Monday, October 27, 2008
-6:13 AM
Sunday, August 24, 2008
-12:41 AM
Hi cell.
We are moving!! Praise God for the move.
1st of all, the cell is officially moving out of church into the community, into the campus to fully function as a campus cell! This time, the core group has prayed through and God had impressed upon our hearts that we wil move into NUS to have our weekly open care cell, and also at the same time reach out to the campus students who are searching for God.
2ndly, the cell is changing its cell date from saturdays after service to friday evenings @ NUS itself. Cell will officially start at 730pm sharp.
3rdly, the venue for weekly carecell meeting will be at the empty space along engineering bridge.
Last but not least, please keep the leadership/coregroup in prayer even as we transit into the the campuses. Pray for double portion of anointing and wisdom to be upon us alright (: tks alot, we covet ur prayers.
love,
val. (:
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
-10:07 AM
Hi cell,
how have u guys been? most of u just started sch rite! (:
haha hows the schedule and everything been?
oh anyway, if u are worrying about how u are going to cope and how u are going to survive this semester, don't worry k, God see it and He will take care of it.
Anyway, let me show u this really funny picture that i took at SAC when we had core grp meeting...
It reads : Please do not feed the birds! haha.. at first i was kinda joking that they are probably afraid that we will steal God's job of feeding the birds.. then i realise.. it could be also becos they trust God so much that we dont have to worry that the birds would go hungry.
HAHA OF COS NOT! its wasnt becos of any of the above reason, but more of they were afraid that the birds would approach people for food or may even poop on the tables.
But this of cos reminded me of ...
Matthew6:25-34~“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God, above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.haha. so u see how wonderful our daddy in heaven is?
u know sometimes how we fail to take notice of the birds in the skies and flowers by the road side? eh got flowers meh.. oh em the bouganvilla?! on the over head bridge planted by the government? haha u see sometimes we fail to take notice of all these, but God, the one who is supposedly the busiest person..made time and made sure that all these little birds and flowers were fed and clothed.
What more U! U, who was fearfully and wonderfully made?! So dont worry about things in ur life.. fix ur eyes upon the heavenly father and u will start to notice that these things seems v small.. entrust these issues on to the Lord and He will take care of it.
Most importantly, set aside time to meet God, cos no matter how busy God is, He will gladly put them aside to meet you! so can u do the same for Him? rmb, He already know all ur needs, all u need to do, is to seek first His kingdom and His Righteousness, so that he can unleash all ur need into ur life!
One of the most worrying thing, about our generation is that studies and everything else, takes over the importance of our God, so much so that we worry too much about our studies and everything. this is because we fail to see that we are already on the winning team and that God has already took care of our worries.
So my dearest all.. cast all ur cares upon Him, and rest in Him.
Have a fruitful week ahead! (:
val (:
Friday, July 25, 2008
-10:28 AM
Hi cell,
it been a long time since i see everyone tog. i hope that all of u are alright yup!
i just want to let u know that no matter how busy and crazy ur life is out there.. there will always be a family here for u, to welcome u, to pray along side with u, to love u and of cos to provide u a refuge away from all the madness.
meeting u guys have always been one of the most exciting thing i look forward to after a busy and crazy schedules, always rushing to meet deadlines, complete assignments.. haix tough! but i know when it gets to friday!! YIPPIE cos the next day i will be meeting u guys!
haha! looking forward to see ALL of u! (:
I maybe proposing a day next week to meet up with u guys for dinner.. got a really good deal at some pizza place in clark quay! apparently this card has like got buy 1 get 1 free deals.. so like BUY 30 PIZZA and GET 30 PIZZA FREE!! haha and the prices are like normal cafe prices... $6.90 per pizza.. haha. well will arrange soon! it will be a great time of eating, drinking, merry making! haha of cos catching up with all of u!! REALLY LOOKING FWD TO THAT! (:
Loving u guys always (:
Val (0.O)
Monday, July 21, 2008
-8:09 AM
You Are God Alone by Craig and Dean PhillipsYou are not a god Created by human hands You are not a god Dependant on any mortal man You are not a god In need of anything we can give By Your plan, that's just the way it isChorus:You are God alone From before time began You were on Your throne Your are God alone And right now In the good times and bad You are on Your throne You are God alone You're the only God Whose power none can contend You're the only God Whose name and praise will never endYou're the only God Who's worthy of everything we can give You are God And that's just the way it isBridge: Unchangeable Unshakable Unstoppable That's what You are who am i Lord, that i may behold Your beauty and majesty?I learnt this song at VCF freshmen orientation camp, during one of our worship sessions before the "sermons". the part that strikes me most, is the part that says, "in the good times and bad, You are on Your throne, You are God alone". through tough times, God still sits on His throne, God is still the one in charge and the one in control of my life; only He is God, only He knows the plans that He has for me--plans that give me a HOPE(even when situations look bleak and hopeless) and a FUTURE(even when ppl say that there is no future prospects).
