Working Out

Many times have I heard of people wanting to work out to get into shape but fail to continue on the process of gyming and dieting in the long run and eventually don’t get into shape. They say they really want to get into shape, but the effort they put into keeping disciplined and following their "get into shape plan" is so minimal.

Well, sadly to say, some of our Christian lives are like this. I was once reminded of this terrible state of "growthlessness" last weekend at the young adults retreat. The passage chosen was James 1:2-8. One part of the passage spoke about how the testing of your faith, in the form of trials and temptations, develops perseverance which eventually matures your faith.

How does this have anything to do with working out? It has a lot actually. You see, trials and temptations are difficult and often painful things to deal with. We being petty little human beings tend to either complain and ask the question `why is this happening to me!??!!??!!?’ or just sweep the problem under the carpet and let it go. How is ones faith in God grows if he does not trust on God’s strength? Trials in life are great chances to put your faith in action. It will really tear you apart as you have to chose between the right way, and the easy way. This is what the Christian walk is all about. Fighting that sinful nature within. Every time you work out your faith, it grows. Yes, sure it might be a tough and painful thing to do but isn’t that what working out is all about? Have you seen anyone whose working out who is having a easy and effortless time at doing it? No its all pain and sweat. Its when you workout those muscles only do they grow. The perseverance of the muscles leads to their growth. This is the same with our faith. It matures as it perseveres.


So next time when you are faced with a difficult situation, stop and think, this just might be a good chance to work out those 'muscles’.

”For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 3:8

Here is a song i would like to share with you guys. Just imagine a Christian life full of comfort and struggle-free-ness. Don’t you think He will be forgotten eventually? Isn't there so much more to Christianity?



- Alex "c o p h y" Tan

Images taken from:

http://www.workoutstories.com/1/work-out-tips/

Christ - The Servant King

“Excuse me, can you help me, please?” a voice called out on my right.

I stole a glance at her. A geeky girl was sitting hunched in a wheelchair over her lunch. I did not know her, but she was unmistakably calling out to me. I made my way over to her side and asked if I could do anything for her. I was about to help her, when a friend further ahead motioned to me.

I left her for a while to go to my friend, who advised me not to help her as she could be “quite a
handful”. Shocked as I was, I was left being uncertain and terrified. What could she possibly have
meant?

And so I grabbed my books, asked if she would be alright if I left her alone, and rushed off to class.

A classmate mockingly asked me about the incident when I entered the class, and I sheepishly
answered that I didn’t help her. At that very moment, I felt a wave of shamefulness washing over me as I recalled the episode.

What was I trying to portray as a Christian? Was that the right thing to do? What was a little trouble to myself when someone really needed it?

I was reminded of a bible passage in Matthew 25: 34-40 which reads:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

How often it is that we avoid going out of our way to help others because of our selfishness. However, I hope this serves as a reminder to all of us that as beacons of light for Christ, the best way to share our faith is through our lives. How true it is that the world would be a better place with less selfishness and more selflessness.

- Jo-Yi

Images taken from:
http://www.homecarespecialistsinc.com/medical_equipment.html
http://www.calvaryeastmountain.org/ministries.html

Give and Take?

Such a common philosophy isn’t it, from a human perspective?

I mean it’s fair, it’s reasonable and in fact some would say it’s even very caring because you first gave, before you take. Normally people take first and then, well, not even bother giving.

But let me challenge you with something greater than that.

You give and receive, not take.

Why?

When the word “take” comes into your mind and I ask you to imagine that action, how would it occur to you? Can I suggest maybe a slight attitude of selfishness comes in? Or a “it’s rightfully mine” gesture?

It’s like taking a lollipop from a small kid.


Or emitting an obvious strong aura that you expect a “thank you” or any form of appreciation from the things you’ve done for someone.

It’s forceful, it’s expected, and it’s as if you’re giving with an ulterior motive. Who likes that? Do you like that?

But how about receiving? If I ask you to imagine someone receiving something, you can immediately picture a person that bows in a humble gesture receiving something from another in the greatest, genuine form of gratitude.

