Sunday, August 26, 2007

ah... a change! from forever friends bear to Tatty! well... i'm the sort who likes changes. and sometimes i make a change juz for the heck of it. so yeah...

i had wanted to blog many times throughout this week. but was juz so tired n occupied to do so. well, not so super woman after all eh? i had vacillate from feeling whiny to being hopeful, feeling grumpy and frustrated to getting on top of things. so my busy-ness kinda spared u from taking a roller coaster ride with me!

ytd had fellowship day at labrador park. was there the whole day. got pretty charred... now red like a lobster!

anyway, will be spending today recharging... reading books, listen 2 online sermon and getting into the Word. in prep for more cheong-ing the coming weeks. perhaps more later. ciao

Sunday, August 19, 2007

i would consider myself a superwoman if not for my aching body n fatigue! but i'm glad the missions conf is over! phew! i m actually quite amazed at how crazy these past week weeks have been... n how i was riding it. sometimes i can almost feel the exhilaration of adrenaline rush. but well, shant attempt such feats too much.

(BTW, i think my pastors are supermen! it's been a very tiring week for them cos of the wake n prep for some big conference etc. way to go pastors! praying for you! haha... as if they read my blog. well... u never noe... lol)

took 2 days leave to settle missions conference but much of the 1st day was taken at TH's deathbed n family after he is gone. and the 2 days were such a mad rush, both emotionally n physically tiring. (was surprised dat after sharing wif my team, a colleague can pray thanking God for a refreshing break! i looked up in surprise with a "huh? where did that come fr?" look. my other colleagues try to stiffle a laugh.) by sat when the youth track of missions conference started, my whole body ached n i was so so tired! but after a good rest on sat night, woke up today feeling fresh n ready to take on the new day - missions conf day!

today, alot of things went wrong. at the children's track, d laptop, projector failed. but later we managed to get it tog n the prog wen well. was so tiring. sweat as if i ran 5k! log s was a crazy thing. DLee shouldnt gotten a group of guys 2 run instead of juz one person. not easy putting this conf tog but it was worth it. the number of pp going for the workshops was up. glad we tried to put it on sun. n even the pledging was up for the chinese side. let's hope next week ours will be too.

heart sank last night wen i got an email saying that payday will be pushed back 1 day due to new acc syst. u have no idea how much i was looking forward to this particular payday! n then a short but not helpful memo saying that sept's payday will be affected as well... they never say when or wat... sigh... hope deferred makes the heart sick! was juz recalling after vision tea wen SE commented that money is "sheng wai wu" n SW n i juz almost flipped n say "wat?" haha... it's not dat we r money minded... but really...we are really living on "daily bread".

some company's sale tactics are really deplorable! use guilt/embarrassment/insult to sell. dun they have any morals? why take the moral low road? but sad to say, such antics do work on gullible, weak-conscience ones who bear the slime n condescension n willingly fork out hundreds n thousands. sigh... can i appeal to your better sense? dun give in to such unethical sales n marketing antics. u do deserve better treatment. dun pay them to further insult u.

"wat is the right thing to do?" (Yeep 2 hui on drums vs tutoring 4 PSLE)
hmm... gd question. need to learn to ask that more often.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

"Sorry" and "Thank you" can sometimes be the cheapest words!
feeling taken for granted and unsupported at the moment.
(by LB n P/chu)

----

i mourn for the lost of dear uncle TH.
remembering that Jesus wept as He saw Lazarus' friends weeping gave me comfort as i wept at his deathbed; wept at the lifeless form on that hospital bed. grieving for the wife, kids and loved ones He had left behind, grieving for the lost of a wonderful man, husband, father, brother in Christ, "Why?" became too weighty a question to ask. i don't ask "Why?" not out of faith, but out of fear. i dare not tread down that path of asking my Whys knowing i cannot bear to have the weight of "non-answers" crush my soul. cos really... only God knows "why". the answers we can come up with just fall short of convincing. so don't you dare offer glib answers. it rubs bad on gaping wounds. in such times like this, one might ask, "what then is faith good for?" "faith", my friend is the only good thing one can hold onto in times like this. faith is knowing that he is in somewhere better than the best we have on earth. that he is in good hands. that we will meet him again. that there is resurrection thru Jesus Christ. faith is strength and hope. faith is praising God despite our disappointments and our tears. faith is wat keeps us going.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

today i found myself at a wedding rehearsal, wondering how on earth i got to be worship leader cum master of ceremony yet again. thankfully it's not being wedding organiser. but oh well, it's not dat i'm doing this unwillingly. but m surprised how i so gamely said "yes" yet again.

