ch-eology

2009-09-17T12:42:00.002+08:00

I'll like to share with you something i've learnt from my devotional in Judges 7 about God's unexpected wisdom

It's the story of Gideon leading a revolt against the Midianites after God called him a mighty warrior at the wine press.

Just before the battle, God told Gideon that he had too many soldiers.

Victory against the Midianites wasn't the goal; God's victory was.

It's interesting how we can be entirely on God's side and still be in conflict with Him.
All throughout the Bible, faithful men and women who have given themselves to God are striving to be strong for Him. Meanwhile, God offers us weakness, desiring to be strong in us
We both want strength. We want ours to glorify Him; He wants His to glorify Himself. We who live for His glory better get used to a strange dynamics: It's our insufficiency that brings Him praise.

Our efforts on His behalf seems so godly. They have pure motives, an element of faith, His agenda in mind, and an abundance of human wisdom behind them.
There's nothing wrong with the pure motives, the faith, or the agenda. It's the human wisdom that trips us up.

God wants us to be used for His purposes even more than we do, but His means are radically different. For His glory to be demonstrated, human glory as to be minimized. We can't earn honour and then give it to God.

We can only submit to Him and let Him display His honour.
In this vision-impaired world, we have to be visibly low for God to be visibly high.

The counterintuitive wisdom of God is only learnt through many years and painful experiences. We don't like our weaknesses, and we want God to make us strong. But, as Paul reminds us centuries after Gideon, we are to be strong 'in His mighty power'. (Eph 6:10)

If God doesn't take the lead in our lives and win our victories on His own terms, there's a muddled picture of glory.
Is it His or ours?

Understand His purposes. Let your vulnerability be the occasion for His power.

The Sovereign God

2009-08-03T15:34:00.000+08:00

"God's will is not undone by our trials.
It is not even undone by our sin.
We may lose out on participating in it and enjoying it if we are persistently disobedient, but His purposes WILL be accomplished.
No plan of His can be thwarted.
We may take the long and painful way to fit into it, but God has accounted even for that.
He has seen all things from the beginning.
He knew ahead of time what your crisis would be and how you would respond to it.
He has had a plan all along to bring you into a deep, deep faith."

I hope you will be blessed in reflecting on who our Sovereign God is, in your trials and challenges.

Honesty that is good for the soul

2009-07-02T16:35:00.000+08:00

How i proposed

2009-05-25T16:06:00.002+08:00

I proposed at around midnight, 22nd May, exactly 20 months after we started dating.

It was at Iluma cinema. I bought the ring about a month back, waiting for the best occasion and for inspiration to strike.

The Plan:
I wanted to propose while doing what we both love- WATCHING MOVIES!!
So i carefully placed the ring into a tiny ziplock bag and placed it in my sling bag.
I wanted to put it into the pop corn and let her dig it out. Evon loves pop corn!
Then i'll pop the question...

What actually happened...

We wanted to watch a movie that night at the picturehouse but i protested when i remembered that they don't allow food. So we went to Iluma and they had nachos, and evon was really going at the nachos.She even remarked,"this is the 1st time i'm eating nachos in the cinema!"
I was hugging the pop corn(which was so ignored by her) and gorging myself silly to get the level the ring was buried in. I'm not crazy about pop corn, (which shows how much i love her) and i was feeling relatively sick midway thru the movie.
The movie(night at the museum 2) was surprisingly good and funny. So i decided to let her finish the movie before i proposed.More pop corn! sigh...

"come, let me put the pop corn on the floor!!" suggested Evon.
"NNOO WAYYY!!" i thought, and i snatched the box back and was furiously munching more of it down. arrghh...

In between, i shoved the pop corn to her, hoping for her to find the ring herself. But the nachos did her in...

(MOVIE SPOLIER AHEAD) then Ben Stiller came up with the golden line:
"Happiness is...doing what you love, with the people you love".
I knew it was the right movie!
When the credit were rolling and people were clearing, i popped the now-oily ziplock bag up and remarked,"oh look! lucky dip!"
She was in disbelief for a while..cos the ring looked like a toy "tikum" ring...

I haven't been nervous very often but i was actually feeling it that night.
Evon observed that i didn't even look at her when i asked her to marry me.

then she said yes. then i was even more excited,nervous, and continued fumbling...
I looked around consciously at the cinema ushers waiting for us to clear...and was juggling with the pop corn, nachos box, bag etc..and scrambled off our seats.
then i did a silly thing..."err..you wait for me, i go toilet!"

not quite smooth operator huh?...

well..it was my 1st time proposing...and she forgave my lack of finesse.

and we're quite excited to start planning for our new chapter together...

once we can firm up the date and venue, the invitations will come...

Quote of the week for me:

"Happiness is...doing what you love, with the people you love".

Relationships

2009-03-13T13:36:00.005+08:00

Here's the thing I've been thinking about for the longest time...

Relationships

I don't like to call it BGR

Many youths think it's JUST between the B and the G and nobody else's business

but that's just usually the social aspect

there's more...if you care to do well, in Relationships

I've used Ps Benny Ho's teaching on "10 keys to finding a life partner" and messed up life experiences to come up with a phrase:

Choose Well,
Date Well,
Celebrate!

Here are the 10 Keys( i won't elaborate, go buy the CD!)

1. THE WISDOM OF SEEKING COUNSEL
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF BEING EQUALLY YOKED
3. THE BEAUTY OF PURITY
4. THE PRINCIPLE OF SHARED INHERITANCE
5. THE PRESENCE OF WILLINGNESS
6. THE KEY OF PRAYER
7. THE IMPORTANT VIRTUE OF KINDNESS
8. THE NEED FOR FAMILY BLESSING
9. THE PRINCIPLE OF TIMING
10. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE WELL

This teaching is based on the biblical story of Isaac and Rebekah.

Another frame work that is simple and succint is:

3 M’S IN LIFE:

1.Master

2.Mission

3.Mate

Do we know and love our Master with maturity?
Do we know and embrace our life's Mission?
Can we trust God for our Mate?

I believe He can provide if we choose the 3 M's in the right priority

So i threw up 3 frame works and if they help you, that's great.

Choose Well
- Choose life partners for marriage, not for fun.

- Accountability begins at this stage with your leaders. Allow others to tell you things you don't like to hear, like "You're not mature enough! You need to spend more time on your studies!"

- Before 18, your priorities should revolve around your studies. Devote yourself to do well in it

- Be patient and trust God. Understand delayed gratification. Grow themselves to become the best partner for the future.

-There's no PERFECT/RIGHT ONE for you. That theory is rubbish. You be the best one for the person you are ready to commit to.

- Singles don't have to be desperate or feel inadequate. Be single for a reason and season. Give yourselves fully to Kingdom Purposes.

Date Well
- Reminder that nothing is final until marriage

- "Serial Dating" causes unnecessary hurts and also griefs the Heart of God

- Accountability continues here with your leaders. Allow people to ask you,"Why were you staying over at her house? What were you doing at the park?"

-"Nothing to hide" yet "Nothing to prove". Be so beyond reproach in your dating life with nothing to hide, and yet not having the need to prove anything with excessive "public display of affections"

-Don't touch the privileges of marriage while dating, if you don't want the rule of marriage to be applied to you.

Celebrate!
-Openness and Accountability in your dating life is essential for you to draw people into your life and vice versa. That's community, that's Body life.
Then we can truly celebrate and rejoice together.

What do you think?

Freedom from Judging, Freedom for mercy

2009-03-10T12:48:00.001+08:00

We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people.
Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her.
We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot.
The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive.

The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one.
Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom. Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy.
Let's remember Jesus' words: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged" (Matthew 7:1).

-Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey.

no other stream

2009-02-05T18:22:00.001+08:00

"'Are you thirsty?' said the Lion.

"'I'm dying of thirst,' said Jill.

"'Then drink,' said the Lion.

"'May I ... could I ... would you mind going away while I do?' Said Jill.

"The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

"The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"'Will you promise not to ... do anything to me, if I do come?,' said Jill.

"'I make no promise,' said the Lion.

"Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

"'Do you eat girls?' she said.

"'I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,' said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"'I daren't come and drink,' said Jill.

"'Then you will die of thirst,' said the Lion.

"'Oh dear!,' said Jill, 'I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.'

"'There is no other stream,' said the Lion."

-The Silver Chair, CS Lewis

God alone can fill the empty places in our lives. He alone brings lasting fulfillment. There is no other strategy that will lead us to the Father.

There is no other stream.

A Walk to Remember

2008-12-19T17:39:00.006+08:00

I walked in Nepal.

Together with the team of 8 from Yishun Methodist Mission, we walked around the city and up 2 hills. We went to a Nepali Youth Camp, a school and Sophia’s Home for girls. For those 10 days in June 2008, it was indeed a walk to remember.

We landed in Kathmandu right smacked into a youth camp.

Some of us had the opportunity to teach and lead sessions in the camp. I think too many Singaporean youths take camps for granted.

For many Nepali youth campers, this was their first camp.

With that realization, we treasured every chance to mingle and learn with them.

The climax of the camp was Street Evangelism.

We worshipped and danced in the city square, a rarity watched by the masses.

Praise music filled the air amidst the changing winds of the political scene in Nepal then.

With upraised hands, we declared God’s majesty to the heavens above.

We walked out in the rain to talk to the locals armed with cups of hot tea and flyer invitations.

It was cold, wet and awkward for most of the first timers, both Nepali and Singaporeans alike.

