“你爱我比这些更深吗？"

There are lines in the certain worship songs that I can’t bring myself to sing because I know I can’t do as the lyrics say, especially those about loving God over and above everything else. Being a regular musician, I sing a lot less than the congregation does, so I have gotten away with less guilt.

But tonight at the (Korean) worship session, I was reminded of this and it hurt.

So many things I can’t lay down at His feet, so many things still tightly clasped in my hands. I still haven’t learnt to let go…

Then this old Qing Shao song came to mind:

“更深吗？更深吗？
你爱我比这些更深吗？”
宁静中听恩主轻声问：
“你爱我比这些更深吗?”

“更深吗？更深吗？
你爱我比这些更深吗？”
一遍遍在耳边盘旋
“你爱我比这些更深吗？
更深吗？更深吗？”

When I sang it on stage the last time, I couldn’t help the tears.

And tonight…

what to say?

啦啦 啦啦啦啦 啦啦
啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦
啦 啦啦啦啦啦

进入我心 进入我心
请进入我心 主耶稣
现在进来 永不离开

亲进入我心 主耶稣

啦啦 啦啦啦啦 啦啦
啦啦啦啦啦 啦啦啦啦啦
啦 啦啦啦啦啦

他比亲人更加亲密
他告诉我说我属于他

世上有人 把我抛弃 （抛弃！）
救主话语给我勇气

waltz-ing down the narrow lane
doesnt matter- God knows my pain

this is a short part of 更加甘甜-medley
wheras today's short part of my life, doesn't promise to be 更加甘甜。
its a medley though, so many years of my life, all for this day.
too subtle, fleeting.

in the end everything goes in a bang.

within a bang
the results will be given
but the effects dont end in a moment.
ironically, i'll be dealing with other's expectations and not so much of my own.
there'll be unreasoning menace.

but hey, no matter.
救主话语给我勇气!

To live life without regrets, make the right choice today

...this life on earth, temptations, injuries, hurts...
This sentence reminded me of regrets and it just so happened that I read something about it after yi jie led the prayer session on saturday.

Very often we suffer because of the wrong choices we make.
Here we must recognise two influential characters in our lives: Wisdom and Folly.

Folly is seductive. It promises what you want. It expects low standards of conduct from you. It persuades you to take the easy way out.

On the other hand, Wisdom disciplines you, it knows what is best for you and calls you to do what is right in God's eyes.

Wisdom's call
Proverbs 8:1-13
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?

On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud:
"To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.

You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding.

Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.

My mouth speaks what is true,for my lips detest wickedness.

All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.

To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge.

Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold,

for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

"I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.

To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. "

Proverbs 8:32-36
"Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.

Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD.

But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death."

Now, to show you more about Folly.

Proverbs 9:13-18

The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.

She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city,

calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way.

"Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.

"Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"

But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

Respond to wisdom's call today.

new

new year, new members, new programmes

new habits, new views blah blah

aiping, new habits can come in the form of from pro-blogging to the new anti-blogging

haha you know i dont believe in that either

new members- oh i finally came to terms with the confessions. Confessions from the older batch about how they felt a certain sort of unexplainable fear and unease when they knew i was joining (some long 3 years ago...)

I wasnt that comfortable with the news of the newcomers, im sorry newcomers.

but when you guys came, it was really miraculous, it was as if my fears and reservations literally

vapourized.

Thank God.

well i almost forgot my main point.

i'm here to blog about the first theory lesson. haha

first theory lesson hm.

the group of us ( 8 i think, was paying so much attention i couldnt count)

sat in the comfy 404 learning about the basics of the basics.

though there were various new things i could acquire, much were of the i-already-know-_-stuff.

but that in itself was a lesson.

the ingenious scale thingy.

octaves, semitones, diatonic, chrome

to me, the no grader, its all pretty amusing, no i mean, interesting or amazing.

right ervine? amazing?

i have this picture to share with anyone reading.

oOhH PICTURE SHARING! SO EXCITING!

well what do we see in the picture?

for me, i see erm clouds, dark clouds, and a beautiful sunset.

haha maybe it isnt that obvious of a sunset...

well dark clouds represents rain right?

it did rain that evening.

ok, after the bush beating, this is what i think i saw in the picture, as i thought of

life (emo? haha nahh) and you guys.

peace is like a beautiful sunset.

where the sky is made brighter/more beautiful by the dark clouds.

its alot like going through this hell on earth, or what we always call the end of days.

this life on earth, temptations injuries hurts.

they're the dark clouds, without the dark clouds, we might never appreciate the true

beauty of peace, often hidden and shrouded from our sight.

but first braving throught the storm, will there be peace following.

however, all will wind up in the gutter should we choose to let go amidst the storm.

when the going gets tough, the peace which follows simply just gets better.

its only logical to hang on, brace the wind, then enjoy the peace.

the storm's not over.

till it ceases. hehe

Practically speaking

It's so quiet in here. Nothing blogworthy of late? Hopefully so, and not because we're already desensitized and can no longer see the miracles of everyday.

Announcement
Theory class is postponed to Sunday 4pm to 5pm, after the worship leaders training for Shao Tuan. So ppl who are interested, don't turn up on Friday, okay?

Reminder
Prac starts at 3pm this Sat. Please come in RED for the anthem at the church dedication service and I think we're supposed to memorise the score! If anyone needs help with parts or anything, pls shout for help! I'm a call or an SMS away.

