passion @ uwa

greetings greetings from sydney :)

sydney has been awesome!!! we've been going around sight seeing, shopping, eating, and basically, enjoying ourselves alot alot alot :) and how can we forget, living with a certain annoying person *ahem lijin* that keeps going "EEEEHHHHHH!!!" in the kitchen. haha. even as i am typing this.. ohoh. n i also went skydiving :) it was awesome. you know, taking that step of faith believing that God will keep me safe. lol.. pictures coming up soon :)

today was the start of hillsongs conference and they started with a night rally. boy was it.. WOW.. like really.. WOW.. thats all i can say.. it was excellence in a whole new level that i've ever seen.. from the ushers, to the set up, to the projections, pa, stage coordinators, worship.. everything was all talking about excellence.. even the starting was a bang.. it was awesome. really showing the distance they go to make this service to God all about being excellent :) something i'm really convicted to work on this sem :) maybe one day if God allows, we'll see zion in this sort of scale :)

the guest speaker for today was Craig ... *pauses and thinks and jiahuei laughs at me * Groeschel.. (pardon me, i'm abit zonked out frm d full day) if you guys remember, he was the one who start the One Prayer movment that our church just completed.. and what he spoke about today really impacted so many many of us.. i'll just share a short bit here.. if u guys wanna hear, get someone to buy the session recording for u k? :)

as you see the title states, Craig shared about the IT factor in our ministry.. just some questions to start this off, have you ever thought why some leaders have seem to have more effective in their ministry why some people just seem to have that secret special key that makes their ministry more effective?? lets just call this "magical factor" = IT..

some people say IT is the manifestation of the holy spirit working through the people. and yup. thats true. and it doesnt mean that if you don't have it, you wont ever get it.. neither does it mean if you have it you'll retain it forever.. it is kinda like the enthusiasm that we have for our ministries and our life.. just as the members of the early church had.. [ref Acts 2:42-47]

4 points were given about what contributes to IT.. i'll just share about 2 points today.. the second point is that one with IT is about to see opportunities when others see obstacles. people without IT would always try and find excuses to get out of sticky situations, while those with IT will see that he has been given everything he needs to get things done. how true that is. many times, an obstacle/limitation is always the start of finding out a new way to do things or a new idea that we can use. during my time serving as a coordinator and cell leader, i've really seen this many times. sometimes, when it seems that there isn't a way out of it, many times it just requires us to look on the positive side and decide we will make the best out of it and turn that obstacle to an opportunity.. and while i was reflecting on it, i realise that it is related to what the joshes have written about choices. even this, is a choice. when we decide to change our perspective from a negative one to a positive one. from looking at a problem and seeing it as an obstacle to looking at it as an opportunity.

the 2nd point i'll share with you about is that the one with IT is led by people who have IT.. remember the good old saying "everything flows from leadership"? basically thats it. and theres 2 ways we can look at it.. first of all is to think back to our leaders, and really be grateful for them. i can tell you all your cell leaders and zone sups are all awesome, and we believe that they all have IT in them.. amen? :) continue to support them in your prayers and encouragements yea? secondly, if all of you have a think about the people under you or even just in your areas of influence like your peers.. have they got IT as well?? if they haven't, maybe its cos you haven't either.. if they do, awesome. keep moving on together as a team to further God's kingdom. but most importantly, remember that what we do does not only affect us, but it affects the people around us as well..

this sermon really spoke to all of us today, and i must say he is really an awesome speaker.. even as you guys read this, really hope you guys have learnt something just as we did in the conference today.. and always remember, everything you do is a choice. to be joyful or sad, to let your emotions control your life or to control your emotions, to love others or annoy them.. they're all choices we have to make.. so whats ur choice today?