We had a great time at Charles' house on Christmas' Eve. Had one of the most happening parties ever. Tons of food, heaps of people and bags of laughs to go around. A Jolly good time indeed!
We played Empires and played a Gift Exchange game which was probably the longest gift exchange anyone ever had - lasted a whole 50 minutes.
The trick of the game was that everyone puts their gifts in the middle. Then everyone is given a random number according to the number of gifts there are. The first person goes up and picks any gift from the pile and proceeds to open it in front of everyone and then sits down.
The second person then can either decide to pick a present from the pile or steal the first person's. Imagine when it reached the 10th person. The 10th person had 9 presents to choose from plus anyone from the pile. Should you be unlucky enough to have your present snatched from you, you can go snatch some one else's until someone decides to take from a pile.
The only rule is that you cannot take back a present that has been taken from you - through out the game.
We had 33 presents.
It was heaps fun!
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
OVERSEAS EDUCATION Vol. 7
9. that I really need to be more honest with God and myself about myself.
10. that a rat fell into Cassilda's room through a ceiling vent opening in the middle of the night. She grabbed her sheets, ran screaming into her housemate's room and slammed the door shut. And guess what? Two hours later, the rat stalked her and found its way into that room.
Crouching Rodent, Hidden Cockroaches. Her house is a freakin' zoo.
11. that I have wasted much of my life, time and energy trying to gain the approval of others in order to feel good about myself. Rather than relying on God's steady, uplifting reassurance of who I am, I have depended on others who based my worth on my ability to meet their standards.I've turned to others who have a perspective as limited and darken as mine to discover my own worth.
How stupid is that?
12. that it breaks God's heart when I run from Him instead of to Him when I fail.
Well, its winter here, averaging about 10-16 degrees in the day, which for Singaporeans is Damm Cold Sia. Anybody who has been to Augustine's room (Auggy) will probably have an idea of what I am talking about. But I heard Singapore is hot, hot, hot. (anyone want to comfirm that?)
Well, Cass and I looking forward to moving from a Freezer and into a Boiling pot in the space of 7 hours in 5 week's time. Talk about a warm welcome...
Recently I realized…
Which is a great excuse to wear those stylo milo Beenies that you see those HipHop YO YO Word to your Mother Rappers kind wear on MTV.
2. that having cockroaches infest your house is bad enough. Calling the exterminators and having them finally trace the nest to the inside of your fridge door is totally the grossest thing in the whole wide world.
No wonder Cass has been complaining that her food has been disappearing.
3. that often in our lives we know what our problem is, but we cannot seem to find the right answer to it. On the other hand, we often discover an answer in God's Word, but we really don't know what our problem is.
God wants to reveal to us the nature of our true problems and the answer found in His Word. When we make the right connection between them, when we hook up the right problem with the right revelation – that's when the devil is on his way out, and freedom is on its way in.
4. that security cameras in CSI are all high-resolution cameras that take video in 18-Megapixel quality. That is how you can zoom in the eye of the victim and see the number plate of the getaway car in the reflection of his pupil.
(thanks to mrbrown.com for this insight)
5. that we frequently try to deal with bad fruit in our lives and never get to the root cause of it. If the root remains, the fruit will keep coming back. Not matter how many times I cut it off, eventually it will come back. I don't know about you, but this cycle is very frustrating.
Here I am, trying the best I know how, yet it seems I never find a permanent solution to my miseries or destructive patterns. The thing I find, is that I have to ask God to reveal to me the root cause of my problem. Often time, the answer can be very surprising and almost all the time, very painful.
Yanking out roots normally is.
6. that I like myself. I don't like everything I do, and I want to change – but I refuse to reject myself.
7. that I want to make people happy and like me, but my sense of worth is not dependent on my performance or on what others think of me. Jesus has already affirmed my value by His willingness to die for me.
8. that Cassilda thinks I am hot.
Maybe its because I keep my head well wrapped up. Yup, thats it.
9. that I really need to be more honest with God and myself about myself.
10. that a rat fell into Cassilda's room through a ceiling vent opening in the middle of the night. She grabbed her sheets, ran screaming into her housemate's room and slammed the door shut. And guess what? Two hours later, the rat stalked her and found its way into that room.
Crouching Rodent, Hidden Cockroaches. Her house is a freakin' zoo.
