The Reason I Live is Christ

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (1 Tim 4:16)

Wednesday, February 27

-=P3ng=- | 12:39 pm

Saturday, June 30
Change of Blog Address

-- BLOG HAS BEEN SHIFTED TO http://p3ngsiang.blogspot.com --

I'm shifting my blog to a new address so please note that you'll have to relink me =) Reason for shifting is in the first post of my new blog.

*note that the new blog has the same template so don't get confused. Only the address is different =D

-=P3ng=- | 12:59 pm

Sunday, June 24
The End/ The Transition/ The Start of Something New

The end was the temp job at lenovo. the last day of work seemed very weird. felt free yet at the same time unable to accept how it has already ended... it was a short 3 months yet i've made friends with a few colleagues.. just somehow i doubt i'll never meet them again.. neither do i have to intention to keep in contact... i was however more close to the other 3 temps who are also going into uni with me... and yep will see them in uni.. haha

The transition was the timely lesson during cg. I had the idea my last week at work can finally slack since Messenger is over. then Romans told me to take over e lesson during cg cos he had a rehearsal. a heavy message. sharp. piercing. i ensured the whole impact was delivered and identified myself with the audience as i taught the word of God. When my subconcious caught the look on the faces of the members as i taught, feeling the silence and the seriousness in the atmosphere in the room, i knew the word of God did not spare anyone from its impact. it is never possible for a person to come face to face with God's standard and doesn't feel anything. A sincere believer is not one who seeks eternal life and hence believe as an option, but one who really hates sin and how it separates him from the one he loves, and how he desires to be found righteous and pleasing to his Lord. He who is not desperate for God does not bother if God is in his life or not.

The start. a few more hours to a 5-day camp. not my idea to join. a friend asked me to join him. another says it's the best time to know more ppl. i needed the exposure anyway. then i got to know its program and i was worried. shared to a few close friends about it but the Lord has assured me not to worry. with the message i taught, it is time to live it out. i'll be hoping to share to at least 2 people in the camp. praying for opportunity and good rapport building.

***

I will never forsake the Lord...

because if i'm not a Christian, i do not know what i will be....

so that's my first... and only calling....

-=P3ng=- | 8:36 pm

Wednesday, June 20
The end of another phase

2 more days and my job at Lenovo is over... and so my temp job phase comes to an end... many people after hearing what i do in office keep complaining i got a slack job. i did. i looked at it as being given an office to do ministry work in haha!

true enough, after the messenger, i tot i can finally start surfing net and just slack through the whole day... no more sun sch or cg lessons to teach, no more events to plan... but God says that's all.. you can go home now!...i was suppose to work until end of this month, but i have a Science Camp next week so i'm ending one week earlier. i did ask if i could extent into july.. but boss say cannot!

haiz.. oh well... too slack is never God's plan for me.. neither do i want it haha... think i'll do some packing and prep for the various camps and overseas trip!

25th June - 29th June --- NUS SCAMP (Science Fac Camp)

9 ~ 13 July --- Thailand Mission Trip Recce with Romans

16th - 19th July --- Juntos (NUS Rovers Camp)

4th Aug - 7th Aug --- Hong Kong trip with OAC friends (we are going shoppin lah.. still quite adventurous!)

that's my super happening life before my uni starts.. whee~ i might end up spending everything i earned this 3 months! oh well..... >.<

***

Here's an interesting site i've found. I'm gonna try the solutions out. Hopefully my slouching days will come to an end...! =)

http://www.drbookspan.com/NeckPainArticle.html

-=P3ng=- | 4:30 pm

Monday, June 18
The Messenger - Decoding the Message

More than a month of planning...
Endless Recces...
3 times into Sentosa...
4 times to Labrador Park...
Days of brain racking, visualizing, predicting, planning, coordinating...

and i missed out 1 factor... TIME...

i felt the program "crashed". objectives weren't met. it was hard to accept, and i had never been good at thinking on my toes...

many lessons i've shared during the Leaders' Retreat was tested yet again.. Depending on God instead of trying to patch up things by myself, making it worse... Believing God's ways are greater than mine... I liked things to be perfect as how i want it... now i'm wondering if that is pride over the work i'm doing...

