What is Your Understanding on Miracle?

I came back from Kota Kinabalu on Friday falling sick. But I couldn't really rest as I needed to catch up on some work, prepare for MPC (Marriage Preparation Course) on Saturday and prepare for prayer & service leading on Sunday. My parents were also around in Singapore thus it was important that I spent time with them as much as I could.

At a point of time I was wondering about my time management. My parents are usually around in Singapore after LC. I knew this fact well. But why didn't I swap my MPC or/and service leading slots with others? I was wondering about this for awhile. Anyway, there was no time to be indulged in self pity. I just had to do what I could.

Interestingly, several other things went wrong:

* I couldn't find one of my MPC lessons' notes. I needed to redo that lesson all over again.

* My office laptop somehow couldn't project out the slides for the MPC lesson.

* The hard disk of our laptop at home crashed. This is the only computer at home that can be connected to a printer. It means that I couldn't print my script for my service leading.

* I was quite busy during LC thus spent very little time with them during LC. How would they feel that even after LC I couldn't spend time with them still?

However God was good. He gave me a miracle.

* I redid the missing MPC lesson notes pretty quickly. Somehow, I remembered the details in the missing notes quite well.

* Simon was in church office (the MPC venue) on Saturday and he somehow brought his brand new laptop with him. He kindly lent me his notebook for the MPC lesson. It worked wonderfully.

* Cui Qin, our neigbour, kindly helped me print the documents I needed for Sunday. She actually went out from her house to meet me in a bus stop to pass me the documents on Saturday after midnight.

* My parents were very understanding and supportive. They didn't say a single word of complaint about my lack of availability to spend time them. (I spent time with them last night. I am spending the majority of today with them as well)

* Lean Choo, my wife, was extremely supportive throughout the weekend. She is usually supportive but she was extremely supportive during the weekend. She actually felt very bad that she couldn't do very much to help me with what I had to do.

* When I went to see a doctor in after MPC the queue was so short. I completed my visit very quickly. I usually go to this same clinic and they usually have a long queue.

* God gave me the strength to go through MPC teaching on Sat. My mind was pretty clear and engaged throughout. On Sun, I could woke very early despite the fact that I was sick and slept late. I arrived in Nexus by 7.30am for the prayer meeting before the pre-service prayer meeting. God gave me the strength for prayer leading and for the service leading in both services as well. Immediately after the second service chairing I felt quite weak and couldn't focus very much listening to the sermon. The drop of fitness and energy level came at the right time, meaning after I had completed what I had to do.

I want to thank God for the mini miracle He gave over the weekend.

This incident has taught me a lesson as well. Many times when we ask God for a miracle we have a pre-conceived idea on how God will perform the miracle. But the Bible tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. (Isaiah 55)

Have you been praying for a miracle? What is your understanding on miracle today? Are you limiting God by that understanding? Perhaps God has given you the miracle that you are asking for but it is in His way and not your way. If this is indeed the case, would care to notice it and would you join me to give thanks to God for loving us and for giving us the miracle?

Back from Kota Kinabalu

Lean Choo and I just came back yesterday from Kota Kinabalu for our quarterly Leadership Conference. There are many things that I can write about this trip which I will do so a little later on.

For now I need to focus on my MPC teaching in the afternoon and service leading preparation tomorrow. Also, as my parents are around in Singapore I hope to be able to spend as much time as possible with them in the next few days.

For now I also need to focus on getting well as somehow I fell sick yesterday. I seldom fall sick but recently I have been falling sick a little more often. I know what I should do. It is a matter of really getting it done.

The conclusion of the matter is that I will write more soon.

God be with you everyone. :)

some random thoughts

It's around 2am on Sunday morning (Saturday after midnight) and I am still awake.

