Wednesday, September 26, 2007

i posted this at 9:45 AM

and i have received 4 comments.

Hi Val,

Yes, I remember the challenge. Looking forward to it too! Let the zoe-fied life flow! ;)

Just want to say that Val, we are always believing in you that you can do it. But more importantly, when God's promises are of yes and amen, you can know for sure you will come out stronger than before. The slip-ups earlier are there simply just to compliment your FINAL VICTORY! Keep on going! =)

Your la1 la1 dui4,
Zoe

By  zoe, at September 26, 2007 at 2:08 AM  

U are super annointed in creating worship songs can? Everytime I read the lyrics of yr songs, I feel touch-ED (say it like Jamie says it!). :)

We are all cheering u on!

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:30 AM  

Hey val ah val!

Don't be discouraged k! Do your best. Let God do the rest! Don't be too fixated on the results! Its the process and ur attitude towards the circumstance that matters ya? I firmly believe that God is leading us every step of our way so Don't Worry!

CHOOSE to be happy & Successful!
Jiayou!

Cheers (:
YQYQYQYYQYQYQYQ? CUT QUEUE!!!

By  Anonymous, at September 27, 2007 at 1:34 AM  

hey val!

yea...really glad you came to join us despite your stressful schedule. really miss you loads. hehe...

hmm...i'm sorry to hear that you didn't do as well as expected, but never mind, God is with you. God is never late, always right on time amen? since you've trusted Him, continue to trust Him all the way! =) i believe you will have exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think amen? jia you for your exams =)

i used to be last in class for chemistry and maths in secondary school. of course no one knows, cuz i don't share that as a testimony. haha... but through all the trusting him and studying hard, i got A2 for chem, and both A1s for Amath and Emath, better still, now i'm almost topping the class in every math and chem test(ahh...number two again)...

everything can fail, but God never fails. remember that. may the power be with you!

cheers,
zhinian

By  Anonymous, at September 27, 2007 at 8:54 PM  

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

hi everyone!

hmm... didn't manage to upload the song... >.< sorry about that

anyway my exams are coming! and it's tough. really. please pray for me that i'll be strong and tide through. i really wanna shine for jesus. i'm almost at the top already (second in class). this promos will determine how much influence i will have in my class. hope everything's gonna be fine...

this thursday - 27/9 - GP, Chinese
friday - 28/9 - geography
mon - 1/10 - mathematics
wed - 3/10 - biology
thurs - 4/10 - chemistry

=) actually i'll be looking for a job this hols. that would mean
- more income
- more blessings to cell group =)
- more freedom (mom won't have anything to say if i stay out late, so can fellowship more)

yepps!

and the period after promos is CRUCIAL. i gotta reach out, share christ and work towards cell group growth! actually it had really become a burden in my heart to grow the cell group/kingdom of God. it's not that easy when everyone's studying. and that period will be the only time i can really get my friends to come. i have soooo many friends! and each of them need jesus in a different way. i'm a bit scared though i know i have jesus, because it's not in me to share the gospel and talk about jesus. that's really what i have to learn from joseph. haha...

here are the names of people i want to reach out to and i hope this is what God really wants me to do, as in reach out to THESE people instead of others (from the most potential ones to the not so open ones)

from my class 07s03
- vanice. my most committed student. coached her for half a year consistently already
- bee teng. she heard the gospel first time when i shared with her, and she suddenly sees CHC in a new light when i told her the PRAYING is actually praying in tongues/the holy spirit
- brenda. she's excited about city harvest (but not God. no relationship at all. but i saw the bookmark WORDS I CONFESS DAILY)
- hui wen. my (can say) closest friend who is agnostic as she claimed to be. will never believe in miracles unless she sees it with her own eyes
- karen. loves sun ho even though sun is not very well-received in singapore.
- jean. she's either stressed, depressed or hysterical all the time

from my cca civil defence club
- zhen ying. no true friends in school (but i can't seem to enter her life)
- sabina. she's so quiet, sometimes people don't even know she's there