Till we meet again, keep singing!

Announcement

Esther has appealed to Dominant 7th for help in presenting an item for the 献堂礼 next Sat, 19th Jan.

Well, how do we say no, right?

We'll be singing with 圣歌团，and the song chosen is 我的神，我的父，我的磐石。So, she'll be down tomorrow to teach us the song and the parts in 0.5 hr (!!!) and we may need to practise a bit after 2nd service on Sun.

Short notice, I know, I was only informed today. Living life on the edge does make you feel more alive, doesn't it? Haha...

We'll see how it goes tomorrow. See you at 4pm!

God and the imperfect vessels

I am here to share what I read yesterday.

Sometimes God prefers imperfect willing vessels because not only does it give Him something to work with, and not only does it make His vessel completely dependent on Him, but when success is achieved, it's so obvious that it occurred because of Him.

David (the one in the bible) knew he was not only small and young as well as untrained, but he also understood that God was bigger than any of his shortcomings. God used this weaker of vessels in mighty way. A Giant fell, nations trembled, and God was glorified through it all. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if David had said, "I can't do that because I'm just a shepherd?"
Don't let what you think you are lacking keep you from what you know God is calling you to do. There may be gaps in your skill set, but if you have the willing heart and workable spirit desires, He will fill those holes with Himself.

Remember that God will equip you for whatever He has called you to do. Pastor and ministry leader, Adrian Rogers once wrote, "There are two things that form the vessel: the touch of the Father's hand and the turning of the wheel. The wheel represents the circumstances of our daily lives. God sees to it that our lives revolve around certain events, and the whole time God is touching our lives and making them what He wants them to be."

Let him take you through this year as you serve in your respective ministries. =)

献心礼

人的记性总是不好：有时是选择性的忘记吧。
从古至今，毁约的都是人，而绝非上帝。

不知今早所念的立约礼文，大家还记得多少？可能刚刚念得太仓促，还来不及消化字句的意思就念完了。用一点时间，好好来到他面前，反复思考礼文的内容。你是否有守约的决心呢？你是否已预备心，让上帝来陶造你呢？
——————————————————————————————

今天我们聚集，要更新我们与上帝相联系的约。
愿我们一切的行事为人都接受基督的引导，
而基督本身是我们唯一的奖赏。
我们可以在很多方面事奉基督；
有些容易，有写困难；
有时得到赞许，有时遭受责备；
有些事我们乐意去做，是出于自己的喜好；
有些事做得很不自然。
有时我们可以讨基督的喜悦，也满足自己的需要；
有时我们无法讨基督的喜悦，
除非我们先舍弃自我。
然而基督刚强我们，给我们力量做一切事。
因此，让我们与上帝立约。
我们愿意在所事奉的圣工上尽心、尽性、尽意、尽力地把自己献上，为主所用。
我们将自己完全交托给上帝，信靠他的应许，仰赖他的恩典，使尊贵荣耀归给三位一体的上帝。

Slaves for Christ

As we prepare our hearts for the dedication service this sunday, I thought it would be apt to share about this topic (Slaves for Christ).

Today I learnt that the word slave meant dignity, honor and respect in Hebrews and humility in Greek. As a servant of Christ, Paul finds himself both exalted and debased. This mixed feeling (both exalted and debased) should be present in every representative of Jesus Christ.

Honor/Exalted – consider it a privilege to serve the Lord
Humility/Debased – realize that he/she does not deserve to have this privilege
(consider himself/herself unworthy to serve the Lord)

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

Here we are reminded that the Lord is the one who is supposed to lift us up.
Not ourselves and not our fellow man.

As we serve another year in Dom7th, let us encourage ourselves and one another to seek humility and look to what HE(the Lord) is doing in our lives!

每一天不断更新...

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning
New every morning
Great is thy faithfulness, Oh Lord
Great is thy faithfulness

主你那坚定的爱永远长存
你宽容怜悯永不止息
每一天不断更新天天都更新
恩主你信实真广大
你信实真广大

After our very looong sharing on the eve of New Year, I think one common thing that most of us mentioned was: God's unchanging character, his faithfulness, his steadfastness -- however you want to say it.

On the other hand, how WE have changed over the year. Whatever we have been through in 2007, we see and are witnesses to how people are always changing. Its just human nature to change.

From pride to humility;
From immaturity to maturity;
From small to big;
From big to small;
From unpolished to polished;
From disappointment to hope;
From doubt to faith;
From strangers to family;
From unfinished to completion;

The list is unending and it works both ways; we change for the better and for the worse. But thank God for He remains faithful for who He is. I can't remember some verse which says that with Him there are no shifting shadows (can someone enlighten me please?).

There is no need for Him to change because He is already perfect. But we, we measly humans are so far from His standard that we HAVE to change, we NEED to change, to be more like Him each day. If you reflected and realised you are still the same inside out, I would say I feel very sorry for you, honestly. But thank God that with His mercies new every day, we are empowered to change by His might, for His glory.

Changing to be more Christ-like, to lead more God- centered lives. (I recall some of our resolutions for 2008...)

May ALL of us strive towards that perfect standard embodied in Christ this coming year and also meditate everyday, on the steadfast love and faithfulness of our Lord.

I truly pray that all of us will experience change that renews our mind and spirit day by day.

Don't forget to pray!

Cheers to a New Year folks! :)




"Yam........ Seng!!!"