I love "Love"

Proverbs 10:12
¹² Hatred stirs up dissension,
       but love covers over all wrongs.

Let Love prevail.

Everything Has Its Time

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, And a time to die;

A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill, And a time to heal;

A time to break down, And a time to build up;

A time to weep, And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain, And a time to lose;

A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

A time to tear, And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

A time to love, And a time to hate;

A time of war, And a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NKJV

Kuroshitsuji - and some Spiritual Parallels

Just revisiting some of the recent anime OP songs.. haha.. :







Someone commented that these 3 animes quite similar... well, in order of preference, I like Kuroshitsuji, 7 Ghost, Pandora hearts.. :)

Anyway, for some time I wanted to post some thoughts on the anime 'kuroshitsuji' - in the context of spiritual warfare. Though one is just an anime, which is sometimes what we consider purely 'entertainment' or 'humour'... we can actually draw some parallels into the spiritual life...

Firstly, in the anime, the akuma/demon is called by a human and when a contract is made, serves to fulfil the human's wish, in return for his soul. In the demon's context, he will "raise" the human soul until it is ready for consumption. And for example, the human soul which achieves revenge, is sought after - to the extent of having a few demons fighting for the same soul. On the other hand, the demons are acting as the "butlers" of the human, and sometimes the human comes to rely greatly on the demon. We get the feeling that there is some kind of relationship building... friendship, but at the end of the day, the demon only sees that when the human has achieved his goal (usually something angsty), the soul that will taste great at the end.

In the spiritual life, we are at war. There are angels and demons around and definitely some parallels exist. For example, the idea of a soul getting revenge. Doesn't satan wish that for all of us, to be bent on revenge... and this kind of "soul" will be so much "tastier" to him? Satan and his minions also work slowly. They get into our good books, day in and day out. Sometimes, like the akuma-butlers in Kuroshitsuji, they appear to be at our disposal. But this is diabolical disposal. At the end of the day, they only want to devour our souls, ensuring that we will never be with God.

Therefore, for those who are with God, believers of christ, they have so much difficulty -- trying to worship God versus getting lured away, even subconsciously, by evil. You may wonder, what is really evil in this world? Well, anything that draws you away from God. So it could be anything that we do. Even things we do to gain better standing in the world, more money, more security, more etc... actually draw us towards ourselves, and away from God.

So satan is smart. As seen in this anime, he is like a handy butler, at our right hand side. Sometimes, even looking really cool and really helpful. Sometimes, we come to love him. But at the end of the day, he just wants to "raise" up our souls to his desired state, and to consume us at the end of the day. His desired state is that we walk away from God's ways, and disobey, doubt, or even rebel against God.

And, we, live lives comfortably, or more like indifferently...

Even living indifferently or moderately means we are just staying "safe". But in other words, we are not really participating in God's commandments to "love others" - because if we just love ourselves we stay safe and don't affect others, but we don't really bring God's love to others.

So even if we think we are safe, are we really?

Sky Roses

Today I only remembered the last part of my dream. Anyway it went like this! I was coming out of a trip/retreat, and i had arranged with marlene to play tennis on thursday but blur, it was only tuesday. i actually went up to the venue itself, and instead of a tennis court, it was a kind of never-ever-seen type of court with wooden logs, a goal post and only 4-5 people on the game. New style football? Anyway since it is 2 days later, I say, ok i'll just go home then. So I went off. On the way back, I was walking along cityscape, somewhere like streets of shophouses/backlanes. I saw another group of people playing on that new-style football court thingee... I think, maybe I can introduce this to my youth group? (Haha, i'm always thinking these things nowadays...)

Then I reach the road. the view is somewhere like standing at the start of the Helix bridge... you can see the city skyline at the distance and an expanse of water in front - the bay. I decided to flag a cab and I had to walk down a flight of steps to the road. THEN, I saw the most amazing sky... it was evening and sunset. There were fluffly clouds all through the sky and they were all pink/purple/orange/yellow/red in one. They looked like roses! I immediately became a photographer again (as with all my many dreams) and i started trying to snap on my stupid phone. but my phone cameras is lousy! (my subsconsious is telling me that I need to buy a new camera or phone??)

