Benjamin

EPIC Surprise for Giffologie

2012-02-15T00:00:00.004+08:00

The Story of the EPIC Surprise...

13 Feb 2012
630pm- Advance Party meet up at Holland V, Starbucks.

700pm- Final rehearsals & plans of first meet up.

720pm- Update of Andrew Lai spotting Gifford on bus at Ion on the way to Holland V.

730pm- Advance Party set up surprise at Crystal Jade 2nd Level.

740pm- Ben meet's Gifford outside Mrt...
Talk abit like where you wanna eat...

742pm- Gifford saw Tao Han & Jolyn talking. Approach them in "surprise"...

(Skit) *I was trying to control my smile when we bump into the...

Ben/Gifford: Hey what you all doing here?

Tao Han/Jolyn: Was discussing the mission trip with Jolyn, how about you all what you all doing here.

Ben/Gifford: Wanted to just catch up for dinner.

Ben: Where you all eating?

*Taohan acts like how his always disturbing Jolyn... *Akwardness* for awhile
(I was trying to control, as it seems so "fake" the whole skit)

Tao Han: We are going the crystal jade xiao long pao buffet.

Jolyn: Oh yea Gifford you havent eat xiao long pao before right???

Gifford: Err Yea...

Ben: Rmb last time our small grp wanted to go here but was full! Lets join them for dinner then! :)

We walk in to crystal jade, walk up to the 2nd floor...

*Gifford eyes grew bigger... As he saw a bunch of colourful words in the table at the far end...

*EVERYONE- SURPRISEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

MISSSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!

*Phew that was so close! Cldn't believe gifford didnt see thru our lousy acting! hahah!

13 Feb- The EPIC Surprise

SUPRISEEEE!

The Decoy's!

See Jolyn & Mavis hand merge into one???

14 Feb- Farewell at the Aiport!

IAD Coursemates!

God's Clay

ALPHA Dinners

2012-02-12T00:18:00.000+08:00

Had a good exposure of the ALPHA Course for the first time this week! In fact had 2 Alpha dinners in 3 days!

First was on 7 Feb, when I invited my primary school friend Nicholas, to the Alpha Introduction Dinner at YMCA, rooftop. Where a couple of my colleagues, Alicia & Wanlin invited a friend each too.

7 Feb- Wesley Alpha Introduction Dinner

Nicky Gumble Sharing!

9 Feb- Alpha Partner's Dinner

Dinner at Fullerton Hotel

Some of the life testimonies about Alpha that day!

The main course!

Love the metallic plate display of the chocolates.

The young attendees of the Alpha Partner's dinner :)

A Dream becoming a Reality

2012-02-07T00:10:00.000+08:00

3 Feb, Friday, woke up in the morning remembering one of the most vivid dreams ever. And not only that it involved people whom I knew. It was a scene of someone approaching me in this "theatre" like place with a lot of chairs. He came to me and we started talking abt a deep issue that he was going through. Another scene in the same dream occurred with me talking to him again...And it was very clear that I needed to talk to this person about a particular issue.

5 Feb, couple days later, it actually happened in real life. And looking back, it was an assurance that God do reveal to us His purposes through dreams. This person did approach me. And we talk in a row of chairs, "like in a theatre" setting. And as I talk to this person, God just revealed verses to me to share with him and everything that needed to be said had been said.

The Coffee Daily!

2012-02-03T00:25:00.003+08:00

Found this amazing new Cafe at The Coffee Daily, Brighton Crescent in Serangoon Gardens! Just a short 5mins drive down from my place!

Spend my lovely Sabbath with the Lord at this table! =)

A nice Roasted Almond Latte & a good book to start the afternoon! :)

Spend 2 hours doing the next topic on Covenant. Took 3mths to do a similar topic in precept! And now doing this in 1 week! Spend an amazing time reading Abraham & Sarah's story from Ch 12-23. =)

Ended the afternoon meeting up with a couple of TMC youth workers here, as we shared ministry tips & just catching up with one another. :)

Ended the night meeting some old st.gabriel's mate at the Lenas Restaurant at NEX.

Salmon Pasta at Lenas Restaurant at NEX!

Watch out for spiritual idleness

2012-02-03T00:14:00.006+08:00

Came back from the third session of Disciple 1 on the Topic of Sin. And it left me in deep thought about the condition of what SIN can do to us.

SIN, is not an act, but a condition where we are "inherently sinful".

Romans 3:10-11

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹ there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.

This part extracted from Mag's blog,
"Spiritual idleness. When we think we have reached a spiritual high. When we think we are there; walking right with God. Then we let our guard down. At the least expected moment, we give in to our sinful nature. Fall from glory.

King David, the man after God’s own heart. He won battles a-many; all seemed well between him and God. Then he let his guard down by sleeping in one day; it let to one sin which eventually leading him to laid with Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. He tried to cover up. And he fell from glory.

And it all started from just one small mis-step of spiritual idleness."

This really resonated in my heart, as I do know that i'm currently enjoying where I am, at a state of being comfortable at what i'm doing. And it scares me, that I may get too overly complacent and one day make one mis-step of being spiritually idle and fall like how David fell.

"Dear Lord, I pray that I can live a daily life of TRUE BROKENNESS, where i'm in a daily surrender submitting my will under the Authority of God. Being obedient to Him and truly dying to myself daily! Amen."
Please pray alongside with me on this!

Extreme COLD & HOT yet lovely sunday!

2012-01-30T00:09:00.002+08:00

Just spend one of the best fellowship sundays with my sec 4 youths today! After 4 years of trying out various places and things to do! Today we actually had a super great time just spending 2 hrs in a -10 degrees place at SNOW CITY!!! It was like my childhood dream which my youths helped me fulfilled it today! :)

Love this GEL's! :)

After that headed to the HOT SUNNY Fort canning park for Wesley Tchoukball Training! As we geared up the intensity of our training as we prepare for Crossroad Tchoukball league 2012! =)

Wonderful day spend with an old friend!

2012-01-27T12:09:00.004+08:00

Spend a frutiful off day with my very old primary school good friend Nicholas aka my "twin brother"... not sure if he will read this post, but I truly believe it's a divine appointment for us to meet up yesterday, as the week before when he randomly sms me if we wld like to meet up, I was already planning to meet up with him soon!

We have known each other for 12-13 years already, and he knows i'm a devout christian & always we meet up I will end up sharing my Faith to him. Yet again I truly believe this meet up is still yet another divine appointment for it. This time prepared abit more before meeting him, decided to pass him some christian materials to give to him! Had a good chat with him over prata at serangoon gardens before we had an awesome game of tennis at Burghley Drive at Serangoon Gardens. After that continue our chat about the existence of God at a cafe nearby. And wells, really believe God is not yet done with him! Nick if your reading this, really hope you can at least make it for the Alpha course intro dinner on 7 feb! I'm sure that can answers most of the questions you threw at me yesterday! =)

After meeting nicholas, spend a really awesome time alone at the park below my house, doing Disciple and reading an awesome book "Jesus Driven Ministry".. sat there till 7pm and did my last 2.4km run round my estate! And phew did it in 9.40mins! now all ready for my IPPT this saturday at 730am! Pray for me! =)

COURAGEOUS! Most Inspiring movie of the year!

2012-01-17T01:32:00.003+08:00

Honor Begins at Home

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Hayes, David Thomson, and Shane Fuller are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.

While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they're quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark.

When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children?

Filled with action-packed police drama, COURAGEOUS is the fourth film from Sherwood Pictures, the moviemaking ministry of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. Viewers will once again find themselves laughing, crying, and cheering as they are challenged and inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children.

Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That's courageous.

Just watched this movie with a bunch of fellow ymers and friends and feel so INSPIRED! Ready to be that Man after God's heart impacting many after watching this movie! =)

International Sports Leadership Training Camp (ISLT) Level 1

2012-01-16T00:11:00.003+08:00

Spend a memorable 4 days 3 nights with this awesome group of people from different churches & denominations who have this common interest of a great Love for God & Sports! And that was what united us all as we went spend those days interacting with one another! Reading God's word, playing all kind of games, sports , amazing sessions, discussions on leadership, sports & the bible!

One of my biggest take away is just interacting and having spiritual conversations with this bunch of awesome people! Just hearing out the various issues in their life & praying with some of them has certainly assured my purpose being here and coming our fresh from this camp really renewed my vision in sports ministry that there's this larger global network WORLD WIDE of like-minded people who want to impact the world for Christ through sports!

Day 1

ISLT Schedule from 11- 14 Jan 2012!

Some cool ice breaker game!

Sports ministry map!

Day 2

7am- Fall in for a 20mins morning prayer run!

Love the beautiful rainbow here in our morning prayer run!

Gospel sharing with a Jacob's tin cover

Frisbeee 101!

(Ngiap Tai shared a very nostalgic story of his time coaching st.gabs sec sch! Those were the good old days! The pictures showed our south zone winnings!)

Day 3

7am- Morning Devotion by Sara

Mad rush back to Emmanuel house, and had a intense session of the 2 way to live booklet they using now!

The 2 ways to live gospel presentation which we had to memorize 100% before we can pass! Spent an entire 6hrs plus just trying to memorize so much verses!)

The 2 ways to live gospel presentation which we had to memorize 100% before we can pass! Spent an entire 6hrs plus just trying to memorize so much verses!

The last supper!

Day 4

Will kinda miss this place & the people! ISLT 2012 (Jan)

Collecting the cert from Ngiap Tai the Convener for SCS

Follow up of ISLT with Wesley YM Tchoukball comm team!

Wesley YM Tchoukball team session on sunday!

Wesley Tchoukball at Fort Canning!

More Photo album of ISLT Camp 2012 -Level 1(jan)

International Sports Leaders Training(ISLT) Lvl 1 Camp-2012 (Jan)

Exciting Weekend! 2 awesome parties!

2012-01-09T11:38:00.002+08:00

7 Jan 2012- Sarah's Farewell Party!

Sarah's farewell speech before she departs to Switzerland for her studies!

8 JAN 2012- YM Service! Pre-NS talk!

One of the largest YA CT ever! Uncle Sam teaching on heaven & hell

YM PRE-NS TALK 2012

(My lovely Panel who so voluntarily shared their experiences! )

i) CPL (NS) Elliot Chiam
ii)3SG Jotham Lim
iii)3SG(NS) Paul Ooi
iv) 3SG(NS) Lin Xunliang
v) 2LT Adriel Gweevi) LTA(NS) Benjamin Lau

We ended the session where Ps Raymond & Rev Ivan Tan together with the panel prayed for all the pre-enlistees...this is also to signify as they are "COMMISSIONED" by God to be that Shinning Light for Christ in the army!

