Journeying together

Posted by Anonymous at 9:35 pm | Permalink | Comments

Just came back from an Agape (Campus Crusade for Christ London) training session at the All Soul's Clubhouse... One session was on discipleship, and the other on street evangelism...The passion of the staff workers for Christ and for spreading His love and Word really encouraged and challenged me...

some useful statements i heard:

when thinking about whether to steer a conversation with a friend, to talk about gazing at Jesus instead....
- "don't ask whether that person will be happy now if i ask this question. think about whether that person will be happy in 1000 years time. "

"sharing the gospel improves with practice"

"prayer before discipling/evangelising shows that you recognize that it is God leading the event, not yourself"

in discipling somebody
- "memorizing verses together, praying together, reading Bible together helps the disciple"

"pray for opportunities to serve Him, God loves to answer prayer for opportunities"

they mentioned more, but i don't really know how to phrase it out in singular sentences, so...

thing is, i realized the importance of accountability once again.... no one was holding me to task for not discipling, evangelising, doing regular and proper quiet times, reading the Bible and good Christian books regularly, etc.... except the occasional sermon which would give a short dose of guilt... going for corporate (ie, in a group) street evangelism sessions and training sessions and finding accountability partners are important for my good spiritual growth... sticking with committed Christians extremely useful as well...

anything to keep my soul continuously gazing toward God...

Posted by Anonymous at 3:53 pm | Permalink | Comments

1. Look UP (to observe and stand in awe of HIS majesty and sovereignty. Like Jeremiah in Jer 32:17)
2. Look IN (At our own sinful nature and the fact that we need forgiveness and cleansing)
3. Look OUT (at the needs of the world, wanting to DO something for the LORD, for the LOST, as an act of gratitude and understanding)
4. (this was not in the message but also) Look BACK (in PRAISE for what He HAS done)- This I think was what I was doing Sunday night going through my journal and realising JUST how much I've been blessed, how much I've learnt and although, I've made a heaps of mistakes, that I can be forgiven as well as learn from them.
5. Look FORWARD (To what He is YET to do in anticipaction and excitement, preparing ourselves and others for the second coming) 

Posted by Anonymous at 9:48 pm | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Anonymous at 1:59 pm | Permalink | Comments

i have to admit that right now i dun really feel like posting anything... thing is i have so blessed so often by blogs that i feel it necessary to discipline myself to get thoughts that have been on my mind, get rid of my laziness and preference to keep quiet..

this past sunday was quite unique...normally after church i would just go right home and get started on that pile of work... announcements and events announced during church service i would just give a "that's nice, if only i had more time".. however, i felt that i could be doing much more to encourage and edify others around, and when it was announced that there was a prayer meeting for persecuted christians around the world later in the afternoon, i felt a strong urge to put aside the urgent work waiting for me back home for the much neglected and even more urgent work of good old fervent prayer for something other than my own needs and close ones around me...

the challenge was to decide at that moment that i WOULD go, cos i knew if i left it to later then "decide whether or not to go", once the textbooks were opened back home, i would not want to go...

anyway i'm really glad i went in the end, truly persecuted christians who're paying everyday for their faith make me rethink how seriously i'm treating mine... the one leading the study was from nigeria, and the focus that week was on Pakistan, a place where Muslims converting to Christianity are given the death penalty, and where Christians are subject to "blasphemy laws", abuse, discrimination... check out the link on the right on "praying for persecuted christians" (below "latest posts") for more info...

Hebrews 13:3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Fellow prisoners and fellow sufferers... was i really thinking of my fellow persecuted christians around the world that way everyday? How much i prayed for them would show.... need to pray more.....

Posted by Anonymous at 8:23 pm | Permalink | Comments

As usual, I forgot that it was my turn to post about QT. not used to this yet. hardly even update my blog these days... Thanks Jon for the reminder.

Been super duper busy the past week, cos i'm taking up so many new things: frisbee, german language, part-time work at school, preparing for interviews, ocf comm meetings, oh ya, and studies. studies always come last these days. not good, not good. i always try to do things by my own strength and sometimes i just get so stressed out by everything and i snap at ppl around me. but reading Proverbs 16 (now i read one chapter of proverbs a day according to the date) reminded me of my purpose and who i should rely on for strenght and wisdom. Prov 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed". and v9: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." v 33: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord."

This reminded me that, no matter how much I plan things and want it to go my way, if I do not commit it to God, it is nothing. All my efforts will be wasted. Some ppl say that interviews are about luck. If you're lucky, the interviewer will like you no matter how ur CV looks like. Or you may be super good, but if they don't like you, you won't get it. If you're lucky, your competitors are not as good as you. Or if you're lucky, your application gets picked up. Sometimes I get over-confident, but so many times, God has reminded me that it is not my own strength that I am getting all these opportunities and that I should always, always rely on him. Lesson: Be humble, and ask God for wisdom and favour, and that He will reveal his plans for you and open the right doors. We as Christians should know where we stand, and with God on our side, we have nothing to fear!

