My Slice Of Life

Christmas??(part 1)

2010-12-30T17:28:00.000-08:00

It has almost been a week now since the familiar carols was played in the shopping malls, themes of christmas dazzled the busy shops or even public transport. Long queues of people who wished to purchase christmas items or gifts. Just reminiscing about christmas day when I was a young boy never fails to brighten up my day.I remember the gifts we all exchanged, cousins gathering at my place to play, parents and relatives showered me with nicley wrapped presents with cards that had warm christmas greetings written on them. Christmas was a day when I looked forward to. The joy, love that christmas resembles,makes this occasion so desirable. It could have been the lively lights that come along with it, presents that make people feel appreciated or even the joy of giving that makes people feel the sense of goodness in them.

I believe the concept of christmas represented by love and joy has always been emphasised but the origin of christmas in its true essence have lost its flavour. Christmas day is the commemoration of the day in which the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born in human form from a virgin woman named Mary to save people from their sins.It was this very humble act of God, the creator of everything that resides in and beyond this universe, to come in the form of a man, the created being whom He intended to rule and care for the earth. This meant that God himself, in man's body was subjected to any physical pain , hunger, weariness, temptation and worst of all death, burdens that mankind have to face in his lifetime.

But this very fundamental belief that christians hold poses too naive and what some may consider wishful thoughts that such theories were conjured with the goal of hightening ones(in this case christians)life purposes.Or there are those others that have been distracted by life's pursuits and worries that they never once asked themselves about their purpose in life. The modern society caught in its fast pace due to the ever-changing scene in the market and the increase of capatalism has impeded people from examining this question but set people achieving or living on their own "customised" life purposes or fulfillment.

The very act of grace is what revealed God's unmeasurable love to us. It is somewhat like your mother(or father) who feeds and protect you even when you could have appeared unloving, crying aloud incessantly or even when you acted like you were unappreciative of their love. I've personally heard alot of my friends complaining about how naggy(for coming home late, etc) their parents were without understanding that the reason that their parents nag is because of the love that manifest in the protective nature that they have on their children. I am one who is guilty of this.I remembered rebelling in front of my parents when I was just starting out primary school, wanting to have fun and protested strongly against studying.A good parent would guide his/her child with the intention of imparting lessons to the child in order for the child to not face a catastrophic/serious consequence. God knows whats good and He knows that the seriousness of sin when we rebel against His instructions, that is by nature righteous, is death.He still showed us favour that we didn't deserve because we were rebelling against Him and wanted to live our own way, He gave His Son to die on our behalf so that the catastrophic consequence that we could have face was unleashed on His Son whom He loved(like how a good father would love his son).

That act of the almighty Father who had the power to rule in justice , chose to suffer the pain of seeing judgment being poured out by sending His Son,Jesus Christ to die on our behalf.The consequence of sin:all of our jealosy,envy,sexual immorality,hate,pride was taken in by Jesus, the only man whose death can acquit or free us from this trial we have before the highest judge in the universe.Life free from the stain left by sin means everlasting relationship with God who is holy in nature and cannot bear the sight of a single speck of sin.The good news is that our relationship with God,which was once torn apart by sin is now fully restored and that we can come confidently before Him in prayer, our relationship with other people who admits their sin and accept this grace that God has poured out, gears towards love not hate.

If you realise that you yourself is guilty of sin (meaning living away from God and His loving ruler-ship)and believe in your heart that God is gracious to have sent His Son Jesus to die on behalf of you and you are now willing to change your way of living from a ME-centered to a CHRIST-centered, you can be confident that you're not alone in this journey and that life will be at the good will and intention of God. A simple prayer that you may choose to use can be an expression to follow God:

"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for being my Creator.I'm sorry that I have rejected you up until now. I'm sorry that I've not treated you as my God. Thank you for dying for me. Please forgive me,breathe new life into me, and help me make a fresh start in my life with you as my Lord and God. Amen."

Some supernatural help plsss!!

