I've been tagged!!

I have officially tagged with the following::

"The explosion of the blog world in the last year has led to countless quality blogs being started, but sometimes it is hard to find them amongst all the other blog muck. Because there are so many quality blogs out there, I though I would try to start a meme to send some eyeballs toward those unknown bloggers. So, share a blog you think more people should read, and then tag 5 others (who hopefully read your blog!) to do the same."

Like the blogger who tagged me, I'm going to go against the rules, but with a greater twist. I'm recommending 6bloggers and 8 blogs... Try beating that...

Jeff, at So I Go and So I Go Volume II , writes above his personal journey of learning to do as Jesus would. I get excited whenever I read his blog, because he's living and fulfilling my dream and getting really close to it too. Most of the time, I get choked up and lose my words... I imagine both of us sitting together for tea and having a conversation... only that he's doing all the talking, and I'll be taking down notes... Hmm, a recorder would be easier... I suggest that you read from chapter one... He has a lot of faith and I really salute him for that.

Virginia demonstrates how creative our God is through her blogs, Meet Virginia and 4535. I admire her because she understands what it means to be church and really goes out there and do it. You know how we miss the simpliest and most beautiful things in life? I don't think she has that problem... I can see her as an inspiration to many others around her. Maybe she'll inspire you too, to break out of the norm and honour God the way He created you to...

Lex pours out her heart over at My Scribbles. I think she has the ability to connect and identify with many people... Maybe because she's so honest and sincere with her feelings, I don't think she's in it for readership (if there is such a word). She has wisdom beyond her age too. I'm blessed by God's revelations to her and through her.

Then there's Curious Servant over at Job's Tale, exploring the life of Job... He has some really interesting going on there. I think of him as sometime who is strong yet humble. I also believe that he has personally experience the amazing power of prayer and we all can learn from that. If you're feeling disappointed with God and praying, you would probably want to talk to him.

Jenny, over at One Step at aTime, is more like my age. She is a young lady who seeks to please God with her life and in everything she does. She raises questions that I believe many teenage Christians seek answers to. She's brave and sincere. But what I really admire her for is her humility and willingness to learn from others. You rarely see that in a youth nowadays...

And finally, there's my dad, who happens to be my pastor and my mentor. He gives a lot of wisdom to balance up my energy. At OurGIG, he shares his journey of forming a community that is safe for people to be honest with their struggles and grow together with love and support of others. I love his vision and I hope he succeeds.

That's all folks. Gina, Lex, Curious Servant (i wish I have your real name), Jenny, and dad - you have been officially tagged.

Appreciating my team

Allyssa, willpower and determination are your strongest assets. It’s easy to put you in charge of a task when your heart is there. I believe that by developing disciples, teaching and investing in others, you will have a breakthrough you never thought possible. The journey won’t be easy, but God wants to make you whole, Allyssa. For you, I pray for freedom from fear.

Ken Chung, I’m always hard on you, I know. And I’m thankful that you can take all of it. You don’t know what you can do, my friend!! And God wants to show you, just be attentive and focused. Always hope for good, don’t let your soul be downcast. The joy of the Lord is your greatest source of strength. As much as you give, receive His joy. For you, I pray for favour and blessing.

Jacklyn, you achieve greatness whenever you have belief in yourself and in what you do. The gifts you possess are keys to many doors, so equip yourself well. Ask God for a vision, ask Him what you lack and desire for those things. Desire also to grow, because you know you can. I’m glad you are in the team, because I deem you a trustworthy friend. I pray that you will know and experience the security of His love.

Jason, you have a strong spirit. Your enthusiasm is infectious. People say you speak too much when you’re voicing your thoughts, but that’s just because one sentence from you is sufficient to convince a crowd. Your circle of influence is great, and so therefore is your responsibility. Humility and being teachable will take you a long way. And I’m glad you have that. Now work on it even more.

Li Fern, God has blessed you with a gentle spirit. You are approachable, a quality I’m learning to project. Your willingness to take instructions from a younger person amazes me. Your calmness and wisdom meet a great need of the team. Continue to equip yourself and grow, because you are destined for much more. Pray also for a breakthrough in your life. I’ll be praying along with you.

