Xmas Significance + Jesus - Unreasonable?

I'm going to M'sia for a short trip until Thursday tomorrow... but before that, let me just write one more blog entry...? A couple... let me post the 1st one...

Had a great service at Aldersgate Methodist Church today. Uncle Philip preached a great message about "What's so good about Christmas?"

It's not about us. It's not about us shopping. It's not just a public holiday.

May we learn to look out for those in need around us, and be a blessing to them. For Jesus loves them, and as we love Him, let us learn to do what pleases Him.

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

- Matthew 25:40

I was checking out Stephen Tong on Youtube today as Jace recommended awhile back.

And I came upon a video of his that was truly inspiring yeah.. actually, heaps of them. But let me just show you one of them.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- John 14:6

Someone asked the question, why is Jesus so unreasonable by claiming that?
Check out the answer in this video. Sorry friends who don't understand Chinese... Let me know so I can translate for ya. :)



We all need the air to survive. Don't ask why the air is unreasonable. :)

But let me just say, God is good. And God is love. =) Above all, God LOVES YOU. And He cares for you.

Here's a cool video Jared made... awesome work bro.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Welcome to the Light Club by Jin

Here's my all my favourite rapper Jin. Play it, lyrics are here.

I got a session booked for 7 and its 6:35
so I got 25 minutes to conjure up this rhyme
its been a long time right stepped away from the limelight
but the breaks over Holy Spirit takeover
they say the truth will set you free if you so believe
Jesus is the truth with Him freedom can be achieved
I feel the need to let loose right at this instance
confession booth vocal booth really what's the difference
see when I use to battle I declared I'm the boss
I couldn't be defeated.. until I lost
not once not twice my opponents were killin' me
ego crushed but it also taught me humility
was once on the top sent straight to the bottom
some thought double r dropped him others straight forgot him
I used to hear the side commentary and get upset with it
until I realized what was said had some sense in it
no excuses for the stupid records that I made
would I still be sayin' this if those records had got me paid?
I can't call it either way I'm tryin' to save what's left of
my soul and not just what's goin inside my wallet
the beat was the canvas the paint was my rhymes
never thought that I could use my art to infiltrate ya minds
i used the mic to express how I possessed a lota skills
my lust for the opposite sex and 100 dolla bills
Common said He Used To Love H.E.R. yo she still
my baby so it's only right I learn to treat H.E.R. like a lady
you want raps about pimpin'  killin' snitchin' ballin'?
you won't get 'em from me naw that's not my callin'
God Almighty reached out I mean this sincerely
He spoke to me like Morgan Freeman did to Jim Carey
it's no coincidence he got me out in Hong Kong
that I'd get it poppin' out here He knew it all along
listen to have much faith requires practice
they'll probably say I'm trippin' they did it to John the Baptist
this is not a rumor God is so great
I'm a late bloomer got baptized in '08
better late than never that's how the saying goes
all my brothers and sisters that are praying knows
Mark chapter 10 the 31st verse
the first shall be last and the last shall be first

Amen.

Merry Christmas Y'all

With Love to all my friends and family all over the world..

From home in Singapore, to Malaysia, to Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, Colombia, America, Canada, New Zealand... all the way to Australia, my 2nd home.

 hope i haven't left out any countries with friends there! sorry if I did!

Yeah, all my friends for some reason all over the world.. I miss y'all, and I love y'all. Sending you some Christmas wishes and blessings flying down by prayer, whether or not you know Jesus or not. Jesus knows you, and Christmas is here, because Jesus came!

Christmas Eve

Had a great Xmas eve with Mum and Dad around Orchard. Sis took us to pedicure and manicure... muwahaha.. check out my nails later. Had my fav asian kitchen la mian for dinner...

Muwahaha.. nails after pedi and mani cure~~

Dad, Mum and Me @ Asian Kitchen at City Link 24 Dec 09

 

My prawn wonton la mian..

Xiao Long Bao... slurp!

I also attended Hope Church Singapore's Christmas Celebration Service at Suntec yesterday, Xmas eve. What an amazing service it was! Oh, I thought the spot lights were a little too much of an overkill, but I think it was great! The message and both the dance and drama performances! God is good!!

At The Door Xmas Celebration Service @ Hope SG at Suntec Exhibition Hall. 24 Dec 09

 

Praise God, Mum and Dad came too..!

