NEW SERIES - End Times Revival (starting on the 3 May)

The Book of Joel- End Times Revival

Sermon Series Write Up

The word "revival" is familiar to most Christ-followers. We are constantly speaking about and praying for a "revival," but do we know what it means? The root word "revive" is from the Latin, and may be interpreted thus to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished. Revival thus, refers to the bringing back to life something or someone that is on the verge of dying or is already dead.

The truth is that each of us needs to be continually revived in order to function optimally - this we do daily by eating and living healthily. The same can be said of the Church.

In this six-part series, End Times Revival, we will be studying the book of Joel in the context of the end times, a period of not only unprecedented challenges for the church, but also of great opportunities. It will be a journey of discovery as we learn about the end times revival - the signs, conditions and blessings of the revival for the church. This is the trumpet call for us to be the Church that God has called us to be.

Sell Berbatov?

I was already thinking of blogging this when I read the article below.

Berbatov has really struck me as someone who is too casual and he really does not contribute much to the team. Admittedly, there are flashes of brilliance. But when you pay £30.75million, you expect a more consistent performance rather than flashes of brilliance.

When Everton missed the first spot kick, I thought that we should have the shoot up all wrapped up. But when he causally passed the ball back to Tim Howard, we lost our advantage. And worse still, we boosted the opponent’s confidence and completely deflated ours.

Don’t get me wrong, people do miss penalties. Ferdinand missed his spot kick too. But the way Berbatov went about it was hard to imagine. Not only that, in many games that he played, he was all too casual.

There was also once a player that was very casual in his playing style. His name is Eric Cantona. The difference is that Cantona delivers. Moreover, Monsieur Cantona was has a lot of fire in his belly which seems to be missing in Mr. Berbatov.

Hopefully, Berbatov will pick up and do much better else we may have to...

Anyhow, have your own say in this
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Sir Alex Ferguson has leapt to the defence of record signing Dimitar Berbatov, the man who shouldered the majority of the blame for Manchester United's penalty shoot-out defeat in the FA Cup semi-final with Everton.

The critics were out in force again following Berbatov's woeful penalty miss; the Bulgarian's £30.75million transfer fee has been the subject of considerable debate almost since the day he moved north from Tottenham last summer.
Ferguson confirmed the 28-year-old was upset before defending his contribution to the Old Trafford cause.

"He will get criticism because when you pay £30million for a player everyone thinks he should be able to score with a penalty kick," said Ferguson. "He was upset and disappointed, as we all were.

"But I don't see any evidence of Berbatov's season tailing off.
"He has missed a few games and overall yesterday, I thought he did really well."

Why?

I am known to be preacher with leather lungs. I don’t need to fuss to much over my throat. I may not even need a mic to preach! But from last Tuesday till Friday, it was the first time I had sore throat for such a prolonged period of time. Why?

Knowing that I would be preaching on Easter Sunday, I went to bed early on Saturday night. I intentionally choose to not watch the Sunderland versus Man U game on telly so that I could be rest better for the next day. I went to bed at around 1130pm but I woke up at 1am and I found it hard to get back to sleep. I woke up really tired the next morning. Why?

After such exciting praise and worship and after hearing such an authentic and powerful testimony, I was all prepared to do my part in sharing God’s message. I was shocked to find myself going a little hoarse 5 minutes into the preaching. It got worse and my throat hurt really badly. I had never experienced this before. Some one commented that I sounded like Yoda (from Star Wars) when I was preaching! It was only the first service and I had one more to go. Why?

As I pondered over these stuff, I could sense God saying…

Because I want to let you know how vulnerable you would be without me. If I have wanted to humble you, I only need to take away your voice and there is not much you could do anymore. It is I who put the voice in you to speak on my behalf.

Exodus 4:11-12
The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Because it is me who is going to work in spite of your tiredness. It is my message and not yours. You may give the imperfect but I will give the perfect through your imperfection.

Throughout this saga, I felt so blessed to have so many brothers and sisters serving along with me and care for me. I have got enough herbal drink to open a stall at Suntec! I was given up to 10 bottles of herbal drinks. I also got lozenges and cough droplets and honey sweets of all sorts. It was incredible. Even until today, I am still getting drinks from people.

Thanks for your tremendous acts of kindness. I appreciate and remember every one of them. Thank you and thank you again.

At the end of the day, God’s message of forgiveness and grace and love rung out so clearly to the people. Why? Because God really loves people!

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee At Bukit Batok?!?

Don't ask me why! Just eat it!

Although I am not a big Lor Mee fan at all, this one is quite nice. I like it for a few reasons. The garlic is a must. In fact, you should perhaps pay $1 for extra dosage of garlic. It may cause harm to those around you (the smell from your mouth) but it will bring definitely pleasure to your taste bud.

Apparently, this stall is really quite popular that it closes at 1130am. To get good food, you got to be early.

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee
Blk 155A,
Bukit Batok West Ave 8
#01-324
Opening Hours: 5.45am-11.30am

The noodles is really tasty and light on your palate. It looks starchy but it does not leave you bloated. The sauce is really quite unique.

A normal bowl will only set you back $2.50 and with extra ingredient, it will cost $3. That is really quite reasonable.















By the way, do also check out a certain Lor Mee stall in the present Tiong Bahru market that serves Shark Meat (Stall #178). That stall is really quite divine.

Survey shows Singaporeans least optimistic about future

Channel NewsAsia - Friday, April 3

SINGAPORE: Affluent Singaporeans are the most pessimistic in Asia when it comes to their future, according to a survey by life insurer AXA.

Eight Asian economies — China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore — took part in the survey which was conducted between January and February.

The Philippines was ranked as the most upbeat, with a score of 84 on a scale of 100, followed by India’s 83.8 and China’s 66.9.

The survey polled 2,700 mass affluent residents between the ages of 25 and 50 on their views about life over the next five years. The study covered four aspects of life — career, retirement, family and health.

The 300 Singaporeans polled generally had the lowest scores in all four categories.

Angela Lau, head, Branding & Communications, AXA Life Insurance Singapore, said: "They’re not so confident about their health and career, and how they are going to cope with the challenges in life. For the career perspective, they are actually very concerned about job security.

"One in four is worried about whether they will have a job in the next year or so and in the next five years. That’s probably one of the reasons why they are not so optimistic about life at this juncture."

Ironically, Singaporeans also turned out to be the least affected by the economic turmoil, across the markets surveyed.

On how much they were impacted by the current economic crisis, Singaporeans rated six on a scale of one to ten — the lowest figure compared to their Asian counterparts.

The survey also showed that more than half of those polled planned to have children, and three in ten planned to have two or more children.
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We need to bring Hope to the poeple. Indeed, those who have more are more afraid to lose out. Perhaps they have began to place their hope in stuff instead of in Him.

It is made even more ironic when Singaporeans are the least hit among those surveyed!