Tired.

Very tired. Need to get away.

From everything.

Only be alone with the Alone.

Bear me up Lord, till I reach my rest

You have been my Strength

You only are my Nest

Silence the clamor

Dispel the crowd

Dismantle the sun

Hide me in Your shadow

Call me away

None and no one can satisfy like You.

You are enough for me.

All my fountains are in you.

My Rest.



Leo


+

The Emerging Charismatics

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

- Dorothy, The Wizard of OZ

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend the SACCRE Coreteam meeting at IHM church. The topic of discussion was "How to foster greater collaboration between the adults and the youths." What really interest me was the short address on this topic by Father William Goh.

Father pointed out that before there can be collaboration between the young and the old, there must first be an understanding of the nature of both parties. He admitted that he used to hold the impression that the young charismatics were like their older counterparts and could share the same environment in which to live out their spirituality.

But of late, he said he is starting to realise that the nature of the older charismatics and the emerging ones, though look the same on the surface are vastly different on the inside. I surmise that he sees the older charismatics regarding the spirituality as an event i.e. a prayer meeting or a LISS, as oppose to the emerging ones who see it more as a movement.

Fr William's words articulated some thoughts I have had on the emerging generation of charismatics catholics of which consider myself a part of. In this entry, I would like to add to the conversation.

In the climate of post-modernity that I highlighted in my last entry, it is not surprising that an evolution of the charismatic spirituality has and is taking place. Like with any living thing, in order to stay the same, they have to change. In this aspect, change becomes indicative of the Spirit's continual work in the Renewal.


Terminology Informs Theology
Firstly, I would perceive that the emerging charismatics would be less keen to consider themselves exactly that - 'charismatics'. Bad rep aside, the terminology may be an inaccurate description of the type of spirituality that is emerging. 'Charismatic' comes from the word 'Charismata' which means 'gifts of grace' or the popular association would be the 'Charismatic Gifts of the Holy Spirit'. The reason why this term is becoming increasingly inaccurate because it seem to connotes a spirituality centred around the Gifts. And terminology informs theology.

Perhaps, given the supernatural improvished climate of the church back when this move of God started, the new re-appearance of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Charismatic Gifts i.e healing, prophesy etc. warrant the term 'Charismatic Movement.' People have hardly seen the display of supernatural manifestations, much less through the faith of ordinary people and were intrigued by them, rightly so.

But 39 years and several generations of charismatic renewal later, as the gifts of the Holy Spirit become a normal part of life, a new perception is springing out of a gift-centred mindset. I suggest it may be for the following reasons:


1. The Dichotomy between the exercising of Charismatic Gifts and Christian Character.
St. Paul points out that 'If I have faith to move mountains but if I have no love, I am nothing".
It has become evident to me that the ability to minister the charismatic gifts doesn't necessary mean one's character is becoming more and more like Jesus. This is evident from some of the abuses and excesses that have ensue in the course of the history of this movement. People can be wow-ed into the faith by great charismatic leaders but they may soon find out what they are really like on the inside and get turned off.

I feel that this is greatly evident from the suspicion of the clergy and non-charismatic catholics towards the charismatic renewal. Admittedly, many a time, our love for God is not substantiated by our love towards others.

Charismatic Gifts can demonstrate the power and reality of God and produce a bust of faith in a new believer. But real discipleship is produced by people of authentic Christian character and love. This brings about real and continual transformation not just a conversion experience.

The emerging generation is less impressed with gifts and more interested in people who would walk the talk and by their very lives incarnate the love and life of Jesus. Keeping in mind what St. Paul said, "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire the spiritual gifts" 1 Cor 14:1



2. The Emergence of Community as the new Witness
The individualistic 'meet my needs' orientation of the previous generation is giving way to the formation of communities. Fr William pointed out that adults attend charismatic prayer meetings because they want to get healed, be ministered to and then go home. The emerging generation however is recognising that the gospel is a call to community. The Holy Spirit not only draws us to God, He also draws us to each other.

The climate of postmodernity is producing a generation that is relationally starved. In a world of technological quick fixes and religious pluralism, the Miracle of Community is becoming a more powerful witness than charismatic gifts. It is the new apologetic. The emphasis will be on building faith communities, doing life, rather than running prayer meetings.