But we walked on.

After the camp, we went out in groups to prayer walk the city.

We asked the Lord to open our eyes to see His heart for the city and we were shaken by the idolatry of the people.

Temples, shrines and idols littered the path we took.

The darkness of the city clearly contrasted the freedom we enjoy back home.

The poverty was stark and the darkness painful.

We walked on.

We climbed 2 hills. On one we saw the ministry, the other the majesty of God.

Phulbari is a church planting work and as we sang, worshipped and read the Word with the people there, we sense the resonance in the ministry of taking worship to the unchurched. Missions exist for that, I was reminded.

Sarangkot was where we viewed the beauty of the Annapurna range. Those 2 days in Pokhara, we stopped “working” to soak in who we were “working” for.

God.

Majesty.

Walking all over can be tiring. Especially when you don’t know where you’re headed for or why you need to walk.

But walk with our Creative, Majestic Maker.

Walk in Nepal. I did and it was a Walk to Remember.

gallas

2008-11-27T13:41:00.002+08:00

simon's note:

It's ok if you don't know William Gallas too.Never heard of him.

William Gallas: A Day In The Life

Posted 26/11/08 15:47

I am just coming out of the front door in the morning when I am confronted by a postal man. He seems very sure of himself, despite the fact that he is very young.

"Package here for a Mr Gallas," he says in a loud voice.

"Lower your voice when you speak to me," I tell him. "I have 69 caps for France. You have just one silly cap with 'Post Office' written on it."

"Er, right you are mate," he says. "Just sign here if you would."

I tell the man I am not his 'mate'. He is a very cheeky man. I tell him that too.

"Are you going to sign it or not, sir?" asks this man, who is nothing, a nobody, somebody whose name I do not want to demean myself by revealing, which is the next thing I explain to this Postal Delivery Worker Paul Jackson of the Totteridge and Whetstone Branch.

But he still stands there, holding out his little notepad thing. The arrogance of the individual amazes me. I think to myself that it is important here to show courage and leadership to the neighbours, some of whom are standing on their doorsteps now watching this situation.

One of them shouts: "Just sign for the package, you plum."

The neighbours respect me as I am a senior figure in the community.

"Yeah Gallas, you w*****," says the man next door, who looks up to me very much I know.

I decide to rise above the situation by running off to the end of the garden and sitting on the grass with my legs crossed.

This is the sort of dignity and standing firm skills that we older members of the community must show in the face of an arrogant postal worker. They are not scared of us, they come to the house to try and deliver letters.

The man, who cannot be more than 25 or 26 or 40, stands on the doorstep for a while. Obviously he has been shown to be foolish.

Eventually he comes down the garden. I am crying. He is not used to seeing a man brave enough to cry for what he believes in (that is to say, the correct way to deliver letters).

"Can you just sign for Mr Gallas's package mate? Only I'm knocking off in a minute and I've got to pick my kid up from the doctors," he says.

"Don't you know who I am?" I ask him. He says he does not care if I am Elvis Presley as long as I sign for the package.

I write my name. He leaves, defeated. I open the package. It is a dog mess. This is typical.

Where is God?

2008-10-24T16:41:00.002+08:00

I've just started reading this book and it talks about experiencing God
And i think we all want a bit of that.

so here's a little summary and let me know if it's helpful...

needs some effort though,as with every other aspect of your life.

Foundational Truths of My Life with God

* God is always present and active in my life, whether or not i see him

* Coming to recognize and experience God is learned behaviour. I can cultivate it

* My task is to meet God in this moment

* I am always tempted to live "outside" this moment.When i do that, I lose my sense of God's presence

* Sometimes, God seems far away for reasons I do not understand. Those moments,too, are opportunities to learn

* Whenever I fail, I can start again right away

* No one know the full extent to which a human being can experience God's presence

* My desire for God ebbs and flows, but His desire for me is constant

* Every thought carries a "spiritual charge" that bring me a little closer or farther away from God

* Every aspect of my life- work, relationships, hobbies, errands- is of immense and genuine interest to God

* My path to experiencing God will not look quite like anyone else's

* Straining and trying too hard will not help

Review these truths once a day for 2 weeks as you cultivate the practice of God's presence.

from "God is closer than you think", John Ortberg

or print this blog entry out and burn it in a cup of lukewarm water.

Drink.

Works for some.

England vs America

2008-10-16T15:45:00.001+08:00

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)
Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).
Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
-----------------------
1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,''favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').
------------------------
2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'
-------------------
3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
-----------------
4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist,then you're not ready to shoot grouse.
----------------------
5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
----------------------
6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
--------------------
7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
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8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
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9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
---------------------
10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys.Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
---------------------
11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
---------------------
12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
--------------------
13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
-----------------
14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
---------------
15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

Generation of STARS

2008-09-10T16:00:00.005+08:00

Have you seen the Disney channel lately?

I did, to my great horror.

I saw 14 year olds behaving like adults.No, more like stars. They were all dressed up, the producers probably trying to ride on the popular "High School Musical" wave.They were parading around with shiny guitars, singing, prancing around MTV style, coyly flirting with each other.

Whatever happened to the prancing Bambis, the castles, the forests,
Mickeys and Donalds?

There's always MTV on channel 20, isn't there?? Is there an urgent need to migrate our teens over so soon?

I saw so many beautiful people on Disney channel.
Happy faces,
Talented teenagers with voices of angels,
Popular and funny

That's reality, the way the media wants it.

American, Singapore Idol, America's got talent, Super Star/Band/Campus Star, Star Search...
The shows go on...
The message is the same.

"We love you if you are Pretty Good."
Pretty and Good at what you do.
Sing,act and/or prance or whatever!
Ha! take that!

Over some years now, i've been watching a segment of the youth population in schools and where ever i can.
There seems to be an overwhelming obsession in the youth culture to look good.
It bothers me big time
Yes, young people are still into sports, hobbies, for some,studies, like the days of old.
AND they want to look good doing these things.

Well there's really nothing quite wrong with wanting to look good, is there?
Everybody does

And yes it's great to look good.
I try too, at times.
But if we allow it to become the prevalent obsession of popular youth culture today,
we've got lots of work to do.
my favourite hokkien phrase-"Jin Bo Eng!"

There's a great lament in my heart when i see the shallowness of youth i meet today
Besides looking good, being popular and having a good time, i can hardly find desire or resolve in them

I heard of a dream team sometime ago
i call them "the nameless and faceless generation".
Please read my post on 'the Vision' again.
In short, they serve God and their generation without trying to make a name for themselves

"The advertisers cannot mould them.
Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.
They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.
On the outside?
They hardly care.
They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell."

This is my dream team.
The longing of creation
The groaning of the Spirit
the very dream of God

Madonna says,"Life is just a party, that's all you need to know
It's your turn to shine, baby let yourself go."-Spotlight

Philippians say,"so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..."- 2:15

Parents, watch what your children are watching! Disney is NOT cartoon anymore.

Meanwhile,I'll just stick to Football Channel.

cat and dog theology

2008-09-01T11:56:00.002+08:00

“Cat and Dog Theology”

Two main characters have “birthed” two types of Christianity. These two differences are
seen in the different attitudes between a dog and a cat.

A dog says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, You must be God.”

A cat says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, I must be God.”

There is a Cat and Dog in all of us! They are constantly fighting. They both look and act
“Christian” but there is a huge difference in their heart attitude.

Getting To Heaven
Cats have a tendency to walk away from hell.Their sole focus is on themselves. Dogs walk toward heaven having fallen in love with God. Many Christians today are joyless simply because they are still focused on themselves and are walking away from hell. (Matthew 13:44)

Obedience School
Both Cats and Dogs want obedience in their lives. Dogs want to obey God. Cats want
God to obey them. You usually see this reflected in their prayer lives.

Quiet Times
Both Cats and Dogs have quiet times. Dogs focus on God’s glory (they think, “How is
God’s reputation being affected by my life?”) and Cats focus on themselves (how can they
better their life…?)

Prayer
Dogs pray to establish God’s kingdom. Cats pray to establish their own kingdom.

Blessings and Responsibilities
Cats want all the blessings and none of the responsibilities.
As a result, two major problems arise in Cat Theology. An incomplete gospel comes
about, and Cats have mixed-up priorities.

Incomplete Gospel
Over time, Cat Theology develops into an incomplete gospel.
Cats are saved from hell and it stops there.
This is not incorrect, but it is incomplete.

Dogs are saved from hell, FOR WORSHIP.

-In Our Prayers
Praying “Father, thank you for dying on the
cross for our sins” is not incorrect, but it is
incomplete. He died on the cross for our sins
SO THAT we might point to God and glorify
Him.

-In Our Blessings
Cats focus on gathering all of God’s blessings with a bucket. And once they have them, they
keep them.
Dogs gather as many blessings as they can from God and pass them on to others.
They know that the blessings are meant to go through them to others.

Mixed-Up Priorities
-Blessings and Glory
Both Cats and Dogs want to see God glorified and want to be blessed by God. Dogs hunger
more for God’s glory whereas Cats hunger more for the blessings.

-Worship
Dogs worship God primarily for who He is.
Cats worship God primarily for what He’s done for them.

Why all these differences? Dogs study “Theology” while Cats study “MEology.”

Dogs see God’s glory like a stained glass window. Each bit is called a “tessera.” Each
tessera uniquely displays God’s glory, such as the animal kingdom, the family unit, taste, the
stars. “Glory is any revelation or expression of His excellency in His presence, creativity
and/or character.” One way God chooses to reveal His glory is through blessing us!

