faith`

Amazing Grace

2008-01-09T22:08:00.000+08:00

The Stage Floor

2007-04-05T04:58:00.000+08:00

6th April, Friday - 8pm
7th April, Saturday - 8pm
8th April, Sunday - 9am, 11am

2007-03-27T02:00:00.000+08:00

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle,when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls . He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed."Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else--the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?""It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked."Oh yeah," said the son."So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."The boy's father was speechless.Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! A man's true wealth is the good he does in this world.

I got these two meaningful and interesting stories in an email. Hope you've enjoyed the stories and learnt something from it. (: Have a blessed week ahead!

God cares

2007-03-03T13:03:00.000+08:00

If God sees the sparrow's fall,
Paints the lilies short and tall,
Gives the skies their azure hue,
Will He not then care for you?

-Anon.

Keep your eyes on the Lord;
He never takes His eyes off you.

God Bless!
JonC

2007-02-15T01:25:00.000+08:00

I supposed these are all the designs for the tribe tee and logo! (: A big thank you to everyone for helping, whether to design or to suggest! Well here are all the designs collected over quite some time, look through and decide how you all want to come up with a tee from all these designs! have fun!

Cassandra's designs:

Charmaine's designs:

Rogan's designs:

Joel's designs:

Rogan's Logo:

Kaiqi's Logo:

Yup! Alrighty, have a happy total defence day everyone! <3,>

What can we do?

2007-02-14T02:41:00.000+08:00

"It is finished!"

So what can we do but thank You,
What can we do but give our lives to You!
Hallelujah!

The Pain of Love

2007-02-10T23:10:00.000+08:00

Love
C.S Lewis

Love's as hard as nails,
Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (what all that is)
Our cross, and His.

Imagine guys, God didn't just stay "up there" watching from afar... He WAS Christ, dying on the cross, for you and me! As Christ cried, "My God, why have you forsaken me?", imagine, the bond that was never before broken in eternity past, was broken. That triune fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was broken as the sins of the world were poured onto Christ.

Where did the sins come from?

You and me.

Pain. Christ experienced it in such a real sense! Both physical and spiritual. Physical because it's painful to die. Spiritual, because imagine how unclean He felt with all the weight of the world's sins from Adam to the last man standing on this earth.

The cross shows "God struggling with God" and just imagine, Christ could have done it some other way but He chose to live with us and experience our full spectrum of temptations, yet without sin. Even at the last moment, as He drew His dying breath, He could have called on a host of angels to come down in the twinkling of an eye. But He didn't...

Love kept Him on the cross.

Truly, love is as hard as nails my dear bros and sis... I pray even during this time as you settle in your new tribes that you'll remember this fact when you're discouraged! "For God so loved the world..." and the world is us.

God Bless,
JonC

2007-02-05T23:14:00.000+08:00

This is the design samples i've made. Keeping it simple. I've found thetype of t-shirt to use, and i've shown Jonathan Chong the shirt. The site for more pics can be found in the tag board. This are all just samples, and are copyrighted.

reGards - roGan

The Chronicles of the Noname T-Shirt I

2007-01-30T00:19:00.000+08:00

Hey bros and sis!

Joel has come up with a cute design! Haha, the joke is corny but it's cute I think! Any suggestions? Also, we can combine the designs together =) hehheh... What do you guys think? It's on the back of the tshirt, the front is really cool too but for some reason i can't upload it...So tell me what ya think yeah? ;)

In Your Name

2007-01-27T16:08:00.000+08:00

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
Matthew 18:20

Lets us Nona-Mes Minis gather together sometime before service to pray as we prepare our hearts for God!

2007-01-21T13:30:00.000+08:00

All of the above - Mercy Me

Stuck in a day
Like a runner with no race
Are you afraid
Your joy has been misplaced
It's been a while
Since I've seen you smile
How easy you forget
So roll back the time
And there you will find
What never left

CHORUS
The day heaven found you
The day the angels sang
Praises to the Father
Who called you by name
The moment you surrendered
The moment you were saved
Life as you knew it forever was changed
And all the above rejoiced

Remember the day
When God forgot your sin
Remember the way
That joy came tumbling in
There will be times
When you cannot find
A reason to stand and sing
But let this remind
You time after time
You're a child of the King

REPEAT CHORUS

See them dancing
See them singing
All of heaven is rejoicing over you

REPEAT CHORUS 2x

hey hey (: It's been awhile since I last posted and today I came across this song in my playlist and it's a nice song (: It's really encouraging and I hope it'll encourage all of you, especially if life's not so smooth for you, to remember that no matter what, you're a child of the King! And that alone is a reason for you to rejoice and cheer up (:

Have a great day/week/month/year ahead! :D

Love, Cass! :D <3.

Ouch~! The fleas are biting!

2007-01-15T20:12:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, haven't blogged here in centuries! HEhe... How are you guys? Okay, a number of things to address.... Most importantly, our tribe t-shirt! Okay, just throw out ideas, we'll work on what cass has... Charmaine, do you have some designs? =)

Ok, next important announcement, PLEASE bring stuff that you wanna donate for the flea market this Friday (19th Jan). Some examples of stuff include stationery, toys, clothes, books, accessories whatever! =) anything also must sell! ehehe... So if you find weird stuff cluttering up the house, sell it! =)

Miss you guys, wondering what you're doing at school or work or wadever... Keep in touch yeah? Sorry brothers and sisters, been really busy with school and all.... Continue to pray for our ministry and the new tribes that are to be formed! Who knows, we might have a Got.Name =P

Your bro,
JonC

The Pearls

2007-01-04T00:20:00.000+08:00

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls, was Almost five.

Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them,

a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box

and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00.

If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you

and in no time you can save enough money

to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and

you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank

and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner,

she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbour

and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.

On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill

and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up.

She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed.

The only time she took them off was when she went swimming

or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet,

they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed,

he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story.

One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny,

"Do you love me?" "Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess,

the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail.

Remember, daddy? The one you gave me.

She's my very favourite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night."

And he brushed her cheek with a kiss. About a week later,

after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again,

"Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll.

The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful

and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one.

Daddy loves you." And as always,

he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in,

Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style.

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling

and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand

up to her daddy. And when she opened it,

there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,

she finally said, "Here, daddy, this is for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy

reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace,

and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out

a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls

and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time.

He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff

so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is with our Heavenly Father.

He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that

he can give us beautiful treasures.

Isn't God good? Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of.

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships,

habits and activities that you have come so attached

to that it seems impossible to let go?

Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand

but do believe this one thing ....

God will never take away something without

giving you something better in its place.

Have a wonderful day.

If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

Outing on Sat

2006-12-28T21:38:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Blessed belated Christmas to all!

Outing at Eric's Place
Sat (30th Dec '06)

Soccer, basketball, baking, etc etc!
(For those not playing real soccer, there might be winning eleven ;P)

Meet at 10AM at BISHAN MRT

God Bless! =)

JonC

Teenz-Wide Outing

2006-12-14T11:57:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! After our not-so-outing-outing on Fri,

Uth Ministry Outing

When? Saturday 16th Dec 06
Where? Meet 930am Bedok MRT
What? ECP, free 'n easy
Who? Every one who can make it lar!

=) JonC

Outing!!!!

2006-12-13T11:35:00.000+08:00

Calling all Nona.Merians!

"A Not-so-outing Outing"

When? Friday 15th Dec 06
Where? GLCC, 12pm
What? Come and find out! =)

JonC

PS. Please let me know if you can make it!
And if you can come later also can

2006-12-10T01:30:00.000+08:00

The Fern and the Bamboo

One day I decided to quit. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me.

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo."

"In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. The same in year four."

"Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant. But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high."

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can." I left the forest, realising that God will never give up on me. And He will never give up on you.

Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness; bad days give you experiences; both are essential to life.

- Author Unknown -

HELLO EVERYONE! I koped this story from Iris' blog, very nice story right! :D Anyway, I hope you all had a fun and lovely time at church camp, I certainly did!!! :D Sheesh, I'm still in the camping mood!

Thank God so much for everything that has happened, and how He just spoke to my heart especially on the last night during the last sermon! I was super touched and convicted by the Holy Spirit and I thank God so much for the time of prayer after that. (:

Anyway, I'll try to post more often here, its been a long time since I posted! :D I know you all miss my posting right! :D

<3, CASS! :D

When It's All Been Said And Done

2006-12-03T23:21:00.000+08:00

When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth
Did I live my life for You
When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's Reward
Will stand the test of time

Lord Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our Weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay
Making sinners into saints

I will always sing Your praise
Here on earth and ever after
For You've shown me Heaven's my
True home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone

Lord I'll live my life for You

Can we all say the sentence above from the bottom
of our hearts?

The Room

2006-11-26T23:16:00.000+08:00

17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject was what Heaven was like. "I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. "It's a killer. It's the bomb. It's the best thing I ever wrote.." It also was the last.

Brian's parents had forgotten about the essay when a cousin found it while
cleaning out the teenager's locker at Teary Valley High School Brian had
been dead only hours, but his parents desperately wanted every piece of his
life near them-notes from classmates and teachers, his homework.

Only two months before, he had handwritten the essay about encountering
Jesus in a file room full of cards detailing every moment of the teen's
life.. But it was only after Brian's death that Beth and Bruce Moore
realized that their son had described his view of heaven.

"It makes such an impact that people want to share it. You feel like you
are there." Mr. Moore said. Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after
Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went
off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He
emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was
electrocuted.

The Moores framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family
portraits in the living room. "I think God used him to make a point. I
think we were meant to find it and make something out of it," Mrs. Moore
said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of
life after death. "I'm happy for Brian. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll
see him."

Brian's Essay: The Room...

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room.
There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with
small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list
titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which
stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction,
had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to
catch my attention
was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping
through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized
the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly
where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my
life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a
detail my memory couldn't watch. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled
with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and
exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories;
others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my
shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named "Friends" was next to
one marked "Friends I have
betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird "Books
I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have
Laughed at." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've
yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in
My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at
My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents.

Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I
hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could
it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these
thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth.

Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized the
files grew to contain their contents The cards were packed tightly, and yet
after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it,
shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I
knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through
my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size
and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal
rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these
cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane
frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now.?I had to empty it
and burn the cards. But
as I took it at one end and
began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I
became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel
when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my
forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I
saw it.. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle
was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its
handle and a small box not more than three inches
long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They
started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I
cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file
shelves swirled in my
tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it
up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.

No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as
He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His
response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face,
I saw a sorrow deeper than my own.

He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read
every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He
looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger
me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry
again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many
things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of
the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over
mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say
was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these
cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The
name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He
gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the
cards. I
don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next
instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up,
and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were
still cards to be written.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Philippians 4:13

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

may this post bless your heart as it has blessed mine :D may our "People i shared the gospel with" folder get bigger and bigger everyday ;D

charm(:

HELLOOOS :D

2006-11-26T23:11:00.000+08:00

HELLOOOS. hahah. i'm your NEW ADMIN :D i shall start posting. but let me self-intro for this ohkay? hahah. THANK YOU HORNY FOR LETTING ME BE PART OF THE TRIBE BLOG :D hahah. anyway, i am CHARMAINE. i CAN be noisy :D hahah. anyway, Uth camp is coming. YAY :D so enjoy your hols. and see you at camp! :D oh yes. please pray for me. i'm having a very painful throat after my open house. tour guide duty. then have to talk loud loud. hahah. bad for my throat. so yah. pray for me :D thanks!

charm(:

Set Apart

2006-11-21T00:29:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Long time no "type"! Been busy with school and all, haha, exams come week after week and sometimes humanly it's so tiring! But I thank God for seeing me through the exams! Thank God also for seeing the O-lvl pple through the race! Haha, how is it guys on the other end of the finish line?

Pray for the results that are to come out next year and may God use the results for His glory! To work in and through each and every one of you!

Well, I thank the Lord because these past few weeks He's been teaching me lessons like never before! James 4:8 really became real to me especially during this time!

