A Day of Encouragement :)

What. An. Awesome. Day. :)

1. Spent the morning in a skype meeting with S & J about the Cumbo Uni Outreach :)

2. Spent the afternoon with my sister A, sharing about our trips, praying together and thinking of how to organise home economics/biblical wife preparation classes with our sisters/non-Christian friends :D

3. Spent the evening grocery shopping, cooking bulgogi and making a complete dinner for the first time :)

4. Spent the night getting surprised by her brother W who is so lovingly delivering custard tarts & messages of encouragement from brothers and sisters to each other!

Praise God :)

Really Catchy Ads.. that go on for 3 minutes ._.

An extremely hot day at work today but it was a day to praise God for nevertheless :) So blessed to have at least one enthusiastic and encouraging student in my class, who's ready to engage at 8am in the morning!

Still discussing about the prayer meeting before wrk on Saturdays, but there wasn't too much thrill about having it at 7.20 in the morning, but remembering why we're there is important :) That's what I think anyway!

To the annoyance of everybody else, Ryan and I had an interesting singing/humming (since we didn't know the Korean words) session of the Se-Ga & MGIAG OST's, and some interesting conversations about Korean girl groups, G-market etc - which led me to looking up IU's Good Day (where I'm really impressed by that high note held so long!) & still wondering why GD's Gmarket ad is so catchy; it's kind of corny and I feel kind of brainwashed while being preached about Gmarket & their benefits for so long with 'Gmarket' chanted on every beat...

Cyclone Yasi and Intense Heat

Yep, those two things were the two things that stopped me from having good night of sleep last night.

Cyclone Yasi had all of Australia on the edge of their seats, fearing for the damage that may hit Queensland and the family of many. Moreover, the intense heat over the past few days have just sent people into restlessness and exhaustion.

Have been starting to read John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life; it's quite readable and has been giving me lots to think about, and one of the quotes from Scripture led me to 2 Timothy 2, which I wanted to share with you guys.

2 Timothy 2

The Appeal Renewed

 ¹ You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. ³ Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. ⁵ Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. ⁶ The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. ⁷ Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.  ⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
 ¹¹ Here is a trustworthy saying:
   If we died with him,
   we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure,
   we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
   he will also disown us;
¹³ if we are faithless,
   he remains faithful,
   for he cannot disown himself.

Dealing With False Teachers

 ¹⁴ Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”  ²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
 ²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
 

Reminders

Since coming back from Japan where it was such a spiritually intense environment while on mission, where it was really a God given opportunity to focus on my relationship with Him while being able to talk to other people about Him. Coming back, I have to admit that I suffered from reverse-culture shock, finding it hard to get used to coming 'home' without the customs of Japan (people don't bow here, or sort out their rubbish, or have sound boxes in the toilets, gasp!) and ultimately being in a spiritual low, always finding reasons to be distracted from God and resting in an ungodly way - I watched a whole drama in about 4 days and became quite obsessed with it.

As a new year of ministry starts, my church held a training day for leaders training and equipping us for ministry this year.  It was really by God's grace that I was reminded of why He placed me to serve at Extreme at the training day - to lead the youth to love Christ, love each other and the city/world by teaching, modeling and praying the bible into their lives. Coming back to my church back in Sydney... I really feel so thankful for the leader's training we've been provided and the older women who are constantly looking out for me spiritually and physically - and I know especially now not to take it for granted. 

I was really reminded of this bible passage when I was reading the other night (before I totally conked out from exhaustion):

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. 

It's really sobering, isn't it? Are we encouraging each other to grow in their love for Christ with cheap materials,  or good materials  - the bible, prayer and discipleship and godly modeling? I have to confess that I'm not confident in the least when it comes to discipleship, especially with 1 to 1... but please pray that God will continue growing His people in their churches towards full maturity in Christ as we run the race together! :) 

It's really hot, so I'm going to go. Happy Birthday Harrylam!  :D

PS. It made me sad that the songs on GDandTOP's album are quite nice and quite catchy, but the lyrics are really quite inappropriate. :(