Dear N312,
How are all of you! Some having exams, some birthday coming, some exams soon, some rushing project, some gone through operation somemore, and the rest enjoying holidays right! haha.. I'm doing great and adapting to my new cell group. Anyway if you guys are praying for Naresh, keep praying! I'm meeting him in school and reaching out to him. He's really busy with school so let's trust God that he will be able to handle and be strengthened in God.
Anyway, I'm here to share with you a link as well =)
http://store.attributes.com.sg/tv.php
Some of you might already know about this but for those who don't, that's how I spend my quiet time sometimes. I'll just play the video service praise and worship, and praise and worship in my room! It's good for quiet time. Try it!
Next week's the one-week of prayer... I'll be there everyday from monday to friday at Jurong West. Those no school no excuse not to go! haha... let's go pray together!!
Miss you guys already.
Study hard, play hard, pray even harder.
Cheers!
Jeremy
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
N312 blog is migrating!
N312 blog will be migrating. The new link is http://nthreeonetwo.wordpress.com.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
food for thoughts
My friend sent me this email and I felt this is really encouraging. :))
___
Obedience Without Logic or "The Ant and the Contact Lens"
From the book Keep a Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Elliot
Brenda Foltz was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. It was her first experience at rock-climbing, but although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock.She got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry.
She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of the Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is." "Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys, anybody lose a contact lens?"
Now, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it!
Brenda's father was a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I
don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy.But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."
I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."
1 Samuel 15:22 - And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."
From, Dr. Gautsch
____
___
Obedience Without Logic or "The Ant and the Contact Lens"
From the book Keep a Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Elliot
Brenda Foltz was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. It was her first experience at rock-climbing, but although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock.She got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry.
She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of the Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is." "Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys, anybody lose a contact lens?"
Now, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it!
Brenda's father was a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I
don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy.But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."
I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."
1 Samuel 15:22 - And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."
From, Dr. Gautsch
____
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Be wise...
In Straits Times today:
Six teenagers were arrested for bundling sparklers together and settling them alight. The teens face up to a year in jail and $5,000 fine if they are found guilty of being negligent in respect to an explosive substance.
Six teenagers were arrested for bundling sparklers together and settling them alight. The teens face up to a year in jail and $5,000 fine if they are found guilty of being negligent in respect to an explosive substance.
Monday, September 22, 2008
To live is Christ, to die is gain
Philippians 1:18-26
To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Heaven awaits us when we die. There is certainly much that awaits us after death. But the Bible says that to live is Christ. And how shall we live? In verse 22 it says that we are to go on living, with fruitful labour. Earlier on in verse 18, it mentioned that Christ must be preached. There is much to live for in the present life.
What purpose do you have on this earth before you depart? How are you spending your days and years before you finally breathe your last? We need to live like Christ lived, proclaiming the gospel, living for a cause; the cause of the Kingdom. What are you passionate about? What are the things you do that bring about a certain energy within you? What do you feel you are born for?
It's time to step out and do it.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Jeremy and Guanzheng graduate from SOT 2008!
*Photos up soon...
Congratulations to Jeremy and Guanzheng for having finished the race! After 5 grueling months of bible study, lessons, and cleaning up of the church compound, they have done it! Having gone through SOT myself, it is definitely not easy, especially when you have so many other things to juggle. May the both of you continue to catch and fire and run the marathon!
Additional messages from the members, that did not make it onto the card:
From Winny (to both):
"Hey, finally the day has arrived!! Congratulations on your graduation day...May u grow to another level :) God bless!"
From Naresh (to both):
"Hey babes I love you guys and I wish you guys all the best. Now that you know a little more go do a lot more! Cheers!"
From Wenhan (to Jeremy):
"Congratulations that you graduate from SOT. I am very happy that you are my cell-group leader. I'm flad that I'm in your cell group. God will continue to bvless you..."
From Asal (to Jeremy):
"Congrats on your graduation from SOT. The journey must have been exciting and fulfilling. I'm suree (sic) you will grow much much more in the Lord. Thank you for everything!
