Restrung... finally.

Finally... after being stripped for 2-3 days, my guitar has finally gotten it's new strings... long story... but here's the summary...

Decided to bring a couple of strings up to melbourne to restring them when i got here [tension 0.11 strings] and then when i finally got here, i pulled out the pins of the guitar... and one broke... :S so i had to go and get new pins... immediately left the house and got new pins.

Came back, restrung the first string and stupid me, didn't follow proper technique... so the string snapped... and i was like.. OH... MY... GOSH... no... :S

so... had to go out and buy new strings... :S
Went out yesterday to run some errands [buy strings too] and i managed to do everything... but i FORGOT to buy strings. how retarded is that! :S realized it on the way home.

Finally, today i went to get the new strings...OH MY SKY... $17... :S siannnn. so yeh, went home, made sure i spammed youtube videos on how to restring acoustic guitar properly.. and then restrung the guit.

As always, after restringing it, it sounds like heaven.. the sound is so crisp, sharp and whole... i love it... :) but this was ONE HECK of a long re-stringing process... hope the bridge wasn't too loose when i left the guitar without strings for a few days.. :(

on other news.. i'm jus glad that i can cook again... Managed to cook up a meal for the gf and i and it was delicious... i love cooking [ok, that statement only applies to meals that turned out well] and it's jus a thrill to see someone else enjoy the food u cooked. :) ESPECIALLY if it's your girlfriend.... awww. yes yes yes... suck it up people. it's my blog. :) lolz.

an hour to go before i head out for a birthday social dinner with some frens... not for me... for Bing.. his bday was last sunday if i'm not wrong. :)

Then don't...

One of my favourite clips from the show Twilight....



Edward: I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore....
Bella: Then don't...

Landed Safely

Just so you know,

i'm in melbourne safe and sound. thank God for a safe and enjoyable flight.

Real tired now coz i just came back from spending time with the girlfriend after being apart for 2 whole weeks [oh shuddup, it felt like 2 years] and yeh, will blog tml la. after i get my groceries from safeway. :)

thanks for prayers and wishes!
And for those who couldn't send me off, dun worry bout it.

12 Hours till I fly... again

Sitting here in my room, waiting to go to church while my bags are all packed... I wonder to myself whether i'm going to miss Spore more this time around or whether the feeling of lost would once more be taken over by the excitement that living overseas in melbourne has to offer.

I try not to think too much about it because when i do, my heart does ache to once more leave this place. Family [this time with a new brother in law], friends [this time with additions from Hannah's side], places [new malls, i might even not be coming back to this house the next time].... it gets hard sumtimes to think it'll be another 5-6 months till i'm back... or maybe even longer.

I always know God will watch over each and every one... Them, Me... but that doesn't mean it's easy to say bye over and over again. :) so i'm just going to do it and not let it settle in my mind...

See You Soon Singapore! It's not a goodbye for good... it's a i'll catch you later. :)

Pray for my flight... MAS Flight 7.15pm... touching down melbourne at 5.15am [spore time]

God Bless you.

Rush-ians

Today i was sitting around waiting for my friend to arrive, an hour and a half late, but i noticed that Singaporeans walk around with a frown on their face (could be due to the heat) or stress but also they rush here and there... I get the feeling like they're always angry bout sumthing or late to get somewhere...

Rush rush rush... That's why i like the pace in Melb too... Of course there are loads i things i prefer bout spore... But this is jus one thing i think melb wins over spore. :)

But sorry, i can't blog much, gotta rush off to meet my fren. Toodles!

Lucky

Because some people have complained that stuff I say are very mushy and stuff... so i shall just say that I am a very happy guy right now... Happy because I'm very fortunate to be blessed by God with such awesomely blessed gifts from Him.

He has known my heart's desire and my heart's cry and He's blessed me with a treasure that I have been given to guard and keep. I pray that God will guide me through this process and allow me to love the gift He has given me with all that I am... and that all these years of preparation would come in useful as I also aim to allow this gift to bring me closer to God as I also try my best to do likewise.

All that said and done, I sometimes wonder to myself how fortunate and blessed i am to be given this gift. Coz to me, this gift is so beautiful and so precious to me that I will never want to ever spoil it or the chances of me keeping it.

Thank You Lord and I Love You Lord.

I love my Gift... :)

Bday MADNESS!

Check this out... A MASSIVE amount of birthdays this weekend... so scary... ahha
Facebook is evil. :S hahah Logging on to my facebook nowadays is scary...



So here goes.... *takes a deep breath*
Happy Birthday to....

Yusuf, Eugenia, Sharlene, Lawrence, Jun Yew, Rin, Zhiqiang Kho, May Ann, Sophia, Glenda, Steve, Gabriel

*exhales and breathsssss*
Happy birthday to you!!!

Out of that whole list, i think only May Ann reads my blog... HAHAH so happy birthday chiamster!

She said yes...

So I realized that after looking through my previous entries, i haven't updated other people who are reading this who might not have met me yet... well to cut it all short and sharp, i just got attached to a lovely girl named Hannah.

Long story short, I managed to do what I planned to do during this Singapore trip and seek the blessings and permission of both her mum and my parents... thankfully everything went well at Seoul Garden and after having a very serious heart to heart talk with her mum and pastor Lau [her godpa] they gave me the green light, blessings, warnings and prayer for our friendship to progress into a relationship...

I thank God for the journey thus far, for helping me to make sure i lean upon Him and not my feelings... I'm glad that we have both consulted God and godly counsel on the matter and that we're both seeking to please God in our lives, including our relationship with each other... And it's a constant thing for this is just the beginning but my prayer is that i will never lose sight of God in this aspect of my life and that we both complement each other to spur each other on towards love and good works. :)

Yep, so I thank the Lord for getting her safely back to Melbourne [i'll be back in 2 weeks] and for the surprise welcome home decorations that was a blast and worked out all according to plan. yayz. i'm so glad she enjoyed it and as we both wait out this 2 weeks that we're apart and stuff, I'm gonna seek God more and more for guidance, direction, purpose and strength as i also have to consider the fact that as the man, i am also the spiritual leader of this r/s... if not leading, at least ensure that God is kept in the center.

Yep. All that said and done, i have got a wonderful girlfriend whom i thank God for so so many times i bet He rolls His eyes at me if He wanted to. She's a great girl who's determination, focus, dedication and dependency on God is sumthing i really admire. Apart from being such a beautiful woman of God, her inner beauty can not be contained by that fragile and graceful exterior. I'm glad that she's consistent in her walk with God and though we may not always be the peak of our spiritual walks, i'm glad that we can both keep each other in check and as iron sharpens iron, may we both strive towards greater Holiness and Spiritual maturity.

I really like her family too. they're really fun people especially her mum. She's a riot and so caring and accommodating. I'm just glad that we're all pretty similar and stuff so wavelength and all are all pretty the same. Her bro's a cool corny guy too... couldn't ask for a better kind of brother-of-my-gf kinda thing... he cracks us up with his jokes loads of times and i'm glad he's doing well too... and her sister is slowly opening up too. She's got a really nice personality too... jus needs to come out a bit more.. I'm glad that i'm getting to know them better and interacting a bit more with them [like making laura take photos at hannah's farewell] ahha... it helps to know them more and get to know people who are important to hannah la...

Speaking of which, div is SUPER funny la... hannah's close fren divinia... she's like super random and never afraid to make people laugh at her crazy antics. :) whether it be talking bout escaping death because you're too tall so the cowboy riding a horse holding a bullet would not be able to kill u with the bullet coz u're shorter... or it could be creating actions for the song man in the mirror and making sure everyone she comes across has a preview of the actions... div is one heck of a fun cookie to be around and she's so entertaining. haha thanks div and oh.. thanks for also keeping my secret about the welcome home thing. :) hope u had a fun time in Crusade Camp btw. :)

Yep, so that wraps up the update for now. i've got 2 weeks that i'm here in Singapore then it's back to my life in melbourne. :) cold wintery life... so interesting how you can be one person here [waking up late and bus and mrting everywhere eating out and meeting friends] and then u can be a totally diff person in another country [going to the market to buy groceries, doing the laundry for 1 person and cooking up a feast for friends]... weird. :)

I thank God for friends. they keep me happy, sane and motivated to want to do better for God.

