When the world has fallen out from under me,
I'll be found in You, still standing.
I've been so tired. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. That would be the best way to describe what I'm feeling now and probably all the way until 'O's are over. But despite that, God's been faithful - as always, and I'm so grateful for that.
Why I'm so tired physically--
FRIDAY
- School ended at 2+ pm
- Lunch at DhobyXchange: Chicken rice! <3
- Showered at home
- Immediately went to ACJC for the Hearts Aflame conference
- Supper ended at 11.25pm
- Rushed home with Esther and Jed
- Reached home at 12+ am
- Slept at 1am
SATURDAY
- Woke up at 6am
- Speech Day in school, ushering duty
- Learning Festival
- Lunch with friends at Shaw house Cathay
- Tuition at Bishan
- Hearts Aflame at ACJC
- Dinner with Elliot, Andrew and other YMers
- Plenaries
- Went home with Sam
- Showered when I reached home
- Watched Step Up 2 with my parents on mom's computer
- Slept at 12+ am
SUNDAY
- Woke up at 8am
- Whole body aching with tiredness
- Barred entry into the hall, thus sat outside since my muscles were killing me
- WORSHIP! Energised again
- Sermon by Dr Gunther Mueller
- Cried & cried & cried
- Prayed & prayed & prayed
- Lunch with Jia Cheng
- Nap in 806
- Bought Java Chip frappucino & a banana muffin from Starbucks at Cathay
- Chatted with Tricia and Ryan
- Napped again, from 3-6pm
Therefore, I am relatively awake now.
As I wait at the outer courts
Walking in to seek my Lord
Hearts Aflame was really great. I'm so glad I went, despite it tiring me out. The lessons I've learnt has been so real and made an impact on me. All I can say is that if you didn't come, you had really missed out. Hopefully, you can get some friends who have the workshop and plenary notes to lend you.
And as I go past the inner gates
I hear angels singing praise
But I've come online tonight to blog about today (Sunday).
Dr Gunther Mueller had come to speak for our evangelical service today. Basically, the whole point of His sermon was about the very being of Jesus - His radical proclamation of being God demands our attention and wholehearted devotion. How explosive that claim is! And no, I didn't throw my brain away to follow Jesus. It's this very thing that had stripped me bare, brought me down. It's as if my eyes have suddenly been unveiled and I found God's true self again. His completely whole, perfect person. (You don't know how being whole alone brings Him above all of us. Who can confidently claim to be whole? We've all lost ourselves in one way or another, or haven't found what we're living for. Until then, we'll always be empty - or what many who don't believe in God think, "My life is good enough for me, I have no complaints." We don't realise we're meant for more than mediocre lives.)
I now truly understand the meaning of, "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see."
Who is your Destiny?
Dr Gunther Mueller
- What are you thinking (sinking) about? (A video on miscommunication between a sinking ship and the German Coast Guard)
What weighs down in your life?
- Survey - Christians at 18 years old: By the time they are 28 years old, 80% are no longer christians
- Personal journey of Gunther Mueller
Had to perform well to gain parents' love
Performing well = doing things to gain acceptance
His friends seeking drugs to have something to belong to
People want to matter - but the things they do to achieve that ends up killing them
- His lecturer asks him, "Why do you insist on throwing your brain away to follow Jesus?"
- Job interview with Jesus (video)
- What Jesus says he is
John 7-8 (Feast of Tabernacles)
Jewish feast that was mandatory to attend
People came from all around
Living God is present and dwells among His people
- Scripture read at the Festival
Deut 6:4
Psalm 46
Isaiah 41:4 "I am He"
Isaiah 43:10 "I am He"
Isaiah 46:4 "I am He"
- HIGH POINT - Song of Moses (Deut 32:39)
" See now that I, I am He!
There is no god besides me."
- I AM HE
(Hebrew) Ani hu
(Greek) Ego eimi
- I am He - The debate with Jesus
John 8:24 "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am He."
John 8:28 "So Jesus said, " When you lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He."
John 8:58 "Before Abraham was born, I am!" (Then Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus)
Jesus said the SACRED PRONOUN!
- Who are you?