Satan’s Strategy
Satan doesn’t want Christians to focus on God’s glory. His strategy is to get humanity
to focus in on something “safe” and “close to God’s heart” so their focus is off of God’s
glory.

As a result, we begin to think that life is all about us. Because of this, we make a
foundational shift in our theology. Our focus goes off of God glorifying Himself through
blessing us. Our focus is on receiving the blessings from God, and we become primary;
God’s glory becomes secondary.

Cats Are Living For Themselves
Cats are basically living for themselves in a Christian context. They’ve rejected other
“ways” of life and have chosen Christianity as the best way to live for themselves. Life is
still all about them.

WDGG?
Dogs ask one key question as they go through life: What Does God Get?
As a result, they realize that life is for God, it is not for us. They see the joy
God had in Genesis 1 while He was creating!

The Eight Dangers of
Cat Theology!
************
Laying centuries of Cat Theology brings about
many dangers in the Christian life.

Danger #1:
Feel Good Theology
Cats only read verses that make them feel good. If they read verses that don’t make
them feel good, they skip over them and simply say, “That doesn’t apply to me” or
“That doesn’t make sense.”

Danger #2:
Cats Always Look For Themselves
Cats are constantly looking for themselves in the Bible. They constantly say “How does this
affect me? How does it affect my life?” When they find themselves, they rejoice, but
they are never thinking about God.
Cats and Dogs read John 3:16 totally differently.
Dogs focus in on the fact that God loves anyone unconditionally and Cats focus in on themselves in the verse.

Ephesians 2:6,7 gives a perfect example of how we focus in on ourselves. The text basically tells us that God has saved us to show off His glory, and all we can do is focus in on “us” and say “it’s all about us!”

Danger #3:
Cats Expect Life To Be Fair
Look at three lives: Jabez, a “young girl” in 2 Kings 5, and Stephen.

Jabez was greatly blessed. The young girl was sent away as a slave and reached another
Gentile leader. Stephen was stoned to death.

Which life was God fair to?
It is the wrong question. Life wasn’t designed to be fair!
Life was designed to be a series of opportunities to reflect and reveal the glory of God.
These three lives did that—revealing God’s glory is a “golden thread” that runs throughout the entire
Bible!

Danger #4:
Selective Application
Many times we only apply those passages of scripture which make us “feel good.” Rarely
are we reading (much less memorizing) passages which deal with God’s desire to
glorify Himself through giving us the tough times… 1 Peter 2:20; 1 Thessalonians 3:2-4

Why aren’t we taught lessons like…
•
God wants you to live, breathe, eat and die
in slavery to teach future generations a
lesson?
•
Your siblings are going to sell you off as a
slave so God can use you in a foreign land?
•
God may want you to marry a person from
another culture just so you can bond with
your in-law and be shown kindness after
your spouse dies?
•
You are to be a prophet to the church, be
jailed, and see no fruit for the majority of
your years of ministry?
•
God may want our country to be invaded
(devastated) to get the Gospel out?
•
God may want you thrown into a blazing
fire to show His power?
•
God may want you stoned to death?
•
God may want you taken from your home
(forcefully?) to become a leader in another
country and then be cheated and thrown
into a lion’s den?
•
God may want a famine to come to your
land so you move to another country and
share your faith?
•
God may want you to become a slave to
reach out to another people?
•
God may want you in jail to share your
faith with others?
•
God is going to test you by having all your
assets taken away, by having your children
killed and inflicting you with severe pain?
•
God may want you beaten with rods,
stoned, shipwrecked, naked, cold and
hungry, alone in the sea, beaten with 39
lashes multiple times….?

Danger #5:
Winner’ Circle Mentality
When Cats read the Bible, they always focus on the major character, never the minor
character—falsely assuming God loves the major character more than the minor.
Why don’t we ever relate to: Job’s children?
The 70,000 fighting men who died because David sinned? David and Bathsheba’s
firstborn? The firstborn of all Egyptians who died? Korah’s wife and children? Wandering
around in the desert for 40 years? The 14,700 who died of the plague? The wife and
children thrown into the lion’s den after Daniel was found innocent?
We don’t relate to them because we only want to relate to the “winners” in the Bible.

Danger #6:
Cats Develop Wrong Priorities
A Cat’s first priority is to stay alive and be healthy.
Their second priority is safety and security. They do whatever they can to be safe and
secure in this world.
Their third priority is the desire to be blessed by God for their own gain.
Their fourth priority is that their church meets their needs. If their church isn’t meeting their
needs, they quickly switch churches.

After these are brought before God, they may pray for God’s glory. But rarely is the glory
of God a first consideration when they first say their prayers.
Way down on the Cat’s priority is world missions. They rarely talk about it, and if they
do talk about it, they are usually trying to address the needs locally.

Danger #7:
Humanism Creeps In
Humanism essentially means: “the reason for all of existence is the happiness of man.”
Humanism has so permeated our society that it has crept into our Christianity in two
predominant ways.

1) Liberal Humanism says, “The reason for Christianity is the happiness of mankind when
they are alive.” Out of this is born the “health and wealth theology.”

2) Evangelical Humanism says, “The reason for Christianity is the happiness of mankind
after they die (i.e. make sure people don’t go to hell).

True Christianity says, “The reason for Christianity is the glory of God.”

Danger #8:
Worship Is A Part Of Life!
When Cats are so focused on themselves, they worship God during their quiet times, during
Sunday morning services, and possibly while listening to worship music. Everything
outside of those times is “everyday life.” But “everyday life” was designed to be one
big worship service. This can happen when we start to ask the simple question, “What
Does God Get?”

What does God get when you hug a child?
What does God get when you see a
sunset?
What does God get when you listen to
music?
What does God get when you look at a
flower?
What does God get when you see a
butterfly?
What does God get when you taste a
chocolate covered strawberry?

When you begin to look for what God gets, life can become one big worship service!
When this happens, you don’t do anything differently in life, you simply do it with an
entirely new perspective!

A Prayer To The Lord:
Lord, we do not live for ourselves, we live
for Your greatest glory.
Bless us with all things or give us nothing.
Honor us before others or bring us low.
Put us to doing or appoint us to suffer.
Give us work or keep us unemployed.
Send us overseas or keep us home.
Shatter any dream that is not yours.
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all
things to Your pleasure and disposal.
All we ask is that we delight in Your
glory!

The Sermon of the Mouse

2008-08-18T18:06:00.002+08:00

"Thank you for inviting me to come to your church. I thought about it and realised that maybe Disneyland and the Church do have a lot in common. And as i began to organise my thoughts, i saw how ingenious it was to invite me to share. I really believe that if your church were to apply our principles, you could become as successful as Disneyland.

First, make sure your enterprise seems exciting, even dangerous-but be quick to let your people know that there really is no danger involved. Give the illusion of great risk, but make sure everything is perfectly safe.

Second, admit you are in the entertainment business. People won't care what you say as long as they're entertained. Keep your people happy. Don't give them anything negative.And don't make demands on them. Just keep them diverted from the ugly realities of today's world, and they will keep coming back for more.

Third, make everything look religious. Make the religious experience so intricate , so complex that only the professionals can pull it off while all the laypeople stand around watching with their mouth open. Just as people would rather watch a mechanical bird sing on cue, so they would rather watch an elaborate worship than participate in worshipping.

Fourth and finally, pretend that there are no problems. At Disneyland we dress our security guards up as smiling rabbits or friendly bears because we don't want anyone's experience to be ruined by the sight of law enforcement personnel. disguise your problems behind a warm smile and a firm handshake. Leave your troubles at home, and let the church be a happy place of friendly pastors and smiling deacons.

People today want good clean entertainment and they want an environment that is safe for children, family and friends. I am so glad to see that the church is moving in this direction. Thank you."

the vision

2008-08-18T13:16:00.001+08:00

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.
They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.

They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.

They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport..

People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision ?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.

It makes children laugh and adults angry.

It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.

It scorns the good and strains for the best.

It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.

It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.

A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose

that they might one day win

the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.

They don't need fame from names.

Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground

The whisper of history in the making

Foundations shaking

Revolutionaries dreaming once again

Mystery is scheming in whispers

Conspiracy is breathing…

This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.

The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.

Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ?

Can hormones hold them back?

Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man

with groans beyond talking,

with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and

with great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules.

Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide.

Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials.

The advertisers cannot mould them.

Hollywood cannot hold them.

Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

inside.

On the outside?

They hardly care.

They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?

They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell.

A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)

Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.

Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdo's!

Summon the losers and the freaks.

Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.

They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension.

Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.

How do I know?

Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is his today.

My distant hope is his 3D.

And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself.

And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.
Guaranteed.

You know you're a YWAMer when...

2008-08-09T13:28:00.000+08:00

You know your a YWAMER when someone asks you when are you going on the mission field next

You know you are a YWAm'er when your english just gets bad'er and bad'er but people still undestand you. :) It's called YWAM english....

You know your a YWAMer when you fail to see what's wrong with having 20 people in a 12 passenger van.

You know friends in just about every country.

You know you're a YWAMer when you come home with SOMEONE ELSE'S accent....eh?

You know you are a YWAMer when you leave your children with someone and you don't even know their last name and aren't worried.

when you go to your own country and hear the accent.

when you finally get to go "home" and it doesn't feel all that great...