It was overwhelming.. so many people. I've never attended any Hope Services that was so big... and this was only ONE of the 2 services of that day! Praise God!! :)

Oh yes.. that's only one side of the centre... there's more than another half behind me..!

Mum and Dad~ :)

Hope Brisbanites~! God is Good!

After that, Dad treated Mum and I Hokkaido Ice Cream.. yum...!

Esplanade a.k.a Durian of Singapore. Hee hee.

All the presents I received... so blessed. All the wonderful people who prepared presents.. I didn't even prepare nothing... thank you everyone! :)

I wished more of my friends were around to be touched by Jesus... the HOPE of the world. But, in His time yeah? Recently, Mum's been huming over the same song called, In His Time. We're all trusting God for Dad's salvation. In His Time! :)

In His Time

In His time, In His Time
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord please show me every day
As your teaching me Your way
That You do just what You say
In Your time.

In Your time, In Your Time
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord my life to You I bring
May each song I have to sing
Be to you a lovely thing
In Your time.

God is Good!

Today (Christmas!) 25 Dec 09


Merry Christmas y'all once again!

Alright, I had a pretty bad day today. I get very 'bad mood' and 'emotional' and to the state my sinful nature would just take control... Yeah.. like pride, and rebellion... It all just starts with waking up the 'wrong way'. You know.. like, sudden waking up... or etc... I remember one other time was when a repairman came to my room in Brisbane knocking early in the morning... It just started my whole day wrong, and made me really grumpy the whole day... even at work.

But yet I remind myself of the GRACE that God has so greatly poured forth upon me... and He will make me perfect in His time and by the renewing and transforming of my mind with His Spirit. Pour forth your new wine in my new wineskin, Lord!

And definitely, the verse that always encourages me in these kinda days:

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

- Psalm 118:24

God is Good!

I'm in so much of a better mood now... anyway.. Had a bad morning.. but after that EVERYTHING was great!

Had a great time with Mum and Dad, since weekdays it's a bit difficult to just sit down together. Dad works in the day.. And I go out and meet my wushu friends and other ex-school mates for dinner.. come home and they're asleep le... So Christmas, spent time with Mum and Dad just doing stuff.. it's just so good!

But cuz of that I couldn't go to the Wushu Party... but I'm sure they had a great time too~!

They're leaving for Taiwan on the 31st Dec and will be back on the 9th Jan.
I'll be going to M'sia from 28th to 31st Dec... so I guess if I was gonna see them again, that'll be some time between 10th to 12th Jan.. but then again, my weekends are pretty booked... so... hik! We'll see how it goes!

But I had a great time with them at KTV and watching Bodyguard and Assassins over this week!
Some photos??

Sakae Sushi before singing KTV 21 Dec 09

Weng, Jul, Bin, Gary, Leslie, Jiao and Me. 21 Dec 09

Losen up people~ Sing! 21 Dec 09

Crazy Jul and Giraffe Leslie 21 Dec 09

Biao de and me~! 21 Dec 09

Supper after the movie 23 Dec 09.

Crazy Teen Yun a.k.a Lao Mao, Giraffe Leslie, William Hung Yong Xiong, Biao De Jiao, Weng, Elvin and Me!

Bodyguard and Assassins

This movie is about a group of people protecting Sun Zhong San from assassins and how they had such a sacrifical heart that they were prepared to die for the sake of the next generation of Chinese nationals.

I went to watch this movie with my wushu friends on Wednesday. It was a great movie yeah. And me being me, really enjoyed the sacrificial love that was portrayed in this movie. And... if you really know me.. you'd know what I'd inferred from the movie too.

Look, the only son of the tycoon, pleaded with his Dad to not hide back and be a coward or fear death. As much as his dad forbidded him to sacrifice for the country, he made the decision to do so.

In the movie, he stated, "I have lived all these years in waiting for this day." 
 In which he meant, to DIE for the nation, that by his sacrifice, many ones of the future generation of Chinese may be 'saved'.

I think watching this movie came pretty timely as it surely didn't just coincide with the Christmas season, has it? May it has... but it does fall upon the hearts of many the greatest Sacrifice mankind could ever receive.

In the similar way that the movie played, God demonstrated such sacrificial love as He allowed His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of mankind.

