Saturday, February 26, 2011
hey guys,
just came back from some long stretched ymc meeting with all core leaders. been a while since i stepped down but i still do feel the pressure of achieving unity and moving all the communities forward. its been such a struggle really for so long and it explains my relief when i handed over to Jason. not just the sheer difficulty of convergence of opinions and discernments, its of judgements and temptation to sin. as such, i feel the need to just leave that scene for a while, of worrying about all the other communities, and just focus on my own spirituality and on LOG. perhaps it isn't right to intrude into other communities and to challenge on what they have to do, and so i shan't do it any longer. actually, probably boils down to my own fault for not trusting in God's providence for each community.
then here comes dance ministry which i want to start. yet after today's meeting, i just feel like i need to fight another battle all over again. or perhaps if i set things right from the start with a common direction, it wouldn't be so bad.
praise God though, that once i came back, i saw brother nicholas' note on fighting a war for God. Not that we're fighting each other for what we think is right, but that the fact that we are fighting is the work of the Devil. Regardless of who's right, perhaps there's another way of resolving things. One challenge though is for both sides to recognise that the Devil is at work, so lets pray for unity. and pray for me.
bro nick's blog http://awalkwithyou.blogspot.com/
mark
Friday, February 25, 2011
Hullo hullo!
I guess there's not much to say but anyway.
Have you taken a pause to do nothing? I know there's this emphasis. But i guess even when we leave the stream of doing something, we are thinking & worrying about stuff.
We need to spend a little bit of time listening and telling God stuff. We need time to feel happy, sad, excited, angry etc.
We busy ourselves a little too much. We brush off sad news as normal.
We try to get caught up with the excited of the world, but it only leaves us more lonely.
Our little electronics make up the basis of our interactions with certain people.
We build our little shell of ours at home.
We forget the awe and wonder we had when we were young. Boring eh?
We find ourselves lacking time because we are too demanding with time
I've given up hope in much stuff & there's a little hole that only widens.
We can blame school & all. But if you give up a little & all, you'll realise there's enough time for everything.
When we start noticing & enjoying the little things, we aren't that bored.
When we bring ourselves out of our comfort zone & devote time, we can do wonders.
When we know what we should do, our time becomes just nice.
If we spare a little thought about the things that happen to us, we feel & revelation comes to us.
When we dont' cut-off our emotions, we become sharper.
Peace doesn't come without effort, feelings & thought.
Have a nice weekend.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Hi guys,
Hope everyone’s been fine. Anyway I won’t be there for session this week because SOW’s doing outreach in Saint Joseph’s Church in Bukit Timah =(
Anyway I believe that this post will contain lots of things which I want to share with you guys & I hope that nothing offends any of you or anything but if it does I really didn’t mean to & I apologies.
Firstly, I want to Thank you guys for being so supportive and encouraging when I got my results and when I wasn’t happy with it. I was really scared about how people would judge me with my results and I was just feeling insecure but when I shared my struggles with you guys at retreat and I mean like the support you guys just gave me so much courage to stand up and just to be brave and to be accepting. SOW did play a great part in the strength and graces I received from God to accept my results too ad so did you guys so I just thank you for that.
Secondly, our trash talk week was an eye opener for me about community. Community is never a bed of roses. I have learnt in SOW too that there are so many people with different characters, beings, habits, perspective and we are all unique beings coming together and becoming a family. Community = family members. We are all in this journey to God who is our final destination but to reach that destination we need to be there for each other like how a family is. We need to learn to love each other for who we are and for how imperfect we all are. Everyone of us have imperfections we accept it or not and we all make mistakes and we all fall but as a community we should accept each other’s imperfections and teach each other the right so that we don’t repeat that mistake and we all climb that mountain however steep it is and when one person falls we should help that person back up and climb and support each other to the top. Honestly, I know it sound very cliché but that’s the fact, we are to strive to be like that because we are journeying to God who is perfection. I can testify that community is hard, I struggled with certain people in SOW but living with them for 5 weeks and journeying for about 7 weeks trust me I have grown to love them just the way they are. And if you are wondering where I am leading this too, it is about Kris, Bel & Melvin Seah. I don’t really know any of them really well, I just remember Kris in certain occasions and we (LOG) had lunch with Melvin Seah once and I have no relationship with Bel. I mean I knew there was something on between the community and them but I never knew the real thing till the thrash talk. A part of me empathized with the pain many of you felt and I agree as friends more than even community members it would have been a really hurtful sting which you will pray that you never want to experience again. In SOW from the first week I learnt that there is nothing as sufficient or powerful as God’s grace. That day I decided that I had to do something but I couldn’t do anything much so I decided I will pray because that was the only thing I could do. I usually pray for LOG in my daily pray but now when I pray for LOG I decided to pray specifically for the 3 of them and for those who are hurt, I have been praying for God’s grace to be poured out to them and for reconciliation and just for unity and for God to just touch all our lives. And recently in pray just a few things came up to me and I just want to share it with you.