You know you're a ywamer when on the next mission trip you go on with non-ywamers you pack everything you need in one small duffle while everyone else brings large suitcases.

you head out your door without any money and your not worried.

your mothers from country x, your dads from country y and you live in country z.
You speak 3 different languages in your family.

this is definitely the journey to know God and experience all that he has instore for you.....once a YWAMER will always be a YWAMER

when you said yes and amen to somehow "unknown"... but having peace in trusting, believing and obeying God!

...when you can't remember which spelling/pronunciation/common term is the correct one for your country of origin.

when everytime you hear the word YWAM you feel as if it's your last name

WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE THE SAME ANYMORE!!!

when the other languages are not that foreign to you anymore...
....in fact, you even get this "foreigh accent"(after a few years living in other country) in your own native language.... weird, eh... and everybody bugs you about it... or keep asking you- "where you from?", when your are really @ "home".......

when your roommate is almost 40 and you still sleep in bunk beds

when a picture of "waves of young people crashing on the shores" isn't from some creepy nightmare

you find yourself randomly bursting out in song..in a foreign language..usually a worship and song and you make people uncomfortable because you aren't self conscious anymore bout your faith.

When your traveling and you can spot an international all ages crew of people with a guitar in hand and you know without asking that it is an outreach team!

When you know how to say "Hi" and "Thank you, God" in 25 differend languages.

You know you're a YWAMer when good-bye's aren't such a big deal cuz you know you'll see the person again somewhere else in the world.

you've walked up to a complete stranger and asked if you could pray for them

* when you are spoiled for the ordinary!

* when you organize your address book by country
* when you can't go on vacation, alone, ANYWHERE because you know SOMEONE, EVERYWHERE (YWAMer or supporter)!

you know you're a ywamer when you can only contact your friends and family through facebook, myspace, or skype.

You know you're a YWAMer when someone gets married, and the entire wedding looks like you're at a United Nations conference!

...And when you can't talk to half your friends, because they live in other countries. And when you can feel high-maitnence living out of a suitcase. If you've had 15+ roommates at a time. If you greet old DTS buddies in a different language. And if you've eaten weird ethnic food in your school dining hall everyday for months. And finally, if you've been through Dean Sherman's 'Relationships' and Spiritual Warfare' teaching and then met him while thinking "He doesn't look anything like he did in those 1980's videos."

when pretty much all the people around you has read "Is that really you God?" and knows where Luzanne is..

When your bed, couch, and office are all the same thing.

You know you're a YWAMer when you've been working outside of YWAM for over a year but you still consider yourself a YWAMer!

...you dream in languages you don't even know.

...you get random ywam group invites and actually join them.
...all your facebook goups and networks are all ywam related.

You know you are a YWAMer when you make a new friend, get close, then they move to another country.

I know I'm a YWAMer when I've had 36 roomates in 18 months!!!

You know you're a YWAMer when you can laugh at every single thing posted

from facebook groups

Introducing my cell!!

2008-08-09T00:03:00.002+08:00

Hi again, my faithful readers...
I went to East Coast today with my cell so i thought i would introduce some of them to you...

There's Samuel and Gregory in front...
Joel, Ben, Weiming and Bryan behind

Gregory hasn't cycled in years and it was a fine start for him..
The end wasn't too bad as well...he knew clearly what he wanted...BK!!

ah ha! This was my best moment!! Seeing ben teach bryan to cycle on his own accord...
and he was patient..excellent!!

the loud talker and the fast talker...

it was quite deja vu for me actually...
the awkwardness of adolescence, the blatant honesty of boyhood,
the severe need for attention and affirmation
and the overcompensation for lack of esteem.

i was pretty much that awkward teenager...
so many situations i dreaded
i acted
i fumbled

it's interesting cos i remember my mum coming to urge me on to play with my kinder mates
in nursery i think..
the kids would be in full flight..zooming around like planes
while i hid in the corner
dreading

i don't understand why people don't think i can be shy

i am a new creation

and now i watch a new generation

watch them with me, would u?

My YWAM family

2008-08-01T16:53:00.006+08:00

Trisha and Silas at Botak Jones. Excellent Burgers!

Miri has the best deal! She had Bah Kuet Teh at JB! My favourite Sesame Oil Chicken!!

The boys were stopping over...we had Indian food and a good time catching up

We were at GF together! It was a blast! They tried durians and watch Batman @midnite.

where have i been all this time

2008-07-28T16:01:00.003+08:00

It's funny that the title of my last post seems to be talking to me

But well, i'm back and sorry to be away for so long. 8 months! Ok to make up for it, i have a tag board now. I feel so in tuned with technology!!
It's been an eventful 8 months, a bulk of it painful.
I can't put them all on the www but i do have evon to go through most of them with me. Thank God for her.

I must confess that i don't have any inspired prose bursting out. I just feel i need to start writing again. Thanks to the prompting of 2 sisters.

I will look back to see if there's anything worth sharing.

ok i do!

Was at the Go Forth conference and it was a blast!

Let's get this party started with some great quotes:

"The world finds fulfillment in people employing their gifts and talents in the right places.
The Church finds fulfillment in dying for others."

"The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity but its sending capacity."

"Go to where you're not."

"Refresh, Replenish, Release!"- the role of Singapore as missions hub?

It's really neat cos i've had many ywam friends passing through Singapore and i've put them up either at my place or the office. And that's what i tried to do for them. At least in front of the overflowing dinning table. "Be replenished and eat all you can! Then go get them!!". I got this clear resonance when the 3 Rs were shared in workshop at the conference.

I was networking with a new boldness and confidence during the conference. It was cool to meet many new friends and to reunite with old ones there. I get this sense that God's family isn't limited to the local church and such a wealth of resource is available for the Kingdom.

ok. so here are some updates of my life since i last blog. in no order at all.

-put on quite a few kilos.(just in case you haven't met me.)

-i got a new cell. leading an male teen cell. They're quite cute at times. Go figure.
BUT, i must say that they really are the future and we must invest in them.

-Got a pair of Adidas Predator for only $30!!!

-I work in church now.

- been getting aches and pains after the soccer sessions on sundays. The Weekend Warrior is crumbling! bought a pair of custom made insoles cos my sole was hurting too.

- My IPPT looms ahead...in Aug

-went on my first mission trip since DTS. It was cool cos i could sit back more and watch people bloom and grow. Need to invest in here too.and yes, Nepal was wonderful. Being able to talk to E and S about life there was so precious. Evon was wonderful in Nepal! I'm so blessed to have "happy kid" share those moments with me there.see my facebook for more pictures.

- dad went Home. stevencheochinyew.blogspot.com ( not easy reading but worth remembering)

- Man Utd won the EPL and Champions League!!

Where have you been all this time?

2007-11-23T16:58:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone!
This is the long awaited post! Yes, even by me...especially by me.
I've been waiting far too long to announce this wonderful gift God has placed in my life
This is evon.

A short introduction to those who'll not have the chance to catch up with us soon...
Evon and i have been friends since 2001. See the photo bottom right of the collage?
That's us, on a hill far away...
Mt Ophir 2002, YMM Team 1.
Though i'm not sure what it'll take to persuade her to climb it again..=)
I'm not sure what it'll take to persudae my knees to climb again.
We're been good friends, served as youth leaders, movie kakis(buddies) together but never quite connected in any special way...
not until june 2007

so i came back from Perth and we did...

It wasn't a simple process and journey that we took over the last few months.
We wanted to take all the right steps,go through the right procedures and meet all the right people...
Our desire is to share our lives with our community and not have anything to hide in the process.
So we love suppers and if you'll like to catch up with us, you'll love to share our story with you!
In the meantime, just enjoy the photos!

yes, and be happy for me.

=)

Updates for Oct2007

2007-10-15T16:14:00.000+08:00

Dad’s health

It’s been more than 2 months since my last update. The main event in my life when I last updated was that my dad was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Since then, it has been a really trying time for my family and me. It was crisis mode to say the least. But praise be to God! My dad accepted Christ on the second day of his admission to hospital. That has brought great joy and assurance to us as a family. It reminds me of the importance of salvation and the finality of eternal separation from the Father. My dad is now undergoing his 3^rd round of chemotherapy and so far, he has been responding very well. We are very grateful to God and still trusting in Him for complete healing before the full 8 rounds of chemotherapy is administered.

Please pray:

· For positive response to current treatment (3^rd round) and complete healing

· Family to manage stress, fatigue and expectations of each other

· Dad’s spiritual growth as new believer

Internship

I have shared previously that I was supposed to be in Perth doing an internship with Pastor Benny Ho, a dear pastor and mentor to me. That was my plan after finishing my initial training in Youth With a Mission (YWAM) Perth. I came back to Singapore for my sister’s wedding in April and as I sought the Lord because of a lack of peace in my heart with regards to the destination I planned. I sought and waited on the Lord for 3 months and I finally heard Him direct me back to my home church for my internship instead of returning to Perth. I realized that while the internship destination has changed, God’s direction for me has not. I spoke to my leaders and pastors back home and they affirmed my decision to come back to serve in the church pastoral team.

I felt led specifically to contribute to missions awareness back in my home base. As a youth, I had the opportunity to make many short term mission trips and that exposure helped me identify and define God’s call on my life. I believe that the youths in my home church will benefit from such similar exposures and it will help to bring about a sense of destiny and purpose in their own lives as they see the “lostness of man” in the nations of the earth.