Jam 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jam 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Isn't this true? Many a times life goes smoothly and who do we put our trust in? Ourselves. Haha, isn't that the honest answer? We think life is good because I am in control; because I decide what is best for me; because I think doing these things will bring me true happiness in life. What's the problem with all of this? Exactly! It's the word, "I!"

Have you ever wondered why the word "I" is so powerful? Sister Annie can tell us that it's only worth a few points on the scrabble board! The word "I" is also only one letter long! Yet many a times when we put "I" in front of our "G-O-D", things just fall out of place. It's just like a bottle of stones and sand. Which is easier? To put the stones in first, or to pour the sand in?

When we place God first in our lives and are willing to seek Him, we put the stones of our life first. We are willing to place the more important things in life which will not pass away and allow the more trivial things to settle down around the stones! Haha, sometimes life becomes difficult and we blame God - but stop to think! Who's the one putting the sand in the bottle first? =) It seems almost comical to imagine a man trying to stuff stones into a half-filled bottle of sand!

Think about it - If we place our ENTIRE dependence on Christ ALONE to save us from SIN, DEATH & HELL, why don't we trust Him with the TRIVIAL things like food or shelter?

After all, He knows what's best for us.

God Bless!
JonC

24 Nov's BBQ

2006-11-20T15:19:00.000+08:00

24 Nov's BBQ...

...will begin at 6.30pm with a time of prayer & singing

...Invite your friends. IT'S FREE!!!

...$2/pax for NoNames. :-)

...Your tax collector is (drum..roll) IiiiRrrrIiiiSsss.

...Pray for a wonderful time of glorifying God, having fun & fellowship!!!

2006-11-20T02:10:00.000+08:00

~ A Warm Welcome ~

To...

~ ROgAN (The Nameless) ~
who has just joined our tribe! =)

Being nameless, what better tribe to join than Nona.Me, right guys?
=)
[sorry no picture available at the moment]

May God use you to minister to all Nonamerians and may He use us to
minister to your heart as well!

Is Your Life A Witness?

2006-11-14T02:03:00.000+08:00

"Is your life a witness, with testimony true?
Could the world be won to Christ
By what others see in you?"

- Paul L. Powers

Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Are we salty or bright enough for people to know we're Christians?

we weak, HE STRONG

2006-11-09T15:22:00.000+08:00

OUR WEAKNESS HIS STRENGTH

A mother, wishing to encourage her young son's progress at the piano, bought tickets for a Paderewski performance. When the night arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on stage. Soon the mother found a friend to talk to, and the boy slipped away.

When eight o'clock arrived, the spotlights came on, the audience quieted, and only then did they notice the boy up on the bench, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." His mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on the stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.

"Don't quit--keep playing," he whispered to the boy.

Leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato.

Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.

In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear, time and again, "Don't quit--keep playing." And as we do, he augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created.

nOnA.mE-ians, DON'T quit, keep pRaying

keep on keeping on!!!

+ Molding a masterpiece +

I'm molding a masterpiece

A work of great beauty

I'm molding a masterpiece

My labor's not done

A trophy, a treasure, a worth beyond measure

I'm molding a masterpiece

A MASTERPIECE OF LOVE

- annie -

A poem to share.

2006-11-07T22:34:00.000+08:00

Take time

Take time to think;

it is the source of power.

Take time to read;

it is the foundation of wisdom.

Take time to play;

it is the secret of staying young.

Take time to be quiet;

it is the opportunity to seek God.

Take time to be aware;

it is the opportunity to help others.

Take time to love and be loved;

it is God's greatest gift.

Take time to laugh;

it is the music of the soul.

Take time to be friendly;

it is the road to happiness.

Take time to dream;

it is what the future is made of.

Take time to pray;

it is the greatest power on earth.

Author Unknown

Guys just wanted to share this poem i got from the bookmark from JonC and Kailing. Hope it blesses you people.

Hornsau

2006-11-06T00:17:00.000+08:00

Hey hey! Just want to share an experience with all of you! On that got me thinking and reflecting. I hope it'll be as reflective it is to you as it was to me! (:

I really thank God for showing me His wonders and works in my life, and teaching me precious lessons such as how precious life is and how we are so often wasting our life away, the minutes and seconds ticking by without us knowing!

Just last night, saturday night, my dad was driving me and my mum and my two home in his taxi late at night, about two in the morning i think. Me and my sisters were sleeping in the back seats without seat belts and when suddenly I was thrown forward and I awoke with a start. After that I realised that we nearly nearly nearly got into an accident! It turns out that there was this van which was driving in the wrong direction in the wrong lane at VERY FAST speed. I think the driver was either drunk or on drugs or something but he was speeding somemore okay. Anyway we almost got into a head to head crash with the van! Thank God so much that my dad was able to drive and swerved in time to avoid crashing head on with the van! And when I look back I could see the van driving in a wobbly way, zig zaging on the road. Woah, really must thank God so much for keeping me and my family save! It sure was some experience!

Well this simple incident taught me the value of time. If my dad had managed to swerve only a second later, I doubt I'll be here typing away this experience I had. Just one second later and the precious life God gave to me could be taken back by Him once again. And imagine if I were to stand on the platform before God and let Him judge me, I wonder if there would be anything that I have done or said please Him. Okay, maybe there would be a couple, but was it enough? Would He be proud of me and look at me and say to me, 'My child, I'm proud of you and your actions and your words and thoughts. They are pleasing to Me.' I doubt that. God gave each and everyone of us the same amount of time, but have we been using them fruitfully? Have we been using this precious gift of time to glorify Him or have we been letting these time slip by us without even us realising it, like us spending time playing computer games we know are not beneficial to us at all etc. I thought about what I've been doing with the time He has given to me and I realise that the amount of time we spend praying, doing quiet time each day, glorifying Him etc compared to time we spend on talking about rubbishy stuff and doing meaningless stuff is very little. It's not even equal, much less more. Well, after that incident, I really realised how much time I've wasted away and how insignificant the time I spend on things which glorify Him is compared to the time I spend on watching tv or playing computer games. In fact, come to think of it, I've always only spend about half an hour each day doing quiet time. And the other 23.5 hours? It's not really spent on things worth spending time on always. How have you been spending your time?

Well, just thank God for this chance for me to share with you this experience and lesson God has certainly taught me! Take care and have a fruiful week ahead!

2006-11-01T00:26:00.000+08:00

Salvation is not try, but trust ; Not do, But done!

-Corrie Ten Boom

Hey guys, saw this meaningful quote on a calender thingie... Isn't it so true? And we dare say that counting our blessings is so tough! (i'm included in the complainer's list too!) Haven't our sins been already forgiven? Haven't we got the assurance of eternal life in a perfect heaven? Don't we know for sure we will be with our Lord, Maker and King forever and ever?

It is finished! Is there anything left for us to do? NO! So rejoice! =)

By the way, do keep the PSLE students in prayer... Their results are coming out at the end of the month! Also, the O level people who are taking exams in a few days! Thank God for Edmund who helped do up the schedule for them. The A level Chinese peeps this Friday and their oral presentation too =)

Also, pray for our tribe tshirt design! Exciting times are coming and we're going to be clothed! Haha, pray for Cass, Iris, Charmaine, Kaiqi!

Lastly, please keep our assistant tribe leader Kailing in prayer. Her mum is looking for a new job so pray that she'll get the right job =)

That's all! Missing you all! Come on Friday ya? Any prayer requests lemme know!

West Coast Park Outing on 28-10-2006

2006-10-27T12:51:00.000+08:00

Hi Nona.me-ians,

Tomorrow yah...

Bring games to play..no need to bring bikes...can rent, no church van help bring...yah!!!

Meet GLCC 9.30am. Be early coz got a 40-seater bus ferry us to WCP. No waiting bay in front of church so let's help to "chop-chop" "fast-fast"

Return by public bus #176. It will pass by bkt batok, upp bkt timah & finally halt at bkt panjang interchange.

Phew...looking forward to another scrabble "battle!" anyone? :-)

- annie -

Fei-low-ship at Jiahao's Place!

2006-10-23T19:52:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Exciting things happening tml! If you're free during the holiday... ...

Prayer at Church
10am!

Outing to Jiahao's Place Eat your lunch before meeting at Farrer Park MRT! 12 noon!

Elias will be there! (i think) haha...
cya!

JonC

Will We Pray For Others?

2006-10-22T21:37:00.000+08:00

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on
it were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not
knowing what else to do, agree that they had no recourse but to pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide
the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man
saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its
fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife.
The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman
who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the Island there was
nothing.

Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day,
like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still
had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could
leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the
first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man
on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God's
blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven
booming, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"

"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them, "the
first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not
deserve anything."

"You are mistaken!" The voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which I
answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my
blessings."

"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that I
should owe him anything?"

"He prayed that all your prayers be answered."

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but
those of another praying for us.

When Jesus died on the cross he was thinking of you!

Will We Be The One Praying For Others?

Ever Wondered... ...?

2006-10-22T18:06:00.000+08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters...

Ever wondered how to answer difficult questions when sharing the Gospel? Wonder no more! =)

Jesus never died. He was being swapped.

Our faith will be attacked. People will say there is No death, No burial & No resurrection.

How do you talk to a person when he doesn't feel any working in the heart?

We cannot take the responsibility of another person's answer. We need to know the Spirit of God is working. The just shall live by faith, not by what we see, not by what we hear. Even if the heart is as hard as a stone, God is still working.

How to share with someone totally opposed to Gospel & not willing to listen?

Don't debate. Be a good testimony.

How to share with a foreigner with language barrier?

Keep it simple.

If you stepped on an ant, is it a sin? Is animal abuse a sin?

It's about the intention of the heart.

I don't believe the Bible. I don't believe in heaven or hell.

This is a gamble of your life. Are you willing to take a chance?

Courtesy of Sister Annie in the Street-E report! =)
God bless!

JonC

2006-10-22T15:13:00.000+08:00

Hey people ;D

Hope all of you have been well! Haha, tribe outing soon?

I miss all of you! <3

Sendning lots of love to y'all!

xoxo

hey peeps ((:

2006-10-22T00:18:00.000+08:00

woosh. it has been a REAL tiring week. though my promos are over and all. but there's still DUMB project work. but ohwells. here's something i would like to share, on behalf of kaiqi and cass ^^
27November, Monday.
7.30pm @ Esplanade Concert Hall (like wow ^^)
Event : Cresent Girls concert.
**ticket sales close officially on MONDAY(23October2006) !!!
let's support them ya? ^^
------
just want to share something with you peeps. ((: read this today in the daily bread.
Built into our nature is an internal judicial system, the conscience, that commends us when we do right and condemns us when we do wrong. But thus vital monitor of morality does not say the same thing to everyone. In some cultures, vengeful killing is seen as honorable. In others, a person is still considered good even when he betrays a friend.

A story from The Philadelphia Inquirer illustrates this problem. A 12-yr-old boy was caught stealing a watch. He told police that previously he had shoplifted a gift for his mother, and he felt he had to do the same his dad. Although troubled about slighting his father, he had no qualms about stealing.

Because of sin, conscience is unreliable and needs a continual adjustment. This begins with a right relationship to God through faith in Jesus Christ. He paid sin's penalty, and now our hearts are "sprinkled from an evil conscience " (hebrews 10:22). But this does not make conscience obsolete. As we study the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit puts our inner monitor on a frequency that brings us in tune with the words, deeds, and attitudes of the Lord Jesus.

"Let your conscience be your guide" is valid only if God's Word is guiding your conscience.

There is a treasure you can own.
That's greater than a crown or throne:
A conscience good with which to live,
That only God Himself can give.

-conscience is like a sundial: when the truth of God shines on it, it points in the right direction.

today's devotion was rrly meaningful and it has rrly touchd my heart, i'm not sure about you. but just sharing this, hoping it would touch your heart too.
cheerios. ((:

`your dear sister in Christ,
iris ^^

This Friday...

2006-10-19T02:26:00.000+08:00

From our dear Sister Annie, (thanks!)

6.30pm: Pre-worship prayer time

7pm sharp: Worship

# Please be on time, before time, if not come real early!!!

7.30pm: Prayer for Ministry Teams

8.30pm: End of Service officially

8.30pm: ACTS Filming Crew actions! (To make the scene realistic min 50 people are needed, so we might be included.)