Yup, guess that's about it. Pray for me as I prepare for interviews and juggle so many things. God's strength and not mine!

--over, and out--

Posted by cass at 3:51 pm | Permalink | Comments

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

"There is a comedy in which an escaped lion takes the place of the shaggy dog beside the armchair and the comic affectionately runs his fingers through its mane several times before realizing that, as we say, he has a problem. We act like that with regard to our sinful habits. We treat them as friends rather than killers, and never suspect how indwelling sin when indulged enervates and deadens. "

This interesting story reminds me that we have too many devouring lions (sinful habits) in our life that we are treating affectionately as our pet dogs instead. Devouring lions which dress up as pet dogs sometimes. I found it very necessary too to be able to tell the true pet dogs (good habits) from the devouring lions (bad habits).

Easier said than done though, and discerning between the two isn't easy.

Practically i've found this helps lots: "In ALL your ways ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, and He shall direct your steps.(proverbs 3:6)". This helps me to discern honestly which activities are pleasing to Him, and which aren't.

I've found it to be almost impossible to do that unless i exercise myself constantly in prayer, worship, edifying, witness and a consistent, all-around obedience. Prayer, worship, witness and obedience that extends beyond my quiet time and permeates my entire day. That constantly reminds me to acknowledge Him as Master and Saviour.

And that in turn helps me decide which activities should go. Anything that hinders me from acknowledging Him as Master and Saviour at every moment. I found that when i'm studying for example, if i sensed God calling me to do something else, could i just drop my work immediately to do it? If my answer was that my work came first, then i was not acknowledging Him as Master.

Another good example came in how much time i was investing in His work. Good habits like praying fervently, telling others about Christ, reading the Bible and good Christian books, mentoring a fellow Christian - all of which remind me to focus on truth and acknowledge God and which obey His commands for me to do so. How much was i doing this. If in the week the answer was - only a bit, then i was probably engaged in activities which were taking time away from God's clear command to edify, evangelize, and equip oneself, clearly not acknowledging Him as Master. These activities were then devouring lions. To end off, i guess a verse i've learnt when i wondered if i was too extreme in my thoughts:

2 Tim 2:3-4
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

Prayer requests:
-Do pray for me to have a continuing heart for the unsaved... i do really get preoccupied with my work far too often... then only once in a while i get a strong urge to do something...
-That i will acknowledge God in ALL i do... i like to segmentalize God into quiet time, non-quiet time, prayer time, non-prayer time, witnessing time-nonwitnessing time etc... when there shouldn't be a divide...

Posted by Anonymous at 6:06 pm | Permalink | Comments

First, I want to thank God, because I was very nearly knocked down by a cyclist just now.

Right, so I got a gentle reminder from Jon today that it was my turn to post something. I actually started a post just before going off for the All Soul's Bible study (which I just came back from), but now I think it was quite rubbish (as in my post not the Bible study), well not really, but its just that I think I rather talk about something else instead. Yup, so I just deleted it and am starting all over again.

Anyway, the bible study just now was about creation (Genesis 1). This is something that I've actually thought about quite alot in the past, especially one time when I was interested in the Big Bang Theory (which inevitable came up during the discussion). At that time, I wasn't exactly a christian, so I didn't really have any problems with trying to reconcile it with what Genesis 1 tells us about the beginning. But today's discussion reminded me of a very recent discussion I had with my sister. My sister is very much interested in the universe and all that and one thing she is finding very hard as a christian is exactly what I just mentioned above. When I had my discussion with her, I really didn't know what to say, only that the Bible was right, but in saying that, it implied that the Big Bang Theory was wrong (well at least thats what we thought at that time), and who am I to say that these scienctists and researchers, or whoever it is who comes up with these theories, were wrong. But then again, the Bible is after all God's word, and the ultimate authority.

Today some of my questions were kind of answered (I say kind of just because I think some questions will just remain unanswered or at least not for us to completely understand). Someone said that with the Bible, we know that what we read in it is the truth, whereas when it comes to science, alot of it starts of with people saying "we think this is the truth" and from there come up with their theories etc. And thats where the difference is, that to some extent is how we can reconcile science and religion.

Ok, I don't know just how much sense I've made in the above two paragraphs, I do tend to ramble on even when blogging, so I apologise for that. I guess there isn't really much content above, basically its one of the things that struck me in today's Bible study, and I thought it was all rather interesting and would like to see what you guys think about it too.

