Nothing even comes close.

When I read this cartoon, I was reminded once again by one of the Bill Hybels' video I watched not too long ago. Bill Hybels said this - "Nothing beats the church when the church is functioning right!" Indeed, that's really true.

I really admire his conviction for God. I recall clearly what he said - "If you could find anything, anything in the world that can be more fulfilling and life promising than the church, please tell me and I will join you! But if you can't, better give your best to the church."

It's really true. Nothing else beats the church when the church is functioning right!

Imagine the church helpng the poor. Imagine the church at her best. Nothing would even come close to it!

The Power of Believing

Just yesterday, I was once again in awe of God's characteristics - His patience, love, trust and believe. When I was thinking of all the evil that humans all over the world are doing, I am simply amazed by God's hope in all of us. No matter what we do, God is always believing in us; He is always having a heart of hope towards us. He never gave up on us. He never even thought of our failures. But instead, He chose to look at our strengths. And indeed, we can exclaim how 'great is our God!'

And this made me wonder... How am I treating my people/sheep/friends around me? Am I trusting/believing in them the way God sees them as? Am I taking up the courage to love them to the best? Am I the shepherd who looks at their flaws rather than their strengths? Or am I the shepherd that God called me to be - the one who believes and persevere in those in his hands... These are the few questions that came to mind.

It took me a while to think and reflect on my past mistakes, errors and 'boo-boos' that I've made before. And I've came to the conclusion that I will never ever give up on anyone under my care. No matter what background they may come from, no matter what they have done, no matter how lousy they are, I will never stop believing in them! Although God's standard of trust towards us is limitless, I will still, with my limited heart and strength, will find the courage in God to believe, to hope, and to trust those under me. If I'm a pianist, I wouldn't care much about the croud's applause. But I would want to hear the affirmation from my teacher... If I'm a soldier, I would want to hear praises from my commander... If I'm a sportsman, I would want to hear words of encouragement from my coach...

And surely, at the end of the day, I hope to hear praises from my Master - "Well done, good and faithful servant..."

CLASSIC FACE WARPS!

Cheehwee.
Me.
Me.
Sunny.
Chantel.
Gideon. (Oh my...)
Ruiyong.
Sunny.

These pictures are a classic! The moment I look at these photos, I can't help but to giggle and to snigger. 

"How badly do you want to be..."

Nike - "How badly do you want to be a footballer?"
Us - "How badly do you want to be a history maker?"

Help!

Well, my blog can be for advertisements too right? 

I'm having a module called Events Management, and we're supposed to organize an event to PASS this module. So I'll be needing all the help I can get. All the information is shown in the picture above. And if you're interested, please drop me an SMS, email etc. Thanks!

My email is: marcusloke175@hotmail.com

Impressive!

                                              Before

                                              After

Presenting to you, Lumpy! 

Back to my post, I'm seriously very impressed by God. While eating dinner with Lumpy and a few others yesterday, we came upon a topic that couldn't be brought up with essence, without the person that had gone through it together with you - your childhood in church.

We dug up, and brought up many wonderful, funny, and scary things that happened long ago in our time under Sunny Leow (he was only a CL then). There was once when Jun Hong, s***-ed in his pants, there was once when Sunny scolded everyone in worship, once when we played soccer in RC and spoilt the wooden lamp... (Sunny and Lumpy did it! I was JUST WATCHING! XD)

Actually, apart from all these funny moments, I've seen the transformation power of Jesus in the lives of many in the group. Many of us were jokers and slackers before, but now we are serious about the Kingdom, and are going to be more serious in the future! 

CG08! We can't give up! A little more to go!

P.S. Don't you think Donavan looks great with the new makeover? 

Now I know

After a series of making tough choices, I now realize what I must grow in - Courage.

All these while, I thought I was courageous. But I wasn't. I was very afraid of failures. I knew of this only when I was told to lead this year's camp games. When I received news that I was supposed to lead it, my first reaction was, "Oh man..." And instantly, I knew what were my growth points...

To be truthful, leading games was like a chore. But during the church prayer meeting on Friday, God reminded me of courage. And on Saturday, Gideon taught us about the attitude of Nehemiah. Being bombarded by these truths from God, how can I not be moved?

And now, the conclusive question remains - Will I take the plunge?

Barack Obama - "Yes, WE CAN!"

Marcus Loke - "Yes, I WILL!"