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Archive for May, 2009

The Burger Illustration – edited

I have a glass plate in front of me and the waiter approached me. He was wearing a red apron with the word “Problems” printed on it. He served me the bread of the burger and went back to the kitchen. He gave me the next layer which is the lettuce and he went back again. From his kitchen, he came out with black beef patty and put it on top of the lettuce and went back to his kitchen again. He made many trips to and fro the kitchen and gave me the next ingredient.

When I see him taking the bread for the burger, I was glad that it’s finally over and I’m enough of all these he has created. I prepared my utensils and ready to eat the burger. But this waiter came out from the kitchen again and serve me 2 more burgers which are as big as Carl’s Jr hamburger.

“STOP IT“, I said. I didnt even have the chance to settle this hamburger and the next one was served to me so fast.

The first burger is called *SENSOR*. This burger has been on my plate for a very long time since last year. But now, it has upsized, much bigger than what it was before. It tasted salty(cos of the tears), something that taste so inedible and even if it’s edible, it is hard to digest. I could have share this burger to that person beside me. He is the only one who know that I have this burger in front of me and is gigantic. Yes, he can help me eat a portion of the burger. But I’m always seated on my chair while he is moving around in the restaurant. What I know is more than what he knows, and whatever he knows is whatever I told him. And when the waiter was serving this upsized burger to me, he wasnt with me. I have this upsized burger always in front of my plate and it is not moving or becoming smaller. I got curious why this burger is so big. So I went to the kitchen to peep, to eavesdrop to find out what the chefs are actually trying to do. But the more I do it, the more unpleasant things I found out.

What comes after eating the hamburger? We have the side dish – French Fries. French Fries comes after hamburger and they are interlinked. One pack of French Fries has the name “Accountability” and the other pack is called “Emotions“.

The “Accountability” french fries showed image of me standing at the junction with no road signs or lamp post. I do not know which way to go. Should I drive straight and account to my shepherd when I meet her at the first-aid station or do I look back at the rear view mirror, make a U-turn and just dont go to the first-aid station. When I was thinking of which way to choose, one road sign suddenly popped up. I know where it will lead me to. It will lead me to an unfinished road construction and if I insist of driving forward, to the end of the road, my car will just fall down to the deep sea and that’s it. I’m really glad that I eliminated the foolish option. So now, it is either drive straight or make a U turn. One factor why I dont want to drive straight was because I think I’m not giving problems to the first aider there but I myself is a problem to the first aider. And also, I was having internal bleeding which is unresolvable by the first aider. Only after a few days, I decided to “drive” my car to the first aid station.

The “Emotions” french fries showed me the maze I’m in. I was unclear, a lot of question marks regarding my emotions, how to handle it and stuff (shall not elaborate here). But I got clearer understanding through the devotion Jie Hui blogged at the UniYA blog, and the shepherding I just had yesterday. The title of the blog entry was is “Domains of Christian Victory – The Soul Domain”. The three points are: Be real to yourself, Bring the battle from the inside to the outside, Make sense of your emotions. I forgot where did I read this but it says we can only claim victory if only when we are able to deal with it when the same problem comes again.

And this up-sized burger was served to me just one day before my last paper.

The second burger is called Growth. After reading all the camp devotions, I realized that gaining victory is really very difficult. There are so many areas we’ll have to look into if we want to be a victorious christian. It’s tough. But most importantly, we need to know how to conquer it.

The third burger is called Relationship with xxxx. I really want to know him better and be open to him. I’ll like him to be one of my listening ears when Im feeling down, a shoulder I can lean on. Really, I feel very awkward when both of us are together. I want to engage in more spiritual talk with him.

I had a very heavy meal. Everything is in my stomach, but it’s indigestible, bombarding!! A lot of things crapping up there. So many things to do that’s driving me crazy. Waiting patiently for God’s perfect timing and purpose to come to pass.

[Web Design7] Hearts Beauty

Within a few hours, I managed to finish designing blogskin for Maurise’s beauty blog. For this blogskin, I played around the colors of yellow and pink. Yellow is Maurise’s favourite color and Pink is a “hot” color for all girls. First, I started to design the banner of the blog. I went deviantart.com and search on “fashion anime girl”. After browsing through the photos, I found out that is nice and suits the theme of the beauty blog.

