Nativity Youth God's VieW

Conclusion to Sacred Pathways

2007-06-28T21:40:00.000+08:00

Most of Us Are Blends

Intellectuals want to understand new things about God; activists want to fight God's battles; enthusiasts want to experience God; naturalists want to meet God in nature; sensates want to see and touch things that remind them of God; traditionalists want to faithfully remember God; ascetics want to be alone with God; caregivers want to be God's hands and feet; contemplatives want to adore God and to know Him better.

The important thing is to understand how you best connect with God so that you can more deliberately and consciously cultivate an increasing affection for your Creator.

Do you see yourself in any of the categories in the previous entries? Please don't feel that you have to choose just one; most of us are blends, and many of us will move in and out of certain temperaments as we age. The important thing is not to find the right "label," but to understand how you best connect with God so that you can more deliberately and consciously cultivate an increasing affection for your Creator.

One caveat is in order, however. Every Christian, regardless of their temperament, needs to spend appropriate time being shaped by God's Word. Some of you might join group Bible studies, others of you may sit alone with your word dictionaries, concordances, and lexicons, and others of you might regularly listen to the Bible on tape — but interacting with the Word on a daily basis should be a given. The same goes for prayer and times of worshipful adoration. How and where you pray may differ; but every Christian is called to spend time with God.

The good news is that God crafted you with a specific design. You will certainly bear similarities to certain other believers, but you most celebrate the creative quality of God when you give yourself permission to seek His face in a way that honors His creative genius — beginning with your own spiritual makeup.

Scared Pathways #5

2007-06-28T21:39:00.000+08:00

The Contemplative

Contemplatives are marked by an emotional attachment and even abandonment to God. Like Mary who sat at Jesus' feet, you see yourself first and foremost as God's lover, and you want to spend your time in God's presence, adoring Him, listening to Him, and just enjoying Him.

You resemble ascetics in that your passion for God often leads you into solitude, where you can sit still and enjoy being in God's presence. Your watchwords are desire and relationship, as affirmed by Jesus in John 15:15: "I no longer call you servants … Instead, I have called you friends."

As a contemplative, you enjoy doing the things that couples like to do: Demonstrating your love for God through secret acts of devotion, giving gifts to God like a poem, or offering an anonymous act of charity. You often favor the discipline of journal writing, where you can intensely explore your heart's devotion.

Scared Pathways #4

2007-06-17T15:20:00.000+08:00

The Enthusiast
An enthusiast, walking in the footsteps of David, loves excitement and celebration; you probably buy far more worship CDs than books. Enthusiasts tend to be more relational, and therefore favor group worship. You feed off the excitement of other believers praising God.

As an enthusiast, you also revel in God's mystery and supernatural power. You like to take spiritual risks, and wake up hoping God will do something new and fresh. You don't want to just know scriptural concepts; you want to experience and be moved by them. Your exuberance tends to lead you to explore the livelier elements of worship, such as dancing, music, drawing, singing and other creative forms.

The Intellectual
You're an intellectual if your heart is awakened when you understand new concepts about God. Your mind is probably very active, with the result that new intellectual understanding literally births affection; it creates increased respect for your Creator, which leads to worship.

You're an intellectual if your heart is awakened when you understand new concepts about God.

Intellectuals are usually the ones stressing Bible study as the mainstay of their devotion. But some of you, like the biblical Solomon, may also have curious minds in areas beyond the Bible — biology, astronomy, even physics. The more you understand about truth and God's universe, the more in awe of God — and therefore in love with Him — you become.
Just as the naturalist can't wait to get out of doors, the sensate is eager to visit the cathedral, and the ascetic scurries off into his inner world, so the intellectual seeks God in the pages of a book, the shelves of a library, or the vast ruminations of your mind.

Scared Pathways #3

2007-06-07T00:22:00.000+08:00

The Activist

Activists follow in the footsteps of Moses, Elijah and Habakkuk; you love to meet God in the vortex of confrontation. If you're an activist, you want to fight God's battles. Church is primarily a place to collect signatures and sign up volunteers for the "real work" of the Gospel that takes place outside the church building.
As an activist, you're one of the movers and shakers of the Christian community. You may have a political bent or adopt an evangelistic emphasis, but what marks you as an activist is that you feel most alive spiritually when you are in the midst of God's active work. That's when God seems most real, most immanent and most exciting.

