Jesus shall take the highest honour,
Jesus shall take the highest praise;
Let all earth join heaven in exalting
the Name which is above all other names
Let's bow the knee in humble adoration,
for at His Name every knee must bow.
Let every tongue confess
He is Christ, God's only Son,
Sovereign Lord, we give You glory now

For all honour and blessing and power
belongs to You, belongs to You.
All honour and blessing and power
belongs to You, belongs to You,
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.

save me Lord. from feeling this way. i give up. i give up... its all in Your hands...

paper balls

[northbrooks secondary]

=) Abiel's here to join the relief teaching family too. Haha..had a great catch-up yesterday, lunch @ Northpoint with Abiel and Ganesh. He was just telling me about what his boys do in class. throwing scrunged up paper balls and all that. and how he... wanted to throw those balls AT them. :D hahaha... it's like, he used to be throwing paper balls all around back in school, and now, he's supposed to be all prim and proper. =) talk about reversal of roles.

just a thought... the kids here aren't all that bad actually. They are mischievous, as any other their age, would be. Even in RI, when I was there they were shooting paper bullets and all that. Just that... in RI, they do respect their teachers. They wouldn't outrightly defy their teachers. and they most certainly wouldn't shout back at you, when you shout at them. But because they are in the normal stream (most), they are just 'deemed' naughty, troublesome, just plain disrespectful. And oftentimes, the prophecy is self-fulfilled.. they're the result of the pressures of society, actually. Many of them belong to single-parent families, without proper guidance. and care, from their parents. pretty sad. if i were in their shoes, there's no light at the end of my tunnel of life. to fulfil this craving of acceptance? Into gangs they join. secret societies. drawn by that false sense of security, the 'protection' that his 'brothers' would provide. studies take a second priority--they can't see how, by studying, would help them in their current need.

tough eh? Grace, needed. Only God understands. And He's reaching, reaching, reaching out, ever ready with His arms of embrace. to fulfil the void in their hearts.

till I see You... =) United Live

The greatest love that anyone could ever know
That overcame the cross and grave to find my soul
And till I see You face to face and grace amazing takes me home
I'll trust in You

With all I am I'll live to see Your kingdom come
And in my heart I pray You'd let Your will be done
And till I see You face to face and grace amazing takes me home
I'll trust in You

I will live to love You
I will live to bring You praise
I will live a child in awe of You

You are a voice that called the universe to be
You are the whisper in my heart that speaks to me
And till I see You face to face and grace amazing takes me home
I'll trust in you

You alone are God of all
You alone are worthy Lord
And with all I am my soul will bless Your name

hmmmmmmm :D 

jem & cand 

me & marc 

diving! xiaowen & jem 

john. pro. kang's house. 

all there for kai's party...=) thanks aunty teo 

Diving.

Fun. =) Pretty technical though. Going for my first pool lesson tomorrow.

Was helping John out for his workshop at regent sec earlier in the day. I must say, it has been fulfilling. =)

A life much brighter. =)

Knowing that the favour of God shines upon you, always.

When things do not turn out the way we want them to, do we get frustrated with ourselves and get frustrated with God? Do we walk away from the warm embrace of our heavenly Father? What do we do when we are frustrated?

Gen 12
¹ Now the LORD had said to Abram:
"Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father's house,
To a land that I will show you.
²I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

And so Abram enters the Promised Land. But...when he was there:

Gen 12
¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai (which also means "grace") his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹²Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, "This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you."
***
How do we handle our frustrations? some people go clubbing; some drink till they go drunk; some watch korean vcds; some eat a lot; some take long walks by the beach; some blog. Some get so frustrated that they get bitter with God, and estranged from Him, thinking that He doesn't provide for them anymore.
***
Abram? There was famine in the promised land, a picture of lack of provision. What was his response to the lack of provision? Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, Egypt being a type of the world. He did this in spite of God's firm promise that He will bless all who bless him, and curse all who curses him. I mean, like, Abram was in the promised land! =) the land full of rest. And Abram did not have that revelation that God will provide for his every need. He returned to the world...to Egpyt. It's natural that when we are in the world, the tendency is for our flesh to be weak, and we compromise to the standards of the world. and what does the world give a picture of? Self-effort, earning what we desire. Abram compromises, and kicks Sarai = 'grace' away, choosing to embrace grace as a sister and not spouse.

But look at how gracious God is:

Gen12
¹⁴So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. ¹⁶He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, "She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." ²⁰So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Gen 13
¹ Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. ²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

Even when grace was put aside as a sister, God still blesses Abram for grace's sake. Wow. And plagues Pharoah with great plagues cos He is faithful to His promise (He will curse all who curses Abram). If God is for you, who can be against you? No one. And Abram returns to the promised land once again.

