Well, it's been quite awhile since I last bloggged... Oh man, guess I'm just too lazy typing them all out. So much thoughts and emotions, how to pen them all down?
University - a new stage of my life where I start a new lease of life, a new place wherer no one knows who I am (except Adeline, Christine and Adrianne). Guess I just cant wait to start University. Why you may ask? Maybe it's because I havent been to a school proper since I started my NS liabity. (Speaking of NS, I cant believe they decided to cut short to 2 years! No fair! If not, I would have completed a year of my university studies!)
Oh well, time to move on. Or perhaps I'm really unhappy working at Starhub that I wish to leave all the unhappy emotions behind. However, I must admit that they are fireflies; the little flashes of light in the darkness during my stay in Starhub. People like Leon, Xiaohui, XIaohan, Jacqueline, Jamie(She forced me to include her name. Ha!,)Kevin and Dolly who helped to brighten up by days especially Xiaohui. Somehow wherever I go, I would always be able to find a good female friend. Perhaps it's my nature or rather my character that girls really treat me as their own sister. Ha! That i dont know but you can try asking them.
But of course, there's the dark moments which I rather not talk about. Those days really soiled my time in Starhub and it defintely has affected my wanting to continue working. If it wasnt for the free new mobile that I can "play" with and the $7 an hour pay, I would have quit a long time ago. Made the painful decision of forsaking certain "years-forged friendships" once my stint is over. I have chosen to let go because after Nanhui, none has ever hurt me that much.
Sigh.. Looking back, I dont know if i will miss the times there or be relived that I'm leaving. Fow now, I want to leave but I still got till end of next month. Been a real torture dragging my uncooperative limbs to work. This is especially during this soccer fever of EURO2004!
*ADVERTISMENT*
Soccer - It's no more a game but a lifestyle! ahahahah... :)
Come to think of it, I havent told Mel(my immediate superior) about decision to quit end of next month. However, he knows I have the intention to leave before my contract is up.
OH! It's time to knock off. Got to get going for some rest at home. Till then when I blog again. *~TATA~*
Something for you readers to ponder upon. How do you define ready? How can you say you are ready? Can we ever say we are ready? Refer to the questions that Jerry asked below. Refer to verses that he referenced to. Did it talked about being ready? Of course you must have some basic skills on witnessing. Dont we all have already? When GOD gave that command, didnt he know that the people werent ready to? After all, they dont have the luxury of us, having classes to develop their skills. Why then did GOD still tell them to go forth? It was a comamnd by GOD.
Acts 1:8 says, "
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
You realise that GOD understands and knows that we are afraid that we wont be ready. That is why he mentioned in the 2 verses n I have higlighted them in
BOLD. This is HIS promise to us. He will always be there for us. He will empower us and we just have to pray and trust HIM.
You see, it is precisely this point which most youths look from. For many years, we kept saying, we are not ready and that we must start with ourselves. Yes, of course we must, I dont deny that. BUT the bigger picture is do we have that luxury of time? CHRIST is coming. Is he going to accept our reason of because we are not ready as YM, because we dont even know how to serve ourselves, that is why we didnt witness for HIM. Will he accept this reason? Is it a valid reason? After all, the verses didnt say, "When you are ready, go forth" but rather "Go forth" in a commanding way.
To the point where we say how can go out and witness and we ourselves dont even do that among ourselves, christians? Then I ask you all, are you sure you dont know how to or you dont want to? You do not know how to love and care the fellow christians or you dont want to love and care? Yes, once again I acknowledge the part that we should kick-start by giving special attention and love towards our own spiritual family first BUT in the end, if everyone thinks this way, then there wont be anyone out there to witness. Can those missionaries dare say they were ready? Rather, they trusted the LORD adn went forth. I'm not asking us all to be one. After all, we are all called for different ministries but ultimately, all ministries support each other to bear witness unto others.That is the bigger picture. No matter what ministry you are serving(service), it ultimately point towards witnessing. Therefore service is part of witnessing.
Hence we need to address this issue and emphasis the point that we can no longer wait for the youths to be ready and I feel we can use the camp to "force" them to be ready. To make them realise that it is time to step out of our comfort zone. We keep saying not ready, that IS our comfort zone. How about stepping out of it while we are not ready? Wont that be a start in stepping out of it? That is when we will start feeling uncomfortable and inadequate. We shouldnt be afraid to witness beacuse of that but rather because of that, we will want to witness so that we can grow and improve on those areas. We can never feel comfortable and adequate till we actually go out and witness. No amount of teachings or preparing ourselves in serving fellow christians will ever over-ride this point.
