tizblessedlife :)

WOW! Dr A.R. Bernard

"He says his church's approach is more conversion-based. Because man has fallen from original creation, there is a disconnect from God. For the person to be born again, it is a restoration to the original intention of God -- back to the original purpose of creation. This once again empowers the human spirit to dream and soar and become, to deal with the negative environment to which we are all born into, and to give a wholesome direction to our worship and our sense of being. "I want people to be empowered in that way," Bernard says."

"As he climbed the corporate ladder by day during the '60s and early '70s, he began a search for the truth. His search led him into the martial arts, drugs, spiritualism, the occult, and Tibetan Lamaism. He eventually became a practicing member of the Nation of Islam for five years, which was then under Elijah Muhammad. Bernard says at that time what impressed him about the Nation was not Allah, but the positive impact it had on the Black community. "It represented everything young Black men were looking for: order, strength, self-worth," he says. At a racially turbulent time, these qualities were highly attractive. "We were all scratching for a strong identity, and this provided one," he says. At that time he says the Black community only had two choices - whether or not to follow Malcolm X or Dr. King, men with two very different approaches."

"I teach from the Bible that whatever we refuse to repent of, we are destined to repeat. And the next time, the stakes will be so much higher."

Amazing.. I was shocked when I read that he was a former practicing Muslim. Indeed with God all things are possible!

"Love is centered in the will, not the emotion. If love is only centered in the emotion, then God cannot command us to love Him, to love people, He can only ask if we feel it - cos somedays we feel love, somedays we don't. Once you commit to love, you make a decision to love."

"You cannot truly love without the freedom of choice."

"The image of God must be in your life so that you can live at maximum productivity and fruitfulness. The order of God must be in your life."

"Effectiveness in life demands order. Order demands a clear plan of action."

"It's not 'them' and 'us', it's us."

"You never grow beyond the people that influence you. As you move from one stage to another, your intimacy with the people around you must change. In the spatiality of relationships, you must not allow people to hold you down."

"Let no one rush into your life."

"In Babylon, you can thrive and flourish!"

"Jesus let the tare grow next to the wheat because He is convinced that the tare would have no impact on the wheat whatsoever."

posted by Ling @ 12:55 AM 0 comments

Tiny

Sold my SC2204 Sociology of Inequalities notes to this guy who responded to my announcement on the forum. And he happens to live opposite me 'cept that he doesn't know this. I once thought he's quite cute-looking too.

"Do you live in Queenstown?"

"Ya you've seen me before?"

"Yep".

I had to refrain from saying "Actually I saw you around with your family from a long, long time ago when I was running around and playing with the other kids in the neighbourhood".

That'd sound freaky, like I was stalking him.

Urgh, scary. Everyone knows everyone else here.

posted by Ling @ 11:39 PM 2 comments

WAIT!

Don't we all dislike the word? I do.

I dislike waiting for a bus that takes extra long to come.
I dislike waiting in a long queue to pay for a 2-dollar purchase.
I dislike waiting for people that take forever to reply an important email or sms.
I dislike waiting for my instant maggie noodles to cook.
I dislike waiting for my PC to boot up.

I am now waiting for an important email reply. Urgh. I need more patience.

No wonder people buy pills that promise, "Lose twenty pounds in two hours with no side effects (other than death)." Hahaha. That's courtesy of David Foster again.

posted by Ling @ 12:38 PM 1 comments

Today

Excerpts from Accept No Mediocre Life by David Foster:

"Procrastination feeds on the "someday" mentality. ... Someday I'll get serious about making my life count. Someday I'll take my life in God seriously. Someday prayer will become priority, and people will know I'm a force to be reckoned with... Someday I'll step up. Someday I'll be strong. Someday I'll slay those demons. Someday I'll stop saying, "Someday," and start saying, "Today," When you don't want to do something, any excuse will do."

"I remember one of my ethics professor asking, "How do you cook a frog?" Students looked at each other for answers. The teacher said, "To cook a frog alive, you place him in a pot of water at his favourite temperature. Start turning up the heat in small increments. The frog will sit still, adjusting to the rising temperature. Because of his ability to adapt to the hot water, he will be boiled alive before he thinks about jumping out" The application of this story was that we are just like that frog; we will adapt to the climate around us unless we resist. The mass of humanity tends to settle in the middle where mediocrity breeds best. Commitment cools. Vision leaks. Excellence tends to entropy, and energy defuses."

Good stuff huh? That's why I believe reading is important for personal growth.

Today I'll do something that'll make my life count.
Today I'll grab hold of the worthwhile opportunities that come my way.
Today I'll challenge myself to be stretched.
Today I'll have fun.
Today I'll trust God.
No more "someday". That "someday" may never come.

Just yesterday FL asked me to join her in an aquathlon. She'll swim and I'll run. I replied, "I am keen but scared leh." She said "You scared what. I'm swimming in the open sea, I should be the one that's scared." That's true huh. I'm just supposed to run on flat ground - what is so scary? Fear can be so crippling and irrational at times (oops most of the time, I mean). 5km. Wahaha. These couple of weeks, I was actually thinking of joining some 5km run someday.. then this opportunity came and I was afraid. Crazy. Anyway, I'm going for it. I've been running more consistently again since last week. 30-min jogs. Felt ok. I should be able to complete 5km, comfortably I hope. Stella, get ready those purple FBT shorts!! Yep, I'm gonna get gorgeous thighs. Yay!

