Completion of Full time National Service from 13 July 2009 to 12 May 2011 =)
It sure have been quite a experiential & life changing journey in those 1 year 10 months of my NSF life!
Going through the various milestones in my NSF career! Which actually molded me quite a bit to who I am today...
9 Weeks- BMTC Sch 2- Leopard Coy PL 2 section 2! 9 Months- OCS- Tango Wing Platoon 3, Signal Officer Cadet Course (SOCC) 11 Months- Alpha PC, 10 C4I Bn 5 Weeks- 81st Company Tactics Course (CTC) Below is a link to a post which i once wrote of my NSF journey for some NS portal.http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-nsf-journey.html
13 JULY 2011 The day I enlisted in the army & surrendered my pink IC at the tekong ferry terminal...
OCS A new journey at the Officer Cadet Schoo (OCS) in SAFTI MI, where my life & character was challenge to a whole new level!
Service Term- Tango Wing!- OCS
Below is a verse that Pastor Ivan shared with me yesterday that he kept to & memorize in his days in OCS, which I too kept to for the rest of my NSF life...
ACPC- The day we got our Swords http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2010/06/acpc.html (BUNK 7 from SOCC! We call it the "BEST" bunk because of various award winners from the course & other achievements each of us were known for)
Watch an amazing powerful movie today on how the famous song "AMAZING GRACE" came about, now singing & hearing that song again would definitely have so much meaning knowing the history of that song.
A man who had a great vision from God and actually fight till the end for it!
William Wilberforce (1759-1833) led the twenty-year fight to end the British slave trade, a victory now regarded as He finally succeeded in March 1807 and continued to fight for abolition until, days before his death in 1833, he saw the institution of slavery abolished throughout the British colonies. Not limiting himself to just abolitionist work, he dedicated his life to what he called his "two great objects:" abolishing slavery in the British Empire and what he called "the reformation of manners [society]." To this end, he advocated for child labor laws, campaigned for education of the blind and deaf, and founded organizations as diverse as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and the National Gallery (of Art). "Good causes," it has been said, "stuck to him like pins to a magnet."
A prayer that Pastor Ivan shared with the YM leaders recently...
Taking the time to just pause from our busy life, and to pray this simple prayer, pronouncing it word for word slower... and slower... slower... & just keep repeating it....
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me...
Paul sent me an sms this morning to "challenge me to pray & reflect on what happened last night, that it might not be lost into the nothingness in our soul as simply a good feeling: If so, there would be nothing gained. What Fruit did you pick from yesterday's tree? "
And as i took a step back to reflect on it this morning before my quiet time, i open up to today's devotion, and WOW! God just struck me right in the heart again from today's reading which just left me in awe to the follow up from my note from last night!
Today's devotion on What is God like? -Selwyn Hughes- Everyday With Jesus
1 John 4:1-21 (New Living Translation)
1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet[a] acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
Loving One Another
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister,that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.
This was the actual devotion that i was reading from today 6 May 2011..
(Today's devotion on What is God like? -Selwyn Hughes- Everyday With Jesus)
To add to this, was reading the further study readings and it was taken from John 15:9-27 on the Vine and the Branches...
John 15:9-27 (New Living Translation)
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
The World’s Hatred
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the One who sent me. 22 They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. 25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
26 “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. 27 And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.
Today "ENCOUNTER" gathering at Yangshen's place wld probably my most memorable yet!
First it was an unprecedented type of free worship session for me with 4 different worship leaders, playing with 4 guitars each, Paul ooi, Matt Ho, david luo and yangshen, just coming together to lead us all in a free time of worship, prayer and sharing!
With like the 11-12 of us there from different small grps & sub-ministries just coming together with the same intention to just have this encounter with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit all together in one place! One can really sense this deep presence of God just moving so strongly in the midst of us! And it was during the heartfelt sharing from each of us which God suddenly just reminded me, giving me a strong and deep renewed vision & message for Wesley YM again! =)
As we were sharing, the thought of loving others and the importance of spending our-self to serve others just kept coming to my heart so strongly! It reminded me of just last Saturday when i was called to introduce Tchoukball ministry to this grp of TPCMC YF grp! To be honest it was a little challenging at the start, with me just recovering from a wisdom tooth op & was almost losing my voice as i was teaching a large grp of 30 odd people Tchoukball from scratch! But as i serve together alongside, Hans,ernest and janine that day, we were in the end bless so much more by the people there! And just talking to them & spending time with them over supper really just encourage us so much! Which was worth all the time given! =)
And the Lord then just showed me this verse which reaffirmed why we sld love one another!