Here are some random thoughts:

Thought no 1:
I had a good time worshipping God and praying at around 11-11.30pm just now. After some time I picked up the guitar again and started playing it to aid my worship time. My guitar skill is really on the average side. Nowadays I only use it if there is an emergency (e.g. nobody is playing guitar for a small group meeting). But I believe that one reason God gave me the ability to play guitar is for my personal worship time. I was very much strengthened after that time of worship and prayer. I was feeling very tired before that and yesterday.

Thought no 2
I was browsing my blog setting menu to see if I can install a chat box in my blog. I couldn't seem to find it. If anyone knows how to do it, do let me know. Thanks in advance. :)

Thought no 3
I am thinking about tomorrow. Our service and the different activities related to it. I am convinced that we must never approach Sunday service or any service just as something we need to attend. God wants to move in midst as we come together in His name. We must have that anticipation. We must have that expectation. When God invade us by His presence things are bound to happen. Hearts are bound to be touched. Lives are bound to be transformed. Miracles are bound to happen. Actions are bound to follow long after the service is over. "Lord, please grant us an unstoppable momentum of growth, in quality and quantity. God, we want more of You. We need more of you."

Thought no 4
Roger Federer lost once again. It was a close match though. Overall, he has been playing better than the first few months of this year. So that's the positive. Tomorrow is the title decider for EPL. Can Man U beat Wigan? Well, I hope so.

Thought no 5
It is time to sleep. Good night! :)

Three Great YA Events

There were three great young adults events last weekend. I was a happy participant in those three events.

The first event started on Sat morning, 10am. Jacqueline, our district intercessory coordinator, and her team came to pray and intercede together for the district and beyond. They meet once a month. On top of that the intercessors are rostered on different days to pray. I joined them for the first time last Sat. I wanted to joined them earlier but the clash of schedules didn't allow it to happen. We had a great time worshipping and praying. Jacqueline also shared a ministering and convicting lesson on prayer.

I want to take this opportunity to affirm Jacqueline and her team. Many times to be an intercessor is a thankless job. However, I want to assure them that they are indeed a shareholder in every victory, every salvation, every life transformation experienced as a result of the prayer and intercession. Though often nobody knows their labour God knows and He is pleased with them. Keep up the good work and keep praying our dear intercessors. We really need it. :)

The second event happenned in the afternoon. At a very cool place in Singapore a cool event was held. It was our very first installment of our career mentoring seminars, Office Politics and U (Part 1). As I talked to various participants of the seminar they told me that what was shared was indeed very useful for them.

I want to affirm May Hoong, her team and Eugene Phang for a job well-done last Saturday afternoon. Indeed it is our desire to see more and more young adults in our midst making a great impact in their workplaces. Last Saturday event was a definitely a very good step in the right direction.
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A COMMERCIAL BREAK: The next FYA seminar is on Office Politics & U (Part 2). It will be held on Sat, 26 June at the same time possibly at the same cool venue, the Verandah Cafe. :)

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The third event, Metamorphosis, happenned on Sunday afternoon at a cool function room in a cool condominium not too far away from Orchard area. Metamorphosis is our party to celebrate with our new belivers and rededicates. My congratulations again to Liling, Chris, Timothy, Han Wen, Jean, Siang Wei and John. Your decision to embrace or re-embrace Jesus into your life is the coolest and best decision you can ever make in your life.

Siang Wei shared his testimony that afternoon. It was powerful. His simple faith in God really moved the hands of God. It is always refreshing to hear such testimonies especially coming from somebody who just got to know Christ this Easter. Keep trusting and growing bro!

I must thank Stefanie Gui & Jinqi and their team for coordinating the party. Thank you for serving the new believers, the rededicates and all of us.

I have a confession to make. We actually forgot to take photos of the event. Below are some photos that were taken after the event was over. Half of the people had left by that time. We will take photos earlier the next round.

A Memorable 7 days

The last 7 days have been pretty memorable for me. It started with Saturday. For the first time I was preaching 3 back-to-back full sermons within a day. At the end of 2006 I co-preached with Ps Jeff 4 back-to-back sermons over Saturday and Sunday but it was only for one point and not a full sermon.

