philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As we enter into the week before final examinations (or the final week of prelims), let's meditate upon this peace which is above and beyond our understanding! Amidst our internal/external/otherwise assessments which continuously test understanding (Criterion A anyone?), rejoice in the fact that we can, and should, delight in God's peace which we don't have to puzzle over but simply accept as a gift from God after having brought all our worries to Him :)

Praying for you all,
rachelmiao!

(PS if you remember, a couple of weeks ago the leaders mentioned that anyone needing prayer could contact us - the offer still (and always) stands! Or you could leave a tag over there ---> :D)

Hi! :)

Been dead here for ages, but anyway hello again! I recently came across this article (as follows, click on the link cos it's really long... What I've posted beneath is only one paragraph from the middle to give you an idea of what it's about. Not the first paragraph cos it's rather morbid, as you'll find)

Not sure what y'all think of it - but I believed it brilliantly written. So yup, wanted to share it w you guys - esp considering the school's evangelistic movement. E.g. reviving the FireAC FB group or something (we have one right...? I think :P My FB is locked down so I can't check). Like it says, alot of the rationale is that social media reaches out to sooooo many people - and guaranteed not all will truly respond to all the 'Newsflashes', but perhaps an unsuspecting soul might one day. And one person is better than nothing, as we've always believed in ;)

So anyway, here you go -

What Would Jesus Tweet

...

Just when many of us who have been around the proverbial block a few times have made our peace with so many changes in how ministry is done, now along comes a whole new genre of technology and practice to sweep the world and invade our parishes and pews.
I mean, seriously, didn't we just get Power Point, like, last month? Now we are being told something about our face needing to be booked and some kid is asking us if we are on Twitter?

...

... And all the best for exams! God bless

Jayne

Coming Alongside =)

Let's never forget the great work He has called all of us, His children, to strive towards... =)

Coming Alongside

by John Fischer
__________________________________________________________

I am normally not a fan of ten steps to this or five ways to do that. But for one of my recent talks I came up with these six things to remember about being around those who may not yet be Christians, and thought some of you might find it useful.

1) Assume everyone is searching for God. Why? Because everyone is. We were created this way. God has purposely frustrated humanity by creating us with eternity in our hearts, yet with an inability to fathom what that is or what it means (Ecclesiastes 3:10-11). He has done this so that we might reach out for him and find him though He is not far from any of us for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:27-28).

2) Come alongside. This is really the crux of it all. Just walk alongside people and enter into their lives. Listen. Talk. Laugh. Cry. Find out where you can contribute and what you can learn. There’s something to give and something to receive in every relationship.

3) Point. You don’t tell someone what the truth is; you point to it. “There it is over there,” or “Here it is in my life.” This is why we need to learn to identify truth in the context of the world around us. Truth isn’t religious. You don’t have to get into a certain posture to see it. It’s not something that hasn’t been there all along.

4) Find out what people already know before you set out to tell them anything. Don’t ever think you have to clear the table and start over. This is why it’s so important to listen first. Find out what’s already on the table that you can use.

5) You don’t have to tell everything you know. Just the next thing.

6) You don’t have to correct everything someone says that is wrong. You are not the protector and defender of truth. You don’t have to decide where to draw the line. You don’t even have to be concerned if someone may be walking away with the wrong idea. You are not that smart anyway because you don’t know what’s in someone’s head. As long as they have something to think about, that’s a good thing.

And now here’s the one final thing that makes all this possible. It is the most important of all. (This is the one thing that makes all six of these make sense.) We don’t save anybody, convince anybody, “win” anybody to Christ or close the deal. All that is God’s business. The Holy Spirit is doing this all on His own terms and timetable. We are not salesmen, marketing reps, counselors or prosecutors. We are just friends who come alongside.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2009/09/19/jf_alongside/

Sent to me by Jayne =)

The Vulgarities in Life

maybe it has been quite a while since someone actually sat down and talked to you face-to-face about the values that you must hold on to. or probably you have already heard it a thousand times, for example during p.c lessons. then, you must be wondering "oh my, what is this post trying to say? why would i want to know what this is all about?"

wells, yes, sometimes it's hard and difficult to always hearing the same old things again and again. but if we don't remind ourselves about bad habits, we'll never kick out of it. instead, we will continue to go on and on, becoming more brave each time. an example we can relate to is stealing - first time, it might be just a small item. the subsequent times, the item might be more expensive and then this "thrill" that one has will become harder to satisfy each time one steals. the same thing goes for vulgarities.

