Challenging Day

Been a challenging yet fulfilling day for me. Challenging bcuz plans were screwed up but fulfilling bcuz God's grace is upon us. I've never encountered a more problematic situation than what i went thru today. It was one of my spiritual son's b'day - he is one of the most faithful, transparent and commited guy since day one, and also one of those who gave me problems. But i believe God has given me the privilege to father some of his greatest men of the future, and this being one of them. It's hard to imagine what he'll be in the future if u look at him now, and frankly speaking it'll be such a far cry... but by faith i believe he'll become one of the mightiest men i'll raise up for God. Amen. That, in itself, is great fulfilment, and it comes with a huge price. I will pay that price.

Things will get better...

Amen! Things will get better! 

Things have not been going on so well here... at least for yesterday. But its just a small matter.
As human beings, we should n't gossip too much. Gossip kills both the speaker and the hearer.
I don't even want to be a part of it. At the end of the day, we are answerable to God, the One 
who will judge both the living and the dead. But teaching is challenging business here. We do
not have all the answers; and because we do not have the answers, we sometimes get so
frustrated. I asked the Lord what can be done to change the situation; what can be done so
that students will learn to be students. My only assurance is that the problem will just get
worse. And the Lord gave me an interesting answer: everybody wants an easy life that pays 
well; but there's no such thing. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Teachers in Singapore
are the most well-paid in this region. How can you expect less problems? If you want to be
well-paid, it comes with a price. Thank God that you're well-paid for suffering.  

HAZE!

Thank God for fresh air!!! Man, you can't imagine how bad its been the last few days. I was literally breathing in smoke. The air was bad enough. But the pleasant smell of fresh air greeted me as i opened my eyes this morning. Hallelujah!!! The haze is gone!! Let there be rain over the next couple of weeks too!

Went to Swenson's to celebrate shaun's b'day. Its been a long time since i eat at swensons. Got to taste ice-cream cake today, and i'm glad everyone was happy and well-fed. It's really good to have money...

Sensei?

what comes to your mind when you think of the word 'teacher'?

a teacher is someone who imparts knowledge - supposedly. 
but teaching is more than just downloading information to your listeners. our youths 
are not just picking up words, they pick up our body languages, our bad habits; 
they look at our attitude, our behavior, our dressings and make-ups. It's not an easy
job, and who can control his tongue perfectly? The tongue is a small part of the body,
but it makes great boasts, and the man who can control it is perfect.

is teaching just about talking? or living? it's not easy. and you have assignments to mark.
you have data entry to do. you have to do this and do that, counsel this and that, solve this
and that. you are fantastic. you are simply unbelievable. hang in there, and consider it pure
joy, my dear brothers, when u undergo trials of all kinds, bcuz u know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance; and perseverance must finish its work, so that we will be mature and
complete, not lacking anything.


God bless you teachers!!!

2nd day of 2nd week

Getting to know more students.
Had to correct a mistake in class today.
I'm starting to like the job.
It's still a challenge to wake up so early daily.
And I can tell I had forgotten a lot of stuff ...

2nd day - reflection

 2nd day of teaching life. Not as boring as the 1st day. I'll write briefly as sleep is overtaking me.

What went well today?
I enjoyed my lessons. Got to see some of 1-7's chow kuans. Got my laptop w me. Can watch youtube. Made use of spare time to eat. Stood in for HOD and had a good time w 1-9 (didn't screw anything up). Co-taught a physics lab. Met another christian teacher. Someone offered to lend me her maths resources (oh i'm so happy). Got my calculator.

What can i do differently next time?
Have some tricks on standby. Get ready more new riddles. Be more serious in class.

When i was studying in sec 4, i contracted pneumonia and was hospitalised for about 2 weeks. During tat period one of my grandmother visited me and said when i grow up, i must not be like my parents. i thought it was ridiculous, bcos how can a child not resemble his parents? but now tat i'm older, things happen pretty much like what she said, although not in a way that she had anticipated. I'm not saying my parents are bad, but I had this strong resolution in my heart that i'll not inherit the things which i don't want to inherit.  Excessive worries, fears, lack of planning, lack of foresight, lack of wisdom, love of money, etc... I will only inherit 'good things'. Today I asked myself why. I guess its bcos i'm sick of the kind of life i'm living in right now. I want to be rich. I want to be successful. I want to be influential. I want to leave behind blessings for my children. Seng Lee says ' the only reason why man changes, is bcos he's uncomfortable.'