Weird Firefox Error Message

I closed my firefox and restarted it and it came up with this cute and humourous error message. haha had a chuckle... hope u like it too.

Back in Spore

Wow... so sorry, the past few days have been a whirlwind of activities and stuff to the point that i had NO energy to do anything impt like blogging... :S so here i sit, with a day free to finally possibly blog. :)

The flight back was good... the melb-kl flight was great... 8 hours... and movies to watch. i watched coraline [which is sumthing i was looking forward to] and then Race to Witch mountain [lame 'the rock' show] and then yeh slept like 10-15 mins? then the lights came on and they started serving breakfast... !@#$%^ hahaha... but it was still good la. :) made frens with the girl who sat with me... her name was georgie [or that's how it's pronounced] and yeh she was quite an interesting seat partner. :) thank God for willing friendly people to get to know... she said i have an aussie accent.... holy smoke. not good. HAHA. :) i guess i turn it on when i speak to caucasians... helps them understand us asians much better.

anyhoo... the connecting was good thank God.. didn't have a problem finding my terminal and flight... i was quite scared coz when i was waiting for the connecting flight... i checked in and waiting to board the plane. then suddenly the announcement over the PA called for my name. i freaked out. thot got swine flu... hahha but it was jus coz they forgot to take my air ticket from me... so they couldn't fly without that... wah i tell u... i was like SHIIIIIT. :S hahah.. then OHHHH. hahaha

yeh. so i reached back and was SO excited to get off the flight... this dude in front of me was carrying a red handcarry back pack and he had this name tag on it... and his name was "Ah Meng Bow"... ahhahah i had this image of an animal trainer in Spore Zoo asking ah meng to bow after he finished his breakfast with ah meng section. lolz. :) so mean. i know.

got off the plane and went thru the thermal scanners praying hard... it was quite stressful. 4 people staring at me and the screen.... :S hahah then i immediately went to the phone booth and called Hannah and later my mum. :) was so good hearing their voices again knowing that i was on the same country soil as them. :) got my DFS stuff for dad and then went out and gave wongster a huge hug... 2 weeks worth. :) missed her so.

Reached home and didn't get to hug my parents or sister coz they're afraid they'd get swine flu.. but it was SO good seeing them... u have no idea. :)

went back to hannah's place and got changed for the wedding and left for church. it was great seeing everyone again... huiting was walking from a far and i shouted out "AUNTY!!!" And she literally started running when she saw it was me... :) that was really sweet and nice... hahah her face was such a treat too... she looked so happy hahaha... i thank God for friends like her... who make the 4 months feel like 4 days... and that things have changed yes... but friendships will remain. :) thanks HT.... stupid aunty... u dun even know how much hapiness u bring to others.

Wedding went well.. i was SO happy to be there singing praises to God with shalomites... seeing my sister walking down the aisle... being next to my parents... there were points in the service where i chocked on my words and fought to keep composed. :) God knows how much i wanted this and God knows how much i was thankful to Him that i was there... :) thank u once again Lord... if i haven't said it enuf, thank You.

Hannah and Mel came too.. so that was pretty neat. :) managed to introduce them around to my frens, mentors and family... :) jus her being around sharing this special day with me was sumthing i'm so glad God allowed... and then she helped pack up the place and stuff... felt kinda bad that she had to do stuff... :) but was glad to see that she was so ready to help out... and not sit in one corner and act like a princess. :) small things like this make me glad that i chose her and remind me what attracts me to her.

After the wedding, we went out for dinner with a few shalom people at simpang... that was quite fun too.. first time that a small grp was meeting... :) and it was at simpang! haha i missed it so. oh. i also missed driving. the feeling was SO good driving again. haha i love it. :)

yep then the next day was the wedding stuff... the threshold thing [where the groom and bestmen go through all these tasks to get to Sab and finally bring her for the tea ceremony] then the dinner... to cut it all short, i didn't eat much at the dinner coz we went around entertaining people and it was like woah... crazy many people. 68 tables at Ritz lehhh. ahhah oh and bridal suite is SOOOO nice. :S gosh... beautiful like anything. i'll upload some photos and show u.. goodness. :)

Photos Here!
Bridal Suite


yeh overall, it's been a great wedding and i'm real glad my sister's so happy. praise God.

on other news... hmmm :))))) she said yes.

Last Paper!

Realized my last post before this was my 450th post. wow. that's quite a lot. hahha

Anyways.... Wow... so here i stand... ok fine, i'm sitting down.. but yeh... here's the moment before the last exam paper of my first ever semester in melbourne... i have little confidence about this paper coz it's a programming paper so dun really know how to study for it... jus did the mock paper and kept looking thru it over and over again not even sure if my answers are right. hahhaa..

but u know wad... i'm like this guy.... i couldn't care less.. jus driftin towards 4:15pm...

Picture Taken from here

then i'll be too happy to even THINK about anything other than flying home.
My bags are all packed [yesterday afternoon. lol] and i'm all ready to go... it's jus a matter of time now. :)

AWESOME!... i'm SO coming home... SO SO coming home.

If u see this post before i touch down on saturday morning, pray for my flight AND that piggy oinkoink flu.... ok? i DUN WANT IT AT ALL!!! GO AWAY! :) see u guys soon.

Wongster, u better be there... or i'm hating u for life... this ain't a suggestion nor a tempt... it's a promise. HAHAHHAA. :)

MPO Went well

Thanks and Praises to God who really delivered me through these 2 papers... MPO and OAC... my last paper is Informatics 2 and it's a programming paper. i dun really know how to study for it and i've been getting almost full marks for the whole sem so should be ok. :)

It's weird... i feel like hecking this last paper... and not doing well at all. but i can't... so i'll try my best and let God handle the rest. :) But as for me now, it's PACKING BAGS TIME!!! :) let me count... by this time tml, i'll be prepping to leave my house to head to the airport... AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME. :) they say it doesn't hit u that u're flying back home to family till the time u leave...

RUBBISH.

i wanna go now. HAHAHHA. :)

see you all sooner than u can say WELCOME TO SINGAPORE!.... oh wait. u jus said it and i'm still in melb.. ummm shucks.. well ummmm bet i'll be there faster than if u said "WELCOME TO SINGAPORE" 50 times without stopping!!! :)

Puff puff puff

Call me leonard the blowfish... coz i surely feel like that again... 1 hour till my next paper. Just wanna get this over with.

Praying hard.

OAC Exam

Leonard the Blowfish
Picture taken from here

This is how I felt yesterday just before I took my first exam paper in Melb. Organisational Analysis and Change... wow. Davin and I mugged like typical asian kids the day before and I've been feeding my brain with stuff about OAC since the start of the week.. so yeh, when I stood there at the exam hall waiting for the doors to open, i really felt like Leonard the blowfish... full of info and just waiting to get it all out of me...

The paper was great. everything was pretty straight forward and I think I should do pretty well for this subject... have been keeping quite an above average score so far so I'm praying hard that the exam would pull my marks up to a 'H1' level.. and then yay! haha but ahhh it's over and done with...

2 more papers [thurs and fri] then i'm leaving melb to spore for 3 weeks... i'm really looking forward to going back. didn't think i'd want to go back so much.. but i guess there are reasons... sister's wedding... family time... ability to drive a car again... friends... church... and of course... now that wongster's in spore, the pull factor is TREMENDOUSLY swinging towards spore's side. :)

Yeh... so i'm gonna mug and mug for one more paper.. Management paper on thurs.. then the friday paper jus pray and hope that I can do well in that one. :) been scoring really well for that subject so i'm hoping it'll keep me adrift. :)

THEN I'M BACK HOME! :) see u guys soon.