* There would be a collection of Teenz & Campus funds. Please do come prepared to give cheerfully.

** Ian HAS to excuse himself at 8.30pm for his brother-in-law's wedding dinner after which James will take over.

=)

What's going on this Friday?

2006-10-18T11:39:00.000+08:00

Oh, i think GLCC Teenz Blog got say something one...let's see...yah...we can do our part in little ways. I know in God's eyes, very BIG ways!!!

Chai Dao Pok!

2006-10-18T01:23:00.000+08:00

Haha, this is late but...

Blessed Birthday
Chai-PoK!

Thank God for using him in a marvellous way
Even though you've graduated from Nona.Me
You're still one of us!

(Considering ya contributed the tribe name =P)

Phi 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

BATAM M2

2006-10-16T16:10:00.000+08:00

Batam Medical Mission (M2) is coming up...check it out at GLCC Teenz Blog for details.

Are You Thirsty?

2006-10-16T00:40:00.000+08:00

In 1981, Ida's Pastry Shoppe in Jenison, Michigan, advertised this special offer: "Buy one of our coffee mugs for $4.79 and fill up your cup for a dime each time you visit."

But the owners never expected that 25 years later, four longtime customers would still be getting their cup of java every day—for 10 cents.

You won't find many deals like that anymore. But Jesus offered something far greater to the woman at the well (John 4:10). He said, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but . . . the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (vv.13-14).

The woman at the well was ready to listen. None of her many personal relationships had ever filled up her emptiness. Then Jesus offered her "water" that would soothe her parched life and give her something more—the promise of eternal life.

That same promise is ours as well. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

God's grace and love come from a bottomless reservoir. Drink from the water He offers, and you will never thirst again.

Cindy Hess Kasper (Our Daily Bread, Oct 15 2006)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Nona.Merians,

Are we living lives that are thirsty and parched? Do we feel dehydrated as life's problems come into our lives? Then the solution is Christ and Christ alone! Only He can quench our parched throats!

Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Like the woman at the well I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy;
And then I heard my Saviour speaking:

"Draw from my well that never shall run dry"

Fill my cup, Lord
I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;

Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

Your Bro,
JonC

Food for Thought: Our Journey

2006-10-11T03:25:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, got this from http://www.donghaeng.net/english/main.htm. Just click on the 2nd "button" called "Donghaeng" and ya can watch the flash. The words are super meaningful and helps to remind us that we are always on the journey... I call this "our journey"...

Our Journey

We are all travellers who ought to go (on) a long journey before us.
Though each one of us started this journey at a different time.

Some are walking lightly,
Some are walking even one step very heavily.
Nobody knows when this journey ends,
But everyone knows there is an end.

Because the way we are walking on is lonely and tough,
We are all seeking a partner to walk together.

We think that if there's somebody to love me
and to be with me,
this journey won't be a problem...

...that only with enough expenditure,
this long journey won't be so tough.

...that provided many people acknowledge me,
I might even enjoy this journey.

But (what) we are missing (is) that it is impossible for anyone to walk together with us... ...til the end

Nobody can lead us from the end of this journey
into a new one...
Except (for) Him only...

There are several people who are carrying a ladder
to cross into a new road.
Sometimes they feel pressured by the ladder.
But knowing the value of it
They walk with gladness...

Many are walking without knowing
the value of walking with Him.
Others have gone for something else,
Forgetting the importance of walking with Him.

Those who are walking with Him
(are tasked) to introduce the true companionship
to others.

Those who are far from this fellowship need to remember
That He is waiting for them to walk together again.
And those who have not found the true friend yet on this journey
Would meet Him now...

Will we be willing to take up our cross and follow Him?

Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Your bro,
JonC

God Sees The Heart

2006-10-10T10:10:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Haven't posted here in a long time =)

Well, just wanna encourage you guys to be strong in the faith because only God can give you joy beyond all understanding! Sometimes we try to fill our hearts with other things though we know deep down that it can never fit into that special hole. It's kind of like us trying to fit the wrong key into the keyhole! It'll never work no matter how much we squeeze!

God sees the heart every one so let's fight on for Him and not worry about the outside of things.

God Sees The Heart

Our God measures man by a standard divine,
For He sees underneath every outward design.
He looks past possessions and costly attire;
He studies the heart-- every thought and desire.

For the eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro.
We have no secrets that our God does not know.
Our Father knows our thoughts;
He understands every part.
Man sees the outside, but God sees the heart.

Our God does not judge by how tall we may stand,
Or how much we possess, or the rank we command.
His gaze goes far deeper to things that endure;
He honours the man who keeps his heart pure.

For the eyes of the Lord are searching to and fro.
We have no secrets that our God does not know.
Our Father knows our thoughts;
He understands every part.
Man sees the outside, but God sees the heart.

Your bro,
JonC

Charm ar!

2006-10-10T04:01:00.000+08:00

Blessed Bday to Miss Dreamlandgal, Charmaine!

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Jud 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

From all of us,

Nona.Me

M.A. Festival

2006-10-06T13:23:00.000+08:00

Pray for Campus family at MacRitchie for their outing this evening. Ian invited Clinton.

Teenz worship tonight at BASEMENT. Chinese congregation family will be using the sanctuary.

Next week (13 Oct) NO Friday Teenz Worship because... "Look-for-the-leader Retreat" is 13 - 15 Oct. Consent form? Annie has them or download from teenzcampus yahoogroups. Camp commander: James & Camp admin: Cheryl Chen

Continue to remember JiaHe & his parents in prayers.

- annie

How does a leader look like?

2006-10-04T21:25:00.000+08:00

Hmmm... how does a leader look like? Like Aragorn?

More importantly, what does God want a leader to look like? And more than that, what does the HEART of the leader have inside? Join us for the LOTL (Look of the Leader) Camp! (Not LOTR = Lord of the Rings)

Look of the LEADER Camp!

13th to 15th Oct (Next Friday!)

Get forms at Teenz this Fri or download from blog

Only 30 people can go! Pray and see if God wants you to...

Cost: $55! (Money not an issue to God lah!)

Rise up to the challenge if God wants you to go! God bless! Oh and inform me too can? Hehheh

Your bro,
JonC

A Wormy Blessed B`Day

2006-10-04T20:12:00.000+08:00

Blessed Birthday To A Certain Worm!

None other than...
A(manda)Chong!

[A Chong = A Worm (In Chinese)]

Trust that the Lord gave you a wonderful day!

Phi 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

From all of us,
Nona.Me

From Iris' Own Words =)

2006-10-01T20:37:00.000+08:00

Exam schedule, pray for Iris too!

Monday:

H1 Maths: 8.15am to 11am
H2 Economics: 1.30pm to 4.15pm

Tuesday:

H2 Literature Paper 4: 1.30pm to 4.30pm

Wednesday:

H2 Geography: 1.30pm to 4.30pm

Thursday:

(NOTHING! MUAHAHAAA)

Friday:

H2 Literature Paper 1: 2.30pm to 5.30pm

AND THEN I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! =p

Your bro,
JonC

Prayer Prayer Prayer!

2006-09-26T02:39:00.000+08:00

Urgent! Let's pause for a minute in our lives to talk to our Lord today!

Remember to pray for:

Family that Pastor Paul shared about on Sunday. Zhangyong, his wife guoxiang and especially for JIAHE (28 mths old) who has 3rd stage cancer
Those taking exams in the weeks to come
For the merging of campus and Teenz, for common vision and a new name!

Also, our bro HornHorn has suggested we have a study group this week or something for anyone, esp the people taking O-lvls... Wondering when would be a good time for you all? Let me know ya? =) any questions can just call or email me too!

God bless!

Your Bro,
JonC

Just Checking In

2006-09-23T22:53:00.000+08:00

"Just Checking In"

A minister passing through his church
in the middle of the day,
Decided to pause by the altar
and see who had come to pray.

Just then the back door opened,
a man came down the aisle,
The minister frowned as he saw
the man hadn't shaved in a while.

His shirt was kind a shabby
and his coat was worn and frayed,
the man knelt, he bowed his head,
Then rose and walked away.

In the days that followed,
each noontime came this chap,
each time he knelt just for a moment,
A lunch pail in his lap.

Well, the minister's suspicions grew,
with robbery a main fear,
He decided to stop the man and ask him,
"What are you doing here?"

The old man said, he worked down the road.
Lunch was half an hour.
Lunchtime was his prayer time,
For finding strength and power.

"I stay only moments, see,
because the factory is so far away;
as I kneel here talking to the Lord,
This is kind a what I say:

"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,
BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM
CHECKING IN TODAY."

The minister feeling foolish,
told Jim, that was fine.
He told the man he was welcome
To come and pray just anytime.

Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks."
He hurried to the door
The minister knelt at the altar,
he'd never done it before.

His cold heart melted, warmed with love,
and met with Jesus there.
As the tears flowed, in his heart,
he repeated old Jim's prayer:

"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP
AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.
I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT
I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY."

Past noonone day, the minister noticed
that old Jim hadn't come.
As more days passed without Jim,
he began to worry some.

At the factory, he asked about him,
learning he was ill.
The hospital staff was worried,
But he'd given them a thrill.

The week that Jim was with them,
Brought changes in the ward.
His smiles, a joy contagious.
Changed people, were his reward.

The head nurse couldn't understand
why Jim was so glad,
when no flowers, calls or cards came,
Not a visitor he had.

The minister stayed by his bed,
He voiced the nurse's concern:
No friends came to show they cared.
He had nowhere to turn.

Looking surprised, old Jim spoke
up and with a winsome smile;
"the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know,
that in here all the while

Everyday at noon He's here,
a dear friend of mine, you see,
He sits right down, takes my hand,
Leans over and says to me:

"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM,
HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP,
AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.
ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY,
I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY,
AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY."

If this blesses you, pass it on
Many people will walk in and out of your life,
but only true friends will leave
footprints in your heart.

May God hold you in the palm of His hand
and Angels watch over you.

But for those of us who are already His, He not
only holds us in the palm of His hand, but has
engraved our names there, and we are continually
in His sight (Isaiah 49:16)

Aren't we blessed to be right in the palm of our Lord's hand! Imagine each and every one of us are there; it must be a crowded place!!! Yet our God is able to see EVERY ONE! Isn't that amazing? =)

When everything else fails, let's not forget that our God is perfect and already knew the very trouble was going to happen anyway! He's using that to mould you into a better child for His use!

Thank You, Brother! Thank You Father! Thank You Lord!

Washing your feet,
JonC

Cass & Henrietta's Schedule!

2006-09-19T23:21:00.000+08:00

Please keep the two loving sisters in prayer! Sam's timetable is coming out soon!
May every one taking exams point others to Christ even through exams! =)

Cassandra:
22 Sep: English
2 Oct: Chinese
3 Oct: Social Studies and E Maths
4 Oct: History and Biology
5 Oct: Literature
6 Oct: Chemistry
9 Oct: Physics

Henrietta (PSLE!)
4 Oct: English
5 Oct: Maths
6 Oct: Chinese
9 Oct: Science

Your bro,
JonC

PS. Cass says Thank You Guys! <3,> what does this mean ar?

I Love You, Lord

2006-09-19T23:15:00.000+08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

I thank God 'cos He met the need of my heart tonight! This very night!
May we always look to Him 'cos He DOES answer prayer and He is ALWAYS in control!

Have a great day ahead!

Your Bro,
JonC

I Love You, Lord

I thank You, Lord, for all You've done,
I don't deserve your love;
When I was lost You saw my need,
And left Your home above.

I love You, Lord,
I love You, Lord,
Because of Calvary;
I love You, Lord,
I love You, Lord,
You're everything to me.

You proved Your love on Calvary,
You bore my sin and shame;
I'll live for You through all my days,
I'll praise Your holy name!

I love You, Lord,
I love You, Lord,
Because of Calvary;
I love You, Lord,
I love You, Lord,
You're everything to me!

Thank you, Lord!

Are We Ready To Leave This World?

2006-09-18T00:49:00.000+08:00

Dear Nonamerians!