if you consider yourself a christian, and have been saying vulgarities like the f-word, then you should start to make a u-turn, immediately. many non-christians look up to christians as role model. yes, maybe you don't realise it now or you never will, but the fact is, many people out there do make a comparison to us christians. similarly, many non-christians also do not need timely reminders to tell them what is right and what is wrong, neither do they get influenced by their peers. if we want to spread the Word and continue to glorify God, it's never too late to make the change before changing others as well.

i myself am proud to say that i've never said the f-word in my whole life, and probably you too, but if you spot people around you, why not make them change? maybe not almost immediately, but make an impact on them, and hopefully, one day they will say less and less ... before finally, poof! wouldn't it be nice to hear someone you know years ago who regularly say "f" this "f" that, and then after sometime, he/she just admits "yes, i've kicked the habit. and this is really by the chance of meeting _______ that i'm able to be a new person. refreshed and never regretting the change."

let today be the day where you make a promise to be a new you. it's never too late to change, but it will be too late if you procrastinate.

c'mon brothers & sisters in Christ,
michael

wrap-up: term 4 week 1

Hello people!

If you've been coming down you'll know that in the past week we've been talking about Focus, or where we fix our eyes upon (what constantly occupies your attention or what drives you; the first thing you find yourself thinking about every morning, perhaps). To put it briefly, you heard about: 1. Not focussing on what we aren't supposed to focus on (earthly treasures, man/people/self, etc.) and 2. Focussing on, of course, God. Well these are all things we all pretty much know (though still need to be constantly reminded of). But to wrap up I thought I'd talk about the link between these two points.

Think of the lyrics of the hymn: "Turn your eyes upon Jesus/ Look full in His wonderful face,/ And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,/ In the light of His glory and grace." What struck me was that it's a cause-effect relationship: only when we turn our eyes upon the Lord and focus on Him, then everything else we've ever desired will pale ridiculously in comparison! I think that often we overdo the not-focussing-on-ungodly-things part, berating ourselves for being worldly, trying desperately to control our thoughts and desires, and in the process fail to simply abide in the Lord (1 John 2:28) and be with Him. And when that happens, we often end up miserable and exhausted, wondering what went wrong. So dear friend, if you find that you're wrestling to let go of worldly things, or not to place so much worth in things you know you shouldn't, don't simply struggle to suppress it; allow God, a powerful, supernatural and loving God, to overwhelm it! The things of the world don't fade simply because we try and shut our eyes our purify our own thoughts; they disappear when we experience God more and more.

Another thing is that too often there is this mistaken underlying feeling or notion that choosing to focus and place our worth in God is the less enjoyable thing, a "sacrifice" that we dutifully make only because we are good and obedient. Yet quite the opposite is true:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.

I'll just end off with Hebrews 12:1-2:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Have a blessed long weekend ahead :)

Making God our best.

Well it’s been a while I guess, since I last posted on this blog.

Whilst hearing much about focusing on God in the past week, I couldn’t help but realize the focus on the theme of putting God first in everything. This is undoubtedly important, and could be said to be one of the marks of a Christian. But it begs the question, how? To what effect? And Why? I remember Michael saying: “You just feel better that you have spent time with God over doing well for that subject”. That essentially summarizes the whole feeling of what we’re supposed to feel when we have spent time with him.

What I want to say today would be one of another perspective and things to keep in mind. Around a week ago, a friend had mentioned to a few of my friends and I saying “I see a growing rift in how I behave as a Christian in front of Christians and in front of non-Christians.” No doubt, her intentions to better herself were virtuous, in hope that she would be good enough to be a Christian for the world to see, if not, why be a Christian, it would be very hypocritical don’t you think?

I often hear this statement resonating in my mind from time to time – He or she is a Christian why is he or she like this? Then looking back into my own life I see all the flaws that would make me so awfully sinful, then I wonder – In that case, are all Christians hypocrites? In a simple definition of ‘hypocrites’ we would see one who does not practice what we preach. We see Christians telling each other off and telling one another what the word of God says, and in the end not living up to it. Then we would end up coming back to the question – I can’t live up to being a Christian, so hypocrite? So why be a Christian and end up getting judged by people around and spoil the image of a Christian?