3. The Charismatic Gifts as one of the means to fulfilling the Mission of Christ
For too long the charismatic renewal have faced inward - its mission, getting more people charisma-tised. and brought into the fold of the renewal. Many in the emerging generation is rejecting the dichotomy between mainstream church and the charismatic renewal. The cry is not for more charismatics but for more catholics who are passionate about Jesus and love the church, laying their lives for both.

The charismatic gifts have become so much a part of our lives that it is no longer central in our consciousness rather its the mission of Jesus on the earth to make disciples. (to which the gifts are a means to that end - not an end to themselves.) The emphasis is on partnering with the Holy Spirit and making a difference in the world in every way possible. (including excising the charismatic gifts) The emerging generation will measure its success not by how many people sit at their prayer meetings but how many they are sending out of it.


A Way of Life
In summery, my observation of the the emerging generation of (for want of a better term) 'charismatics' is that they will be:

Incarnational - more known by love than by gifts. Character rather than Charisma.

Communal - more community life than prayer meetings. People rather than Program.

Missional - more sending than keeping. Fishers of Men than Keepers of Aquariums.


In short, its becoming more a way of life rather than an event. The emerging generation will see itself more at the heart of the church rather than an appendix.

These are just some of my thoughts. It is of course still too early to tell what this spiritual evolution will completely be like. But one thing's for sure, the Spirit will prepare the church, with each generation, for each generation. Much like what He has been doing for the last two thousand years of church history.


"Follow the way of love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts" 1 Cor 14:1

Leo

The Emerging Generation


We live in a world that is dominated by postmordernity and if we say that we want to reach out to this emerging generation, we are essentially reaching out to Postmoderns.

The more I know the mission field of the postmoderns, the more I feel drawn to it. I see a vision of a Team of Postmodern Missionaries, crossing the border of the Christiandom and entering a culture that is seeking for authentic Faith, who are seeking for great meaning in Life and hope for their future. Both, which our God provides.


Know the Past, Experience the Future

In order to be Missionaries to Postmodernity, we must redefine and re-adapt ourselves. We need to move from what is now being practiced in our church - a series of theological propositions to providing environments where people can have a genuine encounter with God. We have exchanged that and substituted it with a rational understanding only.

Oh how easy to say "Yes, we have a relationship with God" and to pay lips service. Yet many mistake, having "gone though through everything", and that everything about the Christianity seem logical to them that we mistake that for having a relationship with God.

There must be a move from the didactic (educational, knowledge-based) to the experiential. Many people know the truth but don't care a thing about it. You can believe in something without caring about it but you cannot care about something without believing in it. Our Churches are loaded with people who know the 'right stuff' but don't care a thing about them. For mere knowledge don't move people, experience with a Living God does. We have placed such a large premium on Knowledge of the Faith and downplay Experience of God that the emerging generation are going away unfulfilled and Spiritually starved.

The Emerging Generation is a Spiritual People. We are slowly departing from the Enlightenment Age, where knowledge, propositional truths and logic used to move people. Now this rising generation is beginning to sense a spiritual void inside of them and they are seeking for something bigger then they. They are not going to stop searching for an authentic spiritual experience just because the church cannot provide it. And this should be a sobering thought for us all.


The Future Ain't The Way It Used To Be

Postmodernism is closing in whether we like it or not. It is a mistake for us as church to ignore and to turn a blind eye to a reality that could well be sitting in our very pews - and maybe not for very long. We have to realize, the world as seen from this Emerging Generation is very different from that of our forefathers. Now change happens in a pace faster than before.

A phenomenon known as globalization is taking place around us and for the first time, cultures, ideas, religions and mental modes converge together. A 'Global Tsunami' as one writer puts it, is about to overtake us and cause us for the first time in History to be confronted with a million world views available right in the comfort of our own homes. Traveling through the entire world on the veins of Internet and Television, young people more savvy in accessing information technology, are confronted with a myriad of convictions, cultures and contradictions. This pluralism is causing a massive shift in the way people used to see the world and their reactions to it.

A kind of relativism is emerging and previous models, symbols and authorities are losing their meaning and effectiveness faster than the church is reacting. Religious educators and shapers of our ecclesiology must realize this or we would find an Exodus of the next generation out of the church.

As this wave (read: flood) hits us, can we like Noah, build new structures, new shelters, new designs to stay afloat and be a Lifeboat to a generation that is virtually drowning in a relativistic, media-mad, God- starved world?