2009-02-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been stuck in an event where you are cornered and there are no obvious remedy or your latest seminar on living life-effectively doesnt seem to alleviate a single problem in your quest to beat your life out from this mud-slime you're in? You sit back, feeling helpless and start wondering if there's really something supernatural out there that could help and if it was there, would it even bother to help you pass this crossroad,perhaps a quick reboot button where you feel like eveything jolts to perfect normality the next morning?? trust me you're not alone...

Today, we cannot escape the obvious reality that exist alongside with our lives, like a parasite that sucks our strength in persuing our dreams.Problems in relationships, career, addictions and a loss of a important family member or friend. The voice within us that tells us "give up!! its not going to help a bit" grows louder and stronger as if its becoming part of our identity.We hope to have one who is much stronger and able to bring us through and out of this,something that doesnt cost us much just some time or maybe monetary sacrifice. We turn to look for a supernatural being that represents strength,power and great wisdom.We do so just as long we can pull ourselves out from the mess we're in.

In the recent news article dated Feb 10 2009 from strait times(singapore major newspaper) , it reported more people seeking solace in religion today,and statistics of worshippers soared during this trying times in the economy. 'I don't ask for much, just for him to be able to hold on to his job,' said Madam Tan, 65, who said she had never been very religious before. stated a mother whose son works in a manufacturing firm.

This singled out that men(male and female) has a inclination to spiritual wellness, most realise it only when they face a major crisis in their lives. We can see from the bible in Genesis(1st book of the bible) that men was made in God's likeness and had a relationship with God himself. Men are naturally spiritual beings, one of the major differences that we have from other species in the animal kingdom is that we believe that there is something invincibly strong out there that we can turn to.When Israel was held captive by the egyptians, they were tortured, made slaves to do the egyptian's bidding.Their work was the dreams of the egyptians to build a powerful kingdom. God heard the cries of the Israelis Exodus 3:7 and led them out of Egypt with great miracles and power Deut 4:34. The people of Israel were taken care during their 40 years of wandering in the desert by the mighty hand of their God who had promised their ancestors to bring them into a land that is good and spacious,into a safe haven where the Israel can enjoy with God's protection and care.Exodus 3:8 . We see from this story of Israel's freedom from slavery that they cried out to God when they were oppressed, robbed of their rights. And God redeemed them and gave them the great gift of freedom.

I'll pause here at this point but return to discuss on men's different expression and response to deliverance(God's redemptive work for men) and the attitute that he expects from us.

Leadership??(part2)

2009-02-17T23:37:00.000-08:00

In my previous post(just before I left for lunch), I mentioned about the current situation taken place in the world today, how we view leadership and introduced the role of a leader since the beginning during Genesis. I also discussed how much I respected king solomon in his request to be wise in his governance instead of wealth and power. His people benefited from him as they were well taken care of and were free of poverty.

In the new testament of the bible we see Jesus Christ teaching his disciples on the significance of service to people. We can see that in the book of Matthew 20:26 that Jesus had to use the word "slave" - v27 to reinforce his point on the purpose of leading. "whoever wants to be first must be your slave". And he ended of with his purpose of his ministry in v28 . We can see this idea of leadership in Jesus's very own experience. From the miracles he performed freeing demon-possesed people(Matt 17), healing the paralytic(Matt 9), restoring sight to the blind(Matt 20:21) to the humble demonstration of service by washing his disciples feet (John 13:5) he proved that his resolve on the call of leadership and influence is not through tyranny, might,power and control but the very desire to serve others.What an opposing contrast to what we see in our world today.

In conclusion, I feel that the essence to leadership is not earned by credit but driven by his very desire to serve his people. He should be able to instill hope and confidence to his people in times of trial and continue to draw(with his followers) useful lessons from failures in times of success. and one who appeal to the hearts of the people and not their minds.Leadership development is a lifetime journey...

book I enjoy about leadership

John C Maxwell-360 degree leader

Leadership??

