Monday, July 25, 2005
Humbled
School is starting tomorrow! Feeling neutral. Heh. On one hand, I’m glad that I can meet my friends and learn new things, but sad that I won’t have the luxury of time anymore. Anyway, I should be thankful for the 3 months break I had. It had been a fruitful one, which included a trip to Japan, a wonderful church camp, and a bible conference. I also give thanks for the various gatherings with friends and the time I’ve spent studying for the correspondence course. Thank God for His providence of a temp job too, which helps a great deal in my expenses for the coming term. Before I get busy with school, thought it will be good to share what God has taught me recently. :)
I give thanks to God for the opportunities to learn more about Romans, from both the Project Timothy Bible Conference and the sermons and bible studies in church. As I’ve shared with some of you, God has humbled me once again, reminding me who He is, how sinful and worthless I am, and what I need to constantly guard myself against. Though I can never fully understand why God chose me, I can only respond in gratitude towards what He has done for me in Jesus Christ, who has turned the wrath of God away from me. God is indeed a merciful and righteous God at the same time. As I prepared and taught Romans 2, the reality of God’s judgment struck me once again, that God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ (Rom 2:16). I’ve been critical at times, being quick to judge and failed to look at myself. Who is in the position to judge? Only our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God that the very one who will judge is my Saviour as well. Thank God for the reminder to constantly watch my motivation and thoughts, for He will judge my inmost secrets and motivations.
Today’s sermon on Romans 2:17-29 was not only peppered with good illustrations, but most importantly, the message was clearly delivered too. Religiosity doesn’t please God and definitely don’t make us right with Him. The only way to be right with God is to love Jesus and have an inward change of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Lastly, as the sermon was concluded, I was reminded to guard myself against doing many external things to please both man and God. As I assess my life, this would be ministry in teaching the youths, reading the bible with people, studying for a correspondence course, attending trainings, conferences and camps. May I always check my motivations! As for the correspondence course, it has helped me to understand more about the O.T, and it is really encouraging to know that our God is a faithful God who keeps to His promises despite the constant rebelliousness of man. Hope I can remember what I’ve learnt, and be able to pass the exam. Haha. I have a poor memory!! However, the most important thing is that my life will indeed be shaped by God’s will and commands, and what I’ve learnt will also benefit those around me. Thank God for the many precious lessons He has taught me, and do join me in prayer that we will all continue to grow in knowledge of God, so that we may please Him in the way we live. :)
I give thanks to God for the opportunities to learn more about Romans, from both the Project Timothy Bible Conference and the sermons and bible studies in church. As I’ve shared with some of you, God has humbled me once again, reminding me who He is, how sinful and worthless I am, and what I need to constantly guard myself against. Though I can never fully understand why God chose me, I can only respond in gratitude towards what He has done for me in Jesus Christ, who has turned the wrath of God away from me. God is indeed a merciful and righteous God at the same time. As I prepared and taught Romans 2, the reality of God’s judgment struck me once again, that God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ (Rom 2:16). I’ve been critical at times, being quick to judge and failed to look at myself. Who is in the position to judge? Only our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God that the very one who will judge is my Saviour as well. Thank God for the reminder to constantly watch my motivation and thoughts, for He will judge my inmost secrets and motivations.
Today’s sermon on Romans 2:17-29 was not only peppered with good illustrations, but most importantly, the message was clearly delivered too. Religiosity doesn’t please God and definitely don’t make us right with Him. The only way to be right with God is to love Jesus and have an inward change of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Lastly, as the sermon was concluded, I was reminded to guard myself against doing many external things to please both man and God. As I assess my life, this would be ministry in teaching the youths, reading the bible with people, studying for a correspondence course, attending trainings, conferences and camps. May I always check my motivations! As for the correspondence course, it has helped me to understand more about the O.T, and it is really encouraging to know that our God is a faithful God who keeps to His promises despite the constant rebelliousness of man. Hope I can remember what I’ve learnt, and be able to pass the exam. Haha. I have a poor memory!! However, the most important thing is that my life will indeed be shaped by God’s will and commands, and what I’ve learnt will also benefit those around me. Thank God for the many precious lessons He has taught me, and do join me in prayer that we will all continue to grow in knowledge of God, so that we may please Him in the way we live. :)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Danger Zone!
