Everybody, this blog will officially close on the 1st of January as it "shifts" to the new site, Life's Legalities: The Website and where a new weblog has been set up. Just click on the link and "transport" yourself to the new website! peace and I'll see you all there!
I think I am close to scoring 3000 hits by the end of the 31st of December (Malaysian time, +8 GMT) but of course, I'll be in church at that time. So if you are the 3000th visitor to this site, please state your name and "time-of-hit" in Malaysian time on the tagboard. It'll be cool to find out who my 3000th "hitter" would be. Two more days (including today) before Life's Legalities: The Website is launched. Its not like its going to be super happening. I obviously don't have the time and money to make a powerful website to challenge the likes of Joshua Tan's blog (link to his blog is found at the side), but I try my best with whatever website knowledge I have. Anyway, do wait in "eager anticipation" as much as you can. I can't promise to deliver much, but I promise it will help enrich your life to a certain (maybe little, but hey) extent. In fact, most of the website (while still in construction) is already up online. So if you can master your skills of internet surfing, you just might find it. If you do, congratulations! My assignment is still not done. I'll have to spend the rest of tomorrow finishing it together with other stuff. I'll let my bros get a load of Return Of The King tomorrow. They deserve it. More driving to come. Its the first time I'm actually enjoying the driving classes and looking forward to the next one. We'll see how long the anticipation and excitement will last. For now, I'll just relish on the fact that I can drive! Less than a week to go before classes resume. I start class on the uneventful day of the 3rd of January. A Saturday, while most school students only start the following Monday. What a life. Till then, peace and blessings.
I am success-driven. Okay, that was not the best term to use, but hey, I'm getting the hang of the car. The instructor stopped halfway on the way to the circuit and asked me to take over. Driving on the road, I must say, is very simple. Of course, its good to have your instructor by the side, and the brake pedal with him too, but it was good to be able to feel the car very well. I drove the rest of the way to the circuit, where he taught me how to do the parking and slope tests. Then I went through the 3-point turn. I did these three manouvers three rounds and I think I've got the hang of it quite well. Then he asked me if I wanted to drive home. What more to end the day by saying "yes"! It was really cool, cause I also got to drive on the highway, and learn to manouver the car on the road. Of course, I only stayed on the slow lane of the road but it was all good. My next class on Wednesday will be on the road test. So I get to drive on the road more. By now, I think you can tell my excitement to get at the helm of the car. Feels good :) Two things were crucial in my success today. Firstly, God. Everything went well and all praise to Him. For the protection on the road, the ability to pick up what the instructor was saying, etc. Praise God! The other reason? My instructor. He spoke fluent English!! That was a real bonus for me, I managed to ask more questions, understand more and grasp what he was trying to explain. He was also very patient during all the times I stalled the car, but I'm picking it up well. Had time to talk with him while I was driving back about my law degree too. Cool, eh? And he'll be teaching me on Wednesday too, so no problem with the language barrier. Hallelujah! Really, all I needed to hear was when to use the clutch and when not to use it. After I understood, it was all easy going. The only time when the car stalls is when I forget either to release the brakes or if I released the clutch too fast. But no confusion whatsoever and I know my mistakes there and then. Well, good day today because I got to drive home. That was a real bonus..hehe Drive safely, people.
I had a good Christmas dinner last night, with my parents' cell group and some "additionals", including Josh Tan and Simon. Glad to have them around this year. After all the food and fellowship, the "leftovers" sat down to watch our midnight matinee: The Negotiator. I've seen this movie before, but its a good one to watch again. Very exciting, keeps you on your feet kind of movie. The big rule of engagement (negotiation, not the wedding ring) is this: Never say "no". It limits options :) I've finished two of my three assignments, so I'm pretty happy about that. It takes discipline to start working, but for me, once I've started, I won't stop till I'm done. I think that's what's good in my work. My problem is always the first hurdle, but I pick up momentum fast and will be able to continue till I'm finished with the work. One more assignment to go, I hope I can finish it by Saturday (tomorrow) so that I have the whole of next week off to do some work for my dad's ministry. Busy, busy, busy. Website update: Most of the work is up, although because I will be leaving the blogger service soon, setting up the blog on my website is taking a bit of time. Plus, I plan to put things up on the website that you can download, but I'm not familiar with things like these. So I gotta learn them real soon. I'm also looking into an ad-free forum service. Pray that I find one. Lastly, my driving classes will resume on Sunday evening for three hours and then next Wednesday for another three hours. Still thinking about my resolution for next year. What to do? What to achieve? Peace, people. God bless.