"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."--psalm 139:16He knows exactly what my next step is, even before i was born. He knows, therefore i can trust in Him. He knows, thats why i can place my confidence in Him. He knows, therefore i can surrender my plans to Him.
today, i went down to the SCDF HQ for a thorough medical checkup before i can be officially enrolled to be part of the civil defence auxillary team. not to my surprise anymore, SCDF HQ is also male-dominated. my friend and i were the only females around.. we got a little bit worried about whether we could find female toilets in the building haha. it was so embarrassing when i had to tell a whole bunch of
males that i couldnt do the urine test because i was having my period. ARGH. it was even worse when they stared back blankly, wondering why i disqualified myself from urine test because of my period. UGH. how come medics do not know this? how do i explain such a thing? thankfully, the medical officer saved my day because he understood and told me to go back another day for urine test. then, it was followed by routine checkups.. blood pressure, blood glucose.. the worst was the blood test. i was poked
three times, before they were able to draw my blood for HIV test. and again, it was the medical officer who came to save my day(and my arm. haha).
we were supposed to undergo ECG as well, my friend and i freaked out because we didnt want to bare our chests to males, not even the medical officer. OH NO. wah thank God, He probably heard us screaming and panicking in our heads, just nice there was a female paramedic around to do the ECG on us. she was so pro, we didnt even need to remove our clothes nor undergarments, she knew exactly where to place the ECG electrodes without even feeling around for the intercostal spaces. just out of curiousity and finding opportunities to apply the facts i've learnt in theory, after the ECG i counted my own ribs and the postions of the electrodes. wow, it was really at the fourth intercostal space! amazing, i aspire to be like her! my dreams were "crushed" when i found out that the pre-requisite to be a full-time paramedic is that one has to be 1.6m tall. HUH! God, why didnt You make me grow taller? sigh. i guess i should be thankful already, for being able to serve as a volunteer paramedic. maybe by the time i graduate they will lower the height requirement. haha.
today was like a dream come true--i've always wanted to be either a paramedic or a doctor when i grow up. since the latter is a closed door, being able to volunteer in civil defence has given me a renewed purpose and reason for my existence. when i got my uniform, my corporal rank, my nametags.. wow. the joy is undescribable. BUT, as i ponder about it, the joy cannot be compared with the joy of being able to know my Lord Jesus Christ. like i told my OG during the VCF orientation camp, i don't know where i am headed after graduation still, but Lord, i know i can trust in Him because He knows what He is doing.
"As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right." -Jer26:14
Sunday, June 29, 2008
-7:11 AM
hey cell, since we're doing on New Choices chapter 2 "I choose to serve God", i was thinking of sharing about my first feeble attempt at dew ministry.
prior to the dew ministry weekend, i went for three wks training in dew sch, and throughout the whole training session i felt very inadequate and unconfident to handle someone else's life history of hurts and pains. who am i to intervene in their situations? we've had role plays since the first training session, taking turns to be both the counsellor and counselee. but the times when we had to do our role plays, were the times that i felt the most stressed because i really did not know anything and had to keep referring to my manual. being the youngest person in the whole dew cohort, i felt that my lack of "life experiences" added on to my inadequacies. who am i to even say any word of advice or comfort when i havent experienced it myself? when pastor john and the other dew workers went through the different issues of sexual sins, generational lines, irrational behaviour etc.. i didnt even understand why certain stuff were considered sin. there were just question marks all over my head.
but on thursday, just before the whole dew weekend, i was telling God about how scared i am to serve as a dew counsellor. but i was reminded of how many signs He showed to call me to go for dew training. okae, i told myself trying to calm myself down, i was called into this ministry. then as i was walking to my student's place for tuition, i was suddenly reminded of what Val shared last cell that
God doesnt call the equipped, but equips the called. if God called me into dew to minister, then He wont just leave me to fight the spiritual battle on my own right? surely, He will equip me to do His work and bring healing into ppl's lives.
