the.heart.of.worship

Friday, January 30, 2009,12:21 AM
All the way my Saviour leads me

Listening to this song by Chris Tomlin, "All the way my Saviour leads me" as I prepare some teachings, think about stuff and type this post. Was reading through some resources and found this lil part which I feel is important but is often times forgotten once we get into an "auto-pilot" mode.

Developing a strong relationship with God through spiritual habits (GOD'S AIM)
G: Gathering for fellowship - Through fellowship, we share lives and this is
important for building up each other’s faith in God.
O: Outreach - It is God’s desire to reach out to people who do not know Him, and
we are His servants whom He has sent out to carry out this responsibility.
D: Devotions with God - This is where we spend time with God in His word and
allow it to speak to us personally.
S: Stewardship - This spiritual discipline teaches us to acknowledge that God is
the provider of all good things and that we need to honour Him by giving Him
what rightfully belongs to Him.
A: Abstinence - Abstaining from something helps us to increase our appetite for
God.
I: Intercession - It is important to present our prayer needs to God, and especially
to pray for others.
M: Ministering to God - This means developing a life of worship, recognising
God’s worth in all that we do.

What are some of the habits that are already very much part of our lives? How about those that are lacking? Hope this helps us as a personal checklist to see what are the areas we can look out for in our inner life. =)

This thing came to life suddenly as I was just thinking through our need for God to lead us in all the things we do... for me, its my first job, matriculation, caregroup plans, working with project mates etc. Decisions to make, words to say, things to do... much more to come when I step into the working world. I definitely do not want to be a builder who labours in vain, or a watchman who watches over the city in vain. I would want God to lead, reach out His hand as an invitation for me to partner with Him, and there I respond to Him, with a smile. And to me, this highlights the importance of a stronger relationship with Him... something that should never reach a point where we think is "strong enough".

I want grow in this relationship with Him. What about you?

SL

1 Comments:

hmm... can explain abit more about abstinence? haha.
Kinda understand what you mean but not totally..
like for example abstaining from what can help so?

By LoVe*m|cHeLLe*AnGeL, at January 31, 2009 at 1:27 AM

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>>and i live just for you my lord.

Monday, January 26, 2009,6:06 PM

Yeah! Min finally gets to post!
Was thinking off how to get into this place...found it on youtube...
I admit i still use youtube...but who needs youtube on CNY? haha...

Nvm... erh...ha... it's my first time posting a blogpost...Nervous...
Thinking what's there to write...
But I think I just want to support this movement to set up a CG blog n learn to use this method to communicate... arh... Usually i just write n cancel, write n cance, write n cancel n on...
Guess it can be a means to sharpen my thoughts n writing... Maybe can train me to be more confident to expose some thoughts.

Anyway, 除夕初一，敏又吃又睡, 又是看电视。有点想吐了。And she set her NY resolutions le... Learning to add action plans to it... Argh! Gotta get kicking le... can no more be a 死鱼 le。

N potato crystal! feel like using the word 'taupok'... tt's dangerous...

Min!

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>>and i live just for you my lord.

Over-Night

Best shot!

The need to take a photo overcomes the desire to sleep...

She wants her mutton cut into smaller pieces.

She wants two servings of mutton.

She is sad cos no mutton.

She sure loves mutton.

She doesnt seem to like mutton.

Happy Lunar New Year NUSB1!hey some photos had creep up while u are asleep... Taken with a Cyber-shot K810i Sony Ericsson. Might wanna consider getting that model for those whose phone keep hanging or got their pay or like to camwhore. Hur hur the quality of the pictures speak for itself...

Mieow

Edmund

2 Comments:

Min Zhen looks so sad.... Like kena abandoned....

I like the top pic. So nice.

By Ian, at January 27, 2009 at 10:32 PM

I looked really zonked out though. haha!

By LoVe*m|cHeLLe*AnGeL, at January 28, 2009 at 2:18 AM

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>>and i live just for you my lord.

Sunday, January 25, 2009,2:00 PM

"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
Quote by: Steven Weinberg

A quote I took off my Jon David's blog. Was planning to rebutt it on his comments page but was too lazy.

