Adapting to changes..

Serving dialect church was fun.

This Thursday might be a whimpering day for me . At first I was really self-centered that I really can't lose Bronson a leader I admire a leader I always wanted to be with and learn from him but now I was posted w Bronson, I dun feel any excitement at all actually when they saw the message. They was like this..

She said she just tired, bingxi was like don't let zheng long see the message!..

Arielsmiles, after such long day she smiled vibrantly to me, I guess u will be fine yeah :) Now I really miss you all already ley. 

Sacrifice

The Meaning of Sacrifice

Sacrifice means giving to the Lord whatever He requires of our time, our earthly possessions, and our energies to further His work. The Lord commanded, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Our willingness to sacrifice is an indication of our devotion to God. People have always been tried and tested to see if they will put the things of God first in their lives.

There are different form of sacrifice need not always be money but your time is good enough for God.

Sacrifice Helps Us Prepare to Live in the Presence of God

Only through sacrifice can we become worthy to live in the presence of God. Only through sacrifice can we enjoy eternal life. Many who have lived before us have sacrificed all they had. We must be willing to do the same if we would earn the rich reward they enjoy.

We may not be asked to sacrifice all things. But like Abraham, we should be willing to sacrifice everything to become worthy to live in the presence of the Lord.

The Lord’s people have always sacrificed greatly and in many different ways. Some have suffered hardship and ridicule for the gospel. Some new converts to the Church have been cut off from their families. Lifetime friends have turned away. Some members have lost their jobs; some have lost their lives. But the Lord notices our sacrifices; He promises, “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19:29).

As our testimonies of the gospel grow, we become able to make greater sacrifices to the Lord.

We just require to sacrifice our time for God to live in His presence isn't that better than doing nothing and wasting your time?

Source: http://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-26-sacrifice

Becca's Birthday 

                 

                                                               Happygirl

                                                               Sunflowers

                                                          Presents

                                                                Ice-cream

                                                            Look up Cheese

Raising hands

   

Today post is about raising hands to God!

I realized when I brought new friends to church and they started lifting their hands to God.

Is a sign that they are so open to God.

We really need to work on these people telling them more about Jesus :)

Job 11:13 ESV 

“If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.

Exodus 9:33 ESV 

So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.

Lamentations 3:41 ESV 

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

My weekend!

Happy Birthday peijia, I still prefer to call you Peijia, it seems I'm much closer to you. It seems we just meet haha but we knew each other for so long! Yeah though when you attend cg and svr I always shoot you, hope you know I don't really mean it okay! Just that I don't really like your princessy style other than that there's nothing to pick on cos you're a caring, cheerful and pretty lil girl. 

I guess you already had a big birthday celebration, I hope you really enjoyed it! I also hope that you also understand why I didn't attend your birthday celebration. 

Yes sometimes we should let go and let the grace flow through us but I don't know what attitude should I use to face her. I like pure ppl, in the sense not two sided. To me she gave me so much to remember alr. 

Well carry on..

Hope you like the pairs of rilakkuma :)

Adventure cove

Adventure cove was really really fun just that we couldn't play all the ride. Stingrays, high element, tidal twister, reef. However, the one that left me was the reef and high elements because the reef is a good experience cos you don't need to go Maldives to experience such clarity in the water, snorkeling with the fishes was definetely fun. The high element was a another eye-opener course cos I climbed the high rope to ring the bell. When I was reaching the top my body felt imbalance and I was shaking all around, then I say in my heart God just let me ring that bell yeah!

I stretched my hand out to ring bell

"Clang, clang"

I drop back into the water, I felt like I was in a coma  but I was really happy and felt fulfilling, it also just erased all those memories :)

Halloween night at USS

It was okay, didn't took lots photos, but I saw the other side of USS !

And was my first time eating loh mee, it was so awesome okay! 

And later to v6 club then we ended our day at bugis haha!

Pastor Phil pringle's service

Awesome presence of God! The praise and worship was really moving! Though the aircon was really cold to me we turn the heat up for God.

"Jump Jump" ..

Reaching out to Jesus

Burn our soul to gold! 

Photo credit: Jere

I'm lost without you..

Awesome presence of God, I'm really lost without You, though I still prefer Bronson to preach the word of God. Yesterday message was very strong. Though I didn't note down anything. I just knelt down and sacrfice my time and voice to God. Ya everyone thing that sacrifice is all about money and expensive stuff that you give to God. No it isn't but actually is the other way round. Sometimes when u quietened down and listen to the heartbeat actually there's 2 different frequency one is thumping of God's love in you. The other is you thumping for God, cos God's love is one feeling that u never ever will forget.