The Caregiver

Caregivers love God by loving others. You're the Mordecais to the world's Esthers; the Dorcas's (Acts 10:36) to the local church. Providing care and meeting needs in Jesus' name spiritually energizes you, drawing you ever closer to the Lord. For you, caregiving isn't an obligation as much as it is a threshold to intimacy with God.
Caregiving extends well beyond nursing sick people to include fixing a widow's car, serving as a volunteer firefighter, or researching a cure for a disease. A caregiver is comforted by Jesus' words, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40, NIV). God seems nearest to you when you are looking at Him through the eyes of a sick child or hurting friend.

good day to all =)

For the guitarists #2

2007-05-31T17:16:00.001+08:00

Hey, tonight there won't be practice again cos mark j and i aren't free. sorry about that. anyways, i found out this theory website that Zach posted on e tagboard,
ur lesson today is to go there and learn whatever you can.

This website is effective cos it help to make u understand thru diagrams and such.

Will inform again regarding next lesson at a later date .

Alright, have fun. Byebye

2007-05-31T17:05:00.000+08:00

The Traditionalist

For you traditionalists, religion isn't a dirty word — it's an outgrowth of your relationship with God. You're designed to appreciate the role of ritual, which builds on the power of reinforced behavior. There is something profound for you in worshipping God according to set patterns — your own, or history's. You may organize your life around scheduled times of prayer, and may even choose to carefully observe the Christian calendar, aligning yourself with centuries of faith. According to Acts, both Peter and John had set times for prayer. And Paul followed the custom of praying by the riverside on the Sabbath.

In addition to establishing rituals, you may choose to make good use of Christian symbols. We tend to quickly forget even convicting insights and soul-searing truth, but carefully chosen symbols help to remind us of those truths we want to live by. Types of symbols are limited only by your imagination. Some singles wear a purity ring; others wear a cross necklace. More sophisticated forms of symbolism include people decorating with colors that coincide with the Christian calendar: White is used on Easter and Christmas as a color of joy; purple is used for Lent, Holy Week and Advent; black symbolizes Good Friday.

The Ascetic

The best way to picture an ascetic is to think of a monk, or John the Baptist — someone who goes off on his own, in an austere environment, to get his spiritual batteries charged. You like to meet God internally; you don't want the distractions of a museum or a group meeting, as you prefer to shut out the world and meet God in solitude and austerity. Your preferred environment for personal worship is silence, without any noisy or colorful stimulants.

It's likely that you're part ascetic if you sense the need to have alone time on a regular basis.

It's likely that you're part ascetic if you sense the need to have alone time on a regular basis. You may even prefer solitary retreats, or at least a quiet place with a rather orderly environment. You and your fellow ascetics are often advocates of all night prayer vigils and many of the classical disciplines, such as fasting and biblical meditation.

2007-05-21T20:39:00.000+08:00

The Naturalist

In Psalm 19:1, David extols nature's ability to awaken our cold hearts to God's warm presence: "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork" (NKJV). The apostle Paul spoke of a similar reality in Romans 1:20a when he wrote, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." Both writers testify to the reality experienced by naturalists — being outdoors does something to awaken our hearts to God.

Most of God's appearances in Scripture occurred outside: Hagar in the desert, Jacob beside a river, and Moses on a mountain. In fact, the very picture of heaven on earth was the Garden of Eden — not a cathedral! Not a Starbucks. And certainly not a shopping mall. Adam and Eve enjoyed a close walk with God in a garden. Of course, others met God inside, in the holy of holies, but naturalists find more spiritual stimulation in a natural setting rather than in a cleverly crafted human one.

If you find that you can't sit still at your desk without falling asleep, or that you're bored by trying to comb through devotional books while lying on your bed, consider getting outside and using nature to help you see and experience God's glory.