Here's a shout out to all Christian readers of this blog and to all my Christian friends all around the world: Marry Christmas!! Sorry, Merry Christmas :) To celebrate such an auspicious occasion, filled with the wonder of the love of God, here's what Linus of the Peanuts comic has to say. Click here. I've received many ecards from friends, here's my favourite: Jesus Humbled Himself (inspired by Max Lucado) The British newpaper, Guardian Unlimited, recently released the results of their second annual British Blog Awards 2003. Check out 17-year old Max Munton's A Teenager Blogs. There's some good designing and the thing he writes are pretty good for a 17-year old guy. I wanna send in my blog the next time the Asian Blog Awards are up. See how that goes. That will be next year, since they've already done the awards for this year. My exams ended okay, the only thing was I still had classes for the next two days. Party-pooper. Anyway, that was okay as well. I managed to get 19 friends for the Christmas presentation on Sunday night by my church. No salvations, and I don't really have any idea as to what they thought or whether it had made any impact. Hopefully, by prayer and petition, the seed would've been sown. I went through a lot of doubting and high moments of faith throughout the time of inviting them during the past weeks, and to see that none of them accepted Christ was disappointing. I'm learning to step out of that disappointment and continue to lead and show them Christ in my life. One more week before Project Romans starts. Looking forward to the new year and the challenges and excitement it will bring. Many desires, aspirations, dreams and hopes for the new year. Praying that God will take me on to higher heights in Him and to continue to be a powerful blessing and source of Godly influence in my college, CF and wherever else He places me. May you pray that same prayer in order that our world would be full of such Godly people who would illuminate the radiance of our God wherever that are and in whatever they do. Enjoy a God-filled, love-abounding and wholly exciting Christmas today!
Today's Public Law exam was okay. Not the best of the three (worst was Criminal Law) so far and there will be Contract Law tomorrow. Hoping to do good on this one. Has anyone else besides my brother seen the Lord of The Rings: Return Of The King? Anyway, I found this online: LOTR bloopers. If you have copies of any of the three movies, do check these out. They're interesting! Gaffes: Fellowship Of The Nitpickers Sorrylah, no sneak previews of the website. But that was a good suggestion. Maybe I'll try to show one or two within a few days before launching it. If someone can teach me Macromedia Flash, the sneak previews may be even more exciting! But yeah, otherwise, just visit the website on the 1st of January! My tickets for the Christmas production have reached the hands of two lecturers and another non-Christian friend, who is a Muslim. I actually run the risk of breaking Islamic law, as I was told. I had no idea that it was law not to "preach" to a Muslim, let alone that the law applied to me. Well, I'm just praying that it will turn out for good. Trying to hand out all the tickets by tomorrow, hopefully. One more paper and its over. Looking forward to it. For now, its dream world.
I've done a huge revamp on my website and here's the good news: it'll be launched on the 1st of January 2004. Nothing super big or fancy, just Life's Legalities on a bigger stage. It's costing me a bit (really, a bit only) but I hope it'll be a great blessing to everyone who reads it. Today's English Legal System was not a bad paper. I think I did okay. Tomorrow is Criminal Law and I must admit I haven't put too much effort into it. The problem is that we've only done a few elements sufficient for sparse questions. Anyway, I'll just work through what we've done to prepare for tomorrow. Then, I'm meeting my good friend. Oh yeah, just a thought. I realised that there are two "seasons" for meeting up with good old friends. One is during the middle of the year, when all people in the northern hemisphere return. All the law students in the UK, medic students in Russia and Ireland and from wherever else north they may come from. The other "season" is now, the end-of-the-year part where all from the southern hemisphere suddenly pop out back in their motherland. All the medic and "everything else" students in Australia, psycho students from New Zealand and the sparse ones who get lost in Argentina reappear during this time. Also, all the local Malaysian students on holiday. No wonder I've got meetings with old friends so many times during these periods. God bless them all! Nothing much to say now. I'm stumped. I think I'll just knock off and hit the sack real soon. Tired. Good night!