Through faith and patience, we inherit all the promises of God which are yes and amen. Surely, we have our health, healing, our riches, our deliverance, our results, our success, and peace. Surely. Because that was what Jesus came to give, the divine exchange made possible by that greatest love act. Surely, we receive. Only, believe.

teaching teaching

=) My last day here, teaching.=) for now at least. :) Hopefully get more assignments.

Just had a period of maths with 1F. really funny la those buggers. =) To imagine I was amongst the lil imps. *ha!* :) Not sure if i went too fast though. covered algebraic identities with them and they were like huh? 2 more periods with 1G and 1I before I can call it a day. My last lesson at 2pm!

On another note, I called Safe2Travel again and confirmed that I need not pay the admin fee for the visa application! Hmm... I'll call later, check with her again, and go down to tanjong pagar if I need to. Sian. So much travelling these days. =) okie okie...

Had a great time out yesterday too. haha ... went down to town with jem to meet 'mok and smiley' for drinks and chat. haha then headed down to marina bay chin huat live seafood to meet my dsta friends. Ate a lot sial... 12 bucks buffet! Whack whack whack...

14 July BS.

Hey all. =) yup..ok so I finally get down to doing this... =) The most recent BS was awesome!=) prophetic timing, it was on.=) ok here goes...

***
Yup, and so pastor starts by re-affirming the body of Christ (i.e. the church!).. As Christ is, so are we in this world! As Jesus is ever-pleasing to the Father, so are we! As Jesus is ALWAYS healthy, wealthy, at peace, as He is righteous...so are we! For that was what He died on the cross for, to be everything that we lack. =)

Hebrews 10
11And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Yup, after Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, He had conquered all! All His enemies! Throughout Jesus' ministry, we see that He conquers sickness as He went about healing the sick, He conquers poverty, He conquers demons as He cast them out, the last enemy being Death, when He was resurrected by God on the 3rd day. And as He rose again to be with the Father at His right hand, Jesus conquered death for us. So what do we have in store for us? According to Paul in Hebrews (above passage), Jesus, after saving the world, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. We see the body of Christ throughout the ages...from the time of His sacrifice till now..2000 years have passed! In the recent century, we see the church getting healthier, getting richer, getting more sound, having more wisdom... church leaders rising up in faith... as one by one, the lack of mankind, the enemies of Christ, are swept under His feet, and under His footstool. this has got to do with the prophetic vision that Isaiah, David, Elijah and all the Prophets had. The vision of a generation that will not see Death, a generation that will be prosperous, healthy, wise, the rapture generation, the Gideon army, the Benjamin generation. The generation who just puts their trust in the goodness of God and receive 30, 60, a hundred fold. =) Sounds good ya? Well, this applies to us today because we ARE that generation of envy!

Well you know what? We don't have to wait to enjoy the benefits that Christ has for us! Because He HAS already conquered His enemies, when He hung on the cross and took all our shame. He has! Do you believe that? Do you really believe in your heart that you are free from sickness, poverty and death? Because that is what Christ redeemed you from.

Hebrews 1
¹ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ²has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself^[a] purged our^[b] sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

Hebrews 9
²⁵not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- ²⁶He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

In Paul's time, [about AD 70], he refers his era as 'these last days' and 'at the end of the ages'. It's really not that far off isn't it? =) At the time of Jesus' sacrifice was the 'end of the ages'...hmm what could that mean? Certainly not end of the world? The 'ages' referred to here having and 'end' must mean that there has to be a beginning of a new age! (okay..take some time, digest ...) Christ came to END the age of the law! Christ came to fulfil the law so that we can NO LONGER be cursed by it! *amazing* =) and it is the beginning of a new age of GRACE which is activated through FAITH in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. :D Wow. Looking at Scripture through unveiled eyes really does make a difference. Christ has embraced us with open arms! After having cried out 'it is finished!' and giving up His Spirit, having taken all our judgement, God has torn the veil and made away into the Holy of Holies.

Pastor went on to illustrate where the church is now, prophetically.

In the tabernacle of David where the Jews worship, there are 3 main areas. The outer court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

THE OUTER COURT


THE HOLY PLACE


INSIDE THE HOLY OF HOLIES


okay... yup I'm definitely not making this up either. =) As I said, Bible Scripture reinforces bible Scripture. God told Moses how he wanted His tabernacle (or simply put, a tent of meeting) to be made. You can read all about it from Exodus 25
onwards where God ordained the tabernacle for His own worship. Of course, this is not needed today for we ourselves are individual temples of God for we've been washed so clean. =)

Alright, so, from the top view, these 3 places are connected in this way:


The outer court containing the brazen altar, the Holy Place containing the Table of Showbread and the Lampstand, and the Holy of Holies containing the Ark of the Covenant (representing Jesus Himself).

