Hoops & Yoyo.
hey!!! i found a new cartoon character and i absolutely love it!! think they're so completely cute!! more on them later! it's late... gotta sweep floor and go koonz... but before that,
introducing......
introducing......
{ Friday, August 18 }
Love Quote #1.
ok, so the polling thing is not working too well. haha. oh well... i found another one which is better but i'm not sure how to get javascript to work on my blog.
anyway, i found this quote that i like a lot and think it's so true. it's one journey that i've started but have yet understand the fullness of it.
"To say that God loves me is a familiar notion indeed, but to pursue, know and experience His love is a rare preoccupation."
–Dana Candler
i've no idea who he is or she is. but what he has summarised in that one sentence helped me sum up why many people find the phrase "God loves you" so absolutely cliche although it is true. they hear it but do not understand it. experiencing God's love is a journey and it is also a choice. the fact that many has testified the reality of it that enables one to begin that journey.
many people are preoccupied in finding love. but when you ask them what they think it is, they can hardly give you an answer they themselves firmly believe in. even those who write you off by saying "love doesn't exist", i don't think they really understand what they're really saying. and it is because many people hold this sentence in their heart that they enter every relationship in doubt and in fear.
and they ask, "how would i know unless it is proven? if it's worth it, i can love".
but if it is proven, would you know it? would you accept it? would you understand it?
how can it be proven? by what means can anyone pass the test? will it be marked by your standards of worth?
if i were eating an orange and asked you how it tasted, you can't answer it because you've never tasted my orange. of course you can say that it's probably sweet because it's a naval orange or that it's probably sour because it looks kinda green on the outside. but that's only presumption, not the real thing.
i guess to enter that journey requires faith... faith in knowing that the phrase "God loves me" is indeed true. it's just like taking the orange... if i told you it's the sweetest orange i've ever tasted, you could either believe me and enjoy the fruit with me, or not believe the comment at all.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
when i first read this, i was like thinking, "siao, only a deity can love like that." and i found out that deity is God.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
1 John 4:18
"We love because he first loved us."
1 John 4:19
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
1 John 4:16
"To love at all is to be vulnerable." -- C.S. Lewis
so why am i writing on this? don't know... guess they're just some thoughts when i read that one quote.
i hope my preoccupation in life would be to pursue, know and experience the phrase "God loves me".
anyway, i found this quote that i like a lot and think it's so true. it's one journey that i've started but have yet understand the fullness of it.
"To say that God loves me is a familiar notion indeed, but to pursue, know and experience His love is a rare preoccupation."
–Dana Candler
i've no idea who he is or she is. but what he has summarised in that one sentence helped me sum up why many people find the phrase "God loves you" so absolutely cliche although it is true. they hear it but do not understand it. experiencing God's love is a journey and it is also a choice. the fact that many has testified the reality of it that enables one to begin that journey.
many people are preoccupied in finding love. but when you ask them what they think it is, they can hardly give you an answer they themselves firmly believe in. even those who write you off by saying "love doesn't exist", i don't think they really understand what they're really saying. and it is because many people hold this sentence in their heart that they enter every relationship in doubt and in fear.
and they ask, "how would i know unless it is proven? if it's worth it, i can love".
but if it is proven, would you know it? would you accept it? would you understand it?
how can it be proven? by what means can anyone pass the test? will it be marked by your standards of worth?
if i were eating an orange and asked you how it tasted, you can't answer it because you've never tasted my orange. of course you can say that it's probably sweet because it's a naval orange or that it's probably sour because it looks kinda green on the outside. but that's only presumption, not the real thing.
i guess to enter that journey requires faith... faith in knowing that the phrase "God loves me" is indeed true. it's just like taking the orange... if i told you it's the sweetest orange i've ever tasted, you could either believe me and enjoy the fruit with me, or not believe the comment at all.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
when i first read this, i was like thinking, "siao, only a deity can love like that." and i found out that deity is God.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
1 John 4:18
"We love because he first loved us."
1 John 4:19
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
1 John 4:16
"To love at all is to be vulnerable." -- C.S. Lewis
so why am i writing on this? don't know... guess they're just some thoughts when i read that one quote.
i hope my preoccupation in life would be to pursue, know and experience the phrase "God loves me".
{ Wednesday, August 16 }
How often?.
hahaha... just testing this out =)
{ Tuesday, August 8 }
Bring Hope....
took leave for 3 days to attend the Gateway Cities Youth Convention (GCYC) held over 31st jul to 2nd aug and it was really an amazing time. the theme was celebrating the nations. it was a gathering of youths from all round asia, coming to share about their countries and the issues with the youth in their countries presently.
was very excited abt the convention and i thought that most of my cell sisters would have taken leave to attend it... then i realised on monday itself that i was the only one who took leave! and i was like thinking... sheesh... i'm gonna be sitting all by myself throughout the convention... and i thought to myself... maybe i shouldn't have taken leave coz i don't have that much leave to begin with. but all thanks to God that it was a very blessed time. and thank God too that i wasn't sitting all by myself throughout the convention... had an SM2 (term for scholars from china) attending it with me, which made it all the more meaningful.
