Precious Thoughts of a Yahkid...

Looking for me?

2009-01-12T17:35:00.004+08:00

I've moved to my new blog at http://www.eeyern.com/blog

This vs. That...

2006-06-23T16:50:00.000+08:00

Coca-Cola or Pepsi?
Coke...

Nike or Adidas?
Adidas...

Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox?
Firefox...

iPod or Creative Zen?
iPod...

McDonald's or Burger King?
McD's...

KFC or Kenny Rogers'?
KFC...

McDonald's or KFC?
Burger King... that's when I can't choose between the two...

Horror or Thriller?
Thriller... I got a small heart, cannot take the excitement..

Pizza or Spaghetti?
Spaghetti...

Mountain or Beach?
Beach (but cold like Cameron Highlands)...

Eat-in or eat-out?
Eat-in whenever possible, home-cooked food is best!

Books or Magazines?
Books...

PC or Notebook?
Notebook...

Plastic or Paper?
Plastic... can collect points... :)

Rain or Shine?
Shine... rain makes me gloomy...

Hot or Cold?
Cold... I don't like to sweat...

Cheezels or Twisties?
Cheezels of course!

Sleep or Exercise?
Hahahaha....

Aircond or Fan?
Isn't it obvious?

Pain or Pleasure?

2006-06-21T17:55:00.000+08:00

Many of us tremble at the sight of pain and our feet sways at the promise of pleasure. I found out that sometimes, it is healthy to remind us about pain. Let me explain...

Pain makes us stronger. When I started excercising again, the first few days would most often be very painful for me. My muscles ache, my legs are tired and my arms feel like they're gonna drop off. However, when our body aches, it only means that our body is developing well.
Pain makes us wiser. Have you been scalded before? I have. Now, whenever I am near hot water, I am more careful.
Pain makes us take of our surroundings. Our normal reaction to pain is that we would withdraw. Our reflexes works in such a way that when we detect pain, we would quickly move away from it. We take notice of the danger signs around us.
Pain makes us take notice of ourselves. When you are hurt, you tend to take notice on those areas. You begin to be more self-concious.

I'd like to highlight to you the point where our natural self would withdraw from any pain that is afflicted on us. In most cases, we would quickly run away towards the promise of pleasure.

Losing weight vs. ice cream
Homework vs. play
Church Morning Prayer vs. sleep
Work vs. holiday
Tithing vs. spending

Why? Because the promise of pleasure gives us satisfaction. But nothing eludes us more than the promise of pleasure! How many times have we said, "I'd do this later", "I'll do this tomorrow", etc? We procrastinate on things that we perceive as painful activities. "Only one bite, that won't destroy my weight loss regime" but the truth is that perceive that it won't but in actual fact, it will. One way to overcome this is to look at the effects of pain and what are the benefits we could get if were to stick to it and endure the pain in our lives? For example, I'd like to lose 10 pounds. The pain of having to lose that much is that I can't eat good glorious food for a while but the benefit is that I would be healthy. This way, I would learn to see that is promise after pain. And the reward you reap after a hard days work is more than what we can ever imagine. I would like to challenge you to think of one area of your life which you are putting off. Start taking action now. NOW! Not tomorrow, but NOW! Even if it requires you to sacrifice. Think of the benefits you would reap once you get that job/activity done. You won't regret it...

Three Stages in Every Great Work of God

2006-06-21T00:24:00.000+08:00

It is impossible.

It is difficult.

It is done.

(Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China)

The Joy of a New Found Relationship...

2006-06-19T16:56:00.000+08:00

It's more than 10 months now since my relationship with Lai Yeen started. Although I've known her for about 8-9 years now but I realize that I have so much more that I have yet to know about her. That's the amazing part of any relationship. But one thing that stands out above the rest is not how much I know her but how much I know myself. The past 10 months have only shown me how much I lack and how much I needed to improve. I began to see myself as someone who has so much more to learn and so much more to give to this world. Lai Yeen has been a source of inspiration to me and how much I begin to know about myself. Here is a lesson I'd like to leave with you...

The more you give,

the more you receive

The more you love,

the less you fret.

The more you do unselfishly,

the more you live abundantly.

The more of everything you share,

the more you'll always have to spare.

The more you love,

the more you'll find that life is good and friends are kind.

For only what we give away,

enriches us from day to day.

(David and Claudia Arp, Marriange Parnership Magazine)

I'm back...

2006-06-19T16:49:00.000+08:00

Hi guys, How is it going, I know it has been a long time since I last blogged. Life has been a roller coaster ride the past couple of months. But I am determined to make a comeback. What is new in my life?

I have a new girlfriend...
I have a new housemate...
I have a new company name...
I have a new hobby...
I have a new blog...
I have a new beginning...

How Weird Are You...

2006-01-24T09:26:00.000+08:00

You Are 100% Weird

You're more than quirky, you're downright strange. But you're also strangely compelling, like a cult leader.

How Weird Are You?

Your Observation Skills Get An F

You would be more observant if you were blind. Or totally stoned out of your mind :-)

How Observant Are You?

OK... so I rigged it. :P

The Devil Made A Wager...

2006-01-16T19:45:00.000+08:00

One day, the Devil challenged three of his minions to see who could make Christians stop praying. The first demon, filled with pride said, "I will be back before the day is over!". The first demon went out in the morning and came back in the evening. The demon told Satan, "I've tried everything I could but each time I whispered into the ears of those Christians to stop praying, the more they prayed." The first demon was in total dismayed. The second demon, filled with confidence said, "Watch and learn!". Off he went and he too came back before the day ended. "Sigh, I have tried everything I could but these Christians never stop praying! They started to gather in churches and started praying and worshipping!" The second demon was in tears by the end of the sentence. Out came the third demon, full of gusto, he proclaimed. "Hah! You fools, it only takes someone like me to make those Christians stop praying!". And off he went and surely, before the day ends, he returned. The demon said, "Oh, what a terrible day! I have tried everything under my sleeves but the more I tried to stop them from praying, the more they prayed! They gathered in prayer meets, conferences, revival meetings and in multitudes! There is nothing that I could do to stop them from praying!" The Devil shooked his head and said, "Let me show you how it is done." The Devil left his fiery throne and off he went. When the day ended, the Devil returned with a smile on his face. "Muahaha! See, all the Christians have stopped praying!" Astonished, the demons asked how the Devil achieved this mighty feat. "It was easy, I encouraged them to pray, in fact, I told them that it was good to pray, good to worship, good to go for all those prayer meets and revival meetings. But I also told them, hey, why don't you do it on another day?" Isn't it true? Procrastination is the number one enemy of today's time? It's not that we don't pray, it's not that we don't go to church, it's not that we don't worship. But the devil deceives us

by making us do it another day. Make it a point today that you would not do things tomorrow. You will start by doing it now. Now!

Where To Look...

2006-01-07T07:03:00.000+08:00

Look up.

God will never leave or forsake you.

His Word is a light unto your path.

Look out.

Confide in a friend.

Seek comfort and counsel in local resources.

Look in.

Take an inventory of your feelings.

Journal your thoughts, ideas, and progress.

Look for truth.

Gather information and research your options.

Often natural inclinations are in opposition to god's ways.

Look realistically.

Resist the temptation to change others.

Change what you can; accept what you cannot.

Look for balance.

Take care of yourself.

Get enough rest; eat healthfully; attemp to simplify life.

Look for laughter.

A cheerful heart is like good medicine.

Choose joyful musis, uplifting books, optimistic friends.

Look for hope.

This too shall pass.

Dwell on what is good and worthy of praise.

Look for comfort.

Read the Psalms.

Let others encourage you and find ways to encourage others.

Look for God's purpose.

Every experience has spiritual significance.

Press closer to God and allow Him to deepen your faith.

A Brand New Year A Brand New Beginning...

2006-01-05T11:50:00.000+08:00

Goodbye 2005 and welcome 2006! "The year of building faith" reads the signage in front of DUMC's stage. I thought to myself, what it means to build faith? Have I been building faith? In myself? In others? How have I built faith in my own life as well as others in the past year? How could I improve? What must I do to do things differently. During my MAG, I shared that last year, the theme that God impressed upon me was knowing the father heart of God. Like a child, you would know what you need to do, to get your father's attention, or to make your father smile. You know your dad does not like if you play the whole day and not study. When you disobey, your father grieves. Likewise, does your Father in heaven grief over the many sins that we have committed but yet, He stands by ourside, comforting us, encouraging us and supporting us just like the story of the Footprints. Time and time again, God has impressed upon me how little I know the heart of the Father. I've made up my mind to pursue nothing less than to please my Father in heaven. Last year was about awareness, knowing the heart of the Father. But this year, it's about experiencing it. That's my resolution for this year...

When Experiencing Conflict In Your Life...

2005-09-07T08:41:00.000+08:00

Hey people! Wow! It's been a long time since I last blogged. It's been a crazy August month for me. So many things have been happening in my life. I sprained my back and could hardly move much or even drive but praise God, I'm healed! This is something I got from Joshua Harris' book, Boy Meets Girl which I recently read. (Thanks Christine for the book!).

10 Tips for communication when you're experiencing conflict with someone...

Learn to express your feelings and frustrations honestly but without accusing or attacking the other person (Proverbs 11:9).
Choose words, expressions, and a tone of voice that are kind and gentle. Don't use speech that could easily offend or spark an argument (Proverbs 15:1).
Don't exaggerate, distort, or stretch the truth. Avoid extreme words like never and always (Ephesians 4:25).
Give actual and specific examples. If necessary, make notes before you communicate. Stay away from generalities.
Commit yourself to seeking solutions insted of airing your grievances. Getting even isn't the goal--you want to get things resolved (Romans 12:17-21).
Refuse to indulge bitterness, anger, withdrawal, or argument. Though these emotions are normal, indulging them is sin (Ephesians 4:26).
Don't hesitate to acknowledge your own failure, and be quick to forgive the other person. Make sure you don't hold a grudge (Luke 17:3-4).
Keep talking and asking questions until you are sure that you both understand clearly what the other is saying and feeling. Encourage each other as you press toward a solution (Romans 14:19).
Train your mouth and heart until you can say the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reasons!
Listen to what the other person is saying, feeling, and needing. Try to detect his or her underlying concerns (James 1:19).

Taken from Love That Lasts by Gary and Betsy Ricucci

John 3:16...

2005-07-22T20:04:00.000+08:00

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life

...the greatest lover ...the greatest degree ...the greatest company ...the greatest act ...the greatest gift ...the greatest opportunity ...the greatest simplicity ...the greatest attraction ...the greatest promise ...the greatest difference ...the greatest certainty ...the greatest possession

Livin' Out The Heartcore...

2005-07-12T19:56:00.000+08:00

TWO weeks have past since the Heartcore Camp. It has got to be the most impactful camp that I have been. Life has surely taken a new turn, one that requires me to be still. One that requires me to live life with the presence of God in my daily living. One of the greatest things I learnt from the camp was that we were not meant to be a future generation of youths. We are a present generation, we were meant to live now, and not for tomorrow. Leaders today and rulers tomorrow. There's still a lot that I need to process through and somethings that I require a lot more prayer. But for now, I'm just gonna leave you with some pictures from the camp. Have fun!

Five-Finger Prayer

2005-06-16T21:48:00.000+08:00

Just read this, I thought it was really interesting and I wanted to share it with you.

YOUR THUMB IS NEAREST TO YOU.

So begin your prayers by praying for those closes to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved one is, as C.S. Lewis said, a "sweet duty".

THE NEXT FINGER IS THE POINTING FINGER.

Pray for those who heal, teach, and instruct. This includes doctors, teachers and ministers. They need wisdom in pointing others in the right direction.

THE NEXT FINGER IS THE TALLEST FINGER.

It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president and leaders in business and industry. These people shape our nation. They need God's guidance.

THE FOURTH FINGER IS THE RING FINGER.

This is our weakest finger. It reminds us to pray for the weak, those in trouble or in pain. You cannot pray enough for them.

AND LAST COMES OUR LITTLE FINGER, THE SMALLEST FINGER OF ALL.

This is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. The Bible says, "He who is least among you all--he is the greatest" (Luke 9.48). After you've prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into perspective.

What's the difference...

2005-06-05T13:48:00.000+08:00

...between a baker and a heavy sleeper? One bakes the bread and the other breaks the bed! At 4.30am, I was officially a heavy sleeper! Woke up and decided to go to the washroom, when I tried to get off my bed, I heard a loud thump. Thump! And I felt my bed sinking! Slightly dazed, eyes were half shut when I switched on the lights to investigate what happened. To my horror of horrors, my bed broke! ... I just got this bed last week for my birthday. I was pretty upset because it's new and I absolutely love it. But I can't believe that the bed frame gave way. *sniff* *sniff* Maybe because it's an 8-inch mattress with a 80kg guy lying on top of it. Just gave a call to the furniture shop, they will be coming to investigate and see if I can get it repaired or get a replacement. Hmmm... well, looks like I have to resort to sleeping on the floor for now.

In The Month of May...

2005-06-04T15:24:00.000+08:00

... 14th May 2005, a new member in the family, Yen Zi,

Baby Yen Zi, 2.57kg...

One healthy Caesarian baby...

... 23rd May 2005, first trip to Shanghai!

Shanghai Airport...

Master Switcfc in my hotel room...

... 25th May 2005 received drips for my Tonsillittis in Shanghai Hospital

Shanghai Hospital...

... 27th May 2005 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAN!!!

Jon & I, May Babies...

... 28th May 2005 9th Malaysian Cell Church Conference in DUMC

Dr. Dale Galloway speaking leadership...

View from the top...

The Wind Chill Factor...

2005-06-03T16:00:00.000+08:00

Was there a time where you experienced the power of God at work? Where things that took days to accomplish only took hours? Broken relationships that were mended even when you thought there was no hope left? Enter the Wind Chill Factor of God today! Recently, I learnt this new principle. During winter, when the temperature is about -2 degrees, when there is wind, the temperature could drop to -20 degrees. The wind causes the temperature to drop in a matter of seconds. This form of acceleration is called the Wind Chill Factor. I have recently experienced one of this "Wind Chill Factor" moments in my life. You see, I'm the coordinator for the Campus Youth camp this year at my church. And I was having a prayer time with the speaker--Uncle See Lok who happens to be Johann's dad and Pr. Mike--our Youth Pastor. Things appeared slow when we were discussing on certain issues and on what we needed to do during the camp. But when the speaker, Uncle See Lok started to pray and asking God to grant us wisdom, things started to happen. We were in the Wind Chill Factor of God! Things started to accelerate and without knowing, we managed to finish what we needed to do for the camp. Not only that, we mapped out the entire outline of the camp messages and also what we needed to do before and after the camp. We even had a breakthrough in how we could make it a learning experience not only for the campus youth but also for the volunteers present. It was an amazing time. And did I mentioned that all these happened in an hour and a half? It seems like so little effort on our part but God somehow made the most out of it for us. It was awesome! In which area of your life that you need the Wind Chill Factor of God? Areas that you feel you need a breakthrough? Your relationships? Your job? Your calling? Your ministry? Ask God for Wind Chill Factor moments in your life. May He continue to expand and enlarge your life!

Sharing Freely Our Knowledge...

2005-05-09T09:53:00.000+08:00

Often we think that we do not know enough to be able to teach others. We might even become hesitant to tell others what we know, out of fear that we won't have anything left to say when we are asked for more.This mind-set makes us anxious, secretive, possessive, and self-conscious. But when we have the courage to share generously with others all that we know, whenever they ask for it, we soon discover that we know a lot more than we thought. It is only by giving generously from the well of our knowledge that we discover how deep that well is.

- Henri Nouwen

Good Ideas or God-ideas...

2005-05-04T23:20:00.000+08:00

One way to enlarge our vision is to define the way God defines. When we learn to see through the eyes of God in whatever we do, we begin to see things in a whole new perspective. Here is the simple truth, "Not all good ideas are God-ideas". When we learn to define the way God defines, we learn to seek God in every area of our lives, be it our ambition, our relationships or even the problems that we are facing now. In Matt 6:33 it says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." When you seek first the kingdom of God, then ALL these things will be added to you. It's a sequence, when you do this (seek His Kingdom) then all will be added. What is the things that are added to you? ALL! Everything! Your financial woes, your relationships, your job, your exams, your projects, your destiny! Everything will be added unto you.

