Hi dear reader, we just attended Disney on Ice at Singapore Indoor Stadium earlier today. It was the first-time ever for Maeleth, Amilee and I. 

In short, the experience was world-class and awesome! 

I don't want to give away too much spoilers in this post in case you're planning to go over the next few days (the show runs until 24 March 2019) so I'll focus on sharing tips on how you can stay ahead of the horde of show-goers before and after the show! 
​

There is a lot of debating going on online about the sequence of end-time events and whether the Rapture will happen before, during or after the Great Tribulation. 

In case you’re unfamiliar with the terms, let me explain what is the Rapture and what is the Great Tribulation.

The name “Rapture” is not found in the Bible, but is a term coined by believers to refer to this event:

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 WEB)

The Great Tribulation is a future period of 7 years of great suffering on earth due to the tyrannical rule of an evil global dictator called the Antichrist, and also God’s judgment and wrath being poured out into the world:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22 NKJV)

These “elect” are not us. It’s talking about the people who become believers during the Great Tribulation. They are “elect” and not “saints” because they don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them. ​

The Great Tribulation is shortened to only 7 years because if it dragged on longer than that, the elect would give up and renounce their faith in desperation. 
​
During the Great Tribulation, salvation is not "once saved always saved". Only those who endure in their faith in Jesus to the end without taking the Mark of the Beast will be saved. 

Praise and Worship songs performed:

1. In Christ Alone - Keith Getty
2. When I Survey the Wonderful Cross - Isaac Watts
3. With All I Am - Hillsong Worship
4. Here - New Creation Worship

God is a loving God. Man not knowing this was the source of the original sin. 
Eve didn’t believe that God’s commandment was for her own good. 
The devil always presents God as not generous and always out for His own gain. 

If God compromises on His righteousness, the whole universe would disintegrate. 
God is holy in all He does, but the essence of God is love.
God is self-sacrificing and loving. 

You don’t have to give Him a reason to love you — that frustrates His Grace.
He is good to you because He is good. 

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 
This was shown even in the Garden of Eden when God clothed Adam and Eve with the hide of the dead animal and its blood. 

Every man has sin in his blood. That’s why the virgin birth was needed. 
Medical science has discovered that the placenta only brings food to the baby and brings waste away from the baby — it does not bring the mother’s blood to the baby. 
Mary’s sinful blood didn’t taint Jesus. 
The mystery of the Triune God: Three in One and One in Three. 
Jesus, one of the Three, came down to earth. 

Today if God rejects the sinner who believes in Jesus, in essence He’s saying that “Jesus’ work at the cross wasn’t perfect,” and He would have to apologize to Jesus. 
But God doesn’t need to apologize to anyone. 
He never recalls His word and doesn’t make any mistakes. 

God sent Jesus for this purpose. Through the cross, the holiness of God is magnified. 
The devil understands the Law, but Grace is beyond him. The devil is a lawyer. Jesus is also a lawyer.

Today God is righteous in making us righteous. The righteous basis is the cross. 
Our salvation came at such a cost, such that God’s only Son had to die for us. 
Without the cross, God cannot make us righteous. 

Imagine you’re standing in front of the world’s worst criminal. You feel love for him, compassion for him, and you want to die in his place for his crimes. 
To add to that, you even want to give all your assets to him. 
To man, that is double-whammy weird, but that is what God did for us. 

Hi dear reader,

A cherub is a type of powerful angel. Cherubim is the plural for it, and cherubim were stationed at the east of the Garden of Eden to prevent man from accessing the tree of life, after Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

​“And each one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. Then the cherubim rose upward. They are the [same four] living beings [regarded as one] that I saw by the River Chebar [in Babylonia].” (EZEKIEL 10:14-15 AMP)

What exactly does the “face of the cherub” look like as mentioned in the passage? 

Knowing this truth will help you understand the true nature and essence of a cherub. 

