W518

I'm thankful for many things...

2010-03-27T00:57:00.003+08:00

Since Sam has shared her thanksgiving, I will continue to share too.

Firstly, as most of you should know. I just came back from Thailand.

And I would like to thank God for his protection over me and my mum especially while we were in Bangkok. No problems despite being one meter away from the red shirts =)

And also thank God for guiding my decisions in booking hotel. I was deciding between 2 locations and He led me to the better decision (farther from the protests = less traffic jam problems)

Secondly, I attended an interview for the University Scholars Award recently. Thank God for the opportunity to interview. Not too sure whether I will get it or not but I tried my best. I finished the Powerpoint slides in less than 2 hours just 2 days before the interview. So, thank God for the speedy work and for keeping me cool and clam throughout the interview.

Thirdly, must mention FYP. I left NTU for Malaysia and then Thailand before the submission deadline. So many people mentioned that I had LOTS of faith.....that's true but I'm human so I did go through some times in that one week plus (recess onwards till I left Singapore) when I was worried too. But thank God for team mates who are understanding and who pray for you through Facebook (referring to Mr Ho Teng Seng). Although it was FB, but I really felt a calming presence when I saw the typed prayer. And thank God for the miracle, a few hours before I left for Malaysia, the prof emailed us saying "Yes, the results look fine. You may start writing now!" And then , I wrote and wrote and wrote. And I did my part, and handed over to my reliable teamates subsequently!

Fourthly, must thank God for guiding me as I took on the position of Spiritual Multiplier (SM) in Campus Crusade which is like a cell group leader, but for a smaller group, and more focused on evangelism. I had received the calling from God at the end of my second year, but I was scared that I was not "able" and decided to tell God, "Later, please..."

I was challenged again in my 3rd year, and this time I could not ignore God. Because each time I turned to the Bible, I would see the word "Faith" .....it was killing me......So, in the end, I surrendered and said Yes! After saying Yes, God did provide for me. Due to my internship, I only attended 1 out of 3 trainings. And there was a camp for SMs in late July, but I did not attend as I was back in Malaysia. But God is great! When I started DG (discipleship group) in August, somehow I had no fear???!!! It's definitely not from me , but from God because I was not properly trained, and had ZERO experience in such things.

And this post is getting longer and longer, so I better stop now. All I can say is that my 4 years in NTU have been filled with blessings (too many to name one by one). And coming to NTU is a blessing (as Adrian shared)!

So good night and God bless!

A thanksgiving to God and Grace!

2010-03-20T23:40:00.002+08:00

Hmm, it has been a long time since I wrote on this blog..

Wells, just thought of rambling here since I have just experienced kindness and love from a senior, Grace Ngan!

It is just amazing to be able to meet a senior who is from MSA and not from cell group, yet is so on fire for God. And to my amaze, she makes a point to keep in touch with me and to pray for me. I am so TOUCHED!!!

When she shared to me about how she turned away from God once till how she came to realise that only God can fill her empty heart, I just can't stop thanking God that how awesome is He to give His grace to Grace! This second touch from God has even prompted her to end a relationship with a man whom she likes so much, so that she can serve God more. I was really very encouraged by her testimony!

She has reminded me of another senior called Rachel. Both of them are really caring sisters. Even though we seldom meet up, whenever we meet up, I am always open to share and we will end our meeting in prayer. Somehow that prayer has brought us closer and closer together! =)

Just wanna thank God for such a wonderful sister and such a blessing to me. I feel your love for me Lord! =)

So I guess maybe we can be brought closer whenever we remind ourselves to actively pray for cg members, not only when we are alone in our rooms, but also when we happen to meet each other and have time for a short prayer for each other?

We can openly share about our prayer requests here! Should we be shy doing so?? OF COURSE NOT!!!!! Hahahahahha....

Anyways, enough rambling.. If any of you see this post and hope to pray for me, then just pray for me that I could secure a job soon and do well in my final exams. I have tough modules this sem and I want to do well in them, hehe.... Thanks! Kamsahamnida!!!

And and... If you want me to pray for you, ALSO CAN!!!! Sms me lar!! HAAHAHAAHAHAAHA.....

Our Priority is in Our hands...

2010-03-19T17:49:00.000+08:00

When we are Together...

2010-03-19T17:12:00.003+08:00

THE POWER OF LOVE

2010-03-11T17:35:00.000+08:00

It was a bitterly cold Christmas eve in Korea in 1952. A pregnant young mother, Bak Yoon, hobbled through the snow toward the home of a missionary friend where she knew she could find help. Tears of sorrow froze on her face as she mourned her husband. He had recently been killed in the Korean War, and she had no one else to turn to. A short way down the road from her missionary friend's house was a deep gully spanned by a bridge. As Bak Yoon stumbled forward, birth pains suddenly overcame her. She fell, realizing that she could go no further, and crawled under the end of the bridge. There, alone, under the bridge, her baby boy was born. Bak Yoon had nothing with her except her heavy, padded clothes. One by one she removed all pieces of her clothing and wrapped them around her tiny son, still connected to her body by his umbilical cord. Then feeling exhausted she lay back in the snow beside her baby.

The next morning Miss Watson, long-time missionary, drove across the bridge in her car to take a Christmas basket of food to a needy Korean family. On her way back, as she got near the bridge, the car sputtered and died - out of gasoline. She got out of the car and started across the bridge. Through crunching snow under her feet she heard another sound - a baby's faint cry. She stopped, unbelieving, and heard the cry again. "It's coming from beneath this bridge!" She crawled under the bridge to investigate and there she found a tiny, bundled baby, warm but hungry, and young Bak Yoon frozen in death. With a knife from her toolbox she cut the cord and took the baby home with her. After caring first for the child, she, along with some helpers, brought Bak Yoon's body back to near where she lived and buried her there. She named the baby Soo Park, and adopted him. He was strong and healthy and so grew up among many other orphan children that Miss Watson cared for. But to her, Soo Park was special. She often told him, "Your mother had great love for you, Soo Park," and about how she had proved that love. He never tired of hearing of his beautiful mother.

