Year of Sabbath 2008

Here are my thoughts about 2008, the Year of Sabbath.

it is a year of stagnation...

a year where everything you planned for were supposed to happen but didn't.

you go like, "WHAT???"

yeah... and it's true!

I was driving in the car just last week, asking Basia, "Just what have I achieved in 2008?" I felt like I was completely lost.

No don't be mistaken, it wasn't like I was sitting on my couch all day sipping magarita and watching DVDs the whole time. I was actually very busy. I was running road shows, meeting ppl for ministry and cell groups and my band, etc. BUT NOTHING PROGRESSED!

I really felt it! Maybe I was looking for something in a tangible sense, like maybe recorded a song or two at least for the band, growth in numbers in the cell, career taking off and flying... something established at least... but NO...!!! it was kapoot! zilch! zero!!

In the closing days of 2008, as I stood still before the Lord and asked Him what was it all about, He only told me one thing, "It IS a Year of Sabbath. I purposed to thwart all your plans, so you can seek Me and find rest in Me."

Ah... so that's what it's all about. Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain.

So here's some things I'd like to thank God for 2008.

1) I thank God that Basia and I got to know each other a lot better and grew a lot closer this year and we're doing our MPC (Marriage Preparation Course) We had our times of conflict and resolution which really helped us to understand each other better.

2) I thank God for His provision for the roadshow job. It really helped to tide me over.

3) I thank God for the bond we've built in my band. We're so good at talking crap that it feels funny if just one of us aren't around. Maybe they don't feel the same way towards me though.

4) I thank God that instead of the numbers, the ppl in the cell have grown in depth and love for each other. I see that especially among my Young Adults. Though the Lord removed many from the cell, the core group of them grew closer to one another. I also see the youths rising up, not just in running programs but in spiritual discernment and wisdom and favour as well.

All in all, it was a fruitful year, not in terms of the tangibles but in terms of what the Lord has done in the inner being of the ppl and in me as well.

2009

I am seriously still living in 2008.

it went way too fast!

My friends (namely, Chao Yang, Jeanie, Basia) and I had a short discussion about how 2008 flew by us (we even entertained the thought of an epic alien abduction of the whole planet earth), we came to a conclusion that somewhere between March to July 2008, things went into a spin and we lost those precious 4-5 months!! It's scary but when I did comparisons with some of my other friends on this subject matter, they too, had the same uncanny feeling! Which brings us very close to the possibility of the alien abduction theory.

Just today, Chao Yang said this while we were walking from the EXPO, "I still feel like I'm living in September of 2008!"

That said, I'm seriously still experiencing a TIME LAG. I say this cos even though I'm physically in 2009, my mind has yet to register that fact, and it's still screaming to me that I've only lived 9-10 months of a year.

I think I'm still trying to play catch up here; mentally, emotionally, physically (you bet! after the Youth Camp, the YA camp, and 2 'My Hope' Christmas Parties...) and even spiritually (in terms of hearing what God is planning for the year ahead)

need a breather... *phew... maybe I should take a holiday in Bali, it might help me to readjust back to the A.D. time line. Back there, it's still in the R.O.C. timeline (Relac.One.Corner)

So bear with me for a while if you still catch me mumbling stuff about 2008 as though it just happened or if you find me playing with sparklers at the beach in April celebrating the New Year.

I think aliens took my brains.

Nara Frankenstein 99

In case you're wondering what happened to Nara's Playground since last October's acoustic gig.

No, we've not disbanded... Choi!

We're simply in hibernation.

yes, you know when bears go to sleep in winter and wake up when it's spring?

Yup, that's what we're doing right now.

And we've found a cosy little place to hide and work on our songs.

To record our songs, we have assembled a hideous contraception straight from the depths of a mechanical scrapyard.

Here are some pictures of our monstrous creation and secret hideout.





check out the blinking lights and swiveling heads!

I tell you... we're making Frankenstein here!

Nara Frankenstein!!






and that's dylan and daniel rocking hard to keep the machine running so Nara Frankenstein can stay alive!

The guy with the cable? That's mun, plugging in the telephone cable so electricity can course through Nara Frankenstein.

"SHE'S ALIVE!! SHE'S ALIVE!!"

We promise we'll bring you Nara Frankenstein soon... :)

the New Chopin

My bro broke his collar bone last week.

But no, that's not the story that I'm talking about in this post.

It's my niece.

We went to visit him at his place.

My mum and I were treated to a piano recital by my niece.

She's 8 and she plays the piano.

She just finished her piano exams.





that's my mum at the back sipping a pack of green tea.

Look at the way her fingers fly!

She's gonna be the next Chopin!



After that, she dragged me to play Monopoly with her. The Junior version. I don't think I can handle the STANDARD version of Monopoly these days... and I really can't remember when was the last time I touched Monopoly... sec school? man... that's eons ago... when there was no Internet...

