I was just looking at the old entries in this prayer blog, and particularly at 20 Nov, at point no. 3, about spiritual gifts, and this thought just struck me about why love is the greatest, and that without love, in spite of all the spiritual manifestations and gifts that we may have, we are nothing. (1 Cor 13:1-3)

God may bless our ministry with many gifts, but if these gifts cause jealousy and envy and dissension, I would rather that we not have these gifts at all. If a church is overflowing with love, God is glorified.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35.

That is why, of hope, faith and love, love is the greatest. Even when a church is lacking in gifts, but overflowing with love, then 'all men will know that [they] are [Jesus'] disciples'. What greater testimony can a church have than that?

When a church has the blessings of spiritual gifts and love for God and one another, it is a church that radiates the glory of God.


"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been bornof God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.

This is love: not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us."
--1 John 4:7-12

...and please read on in your own bible...too much to type. =p


When the Magi from the East came looking for the baby in the manger, they did not come to worship a baby. They came to worship the King of Glory. Because Jesus, He is the King of Glory.

This Christmas, as we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us not just think of a helpless babe, for as much as He was a helpless babe, He is also the King of Glory. Let us welcome the King of Glory into our hearts, everyday of our lives, so that He may enter in and do His transforming work in us! (Ps 24) Jesus is God's gift of love to us!


Hallelujah, hallelujah and AMEN!

blessed Christmas, all!

jiemin =)

couple of days back, visited a home with a couple of others, i didn't really know my approach to the whole visit. didn't really have a certain adopted mind-set to the whole thing. a mixture of anxiety, excitement and anticipation lurked somewhere in my stomach. but i must say love is a very diffusible substance, it spreads, and passes on.

so i got an opportunity to have lunch with weng loke. i guess my efforts to help him during lunch we more of a hinderance than help. great guy. we spoke about age, school, o's, a's. though little words were exchanged, i enjoyed them. time wasn't really an issue. although at times i was at a total lost at what to do. were i to begin engaging in another conversation, how would he respond? if i were to try and read him the bible, would he want me to touch his things?

i definitely gained more from the visit than dear weng loke did.love to go back and bring my guitar and play and sing for wonderful agnes.

when you care for others, you touch God*

- qwerty

Truthmin Youth Training School (TYTS):

When I first heard about it from Carol, I got pretty intrigued...I mean like, if I can't go anywhere in the first 3 months of 2005 why not go to TYTS? My prelim results were real stupid...so I started wondering if there was some kinda Bible course thing and then eventually gave up my search by the time the holidays started. Then Carol passed me the TYTS brochure and I got psyched. Like woooooo psyched!!! But then I told myself to put it aside cause my dad isn't a Christian..and though my dad is really great about the rest of my family going to church and all, it's like I didn't wanna ask him about TYTS cause my brother's in NUS and preparing for a missions programme and my dad asked him like a couple of weeks back why he kept reading the bible and stuff during the holidays cause it wasn't like he was gonna be a pastor anyways....so that got me seriously disturbed..Anyway how stupid I was to not trust in His providence cause eventually I told my dad about TYTS and he said OK. Just like that.Still I'm thankful cause I learnt from this that I have a bunch of really great friends that I could count on and that prayed for me (: And I guess this is the first step to missions. A couple of people kept telling me that they've never seen God work more miracles than in the missions field. And I think that's true...cause God is crazy, God is mad, God is absolutely loco...and you know what? We can be loco, crazy, do stupid things and just be fools for God too. That's the best thing about being a Christian, you can look like a clown to the world but have the reassurance that at the end of it all, if you are being a fruitcake for Jesus you get the final reward. :)

The story of the lost wallet

Okay people who know me well enough know that I am just about the world's most careless person. Anyway yesterday I was on my way to meet Eve, Cheryl, Isaac and Josh and then left my wallet in the train...and this point I'm thinking, "OMG I'm never getting it back." But anyway decided to report the loss to the control station and the guy was pretty helpful and got the staff from the other stations to go in and do a check...while waiting I was seriously scared but somehow I was reminded to pray so I prayed and prayed and prayed and then this guy calls me over again and says, "I'm sorry we can't find it" and so I'm like disappointed but was still a wee bit hopeful and gave him my contact no. and things like that....so he let me out after paying an additional $1.30(grarr)...just as I stepped out Cheryl called Eve to tell her the MRT station at Chinatown called her to tell her about a lost wallet (apparently Cheryl's number was in my wallet (:)!!! So my brother who happened to be coming down from his place on the other side of the island picked it up for me at Chinatown and passed it to me (:Sooo here I'm thankful for God's crazy ways again and him blessing me with friends to keep me company while I'm all flustered and worried about my wallet. Alsoooo my great brother who's such a blessing. I mean, how many people have siblings that would travel from one end of the island to go pass you something!?

