Wednesday, May 17, 2006

harvesting

Prior to Good Friday, i was sharing with my housemate, wwj, that i've not seen many people receiving Christ lately. i was kinda upset. we prayed for the various activities that were taking place over that weekend... boom... one guy receives Christ on the Saturday btn GF and Easter.

NTU evangelistic concert... 4 received Christ and one is a friend of a sister at ICC.

Last Friday's BBQ for ESC at NTU... one girl prayed and received Christ (but still need much prayer for growth).

Pretty positive sharing at NYP with 3 nuring students. although they didn't receive Christ, but hopefully they are a step closer.

it seems that ... oh... then last sunday's evangelistic service... 9 on the record received Christ. one girl came because of a friend's friend's friend introduced me to her. i called. she came. she received Christ. just like that.

not that i'm keeping score or anything. but to tabulate... since the time we prayed till now... indirectly related to me or directly... 7 in the matter of 2 months.

Man.. when God works... He just does. :P (of course with the partnership...much prayer of many)

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

ability to be still (Ps 46)

i chose this psalm for monday's prayer meeting. it brought great encouragement to my heart as we read it and prayed over it. looking through it again and realized this...

verse 8
"come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

verse 8 is the invitation to examine the LORD abilities. verse 9 is the proof of His abilities and 10 is the result of knowing who the LORD is and is able to do.

If the LORD is able to make wars cease to the ends fo the earth, what else can He not do? Nothing.

so why fret and worry? why fight the wars within and without? He has ceased it and brought peace. Receive and be still...

Thursday, March 09, 2006

paying the price

not sure if anybody still reads this thing... (like how i crazily keep going back to check for updates on me frenz' blogs)(i'm insane) haha...

well, been doing some research for a paper on the impact of the cultural revolution on the house churches in china... started to read this book with rather descriptive story of some of the persecution....

dude! i almost cried on the MRT while i was reading it. still can't believe the intensity of their persecution and sufferings...

then was chatting with lai on msn yesterday talking about this thing.. realized this===>

the "miracle" of having so many Christians in china today is not coincidental. not like the so called fast and quick church growth guide that we see from some of the megachurches in sg. the "miracle" is of course the work of God... but also thru the price that these faithful men and women had to pay during all these years. the tremendous growth is not merely some kind of supernatural *ding*-you-are-a-Christian kind of thing but rather the lives that obedyed God's voice in doing the unthinkable (like cleaning up human waste in jail cells and thus bringing the entire prison to Christ)... dying for Jesus because they wouldn't compromise their faith in public (one story this man was buried alive)

i think... this is essential for church growth. but... how many people today in our comfortable world is willing to pay this kind of price?

God sent

happened to tell ms cloud that i would be going over to bring home the oven from crab tonight.

happened that we invited joseph to come to speak at ESC.

happened that he drives.

happened that he offered to send me home.... also to help me pick up the oven.

happened that reuben was around to help me bring the big oven up 11 fLs to my house...

coincidences? i'd rather think not. ^_^

Monday, February 27, 2006

parent-child relationship

Observed this the other night...

When adults were talking, the mom or dad would tell their kids, "don't you see that adults are talking?"

it was kinda obvious to me that the kids wanted their parents' attention and wanted to be included but by brushing them off like that made things worse. and when the kids weren't given proper attention, they tried harder by getting louder and noisier. from the parents' side, they got even more agitated and made comoments like "you are horrible... so noisy..."

Do the adults actually stop and listen to what we say in front of these kids? Will the kids remember the exact words or just the sentiment/attitude of the parents?

Not sure if i'm making a jugement that is unfair to the parents or if i will react the same way when i have my own kids... but... do you think it's better if the adults tell the kids "ya, what you want to do is great. i see it. but mom/dad is talking to our guests right now. i will be with you later." would this work better?

i think paying attention to kids and adults are equally important (maybe it's even more important for the kids and need better explanation or expression of love and acceptance..)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

angels?

i was on the MRT with my friends cat and sufen... sufen had polio since young and has to walk with crutches. as sufen got off the train, the old man next to me turned and asked me what happened to her...

he asked what religion does she believe in. i said christianity. he said that without her faith, it's not possible for her to continue. then he started to tell me about his familiy... the 13 siblings who are all christians... his 97 yr old mother who just passed away in july of last yr. people should be obedient to their moms when they are alive and not regret it only when it's too late... he attends the pasir panjang christ church... invited me to go to their service at 10 on sundays...

during such times, besides listening to what he says, i often wonder why? why do i have this encounter with this old man at this time?

(all of the sudden i thought about what he said about praying for sufen...continue to pray for her, he said)

for this morning's chapel, we had a time of sharing from anybody who has a testimony. the most memorable one was about PAP (pay and pay; pray and persevere... it's a long story) but the part about pray and persevere sticks in my mind...

God is sending angels my way to encourage/remind me to pray without losing hope?