The Sensate

The best avenues for some believers to commune with God are the five senses: taste, touch, hearing, seeing, and even smelling. Just as naturalists are spiritually awakened while walking through a forest, so sensates become spiritually attuned when their senses are brought into play. Your most powerful spiritual aids might be majestic music, symbolic architecture, outstanding art, or the sensory experience of communion.

God designed our bodies, so it shouldn't surprise us that he made them in such a way that what we experience through our bodies can awaken our hearts to His presence.

The books of Ezekiel and Revelation reveal a God who comes in a very sense-oriented way: There are loud sounds, flashing lights, even sweet tastes. God designed our bodies, so it shouldn't surprise us that he made them in such a way that what we experience through our bodies can awaken our hearts to His presence.

For the guitarists

2007-05-17T15:58:00.000+08:00

Unfortunately, there's no practice tonight so you'll learn in the comfort of your own home. That's right.. Here are e links. And do visit this blog more often.

In this link contains almost all e aspects of the lead guitar techniques.

click here for e lesson.

You'll have,
1) Legato
2) Tapping
3) Alternate picking
4) Sweep picking
5) Economy picking
6) String skipping

And I hope you'll have a really good time. ;D

2007-05-11T14:35:00.000+08:00

hey guys, remember that little test ya took last meeting? Just share with you what results i've got cos i didn't took e test on that day, heh heh.

Naturalist: 11
Sensate: 11
Traditionalist: 8
Ascetics: 16
Activists: 6
Caregiver: 8
Enthusiast: 15
Contemplative: 14
Intellectual: 13

anyways, if u're curious, i'll post an eleboration of two of e pathways every week(so that you'll visit this blog, yeap). For now, meeting's on the 14 May 07. MMers, if any of u read this post, tell e others yea?

byebye.

oi.

2007-04-12T07:58:00.000+08:00

hello :) here's an update on the meeting:

1. MM will change its name. The new name will be decided among ourselves. Anyone who has any suggestions on giving a name, please tell Mr. President about it. (NOT S R Nathan hor.)

2. Those still interested in taking part in the Youth Rally thingy conducted by CAYC either as participants or facilitators please approach Mr. President and give him your details. (NOT S R Nathan hor.) Those having confirmation this year will attend through their cathecists.Costs are as follows:

Participant: $35
Facilitator: $10
Experience: Priceless.

There're things money can't buy, for everything else, there's mastercard.

3. Games day is on the 26th May, the saturday after your Mid Year Exams. If you are coming, please let ME (Not Mr. President hor.) know. please come! :D

4. Note that MM Room has been changed to audi 2. the nicer room downstairs. :P

5. Those interested to learn or practise your instruments with the seniors, please approach the following people:

guitar: marcus
drums: isis
keyboard: christina
bass: zacster cheamster.

:)

6. Many thanks to LESLIE, ANGELINA & MARCUS for helping out in the set up for the easter carnival, and to the rest of you who helped out in 1 way or another (cleaning up or serving food) and to the people who played in the bands. :) there were lots of positive comments about the carnival and it's all thanks to you guys!

coming up, there'll be a pnw for every meeting since it's only fortnightly, and we may get external speakers to give us sharings and sessions.

BTW, you are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to memorise your Prayer to St. Cecilia. :) you've been warned. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

an update of the past events

2007-03-23T10:07:00.000+08:00

HELLO! :D sorry for the super long delay, but as we all have been busy, we've sort of neglected this blog.

BUT DON'T BE DISHEARTENED! we'll try to update as regularly as possible k? but we also need your help LAH....... WHERE'S YOUR SHARINGS!?!?!?!?!?!??!! eh share la... primary school teach you to share then you all like that... :D

ANW,

i hope you guys are actively doing nice things for your mortal! you know you know? for those of you who didn't go for mm meeting last wk.. (SHAMEFUL AHHHHH :D) not to worry! you won't miss out on the festivities! you'll get your mortal so you can start doing nice things for them! :D

don't worry, this week's MM meeting will be this coming monday and i hope you guys will be able to make it.

