Jesus loves us@ 11:45 PM

Hello one and all...

Hope all is well and joyous wherever you guys are now... :D

Anyway just thought ill pop this post up asap... Think i owe God this and Rouen and Yenshan as well...

Anyway just want to record this as a testament of God's perfect and divine timing...

Anyway the previous month and this month have really been trying periods in my life, not the worst yet, but certainly it has moulded my chac alot, it has also opened up areas which i know i need to change, areas of potential which God has tapped into and is currently working on...

Anyway prior to this week, i was extremely drained because of (1) my hall stuff, (2) some relational issues, (3) tons of school work, (4) poor administration and scheduling, and the list goes on...

It seemed so queer that while everyone was having testimonies to share, i had to learn how to suck in the complaints and roll with the punches... Yet there's only so much one's patience can last and for me it came to a head when i had to attend 'another' of those hall meetings which im sure ben and hansheng can identify with that is a waste of time and a waste of my energy... Yet that following weekend, Ps Bryan preached on perspective and how sometimes, we seemed so focus on ourselves and problems that God fades away when in fact, He can be the one that will make the difference, after all He is all sufficient...

Anyway following that weekend, im glad to report that things have started to improve... For one, my meeting in hall went well... And more imptly, i heard some gd reports on my committee, which turns out that if i missed it, then well i would have missed that opportunity.. :P

As for the missing banner parts which some of you may know, i visited the sponsors on wed and it turned out that they were pretty amicable about it, laughing it off and up til now, everything is fine... So praise God for favor with them! :D

Hmm... I think the creaming of the cake is the fact that ive FINALLY SETTLED my TIMETABLE!!!! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D On Fri, i received confirmation that i would be allowed to continue with my 6 mods without having to drop any and all my tut are fixed as planned... :D Yeay, thank God for another thing...

Well... at the same time, i guess God has really worked things out in His timing and all i can really say is I'm amazed... Truly He works in ways and in timings that i can't imagine... And thus i now have a mind clear for CNY and ready to actually START my sch work!!! :P

So for all those going through that season of dryness and tough times... Hang on, it may not always be easy to hang on, but know that it builds character and more than that God knows the answer and solutions to things.... Let Him have His way and things will work out in His timing... ya?

That's all from me for now... :P

Ivan - Destiny Defined

Jesus loves us@ 5:41 PM

First and foremost, wanna welcome our guest - Dr-to-be Vincent Chua! Nice of u to pop by! :)
A really wonderful surprise!

Thanks Zhen & Neo, for giving us something to look forward to on Tuesday! Our very own Cell CNY Party! It's definitely gonna be fun! Also wanna thank e various ones of you who will be bringing stuff for the pot-bless on Tues! (Ivan's mum's finger food and Sharon's plates etc...)

Also wanna thank Rou'en who has put our Timetable together!!! Xie Xie! Lots of effort to do that!

Have a blessed CNY, collect lotsa ang pows, tithe yr $$ yah? :)
C ya Tuesday!

Shan

Jesus loves us@ 12:16 AM

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Saturday, January 28, 2006

Hi folks, hope this works... Greeting from Toronto! :) I'm so glad to see this cell growing so united and strong in the Lord. Vincent

Jesus loves us@ 1:28 AM

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Friday, January 27, 2006

~ Chinese New Year 2006 ~

Event: Chinese New Year Celebration
Venue: Neo's Home
Date: 31st Jan (Tue)
Time: 1600hrs

Theme: SPRING (decided to go with sharon's suggestion. =) )

1600hrs ---- Queenstown MRT Control Station
1615hrs ---- Settle at Neo's
1630hrs ---- Fun and fresh fellowship

Hihi friends! Details up finally!! A few things to take note in preparation for our chinese new yr celebration:-

(1) We hv a theme --- SPRING. So pls wear flowery clothes or brg a flower or anything u can think of that can be associated with SPRING.

(2) Remember to bring your baby photos kk.

(3) Relax and look forward to our fun n enjoyable new yr gathering!


