Word of The Day 6 September 2007

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness

Dan. 9:9

As a spring lock closes itself, but cannot be unlocked without a key, so we ourselves may run into sin, but cannot return without the key of God’s grace.

Daniel's Prayer

Today I was reading this passage, and I wonder if it speaks to you as much as it did to me.

Daniel 9

Daniel's Prayer

1 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus ^[a] (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian ^[b] kingdom- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
"Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

Word of the Day 30 August 2007

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world

1 John 2:15

If you will go to the banks of a little stream, and watch the flies that come to bathe in it, you will notice that, while they plunge their bodies into the water, they keep their wings high out of the water; and, after swimming about a little while, they fly away with their wings unwet through the sunny air. Now, that is the lesson for us. Here we are immersed in the cares and business of the world; but let us keep the wings of our soul, our faith and our love, out of the world, that, with these unclogged, we may be ready to take our flight to Heaven.

J. Inglis

We are not flies, but it works the same. hahaha

Photos of Captain Ball Friendly

The photos of our captain's ball friendly match with St Paul's Church is out!
although we only played 2 matches before God decided to give us a good bath, i'm sure we had fun that day.



Click here for more photos!

Word of the Day 26 August 2007

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him

2 Tim. 2:12

The photographer must have a negative, as he calls it, in order to furnish you with a picture. Now, the earthly cross is the negative from which the heavenly crown is to be made; the suffering and sorrow of the present time determining the glory, honor and immortality of the life to come.

A. J. Gordon

Hardman, S. G., & Moody, D. L. (1998, c1997, c1994, c1990). Thoughts for the quiet hour. Originally published: Chicago: Revell, c1990. (August 26). Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing.

Fall

I love to worship You, my God
I love to worship You, my Lord
And see Your Spirit fall in power
Your love unfolding
Gifts from heaven

I love to worship You, my God
I love to worship You, my Lord
And feel Your precious
Breath of heaven
Your all consuming love

Holy Spirit come in power
Change my heart
I want to live for You, my God
Let Your Spirit come in power
Change my life
That I may live for You my Lord
Fall on us Lord

So I yearn for You
Long to see You move
Lord, I lift my hands before my King and pray

Just Stop and Think

Courtesy of Song Lee...

Word of The Day 16 August 2007

My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness

2 Cor. 12:9

God’s way of answering His people’s prayers is not by removing the pressure, but by increasing their strength to bear it. The pressure is often the fence between the narrow way of life and the broad road to ruin; and if our Heavenly Father were to remove it, it might be at the sacrifice of Heaven. Oh, if God had removed that thorny fence in answer, often to earnest prayers, how many of us would now be castaways! How the song of many a saint now in glory would be hushed! How many a harp would be unstrung! How many a place in the mansions of the redeemed would be unfilled! If God answered all the prayers we put up to Heaven, we should need no other scourge. Blessed it is that we have One who is too loving to grant what we too often so rashly ask.

F. Whitfield

next post, sermon collection in NLW for the past month. Stay tuned....

A response from the heart

I was just looking for a song to respond my love to God when this song suddenly played on my Winamp. Guess I'll share with us all; because this song seriously brought every single response out from my heart.



诗歌名称： 仰望恩典
所属专辑： 让爱走动
所在系列： 赞美之泉系列

歌词：
每一天，每一夜
每一分钟，我仰望你的恩典
患难时，在我喜乐时
你双手领我进入你恩典

主耶稣你宝血
洗净我一切的罪孽
为我死，为我而流泪
赐给我无尽的恩典

我能有什么给你啊，能报答你付的代价
每当我定睛你十架，眼泪不禁潸然地落下
我的心不要忘记啊
他鞭伤换来新的生命啊
从此不再忧伤，不再挣扎
在耶稣怀里我有平安自由、希望

All Glory to God! and Songlee.. please remember to write the article. hahahaha

Festival of Praise!!!!

The festival of praise was a great time for us to gather and celebrate several things:

- The growing young Christian population

- The nation’s prosperity and peace

- A greater unity between the Singapore and even International Church

A festival in the OT, normally found in significant events like after a victorious war, or a construction of something grand for God, lasts for days, and is accompanied by great joy, dancing, singing, praising and basically – giving glory and thanksgiving to God for all that had happened.

Similarly today, we celebrate and give thanks for all God has provided: the reason why Don Moen fittingly started today’s proceedings with the song “Give Thanks”

However, I do realize that with the increasing number of youth population believing in Christ; amidst the celebration, we also need to educate and ensure the correct purpose is brought out.

For those who attended the Festival of Praise (FOP) for the first time, or have attended it for a few times and are unsure, or wish to discuss several issues regarding it; this article is for that purpose. To educate, discuss, clarify and ensure that a common understanding and even a correct purpose is met and delivered.

I believe it is paramount that as worshippers of the same church, we have a common understanding or sacraments, of worship, of thanksgiving, and of a festival to glorify God.

Please do not mistaken when I mean educate and discuss. Firstly, nothing is done wrongly. The intention of this festival is genuinely to glorify God, and I have no doubts over that; but there are things to learn from this episode in our lives, and more certainly, will be good if we can learn them together and understand each other before we move on to greater pastures for our God.

