Part 1: A great way to explain DEATH

Part 2: A great way to explain DEATH

Part 3: A great way to explain DEATH

Part 4: A great way to explain DEATH

A sick man turned to his doctor,
as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
"Doctor, I am afraid to die.
Tell me what lies on the other side."

Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know." **
**
"You don't know?
You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?" **
**
The doctor was holding the handle of the door;
on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,
and as he opened the door,
a dog sprang into the room
and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. **
**
Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
"Did you notice my dog?
He's never been in this room before.
He didn't know what was inside.
He knew nothing except that his master was here,
and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
I know little of what is on the other side of death, **
but I do know one thing...
I know my Master is there and that is enough."
**

**
**
May today there be peace within you.
May you trust God that you are exactly
where you are meant to be.
I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet
when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.** **

ivan 'n' stacey
ben raja
(lol) poop tha potatoe
alvin 'n' ray

lol
mi cute lil puppy trying 2 read and eat the new testament at tha same time









rheanne.....x

chin-seng cleaning our mess

chui-lin & ivan




sum wuns bible

hey guyz


IM HUNGRY



CHEESE

*** Search For A Star ***

hey everyone!! ivan here again!! how are u guys?? hope u all are enjoying yourselves!! anyway, i'm here to inform u all about search for a star!! we're having practice again this fridae!! so remember to come!! its an important practice, it would be one of our last as well!! well, for those who still don't noe, we're doing ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE by counting crows.. its a cool song!!

oh yeah!! remember to practice and remember to buy tickets for urselves and ur friends!!! try to get more ppl, so one day we can have a kick-ass youth group!! so much that we wouldn't be able to fill the zion centre!!!

till then,
~ivan~

40hr famine

hey guys... i'm sharing on the 40hr famine experience wif u todae... i spent my last three fasting on food... well, it was real hard!!! we started fasting on fridae nite, at youth at 8pm.. as a group of youths we spent the weekend fasting and getting sponsers for the hungry and poor ppl of east timor.. they have been struck with diseases and disasters, which made their situation worse, wif no food and proper hospitals to provide basic medical needs.. they are so poor tat they live in houses built of mud and at night, the cold night chill disrupts their sleeps and health.. In rainy seasons, crops are swept away by the torrential rain and the roads are dangerous ran over by unstoppable strong landslides.. with no proper food and clothes, these ppl have to get by each day hoping tat the next day would be better..

At church, we've seen the clip on how these ppl had to struggle wif the setbacks of their everydae life.. now i've done the 40hr famine, i could truly understand the clinging feeling of the unbearable hunger.. for 40hrs the hungry feeling clings onto ur stomach, and physically hinders our everyday activities as well.. For me its just 40hrs, but for them, its for life!!

$5 for a child to be fed for a month!! how cheap is tat??
for every meal u eat, u could potentially used tat money to save a person's life for a month.. in a day u spend roughly 20bucks on food.. for 2 days, u spend $40 on food.. through the almost 2 days of fasting, the money u've saved, could be used to save a child's life for 8 months!!! thats a pretty gd bargain!!! sacrificing 2days of food for 8 months of food for them... God is not a calculative person, he believes tat through us, others would be blessed... as others are blessed, more others would be blessed...

------------------------today's sermon at church's sermon was about WHERE TO INVEST??
++ Pastor Patrick said, that money is neutral/ amoral/ tool...
++ As Christians, our aim is to INVEST money for the purposes of the KINGDOM..

the money we have now are all god's blessings on us.. we should be grateful and glad he placed us here, in perth, in our nice cosy homes.. It could be us having to suffer and bear the tomentous weather of nature and hunger... it could be us sleeping on the streets of perth looking at ppl like us shopping in the cities with our money, mostly wifout a thought... FOR WE ARE BLESSED, WE SHOULD BLESS OTHERS...
there is no reason why the people in east timor should be lacked of blessings, that we are having now.. they shouldn't deserve the hardships..

