooftop. One can get a scenic view of all the nightlights, tall buildings and even the DHL hotair balloon from the rooftop! Even after dinner, we went for supper at the all famous Rochor beancurd stall. I seriously think all the Youth Leaders are going to put on weight man! haha..

Pizza eating time!

So hungry that the box was soon empty

Time for supper at the Rochor beancurd stall

Waiting for our supper!

By the way, what do you get when you put all the Youth Leaders together? A bunch of crazy people! Haha.. Don't believe? Then you should take a look at our pictures below! Haha..

Auggie's throat! Ahhh...

What hairy nostrils Auggie has! Lol..

Eeee.. So act cute la! Haha jk jk..

Emo John with his guitar

Bi yu, don't act shy leh! Hehe..

Crazy group pic!

Anyway, that's all folks. Cya guys on Sunday! At the same time, for those who are having their exams, do feel free to sms Yi Guang or any of the Youth Leaders if you need prayers. We can be your prayer warriors! =)

LKBC BBQ Fiesta and Alethea's 1 Month

2007-09-10T23:34:00.000+08:00

Hey LK Youths, watz up? The ceiling! Haha juz kidding juz kidding.. I know it's lame. Anyway, Vanessa is back again to make some noise!

Peeps I gotta tell you that last weekend was just happening Man! On Saturday, there was a LKBC BBQ Fiesta at East Coast Park and there was not only good food but also lots of fun and games. And guys It's a privilege to be a youth as we do not have to cook! Wootz.. Thanks to all the aunties and uncles that were so hospitable to us and kept giving us food =) but again, there is no such thing as a free lunch and we had to help organise games. So to all the youths that has provided any help on the day of the BBQ, thanks a million! However, most importantly, thank God for the good weather and a good time of fellowship that we had had with each other.

To me, although it's not the first time the church had gone out together for such an event, it's still encouraging to see the different cell groups hanging out with each other and members bringing friends or relatives. I was also glad to see Joshua Wee joining us for the BBQ and also attending church on Sunday. Praise the Lord for his return! I continue looking forward to more future church outings and family day and even better still, have the youths to organise one! Hehe..

Food! Food! Glorious Food!

Yum.. Yum.. Yummy!

Interaction time

Can you spot the odd one out?

That's not all i gotta blog.. Congrats Wei Lim and Michelle on the arrival of their daughter, Alethea Lai =) Just yesterday, we celebrated Alethea's 1 month at Wei lim's house and she's so cute! She has huge eyes, rosy cheeks, silky black hair and....... Ok ok i will stop describing and just show you guys her pic. Haha..

Michelle and Alethea

Youths with Wei Lim and Family

Adults who were there

Pastor saying a prayer for Alethea

That's all peeps. Cheerios! =)

For more pics & videos, check out our gallery => www.lkyouths.com/gallery

Our GOD SAVES!!!

2007-08-29T17:12:00.000+08:00

Yo!

I'm on a roll ... here's another new song. It's new from Paul Baloche, titled Our God Saves! (new album!) When I first heard it, my heart was racing with great affirmation for the message that this song is communicating.

Here're the lyrics:

Verse:
In the name of the Father,
In the name of the Son,
In the name of the Spirit,
Lord we come.

We're gathered together
To lift up Your Name
To call on our Saviour
To fall on Your grace

Pre-Chorus
Hear the joyful sound of our offering
As your saints bow down
as your people sing
We will rise with You
Lifted on Your wings
And the world will see that

Chorus
Our God Saves
Our God Saves
There is hope in Your Name

Back to Verse

Chorus
Our God Saves
Our God Saves
There is hope in Your Name
Mourning turns to songs of praise
Our God Saves
Our God Saves

Isn't it true? Perhaps we've grown up being taught about God's salvation and the message has been "over-preached" but to be reminded of it's reality that OUR GOD REALLY SAVES ... wow!!! In the midst of all the chaos, meaningless fighting and killings, this is one Truth, echoed through the Old testament to the New:

"And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls." Joel 2:32

Amen!!!

Listen to Paul Baloche share the message behind the song:

Here's the link to listen to the song:

http://media.gospelcom.net/baloche/OurGodSaves.mp3

Here's the music sheet:

http://www.leadworship.com/resources/pdf/leadsheets/OurGodSaves_LS.pdf

Yg

Almighty God!

2007-08-28T13:20:00.000+08:00

Hi!

Aiya ... from the Tags asking for someone to blog .... I better start the ball rolling. Would like to share a new song with you. It's written by Tim Hughes, titled Almighty God. I chanced upon it while checking New Song Cafe @ worshiptogether.com .

Here're the lyrics to the song:

Verse1
The rising Sun that fills the sky
The starry host that lights the night
Reflecting Your glory

The mountain heights, forever stand
The rain that falls to soak the land
Respond to Your glory

Chorus:
Almighty God, in every way
You are above and beyond understanding
If we did not praise, the rocks would cry out
Glorious God, high above understanding yeah

Verse2
The vast expanse of earth and sea
Held by You in harmony
Speaks of Your glory

All You’ve made, since time began
Life itself; Your perfect plan
And it’s all for Your glory

Bridge
Cre-a-tion joins as one to sing
“Glorious God.”
So far above all earthly things

I was worshipping God just from reading the words. Tim Hughes wrote this song while on a 2-month Sabbathical in Sydney. Reminded me to marvel @ God's almighty-ness. For those of us going through a period of stress and anxiety due to the examinations, be reminded that God is way way way bigger than all that this world can throw @ us. Amen?

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Lets go & shine ...

Here's the link if you wanna hear Tim presenting the song. (link expires by 1st Sep)

http://www.worshiptogether.com/newsongcafe/index.aspx

Yg

2007-08-05T16:41:00.000+08:00

hello everyone:D
for a change i wont blog about youth today.
i'll blog about the worship.
cause to me todays worship was really...
wow.

i mean those who were there with me can probably understand why i feel this way.
to see our youth chairman (auggie) feel so passionately for the church.
and hey, i think we all know how he feels right.
cause most of us grew up in this church after all:D

and during this worship, something came over me.
okay as you probably notice, i usually dont sing when im playing the keys.
cause i think its difficult to concentrate.
but today, i felt compelled to.
so i sang with all my heart.
and i felt good:D

so thats why worship was so wow-erful today.

during youth we had an overview of the book acts.
learnt about its history, its story, etc...
rather interesting book i must say:D

Good Fellowship! =)

2007-08-02T01:01:00.000+08:00

Hey peeps, how are you guys? I hope at least last week went well for you as I had a really good weekend. You know fellowship doesn’t have to be within a church compound neither does it has to fall on a Sunday. Even having supper with a few of your friends is considered fellowship and that’s just what John, Bi Yu and I did. We went to Geylang for supper and man! I didn’t know they had so much good food there! Haha.. It was basically like a food heaven and we had the famous Beef Kuay Teow, as well as, Soya bean milk with you tiao. Yum yum! =) Though it was only the 3 of us, there was a good time of sharing and it is not the number of people that matters but the relationship among fellow sisters and brothers in Christ being built.

Feed me! Feed me!

Famous beef kway teow

Dou Jiang you tiao

Soon, it was the Sunday again! Wootz! Of cox I was looking forward going to church but at the same time, it’s also Sentosa time. Although you guys didn’t join the usual gang (Spencer, Auggie, Xin Yi, John, Bi Yu and I), there can always be another time but seriously you guys really miss out on the fun man! Haha.. We sat the Luge ride and once is really never enough. The Luge ride is something like a Go-cart ride but just that there isn’t any motor controlling it and you would have to take a skyride all the way up before coming down with your Luge. Well, you will get what I mean when I show you the pics.. Haha..

The luge is hanging below Aug & Xin Yi. Can you see it?

