<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450</id><updated>2010-03-09T21:59:12.160+08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Real Man</title><subtitle type='html'>Hope Church (Singapore) Men's Ministry</subtitle><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/blog.htm'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/atom.xml'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>74</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-8921596205666418648</id><published>2010-03-05T13:43:00.000+08:00</published><updated>2010-03-05T13:44:55.765+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='temptations'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sexual purity'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='articles'/><title type='text'>Article: Masturbation: Is It a Sin?</title><content type='html'>This is a question that many, if not most, teenagers ask at some time or another. When a teen myself I was taught that masturbation can cause all sorts of problems—either physically and/or mentally. This was taught I’m sure by well-meaning people but it has long since been proven to be totally false. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If one were taught this, he or she may struggle with false guilt that can cause emotional distress but this isn’t caused by the masturbation, but by the false teaching about it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to an article by Dr. James Dobson, "Between 95 and 98 percent of all boys engage in this practice—and the rest have been known to lie. It is as close to being a universal behavior as is likely to occur. A lesser but still significant percentage of girls also engage in what was once called 'self-gratification' or worse, 'self-abuse.'"1 Most grow out of this habit as they mature.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.actsweb.org/articles/article.php?i=147&amp;d=1&amp;c=11&amp;p=1"&gt;More......&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-8921596205666418648?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/8921596205666418648/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=8921596205666418648' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/8921596205666418648'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/8921596205666418648'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/03/article-masturbation-is-it-sin.html' title='Article: Masturbation: Is It a Sin?'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-434840153505124795</id><published>2010-02-14T17:16:00.002+08:00</published><updated>2010-02-14T17:20:25.836+08:00</updated><title type='text'>Year of the Tiger</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/uploaded_images/ist2_5506042-tiger-cartoon-709847.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 380px;" src="http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/uploaded_images/ist2_5506042-tiger-cartoon-709638.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;On behalf of the Men's Ministry, I wish all readers of the blog a Happy Lunar New Year!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-434840153505124795?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/434840153505124795/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=434840153505124795' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/434840153505124795'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/434840153505124795'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/02/year-of-tiger.html' title='Year of the Tiger'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-4525089683519662232</id><published>2010-01-28T17:16:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2010-01-28T17:29:36.197+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poll'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='quit smoking'/><title type='text'>Survey: Smoking Overcomers Support Group</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/uploaded_images/quit-smoking-756605.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 154px;" src="http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/uploaded_images/quit-smoking-756602.jpg" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The men's ministry would like to start a Smoking Overcomers Support Group to help guys overcoming smoking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We'd like to poll to find out how many brothers would find this support group useful.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you like to join this support group to help overcome your smoking addiction, please give us your name and contact by using the following form (before end Feb):&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?key=tFHe_mJeaLDdhwm6WRwgTsw" width="760" height="602" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0"&gt;Loading...&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-4525089683519662232?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/4525089683519662232/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=4525089683519662232' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4525089683519662232'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4525089683519662232'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/01/survey-smoking-overcomers-support-group.html' title='Survey: Smoking Overcomers Support Group'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-6943135596395347035</id><published>2010-01-26T10:51:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2010-01-26T10:51:54.106+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fatherhood'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='inspirational'/><title type='text'>Dads for life</title><content type='html'>&lt;object width="400" height="225"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7676377&amp;amp;server=www.vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=00ADEF&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7676377&amp;amp;server=www.vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=00ADEF&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.vimeo.com/7676377"&gt;Dads For Life&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href="http://www.vimeo.com/user2260065"&gt;Little Red Ants&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href="http://www.vimeo.com"&gt;Vimeo&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A heartwarming video about fathers, for fathers. First produced for the Dads for Life movement by the National Family Council and Fathers Action Network to encourage fathers in Singapore to be more involved in their children's lives. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Commissioned by the Ministry Of Community Development, Youth and Sports (Singapore), Little Red Ants Creative Studio is proud to work on this project with renowned photographer and first-time director Tay Kay Chin. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-6943135596395347035?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/6943135596395347035/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=6943135596395347035' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/6943135596395347035'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/6943135596395347035'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/01/dads-for-life.html' title='Dads for life'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-2849946074399727385</id><published>2010-01-13T13:57:00.000+08:00</published><updated>2010-01-13T13:58:14.167+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='inspirational'/><title type='text'>Dad....