Pray for the swine flu thingy... it's scary. everyone's getting very paranoid... esp Singapore. i dun want it to mess up my plans. :) See you on Saturday!

p.s. Div.. if u're reading this... TREASURE THE NEXT 3 DAYS... after which... mwhahah!
p.p.s. thanks to all who are praying for me and my exams. really appreciate it... feel like there's an army of angels behind me... hard to describe.

Lygon Sermon on Getting Ready

Today's sermon was quite interesting... Pastor Ray Pugh spoke from the book of Malachi from the Word of God and exhorted us to tell us that Jesus IS coming again and to inspect ourselves to ensure we're ready for Him.

Ps Melvin gave a devotion today too before communion that really spoke to my heart... he talked bout Judas selling/betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of Silver... and he spoke about how Mary came to Jesus before that and anointed His head with expensive perfume... expensive to the point where people said that it was worth a year's wages...

Melvin explained that you could see how much Jesus was worth to each of them... how much they valued Jesus... for Mary, no price was too great and for Judas, all it took was 30 pieces of silver... then he asked us... how much is Jesus worth to you? how much would it take for you to betray the Lord... and it was scary coz it's not about how expensive it is... like how many dollars... but what it would take for me to betray my Lord... it was scary to think that the only price i SHOULD put on Christ.. is my life... well technically, even then, i wouldn't give Him up... but yeh.. it was eeps! to think... :)

Anyways...
Here are the notes, enjoy...


Half hearted devotion: "Getting Ready"

Ps Ray Pugh

Malachi 2:17-3:5

The Complaint of the People (2:17)

Where is the God of hustice? Why haven't we... Why aren't we... How come...

They wearied God.

The Command of the Lord (3:1)

Behold ME! Take notice of God.

He sends His messenger before Him and prepares the way.

The Cleansing by the Coming One (3:2-3)

When Silver is purged and the dross is removed, the silver becomes a shiny surface. A blacksmith knows the silver is cleaned and pure when he can see his own reflection in the silver. Likewise, Christ and the church. When we are cleansed and pure, He will be able to see Himself in us.

The result of this cleansing by Jesus is that the Levities will offer sacrifices IN righteousness, not FOR righteousness.

The Condemnation of Specific Sins (3:5)

1. Sorcerers - Exo 20:3

2. Adulterers - Exo 20:14

3. Perjurers - Exo 20:7, 16

4. Those who exploit wage earners, widows and fatherless - Exo 20:15, Exo 22:22

5. Those who turn away strangers - Exo 22:21

God always warns but people don't always heed His warnings.

43Seconds

43 Seconds is all it takes to brighten someone's day... well at least that's all it took for me. :)

There's a HUGE difference in hearing someone's voice and reading text on a page.

How am I supposed to get to sleep now? I'm too happy. =))))))))))))))))))

One and a Half Weeks

Woke up today with such a heavy heart.

Had to literally drag myself out of bed coz I didn't feel like facing the day. Felt like just sleeping in until it was time to fly off.

:( Wishing I was in Spore.

Updated video of my home

Hey guys,

Matt and I took a new video of our house... with all the furniture and all. :) so yeh, this is how my place looks like now. really updated! :)

There she goes

2 weeks and counting....

In 5 minutes, your plane leaves Melbourne. In 8 hours, you'll touch down on Spore soil. In 11 days time, my plane leaves Melbourne. In 12 days time, my plane touches down on Spore soil... and you'd better be there. :)

Have a safe flight Wongster, the Lord goes before you and watches over you. I'll seriously need to distract myself for the next 8 hours... :)

p.s. I'm glad you love Buttons. :) Make sure he does his job. :)

Praying. for. you.

Waking up to cold

Picture taken from here

Waking up to cold has been quite a norm these days. Matt says that this is not jus winter, it's the coldest winter he's had so far... well he used to prep me for winter saying i'm gonna die if i think 12degrees is cold...

well here we sit... in half that... i woke up today, pulled myself out of bed coz i have to go [yes i'm procrastinating] get my flu jab done. mummy tan wants me to jus get jabbed for safety precautions... so here i wake up... pull myself to my com and flip open the lid... i get a shock can... my weather thingy says 4 degrees. and i'm like WHAT???

So i go on to a more reliable and trusted website and it says 6.2degrees.... well that's not much better... egads. sigh... so here i am, trying to whip up a good breakfast [half a krispy kreme donut, 2 nutella spread slices of bread and 5 warm ikea meatballs] in the vain attempt that a good breakfast would warm me up and get my blood flowing...

sigh. so i'm gonna leave, coz i'm already late as it is, thankfully never make appointment, to go get my jab done then down to town to run some errands... :)

winter... u jus gotta love it.

Distance

Distance plays a part when you're talking about relationships between people.

Whether that distance is physical distance between lands, proximity between each body, emotional distance in your hearts, mental distance in terms of intellect level, spiritual distance in maturity of faith and reasoning or just the simple unspoken distance that no one can put a finger on, but is felt.

When I came here to Melb, distance was just a factor I got used to. Skype helped, emails and facebook were always available. Distance wasn't that big a deal. Now, 3 weeks till i go back home for a short visit, I wonder whether the distance would be too great to bear. The separated feeling I'm bound to feel with the people there. Would I stand there, closer to them then ever I've been in the past 4 months and yet feel worlds apart? Would I be close in physical relation but so far away from who they are and who I am?

I'm not formulating this but i'm just typing what I feel... and what I fear.

Distance. scary stuff.

Swine Flu

Picture taken from here

I'm quite worried about the whole swine flu epidemic. Well... this is why... duh.

Sab's wedding is on the 27th of June 2009. I have my last exam paper on the 26th of June and i fly at midnight on the 27th so that i can touch down in spore at 9am and make it to the 2pm wedding.

Everything looked alright [as best a $1550 midnight flight on MAS could look. :S] until the swine flu started getting REALLY serious.

To date, there are 900 cases of swine flu in australia of which 700+ are from Melbourne, Victoria... What's worse, there are 12 cases in Singapore and the most recent case was from this guy who flew to Melbourne and caught it. My BMT friend who jus visited Melbourne happened to be on that same exact flight. wow. wonderful. haha.

All this is scaring me because the quarantine dates is 7days once u touch down. That means when i touch down, i'm confined to my home for 7 days [if i appear to have flu like symptoms or whatever] and yeh, i can't afford to be at home. Not only do I have one of the most important weddings of my life to participate in, i also have a wedding dinner and loads of other important people to meet in that first week i'm back in Singapore.

So seriously, i'm praying hard. i dunch know how this can get better in 3 and a half weeks but i'm praying that God will show me a way out of this and that everything can go according to plan... i'm praying that my singapore agenda won't be hindered by the swine flu outbreak and i dunno how, but that everything would work out. :)

Trust me, i'm worried it'll mess up everything and there's nothing i can do about it. Me, a person who likes plans, structure and control.. this is NOT sitting nicely with my characteristic. :( heh... rely on God and praise Him no matter what.

Until you get back

"Everytime we say goodbye, I die a little" - Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye by Silje Nergaard

Just wanna spill some thots in my head now... cause there's nothing else i can do...

I guess you can't stop the urge inside you that wants to protect your friends and your loved ones. It's this same feeling that makes me worry everytime we say goodbye. Knowing that I left you at my door, and not knowing for sure that you'll get home safe.

I can't say that I like the feeling, neither do I claim that it doesn't bug me... because it does. Every minute of the 20 minutes it takes for you to reach back home bugs me... to not know where u are, who is around you and whether you're safe...

When you tell me 'it's ok, dun need to send me home' you give me NO ounce of comfort... none for I know whatever you say doesn't change the danger out there and the fact that something could happen and I could lose you and possibly myself for a long long time.

I sit here, trying not to worry as the time ticks by. But honestly, until you get back, there's nothing else I can think about. As I wait and wait... it's not something I'm inclined to do...

please. get. home. safe.