"34So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.35Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." John 13:34-35 (NLT)
And the more as i was sharing this, I cld really sense the Spirit prompting me back to the vision again of why i'm willing to give so much of my time for this year for the year end ym camp! It all started from this great burden that God has place in my heart in recent years seeing the reality of how i actually see YM. Although i can see YM moving slowly but surely to the direction of God's intended calling for us over the years. There's still elements of this "inward-looking" in us! Maybe its this strong culture of how we are quite sheltered from the world and sometimes we just get too comfortable within the 4 walls of the church. We just feel best to stay close to our grp of friends, and just seem to look only at ourselves, asking questions pertaining to us only, "like how we can be set free in Christ", "how God can meet our needs etc, etc." Instead of the other way around, when we first look at the needs of others! And how the LIGHT of Christ already living in us can be SHONE out to this people who are lost and in need more of this Light! We are living in this world of darkness, and the more we just look at our self, we are only hiding that light already given to us within our self! And that's not what we are called to be! We sld be that LIGHT that Shines Out Brightly to the World!!!
And then as we were praying at the end, this Words from God just flash before my eyes again! The amazing divine global strategy that God instructed Jesus to tell us before he left earth and how His Holy Spirit would come next to the picture to empower us to fulfill it!
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20”
This is what GOD has called us all to do! Its being called to be that TRUE AUTHENTIC WITNESSES for Him in this world! "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Colossians 4:6. And this is what it means to let our speech, action and life do the talking! And i really hope that the very least is we be able to cast what it means to be KINGDOM minded at our year end ym camp! I really believe so strongly and clearly that this deep convicted message that God has revealed to many of the leaders in ym, the camp comm and me is what I really want to share from the bottom of my heart to the youths in wesley ym today!
At 1550pm.. My surgery began! And it didn't help when the surgeon told me that my left side is gonna be much tougher as the angular impaction at the top seems to be quite deep. And the bottom left seem to be very near the Nerve, if damage may cause further complication.
And indeed! Once the Local Anesthesia was jabbed in! I cld immediately sense it was a little more discomforting than the first surgery.
During the operation, It didn't help with the surgeon telling me during the surgery that he had a hard time taking this one out which was quite deep in! And I could actually feel the drillingggg sensation pain at some moments! There was this gripping pain when i cld actually sense the drill deep into my gum! The Local Anesthesia although seem stronger didnt seem to fully cover deep in.
(Horizontal Impaction bottom 2, Top Right Wisdom tooth which was Vertical Impacting, Angular Impaction in the Top Left which was the hardest out of the 4 to extract as it was impacting a root of my other molar! The bottom left was quite near a nerve) (The bloody wisdom tooth on my left side)
Anyways as i write this post, the painkillers which i took right after i got home has kick in now! So i dun feel the pain which i had the first time! Phew!!! Hopefully this will recover fast, as it seems abit more painful than the first if i didn't take the painkillers early
21 April 2011- Dental FFI @ Kranji Medical Centre (Thursday) Went for my ORD Dental FFI, and in that short look by the dentist, she told me that i had a wisdom tooth showing... that same day, i called up Alexander Hospital after a recommendation from a friend. And soon manage to get an appointment the following week!
25 April 2011- Referral from Hougang Polyclinic (Monday) At it was a monday morning right after the easter holiday, it was packed with people! WAITED 6 hrs for a 1 min consultation with the doctor to get a referral letter so that i can claim for my wisdom tooth operation by my 11B.