Zhen

Jesus loves us@ 11:38 PM

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Dear folks,

Taking a short break from work. tired, work is demanding but God spoke to me about making choices.
This job is a wonderful gift from Him.

I chanced upon a little article I got from "Our Daily Bread". Not sure how your week went but know that we can always claim His joy. Remember that Joy, is a choice.

We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:11
Most of us don't choose a difficult life, it chooses us. But we can choose our response to it. As someone once said, "Pain is inevitable but misery is optional." Yet, when difficulties arise, misery often seems to be the only option.
Author Lloyd Ogilvie tells of a Christian friend who was physically and emotionally depleted because of extreme pressures. A depressed mood engulfed him. When Ogilvie asked him how he was doing, he said grimly, "Well, joy's certainly no option!" Ogilvie replied, "You're right! Joy is no option. It's your responsibility."
Shocked, the friend retorted, "You talk about joy as if it were a duty." Ogilvie responded, "Right again!" He explained that we have a duty to God, ourselves, and others to overcome our moods and to battle through to joy.
In Romans 5, Paul gave these reasons for joy: We have peace with God through Christ, access into grace, and hope of future glory (vv.1-2). We have assurance that tribulation produces perseverance, which in turn builds character and leads to hope (vv.3-4). We have hope that doesn't disappoint, because God's love has been poured into our hearts (v.5).
Fill your mind with these truths. Then, no matter what your circumstances, you can choose joy.

When trials come and my moods descend,
When pain and sorrows seem never to end,
As I yield to You, Lord, may I see
The peace and joy You've promised me.
Fitzhugh

For the Christian, joy is a choice.



shan

Jesus loves us@ 4:11 PM

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Sunday, January 22, 2006

Hello cellites! =)

Last night's sermon at YAS really spoke to me, right to the core of the issues that i'm facing in my walk with Him. I realised that quite a few of us weren't able to attend YAS last night, (and P Bryan mentioned that last night's sermon was different from the 5pm and sunday morning services) so i thought it'd be good to share here:

"turn with me to your bible, first Samuel" =)

Samuel was given to the Lord when he was born, after God answered Hannah's prayer for a baby of her own (1 Sam chpt 1). As a child who ministered before the Lord with ELi the Priest, one would've assumed that Samuel had a very close relationship with God (1 Sam 2:11).

[This speaks to me about myself--how i may have been serving Him without having a revelation of Him. serving in itself isn't a bad thing... but we should seek to know Him better and more in-depth as a person. Otherwise, Christianity becomes mere church-going and serving-serving-serving... i'm very tired of such skin-deep relationship with Him, such shallow knowledge of Him. knowing The Word and all only contributes to head knowledge, which i personally feel is making me very legalistic... Like what P Bryan said, i believe God wants too reveal Himself to us, and to connect to us in every way, for us to be able to dare to reveal ourselves to Him. Our fears, desires, hopes, pains, hurts, needs...everything.]

However, Samuel couldn't even recognise God's voice(1 Sam 3: 2-14). The Lord called Samuel 3 times, and each time Samuel thought it was Eli's voice. It was only the fourth time that Samuel answered the Lord, after ELi finally realised it was God's voice that Samuel was hearing.

I don't know about you guys, but i have feel like Samuel. blur and ...sotong. i wondered how many times i've had mistaken God's voice for someone else's, or for my own (ir?)rational thinking. In Dec 2005, i had great difficulty discerning between God's voice and that of my own. There were many times when i was bombarded with many condemning thoughts (which i'm pretty sure weren't from God) but also with a lot of uncertainty and questions. I felt like i was being torn apart mentally, and it was tough to focus on Him when there's like a million weird thoughts and accusations in one's mind.

