Why go for the peanuts when u can have the gold?
Christian life will give you more thrill and excitement and exhalirating experience than bungee jumping, skydiving, roller coaster rides, motorcycling etc....
Look at the promises given by the bible
Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword—we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered (Romans 8:35–36)
Definitely more wonderful right? Putting your life on the line for an eternal purpose instead of something temporary and most of the time doesn't put your life on the line...Definitely way more interesting,exciting and something worth experiencing....
But remember, not to be seeking the rush of adrenaline or be thrill-seeking by itself, or you will be putting it as god..... God created and build you to enjoy the rush of adrenaline and enjoy the thrills that others may do all things to avoid so that you will fulfill His purpose, whatever it might be...
Jia you in following God
To God be the Glory
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Its all good because of God
The more you understand God, the more you will find that you don't understand Him because there is so much more things to understand about Him..... infinitely more.... The more you understand God, the more you will find that you are just some puny, idiotic, wicked, evil, foolish, terrible, uncouth, bigot, proud, stupid, little faith (so on and so forth..... whatever words that comes into mind, paste here)...... But its all good.... For the Lord judge us not by this standard (Woe to us if He did), but He judge us according to our redeemer (Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ).....
Tough as life might be, I know that its all good because our Redeemer and our Savior lives
To God be the Glory
Tough as life might be, I know that its all good because our Redeemer and our Savior lives
To God be the Glory
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Irony 1
"Free" speech tend to be available only if one conforms to the loudest voice in society on a particular stand... as what it seems in more or less all the societies on Earth...
To God be the Glory
To God be the Glory
Monday, July 6, 2009
what is our magnitude of our hatred against sin?
We humans like to measure everything..... every single thing.... but we never really bother to measure the magnitude of our hatred against sin.... Not that it really can be measured.... but we should reflect daily our hatred against sin and whether we have become lax against sin.... Of course by ourselves we cannot win.... But our responsibility is to constantly reflect how much is our hatred against sin.... whether it is venomously strong or sponge weak.... And a constant prayer to ask God for strength to win the constant struggle against sin in our daily lives...
To God Be the Glory
To God Be the Glory
QT today
Something that I have learnt today and have to learn to carry out. Christian life needs to have prayer, worship and fasting.... I don't seem to do well with all three.... but especially on fasting (didn't even think I have fasted before). God help me
To God Be the Glory
To God Be the Glory
Something that we can glean from Joshua 23
Joshua 23
Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders
1A long time afterward, when the LORD had given(A) rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua(B) was old and well advanced in years, 2Joshua(C) summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, "I am now old and well advanced in years. 3And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake,(D) for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you. 4Behold,(E) I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5The LORD your God(F) will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land,(G) just as the LORD your God promised you. 6Therefore,(H) be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses,(I) turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7(J) that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you(K) or make mention of the names of their gods(L) or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8(M) but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. 9(N) For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you,(O) no man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10(P) One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God(Q) who fights for you, just as he promised you. 11(R) Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. 12For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you(S) and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13know for certain that(T) the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you,(U) but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.
14"And now(V) I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that(W) not one word has failed of all the good things[a] that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you(X) all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, 16if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you."
In Joshua 23, we can see Joshua's charge to the Israelite to clear out, stamp out and root out all the foreign inhabitants and to love the Lord with all their hearts. If they do not root out all the inhabitants and instead cling onto these people and intermarry or have some form of interaction with them, then these people will be a snare and a trap and it will cause the people of Israel to perish.
Well, doesn't this seem very much like how we should deal with sin? If we don't root out, stamp out or destroy sin in our lives and instead cling on to it and either trivalise the gravity of sin, allow bits and pieces of it. It will be a trap and snare to us and it will cause us to perish if we persist in it. It is a serious battle that we have to constantly cling on to God or we will not be able to win the battle. We must also have a serious resolve and such strong hatred against sin and keep weeding them out. Christians are born-again. However, we are not sinless. We are sinners running a race and fighting a battle so that we will receive the crown of glory in the end. The old us, Satan, and the world will constantly try to draw us away from God. If we leave sin as it is, or are weak-will, or slothfully clearing up instead of going all out with all guns blazing against the enemy, thinking that it is ok because one can "handle it", too small to take good notice, or not really a problem, then be prepared to fall hard.... very hard.... But we are not without hope. We see in Judges that God provided Israel with people who brought them out of their hopeless situation everytime they cried out to the Lord. God have given us someone way better than any judges in Judges. He gave us Jesus Christ who died on the Cross for us. In our Christian life it is impossible not to stumble and fall for we are all weak. However, if we turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness and truly repent, God will forgive us of our sins and will lead us out of the entanglement of sin. We have to keep praying that we will not become like Israelites in the Judges where they cried out to the Lord, get saved and then after a while, go back to their old ways. It will be a continuous battle. There will be lots of scars and pains and serious hurts. We might lose a limb or two. However, victory is already secured. The crucial part is whether we really serve God as our Lord and King or is it something else.