On Christmas day, his 12th birthday, snow was falling. After the children had helped Soo Park celebrate his birthday, he came and sat beside Miss Watson. "Pastor Watson, do you think God made your car run out of gasoline the day you found me?" he asked. "Perhaps He did," she answered. "If that car hadn't stopped, I would not have found you. But I am so glad it stopped. I love you and am very proud of you, Soo Park." She put her arms around him. He rested his head against her. "Pastor Watson, will you please take me out to my mother's grave? I want to pray there. I want to thank her for my life." "Yes, but put on your heavy coat. It's very cold." Beside the grave, Soo Park asked Miss Watson to wait at a little distance. She walked aside and waited. As the astonished missionary watched, the boy began to take off his warm clothing, piece by piece. Surely he won't take off all his clothing! She thought. He'll freeze! But the boy stripped himself of everything, laid it all on his mother's grave, and knelt naked and shivering in the snow. She waited one minute, two minutes. Then she put her gloved hand on his snow covered shoulder. "Come, Soo Park. I will help you dress." Then in deep sorrow he cried out to his mother he never knew: "Were you colder than this for me, my mother?" And he wept bitterly because he knew of course, she was.

Jesus stripped himself of his royal garments to come and live among us. Was he that cold for us? Surely we never have to wonder if he loves us, or even how much he loves us. He demonstrated that to us nearly 2000 years ago. Celebrate in his love.

A Heart of Gratitude!!!

2010-03-05T11:54:00.004+08:00

I find this article very encouraging and it really gives us a reason to smile and realize that we are actually a bunch of BLESSED people that God is looking after! Hope you enjoy it!

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."

I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have.. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…

And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

Enjoy your day with a heart of gratitude.

Be aware

2010-02-26T09:12:00.003+08:00

Dear all, I saw this internet news, please be aware.

The bible tells us to be as wise as serpernt, but harmless as doves.

Matthew 10:16: "See, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves. (International Standard Version)

Date-rape drugs, illegal online pharmacies on rise

Date-rape drugs and abuse of prescription medicine are on the rise, drugs monitoring agency INCB warned Wednesday, while pointing to an increasing number of illegal Internet pharmacies.

Date-rape drugs, illegal online pharmacies on rise

Date-rape drugs -- so called because they render victims unconscious or provoke memory loss, facilitating rape -- were increasingly easy to obtain, the International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report Wednesday.

"The 'date-rape drug' phenomenon is evolving rapidly, as sexual abusers attempt to circumvent more rigorous drug controls by using substances not restricted by the international drug conventions," it noted.

Rohypnol, the best known date-rape drugs, is subject to strict checks, but others like GHB, ketamine, an anaesthetic, and GBL, a solvent, are becoming more and more common and are easily available through legal channels.

This is a "worrying" development, the Vienna-based agency said, calling on governments and drug-makers to raise awareness and introduce dyes and flavourings in these narcotics to make them more visible to potential victims.

Abuse of prescription drugs -- including morphine, codeine and methadone -- has also spread in recent years to become a "major concern" in many countries, with the number of users even surpassing the combined figure of cocaine, heroin and ecstasy users in places such as the United States, the INCB said.

"Almost all countries are confronted with trafficking in and abuse of prescription drugs ... in many countries, prescription drugs are the second or third most abused category of drugs," it said.

In parts of Europe, 15 percent of students were believed to use sedatives or tranquilisers without a prescription, the UN-affiliated agency said.

"Despite the fact that the abuse of prescription drugs is a fast-growing global problem, it continues to be difficult to obtain comprehensive data on the actual level of abuse of such drugs," it noted however.

Rarely associated with health risks, the non-medical use of pain medicine was "underreported and not adequately studied" and remained a "hidden problem," the board said.

A related issue was the emergence of illegal Internet pharmacies and telephone call centres -- many of them based in India -- allowing abusers to purchase drugs without a prescription, the INCB found.

This "puts consumers of those substances at an inordinate risk," board president Sevil Atasoy noted in the report, calling for governments to shut these services down.

Greater efforts must also be made to prevent drug abuse, in conjunction with non-governmental and community organisations, and to target vulnerable groups such as children and young people.

"Even a single early experience with drug abuse can have serious consequences, such as unintentional injury, overdose or arrest," Atasoy said.

Things your mum will not tell you about Yong Ching Seng (Part 5)

2010-01-27T21:02:00.004+08:00

Luke 14:27 (New King James Version)

"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

Third year

Third year was an eventful year. Before the start of first semester, I invited a friend of mine to attend Benny Hinn's crusade here at Singapore Indoor Stadium. God touched him mightily and he immediately decided to change from a "tidak-apa" (lukewarm) believer to a serious soldier of God. Eventually, he caught the vision of having a cell group in NTU for our community, and decided to fight this battle alongside with me. During that time, there were only 5 of us, including our good friend Adrian who was still happily dealing with his own agenda (please approach him for more details haha). Since this friend was so overwhelmed and excited for God. We joined FOC and led a group of freshmen together. Through our "legendary" lepak skills and lawak skills, we managed to know quite alot of new friends and invited about 50% of the total freshmen to enjoy the fun of "Festival of Praise" at Singapore Indoor Stadium before semester 1 commenced.

For the first semester, both of us did endless visitations and attended numerous "yumcha" sessions at "Ah Fang" to build relationship with friends. During this semester, the church service was only held at Expo so we were having tough challenges inviting not just the new friends, but fellow believers as well. Cell group was still far out from NTU (at Eunos) so only me and my friend were able to attend. Despite of all these hardships, both of us were still hungry for more.

After months of laboring, suddenly, at the end of first semester, there was a surprise: the church is going to have services at two locations (Expo and Jurong West) starting in December 2007, one church in two locations! Upon hearing this announcement during the service, my heart was pounding strong and I felt strongly a voice in my heart which tells me that it is time for the NTU cell group to come to past!

With this, I proposed to my leader (Joanne) to follow the church's direction and have one cell group in two location haha. Initially she was reluctant but after a while, she felt that this is the direction we should go and agreed with it. With this plan, she would lead cell group for twice a week in two locations (thursday and friday), and also attend service in two locations (saturday Expo, Sunday Jurong West). Her sacrifice was really amazing. With all these great news, I went overseas for a vacation joyfully.

Upon my return from the vacation trip, I got another surprise: this good friend of mine who had been fighting alongside with me as a good comrade, suddenly decided to move on to other direction in life. Now, I am left devastated to fight this battle alone.

However, God is always faithful. As I was going to give up, it was during this period of time that God continued to use Joanne to encourage me, besides, something happened and Adrian suddenly had a change in his attitude and behavior (for more details, please approach him again haha). So when second semester started, I continued the journey and Joanne recommended me to attend leader's meeting (yes, we need recommendation to attend leader's meeting, it took me few years in church to start attending it).

As I started attend leader's meeting. God gave me another surprise. Initially, our zone leader, Ian, was not so keen for our cell group to be in two locations. Then one night after the leader's meeting, he told me to stay and asked me "Ching Seng, I prayed and saw your face, I knew about this plan for the Malaysians in NTU, I was not keen but now, please tell me what can I do to make it happen?" I was too shocked and almost cried in joy when I heard this. I took this as another confirmation from God to proceed with this plan to set up a cell group in NTU starting from the Malaysians community.