At first I was afraid to share this with you but the Lord rebuked me and I realized Christ could come anytime, even while you're having your exams! Even while we're at school! May we continue to bring others in the saving faith of our Lord...

Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Mat 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Ps. Hope you weren't shocked by the loud bang, but by the message that lies behind the video..

Your Bro,
JonC

Pray for One Another

2006-09-17T17:06:00.000+08:00

Hey Nonamerians! Jiayou and may the Lord bless ya for those taking exams! I know it might take a bit of time but do you guys mind sending me your schedules so that everyone can pray for you? Dun be paiseh =) It is biblical for us to pray for one another so send me the schedule asap k?

Colossians 1:9-12

9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Let's pray for wisdom in our exams and glorify His name whatever the result! =)

Your Bro (with no exams yet),
JonC =)

PS. my email is gunblade_86@hotmail.com (if you didn't know already)! call or msg me too if you want! cya!~

2006-09-17T14:38:00.000+08:00

The Room

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings.

As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Somebrought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from >the mundane to the outright weird "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given,""Jokes I Have Laughed at." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents.

Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my ownhandwriting. Each signed withmy signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed >tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it >as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

And then I saw it.. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained with one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.

No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own.

He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I >could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red, so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

-

How sad but true. How are we going to be accountable for the numerous sins we have commited, all the guilt&shame. Jesus paid for each and every one with His precious blood. Don't you wanna run the race properly and receive your reward at the end of it all? He died for you&me, just so that we can spend eternity with Him. So let's press on and run the race together, fellow Nona-merians! =] He has placed us together as a family.

-

Wanna share these songs with you all =]

Still- Hillsong United

Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

Worthy Is The Lamb- Hillsong United

Thank you for the cross Lord
Thank you for the price You paid
Bearing all my sin and shame
In love You came
And gave amazing grace

Thank you for this love Lord
Thank you for the nail pierced hands
Washed me in Your cleansing flow
Now all I know
Your forgiveness and embrace

Worthy is the LambSeated on the throne
Crown You now with many crown
You reign victorious
High and lifted up
Jesus Son of God
The Darling of Heaven crucified
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb

-

In case you're wondering, they're not as upbeat&fast like their other songs. They's rather meditative. Go listen to them! Hehe.

-

Take care people! Keep walking with our Lord. Thank God for all of you <3

♥,
Achong

A Letter From My Friend

2006-09-16T23:51:00.000+08:00

Hey Nonamerians, here's an email from my army fren which he sent around June. I was clearing up my inbox when i stumbled upon this letter and I'm sure he wanted me to pass it on... Truly, we must count it a blessing that we have religious freedom in Singapore... Take care bros and sis...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

dear all,

i was born into a family where my parents were christians. i was really blessed. today i made a call to one of my friends, a young soul and a young child of God, who longs after God's word, pining for answers, seeking for the Truth.. her dad picked up the call and asked who i was... i simply told him that i'm her church friend... i was ignorant of the situation that the family was in... that her dad was against christianity, and i guess this father gestured to her something that made her realise this call from me is a tragic one. i hear her call out over the phone.. and i felt really bad. not because i'm ashamed as a christian, but simply due to my ignorance, some young soul would have her relationship with her father in jeopardy. i believe her dad still loves her alot, and wants the best for her... and i do believe that now, how i live as her friend, how this friend of mine behaves and everything would matter... not that in the past these didn't matter, but now, i see the significance. that decisions made in the temporal moment would have a place in eternity, actions done in the passing world would be significant forever, and time is now given a place in timelessness. let us keep this friend and her family in prayer, as we entrust them to God, that God may work in His time and His name be glorified... also for all those who're suffering the same... not for God to take away these threats, but that God may mould their character and hearts, and thru' these they may have spiritual maturity and continue to be a blessing and beacon to others around them.

dear friends, my heart shattered. not because i spoilt a friend's night.. but because i realised, how blessed i am and yet i live otherwise. religious freedom was given to me, but i took it for granted. sometimes even when i have religious freedom i still refuse to share the gospel with people sitting beside me on the bus, or a colleague lunching with me.. and yet many others who do not have such freedom are fighting for the gospel of God to reach out to others... i was taught a lesson..

Religious freedom is never a freedom that man has the right to give.. :)

to God be all glory and honour..
(Jon's fren)

Loving you guys,
JonC

2006-09-15T16:22:00.000+08:00

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

God created all of us, whether big, small, short or tall! =) Do we ever stop to think that He created us in His own image! How special that must be! Just a thought when i saw these two pictures... Think about them...

Both pictures show lavender flowers in the farm. One shows the same colour flowers while the other, rows and rows of various types of coloured lavenders!

Which is more vibrant? Now, imagine the colours of the second picture all mixed up in a garden! What beauty, what vibrancy! In the same way, God made us all in His own image, yet different in our unique way! =)

Once we truly realize we are made in the exact way He wanted, whatever disabilities we have, whatever height we stand, the way we think and solve problems, we can be content because we are made perfect in His eyes.

Deu 7:6 For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Bring Us Back To The Cross, Lord

2006-09-08T16:48:00.000+08:00

Dear brothers and sisters... Let's ask our Lord to bring us back to the cross...

An Excerpt from "Boy Meets Girl" by Joshua Harris..

In the book When God Weeps, Steven Estes and Joni Eareckson Tada give the following account of Christ's death. As you read, refuse to let the scene be familiar. Let its reality shock you and break your heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The face that Moses had begged to see - was forbidden to see - was slapped bloody (Exo 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his own brow...

"On your back with you!" One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together" (Col 1:17) The victim wills that the soldier live on - he grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.

As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm - the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless - the nerves perform exquisitely. "Up you go!" They lift the cross. God is on display in his underwear and can scarcely breathe.

But these pains are a mere warm-up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being - the living excrement from our souls. The apple of his Father's eye turns brown with rot.

His Father! He must face his Father like this!

From heaven the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The SOn does not recognize these eyes.

"Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped - murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten - fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk - you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp - buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves - relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe these things in you! Digust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?"

Of course, the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place.

Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.

The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror-image of himself, sinks drowing into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction.

"Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?!"

But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.

