Ernest from BBG2 beat 2 defenders from NUS United and raced towards the byline. The keeper rushed out attempting to intercept him. Ernest managed to beat the keeper and crossed the ball towards the penalty area. I was the only BBG2 player in the penalty box then, and with the ball swinging behind my body, I dived backwards and positioned my head in such a way where the ball will hit the side of my head and the ball rolled into the back of the net. GOAL!
I have never been an outstanding soccer player, let alone to score a goal in a match. But that instinctive moment of positioning my body in the right way put my name on the scoreboard for the first time in my "career" as a soccer fanatic.
The art of positioning is very important. No matter the situation, positive positioning enables us to seize the moment to propel forward. Positioning will allow us to ride on the wave, tap on the momentum, be pushed by the wind to give us strength that is beyond our measure. Just like flying an aeroplane, the pilot will always position the plane to take off against the wind for it to elevate.
Pst Phil has a passion for sailing. During the time spent with City Harvest Church this weekend, he shared about his sailing experiences - no matter which direction the wind blows, with the right positioning and right tools, the sail should catch hold of the wind and move forward. This is a good metaphor about how life should be, that no matter what situations we face, we should position ourselves to catch hold of the wind to move forward.
Pst Tan once made a statement which aptly captures the spirit of positioning. During a Finance Excellence workshop, the trainer asked the class to use one sentence to describe how they feel about the economic meltdown. Many individuals shared their concerns and made statements like "must save more", "petrol price increase" etc. One attendee said "when to pull out" and many agreed with him. Pst Tan immediately followed-up with another statement which stunned the class. He said "when to jump in". This one statement totally captures the art of positioning. While many people are frantically pulling the plug in this financial crisis, we should position ourselves so that we are able to take advantage of the situation and ride on the wave.
Life is all about choices and we can decide how we position ourselves. It is not the situations that will knock us down. It is not trials that will stop us from excelling. Rather, it’s because we have chosen to place ourselves in a bad position that we often find ourselves lost and defeated. And vice versa, it is with good positioning, placing ourselves in the right place at the right time, having the right attitude that we’ll find ourselves in a place that will automatically lead us forward and excel in life.
Pst Phil stressed the importance of positioning ourselves under the will of God, putting ourselves in a position that will allow God to touch us and allowing the principles of God to help us.
"When was the last time you got carried away in the presence of God?" Pst Phil asked the church.
Maybe it is time for us to reposition our lives in a way such that God is able to touch us, and we are able to touch the world.
To Live. To Love. To Inspire.
Mar 31, 2009
Mar 26, 2009
Flying Without Wings
还不会跑就要飞?" (Want to fly when you don't even know how to run?) Is this a common phrase to you? People usually say this to keep our feet grounded, keep us realistic and not let our hopes or desires fly too high beyond the measure of our abilities. To protect and keep ourselves from any future disappointments.
What they say does make sense, that we should always do things within our means and not attempt to go beyond our abilities. But what determines “can” or “cannot”? How do you define whether you “can” or “cannot” do something? It is all a matter of perspective. So what is your perspective? Because your perspective will determine the boundaries of your capabilities.
The statement of "还不会跑就要飞?" (Want to fly when you don't even know how to run?) serves as a reminder of our basic human nature, reminding us that we have boundaries. But my question is, what is our basic nature? What is the boundary of our capabilities?
"But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will SOAR high on WINGS like eagles.."
Isaiah 40:31
The eagle's basic nature is to fly, is to soar in the air. The first thing an eagle learns is not to walk, not to run, but to fly.
So next time when someone else tells you, "还不会跑就要飞?" (Want to fly when you don't even know how to run?). You can reply, "我不飞不行." (I am meant to fly.)
To Live. To Love. To Inspire.
What they say does make sense, that we should always do things within our means and not attempt to go beyond our abilities. But what determines “can” or “cannot”? How do you define whether you “can” or “cannot” do something? It is all a matter of perspective. So what is your perspective? Because your perspective will determine the boundaries of your capabilities.
The statement of "还不会跑就要飞?" (Want to fly when you don't even know how to run?) serves as a reminder of our basic human nature, reminding us that we have boundaries. But my question is, what is our basic nature? What is the boundary of our capabilities?
"But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will SOAR high on WINGS like eagles.."