We must change. We must ENGAGE. Get out from the illusionary safety of being in the middle of the road, cross the street, embrace the edge, engage the world or risk being knocked off by the incoming traffic of world culture... "

The Race of Time is more of a cross-country than it is a Round track event. From the very hands of Jesus, the Church through the centuries has been passing the Baton of the Gospel from one generation to the next. Each generation is responsible to run with it through it's own terrain before passing it on. That's why our Church is always one generation away from extinction.

Today, that same Baton is in our hands. It's a race to the finishing line. The Heavens and the Earth are watching.

Are we ready?

Leo

How to stay Fresh and in Love with Youth Ministry

I have been involved in youth ministry since 1995. Been throught more ups and downs than a korean drama but it remains today the passion of my life next to Jesus.

Just want to share some thoughts on setting yourself for the long haul because that is really what it takes to build a lasting work of God.


1. Remember that harvest takes time.
There are seasons to ministry. No quick-fix-just-add-water shortcuts. People, like plants growing from seed takes time. Pace yourself.


2. Realise that hurts will come
Hurts, disappoints and offense are part of the landscape. Decide that you're going to be bigger than all that. People will abandon, backstab and disappoint, rise about it.


3. Don't be a babysitter
Don't just entertain young people, watch behavior. Don't let youth ministry be just babysitting. There has to be life-change. This takes relational investment and sometimes, the courage to make those difficult conversations.


4. Don't take yourself too seriously.
If you can laugh, you can last.


5. Persistence is more valuable than giftedness.
Youth Ministry is not a 100 metre sprint. It is a marathon. Doesn't matter how fast you start, its having the endurance to last the distance that counts.


6. Don't make excuse, make a start.
We are in youth ministry not because its easy but because its hard. And worth doing whatever it takes.


7. Keep it about the 'Why' not the 'What'.
The end of ministry is 'discipleship', transformed lives. Not running programmes but leading people in a growing relationship with God. Don't be caught up in the form and forget the function.


8. Keep developing your role and grow yourself.


9. Have a Vision that is bigger than you.


10. Don't compare yourself with other ministries.
Be inspired by others but don't compare. Run your own race. Ask yourself 'What am I doing with the opportunities and lives that God has given me?'


11. Maintain healthy challenging friendships



12. Above all, Stay in Love with Jesus.



Seriously, in the end, its simply this:

"Stick around long enough to bear fruit"

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Gal 6:9

Cheering you on!

Leo

My Red Hot Love Affair


You sweat, sniff, tear, the world seem to be spinning and you reach out desperately for cold water - no, I'm not talking about falling in love. But a similar experience nonetheless - eating Chilli.

Chilli, the King of Spice. The most frequently used seasoning in the world next to salt and the love of my culinary life. If some like it hot then the rest certainly don't know what they are missing.

I sometimes tell people that if I ever got crucified on a cross and a roman soldier pieced my sides with a spear, out of it will flow Coffee and Chilli. My love for and semi-addiction to these two substances is known among my friends. However it is to the latter that I dedicate this entry to.

From the Nonya Sambal Balachan to Chicken Rice Garlic Chilli, the Thai Chilli Padi to the humble cut chilli with light soya sauce of my favourite prawn mee soup, my most well-worn request at eatries is 'Uncle, Jia Lal'. Hardly a meal goes by without the generous involvement of the Wonder Spice.

My not-so-secret love affair with the tongue-scorching fruit with its many culinary manifestations dates back the day at the tender age of 5 when I sacred my 2nd Auntie silly after licking clean my fourth plate of Chicken Rice Chilli at Marine Parade Hawker Center. The sheer enjoyment from both the chilli's fiery taste and the priceless look of horror on my Aunty's face ignited a lifelong passion which still burns today. Literally.

The Chilli Appreciation Society International (yes, there's one) likens the aroma of good chilli to 'the rapture of a love's kiss.' Capsaicin is the chemical ingredient that gives chilli its fiery bite. It triggers the brain to release endorphins which are natural painkillers that promotes a sense of relief, pleasure and a feeling of a 'natural high'. (Ask any chilli lover.) Apparently cooking doesn't lessen capsaicin's intensity, so removing the pith and seed is the best way to reduce its heat although why anyone would want to do that frankly beats the heck out of me.

