Hell - You don't want to end up there, trust me!

Recently, whatever I experience in school is quite bad enough as it is - people enjoying themselves at the expense of others, worsening attitude towards studies(it all started well with everyone being super-motivated), and of course, the worst of all is the classroom environment. I mean, how can anyone study in that kind of noisy hell?

Oh wait, that isn't hell. Hell isn't supposed to be like a classroom environment. I thank God I'm still in a classroom far from hell, a dreadful place. To even say it is dreadful is an understatement. Show me a person that tries to tell me there isn't a place called hell, and I'll show you a person who doesn't believe in Jesus. He has said, plainly, that hell exists in this parable. Pay extra 999% attention, not just your typical 100%, on the words that are in this parable:

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

- Luke 16:19-31

Now, what do you see? Fire. As if this isn't bad enough, it is a place of torment. What, you have the atomic bombs, eh? Sarin nerve gas? Heavy water? Ultra-concentrated arsenic to pour straight into your mouth and injected into your bloodstream at ultra-high temperatures? Hell has much worse things than these. However, this kind of place isn't for us! Jesus says:

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
-Matthew 25:41

Hey, who doesn't hate the devil? As we all know, many people blame the devil for all the bad things, sinful and adulterous deeds that would have us condemned forever in hell, but why live like the devil? We lie, and cheat, and do everything sinful in the eyes of God. But thank you Jesus, You died on the cross for us so that we could be saved from this eternal torment in Hell, through Your blood! Precious soul-saving blood!

Because of Adam eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, he sinned against God, and through him, we being his descendents have to also bear this original sin, AS WELL AS THAT OF OUR FOREFATHERS. Well, doesn't this explain very well that every new generation these days is worse than the generation before it?

So I urge you guys now, I pray thee, believe in Jesus and confess to him your sins, and be saved from hellfire. Hell is real - don't joke around with it. People have been revived in the ICUs and screaming and shouting about the horrors of hell. People have heard near volcanoes that spew out fire and brimstone(sulphur) what seems like lost souls in hell crying out in eternal torment. Trust me, please. Don't end up there.

It takes a lot of love to tell people about how terrible Hell is, and to get them out by getting people like you to put your life in Jesus, who is the only one who can pull you out from the dangers of hellfire.

Easter - Jesus is alive!

Went to church at 3pm. The drama continued from last Friday, and Jesus, acted by Brother Jerry, is alive and among the remaining 11 disciples. Soon everyone was shouting and singing Hallelujah to the Lord Most High. The drama was a big hit for everyone - even the guest pastor said it was so good, it moved him to tears!

Really, My Saviour's Church sure could do with lots of publicity from this drama, if it were taken down professionally and in actual 1st century scenery in Israel. Perhaps if this drama could sell in India, a lot more Hindus would get to know Jesus. I mean, it's for the betterment of God's kingdom, right? We would also be serving God by spreading the gospel further into the ends of the earth.

To be honest, My Saviour's Church, from what I know, is in dire straits. We don't really have a church building, and the current holding place for the English Congregation(that's us) has a rental fee that is too high to upkeep. And because of the building fund for the new church building, our pastor is hard pressed for money, so we're shifting to the Boys' Brigade HQ Singapore for our services, with effect from 6 April 2008, next fortnight.

After the service, we went for buffet dinner at Sakura, in SAFRA Tampines. We binged on the food, the baked scallops and oysters were good - they tasted like pizza. Of course, there was pizza too, and mushroom soup. Prawns are no exception - they were juicy and good, unlike some prawns from some lousy food centre...

Then we got our hands dirty on all those food. With all these good food to manage, you couldn't very well go to the toilet to wash the grease away, and expect the food to be still there, so we made do with tissue paper. Something struck me again - just like before. The tissue paper, being white, clean and grease-free was now full of dirt and oil.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

-I Peter 2:24

Jesus bearing our sins on the cross, just like the tissue paper bearing the dirt and grease of our food. The tissue paper eventually gets thrown away, and that was what Jesus was - abandoned and forsaken by the world. But He, in His glory and power, rose from the dead so that we might have life in believing His resurrection from the dead. Oh, I thank Jesus for bearing my sins and cleansing me with His blood shed for me, so that I may have life and be reconciled with the Lord again. Also, he showed the greatest love that the world has ever seen when he allowed himself to be nailed onto the cross for us, to redeem us from the horrors of hell brought by sin:

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
- John 15:12-13

Birthday Bash - Rejected Spare Ribs Curry

Today is my birthday, yep. Went for church service 'cos it's also Good Friday today. Everything went well as planned - we had our lunch outside, then went for service. The drama they came up with was very heart-wrenching. There was a part when Jesus was hung on the cross and died there, and people were running to the cross, which made Uncle Kelvin shed tears. I don't know how many people did the same, but it only goes to show that the drama cast was very successful in their act. It was a very successful evangelistic attempt - many people went up to surrender their lives and put their trust to the Lord. Glory to Him, Hallelujah!

Then, we went to buy satay and drinks back home to add on to the celebration of my 16th birthday. There was cheesecake, and beforehand Uncle Kelvin told my mom not to buy any cakes for the celebration. Adding on to the cake are grilled chicken wings with limejuice all over it, pastries with banana and coconut filling as well, and curry...



Wait a minute, the curry isn't supposed to be there! Why on earth did Grandma still cook curry while I kept stressing not to cook the curry?

Anyways, everyone enjoyed the food. "Eh, the curry very nice leh, come eat leh." they were talking among themselves while helping themselves to the food. It turned out that the spare ribs curry became the main dish for the day, and they soon sang praises about how delicious the curry was when it's spread all over the beehoon(rice vermicelli). Then it struck me in the head like a nail being driven into wood: "I insisted the curry not to be there, but it became the main dish - sounds very familiar." I soon found out:

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
-Psalm 118:22

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
- Ephesians 1:19-20

Now, when Jesus was on earth offering His love and salvation to the world, people despised Him. People spat at Him, cursed Him, wanted Him dead. They didn't want Jesus preaching at the synagogues, and telling everyone He was the Son of God. Well, they completely rejected Him, but what happened after His crucifixion and death? He rose from the dead! This resurrection showed the world that He has already conquered over sin and death.

Now what do you see? Christ's resurrection and ascension to Heaven, Christians singing His praises, ex-convicts running to Jesus for salvation and true repentance, and ending up as pastors and good people. More churches and people to preach the gospel around the world, 24/7. More and more people are becoming Christian, and that's the good thing!

I remember when I was very small, probably around 5-6 years old when my neighbour's pastor approached me and asked if I knew Jesus. I rejected his offer to accept Christ, because I didn't know any better back then - I was still a Buddhist back then, and my parents drilled into my head that Christianity was bad. However, trusting my life in Him 5 years later changed my whole view of Christianity, and I now carry the pride of bearing Jesus' name by being His child.

Something that sets me thinking - Where is the love?

I refer to my friend's blog entry about how people do not spare a thought for other people around them and being oblivious to things around them. Come to think of it, it's quite close to what Paul said about the people today would do, ain't it?

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

-Romans 1:28-32(KJV)

So here we are - people who break every single commandment of God. Now, I'm not trying to say that these people are not saved or are never going to get saved, but really, what she says makes sense! We do do things for ourselves most of the time, but very seldom for other people. Let's be honest with ourselves - Would we want to do something for some bozo's or what's-his-name's benefit, without ourselves benefitting from it at all? Only a Christian, someone who has a heart of charity, or has gone bonkers would be wanting to do such things.

Very often, we see people all around the world stuck in the vicious poverty cycle. To get out of this, as learned through my humanities lessons, we need this necessary evil: money. We need it to get our school fees paid, we need it to buy food. We need it to pay for school uniforms, then we use it to buy cars, fuel, houses, even whole private property! In fact, I can frankly say that this "important" piece of paper, the certificate, is our ultimate goal of education. But then, even with this piece of paper, we still have to get out and bring ourselves into overdrive mode - work and work for money. Funny, when were the times where people gave each other food and lodging out of charity and not for money? Where is the love? What happened to people helping each other out in times of need these days?

The love for money- the driving factor that drives everyone mad like zombies, even Christians. And what did Paul say about this love of money?