The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplised.

~~~~~~~~~

Don't move too quickly from this scene. Keep gazing.

The Rescue accomplished here was for you! John Stott writes, "Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us (leading us to fath and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance)... As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both 'I did it; my sins sent Him there," and "He did it; His love took Him there.' "

Did you see your own offenses on the list of sins that necessitated the Cross? If not, name them yourself. Name your darkest sin. Now reflect on the fact that Christ bore the punishment for that sin. He took the punishment you deserved. Do you feel His passionate and specific love for you? He died for you. He was condemned and cursed so that you could go free --- He was forsaken by God so that you would never be forsaken (Hebrews 13:5)

That's what Jesus' death on the cross has to do with (any of our sins) right now.

Urgent!

2006-09-05T14:00:00.000+08:00

Please pray for Jiahao's Grand-dad who's in hospital... Pray for his salvation!!!

Jonah 2:9
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

2006-09-05T02:52:00.000+08:00

Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Imagine opening your mouth without a measurement! If you were really hungry, how large would your mouth be? The truth if, Hell is expanding itself! It's not just about having a bad day! It's about spending ETERNITY in an everlasting DAMNATION! What are we doing about it?

Even as I search now for a suitable picture to portray hell, I am saddened at the way the world views hell. Many think it's a joke and not real...

2Cor 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

2006-09-02T16:15:00.000+08:00

heyhey. I've come up with a tribe tee design! :D haha tell me nice a not and I hope you all like it! and in case you cant tell, the one with colour is the back, and the one with the Bible verse is the front! :D

<3, cass!

I Could Not Do Without Thee

2006-08-20T23:00:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! The background music on our blog is now "I Could Not Do Without Thee" also on the same album as the previous song! Found the lyrics really meaningful... and the song is really oh-so-touching... yeah... So read and meditate! Until then, God bless for the week ahead! Praying for ya! =)

I Could Not Do Without Thee

I could not do without Thee,
O Savior of the lost,
Whose precious blood redeemed me,
at such tremendous cost.
Thy righteousness, Thy pardon,
Thy precious blood must be
My only hope and comfort,
my glory and my plea.

I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone.
I have no strength or goodness,
no wisdom of my own.
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.

I could not do without Thee,
O Jesus, Savior, dear;
E’en when my eyes are ‘holden,
I know that Thou art near.
How dreary and how lonely
This changeful life would be
Without the sweet communion,
the secret rest with Thee.

I could not do without Thee,
For years are fleeting fast,
And soon in solemn loneness,
The river must be passed.
But Thou wilt never leave me,
And though the waves roll high,
I know Thou wilt be near me,
And whisper, “It is I.”

Words by Francis R. Havergal
Music by Craig Curry
Orchestration by Dan Forrest
Kristin Alexander, soloist

Your bro, JonC =)

In The Light of Eternity, Are We Running the Right Race?

2006-08-20T01:23:00.000+08:00

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; ..."
- Heb 12:1-2a

My very dear Nona-Merians,

As we go through school and lessons, day after day, week after week, month after month; most of the time we fall into this routine. I know I have before. It's so easy to just go through it day after day without batting an eyelid, and before we know it, a year has passed and we are promoted to the next year, only to join the "race" again.

After being in school for another week, I can already feel myself getting sucked back into the system. Sometimes, temptation arises and schoolwork crowds out conversations with my Lord on my knees. The packed schedule pushes away my reading of the manual of Life. Idle conversation with friends overshadows edifying conversation with brethren.

Because of this, we feel discouraged. There is emptiness inside. "Is life really meaningful?" you would find yourself asking.

Is your life meaningful to you? If not, why not? Who has the freewill to decide what to do in life?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stumbled upon a book in the "Left Behind" series the other day and flipped to a random page. In my own words, the main character (let's call her Rachel) was imagining what it would be like when we meet our Lord. How we were all lining up to greet and embrace Him. He, the one who died for us, who made us and who knows every single hair upon our heads... ...

Then came the refining fire where every believers' works would be tried... Where crowns would be forged to give to our Saviour...

Rachel shuddered as she recounted the many things she had done in her life. Yes, she had shared the gospel, passed out tracts and followed His commandments. But how about the other things which had no eternal significance?

No, not sin, but those idle stuff like reading a book that would entertain but not edify; watching TV programmes that just help "pass time"; other stuff that didn't cause us to sin but didn't count for anything either...

They would all be burnt up in the fire. Just like that. As if they had never existed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My dear brothers and sisters, are we now living a life full of purpose and direction which points others to Christ? Or are we just wasting it away? How many times have we engaged in activities which we know will not count for eternity? I know I have, many times and I have lived to regret it...

The beautiful thing about Christianity is that God didn't make us robots to follow His every command. Wouldn't it be boring if we were all robots without feelings and thinking? He gives us instructions on how to live life, and live it to the fullest! But He gives us the choice to do it.

Right now, in the light of eternity, are we running the right race? I'm not saying don't study or not go to school, we are all called to be students as well.

The question is are we doing our all for Him, pointing others to the Lamb of God? Running the right race not only refreshes us, but rejuvenates us, that we may have purpose in life.

Bros and sisters, let's lay aside every weight that doth beset us and hinder us from running for Him. This verse isn't just for you, it's for me as well and it serves as a reminder why we wake up to meet a fresh new day!

Life HAS meaning! We just need to know how to live it!

Your bro,
JonC

Let's Support The Church

2006-08-08T09:12:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! This National Day, 9th August, let's spend time together as a spiritual family!! Let's support the church in the movie night! =) 5.30pm to 10pm! See you there!!!

2006-08-08T00:46:00.000+08:00

This has a thought provoking message no matter how you believe. Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question.
''Did God create everything that exists?''
A student bravely replied, ''Yes, he did!"
"God created everything?" The professor asked.
"Yes, sir," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil."
The student became quiet before such an answer.
The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"
"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody and every object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have too little heat.
The student continued.
"Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does".
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love, that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
The young man's name --- Albert

just thought i'll like to share with you all a precious lesson i learnt from rock climbing on sat! :D

i never thought rockclimbing can be applied to life and to my christian faith, one which i've held on strongly to. but boon jin showed me it could. in rock climbing, you would always have to have a belayer - the person holding and controling your ropes. and you are the climber. for safety measures, there's always an anchorwoman to hold on to the belayer and assistant belayer to hold on and control your ropes. i realised that the rock wall is my life. and Jesus, is my belayer. and He is the only belayer i can have complete trust and faith in. and often when climbing the rockl wall, like going through life, i meet difficulties, i have no idea like where my left leg should step on which rock, where my right hand should go etc etc. that is like me when im faced with challenges in life, which decision i should make, which step should i take next? i dont know, because often, i'm too tired and i cant see clearly where each stone is placed. but the belayer, Jesus, who is at the bottom of the rock wall controlling my ropes, He knows. because He is below, He is in the best position to see and know which step i should take. and many times, He calls out to me which step i should take. but i'm stubborn. i trust my own view instead of His. and so i step on another rock. and what happens? i slip, i fall, and i end up hurting myself, feeling tired, hurt, resentful towards Jesus as to why He allowed me to fall when He's controlling the ropes. but it was nothing to do with the ropes, it was to do with which path i chose. becaus ei chose my way instead of His', so i fell. and that is also like us sinning and falling away from God. but the amazing thing is, even though we fall, Jesus will be there controlling the ropes and He won't allow us to fall to our deaths. yet, we're suspended in air, without any direction because we're not following His ways. we're just swinging to and fro, unable to control which direction the ropes go towards unless we get back on His path. and that's when we've gone back onto the rock wall and climb the rocks He tells us to. Because He can see the clearest, and because He knows.

yup that's all and nights people!
<3, cass!

East Coast

2006-08-04T00:38:00.000+08:00

It's Here Again... ...

East Coast Outing
Sat (5 Aug)
A day of fun in the sun!

10am Bedok MRT

See you there!

Outing From Saturdayyy...

2006-08-02T23:47:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, here's the video from Saturday's combined tribe outing with Nosnuma! Looking forward to more combined outings! and with fireagles and surf2 too! heh... Enjoy! Sorry it's a bit blur =P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnoPEcM6bs

there's another video but it's still not visible at the moment =)) will update soon

Update: 4 Aug 12.30am

the other video is here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CY9HyYYAjk

enjoy guys!

2006-08-01T23:00:00.000+08:00

The sin of unforgiveness is a cancer that destroys relationships, eats away at one's own psyche, and - worst of all - shuts us off from God's grace..~ Robertson McQuilkin

Shortly after the turn of the century, Japan invaded, conquered, and occupied Korea. Of all of their oppressors, Japan was the most ruthless. They overwhelmed the Koreans with a brutality that would sicken the strongest of stomachs. Their crimes against women and children were inhuman. Many Koreans live today with the physical and emotional scars from the Japanese occupation.

One group singled out for concentrated oppression was the Christians. When the Japanese army overpowered Korea one of the first things they did was board up the evangelical churches and eject most foreign missionaries. It has always fascinated me how people fail to learn from history. Conquering nations have consistently felt that shutting up churches would shut down Christianity. It didn't work in Rome when the church was established, and it hasn't worked since. Yet somehow the Japanese thought they would have a different success record. The conquerors started by refusing to allow churches to meet and jailing many of the key Christian spokesmen. The oppression intensified as the Japanese military increased its profile in the South Pacific. The "Land of the Rising Sun" spread its influence through a reign of savage brutality. Anguish filled the hearts of the oppressed -- and kindled hatred deep in their souls. One pastor persistently entreated his local Japanese police chief for permission to meet for services. His nagging was finally accommodated, and the police chief offered to unlock his church..for one meeting.

It didn't take long for word to travel. Committed Christians starving for an opportunity for unhindered worship quickly made their plans. Long before dawn on that promised Sunday, Korean families throughout a wide area made their way to the church. They passed the staring eyes of their Japanese captors, but nothing was going to steal their joy. As they closed the doors behind them they shut out the cares of oppression and shut in a burning spirit anxious to glorify their Lord.

The Korean church has always had a reputation as a singing church. Their voices of praise could not be concealed inside the little wooden frame sanctuary. Song after song rang through the open windows into the bright Sunday morning. For a handful of peasants listening nearby, the last two songs this congregation sang seemed suspended in time. It was during a stanza of "Nearer My God to Thee" that the Japanese police chief waiting outside gave the orders. The people toward the back of the church could hear them when they barricaded the doors, but no one realized that they had doused the church with kerosene until they smelled the smoke. The dried wooden skin of the small church quickly ignited. Fumes filled the structure as tongues of flame began to lick the baseboard on the interior walls.

There was an immediate rush for the windows. But momentary hope recoiled in horror as the men climbing out the windows came crashing back in -- their bodies ripped by a hail of bullets. The good pastor knew it was the end. With a calm that comes from confidence, he led his congregation in a hymn whose words served as a fitting farewell to earth and a loving salutation to heaven. The first few words were all the prompting the terrified worshipers needed. With smoke burning their eyes, they instantly joined as one to sing their hope and leave their legacy. Their song became a serenade to the horrified and helpless witnesses outside. Their words also tugged at the hearts of the cruel men who oversaw this flaming execution of the innocent.

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Just before the roof collapsed they sang the last verse, their words an eternal testimony to their faith.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away
'Tis all that I can do!

At the cross, at the cross
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away..
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day..

The strains of music and wails of children were lost in a roar of flames. The elements that once formed bone and flesh mixed with the smoke and dissipated into the air. The bodies that once housed life fused with the charred rubble of a building that once housed a church. But the souls who left singing finished their chorus in the throne room of God. Clearing the incinerated remains was the easy part. Erasing the hate would take decades. For some of the relatives of the victims, this carnage was too much. Evil had stooped to a new low, and there seemed to be no way to curb their bitter loathing of the Japanese.

In the decades that followed, that bitterness was passed on to a new generation. The Japanese, although conquered, remained a hated enemy. The monument the Koreans built at the location of the fire not only memorialized the people who died, but stood as a mute reminder of their pain.

Inner rest? How could rest coexist with a bitterness deep as marrow in the bones? Suffering, of course, is a part of life. People hurt people. Almost all of us have experienced it at some time. Maybe you felt it when you came home to find that your spouse had abandoned you, or when your integrity was destroyed by a series of well-timed lies, or when your company was bled dry by a partner. It kills you inside. Bitterness clamps down on your soul like iron shackles.

The Korean people who found it too hard to forgive could not enjoy the "peace that passes all understanding." Hatred choked their joy.

It wasn't until 1972 that any hope came. A group of Japanese pastors traveling through Korea came upon the memorial. When they read the details of the tragedy and the names of the spiritual brothers and sisters who had perished, they were overcome with shame. Their country had sinned, and even though none of them were personally involved (some were not even born at the time of the tragedy), they still felt a national guilt that could not be excused.

They returned to Japan committed to right a wrong. There was an immediate outpouring of love from their fellow believers. They raised ten million yen ($25,000). The money was transferred through proper channels and a beautiful white church building was erected on the sight of the tragedy. When the dedication service for the new building was held, a delegation from Japan joined the relatives and special guests. Although their generosity was acknowledged and their attempts at making peace appreciated, the memories were still there. Hatred preserves pain. It keeps the wounds open and the hurts fresh. The Koreans' bitterness had festered for decades. Christian brothers or not, these Japanese were descendants of a ruthless enemy.

The speeches were made, the details of the tragedy recalled, and the names of the dead honored. It was time to bring the service to a close. Someone in charge of the agenda thought it would be appropriate to conclude with the same two songs that were sung the day the church was burned. The song leader began the words to "Nearer My God to Thee." But something remarkable happened as the voices mingled on the familiar melody. As the memories of the past mixed with the truth of the song, resistance started to melt. The inspiration that gave hope to a doomed collection of churchgoers in a past generation gave hope once more. The song leader closed the service with the hymn "At the Cross."

The normally stoic Japanese could not contain themselves. The tears that began to fill their eyes during the song suddenly gushed from deep inside. They turned to their Korean spiritual relatives and begged them to forgive. The guarded, calloused hearts of the Koreans were not quick to surrender. But the love of the Japanese believers -- unintimidated by decades of hatred -- tore at the Koreans' emotions.

At the cross, at the cross
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away..

One Korean turned toward a Japanese brother. Then another. And then the floodgates holding back a wave of emotion let go. The Koreans met their new Japanese friends in the middle. They clung to each other and wept. Japanese tears of repentance and Korean tears of forgiveness intermingled to bathe the site of an old nightmare.

Heaven had sent the gift of reconciliation to a little white church in Korea.

~ by Tim Kimmel, Little House on the Freeway

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more..~ Hebrews 8:12

A story on forgiveness which moved my heart very deeply..may it touch your heart too..

The hospital was unusually quiet that bleak January evening, quiet and still like the air before a storm. I stood in the nurses' station on the 7th floor and glanced at the clock. It was 9 p.m. I threw a stethoscope around my neck and headed for room 712, last room on the hall. Room 712 had a new patient. Mr. Williams. A man all alone. A man strangely silent about his family.

As I entered the room, Mr. Williams looked up eagerly, but dropped his eyes when he saw it was only me, his nurse. I pressed the stethoscope over his chest and listened. Strong, slow, even beating. Just what I wanted to hear. There seemed little indication he had suffered a slight heart attack a few hours earlier.

He looked up from his starched white bed. "Nurse, would you--"

He hesitated, tears filling his eyes. Once before he had started to ask me a question, but had changed his mind. I touched his hand, waiting. He brushed away a tear.

"Would you call my daughter? Tell her I've had a heart attack. A slight one. You see, I live alone and she is the only family I have."

His respiration suddenly speeded up. I turned his nasal oxygen up to eight liters a minute.

"Of course I'll call her." I said, studying his face. He gripped the sheets and pulled himself forward, his face tense with urgency.

"Will you call her right away--as soon as you can?" He was breathing fast--too fast.

"I'll call her the very first thing," I said, patting his shoulder. I flipped off the light. He closed his eyes, such young blue eyes in his 50-year-old face. Room 712 was dark except for a faint night light under the sink. Oxygen gurgled in the green tubes above his bed. Reluctant to leave, I moved through the shadowy silence to the window. The panes were cold. Below a foggy mist curled through the hospital parking lot.

"Nurse," he called, "could you get me a pencil and paper?" I dug a scrap of yellow paper and a pen from my pocket and set it on the bedside table.

I walked back to the nurses' station and sat in a squeaky swivel chair by the phone. Mr. Williams' daughter was listed on his chart as the next of kin. I got her number from information and dialed. Her soft voice answered.

"Janie, this is Sue Kidd, a registered nurse at the hospital. I'm calling about your father. He was admitted tonight with a slight heart attack and--"

"No!" she screamed into the phone, startling me. "He's not dying is he?"

"His condition is stable at the moment," I said, trying hard to sound convincing. Silence. I bit my lip.

"You must not let him die!" she said. Her voice was so utterly compelling that my hand trembled on the phone.

"He is getting the very best care."

"But you don't understand," she pleaded. "My daddy and I haven't spoken in almost a year. We had a terrible argument on my 21st birthday, over my boyfriend. I ran out of the house. I..I haven't been back. All these months I've wanted to go to him for forgiveness. The last thing I said to him was, 'I hate you."

Her voice cracked and I heard her heave great agonizing sobs. I sat, listening, tears burning my eyes. A father and a daughter, so lost to each other. Then I was thinking of my father, many miles away. It has been so long since I had said, "I love you."

As Janie struggled to control her tears, I breathed a prayer. "Please, God, let this daughter find forgiveness."

"I'm coming now! I'll be there in 30 minutes," she said. Click. She had hung up. I tried to busy myself with a stack of charts on the desk. I couldn't concentrate. Room 712. I knew I had to get back to 712. I hurried down the hall nearly in a run. I opened the door.

Mr. Williams lay unmoving. I reached for his pulse. There was none.

"Code 99. Room 712. Code 99. Stat." The alert was shooting through the hospital within seconds after I called the switchboard through the intercom by the bed. Mr. Williams had had a cardiac arrest. With lightning speed I leveled the bed and bent over his mouth, breathing air into his lungs. I positioned my hands over his chest and compressed. One, two, three. I tried to count. At 15, I moved back to his mouth and breathed as deeply as I could. Where was help? Again I compressed and breathed. Compressed and breathed. He could not die!

"O God," I prayed. "His daughter is coming. Don't let it end this way." The door burst open. Doctors and nurses poured into the room pushing emergency equipment. A doctor took over the manual compression of the heart. A tube was inserted through his mouth as an airway.
Nurses plunged syringes of medicine into the intravenous tubing. I connected the heart monitor. Nothing. Not a beat. My own heart pounded. "God, don't let it end like this. Not in bitterness and hatred. His daughter is coming. Let her find peace."

"Stand back," cried a doctor. I handed him the paddles for the electrical shock to the heart. He placed them on Mr.William's chest. Over and over we tried. But nothing. No response. Mr. Williams was dead. A nurse unplugged the oxygen. The gurgling stopped. One by one they left, grim and silent. How could this happen? How? I stood by his bed, stunned.

A cold wind rattled the window, pelting the panes with snow. Outside--everywhere--seemed a bed of blackness, cold and dark. How could I face his daughter? When I left the room, I saw her against the wall by a water fountain. A doctor who had been inside 712 only moments before, stood at her side, talking to her, gripping her elbow. Then he moved on, leaving her slumped against the wall. Such pathetic hurt reflected from her face. Such wounded eyes. She knew. The doctor had told her that her father was gone.

I took her hand and led her into the nurses' lounge. We sat on little green stools, neither saying a word. She stared straight ahead at a pharmaceutical calendar, glass-faced, almost breakable-looking.

"Janie, I'm so sorry," I said. It was pitifully inadequate.

"I never hated him, you know. I loved him," she said. God, please help her, I thought.

Suddenly she whirled toward me. "I want to see him." My first thought was, Why put yourself through more pain? Seeing him will only make it worse. But I got up and wrapped my arm around her. We walked slowly down the corridor to 712. Outside the door I squeezed her hand, wishing she would change her mind about going inside. She pushed open the door. We moved to the bed, huddled together, taking small steps in unison. Janie leaned over the bed and buried her face in the sheets. I tried not to look at her, at this sad, sad good-bye. I backed against the bedside table. My hand fell upon a scrap of yellow paper. I picked it up. It read:

My dearest Janie, I forgive you. I pray you will also forgive me. I know that you love me. I love you too.
Love, Daddy

The note was shaking in my hands as I thrust it toward Janie. She read it once. Then twice. Her tormented face grew radiant. Peace began to glisten in her eyes. She hugged the scrap of paper to her breast. "Thank You, God," I whispered, looking up at the window. A few crystal stars blinked through the blackness. A snowflake hit the window and melted away, gone forever. Life seemed as fragile as a snowflake on the window. But thank You, God, that relationships, sometimes fragile as snowflakes, can be mended together again--but there is not a moment to spare.

I crept from the room and hurried to the phone. I would call my father..and I would say, "I love you."

~ Guideposts Magazine, 1979

hey copied both stories from daphne's blog, touched me so deeply it left me crying through and after the story, thought i'll share it here too since not everyone visits daphne's blog(:

love, cass(:

When we think we are alone... ...

2006-07-31T13:15:00.000+08:00

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn
Thru the storm, thru the night, lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near
When my life is almost gone
Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

When darkness appears and the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand, guide my feet, hold my hand
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

Loving you guys always,
JonKling ~~

Tribe Outing!!!

2006-07-25T10:24:00.000+08:00

Finally, the day you've all been waiting for...

Combined Tribe Outing with NosNuma
Sat (29 July)

Jap Food at Cineleisure!
Meeting time: 11am Somerset MRT

Ko-ni-chi-wa! See ya there!
(we won't be eating usb ports so don't worry)

Old Nonamerian graduates also invited! =)

2006-07-17T01:00:00.000+08:00

The Bible, from cover to cover, addresses the question, "Who is this Jesus?''
Consider the themes of the sixty-six books:

In Genesis,
He is the Creator God.
In Exodus,
He is the Redeemer.
In Leviticus,
He is your sanctification.
In Numbers,
He is your guide.
In Deuteronomy,
He is your teacher.
In Joshua,
He is the mighty conqueror.
In Judges,
He gives victory over enemies
In Ruth,
He is your kinsman, your lover, your redeemer
In 1 Samuel,
He is the root of Jesse
In 2 Samuel,
He is the Son of David.
In 1 Kings and 2 Kings,
He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords
In 1 and 2 Chronicles,
He is your intercessor and High Priest.
In Ezra,
He is your temple, your house of worship.
In Nehemiah,
He is your mighty wall, protecting you from your enemies.
In Esther,
He stands in the gap to deliver you from your enemies.
In Job,
He is the arbitrator who not only understands your struggles, but has the power to do something about them.
In Psalms,
He is your song--and your reason to sing.
In Proverbs,
He is your wisdom, helping you make sense of life and live it successfully.
In Ecclesiastes,
He is your purpose, delivering you from vanity.
In the Song of Solomon,
He is your lover, your Rose of Sharon.
In Isaiah,
He is the mighty counselor, the prince of peace, the everlasting father, and more. In short, He's everything you need.
In Jeremiah,
He is your balm of Gilead, the soothing salve for your sin-sick soul.
In Lamentations,
He is the ever-faithful one upon whom you can depend.
In Ezekiel,
He is your wheel in the middle of a wheel--the one who assures that dry, dead bones will come alive again.
In Daniel,
He is the ancient of days, the everlasting God who never runs out of time.
In Hosea,
He is your faithful lover, always beckoning you to come back--even when you have abandoned Him.
In Joel,
He is your refuge,keeping you safe in times of trouble.
In Amos,
He is the husbandman, the one you can depend on to stay by your side.
In Obadiah,
He is Lord of the Kingdom.
In Jonah,
He is your salvation,bringing you back within His will.
In Micah,
He is judge of the nation.
In Nahum,
He is the jealous God.
In Habakkuk,
He is the Holy One.
In Zephaniah,
He is the witness.
In Haggai,
He overthrows the enemies
In Zechariah,
He is Lord of Hosts.
In Malachi,
He is God of Israel and God of the whole world- the God of justice
In Matthew,
He is king of the Jews.
In Mark,
He is the servant.
In Luke,
He is the Son of Man, feeling what you feel.
In John,
He is the Son of God.
In Acts,
He is Savior of the world.
In Romans,
He is the righteousness of God.
In I Corinthians,
He is the rock that followed Israel.
In II Corinthians,
He the triumphant one, giving victory.
In Galatians,
He is your liberty; He sets you free.
In Ephesians,
He is head of the Church.
In Philippians,
He is your joy.
In Colossians,
He is your completeness.
In I Thessalonians & II Thessalonians,
He is your hope.
In I Timothy,
He is your faith.
In II Timothy,
He is your stability.
In Philemon,
He is your benefactor.
In Hebrews,
He is your perfection.
In James,
He is the power behind your faith.
In I Peter,
He is your example.
In II Peter,
He is your purity.
In I John,
He is your life.
In II John,
He is your pattern.
In III John,
He is your motivation.
In Jude,
He is the foundation of your faith.
In the Revelation,
He is your coming King.

found it on http://www.syfc.org.sg/resource/bpursuit/jesus.htm : D kinda cool!
<3, cass

I Asked God...

2006-07-12T20:31:00.000+08:00

Hey Nona-merians! Here's a really lovely poem as well! Haha, koped it from Grace who was once in our yf on Friendster... Enjoy!

...I Asked God...

I asked God to take away my pain.

God said, No.

'It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.'

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said, No.

'Her spirit was whole, her body was only temporary.'

I asked God to grant me patience.

God said, No.

'Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is earned.'

I asked God to give me happiness.

God said, No.

'I give you blessings. Happiness is up to you.'

I asked God to spare me pain.

God said, No.

'Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to Me.'

I asked God to make my spirit grow.

God said, No.
'You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.'

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.

God said, No.

'I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.'

I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me.

God said...

'Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.'