You can imagine that person who is receiving reacting as though he or she did not expect it all or saw it coming; or more than that, that person shows in all humility as though that person doesn’t deserve that gift and in fact responds with the fullest form of gratitude and thankfulness. Don’t you want to just give more to this person? ;)

Back years ago when I was first convicted that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, I thought I understood what it means to give my life to Him. I stopped cursing, I never lied and I wanted to serve my parents with all that I can give. But I had a grave error in my understanding in what it means to give my life to the Lord, I wanted to give and TAKE!

So I started cleaning the floor, wash the dishes, wash their cars and I did all of it without them even asking.

And then I expected it, I wanted to take, I wanted a word of appreciation. Or anything close enough to that.

It never came.


My parents behaved as though everything was the same, they seem to never notice at all that I’ve been doing all of that even without them asking me to do it. I was crushed, hurt and felt really foolish. Soon enough I gave all of that up and decided that it’s better that I just not give, since I don’t get to take.

Today, God brought me back from all that mess, from that all that selfishness. He told me this in the gospel from Saint Matthew 16 :25 :

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

When I had the mentality of “give and take”, it was clear I was trying to take to save my life, to nourish myself with benefits that I see fit and best to enjoy. But God asked me to lose it, for His sake.

Today I wash the dishes every other time without fail the moment I see there are dirty dishes to wash, I wash the car every other time when I see that it’s dirty. I even clean the floor when my mum’s busy with something else.

Did my parents notice it? I doubt it. Especially my dad, he even scolded me for not washing clean enough and that my room needs cleaning also. Can you imagine the feeling of unappreciated and added with oil of demand after all you’ve done voluntarily?

I never gave up, I brought up to God and tell Him “I’m losing my life for Your sake and I’m only losing this little, should I have any reason to bargain with You upon receiving such priceless, undeserving and abundant Grace from You?”


And truly I received, I received spiritual richness. To know what it means to truly give a gift. To know what It means to truly serve and to know what it means to love someone unconditionally. Above all, to know what it means to serve Your Master, Jesus Christ.

Would you give and receive or give and take?

I’ll pick the first choice, though if you find it hard to do that, then obviously you’ve been doing with your own strength and with that you will surely fail. Pray all you need pray, listen all that you need to listen from God and you simply obey. That you will surely not fail for God is a God of providence, He will surely provide!

Psalm 9:10
“And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

God bless .
Gary "b l i s s" Heng

Images taken from:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/giveandtake/
http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu210/M4rla_/?action=view&current=lollipop.jpg&mediafilter=images
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/78390130
https://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/2841
http://www.yardflex.com/archives/2010_03.html

IBA Unplugged 2010 - Wrap Up!

Before we officially put an end to the IBA Unplugged 2010 fever, we've made a music video to display the blessings and goodness of God towards TTDIGC Youth. It's also serves as for those who didn't make it for the event to be able to know how it pretty all turned out to be. Enjoy!



Once more, we'll always be proud of our team - Still In Progress. Let us all be reminded that our songs shall be in tune with God's.

Alright, this is it. We shall look forward for next year's!

God bless,
daryl 's u n d a e' heng

God's Sovereignty

You probably know by now that life doesn’t always go our way. But the funny thing about us is that no matter how much we know that statement is true, we still live our lives as if we’re in total control. So, when things don’t go our way we immediately start to flip out, at least that’s what I do. However, God in His merciful ways makes certain things happen in our lives for our own good and we have to always keep that in mind.

Ever since I was 16, I was very sure about my future plans in terms of what I was going to study. My plans went on relatively smooth till it came time to apply to go overseas for my third year. You see for the past two years, I worked really hard to make sure I had good grades so that I’ll be able to go to a more prestigious university.


Well, things didn’t really go my way. Due to circumstances I had no choice but to apply to the university that was at the bottom of my list. To be honest I was quite bitter about it and was drowning myself in self-pity. Being the emotional person that I am, I made sure everyone around me knew how dissatisfied I was. Which is incredibly unfair to them and it really made them disappointed and angry with me. I really did not know how to deal with my emotions and looking back now I was behaving rather childishly.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us this:

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The thing is we never know what God has in store for us but rest assured that whatever happens in our lives is beautifully designed by Him to build us up for His Kingdom. God wants nothing but the best for us. Even when you feel that the whole world is crumbling down around you, remember that God is always with us therefore we should fear nothing.