This is an image taken from Bam_Bam_2006 from deviantart. Using photoshop, I use the Magic Wand tool and extracted out the lady and pasted in a new file for the banner. Set gradient of the background as pale yellow and orange, and added in some textures and some effects.

And tadang..

My beauty blog is somehow ready now. Launching it soon. So, stay tune. Meanwhile, you can sign up my blog’s newsletter to receive an email notification whenever I blog. Click here to sign up.

Exams Update – edited 1 Sept

7 May: Sociology
Prelims – 28%
Before paper (my target) – >40%
After paper (my estimation) – >50%
I get: 45% (3rd class)

8 May: Statistics
Prelims – 72%
Before paper (my target) – >70%
After paper (my estimation) – >50%
After stats paper, my heart sank deep down. Limited time, difficult questions. I dont want to kiss goodbye to the A. Meaning, in order to get A, I need to get 90% and above. I already tried my prelim papers and exams paper for maths. But now, Im losing confidence.
I get: 57%(2nd lower)

12 May: Maths
Prelims – 53%
Before paper (my target) – > 70 90%
After paper (my estimation) – >70%
I get: 93% (1st class)

15 May: Econs
Prelims – 47%
Before paper (my target) – >37%
After paper (my estimation) – arghx.. i just need a pass..:oops:
I get: 38%(pass)

20 May: IBM
Prelims – 37%
Before paper (my target) – >40%
After paper (my estimation) – a pass will do
I get: 53%(2nd lower)

Maths plus stats = 75%
Top 2 modules (taking maths+stats with IBM) and then average: 64% (2nd upper)

First Class Honours 70 – 100
Upper Second Class Honours 60 – 69
Lower Second Class Honours 50 – 59
Third Class Honours 45 – 49
Pass 40 – 44
Fail 30 – 39
Bad Fail 0 – 29

For first class honours:
6.1.1 Four first class marks; or
6.1.2 Three first class marks and an aggregate mark which is near the ‘normal aggregate’ of 540.

For upper second class honours:
6.2.1 Four upper second marks (or above); or
6.2.2 Three upper second marks (or above) and an aggregate mark which is near the ‘normal aggregate’ of 480.

For lower second class honours:
6.3.1 Four lower second marks (or above); or
6.3.2 Three lower second marks (or above) and an aggregate mark which is near the ‘normal aggregate’ of 40

Mummy places this orchid on my table and said pink represents good human relations 有人缘,桃花缘.. aiyo..she’s damn cute.

Protected: Stuck at Junction, which way to go?

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A few more personality tests

Personality Test – The Real You

1. You’ve got great self-confidence and you’re full of charm. Most guys who get to know you will be attracted to you. You are far from sweet and proper; your intriguing personality fascinates them. Most guys find it easy to fall for a girl like you.
2. You really care about other people’s feelings and are quite serious about the issues that affect your life. You are sincere, and your concern for the well-being of others makes many people want to be your friend.
3. You are a bright, cheerful and bubbly person. You are thoughtful and considerate, and like to have fun. Everybody feels comfortable around you because of your pleasant nature. When you walk into a room, people’s eyes are likely to be drawn to you because of your charm.
4. Your peers think of you as a fun person, but sometimes you can be a little irresponsible. You can be somewhat childish, and can try to ignore the fact that you will one day need to really grow up and be a mature adult! Perhaps you could start reading good books; they might help you look at the world in a different light. You do want to be taken seriously, right?
5. Your boyfriend believes that you are a strong and independent person. Your confidence and cheerfulness make you an attractive person to be around, but sometimes you need to pay more attention to what other people, including your boyfriend, are thinking.

Jealousy Test

You are a jealous person but you try not to let it show.

You often get very jealous of others but you are successful at controlling your emotions publicly. When you feel that other people are winning things that you deserve, you get very upset, but you won’t hurt anybody else by making a scene. Your jealousy is private. You might, for example, cry yourself to sleep at night when you get really jealous of someone.

Your Hidden Talent

The Mass Communicator

You have a cheerful personality and you are a naturally kind person. Your hidden talent isn’t really that hidden at all: you shine among a crowd. You would make an ideal news announcer, flight attendant or model – any position that would give you an opportunity to deal with plenty of people. A tip for you is to avoid getting too deeply involved in others’ personal lives – otherwise you might find yourself constantly being asked for help.