HURTS SO GOOD

Fiery sensations, pure pleasure and a taste of heaven aside, Chilli is actually good for you. I found out that it contains antioxidants Vitamin A and E. It also a good source of iron, calcium, potassium, folic acid and beta carotene. Chilli is good for digestion, reduces asthma and wipes out cholesterol and free radicals that causes heart diseases. It is even know to reduce the risk of colon cancer. And if that doesn't make you want to run out now for some indian food, do you know fresh chilli contain 7 times more Vitamin C than orange and they're also fat and cholesterol-free.

So the next time you're about to ask someone to go easy on the chilli, stop and think about the immense good you are actually depriving him or her.

And then repent.



THE ART OF CHILLI EATING

So whether you are a air-sucking, drink-grabbing beginner or a hot-blooded tongue-numbed veteran, here's a quick guide to enjoying this sensational spice:


1. Size matters. The larger the chilli, the weaker it is. Small chillies because proportionally, they contain more seeds and veins than larger ones are generally more fiery. (The same seem to apply with people.) When you slice the chilli, the more small circles you see, the more power it is. Larger circles....well, they would make good garnishing.


2. Drinking cold water, beer or coke doesn't douse the oral inferno after a chillified meal - in fact, all it does is spread the fire all over your mouth.


3. The best antidote is anything dairy, like milk, yogurt, butter etc. Terik Tareh or milk tea works as well. But my advise is to take it like a man/woman because...


4. Eating chilli comes with practice. It will feel like hot coals in your mouth the first time, but the more you eat, the more you will used to it - and enjoying its spiciness. As a good catholic, I liken it to purgatory before the bliss of heaven. So go for it, dig in, it can only get better, trust me. As they say. "No pain, No gain."




So allow me to end with this question:

Qn: What do the following have in common?

Chicken Rice, Crab, Prawns, Otak, Mussels, Wanton Mee, CharKuayTiao, SteamBoats, Prata, Pizza, Rendang, Fish, Beef, Weddings, Frog Legs, Thosai, Laska, Fried Rice, Seafood EE Mee, Cheekuay, Hokkein Mee, French Fries, Nasi Briyani, Fishball Noodle, MeeSiam, Curry Puff, Eggs, Prawn Fritters, BBQ StingRay, BBQ Sotong, Duck Rice, Kang-Kong, Masala Chicken, Tom Yam Soup, Nasi-Lemark, Mee Goreng, Ramen, MeeRebus, Life.


Ans: Unimaginable without Chilli!


So a big Hallelujah..(oops, lent..) to the Good Lord for creating those spleen-splitting, incendiary, tongue-scorching, appetite-firing little zingers, for without which my life, not to mention meals, would ever be the same.

"Taste and see that the Lord is Good."

Now hand me that glass of water.

Leo

(If there are Chilli Lovers out there reading this, hey! Do drop a comment and share the love!)


Thanks to Cheryl Chia from www.bakerwhocooks.blogspot.com for photos.

16th Feb S.O.A.P

Scripture
"May my meditation be pleasing to Him as I rejoice in the Lord" Ps 104:34


Observations
1. God cares about what I think not just what I do. "You desire truth in the innermost parts." Ps. 51. You can't get more 'innermost' than thoughts.

2. He is pleased or displeased by what I think about.

3. God knows and hears my thoughts. Sometimes I think that just because others can't hear them, God can't also.

4. If I make God the source of my joy, I will think thoughts that are pleasing to Him.

5. God is pleased with Faith. Thoughts that reflect faith is pleasing to Him.


Application
I will think about what I think about. I will choose the thoughts I allow to stew in my mind. I will stop when i drift into thoughts that are impure or negative. I want my thoughts to be full of Faith, hope, optimism and love.


Prayer
Lord Jesus, from this day, help me to guard my thoughts. Extent the gift of self-control to the realm of my thinking. May even what I think about please you. Amen.

300


The bible's version of 300 -


Gideon got up early the next morning, all his troops right there with him. They set up camp at Harod's Spring. The camp of Midian was in the plain, north of them near the Hill of Moreh.

God said to Gideon, "You have too large an army with you. I can't turn Midian over to them like this—they'll take all the credit, saying, 'I did it all myself,' and forget about me. Make a public announcement: 'Anyone afraid, anyone who has any qualms at all, may leave Mount Gilead now and go home.'" Twenty-two companies headed for home. Ten companies were left.