Fish and I on the Skyride

Eh.. Aren't those helmets to be worn on ur heads? Haha..

Again, we went to the beach and I think I am addicted to volleyball! Lol.. Attained lots of bruises though but it was just fun hitting the ball and keep it up in the air. Edwin and family also came to join us and Ethan is so CUTE!! He called me “Yi Yi” – meaning auntie but oh well, I admit I do look like an auntie. Haha.. But not only that, he knows the names of the different planes, which I don’t even know (Gosh, he made me feel like a bimbo.. Lol..) and he even fed us potato chips.

Settling down at the beach

Happy family!

We ended the day after dinner and though we all felt tired, we all had a great time together. Most importantly, we get to know each other better. Guys, you can always join us for such outings. In fact, there will be more of such outings being organized. Our next plan is to go for Standard Charted 10km run! YMs and youths, if you’re interested just let us know! We can sign up and train together! Wootz! Haha..

Peace Out and tc peeps!

Vanessa =)

2007-07-31T20:12:00.000+08:00

hello everyone!
sorry i realised that this is a bit late
but better late than never right!

this sunday we had an overall summary of what we've been covering so far.
first weilim gave us a short recap on what we've been doing.
followed by that we had some 'project' to do.
we were divided into the groups that we were assigned to the past week, and we had to cut up newspaper articles which is related to the kingdom of God:D
and stick it on mahjong paper.
quite a tough one, initially my group had no idea what to do.
but i suppose all of us soon got the hang of it and we manged to cover up the whole mahjong paper.
-pats on the back.
hahaha anyway we had to try to decipher what the other group was trying to tell us with the pictures.
i must say that both groups were rather close to guessing:D
and then the group members would then present on their own group's work.
the whole thing was judged by uncle chee weng, who declared it
...
A TIE!
so congratulations to both groups:D
and according to uncle chee weng, the key word he was looking for was transform.
cause people in the kingdom of God have transformed lives!

Greed and envy

2007-07-31T17:41:00.000+08:00

Hi dear ones,

I must say this year's Love Singapore booklet has given me much food for thought. It's hits the mark several times for me. Its not too late for you to start reading along, too. If you do not have the booklet, you can go to the website and read online at http://www.lovesingapore.org.sg/

The first 4 weeks have dealt with the 10 commandments and how we have done in obeying them. This is taken from the 24th July entry, commandmant no. 10 - Do not covet. I thought it particularly important because the environment around us so easily and subtlely influences the way we think and tells us what we want. How do we guard against this? I hope you will take some time to reflect on this.

God bless,

Jere

Exodus 20
17 “You shall not covet
your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet
your neighbor’s wife,
or his manservant or
maidservant, his ox or
donkey, or anything
that belongs to your
neighbor.”

James 4
1 What causes fights and
quarrels among you?
Don’t they come from
your desires that battle
within you? 2 You want
something but don’t get
it. You kill and covet, but
you cannot have what
you want. You quarrel
and fight. You do not
have, because you do
not ask God. 3 When you
ask, you do not receive,
because you ask with
wrong motives, that you
may spend what you get
on your pleasures.

Matthew 13
22The one who received
the seed that fell among
the thorns is the man
who hears the word, but
the worries of this life
and the deceitfulness of
wealth choke it, making
it unfruitful.

Ephesians 5
5For this you know
with certainty, that no
immoral or impure
person or covetous
man, who is an idolater,
has an inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and
God. [NASB]

Colossians 3
5…Don’t be greedy, for
a greedy person is an
idolater, worshiping the
things of this world. 6
6Because of these sins,
the anger of God is
coming. [NASB]

It’s what keeps the advertising industry afloat.

It’s the force that compels you to upgrade endlessly — from
buying the latest mobile phones, to the quest for a more
exclusive address. Covetousness lusts after what others
have. Covetousness is hard to satisfy and even harder to
tame.

Covetousness truly sets in motion a vicious cycle. James
says that covetousness springs from evil desires within.
There is literally a war deep inside us, as the desire to
possess more for self drowns out the voice of God. And this
civil war of the soul manifests itself as competition, envy,
jealousy, tearing apart relationships.

Now of course, we can simply go to God and ask for what
we want. But deep inside, you know that we are hankering
after things that are not right. Our own greed convicts us.
And so we have no choice but to pursue those carnal wants
outside of God’s provision; which in turn exposes us to more
worldly influences.

So what is the root of covetousness?
Simply this: Selfishness. A heart seeking selfish gain.
An obsession for more than is legitimate or needful.
Covetousness often starts as discontent. We are ungrateful
for what we’re already blessed with. We are unhappy with
our current lifestyle. We crave for what others have.
What are the consequences of covetousness? We have
previously reflected on the parable of the sower.

A seed cannot grow on a stone. Similarly, a seed cannot
grow among thorns. And Jesus warns that the deceitfulness
of riches is like thorns that will choke the work of God in
your life. Thorns will compete with the sapling for air, water,
sunlight, eventually killing the plant.

Q: Are you discontented? Do you envy others and often wish
you have what they have? Are you a compulsive shopper,
always grabbing and getting for self rather than giving to
others? Are you jealous when others get a pay raise or a
promotion? Henry Ward Beecher says: In this world, it is not what we take up, but what we give up that makes us rich. Cry out to God for deliverance from covetousness which is idolatry! [EPHESIANS 5:5, COLOSSIANS 3:5]. Break the deception. Stop the downward spiral of this vicious cycle today.

His Word is Life. Pray the Word:

Hebrews 13: 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money
and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Luke 12: 15Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds
of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of
his possessions.

Matthew 6: 20But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where
thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.

Covetousness is the basic reason for the existence of
glitzy gambling resorts the world over. In the authority of
Jesus’ name, war against covetousness [which is idolatry]
here in Singapore. Cry out to God to save our land. Plead:
in wrath, remember mercy. [HABAKKUK 3:2]

Covetousness is not limited to material things. It could
be spiritual — such as when we covet the “magic touch”
of a specially gifted church volunteer; or wish we had the
chemistry and favour that a new church staff enjoys with
top leadership. Repent now before the spirit of competition
pollutes you and your work environment.

Honour Your Parents

2007-07-25T12:03:00.000+08:00

Hi guys!

Thought I would share this with you. Its a devotion taken from the Love Singapore booklet (40 days of devotions) which the church gave out a few weeks ago. Yesterday I was reading the booklet in the bus and I saw another man reading the book too! That was cool! This year I understand they had printed 55,000 copies. Imagine 55,000 Singaporeans praying together for the country, for the leaders, for loved ones, for themselves - we will surely see a changed nation... Hope that you will join in, too!

15th July
Exodus 20:12
12 “Honor your father and
your mother, so that you
may live long in the land
the LORD your God is
giving you.

Proverbs 20:20
If a man curses his father
or mother, his lamp will
be snuffed out in pitch
darkness.

Ephesians 6
1Children, obey your
parents in the Lord, for
this is right. 2“Honour
your father and mother”
— which is the first
commandment with
a promise — 3“that
it may go well with
you and that you may
enjoy long life on the
earth.” 4Fathers, do
not exasperate your
children; instead, bring
them up in the training
and instruction of the
Lord.

Often, it is our parents who know us most intimately.
They see us just as we are, warts and all. We tend to be
more guarded in public, but we show our real selves at
home. Little wonder then, that our relationships with our
family members are most prone to conflict and strain.
Against this backdrop, God commands that we honour
our parents. While we too have personal experience of
their bad tempers and short fuses, yet God says that all
that is irrelevant. The commandment does not come with
a condition. It does not say — honour your parents if they
have been kind, or good to you. We are simply called to
honour them, never mind what they may have or have not
done for us.