The prophet Ezekiel wrote that these four cherubim in the passage are the same ones that he saw by the River Chebar. He described them here:

“Regarding the form and appearance of their faces: they [each] had the face of a man [in front], and each had the face of a lion on the right side, and the face of an ox on the left side; all four also had the face of an eagle [at the back of their heads].” (EZEKIEL 1:10 AMP)

Notice that this time it says “face of an ox” instead of “face of the cherub”? 
The other three faces tally in both accounts.

So why is the face of the cherub equated with the face of an ox? 
I was confused by this for a while, until I meditated on it and the Holy Spirit dropped the answer into my spirit. ​

(Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of "Innocence Denied" from BookCrash for this review.)

My Book Review:

Innocence Denied is a beautiful story of romance which caused me to choke up with tears. The ending is simply perfect and genius, and leaves me with a wonderful feeling of completion. I feel emotionally-investing in the success of the main protagonists which I endearingly call “Derrissa”.  

The characters grew and bonded very masterfully through realistic day-to-day interactions. Crucial knowledge was well hidden until the latter half of the novel. The Biblical and faith elements of the novel are very tastefully weaved in as well, which I feel will not turn an unbeliever off from reading it. I pray that Innocence Denied will reach those that are meant to be touched by this precious story of love. 

If I can offer any suggestions for improvement, it would be to see more action sequences such as the antagonists hunting down the protagonists and having their evil plans rebound on themselves. The antagonists’ presence is hardly felt in the story. As a result, I don’t really feel the peril that Larissa is in — it feels like Derrissa are in their little bubble world where no one else exists to harm them. I would be keen to read a sequel about what Larissa chooses to do after the ending of the novel. It will be interesting to see her find another man she can help who reminds her of her former self, to ‘pay-forward’ the help that Derrick had given to her.

Read on for my interview with Mike Garrett, the author of this Christian romance novel. 

Praise and Worship songs performed:

1. Living Hope - Bethel Worship
2. Wonderful (Grace Made Real) - New Creation Worship 
3. I Will Cast All My Cares Upon You
4. Praise the Lord for He is Good - New Creation Worship 
5. What a Beautiful Name - Hillsong Worship 

John 13:34-35 - The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples something important. 
If you have one last chance to speak to your disciples, won’t you say the most important things? 
He told them to love one another just as He had loved them. 
Many Christians have head knowledge about God’s love but have never actually experienced God’s love.
Religion teaches conditional love — only if we obey then God will love us. This is not the truth. 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”” (John 13:34-35 WEB)

1 John 4:7-8, 16-19 - God doesn’t just have love. God IS love.
In this passage, the Apostle John is not trying to make us feel guilty, but is endeavoring to take us deeper in experiencing God’s love. 
A pastor can be teaching God’s word and not have a heart revelation of God’s love. It doesn’t mean that he’s not saved.
We need a personal relationship with God. 

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love... We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:7-8, 16-19 WEB)

Ephesians 3:13-19 - There is nothing more powerful on earth than experiencing God’s love. 
There is no deeper revelation than His unconditional (in Greek: agape) love.
Bad things are happening around the world but it’s not God who is doing it. 
God is dealing with issues of the heart, not the head.
You’re easier to live with when you’re close to God because He transforms you from inside out. 
You can’t force people to fall in love. People need to experience the love of God.
We need to be rooted and grounded in God’s love. 

“Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory. For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:13-19 WEB)

I Corinthians 12:1, 31 - Use the spiritual gifts out of the motivation of love.
You can’t earn these gifts - they are given by the Holy Spirit as gifts of Grace.
Some ministers who have gifts use their gifts but they don’t even like people. 

“Now concerning spiritual things, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant... But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.” (1 Corinthians 12:1, 31 WEB)

I Corinthians 13:1-8 - Love is the only thing in this day and age that is fail-proof.
There is nothing deeper than God’s love. 

