MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY DEARIES!! :):)

FREE ON CHRISTMAS DAY?

HI BRATZ!

YOU ARE INVITED TO MY HOUSE ON CHRISTMAS DAY!

(80A TOA PAYOH LOR 4 #02-450)

MY MUMMY IS GOING TO COOK LAKSA!

AND MANY OTHER TANTALISING DISHES FOR YOU GUYS!

YOU CAN COME AT TWELVE NOON ONWARDS!

PS. DO COME K?

I'M LEAVING YOU GUYS FOR MALACCA ON NEW YEAR'S DAY.

LOTS OF LOVE,

KAREN

IS GOD DEMANDING?

Somethings may sound severe but if it were true, wouldn't we be the ones at the losing end?

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD IS OUR PROTECTOR, THEN HAVE FAITH!

Conflicts Not Created by Christ.--

We are living in a solemn time. An important work is to be done for our own souls and for the souls of others, or we shall meet with an infinite loss. We must be transformed by the grace of God, or we shall fail of heaven, and through our influence others will fail with us.
Let me assure you that the struggles and conflicts which must be endured in the discharge of duty, the

self-denials and sacrifices which must be made if we are faithful to Christ, are not created by Him. They are not imposed by arbitrary or unnecessary command; they do not come from the severity of the life which He requires us to lead in His service. Trials would exist in greater power and number were we to refuse obedience to Christ and become the servants of Satan and the slaves of sin.-- 4T 557, 558 (1881).

PLEASE TAKE SOME TIME TO REPLY THIS POST.

I NEED YOU GUYS TO TAG QUESTIONS in our TAGBOARD REGARDING

1) MARRIAGE
2) TITHE AND OFFERING

It's for morning sabbath school program.

Thanks guys and girlies!

Youth Camp & New Year + BBQ

Youth Camp was great fun!! Yeah....
although I was hoping more would come but then hey (5t was a33 g66d),
we will have more camps in the future...hip hip hurray!
And also, I hope we all can take something out of it but more than that
use/practice waever new perspectives on The Word u've gained.
I know I have - and I believe at the very least you shud take with you,
if u remember nothing else, that it is never about us, it is always
about God and how we portray His character to others thru us.


Our focus for next year is the Youth Week of Prayer,
I am sending you a newsletter from General Conference Youth Dept,
take time to read it, it will help us to focus on our work as Youth in Balestier Church for the year 2007.
get ready to spend your time, energy and to excercise every talents
that God has entrusted you with. It will be like shower of blessings, i tell you,
manz, you gotta experience it 1st hand (you will smile in every storm you face).

Therfore, my friends, (whom I have chosen - BRATZ) =), let's choose Him as our friend
to walk, talk, pray and be with for the rest of ourlives.


As for the New Year BBQ, aunty Lilian has asked us to help her out with the BBQ.
I think she wants us to help BBQ-ing the food and bring friends, There will be NOCHARGE for every friend you bring along with you. Hence it shud encourage you to bring your friends (sevvy or non-sevvy ones) and let me know how many you'll be bringing, also I need to know how many of us, YOUTH, will attend.
pls let me know. It will be on the 31st of December, night, after worship.


ps: yo Spike, can upload my picture, the one where u COULD almost see my 6 pack from the past .... mwwhahahaha! - it will at the very least encourage our little brother - Teddy the Bear!

This is my first post as and after my appointment as sheena's secretary.
We are carolling for genesis during lunching time on thursday so we will need to practise on wednesday and thursday.
We will have a post-practise activity on wednesday at Minds Cafe. Those who are not in choir but wants to join are welcomed.
The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday 20/12: 11-1pm-Choir Practice @ church music room
2-6pm -Minds Cafe Outing @ Prinsep Strt Minds Cafe
6-????-Dinner Out
Thursday 21/12: 930-1130-Choir Practice @ church music room
1230-130-Carolling @ Genesis (Lunch may be provided)
130-dismissal
The standard uniform for choir is required for carolling.
Green shirt and white skirt for girls, white shirt red tie n black pants for guys.

PS:quek is being annoying and pointing out to correct my short forms and grammer.Oops, i mean boss.

Thanks and Invitation

Thanks to JiaHong for setting it up,
Also wud like to invite others to join and blog!