*horror music plays!!!

Good Old Times

Basia and I had a day off on Monday so we decided to visit the National Museum.

We're suckers for old stuff and looking at things that dead people used.

Here's before we start.




You must be wondering what the headphones were for. Well, the National Museum has gone so high tech that you actually carry a mini video device along with you to listen to commentaries while you browse the exhibits.

amazing... but it was a little cumbersome though.

the exhibit that really caught my attention was an old 1960s broadcast of our founding father Lee Kuan Yew making a rally speech during an election. He was truly visionary in his speech, exhorting Singapore to embrace industrialization in a time when our neighbors were still tilling the ground and growing rice to feed themselves.

"We must make our own televisions! Our own stereo sets! Why must we be using other people's products! Let other people use OUR products!" was what I paraphrased he said. Well, we did end up making televisions and stereos, but we were making them for our past colonial masters and invading occupants (Sony, Panasonic)

How did Basia fare on the excursion? She was so spooked by a Chinese Funeral Procession exhibit that we had to steer clear of it. Hahaha...

Here's us after we came out of the Museum. Some evening shots of the Museum's facade :)





hehehe.... the lights on the building are nice right?

If you haven't been to the Nat Museum in a long time, it's worthwhile to give it a visit :)

I'm a MAC convert!!

Ok, I'm taking a break from my incessant brain-storming to write this short little post.

I've been using a mac, sorry 2 macs to be precise, a pink plastic covered macbook and a huge titanium bodied G5 sitting snugly on my desk for the past months and i must say...

I LOVE MAC!!

here's some reasons why I think I'm stuck with mac for the rest of my life:

1) it takes less than a minute to boot up the laptop and desktop
(unlike PCs that makes u sit and stare at the windows logo for like 5 minutes or while u go make yourself a cup of coffee, come back and it still hasn't boot up)


2) it's hassle-free installing AND uninstalling programs!
(just double click and follow instructions and drag the program into the trash can to uninstall)

3) the softwares are intuitive, yes even with the Microsoft Office prog in the Leopard environment

4) NO VIRUS ATTACKS!

5) NO ANTI-VIRUS ATTACK PATCHES DOWNLOADS which takes forever to download!!

6) it looks cool, sorry DESIGNER COOL to carry a WHITE or SILVER laptop rather than a clunky black one

7) It doesn't keep asking you questions with wierd numbers on it tt baffles you!

8) Finally, as much as I can recall, it shuts down in a minute!
(so u can really go home on time and catch your bus!)

yup... said it :)

sigh of relief! I'm never kow-towing to bill gates ever again!

steve jobs i love u! *muak muak muak!

Psalm 107

Psalm 107 is a psalm of salvation.

It is a psalm of salvation for ppl in all kinds of situations and mindsets.

The Lord not only saves them from where they are, He also saves them eternally to be His redeemed. It basically outlined 4 kinds of ppl in this world that He saves.

v1-3: the psalmist begins with a high praise unto the Lord and calls on all who has been saved to praise Him! Those whom the Lord has rescued from the hands of the enemy and whom He has gathered all over the world.

Remember those times when you did not know the Lord yet, and how you struggled with your self and sins. Remember how He has rescued and redeemed you from your old fruitless and empty life. That give you ample reason to give thanks and praise Him every day!

For the rest of the verses 4-32, the psalmist outlined 4 kinds of ppl whom the Lord had rescued and are still rescuing today!

I've broken them up accordingly to the verses and given a category to the personality of ppl mentioned.

1) v4-9: Those who constantly yearn for love and relationships

these are the ppl who constantly yearns for love and they go from one group of friends or relationship to another, not being able to find the one tt truly satisfies them. They finally come to the end of themselves and the Lord comes to rescue them; bringing them to a city (Mt Zion or the Church) in which they can dwell in.

notice in v 7, the Lord says (NKJV) "... He led them forth in the right way that they might go to a city for a dwelling place." before these ppl can go into the new dwelling place, the Lord needed to change their perspectives of friendships and relationships (the right way) as opposed to those preached by the world (which is often times more selfish than giving), before they are able to enter the city.

2) v10-16: Those who walk according to their own strength and wisdom

the Lord only has this to say about this group of ppl; that they are in darkness and "... bound and afflicted because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High." In what way have they done this? By not living in faith but by the works and strength of their own hands. Because His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts, if we try to live contrary to how He wants us to live, it will result in fruitlessness.

These are the ppl whom you see around you who works very hard to gain success and happiness through their own means, but finds it meaningless in the end with no joy and full of weight in their daily living.

God's way of dealing with them is simple, to allow them to go on until they are weighed down by the very works of their own hands tt brings no fruits. Then the Lord comes and rescues them and frees them from the dreariness of their empty living by giving them purpose and meaning to their lives!

