Announcement

Hi all, until further notices, (not much time to blog) I

Won't be updating anymore.

btw, i cleaned up some junks and what's left are good and inspirational stuffs i feel might benefit you. Only less than 20 posts, read it to the end if u want to. God bless =)

Falling on a grenade

I've been reading on american war heroes throwing themselves on top of live grenades, sacrificing themselves, "take one for the team", in order to protect their fellow comrades.

Of course, many of them were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by the president of america. (If you didn't know, it's like the military Nobel prize, nothing higher)

The youngest marine in history was a 17-year-old . How many 17-year-olds out there dare to even stand up for your criticized friends in school? Yet this 17 year old Jacklyn H. Lucas, threw himself on a live grenade, AND catch another one and put it under him, just his shirts being the only thing between him and the 2 grenades. It exploded and lucky for him, he didn't die. He just need to go on living with more than 200 pieces of shrapnels in his body for another 63 yrs until he was 80.

So i start wondering, how many of us are willing to take one for the team, to fall on a grenade, knowing we will be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously?

Immediate answered prayer

went to Kangar stadium to watch Piala Agung 2010 finals, Perlis vs Johor yesterday night.

Perlis (my place) won 4 - 0.

And i realized the perlis state players were the people i play futsal with everyday =S

Anyway, dinner wasn't provided, so i bought some roadside cucuks.

It was exposed like any roadside stalls.

Bought a few and just before shoving them into my mouth, prayed for the food t0 be cleansed.

The moment i said "amen", i took a bite, and immediately saw a bunch of fly larvae at the tip of the bitten part.

It means that if i were to take a bigger bite, i'm a maggot-eater.

My friend said eating that can cause serious food poisoning.

So, prayer realllllly answered, "Lord cleanse the food".

If i didn't pray for the food, i might be so sick right now if u offer me to be well after drinking urine, i'd even gulp down my own diarrhea like it's protein shake.

Provision

Last friday i experienced ultimate provision.

As u know it's bulan Ramadan. And unfortunately, all the food stores around my hostel, ALL of them, are Malay stores. So it means no lunch for us.
Now, normally there'd be a road-side booth selling malay mixed rice, and again, unfortunately, it's Friday, the mosque day. So stepping out of the bus makes me feel like touring Sahara.

Disappointed, i went into the kedai runcit to get a loaf of bread as a substitute for rice+vege+MEAT! yes, a loaf of bread, a loaf of yeast, a bunch of fermented biological compound with added flavoured and pale taste. Anyway, it's a loaf of bread.

Telling God while going up the stairs, "nevermind man, at least i have something to fill my stomach"
And when i entered my hostel house, there on the table lay a plastic bag with a familiar polystyrene box. It's neat and i know it's RICE! Curious, and wanting to go down and buy it, i started asking where to buy it.
It's actually my house mate's breakfast. Someone bought the breakfast for him and he's supposed to eat it before his puasa starts this morning. Well, he overslept.

So, they gave me the rice, not sold to me, but GAVE! Praise the Lord
While eating, i started contemplating. The Lord, seeing that i went for days only on bread, and in His grace, gave me what i needed. And i now know a little more of how missionaries felt when their dear life hangs in line for God's grace. And only God's grace can provide. I know how the poor feel when the only thing they can hope for is Him sending some food or they die. I know but only a little of what they go through, but only a cent of the wealth of their plight.

Ultimately, we live on the crumbs of His grace

A Doxology

The morning sky
The chirping birds
The flowing streams
Praise Thy holy name

The silent glade
The rustling leaves
The feeding cattle
Praise Thy holy name

The infant cry
The youthful passion
The aging lovers
Praise Thy holy name

The love of the Father
The birth of the Son
Unbeknown to me
the woe on the Son
Unfathomable to me
the grace of the Father

The martyred Son
The Father's grief
The Resurrection
Praise Thy holy name.

Look & See

Look, and you find that an african woman is craddling her child on a plain;
See, and you find that she's holding the only thing in the world she has - her child.

