Holiday Happenings

Since after exam:

Road trip to Penang

That was pretty crazy. 35 people. 1 bus. 3 days 2 nights. Ate, ate and.. ate.. I must say that the food in Penang this time round was not that great, to me at least.. It was just food.. that taste the same in KL, or even better in KL *don't shoot me Penang people* hehe. We also visited Fort Cornwallis (or something like that), had bbq marshmallows and chilling out at the beach, shopping, water polo, and lots of travelling on the bus. It was a good end to the year, especially to catch up with some people who have or would be leaving Malaysia, fellowshipping, mafia-ing, random joke telling, cards, worshipping at the beach n swimming pool :) Gotta do this more often! *kudos to Danny Wang who organised this amazing trip!

National School's Christian Fellowship Leadership Camp

Another crazy camp. 140 campers. 20 officers. I was one of the officer volunteers. Led icebreakers, games, a prayer session, helped at special night and led a small group. I love games and organising games but for 140 campers, is quite intense! Thank God for ideas such as the tank game (from maps) and team fortress (from mcf camp) and random push-the-potato-with-your-nose games! And of course, BUTTBALL! which for some reason everybody seemed to love. It was a great camp, lots of things learnt - about God's will, spiritual disciplines, heroes of the faith and cf-related skills (such as problem solving and programme planning). Special night was great and the campers acted really funny! the night ended with the court case in which us officers took the campers to 'court' for being 'naughty' and demanded they be sent to bed earlier after framing them up (for everything! being late, idolatory, violence, etc). It was won hands down of course (due to our totally unbiased judge and jury which was the camp commandent and the officers haha!) but of course we had to let the kids sleep late..

Sarah's Wedding

My sisters wedding was quite surreal. I knew she was going to get married early in the year but if never really got into my system, not until the rehearsals at least.. when I began to watch her and everybody else practice walking down the isles with the music.. and it REALLY only clicked on the wedding day itself, more in the wedding dinner, when all the speeches were made, it was like. wow. WOW. my sister is getting married.. *sigh*.. (but in a happy aww kinda way). I performed the song 'We will dance' by Steven Curtis Chapman and threw in a little chorus of my own at the wedding ceremony with mark. It went well, according to everybody, but I knew my guitar wasn't working, because I hadn't turned the GAIN up. thank God mark's guitar saved the day. He asked me later on, "so japheth, what have you GAINED from this?" swt. I also realised that weddings are really costly.. everything really. counting the ang pow's during dinner was stressful, and it's just only enough to cover the dinner cost! now, all those dresses... flowers.... decorations... gifts.... shoes.... well i'm not complaining, got myself my first ever suit! woohoo! Everybody's asking, "so when's your turn?" I smile and say, "well, the first step is to find a girlfriend :p"

Personal Retreat

It was good to just take a break from it all after all that. To set a time to relax, seek God's face, review and reflect on how my year has been and what I've learnt from it. No better place than Glory Place, Mantin; to just sit by the waterfall, memorise some scripture, write a song, do some readings and journalling... was with Peter and Li wen for this one; quite fun those two :) gonna miss hanging out with peter once he leaves to the U.S

CF

CF would be taking most of my time and responsibility from now on - plannings, iron'ing out details, portfolios, job descriptions and managing human resources; thank God for the CF'ers! So many willing ones, to serve, to be a part of God's plan for Monash CF next year! To an awesome year ahead! let's start with a Christmas Party! and committee retreat!

Work work

Gonna help out at the kindergarten again; Madeleine Kindergarten, for Jan and Feb. Should be interesting :) I need to get those nuts and bolts in my head active.. Can't afford to idle around too much lol. I need to clean my rooooommm..... gahhh.....

Through God's grace and strength
Japheth Chew

Daily devotionals by Worthy Ministries

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

In this world we will face all kinds of obstacles, trials and tribulations and we should be wary of any doctrines or teachings that say we shouldn’t have to face these things. Why? Because the Lord said we will have tribulations. So the encouragement He is giving is simply this: You’re going to face trials, but GOD is greater than any problem you will face in this world!

As problems present themselves, we should face them in the power of God and overcome them with Him -– because every problem is an opportunity to exhibit the love and power of God in our lives. And it’s often through these situations that the world gets our true testimony as believers in Him!

Lift up your head, and don’t expect “no obstacles" in this life. Continue looking up, and be filled with His joy, because the Lord has already overcome this world and our problems, and we will experience that when we simply give them over to Him!

Daily devotionals by Worthy Ministries

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Historian Shelby Foote tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. "Captain, give me a gun!" he shouted. "This fight ain't got any rear!"