Saddam Hussein has been captured. Big news. While world No. 1 terrorist Osama bin Laden is still missing, capturing Mr. Hussein must have a been a big boost to US forces in Iraq. Let's pray no one else dies from the bombings and retaliation still present in Iraq, especially in the Tikrit area. I'm listening to Planetshakers' newest album, My King. Pretty good stuff there. Got it as a b'day present. A good friend from Kuching (studies in Australia, now on holiday) called me up. He's in KL now, so I'll probably meet up with him, although the mock exams are around. Its the friends - studies debate. He asks me to think long term. I guess he's right to a certain extent. So I'll put less concentration on one of these days to accomodate a "meet-my-friend" session. But no skipping exams, that's for sure. I had a great time yesterday in pastor's house for a debrief on E03 by all the Power Games facilitators. We had a good time watching videos of our work (and some funny ones too) and an awesome time sharing about how God had worked in our lives through the conference and through our service in E03. Praise God. I was the youngest in the team and we only had two college students. The rest were working adults. So now I've got more big brothers and sisters in church. That's cool. One of the things that I've experienced and learnt the most which I will apply strongly in my life is really the whole idea of being champions: people who dream big dreams for God, who (at times with wisdom) will not take "no" for an answer and just really serve God the way He wants us to. Look at the story of David and Goliath - the champion of Israel versus the uncircumcised Philistine champion. Even the Bible regards Goliath as a "champion". But a champion for God surpasses all other "champions". I'm taking this into my CF. I find that to make the CF a powerful channel of God's purpose and blessing in the college, we all need to be champions. We need to step out from fear, take possession of the college and really seek God's hand upon it. I find Christianity an idea hard to grasp in a law school as compared to other fields of study. I think the main reason is because law students are trained to think in a philosophical manner and subsequently are "brainwashed" with lessons of utilitarianism and "all men are born good" ideas. Due to the stark contrast to the "original sin" belief that shows our need for Christ, most students shun Him. But in the long run, I'm praying and seeking God for unprecedented revival in college. The Bible, the authoritative Word of God, is superior to any secular philosophy and belief and at the end of the day, it stands amid all forms of opposition. When we fill our halls and classrooms with the Word of God in our mouths, it is undefeated, its truth undeniable. And by living and practising the laws enshrined in the Word, we become champions. We stand for the Word in order not to fall for the world. Godly ATC champions will know their swords real well. And with it, they willingly and boldly stand for Christ and win our college to Christ (one reason why memorising Romans is so important). I used to think I was nuts to have such dreams - revival and lawyers-to-be becoming Christians. I won't take "no" for an answer now, that's for sure. I'm looking at the pre-resolution proceedings taking place in my mind and I won't be leaving this point out. Imagine Christian lawyers flooding the market. Standards are raised, belief and truth are defended, illuminated and resonated within the justice system. Many will become politicians, judges and top notch criminal lawyers. With Christ, we can turn the Malaysian justice system around! After all, some of our best lawyers are ATC graduates and many more will continue to graduate from here and become successful lawyers. At the end of the day, one of the main lessons I picked out was this: I want to be a champion for God in my college. Furthermore, champions don't do work on their own. They "build champions" in other people. We are called to be an army of God, not individual warriors on our own path. I want to build champions in my CF. People passionate for lost souls, passionate for the Word of God, passionate in doing His will in the college. You want to see revival happen? Come to Kemayan ATC. I was brought here "for such a time as this". All glory to God. "Stand for the Word or fall for the world" - E03 Power Games PS: I've put up some pics of E03 onto webshots. I couldn't take so many because of my running around during the conference, but these are some of the ones I have. Treasure the pictures, because my digital cam has died. Unless someone wants to buy me a new one... hehe.. God bless
I had a really good cell group (we're calling them "life groups" soon, I think) meeting last Friday. We went through a process of forming a Personal Vision Statement. There were some activities that we did in order to pick out what our interests, our passions and core values were. I did my statement and was quite surprised at how it turned out. Here it is: My vision is to defend, illuminate and resonate belief and truth into the justice system Its one of those activities where you find that the vision statement just "pop"s out and for me this was really surprising. Quite a confirmation, I must say, to some of the things that God has placed into my heart over the past two years especially having to do with my legal studies and an inclination to politics. Many things are still unconfirmed, but I feel that God is slowly opening me and preparing me to whatever He's got for me, and I'm not playing down the importance of the vision statement that was formed last night at the cell group meeting. Praise God. I've had an interesting birthday this year. This is the first time where so many people mistook my birthdate. One thought it was