Question the Question

Apologies for the lagg of posts. Been lazy and playing this new game Cabal. This kinda mmopg games really get you hooked on fast.

Anyways, i've been out visiting a few people in hospital in the past month. Brings back memories of when my mum was in hospital. Looking at the patient, looking at the family - i cannot help but try to figure out what is going on in their minds, especially with those whose family member is just on the verge of death. I've gone down this road before and i can empathise. And i'm going to ask this question - Why does God allow us to suffer? Isn't He the God of love, mercy and compassion? Surely He would not bear to see us suffer.

Do we suffer because, it is a test from God of our faith?
Do we suffer because, He wants us to draw near to Him?
Do we suffer because, He wants to teach us something?
Do we suffer because, God is using us as part of His plan?
Do we suffer because, we are sinful by nature?
Do we suffer because, we chose God?

To push the question further, Why does God allow the righteous/innocent to suffer? Look at the wars happening around the world, natural diseasters, violence, crimes. This is exactly the same question the prophet Habbakuk struggled with.

Habakkuk cried to God because the wicked people were treating the good people very badly. He wondered how God could allow the wicked people to do mean things for so long. After a "short dialouge" with God, the answer comes...

The final conclusion of Habakkuk is that we must allow God to be God, and allow Him to do things His way and in His own good time. Our job is to trust Him and to live by faith! "The righteous will live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4) --- the key verse of this entire book!! Although things do not always turn out as we would like, yet we will rejoice in the Lord anyway! (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

I have come to terms with this. Whenever we “wrestle” (which is actually what the name Habakkuk means) with such doubts or questions. Have this in the back of your head. Our job is to trust Him and to live by faith! Although things do not always turn out as we would like, yet we will rejoice in the Lord anyway. Faith, Hope and Love.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." - Revelation 21:4

The Case For Evangelism

Jesus, I believe in You

And I would go to the ends of the earth

To the ends of the earth

For You alone are the Son of God

And all the world will see

That You are God

You are God

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 – But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

The apostle Paul declares that our evangelism is always victorious… whether men submit to Christ in faith, or whether they reject Him… We triumph as God manifests through us the knowledge of Christ in every place. This witness is a sweet aroma to God… regardless of how men respond to it!

However, concern for the nobleman's soul was not the supreme motive that moved Christ to witness to this sinner. Running even deeper within His breast was a love of God. Though induced by a desire to save men, Christ was primarily motivated by a longing to glorify His Father. You cannot carefully read the Gospels and fail to see that our Lord's chief aim in every act was to do the will of His Father and to make His glory known to men.

-John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad!

Take The Lead

"Men draw a circle around themselves and vow to protect and care for all who fall within it. For some men, that circle includes their "woman" and children. For others, their extended family. For great men -- leaders like D'Leh -- it includes many, many people. A man must decide who falls in his circle of influence."

I just caught Leap Years and 10 000 BC in like a 5 hour span. Amazing but true. haha. Leap years is one of the best Singapore production ever made. Almost. Except for the overload on Corinne May songs says Ms Guo. I'm glad to have caught it otherwise, i would to wait another 4 years -.- ok not funny.

10 000 BC, thats' where the above quote is from is kinda like a Lord of the rings + 300 + Independence Day + Jurassic Park + Ice Age combined. You get my drift. Set in a time before Abraham, the film pictures a world in which different people groups worship varying gods. Every Tribe prophesise of a great leader who would deliver them, with everyone of the prophesies coming true.

I want a big circle. how bout you?

We Worship - Based on Psalm 24

Verse:
Open up the doors, lift up the gates
The King of Glory, take His rightful place
Let His power fall, may His glory fill
May thy Holy Spirit, come do as it will

Chorus:
We worship the Lord Almighty
We worship the King of Kings
We worship the one who saved me
Jesus, who died to set me free

Bridge:
Lift our hands
Lift our voices
Lift up our praise to thee

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

Psalm 4

1 Answer me when I call to you,
O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2 How long will you people ruin my reputation?
How long will you make groundless accusations?
How long will you continue your lies?

Selah

3 You can be sure of this:
The Lord set apart the godly for himself.
The Lord will answer when I call to him.

4 Don’t sin by letting anger control you.
Think about it overnight and remain silent.

Selah

5 Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,
and trust the Lord.

6 Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”
Let your face smile on us, Lord.
7 You have given me greater joy
than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

Don't you just love the Psalms :)

The Importance of Fellowship on the horizontal plane

I have for a while been pondering on the idea of “church” and why we meet every Sunday. I had many questions circulating in my mind about whether it is important for us to keep meeting and running services like this at a regular basis or not.