</title><content type='html'>&lt;embed src="http://www.tangle.com/flash/swf/flvplayer.swf" FlashVars="viewkey=1eb7bdee8bf166a62585" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="330" height="270" name="tangle" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-2849946074399727385?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/2849946074399727385/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=2849946074399727385' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/2849946074399727385'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/2849946074399727385'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/01/dad.html' title='Dad....'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-3363937662434195087</id><published>2010-01-11T21:06:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2010-01-11T21:15:30.969+08:00</updated><title type='text'>How's Everybody?</title><content type='html'>Been through with my first week since term starts and now this is my second week. I feel like fighting for time to do things I really want after a day's work when I am so drained. Managed to get home earlier to take a nap before dinner, and after which, took a shower before writing this entry while catching a glimpse of "Superman" showing on TV at my living room! At the same time, I was reminded not to try to be a "Superman", in my attempt to accomplish numerous things and neglect the much more "super" God that we have. Tap on his strength this new year and may the Force be with you! &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Have a good week ahead!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-3363937662434195087?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/3363937662434195087/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=3363937662434195087' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3363937662434195087'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3363937662434195087'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/01/hows-everybody.html' title='How&apos;s Everybody?'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-1630608367312289295</id><published>2010-01-01T11:53:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2010-01-01T12:30:29.810+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Resolutions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='New Year'/><title type='text'>New Year, New Beginning</title><content type='html'>To start with this entry and on behalf of the Men's Ministry team, I wish all readers out there, a Happy Blessed New Year!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had a great time playing games at &lt;a href="http://www.pitstopcafe.com.sg/"&gt;Pit Stop Cafe&lt;/a&gt;, with my girlfriend and my sub-d brothers and sisters. There were new visitors who were introduced and joined in the fun as we anxiously waited for 2009 to pass and to usher 2010, in the midst of fireworks, laughter, well-wishes, cheers and loads of fun.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just a few hours ago before going to the sub-d event, my girlfriend and I met up to share our reflections for 2009 and to put up resolutions for 2010. One of them was to listen more closely to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Acting upon the voice of God is easier said than done, but this does not mean I (or we) have to give up discerning what is His voice and what is not. Another resolution was to empathise with people and to feel what they feel. To build relationships with others, I would have to stop engaging people "head-to-head", but more on "heart-to-heart". To "end" my 2009 before the sub-d countdown event, my girlfriend and I committed all our resolutions into prayers, putting our trust in God to materialise them in the new year...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-1630608367312289295?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/1630608367312289295/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=1630608367312289295' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/1630608367312289295'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/1630608367312289295'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2010/01/new-year-new-beginning.html' title='New Year, New Beginning'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-3586771006588400616</id><published>2009-12-27T21:54:00.002+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-27T22:06:09.816+08:00</updated><title type='text'>Bike Hike from Sengkang to Bedok</title><content type='html'>Allow me to digress from the usual postings but I really want to share something which all of us can do to bond with one another - bike hiking!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My girlfriend and I took onto the road with our foldable bikes today, and to our amazement, cycled from her place in Sengkang to Anchorvale, Buangkok Bridge, Tampines Road, IKEA Tampines, Tampines Interchange and then the park connector to Bedok reservoir. The amazing thing was that we did not feel worn out (at least for now) after the ride!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-3586771006588400616?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/3586771006588400616/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=3586771006588400616' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3586771006588400616'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3586771006588400616'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/bike-hike-from-sengkang-to-bedok.html' title='Bike Hike from Sengkang to Bedok'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-291885077672103349</id><published>2009-12-26T11:06:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-26T11:17:38.751+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Jar'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='God'/><title type='text'>The Mayonnaise Jar</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;Recently, I was reminded by my girlfriend not to miss out the small things in life as a I was preoccupied with work and other so-called the "bigger" things. I am not a fan of mass emails, but I think there maybe some readers who have seen this for the first time and find some truth in it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;  When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the coffee...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.  When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.  He then asked the students if the jar was full.  They agreed that it was.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.  He asked once more if the jar was full.  The students responded with a unanimous "yes."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.  The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.  The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.  The sand is everything else-the small stuff."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  Play with your children.  Take time to get medical checkups.  Take your partner out to dinner.  Play another 18.  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.  Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.  Set your priorities.  The rest is just sand."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" &gt;The professor smiled.  "I'm glad you asked.  It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;"  class="MsoPlainText"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;"  &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-291885077672103349?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/291885077672103349/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=291885077672103349' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/291885077672103349'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/291885077672103349'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/mayonnaise-jar.html' title='The Mayonnaise Jar'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-4522926454792348116</id><published>2009-12-23T18:16:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-23T18:55:42.326+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Prayer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Hear from God'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Job'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Career'/><title type='text'>God's Plan for You</title><content type='html'>Everyone has a plan, I think, even if you may not be a natural strategist or an eye for details. Some of us may pay other people to plan for our behalf, such as insurance or financial plans. However, God also has a plan for us, just in case you (even me) may not either realise or remember, hence, requiring somebody, something or the Spirit, to constantly remind you (and me) that God HAS a plan for you, which is different from the world (such as your friendly financial planner) can give. His plan is BETTER.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have been reading Joyce Meyer's "How to Hear from God" and one of the questions worth reflection was:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Do you believe that God has a good plan to prosper you, a plan to give you hope and a future? If so, how does your life reflect this belief? If not, pray and ask God to help you accept and believe His Word."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I believe God has a good plan to prosper me, a plan to give me hope and a future (Jer. 21). Here, I am not trying to state the obvious. If the above question has been asked last year or earlier, I would have replied that I "know" God has a plan to prosper me. You see, "knowing" God has a plan for you does &lt;u&gt;not&lt;/u&gt; equate to "believing" God has a plan for you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recently, I had this urge to sit down and to list all the reasons for me to stay and to leave the teaching service. This sudden urge also caused me to a realization that my reasons for staying were probably not the best reasons for anyone who is either wanting to pursue or already pursuing a career in teaching.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Approaching three and the half years since graduating from NIE, I did not either enjoy or feel that I have done exceptionally well working with my past and present students, and colleagues. Deep inside, I never see myself teaching forever and maybe I should be looking for other job opportunities. But by God's grace, and not that I am trying to show-off my abilities, I am able to secure some performance bonuses, took on higher responsibilities, achieved recognition for my last school and eventually, able to move from one school to another, which is a very, very good school (and here I shall not name which school). Even then, I do feel that I am not needed in this school and perhaps, I should either ask for a transfer to another school, HQ or to leave the service.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am not certain (or maybe I have to reflect more on this..)how did I manage all the above and why God allow me to stay in teaching when I feel I sucked in the job. Looking back to the day when I received my scholarship to do a Fine Art degree, though I am not so certain, God seemed to have crafted a plan for me to stay in art education.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After prayer for a breakthrough in my career, I have just sent my resume for a job in a local museum and during the process of firming up my resume and sending it, I could feel a sense of peace and anticipation as though the email to the museum was my beacon of hope for a better tomorrow - getting called, interviewed and eventually hired for the job. But if I were to be turned down by the museum, I believe I will not be discouraged as I believe He will open a better way for me elsewhere!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-4522926454792348116?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/4522926454792348116/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=4522926454792348116' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4522926454792348116'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4522926454792348116'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/gods-plan-for-you.html' title='God&apos;s Plan for You'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-344292188843632457</id><published>2009-12-23T12:47:00.002+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-23T12:59:50.392+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Thanksgiving'/><title type='text'>The Habit of Thanksgiving</title><content type='html'>"With praise and &lt;u&gt;thanksgiving&lt;/u&gt; they sang to the LORD : "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid." - Ezra 3:11&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recently, my girlfriend spoke a word of truth in me that I did not seem to have the habit of thanksgiving. This came to me as a surprise as I have always been giving thanks during meal times. However, she was not referring to "grace-saying". You see, she gently expressed that the joy of the Lord did not seem to radiate from my countenance for a long time and over the months, I seemed to either flare up rather quickly over an issue or did not seem to be happy about myself or anything. Out of the wisdom from God (I believe), she suggested writing at least one thanksgiving point each day before I go to bed! Why didn't I think of that earlier?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-344292188843632457?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/344292188843632457/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=344292188843632457' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/344292188843632457'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/344292188843632457'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/habit-of-thanksgiving.html' title='The Habit of Thanksgiving'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-8782522000011420949</id><published>2009-12-23T11:24:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-23T11:27:15.690+08:00</updated><title type='text'>Season's Greetings</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/uploaded_images/MC-769234.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/uploaded_images/MC-769233.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;On behalf of everyone in the Men's Ministry, I wish all readers a Merry Christmas!!