After the confirmation from Ian, I went for an interview and started to attend "Home Cell Leadership Training" class which lasted for 13 weeks. It lasted throughout my second semester until exam season. It was a long and tiring training but a memorable one. By God's grace, I managed to complete my training and also managed my school work, eca, and ministries. I also managed to source out for a IO (10-week industrial orientation) company before going into final year.

For now, the cell group has around 7 to 8 people. As everything seems to work fine. I got hit by another trial again. With C+ as my best grade, I got the worst results of my entire study in NTU during third year second semester, although I was quite satisfied with my performance. To make things worse, I appealed two subjects and got rejected. With this kind of results, I started to doubt whether I am capable or fit to be a leader, and experienced some depression.

Then, I remembered the verse from Luke 14:25-33.

In order to be faithful disciple (not just mere believer), we have to carry the cross. Carrying the cross signifies self-denial. I have to deny my own pleasure, plans, comfort, feelings, talents, attitudes, finances, etc. By denying of ourselves, we are surrendering every part of our life to adjust according to God's plan, and not asking God to adjust His plan according to our life. His will be done, not ours!

With this, I surrendered to God and He brought me to a new level, preparing me for the final year of my study in NTU...

(To be continued)

2010 soar

2010-01-13T00:25:00.003+08:00

Hallo! I've been meaning to post something on our weblog since the holidays but have not due to procrastination =P

Since coming the NTU a few months ago and joining this cell group, I have experienced significant growth in my leadership and planning abilities, social networking and more importantly, spiritually. When I came to Singapore, I was just starting to learn how to speak in tongues. I feel that joining City Harvest and being involved in cell group has helped me tremendously in learning how to move in the Spirit. I'm very excited about what is to come in this year! I believe it will be a year of breakthrough.

Just want to share something I felt God impress upon my heart during my morning devotion:

Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (This was after Jesus' baptism)

Matthew 17:5 ... "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (This was after the transfiguration)

I checked the other Gospels and I found that only after the transfiguration is the phrase "listen to him" included. I feel that this holds the significance of spiritual growth which was mirrored in Jesus' personal life. After we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we need to continue to grow and God will eventually raise us to positions of influence and authority - "Listen to him!".

Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Our identity is hidden in Christ and is not based on our own abilities. Today after attending the leader's meeting, I feel that this message was confirmed when Ian reminded us that we are merely the branches, not the vine. I believe all of us are destined for greatness! Not of our own, but towards extending God's kingdom and for His glory. Start where you are right now =)

Things your mum will not tell you about Yong Ching Seng (Part 4)

2009-11-30T22:34:00.008+08:00

Finally, the time has arrived. I put up my courage, packed my luggage, ate my porridge and set off to Singapore, not knowing what awaits me in the next 4 years.

1 Corinthians 2:8-10 (New Living Translation):

" But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets."

Indeed, God has brought me to a whole new level during the 4 years of my undergraduate study.

First year

During my first semester, I tell myself to "guai guai" study, score in exams and get a powerful certificate in the future. I had the minimum involvement with activities other than studies. After my lessons, I would just stay in my room. No birthday celebrations, no ah fang supper (I don't even know where is it until year 2), no visitation of friends, no outings. no RockBand gaming with Mike, no Sarah, etc.

Church wise, I reached Singapore few days before FOC, and I attended the church ever since. However, my definition of Christian lifestyle is very simple: Just go to church every Sunday, take down some notes, attend some Bible studies and maybe make some friends. I was still quite individualistic and did not involve in any cell group or other events. Christianity to me is just a Sunday event. What's the problem with my mindset here? Well that's another future topic haha.

After a while, thanks to the tiredless effort of my old friend En Yao, I got to know my first cell group W193 and joined them eventually. The cell leader is younger than me and I was the second oldest member. Slowly, I developed the concept about "spiritual family" and that no one is suppose to walk alone.

After 4 months attending church, God is indeed faithful, because the church has decided to shift the service to Expo, which is 1.5-hour travelling from NTU, meaning I need to travel 3 hours for church. Besides, W193 held the weekly meeting not at south spine seminar room, but at Tanah Merah, which speaks for another 3 hours two-way journey. This is definitely a big challenge for me to stay or to change church.

Why do I stay? It's because spiritual growth to me is a matter of life and death, and that the atmosphere in the church is condusive towards spiritual growth. So I stayed on, believing that God will see and honour the sacrifice I make just to attend church. It was during that time I came up with a statement to encourage myself:

"If I can't even travel the journey from NTU to Expo, what makes me think that I am fit to finish the journey from earth to Heaven?"

This became my mantra and commitment to church was definitely inconvenient and requires sacrifice during my first year.

Relationship wise? Initially I was quite eager, but slowly I knew that I was not ready, so just decided to forget about it and focus my attention unto my spiritual growth.

Second year

During the 3-month holiday after completing first year, the church held Emerge Conference 2006, it was a powerful youth conference.

During the conference, pastor Kong shared about the Cultural Mandate, which states that children of God should be the light and salt of the world, breaking the four walls of the church, and be a blessing to our surrounding by having positive influence which benefits generations to come. The message greatly inspired me and my concept of christian living was renewed.

Influence is best attained by becoming a leader. As a result, I decided to do something to my faith and I signed up as FOC group leader, so that I could be a blessing for the new generation of people who are going into NTU. This marks my greater involvement and also a burden for the NTUMSA community, and NTUAMCISA.

By now, W193 grew bigger and a new cell group E399 was born, I was allocated to E399. It is also during my second year that I began to take up more responsibilities in the church. I started to learn how to be a guitarist, and also assisting my cell group leader in anything that needed to be done. To a point of time, I could be involved in church-related activities for 5 days a week. (Monday prayer meeting, Wednesday Bible Study, Thursday cell group, Friday cell group, Saturday Expo service, Sunday Expo service). Sometimes, I attended two cell groups because I wanted to have more chance to learn the guitar. The greater involvement really stretched my limits, faith, emotional ceiling, financial stewardship, etc.

During my whole second year, I continued to develop greater hunger for God. Besides usual cell group, I also started to get involved with the NTU CHC community for activities such as prayer meetings, camp planning, etc. I got to know some friends of great faith and was inspired by their commitment towards Christ. It was this interaction with them that birth forth the desire in me to serve as a cell group leader. Be wise in choosing who will influence you, because it affects your destiny!

Well, my eyes still looking around for potential partner, but still remained single because wanted to grow more spiritually. I told myself that I must grow up before I can handle a relationship.

