cheryl cherio oreo!

060688

hoGc :))

I'm excited.

this marks the start of a whole new movement.

Lives are going to be changed.

a whole new vision and purpose, a new destiny. i know it's coming to pass.

in my heart, in their hearts.

i believe with all my heart. and i desire it with all my heart. the end of this holiday marks YOUR new beginnings.

Because of my God that's in me, i will see your destiny come to pass.

in faith.





Calling things which do not exist as though they did.

the future's going to be amazing.

~ romans 4:17

this blog ought to be revived. but well. hahaha. not today =P this is from Jia xin's blog =D

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's Pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest Minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the guest Minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, the elderly gentleman stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

"A father, and his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast," he began... "when a fast storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were so high, even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized."The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.

The aged minister continued with his story..."Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy would he throw the end of the life line? He had only seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not.

The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out 'I Love You, Son!' he threw out the life line to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black night. His body was never recovered," the old man said sadly.By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old Minister's mouth.

"The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed is son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us? Our Heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son so that we could be saved. I urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take hold of the life line He is throwing out to you in this service."

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. But, within moments after the service ended, the two boys were at the old man's side.

"That was a nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but, I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other would become a Christian."

"Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. As a big smile broadened his narrow face, he looked up again at the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But, I'm here today to tell you this story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His only Son for me. You see... I was that father, and your Pastor is my son's friend."

One life, save it.

Every life matters to God.

You'll never know who the next person you bring may become in the future =D

=DDD

Knowing You

When I open my eyes
And look at Your Face
I am amazed

When I look at my life
And all the works of Your Hands
I am honoured

Because of all good things
In my life
They are Your wonderous works
You gave me a brand new chance

And I want to know You, God
Deeper than all that I've known before
There is no greater love than Yours
I am here to be Your worshipper

I used to love this song loads. haha. but now, i love the God of the song more than i love the song.

knowing more of You, my God.

=D

How Great Is Our God

The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing

even as the great God He is, He listens to every single word of ours, and knows our every single thought and cry.

How great You are, my God. i stand in awe of You.

=)

oh man. haha it's definitely been a while since i last blogged.

anyways. what made me suddenly wanna blog after eons. i was just blog hopping around.. trying to catch up with what has been happening with all my friends around.. and suddenly, it just came to me. just one word, but so clear.

CHOICES.

haha. nope, it's not some ad. i think a polytechnic uses that word in their ad. but nope. it's not. it just came to me that there're so many choices that lead to so many different routes on this journey. the different choices when we chose our priorities, our beliefs, when we chose what we would live and die for.

then, a story pastor once told us came to mind. it was about choices naturally, about how 2 different couples chose 2 different ways of spending those few months after A levels and how it had led to a world of difference in the lives they lead now. it was a clear cut example on how the choices they'd made set the direction for their lives.

and i'm glad today, that i've made the choices i did =)

it's been an amazing few months so far, VBS, OPM, revival meeting, Christmas, Create / Heart Awards '06, Pastor Joakim, Worship team... Wow.. it's really been event-packed! so many things learnt, so many more experiences, so many more people i've gotten to know, so many more lives changed! people have come, people have stayed and it's so fufilling to see their lives become more purposeful, to see their smiles become more radiant. Pastor Lia once mentioned something about smiles, about how smiles could come from the heart, only if someone has been first changed from the heart, from the inside out. and i'm glad i've seen so many heartfelt smiles surfacing these months! i cant imagine what it would have been like without it! life would have been insignificant man. insignificant and purposeless. gosh!

but! though the months before have been absolutely fantastic.. ahahhaha... many memories and all.. the months ahead are gonna phenomenal!!!! WOOTS! i cant cant wait man! heh. this is only just such a small part of what's gonna be in the future! man.. cant wait! =D woohoo!!!

amazing life only because i have an amazing GOD!

This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa ..

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. I knew we would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.

One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "Andthat was our last hot water bottle!" she had exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there were no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep her free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if she got the chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children.

"Please, God" she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added

"And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen". I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years by that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Nonetheless, I carried on with my day as per normal. Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears filling my eyes and a an odd discomfort in my throat. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.

We gathered quickly, and together we pulled off the strings, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.

From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the ... could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle.

I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

But Ruth, who was in the front upon seeing the water bottle, rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!"

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."


"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24).

my amazing God =)

The Barber Who Believed That God Doesn't Exist:

A man went to a barber shop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He started having a conversation with the barber who attended him and they talked about mantyfrom various subjects.

Suddenly, they broached the subject of God.

The barber said: "Look man, I don't believe that God exists as you say so."

"Why do you say that?" asked the client.

"Well, it's easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering nor pain. I can't think of a God who permits all of these things."

The client stopped for a moment, thinking. He didn't want to respond so as to prevent an argument.

Anyhow, the barber finished his job and the client left of the shop. Just after he left the barber shop, he saw a man in the street with a long hair and beard. It seemed as if it had been a long time since the man had his cut and he looked really untidy.

At that, the client strolled back in the barber shop and he said to the barber

" You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How come they don't exist?" asked the barber. "I am here, and I am a barber."

"No," the client patiently explained. "They don't exist, because if they did, there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man who walks in the street."

"Ah, barbers do exist, what happens is that people do not come to us."

"Exactly." affirmed the client. "That's the point. God does exist. What happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him, that's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

=) for all who always asked. haha!