well, walking up to church for the rehearsal, thanking God for the cool of the evening, i realised that i m totally content with my life right now. glad. fulfilled. it was almost as if every bit of me heaved an "aahhhhhh". i like my life. not dat there's nothing to improve on... i especially would've liked 2 up my bank acc.. but yeah right now even with dat, i m content. wont mind a boyfriend/ husband or a rock on my ring finger, but right now, i m so content being single. boyfriend or no, rock or no rock, i'm perfectly fine. (not dat there was anytime it wasnt! mind you) this contentment s so overwhelmingly sedative, peaceful. aahhhh........

it's so fun watching the to-be-marrieds run thru the prog. they're such a cute couple. despite not knowing them as well as the many couples whose weddings i organised or emceed, i still find myself rejoicing with them so much.

so this weekend's all packed with wedding prep, wedding, worship pract, worship.
made it official that i stepped down from Youth. was sad. but needful move. i felt me spreading myself in so many min made me so ineffective. n disruptive to the youth min leadership. n i need to watch it b4 i crash n burn. been really a challenging few months for me... n all i can expect is more thrills. but having been with them for... errr... 1 n 3/4 year? n taking 2 cells so far has made me rather attached to them... this special bred of "humans" hahha... n so touched esp by en for showing such "yi yi bu se". thanks darling en... yes will come back one...

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Evan Almighty on greatness.
haha... pardon the title... got it off this movie dats in the cinemas... fren juz watched it... well... maybe i shall... then again.. maybe not... i can always juz turn on the vid cam on myself eh?
okok back to the topic "Greatness".

we dream of being someone great. everything inside us yearns for that. yet we have huge trouble with really believing that we can be someone great. pride and all those fantasies aside, we cannot even dare to think it much less even begin to grapple with the promises in the Bible - "we are more than conquerors", "victorious", "rule over nations", "judge even angels".
we are too beset by our insecurities that we fail to lay hold of what we have in Christ! and not knowing wat we have, we go about our lives looking for attention, affection in the wrong places; looking to imperfect human beings to stroke us, to give us a sense of worth even when knowing that they too are struggling to feel good about themselves.

check out:
http://www.ficm.org/whoami.htm
http://myredeemer.org/foundation/identity/index.shtml

more thoughts next time... really tired... these past month was too eventful n tiring for me! n august promises to not let up! haha. ganbatte ne!

Monday, July 30, 2007

the past week has been a very tiring week (been oversleeping every single day!), rather amazing one filled with exciting events, and fresh experience of God.

was asking God for wisdom... more wisdom... n daniel 2 spoke to me in my situation.

Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;

he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:

You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king."

----
John Piper – Don’t Waste Your Life
God’ s purpose for my life was that I have a passion for God’s glory and that I have a passion for my joy in that glory, and that these two are one passion…. God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all transforming passion – namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

finally doodled on the 2 pairs of sneakers for my sis n i on sat. dun quite like it... but oh well... will do better next time =p

had a tough time on sun for worship. mic down. but band was good. felt misunderstood by yeep.

am still full of phlegm and v tired despite me sleeping enuf (7,8 hours!) sigh... still overslept for work on mon n tues...!

today's spiritual lesson: restoration of broken relationship with God - do we seek this restoration as desperately as we do a quarrel/misunderstanding with boyfriend or best friend?

had a good team mit. shared deeply with SW n WY.
had a (gr8)x10 time with LB.

fr MY's exhortational email:
Today as I made my way to campus, I was actually feeling mundane and dragging my feet when God reminded me of this vision He gave to me, and the reality of that 6000 un-reached campuses loomed at the back of my mind again. It made me realized that everything I do in __ counts and matters, even the most mundane things, and "normal" things like DG, because I must have faith in God that what I do here will contribute to a movement in ____that will somehow reach the 6000 out there!

I pray that this will drive us to our knees to ask of the Lord for the nations, starting with our own campus! Let's also pray that we will not only be concern with small things like how many people come for our LM etc, and for our students if they do well for their exams but pray that God will help them be a different "breed" of students, who will be a powerful force for His kingdom on your campuses. Please pray because warfare is real.
I know something is going to happen because God is working

from The Biblical Guide to Alternative Medicine by Dr Neil Anderson & Dr Michael Jacobsen, p87:

Gucci, Rolex, Stradivarius – just the mention of these names and one thinks of quality. These brands represent the best in their fields, and their products are so expensive that only the wealthy can afford them. And since ownership communicates a message of prosperity, many people in the world desire to own these products. The problem is that the price is so high that most will not pay it. As a result, there exists a black market of brand-name look-alikes. While these illegal products look like the genuine articles, they are not. Even so, they derive their value from the real thing by how closely their appearance mimics that of the brand-name product.
So it is in the spiritual realm… The Scriptures teach us that there is but one God; all other would-be gods are imposters. The Bible also teaches us that we were designed by God to worship Him and to have a personal relationship with Him. Since we are incomplete without Christ, and were never designed to live independently of God, we have this spiritual vacuum inside, an inner longing to be complete. Only in Christ are we made complete. (Col 1:28, 2:10). Many have never had the opportunity to meet God (the genuine article). Others have been introduced to Him, but they have decided that the price of such a relationship with Him is too high (humbling oneself, acknowledging His sovereignty, confessing and forsaking sin). They prefer to live independently of God and not give up control of their own lives and destinies. Thus, a black-market spiritual realm appeals to many people because it operates independently of God and offers power (without humility), knowledge (without study), and a person doesn’t have to give up sinful habits, materialism and autonomy. However, all it costs is our soul.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Many Aspire but Few Attain

many call Jesus Lord... but few really make Him Lord

when you say you'll follow, you'll obey... whose terms are you working on? yours or the Lord's?

some young people, after coming out of some bible seminar given by some renown, proven bible teachers (doctorate, prof level), can criticise and think that they know better. (eg. teach spiritual gifts using OT verse?!) pls lah... that person has read the Bible more than you have crossed roads, taught more bible classes than all the classes you've ever attended put together! such arrogance! such unteachable, hardened hearts will cause u to miss what the Lord is trying to show you.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

my dad sms-ed me this 2 days ago...

you either lose your pride to your loved ones or lose your loved ones to your pride.
(17 july 7.56am)

dat s so so right.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Angie sms-ed me early today:
'Evan, praying for u this morning and Deut 28:12 came to mind. have a blessed day. angie."
this was exactly wat i needed! Praise God!
---

the book of Habakkuk opens with questions on why God allows evil n suffering, shows us how God answers the prophet's questions. we can from it find hope n faith for whatever situations we face and know that God answers us. "The righteous will live by faith"
read Habakkuk today!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=42&chapter=1&version=31
---

sometimes our successes n answered prayers can be a hindrance. what do i mean?
sometimes we think how God has grown us or answered our prayers will be how God wants to work in a new situation. and when we think that or work towards that, we are boxing God up, and worse, we may miss understanding how God wants to work in this new situation. sometimes answered prayers for success in min or a particular project can cause pride to insiduously well up such that when we approach a new situation, we don't go in with "Lord show us how" but "this is how the Lord has work, so this is how we would......" beware.
----

"it's not the hours you put in that count... it's what you put into the hours"

"tough times don't last, tough people do"

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

went out to celebrate my 6th ann with Pat n Jerry. it's always a gr8 time learning from them.
lessons learnt:
God calls and He works. there's absolutely no way anyone can claim credit. wait n see the wonders wrought by God's mighty hand. He will establish His will. n no one can thwart His plans.
Do not touch the Lord's anointed.
Pray. Lord, have mercy upon us. People are so lost. They need Jesus.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

my 6th anniversary!

as i begin my 7th year in full time, pray that i will
know and love God more and more,
be a faithful and effective servant of His.


LORD, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known!
- Habakkuk 3:2

Lord i want to see spiritual movements.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." - John 14:12-14

send revival
establish spiritual movements
Glorify Your name

Friday, July 13, 2007

ok i'm back. it's really a blast! will update you soon... m on this crazy camps-dash... juz finished NUS FOC... now going for ST planning retreat. ciao for now

Friday, June 29, 2007

off to korea!

hahaha... now in T1 waiting to board my plane to korea!
will be there on a conference... haha... shall try to put the little korean that i noe to use... hopefully i wont b too shy to not try.

u take care yah... =)
you frens should have gotten my newsletter... if not, sms me wif ur email add!!




Monday, June 25, 2007

some of you expressed your concern after reading the last blog entry. thank you so much. =) i'm fine actually... juz was so piffed.

will really have to look into managing anger sometime. being angry is not wrong. but how one handles, expresses it... dat s where alot of us trip up. u cant deny it, suppress it, wish it away, pretend it isnt there... neither can u blow up, give it full expression, bring the inner havoc out. check out proverbs 14:29, 15:1, 16:32, 19:11, 22:24, 25;15 at http://www.biblegateway.com/

ok.. need to go... got meeting...

will leave u with writings (taken from a biography of him - A MAN WITHOUT COMPROMISE)of this amazing guy - John G. Lake (u do ur own search on him):

isn’t it marvelous, beautiful, wonderful to realise that mankind can receive into their nature and being the power and Spirit of the living Christ which contains the purging power to drive forth from the being every particle of evil, every sensuous thing in the thought and nature, so that the man becomes as Jesus is. that is what the blood of Jesus is calculated to do. that is what the Spirit of Christ is purposed to do in the soul of a man – the cleansing of the nature from the power and dominion of sin.