26 April 2011- (Tuesday) Headed for my consultation with this Dr Baldev Singh at 1230. Found out that I had 2 x horizontal impacted wisdom tooth on my bottom sides & 2 x Vertical wisdom tooth on my top 2 sides from the X-Ray. There & den after a bit of reluctance, i decided to go ahead with the operation as didnt wanna risk in the future when i get older and pay $1000 per tooth according to him. So book an appointment the next day
27 April 2011- (Wednesday) 1530 waited for my Surgery to commence. Went in about 1600, was injected with local anesthesia, surprisingly the 4x injections werent really as stingy as i thought and my right cheek soon became super NUMB. At 1610, the operation commences and i just did a short prayer & committed to whole operation to the Lord. And soon the WAR BEGAN in my mouth! It sure was quite a surreal experience like a war zone going on as the surgeon pull, drill, cut & push so hard that i can feel my headd being depressed to the head rest at moments! Phew! By 1625, the operation was over! And surprisingly it wasnt as bad as i thought, as it was just numb and bloody.
(The Large full tooth is my upper right wisdom tooth, and the 4 smaller pieces is my lower right wisdom tooth, the first one is when the blood stains were still there & the second picture is when its been wash, didnt know it was sooo huge!) 1900- The Local Anesthesia suddenly died! And when i thought everything was going well, the extremely uncomfortable pain on my right jaw started to kick in pretty bad!
I immediately TRIED SO HARD to consume my porridge which my mom cook, SUFFERING LIKE MAD so that i can take the steroids & anti infection pills. And By 1920, i finally manage to take my pills!
By 2030 the blood was oozing out so much still and the pain was not getting any bearable even with an icepack to my right check & a teabag with gauze around in my mouth. And then i reluctantly decided i MUST take the Stronger pill which they gave too, but only if the pain persist. And after taking it, i took a bath. And by 2100, the pain started to subside slowly by surely. And by 2200. I was almost much much better! Phewww!
28 April 2011 (Thursday)
Post recovery time.. now my right cheek is swelling like a bunch of mash-mellows in my mouth & heard it will grow even bigger in the next 48 hrs! Sighh... hope it gets better by the weekend!
(Looks like this next 2 weeks will be eating Soft/liquid food! Please suggest more delicious such food to me so i can get them and indulge myself! =) )
Next Wisdom Tooth Operation on my left side for ROUND 2 on 4 April 2011! Now will definitely be much prepared! And will faster consume my dinner, the painkillers & steriods before the pain kicks in when the Local Anesthesia(LA) dies off! LA is now my best friend!!!!! =)
This 3rd recent kelong retreat has certainly been the most spiritually refreshing one for me after going back to the first kelong we went 3 years ago at blue mountain kelong in 2008.
First Kelong retreat 2008 http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2008/09/will-be-away-from-1-oct-to-3-octon.html
Second Kelong retreat 2009 http://benlau89.blogspot.com/2009/04/kelong-boys-2.html
This time is the biggest crowd of guys yet! But i would say the company was really good and the food was just wayyyy to awesomeeeeeeee! And most of all, we encountered God there! =)
Day 1- Good Friday! (Enjoying the ferry ride at the open back area of the ferry!)
(Heading to the speed boat to the kelong) (In the really fast speed boat!) (Relax timeeee!)
(Day 1 night session which i shared on "Living your life to the Fullest of your calling", will post the sermon script soon)
Day 2 (before we set of to the beautiful beach!)
(The waters here was warm and cool at the same time!)
(We played beach soccer and water rugby at this beautiful sandy sea shore!) (The kelong boys 2011) We end of the night with Weirnurn sharing on Listening Prayer... this was the night where i also had a renewed filling of the Spirit & encountered God's presence so strongly after our second worship. This was where God gave me a glimpse of a vision which actually took place a few mins later, and was affirmed of what God can really do and show us.
(I still remember the beautiful stars and this super bright shooting star that flew past the night sky for like 3-5secs when i was talking to joseph! It was a sight to remember!) Day 3-EASTER sunday (We spend the night star gazing to sleep in the open! And was woken up by the nice cool breeze and sun light!)
Isaac had a closing easter message on Faith to us! =)
(Treated to a good lunch to end our kelong retreat)
The below is the draft write up for the Wesley Tidings magazine for Fusion 2011! Special thanks to Pastpr Alvin, Paul Ooi, Mag Phua, Amanda low, Joseph Tan & Xunliang(photos) for contributing to this article.
