Goodbye 2008, hello to an even closer relationship with God?

Hello there everyone!

The new year is dawning upon us! And I don't know how many of you make (and keep) new year resolutions. Resolutions are basically what we want to see ourselves doing for the coming year, gain weight, study harder, the works. Some people always tell themselves to set achievable goals so as to be able to follow them through the entire year, but are they actually compromising on what they actually want to see? Let us look at Mark 10:46-52

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

48Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

49Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." 50Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

52"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Sometimes I feel just like blind Bartimaeus, how we fail sometimes to see God working in our circumstances, or how blinded we are by the distractions and doubts that the world casts at us. Let us examine the scriptures. Of course Bartimaeus realized that he was blind, correction, he KNEW that he was blind, and when he heard that Jesus was going past, he just shouted out to Jesus! The people in the crowd rebuked him and told him to "keep it down dude", but Bartimaeus did not give up, he kept calling out until Jesus called him. When Jesus asked him what was it that he wanted, it was a firm answer, "I want to see".

Sometimes we don't realize that God is a God of salvation, and we end up accepting the situation we are in, or using our human efforts to try to make things better. I urge all of you to see what Bartimaeus saw while he was still blind. He saw Jesus! And he had faith in his heart to believe that nothing was impossible for Him. Bartimaeus knew that he had to keep calling out because he saw that Jesus was his HOPE!

So dear friends, what is your new years resolution? People may laugh at you for setting out to achieve the impossible, it might not be an easy thing to do, but will you keep calling out to Jesus? Or will you settle for something you can see with your own eyes?
Do you want to see your cell group grow?
Do you want to see your friends come to Christ?
Choose to see what is impossible, let it be "I want to see Jesus!"

Let us just dedicate our year 2009 to the Lord, that in every circumstance, we will be able to see Jesus reign!

Have a Blessed remaining 2008! =D


Lamentations 3:21-26

21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Blessed Christmas Everyone!

It's Christmas eve!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Yes, Christmas is the season of giving, maybe it's just a ploy by major corporations to make us spend more money, I don't know, but let us look past all the superficial presents the world talks about and look to something infinitively more valuable!

2 Corinthians 5:17-18
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation

Yes, God's gift to us 2000++ years ago was the gift of LIFE! In Christ we are no longer our old sinful self, but conquerors in Him who loved us! This brings me to something i feel that God has put in my heart for a pretty long time since camp ended, and it's just the simple word 'PURE'.

So we all understand what the word 'pure' means clean or 100% of something, but do we know what it means to us? Why is it important? Let us examine Matthew 5:8

8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Yes you guessed it! The very first important point of having a pure heart is because it enables us to see God! It is always our hearts desire to see God, to draw closer to Him, to fellowship with God and just enjoy His presence! So cast away all other thoughts and intentions whatever they may be, and just go before God, with the sole desire to seek Him! Surely God will reveal His glory to you, Amen!

Therefore my dear brothers and sisters (Philippians 1:9-11) 9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Let us (2 Timothy 2:22) 22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Yes, I will stop my heavy lifting before I get a C-!
But truly it is my hearts desire that we be a generation that seek after God with clean hands and pure hearts! As iron sharpen iron, let us spur one another on towards the good work that God is already doing in our Church! That we may see God in even Greater Glory our ministry!! =D

This Christmas, let our hearts be our gift to God!

Have a very Blessed Christmas everyone!! =)

Post Camp Post =D

Hi ppl! camp is over, but we all took back with us loads of stuff from this camp! I'm sure every single one of you experienced God in a very real and touching manner during the camp, and I hope it will be one that lasts you your entire lives!

But today's post will be about something different. This is a phrase we often hear. "We cannot live from one spiritual high to another." That is some sobering truth like a pail of freezing water onto your face at 4am while you're in the middle of a really good dream. Before I start on that, let me illustrate how my day unraveled today.

6.00am- Wake up
6.07am- Really Wake up
6.10am- Throat aching
6.30am- Wear green uniform
6.38am- Put on boots
6.39am- Cannot find garter
6.40am- Use rubber band
6.43am- Walk to bus stop in rain (because real men don't use umbrellas)
6.48am- Thank God for reserving my favorite seat on the bus for me
7.50am- Get scolding, but wasn't my fault
9.00am- Clear back log of work
12.30am- Lunch
1.30pm- Mundane work
4.00pm- Listen to colleague's ex-gf problems
4.15pm- Mundane work
5.30pm- Run for shuttle bus
6.15pm- Get pretty sad sms
6.16pm- Listen to 90% worship songs all the way home
7.30pm- Post this blog post

As you can see, reality hits me for 834792374630264962 damage.
I think i might fall into post camp depression or something.

But seriously, after every camp, we go back to our own "usual" lives, and we face all the problems we never anticipated we would face when we promised God whatever we promised Him during the camp! And as our lives go on, we find that things can get pretty tough, and yes, I won't lie, the devil ain't gonna make it easier for you.

BUT brothers and sisters! Let me encourage you!

Romans8:28-39

More Than Conquerors

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Man, love Paul! If God is for us, then WHO can be against us? WHAT can separate us from the love of God? Brothers and sisters, through all your hardship, trouble, sadness, joy, temptation, disappointment and a thousand other more things anyone can go through. Remember that God is always with us, and victory always rests in the Lord! Amen! Remember also, that in the problems and trials we face, God is also constantly trying to teach us, to refine us into better strong people!

Psalms 66:10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

So to close, let me just put it in one simple sentence.

CHOOSE JESUS DAILY!