What then now is your take?
Was discussing on some issues and we came across these questions. As you read the questions, I pray that you yourself will find time to ponder upon them. May GOD guide you through... GOD BLESS!
1) Is witnessing part of service? Or is service part of witnessing?
I dont think it's a matter of playing with the words so I would stake my life into this answer. Witnessing is NOT part of service but rather vice versa Why? The questions below will answer it for me.
2) What does Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:19-20 say? I know they are TMS verses and you all probably have memorised but do you all know what it means and what it implies?
Here is the verses if you are stumped. They are in red in the Bible cause it was SPOKEN by GOD himself.
Acts 1:8 says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
To me personally, it's no more considered as a service but rather a COMMAND. A command by GOD, himself to go preach the word. With that, service is part of witness. We witness not purely to serve GOD (and by witnessing, we are serving HIM but let's look at the bigger picture) but rather we witness because we are COMMANDED to do as above stated. I dont think there's a verse that says, "Witness to GOD because it is your service to GOD" Rather I think we witness because it is our service to man. This point is further emphasised in Mark 10:45 where even Christ himself came not to be ministered but to minister to others. As stated above, the verses call us to go out and witness to the ends of the word and is spoken by GOD, Himself
3) Do we need to show the youths how we can serve God? You mean to say they don't know the various ways of serving God? What does Mark 10:45 and 2 Corinthians 4:5 say?
Here are the verses:
Mark 10:45 says, "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
2 Corinthians 4:5 says "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."
I think we all do know how to serve GOD and even know the various ways of serving GOD. We have been through classes when we were young, doing the 4 Spiritual Laws and others. However I feel the need to address the issue that the youths mindset is, "because it is not my gift so I serve in other areas." Instead we should have the mindset that because it is not gift, I have to work DOUBLY hard to improve that area of mine. True, that doesnt mean that all the services are not important and that we must ALL go and witness. Of course, I dont mean that but with the bigger picture in sight, our lives should evolve round witnessing. It is the reason why we are in this world. To win souls for the LORD and not just live and die. However we do not need to show to serve GOD or the various ways, we should instead raise the awareness of what it means to witness to GOD. Everyone knows how to serve or what to serve and need not be taught. Once again, we need to stress the IMPORTANCE to them cause personally I never placed importance to them till recently when I was reading a book given to me by TaiKok and the book I bought during the mini-book fair.
What are YOUR answers? Share with me?
She's always on my mind,
from the time i wake up
'till i close my eyes
she's everywhere i go
she's all i know
'Though she's so far away
It's just keeps getting stronger every day
and even now she's gone
I'm still holding on
So tell me where do i start
'cause it's breaking my heart
don't wanna let her go
Maybe my love will come back some day
only heaven knows
and maybe our hearts will find their way
only heaven knows
and all i can do is hope and pray
'cause heaven knows
My friends keep telling me
that if you really love her
you've gotta set her free
and if she returns in kind
i'll know she's mine
So tell me where do i start
'cause it's breaking my heart
don't wanna let her go
Why i live in despair
'cause while awake or dreaming
I know she's never there
and all these time i act so brave
I'm shaking inside
why does it hurt me so...
Heaven knows...
This is a song which Jeremy shared with me.
I can't begin to find the words
To tell you how I feel
The joy and love you give me
Touch me more than you could know
You're everything and more to me
I can't believe you're real
And every day that passes
All these feelings seem to grow
Nothing on earth could make me stray
Nobody else could make me feel this way
You can count on me no matter what
I will never turn away
Chorus
I will be there for you
I will take care of you
I will spend all my life right by your side
My home is where you are
I will be strong for you
I will belong to you, I swear
As long as I have breath until death do us part
Forever, cross my heart
Verse
Only you could light the fire
That burns inside of me
You've given me a treasure
But the best is yet to come
And even as we take these vows
I've never felt so free
I'm proud to take the next step
On this journey we've begun
You are the one that makes me whole
You are the song that fills my heart and soul
I will hold this promise close to me
As I wear this band of gold
Chorus
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