The number 1 best selling book in the world is the bible. So much so that it was taken out from the best selling list as no other books can ever come close even till date. It may have been a religious book in the eyes of many, it is undoubtedly a book that contains so much wisdom that many of the businesses, schools, organisations and of course the churches are using it to provide guideline of values and inspirations.
Within the book itself, there are 66 other books, 39 in the old testaments (before the birth of Christ) and 27 in the new testaments. One book which stands out among the rest (In my opinion) is the book of Proverbs which was written by the wisest man in history, King Solomon.
It has 31 chapters to it, every single chapter relates to issues of life ranging from family to finances. It is recommended to read a chapter a day for daily wisdom.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
What an amazing Asia Conference!
The curtains has closed for the amazing Asia Conference 2008. 5 days of power packed preaching from some of the top preachers all over the world sure to blow everyone's mind who attended the sessions. Just want to share some of my thoughts from what i've gathered for these days.
Day one:
Tremendous opening sessions with an overwhelming crowd. It's probably one of the largest crowd in Singapore Christian history probably in Asia of more than 20,000 people in a single session. CHC lift up to the expectations of the people by parading the best of all the ministries in church ranging from children church to drama, BBG, CHCSA etc. It reminded me of how i was drawn to the church when i first came during the 12th anniversary. The atmosphere was electrifying and hardly any pauses or dry moments. Heaven is indeed singing during the session. Andrea and i were seated at the last row of the bravo terrace overseeing the entire crowd of the place. My molehill mindset was immediately magnified on the possibility of the ministry that one could have. 30-40 members is not going to be my limit i proclaim. Pastor Kong's message on the 3rd space is a good recap on how Christians should not be boxed up in the 4 walls of the church but to engage the upper class society which will change the world.
Day 2:
Pastor Phil spearheaded this day by moving mightily through the leading of the Holy Spirit, prophesying to the different nations for revival. Tears were seen flowing in the eyes of many. I caught something from this move about the importance of believing in someone and encouragement that will change a person's life. I stood near to the front and it was as through God is encouraging me personally to move on strongly for God. Fear not, for i am with you!
Pastor Ulf Ekman took the later session and evening slots. Again the evidence of the Holy Spirit power was clearly found in this 60 over years old man of God. His zest and energy on the pulpit would have put many youngsters to shame in comparison.
Day 3
Probably the all-time favourite preacher of City Harvest, Dr A R Bernard took the stage delivering which i believed is the most revelational message of the entire conference. He opened with an interesting topic about the recent US election and how Obama's victory signifies the Kairos time where the finger of God is touching the human affairs in a great way. He use a parallel to the book of Daniel whereby the reign of Nebecenezza's(dunno how to spell) kingdom came to an end. He used the term 'Insulation' which i believe is the word for the conference which represent how Christians should be functioning in the world, keeping the warmth and fire of God internally through the layers of Spiritual protections and preventing the cold from entering into the lives of the believer. Wow! How come i can never think like the way he does?
Day 4:
Miracle man Benny Hinn! Although this man often found to be controversial in many articles and website forum, manages an entire spirit-filled 4 hour session. Besides the 'usual' miracles seen in the meeting, what was amazing was the salvation message he preached along with the move of the spirit drew the largest altar call crowd i've ever seen and also the challenging offering message which i believed left many pockets empty that day. He further shared about the calling of God which he deemed is higher than family and work, which left me pondering about the basic doctrines i learnt of priorities God, family, work, ministry. Fortunately, this portion was cleared the following day by Pastor Kong. He also gave a prophesy about Israel which left many with great concern about what is going to happen in the next few years, which Pastor Kong also mention to shelf it. Nevertheless it was still a great service.
