29/06/08 service and pm June 29, 2008
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Today’s service and prayer meeting were just special. Actually, the service was a normal service. Pastor Tan preached. But the impact, man.. the level of revelation he gets is just so awesome. It’s like, point after point after point of impact. It sounds so simple and systematic, but pastor tan’s sermon just opens my eyes to it. And many times when we read the bible, we read the exact same verses, and yet, the significance of it all doesn’t strike us there and then. It’s only when pastor preaches about it, then suddenly there’s the “ORH!”
The purpose of a thing determines its potential. And the potential of a thing reveals its purpose. So simple right? But I never really thought that to discover my purpose, one way to do it was to just see and evaluate what strengths I have. Been asking God to show me my purpose, and well, He’s helping. 
Where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. That’s why many people abuse their lives, or live sub-standard lives, because they don’t know their purpose.
This is only a tiny tiny bit of the sermon. But I copied 6 plus pages of notes, so a bit hard to put everything down. But it’s really exciting to get revelations. Because revelations change my life, bit by bit. Not just during sermons, but also during prayer meetings, cell group, qt, even the words of a friend. God can use anything He wants to speak to me, and now I know not to limit Him. Haha.
And today’s prayer meeting was really good. I don’t say everything is good. I just don’t mention the things which don’t impact me. But if it’s good, I really think it’s good. Because not as if I’ve a lot of time to type a lot of stuff! Think what, so free ah 
Hahaha..
Pastor Ming led today’s prayer meeting, and his style is rather different. We had a taste of what SOT, the School of Theology, was like, according to jac and jocelin. First we did it QT style for about 45 mins, just like 2 weeks ago in Jurong West.
Then he taught us how to yield to the Holy Spirit, like how to pray so that He can touch us. I’ve seen it before, but it’s really cool the way he demonstrated, then really the guy got touched. Hahaha pastor ming is very funny. When the guy fell, he said “Oh by the way, that was for real.” Then we were all like “Huh?” o_O
And the Spirit moved and touched many people during this PM. Amazing to watch from the chorus board room, I think it’ll be even more amazing to actually be among the people.
Ya, really regretted not going for the previous prayer meeting in may. They were taught how to pray for themselves. And it’s quite a naggy feeling that I missed out on something when I heard what happened at the PM. I couldn’t go because I had to rush off for lunch with my mum, sis and bro-in-law. Yes so I want to say, don’t miss anything if you can afford not to!!! That’s why I normally just go for PM, even if I’m really tired and really don’t feel like, because it’s better to just go and not miss anything than to not go, miss things, and regret later.
see the need for change June 28, 2008
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There are a lot of people who are just simply contented with their lives. Some are not very contented, but they don’t see the need for any drastic changes. Others know that change is needed, just that they don’t seem very urgent about it or think that it’ll happen in the near future.
Well, all I can say is, no matter how perfect a person’s life is already, there is surely always something that needs to change in his life. Attitude, mindset, work ethic, relationships, yieldedness, etc.
Sometimes to these people, they really can’t see it themselves, because they’re in the situation itself. Other people can see it but they can’t see it themselves. That’s why it’s so important to mix around with a group of people who are spiritual, who really know God and the Word, and who care for you, will look out for you and won’t judge you. Cell group is very important. People are not perfect, but God made us to need relationships, so we still need other people. Just have to be wise to choose good friends. The cell group message was on true friends.
So if a person can’t see the need for change, then he won’t change. He won’t take steps to change. And his life will remain the same.
And honestly, if people like Billy Graham or other people who’ve done great things for God, if they’d been like that, millions of people would’ve been doomed. If Elim chew was like that, we wouldn’t have had 77th street already. If pastor kong was like that, no city harvest church today.
Every single one of us, and I mean EVERYONE, You. Me. We all have the potential to do something great in this lifetime. Whether in the realm of business, healthcare, government, you name it. We all have something planned out for us, our destiny.
BUT we’ll never be able to step into our destiny, to reach our fullest potential, IF we’re contented with what we have or where we are right now.
Every single cell group meeting, every bible study lesson, every sunday service is so important. Because that’s when God speaks to us, tell us things which need to be changed in our lives. Most of the time, change doesn’t happen overnight. A lot of times, it happens over a period of months and years. We’ve to allow God to change us, because He won’t do anything against our will. He won’t force change on us. We’ve to want it and ask for it.
