Definitely we're living in the end times right now. While people say that mankind is progressing rapidly, technological advances are making headway, people are getting smarter, and living longer lives, all these advances are trumpeting a humanistic worldview. And people will say that life will carry on all the time, and the world is improving, etc. It has been prophesised by Peter since ages ago!

True, there have been all these advances carrying on. The space explorations of NASA, stem cell research, etc etc. Yet these are all scientifics. Can mankind explain why morals have been declining rapidly since the Hippie movement, proclaiming free love, and the sexual revolution came about? Now we see fragmented families, high divorce rates, homosexuality on the rise, unwanted children, STDs on the rise too, what can they say about that? Mankind is going through a moral decadence! The pursuit of New Age religions? that's spiritual decadence!

That mankind will behave in this manner, "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men."
2 Peter 3:3-7.

Before that, though, God is already sending a warning to all of mankind. Since 26 Dec 2004, last year, when the tsunamis struck Asia, till now, September 2005, where we see Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans, when Typhoon Damry pulverises Vietnam, Hurricane Rita barely missing Houston and all its oil refineries, t he fires burning through California, to a global influenza pandemic and even locally, the dengue fever, so reminiscent of the SARS scare we had back in 2002.

And God says, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14. Yet it seems the opposite. Due to the influx of theories, from evolution to a millions-of-years beginning of the earth, people have rejected God, thinking themselves supreme. Not just that, but when people try to tell them that God cares, they react with the same exact question, "If there is such a loving and caring God, would he have allowed this disatster to happen onto US?"

Of course, it will seem very unfair when suddenly something bad happens. For example, Dad gets stricken with dengue fever, Mum gets brutally beaten and robbed, and suddenly the family business goes bankrupt. Then as normal Singaporeans our first tendency will be to complain. BUT. Have we ever paused to consider that though God is in control of the entire crisis, individual things (for example, he cannot control the robbers to NOT rob your mother, as a result of sin they have given up everything they have to the evil one) are not fully in His control. Yet He will engineer a brilliant plan of restoration that will be much better than before, because He is a God who would give "How much more, then if you ask Him for something, He would so readily give it to you!"

Now, let's look at the story of Job. Job 1:21 records job saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Which is so NOT the mentality of humanistic mankind today.

Back from that discourse. Nevertheless, the Great Tribulation will happen soon. 7 years of great suffering for all believers out there, and it is only our faith in God that will keep us sane and persevering each day. For He walks with us, talks to us, and tells us that He loves us deep down in our hearts. While manking is falling in despair to sin, God will bring us through.

Joel.

I made a Quiz for you! Take my Quiz! and then Check out the Scoreboard!


Shameless. Ripped off 2LT Ivan's blog.

2 months ago I blog about how to combat depression, and rely on God for strength and peace and inner joy. 2 months later, today, I blog about myself falling into depression and how stupidly difficult it is to trust in God and rely on Him for that. Doesn't it all feel ironic, and nonsensical, and dumb?

I don't want to go through this any longer. Yet not my will but His will be done. The imperative is to obey. It is to listen. It is to trust in Him. And I don't know what to trust in! Which is the problem! There is no problem too big that He can't solve, but in my heart and soul I doubt. And I fall further in. It's a brilliant trap that the devil has laid. Totally brilliant. God can pull me out, but I'm not relying on Him, for really stupid reasons that I don't understand.

It is so eerily reminiscent of the past. Flashback to September 2004, where I got so easily upset for reasons I knew not then, but now I know it is because I felt no one cared. That was a lie, definitely. And now, it feels as if I don't need to be around to care (I am redundant again) when I want to care. And now is September 2005. I do hope that this doesn't become a disturbing trend, with it being worse in September 2006!

I should just face it. I am redundant. Or am I? I am a child of God, definitely. And no one is useless in His eyes, we are all equally precious!

Depression? I know God is going to break me and restore me, so what do I fear? Nothing. But. I hate this feeling. It makes me feel supercharged. About being apathetic.

Joel.

I've come to realise that blogging is of not much importance anymore, especially when I carry on with my speech (or rather, essay) online and no one even bothers to read it. For what, do I write these, then?

Moreover, I have less topics which I can think of nowadays. It's not very fluid too, my thoughts. So I'll take a hiatus. Temporarily. As I try to find my form. Or it could be permanent.