12 things you need to know about the Prodigal Son

 

by Jimmy Akin 

There is more to the story of the prodigal son than meets the eye. Here are 12 things you should know about it.

On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, the gospel reading is the famous parable of the "prodigal son."

It is a moving story that teaches us about God's love for us and his willingness to forgive us no matter what we have done.

But there is more to the story than meets the eye . . . much more.

Here are 12 things you need to know.

 

1. What does "prodigal" mean?

The word "prodigal" is mysterious to us. Almost the only time we ever hear it is in the title of this parable.

It's basic meaning is "wasteful"--particularly with regard to money.

It comes from Latin roots that mean "forth" (pro-) and "to drive" (agere). It indicates the quality of a person who drives forth his money--who wastes it by spending with reckless abandon.

That's what the prodigal son does in this story.

 

2. Why does Jesus tell this parable?

This question is answered at the beginning of Luke 15, where we read:

[1] Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him [Jesus]. [2] And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." [3] So he told them this parable . . .

Actually, Jesus tells three parables:

The parable of the lost sheep

The parable of the lost coin

The parable of the lost son (or, as we know it, the parable of the prodigal son) 

All three parables are on the subject of recovering the lost, which is the implicit explanation of why Jesus receives sinners and eats with them: They are lost, and he wants to recover them.

Interestingly, the parable of the prodigal son (and the parable of the lost coin) occur only in Luke.

 

3. What's happening in the parable?

Jesus' parables are based on real-life situations, though they often veer off from the expected course of events in surprising ways. Those surprises teach us lessons.

Here, Jesus relates the situation of a father who has two sons, one of whom can't wait for his inheritance.

In Jewish society, there were laws regarding how inheritances were typically divided. The oldest brother got a double share (cf. Deut. 21:17), while the other brothers got a single share.

When there were two brothers (as here), the older brother would get 2/3rds of the estate, and the younger brother would get 1/3rd.

 

4. What is the prodigal son asking for?

In this parable, the younger son demands "the share of property that falls to me" (v. 12).

That means he is asking for the 1/3rd of the father's possessions that he would ordinarily get when the father dies.

Think about that.

He's asking his father to give him 1/3rd of everything that he owns right now, before the father is dead, when his father would still have use for these possessions.

How many fathers would receive that suggestion well today? How many would comply with it if one of their children asked it?

Not many!

This is a truly astonishing request, and it would have been even more astonishing in the ancient world.

In a society that highly reverenced parents, it would have been equivalent to saying: "Father, I can't even wait for you to die. Give me 1/3rd of everything you have right now."

 

5. What does the father's reaction teach us?

Despite the breathtaking--and insulting--audacity of the younger son's request, the father grants it!

Amazing!

This reflects the amazing indulgence that God shows toward us. Even when we are acting as selfishly as the prodigal son, God indulges us.

He yields what is his and allows us to misuse it out of respect for the freedom that he has given us.

But he knows that the misuse of our freedom will have no better results than it did with the prodigal son's misuse of his freedom, and God trusts that we will learn our lesson and come back to him.

 

6. What does the prodigal son do next?

After he gets 1/3rd of his father's estate, he takes everything he has and goes "into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living" (v. 13).

In context, this means that he abandoned the Holy Land to go, voluntarily, into exile into a gentile, pagan country where he could live loosely without being censured by fellow Jews living all around him.

He wanted to get out of God's land so that he could live in sin and fund his sinful lifestyle by what he took from his father.

But eventually the resources he had were exhausted and a hard time came.

If he had not spent what he had on loose living (as we will later learn, on prostitutes), he would have had the money he needed to weather the hard time, but he didn't.

Thus he was reduced to a state of hunger and had to subject himself to a pagan (humiliation #1) and to feed the pagan's pigs (humiliation #2).

He would have been happy just to eat as well as the pigs (humiliation #3), but nobody gave him anything to eat, not even from the pigs' slop (humiliation #4).

Having been brought to such a low state, he recalled how his righteous father treated even his hired servants better: "How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!" (v. 17).

He thus plans to return to his father and say three things:

(a) "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you" (v. 18),

(b) "I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (v. 19a),

(c) "treat me as one of your hired servants" (v. 19b).

Even being treated as one of his father's hired servants would be better than the treatment he is receiving in the gentile world.

 

7. What do the actions of the prodigal son teach us?

They teaches us the depths to which our own misuse of freedom will bring us.

