Media Fast

Due to my backsliding in my time of reading of the Bible and time spent with God... as a result of excessive TV watching and Internet surfing and MSN... I have decided to go on a media fast of TV, Internet and Games till the end of the year... phew... sounds like a long time, but it's really effectively 1 month...

Here's how my fasting went...

DAY 1: thank God for work... I don really need to think about TV... I got my work to think about... the Big Move has also come to our office... we are renovating the office so we gotta pack our stuff and move out for a while before comiing back... WOO HOO! BRAND NEW CUBICLES! HOW EXCITING! :)

But I was actually still on the Net chatting with Lindsay, my Shanghai buddy and sneaked a few award winning ads on the net during the session...

CONCLUSION: FAIL

DAY 2: Thank God for cell at night where we had a great time of sharing and Yeo and Julius received the gift of tongues! WOO HOO! Praise the Lord. Then they had this argument about whose tongues is REAL one... *duh...

By the time I got home after supper at Jalan Kayu, it was already 2am!

DAY 3: I woke up in the morning and there was this incredible urge to switch on my TV. It's always been my sat morning routine to switch on the TV to catch the sat morning cartoons... ARGH... almost died... must resist...

I think I was squirming in my bed for a while before I got up, prayed in tongues and read my Chronicles of Narnia... zzz... before going for cell group...

DAY 4: Sun morning was the toughest... I WANT MY SUN MORNING CARTOON!!! ROAR!! I squirmed around in my bed again. This time, I really, really almost died... and I had to get out of the house... argh... my only substitute for excitement is my Narnia book... but seriously, how much Narnia can you read in a day?

NARNIA! (my friend corrected my pronunciation this morning, think it's the way I said it; sounded like a hokkien swear word... oops)

so... I was hanging around Tampines Mall... and you know... I was... at the shop selling DVDs and I stood there transfixed at the little TV which was screening "War of the Worlds" which was just released... :P at least there was a moment of relief... :P

ARGH... ah... how right did Paul say I do not do what I wish and do what I do not wish!

So, anyway, I bought my HOLY Christian books about listening to God and the gifts of the Spirit and made my way home... that was when Ben called me.

I told him about how I was dying from my fast and he said,"He he he... I watching TV now le..."

Wa! With friends like this? Who needs enemies? *although he did say there were crap programs on TV then. *Sob, sob... I'm so touched... RAH! The damage has been done!!

Oh well, I did sneak a few peeks at the tube at night, after another round of Narnia... bleah...

But really, the programs were so boring I immediately switched it off and went to bed instead.

One thing, though I gotta thank God for, was I managed to spend more time with Him :) and had a longer conversation than I usually do. :)

oh... I'm so proud of myself.

Magic Box Ad

an ad i did for magic box.

thought i'd just put it up for fun :)

You Tube Testing

This is a test of a video file upload...

I've put in this really quirky japanese ad as a video test run for my first video blog post.

Enjoy

Hero

Every young boy, grows up wanting to be the centre of a story.

He wants to grow up to be the hero of the story, the warrior who will slay the dragon, the prince who will rescue the princess and the cowboy who will ride off into the sunset.

Hollywood has not lied to us. In some sense.

They only managed to portray the longing in every man's heart, and also often times mirror the ugliness of every sinner in the mask of villians.

They understand that deep within, there is an inherent design for a man's heart.

The original design.

Of what a man was meant to be, if he was let loose to fulfill his destiny.

That which has been put in place by his Maker.

Rhythm of Life

Everything in life has a rhythm.

Our heart beats in different tempos according to our moods.

The orchestra plays in different tempos at different junctures of a symphony to express the mood of a piece.

Nothing ever moves in a singular linear fashion.

But yet, there is a flow.

Whatever that causes that disruption in tempo or if it's even called a disruption at all, is in fact a part of life itself.

What seems imperfect, is actually perfection in the rhythm of life.

The pursuit of "perfection" can be a curse, if we do not understand that the "imperfections" are part of the design called life.


"My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in your weaknesses" - Jesus

Live by HIS WORD

Given the recent spate of events, I've come to realise that a large part of my life has been lived by opinions, culture and by my own emotions.