1. Expectations

Don Moen and Delirious? are 2 very celebrated international worship teams. I particularly enjoy Don Moen’s songs and repeatedly play them on youtube without feeling sick of it.

Phil Pringle too is a celebrated figure, and I myself subscribe to his newsletters. I like his entertaining yet enriching preaching and I certainly enjoyed listening to him live.

However, with all these excitement, all these celebrated figures attending this festival; where did our expectations before we came for this festival really lie at?

I’m not trying to suggest that we are here for these people, no. But sometimes, with an establishment of a particular event or activity, we tend to lose the purpose of the correct expectation. Did we really come here to celebrate what God has done in our lives, or to experience and encounter something different, or even to seek something we thought we could not find in our own local church, or worst still just to see these people.

It is a very dangerous area to trudge into, and fundamentally, it challenges the fact that God is omnipresent and even to the extreme extent of promoting idolatry.

2. Worship Teams

I enjoy having Don Moen leading worship because he is able to put and explain 3 components of worship into every song.

1. Encouragement

2. Verse and biblical meaning

3. Response through singing and instrumental worship

He simply is a man anointed by God for the music ministry, and I truly have no doubts more believers will be touched by God through his worship ministry.

Delirious? on the other hand is a popular evangelistic band. If you noticed, there is a significant difference of being a church music ministry worship leader and an evangelistic band worship leader.

Worship teams like planet shakers, hillsongs, Christian city church worship team are all dedicated worship ministries in their local church. There is a significant difference in delivery compared to evangelistic bands like Third Day, Delirious? to name a few.

These evangelistic bands are more “performance based”. They provide the gap between unbelievers and Christian music, evangelizing through their live’s responses via the song lyrics and their testimonies.

Therefore there might a certain culture shock when we experience Delirious?’s music for the first time. They might seem a little more like performing than worshipping, although their songs do indeed contain deep and even biblical meaning.

All in all, God works in ways we cannot see, and it is not in our ability to judge. But there is a reminder that we need to take note from this. For those performing servant artists chosen to play instruments for God or lead worship; today as we step up on stage: remember, that we should enjoy worshipping, and not enjoy performing.

3. Offering

Many churches are adopting a style of offering between the sermon and worship. And before the offering, the pastor provides a simple encouragement to the congregation, reminding them about the meaning of offering.

Many people view this as a pep talk to induce people to offer more, or to invoke the hearts of people with the word of God. The latter will be valid if the words preached indeed come from the word of God. While the former is subjective to interpretation and I reiterate our position not to judge, but to accept that God is in control.

The Pastor from Assemblies of God used Psalm 50:10-12 as a verse to encourage. It mentions that everything belongs to God, and God is not in need. He is like a rich friend that we have problem finding a birthday gift to.

He then used this story to transit from the biblical verse into his own theory: that whatever is precious to us, is precious to God. His theory and the verse he used has as little correlation as I can think of.

This statement is subjected to context interpretation and I will not discuss it. Rather, I wish to point out that from this juncture onwards, he related the third part of his preaching on this theory he conjured; treating it like it came from the bible.

A heart of discernment is something we should always pray for. But yet I do not fully agree that this is wrong. As a preacher myself, I do get misunderstood easily, and I do believe that a single message does not preach to everyone in the congregation. So I leave the teaching work to the spirit and stop this section here.

4. Speaking of tongues

Speaking of tongues is a common phenomenon in all charismatic churches. In every FOP, there will definitely be speaking of tongues. However in previous FOPs, the preacher will distant himself from the microphone while praying in tongues; this year is a little different.

Speaking of tongues was discussed by Paul to the Corinthian Churches. It is a gift from the spirit, just like any other gift that we receive from God. And the Methodist viewpoint is that not everyone will receive this gift. Just like how not everybody receives the similar gift of administration, or music.

As such, the speaking of tongues is not a necessary component is presenting our worship to God, or an ascertainment of our identity with Christ.

Also, Paul mentioned in his letters to the Corinth church, that the speaking of tongues shall be done without stumbling other brothers.

The gift of tongues is a personal intimate language spoken to praise and worship God. However, as mentioned, this personal language does not signify exclusiveness; which is what the church in Corinth is facing - a case of spiritual caste segregation because of tongues.

In this light, Paul encouraged the church to fully utilize the gift that God gave us, but not at the expense of stumbling our brothers, sisters or even newcomers in our midst. So it must be practiced with an important attribute that I will mention again: discernment from the spirit.

There are still certain issues I will love to discuss and hopefully we can learn from each other. But all in all, the festival of praise had been a great time of worshipping and I can’t help to keep thanking God for how He has really changed lives using such an incredible tool.

The sight of my brothers and sisters in Christ being touched by the spirit and weeping, lifting their hands to worship and surrendering their lives to God really encourages me. And I am convinced God will make greater use of this festival for His purpose.

I hope this article has been helpful to you in understanding and noticing certain viewpoints that might not be seen to you. We as Christians must be aware of the happenings around us, to prevent the bad from happening and to encourage the good.

All praise and glory to God. Amen!