It started with the 1st youth service then the 2nd youth service then the tertiary service. I was a little tired during the Tertiary service but it was still managable. Interestingly, it wasn't as bad as I expected (preaching 3 back-to-back sermons). However, I can now identify a little bit with what Ps Ben and Ps Jeff go through for many weekends. Ps Ben & Ps Jeff, if you are reading this I just want to let you know that I appreciate you both much. :)

It is my privilege to be among the younger ones. They are indeed the future of our church. They are God's future leaders for Singapore and the nations. I genuinely like my younger brothers and sisters in youth and tertiary service. They are warm, friendly and enthusiastic for God. I pray that they will continue to grow in their walk with God. I pray that they will embrace the wonderful plan and purpose God has for each one of them in an increasing measure.

Besides Service Sunday was a day filled with quite a number of meetings. Over the years I have come to appreciate the importance of having regular DMM meetings. However, over the years I have learned the importance of doing those meetings more effectively as well. One memorable meeting was my meeting with Danny & May Hoong. Their units joined our district in mid Feb. Initially I took time to get to know the people and observe how they did various things. After some months of doing that last Sunday I shared some of my thoughts about some things they could consider doing or doing differently. It has been a very pleasant experience for me to serve alongside Danny & May Hoong. They are such nice people and leaders. :)

On Monday I had some extended time with some individuals. Ps Jeff spent time with me in the afternoon. At night I met up with CN and Christine. They are leading the JEDI ministry in our church. This couple is really one couple who is truly all out in serving God with all their might and strength. They are really a great role model to others around them and others under their care. May God continue to add to them and their ministry.

On Tuesday, I was teaching a WFL lesson for my district. As a district we are covering a Faith Church material. The WFL committee loved me so much that they asked me to teach three lessons within one session. :) Though it was quite a tough task I thank God for helping me through it. During the lesson I was trying to illustrate about the importance to have a valid object of faith by running to Nexus wall and bang my body against it. Unfortunately, I bang my body a little bit too hard that I felt some pain on it. Next time, I must do it more calculatively. It will be quite silly to injure my body unneccesarily. Also, I should have also mentioned to the people that they should never tried the stunt at home. :)

On Wednesday, some of us, Lean Choo and I were meeting Ps Jeff and Claudia for our regular meeting. They brought us to this pretty nice venue, NTU Alumni house. The ambience and the facilities of the place are pretty cool and attractive. We can definitely use some of their facilities for some YA events in the near future.

Thursday was a public holiday. We had some guests at our house. We had a great time with Tony, Gabriel, Sarah and Jinghe. We talked over snacks and played the Citadels. It was really easy to connect with them. Thanks guys for gracing our home and for the fun time together. :)

Today (Friday) I met and got to know a brother and three sisters from Hope LA. Tonight they were joining one of our YA care group meetings. I will be bringing them to join some various activities on Sunday. It is always good to connect to our international family one way or another.

I thank God for a memorable 7 days.

Before I sign of, my wife reminded me today to put photos in my blog. I guess I have not been doing that in my last several blog entries. As the wise shall listen to others especially when someone is your wife I will just do that in my next blog entry. :)

Failures

In the school of life we do experience failures from time to time. Not too long ago I was reading a short chapter on responding to failures. Below are some Scriptures and quotes from that short chapter.

It is good to deposit these words into our hearts and minds so that we can put any failure in a proper perspective.

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the great twilight that knows not victory or defeat."

"Experience is hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." ---Vernon Sanders

"You don't drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there." ---Ed Cole

"The best way to go on after a failure is to learn the lesson and forget the details." --- John Mason

"A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance." Proverbs 28:13 (TLB)

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighted in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." Psalm 37:23-24

A Day at Home

I started to feel unwell on Tuesday. It became worse yesterday and this morning. As a result I spent a day at home today resting. I am much better now.

