Two Oh Oh Nine

The year is drawing fast to an end. I have waited about a year for this. Every year after Christmas I begin counting down to the next Christmas. :) It is (besides church camp) my favourite time of the year.

In ending the year, I thought it proper to recollect significant events that happened this year (in random order, because I have probably forgotten quite a few, haha) and significant people that I have had the blessing to come across. Here they are (and all glory and thanks to Jesus for them):

Hillsong 2009: 7th - 11th July 2009 (if I remember) found me in Sydney (again). I have been to Sydney three times in as many years and I really give thanks to Jesus my saviour for that. The ticket was itself a miracle (about RM1670 return, bought a few weeks before the conference) and the accommodation was another miracle (Bob and Sue Garrard, Sue whom Yoke Kheng and I met at Hillsong 2008). The conference was a blessing and I learnt from some of God's best servants: Louie, Craig, Chris, Jentzen, Joel and the Hillsong team. Oh and the 'bonus' pictures with my brothers and 'buddies' Joel, Jed and Rubes. :)

H1N1 scare and weight loss (cool): I quarantined myself for about 6 days after returning from Australia as I developed a fever some hours after coming home. Imagine my fear as I am a paranoid guy. I packed and was ready to check in to a hopsital but when my dad called the hopsital they said unless it was serious (coughing, etc) there was no need to check in. I took Tamiflu (just in case) and literally cooped myself in my room the whole time, coming out only to wash up, bathe and wash my dishes. My beloved mom would bring the food to my door and my nephew would ask me why I could not come out. When I finally completed my 'course' one of the things I did was to weigh myself and lo and behold I was 4 kgs lighter. From then on it has been gym and/or pool 4-6 times a week. :)

Run for the Nation: 5 am and some days of training to complete a 5km course in 40 minutes. Running and praying for the nation was something new. Prayer walk with a run ... haha. Thought it was less than possible but all things are possible with Jesus. All glory to Him.

LLM (Master in Law): My 'bachelor' hood has been superseded by my master in Law degree. Haha. I am still a bachelor (albeit a most eligible one ... and I thought I made it Obvious to her). Three years and six subjects later I am now qualified to lecture (haha). All glory to Jesus for walking with me through all those tiring assignments, presentations and exams, and for wisdom. Exams are literally a thing of the past now (for Law that is). :) Plus this was my very first convocation (mine). God has been very good with the salary adjustment too.

Restful Holiday: my trip to Johor was probably my first holiday trip where I slept kau kau. Preferring not to risk going to Singapore at the time or going most anywhere (H1N1, haha), I slept, drank tea, played games on Sahaya's I Phone and slept some more. What a holiday ...

The Little Book that could: JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit allowed me to pocket RM200 from KDU. I won third prize in a book review contest that KDU had organised. It is truly the little book that could. Haha.

Visitors from abroad (angels?): Sarah Yang and the Singapore team, Herr Piero, Janice and Matthew from Singapore (and the USA), the YWAM team and Watchman Ngiam all were God's spokespeople to our campus team, church and I this year. I believe we are in a time of equipping for the labour ahead. Thanks all you guys who have been such a blessing to me (us). Jesus be glorified. And thanks to Piero for all the laughter during our photo taking sessions. Haha.

'Handsomology' instructor: Pastor Victor and Kelly ran the Cross Encounter Camp this year and although it was for the youth, this older youth still learnt and was impacted for God. The time of rest (I think I feel asleep a little while) before The Lord Jesus during the final evening was such a blessing. Handsomology? Just ask Pastor Victor.

Camp 2009: Bethesda (us) was entrusted with the planning of the camp and by God's grace, the camp was a success. We revisited Harvest Haven and had a good time with an anointed speaker: Pastor Joshua Krishnan. I learnt that his son Jason is also a Magpie fan (yeah). The only glitch was the tomato game (haha, Ming brothers ...). Accommodation and food were good, sessions were impactful and it was fun, fun, fun. Jesus be glorified.

Campus Life: My time at the Damansara Jaya campus (KDU) has come to an end and soon we will be shifting to a new campus in section 13 PJ. Many have complained, but I for one am looking forward to it. A new environment is always good (a change can do us a world of good) and right now, I am also listening and waiting for further instructions from Father God about the new campus work there. Amen. Also I am a lot nearer to my old office, LexisNexis Malaysia (Jaya 33). God bless the CF under the capable stewardship of Miss Angeline and Mr Simon and the new president Jennifer.

