Saturday, February 28, 2009
Simply love Pastor Kong's devotional message on the chc website. Everyone is a leader in his/her right, be it whether it is in the area of church, family, career, clubs/societies etc. Being a leader involves certain vital aspects according to the word of God. Lets rise up to be mighty leaders in God's kingdom and in the marketplace!!! They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the The call to spiritual leadership is a great privilege and honor. There were 12 conditions given for the selection of priests: (1) No man who is blind. You have to be a person of vision and revelation. A leader leads from the front. If you don’t know what God is saying and where He is taking you, you can’t be a leader in the house of the Lord. (2) No man who is lame. God is holy. If you are not walking uprightly with the Lord, you can’t be His leader. (3) No man with a flat nose (KJV). In the Bible, the nose symbolizes spiritual discernment. A leader has to be a discerner of people’s hearts (Heb. 5:14). (4) No man with any limb too long. This speaks of those who are unbalanced in doctrine or those who have added teachings that are not of God. Such people would lead Christians astray. (5) No man with a broken foot. Proverbs 25:19 talks about an unfaithful man as a person with a broken foot. A leader has to be reliable and trustworthy. (6) No man with a broken hand. Such a priest can’t carry the vessels of the Lord in the tabernacle. His services would be faulty. A leader must have the ability to serve God well. (7) No man who is a hunchback. A leader must be able to shoulder burdens. He must have a steely backbone to carry the weight of the ministry. (8) No man who is a dwarf. Someone who is immature and stunted in his spiritual growth can’t be a leader in God’s house. (9) No man with a defect in his eye. Jesus talks about being single-eyed (Matt. 6:22, KJV). Being focused and determined to fulfill the vision of the Lord is a leadership qualification. (10) No man with scurvy (KJV). This person is not properly nourished in his life. A leader has to feed on daily manna from heaven—the Word of God. (11) No man with a scab. You can’t be a leader if your life is not spotless and without blemish. A leader of God must have proven character and a good reputation. (12) No man who is a eunuch. A leader in God’s house must have the capacity to produce life and bring forth fruit.Qualifications for leadership
1 Mar 2009
offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
Leviticus 21:
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sorry hasnt been posting anything recently. Has been visiting hospitals to collect survey forms for my fyp. Has been having lunches with friends, and meetings with people from different areas. Life's busy but fun~
God is as usual a God of surprises~ Three small incidents happened to me recently. And i feel glad to be able to share it.
1) There is this pilot working for SIA flying SQ flight who recently joined my cg. He is someone who has backslidden for some time and one of the members brought him into the cg and he has been coming for services since then, except for the few times he needs to fly overseas. Recently, when having dinner with him and just sharing about our life experiences and the time when we first came to church, he passed me something, what looked like a small handmade envelope containing some stuff. I thought that it may just be a thank-you note of some sort to thank me since he will be flying off one day before Valentines time day and we wouldnt be able to see him until next week. I put it in my pocket and didnt pay much attention.
While travelling back in the mrt, I put my hand randomly into my pocket and fished the envelope out. INside, I saw a card indeed and to my surprise, a sum of MONEY! No one has ever blessed me with money in such a manner. It is like what Pastor mention, people just sent you an envelope and when you open, tada! inside is the $1000 you prayed for and it is the exact amount that you need! WHile mine is not that dramatic and powerful, it was still enough to make me totally touched by God through him.
It says:
Dear YOngSiang
Thank you for your friendship and for always “照顾” me during church. Thank you for sharing with me your prayer request. As I was praying, God reminded me of James 2:15-17. Thus I hope you'll accept this "angpao" from me and remember it is God who is our Jehovah Jireh.
SIncerely,
XXXX
All I can say is, God is great and He never fails to answer prayers!
2) One of my new year resolutions will be to have greater family cohesion among my family members. I am so glad my mum is so cheerful these days and she has changed ever since chinese new year when I went back Malaysia to bai nian with the family. Last time, she used to call me and scold me for not telling her I will be going home late but now, she calls me and talks nicely to me and reminds me to go home and eat homemade porridge! What a wonderful mom! Thank God for moms.
3) Got a new tuition assignment last month to teach P6 boy. I applied with agency and a parent happened to see my profile. Reason being, I can commit to teach the boy and his name is Aiden, pronounced similarly as mine.They are christians too. And God answers my prayers to getting a tuition assignment after not having one for some time already...my wallet shrinking since then. hehe. Hoping for more students to come flooding in. Ah seng, if got sure pass u ah! NO Worries...hehe
YEA! Happy Happy.