I took time to watch a teaching about the law of the teacher. I am greatly challenged by it. The speaker spoke with great conviction. He exhorted the audience not to bore people with the Word of God. According to him it is a crime to do so. He also defined the law of the teacher very simply "if you stop growing today you stop teaching tomorrow".

Indeed it is a great privilege to be able to teach the Word of God. It is my responsibility to give my best to this task to do justice to the unsearchable riches of the Word. As I reflected on my recent experiences I must admit that there are times I feel a little tired of teaching. This is not because I do not enjoy teaching. This is due to the rush in preparing for the various lessons I have been given the privilege to teach. For example when I look at my calendar I see 5 consecutive Tuesday nights full of teachings starting this week. This is not considering the other days of the week and the fact that Tuesday is normally a quiet day for me for any kind of teaching/sharing.

Thus I thank God for the challenge, encouragement and reminder given to me through the teaching I watched today. May God help me as I am making some commitments in my heart. Firstly, I am committed to never stop learning and growing. Secondly, I am committed not to bore people with the Word of God to the best of my ability. My best may not be enough but I must give my best.

Before I sign off, I want to be continually reminded of the following Scripture and quote.

"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." 2 Timothy 2:2 (NIV)

"I would rather have my students drink from a running stream than from a stagnant pool." A Professor

Thank God for Care Groups

This week I had the opportunity and privilege to join ten different care groups. It started on Wednesday night where I joined JEDI care group meeting. The care group meeting was held at CN & Christine's place. That night was also their house dedication ceremony.

It was great seeing younger worship leaders emerging. Tian Tian was leading worship that night. Her choice of songs were clearly appealing to the younger adults (YYY generation).

CN & Christine also spent some time affirming different individuals and cast the direction for the quarter 2.

God has been good to them. May God continue to add to the JEDI tribe in the days to come!

On Thursday, six care groups came together to have a sub district cg meeting. May Hoong was in charge of the care group. Adam was chairing and Danny was worship leading. I did the sharing. Adam chaired the care group meeting creatively. He shared a powerful testimony about how God blessed him with around 4 months of bonus as he and his wife put God first even in the area of finance. Danny was natural in leading worship.

I regret that I forgot to take some photos of the care group meeting. Instead let me share with you this picture (taken from somewhere in the internet) that I showed that night. One silly thought that I had about this picture is that "even cats believe in care group."

On Friday, I joined Eugene Chong & Jacqueline's unit care group. The care group meeting was held at Marc & Theresa's place. It was my first time going to their house. They just got married end of last year. It was a good care group meeting. There were two discussion groups. Marc prepared and led the discussion group well. Robert was very creative in how he did his discussion leading.

After care group meeting some of us went to have dinner/supper together at Hongkong Cafe near IKEA. The ambience of the place was good. Indeed good ambience made a difference. We had a good time fellowshipping with one another till around midnight. I only have the picture of the guys. The girls sat somewhere else as the place was pretty crowded.


It always brings me joy to be able to join care group meetings. I always end up leaving the care group meeting feeling refreshed one way or another. Thank God for care groups.

May God continue to help all of us to do better and better in cg life and cg meeting as such that more and more people will give thanks to God for care groups. Amen!

Being God-Conscious

Read a good story in one book this morning. It is a good reminder on the importance of being God-conscious rather than man-conscious. Indeed, often it is not that God doesn't want to move. He is waiting for someone willing to be used as His instrument.

A man was once flying from Atlanta to Dallas, and it so happened that in the seat next to him there was a little girl with Down's syndrome. After a while she turned to him and said, 'Do you smoke?' 'No,' he said, 'I don't smoke.'

'That's good,' she said, 'My mummy says you shouldn't smoke.' Then she pointed to the businessman who was sitting the other side of him and said, 'Does he smoke?'

The man was naturally rather embarassed by this, but he thought he ought to humour her, so he asked the businessman sitting next to him, 'Excuse me, but do you smoke?' 'No,' he said. 'That's good,' said the girl.

There was a little bit of pause, and then a few minutes later the little girl said, 'Do you love Jesus?'

