Sorry guys for being MIA so long! I always had stuff to say but somehow never found time. So, HERE I AM!

Thanks JunQiang for putting up the tag board! :) I tried but failed terribly heh.

AND, thanksgiving this week for the cell: all your posting results!:) I think it's been great all around and well guys, your 2 or 3 years of A levels and your poly years start NOW (Sam phua you're an exception, you still got some time but make it productive ar)! So stop playing, get out of the first-3 months mood and START mugging! Same goes for you IP people. I hate to sound like a nag, but I don't want you all to regret these years of your life. Don't be a nerd, but get a life too! That's where CG outings come in handy. This week will be your holidays right? Take a day off with the cell and make time for each other! It'll be crazy week for me, rushing two projects, one due next monday, but oh well, just arrange among you guys first yea :)

Anyway, these few weeks we've been doing prayer in firm foundation, and we're gonna finish up tomorrow. While I think the questions are quite good, I don't think it answers adequately what you all might have in mind la. I mean, I have questions about prayer too which will not be answered in this book, and definitely it is no help for you guys that I confess not to be an expert on prayer. In fact, it's such a novelty to me, as I shared with you guys in cell last week. So guys, be active in your learning! Go search up on anything that bugs you, but don't be like a sponge and absorb everything one website says. Explore around and compare what different websites say. In other words, be critical in your "studying"! Here is one website that I found, it's like a mini Christian search engine! Mini cos it only searches within it's own website haha. This URL focuses on prayer though. (http://gotquestions.org/search.php?zoom_sort=0&zoom_query=prayer) Find one that you think is best and share online!

Well, one thing I learnt in NUS cell this week was the sovereignty and grace of God. Okay, that's TWO things haha. We were doing on Acts 7:54-8:3, and it talked about the stoning of Stephen and the persecution of the Church, one of the persecutors of whom was Saul. Firstly, the point on the grace of God was well pointed out by one of the guys. He said that God is really gracious to appear to Stephen at the time of his stoning because it helped Stephen to really look beyond the pain of this temporary world and to look on God. It probably alleviated ALOT of his pain from the stoning by the mob.

Secondly, the sovereignty of God. this was very well elaborated by Victor, my group's facilitator. He's really zai la, he can speak Hebrew and he knows a lot about the bible and the history of the Church and stuff. He's even lived in Israel before! Anyway, he was telling us about how stoning took place. Usually, when it was a sentence passed on someone, the criminal will be thrown into a pit about 3-4m. If he doesn't die, they'll drop a big stone into the pit and on him. If he still doesn't die, everyone will come forward and stone him. So, Stephen was accused of blasphemy, and this warranted a stoning. However, and you can really see the hand of Satan working here - trying his best to thwart God's plans, to inhibit the growth of the church - the mob literally went crazy, yelling and stoning him. It was utter chaos! And then followed the persecution, another attempt to overthrow the church. BUT, our God, is a God who WILL prevail. The world can throw everything they have against God, and God will make the church double, triple instead of letting it go down. He is our Maker and Creator, Master over all, who can go against Him and be victorious?

Another point raised by Victor was regarding the "glory of God". He said that the word glory in Hebrew, "kabhod", literally means "heavy". What, then, do you think is the glory of God? In this sense, it really shows how tangible and real God is - the "heaviness" of God. We always ask fpr God's glory to be shown, but it is no plaything. It means that under the heaviness of God, in such a place, there is no room for unrighteousness. Isaiah, when he saw the glory of God, lamented that he is a man of "unclean lips". So don't anyhow ask for the glory of God! It is really asking for alot, if not all, of God, and it is a very serious thing.

Anyway, that's what I've learnt from this week! A bit long la, but I hope you all gained from this as much as I did. :) See you guys tomorrow! (even though I think you all will only get to see this next week)

Tagboard

I setup the tagboard already since no one knew how to do it, and for convenience too. If u guys feel like changing the colour of it or anything, the website is www.cbox.ws, the account name and password are the same as the one you use to log in to post.

-Jun Qiang

What is a man's worth?

