Last Friday the OCF new committee has been revealed.
I think the nominees have definitely demonstrated their devotion, and commitment to OCF flinders and they deserve a pat on their back for being recognised as so.
I am really happy that Sumi, who has always demonstrated his sincere heart of love to others, is going to be OCF president next year! It is an exciting time for everyone, and I'm comforted to have him as the shepherd guiding OCF flinders to where God wants us to go!But not forgetting the vice-president who will be assisting Sumi along the way, all the way! Suria. What can I say? She is a wonderful girl. Full of cheer, energy and quick to lend a smile everytime:) It's a delight to have her on board as the VP too.
As we celebrate the beginning of a new chapter, I also pray for Alsen, and his co-workers who had done such a great job this year! They had truly been exhausted and stretched thin at times, but God provides and replenishes, and with that, they continued for the Lord like mighty warriors! An applause for them. Kudos!
posted by bob of sunshine* 10:02 PM
Today in BSF, we had to recall some of the promises God has made to us. The few that were brought up are as follows,
" I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Joshua 1:5
' " For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ' - Jeremiah 29:11
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:12-13.
One of my favourite verses that clears any shadow of doubt of God's grace, and my redemption:
" Because of the Lord's great love we are NOT consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is thy faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23.
" But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6: 33
Lord, before I look at the world and the people around me, help me to see my own shortcomings first. Rid my life of bondage (of sin), and may I repent relentlessly whenever a sin is found. Then Lord, give me the communion of the Holy Spirit, and the Authority to speak into the hearts of men and women. Let me fear not the consequences of speaking in Truth, instead Lord, let everyone who listens know that I speak the truth.
Lord as I face persecution by friends - especially the Christian ones - I know that You are with me. As they judge me as crazy, radical or fundamental Father, You know my heart. Only you understand the depth of my sorrow and rejection. But your will needs to be done.
Therefore Father, let me be guided by your will and not by the desires of my heart. Even as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I know Lord, that you are with me. Empower me, Father. Test me. Bring me suffering and loss and pain if they can test my character, mould me into a fruitbearing Christian. Bring those into my life and take away all that I have Lord...but leave me only with my faith in You.
Then when I regain all that I lost, people can rejoice and say that my Lord is God Almighty! Halleluiah!!!
Whatever is your will Father, may it be executed through my life. May I be a living sacrifice. A sweet incense. A light on a hill. Salt for the nations. Let me be a sweet sweet sound - bringing Good news from afar!
Though I long to be with you in heaven Father, continue to give me life. So I may bear fruits, and from my tree, branches will burst forth and even more fruits will be born!
Though our days are numbered Lord, mine is filled with Hope in You. I rejoice in You! I love you!
posted by bob of sunshine* 7:45 AM
I still find it wonderous that the One who created the oceans, the beautiful stars, the diverse species of creatures big and small, had also chosen to make me.
How amazing. The same mighty hands. The same intelligent plan. I am truly thankful and in awe:)
posted by bob of sunshine* 7:33 AM
Lord, the sky is still blue
for my hope is you
you're the joy and the dream that's still alive.
like the wind on my back and the sun on my face
you are life you're grace
You are blue sky... You are blue sky.
Blue sky (point of grace)
posted by bob of sunshine* 7:33 AM
A real story
I'll be sharing a real story today.
It's a story about a middle aged man and 5 teenage boys. But if you read on, you will realize how this story is so much more than that.
The man was poor, and mentally handicapped, his occupation was to pick and sell used cans from rubbish bins. He carries a huge dark blue canvas bag with him where ever he goes, in case there were used cans that could be recycled for 5 cents each.
The man was haggard and dirty, his hair was mop like and covered his creased forehead. He walked with a slight limp and he suffers from occasional epilepsy attacks. His mouth was always half open and his words are slurred and slow.
But if you looked carefully, you'll notice that he had a pair of beautiful blue eyes. A pair of beautiful eyes that had seen poverty and suffering rather beauty and splendor.
Now to the five boys.
The five boys on the other hand had clean clothes on. Their age ranges from 13 to 17, and they hang out around Rundle Mall every afternoon, skating on the pavement or finding entertainment at all the wrong places. All these boys shared something in common - their sceptism towards love. In response, they were rebellious though timid when they got into real trouble. All of the boys live on the dole and some of them find life so dull, meaningless and depressing that they resort to slashing themselves, leaving huge nasty wounds. Some of them lived inside the walls of a psychiatric ward, while others simply numbed their hurt and disappointment at the treatment of the world in other ways.