To God Be the Glory
Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders
1A long time afterward, when the LORD had given(A) rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua(B) was old and well advanced in years, 2Joshua(C) summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, "I am now old and well advanced in years. 3And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake,(D) for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you. 4Behold,(E) I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5The LORD your God(F) will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land,(G) just as the LORD your God promised you. 6Therefore,(H) be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses,(I) turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7(J) that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you(K) or make mention of the names of their gods(L) or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8(M) but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day. 9(N) For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you,(O) no man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10(P) One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God(Q) who fights for you, just as he promised you. 11(R) Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. 12For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you(S) and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13know for certain that(T) the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you,(U) but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.
14"And now(V) I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that(W) not one word has failed of all the good things[a] that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you(X) all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, 16if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you."
In Joshua 23, we can see Joshua's charge to the Israelite to clear out, stamp out and root out all the foreign inhabitants and to love the Lord with all their hearts. If they do not root out all the inhabitants and instead cling onto these people and intermarry or have some form of interaction with them, then these people will be a snare and a trap and it will cause the people of Israel to perish.
Well, doesn't this seem very much like how we should deal with sin? If we don't root out, stamp out or destroy sin in our lives and instead cling on to it and either trivalise the gravity of sin, allow bits and pieces of it. It will be a trap and snare to us and it will cause us to perish if we persist in it. It is a serious battle that we have to constantly cling on to God or we will not be able to win the battle. We must also have a serious resolve and such strong hatred against sin and keep weeding them out. Christians are born-again. However, we are not sinless. We are sinners running a race and fighting a battle so that we will receive the crown of glory in the end. The old us, Satan, and the world will constantly try to draw us away from God. If we leave sin as it is, or are weak-will, or slothfully clearing up instead of going all out with all guns blazing against the enemy, thinking that it is ok because one can "handle it", too small to take good notice, or not really a problem, then be prepared to fall hard.... very hard.... But we are not without hope. We see in Judges that God provided Israel with people who brought them out of their hopeless situation everytime they cried out to the Lord. God have given us someone way better than any judges in Judges. He gave us Jesus Christ who died on the Cross for us. In our Christian life it is impossible not to stumble and fall for we are all weak. However, if we turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness and truly repent, God will forgive us of our sins and will lead us out of the entanglement of sin. We have to keep praying that we will not become like Israelites in the Judges where they cried out to the Lord, get saved and then after a while, go back to their old ways. It will be a continuous battle. There will be lots of scars and pains and serious hurts. We might lose a limb or two. However, victory is already secured. The crucial part is whether we really serve God as our Lord and King or is it something else.
To God Be the Glory
Paradox 1
When you think you are any good, then you are no good at all....
(Romans 3:23,Psalm14:3)
To God Be the Glory
(Romans 3:23,Psalm14:3)
To God Be the Glory
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Thought of the day
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Another thought for the day
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
Thought for the day
Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" John 21:22
thinking thru
Well, today have some issues going on with one bro.... my fault for not doing a good job with some stuff.... Well, he gave some constructive comments. At the same time, he ask how I feel and stuff... He say that i should honestly tell him if got any issue etc cos he said that I have the tendancy to suppress my feelings... At first i didn't think much and i just said ya... but now after thinking through, i really don't think i am that sort of person.
I don't know why there are some people who say that I suppress my feelings... Well, maybe that is because they don't really know me I guess? I am the type to just said things out as how i see it. Used to be really frank... but cos there is a tendency to hurt others, so now normally watch what I say... but I still do it with as much as frankness as possible... Feelings etc.... I just feel that well, there isn't much things to suppress anyway. (1)Always review whether what that person's comment was true. (2) If it was true, then just change... (3) If not, just tell the person that what they say isn't true. If you know that person is a bigot or someone with deaf ears, I will probably won't even be bothered to tell them that their view of me is wrong. I feel that God will change their views one day. Honestly, sometimes I will be hurt... So I tend to pray about it, talk to some people abt it etc. Anyways, if its not true, I tend not to dwell on it, esp if it is hurting. I used to dwell on it, but i find that it is useless to dwell on it, so I learn and still learning to just let it go and instead to continue to face God and let Him heal the hurt and also help me focus on the more important things.
