Journeying together

Posted by Anonymous at 4:32 pm | Permalink | Comments

Dear fellow seaweedsoupers,

Many apologies for not posting for so long a time... just yesterday as i was sitting down, feeling very tired at the amount of things to be done, frustrated at being unable to complete them, and disappointed with myself at not making a bigger difference in the lives of people God has placed in my sphere of influence, including my dear coursemates, group members and non-Christian Singaporeans whose friendships i've struck up over the past 2.5 years... Weary, i looked forward to my favourite source of destressing - surfing the internet for news, maybe games or youtube clips, maybe the joke my friend would sometimes send me on email...

For some reason i read a friend's blog instead... She posted her struggles on, sharing about her frustrations at her lack of concentration with her work, at her weaknesses of too often judging, comparing, losing her focus. She shared that she complained to God, asking God why she being given so many issues in life to deal with at the same time....

Then the next part really stuck me, the way her sharings always have.. She thanked God once again for sufficient grace, and that God's power was magnified in her weaknesses. That in spite of being a broken cistern, it was not how 'good' she looked or how well she followed God's laws, but how well she knew our precious loving God, then the rest would follow. She wanted to go back to the quiet place again, to know His voice and to delight in Him.

Seeing the struggles of a fellow believer, and her resolve to keep going back to the quiet place to know God better, reminded me once again that there was no temptation but such as was common to all of mankind... frustrations and exhaustion were not unique to me...

She shared a song in another post as well:

If You've Lost Your Heaven's Song

If you've lost your heaven's song
it's so hard to carry on
When tomorrow looks as sad as yesterday
Just remember Jesus came
And He keeps singing just the same
If you will listen, when you go to Him and pray.

The darkest storm cannot detain
The comfort of His sweet refrain
Words of assurance invite our hearts to sing along
Above the roar of sorrow's pain
The voice of Jesus comes again
"When you are weakest, be assured that I am strong!"

There is a song on earth we sing
The words can change with what life brings
Not so with heaven's song Christ sings for you today
The words are steadfast they are true
And they were written just for you
To give you comfort and to show you there's a way.

When Jesus came to live in you
He carried heaven's sweetest tune
With words, "I love you" and "forever I will stay"
When days are cold and darkness strong
Things might seem lost - but not for long
His song within you cannot ever pass away
His song within you cannot ever pass away
_____________

Blogs are powerful. As a writer, i'm forced to be held accountable to my friends as well as God, not to create a fake superspiritual life, but to honestly share victories and trials and temptations that i may truly bless. As a reader, i have always been encouraged beyond measure by the author's sharings...

It is easier for one to fall than for two together, and for two to fall than for three. I'm hoping that in the combined prayer and encouraging strength of our group, that we'll be a shining light to all who are in our sphere of influence, especially in our weakest moments when the glory of God is the brightest in us...

Do pray for me:
1. For a greater burden for my Singaporean friends who do not know the Lord, that i would want to meet up with them to talk to them about how to be a recipient of the 'elusive' lasting steadfast love that they are quietly and desperately yearning for.
2. To have discipline to actually implement the prayer meeting that i'm planning on organising for the people who live around my area.. it was supposed to start 3 weeks ago already...

Thanks, and do tag or comment if this blog or any others has blessed you as well.. as the poster, i'm always warmed when i know my post has blessed somebody, and encouraged to bless further... :)

Jonathan

Posted by Anonymous at 2:10 pm | Permalink | Comments

the ocf retreat 2004, sunbury court...

Just to give you a taster of what to expect this year.. :)

same hall, same dining room, same fun, same warmth, same thought provoking moments.. or maybe better this year....

Enjoy!

Posted by Anonymous at 1:55 pm | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Anonymous at 3:17 pm | Permalink | Comments

• As some of you might or might not know, I am STILL in the process of trying to get my National Insurance number so that I can get my student loan so that I can continue to study. I have recently had contact with a guy from our adopted church here in the UK (Emmanuel Evangelical Church) that is willing to employ me and assist me in getting the application through, which is a GREAT answer to pray as well as a HUGE encouragement. So thanks for your prayers in this matter as well as your continued prayers- they are NOT and NEVER in vain.
• This week is my 'Reading Week', which means I do not have any lectures or tutorials or anything that requires me to go to school, which I am of course, graeful for. However, there are a lot of things happening this week on that requires my time away from math related stuff and I DO have 2 tests on the following Monday so please pray that I will be able to focus on my priorities- first being that I will be able to use this time to FIRSTLY rest in the Lord and then to manage between studies and the rest.
• Please pray for my dad as he is away and sounding VERY busy. Although this is usual, my mum and I never believe in giving up praying for him as it always is tiring and there are always SO many people to meet. Pray that he will be constantly refreshed each morning as he draws from the Lord and that God will continually give me a new word and the RIGHT word for each individual that he meets.
• There are a lot of upcoming events that I am either involved with or attending but requires prayer: OCF retreat- The Christian fellowship that I have been attending at University is having a retreat from the 17th to the 19th of November. I am very excited about it since it will be my first one where neither of my parents are there and my dad is NOT the main speaker. Don't get me wrong, I love having my parents around and listening to my dad but I also feel that it's important for me to be able to discern for myself truths spoken by other godly men and women. Pray that God will already bgein to prepare our hearts to listen to what He wants to tell us this weekend. I have other prayer repuests concerning this event but I will save them for perhaps another time. GAMES DAY- My dad has decided to invite the OCF people on the 25th of November as well as a few others to come to our Forest Hill office for a day of rest and general fun. It does not have a program but is supposed to be for people to mix, get to know one another better and generally to just relax from daily 'stress'. Pray that people WILL come and be blessed. Christmas Outreach- The OCF group is having a Christmas Outreach on the 3rd of December, which promises to be great. I am excited to see what they have in store. Obviously, please pray that MANY non-Christians will come and at LEAST hear what God has to say to them and that many many seeds will be planted and hopefully will spring into life that will pour into many more lives. It's always an exciting time of the year and what better time than to share the Love of Christ with those around us?

Posted by Anonymous at 3:50 pm | Permalink | Comments