Witticism

Ahh ... Wit.

I love a good play on words, phrases that hold dual (or even multiple) meanings, a wonder of language and the active mind (for better or worse, is debatable) and words so sharp but mingled with the ability to pound you to a pulp (figuratively lah, haha). Wit, one of God's gifts to us (unfortunately, in this day and age overused and abused).

Witticism is a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter (from Dictionary.com). I had, over the weekend, attended a 'thumbs up' conference at Agape Chapel (in Kota Damansara). Mr Allen Webb was our speaker and he hails from Sunny Sdyney. The conference was spread over two days (Friday evening and Saturday) and the topic du jour was 'world missions'. Among the highlights were the sharing of Mr Webb (and his friends) on the book of Jonah and missions, and our brothers and sister (from three different continents no less) from the good ship Doulos.

During the first evening, after the conference had come to a close for the day, we adjourned into a smaller room for supper. As I was busy consuming a plate of rather good mee hoon (and mee mamak, and sandwiches ... eh, I was hungry ok?) my eyes fell upon three beautifully framed pictures: two mounted over the food table and one on the opposite wall. Each of the pictures, framed pieces of glass, held 5 smaller coloured pieces of papers. Upon them, to me, were frightfully good statements: all true, all inspired, all wit.

I would like to share them with you now. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:

1) Be ye fishers of men, you catch 'em and He'll clean 'em;

2) Exercise daily ... walk with the LORD;

3) Suffering with truth decay? Brush up on your Bible;

4) Forbidden fruits create many jams;

5) If God is your co pilot, swap seats!;

6) Give God what is right ... not what is left!;

7) God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called;

8) This church is prayer-conditioned;

9) When God ordains, He sustains;

10) When praying, don't give God instructions ... just report for duty;

11) Coincidences happen when God chooses to remain anonymous;

12) A lot of kneeling will keep you to good standing;

13) Are you wrinkled with worry? Come to the church for a face lift;

The following two are good :)

14) Read the Bible - it will scare the hell out of you!;

15) Warning! Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.

And one, which is among my personal favourites, since I am sharing (I got this from Our Daily Bread):

If you think meekness is weakness, try being meek for a week.

What do you think?

God bless you.

Of BUC and blogs

Blogs. They seem to be all the rage nowadays.

Did you know that the word 'blog' came from 'Web Log'? Thus 'blog' is a shortened form of web log. Haha, what a discovery.

BUC blogs. They seem to be all the rage nowadays.

I remember when I first started a few months ago, only a handful of us kept blogs (either that or I was not aware of some who had been blogging for some time). I remember adding to my 'Inspired list' some BUC bloggers; John (one of the pioneers), Kevin and Grace. Soon came Michelle and the discovery of Hui En's musings and Ming Han's poetic efforts (keep it up boy). Our brother Darren also started his yesterday in the comfort of Starbucks over some yummy macchiato and 'richer than rich' chocolate cake embedded with marshmallows, and today, I learnt of Seng Chor's newly initiated blog (Diver searching God's creation). Shortly after that our Christine also informed me that she has started one, hehe, aptly titled 'Memoirs of Doctor Cabokia'. Oh yes, uncle Chris and aunty Luan's blog is also up.

Talk about spreading like wildfire.

Blogs, they are all the rage. They are also a good way of keeping others updated about what is unfurling in your life and your surroundings. A place to muse, to praise, to joke and to rant. A place to share.

Keep the blogs coming. The list just keeps on growing.

God bless you.

The Inspired Student

It is really quite the ironic title. The Inspired Educator becomes an inspired student.

Come to think of it, I wonder why I had not considered it as an appropriate title before this. Haha. Actually it was mentioned to me via e mail by Matt (thanks for the idea, I am making it my idea now hahaha. So all rights reserved, mind you. Hahah. Kidding. Hey, thanks bro). So let me tell you how I am becoming, in addition to an inspired educator, an inspired student.

If you have read my previous post or if I have mentioned it to you personally, you would be aware that I am now enrolled in University Malaya as a student towards achieving the title of Legum Magister (or Masters in Law; LLM). I graduated in 1998 with a Legum Baccalaureus (LLB degree) and subsequently attained my Certificate in Legal Practice a year later ... which would mean that it has been 7 years since I did any legal studies (wow that is some time). Yes I have aged I know, haha, albeit very distinguishedly (hahahahaha).