Valentines day coming~ To all the attached ones, Stay happy and sweet together. To the unattached ones, stay happy for a sweet one to come too. Happy Happy~
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
[Taken from a friend's blog. Found it quite interesting...]
From the time the eaglet is born, he is nurtured in the comfort and warmth of the nest. Fed and kept warm by its parent. Covered in soft down feathers.
Over time, he becomes stronger and generates his own heat. He has developed an insulating layer of secondary and tertiary feathers in replacement of some of the down feathers, a formidable shield against the wind. The powerful air-resistance properties of these feathers also has the ability to keep the bird airborne. He no longer needs the mother eagle to keep it warm in the day. The mother knows it is time. Time for baby to learn how to fly, to feel the wind in its feathers and the satisfaction of capturing live prey. To experience hunger and cold at night and to learn how to survive.
Gingerly, she moves the eaglet onto her back. The eaglet feels uncomfortable and awkward in this new position. What's mum up to?
She perches herself on the edge of the nest that was nestled right on top of a cliff. The strong wind throws baby off balance. He stays low to reduce the air resistance. The mother eagle pauses for a while, then tips herself off the edge, spreading her wings in flight.
The eaglet is excited, scared and bewildered. The wonderful feeling of the wind against its face makes its heart pump really fast. Faster, mum! Higher! Higher! Weee!
The mother climbs higher and higher, much to baby's delight. Then, quite suddenly, she did something alarming. She tilted her wings and allowed the baby to roll off her back.
Panic. This looks so much like betrayal. Is she disowning me now? Does she not want me anymore? But there was no time to think. With each second, he's coming closer to the ground. He needs to do something now!
Quite naturally, he starts to flap its wings in a wild, desparate attempt not to hit the ground hard. He started to drop slower. But it was not enough. It was too late. He was approaching the ground too quickly.
And then in the last minute, a dark shadow swoops from under him and he feels something soft under his feet. Mum! You're back! What on earth were you trying to do? I was scared stiff!
The mother keeps silent and climbs again. Higher. But this time, the eaglet has already started to recognize the pattern and has spread its wings wide, way before mum dropped it again. This time, he stayed bouyant for a while before continuing to lose altitude. But he was not afraid anymore. Because he knew that his mum would surely come to his rescue. True enough, she did. And she repeated the whole cycle a few times, for a few days, until finally, the eaglet learnt to work with the wind and control his movements with a simple tip of his wings.
Mother looks out from the nest at the edge of the cliff, pride in her eyes. Amidst her worries and concerns for her son's survival, she knows her son is ready for the outside world. He is ready to lead his own life, even though it will not be quite as comfortable as the nest was. He will have to learn to maintain his integrity in a world with changes and challenges and deceit. To be amongst them but not to be like them. Because he's a prince. He's born to fly higher than the other birds.
After reading the post, I thought about my own life. Since young, I was very much in the shelter of my parents and family. Timid and shy, I was always apprehensive when it comes to interacting with other people and making contacts with them. I still remember there was once when I went to the hawker centre with my dad, he refused to buy chicken rice for me and asked me to buy it alone. I was shy and hungry and pestered him to make the purchase for me, like how he always did. But during that single occasion, he wanted me to learn how to be independent and be bold to speak to others.
Holding the $2 in my hands, I felt betrayed that my dad would leave me all alone to fend for myself while happily doing his own things, leaving his son to suffer in hunger. But I knew he wanted me to learn, to step out as I realise later although at that point in time, I was quite resentful towards him.
Making the purchase was actually so simple afterall!! Just saying the item, handing over the money and the deal is pretty much through. WHy did I make it sound like I am doing some big business? Haha..WEll, I was really closed up when I was young, probably due to the environment I was in. But then after that incident, and subsequent ones, I learnt to slowly do things myself independently, even to shop at Jurong Point myself. If I remember correctly, I should be about 7 or 8 years old that time, quite old considering the behaviour of kids nowadays climbing over the teachers' heads and creating havoc. Hehe...
I still have my dad to thank for indirectly teaching me things like that. Actually, I realise after I become a Christian, this is how God teaches us as well. Slowly and surely, just like the eagle, teaching us to fly and ultimately carve out a life of our own while helping us out at the side all along.
We have much to learn from the eaglet's flight.=)