Nissi: Pls take some time to read

Hi everyone,

I understand that there has been some concern regarding the state of our cell group recently. Please take some time to read my thoughts when you are free.

Personally, as I continue to serve the cell group, I would like to state my stand on certain issues.

Cell group future

I sincerely hope that the topic of splitting will not be raised within cell group for the time being as we begin this rebuilding process. We have worked hard to make the cell group what it is today, please do not destroy what we have built by requesting for the cell group to split once again.

With regards to whether cell group carrying on or not, I am not entertaining any ideas of splitting and will definitely plan as if Nissi will carry on to function. The idea of a merge is also out.

Let me explain the rational.

Our strength is not only in numbers. As Hebrews 10:24 states, the community of believers are called to spur one another on is love and good deeds. The function of the cell group is for believers to spur one another on in their love with God and good deeds. If our cell group has a large number of people but still does not serve to encourage one another, I guess we have missed the biblical basis for cell group.

I understand that some people feel that the cell group is getting too small and wish to see a merge if possible. As we are in this rebuilding phase, I urge you to be patient and allow the Lord to add to our numbers once again. If however you feel that the numbers are too discouraging for you to grow spiritually, then I suggest that you leave for another cell group. Ultimately, I really pray that for any cell group a person attends, the cell group must enable him/her to grow spiritually and be spurred to love God and do good deeds. (back to the function of a cell group)

The idea for a merge is also out because I believe that our cell group will be divided when it comes to choosing a new cell to merge with. A merge will probably be as good as splitting up. This will create even more problems for the cell group.

Church events

Secondly, I do wish to see our cell group members be part of the larger community of Christ. As believers, we have not only a responsibility to one another( Heb 10:24), we also have a corporate responsibility.

Biblical basis:

1 Cor 12:27 tell us that “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

1 Cor 12:21 “ Now the eye cannot say to the hand “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet “I don’t need you!””

Drawing a principle from this verse, we as a cell group cannot flee from our corporate responsibility to the church. If we are part of COR which is the body of Christ, we cannot say that we do not want to be involved in the church events because they are not important. No, we are all part of the body Christ and each member has a role to play.

While I cannot enforce everyone to come for every church event, I sincerely hope that we understand why our presence at any church event is important. It is not only our corporate responsibility as a body of Christ but also our presence will affect the morale of other members as well.

Cell Attendance

As discussed on Sat’s cell group(18 July), we all have shared how critical each person is to the cell group because of small numbers. Noting this, I urge everyone to make cell group a priority. Remember that when choose to make cell group a priority, we are effectively obeying God and I believe that the Lord is pleased.

Final Notes

As we begin this rebuilding phase of our cell group, I urge everyone to make cell group and church a priority as Heb 10:24 and 1 Cor 12:27 commands. I pray that your presence in cell group will not be one out of obligation and rules, but because Christ has loved us so that we may be able love our neighbor as ourselves (2^nd commandment Matt 22:39). Let us strive to please the Lord in this area of our lives.

Some verses of encouragement

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Romans 12:9-10

Rgrds,

Ruijie

Waiting patiently on God's perfect timing

I've been joggling in my mind this theme of waiting on God's Perfect Timing for the past one week. It started off with my quiet time topic on John 11, talking about Jesus' withdrawal to a place a few miles from Jerusalem, with the possible interpretation of Jesus focusing on his father's timing to be the passover lamb. This topic just echos my current season of waiting: waiting for job advancement, waiting for the studies to finish, waiting for a relationship, waiting for people to change their hearts and so on.

"Everything has it's own timing; when it's time, it will happen." A well-known cliche, even in non-biblical context. But until this perfect timing comes, one just has to wait. Waiting is just a terrible thing, as miserable as receiving a bad outcome or sometimes even worse. Even though I perfectly appreciate, understand and am convinced that God's plans for me are in God's time domain, everything has it's divine order and I am to enjoy every season that God has given , I just find it hard to sail through this period patiently. I am just not the type of person who likes to remain inactive and wait patiently for something to happen. It gives me the feeling that I am really powerless (even though I really am) and I am at the mercy of external forces.

After some time, some research and some experience, I'm convinced that in order to complement this passivity with my restlessness, I can only actively trust, resist and pray. The three elements actually complement and work hand in hand. "Trust in Him at all times, O people." (Psalm 62:8) "I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.' (Psalm 130:5)

Trusting, because that's the basics of the whole beliefs. If He is not answering my prayers, it's not because He can't hear or He ignores me, but because He has a grand plan, in His time frame and in His way of answering my prayers. By trusting, it pacifies the restless heart.

