Pondering

I was thinking, how do we define our parishioners as part of OLPS?




1. Someone who goes to OLPS regularly? (eg. Mass every sunday.)

2. Someone who is actively involved in OLPS regularly? (eg. Serving in a ministry.)

3. Someone who is seen around in OLPS regularly by higher authorities?

4. Someone who is 'socially accepted' by members of the OLPS; viewed as active member of OLPS?

5. Someone who did not serve in OLPS or is serving other external ministries for an extended period of time but have served before in OLPS previously?

6. Someone who has not been to OLPS or any other catholic church for an extended period of time but was with OLPS/ the church previously?



So if we define parishioners of OLPS as someone who goes to OLPS regularly, then for theory sake, 90% of OLPS population are considered parishioners.
( We give 10% buffer as those who cannot make it regularly due to external commitments etc.)



If we define using number 1 and 2., then perhaps about 50%.
(a conservative theoretical estimate, given a parish population of 10,000++, 5000 is really a big estimate.)


If we define using number 1,2 and 3., then maybe about 40%.
( We assume that the person involved does not actively seek the presence of higher authorities.)


If we define using number 1,2,3 and 4., then maybe about ??%.
( This is definitely subjective. Results may vary.)


Now, look at point number 5. Point 5 states that perhaps someone like me, who has served OLPS before but currently am not, is to be considered 'secondary-OLPS parishioner' and not 'primary-parishioner' even if I go for mass in OLPS regularly, or consider in my opinion OLPS to be my home parish!

Simply because I did not fulfill criteria 2,3 and 4!

Alright, then without considering point 4 and bearing in mind conservative estimates, I am said to be outside of the 40% to be considered OLPS! Meaning 60% of the parishioners of OLPS also cannot be considered to be OLPS parishioners! Goodness!




I am aghast at the answers I get, reasons why I am not being recognised as a 'primary-OLPS parishioner' but a 'secondary-OLPS parishioner'. Always having to constantly endure the pain and suffering of being viewed through tinted lenses; one that seeks to label me with my ministerial affliations rather than my roots in my church.

No longer am I called OLPS first, but OLPS second.

Nevermind if Sylvester thinks he is OLPS first. As long as he is affliated to his ministerial works outside OLPS, we'll consider him that first and OLPS second. Nevermind if he once played a part in OLPS, the past is not of much significance to us. If he is not for us in OLPS, serving and putting his efforts here in OLPS, he is against us. That betrayer! Choosing to serve other ministries rather than those ministries in his own parish!

Oh, how radical. But sadly how true.

Disappointed

Just yesterday, I was in church for the Christmas party that was held in OLPS. When I was there, I happened to meet Person 'A'. Shaun was there and he wanted to show Bryan a verse in the bible, and he flipped the bible and handed it over to Bryan.

Person 'A' was there and commented, "That is so Amplify-like.". I am shocked and stunned at that moment when Person 'A' uttered that comment.

What exactly was so "Amplify-like"?

Did Person 'A' meant the useof the bible to show another person a paassage was 'Amplify-like'?

Or did Person 'A' meant that only Amplify uses the bible?

Or did Person 'A' mean that the bible is not part of the church at all?

I am shocked beyond words. So it means that only people from Amplify reads the bible?

Why do people from our parish OLPS look at us through tinted lenses? Everytime I step into OLPS and I greet the youths in our church, they give me the kind of look that goes like "Oh its you again, hello." or "I wonder what you are up to this time." Why is it Amplify first then OLPS?
Why do they not see that I am OLPS first then Amplify? Why do they take such a radical stance of "You are either for me or against me."

I am disappointed. All my life I have been a parishoner of OLPS, almost all my life I have served in OLPS, for OLPS. My thoughts are for OLPS, my worries my concerns my hope are all for OLPS. Why do people seek to reject me because of my current status? Simply because I no longer serve in OLPS therefore I am branded? I am sad.

30th december

Hello happy seven people!

Please do not forget 30th december to come down to OLPS to pray together. Many people from other parishes will be joining us to pray for our church. Spread this to all your friends and get them down to pray also.

New Year New Direction

Hey there to everyone in happy 7 people..

As the new year approaches, i've been thinknig about the new direction that i feel HSP may want to adopt..

But first, i wanna retell sly story that he told me and john today
HSP is like a ball that is almost stationary there are 3 ways to get us started again.
1) remove the surface that the ball is resting on (or put it in space)
2) push it (eventually it will stop but for now it will move)
3) increase its mass (increase inertia which is its reluctance to stop moving)
and this means to
1) pray together in agreement
2) organise activities so that we can come together'
3) include more people
respectively..

