Weakness to strength!

Hebrews 11:32-34 - yup its that famous passage about faith!

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Thats what God can do. "weakness to strength" my G12 brother vincent just mentioned this passage last night. I thought its quite appropriate. And I had never noticed this before. That some of these warriors or heroes were not quite tough to begin with (thats the way we all start out). IS there some area where you feel "weak" and that you need help to become heroic? Ask of God!:)

God Bless,
Jonathan

A warrior! - I knew it!:)

Triumphant Procession yes yes YES!

It was cool to hear Ps Khong talk about being a "warrior" (more than once) today at church. I have always considered Christianity the biggest wargame in the universe, and one with eternal consequences. That suits my character well. And its a real motivating factor in my walk with God. In general, war SUCKS, people get hurt, and its just all around bad. But - the war in the spiritual realm is real and since we are already in it, we have to play to win.

God bless you guys as you get tough so that you are wont an easy target, and you will be an effective warrior, who will be part of the Triumphant Procession when Jesus returns.

2 Corinthians 2:14

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

God Bless,
Jonathan

This Period Of The Year

The time has come again to do police and thief, and i will be missing training and alot of things. I just feel very disheartened, and i am just very tired, of having to manage these two things. I know it's going to be very difficult to make team this year, but it is just hard to see you friends play for the school without you, you just feel left out. I don't like it at all, i know it, i expereience it in sec 1. I don't know if i should even believe i can make it, or should i just stop dreaming. I can't even choose to even believe in myself to do such things, its hard, i am not the guy with the highest self esteem, maybe i look like one but im not. I dont look up to myself, i dont think im at all great. And sometimes i just wonder when i will ever be satisfied with myself, and the only time i was, was making the team in sec 2, but now i just feel so empty having no belief that i cna make it in sec 3. So i really don't know what to believe for.

Recounting God's faithfulness

I was reading Psalms 105 today. Its a "repeat telecast/summary" of the people of Isreals' journey and how god has been faithful to them and all the miracles he did for them and the people he sent to lead them. Maybe now is a good time to reflect on each of our own journey with God so far. the people he let us meet, the situations he put us in, and how we have responed to Him in each of these times. God bless you as you reflect!

God Bless,
Jonathan

Creation - its fannn tastic

Often we don't remember how amazing it can be. But i was rememded this week when i was reading about bones. If a bone is too damaged, why can't we just replace it with some super strong metal rod? Its really amazing that even something as "Simple" as bone is so awesomely designed. I was reading that bones in science labs are hard like dry wood becuase they dry them out in ovens so that they wun stink and rot. But all we are seeing is the calcium salts of the bone. Those are hard. and are very strong in resisting compressive force (pushing). BUT if u take a bone and soak it in vinegar for a few days, the acid will eat away the salt and you ar eleft with the "rest" ofthe bone. the softish part that will feel like thick rubber. This is super good at resising tension (pulling). So thats whate makes the bone cool! its strong resiting both stretching and squeezing:) i didn't knwo that till this week. But its really not a supprise. Just a plesant revelation.

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Creation itself is a demonstration of God's power and we are part of creation:) The bone is like... the "simplest" of body strcutures and its already so cool. Lets stand in amazement more often at how wonderfully nature is created.

God Bless,
Jonathan

HELL of a place.

Note: HEAVEN IS SO REAL (is a credible book and international best-seller that glenn bought for me on christmas)

"The people were naked, without hair, and standing close to one another, moving like worms, and the flames were scorching their bodies. there was no escape for those who were captured in the pit-its walls were too deep for them to climb, and hot coals of fire were all around the edges."

This is a short part of the description of hell that i quoted from a book called " HEAVEN IS SO REAL!". This is a book bout a korean-american lady who had a series of encounter with God, who visited her frequently at night and brought her to countless visits to the heaven and even hell!

Hell is indeed one hell of a place.