Merry Christmas everyone!

(: Melissa

Today is wednesday, and we had prayer meeting because we can't have it on the usual friday because friday is Chrstmas eve. Somehow I believe that the Lord planned it at such a timing because Sandy, Carol, Eddie and Adriel were in another room having an important meeting at the same time. A small group of us were praying specifically for them but as we prayed, we were also led to pray for YM.

We asked the Lord to change YM, so that when we look at our brother or sister, we will not judge them but we will love them. When we talk to each other, we will not demand from them but we will seek to bless them.

We asked God to change our hearts because it is only with this change that YM can be transformed to be the ministry that the Lord wants us to be. We asked the Lord that all our leaders may know His heart. We ask Him that all of us may have the love of Jesus in our hearts and begin to look at the people around us through Jesus' eyes. We asked the Lord that we would begin to reach out to every one of our brothers and sisters no matter how weird or different we think they are, recognising the worth that is in him or her, because Jesus died on the cross for him/her, and that God can use anybody to impact the world...even the unlikeliest person.

When we want to seek God and encounter Him, we must be prepared that He will change our hearts. Because when we come into the presence of God, our lives will be changed.

We prayed that the Lord's anointing will be on our leaders, so that YM will not be a ministry who just does lots of things (like Martha), but will sit in the Lord's presence and listen from Him (like Mary), because only when we hear His voice and act accordingly will we be in the centre of His will, and that is where we want to be as YM. We prayed for boldness in the leadership to take YM to the next level, to lead us into the spiritual battlefield, and to reach the lost for Jesus! We prayed that the Lordwould change the way we look at the world and at each other.

Lord, please give us clean hands and pure hearts, that we may ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in Your holy place (Ps 24:3-4). Let us not lift our souls to an idol.

"He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Saviour. Such is the generation who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob." (v.5-6)

It was a blessed prayer meeting. Ivan who returned from Vancouver reminded us that we are very blessed to have a group of people who want to gather together to sing praises to the Lord, and come to think of it, the Lord has blessed us in YM and in Wesley tremendously! He also said that in Vancouver, in Cambodia, or in China, it is so hard to find people who will seek the Lord like that. They may not know how. Who will tell them? Who will teach them?

I gave thanks to the Lord because even with this year's church theme "People of True Worship and Prayer", the Lord has been faithful, because He has taught us in YM how to worship. And He has taught us in YM how to pray. It is He who works in us and through us to will and act according to His good purpose, and God has been faithful to Wesley Methodist Church because it is He Himself who raises up His people to pray and to worship Him! He is faithful!

We prayed that for next year, when our church theme is "People of the Great Commission", the Lord will just send all of us out and fulfill His destiny for Wesley Methodist Church. In that year 2005 He will show us His glory in the mission field and we will worship Him. In the year 2005 He will call many men and women to Himself, to go to the mission field and teach the peoples how to worship Him and to seek His face in prayer. For how can we teach the nations how to worship Him and pray unless we ourselves know how to worship Him and pray??? How can we teach them the Bible unless we know the Bible well ourselves??? Our prayer is that we may all walk closely with our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we may know Him, and make Him known.

AMEN and AMEN!!!

Blessed Christmas!

jiemin =)

Yesterday (21st Dec) my sister Yiling, Bertram and his friend Nina, and Pam and her friend Thaddeus went together to visit the Red Cross Home for the Disabled, somewhere in Hillview. It was to celebrate one of the residents' birthdays which fell on Christmas day. It was a blessed visit, but what shook me was what happened while we were preparing for it.

We were supposed to bring lunch for them. I had promised to buy them KFC and they were thrilled to bits cos like...being disabled and in the home everyday of the year, they don't go out and they hardly get treats. Their normal lunchtime was about 11am but because KFC only opens at like, 11am, so we could only go at 12noon.

At KFC, we had gottan the food, and I was sharing with them from Matthew 25:31-46. It was on social concerns and the passage talks about "whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me." (v.40) So i shared and tolded them about the residents and some of the conditions that they are born with. And like, I realised tha twe hadn't gotten a birthday present for Christopher yet, and so we were all ready to take off...