Campus Life 2: The students that God, Jesus the Lord, has entrusted me with are some of my very favourite. I have known them for some time (since sem 2) and will miss those flying off soon (whether sem 4 or sem 6) but am looking forward to seeing those that remain at least a little while longer. Karaoke anyone? Prawn fishing? Haha. Jesus be blessed in and through them.

Campus Life 3: We have been meeting for more than a year in our Campus Ministry group and there have been progress concerning the oikos list. I thank Jesus for all my co workers (Roy, Aaron, Xiying, Jia Ling, Yoke Kheng and uncle Chris) and oikos and I pray that in the year to come, God will multiply us and continue to shelter us under his omnipotent wing.

David A: my first secular concert of sorts. David Archuleta at the Sunway Lagoon Amphitheater, packed with young (ho hum) and not so young (wow) alike, girls and guys too. An enjoyable consert (more of a sing a long) from an able performer with a really good voice, whose songs have become some of my karaoke staples. Haha.

Karaoke: Speaking of karaoke, I think it strange that come November to December karaoke seems to be the in thing for me. I could be an addict ... haha. I have been four times in two months already (last year three times I think) with several groups of friends and having a blessed time every single time. For Obvious reasons, I find singing with friends so much fun and boy do we have a good laugh at each other. Haha. Bring it on. Oh yes, I have a membership card too. Haha.

Potty and Lotty: My dear group of FES friends have come through again, we have managed to get through another year of becoming closer and having our monthly (most of the time) dinners and laugh sessions. Thank you guys for making my time with you all so memorable ... and yes, my house ... soon. :) Jesus be blessed.

'Oh man' incidents: My A-level group from CF, a most memorable group this year, my yum cha, Hokkien mee group has given me two things to be thankful for from two less than savoury incidents: (A) Getting conned by a group of youngsters aka supposed 'stolen' laptops. Two of my CF students were accused by some random guys of stealing their boss' son's laptop. Well it was all a con game and they ended up two laptops short. I believe there were angels protecting us that night as no one was hurt. (B) The I Phone that went for a swim: I am still a little apologetic to John for pushing him into the pool when he had his I phone (a gift from his grandfather I think) and was ready to buy him a new one. Thankfully it was repairable. Jesus be glorified for that. :) (C) This is a different "oh man" incident: NUFC was relegated this year ... oh man. But in retrospect it was a good thing for now they are soaring in the Championship after having most of the 'dross' cleaned. Kudos to Chris but I am still waiting for Alan. :)

'We'll miss you' incidents: To the Wongs and the Yus, thank you for making my growing up in church a blessing. I have been encouraged by you, learnt from you, been inspired to walk nearer to God and just been blessed by your love, friendship and food. Jesus bless and keep you all always. I will miss you for sure. :)

I think that is pretty much it, but I am sure I am forgetting some other important things. Oh well, good or bad, God be praised.

Jesus bless you all and thank You Jesus for 2009. May 2010 be even better for Your glory Jesus.

Amen and Amen.

New Campus

I am excited at what is going to happen.

KDU Law and Business Schools are moving to a new premise, s 13, with a renovated building and the works.

A change will probably do us good, and I for one am looking forward to it. :)

Parking woes? Hmmm ... maybe but I am looking forward to it.

Jams in the mornings and evenings? Maybe but I am looking forward to it.

It is just like when you buy some fish from the store and release them into an aquarium and they roam about exploring the new environment ... I am looking forward to that.

New campus = new opportunities for God as well.

Jesus be glorified.

5 am

Would you get up at 345am and run/jog at 5am in a semi deserted area? :)

God in all His goodness can be quite persuasive. All glory to Jesus.

I actually enjoyed myself and the run was quite invigorating. My team mates were excellent as well and we managed to cover the route and pray (at times out of breath) through the prayer cards.

Run for the Nation, which is what about 1200 Christians from all denominations and churches have just done over the weekend, is complete. Hopefully the praying continues, redemptive prayers for our beloved Malaysia and her people.

Signing up next year? Haha. Remember the date 23 May 2010.

All glory to Jesus.

Expectation

Dear reader,

Tomorrow Jia Ling and I fly to Sydney to meet up with the rest of the gang (Yoke Kheng, Kevin and Jia Yein) for the Hillsong Conference 2009. :)

Psalm 91 shall be my/our comfort.

Jesus be glorified in us and through us.

Jesus bless you.

P.S: please keep us in your prayers: protection, joy, experiencing God.

Vacation from vacations

The topic is a little misleading. I am not taking a holiday from holidays ... haha. In fact I think I need to take breaks every now and then and not just breaks like weekend types of breaks because I find that my weekends can be just as busy as my weekdays. I am talking about taking a real holiday, not the kind where you get more tired after one, but one where you almost literally do nothing, have nothing planned when you arrive.