If we are bent on leaving God, things will go badly for us. We will be humiliated in the uncaring world.

The farther we get from the Father's loving care, the worse off we will be, and our best course is to return to God and his forgiveness.

 

8. What does the father do next?

When the prodigal son returns to his father, something significant happens.

While he is still at a distance, the father sees him, has compassion upon him, runs to him, hugs him, and kisses him.

This is far from the humiliating reunion that the son might expect based on his previous audacious and insulting treatment of his father!

The returning son must have been astonished!

But he continues by beginning to recite his pre-scripted speech to his father, and he manages to get the first two parts of it out. He says:

(a) "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you" (v. 21a),

(b) "I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (v. 21b).

But before he can say the third part--before he can ask to be treated merely as a servant--the father interrupts things and takes them in a very different direction.

Rather than treating his younger son as a mere servant, he turns to the actual servants and orders a celebration.

 

9. What do the actions of the father teach us?

The first lesson is that the father will not treat a son as a hired servant. The younger son is still a son!

As a result, his return is something to be celebrated!

He is to wear a fancy robe! A fancy ring! Shoes! There is to be a fancy feast for everyone! There is to be music and dancing!

Why?

Because "This my son was dead, and is alive again" and "He was lost, and is found."

This shows us God's reaction when we return from being lost in sin.

He doesn't begrudge us what we have done. He doesn't take us back reluctantly.

Like the father in the parable, he takes us back joyously! Eagerly!

But this is not all there is to the story . . .

 

10. What does the older brother do next?

There is usually at least one major lesson per parable for each major figure in it, and now we come to the lesson that the older brother can teach us.

He didn't demand his inheritance. He stayed faithful to his father. And now he is angry.

Why should his younger, wasteful, sinful brother receive such a reception by their father?

The older brother is so angry that he refuses to go inside and join the party.

Naturally, his father hears about it and comes to talk to him.

When that happens, we discover that he's not just angry with his brother, he's angry with his father, too.

He points out that he has never disobeyed his father's commands but that his father has never given him a kid (a young goat) so that he could slaughter it and have a party with his friends.

In contrast, the younger brother has "devoured your living with harlots" (wasting a third of the father's estate!), but when he comes back "the fatted calf" (that is, the best, most tender and delicious animal, specially raised to be so) is killed!

The older brother sees this difference in treatment as a manifest injustice toward him and is angry with his father because of it.

As we will see, he even seems to be worrying about his own security in the family since the father is showing such seeming favoritism to the younger son.

 

11. What does the father do?

The father tells the son three things.

First, he tells him: "Son, you are always with me." This seems to be a reassurance to the elder son that he has not lost his place in the family. His place is secure.

Second, he tells him: "and all that is mine is yours." This is because the division of property has already taken place. The younger soon took his third, so the two-thirds that remain will go entirely to the older son.

This means that the current celebration does not represent a threat to the older brother or his inheritance. Instead, it is a celebration of joy occasioned by the return of the son.

Thus the father thirdly tells him: "It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

 

12. What are the spiritual lessons for us? 

From this parable we can draw a number of spiritual lessons:

We can be a genuine son of the Father--who is spiritually "alive"--and be "lost" through sin. We can turn our backs on our heavenly Father and leave him of our own free will. Mortal sin is a real possibility.

Mortal sin inevitably lands us in a far worse state than we were in originally.

We can, however, return to the Father and be accepted by him with great joy. In fact, he is ready and eager to accept us back and forgive us, no matter what we've done.

Christians who have never fallen should not resent those who come back. They should share in their Father's joy.

Their own place is secure and their heavenly reward is not threatened. God loves them just as much as he loves those who come back through a dramatic conversion.

 

What Now?

If you like the information I've presented here, you should join my Secret Information Club.

If you're not familiar with it, the Secret Information Club is a free service that I operate by email.

I send out information on a variety of fascinating topics connected with the Catholic faith.

In fact, the very first thing you’ll get if you sign up is information about what Pope Benedict says about the book of Revelation.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/12-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-prodigal-son#ixzz2i7iB1CP0

God's love

This topic which I want to talk about is really the basic of Christianity but is also quite a big topic to talk about. We all know God's love is unconditional and even through the toughs times, but sometimes we couldn't be like God. Temptation, self-conscious, money just lead us away from God.

1.Temptation 

If there's two religion we need to choose a side to stand likewise in current situation we need to choose between God and boyfriend and girlfriend (for those who don't know how to balance between) I will choose God. I learned that my selfish love for the party, sooner or later will lead to hurts, not just me but both party, but God is always there for us to love cos He first love us.

