Hotel Oscar Lima Lima Alpha November Delta

Dear spiritual family =) I know I ve not been updating this blog regularly but I am sure I ll be more free and dedicated to when my trainee phase is over. Please continue to pray for me as I embark on 3 field camps over the next 3 weeks. Yes I sometimes do have thoughts of OOTing (out of training) and be a violinst at Music Drama Company but my personal stand is to finish whatever I started at all cost no matter what the outcome will be. SO family please pray for me =) over the last few years in my christian walk, I realised how powerful prayer can be so heres a lists of what I need

1. not to holland tommorrow for Navigation
2. for the week long field camp to go smoothly
3.more spiritual guts to reach out to my section mates
4.(hehe optional) no pimple outbreak from camo cream

I know I ll graduate from this course on the 15th of november because of your prayers
Love you all =)

P.S I am praying for all of you too =)

Random thoughts...

Dear family, as you all know, I'm currently serving NS, so i cannot blog as often. But I strongly believe that it is also my responsiblity to matain this Tribe blog, so i'll make it a point to blog at least once a week regardless of whether i have anything to blog about.

As for this week, I really have no idea of what to blog about, but fear not, with infinite wisdom to tap from and with my 'PCA skill' to the highest level, I will surely smoke through!!

So here's a random picture:

Behold!!!

It's a Bunch of Bananas!!

• To some, they are tasty. They are also a good source of energy, that is why they are given out during marathons.
• To the monkeys, they are an obsession.
• To the companies that produce dairy products, they can be a source of income, as they can be added to milk to provide flavour. It can also be used in desserts, e.g Banana Split, Banana milkshake.
• To some countries, like Singapore, they are a local delicacy. Goreng Pisang (spelling?) or fried bananas.
• But to others, they are yucky. A source of destruction, especially if being stepped on.
• To me, they have such an unpleasant smell that gives me headaches, never fail to make me tear and feel like vomiting. I remember one faithful night during my BMT where I took a bite out of a piece of banana cake as i mistook it for a slice of butter cake. The HORROR!!!! Therefore, if you are unsure, ASK...

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NIV)

14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

Just like the Banana, when we serve the Lord, some people will like us, and others will dislike us because the kingdom values of God is totally opposite from the values of this world.

You see, If we are like the world, living by it's values, then surely people can accept us as we are just like them. But if we choose to be like a sore thumb sticking out, some may still be able to accept it, but to others, they just cannot accept it. That is the reason why many great men from the Bible get persecuted and persecuted even to the point of death.

Therefore family, let's care less what people may think about us and continue to shine and be that aroma for Christ. Let's choose to be GOD PLEASERS rather den people pleasers.

Bro JC

Is love blind? Or are you blind?

Hey....... VaZe here again...

Today is nth long... I always blog so much chim stuffs that KO ppl before they even read to the mid portion....

Today, what makes me post is the area of BGR...

Well... As i venture thru life, i see a lot of my friends getting girlfriends, yet i oso see a lot of breakups... A kaypo like me sometimes go and ask my friends like why u break up and the common answer i get is that no feelings for the girl/guy anymore... Then when they hop into another relationship, i asked them wat do they see in the girl/guy and they say the vice versa statement: got feelings lor...

In short, the idea of modern day BGR revolves around this one thing called feelings, of which the world calls it love... Hey!!! If feelings = love, the dictionary oso no need to come up with so many words to quantify love, such as infatuation, affection, sizzling... Clearly that there are different stages of mutual attraction, the last being pure solid love of course...

The rather scary thing today is that when i talk to many ppl out there, other than the feelings reason they give me, they could not give me anymore answers... They do not even know wat they are going for, wat they are "feeling" for, and they call this love. Thats why the world says that love is blind... DUDE!!! There's a difference between love is blind and YOU ARE BLIND!! My comrades, love is not blind but people are blinded by infatuation. Infatuation = crush = mostly physical attraction, where the guy finds the girl cute or vice versa... When couples come together due to crush/infatuations, they confirm break very fast because they'll find people out there who are much better physically endowed or "cuter"

Infatuations are perfectly normal, it goes to show that as guys and girls we're properly wired up... But it can be suppressed by mental strength and will fade away as time passes... I admit that I have several crushes/infatuations back in those days until now, but it can be suppressed using mental strength and discipline... If u get together with the girl/guy because of his/her looks, then its nt love anymore, but its LUST...