Well my answer to this is Grace & Love. How often have we forgotten the basis of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How much have we forgotten “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” – 1 Corinthians 9:14

So what does that all mean? Let me give a simple analogy that the Holy Spirit had helped me draw out through several months of qt. Imagine the relationship as that of a father and child, (as we always were taught about in Romans 8:15 “Spirit of sonship, and by whom we cry Abba, Father”.) Draw the parallel between the relationship of a child and father and that of God and us. Imagine a familiar scenario. Daddy says “Don’t touch the iron, it’s hot”, and by a child’s inquisitive nature we go touch it when he’s not looking and get burnt. Then Dad returns and goes, “sigh. I told you so”. Or what about this, Daddy says “Don’t cram so many things in your day”, and you thinking “hey I’m a teenager, so full of energy, I think I can do it.” And at the end of the day, you didn’t do your best for anything because you were so tired, you end up making things worse. Then we cry out to daddy and say “why? Why!?”

I guess in the same way, we could relate that to sin, God telling us don’t do this don’t do that, it’s bad for you. But we in our happy-go-lucky-smart-aleck self decide that we know what’s best and do it, reaping sad consequences. But in the end of it all, God is always there to pick us up. It is in these failings that we would learn to trust in Him and listen to what He says to us. It is also in this we learn of His ways, His will for us and His will for the people around us – Knowing the Father’s heart. How you may ask? Let’s take another analogy, something probably closer to heart of teenagers (maybe a BGR or just a BFF [best friend forever *as girls like to call it*]), when we spend time with these special people in our lives, we would learn of their likes and dislikes as we invest into these relationships with them. And extrapolating as such to a relationship with God, we would know what he dislikes and likes, we would know of his nature and with that knowledge we could become what He desires us to become – More Like Christ.

In the same way that we would learn about Him, and possibly experience what He experiences as we learn of His heart, we realize sometimes much of this is just head knowledge, stuff we would know is right, stuff we know he dislikes, stuff that we know would please him, stuff that sometimes we feel we cannot live up to. What I always liked to call it, Head Knowledge vs Heart Knowledge, doing something because we know it’s right vs doing something naturally because we feel and know without uncertainty that it’s right. It’s often a hard and arduous process , but FEAR NOT! Jesus said in John 16:13 “But when the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” He will guide us INTO ALL TRUTH, He will let us experience it and live by it. Sharings at FireAC, devotions, Sermons, Teachings can only bring you unto truth, not into it to experience and live by it.

It is the Holy Spirit that will be with us and change us in the process of Sanctification into becoming perfect as we enter into His presence in heaven forever. So going back to the point of feeling hypocritical, I would say this –The start of any change and possibly another mark of a Christian is how much we are willing to change, for as long as we are willing, God will do the rest.

In the same way about changes, I would say this about the relationship we have with God our father because of the wonderful sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a 2 way relationship, God will do His best for us (as seen on the cross) and he will continue to, and in the hope that we ourselves will give our best to God, and make God our best. For “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly Lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17.

There’s a common misconception that God is only willing to gives us what we need, not what we want, well, I doubt that’s a father. "Which of you fathers if a son asks for for a fish will give him a snake? If you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will our Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?" Matthew 7:19-11

We see Dr Ong always quoting this verse from the Psalms, “Delight yourself in the Lord, God will grant us the desires of our heart.” Psalms 37:4. So if we delight in the relationship, we would learn his thoughts and change to become more like him as established earlier, making His desires our desires, and God will grant us the desires of our hearts. So is that just the need? I doubt it. To make someone happy, we would often times give them something they want, not just what they need. More so our Father in heaven who gives us the very best, for “Our God will meet all our needs according to his riches in glory” Philippians 4:19, not from his riches, but according to what he has, so as a measure of what he has is a measure of what he will give to us. An overflowing and far surpassing providence over that of need!

With respect to exams, just an observation (you could call it an epiphany) of sorts. Always remembered when we used to say we do our best and let God do the rest, (though not Biblical) we realize that God doing the rest is like 99.999999999% where our best is a mere 0.00000000001%. So why not, we let God be our best, instead of asking God to help us do our best, we let God work through us in everything, and hence, he becomes our best as his Best is brought out in us.

