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hehe ^^
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| wow.... teen conference......I'll update more about that later
this guy is so much fun hehe!!
our last group pic.... to all my faithful senior brothers: thanxs for everything
*edit*
Okay so its time for my final Teen
Conference update. But you know I'm actually not sad. I don't want it
to seem like TC is the only time to worship God. Its not! I can worship
God everyday of my life. This TC was realli a reflection for me. the 2
things that stood out to me the most though was knowing that I'm
spiritually blind and that no other treasure in the world compares to
Jesus Christ and this is true. I guess I can give a breif summary of
wat alvin talked about:
What blind people do?
We're all spiritually blind because of sin. Personally I have always
thougth that sin was something that you just correct and not change. I
was wrong. When you sin more the more spiritually blind you become. But
when you respond in faith, God can heal our spiritual blindness. Though
at times we struggle with things and turn to friends or family for help
but the thing is they can't help us for they are also spiritually
blind. We can only put our trust in Jesus Christ. We should want the altered perspective
Have you weighed the trade?
What are our treausres in life or what do we consider treasures? is it
video games? tv? sex? food? sports? etc? if you ever thought that your
wrong. all these things are just temporary happiness. It can never be a
everlasting joy. The only treasure that can give us this wonderful and
everlasting joy is Jesus Christ for he died on the cross for us. but
you know at times we weigh worldly treasures and Jesus Christ. its like
holding onto 2 ropes. If you let go of the left rope you go right but
when u let go of the right rope u go left. what do we choose though? do
we let go of the right rope and go bak to our worldly and temporary
treasures or do we let go of the left rope and go to Jesus Christ. It
is hard though to not care our treasure things in the world. But we
shouldn't be holding onto these things so tightly. We should onto this world very loosely.
Control Shift
What does it mean to have this new life
(kinda what bert was talking about last year)? if your a non christian
you basically have a lot of bad options to be honest. You play games,
do sports, video games, etc... and you have a certain happiness... but
it doesn't last forever. You don't have an eternal joy in things.
The only eternal joy we can have is in Jesus Christ. As a believer
though we have more than just bad options. We have good choices as
well! When we believe that Jesus Christ saved us from sin we switch a
life from death to an eternal life. We should use our bodies for
righteous things in the world. We need to shift in lifestyle.
Life as a foreigner
When you go to an interview, meet someone famous, or go to someones
house we have this sense of respect towards ppl and we have manners.
Its the same in this world. When your a christian you need to know that
your a guest in this world. Nothing belongs to you here, this world
isn't yours, so we should remember our manners. We are a
foreigner in this world. But we are holy nation. When you believe in
God you become a citizen of God's kingdom and when you believe you
become one of God's chosen people. Together we are a selective collective. God chooses us to be in his kingdom when we believe in Him for when we believe in God anything is possible. When we shift in life we can shake up the world.
Hard love
A shift in life is seen through spirit enabled love. We are called to
love all our brothers and sisters though they have wronged us. At times
we think that because they have wronged us we shouldn't forgive them,
we should get bak at them but we shouldn't. God calls us to love
everyone even if they have wronged us .We show forgivness towards them.
But you know we as believers, as a whole, we are the body of Christ.
when 2 ppl argue, or have wronged each other the entire body is hurt.
As brothers as sisters we help and feel each others pain. We need to show love by encouraging others.
TC as a whole though was a great experince. Being on shepherding team
was also fun. Waking up early though was defiantly the hardest part and
I think my cabin got annoyed at that stupid alarm clock I brought hehe
^^ but the prayer journey was truly amazing. Seeing ppl praise God in
the prasie room was something wonderful. I walked in time to time it
was so amazing! I saw so many ppl on their knees crying, so many ppl
singing out loud. it was awesome! The self reflection room was
defiantly effective. Seeing so many ppl put their sins upon the cross,
bowing on their knees crying and praying, I can imagine how many ppl
God has touched. Also the praying for others was just amazing! knowing
that a person could be praying for you and ur problems, or ur health,
or even ur well being was just wonderful. Everyone needs prayer.
Personally though I think I enjoyed being at the ministry table though.
I really felt God has called me to pray for those who came to me. I
think the greatest feeling was that when I prayed for someone and he
cried. I mean he wasn't crying cuz he was sad, he was crying cuz he was
so happy. I was so happy praying for this brother, just praying to God
about my brother's prayer was so moving for me. I finally realized in
that one moment God can change a person's life so miraculously in
prayer.
Aside from how God changed me TC WAS AWESOME WITH MY BROTHERS!!!
spending time with my brothers at TC, doing pick up lines, pranks,
pictures, etc. those moments with them was truly... I JUST LOVED IT!!!