Bottomline, I feel that most young people today are not ready for love... Because:
1. They do not know wat qualities in the girl or guy they are going for...
2. They are not ready to be commited to each other, to sacrifice for each other
3. They are unable to even take care of themselves, not financially independent, emotionally strong to withstand the knocks of life
(Imagine you spend most of the time hearing the girl lamenting to you abt her seemingly small problems day in and out, you'll confrm feel sian lor)

I'll end with the definition of love - 1 Corinthians 13. Love involves sacrifice and will put couples thru the test of faithfulness and commitment... Its not about feelings

Warranty of LIfe!!!

I have this funny thought today haha....

Look at the picture above it states "Warranty void if broken" We always find such labels on all kinds of electronic products and many of times it will also be a attached condition that says "If found tampered with or incomplete seal of warranty , product will not be elgible for any warranty either repair or replacement"

Than i realise ha isn't we Man also created like many other electronics we have around in our household? We are created by God personally with his seal on warranty on us .

Genesis 2:26-27

26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God created us in the very likeness of him and in his very own image. All the goodness of God has been packaged nicely inside us and even sealed with his Warranty Of Life!!! But despite of that we man decided to tamper with the seal that God has upon us and thus we lose the gurantee of rejoining God back in heaven as the sealed is stained, soiled by man's sin and thus losing the authorisation of the validity of the Seal!

Romans 6:23

23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

See in Romans 6:23 it clearly say the wages of sin is death. It's not the physical death but a DEATH IN THE SPIRITUAL BODY and death in the spiritual body results us being seperated from the union of our heavenly Father!

WAIT!!!!

No worrries here is the good news God has sent his son Jesus to atone for our sins thus meaning God is renewing the tampered Seal with a new one! Meaning we have a second chance!!! How can i prove??? Look at Romans 3:25-26 
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demostrate his justice, because in his forberance he had left the sins commited beforehand unpunished - he did it to demostrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus

See for yourself God has replace us with a new lifetime warranty!!! The sins we committed in the past has been atone through Chris Jesus! So let's make good of it this time and not tamper with the renewed seal this time! Let's remain in the goodness which God has made us to be !!! 

REMEMBER WE ARE MADE IN THE LIKENESS AND IMAGE OF GOD THUS WE HAVE THE GOODNESS WITHIN US SO DON'T CONTINUE DEGRADING THE GOODNESS INSIDE US !!!!

Ha this post was copied from my own blog into the tribe blog ha ha enjoy reading!!!
Bobby

Wake Up Your Idea!!!!

Hi!!! To all ..... Ha ha as all can see this is a picture of rain falling over a body of water ... Why a raining picture??? Hmm  i am not emo OF COURSE!!!!! 

I went jogging in the evening today and it rained in the middle of it!!! It was a heavy downpour yet i did not stopped my running and went home. Instead of that i kept on running in the rain. I have to say it was an invigourating  run in the rain. The cool icy droplets of water falling upon my skin gives me a very refreshing feeling and a sense of peace being enveloped in the rain.

When i was enveloped by the rain during my run, i prayed to God and i told God "God, if you are willing, use the rain to wash away my iniquities, the wrong that i have done and even take away all the worldy values that's stucked within this puny yet corrupted head of mine"
After the prayer, I feel amazingly...................................

Nothing... bummer that made me felt like a LOSER ....

But when i went back home , i decided to do my quiet time cause i had nothing to do (Yes am guilty of that at times doing quiet time when i have nothing to do) I was meditating on the Book of Matthew when God spoke to me. 

Matthew 5 : 3-12

The Beatitudes

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek ,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteouness,
for they will be filled

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persucute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, becacuse great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It is a familiar verse that all know but i had another question "God , how than can i receive those blessings you had for me???"