When the man and the boys met, there was trouble brewing.
Daily, the boys would taunt the man, grabbing his huge blue bag from him and throwing it into the air, leaving bottles and cans spilling out onto the pavement. They pulled his clothes and tripped him. The man ran around with a limp and grunted desperate sounds, he went berserk trying to take back his bag. He was played with like a monkey in the middle, desperation and helplessness was evident from the look in his beautiful blue eyes.
The man became so angry and helpless, he dashed into Supre and grabbed five tops from the first rack he could see. He threw the clothes at the boys, missing terribly, before running frantically down the main street.
There were plenty of eye witnesses, there were alot of sympathetic bypassers. There were even people who had anger stirring in their hearts as they watched the boys with scorn.
People watched on with righteousness moving in their hearts, but hopelessness guiding their actions.
God however had greater plans.
God knew that admist the crowd, there was one random person who had been feeling guilty about not helping someone in need before.
God who reads all our hearts also knew that the frantic man was feeling extremely ridiculed, rejected and forgotten by Him.
God too knew the hearts of the boys. Peeling aside their rebellion and tough front, they were lost children angsty towards the world. They hated their parents for leaving them. They hated themselves for not being loved. They hated life, nature, beauty, serenity because their insides were at war. A great part of them wish to be cuddled, cared for and nurtured by a loving Father. They want to cry in His warm and strong arms, as He wipes every tear away from their eyes.
God the creator of all things knew all this. In one swift moment, He brought the three groups of people together.
As the random stranger stood up and defended the weak man, she felt no fear. As she calmly picked the man's bag off the floor and held it firmly in her hands, she knew that God is her defender now. With God on her side, who could be against her?
The boys approached her and she shared her heart with them. She told them their actions were very hurtful and it is wrong. Please stop, she said.
Then the boys asked her why she was digging through her wallet for money. 'It's for the poor man', was her reply.
Then the boys started sharing their life with her. They told her how poor and sad their case was. It was clear their motive was to gain pity and money. The random stranger told them she was on 'centrelink too but she is going to give them some money to share with the other friends.'
"I am giving you the money not because I am rich. I am sorry for the life you have gone through. But please realize that there are people out there with even crappier lives. There are people suffering even more than you. Like the poor man, frantically running down the main road. You could have injured him."
Then she said what she wanted to say the most -
"If you think no one cares for you or loves you, you are wrong. I know someone who loves you more than yourself. God loves you."
She passed some money to the kids and tears welling up as she watched them go off.
Then God brought her to the man with his bag still held in her hands. She passed him some money but she was not given a chance to tell him God loves him. He was busy muttering to the police who had arrived at the scene.
At that point, the person sneaked away and dissolved into the crowd.
The story is about God's love
The story is essentially not about the man, or the boys or the random stranger. The story is about God.
It is about God defending the weak through different avenues. It demonstrates God's love towards all His children both the lost and those found.
It is about God's overflow into believers' lives, giving them the extra-phenomenon courage, peace and compassion.
The law of righteousness could be so ambiguous. Who was to be blamed when the boys tormented the man? Are they not all victims of the imperfection and sins of this world? Are the boys not the victims of their unloving families, their separation from the companionship of God?
Men have fallen, but the great news is, God sent His one and only son - Jesus to die on behalf of our sins, to in turn defeat sin and death by rising from the dead three days later!
Now, if we have faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour in our hearts, and declare it with our mouths, we are saved!
Never will man need to be separated from God ever again. Men may live with God by their side forever, starting from today!
It is only through a righteousness from faith that men could clear their sins and be made perfect in Christ!
This righteousness through faith comes with the love of God, which then manifests itself in the love of all that God has created. It is a love not of this world, fed by fuels out of this world.
Because God has done all the above for His children, the random stranger loves God. Because God justified her and everyone else even before their births, she is thankful. She owes God her life, both on this earth and her eternal one. The mightiness of God is so great that she does not even deserve to kiss His beautiful feet.
With God as her role model, the random stranger started on a journey to be more like Christ!
" This is the message you heard from the beginning...