Resisting, because there is always the temptation of taking things into my own hands. I want to expertise the whole thing, in the end I just show that I don't trust God and I don't listen to God. Pacifying my heart with the trust of my God will probably help me to be filled with patience and rest in God.

Praying, because that's the way to let out all the anxieties and let God handles the whole matter. Very often, when I am troubled, or sad, I (well at least for girls) tend to look for someone to talk to, just someone to listen to my problems will lighten my burden. I don't even intend to seek their advice most of the time. Talking to God is probably the best source that I can ever find. For me, prayer is like a private conversation with God. It is very personal, very intimate and is also the best way of seeking to listen to God's reply. Every time I pray, my focus will be realigned and tuned. The prayer on the matter is different every time, though similar. It's like the Newton-Raphson method of getting to the closest solution through some iterations. It's also like finding the best recipe for a dish. How much salt and sugar to put, how long it should be baked and so on have to be refined through some trials. For every prayer, I check my heart, listen to God's answer and next time when I pray on that same matter, I can refine the prayer and I believe this will eventually tune my heart and make me aware of what God's plan for me. is

God always allows us to have the freedom to choose, to decide and to contribute to our own lives. I believe we are also given the honour to be a co-author of our lives. Even this is part of His plan. Sometimes we can just be easily lost as we have absolutely no idea how to exercise this freedom. We have the freedom to hasten the matters, but if we want to conform to God's time, trusting, resisting and praying persistently are probably good procedures to adopt.

Anna

Blessing for Blessing

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

My QT this week is on Ephesians. And I am really blessed when I read Spurgeon's sermon on this verse. Below is an extract:

Blessing for Blessing

How, then, do we bless God? Well, I should say, first, that this language is the expression of gratitude. We say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," … We can bless God by praising him, extolling him, desiring all honour for him, ascribing all good to him, magnifying and lauding his holy name.

We also bless God in the spreading of his kingdom. We can win hearts to him through his mighty grace blessing our service. We can fight against evil; we can set up a standard for the truth. We can be willing to suffer in repute, and every way else, for his name's sake. We can by his grace do all this, and thus we are blessing God. Surely, dear friends, if it is well-pleasing in God's sight that sinners should repent, if it makes heaven the gladder, and makes joy in the presence of the angels that men should repent, we are in the best and most practical way blessing God when we labour to bring men to repentance through faith in Christ Jesus.

There is also another way of blessing God which, I trust, we shall all endeavour to practise; and that is by the doing good to his children. When they are sick, visit them. When they are downcast, comfort them. When they are poor, relieve them. When they are hard pressed by outward adversaries, stand at their side, and help them.

You cannot bless the Head, but you can bless the feet; and when you have refreshed the feet, you have refreshed the Head. He will say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." If they be naked, and you clothe them; if they be sick, and you visit them; if they be hungry, and you feed them; you do in this respect bless God. David not only said, "Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;" but added, "but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight."

You can be good to them, and in that respect you may be blessing God. He has done so much for us, that we would fain do something for him; and when we have reached the limit of our possibilities, we long to do more. We wish that we had more money to give, more talent to use, more time that we could devote to his cause, we wish that we had more heart and more brain; sometimes we wish that we had more tongue, and we sing,—
"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise!"

______

Blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ

-ed-

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2266.htm

Some Smokey Mountain Pixs

a boy playing with water







children playing on a mattress





Inside a typical house. The house is so small, about the size of 2 sofa sets









rubbish and mud strewn all over the place










familiar sight of rubbish and mud..sigh

Praying with perseverance by Bishop John Tan

There was an engaging sermon on Sunday by Bishop John Tan. He touched on the topic of praying with perseverance. As he has put it, it's a difficult topic because the topic itself is a mystery. However, he has put it in such an illustrations-filled manner that he has made his view clear to the audience.

He said that sometimes we have to pray many times, over a long period of time, maybe even over years for some circumstances before our prayers are being answered. Sometimes, we don't even seem to get the answer. That maybe because that is then already the answer given by God. We will never know what God has intended for us and God is sovereign. However, Bishop John Tan gave reasons on why sometimes, sometimes even Jesus has to pray several times or sometimes only the prayers of certain people (righteous people) are effective.