YOUTH MASS is coming soon! those interested to play are STRONGLY (i know we're not strong la.) ENCOURAGED to step forward and offer your services! just approach either isis, marcus, christina or me okie? VACANCIES ARE LIMITED SO............ you know what to do :)

besides playing, there's also the welfare team and publicity team and what not. so if you think you won't be able to pull of playing for youth mass, there's always the decorations and whatever! just let us know okie?

OH. and games day is on MAY... something.. i forgot alr.. haha.. BUT IT'S AFTER YOUR EXAMS OK? so must go must go... it's gonna be fun fun fun! and you will be able to BOND with the other mmers you are dying to bond with :D so relax for a day and come ok?

MM room is going to be changed too. don't worry, it'll be the best room ever. :D

ok! that's it for the updates! START THE (*)&%^&%^ SHARING!!!!!!!!! send to us! k

ciaos!

it's a sad sad day.........

2007-03-06T07:29:00.000+08:00

why sad? cuz no one comes here :( sho sad...

don't forget there's MM meeting on monday! there'll be pnw b4 an interesting session by isis! :D

there'll be 2 new songs you probably haven't heard.. so i'm posting up the lyrics so u'll be better prepared yup? haha

REACHING FOR YOU

I can't believe the way
Your love has got a hold on me
Each morning I wake to find You near
You lift me above my fears
And set my feet on solid ground
All of my days belong to You

And I breathe in Your breath of life that fills my heart
You are my all consuming fire

I stand here before You
In wide opened wonder
Amazed at the glory of You
The power of heaven
Revealing Your purpose in me
As I'm reaching for You

NOW THAT YOU'RE NEAR

Hold me in Your arms
Never let me go
I wanna spend eternity with You

(verse 1)
I stand before You, Lord
And give You all my praise
Your love is all I need
Jesus, You're all I need

(verse 2)
My life belongs to You
You gave Your life for me
Your grace is all I need
Jesus, You're all I need

(pre chorus)
Hold me in Your arms
Never let me go
I wanna spend eternity with You

(chorus)
And now that You're near
Everything is different
Everything's so different, Lord
And I know I'm not the same
My life You've changed
And I wanna be with You
I wanna be with You

(bridge)
And I will sing for You always
'Cause in Your presence God is where I wanna stay

have a great week yea? :) if u wanna listen to the song gimme a shoutout k? ciaos!

2007-02-27T07:47:00.000+08:00

hope you guys enjoyed the yu sheng yesterday! :D you're welcome to tell us your feelings for yesterday's session cum lau yu sheng under " _ mmers love this song" okie? :)

hello

2007-02-21T22:54:00.000+08:00

hello peeps, happy chinese new year to all! Hope everyones had a great cny.

Remember, even though you lose money, there's always good dinner during cny to fill up ur tummy.
Do take note that i am not promoting you to gamble, it is just what most people do during the new yr - to gamble. x)

anyways. visitation on the 24th is cancelled due to e not-so-good response of e mm. we shall all gather together as one mm family to lao yu sheng after the meeting on the 26th of Febuary. do not worry, we have alr planned e timings so that we won't end late, hokay?

ladies, it's best if u do not wear a skirt for meetings(unless ya just came from work and u were required to wear one), cos we're all gonna sit on e floor during meetings from now. Don't worry, the floor will be mopped by then.

SHOES WILL ALSO BE REMOVED B4 YOU ENTER INTO THE ROOM.

lastly, please respect the altar in e room. haha.

Announcement!!!!

2007-02-16T09:59:00.000+08:00

HELLO PEOPLE! sorry i've been on hiatus these few days. been a very busy 21 YEAR OLD MAN (NOT 15 HOR)working my butt off.

this is for you guys to note that there'll be no MM meeting this coming monday night, because of gong see fat chai. instead it'll be postponed to next monday yup. be there!

anyway, i know you guys won't turn up either even if this wasn't announced, you'll be busy making money, i know... :P

HAIRNEEEWAYYYY....

how was everyone's week? good i hope, and i'd bet most of you will be "FINALLY LONG WEEKEND'S COMING LOH".

this is my 1st time since army that i'm glad the weekend's here. before i got a job, i don't even know when the weekend is bacause i've been lazing off since God knows when.

SPEAKING OF GOD..

HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN PRAYING? before you put on the sad face, looking gloomy and mutter "yessssss......" under your breath, HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN REALLY PRAYING?! remember the things you wrote on the mahjong paper hor. saying you wanna feel God's prescence and all that stuff.. how can you do it if you haven't been praying yet right?

the reason why the altar was set up in the MM room was to remind you that everytime you walk into the room, you're reminded that God's presence is everywhere and not just in MM room, but everywhere you go. BUT since i can't set up an altar for everyone to carry everywhere they go, i hope that whenever you enter the MM room, late or not, :D you're reminded that God is looking at you now, hoping that you'll remember to say hi to Him. :)

another very good way of remembering God in your daily lives is to make an altar in your very own room. you don't have to put all the exorbitant stuff for an altar, what chalice ah, 24K gold bible, 6K diamond crusted cross, Gucci cloth...

remember that God looks at the heart. as God said in 1 Samuel 16:7, "... Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as man judges. Man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart."

as long as you have the intention of talking to God everyday, it doesn't matter even if you take 2 tooth picks and make it into a cross if that reminds you of Jesus right?

so even if you are as handsome as Aloy Ng, but your heart is machiam Hitler's heart, I really pity you.. :) haha.. no la.. you shld start to change for the better right? look like Aloy must have heart like Aloy right? :D

HEHEHEHEHE...

kk remember to pray k! God bless! boss coming already.

sorry, no pictures today cuz i'm using my workplace computer to type this entry :D see! i'm so nice to blog even though i'm so busy. ;D

Greetings!

2007-02-12T16:18:00.000+08:00

Hi this is Marcus here. Thanks to BenTan that this blog was done up =)

Dear MMers,

I strongly urge u guys to visit this blog like it is your own. As every information you will get during MM meetings will all be placed right here.

Regarding the fund, i hope you guys will cooperate with our residental loanshark, Kenneth Neo. If you want more changes to the room, all the more we should cooperate=)
(btw, any suggestions to make the room a better place do email me or drop a comment at runningwithmebs@gmail.com)

Lastly, calling out to all guitarists(basists too if u'd like), i'll post links and scores of guitar lessons and pnw chords here once in awhile. Mainly links from www.ultimate-guitar.com and www.pwarchive.com. Any questions about music theory or whatsoever, personally ask Mark Jason or BenTan.

So that's all i have to say for now. So do take care and study or work hard. haha.

Cheers! =)

Life Sucks....

2007-02-11T22:44:00.000+08:00

To all the beloved people in MM.. yea the room is done up.. yea we got nice speaker sets and yea, we got a spankin' new altar and prayer corner (no excuse to be LATE thou... you can use it even if youre earli...) alas... i regret to inform the enthusiasts for the 'MM Revival Phase' that has been goin on has to.. STOP for the time being....

CUZ WE AINT GOT NO MORE MONEY!!!!! yea pple... our MM Fund is officially BROKE!! (after the $$$ our dear Ben Tan H.K spent settin up the altar.. nice touch dude... but you didnt think of our financial status BEFORE setting it up.. hah..) oh, the horror, the horror....

So, for now... we will stop the revampin of the rm.. bear in mind that this is only temporary!!! So, come 26th Feb, i will start collection for Mar n Apr, which will be under the new price of $4... as agreeded in the past (i just never carried it out) So.. if you do wan our rm to be better, pls contribute to us in a timely manner... and OF COURSE, love offerings are also accepted!!! (Commander-in-Chief, you DID NOT see this, yea??)

haha... well... tts all folks.. hope you had a smashin time this week.. tune in later (how late i dunno, depends on my mood) for more details n the latest updates and patches.. WOOT!!!

LoanShark, OUT!

THE room (part duo)

2007-02-11T02:00:00.000+08:00

feeling dry lately? been looking for a place of solitude to reflect?

LOOK NO MORE.

your jesus corner (temporary) is done up for your spiritual needs!