This is how we know what love is:
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers...
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
1 John 3:11.
At the same time, this story is about God hugging the man and showing him that there is a God looking after him. And though the random stranger did not get to tell him, God really does LOVE him.
Lastly, this story is about God planting the seeds of knowledge in the hearts of the boys. God's work has started though incomplete in them. But God will never give up on them. We are all God's baby and He longs to catch us when we fall, to cradle us in His arms again.
"And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl.
And remember when you walk, sometimes we fall...
so Fall on Jesus Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live."
"Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain,
then Cry to Jesus, Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live."
come to Jesus, come to Jesus. Come to Jesus and live."
posted by bob of sunshine* 3:56 AM
God's been calling out to me since I became a Christian last year, but lately His mighty voice is getting louder and clearer. "Love me, serve me, love others, serve others." The burden of loving others, has weighed heavily on my heart. It distracts me from my studies and other social activities. The word of God stays close to my lips, and I find fellowship with its absence to be a waste of precious time.
Loving Christian brothers and sisters
We need to stay close through God! Christian relationships without Jesus is based on sand as fine as that of the secular world. True that we should get along and live in peace because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and we are going to spend eternity in heaven....
BUT that is not all. We are the people sent by God to function as a body(1 Corinthians 12:14-20), and support each other by all means, to glorify God's name and expand His great Kingdom! With all these adversity "out there", works of Satan masked with humanity - discouragement from unsuccessful evangelizing, temption to do wrongs/bad, occational splurges in the enjoyment of life's abundant entertainments (e.g. prank calls, getting smashed on the weekends, buy 5 dresses at $100 each, politely share the embarrassing life story of a 'irritating girl {bitching}, ignore the drunk beggars hanging out around Chinatown) We have to work together, without any member, the body would be incomplete, with either a missing limb or a missing brain. We are each other's best friend, supporter, lover, companion in our growth in Christ. This great multitude of roles we have is used by God to shape us. This is part of God's great promise, we (Christians) might be few but we are never alone! God will spare enough Christians no matter how fast the values and believes of this world deterioates. For that we must give thanks!!!
God knows our heart, He understands that the mere knowledge of having other fellow Christians suffering humiliation, yet rejoicing in the name of the Lord, is a powerful encouragement!
As God has encouraged and comforted Elijah in 1 kings 19:10,14
When Elijah said,
v 14 - "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."
v 18 - The Lord said to him, "...Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel - all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
Hallelujah! Just when Elijah thought he was all alone and all the Jews had turned against God, and he was battling a lost cause... God revealed that Elijah is NOT alone!
We in the family of God now are like the precious 7000 people reserved by God. We must stand in faith with each other that, and our bond runs deeper than superficial or convenient friendships. Like soldiers on a battle, we share the camaraderie of bonds stronger than brothers. We trust each other with our lives and similarly we would lay our lives down for each other. True fellowship in the presence of God is intense, filled with conversations about battle plans, strategies, encouragements and forgiving love. As we share one compass (the will of God) and trudge through enemy territory (a world with where "God is dead"), listening to the same Commander (prayerfully through God), looking to combat enemies (love and testify to the lost)... we cannot help but love each other so intensely that we live in true loving fellowship.
God's Calling
As I was saying, God's calling is growing stronger and more affirmative with each passing month. I started having hope for all - the revival of the believers, the faith of the lost. I have hope that God will carry them into His mighty presence and soften their hardening hearts, caress their aching hearts, and remove all their anger, hurt, disillusionment, hurt and troubles. God wants everyone to come to Him and receive redemption, and I am so excited for them, that I want to be part of this!!!
Like a puppy dog filled with excitement when the owner is leaving the house - I leap with Joy and enthusiasm, bouncing around God saying "Take me! Take me!!". I praise God for this desire and passion that is not of my own.. I thank God for this burden that consumes me day and night. Now the thoughts of witnessing has become my mission statement. All that I do, all that I say, I long for the communion of the Holy Spirit. I watch myself closely. A small slip of the tongue, or a vulgar act could tarnish my image as a Christian.