Why does God place such a high premium on a right
relationship with our parents? Perhaps it is because they
are the first forms of authority we come under in our life. If
we rebel against our parents from our youth, chances are
we will also rebel against other authority figures that God
will place over us in our adult life.

So by failing to honour the very people who gave us life,
more likely than not, all other relationships will go awry. This is also the only commandment that comes with a promise. Knowing how to honour the ones who gave you life sets you up for longevity of life and relationships with others. To honour is to ascribe value. To honour someone is to say, you are important to me, you have great worth in my eyes. What you say and how you feel matters to me. You express honour not just in words, but also in action.

Similarly, there are many ways to dishonour someone — through your body language, the way you talk to them, the way you talk about them.

Reflect

Reflect on your relationship with your parents. Have you dishonoured them in any way? Are you accessible to them? How often do they hear from you? Do you care, do you call home when they fall sick? Do you celebrate special days with them? Are they among your low-priority-person list? Do you see them as a social burden, a financial liability? Imagine your own children treating you that same way in your old age. Turn to God. Repent. Commit to change. Jot down the areas you need to act on. Pray over each item. Share with a trusted friend who will hold you accountable to your commitment.

Perhaps your parents have been abusive. You are a wounded soul and you find it extremely difficult to honour them. In fact, you hate them. Today, submit this painful issue to the Lord. Turn to Him for healing. Obey His word: love, forgive. Pray for your abusive parents now. Repent of all vengeful attitudes toward them. Guard against despising them as persons. Rather, go by the opposite spirit — treat them with courtesy and respect. Your godly behaviour might just melt their hearts and turn them around — to God!

Majesty ... Endlessly

2007-07-23T11:19:00.000+08:00

Hi!!

Laid off blogging "new songs" for quite some time. Well, in this edition, I'm introducing another songs written by Martin Smith/Stu G, Delirious. It's not a new song but when John came up to me with song sheets to "Majesty", it kinda triggered this sharing.

When I first heard "Majesty", it wasn't the melody that first caught my attention but the lyrics. These are words penned down by someone who knows/relates to the great price his salvation was ransomed by God and how in response to His Majesty, we live aligning our desires to that of God.

Verse1
Here I am humbled by your Majesty
Covered by your grace so free
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man
Covered by the blood of the Lamb

Pre-Chorus:
Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Chorus:
Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed, but alive in your hands
Majesty, Majesty
Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your Majesty

Verse 2
Here I am humbled by the love that you give
Forgiven so that I can forgive
Here I stand, knowing that I'm your desire
Sanctified by glory and fire

Pre-Chorus:
Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Chorus

------------------------------------------------------------

In tandem, I'll share another song which to me is a follow-up (a response) to having sung Majesty. It's titled Endlessly, written by Jon Egan, Desperation Band. Once again, it's the lyrics that caught my attention. It sings like a prayer from my heart and I hope it will be so with you. Analogy: If you have a treasure box in your heart? what will it contain? Your favourite viedo game? Your career? Your girlfriend/boyfriend? Or will Jesus fill up the whole box?

Lets read through the lyrics ... and dun get carried away with the "performance". : )

Verse
Savior of my soul
Lover of my life
I love you endlessly
Passion of my heart
Everything you are
I love you endlessly

Pre chorus
You loved me before I knew of You
You loved me now I give it back to You

Chorus
With Your Majesty here
I fall to my knees
I love You endlessly
With the Beauty of Your Son
I find myself undone
I love You endlessly

Outro
Endlessly, I love You

Delirious - Majesty

And ... for anyone who likes to play the song ....

Desperation Band - Endlessly
Worship Team - observe the build-up of the introduction

Yg

2007-07-22T23:19:00.000+08:00

Hey peeps! It's me, vanessa again! By the way, thanks to all those who cheered loudly during the Sports Day and maybe who knows one day we can have our own LK cheering squad called 'Magnum Force'? Haha.. Just kidding =)

Anyway, thank God for the good weather today. The YA (Young Adults) and I went to Sentosa after church and it was really a good time of fellowship. People who went include Bi Yu, John, Spencer, Xin Yi, Auggie and me.

We headed to Vivocity for lunch and though it was just a simple meal, it really open us up to talk to each other and to even share about some things in life. Next, we headed for Sentosa by taking the Sentosa Express and it was so exciting since it was my first time taking it. However, to my disappointment, it was super slow and the view was not that nice at all. So people if you want to take the Sentosa Express, please do not get overly excited like me. Hehe.. The moment we got off the Sentosa Express, the beach was a just die die place to go. And don't worry peeps, it is not because of all the bikini babes or hot hunks but because it was FREE and we wanted to have a sun tan and to unwind also. For hours, we played volleyball, ultimate frisby and soccer. It was really fun man and i was really surprised that a bimbo like me can play soccer too! wootz! haha..

Today's wheather was just hot, hot, hot but where's the sun man? I was so sad as i was the same old fair Vanessa while the rest looked slightly roasted by the sun. Guess i can be the next ambassador for SK II or Nivea Whitening lotion? haha jk jk..

In the end, we didn't stay for dinner but it was a good time chilling out with each other and i'm just glad that Spencer came today. Seriously, i am not close to Spencer but this outing has indeed allowed me to know my brother in christ better. I really do look forward to more of such fellowship outings and don't worry peeps if you miss out on today cox we will be going down again next Sunday! Wootz! Just let us know if you wanna come. Anyway, below are some pictures that we have taken today..

Peace out peeps!
Vanessa =)

Pretty Babes

More Pretty Babes

Why only Spencer is smiling?

Super Emo Guys

Picture Perfect!

Baptist Family Day 2007

2007-07-21T21:04:00.000+08:00

hello everyone:D
its the baptist convention's first combined baptist family day!
cheers for all who were there.
it was kinda fun wasnt it?

reached toa payoh stadium at around 745 i think.
i thought i was early but turns out there were people who were earlier.
and esther managed to make it!

anyway the family day thing started off with the introduction (not really. its more like reading of the names) of each church, then the worship, followed by the torchbearers (auggie represented our church), then the official opening of the family day convention by the guest of honour.

the games started after that.
it was like kids games 1, the adult games 1...
you get the idea.
orange team (our church plus redeemer baptist and eternal life) was leading from the very start:D
and thanks to all the young kids who took part in almost every single one of the kids games.
it was tiring yeah.

meanwhile, all the youths (who were only taking part in one of the last events) formed a cheerleading squad led by...
who else?
vanessa of course!
and i think we all screamed until our throats hurt.
but our efforts paid off didnt it?

there was a bit of rain after the adult's fifth game, but thank God it cleared up soon after.
and the relayers had to run on a wet track but that didnt stop them either.
yay orange!

the events ended earlier than expected, so we had an impromptu pastor's race!
it was rather entertaining to watch, looking at all the pastors going around walking like donald duck:D
hahahah.

then the closing prayer, then home.

LKBC Cheer Squad!

Baptist Wave!

Orange Team Relay Team (Youths)

Ready for solid food ....

2007-07-20T23:39:00.000+08:00

Hey Everyone!!

It's been a llllllooooonnnnnggggg time since I blogged.

Guess what ... the few paragraphs below have been kept in the "draft" since 6 months ago!!! Yes!! I've left this blog entry unfinished .... I first wrote this after the Youth Sunday in July. But as I read through it now, I begin to see God @ work amongst LKYouths since then!! Isn't this kool?!? I've left the title unchanged. Check it out ....

----------entry on 10/07/2007--------------------

"But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Hebrews 5:14

Yo LKYouths! WUZ UPPP!

It's been sometime since I shared on the Youth Ministry and I think it's about time I drop a few liners as a review of all that's happened in the 1st half of 2007 and where I believe the Lord is leading us to.