*To be continued*

Jah Yung's 21st and JC's 20s~

2009-11-10T00:20:00.009+08:00

Happy Blessed Birthday Guys~

A simple yet memorable Birthdays~ It's difficult to have a surprise for both of them together, and end up Jah Yung sudenly appear infront of us while we are still preparing *Oops* So Everyone pretended as if we are going to celebrate JC's Birthday only! HAHA

So end up all of us crash into JC's little SAUNA room and sang a loud and warm Birthday Song to both him and Jah Yung! Yup...here's some photos =D

For Jah Yung~

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For JC~

Seems like Fang Yun is really enjoy holding the cake for 2 birthday BOYS!!!!

Birthday BOYS!

Holding hands and cut cake...woots !

Feeding each other with sweet sweet Strawberry~ Hmm~

And here's their Birthday Speech!

A very first Birthday in NTU

2009-11-07T13:20:00.005+08:00

Happy Blessed 19th Birthday Fang Yun!

Happy Blessed 20th Birthday Jeanette!

Happy Blessed 20th Birthday Seng Ljuan!!!

May God continue to pour His blessings on you in this very special day and Lead you through your next 7 semester in NTU !!!

W518 Loves YOU!!!!

God bless lots~

Phil 4:13

2009-11-06T23:49:00.004+08:00

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

A very important verse as we go through life, be it the challenges we face in uni (like exams) , in our career or in our relationship with others. During times like these, we learn that our strength is so insignificant. But, no worries, because if you believe in God and His word, leave all your troubles to Him.

And before I end, I would like to offer help to anyone who has problems with Economics/Business related subjects. (unfortunately, thermo is not a subject I learnt =P) I don't promise that I know all the answers but I can always try! So, any questions, feel free to ask through email, through the blog, through Facebook, or face to face when we meet.

Good night!

Pasta with Pasta Sauce

2009-11-03T20:36:00.003+08:00

HAHA, I am good with titles. :P

Ok, I'm now in the office, all alone again and waiting for my boss' email reply. So I thought that I shall take this time to post up the recipe I promised. It is simple, I promise.

(serves 2)
Ingredients:
Half a packet of spaghetti (you can use any type of pasta you wish)
One pack of minced beef
One can of button mushrooms
One small bottle of Prego's Traditional Pasta Sauce
3-4 cloves of garlic
Dried Italian herbs, salt and ground black pepper to taste
Olive oil
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Boil a pot of water. When water comes to a rapid boil, add some salt into it before adding the pasta. Cook pasta till al dente (one way to test is to bite off some, or break off a small piece to see the middle of the pasta. If you see a white part, it's not cooked yet).
While waiting for pasta to boil, chop up the garlic. Slice the mushrooms. Rinse the minced beef of its blood.
Heat up the pan. When pan is hot enough, pour some olive oil into it. When the oil is heated up, pour in the chopped garlic and fry till fragrant.
Pour in sliced mushrooms and fry till partially cooked.
Pour in the minced beef and cook till slightly pink. Then, pour in the pasta sauce and mix well.
Lower the heat and leave the pasta sauce to simmer (bubbling gently). When the sauce starts to simmer, add salt, black pepper and herbs to taste.
Serve pasta with the sauce, and add grated Parmesan cheese to the dish before eating if you wish.

ENJOY! :)

The P's and Q's in The Kitchen

2009-10-30T10:31:00.004+08:00

Of course, we don't go "Thank you" and "Please" so often in the kitchen, especially to the utensils and all, but our mood and character is often shaped in the kitchen and also often affects the outcome in the kitchen.

For example, have you ever wondered why some people just cannot cook at all, even though they followed recipes to the very last detail? Sometimes, it just attributes to lack of skills but most of the time, it boils down to two things: patience and common sense. A lack of patience often makes someone try to do shortcuts which may spoil the dish. If you were to keep on stirring a soup, the time it takes to boil would be longer. If you keep on opening the oven door while you're baking a cake, the cake will not rise at all. When you cream together butter and sugar but not until it is fluffy, then not only will the batter be not mixed properly, but the cake's lightness will be affected as well. If you add in eggs into the batter, all in one go instead of one yolk by one yolk, your cake batter will curdle. So you see, patience is truly a virtue and is much needed when you cook or bake. Of course, your mood also affects your dish as well. A rather complex concept, but it's true.

Common sense is simply gained through using your eyes, sense of taste and application. When you are in the kitchen, observe your mother as she cooks. You would notice a natural flow to her movements and cooking, then apply it. The best lesson is through observation. Your level of alertness will also be heightened in the kitchen. You can be amazed how you become more alert in other areas of life, simply by doing more housework. :P

When you eat something, do not simply shove it into your mouth. Take the time to taste the dish. Notice what you are eating! I know of a friend who cannot remember whether the dish was chicken or pork, or what is in the dish. When you taste, you will know what goes inside the dish and through time, you will understand which ingredient enhances the taste of your dish, and which dishes complement each other.

It's cool how simple lessons from the kitchen can be applied to our spiritual lives (no wonder my mother's prayer sanctuary is always in the kitchen, while she cuts and cooks). Patience is akin to obedient endurance. It is not easy to be patient in the kitchen, no matter how good a cook you are. Similarly, it is not easy to endure hardships. But I have learned that the more patient you are, the more you learn and the better your cooking. The more you learn to obey and endure, the more you learn and the more you become like Jesus.

Common sense is learnt through observation and application of things around us. But the key to it is the willlingness to learn and apply. Likewise, our spiritual sense is guided by the Holy Spirit but we have to be willing to listen to His voice. Unless we learn that, we would not be able to identify His voice. The next step then is to heed Him. This is one tough call, but thank God for Jesus who died on the cross for us, so that we can be more than conquerers in Him.

Next post: I'm gonna give a step-by-step on how to cook simple pasta with sauce!

The Essentials in the Kitchen

2009-10-26T19:59:00.003+08:00

Hello everyone!

Guess whare I am now? It's 8 pm on a Monday night, and I'm all alone, still stuck in the office! I have quite a bit of work to rush up and hopefully, everything will turn out fine. Am currently waiting for the software run to be completed, so I decided to blog instead!

I think many of us wish to cook sometimes because we crave for a home-cooked meal, or are just pretty sick and tired of canteen food and MSG. Well, how can you cook if you're not properly equipped, no? So here is a list of kitchen utensils and ingredients which I think are essential for you to whip up proper meals, despite living in halls of residence:

A proper chopping board - I find wood more hygenic than plastic, but if you're not careful to dry it enough, it could turn mouldy.
A good chef's knife. Not those tiny, puny kinds, thanks.
A non-stick frying pan.
A set of pots of different sizes. Ikea sells a set of 3, and it's only SGD15. The covers are no longer made out of glass, so no worries for butterfingers here!
A frying ladle. If you're using a non-stick pan, please buy a wooden ladle.
A soup ladle.
Peeler.
Can opener.
Salt.
Pepper - both black and white.
Garlic.
Italian or mixed herbs - perfect for pasta sauces. They enhance flavours well!