He said when we pray, it's actually a way of releasing the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes, we may not have prayed sincerely, whole-heartedly. So we didn't really release the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes, because the matter that we pray for requires more power to be dealt with and praying just once may not have released enough power. We have to keep on praying and allow the power from each prayer to be accumulated so that we have gathered enough power to deal with the matter.

He brought out a very clear illustrations for this release of power. He said that our prayers are like the ingredients for making a chemical, for example water, H2O. You must have enough molecules, two molecules of Hydrogen and a molecule of oxygen before a molecule of water can be formed. If we do not pray enough, there are simply not enough ingredients to cause the chemical reaction to take place. But when we have the right ingredients and the right quantity, the chemical reaction can then take place in heaven and the power of the Holy Spirit can be released through us (Revelation 8:3-5).

Bishop pointed out that our God is present, He listens and He cares, that's why we pray. Our prayers are being stored in "golden bowls" (Revelation 5:8) in heaven. They are highly valued. Every prayer counts. God also looks at the quantity of our prayers and it sometimes requires a certain level of quantity for prayer before God answers.

In fact, Bishop John Tan has given a lot of examples in the Bible and explained them clearly. I really think that it's valuable to check it out. A record of the sermon should be out on the COR website in a couple of days, I think.

Anna

One man’s waste is Another man’s treasure

I have returned from a trip where i visited the Smokey Mountains in Philippines. It has certainly awaken my senses to the poor and their real needs.

The New Smokey Mountain is a dumpsite whereby the poor ravages through the trash to salvage any sellable items they could, just for that few pesos (a few cents) for their meals.

The New Smokey Mountain Project brings a little glimmer of hope to the needy here. Groceries are distributed, games are played, clothes are given and most of all a heart to share the grief. (please refer to http://www.oikoshelpinghand.org/ for more info).
______________________________________________

Personal Reflections:
(an excerpt of my diary)

This is unacceptable. The air is pungent, mixed with choky fumes from nearby charcoal-making wood. This has been a day of great sunny weather but it seems that is the only good thing.

Everywhere you see is landfills of rubbish. It is a graveyard of waste. Somehow, the items that are found irrelevant by others have settled here, beneath my feet. This garbage has nowhere to go. Their final destination is Smokey Mountain. Daily, rubbish trucks make a pilgrimage and place them among their brothers. Likewise, Smokey Mountain is the final stop for the poor. In this rubbish, they found them relevant. They live and thrive on this trash. It breaks my heart. My discards turn out to be treasures for them. How can this be?

The hardy children are scavenging the garbage, hoping to find something useful. Buzzing flies, instead of justice, are their constant companion. They climb on top of rubbish trucks. With their iron claw, they rummage through the trash. They dig and dig; hoping to find something to heal their starving stomach. The chains of poverty have ensnared them. There is no hope. They cannot get out. They must keep digging in order to survive.

What is civilization when we have this nonsense around, whereby one man’s waste is another man’s treasure? My mind cannot comprehend this. Just like the poor in Smokey Mountain, it is empty. It simply does not make sense.

- ed -

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Last Saturday, we did Psalms 37:1-7 and we focused on Psalms 37:4. Till now, this verse has a deep impact on me. I am still meditating on it in my daily life.

I would like to share this verse to those who did not come to cell. Have a great week ahead.

-ed-

My life, a Cross

Recently, I drew the below picture out when i was doing my QT.

Basically, it shows that i am a see-through screen whereby my life and behavior will just be a display of the cross behind me. In another words, I will just be a transparent medium to depict Christ.

It is definitely a challenging thought for me. Just thought i share this with everyone

-ed

God's Love for us

Hi cell group,

I would like to share a beautiful verse with everyone. A verse I read during my quiet time which reminded me of the great love Jesus has for all of us.

Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of the Suffering Servant.

Isa 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

The reason we can worship and have peace in our lives was because Jesus took the punishment for us.

May this verse remind us of how much Jesus loves us and the extent that he was willing to go through for us. In light of God's great love for us, Do you trust in the Lord today?

A link below for a graphical representation of what He has done for us. May our lives and all we do be centered around the love He has for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG5PkU92vpw

Ruijie

Being Baptized in the Holy Spirit

Here comes the analogy of being baptised in the Holy Spirit:

The Greek word for baptize is baptidzo, which means immerse. The analogy used was making pickles from cucumber. One of the processes in making pickles is calling for the cucumber to be immersed and soaked in the brine and the pickling solution for several weeks. What happens during this soaking time is that the marinade or the pickling solution soaks deep into the flesh of the cucumber until it takes on the flavor of the pickling solution so that it no longer tastes like a raw cucumber. Every fibre of the cucumber will be transformed completely and takes on the flavor of the pickling solution. This is what it's meant by soaking. When someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit, he is being marinated in the presence of the Holy Spirit, soaking in the River of God, that he no longer "tastes" like his old, raw nature any longer, but he has taken on the flavor of the Holy Spirit.

