Endorphin Rush 2 - Open for Booking

Dear Family & Friends, (Local & Overseas)

This year, I celebrate turning 60! God has been good. It is a fantastic milestone to reach. I thought long and hard as to how I wanted to celebrate the BIG 6-0! Immediately, I knew I wanted to celebrate it with family and friends: Have a meal together (you pay!!) and I make everyone laugh and we all donate to GODUCATE (www.goducate.org).

No need to bring a gift, just COME! Support me and Goducate. Be ready to laugh out loud ok? (lol)

Date: Saturday 21 April 2012 (My actual birthday - same as the Queen's too. Hello! THE Queen Elizabeth II of England!)

Time: 7.00 - 10.30 pm (cocktails & chit chat from 6 pm.)

Venue: The Guild Hall

NUSS Graduate Club, Kent Ridge

9 Kent Ridge Drive,

Singapore 119241

(Park at Carpark 15)

Guest of Honour: Dr. Paul Choo, founder of Goducate.

Dress Code: Blue Jeans (and tops of course lah!)

Show Rating: General Audience

Book your table (for 10) or seat NOW!

1. Open the Seating Plan attachment.

2. Choose a table number for whole table booking (prices indicated).

3. Indicate table category and number of seats for seat booking.

4. Email to epoey.book@gmail.com to Basecamp Managers with your 1st, 2nd & 3rd choices. This will save us time should your first choice not be available. Hmmm ... we are hoping for a FULL HOUSE again!

5. Availability will be confirmed within 3 days of booking via email. Please check your emails.

6. Payment in full to be made by cheque within 1 week from confirmation date. (Sorry but we may need to give up tables/seats that are not paid for.)

7. Please send one cheque per booking. (Sorry, you'll need to pay for your friends first and collect payment from them later if you are doing a group booking.)

8. Please indicate name of the person (who made the booking) and the confirmation number at the back of the cheque.

Cheques to be made out to: ELIZABETH POEY. Mailing address to be advised upon confirmation of booking.

9. Those wanting a tax exempt receipt please note that Goducate is a non-profit organization so they can't issue tax exempt receipts. So truly, yours will be a gift from the heart with lots of blessings. Well, you also get to laugh a lot ... I hope!

10. Final guests' names will be requested for at a later date for ushering purposes.

11. Come, laugh and praise God for giving me this opportunity to thank Him for my 60 years here on His earth.

"A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." Proverbs 17:22

Much love and laughter,

Liz & Woon Yi

Basecamp Managers

UPDATED SEATING PLAN

Category A (pink) S$5000/table (S$500/pax)

Category B (green) S$3000/table (S$300/pax)

Category C (blue) S$2000/table (S$200/pax)

Category D (purple) S$1800/table (S$180/pax)

Category E (orange) S$1600/table (S$160/pax)

Category F (yellow) S$1500/table (S$150/pax)

Our HOLY God - The Erosion of Fear.

At a high tea session recently, my friends and I bemoaned the behaviour and values of the today's generation. I guess some others would have bemoaned our values too when we were young. Each generation always feel that they were the better ones. Sadly, as I thought about it, I would have taught the parents of today's generation. So where did I go wrong?

Personally, I feel it is all our fault! Children are confused because there is no clear figure of authority. Everyone in their lives want to be their "friend".

I remember the fear as a child when my mother threatened me with the police! "I call the police ah?" was a warning and it was enough to stop me doing whatever wrong I was doing. The police or "Mata" was a fearful thought because they had the authority to come and catch you and take you away and put you in jail!

Today, the police go all out to assure kids that they are friendly and helpful and need not be feared. The Men in Blue are their friends. So, they are NOT feared. Sometimes, not respected either.

Teachers try hard to win their pupils' hearts by being friendly. Positive strokes, awards and rewards are generously delved out (even ca$h!!!) when children do well or behave well or even pretend to behave well. Teachers can no longer be harsh, negative or honest. Some honest teachers who give open feedback often have to contend with angry parents, angrier bosses and Ministry officials who all come down hard on the honest teachers who then learn to be politically correct and in the process, the children hear only the good stuff. Their fear of reprisal for any wrong doing is further eroded. Teachers are friends. We don't have to fear our friends ... neither do we need to respect them.

Is respect taught? People say it is caught. But how do we catch something we don't see? Parents show disrespect to teachers and other figures of authority. Some show disrespect to grandparents and maids. Others to even God! So what do children catch?

Parents work hard and are often absent from their children's lives. With the short interaction time (and period - usually from baby to pre-teen years) available, parents want to be their children's friends too! Why should they miss out? So, they do stuff together, have fun, persuade and cajole vs tell and reason and dump the authority en route. Not cool to be authoritative! We all want to be popular ... and friendly.

They say NO to the rod; NO to harsh words; NO to reasoning and YES to everything else! Friends will go along whatever! During my childhood days, it was very clear that my dad was my dad, my mum was my mum and my friends were my friends. I totally respected their authority as my parents.

Finally, God is seen as a loving Father and Jesus as a friend. I want to remind us that God is the same God yesterday, today and forever. He is a God of wrath and He is a jealous God who will punish! Fortunately, we have Jesus who took all that wrath and punishment on our behalf.

We should fear God. We should tremble with awe as we approach Him, just as the people of Israel did thousands of years ago. In His presence, their hearts were filled with fear. They could not look at His face or meet Him for fear that they would die. This is the fear, we should approach God with, and with respect because He is a HOLY God who demands our obedience. But He is also a loving, gracious and merciful God. That does not and should not allow us to approach Him with friendliness or with disrespect.

Well, what do we call going to church service late? What do we see "dressing down" to attend church as? What do we say when we do not meet Him daily in conversation and communion? How do we rationalize malicious gossip, dirty talk, small indiscretions, man-over God value judgements, white lies and disobedience to His word? Do we even know His Word? Do we know Him? Do we bother?

I often wonder how we would act or react if we truly feared our Holy God. Perhaps then the idea of "authority" will not be so hard to accept or display. We need to give back the authority to the Men in Blue, to teachers, to parents and certainly to God. Perhaps we do need to have some fear in our hearts to learn to obey, to respect and to love ... even when cultivating friendships. Not fear of the person. But perhaps fear of reproach, loss, disapproval or even displeasure.

We all want to please, but please who? Children should want to please their parents, not vise-versa. Take back the authority!

Finally, we should all want to please God.

The Season of Lent

I thought I would share some thoughts during this Season of Lent. I realize we are into the second week of Lent. I won't back-track and try to cover the two weeks gone, but will instead pick it up from here.

For those who are not sure what the Season of Lent is, it is the 40 days observed by some churches as a preparation for Holy Week. It is not a Biblical event, but a church practice. It is time set aside to search our hearts and remember the suffering of Christ.

Passion Week or Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday, scripturally known as Jesus' Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. It traces the final week of Jesus' life leading to His Crucifixion and Resurrection.

This is a good time to take stock of our spiritual life. Some hard questions need to be asked, pondered over and answered, not to anyone but to ourselves and to God.

• what parts of your life reflect God?
• how much time in a day do you give Him?
• what sacrifices are you willing to make for Him?
• why have you followed Jesus?
• when and how are you going to?

Then, take some action for "thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead." (James 2:17)

• commit a portion of your time each day to God.
• share the love and joy of the Lord with someone soon.
• learn more about God through a study group.

May God bless us as we journey on His earth. May He be with us as we reflect and act during this Season of Lent. May it be a time of joy as we prepare for Holy Week realizing that Christ died for our sins. And even as He prepares himself to die for us, let us prepare ourselves to live for Him.