Tears are the material out of which heaven weaves its brightest rainbow.

Coming to China has opened my eyes to many things, its people, its culture, its flexibility. But more than anything, it has again opened my eyes to see the value of a soul. We have been given much — the apostles’ docrine, the call to a holy lifestyle, separated unto God, hence of us much will be required.

But our role in bringing and pointing others to Christ, is not one of a demanding school master, exacting on others more than they can bear; nor is it one of a irresponsible parent, to neglect in the name of liberty.

We need to love, we need to teach, we need to travail, we need to be patient. We need to be ourselves, and most importantly, we need to let God be God.

It doesn’t mean a born-again experience spells the end of our duty, just as it doesn’t mean a conceived seed does not need watering and nourishing.

As I was listening to my friend, I recognized who was I speaking to, a soul, real and tangible as me.

A soul, with limitless potential and worth. I feel almost prophetic with the prospect of what she could be, and my heart is filled with tenderness at where she is at now, and I am just overwhelmed with the knowledge of who she is.

Each of us, is of worth precious enough to bring Christ’s death on the cross. The thought often brings us to ask, ‘what is man? that thou art mindful of him…’

But my friends, may I present to you, the other side of this question, ‘Who is God? that he would love us so…’

In a place with such a huge population, a flood of people often only remind us of more queues, longer waiting time, and nasty squeezy experience. It’s too easy to see people as numbers, figures and statistics, but God never sees us as that, He calls us by name.

This excerpt was written by a sister, who spent 6 months abroad in China.

watch.

grateful for Jesus who looked upon this little girl when she decided one day walking out of Cedar that she will be a lifelong athiest because she can’t figure out who is the real god and reckon no one else would know 

grateful for mum even though i had the most fights with her and even though the way she and I think are at polars with each other, but without her holding on, this family would have long crumbled. And despite all my mess-ups, she still believes and loves me

grateful for dad for just being around and for his crazy and nonsense personality, which i find so funny many times - tt i tell all my friends he actually loves and watches anime. =P and even though he doesn’t say/show it, i know i’m his dear daughter and he tells ppl how proud he is of me

grateful for grandpa and grandma whom i affectionately nicknamed lao ye ye and lao ah ma =P (my brother calls my grandma xiao (small) ah ma, which isn’t any better, lol!), for lao ye ye who tries to make sense of my horrible hokkien when i try to ask him to teach me dialect (he can speak mandarin btw), for lao ah ma for helping me clear my messes in my room =S for enduring all my late nights and always trying to help me in areas whenever she can

grateful for my brother, that whn i’m feeling upset and i can’t sleep, he lets me whine and he wld spend time w me going supper tgt at late late nights. And the fact tt he offered to pay for my milo c bing and carry the dishes to the table. And letting me crashed in his room so i can wake up easier the next day and although he pretends tt he doesn’t care and continues to play his music + gaming sound + tv show on whn i trying to sleep on his bed, but whn i really fell asleep, he off everything and switched off the lights so i could sleep better (and i knew cause i woke up half way and realise his room was so quiet)

grateful for Tabernacle of Joy, bishop, pastor, rock leaders and everyone that’s there - for creating a safe environment; for hard preaching; for challenging/inspiring us to dream and pursue God; for holding strong to the apostle’s doctrine; for preaching what God wants to be preached and not what the world or we want to hear; for always believing in me

grateful for my bestest friends:

for charlotte who talk long with me over the phone abt feeling feeling stuff we want to rant abt cause we are blue and for telling me that she sees me as her best friend =);
for lily who can listen to all the questions i have and how i rationalize and think through in my head and for advising me and for saying things as it needs to be said and for being so fun to bully =P;
for lilin, who always is so encouraging and goes over the top genuinely excited for you whatever it is that I’ve shared, for supporting all my endeavours in whatever haha and for just being you =);
for seokkian, who is the special friend i relied on when I had none in class, who became a very close friend that i dearly love;
for sheeping who goes to school with me, if not i might still have no friends in class cause i’m too quiet to talk, who listens to all my crazy talks in sch, who is my literal moral support over msn whn we chiong essays;
for wenqi, who runs towards me and hug-attack me and terrorizing me with your kisses, who attempted to lick me on several accounts, for always telling me that she loves me
for wong, who i made popular her nickname that many addresses her by that now =P for my ton overnight, cannot-study-at-home-must-study-outside friend, my go home partner, and my siao ding dong friend that embraces/supports all the crazy, last minute, spontaneous ideas abt everything, and for laughing at the top of our voices in buangkok at night abt poot. HAHA