Day one:
Tremendous opening sessions with an overwhelming crowd. It's probably one of the largest crowd in Singapore Christian history probably in Asia of more than 20,000 people in a single session. CHC lift up to the expectations of the people by parading the best of all the ministries in church ranging from children church to drama, BBG, CHCSA etc. It reminded me of how i was drawn to the church when i first came during the 12th anniversary. The atmosphere was electrifying and hardly any pauses or dry moments. Heaven is indeed singing during the session. Andrea and i were seated at the last row of the bravo terrace overseeing the entire crowd of the place. My molehill mindset was immediately magnified on the possibility of the ministry that one could have. 30-40 members is not going to be my limit i proclaim. Pastor Kong's message on the 3rd space is a good recap on how Christians should not be boxed up in the 4 walls of the church but to engage the upper class society which will change the world.
Day 2:
Pastor Phil spearheaded this day by moving mightily through the leading of the Holy Spirit, prophesying to the different nations for revival. Tears were seen flowing in the eyes of many. I caught something from this move about the importance of believing in someone and encouragement that will change a person's life. I stood near to the front and it was as through God is encouraging me personally to move on strongly for God. Fear not, for i am with you!
Pastor Ulf Ekman took the later session and evening slots. Again the evidence of the Holy Spirit power was clearly found in this 60 over years old man of God. His zest and energy on the pulpit would have put many youngsters to shame in comparison.
Day 3
Probably the all-time favourite preacher of City Harvest, Dr A R Bernard took the stage delivering which i believed is the most revelational message of the entire conference. He opened with an interesting topic about the recent US election and how Obama's victory signifies the Kairos time where the finger of God is touching the human affairs in a great way. He use a parallel to the book of Daniel whereby the reign of Nebecenezza's(dunno how to spell) kingdom came to an end. He used the term 'Insulation' which i believe is the word for the conference which represent how Christians should be functioning in the world, keeping the warmth and fire of God internally through the layers of Spiritual protections and preventing the cold from entering into the lives of the believer. Wow! How come i can never think like the way he does?
Day 4:
Miracle man Benny Hinn! Although this man often found to be controversial in many articles and website forum, manages an entire spirit-filled 4 hour session. Besides the 'usual' miracles seen in the meeting, what was amazing was the salvation message he preached along with the move of the spirit drew the largest altar call crowd i've ever seen and also the challenging offering message which i believed left many pockets empty that day. He further shared about the calling of God which he deemed is higher than family and work, which left me pondering about the basic doctrines i learnt of priorities God, family, work, ministry. Fortunately, this portion was cleared the following day by Pastor Kong. He also gave a prophesy about Israel which left many with great concern about what is going to happen in the next few years, which Pastor Kong also mention to shelf it. Nevertheless it was still a great service.
Final Day:
It's Dr Phil Pringle again. In his last session, he joked that he finally had the chance to preach the sermon he prepared. He shared on the book of Ezekiel about resurrection of the dry bones. How we serve a God that is alive! He continue build on the faith of the congregation about how we can change the nations if only we can take control of our own city. Also he gave lots of praises for what Pastor Kong did for this Asia Conference.
Night session start at 530pm after the beauty pageant. Our CK hunk Ricando won the Mr Asia Conference, unfortunately Cleo dint do likewise. Praise and worship was fantastic as usual. The song 'The God i know' sang into the hearts of many and also sums up the theme of this entire conference. The Church we know is righteous and holy, who strengthens the weak, light of the city... The night stretches with lots of performance from the Choir, orchestra, dance, celebrity performing etc.
Dr Bernard is the last speaker of this conference. Similar theme to what we've learnt. Change a person, change the place, change the nation. The city and nations will only be change by touching one life at a time. Indeed it's through the caring system which our church has adopt caused our church to grow to where we are today. I began pondering about my little cg and ministry. Have i impacted the lives of the members in my cg? Have i met their needs and caused them to do likewise?
Asia Conference has ended, i've benefited much from this whole session. Tired, but the spirit is strong. There are lots need to be done. But right now i'll spent more time on my baby..