Now if you do have any burning questions in you, or you just want to know my opinion on certain things, do feel free to leave me a tag. On my long-decomposed tagboard, of course. Otherwise, this blog is as good as dead from now on.

Ciao.

Joel.

What do you think? I'm prompted to write this even as my parents are enjoying themselves in Australia at this very moment, and only returning next Monday evening.

Sometimes, we as young people do think that our parents are old fogies, fuddy-duddies, not able to keep up with the current generation's thinking, and being on an absolutely different wavelength from us at this point in time. Right. And 20, 30 years later, while many of us become parents, the same old cycle begins all over again. True? Untrue?

Strict as they are, dumb as they appear to be, parents were parents for a purpose. To fulfil God's purposes for them as procreators, bringing forth new life into the world. To lead God's children, as they grow up and are disciplined in the ways of the Father. To be a role model, an emulator of the Father above.

Now to say that they are disciplinarian and strit and totally not allowing any freedom -- true. Some parents are indeed like that. Before even complaining about it, find out the whole reason why they're like that! If they, as children, had some particularly nasty experience with something, for example playing with fire, they would take extra precaution and care, exercising extra cautiousness when little boy/girl is running around the house with a lighter. This is the extent of a parent's love for a child. To the point that they will chatise the child because they don't want anything untoward to happen to the child. It's their own scion, their own progeny. Definitely not.

Yet no one's perfect. The ideal parent would be the one caring for the child, allowing the child to grow. For example, a boy falls down, and Mum goes," Son! Are you ok? Now you can stand up on your own, can you? It hurts, but you have to learn how to get up on your own."

At opposite ends of the spectrum there are the totally indulgent ones and those who just couldn't be bothered. The totally indulgent ones who would coo, "Oh! My widdle fuzzy-wuzzy has just fallen down! Is my widdle fuzzy-wuzzy ok? Let mummy scold the floor." Something like that, would decisively kill off any chance of independence a child would learn from this experience.

Or else, the couldn't be bothered, who would just raise an eyebrow, go "Oh? Boy's fallen down? Hope he falls down more. That'll teach him." which deprives him of experiencing any parental love.

Parents have to be wise in what they say. And what they do, too. as role models for their children, all the more they have an obligation to do it.

Joel.

Snuck that off a Snoopy comic strip.

Really. Sometimes things can get so positively bad that you're wondering what the heck is going on. And at the back of your head it's swirling with expletives. And your mood gets bad, you just don't feel like talking to anyone because you don't think that they can do anything.

Of course, when you're not the one going through it but you do know that your friend's going through it you would want to empathise, to show that you care. It does make a difference. But to the masses of uneducated, uncaring folks out there, they'll just put it as you've woken up on the wrong side of the bed or something to that effect. Why? It is human to bottle ourselves up when something is wrong. Unless you have a confidante to share your feelings with, chances are, no one will know what you're going through.

But seriously, if someone you love delivers you a sucker punch straight to your face, when you least expect it, then something is wrong. Either with that person you love or with yourself. And words said carelessly can never be revoked, they'll be imprinted at the back of the head for years to come. And it isn't very wise to do that. Though the common adage says "Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me" I beg to differ. It's definitely untrue. Name-calling, though it may never cease, is hurtful enough.

Be wise with your words. Naturally I'm not wise with my own either, I have to say. I don't think before I speak, and that's already bad enough. I come across as being rash and not thinking, and at times, lazy and unfeeling. What the heck am I doing? If I say God wired me this way am I doing justice to God if I don't change but carry on wallowing in my own pile of mud? Definitely not. Something's got to change. And I know exactly what.

Joel.

Just because Dave & Heather's wedding was solemnised in front of a Singaporean crowd last week, thought I'd just pen my thoughts about it all.

Marriage, for one, is a very sacred affair. I read somewhere that we can choose who we want to marry, but ultimately it is God who creates a marriage, He who causes the man to leave his family and to be with his wife, they then will be united as one (Genesis 2:24).

Confused? Now let's say A, a Christian, decides to marry B, a non-Christian. Or even a Christian whom God has decided that A would not be suitable with. That's disobedience. Sin. Allowing Satan to enter by unwittingly disobeying God through their actions, and cause havoc. However, if God has already planned for B to be A's life partner, then He will show favour upon that couple in whatever they do, because they chose to obey Him!