I had my first (or at least I think it was my first) holiday where I did not come home more tired than when I left. I have just returned from a holiday in JB with a group of good friends. We left on Friday morning with virtually nothing pre-planned but looking forward to whatever came. Eventually all of them visited Singapore but I decided to stay where I was and just relax. It is rather liberating to be able to wake up, go for a nice breakfast (the food we had in JB was very good from local Malay dishes like nasi ayam penyek, lontong, bakso and laksa Johor to Chinese delicacies like roast duck and salted egg fried crabs), return to the bungalow and just relax, play games, play IPhone games and sleep whenever you wanted to, not having to rush from one place to another enduring the heat and haze and (hehe) flu.

That is exactly what I did and I enjoyed it ... it was different. For the longest time, whenever we would go on vacation, whether family or friends, we would normally be rushing from one place to another and then at the end of it I would reflect and wonder where did the holiday go? Well this time I decided to stay back and enjoy the huge, well furnished airconditioned bungalow and sleep whenever I felt like it. :)

I did meet up with some old friends though and joined them for a few meals and this I enjoyed a lot as well as they were friends I had not seen or kept in touch with for sometime. I think overall my level of activity this time around truly qualified my vacation as a vacation from vacations (the type that tires you more than energises).

Jesus be blessed.

A little behind time as well ...

Dear all,

Here are two book reviews I submitted for a book review contest in KDU. By God's grace I ended up winning third prize for the staff category for the Hobbit review.

:)

The Hobbit review
http://tlc-kdu.blogspot.com/2009/02/book-review-contest-hobbit-reviewed-by.html

The Great Gatsby review
http://tlc-kdu.blogspot.com/2009/01/book-review-contest-great-gatsby.html

God's timing is perfect as I needed the money which I won to pay for something unexpected.

Jesus be glorified.

Completion

Hi.

It is almost time for Hillsong 2009, so I feel I have to summarise the rest of Hillsong 2008 (haha) so that things can proceed forward (after almost a year).

Some highlights:

1) As I mentioned before (many months ago) I am awed at being a small part of the congregation of 25000 followers and worshippers of Jesus gathered together to worship God in His Holiness and Splendour. God is great. The atmosphere during the worship services was awesome ... I felt a freedom to just worship God our Heavenly Father and to pour my heart out to Him (even as His Word in the Psalms tells us too: pour out our hearts to God). It was liberating. :)

2) The messages were timely and sometimes humourous (esp Joyce Meyer's messages) and contained a lot of Biblical teaching and truth. I just pray that I have learnt from that and that I am now a different person than I was one year ago ... for the better.

3) The workshops were eye openers as I got to learn from those God had anointed, some sessions being very practical and fun. It was a privilege to listen from people such as Leeland, the Hillsong Worship Team and Judah Smith.

4) Our hosts, Peter and Beth were kindness personified and we were taken care of so well. Thanks again Peter and Beth and all of Jesus best blessings on you.

5) The trip home (and there) was safe. God is good.

This year around, I do not plan to blog day by day of the Hillsong Conference as you have seen that I can take ages to do so ... haha. I pray almost daily for the healing and protection of God over us as we prepare to brave the journey into Australia, esp from the H1N1 flu. Exodus 15.26 and Psalm 91 are great comforts. Hopefully and prayerfully, by then the H1N1 will be a distant memory.

Jesus bless you.

Jesus be blessed.

In the beginning ...

Life is a highway, life is a rollercoaster, life is ... life.

It was not the best of starts, but it was not the worst of starts either. I think for most 2009 started rather shakily what with the economic crisis and all. I had felt (in 2008, if I remember correctly) that for me at least, 2009 was going to be a year of sanctification. With sanctification comes trials and of trials, the Bible says (in James 1:2-4):

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

My year paradoxically, has not started very well and yet in a way it has. I am grateful to my Lord Jesus Christ for the financial blessings I received (including the review contest I won today: third place, all glory to Jesus) and for the fact that I know God has something great for me this year. On the other hand, my rash recurred and my LLM assignment has been postponed on numerous occassions, the burden on my shoulders heavy, among other mishaps ... I think to myself every now and then, will I be able to stand after the trials, and am still holding on to the truth of the matter that is Jesus Himself will hold me up. It is not I that stand but that God holds me up in His omnipotent arms. Still the going has not been easy, not for me, not for most.

God gives and takes away. Who am I to complain? Job had the right attitude ...

'The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. (Job 1: 21b)

Lord Jesus Christ, have Your way in me, with me.

May we all have a fruitful 2009, all for Jesus' glory.