To accomplish this, John, Sly and I came together and agreed that we need to do certain things and these are:
1) Come together to pray every week when the new year starts so we are starting with our first prayer gathering on the 3th jan..
2) invite others to pray with us
3) pray in agreement for the youth in OLPS to have a passion for Christ

Keep this few dates in mind:
30th Dec 08 - General Prayer meet organised by me and John, we're inviting everyone down
01 Jan 09 - HSP first anniversary, we should all come down together to pray
Every subsequent Sat/Sun when we come to pray together



Let's keep each other in our prayers and God bless.. See u all on 1st Jan

Hey Jude people,

Please keep me and my relationship with eugene in prayers. It's been a very hard time and tiring time for me.

When are we meeting up again to have jude meeting?

Miss you people badly!

Liberation 08 - Shaun's Testimonial

This YISS 08 Liberation was really a humbling experience for me..
It was more service compared to the logistics team which i served before..
Instead of doing various fun decoration and setting up stuff (quiet time station among), i now had the privilege of washing countless numbers of cups, making cordial (and milo in the morning), and clearing rubbish. It sort of became a routine for me..
I felt disappointed and fear in me each time meal time approached, but each time i picked up courage from God to go forth joyfully to carry out my task (obviously the kitchen team was extremely good so it was also fun serving with them, that's one of my other motivation to carry on despite being exhausted).
It was physically tiring also, but God provided me the strength i needed to carry on, plus the army training helped me see this camp thru.. I feel that God was in a joyful mood during this entire camp.. Each time i prayed, i felt a sense of peace and joy and i would be reminded of one of my favourite quotes Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always and again i say: rejoice". Also, the verse from Hosea "As surely as the sun will rise, the Lord will come."

The Lord really touched the lives of everyone present. By the time the commissioning mass ended, everyone was praising God for all that He has done, not just for the transformation of participants' lives but also the renewal of desire in the service team. The call to serve and to love resounds very deeply in each of us.

God's love for us is simply amazing. We are such sinners but God's love for us is so much that He sent His only Son into the world.. Nothing is greater than Christ and hence all things are made possible thru Christ.
It reflects aptly in this song here How can i keep from singing his Praise

Joy

Happiness isn't joy. I'd say.

Happiness is an emotion, joy is a state of mind.

Happiness can come about because you're with good company, eating, drinking, merry making. But joy comes from suffering; joy comes from the victory over suffering. Joy is seeing the goodness in your suffering and hence, finding the meaning in life. Joy... Joy is living life for something or someone and doing your best at it.

When I was growing up, I could never understand how my parents work so hard for me. Slave their whole lives away to put food on the table, money in my pocket, the opportunity to take a major exam. But I understand now. And for reasons unknown to me, I brought meaning to their lives.

This meaning translated to joy. Despite the hardships, heartaches, pain. Happiness might have escaped us sometimes but joy has stayed.

So... I have to take back what I've said about being happy always cause you can't do that. However, you can be joyful always.

Taken from my blog: http://makingcents.livejournal.com

funeral??

I was talking to issac (log team for my glorious)
he reminded me bout what i wanted for my funeral..
and i thought about what he reminded me..

i wanted the song oh happy day by tim hughes for my funeral..

weird song to choose for a funeral right.. actually not so..
look closely to the second verse...
V2:
When I stand, in that place {i would bein heaven already!!!!)
Free at last, meeting face to face {i'm face to face with God)
I am Yours Jesus You are mine {i would belong to God permanently)
Endless joy, perfect peace {imagine the joy of reaching heaven}
Earthly pain finally will cease {no more suffering and sin!!!)
Celebrate Jesus is alive
He's alive

Kinda unique cos funeral mass supposed to be solemn but u have such a jumpy song...
i dun mind ppl jumping at my funeral cos they're celebrating that i've moved on to a better place...

Lost in Thoughts?

The fact is that I am Human the Fiction is when i become Human

The truth of living with ourselves is we become human in our own way either good or bad. Many times I find that being human is harder than i thought being a Christian would be, Being a Christian means to love God and others. Being human is to love yourself and you only. SO the real question lies in this: "Are you being a better christian lately? " or should the real Question be " Are you becoming more human lately?". Yeah, i am becoming more human lately, that's why this topic compels me to write this.

"If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Lk 9:23).

So in this all familiar verse it sums up why I am(we are) confused, confused as to how should i stop being human, I feel that this feeling can never be denied nor explained, somehow God is teaching us to be more like him and encouraging us to do the right things. At this point we can only do two things : Enjoy the hypocrisy or suck it up like a man/woman . I have chosen the 1st choice as i am tired with the second choice. anyone feeling the same? i am reaching with this tiny palm and fingers to my saviour once again under a dark blue sky to the moon up above saying " this could be my halo, when can i come and get it?"(this is definetely not a suicide note, I love my life that i have been given too much). I have pondered and Thought through that how we break out of this chain is to figure out where we belong while stumbling in our darkness for we know that there is light at the end of it. I have fallen but i have not forgotten the warmth in the darkness. Therefore let us embrace the fact that we can never stop falling or failing, in this way we can face the day again.