'Yes,' the man replied, 'As a matter of fact I do love Jesus.'

'That's good,' she said. 'Everyone should love Jesus.' And then it suddenly dawned on him what she was going to say next. And he hunched down in his seat and hoped against hope that she wouldn't. But she did. 'That man next to you,' she said, 'does he love Jesus?' So he swallowed hard, and turned to the businessman sitting next to him, and asked him.

And with a tear in his eye the man replied, 'Do you know, I've been wanting someone to ask me that for a long time.'

And so Milton Cunningham, who was a preacher on his way to speak at a seminary in Dallas, led that businessman to Christ there on that aeroplane, all thanks to a little girl's utter of self-consciousness.

cholesterol

I had been postponing doing a health check up because it involved taking my blood. I don't mind to give away my blood. The problem is the instrument of needle that has to enter my body.

I had a breakthrough a few weeks ago. Together with some other colleagues I did it.

Last week I collected the result of the check up.

Thank God that everything was okay except for one little problem. My cholesterol was on the high side. According to the doctor my cholesterol level was moderately high. He advised me to modify my diet, exercise and see if it will go down.

Today I did some research on cholesterol. One interesting finding was about top five foods that can help reduce cholesterol level.

They are:

1. Oat for Soluble Fiber

2. Fish for Omega 3 Fatty Acids

3. Nuts for Healthy Fats

4. Foods fortifed with Plant Sterols

5. Soy

For those who are interested more details can be found on the following website: http://www.healthcastle.com/foods_lower_cholesterol.shtml

I guess it is time for me to eat more of those foods. Perhaps some of you need to join me as well. I trust that oat doesn't taste that bad. :)

It is going down and up again

Watching it going down brings satisfaction. Watching it going up again brings pain. Yes, I am talking about my weight.

At the end of February I was around 78 kg. Not too long after that it became 77 plus kg. Then it became 77 kg. After that it was 76.5 kg. The exercise was working. :)

However, the last two readings were not so encouraging. The last reading was taken today and it brought pain.

My conclusion is as below:

1. Going to gym once a week is not enough to bring it down. When it was going down I believe I was going to gym more than once a week.

2. Chips and chocolates are very fattenning. Recently, I have been eating these two weight boosters quite a bit.

3. Eating late at night is dangerous. I have been doing this quite often lately as well.

Well, the war is ongoing. Exercising frequently and staying away from eating weight boosters are compulsory if I am going to win this war.

May God help me and other weight watchers out there! :)

When God Moves

As believers we know that it is never about having a religion. Christianity is about having a personal and intimate relationship with God. It is about having an adventure with God. God decides what the adventure is and when we partner with Him the adventure becomes very exciting.

Last Sunday was one of such exciting times. It was our Easter Service. Some of us were praying and fasting for God to move on Sunday. I was chairing the service on Sunday. When I arrived in the auditorium at around 7.45am and joined the prayer meeting I could sense the excitement of those who were on duty for the event. I think it was after the first service, I was backstage, when I sensed God speaking into my heart distinctly that the district I am part of was going to receive some harvest of souls that day.

During the altar call of the second service I went up to the stage just to standby. I kept praying as I knew that it was an important moment. I was touched and elated when I saw the first three people going to the front to receive Jesus into their lives were from the district I am part of. We did receive some harvest of souls that day. I may not heard all of the stories. But as far as I know there were around 6-7 friends responding to Jesus from the district on Sunday. I wrote "6-7" as one friend said the sinner's prayer aloud but she seemed to be unsure about her decision. Please pray for her.

It is so exciting to see how God moves. When God moves lives are transformed and hearts are encouraged. When God moves we are humbled, left in awe and acknowledge that God is indeed God. I am thankful to be able to be a part of this exciting adventure.