the 12th, and the whole Kemayan ATC CF thought it was on the 17th. That was really interesting. Anyway, the CF took me out for lunch today. At the restaurant, they sang the birthday song with a twist: "Happy birthday to (I stand up and say "me!" and then sit back down) Happy birthday to (I stand up and say "me!" and then sit back down) Happy birthday to (I stand up and say "me! me!" and then sit back down) Happy birthday to (I stand up and say "me!" and then sit back down)" That way, we got other restaurant customers clapping hands and having a good time looking at me make a fool of myself. You gotta do that once in a while..haha. For the last two sessions of class, we joined with a few other intakes and this CF friend from the July intake (I'm in the Sept. intake) told a few guys about my birthday. One of them actually almost went to write it up on the whiteboard in front of the class (another classmate's name had already gone up on the whiteboard because her b'day was today). Anyway, that was a nice gesture (and a funny one too). Someone came up to me to confirm whether I was born today just in case. And all these other fellas were strangers to me. Shows you how communal Kemayan ATC can be. Really, some of these guys are wonderfully cool and friendly. Actually, many of these guys are cool and friendly. I still get remarks that I'm too young. Am I? People think I'm older and then when i tell them I'm only 19, they look at me and suddenly I become their "little brother". Goodness. One sentence makes a whole difference. I've started asking friends (and their families) to come for my church's Christmas event. I asked one of my part time classmates (he's probably 30+ and with a wife and one-year-old daughter) to come for the event. I've also asked another part time classmate whom I'm trying to reach. He thinks I'm nuts to go to church on Sunday and forgo class when they clash. But I'll be praying hard for him (maybe interceding is the better word). He's receptive, I can sense that. There's another classmate and her family too, so my 25 tickets are slowly (but surely) being given out. I called another friend studying in TAR College and asked him to bring a friend along as well. I really feel proud to be part of the work of God in their lives, even if it costs me some money. This is my end-of-the-year evangelistic project, evangelism being something which I found quite lacking when I looked back at my resolution for 2003. But I'm praying hard that by the end of the year, I'll have more friends coming to know the Lord. I received an email from a friend in Cambridge who went for a church camp (with a senior, I think). He was really impressed with the fellowship of Christians and more so, their communion and relationship with God. He grasped the picture of Christianity, I believe. He did not convert, but I believe God's slowly moulding and changing him. All praise to the Big Guy. Another update on the Romans project. Officially, there are five people involved. I think one or two more will join. Don't worry, those who've contacted me or expressed willingness to join in will get an email from me soon. If you'd still like to join in, let me know. Deadline for "registration" is 20th December. In the meantime, I encourage those who've decided to take part to go through Romans. Just reading through it and familiarising yourself with the way Paul writes and the issues he covers. Because of the number of people joining and the "registration" deadline, the project might only start in January. That's a resolution for you right there! But anyway, also prepare yourself with prayer. Memorising Romans is a daunting task and only by the power of God can we do this. I'm looking at this whole project and the first picture that comes into my mind is climbing Mt. Everest. Its a daunting task, but with the help of God we shall be successful. The enemy won't like it, trust me. When we have the Word in our hearts and minds, we really are picking up our spiritual "sword", ready to wage war. We are in spiritual boot camp. And obviously, the enemy isn't happy. So pray, and pray hard. I'll be praying for all of you. Grace, peace and mercy to all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
National Service Malaysia's new move to build a society where racial differences are recognised yet not discriminated upon, where our young people are taught to stay out of trouble and make best use of their time. Where they are taught discipline, initiative, care and concern and do community service. For 3 months, (randomly) selected 17-year-old youths from across the country will come together in different boarding schools and universities to "bond" and set the standard for a harmonious society. They will engage in non-armed combat training, community service, team building activities and loads of other programmes in order (as the government aims) to build youths to impact and change the society for the better. Why am I saying all this? I have a 17-year-old brother. And whether it was good news or not, he was not chosen for national service. I think he'd fare well without it, he's quite a good boy as it is. Well, he'll still be around and going to college although I don't know what he will be studying. Then again, neither does he! While some of his friends end up running and marching and fixing vandalised public amenities, he'll be off embarking on a tertiary education, preparing him for working life. As for me, I had a good round of classes and discussions on the law (its interesting, as some of you may not believe). It has been a really refreshing and mentally stimulating day today, with all the legal discussion going round the class. Awesome stuff. More work to do tomorrow, so i'll sleep soon. Oh yes, happy birthday to two very good friends, Josh and Tim. May God bless you!