I like what it's written in the Message, "Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met." The word "steep" is translated as "unreasonably or excessively high" and my favourite, "to permeate somebody or something with a substance or quality, usually over a long period", When you replace the word "seek" with this... "When you soak yourself excessively in the things of God, His Kingdom, His righteousness, all these things will be added unto you. Wow! It's so powerful! Have you seen a sponge getting wet when it touches water? What happens? When you toss the sponge into a bucket full of water, the sponge sucks in as much water as it possibly can. What else? The sponge expands! Yes, when you are soaked in His presence, soaked in the Word of God, soaked in seeking Him... you too will expand and grow!

There will come many opportunities for you to be rich and famous, someone might come to you with a proposal to make millions, or maybe you might get tempted to join some get-rich-quick schemes, multi-level marketing, could be a huge job promotion where you demand a high salary, could be a beautiful woman with the looks, the wit, the everything-I-asked-for qualities and even the heart for God. But we must stop and ask ourselves, is this a good idea or a God-idea? When you seek God, you would begin to separate the good from the godly. Remember, "Don't let the good rob you from the best!". And God demands our best! Our excellence in the things that He has invested in us! So the next time, some good idea comes to you, stop and ask yourself, is it a good idea or a God-idea?

"Not all good ideas are God-ideas but all God-ideas are good ideas!"

When You Thought It Wouldn't Happen To You...

2005-04-23T10:56:00.000+08:00

I realise that whenever I think of something that doesn't happen to me, it happens! The Murphy's Law at work. Here are some examples...

My mom was admitted to hospital long time ago, and I wondered to myself, "Hmmm, what does it feel like to be living in a hospital?" Before you knew it, I was admitted for 8 days for an injury I sustained on my back.
I wouldn't fall in love again! .... and I did.
I wouldn't fall out of love anymore! ... and I did.
I was thinking to myself the other day, how come my housemate is so prone to car accidents while it doesn't happen to me often. On that very day, I banged into someone's car.
"It's been a long time since I've been sick!", you've guessed it! I'm having flu and sore throat right now. :(
"I wonder if this only happens to me?" ... still waiting for you to comment! *wink*

Unity in Serving God's House...

2005-04-20T10:04:00.000+08:00

I was so blessed last night by Pr. Foo's sermon that I would like to share it with you. I flew back from Singapore last evening and arrived at the airport around 6.30pm. By the time I passed the customs, it was already 7pm. I had to rush to church for our monthly Music & Worship Ministry Nite where we congregate together as a corporate body of worshippers to worship the Almighty. Pr. Foo started off by asking us what make us want to join the Worship Ministry. And what was the role that we play in the Worship Ministry? I thought that I it felt good worshipping the Lord and that the Lord sure feels good when we worship Him. When Pr. Foo asked about the role that we play, my mind was thinking along the lines about the worship team being able to see the glory of God's presence being magnified in His people. To my amazement, that was what Pr. Foo started the sermon with!

The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

- 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 (NIV)

We dream to see the day where we would experience the glory of God filling the church. So strong that "priests" could not perform their service, the worship leader unable to sing another chorus, the guitarist unable to strum another chord, the pastor unable to preach another word. The presence of the Lord is so strong that you just can't help but stand in awe and worship Him. I long to see that day. How about you? In Tommy Tenney's book God Chasers, he started the chapter with a description of what happened on one fine Sunday where the Lord visited them. The word "glory" in Hebrew, is kabowd (HT3519), which means, glorious, abundance, splendour and reverence. When the glory of God is so strong that it weighs on you. It sits on you until you can't do anything. Some might think that this is too far away given the situation of your church or it could be based on some circumstances within your church but that dream is not far beyond reach. What does it take for us to be carriers of God's presence? We need to first be facilitators of the presence of God in His house. Smith Wigglesworth, a great author, when approached by a man who told him, "Sir, you convict me of sin". The glory of God is so strong that it can convict people. In verse 13, it says that, "The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord". In one voice they came together to give praise. Unity is where the presence of the Lord resides. Only in agreement and unity that we as worshippers can come together to experience the glory of God. In Matthew 18:19-20, it says, Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. " When there is unity, that is where the Father is. In the Chinese bible, it says, "having same heart and same mind." I thought that it is very accurate. How then can we be carriers of God's presence? Here are the 3 steps that Pr. Foo preached. 1) Agreement in spirit What is your vision that you have in leading people into worship? Pr. Foo started by asking us questions about why we worship, what is our role as a worship team. Like it or not, we are in the frontline ministry. People look at us as though they are looking at a goldfish in an aquarium. We are all goldfishes! People look at us when we worship. People look at us when we are not serving as well! So as a team, we should have a common vision to flow as a team. Learning to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and where the Holy Spirit is leading us. We might be the most talented singer on stage but we must learn to be submissive, learn to obey, learn to flow with the worship leader whom the Lord has anointed. We need to have a singleness of heart to obey the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 15:6, "Then we'll be a choir, not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!" Eugene Peterson emphasizes the principle of having singleness of heart, when we as a choir which signifies that we need to be in unity, and singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the Lord. Wow! And just as it is in 2 Chronicles 5:13, "The choir and trumpets made one voice of praise and thanks to God orchestra and choir in perfect harmony singing and playing praise to God". Eugene Peterson highlights that we are like an orchestra, a choir playing together. That is singleness of heart! 2) Let go of our own agenda "This is as practical as we can get!", says Pr. Foo. We need to work through our issues together. A very common issue that almost every church face is between the Music Ministry Team and the Audio Visual Crew. We can never agree! You are playing too loud! When we want to see God at work, we need to be moving in one voice, in unity, moving together as team. In Philippians 2:21 it says, " For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ". We have to put our differences aside and focus on working together, ushering in the presence of God. As far as worship is concern, it is not just the worship team. Everyone from the usher to the worship team to the preacher, we are all goldfishes! Everyone of us (the team) builds the worship experience for the people. In 1 Corinthians 10:24 it says, "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." We have to learn to help one another, extend our hand and our time in serving one another. When we set aside our agenda, we begin to define the way God defines. 3) Serving one another Serving one another has to go beyond what we do as a team. It's about our lives! Brining unity to the team is about serving one another. It's about our lives! It goes beyond our duties. From just serving with one another over the weekend but we must learn to bear each other's burden. We have to learn to invest our time and energy into peoples lives outside our ministry time. We need to learn to consider one another, stir one another and challenge one another. If something is wrong with your brother or sister, have courage to confront him or her. We need to have unity in serving God's house. Galatians 6:2, " Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. " and Hebrews 10:4, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Let us learn to carry one another's burden and spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Only then can we be united in oneness and have a singleness of heart to usher in glory of God's presence. In conclusion, let us walk together in unity, spurring one another and having the right spirit so that we can one day feel the weight of the Lord on us, on our cell groups and on our church. That we might fall down in awe of the Lord's presence. Let's press on... together!

Bringing Someone Along On Your Journey...

2005-04-18T23:50:00.000+08:00

It's been over two years now, and I think it's time to share a little about my MAG (Mentoring and Accountability Group). I remember my manager telling me, "Ian, always remember, whatever you learn, always pass it down, this way, it becomes a learning cycle." And that was the birth of our MAG. We meet fornightly around PJ for breakfast. What do we do? We EAT! Yup, we have great fellowship together, sourcing for places around PJ for great food. But above all else, we are students of life. Learning from one another, encouraging one another as we move towards our final destination. What is success when you don't bring someone along on your journey as you try to achieve it? I think it's so important that we bring someone along on our journey. If we are having fun, wouldn't it be nice to have someone to share it with? If you are successful, wouldn't you want someone to celebrate with you? I'm so proud of each and everyone of them. Because they are learning to grow in conduct, character and attitude. Learning to be modest in their speech but exceeds in their actions. Humble, teachable and grounded firm like a rock. I hope that whatever time I have with them, it would be a time where I'm able to impact them as much as I can. That I'll be able to impart life into them. How about you? Are you bringing someone along on your journey to success?

The Okonomiyaki Experience...

2005-04-11T09:56:00.000+08:00

Our worship team had a gathering at one of our singer's house. Gilbert and Yukiko graciously offered to open their house for us that night. We had Okonomiyaki which is sort of a Japanese pancake or somewhat like a murtabak. It's made mostly of cabbage and flour and some meat. And it tastes delicious! We had a great time over at Gilbert and Yuki's. Gave Evelyn a surprise belated birthday as well. What was great was that... I've became a certified chef overnight! Yup, I was busy cooking Okonomiyaki for everyone. Well, what's a good meal without an ingredient called fun so I made some of my own innovations...

The heart shaped Okonomiyaki

The finised product, Star-shaped Okonomiyaki for Dennis

The Chef

It's great fun being able to bond with your team members. So if Ian can cook, so can you!

When I Was Little...

2005-04-08T08:30:00.000+08:00

Many were blessed with my sharing during our 3-day fast and prayer. I thought it would be a good idea to post it here as well.

When I was little, my father runs a large snooker business. In his own words, he said that he has easily spent 20 years of his life concentrated within a span of under 10 years…working. He would usually leave the house early, rush home for dinner before he scurries off to work again till wee hours in the morning. Dinner time is probably the only time he gets to spend with me and that would be the time where he fulfils his duty as a father, making sure the house is in perfect harmony, scolds or punishes me when I did something wrong that day. My punishment was to stand by the corner of the house where I'd be left crying for the night. As a young man, growing up, I never had enough time to spend with my father. When my mother was led to Christ, my father had only one comment to make, "You can bring my daughters to church but not my son," since it's the male's obligation and responsibility to carry the family's name and reputation. Please do not get me wrong, as my father is humble, modest in speech but exceeds in his actions, a gentle person by nature. His infectious smile would leave no one standing and his charisma alone would make you want to know him more. Things started to take a turn when my father accepted Christ. He was the last one in the family to accept Christ. He now serves the Lord in a local church, training leaders and positively impacting the lives around him. As my father grew in maturity in the Lord, I see a growth in our relationship as well. We spend a lot of quality time together, exploring Ipoh’s fantabulous food, shopping for computer gadgetry as it was my main interest at that time, bonding with each other on father-and-son trips, lost in engaging and meaningful conversations, always focusing on the Lord and making His imprint our expression. Henri Nouwen wrote, “When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advise, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. A person who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a person who cares.” That person is my father. If there is something left to be said about my father, it would be that he loves me unconditionally, embraces my dreams and desires, embodies my values and supports me during trying times. How could I but only to cherish this relationship with my father? I would not exchange it for anything in the world. He is the greatest hero in my life. Now, we do not spend as much time together as we hope we could but whatever chance that we might have, we spend it as though there's no tomorrow…

Friends...

2005-04-01T11:27:00.000+08:00

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advise, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. - Henri Nouwen

Whatif-itis and Ifonly-itis...

2005-03-29T17:44:00.000+08:00

How often have we been plagued with the whatif-itis and ifonly-itis disease? What if I can be taller, if only I'm 10 pounds lighter, what if I didn't do what I just did? If only she would love me. What if I'm richer? If only I had listened... and the list goes on. How often such thoughts bring about misery and depression? How often does these thoughts make you a lesser man? In the words of Thomas Kempis who wrote The Imitation of Christ, "wherever you are, wherever you go, you are miserable unless you turn to God. So why be dismayed when things do not happen as you wish and desire? Is there anyone who has everything as he wishes? No—neither I, nor you, nor any man on earth. There is no one in the world, be he Pope or king, who does not suffer trial and anguish." So be assured that you aren't the only one out there that faces disappointments, misery or anguish. I feel it too sometimes, and the past two weeks were no exception. I just wanted to share some stuff I learnt the past two weeks. First of all, don't let a fear-filled perspective rob you from the joy of life you can experience right now. If we live in fear, the power of the "whatif-itis" and the "ifonly-itis" becomes overwhelming and you would go through life without joy. At times, I feel so depressed because I feel so inadequate, to the point where I feel like I'm a failure. But when I explore beneath the surface and discover that much of the pain of failure is not just that I have not achieved something but people might think of me as failing. People's recognition and praise is so important for most people. How often do we seek recognition from God? Sometimes at the time of your disappointment, how often have you thought about the people around you who are equally or more disappointment than you and how miserable they could be because of their life issues? Remember, you aren't the only one with problems. I'd like to challenge you today that the next time when you feel down or depressed, start by praying for someone you know is hurting and in misery. I guess one important I learned is that what we think shape our being. Our attitude determines our altitude. Who we are is largely related to how we perceive the world around us. So it's very important to stay focused and have a positive attitude. It's not easy, and yes, it can be a constant struggle but when you are down, you are rest assured that there's someone out there praying for you right now. Someone who has problems of his own but makes a conscientious effort to pray for you. Are you willing to do the same? I wanna take this opportunity to thank a few people. I asked God to send an angel, and He sent me THREE on the same day. One at prayer meeting, one on Yahoo! Messenger and another one at 2.30am in the morning. You know who you are, so thanks so much! Thanks for all the encouragements and the "scolding"... Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. - Phillipians 4:8 (Msg)

Learning Obedience...

2005-03-25T00:30:00.000+08:00

Thank you Lord for teaching me obedience

Obedience to You and not to men

That life is not about recognition

But rather, about obedience

We are spiritual beings

mastering the human experience

We were made to glorify You

and to make Your glory known

Oh Lord, thanks for sending angels

the moment I called on Your name

It was exhilirating and exciting

to know that prayers can be answered

Help me to focus on You

Let not my gifts be unopened

Because the greatest tragedy of life

is the tragedy of an unopened gift

May I be an embodient of great quality, of character, of attitude and of heart

Help me to know my value

and my life's greatest calling

I love You Lord...

Who Am I...

2005-03-23T20:37:00.000+08:00

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth Would care to know my name Would care to feel my hurt Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star Would choose to light the way For my ever wandering heart Not because of who I am But because of what You've done Not because of what I've done But because of who You are I am a flower quickly fading Here today and gone tomorrow A wave tossed in the ocean Vapor in the wind Still You hear me when I'm calling Lord, You catch me when I'm falling And You've told me who I am I am Yours, I am Yours Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin Would look on me with love and watch me rise again Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea Would call out through the rain And calm the storm in me Not because of who I am But because of what You've done Not because of what I've done But because of who You are I am a flower quickly fading Here today and gone tomorrow A wave tossed in the ocean Vapor in the wind Still You hear me when I'm calling Lord, You catch me when I'm falling And You've told me who I am I am Yours I am Yours Whom shall I fear Whom shall I fear 'Cause I am Yours I am Yours Lyrics from "Who Am I" by Casting Crowns

Man, I just love this song. It just talks about how small we are and how insignificant and yet God made us significant. Everytime when we stumble, God is just there to pick us up. This has been a reassurance for me. Thank you Lord! I just heard some news about my customer passing away. Saddens my heart to hear such news. Will be praying for his family in HK.

Would You Send An Angel...

2005-03-23T00:05:00.000+08:00

Lord, would you send an angel

to tell me that I'm doing okay

Would you send an angel

to comfort me when I'm sad

Would you send an angel

when I'm laughing and need someone to laugh with

Would you send an angel

when I feel lonely and need a companion

Would you send an angel

when life takes a beating

Would you send an angel

when there's no electricity

Would you send an angel

when there's a storm and I need shelter

Would you send an angel

to pray with me

Would you send an angel

when I'm crying deep inside

Would you send an angel...

Humble & Broken...

2005-03-18T11:51:00.000+08:00

I was reading through my journal and I came across an entry which I wrote after I attended IDMC last year. I came across a section where I wrote about what Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn shared about Pr. Edmund Chan and what he appreciated about him. 1) He was humble & broken. He was a man of humiliy & a man with such brokeness. When Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn was praying for himself, he could hear Pr. Edmund going, "Me too, Lord, me too". 2) Sharpness of his mind He was able to articulate certain spritual truths through life experiences & through scripture. 3) Deep sense of his own heart as a place of restendness Just being close to him, you can't help but feel refreshed. Wow! I though tto myself, this is someone I would want to model after. I have great respect for Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn, and for him to share something like this, you can't help but just admire and love the man. Pr. Edmund Chan is truly an ordinary man used by God to do extraordinary things. Here are some principles that I learnt when I was there:- 1) The "With Him" principle Here is a man where you would want to be with. You stand next to him, and you want to learn all you can from him. Be it watching a movie together or learning spiritual truths, you just want to be near him. No wonder, people like Matthew and the rest would just drop down everything they were doing and followed Him. 2) The "Generosity" principle Pr. Edmund Chan not only offered his place to stay when Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn visited him in UK. But more oever, he spend 2-3 days of his vacation with Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn. He intentionally flew to KK to spend time with him. Imagine, a busy man like Pr. Edmund Chan who has been booked for till 2007, he is willing to spend 2-3 days of not just his time, but holiday to be with Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn, now, that is generosity! 3) Principle of articulating spiritual truths "Pr. Edmund was able to forge together spiritual truths through life experiences, deep soul searching issues, inner life issues through the refined Word of God", said Pr. Dr. Philip Lyn. It's important that each disciple should learn this principle. Since we should all be drawing our knowledge and understanding from Him who first gave us knowledge and understanding.