Perhaps this could be a place where ppl come to know GOD thru us...
isn't that wonderful?

what r u waiting for then...let's start sharing the good news, shall we?

announcements announcements! :)

yay nice posts from karen and shannon :)

okay guys i shall use this blog as an AVENUE to make announcements so i kinda hope people actually read this, jiahong quick go publicise can?

minds cafe & shopping for youth camp logistics & choir prac

(with $20, RAHHH to tampu)

wednesday 13 dec

12pm at city hall, then we'll head to bras besar.

2pm at minds cafe (prinsep street) for those who are laaazy to go shopping. we're gonna play plenty of BOARD GAMES, yay. really fun!

7pm choir prac in church

a day out for us to spend much quality time with each other, awww. so far people going are pris, karen, daniel, jiahong, gerald. haha so sad for the working people shannon and tampu!

youth christmas carolling

dates TBA, gerald will confirm. either 20th or 23rd.

programme is as follows:

1. White Christmas? tentative

2. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (BIG CHOIR) unison/slight harmony acapella

3. When the Son of God was Born (Karen, Sheena, Daniel) SAB Minus One

4. O Little Town of Bethlehem (Karen, Sheena, Jia Hong, Calvin T, Daniel, Gerald) 4Part Acapella

5. Jingle Bells (BIG CHOIR) Unison/slight harmony Harmonica

6. What Child is This (Karen, Sheena) SA duet Piano

7. Silent Night (Jia Hong, Calvin T, Daniel, Gerald) 4Part Acapella

8. O Holy Night (BIG CHOIR) SATB Minus One

BIG CHOIR = lakshi karen priscilla sheena caressa gerald daniel calvinT calvinQ jiahong

for those who wanna put up your own items, or wanna join in just inform me or karen okay! :)

people on the list are CONFIRMED SINGING RIGHT? (except pris, only if its 20th right?) pls dont play tricks and pull out last min.

choir pracs for the BIG CHOIR (3 songs) will be done during youth camp!

small group practices, first one this wed 7pm - 9pm after minds cafe, aight?

okaaaaaay cant wait for youth camp :) ARE YOU EXCITED! :)

love, sheeeeeeeeena

Words

Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds.
You can't do that way when you're flying words....
Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead;
But God Himself can't kill them when they're said.

Will Charleton was, to my boyhood poetical fancy, a rhymster of homely common sense. I valued a personal acquaintance with him, for we were guests in each other's homes. His Farm Ballads, from which these lines are taken, were of use in teaching me to read.

Few persons stop to think how much they use words. These little instruments can cause great happiness and also great sorrow. The wise man says much about them in his book of Proverbs. Among the Proverbs are these: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." "A flattering mouth worketh ruin." "The words of a talebearer are as wounds." Jesus declared, "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." You will also recall the words of the apostle James, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." He compares the tongue to a bit in a horse's mouth by which we guide him. He also likens the tongue to the small rudder of great ships by which they are turned and controlled even in storms. Says he, "Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame." You ask, "Can no man tame his tongue so as to always speak the right word?" I reply, "That is what the Bible says."

"What, then, are we to do?" This is naturally and rightly the next question for us to ask, and the answer is not hard to find. Two texts of Scripture answer it: "Out of abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them."

"Expression deepens impression" has its application here. Kind words deepen kind feelings in the mind and the heart of the speaker. The prayers and songs of Paul and Silas in the Philippian prison must have made both of them more comfortable. Their wounds must have hurt less.

It is related that a dear old woman who had the kind-word habit never spoke ill of anyone. One day her niece rushed into her room with a complaint about one of her girl friends. The dear old aunt heard her through and then calmly offered an excuse for the offender. "Aunt," replied her niece, "I think you'd find something good to say about the devil."

"Well, my dear, I can say this about him: If we were all as diligent in doing right as he is in doing wrong we'd all have a home in heaven."

Thoughtless words often cause us embarrassment, and our embarrassment is sometimes increased by others' amusement. Quite some time ago a woman asked me about a certain man whom I knew. I answered her question, then remarked, "That man is a jack-in-a-box."

"What do you mean?" she inquired
"Oh," I said, "he's up and talking on all occasions, and sometimes he doesn't know what he is talking about."
"Well," she replied, "that's interesting. He's my brother."

Oh, yes, young people! I know what I'm talking about on this subject of words. However I don't know it all yet. Sad to say, I'm still having to learn, often - too often - the hard way! I long to keep you from the "word pitfalls."