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
- I Timothy 6:10 (KJV)

Indeed, the sorrows of this love of money and never-ending desire is just a fine line between keeping and losing one's sanity to it. You work too much, you lose your family love, and even put their lives in jeopardy out of money, in some extreme cases. People turn to kidnapping, or carry out a scam, out of a want for a quick buck. We have people gambling for the money. We have people doing underground brothels, and human trafficking. We have anything possible to make money. All of these things are what God detests, and what is the real cause of this? Sin.

Now, I don't really have to tell you what sin is - most of us know what it is. You know of Adam eating of the forbidden fruit even when God told him not to? That's all sin is - disobeying God. Since Adam and Eve were the first humans on earth, we are actually their descendents. And sin doesn't really go away, much as you'd like for it to be. We carry our sin, as well as the sin of our forefathers - that's why you see people lying, committing adultery, murder, anything else you can think of. Can you truly say you've never lied in your entire life?

Sure, you might enjoy what you are doing right now. "I want to kill, I want to get laid in the nearest red-light district. I want to do all sorts of things filthy. After all, I enjoy it, and what's the big deal of it?" What many people don't realise is that the sin that we carry along with Adam's will make us hellbound after we die. When they do realise it, they figured they can't do anything about it. "Aiyah, might as well live like dirt on earth, since we go to hell anyway..." Believe me, you won't want to go to Hell.

But however, have you guys considered Jesus?

His blood shed on the cross is for our sin. He was blameless, yet he was crucified, whipped and flogged, for us. He, being God, could have smote everyone dead, but he did it and bore the pain, out of what? Love. For whom? You. He doesn't want us to go to hell. Because of sin, we have to go to hell. But He, out of his love for us, died on the cross, bearing the pain and agony in our place, so that we needn't suffer the hell that would be INFINITELY WORSE that just the crucifixion, flogging, persecution and shame to bear!

Now, Jesus died on the cross for us, out of love. He died for all of us, every single one of us, born and unborn. Now, if you have accepted Christ into your life, why not show this love to the people around us? C'mon, people - show some love to others around you today. It may be just saying "Hi" to someone you don't know, or washing the dishes for your mom, or running errands for your neighbours. We have enough bad blood among mankind - the Cold War, war on terrorism, and in Singapore, the Mas Selamat bin Kastari incident. It's time to show some love to your neighbours, be it friend or family.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

-Romans 5:7-8 (KJV)

If you want to find out more about Jesus, click here. After all, you've got nothing to lose. It is better to know the Lord and God you worship than blindly worshipping something that you don't know.

Gaia Mania Concert: Grace-filled performance with God on our side.

WARNING: This post is very long, so read it when you have the time for it.

Gaia Mania: goof-ups and blessings from God too, though we do have our fair share of Satan's attacks in this event.

Went to school at 1.30pm. Nobody was there, and I was waiting outside the Guitar Room when Yannis and Claire came along the corridor, wondering why I was there in the first place. "Guitar Room is locked."
"Oh, no wonder. I was like, 'Eh why you standing there?'" came the reply.

SMSed Wai Ping to tell her to come. Clara opened the door. We got in and prepared ourselves. And good Lord, why hasn't Jacob and Daniel come into the Guitar Room yet, it's already two in the afternoon already, and we're about to leave at 3.30pm!

Rang Daniel up. "I at Jacob's house, waiting for him to finish bathing(shower)." he murmurred.
"Alamak, hurry up, it's already two o'clock already!"
"What, only two nia... Later then go there." He hung up. Finally they showed up half an hour later.

After all that mumbo-jumbo about the footstools, stuff, uniform and neckties, we got in the bus, and there wasn't enough seats! Luckily for the boys, they could squeeze in and sit on the floor of the bus. Gawrsh, that sure must hurt, given the bumpy ride to the NTUC Conference Hall in Shenton Way. Worst of all is that Hailong forgot to take his scorebook out of the Guitar Room!! I overheard Mrs Koh saying to Mr Shi, our instructor and conductor, "Dunno what's wrong with this batch of students ah, haiya... Things like that, also can forget."

Reached the NTUC Conference Hall, the big venue. And by meaning big , it really is big but the stage was even "bigger" in that there wasn't enough space for seats for everyone. So in the end, during the performance history repeated itself - not enough space for seats for everyone, and Micah ended up sharing 2 chairs with 2 others during the performance. 3 people sharing 2 seats... Not very pleasant, was it? Reminds me of myself encountering the same experience during the 50th Anglican High Founders' Day concert, "En Suelo Mas Alto".

