SFF 2006 - Singapore

~All photographs are copyrights of Mr Chen Wei Hao~

SFF 2006 - New Caledonia

~All photographs are copyrights of Mr Chen Wei Hao~

SFF 2006 - France

~All photographs are copyrights of Mr Chen Wei Hao~

Throwing Mortarboard Time!

It is so hilarious. Everyone is throwing their mortarboards for the sake of taking this photo but nobody is looking in front. All are looking at where their mortarboard is! haha. =)

By the way, if you want to view all the photos taken at the Esplanade, you can logon to this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/edsoh98/RekindlingConvocationMoments

Pls do not expect too high a standard of the photos, ok?
We are not professional photographers... hehe.

Rekindling Convo Moments

Today is 2 Sep 2006. One week after AHM and this evening I am back here again at Esplanade Drive with my friends. The purpose? To rekindle our convocation moments. I think I am also recce-ing the ground for all my fellow brothers and sisters which spots to take photos are the best so that next year TPBC graduates can gather here to take photos! haha. =) Waiting patiently for the rest to graduate soon...

Actually while we were taking photos, there were three groups of different tourists who came up to ask if they can take photos with us. We were like, "wow, we are becoming some kind of tourists' attraction is it?" haha. Anyway, we obliged and took photos with them free of charge. haha... so funny.

Okay, after all the quality control (QC), here is one photo which I feel is the best among all lah.

So enjoy lor... :)

can you sleep while the wind blows?

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.

"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming!Tie things down before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.

To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.

A friend of mine sent this to me today, and I enjoyed it so much, that I wanted to put it as my blog entry. I hope you enjoy your day and you sleep well.

God be with you always. =P

Running Here & There

Oh yes, that is what I will be doing on 17 Sep and 3 Dec. There will be two more runs for me after AHM before the end of this year. The first one is Running for Hope. It is a run which raises fund for cancer and it certainly is more meaningful and "less selfish" in nature. Will be running for 9 km at Sentosa and I feel as I am running I will be quite happy as I am running for hope as the name of the run implies. =)

Here are the details if you too are interested to join me...

http://www.runforhopesingapore.org/

The second run is the much publicised Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2006. In my opinion as I was telling one of my brothers, it is a more self-centred run. haha. Because I will say I run it because I want to prove to myself and others that I can do it. Hmm, so in a way "more selfish" lah... haha.

I will not run the full marathon but only half marathon as I feel that I have not trained enough. However, as I was looking at the running route, I was very much tempted to run the full 42.195 km! So all serious runners, let us all be training for the full 42.195 km next year and get the finisher's T-Shirt together, shall we? =)

Anyway, I have already registered for the half marathon so for those joining me this year, go and register before tomorrow to get Early Bird Price. Here are the details:

http://www.singaporemarathon.com/en/

Another 30.1 km to go.

What's cooking, YA?

Yesterday, besides going for the AHM, my church ministry had a simple potluck and mini cooking competition among all the cell groups. Here are the five famous dishes cooked and prepared by various cells. =)

And the winner of the mini cooking competition is ......... (drum roll)

All of us (even the judges) really tell ourselves that "I Can't Believe You Prepared That!"

21.1 km

Today marks a milestone of my life. I have completed a half marathon of 21 km! Managed to clock a timing of 2 hr 42 min 46 sec. This is my first half marathon and I must say that it is definitely not easy man. My left leg started to cramp at the 14 km mark and no choice, like what one of my brothers told me, I have to walk and could not continue to run. Therefore, I must admit that after the 14 km mark, I have walked and ran a bit till the end point. Okie, let me show you all the Finisher Medal which I have gotten after the run. =)

I have finished the race!

44 Days

44 Days to a new chapter in life.

I must say that these 133 days of my life is indeed memorable and full of presents. =)
Got lots of stuffs for me to keep for memory sake and even a video disc.

Gone for two interviews and one more to go. Do not know why but feeling excited to go for interviews and just to express myself. Furthermore, the interviewers so far has also been discussing about Christ with me. Therefore, I feel this is a good chance for me to indeed live out a testimony for Christ even in the midst of job interviews.