In Oct 2006, the Mentors and Youth Leaders huddled together to pen down their dreams for the youth ministry. These are displayed in the form of a mahjong paper @ the noticeboard. Some of these dreams are:

1. Authentic Youth Ministry

2. Passionate Youth Leaders

3. Youths that cannot stop hanging out with one another

----------------------end of entry ----------------

Guess wat .... I believe these dreams have already been fulfilled!!! Hallelujah!!!

On a serious note ....

Year 2007 was very eventful especially the month of Dec. It's seemed like God had been building ... building ... building us up to culminate in the last month of 2007. However, I'm not referring to events and we've had a fair bunch of them starting with

(i) Youth Camp

**CROSSING the LINE**

(ii) Isaan Mission Trip

(iii) Xmas Party

ending with ...

(iv) Thanksgiving Dinner

*whew*

I'm referring to IDENTITY. God is building up a Youth Culture within LK, "to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:14

1. Youths that desire real relationships with God. Not satisfied with "ok lor". Not satisfied with "that's what my parents/pastor/mentors say". Not satisfied with "this is what the world is telling me".... but desire an intensely personal relationship with God!

Convince yourselves that God is .... God! Strip away the packages that we've "boxed" HIM in. If God is God, we cannot begin to imagine how BIG HE really is.

To whom, then, will you compare God?

What image will you compare him to? Isaiah 40:18

Youths that are not satisfied with "lukewarm". Youths that sing "my Redeemer lives" because we believe it is so and not because of its pop tune/beat.

2. Youths that desire real relationship with each other. No more just talk about "ehh ... what game are you playing on PSP ehhh" or "what's that kool riff you're playing". Lets get real. Remember our first video session of Fuel2, when asked by the teacher "so what do you believe" there was this guy in the drama who answered, " Well, nobody talk about such stuff!!"

Well .... we do talk about such stuff because these stuff really matters. This is what church is about ... not the white walls, not the carpet flooring, not the air-condition. Just plain & simple ..... doing life together .... the good, the bad & the ugly.

You know what guyz/gals .... check out Jesus' comments on the 2 points above:

28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

"1. Youths that desire real relationships with God" : Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

"2. Youths that desire real relationship with each other.": Love your neighour as yourself

I think we're ready for "solid food".

So what's installed for yr 2008?

I dunno ... but I cannot wait to find out : )

Hang on for the ride .... and in all that we do, lets keep it real ....

For it's Christ we serve,

Yiguang

Arrival of Charis & Eleos Han : ))

2007-07-16T16:24:00.000+08:00

Hi Everyone!!

It's already been 1 week since the arrival of Baby Charis and Eleos. *wow!* Seems like time have somewhat slowed down with the flurry of activities that ensued from the point Grace & I admitted into hospital on the midnight of 9th July (0000hrs).

Labour was not brought on naturally but induced because the doctor has assessed that the water-level in the protective cover is drawing thin. Hence, with 2 babys in the womb and potentially added complications, it'll be prudent to induce.

Grace spent the next 12 hours in the labour ward awaiting the cervix to dilate. With each hour, as the period between each contraction become shorter. the intensity becomes more heightened as well. Mmmm ... so ... what's the husband's role in all this? Other than watching CNN on the tele (hee ... just joking). I became the instant water-boy/masseuse/cheer-leader/encourager all @ once.

I busy myself with preparing hot Milo for Grace to sip in between contractions. I also became well-known for my dashes to the microwave oven where I heat up a "rice" sock (yes ... literally means, a sock filled with rice). To-be fathers take note! This rice-sock is a real comfort for mothers enduring contractions because it becames an instant pain reliever/ muscle relaxant when you rub against the lower back. Best thing ... the heat retains in the sock for at least 10 mins.

The pains from the contractions became more excruciating. Grace is really a TROOPER! She endured through them all .... and she is one who fears needles!! She endured each contraction, one @ a time without any anathesia. *whew* As a husband on the sideline. it can be heart-renching to see your wife suffering.

**fast forward** It's 11 am and the 2nd stage of labour (a.k.a the pushing) begins. Charis emerged pretty easily but nothing quite prepares me for what happens next ... .

Eleos was not positioned head-down. We've known this fact months ahead during the scans but we were quietly hoping that he will turn. A couple of days before the delivery date, Grace and I deliberated our options. C-section will be the safer option ( a natural option of most docs) ... well ... the only other is try a normal delivery and turn Eleos in the womb when Charis is out. We chose the latter.

Hence Dr Choo (our doc!) tried to turn Eleos but to no avail as his butt is already engaged (i.e. breech). We decided to give breech delivery a go. Grace pushed hard ... but we're presented with another problem. Eleos hands were emerging with his buttocks. Such presentation is potentially dangerous for the baby. By this time, the alternative of C-section is being explored & I begin to see the nurses going about a flurry of activities. Through all this, Grace was still enduring the contraction and upon hearing that she had to undergo a C-section, she really burst out in tears as she cried out to God for help.

What happened next is nothing short of a miracle. With the contractions in such close intervals, Grace had the compulsion to push. Eleos was already coming out despite all efforts by Grace to hold him in. Dr Choo then attempted to push his little hand back and pull out his legs. The pain that Grace was going through was really excruciating. I could do nothing but hug her tightly and reassure her. Tears welled up in my eyes .... I did not know if Eleos is going to make it .... "Grace, give a hard push!" Upon hearing that, Grace gave all she could and Eleos tiny legs -> buttocks -> body -> finally his head emerged!! The next few seconds moved in slow motion as I observed that Eleos flopped backwards from the doc's arm. "Oh God ... is he going to make it?" After the nurses drained the fluid from his mouth, then came the most wonderful sound ... yeeeaaaaay ...... Eleos let out a loud cry!!!! Hallelujah!!!! He's alive! He's ok!!! Grace & I just hugged each other, thanking God for His divine hand @ work, admist our tears of joy.

Through out the pregnancy & delivery, Grace did really good. They should've have renamed the movie "G.I. Grace" instead of "G.I Jane"

Dearie, you are great!!

Grace & I have always believed that whatever good work God has started, He will provide the means to see to it's completion. God has His purposes for Charis & Eleos and it's a priviledge to be used by God to nurture them to follow God's call.

Thank you for all your Prayers (couldn't have gone through without them), well-wishers & gifts. Grace & I continue to covet your prayers as these early weeks will be the most challenging ones. Right now ...the sheer ecstasy has overcome the exhaustion of care-giving.

Praise the Lord ... for His Love endureth forever.

Btw, Charis means "grace" while Eleos means "mercy". Our little Boy (20mths old) Shalom means "peace". He has been pretty protective over the babies but he has already shown some signs of insecurity due to the shorter time Grace & I get to spend with him.

This is a simple prayer for our little household:

"May the grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord be with us through the days ahead." Amen.

Berkelah Fall!!!

2007-07-10T23:29:00.000+08:00

hey guys...haha...haben been blogging for a long long time...oki...shall blog about the Berkelah Trip which was on the 29th June to 1st July...it was a time of experiencing God..and a time to admire His creation...all the wonderful sceneries..the majestic waterfall...of cos not forgetting the GREAT COMPANY!!!haha...it was a good time of fellowshipping together...mayb some photos 1st...

Finally we're here!!!

waiting for the lorry to fetch us in tog we all our barang barang

the only 2 ladies in the team...*cool*

and the youngest in the team....RYAN!!!

Here's the lorry...weee...(r e guys trying to act man up there??hmm)

our medic...(look at the BIG plastic bag of medical supply!!!)
with the distorted bag...hahaha...
e river...not very clear here...wait till we get to e top!!!
took some pics along e way up...while bashing thru...haha
mid-way thru...cool rite??!!the waterfall and this is jus a mini one...

Guess who's this...so emo manz...its....JUSTIN!!!

look so peaceful la...miss Berkelah manz...