What can you learn from this? What can you do better?

Oh Lord,

My prayer is that you would break me, humble me,

through all the turmoils & difficulties in life,

that I would remain as a man

small and secure in You.

I do not want the world

for all I want is You.

Sweet Lord,

I am not worthy of Your grace,

Let alone Your Love,

But Lord, Thank you, Thank you!

For You love me above all else.

Lord Jesus,

I do not know how to lead others.

I do not know how I can impact others.

I do not know if I can run the race well.

But Lord, I want to place all my trust in You.

So help me Lord, my life is in your hands,

use me Lord!

Purify my heart,

Cleanse me from within,

Fill me, that I would not be lacking in anything.

All glory to You!

Amen!

A Tribute to All Daughters...

2005-03-14T22:39:00.000+08:00

Every home should have a daughter,

for there's nothing like a girl

To keep the world around her

in one continuous whirl.

From the moment she arrives on earth,

and on through womanhood,

A daughter is a female

who is seldom understood.

One minute she is laughing,

the next she starts to cry,

Man can't understand her

and there's just no use to try.

She is soft and sweet and cuddly,

but she's also wise and smart,

She's a wondrous combination

of a mind and brain and heart.

And even in her baby days

she's just a born coquette,

And everything she really wants

she manages to get.

For even at a tender age

she uses all her wiles

And she can melt the hardest heart

with the sunshine of her smiles.

She starts out as a rosebud

with her beauty unrevealed,

Then through a happy childhood

her petals are unsealed.

She's soon a sweet girl graduate,

and then a blushing bride,

And then a lovely woman

as the rosebud oepns wide.

And some day in the future,

if it be God's gracious will,

She, too, will be a Mother

and know that reverend thrill.

That comes to every Mother

whose heart is filled with love

When she beholds the "angel"

that God sent her from above.

And there would be no life at all

in this world or the other

Without a darling daughter

who, in turn, becomes a Mother!

-Helen Steiner Rice

This is a tribute to all the women who attended the Women of Worth Conference 2005 at DUMC on Sunday & Monday. Learning how to appreciate womanhood and knowing the role that women play in the Father's eyes. I've been blessed by so many of you and one entry is just not enough to sum up all the wondrous things you have blessed me. As we celebrate womanhood, I'd like to say a big thank you to all of you, women! I've been giving an opportunity to bless the women through the Women of Worth Conference. There were 10 men who came together and spent 7 hours preparing 410 roses for all the women at the conference. We ended about 1.30am. We did everything from cutting and trimming the stock and leaves, dethorning, wrapping the aluminium foil with wet cotton, tying the ribbon and the card together and finally presenting the flowers to the ladies on Monday at the end of the conference. Here are some pictures from our escapade!

The finished roses...

Cutting the cards to precision...

The QC Manager, Pr. Chris...

The Merry Men...

As you can see, we are all working... hard!

Ian, getting ready to give the flowers to the ladies...

The flower bearers...

Wan Tee, he's the man!

Presenting the flowers...

That's me!

Jesus Son of Mary or Jesus Son of Joseph...

2005-03-13T07:04:00.000+08:00

Someone asked me this question the other day. And I thought that it was interesting. If Jesus was not the literal son of Joseph, why is Joseph's genealogy given in the Bible? What would be the point? To answer this question, we need to first look at another question. How do we trace our bloodline? People who were adopted were considered "sons", and their "seed" throughout history. Even today, when people are adopted, they are considered part of the blood line in family trees, and take the family name, and inherit family fortunes as if they were the "seed". Matthew 1:23, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son," The writers of the New Testament understood that in order to be a "son", one need not be a physical descendant. This is proof. Answer: First, let us be quite clear that Jesus was not the literal, biological son of Joseph. The Gospel of Matthew leaves us in no doubt that Jesus' conception was miraculous and that no human (or "divine") intercourse took place (Matt.1:1-25). Rather, what was conceived in Mary was "from the Ruach-Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit)" (v.20, Jewish New Testament). Therefore the only genes that could have been present in Jesus were from Mary's genealogical line, and even then we do not know to what extent the Holy Spirit modified these. It may even be that the genes were completely made anew using Mary's physical matter (we do not know to what extent Jesus resembled His earthly mother). So why is Joseph's genealogy traced? There are probably several reasons. Firstly, for legal reasons. Irrespective of whether Joseph was the biological father or not, he was at least the legal father. To all intents and purposes, Jesus was an adopted son. Secondly, the father is the head of the household and the genealogy of children was always traced through the male line in Hebrew culture (the opposite was true in Egypt which was a matrilineal society, genealogy being traced through the female line). As the adopted child of Joseph, Jesus nevertheless obtained the name of Joseph, and was called Jesus, son of Joseph. Thirdly, the Gospel teaches plainly that we are all the adopted sons and daughters of Abraham by faith. Even though those who are Gentiles have no blood lineage back to Abraham, they are nevertheless his sons and daughters through faith in Christ. Likewise, we become the sons and daughters of Christ through adoption. The principle of adoption is important, and the origin of the one to whom we are adopted to is therefore important. And the origin of Christ is God. The purpose of Joseph's genealogical tree in the Gospel of Matthew is to establish kingly descent. Joseph was a pure descendant of David and therefore entitled to sit on the throne of Israel in place of the upstart Herod. But even if Jesus did not belong biologically to Joseph's Davidic line, He certainly did through His mother Mary. Mary was a descendant of Nathan, Solomon's brother and son of Bath-sheba, the wife of David. Joseph was a descendant of Solomon, Nathan's brother. There are important spiritual principles hidden up in these two genealogies. They are, if studied with the eye of the Holy Spirit, a beautiful picture of the redeeming mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came as two parts of a unique whole -- He came as God and as man -- as pure spirit and as earthly flesh. To effect His redeeming work a Virgin Birth was absolutely essential. Jesus Christ had to have two genealogies, therefore -- a divine genealogy and an earthly one. Mary provided the earthly one and Joseph, by proxy, provided the "heavenly" one. For the Hebrews, genealogy meant everything. It lay at the heart of the Mosaic dispensation. Jesus came to bring the Mosaic dispensation to its completion -- to fill it up spiritually, as it were, by elevating it to its true spiritual position, and not the lower, fleshy, school-master position which it occupied under the Old Covenant. He not only lived the outer covenant perfectly, without sin (the Mary dimension) but also lifted it into a new dimension (the Joseph principle). Though Mary had the biological line establishing Jesus as the legitimate King of Israel, Joseph, by proxy for our Heavenly Father, represented quite a different line -- a spiritual one. Though he himself had the biological line requirements too, it was not that which was of the utmost importance -- for Jesus came not as a political Messiah (on the first occasion) but as a spiritual one. The Kingdom He came to establish was "not of this world". Matthew was a Hebrew and he alone of the four Gospel writers wrote in Hebrew. He was writing to a Hebrew audience, for whom genealogy was important. Luke, who wrote in Greek, was writing to a gentile audience. Mark and John, who wrote in Greek also, mention no genealogy at all. In a way, the latter three represent the "completion" or the "filling up" of the Law of Moses -- filling the outer, physical vessel (represented by the Gospel of Matthew) with the Spirit of God (represented by the other three Gospels). Throughout the Gospels, and particularly John's Gospel, we detect a force or movement, as it were, which is trying to elevate the human consciousness above the physical and into the spiritual. It cannot be any accident that Matthew's Gospel is the first chronologically in the New Testament, for it is the stepping stone from the old thinking and the first tentative steps into the new. Matthew, writing to the blood descendants of Israel, is preparing the stage for the Great Adoption by all those who believe into the same great family of God. The fact that Matthew's Gospel contains accounts both of Joseph's genealogy and Jesus' miraculous conception can mean only one thing: that we are to understand that a marvelous work and a wonder is about to take place on all levels of Creation, from the physical (genealogical) to the spiritual. If Jesus had been naturally conceived and the writer had wished to stress this, then the story of the Virgin Birth would never have been included because it would have been a blatant contradiction. Indeed, it would have been so laughable that nobody would have believed the apostles' message. But for we who have found the Christ, and have been reborn in His Spirit, the presence of Joseph's genealogical line is no mystery. For as Joseph adopted God-in-the-flesh on the earth, so God-in-the-flesh has adopted us in heaven. We, too, have received a "virgin birth" but on a different plane. Our rebirth on the spiritual plane is the fruits of that planting on the physical plane. We too have a biological line through our mothers and fathers and they are important to us so that we know to whom we belong on the earth. But as all Christians know, we also have another genealogical line through adoption, making us children of heaven and citizens of a better world. We have been adopted by one who was adopted Himself, the One we know who has experienced everything and knows us through and through. God, in His infinite wisdom, left nothing incomplete. Taken from : Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Finally!

2005-03-11T10:36:00.000+08:00

Finally, I remembered my login and password! Been trying for weeks to log on but I couldn't. I was quite sure that the password I used was the same. Only came to realise today that my login was not "Yahkid" but was something else. Haha, so finally, I can blog again! This is what happens when you don't blog for a long time. Just a quick update on what has been happening in my life thus far...

I gained 3kgs after a weekend in Penang. Celebrated my cousin's wedding and my dad's 60th birthday there. I had like 3 breakfasts, one after the other. Chow Kuay Teow, Otak-otak, Penang Laksa, Fried Oyster, mmmmm.... just the thought of it makes me hungry already!
Finally got my 29" TV setup with a nice TV cabinet and a DVD player in my room. What is missing now is a PS2 and a mini-bar.
I'll be playing bass for DUMC's 25th Anniversary!
And here are some pics from the wedding...

My Family

The men in my family. Gordon, Thian Aun, Dad & Me. As you can see, we had too much to drink.

May, Li Li & I

Shawn & I. Go Fifty Cents!

Sharene & I

In the airport...

2005-02-01T09:44:00.000+08:00

Boarding my plane to Singapore in 5 minutes. Just wanna say thanks to everyone who helped out in our MWM Appreciation Nite on Sunday. It was indeed a great experience having to organise the event. So far, everyone's feedback has been so encouraging. I'm glad everything went smoothly without any hiccups. Will post some pictures later and tell you guys more what happened. Have to make my way to the boarding gate now. Take care dudes!

On costumes, G.A.S and look-a-likes...

2005-01-27T13:34:00.000+08:00

One more day and I'll be back in Malaysia! Oooooooo I just can't wait! As much as most people think that I have the dream job of a lifetime, I must say that I truly miss Malaysia! Oh, you guys just don't know how much you appreciate where God has placed you until you are stripped away from it. Well, not that I've been totally stripped away from coming home, but I think I have a taste of how it feels. I had a really weird dream last night. I was shopping! And I think it looks One Utama. See, I miss FREO. I miss the FREO chicks. Bwahaha... But anyhoo, back to the dream... I was walking around and came across this costume shop. And they were selling all these costumes for RM49.90. Life-size costumes of lions, tigers, elephants and even llamas. Yes, the llamas were on 50% off! Haha... man, I can't believe I actually remember all those details! I was thinking twice whether I needed one. You know, I'm a sucker when it comes to hats or stuff like that. I'll find any excuse I can to wear my afro or my viking hat any day. So, I finally decided to get the lion's costume, it looks very much like the Cornetto lion, what's it called again? Oh yes, the Paddle Pop lion! But before I could grab it, someone took the last one from the shelf. :( Looks like it's between the llama and the chicken that looks like Sigourney Weaver with feathers. I've been overwhelmed by G.A.S lately. I have so much G.A.S that I think I need to compromise. Oh, that desire in me to let that G.A.S out! What's G.A.S? It stands for Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Yeah, it's a disease according to most musicians. You end up buying more and more gear even when you don't really need them. Well, to list a few, I wanted a iPod Photo, Playstation2, Canon 20D, Canon A95, a video camera, a minibar, a 5.1 home theatre system, a new handphone, a new bass, a new acoustic bass, new speakers and subwoofer for my car, and a..... and.... and..... the list goes on. Talk about living a simple life sigh... Oh Lord, why?! Anyways, I was surfing the net yesterday on iPod and today, I found out that my colleague from Portugal (handsome guy, any ladies interested? Still single) has an iPod! I finally got my hands in testing it and oh gosh! G.A.S. just got bigger! Since working for this customer, I've been dubbed the "Twin". Everywhere I go, everyone seems to say, "Hey, you look like Leslie", "Are you related to Leslie?"... or worse, "Good morning ,Leslie!" . Well, Leslie is this regional manager from my customer's Shah Alam office and apparently everybody knows him and I look almost like him. The strange thing is that I've never met him before for the past couple of months since the start of this project. Hehe, I hope I can get to see how identical are we. This really reminds me of how people used to think that I look like Andrew Yeoh. I think half of DUMC thinks that I'm Andrew Yeoh, Amy's brother. There was once I was talking to this guy for like 15 mins and somebody budged in and said, "Hey, David, do you know this guy you are talking to?". And he replied, "Yes, he's Andrew!". Man... I seriously think I need a change of image. What say you? On a lighter note, I was reading this article from www.graceatwork.org. I think it's really interesting and you guys should read it too. Tan Soo-Inn writes some really thought provoking stuff as well as challenges us to think twice about our own faith. Asking questions as to why we believe in what we believe? Like someone once told me, our faith only grows stronger when it's put to the test. Just like James says, "Test your faith!" (James 1:1-27). At the meantime, stay real!

Purity of Mind and Unity of Purpose...

2005-01-26T13:52:00.000+08:00

A MAN is raised up from the earth by two wings—simplicity and purity. There must be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires. Simplicity leads to God, purity embraces and enjoys Him. If your heart is free from ill-ordered affection, no good deed will be difficult for you. If you aim at and seek after nothing but the pleasure of God and the welfare of your neighbor, you will enjoy freedom within. If your heart were right, then every created thing would be a mirror of life for you and a book of holy teaching, for there is no creature so small and worthless that it does not show forth the goodness of God. If inwardly you were good and pure, you would see all things clearly and understand them rightly, for a pure heart penetrates to heaven and hell, and as a man is within, so he judges what is without. If there be joy in the world, the pure of heart certainly possess it; and if there be anguish and affliction anywhere, an evil conscience knows it too well. As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he who turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and changed into a new man. When a man begins to grow lax, he fears a little toil and welcomes external comfort, but when he begins perfectly to conquer himself and to walk bravely in the ways of God, then he thinks those things less difficult which he thought so hard before.

- Thomas Kempis, Imitation of Christ.

Bahasa Indon...

2005-01-26T10:04:00.000+08:00

Ohhh... wished I had my digital camera with me! Looks like I have to start saving for my Canon 20D already. I really wanted to post this picture of me having this seafood meal. There was like grilled prawns and crabs and mussels and fish and so much more! It sounded like a one-person meal so I ordered it. But gosh! To my surprise, it ended up to be a wholesome meal for two. (I finished it). I learnt some Bahasa Indon here and it needs some getting use to. For example :- Bahasa Melayu vs. Bahasa Indon Kereta vs. Mobil Motosikal vs. Motor Kereta Api vs. Kereta Selamat Tengahari vs. Selamat Siang Encik John vs. Pak John Cik Cindy vs. Pak Cindy (yes... weird huh?) Beef vs. Sapi Well, I find it really fascinating when you learn about a person's culture, their language and their history. It only makes me realise how unique I am to be a Malaysian borned Chinese who can speak Malay, English and Cantonese. Like my Indian colleague said, "My, you can speak Cantonese when I was in HK with you and now, you can speak Bahasa Indon when I'm with you! You are amazing!". Thank God! I sometimes wonder in our Christian culture, our Christian history and even our Christian language, how does people view us? Something for us to ponder about...

Indo Mee, Indo Cafe, Indonesia!