~~~Author Unknown~~~

Isn't it so true? Let's ask of our Father the right questions today!

JonC

2006-07-10T23:12:00.000+08:00

Heaven's Grocery Store
I was walking down life's highway a long time ago,
One day I saw a sign that read Heaven's Grocery Store.
As I got a little closer, the door came open wide,
And when I came to myself I was standing inside.

I saw a host of angels. They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said, " My child, shop with care".
Everything a christian needed was in the grocery store
And if you couldn't carry them, you could come back for more.

First I got some patience. Love was in the same row.
Farther down was understanding, you need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of wisdom, a bag or two of faith.
I couldn't miss the Holy Ghost,
For He was all over the place.
I stopped to get some strength and courage to help me run the race,
And though my basket was getting full, I remembered to get some grace.

I didn't forget salvation, for salvation, that was free.
So, I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me.
Then I started up the counter to pay the grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything to do my Master's will.

As I went up the aisle, I saw prayer and I just had to put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside, I would run into sin.
Peace and joy were plentiful, they were on the last shelf,
Song and praises were hanging near so I just helped myself.

Then I said to the angel, Now how much do I owe?
He just smiled and saif, Just take them everywhere you go.
Again I smiled at him and said, How much do I really owe?
The angel smiled again and said, "My child, Jesus paid your bill a long time ago."

what a sweet poem(:
<3, cass!

IMpossible

2006-07-10T18:25:00.000+08:00

"When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." - Matt 19:25-26

For this year's Teenz Games, the motto for the event was IMpossible. At first, somebody wondered, "Why impossible?" Well, it was meant to look like that but the emphasis was on the letters "IM"! It actually meant IM Possible! (I'm possible)

I'm sure that the German football team in this year's World Cup had a "I'm possible mentality". In the weeks leading up to the match, expectations for the German team were low. Most people, including many Germans, did not expect them to go far. Many criticisms were dished out especially to the coach.

They proved us wrong! They made it all the way to the semis, only to be defeated by the Italians! Wow, wasn't it a big task for them to perform? To reach the semis? Didn't people label the task as "impossible"?

Many a time, we feel life and situations are too tough for us to handle. My classmates in school ill-treat me; my schoolwork is too much; my parents will never be saved...

"It's just not possible!"

Is it impossible? Is anything too hard for our Lord?

If you read the previous verses, our Lord's disciples wondered who could be saved if it was hard for a rich man to be saved. Imagine how hard it is for a camel to pass through a needle!

But the wise words from our Lord says it all. "With Godall things are possible!" Truly, any task is possible to Him; the battle for the lost is not ours really, it's our Lord's! We labour to spread the gospel but salvation is of the Lord!

My dear Nona-merians, we proclaim that we are concerned for the lost especially that of our parents and loved ones but God knows our hearts. Do we actually mean what we say or do we actually think it is impossible? "No lar, you don't understand, my parents can never get saved one..." Really? Is anything too hard for our God, who made the entire universe?

We get discouraged while serving 'cos things don't work out.... Rejoice!!! Because the ministry you are serving in is of the Lord, not yours! Once we start to cast our worry to Him and start standing on His promises, isn't everything possible?

Let's be a tribe who view everything as possible! Why? Because our Lord is in charge!

Impossible is nothing! =)

Your impossible bro,
JonC

~Horn Horn~

2006-07-08T11:35:00.000+08:00

Blessed B'Day Horn Horn!!!

May you be faithful til the end...

Aiyo... Don't sleep ma... =)

Haha Horn, don't kill me ar... Anyway blessed bday from Nona-Me! You guys know what to do right? Hehe... May you always abound in the work for our Lord and you've been a great blessing in our tribe Horn =) God bless!!!

Hehe,
JonC

Tribal Issuez...

2006-07-07T10:44:00.000+08:00

Hey Nona-merians... !

Haha, you would know by now that 2 new tribes are coming up by the grace of God! Dunno if i'm supposed to reveal the names of the tribal leaders though... Oh, anyway, if by any way you feel led to join any of the other tribes please pray about it... And really pray about it! Not like a 5 min prayer but over a few days; prayer is serious business! Please please don't do it because your friend is moving to another tribe because the best place to be is truly in our Father's will...