• We are a community & we come to church every Sunday for session. We support each other in our struggles and difficulties. We affirm each other and challenge each other’s limits and correct each other but most of all we have god in our lives and we are suppose to be journeying towards God and being Christ centered individuals.
For those who have disappeared from the community and who have hurt us, do they truly have God in their lives now? And if they don’t, I am pretty sure that God is there but they are not that open to him, for him to guide them to the correct way or the Christ centered way all the time. They don’t have a Christ centered community to help, challenge them either. And as you read this if the thought “They left the community and so it’s their fault” Well that’s true but we (LOG) not pulling them back and consistently not reaching out to them is partly our fault. I guess what I am trying to say is that I believe that everyone deserves a second opportunity and I think they deserve one too. I am just asking those of you who require reconciliation with them to just take the first step and to reach out to them (no matter if you have tried before or not) and when you do if they respond you would have just helped a friend + community member + a brother or sister in Christ to experience God’s love. And if you are requiring inspiration go and look at last Sunday’s Gospel. I encourage not only those who need to reconcile with Kris , Bel & Melvin but the whole community itself to reach out and to be the salt and light of God.
Thirdly, I just hope that I have not offended anyone or said anything wrong. I apologies again if I have said anything wrong. Honestly, LOG is my second family and I really treasure you guys a lot. When SOW ends I can’t wait to come and facil camps, go out for supper, study & just hang out with you guys. Swee’s post which is below really inspired me because I am aware that I don’t know so many of you well and it’s impossible to know what’s happening in everyone’s life but I just really really hope to get to each ad everyone of you better.
Finally, SOW is ending in 2 weeks =( =(and I am going to be really busy the next 2 weeks. Please please keep me in your prays , please pray that I will have good health because I am not feeling too good now and please pray that God will give me the grace to go out of my comfort zone and to just give myself to the outreaches which are coming. Please also keep Mark & the rest of the Sow-ers in your prayers. If you are free on the 18th Feb please come for “Testify to Love Rally” which I have invited all of you on Facebook.
If you have reached till this, I thank you so much for bearing with me and listening to my thoughts. I just want to affirm everyone of you for making LOG the community it is today and please note that everyone in the community is really important and you make LOG the fun , intellectual, awesome community it is =)
God loves you guys outrageously!!!!!
<3 Greg
P.S: The photos are just to make you smile and this is what my post is dedicated too.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Dinner Love
I just had dinner with Jes Jess and Soo. Quite impromptu, as my parents pangsehed me. And with a simple dinner at market, it just felt like community. Talking about relationships and ideals, from when we were kids to when we will be toothless.
I somehow wish that all of you can experience such moments. Such moments of friendship, such moments of friendships in community. But you cannot engineer such events to happen. They just turn out differently. With all these social events of late, before people even come, they ask, what are we doing. But does it matter?
CNY - I'd say gamble, but then again, not everyone gambles. So these people just head home. Will everyone come if I say we're going to just sit around with cushions, hot chocolate and chat? Maybe that is why I want a couch in my room.
Gambling to me, has never been about the money. The money is there for me just to make people think.
Thus I think to answer joan's question of why we do not all in every single round. Not because it isn't fun or isn't exciting. But we're friends! let each other at least see the flop.
But I guess it's a game.
I guess we all have our ideals in community. So I thank Jess, Jes and Soo for the dinner that just made my CNY... right.
