Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Mid week meeting on the 15th May
Hello everyone, this weeks mid week meeting will be on Thursday, at 6pm at holland village. The restaurant we will be eating at is called Essential Brews. It is along the row of shops where swensens and starbucks is. The price range is from 20.95 to 25.95 for a set dinner. It is inclusive of a soup of the day, a drink, and a main course. Most of the dishes and drinks there are flavoured with floral or tea herbs, and there are many unique interesting dishes. Also, nerine will be joining us this week, so ya! Hope to see you there! Please Sms me confirmation by Wednesday night!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Heya, i have an idea...
Hey meapple! Im glad to see you still posting! The past weekend i was sick and feeling not just a little lethargic, so i did not check the website or post anything, and i was afraid that you might feel like you were talking to yourself afterall and stop too, so ya, im glad i worried for nothing :). This week nerine's SYF is over on tuesday, so she would be joining us for our mid week meeting, bringing the number to about five out of nine :). P.S im also hoping she would start posting regularly. I think if we persevere we might actually reach 7/9 eventually or even 9/9 on certain weeks. But besides the joy of seeing everyone making time to turn up everyweek, im glad to see that our pcm is growing closer. The more we communicate, the more we will know about each others' thoughts and lives, building a stronger friendship between us. I feel that this is very important, to build a sphere of trust and faith outside of our seperate lives, so that when one of us is in need of help, we are there to provide unjudgemental and stauch support. Not to say that we should not rely on God, or that he alone is not sufficient for our needs, but people are also tools used by God, like the three friends who loved Job enough to travel all the way to his house during his trials, to sit with him without uttering a word for seven days, unable to provide comfort, but unwilling to give up. I wonder, at this stage if one of us were to end up in the hospital, how many of us would be willing to take time away from our busy schedules to go visit? Im not sure if i will. But i hope in the future when i hear such dire news, my first question would be " which hospital? " instead of merely " what happened? ".
Anyway, i was traveling on the bus today, when i had an idea. To help us know more about each other, i propose to start a chain mail. Not those bad luck letters that curse you if u dont send to other people, but one that hopefully would demostrate how things will bear fruit in time. Let me explain myself. It would be an envelope containing a piece of paper segmented into nine portions, each portion bearing each of our names. We would write a single word describing that person under his assigned portion, and then mail it to the next person, who would do the same thing and so on. finally when it comes back to the original person( probably me ), i would flip the paper over and segment it again into nine portions, writing each of your names at the top again. Then i would write TWO words i think describes each of you under the assigned portion. On the next cycle i would add another piece of paper, and the description would be THREE words. The objective would be to see how our views of each other grows as our friendship progresses. It would also be a form of encouragement as we affirm each other. As the number of words increase, they would not need to be in sentences, it can just be individual words, eg ( Proud, Kind, Bluntly honest, Fiercely intelligent, happy-go-lucky ) What do you think? Any suggestions or objections? Please comment and tell me what you think.
Anyway, i was traveling on the bus today, when i had an idea. To help us know more about each other, i propose to start a chain mail. Not those bad luck letters that curse you if u dont send to other people, but one that hopefully would demostrate how things will bear fruit in time. Let me explain myself. It would be an envelope containing a piece of paper segmented into nine portions, each portion bearing each of our names. We would write a single word describing that person under his assigned portion, and then mail it to the next person, who would do the same thing and so on. finally when it comes back to the original person( probably me ), i would flip the paper over and segment it again into nine portions, writing each of your names at the top again. Then i would write TWO words i think describes each of you under the assigned portion. On the next cycle i would add another piece of paper, and the description would be THREE words. The objective would be to see how our views of each other grows as our friendship progresses. It would also be a form of encouragement as we affirm each other. As the number of words increase, they would not need to be in sentences, it can just be individual words, eg ( Proud, Kind, Bluntly honest, Fiercely intelligent, happy-go-lucky ) What do you think? Any suggestions or objections? Please comment and tell me what you think.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Find Us Faithful
On Monday, I decided to be healthy and so went for a slow jog in the evening. I ended up walking half the time... There’s quite a lot of people given it is a normal working weekday, so either these people are super ultra rich and therefore don’t need to work or they are simply too healthy!!! It seems like the government’s effort in promoting healthy living through physical exercise kind of paid off :) Congratulations!