I want to take this opportunity to thank those who have laboured one way or another for our Easter outreach. Some of you sang, some of you acted, some of you handled the technical aspects of the service, some of you worked on the deco, some of you ushered, some of you interceded, some of you invited friends, some of you befriended and hosted visitors, some of you are meeting up with the new believers some time this week. Whatever you role is, "Thank you for doing it faithfully and for doing it well." It has been my joy to be able to serve together with you. Indeed it is a privilege to be part of the family of God.

I really believe that we are going to see God moving powerfully in the YA ministry and in the lives of different individuals this year. I want to get ready. I invite you to get ready as well.

"Thank you God. It was so exciting being there when You moved."

Faith Instead of Doubt

This morning I had a good time with friends from NG1 sub district. It was our first time meeting up as a new sub district. Actually, I am the new kid in the block. They have been together for some time. I want to thank them for welcoming me in their midst.

Later on we had our first Easter ESS service. It was good to see new friends in our midst. It was also good to see more of us in the district participated actively with the Adults services.

In the afternoon, Lean Choo and I hosted Kajin and Uli from Hope Germany for lunch. Consider us as boring but we did bring them to try out Ayam Penyet. :) We had a good time with them. I am inspired by the couple's commitment in pioneering new local churches. Indeed, they really personalise the vision that God has given to our Hope movement.

In this season of outreach there is a poem that I want to constantly remember. The poem really inspires me to continue flame faith within my heart. Indeed, God is pleased when I allow faith instead of doubt to rule my heart and life.

The poem is below:

Doubt sees the obstacles
Faith sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night
Faith sees the day.
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions “who believes?”
Faith answers “I”
--- Anonymous

In this season of Easter outreach I choose to believe the Word that the harvest is plentiful. May God use all of us as His instrument to touch a few more lives with the love of Jesus even this Easter season!

Project 99 Good Men

My apologies for those who have been waiting for this blog entry.

As promised, I am doing this blog entry for at least 3 purposes:
*To encourage more people to go for Thai Camp
*To answer more queries about Thai Camp related matters
*As a place where people can submit their entries for the one free ticket to Bangkok

If you are considering to go to Thai Camp but yet to decide I want to let you know that the registration is still open. It is true that the early bird registration is over. But the normal registration is only around $20 more expensive. The late registration is around $28 more expensive than the normal registration.

If you have more queries on Thai Camp matters please feel free to post your questions on the "comment" section. Otherwise, please feel free to write or call our Project 99 consultants:
Mr. Kam Weng at kwwong@hopesingapore.org.sg or 90257736
Mr. Eugene Chong at agape_love07@yahoo.com or 94774227

Now, for the entries for the ONE FREE RETURN TICKET TO BANGKOK (Up to the amount of $160) here are the names so far:
1. Jinqi Ang
2. Tamar
3. Elaine
4. Hendra
5. Edward
6. Gerald
7. Jiay Huey
8. Xin Hua
9. Wei Lin
10. Clarence Ng
11. Ziying
12. Robert
13. Sam
14. Deborah
15. Ray
16. Florence Neo
17. Bairang
18. Florence Chee
19. Raymond Phua
20. Kam Weng
21. Paul
22. Neo Zhi Ge
23. Simon Tan
24. Penny Poon
25. Gerald Lee

Please forgive me if I miss your name and please let me know about it so that I can add you in.

We will draw for the winner during our next combined care group in May.

Any more takers for Project 99 Good Men? :)

Visioneering

I have been reading "Visioneering" by Andy Stanley on and off since some time last year.

Fenny gave me the book as my birthday present. Thanks Fenny. :)

Today I finally managed to finish reading it. This is a very good book. It should make it to my top 20 or even top 10 list.

In order to help me remember what I have learned and to help me create a new blog entry below is the summary of the lessons found in the book.

