Song Story: I Offer My Life

From Don
05.03.09

It was 10:30 P.M., and I was still in my office working on the final song list for John Chisum’s new project called “Firm Foundation.” I knew there was something missing on the list and I felt somewhere on this project we needed to say, "Lord I Offer My Life To You … Everything I’ve Been Through," because this particular project was dealing with inner healing believing that God can restore everything that has been broken in your life. It was important to say something like, “God, I believe you can use all that I have been through for your glory, somehow.”

I decided to call Claire Cloninger who I love to write with. She is one of the most incredible lyricists I have ever known. I called her at 10:30 P.M., and after apologizing for calling so late, told her what I was looking for and played a bit of the chorus of the song over the phone. “Lord, I Offer My Life To You … Everything I’ve Been Through," and told her what I think the song needed to say. In 15 minutes she faxed over some lyrics and we spent 10 more minutes on the phone tweaking this and that and by 11:00 PM the song was finished! I still sing this song at almost every concert.

One little bit of trivia here. There is also a pretty nice bridge to this song that we recorded on Firm Foundation but I have never used it when I sing the song live. I think the reason is because it’s a little tricky and a congregation could get lost singing it. I like to get right to the heart of a song and stay there.

- Don

5 JULY 2009

5 July 09

Tom C.
Kai Yew
Gigi, Jacquelina, Ken Fhui
Grace Lee, Jonathan Long
Darren
Anna Sim
Tian Sia, Moses Tan
Tom C., Hiew FF

28 JUNE 2009

29 June 09

Caleb R.
Shankar R.
Hong Lu, Foong Yee, Richard
Jun Fhui, Meng Fhui
Terry/Weng Ern
Darren
Ken Fhui, Colleen
Tommy, Manjit

21 JUNE 2009

21 June 09

Barnabas P.
Peggy Tan
Tian Sia, Jun Fhui, Siew Pin
Lydia Sim
Jocelyn Lee
Anna Sim
Kai Yew
Meng Fhui, Timothy C.
Manjit, Hiew FF

PURPOSE DRIVEN TALK

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren , 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddle back Church in California

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren , Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life?
And I respond:
In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay , getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for..

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease..

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence.

• First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
• Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
• Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
• Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
  

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism?

Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen.
But it might be nice to pass it on to a friend....just like I have done.

14 JUNE 2009

14 June 09

CM: Dr Siow KW
WL: Terry C.
BU: Colleen, Lareina, Richard
P/K: Meng Fhui, Jun Fhui
G: Darren
D: Ken Fhui
LCD: Moses Tan, Tian Sia
PA: Hiew FF, Tom C.