May be it is just that i usually don't have intense feelings... I tend to have mild feelings with regards to everything unless that is something that is seriously important etc... haha... oh wells
I dunno why there are some people who say that I suppress my feelings, cos I don't. Period.
I don't know why there are some people who say that I suppress my feelings... Well, maybe that is because they don't really know me I guess? I am the type to just said things out as how i see it. Used to be really frank... but cos there is a tendency to hurt others, so now normally watch what I say... but I still do it with as much as frankness as possible... Feelings etc.... I just feel that well, there isn't much things to suppress anyway. (1)Always review whether what that person's comment was true. (2) If it was true, then just change... (3) If not, just tell the person that what they say isn't true. If you know that person is a bigot or someone with deaf ears, I will probably won't even be bothered to tell them that their view of me is wrong. I feel that God will change their views one day. Honestly, sometimes I will be hurt... So I tend to pray about it, talk to some people abt it etc. Anyways, if its not true, I tend not to dwell on it, esp if it is hurting. I used to dwell on it, but i find that it is useless to dwell on it, so I learn and still learning to just let it go and instead to continue to face God and let Him heal the hurt and also help me focus on the more important things.
May be it is just that i usually don't have intense feelings... I tend to have mild feelings with regards to everything unless that is something that is seriously important etc... haha... oh wells
I dunno why there are some people who say that I suppress my feelings, cos I don't. Period.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thinking of how to squeeze out more time when i don't have enough time to work with
I believe everyone always have the thought that we just don't have enough time.... Well, I find that I AM SERIOUSLY SHORT OF TIME... so i have thought of how to be more time efficient. Lets see my current time table
Sleep:5-6hrs
Breakfast, lunch, dinner: 1.5hrs
Work, QT,travel and prayer (Work take overwhelming time though): 14.5hrs to 15.5 hrs
Break: 2hrs
hence, only way to squeeze out time conventionally is cut away the breaks and increase the work hours. hence 16.5hrs to 17.5hrs.
Another way... new sleeping method that i have learned on the internet.... work 2hrs and sleep 20 mins after that. So.... i will be sleeping only 2hrs and have supposely the same efficiency and 8hrs of sleep.... thinking of trying that......
Sleep:5-6hrs
Breakfast, lunch, dinner: 1.5hrs
Work, QT,travel and prayer (Work take overwhelming time though): 14.5hrs to 15.5 hrs
Break: 2hrs
hence, only way to squeeze out time conventionally is cut away the breaks and increase the work hours. hence 16.5hrs to 17.5hrs.
Another way... new sleeping method that i have learned on the internet.... work 2hrs and sleep 20 mins after that. So.... i will be sleeping only 2hrs and have supposely the same efficiency and 8hrs of sleep.... thinking of trying that......
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tired out
I am seriously totalled.... sleep debts start playing catch-up, insane amount of work, projects and mid-terms.... totally tired out.... still have 7 weeks more of craziness.... Oh well, i guess i have to keep pushing forward.... He will provide in my weaknesses and my tiredness...
To God Be the Glory
To God Be the Glory
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Another thought
Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” In other words, Don’t fear man, fear God. Tremble at the prospect of distrusting God, not displeasing man.
Taken from John Piper sermon
one of the many thoughts of the day
Been thinking about this when i was chatting to Pei En on unrelated stuff.... The thought just pop in my head because of readings of articles somewhere I guess.... (oh ya, desiringgod) where we the gospel is to be shared not just to the unbelievers but also to a believer.... yeah, thats right.... believers.... for encouragement etc....
My point today isn't about why should the gospel be preached to a believer.... you can read it from desiringgod where they would likely to be a much better explanation than me. My focus today is more about challenging ourselves (Christians) to see whether we have strayed off course....
Do you feel bored when you listen to the gospel? with reasons like, I listen to it so many times. I had already memorized it to heart. Its for the non-Christian and hence is of little relations to me ( yes, there are such thoughts.... I used to have that thinking.... Lord have mercy on me) etc etc....
So whats my point? My point is.... We can watch and listen to so many reruns of television, songs, movies, books, magazines, games etc etc and not get bored. However, we get switch off easily by the gospel. Well, we don't get bored with the reruns because either it is exciting (action), emotional, and sounds and looks wonderful. THEN, lets ponder a bit...... ISN'T THE GOSPEL MORE EXCITING, EMOTIONAL,ENGAGING AND SOUNDS AND LOOK MORE WONDERFUL? And here we are, switching off to the gospel and get attracted to the reruns....
