on cold nights like tonight

Today was my last day of doing Job Capacity Assessments at work. Since we have won a pretty big tender recently, I am moving to 'bigger and better' things and will have to leave these bonus-attracting-assessments behind - hopefully I will get to go back to them someday! But anyway, the reason why I am writing is because I had three refugee appoitnments one after the other this afternoon and I was just reflecting back on my day, and it really made me think how blessed we are to live in Australia for starters (which is such an AWESOME place that it opens it's doors to refugees from all over the world - Iran, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Malaysia... Singapore... :P AHHAHAHAH.. sorry I couldn't help myself). And secondly, how blessed we are to have a home with friends and family and a place to sleep every night.

Through the assessments, I found out that these people were staying in temporary accomodation, were dependent on a social worker to take them around to appointments etc, had little (or no) money, no friends (and some, no family), were in a totally different culture, with a totally different language, and were surrounded by totally different people who were changing all the time. It made me think what it would be like to be in their shoes. It would be seriously depressing and SUCH a challenge. We really don't know how good we have it until God leads us to people like this.

I then started thinking about all the homeless people in Perth, unfortunatley there's quite a few. I have even started to recognise some of them after working in the city for a while now. (The one who I see most days is 'Pigeon lady' - she wears a hat and had two long plaits in her hair and she keeps pigeons with her in cages. She talks to them and mumbles to herself.) Ever since I was young, I would always think of how homeless people keep warm on cold nights like tonight. We complain of being cold when we are in our insulated houses, with blankets and warm clothes, but really we are so blessed to have a home to go to, with warm clothes to wear and a bed to sleep in. I think that's why, as Christians, we should do our part for our local charities. Reminds me of the song, where one verse goes 'and they'll know we are Christians, by our love'. I really want to do something but I just don't know where to start. I guess one thing is to start rounding up some spare clothes (of which I have plenty) and blankets for the Good Sammy's Bins. But we'll see what happens hey.

worry wart

Thought I would share some points that I picked up when I was reading a chapter of 'Tired of do-list christianity?' by Scott Morton. The chapter was on worrying. I have always thought myself to be pretty relaxed with a she'll-be-right attitude to most things in life, but I have recently come to realise that I am really a closet-worry-wart who is probably too proud to admit that she has plenty of things to worry about. This chapter confirmed it and taught me more about this disabling condition.

OK main points in this chapter:

• Worry is a sin (Luke 21:34). Worry is different to concern. Often we as Christians will say 'I'm not worried, I'm concerned' but concern can be a disguise for worry. Morton says Concern leaps to worry when we take circumstances into our own hands rather than looking to God for His grace. Concern plua God's grace equals peace. Concern plus my coping mechanisms equals worry.
• Jesus tells us three times 'Do not worry' in Matthew 6:25-34. But also gives us reasons why we shouldn't worry: (1) vv25-26 because our Heavenly Father cares for us, (2) v27 because worrying won't change anything, (3) vv31-32 God knows what we need
• Morton says: Worry is a symptom of giving in to the fear that lurks behind it. Worry is choosing to fear rather than to trust. And that's why it is a sin.

So now that we know why worrying is a sin, what can we do to stop worrying - it seems almost automatic at times and sometimes goes undetected until it takes over every thought. Well, Morton offers the following suggestions as to how one can overcome this problem of worrying:

1. Identify when you are temmpted to worry and bring it to God immediately
2. Be thankful (Philippians 4:6-7). Saying 'thankyou' in faith brings peace.
3. Limit mental arguments (e.g. replaying the circumstances over and over in your mind).
4. Realise that most 'what-ifs' never come to pass.

Well that's all I had to share on that. This book has been a blessing to me so far (still got a bit to go), and if you are interested, it is definitely worth a read. A lot of the time, we become victims of Christian myths that hold us captive and stop us from growing and doing more for God and this book really helps identify them and gives practical steps to overcome them too.

sickie

Today I chucked a sickie from work. I didn't sleep the night before cos I had a really really bad sore throat, headache and a blocked nose. Well I pretty much slept the whoe day today, getting out of bed only to eat and to drink some vitamin C and honey - it was like I was in hibernation or something. I pretty much got out of bed at 5pm - which was funny cos it's my usual knock-off time - and am feeling pretty good now. Sore throat is still there but headache is gone and nose is heaps less mucousy haha...