Contradictions and reasoning stand by each other with a thin line, however love and logic stand against each other, so how now do we comprehend what to keep or what to leave behind? One word solves the question "Yourself". Yes, we only need to keep or leave behind"Yourself". That's what i feel the bible tells me, everyone keeps and leave behind themselves everywhere. I feel that if you have lost then you would have gained, when everything is lost and forgotten, that is the time when we really have gained something. Something irreplacable and Precious. In this way we will be leaving "Yourself" behind and keeping "Yourself" for a new Mission, a Cross that needs to be taken up somewhere else. Somehow we would always be wondering what the new misson would be. If this is not too arrogant a comment, i think the mission would be "Yourself", People says to love others, You need the love yourself first. How true is it then? i think its quite true to build ourselves in what we want to be which makes us less human and more "Yourself".
I am still bulding a "Yourself" for myself, of course in a combination of what is right and wrong after all i am "human". I feel that living for the present is most important not how i have lived in the past nor how i am goin to live in the future. you need to be "Yourself" to be stronger, Stronger for a purpose more significant than any other plans aka PLAN "to enter the kingdom of heaven". I have no doubts I will complete mission "Yourself" at the end of this life as it will turn out perfect no matter the outcome. So if you are wondering why there is no meaning in your living on with this life, as you have lost your former faith,love,life,friends,memories,dreams or hope or maybe u can pick and mix these for more of the agony that you want to self inflict on yourself then maybe mission "Yourself" is waiting for you as you have definetely lost yourself.


As to why i have selfishly repeatedly sayin "Yourself" without god being in it lies in this song:

Hillsong - You are Here (the same power)
The same power that conquered the grave
Lives in me, Lives in me
Your love that rescued the earth
Lives in me, lives in me





So do you have "Yourself" now?

jesus take the wheel

i remembered this song while watching the movie flywheel
the movie is about a man whose life was totally messed up until he put Jesus as Lord of his life.
totally amazed by this song and how its chorus relates to the movie which i was watching.
the chorus goes something like
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

i think each time when things get tough, i will resolve to make Jesus Lord of my life again.. no matter how many times i fall or fail, i will keep putting Him Lord of my life. no matter how many time i sin, He is still Lord of my life.
I will let Him take the wheels and lead me because i know i am weak and cannot go the long journey of life by myself. So Lord Jesus, take the wheel..

struggling christian

i find myself a struggling christian.. trying to live in both the material world and the spiritual world.
i've given up alot on both sides but also held closely on both side as well..
still i find things quite ironic
we want to grow closer to God but we seek the approval of those around us.
we want to be individualistic but also want to be part of a crowd.

sometimes it's hard to know what path to choose or what road to take,
the bible does give some useful guidelines but ultimately it's our choice

fashion, the lastest anime, tv serials, events, all these will pass and be forgotten
even friends, we tend to forget old friends as time pass.. hard to hold on to everything.. we only keep close those who are either dear to us or got some ability that we can tap upon.

we are called to be simple people, called to love but in this increasing complex world, but love has taken on many meanings..
we can say "i love you" or "i love this" or "i love that" but are we really using the word love correctly?
love is NOT about liking something very much, it's really about caring about something/someone and wants its welfare taken care of (taken from 1 cor 13).
love is not about judging.. it's patient, kind and it forgives all the time.
simplicity in this complex world is just difficult, with competition and needs to complete this and that just gets on our nerves. as soon as we complete someething, another thing pops up.. luckily we have God to sustain us

well, this is just another raving from me so i hope u dun mind and if u have any comments just tag it up

festival of praise

i went for the sunday festival of praise with baby rach. it was awesome to see so many christians from 142 churches uniting for this event to praise God.
though it's a christian event, i took back quite alot..

there was reuben morgan and his hillsong team together with the parachute band..
started off with break free and other worship songs.. it was pretty awesome seeing so many just jumping and hands lifted high to God..

also the Word that was shared was pretty inspiring.. the speaker talked about about 3 things that the world is spreading that is momentary and 3 things that was eternal.. the 3 things that the world was spreading was pleasure (that is fleeting cos it takes u high fast, and low even quicker), possession(u are born with nothing and u go with nothing), and prestige(first will be last and last will be first).
the three thing that is eternal is a friendship with God, love (1Cor 13) and investing your gifts,talents and resources for the good works of the Lord..

ended off quite high with jumpy worship songs like tell the world, salvation is here and the perennial favourites, one way..

well, had a little souvenir from this, which was a parachute band cd which i shared cost with baby rach (we bought 2 cds for S$30, mine was parachute band, hers was hillsong latest album)

jude meeting

hey jude members
long time since we meet up

let's all meet on 16th august in church? pray together then go for lunch nearby?
11am? sounds cool?
let me know?