my friends from other class
- wei xiang. my mugging partner whenever i stay in school
- gerald. he's so lonely, think he would'nt mind knowing jesus
- theresa (some of you may know her, she brought me to church, backslided, accepted god again, then backslided a few months ago)

my friends from outside school
- regena(my tuition kid. i integrated her to church, but she backslided)primary6
- madeline (aka maddy)(she was someone so close to my heart, but recently a setback almost blew her off the church, hope she'll be ok soon)
- fanndly (she was from city harvest, but because we shifted to expo, she backslided. recently didn't really respond to me too)

quite a long list. i learnt from zoe to spread your nets, because only one in four who are invited will come...

will share more in the next entry!! =)

Zhinian!

i posted this at 10:34 PM

and i have received 3 comments.

Hello Zhinian,

You know, one of your greatest strengths since the day I first knew you was your enthusiasm and unquenchable thirst for the things of God, for revival, for friendship, for people. I think that's one of the things we all really got to catch from you. ;)

I really believe that God will use you to leave a legacy behind in your marketplace. Not everyone has the heart for revival, and not everyone will stay the course. But I believe God will work through you, because of your dedicated spirit for your friends. More than them, I believe one day, your whole family will come to know the reason why you do the things you do, and the challenges you face will not be in vain.

Keep on shining, and you're gonna be no.1 this time round in your exams! ;)

Cheers,
Zoe

By  zoe, at September 26, 2007 at 2:19 AM  

Zhi Nian, u beat me to posting yr exam schedule here! Thanks for being zhi dong. :)

Looking forward to spending quality time with u during yr hols! =)

I pray that God will give u the boldness to preach the gospel and share yr testimony to yr circle of influence(COF) which is apparently HUGE (but actually everyone of us should have as many pple in our COF since we know sooo many pple who doesn't know God).

JJC is YOURS FOR REVIVAL!! Looking forward to hearing yr testimonies in the near future! ;)

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:49 AM  

hahah zhinian when i saw the dates of the subjects ur taking, i thought they were ur results...

like.. maths 1 out of 10..

biology... 3 out of 10...

chemistry .. 4 out of 10... !!
then im like wah.. oh God..

then i see geography.. 28 out of 9.. WAH siao ar so pro?

chey... they r dates...

Joseph

By  Anonymous, at October 3, 2007 at 2:38 AM  

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my new song!! =)

hihi!! been long i came here and blog! just wanna share with all of you my new song... it's called

-WORSHIP-

LOVE
FIRST THING YOU'D GIVEN ME
YOU'D FORGIVEN ALL THAT I'D DONE
AND NOW I HOPE IN YOU JESUS
YOU ARE MY LORD
TAKE CONTROL

LOVE
I WANNA GIVE TO YOU
FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE
YOU ARE MORE THAN I NEED
IN YOU I ADORE AND DESIRE

FOR THIS SONG IS MORE THAN MUSIC
IT'S MORE THAN WORDS
NOW I'M SINGING FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART
AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE

WORSHIP I GIVE TO YOU TODAY
SURRENDER MY HEART SOUL AND MIND
UPON THIS ALTAR I PLACE MY LIFE
A LIVING SACRIFICE
I WILL SERVE YOU ALL MY DAYS
YOU ARE ALL THAT I WANT
NO WORDS CAN EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE
FOR JESUS REDEEMED MY LIFE

-lolx..this is not a professional recording, could have been better. but i put it here anyway just to glorify God. yea... have a great day! -

i posted this at 10:12 PM

and i have received 1 comments.

Aiseh! Zhi Nian also writes songs!

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:51 AM  

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My happenings!

YOz!! After reading what Charles had blogged here about his life, I really got to know him better and understand whats going on in his life and that has encouraged me to start doing so too and follow in his footsteps! THANKS CHARLES for encouraging me to do so!

I only meet charles once a week and now Im sure I will feel much more connected and closer to him the next time i see him this sat! A little effort by charles goes a longgg way.

