Failures

In the school of life we do experience failures from time to time. Not too long ago I was reading a short chapter on responding to failures. Below are some Scriptures and quotes from that short chapter.

It is good to deposit these words into our hearts and minds so that we can put any failure in a proper perspective.

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the great twilight that knows not victory or defeat."

"Experience is hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." ---Vernon Sanders

"You don't drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there." ---Ed Cole

"The best way to go on after a failure is to learn the lesson and forget the details." --- John Mason

"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." Proverbs 28:13 (TLB)

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighted in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." Psalm 37:23-24

A Day at Home

I started to feel unwell on Tuesday. It became worse yesterday and this morning. As a result I spent a day at home today resting. I am much better now.

I took time to watch a teaching about the law of the teacher. I am greatly challenged by it. The speaker spoke with great conviction. He exhorted the audience not to bore people with the Word of God. According to him it is a crime to do so. He also defined the law of the teacher very simply "if you stop growing today you stop teaching tomorrow".

Indeed it is a great privilege to be able to teach the Word of God. It is my responsibility to give my best to this task to do justice to the unsearchable riches of the Word. As I reflected on my recent experiences I must admit that there are times I feel a little tired of teaching. This is not because I do not enjoy teaching. This is due to the rush in preparing for the various lessons I have been given the privilege to teach. For example when I look at my calendar I see 5 consecutive Tuesday nights full of teachings starting this week. This is not considering the other days of the week and the fact that Tuesday is normally a quiet day for me for any kind of teaching/sharing.

Thus I thank God for the challenge, encouragement and reminder given to me through the teaching I watched today. May God help me as I am making some commitments in my heart. Firstly, I am committed to never stop learning and growing. Secondly, I am committed not to bore people with the Word of God to the best of my ability. My best may not be enough but I must give my best.

Before I sign off, I want to be continually reminded of the following Scripture and quote.

"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." 2 Timothy 2:2 (NIV)

"I would rather have my students drink from a running stream than from a stagnant pool." A Professor

Thank God for Care Groups

This week I had the opportunity and privilege to join ten different care groups. It started on Wednesday night where I joined JEDI care group meeting. The care group meeting was held at CN & Christine's place. That night was also their house dedication ceremony.

It was great seeing younger worship leaders emerging. Tian Tian was leading worship that night. Her choice of songs were clearly appealing to the younger adults (YYY generation).

CN & Christine also spent some time affirming different individuals and cast the direction for the quarter 2.

God has been good to them. May God continue to add to the JEDI tribe in the days to come!

On Thursday, six care groups came together to have a sub district cg meeting. May Hoong was in charge of the care group. Adam was chairing and Danny was worship leading. I did the sharing. Adam chaired the care group meeting creatively. He shared a powerful testimony about how God blessed him with around 4 months of bonus as he and his wife put God first even in the area of finance. Danny was natural in leading worship.

I regret that I forgot to take some photos of the care group meeting. Instead let me share with you this picture (taken from somewhere in the internet) that I showed that night. One silly thought that I had about this picture is that "even cats believe in care group."

On Friday, I joined Eugene Chong & Jacqueline's unit care group. The care group meeting was held at Marc & Theresa's place. It was my first time going to their house. They just got married end of last year. It was a good care group meeting. There were two discussion groups. Marc prepared and led the discussion group well. Robert was very creative in how he did his discussion leading.

After care group meeting some of us went to have dinner/supper together at Hongkong Cafe near IKEA. The ambience of the place was good. Indeed good ambience made a difference. We had a good time fellowshipping with one another till around midnight. I only have the picture of the guys. The girls sat somewhere else as the place was pretty crowded.


It always brings me joy to be able to join care group meetings. I always end up leaving the care group meeting feeling refreshed one way or another. Thank God for care groups.

May God continue to help all of us to do better and better in cg life and cg meeting as such that more and more people will give thanks to God for care groups. Amen!

Being God-Conscious

Read a good story in one book this morning. It is a good reminder on the importance of being God-conscious rather than man-conscious. Indeed, often it is not that God doesn't want to move. He is waiting for someone willing to be used as His instrument.

A man was once flying from Atlanta to Dallas, and it so happened that in the seat next to him there was a little girl with Down's syndrome. After a while she turned to him and said, 'Do you smoke?' 'No,' he said, 'I don't smoke.'

'That's good,' she said, 'My mummy says you shouldn't smoke.' Then she pointed to the businessman who was sitting the other side of him and said, 'Does he smoke?'

The man was naturally rather embarassed by this, but he thought he ought to humour her, so he asked the businessman sitting next to him, 'Excuse me, but do you smoke?' 'No,' he said. 'That's good,' said the girl.

There was a little bit of pause, and then a few minutes later the little girl said, 'Do you love Jesus?'

'Yes,' the man replied, 'As a matter of fact I do love Jesus.'

'That's good,' she said. 'Everyone should love Jesus.' And then it suddenly dawned on him what she was going to say next. And he hunched down in his seat and hoped against hope that she wouldn't. But she did. 'That man next to you,' she said, 'does he love Jesus?' So he swallowed hard, and turned to the businessman sitting next to him, and asked him.

And with a tear in his eye the man replied, 'Do you know, I've been wanting someone to ask me that for a long time.'

And so Milton Cunningham, who was a preacher on his way to speak at a seminary in Dallas, led that businessman to Christ there on that aeroplane, all thanks to a little girl's utter of self-consciousness.

cholesterol

I had been postponing doing a health check up because it involved taking my blood. I don't mind to give away my blood. The problem is the instrument of needle that has to enter my body.

I had a breakthrough a few weeks ago. Together with some other colleagues I did it.

Last week I collected the result of the check up.

Thank God that everything was okay except for one little problem. My cholesterol was on the high side. According to the doctor my cholesterol level was moderately high. He advised me to modify my diet, exercise and see if it will go down.

Today I did some research on cholesterol. One interesting finding was about top five foods that can help reduce cholesterol level.

They are:

1. Oat for Soluble Fiber

2. Fish for Omega 3 Fatty Acids

3. Nuts for Healthy Fats

4. Foods fortifed with Plant Sterols

5. Soy

For those who are interested more details can be found on the following website: http://www.healthcastle.com/foods_lower_cholesterol.shtml

I guess it is time for me to eat more of those foods. Perhaps some of you need to join me as well. I trust that oat doesn't taste that bad. :)