Thus i looked on the following verses from (Matthew 5:13-7:12)

I than realised that the following verses are actually the instructions on how am i supposed to receive the blessings stated in Matthew 5 : 3-12

These are all what God stated throughout Matthew 5 : 3-12 to help us identify whether we are living our life - "The Jesus Way" They are the do's and do not's and how to do it guide:

1. Salt and Light (Am i the Salt or Light?)
2. The fulfillment of the Law (Am I obeying the Commandments?)
3. Murder (Do i harbour any grudges?)
4. Adultery (Do i look at the opposite gender in a lustful way?)
5. Divorce (Not Yet Married so N/A :P )
6. Oaths ( Is there any oaths that i've made yet i failed to fulfill?)
7. An Eye for an Eye (Am i revengeful ?)
8. Love for Enemies (Do i harbour hatred towards those who are against us?)
9. Giving to the Needy (Am i hoarding to things that others need more than i do?)
10. Prayer (Am i praying deceitfully?)
11. Fasting (Am i Fasting with a sincere heart?)
12. Treasure in Heaven (Wordly Posessions Vs Heavenly Posession)
13. Do Not Worry (Are we excessively worried about life?)
14. Judging Others (Do i Pass judgement onto others?)
15. Ask, Seek, Knock (Do we turn to our heavenly father for provision?)

These fifteen points are all the conditions of our lives that we have to keep in check so that we are able to receive God's blessings freely . Note: It does not mean that God doesn't bless us if we do not meet all the conditions stated , God looks at the transformation of the spirit-man, thus the blessing that God bestowed upon us can only be seen if we make the decision to live out out our life according to his teachings 

Thus to all my brothers following Jesus is a way of life, it is about constant checking of self taking away wordly values and replacing it with the doctrines of God's word. Out of all the fifteen pointers i dun't even dare to say i pass half of them but let's make it an effort to work towards leading a blameless life!!! 

So brothers let us be always be enveloped in God's rain of transformation till the day we can see the rainbow after the rain!!!

B.A.M
Bobby Ang Ming

Can we ever overcome the devil and the world?

VaZe received Christ since August 26th 2005 and my initial mindset abt the devil and God is that God had not planned for the creation of the devil to torment the people... the devil is a backslided angel because of greed and pride.

As started my journey with God, it was the toughest thing, cos' there are so many things in my life that wasn't right with God, and i hesitiate to give it up... Such as to lust at girls, to watch pornography, to masturbate, say vulgarities etc... When i finally got spiritually sick and tired of my sinful nature, i decided to commit to the Lord and to start afresh my journey with Him... Then to my horror, i realized that its so difficult to give up the sinful nature, cos I'm so deeply rooted into it...

When i tried to put up a fight against the temptations, the challenges come... The devil come with everything to bring me down, stumbling remarks from friends, scoldings from parents, lousy academic results, lack of finances... And being pressurized from all sides, I gave up my fight most of the time and went back to where God first found me - the sinful nature... I faced hopelessness + disappointments (why i did all that i can but still cannot???) and sometimes i really feel like throwing the vulgarities at the devil who made my life so difficult to live...

I lamented to God and asked why on earth He created the devil to torment us, to make us so tired and weary, to tear us down since He desire all of us to be saved and to do well... I thought all my sorrows and problems can be solved if the devil is thrown into hell... God explained to me in Isaiah 54 that HE created the devil, and the devil forges a weapon for his work to torment us, yet his weapons will not prevail against us, this is a vindication from God signed by God's very name...

I realized a few truths as i meditiated...
1. God made the devil, and the devil torments us so that God can sift out those who stand firm to the end.. (Matthew 10:22 says that he who stands firm to the end will be saved). You see that God knows that we have flaws and weaknesses, and He is not looking for a perfect man such as Jesus. But God looks for a man with weaknesses but yet says I don't care and will fight all the way for a righteous life to the very end. God wants to sift out people with character to enter His kingdom....