11. that I have wasted much of my life, time and energy trying to gain the approval of others in order to feel good about myself. Rather than relying on God's steady, uplifting reassurance of who I am, I have depended on others who based my worth on my ability to meet their standards.I've turned to others who have a perspective as limited and darken as mine to discover my own worth.
How stupid is that?
12. that it breaks God's heart when I run from Him instead of to Him when I fail.
13. that the life of the Church is the Heart of God. And the Heart of God is to meet the needs of a broken world.
14. that in Genesis, when God created the universe, the world and everything we see, He comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. Eve is the Creator's finishing touch, the crown of creation. If creation were a symphony, she would be the crescendo, the final astonishing work of God- Woman.
I love how Stasi Eldredge puts it – `Step to a window ladies, if you can. Better still, find some place with a view. Look out across the earth and say to yourselves, "The whole vast world is incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me."
And all God's people say…
Oversea Education™ AmpM
Leonard Ignatius (pronouced ig-nay-ius or 'ig-nar-tus' if you are an Ah Beng) Koh
OVERSEAS EDUCATION Vol. 6
7. that humility is not thinking less of yourself, its just thinking of yourself less.
8. that how I feel comes from how I think. I used to think it's the other way round.
But the thing is - I can learn to control my emotions by learning to control my thoughts. The fact is, I don't have to think every thought that pops into my mind. I can choose to say to myself, `hey, stop thinking this thought. It's not going to help me. I'm not going there.' Then stop and choose to think positively instead. I realized I DO have the power to do that.
Change how I think > change how I feel > change what I am > change what I do > change my impact on others
How many relationships I would have saved, nights I could have slept and things I would have accomplished if I knew this earlier?
9. that everything in our life is connected. How well I run and finish this season of my life will decide how strong a start I have running into the next season of my life. If you are going through a tough season in your life now, stay faithful and when harvest time comes, you know you are ready for anything.
10. That the fact of the matter is this, - "We reap what we sow."
The bible says that I should not be foolish enough to think that I will reap what I have not sown, God will not be mocked! (Gal 6:7)This verse is usually used in relation to money, but I think it goes the same for relationships as well. Good friendships, they don't happen like that – We need to sow into them. Invest interest and love or having fun times.
If you look around you and find that you don't seem to have deep relationships, it just could be you are reaping what you have sown or more accurately, what you haven't.
11. that all things work out in the end, if things are not working out, it isn't the end yet.
12. that is so weird to see your AngMor friend who just came back from a holiday in Singapore (wait, that in itself is weird enough) and buy souvenirs for everybody. I use to wonder who would buy those small stupid overpriced Chinese embroidery lipstick boxes from Bugis market.
Orrrh…. Now I know…
13. That the brain is like a car engine, it takes warming up, especially when it comes to doing assignments and homework. (arugh!) I found that when I open up my Word Document and straight away try to write- I get a brain-stall. So now I try to do things like write two or three points for OVERSEAS EDUCATION just to get my brain juices flowing which will lubricate my cranium pistons and bring it to second gear and away we go!
So try it- find some means to stimulate your brain intellectually or creatively before you start doing your assignments. As my PE teacher always say, "you all better do warm up before doing anything".
Now, That is good advice for life.
Okay, I better go do my assignments now….
OVERSEAS EDUCATION, COPYRIGHT 2005, Leonard Koh & Cassilda Lim
All parts of this document can be quoted, photcopied, digital cameraed, printed in color or black and white or circulated. All ideas expressed here are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of your local cab driver.
Its amazing how time flies. It seems like yesterday when we first came to Aussieland. Cass and I will be returning in 6 weeks time! We will be back on the 27th of August. ETA 9:45pm. This will probably be the second last Overseas Education. I know I know….sob*…sob*… I feel your pain.
Cass and I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all who have prayed for us throughout this year, we have been thoroughly blessed. You guys are Awesome! A special THANK YOU too to all who have contributed financially (both at the start and recently) to us. Cass and I really appreciate it. We are very touched and we feel very loved by all of you that we can't wait to come back and give everyone a big hug!!!!
Thank you so much!
Recently, I realized…
1. that when you are living in the Hills in the middle of winter and practically nowhere, and your TV breaks down, it is not a good thing.
`your old men shall dream dreams and young men will see visions, not televisions'
2. that Men share information for fact gathering and Women share information to get closer to one another.
3. that often instead of concluding it is best to be wherever God wants us to be, we have decided that wherever is best for us to be is where God wants us.
