Looking Back on the Year of Overcoming Power

Looking back, these 18 years have nothing short of a blessing. I have been an easily angered, attention-seeking prick for the first 14 years. Yet, discovering God's unmerited favor for me has transformed me tremendously.

I love SAJC. Amid the gossip about me that for some reason I do not hear about and the imperfections that come from even a mission school, God has used SAJC to restore everything that I've lost. Friends, grades and even on-stage stardom, the latter being one I officially retire from.

I've experienced success in my studies and healing for my body. I've matured a lot more in my thinking and know how to love genuinely. I've grown so much closer to God and have experienced His threefold blessings, physical, emotional and spiritual, time and again.

I've learnt that there are people who genuinely care for me and not everyone is living for their own sakes. I've learnt that friendships can last even when seasons don't, so long as we choose to be intentional in making them last. Most importantly, I've learnt that I don't know everything and need to stay humble and keep learning, lest my pride bring me a great fall.

2015 has indeed been a Year of Overcoming Power, where I overcome so many physical, emotional and spiritual barriers by the favor and empowerment of God. May 2016, the Year of New Beginnings, surpass 2015 in quality and in quantity, and may God use me for even greater exploits to come!

Throwback Letter

It's a long time since I left Riverlife, and I particularly enjoy this letter from a close friend of mine whose name shall be chan. Just wanted to share to you that youth can Dear Joel,

It's (insert name). I found my letter rushed and short, so I thought it'd be better if I sit and re-write it. Well, it's been a year or so since I've known you and it has been truly delightful. I want to say how comforting it was to have someone as cheery and enthusiastic as you to journey with me through different points of my walk with The King. I pray that this fire with continue to burn and grow bigger while you take on a new challenge: leaving for a new church.

I honestly know that The Lord has prepared you well to venture out into the unknown and to lead the lost sheep home to The Father. He needs someone passionate and dedicated. He needs you. So, I really hope that you will carry out His plans and remember that you are never a failure in His eyes. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, so are the people whom you will meet in future. And, for sure, you will find a community better than us — who will listen to your preachings, support you always, teach you fresh things, give you good advice, share thrilling moments with you. They are for you and never against you, because I know that if our Good Lord brings one into a different picture, He will provide you with the relevant necessities.

I pray for your family to be able to grasp this moment in time as an opportunity to grow closer to each other and to God. I pray for peace upon your homes and for you to find a second home in the new church you may join. I pray for joy to overwhelm you [as always] and I pray that you will bring yourself to love the unloved and unlovable.

His sovereign hand is upon you and the people around you, so never fear of lacking, for His love endures forever. I will never forget all the crazy times we shared with the rest of the youths and kids every Sunday — searching high and low for missing tags, being teachers to the younger ones, entertaining the children with drama performances, jamming to catchy songs, eating chicken pie on the blue, round tables and failing to finish Project SOS… Whoops?

Whatever it was, I am grateful for it and I hope to hear from you in the future. God has a majestic and exciting plan mapped out for you and He is coming to bring His lovely bride home. Know to discern right from wrong and trust in God alone. If you ever were to feel down and blue, Riverlife will always welcome you!

It was nice to know that your cell, actually, do care a lot, huh? Yes, I get how you feel. I learnt that you never know how much someone means to you until they're gone. I speak now, that I have not regretted one bit being your friend and sorry for all the awful things I've done like leaving you, Ben and Faith out during Kingdom Invasion. I pray for your forgiveness. I acknowledge that I wasn't being very nice, but I truly wanted to spend time with my cell for they hardly meet up to attend weird seminars like those.

I hope that you had fun during this year's camp and remember that it's alright not to have "gold dust" or "great visions" or "strange dreams" or "spiritual attacks" to define how strong or precious you are in Christ Jesus. I believe that He will give you these gifts when the time comes, or maybe nothing at all, but it's fine for all that matters is HE LOVES YOU AND HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.

Last but not least, enjoy yourself and I now understand why you take a lot of selfless. I've learnt from you and I now try to take a lot of shots because I realise how precious they are. No longer will I cover my face from the camera now, aha!

Alrighties, thanks for the daily verses and the weird tweets. Thanks for the lame jokes and the many loud "AMEN!" s. I hope that wouldn't be the last time I hear from you. Text us more and the ushers + Aunty Celeste will always miss your morning shouts of, "AND WE WILL SERVE WITH JOY!"

I have to stop or else I am afraid I'll babble on till forever. We should meet up with the rest some times during the holidays. You will always be the decibel whom Jesus loves. Remember that, yo!

Don't stop loving Hebrew and keep that little booklet of Hebrew grace and all.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS!

With love in Christ,
(inset name)

P.S. I still hate math and calculus

P.S.S. Remember the note the lady wrote you during K.I.

