Learning to be A Woman of Purpose

Last Saturday, together with about 200 other women, I attended the Women of Purpose conference. This is an annual women's training event to teach and encourage Christian women with God's Word. This is my 2nd time (the 1st was last year) and I was so glad I went. I left the conference spiritually encouraged, mentally challenged but physically tired.

Claire Smith (wife of Rob Smith, a talented Christian musician and song writer of many good contemporary Christian songs) spoke about the book the Jude in 2 talks in the morning. Tara Thornley (Dean of Women at Moore Theological College)  spoke about discipleship and how we can care for the women in our midst, especially 1-to-1 discipleship in reading the Bible together.

Claire is a very clear and concise speaker as she taught the book of Jude. The book of Jude was presented so thoroughly and clearly, from the history of who is Jude, why did he write this book and his audience. I was reminded of the reason that I should contend for the faith that was once entrusted to the saints, as more and more false teachers are in our midst to distract us from our love and focus on Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. The threat is not far away from us and many times we do not even realise the danger . Hence Jude writes to warn us and get our focus right.

The first thing that stood out for me was a reminder that Jesus is the ONLY Lord and Saviour. He is BOTH our Lord and Saviour. If He is only our saviour, our lives will remain unchanged post-salvation (quote: that is where we sing "Jesus is my boyfriend" type song). If Jesus is only our Lord, we only do good to obey Him but forgetting that we cannot do anything to gain salvation. Salvation is free and unconditional. We do not earn it. It is given with mercy and grace. Hence Jesus has to be both our Lord and Saviour. Does my life reflect this truth which I believe?

Time and history are important to help us press on. Time is not bigger than God. He does not change with time. It is the same Jesus who judged in the past and will judge our future. God does not change like we do. God rules over history (and the present and the future) and things happen for a reason. We must look at history in God's perspective. Everything we do on earth has an eternal consequence. With God in control over time and history, everything happens in His sovereign time and tomorrow holds no surprises for God. I must stop and think about God's sovereignity and control. All things must point to Jesus and that should dominate my life and the way I live.

Only the Lord can keep us from falling. Look out for dangers that draws us away from God. We are to keep ourselves with the love of Christ and keep on loving Him, growing in our knowledge of God's word and speak God's truth to each other. Live my life in eternity and be an active 'waiter', waiting for Jesus' promised return.

Tara spoke about discipleship which has encouraged and affirmed me why and how I disciple others. I realised that I felt it was an impossible task to disciple/read the Bible with someone ages ago. In the past 2 years, I am really privileged to be able to disciple 1-2 girls and see them grow in their love for Christ and being challenged in living out a life for Christ and not for themselves. Tara suggests that 1-to-1 discipleship really is not a difficult thing. Anyone can do it. It is just 2 persons coming together to read God's word together and learn and grow together. It has challenged me to do 1-to-1 discipleship with more than the 1 person I am doing with now... in particular, with a couple of international students whom I know of.

My life here on earth may be a long time, it may also be a short time. How and what am I doing that make things count towards the eternal Kingdom? Sometimes life may be tough, but knowing that God is sovereign and in control, whom and what shall I fear/worry?

A God Who Provides - Encouragement

2 encouraging emails - 1 in the past week, 1 was a long time ago. Both are from different people. It is not the first time I have heard of this but the sinful me needs a constant reminder...
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It is sometimes not easy to trust God, but if we really believe that God is good, we will trust him more fully. Here are some versus to help you to trust and believe God is good, and that He knows our needs and will provide for us:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Rom 8:32

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Matt 6:26

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Matt 7:9

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  Matt 7:10

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  Matt 7:11

There are many other passages in the bible that assure us of God will provide for us, knowing our needs. But it will be in His timing, as He has His reasons, good and wise reasons why now might not be the time. So, I trust Him fully, and you can too. In His time, and for reasons which we usually will see later, I have faith He will provide. If He has not given what we has asked for, it is for our benefit, reasons which we might not know or see now, but as our Father who did not spare His son for us, I can only believe that it is out of love and nothing else.
 