And from the start it has already been explicitly mentioned that we as Christians are NEVER to marry people of other beliefs, as stated in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

So what is there to be said about marriage? It is sacred, it has been cherished by God since the beginning of time, ever since He created Adam and Eve. For it was He who made the woman to be the man's partner and helper, to be his support all through life's journey.

And of course, that being the case, God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Now if He had planned someone to be your spouse, your encourager, supporter, comforter and friend, but you think that God made a wrong decision after 15 years and you choose to be divorced --- now who are you, o man, to talk back to God? For His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.

Even then, if you did make a bad choice at selecting a partner -- now what, are you going to be that childish and irresponsible by dumping your spouse and taking your children away or leaving your children with your spouse? That's dumb. Very dumb. think of the emotional heartbreak it's going to cause to everyone, least of all yourself.

So. Marriage. It's not as simple as boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy dates girl, boy gets married, boy becomes man, man has children, and they live happily ever after. NEVER. It's only seen in the movies.

Boy-girl relationships? Snap out of it.

Joel.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

We have 24 hours in a day. No more, and no less. There are endless possibilities that we have to use these 24 hours, which will pass in an instant flash. We could choose to use it sleeping the entire day, or partying, or studying, or just lazing around doing nothing, etc.

There has to be a balance in what we do. To maximise this use. Of course, 100% utilisation of these 24 hours are useless, because we need time to rest and recharge ourselves for the next day!

With the hand of God guiding your life, (no, not that infamous Maradona situation), you'll find that life is so much more meaningful. Yet when He withdraws, to test you, you'll realise that you'll feel that darned empty without Him around, and that's precisely what I'm going through now.

Time. Once passed, never able to recapture it again.

Joel.

Can be really, really distasteful. It's a great detractor to working life. Sometimes people don't realise that what they do causes massive consternation among the masses of the rest of the innocent people, and when these innocent people can't take it and blow up in their faces, they simply put it down to the "fact" that "so-and-so has an attitude problem towards me".

Sometimes, we just can't take it. The false pretenses that people put up, the mask of deceit, so cleverly concealing a double-edged sword at the back, akin to the Singapore Guards' motto "Ready to Strike". And when we politely tell them, they refuse to listen. When we raise our voices against them, they treat it as insubordination. Of course. After all, they are seniors. They have that amount of experience with them. But, come on. Please spare a thought for what you do.

There are many repercussions to any comments that a person makes. Of course, constructive criticism works, but when you try to make a mountain out of a molehill that obviously doesn't work. Putting on the face of self-pity and helplessness doesn't help, either. Neither is it that you're female, experienced and all that you are infallible. No one can change your attitude, only you can.

Feigning innocence and yet full of devious cunning: Very smart. Difficult for others to overcome. Yet, creating Mount Everest out of Bukit Timah Hill is not the way to go. Neither is it with blindly following orders. Now it's all about thinking. Being a thinking, flexible person, where rules can be relaxed if it aids in the process of attaining objectives! Admittedly, when you're older, you get more traditional and rigid, but that's not the point. By just blindly following, that's called sheer idiotic stupidity.

I hate politics. And when you're being frank, expressing your thoughts and that person doesn't listen, it's difficult to work. After all, it's not fun getting stabbed in the back, right?

The Bible says "Love your neighbour as yourself". Yet, I want to give that person a taste of HER own medicine. SOON. Though that probably won't make her wake up her idea, anyway.

Joel.

Are greater far, than tongue or man can ever tell. And it was witnessed yesterday, at Pulau Ubin, where we did an outreach programme. Sure, the rain came and all. The programme started the late. The planned games were cancelled, and people went free & easy to anywhere around Ubin as they pleased.

Initially when we got there at 1115 the place was still sunny. Then thunderstorms arrived on scene. But by the time everyone arrived, the rain had ended! Praise God! And when everyone was resting, it started pouring again, YET, when it was time for us to pack up and head back to mainland Singapore, the rain stopped again! Hallelujah.

Our God, truly is an awesome God. No weird injuries sustained, except for the normal abrasions. He's really in charge of everything. Man.

HE ROCKS.

Joel.