The Sweetest thing.

[ personal ramblings ]







This week is surely an interesting week!






and oh yea... forgot to talk about mom's bday! shall share it here!!






My Cell Group Leader ... aka my Mom Karista had her birthday last week! We had a real special celebration. Ahh come to think about it ... she always prays that she get a boyfriend every year! haa ha... so guess what we gave her for her birthday?




a super gigantic extra-large Box that we call .. Mystery gift of the night ;)




The mystery ingredient in the box :D. My Dad! :P




She got a big card made by Chong and my Dad with her. Ahh her dream came true :P


so thoughtful of us right ??


Well she make a real different wish this year. Nevertheless i must say i am blessed to have such a great leader taking care of me. Making me her son :) And i'm sure she's going to do great great works in the near future. She will be a history maker!





Afew days later ... which is jus right on this week... it's our pCGl's birthday.. Xiu Wen :) aka Pandy. I bought a gift for both mom and her. And this year ... i'm abit more wiser in giving gifts. I've realise that last year i've blessed many people ... but i felt many times that they did not appreciate my gift... Nevertheless i never regret giving. I just hope that people will realise how much i have to trim and save to buy gifts.



ahh anyway Xiu wen shared that she is very blessed this year! Cos she receive many sweet gifts, appreciations .. and what she really wants ---- an Mp3 Player! In my opinion, i really think she deserves it. She has really impacted many people's lives ... including mine! I'm very happy to have a great friend as her :D. Ha jia you for yr A' levels Pandy!





Xiu Wen's bday :)




Grace and her. Blessed with many many gifts :)



Well quite alot of things happen this week. Some of it is really upsetting. Being mocked and persecuted by my camp-mates was totally not cool. And the worst of it all is that even the head of my unit has join in the 'fun'. I was really upset and angry at him at first. I can't really believe a Leutinant Colonel would say things like that. Making fun of miracles is really nothing funny. Even if he doesn't believe.. he should at least respect my faith. Just at that moment .. i lost all respect for him.


But i grew to realise this was just what Job went through. He suffered much more of course. He lost everything and got stuck with friends that say hurtful .. discouraging words to him. But his faith is admirable. His trust in his divine relationship did not falter. I am encouraged everytime i think about Job. I was actually unsure of what i was doing at first. i did not understand why people 'hated' me so much. or why they made so much crude remarks aboyt me. I felt so lonely for so long. But Pandy really encouraged and prayed for me. She said many things that make me think about how God is using me in a way i cannot understand. As i think about it, i realise this is really nothing compared what i might be doing in the future. God's grace has always been me. And this is just another level of breakthrough for me as well. I have established myself as a fervant believer in their eyes. But they just no nothing about the great relationship i have with God. He is my Abba Father. He loves me more than what the world adds up can show. I'll continue to love the people who hurt me. Just as he loved me.




Enough of the saddies :P. I just watched an amazing show called : The Sweetest Thing. I bumped on this show, aired on Channel 5 .. 10pm. [ it used to be showing The Apprentice. Another of my favourite shows :) ]. It talks about 3 girls taking love as a game ... and they discover the fun and bitter side of it. It's a real good romantic comedy show! The cheap thrills are good too! [ i'm a sucker for cheap thrills ;) ]. But this show left quite a good impression on me. Come to think about it ... many of my friends are all getting attached during this few months. I am just amazed by the number of people around me .. finding their Mr or Mrs Right! Oh man! Ha and i'm going to hit 20 soon. Oh man x2!



Anyway... i'll pray for a good one. She will definitely be a sweet girl. and a great woman of God. :)




ahh i dun like to talk much abouit this. So here ends my long bloggin session. :)






Me 8)




One of my favourite church! Beautiful :) Guess which place is this?
[ ans in flickr! ;) ]

Supersized Faith

[ amazing webs ]




I chanced upon this article.



Instead of 'Supersized Me', i got this interesting story from our Church Website.

