The reflecting theologian

Today while running together with some of the brothers and sisters to canopy walk, I had a vision. One day, Hope Singapore will have its own high rise building in the CBD area, something with a concept of a shopping mall. The ground floor will house the bank Hope Bangkok sets up. Hope Resource will have its own floor, its own shop, like Tecman. Underground will house Hope's auditorium, which have a capacity of 1000 seatings or even more. Somewhere in the top floor will house the church office. There will be rooms for individual ministries at the top floor. There will be rooms for caregroups and units and sub-d meetings. There will be a restaurant set up for people to dine in after service, in fact, quite a few will be set up. And other more. This is the vision of the Hope Building. And the church staff by then will receive what they ought to receive as their income. ie income = effort.

Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. - Psalm 69:20 Hide me now Under your wings Cover me within your mighty hand When the oceans rise and thunders roar I will soar with you above the storm Father you are king over the flood I will be still and know you are god Find rest my soul In Christ alone Know his power In quietness and trust When pain comes and inflict in our lives, we ask, 'what's the meaning of all these?' Pain, when it's physical, leaves scars that can be removed by advanced medical help. When it's emotional, it takes forever to heal, not even the most advanced of psychology can help. When pain becomes spiritual, there's only one way. When we ask about the meaning of pain, why must we go through all these s*** and yet there is no answer. Many a times, we looked the wrong place. Many a times, we look at ahead of us, we look behind us, we look out. We see nothing. ...

[ ] You like to eat chicken feet. [x] You sing karaoke. [x] You've worn glasses since you were in fifth grade. [ ] You'll haggle over something that is not negotiable. [x] You are a math genius. (used to) Total: 3 [x] You take showers at night. [x] You avoid the non-free snacks in hotel rooms. [x] You say "aiyah!" and "wah!" frequently. [ ] You save grocery bags. [x] You twirl your pen around your fingers. Total: 4 [x] You have been taught that wasting food is a sin. [x] Your dad thinks he can fix everything himself. [ ] You beat eggs with chopsticks. [ ] You like congee with thousand-year- old eggs. [x] You have eaten moon cakes. Total: 3 [ ] If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they ask you if you've eaten, even if it's midnight. [ ] You email/msn your Chinese friends, even though you're only 10 feet apart. [x] You can read traditional chinese [x] Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin before they are thrown away. [...

Ofelia settles down with her mother Carmen, recently remarried with the highly domineering Vidal, captain in the pro-Franco army. While the little girl struggles to get used to her new life, she discovers nearby the great family house a mysterious labyrinth. Pan, its faithful guardian, a strange magical and demonic creature, will reveal to her that she is none other than the princess who long ago disappeared from an enchanted realm. To discover the truth, Ofelia will have to face three dangerous trials that nothing on earth has prepared her for... I just recently went to watch this movie. Ziwei mentioned that at the end, it's more existentialist than Matrix. Well, I'm not an expert. But one interesting thing is that the movie left an ambiguous ending, asking the viewers to choose their own interpretation of the story, that is Ofelia imagining Pan and the labyrinth, or is everything which happened all real? I will post my conclusion a week later, in view that some may not have ...

The clock striked and I was 23. Oh... I heard quite a few sms, and some from msn sending me their best wishes. Thank you all. Thank God for you all. And at the strike, it's already 1 year 6 weeks since I received Christ. The celebration at HQ was great, and some of the affirmations I received, I never know I am that kind of person the brothers and sisters thought of (in a good way of course). This unit celebration, although it was a unit celebration, I still feel glad to see people from the other unit around too. I felt blessed. A pity not all my cg members and my future cg members are there, but I'm glad Robert was there (he incidentally was the one who gave the longest affirmation... like a valediction). But as much as my brothers and sisters are encouraged by my life, I am also encouraged by how much my life has encouraged them. I am encouraged by God as well. After the celebration at HQ, I had another celebration at cg level. Honestly speaking, I didn't know that they w...

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remem...

It has been an incredible week. Now recalling back, this was around the caregroup when I first began: This was the caregroup after Robert and Ruey Feng moved on: And after a few months later, this is the caregroup that I currently belong to: And after that, Yizhong joined in... That was how the caregroup has grown. 18/01/2007 This was the day I found it hard to laugh. A shock came by and took me by storm... The feeling? Sad? Disappointed? Confused? Uncertain? 19/01/2007 Went down to Bangkok to attend God@mybiz seminar organised by Hope Bangkok. It was a great trip. I met a lot of incredible businessmen who live by biblical principles and follow God and love Him with all their might, strength, soul. Msn me and I can tell you all the stories of these people. But what was incredible is that what was supposed to be just a conference turned out to be a spiritual retreat. When I arrived in Royal Benja Hotel, I found out that because my roommate who was supposed to book in the previous nigh...

