Victory In Batam
Just came back from our Filipino camp in Batam. Claudia & I had a great time there!
In short, it was a vision-filled and excellent camp. Christie envisioned us of the next phase for the Filipino ministry. We want to play a big part in fulfilling God’s vision through our Hope Movement. We believe that as a group, we can and must play a significant role.
We felt so loved and appreciated at the camp. There were always warm greetings and in-depth heart-felt conversation throughout. It has certainly refreshed us greatly.
I was also totally fed with endless supply of chocolates. I was given a total of 6 toblerones and 2 boxes of designer chocolates! It was too much and I did the wise thing of spreading the fats around.
In a few hours time, I will be flying off to Johannesburg for our discipleship camp with the South African church. I am very excited to be seeing our people there very soon.
Please do pray for the camp to be encouraging and that the church will be challenged towards tangible practical action to take to be better disciples and disciple-makers.
May God bless you and be with you in all your undertakings!
In short, it was a vision-filled and excellent camp. Christie envisioned us of the next phase for the Filipino ministry. We want to play a big part in fulfilling God’s vision through our Hope Movement. We believe that as a group, we can and must play a significant role.
We felt so loved and appreciated at the camp. There were always warm greetings and in-depth heart-felt conversation throughout. It has certainly refreshed us greatly.
I was also totally fed with endless supply of chocolates. I was given a total of 6 toblerones and 2 boxes of designer chocolates! It was too much and I did the wise thing of spreading the fats around.
In a few hours time, I will be flying off to Johannesburg for our discipleship camp with the South African church. I am very excited to be seeing our people there very soon.
Please do pray for the camp to be encouraging and that the church will be challenged towards tangible practical action to take to be better disciples and disciple-makers.
May God bless you and be with you in all your undertakings!
posted by Jeff Chong at 5:49 pm
4 Comments:
Thought I'd share a little something:
I read something this morning. A bible verse about Jesus becoming one of us.
And when I read that verse, I had this whole new perspective of Jesus.. I'm pretty sure I've read this verse somewhere, but it never really hit me until now.
I hope that you'll be blessed by my discovery. God bless!
Hebrews 1:1-2
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.."
Jesus became one of us. The Word of God became flesh.. Wrapped the frail blanket of humanity around Himself and started off as a baby, like every normal human like you and I would.
And in doing so, He experienced everything we would experience in this corrupt and sinful world..
Been hurt? Jesus experienced that.
Been betrayed? Jesus experienced that.
Been abandoned? Jesus experienced that.
Been frustrated? Jesus experienced that.
Been heartbroken? Jesus experienced that.
Been disappointed? Jesus experienced that.
Been misunderstood and accused of something you're not or something you didn't do?
Jesus experienced that too. And these are only 7 of the millions of painful experiences we suffer in this world!
The point here is this.. There isn't anything that we have experienced, and would experience in the future that Jesus didn't experience too.
And I found that VERY comforting. Because now I know that my God isn't some condecending fellow who doesn't understand what kind of shit I'm going through in life, and act like He does.
Don't you hate it sometimes when you go through a really emotional period, and everyone around you don't understand how you're feeling, or what you're frustrated and angry about? And all they keep saying are useless quotes such as "It's not good to be angry.. You should trust God.. Or my personal favourite - Come back to the altar and repent from your sins, and get a brother to pray for you."
And nothing they say even helps to make you feel better, all that they are doing is just scratching at the surface, insisting that you repent from your "sins" or at best acknowledging that we're frustrated. But they don't have any idea what caused it, and how to cure it.
They may not.. But my Jesus does.
People tell us, "You should have faith in God", because they themselves are unable to help us.
But Jesus says, "Trust in me..", because He holds our future in His hands, and He has prepared a plan to bless us, not to harm us.
People tell us, "You should come to the cross and leave your burdens there", because they are unable to carry our burdens.
But Jesus says, "Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest..", because He has already died not just to pay for our sins, but to bear our burdens so we can be at rest.
People tell us, "Don't worry about the future, God will take care of it.", because they themselves don't know the future, and can only point us to God.
But Jesus says, "God gave His most precious Son, Yours truly, to you.. what more wouldn't my Heavenly Father give you?" Because He knows that if we would only ask, seek or knock on his door, He would gladly give, lead and answer us.
People may not understand us completely, despite good intentions.. But Jesus does. He knows everything which goes on in our lives.
Your parents may not know that you cry yourself to sleep.. But Jesus does. He sits by your bed, weeping with you, and if you would only but ask, He will take away the pain and give you everlasting joy.
Your church might not understand why you appear rebellious.. But Jesus knows the rebelliousness isn't the problem, but tells you that He loves you so much, that when He carried that heavy back-breaking cross up the hill, the only thing which kept Him going was your face. So you don't have to act tough and mean to cover up your insecurity, because God has already declared His love for you to the whole wide world and calls you "His Perfect Child".
Your cell group might not understand why you refuse to pray and be enthusiastic about going to church.. But Jesus knows that every morning, you would silently pray to Him, and He wants you to know He has heard every one of your prayers and is so proud of you and your mustard seed of faith.
So since Jesus knows how hard it is sometimes to live life, and experienced all kinds of difficult situation, and went through all sort of emotions.. We can trust Him, because He is the only one who understands us. And not only does He understands us, He has the solutions too and wants to help us live life the way a child of God should live.
A life of freedom.
Wow! this is like an entry within a entry. realli cool (: LCK
hi pastor jeff,
thanks alot for your preaching and sharing in the camp.It really refreshing,speaking to my heart deeply and i enjoyed very much.Hope to hear your preaching again in the filipino service.May God bless you in south africa camp.Enjoy the trip.
hey anonymous #1, thanks for sharing the insight. I appreciate and had learnt from it!
Hi LCK, am glad that my blog can serve as a platform for other peopel to blog as well. This is good.
Anonymous #2, i am really glad to be part of the Fil camp. It was most encouraging and enriching to me. I felt really loved and honored by our Fil group. Thanks so much...
Post a Comment
<< Home