Name: Zacchaeus
Address: Big house in Jericho
Height: Err...short
Occupation: Chief tax collector
Interests: Extortion, climbing trees
Comments: Shifty eyes
History: Here

One of the best subjects I'm doing this semester is Childrens' Ministry Skills. It's just all the practical stuff of doing kids' ministry - from puppetry, quick sketching, quizzes, games, memory verses, story telling...on and on.

Now you might be wondering what's a Bible college student and youth group leader doing with kids stuff. Here's a number of reasons:

• It's "free" (I can choose any number of electives as part of my course).
  
• You get free stuff in class (you can tell I'm a stingy Asian).
  
• I'm a big kid.
  
• I like creative stuff.
  
• I totally suck at creative stuff.

But above all, I reckon that this kinda stuff can be used for all age groups - even adults. Now of course, you gotta tweak it a bit. And if you've been in my 180 group this semester, you'll know that I've already been using some ideas from class in my Bible studies. Dunno what I'll do with puppets yet.

Give thanks for the children's workers out there who work hard at bringing the gospel to kids (it is not easy). Give thanks for the opportunity to learn skills that can help me to teach the Bible. Pray God can help me to adapt what I learn into my own ministries.

Finally finished the essay! Yay!!! *breathes a sigh of relief*

But...no rest for the wicked, so they say. I have an average of one essay due every two weeks from now till the end of the semester. And since I'm late for the Job essay, it's eating into my time for the other essays.

Gotta catch up!!

Sorry to disappoint, but I haven't had much to blog about lately. Still stuck with this overdue essay. I'm currently halfway, but it's really screwing up my schedule. I'm gonna keep falling behind at this rate...

Had an interesting discussion last week about predestination - but not your average, deep, theological debate - it was on BGR!

Someone said that you don't need to worry about who you're gonna go out with, cause God has already chosen someone for you.

What do you reckon?

That's what I preached on this morning from John 4:4-26. Not Gatorade, but Jesus the thirst quencher. Actually, the real title was "How to be completely satisfied." But there's no cool picture for that. :P

When I had finished my first draft on Thurs and practiced it with a friend, it wasn't too crash hot. Too long. No structure. Too propositional. My voice croaked. Tones and expressions bland...etc. So I spent Fri and Sat fixing it up (though both those days was taken up with a range of activities like the Deb Fung Concert and the Sports Night).

Generally I was quite happy with the finished product, both in terms of content and presentation. On the day, it usually comes out a little bit better because of the adrenaline. My voice held out thankfully, and the congregation was kind enough to laugh in all the right places. I was planning to put in the RICE themes for the last 2 years ("Where is the Love?" and "There's Gotta be more to Life"). Hehe...that would've been funny.

Pray for the non-Christians (and any nominal Christians) that were there today. Pray that they did not merely enjoy the sermon, but were challenged and rebuke by it in such a way that they will turn in faith and repentance to the Lord Jesus.

It was really good that Phil and Dennis came for a surprise visit. They are 2 of the guys from my last church. We became good friends over the 3 years that I was there. They remembered that I was preaching today and came to encourage me. Thanks guys!! =)

Give thanks for this friendship that God has given me. Pray for these 2 guys that they will continue to grow and mature as men of God. They are both studying, but very eager to serve God and to see his kingdom grow.

Now...back to that 3,000 word essay worth 40%...

The Deb Fung Concert last night went well. Nice singing and testimony from Deb. A good turn out, with many of the non-Christians from last week coming back. I think some of them are coming to church this Sun and next Fri. Photos can be found here.

Pray that the newcomers will be interested in studying the Bible and asking questions that will help them to come to know the Lord Jesus. Pray also that we can be welcoming to them and help them to settle in.

As you can see from the "Coming Up" section on the right, I have an OT essay due - YESTERDAY! And I haven't STARTED yet! But I did manage to get an extension cuz I was sick. Though that does push my schedule back for all my other essays (which are all quite hard).

I have Research Week starting Monday, which means no lectures, and instead we're meant to do research for our assignments. Usually, I sleep in a lot and find various ways to procrastinate. But I can't afford to do that next week. Must catch up!

Pray for discipline and concentration as I study God's Word.

Tonight ND is having a pre-evangelistic sports night @ Thornleigh. Normally there's a group that goes there every Sunday night for basketball, badminton and table tennis (I've been going along recently). But tonight we have volleyball!! Yay! It's one of my favourite sports, mainly cuz it's one of the few that I actually know how to play.

Pray that non-Christians will see this as a non threatening event that they can come along to, and to meet Christians who are just as "normal".

I really should blog about these things earlier so people can pray about it. D'oh!

I'm feeling a bit better today. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me. I finally got out of my room and started attending lectures. I'm not all better yet, but it's getting there. Still need help with my voice.

In other news, ND is having a Deb Fung Concert tonight. I should've posted about this earlier so people can be praying about it. It's the 2nd of our 180° evangelistic events. Deb will be presenting her testimony in between each song.

Please pray for the non-Christians who will be coming. We had a good turn out last week, and hope it'll be even better this week. Pray for Deb as she sings of God's grace in her life.

The leaders have all been working very hard the last few weeks. Still recovering from RICE, everyone's been putting in 110% getting these 2 events together.

Pray that God will sustain us with energy and joy as we serve him. Pray for the various parts we have to play tonight (videos, testimonies, lighting, etc) will help the spread of the gospel somehow. And pray that the leaders will be able to find balance and rest after this Friday.

Sunday night, my throat was like sandpaper.
Yesterday, my nose was like Niagra Falls.
Today, my nose is like...someone who hasn't been eating vegetables.

A bit graphic, but that's how I feel - crap.

I've also been aching all over. Dunno if it's because of Sunday night sports (& being generally unfit), or because of this flu.

And I can't think properly cuz my head's filled with mucus. You would've thought I'd have nothing left after the way it was dripping yesterday. Talk about extremes.

Grrr...I hate being sick! x.X