God bless!"
Congratulations to Jeremy and Guanzheng for having finished the race! After 5 grueling months of bible study, lessons, and cleaning up of the church compound, they have done it! Having gone through SOT myself, it is definitely not easy, especially when you have so many other things to juggle. May the both of you continue to catch and fire and run the marathon!
Additional messages from the members, that did not make it onto the card:
From Winny (to both):
"Hey, finally the day has arrived!! Congratulations on your graduation day...May u grow to another level :) God bless!"
From Naresh (to both):
"Hey babes I love you guys and I wish you guys all the best. Now that you know a little more go do a lot more! Cheers!"
From Wenhan (to Jeremy):
"Congratulations that you graduate from SOT. I am very happy that you are my cell-group leader. I'm flad that I'm in your cell group. God will continue to bvless you..."
From Asal (to Jeremy):
"Congrats on your graduation from SOT. The journey must have been exciting and fulfilling. I'm suree (sic) you will grow much much more in the Lord. Thank you for everything!
God bless!"
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Hate Religion...but love thy God
It's in the news: Taoism is fast losing traction among the Chinese here, but Buddhism and Christianity are on the rise.The Straits Times reported how Taoism has lost many believers - from 30 per cent of the Chinese population in the 80s to 8.5 per cent in 2000. On the other hand, Christianity represents 17 per cent and Buddhism 54 per cent of the Chinese population, according to the population census.
However, in the midst of these religious tectonic shifts, tremours of unhappiness are brewing within the homes of many traditional Chinese families. A typical scenario: a Buddhist mother grieves over how her children have converted to Christianity, and worries over how there will be no one to perform her funeral rites.
Baptism has also been a contentious issue: it represents a total abandonment of old religious traditions in favour of the 'new-fangled thing'.
So what is this new-fangled thing? It is the result of the reevaluation of our purpose in life - leading to a drastic change of beliefs.
The Straits Times report has revealed a common understanding among many religious adherents and seekers: there is no use for old religious rites that bare no meaning upon one's lives.
But the search for meaning is often a rocky path. While many youths yearn for parents who are open-minded, they will find instead their desire to convert met with unhappiness from them instead.
This brings us to the bugbear of religion: emotionalism. Like it or not, a religious debate will often be heated up and quite emotional. Yes, you have your euphoric religious experiences of how 'God is Love' and how you have achieved a sense of wholeness, but many of the emotions that are tagged with religion is negative.
The abandonment of old traditional rites is one, and seems to strike great fear within parents. Other contentious issues include extremism and fundamentalism, which include terrorism and the notion of church versus the state. In Singapore, where the situation is rather calm, you have the gripes against over-zealous evangelising and seemingly over-extravagant spending on religious buildings.
In forums and blogs, it is hard to find a religious discussion that stays calm. Yes, discussions about politics will occasionally heat up to boiling point, but religious discussions are volcanoes waiting to erupt.
So it is quite understandable why parents react the way they do: religion represents a certain identity. Many of us cling on to it when we were young and for some of us, they form integral parts of our past memories.
But in order to gain happiness and a sense of purpose, shouldn't old mindsets and traditions be abandoned, even if it means upsetting the old institutions? Nevertheless, a conversion should be done with great care and love: it's about showing that despite a change in beliefs, your concern for your parents would be intact, if not enhanced.
I'm not saying that any religion is bad, but if we merely perform the traditional rites for the sake of doing it, then it becomes nothing more than 'Religion' - a set of practices and traditions that hold no purpose or value in the present context. In other words, a wayang.
We should strive to hate Religion: abandoning old practices that no longer hold meaning to our lives, yet at the same time to love thy God - realising that there is a spiritual dimension in all of us that needs to be fulfilled.
Therefore, if Taoists want to regain a foothold in Singapore society once again, then they need to address this question: what does the religion have to offer modern-day Singaporeans?
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