There Goes the Weekend!

I had a really wonderful weekend, and I thank GOD for this break in the monotone of working in a bank.


Saturday morning was Bible Study in church, and it was good because there was depth in the discussion, and there were doubts raised and addressed, and there were arguments that resulted in better understanding of GOD's word. Nice! Following that, the BS people had lunch together, and then some of us left for the Youth BS prep and planning session. The remaining ones were Tiffany, Kendall, Kathryn, Melissa, Gary, and myself. Gary went home, unfortunately. But the rest of us looked for a place to sit down and talk and have a drink. We ended up at Oriole in Pan Pacific Suites... some of us had tea, some coffee, Kendall had (according to him) really good hot chocolate. And we just sat and chatted till like 5+ and all of us had to make a move. I went on to Eunice's place for an OCF-Dinosaur (coz we were so old) pot-luck dinner gathering, and it was great because the food was good, but the fellowship, the catching up, the just-being-amongst-GOD's-people was absolutely wonderful. I guess this is what is called the sweetness of fellowship. =) And so ends one great day of the weekend.


Sunday! Church in the morning, lunch with the young adults, walked around Plaza Sing abit, then Danielle, Tiffany, Patrick, Zhenhao, and myself headed to Chinatown for desserts! Mango sago!!! Mmmm... =))) Zhenhao had to leave after desserts, so the 4 of us went on to the bridal studio where we would meet Mei & Louis, who were there to try their wedding gowns and suits! Such a happy occasion! Wheee! Danielle left when Chia Ling came to meet her, then we were just looking at Mei's gowns as she dresses and adjustments were made for final alterations. After that, Tiff, Pat and I went shopping abit for Tiff's evening gown for Mei's wedding. Haha! I couldn't stay long coz I was meeting Xuefen at her place. So I did! At 7:30pm, we started walking from her block to Hougang Mall for dinner. And the weather was good, and the walk was good, and the talk was good, and the company was good. And we shared a char kway teow from the new food court outside Hougang Mall, then bought some more junk food from the pasar malam and headed to Punggol Park to sit and eat and talk. Nice breeze, not-too-bad food, great talk, great company! Ended the night walking back to her place and then heading home myself. =)


Tell me, what could be a better weekend? (Ok, of course there're so many more things that would constitute a much better weekend, but in a non-material sense, this is how I'd like my weekends to be!) Of course, Yanhao suggested getting me a new camera to top it all off! Haha! That WOULD be great... but I'd leave the non-material greatness of the weekend to be non-material... =)


I'll end off this post with this song, which I was reminded of when I read this morning, about how Jesus is the light of our lives and how He's been the guiding light to so many lost (and found) souls, and His love and His light is steadfast and lasts forever. =)


How deep the Father’s love for us,
how vast beyond all measure
that He should give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss.
The Father turns His face away
as wounds which mar the Chosen One
bring many sons to glory.


Behold the Man upon the cross,
my sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.


I will not boast in anything:
no gifts, no pow’r, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ:
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

The Wages of Sin is Death

Can you imagine this:

You've been kidnapped. The kidnapper is a psychotic doctor who wants to slowly torture you in the likes of the Saw series, without actually letting you die. He starts, say, using a nailclipper to clip off the flesh on your finger, with the final intent to sever it from your hand. *shudders* And then, at the same time, he starts, say, giving you paper cuts on your lips, again and again and again. And at the same time too, he uses a pair of scissors to snip off and split the web of your fingers and toes, one per hour. And all the time, he's gonna bandage you up, give you medication, disinfect the wounds so you'll heal, just for him to inflict those wounds again.

Am I sick or am I sick?

Anyways, the whole world knows you've been kidnapped. Your family, somehow, is unable to pay the ransom for your release. Your friends try to chip in but the total is still not enough. The news is all over in the papers.  You know the situation outside is frantic, and it seems like all hope is lost. The police can't find the kidnapper, and consequently, you. You think it's the end of your life... but remember that the kidnapper is a psycho and won't let you die that easily, if at all.

Suddenly, one day, there is a man on the news with that sum of money demanded by the kidnapper. He's pleading on TV with the psycho doctor to just take the money and leave you alone. You watch the TV and you don't recognize this man. At all. He's a complete stranger! The kidnapper asks you if you know the guy, and you say no. He asks if you would want him to take this stranger's money and be let free? Huh? What kind of question is that? Well, he's psycho, remember?

So what will your answer be? Take the money and be free of this torturer forever, and then slowly think of how to repay him back? Or not take that sum and continue to be tortured just because you don't know him and he's a stranger?

I don't know about you, but the answer is pretty obvious to me: TAKE THE MONEY AND BE FREE!!!

Well, if you think like me, then let me tell you this scenario is more real than you can imagine! You've already been kidnapped and a ransom has been demanded. The torture will begin when your life ends. And it will be for eternity. You'll be cut, then you'll heal, and be cut again, and healed, and the cycle just keeps going. But the ransom has already been paid. You just need to believe it. You just need to believe that it's been paid, and you'll be free from torture!

Do you believe the ransom has been paid?

Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Jesus then said about the ransom, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

Again, Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

We are all sinners and our sins will be punished by the tortures in Hell. Would you reject the ransom just because you do not know Jesus? No! You'd take the ransom and be free first! Then, in eventual thankfulness and gratefulness, you'll find ways and means to serve this "stranger" with your life!

For all you believers, are you repaying Jesus' ransom with your life? Technically, Jesus owns you now because without His ransom, you will still be in chains.

For all you non-believers, are you foolish enough to reject the ransom just because you do not know Jesus? Are you really that foolish?!

Discerning GOD's Calling

How do you do that?

It depends very much on your relationship with GOD. I guess sometimes we just gotta have more faith in what our GOD can do, instead of limiting HIM in our minds, in our bodies, in our abilities. If GOD calls, HE provides.

Right?

I don't see myself having that kind of faith yet. Those who believe, obey; those who obey, believe. That's something I learnt in YAM Camp. Do I believe? I believe that I believe. Do I obey? Doesn't seem like I am enough.

I seem to be constantly living in the shadows of my past, my mistakes, my sins. I pray that GOD, my GOD, will drag me out of the pits and shed me in HIS glorious light, where I am assured of Jesus' blood cleansing away my sins, and where I can see, like Thomas, that Jesus is so real and so there for me that I willingly submit my whole life for HIM.

Faith? It eludes me at the moment, and together with that, GOD's strength...

Angela asked, "Who am I? What am I doing here?" Seems like two really apt questions at a time like this.

New Year, New Blog

Well, not really...

It's still the old blog... but I've decided not to stick to my old kind of design anymore. I want an easy to read, easy to navigate format, so that it's easy to add more stuff, or remove stuff...

Currently, the template is a default one, but rest assured, I will customize it soon!

So! What's up this new year for you? Resolutions? New jobs? New friends? New attitude?

I've got resolutions, 2 of which are year-long, but I think I shan't say it here.

New job? Nah... at least, not yet. New friends? Yes! Lotsa 'em! And life in church seems to be getting better and more as it should be, as it used to be. And I thank GOD for that, because if it weren't for HIS guidance, HIS plans, HIS grace and mercy, HIS love, I wouldn't have been here to be impacted by the people in ORPC. 2 years here, and I do believe I'm here to stay.

So what's up this new year? I think lots of things are up... and this year is gonna be spectacular! I can feel the GOD-charged atmosphere! Can't you?

=)