NOW EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE LATE TO BE AT THE PRAYER CORNER! :)

THE room

2007-02-07T23:58:00.000+08:00

hey peeps, still unconvinced by what the loanshark said in his previous post? see for yourself!

well... at least it's cleaner than before.. :D

but wait! what better way to listen to P&W songs with friends and this:

HOHOHO....

if u wanna thank us in any way.. just close your eyes, and thank God for giving us an MM room and thank God for aloy for donating the speakers and thank God for everything else in your life. :)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: PRAYER CORNER for all your jesus needs! :)

btw: there is a Youth Rally held in CJC auditorium this coming saturday, it's a very good opportunity to experience Jesus and to feel his presence for those who wrote it in their spiritual needs on monday :) and also meet the youths of other parishes!

for those interested, it'll be this coming saturday. meet up at Mary's shrine at 5:30 sharp. the YC has chartered a bus for 50 of us to go. so if you reach there at 5:31, you can walk over to hougang interchange and take 153 :)

hope to see you guys there!

PS: sry forgot to make this announcement on monday.. but anw.. spread the word around! :)

Picture moments! :)

2007-02-07T00:18:00.001+08:00

thanks to dear angelina the faithful photographer of MM for sending me these pictures and asking me to post them up! :)

*warning* not for the faint hearted...

WE PUT THE "M" IN YOUR USIC!

we still put the 'M' in your usic!

we put the music in your mass too!

DARLIN... u must be tired after putting the "m" in your usic :)

uh...

i wonder who is this... OH.. it's your 总统!

the daydream auditoriumers

ben yeo, this is not free kick hor.

half of girl band!

iggy, why did your bro pang seh u?

we said it once, n we'll say it again: we put the 'm' in your usic!

aloy, don't emo on the cake....

emo on jeremy. OH JEREMY DON'T GOOOoooo....

thanks angie! :) keep the posts coming guys! :)

Sound System!!

2007-02-07T00:17:00.001+08:00

For those of you who are observant enough, you musta wondered what the heck we were doin wif those tall speakers up on the stage, and how come there was a black box like thingy with many buttons, dials and knobs... well, fret not!!

Today, today, the 6th of Feb, the combined forces of Your friendly Debt Collector, Ben Tan H.K. (find a better nick dude), MJ and the Commander-in-Chief rallied to bring order to chaos and succeeded in setting up our very own sound system!! Woots!!! Yee-haW!! So, TV (Check), DVD Player (Check), Sound System (Check)... right on!! the MM home theatre system is up and runnin!! Now, any suggestions for the 1st Public screenin (MM-exclusive, of course) title?? suggestions, people?? We await your replies!! Spam the tag board, add comments or even hack tis page and vandalise it wif your "Most Wanted Title!!"

For those of you who have nice PnW songs that you wanna intro to the group, you could burn a copy of the cd or a whole compilation and leave it in the MM rm to be played before the start of meetings and all.. For the greater good!!

RULES RULES RULES.

2007-02-06T23:51:00.000+08:00

sorry for being the spoiler, but rules are rules. :)

here're some rules for this blog:

1) this blog is temporarily managed by the core team members: marcus, ben, isis, christina and kenneth
2) anyone's free to use chatterbox for mindless chatting or what not. please keep it to NC-14.. (the youngest in MM :D) any language deemed unsuitable will have the post taken out and if spamming occurs, cbox will be shut down. (those who find that they cannot chat on the blog can go "hamtam" the fella.. i'm blind and i won't be able to see anything :P)
3) for personal comments to the post, it can be done at every end of the post. just click on the "_ MMers loved this song"
4) any personal sharing/reflections/announcements/pictures or what not can approach any of the core team members and/or send .doc documents so we can just copy and paste onto the blog. these posts will be greatly appreciated so pls keep em coming! :)
5) announcements made on the recent MM meeting will be posted on the side bar labelled "announcements"
6) as for the skin, anyone willing to do a better skin will be greatly welcomed to do so. :) thanks leslie! wahahahaha..
7) links of personal blogs will not be posted on the blog to avoid overcrowding. however, links of other church groups/reflection websites will be put up for you guys to visit. you can link this blog to your personal blog too. SPREAD THE LOVE! :)

yup this is basically what this blog is all about. sry if it's too "auntie" for you.. but let's try to keep this blog clean n keep it going too!