I've also been corresponding with my field tutor and this led to another opportunity. We discuss ideas and I asked him what motivates him to be challenging of the status quo etc. Where did he get those guts from. I always wonder if I can be that brave, new blood in the field someday (See see? Someday again.) Ahaha. He opened up the opportunity to co-work on a research or study. Oh my goodness, did gold bars just drop from heaven?! Who'd think of working with a raw and inexperienced undergrad? I thought about it.. I'll go for it. Such opportunities are rare. This's a chance to do some work that'll impact the marketplace. Woohoo.. I remember talking with Jessie and Florence about collaborating in future on a research project. And have it published in a credible social science journal. By age 35. But it looks like it'll be sooner than I thought! I don't know where this will take me, but I'll not despise where I am. Everything starts small. I think the journey is important, maybe more so than the destination. Come on I'm already 21, but I'm also only 21 - I can be a bit more reckless in doing new things.

Watch out, world!

posted by Ling @ 12:23 PM 1 comments

Fight.

I will not give up on my dreams and desires so easily. Not without a fight. Not without a good fight.

"Life is a fight for territory. When you stop fighting for what you want, what you do not want will take over." Dr A.R. Bernard. Yay, he's coming v v soon after so many years!

School's starting v soon!

I'm joining Social Work society.. and gonna teach premarital workshop to teens in Sept! Also wondering if I should join Project Streetwalker by Action for Aids. In this project, they walk the streets in Geylang, giving condoms to the women who prostitute themselves. But still considering. Inspired by Ed Silvoso's msg.. we grow the church but we also need to be an asset to society! I want to get involved.

posted by Ling @ 9:05 PM 1 comments

Come up higher - Phil Pringle

Was looking at some sermon notes taken when Ps Phil came earlier in the year. Very apt for me now.. Here goes:


"The reason we have a burden is for us to give it back to God. Carry the burdens back to God! If you don't, they'll depress you."


"Your inner man needs to get rid of excess baggage everyday. If you don't do that, the baggage will develop a life of its own in your life. Pray and cleanse your spirit everyday."

"Come up higher. Don't let the problem leave you earth-bound."

"The principles of the Bible are not hard - they are impossible! Pray and get the power of God."

"The pain in your life needs to be transferred into your prayer."

posted by Ling @ 12:40 AM 0 comments

Cute dress

posted by Ling @ 1:40 PM 0 comments

Presenting to you..

My latest buy.. it's skirt from Ed Hardy :) Bought it with a voucher. It's a blessing.

posted by Ling @ 11:57 PM 2 comments

5.5 of us

This is hilarious!! Those comments are what we rem one another by. I still haven't gone to get purple fbt shorts.. how i adore them. work those quads darlings!I'm going jogging tmr! wonder where mr purple fbt is tho. ;) Wen wrote "purple FBT" and "6 of Us"!?

posted by Ling @ 1:37 AM 2 comments

Sleeping well and waking up feeling good..

Yay. I've been sleeping well and waking up feeling good! Realized that these few months, I've been waking up feeling like something is weighing on me.. following which, I'd just pray in tongues a bit and start confessing God's Word and get on with my day kind of thing. I didn't think much of it till Ps Mike asked during the service who experienced such stuff before. Wooo... so that's spirits..

Ok, I'm free now! Even my room feels different now.

Ever heard of this? People say that when you talk to God you are praying, but when you hear from God you might be schizophrenic. I thought that was funny. Having studied mental health and illness, I'd say that a person with schiz wouldn't hear nice, soothing words or voices. They typically hear commanding voices such as those asking them to kill someone or jump down the block. Yep.

See? I'm having so much monologue here. You know why? I'm finally done with my attachment and reports! Just have to continue interviewing people and giving tuition that's all. And yea.. Looking forward to FOP and our 17th Anniversary! MY CG WILL GROW!! Lots of stepping out to do.

Oh ya.. I was trying to find out if Ps Mike's church has a website.. then I chanced upon a blog of this guy who attends CHC KL, Ps Kevin's church. How amazing. Over there, they see Ps Kong and our CHC band the way we'd look forward to the coming of Ps Phil and his CCC band. And the way they respect Ps Kong as a man of God and as a senior to their own pastor makes me all the more appreciative of what Ps Kong has been doing. I should never take for granted what and who I've found in CHC. :) :)

posted by Ling @ 2:25 PM 0 comments

When words fail me..

Earlier in the week, I was praying and telling God I can't even begin to put to words what I'm feeling and what I'm going through. It was a terrible feeling not to be able to give what you feel a name, especially when I am stronger in my languages.

God said, "I know".

You have no idea how much that meant to me.. to hear my Father say that He knows.

God has also been reminding to press on and look ahead. The words of Ps Tan always come back to me.. "A man without a vision is a man without a future. A man without a future will always return to his past". I believe this is a quote from Dr A.R. Bernard. There have been certain things that I've not been able to share with many people.. that I've not been able to verbalize.. or that I've dared not verbalize those thoughts. It was really painful to leave Attributes. Ps Kong said during Emerge that we shouldn't need a ministry to keep us going for God.. whether our ministry is big or small, successful or not-so-successful, our love for God must continue to be strong. I guess leaving Attributes was a test for me in this area. No more being called a leader.. in that sense, having less members under me.. no more leaders meeting to go to.. I felt stripped, the sense of feeling that I'm no longer a part of something big. I always enjoyed serving God in bookstore ministry.. there's always a great sense of destiny amongst the leaders there. I felt so alone till I met up with Jiaxuan.. once again and as usual, she encouraged me to be secure in my calling and continue to stand in faith. Yea. God is so faithful to send people to speak into my life. And I also remember the time when Ps Ulf came and preached about seasons.. I felt stirred and I also felt peace to move on.

Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. Prov 4:25.

posted by Ling @ 2:45 AM 0 comments