Holidays ending soon..

Argh, mid sem break is ending soon! 2 weeks really past so fast.. wish normal uni days were like that.. Hmm, did some work during the break, but also wasted time.. so in a way i guess having uni is better, at least have a certain schedule.. not to say i dun have discipline. Hee. jus that smtimes having a regieme is better than none.. but the holidays have been a gd time of rest and catching up with friends. Oh well, holidays ending, exams coming! a few more weeks left.. term 4 is realli short. Gambate everyone! All the best for the coming term 4 and preparation for exams!

OCF 50th Anniversary

Yeah! OCF just celebrated it's 50th anniversary! More than gold! Had a dinner and a gd time in the meeting place we usually go to for every friday's ocf session. Many ppl turned up, it was quite a formal event, and many generations of ocfers were present. Even the uncles and aunties from many many years ago! It's amazing to see how God has faithfully seen thru so many generations of ocfers and how His work is continually growing in ocf even in this year of 2006. Memories of past years ocfers must have been revived, and overall it was just great to see everyone from many countries and age gather together for a night of fun and reflection. I'm sure God will continue to bless ocf with yet another 50 years of growth and ministry. It has shaped and helped many overseas students to reach out to their home countries after being trained in ocf for many years. Can't wait to see or hear from the next anniversary, prob in the next 50 years! 100th Anniversary! That'll b so awesome. And i'm sure by then, i'll be one of those uncles, 70+ years of age, seeing how much further ocf has grown.. all for the glory of God and it's all possible only because of His grace and faithfulness.

Kairos 2006

Kairos is over! It's been a weekend of great learning and having fellowship with friends.. Should have went for it last year too, but somehow i didn't go.. It was rather tiring smtimes, but its' great to have everyone from OCF south aust to come together to learn about leadership.. learnt about the heart of a leader, how to deal with conflicts, spritual gifts, and many other interesting topics involving leadership.. It was a v moving and fun experience. Had many interactions and sharing.. and it's so true that every christian is called to be a leader.. As we are the people usually see for an example. Finally Kairos is over, but can't wait for another exciting one next year! :-)

It's been great to visit a new church too.. n i realised, thruout my many visits, dun judge a church building by it's over.. It might look rather old or boring or even run down on the outside, but inside it's a totally diff story! It's such a nice place for worship and everything is just so clean, new and modern. Praise God for His provision to the many churches here and ard the world! It's gd that I also learnt not to take church for granted.. few ppl in the world have a chance to go to one even, needless to say having a place for worship and teaching sessions. So we should really all be v happy and blessed to even be able to attend church every sunday! :-)

Edge Conference

Yesterday's Edge Conference closing service was a huge success, with thousands of ppl attending.. It's really great to see the house full, even the carparks were not large enough to contain the number of ppl! Yeah, and worship was great, better than any pop/rock concert that ppl pay hundreds of dollars for.. the hospitality is excellent, and the facilities nonetheless to say, very modern and furnished. The atmosphere was powerful, with excitement of God's love..

Church however, is not about the building, the 4 walls, neither is it about ppl in the church staying within the 4 walls, as my pastor was saying, we need to go out there and do things.. to express our actions with what we preach. When he said this, l felt that it is v true of many churches around the world, including those in s'pore.. Churches can preach all they want, but if we only become church GOers, ie, sunday chruch ppl, there is no connection with others in the world.. we get fed, but there is no growth outside church. So we need to become Monday church ppl too! Outside of sundays, we are the church ppl see, and how we act determines how they see christianity. But neither can we also be only monday church ppl, we can't just go out there and help, coz we'll lose focus of the why behind the what, and we'll be disconnected from the sourse. We have to still continue to go chruch on sundays to be renewed and refreshed.

We should not do things for others bcoz we wanna gain recognition, love, rewards, etc.. but bcoz we love to, and we are blessed to be a blessing, so reaching out to help others in need, the poor, broken, needy is what we ought to do.. but it's easier said than done obviously.. we r still humans, and we have selfish disires smtimes.. but i believe with the right attitude, and thru Christ, all things are possible! In short, yesterdays message was a reminder to all us all to do what they were preached on sundays.. To be able to share/spread the gospel thru our actions.. That is true christianity.. but of coz once again, in order to be blessed to be a blessing, we have to 1st recognise that we are indeed greatly blessed and highly favoured, and with our beautiful saviour backing us up in whatever we do, there is simply nothing we cannot accomplish!!! What marvellous, wonderful news is that!!

The Spider Web

During one of the many Reformation battles, a young soldier found himself and his army being soundly defeated by the enemy. He and his comrades hastily retreated from the battlefield in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives.

The enemy gave chase. The young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation, and soon found himself cut off from his comrades. The soldier eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave.

Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide there. After he crawled in, he fell to his face in the darkness, desperately crying to God to save him and protect him from his enemies. He made a bargain with God. He promised that if God saved him, he would serve Him for the remainder of his days.

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony.

He thought, "I asked God for protection and deliverance, and He sent me a spider instead. How can a spider save me?"

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding place and kill him. Soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding.

One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave's entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control.

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There can't be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider's web to enter the cave. Let's move on."

Years later, this young man, who made good his promise by becoming a preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal.

What he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything seemed impossible:

"Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."

"For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." - Luke 12:30

Sunny Sunday..

Yeah! one more week down, 1 more to go b4 the mid sem break.. Can't wait. It has been a bz semester, and with a few more weeks to go b4 the exams, things r really heating up! Haha. Well, thank God we still have the mid sem break to catch up with our studies, assigments, etc.. Walked back home from uni last week, the weather wasn't v gd.. as it just stopped raining or smthing, and as I walked, I didn't knw what made me turn around and guess what.. i saw a big beautiful rainbow!! Wow, It was like right b4 my eyes, and i quickly told my fren who was walking back with me. We took pics of them with our camera phones. Haha, the wonders of technology! Anyway, as i looked at the rainbow, i am reminded of God's covenant and promises to us.. It's such a beautiful phenomenon of nature but such a powerful promise from God too! It's just amazing and to be in awe, always, as I look at nature, God's creation around the world.. :-)

Hmm, Church was gd today too, with a prothetic message spoken to us.. edge church has really made me feel very warm, welcome and I have learnt so so much from the speakers.. Glad I made it my home church! Today's sermon was about DOUBLE fruitfulness in times of affliction and forgetting our past of hurts, disappointments, etc. The bible really has so much to tell us, so many interesting things, if only we are open to the word.. Worship is great too, just bought one of the church's cd album..the singers and songwriters are really gd.. God has indeed blessed them with the talents of songwriting and music making.. to impact others.

Just went to friend's b'day dinner yesterday too.. we went to an indian restaurant up north adelaide.. it was nice, ate food i nvr ate b4, but it was so ex! Coz of the minimum charge on weekends.. Pout. Haha. But it's an experience la.. $ can be earned back, but experiences are priceless. For everything else, there's mastercard.. :-P