Hello!

To those who were involved in FireAC in some way or other:

After discussion and prayer, it has been decided that FireAC should be closed down.
Though there may not be anymore morning activity/scrambling up the stairs to get to assembly on time, let prayer and fellowship always remain.

A few things to pray for:

- The school's leadership and direction
- Year 4s sitting for O level examinations
- Year 6s sitting for IB examinations (help)
- Christian ministry

Lastly, a huge thank you to all who've blessed and been blessed by this ministry in some way or another : )

On behalf of the rest of the leaders (Mike Liana Ben Eunice Zac),
Rachelmiao

Stand firm, hold fast

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Eph 6:10-13 ESV)

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

(Philippians 2:14-16 ESV)

--

Dear brothers & sisters, juniors, batchmates, seniors, others. I don't know where you are in your lives, but God does (Ps 139), and He will never leave nor forsake you (Josh 1:5). Lots of us can claim to know things, what with devotions and chapel and rew and cell groups and sermons. Let's now stand firm and hold fast to our hope, not casting it aside once a church-y activity breaks up for a meal or QT ends. Y6es especially, take heart. We have less than a hundred days here. Let's go forth not in worry or stress but in love for those we find around us, simply because that's what He has commanded.

Here is a song entitled Hold Fast, it's by Mercyme; enjoy (:

the law of the Lord

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes

-Psalm 19:7-8

i don't know if anyone checks back here anymore but if so please feel free to post any verses that may have spoken to you recently or any thoughts :)

hearT

hi (:
this is just a notice that hearT will be conducted next week!
here's a copy of the notice from Ryan (this year's ic)
strongly encourage you all to come down, simply because it's an opportunity to pray & hear Him speak. do also prayerfully invite people to come! see you all, and God bless.

--

HearT is next week! [:

Its from Monday 17 May - Friday 21 May at the ACS Chapel (CPA 1)

every morning starting at 6.45am till assembly.

For those who don't know what HearT is, its bascially a week of prayer,

where we gather in the morning to pray and seek God [:

This time HearT will be in line with the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP), which is on 23 May 2010.

Its very exciting, we'll be praying together with millions of Christians around the world during these 5 days leading to GDOP!

The heart of the matter is that God's called His people to come together to pray, so lets all come down and pray together.

"if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

And there is great power, God's power, in united prayer.

We'll pray and see chains of deep struggles be broken, hurting hearts healed, and lives be transformed in Christ for God's glory!

Let us also each encourage and invite our friends and classmates to come along with us to pray during HearT, for

This is what the LORD Almightly says:
"Many people and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come,
and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say,
'Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almightly. I myself am going'.
And many peoples and powerful nations will come..."
Zechariah 8:20-21

Do tell your friends this week about HearT, and encourage/invite them to come with you to pray[:

A Simple Thought I Had

Was that even if there seems to be too much stuff
And things seem to be impossible at times,
A simple question, as another once asked me:
“Have you prayed about it yet?”
Because nothing’s impossible for God.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” — Philippians 4:13

/JamesKoh

Love, Life and our Father in Heaven

It's been a while since anyone posted stuff on this blog..

Anyway brother and sisters, stay strong and faithful in Christ for He is our rock and refuge.

Don't really have much to say, but a dear friend of mine introduced me to this song by Tenth Avenue North. Wonderful song I'll say :)

By Your Side Lyrics

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

In His name

-Karlo

Stand Amazed

I don’t really know how long forever is
But that’s how long I’m gonna give my life
Everything I face, it tries to tear me down
No I won’t back away from the sacrifice
I won’t forget what you’re love means to me
You’re always there to light my way

(Chorus)
When all the lights go down and the world is quiet
No one is around
I wanna be the same man that will serve you then
Like I serve you now
That my convictions never change
O let my need for you remain
As real as the moment I was saved
I will always stand amazed

Sometimes my heart desires such selfish things
When the moment comes help me to trust
Something better that you have for me
If I could just hold on to you enough
I won’t forget what you’re love means to me
You’re always there to light my way

Chorus

You will be my strength when I am weak
When I wanna give in and not turn the other cheek
Let this be the prayer that I speak
That I speak


okay oops i hope i'm not bolding the lyrics of the entire song. This song really spoke to me and enlightened me. When the world is all dark, when nobody is watching, it is when we should serve the Lord with more fervor than ever. Col 3:23 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" Just hope this serves as a timely reminder that we do not put on an act or act differently when others are watching because our loving God's always watching, whether in the dark or in the light (:

sorry i don't know how to upload the video! but here's the link (:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WthZaU2PJVE

-edit:
Embed link added below =p:

New Layout

Hi guys, I'm pretty sure you noticed that the blog looks kinda different, kinda darker maybe, kinda smaller. Well, yeah, you guessed it! We changed the layout.