Sorry if you have just lost your appetite :)

yesterday

Just wanted to post quickly about City Evangelism yesterday. First of all, I am really glad that I got over my intial I-don't-really-feel-like-going attitude - I prayed several times that day before we went 'for battle' and I really believe that God slowly helped me find the enthusiasm in my heart to go out there and just do it.

I was originally meant to go with Vanessa, with William observing, but it turned out that Truc was partner-less and ended up coming with us to form two groups of two. I ended up taking William around who was a first-timer (I love taking first-timers, it always reminds me of the first time I went for CE with Cherie - I was so scared and so excited at the same time!)...

We talked to one girl in particular from Germany named Merle, and it was her first day in Perth! She was really receptive when we shared the Gospel with her she was really receptive. I don't like to pressure people into a decision so after I had told her everything, I asked if she had any questions (she said no... I think she was a bit overwhelmed with the information overload that I had just dished out, but she DID tell us that she would definitely read the This Was Your Life gospel tract and will have a read of the Gospel of John), and then I pointed her toward the Sinner's prayer. I am hopeful that God will save her soon.

I also had the opportunity to talk to William a bit more and answer some of the burning questions he had been thinking about which was a pretty cool experience. He also ended up giving out some tracts which was encouraging to see too! So all in all it was another awesome afternoon spent for God.

sowing on sunday

I want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone out there in Blog World to listen up and be encouraged to go out on Sunday for City Evangelism. OK don't stop reading just cos I mentioned the 'e-word'... I don't want to write this to guilt you into going, but at the same time, if you aren't going and you don't feel guilty, well I will just let my old buddy Spurgie do the talking:

Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself - be sure of that! [CH Spurgeon]

If you feel that you are lacking a bit of enthusiasm for City Evangelism, I know how you feel... I get that oh-man-not-again feeling most of the time before each CE. We go out for CE quite often so it is easy (for me anyway) to feel like it is routine and not feel excited about it. I guess it is natural to feel like that - we are afterall, in a spiritual battle with the flesh every day and we need to make a conscious effort to fight our flesh - especially when it comes to things like CE. The spiritual ramifacations echo through eternity and consequently, Mr S.A. Tan starts to work overtime at times like these to help give you think of excuses not to come. Think about it, if we don't go, souls will continue marching into Hell... But if we do go, we can be used by God to sow the Gospel seed into the hearts of these lost souls and play a part in their eternal salvation! Now if that isn't the most awesome way of spending your Sunday afternoon - I don't know what is.

Of course you can spend your Sunday arvo in front of the TV or shopping or playing computer games or studying (I SHUDDER at the thought!) or sleeping... but what are the outcomes of these things? Who wins in that spiritual battle - the spirit or the flesh?

One of the quotes that I always remember is by CS Lewis:

All that is not eternal is eternally useless.

Think about that one for a minute... Stop reading, look away from the computer, and think about that... How much of what we do is 'eternally useless'?? God gives us a purpose in life which is to glorify Him and to make Him known to others - but all too often we have our own purposes and our own agendas... How bout this Sunday, you give God a few hours to invest in eternity? It will not only make God smile upon you, but it will also be an encouragement to people like myself who aren't really sure of what to expect this Sunday in terms of number of people heading out for CE.

And please keep CE in your prayers. Weather looks dodgy - so pray for God to do His thing with the weather too :)

the penny drops once again

I dunno... It's amazing how some things can get sooo under your skin... Recently, I have been seeing the 'other' side of people a whole lot more than usual. I won't go into detail, but I'm sure a lot of you can relate in one way or another. I have noticed that it seems to happen a lot in churches [don't know whether in churches we expect more of people, who in reality are sinners just the same; or whether church-goers have a tendency toward being judgemental either knowingly or unknowingly - I'm not too sure which it is sometimes] but I am also weary of saying anything lest I look like I am being judgemental myself.

It can get discouraging when people don't measure up to your expectations - you expect that because they know doctrine inside and out, they are the 'go-to' people for advice on doing the 'right thing', they give perfect answers (or even lead) during Bible studies, they sing in perfect pitch during service, they always say the right thing, at the right time, in the right way - that they would be awesome examples for 'the rest of us' to follow when it comes to the 'real world'... but so many times they're not, we're not, and I'm not.

I know that we are to look to Jesus as our example on how to live, and looking to man for answers is the foolish thing to do - but like I said before, these small things that we are supposed to ignore, just don't seem to go away and instead lodge themselves under my skin an irritate me to the point of disillusionment.