Isaiah 40:31
The eagle's basic nature is to fly, is to soar in the air. The first thing an eagle learns is not to walk, not to run, but to fly.
So next time when someone else tells you, "还不会跑就要飞?" (Want to fly when you don't even know how to run?). You can reply, "我不飞不行." (I am meant to fly.)
To Live. To Love. To Inspire.
Mar 22, 2009
Surviving vs. Living
"Hey man, hows life?" This is the usual greeting I use when I meet someone whom I know and haven’t caught up with for a while. The question usually generates many random answers, ranging from "awesome!" to "okay" to "managing well" to "surviving". Lately I’ve been questioning myself, is life meant to be survived or meant to be lived?
I’ve started following Pst Phil Pringle on Twitter, what a programme that connects people! Through Pst Phil's tweets you will be amazed by his schedule! Meetings upon meetings, preachings upon preachings. But yet there is just so much energy and LIFE in him! Just by reading his tweets alone, you will feel energized and be able to rub of some life from him.
Through Twitter I also found a second generation leader in CCC by the name of Joshua Kelsey. Joshua is a youth leader in CCC whom I had a chance to speak to briefly during the CCCI event in Singapore few years back. I have always been inspired by his passion and love for God and for people. But when I started to follow him on Twitter, the word "inspired" rapidly became an understatement. Joshua is now travelling, preaching and inspiring youths around the world! Just 2 days ago he just tweeted, "waiting for my plane to Brisbane, can't wait to speak to the youths tonight". Wow, what a life he is living, travelling and inspiring the next generation! It’s the kind of life that I long for everyday! He is now 28, which means I have 2 years to catch up! *wink*
Following Pst Phil and Joshua Kelsey's tweets made me realise something about life. That my life will be fun and fulfilling when I recognise and understand the purpose behind my living, just like the way Pst Phil and Joshua recognise and understand theirs. Because if I don't recognise it, I will not be able to live out the full potential of my life, and I will be merely surviving from day to day, drifting from day to day.
I asked myself this, is my life filled with a purpose? Am I living or am I merely surviving?
I am LIVING.
To Live, to Love, to Inspire.
I’ve started following Pst Phil Pringle on Twitter, what a programme that connects people! Through Pst Phil's tweets you will be amazed by his schedule! Meetings upon meetings, preachings upon preachings. But yet there is just so much energy and LIFE in him! Just by reading his tweets alone, you will feel energized and be able to rub of some life from him.
Through Twitter I also found a second generation leader in CCC by the name of Joshua Kelsey. Joshua is a youth leader in CCC whom I had a chance to speak to briefly during the CCCI event in Singapore few years back. I have always been inspired by his passion and love for God and for people. But when I started to follow him on Twitter, the word "inspired" rapidly became an understatement. Joshua is now travelling, preaching and inspiring youths around the world! Just 2 days ago he just tweeted, "waiting for my plane to Brisbane, can't wait to speak to the youths tonight". Wow, what a life he is living, travelling and inspiring the next generation! It’s the kind of life that I long for everyday! He is now 28, which means I have 2 years to catch up! *wink*
Following Pst Phil and Joshua Kelsey's tweets made me realise something about life. That my life will be fun and fulfilling when I recognise and understand the purpose behind my living, just like the way Pst Phil and Joshua recognise and understand theirs. Because if I don't recognise it, I will not be able to live out the full potential of my life, and I will be merely surviving from day to day, drifting from day to day.
I asked myself this, is my life filled with a purpose? Am I living or am I merely surviving?
I am LIVING.
To Live, to Love, to Inspire.
Mar 19, 2009
Small Changes, Big Differences
"Small Changes, Big Difference". This is a phrase that God has been putting in my heart recently. I realized one of the main factor that contributes to procrastination is the unwillingness to change. Humans are creation of habits, we are USED TO the different norms we set in our lives and that set a boundary in our mind of what we can/cannot do, what we should/should not do. Therefore other than our age, other things always remains the same and never change. But breakthroughs don't come with time, breakthroughs come when we do SOMETHING, when we start to CHANGE. Which is a word that will drive a normal population crazy."Change? How to? I am comfortable, too comfortable to change."
