Brass, Bagpipes & Co - The Canon

it's CNY again.

all so familiar ritual.
The weather, the fake joyous occasion, the fake conversations, the fake harmony, the fake bondedness, as if the families have always been chummy and close.

Familiar as it is, it is a stark stark reminder of what it shouldn't have been. Relationships, family should be better, but often it ain't.

Much as there's a drudgery to cny, is it more than a ritual of small talk, and reunions? There must be something in cny, that people ARE actually willing to go through the drudgery, the motions and the awkwardness.

While cny is a dark reflection of what is not there, there can be hope for what can be.

In every culture, there is at least a feast festival where people have reunions with their family. Cny for chinese, hari raya puasa for malays, pongal/deepavali for the indians, thanksgiving for the angmohs, and the jews too! (tho i forgot what's it called).
Surely, some anthropologist might wanna tell me why such a trend exists in almost, if not all cultures of this world.
It's as if, reunions and joyful feasts were meant to be. Or it's meant to have.. erm.. Meaning?

Fractured families are platforms for the Lord to break thru. To us, it might represent over 100 ppl, and dozens of conflicts and fractures. But to God, it's just a family. He definitely can.

Then of course, what role should i do? Or rather, should i even want to chup my nose into others? Or do i even want to do anything in the first place? Cuz more often than not, we don't really bother, much less want to have a role.

Can there be hope? Can it be possible?
Families and relationships in the presence of the One who created them, is something that should and must be hoped for.

As time flows, even as a former AC Boy, i begin to see how chinese culture is really so profound. If you actually know some of festivals' actual meaning. As a christian moreover, many facets of chinese culture, or at least the old fashioned kind, make so much sense in light of the bible.

Thus there's much hope, cuz leading a family in the future with the Word as guide, you'll know that the culture that He put us in, actually comes to fullness in Christ.

新年恩满，主力充满。
I wonder if that is even correct or right to do. Hahaha.. Just thought there has to be something better than 新年快乐 or 恭喜发财。

:)

peer-mentoring

often our idea of having a mentor is someone who will do bible study with us, some counselling session, and voila, we've level-ed up..

that's so naiive, and untrue, and usually happens in our minds.
even in the coporate world, mentors are usually ppl u observe, and people who have lived a life of experience, and processed it enough to be wise about it.

looking at this dg, God has put us here at this season, for this season.

it's the megachurch version of a cg. 30 ppl.

the kind of thing i used to comment when i was younger in YPM, when i hear megachurches' cg is 50 strong, where i'll comment how that's bigger than my whole youth ministry.

but now this time has come.

and for this season, God has blessed us with each other, and it's thoroughly an encouragement to do voices sst today with all of them.

worship in private devotion is God with Me. But usually when we come for service or cell/discipleship/bible study group (or whatever the nomenclature for whatever the function), we forget the We element.
it's hard also in the majority of singapore church services cuz of the limitations of the English Language, and the christiany songs are usually between God and i.

little wonder, as these songs were written in the private worship and devotion of the writers. With the best worship songs, most often coming out of despair. Cuz the writer wrote it in a real time of worship!

But back to the topic, dg really has encouraged me.
there's so many things to think about, but there are brothers and sisters who put this as an equal priority of our lives, serving God together, and this sense of loving God with the same heart together.
We had lots of fun doing ushering today. Yee and I will banter nonstop with our lame jokes and only we'll laugh at them. We did unexpected stuff today, since that was the tagline given.

Like writing "expect the unexpected" and with Kel's R2D2, where he actually joined us to have fun welcoming ppl.

such wonderful time worshipping God thru fun and lameness, and craziness and nuttiness. it is worship, as our hearts was right.

of cuz we may have gone overboard a little bit, but. overall.... yea! it was way unexpected for the ppl coming in. the oldest age dg grp so childish, scaring ppl in toilet on their sst, shocking them (and a parent) with hastily done "expect the unexpected" signs.

fortunately or unfortunately, we don't get excommunicated for doing this. :P

and with our international CNY steamboat coming up, wow. that's ownership. Kel wasnt at the discussion, but once it was up on fb, he juz initiated and told everyone!

this is YOUR heart on us LORD. it is the same!

the very thing that was the feeble thread that linked us together, is the very foundation that WILL link us forward too!

so encouraged.

yet, why is this called peer-mentoring?

cuz mentoring is observing someone's life and how we walks with Christ.

if its someone older and wiser, it's a great great blessing.

but with peer, we see each other's faithfulness and we emulate.

to my shame, im the lowest in this dg. but learning from people, they become my mentors in the details of life.

from Kel i learnt, organisation.

Jonq i learnt, not neglecting the details

Yee, i learnt how to be cheerful for ppl

Timmy, i learnt what ministry of presence really means.

Othniel, i learnt discipline is needed to achieve anything.

Gabe, i learnt what practice can produce.

Mark Lai, i learnt the art of knowing theology in this era.

Jo, i learnt how to love. and love others, finding and persevering in looking for the gem that they are deep within the surface.

and many more.

im the least talented among my friends. least disciplined, least understanding, most naiive.

and i Thank God for such ppl who are willing to accept me as their friend.