But after some reflection, God opened my eyes and I realised something - when we feel disillusionment with others who have done the same as what we have done ourselves at one time or another, we start to get an idea of how God (who unlike us, has never done what we have done to Him, i.e. sinned) would feel when we fail to reach His expectations (perfection). This is how He would feel if He thought like us - but He doesn't. His response to our falling short of His expectations was to send His only Son - Jesus Christ - to die and hence help us meet His standard once again. Just stop reading and really think about that... It's easy to just swallow something like that and put it in the 'what-I-already-know-basket' but just think about it...

When someone hurts you, when someone gets soooo under your skin, whesn someone discourages you, when someone causes you to feel disillusioned and disappointed, when someone doesn't meet your expectations of who you want them to be - and instead of thinking about what they have done wrong, YOU sacrifice what is dearest to you to help them become something that they TOTALLY don't deserve to be... THAT is what real love is.

all that she had

This verse caught me...

Mark 12:41-44 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

In a different translation, verse 44 reads:

All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all.

I have read that verse so many times in the past, but reading it in the second version really made it stand out to me so much more! She gave EXTRAVANGENTLY... She gave her ALL... Made me a bit convicted about how selfish I can be when it comes to offering - not just in my money, but also in my time. I would definitely not say that I have been an extravagent giver, I see my time outside of work hours as 'my time' and I often just give God what I will never miss or what has become part of 'my routine'. I treat my time as if I own it but like everything in this world, I am just a steward or caretaker of what really belongs to God - I just keep forgetting that...

I also read recently that the best gift to give someone is your time - because it is something that once you use it, you can never get it back. It really confirms with me that I need to give back to God what belongs to Him and use my time for Him. It will be hard, but I don't want to just keep giving God what I won't miss - He deserves so much more.

the big 6-0

It's my dad's 60th birthday today! So Happy Birthday DAD!! It's hard to believe that my folks are so old - but I guess that means that I am getting old too. Soon they will be crossing over to the mouldy oldy stage but thank God that they're still pretty fit and healthy :)

My Dad is pretty cool - One thing is for sure, there ain't too many blokes out there like my pops! He's a character-and-a-half. I think he's put up with me heaps and we've definitely had our fair share of 'misunderstandings' but thank God that I get along with him pretty well nowadays! He can still be pretty embarrassing but I guess that all comes as standard in any Dad - I just got a bonus amount in mine! :P

The other day my bro and I were recalling some memories with Dad - like him telling us bedtime stories starring our cousin, Fei Gor Gor, who got up to all kinds of adventures (my Dad used to fall asleep mid-story, and we'd have to wake him up to make him finish the story!). My Dad has also been a great spiritual leader for our family too - leading us in Bible reading and prayer on most nights (I think this really helped me grow up with God's Word hid in my heart). There have been plenty more fond memories and I just really thank God for the gift of my Dad! :)

all came down to one uncle

My dad's friend, Uncle Samuel, from back in the day came and stayed at our house last week, and on wednesday night, he took me and my family out for the obligatory thanks-for-everything-dinner at Northbridge Chinese Restaurant [my family's new 'South Ocean' - my dad tends to have favourite restaurant phases (last one was South Ocean) and goes there until he gets sick of it and then changes to a new one... and right now the restaurant of choice is Northbridge Chinese Restaurant (as a matter of fact, I started typing this post while waiting to go there tonight)... No complaints about it tho - their cheew-yoon pai guat (chilli and salt spare ribs) is awesome and they have soup and dessert 'on the house'].

Well anyway.. (that was a bit of a side-track) At the dinner, I found out something really interesting about my dad's side of the family's salvation. Uncle Samuel was telling us about how he became a Christian, saying that originally, his older brother was the first one in his family to become a Christian [this brother was a Pastor in the United States but recently passed away... Waaaaaay back in the day, he actually gave Adrian and I yellow teddy bears in Los Angeles when I was 3 and he was 5.. I remember this quite clearly because Adrian and I had a bit of a tussle with one of these bears and the bear flew into a puddle of muddy water - I lost it, and bawled my eyes out - but this uncle went and washed and dried the bear and gave it back to me which was really sweet and all, but after the whole muddy puddle incident, I ended up wanting the other bear - stupid Adrian!]. And this brother was actually my Uncle Keith's friend (Uncle Keith works in the Salvation Army in Perth). Apparently, Uncle Keith tried evangelising so many times to this Uncle Samuel's brother who constantly ridiculed him for being a Christian - but eventually said to him one day 'Take me to your church' and then became a Christian himself shortly after. He then went on to bring Uncle Samuel and the rest of his family to know Christ as their Saviour!!