Not everyone has a personal blog. I think only zoe, wendy and jamie has 1

And since i dont have a personal blog, im gonna write more about my life happenings here so you people get to know what happened to me in the week too hahahaa

Hey! maybe everyone in e348 should do this, so I dont have to navigate through all the other blogs to know more bout ur life ;P If you feel disconnected from the cell and ur a little tiny bit guilty, hahaa BLOG HERE BOUT WHATS UP AND DOWN in ur life!

Okk,

Here i go... what happened this week... hmm.. actually blogging is quite sian for me... I dont really like to blog cus its troublesome and time consuming lol... but its my responsibility to open a door so that you guys can press into my life if u want to hahaa ;P

Basically i spent most of my time this week doing Zoe's birthday video! Its a breakthrough cus i only had 1 other experience with making a video. That happened during my marketing class last year, and i wasnt the 1 actually making it on the computer, i was the "director" LOL So ZOE, forgive me if ur birthday "card" is not steven speilberg quality... cus its the first video i made, and my only equipment is my N73 handphone + windows movie maker + alot of hard work! The video is on youtube, it has 2 parts and its almost 20 mins long hahahahaa i'll link it below. btw, its 10.21pm now and we're gonna ambush her later... lol hope she doesnt read this... i got 40mins to write this, and bath, and zao

The other interesting thing is... although hanbo says he still havent felt God's presence, in the video to zoe, he actually said in chinese "Thanks for bringing me to know God" waaa, I really hope hanbo will continue to press on and im sure God will pour out his power in hanbo's life! I still remember Hanbo was the only 1 that zoe shared her testimony to in my house's bbq... Its really powerful thinking back that so much has happened after zoe's step of faith..

The last thing thats worth sharing is... the wonderful NUS lost camp outreach @ sentosa on monday!
Hmmm I actually invited lionel cus he joined us for lost camp (which is an orientation camp in NUS organised by city harvesters for our friends!) but he didnt respond.. haiizz
So.. we had telematch at the beach.. used mouth to store seawater ... use hand to paint friends while blindfolded while 1 girl scream like crazy... etc etc hah no time to write more!! Interesting part of the day is.. I got to sit beside 2 lesbians while watching " I pronounce you chuck and larry " with the entire NUS group!

$6 bucks for 2 movies! hahaa yeah! Throughout the movie... which is M18 btw.. hongxiu, zhinian and elicia this part u close ur eyes ar... ok close now... OI STILL PEEP!

At first i thought they were a couple.. boy and girl.. and i was sitting beside the real girl... during the movie where chuck and larry were doing the gay stuff and slapping each other's butt... they started to giggle and say " hahaa i like i like leh!" lolz and when i heard them talking, i thought to myself "eh why 2 girls voice???!?" and i looked over and saw the "boy" hugging the girl.. and "his" hand on her butt... WAH i thought.. "free show ar!" anyway the "boy" didnt look that butch la.. shes still ok.. just very short hair like YongQuan's.. but the girl's pretty hahaa

ok GTG ambush zoe now, Holy spirit, please dont let her see this b4 12am.. thanks!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE!


Anti-gay with the exception of koonpo,

Joseph ;>


Part 1


Part 2

i posted this at 9:30 PM

and i have received 4 comments.

Hey Jo,

Firstly, thanks for all the effort and time and PATIENCE for the video, all done with one N73 Nokia phone (yes, Nokia should be paying you). ;) Will post more about my thank you messages to everyone specifically in the upcoming days, so watch zoe-loveseedplanter.blogspot.com. ;)

Yes, I heard what Hanbo said in the vid. I'm very thankful to be led to Hanbo to share my testimony with him in the whole big group of friends that day. It's really a divine opportunity in itself, but more than that, it just shows that God can use each of you in the same way too.

I always believe in sharing our personal testimonies, like what I've been telling you guys, simply because there is no way we can cook up a tale- it's really a true-blue life story in itself.

