Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The mountain man and the surgeon

The mountain man and the surgeon from The Economist - who's the richer man - an unemployed man in rich America or a doctor in poor Africa?

A very interesting article. Thought-provoking.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Wow! I look like...

Tried this facial-recognition website...

That charming smile... the next UN Sec-General?


What I'll look like if I go bald.


Ah well, if I can't look like Brad Pitt, there's always...


I always knew I was pretty good-looking. ;)

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Christmas is about GIFTS...

Something that sparked this thought was during ushering briefing yesterday, when Muiling asked some of us how we're feeling about Christmas service... and to be honest, quite a few of us weren't feeling v excited about it.

She was quite shocked, and exclaimed (something to that effect), "It's CHRISTMAS! Jesus' birthday! How can you not be excited?"

So from that heartfelt exclamation, it made me think about personally, as a 7-yrs old Christian, what does Christmas really mean to me now? And remind me again, I've heard so often that God gave us His one and only Son - not just during Christmas, but all year-round... so why do we bother to celebrate Christmas, if His gift of salvation is freely available all year around? Has Christmas become just another day in the church calendar where we invite our friends to special services?

Think the true meaning of Christmas - beyond bringing ppl for evax services, etc... if I really want to enjoy it personally, to REALLY celebrate Christmas...
is simply that Christmas is about GIFTS.

"He gave us the greatest Gift of all... when He gave His Son Jesus..."

Even now it still wrenches my heart every time I think of this song:

"As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
And all the gifts and toys we knew we'd find
But we never realised a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives..."


It really pierces my heart - because I'm simply so grateful...
that I've finally received His greatest gift of all...

I really don't know how to express this joy of receiving this gift enough... I remember, many years ago, my family would go out along Orchard Road to listen to the Christmas choirs sing carols... and I think it's during those times, over many years, that God planted several seeds in my heart, that stirred my curiosity about what the real meaning of Christmas really was... who is this Jesus, and how come they call him the greatest gift of all?

"As the years went by we learnt more about giving
And giving of ourselves and what that really meant
On a dark and cloudy day a Man hung crying in the rain
Because of love, because of love..."


Christmas really is all about giving - and personally, I think the only way that we Christians can truly celebrate Christmas is to give freely, just as we have so freely received. That's why we give gifts to one another... real gifts of love... not mere "Merry Christmas" wishes, but real tangible gifts - whether it's a simple handmade card, or some exquisitely crafted jewellery, or even a thoughtfully given sum of cash... Christmas is all about gifts that really meet our needs - whether it's need for affirmation, need for a hug, need for food or for cash, etc. etc...

For God Himself sent a real and tangible Gift down on that very first Christmas Day - gift-wrapped in cloths, because we so needed to be rescued from our lostness.

Dear friends, if you're reading this, and deep down in your hearts you feel, even though you're a Christian too, that Christmas, for you, has lost its meaning, why not take the time to offer a real gift of love to another brother or sister? It could be anything... as simple as a handmade card, or a much-needed sum of cash, or something else... For when you give freely, you share in the experience of the true spirit of Christmas - God's one and only Son, given so in love, that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life.

"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." John 3:16

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But dear friends, if you've not yet asked Jesus to be the Lord and Saviour of your life yet, why not ask Him into your heart this very moment? You can pray this simple prayer now:

Dear God, I know I'm a sinner and that I've done many wrong things against You. But I know that You love me so much that You sent Your one and only Son, Jesus, to die for my sins on the cross, that I may be forgiven. I believe that You raised Him from the dead, and so I ask You, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart from this day now on, and make me the person that You want me to be. Thank You Lord.


I prayed this prayer 7 years ago, and I've been finding out more and more that Jesus Christ really is the greatest Gift that I have ever received in my whole life. He has never failed me. He is the most faithful friend that I can ever have, and He's been changing my life ever since the day that I first met Him.

Dear friend, Jesus is really the greatest Gift that you can ever receive. Won't you ask Him into your heart today?

Friday, December 2, 2005

Grace so sweet

Grace, grace, Grace so sweet
Grace, grace, In spite of my deeds
Grace, grace, Lord grant me sight
Grace, grace, To do what is right.

Thursday, December 1, 2005

To change my attitudes

Wow, thank God for shepping today. :D Made a breakthrough - ran from
Bishan to Kallang... think it's about 12 km. :D Praise God! :D haha...

Really wonderful time of fellowship today. :D Had a good dinner at the
ex-Army market food court at Beach Road.

But think the most significant thing I realised today (thank God for
Peter) was this:

I had left my valuables back at E1A study room. Thank God for Jan and
Zhenzhong, they were there to jaga the place though.

But Peter heard about this and told me that I need to be careful with my
stuff. Huh... so many ppl already told me, but I felt really sian
listening - had kind of given up trying to change my absent-mindedness, my
tendency to leave my stuff around / lose them (even tho God helped me get
it back).

So Peter asked me how I felt. Told him I felt quite frustrated, and had
kind of given up - 'bo-chup' lah. But he told me that I've been like this
for a long time - that I can't accept the fact that I make mistakes (which
is a sign of pride).

He said it's really impt to change in these small things - else they grow
to become big threats later. In fact, this is part of God's will for me -
that I repent and change in these small small things... not the big
bombastic things that I like to talk about.

So have given thought to it. Next time I feel frustrated when I make a
mistake and find it hard to accept, I'll remind myself (must take every
thot captive to make them obedient to Christ) that Christ has already
accepted and forgiven me, so it's time to get up and move on!

Haha... must thank God, He reminded me of Hebrews 12:1 as I was
accompanying Peter to the MRT. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such
a great cloud of witnesses [I'm thinking of my bros and sisters who have
pointed out to me my mistakes in love], LET US THROW OFF EVERYTHING THAT
HINDERS AND THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES AND LET US RUN WITH
PERSEVERANCE THE RACE MARKED OUT FOR US." Yeah! will make that my
'immediate response' verset to counter the feelings of frustration and
refusal to accept the fact that I've just made another mistake.

So gonna throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles... but what are the things that hinder?

Peter told me this: "Ah, change your attitude. God will then provide you
with the method to change."

So realised that for 7 years I've not been growing much as I could be,
because a lot of times when I make mistakes, I focus on what I should have
done (the forms), and not the ATTITUDES.

The key thing for me to throw off is the ATTITUDES that hinder - any and
every attitude that is right in His eyes. Then God will provide me with
the methods to overcome in due time, one way or another... whether thru me
or thru someone. But Jesus wants me first to change my attitude that
caused me to sin / stumble, so that every time I get up, I'll fall down
fewer and fewer times. aMeN! :D And I know He will help me get up, because
He is the AUTHOR AND PERFECTER of our faith! :D aMeN! :D

Really excited, believing God for a BREAKTHRU! :D haLLeLuJaH!

If you're a Vietnamese fan...

Came across this interesting blog called Vietnamese God. It's one interesting cultural peek into Vietnamese life.