I had a great lunch today with some good friends from Kuching. Had time to catch up and see how they were doing, so that was cool. Been working busy (sort of) with my dad's newsletter for Christmas. It should be out by this week. Here's some updates: 1. Operation New Year Resolution has commenced. I've begun on reflection over the past year and then going to work on my resolution for next year. There have been some mess ups and successes, but on the overall, I think I did okay. Time to work on what needs to be worked on and go from there. 2. Mock exams!! I actually have a friend on JPA scholarship who asked me what mock exams were. You wanna know the secret to their success? Don't sit for mock exams. I'm kidding, honest. Anyway, next week is mock exam week, and just last Sunday, we had a lecturer from London who came and discouraged us from sitting for the mock exams because he didn't believe in the mock exams system. Oh well. 3. Christmas! Nothing much to say now, just that I'm still thinking about the 25 people I want to invite for my church's Christmas event. Praying that they will come to know the Lord too. 4. Linux. I know this won't appeal to many, but yeah, I'm thinking of using a new operating software called Linux (and maybe leave Microsoft Windows). Its probably my end of the year technology project. 5. Romans. Three friends have announced willingness to memorise the whole book of Romans. Still working on how to get that done and a process of checking and accountability. Any ideas? If you still want to join, do let me know. It'll be exciting! Besides the memorising bit, we will be doing Bible study on the book of Romans, so that whatever we read enters both our minds (the memory) and our hearts as well. 6. Website. If the Linux bit did not interest you, I found another webhost server that will provide some good webhosting for my website. I'm trying this one out. It may be better than my earlier geocities one, but I'm still checking on it. Maybe I might put up my website early next year. So many things to do now. Well, I gotta go now. Classes tomorrow. Stay in school and outta trouble, people..
I wanna wish everyone a very big THANK YOU! for all the wonderful birthday greetings. The phone calls (esp. the midnight wake-up calls), smses, ecards, emails, pat-on-the-backs, handshakes, prayers, food, gifts, and even one sms of a friend who wanted to become the last person to wish me "happy birthday" for the day. He was successful. Thanks for all the belated ones too! I got one as early as the 5th of December and some icq and msn messages too. Thanks for the thought, the love and the effort of remembering my birthday (even if you've used birthdayalarm.com. I use it too!). I totally appreciate all of it. Here are some interesting greetings I got: 1. "Hey kid! so u're 21 now eh?" (editor's note: I'm only 19, but thanks anyway!) 2. "How old are you now ah? 20?" (editor's note: same as above) Officially, I'm 19 years old (yeah, laugh). One of my part time classmates laments that I'm too young (he's 32), but he's one of my big bros there. He's the guy who sent the last b'day greeting of the day, at 11:58 pm, I think. I don't plan on hitting the big 2-0 anytime soon. Give me another 365 days (2004 is a leap year, so I get a day extra! haha) and I'll not be a "teen"ager anymore. I've got international greetings too. I got greetings from Japan, England and Canada too. Top that off with the many from KL and Kuching, its quite a number. Anyway, thank you to everyone. You've made it special and that's been awesome. God bless all of you.
