P.U.L.S.E EPISODE 2

coming soon

Evangelism Focus in May 06

May 06 sparks the evangelism focus of the month. As much as we live out evangelism in our lives, there's no change in heart or transformation in life without the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, like the disciples awaiting for the infilling of the Spirit on Pentecost, let's develop 2 things:

1) Communion with God - through daily Scripture reading and praying.
2) Communion with Man - that is to say fellowship.

As Pastor Anthony shared in his sermon today, there are some key areas to tackle first. These are the areas of: The Sin of Fear, The Sin of Guilt, The Sin of Inferiority, The Sin of Hatred.

The claim: Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Please share with your cell members too. if possible, before every lesson channel in on some sharing with regards to How to be Christ's Ambassador, and come back to this verse. Meditate on it! Memorize it! Magnify it!

The desire outcome is for all our lives to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, thus whatever words we speak or actions we make will be significant step in bringing people to Christ.

Practical Means to Encourage Your Cell:
1) Participate in the GDOP 06 - Repentance and Call to Worship (check the other parts of the forum on http://jcclcs.neudot.com/forum for details)
2) Participate in the Conversational Evangelism Seminar, three sessions on 20, 27 May and 3 Jun (check the other parts of the forum on http://jcclcs.neudot.com/forum for details)
3) Before cell lessons, read on Acts (can prepare bible quiz too =P) and share how disciples of Christ should be. Hit on Acts 1:8, difference between Spirit-filled and .
4) Like Paul prayed for Philemon (Philemon 1:6) to be active in sharing faith, so he may know every good thing in Christ. Pray pray pray.... As our identity are children of God, so we have the identity also as Christ's Ambassador!
5) Participate in the forums, blog (http://pulseyouth.blogspot.com/), emails, etc.
6) Stay back after service or cell for STORM, then games and fellowship!

For Christ's Kingdom is a living and active kingdom!

Identity Crisis?

Something has been passing on through the Internet...

Check out http://kevan.org/johari. It is a site that hosts an interactive program that uses The Johari Window, a model for mapping personality awareness developed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s.

Objective is to see how much you know about yourself and how much others know about you!

To use it, first go to the site and follow the instructions there. After that, send out the link http://kevan.org/johari?name=Your_Name to others through email for them to assess you. To watch how your Johari Window changes, and get HTML results to paste into a journal or email, bookmark this URL:-http://kevan.org/johari?view=Your_Name) e.g. http://kevan.org/johari?view=merv_lee

Do it with your friends, do it with your parents, do it among our cells!

Burnout Road

Jim Still-PepperThe average tenure of an adult working with youth is only 18 months. Burnout takes its toll. Are you on the road to burnout?

The Comparison Road
Roger ran a nice youth group. He had a handful of regulars, and often they brought visitors. But when the church down the street hired a new youth director, their group doubled its size. Roger took this increase as a sign that he was no longer adequate.
Successful youth ministry is not about being better than the church down the street; it is not about the number of kids you are able to reach. Whether you are successful or not depends on your honest answer to one question–"Am I effective?"

The No-Help Road
"For years it has been this way," Bob speaks cautiously. "At my church, no one else works with the young people. The adults believe that is why they pay me."
Youth ministry is not a one-person sport; it is a collaborative team effort. When you look around, are you the only person who is working hard to make the youth ministry a success?

The Too-Much-Too-Often Road
"Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes. . ." Well, you get the picture.
Even the deepest well runs dry if it is not replenished regularly. When was the last time you were ministered to? And more importantly, when someone ministers to you, do you let them, or do you quickly try to "repay" them by ministering to them? Jesus rested–Jesus was ministered to. He even allowed others to give him a ride on a donkey and place palm branches at his feet.

The Organization Route
Too much or not enough organization can put you on the wrong road. The wrong question to ask is, "How much time do you spend organizing?" The relevant question is, "How much time does your organization give you?"

The Anticipation Route
Without a vision, the Bible tells us, people perish. Laurie remembers, "I was young and ready to make things happen." But ten years later, "I can’t go on. There is nothing left for me anymore."
Paul teaches us the importance of hope in Romans 8:24-28. Laurie is not sure what will happen next, but she has planned a retreat for her youth group. The focus of that retreat is to brainstorm about the future. "We will try, leaders and youth together, to catch a vision—to gain some hope."

The Balance Route
Someone once said, "Too much of one thing is, well, too much." Imagine eating just pizza, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack. While that might make youth drool, it would eventually lead us to dislike pizza a lot. No one benefits from our ministry if we don’t like what we are doing.
How you view your ministry has a tremendous impact on how you fight off burnout. Darren, a recovering burnout victim offers this: "There is nothing wrong with putting your ministry first. It can be your top priority, as long as there are other things that get your attention–like your family and friends." If you sacrifice all you have for your ministry, you may end up resenting your ministry and the kids who participate.

