Saturday, October 31, 2009

it's a lazy saturday i've spent today. soccer in the morning (scoring a lot of goals hurhur), lunch, back home, napping for awhile in the afternoon, reading, watching football (s-league on tv and a bit of arse-nil online). turning down a cell meeting and dinner and soccer outing with the soccer guys, earning myself quite a blast in the process. and the rain. very, very big rain.

i've said the wrong things again in the afternoon. and i forgot the alarm. it's dreadful. my heart just sank when i realised, a full hour later. this is terrible. words cant really express the full horror i experienced when i picked up the phone with trembling hands to call. but i'm thankful that it turned out fine. i hope. i really hope so.

like i've said, today's been a lazy day. academically speaking, it's been a total waste. physically, good training in the morning, recharge in the afternoon. spiritually, roller-coaster. i've just about settled down now, important as i prepare myself for serving during service tml.

(interrupted this post to pick my clothes for tml haha. i'm a fashion idiot. sam's in a business conference. so i ask my sister. lol.)

yeah, been asking myself hard questions and reading up, about what i want and what God wants me to have and where am i going and where the Lord is calling me to. (i mean, yes, i know, home, eventually, but the process.)

so one of the articles talked about what qualities would we want for ourselves to have, and what we would like our (future) life-partners to have. and thus i was led to look at Galatians 5 and just think about what God has to say about this.

"19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Galatians 5: 19-26

the fruits of the Spirit, in another translation that my hazy memory informs me, is the means to triumph over the law, mentioned in verse 23. not to say that the law goes *poof*. but it just means that if we could all achieve that, we dont need the laws anymore.

love (can i really love? can i let the people that i love feel loved?)

joy (am i really joyful? or am i mixing up joy and happiness?)

peace (am i? how? if i am, what is it based on?)

patience (do i have it? not just during good times, but bad times as well?)

kindness (to who? is it everyone?)

goodness (do i know what is good? and the courage to stand up for it?)

faithfulness (can i? especially when the going gets tough?)

gentleness (where's the line between 'gentle' and 'weak'? can i bear the misunderstanding of others?)

self-control (against what? do i even know? and can i do it, even when i'm weak and drained?)

a tall order to ask for right, either from myself or anyone else. and i have to admit that i'm failing terribly in all of the above. but i guess the beauty of it is not that anyone of us is already there, but it's a goal that we should help each other work towards to, in the process of growing towards Christlikeness, isn't it. =) see, i'm not a pessimist kay.

when life sucks, see it as a liposuction. haha. i've seen my life with clearer eyes this past week really, since last week, when i see lil hints that God puts along the way to confirm my calling in life. and then problems, which, like Genesis 3, looks like a curse, but with blessings smuggled in.

at the end of it all, life's good. cause the God that created all of it is good. =)



manchesterunited 10:56 PM
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Friday, October 30, 2009
"Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all." Hudson Taylor


manchesterunited 10:15 PM
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Though Christians be not kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept from falling altogether.

Secker, William


manchesterunited 10:12 PM
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following jokes are from http://davkou.com/index.php?topic=ChristianJokes i just copied some that i liked.

Fear of Flying

There was a religious woman who had to do a lot of traveling for her business. Flying made her very nervous, so she always took her Bible along with her.

One time, she was sitting next to a man. When he saw her pull out her Bible, he gave a little chuckle and smirk and went back to what he was doing.

After awhile, he turned to her and asked, "You don't really believe all that stuff in there do you?"

The woman replied, "Of course I do. It is the Bible."

He said, "Well, what about that guy that was swallowed by that whale?"

She replied, "Oh, Jonah. Yes, I believe that, it is in the Bible."

He asked, "Well, how do you suppose he survived all that time inside the whale?"

The woman said, "Well, I don't really know. I guess when I get to heaven, I will ask him."

"What if he isn't in heaven?" the man asked sarcastically.

"Then you can ask him," replied the woman.


The Darwinian vs. God Contest

The Darwinian vs. God Contest

One day a group of Darwinian scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one Darwinian to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.

The Darwinian walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."

God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the Darwinian was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this? Let's say we have a man-making contest." To which the Darwinian happily agreed.

God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."

The Darwinian said, "Sure, no problem," and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.

God looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!"


Sharks!

There is this atheist swimming in the ocean. All of a sudden he sees a shark in the water, so he starts swimming furiously towards his boat.

As he looks back, he sees the shark turn and head towards him. He's scared to death, and as he sees the jaws of the great white beast open, revealing its horrific teeth, the atheist screams, "Oh God! Save me!"

In an instant, time is frozen and a bright light shines down from above. The man is motionless in the water when he hears the voice of God say, "You are an atheist. Why do you call upon me when you do not believe in me?"

Confused, and knowing he can't lie, the man replies, "Well, that's true I don't believe in you, but how about the shark? Can you make the shark believe in you?"

The Lord replies, "As you wish," and the light retracts back into the heavens. The man feels the water move once again.

As the atheist looks back, he can see the jaws of the shark start to close down on him, when all of sudden the shark stops and pulls back.