A couple of interesting observations made. I saw this dog literally wearing ‘shoes’. I haven’t seen a dog wear something like that except of course on tv when their owners dress them up like a clown for Christmas parties. These shoes I saw weren’t those pretty canvas types with laces and definitely not shiny heels or beach sandals.....haha.... From a distance, it looked like each foot was bundled with a black garbage bag. It’s quite a funny sight; at least it drew quite a few stares apart from mine. On a closer look, the shoes look quite comfy and for a while, it reminded me of the bandits in maplestory (for those who have played it before) because of the black gloves they wear. I hope the owner wasn’t afraid the little run would actually dirty his doggy’s feet coz that’s totally a clean freak :O
Then, I saw this Caucasian family also with a dog. Don’t ask me what breed, I never bothered. Just another skinny dog. Lady boss keeps stopping to teach the dog some manners because it was obviously pushing and it ain’t a very nice thing to do. So she at the top of her voice said, “Dog, you are pushing..............naughty dog.” This poor dog hasn’t a name so it’s called DOG. I realised a similarity there in training obedience in both an animal and a child. The other day when the kindergarten children were making their way to the pantry for breakfast, the teacher was holding back this girl at the lift lobby. The teacher told the girl that she is no to jump in the lift again. The girl was allowed to go off only after she responded. Quite similar eh except that the dog can’t say yes. It’s obviously a nightmare raising kids, and it doesn’t seem any easier training a dog. So why d people find trouble for themselves? Dog-lovers, please enlighten me!!!
Today I went to SGH to visit my uncle. All the beds were occupied. A lot of operations going on nowadays. 5 out of 6 in the ward are elderly men. Weird thing, men hurt themselves more easily? The remaining guy was a pretty young man, a tough-looking one in fact. He hurt his right elbow i suppose and therefore an interesting way of wearing his shirt. Basically the right arm didn’t go through the sleeve. Imagine!!! Looks quite man loh. One of the times when you can see the weak side of a guy is probably this ba.
Pastor Lynette has covered pretty thoroughly on how faith without deeds is dead. I’m inspired to touch a bit on faith on a personal level, something which I shared for devotions in TRACkers. The scripture reading is taken from Genesis 12. We all know Abraham is a god-fearing man and a man of great faith. Nearly every time God instructs him to do something, he proceeds without questioning.
What’s interesting in the first four verses is that God wants Abraham to leave his homeland and everything behind. And he followed with obedience. In the later chapters, this same obedience is demonstrated. He just believed that God would deliver on His promise. Like later on in Genesis 22, Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. He actually did just as he was told without hesitation. And seeing his faithfulness, an angel came to stop him as he prepared to slay his son with the knife. We look at ourselves and we realize that ‘Hey, why can’t we be like Abraham’. We ask ourselves: Do we question or doubt God every time He tells us to do something that perhaps disrupts our own plans or gets in the way of things that we want to achieve.
But we can take comfort in that Abraham has times when he lacked faith too. In Gen 12:10-20, the king shows Abram if he trusted in God and told the truth, everything would have been all right. Pharaoh was so far from any design to kill Abraham. Instead, he took particular care of him. Pharaoh charged his men not to hurt Abram in any thing even after the truth was uncovered. But Abraham was so fearful that he got his wife and servants to tell a lie to ensure his safety. We often perplex ourselves with fears which are altogether groundless. Many a time we fear where no fear is. Even if there’s a reason to fear, we pray to commit to God all our anxieties but we don’t really trust completely because we are so gripped by fear. Although we understand the nature of our Father, we are just afraid that we’re taking the wrong step in life when pursuing the various educational careers and options, afraid we won’t rise to where we are, afraid we can’t get a certain GPA, afraid our Sec 1s will not grow up into Godly men and women under us, afraid of deaths around us, afraid our God has been a lie all this while, etc (I’m not sure if you fear and what you fear).
We need not be discouraged. Abraham also showed a lack of faith before but God is in the business of growing Abraham into a man of great faith, and this requires circumstances where Abraham must trust God. Likewise, we should seek to grow in faith. Faith is an amazing thing. It is believing that the blessing of the Almighty would make up for all we could lose or leave behind, supply all our wants and answer and exceed all our desires. When we have faith, we are not easily discouraged by the difficulties in our way. What we undertake, in obedience to God's command, and in humble attendance on his providence, will certainly succeed and end with comfort at last. I am still learning too....
This irish prayer was given to us on a small card by our teachers before our O levels which I still find relevant today:
May God give you...