I was spending time decoding the message I've received from the true Messenger Himself... the question "Why?" kept bothering me as the wind, the waves, the tiredness made me even more emotional.. No, i wasn't depressed, nor sad, because at the back of my mind, i knew it's about God, how He is in control. i knew i did what i could, even though some areas i was unfaithful and could have done a bit more...so what's God trying to tell me? I had to discern.. many voices and thoughts of kinds convicting me, comforting me, confusing me...

it wasn't very complicated... i admit i didn't do it very well, things went wrong, i learn, God still in control, His gospel is not hindered by my mistakes. A whole event, He used it as an experience to teach me. how privileged can i get... heh!

Things to takeaway:

I've taken the train into Sentosa! more than many ppl i know haha
I've been to Labrador Park more often than many ppl i know
I've found out my audio recordings are really amusing Lol!
I never knew Romans can walk so far when i recce with him
I can remember exactly where fort canning, hong lim and maxwell food centre is and what buses to take
I get to meet Jean Shen's friends and also my old jc fren
I grew closer to the Lord...

-=P3ng=- | 11:40 am

Friday, June 15
Jumping as We Worship (a response to Sarah's post on Sun 3rd June)

I'll begin this post with a passage from the word of God as basis of this discussion...

2 Samuel 6:14-16,20-22

14 And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.

15 So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

16 Then it happened as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

20 But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!"

21 So David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the LORD.

22 "I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished."

Let's make some simple observation of the passage before i share my views on the topic. Here we have David, the newly appointed King of Israel. The context is that they are bringing the ark of the covenant (the very symbol that God used to show the nation of Israel that He is in their midst) to the capital city - Jerusalem. Then we see David dancing with all his might before the Lord. I do not know the culture back then cos i did not research, but i wouldn't say it is those siao kind anyhow dance one since it is before the Lord. But note that he took off his robe (wearing only linen ephod, i'm not sure what is that, but since the word disrobe is used, i suppose it isn't as glam as the King's robe, perhaps making him look very common, smth a King normally won't do)

then we have Michal, the daughter of Saul (the previous King) who despised David for dancing like that, and spoil his image of King in front of the nation.

So now i move on to the discussion... hehe the word of God is important, can't start without it... Sarah's post on 3rd June got me thinking about the jumpin in worship... i've seen enough when i was visiting mega churches.. i was always "wow what a passionate bunch" then very soon it became a "heh, come on lah, jump as much as u want, you are not going to show it in ur life anyway." i was also thinking, gee this jumping thing is not me...

but lately i had been praying whenever i enter to worship God in sunday service. I always asked God to remind me of who He is in my life, and to let nothing come between my expression of worship to Him. I treasure this intimacy with God that self-awareness or worrying how others look at me lessens.

when David danced before the Lord, it wasn't a show. He knew his position before God. He remembered how the Lord has been gracious to him. His life testifies (proves) that he seeks after the heart of God. So when the opportunity comes to express his love for God.. He danced... with all his might. It sparked from the close relationship, the gratefulness towards God, the love for God. and that should be our guideline too. if we are not worshipping God with all our might, it tells a lot about our relationship with God, it tells how much we treasure Him. Don't even talk about jumping, sometimes our lips are singing, but our mind are elsewhere! sometimes we sing because the tune and music is nice. do you think of the lyrics, remember how the week has been as you sing?

If God has been great in your life, it is really hard to restrain yourself from shouting, singing, jumping, raising hands, dancing. I agree with Sarah, your singing is to God. He is the audience, not those around you. Those around you suppose to focus on God too, so they won't look at you with the weird eye.. haha!

Still, i feel a need to discuss about Michal. For me, my attitude towards those that jump around in worship is despise. That's pride. That's judging others. I don't know them, what if their lives are truly inline with what they do in service? Then that will really put me to shame. because that will show just how dead is my love for God. but of course, if you try to put up at act before God, God knows. It is bad enough for you to tell lies about how you are willing to live for God. Worse, your lies come along with a tune and dancing!

Focus of our worship is God. Our worship is the day we live our lives. I love the first verse from Casting Crowns' Lifesong. I shall end this discussion with it...

Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
Not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You...

-=P3ng=- | 3:06 pm

Wednesday, June 13
Devotion #3 1 Tim 4:7a

Yes, the conclusion is rather lacking.. but it is a statement based on the 2nd part of verse 6 which says "constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following" so the conclusion was based on that...of course a good servant of Christ Jesus is more than that.. which i'm slowing exploring as i go thru this passage over the next few days as my QT.

"But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;"

i was thinking on "worldly fables" and "have nothing to do" for today...