Then at that moment the sky starts to change - there are people in the sky (this now becomes anime style) - and they are like anime characters... they fly around and it seems to be a "rose fair" in the sky! whahah.. after that a lot of people are crowding round and I just join in the fun, still trying to take pictures as they move about and different "rose" cloud formations form in the sky. The dream ends with me wondering whether I like any of the characters and thinking that I'm too old for it... (whaha... sounds like closet otaku syndrome).

How I survived Ministry to this day?

"Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. - 1 Chronicles 28:20 (NIV)

It's been 10 years in ministry... with new commitments still coming in... since 2000 till today, I find that the path is still long ahead. Where will I go? I'd like to know. But I can only walk on... and enjoy the journey - with the Lord by my side. Sometimes I stop, or sometimes I walk ahead. Sometimes, I really don't wish to live very long. Life is too much of a struggle. Seriously. But I rejoice in knowing my Lord and saviour.

My life - is still a work in progress... So many more things to learn, change, develop, discover.... and I hope I don't get too intimidated. May the Lord give me new courage!

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How I survived Ministry to this day?
Through the seasons of ministry life: tiredness, discouragement, disappointment and sin!


- Know my passion (that people come to "know" & experience God)
- Make GOD your passion - then it will be fun and interesting!
- Prioritise God into your life - then you will have time for ministry!
- Accept the call to serve - say "Here I am Lord"
- Know thyself - knowing yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, prevents you from placing unnecessary stresses on yourself or others.
- Manage your expectations of yourself and others (after you know yourself)
- Learn - voraciously. Read, read, read, read, as many things as you can take..
- Network - go for talks, workshops, camps, from other groups in the archdiocese.
- Be positive - because it helps you get through the bad times, and encourages others too..
- Enjoy the work - because you do it unto the Lord, not men!
- Be creative - explore new territories.
- Don't limit God - He can change you, give you new talents/abilities, etc... if you just say Yes (but of course, you will know when to say yes or no even more - when you understand yourself better).
- Give people space - allow errors, give people benefit of doubt
- Be kind - because you need people's kindness back too!
- Trust - your team - and trust God in bad times
- Faith - in God to always provide
- Wait - for the Right Time (His Time) - always comes after the storm aka the "learning experience"..
- Love God - because He placed me in this path for my own growth
- Pray - always, unceasingly
- Strive - persevere always for the vision/mission/ministry/your members
- Ask God for directions & Listen to Him
- Work with your team and be a friend to them as much as possible
- Try to achieve a work-life balance so that you will be able to enjoy and pursue the things you want in life and also devote to Ministry
- Never think you are indispensable - it will make you haughty...
- Guard against pride, and against judgementalism (it will make you unhappy)
- Dun give up the fight against temptations, sin, emotional cycles (feelings of high & low)
- Make "eternity" your goal
- Have spiritual encouragers in your life, e.g. Godly friends who can pray for you.
- Every day, read something that motivates (e.g. a bible verse of the day)
- Have spiritual inspiration habits (e.g. time to pray, reflect, read bible, ask yourself all the time - "what is God telling me in this season of my life?")
- Develop a healthy attitude towards Church practices/history/hierarchy/administration. e.g. priests, liturgical practices, etc.
- Integrity - do what you say. If not, dun make promises. Dun say yes and then don't deliver (that is worse)
- Recognise that you serve God in your own unique way (e.g. like for me, I can do a lot of admin... but i'm not good at some other stuff, which other people may be good at, etc)
- Never forget it is all about God (if we forget Him, we lose track and focus on ourselves).
- When you feel negative, give yourself some time off... or ask others for prayers.
- Dun give up!
- Dream big!

Establish the work of our hands

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom... "

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us -- yes, establish the work of our hands."

Psalm 90:12, 17

These verses inspire me this week. I pray for the favour of God to rest upon me and establish the work of my hands. Sometimes I get tired of doing church work but then again, if God calls, he will establish the work of our hands for us right?

What does this mean to me? It's that God is in control and he is the master of the House. We as the workers of the field, just have to do the work, which is given and meted out by God.

So as disciples of God, all we have to do is listen for the instructions and follow it.

So like the verse I was writing about a few days ago...
"Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. - 1 Chronicles 28:20 (NIV)


This is my answer from God on whether I should continue another term at OLPS youth!