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Every season of life is beautiful because it is in the will of God. And we know God only wills things to happen if they glorify Him. I am thankful that God enabled you to take a long hard look at yourself and that He gave you the teachability to listen and repent. Hold fast to what you know about God, His faithfulness, His character and His love for us. Even when you feel down, I pray that you can take joy in knowing that God has 'selected' you to go through this trying time for His purposes. Maybe He is teaching you how to encourage others who may be like you.
 
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Waiting Upon The Lord

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the LORD!

For with the LORD there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

PC did this with us for devotion last week... Sometimes I cry out to the Lord like the Psalmist. Sometimes I wonder if the Lord hears me. My head tells me that He does but my heart sometimes waiver... But I rejoice and thankful that I have His Word to hope in... and the hope that He is with me and He is in total control. I may not understand why I have to wait and how long I have to wait but I trust that my good Lord knows my deepest thoughts and needs. Like how the Lord fulfilled His promises to the Israelites, so am I reminded that He is a faithful God and His love for me is steadfast and never-ending.

The Lord is good. Be joyful in all circumstances, giving thanks to our Lord. Be contented with what the Lord has given me now for this is what He reckons is good for me for now. What else can I ask for or hope for, except for spending eternity with our Father? Lord, I await for your return to bring me to a place where pain and tears are no more...

Idol of Life

Read Matthew 10 for Bible reading where Jesus sent out his 12 disciples to preach the message that the Kingdom is near and heal people. These couple of verses struck me and reminded me...

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matt 10:37-38

Also in Matthew 19 (I was reminded by J):

I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heave... it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Matt 19:23-24

I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and many who are last will be first. Matt 19:28-30

Do I love God more than anyone else in my life - my husband, my family, my friends? Do I love money, life, power, control, success, more than I love God? Reading this makes me think of some people/areas that I *may* love more than I love God... (which reminds me of last week's sermon and CG where we prayed of each other that God will reveal the areas of our lives that we sin against Him and for us to hate it, identify it and deal with it) The gauge of loving God more or [something/someone else] can be easily tested by how much we value, how we prioritise our resources like time and money.

I thank God for answering prayers and revealing to me that I have made an idol of myself or an idol of someone/something else... areas which I fail to glorify God where I take all credit to myself. Even a simple comment like "Wow, that [name of food] you made was really yum!", "Thanks for singing. I was very ministered by your singing". That naturally makes me feel good. I mean who does not like being praised (expectedly or unexpected)? BUT do I glorify God for giving me the ability to reproduce that food and do it well to serve others the food? Do I give God the glory for enabling me to sing well that it aids people's reflection of what Jesus has done for me? Isn't the purpose of my life seeking to glorify God only? I really have nothing to boast, except for Jesus Christ my Saviour.

I pray that I may wake up everyday asking myself this question: "What does it mean to deny myself and take up the Cross today?". This means making radical decisions in areas like: stay away temptation of eating food that is unhealthy to my body, exercising even when I feel tired or lazy, making wise decisions on spending the finances that God has given us, doing acts of love or acts of service when I don't feel like being nice or thinking 'you don't deserve that', loving people unconditionally, serving joyfully and faithfully behind-the-scene and not expecting men's recognition by God's approval, giving my time to people (includes praying for them when I said that I will), loving husband, family, friends when they are difficult to love, etc... May God's grace allow me to do that daily...

His Grace...

A simple song that I learnt when I was a young Christian... singing it (especially the chorus) reminds me I am God's precious and that I am drowned by His grace everyday....

Your grace is sufficient for me

Your strength is made perfect when I am weak

All that I cling to I lay at your feet

Your grace is sufficient for me

I'm no longer striving to merit your love

I rest in Your promise to me

That all of my sins have been washed in your blood

Your mercy is all that I need

You see me as righteous because of the blood

That made the atonement for me

Your mercy has triumphed where I should be judged

So now by your grace I am free

Listen to the song here.

When I panic and become restless, I am so privileged to be able to rest in His love and His promise for me. When I feel weak and helpless, His strength is made perfect.

Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I find myself difficult to say that I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. I mean, which person in all sanity would desire that? We desire blessings and good things to happen (which is not wrong) but forgetting that weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties are part of this fallen world. When they happen to us, sometimes we complain, we cry and may sometimes even ask "God, why is this happening to me?". If we think that it is God's will when we receive blessings, we need to remember that it is also God's will when we go through hardships. God allowed it to happen to us... for a reason which He knows best and we may know it later. Whatever the reason is... I think He desires for us to glorify Him even when we are weak. He wants us to remember that He alone is all-powerful, all-knowing and in total control. He knows what happened yesterday, what happened today and what will happen. In all of that, He is the King, He is sovereign, He reigns. Nothing that happens to us is outside His control, His knowing. It gives me great comfort to know that I am safe under His wings... makes me look forward to see His face when He returns...

Lord, please help me not to give up on You. May I be sufficient and contended to rest your amazing grace.

An Encouraging Testimony

A good friend was sharing with me about this man, Nick Vujicic. She showed another of his video to her 4/5 yo daughter to encourage her to not be lazy but use her hands and feet as God has given them for her use.

God loves you and He hasn't forgotten your pain, hasn't forgotten your family. Maybe when you watch this interview, you compare my suffering and your suffering and that's not where hope is, in knowing someone else, in your opinion, is suffering more than you. But that is not where hope is. Hope is in the name of God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope is when you compare your suffering with the infinite and immeasurable love and grace of God.

Isaiah 40:31 says "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will not run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I don't need my circumstances to change. I don't need arms and legs. I need the wings of the Holy Spirit. And I am flying, because Jesus is holding me up. Don't give up on God, because God will not give up on you.

I am totally moved at God's work in Nick's life, moved by His love, His power and amazing ability to enable (whom we perceive as) a handicap to be completely whole in his soul and totally glorifying God in His life.

Saved By Grace

Finally got around to do Baptism Class with Y. Since I have been following up closely with Y and her life and hubby's an elder in church, we were asked to go through some materials with Y before she gets baptised. She is probably the only one in our small church to be going through baptism before the end of the year.

This is our first time going through baptism materials with someone (hubby was baptised years ago and I was baptised in Singapore). It also seems like the basic materials that you go through with a new Christian about his/her salvation. I thought that hubby and I partnered well in our leading yesterday. Rather, it was hubby who led and I filled in, being his helper :)

It was really good to be looking through parts of the Bible that speaks of the grace and mercy of God as we understand the full gospel of Jesus Christ (his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and coming return), who He is and what He has done for us. His death on the Cross and his resurrection paid our deserved punishment of eternal death. We are therefore made righteous before God. All these are not because of what we have done or are able to do (by earning brownie points or doing good works) but purely by His grace and mercy through faith, which is a gift of God.

To quote the concluding paragraph of the discussion: "When we reflect on our salvation and recognise that it was God's prior actions that drew us to Himself, we are humbled and exult all the more over God's amazing, undeserved, and glorious grace. We realise that, in the end, the difference between ourselves and someone who is unsaved is not our own superior goodness, intelligence, spirital aptitude or anything within ourselves at all. The only difference between us and them is the mercy and grace of God." Amen!

Christ-like Humility

For a couple of days, I (and a bit of hubby too) have been rather unhappy, peeved about some people's attitude and behaviour. In a nutshell, it was the disrespectful, immature, irresponsible and unappreciative attitude of some individuals that put us off accumulatively over a few days.

We know that we should and must forgive them and pray for them, just as God forgives us time and time again as we tell Him to shoo off every so often. But being human, it is not easy to do so... only by the grace of God that I will be able to do so. Last night's bible study, I was reminded of how the person of Jesus is and what He has done for me -

Philippians 2:1-11

¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What a timely reminder for me (us) that what we do should not be for ourselves and our own interests but for the others' interests. I pray that we be humble to readily embrace God's word and live out the "Jesus attitude" so that we will not be feeling unappreciated, for we should be doing things to obtain God's approval and not men's. I must be gracious towards the people that I minister to even when they do not reciprocate it and not think "why aren't I being appreciated?" As for the disrespectful, immature and irresponsible behaviour, I could only but pray for them.... Lord, please help me to be humble and forgive, and especially to those who do not yet know You.... May our behaviour lead them to you and I pray that we have been good testimonies of You to them.

