"Trailblazer"

My care group leader, Corinne saw this picture when the care group was praying for me:

"You were in a wheat field, with the wheat ripe for harvest... taller than you. You were holding a sickle in your hand and were cutting off the wheat. I saw above it the word, 'trailblazer' ".

4 Times in One Day

It all started one day when a colleague showed me an article from a forwarded email about some "Latest Tactic From Christians". I got so annoyed with that email because of the blatant lies it said about Christians, and how it was simply ridiculous and illogical.

I had the weekend to think about how to answer that colleague in a convincing way (without offending her).

So as I was thinking i decided to make a search on the internet, on a related but different issue. I found one article particularly interesting. As I read that article, I was pleasantly surprised that the points put forward was rather good! It was backed up by references and the way it was presented was well done.

So the following morning I was excited to get my other colleague to chat with me about the things written in the article.

1. My first opportunity was with this guy colleague who was quite knowledgeable in the topic, so I asked him about the article I've found, basically trying to hear the other side of the story. Good conversation, and I get to share a bit from the Christian perspective.

2. Later in the afternoon, another colleague came into my room and asked, "come on, tell me what were you guys discussing just now?" I couldn't resist a good opportunity... I began to explain to her why she should begin to think about whether her present faith is the truth. She also asked some interesting questions, like why I believe in Jesus, and why I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Good question! I proceeded to explain to her about Christianity. The conversation ended by me asking her to go back and think. We agreed to discuss about this some other time.

3. Next, another lady colleague came in... We had some good chats some months ago, but had not really talked since then. She came in all out of a sudden, and just to hang out and casual chat. She told me earlier that she used to be a Christian. She used to teach bible classes in Sunday School etc. But she left the faith when she got married. I urged her to consider coming back to Jesus, and also told her about my conversation with my male colleague in my first story. She seemed to agree with what I said, but... its difficult for her now that she is married and changed to another faith.

4. Lastly, the girl who first let me read about the article about the christian tactics came in. I explained to her what I have thought over the weekend. How that tactic is not logical and so ridiculous. I pointed it out to her from that article itself, as the answer is found in the very article itself. How the so-called "Dr ..." who wrote the article, the supposedly learned person who claimed to having done extensive research on the issue, lacked common sense in what she said.


By the fourth time I was already getting tired, because discussing things like this, and arguing points, can be exhausting. But as I speak I actually got more energetic. I was passionate to talk about Jesus!

It was quite an experience for me. Sharing about Jesus is one thing, but the difficult part was to do it without offending the other person because it involves discrediting the other person's beliefs. The thing that I really need to thank God is that, the following days after this incident, I was still good friends with all 4 of these colleagues and we still joke and laugh together... I am very excited about what is going to happen next....

Illustration: The Man On A Cruise

This is something meaningful I learned from bible study lessons:

The Man On A Cruise

There was once a man who has used up all his money to buy a ticket to board a ship to sail to another country.

During the long journey, he would walk past the dining hall and look at the other passengers feasting and enjoying their food. He wished he could join them, but he had no more money to buy food.

He would then go back to his own cabin to eat the biscuits he had brought along, carefully eating it little by little everyday, hoping that it would last for the journey.

Then one day, the captain of the ship came up to him and asked him why he did not join the other passengers at the dining hall but instead ate biscuits at a corner.

"I have used up all the money I have to purchase the ticket, and now I have no more money for food." the man said.

The captain then said, "Don't you know that the ticket price included food as well?"


The Lesson of the Story:

Christians believe that once they have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, they are assured of a place in heaven. However, many thought that that was the only thing they can have.

Some Christians even have a wrong belief that we can have all the good things after we reach heaven, but while we are still in this earth we are meant to suffer.

There are many Christians who live life like the man in the story. Many due to ignorance did not know that there are many other benefits besides heaven that we Christians can enjoy while we are in this earth, so we accept sickness and poverty as part of God's will and hope that one day it will all become better once we reach heaven.

However, the Bible says that we are meant to reign as kings and priests while on earth. We are meant to be overcomers!

We don't have to wait until we die and go to heaven to enjoy all of God's blessings. We can all enjoy heaven NOW!

The Bible is full of promises of God's blessings for us Christians, if only we would take time to find out. Our God is so wealthy and so kind, and He loves us so much. He has already given us the best He has - His Only Son, so would He not also give us all good things?