But that's not the cool part... Yeah! There's more to the story fellas and fellarettes!!... We found out that night that my dad's side of the family used to be non-Christian!... I KNOW! Crazy crazy stuff!... This was a pretty big shock as my bros and I always thought that my dad's family were Christians from the get-go, but apparently not!! My dad shared with us that originally Uncle Keith was the only Christian in the family, but by God's grace, one by one, both my Grandpa and Grandma, my Uncle Kenneth, Aunty Ruth, My Dad, Aunty Pauline, Uncle Kin and Aunty Ruby put their faith in the Lord too! I was absolutely floored to realise that the salvation of two families came down to my Uncle Keith - who seems like one of the more quiet and awkward uncles of the lot of them. To this day, out of all my uncles and aunties, Uncle Keith is probably the only one who continues to evangelise heaps in his old age (not sure how old he is, but my dad is 60, my Uncle Ken is 70 and he's somewhere in between). I guess it shows us that to be used by God, you don't need to be eloquent, charismatic, courageous or bold - you just need a willing heart! It also really makes me realise the truth of God's Word when it says:

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

My Mum is still waiting for her prayers to be answered for her side of the family but when I see God work in Jie Aom and my auntie's (Jie Aom's mum) hearts, I believe in my heart that they are starting to get answered too. =)

yay! 1000 visitors

Yay! My counter says 1000 people have visited my humble little blog! Ok admittedly, 1000 people isn't that many - but it looks pretty cool hehe.. And plus, I am aware that a lot of these 'people' are me clicking back into my blog to write a new post or to make changes etc to the layout, but there are some crazy people out there who actually reckon my blog is worth them reading it! - so cheers you guys! and thanks for stopping by!

paul washer weekend

Paul Washer is a beast (as Timbo would say). Last night and this afternoon, I had the blessing of listening to two Paul Washer sermons - one for Regeneration and one for EVEReady Workshop. Both were really good. The Regen one was about marriage - and although it was mainly directed at the fellas, it was still very interesting and mentioned a lot of points about the marriage relationship that I never really thought about before. My first thoughts following that message were : 'Man, men have a LOT of responsibility in marriage!' and 'Thank God I'm not a man' hahaha... But I think the challenge for the girls (especially the girls like me) is that we have to submit, be gentle and love at ALL times... Sometimes it really feels as if God put these challenges directly aimed at the things I find hardest to do!

The EVEReady sermon was awesome too. For those who missed out, please take the time to listen to this sermon - it will only take an hour of your time, and it may be the difference between you going to Heaven or Hell (just cause you think you are a Christian, it doesn't mean that God sees you as one). The main point of it was that many people reckon they know Jesus - but the real question is does Jesus know them? This sermon convicted me quite a lot - and I just pray that I will really be able to make my life more like God would want it to be.

and just like that she was gone

I just said bye to my cousin Jie Aom. I can't believe that a year has already passed since she came over. We had dinner earlier tonight and we were just thinking about all the things we did when she first came to Perth and it seemed so long ago. But tomorrow at about lunch time, she will be on a plane heading back to Bangkok, and as quickly as she had come, she will be gone =( It never ceases to amaze me how people can spend such a short time in your life yet leave footprints in your heart that will remain forever. I thank God that He gave my brothers and I the blessing to really get to know and love one of our cousins who we never knew very well at all.

Jie Aom is leaving Perth as a non-Christian, but I thank God that she came as someone who didn't know anything about God and left knowing pretty much everything she could possibly know (with all of her questions answered by so many brothers and sisters here). I will keep praying for her, that even when she is in Thailand, and the odds are against her becoming a Christian, she will still have that faith and courage to put her life in the Lord's hands and become reborn into His kingdom.

Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.


Jie Aom, if you read this, always remember what you have learnt in Perth. We all love you very much and will keep praying that you will one day come to know and experience the most pure, true, genuine and eternal love of Christ, and that you will accept Him into your heart as your personal Lord and Saviour, and then introduce Him to our relatives back in Thailand. See you soon!

EVEReady

OK blog-readers, following a challlenge from my bro to use my blog to publicise evangelism events - this is just a quick plug-arooney for the EVEReady Evangelism Workshop that is coming up THIS Saturday, 2pm @ Church (27 Ullapool Road, Mt Pleasant). The evangelism committee have organised a workshop on writing our own testimonies as well as an awesome sermon by Paul Washer.