Although I have been letting God down again and again, too ashamed to face him.

Rise and Shine

The sun is up and a new day dawns but...

I haven't wake up yet!

Hai, has been trying to wake up really early these days so that on Sunday, I can wake up early to go for AHM. However, I have been failing again and again...

Need to wake up by 3.30am... will try to wake up at 4.30am first tomorrow morning.

Ok, I will go to bed now...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

老妈，生日快乐！！！

妈妈，我爱你。

让我来给你一些烟花来庆祝一下。。。

A Living Inspiration

Dear Brothers and Sisters In Christ,

Allow me to share this wonderful real story of Nick Vujicic who has touch thousands of hearts around the world.

My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.

"Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."

....To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.

Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school.

The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.

I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new friends.

There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength.

Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted.

"And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him."

That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.

I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.

I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.

I am now twenty-one years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow.

I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show"! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

One Week Before AHM

This is one week before AHM and I am now down with cough, flu and sore throat. Pls do pray that I will recover in time for the AHM on next Sunday. First time running 21km, you see. Hence, I do hope that I can pull through and finish the race. =)

By the way, I will really like to thank a sister who smsed me yesterday before cell this message:

"Hey! Cell later rt? “无论作什么，都要从心里作，像是给主作的，不是给人作的，” hv a fruitful time!"

Yah was feeling very down before cell yesterday due to my sickness but her sms really spur me on. I checked the bible today and was affirmed that this is a verse which comes from Colossians 3:23.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

Furthermore, the brothers were talking about this verse today after service. It is a verse which I can mediate upon for this week. Have a great week ahead!

Army Info

I am going to provide some of my army info so that at least after many years when I looked back at these dates and details, it can give me some fond memories.

Date of Enlistment: 24 July 2001
Date of Orginal ORD: 23 Nov 2003
Date of Disruption: 13 July 2003
Date of Resume Service: 29 May 2006
Date of ORD: 08 Oct 2006

PES Status: E1L3 (Permanent)
Vocation: Sup Asst (GE)
Appointment: ICS2 Clerk / Accoms IC / Comms 2IC
Rank: CPL

Award: Best Soldier of the Month (Feb 2003)

Is God in the picture?

The answer to this question is a resounding "YES!" God is always in the picture. He is always in our midst. We do not have to go further than out of our own residential place to know that He is always around. We just have to observe ourselves. Yeah, just our body will testify that God is present. How? Okay, let me ask these questions.

1. Do you have to always tell your brain to tell your body to breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide?

2. Do you have to always tell your brain to circulate your blood flow so that every cell in your body receive the oxygen supply?

3. Do you have to always tell your brain to tell your stomach to digest the food or drink that is consumed?

4. Do you have to always tell your brain to tell your body to eject out all the unwanted waste?

5. Do you have to always tell your brain to remind your heart to continue beating till you die?

The answer to the above questions is the same: NO.

I am not really good in biology being graded only a B3 back in my 'O' levels. However, at least I still remember that all these questions point to some of the involuntary actions in our human body. They are involuntary because they will be automatically "will do", "doing" or "done" every seconds of our lives. We do not have to tell them to do it, they are so called done involuntarily. We do not have to remind them.

This brings to my mind a particular verse in the Bible. Genesis 2:7, "the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." God was actively involved when He created us simply because He gave part of His breath to us. The breath of life. And God after creating man remarked His work as very good. (Gen 1:31)

Therefore, God is always in the picture. Although we cannot see Him with our physical eyes, we can feel His Holy presence with us. Just like we can never deny the presence of a breeze because we cannot see it. The reason is we can feel it. To those who feel that they do not need God as they have everything going their way for them, I will like to ask them this, "If you say that you do not need God, how about surrendering this breath of life which God has given you back to Him?" Food for thought.

Walk-In Interview

Today, I went for a walk-in interview. I went mainly to gain some experience in interviewing and to gather what kind of questions they normally will ask. It was indeed tiring as I went directly after coming back from night cycling. I was seriously feeling weak physically and exhausted mentally.