2005-01-25T14:02:00.000+08:00

Hey people! Selamat Siang and apa khabar?! Greetings from Indonesia. I'm in a place called Cilegon right now, which is 160km from Jakarta. The trip to my customer's factory was horrendous! Woke up at 6am and started my journey at 7am from my house and only reached my customer's factory at about 1.30pm. Was dead tired by the time I started working. The hotel that I'm staying is a beach resort (ugh!). Good view of the beach but after what happened to Aceh, I think I have a tsunamiophobia. Last night was rather scary. When I was sleeping, the electricity was out and I could've sworn that I heard the waves roaring in the middle of the night... *rooooaaaarrrr ka-boooosh roooaaaarrrr!!!* When I woke up at about 6am, it was so dark, I could hardly find the bathroom. When I arrived at the factory this morning, I had a shock, my hair was in a mess. It's pretty hard getting your hair right while fiddling with the comb and hair gel in total darkness. The food has been good so far. It's an all expense paid trip, so I get to eat anything I want. Bwahahaha... Sirloin steak, tenderloin steak, salmon steak, mmmm... all those glorious food! Elliott, looks like I've gotta join you at Fitness First after I'm done with Fatness First here in Indonesia. Caesar Salad all the way by the time I'm back in KL! Recently, I entered this 80th Anniversary Contest by Popular and I won a 21" Samsung Flat Screen TV! All I need now is a PS2 and a mini-fridge in my room and it's complete! No more leaving my room! Thank God for favouring me, was thinking of getting a TV this year but looks like I dun need to get one anymore! Thank you Lord! Hope to see you guys soon! Need to start my training soon! Cheerios! P/S: Leo, grrrr.... spam spam spam...

The Yahkid...

2005-01-09T14:05:00.000+08:00

I found it! Here's the caricature of myself.

Those were the days when my hair was "happening" and recalling Alex Wong saying something like "YOU NEEEERD!". Haha. We had a good laugh about it. Found another picture of myself drinking a whole bottle of Absolut Mandarin. *wink*

Pr. Chris...

2005-01-06T21:02:00.000+08:00

Pr. Chris and I, many many years ago...

Last Year's Best Discoveries...

2005-01-04T14:25:00.000+08:00

Best Drink: FREO Smoothies! Best Restaurant: Elliott's Uncle's Duck Rice & Cafe Melise Best Album: Bird Live! 2000+1 Best Movie: 24 Season 3 Best Game: Home-E Lord of the Rings Middle Earth Boardgame Best Holiday: Being with my family in Ipoh for a week without any phone calls Best Event: IDMC, Singapore. Best Shopping Centre: 1U's new wing! Best Clothes: My new Topman shirts! Best Shoes: Hush Puppies! (After buying 5 new pairs at the Hush Puppies sales). Best Books: Heavenly Man, Today Matters, Growing Deep in God Best Massage: Gavin "Ongawa" Ong, sorry it's an inside joke. ;) Worst Hotel: Marriott IOI in Putrajaya. Best Houtemates: Ricky, Lauster and Victor... you guys are the best! Best Mentor: Pr. Chris! Best Sermon: Something about being small & secure by Edmund Chan Best Experience: Learning to blog! Worst Experience: Blacked out when exercising with my MAG at Kiara Park ... and lastly, to all the friends that I've met or gotten to know better last year, it's been a privilege and an honour to know you. Above all, that's probably the best discovery that I can ever have, that is to know you better!

Somebody Loves You...

2004-12-30T00:05:00.000+08:00

Somebody loves you more than you know,

Somebody goes with you wherever you go,

Somebody really and trully cares

and lovingly listens to all of your prayers.

Don't think for a minute that this is not true,

for God loves His children and takes care of them, too.

And all of His treasures are yours to share

if you love Him completely and show that you care.

And if you walk in His footsteps and have faith to believe,

there's nothing you ask for that you will not receive.

2004-12-29T10:24:00.000+08:00

A lil' update on my Services Director and the Tsunami incident. The whole family has been evacuated from Khao Lak with military aircrafts and are now at Bangkok airport. They are all fine but shaken. They will be arranging for paperwork and getting on the first possible flight to Sweden. It's coming to the end of the year now. Maybe it's a good idea that you spend sometime to ponder on the following questions: 1) What are 3 things that I have done well this year? (in relation to my character, my spiritual walk and my talents) 2) What have I not done well? How can I improve? 3) What would I like to thank God for for this year?

Blessed Christmas...

2004-12-28T15:25:00.000+08:00

Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! I never wished to come to this, but here goes. "It's been a while since I last blogged." Yeah, yeah, I know, no excuses. It's been a rather rough couple of weeks for me. Besides just enjoying the holidays and watching the whole season of the O.C., my life has been rather preoccupied with work. Been working hard to meet my target for the year. Just another week to go and I really wanna make sure that I hit my target and get my bonus next year! Then can belanja some of you makan! *wink* *wink*

Christmas was fun. Thanks everyone for the Christmas wishes and gifts. Thanks for taking the time to remember me during this joyous occasion and thanks for being a friend. To be honest, I value special occasions like birthdays and special holidays like Christmas and New Year. It's really important to me that people remember my birthday for example. It never fails when someone SMSes me and wishes me happy birthday. It never fails to bring a smile. That's probably why I make it a point to remember people's birthdays as much as possible. Well, if you want me to remember your birthday, just add your birthday to my birthday alarm. I'll make sure that I at least wish you a Happy Birthday next year!

...And I got this email from my Managing Director this morning,

With some 23,000+ people killed around the region from this disaster on Sunday this event is colossal on the scale of world disasters. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those directly or indirectly affected by this freak of nature. From what I have been able to ascertain so far as far as the direct Intentia family is concerned is that Jakob Numler, his wife and son (not Albert who is with us in Singapore) who were on holiday in Phuket have been badly shaken by the impact of the tidal waves and Jakob's wife is in hospital in Phuket under observation. Thankfully reports are that they are OK but have lost all their possessions. I have not been able to make direct contact but Jakob's son Albert will let me know should any further information updates come through. I hope that there is no one else that has been directly affected to this extent from across the region but the full extent of the tragedy is only now coming to light. I will keep you updated in the event of further news comes to hand.

Jakob Numler is my Services Director in Intentia. When you know someone who is involved in this disaster, it makes all the difference. My prayers are for the families who have suffered because of this disaster. Let's continue to pray for them and that God's love would prevail amidst this tragic incident. My parents are here in KL and I have to entertain them as well. Going over to my sister's place for dinner tonight.

Bangkok Blues...

2004-12-13T13:17:00.000+08:00

Just touched down in Bangkok International Airport! The flight was good, manage to catch up on so sleep on the way here. Anyhows, will update more later. Need to go to customer's place now. How's everyone? So quiet one?

Psalms 139:13-16 Rewritten...

2004-12-06T21:59:00.002+08:00

Original post from 22 November 2004, rewritten...

13For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. (Psalms 139:13-16 NKJV)

Know Your Existence

You are unique! There is only one you. God has made us all different. Doesn't that make you feel special? Besides, just differences in our physical appearance, our thought patterns, behaviour, character, personality are equally different. Two children born within the same family, with the same amount of care and concern plus the same education and yet they are both different. So what makes us unique? What makes us special? In v.13, David beautifully describes how a baby is formed within a mother's womb. How God "covered" him in his mother's womb. To cover, is to protect, to overshadow. God was thinking of you while you were being formed in the womb and He was protecting you and overshadowing you.

William MacDonald wrote, "In a speck of watery material smaller than the dot over an 'i,' all the future characteristics of a child are programmed ? the color of his skin, eyes and hair, the shape of his facial features, the natural abilities he will have. All that the child will be physically and mentally is contained in germ form in that fertilized egg. From it will develop 60 trillion cells, 100 thousand miles of nerve fiber, 60 thousand miles of vessels carrying blood around the body, 250 bones, to say nothing of joints, ligaments and muscles." To illustrate how highly complex protein molecules are: one molecule of hemoglobin, in the blood cell, may have in it 758 atoms of carbon, 1203 of hydrogen, 195 of nitrogen, 3 of sulphur, 1 of iron, and 218 of oxygen, making a total of 2378 atoms. All of the other 100,000 protein molecules are also highly complex and ALL of them are different! Imagine the amount of detail God placed into creating you, YOU ARE INDEED ONE OF A KIND!

God knows you before you were even born. The word "cover" in Hebrew also means to protect, to overshadow. This demonstrates that God has you in His mind from the very beginning, before the world even existed. For God knows every single part of you and everything that there is to know about you. You were here not by accident.

Know Your Purpose

Rick Warren said, "Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty and pointless". After realising his existence, David's next verse praises God and declares that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. Our beings are to praise God and everything in this world is for His glory. Just as in Romans 11:36 (Living Bible) it says, "Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory." Once we know why we exist, we know what our purpose is. Even our soul knows very well, that is why every person on earth has a yearning desire to find a "god" in their lives. There is an innate sense of wanting to be in His presence. We are here for His pleasure and to give God all the glory. Even before we were formed, just like the "substance", the potter knows how to make a beatiful jar out of unformed clay. Before we even exists, God knows how exactly we would turn out to be.

Know Your Destination

When you know your purpose is to be in God's pleasure and to give God all the glory, we begin to start our journey. Running the race and not looking back. By following God's perfect will, we would then know how our days would unfold before us. How they are fashioned before us.Something to ponder about...Have you thank God lately for your uniqueness. For making you special and for making the people and things around you special? Have you thank God for the air you breathe and for the loved ones around you? Do it today, thank God for something in your life, for you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are unique!

Take some time now to thank God for making you unique and for creating you. Spend some time to thank God for the loved ones around you.

Long Silence...

2004-12-05T17:38:00.000+08:00

Shhh... Quiet... *Squeak* *Squeak*... Yeah, yeah... Shhhh.... *pause*.... "What happened, Ian, you okay?", "Why never blog?", "Why never write anything?", "Where's the Yahkid?" I've been dying to write something for the past week but man, was I busy. First, work has been horrendous. Been working day and night, plus I've been busy working on a side project lately. Last Thursday was rehearsal night and boy, we talked till 2am at mamak. Was very evident the next day because I had dark eye rings. This weekend was our play, Unforgiven. Didn't get to go, decided to give my tickets away to other people, since there were other people that needed to hear the message more than me. Yeah, my friend couldn't make it. Maybe next time, yeah! *wink* *wink*. Weekend celebration was excellent. Really sense the presence of God in the sanctuary but best of all, it was Pr. Daniel! Man, he's a totally changed man since he came back from the US. Yups, I believe he was trying to audition for our next punctuations production. Haha, I laughed my head. He's getting more creative, which is really good, not so serious anymore. Keep it up, Pr. D, we love ya! So how's life people?! Let me know the details! Next week would be much better for me, as I'll have a few days which I would be working from home again! Yippee! It's been almost 2 months since I last worked from home. Gosh, miss those days. ;) Had MAG this afternoon, at Cafe Melise, DJ. If you've not been there, it's what we call Western Chap Fan. The cook was from Cordon Bleu and he has like over 300 recipes. Each day, you get to try different kind of food. I had BBQ ribs the last time and with a drink and other side dishes, I only paid about RM20. Talk about value for money! But apologies to our Muslim friends, this place is NON-HALAL. Will blog more later, promised! P/S: Auds, if you reading this, have fun back in KK! Missing you already! Christine, thanks in advance yeah! Deb, sorry couldn't make it for Christmas @ The Park. Will make it up to you the next time. Josh, can't wait till you come back man! Malaysian FOOOOOOOOD! Ch3l, yes, Malaysian FOOOOOOOOOOD! Bwahahahhaa! And the rest, be safe and God bless!

My Nieces...

2004-11-30T01:20:00.000+08:00

I had so much fun last night, talking to my nieces over the Internet. If you do not have Skype, you should download it and try it out! It's an excellent software! Here are two clips I recorded of my nieces talking to me. Hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I did! Download the audio recordings here!

Lion Sleeps Tonight! and Old Newspaper! They are just sooooooooo adorable! Here are more pictures of them when they were younger.

Poh Ann, Grandpa and Shyen Ann

Poh Ann

Shyen Ann

The 'Oughts' and 'Ifs'

2004-11-28T22:25:00.000+08:00

"Is is hard to live in the present. The past and the future keep harassing us. The past with guilt, the future with worries. So many things have happened in our lives about which we feel uneasy, regretful, angry, confused, or, at least, ambivalent. And all these feelings are often coloured by guilt. Guilt that says: 'You ought to have done something other than what you did; you ought to have said something other than what you said.' These 'oughts' keep us feeling guilty about the past and prevent us from being fully present to the moment. Worse, however, than our guilt are our worries. Our worries fill our lives with 'What ifs: 'What if I lose my job, what if my father dies, what if there is not enough money, what if the economy goes down, what if a war breaks out?' These many 'ifs' can so fill our mind that we become blind to the flowers in the garden and the smiling children on the streets, or deaf to the grateful voice of a friend. The real enemies of our life are the 'oughts' and the 'ifs'. They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward into the unpredictable future. But real life takes place in the hear and the now. God is a God of the present. God is always in the moment, be that moment hard or easy, joyful or painful. When Jesus spoke about God, he always spoke about God as being where and when we are. 'When you see me, you see God. When you hear me you hear God.' God is not someone who was or will be, but the One who is, and who is for me in the present moment. That's why Jesus came to wipe away the burden of the past and the worries for the future. He wants us to discover God right where we are, here and now. "

By Henri Nouwen

I Am Unique Part I...

2004-11-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

During my MAG last week, something popped up during our conversation about people being different. Everyone has an innate sense of wanting to be different, unique, significant and special. Firstly, to set the record straight, you are unique! There is only one you. Doesn't that make you feel special? Besides, just differences in our physical appearance, our thought patterns are equally different. Two children born within the same family, with the same amount of care and concern plus the same education and yet they are both different. So what makes us unique? What makes us special? To understand this, we have to first look at Scripture. What does the Bible say about my uniqueness?

¹³For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. ¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. (Psalms 139:13-16 NKJV)

I love the way David wrote this Psalm. In v.13, David beautifully describes how a baby is formed within a mother's womb. How God "covered" him in his mother's womb. To cover, is to protect, to overshadow. God was thinking of you while you were being formed in the womb and He was protecting you and overshadowing you. William MacDonald wrote, "In a speck of watery material smaller than the dot over an 'i,' all the future characteristics of a child are programmed – the color of his skin, eyes and hair, the shape of his facial features, the natural abilities he will have. All that the child will be physically and mentally is contained in germ form in that fertilized egg. From it will develop 60 trillion cells, 100 thousand miles of nerve fiber, 60 thousand miles of vessels carrying blood around the body, 250 bones, to say nothing of joints, ligaments and muscles." To illustrate how highly complex protein molecules are: one molecule of hemoglobin, in the blood cell, may have in it 758 atoms of carbon, 1203 of hydrogen, 195 of nitrogen, 3 of sulphur, 1 of iron, and 218 of oxygen, making a total of 2378 atoms. All of the other 100,000 protein molecules are also highly complex and ALL of them are different! Imagine the amount of detail God placed into creating you, YOU ARE INDEED ONE OF A KIND! The second verse, v14 is my favourite. David exalts the Lord and praises God for creating him. That he is fearfully and wonderfully made. In The Message, it reads "I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation!" STOP HERE! Spend a moment to just thank God for creating you. You are wonderfully and marvelously made! You are special and unique! Thank God for knowing you before you were even born, that He has His eyes on you, covering you even before the day you were formed in the womb. Yes, you are indeed special! Praise God that you are different (and that you don't look anything like me! Hallelujah!). I'm just left in awe at our very own creation. Famous author, Henry Miller wrote, "The moment that one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious and awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself". There was once where I was very depressed and upset about myself. I was not happy with the way I looked. I was not happy that I was fat, or not as good looking at the person next to me. In fact, I was not happy that I was not the most popular person around. I could not understand why people didn't share some secrets with me while they shared it openly with other people. Someone once told me, that all of us have handicaps one way or another, physically, mentally or spiritually. I'd like to challenge you today, to praise God despite the handicapness you think you might have. Just like David did, he was a murderer, a liar and an adulterer. He was not perfect, his life was not a bed of roses. Just like yours and mine. But just as God has created him and knew him from the day he was formed, David chose to praise God despite his "disabilities". You can too if you learn to praise God today. Praise God for creating you, praise God for making you unique, praise God that you are special. If there is one thing that I would like to leave with you today, it would be that God loves you and that He knows you way before you were born. He created you. If you do not know Him, it's not to late. Come and experience this marvelous and awesome God!

Good ol' Days...

2004-11-19T10:19:00.000+08:00

Was cleaning my room in Ipoh and I came across my old BB uniform and all my badges. Man, it really brought back memories. "The Object of the Boys' Brigade shall be the advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect and all that tends toward a true Christian Manliness." Haha, I still remember our objective after so many years. If you take a knife and cut a Boy's hand, he'll bleed blue or so they say.