God said to Gideon: "There are still too many. Take them down to the stream and I'll make a final cut. When I say, 'This one goes with you,' he'll go. When I say, 'This one doesn't go,' he won't go." So Gideon took the troops down to the stream.

God said to Gideon: "Everyone who laps with his tongue, the way a dog laps, set on one side. And everyone who kneels to drink, drinking with his face to the water, set to the other side." Three hundred lapped with their tongues from their cupped hands. All the rest knelt to drink.

God said to Gideon: "I'll use the three hundred men who lapped at the stream to save you and give Midian into your hands. All the rest may go home."

After Gideon took all their provisions and trumpets, he sent all the Israelites home. He took up his position with the three hundred. The camp of Midian stretched out below him in the valley.

That night, God told Gideon: "Get up and go down to the camp. I've given it to you. If you have any doubts about going down, go down with Purah your armor bearer; when you hear what they're saying, you'll be bold and confident." He and his armor bearer Purah went down near the place where sentries were posted. Midian and Amalek, all the easterners, were spread out on the plain like a swarm of locusts. And their camels! Past counting, like grains of sand on the seashore!

Gideon arrived just in time to hear a man tell his friend a dream. He said, "I had this dream: A loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp. It came to the tent and hit it so hard it collapsed. The tent fell!"

His friend said, "This has to be the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite! God has turned Midian—the whole camp!—over to him."

When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he went to his knees before God in prayer. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up and get going! God has just given us the Midianite army!"

He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar, with a torch in the jar. He said, "Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do. When I and those with me blow the trumpets, you also, all around the camp, blow your trumpets and shout, 'For God and for Gideon!'"

Gideon and his hundred men got to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the sentries had been posted. They blew the trumpets, at the same time smashing the jars they carried. All three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, ready to blow, and shouted, "A sword for God and for Gideon!" They were stationed all around the camp, each man at his post. The whole Midianite camp jumped to its feet. They yelled and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, God aimed each Midianite's sword against his companion, all over the camp. They ran for their lives—to Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

Judges 7

Fields of Amplify

Last Tuesday night, we had a Senior's Leaders meeting. As always, we took a bird's eye view of the community to get a sense of where we are now and where we are going, taking stock of all our activities.

I remember leaving the meeting feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the number of things the community is doing and building at the same time. I am very happy of course, with the opportunities, graces and people He has sent our way - we have done nothing to deserve it. Yet it can feel quite scary and whelming at times.

So wednesday morning I took it to prayer before the Lord and just told Him how I feel and asked Him for help. As I did, when I closed my eyes, I saw in my mind a vision of a large plantation field.

As I looked, the field was divided into many smaller plots each with its own type of crop growing. No plot was quite the same. Some were full grown plants, some were bare, some had trees and other short saplings.




As I looked at the field, I sensed I was looking at a representation of our Amplify Community. Each plot represented something we are building. i saw something like this picture:





I saw us going among the field, working in the plots (like farmers), each plot requiring different kind of works according to its stage and type. Some were left bare. Some were having seeds planted. Some required pruning. Some had to be watered. Some were experiencing harvest and people were needed to collect it.

As I looked at the field, i sensed God telling me that different things have to be done for different plots according to each need :


1. Allow some plots to Fellow (untouched) - Not time yet, don't do anything except pray over it.


2. Plants seeds - Cast vision for it.


3. Tilt the soil - Bring up the matter. Discuss about it. Stir people's hearts.


4. Water the plot - Laying theological or scriptural foundations for it. Teach.


5. Tend to the Sapling - Problem-solve the teething stages, nurture and protect it.


6. Fertilize - encourage, provide resources, give it influence


7. Release workers - train people to lead and tend to the plants


8. Harvest - reap and celebrate the changed lives


Yup. That is what I got in prayer. It sort of put things into perspective for me and challenged me to think about each plot differently and clearly. Thank god, I don't feel so overwhelmed. Just take it a plot at a time, do what we can and trust God to bring growth.

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." 1 cor 3:5-7

Thot I just share this will you. Praise God for His Love!


Leo

A Vision for our Future.



I would like to share my vision for Amplify and CSC. The reason why I am so optimistic about dreaming big because I know we have a Big God and great people in Amplify. I know if we put our shared efforts, experience and enthusiasm, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

We need to create environments that are relevant and attractive to Young people. Make inroads to their hearts before so we can later share God with them.