A parcel received!

A day after my exams, I received this parcel on my table. It’s a instock spree that I’ve participated. The spree organiser (starry168 @livejournal) is really very organised. Look at the way she wrapped my facial masks, and luckily none of them broke. It came in as a registered mail.

Look at how thick it is..

She wrapped my facial masks with 4 sheets of A4 sized magazine paper.

and a big plastic bag to store everything..

and tadang.. the things I purchased.

Please dont say that I’m spending too much on this. Actually, the masks that I purchase from this organiser are cheaper than what other spree organiser had. They mark up a lot. But the price here is fairly reasonable. If you get any mask in the market, it costs $1.95(the cheapest).

Dainty Design Mask (丹堤) Series – $0.90/mask
4 x All In One Collagen Mask
2 x Lotus Mask
2 x Citronella Mask

Hokkaido Lover Mask (北海道戀人) Series -$1/mask
2 x Q10 Elastin Mask
2 x Anti-Oil + Purifying Mask
2 x L-Ascorbic Acid Whitening Mask
2 x Sakura Whitening Mask

Items Price = $0.90 X 8 + $1 X 8 = S$8 + $7.20 = $15.20

I’m investing my money on beauty products like facial masks. They are cheap and for good investment. Be pretty and be money-savvy. Please look forward to my reviews on this 7 different type of masks on my beauty blog.

Watsons Labour Day Sale

2 weeks ago, I went Watsons to check out the sale items they are having. If you do not know, Neutrogena has launched their new product – Neutrogena Wave Power Cleanser. I’ve decided to get one after seeing the beauty reviews people gave about this product. The Neutrogena Wave is a vibrating facial cleanser that will help exfoliate and open clogged pores on dead skin or oily skin. I will be writing in my review of this product soon at my beauty blog. Then I saw my daily facial product – Bio Essence Tanaka White Facial Foam on sale. It’s cheaper to get two and I would save $6+. Happily, I brought these products to the cashier. The cashier auntie was so nice. She told me that for every $50 dollar spent, I will get $10 off. It was a Labour Day Promotion. I was 10 bucks away from $50, so I went to grab some stuff. In the end, I got one patene shampoo for my family, and one $1.95 Watsons Lavendar Facial Mask.

Lavendar Facial Mask: S$1.95
Pantene Shampoo: S$10.90
Neutrogena Deep Cleansing Wave: S$24.90
Bio-Essence Gentle Cleansing Foam: S$19.60
TOTAL DAMAGE: $46.45 (after discount)

Are you Nosy?

Nosy Level: 70%

You may seem to be a nosy person to some people, but actually you are quite a serious person who’s not at all interested in gossip. You just like to know what’s going on around you. It’s a natural interest and you can get offended when people tell you they think you’re a sticky-beak.

My reflections on – Illustrations of Christian Victory: Winning in a Sports Game

We had gone through yesterday, about what it means to have true victory in Christ. Today, we will explore some illustrations that the Bible uses to depict victory.

Many of us play and enjoy sports. And those of us who do may have participated in some competition at one point or another. Some of us would have experienced victory in winning some game or tournament. It is certainly a wonderful feeling, after all the hard work put in to train and prepare. Coming back to today’s discussion, the Bible relates being victorious in Christ to winning in a sports game.

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. – 1 Cor 9:26

One of the games quoted in the Bible is boxing. In boxing, you score by striking your opponent. In the above verse, Paul uses boxing to illustrate Christian victory, that one does not beat the air aimlessly, but hits the opponent. This means that as we attempt to be victorious in Christ, there is real purpose and intent in our actions, like the boxer who throws the punch, to hit his opponent, to achieve a result. Are our lives filled with such purpose and intent as we go about ministering and living out a victorious Christian life?

Another game that was used before to illustrate victory would be wrestling. In the Bible, there was a real wrestling match that took place between Jacob and God.

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” – Gen 32:24-28

Wrestling is an intense sport and requires every part of our body. It is impossible to remain aloof and unentangled from the opponent. The opponent will seize every opportunity to regain his advantage. No, in order to win the wrestling match, one must involve his whole body in combat, and be constantly pushing oneself to be better than his opponent. Jacob was engaged fully with God in wrestling and did not give up until he got what he wanted from the Lord.