And who knows that I would be thrown an IQ question to test my problem solving skills? In the end, I gave the normal standard answer given by many as indicated by the interviewer. Too tired already, man. Furthermore prior to the interview, I waited for a total of 4 hours plus due to the overwhelming crowd which came for the interview. I was physically drained. =(

Finally, I did get to be interviewed at the expense of missing tuition project (again!) and an appointment with a fellow brother (sorry, I was really going to knock out). Went back home after the interview, bathed and slept for 3 hours. Now my legs are really sored, haha.

Flying the National Flag!

Just came back from NDP and oh boy, I missed the date for posting a blog entry on NDP. Anyway, I just want to wish Singapore a Blessed Belated Birthday. Wah, triple B. Hehe. God Bless Singapore. =)

My Parents & Me

I will like to take this chance to thank a fellow brother in Christ who edited this photo for me. Thank God for my parents because they are the BEST!

Graduates' Evening

August is Here!

1 August.

8 more days to National Day and after that, my weekend will stop 'burning'. haha
68 more days to Operational Ready Date.

This short stint with the army has certainly affirmed me all the more to be proud being a Singaporean. No matter what other people may say, I just want to be myself - A Singaporean proud of Singapore. Simple?

One song which I learnt in primary school during the National Day period many years ago goes something like this:

There was a time when people say that Singapore won't make it,
But we did.
There was a time when trouble seems too much for us to take it,
But we did.
We build a nation strong and free
Reaching out together.........
This is my country.....
This is my flag.....

Still remember this National Day song?
People always say what they want to say but I just live and do things according to myself. I do not have to care what others say. I just need to make sure that my life is able to live in obedience to God and pleases Him.

So brothers and sisters, just be yourself. What others want to say, let them carry on. Never look down on yourself, okay?

“I-Can’t-Believe-You-Prepared-That”

Convocation Photos

Yes, we made it.... finally.

Convocation Day

I hope my mortarboard will not drop halfway because I cannot clip it to my hair using hairpins. The reason being that my hair is too short. haha... =)

Serve, Serve, Serve... with J.O.Y

As I went to camp today for my usual working routine, I am thinking and pondering about this issue of serving. Yes, I am in national service now which is what every Singaporean guy has to go through. However as I serve, I wonder how should I serve so that I do not feel so burdened or upset over the things which I have to do for serving in my branch. By the way, working in my branch is all about serving people. Quality and Pride.

At the end of the day (or nearly end liao...), I found out that there is one word which is crucial while you serve. That is "JOY". Ever wondered why is JOY spelt as J... O... Y...? During one of the sermons which I went through at a Shanghai church, I learnt from the speaker that JOY is spelt in this way because of the following reasons:

We should put Jesus as our first priority while we serve.

We should put Others as our next highest priority while we serve.

And... we put You (that is me or ourselves) as the last priority.

Then we will get JOY while we serve so we should serve with JOY!

Get it?

Many times I have felt tired, weary or even to the extent of burdensome to find energy to serve in ministry. In addition, I have really a lot of things to do in ministry too. Thank God for giving me this word, JOY and reminding me once again to serve with JOY.

My branch motto is Quality and Pride.

My personal motto with God is Serve with JOY.

Like that hor, I will not be tired but I will serve happily and smilingly because I know God will be pleased to see me serve in such a manner. =)

When I Say ...

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I'm not shouting "I am saved"

I'm whispering "I was lost"

That is why I chose this way.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble

And need someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak

And pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed

And cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I'm not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are all too visible,

But God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I still feel the sting of pain

I have my share of heartaches

Which is why I speak His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian"

I do not wish to judge.

I have no authority.

I only know I'm loved.

Religion. A very 'big' word for some.

A very 'spiritual' word for some.

And for some, it's a segment of life that is missing and ignored.

When asked, "What's your religion?",

immediately, we get different answers

How many of us really think,

is that really my own strong conviction?

Or was it my parent's?

Or was it my friend's?

What's my religion then?

To be very honest with you,

I do not have a religion...

Religion?

It's useless.

It's unbelievable and too far fetched.

It's confusing.

It's just a name.

But this I have.

