The Vine

Monday, October 16, 2006

The Hope we profess in

So what is this hope that we profess in?

  • Yes, we know that the most Holy Place is now accessible to us by the blood of Jesus. (Heb 10:19-20)
  • Yes, we also know that Christ was the propitiation for our sins, that we're now saved from the judgement of God. (Rom 2:2-5; 3:21-26)
  • And yes, we know that Christ will come again. (2 Pet 3:10)

But what is the hope that YOU profess in? I'm not saying that our view of the Bible takes precedence over what the Bible has to teach us. What I am asking is that we might consider the hope that sees our heart aflame for the gospel. The hope that spurs us on in this life. What is the hope that sees us compelled to love, rather than doing so obligingly. Unfortunately, I veered away from this direction during Sat's cell cos of time, but I hope we do consider this important question:

So, What is the hope that you profess in?

For me, my hope lies in God who's ALWAYS there. He's there when I sin. He's there when I do good. He's there when I'm at the foot of the bed, broken and lost. When I'm emotionally drained and at wit's end. He's there when I'm bone dry and feel like life's a desert. He'll never go soft on me. He'll chide me when I need it, He'll wipe away that tear when I'm just too tired, distracted and distraught to continue. My hope lies in a God who knows me inside out. He knows the problems that I'm facing, the physical struggles of school, relationships, of growing up. He knows the wretchedness inside me and the battle that wages between the flesh and my inner being (Rom 7:15-24). But yet...

He doesn't condemn me. (Rom 8:1) In fact, I am clean, washed in His sight being able to draw near to Him with a true heart, in faith (Heb 10:22)

My hope lies in a God who is MY God. For God doesn't want to be the God of our parents. Nor is He there to be the God of a bible. He wants to be OUR God. The living Word written on our hearts. "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jer 31:33)

So brothers and sister, let us run this race together. As we've learnt in Hebrews, let us continue to stir one another to love and good deeds. For from the hope we have in Christ, we seek to lift each other up. Our hope in Christ is seen through the lives, the testimonies and the love of each other too. Earth ain't no utopia (and that is why our ultimate hope lies in Christ coming again, to claim us totally as his in the new Kingdom), but in us dwells the Holy Spirit, the testimony of the gospel. And from this power of God do we share our hope to others.

Let's press on for the Lord, supporting each other in the good times and bad, tough as it might be... "and all the more as you see the Day approaching"

For "our source of strength, our source of hope, is Christ Alone"


My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly lean on Jesus' name

On Christ the solid rock I stand
all other ground is sinking sand
all other ground is sinking sand

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Indescribable

I found the following video featuring Chris Tomlin's song "Indescribable". From these 2 weeks' visits to the Science Center, I'm thrilled at the God-given human capacity, curiosity and commitment to explore, discover and innovate with all that He's designed this world for.



Truly, Psalm 8 echoes in my mind:

Psalm 8

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise [b]
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c]
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Chips

Ok, besides the pictures of people (so boring if just people right? :p), we (BJ & myself) took some pictures of, well...
Chips.


Here we have...
the full bowl of chips.





Next up...
some of us taking the chips.



























Lastly...
Jan doing some excellent "follow-up" work with the chips.







Hope you've enjoyed this journey of what happened at Serena & Kelvin's wedding on Mon....


Cheers.
(This is James' half-full glass of beer and most of the guys tasted it to see if anyone could determine what brand it was. And the winner was... Alvin, who is now our resident beer connoiseseur)

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Tables 17, 23 & 22

Now a set of pictures that actually CONTAINS the Bride & Groom in them! :) These are the pictures where Serena & Kelvin went round the Ballroom. First up, Table 17...


Notice anything about the above table?? They're all ladies! Haha... I wonder what they would talk about the whole evening... hmm... *ponder*. But whateve it was, my table owes this table a debt of gractitude... without you ladies, we guys would have left hungry, so thanks!! :) (P.S. you'll see why my table--Table 22 was "pillaging" food from Table 17)

Next up, Table 23...



Ok, take a close look at everyone at this table... any guesses for the common thread running through all of them?? Yes, Table 23 is the MARRIED table :p EVERYONE in the photo above is married! But of course the couple of the evening was stunning Serena (she really looks amazing!) and dashing Kelvin.

Now, what you've all been waiting for... my table, Table 22...


If you sensed an overwhelming dose of testosterone here... you're right! 8 guys & 3 girls in this table. When we got together, we spent a considerable amount of time drawing up "battle plans" to get the food from Table 17 (look at top picture).

Some of our hilarious and diabolical plans included:

(i) distracting them by offering to take their picures while we swipe their plates

(ii) intercepting and ambushing their supply chain (aka, the waiters carrying their food)

(iii) going "undercover" as a waiter/waitress and bringing food from their table to ours

Now you know some of the things guys talk about when placed in a single table! hahahah... anyhow, in the end, the ladies at Table 17 were gracious and loving enough to literally SEND leftoever food to us :) Same went for the MARRIED COUPLES table (Table 23). So on behalf of Table 22, thanks Table 17 & 23 for keeping us satisfied and happy :)

Some of our ladies... and a guy

Below are some of our beautiful ladies dressed up for the night... with one minor inconsistency :p



The "same height" Trinity




The lovely Ladies table




7 girls and a... Mark?!

Black's the new Black

Me and my cam had a good outing at Serena's & Kelvin's wedding :) Being one of the few weddings that I was NOT involved in, this allowed me the space and time to go trigger-happy *grin*

For the first set, who said that Black's not the new Black?! You just have to look at our suave and beautiful YA's who were dressed up in the simple but elegant colour of the night :)



First there were 3...




The numbers grew...





And they shall be in one colour...





Black..... is in.