My Spent Life in 2009

This is my review for 2009. A year spent away from my family and familiar friends back home. Time can only go on and passes by but what have I done for this year? Let me take a peek back to that day when I flew back to Utah, US upon changing my visa.

I remembered that I lost my job in Singapore and found another in Utah. It was a moment of lost and un-expectancy as I prepare to relocate to Utah for at least two years. I knew from the very moment as I was being laid off from my job, God will be providing for me. Therefore, I did not worry about my job. I was simply numb to all the circumstances around me at that time.

Being single does have its own share of perks because for me to relocate to Utah was not too tedious. I only have to make sure I bring my laptop and also an IP phone (not IPhone) with me so that I can call back to my family. Most of my stuffs were still at an American friend’s house and so it wasn’t too tough for me. Upon being granted my working visa, I flew back to Utah on Dec 12, 2008 and amazingly, one year has already gone on.

This year has also passed by real fast, like all the other previous years. The last 12 months have been a time of living on my own to take care of myself, learning how to maintain a 2003 Ford Mustang Convertible and trying out new cooking recipes. Not forgetting picking up a new sports which is snowboarding. It was also a period of working with my wonderful colleagues on shift and laughing at their sick jokes. I guess time really flies when you are having fun.

As usual with all my New Year resolutions for the previous years, I did not really fulfill mine this year even though there is only one resolution. Hence, I am remaking this New Year resolution again which is to read through the Bible from cover to cover and memorize a verse from each of the sixty-six books of the Bible. I have already got a head start (haha…) as I am now already in 1 Samuel but the progress is still real slow.

2009 was also a year of recovery and healing for me although at the end of it, I am still lost and awaiting for God’s leading (if any) to someone who can encourage me in my walk with Him. I really hope to find a nice lady who can beat me with a cane if I fail to read the Bible daily as I need some discipline in this area and probably some motivation as I am thinking if there is a nice girl to read the Bible with me everyday, it will be fabulous. Anyway, this may be just my wishing thinking after all and the focus is all so wrong!

For all my Singaporean friends out there on the other side of the globe, I will be coming back for the Chinese New Year in 2010. As for the rest of the people on this side of the globe, have a blessed new year and I catch up with all of you again in 2010.

May our beloved God and Savior bless all of you!

The Birth of a Savior

Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

陳奕迅 - 聖誕結

Snowboarding, anyone? =)

陳奕迅 - 不如這樣

Mary's Boy Child

... Man will live forevermore because of Christmas Day...

Focus Your Eyes & Behold

Fell down big time last Friday during a snowboarding session. A great deal of pain went through my nerve systems and I had to sit at the slopes for a good five minutes before picking myself up again to continue to journey to the base. I hurt my wrist and for the snowboarding experts out there, the exact term is Scaphoid Fracture. Yes, there is some swelling at the base of my thumb area outside the wrist.

I was watching some YouTube videos the night before on how to link turns in Snowboarding which actually means to try to coordinate your heelside tranversing with toeside tranversing. Managed to do just that on the bunny hill but as I tried to perform the same technique on the intermediate slope, lost my balance and fell thereby hurting my right wrist.

One special note as advised by the instructor on the YouTube videos was to always remember to look at where do you want to go in snowboarding. This is the key. For instance, if you are going down the slope on your toeside, you will definitely need to look up the hill. Surprisingly, this simple glance up the hill will prevent you from falling. Therefore, where do you look as you are descending on your snowboard is very crucial.

As I recuperate from my first wrist injury sustained from snowboarding, God opened my eyes to see one principle in my walk with Him. My eyes need to be fixed upon Jesus in order that I can look away from myself and focus all my attention upon Him. This is the key which all of us as children of God should hold on to.

To keep myself from falling as I snowboard, I will need to just look at where I am going. Similarly, to keep myself from falling into sin, I will just need to fix my eyes on Jesus alone. A. W. Tozer put it plainly in his book, “The Pursuit of God” in this way, ‘Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of focus of my own vision and getting God into focus. Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding. Unbelief has put self where God should be…’

My brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a simple principle and if you take this to your heart, I believe you will be just like me during snowboarding that once I glance up the hill, I am not falling at all! We need to keep our focus right! In other words, once you constantly fix your eyes upon Jesus, you will not be falling into sin which literally means disobedience to God. As I reflect on my past Christian walk with Christ for the last eight years, I can truly confess that every time I sin against God in whatever ways is because of the fact that I was not fixing my eyes upon Jesus in that moment and I fell directly to the lust of my own flesh.

We need to get God into focus. The single fact of putting the only True God of the Bible out of the picture will only complicate things. Once God being our Creator is taken out, we can only have the Big Bang Theory, Evolution and broken relationships. The moment when we turned our backs on our Creator, we realized that everything has become relative. There are no longer absolute moral values because there is no Greater Being to make the call! Everything is right in certain ways and context so long you feel happy. This is the danger and this is exactly what the devil so desires.