why do we say grace everytime before we eat? its to thank God for placing these meals before us everyday.. most ppl in East Timor hardly get enough food for each day, and most of them don't even noe of our true lord and saviour.. We have not done anything to deserve such blessings, the ppl in East Timor deserve these blessings as well..

so my conclusion for todae, is that whenever u say grace for the food, pray in our hearts that the hungry ppl all over the world is able to feel contented.. i strongly encourage as well, to do the 40hr famine next year, so u can get sponsers to help these ppl out and to deeply understand true hunger, which many of us had not felt..

well, tats all for now!!! thanks for reading!!! leave a comment if u wanna...
-- ivan --

!~!~!~We're Growing~!~!~!

hey, wats up guys!!! its me again, ivan, blogging on the youth blog.. well, youth's been pretty gd and fun as usual, and the best thing of all is tat we're growing.. the amt of youth attending, is pretty much growing well.. we've so many new ppl, like ling ling's friends, Derek, Kevin, Chris and all!!! NICE MEETING U GUYS!!! our youth is getting more interesting, we've ppl frm malaysia, singapore, aussie, china, japan, mauritius, we're an international youth group now!! how cool is tat!!

its nice to see how talented our youth group is.. we've like heaps of musical inclined ppl!! ppl who can sing well, play the guitar, violin, piano, drums, even the cello!! man, we rock!! well, if u're unaware of this, we're performing for SEARCH FOR A STAR!!! So u're all are performing, everyone!!! no exceptions!!! well, u can get ur friends to cheer u on, as u all are performing... they'll see how cool u are, and how cool the youth group.. AND THEY WOULD WANNA BE LIKE US!!! SEARCH FOR A STAR is a gd way to get ur friends to have sneak preview on how cool and blessed we Christians are... if u want tickets, get them frm Chin Seng...

Beside frm this major event, we have another yummy major event.. we have the MAMAK NITE!!! its like a major ASIAN FOOD CONFERENCE organised by Chin Seng... we've food and fun all stocked up and ready for you.. we've satay, which is ''meat on a stick'', and teh terik, prata and all!!! the entry fee is $10, and its on tis coming saturdae, which is the 2nd sept... If u want tickets get them frm chui lin, get money ready by this fridae's youth...

i'm going for MAMAK NITE and SEARCH FOR A STAR... so its gonna hell fun and awesome... all the cool ppl are going, so don't miss out!!!

a CHRIST note

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (New International Version)

The Mayonnaise Jar & Two Cups of Coffee

Hey...Stacey here...its 3h in da morning n am having a bad headache coz am doing some research work for my Art project...Its so frustrating as the internet isnt giving me the correct info...And tomoro church is at 9h30!!! O gosh...Anyways I felt like taking a break and I was checking my mail...I received this short story and I thought this was too cute so wanted to share it. Yeah, as u guys hav noticed I love stories...hahaha...okay enjoy then! =D

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls . He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more! if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,

"There is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the s mall stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. "

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

"One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

YOUTH~!!

hey everyone.. ivan here again.. its been a long time since i updated already!! hehe, well, last week, youth group was held at Ben Raja's house... well, there were quite a lot of ppl, so it was kinda fun.. well, stacie brought her cousin over, cedric, if i'm spelling his name rite...

word was done by Ben Raja, and worship was done by Benedix.. well, Ray was sick, so he didn't go for youth tat nite.. so pray for him yah? chuilin sprained her finger or some sort, and she explain tat the door slammed it on her...... whether its the other way round, we still don't noe, but i'm sure its the other way round tat she slammed the door on herself... hehehe, anyhow, just pray for her too!!!

oh yeah, sch's starting as well!!! haha, we gotta get back into the study mood again.. the usual early waking in morning, and working our brain again... oh well, tats all for now..

cya!!
ivan

superman returns!!

hey, hows it going everyone?? whoa... superman was pretty alrite as a movie... but the best thing happened was that the whole church congregated together to watch the movie... tats the coolest thing of all...

well i dun think i should spoil the movie for those who didn't watch.. but well.. all i could give the movie out of 5 is just 3.... not best of bests, but still not too bad.. well, all i could remember during the 3.5 hr duration of the movie, was popcorns, and hell of a butt aching!!! hehe..

well, the best superman there ever is, is the big guy up in heaven.. so strong and mighty that he doesn't even needa do much to moves the seas and mountain..

time for me to go now...
catcha other time!!
cya!!

