‘Daddy, tell you a secret…’ (and he tells to come closer to him)
‘Daddy, i don’t want to die…’

It took me by surprise! Why would he suddenly say something like that?
So I asked…’Why did you say that…?’
He replied… ‘B’cos I like Daddy, Mommy, Emily and Zachary…’

Wow.. how it warmed my heart. I was initially ‘worried’ .. not sure what’s bothering him. Then it occurred to me.. that perhaps the recent scenes and countless stories of lives lost in the Tsunami disaster has made him to want to express how he loves us and does not want to lose us…

What followed was a meaningful conversation about God and heaven, and a simple assurance that we’ll all be re-united in heaven even if one of us ‘goes first’.

Joshua smiled…

We’ve been spending the past 5 days re-looking and sharpening

ForeRunner’s Mission & Vision.

Look below for our final draft… and get excited with us! =)

Our Mission

Serve Others in reaching the lost through music

Our Vision

In an effort to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation,

• We see…Hundreds of thousands of people becoming followers of Christ

in Asia and around the world

• We see…ForeRunner as a passionate community of gifted artisans who

are recognized leaders in music communication

• We see…ForeRunner as a movement equipping ministry partners with

training, talent and guidance

• We see…Hundreds of musical bands communicating the love of Christ

in a language that is culturally relevant

• We see…ForeRunner being used by God to change the world! =)

Just read this… and thot it was good ‘food for thot’

“When you were born, you alone were crying and everybody else was happy. The important question I want to ask is this: when you die are you alone going to be happy, leaving everybody else crying?”

“The answer depends on whether you live to gain titles or testimonies. When they lay you in the grave, are people going to stand reciting fancy titles you earned, or are they going to stand around giving testimonies of the good things you did for them. . .?”

“There’s nothing wrong with titles. Titles are good things to have. But if it ever comes down to a choice between a title or a testimony– go for the testimony.”

Anthony Compolo – in his book ‘Who Switched the Price Tags?’
(relating abt a pastor speaking to a group of college students)

Lil and I spent the brand new year on our knees.. partly by ‘accident’.

It all started late last night when we kinda got into some disagreement… which led us to talk and talk for almost 2 hours.. which finally ended up on our knees praying… asking the Lord to renew our relationship with Him, with each other, and with our kids and families.

It was truly a blessed time!

Lil reflects: ‘… it’s was good to start off the year committing ourselves as parents to the Lord, and committing our children to him; we desire that they would grow up knowing and loving Him. But our prayer is that we would first know Him, to accurately reflect Christ to them…’

“In this fast-paced culture, the people who have the farthest reaching influence, who make the longest lasting impact, are those who are intimately aware of their personal calling. These leaders recognize they are to spend their lives in pursuits that make eternal investments.” (fr Soul Retreat for Leaders. p.8)

This season, I’ve been taking time to consider my personal calling… to engage in what I call ‘think time’.

I’ve been reminded again and again (by different people and circumstances) that I need to be thinking thru (and clarifying) my mission, vision and values.

I pray this holiday season, as we’re reminded our Saviour’s immense love for us, we’re also reviewing and recalling back God’s call in our lives. If it requires, get away for some ‘think time’… alone with yourself and God!

Last nite at an Anniversary party we attended as a family, I chatted with a friend… She related to me about how her daughter has just finished presenting some song item at church.

She, at first, felt it did come out the way she had expected… but then she recalled to her mom that the day earlier Simon had shared in the ‘Attitudes of a Music Minister’ class* that we need to be reminded that it’s God agenda we’re submitting to. It’s His show… so we can relax and trust Him.

I was warmly encouraged to hear that the class I just had taught only 3 days earlier had already been ‘put into practice’. Praise God!

(*I was invited to Bethesda Katong Church, my previous church, last Friday to teach at their Youth Music Camp; I had actually gone straight from Genting, Malaysia to the church.. phew!)

We’re back… after a almost 6-hour drive (including a ‘accidental’ slight detour to Kuala Lumpur city.. and a 30min jam at the checkpoint) Phew!

Needless to say… the kids had a ball. The adults, well.. did ok too! Lil and I enjoyed having extended time with the kids.. seeing them happy. But it was, in some ways tiring for us too.. 😉

However, It was still quite an enjoyable time overall.

Hope the pics would speak for itself

Tomorrow.. we drive up north, as a family, to Bt. Tinggi Resort and
then Genting Highlands. It’s a long-awaited break! And I’m lookin’ fwd
to it. Though I’m not sure how the kids will take the 5-6 hours car
ride! But Lil and I are trusting God for a refreshing time together as
a family.

Do pray for safe travels.. as this time of the year it’s quite rainy
and wet.

Will share some pictures when we return!

This past week ForeRunner had the opportunity to conduct a course on ‘Music for Evangelism’ for about 25 students.

It was part of a larger student conference called Metamorphosis organized by our Campus Ministry – http://campus.sccc.org.sg/

I taught a class on Communcation Fundamentals, which is a really fun one to teach. =)