This entry is a re-post of an entry I did in May 2006. Its has been coming one year already and much in Amplify has changed since then, Praise the Lord!


I am glad we have changed our prayer meeting to fridays. It has been a wonderful arrangement with endless possiblilities and potential, especially when it also mean that our entire Saturdays are free. It's truly Double Happiness.



Thank God It's Friday!

Imagine.

CSC is such an quaint old place. Which means it has an incredible charm about it if we can spruce it up.

Think 'CHIJMES. '

A beautifully restored place that blends the modern and the old resulting in an environment of absolute wonder and charm. In CSC, fix up colored spotlights on trees, light them up with electric pink, smooth blue and lively green. Wash stairs and walls with a touch of color. Darken the place and release an array of lights and color, sights and sounds. Irresistable.


A beautiful balcony we have that overlooks the field. Can it not become a site for a Cafe? Serving up designer coffee enjoyed with chill out furniture, a blend of conversation and a touch of pool and cues. A tea light on every table, cane chairs, a solo guitarist and whiffs of cookie and cream. A charming setting patroned from 6pm to midnight? The young and old can hang out before prayer meeting and chill out after that? Amplify partners adorn aprons, serving in cheerful labour. Why not?


How about wireless internet? X-boxes? Manicure. Board games. Why just settle for a prayer meet? Make it an experience. Get young people down and half the battle is won. Provide an alternative to clubbing and other unsavoury places. A night of Praise and Worship, lively relevant talks, video presentations, Dance and Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. A place where God meets real life.


I imagine a huge crowd of young people gathering at the ghrotto, praying the rosary before meeting starts. Our talks recorded and podcasted on the internet. I see young people hanging out and bringing their friends and colleagues.


"I didn't know church could be like that."

It can. If we make it happen.







Saturday Surprise!

Saturday, awash in daylight brings myraid possibilites. CSC transforms into a youth Centre. The cafe business still opens. Leadership Meetings can be held at dawn. Ministry training can happen at noon. Band practices or cell groups.

Nothing new. Think further.

But what about a tution centre? Can the massive wood tables we have be converted into a study corner? Can those of us, with higher education offering free tution? Maths, Chinese, Econs etc. What about All-nighters? Man the Cafe through the night, offering fresh hot brews to students cramming for their exams?

And if Coffee is not enough to boost confidence, the Adoration Room is always open for last minute supplications!


What about screening movies or a monthly flea market?


What about football matches? We have a wonderfully big field for all our sporting needs. Interchurch soccer? Paintball?


What about a Speaker's Club? A Christian Toastmaster's Club to help young people build confidence in public speaking and raise more youth speakers.


What about a counselling centre where youths can talk about their problems in an open and friendly environment? Can more of us be able to get ourselves trained in counselling?


Worship workshops, baking classes, leadership conferences. Poetry Recite, Art explosions, guitar classes. What can't we do?


What about a Day where youths can spend the whole day with host of activities to enjoy and partake? Or a launching place for missions and acts of justice?


Imgaine the friendships can we form and the influence we can have with young people to lead them slowly to Jesus who inspires us to make all these happen?



There is so much we can do to reach out to young people. We need to look beyond simply the platform and prayer meetings. I know not all of us are called to be a speaker or a worship leader or an event planner, but surely we can put on an apron and a smile on your face to serve coffee? What about a Pool ministry or an X-box ministry? Tution ministry? Sports?

Any inroads to the hearts of young people, we can create, let's do it.

Amplify's Vision is make CSC an Epicenter of Youth Spiritual Awakening. And it starts with us making inroads. "Become all things to all men to save some." The possibilites are endless. We need more people to come forward with fresh ideas and make them happen. Rise up, initiate and take lead and make dreams come true.

Anyone want to join me?


leo

One is the Loneliest Number


Have you ever come face to face with the vacuum of love that exist within your soul? Have you ever had an unexplainable sense of loneliness even while you're standing in the middle of a crowd?

At the same time you can be all by yourself and have a wonderful sense of connectedness with the world. You can enjoy being alone, but you can become lost in aloneness. Have you ever wondered whether you are the one person who simply could not be loved or was somehow born unworthy of love? Sometimes we'll go to unimaginable extremes to earn love, feel love, to be love. (Like spending $180 on 12 stalks of roses!?!?!) Loneliness can be lonely.