Jesus did not deserve death, but He being sinless, took on the sins of all man, so that all who trusts in Him will be able to be saved from eternal death. Let me share another well-known verse, but this is the verse that truly illustrates the HOPE of Christmas.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

- John 3:16-17 (NIV)

On sharing that.... let me share another verse:

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

- Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Christmas isn't just a time where everyone exchanges presents, have a great dinner and then forget about its true meaning. If it wasn't for Jesus, we wouldn't have Christmas. So, as we enjoyed the joy and hope that Christmas always carry, let us take a further step to realise what Christmas truly is all about.

My dear friends...

Will you take a few moments, and truly ponder about what Jesus can do for you?

Relationships are what matters to Jesus.

Jesus doesn't care about religion.

Christianity is not a religion.

It is not another set of rules and regulations.

Religions are rites & rituals and formalities to follow.

Jesus doesn't care about how much of those you can do.

He cares about YOU, your struggles and your life.

He cares about that thing you have in your heart.

He cares about the pain you're going through.

He cares about your hurts..

He cares... about YOU.
And He plans to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE that will prosper you.

Jesus treasures relationships. 

And He desires a relationship with you.

Find out... and taste and see that the Lord is Good...!

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."

- Psalm 34:8

May you have a great boxing day (which is already today, looking at the time)
Hee...

God loves you, and so do I!

Thank God for Vanness kor kor... I got heaps of them pictures from him :) Keeping his bro-in-Christ in prayer always!

Update of the 1st week! God's Awesome Hand!

I came in with the intentions to write about my journey so far in Singapore... but I think I'd make it short... and write about other things instead.

There are photos at the end of this entry, so keep going to the end!!

A. So... Singapore thus far...

I don't feel very much considered a Singaporean at this stage. I AM a Singaporean.. but when I walk around the country, it just makes me think about what I don't know about Singapore..!

There's been so much changes to Singapore over the past year I was away, and I had difficulty making myself around Singapore, and finding out where I am, especially when I'm in a car.

Dad's car got badly hit in a car accident and that's why I'm now having to take public transport wherever I go. Thank God, He protected Daddy fully during the accident. It was a great miracle my dad came out totally unhurt and having to climb out from the other door.... The car was in a horrible condition though.. it's been about 1 month, and they are still fixing it.

Thank the Singapore government for such a wonderful public transport system. I'd say it's like one of the best in the world. Maybe count Hong Kong and Taiwan in too.. I haven't been around the world as much that I can claim I know which country has the best public transport system!

Anyway, some bits and pictures of the Singapore I've touched and tasted.

First Brisbanites gathering @ Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Gardens for supper on 14th Dec 09

Wen Huey, Jun Hao, Jem, Joe, Jerrine, Veon and I.

Dinner @ Maxwell before the 1st Brisbanites LG on Friday 18 Dec 09

Joe, James, Veon and I.

Met up with Eugene, Ying Hao, Shin Yee, Dan and Veon (she came late) for lunch @ Osaka Town in Raffles City Marketplace on Saturday 19 Dec 09

 

Met Mum and Dad for lunch @ Mushroom Pot after service today 20 Dec 09

And then embarked on my first escalator trip up Orchard Central...

 

Scary.... look at the height... that's not all...

Wah!!! Another flight... my legs were already jelly by the time I finished the 1st one.

Finally made it to the top... see my jelly legs?

I guess that's all for the moment... I'll discover more of Singapore next week!

B. God is Real and Working
Our God is not a God that's counting sheep in Heaven, nor is He a God that sits back and allow the world to run on its own. God doesn't sit in Heaven far away and breath in the offerings and worship of men. But God is real and involved in the lives of people - real and upclose.

Why do I say that?

You know, just returning to Singapore has made me simply rejoice when I see the work of God in the lives of my loved ones - family and friends. Friends and family just softening themselves to come to Church and all.... God is good, amen?

In the concerns of time, allow me to just copy and paste (and slightly edit) an email I sent to Judah 6:

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God has been doing so many miracles and moving in the hearts of my friends and family here. My dad finally soften his heart to come with us to Mum's Xmas Evangelistic Lifegroup event!  I'm so thankful for that, please continue to pray with me that Dad will soften his heart further to come to receive the Love that Jesus has for him!