I'm glad Jesus is in my life. Bcus of Jesus, I have power to change things and to change my life. Bcus of Jesus I know I have a future waiting to be embraced. And there are 12 things the Lord revealed to me about G12:

1. It is the Revelation of the Cross
2. It is about Discipleship. Can a man effectively disciple 1 000 000 000 people? The ans is no. But thru G12 he can. That's why G12 is the key to winning the nations for christ. Win! Consolidate! Disciple! Send!
3. It is Spiritual Fathering/Mothering. Prepares you for family life as you serve it.
4. It is about Family. G12 strengthens the family, contrary to what many pple think. Just don't think this in your mind. Think of it outside.
5. It releases the Women into ministry. Just think about it. Women has greater capacity for growth. They are co-heirs with men. Lord give me a wife.
6. It is about 3-Generational Fathering. You dont seek to just build 12; You build 144. 144 is the key to multiplication.
7. It is the fulfilment of Scriptures: "Be fruitful and multiply. FIll the earth and subdue it."
8. It believes in every individual. Everyone is capable of becoming a G12 leader. God will use anyone who is willing.
9. It is supernatural. Everything that is supernatual invites us into the presence of God. You are not going to make it yourself. Not by power, not by might, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.
10. It is about the Father's Love. This is something that will take eternity for me to fully understand.
11. It seeks to develop the God-given potential inside everyone.
12. It makes sense. Even Jesus did not try to establish God's kingdom in one day, or in the multitudes. He focused on 12 guys. He knows it is something manageable for us. And he did so for 3.5 years. And after the first revival, they just concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 to help their 12 concentrate on their 12 .....

SOL3 make up

Had to beat my body up early in the morning again... 
For just one lesson of SOL 3 that I missed and due to some screw-up, had to re-attend it (the 2nd time!!). But its always good to hear from Seng Lee. Always very refreshing and very inspiring.

Today's topic is on leadership, or rather supernatural leadership:

Leadership=Influence -> Person who leads People to achieve a (moral) Purpose

Character Transformation
Identity Redeemed (Read "Eros Redeemed" by John White)
Potential Developed

Leader must:
Direct Growth
Destroy Hindrances
Develop Inner Life
Demand Greatness

G12

What is G12? G12 stands for the Government of 12. It is God's strategy for us to effectively evangelize to multitudes of pple and disciple them at the same time. The Great Commission states that we should make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father , SOn and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. Jesus spoke to multitudes, but only concentrated on forming 12 apostles. Therefore the key is: focus on 12. Thru the 12 you will disciple the rest.

The year is governed by 12 months.
The day is governed by 12 hours
The night is governed by 12 hours
Israel was formed by 12 tribes
SOlomon had 12 governors
The Holy SPirit came when the 12th apostle was chosen
The fire of God fell when the 12 stones were built

The model of 12 provides direction and will ensure success and fruitfulness to anyone who embraces it. It is biblical. It is supernatural. It is manageable.

The Wasted Life

I must admit that serving in fcbc has kept me busy in ministry almost the whole time (smtimes to the point where i dun hav time worrying abt things). Its good to sit down n do self-reflection every once in a while. But i discover i must also be careful w my thots bcuz vain thots will try to set themselves in also, seeking to oppose whatever God is trying to do.



I was reading thru some old posts n quite amazed at some of the things i write. Come to think of it, i muz hav been really demoralised to write all tat. Maybe i wasn't happy working in crush after all. The book 'Successful leadership thru the G12" tells me that serving Jesus is not a waste. I have questioned before whether all the things I'm doing for Jesus have been a waste of time. I could hav gotten a better degree, a better paying job, maybe a car now, less headaches and more rest if i dun do the things that i did. But i cannot, becuz the power of the spirit is strong within me. Even if its a waste, Jesus says whoever loses his life for him will find it. And i've always remembered that. God never lies. So I ask myself why I'm serving Him again -



"To waste one's life in christ brings the most extraordinary satisfaction. Seeing thousands of lives and families transformed by the power of God produces a joy so special, that it is difficult to find anything in this world that surpasses it. The best decision that a human being can make is to invest every day of his life serving God." -Ps CCD



Somehow my heart and my spirit affirms that. And i recognise, for watever reason, that i will stick to this command, so that i can always have a clear conscience before God. Nothing is wasted when invested in Jesus.

 

Paying the Price

"Ministry does me more good than harm." I can't agree more with this statement, after working hard in fcbc ever since i entered ah-pa's cell, every bit of this journey has been challenging, tough, gruelling and dying to self. So after 6 yrs of laboring, i must say God has made a much better person than what I've been, even tho I always thot i'm doing things for God or for others. Becoming a more godly person is accomplished thru dying to self for others n for God rather than serving the self. And by dying we actually gain life, just like wat jesus said,"whoever tries to save his own life loses it, but whoever loses his life for me finds it." Amen, how true.



But of course, having said that, i have to question myself: what then is life? Does it mean having more in the worldly context? Does it mean being richer, and more successful? Does it mean that I must have a bigger ministry? Seriously I feel like a piece of shiit when I discover that serving God doesn't guarantee me a girlfriend, 12 leaders, a new car, a 5-digit pay after working for like xxx no. of years for the lord. (Altho' praise the lord if i have all of these in one year). WOrse still, i may end up without any savings and lem-beh disciples and having lesser resources than before. Worse still? U mean this cannot be one of the option? Of course its not supposed to be lah. Its not smth to be focused upon. Instead, like wat ah-pa said, do i settle it with God in my heart? Have i decided that i will sacrifice anything to serve God, and will not consider what the outcome is, but trust God with all I have? Will I secure this 50% of the battle? I believe its not a question ah-pa is trying to pose to me; rather i believe this is what God wants me to answer today.



Will i serve the lord? Regardless of the price, regardless of the outcome, regardless of anything... will i serve the lord?