Happy :)

Eek! Thank you people!! ^_^_^_^_^

Di ethyl ether ^o^

:P

Paul / Timothy's Legacy

Near the end of the 1st century, this was written about the church of Ephesus

"This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk among the seven gold lampstands. Listen to what I say. I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out that they were liars. You have endured and gone through hard times because of me, and you have not given up."

Interesting eh? The issue about the false teachers appears to have been solved or overcame. The people seem to have followed Paul's example in "fighting the good fight" and "running the race".

;)

Timothy Church and Cell

I really think that people in our cell are all (or mostly, though I think all is truer) treat the Word significantly more seriously than the average..

So, just a few more comments about our study of Timothy that I did not bring out ;)

1) Chapter 1:7 - The false teachers are said to not know what they are talking about. It probably means that they are off tangent because they miss the core of Love in the gospel. Perhaps some of them know the story, the Law and the Prophet better than other truer teachers..

2) Chapter 1:19 - Some people reject faith and thus shipwreck their faith. Quite silly of them isn't it? I mean, obviously faith is required in our, well, Faith. But this still happens when people demand total and absolute proof. And faith is not illogical.. (which is a whole new discussion altogether)

3) 1:20 - Paul hands Alex over to Satan. Which puts to mind a rather comical picture of Paul knowing Satan :P But of course not la. He probably means that he is excluded from the church community so as not to let him influence the others wrongly. Or perhaps to allow him to do what he like until the consequences catch up with him (in a sense, that is giving him over to Satan to give the consequences), and from there he learns that it is wrong. If you think that that is somewhat "cruel".. God is portrayed as doing similar things when He gives people over to their passions and etc (See Romans 1-3)

4) Q7 of Chapter 2, forbidding women from teaching men - Other than those we discussed, there is 1 particular interpretation which I came up with. Question 6 puts the context as that the network of house churches separated men and women. In that case, it becomes quite clear why women are not allowed to teach men - it is to preserve this separation, probably so as not to offend the culture or properity. I do have a problem with this interpretation though, which puts to question whether the context set about in Q6 is correct. That is, there is this clause which says that the women "must be silent". Which suggests that both men and women are around, and the women should be silent. Hmmm...

5) In AD 64, there was a fire set in Rome, and the Christians were blamed for it. Persecution increased then. In AD68, Nero died. In AD70, Jerusalem and the temple was burnt down (incidentally, this fufiled a prophecy by Jesus, saying that not one stone will be left on one another).

...

As for church.. I think we said truer than we know when we said that what the church needs most is outreach. Usually we think of the people needing us to reach out to them. Which is certainly true. But we need to go into outreach as well because it fulfils our need to fulfil the Great Commission. And our people need to grow even further than where we are already. Want a breakthrough? Perhaps sharing the gospel can be one direction..

God bless ;)

Quotable quotes

".. When pain is to be borne, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all"

"The road to the promised land runs past Sinai. The moral law may exist to be transcended: but there is no transcending it for those who have not first admitted its claims upon them, then tried with all their strength to meet that claim, and fairly and squarely faced the fact of their failure."

"Christianity.. does admit that perfect obedience to the moral law.. is not in fact possible to men. This would raise a real difficulty about our responsibility if perfect obedience had any practical relation at all to the lives of most of us. Some degree of obedience which you and I have failed to attain in the last twenty-four hours is certainly possible."

"The divine 'goodness' differs from ours, but it is not sheerly different: it differs from ours not as white from black but as a perfect circle from a child's first attempt to draw a wheel."

"We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven-a senile benevolence who, as they say, 'liked to see young people enjoying themselves' and whose plan for the universe whose simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, 'a good time was had by all'."

"Love may, indeed, love the beloved when her beauty is lost: but not because it is lost. Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but Love cannot cease to will their removal. Love is more sensitive than hatred itself to every blemish in the beloved.. Of all powers he forgives most, but condones least: he is pleased with little, but demands all."

Quite cool I think.. Such inspirations are part of what attracts me to Lewis's book so much.. All quotes are taken from The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis

Obvious

Sometimes God's work is just so obvious in my life, that I really wish some people can see through my eyes and tell me that there is no God. Come on.. such coincidences are possible, but the possibility is.. -_-"


Oh taste and see, that the Lord is Good!!

Source, channel

God is the source, other things can be the channels. Must look to the source, not the channel. Dismount from your donkey, in order to get to the fountain..

"It was then that I carried you.." It was He Himself, not His vessels.. (Fine, all are figurative, but the focus is clear, it is Him, not the channels..)

Hmmm.. It is time to dismount.

2 Lessons

I spoke to a Taiwan teacher / preacher on the last day. 2 things I really learnt from him, that I felt really wise..

1) The issue about Charismatic tongues.

The verse he zoomed in on was actually the part in John when Jesus said that Worshipers will worship in SPIRIT and in TRUTH. The idea is that of a balance. Workings of the Spirit, of course they can still happen. To deny all such activity may be to shut out the Spirit's activity or even regress to the time of the Pharisees where they accused Jesus of casting out demons by the chief of demons! But at the same time, it must correspond to Truth, which is of course the Bible. If it corresponds to scripture, then he does not care if you roll around on the floor or laugh hysterically.