We need to get back into focus with Christ. Let’s mediate on this verse today, shall we?

… fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ~Hebrews 12:2

Impressive Snowboarders!

Gone Snowboarding ...

What is Snowboarding?

Thanksgiving Weekend

I will like to really give thanks to God, Jesus Christ my Savior for watching over me and providing for me all this while as I stay in Utah, USA. Amen.

The Kingdoms of Judah & Israel

The Planet's Wisest Man's Advice

Nothing but the Truth, please

Do you believe in Jesus Christ of the Bible or another "jesus christ"?

Being Part of Adam's Race

One of my bible study leaders once told me if Adam and Eve did not sin against God in the Garden of Eden back in Genesis 3, there will only be four chapters in the Bible, namely Genesis Chapters 1 & 2 coupled with Revelation Chapters 21 & 22.

But if and only if there are so many ‘if’s, God will not be glorified, right?

Another of my bible study leaders told me that God’s number one priority is to glorify Himself. When applied to our own lives, to glorify ourselves will be arrogant and prideful but when applied to God, it can only be so true. God is the Uncreated One and Perfect Being that He can never be more or less perfect than He already is and He cannot lie. This means that whenever He has spoken to us can only be the truth. Maybe, this is the primary reason that whenever a witness is called to bear testimony in a human court, he or she has to place his / her hand on the Bible to swear to speak the truth and only the truth. Nothing else but the truth.

For this past week, God is teaching me to focus only upon spiritual matters which will count eternally. One passage by Paul which I was mediating:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (New International Version)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Somehow, all through this week, God is teaching me to be fixing my eyes upon Him and focusing on storing up treasures only in heaven. (Matt 6:19-21) I have strayed away from God for the past one year after the passing away of a friend (whom I have a crush on) in a fatal car accident. I have been in despair and struggled with sins after sins. Even in the midst of many of my sexual sins, there is no lasting pleasure. Only recently have I begin to see some light at the end of this one year tunnel of spiritual downward spiral.

God has left me all alone to think through the things and events which had happened according to His will. He has also opened my eyes to see the importance of focusing upon Him because that is all that I need to be experiencing holiness for all eternity. Nothing else matters and what is seen is indeed temporary but what is unseen is eternal. God is definitely unseen and I feel great being able to hold on to Him, to cry in His presence and to enjoy His fellowship for all eternity, even right now as I am typing this entry.

Upon my friend’s death, I blamed God. I really did. I was so unsatisfied that I sunk into great despair. God did not speak to me or scold me for blaming Him. He has only allowed me to be sitting down and think. He allowed time to pass as I think upon His words.

One pastor in a church which I am attending shared with the congregation on the close encounters which God and Moses had or God and Solomon had. Although I did not get to see God at all but I can feel that He is speaking to me through the words in the Bible (Basic instructions before leaving Earth). Although I did not have to wait for twenty years like Solomon did before he saw God again, I have known that God is with me all through this one year as I struggled with sins on my very own accord and intent.

I am sorry, God, for the way that I have behaved and grieved Your Holy Spirit.

Currently, I can only say that I do feel lonely and has a need for a life partner. Someone to walk with me spiritually through the rest of my life and be encouraging each other’s growth in Christ. However, this is a bonus if there is really this special someone whom God is preparing for me.

As I mediate on the above passage, I will like to suggest that even a girlfriend or spouse is only temporary. Hence, even if I have the privilege of having this ‘bonus’, it is not storing up treasures in heaven. No matter how much my desire to have it means to me, I can only say that it is only a light and momentary ‘trouble’ which is achieving for me an eternal glory which outweighs them all.

I believe that Satan will always come in to mock me for being single but I do know that he is merely trying to diminish my faith in Christ and influencing me to sin. God may be permitting him to kill or destroy all my potential spouses to be (like how He permit Satan to destroy Job’s family) but I want to be able to stand firm in the face of all this to grow my faith even stronger in Christ.

Satan has been determined to be destroyed in the lake of fire and he has absolutely no power to take away my salvation and relationship in Christ. He can only influence me to sin against God but I will want to be even closer to God, to be even so satisfied in Him that He will have me enjoy the eternal holy happiness which is holiness (as defined by Pastor Jonathan Edwards) in Him rather than the short and temporal pleasures of sin.

Please pray with me that over the rest of my life, may I only be fully satisfied in Christ and nothing else. May I hold tight to my faith and not let it be stolen or destroyed by Satan. May I only store up treasures in heaven which counts for eternity and throw away all temporal things which are visible in our human eyes. May I sing like the chorus of the song, “All that I need” by Peter Wright’s family below:

All that I need is my faith in Jesus,

All that I need is my home above,

All that I need is my Father’s mercy,

All that I need is my Savior’s love.