A lot of the things I perceive are tainted by influences of the world and many times do not reflect biblical values. And that includes, on many occasions the way I feel (too much drama serials in the past :P)

Which is why the Lord calls us to "... not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

Upon this realisation that there are still much worldly values in me, I've prayed to the Lord that I want to live biblically (not the kind where you dress up like Arabs and start eating locusts and honey like John the Baptist), by renewing my mind constantly with the Word of God and meditating in His presence, so that whenever I am faced with situations in my everyday life, I will know what Father wants me to do.

And glorify Him with the testimony of my life.

Only when our minds are renewed with the values of God through His word, will we be able to know what is His good and perfect will for us.

If not, half the time, we would be battling against Him in our minds i.e.

"Cannot have Non-Christian Girlfriend meh?" "Why cannot watch porn?? It's adult entertainment what!" "Come on, we're only kissing what, never have sex le. Not pre-marital sex what!" "Wa biang eh, I really cannot tahan that guy (Christian brother)! Like that also Christian ah?" "Wa... you backstab me, I also backstab you!" "eh, ok la... I only look at the girl and fantasize only also never really touch her or have sex with her..." "I want to be rich! Only when I'm rich then I'm happy!" "When I have a girlfriend, then I will be truly happy." "Homosexuals... ok la... it's just another lifestyle ma..." "Pre-marital sex ok la... since everybody else is doing it... " "F*** vulgarities is a way of expressing myself ma... cannot meh?"

Without the word of God to guide us and lead us in our way of life. What standard do we follow?

The world's? It is a shifting standard. Just look at how the IRs have already infiltrated the nation. Even MM himself, who admitted himself of his strong stance against gambling, has given in, just so as to "ensure" the financial security and edge of Singapore. If a man, who has regarded high moral integrity in his life has given in to the ever-changing circumstances of the world, what makes you so sure that you can remain unwavering based on your so-called moral standards?

Just look at the trend! i.e. Bar top dancing, IRs, FHM and the allowing of Cosmopolitan to be sold again (although I half suspect it isn't half as saucy as FHM Singapore anyway now) the world is spiralling down! It's shifting standards do not go up! It goes down!

Only one standard remains throughout and it stands for eternity.

God's word. It has been declared.

That heaven and earth will fade, but His word will still remain.

Which means, even if today, the very ground that you stand on, goes kapoot! God's word will still stand. And on that DAY, we will all be measured accordingly by ONE yardstick. God's yardstick. Not your own, not by what everyone else is doing.

God's standard.

So, the question is: "What standard are you living your life by?"

Be of ONE Mind

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:..."

I had a tough week already being wrestled at work.

I can't really say what but I had the feeling of rudely intruded a few times.

Well, as I spent time with the Lord on Mon night, I was reminded of this verse which my dear UU shared during last Thursday's YA cell group.

Then the Spirit gently reminded me to lower myself and serve my brothers.

That was when the peace of God flooded my soul and the anger dissipated.

Coincidentally one of my members is going through a season of anger management :) hohoho... think the Lord is using this to help me appreciate what he's going through :)

Our God is a multi-tasking God! He achieves many things at one shot!

Was it difficult the next day? You bet, but I thank the Lord for a renewal and His word that gives me strength to move on. :)

Amidst all, if there is another lesson that I learned from this episode, it is that I came to examine my own shortcomings as well and submitted myself to the humbling by the Lord to see the plank in my eye before I see the speck in my brother's eye.

Hallelujah!

Macs vs PCs

Macs are used by designers.

PCs are used by the corporate stiff-necks.

Macs are for the Free-spirited.

PCs are for the compliant souless zombies who work their butts off to service their cars and houses.

Macs' mouse only has one button. One button to rule them all.

PCs have 2 buttons; for the extremely Kaisus or ppl who dono how to use their forefinger efficiently.

Then for the posers who try to defect to Macs, the ever gracious Apple ppl have created such a thing called the virtual pc, which is a software that helps your Mac to run like a PC. In this mode, the Mac loses its optimal performance level and runs like a Half-past six PC, which means simply this: you CRAP-idise your MAC.

Why in the world would you want to force your Mac to run like a PC when you can run it at its optimal level in its original FORMAT??

Won't you just leave it alone??!!

Some ppl will never understand why a Mac is a Mac. Once you use it, you really don feel like using a PC again...

The world is truly divided into people who use Macs and ppl who use PCs.