I really believe E348 is called for growth and each of you, called to make a difference with the love of Christ. It's time to be more human! ;)

Let's keep moving...up and on!

Zoe

By  zoe, at September 26, 2007 at 2:34 AM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:21 AM  

Haha Zoe promoting her blog! :P

Oh Joseph, now I understand why u said u were Steven Spielberg just now. :)

Anyway, if u didn't say that it's the 2nd or really the 1st time that u officially produced a video, I would think that u have done it a million times because it was so so good! The effects were superb. Yr hidden talent is no longer hidden now. U know what that means for you in the future.... Muahaha. =P

Thanks for bringing Hanpo to church and for sowing into his life. Jiayou! :) Let's see Hanpo planted in the House of God!

I never thought I'll say this but I'm gonna say it - ''I'm liking Joseph more day by day.Heh Heh. =)''

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:23 AM  

hey joseph!

before i say anything else, i gotta tell you. the video rocks! woah... you're really good even though its your second time "producing". haha... everything is just so nicely pieced together, with the "plot" and "act" and "scene". hehz.

oh anyway, just wanna say i got to know you lots more after reading your blog! hmm... seemed that you had lotsa fun at the NUS lost camp eh? lol... i always wanted to go NUS.

oh anyway, thanks for being very generous with blessing me. haha... your little act goes a long way. i still remember the time when you bought me lunch during emerge, say i seem like i KNOW EVERYTHING when i said i know what's shutter speed, and fetching me and hong xiu to cell group and stuff.

i have much to learn from you =) keep prospering in the LORD!
happy studying =)

zhinian (hey! i signed off this time ok?)

By  Anonymous, at September 27, 2007 at 9:25 PM  

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Monday, September 24, 2007

Vertigo

Vertigo

This word has for some reason been swimming around in my head ever since last week and, not having considered the U2 song before typing this, I guess I can attribute it to my helicopter rapelling session last friday for the army.

(And oh ya, before I go on, being currently in the Guards formation in the Army, I'll attempt to clarify the apparently popular misconception that what the Guards do involve merely all of standing guard at the Istana gates. Its not the case. Citing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Guards, "In the SAF, the Guards is an elite infantry unit specializing in rapid deployment. In addition, they also receive special forces-level training," which explains why we get to ride on helicopters =P, and also why we get to have driving lessons.)

Anyway, the human mind is an amazing creation by God and as I was walking home earlier, the axons in my brain pulsed in such a precise combination to relate most of my experiences, my life, these past few days to the word 'vertigo', which is, arguably, just a word, a combination of letters. Here's an exposition of some of them:

1) Helicopter Rappelling

Arguably the alpha of the lot, I thank God for the opportunity to experience it and its exhiliration, and also for His coverage of safety over its conduct.

In a nutshell, this involved one dropping down a rope from a height to a lower level under the force of gravity. For those of you who've been to Equinox, imagine leaping from the window and landing safely at ground level (alright, I exagerated the height, but you get the idea..)

Where does vertigo come in? First would be the helicopter ride itself, which unfortunately I can't reproduce in words, and secondly would be standing on the runway of an airfield where all around you is flat grass and tarmac as far as the eyes can see (almost). Imagine Changi airport's runways, replicated at another location in land scarce Singapore. I was so amazed at the places in Singapore that I had never knew even existed.

2) Driving Course

Today's the first day of my jeep driving course for Guards and in driving a real, motorised, vehicle for the first time in my life, a dizzying sense of satisfaction ensures from having reached a milestone in life. (Did you guys play the board game Game of Life when you were younger? =P)

And of course, I'm not complaining that its a stay-out course, which means I can go home at night!

3) Gems of Singapore

Epiphanies abound as I enjoyed my first true free weeknight in NS. Needing a hair trimming, I left for Novana Square seeking a haircut at a QB or EC house. Seek and ye shall find. I found my haircut, and more. Traipsing around the Novena area, I saw a temporary 2-lane bowling alley complete with scoreboards, full length lanes, and ball feeders set up indoors in Novena Square, the very unique mall Square2 which has lots of dining destinations as well as many speciality stores selling Korean, Japanese and Continental food and condiments, and the only place I've ever encountered travellators (those escallators on level ground) outside airports, in Tan Tock Seng hospital. Its a pity I didn't have a camera with me, for the travellators, walking along them, you'd never guesss you're in a hospital.