Look, and you find that a mother is caning her tearful child;
See, and you find that the mother is caning her tearful child in tears;

Look, and you find your friend wearing the same pair of shoes as he did 5 years ago;
See, and you find that it is the only pair of shoes your friend could afford.

Look, and you hate your friend for criticising you;
See, and you hate yourself for hating your friend in the beginning.

Are you looking, or seeing?

The sculptor and the stone

There was a sculptor, and he found a special stone. He dragged it home and worked on it for months until it was finally finished. When he was ready, he showed it to his friends and they said, "You have created a great statue". The sculptor said, "I have not created anything. The statue was always there. I just cleared away the small pieces".

It's from Rambo III, 1988.

An Autumn in Korea

A picture paints a thousand words, so they say, eh?

As usual, wherever I go, my love remains with me

This is what a typical Korean market looks like

me in the background
(work of Sis)

In the church, before Sunday morning service

Talk about marshmallows

At the Osanli Prayer Mountain

Our typical pose

A sight to behold

Love, Joy & Peace

They are not waterfalls,

pounding majestically below;

Instead,

they are like rivers,

flowing gently and silently,

and they never cease to dry up,

don't they?

(In case you don't know, still waters run deep)

The silent peace of assurance,

the faint whispers of joy,

the ever patient love (even romantic love),

always flow gently,

just like a river,

never a waterfall;

This was how it was meant to be,

isn't it?

=)

Convicted?

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day,

Decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray.

Just then the back door opened,a man came down the aisle,

The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while.

His shirt was kind a shabby

and his coat was worn and frayed,

the man knelt, he bowed his head,

Then rose and walked away.I

n the days that followed,

each noon time came this chap,

each time he knelt just for a moment,

A lunch pail in his lap.

Well, the minister's suspicions grew,

with robbery a main fear,

He decided to stop the man and ask him,

'What are you doing here?'

The old man said,

he worked down the road.

Lunch was half an hour.

Lunchtime was his prayer time,

For finding strength and power.

'I stay only moments, see,because the factory is so far away;

as I kneel here talking to the Lord,

This is kind a what I say:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU,

LORD,HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,
SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP

AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.

DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,

BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.

SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY.

'The minister feeling foolish,told Jim,

that was fine.

He told the man he was welcome

To come and pray just anytime

Time to go,

Jim smiled, said 'Thanks.'He hurried to the door.

The minister knelt at the altar,

he'd never done it before.

His cold heart melted, warmed with love,

and met with Jesus there

.As the tears flowed,

in his heart,he repeated old Jim's prayer:'

I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,

HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN,

SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP

AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN.

I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,

BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.

SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY.

'Past noon one day,

the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come.

As more days passed without Jim,

he began to worry some.

At the factory, he asked about him,

learning he was ill.

The hospital staff was worried,

But he'd given them a thrill.

The week that Jim was with them,

Brought changes in the ward.

His smiles, a joy contagious.

Changed people, were his reward.

The head nurse couldn't understand

why Jim was so glad,

when no flowers, calls or cards came,

Not a visitor he had.

The minister stayed by his bed,

He voiced the nurse's concern:

No friends came to show they cared.

He had nowhere to turn.

Looking surprised,

old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile;

'the nurse is wrong,

she couldn't know,

that he's in here all the while everyday at noon

He's here,a dear friend of mine, you see,

He sits right down, takes my hand,

Leans over and says to me:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM,

HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP,

AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN.

ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY,I

THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND

SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY.

The Legend of The Cherokee Indian Youth's Rite of Passage

received this email message from ACQ (auntie Choy Quin), interesting -

His (the Cherokee Indian youth) father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN .

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.

When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story : Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there. 'For we walk by faith, not by sight.'

The Story of A Stream of River

I received this msg from my friend and found it quite inspiring, enjoy reflecting upon it =)

Once, there was a small stream of river that roamed the lands in search of the vast oceans. The stream, who braved the mountains and endured through the forests, persisted forward with determination.