Though I am free from sin, I truly belong to God. All that I do or say, or occupy my mind with is a testimony of who I belong to. I belong to a loving King who has shown me grace and mercy. I was sold to a King doomed for death, but upon my arrival, the King clothed me in satin robes and slaughtered His fattest cows. I was the VIP guest at the feast. Though Anticipating death, dirt, ridicule and ultimate rejection, instead I was given the gift of life and love. Like a lost child who had finally come home, I am greeted with a hero's welcome. For this gift of life, I happily belong to God. I wholeheartedly long to serve this King - one filled with mercy and grace - truly deserving of my love and submission!
I look up to the works of God, I love God for all His characteristics, His unchanging love. I love the works of His Hand. All of creation, He created. How can I not love you, she or him? When the same mighty God moulded them from dust? When the same King that had welcomed me - a dirty, unworthy slave - into His adopted family, wants to save even more like myself? How can I gossip when the time could be used to encourage, build up, love and testify my King's glory? How can I repress the joy and excitement of my discovery of the biggest secret of life? When all the answers to who we are, why we are alive, where we will go, hinges on Jesus Christ? How can I hold all these in and not share when I watch my King's heart break and weep each day over the lost? How can I bear to not share?
How can I say enough how amazing is your love? How can I keep from shouting your name? I know I am loved by the King, and it makes my heart wanna sing! In response, I want to love the King back and be a messenger to bring the Good News!
A heart for the people God has made needs to be nurtured. Patience and perserverence needs to be refined by God. As my relationship with God grows, I identify the serverity of sin, the seriousness of not believing in Christ. At the same time, God has placed in me everlasting love - undiscriminating, consistent, God like love. As this love grows, my blind eyes are opened to the woes of the people around me. Their loneliness, stress, their financial needs, academic needs, their search for answer and truth. I am beginning to empty myself of judgemental, divisive thoughts - the Muslims will never convert they are too religious (but there is hope in all the lost!), the Aussies don't want to know God, they are too happening (but every human living without the companion of God is missing something), some international students are just here to make friends, they don't care about God (firstly, who am I to judge the intentions or the hearts of man. Secondly, if that is the case, praise be to God for bringing them amongst the Christian community. May God use us to testify, and turn them from "fellowshippers to believers")
As I learn to look upon the people around me with compassion, adoration, grace, God triggered in my heart the need to love. Sacrificial love. The type with so little returns, it is basically for FREE. God has ignited this all consuming FIRE within me, to go crazy for God!! Just as I abandone self (reputation, looks, charms etc), God came in and provided plenty. Now I am a known Christian in Law School after my annoucement about the Mission Trip earlier in the year. My true identity being exposed to light at last! With this comes heavy burdens. People will judge my King, Lord, Saviour by what I do. Though nothing I do could do God's greatness true justice.. but some things I do can demonstrate a fragment of the grace, mercy and "out of this world's type of love". I cringe in shame and pain at the very thought of being less than loving and patient, giving and gracious towards my course mates. How can I strive for anything short of perfection, when the power of Christ is within me, to be free from sin? I am no longer dead in sin but is alive in Christ. What excuse do I have to be talk badly about others, to be impatient with those around me, to indulge in occassional selfish thoughts. As I strive on to serve God, I strive on to serve all those around me. To be a follower of Christ, I need to humble myself to serve the people of the world. I wish to exhaust my strength every day for the Glory of God our Lord and Saviour!! Praise be to His name! Praise be to His Kingdom!
New Projects
I get slightly quesy thinking of the ministries God is gently leading me to. God knows of my passion and He is increasing speed and taking me alongside Him. IF I was jogging in fulfilling the works of God 2 months ago, I am now starting to break into a run. There is so much to be done but so little time!
After pursuing to be in the committee in OCF Flinders a couple of weeks ago, God spoke to me and reminded me to be the lowest of servants for Him. And for that, I am glad once again to submit to God's beautiful plan! Instead of being bogged down with meetings and adminstrative concerns, I am a free member of this blessed organisation! I can use my time meeting unbelievers, counselling believers (brothers and sisters in Christ), baking cookies or wedges for fellowships (i'm really not very good at baking:[ ) I continue to pray in obedience with love.
I thank God for every situation in my life today - being in Flinders University, being an 'international' Australian student, being apart from Bernard, having an non-believer grandmother whom I love with all my heart, for my 'fatness' because it keeps my vanity in check, for my new home - AACC (where I am given ample opportunity to grow, forge lasting friendships and serve). For each of the circumstances above, I have so much to write about, but the entry has to end soon. To conclude this section, I must say that God is amazing, He provides (may it be delivered in the form of suffering or direct blessing).