A relationship with God.

An intimate relationship with the Creator,

who knows me by name,

who created me exactly the way I am,

who lifts me up when I break down to the deepest pits,

who rescues me from burdens far toobig for me,

whose Love for me never changes no matter how far I stray,

who loved me until He did His craziest act for me...

To die on the cross for my sins so that I can be reconciled to Him.

So what's my belief?

Well, it's definitely not about a set of rules which were given to me,

obey them so that God would love me.

It's about the love which He had already shown me before I even knew Him.

It's not working for Him or doing good deeds so that I can go to Heaven.

It's about the free gift of eternal life which He offered,

free of charge,

if only I would let down my pride and receive the gift.

I was on the highway to hell,

and it was Christ who stepped down into my world to give me a ride to the path to heaven.

No other did the same...

I was trapped in the bondage of sin,

of selfish indulgence and the pleasures of this world.

But they were all hollow...

It was Christ who came and gave me freedom as He took my shame and weaknesses once and for all as He hung there on that old rugged cross.

No other did the same...

I was puffed up with pride,

thinking I was wise, I was in control of my life.

Not when the calamities of life came.

Death of loved ones, financially crippled, decisions which led to regrets...

It was Christ who came and showed me humility,

though He was God,

He made himself a nobody,

a servant,

a man of dependant on the grace of God.

No other did the same...

I was a wretch, a sinner, condemned, guilty and unworthy.

But...

It was Christ,

who reached out His hands to me, saying the three words every human longs and aches for deep down.

"I love you."

No others did the same.

I didn't find such unconditional love in others.

Not in money.

Not even in my friends and families.

Not even in pleasure and entertainment.

Not in anything at all in this world.

Are you like me?

Confused?

No way out?

Lost your purpose, or never had one in life?

Then, I want you to know, this same Jesus is reaching out His hands to you,

ever faithful, ever waiting for you to accept that gift He gives freely.

'Religion'?

It's still useless.

But a relationship with Christ?

A bargain that's worth giving your life to.

(",)

I will like to thank this brother who emailed this interesting literature to me. =)

毕业等于失业？

Soon, I will be convocating to be conferred a degree by some academic. The ceremony will last for about one and a half hour. After that, I will go out into the world to work for the rest of my life till I retire. The crucial thing is this: does graduation mean jobless?

The title of this entry was mentioned to me by one of my GIP Shanghai mates. What he has said has some element of truth in it. I will not deny the bulk of about ten over thousand of students jobless in East Asia upon graduation. A degree does not mean much and the crux of the issue is there are not many jobs for the many jobless people in the street.

After much prayers and seeking the Lord, I think I will be going out to the working world. In spite of all the struggles and temptations that faces me ahead, I would still want to follow God, put on His full armor and cast all my anxiety onto Him. Indeed, taking His yoke upon me, learning from Him will enable me to find rest for my soul.

Is this IT?

Tomorrow, I will be travelling down to school to collect my academic gown, transcript, certificate and invitation cards. After more than a decade of education, does this mark the end of my education? Is this IT?

Thinking through that it seems like yesterday when my mum put a slip of paper containing the plate number of my school bus into my right pocket of my uniform and she instructed me where to wait for the school bus. Now, everything is over? Will there be any chance that I will step back into a school again to receive further education?

I think I will have to leave it all to God. At least I know that He has the best plans for me. =)

Childhood Toys

Coating New Paint

My house is now in the process of coating a new lease of paint. Tonight, my parents and I shifted out the things inside our storeroom to make way for the painters to paint it tomorrow. I realised that over these eight years, we have stored up a great number of things in our storeroom. This picture shows the "mess" now in my house. (",) Haha, I took this picture out of fun.

So the next time if you are coming to my house, enjoy the new look and give some constructive comments bah. Hehe. =)

Run

I just had a run with a fellow brother near my home. Enjoyed the run because got two '1st time's. 1st time running with a partner and I have to make sure that our paces are similar. Haha. 1st time wearing my formation singlet as my running gear.

