Lausanne Day 7

Each day is filled with so many thoughts and emotions that i could use a few days in between each one to process them... :)

As the demands of serving become more manageable, starting to soak in the words of wisdom, encouragement and challenge of this generation, both from the leaders who have gone before us, as well as our friends of like age.

It seems as if the 'eyes of the heart have been opened' to embrace the church as it truly is. Global, multi cultural, multi ethnic, multi linguistic, and possessing a multi-tude of strengths as well as challenges.

Each day, there is a missions moment for one continent, and to name just one impactful evening of many - one night we listened to a ponytailed latino humbly talk of bringing in street children and prostitutes to God. The pictures and stories behind the photos... a bit too much to pen even in this blog.

In a wierd, (probably God ordained way), the many struggles I had with theology, quiet questions about methodology in some churches and truncated gospels that seem to be going around the country have left a nagging feeling of the desire for the truth - and the whole truth - of the Word of God and the Church.

And while theology was least on my mind coming to YLG06, the sheer soundness and non-ivory-tower, missions centered approach to it here it such a blessing. To me, and to the body of christ.

The Lausanne Covenant definitely bears looking into, for the heart of many a christian to be at rest in the expression of our faith. Just reading it puts so many things in perspective and brings out the challenges to the church... providing a framework for understanding skewed priorities and incomplete teachings... and more importantly, providing fuel for the building of church.

Leaving off in mid-sentence... team time is coming up, and looking forward so much, to go deep life on life...

Happenings in Lausanne

Having a desire to blog and capture some of the wonderful things happening at YLG06...

What is Lausanne? simply put:

The Whole Church
Bringing the Whole Gospel
To the Whole World

Lausanne is the effort of a generation of godly leaders to not let us, the twenty and thirty somethings, reinvent the wheel and cover ground defining the church that they had laboured over... and what fruitful labour it has been!

Even if we were not Christians, the blueprint of God for us - human beings living in a fallen world - is so complete.. nurturing our body, souls and spirit, learning how to live in community, sharing eternal hope, social responsibility, good stewardship beyond the rigidness of 'give your 10%', reaching the lost without imposing on their culture, human freedom and persecution, the power of the Holy Spirit and so much more.

...Hearing it articulated from different continents as events unfold day by day, I'm gripped by a great hope for the church and the world :) What an elusive and treasured thing it is!

Thoughts and highlights thus far from one singaporean worshipper who really doesn't deserve to be here:

- Simply receiving Billy Graham sending his greetings from the US, and John Stott(!) from a nursing home in the UK... it a most humbling and awesome experience that hasn't really sunk in.

- Working with Marcell, a brazilian worship leader whos at once a professional classically trained conductor as well as eye-pierced rock band vocalist - Within 5 minutes of talking and playing with him, i felt like a primary school kid with a recorder trying to work with Beethoven. (Pride would never be an issue here ;) Nonetheless, we'll give it our all, because *He* is worthy.

- The Lebanese man leading in prayer. I didn't understand a word, but I felt the presence of God. Whoa.

- Egyptian speaker Ramez Atollah sharing an event years before that still makes him emotional when he shares it. At this earlier gathering people introduced themselves as pastor of so-and-so church, congregation of 2 thousand pple, leader of this ministry, director of that organisation, yada yada... but he remembered one kenyan man who simply introduced himself as a pastor and how he (Ramez) didn't talk much to him but wanted to hang around that 'important people'. It was only after the trip, with a pack of name cards in hand did Ramez notice that Kenyan's worn and badly printed name card tt read... "ARCHBISHOP, Kenya"

Ramez:"...and *thats* the kind of leader I want to be."

- The sheer diversity in the room. Looking around the room, I see africans, a chinese, a couple of south asians (maybe cambodia/vietnam), bunch of americans, malaysian helpers from the navigators, latinos, russians... and yet by the end of today (only day 2!) there are people talking to each other like long lost friends. Truly, the commonality of Christ and the unity of the Spirit at work.

- Meeting in person a familiar name oft heard on Ps P's lips... Jim Chew. Together with dear Bernard from NUS Nav, the two joined a host of mentors to input into the leaders here. Its a bit of a shame I will be spending little time with the small groups, but just glad at the sheer potential of things happening here.

- Playing with the ForeRunner band again.. really enjoy having a percussionist in the band (if u read this u're sounding good sy!), the super-kilat marcell playing dunno-whatever-but-it-sounds-terrific on the guitar, sis E(perhaps one e is insufficient) living a bit of her dream as she leads worship, and the rest of the team. Again, I wish I had a bit more time to prepare, a bit more skill to offer... but I guess that'll come with time and grace as i continue my lessons... for now, just give it all i've got, extended a bit by God's grace ;)

- So many more... perhaps i'll have a chance to blog more, but likely the events of the days ahead will overtake me and provide fresh blogging material :)

Thank You Lord, for bringing me here.