(editor's note: you might want to read that again)
I have realized that actually, God's will for us is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God never choose for us safety at the cost of significance. God created me so that my life would count, not so that I can count the days of my life.
4. That Christianity is about what you give your life for rather than about what you get.
5) that Blaise Pascal is right when he said, "God made man in His own image and man returned the compliment.".
Sometimes I think we project onto God our worst attitudes and feelings about ourselves. If we feel hatred for ourselves, it only makes sense that God hates us. Right? I mean, who can blame God?
Seriously. Just look at me – LOOK AT ME! I am a mess.
I believe that God is almighty and can do anything; and that he is all-wise and may do everything; but that He is all-love and WILL do everything – that's where I draw back. As I see it, this ignorance is the greatest of all hindrances to God's lovers.
Where do I think I am going when I draw back from God?
6. That the world of the generous gets larger and larger while the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. (Prov 11:24)
7. that humility is not thinking less of yourself, its just thinking of yourself less.
8. that how I feel comes from how I think. I used to think it's the other way round.
But the thing is - I can learn to control my emotions by learning to control my thoughts. The fact is, I don't have to think every thought that pops into my mind. I can choose to say to myself, `hey, stop thinking this thought. It's not going to help me. I'm not going there.' Then stop and choose to think positively instead. I realized I DO have the power to do that.
Change how I think > change how I feel > change what I am > change what I do > change my impact on others
How many relationships I would have saved, nights I could have slept and things I would have accomplished if I knew this earlier?
9. that everything in our life is connected. How well I run and finish this season of my life will decide how strong a start I have running into the next season of my life. If you are going through a tough season in your life now, stay faithful and when harvest time comes, you know you are ready for anything.
10. That the fact of the matter is this, - "We reap what we sow."
The bible says that I should not be foolish enough to think that I will reap what I have not sown, God will not be mocked! (Gal 6:7)This verse is usually used in relation to money, but I think it goes the same for relationships as well. Good friendships, they don't happen like that – We need to sow into them. Invest interest and love or having fun times.
If you look around you and find that you don't seem to have deep relationships, it just could be you are reaping what you have sown or more accurately, what you haven't.
11. that all things work out in the end, if things are not working out, it isn't the end yet.
12. that is so weird to see your AngMor friend who just came back from a holiday in Singapore (wait, that in itself is weird enough) and buy souvenirs for everybody. I use to wonder who would buy those small stupid overpriced Chinese embroidery lipstick boxes from Bugis market.
Orrrh…. Now I know…
13. That the brain is like a car engine, it takes warming up, especially when it comes to doing assignments and homework. (arugh!) I found that when I open up my Word Document and straight away try to write- I get a brain-stall. So now I try to do things like write two or three points for OVERSEAS EDUCATION just to get my brain juices flowing which will lubricate my cranium pistons and bring it to second gear and away we go!
So try it- find some means to stimulate your brain intellectually or creatively before you start doing your assignments. As my PE teacher always say, "you all better do warm up before doing anything".
Now, That is good advice for life.
Okay, I better go do my assignments now….
OVERSEAS EDUCATION, COPYRIGHT 2005, Leonard Koh & Cassilda Lim
All parts of this document can be quoted, photcopied, digital cameraed, printed in color or black and white or circulated. All ideas expressed here are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of your local cab driver.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
OVERSEAS EDUCATION Vol. 5
Cassilda and I would like to thank the many people who have written back to share their affirmations for Overseas Education. Every point in our range of thoughts have been carefully selected from the finest moments of life and crafted to perfection. It is low in fad. No animals were tested in the process (just human lives) and no trees were sacrificed. Contains lessons learnt from mistakes and the occasional spelling errors.
Transformation guanteed!
Lately I realized-ed…
1. that gratitude, or more accurately, a grateful heart is like having one end of Velcro attached. Without it, even if God sends the best things our way, the best friends and the best advise for our lives, they will all fall off; nothing will stick. Gratitude is the proper texture of the heart that allows us to experience the grace and beauty of this world, people and God.
2. that if a Man's defining question is "Do I Have What it Takes?", then a woman's defining question is "Do I have a beauty worthy to be persued?"
3. that if I live to the average life-span (75 years), I have only 2600 Saturdays left to live. (we calculated!) Boy am I going to live them well.
4. That we have too much time to do things like counting how many more Saturdays we have left to live."Teach us to number our days alright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
5. that God is not into visitations but invasions.