2009-02-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

As I read the papers and watch the news these days, I can't help but notice the reports on the financial crisis that has been ongoing for the past few months, dirty politics, war and terror against countries that resulted in the loss of lives, I question myself why such undesirable events can occur, a anomaly,a stain on what we desire something that most people wouldn't favour but it just seems to happen without question. Leadership in the world today equals power and authority. It is the channel in which ways of governance is changed, hordes of men are ordered into battle, decisions that are made which chanfe the face of mankind. And the only candidates that qualify: those who are strong, smart, quick-witted,shrewd, eloquent in speech.

Let me share on what leadership is seen from a different angle,one that I subscribe to from the bible. In general, God created man in His image and gave them the honourable work of naming His other creation(imagine that He could have done it Himself) and the task of ruling in other words caring for them. "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds over the air,over the livestock,over all the earth,.." Gen 1:26. Since the beginning, men has been made and given the attributes of a leader, whether educated or uneducated, degree or without a degree, docterate or not our identity as men gives us the basic but vital qualification to lead.

Given this important call to leadership, the next thing to consider is what kind of leader are we called to follow from our maker, God Himself.

Among the many prophets, kings and judges God called to lead His people, I enjoy and respected one-king Solomon, the son of king David after his reign over the people of Israel. In 1 King 3:5,
God appeared to king Solomon in a dream and asked him what he wanted to be given. Now pause to consider what anyone or even yourself would ask from the sovereign God who makes and creates heaven and everything else. king Solomon gave his request to be a discerning and wise leader ( the bible stated it as a discerning heart to govern) that distinguishes right from wrong. God was please with king Solomon's request and he became the wisest man ever lived or will ever exist in human history.The result: His people were numerous, they were full and merry, and other countries paid tribute to him. 1 king 4:20

week 11

2008-10-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

One week into my long holiday ahhhh...and ya the darn exams starting in late october..Gosh.Well what is a student life without having exams( not like we cant survive without it on the other hand) . This week was quite eventful, attended formal dinner at the dining hall (well which had like lots of finger food followed by main course and dessert).Awesome food layout.Anyway the food isnt the only limelight one of the proffesors in science(as it was med-science dinner) came to give us a short but which i find rather unconventional.In the case that he doesnt use a note pad to help him with his pointers but he was giving his true life experiences and failures-including failing 1st year uni biology and passion struck him during final year when all the excitement from science memerised him.He took on the so call "addiction"thats what he said and work towards what he truly enjoyed and work his way to what he is today.Great time with the medicine as well as other science student and equally as important the great food! Today we had floor night in where every floor was given a theme to decorate with.Ours was Japan ahha so i went straight down to the city looking for traces of anything japanese.The first shop i arrived was at world square where they were selling like authentic japanese products(even the sales girls were jap!) but my oh my the cherry blossoms were $11 per stalk. I left the shop with no yield for fear of the possible hold in my pocket. As usual and not surprinsingly true, I got 2 jap flags at Hay market where things are slashed to incredibly low prices.

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR A WEEK

2008-10-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

A week has passed ever since the mid-term break ended. Counting down to the long awaited summer holidays here which last till 3rd march! Thats the duration of my whole PTP again (with a surplus of 2 weeks) haha. But I may choose to take up a summer course that will span the first 2 mths of my hols to clear a subject that is an important requisite.But otherwise I SHOULD be back by early Feb. Had quite a fruitful time of resting and recuperating yesterday and today,had a swim at the UNSW pool yesterday followed by a 15min suana..Hoooo. And then headed out to bible campus study which I tried really hard to stay focus from the sleeping spell cast by the suana earlier.Had a great meal with Amy and Andrew two friends that lived on the same college at a nearby jap restaurant.Not too expansive for a price like that in Sydney $15 for a tampura,sashimi,teriyaki mix set.I heard good reviews about the sushi in my uni but i always carry the idea that school food is never as good as anywhere outside.Well hope that the stereotype change. Gonna rest early now,have a early bball game with the guys tomorrow at 8am.*yawns*

REUNITED!