Claire Danes would be the last person you would expect to struggle with loneliness. Beautiful, talented successful. She starred next to Leonard Di Caprio in the 1996 version of romeo and Juliet. But in a recent interview she confessed "A part of me desire fame because I associated it with love...that was a mistake. Fame doesn't end loneliness."

Our need for love is intrinsic - it exist in all of us. Our soul craves intimacy.

We are created to know God and to know love. It is love that moves God towards us and love that pulls us towards him. Follow love and it will guide you to God

From the very beginning you were made for love.

It maybe hard to accept, but you are the object of God's love, and though you may not yet realise it, your soul longs to know this love. But it goes way beyond that. your search for intimacy explains our need for community, relationship, friendship and acceptance, it is expressed most deeply in our need for romantic love.

We all long to belong. We are created to know love and to give love. Our need to love is rooted in God, is not limited to him. love is not a limited commodity. love expands as we give it away. Love dies when we do not.

Without love there is no life. To love is to be fully human.


- Soul Cravings, E. R. McManus

Leo

Scars of Love


Here's a thought.

The intensity of which you feel love for another is no indication of its resilience. Feeling strongly for someone at any one point doesn't necessary mean its going to last the distance. If anything, through my own experience, it seems that the more you love someone, the more capacity you have to come to hate him or her.


So many times, it amazes me how two people who were so deeply in love a month ago can end up not only losing the relationship but become bitter enemies. It is true that the only people who can hurt you are those you allow to get deep into your soul. We are so vulnerable and defenseless against those whom we give our hearts to. But yet despite the dangerous nature of love, it remains the deepest pursuit of our lives. We just can't get enough of it.

"Even the scars of love can't make us stop risking at love." -Erwin Mcmanus

This makes me wonder. That when God created us as the objects of his love and gave us free choice as to whether we would Him back, wasn't He taking the ultimate Risk? But how can it be a risk when He knows all that is to come? Surely from the moment He created us, He already knew He would be rejected. Then why do it? Why love when you know you are going to be rejected, hurt and even scar-ed?


Could rejection, hurt and scars be a part of what love is? Is that why Jesus went to the cross? Is that why there is something ultimately moving when we see love expressing itself in suffering? Its like saying "I love you, and I have the scars to prove it."


Perhaps Shakespeare was right when he observed that 'The course of true love never did run smooth" If it was, somehow, it wouldn't be as worthy, would it?


I feel that strange as it seems, in the midst of our most painful memories, we find our most treasured ones. This is powerfully portrayed in Jim Carry and Kate Winslet's movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." It answered the question - Is a life erased of the pain of love filled with sunshine?


If you had the chance to wipe out all your painful memories of your greatest love to be freed of the pain of it, would you?

hmmmmm...I don't think I would. I'll gladly bear the scars of love knowing that I truly loved and truly lived.

Maybe that why Jesus went to the cross and surrendered to cruel nails -

Love suffered so that we would find love in our suffering. The kind that transcends even death. The Truest of Love.


Leo

YISS 2007 Theme



A theme is very important to the YISS. God always does something new every year in the lives of the participants and service team. We want the theme to prophectically capture what God is going to do. So after a time of prayer and group discernment, the Amplify Leadership team is happy to announce the theme for the Youth In the Spirit Seminar 2007:

"ALL THINGS NEW"

Taken from 2 Cor 5:17. Perhaps I'll just let the passage (in context) speak for itself.

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins.

God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.

(2 Cor 5:17-21 Message Bible)

This year, we are believing for a fresh start for everyone who comes for YISS. Whatever you have been through, how you have lived, how your relationships may be like - God wants to make all things new. Leave the baggages of the past behind and allow God to love you into a new life - the abundant life He wants you to live!

I found the reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over New
And the reason is You.

Amen.

Leo

My Life Goals



Written on the back flap of my bible are 7 life goals that I feel God put in my heart over the years of walking with Him. Quite frequently, during prayer and meditation, I would flip to it and remind myself what God wants me to do with my life.

My hope is that my life would be like David whom the bible described, "...and David had served God's purpose in his own generation..." (Acts 13:36)

I too want my life to serve God's purpose in my generation with the short life I have been given.