And if God clearly shows you the way to go, whether to join a tribe or not, then you have our blessings!!! Haha, the Nona-merians have grown up!! But do let us know of your decision =)

Thank God for seeing us through half a year! Haha, I remember every meeting together, from the time we thought of a name (Chai suddenly shouted, "Nona-me" at the sunken area and all of us were stunned) to the time we had prayer just 2 weeks ago (all he younger ones prayed)... God saw us through...

Kailing and I are always praying for you guys so let us know your requests... As your leaders, we really want to know your specific requests so we can pray for you better!

So until then (tonight!), God bless and take carezzz...

PS. Horn, you gonna do a post on Agape Love? ahaha...

Always Agape-ing you guys, (not just Phileo)
JonC =)

The Nona-merian Update

2006-07-07T10:25:00.000+08:00

Hey Nona-menians!!! How are you guys? Thank God 'cos our dear Brother Seto has designed 2 logos for us... Well, it's not exactly a logo but an image with our name there... Nvm, you'll know it when you see it... so... Comments? Remember to thank him tonight! Thanks for your labour of love brother!

Also, we're actually looking for pple in our tribe to design a logo for us! Something which symbolises what we stand for so that we can put it anywhere! On tshirts, on our blog, even "tatoo-ed" on hornsau's arm! (i'm just kidding, haha we shouldn't be having tatoos lar cos our body is a temple of God) So... if you feel up to the challenge and feel led, why not? Our camp tshirt was done by Pengfei from [s.u.r.f]2 so let no man despise our youth! =)

as mentioned in the tagboard, we're also looking for a permanent person to update our blog and maintain it =P so if you feel led as well, why not?

Your Bro,
JonC

In response to Cass (i think)

2006-07-07T10:00:00.000+08:00

In response to thebackpew, I'll post this!

This webbie done up by a Korean Christian who does flash and stuff which talks about his walk with Christ... Some of the animations quite interesting and meaningful... Oh, but as with all other resources be discerning about the music and interpretations of verses... So enjoyyy....

=) tried to embed one of the flash animations, Duty here but it can't work with the script.. Ya...

Your Bro,
JonC

2006-07-04T18:32:00.000+08:00

haha found this on http://thebackpew.com/ quite cute lah. got quite a lot of christian cartoons which are kinda cute! : D

Prayer!

2006-06-24T11:03:00.000+08:00

Thank God for a wonderful time of prayer yesterday! Thank God especially for all the younger ones who prayed! =) We haven't prayed together as a tribe before and it's so exciting to do so! haha, i sounded very serious but was actually very excited! =P let's continue to uphold one another in prayer at home or anywhere! Let's also continue to be a family and not be afraid to let our requests be made known to others... We do not burden them by our struggles, in fact sometimes we encourage others! Why? Because others see that we too have the same struggles as Children Of God and thus we can pray for one another, isn't it so wonderful?

This Sunday, we are going to kick-off our first Nona.Me prayer meeting! Pls meet in SCGS canteen at 10am! We'll start prayer then cos service is at 10.30 =P If you don't find us in the canteen, we might be in the sunken area... Let's continue to pray for this as well and for God to raise up someone to take charge when I'm at worship practice...

Continue to pray for...

Those who are unwell... (Charmaine, Audrey, Daniel Yip... and others)
For the unsaved (our dear parents and siblings...)
For the other tribes (surf2, Nosnuma, Fireagle)
For the raising up of 2 more tribes (leaders to be raised)
For our vision (haha, right now it's M.O.U.L.D2 =P)
For pple who can't come to church (Cass, Samantha, Henrietta...)

Thank God for Sean Lim taking a step of faith to be baptized! YEAH!
Oh and for Melvin Liew and Edmund as well!
We rejoice with you brothers!

See ya and God bless!

Your bro,
JonC

2006-06-17T18:50:00.000+08:00

HELLO EVERYONE :D

there's gonna be a tribe outing next week! are you all excited already? :D

well so pick the day: mon, wed. tues cannot cuz got bible study and thurs has got street E so cannot too.
and the movie: cars, garfield2, she's the man

yup then just tell me who wants to watch what and when can who go. then we'll just go on the day when most people can make it and watch the show which most people want to watch. but the movie will be a late one cuz hornsau ends school at 4.30 and so we're gonna wait for him to watch it.

<3, cass! :D

Walking With God

2006-06-02T11:00:00.000+08:00

"Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing." - Acts 15:36

Hey guys, was reading "Walking With God" by J.C. Ryle this morning and was really blessed by the first chapter even. It definitely is soul-searching and will be brutally honest most of the time but take it with an open heart... The first chapter talked about how we live in an age of great spiritual danger. Why? Because...

"Never before have so many people throughout the world professed to be Christians. But are they all converted? Many like to attend large meetings, where exciting things are happening. But looking for excitement is a different thing from growing as a Christian, and it is of great importance that we sometimes stop and ask ourselves where we really are spiritually."

The chapter also provided ten questions to see where you are spiritually...

Do you ever think about your spiritual condition at all?
Do you ever do anything about your salvation? [what this means is that did you take a step of faith to trust in God]
Are you trying to satisfy your conscience with outward religion? [like a Pharisee?]
Have your sins been forgiven?
Have you experienced the reality of conversion to God?
Do you know anything of practical Christian holiness?
Do you know anything about enjoying the means of grace? [means of grace means reading the Bible, private prayer, fellowship & worship, Holy Communion and keeping the Lord's day holy. Are these 5 things real in your life? Are you actively doing them?]
Do you ever try to do any good in the world? [Are you being an example?]
Do you know anything of living the life of habitual fellowship with Christ?
Do you know anything of being ready for Christ's second coming?

"Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour" (Prob 14:9)
Are we really as spiritual as we think today? God please change us to your likeness today! Just go on your knees, and ask God to renew us afresh...

Your bro,
JonC

An Email From Ian...

2006-05-31T15:43:00.000+08:00

Hey guys, take time to read this, from Ian...

During the Workers' Camp in Philippines, the leadership of GLCC shared about the 12 Distinctives of GLCC to many of the Filipino pastors. All the sermons were used of the LORD. One of the sermons stood out and it spoke to my heart. Very strongly. And that was the Centrality of the Church is JESUS CHRIST.

HE is central to everything. HE must be central in our lives and HE must be the reason for all the activities in TEENZ MINISTRY. HE said that if HE be lifted up, HE will draw all men to HIMSELF. Our programs and games may attract for a while but HE must be our dependence.

Let's draw some practical application within the ministry. Please pray for these.

1) Worship on Friday Night and Sunday morning especially should be utmost priority for us. Heart preparation must be made before we offer our praise to the KING. Worship should be offered unashamed and unreserved to GOD. Worship leaders are MAN of GOD. Any one can wave their hands but not anyone can be a worship leader.

2) Every sermon should be heard reverendly and strive us to obey. 1 Thess 5:19 - 20 "Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings (preaching)." Talking, using handphones, moving in and out of the auditorium are spiritual distractions.

3) Leaders are examples and i thank GOD for leaders who prays regularly. Prayer meeting is not the place where we display our spirituality. (remember the Pharisee?) Let's mean business and be serious in prayers. Encourage everyone to pray before the Friday Teenz Worship because that will be a time where we too prepare our hearts.

Please keep this sharing in prayer and meditation. I believe our dependence on Christ must continue lest we labour in VAIN. Thanks.

Your brother in Christ,

- ian

Hope we can continue to be a praying ministry and bond closer together during the camp =)

KonSent Forms For Koinonia Kamp

2006-05-31T15:39:00.000+08:00

Hey Guys! Gotta submit the forms soon! Actually by this Friday (2nd June)! It's the deadline for the consent form submission... haha... ya, so hand up to me, kailing or sister annie! Please be praying for the Koinonia Kamp! We'll definitely have a fun time there so watch out for it! =)

JonC

Camp Forms & Ubin

2006-05-26T09:31:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Combined outing this Sat (27 May) at either Ubin or East Coast or something... Haha... Together with Malcolm's tribe... I don't think I can go though =P ya so please let me know if you can go, although it's a bit last min... Meet at Tanah Merah MRT at ten am!

Also, could you guys also hand up the camp forms? Haha, got "scolding" from Sister Annie le.... No lar, she didn't scold, I'm just kidding... Yup, also the camp tshirt is out! haha, so look forward to wearing it next next week!

Continue to pray for the camp guys.... And please let us know if you have any prayer requests... We need to be praying one for another... =)

God bless and cya!

Jon C

lalala`

2006-05-25T10:04:00.000+08:00

okays. i'm postg this out of boredom. sort of didnt go school today. so like kind of free, aside from homework and stuff like that. here's something interesting,

Imagine praying and hearing this:

Thank you for calling My Father's house.
Please select one of the following four options:

Press 1 for requests.
Press 2 for thanksgiving.
Press 3 for complaints.
For all other inquiries, press 4.

What if God used the familiar excuse:

All of the angels are helping other customers right now.
Please stay on the line.
Your call will be answered in the order it was received.

Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses
as you call on God in prayer?

If you'd like to speak with Gabriel, press 1.
For Michael, press 2.
For any other angel, press 3.
If you'd like King David to sing a psalm for you, press 6.
To find out if your relative is here, enter his/her date of death
and listen for the list that follows.

For reservations at My Father's House, simply press the letters J-O-H-N, followed by the number 3-16

For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth and where Noah's ark is, wait until you get here!

Our computers show that you have called once today already. Please hang up immediately.

This office is closed for the weekend. Please call again Monday.

Thank God, you can't call Him too often!!! You only need to ring once and God hears you. Because of Jesus, you never get a busy signal.

God takes each call and knows each caller personally. When you call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and He will say: Here am I!

Emergency numbers to remember:
When in sorrow, call John 14
When men fail you, call Psalm 27
If you want to be fruitful, call John 15
When you have sinned, call Psalm 51
When you worry, call Matthew 6:19-34.
When you are in danger, call Psalm 91.
When God seems far away, call Psalm 139.
When your faith needs stirring, call Hebrews 11.
When you are lonely and fearful, call Psalm 23.
When you grow bitter and critical, call 1 Cor. 13.
For Paul's secret to happiness, call Col. 3:12-17.
For idea of Christianity, call 1 Cor. 5:15-19.
When you feel down and out, call Romans 8:31-39.
When you want peace and rest, call Matt. 11:25-30.
When the world seems bigger than God, call Psalm 90.
When you want Christian assurance, call Romans 8:1-30.
When you leave home for labor or travel, call Psalm 121.
When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, call Psalm 67.
For a great invention/opportunity, call Isaiah 55.
When you want courage for a task, call Joshua 1.
How to get along with fellowmen, call Romans 12.
When you think of investments/returns, call Mark 10.
If you are depressed, call Psalm 27.
If your pocketbook is empty, call Psalm 37.
If your loosing confidence in people, call 1 Cor. 13.
If people seem unkind, call John 15.
If discouraged about your work, call Psalm 126.
If you find the world growing small, and yourself great, call Psalm 19.

Emergency numbers are toll free, and may be dialed direct. No operator
assistance is necessary.

All lines are open to Heaven 24 hours a day! "Feed your faith, and doubt will starve to death!"

*May we stay closer to our Lord wach and everyday, having faith in HIM, trusting that HE will provide the best for all of us. HIS will is alway right. Have a blessed day ahead. Prayg for you pple .Continus trustg in HIM !
*Please pray for me, chai and caleb this wkend gng to bintan. Pray for safety and journey mercy. tnks people! :D

2006-05-23T23:40:00.000+08:00

hey. well i might not be able to come for teenz for some time and my sisters most likely too): it's because of our very lan results. well mine's like super lan and my sisters are quite lan. yea well so my mum blames it on the fact that we go to teenz every friday night. and so the thing is, she thinks that we're spending too much time at teenz and that's why we got lan results. she said she'll not allow me and my sisters to go for teenz anymore): so please pray for us that our mum will see the importance of going to church and that we'll be able to come and that we'll get better results so that she'll be able to see God working in our lives! so yup pray for us(: thanks and well, hopefully can see all ya soon!