The best though were our cabin times. No comment on that though... well
not just yet hehe. EL TIGRA!!!!!! hahaha thanxs to all my senior
brothers! I don't know where i be without you: Alex, Chris, Dan Lin,
Daniel, Greg, Howie, J Chou, John Sun, Jake Lam, Steve, and Vic. Thank
you so much I seriously praise God for all of you. I know that one day
we will meet again and praise God for everything! Well thats my update
for my final Teen Conference. Praise God for everything though. Theres
one last comment though:
ATTITUDE CHECK?!
*edit #2*
One of the great songs at TC:
When I think about the Lord
When I Think about the Lord,
How He saved me, how He raised me,
how He filled me, with the Holy Ghost.
How He healed me, to the uttermost.
When I Think about the Lord,
how He picked me up and turned me around,
how He placed my feet on solid ground
It makes me wanna shout,
Halleilujiah,
Thank you JESUS,
LORD, your worthy, of all the glory, and all the honor,
and all the praise...
| | |
| "Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ." The
atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks
one of his new students to stand. "You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"Yes, sir."
"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."
"Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."
"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."
"Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. "Ahh! THE BIBLE!" He considers for a
moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here
and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you
try?"
"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you
could...in fact most of us would if we could....God doesn't."
[No answer]
"He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer
even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good?
Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"
[No answer]
The elderly
man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?" He takes a sip of water
from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. "In
philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. Let's start again,
young fella. Is God good?"
"Er... Yes."
"Is Satan good?"
"No."
"Where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?" The elderly man runs his
bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking
student audience. "I think we're going to have a lot of fun this
semester, ladies and gentlemen." He turns back to the Christian. "Tell
me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?"
"Yes."
"Who created evil?"
[No answer]
"Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All the
terrible things - do they exist in this world? "
The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"Who created them?"
[No answer]
The professor suddenly shouts at his student, "WHO CREATED THEM? TELL
ME, PLEASE!" The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the
Christian's face. In a still small voice, he asked, "God created all
evil, didn't He, son?"
[No answer]
The student tries to
hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails. Suddenly the lecturer
breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther.
The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues, "How is it that this
God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?" The professor
swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. "All
the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death
and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over
the world, isn't it, young man?"
[No answer]
"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" Pause. "Don't you?" The
professor leans into the student's face again and
whispers, "Is God good?"
[No answer]
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I do."
The old man shakes his head sadly. "Science says you have five senses
you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever
seen Jesus?"
"No, sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your
Jesus... in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God
whatsoever?"
[No answer]
"Answer me, please."
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"You're AFRAID... you haven't?"
"No, sir."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"...yes..."
"That takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the underling.
"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,
science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Where is your God now?"
[The student doesn't answer]
"Sit down, please."
The first Christian sits...defeated.
Another Christian raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor turns and smiles. "Ah, yet another Christian in the
vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the
gathering."
The Christian looks around the room. "Some
interesting points you are making, sir. Now I've got a question for
you. Is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No, sir, there isn't."
The professor's grin freezes. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The second Christian continues.
"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat,
white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called
'cold'. We can hit 273 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we
can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold,
otherwise we would be able to go colder than -273°C. You see, sir,
cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot
measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is
energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at...?"
"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes..."
"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence
of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
flashing light... but if you have no light constantly you have nothing
and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define
the word. In reality, Darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to
make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you... give me a jar
of darker darkness, professor?"
Despite himself, the professor
smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good
semester. "Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to
start with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!"
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
"Explain... ohhhhh, explain..." The professor makes an admirable effort
to regain control. Suddenly he is affability himself. He waves his hand
to silence the class, for the student to continue.
"You are
working on the premise of duality," the Christian explains. "That for
example there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God.
You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we
can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses
electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully
understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be
ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it." The young
man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor who has
been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this
country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"
"Of course there is, now look..."
"Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of
morality. Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the
absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?" The Christian
pauses. "Isn't evil the
absence of good?"
The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.
The Christian continues, "If there is evil in the world, professor, and
we all agree there is, then God, if He exists, must be accomplishing a
work through the agency of evil. What is that work God is
accomplishing? The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will,
of our own free will, choose good over evil."
The professor
bridles. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view this matter as
having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do
not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as
being part of the world equation because God is not observable."
The Christian replies, "I would have thought that the absence of God's
moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable
phenomena going, Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every
week! Tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved
from a monkey?"
"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."
"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.
"Professor. Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor,
are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist,
but a preacher?"
"I'll overlook your impudence in the light of
our philosophical discussion. Now, have you quite finished?" the
professor hisses.
"So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is righteous?"
"I believe in what is - that's science!"
"Ahh! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin. "Sir, you
rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science
too is a premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters.
The class is in uproar. The Christian remains standing until the
commotion has subsided. "To continue the point you were making earlier
to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?"
The professor wisely keeps silent.
The Christian looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who
has ever seen the professor's mind?" The class breaks out into
laughter. The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor.