I have to say that BB has been a milestone in my life. If there's one thing that I remember about school, it has got to be the Boys' Brigade. We had so much fun together. I miss you guys man, Kah Jin, Fooji, Ah Yat, Beng Kuin, Kin Hoe, Poong, Desmond, Kay Keat, Ah Kai, Edwin, Chee Wyai, Wah Hoo, and the rest. You guys really left a mark in my life. Thanks for making my secondary school life so special. Pray that you continue to impact lives around the world wherever you are. I think I might have some old photos stashed somewhere. I'll see if I can find them and post them up.

I'm Back...

2004-11-17T21:27:00.000+08:00

Hey people! What an enjoyable 11-day break! Finish watching Alias Season 3 and 24 Season 3 within a week, paid about RM500 to get my car fixed, ate lots and lots of good Ipoh food and the list goes on. Thanks people for dropping by eventhough I've not been writing much. One of the reasons is because I really want to take a break from my daily routine. I'm glad to be back now! -wen-, thanks for dropping by! Just another 8 more months. It's a blink of an eye away. *blink* *blink*. And yup, I love poems! But I love reading them more! Anyone wants to write me a poem? "Ian, so leng chai, so handsome, Ian,..." Desmo, all the best in your last paper tomorrow! See you this weekend man! Can't wait to catch up with you. Love ya, man! Josh, when you are back, dinner's on me! Deb, checked out your blog dy, did you give Tots a b'day kiss? Bwahhahaha! Still working on your Think mag? Yup, I'm a busy bee, so much to catch up and so little time. sighz Jeff, was nice seeing you again in Ipoh. Give me a call when you are back dude. Eric, the nigga's here man, the nigga's here! See you this weekend! Will burn the Joe Pass video for you dude. Christine, guess you won't be reading this. But if you do, all the best in your exams! Keep the fire burning!!!

The Priceless Gift...

2004-11-08T15:36:00.000+08:00

The priceless gift of life is love,

For with the help of God above

Love can change the human race

And make this world a better place.

For love dissolves all hate and fear

And makes our vision bright and clear

So we can see and rise above

Our pettiness on "wings of love".

Helen Steiner Rice 1900-1981

Holiday...

2004-11-08T13:00:00.000+08:00

Wooohoooo! At long last, an 11-day leave to take time to rest and recuperate from my hectic schedule. I'm back in Ipoh for a couple of days just to spend time with my parents. Hope everyone is doing okay, will write more soon! Right now, I'm gonna go out for some good Ipoh food! Bwahahahhaha!

Are You A Loyal Friend?

2004-11-04T01:32:00.000+08:00

I came across this interesting subject while reading John Maxwell's Your Road Map For Success. It talks about being loyal. So what does it mean for others to be loyal to you? They love you unconditionally. They accept you with your strengths and weaknesses intact. They genuinely care for you, not just for what you can do for them. And they are neither trying to make you into someone you're not nor putting you on pedestal. They represent you well to others. Loyal people always paint a positive picture of you with others. They may take you to task privately or hold you accountable, but they never criticise you to others. They are able to laugh and cry with you as you travel together. Loyal people are willing and able to share your joys and sorrows. They make the trip less lonely. They make your dream their dream. Some people will undoutedly share the journey with you only briefly. You help one another for a while and then go your separate ways. But a few--a special few--will want to come alongside you and help you for the rest of the journey. These people make your dream their dream. They will be loyal unto death, and when they combine that loyalty with other talents and abilities, they can be some of your most valuable assets. If you find people like that, take good care of them.

(excerpt from John C. Maxwell's Your Road Map For Success) I was once asked this question, "Who would be the 6 people that would carry your coffin when you die?". Those 6 people are usually the closest, the most loyal friends. During that time, I realise that I could not find 6. Like most of us, we do not many true, loyal friends in our lives. I have made a decision many years ago to invest in lives and to be a loyal friend to people around me. Occasionally, I might stumble but I thank God that I learn from every fall, every experience. How about you? Have you been a loyal friend lately?

My Weekend...

2004-11-01T01:41:00.000+08:00

First of all, a great big thank you to everyone who sms'ed me about what happened in DUMC over the weekend. Oh, how I wished I was there!!! Thanks to Punctuations for showing the ever adorable Pat & Stanley who inspired the birth of Abimelech, the hippograffe. Words just can't express my gratitude to Pierre Coffin for inspiring me to love hippos and giraffes... Talking about hippos and giraffes, I had this weird dream on Friday. All I could remember was that I was on a business trip and it was a weekend. I was strolling down the streets of this country and just enjoying the cool breeze. Taking pictures of everything that I thought was funny. Suddenly, out of no where, in the middle of the road, I saw what was like a parade going on. To my amazement, I saw that it was a giraffe parading on the streets. Walking down the street as photographers were taking pictures of it. It was a unique giraffe, because it was huge! It was probably more like a dinosaur rather than a giraffe. As I got closer, I got ready my camera and started taking pictures of it as I found it rather fascinating. All I could remember was the hair on the giraffe... it was exactly like Abimelech's! Gosh, this shows how much I love my soft toy... hehe... he's right beside me right now. *grin* It was indeed a busy week for me. Didn't have the luxury of visiting FREO for the past week. Yeah, sorry, Jeh! I miss my favourite hangout spot in 1U! Anyways, I was suppose to follow my CG members to Johor for one of my CG member's wedding dinner. However, there was a change of plans because my customer needed me to work on Saturday as they were going live on Monday. Going live means that the system that we have been implementing for months would be going public on Monday. Well, as usually, being the self-sacrificing person I was, I told my project manager that if she would fly me down to JB to attend my friend's wedding dinner, I would definitely be at my customer's place at 9am sharp on Saturday. So that was what she did, I got a free air ticket to JB. The day was pretty hectic for me as I had to rush to work and then rush to go home to pack and iron my shirt and pants. Flew down to JB and to my horror, I found out thing about JB the moment I arrived. The jam was horrible! Yeah, might sound a bit funny for those who don't live in KL or had experienced the hustle and bustle of city life. I arrived just on time at 7.15pm but the dinner only started at 9pm. Gosh, it has gotta be the longest wedding dinner I have ever attended with at least 800 people present (including a movie star *wink* *wink*). All tired and exhausted, I went to sleep bout 2am. Sunday! Had a great time in JB and it was time to go back to KL. Arrived bout 3.30pm and I was rushing to get to my customer's place. Yes, I have to work on Sundays as well. How horrible. But that's just the beginning. I was asked to complete a certain task and I pretty much planned out what I needed to do on that day. But when I arrived, the customer was asking me to do this and that and petty lil' things that could be done on another day once I have settled what was important. But unfortunately, just like all customers, they think they are always right. And Miss K, was shouting and demanding that I completed what she asked me to do. "I don't care! I the customer, you the vendor. If I, customer say you must do, you must do! The customer is always right! You still want be in this project?" shouted Miss K in front of everyone with her poor Chinese-England. I was fuming and I could not control myself anymore because I felt that I was being taken advantage of as I know that I would not be able to finish my work for the day if I followed everything she said. We ended up having a quarrel and both parties raising their voices. What made matters worse was that my manager was just standing next to me when it happened. In my head, I felt that I have sacrificed a lot just to be back in KL to make sure that things were done correctly and that everything would run smoothly by Monday. But things had to turn out that way and it really spoilt the rest of my day. I was pratically fuming when I stomped out the conference room to cool down. Thanks to those who tried to comfort me, you guys were great! After thinking through what happened today, I felt that I should not have lost my composure. Whether how reasonable or unreasonable the claims might be, I should have kept my cool. Not very good when you have just finished reading a book called "Attitude 101" by John Maxwell earlier of the day! Well, this has been a turning point for me because I know that I have to change the way I think. I'll take this as a lesson and I will aspire to improve on it and the next time I meet a similar challenge, I would be able to rise above it and keep my composure. This really brightened my horrible day. Thanks cousin Raymond! Samy Vellu was visiting India when he fell and broke his jaw. He was unable to speak. Being the great leader that he is, he continued his grand tour. On the last week of his visit, the RTM crew was present for his press conference. Although unable to speak, Samy insisted on sending a message home to his Cabinet colleagues. Samy caught a chicken and showed it to the camera. Next he took a goat, and showed it to the camera. Finally he took a bag and displayed it in front of the camera. Dr Ling was the first to see the video clip.. He said, "Samy is telling us that India has insufficient food because he showed us a chicken and a goat, and he wants Malaysia to donate bags of rice. " Mahathir watched silently then said, "No lah....what Samy is trying to say is HE IS COMING BACK. The whole cabinet was puzzled and look to the old man for an explanation. Mahathir reasoned, "AYAM KAMBING BAG." (I am coming back in Indian accent).

Busy busy busy...

2004-10-27T20:52:00.000+08:00

Just a quick update. It's gonna be a busy week for me. Been working late for the past two nights. I'll be away in JB for a friend's wedding this weekend. So if I don't blog, you know what's the reason. Gotta get back to work now, see you guys soon! At the meantime, stay cool and God bless!

Just For Today…

2004-10-25T17:35:00.000+08:00

Just for today… I will choose and display the right attitude. Just for today… I will determine and act on important priorities. Just for today… I will know and follow healthy guidelines. Just for today… I will communicate with and care for my family. Just for today… I will practice and develop good thinking. Just for today… I will make and keep proper commitments. Just for today… I will earn and properly manage finances. Just for today… I will deepen and live out my faith. Just for today… I will initiate and invest in solid relationships. Just for today… I will plan for and model generosity. Just for today… I will embrace and practice good values. Just for today… I will seek and experience improvements. Just for today… I will act on these decisions and practice these disciplines, and Then one day… I will see the compounding results of a day lived well.

(John C. Maxwell in Today Matters)

How about you, how would you live your life?

A Stranger in My Room...

2004-10-22T18:50:00.000+08:00

The stranger was sitting on my favourite chair...

As I walked closer...

It was Abimelech! Muahaha!

P/S: Things you do on a rainy day while cleaning your room. *grin* And yes, that's my room!

Why People Don't Change...

2004-10-21T15:19:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wondered why people don't change? Why are they the way they are? You scold them, beat them, bend them and yet, they prefer to remain where they are. A stubborn allegiance to old habits and traditions as it were. Why doesn't a person want to change? Does change threaten you?I believe that every born-again Christian should embrace change in their lives. Why? Because even Jesus' ministry leads to change and transformation. Are you resistant to change? Are you resisting the very work of God in your life? Are you prepared to renew your mind? People do not change because they are:- 1) Comfortable - They see no need for change in their lives. 2) Conscientious - They are resistant to change in their lives. 3) Conventional - They rely on their past achievements in life. I don't have any formula to help you change. I don't have an answer either. But I would want to bring into view the biblical aspect as to why we should change. In Proverbs, King Solomon wrote, "A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel". I believe that in everything we do, we need to grow, we need to learn, we need to run the race and we need to progress as it were, to a whole new level. In order to change our lives, we must change our thinking. John Maxwell says, "Your life today is a result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today". By changing the way we think, we change our lives. Another one of King Solomon's wisest proverbs, "As people think in their hearts, so they are". That is why, the no. 1 rule of change is "Do not force people to change". One person cannot change another person. You can only change yourself. You are responsible to people but not for them. You might be thinking, "I want to change but I don't know how to get past my emotions." So how can I change? You change when you, 1) Hurt enough that you are willing to change. 2) Learn enough that you want to change. 3) Receive enough that you are able to change. My challenge to you is to make a decision today. Tell yourself that you want to change. You want to breakthrough to a new level. James Allen, the author of As a Man Thinketh quipped, "You will become as small as your controlling desire as great as your dominant aspiration". Let your thinking grow and let your dreams grow bigger. You can change, it's a matter of decision and discipline. Are you prepared to bring yourself to a higher level at whatever the cost? If you are, then you need know 3 things:- 1) Change is personal - I need to change 2) Change is possible - I'm able to change 3) Change is profitable - I'll be rewarded by change If you have made that decision, I would encourage you to do few things. Learning is a process and don't be discouraged if you do not see results the moment you tell yourself you want to change. Here are a few steps to help you in your growth plan:- 1) Reaffirm yourself daily that you want to change, change is a daily decision. 2) Ask God for wisdom for He will give you without finding fault (James 1:5). 3) "One is too small a number to achieve greatness" says John Maxwell. Be amongst wise counsel who can help and encourage you to grow. A MAG would be a great place to start. If you don't have one, find one! (Prov 1:5) 4) Read at least one book a month. Learn and apply it in your life daily. I've made that decision to change 5 years ago. I told myself that I should take responsibility over my life and in order to be a vessel for God, I have to be prepared to make sacrifices. I have to be prepared to accept and learn things that might be foreign to me. I thank God for the people that have made a positive impact in my life. I would not be where I am today if it's not for them. Learning is a process and as I continue to add value in my journey, my deepest desire is to see fellow brothers and sisters walking that same path. I urge you to make that decision just as Jack La Lanne, America's "Godfather of Fitness" who at his 70th birthday swam a mile and a half while shackled as he towed 70 boats in Long Beach Harbor said, "Change your life, save your life, you are the most important person you have, if you won't do it, who will?". So make that decision today! For TODAY MATTERS! (Some of the points that I've written are taken from John Maxwell's Today Matters and Thinking For A Change.)

Some Pictures...

2004-10-20T21:32:00.000+08:00

My housemates...

Me...

Graduation Day...

Me, Lorraine & Sharon...

Toilet in Stockholm, Sweden...

Poh Ann with my Christmas gift...

Shyen Ann & me...

Gong Gong and Shyen Ann...

Poh Ann... so beautiful...

Jeanine & I, thanks for sending me to work for the past 2 years!

Thanks for making my life a masterpiece!

Reason For "Goodbye Dream Bass"...

2004-10-18T23:15:00.000+08:00

Who Am I?

2004-10-17T23:12:00.000+08:00

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half of the things you do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed--you must merly be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men; and alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin--it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am habit!

How My Kidneys Would Look Like...

2004-10-15T17:10:00.000+08:00

Old & New Filter

I changed the water filter today. To my horror, I was shocked to find out how "clean" it was! Gosh, imagine the amount of dirt we drink from unfiltered water daily. At mamak, at the chinese restaurant at Taman Tun, McD's? But thank God that my housemates and I invested in a water treatment system! Imagine our kidneys could be brown in colour and filled with rust! Awww, man! Ughhh! *cough* *cough*

We Are Impacted Most By...

2004-10-15T09:15:00.000+08:00

...people of courage

...people of character

...people of discipline

...people of excellence

...people of compassion

...people of encouragement

...people of vision

...people of generosity

...people of wisdom

...people of faith

- Dr. Steve Stephens

A couple of months back, I shared this with my MAG. I asked them what would be their top three traits that they see in themselves and what would be the traits they would want people to see in them. We are all drawn to people like these. People who impact us and made a difference in our lives. These people are ordinary people set out to do extraordinary things. You and I are no different and we can be people who make a positive impact in people's lives. What about you? How do you see yourself? Are you impacting others in a positive way? How can you improve in areas that you are weak in? As we draw to a close for this year, spend some time going through these questions. I have attempted to do this every year to evaluate on what I have and not achieved for the year. It is a good idea to send this out and get your friends and family to evaluate on you as well. Here are some questions I ask myself during my think time.

What are my 3 greatest strengths this year?
What are my 3 greatest weaknesses this year?
What are my 3 greatest talents?
What is one thing that I am good at, but have nothing to gain for others?
Name one incident that I have been an encouragement to others.
Name one incident that I have disappointed others.
Has there been an incident where my attitude outdistance my abilities? If yes, when & how?
What are some areas that I need to improve on? (Strengths, weaknesses, talents)
What is my greatest passion - the thing I love doing so much that I would gladly do it for free?
What have my unique life experiences prepared me to do?
What is so important to me that I would be willing to die for?
What current circumstances can I positively change to free up more resources or create more opportunities?
How do people view you? What are their initial impression? Has that impression changed?
What would be a tag line that would best describe me?
What is one area that I should beware of?

I'd like to challenge you today, to spend time to think through what is important in your life. What is the foundation of your values? What pushes you on and further in life? What can you improve by end of this year? What is one thing that you can do for somebody by end of this year? Isn't life about giving? How much have you give of your time, your money and your heart? I would like to challenge you to think thru these things and spend time to work on it. Don't wait till tomorrow for tomorrow may never come. Make today a masterpiece. The only adequate preparation for tomorrow is the right use of today. You can do it! I have confidence and faith that you are meant for larger things. May God continue to bless you and enlarge your borders everyday!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. - Phillipians 4:8 (NIV).