The cultural mandate in action. Maybe I'll play a more direct role in similar developments in future?

4) Some-sort-of-food-poisoning?

I came down with a bout of puking and dirrhoea last Thursday but thankfully I've recovered since and my stomach churning at dizzying speeds has since slowed comfortably.

5) Vert-I-Go

Maybe this is just come wordplay, but lets keep on going on for the vertical portion of the cross. I know I'm guilty of neglecting this here and there, but ultimately, our spiritual lives are still fundamental, and all things happen for the good of those who love Him.


Yep, so that's it for this entry. Before signing off, here are 2 interesting people on Youtube, over Christian debate and discussion topics. Might interest those of you who can find the time to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LaneCh
http://www.youtube.com/user/reelverse

Cheers!
Charles

PS. Come guys! Do try to spend at least 15 minutes a week posting here so that, even if nothing else, we'll know better the going ons in one another's lives and/or minds, which can only result in good. =P I honestly have no idea currently about what's the biggest issue in each of our lives. If its also true vice versa, shall we not change it?

PPS. www.willyoujoinus.com For those of you who have lots of time to spare; its a simulator, a game, with discussions, that's created by the Economist Group about world energy and environmental issues. I guess it could help in GP. =D

i posted this at 10:31 PM

and i have received 3 comments.

Hey Charles,

Thanks for being the initiator! What you do and say definitely has influence, just look at all the entries! ;)

Keep staying committed to the cause. You are going to emerge MUCH stronger than you can imagine.

Zoe

By  zoe, at September 26, 2007 at 2:36 AM  

Haha. Never post for so long, once u post, post such a long & chim entry! K lah, I know, it's yr style. ;P

I went to Square 2 and Velocity on Tues for the 1st time. The place was so dead and boring!I think the shops there are probably suffering losses by the day because not a lot of pple frequent there.

Amen to yr last paragraph! :)U go man! :P

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:10 AM  

heyya CHARLES!!

=) wow... a wonderful week you had! =) hehex...thank god for all that He'd done, sending you to have a ride in jeep and jumping off helicopter*kinda exaggerated yea?* and having fun out!

please be reminded. Hydrogen Chloride pills do not relieve diarrhoea or vomitting ;)

have fun!

Zhinian

By  Anonymous, at September 27, 2007 at 9:30 PM  

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Whole Household Shall Be Saved

Labels: Wendy

i posted this at 2:42 PM

and i have received 3 comments.

wah the photo of u and ur grandma is really nice

By  Anonymous, at September 21, 2007 at 3:58 PM  

My grandma looks so cute in the pic rite! :D Er, who are u ah?

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 22, 2007 at 2:51 AM  

wow wendy...

praise the lord for that! =) lol... it's something that is really mind-blowing, and thank God that your household is being added to the lord! you really inspired me to believe more and of course pray more for a braekthrough... =) not surprising though, since you are always inspiring to me=) hehe...

thanks for encouraging me! =) i do write songs often, just that i'm kinda pai seh to show people. haha...

jia you!! have fun!

zhinian

By  Anonymous, at September 27, 2007 at 9:34 PM  

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Sunday, September 9, 2007

Prayer Works!

Valerie and Elicia are having their Prelims so pls keep them close in your prayers!

Valerie

10th Sept: GP paper 1 and 2, Chem paper 3
11th Sept: Econs
12th Sept: Maths paper 1, Phy paper 3
14th Sept: Chem paper 2
17th Sept: Phy paper 2
18th Sept: Maths paper 2
19th Sept: Chem paper 1
20th Sept: Phy paper 1

Elicia

10th Sept: Social Studies
11th Sept: Science Practical
12th Sept: Maths and Geography
13th Sept: Maths
14th Sept: Accounts
17th Sept: Chemistry & Accounts
18th Sept: Physics
19th Sept: Literature
21st Sept: Science paper 1


"You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth . . ." Psalms 65:5 (NLT)

"If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. " Deu 28:13 (NLT)

Labels: Wendy

i posted this at 7:40 PM

and i have received 1 comments.