Anyway, I will just rebutt it here then copy the whole thing on his comments page. :P

Firstly, by saying that religion is an insult to human dignity, this arrogant atheist ( I assume he is atheist since agnostics are not so intellectually suicidal to make such a deterministic statement) is saying that religion makes people do disgraceful or degrading things. Most widely accepted religions usually preach loving others, giving to charity and believing in a higher order. I would think it is more disgraceful and degrading to your own dignity if you do not love others and give to charity.

Secondly, in saying that religion is the only thing that can make a good person do a bad thing is being simplistic. Anything that you feel strongly about whether it be God, Science, studies, food, sports, etc. will make you do things you would otherwise not do. Most of the things we do for what we believe in are acceptable in the world but some things we do are not. Lets take it from the point of studies. You want good grades and you know everything is marked on the curve. You would do a bad thing to get an advantage over your peers. It could be as innocuous like not sharing you notes or not studying with fellow students. It also as malicious as cheating or stealing people's notes just before the exams. These people could be good people normally, nice guys, loving boy/girlfriends, etc, but when it comes to studies, they turn into bad people.

The irony of his statement is that religion is also one of the rare few things that can make bad people do good things and turn into good people afterwards. What is preached by many religions is aimed at the bad people not the good ones. Jesus came to Earth to save the Lost not to chill with the Righteous. His statement was probably made in response to all the suicide bombings and religious violence in the world. A more careful analysis of the religious texts of Christianity and other widespread religions would say that these 'good' people doing bad things are actually bad people. Nothing is more 'bad' than abusing the name of your God to fulfill your own selfish aims or justify your actions. We as children of God know this all too well.

I came across such an example recently. This person (let this person be A_ has had a bad experience in church owing to the abuse of Jesus' name. A's mentor used physical and mental abuse to get information from A. When A refused, the mentor said that he/she had the authority from Jesus to know. After the revelation of the information, A's cell group used 'Jesus' authority to control A's life. Needless to say, A no longer follows God and hates Jesus to the extent A sees all bad things as from Jesus to destroy A's life.

We know as followers of Christ that such actions are unbiblical but from the perspective of a rabid atheist this is an example of good people doing bad things.

On a less serious note: I got ten vouchers to go watch movies at GV. They expire on 31st Oct. We can use these for any purpose. :)

Ian

3 Comments:

Like you said, good people doing bad things become evil people... so in the first place, the definition of good people and evil people are already two separate extremes in the statement, assuming no in-betweens..

However, we all know that all of us sinned, no matter how 'good' we may be.

In another way, though, I see the last part of the quote as recognising that we're 'evil', all the more as we learn about God, and God's standard. of holiness etc. Or rather, its just a reminder for myself. haha.

By LoVe*m|cHeLLe*AnGeL, at January 28, 2009 at 2:27 AM

Well I don't think we should jump to conclusions on this matter so fast. Weinberg is an atheist, yes, but he is not stupid. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics btw. Apparently, he shouldn't be that dumb to make such a controversial statement without thinking twice. If we study what he says carefully, there appears to be some truth in that statement. Just look at what's happening in Gaza right now. A very interesting question would be, if Isreal and Palestine had the same faith, would the slaughter still occur?

By Anonymous, at January 31, 2009 at 8:59 AM

Ha, usually I dun like to comment on "matters of intellect" which throws up plenty of questions but may not actually conclude anything.

As I attempt to understand Weinberg's statement, "But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion", I find myself interpreting it in various ways as well.

1. Religion provides an "excuse", an "avenue" for "good" people to do bad things (terrorism etc),and these people do it with strong, genuine belief that what they are doing are actually good, in accordance with what's taught in their religion.
2. Religion causes "good" people to do evil things, through what is being taught in the religion.
3. Religion causes "good" people to do evil things, not because its what religion teaches, but the existence of religion, their "laws" etc brings out the side of people that wants to go against what's taught.