It is actually just a matter of tweaking our mindset, Rom 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.." All we need to do is to redefine change. We have been educated through our growing up years that it takes BIG changes to start a BIG revolution, it takes a BIG man to complete a BIG task. That sets a boundary in our mindset. But have we actually thought about small changes? Changes that are manageable at our level? When Jesus called Peter to walk on water he did not jump onto the sea, he took a small step out of the boat, to literally "test water". When his feet was firm he then took another step to be totally out of the boat. That "small change" led to Peter being the second man on earth to actually walk on water.
In the year 1994, the sales of Hush Puppies footwear went down to a staggering figure of 30,000 pairs, it was on the brim of closing down. But yet in 1995 the sales went through the roof, selling 430,000 pairs! A big difference of 400,000 in one year! How did that happen? It was all initiated by a small change, when a group of youngsters in Manhattan decided to change their fashion sense, and wear Hush Puppies footwear to clubs and bars. And that slowly became a trend other people follows, and by word of mouth, the small change created a big difference.
No doubt it takes effort to change, no doubt most of us are not comfortable to change. But what is your definition of change, what is the level of change you can manage today? Initiated by a small change Peter walked on water, initiated by a small change I can still wear Hush Puppies shoe to my secondary school. What small change can you initiate today?
Life is all about choices, you chose.
Mar 17, 2009
Connection
Dear friends,
Thank you for visiting my blog, after much procrastination I decided to take a step into the "unknown". I am praying that through this blog I will be able to CONNECT with you even more. Everything in this world this day is about CONNECTION, a famous saying goes, "Its not about what you know, but who you know". When you know the right people having the right CONNECTION you will have the right resources. In the book Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell rightly pointed out the importance of CONNECTORS, those with all the CONNECTION and network, someone who knows whose who. They are like walking Facebooks, just that they do not throw sheeps at people. And if you pass on an information to them, the extend of the distance this information will travel is unbelievable.
But if only given one line of CONNECTION for you to be CONNECTED to one person, who would you want to be CONNECTED to? For me no doubt I will chose God, the greatest CONNECTOR in the world. Being CONNECTED gives you the access to everything in His storehouse, which means literally everything in this world! And this brings me to the main topic I want to talk about.
How well is your CONNECTION with God?
Pastor Dean Sweetman, Senior Pastor of Christian City Church Atlanta preached about CONNECTION with God during the CCCI meeting in Singapore a few years back. Pastor Dean said that just like internet CONNECTION, our CONNECTION with God has different bandwidth. Some of us have the 56kb/sec CONNECTION, signal is failing, sometimes not even able to connect. Some of us have the 10mb/sec CONNECTION, signal is good, but sometimes not really able to sustain heavy downloads. But there is a group that CHOSE to go for the Gigabit Ethernet system, 1000mb/sec. Needless to say, downloading has never been easier. So my question is, how well is your CONNECTION with God?
Life is all about choices, you chose.
Thank you for visiting my blog, after much procrastination I decided to take a step into the "unknown". I am praying that through this blog I will be able to CONNECT with you even more. Everything in this world this day is about CONNECTION, a famous saying goes, "Its not about what you know, but who you know". When you know the right people having the right CONNECTION you will have the right resources. In the book Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell rightly pointed out the importance of CONNECTORS, those with all the CONNECTION and network, someone who knows whose who. They are like walking Facebooks, just that they do not throw sheeps at people. And if you pass on an information to them, the extend of the distance this information will travel is unbelievable.
But if only given one line of CONNECTION for you to be CONNECTED to one person, who would you want to be CONNECTED to? For me no doubt I will chose God, the greatest CONNECTOR in the world. Being CONNECTED gives you the access to everything in His storehouse, which means literally everything in this world! And this brings me to the main topic I want to talk about.
How well is your CONNECTION with God?
Pastor Dean Sweetman, Senior Pastor of Christian City Church Atlanta preached about CONNECTION with God during the CCCI meeting in Singapore a few years back. Pastor Dean said that just like internet CONNECTION, our CONNECTION with God has different bandwidth. Some of us have the 56kb/sec CONNECTION, signal is failing, sometimes not even able to connect. Some of us have the 10mb/sec CONNECTION, signal is good, but sometimes not really able to sustain heavy downloads. But there is a group that CHOSE to go for the Gigabit Ethernet system, 1000mb/sec. Needless to say, downloading has never been easier. So my question is, how well is your CONNECTION with God?
Life is all about choices, you chose.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)