<3, the very sad cass.

Sweet Lamb of God

2006-05-22T13:59:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! Haven't blogged for a long time!

Was reading the papers today and read this statement in an article about the Da Vinci Code... Besides talking about Christians protesting and all, it had a very interesting statement that literally stood out...

In trying to re-assert their relevance in a secularised world, Protestants (that's us, Christians) have resorted to various marketing strategies including the adoption of modern musical styles in worship and offering up various dumbed-down Bibles for niche audiences and target subcultures.

Are we putting programs above Christ, the one who died for us? Is Christianity about what activities we do in church or whether we go to church every Sunday? Is it even about the type of worship we play? This is definitely an area in which the devil attacks by making us place programs over our Lord... Let's pray that our faith will be all about Jesus and not anything else, then everything else will fall into place... ...

Since we're on the topic of our Lord, was catching up with my LITS (haha, haven't been doing last week, LITS=Life in the Spirit) and was very touched by one of the topics...

My dear Teenz, have you ever wondered what it is like to lose something so dear to you? Haha, i remember when i lost something, i would cry out to God to help me find it! I would say "Please Lord, I would do anything if You help me!" Then I would turn around to find it on my desk, where it had been all along! Now imagine losing someone so dear to you instead.... Imagine losing your father, mother or even your pet dog (or hamster =P) Wouldn't you be upset?

Now imagine when Christ died on the cross for you... Who suffered most along with Him? It was God the Father... Our heavenly Father looked at His Son which all the dirty, filthy sins of the world all laid on Him and He had to force Himself not to do a single thing. The person on the cross was His only son! Our Father would not send angels to save His son even though He could do it...

...Why? Because He loved us...

Maybe we won't be able to understand the pain that God felt that day, but I'm sure one day we will, especially when we become parents... I know I will be crushed if I lost my son, especially if he was my only son...

Lamb Of God

Your only son
No sin to hide
But You have sent Him
From your side
To walk apon this guilty sod
And to become the Lamb of God

Your gift of Love
They crucified
They laughed and scorned Him
As He died
The humble King
They named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God

Oh Lamb of God,
Sweet Lamb of God
I love the holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious blood
My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God...

Your brother,

Jon Chong :)
"Lord, help us love you more each day"

2006-05-20T19:25:00.000+08:00

Just a dumb, crappy layout until I get that picture (on the previous layout) hosted. It's gone. I owe you bunch a huge apology. Stab me.

Love, Kaiqi.

2006-05-14T23:30:00.000+08:00

hello everyone! : D hope you all had a good week! anyway! i have something to tell everyone! so everyone, take notice! : D

there is an outing planned by kailing and me!

next tuesday afternoon!
16 May 2006!
time unknown yet!
venue unknown yet!
we're going to watch over the hedge at some cinnema and then find somewhere and everyboday just sit around and start talking non-stop! yup that's the plan for the outing! so anybody who can come and want to come just msg either kailing or me! thank you! for all those with school, you all can come after school or something! : D

and we welcome any ideas on doing any other interesting things(: just let us know and also ideas for where to go and what time to meet! yay thank you! : D

love, cass!

New Layout

2006-05-13T10:14:00.000+08:00

Hello again, Tribe.
This is my second time posting here. I'll try my best to stop posting here soon, because whenever I post something here concerns the layout and nothing much. This is just a notice post.

I've changed the layout. Please do wait for the pictures to load! This is because I did not slice the pictures when I photoshopped them. This is in a big picture itself, so it'll take time to load. I sincerely apologise for this. I shall elaborate further. Since the current layout resembles the Teenz one, and I find it utmost important to show our identity too. This is why I did a layout for this blog. However, because of the fact that I do not own any pictures of the Tribe or anything, I decided to just use a simple image that I got from GettyImages. I hope it's alright for you all. The verse is found by me. Random quote though, inspired by the picture because the picture conveys the meaning of Hope as it shows light at the end of the tunnel. So I interpret it by thinking that Hope will come to us naturally when we have faith in Christ, by believing that He will replenish our strength and we can therefore do anything through Christ. Do inform me if I made a mistake in the interpretation of the verse or any other mistakes in the spellings etc. I don't do everything and present it perfectly, you know. Graphics by me, and this whole layout is done in Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Images hosted in my FreeFileHosting account. Reason being, ImageShack and PhotoBucket didn't allow me to host images more than 1MB and the heading of this image is obviously more than 1MB, therefore I used FreeFileHosting as it allowed me to host images up to 15MB. I did a little reference of the coding as I have to admit that I do not have the software for coding. I'm not very sure whether coding needs a software, but from what I heard, it needs to. So I don't earn all the credit. I did tutorials too, I'm very bad at doing layouts, you see. I have deleted the song when I copied and pasted data from the previous layout. The reason is because iWebTunes has virus, and notice that when you come here and access this blog, there would have many pop-ups, which annoys me. If any of you want music on the blog, do use the embedded source code. If you do not know how to, inform me and I'll put it up. Just tell me what song you want and I'll try my best to find the URL for you. This is not illegal! If you happen to have the URL, inform me. But I cannot guarantee that I can find every song you all want. The embedded source code does not use of iWebTunes but the URL instead. Scrollbar has been turn to default, as this looks much professional (oops). Tell me if you want it to have colour. Arrow is default too, and the hover over of the links is in hand. Same concept is applied here, just like the scrollbar. Cbox's tagboard has changed colour and I added a border to enhance the effect. I have changed the colour schemes to suit the blog. I have changed the number of posts from 20 to 10. I have no idea why, but it looks neater to me. If you want it to show more posts, I'll change it back if you inform me. I don't see a difference though, as you can click '[ older posts ]' at the end for archives. In addition, I have provided a link of an image (which I have cropped and inserted 'Nona Me' as the text) to this blog below the credits. Put it up on your blog and try it out if you want to, but I would still prefer using the link as a word itself. This layout looks horrendous, I must say. Comments on this layout are welcomed. However, I will only accept the constructive comments. By any chance you want the old layout back, I have saved the codings and pictures into my own tablet.

I hope you would appreciate the changes.

I love you all, I really do.
May God bless you.

Love, Kaiqi.

The Lord is my shepherd...

2006-05-11T17:00:00.000+08:00

hello everyone! Another posting from me!
Haha.. anyway, just wanna encourage those who are feeling low..

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
II Timothy 1:7

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
Joshua 1:9

No matter what happens, turn your eyes upon Jesus!!!

with hugs and kisses,
kailing

Some Updates...

2006-05-10T18:16:00.000+08:00

Hi again guys! I trust that this week has been a hectic week for all of you whether ya have lessons or exams right? Just hang in there! God will not lead you where His grace cannot keep you!

Well, just some updates...

We'll be having an outing this Friday 12th May 2006 at Labrador Park! 10am to 3pm. It's a Teenz outing and we'll have fun, fellowship and games, frisbee, catching, whatever! So come on down to relieve the exam stress! Meet at Harbourfront Mrt at 9.45am.
Koinonia Camp this June! 5th to 9th June! 5th to 7th for 12-15 year olds at Zion Road and 7th to 9th Combined Tribal Camp for everyone at Sembawang! Let's come together for a time of bonding! Meanwhile, please do pray for the planning of the camp! I hope everyone can make it! Consent forms are out this Sunday at church, sign up early!

k guys, that's all the updates for now! Thanks for all the postings and supporting our blog!

Praying for you guys,
Jon C

2006-05-09T17:43:00.000+08:00

Hello Tribe.
This is my first time blogging here.

I did a little bit of changes to the blog. I changed the colour schemes of the tagboard, altered the links and I made the posts in a justified manner so it doesn't seem so messy if the words are all aligned to the left. Oh, and I uploaded the pictures to my own Imageshack account because I'm afraid that one day the person who made this layout deleted the picture in her own bandwidth. So rest assured that the pictures will not be deleted now as they are in my account, unless in any circumstances Imageshack actually deleted those pictures, but that is highly impossible.

I sincerely hope that the changes are fine to you all.

I love you all (:
See you all around and God bless!

Love, Kaiqi.

am so blessed by this blog.

2006-05-07T20:57:00.000+08:00

hey people. :D had an urge to blog a post. am so blessed and encouraged by the posts u humans postd on. yups. cont posting ya? make this blog so so super alive :) and carry on tagging!! i love taggs. l0l. :))) yay!! nona-me!! mid yr exams are here for many. mug hard yea? and get get so prepared for the upcoming tribal camp in JUNE!! all GEARED up. ohboy. ohboy. i'm like so super EXCITED! heeheehee! ! hmms. if i'm excited. you humans must be as well ! deng! okies. nvm. lalala` have a great wk ahead ya? GOd bless ya :D
-iris :))
rejoice in the Lord for HE makes no mistakes!

Praises

2006-05-07T17:34:00.000+08:00

hey guys! hi again! was truly blessed today during service by the little ones singing "qi miao" and the other chinese song. This really challenges us, if the little children can sing praises to God, shouldn't we be doing the same? Take this opportunity to sing a song to Him now or just talk to Him! It'll only take a minute! Maybe when you're doing nothing, or even when you're on the bus, just take the opportunity to thank Him for seeing you through school!

Guys, if you have any prayer requests, pls forward them to jonkling01@yahoo.com.sg so that we can pray for ya! if you don't mind, we can post it on the blog as well, so that we know what's going on in each other's lives :) the bible teaches that we should pray for one another. so until then, have a great day ahead! God bless...

Jon C

2006-05-07T16:30:00.000+08:00

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you"?

If you tell your troubles to God, you put them into the grave; they will never rise again, when you have committed them to Him. If you roll your burden anywhere else, it will roll back again, like the stone of Sisyphus. - C H Spurgeon

There are four ways God answers prayer: No, not yet; No, I love you too much; Yes, I thought you'd never ask; Yes, and here's more.

I came across these three codes today and i just felt very touched by it ;D well just somehow. i dont know how to explain or in what way but yea, it felt as though God was talking to me. and well i just thought it'll be great to share it with everyone(:

and well happy mother's day to every mother! and i found this two old old sermons on mother's day from the church's online sermons and here's the link http://www.glcc-online.com/sermons/sglcc970518.htm and http://www.glcc-online.org/audio/s040509mr012.htm well it was kinda cool so i thought i'll share with everyone ;D well have a blessed day ahead everyone! :D

love, cass(:

thanksgiving

2006-05-07T15:53:00.000+08:00

hello!! really thank God for Iris and Cass for creating this blog. Very beautiful!!! It's a priviledge to be able to serve in this tribe and i really thank God for what he has done.. all the sweet blessings that He has given us.. will continue to pray for those who are having exam.. jiayou. "If God is with you, who can be against you?"

kling

Our Prayer

2006-05-04T21:24:00.000+08:00

Hi Nona-merians! We finally got a blog up! Thanks be to God for using cass and iris to set up the blog! over the next few days, we'll be undergoing construction and all so please bear with us! Hi to all the visitors out there!

It is our prayer that this blog will be a source of encouragement for you. But we must always remember that God is our ultimate source of strength and our hiding place that we can turn to, there is none like Him! We should all be encouragers like Barnabas and help one another when we fall.

Some prayer requests are listed to the left of the blog and let's continue to pray for these requests. First on our list is Yufei who's having a high fever. Let's also pray for the Queks during this time and also for deacon Robert. Last but not least for everyone having exams uring this time. Let's be a praying tribe within a praying ministry!

Your bro,
Jon C

HI EVERYONE!

2006-05-04T20:11:00.000+08:00

heyhey everyone, this is my first post in a long time.. do keep this blog alive and encourage each other in this tribe.. could be something tt inspired u or a quote from someone or prayer request.. talking abt prayer.. pls pray for deacon robert.. he has stage 4 tongue cancer and its rather serious... so pls pray for God's hand and will on his life..

""God gives gifts to everyone. Some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it."- Ronaldinho. make full use of the talents God gave to u today! haha..

testing

2006-05-03T17:27:00.000+08:00

okies. i'm just testing. very soon we are gonna make it big! yay! to God be the GLORY!