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-8782522000011420949?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/8782522000011420949/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=8782522000011420949' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/8782522000011420949'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/8782522000011420949'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/seasons-greetings.html' title='Season&apos;s Greetings'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-1286387777415863703</id><published>2009-12-17T10:51:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-17T11:22:25.925+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sacrificial Love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Love'/><title type='text'>New Moon - Subversive Variant of Sacrificial Love</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;My students have been talking about the "Twilight" series and as their teacher, I decided to watch this movie "The Twilight Saga: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Moon_(novel)"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;New Moon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;" last Tuesday to find out what was the deal. For those who are not fans of the "Twilight" series, this movie works on the universal topic of BGR love, portrayed on a rather subversive way based on a more conservative viewpoint.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Bella, the main character, was caught in a love triangle with Edward Cullen, the vampire and Jacob Black, the werewolf. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Obviously, both monsters did not see eye to eye with each other and it was odd that Bella availed herself to Edward (who had "decided" to "leave" her previously) again after falling for Jacob. What was more uncanny that New Moon subversively, sensationalised both Bella's love "dilemma" and the two monsters, leaving fans all over the world longing for the "return" of vampires (appeared suave and stylish) or werewolves (hunky and walked around topless, exhibiting their pacs). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;The most uncomfortable conclusion,personally, was that Bella finally understands everything that will be "at stake" if she makes the ultimate choice to give up her humanity and live, like the vampires, forever!? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"&gt;This is Hollywood-style sacrificial love.. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-1286387777415863703?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/1286387777415863703/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=1286387777415863703' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/1286387777415863703'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/1286387777415863703'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/new-moon-subversive-variant-of.html' title='New Moon - Subversive Variant of Sacrificial Love'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-7489308568795161142</id><published>2009-12-17T00:48:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-17T00:53:10.409+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pornography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='podcast'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sexual purity'/><title type='text'>Men and Sexual Purity</title><content type='html'>Two very good podcasts from Focus on the Family Daily International Broadcast&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FocusOnTheFamilyDailyInternationalBroadcast/~3/K_tsTfMgEUk/ffdi_20091104.mp3"&gt;Men and Sexual Purity 1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FocusOnTheFamilyDailyInternationalBroadcast/~3/CQzuRebv2HQ/ffdi_20091105.mp3"&gt;Men and Sexual Purity 1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-7489308568795161142?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/7489308568795161142/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=7489308568795161142' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/7489308568795161142'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/7489308568795161142'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/men-and-sexual-purity.html' title='Men and Sexual Purity'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-5996493209489362443</id><published>2009-12-14T15:30:00.002+08:00</published><updated>2009-12-14T16:44:47.174+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='reservist'/><title type='text'>Reflections of a Reservist</title><content type='html'>Many of us simply cannot be bothered with what we have done for the last few days, the moment we "out-pro" from our reservist unit, and go back to our marketplace to clear our outstanding workload and going through tons of emails accumulated during our absence from our desks. However, my last in-camp experiences did benefit me, in a form of an encouragement, some kind of motivation to what I am doing in this Men's Ministry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bird Talk: Xin Jiao ("New Bird") and Lao Jiao ("Old Bird")&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the first day, my reservist unit (here, I would not disclose the unit) "warmly" welcomed new reservists, the "new birds" who have just ORDed the year before. However, a few of them had ORDed some years ago and were only called this year to carry out their first reservist training. To make my time meaningful, instead of fulfilling the common knowledge of "rush to wait and wait to rush", I spoke to an officer who works as a semi-con engineer. In his late twenties, he shared about his anxieties for his first in-camp experience, and had no idea what was his reservist appointment going to be. I opined that since this was his first time to be mobilised, I think there was really not much for him to do and would be more of a refresher experience (which is true). This was a reservist camp and for all the "new birds" (well. I am not very "old bird")out there who are going to be mobilised for their 1st ICT, our mindsets can no longer be the same as what we went through as NSFs. In reality, everything will be alright!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IPPT: Say "No" to Chao Keng, Say "Yes" to $$&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do have my concerns when comes to IPPT even though I managed to (ah hem..) clear with a silver award each year since my NSF days. With age catching up, I could see myself looking more like that Michelin "tyre man" (no offence to the tyre company). Some of my fellow NSmen, for varied reasons, managed to get themselves spared from the agony of IPPT, by getting themselves into a whole load of excuses like "I am old, my back got problem or something like that". Confession time: yes, I did harbour secret envy that these guys were "excused" and the rest of us "combat fit" were to train harder to maintain or to do better (which is so, impossible lah)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am reminded of 1 Cor 9: 24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." Running a 2.4km, I think, can reinforce the principles of the above scripture in my mind, much better than regurgitating from the Bible. The day before (or 2 days before), I prayed for success in IPPT and was prompted not to wear my contact lenses if I want to do better for shutter run.