Encouraged

i'm feeling happy. =) *beams*

it's not because my class is doing well - they aren't trust me. failing badly. and acting out big time! but still can find joy in the Lord. so when my prof asked to use one word to describe how i was feeling, i said "happy". =) it's always a joy to know that all of you back home are praying and encouraging me. just come to the blog see the sometimes *lame* jokes and all-so-familiar faces from the pics. i have of course, stuck the picture that sg gave on my wall. =) well, i'm kinda also getting some 'spiritual food' here.. like glad will nicely share what he learnt from his BS. =) i'm still looking around for churches. been to 2 so far. pretty nice. gonna visit one more this coming sunday and wait for keng to come back before deciding on anything.. do continue to pray for us, for wisdom because technically, he's a member for his current church - which makes things kinda sticky. =p

You Donkey!

Thoughts from a Bible study I attended today:

Did you realise that Christ never calls us donkeys but He calls us His sheeps?

Why is that so?
Think about it, who carries burdens?
The donkey or the sheep?

Beloved ones, our Lord called us to be His sheep because He is our Great Shepherd who will lead us, guide us, tend us to health in our weaknesses, and carrying us on his back when we are tired.
As His sheep, we were intended to carry His burden but never our own.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
For My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:28-30)

In His Omniscience, He knows the difficulties and temptations we faced daily in school, at work, home and even in the church.

In His Omnipresence, He is there when we struggle, when we cry and even when we fall.
He has firmly promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”

Yet unless we look to Him, we will fail to see His Strength in our circumstances, we fail to realize His Love which faithfully carries us through the difficulty, or even His peace that He has promised if we present our requests to Him.

“Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of hosts. (Zech 4:6)

In spite of our unworthiness and cursed state, Christ our great Shepherd bore our sins and paid for our lives. Is there anything in our lives that is too difficult for Him?

Are you still carrying your burdens?
Have you surrendered your cares, your frustrations and your anxieties at His feet Today?

Reach out to Him today!
Da Tou

Akuou

Hello everyone,

This is your friend updater (sound familiar right) here again, just wanna inform you all of 2 things =)

1) This coming Saturday's fellowship (22/7) is not happening liao. SG will be having a break. However, whoever haven't watch Pirates of the Caribbean, some of us are planning to watch it either Sat afternoon or evening. Do let me know if you're interested. Thanks!

2) Thanks so much for praying for Kexin's colleagues who went to JOH. Kexin shares that her colleagues all went except for the boyfriend. They enjoyed themselves and the preacher was very ministering. We believe that God's seed has been sown on soften hearts. Please pray that in due time, God will bring ppl into their individual lives to lead them to Christ eventually.

Thank you all!

luv abby

JB Dinner Pics..

hey guys, the long awaited dinner pics from our JB trip!

Food!Abby & Lionel !

See no Evil ..
Hear no Evil ..
'EAT' no Evil !

Ready, Set Go!

Recently, I was listening to Jacob Prasch's message "Are people ready?'
Although he didn't use Luke 12. The Lord guided me to this particular passage.

Thoughts from Luke 12

Jesus spoke about the promise of His provision for our daily needs with these promises;
- "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will he clothe you? You men of little faith!” v28
- But seek His kingdom , and these things will be added to you. v:30

It is interesting that immediately after this, our Lord, continues with the following verses;
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit.” v34,35
“Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he come” v:37

And when the disciples asked for clarification, Jesus said,
“Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.” v42,43

“Lord, I have enough of them. I’m tired.”
“Father, let me finish this project first”
“Lord, she just won’t stop!”
“Abba, what about getting my qualifications?”

We have a common enemy, the devil.
And we know that he uses such thoughts as these to discourage us from stepping up to serve Him.

Of course, we have moments of burnt out and hence we need rest. But what after we’ve rested? Are we still going to silence our ears to the needs of His people? Have we forgotten His words when He called you to step up? Or who are you serving for?

Comeon, lets stop being Christian bums. Let's not be satisfied with merely marking our attendances in church and smallgroup, enjoying His blessings of fellowship and achievements in work/school, getting our hands messy with the trivial matters and yet neglecting his Commission.

Isaiah was sawn into two pieces, for faithfully preaching His Word.

Stephen was stoned to death.

James the Less at the age of ninety-four, he was beaten and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club.

Bartholomew, another one of the apostles, preached in several countries, and having translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India, he propagated it in that country. He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters.

Look at the Bible you now hold. It came with massive volumes of bloodshed.
John Wycliffe was persecuted for translating the Bible into the English.

Have they suffered for nothing?

We are now in the age of great technological advancement where information travels at the speed of light; where we can be at the other end of the earth within 1 day etc.
Our libraries are filled with stories of many great people. Our bible alone, speaks of many Giants of Faith.

Have the blood of these faithful men been shed in vain?

What is our generation doing?
Are your ready for His return?


“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.” Luke 12:48

“Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he come”

Glad

Romans 8:14

Came across this verse & prayer and would like to share with all..

"... those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." -- Romans 8:14

THOUGHTS:
The Holy Spirit is God's seal on us. The Spirit lives in us and his presence in us means we are God's temple. The Spirit works to transform us to be more like Christ. The Spirit helps us produce the virtues of Christ -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, and faithfulness. The Spirit intercedes for us when we pray, communicates the groaning of our hearts when we don't have words, and fills us with power when we worship. In addition, the Spirit is our assurance that we are God's children. We are his. His future, his blessings, and his grace are ours.