Overall, I feel good having a partner to run with you or exercise with. In a way, both of us can be encouraging each other and spurring each other on. This is also how a Christian life will be like. I believe that God will not have us living our Christian lives alone but with the support of fellow brothers and sisters, right? Together, we are the body of Christ. Let us be united with God and be one with Him in spirit so that we can do all the work the spirit want us to do. Yeah!

To end off, we also saw another guy wearing the same formation singlet... hmm...

The Armor of God

All of us need the armor of God. The reason is 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 (Eph 6:12).

Hence, God wants us to put on His full armor so that we can take our stand against the devil's schemes (Eph 6:11). He even told us through James to first submit to Him, resist the devil and he will flee from us. Satan has to flee once we submit ourselves to God (James 4:7).

Let's put on the armor of God and resist the devil today. The full armor of God is as follows:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Remember that our Lord Jesus has all things under His feet and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He, being faithful will strengthen and protect us from the evil one (2 Thess 3:3).

Bedtime Prayer

Thank You, Lord, that You have brought me into Your family and have blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Thank You for this time of renewal and refreshment through sleep. I accept it as one of Your blessings for Your children and I trust You to guard my mind and my body during my sleep.

As I have thought about You and Your truth during the day, I choose to let those good thoughts continue in my mind while I am asleep. I commit myself to You for Your protection against every attempt of Satan and his demons to attack me during sleep. Guard my mind from nightmares. I renounce all fear and cast every anxiety upon You, Lord. I commit myself to You as my rock, my fortess and my strong tower. May Your peace be upon this place of rest now. In the strong name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen

Breakthrough to Spiritual Maturity

I have just came back from my church Young Adults (YA) retreat. It was a three days two nights retreat at Sentosa Scripture Union Campsite and my eyes are really opened by God to see the Truth right from the beginning in Genesis.

Firstly, for the first time, I realised that we being God's created beings come in a package of three components namely, Spirit, Soul and Body. This certainly allows me to see the importance of my Spirit because this is my only component which allows me to communicate with God and to receive His instructions for me. My Soul plays the role of decision making like meeting nature calls, eating, drinking and resting. However most of the times, my Body who is the one doing the physical expression of the instructions of the Soul, do not heed to the calling of the Soul. Hence, this often results in sin taking place in our life. Together, my Soul and my Body constitutes my Flesh.

Throughout the retreat, I began to realise the increasing importance of the roles that the Holy Spirit is playing in my spiritual life. Indeed, all of us are spiritual beings although we also have our own flesh (Soul + Body). Ultimately, what really counts in the end is our Spirit because only through the Spirit can we really know God and hear from Him. If I do not know Christ, my Spirit will be dead in my sins. I am only left with my Flesh (Soul + Body). I definitely need Christ to revive my Spirit so that I can establish a personal and intimate relationship with God. The Bible says in Rom 8:10 that if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

Furthermore, the devotion for the two mornings talked about the Spirit too. The first devotion mentions about praying to God to live above my fleshy desires today by exercising my spiritual inheritance at every temptation. The second devotion mentions about being led by the Spirit when praying to God. Overall, I felt ministered by God strongly regarding my Spirit and the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord for reviving my Spirit to know you personally.

Another issue which I learnt from God is Spiritual ties and bondages. The speaker demonstrates to us through actors and actresses in a scenario of a marriage couple. Here he first defines the biblical meaning of "The two will become one flesh." (Gen 2:24) Interestingly, as mentioned earlier, flesh = soul + body. Hence when a husband has laid with his wife, the two of them will become one flesh and spiritually bonded together. This is a beautiful picture of a marriage. However, the spiritual bonding can happen in sexual sins too like adultery, fornication, premarital realationships, homosexual or lesbian relationships, bestiality and pornography. In these cases, our spirits may be actually bonded to other demonic spirits. This is how scary it can be.

When we go into a marriage with all our additional spiritual bondages, we are not getting a "two become one flesh" but "multiple become one flesh"! Hence, this creates a stronghold for Satan to come in to destroy and conquer. Therefore, to cut away our spiritual bondages due to sexual sins, we need to sincerely come before God to repent and renounce of our sins and ask Him to deliver us from our bondages.