[ivan]

!!! attention: rossy students !!!

hey rossy ppl!! ivan here!! i'm here to share wif u some stuffs happening in sch.. do u noe that there's prayer meeting every tuesday before sch?? its fun.. its starts at 7.30 and ends at bout 8.50.. we would gather as christians and have a mini worship and word everyweek.. now, we are even organising THE BIG BREAKFAST!! we're making pancakes in sch every tuesday before sch for everyone!! we're trying to spread the blessings god had invested upon us to others.. even the non-christians!!! things had been great... u should come to this prayer meeting.. there are many brothers and sisters in christ frm other churches attending it, so u should too!!

another big event coming up is the exo event organised by us.. its a like a christian reach out program to the whole sch!! its gonna be so awesome!! imagine a sch filled wif christians, wat a wonderful place it would be!! exams wouldn't so hard then, cuz god would be helping us lots!! the exo event would consist of games, band, food and hopefully filled wif salvations... well, we need help frm u guys, so i hope u all can help us in the preparation for tis event!!

well, the prayer meeting is realli awesome... i hope u all could come!! even youth leaders of other churches are coming to help out!! i dun think we should lose out to them!!! for now, i'm the onli zion youth in the prayer meeting, i think its time for us to own the prayer meeting!! dominate them now!! haha, jkjk.. its open to all year levels in rossy!!

if u wanna join.. just me a call or msg me on msn or something!! so i can contact u on more details then!!


tats all for now!!
[ivan]

~QuIeT tImE~

hey, hows it going everyone??? its world cup fever!!! hehe, pray for aussie to beat brazil tis sunday!!! i'm sorry abt this long update of the blog.. didn't really have time... i hope it doesn't stop u frm checking it regularly.. its nice to see ppl commenting abt the blog.. it shows that ppl are checking out the blog... haha.. anyway, i'm sorry i still can't find a gd blogskin for us.. if u find one, pls inform me.. or just change it urself!!

well, its me again sharing about the word on the last youth meeting.. well, its was about quiet time.. which is one of the most essential steps to know more about our god, the awesome king in heaven.. well, last friday, Ray shared wif us the word, which was gd!! He also blindfolded michael and tzen had to guide him through obstacles, without touching him at all.. the rest of us got to be the obstacles and made lots of noise to distract michael frm tzen.. hehe, it was fun, but besides the fun, there was a strong and meaningful message in it...

We, as the obstacles, were representing the obstacles and hardships that we get into in life.. while michael being blindfolded was actually refering to as us being blinded by sin.. lucky tzen then got to act as god who guides michael through life.. this simple demonstration truly does show how god tries hard to show us the way to become a better person and get away frm sin.. but the greatest factor of all is us. Who chooses whether or not, to obey god's teachings.. God always does speak to us through our hearts, be it during our greatest or lowest times in life.. but we would find it hard to listen to him through all the distractions and troubles in life..

therefore the solution to solving our problems: Quiet Time!!
well, if we refer back to the blindfolded michael and tzen being god demonstration, it makes much sense how this is true.. if michael had stopped and listen to tzen's direction before moving off recklessly, he could have gone through the obstacles cleanly without bumping into anyone.. it could be related to us in our life, like before making a huge decision as like whether to rob a bank. The consequences could be hugely grave.. like if we do not go through quiet time, and sort our thoughts our in a "sterile" mental state, we could have heeded the satan's influence and got into trouble.. But!! if we had gone through quiet time, we could have seen the light and see the consequences all before it actually happening.. Conclusively, if we go through quiet time, we will not do stuffs rashly and stupidly wifout giving a second thought, such as robbing a bank..