at the convention, many nations went up on stage to present their country and share abt the challenges they face in trying to reach the youth in their nation. and after all their presentations, i realise that most of the issues stems from root causes like the absence of a father or fatherly image (either due to death or neglect or abuse), war, competition... and all these leads to emptiness, hopelessness, loss of meaning in life, absence of a moral compass... of which hopelessness really caught my attention...
in ps khong's monday message (from 1 thessalonians 1:3), he spoke abt dreaming big dreams and having the faith to work out the dream with God, love that prompts that work and finally the hope that endures and perseveres through that journey. and he made mention of a quote he heard saying "where there's life, there's hope". but many times we can see there when there's life, hope isn't always present... and so he re-phrased it to "where there's hope, there's life."
where there's hope... there's life
how true that is.
and after that night... this word "HOPE" has been hanging on my mind and on my heart... and i keep thinking how different life would be to many people when they have hope... but what do we hope in? and i was brought back once again to romans 5:1-6, the verse read at my wedding.
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
hope is the thing that causes us to continue labouring or even live because we can see a goal and believe that it will be accomplised in God's time and that causes us to know that we're not labouring or living in vain. that's hope. in a dictionary definition, it is defined as a desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment... it is a desire... not only is it a desire but it is accompanied by confident expectation... the key word is confident and expectation... when there's no hope, there's no trust, no confidence, no expectation...
so do you have hope today? if you do, what do you hope for? or should i ask... do you have a dream?
during the 2nd day of the convention, ps julie shared from exodus 2... of how God prepared moses to set His people free from the slavery in egypt... moses was the prince of egypt and knew he was hebrew and he probably also had a dream of setting his people free. but because of a moment of folly and in a fit of his anger, he murdered an egyptian guard and ran for his life and ended up staying in the desert for 40 yrs. was that the end of his dreams? did he just murdered his own dream as well? but thanks be to God that in His grace, moses was still the chosen one to set his people free. but why wait 40 yrs? i guess we can see that these 40 yrs were not wasted... it was a time of preparation...
and preparation is always for something (er... not sure if you remember a post i put up previously abt preparing for things... think it's called "looking forward") and i told God "i wanna be prepared to be a bringer of hope to the nations..."
finally on the 3rd day, ps eugene shared abt the greatest commandment... yes, it is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength... and the 2nd is like it... love your neighbour. he pointed out that the verse didn't say "the 2nd is..."... it says that "the 2nd is like it...". yes, we should love God with all our heart, mind and strength but the means through which it is expressed is by loving the very people God loves and that is your neighbour... and now, i could sense God replying what i said in day 2 "ok, you've gotta start by loving people around you... start there... i'll prepare you from there..."
that's really a challenge for me... knowing my character... very selfish... calculative... pessimistic... fearful... to be a bringer of hope? and to start right here right now? well, guess this's gonna be some kind of journey...
during this convention, God also used it to remind me of how blessed singapore is... i really feel blessed... blessed beyond measure compared to what the other nations are going through... and i also learnt to celebrate the nations... finding something to give thanks to God for for that particular nation.
God also used this convention to teach abt forgiveness. we all saw that during day 1 where the japanese and chinese delegates gave each other a warm embrace and each asked the other party for forgiveness for the pain caused through war and bitterness and hatred.
oh, and the worship sessions was amazing... the songs chosen was so apt... of which 2 have been replaying in my mind non-stop... and i shall end this post by sharing the lyrics with you. hope you've been blessed =)
To the Ends of the Earth
by Hillsongs
Verse
Love unfailing
Overtaking my heart
You take me in
Finding peace again
Fear is lost in all You are
Pre-chorus
And I would give the world to tell Your story
'Cause I know that You've called me
I know that You've called me
I've lost myself for good within Your promise
And I won't hide it
I won't hide it
Chorus
Jesus I believe in You
And I would go
To the ends of the earth
To the ends of the earth
For You alone are the Son of God
And all the world will see
That You are God
You are God
We Speak to Nations
by Israel Houghton
Verse 1
Hear the sound
The sound of the nations calling
Hear the sound
The sound of the fatherless crying
Who will go for You
Who will shout to the corners of the earth
That Christ is King
Chorus
We speak to nations
Be open
We speak to nations
Fall on your knees
We speak to nations
The Kingdom is coming near to you
O We speak to strongholds
Be broken
Powers of darkness
You have to flee
We speak to nations
The Kingdom is coming near to you
We speak to You
Be free... Yeah... Be free
Verse 2
Hear the sound
The sound of the nations worshipping
Hear the sound
Of sons and daugthers singing
We will go for You
We will shout to the corners of the earth
That Christ is King
was very excited abt the convention and i thought that most of my cell sisters would have taken leave to attend it... then i realised on monday itself that i was the only one who took leave! and i was like thinking... sheesh... i'm gonna be sitting all by myself throughout the convention... and i thought to myself... maybe i shouldn't have taken leave coz i don't have that much leave to begin with. but all thanks to God that it was a very blessed time. and thank God too that i wasn't sitting all by myself throughout the convention... had an SM2 (term for scholars from china) attending it with me, which made it all the more meaningful.