Philippians 4:4 also says:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

As for my emotion-driven behaviour, through this experience I learned that whenever I feel angry or overwhelmed by things that happen around me; I stop and seek God in prayer to keep me calm. Because you can never think straight when you are overwhelmed by your own emotions. When I seek God, I realized that a sense of peace is in me, at the same time God also teaches me to trust Him more. Most importantly I learned to rejoice in Him and be thankful despite of the unfavourable circumstances. Note the word ‘always’ in Philippians 4:4.

I know that my predicament at that time may not be as serious as the trials other people had or have to go through. But this experience reminded me to keep my eyes on God and realize that ultimately God is in control of my life. I do not know right now what God’s plan is for me but I am confident that in His time he will make all things beautiful!

- Xin-Yi

Images taken from:

http://www.geograph.ie/photo/22053
http://creative.ly/search/q/pinay?size=normal
http://www.gospeltemplemissionarybaptist.org/We_Believe.html

Reassurance on Insecurities

All these while, I have been a lone ranger. I jog alone, run errands alone and do many things alone sometimes till midnight without realizing that I put myself at risk.

I was first shaken from my comfy life when my handbag was stolen from my 28-year-old car boot when I went jogging. After that, my new car was smashed by 2 motorcyclists, and they stole my handbag. The 3rd time, my mobile phone was being stolen from the back room of my house. In the most recent case, I was being peeped through the mosquito netting in my room. All these happened just within a year, it causes me to wonder what God intended to tell me even though I have tightened the security.

When the peeping incident happened on Sunday 6.30am, I was really afraid of even going out of my house and attend the morning service. However, my mentor advised me to go, so I did. God has indeed comforted me there and then during the morning service. The message spoken by Uncle Chiong Seng is Haggai 2:4 (New King James Version)

That morning, God says that He will be with me even in the darkest moment of my life. May this verse not be merely head knowledge about God but I could truly experience His presence all the days of my life.

4 Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the LORD; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the LORD, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the LORD of hosts.

Frankly speaking, the fears and nightmares in me still linger till today! Yesterday when I did my Quiet Time, I realized that I need to depend on God too! (Lone rangers like me always do things on my own; seldom pray to God for strength and empowerment etc). Now, I know that I’m not that strong after all and I have to cling on God’s promises on the above verse as well as another verse:- 2 Timothy 1:7 (New King James Version)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Actually all these 4 incidents do test my faith on God; I realize my faith was shaken by the evil one. The words and verse that Uncle Vincent mentioned when he was encouraging us to attend the prayer and fasting night on the 9th September 2010 was indeed true - we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6: 12, New King James version)

May, in His time, He indeed make all this things beautiful. Please refer to Song 670 in our usual song book.

In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful, in His time,
Lord, please show me everyday,
As You're teaching me Your way,
That You do just what You say, in Your time.
In Your time, in Your time,
You make all things beautiful, in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing, in Your time.

Craving for your prayers!

Quick Note:

For any of you who do not feel that morning worship or doing quiet time relevant to you, please give yourself a try. Come and stay through the morning worship and spend time studying the word of God as God will indeed speak to you through these. If you have something that you do not really understand, you may check out with the older youths! :)

- Yit Mun

Images taken from:

http://blogintheloop.intheloop.tv/2009/10/22/insecure-men.aspx
http://www.therealestateinvestingjourney.com/2008/11/tithing-on-gross-vs-net-what-exactly-is.html

Salt & Light: His story.

Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Have you ever wondered what people would say about you when you leave the world?


I have often wondered if my presence in the world would be missed when I left it. Whether I would have made any impact on the lives of others and whether the impact was any good. Would people actually remember and miss me? And what would they remember and miss?

I was talking to a friend yesterday and the topic turned to my late uncle. She told me that she had never cried so much during a memorial service before even though she had only met him twice or three times. It struck me how deeply his life could touch people, even those who did not know him that well.

Even after so long, I am constantly reminded of him. He was one of those people who did not judge anyone, who was always kind and concerned and caring no matter what. He didn't try to be someone he wasn't and he lived his life for the Lord. Even in the final months of his life when his health was getting worse, he still lived for the Lord. He fought his battle hard and never gave up.