& finally we've reached the top!!!cool rite...the 10 storey waterfall!!

View from the top....

Another pic of the waterfall...e water is super cold la...

oki...so that's all for pics...or shld i say that's all i took...I'll upload e rest when i got it from e rest...haha...so on sat we had a short worship lead by Auggie and John with the small little guitar...really very mini...and after which Edwin shared a short devotion about God's creation...like how great the force of the water is....and so in my mind i was thinking...yea..how great the force of nature...juz think of the Tsunami that hit Thailand, India so many other parts of Asia...the force of it was so great...and come to think of God's strength and power would be 100 times or even much much more greater than that of the waterfall and even more so for the tsunami...but many a times we still dun trust in Him thinking that we can do beta or that wat we choose would be beta or more beneficial to us...like sheeps trying to look for greener pasture...

I do hv to admit that many a times i was trying to look for my greener pasture thinking that with my own strength i can do much with...choosing to trust my own strength rather then trusting in God...how foolish is that when we have a loving Father in heaven who love us so much and have so graciously forgiven us..who keeps pursuing us back to Himself even thou we r so unworthy...and yet so many times I've still my doubt and still fail to trust in Him...God pls forgive me...

I was brought to this 2 verses:

A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

"Instead you ought to say,"If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

James 4:15

so to me these 2 verses is like no matter how many greener pasture i try to find or how much i try to plan for my future...God is still the one in charge and in control...directing my steps...guiding me thru my life step by step so I shld trust in Him cos He is such a mighty and awesome God...the 1 TRUE, LIVING GOD who is in control and always watching over you!!!Praise The Lord!!!

So are u ready to place ur trust in God??The almighty and powerful God who is in control...are u ready to submit to Him and let him take control and let His will be done in your life?

2007-07-09T20:48:00.000+08:00

Heya guys
In another wonderfully exciting thrilling episode of youths, we celebrated YOUTH SUNDAY!!!
Organised specially by the youths. (:
Everyone was decked out in their sunday best (no pun intended :D) and it was a real awesome event.
From the friendly ushers giving out our youth edition bulletin (designed by James), to the smartly dressed guys doing the logistics, it was a blast!
The worship team, without a doubt, delivered a great worship session.
Refreshments were made by a hardworking team that stayed through the night and was delicious. :D
While we didn't really have a proper lesson and sunday school, we did have a nice time of sitting together eating macs, laughing over stupid jokes and nonsensical blabber.
(:
and what better way to end it with..
3 cheers for the youths! (:
HIP HIP HURRAYYYYYYYY

2007-06-19T16:04:00.000+08:00

i am back with all the photossss:D

we all have a destiny:D

the guys

edwin, soo and ethan

doing the LCD slide and getting very confused:D

worship teammmm:D

timothy and ruth!

church camp!

we are all lkyouth-ians eh?

swimming number one

swimming number two!

the guys again:D

more guys!

camppp photoo:D

swimming number three:D

the wavers-goodbyers.

hahaha okay no video im lazy:D i took super long to do this can?
and if you find out your face looks funny, its either it already does or i resized it until it looks funny:D
i hope its my fault and not yours:D hahahhaah.
ENJOY!

2007-06-19T14:40:00.000+08:00

there are alotalot of pictures so be patient and wait for them to load yeah:D
mainly pictures of the youth but for extra viewing pleasure i added in some of the photos of the cuteeeee babies in the camp:D
come to think about it, i'll do it tmr. photobucket is ohsoslowwww!

Church Camp Day 02&04

2007-06-19T14:34:00.000+08:00

okayokay the much awaited church camp day 02 and 04!
im going to post them all on one post cause the next one is for pictures:D

hahahaha okay anyway CHURCHCAMP DAY02
hmm okay basically woke up, ate breakfast, etcetc... then went to the ballroom for a meaningful worship led by the youths!
as in auggiejohnesther:D

after that was themetalk02. the message was clear, the topic was 'the presence of God to live in'
it focused on two questions asked by saul/paul during his conversion
(you know the one where he saw the light on the way to Damascus? yeah that one)
he asked "who are you Lord", and "what shall i do, Lord" and tells us that we need a freash new encounter with God
this really spoke to me cause im a second-gerneration christian, which means that i actually dont really have that personal encounter with God. so yeah sometimes i actually wonder if its just a ritual for me to go to church on sundays and stuff

anyway after that we watched a movie called 'facing the giants'. it was quite touching even thought the first part was quite boring:D
it was to tell us that if we trust in the Lord, then everything is possible

after that was lunch then the four-hour free time!
hmm we went to play tennis but the courts were so sandy and uneven i didnt have much fun:(
but i guess it was still okay:D hahaha.
esthercharisjoshuajoshuajamesjeremy came down to play too. but at different times of course
(as in the boys came down after the girls left. you know that kind of thing)
james broke his glasses while playing. he became quite a blind soul after that:D
poor guy -shakes head

dinner after that, followed by worship led by the same people:D
then it was envisioning by Pastor Jimmy

as what auggie previously mentioned, it really woke everyone up from their so-called 'daydream'
being ohso frank and blunt, he pointed out that the church is doing little to bring more people to Christ. we are just sitting comfortably where we are, making few efforts to reach out.
which i suppose is quite true, the church increased in size because of transfer membership, not new believers
so it really shook everyone and i believe that everyone will now try to make an effort to reach out to others:D

yadeleeedeedoooo CHURCHCAMP DAY04
the days really pass by super fast during camp, i think its because we were having too much fun:D
the fellowship was grreeaaattt:D

okay the normal procedure as usual, woke up, breakfast...
and worship was led by the same people that i mentioned before:D as in the youths luhhh!

the themetalk04 was about the priorities of God to live out. we need to believe in God, hear him and declare his Word for him.
but the thing that touched me most during this themetalk was that he asked the deacons and leaders of the church to go up and pray for the church, and the church to pray for the deacons.
followed by that the whole church held hands in a circle and sang the song 'One Voice', which maqde me feel the unity of the whole church:D
and trust me, its a really gooood feeling.

lunch then free time again:D
apparently the tuition business has no business cause everyone was out playing and having fun.
its church camp mansss! who wants to study? hahahah
went for a refreshing swim, most of the kiddos and youths were there:D had a great time just fellowshipping with some of the younger kids whom i havent talked to ever since i went out of junior worship
a great time to catch up:D
and a great time to splash people:D hahahahha

then bathed, dinner, worship (this time led by william), then CELEBRATION NIGHTTT!
this celebration night had no performances, but just alot of sharing.
ohohohoh but the cute little kids performed! i have a video somewhere i'll post it up later:D
anyway i think most of the youths were raring to go up and dance with them yeah? i know charis and i were jumping up and down with them:D
makes you feel young and rejuvenated (not that im not, but...)
hahahah:D

then some sharings by hauryueh's mom, uncle john, aunty candida, uncle kimheng(my dad!) and aunty kiasok
i kinda forgot who else
oh vernon too i think:D aiya cant remember luhhh

okay thats it! next post for pictures:D
and some videos!

Church Camp Day 5

2007-06-18T19:24:00.000+08:00

*sob sob* the time has come to separate the few of us away from each other, to leave this beautiful place and return back. (Sad music fills the place.) haha. That was so drama. Anyway, we were sad to leave the place. Since Joylynn’s family and my family were off to Malacca once more, we waved goodbye to the people who were returning to the little red dot in the coaches. It was a funny sight as Joylynn, Janice and I tried to wave goodbye and at the same time do some stupid dance. Haha. Later we all met up at Makota Parade (The shopping centre) and said bye once more to each other. Haha. As I was not on the bus, John has volunteered to write about whatever that happened on the bus.