Right now, I feel like a Mac running on Virtual PC.

Go figure.

I am so gonna be outta here!

Scratches

Ever notice how every time you get something new, and then you scratched it or dropped it the first couple of times, it'd always make you wince?

Then after the intial shocks of abuse, you kinda get used to it and move on and live with those few scratches that marred its used to be perfect surface.

Where before, you used to be so careful with it, now you just tag it along and by and by it becomes a part of you; no longer warranting the kind of care and concern that you used to give it. But when it has run its course of product life span, you can't but help feel a little sad, especially if you've grown so attached to it.

Sometimes, it has grown so attached to you that people actually recognise the object as a part of you or an expression of who you are, your identity.

Yeah... at first you kinda wince when you look at those scratches but on second thought, it becomes pretty cool... it's not perfect anymore, but hey, at least those are YOUR scratches. You scratched them and you know where and when you've scratched it, so it is yours.

I'm actually talking about my handphone here.

When I first bought it, I even bought a small little pouch to carry it so I can protect it's plastic screen. By and by, I dropped it a few times, and now, due to wear and tear, this little piece of plastic at the bottom had also fallen out (turns out that Sony Ericsson is also cheap skate enough to use super glue to put things together)

At first I was quite sian about the scratches on my phone, but now, I even gave up carrying it in my pouch cos it's simply too troublesome to have to pull it out of my pocket, then out of the pouch to answer a call (many times that's how I missed a few calls)

Hey, when I look at it now, I tell myself, "hey, this is my phone man! this scratch here is proof that it's my phone and should anybody steal it, I can defintely identify it."

But through it all, I came up with this analogy.

Isn't this a lot like friendships?

When you're new friends, you tend to be ginger with the way you treat each other. Then by and by, as you get to know one another better, you start to rub shoulders and all the idiosyncracies begin to surface. That's when you start to get scratches (conflicts) If you're able to get past this stage, you begin to accept one another's weaknesses and sometimes, even appreciate them.

Then you start to reach the stage where you begin to think more alike and sometimes even take each other for granted. The relationship goes into a kind of auto-pilot mode.

But yet, when you think about it, if you're real good friends, you'll start to miss each other when you've been apart for too long. That's when you get together and talk about all those scratches you made and able to laugh over them.

These scratches in the end, kinda become the trophies and the milestones in your relationship.

It's kinda cool... yeah...

Jesus has several scratches on His body to show us He cares. One on each hand, One on both legs where the nails pierced right through and one on the side where the Roman soldier's spear pierced through.

We, with our sins put those scratches there.

But I know that when I see Him in heaven, after I've walked the valleys and the mountains of this life with Him, we'll both look at those scratches, mine and His and laugh at the stories of how they got there.

Sudden Bolt of Lightning!! Very Very FRIGHTENING!!

Last night, while I was dozing off to sleep, it began to rain.

At first, it was just the sound of rain drops peltering upon the concrete ground that I heard.

Then, came a most thunderous sound that literally rocked the neighbourhood. It sounded less like thunder than the sound of a bomb exploding. And it came with such suddeness that it sent shivers and fear into my heart...

It happened before about 2 months ago, that I was awoken from a similar thunderous explosive sound. I had thought at first, when I jolted out of my bed that a bomb had just gone off my neighbourhood... and that police was about to come and surround the area.

I really thought so!

Turned out to be just thunder...

unbelievable...

why am I writing this?

Cos I wish you'd heard what it sounded like... I mean... it really sounded like a bomb explosion..

And I was trying to get my sleep!!!!! *%%$$#@#@!!!

Flu Bug

sniff sniff... down with flu today...

stuck at home... resting...

*hee hee...

*ho ho ho...

*hahahahaha...

*mua hahahaha...

*hahahaha...

*ah... CHOO!

*sniff...

1 Week Break

Alright... I've disappeared for quite a while and it's time for some updates.

I was on leave for the whole week! Wa hahaha... took my well-deserved rest...