Dennis's 21st Birthday Party- BREAKFAST IN BED!

(Thank God for this amazing guy dennis! Whom i first got to know in YM Camp 2007 when he was in my camp group! And since then he has grown up & been transformed to a fine young man after God's Heart! =)

Post New Year Activities!!!

2012-01-07T01:19:00.004+08:00

31 Dec 2011

INA CAMP GROUP GATHERING @MINDS CAFE

YM last Tchoukball Pick up game for the year!

GEL & MUSIC Ysg post new year lunch together!

(YM own post watch night prayer worship! Where God just brought together so many youths to worship & and pray for one another)


(Sam's Surprise birthday!) 2 Jan 2012

(Breakfast with my god brothers!)


(Camp Comm 2011 Afterglow gathering...Wanlin, Diana not in this picture, Ben taking photo)

God's Clay Retreat 2012 (4-5 Jan)

Dinner at Holland Village!

Beautiful Cavelodge!

5 Jan 2012

(YA/YM DISCIPLE 1- First ever pioneer YM/YA grrp to this this onwards!)

New Year Resolutions 2012

2012-01-03T01:31:00.002+08:00

New Year Resolutions for 2011...
1. To grow CLOSER and MORE DEEPER and SPIRITUALLY with the Lord (Definitely!)
2. To go into FAITH adventures with the Lord where i have never been before! (Certainly Have)3. To reach out to at least 15 friends! (Possibly? One received Christ! :) )
4. To get a Driving License! (YES! =) )
5. At least get a B grade for my Company Tactics Course (CTC) (Passed it? =P)
6. To spend more time with my sec 3 grp (G.E.L) , and to bring them closer to the Lord & plan a small grp retreat for them! (Could have done better =/)
7. To take my first step into full time ministry in church!(Did that by starting working in Church as a Youth Worker)

8. To see the Tchoukball ministry in Wesley Ym grow! (Certainly has!)
9. To see my small grp God's Clay growing closer together & deeper through the Word. (Certainly!)10. To continue to live each day with the JOY OF THE LORD! =) (YESSSS)

My goal of the year 2011 would be...
" I want to live my life WORTHILY of my Calling for Christ!"

New Year Resolution for 2012
1. To go into FAITH adventures with the Lord where I have never been before!

2. To spend more time with my sec 4 youths (G.E.L), plan a small grp retreat with them!

3. To read the entire bible cover to cover!

4. To complete the 9 months DISCIPLE 1 course!

5. To go Hillsong Conference 2012

6. To get IPPT Gold!

7. To reach out to at least 10 friends

8. To mentor & disciple (Peer leaders,other members in
small group & YM)

9. To be exposed to more social outreaches. (To the
least,lost & last)

10. To continue to live each day with the JOY OF THE LORD! =)

YM CAMP 2011! -SHINE FORTH- Light Up The World

2011-12-25T23:17:00.016+08:00

"To go into FAITH adventures with the Lord where i have never been before!"- One of my main new year resolution for 2011 on 1 Jan 2011.

In the beginning process of playing camp, God reminded me to re-look into the calling that He has called me. Dated back on 7 October 2008 at a Campus Crusade World wide day of prayer meeting. This was what was He impressed on my heart on that very day, “To reach out to the world, by starting with equipping the people in the church to prepare them for outreach to the World.”

And now YM Camp 2011 is over, and going in to the year 2012, where the YM theme is following up on SHINE FORTH: Light Up The World...its like a glimpse of that vision really coming true?

Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

YM CAMP 2011! -SHINE FORTH- Light Up The World has certainly been my most memorable YM Camp since God transformed my life in my first camp in 2005. It started with a huge learning curve since being tasked to lead this camp in early January 2011. However, nothing beats the fulfilling process just learning on the job & seeing God's hand leading us throughout the year as we planned for this 10th milestone YM Camp & largest camp of 390 campers!

(YM Camp Committee 2011! :)

I'm so grateful for my camp committee for being able to share this fulfilling process planning camp together! They have truly beared with me through the countless meetings along the way! Will always remember the EXCITING first few weeks when God revealed to us the Camp theme verse & theme so strongly to us! Yet also the tense meetings we had just deciding on the group names alone! And also the many productive afternoon meetings with Ps Raymond just brainstorming on ideas for the Night or prayer & Covenant service where God just change our plans when camp came! But on hindsight, would not be exposed to so many elements of prayer without those brainstorming sessions!

All in all, its truly been one fulfiling enjoyable process of planning camp and have truly learnt so much working with different people of different personalities, working styles & believe have grown one of my weaker spiritual gift of administration pretty much too.

Yet there are so many others I really need to thank for! With Paul, bobby, Ps Ivan & Mag working together to come out with a really awesome YM CAMP theme song, which eventually won the First Prize for the best song at the Truthmin Song writing project the "Even the Rocks Cry Out 2",and all the sub ministry that worked so hard leading towards camp!And many who so willingly volunteered to help before, during & even when camp ended where they stayed behind to do all the packing!

Flash back of the year prior to YM Camp 2011...

Having said all this, below are some amazing revelations from God before Camp, which can now openly share since camp has past & God has fulfilled to those visions!

God's hand in finding our Camp Speaker (Feb to April)

Spend many hours in my weekend duties in camp, listening to audio sermons online from different preachers all over Singapore in search of the right speaker for camp! And after long time seeking God! God prepared for us the right speaker Ps Daniel Chua, after meeting him on 2 April 2011 where there & then he agreed to speak for our ym camp, committing this as the only camp in 2011 he will be speaking at after spekaing to many camps in previous years.

Below are the amazing accounts of how we narrowed down to Ps Daniel chua after going through so many various preachers! And God just confirmed it in such divine ways!

Conversation with the Lord about YM Camp all the way back in 20 Feb 2011, during a weekend duty in camp, waiting on the lord for His vision & the specific speaker for camp!

Facebook conversations with 2 different people at around the same time...

Conversation with a friend who knew Ps Daniel Chua whose name pop up to me during my prayer time, & I didn't really know who he was prior to this...

My heart was in excitment when God confirmed by this reply by Ps Andy Lim...

Few days later, without mentioning Ps Daniel's name to Ps Andy. God just confirmed through him with just a general description of the kind of preacher I was looking for.

23 Feb 2011

A Schematic vision of YM Camp 2011, which I only shared with Wanlin on 23 Feb 2011. Didn't really share this "plan" with the camp comm as didn't want to narrow what camp wld be like so early in the year. But somehow God's Sovereignty did carry it through so similarly to that plan!

3 April 2011

God's Divine revelations of the Camp Theme

YM Camp 2011 Theme Story

YM Camp Theme Verse which was highlighted in this supposedly clean bible from Mag's bible!

Dec 6 - 13 Dec 2011

Conversation with the Lord prior to YM Camp 2011... And reading this on hindsight now after camp, God was certainly faithful with what He said! :)

(Spend a couple days reflecting & talking to God for the upcoming ym camp. And hesistantly shared this during the time of listening prayer at YM GAP before camp on 9 Dec 2011 as didn't want to put such a high expectation of camp. But somehow had this very strong impression from the Lord that His going to sent His Holy Spirit down into this camp! As the story of Acts 2, just came so strongly, as it will come like the day of pentecost. "The Presence of the Lord will fall like FIRE & many lives will be TRANSFORMED!"...

YM CAMP 2011 14- 18 DEC 2011 (Day 0 to Day 4)

Photos below courtesy from various ymers who posted on FB... =)

14 Dec 2011 Day 0

Preparation of Camp!

Day 0- Ops Room

(Ops Room!)

15 Dec 2011 Day 1

(My beloved Camp Group INA!)

INA Camp Group Vision: " SHINE FORTH in Unity & Enthusiasm helping one another to seek God & grow together in Christ as Transformed youths of Christ through Prayer"

Night Games ended with Lights forming a cross... A CITY ON A HILL.

16 Dec 2011, Day 2

Beautiful Illustration which Ying Kheng shared at her plenary session!

Day 2- Pre Service Prayer

Testimony of my First PERSONAL ENCOUNTER with the Lord...at this camp...

During the opening Night Rally worship...was at the back of the auditorium and sense that somehow there was still this barrier that was still preventing the campers from worshipping God freely... that brought me down to my knees & as our

was praying... God just broke me down... and told me so clearly that like almost an audible thought in my head... "Ben, no matter how much we can try to make it good, I'm the One leading this Camp, no human effort, technicalities or planning can compare to what I can do...Just Surrender everything to Me".... there & than, I just felt a great sense of peace filling my heart & realised how broken I am trying to "please" people making this camp as good as it can be, but at the end of the day, I should please God more than people! And He desires our TOTAL 100% SURRENDER! And that was when His Holy Spirit just filled me! Which just broke me into tears... knowing that I'm nothing without Him, and that His Sovereignty will just sweep into this camp! Allowing God to be in FULL TOTAL CONTROL!....

And than came the opening sermon by Ps Daniel Chua, who spoke on the beatitudes. What it takes to be in the Kingdom of Heaven... And what struck me was when His opening message was about the need for us to "HUNGER". That was the exact word that was revealed to Ps Raymond at YM Gap on 9 Dec 2011 too!

At the end of his sharing, He called up all the leaders, as he prayed for everyone to be filled with the Holy Spirit before we can serve & minister... there again right infront of the altar...God broke me down again...and I just knew the Holy Spirit was filling us all in a very special way... as the leaders were all being empowered to minister to others... from than on....God just moveddddddddddd!

I guess this is what it means when our YM Committee talks about "TRANSFORMED LEADERS, will lead to TRANSFORMED YOUTHS"... God certaintly did just that!

17 Dec 2011, Day 3

INA Camp Group doing morning devotion

Day 3- Wrote this devotion, as this topic was very close to my heart! :)

(Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” , this was the exact verse which Ps Daniel Preached in his sermon later too!)

Morning Service

God came in a very special way again! As many rededicated their lives to Christ & some even inviting Christ into their lives for the first time!

Light Up the World! Churches build all over the world!

Night Rally

(The final pre-service prayer before the final night rally! God just came upon the leaders yet again filling us with His Spirit to lead!)