On a personal note, being away from the 'constant dripping' at home is so freeing. I love my family, but I must admit, it can't be that good for your faith to have people asking you just about every other day to stop going to church :p Thankful for the space to process things, life... normalise feelings and all that. Progressing well, by the grace of God. Gd stuff :) Heh... more on that next time.


But for tomorrow, the nations worship! :)

River Of My Life

River Of My Life

Stormie Omartian

River of my life
Light upon my path
Refuge from the song, my strength, my shield
Mighty Counsellor, Deliverer and King
In You every truth will be revealed

And I, I depend on You
I will never walk alone
You're my peace, my Bread of Life
The keeper of my heart

My Creator, Lord and Saviour
Lover of my soul
Great Redeemer come and live(?) in me
Friend and Father
Like no other
Your love makes me whole
You're the place where my heart finds its home

River of my life
Healer of my heart
Lifter of my head, when I am low
Faithful counsellor, secret hiding place
Holy spirit make the river flow

And I, I depend on You
I will never walk alone
You're my peace, my Bread of Life
The keeper of my heart

My Creator, Lord and Saviour
Lover of my soul
Great Redeemer come and live(?) in me
Friend and Father
Like no other
Your love makes me whole
You're the place where my heart finds its home

Light A Million Candles

The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.

But you can.

With your help, we can eradicate this evil trade.
From the site:

>>>

We do not need your money.

We need you to light a candle of support <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com>.

We're aiming to light at least One Million Candles by December 31, 2006.

This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse.

They have the power to work together. You have the power to get them to take action.

Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com <http://www.lightamillioncandles.com> or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles.com.

Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children.

Kindly forward this email to your friends, relatives and work colleagues so that they can light a candle too.

Soothing of the Soul

Its taking a bit to get used to mum again, but twas a wonderful weekend, praise the Lord :)

Sorting things through, heard a wonderful message that I can't remember, save for the fact that I was tearing throughout a good half hour. I think healing is coming to the soul... theres hope that I can walk, or if not at least hobble along, with God again :)

One issue that caught my attention was the talk about a spirit of rejection... and I realise that for my bro n I its only partially something we have to work through... but rather its more of letting go, forgiving. And forgiving not because God has forgiven him, (God, being well, God, has every right to demand that...but..) but forgiving because, in His love for us, God has forgiven us. Brokenness has its place, but we can be restored :)

And getting really prepped up about Lausanne from this friday through to 1st Oct. Humbled to be serving with leaders from all over the world... and now, coming of age a little late and counting the cost, knowing a little more about what it means just leaves me more floored by the priviledge to go.

Hallelujah :)

Of Coming Into Focus, and Being Surprised by Joy!

Less than 24 hrs ago, I wanted to start this post with a lament on family, brokenness, taking up the cross, forgiveness and weeping on the bed linen... but strange as it seems, perhaps God had other ideas...

This evening, joy(!) returned :)

Without warning, sitting alone at SAC, ran into some welcoming brothers and sisters, bro G doing follow up with bro M, and the unmistakable presence of God. I didn't realise its been so long since I felt like this :)

Strange thing is, circumstances stand unchanged. But faith and hope are returning... :)

This is... good :)


Coming into focus

Running parallel with this, a lot of things are starting to come into focus too... I remember one shift when I was shown how a cruise ship looks like from a distance. Minutes later I asked the other officer on watch, 'hey is that a cruise ship too'? He threw a quick glace and said, 'no, that isn't.. its 3 times larger, you need to see the distance...'

Thats it, some things seem really big now, but once things come into focus, we see them for what they truly are.


In the email today:

God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (God’s Eye View, p. 179)

A brother told me today, we tend to always look around us.. but we should be looking up :)

Thats really good, but I think theres more... He wants us up, looking down. Hallelujah :)



And finally... an answered prayer:

....This is going to sound dumb :)

Me and my bro play another competitive game (just another incarnation of 'kill-the-enemy-burn-his-castle') but we need two CDs to play and its takes a lot of questionably illegal kind of thing to make the game work on one CD. Unfortunately, the game is an old one and its no longer individually sold - only in packs costing a whopping $70 each.

For us to legally enjoy the game, I walked around a bit and prayed "God grant me success today" (no, im not abraham's servant...) and asked a shopkeeper 'do you sell this individually'?

He rummaged through the drawer, and said...

you're in luck... someone came in and bought *HALF* the package leaving only the part you want.. and passed me an open box with just the CD i wanted for about half the price.

I just stared at it dumbfounded for a while. someone... wha...?! thats like buying only the first VCD of a movie!

chihuahua.

*grin* tonight, me and my bro burn castles :p

Longest Days

My final shift is over, praise the Lord :) full on 14 hours, little rest and all.. but that pales in comparison to today.

Just when you thought it was all over, two biggies hit me just over the past 36 hours.

Number 1...