2) The issue about the Catholic and Protestant Split.

After a lesson on church history for background, he brought back the issue that we are not called to a religion or a teaching, but to Christ. In reality, are there such things as Protestants and Catholics? No, they are really a man-made divide. Surely the Lord looks at the heart of each Christian in judging.

Cool man.. This is not a complete picture la, but something like that :)

Drop

Friend: The remote control seems spoilt..
Me: Oh? Try dropping it, maybe it will repair the control
Friend (dropping the control): No, it doesn't work. See? Its still not working.
Me: Hmmm.. try dropping it more times, it may work then.
Friend: Oh really?
Me: Yes, certainly! Don't you know? That is how life started, random banging to create the structures we have now!
Friend: -_-"


Lol :P By the way, I didn't plan it. Dropping the control was meant to be a joke, until I saw its developmental value :P

Transiting..

Church does feel different without the 2 of them, especially with the absence of another 2 people, and 3 smaller people in the morning.. (I think most would get the first 2 people, but the other 5 can ask me personally :P:P)

Anyway.. I am back, and I survived ^_^ To all who notice my absence, missed my presence, prayed for me, wished me well, helped me out.. Thank you so so much!

Really, I wonder how the others did it without His strength to draw on..

Anyway, me graduating in 4 days :)

Cherishing..

Hmm for those in our cell who don't know yet, for a long period i will be unable to go COSB :'( My dad refuses to let me go back for the following reasons:
1) He is still uneasy about the church not having a proper place and thinks its illegal (it pains me to repeat tt almost as much as it pains me to hear him say tt :( )
2) Uni is starting and he thinks i shldn't "waste" the time travelling
And cos i love COSB so much i choose to go COSBT. It fulfills the above 2 and more importantly is family. For that i am thankful.

Thank God also that today my family chose to go up to my grandma's place for dinner instead of lunch so i could i come back and have cell lunch with you guys and Cyrus for e last time before he departs:D

To Wei wei, jiayou and God bless for your new phase in life! Thank you for your words of comfort. I am not that worried about having to go to another church. I'm sure God has His reasons which i think i actually understand. Its just that it doesnt make me miss you guys any less.. I just take heart in the knowledge that i'll come back one day:)

To Cyrus, all the best and God bless you too for your endeavour overseas! Thanks for your words of advice. I will really bear in mind.. Hopefully will be able to follow your footsteps and go abroad for further studies too :D Do take care and hope will have another cell outing before you leave ^_^

To Sylvyn, thanks for being our surrogate mother. Haha.. I only wish the cell leaders in COSBT are as caring as you and Cyrus :) Do take care of yourself and don't overwork now that you have to take the burden of the whole cell by yourself. I still remember that i'm supposed to help with projection. Haha.. Actually i realise u guys can send me the list of songs for the week and i still can help to do the powerpoints and send via internet leh.. (Ah.. the wonders of technology) Altho i can't be physically at COSB, i would like to continue helping the church esp Sylvyn :) Please do tell me if there's anything you need help with during the weekdays :D

To Evangeline, Marilyn and Joy, thank you all for the many many hugs! I saved enough to last me for a long while :D :D So thankful that Evan and Marilyn are in NUS and Joy is not too far off. Must must meet up often!!

To Daryl and Tim, thanks for obliging me with the photos. Haha.. Do take care of the girls for me ^_^

To everyone in AWTY, as much as i am very sad about this new bomb in my life, just being with you guys made me so glad :) I konw that what Debra said is true - must integrate into COSBT. Cos i've know my fair share of ppl with the attitude and give others the headache. I am thankful for the opportunity to exp a different church setting and know more saints, but my church is still COSB :) Must have more outings!! Esp on weekdays!!! I stay in hall now so anytime is a good time :D :D

God bless all of you!


Love,
Always-an-AWTY ^_^

Using Google Earth for Bible Study

Have you ever wanted to have a more interactive map for your Bible? Ever wished you could better see, understand and appreciate the Bible places more thoroughly? Ever wondered how modern Israel looks like compared with David and Solomon's Kingdoms? If so, you will be pleased to know that that can be done, for free!

As most of you would know, Google Earth(GE) is a very powerful 3D mapping program that allows you to move virtually around the world. Its intuitive controls and high quality map information gives an accurate understanding of the landscape and geography of just about anywhere on Earth. For this reason, people have started to use the information for different types of cartography purposes.

On top of these functions, the program also allows for customization in the form of overlaying images. By overlaying maps onto the globe in GE, it becomes possible to see the terrain in 3-dimensions. See the following example of the lands of the twelve tribes.





































The actual overlaying of the maps take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it is quite a piece of cake. :) In case you are wondering, that map I overlaid is taken from the back of an NIV Bible (it may look quite familiar). You can get more maps from here. You can overlay multiple images, and switch on only the ones you need. You can also get a list of all the places mentioned in the Bible as GE landmarks from this website.

This is probably much more powerful than even the most advanced Bible software available now. Hope you can use this to make your studying the Bible a bit more effective! :) Contact me if you need more detailed information on how to do this!

Cyrus