Shocked, the man watches as the huge beast closes its eyes, bows its head and says, "Thank you Lord for this food which I am about to receive..."


Preaching Or Praying?

A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who's dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans.
Saint Peter says to the guy, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?"
The guy replies, "I’m Joe Cohen, taxi-driver, of New York City." Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi- driver, "Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
The taxi-driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and it’s the minister’s turn. He stands erect and booms out, "I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Mary’s for the last forty-three years."
Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the minister, "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven." "Just a minute," says the minister. "That man was a taxi-driver, and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. I get a simple cotton robe and wooden staff. How can this be?"
"Up here, we work by results," says Saint Peter. "While you preached, people slept; but while this guy drove, people prayed."

Don't Step on the Ducks

Three guys die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they get there, St. Peter says, "We only have one rule here in heaven: Don't step on the ducks!"

So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first guy accidentally steps on one.


Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest woman he has ever seen. St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to the ugly woman!"

The next day, the second guy steps accidentally on a duck, and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing, and with him is another extremely ugly woman. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first guy.

The third guy has observed all this and not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly woman, is very, VERY careful where he steps. He manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to him with the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on: St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.

The guy remarks, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"

She says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"


haha dont believe the last two tho; wrong understanding of faith vs. works, and of eschatology. but just laugh lah. lol. whatever.



manchesterunited 9:17 PM
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my itunes has a good sense of humour. first song tonight: westlife's what becomes of the broken hearted.

sorry to disappoint lit frens, but this post has nothing got to do with beckett. or maybe it does, but i dont really know it. but the post-structuralist can say all he wants so go ahead. it's more of an excuse for me to keep rambling on, with no need to present anything coherent for the dominant gaze or to even make sense to/for myself.

this blog is quite sad because it hardly gets any happy vibes. when i'm happy, i send my good news to a certain someone, also known as her. when i lose that access, i invariably turn my attention on to this space, in a bid to channel all my negativity.

or i could lose my mind and thoughts in fb games, of course. hurhur. not very healthy, but beats drowning in alcohol or engaging in the nightlife. but i dont. i'm still here.

thinking.

(just thought i spotted a dead pixel. damn.)

the term "worlds apart" takes on a lot of meaning for me now. too much, in fact. the list of differences could go on.

location.
time zone.
personality.
outlook in life.
identity of society and self.

i think that's enough for now.

looking back at today:

staring at the com.

gave another wake-up call. that called back, because when i use my com to make the call it allegedly echos. hi. bye.

gave a wake-up call to the other end of the world. that might or might not be appreciated. that asked for a snooze.

just came out from shower, did some thinking. as usual. no, am not going to kill myself. hurhur.

walked home in the rain. what-ifs floating in my head. thought of self-preservation absent. yet i rmb to cover my laptop and book, shielding these material possessions of mine with the temple of God that doesn't belong to me.

dinner in school. with daniel dominic vincent. talked about the identity as a construct, singaporean nationalism as a discourse fed down out throats by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Goh. one that i subscribe to nonetheless.

lecture. about some eastern european poet that i dont really care about.

home. msn. phone conversation. my memory fails me. my words fail me. correct grammar doesnt really matter in a situation like this, when my heart is failing me. these texts for nothing, lost in the world wide web, are simply nothing more than just

murmurs.


manchesterunited 8:26 PM
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Monday, October 26, 2009
"... eating the tree of knowledge of good and evil..."

--shuzhen during MondayCG! bible study


manchesterunited 11:58 PM
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Sunday, October 25, 2009
"i think i wil (sic) over exceed and go beyond the beyond to the infinities and find it hard to get back down below a 3000 word limit though"

-hannah, when asked on the progress of her essay


manchesterunited 8:35 PM
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Saturday, October 24, 2009
you are here with me.
my room: your presence lingers.
i miss you darling.


manchesterunited 8:37 PM
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Friday, October 16, 2009
this is what you see when you open google chrome's incognito window. love the last two lines haha.

"You've gone incognito. Pages you view in this window won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.

Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:
  • Websites that collect or share information about you
  • Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
  • Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
  • Surveillance by secret agents
  • People standing behind you"


manchesterunited 11:33 PM
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Sunday, October 11, 2009
am glad that i spent today a lil differently from other sundays!

got a call last night from grace just before i was going to sleep haha, asking if i would want to go along for a visit to the doulos, a missionary ship that i've heard much about. so i said yes!

met up with grace and limmy and sk and his japanese friend yoshi (trust the man to always have a friend to bring to church haha) at harbourfront, took quite a while to get our bearings, then found the ship!

our tour guide of the day was irene, who was a childhood playmate of none other than simon! (for those who don't know, simon's the cool dude with super long hair with IFG last sem) indeed in Christ the fellowship is really real. hurhur. so we went for service.