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know this does not make sense and obviously, there is hardly any logical association between wearing contact lenses and sprinting to grab 2 wooden blocks (on the contrary, contact lenses should be a much preferred choice than wearning glasses, when doing sports!). Nevertheless, I put on my spectacles with those black hooks and true enough, my timing for shutter run was faster by 0.2s. Prompting from the Holy Spirit? I believe God cares for your IPPT too! At the end of the day, I kept my silver award.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saving Conversations: Knowing new people, re-establishing old friendships and putting what I have learned from seminar into practice&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The last few days have been a fruitful time in terms of establishing new friendships. I see myself talking to people, sharing closer bonds with people of all types, listening to new things, ideas and what people were doing back in the marketplace. A couple of NSmen thought I am not really suitable for a sales job based on their understanding of the job (they were doing sales) and their perception of me, as I shared with them my intention to go for career switch in a couple of years time. My officer opined that all unit trusts and reits are simply scams, and it would be better for one to trade on your own instead of paying fat sums to fund managers. I have also met a reality agent, a Canon salesman and at least 2 young entrepreneurs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Through our common interest in social entrepreneurship, I linked myself with an entrepreneur and we were engaged in a sharing during our waiting time. From his social background, education level and work experience, he was very critical in his ideas and knew what he wanted, even though reality did not seem to favour him. However, he seemed to take the hard knocks rather steadily, with unspokable optimism, as he shared how he would want to move forward with his business and I was impressed with what he had been doing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When sharing about his spiritual beliefs, I detected "sour notes" as he put forth his recent belief has shifted from his Catholicism roots to a more Buddhist idea, indicating religion as a matter of taste even as he believed that Christianity is still relevant.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nevertheless, he questioned the credibility of believers such as the celebrity wife of a local pastor, the preacher's failure to reflect a Christlike living from their luxurious lifestyle and the fluff in their sermons. I too, agreed with what he said about the reflection of godly living through one's life style as I was still feeling embarrassed about what he had opined. However, he would not mind visiting a church again if someone were to ask him. Seizing what he said as an opportunity, I asked him if he would like to join me for a Christmas service and he agreed!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-5996493209489362443?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/5996493209489362443/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=5996493209489362443' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/5996493209489362443'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/5996493209489362443'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/12/reflections-of-reservist.html' title='Reflections of a Reservist'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-4834417866275027714</id><published>2009-11-27T09:11:00.005+08:00</published><updated>2009-11-27T09:27:13.994+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Personal Growth'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Negative Thinking'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ministry'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Joyce Meyer'/><title type='text'>Battlefield of the Mind - by Joyce Meyer</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;This book is recommended for many of us who are trapped in a persistent negative thought pattern. Unlike many existing Christian development books whereby they were written in such a prescriptive manner, what I like about it was the personal examples of the writer's life (such as her unpleasant childhood which she accounted as one of the reasons for her to grow up as an unpleasant adult) in which she fought negative thinking with the help of the Word of God and prayers. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Pauline Joyce Hutchison Meyer, more commonly known as Joyce Meyer (born on June 4, 1943) is a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Charismatic&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Christian&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;author&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;speaker&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;. Her &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;television&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;radio&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt; programs air in 25 languages in 200 countries, and she has written over 70 books on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Christianity&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;. Joyce and her husband Dave have been married since January 7, 1967, have four grown children, and lives near &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;St. Louis, Missouri&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;. Her ministry is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Fenton, Missouri&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;Meyer frequently talks about overcoming obstacles and finding strength to deal with difficult circumstances. She shares her views on how to deal with everyday life situations, often drawing on her own experiences. Meyer speaks candidly and with a sense of humor, sharing with her audience her own shortcomings and taking playful jabs at stereotypical church behavior.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;There is also a website on her ministry: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.joycemeyer.org/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"&gt;http://www.joycemeyer.org/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-4834417866275027714?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/4834417866275027714/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=4834417866275027714' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4834417866275027714'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4834417866275027714'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/11/battlefield-of-mind-by-joyce-meyer.html' title='Battlefield of the Mind - by Joyce Meyer'/><author><name>Alv</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='04604017299185337014'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-3166123972404959599</id><published>2009-11-25T20:22:00.009+08:00</published><updated>2009-11-25T20:36:52.228+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='men&apos;s conference'/><title type='text'>Men's Conference 2009- Why do men join and leave church?  