In the New Testament, wrestling is also described as struggling:

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. – Col 4:12

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. – Col 2:1

It is easy sometimes for the Christian to fall into complacency, into a lull, when he fails to realise that achieving victory as a Christian is like being in a wrestling match. When one becomes complacent, he lets his guard down and the enemy or opponent can quickly seize the chance to gain an advantage in our lives. The victory we had achieved moments earlier could turn out to be shortlived if we do not keep up the struggle. As we deal with an opponent (the devil and our own sinful nature) that never sleeps nor tires, we can only achieve victory in Christ by constantly being on guard, and constantly struggling to defeat our opponent, with God’s strength. (Do we have this mentality of “aiya..like this can already..”? When we get complacent of our own spiritual life, and stopped a certain spiritual level, Devil will try to do something. As we became more spiritually matured, Devil also becomes more powerful too. We grow, he grows. When we get smarter, Devil also gets smarter. Even if you dont see Devil now in this point of time, do you think that Devil has already disappeared? I think the answer is NO. Though we may not see him now, actually he is back to his military base to think of greater plans to make us fall.)

Finally achieving victory is also likened to running and finishing a race.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. – Acts 20:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. – 1 Cor 9:24-27

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Phi 3:13-14

Paul described winning for the Lord as finishing the race. It is worthy to note that in Paul’s illustration, winning is not about running faster than your fellow runners, but rather finishing the race. Furthermore, while anyone can start or run the race, Paul suggests that not everyone will or can finish the race.(what strikes me here is the word “running”. The word “running” to me means we are walking right beside God, that we are continually building up our spiritual life(not staying on the same spot), doing what God wants us to do. “Running” is kicking away our bad habits, and always continuously learn from Jesus and to be more like him, and not staying at the same spot, the same self when we said the sinner’s prayer.Our christian lives is like running a marathon.

At the start of the marathon, all of us are very enthusiastic, waiting to reach the finish line. This is like when we are young Christians, we are new to everything. We are eager to know more about Jesus, what He has done.

In the middle of the marathon, some of us feel tired. At this stage, we can see two groups of christians. There are some who persevered on despite the bad conditions of the road, the weather, and completed the race by crossing the finishing line.

But there are also some who chose to give up running and finish their race when they haven’t even reach the finish line . When they see the obstacles in front of them, they gave up. When Satan comes, they feared and raised their white flag immediately without fighting back.

All of us eventually will finish our race. But is the finishing line that you cross over is God’s, or our own finishing line? )

As a naturally competitive person, which most of us may be, the first point was particularly important to me. I used to think that my value and purpose is achieved in defeating the person next to me, my competitor. If I can do that, I would have ‘won’, achieved victory, gained respect. However this is not the case in the Christian context. Achieving victory in Christ does not mean defeating your fellow runner, but rather defeating yourself (sinful self) or anything or any authority (Satan, his schemes) who stands in the way between you and the finish line. It is to cross the finishing line well. It would be even better if we could help and inspire fellow runners to finish the race with us.

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. – Matt 10:22

Conclusion

All in all, when we say that achieving victory in Christ is akin to winning a sports game, we need to be fit to win. Like any good sportsmen, we need to train, condition our body, our muscles, to be able to win the game. Be it a race, a wrestling match or boxing, we need good spiritual muscles to sustain the fight and achieve victory. Let us train our spiritual muscles well to last the race, to win the fight.

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. – Hebrews 5:14

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. – Hebrews 12:10-12

Reflection points:

Is there purpose and intent in the things you are doing for Jesus now? How effective are they in ‘flooring’ the opponent?

Are you spiritually complacent? How does that usually happen?

My reflections on – True Victory in Christ

And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18)

Jesus spoke this to Peter and His words are very much alive till this day. The church was indeed built and established through the acts of apostles like Peter and Paul, after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. Jesus says that the gates of Hades shall not overcome the Church. This means that the Church is to enjoy victory over the works of Satan and his minions.

Are we experiencing victory in our lives? Can we say that we are living victoriously, as part of God’s Church, the Church that the gates of Hades will not overcome? Or for most parts, our lives are being overrun by the ‘gates of Hades’, meaning Satan’s plans are being achieved and fulfilled in our lives?

When things go our way, does it necessarily mean that we are experiencing victory in Christ? True victory in Christ? And when things do not go our way, does the contrary apply, meaning we are not experiencing victory in Christ?