All these are inexpensive, and can last you for a long time if you buy decent ones. So, go get some proper utensils and start cooking! :)

To share something I learnt from CF bible study

2009-10-24T13:41:00.001+08:00

Hi all, since I have a bit of time here, just wanna share with you what I have learnt.

There was this question in the bible study, says: Read 1 John 5:4
John's usage of the past participle tense, "has overcome" indicates both a past and a continuous action. What are the implications of this 'observation'?

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith.

So let us just spend a few mins think about it....

...

...

...

In the verse it says that it is our faith which has overcome the world - our faith in Jesus Christ.
So I share my point of view that Jesus overcame the world on the cross and as we have faith in Him, we will continuously overcome the world.

Then there was this CF part-time worker who joined in our discussion asked me. What did Jesus overcome?

So I answered, "Hmm.... death? The sins?"

Then he asked, "Is that all he overcame?"

Hmm, wellzz.... I was thinking, "I don't know..."

And he started sharing:
When Jesus started His ministry, the first thing that He declared was not that He will defeat the Satan, the death, the sin! In Matt 4:17, Jesus said," Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And to the Jews, when they were under the authority of Romans Empire, it meant that this person was declaring that there was another kingdom that was coming to replace Romans empire! And they would infer that Jesus, was declaring Himself to be the King of the kingdom.

In fact, we read in the bible that Jesus is referred as the King of kings, the Lord of Lords!

And His purpose of coming to this earth was to reconcile us, or rather, the world to God!

Let us look at what is the significant of the cross and why Jesus was sent to die on the cross.

During that time, there was capital punishment but being crucified on the cross had a greater impact. If a person were to be a murderer and be sentenced to death, his could just die with his head be chopped off but not dying on the cross. So what did dying on the cross mean? During that time only a certain group of people were sentenced to die on the cross. People, who in our current context, like terrorists, serial killers, serial rapists, those who create social unrest. So those who created social unrest to the Romans empire were crucified!

Then how was Jesus creating social unrest? At that time, there were a few people also claimed to be a new king, a Messiah, who was prophesied in the scripture, but why JESUS was to be crucified? This was because He offended the Pharisees greatly. Look at John 2:19, He told the Jews that He will destroy the temple and in three days, He will raise it up! This greatly offended the Pharisees, for the temple has its political, social and economic significance to the society. As a result, they decided to punish Jesus with the worst punishment.

Jesus did not choose to use His power and the help from God to make the Romans empire collapse but chose to die on the cross. So what is the message sent? During that time, the Jews thought that as long as they were the Jews, the God's people, they will be safe. And they thought some people like the Gentiles, the Samaritans, the tax collectors, the leprosies etc were sinful people. The Jews just did not like them, so they seperated themselves from those people. But when Jesus started His ministry, he had no problem associating with those "unworthy" people. Here is the wonderful message from His action: He came, not to seperate Himself from the world (like what the Jews had done), but to reconcile the world back to God!

So this is partly what Jesus overcame on the cross! Through His ministry and His work on the cross and what He commanded, He was asking us to reconcile the world back to God! So this is the continuous action that we as Christians should have: not to be a seperator from the world, even though we do not conform ourselves to the worldly views and norms, but to bring the world back to God before the second coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ!

Friends, maybe we can start thinking about how to bring the world back to God? Through being a blessing to everyone beside us? Through sharing to them the gospel? Through being someone, who are not like the 'worldly' people and whom these people will turn to, will trust in times of need?

Wow, I was and am marvelled by what the CF worker has shared... Hope you are blessed from this too!

Note: "worldly" people, in 1 John context, we can refer to 1 John 2:15-17.

Praying for some nations if you are free!

2009-10-24T00:05:00.001+08:00

Hi all, I always have subscriptions of Our Daily Journey from RBC ministry and this is the email I receive, so I thought I could share it here.

http://www.rbcintl.org/prayer.php

Things your mum will not tell you about Yong Ching Seng (Part 3)

2009-10-23T13:25:00.000+08:00

It is interesting how God is working as a master-mind behind all things.

Remember after I went to church for about 6 months, I was disconnected from church for the next 6 months all the way until I have finished STPM exams.

I was quite free after the exams, and somehow my church friends ontacted me because some of the members needed help with their SPM subjects. So I volunteered myself to help them and at the same time, got connected with the church body again.

After a few months, results were released and I applied for IPTA, NTU, and NUS. After a while, thank God that university applications were approved for UTM, NTU, and NUS. I picked NTU.

By now, with the choice of university made, I was quite regular with the church activities. Then, there was a youth camp coming up a few weeks before my departure to for tertiary education.

I joined the 3D2N youth camp. It was not a very big camp, no impressive programme or equipments, in fact, one of the games was passing arround "timun" with legs hahahah! However, the presence of God was with the camp. Every morning, they would wake up to seek the Lord and reading the Bible while I was pretending to be awake. However, I enjoyed myself so much that I got chosen as the best camper haha. One thing that I remember the most is the phrase "Seng, you got to be serious with God" that came to my mind when we were singing songs in a farewell circle during a emo session. With that phrase in mind, my attitude towards churchlife changed. I got myself a Bible, started to take notes during service, fellowshipping with the people, started serving as kitchen boy (yes the church has a cafe), prayer meetings, and also learnt how to share the Good news.

Eventually, just when I have started to be serious, it's time for me to leave. The youth pastor, who is also my sister's good friend, asked me to check out City Harvest Church and pastor Kong Hee when I go to Singapore. Being a noob, of course I knew nothing about this popular church. Being the usual obedient son (I am still obedient now, ahem), I went back home to check the location of the church.

At the same time, I discovered that one of my childhood kaki, was also studying at NTU. We stopped contacting each other after primary school, but I knew that he's a church goer too. So I contacted him. He seemed excited upon hearing my decision to go NTU, and more excited when I asked him to bring me to CHC. Well this old friend of mine is EnYao, who is now still serving God fervently in CHC and working towards marriage, this relationship is their first time, I hope he reads this hahah!

Anyway, I was curious to find out the location of the church. So I went online search and saw the map for the first time. Then I saw at the corner of the map, I read something like "Nanyang Drive" or something like that, which was blocked by the window. I shifted the focus of the map and clicked on it and behold, it's NTU!!!