Joseph, Joseph, Joseph… I appreciate you, friend. You may not know it, but through you God has planted many good seeds in my heart. And I believe you have done the same for many others in the youth ministry. Like it or not, your every move affects the younger ones who look up to you. Step up to the mark, the call is on you now. It’s a privilege - so don’t lose it. There are many things I wish I could do as good as you. For you, I pray for a vision for your own life.

Rachael, you do so many things quietly in the background. So many times you go out the extra mile for the ones God placed in your heart. I pray that you will have revelations of His love every day. He has a tedious task for you, and He has indeed designed your heart for His purposes. He’s wants you to rely on His strength, though. Sometimes it’s hard to figure Him out and that gets frustrating, I know. But His faithfulness shines through, you’ll see. For you, I pray for healing and rest.

Jonathan, you know the things you are capable of. I think I have failed you in terms of giving you space to express your God-given gifts. Forgive me, I’m still figuring things out. Maybe you can help me… All I know, God wants to set you free, because He wants to use you greatly. For you, I pray for child-like faith – You can move mountains.

May, you’re my best friend. I thank God for your contribution into my well-being and the ministry. I can’t possible imagine the hurts and blows you take for me. This journey has made me a broken but stronger person, and I pray that it has had the same effect on you. God has many things installed for you. For you, I pray for hope.

Caleb, you are a pillar of strength, seriously. Your responses are excellent indeed. Everyone loves you!! I see greatness in you, and you are on the right track, my friend. Keep Jesus as your first love, that’s all you need to make sure of. For you, I pray for boldness and courage to speak out your heart.

Esther, you have a big heart. I see you now faithful with the small things, and that’s a good thing. I hear the dreams you have and don’t see what’s stopping you from being a planet shaker for Jesus. Just do it, girl!! Make some initiative, and I can envision you truly touching others under Christ’s hands. For you, I pray for faith.

Each one of you gives balance to the team, and you remind me that apart from being a youth leader, I’m suppose to be a youth. Your jokes (and elaborations of them) make it hard to be serious at the meeting table. But having loud meetings are so much better than quiet ones. There are times, though, when I wonder if I’m the only one awake there. Other times, I feel like the dumbest person in the room. Overall, it’s been fun working with each one of you…

Looking past everything else, there’s great potential in each one of you. And it’s my desire to see you fulfill your maximum. I pray that I’ll be an important contributor towards your journey. But even more so, I pray not to be the stumbling block. You make me want to be a better person, to reach for the sky, and to fulfill God’s purposes in my life.

Throughout this journey, I have experienced and learned a lot. My perspective on God’s love, life and people has changed. No doubt, there were some hurtful moments, but God was always in control. And He always will be. I am grateful for your partnership. You make every dream possible. I love all of you. And I love your love for our God, our Dream-giver.

My MP3 Player

On my 20th birthday my dad gave me an MP3 player. It was one of the coolest things I’ve received. Unfortunately, it took me a year to finally understand how to use my MP3 player… Yes, I’m an idiot. So sue me…

Walking out from college last night, I decided to put on the earphones and sing along with Joel Houston and Marty Sampson of Hillsong – United. Sure, there was the danger of worshipping my way straight to heaven as I walked through the busy (and sometimes deadly) traffic of Kuala Lumpur. But hey, I suppose that’s a small price to pay to be cool… Ni’h.

So I was this cool dude walking along the streets of KL town, right? With my laptop bag hanging on my shoulder and my jacket and all… it was as though I was making a music video, man!! Then I was worshipping God and singing “Tell the world that Jesus lives, tell the world… that He died for them”… Wo, could you imagine me being more “saint”?

Then He interrupted me, ruin my groove (He’s so annoyingly creative this dude!!). He had me looking at the guy sitting at the roadside… He had a cigarette in his hand, and hopelessness in his eyes. He was probably homeless. I slowed down for a moment, but I continued on my journey to the train station. Nevertheless, He had me…

Sometimes we Christians tend to be so heavenly minded that we don’t have any earthly value. We get so caught up with new songs, great seminars, and better programmes for the church community… We want so much to create heaven here on earth, we long for home. But we forgot that we have a task to do here on earth. We, like me, probably like to stuff our ears with our earphones and ignore everything that’s crying out for our intervention.