We never know when we will leave this earth. So don't take life for granted. Live your life to the fullest. But not just for anyone but for God.

Of course it is extremely difficult to live lives completely for the Lord. But is that any excuse for us to stop trying? One of our speakers Mr Julius Evanson said: just because something is difficult, doesn't mean that it is bad. Not every trial and temptation is a bad thing.

James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

I just want to encourage us to do our best for the Lord. To live for Him, for no one and nothing else. Always remember that we belong to Him. We have no right to live the way we want to. We do not own our talents, possessions etc. Everything belongs to Him. So, don't ever give up when trials come. Because in the end, it will all be worth it ;D

Have a great week! God bless :)

- Phoebe Lim

Salt & Light of the world

It is true while the Christian reads the Bible, the Non – Christians read our lives. We as Christians are always called to be salt and light of the world, as this is what God has commanded us to do. Now as we dwell in this topic, what does being Salt and Light means? To first understand, we must know what does salt and light does.

In older days, people do not have the advantage of the electricity, so, they have no light. Life is 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of extreme darkness. So when they are in the dark, they feel afraid, they have a sense of fear. I mean, lets face it, we don’t like being in the dark, simply because the darkness holds a lot of unknowns to us, we might ask, what if a ghost pops out, what if this / that appears? But when Christ has instructed us to be the salt and light of the world, He
has ask us all to be let our lives shine before them. Jesus wants to fill us with His presence, and as light, our lives should provide them the direction to go that is to Jesus Christ, the light that shines, the comfort and the hope that we bring to those who are weary / sad / even to those who are searching for the meaning of life. Think about the people we can encourage today, and while we are at it, we must always keep in check our walk with God. Because as light provides direction, we need to ensure that we are the light, and this can only be done, when we keep a good relationship with God. We need to pray and ask God to give us the consciousness not to live our lives carelessly.


Being the light also depict that we should be transparent to each other. Simply put, we should share our lives with one another and to allow our friendship to go beyond just the physical / emotional areas of our lives, but rather the spiritual part that we cannot see. A good way of doing so might be checking on each other quiet time, and the struggles we face day by day in our lives. In contact with people day by day, we should appear as who we are to the people we see. Simply because, our friendship/ our family with them should be as genuine as Christ has asked us to be, to love one another as Christ has loved us.


Salt has many functions, amongst such is to enhance the taste of the food, to kill bacteria, and to preserve food. In this world of brokenness, are we doing our best to preserve God’s truth and His message of LOVE, are we standing up for the values that God wants us to uphold in our lives? Along these lines, I would like to share that the one thing that truly separates us Christians and others is the fact that we are united in the blood of Jesus Christ, try to think about it, although people can be friends, but their friendship has only relations of friends, but when Christ has called us together, He has called us to be His Children, to be in the family of God, to preserve His truth even in a dying world. Are we doing it? An easy implication to draw from here is that, are we standing up for the right things God has commanded us to do? Are we making a stand for God when He is mocked? An even tough challenge I have to throw to myself too, are we mocking God with our lives because of the things we do sometimes? Are we enhancing and preserving what God wants us to?

Being Salt and Light also does not necessarily be to the world, we should also be aware that we are to be salt and light to the Christians we come into contact our lives. Because a true salt / a true light is one who allows God to be at work in their lives. We as Christians are called to be modest in our approach, to be sincere in our actions. Jesus has called us to be the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Being the salt and light is ultimately important because that is the essence and the core of being a Christian, because only by being transformed and filled by the Holy Spirit, we can have the fruit of the Spirit, and when we have these attributes, only can we be Salt and Light to the world, only then, our testimony about Jesus Christ and His work on the cross will be effective.

We should always thank God for choosing us into His Presence, while we live and breathe, may Our Lives be an offering to The LORD.

- John Khor

Images taken from:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/apr/14/betweenarockandahardplac
http://www.emmanuelnazarene.com/?p=252

IBA Unplugged 2010 - Reviewed!

After 2 days of pumped up back to back worship sessions, I believe many of our hearts are filled with songs of praise for the Lord!