FUSION 2011, is a yearly event where the youth ministries from the TRAC Methodist churches gather for a transforming encounter with God. This year it was held at Paya Lebar Methodist Church (PLMC). It was an amazing weekend for the youths in Wesley YM, with The Desperation Band, from The New Life Church, Colorado Springs, USA. They were here solely to serve our Lord, to minister and bless the youths in their God inspired music and message for us.
Desperation Band
Just abit more about the band. Their worship pastor, Jon Egan has written many songs over the past five years for New Life Church including ‘Endlessly’, ‘Here In Your Presence’, ‘King of All Glory’, ‘My Savior Lives’, ‘Overcome’, 'You Hold It All', 'God Be Praised', and ‘I Am Free' and are songs being played in churches throughout the world and even within our youth ministry.
"The band has always been more of a ministry than a band. Jon and the guys believe that true change comes when people lay aside their agenda’s to encounter the true and living God. They are passionate about the presence of God and they don’t hide it. They are well aware that music will never impact souls…only the power of God. They don’t perform or entertain. They want to join with real people to worship a real God. The Desperation Band exists to advance His Kingdom and to pray as Jesus told us… “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“The Desperation Band has always been and always will be about the presence of God. We exist to bring Him glory and reveal His truth to a broken world. If we know who His is, we know who we are. If we know who we are, we can live as God meant us to live. Let our worship meet his heart. Let His heart speak his purposes. Let us freely give our lives away to see his purposes known. It’s not a youth movement. It’s not a church movement. It’s a people movement. All are welcome!” - Jon Egan, Desperation Band
Fusion 2011
(Mercy Ministry Workshop by Jon Egan, this workshop was so timely, as right after our camp comm meeting finalizing on our theme, Jon actually kinda affirmed it from his message. It was quite amazing!)
It was a fun filled exciting Saturday at PLMC, as the event started with a short worship in the early afternoon led by The Desperation Band. This was followed by two workshops running simultaneously by the members of Desperation Band. The two workshops were Mercy Ministry for Youths 101 & Worship Band Dynamics. After the workshops, there were like booths prepared with all kinds of food such as hotdogs, pastas, nacho cheese, mash potatoes, bubble tea and the list goes on! Yummy right?
Adding on to the whole fusion carnival atmosphere, there were performances by musicians from various churches, and they were sure a talented bunch. And then my personal highlights at the carnival was when we actually had the chance to showcase our very own Wesley YM Sec 1-3 camp mass dance to the song “Promises” by Desperation band to the Fusion crowd.
The night rally started off with some light hearted Desperation band album giveaway before the Desperation Band took on the stage, and led everyone into a really deep time of praise & worship. This year there was something different compared to previous Fusions, as the organizers introduced this initiative called the ”Overflowing Cup project”, below is the background story from Pastor Alvin (Chairman of Fusion 2011) on how it all started.
“When Desperation band confirmed that they were coming, we found out that they were very much into mercy ministry, reaching out to the poor. God also began to impress upon the hearts of the Fusion 2011 team through various incidences that this is the direction that Fusion 2011 would take.
We then explored how we can have our youths grow in their heart for the poor and Rev William Sam,
the chairman of the Board of Christian Outreach and Social Concerns then suggested that the various youth ministries can have a direct impact on the lives of the poorer youths in their communities by giving to the pocket money fund of a school their church have a strategic relationship with.
The pocket money fund of each school seeks to give some pocket every week to their needy students for food. Thus, the youths who have taken the cups will have to save for a month and with that amount, pool their money as a youth ministry and give it away to the school. The intention is that we'll grow in our awareness and be kind and generous.”
Desperation Band in Wesley YM!
(After a special request to play the song "Promises", they certainly did it during worship and Amanda took the initiative running to the front and led the first few rows in doing the Mass dance to the song! It was amazinggggggggggggg!!!!)
We couldn’t have asked for more, as the week ended on Palm Sunday with Desperation Band coming all the way to our home ground at the YWCA
Ballroom! Besides the loud music that flooded the whole building and the really awesome time
of praise and worship. My biggest takeaway for the entire 3 days was in the midst of worship, Jon Egan, the worship leader paused for awhile, and shared his testimony and this heartfelt message for us. He shared how when he was just a 15 year old boy, when he was not strong in his faith then. And then there was this mission trip to Mexico, he just went thinking this would be a fun holiday. But his perception of it all change when he saw the older peers who were talking about Jesus to others there, and there was something different about them as they shared. This was where he saw firsthand the glory of God moving so strongly in their lives. And this actualisation of God’s presence in that mission trip actually convicted his heart. He then went to somewhere alone, and decided to pray and surrender his life to the Lord and from that very day his life was transformed and he was never the same again.