As I was getting up, the cleaner guy at KFC, with his cap and table cloth, stood at the edge of the table where I was at, as I was getting up, said, "The Lord wants you to pray before you go and minister to the people....yadayada..." I was like..."WHA!!!" My jaw could have dropped and he went on to explaing why the Lord would have us pray...I was so shocked that I didn't really hear what else he was saying, but I got the point. So we prayed, and, after we did, I composed myself and shook the guy's hand and said to him, "God bless you, brother! Merry Christmas!"

It was a really blessed visit. Even the cap which we all chose (hurriedly) for Christopher was his favourite colour blue. God is so amazing! We are even appearing on Channel U on the show that features various homes, cos they happened to be filming at that time and since we happened to be there to celebrate one of their birthdays they sort of just accomodated us. All of the rest (all first-timers) had a good experience. God is so good because like in the past when I brought groups there some of the people were quite shocked or traumatised.

Well, anyways, I think another idea behind Matthew 25:31-46 is also kind of like...God shows up in the unlikeliest places!...and we never know when He is going to show up! We may not know that we could have been ministering to our Lord Jesus when we do an act of kindness toward an old lady or the roadsweeper. So, it could have been the Lord who showed up and reminded us to pray, shorty, tooth decay, table cloth and all, but he spoke with authority. WOW. Many things that have been happening lately just blow my mind!!!

Blessed Christmas!

-jiemin =)

Today we spammed Orchard Road with 600 candy canes to bless the people there. Each of these candy canes has a 'Jesus loves you' message attached to it, and as we gave them out, we said 'Merry Christmas and God bless you.'

It was fun cos like we only had the idea yesterday at about 2pm, and by the time we reached evening, we had almost 20 people who would be involved directly or indirectly in the spamming operation.

How did this come about? Some of us went for a show on monday, and it was a pretty huge YM outing. Then we wanted to watch another show, but some of us were talking and there were two things:

1. We should do something meaningful with our outings instead of just having fun. We can BLESS OTHERS and have fun doing it as well!

2. We should invite others whom we don't know too well. After all, outings are good to hep us get to know fellowYM-ers. Like...if each of us were to invite one other person, and everyone has a similar mindset, then YM will become one big happy family!

So off we went. Initially we thought that it would be really easy, but it wasn't so for some of us. Some of us got rejected. Some of us found it easier as the people were more receptive. So we took abit longer than we expected, and turned up at Youth Park like 30 mins after the designated time for lunch.

Anyways, all of us did have a relatively good experience, with many people rejecting us, but also some really fierce-looking people smiling when we blessed them with the candy. Some of us had opportunities to pray with some people we met. It was really interesting.

I thought that many people were surprised that we were giving them stuff. We met many sceptical people who were like reaching out for their pockets when they received the candies, but they seemed surprised when we told them that it was for free. It's not surprising since like Orchard Road is flooded with aggressive salespersons trying to sell people stuff they don't need and also others with donation cans asking for donations. Along with all the sales beckoning them, it seems that everyone they meet wants something from them. It is no wonder that we are greeted with much scepticism and unbelief when we approach them to give the candies.

Some people received the candies but politely declined after they read the 'Jesus loves you' note attached to the candies. It really makes us think doesn't it? God loves us and continues to give us His love to bless us, but when we reject Him, He still continues giving in spite of our rejection.

What about the Gospel? If even in giving out candy canes we are faced with so much rejection, how much so in sharing the Gospel? It's even harder isn't it? We will be faced with even more rejection. But the thing is, Christ's love compels us, and if God our Father is holding out His hands calling people back to Himself, shouldn't we do the same? I believe that this is a small start for us as a ministry. I believe that God has more in store for us. May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire us and empower us to reach peoples for His glory!

What does this have to do with prayer? Everything! Because action is birthed from prayer. Prayer that does not lead to action is like faith without works...it is dead. When we pray for His kingdom and His will be done, then God will move us to accomplish His will. May He continue to work in us and through us, for His glory.

--jiemin =)

I don't know what to say about YM camp that has just passed. So many things happened. But this verse sticks and I would like to share it with you guys.

Ezra 8:21-23

"21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." 23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer."

This year the theme of Wesley Methodist Church is 'People of True Worship and Prayer'. I can only stand amazed and say that the Lord has led by His hand and He has led and blessed YM immensely in the areas of worship and prayer.

The Lord is faithful, and He will do it.

Let's keep praying!!!

God bless!

--jiemin

This is the morning of the YM Camp!

This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!

There has been so much preparation for this camp. So much hard work. So many things that have been prayed for. Now is the time when we will just be, and let the Lord work amongst us.

We had a very wonderfully blessed time during our prayer walk on Monday. We went around the campus praying Scriptures declaring God's presence.

Psalm 24:

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty-
he is the King of glory.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.
You are the King of glory.