So, how do you go about EDITING certain contents on this blog, things which there doesn't seem to be widgets for? Thanks to the great HTML skills of Emil, we have managed to make the blog user friendly and pretty at the same time. So, here's what you do.

1) Log into your blogger account
2) go to the fireac blog
3) Find the section you want to edit, and click on the small little icon, (yes, the one with a spanner and a screwdriver)

don't hesitate to message me on fb if the layout goes wrong! My FB account details are in the credits section.

Evangelism

something i read recently:

The first requirement of postmodern evangelism is not that you are a good talker but that you are a good listener. In the rush of today's world, the gift of attention is one of the best gifts you can give someone. People don't have time to listen to one another.

- In Real Time, Mike Glenn

this really resonated with me. i don't claim to know much or be well-versed in the principles of evangelism but experience and observation (as well as biblical examples; read around pages 120+ here if you're interested!) cannot help but lead one to believe that we can love people (as we are very explicitly commanded to) by giving them attention instead of demanding it. and really, it's a joy to do so for it helps us further contemplate and understand the giving nature of God's love :)

song :)

hello friends!
the past few weeks haven't been the best (well, for me). sometimes everything is so shaky, we feel so insecure, the future uncertain. emotions rocky and people unreliable. but amidst all this, we will praise God for he is our solid rock! and His holy, perfect and loving character never changes. as psalm 121 goes,

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

amen :) and here's a song that i hope encourages you

enjoy! God bless you all.

Milestone -- January 2010

Hello friends and brothers and sisters in Christ! This is James Koh and I'm making my first (and hopefully not last) post here.

So it's been about a month since the year 2010 started, and I thought it would be nice to have a bit of reflection. January is almost over now, and school is beginning to kick into full swing.

Time's an interesting thing. Sometimes you feel as if the day's never going to end; other times, there seems like there's never enough time. A very paradoxical thing, time is.

Some days you wake up and feel as if there's not enough time in the world, and worry about how you're going to get everything done on time (year 6s especially), and sometimes even lapse into despair.

Yet surely there is a time for everything in the world, as Ecclesiastes states:

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal,

A time to tear down and a time to build,

A time to weep and a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

A time to embrace and a time to refrain,

A time to search and a time to give up,

A time to keep and a time to throw away,

A time to tear and a time to mend,

A time to be silent and a time to speak,

A time to love and a time to hate,

A time for war and a time for peace."

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NIV)

And if there is a time for everything in the world, and the Lord our God is in control of it all, surely there is no cause for concern. For He knows all things, and all will surely work towards whatever His will may be. As Jesus Christ Himself states, in Matthew 6:25-34, Do Not Worry. Our heavenly Father, who takes care of the birds of the air, will surely watch over us as well. For "who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27, NIV) (Or "single cubit to his height", for that matter. That certainly applies in my case.)

"For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:32-34, NIV)

What does this tell us? Firstly, that God should be the first thing in our lives that we chase after; all other things, as much as we need them, will be provided unto us by our Father in heaven, and do not merit so much concern. For if we worry too much about these things, we allow them to weigh us down and in doing so, affect our lives as well as our own walks with God.

Secondly, the Lord our God knows what it is that we need. "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." (Philippians 2:16, NIV)

Have you heard of the parable of the persistent widow? (Luke 18:1-8) The woman, who desired "justice against [her] adversary", continuously went up to seek the judge, who cared nothing for men, and did not fear God. The judge ignored her time and again, but still she persisted. Finally, the judge gave up and decided to give her the justice that she so desired, for he was tired of her bothering him.