We tend to say to people " oh come on, get a life." Well, I am going to say to my readers here and now.... Go get a life.... the GOSPEL IS INFINITELY BETTER THAN THE RERUNS OR EVEN THE PREMIERE OF SHOWS BLAH BLAH BLAH..... Savour the gospel over and over again.... Fall in Love with God again and again.... Praise Him every min of the day..... Enjoy the most exciting and wonderful event in human history..... This is LIFE.... nothing else is....
so GO GET A LIFE!!!!
God have mercy in our weaknesses
TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Genesis 3: The Fall
Before I go into my thinking proper, just want to ask my readers some questions. Its of no consequence to theology i think but i find it rather interesting. How come Eve ate the fruit of good and evil first, and Adam second, and both had their eyes open at the same time? Is it because they are one?
Well, today was reading on Genesis three on the bus. Had been thinking about the whole significance of the whole event. We can suppose that this event take place some time after the day of human creation. Well, why is this important? The time spent with the Lord is an important point for latter. We can see that when the Serpent tempted the woman whether they can eat the fruit of good and evil. The woman said that they cannot eat it or touch it. If we look at Genesis chapter 2:17, we can see that it only mentioned eating it. Therefore, this leave us with two possibility of what happened. When God gave that order, it was only to Adam, because only Adam was in existent. Therefore, one reason is that Adam, as the head of the household, did not teach Eve the proper things that God has commanded him and therefore failed as the head of the household. The second possible reason is that Adam thought her the correct thing, but when she was challenged by Satan, she failed to recall the correct thing.
If the first one is true, then the time spent with the Lord is very important factor. They have a walk with God that we will not understand until we return to heaven. They, at that point was holy because they were sinless. They get to meet God face to face. Talk with Him etc. After the fall, Man couldn't face Him, much less talk to God in a way possible except Adam, Eve and Jesus.
If Adam did indeed told Eve the wrong thing. The conversation with God will probably corrected that. I am not sure. Because I am not there, and the bible didn't state the reason. However, I am quite sure that from the conversation and from the walk with God, Adam and Eve will have known God's character (e.g. whatever He say is right etc). They then shouldn't have toyed with the idea of eating the fruit, which obviously they did.
Well, then this will lead to another question. Did Eve sin when she started having thoughts to eat it or the action of eating it? If we go by the NT definition, then the thoughts of eating it is sin, not the action. The woman was deceived, man wasn't. So man was in direct rebellion to God's sovereignity. The Man's thoughts wasn't shown in the bible, but I think you can kind of guess it. If he didn't have thoughts about eating it, he would have stopped her from thinking must less eating it.
Well, does the thinking that touching the fruit will cause death affect how the things turn out? Yes. When she touch the fruit, she didn't die. Which leads to eating of it. Well, then, there will be argument that she have sinned by thinking of eating it. However, lets not go into that argument first for that is not the main point. The point that i want to bring across is this: If Adam and Eve have been with the Lord for some time and know His character more intimately than us and still can fail to know the right order of things, how much more then must we read, understand, pray for the correct heart, and carry out the Word to avoid and flee from temptation. Psalm 1:2 stated that a righteous man will meditate on His law day and night. It is not a condition that we can either take it or leave it, but rather it is a prerequiste of all Christian. We are considered righteous because of Jesus blood, so we should live a life befitting a righteous man and like a citizen of Heaven.
We may not have know God in a level that Adam and Eve have, but then through Jesus Christ and His blood, we have known God in another level. We cannot prevent Satan from attacking us, therefore we can only sharpen the sword (His Word), prayer, more prayer and follow His commandments. Remember, we are as prone to pride as Adam and Eve (actually Adam). Therefore we have to be humble, and the only way to that is believe in Jesus Christ that they have saved you. Ask for forgiveness, read, understand and live out His commandments and PRAY PRAY PRAY.
Will be talking about sin avoidance vs cardinal desires and more abt Genesis 3 next time.
To God Be The Glory, Our Cornerstone and Our Saviour
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thoughts for the day
Well, actually i intended to go on a hiatus because school started and there is like a lot of work piling up. However, really thank God that I get to do most of my work. Currently really feeling quite tired and find it hard to study and I have a lot of thoughts in my head so I might as well post something and take it as a rest... A rest for my brain.
Really thank God that I managed to cope with the readings etc. It wasn't easy and the teachers have high expectations, but I think I managed to cope with it somewhat. QT was also quite fruitful. God challenged me in a lot of areas and I hope to live it out. Well, wasn't regular in terms of prayer for the CYYAM. Pray that I can be more regular with it because I feel that it is really one of the best way to show concern for our brothers and sisters.
Ahhhh..... need to wake up so early on Sunday for the fund raising thing.... haha.... feeling super tired.... oh wells, pray that I will have the strength and stamina to help out.