Knowing my purpose in life, maximising my potential and sowing seeds to benefit others. - John C. Maxwell

Inspiration...

2004-10-12T22:10:00.000+08:00

I'd like to post a poem here today which someone sent to me recently. And this poem was written out of inspiration from reading my blog! (Suddenly feel so honoured that my posts gives light to some people *grin*). Thanks for the contribution, you know who you are!

This hands that love, This hands that pray, This hands that shows, What words can't fully say... This feet that walks, Far to the ends of the earth, This feet that bares, The greatest news of God's love... This lips that adores, Magnifies and praises Him, This lips that sings, A song of love and hymns.. This heart that opens, For the only One to dwell in, This heart that knows, That HE took away all sins... This mind can't conceive, The wonders of who HE is, Yet this mind holds, The truth of which.. What can't be seen, felt or heard Does not change the truth of HIS everlasting and unfailing love...

The Cuppycake Song...

2004-10-12T22:00:00.000+08:00

The "CUPPYCAKE" Song (Lyrics and Music by Judianna Castle) is actually the chorus from Amy's version of "You're My Honeybunch" (lyrics and music by Judianna and Buddy Castle) You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye And I love you so and I want you to know That I'll always be right here And I love to sing sweet songs to you Because you are so dear

Awww... this is such a cuuuuuuuuuuuute song! Gosh, can imagine my lil' niece singing it to me... *dreamy eyes*

P/S: You can listen to the song at http://www.cuppycake.com/

Thinking...

2004-10-11T20:06:00.000+08:00

I'm really enjoying myself reading John Maxwell's latest book, Today Matters. If success is a tree, this book is its roots. As I indulge myself, savouring every bit of wisdom from this man, I would like to share with you something that John Maxwell wrote that has sparked off within me. It's not something new for most of us but it's something that we need to spend intentional time to do. And that area that I'm talking about is the area of our thoughts. Our thinking. Claude M. Bristol, the author of The Magic of Believing said, "Thought is the original source of wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and all achievement." What kind of value do you put on good thinking? Good thinking does not equate to intelligence. Good thinking is a skill, a habit and a culture. You need to cultivate good thinking. You are not born with good thinking. This insight has really challenged me to rethink how I look at my daily thought process. Do I spend time thinking? Have I made the decision to practice and develop good thinking daily? John Maxwell lays down 6 useful ways for us to cultivate a good thinking habit. You should :- 1) Find A Place To Think... Everyone has a thinking spot. Look for a spot where you can spend time thinking. Freo Smoothies has one of my favourite thinking spots so far. And I have my favourite sofa tucked a the back of the place which I could spend some time alone, just thinking through things and processing my thoughts. 2) Set Aside Think Time Every Day... Find time to think! That's pretty obvious! But hey, not everyone of us make that intentional effort to spend time thinking. Carving out the time to do so is important. Make it a habit to spend time daily to cultivate a good thinking habit. 3) Find A Process That Works For You... Everyone has different ways of approaching the thinking process. Some stare at stones for ideas or maybe your creative juices starts rolling when you are in the shower. Find out what's best for you to trigger your thinking cap. 4) Capture Your Thoughts... This has to be one of my favourites. A thought remains a thought until you put it on paper. This is one of the most important points in my opinion. Keep a notepad or some 5x7 cards with you can write down your thoughts as you go along the day. In fact, most of my thoughts remain in my head because I never write them down quick enough and I usually forget them by the time I have my pen and paper ready. Ah, something that I have to start doing! 5) Put Your Thoughts Into Action Quickly... Executing my thoughts has never been my cup of tea. For instance, I've been thinking of exercising for 30 minutes since last week and I have not even moved my feet! This is something that I have to learn to do as well. 6) Try To Improve Your Thinking Every Day... John Maxwell recommends 3 easy steps--focus on the positive, gather good input and spend time with good thinkers. Thinking alone won't guarantee success but we must develop good thinking. And thinking of the right things. Reading is one way you can gather good input. Another way is to have a group of friends who are good thinkers as well. I'm glad that I have my MAGs and it has helped me to rewire my thought process. Most of us take thinking for granted. Instead, we should be intentional in our thinking. Every day of our lives, if we spend time thinking and analysing our thought process, we might end up somewhere we might never thought possible. If you are reading this, I'd like to challenge you to spend time daily to cultivate good thinking. Spend time with people who are eager to learn and eager to develop. Influence one another to improve your thinking daily. I have personally found this helpful and I hope you have as well.

Christ or Me?

2004-10-09T14:43:00.000+08:00

While reading my daily devotion today, I was deeply impressed by the way Oswald Chambers express his thoughts regarding a sense of restedness in his heart. "I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God." Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? I have to confess that there were times I try to earn my salvation. I rely on my own strength and not on the strength of the Lord. Yes, my heart's desire can be pure but do I lay down everything at the foot of the cross and trust in the finish work of the Lord Jesus Christ? There are so many things in this world that I wish that I was able to make right. Many times I fail. Many times I am disappointed. But why does all these happen? It's because I have not truly found rest in the Lord. Having a sense of restedness in your heart is key to a fulfilling life. Do you feel lonely? Do you feel empty inside? Do you feel that there is a void that you aren't able to fill? That is because, you have not found a sense of restedness in your heart! We fall prey to this everyday in our lives. As Oswald puts it, "The great need is not to do things but to believe things." It's not through your action, it is through faith! I like what A.W. Tower said, "When we are at the Lord's table, we do not need to usher in the presence of God. He's here!". God is here! And He's here to do overexceedingly and immeasureably more than you and I can ever ask for. The question is whether we are willing to submit to Him and obey Him? Are we willing to rest in Him? Following Christ is a daily decision. It's a daily decision to rest in Him. It's a daily decision to obey Him. Everyday, I die to self, I gain Christ. The words of John Stott reminds us that God is there "at the beginning." according to Genesis 1:1. The first four words in the Bible are more than just an introduction to creation. John Stott beautifully expounds the Word of God that, "You can never take God by surprise. You can never anticipate him. He always makes the first move. He is always there "in the beginning". Before man existed, God acted. Before man stirs himself to seek God, God has sought man. In the Bible we do not see man groping after God; we see God reaching after man." I just love the last sentence, "...we do not see man groping after God; we see God reaching after man". It shows that God is sovereign. God is not on a throne a puppet master who plays our lives out and dictates what is destined in our lives. He is real and He is next to us during our trials and temptations. He was flesh. He was man! This shows a God of compassion and a God who cares for you and I. In the beginning, God loves you! Oh Lord, bring me continually to the trial of the Atonement, give me wisdom so that I may discern between this and that. Teach me to rest in You. It is not I but Christ. The problems and difficulties I face, I lay it all down at Your feet. Cleanse me and make me whole. Oh Lord, teach me how I can be more submissive and obedient to You. My only desire is that you make a masterpiece of my life through the finish work of Christ. That I may be an instrument for your bidding. One that impacts generations and builds a legacy for Your name sake. Bless me, Oh Lord! In Jesus name I commit all these, Amen

Time is Priceless...

2004-10-08T23:01:00.000+08:00

To know the value of one year...

ask the student who failed the final exam.

To know the value of one month...

ask the mother of a premature baby.

To know the value of one week...

ask the editor of a weekly newsmagazine.

To know the value of one day...

ask the wage earner who has six children.

To know the value of one hour...

ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To know the value of one minute...

ask the person who missed the plane.

To know the value of one second...

ask the person who survived the accident.

To know the value of one millisecond...

ask the Olympic silver medalist.

Time is priceless...

- Original source unknown

Goodbye Dream Bass...

2004-10-07T10:23:00.000+08:00

Keith Roscoe makes the most beautiful hand-crafted basses in the world. Roscoe basses are well known for it's amazing tone. Driven by a 18V Bartolini Active Preamp and Bartolini Soapbar Pickups, this baby packs a punch! The excellent workmanship is evident in every bass which Keith builds. Unfortunately, I have to say goodbye to my dream bass (at least for now). Here are some pictures of a Keith Roscoe 5-String LG3005 Bass.

Excellent craftmanship...

Spalted Purpleheart Fingerboard...

Keith Roscoe's unique headstock...

Pure work of art!...

Click for a larger view...

Another one of Keith's creations...

Pictures courtesy of Roscoe Guitars

Grand Dad and Nieces...

2004-10-06T17:06:00.000+08:00

My beloved dad and my favourite nieces...

(Okay, so they are my only two nieces :-P)

Shyen Ann, Gong Gong and Poh Ann (Hmm.. where'd he get that T-shirt? *roll eyes*)

Lost in the Jungle...

2004-10-06T16:41:00.000+08:00

Ah Whim Ba Wek, Ah Whim Ba Wek!

In the jungle, the mighty jungle,

The lion sleeps tonight!

Talking about jungles, I'm pretty lost right now. I'm in a middle of a jungle without a compass or a map. And that sleeping lion could wake up any minute and devour me. Oh, where am I? You see, I've been in this jungle for almost 3 years now and I thought I had an excellent guide. But unfortunately, things didn't work out as it was supposed to. I lost my guide. Now, in the middle of the jungle, without a compass and without a map, I'm completely lost. Life takes a whole new meaning when things are not what they seem. Today, a fellow hiker whom I've met for a few years now, had gone home to the Lord. He said me, "Ian, it has been a privilege and a pleasure to have worked alongside you and I wish you all the best for the future." And there, he breathed his last breath... I hope I'd be able to meet someone in this jungle. Or hopefully, a new expedition. I would gladly jump onto the bandwagon. At least I know, that I have a trustworthy guide and that they would lead me out of this jungle one day. I'm getting tired and stressed. Not because of the hiking and the lack of food. But rather, tired of being lost. I hope there are some signposts along the way that would show me the right direction to go. Hopefully, someone would come along and carry me home. But right now, it's all about searching and searching. How long more would I last in my current situation? I do not know. How long more before I see home? I do not know. How long more before the day turns to night and the night turns to day? I do not know. I'm lost... lost in the jungle... God, if you hear me, answer me. Show me the right direction. Lead me to the right path. I want to follow Your way and lean not on my own understanding. You are my compass. You are my map. Guide me like a shepherd who guides his sheep. Oh, what pain, oh what agony! Deliver me dear Lord! But for now, I shall walk... & walk... & walk... & wa... &... "Bless me indeed, Lord! Expand my boundaries! Your hand be with me! And lead me from temptation!"

A Maturity Test...

2004-10-04T23:25:00.000+08:00

Do you tend to blame other people when things go wrong?
Do you make excuses for your failures?
Do you prefer to ignore difficulties and hope they'll go away on their own?
Do you sometimes blame your poor background for why you've never fulfilled your potential?
Do you tell a little white lie if it will gett you off the hook?
Do people sometimes say, "When are you ever going to grow up?"
Do you avoid responsibility if possible?
Do you find it difficult to adjust to new situations?
Do you wonder if you'll ever get all of your life together?
Do you often think -- or tell others --- that next year will be different, better, a success?
Are you usually able to talk your way out of most anything?
Do you feel that you never get the breaks you deserve?
When you're caught at something you shouldn't be doing, is your first thought to lie or make excuses?
Do you feel that if you had a bigger or better house you'd be happy?

Source : "After Every Wedding Comes A Marriage" by Florence and Fred Littauer

Minimelech Spotted in Sea Park...

2004-10-03T19:08:00.000+08:00

Last night, I spotted Minimelech in church! Christine left her car in church because she was away for a leader's retreat with the XYZ team.

An E-mail from Christine...

2004-09-30T11:48:00.000+08:00

Hello!!! Guess wat?????? Yesterday, I met up with my godsister (frm another church) for lunch. N she surprised me with a gift. When I saw the packaging, i knew instantly that it must be another cute thing. Well, she knows me so well so she prob knew what to buy. Niway, the point is, when I opened the gift, GUESS WAT I SAW??????? ITS A LOOK ALIKE ABIMELECH!!!! It was so farnee that I burst out laughing and laughing.. Yups, my godsister tot I was crazy n she went like, "its only a soft toy.." So I had to explain to her everything.. Niway, mine is not that big and this little giraffe is holding a cup. I tot u might like to see it so I took 2 pictures of it.. Isnt it just adorable?? What should i name it? Blessings, -Christine- "HIS grace is sufficient for me, HIS strength is made perfect in weakness..."

...and the winner of the Abimelech Look-alike contest goes to....

And He Has A Name...

2004-09-28T15:55:00.000+08:00

Finally! HWIYTBN has a name! Ricky decided to call his cow-dog soft toy, Dow Bones. Why? That's because Dog + Cow = Dow. And since dogs love bones... you have Dow Bones! Personally, I kinda like calling him HWIYTBN though (pronouced as "Hweet-Been". But anyhow, we welcome Dow Bones to the family!

Unfolding The Rose...

2004-09-27T20:46:00.000+08:00

A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was inquiring of the older preacher. The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry. Because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact...It wasn't long before he realized how impossible it was to do so. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite the following poem...

It is only a tiny rosebud,

A flower of God's design;

But I cannot unfold the petals

With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers

Is not known to such as I.

GOD opens this flower so sweetly,

When in my hands they fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,

This flower of God's design,

Then how can I think I have wisdom

To unfold this life of mine?

So I'll trust in Him for His leading

Each moment of every day.

I will look to him for His guidance

Each step of the pilgrim way.

The pathway that lies before me,

Only my Heavenly Father knows.

I'll trust Him to unfold the moments,

Just as He unfolds the rose.

New Steering Lock...

2004-09-27T15:17:00.000+08:00

As Seen on TV! The All New ABIME-LOCK!

I Have A Dream...

2004-09-27T10:38:00.000+08:00

Recently, I had the privilege of having dinner with a close friend of mine. Though we are years apart, 24 years to be exact, we get along pretty well. We are both in Pr. Chris' MAG and I'm so blessed to have known such a wonderful brother. Though, we have this love-hate relationship and those in our MAG would undyingly profess about what I've said is true. Chee Wai's a dear friend. I love him very much even though he says I look like a bulldog and he always gives me this "young-people-these-days" look on his face when I try to reason myself out of an argument with him on some technological advancement of handphones and computers. Whatever it maybe, I love Chee Wai dearly. *smilez* So, as I was saying, I had dinner at Chee Wai's house in Tropicana. We had a wonderful time of just sharing and praying for one another. I believed that it was indeed a divine appointment because some things that he said really has impacted me and he had posted some serious questions in my life that I have been pondering about for the past one week which I'd like very much to share with you today. 1) Being the best that you can be... Many times, we focus on how much we get (in terms of salary, benefits, etc) rather than how we could better ourselves. Instead of focusing on being the best that we can be, we begin to focus on what we would get right now. Our employers treat us bad, our pay is not good enough, I'm doing a three-person job, I should be paid more because I can do this and that and the list goes on... This really serves as a reminder for me to focus on what is really important. It's about me! Being the best in the trade that I'm in. Your employer might mistreat you for the first year, for the second year but for the third year, they can't neglect you. The reason is you are too good in your field and they can't bear to lose you to another company. But if you spent your time focusing on what you should be getting instead of being the best you can be, you have missed out on what is truly important. So make a decision today. Be the best that you can be in whatever area that you are in. Your work, your studies, your relationship. Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Right now, focus on today for that is what that really matters! 2) Dreams remain dreams until you wake up and make it real... Many of us have dreams. Dreams of a big house, a successful career, a loving partner, an unquenchable thirst of doing something great with our lives. But all these remain as dreams until we wake up from it and start to make it happen. John Maxwell said, "the bookends of success are starting and finishing". Many of us start well but few of us finish well. Oscar Wilde, the author of classics like "Dorian Gray" and "The Decay of Lying", died a miserable man wandering around Europe without a sense of purpose or destiny after spending years in prison. Success is not judged by how great you start but how well you finish as well. Today, if you have a dream of becoming somebody, start now! Don't wait for tomorrow may never come! If you have a burning desire to do something great, do it! Or it might just be a dream and might never happen... I wanna leave these thoughts with you. I wanna challenge you to take your life seriously. You only have one life to live and one life to give the best that you can ever be. It's not about what might happen in the future but what decisions you make today. The only adequate preparation for the tomorrow is the right use of today. So spend your day wisely and by making today a masterpiece, you make a legacy of your future...

Today Matters...