For every STORM, a RAINBOW,
For every TEAR, a SMILE,
For every CARE, a PROMISE,
And a BLESSING in each TRIAL.
For every PROBLEM life sends,
A FAITHFUL FRIEND to share,
For every SIGH, a SWEET SONG,
And an ANSWER for each PRAYER.
PRAYER for May 4 - May 10
Thank you, Father, for revealing your faithfulness to us time and time again. Forgive us, oh Lord, when we of little faith choose to take things in our own hands. Father, whichever level of faith we each are at now, help us to grow deeper in faith. Take our faith to a new level because want You to use the events in our life to teach us what faith is all about. Father, we also want to pray for faith to be no longer something we keep to ourselves. Because of the faith we have in You, help us to practise it through deeds which are seen by our family, neighbours, freinds and spheres of influence. For we know that as the body is dead without th Spirit, faith without deeds is dead also. Thank you for promising us salvation as long as we have the faith but help us understand that Christian living isn't just about paying lip service and telling others how important faith is. Many times in life we have to walk in faith, so grant us the peace which transcends all understanding, claiming the promise that You have nothing but the best for us. Amen.
“Faith is not a mushroom that grows overnight in damp soil; it is an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of the wind and rain.” (Barnhouse)
A couple of interesting observations made. I saw this dog literally wearing ‘shoes’. I haven’t seen a dog wear something like that except of course on tv when their owners dress them up like a clown for Christmas parties. These shoes I saw weren’t those pretty canvas types with laces and definitely not shiny heels or beach sandals.....haha.... From a distance, it looked like each foot was bundled with a black garbage bag. It’s quite a funny sight; at least it drew quite a few stares apart from mine. On a closer look, the shoes look quite comfy and for a while, it reminded me of the bandits in maplestory (for those who have played it before) because of the black gloves they wear. I hope the owner wasn’t afraid the little run would actually dirty his doggy’s feet coz that’s totally a clean freak :O
Then, I saw this Caucasian family also with a dog. Don’t ask me what breed, I never bothered. Just another skinny dog. Lady boss keeps stopping to teach the dog some manners because it was obviously pushing and it ain’t a very nice thing to do. So she at the top of her voice said, “Dog, you are pushing..............naughty dog.” This poor dog hasn’t a name so it’s called DOG. I realised a similarity there in training obedience in both an animal and a child. The other day when the kindergarten children were making their way to the pantry for breakfast, the teacher was holding back this girl at the lift lobby. The teacher told the girl that she is no to jump in the lift again. The girl was allowed to go off only after she responded. Quite similar eh except that the dog can’t say yes. It’s obviously a nightmare raising kids, and it doesn’t seem any easier training a dog. So why d people find trouble for themselves? Dog-lovers, please enlighten me!!!
Today I went to SGH to visit my uncle. All the beds were occupied. A lot of operations going on nowadays. 5 out of 6 in the ward are elderly men. Weird thing, men hurt themselves more easily? The remaining guy was a pretty young man, a tough-looking one in fact. He hurt his right elbow i suppose and therefore an interesting way of wearing his shirt. Basically the right arm didn’t go through the sleeve. Imagine!!! Looks quite man loh. One of the times when you can see the weak side of a guy is probably this ba.
Pastor Lynette has covered pretty thoroughly on how faith without deeds is dead. I’m inspired to touch a bit on faith on a personal level, something which I shared for devotions in TRACkers. The scripture reading is taken from Genesis 12. We all know Abraham is a god-fearing man and a man of great faith. Nearly every time God instructs him to do something, he proceeds without questioning.
What’s interesting in the first four verses is that God wants Abraham to leave his homeland and everything behind. And he followed with obedience. In the later chapters, this same obedience is demonstrated. He just believed that God would deliver on His promise. Like later on in Genesis 22, Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. He actually did just as he was told without hesitation. And seeing his faithfulness, an angel came to stop him as he prepared to slay his son with the knife. We look at ourselves and we realize that ‘Hey, why can’t we be like Abraham’. We ask ourselves: Do we question or doubt God every time He tells us to do something that perhaps disrupts our own plans or gets in the way of things that we want to achieve.