Oh, The Joys of 1-to-1 Discipleship

For the whole of last year, I had the great privilege to meet up 1 on 1 with 4 girls to study God's word and seen them grow and know Jesus more.

J

I knew J from church's fellowship group Clay. She was the first person that I approached to do 1 on 1 study with. We started to do Women of God study with monthly meetings at my place on Saturdays. From our 3rd study onwards, she brought Y to join us.

I am very encouraged to see how J learnt and benefitted from the studies. I myself had done this book years ago with M back in Singapore. I figure that it would be easier to begin with a book that I am familiar with. Through the studies and our discussion, J learnt what it means to be a woman who loves Jesus and the role of women that God has created us to be. I recalled some discussions caused J to be thinking about her views and opinions about the role of women.

J is now in Asia, quit her job and is spending this 1 year of her life to be trained and exposed to gospel work. Of course her decision to do this is not flowing from our meetings but it flowed from her love for God and sharing the Good News with others who have not heard of Jesus.

Y

Y is a fairly new and young Christian when I just got to know her. J did the series of Christianity Explained with Y and she became a Christian after that. When Y learnt that J is meeting up with me, she was keen enough to come along to join us. It was very humbling and encouraging to see how much Y thirst for God's word, how readily she fast absorb all that we learnt in the studies and how she would faithfully write down J and my prayer requests into her book so that she will remember to pray for us.

After the Women of God studies, I continued on to have a series of Bible Explained studies with Y. B.E. goes through and explains the entire theme and understanding of the Bible through 7 talks/studies by Michael Bennett. Even though I had learnt about something similar before, I thank God that I am still learning as I go through it with Y. At the end of the studies (which only ended recently), Y shared with me that through these studies, she has learnt so much about the Bible and that she now knows how to read the Bible herself. She is excited that she probably knows it more than her peers in church. However the most important thing was her confession and seeking prayers for an issue that she is struggling with and she struggles more as she grows as a Christian. I am very encouraged that her growth has prompted her to think about how she is conducting her life and she wants to (even if it is a painful decision) obey God and not displease Him with what she is doing.  This issue was something which I long ago, had thought that it was a problem but did not have the chance to speak with her about it. In the end, it was the Holy Spirit in Y working in and through her and prompted her to change. Praise the Lord!

Y is now looking into joining Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) where she hopes to settle and grow in a Bible Study group (her church's teaching is not great and she could not find a suitable group to join). Really pray and hope that she will continue to grow in her knowledge of God.

Z

Z came to our church's garage sale to buy things for her and her flatmates as they arrived in Brisbane to study. They were all from my home country. One time, Z visited church and came for the Sunday service. From our chat, I realised that she used to attend church in SG. In the end, as part of ministering to them and getting them used to Brisbane life, I offered to bring them around Sunnybank, a suburb full of Asians and Asian shopping. That was how we got to know each other more...

During Z's school holidays, I invited her to my place one Friday for lunch and to help me out making afternoon tea for the coming Sunday's service. Through our conversations, I then realised that she is not really a Christian and she was not sure if she could be one. We chatted and I tried to find out why she thinks that way. In the end, I challenged her to find out more herself by reading the Bible. 

I then offered to Christianity Explained studies with her on Sundays for about 1 hour after church service. I figured this would also make her come church more regularly. Through the weeks, Z got to understand more about who Jesus is and what He has done for her. Z has a very compassionate heart. She would also pray for me when I share with her. Even though we did not complete the CE studies (we were left with 1 last study as she left back to Malaysia/Singapore for good), I challenged her to consider what we have studied and for her to make a decision. Even though she did not really truly replied me, I know and pray that she will continue to grow in her journey of knowing Jesus. I was so moved when I saw her blog entry about me... 

S

S is a stay home mum of a 27-month boy and is expecting No 2 in September. Last year, I told S that if I manage to find part-time work, we can meet weekly and do some study together. God answered our prayers when I found my current part-time job. This allowed us to meet every Monday to go through a book (with study questions) "Disciplines of a Godly Woman". 