Throughout our ministry time, I experienced the power of God delivering me from my spiritual bondages. He is indeed my True Saviour and Lord! Thank you, Father God for delivering me and making me clean and free in Your Presence. In response, I will like to pray this prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You and honor You as my Lord. You are in control of all things. I thank You that You are always with me and will never leave me nor forsake me. You are the only all-powerful and only wise God. You are kind and loving in all Your ways. I love You and thank You that I am united with Christ and spiritually alive in Him. I choose not to love the world or things in the world, and I crucify the flesh and all its passions.

Thank You for the life i now have in Christ. I ask You to fill me with the Holy Spirit so I may say "no" to sin and "yes" to You. I declare my total dependence upon You and I take my stand against Satan and all his lying ways. I choose to believe the truth of God's Word despite what my feelings may say. I refuse to be discouraged because You are the God of all hope. Nothing is too difficult for You. I am confident that You will supply all my needs as I seek to live according to Your Word. I thank You that I can be content and live a responsible life through Christ Who strengthens me.

I now take my stand against Satan and command him and all his evil spirits to depart from me. I choose to put on the full armor of God so I may be able to stand firm against all the devil's schemes. I submit my body as a living and holy sacrifice to God and I choose to renew my mind by the living Word of God. By so doing I will be able to prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect for me. In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

To end off this entry, I will like to remind myself of the retreat theme song:

"I Will Never Be"

I will never be the same again

I can never return

I've closed the door

I will walk the path

I will run the race

And I will never be the same again

Fall like fire, soak like rain

Flow mighty waters

Again and again

Sweep away the darkness

Burn away the chaff

And let a flame burn

To glorify Your name

There are higher height

There are deeper seas

Whatever You need to do

Lord, do it in me

The glory of God fills my life

And I will never be the same again

上海滩

I have also posted another picture of the Bund previously. These two pictures will serve to motivate me to save enough money to bring my parents to Shanghai. =)

Ephesians 4:29

One of my new year resolutions for this year is not to let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth so as not to stumble my fellow brothers and sisters. One thing I feel that I am a person who want things to be done in an orderly manner. Hence at times when I do not get the help which I need, I will start to utter rubbish and hurt people. This includes the messages which I sent over emails or sms.

For example, I am a person who really detest people who are late for appointments. In fact, I cannot even stand people who are late for just five minutes. I hate to wait but God still want to train and test my patience. Most of the time when I am meeting people, I will be the one waiting. As a matter of fact, I actually had sent out a sms before telling that person, "Don't be late." and it caused much unhappiness with this person eventually. There was one time when we are going to rehearsal for a singing session for the home visit and I purposely came late because I want others to wait for me for a change.

Secondly, most of the time when someone sort of mention my name in a not so good manner, I will not hestiate to reply to "retaliate". This is so typical of me. Therefore, the verse in Ephesians 4:29 really serves as God's constant reminder for me to change. Actually, a close brother has actually talked to me about stumbling people with my unwholesome talk before over emails. Therefore, as I enter into 2006, I made a resolution to change my behaviour.

So far almost half a year has gone and I must say that I am still changing in progress. Like what a pastor in another church has mentioned in his message before that all of us being Christians are all carrying a label which is "Work In Progress". We will all never become like Christ 100% till the day when He comes back for us and we all partake in the Sacred Wedding Banquet with Him. However, I feel that I should make my progress ongoing instead of staying stagnant.

Okay, I really want to make it a point to change into the person whom God wants me to be. Father, let be me united with You so that I can be one with You in spirit. (1 Cor 6:17)

Stages in Life

Everyone goes through different stages in life. We are living in this dimension of time and space. Hence, time being a dimension which never stops from the moment it begins enable us to have different stages of life. We cannot help it but go through these different stages like infant, child, teenager, young adult, adult and elderly. Today's sermon, my pastor mentioned that time is life. How true it is. We are growing older every second.