The Priorities Route
There are always competing demands. But who wins and who loses? Garrett had a membership roster of several hundred youth. But he continually felt he was letting others down, "Because I couldn’t please everybody, I then started to fear that I wasn’t pleasing anyone."
Managing your demands requires setting your priorities. Your priorities need to be focused on your overall ministry goals. Anything that does not help you meet your ministry goals is not a priority and does not require your energy and attention.
Say "no" to those things that are extras. Take your day off. Stick to your family time. Believe in your priorities. Staying with them contributes to the quality of your ministry. Ask yourself, "If I didn’t do this (whatever this is), would my ministry still be effective?"

The Recharge Route
No one does this better than Jesus did. He constantly sought quiet time, time for himself, time to be ministered to. Rand, a soft-spoken youth leader, sums it up this way: "The minister needs a minister."

The Prayer Route
Without meaningful prayer, we are not involving God in our ministry. Kelly confesses, "I was so busy leading groups, planning Bible studies, going to sporting events, visiting prospective new members, that prayer didn’t have a chance with me. If I did have time and remembered to do it, my prayers were always a quick, superficial call for help. My prayers were ineffective."
The Bible encourages us: "In everything by prayer and supplication. . ." (Philippians 4:6). For some, setting a specific time for prayer helps. For others, a more spontaneous approach works. Whatever form you do, make sure it enhances your ministry.

The Delegation Route
Stan thought it was his job to do anything anybody in the church asked him to do at anytime–"As a result the youth group rarely got my full attention. The kids knew it, and it affected the ministry. I’ve learned an important lesson: Let others shine, or my own light will grow dim."
Allowing others to help creates more opportunities, and gives you more time for other things. Besides, sometimes others will be better at something than you are!
In youth ministry, burnout not only affects you but also the very youth you care about. The intention is to give of yourself but "to not be weary of doing what is right" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). In making changes to guard against burnout, you keep your ministry strong–for the generations to come.

...leaders or not leaders...

"where are you at this point of time?"

" which route are u on now"

...there is still time to U-turn..

<>

Faith's Struggle by Sarah E. Haringa

Hurdles are getting higher,
God,losing sight of who you are.
Going through the motions now,
each day like the one before...

Every hour is a test of patience,
each minute a test of strength.
Lord, how much longer must I wait?
Right now it seems you’re late...

"All in his time," so people say,
and while I know those words are true,
with the way things are going,
God,I’ve lost the comfort in that, too...

My hope is being shattered,
burdens press me to the ground.
My once-strong faith is wavering,
like Peter I’m sinking down...

I’m sailing a sea called Lonesometo
an island named Despair.
My ship has blown off course,
black clouds looming in the air...

Lightning fills the darkened sky,
and it feels like I’ve been hit.
But when I ask, "Why Lord?"
you simply say, "Don’t quit..."

Oh God, I’m your child!
Please listen to my cry.
However long it takes,
I’ll wait for your reply...

But if I have to wait much longer,
then you must give me patience.
If I am supposed to trust,
then you must give me faith...

Your answers mean so much to me;
it’s your will I’m striving for.
All I want is a glimpse of home,
to rest at last upon your shore...

Is this what they mean by
"Leap of Faith"?
When your feet can’t touch the bottom
and land seems so far away?

I want to reach out to you
despite my present fears.
Draw me closer to you now,
God,and wash away my tears...

I will rest tomorrow,
your love is all I know.
But in the storms of life,
Lord,please hold my hand and don’t let go...

...KIDZ SAY THE DARNEST THINGZ...

>3-year-old Reese: " Our father, who does art in Heaven, Harold is his name. >Amen."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >I had been teaching my 3-year-old daughter, Caitlin, the Lord's Prayer for >several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after me the lines from the >prayer. Finally she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she
>carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: "Lead us
>not into temptation," she prayed, "But deliver us from some E-Mail. Amen."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >....and one particular 4-year-old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets
>as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >A Sunday teacher asked her children, as they were on the way to Church >service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in Church?" One bright little
>girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys >began to argue over who would get the 1st pancake. The mother saw the >opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, he would say ,
>Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait." Kevin turned to his
>younger brother and said, "Ryan you be Jesus."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >A father was at the beach with his children when his 4-year-old son ran up
>to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to shore, where a seagull lay dead in
>the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to >heaven" the dad replied. The boy thought for a moment and then said, "Did >God throw him back?"
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found," the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked.
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Six-year old Angie and her four-year old brother Joel were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had enough. Angie whispered, "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church!" "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked.
Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her 5- and 6-year olds. After explaining the commandment to honor thy father and thy mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (who was the oldest of his family) answered, "Thou shall not kill!"
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three boys were talking about their fathers' excellence. One of them said: my father is a great professor. When he is talking about a subject, only 10 people in the world can understand him! The second boy said: my father is a great brain surgeon, when he is talking about his surgery, only 5 people in the whole world can realize what he is saying. The third boy said: my father is a pastor, when he is preaching nobody can understand what he is saying.
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt."
His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------






wahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa.........

A nice Christmas story... God and the Geese

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments. One snowy Eve, his wife was taking their children to service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus' birth. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!"

So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had! hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.

"Why don't they follow me?" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn -- and one-by-one, the other geese followed it to safety. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!"

Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm.

He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"


(p.s - emailed by Mervyn) ( ^^,)