Danger zone at home! A row of tiles in the master bedroom started cracking loudly this morning. The moment I heard the noise, my initial thoughts were either a mirror came crashing down or my dad fell in the bathroom. Thank God none of us were hurt. Apparently, this is quite common in HDB flats. My neighbour experienced it 3 times! The problem now is we have to remove all the existing tiles as they can still crack anytime. An unexpected expenditure, no choice I guess. Oops, I just heard another one cracking.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Some updates
It's been a while since I last updated as my laptop was sent for refomatting. It's much faster now. Phew! Thanks Ray. :) Spent most of my nights out this week. For Mon and Tue, I attended the 'God's Word Is Alive!' workshop organised by ARPC and conducted by Sandy Galea. It was quite an eye-opener for me, and I've learnt much about teaching children. Indeed, it is even more difficult to teach children who are concrete thinkers as compared to us adults who are abstract thinkers. Some of the ideas mentioned are similar to what I've learnt in my Education Studies modules in NIE. Sandy emphasized that only one point is to be made for every children talk. On top of that, we can teach the Word creatively by having activities targeted at multiple intelligences (based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory.) A pity we had to rush through the notes. Could be better if we had time designing activities on the spot. Nevertheless, it was interactive and we learnt many interesting activities. More information can be found on Kidswise. :) On Wed, BTPC's mid week bible study group met together for the very first time at Wai's place. The discussion was great and it was good to see new people joining us. Will probably switch from Sunday's group to this group. Spent Thur accompanying Dad to National Dental Centre for a day surgery. Appreciate your prayers for speedy recovery. And now, looking forward to the Bible Conference over the weekend! :)
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Opportunity
My siblings and their families came over for dinner last night. It was a busy time for Mum again, having to cook for so many of us. The house was very noisy too, with my nieces Hannah and Abby running around, baby Edna crying (she cries real loud), the adults laughing loudly, etc. In the midst of all these, I had an opportunity to talk to my sister's maid, Liliah. Thank God for the chance to share the gospel with her. Unfortunately, I only managed to share part of it as she had to leave. However, I'm really happy that she asked for a copy of 2 Ways To Live. Do hope and pray for another opportunity to finish sharing the gospel with her!
Saturday, July 02, 2005
“伊芬，你变了！”
Many thoughts are running through my head. Perhaps I'm in one of those reflective modes again. Well, at least there's still time to reflect despite a busy week.
Like I've mentioned before, I see myself as a crappy person. In a way, only people close to me can see that, although I do joke with people I meet. I wonder why I've become like this. Is it due to the influence of the people around me? (Anyone feeling guilty?), or is it just my personality? It could be both, but I think the second reason is definitely true. As I observe my parents, I kind of get the answer. Both my parents are chatty and my mum is rather witty. Blame the genes? Of course, I do have a part to play in controlling myself. Heh. Anyway, the crux of this issue is whether this crappiness side of me is a stumbling block to others, especially non-Christians. During a class gathering two days ago, my NIE classmates and I had a good time catching up. As teachers-to-be, you can expect most of us to be chatty. In fact, I think I pale in comparison to The Chatterers in my class. Anyway, I can't remember exactly what I said. What a friend said stumped me. “伊芬，你变了！” She claimed it wasn't a serious comment, but I decided to give it some serious thought. Perhaps there is some truth in it. I guess the reason is because we've built our friendship to a certain level where I show my true colours? What worries me is whether it has affected their impression of me as a Christian. The Bible talks being encouraging in speech but none about crappiness. I've come to the conclusion that it is fine to crap once in a while, but not excessively, because it irritates some people, and worst, stumbling others. Defintely not an expression of others-centredness.
To my non-Christian friends out there, my apologies if I've irritated you before in my speech and action. I pray that I may seek to display the attributes of a true Christian, and that you will see a difference in me. Most importantly, you may know that it is God working in me so that I can transform into Christ-likeness. May this also cause you to think more about the Jesus I proclaim as Lord and Saviour. :)
Do pinch me when I get too crappy!
Busy week
It has been a busy week for me. I haven't been home for dinner for the past few days due to gatherings with friends, classmates and a bible study session last night. As such, I haven't been studying for the course this week. It's going to be a long day again tomorrow. Accompanying my mum to TTSH for endoscopy at 8am, BS leaders training at 1.30pm, Youth evangelistic talk at 3pm, and finally, CG at 7.30pm. Need to get back to studying for the course soon! p"q