My point for this entry is this: I feel we should enjoy each and every stage of our life. For infant stage, I strongly believe all of us enjoyed it very much. Haha, all we do most of the day is sleeping soundly and when we are hungry, we just cry or make some noise for attention to get our milk. Fun right, isn't it? We do not have to study or do any other work beside sleeping. (That is if you termed sleeping as work! :P) Oh yes, of course when we are awake, we are observing our surroundings while our young brain is absorbing experiences much faster than a sponge absorbs water. Ok, no doubt all of us enjoyed that stage very much with no problems to highlight. hehe.

The next stage is child stage. Wor, this is also fun because we get to play with interesting toys, we learn to walk on our own now, we learn to talk and we can express ourselves with all our learned emotions and expressions. We also run a lot and climb 'new heights' in our houses. Then, we start to go to school to go through education. We make new friends and we get to share our joy with new people beside our parents for the first time. I enjoyed my time as a child too. =)

Following that is teenager stage. For me, during this stage, I went through a lot as I enter puberty. It was not easy for me as I faced different kinds of pressure while in secondary school and while I was growing up to be a man from a boy. I also have serious insomia problem at that time. However, I feel we should also enjoy this stage because once we pass through this stage, we do not get to go back again. Time will definitely do not allow that, man.

Next, young adult stage. Hmm, I think I have passed through this stage as of now. At least, I am nearly 30 years old now. This stage poses me with new responsibilities. All my actions now carry with them consequences and if I am not ready to face the music, I better behave. Haha, that's all I can say about this stage. Of course, serving the army falls within this stage and yes, very importantly enjoy army! You will not get to wear your No. 4 ever again after you have RODed. Enjoy going for IPPT, range and ICT. Never will you get to wander in the jungle after you gone through this stage unless war breaks out... CHOY CHOY CHOY!

Now, I am in adult stage. Haha, oh no! The second last stage of life. Learning to face up to situations, trials and problems in life. Going through it now and upon reflecting, I have to make sure that I really enjoy this stage of my life. If not, when I reach elderly stage, I will regret man.... hehe...

No comments about elderly stage except maybe learning taichi?

Ok, friends. My point is let's enjoy every stage of our lives because one thing for sure is we all do not get a second chance of going through it again. Instead of looking forward to our next stage, let us make full use of our current stage and create fond memories bah, shall we? =)

Army Song

Recently while serving together with my new army friends, an army song dawned upon me:

Training to be soldiers

And fight for our Land

Once in our lives

Two years of our time

Have you ever wondered

Why must we serve?

Cos we love our Land

And we want it to be free

To be free

Stand up and be on your guard

Children having fun

While we are holding guns

Have you ever wondered

Why must we serve?

We love Singapore

And we want it to be free

To be free

After my disruption, I feel more joyous now serving the army compared to three years ago. This song certainly affirmed me all the more why must I serve. Because I love my land and want it to be free. Whatever I hold dearly, I must protect. =)

Not an advertisement for army though. (",)

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Father Lord, I hope to be made right in your sight again. Pls pick me up after my fall...

Post-Graduating

Upon getting my final semester results, I am finally graduating and will soon be in the workforce. However as I think back the years beginning right where I started my education till today where I will be getting my degree, I realised one thing: All the credit DOES NOT BELONG to me.

All the credit as to whether I graduate with a First Class, Second Upper, Second Lower, Third Class, Merit or Pass degree, does not belong to me. All credit belongs to my parents. This is because they are the ones who has given up everything just to see me through my education years. They are the ones who has spent even their graveyard savings on my education.

Hence to my brothers and sisters who are graduating with a diploma or degree soon, let us honour our parents. Do not let all our years of education go down the drain just because we think we are great when we earned our certificates. Let us always remember that what we are today is all because of our parents' effort on us. Let us express our gratitude to our parents today.

Consolingly Encouraged

On Monday, I received my final semester results. Upon receiving the results, at first, I feel quite disappointed because I felt that I should have done better in some subjects and even the final classification of my degree. However, after gazing and reflecting upon the results for the past few days this week, I begin to have changed views of the results which I have obtained. One thing for sure is that I have received a consolation prize which I feel that I should not have achieved it at all in the first place. Overall indeed, God is the one who have seen me through and blessed me in each and every grade which I scored in the total of 41 subjects.