So thank God for friends. Cuz they could seriously just be that mentor that you have been praying for.

Lord, lead us together as one.

It's always such a pleasure to have high performing teams (after the forming-storming-norming stages of grp behabviour) that function so very well for God's kingdom.

nothing beats having a team together doing God's work, rather than 'earning money for my stakeholders, my ceo, who don't really care who u are anyways.'

nothing is more worthwhile. (nic from the future! hope this sounds true by then.)

Recently i read an article in Compass magazine, by Dr Tan Soo Inn, titled "Team Leadership: is There any Other Kind." Which confirms my observation that group and team leadership works greatly than a strongman leadership.

it hath been happening for eons, but i wonder if people really do observe or tasted it happening.

Maybe im blessed to both have seen it (SPO, and LKY's era of cabinet ministers) and been part of one. (musical).

He quoted this thing called " The 4 main Leadership Aptitudes"

-Executing / Operational Leaders : the ppl who are the ones who are gifted in structure and solutions to achieving the vision

- Influencing / Directing Leaders: the ppl who can cast vision kind, and they influence ppl in juz normal situations. Sometimes they dun get caught up in the details, so they can channel energy to vision-influencing.

- Relationship Biulding / team-building leaders: These are the glue kind of ppl who are the kind who makes the team feel warm, and builds the relationships between ppl, so that they become friends working together, not mere individuals. they hear, understand, and lurve everyone.

- Strategic thinking / Strategic Leaders: THese are the uncle Muntoh kind. or on a bigger scale, MM Lee. Where they can see problems and opportunities before it happens, and helps the group focus on what they're supposed to focus.

so here we are. continue in Your work Lord.

Hana (cover by Gabriel Jiang)

awesome friends i have.
blessed to have brothers who show me it's possible.

real world experience?

growing up in church culture all these years is both a privilege and a sheltered world. Privilege cuz growing up in God's house.. Of cuz privilege la!

But ultra sheltered and me being me, with my family shelter too, it stuns my growth in many other areas too.

Had dinner with kel, celest, kest. Closest church friends for the past 3years of this life's season. Thankful for kel who initiated. And the fellowship and the teaching tips and the insights.

Got home and thought... How much of the real working world experience should i experience? I've never done so, and now i'm going straight into social sector and still within the shelteredness of the christian industry.

Do i need some real working life experience before i'm able to understand the struggles?
Won't just being faithful be enough? Won't living the called life be enough? God i don't know. But i do want to be faithful and live your called life.
God in my sheltered life, always be my shelter, knowing that taking risks is not gonna sabo things, and my plans, but staying faithful is more important.

Even my thinking is not critical enough. I still can't think sharply. God if You called me here.. Help me to see you daily. Let my life be an outflow to kids and to ppl around. Cuz You have loved me so very much.

another thing i learnt

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.proverbs 23:17.too many times we have wished to lived their form of happening life. fantasies of drugs, sex, climbing and achieving corporate milestones.let's stay strong, doing what is right. Resilient men, let's be my bros.

another thing i learnt

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.proverbs 23:17.too many times we have wished to lived their form of happening life. fantasies of drugs, sex, climbing and achieving corporate milestones.let's stay strong, doing what is right. Resilient men, let's be my bros.

ownself kena.

learnt this from my dear bro.

sometimes in life, when we sin, we ownself kena.
Being in His presence is such a joy, but when we get double minded, and do idiotic sins, we lose His presence. And that is torture.

Being away from His presence is really a bad bad punishment.

that is why so many families screw up when their fathers arent walking right with the Lord. why? as the head, when he sins, he brings sin to the whole family. hence the stories in the bible, where the whole family kena cuz of the lao peh's sin.

no joke man.

similarly, when we are leading christiany stuff like leading worship, doing DGL etc, or christiany events, when one member has sin, it spreads to the whole thing. cuz it allows the devil a door to come in and sabo the whole darn thing.

even in relationships too. sin sabos everything.

Ps Ed chu zhao on 2jan2011. the first sunday of this year. Nominal Christianity is not the killer to true discipleship, as proposed by countless books out there. Cultural Christianity is.

it's one of the 3 or all combined.
consumerism resulting in spectatorship (sit there and watch and gain),

Self-actualisation (do God's work but actually is to see whether i can achieve my potential)

or Double Mindedness (zealous for God but private life CMI)

i wonder if many in church fall under Double Mindedness? i know i do.

As we get older, the responsibility increases. Holiness no longer becomes a choice. It HAS to be.

this year started off with breakthru, DG thanksgiving, cycling, dawn prayer, and IMO a great voices service. But sin can come anytime.

so hopefully we don't forget who and what and why our Purpose is. JESUS.

when we play guit, JESUS.

when we lead DG, JESUS.

when we live our private life, JESUS. accountable to Him.

LORD help us.

I Just Want You - Planetshakers

i just want YOU.

being desperate for His presence is a good thing. tho being IN His presence is better.