6. that I can live one month on one word of encouragement.
7. that everyone needs encouragement, and everyone is called to be an encourager. You don't need to pray about it before encouraging someone, and you don't need to wait till a person is down and out before giving a word of encouragement.
8. that to encourage someone is to stir up courage in someone with the intent of lessening one's fear.
9. That I no longer want to settle for living a successful life, I want to live a life of Significance. Success lives life for one's self. Significance gives it away for others.
10. That today I may only be making decisions of little weight, but how I make those decisions will be the very same methods I'll use in my greatest moments of decisions.
11. That one person can go to a Hillsong CD recording event, see the effort and money put in and say, "They are so showy and so performance driven". Another can see the same thing and say, "Look how they go to lengths to honor God". It amazes me how, for some strange reason in the church, we associate sincerity with cheapness. Yet, we when we receive a cheap gift for our birthday, it's a different story.
12. That Darlene Zscheh started out at Hillsong making sandwiches and dubbing tapes for sermons. "Do not despise the days of small beginning"
13. that we miss food back home.
Some of the Things we want to eat when we get home (in 5 months!):
Chilli and Pepper Crab at East Coast
Wanton mee at Lavender Food court, Old Airport Rd, Fei Fei at Zion Road.
5 Star Chicken Rice at Katong
Duck Rice at the Lagoon
Itek Tim at Peranakan House,
KatongKatong Laksa (the real one next to 7-11)
Chwee Kuay at Bedok Interchange
Fish Head Curry at the Causeway, JB side
Bar Chor Mee with Chai Tow Kuay (aunty la jiao duo duo) and sugarcane juice, without lemon at Blk 85
Curry La-la at Bedok SouthBeach Road Prawn Mee at East Coast (ironic, I know)
The Indian prawn thing (fritters) at Charlene's house there.
Stingray at Bedok Corner
Beef Noodles at Bugis
Qui Lian Ban Mian at everywhere
Prata with fish curry and Indian Rojak at Thompson
Barbeque Chicken and Teh Tarek at Lau Pat Sat
Fish Ball and Fried Sotong at Old Chang Kee
Fish Head Noodle at Hongkong Street Chun Kee, Alexandria
Fish Slice Noodle and Claypot Rice at Maxwell Market
Chilli Frog Leg at Bras Basah
Tao Huay Jui and Yu Za Kuay at Geylang and Mr Bea(n)
Beef Kuay Teow and O. Luat at Geylang
Kaya Toast and Kopi at Killeny and Lao Kun
My Mother's (cassilda) food!
Wah, Hungry already...
Cheers!
Leo & Cass
Still going strong!
OVERSEAS EDUCATION Vol. 4
This is another installment of the Overseas Education of Leonard and Cassilda. (yes, we are still alive) I don't even know if anyone actually reads it but what the heck, gives me something to do in a country that's virtually devoid of any form of nightlife and barchor mee.
So, the not-so-perfect people out there who struggle with our not-so-perfect lives - this one's for us...
Only recently, did I realized that…
0. that Cassilda rode to school on her bicycle the very first time last week. November, we got her a second hand bike before she could even balance on it. Now, she's a champ!
1. that Christianity is not a life long call to be preoccupied with self – our sins and our shortcoming. Christianity is the life long realization of God's grace which tells us we are accepted just as we are. We may not be the kind of person we want to be, we might be a long way from our goals, we may have more failures than achievements, we may not be wealthy or powerful, good looking or spiritual, we may not even be happy. But nonetheless accepted by God, held forever in His hands.
2. That having tangible assurances of God, however valuable they may be, cannot create trust, sustain it or guarantee any certainty of God's presence. Trusting that God is there only when we feel it is nothing more than bogus trust. Trust in God entail that we have faith that God is with us and for us, even when we may not feel it."Blessed are those who do not see but yet believe"
3. "Do I have what it takes?" is the core question of every Man (male). Our satisfaction as well as our anxieties at every stage of life come from our personal answer to this question .
4. That I saw hail for the first time. Hail. you know? Like snow but hard?I caught a video of it, I shuakou Singaporean never see ice cubes drop from sky before. Only drop from my freezer when I open the door have, when the last bugger use the ice tray then never put back properly.