Friday was the first day of ministry. During a separate counsellors prayer session before ministering at the altar, God gave Poh Cheng (one of the dew leaders) a word that was very timely and encouraging: He will strengthen hands for battle. amen, God please strengthen my weak hands to fight this battle for You. when i was praying for ppl at the altar, i had my own breakthrough, of learning how to entrust their lives to God's hands. it is not me ministering, it is God. only He can touch their hearts with His love.
"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.." - Isaiah 59:1saturday, one day before the one-to-one ministry session, i learnt about my authority as a christian. during service, i was reminded of how, at the name of JESUS, every knee
must bow and every tongue confess that HE IS CHRIST. the demons and evil spirits fear and tremble at the Christ who lives in me. and because He lives
inside of me, spirits have to obey my words and my commands. (don't get me wrong, it is not by my own power, but only by God who is in me.) truly, no weapons formed against Him can prosper, no kingdom raise against Him can stand. this IS the power of our Christ Jesus whom we believe.
today is sunday and is the day that the counselees will receive individual ministry. i am both excited and nervous. excited because i'll be handling my first real case after having so many role plays, nervous also because i'll be handling my first case and i dont know how it will turn out. but i thank God, because everyone in the counsellors' room together with me were very encouraging. Sis Joan from dew district came over to hug me, Pastor Patsy also hugged me and smiled at me and spurred me on, Jas Choe's mum(i cant remb her name) smiled and gave me the thumbs up, Sis Jessie, my supervisor, guided me through the whole case step-by-step what i should do later on when i meet my counselee. Sis Cheryl came to pray for me, Sis Betsy(Nathaniel's mother!) sat down and talked to me during our lunch break thank God for Sis Annie who came over to help me during the whole actual counselling process. Margaret from north district shared with me sth that really spoke to my heart. she wrote two quotes:
God honours any feeble attempts in ministry
Anything worth doing is worth doing badlywith a little fear and trembling still, i went into the battlefield and "fought" with the spirits that trembled and feared Christ's name.
today i learnt that it's not about how eloquent i am, not how wise i am, not how much i know or whether i've been through it; it's not about how many verses i can quote to tackle an issue, or how huge a manifestation of the spirits when i command them to leave.. but its all about God's unfailing, everlasting, unchanging, unconditional love for the counselee that He desires to heal and restore him/her back to wholeness. Serving is all about JESUS.
i am sharing my experience not to boast of my calling or of how much i have done for Christ, but if i were to boast of anything, i can only boast of my share of feelings of inadequacy and weakness, yet the power of Christ is made perfect in all these. I'm humbled by this privilege to serve in dew ministry, to be an instrument of God's healing, like a scapel in a surgeon's hand. its not about how sharp the scapel is, but it's about how skilful the hands of the surgeon are. i've learnt a lot from this short journey of dew training. tho today is the last day of the June dew weekend, it doesnt stop here.
2Cor12:9But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
-8:43 AM
Hi Mighty believers!
From this week onwards, i will type the sermon ouline for those who served at the different ME and for those who did not attend service due to various reason. I hope thru this sermon outline, u will catch God's heartbeat and that it will speak to u in it own special way! (:
This week during service...Scripture ReferenceActs 2V1: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one placeOne place in this context does not refer to a specific place or venue, but it refers to believers in Christ being in one purpose, one mind and one spirit.
The idea of place in this case take on a realm. A spiritual realm.'
V2-3: Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.When all the people are together in one place on the day of the Pentacost, God's spirit came upon them in a tangible form of a violent wind and tongues of fire. These were the evidences to the jews that God is real.