John 10:30-34 (Stoning Jesus not for his good works, but for blasphemy)
John 18:3-6 (Soldiers so used to fall to the ground upon hearing the sacred pronoun, "I am He" - they fell before Jesus although they were armed and Jesus was not)
Mark 14:60-63 (Beating Jesus up for blasphemy, for claiming that he is God)
- Quote from C.S. Lewis
If you had gone to Buddha and asked him, 'Are you the son of Brahma?'
He would have said, 'My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.'
If you had gone to Muhammad and asked, 'Are you Allah?'
He would first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off.
If you had asked Confucius, 'Are you Heaven?'
He would have probably replied, 'Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste.'
See how daring Jesus' claim is? "I am He."
- Given who he says he is, he has the right to our lives
For those who had actually met Jesus...
Response #1: They hated him
Response #2: They were terrified of him
Response #3: They loved him
NO MILD APPROVAL!
Why our schools are like this is because when they see us christians, they see mild approval, which means death.
- Because of all these reasons, I didn't throw away my brain to follow Jesus.
The reason why I kept on crying was, I think, because I realised I'd been trying too hard to snatch that book of my life away from God and furiously scribbling nonsense in it. I couldn't seem to completely stop crying. My sobbing would cease for a while, I'd catch my breath, but the tears would come bubbling up again after hearing the lyrics of the songs being sung. While trying to tell Tricia what I'll be telling you next, I choked halfway and began to cry again.
And then I see the glory of my King
I stand amazed, I begin to praise
Jean prayed for me. She thought that I was committing my life to God for the very first time as I was sitting in the area where that category of people were supposed to go, so there were some things in her prayer that was more commonly attributed to new Christians. But it was precisely that that had struck me - my walk with God isn't as mature as I like to think it is. I'll always be His child, His little baby; constantly cuddled in His safe, strong arms. A baby, just like someone who newly accepts Christ. Although I have come a long way since I first accepted Christ into my life, I've come (again) to the point where the things of this world have blinded me from His love, His majesty. How majestic indeed, is His name in all the earth.
Such lovely wonder,
Such majesty
So many things have been on my mind lately, and I had been slowly sinking under that huge burden on my heart. I don't recall it occurring to me that Jesus had already endured it all.
I want to be like Jesus, and I do have His strength. He'd endured it with God's strength, and so can I. :)
Awesome power
Is in this place
I've been so tired. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. That would be the best way to describe what I'm feeling now and probably all the way until 'O's are over. But despite that, God's been faithful - as always, and I'm so grateful for that.
Why I'm so tired physically--
FRIDAY
- School ended at 2+ pm
- Lunch at DhobyXchange: Chicken rice! <3
- Showered at home
- Immediately went to ACJC for the Hearts Aflame conference
- Supper ended at 11.25pm
- Rushed home with Esther and Jed
- Reached home at 12+ am
- Slept at 1am
SATURDAY
- Woke up at 6am
- Speech Day in school, ushering duty
- Learning Festival
- Lunch with friends at Shaw house Cathay
- Tuition at Bishan
- Hearts Aflame at ACJC
- Dinner with Elliot, Andrew and other YMers
- Plenaries
- Went home with Sam
- Showered when I reached home
- Watched Step Up 2 with my parents on mom's computer
- Slept at 12+ am
SUNDAY
- Woke up at 8am
- Whole body aching with tiredness
- Barred entry into the hall, thus sat outside since my muscles were killing me
- WORSHIP! Energised again
- Sermon by Dr Gunther Mueller
- Cried & cried & cried
- Prayed & prayed & prayed
- Lunch with Jia Cheng
- Nap in 806
- Bought Java Chip frappucino & a banana muffin from Starbucks at Cathay
- Chatted with Tricia and Ryan
- Napped again, from 3-6pm
Therefore, I am relatively awake now.
As I wait at the outer courts
Walking in to seek my Lord
Hearts Aflame was really great. I'm so glad I went, despite it tiring me out. The lessons I've learnt has been so real and made an impact on me. All I can say is that if you didn't come, you had really missed out. Hopefully, you can get some friends who have the workshop and plenary notes to lend you.
And as I go past the inner gates
I hear angels singing praise
But I've come online tonight to blog about today (Sunday).