2. God wants to mould us... Imagine life with no devil, torment and sorrows, we will all be stuck in our character growth as everything is so perfect... (Judges 3:2 says that God left some enemies of Israel intact to teach future generations about warfare). God wants to cultivate in us a spirit of warfare (pray like Moses, war like Joshua) so that we can be people of strong character for God...

3. God wants to see our hearts aligned to Him... (1 Sam 16:7: But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.") God wants to see the moulding and growth of our hearts....

To end off... I'll share with you one of my favourite biblical movies... The Lord of the Ring...
From the movie, you can see 3 distinct warfronts: Frodo + Sam trying to get the ring to the volcano, Aragorn + Gimli + Legolas trying to fight off the invading armies, Merry + Pippin trying to get more people to fight in the war against the evil... Each front is fought on different territories, yet all for the same goal to kill evil... Each front has its own challenges as well, Frodo has to learn to mental strength to suppress the evil from the ring, Aragorn has to be physically strong and fit to fight the armies...

What caught me in the movie is when the fairy-like elf female appeared to Frodo and told him a truth: If you do not find a way to destroy the ring, nobody else would. This is very biblical and real. As people from different backgrounds, we fight on different fronts.. like Frans is facing physical challenges to stay afloat in SISPEC jus like aragorn, me myself training my mental strength to fight the temptations from the devil.. Yet all of us push for the same goal to lead a Godly life.

Each brother ultimately is responsible for his life and we cannot run the race of life for each other... (thats the rule) This means that if I dun find a way to complete the race of life, nobody else will ever complete this particular race simply because God designed this race solely for me to go thru... Applying to church context, if a brother dun wheel himself to rise up and bring down the stronghold of porn in his life, nobody else would be able to do that for him... Thats why EJ and Alvin say "you can talk to us all you want, we can give all the advice, but its all up to you and i solve ur problems for u"

I pray that the spirit of God reveal to you the conditions of ur heart and give you the strength and conviction to run finish ur race... I'll see u at the finish line...

I think I'm an Idiot....

Before i blog, let's see some pictures first...

Wow, Somebody is busy at work...

What's this???

It' a decoy!!!

Yes, Seriously, I think I'm totally insane.. I've done many stupid things, said and proclaim the dumbest things and behave like a total idiot.

Here's a list of rather crazy things i think i have done in the past few years:

1) 2004, end of the year. It's my O level period, not only did i faithfully attend every cell meetings and Church, on top of them, I helped out in Extreme Teens Church every sat from 1pm -5pm..

Den How? Lesser time to study for Os and i have to pusposely force myself to wake up earlier on sat to study in bukit merah mac.

In The End... I actually did better then my prelims! *Phew*

2) Late 2004 - early 2005, JAE, I chose NP Biomedical Sciences over Tp's. (Seriously it's a tough decision.)

Den How? Spend lots of time and money travelling. No CCA in school cause if i have a CCA, I'll most prob reach home close to 0000 hours and i don't want that to happen. (Lazy mah)

In The End... I was blessed with a very slack Attachment, 8am-9am from mon-fri and i even scored an A for it. Happening FYP, have a personal lab with my project partners, good project supervisor and A for FYP. No CCA = More time for Cell Group stuff. Being in the West enables me to spend more time fellowshipping with church mates staying in the west and staying in the east enables me to meet up with Spiritual Father and other church mates too. Therefore, I available to anyone. Ngee Ann Open Cell..

3) Ready to Strike?? Recce Tropper?? Combat Engineer?? Those were the vocations people say I will get when i Strongly declare that I want to become a combat medic..

In The End... Guess who is having the last laugh? CALL ME MEDIC!!! (later kana xiong unit, den you all can have the last laugh, but as for now, let me be happy..)

I guess the conclusion of the matter is this: God is a God of Faith, and sometimes or actually most of the time, faith requires one to do things that makes no sense at all. To see something illogical happen, maybe we have to do things illogically. So take a chance, put your stake on God, honor Him above all else and if you have to, do something silly for Him, and God will certainly honor you.

Kitkat Bro