2008-08-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

HA met up with dad and mum this evening for dinner.We went to a chinese restaurant and had a sumptious family dinner(except kristel wasnt around)to join us. We had quite a time of catching up about how I have been spending my last 2 weeks. Seeing them here made me feel at home once again.And guess who else was reunited with me after a long and isolating 2 weeks....MY GUITAR!!! yes my parents went through all the hassle to get me my guitar not the best I have but still ,there is no less than joy when you see one of your "darlings" back with you! And in a whiles time in 9th aug i might or i have the time hopefully,I would be seeing Pam(partnering students from her mission in japan to head down here to sydney)hope to rub off some cooking recipes while she's here(a skill that foreign students will value).

Customising my brains to study

2008-07-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Ah...its been say almost 3 years since i've not gone for lecture,labs,tutorials and now gonna restart everything again.Though I've been waiting to go back to study I had to put in more steam into pacing with the classes here.We do get quite an amount of pre lab assignments,tutorials in which we have to answer review questions,essays from econs discussion.I can say that the last 2 days since classes started was definately not a piece of cake.But im thankful that there are new friends to be met everyday (singaporeans who grow increasingly friendly while they're there;p) and friendly australians to greet and start a light conversation with.Chemistry Lecture was good so far as the lecturer was concise and more importantly he speaks slowly for the asians to understand him. Well econs would pose a different challenge as I had no prior experience and I just spent approx 1.5hrs on understanding a lecture notes of 18pages. haha had to use wikipedia to search for definations like opportunitic cost ,inplicit and explicit cost.etc. Guess I have to end here as it's getting late jus wanna say.. all is well here ,i thank you all for your prayers and concern and i hope the same or even better is happening to you all back home.Can't wait for the day when I return where we can catch up on our own interesting lives! take care ,peace out!

A whole different living experience

2008-07-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Its now day 3 of my new life here in sydney at uni of New South Wales.Finally got my internet issue settled in my room where I can serve comfortably and well protected from the fierce winter winds now in this season.People here are generally different from us Singaporeans,and food well they are generally easily classified under cheese,pasta,meat(roasted,grilled,steam),vegetable that is usually(broccolli,peas,carrots)and a great amount of fresh milk.haha its quite a spread for a meal but my oriental taste is starting to cry out to my mum's home cooked food!!! haha miss my hor fun, fish soup noodles. Arrived here on sat feeling slightly lost as the orientation activities had started even before I got here(as i chose to arrive 3 days later).Im starting to miss all my good buddies and my Family back home.Thanks to all of you for sending me off on my departure date!It gave me courage to move on and do well in school.Do keep in touch!!Gonna rest soon as its like 11.30pm here as im typing this as i need ample rest for the day tomorrow.I'll type more about my experiences and prob post some pics of my room and places around uni(room starting to get untidy already *blushed*)see ya all real soon.Take care mates!!;D

Great days made by Great friends

2008-07-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

*yawnz*..trying to keep myself awake from sleeping spell.But the past few nights were so unspeakably awesome that i'm afraid that i may forget if I dun pen all these down on my blog. Met up with TP/RP campus crusade for Christ this monday,sweet and thoughtful of them to have arranged a farewell. Was really touched by the farewell sharing they each blessed me with.From the way all of us fellowshipped on monday,I remember about how the apostle Paul stressed on the importance of christian love and fellowship, in Romans he reminded and exhorted the church in Rome on the importance and defination of love(chap 12),to the corinth church he condemns the division among them(1Cor 3) and later on in Ephesians he stressed how vital being united as various body of Christ with the illustration of the different human tissue which are responsible for holding the body together. Thank you TP/RP for the great experience where we learn and grew together for the past 5yrs of my life.Thank God for each other and continue to serve one another with great fervent love and unity in our Lord Jesus Chirst!