I would say that it's also like allowing the Holy Spirit to fill your blood so that the Holy Spirit is circulated throughout your body and regulates and control your every move.

Anna

A glove analogy

I attended the workshop called "Not I but Christ" from the women conference. The speaker was an English and she spoke like a small stream of water, nice and tranquil and it's like music to the ears, yet a bit hard for me to concentrate. But still, I was captivated when she gave us an illustration for the idea of Christ being the power source inside us:

Gal 2:20 — “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

I may say to a glove, “Glove, pick up this Bible,” and yet, somehow, the glove cannot do it. It has a thumb and finger, the shape and form of a hand, and yet it is unable to do the thing I command it to do.

You may say, “Well, of course not. You didn’t tell the glove how to pick up the Bible.” However, I can instruct, and teach, and coach that glove until my patience is exhausted, but the glove, try as it will, still will not pick up that Bible.

Yet I have a glove at home that has picked up my Bible dozens of times…but never once before I put my hand into it! As soon, as my hand comes into that glove, the glove becomes as strong as my hand. Everything possible to my hand becomes possible to that glove—but only to the measure in which the glove is prepared to clothe the activity of my hand.

That is what it is to have Christ, by His Spirit, dwelling within you. You are the glove, Christ is the Hand! Everything that is possible to Him becomes possible to you, and with Paul you may say, “I have strength for all things in Christ Who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

(Illustration from The Saving Life of Christ by Maj. Ian Thomas)

There was another illustration on the idea of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. I will write on this...

Anna

Women's Conference

First of all, I would like to thank Sarah for inviting us to attend the Women's Conference. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from the conference but it turned out well. The speakers are really good.

One of the speakers, Wilma, she shared a few of her personal stories with us. One of the stories that struck me is the one about her personal experience in helping others. She shared that back in U.S., her cell has a nice practice of taking care of young mothers during their confinement period. So, the ladies in the cell group will volunteer to cook for young moms who are having their confinement. Despite Wilma's busy schedule, Wilma also volunteered to cook for one of the young mom. One day, when she was preparing the dinner for the young mom (Sally or something), she asked herself: Am I cooking for Sally because I care for her or am I doing it because of other reasons? personal reasons? She realised that she did that so that she can prove to others that she is good.

I was surprised that she can be so honest to admit things like that. Given our human nature, it is true that sometimes we are like her.

Today's quiet time is quite relevant to this topic. Thought I would like to share this. It's about having a Christ-like character - having a heart like Jesus and a mind that thinks like Him. Pray that I will grow closer to that. Same prayer for our cell group.

-Lishan

Promises of Strength in Times of Stress

Hi everyone, I would like to encourage everyone with verses that will help us in our times of stress and fear.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
Psalm 27:1

"Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord."
Psalm 46:1-3

"He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power."
Isaiah 40:29

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand."
Isaiah 41:10

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
John 14:27

"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

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

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

Rgrds,

Ruijie

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

----
My all-time fav verse for the past 3 days.

-ed-

Intentional/unintentional sin?

I just wanted to write down my thoughts after reading Numbers 15. It is about the penalty concerning unintentional sin and presumptuous sin. The chapter was suggested to me after I brought up my view that having the desire alone or having the action alone does not constitute to sinning. Numbers 15 mentioned about unintentional sin and there was punishment to that, so it may suggest that having the action itself is sinning. That got me rethink my view.

I think the sin that was mentioned in Numbers 15 was referring to those acts that violates the Ten Commandments "that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses" (Numbers 15:23). So at that point of time, if any act that was contrary to the Ten Commandments, that's sin. However, as we have already discussed in the recent Bible study, sin can be interpreted as anything that is not pleasing in the eyes of God. This goes far broader than the Ten Commandments in our present context.

I would interpret the chapter as such: In the context of the Old Testament, God has given the law to the people "as a means of defining themselves ethnically as against the 'unclean' Gentiles" (quote taken from "Encounter with God"). That was a specific set of rules at that time and that's how they automatically judged an act as sinful or not. Therefore sinning in the context of the Numbers was acting against the Ten Commandments. What Numbers 15 emphasized however, i think is the huge difference in penalty for unintentional sin and presumptuous sin. I think the focus is on the fact that something unintentional is not the cause of God's wrath. However if the sinful act is presumptuous, that really brings "reproach on the LORD" (Numbers 15:30).