---

The amazing story of one man's meteoric leap out of poverty to the top of the Golden Arches.

By Adam Palmer

It's easy for a conversation with Ken Brown to turn one-sided in a hurry. Just ask him to tell his testimony and your side of the discussion will rapidly turn to affirming noises like "Mm-hmm" and "Oh, wow."

Brown is excited, and understandably so. His is a rags-to-riches story that rivals the best Hollywood has to offer, ending with a man so passionate about his life's mission that he dives into storytelling and seldom comes up for air.

"I am the proud product of two teenage parents," he flatly states off the top. "I remember hearing parents tell their kids, 'You were an accident.' My parents never spoke those words to us. They always said, 'There's a reason why you were born.'"

For Brown, that reason is simple: to obey God. His road to obedience started in poverty in Chicago, where he was born and raised. Though separated, his parents were committed to providing him and his four siblings with a good education, so his parents sent them to a private Catholic school, skimping financially in other areas to make ends meet.

"Sometimes we didn't have gas," Brown says. "We didn't have lights. We didn't have food. One Christmas, our neighbor let us run an extension cord through her kitchen so we could cook on a hot plate."

Despite the lack of financial accommodations, Brown says his upbringing was still a matter of positive confession. "There was no negativity. My mother would say: 'This isn't the end. God has something bigger for us.'"

However, before that happened, something else unexpected came: they got evicted. Ten times.

"[The first eviction] was absolutely the lowest point of my life," Brown says. "I'll never forget that day, getting off the bus, seeing all our stuff on the street, with all our neighbors looking around, and some of them pilfering through our stuff."

Faith in God's provision is a running theme in Brown's life. He showed up at college with a wicker chair, a TV set and $25 from his grandmother. Four years later, he graduated with a degree in food and nutrition, an ambition to own his own restaurant and the first step to realizing that goal: a full-time job at a nationally known food-service company.

Brown instantly became a managing natural. "I was younger than all the people I was leading. My management style was always to lead ... shoulder to shoulder." Unfortunately, Brown's style was different from his director's, and he soon found himself terminated.

"[They] fired me," he says. "Just like that. I felt like I'd been evicted again. But I knew that God had something bigger and better in store for me."

That time came quickly. Brown soon found himself working for one of the largest food-broker companies in the world, getting paid even more than before. And then it all changed.

"One day, walking home, I saw a new restaurant being erected, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me to stop in and see what it was. I [told] the owner ... I could help him out with getting some food, and he said: 'I don't need food. I need people.'"

After discussing it with his wife, Brown decided the best way to become a restaurant owner was to study someone who was doing just that. But this owner didn't want Brown's food, nor did he want Brown's managerial experience. He wanted Brown to wait on customers.

It was a difficult decision, but one Brown ultimately knew was the right one. And that service is exactly what led him to his current status as the youngest franchise owner/operator in McDonald's history.

It started with a chance encounter at a McDonald's job fair, where Brown was hoping to find an audience with McDonald's executives. During that brief meet-and-greet, one of the executives stopped him for a conversation.

Turns out she and her husband were regulars at the restaurant where Brown worked. They were frequently impressed by the level of service he gave them as a waiter. "She gathered some of the other executives around and said: 'This guy. This is the type of guy we want at McDonald's.' She gave me a business card and said, 'Trust me.'"

It was a divine appointment, and it turned into a lucrative job, complete with all the perks he'd laid down in order to work as a server at the restaurant. "She [wanted me] to oversee four different restaurants. And she never checked a reference. She already knew about me and my attitude."

Six months later, she was promoted to director of the entire Michigan region. It wasn't long afterward that she called Brown with an astounding offer. "She invited me to come to Michigan and pick out some stores to own. Plural. I picked out two of them."

Brown now speaks regularly to organizations, para-church groups and schools. He also released his first book, From Welfare to Faring Well.