5. That God is more interested in me becoming more and more like Him in my relationships with others than being religiously pious."Go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" Matt 9:136. That contrary to popular belief, if you are afraid of being materialistic, the solution is not to live a life of poverty. The opposite of greed is not poverty. The opposite of greed is generosity. The solution is not to have less but to give more. Sometimes, living in poverty when God wants to entrust you with wealth is to run away from your responsibility. The fact of the matter is that it is easier to live in poverty than it is to live with the responsibility of wealth.
6. That church is meant to be enjoyed, not endured.
7. That most of the time, we overestimate our sins and underestimate God's grace.
8. That one of the most freeing verse in the bible goes something like this, "What proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8) The fact is that we did nothing to earn God's love, we can't do anything to earn it nor can we do anything to lose it. God's love is simply not based on what we do or don't do.
9. that once in a while, as long as no one gets hurt, it is good to play pranks on one another.
10. that deep down inside, we are all children. The whole world, every single one of us are children of a fallen humanity. Behind our grumpiest poses, most puzzling defense mechanism, behind every arrogance and airs, behind our silence, sneers, and causes, we are simply little children grown-ups who hadn't been loved enough and who ceased growing because someone had cease believing in us.
I have a hunch that's how Jesus sees us, the best and worse of us all.We are all children to Him, there's no need to impress
OVERSEAS EDUCATION Vol 3
Lately, we’ve learnt that
1. To Love is a command from the Lord. If He commands me to love, then He Himself will enable me to love beyond measure. To love Him beyond measure. To Love People beyond measure.
2. To never de-value TODAY because the seed I choose to sow Today will determine the crop of my Destiny. To de-value Today means I will not get the week, the year, the decade and the Life God has destined for me.
Have you seize this day or are you still waiting till tomorrow?
3. To believe that Cassilda will stay as scawny as always, forever and ever is a fallible belief. I (Cass) have since put on 4kg, *nope not on my toes* and I think more is to come.
4. Mine and Your Lovability rests on the ability of the one doing the loving and not on my or your own merit.
5. Contrary to what I sometimes think, God is not shocked by me, what I do or fail to do. He knew me before I was formed and He knows my innermost thoughts.
The next time you are tempted to think you have shocked God by your bad choices and you are sure He's too shocked and pained to want to be in your life, think again.
6. It is official. Absence does makes the heart grow fonder. What I used to take for granted and thought was sick people's food, I now can't wait to dive my face into a bowl of $2.50 fish ball noodle - dry, auntie, jia lat...
7. Developing a personal vision is a very powerful tool to help you achieve personal breakthroughs. Who do you see yourself as? Who do you want to be?
8. That there is never an excuse for a leader to be cynical. If a situation is bad, the gift of leadership is given by God to rectify it. A cynical leader is therefore nothing more than an oxymoron.
9. That as I look back at my life, I find a curious but clear pattern in my memories. As many times as I have failed, as often as I have really blown it or messed up, the only ones that stay with me as regrets are the ones where I violated my heart. I have concluded that in the end there are no failures except the failure of character. Everything else is about what you do, but failure in integrity is who you are.
10. that, to borrow lyrics from a popular song, I(Leo) am in a position to make Cassilda `feel so damm pretty'. Every morning, I wake up reminding myself that I have the power to make Cassilda feel like the most beautiful and special person in the whole wide world.
To the world I may be just one person, but to one person, I may mean the world.
Who can you make to feel special today?
OVERSEAS EDUCATION VOL. 2
Happy New Year to all at home! 2004 has been an incredible year, but I believe 2005 will be an even more Awesome year for all of us. I have been here for 5 months and am having a really fantastic time. I know that this is only possible by the Grace of God, and the support and encouragement from all of you back home.I would like to share some bite size thoughts with you.
Yes, welcome to Part II of our Overseas Education, more specifically, Cassilda's version.
In the past 21 weeks in Sydney, I've learnt that….
1. I am incredibly blessed to have Leonard in my life. He is the most tender, loving and caring Man of God, ever. How can someone so wonderful love someone like me is something that only God can enable! And he cooks great pasta as well!
What more can I ask for?
2. There is no problem too big for God. A fear that has crippled me for the past 20, yes you read correctly, 20 years of my life has since seen breakthroughs. Miracles do not just happen to others. It has happened to me. It can happen to You.
3. I'm a Delight in God's eyes. He doesn't mark me down because I failed to do something. He Delights in me, He is jumping up and down with joy when I worship Him. Of course, He is equally ecstatic when it is you who is adoring Him as well.
