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Psalm 118
Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy
1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

2 Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”

5 I called on the LORD in distress;
The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
6 The LORD is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD
Than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD
Than to put confidence in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
11 They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
They were quenched like a fire of thorns;
For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.[a]

15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD,
Through which the righteous shall enter.

21 I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.

22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the LORD’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.

29 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

You staged a war, but we will rise against you… devil, you’re going down.

Let’s face it, everyone has encountered a NSF ninja at least once in their lifetime. Even if you haven’t, you would have heard the term “ninja” many times. However is it really fair to call everyone a ninja? How much ninja-ing do you really have to do before becoming a ninja? Just for fun, we created a ninja grading system for some of our friends. Have a good laugh, because certain friends will come to mind when you read this.

Level 0 you are not a ninja, you are charged up about army and don’t even mind falling out late/doing OT. You don’t take MCs or report sick in camp (in an attempt to get att C).

Level 1 - 15 you occasionally disappear in camp to the toilet/smoking corner. Sometimes people can’t find you.

Level 16-30 you have escaped out of camp at least once before (for lunch, or whatever). People often wonder where you are. You have a secret hiding place/strategy.

Level 31-49 you start to realize what can and cannot be done in your camp. Your mentality is to go to camp to catch up on sleep. You probably have a second hiding place by now, and another strategy to avoid being found. You have status and excuse (something) to cover the times when you are found/strategy does not work.

Level 50-70 you often fall out early, take an MC every 1-3 weeks. You have many secret hiding places/strategy. When you’re gone no one can find you. You can sleep in various uncomfortable positions and locations.

Level 71-89 you take MC every week or so. The people at the polyclinic recognize you more than the aunties and uncles who frequent there. You determine your fall out time. You are often greeted by “chao keng!” or “(insert expletive of choice here), where did you go yesterday?” instead of “hello”.

Level 90-98 your default parade state is on MC/off. Everywhere is a hiding place and you always have a strategy to siam everything. Even when you’re around, people do not know. You shout “ORD LO!” even though it is obviously not your ORD day.

Level 99 nobody knows you. All the new nsfs wonder who you are. You are not around, you do not exist, you are but a name on the nominal role… If you’re even on the nominal role.

Level 100 A.W.O.L. The MP are hot on your heels!

Note: For the record, ninja-ing is not right. If you get caught attempting to level up, you will be punished (or maybe even charged). You are implored to remain at level 0. If you discover you are already a high-level ninja, you are still encouraged to return to level 0.

I have never seen anyone make a decision to follow God out of fear. Rather, I’ve only seen people who decide NOT to because of fear.

“I’ve got no time…”

“Is God real…?”

“Even if He is real… Can He really help me?”

“What will my family and friends think?”

“I’m scared of church, just who are these people?”

“I don’t know anyone there…”

“I’m quite pleased with my life now…”

Deep down inside it’s because everyone has the same fear:

I’m afraid to change.

So many subliminal fears exist under the surface of our lives. Inside of our hearts everyone of us has an insecurity, a weakness. I know I do. It stops us from knowing God, or even knowing God better.

Yet in my heart the Truth remains… Every friend I know that took the step out of his comfort circle to know God experienced something…

How they experienced God didn’t matter… Years, months, days, even hours maybe! They could have came in happy, sad, or skeptical. At one point or another they might have entertained the thought of God. And whether they cried out quietly in their hearts, or in tears, or in their minds - I know they felt better after that.

Some of them never return or find the time to come back again.

There’s school.

There’s family.

There’s friends.

There’s fun.

There’s a million reasons why people don’t want to know God.

But, every one only needs ONE reason to come to God. It’s when you realize only God can hold your biggest fear in His hands and assure you that you’re going to be alright…

Money?

Love?

Studies?

Family?

Death?

What’s holding your heart tonight?

Psalm 91:4

He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

All of us need a shelter to feel safe.

Why be ensnared by your past and what has been?

Instead, look into the future, ask God what He has seen…

Let not earthly pleasure take you hold,

It is nothing but fading gold…

Live now your life for our Heavenly King,

He’s the reason that causes us to sing.

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk rejection.

To place your dreams before the crowd is to risk ridicule.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave.

Only a person who takes risks is free.

- Ann Landers

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken
I’m accepted, You were condemned
I’m alive and well, Your Spirit lives within me
Because You died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, would die for me?
Amazing love, I know it’s true
It’s my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You
In all I do, I honor You

You are my King
Jesus, You are my King

My dad was giving me a lift to the MRT station and we had a real good chat. After awhile, he finally decided to tell me what’s been on his mind - other than the fact that he watched Slumdog Millionaire and what an awesome movie it was…

A few days ago, my mum put a plastic bag over our family’s Winnie-the-Pooh toy and threw it on the floor, cursing it hysterically: “你去死, 你去死!!!” It means: You go and die, you go and die (sic). I laughed really hard! My dad laughed too. Then we realized it’s actually not so funny… Dad says I must help look out for him more often in case one day he gets plastic bagged too. Then we laughed again. (:

Nevertheless, mum has been really nice to me over the past two weeks!

This has been a week living on revelation, everything’s moving on.

I met Kairen on the MRT today. It’s nice meeting old friends on the train. Even though we’ve changed the way we speak and the way we think - it’s always nice to meet up sometime.

His eyes lit up and his surroundings became clearer to him despite it being a dark night. The fatigue still tugged at his eyes, but his vision was perfectly fine now, if not enhanced. Suddenly, the cars on the street that used to just pass by burst out in vibrant colours - their motors groaning as they whizzed past the boy. He felt his ears tingle as the insects seemed to buzz as a chorus in an ensemble.

His breathing quickened and his lungs tried to keep up. The mind began to race; it felt like an engine being warmed up and readied to rush into overdrive. Soon, the thoughts began to jump ahead of time… It seemed almost as if the body was slower and out of sync with the world. The nervous system finally succumbed to the wonder-drug, the body would now bid the command of the mind…

Ahhh…

Yes, I’m on caffine. I’m glad I didn’t know the power of coffee during my A-Levels… The hellish pace I would have put myself on with endless cups of caffine would have strangled my body to death.

Some of us grow too old to play this game of hide-and-seek… I’m still playing it today.

Every once in awhile my mum will enter my room and steal my laptop away - thinking that I’m doing unproductive activities on it i.e. chatting and gaming. It’s quite fun really. To find my laptop I have to put myself in my mother’s mind, know her cunning and limitations - she has a bad back and doesn’t climb to high places, and all the stuff like that. The first time was easy: she slotted it in a cranny under her bed. The second time she wrapped it in newspaper and hid it away with the thrash under the television cabinet. This time, I searched every cupboard and space in the house (thank God for a relatively small house) and still couldn’t find it. Then, a flash of revelation hit me and I started searching under the mattresses, and sofa, and cushions. Lo and behold, I found it under the cushion of our dining table’s chair, further disguised by a ugly paper bag (filled with new year goodies) sitting on top of it.

When I was younger my mum would hide my Gameboy and cartridges away from me, but I would search high and low, far and wide until I could be with my dear pokemon again. If I can find a handheld device, what challenge is finding a big bulky laptop?

I chuckled to myself when I found my laptop there. It’s just… Funny. I hope my dad does not get scolded - mum always thinks he’s the one who tells me where the laptop is… He is actually quite amused and impressed at how I manage to search it out every time.

Sometimes I pray that God would show me where it was so that I could get down to doing my work again but I always get the same answer: “Look again…”  Although you might not be given when you ask in my household, you will definitely find when you seek. (: If you’re searching for answers to your life, or anything for that matter, sometimes the answer is simple:

“Look again…”

Don’t give up.

If I were mum, I’d hide my charger, or maybe even throw it down the rubbish chute. So luckily, I’m not.