Hearing the word in church, during cell group, it shapes the way we think. And pastor will challenge us never to think small. His examples are always of people who’ve made a significant impact in people’s lives, like the blind woman who was in her 80s. She told God to just take her home to heaven because she felt she didn’t have anything left on earth she could do. But God told her to prepare herself for a great work. And you know what? She found a braille phone directory in her house, so she started from the first page, and called down the phone book to share Christ with people. And by the time she was in her late 80s, she had called thousands and thousands of people. And led a few thousands to Christ!!!
If a blind old woman can do that, WHAT MORE US?!!!
It all lies in our thinking, and our attitude.
If our attitude is right, we’d do the right things. We’d allow God to change us to be who He created us to be. And really, it’s only when we’ve fulfilled what God wants us to do in our lives, at the end when we stand before Him, that’s when it feels so good to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your inheritance.”
You’ve only one life to live. Time is short. You decide. Don’t waste it.
and it goes.. June 27, 2008
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Well my diarrhoea and bloatedness are slowly going away. There’s a KFC right outside my pharmacy, but I haven’t eaten anything from it yet! Man… it’s so… torturous not to be able to eat anything oily or unhealthy
Anyway, I don’t have to work this sunday, but I’ve to give up one sunday in july. And I’ve to work tomorrow! Good thing I was told yesterday, so at least could go for make up cell tonight. You know, when my weekends are threatened, that’s when I come to appreciate them more. I took it for granted that I’ll have no problems going for cell on sat and service on sun. But ah well, good thing it’s only for 6 weeks.
It’s not a sin to not go to church. If I really can’t make it, yes God understands. But I feel that at least He expects me to do all I can to do so, at least at my level la. And it’s not whether He understands or not. Doesn’t matter to me. I just want to get near Him.
start of preceptorship June 25, 2008
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Preceptorship started this week. It’s been quite stressful, because I didn’t have time last week to read up and revise, so pretty much forgot everything I’ve studied from the previous sem. I didn’t get much rest last week as well because of my grandmother’s wake. Had massive diarrhoea throughout sat night, and stomachache which comes on and off for the next few days. Diarrhoea comes back now and then during the day, so everytime I’d have to take medicine to stop it.
Today, I had to come home early because I felt so nauseas that I threw up a few times at work, and felt very bloated. Don’t know why…I only had a slice of bread, a banana and lemon tea in the morning. Maybe it’s because of lack of rest, and the previous week’s illness. Before the diarrhoea episode, I had flu, sore throat, lost my voice etc. Ah well. Don’t know why everything happens now..I’m normally quite healthy.
My preceptor’s very demanding. She expects me to know things, which I don’t know or can’t remember for the life of me. And when I ask her questions like what’s the difference between two medicines, she gets exasperated and says she doesn’t want to spoon-feed me, so I’ve to check up myself. Ah well… now I’ve to cram everything I learnt from last sem and more because there’s more stuff in the pharmacy than what we learnt. And some information in the monographs is not correct. And I’ve to work on one or two sundays to follow my preceptor and learn more stuff, and to make up for the lost time because I’ve to fulfill at least 40 hours a week. And when I first protested about working on sunday, she said she’s disappointed cos I’m not willing to learn. I mean…I have commitments man.. I want to learn, but not at the expense of certain things!
God help me.
Deeper in love June 23, 2008
Posted by dot in lyrics.1 comment so far
Oh and a lot of older songs are quite good too 
Deeper In Love by Don Moen
There is a longing
Only You can fill
A raging tempest
Only You can still
My soul is thirsty Lord
To know You as I’m known
Drink from the river
That flows before Your throne
Take me deeper
Deeper in love with You
Jesus hold me close in Your embrace
Take me deeper
Deeper than I’ve ever been before
I just want to love You more and more
How I long to be deeper in love
Sunrise to sunrise
I will seek Your face
Drawn by the spirit
To the promise of Your grace
My heart has found in You
A hope that will abide
Here in Your presence
Forever satisfied
It’s a very straightforward and honest song. And how I long to be deeper in love.
Songs that speak a thousand words June 23, 2008
Posted by dot in God, lyrics.add a comment
Different people like different songs. It’s subjective. Good songs, to people, are those that really express what they want to say. That’s what songs do. They translate your deepest feelings and thoughts into words and melody.
And there’s a season for different songs. During some periods of time, you might think this song really speaks to you, then after a while, it doesn’t make as much an impact as it did, because you’ve moved on.