But we can take comfort in that Abraham has times when he lacked faith too. In Gen 12:10-20, the king shows Abram if he trusted in God and told the truth, everything would have been all right. Pharaoh was so far from any design to kill Abraham. Instead, he took particular care of him. Pharaoh charged his men not to hurt Abram in any thing even after the truth was uncovered. But Abraham was so fearful that he got his wife and servants to tell a lie to ensure his safety. We often perplex ourselves with fears which are altogether groundless. Many a time we fear where no fear is. Even if there’s a reason to fear, we pray to commit to God all our anxieties but we don’t really trust completely because we are so gripped by fear. Although we understand the nature of our Father, we are just afraid that we’re taking the wrong step in life when pursuing the various educational careers and options, afraid we won’t rise to where we are, afraid we can’t get a certain GPA, afraid our Sec 1s will not grow up into Godly men and women under us, afraid of deaths around us, afraid our God has been a lie all this while, etc (I’m not sure if you fear and what you fear).
We need not be discouraged. Abraham also showed a lack of faith before but God is in the business of growing Abraham into a man of great faith, and this requires circumstances where Abraham must trust God. Likewise, we should seek to grow in faith. Faith is an amazing thing. It is believing that the blessing of the Almighty would make up for all we could lose or leave behind, supply all our wants and answer and exceed all our desires. When we have faith, we are not easily discouraged by the difficulties in our way. What we undertake, in obedience to God's command, and in humble attendance on his providence, will certainly succeed and end with comfort at last. I am still learning too....
This irish prayer was given to us on a small card by our teachers before our O levels which I still find relevant today:
May God give you...
For every STORM, a RAINBOW,
For every TEAR, a SMILE,
For every CARE, a PROMISE,
And a BLESSING in each TRIAL.
For every PROBLEM life sends,
A FAITHFUL FRIEND to share,
For every SIGH, a SWEET SONG,
And an ANSWER for each PRAYER.
PRAYER for May 4 - May 10
Thank you, Father, for revealing your faithfulness to us time and time again. Forgive us, oh Lord, when we of little faith choose to take things in our own hands. Father, whichever level of faith we each are at now, help us to grow deeper in faith. Take our faith to a new level because want You to use the events in our life to teach us what faith is all about. Father, we also want to pray for faith to be no longer something we keep to ourselves. Because of the faith we have in You, help us to practise it through deeds which are seen by our family, neighbours, freinds and spheres of influence. For we know that as the body is dead without th Spirit, faith without deeds is dead also. Thank you for promising us salvation as long as we have the faith but help us understand that Christian living isn't just about paying lip service and telling others how important faith is. Many times in life we have to walk in faith, so grant us the peace which transcends all understanding, claiming the promise that You have nothing but the best for us. Amen.
“Faith is not a mushroom that grows overnight in damp soil; it is an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of the wind and rain.” (Barnhouse)
P.S. Jun Bin, remind me to give you your Christmas card!!!
meapple
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Guess the location of our mid week meeting!
When stars shine and moonlight glimmer
Swirling eddies of foam and ripples gather
Magical spheres of warmth and light floating
Against a wall of waters gushing
Waters dancing to your laughter, resounding,
Caressing fingers of the wind playfully, running
Warmth of your smile against setting sun, glowing
Among these we shall have words of all things, pleasing
So cast your cares and worries to the winds
Let your hair down and dance within
It’s a time for love, heart and fellowship
In a place made pleasant by your companionship
Thus under soothing trees and rustling leaves
Surrounded by graceful spectacles of waters weave
Amidst joyous laughter of warmth and glowing light
Let us, my dear friends, enjoy this night!
The location of our next mid week meeting would be at united square, next to newton MRT. If anyone needs directions feel free to ask me. We will be meeting next wednesday, at 6pm, please reply via post or sms to me to confirm. If u cannot make it, please inform me of what time or day you would be free in future weeks so i plan these meetings better :). Any last minute changes are also fine, so dont feel pressured or obligated to come if u are not feeling well or have urgent things to do. But i do hope to see you there. Well wishes all! Bon
Swirling eddies of foam and ripples gather
Magical spheres of warmth and light floating
Against a wall of waters gushing
Waters dancing to your laughter, resounding,
Caressing fingers of the wind playfully, running
Warmth of your smile against setting sun, glowing
Among these we shall have words of all things, pleasing
So cast your cares and worries to the winds
Let your hair down and dance within
It’s a time for love, heart and fellowship
In a place made pleasant by your companionship
Thus under soothing trees and rustling leaves
Surrounded by graceful spectacles of waters weave
Amidst joyous laughter of warmth and glowing light
Let us, my dear friends, enjoy this night!