At 38 years old, Ken Brown still has a lengthy career ahead of him, but you can bet he won't focus on money or ambition. "We get so comfortable with our jobs that we forget to do our real jobs," Brown says. "Our real jobs are to find out why we were born. You don't go to a job to make money; you go to make a difference.

"When I tell people my story, it changes their lives. They think what they're going through is bad," Brown says, quickly turning a potential pat on the back into something larger. "But God took the largest global name in the world and hooked me up with them so He can get glory. I was set up from the beginning, and the only thing I can take credit for is being obedient." NM

---

makes you feel you got nothing to lose but everything to gain doesn't it :) ?
The next time you are evicted .. you know something big is coming your way..




cheers.


[ adapted from newmanmagazine.com or World News Bulletin from CHC]

Salvation is here.

[ personal rambings ]





ha what a cool title!





Just had so much things to share!! :) but im so tired. wanna rest early too. So i shall fill this post up wif snippets of the week!





Tuesday .

I became a rockstar! at least a rockstar-to-be ... in Bent Merchants Studio. This very day ... our band has cometh forth with an astounding name that ... wad seems like hours to decide outside the MRT station -_- ... and the name is.......... SoundCheck! We came out with many goofy names like ... 23:59, D.f.e.r. , the noobs, DayDreamers, the Slackers , Oi Eric! and many other funny names. But well Soundcheck sounds real cool enough. hmm .. the meaning behind the name you ask ? Well it means what it says. :D buaha.


We are the soundcheckers. check us out. lol.

Songs played include: Worry Rock - Green Day, Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day, The Funeral of Hearts - H.I.M. and Wicked Game by Him & Her.

---

Wednesday.

Well all of us were affected by ths Comm Skit event again. Have to stay back extra late to insert NS leaflets into envelope for mail. It's really a monotonus mundane work but still it has to be done. I was also called into the Col's office too on that day because of some misunderstanding. This was the first time i see him so angry. and it's over me. :(

Well i don't wanna discuss it here. But surely his good faith over me has dropped ... over a silly small little incident. I must admit sometimes i am too naive. What may be right over my eyes may not always be right over someone else's pairs of eyes. So i've have to be more careful over what i do in the future. man...

---

Well there's no cell group meeting this week.... But still we had our long awaited cell group outing this week. This time ... Destination - Settlers Cafe! It's a very very cool Cafe dudes! It has many many board games .. and great Cafe staffs to attend us. It's my very first time there. and i must say i had so much fun there! Mom brought my Dad along to enjoy with us ... and they were well ... such a lovely couple. I've never seen mom so playful infront of us - cgms before. It's so funny to see them playing with each other like little kids. ahh love makes one do funny things. No doubt about that :)


Well we only had time for 2 games! Cluedo and Saboteurs. Some how i felt that i had a deja Vu that i was in Settlers before. It's just so funny when i see myself doing what i saw myself did. Anyway, it was really fun! :) My Usher team might be visiting there too ... very very soon after our dear IC finished her exams. hmph.

---

Well i can finally share what i've loved and have been wanting to share! My thoughts over Easter! Sometimes i wonder why they don't call it Wester or Norther or Souther ? Ahh anyone know please tell me :) .


Anyway why it's called Easter is not really important. It's really the great event that happened that really matters. As i watched the Easter Drama presented by our Church drama this year... i was really impressed and touched again. The acting and music .. dance was just truly awesome. They all bring me to remember the Amazing love and grace of Jesus. The evidence of unconditional love always touch my soul. My eyes were soaked.


This Easter Service comes with a very cool caption.

" What choices would
you make this Easter? "

What we are
tomorrow depends on the choices we make today.

So cool right? And apart from that, it's a truth statement. Just look back at yourself. Think about the things you say to your friends. How you treat your family members. The deeds you've done repeatedly. It slowly makes you who you are today.