The song Destiny. The chorus goes “Destiny, calling out to me. Closer God to Thee. Destiny, my eternity, God in heaven, You are all I need.” And whenever I feel hopeless, this song comes in handy, to remind me that God has prepared a destiny for me, something which I was made for. That He has placed destiny in my heart, a fire which burns, and spurs me to do things which I never imagined I could or would do. And a lot of people walk around with no destiny in their hearts, which is why many have no aim in life, or settle for something mediocre. Even christians, people around me. They don’t see that God has prepared so much more for them. And that’s something I got only when I came to city harvest. When you regularly mix with people with destiny in their hearts, you’ll eventually catch it. Pastor kong started out a nobody and now he has a church of 24,000 and a business to support himself. My subzone members, church friends, incredible people. If they can do it, I can too
God of my forever really spoke to me because like the lyrics said, I’ve known God since I was a youth (I still am), and whenever I look back, I just see His hand over my life, the things which have happened and the way things worked out. And it tells the whole christian story in such a simple way, that because He redeemed my life, it’s really my greatest honor to serve my Lord and King. And really, nothing else matters when You’re here with me, in the end, even with troubles and everything that hits me in life, all that really matters is just to hear those words “well done, good and faithful servant.”
When I sing about God’s greatness and beauty, songs like Captivated, it just helps me to visualise who God really is and love Him more for who He is.
And this song, I don’t know the title but we just use the first line Once I have turned my face from Thee, it’s the only song pastor kong wrote himself when he was younger. It’s not just once, but I turned my face from Him many times. Because of my own wilfulness and rebellion. But every time, He sought me, faithfully and patiently waited for me. Can you imagine, the God of all the earth, He’s so mighty, and yet He still waited for someone like me. Just one dot. He didn’t just wait. He sought me.. then He cleansed me. Jesus now change me and mould me, that I may be, ever more true to Thee.
The song I still relate to most is Awaken my soul.
It goes
FOUND YOU, THE GREATEST LOVE DIVINE
BORN AGAIN, YOUR DNA INSIDE
I’LL STAND WITH YOU
WHEN FAITH AND FEAR COLLIDE
CALLED OUT, TO BE YOUR SALT AND LIGHT
YOU HOLD THE POWER TO DEFINE
HEAVEN WAITS
FOR THE SAINTS TO SHINE
THERE MUST BE SOMETHING MORE
THERE MUST BE SOMETHING MORE
AWAKEN MY SOUL
TO WHO I AM IN YOU
AWAKEN MY SOUL
AS YOU MAKE ALL THINGS NEW
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH YOU
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH YOU
WHO STRENGTHENS ME
OUR FAITH HAS OVERCOME
OUR FAITH HAS OVERCOME
OUR FAITH HAS OVERCOME THIS WORLD
The whole entire song, every line is so full of meaning. The song is a year old, but it still speaks to me.
Found You, the greatest love divine. Jesus is really God’s expressed love for us. I’ve found Him, the greatest expression of love. Born again, Your DNA inside. I’ve the Jesus DNA! I’ll stand with You, when faith and fear collide. Many times I’m fearful, faith and fear collide, the song says to choose to stand with Jesus, and not give in to fear. I still stumble at this, but learning.
Called out to be Your salt and light. We are called to be salt and light in the marketplace. I’m to be salt and light in my university, to shine for Jesus, add flavour, make a difference. But not by my own abilities because You hold the power to define. In God, we find the power to define culture, define our environment. And heaven waits for the saints to shine. God is waiting, the angels are waiting for us to understand this, and to step out and shine for Jesus in the darkness. And then..
There must be something more. There must be something more. This conveys a longing, for something more in life, something deeper in my relationship with God. I want something more than what I have. And there really must be something more because other people have experienced it. The closeness, the presence of God, the majesty. There’s something more in life, more than just being a good student and a good pharmacist. I can impact so many more people than what my mind can see, I need God’s perspective, but before that, I will believe that there is something more.
So Awaken my soul to who I am in You. Before I came to city harvest, I never really understood my value in God’s eyes. Even after coming, it took very very long..and even now, I still haven’t completely comprehended my worth in His eyes. But I must be worth something, for Him not to have given up on me. Really. Awaken my soul, You make all things new. When I come to Him, He makes all things new. My past need not weigh me down anymore. Whatever I did, my regrets, burdens, if only I let Him, He takes them. Gives me beauty for ashes.
I can do all things thru You. I can do all things thru You. Who strengthens me. Because God strengthens me, I can do all things through Him. God has all the strength in the world!
Our faith has overcome, our faith has overcome, our faith has overcome this world. Whatever the world throws at us, greater is He who is in us than the devil in the world. As long as we cling on to our faith, cling on to God, we can overcome anything in this world.
early early pm June 17, 2008
Posted by dot in Daily life, God.2 comments
I went for prayer meeting at Jurong west today!