On the other hand, the death and resurrection of Jesus has brought us forward to another age. We are no longer living just by the law given to the people at the time of the Old Testament, but by the grace of God, or the Spirit of God. We have also discussed that sin is more to the Ten Commandments. Therefore, how we define sinning (not sin, but committing sin) is probably also different. Maybe my suggestion that sinning is a result of both the sinful desire and the sinful act can still hold.

That's just my thoughts.

Anna

Disappointments & Failures

This morning, I was reading Luke 24:13 - 35 and I decided to blog about what I have learnt. These are the 3 main pts:

1. How can we not see Jesus in our life?
2. We can read the bible & still not see God
3. Jesus allows us to live a life of faith with deeds 

1. How can we not see Jesus in our life? 

The 2 men were downcast (v 17) with what has happened. They have so much expectation (v21). Their human perception of how things should work out did not happen. And they were disappointed.

 My thoughts:

The amazing thing for me is that they were talking to Jesus & they did not recognize him. How can it be?

 I will suggest that it is because of disappointments & failures. For me, sometimes, I get so bogged down with disappointments that I fail to see Jesus. When things do not work out as I expect it to be, I over-analyze and I become downcast like these 2 men in the bible. Often, I allow these disappointments to miss the big picture.

 This is strange despite still believing in Jesus Christ and being blessed with so much personal testimonies. 

2. We can read the bible & still not see God

 V 25 -27 shows Jesus giving a sermon or bible study. Yet, despite receiving bible knowledge (or teachings), they fail to recognize Jesus.

My thoughts:

Sometimes, certain of my experiences of QT, sermons, mirror that. 

I do receive knowledge as I listen to these sermons and read the bible. But, often, I fail to understand, i.e. I did not recognize Jesus. At this point, I will like to say that I am not referring to an extraordinary experience like a transformation or conviction. Instead, I guess I am referring to the biblical knowledge that takes into perspective of who Jesus is. More importantly, I do not want to miss the point of just getting the ‘burning hearts’ (v32) feel good factor & fail to see who Jesus is. 

3. Jesus allows us to live a life of faith with works 

After they recognize Jesus (v31), Jesus disappeared. Why did he do that? Why didn’t he stay longer? It is similar to some experiences when there is a deep conviction and, after a while, it disappears and is forgotten.

 My thoughts:

I believe that there is a purpose for this. And it is linked to the principle: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

 Faith without works is like saying that I can have the faith that Jesus can so easily solve our problems and I need not put in any human effort to solve it. For example, I can pray & faith that I will pass my CFA exams but if I do not work for it, then it is just faith without works. And this faith is dead.

 I believe that if Jesus deposits faith in us, he will allow the opportunity for faith to be manifested into works. The two guys in Luke displayed that. Jesus disappears after they recognize Jesus. Subsequently, in v 33, they got up and returned to Jerusalem and told that everyone that the Lord has risen. This is faith demonstrated through work.

 Conclusion

I just hope that in the busyness of my life, I will not miss out Jesus and learnt to be fruitful in the faith that Jesus has given me. 

Ed

The first lie

I found this on the net..it is quite funny especially after I recall what Ling shared on Sat.

Fortunately, i do not need to tell any lie in cell group..haa

- honest ed-

Prayer Requests

Hi everyone, here are the cell prayer requests as we shared last Fri. For those who were not able to share, please upload your prayer requests too so that the rest of the cell can pray for you. Thank you.

Amy: Seek God for guidance for the rest of the year

Billy: To allocate more time to spend with God.

Brenda: To know the gifts from God for her life.

Edmund Strength and wisdom for work and studies

Ling Ling: To look to God for answers and assurance, to spend more time with God

Sarah: To give God the better time for QT, to be able to clear work in PCC and missions before she leaves, pray for wisdom to handle her work.

Ruijie: To have the discipline to do QT and to give Him the best time, to be able to find a job.

Rgrds,

Ruijie

Jehovah Jireh

This morning, I just thought of writing a poem to God.

Jehovah Jireh

All day
His love

Long Hours
Lasting Joy

A minute
Amazing presence

Every second
His Love
endures forever!!!

------------------------

[Poetic Ed]

Smile

Through it all, God is great and His love is amazing!

-ed-