So what are you waiting for? God will carry you through and He is just waiting for you to say Yes. Yes to His blessings and his calling. Give God your best and make him your best!

Second Chance by Hillsong

You called my name, reached out your hand,
Restored my life, and I was redeemed,
The moment you entered my life,
Amazing grace, Christ gave that day,
My life was changed,
Went from my shoulders, fell the weight of my sin

Chorus

So it's with everything I am,
I reach out for your hand,
The hope that changed a second chance I've gained,
On you I throw my life, casting all my fears aside,
How could greater love then this, ever possibly exist

Consume my thoughts, as I rest in you,
I'm now in love, with a Saviour,
Bearing the marks of his love

Chorus x2

Bridge

So I wait upon you now,
With my hands released to you,
Where a little faiths enough,
To see mountains lift and move,
Yeah and I wait upon you now,
Dedicated to your will,
To this love that will remain,
A love that never fails

it's so amazing how God always gives us second chances, even when we fail, He is always there to pick us up. We just have to surrender all our fears and failures to Him and allow Him to change your life and remove your burdens (:

Hope everyone has a good day at school tomorrow as the holidays draw to a close!

We Fall Down..

You, O Lord, are a holy God
Your ways are perfect and just
Slow to anger and abounding in love
You have shown us your Father's heart

But we your people have turned from You
Resisting Your power and grace
Taking our lives into our hands 
We have stumbled and lost our way

CHORUS:

So we humble ourselves before you
And confess our unfaithfulness toward you
Forgive our sins, remove our shame
Restore the church that bears your name
That revival may come to this land once again.

-So how far have we gone?

What do you spend your time on?

I'm sure everybody knows that the exams are coming up. But are you the sort that spends hours pouring over your books, refusing to eat, drink or sleep? If you are, then I suggest you watch out. Are the examinations taking over your time, taking over your brain, taking over God's position in your life?

It is okay to study, but if you obsess, then it's not so good.

Here's a small reminder, to remember God, don't forget Him in this busy time of examination preparation. We'll be talking more about this topic this coming week.

See you all in school on Monday! :D

with much much love,
Eunice

psalm 23

Last night (or this morning) as I was lying in bed, Psalm 23:1 came to mind. I'm sure it's a verse you're all very familiar with - "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." Undoubtedly, psalm 23 is a beautiful psalm of praise and it always brings great encouragement. But last night/this morning, those last six words really tugged at me and made me ask myself, "Am I in want?" (The answer: Yes, I am, and terribly often.)

Firstly to clarify, to be "in want" isn't the same as "to have a desire" (which can be a good thing if from God); it refers to being deficient, or needing something. The Message translates this verse as "God, my Shepherd! I don't need a thing." (apart from the Shepherd la). Yet we always find ourselves needing things. Perhaps not just material things, but consider these: recognition/approval, opportunities, civil treatment, satisfactory grades (even ones we "deserve"), human love?

Many of us are so blessed (good friends, good education, etc.) that sometimes we don't realize we depend on these things until they are taken from us and we find ourselves dissatisfied, disgruntled and feeling wronged (as if we had a right to them). But that simply doesn't make sense- if the Lord is our shepherd, we have no reason at all to be in want! If God is our All in All, what deficiency can we complain of? What a wonderful thought.

So the next time you find yourself "needing" something, I encourage you to remember this verse, consider that God knows our needs far better than we know our own, will meet them far better than we can think of (see Philippians 4:19) and thank Him for His gracious provision in our lives :)

Also, have a wonderful September holiday! :D I pray that it will be an opportunity to catch up on sleep, with people and your work. Five (free-er) days can be a great chance to spend more time immersing yourself in God's word :)

In love,
rachelmiao

A look into the past

Hey homies,

There have been no updates for quite some time and I don't exactly have any input but let me copy some of the posts from the past...

:)

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

I don't know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day;
I don't borrow from it's sunshine, For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future, For I know what Jesus said;
And today I'll walk beside Him, For He knows what lies ahead

Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand

Ev'ry step is getting brighter, As the golden stairs I climb;
Ev'ry burden's getting lighter, Ev'ry cloud is silver-lined.
There the sun is always shining, There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow, Where the mountains touch the sky

Begin Living

For those who are weary, He will give you rest.
For those who are anxious, He will grant you peace of mind.
For those who are sick, He will heal.
Just trust in Him with all your heart, for there is nothing that the Creator of this world cannot do.