Based on my poor results for these 6 semesters, I feel that I do not deserve a honours at all. However, God still blessed me with at least a honours. Hence, I must say that I am consolingly encouraged. Think this is not a correct English term but I will like to use it just that hopefully I can explain the feeling which I am having at this moment.

Another thing which I have learnt throughout this circumstance is, "do not compare with others". This is one thing which I have learnt from God in His Word in the Bible. John the Baptist is one good example of this lesson. Even though, he knew Jesus as the Chosen One and Saviour of the World, yet he did not have a single chance to receive Him into his life. All he can do is to point others to Him. When his discples still did not get his message of who Jesus is, he said, "He must become greater, I must become less." (John 3:30) Indeed when his discples was complaining to him about Jesus having more disciples, he did not even compare himself with Jesus.

As a matter of fact, I found myself happier when I did not have to compare myself with my friends who have all done much better than me. I thank God for putting me in this situation so that I can indeed learnt the value and importance of this "comparing" lesson. I feel glad that I have done my best in my studies and God being the faithful one did not even shortchange me a single "cent". Cheers. =)

God's Sovereignty

Do you know what is sovereignty? Okay, before I share with you all a liitle bit of my experience with God's Sovereignty yesterday. Let us define the meaning of sovereignty which are namely as follows:

1. Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a state.
2. Royal rank, authority, or power.
3. Complete independence and self-government.
4. A territory existing as an independent state.
(Meanings are extracted from yourdictionary.com )

In our case here for God's Sovereignty, I will feel that the first three meanings fit in quite well for God. This is because He exercises Supreme authority and power, independant and is always in control of all things and situations.

Oh yes, I have returned back to army to resume my disruption and this is my first Sunday after one week in the army. Realised that the army is very different from my time in service about three years ago. Upon taking up of a minor role in my branch, I need to help out to issue stores which are required for our National Day Parade rehearsals on every Saturdays.

Yesterday was the first combined rehearsal and the whole day long I was rushing from place to place either to issue stores and communication equipments or issuing rations like packed lunch, teabreak and dinners to all the soldiers. It was a hot day but I do enjoy the sun as I serve. Overall, although it was tiring but I enjoyed every moment of it serving. It was quite different from last time during my NSF days before when I would normally find it a drag to do all the work and somemore on Saturdays. Haha, however now I find it a joy to be able to serve and what more serve my country in preparing to celebrate her birthday.

It was close to the end of the day and it was almost time to pack up to go back camp. At this moment, I was doing a final check of my communication equipments before loading it into the mini bus. Suddenly, I found out that one of my ten chargers is missing! I was shocked and was looking for it at every spot which I might have placed it but alas it was not found anywhere. While searching, my mind was thinking of all the scenarios which may happen if this charger is reported loss.

On the way back to my camp, I was praying to God. I recognised Him as a Sovereign God who is always in control of all things. Surely, I know He is control of my current situation. After I had prayed that prayer for the missing charger, I free my mind from worrying and look forward to His Godly timing where He will make a way out for me whether it is to be reported loss or it will be recovered.

After reaching camp, I did a thorough search for the missing charger and even searched the mini bus. However, it is still not to be found anywhere. No choice, I have to dismiss all the storemen now and leave all things to God. Before I did that, I made a final call to one of the warrant officers which I have loaned out the charger to and I knew from my superior that he is also helping me to look for it in his base. Who will know that this warrant officer replied me over the phone that he has found the missing charger! Actually, it was dropped into his ops box accidentally and he will pass me back on Monday in camp. Thank God! He has indeed shown His Sovereignty over all matters.

This experience for me has allowed me to know the presence of God everywhere and He listens to our prayers but answers them in His own Godly timing. =)

Busy

Busy in army. Got things to do and at the same time, I think I will be spending less time online. Furthermore, my saturdays may be burnt up because of NDP. Brothers, bear with me for a while as I gather my thoughts and pen it down in this blog.

Haha, you can stop coming here for the time being cos there will not be any major updates as of now. However, pls do pray for me that I will be living a pure and honorable life in front of my Father. Thanks, brothers. =)