At last, it came before a desert. The stream then thought to itself, 'I have already persevered through so many trials, what is another one to me'. Yet, the truth differs from its hopes. The stream tried again and again to go through the desert, but each time the stream comes in contact with the desert sand, its water is absorbed by the sand. In haste, the stream said to itself, 'I have tried all that I know of. Looks like I am destined to be a norm and to never reach the oceans!'

Then, the breeze came and comforted the stream saying, "My friend, if I can pass through the desert, I believe you can do it too. You just need to change yourself".

"Change? But I have never done that before!"
The stream started thinking, 'if I really cannot do it, wouldn't I just have to destroy myself here?'

"It is because you have never really known yourself, that you say so. It is because you have never changed, that you know not the value of your own potential," Breeze said.

At last, the stream gathered its courage and, having the thought of improving itself and rising above, leaped into the breeze's embrace. The stream has been vapourized.

The next day, the vapourized stream turned into rain drops and finally has discovered the joy of reaching its goal of life - to land into the vast oceans.

Give us Barabbas!

Remember the scene when Jesus was taken before the Jews by Pilate? Jesus was in His blood-stained robe, wearing a crown of thorns, maybe having His hands chained (feet even), and also a new garment of scars(what the movies depict rite)? And then Pilate asked the Jews, "It is your custom to release a prisoner during the Passover feast every year. So, Hu? Jesus or Barabbas?"

"Give us Barabbas!"
"Barabbas!!"
"woohoo, yeayea yea! Barabbas!"
"Ba-rab-bas! Ba-rab-bas! Ba-rab-bas!"
(whatever..)

And so, the murderer who has taken part in an insurrection was released. Have you ever wondered why the Jews liked him so much? It's not like they hated Jesus to the extent that they are willing to release anyone except Jesus, even the worst of prisoners. It's because they liked him(maybe). Imagine, the authorities in Darlie's (say, it's a boy) school is disliked very much by Darlie and his friends. Then, Darlie rebelled(insurrected), but of course, he was kicked out of school. Then came the headmaster's retirement and all of a sudden, he says, "I'm bringing a student back. Do you all want (whoever who's in the situation paralleled to Jesus) or Darlie?" Imagine what will the students' reply be? Barabbas was considered a hero among the Jews(that's what was written in my bible).

Why did God allow this Barabbas thingy to happen? Can't it just be canceled out of His plan in Jesus' death since it seems so insignificant? Guess what does Barabbas mean? Barabbas is in Aramaic and it means "son of Abba". And Jesus died in the place of Barabbas, in the place of "son of Abba"!! Cool?

so, give us Barabbas or give us Jesus? =)

Are you Resting?

I was pondering on the question "Lord, what do You want to speak to me?" as seen in yesterday's Lent meditation(Sunday meditation) when this thought came into my mind, "are you really resting or just recuperating?"

True enough, today's devotion in e-sword by George Morrison talks about the restfulness of Christ. There are some people who impress us with their restfulness even though they may be energetic, passionate, or even, noisy or "kee siao", haha!. Yet, we just feel the restfulness that radiates out of them so strongly. The people may be our parents, our friends, the elders, the matured, it may also be(not to miss out) the children.

"They are not necessarily brilliant, nor have they any striking or unusual gifts: all we feel is that in their company there is a pleasant atmosphere of restfulness." -Morrison

Every time I read the Gospels, I can see the restfulness of Jesus radiating so strongly, that it even stills me. One of the reasons for the restfulness, as Morrison says, is the love which Jesus has. Another pillar of the restfulness of Jesus is the trust that He has in His Father. Imagine a husband betraying the trust of his wife, and the wife her husband. The next thing you'll see is the restlessness of the betrayed one, constantly checking up on the other one and doubting all that the other one is doing. Jesus is faithful to God, Jesus is restful.

Are you the kind of person whom people feel restful with?