Tonight, during the Christmas Service, God spoke to me again. Well, the history goes simply like this.. I do not really like Christmas. Why? Cos I'm a scrooge. And also cos there's no one to go out with during Christmas seasons. For this reasons, I've been anything but joyful over past many years. But as God spoke to me tonight, I was relearning Christmas and what it was about all over again. Christmas in it's empirical form, is a commemoration of Jesus' birth, God's giving of His Son for us. As I rediscover the meaning of Christmas again, I found the reason for the joy that should abound this season - Jesus Christ. It's true, He is the reason for the season. And no one can ever take that joy off me.
I repented for my selfishness. For all the times I justified my own pity party with my relative inadequacies. And for the joy of having Christ in my life, I give thanks. Thus will be my song and eternal hope. I'm relearning the true meaning of Christmas. Thank you God for slapping Dan round with a large trout again.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Life Management
It's coming to that time of the year again. Christmas.. It's the time that gets me thinking about everything.
Recently, I've been reading a few books on analysing financial markets and one of the common topics is technical analysis. For just about everything there is to trade in the markets, there'll always be a technical way of analysing the probability of future success, and ultimately hoping to lead to the right decision. If only trend of life would adhere to the world of probability and statistics, making decisions and sticking by them would be so much easier won't it? Knowing A+B = Success in one situation doesn't always mean the model works for another.
I'm finding decisions extremely hard to manage, and there's no clear model to overlay my decision making process. No one to blame, I think that's part of the experience and integrates into my personal learning curve. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I need to relocate where I had left God out of the equations. As real as a trader's haunch, there God will be in navigating the way to the north. The never ending way up.
I've made so many bad decisions. I can't undo them. I can't unwind time. But I sincerely pray, God will guide the damage control process that needs to follow. And restore the collateral damage that had ensued. I apologise if I had not seemed to be the godly person most would expect me to be. Carnality has eaten a large portion of my persona. If spiritual cellular regeneration were possible, I would like to attain that at the speediest instant. Still, I conclude with this. The journey of life is about evolution, never about revolution.
I hope I do not have an unhappy Christmas. But I wish all the more for you all.
Happy holidays. Happy birthday Jesus (presumably).
Recently, I've been reading a few books on analysing financial markets and one of the common topics is technical analysis. For just about everything there is to trade in the markets, there'll always be a technical way of analysing the probability of future success, and ultimately hoping to lead to the right decision. If only trend of life would adhere to the world of probability and statistics, making decisions and sticking by them would be so much easier won't it? Knowing A+B = Success in one situation doesn't always mean the model works for another.
I'm finding decisions extremely hard to manage, and there's no clear model to overlay my decision making process. No one to blame, I think that's part of the experience and integrates into my personal learning curve. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I need to relocate where I had left God out of the equations. As real as a trader's haunch, there God will be in navigating the way to the north. The never ending way up.
I've made so many bad decisions. I can't undo them. I can't unwind time. But I sincerely pray, God will guide the damage control process that needs to follow. And restore the collateral damage that had ensued. I apologise if I had not seemed to be the godly person most would expect me to be. Carnality has eaten a large portion of my persona. If spiritual cellular regeneration were possible, I would like to attain that at the speediest instant. Still, I conclude with this. The journey of life is about evolution, never about revolution.
I hope I do not have an unhappy Christmas. But I wish all the more for you all.
Happy holidays. Happy birthday Jesus (presumably).
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Stay
"You know what? Forget it.. This is not the first time anyway. I've no time to waste on stupid things like these."
My own lines keep ringing in my head. Perhaps, I feel like saying this for real.
My own lines keep ringing in my head. Perhaps, I feel like saying this for real.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Youth Camp 2007 photos
Remember to take ur vitamins!
Self-shot with fat camera. Not too bad i say.
Very sweet.. and too bad rochi couldn't go.
Prayer walk.
Meditation.
Mascot swallowing competition. One of our many crazy antics.
Oversized legs in undersized flip flops!
Don't worry, they'll be back in time for supper.
Guess who.
4 x Men vs 1 x resolute Tree.
Some cranes landed on our chairs.
Serious.
Mad.
Respect.
Adriel, our champion spitter.
Elaine, not to be outdone.
Squeeze 'em lemons dry.
Beware of the flying papaya.
Squid attack!
New cake recipe requiring 2 x legs.
Spit or Suck?
Kevin, our champion vomitter.
Centurions in pool.
Trekkers in pool.
Happy birthday Dec babies!
Le Royals.
Ave Centurions.
One-A-Meh-Meh Shepherds.
And many many more.