Yup, Paul says of the old system of making offerings to God for atonement:

Hebrews 9
¹ Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. ²For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All (i.e. the Holy of Holies), ⁴which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part (i.e. the Holy Place) of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷But into the second part (i.e. the Holy of Holies) the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; ⁸the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle (i.e. before Christ's sacrifice) was still standing. ⁹It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience-- ¹⁰concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. (qsn: when is this time of reformation? =) )

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹²Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

=) Wow. What a chapter. Paul speaks of the tabernacle of meeting that God ordained through Moses, before Christ came to take it away. The High Priest could enter the Holy Place but only ONCE into the Holy of Holies. That is, only on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest sacrifices bulls, calves, and sprinkles their blood on the 'mercy seat', under the wings of the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant. He is only allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once a year to perform the sacrifice! and every year he has to do the same thing to ensure that the nation of Israel be blessed. For when there is shedding of blood, there is the covering of sins. and the blood of bulls and goats could only cover the sins of the nation of Israel. Paul speaks in verse 9 that these practices could not perfect the conscience of the people! They always had a debt on their conscience--have I been good enough lately? Did I offer enough to God? etc.. and the practices were concerned fleshly ordinances (verse 10) until the time of reformation come.

Well well, what is this time of reformation then? It has been revealed for all to see that this time of reformation is indeed the time of GRACE that has been brought into the world through Jesus Christ. Jesus has obtained eternal redemption for our benefit! No longer is it needed for us to offer sacrifices yearly to atone for our sins. Jesus has taken ALL the wrath of God for US! God has judged Jesus instead of us so that we can be freely blessed. For when there is shedding of blood, there is forgiveness of sins. That sin has been paid by that someone else. And He came to taketh away the condemnation and guilt that we would otherwise be feeling everyday. Jesus has perfected our conscience! something that the blood of bulls and goats could never do.

Okay, having laid the background... let us proceed to crunch time. In the tabernacle, The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies are separated by a thick veil. For what stands behind the veil, in the Holy of Holies is the light of God Himself.

Matthew 27
⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
⁴⁷Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" ⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.⁴⁹The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."
⁵⁰And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

⁵¹Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵²and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

An account of what happened when the judgement of Jesus was complete. the veil of the temple was torn in 2 from top to bottom! God couldn't wait! He tore the veil (which was four cubits [1.8 meters] wide by the way) and made a way into the Holy of Holies. Jesus' blood has washed us so clean that we can see God's face and behold His glory, and receive His love, enjoy His blessings.

[Quick Fact: the number 1000 in the bible refers to many/innumerable. When the psalmist proclaims that the Lord owns a 1000 hills, it doesn't mean He doesn't own the 1001th! The Bible says Jesus will come back and reign for 1000 years. Doesn't mean that He won't reign the 1001th!]

Okay, and here's the interesting part. The Holy Place is 20 cubits by 10 by 10 wide. 20 x 10 x 10 = 2000! and the Holy of Holies? 10 cubits by 10 by 10. 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000. The Church has been in the Holy Place in spite of the veil already being torn 2000 years ago! And now, prophetically, the Church of Jesus Christ is realising their full inheritance in Christ and is now seeing the light! The Church of Christ is prophetically moving into the Holy of Holies. Crossing over from the Holy Place. And as we view the world through our eyes of grace, we see indeed the message of the gospel spreading like wildfire. The message of GRACE GRACE GRACE, and not the law... transforming lives. The body of Christ becoming richer and richer. More word of faith churches, more word of faith grace preachers all over the world, much more than ever. More people praying in tongues. No longer is the belief that we have to 'endure' till Christ comes. Rubbish! Those who know that they are righteous in Christ reign on earth! and reign on earth at present! means NOW! Kings and priests! We were in the outer court, then in the Holy Place, right now heading into the Holy of Holies. Where we are to enjoy the Feast of Tabernacles with God Almighty Himself!

We are at that point of crossing the river Jordan with Joshua and the ark of the covenant. Remember that story?

Joshua 3
²So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; ³and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. ⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."

Even the story of Joshua prophesises this coming time. The awakening of the body of Christ, realising their true and full inheritance. The ark of the covenant represents Jesus Himself! and they crossed the river Jordan into the Promised Land with the ark of the covenant first! = ) But note that the rest of the children of Israel were 2000 cubits behind the initial crossing of the River Jordan. 2000 years have passed since Christ gave Himself. Wow, prophetically amazing!