I pray that each and everyone of you have exceeding Joy that comes from the Lord to face every challenges everyday, and that we all become over-comers of the world!

1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

CAMP!!! =D

Firstly I just want to thank all of you for all your encouraging comments and for reading the blog! -claps- It hasn't been easy, but it definitely has been worth it! =)

Secondly, if you are reading this before the camp, why are you NOT SLEEPING?? I'm going to sleep after this, don't judge me =\ heh heh..

Thirdly, before we set out from our houses tomorrow, let us pray for change, let us pray that the next time they step back into their house they will be transformed by their personal experience with God. Let us pray that this will be a life turning camp, the point where they realize that Christianity is not about going to church or knowing verses, but it's about having a real and meaningful relationship with a God who loves us to bits ok, there really isn't a word to describe the magnitude of God's love for us, that's why we want everyone experience it for themselves!

See all of you in 8 hours time!
Thanks for reading again!

Agape
ZR

'I know Lord there must be more'
Cry out to Him all who are thirsty!
All He desires are hearts who are open to Him!

Camp Group Names =)

Hello people!
I'm sorry I haven't been posting with increasing fervency as the camp date draws closer, but I've just been busy and tired. But enough about that.

Today's post will be about the camp group names! As all you leaders should know, each of your groups share the same name as a precious stone! Ok, you're forgiven if you didn't know. But yes, the question now, is "Why name us after rocks?". Well, these aren't just ANY rocks, these are the rocks that God chose to represent His people! Rocks right! (Pun intended)

Let us examine Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30

The Breastpiece

15 "Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 16 It is to be square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. 17 Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; 18 in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; 19 in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; 20 in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. 21 There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

Fast Forward to verse 29!

29 "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. 30 Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.

So as you can see, God chose the stones to each represent a tribe of Israel so that when the high priest goes into the holies of holies before God, all the tribes are represented before God. But pay more attention to the fact that this breastplate of precious stones was worn over the heart of the high priest. As we live in the present day now, we no longer have high priests like Aaron, instead we now have a great high priest in Jesus! In the same way as the high priests of old, Jesus has something near His heart, and it is more precious then any precious stone, it is the most loved of His creation, Us!

In choosing these group names for all of you, Calvin hopes that all of you are reminded in every situation, every circumstances, that Jesus has each and every single one of us in His heart, and that you are most precious to Him! Amen! :)

P.S. Some of the group names were derived from the KJV version.


Keep Praying for camp, let the joy of the Lord fill you!

Attention all ye wonderful people!

Argh!!! Calvin already sent out the email!! Stress Stress @@

And Welcome Leaders and Mentors to...... The camp blog! Yay!

Ok, the countdown is 2 weeks to camp! So soon! Right so the prayer pointers for everyone including our beloved leaders and mentors for the 1st time will be as follows.

We start by praying for ourselves! No, we are not self centered, no no, rather it's because if we have not the vision from God, how can we share it with others? If we have not the wisdom from God, how can we share it with others? Yes therefor, I urge you leaders, to actively prepare yourself in prayer and in the word, to be beacons of God's glory that all who may see your light, might also find Jesus! Amen!

Prayer Pointers >>>

1) Meditate and just seek God daily, set aside some time during the day to just surrender yourself to God, seek His will in your life and meditate on the devotional material.

2) Pray for the Presence of God to be with you before the camp, throughout the camp, and forevermore

3) Pray for God to grant you Wisdom and Discernment, so that when faced with any situation however insignificant to you, your reaction will be the right choices.

4) Pray for Health! Yes, so you can actually come for camp. (Yes! Pls pray for me (zhi) also k, i'm not feeling too well this week):

5) Pray for other Leaders, Mentors and the Camp Com! We are here to serve the same purpose, so I quote you Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Let us have a unity in Christ that is not easily overcome, that together, we may become a STRONG body of Christ!

Okay, thats the 5 pointers for this week, and before I end, I would like to declare this prayer week, "Get down on your knees and pray week!" Yes, so lets all get on our knees to seek God for this camp! Thank you for your kind attention! God Bless all of you!


P.S Any testimonies or prayer requests can be emailed to Calvin or 2A, 2B, they will revert back to me to post it up! Any typos and mistakes also inform me k! :)

DESTINY

Okay, here it is, the last part of the Trilogy, the part where darth vader switches sides and saves his son fulfilling his destiny. Oooops wrong story, my bad =X

But yes, today's last part will be on DESTINY! Well, I can't tell you what is your destiny on this earth is, (maybe I will be able to next time? =B) But what I can tell you vaguely about your destiny is that everyone has a different gift for a different purpose! Yes, as seen in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

We can see from verse 7, these gifts from God are given to us for the common good, in other words, they're for us to serve the Body of Christ! Don't worry if you can't make music or get people to follow you when you lead, it could be that you just haven't exercised your gifts yet! Seek God and eagerly desire His gifts, and you will find that God has a very special and wonderful PLAN for you!

Now that we know a very general idea of what God calls us to do, let us look at what God has planned for us. No, I still cannot tell you what your destiny is, but this I can tell you. Let us look at the following verses.

Romans 8:28-30 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

The verses say it all, God has chosen you, He has called you, and He has destined for you to share in His glory! You might not know where God will lead you, or what God has planned for you, but know one thing, it is our destiny to share in the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

As the camp looms just around the corner waiting to jump out and surprise us, let us pray this week for every young person to be able to see their destiny in Christ, to know that in Christ, they have a hope and a future, and for them to desire a life that is filled with so much of God's love, power and glory!

=)