Faith like a Mustard Seed

Having faith is incredibly hard. Even just a mustard seed of it. Because we are fallen, its hard to give up sovereignty of our own lives. When things go wrong, and times get hard, we try to wrest the steering wheel back from Jesus again.

I learnt the hard way.

#firstworldproblem

The recent trend of hash tagging #firstworldproblem got me thinking. The fact that we are aware that the bulk of our miseries arise out of non-life-threatening first world problems, yet continue to fret and obsess about them seems to be symptomatic of a much, much larger issue. That is, we're literally immune to this phenomena. We understand that our first world problems are, well, first world, and as a result fairly unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Yet we whine and moan like our life depended on them.

Our generation is growing up as one that is immune to the plight of third world problems - starvation, drought, torture, survival, death. And that is a scary thought. Aren't we called to be people after God's heart - His heart for the people? I'm afraid that we might lose that compassion.

A Mess of Thoughts (Again)

It's always remarkable to see where I am standing at at any point of time, look back at what has been going on, and see how much God has provided for and sustained me.

Being Alone / Being A Community

^{Life is never as we want it to be. Simply because our lives are not our own. Still, I can't help but wonder sometimes.}

I need more time to ponder this. But first, a few thoughts: 


¹⁸ The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

University: Chiong or not?

There's been a lot of discussion going around lately about University in general. The bulk of them revolve around this central question:

Is it worth it to slog through University? 

Dream

I want to travel the world, and live off the land. Not to aim for some sort of economic or social security, but to go where God leads and live as the land is. To truly experience freedom on earth - freedom in Christ, in being his workmanship.

Dreams. To be fulfilled?

Blessed

When you want to complain, remember those who aren't as fortunate.

Darkness vs. Light

Listen to this: "Darkness cannot put out the Light. It can only make God brighter". 

As an observation, I've seen how people take a turn to the dark side (everyone does, me included) and how it just serves to illuminate how much more they need God. And when they return to Him (praise the Lord!), the presence of God is so much brighter in their lives.

Thank God for that. It gives me hope for tomorrow.

Who Deserves More?

While I was at Neon Tree's concert last night, thanks to Fever Avenue (which was quite awesome, btw), I noticed something that startled me. When the crowd began to raise their hands to some of the hit songs, I was struck by how similar it was (so it seemed, to me) to the excited youth congregation in worship at their various churches.

Crowd going wild at Neon Trees concert

But this isn't going to be a rant on true worship.

I was immediately reminded of our own youth congregation in my church. We're not the expressive sort. Raising hands or kneeling on the ground was reserved for events where the Spirit Himself comes so strongly that everyone has no choice but to do so. (believe me, I've felt that)

But I wondered: If we could accord our favorite pop stars or celebrities such honor, why do we hesitate to do so for our great God? Obviously He deserves far, far more. Shouldn't we be as extravagant in our worship, and accord all the glory to Him as He deserves?

I've learnt something new last night. Thank You.

Goals (that I probably will never reach, but it's always good to have some)

For this coming semester:

1) Academic - pull up my CAP

2) God - hit consistent and meaningful Quiet Time time, and journal that down

3) Writing - read up more on writing techniques (which I will do as part of NM2220, actually) to improve my writing ability, and source for more good stuff for Fever Avenue

4) People - spend more quality time with special people around me, intentionally

5) Fitness - endeavor to exercise at least 3 times a week (cardio + gym in any order)

Oh, that is such a tall order.

Worry me not

It's almost impossible not to worry. Yet worry stems from our own tendency to make our own plans - which always have a chance of failing.

Trust in God's plan, and there's 0% chance of that failing. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Lean not on my understanding

Hi all! I know I said I would do a reflective post on the camp. However, I haven't found the time to really sit down and think about it, and I feel a slipshod writeup on it wouldn't do justice to it! So... it will have to wait.

For now though, here is my recent train of thought.

I have been pondering about our motivations in life. Christians, non-Christians, actually it turns out a lot of us aren't so different after all. No matter how much Christians say they would like to 'follow God's plans', it still turns out we use our own common sense and label it as 'God'. Of course, we justify it by saying that we 'feel' it's what God wants us to do. But is it, really? I really cannot tell.