On the ground of what Jesus Christ did, the substitutionary sacrifice, God is able to redeem us from our sins. He is able to impart to us His very nature. He is able to give us eternal life, take us into His own family, so that we can call Him “Father”. Not by adoption only, but by an actual birth of our spirit, so we come into actual relationship and union with God and the age-old cry of universal man as been fulfilled.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

the reason why i had this drifty, floaty feeling is that i had ear infection! so yeah for the past few days i had to take loads of pills again... and my world spins periodically. had loads of trouble trying to lead worship last sun cos cant hear myself sing, my head felt like bursting when the band played, and the world whirls before my eyes when i looked at the congre. well... i was juz glad i didnt like fall down in the middle of it. so yeah. had taken leave for youth camp but turned out i couldnt stay with them. had to rest. so turned out the leave was taken so i can rest. m so disappointed i couldnt be wif them.

was very fed up the past few days cos i needed the comp very badly and i realised how reliant i m to the comp these days. sigh... cannot do work, cannot settle things.
n i m thankful for being able to e comp now... all thanks to liebe for lending me the laptop n inconveniencing herself.

today was a very productive day... back-to-back appts n rushing here n there.... tiring enuf... but i realised how i like to fill my days up so much to challenge n stretch myself n get many things done. i hate not being able to settle stuff.

but alas. i m v fed up now. pls dun mess wif my stuff... juz deal with ur mess. myob. it's so frustrating wen it's not ur mess u have 2 live with.

u ve no idea how much i was looking forward to shopping wif u tmr.
i ve blocked it out. cleared out my schedule. fine fine.
dun ask me the same questions over n over again. u dun rem my answer or u dun like my answer or u think i ll change my answer? i said i would do it means i would do it. i said yes. it is yes.

fed up. fat up. (oh btw, i m the fattest ever in my whole entire life. the weighing machine says so... so i m not making this up! no worries... i'm incorrigible. shant go on a diet.)

wish u wld hung ard even wen i was pissed.

wow... i've turned into one of those people who use blogs to tell pp off... tsk tsk. sigh...
i'm despicable! man, i suc

[transmission will resume once sanity has returned to the blogger. but dun bet on it. blogger does not condone gambling. blogger is now going to contact a higher power for help. the higher power being God- Jesus Christ.]

Friday, June 15, 2007

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire - William Yeats

there are 4 levels of stress:
- no stress -> boredom
- common stress (comfortable level, functional. often needed so as to motivate a person to accomplish a task)
- excitable stress (challenges, pushes a person to accomplish a task.)
- detrimental stress

stress can be caused by fear (fear of failure, past experiences, of what people will think of us etc)

ok... above are juz stuff i came across dat i'm about to delete or throw away.. thot i'd juz type out some points i wanna rem here.
wow... it s been so looooonnnnggggg since i blogged... cos... my desktop at home died-ed. had trouble one month back... tot it was some software prob.... bro took sometime to reformat, then alas...one short week later... it kapoot-ed. turned out it was a hardware prob. n juz right after the warranty expires! sigh.... so now i m comp-less!

went on Star Cruise (went to penang n phuket) with cousins and cousins' cousins. LWK, Hui2, Goody n Julia. was so fun. something i really needed... n i really LLLLOOOOOVVVEEEE the sea! so it's a hol tailor-made for me. gorgeous sunsets, sea, mountains... n... oh... the glorious food... great service... wonderful company. m so thankful to God!

man... the whole time u can feel the vibrations of the ship... esp when journalling, sleeping... n esp when i was on the toilet bowl. haha... n seriously... m feeling a little land sick! i kinda get this drifting feeling. which is funny cos i ve been on long open sea travelling more othen than anyone... maybe i'd go throw up right now... haha

now readying myself for youth camp tmr... n scrambling to get some work done before that.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

i had wanted to log off without blogging even tho i had wanted to post an entry. my friend convinced me to do so citing this reason: you'll never come this way again. and dat was enuf 4 me to re-open IE and type this.

you'll never come this way again... how profound!

ok ok.... here's wat i had wanted to blog:
was flipping thru n reading the highlighted portions of the book "Partners in Prayer" by Max Lucado n tot i'd type this out for u to ponder thru:
When we remove idols in our lives, we become ripe for personal revival.
...to know that something in your life is an idol is to ask yourself “Would I be willing to give this thing up if God asked me to?”