Isaiah 61 / Glorious Ruins
Sunday 22 September 2013
Lately Isaiah 61 has been on my mind lately. It's as if the Holy Spirit is prompting me to carefully meditate on it.
It started a few months back when I was exploring the Aftermath album and came across this song 'Bones' (1st July to be exact, according to my post date). The 'Live in Miami' album doesn't have it but the studio recorded album 'Aftermath' has it.
At the last chorus of the song, there will be an overlay of voices. At first when I heard it, I thought it was cool and didn't know where it was sourced from. I can't exactly remember how I came to find out it was from Isaiah 61, maybe because of ODJ or some sermon. And then at that point I realize where 'From Ashes to Beauty' was based on and I was like wow! Heh I'm so slow.
Fast forward to September, Eunice's Sermons point me back to Isaiah 61 again. Yesterday, Le Fa asked us to read and meditate on Isaiah 61 before we lead worship. In light of this, I guess I shall start to read Isaiah 61 carefully, beyond verse 4. Perhaps I have to consult a guide as well after verse 4 because I'm not really sure which period in time those verses are describing. (The 1000 year reign of Christ?)
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New song introduced yesterday. Anyway I felt yesterday's worship was anointed and powerful. Not sure if anyone shares this same view. The voices (especially the girls' side cause I'm standing on the right) were like shouts filled with emotion and soul. (Like how you can sense the energy and soul of a song just by listening to the voice). Of which it snapped me out of my nervousness and feeling of being unprepared (voices planted by the devil) during the bridge of 'In Jesus Name'. Praise God and His Spirit that was leading us into worship!
@ 5:18 pm
Serving With Love
Saturday 7 September 2013
Serving With Love went well, and I was left really tired at the end of it all . Ended up doing more houses then we originally planned, which was alright. Through this event/movement, I have come to be so thankful to God for what has happened and be encouraged by what I've seen.
First off we were briefed and then we started to pack the goodie bags which we were to hand out. But wait a minute, didn't we already help pack goodie bags a week before? Turns out they were all used, which is all good. Heh the speed, energy and enthusiasm in packing the bags was amazing.
I've come to realize just how bad my Chinese is. (Oh man how embarrassing) Not really comfortable speaking in Chinese and had quite the trouble forming sentences. We only had a few of us in our group who could speak Chinese decently. I like how we mock our poor grasp of Chinese with jokes heh.
Most well-to-do Chinese families wouldn't accept our goodie bags and instead told us to give it to those who need them more. One Indian family completely surprised us when he offered us money instead thinking we were asking for donations. What a turnaround! In the end we explained it to them and they accepted the goodie bag and learned more about what we are doing, with them saying something like this in the end: (couldn't remember the exact phrasing) 'you young people are doing good stuff'.
Really thankful for Faliq who was with us. It definitely wouldn't be the same without him. We wouldn't have blessed more Malay families who couldn't speak English. Was quite surprised to find some Malay people who couldn't speak Malay but can speak English. (Kinda same situation as me heh).
Heard about how there was a Japanese family as well and how amazing it was that Charis spoke Japanese with them. It is not a mere coincidence nor by chance but we are placed where He wants us to be to shine!
Helped out later bringing back the stuff and then we went for....dinner. Or should it be supper instead? Is there a word for the meal in between dinner and supper like brunch? Went to eat at this prata shop near WCRC. They serve amazing food! Got introduced to this amazing drink called the cino by Jon!
@ 11:59 pm
The Time Keeper
Friday 6 September 2013
Got this book when I got back from Germany at the airport, along with another book by Haruki Murakami. Haven't really touched this book since I bought it until now. (Argh why the three months delay?!)
Perhaps I got to explain why I bought these books immediately after I touched down at the airport lest my future self forgets.
During my stint in Germany I've gotten to know these two authors thanks to a friend, Kok Wee, who introduced these books to me. Being so bored in between the training, I borrowed them to read and it wasn't easy borrowing them because of the number of people who are in line waiting to borrow as well. (We were extremely bored people. Welcome to the army). Heh I remember we have to actually 'fight' for these books. And when the people who got the books have to leave for their turn to mount the tanks, we would rush to their bags and take the books.
The books left such a huge impression on me that I decided to read more of the authors' works. They were that good. The Mitch Albom book was titled 'For One More Day' and I actually did a quick review back in Germany when I was doing a daily journal.
The book by Murakami was 'After Dark'. Really interesting read, but it left me wondering if there was something I missed due to its nature of being a literature work.
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Anyway after finishing the book, I'm so glad I bought the book and wished I had read it sooner. As with other Mitch Albom books, (ok I've only read one other book and currently reading another but still...) there are great takeaways in this book. These takeaways are actually stuff that you know you should be doing but because of the fact that we live in such a hectic world we tend to forget them. This book, as one would have guessed, teaches about the value of time. Quite interesting story telling here! Not sure how can I go about explaining without spoiling the book...
Another cool thing to note, the author is a Christian as well heh.
One of many quotes that gives you something to think about. So much truth in them...
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DI's 'Serving with Love' event is tomorrow! A movement whereby we bless the community (going from house to house) with goodies and inviting them to the Chinese service. Kinda like these evangelical movement we are doing nowadays...although I'm not really good with people argh.
@ 11:32 pm
AHM'13 and epic dream
Sunday 1 September 2013
Well I didn't get to participate in the army half marathon in the end due to developing a fever. Perhaps it could be seen as a good or a bad thing based on the way I see it.
Bad because all the cumulative trainings up to this point would have been wasted and I won't be able to win a day off.
Good because...well I don't get to run heh. Army has made me sick of running and I would rather stick to cycling. The knee pains from all the long distance running :/
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Something interesting happened on the night I developed a fever. Usually when I get a fever it will be accompanied by a rather vivid nightmare. This time it is quite the opposite. I don't remember the the full details but what stuck with me was something along the lines of 'creation of a new world' and 'new heaven and new earth'. Perhaps referencing the book of Revelations. Woke up in the middle of the night going 'Whoa' and then realising I was thirsty.
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The past week honestly wasn't a good one. Spiritually. Was silenced (not a literal silence) from praying because I couldn't stay awake during QT! I would have to bind the devil and/or find alternative times to pray. (Although for me the night is still the optimal time.)
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Woops realised there's a two month gap of not posting. So much stuff had happened in between argh.
@ 11:57 pm