One thing I do know, however - our motivation should really be to devote ourselves entirely to Him. Often, we lean on our own understanding, but we need to really trust God with all we have and do. And when I say all, I really mean ALL. No joke - entirety. It seems an impossible feat for us, sure. But I believe that's something we should all work towards.

I beg to differ from popular belief that all we do is for ourselves to improve and be more Christ-like, or all we do is for the people around us - the needy, the poor, the lost. I believe that is more of the overflow or outcome of what we do. But it should not be our motivation. Confused? I believe unequivocally that we need to do all things only and only for Jesus alone, because of our devotion and love for Him. It is something that I have only recently learnt - we do not because we can, not because we should, but because of Him.

I hope that makes sense.

Recently, I've been meaning to quit from my current place of work. I've been having a bad experience - not much to learn, not many friends, simply a drag to work there. I even made arrangements to change job as soon as I could, if I could. Yet, today was quite a big change, after we moved office. I felt I enjoyed my work a lot more due to the change. And my misery was lifted. God did something that I never expected, with my own limited common sense.


And I hope I continue to lean on His understanding rather than my own.

Post-Camp

D'Anchor BMT (Be Missionally Transformed) 2011 Youth Camp has finally come to an end - and what an exhilarating journey it has been! As part of the program planning team, I've experienced the ups and downs of the roller coaster that is the planning and execution process, and come out the other end with many lessons and thoughts in mind. I shall jot this down at a later time when I have gathered and formed out my thoughts, but regardless, I must say it was an excellent time for the youths and us as the committee alike, and I thank God for the opportunity to touch these youths' lives. :) All in all, praise God for all things that have happened and is going to happen!

Yes or No? This or That?

Yes, I'm back! After Year 1 ended, it's been a crazy ride of non-stop action in various avenues. Finally, I find a pocket of fresh air to breath in - for now, anyway.

I've been considering the whole paradigm of making a choice. Essentially, there are only two choices we need to make - yes or no. This came up as I considered my roles in my church and where I was going with them. For each, I had to ponder their continued existence in my life - yes or no?

Logically, it's an extremely difficult choice. 50-50 aren't great odds by any means. Thankfully, I can consider environmental factors. Yet, such environmental factors are tainted by bias and influence from others and upbringing. For example, I might want to continue in my role in a certain organisation because of the influence of a leader or the ideas I have been made to believe growing up in the same environment. So how do I determine if my choice is the right choice or 'right' choice?

I pondered this as I did my quiet time a few nights ago. My conclusion, two points: God has a reason and purpose for wherever you are, whatever you are doing, so essentially there is no wrong choice; with God, under no circumstances should I worry - all things work out for the good of those under His umbrella of Grace.

This doesn't make my choosing any much easier, but it does give me peace in that whatever I may choose, I am not wrong, and I should not be convinced otherwise.

Appreciation

I think in the midst of all things, it occurred to me that if you just look hard enough, you can see all the good works that God is doing day by day, minute by minute, in our lives.

You just have to look hard enough.

Charity: Water

Guys, let me introduce you to Charity: Water.



We live a blessed life in Singapore - no worries about our three meals, transportation, let alone clean water (we can drink out of taps!). Yet a lot of us choose to complain about the non-essentials - politics, inconveniences, disturbances. Meanwhile, people in Third World countries don't even get clean water. The only liquid they can get to survive contains dirt, mud, feces, even leeches that crawl back out of their throats. Can you imagine having to feed your baby that water?

This movement is extremely inspiring to me. It just goes to show that a little thought, a little money and a little innovation can go a long way in helping not just one person's life, but entire communities. If you are interested to read more, click the banner I've put up on blog on the right side. I've always had a problem in deciding what kind of career path I want to undertake. The considerations are many, but as always, selfish: money, time, prestige, comfort. I take comfort in the fact that such endeavors are possible. I hope that I could work my way to do such programmes as my job in the future.

If anyone is interested to run a project to support this cause, email me at bluesyme@gmail.com. A little goes a long way.