This mountain road led through tall trees and huge rocks. When we got to the top, I looked out over a brown and lifeless valley. Everywhere there was brown. The whole region seemed to be filled with dead gras. I noticed multitudes of people who were wearing sand-coloured robes roaming aimlessly in the vicinity of the pit's yawning mouth. Their heads were hanging low, and they looked very dejected and hopeless.
" Who are these people?" I asked.
"They are disobedient 'Christians'."

This scene is where God brought Thomas Choo(the korean-american lady) to heaven and brought her to one part of the heaven, where the dis-obedient 'Christians' will dwell forever.

Being a Christian is never enough. God gave us a life and promised us Heaven, but its up to us to make it a peaceful or sorrowful one.


xanzhenx
07.10.06

God spoke to me today:)

I was reading the latest book I bought about physical therapy and how to fix those knots in muscles that cause pain and tightness all over. Its a book on deep tissue therapy (the one in the center of the pic)

So I can train people in the external (getting low fat levels, and big muscles), the deep tissue (once i get the hang of those techniques) and even nutrition which deels with even deeper biochemical issues. And even to some extent these things affect hormones (even deeper still!).

The Lord spoke to me...these skills are an excellent way to introduce Jesus to people. I can help them heal almost everything from the outside in all the way in, to even foods and activities that fix poor hormonal levels... but so what? I cannot go any deeper than that. Beneeth that is the spirit man and only Jesus can fix that.

I know that this healing arts will bring people to the Lord in the furure. I claim that in faith.

God Bless,
Jonathan

The viewpoint of father God

Today I am reminded of what C.S Lewis wrote about God which i find to be super accurate.

"God is extremely easy to please but extremely difficult to satisfy"

the example he gives is of a father watchign his child learn to walk. He is of course pleased when the young boy takes his first few steps, stumbling and tumbling along the way. Is the father pleased? of course! But is he satisfied? certainly not. Not until the his son walks with a confident, manly gait. This is the same with Father God and how he views us. We are in a constant state
of growth (if we choose to) and God doesnt look at us just where we are, but rather how we are doing given the chances we have been given.

Its kind of like shooting percentage. For some we are put in many positions to score and given many opportunities (most of singapore falls into this category) how many do we convert? how many do we even ATTEMPT before fear (lack of faith), disobedience, or deception stop us from trying?

Colossians 1:28

"Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

Does perfect mean perfect 100% right here right now? who would dare say yes? haha. Perfect means "perfect for the current time" and making the most of our chances. Like the baby learning to walk is perfect for his age, and the olympic champion is perfect for his, lets not waste any chances to grow strong.

Make each shot count!

God Bless,
Joanthan

A Random Thought

I was able to watch The Island in class today and just now a question hit my mind. What if one day we are able to clone people, then what would happen to these clones? They are afterall human, would they be accepted by God? Haha just a thought. replies are welcome lol

I went out with my friends today. We went around to hang out at orchard, but it isn't just like any other day at orchard today was different for me. I was rather stressed up today, so i needed to go take a break and hang out with my friends, we were at takashimaya, where my friend met up with his girlfriend and i was left all alone so i went home. When this happens i would always feel very left out, in the past i would always beat myself of not being a popular guy among girls, about not having girls who are crazy about me, but today was different. I felt the presence of God when i was going home. I did not feel any of those feelings all i felt was comfort, and it was just a great feeling to feel God's presence, i was bathed in it. I felt relieved as if a heavy burden was taken off me, all my stress from today was gone, and as i listened to hillsong, i just worshipped God with a truly sincere heart, this sincere heart has been lost for a long time, and today i found it again. On the train God felt so real, it was as if he was there, The whole trip home i was just thinking about how to serve God, how to play more songs on my guitar for God, just worshipping him. It's been quite a while since i felt so connected to God, the thing that came to my mind was the RI cell, i was not very enthusiastic about it, if An zhen did it i would just do it alongside him but i had no intention of taking any initiative, but I just felt very motivated today. Today has been a simple yet amazing walk with God for me.