ThunderStorm

Photo by Josue Michel on Unsplash I am often encouraged by the youths at my church and fellow churches whenever each one takes a step of faith to proclaim their trust in the Almighty God. The heavens rejoice and the saints and angels cheer for every one of them. Jesus is ever patient and kind, always standing at our doors knocking, beckoning us to allow Him to save us from sin and eternal darkness, and to transform our lives anew. I thank God that no matter the circumstances in these young lives, I am immensely grateful that at some point in their lives, many have chosen God over the world. It has been an honour to witness them mature in their faith. May God continue to nurture and grow their mustard seeds of faith into courageous and steadfast forests for Christ. May these youths experience the fullness of God's mercy and grace, and blaze the trail for the next generations to come. Philippians 1:9-11 (WEB) This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and...

As we approach Good Friday, Christians around the world reflect on the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This video below explains the reason why the historical events that took place from Good Friday to Easter Sunday are very good news. Enjoy! :)

Ephesians 4:17-32 (ESV) The New Life Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your...

<< Warning: For ages 13+ >> The following content discusses topics of a sensitive nature and are unsuitable for children. Read at your own risk. Man Abused 4 of his Daughters and Assaulted His Son I have been coming across plenty of news articles about paedophiles and incest lately and am distraught by the fact that such incidents are even happening in my country. Firstly, what frustrates me is the lack of parental guidance and supervision in some instances e.g. parents being unaware that their spouse is abusing the child and/or they have not built a strong foundation of trust with their child such that their child ends up in a secretive and exploitative relationship. Secondly, it is the audacity and means with which one would use to satisfy their own curiosity and urges. Thirdly, there are the keyboard warriors who blame the education system for this mess really grind my gears. To the children and youths, I am sorry to say that you live in a globalised world where you are ...

I attended a basic video editing workshop today and was introduced to this online editing platform called Kapwing. How does this fare against Canva, I wonder? Let's see. Created with  Kapwing.com : Created with Canva.com : Image by:  https://unsplash.com/@tanelah Just going by quality of templates, I must say that Canva has more modern and stylish options, even for fonts. Dealing with image layers on Kapwing was somewhat annoying, since the picture borders were segmented into parts for some reason. Canva is a lot more user-friendly to me, which was why I deleted my Kapwing account within the same day of creating it. I'll be sticking to Canva for now while it's still free.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 What is love? It is a daily choice. I recently stumbled upon these biblical websites, which offer incredible teaching and learning resources for free. BibleTalk.tv | Free Bible Studies for Adults In Love For Life: Building or Rebuilding a Great Marriage Recommended reading: The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman A survey on the hierarchy of needs of both sexes

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:18-21

After having just recently experienced my first major heartbreak, I was reminded, not once but twice by wise council, to count my blessings. It was in this period that I realised that I had not been alone in my struggles and that God had been the provider of my strength in my weakness. He sent guardian angels and defenders by my side to aid and support me. He gave me the much-needed push through uncomfortable situations to overcome my pride, insecurity and unwillingness to ask for help from others. He had granted me multiple breakthroughs during my first love relationship - overcoming my shyness in making conversation with the opposite sex, the discovery that I could actually love someone (and what it means to love someone sacrificially like Christ did, even if it means giving up my deepest carnal desires for the sake of upholding goodness and pure intentions for one another). I realised that despite my difficult family circumstances, I had taken my parents for granted with the faulty ...

🎼I am the thorn in your crown But You love me anyway I am the sweat from Your brow But You love me anyway I am the nail in Your wrist But You love me anyway I am Judas' kiss But You love me anyway See now I am the man who yelled out from the crowd For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground Yes then I turned away with a smile on my face With this sin in my heart, tried to bury Your grace And then alone in the night I still call out for You So ashamed of my life, my life, my life But You love me anyway Oh God, how You love me Yes You love me anyway It's like nothing in life That I've ever known Yes You love me anyway Oh Lord, how You love me🎶

I felt that I needed to post this in response to a friend who replied jokingly saying that he/she's going to hell in response to an article that I shared on my social media account about being discouraged by friends who left their Christian faith behind: I'm sorry that you felt offended by what the article said. That was not my intention. However, it upsets me to see you use such critical and condemning words on yourself. Perhaps you are using sarcasm to hide your inner thoughts on your self-worth, but I assure you that God knows your heart full well and loves you regardless of how you feel about the state of your soul. Jesus' death and resurrection paid the price of all our sins and allows us to live free and abundant lives, and empowers us to flee from the persistent voice of self-condemnation and sense of worthlessness. I would urge you not to use the term 'hell' lightly if you do not believe in its existence or the weight it carries for fellow believers in...