God is the the man who tells us to do the right thing, so listen to him!!
He leads by faith and not by sight!!

The greatest test of knowing god is not the theory, but instead, it is the practical.. putting god's word into gd use!! If knowing the bible is the most important thing of all, god could have made a cartoon out of it, and made us watch it everydae.. BUT HE DIDN'T!! So following nike's famous phrase, we gotta "just do it!" God is also not rigid, he did not made us read the bible everydae at a specific time.. he allowed us to read the bible whenever we had time to.. he's wants quality time instead of quantity.. therefore he wants to have quality time wif us, even for a short while instead of having us talking to him while being distracted wif so many things in life..

A meaningful quote by Ray during the word was "THE DEVIL MAY KILL, DESTROY AND STEAL, BUT GOD GIVES US LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY".. I'm not sure of his exact words but this was something like it.. its meaningful to the max!! The devil would kill our family, destroy our house and steal our precious possessions but god in return give us life more abundantly.. more abundantly than we can ever contain, so much that we have to share it away to our friends.. Do not be such a pessimist and always look on the dark side of life, as for every dark side of things, there is always a better side.. just look beyond the dark side..

Our father in heaven is much like our father on earth.. he wants u to communicate wif him all the times, in gd times even in bad.. he afterall is the one who makes the trouble in life.. therefore he's gotta have the solution to them!! heed him for guidance!!

there is a formula to have a better life.. It is to truly accept God's true honour and glory into ur life!! To accept Christ into ur life, for he will lift ur sins away, and give u a new sinless start.. if u have yet to accept and would want to, feel free to meet up wif one of the helpers or even ur friends in youth.. for we will pray for u!! God is not someone to be ashamed of, but rather to honoured and glorified of!! he's the truth, the way and the light.. he's the salvation and redeemer for us!! he's the awesome one!!

He's not ashamed of u in heaven in front of his father, y should u be ashamed of him then!





some method's of having quiet time:
-listening to christian songs
-read the bible
-pray
-read devotionals
-worshiping



i spent like an hour on this.. hope it reached ur heart!!
If u ever feel like sharing ur experience in youth.. feel free to post up articles..


[stay cool]
-ivan-

Attitude

Okay guyz...well havent been on internet in A.G.E.S and dis is me first time cheking da blog...it looks pretty cool =D
Hmmm wat can i say? I've just kum bak from work. See!! Am making sum muney instead of spending for once... hehehe
Awww man...gotta pay my mum bak lolz...In case u guys duno...I work at 'Dome'. I hope u all know wat dat is huh? lolz...so yeah...if u kum by one day while am wrking, u WONT get a free drink from me...get it outa ur head now!!
Gosh! >_<>
Okay, so i'll get to da point.
This story was sent to me through my email and it really touched me.
As i am very impatient this story tested...and is STILL testing my patience and i hope it tests yours too.

Attitude
Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry
and asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. "
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business...he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was,
he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,"
Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Jerry continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'BULLETS!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Oh yeah...by the way am Stacey. As Ivan said...if u guyz are interested in meeting up on fridays for youth group...contact the oldies lolz...They r quite wise *cough*
No seriously, fridays r really fun with all the games n stuff we do!!
Ok, now i think i've seriously done enuf talking for once.
See u around!!
God Bless
Mwuaks >_<

~serving~

hey, ivan here checking in again... fridae was a great time!! games was gd,worship was gd, word was gd, refreshments was gd too!! haha, though some of us didn't come.. but well, we still had fun.. well, pray for those who are struggling in their exam periods!! well, in case u didn't come, word was about serving in ministry, all for the sake of god.. its all in john13:1, so if u're interested, read up!!