Before you tell me you have more important things to do, or that you have already written your testimony before, or that you have heard Paul Washer's sermon before, or that you have too many assignments or tests, or that you haven't registered, or that you need to stay at home and do housework (I've heard them all before hahaha)... Please do think about going because:

1. There is nothing more important than doing God's work and trying to do it better is part of being a Christian
2. Even though you have written your testimony before - is it something you can use to witness to others? and has God not done anything more since you wrote it out the first time?
3. You can listen to your favourite song over and over again - so why not listen to a sermon a few times through (plus, you can discuss with other bros and sisters what you've have learnt in the sermon)
4. God honours those who honour Him - so invest some time for God, and God will invest some brain power for your tests and assignments!
5. You can still register now!! And even if you read this at 1:30pm on Saturday and you still haven't registered, your presence there is way more important than whether we know you are coming or not!!!
6. Housework, schmousework... Plan your morning to get things done and just GO in the arvo! A little dust never hurt no one anyways (except asthmatics!)

And in addition, it's gonna be great anyways! See you all there!!

her last week in Perth...

My cousin Jie Aom (her name is Aom, but I call her Jie Aom cos she is older than me - 'Jie' means big sis) will be leaving Perth on Thursday. I will be really sad to see her go back to Thailand because in the past year, my family and I have gotten to know her so much better. It was awesome to have her come over because we have been able to show her our life here in Perth, and we have also had the priveledge of bringing her to our church and sharing the Gospel with her.

I still remember when she came along to the National Youth Camp last December, and pretty much every time there was free-time there would be someone different sitting with Jie Aom talking about Christ and trying to answer all of her questions, and other brothers and sisters seeing this and then promptly going to a corner to pray for her - this is something that I will always hold dear to my heart (The love that so many of you have showed my cousin has been an encouragement to me and I am sure it has been an encouragement to her too). I loved how for the Amazing Race, out of all the people in her group, she was the one who had to teach her new team her theme verse!

I think Jie Aom is at the stage where she knows all that she needs to know - and is just waiting on God to give her the faith to believe and the courage to return to Thailand as a Christian (if she makes the decision to receive Christ). She has told me (and many others) that she only wants to believe in God when she feels that she can - and did not want to make the decision to do so for anyone else except for her self.

My burden for her salvation is so strong because I know deep down in my heart that she is the best chance that we have to reach out to my unsaved rellies in Thailand, and I am convinved that the reason why she came to Perth (whether she knows it or not) was to take that big step closer to salvation. I really believe that if she becomes a Christian, she will be used by God to evangelise to so many people in Thailand. If you have had the blessing to meet her, I think you will also see that she is really likeable but also smart and observant - which I reckon will make her an awesome witnesss for God.

I really thank God for working in her heart, because even in the last few days I think He has shown her many things that have helped her step closer and closer to Him. But at the same time, I am starting to wonder why God is taking so long with her too! I have to keep telling myself to wait on His timing and that He makes all things beautiful in His time. I just really keep hoping, praying and trusting God that He will bring her to come to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour soon.

Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Please keep praying for Jie Aom's salvation and the salvation of my relatives in Thailand. Pray also for Thailand as a whole - that God will send a great spiritual revival.

happy mother's day!

To all the mum's out there - especially mine...

Happy Mother's Day!

My mum's an awesome chick! She is godly, beautiful, wise, loving, the BEST hugger, prayerful, funny, cute, easy-to-talk-to, elegant, friendly, caring, awesome-at-cooking (especially yummy thai food), forgiving, humble, honest and so much more! I love her heaps and while she's not here with me for Mother's Day (she's in Sydney right now) - I just wanna thank God for the coolest-mum-in-the-world!

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. ~Honoré de Balzac

I regard no man as poor who has a godly mother. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Boyz II Men - A Song for Mama Lyrics

You taught me everything
And everything you've given me I always keep it inside
You're the driving force in my life, yeah
There isn't anything Or anyone that I can be
And it just wouldn't feel right If I didn't have you by my side

You were there for me to love and care for me when skies were grey
Whenever I was down You were always there to comfort me
And no one else can be what you have been to me
You will always be - you always will be the girl in my life for all times

[Chorus: ]
Mama, mama you know I love you Mama,
Mama you're the queen of my heart
Your love is like Tears from the stars
Mama, I just want you to know
Lovin' you is like food to my soul

You're always down for me
Have always been around for me even when I was bad
You showed me right from my wrong
And you took up for me When everyone was downin' me
You always did understand
You gave me strength to go on

There was so many times looking back when I was so afraid
And then you come to me and say to me I can face anything
And no one else can do What you have done for me
You'll always be You will always be the girl in my life

Never gonna go a day without you
Fills me up just thinking about you
I'd never go a day without my mama

girls day out

This morning, the girls of Regneration and Youth180 took to South Perth in the morning to have brekky on the foreshore. It was a beautiful morning spent with even more beautiful sisters! Here are some pics!