I also hope to serve in the Youth Ministry back in my church because I believe God is calling me to invest in the lives of youths and challenge them to a life of purpose and destiny. Many of these youth were my ex-students and I feel called to continue to invest in them and equip them as leaders.

I have started working in church as a member of the pastoral staff and I hope that my time in church will equip me with the knowledge and ministry skills of growing and nurturing a local church. This, I believe, will help me as I work towards serving God in the mission field.

Honestly, coming back to Singapore was not my “preferred choice”. I felt I should “keep the momentum” and “roll” on to a field location immediately. But I felt God speaking very clearly and He put an intercessory cry in my heart for the youths in my home church. I know I’ve not been “distracted” by serving back home or deviating from my call to missions. In fact, during my time in YWAM, I felt God calling me to the place of intimacy in hearing His voice clearly and that has helped me know the voice of the Shepherd in this time of seeking.

The face of modern missions is always changing and I know as God laid the clear direction for me to build the missions base at home, I am confident that He will lead me to the next step out to the field for a longer stint, or whatever plan He has for me. I know I cannot put God in a box and just do “Hudson Taylor” style missions. Being in YWAM has exposed me to many different strategies for outreach and evangelism. I hope to utilize my training to serve the Body back at home, as well as the nations of the earth.

Please pray:

· God to show me specific roles I can play in ministries concerning youth and missions

· Mentors who can guide me in these areas

· Anointing to function in these ministries

Work

I work part time in church so I have to find some form of employment during the week. Currently, I am starting to do relief teaching in a school for 5 weeks with the possibility of extending it to a longer contract and also exploring the options of working at 2 different tuition centers.

Please pray:

· Right decision in choice of part time career

· Provision for every aspect of my life

· Balance between work and church ministries

God has been really good. I’ll be the first person to admit it’s not easy to live by faith without a regular salary in Singapore. It may seem easier to do that in a foreign land without family and friends who may inevitably put some form of pressure to keep up with the Jones.

But our God’s arm is not too short in anyway. And as I have experienced His goodness since the beginning of my journey of faith, I want to keep seeing and knowing it, even in Singapore. Would you believe that as I was about to start work in church, a friend decided to lend me his car for almost a year while he’s overseas? And we’re not talking about someone giving me a slice of bread. This is our God. He knows what we want and need and meets us at our level of faith as we give and surrender all that we have to Him. He doesn’t short change us.

Please continue to partner with me and I covet your prayers as this new chapter back in Singapore continues. I look forward to meeting up with you and if you pray and discern anything, I’ll love to hear from you.

Operation "Sleep Early on Saturday Night"

2007-08-15T01:52:00.000+08:00

I don't like to sleep early

That's a pretty bad and unhealthy habit

yes, i'm trying...

But i don't quarrel with Saturdays nights

I remember Ps Dan mentioned about honouring God by sleeping early on saturday nights so that we'll be up and about on sundays.

The photo above is a 630am sunday morning shot.

way too early...for most of our liking.

Even though it's hauntingly beautiful

smiling and 6am morning devotions don't quite go together.
That's probably very staged. =)

but this isn't.....

nor was this....

you see, a few of us got together and we realised that we really like hanging out...but not very much was accomplished all the time.
Fun has always been very important to me. I love suppers, movies...
and i don't have to convince anyone about that.

anyhow,
a page from the past...

i remember wondering the streets on sunday afternoons after church with the rest of the "singles' club", trying to create some meaning in being together.
We were often dead tired but no one would want to go home till we really had to.
We have real issues, questions, doubts, fears and needs that we hoped others would be able to meet during those extensive, exhaustive hang out times.
i usually end up home on sunday night, disappointed, tired and dreading the impending monday.

but i WANT to be with my friends

and that hasn't changed since i was 14.

There MUST be some good we can do for each other?

It's a pretty vicious cycle i got trapped into.
I had problems and i couldn't find solutions that would fix me.
I tried to find "quick fix"es in my friends but often mess it up
We jeered, teased, put down, competed, talk down to each other most of the time.
we didn't know any better.

Ironically there were answers in THE Book i've never come across
And i never came across cos i've never tried searching.
or seeking
or hearing

I had needs and words weren't going to help

we don't have all the answers
we don't have to.
we just need to be asking the Source

Quiet time/devotions are NEVER easy.
I haven't met many youths who never had struggles doing it
If we're so into each other for so many hours each time we meet,
why not help and do some good?

So,
some of us are meeting together.
We find a spot and take 30 min to be alone with God and His word.
We practice being still and hearing
and i believe if we do it often enough, we will hear
i've heard.
it works.

After the 30 mins we come together to share and pray(over breakfast)

If i try it on a sunday morning and i get to internalise a Promise from the Source,
then i might find it easier to attempt it again on monday, tue, wed, thur...
even when i'm alone

Seeking and finding isn't second nature but it can be
If we're all doing it together
Everything IS easier when we do it together

Even if we have to wake up at 5am on sunday

Over time, i started to get more tired on sunday afternoons...
and over time, received wisdom to go home for naps
=)

Please join Operation "Sleep Early on Saturday night"!
All are welcome!

the vision...be inspired

2007-08-02T20:08:00.000+08:00

The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.

They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.

They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.

They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport..

People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision ?

The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.

It makes children laugh and adults angry.

It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.

It scorns the good and strains for the best.

It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.

It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.

This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.

A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose

that they might one day win

the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.

They don't need fame from names.

Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground

The whisper of history in the making

Foundations shaking

Revolutionaries dreaming once again

Mystery is scheming in whispers

Conspiracy is breathing…

This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.

The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.

Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ?

Can hormones hold them back?

Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man

with groans beyond talking,

with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and

with great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules.

Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide.

Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials.

The advertisers cannot mould them.

Hollywood cannot hold them.

Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

inside.

On the outside?

They hardly care.

They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity?

They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell.

A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)

Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.

Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdo's!

Summon the losers and the freaks.

Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.

They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension.

Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.

How do I know?

Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is his today.

My distant hope is his 3D.

And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself.

And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

Life

2007-06-26T06:50:00.001+08:00

What are you full of, today?

Live

Favourite teachers, Family, Food, Fjords, flights and Filthy socks

2007-06-25T00:46:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since i last blogged. Please forgive the long absence. This is a season of seeking,waiting and hearing and in the process, i have to curb my ranting, which is no simple feat for me.

But i think it's time to blog again.

If you've been to Norway and have seen the magnificient fjords, and if you're reading a book on prayer at the same time, you'll have to blog about it. I do.

Ok. i know my sentence construction sucks. I was actually teaching that for a few days back in my old school in june and it felt really good. i felt like a knowledgeable person again, capable of instructing young minds, and they seem to have learnt from those four days. I gave my all, i know, and they benefited. It was just that look on the last day that made it all worthwhile. When i said bye to them and they asked why i didn't choose to stay on.
(And i remember telling them that phrases starting with "When" are usually part of a subordinate clause and they are incomplete until you join them with a main clause to form a complex sentence.)

Anyway, that look was priceless and it reminded me why i do what i do.

Back to norway, and i'll have to quickly revert back to my school days again.

Mrs Goon!! I miss you!!

Most of you unfortunate people reading this probably haven't met her. i always tell people i had a role model, an inspiration to become a teacher when i was in school. Actually, i had two. Mr Hodge was the one often mentioned but Mrs Goon is always close to the heart.

Now a very piece of important advice coming up:

All A level Geography students, please be very serious about your subject and stop copying the girls' assignments!!

Mrs E. Goon was my physical Geography Teacher in college. She was the one who inspired me to climb mountains and scale different peaks. After coming back from her trips during the holidays, she would show us photos and inspire us. Of course, the highlight was our field trip to Bali where we climbed Mt Batur. It's this parasite volcano that grew along a crater lake in Kintamani. We had so much fun and it wasn't just knowledge downloaded.
It was a dream born.
That's what good teachers do for you.
They birth a dream in you.
i still want to climb Mt Kilimanjaro someday before the ice caps melts or my knee cap pelts..which ever comes first.

There are 2 people i wished were travelling with me and Mrs Goon is definitely one of them.

I would feebly try to recall anything i could to impress her. There were so many features to point out, photos to be taken and things to be explained. i actually studied fjords in 1994.
Sigh.
i wished i hadn't sleep so much in class then.
Mrs Goon was a real darling. i would be sitting in the front row and burying my forehead into my arms, dead asleep during the tutorials. she NEVER did scream at me. Only raising her volume to warn the sleeping me that the next OHT would have relevance to the exams. A student asleep in my class? i'll never allow that!That guy will be barked at and have a very good idea of what i had for breakfast.

Yes i did pass Geography that year.
But only just.

Thanks Mrs Goon!

I think i prayed really hard.

Speaking of which, i finished Philip Yancey's "Prayer" last year in Perth. It was a very interrupted attempt at the book because of the intensity of my course. But i knew there were gems inside i had to revisit.(Just like i know i shouldn't start my sentences with "But").
So i did. And i felt it was just the right book to for Europe.

"Norway is Beautiful" was my MSN title for a while. It's a gross understatement. Like, "Houston we have a problem".
Miriam my Norwegian DTS mate told me she finds it hard to spend time alone with God at home. Who else can then, in this world??

That's miriam on the right, and svenni on the left.

I was snapping scenery shots non stop for a while.

Then i stopped and i didn't try anymore.

There was no way i could do any justice to them.

They were just awesome!
And i don't use that word lightly.
Our Creator is awesome.