Final Night Rally

Ps Daniel gave his final "Commissioning" message! Where he shared on Acts 2 & Isaiah 6! Two key verses that was shared at pre-camp prayer meetings too! As he encouraged everyone to step out & SHINE for for our Lord!

Acts 2:1-2, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting."

Isaiah 6:8, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

And during the ministry time...God just movedddd in such a powerful way like never before...as His Holy Spirit came down & filled so many campers like never before! Hearts were opened, soften, set on Fire!!! And practically every 390 camper & even visitors that night were being prayed for! Everyone was just in total surrender to the Lord! And the "vision" of my conversation with the Lord prior to camp all came flooding back! God certainly has been faithful as He promised! As His Majestic Soveriegnty just led everyone into Praising Him at the end of this camp!

My beloved youths from GEL@ YM CAMP 2011!

Another personal highlight for me was seeing everyone from my sec 3 youth group GEL coming together & praying for one another! Seeing them mature over the last 3 years has certainly been one of the most fulfilling desire for me as their leader.

17 Dec 2011, 1120pm, at the back of the Sports School Auditorium we made that GROUP COVENANT together to continue to encourage one another in LOVE as we grow in depth with the Lord in Unity!

Night of Prayer...

Our plans were change yet again by God...as we truncated our detailed Night of Prayer to a shorter segment, with a powerful Liturgical prayer for the youths, followed by praying for our communities, family, friends & places we are at! And ended with a personal time of Holy Communion as act of sealing our commitments to the Lord!

18 Dec 2011, Day 4

Testimony sharings....

Testimony Sharing, Alex Lim the next Sec 1-3 Camp Commandant 2012

(The commitment slips of every camper as they put up their commitments into an envelope from their grp!)

(My beloved Crosstrainers who worked so hard planning one of the most meaningful camp games ever!)

Photomontage of YM CAMP 2011

YM Camp 2011 Photomontage

YM CAMP 2011 Afterglow video...

YM Camp 2011 Afterglow Video

God's Sovereignty certainly reigned at this camp! As the Holy Spirit came down in such a powerful way, empowering everyone in a deep personal way.... Next step, is for us to continue to SHINE FORTH that Light after camp! And this is where it matters most! The Everlasting fruits! And that is certainly the prayers of our hearts! =)

(The 10th milestone YM CAMP 2011! SHINE FORTH: Light Up the World!
6 Tribes!
24 Groups!
72 Leaders!
390 over campers making this the largest camp in YM history!)

Photomontage of YM CAMP 2011

YM CAMP 2011 Afterglow video...

God's Sovereignty certainly Reigned at this camp! As the Holy Spirit came down in such a powerful way, empowering everyone in a deep personal way.... Next step, is to continue to SHINE FORTH that Light after camp! And this is where it matters most! The Everlasting fruits! =)

Post Camp, 29 Dec 2011...

Read this from Martyn Llyod Jones- JOY UNSPEAKABLE today, we had a glimpse of this pentecostal power of the Holy Spirit coming down in mighty reviving power!

Pre-Camp Preparations!

2011-12-13T15:52:00.000+08:00

Ever since early Jan, when Marcus approach me to lead in this year YM Camp... 11 months have past... since our first camp committee officially met up on 20 March 2011.

God revealed the camp theme to us in a divine way on 3 April...

http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2011/12/ym-camp-2011-theme-story.html

And as the months past & planning took place!

God has reminded me to re-look into the calling that He has called me too. Dated back on 7 October 2008 at a Campus Crusade World wide day of prayer meeting again. This was what was He impressed on my heart on that very day, “To reach out to the world, by starting with equipping the people in the church to prepare them for outreach to the World.”

And now looking at how camp is going to turn out, it seems like a glimpse of that vision coming true?

Camp Day -2 - Pre-camp preparations....

1 More day to YM CAMP 2011, DAY 0!!!!!!!

YM CAMP 2011- Theme Story

2011-12-13T15:05:00.005+08:00

Camp Theme Story

WESLEY YM CAMP 2011

This is the story of how God divinely revealed the camp theme to us…

SHINE FORTH

Light Up The World

Matthew 5:14-16 - “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven"

On 3 April 2011 the camp committee gathered, having sought God individually on His direction for this year’s camp. As we shared what God had impressed on our hearts separately, we were so amazed at how it all agreed with each other! Even more divine, was that God had revealed to two of us the same verse, Matthew 5:14-16.

One even had that verse already highlighted in her bible even though she had meant to keep that bible clean and "highlights-free". While seeking God on the camp theme, she opened her bible and was particularly surprised that, of all verses, only this one was highlighted! The fact that everyone was aligned to and shared this vision makes us believe that it was a divine revelation from God.

(Mag Phua's only verse highlighted in her bible!)

The theme “SHINE FORTH” is based on the verse above, and the tagline "Light Up the World" speaks of God's heart & plan for the entire world. God’s light is already in us as Christians, and to Shine Forth is our obedient response to God’s call to see beyond ourselves, to love, serve and give ourselves to others. When we do that, God's Glory will shine through us and in turn He is glorified. The more we love, serve and give, the brighter God’s light will shine.

Here’s something more amazing. In the same weekend that we formed our camp theme, the Desperation band from the USA visited our Youth Ministry. The team leader shared a powerful testimony about a mission trip to Uganda they had embarked on to build shelters for people. As they were building for a widow, she suddenly knelt down, cried and praised God. The team was amazed at her response, and later found out that for years, this widow had been waiting for such a day to come; though others did not believe her, she knew that God would provide this for her some day. This testimony simply reinforces the truth of our camp theme verse to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

“As we are blessed to be a blessing, we should touch the lives of others and we should spend ourselves on behalf of others. Be ready to step out right now. God will show you the way. Just go. Spend yourself, risk it. When God calls you to something and you are uncomfortable with it, run to it. God will meet you there!” - Jon Egan (Worship Leader, The Desperation Band, New Life Church)

As we look at all the previous camp themes that precede the 10th YM CAMP, we see how the foundation for YM has been laid in previous years. Now, as a church, are we ready to take the next step: to Shine Forth and Light Up the World?

YM CAMP THEMES from 2002 to 2011:

YM CAMP 02- HAND ME ANOTHER BRICK |

1st YM camp; various sub-mins came together to officially get YM going in 2003

YM CAMP 03- LETS PLAY CATCH! |

Equipping youths on outreach, evangelism and missions

YM CAMP 04- B.G.R (Basic God Relationship++ -1) |

Relationship with fellow YMers; evangelism to friends aka lifestyle outreach

YM CAMP 05- MISSION SECRET | Surrendering the secret places of our hearts

YM CAMP 06- F.E.A.R | Featuring Extreme Awe and Reverence

YM CAMP 07- DESTINATION | Knowing our Destination

YM CAMP 08- KING OF GLORY | Knowing the KING OF GLORY

YM CAMP 09- LIVING FOR OUR KING | Knowing how we can live for our King

YM CAMP 10- SEEKING | To importance of Seeking God

YM CAMP-11- SHINE FORTH-LIGHT UP THE WORLD | The next step of stepping out & Shining for Christ!

The week of many "FIRSTS"...

2011-12-12T08:07:00.005+08:00

Past week since last thursday has been one of the most fruit-filling an enjoyable periods with many "Firsts"

Thursday

Where we started our FIRST ever G.E.L ysg, mentoring session for the peer leaders in my sec 3 youths small grp. Where yunying invited us to her place as we began our first session with one of my Aysgl, Hilary, & the 4 peer leaders, YY,Charmaine, Josh & Robin! So proud at how each of them have mature over the years & are willing to step up to lead!

That night, had my FIRST meeting with this really smart & nice vietnamese boy at Rev Ivan's place, where he and his wife been like a house parent to this boy.

Friday

Had our FIRST, ever "band" meeting, aka a smaller mentoring grp led by Rev Ivan Tan. With Paul & Xunliang. Where for the first time, the 4 of us actually came together & shared our ENTIRE life story of our Journay with the Lord! Felt so encouraged hearing from each of them as we prayed for one another there after. And after today we have gotten the name the "BPX" group! Aka Ben,Paul, Xunliang!

Right after YM GAP prayer meeting for camp, we had our FIRST, after GAP supper tour, where we had an unprecedented 5 cars, with like 15-18 of us? Amazing supper at swee choon dim sum & eaten one of the best Bah Ku Teh & fish shop at Tangjong pagar after.

Saturday

The FIRST time the Camp theme song was played at The Saturday Service!

Sunday

And finally sunday! One of my most JOYFUL sundays of the year. Where FINALLY! My peer leaders led for the FIRST TIME! YAY!!!!!!!!!! Felt really like a proud father seeing them taking the initiative to lead!

See videos below!

(Below is the video of their teaching of our small grp verse,"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:14)

(Robin & Charm was teaching the grp how to memorise our small grp verse by having the idea on their own of breaking out the verse into drawings! Check out their drawing! =D)

"N"... over all these vitures... love...

Over all this Virtues....Put on Love...

End of that Sunday, we our FINAL CAMP COMM MEETING, where for the FIRST time we re-look at our first ever meeting where we wrote down our expectations of being in the camp comm & for camp. And after that we walk through visualising the 5 days of camp from day 0, 9am to day 4, 5pm.... We made it! WOW!

3 - 5 Dec, Combined Sub-ministry Retreat 2011

2011-12-08T11:03:00.005+08:00

Was just reflecting on the recent combined ministry retreat this year, I can clearly say this is probably one of the most meaningful & spiritually led ones. Although this year I was here more as a support role as a staff in YM, I got to see a little more of the happenings at the various sub-mins which encouraged me so much. Taking a step backs seeing the new Crosstrainer heads stepping up has truly encouraged me so much! And I believe Max & Glenn are going to do a fantastic job leading the new generation of crosstrainers.

God just moved! During the worship, the feet washing time, the various sharings & ministry times!

On the first night, after Marcus sharing of YM Vision & Mission for the year! And the various submin heads did the feet washing for their members that night, cld really sense the presence of God just filling the place, as everyone ended up praying for one another.

Even the last day, Ps raymond gave an excellent message on enjoying the process & not focusing on the outcome. And it followed with a really sacred time of ministry, as people just prayed for one another, and God's presence just came, convicting the hearts of so many of us there. Its encounters like this which you will just treasure & hope it will never end.