That goes the same with Salvation. Accepting Christ and rededicating Him in my life was my first ever major decision. Keeping the faith and moving really proves much harder than the first step. But the grace of God was always there. :) And thinking about that, i feel so happy to be where I have reached today. And i can really bear witness to Easter. Salvation is really here :) It's for everyone. And as far as i know .... i'll carry this message wherever i go. Easter will serve to remind and commemorate .. But everyday. Everyday is the day where i live for Christ :).







Jammmmm-ed there!




Soundcheck..




Settlers Cafe! Look at that interesting Menu!




Mom! must learn to take care of Dad!




yeaa~~ That's us! :)




a cool dude playin guitar. very nice basker.




O_O ?!





Btw, Hillsong United Rocks! My passion was really rekindled as i watched the Hillsong United - We Stand DVD. I shared wif mom that i wept throughout the worship. This is the power that i long to see in our cg. my church. And one day i will be part of this ministry. i will work towards it.



its so late. sleep time. :)

Amazing Grace.

[ personal ramblings ]








A very simple week i had. :)







But still .... many interesting things happen along the week.









... like the speech gave by Prem in office on Friday. It's out of the blue. real surprising. I'm not sure what he's thinking at that point. But i admire his guts.









And yea! There are new teammates in my team. Ahoy! welcome aboard soldier :)










Sad things happened too. A buddy of mine in camp went off to another military confinement quarters for 5 days. I just hope he'll be better after he returns.










I've also re-signed up for my A-levels examination. It's official. I haven't hit my books yet. the thought of hitting back the same books is dreadful .. But I know this year will definitely be better than last year. It will definitely be.










Hmm i just wanna share and pen down my thoughts about what i heard from a CD the Prem had loan me to hear. It's by Ps Joseph Prince from New Creations Church. I've heard quite a little from my friends about the 'cheap grace' doctrine taught by this church. And i never really knew such churches exist in Singapore until Pastor Kong had preached about it during our church-wide Bible study about 2 years back. Antinomionism. The theological doctrine that by faith and God's grace a Christian is freed from all laws (including the moral standards of the culture).



I feel very disturbed when i listen to the CD. sigh i don't wish to do some biblical debate here. I just want to share how i feel about what i've heard. That is - God's grace shouldn't be mis-used to vainly. The very idea that we could receive what we don't deserve to have is already just so amazing. Imagine just the thought of someone betraying you. Saying and doing something against you. It leaves you burning with anger. Hurt. Disappointment. You can only see a torn picture presented to you. A broken string. He/she doesn't deserve anything good from you. But yet you forgive him/her.



You say, "i know you did that to me. I felt it. And i am willing to let it go. I am willing to start everything afresh. Just the way it all started. Just stop hurting me like this again. I promise to make this relationship even better than before. To care for you when no one else does. To love you as deeply as i know. Just come back to me and receive this love... "



That is grace i know. That is what i received as a Christian. Telling me to hurt him more? That he will continue to forgive me forever and ever and that i can just plunge the knife of hurt into his heart again and again.... That is crazy. It's what Pastor Ulf Ekmam calls crazy-grace.



I know i am inperfect. Even till now as i type ... i've known of so many sins i've still commited as a Christian. And there are countless times that i have been so upset over myself. But, i always felt the love of God in my life. It says that he loves me for who i am. When i am down.. i can really feel his arms around me. When i have no friends or family to turn to.. he's there to listen. Even though i can not give him a pure complete love .. he still loves me completely. But he did not say i can continue doing what the way i like to do. Because He knows what's best for me. He loves me too much for me to stay the way i am. So as i walk on and depend on him... he slowly changed me. This is my personal testimony. :) I am now a completely different me. Not a perfect one but a better one. I never felt more free than before.



So for the love he has given me, I am ever willing to stand up against any false rumours about my God and Father in heaven. Because it's amazing when i walk with him. It makes me feel i'm an amazing man myself too. Not because of who I am but b'cos of who He is. I have an amazing friend. and an amazing God.

"Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see..."

Cheers.