The location of our next mid week meeting would be at united square, next to newton MRT. If anyone needs directions feel free to ask me. We will be meeting next wednesday, at 6pm, please reply via post or sms to me to confirm. If u cannot make it, please inform me of what time or day you would be free in future weeks so i plan these meetings better :). Any last minute changes are also fine, so dont feel pressured or obligated to come if u are not feeling well or have urgent things to do. But i do hope to see you there. Well wishes all! Bon
Cheers and a toast to Gods people( And important notices!) PLEASE READ!!
Heya peeps, this is happin3ss, and for once i will say that im Bon :P
Anyway enough about sad stories, enough about stern sermons, where are the songs of birds on carefree winds? I just want to congratulate Teo Mei Ping, for completing her internship in trackers and church. I think its a great thing to be able to serve, especially for so long, doing rather mundane and under stimulating jobs from nine to five. Way to go, and the drinks are on you the next time we go out k? :D :D Anyways, i guess im gonna be very free from now onwards as i would be doing a private course, sooo i would probably write alot of stuff and post it here, be sure to check in from time to time k?
Ya, anyway, todays sermon got me thinking, am i in anyway serving God? If so am i doing enough? If not, how do i take action? I for one think im not serving enough, and i want to take action. But i am unable to satisfy this immediate and pressing urge as im not sure how to volunteer. This isnt exactly a new dilemma and i was hoping elisabeth or tim could help me out. I was thinking that maybe our pcm could serve together in the same ministry? So that if any of us run into problems the rest would be able to better identify with the problem and help. It just happens that many of us are already serving as teachers or guides to the secondary ones, maybe i dont have the training to teach yet, but maybe i could be involved by interacting with and thus keeping tabs on the students, heh. Anyway, in order to encourage one and all to visit this website, im going to be posting information on our weekly outings here, so if anyone wants to find out ( and EVERYONE needs to find out ), please check the website frequently, thanks!
As for the song of birds on carefree winds... I was thining of incorporating a short worship session in our midweek meeting. Maybe just singing a song together before we eat? Doesnt have to be nice or loud, but loving God is something we all have in common right? This is where i need help from our pcm songbirds... to help pick a simple song that we all can chirp along to? I can help print the lyrics if need be, or carry a radio on my shoulders and act like those 'a hip and a hop' rappers. So ya, our group is so talented it would be a criminal waste not to let everyone hear our chirping and croaking. Heh, soooo ya, look forward to the beautiful vocals of our pcm songbirds and frog princes next week!
Anyway enough about sad stories, enough about stern sermons, where are the songs of birds on carefree winds? I just want to congratulate Teo Mei Ping, for completing her internship in trackers and church. I think its a great thing to be able to serve, especially for so long, doing rather mundane and under stimulating jobs from nine to five. Way to go, and the drinks are on you the next time we go out k? :D :D Anyways, i guess im gonna be very free from now onwards as i would be doing a private course, sooo i would probably write alot of stuff and post it here, be sure to check in from time to time k?
Ya, anyway, todays sermon got me thinking, am i in anyway serving God? If so am i doing enough? If not, how do i take action? I for one think im not serving enough, and i want to take action. But i am unable to satisfy this immediate and pressing urge as im not sure how to volunteer. This isnt exactly a new dilemma and i was hoping elisabeth or tim could help me out. I was thinking that maybe our pcm could serve together in the same ministry? So that if any of us run into problems the rest would be able to better identify with the problem and help. It just happens that many of us are already serving as teachers or guides to the secondary ones, maybe i dont have the training to teach yet, but maybe i could be involved by interacting with and thus keeping tabs on the students, heh. Anyway, in order to encourage one and all to visit this website, im going to be posting information on our weekly outings here, so if anyone wants to find out ( and EVERYONE needs to find out ), please check the website frequently, thanks!
As for the song of birds on carefree winds... I was thining of incorporating a short worship session in our midweek meeting. Maybe just singing a song together before we eat? Doesnt have to be nice or loud, but loving God is something we all have in common right? This is where i need help from our pcm songbirds... to help pick a simple song that we all can chirp along to? I can help print the lyrics if need be, or carry a radio on my shoulders and act like those 'a hip and a hop' rappers. So ya, our group is so talented it would be a criminal waste not to let everyone hear our chirping and croaking. Heh, soooo ya, look forward to the beautiful vocals of our pcm songbirds and frog princes next week!