“It was a gloomy mood as we prepared to head back home. However, the sudden decision to stay in mahkota parade for lunch somehow lifted us a bit as we were dreading to go back. We had a lovely fellowship with the majority of church members at Kenny Rogers before walking aimlessly finding things to pass our time. And what else but the arcade! Time seems to pass so quickly when it comes to playing games so before we could try everything out, we had to head back to the coaches. The journey back to tuas was another series of blacking out as nearly all of us wanted to meditate having stayed up till early morning since the last night, chatting and amusing ourselves with all kinds of card games. And soon, we were back in Singapore. It was home sweet home and being equipped with a vision and a filled purpose of the church’s and our destiny in the years to come.”

I believe that we all enjoyed ourselves very much and have learnt a lot during the camp. Now is the time to put it into good use! :D see ya on Sunday!

Church Camp Day 1

2007-06-18T19:01:00.000+08:00

Hellos! (: Today was basically a dull day. When we were heading towards Tuas, there was a super long jam. Our bus took a very long time to reach Tuas. That’s why we reached the campsite at about 2.30p.m. Most of us were “stoning” or meditating in the bus. Haha. We had lunch at, I’m not sure where actually, some random restaurant I think. Haha. The food was not bad. (:

We reached. Finally. After millions of years. YAY! haha. Alvin, the camp commander gave us our room keys and all of us headed back to our rooms to take a short rest. Later at about 3 plus, we had a briefing and an ice breaking game. We had to write our names on to vanguard sheets of paper and place it on the mahjong paper. It’s like doing up a crossword puzzle consisting of all our group names. They all have to make sense though. So it isn’t as easy as you think. Many groups strived hard and tried their best to succeed though we knew it was not possible to fit our full names in. :D In the end, GROUP ONE WON!! *claps* By the way, I was in that group. Haha. It was kind of funny how we won though. We shorten all their names, and some even had their names changed. Uncle Kenneth became Ken. Uncle Thiam Chong had a new name: Ash, so that we could fit in all the names into the crossword puzzle. We had great fun though.

DINNER TIME! The food was great. I believe dinner was the highlight of the day for some. Haha. Then came WORSHIP TIME! The worship team included William, Justin and Aunty Jessica. They led us into a time of praise and meditation. Everyone enjoyed the worship. Sermon time came. At first, most of us dreaded sermon, but it didn’t turn out to be as boring as we thought. Rev. Tony Yeo talked about the

Four critical keys in knowing where we are heading. (Luke 24: 44-49)

A. A single Master to follow (v 44-45)
B. An essential Message to proclaim (v 46-47)
C. A vital Mission to do (v 47-48)
D. A divine Means (v 49)
otherwise known as the 4 'm's.

Personally I found it quite meaningful because now we know we have to live a God-Purpose Driven Life. We were supposed to have a discussion about the sermon but due to time constrain, we had to go back and rest. Most of us sleep early that night, I think. Church camp has been fun though it’s only the first day and we’re already missing the people who couldn’t come! Haha. (:

Church Camp Day 3

2007-06-18T10:13:00.000+08:00

This church camp is really G-R-E-A-T man!! Really enjoyed myself, having fun with the youths as well as mixing around with adults you never think you'll even talk to!! Most importantly i was really filled by the Spirit and i'm getting excited about the youth ministry.. =)

Last night, Pastor really poured out his heart, not only to the Lord but also to the people who were present during his "Envisioning" session. I think it moved and woke a lot of people up.. It surely did wake me up and i thought it was time i should move out of my comfort zone and think of ways to push the youth ministry to greater heights! But i definitely can't do this alone and i need help from each and every one of you here, whether YL or just youths, we all play apart in it..

I guess the morning session spoke to a lot. The theme is "The People Of God To Live With", and the scripture is taken from Romans 12:1-21. It actually tells us that the church is chracterized by community. Ths means that each and every one of us are different from each other, and thus we are also dependent on each other. (Remember the game at CCAB? Each of us had different tools and different techniques of throwing. Some of us might not have as good tools or throwing techniques, but we still need each other to cross that river)

Secondly, this communty that we have is based on charity. It means to love one another. we are to show Family love, Fervent love and Faithful love in our community. This way we would be able to serve whole-heartedly. (Again let's go back to the game we played. During the course of the game, some of us started getting frustrated with each other, maybe because someone just cannot throw properly or they just want to do things their way. That caused time to stall and we didnt meet the objective. I guess we have to love one another first before we can actually serve one another.)

Lastly, the charity in the community is forged by humility. We are to avoid two extreme cases. One is having an inferior view of self. This would usually stop us from answering our calling because we think we're not up to it. But remember, God usually chooses peoeple who are weak and humble. Moses wasn't a born leader, but God still chose him. If we and God do the talking together, He would guide us through the walking forever =) The other side is of course the inflated view of self. This would lead us to serve for the wrong reasons, and glory would not go back to God, but ourselves. Rev Tony also said that EGO stands for Edging God Out. But maybe we should rise up to God with a new EGO: Exalting God Only.

As we are all different from one another, we have to pray that God would start working in our lives so that we could live up to our common destiny! So let's just not be different. Let's all go MAD- Make A Difference!!

The Church is ONE Body

2007-06-15T23:08:00.001+08:00

Yo!

Last Sunday (i know ... procrastinated writting this .. but better late than never : P) we brought the classroom outdoors to the Basketball court @ SPE. It was a really warm day and 16 youths braved the sweltering heat to pit their "gifts" against 2 challenges.

We are on the topic of "What's my life's calling?" & we've had 3 sessions before this one. A quick recap:
Session 1: Yg introduced what "Calling" really means. It's simply God calling You! Everyone is born with a Godly purpose in mind & that purpose if "Calling". There are 3 types of Calling: General (for everyone! & that's God's Love!), Specific (only for you!) & Immediate (what you need to do for now!)
Session 2: Wei Lim discussed 3 important questions: Who is God? Who am I? Why am I here? He also went through the character analysis of D.I.S.C
Session3: Edwin spelled out the importance of exercising your gifts to the best of our abilities.

So today, Yg explained that in session 3, the story was only half spoken. There's another half to complete the full-story. In excelling the gifts from God, we are not to reap the benefits only for ourselves, but more importantly for OTHERS 'cos .... *drum roll* we are all ONE BODY in Christ, though we're many parts!

Nothing beats learning God's truth through experiencing it. ok .... things get pretty interesting from here on. Here's how the 1st challenge goes.

We're split into 2 groups of weary travellers who have reached a "dead-end" in their journey because they have reached one side of a toxic river. It look pretty hopeless unless they are able to build a "bridge" that'll bring them to the other side. Each group is provided with some common household items e.g. Paper plates, string, bamboo stick, newspaper etc.

The Rules ....
1. Each item is distributed to one member. Once that's done, no one else can touch that item.
2. All items have to be thrown into the toxic river.
3. The group will attempt to cross the river by stepping on these items, hw, they'll have to cross not individually but as 1 group ... heee .... tied to each other @ their legs.
4. Each group is given 15 mins to complete

Well .... they dived straight into the thick of things. Some strategising was involved, some trial & error but I'm glad to report that everyone worked together and really sweat it out.

Some learning points:
1. Like the different items in the game, we bring to the BODY, our different gifts.
2. Everyone has to exercise them appropriately (focussed on the goal, listening to each other, not being all individualistic) for the whole BODY to benefit.
3. Some gifts may seem to be of less worth in our eyes (e.g. newspaper), but it still carries some value.
4. Everyone crossed together, not as individuals. Although some of longer legs, we'll have to help those who don't.

In the end ... a job well done!!

2nd and last Challenge for the morning .... we've a game called "Warp Speed".

Objective: Pass the tennis in the agreed sequence in the fastest and more efficient manner.