What are some things I can do (Breakout Session 2)</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;What man needs? (From a US nationwide survey of 2,000 men)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Unchurched men need understanding.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They want a church that helps them truly understand the Bible.  They want a church that seeks to understand them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Unchurched men need relationship.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most men feel lonely, isolated and disconnected.  They would appreciate a church that brings them in contact with like-minded peers in a non-threatening setting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Unchurched men need instruction for kids.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Millions of men want their kids to have positive Christian learning experiences.&lt;br /&gt;Unchurched men need solutions.  Men are staggered by the pressures they carry.  Most men require that the church provide practical, tangible solutions to the difficult problems they face daily.  They want to know spiritual principles that make life “work”.  The church must answer the questions that men are asking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Unchurched men need to know God.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many unchurched men have given up on organized religion but not on God.  They want to know God but don’t know how.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;What Christian men looks for?&lt;/span&gt;  (From a survey of Promise Keepers attendees)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Christian men are not satisfied with themselves.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;44% would like to change the way they feel about themselves.  43% feel a deep sense of failure when they think about their pasts.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Christian men are not satisfied with their marriages and family lives.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Only 25% indicate satisfaction with themselves as fathers, while only 62% are satisfied with their relationships with their wives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Christian men experience stress on the job.&lt;/span&gt;  81% describe their jobs as highly stressful, while 63% are concerned about the future health of their careers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Christian men struggle with sexual matters.&lt;/span&gt;  &lt;br /&gt;53% admit fantasizing about sex with other women.  54% state that they feel shame about past sexual experiences.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;Christian men need relationships with other men with whom they can be open and honest.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;75% in the survey have feelings they do not share with anyone.  Only 35% have others to hold them accountable for their sexual thoughts and behaviour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Why men leave church? (based on facilitators’ starting point for discussion)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Men leave church because of wrong motives e.g not able to find a suitable life partner &lt;br /&gt;2. Men leave church because too many commitments needed from them, yet not able to find significance to what they are doing. &lt;br /&gt;3. Men leave church because, lack of challenge and sense of achievement in what they are doing.. it just take too much effort to accomplish a small result. &lt;br /&gt;4. Men leave church because, not able to hang loose and able to share what “really” in their mind without someone preaching down their throat. &lt;br /&gt;5. Men leave church because of lack of meaningful relationships - men need to hang out with people who do things like watching football, playing tennis.  Women can do well by talking to each other&lt;br /&gt;6. Men leave church because of conflicts - men either blow each other apart in conflicts or avoid conflicts, which if left unresolved will eat into them silently&lt;br /&gt;7. Men leave church because church programs are not meaningful - they require a lot of time sitting around instead of doing things. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Summary of groups discussion and presentation &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;1. Common reason why men join church&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;• Existing relationships or looking for new ones (friends, family, parents, spouses, girlfriend, peers)&lt;br /&gt;• Seeking for God or meaning in life&lt;br /&gt;• Self-improvement&lt;br /&gt;• Spiritual attraction (like preaching, and praise and worship atmosphere)&lt;br /&gt;• Seeking to meet needs (companionship, friendship, community involvement, healing, problems, financial help etc)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;2. Why men leave church?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;• Relationship problems (not belonging, offended, unresolved conflicts, disagreement with leaders)&lt;br /&gt;• Family persecution&lt;br /&gt;• Differences in values, vision and goals&lt;br /&gt;• Human weaknesses (pride etc)&lt;br /&gt;• Spiritual problems (backsliding etc)&lt;br /&gt;• Attracted by other church teachings&lt;br /&gt;• Unmet needs (bored, not challenged)&lt;br /&gt;• Practical matters (emigration, too far from home)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;3. When one hops from a CG to another, is it an indication to him leaving church?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;• It could be a warning but does not necessary signify he wants to leave&lt;br /&gt;• There are some who visit other CGs because of schedule clashes or desiring to fellowship with other CGs (as in Uni group)&lt;br /&gt;• It becomes a problem when there is no sense of belonging, lack of commitment, unfulfilled expectations, or cannot relate to other people in same CG&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;4. Under what circumstances is leaving church ok? &lt;/span&gt;(Please note that these are individual opinions.  Also some answers are theoretical and may not mean that the persons are facing such situations currently in Hope Singapore)&lt;br /&gt;Push factors&lt;br /&gt;• Church is not biblical, not healthy, cultish&lt;br /&gt;• Bad leadership, pastor not following God&lt;br /&gt;• Needs not met&lt;br /&gt;Pull factors&lt;br /&gt;• More mobilised elsewhere, help other churches&lt;br /&gt;• Missions, church planting&lt;br /&gt;• Expanding ministry (not available in church) eg drug rehabilitation, prison ministry&lt;br /&gt;• Relationships (family, spouse or future spouse elsewhere)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style:italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. How can my CG/Unit help men from leaving church for the wrong reasons?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;• Identify and meet needs.  Counsel them.  Listen with open mind and get to the root issues.  Clarify his decision making without forcing the issue.  Get the closest spiritual buddy to help.  &lt;br /&gt;• Fast and pray for them persistently.  Encourage them&lt;br /&gt;• Teach them (about commitment, build Christian foundations)&lt;br /&gt;• Help them to have ownership of group, give them responsibilities, help them to serve&lt;br /&gt;• Build genuine friendships and strengthen relationships.  