He then shared how God revealed to him this message when he was reading the scriptures of Isaiah
58 one day and how it all suddenly make sense after he went for that mission trip. Here’s an extract of it from Verse 8- 10.
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:8-10
He ended off by challenging the youths this. As we are blessed to be a blessing, we should touch the lives of others and we should spend ourselves on behalf of others. We are ready right now to step out. God will show us 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!
Below are some of the thoughts from our very own YM youths & leaders from the Fusion weekend,
"Young Methodists of one faith coming together, declaring the praises of our King, responding to God's call for justice and mercy... a great sight to behold!"- Magdalene Phua, 21
The main message brought across for that night rally made an impact on my heart; we are blessed to be a blessing. That we are such blessed children and this should be a blessing unto those around us. And then there was the overflowing cup project which had a wonderful meaning behind it, which ties down so nicely with Jon Egan’s belief and love for the orphans and the poor. To have our heart for the less fortunate and to turn our beliefs into action, and love others with what God has so graciously blessed us with.”- Amanda Low, 17
“My biggest take away is that we should not just wait, but to step out of our comfort zones and spend ourselves and be a blessings on others.” – Joseph Tan, 28
“For me, FUSION 2011 was a time for me to "receive" from the Lord as I have been rather busy with many activities both outside & within the church - & I indeed received. God spoke to me during the worship sessions when the Desperation Band played over us while we asked God to speak to us, just like in 2 King 3:15, Jon Egan explained. There was indeed FREEDOM in the name of Jesus & worship was filled with much joy & sincerity. What struck me the most was that the Desperation Band members were all very down-to-earth & I had a great time talking to them & getting to know them better as people. FUSION 2011 was definitely an extremely positive experience for me & I learnt a lot as Jon Egan shared about the Desperation Band's heart for missions as well as their attitude towards worship through music. Hallelujah, God be praised!” – Paul Ooi, 20
Just came back from a really awesome time just worshipping & praising God so freely with the Desperation band leading us all in this time of worship! And one thing which im so excited this year Fusion is, this Band has something much deeper about them, just listening to their songs, their sharing, one can tell that they are people who truly live their life for Christ by just seeing how they lead everyone into worship!
The below message is taken from Jon Egan the worship leader of the band on how the band was form. Amazing stuff!
"The band has always been more of a ministry than a band. Jon and the guys believe that true change comes when people lay aside their agenda’s to encounter the true and living God. They are passionate about the presence of God and they don’t hide it. They are well aware that music will never impact souls…only the power of God. They don’t perform or entertain. They want to join with real people to worship a real God. The Desperation Band exists to advance His Kingdom and to pray as Jesus told us… “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” “The Desperation Band has always been and always will be about the presence of God. We exist to bring Him glory and reveal His truth to a broken world. If we know who His is, we know who we are. If we know who we are, we can live as God meant us to live. Let our worship meet his heart. Let His heart speak his purposes. Let us freely give our lives away to see his purposes known. It’s not a youth movement. It’s not a church movement. It’s a people movement. All are welcome!” - Jon Egan, Desperation Band
(Photo taken from Xunliang! =)
(Got this album from them, as was attracted by the album title! As this was the song which i found on youtube when i was looking for songs relating to the theme for ym camp!)
Had a chance to visit the recent TP Design Showcase @ VIVO City last friday and saturday! And it was certainly a nostalgic day as i got to meet up with my old coursemates as well as old lecturers at this show! And seeing how the design school has grew so much in recent years! Imagine holding such a big event in public! Congrats to the organizers and students who put in loooooong hrs making this show happen! And it was quite nice to see how i use to know some of them as freshmen design students when I was year 3 then, people like Amos, Persie, Melissa, Cosina from TP crusade & jolyn from church,And now its their turn graduating! =) (Can you spot me inside here! Clye i'm wearing a blue & white strip polo tee =)) (Similar storyboards that i use to do previously when i was in Interior Architecture design) (The Fashion show at the opening ceremony!)