"NTU is just beside the church?!?!" I shouted myself. I rubbed my eyes again and yes, it's no kidding. I estimated the distance between these two locations and gosh it is just barely 1KM!

The church is just beside the university, how cool is that. You want to tell me all these things happened by chance? Certainly not!

This is how I started attending CHC ever since I stepped into Singapore.

Moral of the story:

There are no accidents, we are not accidents!
Be serious with God! Treat this spiritual walk like something which involves life and death! (in fact, it is.)
First love in church towards marriage is not a myth!

*To be continued*

"Be strong and courageous" Translated

2009-10-23T13:07:00.000+08:00

Ljuan shared an interesting insights in his post “Be strong and courageous”, so it would be a waste if it is not translated for our English-speaking friends.

I am not good at translation, hope this helps:

[What I have written below is my personal opinion]

Recently after I read the book of Joshua, I feel like sharing some thoughts.

I always feel that we can link ourselves with the Israelites due to certain similarities we share. For example, we, as Malaysian Chinese, are just like them. We are considered as “second-class” citizen when our ancestors migrated from home country to settle down in Malaysia. In the book of Joshua, the Israelites departed Egypt to Jericho, this is just like us when we left Malaysia (temporarily) to Singapore.

I feel that God is using the book of Joshua to speak to me.

Consider this: what does God want to tell us before we come to Singapore? In the book of Joshua, God told Joshua: “Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them” (Joshua 1:2), God is asking us to “get ready”. Now I understand why I am facing so many difficulties here, it is because I have not “get ready”, He wants to take me across Selat Tebrau (the straits between Singapore and Johor), but I am not ready.

“Be strong and courageous”. This phrase appears in the same chapter for 3 times. When there is repetition in the Bible, it means that God is really emphasizing those words. Take us for example, when we want to emphasize about certain information, we would normally apply a underline, bold, CAPITALIZE, or even ALL IN ONE. Maybe there were no such techniques available in ancient times, so repetition method is used.

Why does God keep telling us to “Be strong and courageous”? This is because as our Creator, He understands us the best. I do not know about you, but there are many times I am faithless and feel like a loser, I just want to give up and quit. When I read the phrase “Be strong and courageous”, it is like God is telling me ”Come on, you can do it.” He already knows my weaknesses and also how faithless will I become when the going gets tough, that’s why this verse is repeated to encourage me.

Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

Running away is not an option. The way of a conqueror is to step out boldly and face the giants. If God is with us, who can be against us?

“Be strong and courageous”

-Ljuan-

That’s all folks, pardon my translation skill and hope you are blessed! Have a nice day! More postings please!

"Prosperous and successful"

2009-10-22T13:52:00.001+08:00

Regardless of my broken English, this time, I’ll write in English.

Again, it’s my own insights and sharing. So, I may have written and interpreted it wrongly. Yet I want to write it down, because I feel that if it could encourage others, why not writing it down?

Prosperous and successful. Like every preacher, I would ask: Do you want to be prosperous and successful? Haha.. Obviously, today I’m going to share a few verses talking about prosperous and successful.

Now, before crossing the Jordan River, the LORD told Joshua: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:6)

Do you still remember what did your parents tell you before coming to Singapore? (For those who did not understand my 1^st post, I refer the Jordan River as Selat Tebrau, meaning that Jericho is Singapore to us) I still remember what my parents told me. They told me a lot of things. They asked me to spend my money carefully, study well and other stuff.

God is also our father. Before Joshua led the Israelites to cross the river, what did God, as a father to Joshua, tell him? Imagine that the Israelites are now going to a new land. They will have a lot of worries. They are afraid that it will be as what happened few generations ago, that they will become slaves of another nation. God did not choose to be silent. God deliberately spoke to Joshua so that as a leader, Joshua would know what to do. God gave Joshua a promise.

God did not tell him: “Train the people so that they are able to win all the wars.” But God told Joshua, “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you.” God is saying, “you obey me, and I will lead you to victory.” God is not trying to draw a border line for Joshua. God is also not trying to say, “Joshua, you must do this and do that, or else I’ll punish you.” Then why did God say so? Because God wants to ensure that Joshua will be successful. “you may be successful wherever you go.”

God was telling Joshua: “Be strong and courageous, son! I led you forefathers out of Egypt, and now I will lead you to the new land. I want you to be successful; therefore I’m telling you how to become successful!” Refer to the verses, first, God said, “Be careful to obey all the law…”, then “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night…”, lastly “so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”

If you carefully look at the verse, you will find that we can’t be monks, staying isolated at the high mount (hall 10) or at isolated places (hall 7), only to “meditate on it day and night” to fulfill what God tells us to do. We need to “meditate on it day and night” SO THAT we “may be careful to DO everything written in it.”

God wants us to do.

Do what? “everything written in it.”

What is “it”? “it” is the “Book of the Law”.

Why? Because God cares for you, and he wants you to “be prosperous and successful.”

Meditation helps you remember that God’s promises. Meditation helps you to set clear your path. “Meditation lets God speak to you.” We meditate because we want to remember what we should do.

Have you heard of people asking such question: “I literally obey all the laws; I turn neither to left nor right. I did not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; I meditate on it day and night; and I carefully do everything written in it; but why am I not prosperous and successful yet?” You may also hear a lot of comments from a lot of unbelievers saying that, “If the promise is true, then all the Christians are trillionaires; if not, then it is either the Bible is not true, or they are not true Christians.”

How are you going to counter all these questions? Let’s look at what Jesus said. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)

The main problem with them is that they misinterpret the words “prosperous and successful.” Often people will think that “prosperous and successful” must have something to do with power, money, and fame. God wants us to store our treasures in heaven. We may not live well on earth, and we may even suffer on earth, and yet we can still be “prosperous and successful,” because we understand no thieves can steal our treasure in heaven.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

-Ljuan-

Useful link

2009-10-20T23:45:00.000+08:00

http://www.mindtools.com/index.html has some good introductory articles.

For HRM: (Yong Yao)
- http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_09.htm

For Econs: (Game Theory)
- http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_53.htm

PS. Chinese post is a little too challenging with the time I have now....when I'm too sienz will do it =P

“Be strong and courageous”

2009-10-20T00:53:00.000+08:00

For a start, I would like to write in Chinese..