Friday, May 2, 2008
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
Hope your week has been good thus far. You all know where I was doing my internship; no names mentioned. Wednesday morning, I was sitting at my cubicle when I heard an extremely loud noise. It sounded like a wall had just collapsed. Quite scary actually. Imagine a part of our building had just fallen away. Nothing seemed to be amiss until the receptionist opened the door to someone’s office. Lo and behold! A broken brick had fallen through the false ceiling (those with removable boards) onto the table, knocking out everything in its way. Now, this is scary because should the occupant of that office have been around at that time, her head would not be spared. Thank God this young lady is enjoying herself somewhere far far away and won’t be back for at least another week or two. The brick is believed to be some debris but since the ceiling is hollow, it is bizarre where the brick fell from. Elisabeth’s mentor, as hilarious as usual, was video-recording the ‘crime scene’, complete with self-invented commentaries.
I just happened to be thinking about all the interview places I went to in the last two years. Many times, the security and lift systems amongst many other things make me feel lost and embarrassed.
I was at this place and I thought for once I could bypass the security counter and just take the lift. I went in, the door closed but I couldn’t press number 18. Luckily I wasn’t trapped. It was later that I discover you need a security pass to flash at this something before you can press the button. So basically if every one in the lift is going to a different floor, everybody has to flash his or her card. Now, this is bothersome but yeah, it was a tastefully designed lift. After the interview, I was crossing a road which has been blocked out. Forgetting the traffic light wasn’t even working, I pressed it furiously out of habit. I always believe the more times you press, the system will be made to believe that there’s a lot of pedestrians waiting to cross, so it’ll change to green light faster. This lady who saw me doing this must have thought I was mad or something.
Usually when you wait for a lift, you just need to press either the up or down button. Whilst I was at this Ministry, in place of the up and down buttons was a gigantic number pad. I thought to myself surely I don’t need a password to take the lift. At least the security person didn’t tell me anything. It was not until someone came over that I realised you are supposed to press the number of the level you are going to. And boy, this is the most efficient lift I have ever seen.
There was this mini luggage-checking system at this other Ministry. For a moment, I felt like I was at Changi Airport. Kind of exaggerating, not as if there’s a lot of money upstairs. But I suppose terrorists just need to cripple a ministry to create fear and unrest in the entire country.
There’s this statutory board whereby you have to exchange your IC for a security pass. After which, there’s this MRT gantry thing which you need to pass through. Initially, I didn’t know where to tap my card because there’s no sign which says “Tap here”. Unlike the MRT one, there’s this small door bell-like thing in place to tap on. Weird. On Monday, I was pacing outside the interview room waiting for my turn. I was told the panel would sound the bell as a signal to go in. When I heard this faint ‘ding’ sound, I wasn’t sure where it came from and the HR person wasn’t within sight for me to check. I wasn’t expecting those loud canteen bells anyway, so I entered. I heard the panel talking about confidence so I kind of knew I entered at the wrong time. Luckily they weren’t too alarmed. I just told them I mistook the lift bell for their bell.
Now that one of my house lifts has been changed to the stop-at-every-level kind, I think some of the older residents think that when you want to go down, you press the up button to ask the lift to come up. Oh dear! Back to my headline: By hook or by crook. We’re all familiar with this phrase and might have even used it in our essays before. Did you ever ask yourself why is it by hook or by crook? What does it mean? Since crook refers to a thief, cheat or criminal of sorts, I always thought it means you can resort to bad and underhand methods if the proper ones don’t work as long as you achieve your aims. Anyway, it’s wrong and the origin of this phrase isn’t very interesting either.
What I want to talk about is how this phrase applies to God’s calling for us. This is something Pastor William showed me from a book. Hopefully I remembered correctly. We all know what a hook is. As for a crook, it is a staff used by the shepherd. It has a curved handle normally wide enough to fit around the neck of a sheep or goat, allowing a herder to catch an animal that is straying and reroute them to a different direction. Crook represents the shepherds who are really those in full time ministry because their role is to feed and look after the people. We are all called to be fishers of men. Therefore, hook represents us or even the lay people. We like to think that God’s calling is for the full-time ministry people but in actual fact, we all have a calling. A calling to bring the Good News to pre-believers. The difference lies only in whether we are doing it as a church staff or in our respective professions. What can we be sure of then? We will fish for men BY HOOK OR BY CROOK.