I think I had a really fruitful week, cos I managed to spend time with my kids, my friends, my band, my G12's cell group... wonderful :)

Here's a breakdown:

MONDAY:

I was supposed to go on leave in the afternoon after my last road show in the morning for this year, but when I got back to the office, I was shot with this humungous arrow of finishing my funding report for MDA (Media Development Authority) *#@$%@@!! Some figures required were not the ones that were wanted so I had to basically rework the whole part. But looking at how my files were organised, I thought I might as well take the time to restructure my file directories... which... incidentally took up my WHOLE afternoon... there goes my planned Funan trip to get my geek stuff... :P

Stuck in the office till 6, I decided to give my good friend Little Miss Pinky Winky a call to do dinner. Thank God for NYDC's cakes and Mango float... shiok!

CY gave me a call and we spent the night at my place watching "Forever Fever". The show about 70s disco dancing and where Adrian Pang still had abs instead of flabs and Pam Oei (Boeing Boeing-a definite must watch if it's staged again and Tiramisu) was still an unknown.

Fav line from the movie,"The music so cock! How to dance?" - Adrian Pang

Conclusion: Leave cancelled, but redeemed by a good late night cheesy movie. :)

TUESDAY:

Woke up in the morning, while CY was still drooling over my pillows. Yeah, me and CY always sleep in one bed one, no money ma... ever since NTU days... hahaha... yea, we're that close. Thank God for a brother like him! Did I tell you that our birthdays are only 1 day apart? We'd always say that our mums probably met each other at the hospital at KK. :P maybe we even slept beside each other at the baby ward. :) and we made baby promises to one another that we'd meet 21 years later. Hahaha... God really has a sense of humour.

Spent time praying and just being in His presence. Shiok!

We got out of the house for lunch and went Down Town East for a swim and a tan before heading off to meet Say Keat, our other long lost brother for dinner. Our conversations usually very chim one la... like "the discipling technique of City Harvest-heart or man's will?" and "which za bor you bio-ing now ah?"

Then we were at John's place for G12 meeting to discuss the "Top 10 ministry questions!" like... I can't really rem... except we were having this debate about whether we should give a ring to the girl before MPC (Marriage Preparation Course) or not... and Chee Mun still wants to go home at 9pm?? Siao ah! When has that EVER happened? Not even when Jesus come back man!

wa... but actually want to grab a ride from Mun to Punggol since Pasir Ris so near, but he sneaked away even before I could nab him... slippery...

Conclusion: The swimming part is the most shiok... never felt so free being half naked and immersed in water for a long time liao... probably has to do with submerged memories of a foetus in amniotic fluid in the mother's womb... warmth... nice...

WEDNESDAY:

woke up kinda late... then tried spending some time with the Lord. But since I had to rush out to meet the Lamers, my Quiet Time was quite chop chop...

Had lunch at S-11, thanks to Ziyang's recommendation. Not bad la, the food. Ruth almost lost her handphone... Thank God the cleaning auntie is honest and kind and kept the phone for her! (self? but was discovered when her conscience pricked her? :P... ah... cynical me...)

We went to watch Corpse Bride. Really good show. Tim Burton has done it again with clay animation! What's with him and clay and skeletons and ghouls? He really had a traumatic childhood man... But the show had a good value in the end and some really dark humour that's kinda funny though, so I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

We swore we're gonna go watch Harry Potter together :) looks good.

Took some NeoPrints! Woots! and after that, as dissatisfied customers, since the controls were spoilt at the machine we took, we decided to whip out our own digicam and start shooting ourselves happily OUTSIDE their store. It was totally unintentional of course... :P

Went home for dinner and TV and spending time to prepare for Word for YA's cell group the next day. Felt the wonderful presence of God as He pulled me in to just spend time with Him.

God: "Eh, talk to me le..."

JJ: "What?? It's already 11 PM and I've not come up with the word yet!!"

but alright la, in the end I gave in and spent that time with Him and the words just came naturally (or supernaturally) onto my notebook afterwards. :)

Conclusion: Corpse Bride was good. Basia called while we were taking Neo Print and she was jealous :P but the time spent with Jesus is... shiok! Can't get enough of Him. :)

THURSDAY:

had trouble getting up to go to East Coast for cell group... why do picnics have to be so... early...? I had to grab a cab there... sniff... more sleep please...

Yeo and Sim Chun made sandwiches and salad for us! 2 big burly guys making sandwiches and salad? Can you imagine that?? haha... but it was cool man... and it tasted great! :) Thanks dudes!

We had a great time of worship and I believed many were touched. Ppl share until cry le... cool.. the presence of God is STRONG!