I would also have you know that the years that passed from generation to generation from ADAM to ABRAHAM was 2000 years. (40 cycles of Jubilee by the way). ABRAHAM to JESUS? 2000 years. JESUS to now? 2000 years! and Jesus rose on the 3rd day, conquering death, and rose up to be with His Father. The time is now!

Joshua 5
⁸So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. ⁹Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal (rolling away) to this day.

And right after they crossed the Jordan, the first truth that God would have you know is that He is no longer angry with you. =) No condemnation! There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION! for those who are in Christ Jesus, for He has perfected our conscience!
***

*takes a deep breath* Wow. must be the longest so far. :) For you Limz. =) And all who have ears to hear, let him hear. You know, it does take humility to admit, to accept and to appreciate the reality of the truth that Jesus indeed die to take away the old, so that we can put on our new man in Christ. It does. =) For it's when you know that there is a real God out there, a real God who loves you with a real love, with real power, that you wanna fall in love with His perfect sacrifice over and over and over again. =) It's a beautiful picture to behold.

Be blessed folks!

teaching till wed... 

rachel's place. thanks for the avis jo!=) 

haven't seen this bugger in a REALLY REALLY long while. =) glad to have seen him. 13 July, NUS High for comm service 

thoughts...

Dear all,

i'll be coming up with 3 summaries of very good sermons over the past 2 weeks. = )so stay tuned. =)

Speaking to Limin online now, and she's telling me about the Hillsongs conference in Sydney that she, bert, dre, enz went for. wow. i heard it was awesome! =) It's just really *wow* the extent of the gospel=)Pple from all over the world were there. Dubai, Israel, Asia... The world is crying out for a Saviour indeed, and Jesus is so real. =) it's true, we're in the prophetic Biblical time when Israel crosses over into the Promised Land with the ark of the covenant. we are that blessed Benjamin generation, the Gideon Army, the generation envied by those that preceded us. =) the generation who 'wakes up' and realises their identity in Christ and that we have crossed over into the Holy of Holies, the veil has been torn! =) and as we move, the body of Christ will be more prosperous, healthy, strong...even Death, the last enemy, has been put under the feet of our Saviour. The Light of the world in the midst of darkness all around... Hey, fret not. you see the explosions in London, 9/11, even freak deaths happening all around [jogger dying in the midst of exercise], it will not come near you! =) we are redeemed from harm. and we are forever protected under the wings of the Almighty. No weapon formed against us shall prosper.

Good news? great news!*smile*

Hey guys, check this out...

Proudly presented by Hysterical and Born on Ninth of August.

Enjoy.




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happenings...

It's been so long since i've updated this blog! =) Oops... :) Been really busy these days, catching up with friends and all...

Went to aaron's office at tanjong pagar yesterday... got to use the free wireless! =) Which was good, cos I was the only one using it, and I was downloading stuff at breakneck speed. =) Cool.
Had dinner with the dsta folks as well, before they went for KTV at partyworld. Me, Yan Jun, Siong, Chay Beng, Jackson, went all over the shop looking for places to play German Bridge. Which was so fun! =) haha... Daryl kept saying he wanted to come but was held up by Nerissa (?!) and ended up coming just when we ended, just in time to go home with us. Haha..it was so funny.

It's Jerry's RI Direct School Admission interview this afternoon, decided to stay at home, guide him along. Even when Northbrooks Sec called at 736am in the morning to ask if I could make it down by 820am. Told them it was too rushed. Hmm 65 bucks gone wanting! =)

me and cindy, my scholarship officer. :P 

at the dsta ceremony.. thx for coming! ;) 

me, alfie, jem! 

wala walas oasis party! 

and so it is...

at Northbrooks secondary right now. =) So many things have happened lately, just that I've not been blogging about it... Got this lobang from my brother actually, Northbrooks called him up, but he had a relief teaching job in RGS already, so passed this over to me. haha.. and guess what? Ganesh is also teaching over at Northbrooks! What a coincidence. =) Ganesh the Menace, haha... Good to see my ol' bro. Waiting for him to finish his lessons for this period, so that we could have lunch in the next. =)

Oh and I dropped by Air Pistol Finals yesterday...cos Northbrooks is so near Yishun SAFRA (where the competition's held) anyway. So there. =) Was pretty cool. Met up with Huimin, Weikiong, Kailyn, Serene. =) Nice. Got to see a few of my juniors too. Oh and did you know, Zhou Quan's back as well! =) Back from Stanford... just arrived this morning. Spoke to him on msn. heh. cool, will meet up with him soon. =)

Still in the midst of completing my video project. =) Yup... heavy on my computer's resources though. Gotta start burning the one for my dad first...

Ok then, till later. I'm kinda famished. Ta!

me and ganesh at northbrooks.=) teaching there currently till the end of this wk!