Wendy: Thanks for taking the initiative and effort to find out from our Val and Cia their exam schedule so specifically! Great job! ;)

Val and Cia: You have our word we'll be praying for you. No mountain's gonna be too high to climb, and I'm sure you gals will emerge triumphant! =) When you are stressed, we are all a call or sms or msn away yea? ;) Jiayou lots!

By  zoe, at September 9, 2007 at 10:26 PM  

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Sunday, September 2, 2007

revived

haha charles is rite. This blog is almost dead la. haha gonna revive it! PLS HELP!!!!SOS!!!


anyway today was the last day for SOTM, and i think its really one of the best and most important series Pst Kong has done so far, i've learnt alot frm it and i'm sure all of us have been blessed by it too. But more than that, i think we need to ask ourselves how our lifes have changed becos of it? Or has it not reallie changed at all?

I'm sure many of us have made sacrifices one way or another thruout our walk with God, and i'm sure there are many others out there, and perhaps some of us who are unable to comprehend why we want to embark on this journey, learning to live not for ourselves but a life that is Christ centered.


And sometimes i think subconsciously we feel that it seems more like "work". Every saturday becomes a day of battle in both flesh and spirit as we try to serve the best we can, bring as many friends, and then rising up to stand in the gap to pull down the presence of God. But yet, like what the song says "in the end, just to hear you say well done". We all have a cause to live for, and we are where we are today for a purpose. And i believe God has not made me go thru so much, just to put me in SIM, and then not empower me to fulfil the purpose he has for me there. But yet, i also know what it feels like to feel so "stuck". Theres so much i want to do, but things just dun seem to be happening the way I want it to. Am i fighting a losing battle?

2Cor 10:3-5

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowlege of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to christ.


How did Job manage to praise God when everything was taken away from him? Because his centre of gravity is not in those things. Its in God. After that cgm when bro d talked about our centre of gravity, i remember asking some of you what is an area in your life, that if the devil attacks, there is a possibility that you may not recover frm it. Yes we talked alot abt knowing our nature so that we will not be caught unaware when it happens one day. But when it does happen, have we found that friend we can count on to talk to and pull us back when it actually happens? Cos by that time, we 'll probably not be in the right frame of mind to make decisions.


And thats where the battle lies. Bro d once said, the devil does not even have to make it come to pass, he just have to make you think of it in your mind, and thats enuff to get you down. And all the devil has to do, is shake that centre of gravity. And whatever can be shaken will be shaken, and only what canot be shaken will remain.


haha but fear not, God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. He knows our limits too and he will provide a way out. So, be of good cheer! For our God has overcomed, and we can be overcomers too!


It may seem like a losing battle now, but we will ultimately win the war.



fighting the fight of faith w u,

jme

*fighto-oh!

i posted this at 5:35 PM

and i have received 2 comments.

"For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:30

"Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome." 1 John 5:3

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 9, 2007 at 8:09 PM  

hey jme!

just wanna say this blog entry of yours is really revelational to me.

you are really a woman of faith. always strong in the lord. that's where i gotta learn from you. i'd always aspire to be like you, strong yet fun...

anyway...thanks for blessing me that day at the soup spoon. it made me realise you are someone i can really look up to and respect (hmm...i don't look up to many people)...thanks again...

God will prosper you in SIM since you found out that focusing on the lord is more important than focusing on serving Him.

well...all the best! have fun!

zhinian

By  Anonymous, at September 27, 2007 at 9:41 PM  

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44th BSLC

Hey guys!

Well, it seems like things have been rather stagnant here lately so I shall attempt to inject a little lifeblood in..