well, for god who invested in us, we should invest in the others as well.. not onli to christians, but also to ppl of other religions.. for they would hopefully be blessed by our god through us.. we can invest in others through small stuffs such as helping ppl wif schoolwork or even talking to them.. Ben Raja told us tat, when he was once a teacher, he met a child who was suffering a bad case of a hunchback and he couldn't even carry his bag due to his back condition.. well, there was another boy who was abt 7-8 yr old, and would always be there at the school gate waiting for his friend, the hunchedback boy, and he would then carry his bag for his hunchedback friend.. these were all due the boy's initiative.. a boy of such a small age, who barely could do simple math and calculations, had such a great heart of gold.. well, this strucked me hard and well.. i felt bad as for someone so small had even a better heart than mine, and started thinking abt it.. its time for me to change and i hope u do too!! well, we can start changing by serving god.. serving god in ministries and such.. if u are a non-christian, u should come and join us at our youth.. for u can once see how awesome and magnificient our god is..

if u are interested abt serving god in ministry or such, u can talk our youth leaders... ben raja, ray, chui lin, chin seng, benedicts and jayne..
well, u can call and meet them up and have a consultation wif these wise ones..

!!! nth's by coincidence, its all planned out !!!






[property of our awesome god]
~ivan~

Huhu's sick :(

Hey guys.

It's been a while since the last post. Last week we had a real fun time in cell. Ivan playing the guitar for the first time for worship. Did a really good job. Ray's sharing on grace. Hopefully we will apply that to our everyday lives. We also did that collage (I'm not sure if thats how you spell it) thing which almost turn in a disaster due to Ben's creative juices hahaha. In the end we did a pretty good job on it I reckon.

Me and Ben went to attend Sam's orchestra performance last Saturday. That was my first time going to an orchestra. What did I think about it. Pretty cool if you ask me. Here are some pictures of the night.


Ben together with the star of the night


Me and the star of the night


Sam and family


orchestra

Sunday afternoon we went for X-Men 3 the movie. I reckon it was a real cool movie. What say you guys? Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

Some of you might not know but I've got the flu over the weekend. It's so bad to the point that the doctor ask me to stay at home for a week just to rest. Guess thats a blessing in disguise eh haha. Point is theres a flu bug going around. So everyone please take care of yourself, the change of weather is not doing anyone any good either. Drink loads of water and get enough rest yeah.

Looking forward to cell this week. Till next post take care and God bless.


- Seng -

!~time of our life~!

hey, everyone!!! ivan here again... well, youth was great on fridae... pretty well done!!! i had a great time of my life, and i hope u did too!!! well, games was fun, worship was gd, word was great, designing of the canvas thingy was a screw up at first, but our god in heaven helped us with it, and now its pretty alrite... well, the next youth would be even better!!! so come next week... bring ur friends along... it would be fun... well, exams stuffs are coming up for me, haha, as well as other youths, such stephanie, stacey and other yr 11s... so pray for us pls!!! haha...

well, anyway, i hope u all would have a great week, in sch and at work!!!

P.S.
pls tell the rest bout the blog!!!!

!! rock on !!
~ivan~

HUHU

Hey guys, didn't have the internet working the pass few days at home so couldn't check the blog. Pretty cool that O2 have their own blog. Yo anyone who has pictures taken during youth group or during lunch post it up ya.

This Sunday we going to watch X-Men 3 huhu. Can't wait. Those of you who haven't bought the tickets or want extra tickets please get them from Chui Lin.

Well thats all from me this time. See you this Friday

- Seng -

!!!~ Genesis ~!!!

hey, everyone ivan here... this would be our new cellblog... well, its tough trying to make it cool as us, but i'll try my best... haha, anyway, this would be the place where u get updated, instead of getting called through mobiles and stuffs... So go on this blog regularly... those who can't get to use the internet much, pls ask around to get updated... Oh yah, pls feel free to post anything online, make it fun and interesting, better than the rest of the other cellblogs... hehe...


Stay tuned!!
-ivan-