I trust that I continue in my walk with God, His Hand will nudge me forward and strive to finish the race set forth before me. As I commit more time for loving the people around me and prayerfully looking for opportunities to spread the Good News, God is with me. Hence, there is NOTHING to fear. The Hope of God is shining bright onto the whole world! Let me, let us be a part of this hope:) Let our feet run to the dark alleys in this world, let our mouth and hands unveil the coldness and darkness of the world around us!
You're the overflow. You're the fountain of my heart. Let your mercy rain! Let your mercy rain on earth! You're the faithful one, let your mercy rain on the world! How deep, how wide? How long, how high, is your love oh God? You're the overflow!
posted by bob of sunshine* 8:53 AM
Romans 10: 14-15
" How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
What a logical and beautiful explanation for why our feet ought to rush to bring good news!
Salvation comes to those who confess with their mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. It is that simple.
But how are people to believe or call on God's name if they have never heard of Him?
Who will bring good news to those living in remote areas of China, Russia, the Indonesian islands? Where will that stream of hope shine from if evangelists fail to make it there?
Lord send me, you have placed this great great burden into my heart for the past year. So Lord, send me. Send my feet to the places least trodden. Spend my strength oh Lord, use my limbs to climb the steepest mountain, or to cross the most rapid rivers, strip me of my luxuries Father. So I carry no burdens on my journey home, instead, equip me with determined footsteps fed by Your very hands. Lord i know you will provide.
Lord, the harvest is Great indeed. Though the labourers are few, let each worker toil to their last breath, spreading the Word like forest fire, brushing aside all inhibitions and limitations. The only voice we hear is the voice of God, not that of men, or family or friends.
God commanded us to be filial but His Greatest Commandment is to love God above all else, and to love our neighbours as we do ourselves. How then, can we watch our neighbours live ignorantly and not share with them the only path towards eternal life?
As I make plans for mission trips in December, I am very aware that missions might replace my family's precious holidays. My family is always busy, or apart, and it is only for 2 weeks in December each year that we can spend time together.
But Luke 9: 61-62 keep recurring in my mind: The cost of Following Jesus
" Still another said, " I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodby to my
family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the
Kingdom of God."
I feel as though my loyalties are divided, but deep down I know where my feet are meant to go..
In the same way, I question my relationship with Bernard. I ask God to reveal His plans for my life, the direction of His ministry I'm intended for.
Bernard's calling is to heal people through medicine, but the target group God has placed into his heart is the exact opposite of mine. He feels for the rich, the proud, the 'wise' but obviously LOST. He was one of them, but now he truly sees.
My ministry however lies in the weak, the poor, the brokenhearted, the hungry, the sick and dying. When I am at the height of my spiritual life, I always imagine my future to be similar to that of Mother Theresa's. My entire life dedicated to the orphans, the kids struck with AIDS, the hungry and diseased, the bullied, the abused, the abandoned.
So anyway, back to Bernard... Sometimes I just wonder if he is the one God has planned for me. Will our path coincide in the future, especially if he is going to stay in the cities, while I live in the outskirts of the poorest countries. Will our desires and passions today change in the next few years? Or will we just disobey our callings and compromise, by being less radical Christians.
Where we hold respectable jobs, have a comfortable home, complete with sound investments, dogs, cars and kids. Every holiday we visit some foreign country to relax and rewind from our work, family and church responsibilities. But oh, of course! We slot in some mission trips every now and then, since missions are soooo important in God's eyes.
For those that are about to misinterpret the above - what I had described was not a mockery of Christians today. In fact, it is Christian families like these that are the pillars of our churches and Christian community today. It is people that these that warmly invite non-christians into their homes, or host bible study so people may know more about God's words. It is families like them that give financial assistance to poor students like myself who want to go for missions. It is families like them that bring up children who infiltrate into the secular world and make positive changes from "up there". I love these families, and so does God.
But sadly I fear that might not be my calling. I don't know for sure, I will give it further time and prayer. God will reveal all to me in His own time. Whatever it is God has planned, I know that it will be for the Glory and the Service of His Kingdom. And with that, I rest in peace.
posted by bob of sunshine* 5:04 AM
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