Perhaps this sharing could in some small ways inspire you to do so too. 8)



Life Goal #1
See the Catholic Church become irresistible and relevant to today's people.


Life Goal #2
Build a movement of youth ministries all over this nation to impact an entire generation for Jesus.


Life Goal #3
Raise a generation of Leaders who would raise up generations of Leaders.


Life Goal #4
Raise an Army of Lay Preachers and Teachers whose effectiveness in communicating the Word to today's people far surpass those who came before.


Life Goal #5
See youth ministries and churches reaching out to the greater community with acts of Kindness in Jesus' name.


Life Goal #6
Empower and release Lay people to influence every sphere of society especially in the Marketplace for God's Kingdom.


Life Goal #7
Establish a School of Ministry and Bible College for Lay people to be equipped to impact their world.



-written on the 6th of May, 2005.

Leo





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Postscript:
These 7 Goals together with my Personal Mission Statement pretty much direct my life's decisions and choices. What I choose to do and what I choose not to do. It brings immense clarity and purpose to my days not to mention a sense of desperate dependence on God.

To tell you the truth, they scare the life out of me. (I'm sure you can see why) But I pray that together with others whom God send into my life, we will together accomplish them 'not by Might, not by power but by God's Spirit.'

Wounded



All of us are wounded one way or another. Like the woman with the issue of blood, all of us are bleeding privately on the inside. Some of us are just better at hiding the issue than others.

The wisest thing to do is to come to a place where I admit that I don't have the resources within to heal myself and that I need to reach out and touch Jesus.

"If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."

I want You, Jesus. More than anyone or anything in the world.

I really do.

Leo

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Join Amplify Speaker's Club

You never know when you'll need it...

Starting 20th January at the Catholic Spirituality Centre, Cassilda and I will be starting the Amplify Speaker's Club.


WHAT IS SPEAKERS CLUB?

Speaker's Club is a safe environment that allows members the opportunity to practise their public speaking skills. It is held fortnightly and runs for 1 &-a-half hours for about 8 weeks. The program includes a wide range of speaking opportunities, such as 1 minute impromptu speeches, testimonies, 5-7 minutes sermons, evaluation of all speaking assignments and yes, even an altar call!



WHO SHOULD COME?

Anyone who has spoken in front of a crowd and later described it as a 'near-death-experience'.

We know exactly how you feel! That's why we will be making Speaker's Club a safe place for you to 'give it a go' at public speaking while finding support and encouragement from fellow participants who are probably as nervous as you are. Its a great place to gain confidence as well as have a good time!

Anyone who feels a call of God on their life to Preach, Teach or Lead.
Speaker's Club is a great place to 'learn by doing'. Part of the program involves getting feedback from others; letting you know the strengths of your speech and areas to improve. This will help you to both steward and sharpen the call of God on your life as an effective communicator and leader.

So what are you waiting for? Join Speaker's Club Today!
There are only 26 places available. Registration is $5

If you are interested please email your details to:

Leonard Koh:

creatsia@yahoo.com.sg or

Cassilda Lim:

lovelynois@yahoo.com.sg

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Amplify Speaker's Club is an initiative of Amplify Partnership Development

Leonard and Cassilda each hold a Certificate VI in Pastoral Leadership and Counseling respectively from the Hillsong International Leadership College, Sydney, where they were both resident Coordinators of the Speaker's Club.

A Christmas Poem

What If Christmas Never Happen?
written by Leonard

What if Christmas never happen?
Would there still be jingle bells and silver bells
Would Frosty still exist?
Would Rudolph be the one we love
Couples linger mistletoes above

Would we get our two front teeth
And Partridges in pear trees.
Would we deck the halls
Or kiss Santa Claus
And still be home for Christmas?

well, probably...


But what if Christmas never happened?
What will we see?
What if God didn't love the world
And the Child never came to be
With the world in sorrow pining
Will hope still sail the seven seas

If Christmas never happened
What glad would tidings be?
Will shepherds still prolong their strains
Will Nations come on bended knees
Will there be rest for merry gentlemen
Had not the Herald Angels sang

In this season that came to be
Silent night of our Savior's birth
Tucked away in a manager
Lies our soul's great worth

So come celebrate the love divine
Join the Angels heard on high
Leave the trample of the Sales
And join the Triumph of the Skies.

- 12 Dec 2006

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Have a Blessed Christmas!
Leonard & Cassilda



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