Worldly fables.. at first when i think of the word "fable", i was thinking of tales that teach a moral lesson like those i hear when i was young. but when i look it up in the dictionary, this word is also used for stories not based on fact, myths, falsehood, idle talk. it also means the opposite of truth, refused. referring to john macarthur's teaching, the "fit only for old women" is used to bring out the fact that it is irrational to listen to worldly fables. old - because when u get old, u lose your ability to process information. women - well women live long, old men were dead.. (cultural context)

"have nothing to do" simply excusing yourself from its environment, decline to receive it. the worse thing to do is to be under a teacher who teaches error.. especially when both of u think it's true!

during lunch break today i was hanging around the library with my friends. this time instead of finding a corner to sleep, i was just browsing and strolling around. i came to the religion section and was curious what books they had over there. among all the books, this one caught my attention. "The Resurrection of Christ" i was like ok.. interesting... then after picking it up, reading the back of the book, i was rather shocked. it was a book claiming to discredit and prove that the resurrection did not happen! i flipped through the pages and saw how the author used the bible verses to explain. he mentioned the context and the intent of the bible authors like Paul and the disciples. i felt i was wasting time reading it so i put it back... the next book that i can rem was this one calling crossing faith under the Singapore section. it was transcripts of top religious people talking about tackling and bringing together the various religions. Muslim and Christianity. Christianity and the Chinese Traditions.. it was very politically correct, very "on-the-fence", with keeping the harmony as its purpose. i skimmed through a few pages then was bored again...

it was only until i was sitting the bus back, God reminded me of verse 7.. then i was like.. wow.. what is God trying to tell me?

It is not exactly totally related to the verse, and avoiding such books is a denial of the reality. If i am confident of my faith, sure of the truth, knowing that the truth cannot change, why do i worry about reading such books?

i need some time to think to consolidate my thoughts.. will do it tmr. shall pray now... =)

-=P3ng=- | 11:49 pm

Tuesday, June 12
Devotion 12 June 1 Tim 4:6

"In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following."

I was looking at this verse this morning on my way to work and i want share the observations i made for these phrases - "constantly nourished", "words of the faith", and "sound doctrine"

"Constantly Nourished"
When i think of the word "Nourished" i think of food, undernourishment etc. Food is essential for a person to live and be healthy. If a person is undernourished, it can easily be been from his physical appearance. So i was just thinking, is the word of God food to me? Wouldn't it be obvious to others when i stop being nourished by God's word? yes it will be, where my relationship with God will suffer, and when the relationship is not right it can be easily seen in other areas of my life.

Constantly suggests an on-going process. Just like food, you can't stop eating for a period of time. It must be constant, it must be continual. Since i do eat everyday, i don't see why the frequency of reading the bible should be any lesser.

"words of the faith"
the word faith kind of reminds me of how this faith to believe the word of God is given by God Himself. reminds me also how my understanding of the faith is based on the bible. so the word of God is the foundation, and hence it is crucial. how can i know about the faith, know about God if i don't constantly read the bible?

"sound doctrine"
Paul emphasized that we must be constantly nourished in sound doctrine, not any doctrine. It must be sound. It must be correct, accurate, precise. And the only way to be sound/accurate is simply studying it diligently. Reading, Observing, comparing... that's how I will not end up mis-interpreting the bible, or even become a false teacher!

Conclusion
A good servant of Christ Jesus is a diligent bible student.

-=P3ng=- | 10:22 pm

Monday, June 11
Devotion Passage 1 Tim 4:6

I had been trying out various materials to do my daily devotions (QT) lately... there was a time i used the passages that i had to teach, and times i used a book, times i went back to Our Journey, now i'm gonna simply spend the next few days on this short passage alone.. doing a verse at a time... I guess it is important not to let daily devotions become a ritual where you end up going through the motion. But bear in mind that not doing QT at all is worse than rushing thru it because i've realised God can use the little passage you've read and bring it to your mind during the day. I'm going to explore various ways to do it... but the basic principle remains, time to read God's word, time to pray...

The passage i'm gonna pick is on 1 Tim 4:6-16, a passage we went through during Leader's retreat. it's a good way to reinforce what i've already learnt and explore deeper into the rich meanings of God's word...

I shall post my observation and interpretation of the passages, but shall write my application and reflection in my book since i want it to be personal and honest =)

beginning on verse 6...