Running dry

[ personal ramblings ]







" .... My soul thirsts for You ... My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land .. where there is no water. "

Psalms 63 : 1

I had a great week. It's great to walk with the Lord. He's all we need.








What do you do if you run dry one day?







You will naturally thirst for something to fill you up.







Or you'll give up and dry up totally. wither off and shrivel.








And for the whole of these few months ... my spirit felt so many times in what i call the 'withering experience'. I probably felt that so many times before as a Christian in my life .. but it did not bother me very much. At least not as much as this time.



It's awesome to receive the blessings of God. It's even more blessed to go through periods of trials, harships and persecutions to grow to be a better and stronger Christian. But it's a whole different type of living if you are dry. Because we all know...... that 'dried-up' plants don't live long. They will wither very soon.



I've talked to my pCGL. She shared with me many things. The struggles ... the pains ... and sometimes the positive encouragements she go through sometimes. I very well want to help and serve her to make everything work out. But sometimes i feel it too. I feel like giving up everything. I feel like drawing away for those i call friends. Drawing away from serving. And my mind keeps ringing - " I just want to be with God. No one else. "



I wonder why i still feel this way. Is it that i've not really found my 'future friends' ? or is it that i simply overlook the seeds that they have sown in my life? Have i been unappreciative? Or is it that i have not discovered the fruits of the relationships i hold? sigh.



I've been reading the 10 critical laws of relationship ( and am still reading). It speaks of many truths that for some i've somehow known before through my years of living. It confirms just what the bible has told me. It is a very powerful book. Because it's knowledge-packed. It's life-changing if you start acting on those truths. And i am still slowly learning how to do what it says. I'll share whatever good revelations i get from this book whenever i get it :). For now i'll still perservere on to do what's right. I gave Bible Study yesterday and i came upon (yet again!) this verse at the end of my BS.







'And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.' :)

Galatians 6:9

---

Well enough for all the unhappy stuffs. I said it's a great week! Well it's basically because .. my dryness was filled. Thank God i finally had a break for usher. :) Really sitting with my lovely cell group members. Plus.... it's been such along time since i really get in touch with the presence of God and receive his revelations! Ps Richard Robert's service was just simply ... totally awesome! He brings healing to the sick! Joy to the unhappy! News to the unheard!



The best part of all is ..... thatthrough that service ..... i was restored!! Healthy and butt-kicking again!!! Though i still feel quite weak as a new refreshed spiritual plant... i know that God will continue to protect me from whatever that is out there to destroy me. Because i know .. No Weapon formed against me shall prosper! Greater is in me that the devil is in this world!







" But Dad! I still need water! I'm so thirsty! "








He said ..

"I will pour water on him who is thirsty ( that's for you my thirsty son!) , And floods on the dry ground ( you have a good soil my son. And there the soil will retain good water for your use) ; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring. ( enough for you? you'll be flooded soon. )"
Isaiah 44 :3









and that's not all my son. Remember this too..









".... whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of (living) water springing up into everlasting life!"
John 4:14









huh? He'll never thirst? you sure??











Yea. But you just have to know how to tap into it.








So how should i do it ?









" Just 3 words. believe in me."(John 7:38)










:) okay.



















I got a cool Dad in heaven! :)








Usher fren wif me - Lil Perlie :)




Usher fren wif me - Big O' Titus :)




ah! chillin out infront of the TV after cg.




ahha. We got talent rite!? shld join Emerge - Talentime!




So cute! Baby Dayan wif Pastor Sun. (and yah.. we sang twinkle twinkle little stars infront of baby Dayan. It's his favourite song for now! :) lol )
















so yea.. Walk on guys. Walk wet. :)




ps:

*updated links* Added new blog-adds to my blog! :) And i added Easter Song theme to my blog :) x2

i've recorded Ps Richard Robert's sermon for sun svc. Feel free to ask from me if you wanna enjoy another piece of his great sermon.