2. Self-conscious 

We always care about our looks, time and materials that we couldn't get enough. However, we tend to forget Christ! Sometimes, sacrifices is needed to be made, I'm not saying big sacrifices like donating large amount of money etc. sacrificing your time for quiet time with God is enough to satisfies Him.

in conclusion, choose God cos God is real, God will just prepares the route for u and you just need to embrace it, though sometimes I will like asking God why!! Your timing  buay zun eh. However, I will go thru this roller coaster ride cos I know it will be worth it cos God is a good God isn't it? Hahaha

A real God.

Though there's so much hinderance stopping me to go forward with God, God is real to me.

During my troubled times I really thanks God for an awesome cgl. He went all the way down to my place which is punggol to run, chat and understands me but most importantly to explain to me despite he will be having a poly camp on the following day.

JiaJun's POP

A story about David!

http://christianity.about.com/od/oldtestamentpeople/a/King-David.htm 

I brought a friend to church :) 

She was so blessed and told me that she felt healed in the name of Jesus.

First time, I saw her smiles :)

A testimonial from a friend!

Focus

People do some incredibly stupid things when they lose their focus: I lost my photography vision. I felt weak really weak when everything just goes against me. I am having a trial of a lifetime, eye and heart problem which persisted haunting me. I'm so tired dealing with these stuff alr. Why a person who know you for more than two to three year don't understood you and hurt u deeply.. Mostly is the girls who does that. I don't understand them. Oh well

In Luke 4:1,2, the Bible tells us Jesus fasted for forty days. Satan observed that Jesus was hungry and came to tempt Him. A couple of things to consider about hunger:

1) Abraham Maslow wrote a psychology theory in 1943 known as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Maslow believed that if a person is hungry (this is extreme hunger), all of his energies turn toward remedying his deficiency. In other words, a hungry person will ignore every other aspect of his existence until he is fed.

2) When Christians are physically weak, they are more prone to be spiritually weak.

Satan has been working against humans for thousands of years. He knows human psychology and physiology better than any human. Seeing a potential opportunity of vulnerability, he moves against Jesus.

Luke 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

Here is Satan appealing to Jesus' basic human need. It is an attempt to get Jesus to do a miracle to please Himself. Perhaps Satan reminded Jesus that John the Baptist had said that God could raise children of Abraham from stones if He needed them. If Jesus needed food, just make it from this stone! He is the Son of God! Doesn’t He need to eat? Doesn’t He have power to feed Himself? But, there is potentially more here than getting Jesus to do a miracle to please Himself. Satan simply throws out an idea – “command the stone that it be made bread.” Jesus could have responded in many ways:

1) He could have rationalized the situation. After all, He does need to eat. God the Father wouldn’t want Him to die of hunger. Jesus needs to live to conduct His ministry ... and it is a long way to town. Just this one time wouldn’t hurt anything and it’s not like He’s making a spectacle of His power ... it's not like anyone’s there to see it. And, “all things were made by Him” (John 1:3) so it would seem He does have the right to do it.

2) Jesus could have felt sorry for Himself. After forty days of devotion to God, why wasn’t there food for Him? Surely, God knows He’s hungry! Why hasn’t He provided for Him? If He can’t trust God to meet this simple need, how can He trust God with anything?

But “What’s the big deal?” you might wonder. “Isn’t Jesus the Ruler of all and doesn’t He have the right and power to do as He pleases?” The answer is, “Yes.” However, Christ chose not to abuse His power. That’s how temptation works and sinbegins, then deepens. There are many examples:

Power abuse: But when he ("he” is King Uzziah) was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. So Azariah the priest ... withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.” Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar ... King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).

Adultery: In 2 Samuel 11 and 12 is the story of David and Bathsheba. A lustful look at a woman bathing led to an adulterous affair, the birth of an illegitimate child, and David giving orders to have one of his most valiant fighters killed.

Alcoholism: Melvin Trotter helped his father and brothers tend bar and was uninfluenced by his mother’s prayers and desire for him to live a Christian life. He began to drink heavily and couldn't hold onto a job. He committed petty crimes to buy liquor. Melvin stayed away from his wife and baby son for long periods of time. He came home after one such period to find their baby son dead. On January 9, 1897, while in Chicago, he sold his shoes to buy alcohol. Now utterly destitute, he came to the Pacific Garden Mission, a place for the city’s down-and-out where they could eat, sleep, and hear the Gospel. Melvin listened to the sermon and committed his life to Christ.

