Enjoy reading the following! =D

The contents in this entry were taken from the most recent weekend sermon in my church. Very interesting. Do read on... I am sure you'll be shocked by the verses (after realising the responsibilities!), and laughed after reading the last part of this blog. Haha! =D

A Verse for Husbands:
Husbands, love your wives [be affectionate and sympathetic with them] and do not be harsh or bitter or resentful toward them.

-- Colossians 3:19 (The Amplified Bible)

A Verse for Wives:
... and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].

-- Ephesians 5:33 (The Amplified Bible)

Women's Talk -- An out-of-this-world language to Men
What Those Words Really Mean... :

When she says 'Yes', it usually means 'No.'

When she says 'No', it means 'Yes.'

When she says 'Maybe', it still means 'No.'

When she says 'I am sorry', it means 'You'll be sorry.'

When she says 'We need this', it means 'I want it.'

When she says 'Well, up to you. It's your decision', it means 'Come on, wise up. Don't you know that my correct decision hasn't been obvious already?'

When she says 'Do what you want', it means 'You'll pay for this later.'

When she says 'Honey, we need to talk', it means 'I want to complain.'

When she says 'I am not upset', it means 'Of course I am upset, you moron!'

When she says 'You're so manly today', it means 'Please go and take a bath. Your BO stinks!'

When she says 'The kitchen is so inconvenient', it means 'Time for us to buy a new house.'

When she says 'Do you love me?', it means 'I am going to ask for something expensive.'

When she says 'How much do you love me?', it means 'I am going to tell you something that you are going to be very angry.'

When she says 'I'll be ready in 1 minute. Just give me 1 minute. I'll be ready', it means 'Take off your shoes. Go and get your coke. Switch on the soccer game. I'm going to take 1 hour.'

A worship song for the season...

This new worship song was sung during the weekend service last weekend, and the presence of God saturated the whole hall... When it was sung repeatedly, it became a song of my own and a cry from my heart...

Presence

by Christian City Church

Verse:
I Feel Your Peace, You're Here With Me
You Bring Me All I Need Lord Breathe On Me
And As I Wait, Draw Near To Me
My Soul It Longs For You To Breathe On Me

Pre-Chorus:
Jesus, Jesus
There's No One Else Like You (x2)

Chorus:
Lord Your Presence Fills This Place
As We Glorify Your Name
There Is No One Else But You
Jesus My Saviour (x2)
Let The Whole World Worship You

Bridge:
Let The Whole World Worship
The Whole World Worship
The Whole Worship You

Excerpts from recent sermons from Church and Cell Group meetings:

Just wanna pen down some excerpts taken from the recent sermons preached in Church and Cell Group meetings... To my friends who are reading this now, hope the following will bless you greatly! =)

[ 7 Elements to Achieve Success -- SUCCESS ]
1). Sense of direction;
2). Understanding;
3). Courage;
4). Charity;
5). Esteem;
6). Self-Confidence; and
7). Self-Acceptance.

[ 7 Dangers We Must Avoid, if we want to achieve success -- FAILURE ]
1). Frustration;
2). Aggressiveness
3). Insecurity;
4). Loneliness;
5). Uncertainty;
6). Resentment; and
7). Emptiness.

[ 10 Commandments for Building Good Relationships ]
1). COMMUNICATION is the key of life.
2). Be INTERESTED in people in their world.
3). Make people feel IMPORTANT.
4). SMILE when you meet people.
5). ENCOURAGE people.
6). Be LONGSUFFERING.
7). RESPECT people.
8). ESTEEM others as better than yourself.
9). Use PEOPLE'S NAMES more than normal.
10). Be COMPLIMENTARY of people.

If you want the entire sermon(s), do not hesitate to contact me ok? I will be more than happy to share them with you, because I know they will change your life! =)

Valentine's Day

Kinda felt weird blogging about Valentine's Day after 1 whole week has passed! But then, I don't have a 'Valentine' YET, so it doesn't matter THAT much lah.

Realised that Valentine's Day has really become more and more commercialised nowadays. More and more people are celebrating it, but don't know why I just feel that not many people are catching the essence of Valentine's Day, and only celebrate it like a yearly exercise. Hmmm... hope I am not too critical here. =P

Obviously, Valentine's Day is all about LOVE. My Bible has provided a great description of what love should be:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstances. Love will last forever.

-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NLT)

Sounds like a real idealistic definition eh? But then at the first place, that's what love should be, and I truly believe that having a love so pure is achievable, and at all costs I should, I shall and I will work towards making it a reality. I know there will be people saying that I am childish and naive striving for such perfection. I don't care though. God has showered me His perfect love all this while, and He is still doing that to me and loving me everyday. His Son Jesus has demostrated that perfect love by dying for my sins on the cross. The Holy Spirit lives within me and teaches me how to love... And me? I just want to be one of His faithful servants and love people like the way He does, for the rest of my life...

I don't know who are and will be reading my blog, but I just wanna declare here that... (nah, I haven't found my 'Valentine' yet! You can breathe easier now... Hehe... =P) ... that when the day I find that special someone who keeps making my heart pumping fast, who makes me feel like living on earth is like living in Heaven, who loves me just as I am, whom I want to spend time with for the rest of my life (WHAT a lengthened version of 'my Valentine'! Haha!), I will make sure that no matter what happenes, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, I will love her with ALL my heart, and will demostrate that love in every way I know and am capable of, and will spend whatever effort it requires to make her feel that she is very special to me, someone I will never let go. I shall also declare here that once I find that someone, on all the future Valentine's Days I will give her surprises, each filled with creativity, with excitement, and most importantly, with that genuine, pure love God has taught me to pour out to her.

My goodness... what have I typed here? Haha!!! =D

Delirious?@CHC

Martin Smith, started the praise and worship with the number 'There Is A Light', and the legendary lighting of the candle, representing 'the light of the world'...

(Photos extracted from City Harvest Church Official Website at http://www.chc.org.sg/. Copyright © 2000-2007 City Harvest Church.)

Delirious?, one of the top Christian bands in the world, was leading the praise and worship at my church during the February 4-5 weekend. Yuptz... realised it's definitely a backdating here coz' I was waiting for the photos to be uploaded in the church website all this while before posting my thoughts here. Heh.

I attended the service on Sunday, February 5, and must say I was really blown away by the presence of God during the 2 rounds of praise and worship, before and after the preaching. The songs were great, very meaningful, and together with the hearts of the congregation worshipping in one accord, the presence of God was so heavy and tangible, that many people were moved to several rounds of tears throughout (like me!). I love the presence of God. I love it when I can fill His presence everyday, when I can sense the assurance that He is there watching over me and guiding me.

One of the new songs Delirious? has chosen to sing during the service was 'Take Off My Shoes'. That was one song which changed the atmosphere in the hall. David Yem, CHC Music Director, described what happened most appropriately in the tour diary posted in Delirious? website:

'One poignant moment came on Sunday morning where after we had sung Majesty and Martin decided to do the song "Take off my shoes". After he had explained the meaning of the song to the congregation, you could sense the meaning of the lyrics sinking in deep into the hearts of the people as the band kicked into the song. Like what the song said, the hearts of the people were engaged and drawn into a deeper presence of God with all of us desiring to tarry in the "secret place" and not leave. By the end of the worship that Sunday morning, it was hard to find a dry eye in the entire congregation.

This is the song:

Take Off My Shoes

by Delirious?

Verse 1:
I'll Take Off My Shoes, I'm Coming In,
Untie This Rope, I'm Staying With Him,
Love Of My Life, I'll Live And Die,
Just For The Moments For My King and I.

Why Did You Call, Why Did You Wait,
For Someone So Guilty, Someone So Fake.
There Are No Words For My Beautiful Song,
Now I'm In The Arms Of My Beautiful One.

Chorus:
Hold Me, Blow All The Pride From My Bones, With Your Fire.
Hold Me, Breathe On This Heart Made Of Stone, Keep It Pure.
Hold Me, Saviour Of Heaven And Earth, King Forever.
Hold Me, Love Of My Life Lead Me On, Through The Fire, Lead Me On...

Verse 2:
I'll Take Off This Crown And Fall At Your Feet,
The Secret Of Joy Are The Moments We Meet.
How Could A Man With All Of Your Fame,
Pull Me From Darkness And Call Me By Name.

So Hold Me Today, As I Carry Your Cross,
Into The Desert To Find Who Is Lost.
Look At My Hands, They're Still Full Of Faith,
God Keep Them Clean Till We Finish The Race.

Concern over My Photography...

Was thinking about this recently... somehow felt that my photography skills have not improved for quite a while... somehow felt that something is missing... felt that the passion is not as strong before... This is certainly not good, not good at all...

Guess I really need a break... a break when I can once again use my camera to create pictures that express the feelings in my heart, going to a place where I can be away from the busy buzz I have had over the years of education, a time when I can truly recover from fatigue, truly explore more about myself and think clearly about what I want in my life, and most importantly, to spend more time with my Lord and stay in His presence always, in ways that will keep me amazed and in love always.

Fell ill... =(

I used to fall sick pretty often in the past. But believe it or not, I fell sick less often after I became committed in church and stayed in His presence always. I also realised that many times I fell ill it was likely due to the fact that I did not take care of my body properly. Just like this time round, I fell ill after the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays! =( Many people thought that I probably ate too much during CNY, but the fact was that I stored up too much heat inside my body, after 1 whole month of not being watchful of what I ate and did not take the relevant supplements. And all it took was a cold that I caught the day after the holidays and triggered all the imbalance inside my body, to the extent that I actually ended up having fever on Friday. It feels really awful, especially I lost so much of my strength and my appetite! (Imagine taking away appetite from me! NO WAY!!!)

I feel alot better now after resting much over the past 2 days... and I am proclaiming that BY HIS STRIPES I WILL BE COMPLETELY HEALED!!! Amen! =D

Another Chinese New Year in Singapore...

I must really declare that I missed spending Chinese New Year (CNY) back home! If my calculation was correct, I have just spent 6th or 7th CNY in Singapore, and I really wonder when it will be the next time I will be home to spend CNY with my family! Well, actually, not saying that I really resented spending CNY in Singapore (although it is not as happening compared to CNY in Hong Kong), but of course I would really prefer getting busy during CNY and at least have something to do all the time! (Am I a workaholic??? Hmmm...)

My CNY eve was really one of a kind... I actually spent 10 hours, almost non-stop, watching TV at home, from 2pm to 12midnight! I watched Channel 5 at first, showing the movie 'Mission to Mars' (which was not really interesting although the storyline is weird), then I changed to Channel NewsAsia and happened to catch the documentary on SMU. After that I decided to retune all the channels on TV, and then I settled for a Japanese TV show on Channel U, and later, the evening News report on the same channel. After that, I caught another movie, this time round in Chinese, on Channel 8, which has an even more weird storyline, before I went to the kitchen and prepared my dinner (which was around 10pm and sadly, 2 packets of instant noodles for CNY eve! =( ). And then I put the noodles before me and started watching 'Rush Hour' on Channel 5, and the movie distracted me so much until my noodles became so soggy and inedible... All these while I put my laptop before me and chatted on MSN at the same time, and all alone in the apartment coz' nobody was home! Must really admit that I almost cried when the sun started to set, but thankfully I needed not to do that as my mum gave me a call shortly after I had that thought. What a CNY eve eh?

Thankfully, things changed close to the stroke of midnight. A very close friend of mine SMSed me around 11 plus and asked me if I wanna watch the movie 'I Not Stupid Too'. I shouted 'liberation!' the moment I got the SMS... haha... coz' finally I got to leave the apartment and I knew I would enjoy the time later on. The movie was great, very entertaining and at certain parts very touching. I got so impressed by the movie to the point that I straightaway put it in my MSN nickname to recommend my friends to catch it! Haha! I really thank God for not forgetting me all alone and arranged an itinerary that He knew I would love, i.e. catching a great movie and more importantly spending time with my close friend, even though I paid alot for the movie itself (the public holiday price of the movie ticket + 2 midnight taxi journeys between Upper Bukit Timah and Tampines)! Yay yay!!! =D

Interestingly, the midnight after the CNY 1st day was also spent watching movie, again! This time round it was 'Memoirs of a Geisha', another great show, very captivating and beautiful (although some people do not really appreciate it), with my friends from church after having dinner at where one of them stays. And guess what, I watched the same movie AGAIN when I went across the Causeway to Johor Bahru (JB) on the CNY 2nd day with Zhuomin and Liqin. Guess we all got too bored in Singapore... We spent time at JB City Square eating, walking around and shopping (not me of coz!), from early afternoon till late at night. Hmm... really wish Singapore can do more to spice up the CNY atmosphere on the actual days!!!

The CNY 3rd day was spent mostly watching TV, again! (What goes around comes around!) And must confess that I planned to catch up my school work and in the end never got down to it at all even though the holiday was pretty long! (Guilty! Hehe... =P ) School resumed the next day, and haha... so many of my friends came and told me that I should have told them I would be all alone for CNY eve! Haiz... I just told them it's over already lah. Haha... As for next year's CNY wise, hmm... so far I got an invitation for the reunion dinner 1 year early, and I think only know if I will get to go for it at the end of this year or the start of next year once I confirm my post-graduation plans. Hmm... shall I spend CNY in Singapore or HK next year?

New School Term.

Realised I didn't blog for quite a while... once again!!! Argh!

My new school term commenced about a month ago. Compared to my previous terms, this term is rather different because I am taking only 3.5 credits, which is lower than the average most SMU students will be taking. Well, after all, this is already my 2nd last normal term in SMU already and I have already cleared most of my credit requirements. I guess it's better to slow down bah... especially after taking 6 credits last term (which was hectic and highly not-recommended unless absolutely necessary)!!! However, this term is also remarkably different because though I am taking the least number of credits ever, I spent the most in buying my textbooks and course packs!!! Unbelievable! =P

Anyway, I think the greatest benefits of taking lesser courses are that (1). I managed to prepare my lessons better than before, gradually. Managed to complete the required readings and therefore more equipped to participate in class; and (2). I have more free time than ever before to (a). rest! (b). recover (to get myself rejuvenated so that I won't get burnt out frequently!); and most importantly (c). to spend time with friends, with people whom I love to fellowship with all these while! This is something I always wanted to do and wished to have more time for what really matters most to me, and I am so grateful that in this new school term the opportunity has finally come! Yay! =D