We neglect God all too often in our daily hustle and bustle, trying to get things done by our own strength, and forgetting that He is the one who provides the strength for us to get by each day. As we now face our different trials and tribulations, it is always a great reminder to know that Jesus will give us the strength to get by. And Gerald just gave these words of encouragement to me yesterday. If there's any obstacle we're facing, no matter how big, God will always grant us the strength and grace to get through it. He's bigger.

And no matter how much we've pushed Him away from us, He's always there when we need Him. Life seems unfair doesn't it? Yet we're being the unfair ones when we leave God so often and expect Him to be there for us when we're down. But yet, thanks to His undying love and mercy, He'll never fail. He wants more than anything for us to be reunited with Him, to draw close to Him and just revel in His presence. Surely such a great God shouldn't be underestimated and taken for granted?

So let us always turn to Him first whenever we face our problems. Let us always praise Him in good times and in bad. We tend to only praise God when things are going well, and curse Him when life is rough. Or we cry out to Him for help in times of trial, but ignore Him when we're doing all fine. Worship should be a lifestyle, a 24 hour thing. Devoting our lives as living sacrifices.

An issue I'd like to bring up. I know we have our detractors. Those who view us as some cult of sorts. Just a reminder not to be discouraged. Even as we embark on our task to save our 50 souls, pray for wisdom, pray for patience, pray for guidance. God never said it would be easy. Those who chose to follow Him would have to lay down everything, and undergo great suffering. Are we prepared to do that? Some of you might have heard, that if we don't know what we'd be willing to die for, we haven't begun living. Are we willing to die for the Lord?

This post is meant to be more of an encouragement to those who are in need of it. Its something to spur us all on, that despite our worldly troubles, we'll eventually win the prize we have waiting for us in heaven. And to help all our unsaved friends, get to know this wonderful God, and share our joy.

Maybe this post didn't capture what I wanted to say very well. I'm tired, we're all stressed. But in the end, its all just human failings. Only God can show you the way, and only He can help you through all your problems. Lean on Him.

Proclaiming God's grace,
- Fabriz

Our Calling in not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell-it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.

Paul did not say that he separated himself, but "when it pleased God, who separated me..." (Galations 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. "Don't ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes" To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest in merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose- to proclaim the gospel of God(see Romans 9:3).

In the Faith of Jesus Christ,
Lin Xunliang

what are we waiting for?

In church today, the pastor asked the question,

"Do you know Jesus?"

He said, all those who know Jesus please stand up.
As expected, almost the entire church stood up. There was no doubt, no denial. It was clear - everyone of us knew Jesus and placed Him as the King of our lives. Then the pastor asked,

"If you know Jesus, why aren't you doing anything about it?"

This question left me pondering and reflecting about myself as I realized I did not have enough urgency in my heart to share the word of Christ with the world. God gave us 24 hours a day, yet sometimes we just let the days slip past. Jesus commanded us "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation". Jesus is our saviour and He exists in our lives...is that a good news to us? Everyday as we pray, we get to meet the most awesome wonderful amazingggggggg God...is that a good news to us?

Let's say one day, you suddenly meet hmmmm.. TOM CRUISE. or JOHNNY DEPP! (i guess this applies more to girls ^_^ ) Not only that, guess what?! You talked to him for a loooong time. WOW. I think I would be calling all my friends and sharing with them my excitement. "Oh my gosh, I talked to TOM CRUISE today!" You get the picture.

Well then, compared to this, what a great joy and excitement do we have in having Jesus as our Lord! Jesus, the King of the entire universe. King of you and me and Tom Cruise and everyone else in the planet. Shouldn't we be sharing with the world our joy of knowing Him personally?



In FireAC, we always ask God to give us a revival, that He would set as on fire for Him.
But the thing is, this fire starts from..... *drum roll*...... YOU. It starts from ME. from each one of us. This revival doesn't just happen one day when we keep waiting, doing nothing about it, and not answering His call to each one of us.

Are we placing God as the most important part of our lives right now? If not, what are we waiting for? Why not start devoting more time with Him and letting Him be the number one in our lives?

Are we sharing the word of Christ to others? If not, what are we waiting for? Why not start now?


Time is running out.
What are we waiting for?
Why not start now?
Right now.
Let us all let God move in us.
Right now.