Oh wells, the toughest day of the week is over..... Today has been rather crazy but thank God for friends, haha, make life easier for me:D
Grin, seem like i am writing in rather incoherent sentences....
Today saw a sms on the talk for girls for the bgr... This actually triggered my memory about a recent chat with a brother-in-Christ about BGR. Well, we were talking about random things before we somehow started chatting about BGR... I still have a pretty good idea of the conversation. One thing that particularly struck me was the part when I said I was still 21..... kkk.... going 22. I said that being 21-22 is still young... He immediately pointed out that actually it's not young anymore... He got a point there. 21-22 isn't exactly young buuuuuuutttt, neither is it exactly old. Lets not talk about the olden times where people get married at 14-18...may be 23 at most. 21-22 is about the time where we should start taking BGR stuff more seriously... Not that it isn't good to think earlier than that, just that it is about time that we should think much much deeper about such stuff.... Shouldn't wait till >27 to start thinking about it. Well, it isn't late, but then you don't have a good idea of what you are looking for when you are from our age onwards.
So what is my thoughts about all this?
The bible actually encourage marriage in many parts of it. Genesis 2 stated the first marriage and why it is good. (Uncle James will have a wonderful bible talk about it... bet everyone is looking forward to it). Paul in his many letters also said that it is good for marriage, esp those who are constantly tempted by (greek:porniea) fornication. Unless one has a gift from God to stay single, then it is good to marry. Well, either ways it is a gift from God. Those who are single shouldn't envy those who are married. If you are not meant to be single, God will provide. If you are meant to be, thank God for you will be able to serve God without certain distractions that couples and family will face. If you are meant to be married or already married, thank God that you have a helper or a leader to help the family grow physically and more importantly (and hopefully) spiritually.
Well, been evaluating myself... I don't think I am meant to be single. Can't be certain for sure, but very likely. Therefore, this means that i have to put more thought into BGR. (man, have to keep reminding myself that it is BGR and not BGS {a uni mod})1. I have to think what are the things that I am looking for in my future partner. 2. What are the stuff that I have to improve upon so that I can lead my future family into a Godly life. 3. What is my goal in my serving ( some will wonder, huh? what has it got to do with finding a partner? will explain in greater detail). 4. Is the Family of God going to support the family and whether the marriage will allow us to work even better with the Family of God. 5.Is the marriage going to allow us to have an even better fellowship with God or not. The list is not exhaustive, but I feel that these are the bigger points that everyone who are meant for marriage to think about. There are probably more reason that I currently in the state of brain deadness cannot think of or due to my limited brain capacity that can only generate minute calculations and reasons that is well, minute. Well, actually these points can be interlink... It is really hard to break them apart.
Why should I (and also those readers who are thinking about it) think about things (e.g. factors, or characteristics) of what you want in your future partner? Well, if I/we do not have an idea of what we are looking for in a partner, we will either 1. fall in love with every single lady/gentleman that walk past us (because you have no factors to consider-meaning that everyone fits) 2. fall in love with no one but yourself (because you have so many factors in your head that only a perfect person can fit in... which is no one but youself.... technically you yourself are not perfect. However, these type of people are usually narcissist) 3. Most of us will probably fall into this category of being in between 1 and 2 where we have some floating idea of who we want but aren't really sure about it. Therefore we keep on scratching our heads and wondering whether he/she is the one. Well, I guess you readers get the drift of why we should be clear of what we should look for in our future partner. (Remember to take into account that your partner can and should be growing spiritually, therefore give them some slack..... don't be a narcissist)
Lets go on to the next point. What are the stuff that I/ we should improve upon. Well, as Christian, our life should be improving and getting closer to Christ's character as the fruit of the Spirit starts to grow. So why should we still think about these. By the way, I think this point is very very important especially to male readers (boy, men, gentlemen, whatever)( I am not saying that this is not important for female readers, but then you see, I am a guy so I am clearer about why guys to take note. Not trying to be sexist). It is very important for us guys because we are suppose to lead a family when we get married. If we have some atrocious habits or some habits that is ungodly in us and the poor girls who get married to such guys because of whatever love reasons(love is not blind, but then it can colour your eyes... lets hope it doesn't colour it that you cannot see beyond the surface because your eyes are coloured opaque black) (therefore, girls, choose wisely. Get your spiritual girl leader to help you see past your coloured vision. By the way, guys too. Get someone to help you see beyond her looks. Sometimes i think we have such wonderful coloured eyes that we just see only the surface e.g. looks and certain characters. Well, don't laugh, we may sometimes have eyes that are coloured worse than opaque black). Well, it is obvious that we will never be perfect during this lifetime, it is not a reason not to change our atrocious characteristics. If we are not improving on those characteristics, it is very likely that you will find it hard to steer your family in a Godly way. Your kids will pick up your wonderfully atrocious habits and you will start wondering who in the world did they learn those habits. Your dear wife will also be lead astray. If she didn't and she kick you such that you wake up your idea, then praise God and be utterly utterly ashamed of yourself. Well, all these can also be found in the bible... don't have the verse with me... Go and enjoy reading the bible and finding the verses that support it :D