This year's IBA Unplugged had 3 teams to participate in the competition:

i) Still In Progress from TTDIGC Youth
ii) Undecided from SSGC Youth
iii) Grace Given from PKGH Youth

Each team gave their best and after much sweat and anticipation, the results were out.. (Well I sorta gave it out via facebook ad page :-X)


Champion: Undecided from SSGC Youth
1st Runner Up: Still in Progress from TTDIGC Youth
2nd Runner Up: Grace Given from PKGH Youth

After all, we only lost by 3 points away to SSGC! It was really a close one I must say. Both SSGC and PKGH sang both songs each but we were more "Gung Ho", so our team sang 3 songs instead. Had some slight hiccups along the way but thank God, all in all, it went pretty smoothly. :)

(Our Golden Guitar for the prize!)

Nonetheless, most importantly is that this event achieved its purpose as how God would intended it to be:

a.) To sing forth our hearts of worship and praises, as a sweet sound to the Lord's ears.
b.) To bless the fellowship between everyone involved in this event. (Especially during all the practice sessions! Oh and yes, not forgetting the great support as well.)
c.) To allow others to witness our worship to our Father in Heaven.
d.) To help us realize that our talents are for His Glory and the furtherance of His Kingdom as a response of gratitude. Don't be wicked and lazy or you'll end up using your talents to bring you burdens..
e.) To remind us that God placed a heart of praise and worship when we accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour in our lives!


The speakers showed how God placed that very heart of worship in their lives, replacing their sorrowful and bitter songs that rang so constantly in their ears while they were bondage to sin. It was truly a convicting message, showing how the Lord changed them from a curse to all they knew to a blessing to everyone they met. They also remind us that funky music cannot bring us true joy but only temporary excitement, so let us not seek for such tunes to help us triumph the evil one but to the seek Lord as He is the way, the truth and the life!

Credits must be given to SSGC for hosting this event as they were efficient in keeping the event going as well as entertaining the crowd. Thumbs up to you guys! The publicity was well done as well as the turn out was fantastic. Praise the Lord for answering our prayers yes?


Okay! I believe by now you guys must be itching to watch and listen to all the performances so without further a due, first up:-

Still In Progress| TTDIGC Youth: Who is like the Lord?



Still In Progress| TTDIGC Youth: This is my Father's World



Still In Progress| TTDIGC Youth: The Lost Sheep



Undecided| SSGC Youth: Walls of Jericho



Undecided| SSGC Youth: Great is Thy Faithfulness



Grace Given| PKGH Youth



Grace Given| PKGH Youth



For all the prayers, thank you guys! Team Still In Progress, as your team name says it, you guys will keep progressing. May God continue to inspire your hearts to use your talents in furthering His Kingdom and to know Him personally.

As for the youth, don't hesitate to sign up for next year's IBA Unplugged as TTDIGC Youth is blessed with many musically inclined individuals to aid you in polishing your talents for God!

Until then.

God bless,
daryl 's u n d a e' heng

TTDIGC Youth Pictures new OP + Teaser for IBA Unplugged!

After going through some time pondering upon how we would like represent ourselves to the world (compared to the really plain presentation of text previously), here's the result of our brand new opening!


(For crisp clear quality, you'll have to play the video in HD!)

It starts off with displaying our "brand" - TTDIGC Youth Pictures, which after the spotlight shines from the far left to the far right. It symbolizes our effort and offering to Christ, to strive glorifying God's name to the world.

Next, where the whole screen gets brightened up until there's no room for darkness, our "logo",the star-shaped cross comes in, resulting us (as in the texts) standing at the background. It also symbolizes how Christ gave up His Glory and splendor to mingle in the midst of us, having Himself made flesh as the brightness tones down.

The rationale for a music-less opening is show how we ought to be still before God in all that we do in the youth ministry, despite of all the worldly attractions and insecurities!

Alright, next up we have made a little "teaser" for you guys to anticipate for the upcoming IBA Unplugged 2010! Remember guys, for those who would like to attend for it, please contact Gary and show up in Church at 2pm on this coming Saturday.

Without further a due, here you go:-



Continue to pray for them as Mr.Chew Kuang Ern has shared with us on the list of prayer requests. It's a spiritual warfare they're going out for and they'll need all the support they can get! (For those who aren't too sure about the prayer list, refer to the previous post.)

2 days to go. See you there!

God bless,
daryl 's u n d a e' heng