Although we did not end up discussing the book and its questions every week, our meetings has been ministering to her as we talk about marriage and parenthood. Even though I am not a parent yet and have been married for a much shorter time that S, I could encourage her and able to challenge her in some areas relating to marriage and parenting. Through the past few months, I could definitely see the ways that she has grown in her parenting and some aspects of marriage... all thanks to God who worked in her to cause the transformation! We still have lots to cover in the book... but even if we do not get the chance to complete it nor meet often as before, our friendship has grown and this made us closer and hopefully, able to mutually encourage and spur the other to love and good deeds.

It is so amazing to see God working in people's lives and see lives being transformed. I humbly thank God and praise Him for what He has done in the lives of these girls! I am thankful and amazed when I recall that it I do not really have the chance of meeting 1-to-1 with women in SG because of our busy schedules and my involvement in church. Thank God that I can manage to spare the time here in Brissy to do so. Even though there were some times of disappointment, tiredness, weariness, laziness, God still worked in His own ways! 

The Matthew 6 God

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus told his disciples, saying:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Elizabeth Elliot wrote in her book Keep a Quiet Heart: "We're not naturally inclined to love God and seek His Kingdom. Trouble may help to incline us - that is, it may tip us over, put some pressure on us, lean us in the right direction."

How true it is! The sinful, rebellious me is not naturally inclined to seek God. The doubtful me worries every now and then, wondering "Will God give me this? And will He give me that?" Whenever I look back in my life, I am convinced that God is my God and my provider, Lord and Saviour. But when I hit a little barrier in life, I question God again... or when I see a blessing being taken away from me recently, I also questioned God.

Quoting Elizabeth again, "I am convinced without a doubt that a loving Heavenly Father oversees the creative miracles in the inner sanctum of each mother's womb and that in His sovereignity there are no accidents."

(Referring to Deut 8:2-3, 5, 7-9)"The cause of our discontent: We simply do not believe God. The wilderness experience leads to the Promised Land. It is the path God chose for us. His Word is established forever, and He tells us in a thousand ways that His will is our peace, His choice for us will lead to fulfillment and joy and the way of transgressors is hard. Do we suppose that we could find a better way than His?... Be patient. Wait on the Lord for whatever He appoints, wait quietly, wait trustingly. He holds every minut if every hour of every day of every weel of every month of every year in His hands. Thank Him in advance for what the future holds, for He is already there."

The Yahweh God, Creator of the heavens and earth, the God who knitted me in my mother's womb, the God who knows me so intimately and deeply. He knows my every move, my every thought, my every emotion, my every being, my every need. If He clothes even the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, what more will He give me, His beloved child? In fact, He has already given us the best - Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for my sin. What more can I complain? If I trust fully that God is sovereign and that He is the the God of the past, present and future, then He is already in control. What more should I worry? What more should I fret?

Dear loving God, I know you love me deeply. Please forgive my doubtful heart and times where I doubt Your work in my life. My nature is to turn away from You. Thank you for the Holy Spirit which always point me to You and I pray that I will learn to seek Your Kingdom daily. I pray that I will trust in Your daily provisions. For You love me and will give me everything that I need. Sometimes I do not understand why certain things are not good for me to have at a certain time, please help me not to blame You nor throw tantrums at You like a little child. But instead, give me that of child-like faith to trust You and obey You. Amen.

Offensive Gospel

From today's sermon...

The gospel is offensive. We cannot prevent it from being offensive. We can only bring it across to people in a non-offensive and loving way.

In the Old Testament, Isaiah 45: 5-6 says "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other."

In the New Testament, John 14: 6 says "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

God has spoken. He has told us in His Word how He has come as incarnate Jesus Christ to save us. No one else has claimed that He is Lord God, except for Jesus Christ. What are you waiting for? Which way do you want to live?

What I Like/Don't Like About Living in Brisbane

It has been 2 weeks since I got here. Just a list of what I like and dislike about living here thus far...