From my Facebook note: by Benjamin Lau on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 2:06am
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. Romans 6:17
Was reading Martyn Lloyd Jones book on "Spiritual Depression" and he raise this point about the sequence of our approach to God which got me intrigued. He shared his views on why the order needs to be via the Mind,Heart & Will. And it does make sense of what he said, That we should first hear the Truth. Which is where the understanding of the mind comes in. And the heart is always to be influenced through the understanding. He added on that the heart should not be approached directly first as if it may lead to an "emotional" response to God which derives from themselves. And if the sequence is via listening to The Truth first (understanding of it by the mind), it will lead to one responding by his/her heart, followed by his/her will to act upon the Truth!
And I thought it all makes sense as this is how I've been seeing it too if you read my previous note on "What is the Great Commission". E.g. We should first hear & understand the Truth of The Great Commission (Mind), and by seeing & catching this vision of the big picture of God's plan for us, our heart response to it (This is where The Holy Spirit will empower us to understand it as well as makes us that effective witnesses of God which is also the Truth (Heart), and this leads to the act of our Will to want to fulfill that Great Commission, to make disciples and to witness the others with our life! (Will)
And the interesting thing after reading the above extract of Martyn Lloyd Jones book, on the same day, I came across this book on "the Holy Spirit" at TECMAN Bookshop by Reinhard Bonnke. And what caught my attention was there was this quote that was so similar to the above view of the mind,heart & will. Just that the order & definition is a bit different. But yet still following a similar concept of combining the 3 of Mind,Heart & Will. Just that this time its place in "Heart, Mind & Will" order.
"God work in this life through people only. A heart of Faith (HEART),a mind to plan(MIND), and a hand to work (WILL) always attract the power of the Holy Spirit" -Reinhard Bonnke.
Although the context of the above statement by Reinhard Bonnke has a slight difference & its not totally fair to compare both, i guess it to some extent it also clearly shows on which side of the spectrum we stand on either the reform side (Alot on the Mind) or the other extreme end of the charismatic (alot on the Heart). At the end of the day, i personally feel we need both equally. The order may not be that important although a part of me believe more to what Martyn Lloyd Jones said as that is a more conservative approach, yet, i would say based on personal experience. My understanding (mind) of the Truth was very weak previously, and it was what got me in the (Heart), which was my encounter with being "Filled with the Spirit" that led me to understand much more of the Christian Faith and what it means to be a True Witness of Christ, and this was what led to the actions of my belief (Will). So in some way the order was still mind, heart & will. But a lot of the emphasis i would say was on my Heart. Was it emotional? I would say yes, but I can boldly say it was not from myself, as i really believe the Holy Spirit gave me that personal experience of God aka "The Strangely Warm experience" which compelled me to want to search & understand more of His Truth personally to validate that experience and find out more about this God of mysteries.
This was where it compelled & motivated me on my journey in wanting to intentionally dwell more on His Word through inductive bible studies. Which I believe will also give one more credibility if experiences with God is being affirmed by the scriptures & not solely based on experiences alones or through someone else writings. As yes God can speak to us through various means, but i still feel the best & safest which we will never go wrong & stray of sound doctrine is when one is reading or hearing God's Truth(Mind) & it speaks right to our hearts(Heart) from the Scriptures & this is concurrently with the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit to help us understand & apply the Truth in our life(Will)!
Just realised that recently I had 5 books given/lend to me by different people! Don't waste You life by John Piper (Sister's book), Spiritual Depression- Martyn Lloyd Jones (Marcus Yee's Book), Enjoying your Walk with God- Steve Douglous (Crystal MCF volunteer), Run With the Hourses- Eugene Petersson (Pastor Ivan), Brokenness- The heart that God revives- Nancy Leigh Demoss(A book which i was looking for quite a long time which my mom bought for me!)
Quite excited to read all of them! As i dwell into all this reknown authors whom i believe God has inspired them in their ways to write this books! =)
This is kinda a belated post, but i would like to say a HUGE THANKS for the many well wishes on FB and via SMS! And want to say a special Thanks for my small grp & camp comm for celebrating my birthday too! =)
22 years has past! And looking back, i'm just so grateful for the many things that God has shown and taught me over the years!