1. A vision begins as a concern.

2. A vision does not necessarily require immediate action.

3. Pray for opportunities and plan as if you expect God to answer your prayers.

4. God is using your circumstances to position & prepare you to accomplish His vision for your life.

5. What God originates, He orchestrates.

6. Walk before you talk; investigate before you initiate.

7. Communicate your vision as a solution to a problem that must be addressed immediately.

8. Cast your vision to the appropriate people at the appropriate time.

9. Don't expect others to take greater risk or make greater sacrifices than you have.

10. Don't confuse your plans with God's vision.

11. Visions are refined - they don't change; plans are revised -they rarely stay the same.

12 Respond to criticsm with prayer; remembrance, and if necessary, a revision of the plan.

13. Visions thrive in an environment of unity, they die in an environment of division.

14. Abandon the vision before you abandon your moral authority.

15. Don't get distracted.

16. There is divine potential in all you envision to do.

17. The end of a God-ordained vision is God.

18. Maintaining a vision requires adherence to a set of core beliefs and behaviours.

19. Visions require constant attention.

20. Maintaining a vision requires bold leadership.

My Favourite CNY Photo

I don't have the habit of taking photos during Chinese New Year (CNY). This year is no different.

However, the church staff family went to have a CNY lunch at a Thai restaurant in Parkway Parade last friday. During the lunch Yin San went around happily taking photos. Below is one of the them. This would be my favourite CNY 2008 photo. I think I do look like a super slim bull. :)

Starting a Journey of Reading, Reflecting & Retelling

I am currently starting a journey of reading, reflecting and retelling (sharing my reflection). This is as the group I am part of (AG1 of Hope Singapore) is starting a 40-day (or more) YA discipleship campaign. My material for this discipleship campaign is "Devotions for Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life" by Charles R Swindoll.

I actually started my reading last week. But let me just consider yesterday as day 1. Yesterday, from the book, I read a chapter on the topic of patience. The title of the reading is "Impatience". Below is my reflection for the reading.

The chapter talks about how impatient we can be in our daily life (e.g. facing long queue, traffic jam, flight delay, etc) In short, we don't like delay. We want what we want when we want it.

Swindoll points out that the pre-believing people around us (in our daily life) do not care or impressed by our Bible knowledge. But they do take note of our attitude that includes patience or impatience.

Am I gracious when I have to face some delay? Or am I as impatient as everybody else who hasn't got the love of Christ in their heart?

Two seemingly unrelated thoughts came to me on the topic of impatience and patience.

First, delay can be a gift. It came to me that delay can be a gift from God to us. It is a gift because it is an opportunity for some character development. It is a gift because we are reminded once again that we are not in control, God is. It is a gift because God may throw in some surprises during those times if we maintain our cool and be sensitive to what God wants to do and say to us.

Second, be patient with ourselves. Sometimes, we get frustrated with ourselves because we do not change or grow as fast as we want it to be. But self-beating seldom helps. Self-condemnation is not biblical. If the sincere desire to change and grow is there. If we have taken steps towards change and growth. If we are depending on God for empowerment. Then we have to exercise patience with ourselves. We have to avoid the danger of perfectionism. (There is a thin line between excellence and perfectionism) We give our best. But we must be patient when our best is not perfect.

I want to take this opportunity to encourage my brothers and sisters from AG1 group. Let's have a wonderful discipleship journey together from today (or yesterday) till the end of March. If you have not started, don't condemn yourself, just start as soon as you can. If you miss one or two days, don't beat yourself, just come back to it again. This journey is not a journey of perfection. It is a journey for those who are imperfect. It is a journey of growing our character and spiritual maturity. It is a journey with Jesus.

And in case any of you needs the steps of the discipleship campaign again, here they are:

Step 1 – Buy, borrow or pick from your bookshelf a good material (once only)
(enough to last you for 40 days & more)
Step 2 – Read a portion of the material (each day)
Step 3 – Reflect upon what you have read (each day)
Step 4 – Journal your reflection (each day)
Step 5 – Share it with others (e.g. shepherding, cg meeting, dmm meeting, blog it, etc) (at least once a week)

Enjoy your journey! :)

Blessed Lunar New Year to You!