Amazingly, I also wanna share how I visited my Wushu friends back in Singapore and got a chance to stand firm in Christ when they placed me in certain predicaments. A girl who just returned from Europe got me a 'sexually immoral' gift and when I received it, I didn't feel comfortable. But I didn't know how to reject her. So I placed it in my bag. But during supper, I felt God just gently speak to me, and reminding me of how BIG He is and that if I wanna reject the gift, He will definitely help me! After supper, I took out the gift and in front of everyone returned it to her. It seemed like the whole table was kind of 'prepared' that I was going to give it back. And so the girl gave me another gift..!

I really thank God for the favour amongst them. It seemed like they were testing my convictions and had already prepared another gift for me! We can't be sure how the devil  lay traps around for us to step into, but let us be alert!

I thank God for He had earlier prepared me for the event on many ocassions with the verse in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

On the same ocassion, another of my Wushu friend approached me with a box of cigarette and asked me, "So now, cigarette, marijuana, or cigar? Pick your choice." (I wasn't a smoker before.. I think he just wanted to invite me)

I thought for awhile and I believe God was helping me at that time in rejecting it nicely.
I managed a gently and joyful response, "I'd like the Holy Spirit."

That made my friend walk away, lost for words and at the same time, my other wushu friends around me were amazed and impressed by my response and instead of responding with sarcasm, they actually laughed and thought it was a good answer.

God is GOOD! Brothers and sisters, STAND FIRM, be self-controlled and ALERT!

I believe that as we stand firm and by being open about our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God will open doors for us to plant and water more seeds in the hearts of many ones.

I so love my wushu friends, and I pray that they will come to know the un-ending love that God has for them.... pray with me friends... :)

Through that I managed to invite one of my wushu friend to a Chinese Christian Musical - one of her first time picking up the Bible and reading it, and because she is very bad in English, she has never understood much about the Bible. I really thank God for the opportunity to bring my friend's Chinese Christian outreach Musical and through that so many seeds were planted in her life!

I also found out that God has been making His way slowly into the lives of some of my other Wushu friends.... too much to share. I believe that one day, God will be able to touch the lives of all these friends who had once been such a big part of my life as we continue to pray and be the salt and light in their lives...!

Let us pray for opportunities to share God's love during this time. Let's keep praying for our friends and families.. and for the nations we are in! GOD IS GOOD!

Let God use us in this Xmas festive season as we sieze this opportunity to share God's love with everyone!! Don't shun away from people, but let's GO FORTH with the LIGHT that will shine forth from our hearts! :)

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God is good! 

Let me show ya some photos of Eleen's Church musical program and also the 2 friends I mentioned in the email. One of them is Hai Jiao and the other one is Elvin. There is just too much to type about God's work in the lives of them, and I believe as God makes all things good in His time, I will get a chance to share a whole entry about it! :)

Elvin, Hai Jiao and me waiting for the program to begin. 19 Dec 09

They picked up an NIV Bible and started reading and I got to share the Gospel and many other things with them!

Elvin, Eleen, Brandon and I having supper after the performance @ Bugis

C. The Great Need For God

So many times I could be tempted to just lay back and chill and take this holiday as a break from all responsibilites and commitments I have in Brisbane, whether in work or church. I'll a full-time employed scientific officer in my company, as well as full-time disciple of my Lord Jesus Christ.

And God has reminded me that whether I'm in Singapore or Australia, I'm stll a full-timer in all that He has placed in my hand.

So instead of slacking off, I did pick up the strength and rebuked any slumber or laziness in my life. It was hard work man.. lol. But yes, I made my way to my mum and bro's disciple class on Tuesday, life group on Friday and devotion before Church on Sunday, and also Hope SG! God is good!

Turning up for both disciple class and life group did send many reminders and God spoke to me in both sessions. The encourage from fellow Hope Brisbanites @ LG was so awesome it gave me the strength to stand FIRM when faced with that earlier confrontation (the immoral gift). God is good and as we continue to remain in His goodness, we will walk in the light, and shine forth pure light to many ones around us.

So, some pictures of LG and Church! :)

1st Hope Brisbanites LG on Friday 18 Dec 09.

Very encouraging life group to see everyone!!

Attended Hope SG with other fellow Brisbanites today 20 Dec 09

I believe there's gonna be so much more of what God will do in my trip here. I'm anticipating... as we bring revival to Singapore... and share forth the relevance of Christmas during this season.