Below are link to some of the earlier years of my blog postings since my first sub-min retreat (Pardon my rambling & bad grammar in the earlier years)

First combined Sub-ministry retreat 2006

http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2006/11/great-x-trainer-retreat-and-successful.html

Second combined Sub-ministry retreat 2007

http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2007/12/wesley-ym-combined-sub-ministry-retreat.html

Third combined Sub-ministry retreat 2008 (one of the more memorable ones!)

http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2008/12/combined-subminscrosstrainer-retreat.html

Forth combined Sub-ministry retreat 2009

(Didn't post much about it, as only came to visit them on the last day of retreat due to army commitments)

Fifth combined Sub-ministry retreat 2010 (Handling over here...)

http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2010/12/crosstrainer-retreat-wesley-ym-camp.html

And finally! Now the Sixth combined ministry retreat 2011, which has just past....

Some of the images from this 6th Combined Sub-ministry retreat!

(opening icebreakers!)

(Testing of the YM Camp games!)

(The final morning ministry time!)

(The new generation of Crosstrainers!)

(YM Combined Sub-ministry retreat 2011)

Why we Serve in Ministry?

2011-12-06T11:00:00.001+08:00

Shared this at the recent combined YM Sub-ministry retreat 2011 with the Crosstrainers! As I was preparing this sharing, I was reminded myself at how I started serving my first ever ministry in YM, & it went back all the way at the end of 2005 after my first YM Camp which transformed my life! Experiencing God's love just compels one to want to step up & serve. And with some influence from vyan too, that was what prompted me to be involved in my first ever subministry, The Crosstrainers which was serving for the last 6 years & now taking a step back for the new leaders to take the baton!

Sharing base on book, “On Being a Servant of God” – By Warren W. Wiersbe

Why do we serve in crosstrainers?

1) Christ Love Compels Service!

2 Corinthians 5:14 - 21

New International Version (NIV)

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It’s because of Christ love for us that compels us to serve others! It’s because of His reconciliation to us, and he wants to reconcile the World back to Him!

“Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.”

God has freely given to us – so we should freely give to others.

We don’t deserve grace; you simply receive it as God’s loving gift & then share it with others.

What’s the difference between channels & reservoirs?

In ministry we are Channels of God’s resources, not reservoirs. Ministry is a wonderful opportunity for making life that’s loved for others. It’s an opportunity to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

“… true Christian Ministry can put grace in the hearts so that lives are changed and problems are really solved”

A godly leader once told me, that when we minister to others, we must be careful when giving personal advices & trying to solve other people problems. We are all imperfect beings and what we advice may only be a stop gap measure. Instead we should point them to Christ and allow God’s grace to minister to their needs.

A lot of us think fall into the trap of being manufacturers when he called us to be distributors.

Manufacturers are like the story of 5 loaves & 2 fishes, when disciples thought it was their responsibility to come out with the food, however Jesus just took the lad’s food, looked up to heaven, bless the food, and ask His disciples to distribute to the multitude. And it just multiplied before their eyes! Once you accept yourself as a distributer of God’s riches and not a manufacturer, you will experience a wonderful new freedom and joy in service. Once we accept ourselves as a distributor of God’s riches. You won’t be afraid of new challenges because you know God has the resources to meet them.

2) Spiritual growth in Ministry

Instead of asking “How can I get out of this?, we should ask “what can I get out of this?”

As you grow in your spiritual life & step into the world daily, you will inevitably face challenges along the way. It can be true pressure in school, pressure from family, and even as you serve in the ministry. However, I want to assure you that each challenge will help you to grow if you face it with a godly attitude towards it. There will be times where you will be stretch, and times you will be tested.

But remember to ask God, “what can I get out of this?”

One of the bigget faith building moments came in my time serving with the crosstrainers.

Testimony of Ubin event @ Destination Again 2008

Was looking back at an old email which Adriel sent to the crosstrainer comm after that event, Breakthrough 1 & 2 was added by me, the rest was from Adriel's email.

The amazing BREAK THROUGHS!

Break Through 1- 19 Jan 2008- God Revealed to us Pulau Ubin from that rainbow after we prayed at YM GAP the day before our first recce on where to hold our march event.

Break Through 2- Second recce 17 Feb 2008- Called the manager of ubin resort, shocked us with a budget of $18 000, the Xts gathered to pray, call again on same day. Brought it down to $10 000.

In the midst of these planning, was rushing a school assignment, and at the back of my mind was this event, I decided to take a break from my sch work, & get some encouragement from the Word, and God just showed me this verse…

Romans 4:20-21

New International Version (NIV)

20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

(Below extracted from Adriel Email's to the Crosstrainer games comm In 2008)

Breakthrough 3 - The event was still too expensive as the guy initially wanted a minimum of 300 pax for $10k. YM Comm then took the decision that if could not get at least 150 signups by that sunday, we would not go to ubin. We polled the ministry last sunday and got 180 replies. We then spoke to the manager and he agreed to reduce the minimum sum to 200 pax. The final figure at ubin yesterday was 208 persons.

Breakthrough 4 - Next then the ferries broke down, and God provided the ferry through Emmeliene's parents.

Breakthrough 5 - By thurs, we still had no port for the ferry. And God again, God provided the port arrangements.

Breakthrough 6 - Then it rained. I remember as I was driving to punggol yesterday morning and it started to rain. A YM leader who was with me said, "Its raining!" I said, "Dont worry, it will stop." He replied, "You sure are confident". I said, "Yes, the number of breakthroughs God has given us over the past 2 weeks, I am absolutely confident the rain will stop." The moment we stepped foot on ubin, as we all saw, God stopped the rain.

Breakthrough 7- After the event, Sandy and I met up with the manager and we pressed him, and guess what, we got a 10% discount on the price! So you guys are well within budget!

Amazing right! Like what warren wiersbe said “If you can explain what’s going on, God didn’t do it”.

Right till today, that has been the greatest faith building testimony serving in crosstrainers!

Like Wiersbe says: “If you can explain what’s going on, God didn’t do it”

And through such tests, this is where spiritual growth builds Godly Character.

Many Christians think they can get by in spiritual ministry because they have charisma and can attract and hold an audience, but it takes more than a wining personality to influence people for Christ; it takes godly character.

It’s been said that people are like trees: the shadow of the tree is reputation, the fruit of the tree is personality, but the roots of the tree are the most important partcharacter!

Another thing we need to know is we are called to be Holy. But we should remember to channels that to others.

Holiness is a very practical thing.

Romans 5:5

New International Version (NIV)

5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

This verse, reminds us that the Holy Spirit can empower one to take on any ministry challenges!

1 Cor 10:31 “whatever you do, do all for the glory of God”

Serving God with the Spirit of Excellence

Gladwin use to share with me this...

“Why give God’s kingdom the crumbs when we are capable of giving Him our best?”

Dangers of service in Ministry

Having said all this, one danger in ministry which I believe I have fall a lot of times, is when we serve people more than God. And that’s one danger which we need to be very careful. We try to please people with what we can do. Like making it the best crosstrainer game possible, not saying that’s wrong, but it’s wrong if we are doing it for ourselves!

And I want to highlight this, that some of us see ministry as a place to fill our emotion needs or as a club to make us popular or in the “in” crowd! We serve because of the people our friends are there! That’s an issue which we must be very careful not to fall into, as if pride sips in, this is where it will give the devil a foothold to bring us down. And another extreme is we live for the ministry. If the ministry is taken away from us, we will collapse with it. We need to remind ourselves that none of us is indispensable. At the end of the day, everything belongs to God! And all this is His ministry.

Philippians 2:3-4

New International Version (NIV)

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

3) Stepping up & out to serve in Ministry!

“When God put us in a situation for which we feel totally unprepared & in which we aren’t at all comfortable. His actually giving us room to grow!”

1) Each job prepares us for the next one.

2) The Lord may move us when He see’s we are ready.

Looking back the last 6 yrs since God transformed me, I see God’s hand in the areas he led me to serve in. And each job & task has prepared me for the next one. E.g. in my time in crosstrainers, had many opportunities to plan games at retreats, camps & big events. Serving in campus crusade for Christ in TP, organising events for the Christians on campus. Even in my time in army, where I’ve probably grown the most, being challenge in many areas in ocs & in the unit, being exposed to planning for real operations. And all this has actually prepared me to this day, to actually prepare for my biggest challenge yet like in the upcoming YM camp. A task which I would never imagine being able to take on if you ask me 2 yrs ago, as even right now a lot of it has been on the job learning. But yet I’m so excited as I have seen God’s faithfullness countless of times & I know that I know that He will never put one in situation he cannot handle.

So my challenge to you all, if your leaders challenge you to step up, either in this ministry, task you to plan an event, and you feel you are unprepared, unequipped! Do see it at how God is preparing you for the next!

Do your work by faith and leave the results to God!

God wants us to be players not spectators!

God want us to be distributers not manufacturers!

God wants us to be channels not reservoirs!

It’s all our job to always prepare the younger generations, to step in and take over.

2 Timothy 2:2

New International Version (NIV)

2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

It’s such a Joy in Serving Jesus, and it’s a greater joy to seeing God blessing the younger ones to bless others!

“Even people in authority can’t do much about changing the world. But I can do something bybringing God’s presence into the world in which He has put me, & that’s what ministry is all about.”- Warren Wiersbe.

My Challenge to you!

Can we bring God’s presence and be that ministers for God wherever you are! Take opportunities toallow God to use you as loving channels to serve others, minister to their needs.

After hearing all this,

Let me ask you all that question again? Why are we serving in crosstrainers today?

Can you be that true minister for Christ where ever you are?

Back to my Beloved TP Campus Crusade Ministry!

2011-11-24T12:23:00.002+08:00

Had a really nostalgic & enjoyable time visiting back my beloved TP campus crusade ministry yesterday!

Coming back to the famous TP design canteen & having purchase my favourite Teh Bing! And to my surprise even though I have graduated more than 2yrs ago, the same teh bing uncle still recognise me! saying "Ayee, you graduate already right?", I must have frequent there so often last time!

After that met with the rest and shared a message with the new batch of Tp crusaders on a topic close to my heart on the "Urgency of the Gospel". Although I was there to share, I was even more encouraged by the sharings & testimony each of the crusaders gave during the interaction of the topic. Especially my friend gifford who shared his testimony the first time on how he came to know Christ! And i'm truly appreciative of a bunch of TP alumni who came back just for today to support me too! It was kinda of a mini reunion too! Thanks Joelle, Amy, Amos & Mich for coming back! =)

“We are called to spread the Good News of the Gospel by Word, Deed and Sign in the power of the Holy Spirit so that the world may know Jesus Christ,”- John Wesley

XTs Pre-Camp Filming! YMOVE Retreat! & YM P6 orientation!