The kids were all smiles today. The CF conducted its annual Christmas Care Campaign by getting students to buy gifts for children from Precious Children's Home. We had overwhelming response, to the point that each kid eventually got at least 3 gifts. The smiles spoke enough. We played games with them and after the whole ceremony, the kids went to the student lounge to sing some carols. After theirs was over, the CF took over and finished off today's carolling performance. Wonderful stuff. I reckon I see a lot of improvement in my voice. Some of my friends said I strained to reach some high note. I think I wasn't straining, honestly, but that was how it sounded. So I gotta work on that for tomorrow's performance. We had the deputy principal of Kemayan ATC (my contract law lecturer, someone I highly respect) to give a speech during today's Meet The Kids session. I liked what he said. He urged the CF to do more of this next year. Instead of once a year, he recommended two or three times a year. Furthermore, he suggested that ATC students go to these homes rather than have them come to our college. When I talked about blessing the college, this was exactly what I would love to hear. To top that off, our deputy principal is a non-Christian (who had once asked me to make an effort to skip church for the Sunday classes). That's impact. By prayer, we hope he may even come to know the Lord for himself! A lot of the sponsors of the kids' presents were students, but also many from lecturers, Christians and non-Christians alike. They were quite willing to spend time with them, play with them, do the "twist", "moo" like a cow, everything.. Awesome fun, but also just the idea that we've done something to bless the kids as well as our students and lecturers has been amazing. Praise God for that. Tomorrow, we will be carolling one more time. This time, I better drink a bit of water before singing. I didn't do that today. Silly me. Oh yeah, I've uploaded E03 pictures, but there are not that many. I also uploaded one picture of some work I did with Adobe Photoshop. Nothing much, just thought I'd put it up anyway. By the time you read this, some of the pictures from today's Christmas Care Campaign might be up already. So go ahead and have a look! Well, good day today, and praise be to God. Tomorrow's a big day, exciting one too. Looking forward............
I was at carolling practice today and because I sang my solo quite softly, I was "banished" to one corner of the room and told to sing from there. It was really funny, but it got my voice to get louder. So that helped. Two months of practice has finally ended. Tomorrow's the big day. Just something I wanted to share about carolling in ATC. I think there are some of you whom I've mentioned to before that I believe a CF should impact its "community", in this case, the college. When I mean "impact", I look at the ultimate goal of salvations, of evangelism. I don't neglect also the aspect of teaching and fellowship and building up the faith of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. What I see in this CF is a lack of impact. It flows from our attitude, our belief, our perspective. Whenever these things don't fall in line with a goal or theme of the CF, it goes haywire. Whatever it was that the CF lacked (which I won't delve much into), I prayed and asked God to just enable me to see what He wanted me to see and serve as He would want me to serve. Today was my first opportunity to see and act things God's way, I believe. I was asked to say the opening prayer before we started practice. But before I said the prayer, I just asked those who were in the practice, to just think about why they're doing this whole thing. What was our goal? Our mission? Was it salvation? A good time? I challenged the CFers (as best I could in that 2-3 minutes) to look at why we were doing this. Ultimately, we want to bless this college. We want to see people know and understand that God is moving and working in the college, and that we, as CFers are the "light and salt" of the college. We need to do more than just sing. We need to convey a message. A powerful message. I thank God for the opportunity to sing "Because He Lives" tomorrow and on Sunday. Of all the Christmas songs that we are going to sing, the gospel message is most evident in that song: God sent His Son They call Him Jesus He came to love, heal and forgive He lived and died To buy my pardon An empty grave is there to prove my Saviour lives Chorus: And because He lives I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know, I know He holds the future And life is worth the living just because He lives My other solo part are two lines in "Christmas Isn't Christmas": "So give your heart to Jesus You'll discover when you do..." You get my drift? Its both the gospel message and the proper response all put into my solo pieces. I'm only beginning to realise this. The burden, so to speak, is upon me now to convey the message as best I can in singing the two songs. That's the message the people need to hear. That's the message that should get across. I mentioned this (in a bit different detail) to the CFers before I began the opening prayer. Here, I pray that God will just do His mighty thing tomorrow. I believe He will. That takes faith, but without it, who am I? The CF needs to grasp this. In my honest opinion, I sense that ATC lacks God so desperately. Picking from the book of Esther, the CF is there "for such a time as this". Please pray for us and alongside us. There are many things that I feel God wants me to do in the CF (together with those who share the vision) and I need his guidance. I'm in no way saying that I'm the "saviour" of CF, that's not mine and God's intention. But rather, whatever God has put in me, I have an obligation to do as He wants me to. I've been enlisted into the up and coming committee (probably only starting mid-next year) but already will be attending my first CF committee meeting on the 20th of December. Here's my opportunity to get involved and do great things for God. I was a bit hesitant at the start, as some of you would know. I used to ask God to "hold me down" from doing anything until I get a good picture of the CF and what He wants me to do. The picture is beginning to show, and I think God has placed me (in no arrogant manner of speech) "for such a time as this". I ask for your prayers and for God's wisdom and discernment in order to serve Him well. Thank you. As much as I've shared with all of you, the present matter at hand is carolling. For that, keep us in prayer. We will address other issues as they come, in God's timing. Jesus loves you!