Dr Gunther Mueller had come to speak for our evangelical service today. Basically, the whole point of His sermon was about the very being of Jesus - His radical proclamation of being God demands our attention and wholehearted devotion. How explosive that claim is! And no, I didn't throw my brain away to follow Jesus. It's this very thing that had stripped me bare, brought me down. It's as if my eyes have suddenly been unveiled and I found God's true self again. His completely whole, perfect person. (You don't know how being whole alone brings Him above all of us. Who can confidently claim to be whole? We've all lost ourselves in one way or another, or haven't found what we're living for. Until then, we'll always be empty - or what many who don't believe in God think, "My life is good enough for me, I have no complaints." We don't realise we're meant for more than mediocre lives.)
I now truly understand the meaning of, "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see."
Who is your Destiny?
Dr Gunther Mueller
- What are you thinking (sinking) about? (A video on miscommunication between a sinking ship and the German Coast Guard)
What weighs down in your life?
- Survey - Christians at 18 years old: By the time they are 28 years old, 80% are no longer christians
- Personal journey of Gunther Mueller
Had to perform well to gain parents' love
Performing well = doing things to gain acceptance
His friends seeking drugs to have something to belong to
People want to matter - but the things they do to achieve that ends up killing them
- His lecturer asks him, "Why do you insist on throwing your brain away to follow Jesus?"
- Job interview with Jesus (video)
- What Jesus says he is
John 7-8 (Feast of Tabernacles)
Jewish feast that was mandatory to attend
People came from all around
Living God is present and dwells among His people
- Scripture read at the Festival
Deut 6:4
Psalm 46
Isaiah 41:4 "I am He"
Isaiah 43:10 "I am He"
Isaiah 46:4 "I am He"
- HIGH POINT - Song of Moses (Deut 32:39)
" See now that I, I am He!
There is no god besides me."
- I AM HE
(Hebrew) Ani hu
(Greek) Ego eimi
- I am He - The debate with Jesus
John 8:24 "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am He."
John 8:28 "So Jesus said, " When you lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He."
John 8:58 "Before Abraham was born, I am!" (Then Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus)
Jesus said the SACRED PRONOUN!
- Who are you?
John 10:30-34 (Stoning Jesus not for his good works, but for blasphemy)
John 18:3-6 (Soldiers so used to fall to the ground upon hearing the sacred pronoun, "I am He" - they fell before Jesus although they were armed and Jesus was not)
Mark 14:60-63 (Beating Jesus up for blasphemy, for claiming that he is God)
- Quote from C.S. Lewis
If you had gone to Buddha and asked him, 'Are you the son of Brahma?'
He would have said, 'My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.'
If you had gone to Muhammad and asked, 'Are you Allah?'
He would first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off.
If you had asked Confucius, 'Are you Heaven?'
He would have probably replied, 'Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste.'
See how daring Jesus' claim is? "I am He."
- Given who he says he is, he has the right to our lives
For those who had actually met Jesus...
Response #1: They hated him
Response #2: They were terrified of him
Response #3: They loved him
NO MILD APPROVAL!
Why our schools are like this is because when they see us christians, they see mild approval, which means death.
- Because of all these reasons, I didn't throw away my brain to follow Jesus.
The reason why I kept on crying was, I think, because I realised I'd been trying too hard to snatch that book of my life away from God and furiously scribbling nonsense in it. I couldn't seem to completely stop crying. My sobbing would cease for a while, I'd catch my breath, but the tears would come bubbling up again after hearing the lyrics of the songs being sung. While trying to tell Tricia what I'll be telling you next, I choked halfway and began to cry again.
And then I see the glory of my King
I stand amazed, I begin to praise
Jean prayed for me. She thought that I was committing my life to God for the very first time as I was sitting in the area where that category of people were supposed to go, so there were some things in her prayer that was more commonly attributed to new Christians. But it was precisely that that had struck me - my walk with God isn't as mature as I like to think it is. I'll always be His child, His little baby; constantly cuddled in His safe, strong arms. A baby, just like someone who newly accepts Christ. Although I have come a long way since I first accepted Christ into my life, I've come (again) to the point where the things of this world have blinded me from His love, His majesty. How majestic indeed, is His name in all the earth.
Such lovely wonder,
Such majesty
So many things have been on my mind lately, and I had been slowly sinking under that huge burden on my heart. I don't recall it occurring to me that Jesus had already endured it all.
I want to be like Jesus, and I do have His strength. He'd endured it with God's strength, and so can I. :)
Awesome power
Is in this place