2011-11-23T00:03:00.006+08:00

Its been quite a fruitful & purposeful weekend since last friday! Spent the entire day with the crosstrainers as they did some pre-camp filming at sports school! Followed by our first ever YMOVE retreat where we had good fellowship & fruitful planning for the 2012! And ended off monday with our first ever YM P6 Orientation which ended off well!

Preview of Camp Games Intro!

YMOVE Retreat!

More photos soon...

(Our final stop in our FOOD TRAIL on saturday night!)

YM P6 Orientation

(Ended the session with leaders briefing!, so encouraged to see all this young leaders stepping up to serve!)

YM Camp 2011 Theme Song- SHINE

2011-11-13T20:25:00.002+08:00

Would like to share this wonderful song, which my dear friend Paul Ooi composed together with Bobby, Mag Phua & Ps Ivan for this year YM CAMP 2011!

"This song was written specially for YM Camp 2011, centered on the camp's theme, "Shine Forth: Light Up The World", alongside a few of the members of my precious faith family earlier this year. It starts off with the basis that Jesus came down to earth & died for us in his saving love - & that same love is now in each of our hearts, for us to love others as God's little lights in our worlds where God has placed us in, with action paired together with faith. Walking the talk isn't easy, but with the Holy Spirit in us, we are empowered & are filled with boldness to shine like His Son, existing as channels of His love, unashamed for His glory like a city on a hill, unhidden.

The chorus is anchored on the camp's theme verse which says "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16 ESV) & the bridge is a declaration for us to live it out not just in song or words but with our lives here on earth - to be God's witnesses, shining forth not our own light but His; to go in God's love to love others since He first loved us; to live all of life for the glory of God like how it says in His Word: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31-30 ESV)

May this song lead you to God. To Him be all glory." - Paul Ooi

Verse 1
Jesus, You came down for me
Your salvation love poured out so free
Jesus, Your love now in my heart
It's resounding, faith and action are rising

Pre-chorus 1
Let my live be an anthem of Your love
Lifting You higher forever, Jesus

Chorus
Shine Your light, let all the world see
Show Your glory, let all the earth sing
As one we break through the darkness
We will be Your witnesses
So all may see and give God all the glory

Verse 2
Jesus, You've called us and we
will go forth and be Your hands and feet
Jesus, Your Spirit stirs our souls
It's reviving, strength and courage are rising

Pre-chorus 2
Let our lives be anthems of Your love
Living it louder forever, Jesus

Bridge
Shine forth Your light, shine forth Your light
We go in Your love, go in Your love
We live for Your glory, live for Your glory
Jesus

(YM CAMP Theme Song- SHINE, Showcase of the Winning Song Entry at “Even the Rocks Cry Out 2!" at Aldersgate Methodist Church on 12 Nov 2011.)

2.4 km Training runs chart!

2011-11-07T23:50:00.002+08:00

September

Did my first 2.4km run in about 10mins 45sec around my estate.

October

10min 30 sec (2.4km Around estate)

10 mins 18 sec (2.4km Bishan Stadium)

* 11 mins 30 sec(Approx 2.7 km around fort canning, mis-calculated the distance =/)

10.06 Mins (2.4km track at estate)

* 9.43 mins (2.3km at For Canning, mis-calculated the distance =/)

10.19 Mins(2.4km track at estate)

10.09 Mins (2.4km track at estate)

November
10.24Mins(2.4km at Fort Canning)

10.13 Mins (2.4km at Fort Canning)

This 2.4km training chart has shown that I still have a lot more to run to get even under 10mins, & still far from getting my gold target of below 9.44mins. Looks like got to change my training method or push abit more! Still wondered how I got 9.12mins in my army days!

Recalling God's Call for my life....

2011-10-24T22:50:00.005+08:00

Its been awhile since I actually put some thought into reflecting & seeking God on His specific call for my life ever since I started Full time ministry in May. And today's meet up with Pastor Raymond has certainly prompted me again to recall how I actually landed up into this full time call. And now I have begun my journey in ministry working as a programme coordinator in YM before probably applying into seminary in couple years time.

The next question that I will be asking God is in which specific service of ministry of my full time call that I've been called too? I know it is in a church, but is it as a Pastoral team member role, an ordained pastoral role or maybe even the option of a pastoral ministry in an independent church (quite unlikely though). All in all, a deep call I know deep in my heart is the heart to really be a minister of God meeting the needs of His people. And will continue to search deeply this specific call in this next couple years working as a PC in YM and will certainly enjoy the process of it!

Come evening, our Small grp started this new discipleship series "Roots & Wings", By Edmund Chan & his Wife, Ann. The first question ask was what was our conversion story, and this was where we all had fresh new insight of each other's life which we have never fully heard before till today! Ironic right, even though this small grp has been formed since 10 yrs ago & some of us have known each other since we were in secondary school. This question gave me the opportunity to recall further back again to my first "strangely warm" experience of God in my first YM camp in 2005. And that experience has certainly reminded me of where I am today if not for that very day!

(The new discipleship series our Small grp has started!)

Walk through the Door...

2011-10-22T00:38:00.004+08:00

".. But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it. "

- (Morpheus speaking to Neo, The Matrix)

This profound quote made by Morpheus at the end of the Kungfu scene to Neo really reminds me of how Jesus has shown us that door & all we need is to knock on that door & it will be open, & we just need to walk through it.

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.Matthew 7:7-8

Getting back my Fitness!

2011-10-14T00:28:00.002+08:00

Ever since I found out that my IPPT window has already been opened! Been trying to pick up on my fitness again especially for the 2.4km run! As I know i'm definitely not as fit as my ocs days where I cld clock under 9.44 mins in a breeze. And the $400 bonus for getting IPPT Gold as an NS man is quite a motivation for keeping fit. But now I have trouble even coming close to under 10mins!

But I believe we more training ever since my first trial run a few weeks ago at 10mins 45sec, a second run at 10min 30 sec, and my fastest so far at the bishan stadium track at 10 mins 18 sec! Getting under 9.44 mins for the Gold seems almost possible! Just alot more pushing more to go!

Revival: The Distinguished Marks of the Holy Spirit

2011-10-07T00:14:00.005+08:00

Below are the notes taken from a 2 night lecture at TTC by Bishop Dr Robert Solomon. Will be summarising from his already well summarised message & thorough survey on Revival from different context, definitions & case-studies. And hope not to do injustice to his insightful lecture.

First thing first, defining the term "Revival" is hard as there's so many different views and presumptions of this term alone. Many times we fall into the danger of overusing the word & may have diluted the meaning of what it really means? And I personally admit to this in my earlier journey with the Lord when I didn't fully understand what revival really is.

(Part 1)

Some definitions of Revival

Stuart Piggin

"Revival is a sovereign work of God the heavenly Father, manifesting his glory on the earth. It consists of a powerful intensification by Jesus of the Holy Spirit’s normal activity of testifying to the Saviour, accentuating the doctrines of grace, and convicting, converting, regenerating, and sanctifying large numbers of people at the same time. It is therefore a community experience. It is occasionally preceded by an expectation that God is about to do something exceptional; it is usually preceded by an extraordinary unity and prayerfulness among Christians; and it is always accompanied by the revitalisation of the Church, the conversion of large numbers of unbelievers, and the reduction of sinful practices in the community.”

R.C. Sproul

"Revival describes a renewal of spiritual life, while reformation describes a renewal of the forms and structures of society and culture. It is not possible to have true reformation without first having true revival. The renewal of spiritual life under the power of the Holy Spirit is a necessary condition for reformation but not a sufficient condition for it. Therefore, though it is not possible to have reformation without revival, it is possible to have revival without reformation."

Steve Latham & Andrew Walker

R1: a spiritual quickening of the individual believer.

R2: a deliberate meeting or campaign especially among Pentecostals to deepen the faith of

believers and bring non-believers to faith.

R3: an unplanned period of spiritual enlivening in a local church, quickening believers and bringing unbelievers to faith.

R4: a regional experience of spiritual quickening and widespread conversions, e.g. the Welsh, Hebridean, East African and Indonesian revivals

R5: societal or cultural ‘awakenings’, e.g. the transatlantic First and Second Awakenings.

R6: the possible reversal of secularisation and ‘revival’ of Christianity as such.

Biblical Studies

Acts 2 as a proof text- Deep convction, speaking of tongues, mass conversion etc...

Revival a revitalisation of a church decline? E.g. Revelation 2, to the church of Ephesus.

To Revive or to Be removed?

Dr Martin lloyd-jones will say that "God's sovereignty creates revival"

Historical Studies

Modern Revival movement:

Jonathan Edwards (Calvinistic) & John Wesley (Armenianism) {Categorise as "Old School"}

Jonathan Edwards played a very critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first fires of revival in 1733–1735 at his church. Edwards's theological work is very broad in scope, but he is often associated with his defense of Reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage.

John Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. In contrast to George Whitefield's Calvinism, Wesley embraced the Arminian doctrines that were dominant in the 18th-century Church of England. Methodism in both forms was a highly successful evangelical movement in the United Kingdom, which encouraged people to experience Jesus Christ personally.

Charles Finney {categorise as "New School"}Finney was most active as a revivalist 1825-35 and was known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings. His innovations included having women pray in public meetings of mixed gender, development of the "anxious seat", a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer, and public censure of individuals by name in sermons and prayers. He was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching.

"Interposition of Divine power" His critics wld say: Finney demystified revivals by making them humanly reproducible.

In his defence: Finney's humility of saying that anyone can lead this too with simple principles.

A Comparison he made: Revival (Old School) & Revivalism (New School)

Revival- Waiting for God's Santification

Revivalism- Human Agency (e.g. Altar call, responding to God immediately, "Anxious Seat")

Surprising Post-revival Effects: The Welsh revival was not an isolated religious movement but very much a part of Britain's modernization. The revival began in the fall of 1904 under the leadership of Evan Roberts (1878–1951). The revival lasted less than a year, but in that period 100,000 converts were made.

WatchMan Nee: The Latent Power of the Soul

- Spiritual Excitment

- Jumping, Laughing, tongues, healing etc.