Amen.

Old American Alphabet Book

Adapted from Wikipedia link: New England Primer

Most Expensive Car in the world

Moving On

Hi Everybody, I have moved on to a new residential address in Utah, USA. For those of you who were once notified of my previous residential address, that is no longer valid. I will be contacting all the people individually through emails, so please keep a lookout for my emails and cease sending me anything for the time being until further notice.

However, my Starhub line remains the same. Feel free to call me for a chat if you are bored. haha.

Thank you.

An Unique Gift from my Shift

My Favorite Vintage Car

Understanding Mormonism

The Bible says ...

The fool says in his heart,

"There is no God."

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no one who does good.

~ Psalm 14:1

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

~1 Corinthians 1:18

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

~2 Corinthians 4:4

The Man God uses

The Man whom God uses is someone who ...

Prays

Has faith in Jesus Christ

Gives God the glory

Is a man of the Word

Is willing to suffer persecution for Christ

Is filled with the Holy Spirit

Is born again through believing in Jesus Christ

Is bold in his witnessing for Jesus Christ

Is wholly submitted to God

Is led by the Holy Spirit

Is uncompromising

Is obedient to Jesus Christ

Is a good steward over the things that God has entrusted to him

Is faithful

Is willing to be used

~This post is dedicated to all the brothers in Christ who has came and stayed through the Fridays 6am bible study.~

DIY Car Enthusiast

Living in Utah for the past 1.5 years has shown to me that I definitely cannot do without a car. Cars are an extreme important commuting tool for everyone in Utah and also the entire United States. The simple reason is this country is too huge. Therefore, I can understand a program on TV which says that we are addicted to gas. No matter what the price of gas per gallon cost us, we may complain but will still go ahead to pump.

In handling my mustang, I have learnt a few tricks along the way like changing air filter, topping up engine coolant, changing oil filter and engine oil and other stuffs. I must say that it can be pretty fun along the way as you know your car better and better.

Here is one great website (at least to me) for reading up all about maintaining your car: http://www.carbibles.com. Hope that for everyone out there who owns a car, you can find this website to be valuable to you.

Prayer Requests for 9.9.09

All my brothers and sisters in Christ out there, please pray for me in these pointers:

1. My Parents and cute sister’s salvation in Christ.
2. Relocation to a new rental place as I will be moving out of my current location at the end of my current lease.
3. Visa Status as there may be some hiccups along the way but anyway let us watch where God will place me next…
4. My mustang will be ‘obedient’ through this coming winter. He has been good last winter.
5. Being the facilitator for the 2^nd half of “The Truth Project” in Calvary Mountain View church since Roger has ‘deserted’ us to attend Sunday services. ~haha~

Thanks and you can keep me updated on things to pray for you too!

Waiting in the Weeds

Written by Don Henley & Stewart Smith

It's comin' on the end of August
Another summer's promise almost gone
And though I heard some wise man say
That every dog will have his day
He never mentioned that these dog days get so long

I don't know when I realized the dream was over
Well, there was no particular hour, no given day
You know, it didn't go down in flame
There was no final scene, no frozen frame
I just watched it slowly fade away

And I've been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for my time to come around again and
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground and
I've been keepin' to myself
Knowin' that the seasons are slowly changing
Even though you're with somebody else
He'll never love you like I do

I've been biding time with the crows and sparrows
While peacocks prance and strut upon the stage
If finding love is just a dance
Proximity and chance
You will excuse me if I skip the masquerade

And I've been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the dust to settle down along the
Back roads running through the fields
Lying on the outskirts of this lonesome town
And I imagine sunlight in your hair
You're at the county fair

You're holding hands and laughing
And now the ferris wheel has stopped
You're swinging on the top
Suspended there with him

And he's the darling of the chic
The flavor of the week is melting
Down your pretty summer dress
Baby, what a mess you're making

I've been stumbling through some dark places
Now I'm following the plow
I know I've fallen out of your good graces
It's alright now

And I've been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the summer rain to fall upon the
Wild birds scattering the seeds
Answering the calling of the tide's eternal tune
The phases of the moon
The chambers of the heart
The egg and dart of small gray
Spiders spinning in the dark
In spite of all the times the web is torn apart

And I've been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the time to come around again and
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground and
I've been keeping to myself
Knowing that the seasons are slowly changing
Even though you're with somebody else
He'll never love you like I do

Bring On the Rain

Relationship, Not Religion

Accepting Christ Jesus as the LORD of my life begins my relationship with Him. It was during Oct, 2001 when I prayed to receive Him into my life and since that day, I begin to walk with Him in my spiritual journey.