*Lecture Starting
God Bless,
<3 Swee
hey guys,
just came back from some long stretched ymc meeting with all core leaders. been a while since i stepped down but i still do feel the pressure of achieving unity and moving all the communities forward. its been such a struggle really for so long and it explains my relief when i handed over to Jason. not just the sheer difficulty of convergence of opinions and discernments, its of judgements and temptation to sin. as such, i feel the need to just leave that scene for a while, of worrying about all the other communities, and just focus on my own spirituality and on LOG. perhaps it isn't right to intrude into other communities and to challenge on what they have to do, and so i shan't do it any longer. actually, probably boils down to my own fault for not trusting in God's providence for each community.
then here comes dance ministry which i want to start. yet after today's meeting, i just feel like i need to fight another battle all over again. or perhaps if i set things right from the start with a common direction, it wouldn't be so bad.
praise God though, that once i came back, i saw brother nicholas' note on fighting a war for God. Not that we're fighting each other for what we think is right, but that the fact that we are fighting is the work of the Devil. Regardless of who's right, perhaps there's another way of resolving things. One challenge though is for both sides to recognise that the Devil is at work, so lets pray for unity. and pray for me.
bro nick's blog http://awalkwithyou.blogspot.com/
mark
0 Comments:
______________________________________________Friday, February 25, 2011
Hullo hullo!
I guess there's not much to say but anyway.
Have you taken a pause to do nothing? I know there's this emphasis. But i guess even when we leave the stream of doing something, we are thinking & worrying about stuff.
We need to spend a little bit of time listening and telling God stuff. We need time to feel happy, sad, excited, angry etc.
We busy ourselves a little too much. We brush off sad news as normal.
We try to get caught up with the excited of the world, but it only leaves us more lonely.
Our little electronics make up the basis of our interactions with certain people.
We build our little shell of ours at home.
We forget the awe and wonder we had when we were young. Boring eh?
We find ourselves lacking time because we are too demanding with time
I've given up hope in much stuff & there's a little hole that only widens.
We can blame school & all. But if you give up a little & all, you'll realise there's enough time for everything.
When we start noticing & enjoying the little things, we aren't that bored.
When we bring ourselves out of our comfort zone & devote time, we can do wonders.
When we know what we should do, our time becomes just nice.
If we spare a little thought about the things that happen to us, we feel & revelation comes to us.
When we dont' cut-off our emotions, we become sharper.
Peace doesn't come without effort, feelings & thought.
Have a nice weekend.
0 Comments:
______________________________________________Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Hi guys,
Hope everyone’s been fine. Anyway I won’t be there for session this week because SOW’s doing outreach in Saint Joseph’s Church in Bukit Timah =(
Anyway I believe that this post will contain lots of things which I want to share with you guys & I hope that nothing offends any of you or anything but if it does I really didn’t mean to & I apologies.
Firstly, I want to Thank you guys for being so supportive and encouraging when I got my results and when I wasn’t happy with it. I was really scared about how people would judge me with my results and I was just feeling insecure but when I shared my struggles with you guys at retreat and I mean like the support you guys just gave me so much courage to stand up and just to be brave and to be accepting. SOW did play a great part in the strength and graces I received from God to accept my results too ad so did you guys so I just thank you for that.
Secondly, our trash talk week was an eye opener for me about community. Community is never a bed of roses. I have learnt in SOW too that there are so many people with different characters, beings, habits, perspective and we are all unique beings coming together and becoming a family. Community = family members. We are all in this journey to God who is our final destination but to reach that destination we need to be there for each other like how a family is. We need to learn to love each other for who we are and for how imperfect we all are. Everyone of us have imperfections we accept it or not and we all make mistakes and we all fall but as a community we should accept each other’s imperfections and teach each other the right so that we don’t repeat that mistake and we all climb that mountain however steep it is and when one person falls we should help that person back up and climb and support each other to the top. Honestly, I know it sound very cliché but that’s the fact, we are to strive to be like that because we are journeying to God who is perfection. I can testify that community is hard, I struggled with certain people in SOW but living with them for 5 weeks and journeying for about 7 weeks trust me I have grown to love them just the way they are. And if you are wondering where I am leading this too, it is about Kris, Bel & Melvin Seah. I don’t really know any of them really well, I just remember Kris in certain occasions and we (LOG) had lunch with Melvin Seah once and I have no relationship with Bel. I mean I knew there was something on between the community and them but I never knew the real thing till the thrash talk. A part of me empathized with the pain many of you felt and I agree as friends more than even community members it would have been a really hurtful sting which you will pray that you never want to experience again. In SOW from the first week I learnt that there is nothing as sufficient or powerful as God’s grace. That day I decided that I had to do something but I couldn’t do anything much so I decided I will pray because that was the only thing I could do. I usually pray for LOG in my daily pray but now when I pray for LOG I decided to pray specifically for the 3 of them and for those who are hurt, I have been praying for God’s grace to be poured out to them and for reconciliation and just for unity and for God to just touch all our lives. And recently in pray just a few things came up to me and I just want to share it with you.