"Gain been rather trivial, lost has been rather large"- Watchman Nee

Sociological Studies

The Revival & Enlightenment in the 18th Century.

One such e.g is Azusa Street Revival was a historic Pentecostal revival meeting led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher.The revival was characterized by ecstatic spiritual experiences accompanied by miracles, dramatic worship services, speaking in tongues, and what was distinct about them was the breaking of racial barriers where a mixture of ethnic groups start coming together.

Psychological Studies

-William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

-The recent movement of the 4/14 Window refers to the demographic group from age four to fourteen years old, which is the most open and receptive to every form of spiritual and developmental input.

-Gustave Le Bon study on Psychology of crowds- Herd crowds can intensified emotion, collective wisdom.

Conclusion

It is clear that the Trinune God has, time to time, acted in great power to revive the Church. The Word "revival" variously used & understood. Academic & scientific study of revival is helpful & neccessary. It will tell useful parts of the Story. The Church needs to respond to revivals in a way that is biblical, realistic & practical to a church

(Part 2)

Case study: The "Toronto" Blessing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWArnaPf2b8&feature=related

It began when Randy Clark, Rodney howard led this movement which led to the increase in the church from 128 to 1000 within a year.The blessing has become known for ecstatic worship, including what is known as falling or resting in the Spirit, laughter, shaking, and crying. "Holy laughter" was a hallmark manifestation and there were also instances of participants roaring like lions. Another "manifestation of the spirit" encountered at these meetings was a gesture commonly called "crunching" consisting of a vomit-like heaving to "cleanse" and "release" negative experiences. Leaders and participants claim that these are physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit's presence and power.

Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God by

Jonathan Edwards

(1703-1758)

"1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood." 1 John 4:1-5

The 9 Indifferent Signs (Neutral views, one cannot base this 9 signs if its from God or not)

1) The presence of unusual & extraordinary workings

2) Involuntary bodily movements

3) Much talk about Christian Faith

4) Presence of Intense religious emotions

5) Example is a great means

6) Rash acts & Unconvetional conduct

7) Errors in judgement & delusions of Satan

8) Some fall away into gross erros & scandalous practuces

9) Passionate preaching about well & its terrors

*5 Distinguishing Mark of True Revival

1) JESUS IS EXALTED (1 Cor 12:3)

2) DEEP CONCIOUSNESS OF SIN & NEED FOR SALVATION

3) THE BIBLE IS EXALTED AS THE WORD OF GOD

4) SOUND DOCTRINE IS TAUGHT & PROMOTED (1 John 4:6)

5) LOVE GOD & MAN IS PROMTED (1 Corinthians 13)

Some interesting thoughts of how technological advancement over the years cause various revivals?

- The invention of "Roman paths" - Led to Early Church Movements

- The invention of "Prints"- Led to the Reformation

- The invention of "Internet"- "Virtual Revival" next???

How would a revival look like today?

SOCIAL CONTEXT & ENVIRONMENT

Revival in different forms in different contexts in the past.

E.g. Scottish Revival in 1859 was in City, Rural & Fishing villages.

Korea (had early morning Prayer), Africa had mass rallies.

Rise in Emergent Churches today...

Emergent Focus on

-Community

-Experience

-Love

Conclusion

God has acted in history & continues to act to bring about revival in among & through His people. In the current postmdern social & technological advancements, a revival may take on additional flavours.

A Friend Receiving Christ! =)

2011-09-29T11:36:00.010+08:00

Recently had the honour to see a good friend of mine turning to Christ before my very eyes. It left me with a great joy seeing his receptiveness to the Holy Spirit conviction and I really remember all the prayers for him. Especially during the morning office devotion with my room-mate before I met him in the evening.

Tracing back...to a couple of old blog entries...

Mid July 2011.

Almost an answered prayer after 5 years...

http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2011/07/almost-answered-prayer-after-5-years.html

28 Aug 2011

An extract from my sharing at Camp Awareness Sunday.

“There’s one more story very close to my heart which I would like to share with you all, 5 years ago, there was a good friend of mine from school whom I was praying for & been trying to share Christ with and bring to church. But year after year, I actually failed and we rarely met up after we went our separate ways in army. Less than a couple mths ago, I was randomly prompted one day to send him an sms to invite him for a normal Saturday service in church. And I was actually ready to expect another rejection as I just sent that sms just to test that prompting, but to my surprise he actually replied YES. And when he came to church that day, I just ask him what made him said yes, and his reply was he also didn’t know. As he said that, I just knew the Holy Spirit was behind all this, in prompting me & for my friend to actually agree to come. From that very day onwards, found out that God has been speaking to him & he has been coming to church with ever since that day. And right now I just know that his very close to actually accepting Christ as his Lord & saviour one day & he actually finally agreed to come for this year end ym camp after I failed to invite him 5 yrs ago!”

26 & 27 Sep 2011 (The 2 days of bible study which led to The Conversion!)

Last Monday, at the very last minute felt this prompting to just ask him along for this lecture abt revival by our Bishop at TTC since my small grp normally meets that night. And as there was a long journey from Dhoby Ghaut to Upper Bukit Timah, thought this was a good time to go through this bible study material titled "Firm Foundation" which talks about the basic foundations of one faith. While going thru the questions & letting him read the Scriptures. Slowly but surely God's words just spoke right into his heart & it led him to have a better understanding of God's grace for him & how it wasn't the works that leads one to Christ.

^"8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10

Come tuesday, saw his level of faith to receive Christ jump from 50% on Monday to 85% at the end of the bible study on tuesday & 100% after further thought on God's words. That was when the bus reached our destination opposite railmall, Once seeing his heart prepared to receive the Lord, went through the "sinnest prayer" with him in the middle of this overhead bridge at about 6.45pm on 27 Sep 2011. And such Joy came into my heart to see the Holy Spirit convicting his heart to finally accept our Lord & Savior after 5 years. =)

Night Cycling around Singapore!

2011-09-23T00:23:00.006+08:00

After 6 years since I did my last night cycling with some of my classmates after our o'levels, I told myself that I might never want to do another one again due to the bad experience we had where we had one of our bicycles tires puncture halfway riding to Changi Village & we took turns trying to ride that bike too & fro!

And now this time, had a more fruitful & purposeful Night cycling as a bunch of us ymers & friends came together for this overnight adventure! =)

Started 11pm at East Coast Park...

And the 17 of us cycled to our first destination!

Some of the photos courtesy of Matt ho & Andrew!

Gluttons Bay@Esplanade

Even cycled through the underpass, up this escalator!

Through the F1 track...

Through the streets towards little india...

Took a break waiting for the others...

Our next stop.. Swee Choon@ Jalan Besar...

Had nice dumplings....

Headed for some DURIAN at geylang later...

Before ending our last food stop at this Tau huay coffee shop in geylang...

(Had quite an interesting conversation about our small grps at this stop)

After this cycled back all the wayyyy back to east coast park just in time for the sun rise!

6.30am!- Sunrise!

What a night with great fellowship! And making a couple of new friends! And most of all really Thank God for his protection & stopping the rain! =)

Have we Lost that Passion?

2011-09-23T00:12:00.001+08:00

Recently heard this sermon by Rev Edmund Chan...

‎"Christianity started as a PASSION in Jerusalem,came to Greece & became a philosophy, came to Europe & became a culture, came to Rome & it became an institution,came to America & it became an enterprise"... have we lost that passion when it all started in Jerusalem?

My new stash of Christian books! =)

2011-09-19T23:18:00.001+08:00

The new stash of books that I bought or was giving by others in recent mths! 3 of them was bought by me within the past 9 days! As they were my favourite Christian writers! =) Can't wait to READ ALL OF THEM!

— with An interesting eye catching cover book from David Mak!, Edmund Chan Latest book that was fresh from the oven from the recent IDMC 2011!, Edmund Chan Classic book!, Given to me from Jacon & his wife! Just finish reading this!, Reading this book on John Wesley Theology now! Courtesy of Pastor Ivan! =) and JOY UNSPEAKABLE! The book that I was searching out for Months!

A Day With The Lord

2011-09-08T22:48:00.006+08:00

A day spend with the Lord.... and it all started after attending a plenary sessions from the recent IDMC conference last weekend. And in response to one of Edmund Chan message, decided to make a date with the Lord & commit that day to Him. And finally had the chance to do it today on my off day! And certain feel refresh dwelling in His Word & being in His awesome presence today! =)

Macritchie...

(Spend the first 45mins at this bench before it started to rain!)

(Started of my quiet time reading from 1 John 3:21-24)

Selwyn Hughes- God- "on the inside"

^"21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." 1 John 3:21-24

The Holy spirit comes to a christian, not simply to inspire him, but to indwell him. It was not always so. In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit came upon men to endue them with special power for specific purposes- then He would depart and return to heaven. This is why the Old Testament prophets longed for the day when the Spirit would dwell with men, not to fulfil a temporary purpose, but to abide permanently.

That day has come. Since Christ's victory at Calvary, and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Spirit is here to reside- and preside. As we obey the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit witnesses to our hearts that He lives in us.

(the view from my bench...)

In that time, sat down and ask God for His Agenda & Word for me today... And God responded quite immediately... "the Word & Truth is already in your Heart, Trust in my Spirit leading. and words from Romans 8:16 came to me in assurance of that".... He than reminded me to "Lay yourself aside, Trust in my leading..."Dwell in the Truth"... And as I was starting to enjoy that conversation...

It started to rain heavily... and ran for shelter at a hut just below the hill...

Under the Shelter...

(Under the shelter of the rain, started to write more stuff & listen to God, before it got really humid & uncomfortable & ants was actually bitting my leg...so decided to change location... and head for the bus stop)

Took a bus & train down to NEX at Serangoon ...

And decided to continue my date with Jesus at Mad Cafe where there was this afternoon tea time offer. =)

(Got a tea time meal in a cosy corner of the restaurant. And this was where decided to read the book of Matthew. And as I read from Matthew Ch 1 to Ch 14...Fresh new revelation of His gospel just came alive!)

After those readings...continued more time of listening to God and jotted more revelations of His Truth!...

As I pondered more on His responses, started ask questions about the camp comm, YM Camp & God just led me to a few verses & Truth from His Word just kept coming right after another, and even a frame work of his thoughts came as I drew it down as seen in the (photo).