OK, NEXXXXXT.... What is my/ our goal in serving. HUH? WHAT? That is my own business right? NOTTTTTTT. Lets take for example. Guy A wants to be a missionary. Guy A likes Girl B. Girl B has other ideas about serving. She wants to serving in the church and hates getting unhygienic, working with people in the missionary field, leaving the comforts of home and family and friends etc. Well, of course there are exceptions where the wife is willing to submit and follow , learning what God wants her to learn even though it is hard for her. However, in many cases she may not be willing to submit or learn in those areas. If you are going to marry her knowing full well that her serving direction is utterly different from yours and is not willing to submit, then you are in for a very jolly good time. Let me just congratulate you because you will be learning many many painful things that you will probably not have learned if you marry someone who has similar goals. Of course such things happen, and it is part of God's plan that you learn from it ( though it is not for the faint-hearted. Guys, don't try to be a hero and think that well, its cool to have such a challenge. I think you will be heading for a good time with Mr Migraine). Instead of complementing each other, you will probably spending much time quarrelling and bickering instead of serving with all your heart and with all your soul. You will probably try to get your voices heard and God will then not be central to your lives. Then again there are exceptions, buttttt, why try to find someone who have a drastically different serving direction from you and not willing to submit and accomodate when there are others who probably can compliment you? (actually this point is open for debate... some will disagree... Well, this point is not a rule, but rather a point of consideration. If you found a partner with a drastic viewpoint of serving that differ from yours and yet you can still serve God with all your heart and soul and mind and glorify Him, by all means, get married)
Point 4 is important. VERY VERY IMPORTANT. If the Family of God don't support your marriage due to various reasons and you are unable to serve the Family of God better as a couple, then I/ us/we/ whatever has to rethink SERIOUSLY whether this marriage is feasible and whether God intends you to be married to the partner. Something is obviously wrong if the Family of God don't support your marriage and you are unable to serve the Family of God better. When I say Family of God it means the church as a whole, not individuals who may also have interest in your partner and express his utter disgust that you are getting married (that guy ought to rethink his attitude because if you two are meant to be, then he should be happy... k that is hard but then if he express utter disgust then obviously he has some attitude problem). The marriage is for the partners to complement each other in serving and I believe that if you complement each other in serving and serve even better than if you two are single then it is remotely unlikely that the Church will not support your marriage unless the pastor is the guy who is utterly disgusted because you took away his ideal partner and lead others astray (the pastor ought to rethink is position and the members of the church should question the ability of the pastor to sheperd the flock)...
Point 5 is very similar to point 4. If you are unable to have better fellowship with God when you are together, then you have to question whether that person is really God intended person. Lets take an analogy. You have 2 batteries. Each battery have the same power. Any person with some IQ who wants greater power will join two batteries together to get more power. However, if he/she gets lower power than what he/she gets with each battery then something must be wrong right? Any sane person will break apart those batteries because it will yield greater power than two together. Any insane person will probably just smash those two batteries up and just laugh at the mess that they made. (if i sound incoherent, pardon me). Well, God is infinitely more sane and more wonderful than any of us. Will he prefer that you have some "lower-powered" fellowship or the "higher-powered" ? Well, it might seem lower power at first but if the net effect in the end is higher powered then it is not within this scope of argument. We as Christians will also don't want our fellowship with God to be lousier than if we are single. (unless you are insane, by which i think you won't get married anyway. If you are sane and yet have contrary thinking, think again).
This conclude today's thought.... k may be not.... considering I have other modules besides this. (hmmm, wait, is this even a mod? may be they should make it a mod). Well, with my limited 21-22 years of experience, walk with God (lesser than 21-22 yrs...), and with my minute brain power and the what nots, this is what i can think of.... Probably have many more etc.... but lets leave it as that shall we? God Bless
Pronounced Brain-dead by Dr Tan.... Certify.... Certify... Certify....
To God be the Glory, THE BEST IS YET TO BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really thank God that I managed to cope with the readings etc. It wasn't easy and the teachers have high expectations, but I think I managed to cope with it somewhat. QT was also quite fruitful. God challenged me in a lot of areas and I hope to live it out. Well, wasn't regular in terms of prayer for the CYYAM. Pray that I can be more regular with it because I feel that it is really one of the best way to show concern for our brothers and sisters.