This is so cool. While I was doing my QT just now, I came across Proverbs 16:3, God suddenly impressed upon me one of the words in the verse. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. I dun know what it means, so I checked out dictionary.com. And I realise that while we look at this verse, it's not saying that any plan we commit will succeed. But let's take a look at the meanings of 'commit'. 1. to give in trust or charge; consign. I guess it is quite straightforward. Whatever we do, we transfer the plan over to God's custody, and trust that He will make things right. 2. to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance; pledge, to pledge or engage oneself This meaning suggests that in when we commit to God our plans, there is an obligation on our part. What obligations? I asked myself this question. And I realise that it's about God's will and purpose. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpo...

It is Wednesday into the school reopening. I have attended 4 lectures, formed 2 project groups, and had 1 project discussion online. Other than that, it has been quite slack for me. But I have made a choice to start moving into 6th gear by the end of next week. I'm giving myself 2 weeks to settle down (actually 1 week, but I'm giving another week to move to 6th gear, so altogether 2 weeks to 6th gear.) Meanwhile, I have a TR2201 project group, in which, by God's grace, I have 2 sisters from church taking with me. That's a comfort, although I know that I dun mind if I have to end up with a completely strange group together. In TR3001, I managed to meet my project group members from TR2202 and MNO1001 together, and the four of us decided to form a group. It's great of God to allow me to work with people I know for this semester. Certainly by God's grace it is. I was also browsing through articles over the net and I found this from Crosswalk.com which I wanna share...

Today I was helping out in the MPS when this lady came in to see the MP. She is a grad student who is currently working sales right now. What her problem was sent a chill down my spine... she was disturbed by evil spirits... for more than a year. And she's seeking help. She's a Christian from a church which apparently dun believe in spirit... (God knows why). And I believed she's telling the truth... cos I can sense the prickling presence of spirits in the room. My MP suggested her to consult the temple near my place... and insisted that she should try out this venue of help... I was praying... 'NO!!! Dun agree!!! You are falling for it!!!' I dun known whether she agreed in the end or not... But her case was quite sad... Imagine you know a God, who created the world, who created us, who died on the cross and resurrected 3 days later... You have a personal relationship with Him... why are you seeking human help??? Dun you believe in Him??? I tried to interrupt and wa...

Year 2 sem 2 is going to start soon as we exit from the festive season. So what am I taking this coming semester? This coming semester I will be taking: Cold War in Europe Asian Business and networks Intro to Economics analysis Entrepreneurial marketing New Product development All these modules, I spent 1 point for each as usual, although I spent a total of 6 points altogether all thanks a little screw up on my part. I had wanted to take engendering history, but I decided that the combo of Hong Lysa and Sai Siew Min is proving a bit too much for me to take... so I decided to drop that pre-allocated module and take New Product development, which is non-examinable. Upon reflection, this may be a wise choice, given that so far my SJAP for my minor mod has been way higher than the current SJAP for my major modules, although I have only taken 3 minor modules so far. Imagine, I have 2 A- and 1 A for my minor, and I have 1 A+, 1 A, 3 A-, 1 B and 1 B- to show for my major, I would rather bet m...

This is the blood that Jesus paid for our sin... actually that is the blood we paid for our openness the day after Christmas during Macho Turbo. The mosquito sucked so much blood that it couldn't fly and in the end, it was smashed, with our blood 'splattered' on the floor. Care to guess whose blood is that? We spent the New Year's Eve on Jiadai's house. And for a few minute, it became a nightclub of the different sort? See Ellson caught in the act of embracing Guoxiong and Matthew, the acting host(esses) of the night.... Actually I just found the picture funny... nothing indecent is going on. The above three pictures are taken on New Year's Day evening. These are pictures of rainbow, very clear rainbow desu. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ...

As I was driving home some of the brothers and sisters from Jiadai's place in the morning, Qiaoping actually asked me what birthday present I want for my 23rd birthday, since mine is just 2-3 weeks away. I was stumped for a moment. Actually, I have never thought of what present I exactly want for this birthday. A book? But I'm not sure what book I wanna read at this current moment... A shirt? But a bit err... since people have been giving me shirts for this year... maybe a walkman phone from ericsoon? But that's a bit too expensive... Maybe a car... a kick from the 'kar' (leg) I'll get. To think about it, I seem to be quite content with what I have now. Maybe the best present is to see someone come to know Christ... that would be a great present. Anyway, the new year has started. And more can be expected from this blog. Till then, I'll update this again quite soon.