Tough-going Trekkers.
Secret love revealed. Seems one-sided though.
Our group leaders need a break.
The lack of breakfast = hallucination of durian on giant waffle.
Bye bye campers!
Thurs night campfire.
Now that campers are all gone, it's time for...Winning Eleven on large screen!
No one goes hungry. Not even our resident pet lizard Lisa.Monday, October 15, 2007
The Pastor and his son
Got this in an email from a wonderful 17 year old Christian I whom i was blest to meet back in Aug.
The Pastor and his son
A good reminder of God's Love.
Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts.
This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready.'
His Pastor dad asked, 'Ready for what?'
'Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out.' Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain.'
The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?'
Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.' Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go? Please?'
His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son.'
'Thanks
Dad!'
And with that, he was off and out into the rain. his eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract.
After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet
and down to his VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered. He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.
Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch! He rang again and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that *JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU* and I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE.'
With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave. She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'
Well, the following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, 'Does anybody have any testimony or want to say anything?'
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, 'No one in this church knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.
So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.' I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and
more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.
When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.' Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand.
As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.
You see---I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just
in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'
There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated.
He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his son... Except for One.
Our Father also allowed His Son to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as all of heaven shouted praises and honor to The King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named.
Blessed are your eyes for reading this message.
Don't let this message die, read it again and pass it to others. Heaven is for His people!
Remember,
God's message CAN make the difference in the life of someone close to you.
Please share this wonderful message...
'Faith is the affirmation and the act that bids eternal truth be present fact.'
Coleridge
Just 3 Words
Three things
in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity
Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness
Three things in life that you should never lose-
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty
Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family & Friends
3. Kindness
Three
things in life that are never certain -
1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams
Three things that make a person -
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work
Three things that are truly constant -
Father - Son - Holy Spirit
I ask the Lord to bless you, as I pray for you today;
to guide you and protect you, as you go along your way.
God's love is always with you, God's promises are true.
And when you give God all your cares,
you know God will see you through.
Pass this along to People you want God to Bless - I just did!
The Pastor and his son
A good reminder of God's Love.
Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at the church, the Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts.
This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside, as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm ready.'
His Pastor dad asked, 'Ready for what?'
'Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out.' Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain.'
The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?'
Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.' Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go? Please?'
His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son.'
'Thanks
Dad!'
And with that, he was off and out into the rain. his eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract.
After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet
and down to his VERY LAST TRACT. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to, but the streets were totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody answered. He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still no answer.
Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch! He rang again and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that *JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU* and I came to give you my very last Gospel Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE.'
With that, he handed her his last tract and turned to leave. She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'
Well, the following Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began, he asked, 'Does anybody have any testimony or want to say anything?'
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face, 'No one in this church knows me. I've never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.
So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leap off, when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.' I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and
more insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.
When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.' Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand.
As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.
You see---I am now a Happy Child of the KING. Since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just
in the nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'
There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated.
He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no church has had a more glorious moment, and probably this universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love & honor for his son... Except for One.
Our Father also allowed His Son to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as all of heaven shouted praises and honor to The King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named.
Blessed are your eyes for reading this message.
Don't let this message die, read it again and pass it to others. Heaven is for His people!
Remember,
God's message CAN make the difference in the life of someone close to you.
Please share this wonderful message...
'Faith is the affirmation and the act that bids eternal truth be present fact.'
Coleridge
Just 3 Words
Three things
in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity
Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness
Three things in life that you should never lose-
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty
Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family & Friends
3. Kindness
Three
things in life that are never certain -
1. Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams
Three things that make a person -
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work
Three things that are truly constant -
Father - Son - Holy Spirit
I ask the Lord to bless you, as I pray for you today;
to guide you and protect you, as you go along your way.
God's love is always with you, God's promises are true.
And when you give God all your cares,
you know God will see you through.
Pass this along to People you want God to Bless - I just did!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Conviction
Just thought I would like to share another valuable lesson I learnt today. Today I learnt that another key factor of leading successful worship is CONVICTION. I guess it's the same whether one plays on an instrument or sings with the voice, the element of conviction is key to both personal worship and leading worship from the stage. With that in mind, I've always chosen songs I feel strongly convicted for. Although singing them from the stage with equal conviction all the time is altogether a different story.
An attentive audience will share the same unnerving anxiety with the nervous emcee, yet conversely feel at home with the witty humour from a host at ease. The situations are different, yet the principles are the same. The audience are listening.