Ahhhh..... need to wake up so early on Sunday for the fund raising thing.... haha.... feeling super tired.... oh wells, pray that I will have the strength and stamina to help out.
Oh wells, the toughest day of the week is over..... Today has been rather crazy but thank God for friends, haha, make life easier for me:D
Grin, seem like i am writing in rather incoherent sentences....
Today saw a sms on the talk for girls for the bgr... This actually triggered my memory about a recent chat with a brother-in-Christ about BGR. Well, we were talking about random things before we somehow started chatting about BGR... I still have a pretty good idea of the conversation. One thing that particularly struck me was the part when I said I was still 21..... kkk.... going 22. I said that being 21-22 is still young... He immediately pointed out that actually it's not young anymore... He got a point there. 21-22 isn't exactly young buuuuuuutttt, neither is it exactly old. Lets not talk about the olden times where people get married at 14-18...may be 23 at most. 21-22 is about the time where we should start taking BGR stuff more seriously... Not that it isn't good to think earlier than that, just that it is about time that we should think much much deeper about such stuff.... Shouldn't wait till >27 to start thinking about it. Well, it isn't late, but then you don't have a good idea of what you are looking for when you are from our age onwards.
So what is my thoughts about all this?
The bible actually encourage marriage in many parts of it. Genesis 2 stated the first marriage and why it is good. (Uncle James will have a wonderful bible talk about it... bet everyone is looking forward to it). Paul in his many letters also said that it is good for marriage, esp those who are constantly tempted by (greek:porniea) fornication. Unless one has a gift from God to stay single, then it is good to marry. Well, either ways it is a gift from God. Those who are single shouldn't envy those who are married. If you are not meant to be single, God will provide. If you are meant to be, thank God for you will be able to serve God without certain distractions that couples and family will face. If you are meant to be married or already married, thank God that you have a helper or a leader to help the family grow physically and more importantly (and hopefully) spiritually.
Well, been evaluating myself... I don't think I am meant to be single. Can't be certain for sure, but very likely. Therefore, this means that i have to put more thought into BGR. (man, have to keep reminding myself that it is BGR and not BGS {a uni mod})1. I have to think what are the things that I am looking for in my future partner. 2. What are the stuff that I have to improve upon so that I can lead my future family into a Godly life. 3. What is my goal in my serving ( some will wonder, huh? what has it got to do with finding a partner? will explain in greater detail). 4. Is the Family of God going to support the family and whether the marriage will allow us to work even better with the Family of God. 5.Is the marriage going to allow us to have an even better fellowship with God or not. The list is not exhaustive, but I feel that these are the bigger points that everyone who are meant for marriage to think about. There are probably more reason that I currently in the state of brain deadness cannot think of or due to my limited brain capacity that can only generate minute calculations and reasons that is well, minute. Well, actually these points can be interlink... It is really hard to break them apart.
Why should I (and also those readers who are thinking about it) think about things (e.g. factors, or characteristics) of what you want in your future partner? Well, if I/we do not have an idea of what we are looking for in a partner, we will either 1. fall in love with every single lady/gentleman that walk past us (because you have no factors to consider-meaning that everyone fits) 2. fall in love with no one but yourself (because you have so many factors in your head that only a perfect person can fit in... which is no one but youself.... technically you yourself are not perfect. However, these type of people are usually narcissist) 3. Most of us will probably fall into this category of being in between 1 and 2 where we have some floating idea of who we want but aren't really sure about it. Therefore we keep on scratching our heads and wondering whether he/she is the one. Well, I guess you readers get the drift of why we should be clear of what we should look for in our future partner. (Remember to take into account that your partner can and should be growing spiritually, therefore give them some slack..... don't be a narcissist)
Lets go on to the next point. What are the stuff that I/ we should improve upon. Well, as Christian, our life should be improving and getting closer to Christ's character as the fruit of the Spirit starts to grow. So why should we still think about these. By the way, I think this point is very very important especially to male readers (boy, men, gentlemen, whatever)( I am not saying that this is not important for female readers, but then you see, I am a guy so I am clearer about why guys to take note. Not trying to be sexist). It is very important for us guys because we are suppose to lead a family when we get married. If we have some atrocious habits or some habits that is ungodly in us and the poor girls who get married to such guys because of whatever love reasons(love is not blind, but then it can colour your eyes... lets hope it doesn't colour it that you cannot see beyond the surface because your eyes are coloured opaque black) (therefore, girls, choose wisely. Get your spiritual girl leader to help you see past your coloured vision. By the way, guys too. Get someone to help you see beyond her looks. Sometimes i think we have such wonderful coloured eyes that we just see only the surface e.g. looks and certain characters. Well, don't laugh, we may sometimes have eyes that are coloured worse than opaque black). Well, it is obvious that we will never be perfect during this lifetime, it is not a reason not to change our atrocious characteristics. If we are not improving on those characteristics, it is very likely that you will find it hard to steer your family in a Godly way. Your kids will pick up your wonderfully atrocious habits and you will start wondering who in the world did they learn those habits. Your dear wife will also be lead astray. If she didn't and she kick you such that you wake up your idea, then praise God and be utterly utterly ashamed of yourself. Well, all these can also be found in the bible... don't have the verse with me... Go and enjoy reading the bible and finding the verses that support it :D