A friend asked me today, do you have to rush for an Air Asia seat? I said no, there is surely enough seats to go around. You may need to rush for a popular seat, but you're bound to have a seat at least. Here's the next sms I got, "Someone said you have to stand if there are no seats!" A little reminder for local travellers or would-be travellers: I believe it is against aviation law that passengers stand during a flight. Totally doesn't make sense and its absolutely dangerous. I know, Air Asia is a "no frills" airline, but it surely doesn't get as "frill"less as having to stand during the flight. Trust me. So for those who plan to use Air Asia, don't worry about seats. Worry more on things like what you're going to eat on the plane, because they don't give you free food. The toilets are free, that's not an issue too. If you want water, you gotta pay. And they are more than willing to sell you little souvenirs of your trip in Malaysia's only "no frills" airline. Enjoy your flying experience! I've got two wonderful assignments due in January, but because they help in my mock exams, I'm planning on finishing them by next week. I think its a bit too much, but I'll try out and see how. But the other reason is I like the lecturer who is doing our tutorials. She really makes things easy to understand and I like the subject anyway. Public Law - one of my favourites. I've got practice for Christmas carolling tomorrow and we'll be carolling on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, we have a team of kids from a children's home to come and carol as well. What we did was get college students to buy gifts for these kids and we're having a gift-presenting ceremony on Saturday for the kids. After we've given them the gifts, they will be carolling and then we will take over from there. I've got guitar-playing on both days and I'm working on my solos too. I've got a part in "Christmas isn't Christmas" and two weeks ago, they asked me to solo for "Because He Lives" (or some use the name "God Sent His Son"). I think I sing okay. It's not that happening, but anyway, will do my best. Anyway, practice and preparation for the big day will be done tomorrow. I've just started working with Adobe Illustrator lately and came up with some little design with the quote I told you guys last time on it. I think I can put it up on the webshots web site. I'll let you all know when I've done that. That way, you don't have to keep on clicking and waiting to see if I've put it up. Ok, I got to go now. I'll end with a phrase that I picked up from a friend from HELP and an avid blogger himself. Its not new to most of us, but it has more meaning than most people give it. Au revoir (goodbye and till we meet again)
Here's why I couldn't exactly get to coordinate the clutch and accelerator properly today: my instructor spoke in Cantonese. That's right. Cantonese. He couldn't speak in good English and I wasn't fluent in Mandarin, so for all God's intentions were, we spoke in Cantonese. That was as common as we could get, not that I'm that good in Cantonese either. But for all they were supposed to teach me today, I give him credit for explaining them as best he could. And I credit myself for being able to understand what he was saying. Praise God! I've officially done what it takes to get the "L" or "learner" license. Once that is processed, I can move on to do my driving practical work to get the probationary or "P" license. For now, I'm safe at home and all praise be to God! I actually knocked down one of those upright sticks during my 3-point turn practice but for the next two tries, I successfully did it. I'm still trying to get the hang of coordinating my brake, clutch and accelerator pedals. Most importantly, the clutch. But anyway, I applaud myself for a good first time drive. I think I was average, but hey, who's competing? I'm back to studies tomorrow, with tutorials in the afternoon. Oh, is there anyone game to memorise the whole book of Romans with me? Its my end-of-the-year project, but I bet it'll last me till next year as well. Well, if anyone is up for it, let me know. I'm using the NIV version. Starting tomorrow, I think. Well, that's about it for now. Keep the faith!
I'm going off for a practical driving class tomorrow. I wonder what they'll teach this time. I finished my public law assignment. Very relieved that its over. I hope there won't be anymore assignments until after the mock exams. Better yet, no assignments during my Christmas break. I've got so much to do in my hands already. I'm still listing out the 25 names for Christmas. Friends (and relatives) to invite for the Christmas event, non-Christians especially. I've got a few in mind and already praying for them. Hoping for more names as I continue to pray and seek God. Nothing much else happened today, except that I beat my dad in a game of carrom, so that was cool. I think it was a matter of being "in form" today, cause my dad isn't as bad in carrom as he was today. And I was quite well "in form" for a game of carrom. Ah well, I won. Not much to say today, I'm going off to bed. Good night.