I think I'll end here. Have a blessed rest of the week guys!! :D

Posted by jo at 11:20 pm | Permalink | Comments

When Jon first told me that it was my turn to post on the group's blog, I was like, huh, its my turn?? Caught totally unprepared. I had no idea where to start and it was like an essay assignment. The more you have to write it, the more nothing comes out. Then it became a little embarrassing, because if you have nothing to say, then what did you do during your quiet time? Sometimes I do it just out of habit, or because I have to read the Bible before going to sleep. But when I'm too tired (like last night) I fall asleep half-way. So now, with this blogging system, it will make you do your quiet time, if not you will have nothing to write. And while it may seem like a regime at the start, hopefully it will make us want to learn more about God on our own accord and not because Jon says its our turn to post something so better go and read. Hehe....

I have to be honest and not just appear to be righteous just because I know my group members are reading this. We are all growing.. (or is this just an excuse? haha...)I won't go into a holy-moly article on what I learnt, (more cause I don't know what to write) but then, I guess what I have to share is from the article in Our Journey for Sunday night. About Private Practice. See Matthew 6: 1-18.

Good behaviour may not be good if done for the wrong reasons. That got me thinking about why I was serving God, and reminded me that it is always because of Him and not because people had confidence in me. There's no point in like doing all the Christiany stuff if it is just to show people that you are a good Christian. So if you don't feel like doing it, don't do it. And then start to think about why you don't feel like doing it. Lol.. I'm talking in circles. Luckily no min word limit, if not I'll pour out more nonsense. Ya, I guess the main lesson is knowing my true intention when I am serving God, or when I talk to people, or do things.

Posted by cass at 8:46 pm | Permalink | Comments

T H E G R E A T D I N N E R

(1^st Oct 2006, Sunday)

1)Pineapple rice,

2)Seaweed soup,

3) Green curry,

4) the B.I.R.D,

5) Garlic bread,

6) Oranges

_________________________________________________________________________

Seaweed Soup’s

P R A Y E R R E Q U E S T S

Kool, Klassy Kah Mei: (KK.KM)

To be able to share the gospel more bravely to people around her

Thanksgiving: for a 3 day week timetable

Calm Chris:

To know the Bible better

Discipline in studying this year

Thanksgiving: for a job and for a uni for Masters

Witty Wilfred:

To share the gospel with unsaved dad

To spend more time studying the Bible

To stop procrastinating

Thanksgiving: for a job offer at Deloitte

Joyful Joanne:

To be more hardworking, esp with Tuesday evening French classes added in, and for Wednesday Church (all soul’s) Bible study

Pray for the 1 non-Christian housemate, since there are 3 christian housemates(including her)

To be more involved in OCF, perhaps in retreat

Thanksgiving: that she can be here for her 2^nd year, and for being able to solve problem of rubbish around house

AWESOME Adrian:

To be more efficient in doing work, and for time management in doing activities like rowing. Keep my focus in God in spite of all my activities. Trust God.

Thanksgiving: for good results in 2^nd year

Jazzy Jason:

To find a job soon, so won’t need to depend on parents too much…

For studies

Thanksgiving: that he is still in London

Charismatic Cass:

Commit everything to God and not depend on own strength. Take up more activities and balance my time.

For a full-time job.

Thanksgiving: That God always provided for me from grades to job.

Fantastic Fengqian

To lead a more Christ-centred life and to study a lot harder.

Share the gospel with my parents.

Thanksgiving: that I got good grades and my parents for allowing me to go to church.

Cheerful Cheng-e

More conviction to reach out to people, especially to people in my studio.

Thanksgiving: good results from last year. Admin over the past week was smoothgoing.

Jolly Jon

Good leader and passion for souls. Give greater encouragement to others.

Thanksgiving: results and leading of group. God’s grace

------------------------------------------------ end ------------------------------------------------------

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Posted by Anonymous at 12:22 am | Permalink | Comments

A new beginning! On the day Children's day is celebrated in Singapore, this blog is created... May we have a childlike faith and dependence on Jesus to live a victorious Christian life day by day. This blog is a place for us to encourage and edify one another, post our prayer requests, thanksgiving, and post our answered prayers. A place to share Biblical passages that has touched us, stories that have impacted us, and our very own real life experiences. Photos, disappointments, good news, etc... tag, post, comment.. :)

Our group is not complete yet... we are still awaiting the freshers and others who will be joining our group and adding to the warmth and fellowship... hopefully this group will keep expanding as we invite more friends to join to learn about Him or Christians who are looking for a group to settle down in.

Most importantly, may this blog keep God at its center and may our posts, tags and comments glorify God. If any stranger were to stumble upon this blog, may they be moved by the warmth of Christian fellowship and awed by the glory of God and touched by His love. May Christ be seen in us.

I really enjoyed today's group meeting (excluding the newcomers who have not yet been allocated into groups yet)... The meal would not have been completed without your company, singing, sharing and it was just enjoyable having good fellowship with you. The pics will be in the next post...

Posted by Anonymous at 11:24 pm | Permalink | Comments