Really, the holding room should have been used as the stage. I mean, look! The place is completely different from the stage: big space for everyone and better air-con in there. The stage is nothing compared to the holding room - we could talk, play the guitar as much as we wanted, and even eat in it while listening to Jacob's intepretations of the Bible. Hey, though he may be my junior, but he does speak much sense from whatever is in there.

Greedy Jacob took another packet of bento dinner. "Eh hello, we're here to perform, not to eat!" exclaimed Mrs Koh, as she reluctantly gave in to me taking the bento and passing it to him.

Then halfway during practice in there, Jacob's guitar string broke! I reckon Satan's not feeling too good about him preaching about Him being Lord of all and speaking the truth that has the potential to bust up his sinful lies, that's why he made the 5th guitar string break. And thank God, the string was fixed by Hailong, by tying up the broken ends. It still sounded funny, though, lots of buzzing going on with the knot vibrating against the fretboard. However, it is at this time that God's grace is shining bright on our predicament - there was another spare guitar for use, though Mr Shi said it was supposed to be only for the 1st Guitar, in case their strings broke.

So, we've got the replacement guitar, the footstools ready, and the guitars tuned. Bird whistle was still with fresh water. Everything went well, for the Lord was faithful in hearing my prayer in the holding room. Really, I was very nervous when the performance was about to start when these verses gave me the courage to do my best on that place:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
-John 14:27

And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
-Deuteronomy 31:8

And after the performance, we were gathered around Jacob, Benedict and Jonathan. Honestly, I didn't know that they could complement each other so well! Jacob did rapping while the rest did beatboxing. Of course, Jacob was the butt of the joke - though he did rap well, his actions while holding the guitar bag was as though he was doing pole-dancing!

Beneath the Shelter of Your wings - Lenny Smith Lyrics

Just found this song very meaningful and indeed, the lyrics show how faithful our Lord Jesus Christ is. Just changed the song as well, so feel free to sing along with the music. Enjoy!

I am safe beneath the shelter of Your wings
Here I can trust in You
And know that I am loved
I find peace beneath the shelter of Your wings
A place of quiet rest
That calms my heart and soul
Here I am blessed

I am so blessed
To find Your rest
I am so blessed to find Your rest

I will stay beneath the shelter of Your wings
When I depart from here
I'll know that You are near
Where I go, You'll go and where I stay You'll stay
If I don't see Your Face
Still I'll be in Your love
And Your embrace

I am so safe
In Your embrace
I am so safe
In Your embrace

I am safe beneath the shelter of Your wings
Here I can trust in You
And know that I am loved
I find peace beneath the shelter of Your wings
A place of quiet rest
That calms my heart and soul
Here I am blessed

I am so blessed
To find Your rest
I am so blessed to find Your rest

Being a servant ain't a bad thing either

And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

-Mark 10:44 (KJV)

It was only this evening during Cousin Glenn's birthday party when it dawned on me the meaning of this verse. I was looking at Aunt Kris preparing a big jar of iced coke, and I wanted to grab a drink. It was as though something flashed across my mind, something that I came across while reading the Bible. This verse came to mind. I decided to grab more drinks and distribute the cups of coke out. After all, we had a guest, Uncle Allen's girlfriend, to entertain and serve as well. I put "being the servant of all" into practice, and everyone had a drink without having to travel to the kitchen to grab the pitcher.

I ate, and was speaking to Uncle Yiye when I recited this verse to him. "Very true." he replied.

"Y'know, this is indeed very true in that being the servant of all gives you the experience and respect from other people," I spoke. "When you become the servant, you gotta serve the people, and through all that you gotta first learn how to serve. Serving people for some time gives experience in that field of work, and earns your respect from other people as well, if you're doing a good job at it. After all, being the greatest of all in your job also needs these two things: support and expertise. That's where the experience comes into play, and the support from your subordinates comes from their respect for you."

"Whoa, very cheem(sophisticated), leh," he exclaimed.

"Guess where this came from."
"Dunno, where?"
"The Bible."
"Oh, then. I think I heard enough.(he is a non-Christian, and very anti-Christian too)"

Oh, well. He's the manager of some department of his company, so I related that to the workplace. Hope whatever I said helps him in the workplace to some extent.