For a little update on myself, I'm about 5 months into my NS and have just completed my first course after BMT, that's the Basic Section Leaders' Course (44th batch BSLC) at SISPEC (that's the School of Infantry Specialists), which Joseph went through some years back. I was there from 25th June up till last thursday morning, 30th August.

A very, very brief oveview of what I learnt there in the 10 weeks was stuff like basic leadership principles, weapons handling, basic navigation, communications, unconventional warfare (CBRE), basic first aid including CPR, and knowledge for the operation of small groups of soldiers, besides physical training and conditioning.

As a few of you may know, I've been keeping a journal tracking my days in NS; and reading through it now, I recall beginning the course with feelings of consternation, as SISPEC was not where I had wanted, or expected, to be sent to. Hence, and despite that, I started the 10 weeks with the verses from Romans 5:1-5, which go:

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

How true is that? How has God used the grueling fast marches that gave endless blisters and even a broken toenail, a hand-foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that gave me 10 days of MC, an almost totally non-Christian environment with a general culture of company that I'm not really used to, strict standards seemingly only demanded by my company's instructors, a 12km run at the Army Half Marathon, and an overnight graduation march that played mind games, to mould me? Exactly how I'm not sure, but I believe I can say I've somehow emerged with a more resilient character, after all, tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.

Ah, hope... What is hope? Harvard Business Review gives it as 'Something more than wishful thinking but short of expectation. A rejection of cynicism and dispiritedness.' Which makes much sense and is certainly a very apt definition of the secular 'hope'. Biblical principles, though, give the Christian's 'hope' as simply, 'a confident expectation of good'.

The presence of Christ elevates something short of expectation, to a confident expectation. I've not given this much thought as yet, but I think I will. Anyone care to join me?

----------

Through misty glasses I watched the buildings of SISPEC creep into sight where there had previously been nothing but dense foilage under faint moonlight. At last. 28km. Ever since BMT, I've had difficulty with route marches, and had been well known for having thin skin; now, my socks in my boots squelched with pus from burst blisters every step I took. I had quietly hummed to the tune of 'God will make a way' in the times of silence during the endless stretches of knolls along the route. At moments I thought I might not have made it, having missed some amounts of physical training during my 10 days of MC, but as the camp gates, and soon parade square arches, passed over my head, I knew that indeed God had made the way... In the graduation ceremony that followed, having the corporal chevrons confered to me by my platoon commander, I knew that the 28km covered paled in comparison to what those in OCS and the specialised vocations go through. Nevertheless, it was a victory, an euphoric victory. Vene, vedi, vici! But who's really the 'I' in that? =P

'It may have been cold night with shrill winds as I stood at that parade square, but dawn was only hours away, and the heavens have littered the abyss of darkness with glittering guardian angels, and the warmth that burns from the glowing candle of love gives me strength. I am blessed.'

----------

Charles

i posted this at 1:05 AM

and i have received 4 comments.

This comment has been removed by the author.

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 2, 2007 at 10:34 PM  

"... cold night with shrill winds as I stood at that parade square, but dawn was only hours away, and the heavens have littered the abyss of darkness with glittering guardian angels, and the warmth that burns from the glowing candle of love gives me strength. I am blessed." --> Oh gosh, I love this paragraph! Poetic, vivid and beautifully penned!!

HELLO CHARLES, THIS IS NOT RAMBLING! *Hits u on the head for saying that it is*

Haha.=D

Praise God for being there with you in that what must have been nothing-short-of-treacherous 28 km!

And thanks Charles for depending not on yr own strength and talents but on God. U go bro!!

WOO HOO! Commander Charles. CC. ;)

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 2, 2007 at 10:36 PM  

sigh, it is la.... notice the inverted commas; its adapted.

By  Anonymous, at September 3, 2007 at 12:12 AM  

Oh chai... Haha. Adapted from where? Never say... later u get sued for copyright. Haha.

By  ♥ Lady Wen ♥, at September 26, 2007 at 5:57 AM  

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