at the convention, many nations went up on stage to present their country and share abt the challenges they face in trying to reach the youth in their nation. and after all their presentations, i realise that most of the issues stems from root causes like the absence of a father or fatherly image (either due to death or neglect or abuse), war, competition... and all these leads to emptiness, hopelessness, loss of meaning in life, absence of a moral compass... of which hopelessness really caught my attention...
in ps khong's monday message (from 1 thessalonians 1:3), he spoke abt dreaming big dreams and having the faith to work out the dream with God, love that prompts that work and finally the hope that endures and perseveres through that journey. and he made mention of a quote he heard saying "where there's life, there's hope". but many times we can see there when there's life, hope isn't always present... and so he re-phrased it to "where there's hope, there's life."
where there's hope... there's life
how true that is.
and after that night... this word "HOPE" has been hanging on my mind and on my heart... and i keep thinking how different life would be to many people when they have hope... but what do we hope in? and i was brought back once again to romans 5:1-6, the verse read at my wedding.
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
hope is the thing that causes us to continue labouring or even live because we can see a goal and believe that it will be accomplised in God's time and that causes us to know that we're not labouring or living in vain. that's hope. in a dictionary definition, it is defined as a desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment... it is a desire... not only is it a desire but it is accompanied by confident expectation... the key word is confident and expectation... when there's no hope, there's no trust, no confidence, no expectation...
so do you have hope today? if you do, what do you hope for? or should i ask... do you have a dream?
during the 2nd day of the convention, ps julie shared from exodus 2... of how God prepared moses to set His people free from the slavery in egypt... moses was the prince of egypt and knew he was hebrew and he probably also had a dream of setting his people free. but because of a moment of folly and in a fit of his anger, he murdered an egyptian guard and ran for his life and ended up staying in the desert for 40 yrs. was that the end of his dreams? did he just murdered his own dream as well? but thanks be to God that in His grace, moses was still the chosen one to set his people free. but why wait 40 yrs? i guess we can see that these 40 yrs were not wasted... it was a time of preparation...
and preparation is always for something (er... not sure if you remember a post i put up previously abt preparing for things... think it's called "looking forward") and i told God "i wanna be prepared to be a bringer of hope to the nations..."
finally on the 3rd day, ps eugene shared abt the greatest commandment... yes, it is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength... and the 2nd is like it... love your neighbour. he pointed out that the verse didn't say "the 2nd is..."... it says that "the 2nd is like it...". yes, we should love God with all our heart, mind and strength but the means through which it is expressed is by loving the very people God loves and that is your neighbour... and now, i could sense God replying what i said in day 2 "ok, you've gotta start by loving people around you... start there... i'll prepare you from there..."
that's really a challenge for me... knowing my character... very selfish... calculative... pessimistic... fearful... to be a bringer of hope? and to start right here right now? well, guess this's gonna be some kind of journey...
during this convention, God also used it to remind me of how blessed singapore is... i really feel blessed... blessed beyond measure compared to what the other nations are going through... and i also learnt to celebrate the nations... finding something to give thanks to God for for that particular nation.
God also used this convention to teach abt forgiveness. we all saw that during day 1 where the japanese and chinese delegates gave each other a warm embrace and each asked the other party for forgiveness for the pain caused through war and bitterness and hatred.
oh, and the worship sessions was amazing... the songs chosen was so apt... of which 2 have been replaying in my mind non-stop... and i shall end this post by sharing the lyrics with you. hope you've been blessed =)
To the Ends of the Earth
by Hillsongs
Verse
Love unfailing
Overtaking my heart
You take me in
Finding peace again
Fear is lost in all You are
Pre-chorus
And I would give the world to tell Your story
'Cause I know that You've called me
I know that You've called me
I've lost myself for good within Your promise
And I won't hide it
I won't hide it
Chorus
Jesus I believe in You
And I would go
To the ends of the earth
To the ends of the earth
For You alone are the Son of God
And all the world will see
That You are God
You are God
We Speak to Nations
by Israel Houghton
Verse 1
Hear the sound
The sound of the nations calling
Hear the sound
The sound of the fatherless crying
Who will go for You
Who will shout to the corners of the earth
That Christ is King
Chorus
We speak to nations
Be open
We speak to nations
Fall on your knees
We speak to nations
The Kingdom is coming near to you
O We speak to strongholds
Be broken
Powers of darkness
You have to flee
We speak to nations
The Kingdom is coming near to you
We speak to You
Be free... Yeah... Be free
Verse 2
Hear the sound
The sound of the nations worshipping
Hear the sound
Of sons and daugthers singing
We will go for You
We will shout to the corners of the earth
That Christ is King
{ Thursday, August 3 }