~~~ Found ~~~
Amazing love,
now what else shall I need
Your name brings life,
it's more than the air I breathe

My world was changed,
when Your love You gave for me
My purpose found
and all that You want for me

And I've found myself in You, Jesus
And I've found myself in You, Lord

So take me to a place
where I can see You face to face
and all I wanna do, all I wanna do
is worship You
So take me to a place
where I can see You face to face
and all I wanna do, all I wanna do
is worship You
| Hillsong - Mighty to Save |

There are songs which have so much power in the lyrics. So much anointing that comes from the voice of the vocalist. They grip the attention of your spirit and all pretense and semblance of Christian pride crumbles to pieces. You realise that it is because He loved us first. He redeemed us before we even had any idea that anything was wrong. You realise how wonderful He is when you think you're falling and He catches you. And you see that all along He's been watching you and looking out for you.

And from that, confidence in Him grows. You become sure of your steps knowing that He gives you balance, He gives your strength to walk and He leads you in the right direction. You start to run because you know even if you do trip and fall, He'll be right there to catch you or pick you up.

I love you, Father...

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back.. ..to that place (home again).
| Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NKJV & NLT) |

Is it right for me to be discontented? Is it wrong for Christians to be happy? Is it wrong to have hope in what the bible says we have? To be reminded and encouraged that although we were sinners, we have been cleansed by the blood. And we rejoice that Jesus took away / removed / obliterated / annihilated / destroyed / eradicated / wiped out / dissipated / blotted out / omitted / forgotten our sins. That is the cause for celebration. That is the cause for rejoicing and praise!

We do not neglect the wonder of salvation. No! It is the platform and the basis of the power that is in store for us. The writer of Hebrews urges the church to move on to solid food. (Hebrews 5:12-14)

Hebrews 6:1,2
...let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Look what is included in the "milk for babes".
- repentance
- faith toward God
- baptisms
- laying of hands
- resurrection of dead
- eternal judgment

The question is... Have we been getting the "full cream milk"? Hebrews 5:13 (AMP) says "For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]!"
1 Peter 2:1-2 includes the "laying aside" of "all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking"

What is the doctrine of righteousness?
We are made righteous through faith (Romans 3:21-26)
Our Righteousness through Christ overcomes sin (Romans 5:12-21)
As simple as confessing the Lord Jesus and believing in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. By believing in the heart, we are made righteousness. (Romans 10:9,10)

Who needs solid food then? Hebrews 5:14 (AMP) says that they are for "full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law."
Another translation for full grown men is mature or perfect. It seems like quite a high requirement doesn't it? Who can claim to be perfect?

Thank God that even the apostle Paul didn't think he was perfect. In Philippians 3:12-16, Paul said, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul didn't claim to have attained perfection! He said he had not apprehended (obtained, understood, comprehended). But still he strove on. Paul continues to say, "Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind."

The Hebrew word mature or full grown is the same as the one used in hebrews 5:14. Being mature is about knowing what we have already and then digging deeper to find out more about God. Philippians 4:16 gives me the impression that maturity is not something that we can attain. But its a state that we must be in. The state of always seeking to learn more and hungering for more of the things of God.

Who's hungry?

If some Christians who have been complaining of their ministers had said and acted less before men and had applied themselves with all their might to cry to God for their ministers -- had, as it were, risen and stormed heaven with their humble, fervant, and incessant prayers for them -- they would have been much more in the way of success.
| Jonathan Edwards |

So be it.

Prayer meeting was good. I love how willing the Holy Spirit is. I love that He would come simply when we ask. I love it that He stays and people can just enter into His presence. I love it when I see people recognising the difference when He's around. Power for ministry comes by the Holy Spirit. Maybe thats whats lacking? Maybe? Prayer works. But it can be limited by man. I need to learn more about the Holy Spirit so that I can teach in the future. Its such an integral part of the Christian walk that it isn't funny how little the church delves into Him. We need Him and more of Him.

