O Great God

O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore

I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven's joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Help me now to live a life
That's dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that i face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me

Bob Kauflin 2006
Sovereign Grace Music: Valley of Vision

Standin By Each Other

Mr Y was tellin mi the other day dat i really shd think bout chasin one of my Japanese frens who's really pretty...i told him that religion came between mi n doin dat n besides, she has a Korean bf alreadi...

den he told mi very matter-of-factly, Korean and Aussie guys are always tryin to chase Japanese gals...F***them! U go on man...i was tempted...realli i was..but without goin in2 that Christian datin non-Christian stuff (which i do believe even though i dun put it so aggressively)..i'll say that since comin to unichurch, i've come to see the cross as above all considerations and priorities...n i think even if i'm screwed (in relationships) because of that inescapable fact, i feel compelled to follow my saviour...its hard i tell ya...so hard...

if i wasn't a Christian, wat might i have done? nothin great actualli...might hav done even worse things then those i've done and am ashamed of....but the thought always lurks at the fringes of my subconsious..and i realli appreciate my non-christian frens who affirm mi n tell mi that i'm not such a loser after all..n i realli want them to come to know Jesus....i reckon many of them would b better Christians than many of the Christian guys i know...i just need to find the courage and words to share the gospel with them...

why dun christians stand by each other the way non-christians often do? i really dun noe...wat i do noe is...many times when i've been at a fix in my christian walk, God has used unbelievers to show mi the way out...frens like Matthew in NS, Yoshia here, a sprinklin of John Paul II no less...

i wish i could have someone to say "i love you to"...n i wish i could say that i've got the best galfren in the whole world...i wish i could say to the guys..."leave mi out of the soccer watchin guys, i'm takin my galfren out for a beautiful romantic dinner"...but really...dat option has not been left open to mi for a long time...every other guy is somehow alwaez better than sad ol' mi...aren't i pathetic?

Watch This

I've embedded the Video i mentioned in the last post on this blog...because i believe it is that important for my Christian friends to see..so scroll down to the bottom of this blog and hav a look...really recommended..

Challenge Conference

I was away last weekend for Challenge Conference 2007...every year, Christians are asked if they would like to go for a conference that challenges them to full-time ministry...and i would say that i was really challenged and humbled by the experience....

Phil Jensen, dean of St Andrews Cathedral, Sydney, challenged Christians as to how we wanted to spend the rest of our lives..and n exposed greatly the lie behind materialism that runs this world..and the reality of the Christian gospel..

our conversations with fellow Christians who likewise were considerin the possiblity of full time Christian ministry sometime in their lives were realli helpful n encouragin...i saw how urgent was the need for ministers for the gospel...anywhere in the world and that the greatest duty of ministers was to train a new generation of ministers to carry on the preachin of the gospel..the scripture thus speaks of Paul trainin Timothy and raisin him like a son who in his turn trained others...the baton needs to be passed on...and i finally began to see the good that Dad had done in raisin mi as a Christian..

even though today i will say there are things i disagree with him from the pentecostal tradition in which i was raised....because i believe (and quote me on this) that the pentecostals are wrong and unbiblical about some things..especially predestination...but that is for another time..

i had a good talk with Greg about ministry on Sunday night also...in which i told him about all the brutal realities of ministry that only minister's children see and which no one tells you...and the pain and sacrifice involved...and he understood fully..finally i saw that neither Dad nor myself were alone..in 1 Corinthians Paul sheds tears over the people he pastored and the pain they caused him..and no one in ministry can be any different..

and now i begin to understand the costs and the suffering inherent...but also the great honour and privilege..and i thank God that there are Christians whom i can relate to in this area..men like Mark Driscoll whose video on You-tube, "A Good Soldier" i recommend highly..he famously said that modern men hav so many issues becomin Christian because they "dun want to worship a wimp they can beat up"..

i like Christians who dun mince words..because people are goin to hell due to the nice words that Christian ministers say..we need to read the Bible carefully...Jesus seldom says nice things...He says hard things that cause many to turn away..."For we did not preach the gospel with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power"...and again, "to what can I compare this generation?..they are like children in the streets who say, we played the flute for you and you did not dance, we sang a dirge and you did not cry"...no, friends, i now realise that Jesus said what was contrary to accepted wisdom and deeply unpopular..and this is integral to Christianity...only the Holy Spirit makes it palettable..