Saturday, August 27, 2005
on wednesday, i discovered that there has been a group of kc girls holding prayer meetings in the school premises during recess.... ISN'T THAT EXCITING?! ahahahaa.. i only managed to join them yesterday and let me tell you, it was fantastic! you can definitely feel God's presence there. but i could also sense fear among the students, not wanting to get caught. i suppose that a group of girls going somewhere quiet in the school does seem like an occult thing... but they should have more faith in God. afterall, we are his children are we not?
what we did was basically pray about salvation for the school and for the nation... speaking of which, i think that there is going to be a HUGE spiritual warfare coming soon... in church last sunday(i think),pastor derek told us that there's going to be a sexpo coming up... he warned to stay from it. apparently, there's going to be a lot of ermm... dirty... things.. going on around there.. it's targeted at the business world and the youth of today. that, added to the fact that the government has already decided to build a casino in Singapore, has me a tad worried. but i know that God has his own plans and timing. which can be a bit of a pain in the butt for us sometimes... ^^ well, definitely for me anyway. then again, i need to learn PATIENCE. eheehee.. well, God's timing is everything i suppose.
i don't have very much to say, so i'll write when i find something ineteresting to write about. g'night!
EDIT: i forgot to mention.. i prayed during the prayer meeting..! first time i actually did that in such a big group.. it was frightening..! but that's not the point here. what i want to share is, while i was praying, i remember mentioning something about let us not be proud of ourselves. we were saved by grace, not by works, so that no man may boast. later on, i was told that my prayer was powerful. i don't know if it was a test or something.. but i felt this surge of pride. pride is one of my greatest weaknesses... i'm just glad that i realised what was happening then and reprimanded myself. afterall, all i did was recite the scriptures (somewhat), which goes to show how powerful God's word is, and that pride IS a dangerous thing. you get it in your everyday life, so be careful, and remember, God is the reason for our talents, not ourselves. yupp, that's about it. ^^ ta!
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
hello again! yupp.. i'm here with another testimony! sort of anyway... after coming back from australia, things really have changed for me.. just as the kids who prayed over me told me.. in fact, a lot of things said during the prayer meeting is coming to pass.. although some are taking longer than usual..>< but as the song goes... 'he's sometimes early but he's never late.' heehee.
here's an example, God told me that i'm going to lead worship.. and guess what? when i returned to all saints' english.. i was asked to lead worship for the youth meeting after church! it's happening this sunday. i finally understand how mum feels when God tells you something and you experience it come to pass. it's not really much of a surprise though.. i mean, when God says this.. it means this. XD. he also said to expect changes when i return to Singapore... and guess what? there have been changes.. i'm slightly more involved in the youth now.. i've found more friends in my social circle.. and i'm bringing people to church! (well, not that many.. but still..) what's more.. i like my school more than ever.. and i'm a LOT closer to God... but then, i guess when you backslide a little.. and come back to him.. it's like that. ^^ which is cool, don't misunderstand.
another thing, he said i'll be drawing for him. and you know what..? Jane Mackie has asked me to ilusstrate a kids devontional for her and mum has asked me to sketch a small skit thingy for her! woah... now i have a sudden desire to go to America to study graphics, design and animation. could this be God? i trust it is.
i'm so glad God came back to claim me when i was lost. i knew going to australia will change me.. after all we tend to come back from experiences changed. but not THIS way..!i feel so excited. right.. i have to go now... i've caught the flu.. and to think, i have exams coming up! i shall have faith though.. nonetheless i better go rest. g'night!
Friday, August 05, 2005
Recently, my class was involved in a debate regarding a series of issues. Teams of 8 were formed to debate over a certain topic, and that team of 8 was split into two, the Government Team and the Opposition Team. I love debates, when channel i was still around, they had this show where JC (junior college) students would debate over issues big and small. I like debates because ir keeps you thinking in a logical fashion. It's always interesting to see what both sides have to offer. Anyway, my mini-team [of 4] was the Government team. Let me tell you, debating is truly a skill. A good one at that, until I debated recently, i thought debating was easy, boy was i wrong. ^^
So, what was the debate topic? "This house believes that parents should
never spank their children." I had difficulty partly because personally, I oppose the notion. Well, after the debate, we had write an essay on the notion, and we were allowed to take either side. Of course, I opposed. Here's what I think of spanking.
'Spanking is often used for children, aged 2-6 years, it is a form of punishment whereby the parents use their hands to smack the children either on the hand, or bottom. This is to teach children the boundaries given to them. When used for the right reasons, parents should spank their children. I am thus, opposing the notion.
Ever heard of the saying, 'spare the rod, spoil the child'? Children are young, they do not yet have the knowledge or the instinct of when to stop. If a child does not know when to stop or gets out of control, he or she might end up hurting his-self or herself and others around. How then can we protect these children from hurting themselves [and others]? The boundaries have always been there, since the dawn of time, but we have to teach them what they are. That's when the spanking comes in. When the young child have gone too far, spanking ought to be applied, the child can then realise that they ought to stop. After all, who likes to get punished? Definitely not I. They will most likely choose to obey then to face punishment.
Also, if a child is aged 2-3, to try and talk to him or her, when they do not have the vocabulary to understand what you are trying to say, is ludricuous. It is too much to expect a child to understand that they are in the wrong by words alone. Actions must be taken to show the child they are in the wrong, then only can the child figure out the situation at hand and react to it appropriately.
Spanking is not abuse, the degree of spanking used by the parents will differ according to the age of the child and how far the child has strayed. However, we are talking about parents who merely want to teach their child right from wrong, they would not be likely to hit so hard that they leave a bruise. The word abuse means: bad or cruel treatment. The group of parents we are talking about does no such thing. As such, they cannot be called child abusers.
Children will be children, they are not to be treated as adults. They should never be allowed to believe that they are on the same level of adults, because to begin with, they are not adults and do not have the maturity to deal with all issues. If children are allowed to think that they are adults, they would expect to be given more freedom of choice, and the amount of respect shown for a real adult will not be as much compared to when they know that they are children.
Parents want the best for their children, when parents discipline the children, it is for the children's sake [as mentioned earlier]. Although, these actions have to come with an explanation or reason. Otherwise a child might misunderstand and take it the wrong way. More often then not, the children do become better people because of this spanking. There are people out there who, in the end, appreciate their parents for the displine when they were younger, I know I do.
So spanking does work, and should be applied when necessary, with the child understanding why. So that he or she can become a better person.'
I decided to put this up because it
is a pretty interesting topic to debate about. Also, I wanted to share my opinions over issues. I usually have a
lot of thoeries and opinions, but never got to express them. It's sad really, so I hope this method of blogging works. It's late, I still have homework to do... Hey, somebody should debate on the topic, homework is redundent. That'll be interesting.=P