St. Cecilia: Patron Saint of Church Music

2007-02-05T13:15:00.000+08:00

yoho:D

i'm sure for those of you who joined MM, you have no idea whatsoever who is st. cecilia and all you know abt her is "Dear St. Cecilia, one thing we know........." right? it's ok, no one's looking at you, you can give the "ashamed" look. :D

so be ashamed no more! because here's the lowdown on her, courtesy of http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=34

and here she is:

so here's what the website said about her:

"The story of S. Cecilia is not without beauty and merit. There was in the city of Rome a virgin named Cecilia, who was given in marriage to a youth named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, and fasted, and invoked the saints and angels and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity. And she said to her husband, "I will tell you a secret if you will swear not to reveal it to anyone." And when he swore, she added, "There is an angel who watches me, and wards off from me any who would touch me." He said, "Dearest, if this be true, show me the angel." "That can only be if you will believe in one God, and be baptized."
She sent him to Pope S. Urban (223-230), who baptized him; and when he returned, he saw Cecilia praying in her chamber, and an angel by her with flaming wings, holding two crowns of roses and lilies, which he placed on their heads, and then vanished. Shortly after, Tibertius, the brother of Valerian, entered, and wondered at the fragrance and beauty of the flowers at that season of the year.
When he heard the story of how they had obtained these crowns, he also consented to be baptized. After their baptism the two brothers devoted themselves to burying the martyrs slain daily by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius. [There was no prefect of that name.] They were arrested and brought before the prefect, and when they refused to sacrifice to the gods were executed with the sword.
In the meantime, S. Cecilia, by preaching had converted four hundred persons, whom Pope Urban forthwith baptized. Then Cecilia was arrested, and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for a night and a day, and the fires were heaped up, and made to glow and roar their utmost, but Cecilia did not even break out into perspiration through the heat. When Almachius heard this he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the bath. The man struck thrice without being able to sever the head from the trunk. He left her bleeding, and she lived three days. Crowds came to her, and collected her blood with napkins and sponges, whilst she preached to them or prayed. At the end of that period she died, and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons. "

for us lowly peasants, though we can't see it, we too, have an angel watching over us. this angel of ours does not need a loudhailer to speak to us like the devil does. (loudhailer being the material wants in this world) if only we listen to our own self conscience and make the right choices, this voice of our angel will only get louder and louder cuz the devil's loudhailer will run out of battery.

more of st. cecilia can be found when u google "st cecilia" if you are interested. :)

so for those getting the sacrament of confirmation this year, i'd encourage everyone to use cecilia as your confirmation name! then when archbishop sees all of you with the same name, he would (as aloy ng would say..) STEAM AH!

kidding la..

but i do encourage you guys to look up on the saint whose name you want to use as your confirmation name so that we'd follow in their footsteps.. Saints were once human too right?

1st Test for me, Ever!!

2007-02-04T22:45:00.000+08:00

To all the dudes who know me by this nick.. oh well... here goes... ( im a total bloggin idiot, by the way.. unlike some dude whos in DrugLand now)...

Alright... here goes....

Viola!! (if you can see this, it means im not such an idiot after all, then again, if i didnt, you wont see this post at all. but oh well, what the heck... )

Welcome to the 1st ever, one of a kind, numero uno, MUSIC MINISTRY!

2007-02-04T22:10:00.002+08:00

HELLO! :)

for those who have absolutely NO IDEA WHATSOEVER and are thinking of who is the bo liao person who set up this blog for, well.. this is MM's personal, one of a kind blog. absolutely anything abt MM can be posted here: sharings, testimonies, pictures, scandalous pictures, announcements, pictures, shoutouts, more pictures.. yada yada.

and for those who think this blog won't last, HUR! we'll see! :D

OH, n just to let you know, the new core team has recently succeeded the old ones, so.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

here're the COOL PEOPLE in the core team! :D

our dear 总统: MARCUS CHUA!

n fellow core team members:

CHRISTINA NG
ISIS KOH
BEN TAN

and residential loanshark: KENNETH NEO :D

spankyew for your kind attention :)

love that is kept inside, will surely fade someday.......
the only gifts we ever keep are those we give away. :D