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Pray for forgiveness especially since we tend to ignore God when we are caught up with our work and give little regard to God agenda. If there is something in our life that is not right with God – prayer life, walk with God, service in ministries, habits, sins - and we have been wanting to do something about it for weeks, months or even years, let us procrastinate no more. Pray for God to grant us that willpower to change and not wait for another tomorrow. If we have made a commitment to God or God is calling us to do something, pray that we will cast it aside no longer and but seek to fulfil His will in our lives.
Please take a look at this Global Day of Prayer 2008: http://www.globaldayofprayer.com/10days.php
Lastly, just want to make a small plea. When smses are sent out, can we all try to reply as promptly as we can, even if it’s just a simple acknowledgement, so as to facilitate arrangements?
Thanks!!!
meapple
I just happened to be thinking about all the interview places I went to in the last two years. Many times, the security and lift systems amongst many other things make me feel lost and embarrassed.
I was at this place and I thought for once I could bypass the security counter and just take the lift. I went in, the door closed but I couldn’t press number 18. Luckily I wasn’t trapped. It was later that I discover you need a security pass to flash at this something before you can press the button. So basically if every one in the lift is going to a different floor, everybody has to flash his or her card. Now, this is bothersome but yeah, it was a tastefully designed lift. After the interview, I was crossing a road which has been blocked out. Forgetting the traffic light wasn’t even working, I pressed it furiously out of habit. I always believe the more times you press, the system will be made to believe that there’s a lot of pedestrians waiting to cross, so it’ll change to green light faster. This lady who saw me doing this must have thought I was mad or something.
Usually when you wait for a lift, you just need to press either the up or down button. Whilst I was at this Ministry, in place of the up and down buttons was a gigantic number pad. I thought to myself surely I don’t need a password to take the lift. At least the security person didn’t tell me anything. It was not until someone came over that I realised you are supposed to press the number of the level you are going to. And boy, this is the most efficient lift I have ever seen.
There was this mini luggage-checking system at this other Ministry. For a moment, I felt like I was at Changi Airport. Kind of exaggerating, not as if there’s a lot of money upstairs. But I suppose terrorists just need to cripple a ministry to create fear and unrest in the entire country.
There’s this statutory board whereby you have to exchange your IC for a security pass. After which, there’s this MRT gantry thing which you need to pass through. Initially, I didn’t know where to tap my card because there’s no sign which says “Tap here”. Unlike the MRT one, there’s this small door bell-like thing in place to tap on. Weird. On Monday, I was pacing outside the interview room waiting for my turn. I was told the panel would sound the bell as a signal to go in. When I heard this faint ‘ding’ sound, I wasn’t sure where it came from and the HR person wasn’t within sight for me to check. I wasn’t expecting those loud canteen bells anyway, so I entered. I heard the panel talking about confidence so I kind of knew I entered at the wrong time. Luckily they weren’t too alarmed. I just told them I mistook the lift bell for their bell.
Now that one of my house lifts has been changed to the stop-at-every-level kind, I think some of the older residents think that when you want to go down, you press the up button to ask the lift to come up. Oh dear! Back to my headline: By hook or by crook. We’re all familiar with this phrase and might have even used it in our essays before. Did you ever ask yourself why is it by hook or by crook? What does it mean? Since crook refers to a thief, cheat or criminal of sorts, I always thought it means you can resort to bad and underhand methods if the proper ones don’t work as long as you achieve your aims. Anyway, it’s wrong and the origin of this phrase isn’t very interesting either.
What I want to talk about is how this phrase applies to God’s calling for us. This is something Pastor William showed me from a book. Hopefully I remembered correctly. We all know what a hook is. As for a crook, it is a staff used by the shepherd. It has a curved handle normally wide enough to fit around the neck of a sheep or goat, allowing a herder to catch an animal that is straying and reroute them to a different direction. Crook represents the shepherds who are really those in full time ministry because their role is to feed and look after the people. We are all called to be fishers of men. Therefore, hook represents us or even the lay people. We like to think that God’s calling is for the full-time ministry people but in actual fact, we all have a calling. A calling to bring the Good News to pre-believers. The difference lies only in whether we are doing it as a church staff or in our respective professions. What can we be sure of then? We will fish for men BY HOOK OR BY CROOK.