• We are a community & we come to church every Sunday for session. We support each other in our struggles and difficulties. We affirm each other and challenge each other’s limits and correct each other but most of all we have god in our lives and we are suppose to be journeying towards God and being Christ centered individuals.
For those who have disappeared from the community and who have hurt us, do they truly have God in their lives now? And if they don’t, I am pretty sure that God is there but they are not that open to him, for him to guide them to the correct way or the Christ centered way all the time. They don’t have a Christ centered community to help, challenge them either. And as you read this if the thought “They left the community and so it’s their fault” Well that’s true but we (LOG) not pulling them back and consistently not reaching out to them is partly our fault. I guess what I am trying to say is that I believe that everyone deserves a second opportunity and I think they deserve one too. I am just asking those of you who require reconciliation with them to just take the first step and to reach out to them (no matter if you have tried before or not) and when you do if they respond you would have just helped a friend + community member + a brother or sister in Christ to experience God’s love. And if you are requiring inspiration go and look at last Sunday’s Gospel. I encourage not only those who need to reconcile with Kris , Bel & Melvin but the whole community itself to reach out and to be the salt and light of God.
Thirdly, I just hope that I have not offended anyone or said anything wrong. I apologies again if I have said anything wrong. Honestly, LOG is my second family and I really treasure you guys a lot. When SOW ends I can’t wait to come and facil camps, go out for supper, study & just hang out with you guys. Swee’s post which is below really inspired me because I am aware that I don’t know so many of you well and it’s impossible to know what’s happening in everyone’s life but I just really really hope to get to each ad everyone of you better.
Finally, SOW is ending in 2 weeks =( =(and I am going to be really busy the next 2 weeks. Please please keep me in your prays , please pray that I will have good health because I am not feeling too good now and please pray that God will give me the grace to go out of my comfort zone and to just give myself to the outreaches which are coming. Please also keep Mark & the rest of the Sow-ers in your prayers. If you are free on the 18th Feb please come for “Testify to Love Rally” which I have invited all of you on Facebook.
If you have reached till this, I thank you so much for bearing with me and listening to my thoughts. I just want to affirm everyone of you for making LOG the community it is today and please note that everyone in the community is really important and you make LOG the fun , intellectual, awesome community it is =)
God loves you guys outrageously!!!!!
<3 Greg
P.S: The photos are just to make you smile and this is what my post is dedicated too.
1 Comments:
thanks greg, im really glad you're part of the family
By 
anne,
February 09, 2011 12:59 AM
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Dinner Love
I just had dinner with Jes Jess and Soo. Quite impromptu, as my parents pangsehed me. And with a simple dinner at market, it just felt like community. Talking about relationships and ideals, from when we were kids to when we will be toothless.
I somehow wish that all of you can experience such moments. Such moments of friendship, such moments of friendships in community. But you cannot engineer such events to happen. They just turn out differently. With all these social events of late, before people even come, they ask, what are we doing. But does it matter?
CNY - I'd say gamble, but then again, not everyone gambles. So these people just head home. Will everyone come if I say we're going to just sit around with cushions, hot chocolate and chat? Maybe that is why I want a couch in my room.
Gambling to me, has never been about the money. The money is there for me just to make people think.
Thus I think to answer joan's question of why we do not all in every single round. Not because it isn't fun or isn't exciting. But we're friends! let each other at least see the flop.
But I guess it's a game.
I guess we all have our ideals in community. So I thank Jess, Jes and Soo for the dinner that just made my CNY... right.
*Lecture Starting
God Bless,
<3 Swee