Today if you are in a band, or hope to be in one, are your songs prayers played out from the depths of your conviction or simply musical masterpieces from the latest Christian hits? On the stage, are you preoccupied with getting those rifts right and high notes pitch perfect, rather than knowing its your heart that God sole desires, and delights in? Technical perfection aside, conviction leaves room open for God's intervention and divine power which even the most perfect play cannot bring about. For in the eyes of God, your symphonic perfection is always less than your simple conviction.
An attentive audience will share the same unnerving anxiety with the nervous emcee, yet conversely feel at home with the witty humour from a host at ease. The situations are different, yet the principles are the same. The audience are listening.
Today if you are in a band, or hope to be in one, are your songs prayers played out from the depths of your conviction or simply musical masterpieces from the latest Christian hits? On the stage, are you preoccupied with getting those rifts right and high notes pitch perfect, rather than knowing its your heart that God sole desires, and delights in? Technical perfection aside, conviction leaves room open for God's intervention and divine power which even the most perfect play cannot bring about. For in the eyes of God, your symphonic perfection is always less than your simple conviction.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Another one.
COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES.
THE 20 SENTENCE MEME!
Tag 3 people to do the meme when completed. Oh. And NO tags backs.
Here it goes..
1. Love is: probably the most elusive thing I'll ever know.
2. I will always: be thankful I can wake up each morning.
3. Forever: doesn't last long enough for good times.
4. I never want to: with broken bones in my body.
5. My cell phone is: a Panasonic V2 but that'll change real soon.
6. When I wake in the morning: I'll always have a brief memory of the dreams that took place the previous night. But those fragments of thoughts disappear into oblivion in the next 10seconds.
7. I get annoyed at: inconsiderate people, people with no manners, people who disturb me when I'm working, people who speak too loudly, inconsiderate people, people with no manners, people who disturb me when I'm working, people who like to repeat themselves over and over and over and over and over and over again. Tsk tsk! Oh and when the weather gets too hot.
8. Parties are: expensive. Always.
9. My dog is: something I can look forward to when I do start my own family.
10. Kisses are the worst when: they don't end up on me. Kidding!
11. Today I am: thinking how much more time I'll spend on this.
12. Tonight I will: probably regret spending excessive time on this.
13. Tomorrow I will: be feeling the after effects of not sleeping early.
14. I really want: the weekend to come faster.
15. When I looked at myself in the mirror today: I get another short lived burst of motivation to lose weight.
16. I will drive my car: when COE becomes virtually free.
17. A word that rhymes with “PARK” is: Shark. Magnificent creatures. Even exotic cars are shaped after them.
18. Bright or Dark Room?: Bright room for Studying and Working. Dark room for leisure and sleeping.
19. If I’m alone in a room with two beds, I: combine the beds and maximise usage of space!
20. The last thing I said to someone was: "do all our emails bother u".. Haha :)
No victims chosen this time round. Have fun!
THE 20 SENTENCE MEME!
Tag 3 people to do the meme when completed. Oh. And NO tags backs.
Here it goes..
1. Love is: probably the most elusive thing I'll ever know.
2. I will always: be thankful I can wake up each morning.
3. Forever: doesn't last long enough for good times.
4. I never want to: with broken bones in my body.
5. My cell phone is: a Panasonic V2 but that'll change real soon.
6. When I wake in the morning: I'll always have a brief memory of the dreams that took place the previous night. But those fragments of thoughts disappear into oblivion in the next 10seconds.
7. I get annoyed at: inconsiderate people, people with no manners, people who disturb me when I'm working, people who speak too loudly, inconsiderate people, people with no manners, people who disturb me when I'm working, people who like to repeat themselves over and over and over and over and over and over again. Tsk tsk! Oh and when the weather gets too hot.
8. Parties are: expensive. Always.
9. My dog is: something I can look forward to when I do start my own family.
10. Kisses are the worst when: they don't end up on me. Kidding!
11. Today I am: thinking how much more time I'll spend on this.
12. Tonight I will: probably regret spending excessive time on this.
13. Tomorrow I will: be feeling the after effects of not sleeping early.
14. I really want: the weekend to come faster.
15. When I looked at myself in the mirror today: I get another short lived burst of motivation to lose weight.
16. I will drive my car: when COE becomes virtually free.
17. A word that rhymes with “PARK” is: Shark. Magnificent creatures. Even exotic cars are shaped after them.
18. Bright or Dark Room?: Bright room for Studying and Working. Dark room for leisure and sleeping.
19. If I’m alone in a room with two beds, I: combine the beds and maximise usage of space!
20. The last thing I said to someone was: "do all our emails bother u".. Haha :)
No victims chosen this time round. Have fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
