DEFEAT OF THE TONGUE

By Max Lucado

Insensitivity makes a wound that heals slowly. If someone hurts your Feelings intentionally you know how to react. You know the source of The pain. But if someone accidentally bruises your soul, it's difficult To know how to respond.

Someone at work criticizes the new boss who also happens to be your Dear friend. "Oh, I'm sorry-I forgot the two of you were so close."

A joke is told at a party about overweight people. You're overweight. You hear the joke. You smile politely while your heart sinks.

What was intended to be a reprimand for a decision or action becomes a Personal attack. "You have a history of poor decisions, John."

Someone chooses to wash your dirty laundry in public. "Sue, is it true That you and Jim are separated?"

Insensitive comments. Thoughts that should have remained thoughts.

Feelings which had no business being expressed.

Opinions carelessly Tossed like a grenade into a crowd.

And if you were to tell the one who Threw these thoughtless darts about the pain they caused, his response Would be "Oh, but I had no intention…I didn't realize you were so Sensitive!" or "I forgot you were here."

Listed under the title of subterfuge is the poison of insensitivity. It's called subterfuge because it's so subtle. Just a slip of theTongue. Just a blank of memory. No one is at fault. No harm done.

Perhaps. And, perhaps not. For as the innocent attackers go on their Way excusing themselves for things done without hurtful intention, a Wounded soul is left in the dust, utterly confused. "If no one intended To hurt me, then why do I hurt so badly?"

God's Word has strong medicine for those who carelessly wag their Tongues:

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on Fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:6)

He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity. (Proverbs 21:23)

He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will Come to ruin. (Proverbs 13:3)

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is Wise. (Proverbs 10:19)

The message is clear: He who dares to call himself God's ambassador is Not afforded the luxury of idle words. Excuses such as "I didn't know You were here" or "I didn't realize this was so touchy" are shallow When they come from those who claim to be followers and imitators of The Great Physician. We have an added responsibility to guard our Tongues.

These practical steps will purge careless words from your talk.

1. Never tell jokes that slander.

2. Never criticize in public unless you: have already expressed your Disappointment with the other person in private, have already taken Someone with you to discuss the grievance with the person, and are Absolutely convinced that public reprimand is necessary and will be Helpful.

3. Never say anything about anyone in their absence that you wouldn't Say in their presence. Insensitive slurs may be accidental, but they Are not excusable.


"There is death and life in the power of the tongue."

Your encouraging words can lift someone up and help them make it through the day. Your destructive words can cause deep wounds; they may be the weapons that destroy someone's desire to continue trying -- or even their life.

Your destructive, careless word can diminish someone in the eyes of others, destroy their influence and have a lasting impact on the way others respond to them. Be careful what you say. Speak life to (and about) those who cross your path. There is enormous power in words.

Vision

A poem on "Vision"

Why don't people achieve excellence?
The big reason is the lack of vision or limited vision.
We need to dream beyond what is possible.
Everything we see today was a dream before it became reality.
Live with enthusiasm, direction, and a sense of purpose.
Do you have a dream?
What is your dream?
Every day that you live, are you getting closer to your purpose?

Where the vision is one year, cultivate flowers.
Where the vision is ten years, cultivate trees.
Where the vision is eternity, cultivate people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our lord loves us for eternity. He is cultivating us. He has an eternal vision for us. He envisions us to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and to one day, 'come Home' to our Father, to live with him for eternity. Isn't our God a God of vision?

So why this post? Because we need it. We need this vision, for our lives, as well as ourselves, our friends and our fellow peers who have gone through catechism with us... yet, have not experienced a life-reforming touch of God. No vision.

1. And so we need to have a vision of the lost souls that we can reach out to - of you, and me. I'm sure we can all relate to a time of feeling 'lost'... or 'empty'... or 'far' from God. We have all been lost at one point or another... and we are found, when we 'repent', or 'turn back' to God.

2. We need to envision a world WITH Jesus in it. So often, we live without Jesus in our lives - so often till it becomes normal. Even though we go to church on Sunday, it is only 'lip service'. But we need to vision a day, or a time, when people will praise the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.

3. We need a vision - for our lives. Your dreams determine your destiny. To accomplish anything you must first have a mission, a goal, a hope, a vision. - Quote by Rick Warren

Some more quotes:

Let a leader grasp a godly vision, and then watch God work. - Ken Godevenos

Without vision, people lose the vitality that makes them feel alive. - Bill Hybels

Vision is a picture of what God will do in His church if we get out of His way and turn Him loose to do so (Dan Southerland)

In other words, where there is vision, we will be fruiftul... we will be living and doing God's Will for our lives, we will be lights, shining on the hill, for others to see.. If we have no vision, we will not be able to fulfill God's will, will not be fruitful as well.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18

Reference: [read article]

Striving for Peace - Don't we need this always?

"Peace does not mean to be in a place without noise, without problems, without hard work and without pain. Peace means that despite of being in the midst of all these things we remain calm within our heart. This is the true meaning of peace."

Have you ever experienced Murphy's Law? It is the law that states that anything that can possibly go wrong, does. I've just experienced this, where something went wrong, which led to other things going wrong, and the whole day just seems -- wrong?!

But being a believer, a child of God, we are called to prove this theory wrong. After all, our God is a big God and the God of all things in the world. He also tells that he makes ALL THINGS beautiful. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

So rest assured -- and strive for the Peace of Christ! Did you also know that peace doesn't just come like "that"? We need to "STRIVE" for peace. Why? Read this article, written by Father Nicolás Schwizer who teaches that we play an active role in building peace on our own lives. He says, "To build peace, one must strive. Only in Heaven will we possess the peace of Christ forever. On earth, it is necessary to build it and to conquer it at every moment. To do this, there must be a struggle."

So let us follow Colossians 3 which says this:

Colossians 3:12-16 - "Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." [Read full chapter in Colossions 3]


May You find Peace!

What is the meaning of 'GodSpeed'?

Hear this often?

Got this from wiki: Godspeed, as a word, is a wish for a prosperous journey, success, and good fortune (from Middle English God speed you, meaning "May God help you prosper").

April Youth Prayer Meet: LOVE & Onions?

Well, the title does not match. What does LOVE have to do with Onions which makes you "CRY" instead?

Well, as you know, we met up again for our monthly Youth Prayer Meet, our 3rd one this year. Well, the number shrank once again, there were only 7 people this round. But nevertheless, we persisted. Our bro Neil from Youth Mentors, was doing the input today and he brought onions!!! Why? Since the topic was "Love"... aka 1 Corinthians 13? How does that link?



So Neil explained it such that the onion will relate to our different layers of identity. We have the outer layer of the things that are most visible, e.g our job, school, first impression of ourselves. As we go deeper, we get to the core indenty of our selves, the inner layers where no one can see or even reach. So as we peeled each layer and started "crying" (hah), we were to write down 1 trait/thought/thing about ourselves, starting from the most visible, to the most inner thoughts. It was quite fun actually!

Peeling in action!



Then the point is -- how far do we allow people through into our various layers? For some of us, we said - only the outer 3 layers. The inner layers are then pretty shut out to people. Typically, people are afraid of letting others see their weaknesses, and negative layers. Thus, the inner layers are typically a bit more private, negative, consists our weakness, our sins, things we want to hide.

Getting through the layers!








Reaching our most inner self -- our CORE identity... what is it?

And so the question is -- What about God? By allowing God to reach in to our inner core, we can then receive HIS love, then only can we radiate out this love to others... if not, we will always remain shut, closed up. Then, how can we love others? ;)

So this was a wonderful exercise and the whole thing was a prayer to God who was present with us, despite our small number. Thanks everyone who came!

Pray with us, that God will continue to guide our OLPS youths towards deeper spiritual growth!


GOd Bless You! Jesus is Risen!

The Making of The Empty Tomb!

View pics here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87873&id=604240527

11 April Saturday

9:00am - We gather and begin setting up the skeleton. It is actually really frail... like a house made of straw.



10:00am - After the poles had been set up and secured with bricks, we then began to make a cobweb using rafia string...



11:00am - We test try a few times, using aluminium foil and newspapers and finally end up sticking newspapers... over the rafia, piece by piece.. to cover this whole structure...





12:00nn - David our "instructor" is the man with the creative idea. He tells us to stick a second layer of newspaper so we can paint over it later. It is a very slow process actually... so we take a break for lunch!!! Pizza!!!



1:00pm - After lunch... we are back to the final touches of the newpaper layers. WE crush the newspaper to create texture, and create some "boulders" at the side.



2:00pm - Meanwhile, inside, Gericho works on the newspapers from inside (so you don't see him at all yet). Outside, we begin painting over the newspaper with White Paint!



3:00pm - Painting is tough with the soft newspaper and we wonder why we did not use white paper to begin with! But John (below) is really well prepared!



4:00pm - It's time to leave but we are not done yet. David adds the finishing touches - the colourful words - part of the verse from the ancient Easter Proclamation known as the "Exultet" (what is this?)



It says:

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people





5:00pm - Finally, work is done. The inside of the "tomb" is then sprayed black... and it looks cool... like a easter cube just short of looking like an explosion had taken place inside... wahaha!

Finally, we added a bit of plants around the 'tomb' and hey presto... the work is done.. see our wonderful finished work which will remain in the foyer over this week and next!



HAPPY EASTER!

Watch the EASTER STOMP by YMM