4. Did Leonard already mention this the other time? Well, it doesn't hurt to mention it again. You and I posses incredible goodness inside of us because our God lives inside of us! Beneath our problems and occasional hang-ups, the core of our beings as Christians is not sin; it is the ability to connect intimately with God and meaningfully with others.
5. Australians don't use face wash and toilet paper as much as we do in Singapore. Otherwise, the former won't have so limited brands and the latter won't be so expensive.
6. Everyone has a story of their life to tell. Sometimes they don't reveal it at all, sometimes they reveal in bits and pieces and sometimes they don't even realize there is actually a story beneath the story that they are telling. The next time you sense a `moment' coming on, seize it and listen to the story in the person's life.
That could change both your lives.
7. There is nothing as fulfilling and satisfying as abandoning my life to God, for His purposes alone. 2 years ago, I would not have been able to picture myself here. I cannot even begin to imagine the life, the adventure that lies ahead of me.
8. It is possible to buy chicken drumsticks, freeze it, cook it, eat it and still be alive. Even though it is 2 months past the expiry date.
9. To not take myself too seriously. Have a laugh! Have a go!
10. To never, ever, EVER take SBS and TIBS for granted again. Miss one bus here in Sydney and can balek kampung because the next one will take another 1 hour to come.
Heck, it might not even come at all.
11. Jesus is the answer to everything. And the Church is the Bride of Christ that is the Hope of the World. We are the Hope of the World. You have that Hope in You and You need to bring that Hope to your world.
OVERSEAS EDUCATION VOL. 1 Many of you over the months Cass and I have been here, through email, sms, MSN or christmas cards, have ask us to share what we have learnt from Hillsongs College. Or more accuately, being here in Australia. We thank you for your interest and concerns, we really appreciate it.
So in answer, I've have taken the liberty of putting down some stuff in short sentences for your reading pleasure. We plan to compile something similar every few weeks and send them out.
I've learnt recently...
1. That Cassilda is the most wonderful person I have ever met. That if on our flight home to Singapore, should an overhead largage compartment suddenly open and out pops a 20Kg hardcase and hits me on my head causing all the knowledge I have learnt from Hillsongs College to disappear, the time spent here with Cassilda discovering more of our relationship would have been worth the trip. 8)
2. That it is possible to write 38 christmas cards in 3 hours. It takes another 38 hours to recover from it of course.
Kids, we don't recommend you try this at home.
3. That ministry flows out of relationships not the other way round. (By this would all man know you my disciples, if you love one another)
4. That God has sheer delight in me! Yay! 8)
5. That God, my God, is one heck of a Happy Guy.
Why wouldn't He be? He has everything and can do anything and has everything in His control and going as planned. Many human beings say, 'One day, it will be all perfect and then I'll be happy." Well, God is perfect therefore He is infinitely Happy. I guess we have misrepresented Him as an angry, pmsing judgemental kinda guy. The question I ask is this, "For a person who can do anything and have everything, why's he walking around with a frown?"
NO. My God is an unbelievable Happy Guy.
6. Here's a brain twister - When God thinks about Himself, the image He sees is so complete and perfect that He ends up replicating Himself - that image or 'reflection' is in essence, Jesus. ( "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" - Hebrews 1:3) '...
His only Son, begotten, not made.'
Chim.
7. That Friends and Family make all the difference in the world when it come to Christmas. I never realised how boring christmas actually was until I came here.
Life is just not the same without those close to you.
8. That Killer Tiramisus wrecked thousands of homes and lives in South East Asia. Cass, I told you already don't put so much rum and chocolate, right?
9. That it's true what the bible says, the more I try not to sin, I do. Now, instead of waking up in the morning and saying, "I must not sin this sin today, I must try my best to control myself.", I say, "God, thank you for loving me despite a sinner. Help me to delight in your presence and love so much that I don't even feel like sining."
Well, things have very much improved.
10. That the church, if it is everything that God intended it to be (see Acts 2:42-47), it is the planet's optimal environment for bringing out the best in people. Therefore, the best churches I've seen so far are those that focus on bringing out the best in people. (Not on people's sins)
"I don't want to just speak to your problems, I want to speak to your Potential"
- Bobbie Houston, Hillsongs Church
Grace, anyone?