I began to reflect upon the dreams that He have given me and the calling He has placed upon my generation… I think about the script I’m writing for this awesome Dream-Giver… I imagine how many lives will be touched and changed by it… Then I wonder if the hopeless and homeless man would be impressed by it. I seriously doubt it…

Lord, I thank you for the promise of heaven and the dreams you entrusted me to fulfill here on earth. Please help me to be useful and practical here on earth, that Your heavenly purposes may be fulfilled. Use me as Your hands and feet, that Your will be done here on earth, as it is in heaven. If you can use anything, Lord, you can use me… Teach me to be of earthly value too.

Beautiful Malaysia

There's this feeling

The Sunday before last's Jacklyn and I led worship for our church service. After the service there was a worship team meeting, and we received many good feedback. It was funny, though... As they were talking I was reflecting upon what we did on stage that morning. Was it that good? Did it require that much skill? Were we that good? Because I wasn't leading worship that morning, I was being led...

A prophet once told me that God is wiling to shine His glory upon me because He knows that I won't take credit for it, and that I'll reflect all the praises back to Him... Looking back, I feel that God was dealing with me the same way He dealt with Gideon. You know, the way God called a coward a mighty man of valor... I don't know how far I have run with this God-given dream of mine, I could be a million miles away from fulfilling His calling upon my life. But His favour, His trust towards me, His love, His presence, His grace - all so ever close...

Looking forward, I'll be worship leading again on the first Sunday of October. And there's this feeling... A fear. Not a fear of others expectation, though. It's the feeling of confusion, of what-shall-I-do-next... It's as though as I have reached the end of myself... I can't do it anymore. I can't lead the people - not to where they were on that Sunday morning. And I think of it as a blessing...

Matthew 5:3 "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." (The Message)

A fresh start

After 7 hours of waiting, my laptop is finally back - up and running. You see, I encountered a blue screen today. For those you don't know - when you get a blue screen, it means that your PC is in big trouble. Your hard disc could be down, or a virus has invaded into your PC... Whatever the cause, your PC is basically useless until you reinstall the Operating System... As for me, I had to wait for my colleague's external CD-ROM in order to initiate the recovery process. So in the office today, I was basically useless...

So, what caused my laptop to cease to perform as it's suppose to? Well, I didn't follow an instruction my colleague told me to "get Windows update every now and then, it's the company's practice". Sounds simple enough, right? I messed that up. If I had done so, my laptop and I wouldn't have had a day like this. Thankfully, today I didn't lose anything important, considering that they are mostly retrivable from the company server.

It sure does serve as a hard reminder, though. When I'm not constantly connected to the Dream-giver, leaning on my own strength and trusting my own intellect, there would come a regretful day where everything is gone and I wish that I had followed a simple instruction. It would also be a day reflecting and pondering on what it would be like and how much better I would have perform if I only I had...

So now as I am typing on a renewed keyboard, operating on a fresh O/S, in my heart there is some sort of desire and determination, to hide in that secret place and set my eyes and heart on the Words of Life... It's time to see my reflection on that mirror full of truth and grace once again...

He always does that

God has been so kind… too kind in my opinion, but I don’t mind… I need His kindness. I need His grace.

Somehow He loves us so much. He just does… My faith is firmly dependant on this mysterious fact. Every gift, every talent, every opportunity, every situation is a God-given chance for us to store up treasures in heaven. It’s as though He’s saying, “Here, take this. Use it the way I ask of you, and you’ll have a reward.” He wants to give us life here on earth as well as rewards in heaven.

As I was sitting by the opened window of a fast-moving bus last night, His wind just swept over me. I felt His presence, His anointing… I don’t know what I have done to deserve it, but He just began to pour out into my soul. Once again the Dream-Giver gave me a dream, a vision of hope. He always does that. He never fails to trust, to give, to love, to hope… His mercy endures forever. I don’t deserve it, I don’t understand it… but I definitely want it.

Such an enduring friend I have… Amazing…