These are samplings of the issues we will explore this coming camp, A Victorious Church. The following are a few pointers on what kind of victory would be the kind of victory that God wants to see in us.

1) A Victory that is of Value to God

The kind of victory that God wants us to have is one that is of value to Him. (A lot of us still struggle with how people think of us, who are we in their eyes. We based our victory on how people look at us, our achievements, the qualifications we have, the schools we came from, the school we’re in. But we’ve neglected to see this in God’s perspective that there is always a reason why I was from this secondary school, from this JC, from this university, in this caregroup. At first, I may not understand why all these things happened. But slowly, as time flies, God allow me to see why I’m here. If I’m not in this JC, I wouldnt have met great friends like sherlynn,claris and shirley. Who say we are CMI? We can also live victoriously. It is the willingness of our heart whether we want to follow God’s will a not. It’s whether we want to slack our three years here or make use of this 3 years fruitfully) Many people attempt to be successful in life, with varying results. It is inborn in us to want to achieve, to want to be successful. However, though we may succeed, not every of our achievements may be of value to God. We need to search the Word of God to discover what are of value to God, and seek to achieve these things. God says that the things that are of no value to Him will ultimately be burned away.

Take for example, the world values material wealth or status as a common benchmark for success. But wealth and status by themselves are things that are of no value to God.

Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil. – Prov 15:16

Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. – Ps 39:6

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. – Ecc 2:26a

Let us be wise to invest our lives in things that are of value to God.

2) A Victory that is Eternal

In the same light as the previous point about achieving victory that is of value to God, we should set about achieving victory that is eternal.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. – Mat 6:19-21

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. – 1Tim 6:17-19

The things that are of value to God, that are eternal, are sometimes things which are insignificant in the sight of the world, such as being good, being generous, taking care of God’s flock. (Gold and Jewellery, qualifications are significant in the sight of the world. It may seem eternal from the worldly view as all these are the benchmark on how society grade us. But, if we care a lot of the worldly view on us, we actually neglected the things that are of value to God, neglected what God sees is eternal for us. We come to this world empty-handed, with no money, no qualifications, no clothes, nothing. All that we have now is given to God. Eventually, all these will be taken back from us. ) However we know that this world will pass away one day, that the things of this world are but temporal. Let us choose to invest in eternal things that will last, that is in souls of men, that is in living a right life in the sight of God.

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. – 1 Pet 5:2-4

3) A Victory that is according to God’s Will.

“The good is the enemy of the better and the better is the enemy of the best.” This is an important saying that we can take note of. Having the kind of victory that God wants us to have is to go for God’s best, and not settle for second or third best. God’s best is what God’s Will is for us.

Having success alone is not a true measure of whether we are experiencing victory in Christ. It is to consider also whether it is what God wanted us to have. (the success we see in ourselves may not be what God sees. We can be considered as successful if what we are doing/ getting things that God want us to do, want us to get, and in accordance to His plan.) Many a times we are just happy with experiencing success, but we do not ponder if it is truly what God wants for us.

Jesus had a chance to experience success, all the riches and power and authority in the world. However He turned it down as it was not going to be achieved in God’s way.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. – Mat 4:8-10

It is easy to be deceived when we are successful, to think that we are victorious, that we are walking right in God. Sometimes we are so desperate to justify ourselves before God, by assuring ourselves with successes in our lives. We go after these things, but some of them are in actual fact short-term gains, or the second, third best that God has for us. We fail to consider God’s Will for our lives, His best.

Jesus in contrast took the hard and painful way to achieve true victory, not the easy way which was to quickly gain all the riches of this world. He chose to do what was God’s Will for Him.

Conclusion

When we go for what is eternal, lasting and valuable to God, we will sometimes receive scorn from other men, we will get deplored from men who do not understand God, His ways. However God teaches us to look not to the praises of men, as the Pharisees were prone to doing, but rather to the praises of God Himself. God also teaches that we should look forward to receiving heavenly reward from Him as well, as we continue to seek to do His Will. Hence let us learn and persevere to seek to achieve the real, true kind of victory that God wishes, that God wants us to have. Only then will we be the true victorious church of Christ.

Reflection point:

- How victorious in Christ do you think you are before reading this post? How victorious in Christ do you think you are now after reading this post?