11. That the reality is, because God is dwelling inside of us, all Christians have an unbelievable power to do so much good in this world. Gosh, We are like walking Goodness Powerplants waiting to be unleashed. Yes, it's in you.
Please feel free to change the world.
12. That I know some of the best people on earth. Just when you think its going to be a lonely christmas, a ton of presents, emails and well-wishing cards arrive at our house all the way from Singapore. This year, I have a LEGO racer car, a pair of socks for chilly days, two sets of MASTER Qi VCD from none other than the Master himself and a photofame-book-thingy with my favourite verse crafted on it. It really made our day!
Snif* Snif* ....aw guys... you are the best!
ENROUTE Vol. 1
After a short hiatus, we’re glad to announce a new season of ‘Overseas Education.’ This time with a new Blogged version!
Back by no demand, although a big smile to all you out there who have come up to us to express appreciation for the previous installments. What turned out to be a way to past our time in Sydney had actually helped a number of people – which can only be described as nothing less than God’s own work.
For obvious reasons, ‘Overseas Education’ will be renamed. From now on these bite-size emailed musings will be called ‘En Route – Conversations on the Way.’
For those of you who are new to this- ever so often Cassilda and I will email out a series of short random lessons we have learnt from trying to walk the God-ward life. We hope these musings will encourage, edify and entertain you as we walk the God-ward path together.
If for some reason, this never reaches your email, you can find it online on this blog.
cheers!
Recently I realized…
1. that 7 days without prayer makes one weak.
2. that you have a great YISS team when one of your team mates volunteers to let you pour a whole bottle of cooking oil all over him, in front of 120 people, just so you could prove a point.
Heard after being oiled, “ Now I know how a fried chicken feels like”
3. That we all hear voices in our head. You know, the ones that go, ‘hey, give up… I am such a fake… I’m a hypocrite… I am just born without … not like so and so…I just could never….why can’t I just…’?
Yup, the very ones that make us snowball into a depression? I have come to realize that there is no truth in those voices. I need to recognize these ‘self-commentaries’ for the mind tricks they are. They have nothing to do with our real dignity. How I view myself at any given moment may have very little to do with who I really am.
3. that people help people they like.
I’ll remember that the next time I come across a grumpy coffee-shop uncle, church receptionist or customs officer.
4. That at a retreat held at a certain catholic junior college (we won’t mention names to protect the identity of the alleged institution), someone asked his discussion leader, ‘what substance is God made of?’ Well, that’s an interesting question. First of all, if God was actually made of something, than who made God out of that something? You can’t create a creator because that would make you the Creator and the creator you made will not be the creator and would be a creation which means that the ‘creator’ would not be the Creator in the first place.
Oh, and the bible says that ‘God is Spirit.’
5. that I still don’t know why we gave out toy soldiers at the recent YISS.
Maybe its so that we can use them to scare away the mosquitoes. Yup, that’s should be it.
6. That the heart of God is the most sensitive and tender of all. No act goes unnoticed, no matter how insignificant or small. A cup of cold water is enough to put tears in the eyes of God. Like a proud mother who is thrilled to receive a bouquet of wilted dandelions from her child, so God celebrates our feeble expressions of gratitude
7. That you are really really messed up when you get a birthday SMS from your mum and you find yourself thinking, ‘A. How she know?’
8. That I am learning to define myself radically as one totally loved by God. Right now. As-I –am. Not to be left like this, certainly, but just as certainly never to be loved, valued, cherished any more or less than this very moment because God’s love does not depend on me…or you. So please, please, please stop running away when you mess up, and run into the arms of the one who totally loves you as you are right now.
9. that if Mary and Joseph of bible fame never got pass their relationship crisis or if Joseph convinced Mary go for an abortion, this world would have been a very different place.
This Christmas, if there are anything worth fighting for in this world, it is these -
An Unborn Child or a Marriage.
10. that we are called not only to believe but also to belong. It is in the context of community that we discover our purpose in life. We cannot discover who we truly are in isolation. We were formed for a Family, Created for community and Fashion for fellowship.
12. that you have never tested God’s resources until you have attempted the impossible.
13. that if 80 out of all the delegates coming for next year’s YISS came from 1 single parish, their impact upon returning will be nothing less than catastrophic to the status quo.
If 5 came from 1 parish, that’s okay. Even if 10 came, it will still be relatively okay. But 80? What will happen if 80 Spirit-filled young people descended on 1 single parish?
Woah.
14. That youth ministry could save the world.
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