PRAYER:
Dear Father, thank you so much for living inside me through your Holy Spirit. Thank you for the assurance of your love, your presence, your power, and your guidance as I try to make the decisions and face the challenges of my daily life. Dear Father, as I yield my heart and my will to your Spirit's transforming grace and power, please help me develop more of your character and more completely display your grace today, and every day, as I face the tasks before me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Yo!

I'm finally back from my In Camp Training!
haha Here's some pics from the chilling out session with Abby and Pearl!

Hee
Glad

24th June’s BS Notes

Yo.. Here’s my contribution for the last BS.. Erm Don’t shoot me if I got it wrong!
Hee

Colossians 3:8-13 : The New Man (Lesson 9)

We had a debate on the topic “Christians are weak” with the younger Akuouians winning the debate. hee

A. Review of Chapters 1 and 2

B. Historical Setting of the Church in Colossae and how this relates to Paul’s instructions on v 8-13.
- V8 contained instructions regarding watching of your tongue eg malice, slander, abusive speech. False teachings were prevalent in the church. In the midst of these arguments over who were right and wrong, they faced the tendency to fall into sins such as this and hence Paul’s instructions.

C. Definitions and cross references of each word in v8 were revised with some verses added/emphaized.
- Wrath: the Anger of Man does not achieve the righteousness of God (James1:19-20)
- Outbursts of Anger: Deeds of the Flesh
- Abusive Speech: Bridle your tongue

etc

D. Definitions and cross references of each word in v12-16 were revised with some verses added/emphaized.
- Kindness – 2 Sam 9:1 King David’s kindness to Mephibosheth in retrospect to the destruction of Alexander the Great’s family after he died. Etc

E. Historical Setting of the Church in Colossae and how this relates to Paul’s instructions on v 12-16.
- It is not enough that the Christian must endure grief and provocation, and refuse to retaliate; he must also forgive the troublemaker. If he does not, then feelings of malice will develop in the heart; and these can lead to greater sins.
- The Extent of Forgiveness and practicing it in our lives.
- Put on Love, the Perfect Bond of Unity (cf Historical setting in Colossae again!) hence the need for love.
- The Peace of God needed to continually decide as your umpire/referee (think soccer referee) in your hearts amidst the conflicts of life to help you decide what is right.
- Finally the Word of God called to richly dwell among them in all aspects of their life (cf to Historical setting again!) We need to always turn back to His Biblical truth when in doubt!

God Bless you, fellow bros and sis…
Da Tou

JOH

Hey everyone,

Kexin invited her colleagues to JOH this sat leh. Let's keep them in prayer k.

Her colleagues are - Jilina, Jessie, Shuzhen and Shuzhen's bf. Let's pray that the seed of the word will be planted on good soil and they will respond positively to the events shared during the seeker's service.

That the pastor sharing the Word will be used powerfully by the Holy Spirit. =)

Thanks everyone! God's blessings be with you all.

Prayer Requests

Below are the prayer requests from all from last Saturday's prayer meeting.. For those who didnt send in your requests, pls do feel free to blog it in here, or send me your requests. I will put it up for you.. =)

Abby
- for ability to adapt to her new job as office mgr & producer on Monday (3 Jul)

Chris
- thanksgiving for ability to finish her exam recently
- for more faith & discipline

Denise
- that she will continue to study even after mid years
- that she will get her fitness back
- that she will stay close to God
- that she will discover & use all her talents to serve God & hear His voice!

Gladwin
- for safety on his diving trip as he leads a team with a few others

Haoguang
- effort in his studies to come to fruit
- to still have time for God

Jason
- to be able to love unconditionally & to be able to give without receiving
- focus in studies
- thank God for His faithfulness too when he gets distracted

Jean
- for faith

Kelly
- that she may be able to sleep better
- that her overactive mind may be able to rest in God & His Word
- for her recovery from viral flu

Kexin
- for recovery from cold & cough
- for ability to cope at work as her colleague's last day is on friday

Lance
- for his grandpa's recovery who is hospitalised with pneumonia & lung infection

Lionel
- for ability to adapt to early working hours & new working environment

Shaocai
- for ability to adapt to his theological studies starting on Monday (3 Jul)

Shashi
- for proper rest- thanksgiving for what God is still doing in his life

Shuying
- for recovery of her ankle, still feels alittle tight around the knuckle

Viona
- for her sister's fren who is a postgrad student from China who asked her about Christianity & is looking for a church near her home
- for her love for God to deepen & be a better testimony at work

Wanlin
- that she will put in alot of effort in studying
- to be consistent in her QT

Winnie
- for God's protection & courage that she won't tremble during her wisdom tooth surgery on Monday (3 Jul)
- for speedy recovery as she will be recuperating at home for a week

Yvonne
- for her mgt accting exam on Thurs (6 Jul) that she may be able to finish her revision


** Edited:
Sarah
- for continued perseverance in readings, writing briefs and lesson plannings (stressed)
- for teaching team: partner asked for change in team so it might upset the current 3-pple dynamics (mentor seems upset about it too)
- 37 registered students in the class i'm teaching.. pray for strength and wisdom as i get to know each student individually
- frustration in trying to adapt to keng's church (Berkland Baptist Church) here: the differences in practices, traditions and values (discourage BGR to a point like almost dont allow)