a dash of nutmag!

Fasting for the coming of the King is a measure of our contentedness of the state of the world

~John Piper

The preeminent petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are: Lord, let your name be hallowed, and, Lord, let your kingdom come. So Christian fasting is a fasting not just for immediate breakthroughs of faith and healing and righteousness, but also for the ultimate breakthrough—of the King’s return in glory: "Thy kingdom come!" Or as the early church prayed it: "Maranatha!" = "Our Lord, come!"

The church of Christ is called to put the earnestness of fasting behind prayer, "Thy kingdom come." "Bridegroom, come!" Fasting is a physical expression of heart hunger for the second coming of Jesus.

Fasting for the King’s Coming

Are we settled into the world so comfortably that the thought of fasting for the end of history, is almost unthinkable?

Paul’s Chains Advance the Gospel
²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²²If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. (Philippians, NIV)

Have you ever had these thoughts, or perhaps struggles, like Paul? I have, recently.. Being ‘torn’ between the above two: die, leave this earthly place, be with Christ, communing with,worshipping, and enjoying Him for eternity, or live, ‘remain in the body’ doing the ‘work of an evangelist, [discharging] all the duties of your ministry’ (2 Tim 4:5, NIV) that you’ve supposedly been called to do.

The former is by far better; we were created for that ultimate purpose, when we are most satisfied, and God is most glorified. (Forgive me! I’ve been reading John Piper about Christian Hedonism! haha) The latter is no less important; we were created for that penultimate purpose!

Within the last couple of weeks, I’ve had brief conversations about this with at least 2 people about this… Isn’t it so much better if I could just leave this forsaken place, go to a place of eternity? Seriously, Mag must be crazy… Maybe, it’s just one of those random, sian, ‘what if’ kind of mood… But I’m comforted that since even Paul had those thoughts, I’m not that crazy ahah..

I was listening to this song that day and I just suddenly thoguht of these things ahah!

Finally Home, Mercyme

I’m gonna wrap my arms around my daddy’s neck
And tell him that i’ve missed him
And tell him all about the man that i became
And hope that it pleased him
There’s so much i want to say
There’s so much I want you to know

When I finally make it home
When I finally make it home

Then i’ll gaze upon the throne of the king
Frozen in my steps
And all the questions that i swore i would ask
Words just won’t come yet
So amazed at what i’ve seen
So much more than this old mind can hold

And the sweetest sound my ears have yet to hear
Voices of the angels

But you know, and I know, essentially that God has his greater purposes right? We shall remain here, as we are called according to His purpose.. we know not what that is, but we shall keep our eyes fixed on eternity - the the goal and the prize - as we walk on this guilty sod…:S

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Heb 10:36, NIV)

Haha.. okay… let’s get on with the life, I guess! 

I just dug out an article that a friend sent to me really really long ago! It’s about singleness.

The Godly Woman - Becoming Esther
by Charo and Paul Washer

Click on it! 

   All men are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
    the grass withers and the flows fall,
    but the Word of the LORD stands forever.
   
    1 Pet 1:24 Isa 40:6-8                 

Have a good day people! ",

 John 1 (The Message)

¹⁴The Word became flesh and blood,
      and moved into the neighborhood.

Eugene Peterson puts it interestingly in The Message… We are the church in the world, the flesh and blood in the ‘huurd, equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the light of Jesus!

Yet, it’s easier said than done.. It’s easy to be buried under the pressures of the corporate world, under the pressures of this human rat race (sorry, oxymoron), under the distractions of worldly desires and ultimately losing sight of our eternal goal. It’s so easy to do that, I must say… I’ve absolutely not tasted and not seen the real world! 