Everyone formed a circle and we started out throwing the tennis balls to each other, calling the names. Once the sequence has been established, we began timing ourselves. Time starts when the ball leaves the hand of the starter, Time stops when then ball returns to the hand of the starter.

1st try: 27 seconds
2nd try: 20 seconds

Lets make things a little more complicated ...

instead of passing 1 ball ... lets pass 4 balls!!

1st try: ????? cannot make it ....
2nd try: change position to stand side by side with the partner. 20 secs.
3rd try: Putting balls on the ground and have everyone crowd around touching the ball ...
????? messy ... balls keep running away
4th try: Asked for a bag to contain all the balls, tried again passing around side to side. 5 secs.
5th try: Everyone formed a chain (like a narrow canal), and dropped the package through .... guess wat ... 2 seconds!!!

Yeah!!! Moral of the story: Work together, listen to one another's suggestion, clarify the goals.

*whew* what a morning.

*clap*clap*

Well done everyone!!

Yg

2007-06-13T23:00:00.000+08:00

Hey peeps!!!! Looks like i have been MIA for v v v v v v longgggg!!! But well here i am!! I finally found my way! Looks like i am ain't no bimbo afterall.. Haha but of cox there's always angels sent from God to help.. Haha.. and yup hear from me soon.. and thanks my angels!.. Bye n tc! =)

Vanessa.. Voom voom!

2007-06-04T15:52:00.000+08:00

well hello:D

[ahem my smileys are not triangular they look perfectly round]

anyway...

yesterday we continued our calling series!

hmmm we were talking about gifts!

we started off by playing this little quiz thingy in which we were supposed to guess the bible characters based on what edwin told us:D

we were split up into four groups, namely:

Aye-sai!

Best!

Can lah!

wont Die!

and the winner was...BEST!

duh i mean you can tell from the name:D

hahahah.
then we had to do character analysis on paul,job,joseph and david

hmm okay then edwin explained to us how all these bible characters (e.g.paul, job) we given gifts, but they excelled because they worked hard and depended on God.

:D

we were also given time to reflect and think about areas which we want to excel in for God

Youth Worship

2007-06-02T22:13:00.000+08:00

Yo!

*whew* The Youth Worship Team was up leading worship for the last 3 consecutive weekends of Parental Series. *clap*clap* Kudos to the Team comprising

Augustus (Bass/ Worship Leader)
John (Acoustic Guitar/ Worship Leader)
Joylynn (Keyboard)
Vanessa (Drums)
Joshua (Drums)
Xinyi (Vocals)
Jonathan (Electric/Acoustic Guitar)
James (Sound)

May the Lord be glorified through the sessions. My prayer is for the growing love for the Lord to be manifested through the music they play. May the love of Jesus inspire us to serve Him!

Here are the recorded Worship Sessions:
(Go ahead and click on the links)

13th May 2007

Worship Leader: Augustus

http://www.lkyouths.com/Purpose_Worship/WorshipPrac280407(Augustus).mp3

20th May 2007

Worship Leader: John

http://www.lkyouths.com/Purpose_Worship/Worship(John)200507.mp3

27th May 2007

Worship Leader: Yiguang/Grace accompanied by the Youth Band

http://www.lkyouths.com/Purpose_Worship/Worship(Yg)270507.mp3

Who am I?

2007-05-30T21:49:00.000+08:00

Hi!

Last Sunday's WKRZ was a continuation on the important topic of "Calling". There are 3 types of Calling: General (for Everyone!); Specific (Only for you); Immediate (what each of us are to do). We ended the previous session (2 Sundays ago!) understanding the "General" call of God for all creation. Remember the 3 Lost Items of Luke 15? (i) The Lost Sheep (ii) The Lost Coin (iii) The Lost Son. We're all lost @ one point or another in our lives but our gracious heavenly Father seeks us out ... as early as in the Garden of Eden, when man first fell to sin

"And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam amd his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"" Genesis 3:8-9

So ... Wei Lim took us through a portion of the "Specific" Calling. He mentioned 3 important questions we'ld have to ask ourselves some point of our lives:

1. Who is God?

2. Who am I?

3. Why am I here?

These 3 questions have to be answered in right order. All man have to first answer "Who is God?". The answer could be "I don't believe there is a God in the first place!" Well, that will determine the answer to the 2nd question .... "Who am I?" Well, if you don't believe there is a God, that implies that you are in total control of your life and ..... I guess you made yourself god of your life. However, if you answer to 1 is "Yes, there is a God and He is Jehovah/ Yahweh/ Jesus", then how you see yourself in qn 2 will align accordingly.

With the assumption that everyone in the class knew God as the Eternal Father "who has saved us and called us with a holy calling" (2nd Timothy 1:9), Wei Lim explored deeper the 2nd Question "Who am I?"

However, before we become all "self-centered" in our quest for personal enlightenment. Wei Lim reminded us of the significance we each have within the body of Christ, no matter how different we are.

"For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say. "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body" is it therefore not of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." 1 Corinthians 12:14-18

Therefore, in knowing "Who am I", we would begin to explore our "shape" i.e. character and eventually our giftings and ultimately, our Life's Calling. However, remember that it's God who "set" each of us "as He pleased". Wei Lim shared (as an example) that in his younger days, he had been exposed to many musical instruments e.g playing the clarinet in the military band. However, through his experiences, he realised that he wasn't gifted in the area of playing music. Hence, if he coveted after someone's skill @ playing well on the clarinet and stubbornly pursued the "dream", he will be miserable in the end because, the would have realised that he is to be the "eye" and not the "ear".

Wei Lim introduced a popular character profiling tool: D I S C.
D - Dominance
I - Influence
S - Steadiness
C - Compliance

Everyone had a sheet with character words describing certain traits and we're to rank them accordingly to how close these words describe us. Finally, we plotted a graph and wa lah!! We'ld realise which of the 4 profiles best describe us.

Here's a link that explains each profile in more depth:

http://www.discusonline.com/UDISC/contents_iv.html

For the younger ones, the character profile may change as they go through life's experiences. For the older ones, likelihood is that the profile will describe much of who you are.

Hence, knowing "Who am I" is a crucial step of find out the ultimate question of "What is my Calling?"

Stay tune till next Sunday to find out more ....

Yg

Global Day of Prayer 2007

2007-05-28T15:18:00.001+08:00

Yoooz!!!

What a nite @ GDOP 2007! I always feel a tingling whenever Christians (thousands!!) gather to praise, pray & proclaim the Lord's name in one voice. Last night, Leng Kwang Baptist Church sent 3 bus loads to the National Stadium. As a show of solidarity, most (hee .. hee ... the obedient ones) donned the LKBC polo T-shirts. It's encouraging to see members young (Randall) and old (even Auntie Aimee Fones!) hopping on the buses all excited to meet God.

Upon reaching the stadium (6.15pm), we quickly made our way to the designated area of Baptist Churches. A Youth band was already on stage leading a very much upbeat worship. One thing I remember from last year's GDOP was the skyline, esp during sun set. What a beautiful piece of artistry that God had painted. It was really great to lift up my hands to Him and raise my voice to heaven.

Gradually, the stadium was filled with the churches of Singapore, until you find yourself a part of the multitudes. The evening began formally @ about 7.30pm with Clement Chow leading the churches in singing, focussing our hearts and minds on God's Agenda.

The night was divided into 3 segments: Repentance => Reconciliation => Restoration, with a focus on one "R" word i.e. "Relationship". We prayed in groups/pairs for God to forgive us for our sins and heal our our broken relationship with Him. We prayed for unity within the Body of Christ. We prayed for God to heal relationships within our Family, for Broken families to come back together.

We ended the night will praying for the Youths!! All the young people!! That they would desire to live their lives for God and accordance to God's Word!