All the same, the LLM in UM is offered in three distinct ways: through dissertation, through coursework and a mixture of both. I opted for coursework (exams, assignments, seminars and lectures) since I am working and mostly because I am most used to studying like that. For the LLM through coursework, students have to pass 6 subjects within the maximum time frame of 5 years. I have, after prayer and talking it over with my parents and family, some church leaders and friends, decided to do it over a leisurely (I think) course of 3 years; being two subjects per year. This year I am registered for (i) Employment Law and (ii) Copyright Law. So far, so good. The lecturers (both very experienced academics in their fields (Drs and Profs) and one of them being the Dean of the Law Faculty) have made a good first impression.

Suddenly being a student again seems overwhelming, what with me trying to juggle all of my activities and hats, but the good thing is that I am actually looking forward to becoming a student again. I pray to be not just a student, but one that will do my best to glorify the Lord Jesus, because I know in my heart that He has put me in UM for a reason. Lord Jesus inspire me.

That's my post for now. My classes are from 5.30pm to 8.30pm every Monday and Tuesday. Pray for me brethren and friends as I take the first steps to becoming an inspired student and eventually an even more inspired educator.

I bless you God.

God bless you all ... and UM. :)

The good, the bad and the tired ...

Sigh … it has been a long week, an eventful week, a week that has taken a toll physically, mentally and spiritually upon me. In short, it has been a week that shall echo in the corridors of my memory for some time to come.

I have aptly titled my latest post: The good, the bad (well this is arguable as you will see) and the tired. It may sound a tad odd but let me illustrate.

Allow me to weave my yarn of joy, anguish and fatigue.


The Good: Carpe diem so they say, which simply means ‘Seize the day’. Hey it rhymes. And seize the day I did.

My recollection begins on Wednesday, um, Tuesday actually, as it was the day I received an e mail from my best friend and brother (in Christ) Ernest (there is a link to his blog there too). He wrote me an email stating that he was boarding a flight to Malaysia, from the US, that very day and would like to meet up with me. Now, I have not seen Ernest in years and although we communicate over MSN, there is nothing quite like meeting up with old and dear friends. That was an opportunity too good to miss. Ah, but where is the element of carpe diem? Well the meeting was on Wednesday BUT I had also had plans to go for Superman Returns with my church movie ‘kakis’ (and there were quite a few of us). Decisions, decisions. I thought maybe I could have a quick dinner with Ernest and then join the rest for the movie. After work and prayer meeting (KDU CF) I rushed to fetch Ernest from his relative’s home in Damansara Jaya. Surprisingly, I got lost (hahahaha). To cut a long story short, soon we were on our way to 1 Utama for dinner. Time was short, too short to catch up. A thought occurred to me on the way there and I decided that I was not going to waste anytime watching movies (after all we do it so often), so I called Yoke Kheng (who had generously and kindly bought the tickets) and told her that Ernest was here and so I wanted to spend more time with him and give the movie a miss. She immediately understood and I then passed the ticket to Hui En (a youth friend from church). Yayy problem solved and the ticket put to good use. I had a very blessed time over dinner and coffee catching up and sharing old stories with my buddy. And I am glad I decided the way I did. Carpe Diem eh? (well maybe a bit over dramaticloh). That was ‘Good’ part 1.

‘Good’ part 2 began a few days later. It was a Friday morning. I was raring to go to University Malaya to register for my LLM (Masters in Law) programme (ho hum, more studying). I had been quite nervous before this, not really knowing how my schedule would turn out after registration day as there were limited subjects to choose from and since they were operating on a balloting system, I may not even get the subjects I chose, much less on the days that were ideal. Anyway, let me say up front that ‘Prayer changes things’ (Hallelujah and all praise and thanks and blessing to my Lord Jesus). Some church members were praying for me and I had a lot of prayer from the CF (many thanks guys) (James 5:16). The day started with the usual welcome speeches by the dean and other lecturers, some speeches more intimidating than others (why oh why do they need to intimidate students? Then again, sometimes I am also guilty of scaring my students. Forgive me Lord). Then the real event started – the balloting (ominous drumroll in background). There were so many waiting already. I took my ticket and waited … and waited … (about 15 ppl, if I remember correctly before me). The registration took longer than I thought and I must admit I was a bit ‘kiasu’ and wanted to get to the computers double quick to register myself for the subjects I had selected (Lord, forgive me for the lack of faith). I had to create an email account in UM and then register with that account. On my first try, it did not work. Oh wow … I was told soon, by a kindly helper that I needed to wait 30 minutes before I could log in with that password. Oh brother … (not surprisingly, I was restless for the next (almost) half an hour; still lacking faith). Let me just say that the day ended well – I got the subjects I wanted: Employment Law and Copyright Law and on the days that I think are ideal too: Mondays and Tuesdays. Lord Jesus be glorified. Will post more about lectures soon.