In Dr Simon Chan’s course on worship, he always said this: "Maintain the paradox.." and he refers to the characteristics of God and the way we do church.. I.e., God is love, but He is also Holy; God is a ‘nice’ God, but there is such a thing as righteous anger!  Talking about paradoxes… I went to Cafe Pralet with Cgull and YL…

Three people (Cgull,YL,M) share three cakes… That’s the way it should be! If you like your cakes light, and not too sweet, you must come here… A little quaint cafe hiding in the middle of tiong bahru… In the middle of several blocks of low-rise flats, pretty quiet.. Nobody would think of finding this little ‘rose among thorns’! I mean, right opposite is a temple, and next door is this mega outdoor seafood czhe char stall! Weird… 

Cafe Pralet - A place full of paradoxes (I feel!)

 The location is one example. Next is the ambience.. Once you step in, you get this homey feel..  Yet, the layout and furniture says otherwise.. The cakes taste homemade (contributed by the mildness in terms of sweetness and flavour), yet, they are presented quite professionally.. Now, the toilet. It smells homey.. Yiling  describes it as having a ‘potpourri’ scent; not too strong, just pleasant.. BUT, the look of the toilet is very hotel/resort.. (The sink’s fully glass and it’s got pebbles around, and the tap is very atas.. haha..

When I got to the counter to see the cakes.. Boy, my eyes shifted to the breads! (Mom and I love eating bread..) Something caught my attention immediately.. This three-toned loaf.. Looked like those $1 Wall’s icecream bread, which I really can’t stand.. Well, this one had to be different! (haha.. it was $3.50 - it better be.) Called "Beetroot, Carrot, and Spinach". Wow.. all three swirled together in a loaf? For real? I hope I won’t have to put icecream in between the slices man! Anyway, I thought i’d buy back for my mum.. And I did! Before I move on, let me say, this bread is full of paradoxes too! :S hmmm.. haha but here goes:

Savoury | Sweet
The spinach gives that savoury kick, and the beetroot adds a tinge of sweetness. The carrot is a bit of both.. The nice thing about this is, the flavours of all three blend quite interestingly together… It’s not overwhelming, neither is it so mild, it’s just right. There’s no distinct aroma but when you bite into it, there’s just this nice aftertaste that disappears really quickly.. I wished it didn’t, though! :S But it doen’t matter.. I think I’m intrigued enough by the colour and the blend of flavours!

Light and fluffy | Chewy and ‘Solid’
Being soft, it just feels great biting into.. Plus, it’s so brightly-coloured! Seriously like candy floss, you know? ", It’s weird.. but… i can’t say it better! :S I LOVE chewy breads that is at the same time light and fluffy.. And this one just nailed it! So hard to find such combinations… In other shops,while their bread may be chewy, it is also doughy… yuck! Stick to your teeth..Like eating dough lah - after you put it into your mouth, your saliva will churn it back to pre-baking state of dough! haha.. Good. Try it.. No regrets.. $3.50 only.. Ask them to slice it THICK! Mmm… 

It’s so good, you must eat it on its own…

Toast it if you want, but generally, it’s good like that too.. BUT PLEASE don’t spread anything on it!! Not even butter! Cos you’re gonna miss that subtle, ‘unassuming’, flavour and aftertaste! This morning, my mum didn’t know… she ate it with peanut butter… she thought i’d buy her the ice-cream man’s bread!!!! ARGH…. what a waste! Haha.. How can you bear to spread peanut butter on this! No way…. 

Cafe Pralet
17 Eng Hoon St, Eng Hoon Mansion
Closes at 9.30pm

 Nice place for hi-tea.. chill alone. or with one or two good friends! ",
They’ve also got weekend breakfast specials, hi-tea sets, pastas and some local sel

Too good to be true?? Well, maybe! haha..! I try to present it just as I have experienced it BUT… i’m also practising writing ahhaha.. :S

Anyways… cya! I shall be drowning myself in John Piper Wisdom these few weeks! Just bought ‘Desiring God’! I was amazed at how THICK IT IS when I saw it at SKS… almost didn’t buy it.. thicker than my bible can?? haha.. but the words bigger lah…