It is often possible to accomplish more by saying nothing than by saying the inappropriate word. A Methodist preacher who was driving to his church on a Sunday picked up a boy whom he did not know. The boy had a string of fish that he had caught in the neighbouring pond. The preacher said nothing to the lad about his fishing on Sunday; instead he complimented him on his fine string of fish. Then he carried on such an interesting conversation that the boy came to his church, became an ardent member and ,later, the father of two gospel workers, one a great preacher and the other a foreign missionary.

Elijah had played the coward and run away from Jezebel, and the Lord sought to correct him. A great wind that broke rocks and split mountains passed by, but the Lord was not in the wind. Then an earthquake and a fire came, but the Lord was not in them. Finally a small voice was heard, and in that the Lord revealed Himself by the question, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" In those five words God accomplished His purpose. The Lord speaks at times through the wind, the earthquake, and the fire; but more often He speaks through the "still, small voice."

"Like apples of gold in pictures of silver" is the divine description of the right sort of words. They fit the occasion. Solomon also says of such words: "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoke in due season, how good is it!" I believe that no man ever lived who knew better than Solomon the value of a word for good or evil.

I fancy Job's visitors really desired to comfort him in his affliction, but what a sorry mess they made of it! They did not enter into sympathy with him. They gave him grievous words, not kind and understanding ones.

Solomon says, "With all thy getting get understanding." I would add "words" to that injuction!

So many worthless words are spoken in rapid conversation. It has been said that "a very great part of the mischiefs that vex the world come from words." Kind pleasantries which we say to our friends regarding their looks, doings, and ways are sometimes tinged with unpleasant insinuations that hurt, perhaps but slightly as a pinprick. Pinprick humour will usually be returned with added spite, and so back and forth, until swords are drawn and friendship and love are cut asunder.

Practical jokes are a form of this sort of humour. A practical joker tells how he was cured of this habit. He says that he had a warm friend in his home city, New York, who was quite penny-wise. The joker took a trip across the country to San Francisco, and thought it would be a good joke on his careful-of-money friend in New York City to send him a collect telegram. He sent this wire, "I am very well. Hope this finds you the same." In due time this practical joker received a heavy package express collect on which he paid $4.96 express charges. Opening it, he found a cement block with this note pasted on it: "This weight is lifted off my heart by your cheering message." The joker was cured by paying the $4.96.

I have known of one or two practical jokes that came near to taking the lives of those on the whom they were played. To all practical jokers I would say, It need not cost you a cent to be cured - merely quit. "Physician, heal thyself." It's human nature to put a drop of vinegar into the pleasant quips we pass to our friends; but why not put in lumps of sugar instead? It pays.

Talebearing gossip is another cause of sorrow, and before I had grown into my teens I learned a lesson about this evil habit. My father had a young farmhand, Rodney, and mother have a house girl, Angelina. They fell in love and were silly about it, to the amusement of the large family. One day I said to Angelina, "You love Rodney." "No, I don't," she snapped. I ran to Rodney with, "Angelina says she doesn't love you." "I don't care," said he. I diplomatically carried that word to Angelina, and took her response to Rodney. Back and forth I went carrying words, words, words, and in two days, the couple would hardly speak to each other. I had fun for several days until they took a long walk, came back, and told me what they thought of me. What they said to me went far toward curing me of talebearing, and I didn't pay $4.96 tuition either.

"There are few who realize how far-reaching is the influence of their words and acts... Everyone is exerting an influence upon others, and will be held accountable for the result of that influence... The impression made by our words and deeds will surely react upon ourselves in blessing or in cursing."-Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 556.

Taken from "That Million Dollar Moment", by Frederick Griggs

BRATZ, are you a Follower of Christ?

BRATZ, are you a Follower of Christ?

If one is a follower of Christ,

he cannot be sharp in deal,

he cannot be hardhearted,

devoid of sympathy.

He cannot be coarse in his speech.

He cannot be full of pomposity*

and self-esteem.

He cannot be overbearing,

nor can he use harsh words,

and censure**

and condemn.

Mind,Character and Personality

pg 540

*Pomposity: Puffed up with vanity

**Censure: to criticize or reproach in a harsh manner or blame

Hi PPL!

this blog has been set up to facilitate the spreading of news of us BRATZ.
whos blog have i not added n who have i not invited to post and u want to post pls tag at the tagboard to tell me.thanks (: