What is Your Understanding on Miracle?

I came back from Kota Kinabalu on Friday falling sick. But I couldn't really rest as I needed to catch up on some work, prepare for MPC (Marriage Preparation Course) on Saturday and prepare for prayer & service leading on Sunday. My parents were also around in Singapore thus it was important that I spent time with them as much as I could.

At a point of time I was wondering about my time management. My parents are usually around in Singapore after LC. I knew this fact well. But why didn't I swap my MPC or/and service leading slots with others? I was wondering about this for awhile. Anyway, there was no time to be indulged in self pity. I just had to do what I could.

Interestingly, several other things went wrong:

* I couldn't find one of my MPC lessons' notes. I needed to redo that lesson all over again.

* My office laptop somehow couldn't project out the slides for the MPC lesson.

* The hard disk of our laptop at home crashed. This is the only computer at home that can be connected to a printer. It means that I couldn't print my script for my service leading.

* I was quite busy during LC thus spent very little time with them during LC. How would they feel that even after LC I couldn't spend time with them still?

However God was good. He gave me a miracle.

* I redid the missing MPC lesson notes pretty quickly. Somehow, I remembered the details in the missing notes quite well.

* Simon was in church office (the MPC venue) on Saturday and he somehow brought his brand new laptop with him. He kindly lent me his notebook for the MPC lesson. It worked wonderfully.

* Cui Qin, our neigbour, kindly helped me print the documents I needed for Sunday. She actually went out from her house to meet me in a bus stop to pass me the documents on Saturday after midnight.

* My parents were very understanding and supportive. They didn't say a single word of complaint about my lack of availability to spend time them. (I spent time with them last night. I am spending the majority of today with them as well)

* Lean Choo, my wife, was extremely supportive throughout the weekend. She is usually supportive but she was extremely supportive during the weekend. She actually felt very bad that she couldn't do very much to help me with what I had to do.

* When I went to see a doctor in after MPC the queue was so short. I completed my visit very quickly. I usually go to this same clinic and they usually have a long queue.

* God gave me the strength to go through MPC teaching on Sat. My mind was pretty clear and engaged throughout. On Sun, I could woke very early despite the fact that I was sick and slept late. I arrived in Nexus by 7.30am for the prayer meeting before the pre-service prayer meeting. God gave me the strength for prayer leading and for the service leading in both services as well. Immediately after the second service chairing I felt quite weak and couldn't focus very much listening to the sermon. The drop of fitness and energy level came at the right time, meaning after I had completed what I had to do.

I want to thank God for the mini miracle He gave over the weekend.

This incident has taught me a lesson as well. Many times when we ask God for a miracle we have a pre-conceived idea on how God will perform the miracle. But the Bible tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. (Isaiah 55)

Have you been praying for a miracle? What is your understanding on miracle today? Are you limiting God by that understanding? Perhaps God has given you the miracle that you are asking for but it is in His way and not your way. If this is indeed the case, would care to notice it and would you join me to give thanks to God for loving us and for giving us the miracle?

Back from Kota Kinabalu

Lean Choo and I just came back yesterday from Kota Kinabalu for our quarterly Leadership Conference. There are many things that I can write about this trip which I will do so a little later on.

For now I need to focus on my MPC teaching in the afternoon and service leading preparation tomorrow. Also, as my parents are around in Singapore I hope to be able to spend as much time as possible with them in the next few days.

For now I also need to focus on getting well as somehow I fell sick yesterday. I seldom fall sick but recently I have been falling sick a little more often. I know what I should do. It is a matter of really getting it done.

The conclusion of the matter is that I will write more soon.

God be with you everyone. :)

some random thoughts

It's around 2am on Sunday morning (Saturday after midnight) and I am still awake.

Here are some random thoughts:

Thought no 1:
I had a good time worshipping God and praying at around 11-11.30pm just now. After some time I picked up the guitar again and started playing it to aid my worship time. My guitar skill is really on the average side. Nowadays I only use it if there is an emergency (e.g. nobody is playing guitar for a small group meeting). But I believe that one reason God gave me the ability to play guitar is for my personal worship time. I was very much strengthened after that time of worship and prayer. I was feeling very tired before that and yesterday.

Thought no 2
I was browsing my blog setting menu to see if I can install a chat box in my blog. I couldn't seem to find it. If anyone knows how to do it, do let me know. Thanks in advance. :)

Thought no 3
I am thinking about tomorrow. Our service and the different activities related to it. I am convinced that we must never approach Sunday service or any service just as something we need to attend. God wants to move in midst as we come together in His name. We must have that anticipation. We must have that expectation. When God invade us by His presence things are bound to happen. Hearts are bound to be touched. Lives are bound to be transformed. Miracles are bound to happen. Actions are bound to follow long after the service is over. "Lord, please grant us an unstoppable momentum of growth, in quality and quantity. God, we want more of You. We need more of you."

Thought no 4
Roger Federer lost once again. It was a close match though. Overall, he has been playing better than the first few months of this year. So that's the positive. Tomorrow is the title decider for EPL. Can Man U beat Wigan? Well, I hope so.

Thought no 5
It is time to sleep. Good night! :)

Three Great YA Events

There were three great young adults events last weekend. I was a happy participant in those three events.

The first event started on Sat morning, 10am. Jacqueline, our district intercessory coordinator, and her team came to pray and intercede together for the district and beyond. They meet once a month. On top of that the intercessors are rostered on different days to pray. I joined them for the first time last Sat. I wanted to joined them earlier but the clash of schedules didn't allow it to happen. We had a great time worshipping and praying. Jacqueline also shared a ministering and convicting lesson on prayer.

I want to take this opportunity to affirm Jacqueline and her team. Many times to be an intercessor is a thankless job. However, I want to assure them that they are indeed a shareholder in every victory, every salvation, every life transformation experienced as a result of the prayer and intercession. Though often nobody knows their labour God knows and He is pleased with them. Keep up the good work and keep praying our dear intercessors. We really need it. :)

The second event happenned in the afternoon. At a very cool place in Singapore a cool event was held. It was our very first installment of our career mentoring seminars, Office Politics and U (Part 1). As I talked to various participants of the seminar they told me that what was shared was indeed very useful for them.

I want to affirm May Hoong, her team and Eugene Phang for a job well-done last Saturday afternoon. Indeed it is our desire to see more and more young adults in our midst making a great impact in their workplaces. Last Saturday event was a definitely a very good step in the right direction.
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A COMMERCIAL BREAK: The next FYA seminar is on Office Politics & U (Part 2). It will be held on Sat, 26 June at the same time possibly at the same cool venue, the Verandah Cafe. :)

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The third event, Metamorphosis, happenned on Sunday afternoon at a cool function room in a cool condominium not too far away from Orchard area. Metamorphosis is our party to celebrate with our new belivers and rededicates. My congratulations again to Liling, Chris, Timothy, Han Wen, Jean, Siang Wei and John. Your decision to embrace or re-embrace Jesus into your life is the coolest and best decision you can ever make in your life.

Siang Wei shared his testimony that afternoon. It was powerful. His simple faith in God really moved the hands of God. It is always refreshing to hear such testimonies especially coming from somebody who just got to know Christ this Easter. Keep trusting and growing bro!

I must thank Stefanie Gui & Jinqi and their team for coordinating the party. Thank you for serving the new believers, the rededicates and all of us.

I have a confession to make. We actually forgot to take photos of the event. Below are some photos that were taken after the event was over. Half of the people had left by that time. We will take photos earlier the next round.

A Memorable 7 days

The last 7 days have been pretty memorable for me. It started with Saturday. For the first time I was preaching 3 back-to-back full sermons within a day. At the end of 2006 I co-preached with Ps Jeff 4 back-to-back sermons over Saturday and Sunday but it was only for one point and not a full sermon.

It started with the 1st youth service then the 2nd youth service then the tertiary service. I was a little tired during the Tertiary service but it was still managable. Interestingly, it wasn't as bad as I expected (preaching 3 back-to-back sermons). However, I can now identify a little bit with what Ps Ben and Ps Jeff go through for many weekends. Ps Ben & Ps Jeff, if you are reading this I just want to let you know that I appreciate you both much. :)

It is my privilege to be among the younger ones. They are indeed the future of our church. They are God's future leaders for Singapore and the nations. I genuinely like my younger brothers and sisters in youth and tertiary service. They are warm, friendly and enthusiastic for God. I pray that they will continue to grow in their walk with God. I pray that they will embrace the wonderful plan and purpose God has for each one of them in an increasing measure.

Besides Service Sunday was a day filled with quite a number of meetings. Over the years I have come to appreciate the importance of having regular DMM meetings. However, over the years I have learned the importance of doing those meetings more effectively as well. One memorable meeting was my meeting with Danny & May Hoong. Their units joined our district in mid Feb. Initially I took time to get to know the people and observe how they did various things. After some months of doing that last Sunday I shared some of my thoughts about some things they could consider doing or doing differently. It has been a very pleasant experience for me to serve alongside Danny & May Hoong. They are such nice people and leaders. :)

On Monday I had some extended time with some individuals. Ps Jeff spent time with me in the afternoon. At night I met up with CN and Christine. They are leading the JEDI ministry in our church. This couple is really one couple who is truly all out in serving God with all their might and strength. They are really a great role model to others around them and others under their care. May God continue to add to them and their ministry.

On Tuesday, I was teaching a WFL lesson for my district. As a district we are covering a Faith Church material. The WFL committee loved me so much that they asked me to teach three lessons within one session. :) Though it was quite a tough task I thank God for helping me through it. During the lesson I was trying to illustrate about the importance to have a valid object of faith by running to Nexus wall and bang my body against it. Unfortunately, I bang my body a little bit too hard that I felt some pain on it. Next time, I must do it more calculatively. It will be quite silly to injure my body unneccesarily. Also, I should have also mentioned to the people that they should never tried the stunt at home. :)

On Wednesday, some of us, Lean Choo and I were meeting Ps Jeff and Claudia for our regular meeting. They brought us to this pretty nice venue, NTU Alumni house. The ambience and the facilities of the place are pretty cool and attractive. We can definitely use some of their facilities for some YA events in the near future.

Thursday was a public holiday. We had some guests at our house. We had a great time with Tony, Gabriel, Sarah and Jinghe. We talked over snacks and played the Citadels. It was really easy to connect with them. Thanks guys for gracing our home and for the fun time together. :)

Today (Friday) I met and got to know a brother and three sisters from Hope LA. Tonight they were joining one of our YA care group meetings. I will be bringing them to join some various activities on Sunday. It is always good to connect to our international family one way or another.

I thank God for a memorable 7 days.

Before I sign of, my wife reminded me today to put photos in my blog. I guess I have not been doing that in my last several blog entries. As the wise shall listen to others especially when someone is your wife I will just do that in my next blog entry. :)