When this happens, there is an in dwelling of God's spirits in us. God has a new way of manifesting His power. The God that is within us, is the same God that moses met at the burning bush encounter, the same God that parted the red sea so that Moses could bring his people into the promised land, the same God that was with Daniel in the Lion's den, the same God that delievered and promoted David to become King and the same God that gave an offspring to Sarah and Abraham when they were beyond their child bearing age and promised them that their offsprings and descendants will be countless like the stars in the sky and the dust on the earth.
Now when we have the spirit in us, we no longer operate as one person, but we have 2 personality at every one time. Therefore, unlike unbelievers, we operate both in the physical as well as the spiritual realm. WE ARE DOUBLY ANOINTED PEOPLE.
In the past, we use to say " With God, all things are possible", now in this season, God is saying, "With you (us), all things are possible." because with the deposit of God's spirit in us, God has enabled us to perform signs, wonders and miracles for His glory. We need to focus on the power that God has given us!
v4. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.Most people focus too much on the ability to speak in tongues, as it is the initial evidence of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and as a result, they fail to see the full strength of what they Holy Spirit can do through us. Therefore, most people end up speaking in tongues but they are still not fully functioning in the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom its not just talk, but it is power!
Lets look at other powers or ability that comes with the deposit of the Holy Spirit in us:Acts 2: 17-18"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women,I will pour out my Spirit in those day, and they will prophesy. " God say that he will pour out His Spirit on all people:
regardless of gender- Sons and daughters, men and women, be given the power to prophesy.regardless of age- young men will be given the power to see visions- old men will be given the power to dream dreams.Have you forgotten that u have been given these power to prophesy, to see visions, to dream dreams for the expansion and the glory of God's Kingdom?Humans have been given the ability to speak, unlike cats that meow and dogs that bark, we are the only creation, made in the image of God, therefore we are the only creation that can speak and understand the language of God. As such, God has given us to power to speak, as we create-to prophesy according to visions we see and the dreams we dream about. because in us, lives God, the same God that use His mouth to create and speak life onto our earth in 7 days (Genesis1).
In Proverbs 29:18, it says " Without a vision, the people perish"The word perish comes from the root word "PARA" and "para" is used in context of "parallel"
"Para or Parallel" have the idea of side by side and that they will not meet. Like 2 parallel lines, these 2 lines will never meet.
So what the verse is saying actually just means that if we dont hold on to our vision that God has given to us, we will never see reality and our vision meeting, therefore it will not come to past.
Visions are so powerful it results in provision. But first u need to believe and trust God without any doubt. The consequence of a person's lack of Faith is that the whole kingdom suffers, because God cannot work through unbelievers.
Sarah and Abraham were classic examples of the above illustration. If Abraham and Sarah at the age of 90 and 70 respectively did not trust and believe in God when He said to them that they will have a Son and that their descendants will be countless like the stars in the sky and the dust on the earth, then we will not exist today.Logically it could not have happen because both Sarah and Abraham were way beyond menopause. But because of their faith and trust in God, we exist, because God cannot work through abraham if he did not believe in the beginning.When abraham finally trusted and believed God, God's promises were credited into his account, Righteous, Abraham was in right standing with God( in that one place with God).David was another person in the bible which showed us how holding on to a vision and God, results in provision. Soon after the prophesy from God that David would become King of the Land he was persecuted. Saul wanted his life and he had to run away and act insane. to keep himself sane, he had to continuously hang on the God's vision and to write psalms of praise for God. When he was faithful, God begin to provide 400 men as warriors in David's kingdom, the sword of Goliath as well as pagan kings who built a palace for David and the city of David.God also gaved us the ability to produce wealth, but the purpose of creating wealth should be to benefit and bless though who needs it,and for the extension and glory of His kingdom.
Scripture reference: Deut 15, acts 1:8 and deut 8:17-18
If u have a vision placed in ur heart, but u lost hope and faith for it cos u dont have the resource and the finance and u think it is impossible to make a difference in people's life because of limitations in ur life. U need to start trusting God, keeping holding on to the vision He has for you and when you do so, He works in ur life, providing the people you need, the finance that you lack so that there is a meeting of ur vision with reality and people will benefit from it! Praise God!
Start asking and believing that God will ignite the passion and dreams that were lost once again!
Val (:
