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| Came across these while doing church research... He Makes the Lame to Walk
by Anne Gan My grandmother fell about two months ago and became wheelchair bound as she was unable to walk. I had a feeling that the fall was probably a spiritual attack, as it had happened after she decided to become a Christian. Before that, she had always been strong and able to take care of herself even though she is in her nineties. After hearing Pastor Michael Ross Watson preach about how occult practices can cause physical disabilities, I went forward to ask for prayer for my grandmother's healing. Pastor Michael's wife, Esther, prayed over me as I stood in proxy. Esther told me to deliver the prayer to my grandmother, which I did the following Wednesday. I explained to my grandmother that a pastor had prayed that she would be able to walk again. After I prayed for her, she was able to raise her right hand without having to support it. However, my faith was not strong enough to ask her to try to walk. I visited her again the following Thursday and she told me that the pain in both her legs had left and she was now able to walk. She then raised her legs one by one, and with a smile on her face, kept saying, "no more pain". She also told me that even though now she could walk on her own, my aunt and father still wanted someone to be with her all the time to ensure she did not fall again. There were many relatives in her house at that time and again, I dared not ask her to stand up and walk. On my next visit, I asked her, "Grandma, can you walk?" She said that she could so I asked her to show me. She placed her hands on the armrests of the chair she was sitting on, pushed herself up and took a few small steps! When she sat down again, she turned to me and said, "Jesus blessed me." This was the first time I had heard her say the name of Jesus on her own. Previously, when I had asked her to pray after me, I could see her try, but she just couldn't do it. I had also tried to get her to say "Jesus is Lord" but without success. So seizing the opportunity, I quickly asked her to proclaim, "Jesus is Lord", and this time she did! She also looked so much stronger, happier and alert compared to the last time I had seen her. I'm so grateful to God for healing my grandmother and touching her heart. Thank you Jesus for making the lame walk! Healed of Tourret's Syndrome
by Chris Yang Since secondary school days, I have been having this spasms condition known as mild Tourret's Syndrome whereby I constantly clear my throat and on occasions twitch my body and vocal chords area. My condition had caused lots of unhappiness in my family. My parents could not understand why I had this condition and they had been telling me to kick this bad habit. In addition, I am blind in one eye due to an accident and this made the situation worse. My mum wanted to bring me to a doctor but I refused. I prayed to God and asked Him for healing but I have to confess at that time, I doubted his healing powers. One Sunday evening during my family dinner, I had the condition again and my mum was very upset. She told me jokingly that if Jesus could heal me, then she would turn to Christ. She seemed to have given up hope on me. That was the turning point. I made a commitment to pray for my parents every night and telling God to heal me of this condition. On the night of 27 October 2006, I had a cell group meeting. It coincided with the Ministry Worker's Conference. After cell, Kah Woon, my cell supervisor, asked me to go for prayers by the guest pastor. When I entered the auditorium, I saw Pastor Richard and he urged me to go up for prayers. Pastor Derek and the guest speaker came towards me and asked me what prayers I wanted. Honestly, I was not thinking about my condition, but only wanted to ask for wisdom to lead my band. However, Pastor Derek suddenly told the guest speaker about my condition. I was shocked!! I did not expect him to know about it. They prayed for me and something AMAZING happened. I felt the Holy Ghost!! It touched me and I felt this warm sensation upon my throat area. His presence was so strong and I was slained. When I got up, the condition was GONE!! I was healed!! It felt so weird. I just do not have that urge anymore. My testimony is just a tiny sign of what God can do because He can perform much more wonderful miracles! God says in 1 Peter 2:24, "…by His wounds you have been healed". And He said in Isaiah 53: 5-6, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." This is our God. When He says He will heal us, He will. I stand here because of His grace, and I testify of His wonderful and loving kindness towards me. Many of you may know about my eye condition. I believe that my eye will be healed next. I look forward to the day, when my parents step into COOS, kneeling down before the REAL God and worshipping Him. I look forward to the day when the idol at my house will be smashed into pieces. When we witness His miracles and healing powers, we have absolutely no way to deny His greatness. Praise be to God! Source: Church of Our Savior website | | |
| Watched a really great show on HBO today - Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. Boy! They have such great chemistry! I know, because I am a sucker for romantic comedies and it's so rare that you find two people with such chemistry. My favorite movie of all time is You've Got M@il, a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I've watched it a zillion times (and I'm someone who doesn't watch a movie twice or read a book twice) and I've never failed to cry at the end of the movie when they start playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow....*sob sob* Anyhow, why I loved that movie is coz Tom and Meg have such great chemistry, and the whole setting for the movie is so nice - quaint bookshop, big bookshop, boat, New York, sunshine! They just relate to me! But I must admit that Must Love Dogs, although got off to a slow start, is pretty decent in itself. Diane Lane and John Cusack have this connection between them, especially when they look into each other's eyes. Sparks simply fly. It's like they know what each other is thinking and well, for me, that's simply amazing. It's hard to find such chemistry in reality, but sometimes when you find that someone, like what happened to Diane, some things interfere and somehow you miss the chance that you have to start something really special. Lucky for her, she had a second chance. Perhaps my second chance will never come. | | |