So there i go, sitting on the cruises, bus, train rides, totally enthralled by my surroundings. I was just taking it all in. I think i know what the hymn writer was talking about when he wrote "How great Thou art". I scarce can take it in.
Photos will not be good enough.

The moment was, though.

And in the light of those moments, I prayed.

Be still. Latin imperative is vacate.
"God invites us to take a holiday, to stop being God for a while and let Him be God." - Simon Tugwell.

Oh how apt!
I like this next one.

"Prayer is an expression of who we are.
We are a living incompleteness.
We are a gap, an emptiness that calls for fulfillment."- Thomas Merton.

"Prayer allows me to admit my failures, weakness and limitations to the One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy." - Philip Yancey

And this next guy is incidentally, Norwegian.

"Only he who is helpless can truly pray." - Ole Hallsby

My apartment has a lake view and it's totally surreal.
I look all around me, even as i type,and bask in the grandeur of the snow cap peaks in Voss.

"There is a God and I am not it."

Who am i?

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapour in the wind
Still You, hear me when i'm calling
Lord You catch me when i'm falling
And You told me who i am
I am Yours

songs and a familiar ride home

2007-04-21T23:04:00.000+08:00

i took a long bus ride today

Before i started driving, i used to take the #31 bus service to the beach and back.
It's a nice and familiar route.

The same stale airconditioning in the upper deck,
the dirty pink plastic seats and
the little cramped space i had to nestle my knee against the seat in front.

yet the familiarity of it all was comforting and it just felt safe.
the engine purred on

I knew it would bring me back home

Just like familiar songs

I could just lean forward, bury my forehead unto my arms and close my eyes.
The ride would take a while.

The first week of the rest of my life

2007-04-17T02:06:00.000+08:00

It's been just over a week

I came back home to start life all over

It feels like a fresh start

Having been through the last 7 months,
I return home feeling refreshed,
and a little jaded by the endless travelling and packing
and a little restless inside
and a little expectant of the future, and maybe
a little fearful

It's been a good week i think
I got to meet up with 4 good friends, go into Malaysia for great food(BKT),
lunch with ex-colleagues, watch 2 movies and 1 dvd, send adrian off to dubai, play the guitar at cell, lead devotion with my Boys in Boys' Brigade, sing a farewell song to my ex-boss at a concert, finish a video slideshow and show it to about 27 people, have dinner with my extended family and share my testimony with my cousin.

That's pretty cool, i think

Malaysia was great.Cheap & delicious food, cheap haircut.

I also caught up with Winz, danny, james, sohs, chuas, lius, justin and eileen, cynthia, KC and dennis.

Quick lunch with the colleagues on Friday and the surprise farewell song for Mr Low my principal was pretty crazy.
I hardly know the song though i set my ipod on repeat mode. I must have heard it for 2700 times in those 2 days.hmmm..i still can't remember the tune in the beginning.
"Do i make you proud?"- cool song

i spoke to about 40 Boys on Saturday. They were the first people to see my video slideshow. The nights before saturday, i was sleeping at 430, 330 and 330am, trying to rush it out. And i felt led to share with the Boys about hearing from God. That it's for everyone, and that God's desire to relate to us is greater than our disability to hear Him.

Dinner with the family was good. I went over after my first soccer session back here and as i was showering at my aunty's place, i realised that my uncle was going to see it too. My uncle's a Taoist priest and he probably wasn't going to take too well to what i was going to share from my video...I was right...I share about the HIV babies being healed in chon buri and he blurted out," If i get healed from my high blood pressure and diabetes, i'll quit my job as a Taoist priest!"
My non-christian cousin rightly commented, "The stakes just got higher! But i don't think he'll honour it."
I felt challenged to take it up. We had a few Christian there, my cousin, sister and mum...but he seemed pretty provoked so i didn't say anything. Maybe i should start praying..afterall, we saw an instant healing at cell group on Friday with Jung woo, my korean friend.
What i really enjoyed was sharing my testimony with my younger cousin. He was really interested to know about my journey and i shared with him about faith, provision and destiny. Just short of asking him for a decision. He has questions i can tell and seeing people like me do crazy stuff like quitting my job probably fuelled more questions...I hope the verse i tried to quote stays with him.."according to your faith, so shall it be added unto you." - simon's version
God, please bring him to the point where he'll want to leap off, to faith.

I got an organiser! Like a planner, a monthly one with lots of space to scribble stuff down. It's weird trying to plan your own life again after 7 months of not being able to do so. ahhaha. but seriously, the key phrase:"prayerful decisions!"

I need divine appointments, nothing less.

I'm reminded again how easy it is to go on life here without spending time with God.
Meetings, outings stacked back to back. One could possible cruise through without God. There seems to be no incentive for doing that...But now, i guess it's Him or nothing. The stakes are higher, even for me.

Looking forward to a few more catchup sessions. There's a possible trip to China next month to check out a ministry aveune. Someone is willing to fly me over to have a chat with the contacts there. I might go, since i promised my mum a holiday with her too. 2 birds with a stone. Why not?

Then there a meeting with Gary and Pet's interested in YWAM. Yeah!!
Yu Beng called me today too and that's cool...Love to catch up with him and douglas.

So many meals, so little time for jogging..sigh..
How i miss you, IWT!!!
All the set up made a difference-to my quickly disappearing muscles.

I hope to make more video...had so many ideas...but it's just getting down to it finally...just like other things.

ok..maybe i should note down some lessons learnt so that i can fish them out quickly as i'm led to..

1. Lesson on faith and provision-testimony abt laptop,airfare,reluctant giving and surprise package in perth. Principle of holding loosely to possessions.

2. Power of family ministry in Thailand. Legacy to pass onto children through lifestyle. Vaules learnt not through books.

3. Comfort zones. Housework. Humility. Serving the Body.

4. Pride. Critical and judgement spirit.

5. Intercession and worship. Travailing.

6. Power of repentance and confession

7. Hearing God's voice. Steps of intercession

8. Shut up and die!! Denial of flesh.

9. Evangelism:upclose and personal.

10.Organic church

Ask me!

Wasn't my best week, the first week. Wanted to be more reflective but the buzz got the better of me.
Ok, there's always week 2.

Oh!! and Man Utd mauled Roma 7-1!!!!

oh happy week!

my Sports DTS video slideshow

2007-04-15T02:33:00.000+08:00

hi everyone!

I did a summary video to give u a glimpse into the last 7 mths of my life.
Not the best of videos, terribly basic but only my second and i'm happy with it.
So if i didn't get a chance to meet up with you, the video should give you a good idea.

cheers mate!

strangely difficult

2007-04-05T01:14:00.000+08:00

i just got back from the airport.
It feels about right.
To post a new entry.

It is a new chapter.
And it's weird to send people off to the airport
We should all just leave on the same day
it just feels strange for the people who stay behind

Saying goodbye to people you lived with for 6 mths(some say 7 years) is tough
I feel it now cos there's nothing tomorrow
They're gone.
No more.

No more us.
No more instructions for the number of toast i should eat.
No more reminders to bring my bible for devotion
No more "8am, ready to go."

They've been there every morning
Groggy faces, big haired, half opened eye at morning exercise
We share the toilet reluctantly,
racing to be ahead in the queue for the toaster/butter/jam/mee goreng bowl/toilet bowl

We huddled together on trucks, vans, buses,
singing to the karaoke in Thai,
worshipping, big bootying, wet willying,
play fighting, telling stories, sleeping

We shifted houses 9 times in 6 months
We laughed and cried together,
We removed our masks
6 months was long enough

We shouted out prayers and praises
We stood together and believed
We saw money switch hands
in hours, fees paid

We didn't always agree
We kept silent during long rides
We retreated into our worlds
but
We also learnt to come back

We fought battles
Our own and together
We heard, we saw, we did, we grew

We laughed, danced, partied,
limbo-ed, farted, burped

We ate, shopped, ate

We kicked, threw,bumped,
passed, shot, scored
volleyed, smashed, surfed

sand, sweat, blood,
beard,puke, crap
Cement slabs, plywood, nuts and bolts
splinters, sandwiches, shakes and roos
We've seen it all

Some i'll miss,definitely more than others

yet it's strangely difficult
to omit these characters from tomorrow

Time's up, but inertia keeps the inside ticking away

i rest but still feel tired
i look and one more is gone

For a time gone and never to return
It left a mark, an imprint to remember
"Know God, and make Him known"
Where ever
However
Forever

You'll be hard to forget,
The Originals-Sports DTS

last lap update

2007-03-19T13:47:00.000+08:00

Team Extreme: Big guys bending steel bars and breaking bricks

Island Breeze: Polynesian dancers

The skate/bmx ramps for GX in Fremantle

Sports DTS: Our last photo together

Prayer and Intercession at a park for before a show

I'm running into the last leg of my stay here in Perth. It's been interesting
Ok, this is going to be some random thoughts...

My school's over, half my team went home. Saying goodbye's strange and a little hard.
Especially when the people leaving have been in your face, and close, for the last 6 months.
It's sad that we might never see each other again. But that's just me indulging in melancholy.

PAcking
I DREAD packing. Big random thought always looming.

Where? When?
Sigh...It's tough to try living a day at a time with some options flying over my head and trying not to plan. I should be home soon in April, then catch up with friends and seek some counsel, pray a little more. Get married and go to mission field. yeap..that's what i'll do...i told u..random thoughts

Church
Reading a really cool book called Organic Church. Been on a reading blitz and straddling 4 books now. ok. This is annoying. I bought 4 books in Koorong last week. One of them is entitled,"Date or Soulmate". My friends are making a big deal about it after i loaned it to another friend. I bought 3 other books!
2 of them are by Henri Nouwen, comtemplating celibacy, solitude, and prayer. No one's paying attention to those.
Anyway, pick up Organic church..really cool to rethink church and evangelism.

yes, start inviting me out for suppers and dinner, all you singaporean friends!! email me though, i got no mobile contract..

cheers mate

perth updates

2007-03-13T15:37:00.000+08:00

hi everyone

sorry for the long absence. It's really hard to feel inspired to write in an internet cafe with the clock ticking down on me.

We're into a nice break now for these 2 days at least...going back to the YWAM base daily for session..we call it report back..it's closure for our school, one-on-ones with our leaders and talking about re entry into the "world". Going back to the base and meeting the YWAM family is always nice. It's a nice break from the tour we've been running. I'm now part of a small crew of 7 called the tear down crew. What we do is to take the stage down after each performance of the tour. It's physically exhausting and quite challenging for a mechanically challenged person like me. So that's what i'll be doing till april..But it's really cool to be part of such a big show..never have i ever dreamt that i'll be involved in a production so huge..giant stage, big lights and all for God..it's wonderful.

Yesterday i had a great time alone with God when our leaders told us to reflect on the past 6 months of DTS. I really took time to process and write stuff down about what i think God is doing. A few things stood out: 1. I came to learn about God, but He seemed to be telling me that I've got loads to learn about myself. 2. Faith in provision. I felt led to give to someone in Thailand and after obeying, i found a nice package from home, blessing me with just exactly double what i gave away. It's amazing! and the thought behind it was such a blessing! thanks guys!3. My role in missions: Messenger of Hope. To be a carrier of this message and bring hope to those who don't know.

Gotta go..

cheers

the call

2007-02-16T00:23:00.000+08:00

it's getting clearer.
This is my last week in Thailand. God has been really good. Just before we left Ubon, we visited a juvenile home and did ministry there. I was mc-ing that event and we weren't sure about many things. Whether we could play football with them, whether we could pray for them, even if we could give an altar call. We did anyway, and one boy stood up to receive Jesus!! It's was great!!

In our 3rd city here in Chon Buri, we were at a small slum, inside a dusty home with creaky floor, the planks threatening to give way. Some of us were doing simple craft work with the kids and when we got on to the van, we found out that 4 ladies in that meeting gave their lives to Jesus! This slum area has no Christians at all and that creaky house was on its way to become the first house church in that area. PTL!!!

Seeing children sing and praise God in their own language always does something to me.
It clarifies my purpose and existence.
the nations will bow and worship
That is not my preference but something that will happen one day.
Whether we like it or not.
I like it.
and i can see myself going at this.

Here at The Life Centre, God's been using the pioneering missionaries (Team 2000) to speak to me. I felt God had been quiet for a while and then one morning when Team 2000 shared their testimonies, i just felt phrases jumping out at me

"...people in exchange for your life."

"...you were built for this!"

"...give me 50 years"

"...what is the value of your life?"

"How do you want your kids to see you?"

My heart was racing, pounding away as i heard stories of HIV kids being healed, and Buddist nannies turning to Christ one after another because they saw the healing. And i tried to hide the tear in my eye when the missionary who allowed God to move her to embrace these HIV babies, broke down and her voice cracked as she recounted how the doctors told her she had struck the lottery, twice. 2 babies were healed!

Seeing the missionary cry was one thing. Seeing her daughter sitting right next to her as she testified, playing football, basketball, hip hop dancing with the HIV boys was another thing.

How do we teach children values?
I wondered helplessly as the Civics and Moral Education Coordinator when i was teaching.
I don't know for the rest, but i think i found my answer.

i saw Ps Sang craddling his daughter in his arms as he translated the gospel for us in the university.

i saw Gaan playing the keyboard alongside his dad in the worship service

i saw Bryan and Sheri playing soccer(11 a side) together with their son and daughter, shouting out, encouraging and urging little barefooted thai boys on.

I saw Sierra looking at her daddy as he break danced on the floor in front of the youths.

How do you want your kids to see you?

At the end of all our strivings and ventures, what is the value of your life?
What will you have accomplished?

i believe that a life yielded to the Father's will will see multiplication
A life invested into the lives of others who have not known grace might fall and die
but will surely bear fruit and multiply.

I felt the call again. I heard it again and it tugged at my heart. At that moment, i asked myself."What is going on in me?"
Something that rages so deep inside must be the deep calling out.
and it's call is growing stronger, and clearer

updates from ubon

2007-02-05T16:54:00.000+08:00

That's a housechurch that we're painting..really ulu place, but we had fun sweating it out together and getting paint all over. The pastor had a vision to build the church for 20 years..on that day of the painting, we also laid the foundation of the next block and it was a quite a moment.
We got to sleep in tents..1 person to a tent each..pretty cool..
We met a M'sian missionary there and it was great to hear English sopken "my way".
The missionary's teenage daughter saw me and the first thing she said to me:"Why you all singaporean all one kind wan? all the spectacles and hair style all look alike?"

We had very unique children's ministry...kids were just throwing themselves at us guys and we were tossing, turning, flipping them in the air..was like a warzone..dust everywhere and bodies flying around...load of fun..
maybe they needed that.

We had a chance to play a proper game and it ended in a 5-5 draw..good score. great fun. my sch mates were so surprised to hear me screaming and shouting instruction all over the field...we're in blue

this is a small housechurch we visited and God gave me colossians 3 for them as encouragment

This is our host church. We did songs, skits, youth and children's ministry here.

We did a prayer drive one night and ended up at the largest spirit house in the area. We went on intense warfare right in front of the shrine. It was great!

That's us and our host front row, right.
i'm on the left in white.

Cat and Dogs

2007-01-29T00:50:00.000+08:00

This is something i'm revisiting as i shared with my sports dts team for devotion.
It kinda changed the way i looked at my faith and life.
It's worth reading.

“Cat and Dog Theology”
************
Genesis Chapter 1
Why are most Christians bored? They view
the Bible from a people-centered view of the
Scriptures. Most don’t get excited until
Genesis 3, then they have something to live
for…saving the lost world! They have non-
verbally communicated to themselves and God
that the Bible is all about people.

We are making two bold statements: God is
the main character of the Bible and lives to
radiate His glory, therefore, God lives for God
(He doesn’t live for us). Secondly, the
average true believer says the Bible is all
about God, but lives as if humanity is …
Humanity often replaces God on the throne.

Let’s look at two examples.
First example: What did God get out of Jesus’
death? Most Christians want to say “He got
us” but that is jumping straight back into a
people-centered perspective! He also received
glory, honor, praise, adoration and obedience.
Most Christians overlook this.

Second example: Most people don’t want
others to go to hell because they’ll suffer
(back to a people centered perspective). In
Psalm 30:9, David talks about the praise God
wouldn’t get.
Depending upon who is the main character of the
Bible, you will have two different theologies.
“Cat and Dog Theology”
Two main characters have “birthed” two types
of Christianity. These two differences are
seen in the different attitudes between a dog
and a cat.

A dog says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, You must be God.”
A cat says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, I must be God.”

There is a Cat and Dog in all of us! They are
constantly fighting. They both look and act
“Christian” but there is a huge difference in
their heart attitude.

Getting To Heaven
Cats have a tendency to walk away from hell.
Their sole focus is on themselves. Dogs walk
toward heaven having fallen in love with God.
Many Christians today are joyless simply
because they are still focused on themselves
and are walking away from hell. (Matthew
13:44-Kingdom of Heaven like the Treasure in the fields. Great joy found.)

Obedience School
Both Cats and Dogs want obedience in their
lives. Dogs want to obey God. Cats want
God to obey them. You usually see this
reflected in their prayer lives.

Quiet Times
Both Cats and Dogs have quiet times. Dogs
focus on God’s glory (they think, “How is
God’s reputation being affected by my life?”)
and Cats focus on themselves (how can they
better their life…?)

Prayer
Dogs pray to establish God’s kingdom. Cats
pray to establish their own kingdom.

Blessings and Responsibilities
Cats want all the blessings and none of the
responsibilities.
As a result, two major problems arise in Cat
Theology. An incomplete gospel comes
about, and Cats have mixed-up priorities.

Incomplete Gospel
Over time, Cat Theology develops into an
incomplete gospel.
Cats are saved from hell and it stops there.
This is not incorrect, but it is incomplete.
Dogs are saved from hell, FOR WORSHIP.
In Our Prayers
Praying “Father, thank you for dying on the
cross for our sins” is not incorrect, but it is
incomplete. He died on the cross for our sins
SO THAT we might point to God and glorify
Him.

In Our Blessings
Cats focus on gathering all of God’s blessings
with a bucket. And once they have them, they
keep them.
Dogs gather as many blessings as they can
from God and pass them on to others. They
know that the blessings are meant to go
through them to others.

Blessings and Glory
Both Cats and Dogs want to see God glorified
and want to be blessed by God. Dogs hunger
more for God’s glory whereas Cats hunger
more for the blessings.

Worship
Dogs worship God primarily for who He is.
Cats worship God primarily for what He’s
done for them.