"In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following."

i would like to explore the words 'you will be a good servant of Christ". When i follow the "words of the faith and of the sound doctrine" or in other words if i follow Christ, if i choose to be a Christian, one thing is certain. I will be called a servant of Christ. I am a servant. I am not a young master ("shao ye" as what my parents would call). I am not being served but i am to serve. So it is clear that Christians are to serve. It's not just about what you receive, as a servant, it is about serving.

Since our position before God is clear, we are unworthy sinners, God is Lord/ King over us. Our position is that of a servant. and so I must constantly be watchful whenever i have a proud and demanding attitude towards God or other people. God did not put me as His prince or royal subject... so i don't demand royal attention..

"In pointing out these things to the brethren". In the previous verse, "these things" refer to "deceitful spirits and doctrine of demons". it can mean false doctrine or simply things that are not true, errors. To be a good servant of Jesus Christ, i must point out errors to people. The verse is straight forward. When i see fellow Christians behaving wrongly and saying wrong things, i must point it out. when i chat with non-believers, i cannot keep quiet of the truth i know.

i so happen to have a chance to chat with a jc fren online. he asked the key question - "How r u?" i begin to realise how this question is a chance for me to share my life and opens opportunity to talk about God. so i told him about the recent retreat, shared with him how i was busy but joyful. Then he asked why i kept doing events, and stuff, and he shared about his passions in teaching ppl Er Hu and Wu Shu, and business people. while talking, this verse came to mind, as much as i would want to keep the good rapport with him, i knew i had to tell him the truth. He mentioned about how both of us are similar, passionate people. with God's help, i found courage to type the following and press enter. I had to tell him we are diff because our motivation and what we are pursuing are diff. one is temporal and the other is eternal. that's why i see the urgency is telling people what i've once told him. (i did share the gospel with him before over a lunch)

Pointing out errors (the truth) to people. If i want to be a Christian, if i want to follow Christ, be a good servant of Christ, i have to point out the truth to people. And i hope you will seek God for the courage to do so too.

-=P3ng=- | 10:07 pm

Wednesday, June 6
Being Moulded by God

i was listening to John Macaruthur's podcast on The Master's Man and the 2 teachings on Peter really brought the character to life for me! Everything was connected - he brought Peter's whole story to life as he explained Peter's experiences with Jesus, the questions he asked, the rebukes he got, the disappointments, then how Peter became the Man Jesus wanted him to be. When Jesus left them, Peter left a great impact in the early establishment of the church and even wrote 2 epistles on what he learnt from the Lord.

It felt so real because God also used experiences to teach me many things to prepare me for His use. Jesus taught Peter humility, submission, love, sacrifice from real life experiences recorded in the gospels. Looking back, i see God's perfect plan in how i've changed... decided to write this for His glory...

Submission
God taught me submission way before i was called to know Him personally. The strict discipline i've received from St John's and OAC (and then reinforced when i was in the Army) taught me to submit even to the most unreasonable instructors/seniors. I was scolded, trained, disciplined. There were thoughts of rebelling, but we learned to have respect for them and never spoke against them or openly disobeyed their instructions. Those given authority over us are given by God. Though i didn't know about this fact at that time, i see those experiences are foundational for me to remember for life.

Humility
from young, God always kept me small, short, timid. (haha, i must say that it did contribute to learning humility) I faced many failures when i was planning games back in my sec sch days... when i chose not to seek for advice and just did what i thought was correct... But the clear understanding of humility came from God's teaching, accepting that all are sinners. I'm no better than anyone else. and now I never allowed myself to receive credit for the things i do, because that's stealing the glory from God which is rightfully His...

Love
i've always been a very task-minded person.. get this done, go home. i rarely just hang out with friends and chill haha.. but God placed in my life people like Dazzlyn and Romans who guided me to realise that ministry has always been about people... showing love to the people i minister to..

Sacrifice
at what length am i willing to hang on to God. God really tested me on this one. just 4 months after i accepted Him, i had a real 'bloody' (literally) encounter with leeches. then there's A levels. Army was the great test. having to choose God against everyone and comfort...

When i lacked understanding, God gave me Bethel Series and wonderful preachers. when i lacked experience God got me to start out small. when i lacked skills, God equipped me through YFC and 'on-the-job' training from Romans.

These were some lessons God specifically taught me through experiences so that i can serve Him today. But even today, there are still lesson He is teaching me.. to prepare me for what is ahead... It has been very cool and happening... and it will be even more so in the days ahead! haha =)

-=P3ng=- | 9:50 am