All of my days by Raymond Tan

Raymond Tan from Penang performed his latest song All of My Days during Fresh Encounter Conference 2014.  I didn't catch the name of the lady singer who sang it but her voice was so sweet and yet powerful.  Kudos to her.

Raymond has other albums and also one of the member of SAND.

Introducing All of my Days by Raymond Tan.

Fresh Encounter Conference 2014

Speakers of Fresh Encounter Conference 2014

Ps.Chew Weng Chee

Andries Botha

Ps.Thomas Cherian

Rev. Benedict Augustine 

Ps.Julius Subi

Ps. Christina Ang

This event was organised by Ps.Paul and Ps.Christina Ang and their team. This year it was held in Mega Arena, Kuala Lumpur. Next year will be in Penang.
 My testimony as below:

I was very blessed by the speakers but most of all encountering God was the ultimate blessing anyone could ask for. Worship is usually the time I meet God whether its personal worship or corporate worship. During the first session,  I didn't give it my all and I asked God to help me worship freely. Later, in the second session I was able to abit more, and as I enter in deeper, I saw a vision of Jesus standing right infront of me. He had open arms yet He didn't come any closer, I blinked and as I worship, He's still there. He was smiling and wanted me to focus on Him and nothing else. His presence and His comfort overwhelmed me, I couldn't hold back my tears. I thanked Him for the help I didn't expect and for being there when I really needed Him.

He began to speak to me through the messages, dealing with the issues of my heart.

When Ps.Chew led us in prayer for Sabah and Sarawak and subsequently Ps. Paul and others, God allowed me to feel the pain the nation was going through. And honestly with the hardness I have nowadays, it gave way and the wall broke and I cried to God for them and Malaysia. And because of that, I was able to intercede in prayers for them.

For the last three nights, I slept like a baby for I had no sinus issues at all while staying at the hotel. Normally the air conditioning through out the night in a hotel would have me prepare a tissue box right next to me. Lo and behold, it was not necessary!

Time for me to review my notes and recalibrate my thoughts to get in line with God's system. As the saying goes' walk the talk, talk the walk'.
That's gonna take time and effort, but God's grace will see us through it all.

I would like to encourage those who have backslided and has a desire to make a change. Worship Him and release your burdens to Him and He will carry you through for His yoke is light.
Be in the midst of brothers and sisters in Christ who can encourage and pray with you. God gave me a vision years ago and spoke to me about different ways to hang on to Him. I hope to illustrate and write it out one day. Till then, never stop communing with your Friend, your Father!

Ps.Paul Ang

 I remembered my friend Josh brought a shofar before to youth meeting. And it was years ago when Ps David Swan and team led in prophetic worship with shofars too. Brings me back to the land of Jerusalem, a place I've never been : )

A man playing the shofar

God bless you!

Is God silent?

When God seem silent yet you need Him what do you do?

 1. Listen to songs God has inspired artists to compose. Most recently I listened alot to Kari Jobe  " What Love Is This" and "You Are For Me". If you are more musically inclined, this could work well. Some songs can help us prepare to receive from Him.

2. Read testimonies of those who had gone through trials and how God worked in their situations. Then try reading Psalms or I like to use my Touchpoint Bible as it has topics and it points you to verses that concerns the topic. Very helpful.

 3. Talk to someone you trust who can be a lending ear, one whose words you can respect and receive. Someone that can pray for you, look out for you.

4. Be in the presence of God in a church or cell group. You can be in the presence of God anytime or anywhere but when you are down and being alone does not help, then its best to be with a group worshipping and listening to God's Word.

 All the above are some  ways to get closer to God. For depressing moments, everything can seem cloudy and you cant see Him even if He is just two feet away. The point is not to give up or give way to something that is not right. There is a bunch of wrong things all of us may be capable of and probably regret later. Just remember God is always for you, not against you. Stay close to Him in all situations, no matter what, hang on to any bit of Him you can hold onto. Cos, thats all it takes for Him to know that you want Him in.

Kari Jobe -You Are For Me video

Learning To Worship

Worship is a beautiful something. It's not an activity nor a religious meeting. It's a time when you can give God your adoration, expressing your love and worshipping in music unto Him. An act of worship simply means loving God therefore it propels us to do what pleases Him.

When we worship as a group of people, as a congregation, there is a bond that holds us together and that is His Spirit. I was drawn to know who God is when I first saw how the people in the youth group I joined were worshipping years ago. I probably mentioned before, the sincerity of worship can be felt by the people around us. That was my experience, I was able to sense the reality of God through the worship leaders, or the forefront leaders.

The connection they had with God made me want to know Him more. And that was powerful. Slowly but steadily, God in His loving ways drew me out of my shell. Shell of fear.

I got to know Him most through worship and subsequently the experience paved the way for me to know Him more through His Word. After that, prayer and conversation came easier for me.

Years later when I worship led in church, as I submit to His leadership and allow God to do as His will, I can see how the congregation connects to God as they join me in worship. Over time, worship leaders who practice moving in His leading, the experience is inevitably awesome. It's as if a current runs through you and into the people you lead. And good things start to happen, breakthroughs in the spiritual realm.