2004-09-24T09:48:00.000+08:00

I've just started reading this book, "Today Matters" by John C. Maxwell. Though I'm still in the first few chapters of the book, I'd like to share something insightful that has impacted the way I think about the importance of daily living. How often do you have a great day? How would you rate your day today? If given a scale of 1 to 10, how would you have scored today? Even so, would you even know how to score it? What are your ratings based on? What determines that your day has been great? How you feel? What you have checked on your to-do list? How much time you have spent with your loved ones? What really defines a successful day? Everyone wants a good day but not many people know what a good day looks like -- much less how to create one. Even fewer people understand how the way you live today impacts your tomorrow. Why is that? The root of the problem is that most people misunderstand success. There are three things we do. 1. We Overexaggerate Yesterday We some times live in our past. Our successes and failures seems bigger to us in hindsight than thy really were. Almost any opportunity that went unpursued looks golden now that it's too late to go after it. "If only I had done this... If only I have done that". "I could have been the best in that field if I had just been given that promotion." We can't relive yesterday and yesterday is already done. John Maxwell keeps a sign on his desk that helps him maintain a right perspective concerning yesterday. It simply read. "Yesterday Ended Last Night". 2. We Overestimate Tomorrow How do you see tomorrow? What do you expect? Are things better or worse for you? Answer the following questions related to your expectations for the coming 2-3 years:-

Do you expect your income to go up or down?
Do you expect your net worth to increase or decrease?
Do you expect to have more or fewer opportunities?
Do you expect your marriage/relationshop to get better or worse?
Do you expect to have more or fewer friendships?
Do you expect your faith to be stronger or weaker?
Do you expect to be in better or worse physical condition?

If you are like me, your answers would reflect that you expect the days ahead to be better. Is our expectation based on anything other than a vague hope that your life will get better? In fact, for most people, if your day is bad, you would think that tomorrow would be better. Hoping for a good future without investing in today is like a farmer waiting for a crop without ever planting any seed. 3. We Underestimate Today Today is the only time we have within our grasp, yet many people let it slip through their fingers. They recognise neither today's value nor it's potential. It may sound trite, but today is the only time you have. It's too late for yesterday. And you can't depend on tomorrow. That's why today matters. I'll leave you here to think through and reflect through on what John Maxwell said in his book (I've paraphrased most of it, but I'm sure you'll get the picture). Sometimes we worry about tomorrow, yet have a sense of hope that maybe tomorrow would yield a better day for me or we fret over things that we have done yesterday and we regretted on past actions. Like John Maxwell said, we can't relive yesterday and we can't hope on tomorrow for it may never come. Today, this moment and now is what really matters. You have the ability and strength to do your best today, why not make it happen?

The Lifebuilder's Creed

By Dale Witherington

Today is the most important day of my life.

Yeseterday with its successes and victories,

struggles and failures is gone forever.

The past is past.

Done.

Finished.

I cannot relive it.

I cannot go back and change it.

But I will learn from it and improve my Today.

Today. This moment. NOW.

It is God's gift to me and it is all that I have.

Tomorrow will all its joys and sorrows,

triumphs and troubles isn't here yet.

Indeed, tomorrow may never come.

Therefore, I will not worry about tomorrow.

today is what God has entrusted to me.

It is all that I have. I will do my best in it.

I will demonstrate the best of me in it;

my character, giftedness, and abilities;

to my family and friends, clients and associates.

I will identify those things that are most important

to do Today,

and those things I will do until they are done.

And when this day is done

I will look back with satisfaction at that

which I have accomplished.

Then, and only then, will I plan my tomorrow,

Looking to improve upon Today, with God's help.

Then I shall go to sleep in peace... content.

Source : Today Matters by John Maxwell

He Who Is Yet To Be Named...

2004-09-23T22:03:00.000+08:00

"He Who Is Yet To Be Named"

On this faithful day, Abimelech has a new friend! Yup, Ricky has a soft toy in his car (sissy!)! At the moment, besides, Elvis in his car, he now has a cute little dog. [EDIT] Okay, it might be a cow afterall. Yup, we haven't really found a suitable name for it. But you can start giving suggestions!

Relaxing in the Car

Abimelech and "He Who Is Yet To Be Named"

The band of brothers, Ricky, James, Andrew and myself went to DJ for our favourite pork chop rice in the evening. Yum! Yum! It's one of de best pork chop rice in town! If you are free, give me a call and we can have dinner there.

The Famous DJ Pork Chop Rice

After dinner, the band of brothers decided to visit Amy's mother in Sunway Medical Centre who had her gall blader removed. If you are reading this, pray for speedy recovery as she recuperates in the ward. We gave them a surprise when we marched in...

Hmm.. those T-shirts look familiar!

Auntie Kam Foong and Amy

Alphabets...

2004-09-23T14:50:00.000+08:00

I thought this is way cool...

Source : http://www.pbase.com/abbarich/the_alphabet

Malaysia...

2004-09-21T15:48:00.000+08:00

NATIONAL FLOWER: Bunga Raya (Hibiscus).
NATIONAL CAR: Proton.
2nd NATIONAL CAR: Perodua Kancil.
3rd NATIONAL CAR: Perodua Tikus it's suppose to be half the size of the Kancil, but somehow Malaysian drivers will still be able to squeeze in 6 or 7 passengers.
NATIONAL BEHAVIOR AT CAR SHOWROOMS: First walk towards the car you are interested in. Then walk around the car in circles, tapping and knocking every part of the chassis with your knuckles. Then say something like "Body not very solid..." After that approach the front left tire, give it a few hard kicks to "test" the tire. Next walk to the rear right side and press the body of the car down a few times, while exclaiming "wah, asorbar not bad". Now you are ready for a "test drive" Get into the car and give the steering wheel a few turns. Flash the lights, sound the horn, recline the seats, open up every compartment etc. Do all these tests while you're pretending to read the brochure.Finished? Final test: get out of the car and slam the door a few times to check for "solid sound". If satisfied, approach salesman and ask "How much loan can take?"
NATIONAL RICE COOKER: National Rice Cooker 99% of Malaysian households use a National Rice Cooker, the other 1% don't eat rice.
NATIONAL BREAKFAST (ON THE WAY TO WORK): Nasi Lemak Who cooks and eats nasi lemak at home for breakfast?
NATIONAL BREAKFAST (AT HOME): Maggi Mee. Also the national lunch and dinner if you're an outstation student, bachelor, neglected husband, lazy fella, etc.
NATIONAL EXCUSE FOR HAIR LOSS: Maggi Mee.
NATIONAL EXCUSE FOR BEING LATE: Traffic Jam.
NATIONAL CONDOM: None. Most Malaysians still feel embarrassed buying condoms. So they rushed in to a Seven Eleven, hurriedly grab the nearest pack, any pack, pay and leave before the cashier can even blink an eye. If it's not available, Malaysians optimistically apply the other birth control method. (See below)
NATIONAL FRUIT FOR INDUCING MENSTRUATION: Pineapple.
NATIONAL APHRODISIAC DRINK: Stout. Many swear by it. But after a few pints they start swearing at everything.
NATIONAL FAKE ILLNESS FOR GETTING MC (MEN): Food Poisoning.
NATIONAL FAKE ILLNESS FOR GETTING MC (WOMEN): Menstrual Pain.
NATIONAL EXCUSES GIVEN BY WOMEN WHEN REFUSING SEX: Headache, kids not asleep, maid not asleep, mother-in-law around, early appointment, food not digested yet, air conditioner not cold enough, air conditioner too cold, nail polish not dry yet, forgot to take the pill, sleepy, stomach cramps, menstruation, haven't remove makeup, haven't shower, no water supply, going to watch "Santa Barbara", depress, no mood, etc.
NATIONAL EXCUSES GIVEN BY MEN WHEN REFUSING SEX: None.
NATIONAL SECRET SEXUAL DESIRE OF MALAYSIAN MEN: Transvestites Every heterosexual male Malaysian seem to have a secret desire for a "bapok". On a Saturday night, they flocked to all those places where the transvestites hang out. They ogle at them, tease them, pay for their "services", etc. They never fail to honk in excitement when they see one on the road. And the Saturday night outings to these places are always in a group of three or four male friends. It's a kind of Malaysian male bonding. Yes. Male bonding by seeking out men dressed up as women. It's no wonder that drag shows such as "Paper Dolls" are ever so popular in Malaysia.
NATIONAL CURE FOR HEADACHES: Panadol the "cure all" for Malaysians. If it fails we have another secret weapon; Tiger Balm.
NATIONAL CURE FOR DIZZINESS: Minyak Angin Cap Kapak
NATIONAL CAUSE OF DIZZINESS (FOR YUPPIES): Happy Hours
NATIONAL INSTANT CURE FOR DIZZINESS (FOR YUPPIES): The sight of a police road block.

Courtesy of Asianjoke.com

Am I Teachable?

2004-09-20T11:40:00.000+08:00

I am willing to listen more than talk.
I admit when I am mistaken.
I observe before acting on a situation.
I am able to agree to disagree.
I desire information more than answers.
I enjoy asking questions.
I am open to suggestions and new ideas.
I feel comfortable asking for advice or directions.
I am a patient and willing student.
I enjoy reading for information that is practical and applicable.
I seek out new perspectives on the questions of life.
I can appreciate criticism without being deeply wounded.

Sleepless in BU10...

2004-09-17T09:25:00.000+08:00

Last night, right after worship rehearsal in church, we went for mamak at William's. Julia, Paul and I were heading back home from Taman Mayang. Suddenly, my housemate, Ricky called. He told me that I should not come home tonight because the power line across our street caught fire and sparks were flying everywhere. I dropped Julia back and I got Paul to accompany me back to my house to see what was the problem. My house did not have any electricity and my housemates were enjoying a nice tub of ice cream from the fridge with just a candlelight on the table. So I thought I'd stay over at my sister's place for the night. I got my stuff and decided to drop Paul back home. When I was at BU4, I saw the TNB people fixing a powerline there as well. Apparently, the same thing happened on the same street where Paul lived! But thank God, Paul's house was not affected. The TNB people were quite efficient, it took them about 5 minutes to get the houses near Paul's back with power. Oh well, I thought to myself, since they were fixing it here, I'm sure they'll fix ours in no time! So I called my sister to tell her that I won't be staying over and I headed home. Bad mistake... The power came back around 4am. I could hardly sleep the whole night! Was tossing and turning in bed. *Yawn* *Wink* *Wink* *Stretch*

Thank You...

2004-09-15T21:48:00.000+08:00

I just wanna say a big Thank You to everyone of you who reads my blog.

Thank You for all your encouraging words each time when we meet.

And each time we talk about my blog and Abimelech.

At the very beginning, I thought that this was a joke.

But now I know that everything happens for a reason!

Each time I hear those encouraging words, the more I wanna write.

Each time someone writes a comment, the more I wanna write.

I'll continue earnestly to write as much as can and wherever I am.

Thanks guys! Thanks for reading!

My New Office...

2004-09-15T21:22:00.000+08:00

The day that I feared the most has finally arrived... By 4 weeks time, I will have a new office. One without cubicles or partitions. Without multiple phone lines and fax machines. Without a pantry or a waiting area. Without conference rooms. Without a receptionist area. My office in KL is finally coming to an end. I will be working from home in a months time. We used to have like 15 of us in the office but as I write this, there's 7 of us left. And most of us are consultants so we are hardly in the office. Last week, only 2 were in the office. I guess that's probably why the management has decided to shut the office down and get everyone to work from home. I was at One Utama today, just testing out how it would feel like to work at Coffee Bean or at Freo Smoothies (Jeh, you still owe me a T-shirt, dude!). My first experience was not all that wonderful after all. The broadband service at Freo was down, so I had to use another network which was too far away and I kept getting dropped from their network. But thank God, I managed to finish my work for the day. There was only one question, "Hmmm... what happens if I need to go for a 'big' one? Where do I keep my notebook?". I never did get an answer... I hope things would be smooth sailing from now on...

Having Restedness in Your Heart...

2004-09-12T13:45:00.000+08:00

During IDMC, God spoke to me about this passage through Rev. Edmund Chan.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better, and it will not be taken away from her."

- Luke 10:38-42

Why did Jesus say that Martha was worried and upset about many things but only one thing that was needed? And why Mary chose that better part? My early understanding of the scripture would be that Martha was too busy serving and didn't spend time with Jesus. While Mary was smarter, she sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to him.

Why would Martha interrupt Jesus when Jesus was speaking to the crowd and ask him to tell the sister (who was at Jesus' feet) that she should come and help her with the preparation? She could have just quietly pulled Mary aside and asked her to go to the kitchen with her and help her finish the work. Instead, she made such a big commotion out of it.

Martha was distracted and had a wanting to be at the feet of Jesus but at the same time having the responsibility of serving the guests. Her heart was not settled and her heart was disturbed. "Martha, Martha", the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed."

What is that "one thing" that Jesus was talking about? It is about having a sense of restedness in our hearts! There is always a season and time for everything in our lives. Martha was distracted and her heart was not at rest. In his book, Build to Last, Rev. Edmund Chan clearly defines that we are, "running on empty. Often it takes a crisis, usually a painful one, for people to realise their emptiness. We live in a highly disoriented world that is profuoundly confused. We have confused achievements for authenticity. Credentials for credibility. Conceit for confidence. And the applause of men for the approval of God. When such weary pilgrims stop long enough to examine their unexamine lives, they find that they have been running on empty for too long -- so long that chronic fatigue is accepted as a way of life, and chronic busyness, as a status symbol. The vain reasoning is that an imprtant person is surely a busy person; therefore if I am busy, I must be improtant. And the busier I am, the more important I feel. Through all this, the soul is paradoxically restless and purposeless; under-nourished and empty."

We live in a performance-driven world where it's all about the good grades we get, the targets we meet, the goals we achieve. And sadly, this has been intertwined with the way we live our lives. Even in the context of church, we feel "needed" when we are involved in various ministries. We feel less important when we are just regular churchgoers. We have a desire to "perform". I tell you, the person who is truly rested in his heart is the best person to be. It's not about how busy you are, how much you are doing for the Lord. Mary has chosen the better, and it will not be taken away from her because she found a sense of restedness in her heart, knowing that she has a season for everything. However, this does not mean that we drop everything we do!

Let us reverse the situation of the Martha and Mary story a little. Imagine Martha is happily working in the kitchen. She knows that Jesus is outside preaching to the crowd in her living room. And she prepares the food with joy and peace in her heart. But on the other hand, Mary stops Jesus from his preaching and says to him, "Lord, don't you care that my sister is busy working and not sitting at your feet listening to you? Tell her to come and sit at your feet like I am doing!". What would Jesus' response be to Mary?

I believe it would have been, "Mary, Mary," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Martha has chosen the better, and it will not be taken away from her." There is a season and time for everything. And we should always find a sense of restedness in our hearts. You can be serving in church, while others are worshipping. But the Lord is pleased with you, because you chose the better part and it shall not be taken away from you!

This has been a revelation for me. When I first heard this, I told the Lord, "Lord, forgive me. Help me to remain small and secure in You. Give me a sense of restedness in my heart." You see, a man with a sense of restedness in his heart, is a person who is really attractive. One of the reasons is that you want to be close to him. You would feel refresh when you are beside him. What is also known as the "With Him" principle. Jesus called the twelve disciples to be with him. Jesus has a sense of restedness because He knew that He was doing the will of the Father. Crowds are drawn to Him not just because of His teachings but because of who He is!

I trust that God is teaching me day by day to be more humble and broken for His glory. If you were to ask me what was one thing that I have learnt from this conference. I would say, finding a sense of restedness in my heart. To find myself small and secure in the Lord. Ultimately, it's not about how good you sing, how good you pray, how spiritual you are, how well you speak in tongues (read my post on "His Imprint, Our Expression"), It's about having a sense of restedness in your heart. God might use you for His glory but it's not about YOU. It's about Jesus and His finished work! Sometimes, I tell people, "Oh, I'm being mentored by so-and-so" and there is always a sense of pride that takes over. But I asked God for forgiveness. I told the Lord that I would gladly have someone mentor me who is not known in church. I do not want to be caught in this celebrity status thingy. I just want to be small and secure in Jesus. However, I thank God for my mentor and I thank God that he has made a difference in my life. Thanks Pr. Chris!

My prayer for you is that you would find a sense of restedness in your heart. Having the full knowledge that Christ has died for your sins, past, present and future. I pray that the Lord would help you to be small and secure in Him. That you have chosen the better, and it will not be taken away from you. Continue to press on and make His glory known!

Packed for Disaster...

2004-09-10T17:49:00.000+08:00

I arrived at the Singapore Airport early to make sure that my bass amp would be able to enter the aircraft safely. The officer at the check-in counter had a worried look on his face. "You do not have a box?". I said, "No". He was touching my bass amp and checking it as though he was about to devour it. "Hmm... I'm sorry but we can't let you carry this onto the plane. You will need to have a box or we might not be able to check it in for you either. We can't guarantee that you would have it in one piece." He did suggest that I go find a box so that I could place the amp inside. I found a post office nearby but they did not have any boxes big enough. I had to make do with what they have. Bought myself some tape and I started "packing" it.