Spend time with one another, including hanging out.  Facilitate open, honest and deep sharing.     Create a strong community of men that share deep stuff.&lt;br /&gt;• Resolve any remaining conflicts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Impartation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We are not alone when facing are troubles, therefore we have our band of brothers. We must learn to be open and honest in building brotherhood relationship. Remember, openness reap openness. Determine to carry your “wounded” buddies, no one should be left behind.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-3166123972404959599?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/3166123972404959599/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=3166123972404959599' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3166123972404959599'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3166123972404959599'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/11/mens-conference-2009-why-do-men-join.html' title='Men&apos;s Conference 2009- Why do men join and leave church?  What are some things I can do (Breakout Session 2)'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-2992521282427017695</id><published>2009-11-25T20:22:00.008+08:00</published><updated>2009-11-25T20:36:21.014+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='men&apos;s conference'/><title type='text'>Men's Conference 2009</title><content type='html'>Here's the link for video download&gt;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Key Note&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=6a83a1b02fbb6714ab1eab3e9fa335cab93cac3f2446c69b"&gt;3 Movements Men Should Engage In&lt;/a&gt; by Hiew Hong Teck (approx. 62min)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Breakout Session 1&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=6a83a1b02fbb6714ab1eab3e9fa335cab93cac3f2446c69b"&gt;How to Deal with Lust and Tempation&lt;/a&gt;" by David Yew (approx. 50min)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-2992521282427017695?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/2992521282427017695/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=2992521282427017695' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/2992521282427017695'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/2992521282427017695'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/11/mens-conference-2009.html' title='Men&apos;s Conference 2009'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-6217095174196245206</id><published>2009-11-11T15:17:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2009-11-11T15:17:35.062+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='articles'/><title type='text'>God's Chisel</title><content type='html'>&lt;embed src="http://www.tangle.com/flash/swf/flvplayer.swf" FlashVars="viewkey=849dc7c803281df74bb2" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="330" height="270" name="tangle" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-6217095174196245206?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/6217095174196245206/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=6217095174196245206' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/6217095174196245206'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/6217095174196245206'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/11/gods-chisel.html' title='God&apos;s Chisel'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-4047972972530275363</id><published>2009-10-27T14:55:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2009-10-27T14:58:42.516+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='temptations'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pornography'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='articles'/><title type='text'>Why is pornography addiction such a serious problem?</title><content type='html'>A very good article...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In ancient times, pornography was “writing about prostitutes.” Today pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry that is spreading a wide net by providing sexual arousal on demand. Unlike most cultures that restrain and channel eroticism and sexuality so that a people’s energy isn’t squandered through dissipation and compulsive sex, modern culture is drenched with sexual images, sexualized.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More: &lt;a href="http://www.rbc.org/questionsDetail.aspx?id=57954&amp;Topic=1184"&gt;http://www.rbc.org/questionsDetail.aspx?id=57954&amp;Topic=1184&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-4047972972530275363?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/4047972972530275363/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=4047972972530275363' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4047972972530275363'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/4047972972530275363'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/10/why-is-pornography-addiction-such.html' title='Why is pornography addiction such a serious problem?'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-7837718514516826557</id><published>2009-10-08T15:28:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2009-10-20T13:27:39.043+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fatherhood'/><title type='text'>Father's Toolbox</title><content type='html'>An established church in Singapore roll out a good resource:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.coos.org.sg/resources_toolbox.html&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Quick, simple, practical action-points. Check it out!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-7837718514516826557?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/7837718514516826557/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=7837718514516826557' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/7837718514516826557'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/7837718514516826557'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/10/fathers-toolbox.html' title='Father&apos;s Toolbox'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-1701711389539950934</id><published>2009-10-01T14:20:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2009-10-02T16:15:55.560+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='homosexuality'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='articles'/><title type='text'>Article: Homosexuality</title><content type='html'>Reference: http://www.actsweb.org&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 6:23 (NIV)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About two decades ago a teenager asked me the question: "Do you think homosexuality should be legalized?" &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regardless of what I thought at the time, much of our culture has come a long way since then in accepting homosexuality as "an alternate lifestyle." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;True, everybody has a right to decide for themselves whether or not homosexuality should be legalized or accepted as an alternate lifestyle. What I did in this instance was share what I believed God's Word had to say about the subject "According to God's Word," I answered, "homosexuality is an unnatural condition  (Romans 1:27). It is listed with various other sins which are all destructive to human personality, and as such are opposed by God." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Bible also says that God will forgive all who confess their sins, but indicates that those who willfully practice sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, male prostitution, homosexuality, stealing, greed, drunkenness, slandering, and swindling will not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If God is opposed to these damaging behaviors, can we justly justify or legalize any one of them? The reason God is opposed to these actions (and all other sins) is&lt;br /&gt;because they are harmful to those whom he loves--us. Furthermore, it has never been proven that homosexuality is in one's genes any more than pedophilia is. And if they are, perhaps sin, too, is in our genes because we are born with a sin nature.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But would that justify sinful acts? In fact, there are usually deep psychological causes behind many of these external "acts of sin." The causes often have their roots in the past and need to be confronted if a person is to find wholeness, healing and recovery--emotional and spiritual.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If we justify and legalize any act of sin, we harm the person involved much more than we ever help him. It gives him/her an excuse not to confront and resolve&lt;br /&gt;his/her problem. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As Christians we are to accept and love the sinner and not judge or condemn him (because we are all sinners and are probably all guilty of at least greed, gossip,&lt;br /&gt;or slandering which are listed in God’s Word along with the sin of homosexuality). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This doesn't mean that we accept, excuse, or approve anyone's sinful behavior (including our own). Very often it is a failure in love in early childhood that "drives" people into some acts of sin. Only love, Christ's unconditional love&lt;br /&gt;through us, will ever draw these people out again. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to always accept what you say and not yield to the pressure of so-called political correctness. Help me to take the beam out of my own eye before trying to take the splinter out of another's eye. And like you, while I oppose all sin, please help me to love the sinner unconditionally and thereby help draw him to you for your healing grace, forgiveness, and victory over his sinful behavior. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Note: Please read Chuck Colson’s article on BreakPoint, "When a Dog Says Moo" at: &lt;br /&gt;http://tinyurl.com/ntceqf.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-1701711389539950934?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/1701711389539950934/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=1701711389539950934' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/1701711389539950934'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/1701711389539950934'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/10/articel-homosexuality.html' title='Article: Homosexuality'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-7380562614556755468</id><published>2009-09-23T10:38:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-09-23T10:41:47.877+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='men&apos;s conference'/><title type='text'>Men's Conference 2009 AAR (After Action Review)</title><content type='html'>The committee is very encouraged by the huge turn out for the Conference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let us know what do you think, either via email (mensministry@hopesingapore.org.sg) or comment on this post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We really hope to hear from you, both how you had been blessed and how you think we can do better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Love God, Love People.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-7380562614556755468?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/7380562614556755468/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=7380562614556755468' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/7380562614556755468'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/7380562614556755468'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/09/mens-conference-2009-aar-after-action.html' title='Men&apos;s Conference 2009 AAR (After Action Review)'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-3738126632134063124</id><published>2009-09-20T16:32:00.002+08:00</published><updated>2009-09-20T16:34:38.444+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='men&apos;s conference'/><title type='text'>Men's Conference 2009</title><content type='html'>Key Note Message:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Men's Shepherding&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Break Out Sessions Topics:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lust &amp; Temptations&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;BGR &amp; Godly Courtship&lt;br /&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why do Men Join &amp; Leave Church? What can I do about it?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-3738126632134063124?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/3738126632134063124/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=3738126632134063124' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3738126632134063124'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/3738126632134063124'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/09/mens-conference-2009.html' title='Men&apos;s Conference 2009'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9186827915045206450.post-5125356464361917907</id><published>2009-09-17T19:41:00.003+08:00</published><updated>2009-09-20T16:24:38.222+08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='men&apos;s conference'/><title type='text'>Men's Conference Registration Closed</title><content type='html'>Thank you for the overwhelming response. Registration for the Men's Conference is now closed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See you on 21 Sep (Mon) 9am Nexus!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight:bold;"&gt;Love God, Love People.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/9186827915045206450-5125356464361917907?l=www.hopesingapore.org.sg%2Fmensministry%2Fblog.htm' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/5125356464361917907/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=9186827915045206450&amp;postID=5125356464361917907' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/5125356464361917907'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/9186827915045206450/posts/default/5125356464361917907'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.hopesingapore.org.sg/mensministry/2009/09/mens-conference-registration.html' title='Men&apos;s Conference Registration Closed'/><author><name>Soo Guan &amp;amp; Karen</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/17074275947033822980</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='03908497416708424837'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry></feed>