Likes:

1. Shopping catalogues
2. Huge shopping malls
   
3. Fascinating variety of groceries at supermarket
4. Eating places to chill out
5. Christian radio station
6. Culture of using shopping bags (as supposed to plastic/paper bags)
7. Beautiful parks
   

Dislikes:

1. The safety of some places
   
2. People around me not speaking Singlish :p
3. Shops closed early!
   

Shopping catalogues get dumped into our mail boxes everyday. It makes me happy just to browse through them and see what's on sale and what's available :)

When I walk into the supermarkets, I am just happy to walk around and browse the products and items. And it excites me to see a huge variety and choice of food (including Asian food products) on the shelves. But I cannot say the same for boutiques and most other shops :p

I am also happy to see people using shopping bags instead of plastic/paper bags. I like to see people recycle stuff :)

My face also lights up when I see a row of big shopping brands which are located in a warehouse-like building. Just in case you think I'm on a shopping spree, I'm not :p Browsing makes me happy too :)


In the car and at home, the radio plays FM 96.5 "96Five" station. This station is mainly focused on Christian family living and there are also the usual features like news, weather reports, traffic reports and some competitions. They will play Christian songs, play sermons at certain time slots, read a Bible verse, discuss/talk about Christian life/living. Its amazing to have a radio station like this, freely played and able to reach people at large.


Over the last 2 days, I went out and had meals at places where it was really relaxing and chance to chill out (or was it that every other place here is like that? :p) Visited the huge Ikea store (as big, if not bigger than the Singapore Tampines store) 15 mins' drive away from where I stay. It was Ekka public holiday on Wednesday but the store was not crowded. This is so unlike Singapore, where many Singaporeans would crowd the Ikea stores during public holidays. Sitting outside the alfresco dining place at Ikea having my meat balls in the cool evening... its such an enjoyment :) Yesterday I had lunch with Y at Paddington. Paddington has many small cute shops and a few unique cafes. Y and I went to the Paddington Flower & Cafe where the shop front is a flower shop with beautiful fresh flowers and the back of the shop is a cafe. The cafe also features canvas paintings of flowers and they are for sale. The cafe served breakfast all day long (amidst other food) at very reasonable portions and prices.

Dining at Ikea (Logan)

Lastly I like to visit Koorong Book Store. I think I prefer the West Ryde branch at Sydney where there is a cafe in it and I can sit down for a cuppa and read some books there. Anyhow, I finally went to the branch just outside the Brisbane city and spent a good 2 hours there myself to read. Unlike the Christian bookstores in Singapore, there are comfortable sitting areas for people to sit down and even a small indoor playground for children to be kept occupied with. Isn't it family-friendly?

So what is it that I dislike? There are apparently some places where it is not safe to drive and park there at night. This means that some parks are maybe not that safe to go to at night. And if I were to go to places at night, I won't feel safe to be walking in the dark streets by myself. Even alone at home at night makes me a bit paranoid. I think I am used and really appreciate the general safety in Singapore...

Shops close early here. Most of them close 4-5pm. Every Thursday is late night shopping, and it means some shops extend their hours to 6pm? 8pm? Good thing is that supermarkets close at 9pm. They only close slightly earlier like 7pm on Sundays. So this means that if I need something at night, I won't be able to get them that easily...

And yah lor, I need to get used to people here who don't speak Singlish!! Good thing I can some daily dosage of it with W :p

The Unheeded Christ

I know I have been MIA (missing in action) for quite some time... in fact slightly more than 3 months. Give me some time, I will update and write a little more :)

Attended church camp last week. This is probably my last camp for some years to come :( Other than year 2000 where I was in Macau for a missions trip, I have been faithfully going church camps every year. This means that I have attended 7 church camps, out of which I was serving in the organising committee for... 6 years! Wow! Time flies!!

Don't know if its because of the above reason, this year's camp was really good for me. But I think more so because the theme talks (by David Cook) were very good - succinct, practical and challenging. Love your enemies, counting treasures in heaven and not on earth, how I have been living out the life of a believer of Jesus Christ, how I must live a radical life...

I shall leave more thoughts on another post. I encourage you to go download the talks to listen to. You can download them from HERE.

Qualities A (Godly) Woman Should Possess

I cannot remember where I read this but I had taken note of them quite some time back. Basically these are qualities that apparently would be appealing to men :)

Women: Take note! :P

Men: Is this true??