That's me with Caleb @ GDOP 2007. We'd a swell time praying with each other through the last 10-day before GDOP and tonight @ the stadium. Each nite, we'll also read portions of Psalm 119 (all 176 verses!!). Praise the Lord for meeting us and changing us with His Word.

"May my lips overflow with praise,

for you teach me your decrees.

May my tongue sing of your word,

for all your commands are righteous.

May your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

I long for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my delight." Psalm 119:171-174

Prayer for Youths

For more pics/videos on GDOP2007 and past events, check out our very own media library www.lkyouths.com/gallery

OT Overiew Finale 27th May 2007

2007-05-21T21:23:00.000+08:00

hahahaha okay let's see... what happened on sunday:D

yeahhh it was the OT finale! (and i forgot to bring slippers but nvm)

hahahah at around 1030am we all gathered in the youth room, expecting to leave right at that instant. then after waiting for (relatively) quite a long time, the youth leaders came down to...guess what?

give us lunch!

heh it was a yummy egg & chicken & lettuce & tomato sandwich! wholly self-service:D hahahah

thanks to the youth leaders who put in all their time &amp;amp; effort & err...sweat:D

then after eating brunch we embarked for our location, *drumroll*, the botanical gardens!

and we walked there mansss. so actually by the time we reached there apparently we didnt feel like doing anything. hahaha

so the first thing we had to do was to look for four orange flags hidden in all four corners of the botanical gardens (actually they were just all near the huts)

and it was girl power mansss! the girls found all the flags. so we made the boys build the ark:D

yeah but then we ended up helping too. hahahah its team spirit

oh but we didnt carry the ark. hahahah.

halfway through we fell into temptation by stopping for a drink:(

so we had to wander forty years in the wilderness! (okay not quite we hd to walk around fourty minutes in the evolution garden)

anyway we were blindfolded and led around the whole of the evolution garden (i think, i couldnt see a thing) and we had many 'obstacles'!

like:

1. i forgot i think we got water bombs thrown at us

2. we had to walk on wine corks

3. we had to crawl through chengtng

4. we had to walk on TOFU! (i thought it was aloe vera:/)

so then after doing that we walked around aimlessly and vanessa and everyone else kept asking us 'do you trust me? if you do i can let you take off this blindfold'

heh we thought it was a trap so we didnt belive them:D

THEN IN THE END IT WAS TRUE! -SCREAMS

okay then we had a debrief a lots of phototaking. then we went back on a bus cause we were too tired to walk anymore:D

GDOP!

You NEVER let go

2007-05-18T10:53:00.000+08:00

Yo!

Yesterday marks the start of the 10-day prayer vigil before the Global Day of Prayer on 27th May. The theme was "Kingdom of Jesus". One of the prayer pointers for the Church was to set ablaze the hearts of Christians with love & loyalty to Jesus. Wow! The word "ablaze" really caught my attention. "ablaze" is usually used when a fire has been set off e.g. The forest is set ablazed. It gives the imagery of the fire consuming and engulfing our hearts in flames. Can you imagine being consumed by God, where your whole life is yielded to Him, when you are enraptured by His glory, in awe and reverence when in the presence of His Almighty ....

I've the priviledge of praying with Caleb last night and his prayers touched my heart as he interceded on behalf of the Church in asking forgiveness when we have chosen to go astray (remember the sheep) & not follow after Jesus. Caleb prayed that the Church will put aside all denominational differences and be united with the hunger to know & do God's Word.

"Bro, your prayers rocks!"

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28-29

We've a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Guyz ... it cannot be shaken ... It is firmly established. He is a jealous God, He will never let you go ....

Here's a song by Matt Redman. Have a look @ the lyrics.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back I know You are near

Pre-Chorus:
And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go Lord,
You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Pre-chorus

Chorus

Bridge:
Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Yg

2007-05-14T21:42:00.000+08:00

yeah manss im back!

hahaha okay yesterday's WKRZ was really meaningful:D

we've started on a new series called 'calling' (called calling!) which can be divided into three catergories:

-general calling (for everyone)

-specific calling (for you)

-immediate calling (for NOW!)

so yiguang started off with a general calling to everyone generally (okay i dont know what im talking about)

hahaha so yeah yiguang started giving away stuff:D nah we mainly concentrated on Luke chpt 15

its the one with the many parables (eg prodigal son, lost sheep and lost coin).

we were given time to reflect on our actions, whether we are in fact true christians, or has it just become a weekly routine for us to go to church every sunday?

think about that.

like the sheep, we are in fact helpless, and even us straying from the path just a little bit can affect us in our walk with Jesus.

i realised i sound very cheem. hahah i just had a lit test:D

anyway, its true

think about that too

ohohoh and GDOP is coming! hahaha gogogo!:D

hahahah

Our God Reigns

2007-05-09T10:26:00.000+08:00

Hi!

I chanced upon this song by the band Delirious and I was deeply moved to share my thoughts immediately. The lyrics describe the fallen state of this world. Remember that chart we've plotted during our OT overview. We started @ such a high point (perfect state) but from the moment Adam & Eve sank their teeth into the forbidden fruit, creation fell as sin crept into hearts of man.

We read of high school/university shootings in America
We read of car bombs exploding in Iraq
We read of starvation and civil war in the African nation
We read of the rise in promiscuity, rise in tolerance towards homosexuality, leading to broken families and children born with HIV
We read that success in life equals to wealth, looking good (nip & tuck), popularity while moral values, integrity are sidelined.

Surely "the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Cor 4:4
Where is the hope for our future?

The poignant words of the song remind me of Psalm 73, where Asaph, the worship leader of Jerusaleum then, struggles with maintaining a pure heart because he sees the evil prospering

"They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity;the evil conceits of their minds know no limits..
This is what the wicked are like - always carefree, they increase in wealth." Psalm 73:4-7, 12

However, Aspah ends the Psalm with this resolve:

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds." Psalm 73:23-28

Living in comfortable/secure Singapore, we are shielded from many of the above. With the Global Day of Prayer round the corner, my prayer is that we do not allow ourselves to fall into the trappings of complacency but to lift up our prayers for our world/family/ourselves that we may see restoration, through peple who will say that "it is good to be near God", living changed lives. Perhaps it starts with ourselves, from the inside out.

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. " 2 Cor 4:6

Shine Jesus Shine! OUR GOD REIGNS!

Offering

2007-05-07T16:12:00.000+08:00

Hi Everyone!!

It's a brand new week with some of us tackling our school exams (*breathe*), others, facing new challenges @ work (like me! Several phone calls from work over the weekend! Argh!!). Take heart Bros & Sis, the Lord of the Old Testament is also the Lord of the New Testament. We've concluded the series on Old Testament just last week and I hope that we all bring home (into our hearts) a better understanding of who God is and what He is doing through Creation (You & I). We're not very much different from the Israelites then. We complain a lot, we are forgetful, ungrateful etc etc (you get the idea!). Changed lives guyz .... changed lives .... dun walk away every Sunday as if it's just another Sunday.

The Lord wants you to live a purpose-driven life. Soooo ..... We'll be embarking on a new series for WKRZ titled "CALLING". Some people define "calling" as a job/vocation but I believe that's a very narrow definition. Well, God is calling you! He has called you to salvation when you're lost, He has called you home when you ran away .... Stay tune to fine out what your calling is.

I'ld like to share a song with you. Incidentally John will be leading Worship on 20th May (*whew*whew*). This is one of the songs he's selected. It's very meaningful. Titled: Offering.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1

When God calls, we can only offer ourselves.

The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your Presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It's only by Your Blood and it's only through you mercy
Lord I come

I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due
O Lord I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due
O Lord I bring an offering to You
O Lord I bring an offering to You
O Lord I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

Yg