Spiritual Parenting model

I have been a bit slow in updating this blog; just been extremely busy at work. :S Do pray for me - because the work's just gonna get heavier in the next several weeks. I'll only be able to breathe a sigh of relief in December. Until then, I need people to rise up in cell! It's impossible for me to do all the work alone - this is YOUR cell too, people! Let's make it work together.

Stephanie was ill a few days ago, so we had cell at Campus Town. A newcomer came to our cell, brought by Cathy. Praise God! :D Through our sharing and testimonies, I pray that her heart would have been opened just a little bit more to God. She also came to church for the first time today. Continue to pray fervently, and God will work miracles. All we have to do is plant the seed; He will water it.

There was lots of drawing in cell. Haha. First, the icebreaker involved us drawing our own symbol which represents what our life has been. That revealed rather interesting and insightful symbols by some cellies. During cell lesson, we also drew our Tree or River of Life, where we marked out significant people or events in our Christian life. In a way, pictures really do tell more than a thousand words. There is something about drawing which unveils the deeper, subconscious levels of our mind that can never be uncovered by mere words.

Today, a bunch of us went for the first part of the Spiritual Parenting course, taught by the Singaporean pastors who were also the speakers at this year's Cell Conference. Tomorrow is part 2 - a long six-hour class. This is indeed an exciting time of transition - where our church moves to the other side (a phrase that's quickly turning into GT jargon, meaning 'the next level'). That is also my wish for the cell. We have actually been transitioning rather quickly from the Exploration stage to the next stage, spurred on by conflicts within the cell. It is through conflicts and resolutions that the cell grows, as we become more familiar with each other.

We are ALL meant to be spiritual parents - discipling others as in the Great Commandment (Matthew 28:19-20)

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

It is not converts that the Lord commanded us to make - it is disciples. Every single Christian, whether you are a cell member, cell leader or senior pastor, is a royal priest, interceding to God on behalf of others (1 Peter 2:9)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Those are the basic doctrines of the Spiritual Parenting model. Tomorrow, we will learn in more detail the rest of the SP model. Stay tuned!

The After Party

After John’s party some us went for a short yum cha session at Boon Boon Café, Taman Desa. We went on two separate cars; Boo drove her Kancil with John-Aidan and Jen-Sen, while I drove my Kelisa with Noel, Jin and Cathy. We had some drinks and chatted for a while and left because it was getting late. We got back to the respective cars that we came in and drove everyone back to their individual homes.

I was suppose to drop Cathy off first at her apartment in Sunway and missed the left turning towards Sunway Lagoon Resorts and ended up in Shah Alam. We tried to find our back to Sunway but failed miserably. I drove around Shah Alam aimlessly looking for a way out and as far as I’m concerned, Shah Alam is a huge city. We got lost around the factory area to be precise. When we finally found an opening to the highway leading towards Subang Jaya who is supposedly neighbours to Sunway we ended up in Shah Alam AGAIN. I even tried asking for directions at every stop at the toll and passerbys at the petrol station.

It was getting late and the clock strikes one o’clock in the morning and we still haven’t found our way out yet. We were all exhausted but I have to keep my mind focus because I’m the driver and their lives depend in my hands. I somehow wished Noel and Jin could drive but they couldn’t because Jin doesn’t have a license and Noel has a phobia of driving. Throughout the journey, we were listening to Mix FM on my radio until I switched it off because I was overly stressed. Jin then turned on his phone and played some Korean songs.

The moment we thought that we’ve found our way out, we realised that we’re still in Shah Alam. We’ve been driving in and out from Shah Alam three times already! Jin tried to break the tension in the car by saying that maybe there’s a reason why we’ve been rounding Shah Alam and he said that maybe we’ll have a future cell member who lives in Shah Alam and it’s God’s way for us to get used to the familiarity of Shah Alam. It was then that we realised that we need God after all. Everyone in the car got Noel to lead us in prayer. Soon after that, Jin’s mum called and Noel got a chance to speak to his mum and asked her to pray for us as well.

With God’s providence, He led us to the right direction and found ourselves in Subang Jaya once again and slowly found our way to Sunway. It was two something in the morning when we finally dropped Cathy off safely. I was so relieved and I headed straight to drop Jin off at Bukit Jalil and then Noel at Old Klang Road. It was exactly three o’clock in the morning when I arrived home. Praise God for his protection over us and also providing us with wisdom to find our way out!

John Chong's 21st Birthday Party!

Yesterday, the cell went for John Chong's 21st birthday party held at his place in Sri Petaling. John is a very nice guy and it wasn't surprising to find out that most of his friends were there to celebrate his birthday too. John's parents were also nice enough to spare their time by making us feel welcome in their home and catered a scrumptiously delicious food. It was also good to see everyone in cell turned up for his birthday.

John making his birthday wish

John blowing his candles

John giving his thank you speech.

John's birthday wish instantaneously came true when he received a guitar from his family and friends.

John with his presents!

John serenading everyone with his new guitar!

A duet between John and Gideon!

A duet between the two Johns!

The cellies that came!

To be continue...

PS/ I have to go now because Jin and Noel is waiting for me already!

a series of surprising events

Today was a series of surprising events. Haha. Jin had organized a cell outing to Central Park complete with mysterious games *imagines playing hide-and-seek in a dimly lit park*...was that what you had in mind, Jin? Well anyway, the rain spoilt our plans. So, we adjourned to my place and proceeded to play some card games. Before the game even began, one of us got lost wandering unfamiliar streets. A few of us hunted her on foot while Abby and I jumped into a car and drove around, looking for her. What an adventure.

Thankfully, we found her walking, picked her up, and went back home. We continued playing cards amidst the drama playing in the shadows of unspoken words. I know I'm being too recondite here, but any more details, and I will probably get stabbed by stares sharper than icicles.

Here's to John Chong's birthday party on Sunday. All cellies - celebrate! :D

p.s. See you at Spiritual Parenting training. And no, I didn't con you into going. ;-) The deadline was up and the lady wanted cash!