Humble Ground

I was leading a bible study in a cell group last Friday. The discussion ends at 11pm and we had a closing prayer to thank God for His guidance. All the while I taught that I’m doing a good job in executing the flow and managed to convey most of the message. I knew I have spent a lot of time in preparing this, and no doubt all the hard work will not go in vain. And yes, I was proud of myself.

I was holding my pride for some time, doing things my way and undermine what other people have done.

It didn’t take long until someone comment about the bible study that I conducted. I was expecting good answers like ‘wow, you are great’ or ‘hey, thanks for your effort on the bible study’.

Instead, what I heard is ‘you need to be more flexible’, ‘there is not enough sharing’, ‘and you missed out some point’ etc. I can feel my pride being crushed into little pieces. At first I was rebellious, and was defending myself through by giving some excuses and by explaining my own ‘perfect’ way. The pride has shielded me away from God, and all the while it is me, me and me only.

I calmed myself down during midnight, thinking about the past, present, and future. It is funny that often when we said that we can accept any comments from others, but in the end we defend against their comments. I was ready to listen to the comments, but not ready to accept it. The stumbling block is non other than pride itself.

I prayed to God for forgiveness, and to grant me strength to be humble-wholeheartedly. Indeed, the next day I was able to view things differently, and thank God I was saved from the sin that has long affecting my life – pride.

Pride is a sin. It controls our emotion and will pull us away from God if we are not aware of it. It is like a cancer that spreads throughout your whole body, leading to other sins like greed and hatred. Pride makes us think we are God, in fact we are not. It is because of pride that Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit. In pride there is no love, no care, and no mercy.

We serve God not because we are good at anything. We serve God because He loved us first. He took His initial step, to become one of us, as Jesus, and teach us how to love one another, and to serve others who are in need.

Let us humbly come into His presence, and follow His foot steps, towards righteousness, glory and honor.

Happy Mother's Day

A Mother is God’s love in action. She looks with her heart and feels with her eyes. A mother is the bank where her children deposit all their worries and hurt. A mother is a cement that keeps her family together and her love lasts a lifetime. Happy Mother's Day!

The Sauna Effect

I woke up 2.30am midnight, feeling very uncomfortable due to the hot weather and extended heat. My whole body was sweating like just coming out from sauna. I couldn’t sleep anymore... The temperature has been 30C ++ or so lately. I scratched my arm outside the window; there was no wind at all.

Thank God there was the air conditional. All the while I was reluctant to turn it on because I wasn’t used to sleep with it. I always think that no matter how hot the weather is, I still can sleep peacefully without air conditional. I have refused to install the air conditional in my room although Ruth’s sister insisted to. I advise her to install in the living room instead. Well, I was wrong.

I turned on the air conditional, and the cool breeze fills the room. It was great! After awhile, I slept comfortably whole night like a baby in his mother’s womb. If the air conditional wasn’t there, I couldn’t imagine how I’m going to go through the whole night.

We might not understand God’s way of doing things, like why the air conditional is installed when you think you wouldn’t need it. When the right time comes, God’s plan will be revealed, and we will be amazed of what He has done in our life. Yes, the air conditional is ready to be used.

Mold Me

Genesis 45: 3-7

'Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance'.

In Genesis 45 when Joseph met his brothers who sold him to Egypt. He could have taken revenge on his brother but he chose not to. Instead he forgives them for their wrong doings and thanked God for what He has prepared for his people.

What makes Joseph such a person? God has molded Him through slavery, temptation, 13 years of suffering in jail for wrong accuse, and also the 7 years of serving under Pharaoh. God prepares all this in advance so that Joseph can become a faithful and righteous person.

It is for our own good that sufferings and temptation is inevitable. It is the perseverance, patience and faith that mold us into a better person to serve in His kingdom. Are we prepared to be molded by God?

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness - Matthew 6:33

It reminds me of how we should pray to God. Very often we pray for our needs and focus on what we want in our lives. We always hope that God will grant us what we wish. If then, what difference will it make in comparison to other religion?

Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship, a relationship with God the creator. We are not merely asking for His help, but to seek Him and to build up a relationship with Him. God has His will for everyone of us, to walk in the true path, and His way of righteousness. Even though the path may not be favor to us, it is sometimes God’s will for us to endure the pain and suffering, so that we can grow and become stronger in His faith, and to understand His purpose.

What is God’s will, you may ask. It all started within you, on how close your relationship is with God. Prayer and reading God’s word is the key to improve our relationship with God. By getting closer to Him, we can understand His will and be ready to walk in His way.

God made us to have the freedom to choose. Do we choose to live an obedient, righteous and faithful life? Or do we choose to live by our own way?

Wives & Husbands

Ephesians 5:22-33

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Jo'bless'... Hmm...

Life has been slow moving since I left my job. I can't explain how I felt. Its like a sudden clash between working mood and holiday mood. The first few days I still wake up early as normal, finding myself in a position where I can take my time as long as I could, going anywhere without restriction, and never have to eat lunch in the canteen anymore. I'm like a free man who gets paid without going to work, temporarily...

Thank God life wasn't that meaningless these days. There is the Easter celebration where I got to work on the video to show it in church. God really works in miracle ways. If it wasn't because of my resignation, I wouldn't have the time to really concentrate on the video in the short amount of time given. Not only that, during the fasting prayer before Easter, I can feel the Holy spirit touched my heart, and it was one of the greatest experience I've ever had for a long time.

And now, here I am, in Penang, having a great time with my family, relatives and friends. It really feels good to be back home, enjoying a meal or two with my family, chatting about the good old days, getting to understand each others situation and etc.

There is also Qing Ming last Sunday, where we went to the Taiping cemetery to pay our respect to our beloved grandpa. After that me and my dad went to church for Sunday service. Oh boy, I missed church so much, although its only been 1 week. There is this peaceful worship and quiet prayer in the church, and you can just feel God's love everywhere!

God will nurture our heart and give us peace whenever we seek Him. No matter how bad the situation is, we can have faith and look forward to Him. He will make all things right in time.

I will update my blogs often, so stay tune for more ya!

The Day the Lord Has Risen

Today is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins and was risen 3 days after. The death of our Lord does not mark the end, but the beginning of a new life. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

The video below is taken from Youtube and added with subtitles. It's a very touching song by Ray Boltz who described the crucifixion of Jesus in 3rd person (from a view of a guy name Sam).

This video is edited from the movie Passion of The Christ and added a touching song <天有多高> by 叶晨心. For those who are still searching for life's answer, you can take a first step and accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, by following a prayer in the end of the video.


Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for tehy will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5: 3-10

Amen!

Bye Bye SEM

It will be my last day in Shin-Etsu after 2.5 ‘long’ years. No doubt this company has given me a lot of opportunity to learn the basic knowledge and skills to further my career advancement. Nevertheless, I will be moving from manufacturing to consultancy, where my new venture begins.

To all my SEM colleagues who read this:

Although it’s tough and stressful in my position, I really enjoy the time being with all of you. A lot of credits go to the seniors who really gave enormous moral support and care in moving me towards success. Without your support I don’t think I can survive these 2.5 years.

I also want to give a million thanks for those who accompany me in enduring the ‘fear factor’ dine-in experience in the canteen (no offence to canteen owner, just facts…). The time where we share jokes and make fun of each other is the moment I treasured most. Indeed, it’s not easy to find a company to have such big group of colleagues that cares for each other. I see it as one big blessed family, where nobody will be left out, no matter what happens.

So what else can I say? All the best and keep in touch! I won’t be going back to Penang to work so soon (probably until we see toll-free Penang bridge and air-conditioned trishaw… or the new ‘rocket’ Komtar). I will be working close by though, so we can still go yam cha anytime.

Ok lar, take good care and God bless then!

阿贤人情味

We met 阿贤from 阿贤人情味while having lunch at the Taiping Lang (太平人)restaurant in Puchong. The camera and crews are ready to shoot and we are just beside them. We took pictures with 阿贤. He's a nice and friendly person. I used to watch his show but not much lately. Be sure to watch this episode when it aired sometime, you could be seeing us on TV!