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
| Luke 24:49 |

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
| Acts 2:1,4 |

Would there be a need to tarry or wait for this power if it wasn't important? Was it a coincidence that it was only AFTER this infilling of the Holy Spirit that they were anointed to preach and teach with signs and miracles? Would I dare be so bold as to say the church can only grow if the Holy Spirit is present? Would I be so audacious to say that a church WITHOUT the Holy Spirit CANNOT grow? Or that its growth would be stunted?

Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
| Acts 2:38-47 |

Note that it was because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that came first and foremost. Verses 42-45 about doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer came as a result of being baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they were praising God and having favor with the people. People want to meet and fellowship because the Holy Spirit is there too. It all stems from the beginning. Being baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for salvation AND receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Now ask me why the Lord isn't adding to our church daily those who were being saved.

The idea is to be so familiar with scripture that you're able to quote it off the top of your head. I think I'm getting there. For now, I only remember several lines of scripture. What I do remember though is key areas or chapters in the bible. Romans 8,12 for Living by the spirit, John 14-16 about Jesus and the promise of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1, 10, 19 is about the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Hebrews 11 is about faith, Ephesians 1 and 3 is about praying for Christians to develop in their spiritual growth. But there's so much more to be uncovered and revealed! The crawling stage of school, the 1st term is over, its time to take baby steps. I want more.

How come there are restrictions? How come there's a ceiling? How come they don't see the Word? How come?
Its time to dig in deep. Deep.

My take on Psalm 42
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I long for you my dear God. I yearn for more of You.
To be able to stand in your presence
in the midst of like-minded people
To be able to rejoice with reckless abandon
How long more must I wait?

I am accompanied by disappointment
They don't see You, You don't matter to them
What happened to those joyous days
Where we would dance and sing
and simply linger in your presence?

Such a let-down, have we fallen so far?
My happiness was in You
To have a taste of heaven
and they took You away
But my memories drive me closer towards You.

I am almost overrun by difficulty
I can hardly have a glimpse of victory
But I know, His love surrounds me by day
and a sweet song by night
which I sing back to Him

Have You forgotten me?
My heart is bruised and hurt
because they don't see You, You don't matter
Why do I despair?
Don't I have every reason to?

Although I am cast aside
My joy is complete in You
and I give You praise where it is due
You put a smile on my face
And a glow of hope in my heart
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I woke up today feeling pretty lousy. My body was aching from the drumming during AWE worship. (I'll get to that in a moment) My head was aching from all the thoughts rushing through my head the night before. I seriously didn't feel like going to church. I went to the computer to try to install the new hard disk that I'd gotten but I couldn't get it to work. At that moment, I really felt very useless. I was telling myself that I had to get ready for church or I would be late. It was 10:45am and I was still contemplating. I finally convinced myself that I should go for service. As I was walking back to my room to prepare, I told myself, "this isn't the way I should be behaving!!"

Thats when I started to pray in tongues and began to thank God and praise God for how good He is. Luckily there was no one at home because they would have be scared by my shouting, "Hallelujah" and "Praise God". And thats when I started to feel better! Praise God that when I stepped out of the elevator to the lobby, there was a cab waiting for me.

"I don't ask my body how it's feeling; I tell it how to feel"
| Smith Wigglesworth |

Oh the audacity of Mr Wigglesworth! Well... its according to the bible so you've got to credit his boldness. You can't blame Mr Wigglesworth for being like that! You've got to blame the author of the bible. I wouldn't want to mess with God. =)

So anyway.. we had the All Worship Event (AWE) yesterday at Toa Payoh Methodist Church. The whole thing was fantastic. This is my first time playing for so many (500) people. It started off pretty unpolished. But after the testimony, things really began to flow. I loved the way my snare rang out when I worshipped. I've never played so happily before. And to see the youths on their knees in awe of my God, it made me want to worship even louder! I really enjoyed myself and I pray that this will be the start of something great within the methodist church.