When we think of it, it makes sense... all God's promises are for us today, not for us only when we reach heaven. When we are in heaven, we won't need prosperity because we will be literally walking on gold! We won't need health and healing, and we won't need divine protection because there won't be any bad people or accidents in heaven anyway!

Psalm 103:3-5
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who:

1. forgives all your sins
2. heals all your diseases
3. redeems your life from the pit
4. crowns you with love and compassion
5. satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

Wisdom at Work

Today the bosses called together all the top management of the company to have an emergency meeting to discuss about an issue.

There has been a problem that has cropped up, and the bosses asked us what is the best way to solve this issue.

The boss asked around, and each person there gave a suggestion. When it came to my turn, I also came up with what I thought was the best solution.

Each of us gave a different answer.

After all have spoken, the question was asked to the big boss, "What do you think?".

And he answered, "I agree with what Arden said..."

I just smiled, and in my heart I kept thanking God, for guiding my mouth what to speak, and granting me favor with the bosses.

Jesus is my wisdom!

God's Word to My Mum

Today Pastor Patrick did a visitation to my house.

We had some conversation, mostly on the topic of our upcoming marriage. I introduced pastor to my mother who was also around at that time.

When the time is up and before pastor leaves, he offered to pray for us. Since my mum was here, I decided to ask her to come around for pastor to pray for her. My mum says that she wants pastor to pray over her regarding her sleeping problems, as she suffers from severe insomnia.

As pastor prayed in tongues to seek the Lord for guidance, God impressed upon pastor that the problem is due to my mum keeping a lot of hurt within her.

Pastor told my mum that she should let go of her past hurts, and he asked her to "bless" my dad. When he came to this part, my mum began to feel uneasy. She told pastor that, she had never blessed dad before and that she doesn't need to.

Pastor wisely did not press the matter further and asked her to consider forgiving my dad.

As I sent pastor out to his car, I thanked pastor for the timely and accurate word. My mum has been bound by these hurts for all these years. My family history has been complicated and not a happy one, to say the least.

She did not respond immediately, but given time, I believe that she will be able to truly let go of her past. It wasn't easy for her to release her decades of hurt and betrayal on one single prayer session. I pray that God will continue to minister to her and heal her wounds.

Thank God for a godly pastor who is able to speak God's healing words into her life.

Proverbs Bear Fruit

This morning I had a meeting with my colleagues. We were discussing some matters and our CEO asked us for our opinions.

When came to my turn, he said, "As a lawyer, you are the wisest person among us... I would like to hear what you think about this matter."

This was the first time I heard him say about someone being wise, as this word was seldom used by him.

So I just shared my thougths about it, nothing spectacular.. just my point of view.

And at the end of the meeting, when everyone else has left, he told me personally: "I'm really thankful to have a wise person like you to guide me along... really!"

I am so thankful to God about this. All along I did not know whether my views were appreciated by them, and today he actually gave his recognition.

I believe that, as I continue to "hide God's words in my heart", God's words continue to change the way I think, and unknowingly my speech were guided by God's wisdom.

This was the first time I was openly acknowledged as a wise person by someone else. All glory to God.

United Live Concert

I've been waiting for this night for a long time.

The last time United Live came to town, I think it was some 2 years ago, I was pretty excited over it and even got myself a ticket. But something happened last minute and I had to give it a miss.

Not this time around. I made sure I got the tickets early and booked my schedule way before. I've invited Alexander along, and Alisha of course followed.

We reached the place about 1 hours early, but the place was already packed with young people. We managed to squeeze our way through to as forward as possible, and only made it halfway. Not bad, we stood right in the middle with the band in front of us, although I would prefer if we can make it to the First Class position, which is right in front of the worship leader.

The concert was awesome! Most of the songs they sang were my favourites, and I followed them singing through the songs - since I've been listening to it and practising for a few weeks in advance.

I especially liked the part where the band played softly and only the crowds singing. It was truly an awesome atmosphere... The voice was fantastic, and almost heavenly. It was beautiful.

I sang my heart out, and by the end of it, I was practically exhausted from the singing. And, as usual for me in these situations, I have lost my voice already from the second song onwards.

It was truly amazing... I'm very thankful for the experience.