Update: You just got home... online... thank You Lord.

Lygon Sermon on the Influence of the church

The Influence of the Church
Matthew 5:13-16
Ps Melvin Lo

- Hypocrisy and Consistent Christianity

Why do you blame the faith for the behaviour of some Christians? If a pipe is clogged, do you condemn water and want to have nothing to do with water?

Our reputation is affected by our kids and likewise, we affect God's reputation when we live as His children.


- Influencing the world

This (Salt of the world) is part of the sermon on the mount. Listen to the challenge Jesus has given us.

Difference (v.13)
a) Understanding the world
Jesus spoke to fishermen and related this to them. The world was used in images to help them relate to their work life.

b) Slowing the rot
In that time, people used salt to preserve fish from rotting. Likewise, the world is like that fish, we are to preserve it and Jesus is using this imagery coz his audience are fishermen.

Jesus doesn't butter up things. He doesn't call the world as something nice but he calls it rotting and dark.

But He also sends us hope. 'You are the salt and light of the world'

Salt used as a judgment icon in OT

Genesis 19:26, Deut 29, Jeremiah 17:5-6, Mark 9:49

c) Living for the future
If we are living like the world, then we will not be useful. We will be like the rotting world.

Influence (v.14-16)
a) Hold out the truth
Light is truth, it exposes the truth in the darkness.

To be in the light is likened to being in God's presence.

John 8:4 - I am the light of the world

We are Jesus' ambassadors in this dark world.

Our faith will destroy our secrecy.

b) Don't hide the light
His listeners knew how important that one source of light was. What's the point of hiding that one source.

A city on the hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a table but on a stand for all to see.

We aren't to live in a monastry hidden and secluded from the world.

c) Pointing to Jesus
That they may see your good works (gifts of the Spirit) and praise your Father in Heaven.

The life you live is the powerful factor that will end up leading others to glorify God.

We are to be lights pointing to THE Light.

With our one life, how many other candles can you light up around you?

A Church is probably the only organisation that exists for the non members.

Not Strong Enuf

You know there are times in your life where you just crumble and realize you're just not strong enough. Not strong enough for people to depend on, not strong enough to hold up the weight of someone else, not strong enough to carry someone on your shoulders...

That's me today. I wasn't strong enough to lift 2 bodies off the floor. Discrediting my own weight, which i lift everyday when i get off the floor or walk around, I couldn't seem to have the strength in my legs to stand up and lift the other person up.

I know it's not sumthing i should keep beating myself up over and over again. but I can say honestly, at that point of time, i felt so weak.... so helpless and so disappointed in myself. I'm not just sad at the fact that I couldn't, but that it was something that every one else could.

Just boils down to the fact that i really need to start getting better. I need to start getting stronger. I need to know that not only can people depend on me, but that I can support them anytime. And to get to that point... it's gonna take work. but i'm not going to forget how i felt today... i'm going to get stronger. Why? For you.

Lygon Sermon on the mark of the church - love

Today's sermon at Lygon was good... Melvin expounded on one of the most famous verses of all time, 1 Corinthians 13 about love... :)

---

I will build my church
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Ps Melvin Lo

Mark of the church
The mark of spirituality is not giftedness, but love.

Love's necessity (13:1-3)
Spectacular 'spirituality'
A spectacular performance doesn't mean the mind if God is there. It is jus noise.
Like speaking in tongues, without love, it is jus clanging cymbals.

Limitless knowledge
All knowledge is useless if not meant or used to build you up or edify God.
Neither should you use your limited knowledge with pride to shun people or judge them.

Unbounded Sacrifice
For example suicide bombers, They do so to have personal self gain.
True Godly love is always selfless and self sacrificing.
Like ingredients in a cake, if u leave that one important ingredient out, no matter how good it looks, it'll still be a disaster. Love is that ingredient.

Love's character (13:4-7)
What love does? (v.4)
- Patient & Kind
Being patient is passive... Being kind is active.
Do we jus 'siam' a person? Coz that's not enuf.

What love avoids? (v.5-6)
- Envy
Not jealous. Share the joys of someone who has more than you or does better than you.

- Boasting, proud
It's always about him/her. Love is about being humble.

- Rude, self-seeking
It's a reminder that the world doesn't revolve just around you.

- Easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs
Love forgives others.
The world is more than just your lonely world.

- Does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth
Some churches even now boast of how open they are with regards to homosexual ministers.

What love pursues? (v.7)
- Perseveres
It doesn't give up on people nor expects anything in return.
Love perseveres, keep trying. We all fall short from time to time.

Love's permanence (v.8-13)
- Love remains
*Growing up
When we all grow up, we leave childish things behind.

*Mirror
We will one day see face to face and we shall know fully for we will know God fully.

- Mark of the church (Love)

Halted Dinner

So we both vowed to blog about this but since one of us has exams to study for and too little time to actually account for this awesome eventful evening, here i stand before you, a used person for another's humour...

Here's how it started... the plan was... to meet at school, walk back home and stop by Coles to pick up some much needed ingredients for our dinner.... turns out, we had to stop by to get more than ingredients coz a certain boy's mouth was itchy for sumthing sweet... he ended up buying a pack of biscuits that he never did eat till another night... but that's not the point... so he and she went to get a pack of beef mince that cost... hmm $4.48? how that's relevant, he doesn't know... and stop asking him why he's talking in 3rd person... maybe it helps him recollect the story. haha.

So they get mince and other stuff... not to mention the fact that they wander around a bit wondering to selves whether they DO sell tomato soup... in a can. :) alas... that is a very important ingredient... as to why, i beg u to continue reading this... it might even be used as a tool to keep the suspense up so readers of this blog have sumthing to look forward to other than the tease of thrill in the title.... ANYHOO... they get mince, tomato soup, biscuits and onions... and other stuff... and proceed to head to the checkout line. He checks out the typo in the display and wonders to himself if Jim [or Ji as the display reads] is ... queer or not coz he sure displays signs of... endearment towards hand gestures... they walk out and head towards her place jus a street away and manage to finally get up to the warmth and security of home...

Relaxing for the moment just after unloading groceries, he mentally calculates enuf time to cook and eat... so he knows they have at least an hour to just talk and get comfortable in conversation... demanding snacks, he's treated to digestives! his favourite roll of biscuits as of now... They talk and finally at 5:10pm, they decide that it's time to cook...

This... my frens, is where the fun starts...

so she starts cutting onions coz from past experiences of TRYING to help, he ruined the onions and got a mess of weirdly cut pieces... so knowing his skills surely don't fall in that area, he graciously offers to open the can of tomato soup... yes, the wait is over... she suddenly drops everything and realizes one important factor... no can opener... panic ensues as she tries to call a neighbour, who wasn't home, and finally made the decision to go to coles and grab one off the shelf... alas... guess who.

So he runs down... in a hurry to get a can opener and realizes his phone is left upstairs at home... brilliant. he thinks himself a straight genius for managing to do sumthing so clever as that... nonetheless, he scouts around till he has prob memorized what's along the aisles of Coles... finally he spots it with the help of some staff and grabs it to see the checkout line had multiplied itself 10fold... breathing a sigh, he joins the queue... he feels like an idiot holding a can opener while before and after him, baskets of groceries hide the flooring.

*Beep*... no, no cash out please he replies the cashier..

He hurries up but by this time, it's already 5:30... that's half an hour... he proceeds to open the can of tomato soup... by now, she's cut the garlic, onions and has prepared the pot... they throw in butter and onions after he's finally managed to understand the sheer mechanics of a can opener... and the onion and butter start frying... he glances at the clock and makes a hard decision... it's 5:45... and they had to leave by 6...

SO... dinner was halted and they both made the decision to leave the dinner half cooked for later when they returned home.... sharing one too many laughs... they decide to abandon the idea of having dinner before their friend's exhibition and prep to leave... buttered onions in mid-fry.

so they pack and leave, attend the exhibition and come back to finish off the cooking and finally have dinner at 9.30pm... oh, to mention also that she wrote the recipe down and instead of writing mince... she wrote mice... so it became... add mice and brown lightly... that was disturbing.