| I'm late. In my reflections for the past year and setting my new year resolutions this year, that is. It's unlike me to end the year like that. It's unlike me not to set new directions for myself in the coming year. It's unlike me not to reflect on what I've done for the past year and think of ways to improve my life. Especially on my birthday. But this year, too many things happened, and happened very rapidly. They rush by me in a blur. Perhaps I took on too many things, I tried to do too much in too short a time, I had no direction, zigzagging around like an crazy cockroach. Things I wanted to do, I didn't manage to do. Things I thought I wanted but realized I didn't want just dropped on me from the sky. And now, there are so many things that I regret doing and not doing that the beginning of this new year seems more like a carrying over of the last year than a new year. I have no strength nor courage to be myself, to be the self I want to be, to be who I can be. Last year, I made some resolutions (which happen to be the same as a good friend of mine), and now I'm going to make the new ones (I wonder what the chance is that they'll be the same again. Only God knows.) Ok. Here goes: 1. Find myself again - After reading my friendster, I realized how strong a person I once was, how people looked up to me and admired me, and suddenly, I became this weeping, weak mess I am now. I don't like the me now. I like the me then, and that's the me I wanna be in the future. I want me back. 2. Find my friends again - During my deepest, darkest moments, my friends were beside me, but my eyes were blind to that. I grabbed on to whoever I could find to give me support, but in their darkest times, I was never there. They didn't want anything from me, they just wanted to give and give and give. And even when they wanted to give, I was not available for them to give. 3. Resetting my goal - Always wanting to excel in my career, and having the ability to excel in whatever I set my mind to do, I attempted to do too much. Focus is the answer. Luck = Preparation + Opportunity (Little Black Book - movie starring Brittany Murphy). I'm in academia, I love what I do, no one can get me down and stand in my way. 4. Finding God again - This is a slow process. I attemped it in 2006, I took a step forward, two steps back. But I'm trying again this year. The church project has really piqued my interest. How I wish I can work on it again. 5. Saving more money - Insecurities, depression makes it easy for money to fritter away. Money to make one look better, money to make one feel better, money to indulge in the material needs of the world. It's a vicious cycle. An empty bank account gives no more security. Prudence to the self and generosity to others is the name of the game. Just five this year. A mark of my not "biting more than I can chew". Keep it focused, simple, and prioritised. | | |
| It's 5am. 5 hours into my birth-day. And these 5 hours were spent in the A&E dept of TTSH. An interesting birthday this is... it began a day earlier, on 30th Dec, unlike other years. I never liked the thought of celebrating my birthday on a day that is not my birthday. Perhaps it is because I view my birthday as a special day. It is New Year's Eve after all. But this year, due to the postponement of our annual Christmas party to the following week, i.e. 30th Dec, celebrations started early. It was not meant to be my birthday party. It was meant to be a BBQ Christmas party for family. But everyone asked if it was my birthday party, and a 2kg cake sat staring at me when I came downstairs today. Hm. I didn't feel good already. It was not my birthday. This morning, I was woken up at 6.30am by the sound of my maid pouring water into the toilet bowl. Weirdly, I could not go back to sleep. It's nearly 23 hours since I've been awake. I know there's something wrong today. I was woken up by a disturbing dream as well. My dad was driving me in the Wish along East Coast Road, and then something broke down in the car, and he could only drive one person. So he dropped me, promising to return for me. I ended up walking along East Coast Park, which was under construction in my dream - the roads were deserted and muddy. Black mud. Then I found myself in a chalet. It was evening. My grandma was sleeping sitting down at a table. I was sitting. The winds were howling; thunder, lightning threatened rain. Then I spotted a $1 coin beneath the wooden table. I bent to pick it up. Then I spotted another one. Then another and another. There were fifty cents coins too, and one cents. I didn't pick the one cent. Then dollar bills started appearing. $10, $5. Stacks. But it was not a happy feeling. It was a disturbing sensation. Didn't feel good. Halfway through the party, my mum hit her head on the glass door. Bad bruise, and the pain spread. People were concerned initially, and then didn't give a damn. These were blood relatives. And that's how I ended up at A&E on my birthday. Had a great experience buying toasted sandwiches from a vending machine and sleeping in the boot of the car. But most of all, I'm just thankful that my mum is fine. May the rest of my birthday be an eventful one, and may I make the right decision to take me through the rest of my life, close to God and my family. | | |
| I took the path less traveled A path that seemed to end in misery and suffering Bearing on my back a cross I thought I was to bear A cross I perhaps need not bear I took the path less traveled Hoping the path will diverge to a path of righteousness and joy Grinding my teeth and telling myself not to give up hope That at the end of the road to Calvary comes salvation I took the path less traveled A path that brought me away from my close friends and family Their effortful attempts to recover me made futile by thorns I planted in their way Thorns that pricked them, hurt them, and made them stay away I took the path less traveled This path took me in the opposite direction from God A direction I was never supposed to take I want to head towards the rising sun Food for thought: Am I really like Elizabeth Jennings as a good friend once said I am? As Eileen Wee wrote in her book "Excuse me, are you an actress?": to be a good actress, you need to have many emotional experiences in life. To be a great poet, you probably also need to experience great pain and pleasure. Think: Sylvia Plath (suffered from a whole life of depression, was committed to a mental institution for some time, and eventually gassed herself in her kitchen). | | |
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