3) v17-22: Those who live for their own pleasure

These are the ppl tt you see around you who live for their own comfort and pleasures. But they are afflicted, either in their emotions, their relationships and their bodies.

v18 says (NKJV) "their soul abhorred all manner of food and they drew near to the gates of hell." Sin, makes you lose your appetite for life. You lust for more but more does not satisfy you. Your whole being deteriorates and you draw nearer to death each day, being it spiritually, emotionally, relationally or physically.

But those who cry out from such an empty life, will be healed (v20) and delivered from destructions!

4) v23-32: Those who understands the Ways of God but fails to call Him Lord

There are those around us who practices the universal principles of the Lord and they are successful as a result! Yet, they are not believers! These principles include, sowing and reaping the fruits of your labour, vision casting, etc... I'd like to say Adam Khoo :P but Leonard would be offended... HAHAHA...

They are those who knows the universal principles of God but fail to recognize Him as Lord. So what the Lord does, is that He will bring a calamity down upon them such that even what they practice cannot save them since God Himself made those rules anyway, so as to bring them to recognize who is the Lord of all in their lives. (v25-27)

It is God's mercy that He does so, in order that one can be saved eternally (v28)

Finally, the Lord ends with v 33-42 to reiterate His sovereignty over all things and His provision and protection over His saints and all those who trust in Him and practice His righteousness (faith and trust in Jesus Christ and walking with Him)

So that, (v43) whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

Application:

1) Give thanks to the Lord for what He has rescued you from

2) Some of us though redeemed, still struggle with some of the struggles mentioned above, be in our relationships with ppl or the need for love, finding meaning in our work, sin that deprives us of the true joy of the Lord, or we've been so biblical and successful in our living that we've forgotten the Hand tt feeds us :)

Pray for the Lord to reveal them to you so you can begin to acknowledge Him as Lord in your life again.

3) Maybe you still have friends and relatives around you who fall into the various categories of the ppl mentioned. Pray for the Lord to bring them unto salvation by being aware of their condition and for the Lord to intervene in order to break certain mindsets

Hope this meditation of the psalm has blessed you!

God bless you! :)

Psalm 101

The very onset of this psalm, establishes the theme of the psalm.

The psalmist sings of mercy and justice, 2 vital characters of God; and finally praise to the Lord which depicts faith.

v2-5 speaks of how the psalmist pledges to walk blameless before the Lord.

something that caught my eye in v2, which says, "... Oh when will You come to me?" this is right smack in the middle of 2 verses where the psalmist talked about walking blameless even within his house.

The psalmist's integrity is not a show before men, it was a call to walk right even when no one is watching (in his house) patiently waiting for the God whom He knows sees all things and judges all things, the thoughts and intent of a man.

With which he goes on to name the practical steps he'll take to walk blameless before the Lord (v3-4).

1) keeping his eyes away from things that will cause him to sin
2) staying away from deeds of wickedness
3) making sure his heart holds no perverse intent
4) being innocent of what is evil so he can be pure to do what is good

in v5, the psalmist outlines the values which he will cut off from around him; those who slanders (watching his tongue) and those who are proud (confident in their own eyes).

v6-7 shows the psalmist's intent to surround himself with a community of people who are righteous and seeks after the Lord and to cut away those who practice wickedness

Finally in v8, he declares how he will nib the roots of wickedness in the bud by saying "Early, I will destroy all the wicked of the land" so that bad values will not take root in his heart, his household and his land before it's too late.

I was actually looking for this psalm to meditate upon last week. I thought it was in the earlier psalms (20-30) but I wasn't able to find it. Then I prayed to the Lord to reveal this psalm to me and viola! It's actually Psalm 101, a psalm we were to read this week!

In the spirit of the psalm, I am greatly encouraged and strengthened by the psalmist's ruthless departure from sin and wickedness, not willing to even leave room for sin to have a foothold in his life.

Some questions I'd like us to ask ourselves this week:

1) Are we keeping our hearts on fire for the Lord by keeping an eye on what we watch on TV and the Internet? Or are we allowing the values of the world to permeate our lives?

2) Do we watch what we say to others?

3) Have we been confident in the works of our own hands or in the works of the Lord in our lives?

4) Have we been accountable to one another on how we lived our lives? Or are we living in isolation?

5) Have we been ruthless to cut off wrong values quickly and early before they take root in our hearts?

Psalm 100

There are a few reasons why we can rejoice and be filled with gladness before the Lord.

First of all, we know that He is God (v3) and He is therefore sovereign over our lives!

Secondly, because He made us, we can trust that He will provide for us in every one of our circumstances.

and finally know that He is a good God (v5)

Therefore, may the Lord remove your veil of sadness and come into His gates with thanksgiving and singing!