“If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8 WEB)
​

赞美和崇拜的歌曲:

1. 你的爱永远不会改变
2. （耶稣的爱是我）永远的依靠

西番雅书 3:17 - 上帝为我们欢呼。

“耶和华你的神在你中间， 他是施行拯救的大能者，必因你欢欣快乐， 必默然爱你， 而且必因你喜乐欢唱。””（西番雅书 3:17 CNVS）

当不幸的事情发生时，我们可以依然平静，因为上帝会帮我们。

只有上帝可以带你到对的时间和地方。

上帝早已知道你的需要而为你预备了。

希伯来书 4:1-2 - 耶稣已经为我们做成了。我们可以进入他的安息。
神是每一天与我们同在的。
耶稣大过一切。你的病对他不是问题。没有一件东西大过耶稣。
在灵里面，我们像耶稣一样。耶稣怎么样，我们也怎么样。
因为耶稣忍受了鞭伤，我们已经得了医治。
因为耶稣为我们流了他的宝血，我们可以得到神所有的祝福。

“所以，那进入安息的应许，既然还给我们留着，我们就应该战战兢兢，恐怕我们中间有人像是被淘汰了。 因为有福音传给我们，像传给他们一样，只是他们所听见的道，对他们没有益处，因为他们没有用信心与所听见的打成一片 。”（希伯来书 4:1-2 CNVS）

It’s easy to fall into a downward spiral of sadness. I’ve been there. 
When you allow yourself to sink deeper into the negative emotions and let it fester in your heart, it’s difficult to pull yourself out. 

World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that more than 300 million people worldwide have depression. 

The Bible says that laughter and a merry heart does good like medicine. Choosing to be in a state of happiness when you're feeling sad is actually good for your health! 

Thankfully, there are many ways that the Bible teaches us to guard the joy and happiness in our hearts. In this post, we’ll look at 5.

I was a victim of bullying in school. I admittedly had character flaws, and I struggled trying to fit in, to belong and be significant — stemming from my insecurities. At that time, I wasn’t a Christian yet.

Evil rumors had spread about me, saying that I was smoking, taking drugs, committing sexual immorality, etc. I was shocked to hear them — they were so absurd. 
When I entered a room, I could sense that everyone stopped talking like they were just talking bad about me. It was a dark time and I felt so alone.

Even today, I still get bullied, receiving hate mail from some self-righteous, unhappy people after they read my blog who want to strong-arm me into stopping what I’m doing. 
Why would I stop? It’s my calling and ministry that the Holy Spirit is leading me in. 
Without Him, none of this would be possible. He has given so much Grace and wisdom that it’s astounding. 

Bullying is a real problem and it’s demonic. 
When another person or group of people think that you are weaker and behave wickedly against you with evil intentions to harm you, that’s bullying. 

Today I’m no longer affected by the bullies because I have grown in Christ. If you are facing bullying at home, at work, among your peers, at school, or even at church (God forbid), I want to encourage you and give you some practical keys to overcome the bullies. 

赞美和崇拜的歌曲:
1）耶稣祝福我
2）恩典滋味
3）恩典之路
4）献上感恩
5）安稳

疾病是非法在你身体里面。

当我们看着主耶稣，圣灵就会在我们的身体里动工了。我们拿起圣餐时要看耶稣。

什么好事都是主在幕后祝福你的。

你过去的错和罪、上帝都忘了。

今天上帝要我们听随耶稣的声音。

你一直都有天使在服侍你。

跟随耶稣的人是蒙福的。

当你每天到耶稣的脚前领受，什么问题都会变得没有问题。

今年我们的祝福会向我们像洪水一样一直冲着来。

耶稣爱我们。他要我们与他有一个关系。说”我对耶稣很重要”。

其实耶稣可以不用受十字架的。他也不用受鞭打的。他为什么要忍受？因为他爱我们。

因为他一无所有，所以我们可以一无所缺。