[以下写的，都是我自己的感想和看法]

最近在读Joshua，觉得有些东西想拿出来share一下。

我一直觉得我们可以很容易的明白当时的Israelites。我们，马来西亚的华人，就当时像在Egypt的Israelites。我们都是“次等公民”；我们的祖先都是从别的国家，然后在这里落地生根。然后，到了Joshua，他们离开了Egypt要进入Jericho，我们也[暂时地]离开马来西亚要进入新加坡。

我个人觉得，当我读Joshua时，神就好像正在跟我说话一样。

想一下，当我们就要来新加坡之前，神要跟我们说什么？在Joshua里，神对Joshua说：“Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them” (Joshua 1:2) 神叫我们“get ready”。我才发现，我现在那么多的问题，就是当时还没来之前，没有“get ready”。祂说要带我过Selat Tebrau，可是我却还一直没准备好。

“Be strong and courageous”。这句话在同一个Chapter里就出现3次。我曾经听说过，当一段句子重复几遍，就代表他正在强调着那件事情。如果我们现在要强调一段句子，我们会怎么做？我会把那句子划线起来，或是把它Bold起来，或把全部写成CAPITAL LETTER。或更夸张的就是把全部ALL IN ONE。不过当时没有这样的科技，强调的东西就要以重复的方式来带出来。

为什么神要强调“Be strong and courageous”？我觉得神很了解我们。我们很多时候会觉得想要放弃，觉得很失败。我不知道是不是我们都这样觉得，但至少我一直都有这样的感觉。“Be strong and courageous” 我觉得神好像跟我说：“Come on, you can do it. ” 神早早就知道我会这样没用，就把那个verse重复几次，叫我一定要坚持下去。

Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)

逃避不是解决问题的方法，勇敢的面对才是解决问题的第一步。神会跟我们在一起面对问题。

“Be strong and courageous”

-Ljuan-

free career event

2009-10-18T22:48:00.000+08:00

Please refer to http://sg.jobstreet.com/announcement/2009/c/canon2mkay.htm
If you are free, do grab the opportunity.

tips!

2009-10-17T23:48:00.001+08:00

Hmm...got no story to share. But got some tips for both seniors and juniors.

For seniors: looking for job/internship
1. This site is good. wetfeet.com
2. book yourself a free session with Careerhub
3. learn how to write a good resume & cover letter
4. find an internship in an industry you like
5. network to find out more about the industry/company/ to find a job

For juniors: Especially Econs/MAEC/people taking Econs module
1. use wiki for any hard to understand terms
2. read newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on in this world
3. learn how to draw graphs properly, very useful in answering questions

and the ultimate tip: pray !

worked for me throughout my 3 years plus....

that's it for now!

Things your mum will not tell you about Yong Ching Seng (Part 2)

2009-10-17T16:53:00.000+08:00

After got acquainted with Christ, I attended the church regularly every week just for service only because I did not comprehend the significance of fellowship, Word, prayer, serving, etc.

However, as noob as I may be, I experienced few things which I still remember until today.

Firstly, my experience of baptism in the Spirit which resulted in Speaking in Tongues. It was during a service that an altar call was given to those who want to be baptised in the Spirit. I totally had no idea what this "mumbling trance" is about, my friend invited me to go forward, so I went ahead. Then someone laid hands on me, and for the first time I was actually encouraged to make any noise. Finally, without giant winds, lightning storms, volcano eruption, feet-sweeping earthquake and such, I just opened my mouth and mumbled. As I prayed in tongues, I felt a flowing from my abdomen.

After that incident, I attended a morning prayer meeting in a small room, with a group of young people. As we all started praying in the Spirit, wah the whole atmosphere changed and I could feel the charging up of the place with the presence of God. As we continued, I suddenly sensed a joy inside of me. The joy appeared with no apparent reason. As the joy thickened, I just laughed and laughed and laughed, the room was so filled with the guitar and praying voice that my laugher was covered up hahahaha. Ever since that day, a sense of joyfulness follows me wherever I go, laughter would just follow me to the point that my friends were asking "Eh why are you so happy all the time?"

Let's consider Acts 2:5-13.

During the Day of Pentecost, when the people were baptised in the Holy Spirit for the first time, some saw them and commented that "they are full of new wine" (Acts 2:13). Well, I can imagine that as they first baptised in the Holy Spirit, the joy of the Lord which surpasses understanding fell on them and they just could not help but laugh like drunkards! No wonder alcoholic drinks are also known as spirits. Good news is, we all can get spirit-filled without alcohol!!!! *hicccup*

Secondly, of all the messages that the pastor preached, there's one thing which I remember. He gave a prophecy that the Lord would expand our territory like what He did for Jabez, and it would be a "harvestful year" in different areas of our life. I had faith towards this promise, and I made the prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10) almost everyday before I sleep.

After attended church for 6 months, I got scolded by parents regarding my study attitude, and I got discouraged and felt that I am not worthy to attend church. So I left church. However, I still remember the prophecy and confessed the prayer of Jabez frequently.

With a "slightly" higher faith level, I went on to work on my studies. During STPM trial exam, I obtained all B's, which does not grant me to go any nice university. My parents got disappointed and met up with my class teacher. My mum was so disappointed that she broke down in tears. The incident hit me, and with STPM around the corner, I decided to give the best shot. As I realized that, time seemed not enough, sometimes I would stay back at school to study alone, and everyday I would sleep around 1am. Even though ill-prepared, there's a sense of peace with me and I just faithfully study the best I could.

Suddenly, my grandfather passed away on 10th of October. With less than a month to STPM, I had to attend the funeral which was situated 45-minute driving journey from school. Facing this incident, the peace still followed me, and I still continue to buat lawak at school, playful mah.

Finally, I went for the real war, ill-prepared.

1) General paper: never memorize paper 1 (Malaysian administration) because it's MCQ. For paper 2, I did not have any tips until I read the question while flipping the exams paper.
2) Chemistry: covered 2/3 of chemistry without touching inorganic at all because I did not have the book.
3) Biology: My least studied subject due to the enormous amount of information. It was a browsing more than a revision for me.
4) Physics: Throughout my form 6, I only studied physics for 3 hours a week at a tuition centre. The tuition notes were my only source of material. So I finished my physics revision quite fast *ahem*
5) Mathematics: I only understand what the text books are teaching, with some extra information from one revision book which my teacher used.

Also, besides physics, I had no other tuition.

With all these short-comings, I sat through all the exams with a sense of peacefulness, celebrated deepavali in the middle of the exams (yes we had 1 week break in between the exam). In the end, I obtained 2A (general paper, mathematics) 1A- (chemistry), 1B (physics), 1B- (Biology), which gave me a CGPA of 3.69 out of 4.00, which gave my name a place in the school top-performers list (normally I am not even a top-20 student in my class of 35), which opened up a door for me to come to NTU, which opened the door for me to attend CHC, which inspired spiritual growth in my walk, which gave me an oppurtunity to serve in W518.

