…. but these are things that he/she has no control over
Level Two:Praise accomplishment or behaviour
“That’s a nice thing you have done there”, “You did a good job on that art work”
…. that’s better and will help the child advance
Level Three: Praise value or principle he show to hold
“That’s a honest thing you did returning that toy to Thomas”, “You were kind and considerate to others, just like Jesus would”, “You know to work now so that you can play later, good job”
…. now this is the kind of great work we need to build our next generation.
“Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way” - Genesis 24:1
Michelle Shocked has a song that goes “When i grow up, I want to be an old woman”. What great insight and vision it is to dream of old age.
I want to grow old like Abraham. Well not exactly with the number of years he had but in terms of spirituality and connectedness to God.
Two questions:
1. So what type of old man or woman do you want to be when you grow up?
2. What do you need to do now to be such an old man/woman?
3. Sören Kierkegaard said “Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing”. What is your one thing?
Saying no is not easy but it is sometimes the best thing to do. Having had a packed week, I had to intentionally say ‘no’ to 2 events after some deliberation, one of them I was pretty excited to do for the first time. Anyway I’m glad that I did the very thing that scares me the most (ie. rejecting people). At the end of the day, those decisions yielded energy for activities that matters most at this point in time.
Saying yes to something may mean saying no to something else that matters.
Some of us need to learn to say ‘yes’ more often and some of us ‘no’. Do whatever scares you to most.
Yeap doing this Lifechurch.tv series! It’ll be big and awesome. This video based material will help us engage and connect new kids.
LOST will be shown in HopeKids LIVE! on the 10th, 17th and 24th August 2008.
Specially taylored for 7 to 12 years old. So if you know friends who are just a bit too old for the big service, bring them in for a great blast with us this August!
“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar,
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O lord.” - Psalm 139
Gee, our God has some sort of super power that He just knows us!
It’s not important to do ”outward management” as it is ”inner management”. I think we care too much about what we say and what we do, at the expense of what we think and desire. I may not know much but I’m just thinking that a lot of us could do with some talking fast.
You know, just sit still like a buddha and engage in some really godly conversations and thoughts.
During small group time, I saw two boys alone waiting at a corner of the room. I went up to them and ask who their teachers are. They replied “I don’t know, my teacher is always changing, its one time ‘X’ and the other time ‘Y”. They are both 11 and 10 years old.
Then during lunchtime, Yung told me one of the child’s mother wants to be part of our regular team. Her 6 year old daughter feedback that her teachers are different everyweek. She wanted to be part of our regular builder’s team which is just great.
This afternoon after visiting the Wais who just had a new addition to the family, I went home to clean my desk. I saw some encouragement notes which Ying Ching passed to me from her P3 kids for me sometime back. I read some of them.
“Thank you for helping me learn”
“I like your teaching. HopeKids Live! is so fun”
“Please teach us more”
and this one
“Please come to church more often”.
Please come to church more often?..
I don’t recall many times I wasn’t at service. Maybe just 3 or 4 times this year because of conferences and vacations. But this child notices and I do not blame her. Maybe it represents the sentitments of a lot of our kids that we are not around most of the time?
Children’s ministry should not be a volunteer based ministry. It’s not a place for us to fulfill our religious duty to serve. It should be a commitment and discipleship based one. How can something as important as the future of our church to be left to duty and half hearted passion?
I received an SMS from someone who wants to serve this morning. Hmmm, I am thinking “How often should I serve?” is the wrong question. The right questions should be “Do I want to disciple?” and “Am I committed to make a difference?“.
A friend of mine asked me to check out these babies at a second hand shop near my office and I did. Now I can’t seem to get it out of my mind. Although the owner never set it up for me to hear it, I know the ‘Sonus Faber’ sound which is absolutely stunning. They are Italian made and are simply gorgeous speakers.
If I was a speaker, I will be just like these Sonus Faber Grand Piano Concerto floorstanders.
The true aim of good speakers is to disappear when the listener closes his eyes, so that only the music flows as if it is played by live musicians in your living room. In the same way, our aim should be gorgeous speakers and disappear in the presence just to allow God’s truth to shine through.
Yes….“…. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” - Galatian 2:20
Artist: Crosby Stills Nash Young
Song: Teach Your Children
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.
Teach your parents well,
Their children’s hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
Wikipedia’s definition of Desperado“(’desperate’ in Spanish — this is an old and now incorrect usage of the word, today desesperado is the right word) means a person who cannot wait for something to happen, and sometimes may recur to violent or reckless actions.”
1. Desperation leads to not listening to truth
2. Desperation leads to making moves that is detrimental
3. Desperation for something is a true sign of a need for something else
4. Desperation for the something else is the real cure for desperation
Whenever we are desperate, turn it into the desperation to find the real need for something else. For example if we are desperate for a cigarrette, be desperate to find a solution to healthy relief. Spend some money to enrol yourself in a sport or activities that you will really like that takes you away from smoke.
If we are desperate for a job, don’t try to grab a job, but turn it into the desperation of being a useful person. Learn how you can contribute and be interested in the company more than in yourself.
If we are desperate for a boyfriend or girlfriend, be desperate to find the true solution to loneliness. Be desperate to be a better person and secure person. Be an excellent friend to people who are already around you. Don’t go after a person thinking he/she will give you happiness.
If you need a sugary drink or a latest tech gadget or a great handbag, just go for something else.
Above all, the best desperation for ’something else’ is the desperation for the voice and touch of God. After all we go through in our journey, we know that it’s the voice and the healing touch of God that always trustworthy.