P.S.S.S. That was funny stuff

P.S.S.S. QHAT SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inspiring in Suffering by Faith

Before I begin, let me say that suffering is  never caused by God. Suffering is the result of the sinful nature of humans and God will do all that He can to end our suffering permanently. 

Yet, Romans 8:28 tells us that God makes all things, good and bad, work out for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. Believe it or not, it is possible to honor God amid suffering.

In my case, I became very sick in April/May his year. The folds on my skin tore and every small movement (eg folding my arms) gave me a burning sensation. I became so sick I had to stop going to school and having GP tuition. It was horrible. During this time my family kept on declaring by faith that "by His stripes I am healed".

Eventually after visiting In Him Church and receiving prayer from the members there, my parents had the prompting to purchase a certain brand of cream and moisturizer that my skin reacted positively to, and eventually my skin was more or less completely healed, even better than I was before I was sick, albeit with a little bit of remnant areas which we are believing by faith to be healed.

Throughout the time I was sick, I felt like giving up. I felt as though God did not want to heal me. Yet, my spirit did not give up, since God has promised healing of chronic illnesses in the Bible. So we kept confessing faith and not fear, trusting that God is faithful in keeping His promise. At the end of it all, after I had my final GP session before the A levels, my GP tutor told me, "You've taught me that it's possible to remain joyful in the midst of suffering."

Keep the faith, don't give up on trusting God, and people will still see God's glory in you, even if you are suffering.

Biblical Friends

Some friends come, some go. Some form more quicker than others, some require a lot more time and intention. Either case, if we are intentional about it, our friendships can last beyond the appointed seasons, and we can have friendships that edify and are not just hi/bye.

Shouldn't we let God do all of the work? Yes. He gives the friendships the progress or antigress they need. Just like how Peter walked on water by stepping out into the water, so will we choosing to be intentional in making biblical friendships allow God to make them last.

Do it by faith through grace!

Stop Skipping Good Songs!

Yo music people at church! I'm thankful y'all play music to induce an appropriate activity for events, but I'd greatly appreciate if ya stop skipping good songs, namely those performed by Israel and New Breed...thanks!

Math Essay

Backstory: I had to submit an essay on 'the most significant theory' that I consider...so here's the Theory of the Study of Calculus on Thinking Skills.

Mathematics is a science unlike most, in the sense that determining whether ideas hold or not purely relies on axioms of choice and logical deductions and theorems that follow. The theory of calculus as a relatively modern discipline proves innovative in discovery, rigorous in refinement and applicable in the more tangible sciences, thus making it not just an important theory in Mathematics but also providing key skills to true education.

The conception of both differential and integral calculus have both been very apparent. By using so-called ‘infinitesimal’ quantities, which are too insignificant to make any substantial change to the theory, Newton and Leibniz considered the gradient of the tangent at a point, allowing instantaneous rates of change to be calculated, leading to differential calculus. This is ingenious, as it breaks the conventional norm that gradients need to be between two points, encouraging creativity in thinking, crucial in the study of any discipline. Areas under the curve representing a function f were likewise calculated using infinitesimal rectangles between the curve and the x–axis, and they discovered that rates of change of areas at a point was the value of f at that point, giving rise to integral calculus. This spirit of thinking out of the box and experimenting new approaches to problem-solving is thus the key to extend one’s knowledge of the topic.

Eventually mathematicians questioned the notion of infinitesimals, that so long as it is nonzero, it creates an error between the actual ‘gradient’ at a point and the ‘measured’ gradient. As much as they wanted to be rigorous, they didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, that is, the key idea of calculus. Thus, the concept of limits was introduced to formalise calculus and allow the ideas to be rigorously defined and used to minimise ambiguity. Diligence and attention to detail is displayed here to maximise clarity in communication, highly vital in a world with increasing emphasis on clarity of communication. Critical thinking is also embodied, where what is taught is not necessarily accepted as blind faith but challenged and made better through a better form.

With a solidified theory of calculus, scientists could then model many processes using differential equations, since most processes involve rates of change (differential calculus) and its reverse (integral calculus). A large portion of Physics involve rates of change from estimations (use of Maclaurin’s series to estimate a quantity with minimal error) to kinematics (velocity as rate of change of displacement and acceleration as rate of change of velocity) and waves (the use of Laplace and Fourier transforms to approximate sinusoidal waveforms) that has allowed them to more efficiently make measurements and calculate predictions. The versatility of calculus has encouraged the act of active learning — application of what is learned at the theoretical framework into sciences and technology that has mankind to do what was previously impossible.

Thus, the theory of calculus not only provides development in the technical sense of clear understanding and consensus in study, but also development in the thinking skills that apply to academia as well as outside of academia. It thus is not only a pursuit for content but a honing of skills that we should all keep developing as we learn continuously.