Lean Choo and I are currently in Segamat, her hometown, for CNY. I think this is either my 7the or 8th time spending CNY in Segamat. Segamat is a town in Johor State, around 2-3 hours by car from Johor Bahru.

We arrived yesterday following Christie's car. This was so convenient. We didn't have to buy bus or train tickets. Actually, we tried to buy train tickets but they were completely sold out.

When we arrived in Lean Choo's house, another pleasant surprise was waiting for us. The house is now equipped with broadband wireless connection. I am so happy to have easy internet connection. I am sure utilising my laptop and internet connection to the full, even right now. Thank God.

Anyway, Lean Choo and I just want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Blessed Lunar New Year wherever you are. And to those who are not celebrating CNY we wish you a Happy Holiday.

May you all have a fruitful and enriching time with family members, relatives & friends and may God give you some pleasant surprises during this festive occassion!

Ayam Penyet

I have never written a blog entry on food before. This can't be true. Though I may be giving the impression that I seldom eat (i.e. fasting all the time) the truth is that I do enjoy eating. Not as much as my wife though. And look at our sizes. It's so unfair, isn't? :)

You may have heard about "Ayam Penyet", an Indonesian Franchise restaurant whose popularity in Singapore is growing by the day. I cannot really explain very much about the food except that "Ayam Penyet" means "Smashed Chicken". Actually, the chicken looks okay thus I am not sure why they call it smashed. But the most important thing is that it tastes yummy. :)

Besides chicken there are many other things that you can eat in restaurant such as gad0-gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce), empal (beef) penyet, ikan (fish) penyet, udang (prawn) penyet, avocado juice, etc, etc.

Now, I am not trying to be bias here. It's not because I am (was) an Indonesian that I am promoting the food. I have brought many kinds of people to try out the food. Indonesians, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Africans, Europeans, they have tried and LIKED the food. :) It seems that this is one type of Indonesian food that really has an international appeal.

Now, I must warn you that there are many imitations out there. Quite a number of stores out there are also selling ayam penyet but they are not the original one. This is understandable. People always like to make imitations of branded stuff. :)

If you would like to try out the food in "Ayam Penyet" restaurants you can find the restaurants in the following locations: Lucky Plaza (1st & 4th levels), Joo Chiat Road (near church office), Novena Square and Marina Square (in the food court). If you do not reside in Singapore you may want to consider bringing this franchise into your country. And please remember me when you are making a lot of profit from it. :)

In case you are wondering whether I am rewarded or paid by "Ayam Penyet" to do this promotion, the answer is "not a single cent". :( But if you keep mentioning my name whenever you go to the restaurants they may reward me one day. :)

Happy trying and eating everyone! :)

Note: the picture above is taken from the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/taking5/494739777/

Heart Attack

I was doing some work at home this afternoon. At the same time I was following a tennis match between Roger Federer (no 1) and Janko Tipsarevic (no 49).

Federer wasn't playing his usual best. He made many unforced errors. Janko, on the other hand, was playing very confidently. As a result it was a thrilling 5 sets lasting almost 4 1/2 hours.

The fifth set was especially gripping. It was a very very close match. Federer was playing a catch up throughout the fifth set. As I am Federer's fan this resulted me in having some HEART ATTACK following the progress of the match. Believe it or not I took the trouble to pray for Federer. :)

I must take my hat off to Federer. He was very strong mentally. The pressure of the possibility of losing the match so early in the tournament he won several times before must have been great on him. (Last year he didn't even drop a set in the same tournament) But he kept at it. He didn't give up. He kept pressing on despite of not playing his best. At the end the breakthrough came and he won the match.

One lesson I learnt from Federer is the importance of mental strength. At times the difference between a champion and an average player is not necessarily skill but mental strength.

Similarly, as Christ followers we do need to develop mental toughness. Our foundation of the Word must be strong. Our character must be maturing. Our mind must be filled with hope and faifh-filled thoughts. After all, we are playing against a very competitive competitor everyday of our life. And at times, that mental toughness is difference between winning and losing.