:) they vow to blog about it and recollect this eventful day coz it was just too hilarious to foroget... and thus, here's the account. Hope it was as funny and entertaining to you as it was, and probably still is, to them. :)

p.s. dinner was awesome. yummy and well worth the wait.

vCA internet

it's quite nice... Walking to VCA... Far, but i guess if u pump music, people watch and scenary watch, the walk's not that bad.... Plus... There's free internet here... Ok so i jus recalled that they have uniwireless here. it's the same provider as melb uni...

Anyways, i'm hungry. Mouth itching for krispy kreme. Ahhh i must not must not. It's expensive. Eeps. Haha...

But they're so tasty... Haha.. Ok stop. :) haiz. Yep... It's 3.04... Why aren't you done yet? Lol.

Interior of St Paul's Church at Flinders

Just blogging some pics i snapped with my handphone camera when i walked into St. Paul's Cathedral that day. :) beautiful interior.

Richmond's Sermon Mother's Day

Today we brought Joseph Tan to Richmond coz it's his first and only sunday here in Melbourne and i thot it'll be better to bring him to see richmond so he can comment about it rather than sumwhere safe like lygon. so we headed down to richmond and it was a pity coz phyllis overslept and couldn't join us. So far, phyllis hasn't been to richmond so that's kinda a sian thing coz yeh, i think it'll be nice to hear what she thinks of richmond too. :) never mind phyllis, next time k? i'll surely go again one lah dun worry. my quota is AT LEAST once a month. :) i like richmond.

Anyhoo. today's worship was pretty insipid for me... didn't feel that there was enuf... i didn't really get TOO connected with the songs or the theme that was running thru the songs [which i'm still kinda struggling to find] plus it was led by the worship leader that i didn't think was the best leader... maybe coz the first time i saw him lead created a bad first impression of his professionalism and control of the band. anyhow, worship was still good in the sense that it did prepare the church and myself for offering and sermon and all. :) Today they had baby dedication and it was real quite to see the little ones held in the arms of their parents... esp on mother's day, it reminded me how dependant and valued these children are in the eyes of the church and parents... and it's like that for us... God as our Father feeds us, shelters us and brings us up... and we are jus waiting upon Him for his guidance and leading... we as children of God should celebrate the fact that He is our father and not some far away god that we never have a personal connection with.

Sermon today was quite good too... it wasn't a mind blowing sermon neither was it a dead lifeless, applicationless sermon... it wasn't really relevant to today's theme of mother's day but hey, what's wrong with that. As long as God's glory is seen in the sermon and lives of the members, that's all that matters. Today Pastor David spoke about trials and tribulations of a mother in the bible. Taken from 1 Kings 4, we're reminded of the perserverance of a mother's prayers and pleas for her dead son. Elisha goes to heal the child and God's glory is seen when the boy sneezes 7 times and breathes air again. Amazing to see how her perserverance allowed her to be used by God.

After church, we went to have lunch which was YUMMY meat!! :) then now, i'm going to grab my study stuff and go to wongster's house for a study session... meeting jeero, jo.tee, jo.tan and wongster later for freddos ice cream. yummy. :)

So far, it's been a great sunday. I must say, the Lord has been good to me... really... and i thank Him for it.

Happy Mother's Day Jenny Tan a.k.a MUMMY DEAREST... :) I love you till the ends of the earth and even though we have miles between us, your love is felt in every msn conversation, skype call and facebook comments. If I could, i'd plant a hug and kiss on you that you'd have to pry me off to escape from. I love you loads and I am looking forward to doing just that when I get back in July. Thank you for loving me, bringing me up and providing for me all these years without complaint. I have the best mum in the world and there is NOTHING i'd trade you for...

Sniffles... may the Lord bless you and dad as you continue on living your lives for Him. He has given me more than I could ever need in parents and I thank Him and you for it.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MUM!

Fire Scare

Aiyahhhh dun worry laaaa no fire scare laaa.... jus some person prob activated the college square fire alarm system when they were cooking.

So here's what i saw when i walked out of home this wed evening... haha fire engines and all. and everyone was gathered outside college sq. so heng i was leaving. dun wanna be standing there like a dumb dumb.

sanctified sinner saved

the past few days have been pretty good. I feel quite close to God and it's not all the time that I really take the time to ponder upon the Lord and wait upon Him for His leading and guidance. I guess it's comes with a pretty big decision in my life right now but I start to ponder and wonder why issit only at these times do I lean upon Him and not all the time in my life?

But the Lord has been good to me and has blessed me with riches that I cannot begin to count. His guidance has been present and His promises true. I pray that as I continue to rest upon Him for strength and leading, that He'll continue to be true to me. I pray for patience as I wait upon Him and obedience to follow His leading.

God's answer to my prayers for Direction

God speaks to us in many ways and though we don't hear His voice audibly now, He'll always use ways and means to speak to you. I've been mulling over a decision I had to make and been praying to ask God for guidance and direction as to what to do and how to go about doing it right. I guess He not only spoke to me through the week with reassurance here and there but also after I made that decision today, God answered my post-decision prayers too. I asked that He would show me His way that I may walk in them and to assure me that what I decided upon is the right way... and during OCF, I requested prayer for that... and without knowing anything, the brother who was praying for me seemed to pray with such certainty about the request. Even though he didn't have prior knowledge and didn't know the subject by which i was requesting prayer for, his words were directed like an arrow to my heart. It was so relevant and meaningful that I felt comforted by God there and then.

I got back and I checked my QT and this was in today's QT... it's a portion of my QT coz the top part of this was an example about morality.. but didn't need to bore u with it... just that I felt like God is telling me to not just go back to His word for direction but to lean upon Him and know that He has my thoughts and my life in His hands. Praise be to God.

---

Centuries ago, the psalmist understood the need for a moral benchmark and asked for divine aid in following it. He prayed to the Lord, “Direct my steps by Your Word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me. . . . Teach me Your statutes” (Ps. 119:133-135).

Ariely’s “cheat test” experiment illustrates our need for moral guidance. The Lord has given us His Word as a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (v.105) to direct us in our moral choices. —Dennis Fisher

How precious is the Book divine
By inspiration given!
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine,
To guide our souls to heaven. —Fawcett

Like a compass, the Bible always points us in the right direction.

Chill out!

As u can see, the weather is getting CHILLI! :) NO... Not chilli like hot, i meant chilly like cold. :) and it's SO shiok. :) gonna shop for a long coat/trench coat this weekend. SO looking forward to it. :) been my dream to own a trench.. so this is quite exciting. :)

Nimbuzz

Hey guys,

jus updating u that i found a cool instant messenger for my handphone. it's like msn on my phone. check out the link above... u dun need to install anything to nimbuzz me but this is mostly for jus leaving messages la... so yeh, it's free... jus dun spam my phone with messages unless u totally love me to pieces... even i don't love myself that much so yeh, moderation yo? :)

Chill out! [talkin bout chill, melbourne's hit single digit for weather... and to steal semiotically from macdonalds, i'm lovin' it. :)

Pizza Night and Friends

God normally doesn't [well thank God for that] audibly speak to you... but He speaks to us through things around us. The Bible, the constant nagging of the Holy Spirit of that sin that u're always doing... or He speaks to us through friends and activities.

Even though pizza thursdays aren't a christian organized thing nor issit Christ focused... i really do hear His voice from fellowship with friends. I really do enjoy these sessions and it makes me remember that God always watches out for His children. I didn't have to pray to Him and specifically ask for friends in Melbourne, He just sent them... and I thank God for friends like these people who make me happy and remind me that God is always around smiling back at me through each and every face. :)

Thot passed thru my mind today... what do I take for granted? my friends? my faith? pizza thursdays? God can take it all away in a snap of a finger. would I still love Him, life and others if He did... I pray He won't coz I do treasure them all very much... for those who came and those who couldn't come... but If He did... what would happen then, what would change?