Random reflection for today: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? - Mark 8:36 English Standard Version (ESV)

https://ymi.today/apologetics-sg-19/ Session 1: How can a loving God only save some? Common questions about Christianity: How do we know that the bible is reliable and hasn't been corrupted by humans? What is the nature and moral character of God? How does God love us? What does it mean to be saved by God? According to Jesus, to love God is the ultimate purpose of our life. To love others is the next step. A fish that leaves its aquatic habitat will die. The violation of natural laws results in natural consequences. The issue of free will and the brokenness of mankind. Living for man's approval means living a life of insecurity. Why didn't God instead create beings that can only choose to do good? Good and evil are abstract concepts that exist only because a moral distinction has been made between the two. In order to have the freedom of choice, free moral beings have to exist. We do not have all the information in contrast to God, therefore we are not qualifi...

Thank you for the much-needed gift, dear sis. I must admit that for most of my life, I have had to suppress my emotions because they were negative and non-beneficial to the people around me and I felt guilty for feeling those things. Every time I see the way my parents treat each other, my wounds reopen and I feel grief all the time that I rarely ever felt hope or happiness. What I have learnt so far: It is natural to feel emotions because they flow from the heart. These emotions can be directed to feel rightly by recalibrating our hearts to value things rightly.

If I could give my friend one advice, it's this: "If you CAN do something about the problem, then there's no problem. If you CAN'T, then it's not your problem to solve. Delegate it to someone who CAN." Worrying only takes away your health.

Just wanted to reply to a vent that was lamenting that God demands obedience yet threatens to punish us to hell. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 2 Pet 2:9-13 9 ...the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Hell wa...

Daily verse for today:  1 Thess 5:17 ...pray continually... Encouragement from cell group today: If we persist in prayer, aligning our will with God's will, we can be confident in His providence and be assured that He will act according to His perfect timing.

It is indeed a real Good Friday. I finally see where movie directors get their inspiration from. Major burn.

This verse really spoke to me today. So often when we get hurt by someone else, we get all riled up by the speck we see in another's eye, failing to see the plank in ours. Just as much as someone has hurt us, we ourselves have hurt others too. And if we keep running away to avoid our confrontation with God, we are choosing to uphold our pride over mending the relationship (and we know the saying where pride comes before a fall). Where can we go where God is not there? Nowhere. God loved us so much that He would forgive our sins if we would come to Him, humbly admit to committing those sins and turn away from them. It's not as easy as it sounds in reality, but we have the Holy Spirit's guidance and prompting in our conscience that encourages us to do so. Contrary to what the world says, God urges us to confront Him at His Word daily.

In my recent foray into literature, I was introduced by a lecturer to the works of Geoffrey Hill. In articles, Hill was stated as the greatest modern poet alive. Sad to say, he passed away in 2016. R.I.P. When I read some of his poetry, I immediately felt the soul of a kindred spirit. Hill was known to be a man who struggled with depression and the lack of confidence in penning down his thoughts. He seemed like a perfectionist who would not be satisfied with his poetry until he found the precise words to pen down. His fear of making mistakes prevented him from publishing more poetry in his youth, but for some untold reason, he was unshackled from his fear in his later years and plenty of poems were published. What discovery did he make that enabled him to blossom? Was it a renewed purpose and faith in God? I hope so. However, it is regrettable that his poems make it difficult to infer Hill's stance regarding his personal beliefs. In his interviews, he seemed more interested i...

Just recently, I was asked which person in history, dead or alive, I would most like to meet and why. These are my top 5 choices: Jesus Christ (At the second coming. And that means living in God's eternal kingdom a.k.a. heaven/paradise. And finally getting answers to all of life's questions.) Paul/Saul (The reformed persecutor of Christians in the bible who wrote majority of the New Testament books. One of the greatest redemption stories yet.) Joseph, son of Jacob (A dreamer who was despised and sold to Egypt by his brothers, he chose to obey God and forgive them. God rose him through the ranks from prisoner to governor.) Moses (First-hand witness to the parting of the Red Sea and all the other miracles performed by God.) Leonardo da Vinci (One of the greatest minds of the Renaissance era. A talented polymath who inspired me to learn and explore as much as I can. If only I could speak his language. Can't wait till he hears that a turtle was named after him.) ...