The ‘bad’: This may sound bad (and it was to some extent) but as I said it is arguable. You see … I woke up on Saturday morning early to get to UM for a legal research training … only to find that my car was a few inches shorter – all the wheels had been stolen the night before. Sigh … perfect timing also (hehe). I began to feel a panic rising in me, but I managed to subdue that and thought ‘I must get to UM on time first’. Thank God for my brother, Phye Aun, who agreed to fetch me to UM and I was early. The training went well, all was fine in UM. I even made some new friends (oikos?). Well, as soon as I got home, reality hit. My tires were STOLEN! Why would anyone want to steal an 11 year old (or is it 10) Kancil’s tyres is beyond me (other than the fact that the rims were sports rims). I had smsed my dad before going to UM had received a reassuring reply stating that these things happen and I should not let it rile me. I also realised soon that the tyres were about 2 years old already and needed changing. So although it was a tragedy (of sorts), it could have been a blessing in disguise (perhaps God allowed it to save me from some horrible accident). And I firmly believe that The Lord allows things to happen for our best (Jeremiah 29:11). In the words of Matt Redman ‘… when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say "Blessed be the Name of the Lord".’ Amen. Truly You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your Name, Jesus. I prayed for forgiveness after that for the way my thoughts went awry and for my questions as to why God allowed this. I know it was for my good.

Well come what may, I can say (heheh) that I have a ‘new set of wheels’. Woo hoo. I know God will provide for the cost too. Thanks to all my church friends and brothers and sisters for your concern. It was touching.

The Tired: As you can imagine, the events, worries, fears and joys of the week took a toll on me. I was physically and mentally and even spiritually tired. And what contributed to it was the fact that for each day of last week (weekend included) I had to wake up with the sun. That early. I am sooooo tired. Well slowly but surely, I will be catching up on my sleep and personal time (with the Lord and myself). I pray for the wisdom to prioritise my time now that I am occupied with work, ministry, church, fellowship, CF and studies. Lord Jesus, into Your Hands I commit my body, mind and spirit. Refresh me and restore me. Give me the wisdom to make wise, godly decisions that will glorify You. Amen.

Ok then, I am going to bed now. I am so tired (hehe).

Bless you Lord God.

God bless you all.

The 'Be - attitudes'

I am recovering (physically and mentally) from the weekend's activities (Copa IBA, World Cup and England's premature flight home), not purely because I am old-ish, but also because I think I do not get sufficient sleep (zzz deprivation). I find that the more activities I get involved in, the more likely I am to get dizzy spells, haha (actually it is no laughing matter, as I can suffer from it for days). The room literally SPINS.

All the same, The Lord Jesus refreshed me during the weekend with new fellowships (Copa IBA) and through the Footstool Players' Runaway Bride. I will post about my role as a Team Manager soon. Suffice to say although my Mighty Ducks did not complete the games with an olive laurel, they were pretty good: they finished third - good kids, all of them.

Coming back to my post, this morning I received an encouraging message from The Lord Jesus during my morning devotion. I have just started the July/August issue of Everyday with Jesus by Selwyn Hughes and this time, the theme is one of my favourite part of the Gospels: Jesus' Beatitudes.

I have for some time taken a lot of encouragement and joy from reading Christ's Beatitudes as propounded in the Sermon on the Mount (starts in Matthew 5). The Beatitudes, or Declarations of Blessedness or even 'Beautiful Attitudes' are a collection of godly and positive attitudes so vital for us Christians to adopt. These 'crisp and powerful statements give us the irreducible minimum we need for our souls to work in Jesus Christ's way'. Here they are:

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5)

1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

How wonderful are the words of our Lord Jesus, and how wise.

Truly, the attitudes Jesus talks about, if adopted and practiced will powerfully impact our and others' lives - spiritually, mentally, emotionally and even physically (Selwyn Hughes).

There is a quote from the devotion that I find really apt:

'Your attitudes determine your altitude'

The heights in which we reach in our Christian walk in this life is highly dependent upon the attitudes we adopt. "When you adopt the attitudes expounded by our Lord Jesus, the sky is the limit."

God bless you.