Friends in Christ

Friends in Christ are not only friends now but friends for eternity - therefore our getting to know and delighting in one another starts now but will continue on and on... for time upon time.

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Mar 2011

Love as a Grace-Gift

The very act of being able to love someone in a special way is in itself a grace gift from God.

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Mar 2011

ALL Grace for ALL Sufficiency in ALL things at ALL times

And God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that having ALL sufficiency in ALL things at ALL times, you may abound in every good work - 2 Cor 9:8 (ESV)

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Feb 2011

We cannot find God without God

....We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God - which is another way of saying that our seeking will always fall short unless God's grace initiates the search and unless God's call draws us to him and completes the search.

If the chasm is to be bridged, God must bridge it. If we are to desire the highest good, the highest good must come down and draw us so that it may become a reality we desire. From this perspective there is no merit in either seeking or finding. ALL IS GRACE. The secret of seeking is not in our human ascent to God, but in God's descent to us. We start out searching, but we end up being discovered. We think we are looking for something; we realize we are found by Someone. As in Francis Thompson's famous picture, "the hound of heaven" has tracked us down. what brings us home is not our discovery of the way home but the call of the Father who has been waiting there for us all along, whose presence there makes home home.

- Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life (emphasis mine)

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Feb 2011

Every Text in Scripture a road to Christ

"Don’t you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? So from every text of Scripture there is a road to Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, now, what is the road to Christ? I have never found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if ever I do find one, I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it."

- Lectures to my Students, Charles Spurgeon

HT: CH

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Feb 2011

A Prayer to be REAL

Creator and Redeemer God,

Help me to be in reality before thee

as in appearance I am before men,

to be religious before I profess religion,

to leave the world before I enter the church,

to set my affections on things above,

to shun forbidden follies and vanities,

to be a dispenser as well as partaker of grace,

to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.

O God, make me worthy of this calling,

that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me and I in him.

- The Valley of Vision

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Feb 2011

Preaching the Gospel

Dr Alistair Begg was at Southern Seminary recently to preach three messages for the E Y Mullins Lectures. His last message on "Preaching the Gospel from Revelation" is a must hear - it is an artful blend of preaching, biblical theology and exhortation with the gospel running through the whole message.

Preaching the Gospel from Ecclesiastes

Preaching the Gospel from Acts

Preaching the Gospel from Revelation

If you want to hear more of Dr Alistair Begg, you can go to Truth for Life.

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Nov 2010

Background by Lecrae

"Yo, I had a dream that I was captain of my soul

I was master of my fate, lost control, and then I sank
So I don't want to take the lead, 'cause I'm prone to make mistakes
All these folks who follow me, goin' end up in the wrong place
So just let me shadow you, just let me trace your lines
Matter of fact, just take my pen, here, you create my rhymes
'Cause if I do this by myself, I'm scared that I'll succeed.

And no longer trust in You, 'cause I only trust in me
And see, that's how you end up headed to destruction
Paving a road to nowhere, pour your life out for nothin'
You pulled my card, I'm bluffin', You know what's in my hand
Me, I just roll and trust you, You cause the dice to land
I'm in control of nothing, follow You at any cost
Some call it sovereign will, all I know is you the boss
And man, I'm so at ease, I'm so content
I'll play the background, like it's an instrument"

- Lecrae

Love what the folks at Reach Records are doing.

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Nov 2010

God the All

O God Whose will conquers all,

There is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying thee

and being engaged in thy service;

thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what to me thou makest them, and no more.

I am well pleased with thy will, whatever it is,

or should be in all respects,

And if thou bidst me to decide for myself in any affair,

I would choose to refer all to thee,

for thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss,

as I am in danger of doing.

I rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal,

and it delights me to leave them there.

Then prayer turns wholly into praise,

and all I can do is to adore and bless thee.

What shall I give thee for all thy benefits?

I am in a strait betwixt two, knowing not

what to do;

I long to make some return, but have nothing to offer,

and can only rejoice that thou doest all,

that none in heaven or on earth shares thy honour;

I can of myself do nothing to glorify thy blessed name,

but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to thee,

I know that thou art the author and finisher of faith,

that the whole work of redemption is thine alone,

that every good work or thought found in me

is the effect of thy power and grace,

that they sole motive in working in me to will

and to do is for thy good pleasure.

O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much

about man's creaturely power and goodness,

when, if thou didst not hold us back every

moment, we should be devils incarnate.

This, by bitter experience, thou hast taught me concerning myself.

- The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennet

Two great Bible Study Resources on the Web available for free usage

Two great Bible Study resources have been made available in BETA version on the web! Both are currently free to use.

One resource is at MyStudyBible.com. This is the electronic version of the HCSB Study Bible and includes additional commentaries, dictionaries and word studies. Mouse over the text of the HCSB Study Bible and you will get the Greek/Hebrew meaning for the word.

Another is Biblia.com; and it is built off the excellent LOGOS Bible Study platform. You can sign in for a free account and gain access to the ESV Bible and a selection of commentaries, books and other resources.

Enjoy digging into God's Word!

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Sep 2010

Grace Baptist Church Young Adults Project - October 2010

For the people back in Singapore; here's something happening in October that you might be interested in:




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Grace and Peace
Ollie
Sep 2010

Experiencing God's Grace

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Grace and Peace
Ollie
Sep 2010

The Necessary Vision for Biblical Ministry - Josh Moody

Pastor Josh Moody preached at Southern Seminary Alumni Chapel today. He gave a message from 2 Tim 4:1-8 and laid out the vision for Biblical Ministry. To the question of how do we do ministry, he lays out four Principles:

1. We do ministry by having a vision of God's judgement v.1
2. We do ministry by having a single vision - to preach the Word v.2
3. We do ministry by having a realistic vision v.3-5, we need to develop in our congregation a taste for God's Word
4. We do ministry by having a future vision of Heaven v. 6-8

Listen to the rest of the message below:



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Grace and Peace
Ollie
Sep 2010

Atonement Q+A - Shai Linne

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Aug 2010

A Shout-Out to God

Thank you God for this gift and privilege of studying in Southern Seminary! :)

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Grace and Peace

Ollie

Aug 2010