Sunday, September 10, 2006
just something to share...
hello everybody! this is the first time that i'm going to post something more serious as compared to the previous ones talking about the opening of this blog.. haha. anyway, just to share with you guys what i've been feeling and going through this week. actually, it was not a very good week for me cos i was getting a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances around me. for one, i was getting stressed up with my japanese exam (but that's over and i got 80+% pass! :) PTL) and the coming real estate law test on tue which makes up 20% of CA. and it didn't make things better that when i was studying with my friends, i realised they have been studying a lot. many of them are either 70% through the chapters tested in the thick book (Land Law book which you may have seen me carrying around) or have at least read through everything once. it was a bad feeling not knowing what my friends were talking about, and secondly, sometimes i can feel very uncomfortable around these new friends from sde. to tell the truth, i have been trying to "force" myself to like them and to hang out with them. though i may find them fun-loving and friendly people, they can be very crude in their language (esp. the guys) and they like to go clubbing and kboxing (which i HATE a lot). just ppl with very different values and attitudes towards life.. and though i'd rather go HQ than study with them, i've to constantly remind myself to build friendships with pre-believers so i can reach out to souls more effectively. it was getting tough for me and i really felt quite alone, especially being the only church freshman in sde.
and today's sermon really ministered to me.. i responded when pastor jeff asked us to come forward to be prayed for. i knew immediately that i wanted to respond to the 2nd point of sermon - to be the yeast which permeates the dough. i really want to be an influence to the people in my fac cos they are the people whom i'll meet often besides our church family. and i really want to ask God for the courage to stand firm in my values and to show people what it means to be a Christ-follower. not to be nua-nua and just keep quiet when people are doing things which is not pleasing in God's sight. please help to pray for my light to shine and not be the lamp which is covered by the bowl. :) yeah and i realised after sermon that i need to stop "condemning" non-Christians also.. like always thinking that they are so worldly, so wrong, so sinful. it's hard not to feel like you can't connect to them as easily.. but come to think of it, if not for Jesus, i think we'd all living like them too - people pursuing things of the world. and what makes us so different from them? nothing! the only difference is that we know JESUS. this is one truth which i realised today. and a BIG one too haha! i've to stop thinking about how i don't fit in with my fac friends and therefore keep having negative thoughts towards them.. instead, i've to start seeing them as people needing Jesus. i guess for that, i heard a bit of God's heartbeat for the lost today. *thumpthump* very softly, this stirring in my heart. but it's making me a little excited again. winning schools for Christ! evangelism! haha.. and i pray that i'll be able to hear this beat even more clearly as i continue my days in NUS.. His cry for His people and His plans for us, His soldiers in a mission field :)
hmm.. what do you think are the practical ways we can use to reach out to friends more effectively?
1 Peter 2:11-12
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
PS. huili, thanks for praying for me today at service.. :)