I love my friends and I thank God for each and every one of them.

Show me My End Psalm 39:4

Went to Richmond today. It was a good worship session [though i preferred the previous worship leaders]

The speaker today was Pastor Joel Holmes... not bad... i quite liked his message today [shocking?] and I managed to pull some interesting points off it... apparently he's impacted quite a bit of people... it's quite funny coz i can see my frens from Richmond and their msn nicks are all changed with regards to today's sermon. :) So here's a rough outline of what went on. So good to take notes with my phone... then jus copy and paste here. hahaha

---

Psalm 39:4
Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

Turn my SOMEDAY into THIS DAY. When we realize how frail we are and how little time we have left, then will we realize this is the moment that God has given us.

2 prayers David used

1. Show me my life's end
what would you do for God if you weren't afraid?
Fear of failure? Success?
Decisions in life is a mixture of fear and faith.
1 John 4:18 - Perfect love casteth out fear

This day. The boy with the fish and loaves, the widow with Two mites. They all did it, this day.
What would you do if you didn't fear?
Does your list have this: Follow Me

2. Let me know how frail my life is
How do you want to arrive in heaven?
How precious is life and how much do we use it?

Only You God. All of these things are for only Him. We can be fearless because of God.

Eggs and Shrooms

Today I woke up with an hour till I had to leave for church. And feeling hungry i decided to make breakfast. I took out the frying pan, heated it up and while waiting, took my mushrooms, cleaned them, sliced them and prepared them for frying. Subsequently, I poured Extra Virgin Olive Oil onto the pan, cracked and egg and sprinkled salt onto my egg.

While waiting for the egg to fry, i turned to my butter and sliced off a small chunk [heh] of it while grabbing the pepper out of the cupboard. Flipped my egg and took out a plate while the other side was frying. Spatula-ed my egg onto my plate and dumped the butter, mushrooms and pepper in.

That resulted in my having an american style breakfast i normally crave for during the weekdays but only have time to do it on weekends such as this.

I scare myself at how 2nd nature it all felt to me now. I know it's not much but maybe... just maybe... i'm doing pretty good here.

Flare Oct Production Casting Results

Hi dancers,

Congratulations! The casting results are out, and you have been casted into Daryl's Hip Hop piece. Flare Dance Ensemble’s annual production is something that you should really look forward to. It showcases all the hard work, commitment, and great team work from all of you.

Be prepared to learn heaps from your choreographer. Your commitment is required for each and every piece, so if you think that you are unable to commit to a certain choreographer, please let them know ASAP.

I hope that you are as excited as your choreographer and I, to get to know you and to start practising your routines.

5 minutes later i got this email too.

Hi dancers,

Congratulations! The casting results are out, and you have been casted into Shermaine's Lyrical piece. Flare Dance Ensemble’s annual production is something that you should really look forward to. It showcases all the hard work, commitment, and great team work from all of you.

Be prepared to learn heaps from your choreographer. Your commitment is required for each and every piece, so if you think that you are unable to commit to a certain choreographer, please let them know ASAP.

I hope that you are as excited as your choreographer and I, to get to know you and to start practising your routines.

10 Minutes later i got this email...

Hi dancers,

Congratulations! The casting results are out, and you have been casted into Aileen's Ballet Contemporary piece. Flare Dance Ensemble’s annual production is something that you should really look forward to. It showcases all the hard work, commitment, and great team work from all of you.

Be prepared to learn heaps from your choreographer. Your commitment is required for each and every piece, so if you think that you are unable to commit to a certain choreographer, please let them know ASAP.

I hope that you are as excited as your choreographer and I, to get to know you and to start practising your routines.

Egads... 3 dances and possibly one more... it's not funny anymore.. come on... stop the joke.

Sausage Man and Rapture discussion

Today's Pizza Thursday was interesting. It felt nice warm and cozy again... with the GANG + Hannah... it was like the first pizza night... Matt, Davin, Lois, Phyllis, Joel and a new person... Hannah... so that was kinda fun too. But i guess what impacted me the most was BEFORE pizza night...

Hannah and Lois came over [well lois was already here la coz she had OCF Social] but yeh. wongster was telling us about how she went to do marketing and the sausage man was flirting with her... hahah i take it off a reliable source...

Went to Queen Vic Market to buy veges, and sausages.
Wongster: Hi, can I have 3 sausages please?
Sausage Seller: Only 3?! You don't have a boyfriend to share them with??
Wongster: hahah.. nah....
Sausage Seller: Do you want a boyfriend??
Wongster: what? haha no no..
Sausage Seller: I'll bring my own sausages..*SMIRK*
Wongster: ......RIGHT................ *pays for the sausages and QUICKLY walks away*

Bwhahhha. Lois was saying that she's been hit on by the sausage seller too. jus that apparently it's a diff guy. hahah... so funny. :) poking fun at people shopping.

Then after that, we had a nice little discussion about the end times, rapture and death. Very good coz i love intellectually stimulating conversations... and it's been a while since i've been able to jump thru the bible and go thru some stuff... like yayz... i miss it. :) must talk more about stuff like this. all in due time la

Then we had a nice pizza dinner which was cool coz i ended up paying for chuan and jacque's pre-vet pizza too... wonderful turn of events led me to bringing enuf money for everyone's pizza and chuan being stuck at the cafe with no money. :) cool la.

Yup, gonna try to finish off my essay tml... hopefully everything will be done soon and i can put my mind at ease. :) see how la.

Overkill on Potato Chips

This is what happens when Safeway has a discount on chips and matthew goes crazy.

Ladies and gentlemen, i present to you... impulse buy.



As we speak now, Matt's trying to find space to store his 8 bags of chips... apparently it's going into the toilet cabinets.... oh gosh... chips. wow.

Great Ocean Road Tour 120409

Woot! I finally went on my great ocean road tour. it was SUCH a blast i'm SO glad we all did it so early in the sem and all. :) The group was GREAT and i can't even begin to try to explain what fun it was... but i shall ATTEMPT at bringing u along with me as i try to go thru the day again for the sake of remembrance. :) Complete with pictures! heh

So there was a mess up and apparently they gave us wrong info. Meeting time was 8am but they told us 8.30... so hannah ended up having to be late.. but the i made it a point to ensure that the tour company knew it was their fault and that hannah wasn't late but early actually... so yeh, we set off from college square and got on our 20seater bus... 12 of those seats were our people. MWHAHA. we owned the tour group. :) Here's a pic of us just after setting off...



After a short drive, we stopped by a petrol station along the highway. While the driver pumped up his tank, we snapped a shot... yes.. at a petrol station. how touristy can we get right? :)

From left: Vanessa, Michelle, Jane, Davin, Phyllis, Joel, Chuan, Hannah, Lois

Then we continued driving until we hit this small village/town called Anglesea. It's really cute coz it's like a small little self sustaining village. It's got everything... a bank, a supermarket, a bakery, a repair shop, a church, a cafe, shops... so quaint and nice... the people looked really warm too... We saw Anglesea Baptist church congregation having an outdoor Easter service too. so funky!!! on the grass and all by the roadside. so funky... drums and guitar all there too! haha.



We just had a short stop there for toilet break and all then we headed to our lunch destination. It was this place called Apollo Bay which had a great view and nice cheap lunch shops... but we packed our food so we ate our sandwiches on the grassy patch... yes, it is an aussie thing to do. see grass, must sit.. so we've been sitting on a lot of grass recently since coming here. Anyways, it was a nice picnic with a very cool breeze and hot sun. ;) so nice



Finally, after driving so long, we finally were on our way to our first proper destination, the 12 apostles... well there are no longer 12 i hear... apparently there are only 7 left. but we didn't know a single bit of fact coz the tour guide only spoke to us to tell us when to come back to the bus and how long we had at the destinations [yes.... it was THAT BAD... no info sharing, no whatever. sigh... $45 wad to do? :)] So we arrived at the twelve apostles and started seriously jus snapping away... so here are the photos... enjoy...