A front view of my finished work...

How it looks from the rear...

Man, I thought to myself, this is gonna hurt. Prepare for a rough ride, baby! I was so anxious the whole time, and I was practically praying the whole journey. Praying that it would be returned to me in one piece and that it would still be functioning the time I get home. I was also praying that I won't get taxed by the customs for bringing home an electrical item. Touch down! My heart was beating faster and faster. I rushed to the baggage reclaim area as fast as I could. Waited for over 20 minutes before the conveyor belt starting moving. Dup! Dup! Dup! my heart was beating... as bag after bag dropped onto the conveyor belt, my heart was beating faster and faster. And finally! I saw my baby, thank God it was still intact... I rejoiced too soon... my heart sank when I suddenly realised that my lil' baby amp was about to experience a painful 2 feet fall when the baggage was dropped onto the conveyor belt. "BOOM!!!!" Immediately, I prayed to God and asked that everything was gonna be okay. The only thought I had in my mind was, I needed to get home as quickly as I could, plug my bass into it and start testing to make sure that it's working fine. But that was not the last of my problems, I was walking out of the terminal when the customs officer stopped me and asked me what I was carrying. My heart was beating to a faster rhythm now. "Err, ini alat muzik", I told the customs officer that it was a musical instrument. He looked at it and asked me how much it cost and where I got it. I told him it's used for guitars and he said, "Oh... okay, go on ahead"... Phew!!! I thought I was in for it already. But praise the Lord! When I reached home, I chucked my bags aside and brought my baby up to my room, plug in the power supply and plugged my bass into my amp. Switched on the power and plucked a few notes on my bass. No sound! By now, sweat was rolling down my forehead. Oh no, I thought to myself. It's broken. I looked bass volume and it's at full blast. Sigh, after all the trouble! Suddenly, I realised that there was something I did not check. I turned the bass amp around and there it was! The switch that says "Speaker On/Off". I flick the switch to it's on position and Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! There was SOUND!!!! Muahahaha! Praise the Lord! Thank God that everything was okay. Looks like I was anxious over nothing. =) The Abimelechs unites! Haha, got them together to take a photoshoot. Don't they look lovely together? Awww... Ah Whim Ba Wek! Ah Whim Ba Wek!

The Abimelechs Unite!

Intentional Disciplemaking Conference...

2004-09-08T22:57:00.000+08:00

The 3-day Intentional Disciplemaking Conference is finally over. I have no idea where to begin as there was so much that I've learnt and so little time to digest everything. The conference was EXCELLENT! I believe that I have emerge from the conference, a changed man. Last year, God spoke to me and gave me a destination. I knew that the most important thing was how I added value to my journey. For instance, if I wanted to be a basketball star, I gotta start by playing basketball. And because of that, I have spent the last year, trying to find avenues for me so that I could add value to my journey. Finally, God answers. I have finally found the direction in my journey towards my destination. One thing that I have learned during the conference would be life transformation. That God alone is the only one who can transform lives. This is a valuable lesson for me. Maybe in time, after I have done some reflection, I would share more. Right now, I have only one simple prayer...

"Oh Lord, help me so that I would remain small and secure in You. Amen."

... and guess what I found while roaming the streets of Singapore?!

An Abimelech Phone Holder!!! Muahahaha!

Baby Blues...

2004-09-05T21:55:00.000+08:00

I got a new Bass Amp! Yippie! It's a SWR Baby Baby Blue Bass Amp. The Baby Baby Blue is a 160-Watt Tube Amp with a 1x10" driver plus tweeter. This little fella, though only measures up to 19" tall is pretty heavy! It weights about 39 pounds (approx 17.5kg). However, this is much much better than my existing Trace Elliott 715 which is a ginormous which requires two people to carry it. I was first attracted to its size but when I plugged in a bass to try... GOSH! It has the most incredible sound! Yup, though little, it's packed with a punch! Like cilipadi! Now, I've gotta figure out how to carry this baby back to KL!

Front Panel of the SWR Baby Baby Blue

Talking about babies, I had such a great time yesterday. I met up with my colleague and had breakfast with him. We had one of the best Bak Kut Tehs in Singapore and met up with his baby, Kristen. Ooooooo... She's soooo adorable! And when she saw me, she just couldn't resist! In fact, she was so comfortable, she just rested on my shoulder. Awww... I think I'm in love!

Baby Kristen and Me

As I was saying, I had Bak Kut Teh and it's really different from the ones we have in Klang. This Bak Kut Teh is more like Pepper Soup with Pork Ribs. And they had this Giant Pork Knuckles which were to die for! I'll do anything to go back there again the next trip! I also had some sugar cane with lemon. Strange, isn't it? Lemon with sugar cane? Well, it's the first for me. Man, who said Singapore food ain't great! I love it, man!

Pepper Bak Kut Teh

Giant Pork Knuckles

Sugar Cane with Lemon

I visited New Creation Church at Suntec City this morning, arrived late, so I could not go into their main sanctuary. We were directed to the overflow room which was nothing spectacular. The sermon was about the resurrection on Jesus. Though Pr. Joseph Prince was not speaking, the speaker that day really sounded like him, even the actions and jokes he makes. Man, they do train their pastors well. Even when the Senior Pastor is not around, they have an almost exact replica of him speaking on the pulpit! What really surprised me was when the service ended. I was shocked to see so many people lining up for church. This was the first time for me. If only people in DUMC were as fervent and as hungry for the Word of God and not sluggishly get off the bed and sluggishly get into the car and sluggishly drive to church. Gosh, this people at New Creation actually lines up hours before the service starts! I really admire their hunger for God's word.

People Lining Up for Church

I'll be attending the Intentional Disciple Making Conference in Orchard Hotel by Covenant Evangelical Free Church tomorrow with Rev. Edmund Chan. I'm so excited as I really have very high expectations about this conference. There are about 100 DUMCers going for this conference. I would want to bring back to KL what I would be learning and put it to practice. I want my MAG to be blessed! Well, it's getting late and I've gotta get up early tomorrow, see you soon guys! God bless and thanks for reading! Two more baby pictures for you...

Young & Dangerous

Oops, I did it again!

A Man Named Merdeka...

2004-09-04T20:08:00.000+08:00

Since I'm in such a poetic mood right now, I'd like to share something I found on Mei's website, Teh Tarik Corner. I thought this was cool. She wrote it 7 years ago...

A Man Named Malaysia

Malaysia stands before his cake today

Candle light flickering off his eyes

Pondering a wish, what would he say

A wish to make before the candles die

Searching, from his window he looks out

Accomplished, the toast of South East Asia

The world's tallest tower to shout

And the crown of the Commonwealth next year

He dared venture to fields unknown

Look East, then MSC, next globalisation

So now, a million Protons he owns

And even a rep at the United Nations

Splendid golf courses for a world class tee

Tropical gardens and sunshine beaches

High rises, Penang Bridge and LRTs

The glitz, the fame and all that he wishes

All his dreams he seemed to have achieved

As he reaches his prime age of forty

Wealth, recognition, peace he receives

Yet in him he knows there's uncertainty

Who knows what lies beyond the bend?

Nations plummet, new world rises

What will the next gush of wind send?

For this man named Malaysia

His birthday candles burned down low

Puddles of wax melting at the base

Forty years more, what would he have to show

More of the same or another flavour of the day

His fervent prayers seem a little hollow

And the further he sees, the dimmer the vision

Twenty-twenty, he has everyone to follow

Yet he wonders, could there be a greater Mission?

He shrugs off the questions and braves a smile

The guests are waiting, the children anticipating

Forty years, he pats himself, yes, those are many miles

He squares his shoulders and again begins wishing

Today as you see Malaysia make his wish

Let me ask "Do you have one for him?"

Search your heart and to your children teach

Love Malaysia, he's lovelier than he seems

Wish him prosperity, wish him peace

Wish him blessings, wish him harmony

But much more than all of these

I wish we could all stand in unity

To love and to pray

To bless and to heal

To look to that day

When our Father to him is revealed

He closes his eyes and in a breath he blows

Watched by children with their cheeks aglow

What did you wish they ask and tug at this sleeves

I wished for you, he replies, and takes his leave.

My Visit to City Harvest...

2004-09-04T01:12:00.000+08:00

Finally! I got a chance to visit City Harvest Church. A world-class titanium-clad, column-free sanctuary, latest audio visual systems and a 14,000 member strong church . I've been planning to visit for so long and finally I got the chance to! I was so excited since I've heard so much about it. They had a rooftop garden with a baptismal pool. And I was so fascinated with their toilets! Here are some pictures that I took.

The Roof Garden

The Baptismal Pool

Machine Where You Can Pay Your Tithes

The Infamous CHC Toilet

The Column-Free Sanctuary

All these were so fascinating and exciting! I was caught taking pictures in the sanctuary and was warned by the ushers to stop taking pictures when the service started. Oops. *shy* *shy*... But above everything else, I really enjoyed the service. The worship was excellent and though I only knew two songs, the worship was just so powerful. I could just sense God's presence moving in the congregation. You know, in CHC, everybody clapped at the right beat! Hallelujah! You don't get to see that in DUMC. And yes, it's really annoying when people start clapping on the wrong beat. I was sitting at the top and I could see that everyone was jumping and praising God and just lifting up their hands and worshipping the Almighty. This is what I call a worshipping church! The main highlight for me was really Rev. Kong Hee. I never did like him and he never did give me a good impression of him when we first met many years ago. I thought that he was rather rude and darn straight forward with his comments. However, over the years, I can honestly say that I have started to develop this respect for him. I was really in awe today as I saw the humility that this man has. He spoke about prayer and how God can answer our prayers. I am deeply convicted and challenged to pray more now and I was just worshipping God and speaking in tongues the whole time. Here is what he said about "How God can answer your prayers":-

Desire it
Decide upon it
Ask for it
Receive it
Speak it
See it
Act on it

Rev. Kong Hee spoke about Elijah and how God used him to turn the whole of Judah back to worshipping God instead of idols in one day. Even Paul took 3 years to reach out to Asia Minor and Jonah took 3 months. But Elijah took one day... Praying leads to fruitfulness. If you are barren in your job, your friendships, etc, PRAY! and PRAY again! Never stop praying. Pray through till you get a breakthrough... For once, I must say, that I love CHC! I'll definitely go back to CHC again if I am in Singapore.

Another day at Intentia...

2004-09-03T13:09:00.000+08:00

How sad, how tragic,

Yet another day in this training room.

It challenges my senses and logic,

As to why I did not hit him with a broom.

But thank God, it's almost over,

My dreams and desire are coming true.

I'll put this behind me forever and ever,

Never looking glum or blue.

Next week I'll be on vacation,

Travelling around Singapore day and night,

Shopping and eating, oh, wished it was my vocation,

Shouting "Hallelujah!" with all my might.

Gosh, I'm surprise that I could write,

It sounds funny but it really rhymes.

Oops, time is running out as our schedule is tight,

Gotta listen and probably yawn a couple of times.

See you soon my dear friends,

Listening to the final chapter.

As we tie up the odds and ends,

If I have the chance, I'll blog more later...

-Yahkid-

A Day at Intentia...

2004-09-01T09:30:00.000+08:00

Oh Intentia, Oh Intentia...

How beautiful is thy name,

Reflects only its glory and fame.

Thou doest not understand;

Thou doest not comprehend.

Oh Intentia, Oh Intentia...

This training is a drag;

My wish is to pack my bag.

But alas! Thy work is not done,

And definitely not any fun.

Oh Intentia! Oh Intentia...

My eyes are failing,

My ears are failing.

Yawn! and Yawn! again,

The world is drifting and I feel no pain.

Oh Intenti.. oh.. Inten...zZZzzzZZZZzzz

*snore* *snore*

Merdeka...

2004-08-31T21:44:00.000+08:00

Oh man, I'm so exhausted! Just came back to the hotel. Sigh, have to work even on Merdeka Day. *sniff* *sniff*. Had to listen to this trainer for the whole day, I'm so confused now because I've just got so much to digest today. Am dead tired but still have some work to finish before tomorrow. Partly, because I'm fasting again. Was so tempted to have some Vietnamese food with my colleagues but thank God, I managed to fight against it. Yawn.. too tired to write now... Anyways, Happy Merdeka Day to you if you are reading this! Merdeka! Merdeka!

NECF Merdeka Rally...

2004-08-30T14:22:00.000+08:00

Praise God! It was a wonderful time of praise and worship at Wisma MCA yesterday! God's people gathered together as one nation and as one voice to pray and intercede for our nation Malaysia. We arrived at 1.30pm for sound check and only ended 15 minutes before the event started at 4pm. Frankly speaking, I did not have a good feeling about the stage sound that day because I could hardly hear myself. However, God has His ways of turning things around even when situations are against you. I just want to thank God for everything that He has done yesterday. I'm so encouraged to see so many people at Wisma MCA yesterday. The crowd were lifting up their hands in worship and I believe that every song spoke directly to their hearts. We did a presentation and we played "Cover the Earth", the crowd enjoyed it so much that we had an encore! Praise the Lord. It's really a powerful song. And I'm glad that I could be a blessing during this event. But what really challenged the people yesterday was the sermon when God spoke to the hearts of many and to ask the question of whether we are willing to lay down our lives for our nation Malaysia. The time is now for us to pray and travail and reach out to our nation! As the people gathered to pray in small groups, I can't stop but just observing all those who were praying. People with different backgrounds and denomination, just seeking and crying out to the Lord to heal our land and believe that the walls of this nation would crumble down in the name of Jesus! It was definitely something that I really would remember for a long time to come. So, are you willing to lay down your life for this nation?!

For You...

2004-08-29T00:27:00.000+08:00

Thank you for sharing your heart with me. I don't know where to begin and I do not even know if you are reading this. But I am glad that you shared what you have to share with me today. I know that words are not good enough to tell you how special you are to me. You know that you can run to me and rest assured that I would always always be there for you. As I ponder on what you have told me, my heart sank when you said that things might be different. If I were to live my life again, I would live it differently. I would have treated you better and I would have cared for you more. It's really funny how the world is. I really do not understand it or why God place me here. I don't even understand why things are not as simple as they should be. How I wish that life was much more simpler. I hate myself. I hate myself because I can never be good enough. Everything I do never seems to be right. But thank you, thank you for seeing me as who I am and accepting me even when I'm not at my best. Thank you for laughing at my jokes and crying with me when I'm in pain and when my heart was broken. You were always there for me and I truly cherish those moments that we had together. I'll never forget the kindness that you showered upon me. You have been the source of encouragement when I needed it and you never fail to impress me. As tears roll down my cheek, I'd like to say that I'm truly sorry if I have ignored you or placed you second in any way. I have never meant to hurt you. Deep down inside me, you have a special place in my heart. No one can replace you! No one! I do not hold the future in the palm of my hands. I do not know what might happen next. But one thing I do know, that we are... friends for life and friends forever...

A friend sees the best in you, even when you're not showing it...

A friend knows when you need someone to talk to, when you need to be alone, and most important, the difference between the two...

A friend can tell when you need a hug and doesn't hesitate to offer one...

A friend makes you laugh when you see little to laugh about...

A friend will always come to your defence, no matter how often called upon to do it or how unpopular it makes her or him...

A friend believes you first and rumours second...

A friend never passes up the chance to encourage you...

A friend shares with you, even chocolate...

A friend tells you when you're about to make a mistake...

A friend is someone you can always depend on, even when you don't deserve it...

A friend brings out the best in you, but doesn't insist on the credit...

A friend understands you, even when you don't...

And that friend... is YOU!

Are You The Bass Guitarist???

2004-08-27T22:31:00.000+08:00

You can call me a "bassist" or even a "bass player" but never a "guitarist" or worse, a "bass guitarist"! That's the worst insult you can ever give a Bass Player. It's really strange that people still can't differentiate between a person who plays the guitar and a person who plays bass. Sometime ago, my keyboardist's dad came over my place to grab something from my other housemate, he asked me if I was a Christian before. I told him, "Uncle, I am from your church lah! I play bass!". The worse thing is that he didn't even noticed that I was in the same band as his daughter! Well, today, he calls me the non-Christian or "the convert". He's a cool dude! Thanks -[ Aleph-Tav ]- for the lovely gift. Gonna keep it somewhere where I can see it everyday and remind me of you. ;)