Are all these by chance? Certainly not! It's by God's grace! Friends, we are not here by chance, you do not read this entry by chance. Everything happens with a purpose. We are here for a purpose. God is real, let us be real and treat Him seriously as well. Let us be more fervent for Jesus, following Him for the rest of our life. Hallelujah!

*To be continued*

Things your mum will not tell you about Yong Ching Seng (Part 1)

2009-10-16T14:20:00.000+08:00

Greetings everyone, this is my first ever article on a blog. I have been thinking that I can try many things, besides blogging. But anyway here I am doing blog!

Blog blog blog. Why blog? First of all, Samantha told me that some first years are keen to set up a blog. Since they have this initiative. "Sure, why not? On!" was my usual answer, however deep inside my heart I told myself that blogging is still a high maintainence stuff for people longing to express themselves.

Well anyway, recently I sense the prompting to post something on this blog, and I will do my best to post regularly lah ok. Strange enough, when I have decided to blog, ideas begin to flow into my mind, but I shall not disclose those soon heheh.

First stop, I would like to share with you all abit of my life journey, and I hope this will stir some of us up to share our life journey so that we can let others have deeper insights about our life.

I was quite a good student from my primary to secondary level. I buat lawak in class, made alot of friends, and performed well in exam. Besides, I was quite active playing sports and almost got a blackbelt in taekwondo. Not holding any award, but I guess I was quite a balanced boy. I called myself a free-thinker even though I had some exposure to Christianity at Sunday School from my aunt who is a pastor.

Then, I started holding girl's hand when I was in secondary 3. I continued to achieve great results for PMR and SPM. With good results, lots of friends and a girl's hand. Life was just smooth-sailing and I thought that's everything. After SPM, knowing that I had no place to go, I went to form 6, hearing that it's quite challenging and I like challenges.

Then things begin to change in form 6. I lost my interest in studies. Being the usual playful self, I spent most of my time playing and buat lawak with friends. My results dropped as the school I went for form 6 was a gathering of big brains. I ignored homework and just gave bare minimal effort to my studies. I had no vision seeing me going anywhere after form 6, and even thought of quitting school to go other place else. Also, my relationship with the girl ended.

With these two things fall apart, I felt lost and empty.

Then, it was 2003 Christmas eve. I went to a christmas eve event held by a church at Mike's school (Pay Fong High School). The people shared stories and performed some items. At the end of the event, they invited people to respond to Christ. I sensed a longing in me, and without hesitating, I just went forward. A female minister prayed for me. A simple prayer, but I could feel a sense of belonging, a feeling of returning home. Strangely, the emptiness gone.

Then, through my cousin, I started attending the chirch which held the event. I used to think that church is a boring place to go. But the atmosphere of that church is different, people are singing fervently. I could feel the joy filling up inside of me. While they are singing slower worship song, I could feel the peace and calmness that set inside my soul. However, I couldn't understand the preaching because I was totally clueless about the Bible. But, every week I look forward to attending church because of the experience I felt from the praise and worship session. From there, I knew some friends, still, I was without Bible, without Bible studies, certainly not involved in any small group activities. I just loved the singing session.

This is how I got acquainted with Christ.

*To be continued*

Birthday boys & girls

2009-10-12T11:54:00.000+08:00

On behalf of all the birthday boys and girls, I would like to say thank you to our CG W518! You guys are the best! Thanks so much for the surprise =)

Sam's 21st, Rize's 21st, Teng Seng's 23rd, Serene's 21st and Crystal's 20th birthday! (Kee Jin's 22nd Birthday-Absent)

W518 Rawks!

For more photos, please visit Birthday Boys and Girls

The first ever entry!

2009-10-12T08:54:00.000+08:00

Wahaha! It seems like I have to start posting something here. If not it is a bit no point of having this blog..

Wells, it is supposed to exist for people to write down some random thoughts or some memories of life to share with the rest of the people!

Haha, so please support support this blog oo! Especially the Year One's! For this is created for your request! =) If not slowly it may become my personal blog, oops! Haha!

Today was the first day of weekly morning and evening prayer meeting. And it was good! Haha.. To me, I feel that in this fast-paced country, where time is limited and results matter, some of us tend to compromise time for devotion/prayer for our studies/work. So, prayer meeting is good to bring us back to the habit of spending more time with God. =)

It has been quite some time since the last prayer meeting, heh. While I was starting to pray today, I still felt like sleeping actually, haha.. Yet, God is good! I didn't sleep! Haha.. And I had this thought in my mind:

"A walk with God is with certainty."

Wow. This spoke a lot to me. For there are times I am in confusion. I am confused about many things in life. I couldn't find an answer. There are times, I am in dilemma too. Don't know which direction to go to; don't know what decision to make.

But, a walk with God is a walk with certainty.

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change;...."
Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

There are times that we feel lost. Sometimes we turn here, turn there before we turn to God. But God is there; He is always there. Jesus is there. Holy Spirit is there. This is for sure. And how about God's promises? They are for sure too. God has had a plan. God has already known what do we need the most. God knows His timing well.

But I ask myself, then why there are certain things I hope to obtain yet I don't? But, a walk with God is a walk with certainty. Even though I don't have it now, it doesn't mean I won't get it in the future. Or what I want to get may not be so important now anyways. Maybe I will know how to appreciate more when I get it in the future. These could be the reasonings to psycho myself. So fundamentally the question should be, do I want to trust God?

Faith is something so interesting. We trust in the things that we do not see. Yet it is difficult to have faith sometimes for we are not convinced for the things unseen. But in order to make a "mountain" move, we gotta have faith! So maybe a walk with certainty is not only to know that God is always there or God will provide, but we walk our Christians journeys with the confidence that God is always there for us!

Saying is always easier than having it done. Scale it down to our daily life; should we spend time for God? Should we learn more about bible? Should we go for prayer meetings? Should we go for church services? Should we go for cell group meetings? Should we go for fellowships?

I guess all of these questions we should answer with certainty too! We should spend time for God, to learn more about bible, pray, fellowship, go for cell group meetings and church services! But there are times we think, then how about my studies, how about this and how about that? Many distractions are around to pull us away from Him.

But, a walk with God is a walk with an attitude of a certainty.

With this thought, I myself had a few struggles, for I know I haven't come to the stage where I really walk with certainty all the time with God. And I wanna thank God for just embracing me. I still have many questions unanswered. But I know, deep in my heart, God will tell me the answers one day. I just need to follow His flow.

What a ramble of thoughts! Lastly I wanna thank God for my gathering with AC Malaysian Scholars yesterday! It was fun interacting with them! Miss them lots! And miss the time when we had fun together! =)

Ciaoz for studies~~~~~

W518

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