Yup, after snapping all those pictures [we were only given 1 hour here] we had to leave and go for our next destination... yeh like 1 hour here only? wth! drive for 4 hours, stop here an hour... super diao... so anyways... we went off all happy and snappy... and traveled a very distance to Loch Ard Gorge... the tour guide's from china and when he pronounced it, we all heard it as laura gorge. :S hahah.. tour bus wasn't too happy with the tour guide's lack of professionalism and all that jazz... it was his 2nd tour group apparently, Davin and I had a chat with him.

So we arrived at Loch Ard Groge and we were given like 40 minutes here... it's jus a nice big rock structure with an eroded hole in the center... i think it looks like a big shorts... or boxers. hahaha. :) Enjoy the pics.




Then we drove on to London Bridge which is like this big long structure that has fallen down... and no, it's not the "london bridge is falling down" song... that's actually about a bridge in london... but jus so happens that this is called london bridge too. interesting no? :)
Supposed to have some myth-story about some couple that met here... but yeh, tour guide wasn't sure so his mumbling wasn't even understandable. :S hahah...




Yup, after that we just took some nice stylish shots and some jump shots... then we headed back.. bought dinner on the way [fish n chips] at a pitstop and dao-bao-ed to my place to eat... Lois and Hannah came over to eat before i sent them home... it was quite stress coz it was late and we 'partied' a bit after dinner with our Zion BP chord book and a guitar. hahaha... then when i dropped lois home, there were no more trams in operation anymore... but i decided to jus try and run back to the tram stop [which is like 2 streets down ok!] and lo and behold, there it was... shining in all it's glory, the last tram. i bolted towards it and caught it. i was so glad coz the walk back is long... it's ok la, can surely walk... but i was tired like anything... so yeh, the tram was a God send... really. :)

Yup so... more pictures can be found on my facebook. i advise u go check my facebook coz I did captions there. :) but yeh, to take us home, here's some stylish pics we took. :) I enjoy myself so much and am SO glad we did it. :) I love the last pic of wongster and myself... i think it's the best pic of the day [not counting the scenery shots of rocks] coz it's so comfortable, unposed and natural. :) yayz phyllis. power photographer. :) nice timing.




Ladies and Gentlemen, for your entertainment... Joel Melbourne Production Proudly Presents, for one night only, Hannah and Lois the mad crazy bus dancers!!!!
*p.s. check out the rest of the people in the bus... compared to the 2 of them... Thus i conclude, listening to iPod makes u... yeh... like THAT...*

Good Friday Outing 100409

Today we planned on having a very spontaneous Good Friday.

First of course, we went to church for Good Friday service. it was better than i thot coz the OCFers hadn't left for Belgrave Heights yet.. so some of them were still around church. The sermon was good but like i told my fren ivan, i felt it was more directed towards christians rather than a gospel thingy for non christians. i felt that it lacked the application of 'what's this and that mean to me as a nonchristian'... it was more of a reflective sermon for us christians about what Christ's death means to us...

The main crux of the whole sermon was that it was all paradoxical... The speaker [angmoh called Jeff] talked about how Christ died on the cross. About how the soldiers who were at the foot of the cross were holding incriminating evidence. They were stained with Christ's blood, his garments were in their hands and they were making remarks and insults about Christ right there and then within earshot of God... When Christ died and the earth shoke, and the veil tore and the rocks split and the graves gave up their contents, then did those soldiers realize that this truly was the Son of God. Imagine that, you're there at the foot of the cross, the blood stained your hands and your words stained your mouth... and here was the Son of God, whom u put to death... imagine if the wrath of God poured out there and then... you were in the worst place to be in the whole universe, doing the worst things ever... there u were, standing there with stained hands and incriminating evidence. what would be your justification?

Now the paradox. the worst place to be in at that point in time is actually the best place to be in. Christ's blood staining their hands is the same bloog that protects them from the wrath of God.... amazing... and if ANYONE of us ever think we're too wretched, too sinful for God to forgive us, who are we compared to those at the foot of the cross there and then. if God didn't smite them? What better us?

After church a few of us decided last nite to have a very spontaneous outing today. The plan? Bring camera, meet at Federation Square after church and be ready to have some fun. So we walked from church to fed sq [which is super far away but didn't feel like it] and we went to the visitor's desk. I went up and told the lady,

"Hi, good day to you. We're a bunch of teenagers with a whole day with nothing to do and a low budget. What would you advise?"

Haha... so we did do a little research while waiting for our number to be called so i asked her about the Secret Gardens walk tour and it's a self tour.. so it shows u where to walk and what to look out for... and we decided to go walk that... so we [Davin, Lois, Jacque, headed off to Graffiti lane to see some real nice graffiti and then went to walk our tour.



we took so many photos it was quite crazy... on the way, we saw this huge floral clock... davin describes it as "floral clock... a clock made with flowers" :) but yeh, that was nice.. and we saw a lot of sculptures along the way too... then we saw this grass patch that was full of dried fallen leaves... and the leaves were heart shaped. so i was like why not we make a heart shape with a few of these leaves. and in the end, we made a HUGE outline of a heart with all the leaves on the floor. :)



It was one of the best parts of the day. photo whored inside the heart after that. ahha really.. woots! :) then we walked to the shrine of rememberance where they honour the war veterans of Australia... it was a very nice huge place with great photo ops... :) it was the highlight of the whole walk la...



so yeh, we took lots of photos there including a multitude of jump shots.... coz my camera has self timer and multishot so we set 10 seconds timer, set 12 multishot and jus jumped and jumped and jumped. it was so hilarious. jump jump laugh jump jump laugh... hahaha :) haiz. loved it. :) people were staring at us thinking we're crazy. haha



Then we went to roll on the grass. roll? yeh it was a slope down and we decided, let's roll down it. hahah okok jus a short way and davin didn't wanna roll. :( but the rest of us did. hahah whee! here's a video.



Yeh, then we went back to city area for dinner. bought subway and sat on the grass outside the state library [it's an aussie thing.. see grass must sit] and ate our dinner. :)



Today was SO fun i loved it so much. :) yayz!

Sleeping Puppy

This video is TOO cute. :) check it out... it's a golden retriever puppy... awww

Melbourne Comedy Festival

Hohoh... it was SO good. :) Tonite was the highlight of my week and it didn't disappoint. :) After a normal day in sch [with free sausage lunch courtesy of student union thru jacque] i came home and did some work. Then after that i got ready to meet up with Wongster and Kenrick for dinner and comedy festival. Lois and Matt tagged along for dinner and after we had our delicious meal at Mekong [love it to bits] we walked down Swanston to try to find our mysterious venue... after turning into some wrong roads here and there, we finally stumbled upon the place we were headed.

We dilly-dallied around the outside coz we were still early and snapped some photos. then guess wad... Mike Milmot walks up to the entrance and jus stands there smoking and chatting with the door men.. and kenrick was like That's him! that's mike, the guy we're coming here for! and i was like oh oh oh! let's snap a photo!