After that wonderful conversation.. decided to go for a new location, and headed to the library, and continued asking him questions about the ym camp prayer meeting on sunday... and God just led me to more verses... And after that decided to complete the day doing my Precept Homework! =)

(Ended the rest of the time doing my Precept homework day 2! And ended the evening refresh feeding from his Word! =)

What an enjoyable date with Jesus today! =)

Army Half Marathon 2011 (4 Sep 2011)

2011-09-08T21:33:00.003+08:00

Completed my second half marathon last Sunday after deciding to sign up for it earlier in the year to motivate myself to continue running at a regular basis after my ORD.

And wells, contented & enjoyed this run, improving my timing by 3mins from last year AHM, of 2 Hrs 10 mins to this year 2 hrs 7 mins. And although I wasn't as fit as last year due to the compulsory run mileage we had to clock in the army. Still had a decent timing with the minimum runs I did & good thing didn't get a cramps like in my full marathon! Phew! Was sooo cautious that I decided to stop for 5mins just to do some stretches at the 10km mark. =)

Some highlights from the run!

3.15am: Woke up!

4.10am: Met up with Shawn & Kenneth as we made our way to esplanade!

5.30am: Met up with Gifford before the actual run!

(Started of the run at 5.45am! And ran with gifford for the next 14km plus...)

(Ran past the bible hse at the 17km mark)

(The route past our church!)

(Passing by my office!)

(Saw some Naval divers at the last 200metres and decided to go for a sprint to overtake them just for some personal pride =P)

Life is like a Rubber Band!

2011-09-01T21:48:00.003+08:00

Been thinking about this notion for awhile, that in life we are always in this constant "tension". We are always trying to balance & reason between what's right or wrong in our philosophy,our theological views or it can be just a tension of our vision to our current reality. And if we do not hold this tension well, we can be pulled to either end of the spectrum which may not be exactly good.

One example to this is this "Creative Tension Model" which I first came across in this leadership course in the army. And when I heard about it again recently, I had this sudden enlighten to see that this Secular model can be viewed in a Christian perspective of how we can lead our Life according to God's purposes.

A quick background of this "Creative Tension Model"

"Fritz calls this a tension-resolution system and he gives the example of stretching a rubber band – as you stretch it, this creates tension and the tendency of the rubber band is to pull back to resolve the tension in the system. Imagine that your vision is represented by your right hand and your current reality is represented by your left hand and you have a rubber band around both hands. The greater the gap between your vision and your reality, the more the rubber band will stretch, the greater the tension that will develop, and the stronger the motivation and energy in the system to resolve that tension."

Let's take this example, God inspires a committee of a shared vision for the ministry. Everyone is all excited and ready to pursue to that vision. It's always easy to be idealistic at the start, but when time passes by & "Current Reality" kicks in. Circumstances & pragmatism can actually pull our vision down to ease the tension to our current reality when we lower our expectations & vision. This is always the easy way of dealing with circumstances or problems that occurs along the way. However, if we have this deep assurance of a vision & direction that's inspired from God, I believe we should faithfully work towards that vision instead. If we just continue faithfully serve our Lord to our calling, I believe we will see the fruits in His timing. Heard this quote from John Bevere once, that "we are not judge by what we do, but we are judge by what we are called to do." It's having this deep eternal perspective of God & we just pursue towards that vision that God has called us to do. And soon enough, the Current Reality will move upwards towards the vision instead.

"Tension" on Theological Views

Another example of Tension is our theological views. And would like to highlight a disclaimer that what i'm about to share from this point onwards are just my personal views, influence from my background in a methodist church,readings & discussion with different people. You can disagree with me & I won't want it to become an argument of theological beliefs over here.

One tension that i've been searching & struggling over the years to keep strongly too is the "tension" between the "Charasmatic" & "Reformed" views we have today. I'm not being politically correct to choose the inbetween & balance both ideas. But i believe that if we sway too extreme alone to either side of the spectrum it may not be totally good too. Sub-conciously a lot of our theological views today comes from a reaction of our past experiences that lead us to having a "knee-jerk" reaction in having strong views on either side alone. And because of this, we tend to totally ignore the many other rights on the other side because of such reactions. One example, if we fall to either end of the spectrum & are not careful. We may become too liberal in our theological views, we begin to take scripture out of context to what we humans just want to hear or just to have this feel good experience? or we can go to the other extreme & become so legalitic until we are working out our own self-righteosness, imposing our self righteosness on others and miss the whole point of the grace of God.

Both sides have appropriate scripture backings of how great theologians in the past have framed their theological views. And this theological views are in relation to their respective context & periods of time and because of such reasons we have no right to compare them per se. Or have argument over whose right or whose wrong, as we will never fully comprehend in our mere human understanding on the mysteries of God.

Having said that, we shouldn't be apathetic about our Faith and ignore it totally as well, and be ignorant about our understanding of our Faith. We still need to have some form of biblical foundation to our understanding of God. Having the proper theology & perspective of who God is actually changes how we live our life and how we carry out God's plans & purpose on this earth.

This is where I one to make a personal concluding statement, derive from Titus 3:2 "...to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone." Our views of God may differ in some aspect but we shouldn't go to the extend to slander or slam another church. We may not agree on certain doctrines, but sometimes agreeing to disagree may be best in preserving the unity of believers. Would like to end of with one of my favourite quotes paraphrase from Warren Wrisbee to unify an example of two great theological views of the past. "We should have a backbone of a Calvnist & a Heart of an Armenian". =)

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 (NLT)

Additional Biblical References to "tension" of Theological views:

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Titus 3
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Camp Awareness Sunday

2011-09-01T15:25:00.009+08:00

28 Aug 2011, is probably the biggest Sunday service for me thus far, as our camp comm came together for meetings as early as 4 mths ago to brainstorm & planned for this service to really encourage the youths to sign up for the year end 10th milestone YM Camp! Besides the planning of the service, this was my debut preaching at a YM Service too.

And as the big day finally came, God taught me a huge lesson on Trusting & Surrendering all preparations to Him. Started of a little overwhelm when was thinking abt the vario

us sequences of the service & as service started, I kept looking at my sermon script during the

A.I. & Pastor Ivan who was sitting next to me had to tell me to close my script & to just trust the Lord. And as I did that, suddenly this sense of peace from the Lord just filled my heart & I cld just worship the Lord so freely after that!

Looking on hindsight, being there to see everything just falling into place so nicely from Pre-service prayer all the way to the end of service, especially seeing everyone serving in their various roles so faithfully with Joy! Just makes one turn to the Lord in Awe & Praise to Him! =)

Seeing how the ushers serve the people so joyfully, seeing the cross-trainers putting much effort in making it an AWESOME A.I to start the service, to the band, sound crew,clicker, who put in so much effort to prepare for the service early in the day & playing & singing their hearts out during worship, followed by amazing acting from our 2 actors Eric & glenn who came early for rehearsals,than there's the 12 stones team all deployed with their cameras & the other camp comm members running around at the registration booth! And all the leaders doing their part in bringing their small grps together & coming early to pray for the service! This is certainly a shared vision to see everyone working in such UNITY to make that camp awareness sunday service happen! God be Praised! =)

Photos & Videos of the Exciting Service programme courtesy of 12 stones...

8.00: Preparations

8.45: Pre-Service Prayer
9.25: Crosstrainer A.I- THE YM CAMP QUIZ GAME!
9.40: Worship
10.10: Camp Announcements
10.15: Exclusive Special Camp Video & Skit
10.30: Sermon: SHINE FORTH- Light Up the World
10.55: Introduction of Camp Theme Song
11.00: Camp Registration

Atmosphere Initiative- YM CAMP QUIZ!

(Hans the host for the YM CAMP QUIZ!)

(Our Chairman praying for the YM Full Time Staff Team)

The Camp of An Altar call Scene, of a boy name Chris... See the videos for the flashbacks....

(Scene of Prayer Minister praying for Chris)

Sermon- SHINE FORTH- Light Up The World

(Made my debut preaching at YM about the camp theme, a message that is very close to my heart after internalising this message since the start of this year. Sermon Script here... http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-forth-light-up-world-28-aug-camp.html)

YM Camp Theme Song 2011: Shine

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150275281709102

SHINE FORTH: Light Up The World (28 Aug Camp Awareness Sunday Script)

2011-08-29T23:52:00.004+08:00

SHINE FORTH: Light Up The World- Ben Lau

Introduction:

Good morning everyone! I’m Ben Lau, the Camp Commandant for this year YM Camp. Today I will be sharing a message that’s very close to my heart,& my journey with the Lord ever since my first camp.

I grew up in this youth ministry ever since YM started 10 years ago. Back then it was still held at the old YMCA. It may be hard for many of you to believe this, especially my youths when I told them this story, but I use to be this quiet introverted boy, who would only come on Sundays as my parents would drag me to church. Previously, I would make all kind of excuses not to go for YM camps. It was only until in my sec 4 year in 2005, did I decide to go for my first camp.

Up till today I still remember vividly my first real experience with God at that camp. I responded to an altar call to surrender my life to God. & I recalled a few leaders were praying for me when this sudden deep intrinsic sense of love just filled my heart. That Love from Christ transformed me & led me to this sudden passion for Christ which stirred greatly in me to share this love with others!

Experiencing God has actually led me to understand His heart for us. And that’s why before we can talk about living our life on earth. We need to understand God’s heart for us.

1) GOD’S HEART FOR US

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.” Titus 2:11(NLT)

That grace he poured out for us all has actually gave us ALL that opportunity to know Him! And that’s why each of us plays a part in reaching out for Him.

Illustration:

Right after that YM camp, I went to CJC for the first 3mths, during my time there was this first 3 months system where you apply through your prelim results. I believe God had a purpose for me there as I didn’t actually plan to stay but to pursue Design in TP after. By the end of my time there, I had the opportunity to talk about God to my entire class of about 25 students. I manage to bring a couple of them to church. And found out 1 of them accepted Christ a year later! This was where I also got this nickname “Father Ben” by my classmates there.And somehow that nickname stuck with me even in my days in TP, and even carried forward to my army days! As I constantly kept sharing abt my Faith in God to my friends around me! This is what Acts 4:20 means “We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

After understanding God’s heart, He actually gave us a GLOBAL STRATEGY to fulfill that!

GREAT COMMISSION

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and

on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them

in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new

disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with

you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)

Perhaps many of you may have heard of the Great Commission before. I still remember a lesson when I was sec 3, when my YSGL shared this topic, but I never really understood it than, until in recent years.