Perhaps the highlight for me during the sharing was how Yeo shared about his testimony of how the Lord had transformed him. Praise God! I could just see such gratefulness and love and joy on his face as he shared :) I can only stand amazed at God's goodness and mercy! :)

After that, I rushed home, grabbed my guitar and cheong back to City Hall, Excelsior Hotel for my jam session with my mates. It was cool... we recorded a few songs... 2 of them can be found on our website www.narasplayground.multiply.com (hehe.. free publicity) Mind the recording though cos it's Lo-Fi quality... and there was a lot of feedback going on on the Yellow recording... sorry la... poor musicians...

So, after our jam, we had dinner... they forced me to buy them drinks... $@!@$**... out of the goodness of my heart, I agreed to be exploited... (HEAR THAT??!!)

and we crapped again la... you know as usual... when you put 2 or 3 human beings together, they can only crap... especially when they are 4 testosterone charged young men... Me being the SUPER-Charged one... Oi! Advent Children rocks! Go watch it... :)

Conclusion: Nice wonderful time at the beach with FINE weather. :) THANK YOU LORD! (Yeo prayed for fine weather and he believed and it came to pass :) ) Jamming was good that day cos we at elast got 2 decent recordings, ourbest so far. :) I'm contented. :)

FRIDAY:

Stayed home to NUA... watched Bend It With Beckham... er.. alright la... not fantastic... 4 episodes of Full Metal Panic... it's really addictive man, this anime... super funny... and then Hitch at night...fantastic show... really one of the best comedies I've watched in years... not the run of the mill kind of Hollywood crap that they churn out... ok... it's still Hollywood fluff but at least it's got good values at the end of it :) nice...

Then John came over to my place to grab his PS2 games and controllers, which included a steering wheel... sniff... bye bye... Gran Turismo 3... bye bye Time Crisis 3... bye bye cruel world...

and to add insult to injury, he dumped Chee Mun's keyboard in my house (which Mun had been trying to sell away to John's wife, Hui Si which I thought was already a done deal) so now I have to be responsible to pay for it... *$#Q@#$!


Conclusion: Watching the tube for too long makes your eyes puff up like goldfish... yeah, I was recovering from that over the weekend... and never take anything back which you thought you have already given away, and OSO never return anything that you have borrowed... :P kids, don't learn this from JJ gor gor... but you can still lend him things, but you'll prob never get it back... wahahahaha!!!

SATURDAY:

ULU Cell Group! We all dressed formally, with the exception of a few who were... ahem... out of the loop... Oi who never inform them ah??

Tried to play some games... Tried to have Worship... but it was thwarted by a persistent little cat which was more interested in my guitar bag for some reason... and got the guys really distracted from worship... Tried to have word and sharing... but... er... got tension le... dono why... somebody's goldfish died??

We went for service later and well, I did feel really uncomfortable in my spirit throughout the whole worship... like, cannot really engage... dono why...

It was only later, that the Lord spoke to me and said, "You already know my ways, son." It was really assuring to hear the Lord speak to me. To know that I'm still close to Him. To know that His love still presides with me. I felt the Lord wanted to free me out of a striving spirit, that I already know His presence and His ways, so don't be deceived to think otherwise... Well, that really lifted my spirit. :)

and then I saw Yeo being prayed for by Sim Chun and how he was weeping under the power of the Lord. Whoa! Cool! I was really encouraged and went over to him. He grabbed me and hugged me the moment he saw me and I just felt his gratefulness to the Lord rise up within him again... :) the Lord is good or what!

We had dinner with the kids and later some sharing. :) Basia came to join us! Despite her having just touched down that day... so see? she really loves the kids! :P (after a bombardment of my smses emotionally blackmailing her to come down... hehehe...)

Conclusion:
just really felt touched by God's love for Yeo and really encouraged by the testimony in his life :) and my kids are soooooo.... adorable! :) and I really see them growing... lame on dudes and dudettes.... :)

SUNDAY:

Uneventful... spent some time to pray as I felt led to do some spiritual warfare for my life and my ministry... watched Charlie's Angels... now I'm infatuated with Drew Barrymore... :P

Conclusion: I want to live a life that glorifies my God.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

and... Red Hair Babes with Kung Fu kicks... :)

Adieu...