Thus the photo. :) The comic of the night with a lovely wongster and tanster flanking him on both sides. He was a real nice chap to talk to and have a short pre-show chat up. :) Then we went in and got our seats after hanging around the bar for a while. 2nd row from the front! eeps! haha but it was all good coz it wasn't front row. no one likes front row for comics... coz they always pick on the front row... and thruout the whole show, he kept focusing on the front row from time to time. scary stuff. :)

But all that said and done, he was HILARIOUS. i was SERIOUSLY laughing my head off at his jokes. crude, rude, adult, dirty at some points but OH SO entertaining and i was telling wongster that i'm SO glad we got to watch him and not some safe quiet funny comic coz there's no point in coming all the way here to melb and not getting exposed to alot of things that spore shields u from. we get entertained but like wongster said, that doesn't mean we need to carry on his act in our own lives and speech... hahaha. so it was real fun and kenrick was laughing so hard next to me too... wongster was in the zone la. bet her cheeks were all achy... kenrick and i took turns jus leaning over in our seats from laughing and it was really a great night... the jokes were funny as hell and the way he delivered it, classic! :)

Yup... now looking forward to Flare Dance casting tml, thursday night potluck gathering, Good friday service and GREAT OCEAN ROAD TOUR ON EASTER!!!! :) bring.. it... ON, my finger's already on the shutter! :)

Quote of the day: 'Raccoons are just huge rats dressed as robbers' - Mike Wilmot

The Antique Music Shop

Disclaimer: This is just a googled image. The photo is not the actual shop i visited.
The walk was much needed. It was my personal quiet time with myself and my hobby. I didn't initially plan on going down Elgin Street but thought why not; I had time to kill, nothing to do but follow a lead my friend tossed my way a week or two ago.

"Yeh, down Elgin street. Some 2nd hand music shop. It was a steal but 2nd hand lah"

That's all I had, no names, no shop titles, no directions save for 'down Elgin'... So with that, i ventured down the street that I'd never have thot twice of. The weather was good for a walk with the sun shining at just the right spots of the path that let me experience both sun and shade in the stride of a block. It was a calm day, the trees echoed my thoughts as they gently brushed through the air, careless and carefree; at least for this span of time. The cars trickled by; One, two, Camry, four; this part of the street didn't get much traffic.

I almost walked past it. Sitting right on the mainroad yet so conspicuous from the exterior. The stained windows and wrought iron parapet fencing that danced along the window. The rust on the iron shuddered its age and richness. I peered in and making out shapes moving inside, I was comforted that the walk was not in vain. Reaching out, i pushed the door inwards as a jangle of bells at the foot announced my entry.

"G'day mate, how y'going?" Looking through his half moon spectacles, the plump yet fatherly store owner raised his head to greet me.

"I'm good thank you. I'll just have myself a look around if you don't mind yeh?" Wondering if I had overstepped my welcome in assuming this shop was opening for viewing. I glanced around and took in the brown bodies lining different areas of the wall. Standing embossed along walls of torn wallpaper and semi collaged posters, the instruments that hung from them looked amazingly rich.

I took a stroll through the small archway that led to the guitar section and a smile spread across my face as I turned left and right to absorb the guitars that hung and lay against the walls of this new section. Baby taylors, Fenders, Yamahas, Epiphone; all antiquely coloured and shaped. I grinned at how their price tags seemed to fight with their age as they went old guns blazing, never wanting to give up their value. Interesting, to me, was the way they became so much more valued with age. As I walked around, the colours that peeked out of their wooden bodies were such a refreshing sight as a sea of brown and mahogany encapsulated my vision. I took a twirl around the room and noticed a sign at the back of the room that hung above a small passageway leading into the back of the store.

'Cheaper acoustic, electric, bass guitars at the back'

An arrow cleverly inviting me into an offer I couldn't refuse. All these modules about creative advertising made me wonder to myself if I was drawn to the back because of the mystery of what was behind those walls or whether it was just in response to the sign. Whatever it was, i felt my foot stretch out and glide towards the passageway. The floorboard beneath my feet creaked as i inched towards the passageway. It snaked right then left and finally a hard right into a back room. The guitars that hung here were different from those in front. These weren't polished acrylic, they were old wooden beauties. They were like Pinocchio, carved from wood for a specific reason and each screamed a story; A story of their origins and their treatment as till the present. I allowed my fingers the lustful temptation they desired as I stroked the brown wood that resonated with quality. Even the air was musky, understandable for a section not normally visited. I looked up and each guitar that hung on the walls were 2nd hand and cheaper but yet, each and every one of them made me want to just sit down in front of them and listen to them tell me their own individual story. I picked up one, unwilling to let a chance like this pass me by, and I let loose its tongue. The sound that it produced was full, complete and it lingered on. It chuckled at me and spoke

'Sonny boy, in my days, guitars were for the rich and I was handcrafted for greatness'.

".. here today yeh? would that be possible yeh?" I heard the voice of the owner draft in from the main section of the hall as he spoke to a customer. Snapping me back from my teleported state, I put the guitar respectfully down and bade it farewell as I turned my back on this section of the shop. I looked over my shoulder before departing and knew that this place held riches far beyond that of kings. Its beauty was encrusted in time and its stories along with it.

"Goodbye pappy, I'll be back another day to hear the rest of that tale yeh" I thought to myself as I made my way back to the main area of the shop.

"Nothing catch your eye my boy?" The owner enquired while he leaned ever so slightly back and tilted his head towards my direction.

"Nothing that I can afford nor anything I feel worthy to own." I pinched back letting a bit of my enthusiasm loose. "But thanks, this has given me the inspiration to strive hard at playing it well to do some of these guitars justice" I grinned as I made my way to the exit.

"Soon son, soon. Cheers mate!"

"I'll be seeing you! Have a good day" and I walked back into reality. Elgin looked so new, so advanced and yet so dead to me now that I had breathed a bit of the world, a bit of the time that I never was born into. I then understood what the rusty wrought iron gate was there for. It wasn't to keep people out from the shop nor was it to protect the exterior of the shop. No, it was there to keep the stories in, to keep the heritage alive inside, it was protecting the instruments inside from being tainted by the world outside.

It worked and nothing could steal that small back room experience from me. It was my little Antique Music Shop.

4 Beef Steaks!

Today marked the first time in history that I cooked 4 beef steaks. :) I started with 2 for matt and myself.. then another week i cooked for davin, mel and i... then today, i cooked 4 steaks. wow... haha

and they were all pretty good so i'm really happy. tee hee. so yeh, jus wanted to blog.

Conviction of Sin, God's way of slapping you

Had OCF bible study today and despite the dodgily unsettling and so-so sermon, the bible study was once again, ocf's saving grace for me. i personally felt [matt agreed] that today's ocf felt a bit wishy washy... like not much structure and all... but we were both hoping our bible study session at the end of the sermon would be good... and mine was.. as always, bible study here at ocf has been the best i've found in melb so far... very engaging and willing to talk bout good points... i guess it comes with how they're all kind of willing to talk bout stuff... like all group bible studies, getting the first answers out are the hardest but once the gears start moving and the engine runs out of cold start, the discussion is pretty ok after that. :)

Yup, today during bible study, i shared with them about the imagery of us christians being magnifying glasses... that when someone uses a magnifying glass, they dun focus or see the glass, they see what it is magnifying... likewise, when we live our lives as christians, people see God through us and they shouldn't pay attention to us but what we're magnifying, which is God...
That was a reminder to never get proud or try to claim the credit that rightfully belongs to God. we also talked about how we should be accountable to each other, to uphold each other in prayer and to be always reminded that we are sinners in need of God's grace and saving power.

But what hits me hardest today wasn't from bible study or sermon but from life experience. I think God puts u thru a lot of things to not only mould and shape u but to also test you. and tonite, i felt tested. between doing what's right and what's safe... i felt like the prophet nathan who convicted david of his sin... how nathan spoke with words so boldly to king david about his sin i will not be able to fathom but when nathan talked to david about david's sin, God opened david's heart and he confessed, repented and asked for forgiveness... and tonite, i felt like i was put in a spot to tell someone something they didn't want to hear and something i didn't want to say... but i guess God made me say it and i still aren't very settled at how i feel i needed to say it but i'm sure after it's all said and done, the other party would agree...

I just pray that it's not for personal intentions or even that i would stop the work of God and the Holy Spirit. i pray that i'll be a brother rather than a scared fren.
I wish there was an easier way. And i'm sorry.

Wait, Christian Poem

Wait

Desparately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', go-ahead and sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall recieve.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master repied once again, "You must wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taught
and grumbling to God, "So, I'm waiting... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit decends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save... (for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of the infinte God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer is still, "WAIT."

[ Author Unknown ]