In Ephesians, Paul describes the armor that we should put on daily. Have you ever noticed that every part of the body is covered except for one? The back! The Lord didn't want us to run away and turn our back toward our enemy -- it would leave us vulnerable, with no armor to protect us against his attack! And just as a dog would when he senses fear, if we run from the enemy, he will relentlessly chase us until we are broken. But if we take courage and stand strong in the power of God's might, then the battle will be the Lord's... and He has already won the victory!

The battle is raging! It's time to take up our armor and face the enemy head-on! There's no turning back! We're in this together! There's so much work to be done!

Daily devotionals by Worthy Ministries

Psalms 107:2-6 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

We watched the movie "Pilgrim's Progress" and I have to say, it's remarkably close to the book, which often is not the case when a movie is based upon a book. In his book, Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan has written one of the most beautiful allegories about the journey we all travel as a believers. The book describes the hero, Christian, and his journey from the City of Destruction to his heavenly destination, the Celestial City. Now there's one part of Pilgrim's Progress that I want to focus on today -- walking through the Swamp of Despondency!

At one point during their travels, Christian and his companion suddenly find themselves there....in the Swamp of Despondency. Still bearing his burden, Christian, begins to sink in the mire. His traveling companion manages to get out, but he returns to the City of Destruction without giving aid to Christian. Christian is left all alone and sinking even deeper in the mire, until Help, the allegorical figure for the Holy Spirit, pulls him free from the swamp.

Christian then asks Help why this dangerous plot of land has not been mended so that poor travelers might go safely to the Celestial City. Help replies, "This miry slough is such a place that cannot be mended."

How true it is in real life! As hard as we try to avoid them, whether young in the Lord, or spiritually mature...swamps of despondency seem inevitable, and we must struggle through them!

Charles Spurgeon once wrote to his students in the book, "Lectures to my Students", "Fits of depression come over most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron...but surely the rust frets even these."

There are times in our lives when we will struggle through the swamps of despondency -- but praise God that He has provided us a helper for those times of need! We need to press through, seeking and trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to pull us out of those nasty swamps, and set our feet back upon the Rock of our salvation. Let's also look around us to see our brethren who may be struggling in the swamps of despondency, so that, rather than abandoning them, we might give them a hand on their journey to the celestial city!

Which wolf are you feeding?

Daily devotional - Worthy Ministries

Phillipians 4:8-9 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

A friend sent us the following story.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on in every person. He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves'. One is evil -- it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good -- it is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grand son thought for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Need I say any more?

let's start feeding the good wolf, that we might flourish for the Lord and do great things for Him! There's so much work to be done!!

Daily Devotionals - Worthy Ministries

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

While walking through the forest one day, a farmer found a young eagle who had apparently fallen out of his nest. He took it home and put it in his barnyard with his chickens and there it stayed for years. It wasn't long before the little eagle learned to eat and behave like the chickens.

One day a naturalist passed by the farm and saw the eagle confined in the barnyard with the chickens. When he inquired about this strange sight, the farmer told the man his story. "Unfortunately," said the farmer, "the poor little guy just never learned to fly." "Still," the naturalist sighed, "he has the heart of an eagle and can surely be taught. Will you allow me to work with him?" The farmer agreed, but with much disbelief.

The naturalist picked up the eagle and lifted him toward the sky and said, "You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth your wings and fly." The eagle, however, was confused. He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again. The naturalist took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, "You are an eagle. Stretch forth your wings and fly." But the eagle was afraid and jumped down once again to be with his chicken friends. Finally the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, "You are an eagle. You belong to the sky. Stretch forth your wings and fly!" The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and then up to the sky. Slowly, he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, he soared away into the heavens.

Somewhere along the line, we like this poor young eagle, were put in a lowly barn with the chickens of the world around us. We learned to live and eat from the ground and grew up believing that there was not much more to do than sit and cluck all day.

But the reality is that we are eagles! We were created to fly and even soar! God has great purpose for our lives! If we would only realize who we are in Him! let's remember who we are today and stop acting like chickens! We are the head and not the tail! We are Kings and Priests! We have great things to do for the Kingdom!

Daily devotionals by Worthy Ministries

Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

One of my favorite heroes of the faith is Hudson Taylor. For those who are unfamiliar with Hudson Taylor, he led a great awakening in China which continues on till this day.

At one point during his ministry, Hudson Taylor was deeply distressed by many burdens. As he prayed for strength to carry on, he came across Psalm 55:22 -- "Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain thee."

Suddenly this truth entered into his heart and he sprung to his feet and cried, "This fear-allaying truth has evaded me too long! I see it all now. If we are obeying the Lord and still run into difficulty, the heavy responsibility rests with HIM, not with us!" Then he prayed, "Lord, you shall all the burden! At your bidding I will go forward, leaving the results with You!"

With the burden lifted off his shoulder, Hudson Taylor went on to establish a great work in China.

Are you burdened today? Whatever your burden -- cast it upon the Lord -- and allow His peace to overflow your life! There is so much work to be done!