Tessera
Why all these differences? Dogs study
“Theology” while Cats study “MEology.”
Dogs see God’s glory like a stained glass
window. Each bit is called a “tessera.” Each
tessera uniquely displays God’s glory, such as
the animal kingdom, the family unit, taste, the
stars. “Glory is any revelation or expression
of His excellency in His presence, creativity
and/or character.” One way God chooses to
reveal His glory is through blessing us!

Satan’s Strategy
Satan doesn’t want Christians to focus on
God’s glory. His strategy is to get humanity
to focus in on something “safe” and “close to
God’s heart” so their focus is off of God’s
glory.
As a result, we begin to think that life is all
about us. Because of this, we make a
foundational shift in our theology. Our focus
goes off of God glorifying Himself through
blessing us. Our focus is on receiving the
blessings from God, and we become primary;
God’s glory becomes secondary.
Cats Are Living For Themselves
Cats are basically living for themselves in a
Christian context. They’ve rejected other
“ways” of life and have chosen Christianity as
the best way to live for themselves. Life is
still all about them.
WDGG?
Dogs ask one key question as they go through life:
What Does God Get? As a result, they realize that
life is for God, it is not for us. They see the joy
God had in Genesis 1 while He was creating!

A Prayer Of Repentance
For thinking life was about us and not You,
For advancing our kingdom and not Yours,
For seeking Your blessings more than You,
For an incomplete Christianity,
For mixed-up priorities,
For living for ourselves in a Christian context,
For not seeing Your glory all around us.
We repent. Fill us again with your Holy Spirit that
we might live to make You famous.

The Eight Dangers of
Cat Theology!
************
Laying centuries of Cat Theology brings about
many dangers in the Christian life.

Danger #1:
Feel Good Theology
Cats only read verses that make them feel
good. If they read verses that don’t make
them feel good, they skip over them and
simply say, “That doesn’t apply to me” or
“That doesn’t make sense.”

Danger #2:
C ats Always Look For Themselves
Cats are constantly looking for themselves in
the Bible. They constantly say “How does this
affect me? How does it affect my life?”
When they find themselves, they rejoice, but
they are never thinking about God.
Cats and Dogs read John 3:16 totally
differently. Dogs focus in on the fact that God
loves anyone unconditionally and Cats focus
in on themselves in the verse.
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages, he might show the imcomparable riches of His grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:6,7 gives a perfect example of
how we focus in on ourselves. The text
basically tells us that God has saved us to
show off His glory, and all we can do is focus
in on “us” and say “it’s all about us!”

Danger #3:
C ats Expect Life To Be Fair
Look at three lives: Jabez, a “young girl” in 2
Kings 5, and Stephen.
Jabez was greatly blessed. The young girl was
sent away as a slave and reached another
Gentile leader. Stephen was stoned to death.
Which life was God fair to? It is the wrong
question. Life wasn’t designed to be fair. Life
was designed to be a series of opportunities to
reflect and reveal the glory of God. These
three lives did that—revealing God’s glory is a
“golden thread” that runs throughout the entire
Bible!

Danger #4:
Selective Application
Many times we only apply those passages of
scripture which make us “feel good.” Rarely
are we reading (much less memorizing)
passages which deal with God’s desire to
glorify Himself through giving us the tough
times… 1 Peter 2:20-“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God”;
1 Thessalonians 3:2-4

Why aren’t we taught lessons like…
•
God wants you to live, breathe, eat and die
in slavery to teach future generations a
lesson?
•
Your siblings are going to sell you off as a
slave so God can use you in a foreign land?
•
God may want you to marry a person from
another culture just so you can bond with
your in-law and be shown kindness after
your spouse dies?
•
You are to be a prophet to the church, be
jailed, and see no fruit for the majority of
your years of ministry?
•
God may want our country to be invaded
(devastated) to get the Gospel out?
•
God may want you thrown into a blazing
fire to show His power?
•
God may want you stoned to death?
•
God may want you taken from your home
(forcefully?) to become a leader in another
country and then be cheated and thrown
into a lion’s den?
•
God may want a famine to come to your
land so you move to another country and
share your faith?
•
God may want you to become a slave to
reach out to another people?
•
God may want you in jail to share your
faith with others?

•
God is going to test you by having all your
assets taken away, by having your children
killed and inflicting you with severe pain?
•
God may want you beaten with rods,
stoned, shipwrecked, naked, cold and
hungry, alone in the sea, beaten with 39
lashes multiple times….?

Danger #5:
Winner’ Circle Mentality
!
When Cats read the Bible, they always focus
on the major character, never the minor
character—falsely assuming God loves the
major character more than the minor.
Why don’t we ever relate to: Job’s children?
The 70,000 fighting men who died because
David sinned? David and Bathsheba’s
firstborn? The firstborn of all Egyptians who
died? Korah’s wife and children? Wandering
around in the desert for 40 years? The 14,700
who died of the plague? The wife and
children thrown into the lion’s den after
Daniel was found innocent?
We don’t relate to them because we only want
to relate to the “winners” in the Bible.

Danger #6:
C ats Develop Wrong Priorities
A Cat’s first priority is to stay alive and be
healthy.
Their second priority is safety and security.
They do whatever they can to be safe and
secure in this world.
Their third priority is the desire to be blessed
by God for their own gain.
Their fourth priority is that their church meets
their needs. If their church isn’t meeting their
needs, they quickly switch churches.
After these are brought before God, they may
pray for God’s glory. But rarely is the glory
of God a first consideration when they first
say their prayers.
Way down on the Cat’s priority is world
missions. They rarely talk about it, and if they
do talk about it, they are usually trying to
address the needs locally.

Danger #7:
Humanism Creeps In
Humanism essentially means: “the reason for
all of existence is the happiness of man.”
Humanism has so permeated our society that it
has crept into our Christianity in two
predominant ways.
1) Liberal Humanism says, “The reason for
Christianity is the happiness of mankind when
they are alive.” Out of this is born the “health
and wealth theology.”
2) Evangelical Humanism says, “The reason
for Christianity is the happiness of mankind
after they die (i.e. make sure people don’t go
to hell).
True Christianity says, “The reason for
Christianity is the glory of God.”

Danger #8:
Worship Is A Part Of Life!
When Cats are so focused on themselves, they
worship God during their quiet times, during
Sunday morning services, and possibly while
listening to worship music. Everything
outside of those times is “everyday life.”
But “everyday life” was designed to be one
big worship service. This can happen when
we start to ask the simple question, “What
Does God Get?”

What does God get when you hug a child?
What does God get when you see a
sunset?
What does God get when you listen to
music?
What does God get when you look at a
flower?
What does God get when you see a
butterfly?
What does God get when you taste a
chocolate covered strawberry?
When you begin to look for what God gets,
life can become one big worship service!
When this happens, you don’t do anything
differently in life, you simply do it with an
entirely new perspective!

A Prayer To The Lord:
Lord, we do not live for ourselves, we live
for Your greatest glory.
Bless us with all things or give us nothing.
Honor us before others or bring us low.
Put us to doing or appoint us to suffer.
Give us work or keep us unemployed.
Send us overseas or keep us home.
Shatter any dream that is not yours.
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all
things to Your pleasure and disposal.
All we ask is that we delight in Your
glory!

bangkok..buzzing with activities

2007-01-03T17:47:00.000+08:00

yes..i finally got to eat grasshoppers, silk worms and little frogs.

it's really crunchy and not too bad really...
we had a wonderful New Year's Day Countdown party in church...eating, dancing, playing games...

so what ELSE have i been doing in Bangkok?

In a nutshell, we have English conversational classes and sports evangelism as our main activities..

here's the coconut shell..

in the mornings, we meet for devotion
we met for breakfast at 845am!! Beautiful!! hahaha
then we have devotions, morning chores, worship, briefings.

The church i'm staying at is called the Siam Bangkok Church and we're located next to the biggest university in the world. More than 600,000 students here! We march into the campus at abt 11 in the morning and walk around in groups giving out tracts and invitations to our English Class and Futsal competition.
We meet students, talk, share our testimonies and the Gospel.
Then we have lunch and head back to church.

In the afternoons, we plan our English lesson for the evening ahead.
Lessons are on Tue, Wed and thursdays from 5-7 and 730 to 930.
Quite tough, but pretty fun.

We rotate, so some nights we head out to the stadium nearby to play soccer/basketball with the locals and do our stuff..share the Gospel.

Fridays are our day off, Saturdays are days where our students will bring us sightseeing and Sundays are ministry days with 2 church services that we attend.

today, my team went walking around the campus and stopped at a study bench.
there were 3 girls there and we just stopped to chat.
The pastor was with us and all 4 of us had the chance to share our testimony and the gospel with them.
that moment, we could all sense the Holy Spirit with us and i was like bursting..my heart was beating so fast i just had to cut in and share the gospel with them..it was quite A moment..

It's amazing easy to talk to others about our faith
i guess we complicate it too much

We've been going into the largest university in the world, abt 600,000 students, to do evangelism. We walk up to them, strike up a conversation and share our lifestories with them.

Today we just found out that a bomb was found outside this university in a phone booth.

It scared me a little. I thought we were far away from the bombings that happened downtown.
But it's right here too, it seems...

But it's worth it...

you won't believe the incredible joy we have walking to lunch after sharing the Gospel with some students..we're just so excited we have to keep praying..aloud as we walk to lunch, praying that God will meet those lovely students, that He will show Himself to them.

You know sometimes when you're doing something well or right, and you had this feeling that it's JUST the RIGHT thing to do?

That you were MADE for just that?

That's how we felt...

It's worth it..

bombs or not