So which one is it? Haha. The first one makes sense when we consider what the world regards as "extremist groups" feel when they actually do bad things. In this case yes, the statement seem right but it does feel like a swipe at religion without bringing in the part about people being misled. The second is prob not what he's referring to, like what Ian said, religions mostly preach loving others. The third is the one I'm most interested in, because good people doing bad things as a result of the existence of religion or religious laws does sound a lot like how the Law caused "death" mentioned in the bible, in Romans 7:7-11 (NIV). I'm not sure how clear the link is, but try reading Romans 7:8-25 (Message Version) and that might help us understand how religion and law "causes" us to sin. I use certain terms loosely, pardon me. But anyway in the last case, I do agree that "religion" can cause "good" people to do evil things.

End of the day, my point is that simply following religious laws and practices do not get us anywhere; salvation is not through works, and neither are we able to be "good" people who stay away from "evil" things just by practising religion. Walking with God, experiencing His grace and love, relating to Him, partnering with Him... allows ourselves to be influenced by Him, desire more and more of the good things and less and less of the evil things.

By SL, at February 1, 2009 at 1:59 AM

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>>and i live just for you my lord.

Saturday, January 24, 2009,10:38 PM
Crystal's Announcement

Happy birthday Ian!
Hm.. no xin yi re bao or lian hua wan bao.. only crystal's announcement..
Anyway, haha.. to those who went for the night cycling.. had enough rest already? i slept from 1pm to 7pm!
Okay, announcements right.. i've got 2..

1) POTATO me! My work place is giving me off next week.. so wed-fri don't be surprised if you see me at HQ.. Please potato me! or let me potato you! Breakfast.Lunch. or Tea. Thursday and friday slots are booked already though. :P But just inform me when you'd be free:)

2) I got my FIRST PAY! :) So dinner next sat MY TREAT! go think of a place you guys want to eat for dinner ok? And i know you guys love me, so we'll just go Le Meridian:P muahaha. kidding. I'm fine with any place just as long as we have good food and a good time there together catching up!

So what'd u guys be doing for the next few days over CNY? I finally can sleep in! :) But i do need to get started on my industrial attachment report though. Done 1/3 of it.. then there's my HR readings to catch up on as well. And lots of reflection to do from all the teachings received. Been putting them aside.

Working life is really different from studying. On one hand there's no need to think about homework, exams etc. But you lack the time. During the school term there's still breaks in between, if you want to meet a friend, go out shopping/for a movie there wouldn't be a problem.. but now that i'm working, evenings are precious! ha.

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>>and i live just for you my lord.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009,1:30 AM
Opening

I'm first to post! (Our dear blog administrator Michelle not counted :P But still, thank God for u!) It's been a few weeks since the idea of having a caregroup blog was conceived, and I'm glad that it's finally up. Like what u all mentioned, let's make this a channel with which we can share lil snippets of what we're going through with God with one another, through it encourage one another in our walk with Him.

I'm thankful to God for the whole of last week, and the start of this week... one reason being that God is answering my prayer to be challenged... physically i'm kinda stretched (tired, not becoming taller), mentally there are also lots of things to think about, with new perspectives coming in to familiar circumstances. Anyway, through these I do learn to rely on Him much more and see a strong need to hear from Him, the Shepherd who desires to lead us. Second reason is to see God speaking to many of us with regards to specific areas in our lives, thru subD, prayer meet, service etc.. as sheep many a times we do not know how we are doing in our lives, so when we actually hear from the Shepherd, it just means a clearer direction to work towards! Praise Him! Encourage all of us to have this heart of wanting to obey Him and work at these areas that were illuminated in a deliberate manner, just like the man in James 1:25...

"But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."

SL

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>>and i live just for you my lord.

Sunday, January 18, 2009,11:01 PM
WELCOME

Hi all,

Let's clap our hands and warmly welcome our caregroup blog!!!

Please do remember the username, password and address. I will be mailing you guys soon with regards to them!

Meanwhile, this blog is still under construction so please do be patient for more (interesting) things coming up! Any suggestions as to what to put up on the blog, do let me know too! =)

Michelle

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>>and i live just for you my lord.