For me, a person who has pretty much been attending church "religiously" all my life, it is quite easy to just go through the routine without thinking twice or questioning why i'm doing what i'm doing.

If someone were to ask me about 4 years ago why I go to church, I’m pretty sure I would’ve said something naïve like “to meet with God, of course”, without thinking anything of the absurd statement I just made. First of all it would’ve been a completely dishonest thing for me to say, and secondly, why can’t we meet with God outside of church? Does God only dwell in the closed up space of this fellowship we call church?

The way a church service is run, it is designed in a way so that we are able to put God in the focal point – Singing songs to GOD, having someone share a testimony about GOD’s work in their life, and hear the word being preached about what we think GOD is saying to the church etc. This is the place where we are taught about the wondrous being of God and how we are able to take part in His ultimate plan, and the interaction with one another connects us to the greater body of Christ.

The constant exposure to God’s revelation of the Word and the unity that is achieved in taking part in the corporate worship, exaltation and adoration of God should fill us up to the point where our hearts are overflowing with compassion and love. When the community feels dry and unfulfilling, maybe it’s time we re-examined what our personal purposes are in going to church. Because I think that church is a place where we build each other up, edify and encourage one other.

Fellowship is not just being together but doing together. It is not just doing anything together but it is working together to accomplish God’s will.

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

- Acts 2:42-47 - The Fellowship of Believers.

Prison Break...

This is hilarious. Found this on “The way of the Ninja bomber”. Facebook. Well it seems that this guy is the hot topic here in Singapore. The guy who was accused of planning to slam a hijacked plane in Changi Airport and the apparent JI leader, Singapore arm.

The latest news is that Mas Selamat has fled to indonesia according to The Star. While Singapore authorities continue their extensive/intensive manhunt.

Many argue conspiracies to his escape, some cant be bothered. But still, i am baffled at the fact the limping man can escaped the various levels of security unnoticed. The explanation that he escaped due to a security laspe is not detailed enough and definitely does not suffice. Anyways.

He was last seen limping up a flight of steps on the hill slope which leads to the Bukit Brown Chinese cemetery. And not so nearby Toa Payoh Lor 1.

'The search for Mas Selamat Kastari is on-going. The police assure that all leads are thoroughly pursued.'

Members of public with any information on his whereabouts should call 999 immediately. They can also email police at spf_police_information@spf.gov.sg.

Mas Selamat if you happen to chance upon this blog. Jesus still loves you :) no matter how many times you run away.

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him ... Psalm 103:15-17

Connecting To God.

I will worship You for who You are
I will worship You for who You are
I will worship You for who You are
Jesus...

[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. "The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).

Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be.

It was great, to take some time, quiet before the Lord, listening, meditating upon His word. Though for some of them it was the first time, got quite scared and anxious about it. I thank the Lord for speaking to each and everyone in the group through the activity.

We meditated upon Psalms 1, it reads:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Through that God, placed upon my heart "things to do this holiday". I was to bear much fruit as a vision He gave me suggest. So i guess thats what i'm gonna do this holiday to NS. To meet up with more youths, spend time with them and maybe God willing outreach to others.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

What does it mean to abide in God ?
Abiding in Jesus must be the central fact of your life.
Abiding in Jesus is the key to bearing fruit. .
Abiding in Jesus means spending quality time with Him.
Abiding in Jesus means having fellowship with other believers.
In essence: To love God and your neighbour.

And what fruit do we bear?
We bear the fruit of the spirit - Love.

...

After twenty years of shaving himself every morning, a man in a small Southern town decided he had enough. He told his wife that he intended to let the local barber shave him each day. He put on his hat and coat and went to the barber shop, which was owned by the pastor of the town's Baptist Church.

The barber's wife, Grace, was working that day, so she performed the task. Grace shaved him and sprayed him with lilac water, and said, "That will be $20." The man thought the price was a bit high, but he paid the bill and went to work. The next morning the man looked in the mirror, and his face was as smooth as it had been when he left the barber shop the day before. Not bad, he thought. At least I don't need to get a shave every day.

The next morning, the man's face was still smooth. Two weeks later, the man was still unable to find any trace of whiskers on his face. It was more than he could take, so he returned to the barber shop.

"I thought $20 was high for a shave", he told the barber's wife, "but you must have done a great job. It's been two weeks and my whiskers still haven't started growing back."

The expression on her face didn't even change, expecting his comment. She responded, "You were shaved by Grace. Once shaved, always shaved."