The brothers had their own breakfast an hour earlier hosted by my brothers. You can see what they got up to here or here.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

For anyone out there who is interested, the latest Sola Fide Newsletter which was distributed at church last night, is also available online here. Happy Reading! And thankyou to all who contributed!

unexpected blessing!

My day actually started off a bit rough today... I didn't get much sleep last night due to a late-night evangelism meeting at Maccas Canning Highway (props out to Mikey Hong by the way, for the free expresso-pronto upgrade!) - though it was worth it, I seriously paid for it today (was absolutely knackered all day!). I woke up feeling unrefreshed and dreading the day ahead of me. I had 3 appointments in Northbridge first up which I stumbled through (one of the chicks I assessed kept staring at me - which was really unsettling! :S) and then headed back to the office. On the way, I saw big Al who had just ran an errand and was wandering around the shops (I would have said 'ummah' to him, but I was doing the same thing! hehehe).

When I got back to the office, I had an email from my boss in my inbox. I opened it and was surprised to read something along the lines of:

Hi Rowena, I'm pleased to let you know that in the first quarter of the year, you have earnt a significant bonus of $XXXX! This will be added into your account on the next pay-run. Well Done and keep up the good work!

Whoa.. Crazy stuff! The timing of this news couldn't have been better... I have recently been worried about my performance at work and even last night, as I was in bed trying to fight the effects of my upgraded latte, I took some time to write down the things which I had been worrying about and took the time to commit them to the Lord in prayer. I kid you not when I say that two of the things I had written down were 'not doing a good job at work' and 'letting the company down' (in terms of performance). How amazing was it that the very next day, God gives me such an awesome encouragement! The bonus was more than what I would usually get in my fortnightly pay! All glory to God! God is SOOO awesome man! I am still in disbelief...

This whole thing reminds me of the following verse:

But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth... - Deuteronomy 8:18a

It is only by His strength and providence that I have the ability to get through days like today - where I just feel so incredibly drained and deprived of sleep, yet I was able to function fairly normally at work and get heaps of work done!

My flesh and my heart fail: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever - Psalms 73:26.

Thankyou God for so many unexpected and undeserved blessings.
I praise and thank You because Your timing is always impeccable.
You always know what we need and You constantly do exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think.
May I never take Your gifts for granted and may my love for You continue to increase regardless of whether these blessings wax or wane.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

from the tube - something to do on a rainy day...

Who would have thought dominoes would be such a cack?

Alrighty.. I guess I should tie this back to the spiritual somehow! Well, the one thing that really stood out to me when I watched these vids was 'Man! These guys have a lot of time on their hands'... I mean seriously, how long would it have taken to set up those crazy domino things - especially video 2 (HARDCORE!)... I mean you would it expect it from the crazy Japanese dudes, but the hardcores in vid 2 - man o man!

This made me think about the way that a lot of us live our lives in today's world. Christians and non-Christians continue along in their daily grind hoping to work toward that next goal in their life - car, house, nicer car, boat, bigger house, 1st million, more cars, 5th million, bigger house, private jet, corporate empire... But once they die, all the things they have 'set-up' for themselves are just going to come tumbling down one after another like a set of well-placed dominoes.

NYC'06 Crosby Group Members will remember the following verse:

2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

[Crosby ppl: Do you guys still remember the tune?? hehehe I don't think I will ever forget this verse! I still remember Andy's attempt at a song - that was one seriously catchy tune!]

Getting back on track, the things which are seen (i.e. material goods) will only ever be of temporal value (they will soon be gone) and the things which we don't see will last forever. So don't waste your life building up domino-empires! Sure we all have to study or work for a living, but use the time you are at uni or work to do what you can to let your colleagues know about Christ and keep shining that light!

God is just, because even a pauper on earth can be a Donald Trump in heaven!

happy 21st BPCWA!

All in all it was a great night out - lotsa laughs all round and the food was pretty good too! a big SHOUT OUT to table 13 it was great sharing food with u all! haha.. Congrats also to Vicks & Ian for their baptisms, not-so-little Dazza for his reaffirmation and Chookie for her transfer of membership today too! Well done guys and girl!