Worshipping is a beautiful act. Not a pretentious showmanship but an act of obedience out of our love and honour to Him.

Can I encourage you to never stop where you are, but to keep reaching out for His presence. And to the worship leaders, continue to seek God as you prepare to lead His people. Let Him take over, and be His instrument, a vessel He can use to minister to His people.

God bless!

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,extol him who rides on the clouds;rejoice before him — his name is the Lord.A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,is God in his holy dwelling.Psalms 68:4-5 | NIV

 Though the fig tree does not budand there are no grapes on the vines,though the olive crop failsand the fields produce no food,though there are no sheep in the penand no cattle in the stalls,yet I will rejoice in the Lord,I will be joyful in God my Savior.Habakkuk 3:17-18 | NIV

Let nothing come in the way of your times of worship. A reminder to myself as well.

 Whom have I in heaven but you?And earth has nothing I desire besides you.My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strength of my heartand my portion forever.Psalms 73:25-26 | NIV 

To learn more about worship, listen from Pastor Darlene Zschech on these videos.

 

Steps to Positivity

There is a time in all our lives when life seems meaningless. How do we overcome the negative thoughts?

Day to day we see different lives get affected by something or by someone. 5 degrees of separation as we surf through the world of internet. We read it all.

Church and positive talk shows tells us to look at the brighter side of life, to be grateful yet there are moments such words fall on deaf ears.

So, what do we need to do to overcome negative thoughts?

simply not by thinking positively but by acting positively. It's true to an extend that what our minds think , our hands do. The right key is not to let the thought linger too long in the mind cos it will soon diminish. Procrastination turns your being back to square one.

The key is just do it. Kudos to Nike on coming up with such an impacting tagline.

Being constantly connected to your Maker, helps a person internally in all aspects. My God supplies all my needs. He does and He will if we let Him in.

5 steps to Positivity.
1. Recognizing problems that affects you to be unhappy
2. Find a solution by help of God or whoever He may send to help you
3. Take the step of resolution however small the step is towards happiness.
4. Fight at it till the results are satisfactory
5. Enjoy and repeat steps 1-4 when need be

Let Our Faith Be Stronger

'Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,
Let me walk upon the waters, where ever you would call me,
Take me deeper that my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger, In the presence of my Savior.


As much as this is the favourite part of the song, where my heart's desires resonates with its words, fear still grips me of not knowing. And I believe many times, the fear of the unknown stops us from moving forward. Truly this is my prayer, and God knows it.

We are made to be a channel of God's blessings and there is so much to do to bring peace, love and connection between God and His people. May we find our true calling.

The original full song from Hillsong United. I love acoustic versions, where everything sounds simple and clear. Love this video.

I Escaped Death Through His Peace

     A few blog post away, I wrote about how God saved my life or my face during a car accident. Rewinding further back till my early teens. I had another divine intervention and for this reason, I’m still in one piece today.

I had just taught a good friend of mine how to ride a bicycle for a few days and she was ready to go on the road. Guys and girls of her neighbourhood got together and we went bike riding around Hillside, Tanjung Bungah. I think there were around 6 of us. My friend and I borrowed bikes from the neighbours.

    

We came to a part where it was quite hilly but steep and we were at the top of it. I forgot to mention that my friend who had just learn to cycle, was having the bicycle with a little brake malfunction. For the brake to work, you have to brake earlier than usual. Anyway, we were deciding to go down hill, it was pretty steep. I was game for the thrill but then my friend said she didn’t dare because of the brakes. So I offered to change my bicycle with hers thinking that I would probably handle the bike better, and not knowing the science of gravity hard enough, I went ahead with it.

     As for the science of gravity, we all know that with high speed, faulty brakes probably don’t work that well. And that’s exactly what happened. I could not slow down, I was going in high speed down the hill into a road of passing cars,

I tried to slow down the speed with my slipper(never wear slippers for outdoor activities like this), my toe bleed abit, I couldn’t do more. My only option was to pray and hope I don’t bang into any cars. As I was nearing the main road, I had a sudden peace that came over me and I gradually turn my bike  out to the road like I was doing a usual turn. With all that uncontrollable speed, I thought I would have fallen and slide sideways and bang cars or something but I had a smooth turn and I managed to turn into the next road and steadily slowed down the bicycle till I was able to jump out and stop entirely.

     If I had panicked, I probably ride straight into the passing cars and I would have flown off my bicycle, no doubt.

     My friend was dumbfounded and wasn’t sure what had happened and she said I was going so fast. No one knew my brakes didn’t work because I didn’t scream , shout to them or showed any sort of discomfort with the bicycle. None of them followed after me as they were not sure what had happened. They came after I had reach the other road.

    

Philipians 4:9 ‘The peace that transcends all understanding’ became an experience for me through this ordeal. God saved me through His peace that I escaped death or disability. All because His peace pulled me to safety. His hands guided my hands, made me more skillful than I have ever been. Thank you, Jesus!