Monday, November 10, 2008
ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED
In the path of learning especially through the education system from schools, we tend to frame the way of our thinking after some time. Science has taught us about having observations through our 5 senses, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. And upon every observation, derive certain conclusion about things whether an object is hot or cold, sweet or sour, colourful or dull etc. Similary we applied that to different experiences in our lives. Every situation, circumstances we faced, it will be recorded in our mind and it will ultimatedly form our thinking and affect every decisions we make in the future.
It is important for us to understand this as it will ultimately dictate the kind of life that we can live. A child who comes from a family background that is poor will have a tendency to believe that it is impossible for him/her to ever be rich. To have food on the table is considered luxury to them. In the circus, elephants when they are young are tied to a pole which is able to hold the strength of a young elephant. After struggling for a while to break lose and in vain, the elephant concludes that it is impossible to break free from the pole or the chains tied to him. When it grows up to be an adult elephant with strength 10 times greater, when it is tied to the same pole, it will not attempt to pull it down even if it has the ability to do so!
Today, i daresay many of us reading this blog are bounded with certain fixed belief system. To an average person, if i were to tell you that you can be a millionaire without changing your dollar notes to ruppiah, many would have said that i am crazy. But do you know that every min there are one millionaire sprouted up all over the world? Why can't it be you? If i were to say that you can be the top student in your school right now, will you give me a blank stare?
I have been meditating about this phase ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED this week. From teachings i learnt in church and even the recent speech that Barack Obama gave in Chicago after the elections, I began to understand even more about the power of belief system that one can have? Unconsciously, we allow some of lids to restrict many of the things we could have done or achieve. Dr AR Bernard was sharing about the power of audacious goals. Audacious goals are those beyond perceived capacity which puts you to a place where you have no choice but to trust God. Indeed it is true that many of us including myself have allow ourselves to trap in this comfort zone only waiting to retire!
When you read till this point what comes to your mind? Ask this question, what is the one predominant thing that is running through your mind right now? What is something which you think is possible to achieve? Why it causes to think this way? Has anyone done that thing which you wanted to do? How did they do that?
Our lives will never change if our thinking never change. Your mind is the greatest asset you can ever have. Use it to the maximum!
Alvin
It is important for us to understand this as it will ultimately dictate the kind of life that we can live. A child who comes from a family background that is poor will have a tendency to believe that it is impossible for him/her to ever be rich. To have food on the table is considered luxury to them. In the circus, elephants when they are young are tied to a pole which is able to hold the strength of a young elephant. After struggling for a while to break lose and in vain, the elephant concludes that it is impossible to break free from the pole or the chains tied to him. When it grows up to be an adult elephant with strength 10 times greater, when it is tied to the same pole, it will not attempt to pull it down even if it has the ability to do so!
Today, i daresay many of us reading this blog are bounded with certain fixed belief system. To an average person, if i were to tell you that you can be a millionaire without changing your dollar notes to ruppiah, many would have said that i am crazy. But do you know that every min there are one millionaire sprouted up all over the world? Why can't it be you? If i were to say that you can be the top student in your school right now, will you give me a blank stare?
I have been meditating about this phase ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED this week. From teachings i learnt in church and even the recent speech that Barack Obama gave in Chicago after the elections, I began to understand even more about the power of belief system that one can have? Unconsciously, we allow some of lids to restrict many of the things we could have done or achieve. Dr AR Bernard was sharing about the power of audacious goals. Audacious goals are those beyond perceived capacity which puts you to a place where you have no choice but to trust God. Indeed it is true that many of us including myself have allow ourselves to trap in this comfort zone only waiting to retire!
When you read till this point what comes to your mind? Ask this question, what is the one predominant thing that is running through your mind right now? What is something which you think is possible to achieve? Why it causes to think this way? Has anyone done that thing which you wanted to do? How did they do that?
Our lives will never change if our thinking never change. Your mind is the greatest asset you can ever have. Use it to the maximum!
Alvin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