Cos He's in control over your situation, He will provide a way out for you and He is a good God! Hallelujah!

Psalm 99

"The King's strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God. And worship at His footstool - He is holy." Psalm 99:4-5

I was meditating upon Psalm 99 and this 2 verses came to me strongest. Often times, when we think of strength, images of being macho, endurance and tenacity comes to mind.

But as I read these 2 verses, I felt the Lord telling me that true strength comes from standing upon righteousness. The ability to love and do what is right gives true strength to a person. Not running away from one's wrongdoings or misgivings, and facing up to what is right, gives true strength to a man.

Some examples could be; when everyone else decides to lie to get away with things, will we still stand upon righteousness and say we will continue to tell the truth even if it hurts me?
When I do something wrong, will I be truthful to myself and admit my mistakes and face the consequences?

When we begin to live in righteousness by continuing to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, then we will be strengthened to execute God's justice and righteousness.

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down every arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

Cat Poo Poo

My goodness! it's been 3 months since I last blogged!

I must have been really busy! :P actually I'm just too caught up with things to blog... and I'm also a little lazy :P cos I'd rather do other stuff... like read a book or something :)

But basically, I started the year rushing other projects like Yuan Chang's wedding video; if you had been involved, yeah you know what i mean :) the video brought me into mid-Feb with all the prep and filming. I've still got his actual wedding footage to edit... man... editing takes up a whole week if not more... and it's a killer, that's why I'm not doing wedding videos ever again.

Cos every wedding video basically comes in the same format: 1) fetching the bride with all the sabos... 2) ROM... 3) Dinner... the format's the same, except different faces... and... not to mention I'll be half sick of all the love songs after I complete the edit. And I really don wanna have a deja vu feeling when I walk down my own aisle thinking... "hey... this looks and sounds familiar... oh yeah, reminds me of the other HUNDRED & ONE wedding videos I've made... bleah!" it just takes away the sanctity of the whole wedding affair if I keep doing wedding videos...

So... sorry to the rest of my cell members who will be getting married and expect me to do wedding videos for them! :)

Besides that, the Lord had blessed me with a part-time job tt doesn't take up too much of my time and yet at the same time... you gotta read this ... pays me more than when I was working full time for the last 5 years of my life!!!

It's absolutely nuts and incomprehensible! All I can say is He is a real God and He provides for my every single need. It was exactly the prayer I asked for: "Lord, I need a job tt can pay me so I can pay my family bills and yet have enough time to do ministry and my own company stuff..."

Bingo! along came this job where I do roadshows at schools and I get paid per show :)

and I love my job! cos I love to talk to students! :)

On a personal note, God has been showing me how to rest in His sovereignty. He's been showing me how to enjoy the ordinary and mundane in life i.e. doing my laundry, cleaning my room, washing my car mat... which brings me to another highlight of my life this week.

I had to wash my car mat last Thurs night after a night out with Basia. Why?

cos I stepped on cat s*** yes! cat S***!

so we got into my car and this pungent smell came waffling into my nose.

I said to Basia, "did u smell something?"

She said, "no... I can't smell anything... cos my nose is blocked..."

but throughout the whole journey to her place... the smell of S*** (i really don think i need to explain how s*** smells like (: )just kept assaulting my nose... I almost blanched a few times while driving.

"I must have stepped on some s***" I said. "think it must have been the cat story I told just now..."

you see, just before we got into the car, we saw a cat along the road and I made up this fictitious cat ghost story to Basia. We thought the cat must have been pissed and pooped around my car for me to step on.

thank you Mr Cat! I really love the smell of your S***! :)

so... when we parked the car under her flat, we checked and true enough there's this mass of gooey brown stuff stuck to my shoes!!! ARGH!!! CAT POO!!

well we weren't sure it was Cat Poo then until Basia's Mum confirmed it with her great declaration of (in mandarin) "Must be Cat Poo Poo! Cat Poo Poo is the most smelly one! Not even dog poo poo can compare with the cat poo poo!"

Words of infinite wisdom indeed...

so we were there at her common corridor, Basia pouring water over my car mat and shoes while I emptied almost the entire bottle of washing detergent and scrubbing furiously to get rid of the smell...

so... while I was there scrubbing and cleaning... mucus free flowing from my nose... cos I was having a running nose then... I asked God what He was trying to teach me...

and He said, "well, learn to enjoy the ordinary son :)" yes... smiley face included...

by ordinary He meant the things we have to do in life while we're on this side of heaven, the cleaning, the scrubbing, the basic maintenance of... Life...

tt is... before we die and go to heaven and we can command our guardian angels to scrub our mansions for us :P

But isn't it beautiful...? God allowed wear and tear in this life time, to teach us how to be faithful and good stewards of all that He has given to us. And of course to learn tt in order to be great, we need to be faithful with the small things first...

a.m.e.n.