Mum is finally home... man, how much more do I *not* know about my own family? A simple lunch at parkway to catch up... was kind of traumatic. Wanted to catch up on 2 yrs of life, ended up catching up on about 30.

So... one more piece of the puzzle. Family is a bit depressing. But guess I'll have to soldier on.

There will be time to mourn.

Number 2...

My boss has resigned, one days notice. i.e. today... come monday, it'll be an interesting day in the office.. to say the least.

hmm...

Scenario 1:
walks into office, finds the department closed, a stack of work to do to tidy up... and a 'hold the fort' kind of thing until a new manager comes in. The usual two prayers apply: someone to reach out to or someone to start something here.

Scenario 2:
walks into office, finds a whitish slip, and off i go ahead of schedule to some other department... by my thinking, hopefully HR... by His leading, wherever.

Scenario 3:
does not walk into office, does not pass go, does not collect $200 (or whatever back pay amounts to). finds a pinkish slip (did i mention i don't fancy pink?) on the table... anyone saw the saturday straits times? :)

chihuahua.

I wonder, in any case, whether this would be a good time to make my exit as well... hmm..

The Economy of Mercy

The Economy Of Mercy (lyrics)
Switchfoot

Verse 1:
There’s just two ways to lose yourself in this life
And neither way is safe
In my dreams I see visions of the future
But today we have today
And where will I find You?

Chorus:
In the economy of mercy
I am poor and begging man
In the currency of grace
Is where my songs begins
In the colors of Your goodness
In the scars that mark Your skin
In the currency of grace
Is where my song begins

Verse 2:
These carbon shells
These fragile dusty frames
House canvases of souls
We are bruised and broken masterpieces
But we did not paint ourselves
And where will I find You?

Chorus:

Where was I when the world was made?
Where was I?

Bridge:
I’m lost without You here
Yes, I’m lost without You near me
I’m lost without You here
You knew my name when the world was made

2 Shifts to go

Posted both my parents pics on multiply :) Cousins too (May they enter the Kingdom soon :)

Feels good. One step.

http://darkred.multiply.com/



Out to sea in 2 hrs. IMF has started and the whole sector is on alert. Father, be with us.

Out To Sea

2 shifts down, 4 shifts, or 60 hrs or so to go.

Im reminded that when God created man, it was in the garden of eden, not the red sea... :p

Fed the fishes by merlion-ing (use your imagination) the whole first shift, but thank God the second shift today went so much better. popped a couple of 20 cent pills, but i believe its also prayers that made the difference.

If anyone is reading and praying, thank *you*... didnt throw up the whole 15 hrs at the open sea today :)

Its been challenging surviving out at sea, and just as challenging managing 20+ grown men in the troop ive been assigned to lead. What a motley crew... an architect, a young newly married officer, full time cisco officers, bengs, mats, you name it.

There has already been some trouble: men throwing in the towel w/o even taking the IPPT... watching porn on his handphone... one that refuses to blacken his orange hair... dubious MCs...

Lord, help me see through the eyes of faith. Help me see who they really are, through your eyes. Save some.


A few observations from the open seas... food for thought

1) To navigate, you need to keep your eyes fixed on an unchanging, immovable landmark.

2) Other ships no matter how big and stable they look, may not be the best option to navigate by. They move too.

3) Though all the surroundings seem bewildering at first, over time, one learns to recognise friendly ships and dangerous ones.

4) When you constantly look at your immediate surroundings, you get dizzy, but look far ahead and you feel safe and stable.

5) As we navigate, we realise that our human eyes can't pick up everything at once. We need to trust the radar, the compass and instruments. Other seamen also help :)


2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. -Heb 12:2

Walking on Water

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

- Genesis 5:21-24

Listened to Ps Benny's sermon on walking with God... really inspiring, food for the soul.. praise e Lord :)

Walking with a friend (or a Friend) is a wonderful way of sharing a journey... it is a place.. a space, to talk, bond, and enjoy the common surroundings. (And hey, its good exercise too :p)

I wonder, is that why living the christian life is sometimes known as the christian walk? sharing a journey, with a Friend.

Loved the way he put it... Enoch... walked with God so long, that one day God said to him, 'you've walked with me so far, why don't you just come home with Me...' :)

Brother Enoch, a man who walked with God... in the bible, this was in a time where the world was on a downward spiral and the time of the flood was nearing... it must have been a heck of a hard time to walk with God.

But walk he did, and not only that, but Ps B pointed out the bible mentioned he also had sons and daughters.

Wow... talk about godly generations.. imagine if you were in Enoch's family.. wonder how life would be like :)

Im so not there yet.. but, living and learning. Asking less, understanding less, trusting more, walking on. Refusing to live some carnal life with God just tacked on, but Dad, will zeal for Your house consume me anew.

Off for night duty with CG tomorrow... and ive been posted out to sea. Argh... expect to be mer-lion-ing all over the ocean for e first couple of shifts.

...Guess my walk with God will have to be a walk on water for the next two weeks...