"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's mind... felt
the professor's mind, touched or smelt the professor's mind? No one
appears to have done so." The Christian shakes his head sadly. "It
appears no one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's
mind whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable,
demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no
mind."
The class is in chaos.
The Christian sits. | | |
| Well ya I woke up from a great and exciting weekend w/ God. Winter Teen Conference 2005 is something I can never and will never forget. It feels great to be honest. I learned so much from TC. It's time to give up my old life and start a new life. A new life where I can be honest and true to everyone. Praise God for giving me the strength to tell everyone the truth. I've also learned to forgive others in my life as well. I've finally learned the true meaning of forgivness. My friends forgave me for wat I've done and I can finally forgive ppl that I have or had a grudge on. also bert (the speaker) was rite, I don't need to tell ppl I have changed because I know that I am changed because of God. This isn't a pride thing where I have to show or brag to ppl how I've changed.
So many great memories of TC. Just hanging with the NJ guys was great. WEI! WEI!! LAY LA!! LAY LA!!! hahaha so funni ^^ SHUT UP! SHUT UP! UR OUT OF CONTROL!! hahaha only vic can do it. Ah so funni. well but aside from those realli random moments it was realli good to c how all my friends were able to change and grow in God. I couldn't be where I am now with them. Thanxs guys! So many movies as well hahaha. We made the matrix movie as well!!! we also made a music video that dan lin made for vivian. hehehe wont go any further. Just admit it dan! har har har. What else? Oh yes it was great to worship God during free time just pretending I can play the drums and pretend to sing. So great though. WTC is an experince that I will always keep in my heart. No matter what now God is in my heart now and forever.
Oh Praise Him
Turn your ear
To heaven and heart
The noise inside
The sound of angel's awe
The sound of angel's songs
And all this for a king
We could join and sing
All to Christ the King
How constant, how divine
This song of ours will rise
Oh how constant, how divine
This love of ours will rise
Will rise...
O Praise Him
O Praise Him
He is Holy
He is Holy
Turn your gaze
To heaven and raise
A joyous noise
O the sound of slavation come
The sound of rescued ones
And all this for a King
Angels joiun to sing
All for Christ our King
Oh lalalalalala
How infinite and sweet
This love so rescuing
O how infinitely sweet
This great love that has redeemed
As one we sing
Allelui
Allelui
He is Holy
He is Holy | | |
|
Came bak from TC and it was realli wonderful. God realli has blessed my life a lot with all of u.
This years theme was "I am". Jesus said: "I am the bread of life." " I am the Light of the World." I am the gate for the sheep. I am the good shepherd" "I am the Resurrection and the life." "I am the truth way, the truth and the life." and " I am the vine." All these things are true but I think wat affected me the most when God said, "I am the gate for the sheep. I am the good shepherd." In the bible God always compares us to sheep. Wat are sheep though? Sheep are: stupid, followers, defenseless, and they wander astray.
*Enoch's example.* There was a flock of sheep on a boat and they were gonna be loaded onto shore. The sailors put the ramp down connecting to the shore. As the sheep go down in a line since the ramp was so narrow there was a box. As the first sheep comes near it, the sheep jumps *boink* then the 2nd sheep does the same thing *boink* then the 3rd *boink* and then after awhile the ppl said I think we should move the box so as the sheep went by *boink* they moved the box. Now the box is removed so the next sheep comes to the exact same spot where the other sheep were and with no box that sheep jumped *boink* they jumped when the path was completly free. Then the next sheep does the same thing *boink* and so on. Sheep are that stupid but at the same time they are followers. If the sheep did not have a shepherd then the sheep would die of their stupidity.
After realli thinkin about it thats realli like me....... I do wander astray w/o Him. I am defenseless w/o Him and I realli am that stupiid w/o Him. He is the one who protects me. He is the one who will be with me and He will be the one who will help me make the smart decisions. (read Isiah 53:6)
We always get excited when we hear somethign free rite? I mean free food... free clothes... free games...... free trips. The minute we hear the word free our ears go up and we react automatically saying... wats free?! Then again the minute u hear free u also think.... wats the catch? If u wanted a free ticket to go to Disney Land almost anyone would do anything for it rite? I can promise u something better then that. I can promise u a free ticket to the greatest place u'll ever be in ur life. I can promise u a place of true happiness. I can promise u a place where theres no pain, no hard aches, no lieing, cheating or stealing. Wats that place u ask?....... its heaven but just like everything else theres a small catch. The catch is this: believe in Him and He will promise u eternal life.
My thoughts: I feel so far away but with the grace of God anything is possible.
My last words to all the seniors: I know u all of u go ur seperate ways and I know we don't talk as much but I want u to knwo all of u will always be in my heart. I know we have things to do in our life but i hope that the God will bless u forever and always in w.e u do becuase w/o His love nothing is possible. I wish u the best of luck and I hope God will continue to change ur life into a son/daughter of Him. | | |
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