Officially, my mum's birthday was yesterday, but I'm only putting up this blog entry today, 2nd of December. Anyway, happy birthday mum! Had a good dinner and durians tonight, so I'm pretty full. Chatting with a friend from E03 at the moment. Other than that, besides a fairly boring class today, I've had a great day. Rested well, although my assignment marks were not as great as expected. I'm pretty happy Chelsea won. At least, Arsenal is off the top rung for the moment. That's exciting news. Not so exciting news include the 14 people who died in a bus crash yesterday and the recent China earthquake that killed 8. One of Asia's best debaters, Mark, from Mahidol University also passed away, and it has been proposed that the Best Speaker Challenge Trophy for the Asians Inter-Varsity Debating Championship be named after him. Cool, huh? But still, yesterday was a great day, because my mum was born on that day. I found a series of great articles from Boundless. Read them here: Human Clay: Thoughts On Spiritual Poverty Truth In A Broken World, Part One Truth In A Broken World, Part Two: Back To The Potter's Wheel Truth In A Broken World, Part Three: Response To Jessica Inman Read them one by one in the order given. Its like a conversation in essay format. Goodnight (actually, good morning!)
Wow I've never been to a conference so uplifiting and energising as Power E03 Conference. All glory to God. I've learnt many things, but just to highlight a few, Ps. Nick Resce talked on the importance of obedience (based on Saul's disobedience and the famous phrase "obedience is better than sacrifice"), the growth of New Age and how to overcome it and Ps. Victor Wong on a humourous but educational sex talk. On Saturday, the delegates went out to the community to serve. Salvations took place, and great miracles were wrought. If you remember the incident in Luke 10 where Jesus sent out the 72, the same was taking place, just that it was about 483 people, a far cry from 72, but a powerful prophetic act over the nation of Malaysia as buses after buses left SIB KL into the community. I heard a paralysed man was healed, and many salvations were received in the hospital visitations and in the Petaling Street party, where a party was held for drug addicts and the homeless in Petaling Street, very near my college. Power Games was a huge success, I must say. I congratulate my Power Games manager, big brother (and grand "senior", since he was from the same college as I am in now) Kelvin Ng, for his encouragement and support. It was great working with you! Also to Jade, and the facilitators in The Light, Carmen, Katherina and the gang in The Drama, and Rodney and the team in The Puzzle. Big thanks to our trainer Aunty Pauline and Ps. Lee Choo, you guys are amazing! I've made good friends with an A levels student (A level-ers click very well) and really, its a small world. The two night concerts were also amazing stuff, with salvations and people just seeking and hunger-ing after God. Exciting music, powerful presence of God and truly memorable moments together with the people of God. Worshipping with a real enthusiasm, praising with a magnificent God in our minds. Awesome. Ps. Nick prophesied a powerful youth movement that will erupt from this conference. In the days to come, let's gather together and brace ourselves for an awesome move of God. I'm pumped up. Malachi 4:6 was also a defining verse in the conference. Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Ps. Nick talked on a generational blessing, and a solemn moment where forgiveness was shared by both fathers and children. Truly, as the verse in Malachi states, God will spare us the curse He warned us of. Instead, a blessing will flow as a result of the closing of the gap. He talked about the Gen-Ys (under 18) and Gen-Xs (18-37), about the baby boomers (38-57) and the "builders" (58 and above) and how a strong church needs all four of these generations to grow and be blessed. It was a really important and solemn time on the third day when we went through a symbolic act of asking for forgiveness from our fathers and for our fathers to ask for our forgiveness. A powerful conference would spill its effect into our nation. That's a truth. And as a result, throughout the conference, since the first night, the delegates would pray for our nation and cry out to God that His hand would continue to bless this nation. We prayed for our political leaders, we prayed for continued freedom of worship, we prayed for revival. Hatiku rindu, melihat kemuliaanMu Hatiku rindu, melihat curahan kuasaMu Di tanah tercinta, negara Malaysia Ku berdoa Malaysia, penuh kemuliaanMu Malaysia bagi kemuliaanMu I cried as I sang this song. God has put such a hunger in our hearts to see our nation won for Christ. Let's get on and do something about it. Next up is SIB's Christmas event. I'm targetting 25 people to invite. Its big, but i'm going to do it nevertheless. Start praying and fasting! Wow