Remember our first cell meeting on the rainy public holiday at the Engine Bridge? One of the verses that Yen Shan printed out for us was:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world (not atomic bombs, not chemical warfare, no AK-47s, not violence). On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4-4

When she shared this verse (and i remember rou'en was told to read it for us),i was going "amen amen amen amen" in my head... the key is, we've got a choice.

i can choose to not buy into those accusatory thoughts, i can choose not to believe those condemning lies.
we can choose to draw near to God (and for each of our baby steps, He takes 5 giant leaps towards us=),
we can choose to make time for God.
we can choose not to give Him our leftover-time,
we can choose to share what happened today in school or at work with Him.

If only we're willing to do all these and more... He's more than willing to listen. and He'd never turn a deaf ear to our complaints (there's a whole book of lamentations in the bible). When He made us He must've figured that we were born to complain. grumble. wail. whine. So why not share these with Him too? i'm pretty sure as much as God wants to see us smiley and grinning and all, He's willing to hold us when we stumble and trip.

and sometimes, we trip over ourselves.
i keep tripping myself. all sorts of things happen and i allow them to stumble me. i allow myself to be bothered, to lose guard, to lose hope even.
but i pray that it'd be different from now on.
and i pray the same for you too.

Lord i want to know You
in my heart there is a fire
each morning when i wake up
it's You that i desire
just to feel Your heartbeat
is what i long for
Oh Lord
i want to know You more.

sharon's name can fly too! =)

Jesus loves us@ 1:15 PM

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Friday, January 20, 2006

Hello one and all...

Hope everything has gone on fine for u ppl... Well my week has certainly not exactly been as restful as i thought it would be after the hall play... Mostly still stuck with post admin... Still have yet to actually do ANY work... and im still stuck with a problem of my tutorials so well... :| Anyway yep it has also been a pretty emotional week with highs and lows... O well if it's any consolation, i finally got to spent REAL quality time with my heavenly Daddy in a long while... :D Also, im just remembered of the many times that i should have done so... but just let the opportunity slip past... So i have to make good my new year resolution: To grow more in Christ, knowing Him on a more personal level.

Moving on... For next week's cell, we'll be talking a bit on 2nd half of the story of the vine. John 15:9-17...

- Joh 15:9 As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; continue in My love.
- Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
- Joh 15:11 I have spoken these things to you so that My joy might remain in you and your joy might be full.
- Joh 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
- Joh 15:13 No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
- Joh 15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
- Joh 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
- Joh 15:16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you.
- Joh 15:17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Try to take note of key points from this passage; try asking yourself if it speaks to you in anyway abt 1) what exactly is this love that Christ seems to emphasise so much abt? 2) what is the difference between servants and friends and why cant it both mean the same thing? 3) Any other things that God spoke to you abt through these few verses...

That's all from me for now... Take care and rest well ppl... :)

Ivan - Destiny Defined

Jesus loves us@ 1:00 AM

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Thursday, January 19, 2006

This is really cool! Thank Sharon and Andrew for helping us put this together. Let's fully utilize this platform to share our testimonies and edify one another! :)

*shan*

Jesus loves us@ 12:18 AM

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006

my very first time blogging.
it's easy actually

*computer toot rouen*

Jesus loves us@ 12:56 AM

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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

In order to successfully post a blog entry, you'd have to:

1. go to www.blogger.com
2. log in with your username and password (it's all in the email)
3. You will then see the Dashboard. Click on "New Post".
4. You will see a big blank space for you to key out whatever you wanna share =) You can even share photos (click on the button that says "insert photo"). Alternatively, you can edit posts from here, or go to the Settings/ Template to fiddle with them.
5. Then click on "Publish Post", to publish.
6. You will then be able to view your entry.
7. Feel free to change the blog settings. Go back to the Dashboard, go to "Change Settings" and change what you don't like =)
8. Okay now go and try!


>>> Sharon <<<

Jesus loves us@ 10:58 PM

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Hello cellites!

This is the new cell's blog. Not the cell's new blog, but the new blog for the new cell...

Anyway, do share your testimonies here, and we can post photos etc here as well =)

So, now, besides a cell Guitar course, we'd also need a teach-the-guys-how-to-blog course...

Jesus loves us@ 9:04 PM

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