I was so amazed of the Great Work He has finished on the cross to bridge me back to the only true God and also very happy to find the answer which I was searching for since I began to feel the sense of emptiness following my parents’ lead from young to offer incenses to idols.

God is not a god who cannot move, touch and say something except to be seated there to be offered incenses and sacrifices. He is very much alive and not limited to that idol which we as His created beings sculpt out of our hands.

It is a relationship with Him since the very beginning of Creation and not religion. This is simply because if you can take relationship out of this equation, you get religion. In other words, without relationship in the picture, religion is there to allow all of us to be indulged in our own flesh and seeking glory from it.

Religion (as one of my friends put it in this way) is very much doing something industriously. For example, this guy logins to his email and facebook account everyday religiously. What is the picture portrayed here? He does it everyday without fail and he seeks glory in himself for being able to do it everyday without fail.

Christians are the children of God (John 1:12) and it is because of this fact, all believers in Christ belong to the same family of God. It does not matter that you are a white, black, Chinese, Malays, Indians, etc; so long you place your faith in Christ, you are welcomed as His son or daughter without any blemish. Eternal life commences the moment you place your faith in Him (John 17:3) and He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Furthermore, there is absolutely nothing in this world which is able to separate you from His love (Romans 8:38-39).

God with His utmost power is definitely capable of ‘making’ every single person in this world to be His children be it either willing or unwilling choice of that person. However, He did not do so because just as a guy desires for a lady to marry him willingly, God wants every person to come to put his or her faith in His only Begotten Son willingly as well. Only under this circumstance will there be true genuine love as God desires for us to love him genuinely.

BBQ Pork Ribs!

Singapore’s Birthday – Aug 09, 1965

I need to recap my national pledge:

We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and

progress for our nation.

Reference Link: http://app.www.sg/who/45/National-Pledge.aspx

A good site to find out more about Singapore: www.sg

Happy National Day to all Singaporeans! ~Local and Overseas~

Run, 385, RUN!

Please pray for me and Mr. Gonzales to be able to survive this run and tell a tale later... Thanks!

My Bumblebee Story

Finally, I fell to my temptation today at Walmart and bought my bumblebee... but not the US$100 model... I got this for US$30... with Mr. Witwicky... so this is my bumblebee story...

One hour of twisting and perspiring later...

wx:"Tummy MISSING?"

There we go... *finally*

A Spirit-Filled Life

One hard question is being posed during the 6am Men’s Bible Study last Friday. What are the practical ways which we as Christians can be living a spirit-filled life?

I believe all true Christians know the importance of living a spirit-filled life. A student of The Bible knows many verses which talks about the importance of living a spirit-filled life. One of which is these verses:

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of the sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-6

But the question which slapped the men in the faces is HOW?

We see Paul himself struggling with sin in Romans 7:7-25. He concluded by saying, “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” After which, he opened Romans 8 with “Therefore, there is now no condemnsation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Hebrews 12:4 tells us, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us that “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

In my own personal struggle against sin, I do realize that many times when I sinned against God, I am at a crossroad. This means that I do have a choice to make at the point of either sinning or obeying God’s command. Sad to say, I often make the wrong choice.

In reading Hebrews 12:4, I know that indeed in my struggles against sin, I have never yet resisted to the point of shedding my blood. This literally means that I have not lost even a pint of blood so as to prevent myself from sinning against the God whom I love.

Therefore, I know that the practical ways of living a spirit-filled life is to be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit whom is in us from that day when I believe and place my faith in Jesus Christ, our LORD.

Living a spirit-filled life is definitely not restricted to simply not sinning against God. It however means to be living a life which glorifies God, acknowledging His Amazing Grace of offering His Salvation to us and reconciling us back to Him to a perfect relationship.

There is a choice to make to fear God and obey His commands at all costs. In our struggles against sin, we may be entangled in all kinds of sin for many years to come but ultimately, we want to be seeing progress in our fight against sin till the day Christ returns to give us a brand new glorified body in Him.

And this is the spiritual growth in our souls.

Amen.

Go WEST - Pet Shop Boys

Chee Can Cook, so can YOU!

A Sad News

This story reminds me of the days when I was training to compete in this sport which was about sixteen years ago. I am sadden by the occurence of this incident which has deeply dampen the spirit of this amazing sport back in my home country, Singapore.

I pray that may Jesus has mercy on his soul...

Believe Promise Obey Command

This is one liner which captured my mind during last Tuesday’s prayer meeting when we were studying on the topic of the LAW of the Bible. A short recap was done on the very 1^st law which God gave to us - the forbiddance to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

That is the very first law from God but we still failed to obey it.

Let us go back to the time where God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac in Genesis 22:

Abraham Tested

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

² Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

⁸ Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

¹⁵ The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

God commended Abraham for his great faith simply because Abraham believed in the promise and obeyed His command without a second thought. I truly need to learn from Abraham in this aspect.