OK, NEXXXXXT.... What is my/ our goal in serving. HUH? WHAT? That is my own business right? NOTTTTTTT. Lets take for example. Guy A wants to be a missionary. Guy A likes Girl B. Girl B has other ideas about serving. She wants to serving in the church and hates getting unhygienic, working with people in the missionary field, leaving the comforts of home and family and friends etc. Well, of course there are exceptions where the wife is willing to submit and follow , learning what God wants her to learn even though it is hard for her. However, in many cases she may not be willing to submit or learn in those areas. If you are going to marry her knowing full well that her serving direction is utterly different from yours and is not willing to submit, then you are in for a very jolly good time. Let me just congratulate you because you will be learning many many painful things that you will probably not have learned if you marry someone who has similar goals. Of course such things happen, and it is part of God's plan that you learn from it ( though it is not for the faint-hearted. Guys, don't try to be a hero and think that well, its cool to have such a challenge. I think you will be heading for a good time with Mr Migraine). Instead of complementing each other, you will probably spending much time quarrelling and bickering instead of serving with all your heart and with all your soul. You will probably try to get your voices heard and God will then not be central to your lives. Then again there are exceptions, buttttt, why try to find someone who have a drastically different serving direction from you and not willing to submit and accomodate when there are others who probably can compliment you? (actually this point is open for debate... some will disagree... Well, this point is not a rule, but rather a point of consideration. If you found a partner with a drastic viewpoint of serving that differ from yours and yet you can still serve God with all your heart and soul and mind and glorify Him, by all means, get married)
Point 4 is important. VERY VERY IMPORTANT. If the Family of God don't support your marriage due to various reasons and you are unable to serve the Family of God better as a couple, then I/ us/we/ whatever has to rethink SERIOUSLY whether this marriage is feasible and whether God intends you to be married to the partner. Something is obviously wrong if the Family of God don't support your marriage and you are unable to serve the Family of God better. When I say Family of God it means the church as a whole, not individuals who may also have interest in your partner and express his utter disgust that you are getting married (that guy ought to rethink his attitude because if you two are meant to be, then he should be happy... k that is hard but then if he express utter disgust then obviously he has some attitude problem). The marriage is for the partners to complement each other in serving and I believe that if you complement each other in serving and serve even better than if you two are single then it is remotely unlikely that the Church will not support your marriage unless the pastor is the guy who is utterly disgusted because you took away his ideal partner and lead others astray (the pastor ought to rethink is position and the members of the church should question the ability of the pastor to sheperd the flock)...
Point 5 is very similar to point 4. If you are unable to have better fellowship with God when you are together, then you have to question whether that person is really God intended person. Lets take an analogy. You have 2 batteries. Each battery have the same power. Any person with some IQ who wants greater power will join two batteries together to get more power. However, if he/she gets lower power than what he/she gets with each battery then something must be wrong right? Any sane person will break apart those batteries because it will yield greater power than two together. Any insane person will probably just smash those two batteries up and just laugh at the mess that they made. (if i sound incoherent, pardon me). Well, God is infinitely more sane and more wonderful than any of us. Will he prefer that you have some "lower-powered" fellowship or the "higher-powered" ? Well, it might seem lower power at first but if the net effect in the end is higher powered then it is not within this scope of argument. We as Christians will also don't want our fellowship with God to be lousier than if we are single. (unless you are insane, by which i think you won't get married anyway. If you are sane and yet have contrary thinking, think again).
This conclude today's thought.... k may be not.... considering I have other modules besides this. (hmmm, wait, is this even a mod? may be they should make it a mod). Well, with my limited 21-22 years of experience, walk with God (lesser than 21-22 yrs...), and with my minute brain power and the what nots, this is what i can think of.... Probably have many more etc.... but lets leave it as that shall we? God Bless
Pronounced Brain-dead by Dr Tan.... Certify.... Certify... Certify....
To God be the Glory, THE BEST IS YET TO BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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