grateful for my boss, who is too nice and tries to help me in some many ways when actually as an assistant, I’M SUPPOSED TO HELP HIM! For giving me grace for my nonsense, for buying me free lunch (haha), for being approachable and friendly tt i can seriously tell him the randomness stuff

haha and pastor told the guys tonight to thank the girls for being apostolic, so yeah i want to say I’m grateful for our church guys too, for being apostolic men =) i feel safe and at home in church and you all have helped create that environment. 

grateful for tonight’s message - i didn’t realise there’s so much ingratitude in me and yes it’s true how the devil will want you to just focus on what you don’t have that you neglect and forget what you do… and I’m practically crying non-stop writing this post. And I remember sis carol asking me a question when she counseled me, ‘You have so much, what more do you want?’, and yes I am truly blessed. Thank you all =)

thekingandme:

Victory is not won by doing the right things occasionally; victory is won by doing the right things daily.

- Rev Raymond Woodward

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. 
            His love endures forever. (NIV)

Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. 
   Thank the God of all gods, 
      His love never quits. 
   Thank the Lord of all lords. 
      His love never quits. (MSG)

O GIVE thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever. (Amp)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
         His faithful love endures forever. (NLT)

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (KJV)

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (ESV)

Give thanks to the Lord because he is good. 
       His love continues forever. (NCV)

你 们 要 称 谢 耶 和 华 ， 因 他 本 为 善 ； 他 的 慈 爱 永 远 长 存 。(CUV)

Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits.
Thank the God of all gods,
His love never quits.
Thank the Lord of all lords.
His love never quits.

Thank the miracle-working God,
His love never quits.
The God whose skill formed the cosmos,
His love never quits.
The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations,
His love never quits.
The God who filled the skies with light,
His love never quits.
The sun to watch over the day,
His love never quits.
Moon and stars as guardians of the night,
His love never quits.
The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn,
His love never quits.
And rescued Israel from Egypt’s oppression,
His love never quits.
Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand,
His love never quits.
Split the Red Sea right in half,
His love never quits.
Led Israel right through the middle,
His love never quits.
Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea,
His love never quits.
The God who marched his people through the desert,
His love never quits.
Smashed huge kingdoms right and left,
His love never quits.
Struck down the famous kings,
His love never quits.
Struck Sihon the Amorite king,
His love never quits.
Struck Og the Bashanite king,
His love never quits.
Then distributed their land as booty,
His love never quits.
Handed the land over to Israel.
His love never quits.

God remembered us when we were down,
His love never quits.
Rescued us from the trampling boot,
His love never quits.
Takes care of everyone in time of need.
His love never quits.
Thank God, who did it all!
His love never quits!

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

(Source: iwilltrustinyou)

wongpeiting:

Today’s sermon still rings in my mind.

Hopefully this will make it ring longer.

littlecasa:

casa’s day out.

hahaha watch me dance. lol

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said,
“Child, you must wait.”
“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is Your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.

“My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a ‘Yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘No’ to which I can resign.

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, 
We need but to ask, and we shall receive. 
And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!” 

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, 
As my Master replied again, “Wait.” 
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, 
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting… for what?” 

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine … 
and He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign. 
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun. 
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be. 
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me. 
You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint. 
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

“You’d never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

“The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

“You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you.

“So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still … Wait.”


“Wait” By Russell Kelfer (Wait: Discovering the Heart of God)

ah.

I tried to type something really fanciful, something really persuasive to convince you that you need to watch this School of Scripture LIVE, wherever you are in the world. I tried, did came up with something but I guess, it would still be just words.

so, I’m just going to post this to you, and all you need to do is just click the following link and you’ll be there to watch it LIVE. AND IT’S FREE HELLO, free bible study/bible seminar/however you want to call it. =)))

(We always hear how a click of a button online, we may fall to temptation/sin whatever, but this click, on the contrary would lead you closer to God somehow and i believe it to be so.)

Dates/Timings:
13th to 16th July, 7pm, Singapore Time (GMT +8)

click HERE

the streaming will be available at that time. =) God Bless you!

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15