(Not in any particular order of importance....)

• Feminine
• Affirmative Encourager
• Tenderness
• Sensitive
• Vulnerable
• Contented
• Secure in the Lord
• Can handle adversity
• Quietly courageous
• Maternal
• Gentle & quiet spirit

Whether the above is totally true or not (it may be subjective to some men), in the Bible there are some verses which tells us how Christians / godly women ought to behave / to look like:

(Prov 31:30) Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

(1 Peter 3:1-4) Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

(Eph 4:2) Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

(Gal 5:22) The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

(Col 3:12) Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

(Titus 2:4-5) and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

(1 Tim 3:11) In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

(1 Tim 2:9-11) I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.

Reflections on Love

I have been talking, evaluating and reflecting with the leaders of one of the ministries I serve in.... about the past year, about its members, about ourselves as leaders, about the coming year. Not sure if this is a valid reason or it is merely an excuse, sometimes I feel tired of giving... giving of my time and efforts to people and sometimes would entertain thoughts of "How come I am not receiving?" Sometimes I would 'take a break' and just spend time by myself, doing the things I enjoy to do, catch up with old friends that I've not met for some time... generally taking a 'back seat' in ministry and service.

As I search myself, I realised how selfish and unloving I have been. Do I serve for a personal agenda or purely simply serving the God who loves me? Who gets the glory for the things that I do? Am I motivated to please God or please man? Have I really love God and therefore love His people? If I truly love His people, how can I ever get tired? The imperfect me know that I don't have 100% right motive to serve God, 100% glory all to God, 100% to please God, 100% love His people. I guess I was reminded of the finite me, the sinful me and how I am living under God's rule of my life and God's grace to enable me to live my life. Therefore I need to surrender to Him daily, trusting Him to provide, loving this God who saved me, loving His people whom He love, serving with a servant heart. Not easy I must say... but I thank God that in the midst of the reflections, I have recognised this. I pray that He will help me love His people... help me be other-person-centred. I thank God for a renewed and refreshed heart and mind to serve Him as this new year unveils.

It was probably no coincidence that the first sermon of the year was about LOVE. Pastor spoke from 1 Corinthians 13 - the popular Bible passage on love. Although many couples picked this passage for their weddings, it has almost really nothing to do with romantic love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-4 - "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

The people in the city of Corinth had been engrossed in self love, self ambition and self glory. They will give up everything to gain all that at all costs. Paul questioned the gifts that the Corinthians have.... if they exercise the gifts that they have but have not love, they gain nothing and are nothing. The activity of the gift becomes valueless if there is no love.

Ministries done without love equals to nothing. Pastor also added that the love is an unspectacular, unrecognised and unnoticed love. Ministries done with love often go unnoticed and unrecognised. Does it mean that we give up serving? This hit home the point of my earlier reflection as I serve God in my ministry... if the love shown in the time I spend for the people is not recognised and appreciated by them, do I just give up loving them? If they do not respond, do I just give up on them? Jesus did not give up on the people when people ridicule him, persecute him and nail him on the Cross. He did not give up on his disciples when they betray him and deny him. So what am I doing with the people whom I claim to serve?

Pastor also spoke a bit about weddings and marriages... The groom will wait patiently for the longest time for his bride to arrive on the wedding day. But after that day, will he always wait patiently for his wife and not dread at every opportunity to have to wait for her? Weddings are celebrated in a spectacular manner, but marriage is really not so spectacular and romantic... but day to day and ordinary living. Love is unspectacular, unrecognised and unnoticed.

1 Corinthians 13:5-8 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."

What strikes me about the above verses was that patience is long-suffering. Long-suffering means an active decision not to retaliate. How difficult that is to do!!! To be kind is sometimes, to be paying back wrong with kindness. It is not just the willingness but also the 'quickness' to pay back with kindness. This does not mean that we do not hurt when others wronged us. It only means that the hurt does not matter anymore... this is "love is kind".

God has commanded us to love one another. By displaying the kind of love in 1 Corinthians 13, others will be able to see that we are God's people. I pray that I can continue to love His people....