Christmas is SO SO RELEVANT to us... Because CHRIST Jesus made it relevant? How so? 

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

- Hebrews 4:14-16

God knows how we feel... There's nothing we are going through that God doesn't understand. Lay down all your burdens to Him....

Because if there is one person who will EVER understand you fully, that is Jesus.
And if there is one person who will ever heal your hurts forever, that is Jesus.
If you're asking, 'Who in the world will ever understand me?" Jesus understands.
And if you are having a problem getting rid of something you can't stop doing yourself, only Jesus can help you.
If you are struggling, stop and let go. Jesus will take care of everything and make it right.

Christmas began because Jesus came to save an give EVERYONE hope.

Jesus cares for YOU and ME.

If there's anyone who would ever care, that is Jesus.

May the Lord bless and touch you this Christmas.

Let's keep praying! And believing... and leave it all to God. GO4GOD!

See you Brisbane, Hello Singapore!

As the title very much tells the essence, I'm home!

After a 7 hour 20 min flight home, with a migrane through the whole journey, I finally touched down in "Sensual Singapore"! Yes... the Singapore that I've been longing to taste, to feel and to touch for a while now.

I'm home people, I'm home. Just for a month.

See you Brisbane

I managed to visit Raymond once more before I left. Apparently he couldn't remember anything that happened on Monday. His memory only contained what happened until 3am on Monday... and what happened after that... he couldn't remember nothing. He couldn't remember me singing and dancing for him in the ICU.... But...

So happy to see Raymond back to his normal self - munching on food!!

See, that's a PEACH!!

Praise God!

Well, we've decided as Judah 6 to do up a cool gift for him to document the whole incident. Prayerfully, this will be able to amplify the HAND OF GOD upon his life and protect upon him in the whole situation. Let us continue to pray that Raymond will come to know the Saving Grace of Jesus, and to receive Him personally into his life. Let's keep praying. God is and always have been a faithful God. And He will answer our prayers! He has already - just one more - RAYMOND'S SALVATION!

Keep praying! Faith, Hope and Love!

Appreciation and some farewells...

So I did up a couple of pretty gifts for Christmas, mainly for my colleagues, sheep and shepherd, a couple for those graduating and leaving (sob... kwayt)and just a couple more for some friends. I thank God for y'all in my life. I love you from my heart and I'm still learning to expand this love deeper and fuller with Christ's love for me.

Kwayti sisters - good luck Kwayti Yek!

KWAYT!

Some random Christmas-ty photos

Work Christmas party at Michelle's place - her pool

Bring a dish dinner - we used Ben's pool table as our dinner table!!

Christmas rudolph in the Little Lab @ IMB - cute!!

Hello Singapore!

Yes, I'm back in Singapore. Uncle Jason kindly came to the airport to pick me with Mum and Dad. Dad's car got hit and damaged in a car accident so it's been taking awhile for the mechanic to fix it. So happy to see all of them at the airport. I wasn't expecting a car to come! But thank God for Uncle Jason!

Hm... I realised all the cars in Singapore looks so sleek and nicely polished. Pretty pretty... I've been away too long!

Like I mentioned at the start, I really miss home. It felt like this year crawled by... yet, so quickly if we look back, we're in December. It's been an eventful year... a year of struggles, breakthrough and growing.

To spend the last of 2009 in Singapore sounds fun. I pray and sense it'll be something different from other years that I return home.

It was actually pretty cool. I took my bro's guitar and started playing some praise and worship songs, and Mum just joined in! And we were praising God in the room until someone called! LOL~! GOD IS GOOD!

Praying that God will use this holiday for His Glory!

God is Good! Alright, time to just chill over Chinese tea with Mum, Dad, Grandma and Uncle Jason. Thank God for all of them, the precious people in my life.
(everyone else is precious too, just that, they're not at home now~! and we're just gonna chill without them!!)

Keep praying - faith, hope and love!

Join me in praying please?
- Pray for Raymond to receive Jesus into his life.
- Pray for Grandma to receive Jesus into her life. She's having her 80th birthday today!
- Pray that God will move and bring salvation to the rest of my family - Dad, Sis, uncles, aunties and cousins!

God is good!!!

Love y'all.