A day out with "old" buddies

2008-07-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Got up today at 9am,an hour pass my planned timing to meet my pri school and season pal of mine,Hock Guan for breakfast.Could still remember the time when he was there as the bigger brother of mine who will protect me if any bullies taunt me..Of course I was quite skinny then(till pr 4) when I GAINED weight from eating more than what health education would consider a balanced diet.Remember also then he was my great"digimon" buddy as he had spent time during classes to help me attain" mummymon" from my very rookie"agumon" Well we had a realli great time of catchin up and checkin out anime toys and clothes(for the next cosplay prob??) Next I went on to watch dark knight with my pal Johnathan-my friend since sec1 and had ourselves glued to the seats for 2.5 hrs. A single comment on the show- Superb,A must watch!!"Good old" Johnathan was my mentor back in my secondary school prefectorial board and he was the first friend whom i remembered sharing Christ to me.I thank God for him that im able to hear of the world's most important fact and decision to turn my life around.

Strike 3

2008-07-15T03:41:00.000-07:00

Just came back from a friend's office to deliver some bulky goods and alas was strike 3 (no 3)of damage done to my mum's precious silver car.Guess wat's done is done there's nothing much I can do but learn from my reckless driving..sighz...well i won't spell wat was strike 1 and 2 but nothing of which involves another driver. Now is less than 2 weeks before the start of my 2yrs of adventure.There're still lots of ppl whom I wish I could stay and get to know better,good pals whom I can chill out with and bros to share our lives with. But time has to move on and hence physically to another place.This are flight details for next fri mid-night.
Date: 26 July 2008
Flight:SQ 231(T3)
Time:0030
Destination:Sydney
Check-in:1030pm Friday

An eventful day with church,sis,cousins

2008-06-30T07:00:00.001-07:00

Well morning started out with a great message in church and a refreshing insight about ordinary people going the extra mile from the book of Ruth.Story about a virtuous lady named Ruth who followed her mother-in-law after the death of her husband and two sons.A lady who forsakes freedom away from a widowed older mother-in-law but chooses instead to stand by her in life uncertainties. Following that I went to check out the Cosplay 2008 exhibition at suntec convention with my cousins(nigel,nick,pamela,clara) and kristel my sis and yes being gals and naturally more photogenic than me we hovered around the corridor of the convention hall for a shot with most of the available characters who were not swamped with other photographers. We enjoyed ourselves playing captives by a section of specialise killers armed with mock up shotguns, pistols and M203 held by a character from the PS3 game "army of two",took a pic of KUROSAKI ICHIGO FROM BLEACH and a guy dressed in german soldier's uniform(armed with AK47???)had smashing good time with the gals at Karaoke where pam almost thought that she was in a dance club.and yea they served shark fin soup with entry yes Shark Fin!!haha.

counting down...

2008-06-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

Began my day slightly later today at 9am(usual out of bed time is at 7am).Started the day by going to the pre-departure seminar by IDP at Orchard Hotel. Well apart from the dimly-lit crystal lights that hung from the ball-room ceiling and the linen-decorated chairs, the content of the seminar was really related to quieries that I had wanted to ask,thankfully not a standard lecture.Met a few student-to-bes who are also going to the same uni for their degree programs and exchanged contacts so if by any given opportunities,we would be able to bring a little homely reminders that we all belong to the small red dot. Well I can't help but feel excited for my new life abroad,the experience of living independently,managing your own time and making alot of important choices would pose a daunting challenge but I believe and hope that with the right mindset, it would benefit me and my character in the future.On the other hand, comes the fact of leaving my precious family and friends back here in S'pore,an issue of home-sickness that I've to learn to grapple for the first few weeks.Well,but what would skype and web-cam serve if I go on worrying about this.lolz.

Twilight zone

2008-06-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Just returned from my "reacce" trip to sydney in Australia last sunday morning. Body is still adjusting to the humid climate back here.Thank the Lord for a fruitful time which I had spent considerably on settling my accomodation (staying in Philip Baxter College), subjects combi for semester 2, a detailed tour round campus thanks to a new friend I met there-Justina,and a quick tour round some of Sydney's popular attraction.Hopefully this blog would serve to keep all my friends and family updated on the next 2yrs of my life which I'll be spending in Sydney.Do post a comment to keep me occupied with this blog;)thanks mates!