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Pray for forgiveness especially since we tend to ignore God when we are caught up with our work and give little regard to God agenda. If there is something in our life that is not right with God – prayer life, walk with God, service in ministries, habits, sins - and we have been wanting to do something about it for weeks, months or even years, let us procrastinate no more. Pray for God to grant us that willpower to change and not wait for another tomorrow. If we have made a commitment to God or God is calling us to do something, pray that we will cast it aside no longer and but seek to fulfil His will in our lives.
Please take a look at this Global Day of Prayer 2008: http://www.globaldayofprayer.com/10days.php
Lastly, just want to make a small plea. When smses are sent out, can we all try to reply as promptly as we can, even if it’s just a simple acknowledgement, so as to facilitate arrangements?
Thanks!!!
meapple
My first year in secondary school, my story
I know it sounds really cliche and a little bigotry but, bear with me. It all started when i was 12 going on 13, during my first year in SJI. I was very popular, and got elected by a majority vote to be class chairman. It might sound insignificant, but at that time, it was a symbol of popularity and something to boast about. I was good at everything, third in the entire school in academics.
But with it came a price, i manipulated others to further my own goals. Used gossips to tear down others, directed friends to my own ends.
Then one day, the image still raw in my mind, a staunch friend of mine since day one, a simple jolly chap, turned on me. He scalded me with such venom that i was at a loss, shocked at the words coming out of his mouth. I just stood there, as the others quietly crowded by watching as he sneered at me, his usually amiable features twisted into a mask of comtempt. Then in the corner of my eye, i saw one of my rivals, smirking at me. In truth as i look back, i cant say for certain that he had anything to do with it, but it hurt. Something just clicked in place right then, and the sky slammed into me. I turned and walked up the stairs, hands gripping the railings to boost me along, wounded and at a loss. After that i just worked, and worked. But no matter how much i did, it didt seem sufficient. My grades dropped, my classroom duties always seem to be done shoddily, basically it went downhill. The week of my birthday, i worked extra hard, burning the midnight oil to free that special sunday for play. I succeeded, only to find out that i was too tired to play on that day. I just stopped, nothing left to give.
The following events seem to take place in a haze of memory, i seem to have slept for five days, waking for short periods of an hour or two to eat, then going back to sleep. Subsequently i dropped out of school, but not until i was forced to see the school councillor, who made me stay in school for lengthy periods of time doing nothing in the library. What i did was so out of the norm that i was embarrassed to meet my classmates, and shunned them. In the end i felt like a hunted animal, playing hide and seek with my former friends. I fell from grace, and my duties were taken away, friends slowly became strangers, and my teachers became shorter and shorter with me. They didt understand what was happening, nor did i. One day, when i was meeting with my form teacher to discuss my immediate future and what i am going to do, she lost her temper. She asked me to do things, and always i said i will try, but always i failed, so when i replied similarly she just snapped at me, " If u want to do it, then just do it! " She is fabulous teacher, patient and kind. It was hard.
I dropped out of school entirely for the rest of the year, and changed counsellor after counsellor. The school councillor suddenly turned cold and severe with me, no longer the friendly face i took comfort in, and i stopped seeing him. But outside visits to different doctors continued. That is the story of my first year, at lest the highlights, heh, the rest is rather mundane, but all in all i am behind by two years, having dropped out again the next year after two months. I then went to Saint Francis Methodist, where i stayed for 4 years and completed my secondary four this year. Well, there it is :), succiently, a part of my life's story thus far.
The above is a truthful account that i wrote a year or so back, having posted it on a support website meant for people suffering from depression or mental illnesses in singapore. Somehow i have never fully recovered from that day, and i always tire easily. Since then, i have changed schools several times, and each time, my attendance has been less than 10%. My psychiatrist has always given me blanket MCs to cover my absences and placate my teachers. My relationships with friends has always been strenuous at best, but i have always been a magnet for needy people, those who appear different or socially not accepted because of various difficulties. I guess my own experiences go a long way to understanding some of the problems they face.
Anyway, this is one of the reasons i am leaving Ngee Ann, mainly because i get exhausted after a few days in school, and need to rest for a day or two. Understandably, the school finds this hard to tolerate, and the work in class just piles up. Sorry that i have not told you guys until now, reason being that its hard to tell so much face to face, and also because i know how absurd or illogical it sounds that the reason for my not going to school is because im " tired ". Anyway, i felt that if we are to be closer to each other in the pcm, we need to be honest and willing to share, something that im glad to do.
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