Stealing: And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold (Luke 19:8). Tax collectors in Israel made extra money by overcharging the people and pocketing the difference.

Selling out the Lord: (Judas speaking) Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein…For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor…Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver (John 12:5,6; 13:6; Matthew 26:14,15).

All of these people had something in common. They never anticipated the consequences of their sin and they lived with regret for the rest of their lives. (Judas hanged himself shortly after betraying Christ.) Sure, sin is pleasurable for a while (see Hebrews 11:25), but note the consequences: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).

These are people who lost their focus. The problem with sin is it begins with something small, perhaps insignificant. But once that small sin is committed, it gets easier and easier to do again. Then the sins get bigger and bigger until the consequences of the sin control the person: the grand larcenist began with one item, the adulterer with one flirt, the alcoholic with one drink, the rapist with one lustful thought, the murderer with one selfish idea.

People who lose their focus don’t think the sin they’re committing is that bad and they don’t think the consequences will ever happen to them. Satan tells Christians, “Don’t worry. No one will ever know. Nothing’s going to happen to you.” But what is Satan doing? “… your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 6:8b). Satan wants to devour you. Are you letting him?

Jesus didn’t lose His focus: Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Matthew 4:11 records that once Satan departed, angels ministered to Jesus. There was never a need for Jesus to turn stones into bread. He only had to wait a few more minutes and angels would minister to Him.

There will be many times when you will be tempted to gain something the wrong way that could be yours if you would just wait a little longer for God. Keep your focus. Avoid the sin. Don't become the next person to live the rest of your life with regret because you did something stupid and lost everything that you value.

Credits:
http://www.examiner.com/article/losing-focus-on-god-could-result-sin-and-a-lifetime-of-regret

Relationship..

AAt times I told my friends to post good things about God because that is what He define us to be.

However, sometimes we can't really have the best of both world cos we are still humans after all we could feel the pain!

Well too me relationship is the biggest thing that I should recovers from..

Relationship hurts, that's what I see for now.

 

                      A happy family

               Well we are just friends 

Situations change with time

A poor boy was in love with a rich man daughter….One day the boy proposed to her and the girl said…”Hey! Listen, your monthly salary is my daily hand expenses..How can I be involved with you..?

How could you have thought of that? I can never love you, so forget about me and get engaged to someone else OF your level”

But somehow the boy could not forget her so easily…..Some time 10 years later they stumbled into each other in a shopping mall.

The lady again said….,”Hey.. ! You! How are you? Now I’m married and do you know how much my husband’s salary is..? $15,700 per month! Can you beat that? And he is also very smart”

The guy’s eyes got wet with tears on hearing those words from the same lady….

A few seconds later, her husband came around but before the lady could say a word her husband seeing the guy, said……

“Sir you’re here and you’ve met my wife..” Then he said to his wife,”This is my boss, I’m also one of those working on his $100 million project!

And do you know a fact my dear? My boss loved a lady but he couldn’t win her heart….That’s why he has remained unmarried since.

How lucky would that lady have been, if she had married this my boss now? These days, who would love someone that much he said all these to his wife.

The lady looked in total shock but couldn’t utter a word….

Final Words:

Life is so short and it’s just like a mirror.

You can only see as much as it reflects. So don’t be too arrogant or proud by looking down on others because of their current situations.

Things get changed with time just like the weather..! Don’t underestimate anyone because everyone has a different story!

Credit:http://www.facebookquotes4u.com/2013/08/situations-change-with-time.html?m=1

Defining moments

Day 4
School should be alright for me now, just to keep reminding myself that must be careful etc.
Well some people will still ask how's City Harvest. We still great! If my lecturer's cousin is in CHC. How glorious has God done his work for us.

I admit at first I didn't know what is church really about, about the tithes or etc. However, slowly I learned that is His love and grace for us. i differentiate myself with and without Christ, is two different person or just serious split personalities. This is the defining moment that i learned that couldn't and shouldn't break the walk with Christ.

I talked to that girl again.. well we quarrelled again. I think ya i let God to do the choices for me, and not make decision through my own will but God's will. 

when the church is facing trials you could choose to come church and cell group to pray and sing His worship and praise or you could just go overseas trip Bangkok or Korea. i felt that if i could give up Lin Jun Jie wayne autograph session and just to go to cell group is quite a big sacrifice for God. i'm not saying that going oversea trip is not good, maybe ya you couldn't changed or been planned quite ahead.

you could just pray during your trip yeah.

well i shouldn't care about people who don't make a move for Christ but focus on encouraging those who are in Christ.