Shaun

HELLO EVERYONE ONCE AGAIN!!!!!

I AM HERE TO INFORM YOU GUYS THAT THERE IS JUDE MEETING NEXT SUNDAY 6TH JULY 2007. SHAUN KOH SUGGESTED IT AND WANT ME TO INFORM YOU GUYS ABOUT THIS MEETING.

Time: 1130 am
Venue: Not confirmed.

I need to know who can come or who cannot come so please message me!

LAMININ

Heys pple.. Pls do check out this video. Its amazing, mind blowing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

loves
rachee

My Glorious

YISS was simply amazing. My failing faith was renewed by the wonders of God again.
Logistics and kitchen teams were simply like a never stopping production factory that keeps working to make sure everything is ready and for the Glory of God.
Was simply great to work with Shawn, Sylvester, Min Lun, Issac, Martin, Justin,Raymond..
Kitchen team, u people are wonderful too :P Alex, Evan and the 6 ladies :P (lazy to type all the names)

I arrived on wednesday night, after i booked out and rushed home from camp.. Was simply exhausted but something inside told me the best is yet to come so tahan a bit.. Everything was set up by the time i arrived so there wasn't really much for me to do..

Thursday was really a good day.. Woke everybody up with the CANTO YMCA.. got ready everything for our morning prayers.. Could feel the expectations of everyone that God was going to touch everyone who is coming for this camp. Did preparation for the games like water wars. During the afternoon, some of us refilled the water for water wars while i handed the napkins out (Your life is in my hands). Logistics and kitchen combined to formed a final team to compete against Marion's team. It was simply fun as we just chiong arh... Finally after the games, we packed everything up in record time.. (half an hour
Also,People said i was very very high. A lot of memorable stuff happen also (eg. like cooro asking me for chilli and i went to the nearest table, squat down and went chilli chilli and also phyllis keep forcing me to sit down and eat. She can be auntie after this )

Okay, think people will find a bit long winded after this so i just summarise everything lor then conclusion...
NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
we set up quiet time stations and took it down for friday and saturday.
Helped out with kitchen team (clear rubbish and more lonely walks with the opposite gender {i'm referring to the trolly}, played P&W during breakfast and certain other meals and during wash up, made syrup and took lotsa lotsa photos)
Prep for mass.
Prep for sessions
Took lotsa photos of log and kitchen in action
Lotsa P&W (jumping praising and worshiping)
Sleeping
Spiritual prep and Healing(Friday)/Outpouring of the Holy Spirit(Sat)
Wake up P&W music for both service team

I think this was one of the best YISS i ever been to. The service team was great and fun working in logistics for YISS again. I know linus keep asking me to be a facilitator but i guess i dun have time for the prep to be a facil and still not ready to be one yet. Hope to serve in Kitchen next YISS and maybe next year, with the help of the Holy Spirit, be able to serve as a facilitator.

Think Logistics guys were simply awesome, it's like the few of us working like crazy and with our humour and optimism and under the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit, achieved so much within so short a time. Set up and cleared many things so quickly and managed to do so much despite being so tired ourselves. Really think we were very high lor for YISS.
Kitchen was simply great with their services. They put the food and drinks on every single table before the participants came and cleared up everything and washed up everything (with the help of a PSP and speakers). Alex was simply wonderful, always calm regardless of what happen and always in for some fun (thanks for the great photos). But the best part is that they still have energy to be the A-Team, providing energy for everyone during P&W... Think the Holy Spirit was working to strengthen them.
For the rest, think they were simple marvelous too, working non-stop for everyone under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Think the most memorable times were the times we spend playing while setting up/clearing the logistics and everything else.
Prayer Prep before healing/outpouring was really really good. Really felt that God wanted to give everyone a tangible experience to know Him and then go out to TELL THE WORLD!!!
Think Fr Paul Yeo the mass was really really good.. It was about the jezebel in our life. How we allow sin into our lifes and that symbols can be a good sign to remind us about God.

can't wait for the Next YISS...

Just felt like sharing with you all something I wrote last time, as well as this song: Holy Over Me by Christy Nockels and Lauren Chandler

Can't seem to upload, but do go check out the song and lyrics. =)

Some simple things to note:
When you're tired, Praise the LORD, for all the work that will make you stronger.

When doubtful, Praise the LORD, for he will clear your questions and deepen your faith.

Whether happy or sad, Praise the LORD, for he is there to share them with you. When you feel alone, Praise the LORD, for he is always with you every single second.

When the road is long, Praise the LORD, for he said, take the one step to me and I will take the rest to come to you.

When you feel broken, Praise the LORD, for he mends you whole again.

At all times, just Praise the LORD for our God is everlasting and almighty and nothing we do could make him love us any less.

loves
rach