Why this parable? It was told by Jesus to his disciples, to "show them that they should always pray and not give up". This ties in with what is said in Philippians, regarding the presentation of our requests unto God. If the Lord knows what we need, and we as His children pray to Him and ask Him for those things, surely He will grant them unto us! That is not to say that such things will be provided instantly unto us, though. Still, do not be discouraged.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.... If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:9-10,13)

Having said all that, however, regarding the matter of worrying, though we are told not to worry, let us not become completely apathetic or indifferent to things. Time is precious, after all.

"Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." (Ephesians 5:15-17, NIV)

Life is given unto us by the Lord our God. So, then, how we live is a testament of our faith to God, as displayed to others. As the verse states, let us make the most of every opportunity, doing what the Lord's will may be.

Let me try to put this in context a bit. As students, we are given the opportunity to study in this school of ours, and with this opportunity, we should do our best to honour God by glorifying him in all that we do (i.e. results, homework, etc.). In the case of living wisely, let us not do anything that would dishonour God, nor anything that He would not approve of. For those of us in the ministry (or ministries), be it in school or in church, we have been given the opportunity to reach out to others and minister unto them, and to evangelize and spread God's Word as well. Let us to this to the best of our abilities, as well.

This is once again reiterated in Colossians:

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NIV)

I will not claim that any of the things I have said above are easy to do, or easy to put into action; far from that, I know as much as anyone else that it is far easier to say these things than it is to actually do them. Nevertheless, as time passes by, let's try our best to do these things, for the sake of the Lord our God.

I'll start to wrap up around here (wow that's one long post!), but let me leave a few things behind for certain groups of people:

To the Year 6s:

Hey. Well, deadlines are popping up all over the place like nobody's business, but keep strong. This is our last year here. Let's make the most of it, for the Lord our God. Support each other, keep on going, and as Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy, let us follow his example, and fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith. Perhaps we too are being poured out like drink offerings, doing our best for the Lord our God, as everything looms ahead. But hey, don't be discouraged. Keep praying, and spending time with God, seek Him in your time(s) of need, and surely He'll help us all make it through to the end.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13, NIV)

To the Year 5s:

Welcome back to those of you from ACS(I), and welcome to the newcomers too. Welcome to IB. I'll be honest here, and most of you already know this, but: It's not going to be easy, these next two years. Time, which I've been jabbering on about in the previous hundreds of words for who knows how long, is an important thing here. Manage it well, use it well, don't end up leaving things to the last minute too often (which I have a tendency to do). Like my mum always tells me, you're the stewards of your time. Even if you're not accountable to any man on earth, at the end of the day, you'll be accountable to God for what you've done with your time. So take good care of your time! I won't claim to be a shining example of this (I'm pretty much the exact opposite, in fact), but trust me, you need to manage your time well.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." (Luke 16:10) (This applies to time as well)

To Everyone Else:
I'm sorry for lumping all of you together in one big group like this, but aside from the above two groups, there's really not much else I can say to the rest of you, aside from what's already been written up there. Just... spend your time in the school well; it'll pass by more quickly than you think.

The End: (Written) Prayer in General

Father, I pray for all those who read this, that You will continue to watch over them and be with them, as You have always done. Father, You who created the Heavens and the Earth, Space and Time, You know how important Time is, and You know that we struggle with it.

So I pray that You will help us not to worry or be overly anxious about how short Time seems to be, Father, be it deadlines or exams or other things. Help us to trust in You, Lord, for through You all things are possible. At the same time, Father, help us to use our Time well, that we may be able to make the most of every opportunity, Father, and live wisely, Father, glorifying You in all that we do.

In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Amen.

For the glory of God, and the advancement of His will on Earth as it is in Heaven,

/JamesKoh

toil

Dear friends (esp. y6es), I know that it hasn't necessarily been a good start to the year, what with most of us looking half-dead before the end of Term 1 Week 2, facing a hundred impossible deadlines which look ominously close to each other, and feeling much pressure come upon us. It's wearisome, working and working and working late into the night and morning.

But how about a paradigm shift?

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil–this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. -Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. - James 1:2-4, ESV

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thess. 5:16-18, ESV

Take a minute to breathe. Be still before Him; tune out noise and clutter for awhile and immerse yourself in His word, His goodness, His holiness and love. The commandments here might seem crazy and far-fetched and a biiit too extreme but then again, they are - by human effort, that is. Let go, let God (: Praying for you all!