it was a simple affair; two guitars (with irene on one of them =D ), a drum set (but nothing loud), a leader, a few simple songs. there was this auntie who sang 'amazing grace' in alto part the whole time, quite cool. =) and they got lil girls to collect offerings too, which is quite nice la (they go off for their sunday sch after that). sermon was delivered by this guy from tazmania (haha) who looks very young like our age i guess? sharing on hebrews 7:26. it was simply done; not a theological lecture masquerading as a sermon, but just an uncomplicated reminder that indeed Jesus, and only Him, meets our needs as the Great High Priest; the flip side goes without saying that we should look to Jesus to meet our needs, of whatever kind.

keep meeting so many people! first was marieanne (we were wondering if the stickers on the walls were referring to her, when she just magically appeared haha. and for the record no they werent about her) then i met jane's two sisters haha! where we had this "you look damn familiar where have i seen you before" moment haha.

irene brought us on a tour of the ship, of the work they do and all that, then we chilled for a while at the cookhouse (army term haha, wonder what the navy term is?) where she shared about how simon and her were in the same sunday sch class and stuff, challenges of serving on doulos, and of course the interesting things she does in her ministry.

then when limmy had to leave and we decided that we want lunch, we discovered that irene hasnt been to a true blue singaporean hawker centre. gasp. haha. so we went to seah im for lunch! chicken rice, wanton mee (subject of a lame joke), carrot cake (subject of my lecture on how the dish came about), fish porridge, and sugar cane juice. =D

grace left at this point, and we went back on board, to the book fair! we were a bit too early and the south african guy on duty at the books dept started talking to us, making sure we have money and all to spend. haha. and he explained how things are prices here; instead of changing ALL the price tags on their books to the local currency of the port they visit (siao!!), the books are all quoted in "International Doulos Units", and then the conversion rate is given at the particular port. we were early, as we said, and so we were blessed to have the place to ourselves! for a while at least haha.

things are really cheap! this is what i bought today:

The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns, 500 units
The Diety Formerly Known as God by Jarrett Stevens, 50 units
Ryken's Bible Handbook by Leland Ryken, Philip Ryken, and James Wilhoit, 600 units
You Have What It Takes: what every father needs to know by John Eldredge, 50 units

and oh, 100 units = $4 SGD. yup!

then we went off, sk went to cut hair, i read middlemarch while waiting, then we took train back home. =)

david was asking me where i was since i wasnt in my own church (not that i didnt go to church lah it's the same Church after all!!) and since he havent heard of the doulos before, i dont think a lot of pple in church would have heard of it too (i didnt know before too so no shame in not knowing haha), thus this post. and hopefully we can think of the Church in much much bigger terms as well. =)

to know more about doulos: OM Ships International - Home


manchesterunited 6:00 PM
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I am as ambitious as ever in my football but see differences in my attitude now that I am a Christian. Before I was a Christian if I'd had a bad game or if the team had lost I'd be down and depressed about it for a long time because football was in the centre of my life - the main thing. Now that God is the centre of my life I've got a lot more perspective on it and whereas I'm still disappointed when we lose and I want to win and play well, I know that's not everything.

Football is considered a macho sport and people might think you're soft or whatever for being a Christian and maybe they're going to look at you critically for that. So you've got to be strong and say 'No, this is what I believe'. Sometimes it makes you more of a man to stand up and say that you do believe in Jesus Christ.

I feel that football is as much a part of God's plan for his life as any other part. I think that being a Christian in sport - in football - you're there to set an example by the way you live and by what you stand for, for other people to look at. Come three o'clock on a Saturday, I'm there giving 110% but afterwards I've got a perspective on it that I hadn't before because I know what life's really all about. The game demands aggression at times and if that's the case, I'll go in for a tackle or whatever, but I wouldn't go to hurt an opponent because that would be wrong. I think I carry my faith through my whole life, both on and off the field.


(quoted from Gavin Peacock, http://www.thegoal.com/ )


couldn't say it any better myself! =)



manchesterunited 5:34 PM
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Saturday, October 10, 2009

We've only just begun to live
White lace and promises
A kiss for luck and we're on our way
We've only begun

Before the rising sun we fly
So many roads to choose
We start out walking
And learn to run
And yes! We've just begun

Sharin' horizons that are new to us
Watchin' the signs along the way
Talkin' it over just the two of us
Workin' together day to day, together

And when the evening comes we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes! We've just begun

Sharin' horizons that are new to us
Watchin' the signs along the way
Talkin' it over just the two of us
Workin' together day to day, together, together

And when the evening comes we smile
So much of life ahead
We'll find a place where there's room to grow
And yes! We've just begun


reminded of this song by liz's photo album by the same name! nice. =)


manchesterunited 8:25 PM
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His father saw him - there were eyes of mercy;
he ran to meet him - there were legs of mercy;
he put his arms round his neck - there were arms of mercy;
he kissed him - there were kisses of mercy;
he said to him - there were words of mercy;
Bring here the best robe - there were deeds of mercy;
Wonders of mercy - all mercy!
Oh, what a God of mercy he is!

Henry, Matthew


manchesterunited 1:26 AM
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Friday, October 02, 2009
Measure not God's love and favor by your own feelings. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof.

Sibbes, Richard


manchesterunited 8:08 PM
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DIE HARD FAN

jerry.


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