Praise Him (Camp 2013)
Since my TOEFL exam is only about a month away, I think I really should start writing again as I'm getting really rusty. Especially since I've been improving my Chinese and mixing up every single language spoken in Malaysia in my daily convos.
*sigh* Hear the sound of my spoken English going down the drain. LOL. I wonder what will become of me when I transfer next year.
Anyway, the focus of this post is supposed to be my church camp experience and the post revelations.
So yeah, I came to church camp with the attitude of wanting to be 'delivered'. I came wanting very much to hear what God had to say to me. And you know what, we were blessed with a totally different paradigm by the speaker.
In most camps, the focus is very much on the more spiritual aspect of Christianity. But this time round, I received no 'comforting', 'sympathetic' message. Instead we were presented a very practical view which I believe has been slightly absent from our church. There's always the danger of over-spiritualizing things. You know Christians have to be smart too, and use our God-given talents. It's really not about sitting there, waiting for God to shout His directions. Yes, we need to seek His counsel, but we should put the brain He gave us to good use and strategize things out too. And of course, people skills are no less important. It showed me that we are in this world, so we better have the skills that are on par or even better, than the world's.
During this camp, I must say I got to talk in a more in-depth manner with people whom I don't usually get to talk to. It was great.
And so we come to the part that I look forward to most of the time - altar calls. I guess it's probably due to the fact that you're in camp and the mood's much more relaxed that I usually feel more comfortable to go up to the front. So, in the two times that I was prayed for, these were the things said.
1. Ask and you shall receive. Be bold, have courage.
Okay I'll be completely honest here. I wasn't expecting that at all, I was guessing His word for me would be something along the lines of comfort to my depressed soul. But here God was different. His ideas for me completely unique. He didn't let me wallow in self-pity. Instead, he gave me this no nonsense message - have courage. No time to be selfish. No time to simmer in past hurt. Quite the contrary, I was told to dream dreams and ask for his direction and vision.
So I was wondering very hard, what exactly do I ask for?
I went to the washroom to think and to wipe tears. *:P
then this came to mind, and I asked God for 3 things.
1. To hear Him, to see His vision
2. The salvation of my friends
3. To send someone He has in mind for moi
and then there was the second prayer time...
2. Don't worry, God will use you to reach out to your friends. Don't be afraid of how you will do it. Go for it.
It has always been my heart's desire to see the people I love coming to love Him too. Well, this on hindsight was pretty much a reply to what I asked for earlier. And yeah, I am encouraged by the fact that He has heard me all these years. But I guess He is telling me to put more effort and persevere on.
With the gospel, there's always the doubts as to whether we come off a little pushy, but things in his timing will work out. The Lord is hinting me to pray harder XD
So after the camp, I got the chance to go out with my church mates and have some deep conversation about our church. It's always the same story, people get fired up in camp but when they return to regular church life, there isn't much change. And so we dissected several things about church and came to the agreement. Prayer and action is what we will proceed with. I am beyond glad to know that these girls share the similar vision as I, and that is to start the change with ourselves. Excited? Definitely. But of course, change goes beyond excitement and thrill. Perseverance is off the utmost importance.
Oh yeah and in camp I was so blessed to have rejoiced with a fellow friend as she accepted Christ #forreal. haha, feeling's extraordinary. #family man. (excuse the hashtags ;p)
Sorry for the long post, but yeah, I know this would totally encourage me later on in life.
Praise be to my Saviour :)
*sigh* Hear the sound of my spoken English going down the drain. LOL. I wonder what will become of me when I transfer next year.
Anyway, the focus of this post is supposed to be my church camp experience and the post revelations.
So yeah, I came to church camp with the attitude of wanting to be 'delivered'. I came wanting very much to hear what God had to say to me. And you know what, we were blessed with a totally different paradigm by the speaker.
In most camps, the focus is very much on the more spiritual aspect of Christianity. But this time round, I received no 'comforting', 'sympathetic' message. Instead we were presented a very practical view which I believe has been slightly absent from our church. There's always the danger of over-spiritualizing things. You know Christians have to be smart too, and use our God-given talents. It's really not about sitting there, waiting for God to shout His directions. Yes, we need to seek His counsel, but we should put the brain He gave us to good use and strategize things out too. And of course, people skills are no less important. It showed me that we are in this world, so we better have the skills that are on par or even better, than the world's.
During this camp, I must say I got to talk in a more in-depth manner with people whom I don't usually get to talk to. It was great.
And so we come to the part that I look forward to most of the time - altar calls. I guess it's probably due to the fact that you're in camp and the mood's much more relaxed that I usually feel more comfortable to go up to the front. So, in the two times that I was prayed for, these were the things said.
1. Ask and you shall receive. Be bold, have courage.
Okay I'll be completely honest here. I wasn't expecting that at all, I was guessing His word for me would be something along the lines of comfort to my depressed soul. But here God was different. His ideas for me completely unique. He didn't let me wallow in self-pity. Instead, he gave me this no nonsense message - have courage. No time to be selfish. No time to simmer in past hurt. Quite the contrary, I was told to dream dreams and ask for his direction and vision.
So I was wondering very hard, what exactly do I ask for?
I went to the washroom to think and to wipe tears. *:P
then this came to mind, and I asked God for 3 things.
1. To hear Him, to see His vision
2. The salvation of my friends
3. To send someone He has in mind for moi
and then there was the second prayer time...
2. Don't worry, God will use you to reach out to your friends. Don't be afraid of how you will do it. Go for it.
It has always been my heart's desire to see the people I love coming to love Him too. Well, this on hindsight was pretty much a reply to what I asked for earlier. And yeah, I am encouraged by the fact that He has heard me all these years. But I guess He is telling me to put more effort and persevere on.
With the gospel, there's always the doubts as to whether we come off a little pushy, but things in his timing will work out. The Lord is hinting me to pray harder XD
So after the camp, I got the chance to go out with my church mates and have some deep conversation about our church. It's always the same story, people get fired up in camp but when they return to regular church life, there isn't much change. And so we dissected several things about church and came to the agreement. Prayer and action is what we will proceed with. I am beyond glad to know that these girls share the similar vision as I, and that is to start the change with ourselves. Excited? Definitely. But of course, change goes beyond excitement and thrill. Perseverance is off the utmost importance.
Oh yeah and in camp I was so blessed to have rejoiced with a fellow friend as she accepted Christ #forreal. haha, feeling's extraordinary. #family man. (excuse the hashtags ;p)
Sorry for the long post, but yeah, I know this would totally encourage me later on in life.
Praise be to my Saviour :)
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