That was Jesus last words to his 11 disciples at Galilee. And you know how powerful a man last word’s is right; you would want to hear every word He says. Especially if this man was Jesus Christ the Son of God!

I thought this is such a great challenge from Jesus to us, but it seems so hard to achieve?

We are all mere human beings, how do we reach out to the world?

And this is when I was deeply reminded of the Power of that Holy Spirit indwelling in each of us if we believe in Jesus Christ!

2) THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (NIV)

If you read the earlier verses, God promised to give us this Holy Spirit after his son Jesus was resurrected. And this is the promise Holy Spirit that will actually empower us to fulfil that great commission!

Illustration:

I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger is filled.

I use to do street & campus evangelism in my time with campus crusade; this is a practice which I would say test the faith of one more than the people you share to actually. And you really need to trust on the Holy Spirit leading, as you won’t want to offend the people you meet. I remember the last time I did that my team was sent to China town, (the ironic thing was), the only 2 times I ever did street evangelism, I was back at the same place out of all places in Singapore! Although I was very reluctant to go back there the second time, I somehow sense that God

wanted to show me something of his plan that very day.

So what happen was, I recalled of this 16 yr old boy doing some charity drive there. And I was somehow prompted to talk to that boy about Christ. And the amazing thing was, after my sharing he actually accepted Christ on the spot and I prayed with him there after! It was my first personal encounter of one actually turning to Jesus so immediately! And what was even more amazing. At that point after that sharing, I remember my dad randomly sent me an SMS which said “You shared & the Holy Spirit convicts the heart, Be gentle & courageous Ben”… It was way too timely! As my dad didn’t even know I was doing street e at that point of time! And I really believe this was all the Holy Spirit doing.

You know the song we always sing in YM, COUTING ON GOD, with the line “Joy Unspeakable that won’t go away.” That’s the kind of Joy which one willexperience when the Holy Spirit just indwells one to overflow to others!

It’s like being swept by this new unspeakable level of JOY, LOVE and ASSURANCE that leaves one overflowing with His Love, & boldness to witness to others.

And we get this deep Assurance of our Salvation that only the Holy Spirit can testify to us that we are a child of God. As what is said from Romans 8:16. "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

We move from knowing & telling others about Christianity just from our HEAD to being a true witness to others from our HEARTS.

So what I have just shared sets the context of the Camp theme...

First Understanding God's Heart for the people, second Living it out in the Power of the Holy Spirit & this is when we can be that True witness for Him & SHINE FORTH Christ in our Lives!

3 a) SHINE FORTH

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

This verse clearly shows that YOU are the LIGHT of the WORLD. That’s ourprimary identity in Christ. We have the LIGHT living in us already! And we shouldn’t hide our light, but let the light shine!

It’s like this analogy of how an apple seed will ALWAYs be meant to grow to an apple tree. And with Christ Light in living in us, it’s MEANT to SHINE FORTH & we shouldn’t hide what we are meant to be.

b) LIGHT UP THE WORLD

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14

That’s the eventual vision of God which we all can be part of! Imagine one day,with all of us playing a part in God’s plan in whatever areas we are called too,eventually the gospel will be preached throughout the world and then the end

will come. And that’s God’s Promise!

( Illustration) Show Clip of movie “Pay it forward”

This clip is a idea of a concept of a boy who had a dream to pay it forward to others. Which really showcase this theme of what it means to SHINE FORTH.

Pay It Forward Trailer Clip

Imagine if everyone here catches that same vision like that one boy. To truly SHINE FORTH Christ in our lives! Imagine the great impact to the world if others catch that same vision.

With everything I just shared, I like to challenge you all to ponder about thesestatements.

Would you able to look beyond yourself and really start being OUTWARD-LOOKING.

Would you see beyond these 4 walls of the church which we have all grown so comfortable with only looking at our OWN needs building our very OWN kingdom and not what’s truly on God’s heart?

Would you want to love others & meet the needs of the poor, the oppressed and those who are really of need?

Would you want to make that difference in your schools, campuses, army camps, and workplace! To be that living testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ!

IMAGINE IF EVERYONE in this ballroom follows to that... Imagine how much impact it will create to this world of the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ through the Power of the Holy Spirit.

I will like to leave you with this statement to ponder which changed the way how Iled my life as a student, “Are you a student who so happens to be a Christian? Or are you a Christian who’s called to be a student?”

Whichever side you take would actually change the way you spend each day in school for God & imagine the lives you can touch when you just Shine Forth for our lord.

“A LIFE TOUCH BY GOD ALWAYS ENDS IN TOUCHING OTHERS”

Before I end, God has actually inspired Paul to compose this song which talks about shining Forth our Light. Do look at the lyrics as he plays it for us. But before he goes up to play that song, as you have received this heart when you came

in; I would like you all to take the next couple minutes to write down a name of someone you would want to bring to camp, or someone you would just want to bless this week or someone you would want to eventually share Christ with. Keep that heart, and I would like to pray for you.

"Spiritual Friendships" Seminar

2011-08-27T22:09:00.004+08:00

Just came back from a really inspiring mentoring conference led by our guest speaker Pastor Matthew lo from (CEFC) today. Our youth ministry sure is very privilege to be exposed & be equipped by someone who has really internalised the meaning of what discipleship & mentoring is about. He not only has the charisma, but also the depth from the substantial knowledge he has of the Word of God! And he delivered a message with such passion that we get a clear sense of his heart on this topic.

Below are a couple of Mentoring Frameworks that was shared:

A certain kind of PERSPECTIVE

A certain kind of POSTURE

A certain kind of POWER
A certain kind of PRAGMATISM

Below is this Eightfold Core Curriculum that he shared to us today which was develop from his senior pastor.

"Roots & Wings is a 12-week Discipleship Bible Study built around the Eightfold Core Curriculum developed by Edmund Chan. The Eightfold Core Curriculum identifies the eight fundamental aspects of discipleship, shows how they build upon one another, and helps you to both diagnose the root issues that are hindering discipleship, as well as determine what to do about them!"

Each aspect of the Eightfold Core Curriculum leads you to answer a fundamental discipleship question:
1. Biblical Theology: Who is God?
2. Biblical Allegiance: Who is my Master in life?
3. Biblical Identity: Who am I?
4. Biblical Purpose: What am I called to do?
5. Biblical Values: What is of ultimate importance in my life?
6. Biblical Priorities: What are the things I must put first?
7. Biblical Empowering: How can I be empowered?
8. Biblical Foundation: What should I anchor my life upon?

Saturday UBIN OUTING!

2011-08-25T16:48:00.003+08:00

Its been more than 3 years since I last came back to Pulau Ubin! Many good old memories there of God's Faithfulness!

1) The Amazing Recce to Pulau Ubin Resort! http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2008/01/we-saw-gods-promise-for-us.html

2) YM Destination Again Event! http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2008/03/destination-again-ym-march-event-2008.html

The wonderful ubin resort where we held our amazing YM crosstrainer event 3 years ago!

(Couldnt find the gigantic Araipaima which we saw 3 years ago. But saw this huge stingray instead!)

YM COMMITTEE RETREAT 2011

2011-08-16T22:24:00.002+08:00

The recent ym comm retreat at Hotel Grand Paragon sure has been quite a fulfilling time for the core team & various sub-min reps. As our ministry came together to relook our shared vision of "Youths Transformed For Christ". And its encouraging to see how we are all are more or less on the same page!

Photos courtesy of Andrew Lai...

(Administrative briefing before boarding the coach)

(The walk down the streets of JB to the nearby hawker food)

The Discussion time!

("Transformed Leaders, Transformed youths will lead to a Transformed Church", one of my favourite quotes from the discussions!)

Busy yet Exciting August!

2011-08-11T23:23:00.003+08:00

Its been a while, since I actually made a post, and just for some side info, this is the 801 post since I started blogging in 2006... =)

Its been nearly 3 mths since I started working full time in church as a programme coordinator, and although i'm more or less adjusted to the many administration a church staff got to go through, this august sure is pretty packed! Coordinating a major event almost every weekend, with the upcoming YM Comm Retreat this coming weekend, the following weekend BGR Forum & the one with the most preparations our MAIN HIGHLIGHT besides camp, The Camp Awareness Sunday! Where not only our entire camp comm is running the service but it will be my debut preaching at YM too. Pretty excited to share what God had inspired me a few mths ago to share!

(Our YM August Postcard! -Design by Mattho!)

(Our HIGHLIGHT event beside YM Camp!)

The Discipline of Study

2011-07-31T22:11:00.003+08:00

Took down this sermon notes from Pastor Alvin last sermon at TSS on saturday,,,

Taken from Richard Foster, "Celebration of Discipline"

1) Repetition

2) Concentration

3) Comprehension

"We need to pray and think & meditate until God reveals the meaning of the passage to us"

4) Reflection

"Study demands humility, submit to the system..."

"When we are mastered by the Word of God, we are mastered by the God of the word."

"When you study the bible, you will get to meet the God of the Bible."

John 6:63

New International Version (NIV)

⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit^[a] and life.

Hebrews 4:12

New International Version (NIV)

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Nice Weekend! =)

2011-07-31T19:43:00.003+08:00

Saturday

Its been a good weekend, YM Mission Training in afternoon, a friend who I invited to church came back to TSS again and had a good time with some of the guys from my small grp at food for thought. Followed by a second impromptu reunion gathering with some old coursemates whom l remember the last time meeting them on new year eve last yr.

But I would say what really made my Saturday was hearing the really powerful testimony of God's grace to my friend. The last time I brought him to church couple weeks ago, he shared how the sermon on prayer led him to actually start praying. And 5 days of persistence prayer of his direction in life, & reading a book which i past to him on that "Spirit-filled life", actually led to God actually answering his prayers in quite a dramatic way. And this really affirms me again that God would answer anyone who truly seeks him. =)

Fellowship Sunday

Spend the day with my beloved sec 3 small grp, G.E.L's! Where we went ice skating after many years of actually suggesting this activity! Wells although we got bored after going round & round awhile, we actually had a good time seeing the grp bonding with each other! =) So proud at them of how they grew up so much ever since I got to know this kids when they were just P6 transiting into YM.

Inspiring Stories of God's grace!

2011-07-23T00:04:00.003+08:00

Came across this couple of inspiring videos of Heaven & God's grace!

A boy who saw Heaven! Really makes one look forward to heaven! =)

This video actually reminded me of what happen to my friend which I posted in the last post! A simple prayer led to his recovery from a coma!