Hey, it's the end of the school term, and naturally i got alot of reflections, too many thoughts running thru my head, just watching days go by...

Haha i'm gonna rant a little now. I was in desolate solitude just the other day, thinking thru all the things in life. Suddenly i had so much to say, so much to resolve. My bro came back with all the singapore sports council stuff that day in preparation for his australian competition in Australia. I'm so proud of him, that he can represent singapore, it's just fantastic. I was not jealous at all, but i felt something strange in my heart. My brother had something to give, something which he could be proud of. He's cool, smart, handsome, tall, popular, and wad not. Everyone whos sees us calls him older brother lah, then my parents will enlighten them. My father feels that i've not been satisfactory as an older brother, in fact i seem to be the younger brother, looking at the way i do things. He's a national sportsman, and he can get second in class; i barely made it thru to rj, despite having more time on my hands. He's a risk-taker, the kind like james bond u know, cool and unnerving, he won 35 bucks during CNY; i don't even dare risk a hundred bucks in a game of monopoly. He's so tall, so strong, so...blessed. He doesn't think so much, he's happy-go-lucky. Here i am, with so many strange habits, used to be a problem kid. I'm just a guy next door, armed with a couple of lame jokes, trying to catch up with his younger brother in so many things. Haha, wad can i give? Contrary to popular belief, i am NOT ego at all kay! :) In fact, i have pretty low self-esteem.

These 10 weeks have passed too fast, i have hardly grasped it, and felt the pleasure at all. I merely scratched it, and now i want to have another go at it again, if i could. I feel like i'm wasting the prime of my life, giving it away, letting it slip out of my hands, right in front of my very eyes. Did i spend it correctly? Am i going to live in regret for the rest of the time? I see other ppl enjoying themselves, they dun seem to study. They really live life man. Good grades and good life.

While i was taking the train home today, as usual, u know, i would...do my stuff. Looking out of the train window, staring at the fast-moving darkness outside, i wondered wad i was doing, really. Was i putting in enough effort? Am i putting in effort at all? Wad have i done? i could be enjoying the same scenario as them, i could be! there must have been a mistake somewhere. i dunno, at that time, i was thinking, i could be having lots of fun, u know if i were not trying to lead a holy life. I could be telling all the jokes that i'm not supposed to, being much more aggressive, hitting on all the girls, basically enjoying myself to the max, staying up late, having a sunday freed up, etc. i could pursue all my dreams! Yeah, i'm gonna prove to everyone i'm not some puny punk, i'm gonna do wadever it takes, to get wad i want.

I managed to get a grip on myself though. Somehow, i couldn't let go of God, i kept thinking, all i need is Jesus, bcos He has always been there to comfort me. He's the reason i give up certain things. Perhaps i have not been living as i should, but i know with God's help i can live up to wad He wants me to be, and i know there is hope! Jesus comforted me. I asked Him, wad am i worth. I have nothing to give at all. He said I'm so precious in His eyes that even if i were the only one on earth, He would come down and die on the cross for me. Well, other things happened too, but i very tired now of typing. Yes, even my english is broken, yup, so tell u more on sunday! haha byebye, and lets have cell outing!


Tim

CO - Cell Outing!

Hey!! lets have cell outing this saturday, anybody not free on that day, plz post the days that u are free on the blog. Then we shall think of a way...anw got suggestions as to wad to do?

updates

Hey people, just in case you all are wondering 'where on earth is norman!?', I'm still here, alive and pretty much well. Training has been getting tougher, and so has the workload and hours spent. I hate to say this but, I'm on duty as ammo i/c for live-firing this Sunday, thus, I wouldn't be seeing you all again.

This whole instructor thing for me is quite confusing. I find myself putting in alot for my cadets. I always wonder which is the top priority, you guys (redbloodcell) or the cadets. However, I never get to answer my own question because there is always work waiting for me, and time will never allow me to ponder over such issues.

Well, I'll find a way out of this mess and will be seeing you all quite soon. I hope that all of you are doing fine, and please don't hesitate to sms me or email me regarding anything (like catching up). I thank you all for the encouraging smses. =] God bless you all loads and study hard!

normz