Jac told me to go last night cos she said it was good.. I was a bit hesistant at first because…it was 7.30-8.30am. Wah… and then if I wanted to hitch a ride from jac, I had to be at her house by 6.15am! And that’s VERY early for a person who normally wakes up at 12 plus to 1pm. Well, I was thinking, last time there would be less hesistation to do something crazy like that, why so much thought to it now? And well, if I REALLY wanted a touch from God, to be able to feel His presence, then I should just do whatever it takes to get it. Makes sense right..but of course there was a struggle inside.
Anyway, out of the 5-6 buses to jac’s place, only ONE bus service was running at that unearthly hour. Praise the Lord. Hahaha.. I didn’t have to walk there.
So went for the prayer meeting. They flashed a slide on the LED, and it was quite interesting because I had never see that sentence in church before. “Build your own altar”. I sort of knew what it meant, but I asked why they said that. Then yang hong explained that during the prayer meeting, we just pray like during quiet time, so we had to seek God for ourselves. Oh, but he also said that even so, it was still easier to enter into the presence of God during the PM even if we find it hard to do so on our own, maybe because we “ride” on the stronger members’ anointing. Hahaha… and cool, I find that happening for me.
And I find that prayer meetings are always good when I sacrifice sleep to go hahaha. Because sleep is VERY important to me, and normally if I don’t sleep enough, I’d feel terrible the next day. God honors that, I guess. I can feel the difference in the atmosphere..like it’s thicker or something. Really cool to seek the Lord when done with the right attitude, especially when it costs me something. I think the mornings this week will be spent in the far west 
And I was rewarded later hahaha. Won’t elaborate too much.
I realise that if I’m not reminded of something, it’s very easy to unknowingly slip back into a wrong mindset. That’s why it’s important to constantly listen to the Word haha.
Oh and when it’s time for the new heavens and new earth, when Jesus comes back to restore everything, I think I’ll be out of job. No need for pharmacists already because no more sickness Oh dear…I’d better pick up another skill hahaha.. Maybe I’ll form a band..I’m sure they’ll still need guitarists around to create culture Hahahaha!
Side note: I’ve a new niece today. She’s called Sherilyn..I saved her from much ridicule in the future by preventing her dad, my bro, from bestowing upon her an awful name.. anyway he didn’t heed my spelling of the name. I wanted an “a” instead of an “i” in it, because it looks nicer in my opinion la :P Rah…
FD Drama! June 15, 2008
Posted by dot in Daily life.1 comment so far
This is the first time I went to all 4 services over the same weekend.
And I don’t think many people get to do it hahaha. Finally get a sense of what pastor goes through every weekend Shuttling from service to service, chionging across the island a few times..not easy hahaha.
Helped in the Fathers’ Day drama over the weekend. I was in charge of flashing the translation whenever the actors said their lines in chinese, to help those who don’t know chinese understand those parts. And I had this guy from SOT, stanley, to help me.
I went for 2 rehearsals on thurs and fri night. They went through the drama until I could predict what the actors were going to say already. The first night was rough because we had to get the font colour, font size, length and width of the text box and the height of the text box on the screen right. Plus, the script changed so much from the previous week that we had to almost re-do the powerpoint..and I was sent the updated script on the day of the rehearsal itself so we did the changes just before the rehearsal.
And the script also evolved as time went by, so during the briefings, the director will add and take away stuff. Saw the drama actors up-close! Hahaha.. most of the time, they’re just personalities I see on stage or on screen, or in harvest highlights. Quite interesting to know that they are actually real people.
Time passes so fast when I’m busy.
The dramas went mostly without major glitches, except for service 2, when the mics gave quite a lot of problems. There are many factors to consider in dramas. Details are really really important.
Anyway, impacting over twenty thousand people in one weekend is a good thought.
And it’s quite enjoyable to zoom down the expressway at over 130km/h in the front seat of a car with nice music. Hahaha
I only managed to listened to the sermon at the last service, after the last drama run. Met peijing after the last service at Jurong West and sat with her cell while they had lunch. And I think I appreciate my own cell a lot more hahaha. When I got home, I slept for 2 hours and struggled to wake up for dinner. And sleeping reminded me of chorus board, where we have two screens, one preview screen and one live screen. Sleeping and waking is like switching in between those two screens. CG cutting… CG cut!
(Subtitles: “CG” (cb language) = computer graphic, the image first shown on the preview screen. When it goes up, it goes on the live screen where everyone can see)
cold… June 13, 2008
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The chorus board room in JW is sooo cold man.. I’m wearing 3 layers, and it’s still cold. Yesterday was freezing, so today, I came prepared with my thickest jacket, and it’s more bearable, but still cold. Amazing.. Drama rehearsals are exciting.
