ragsjournal

What I Believe Expressed In The Apostle's Creed

2011-10-27T15:36:00.007+08:00

The past 2 weeks have been about pondering, discussing and digesting issues about translations, preaching, doctrines and practices and that inevitably leads to people who are particular about precision, chronology and other debatable issues. While all these are insightful opportunities to grow and develop as a minister, I will not forget to return to a simple belief of a God who loves me enough to die for me.

Reading parts of "Orthodoxy" by G.K.Chesterton again this morning and remember Rich's song based on the Apostle's Creed. He sings a truth that affects us all as believers "I believe what I believe that makes me what I am. I did not make it but He is making me". Yes, we could never make it in our faith but it is He who is the one making us. So to have religion without the indwelling Christ, the Word without the Spirit and hearing of His voice without the Spirit's conviction to do what it says.. is futile and not worth pursuing.

So often I'm challenged to the authenticity of my personal belief because it inevitably affects how my life turns out. That in turn affects my family and those people closed to me. Haven't all of us taken some stuff away and added some into our belief that resulted in a more complicated and less than great Christ empowered life?

I'm a modern man and having a life purpose of passing down our legacy to the next generation, I will stand for progress and doing ministry that bring relevance to people of today's culture. However the legacy I wish to pass down isn't a legacy of progress, tradition or complication, but just of simple truth and that lived out. I will not leave things that leads to structures and rules, the declination of honor and other stuff that is unprofitable for everyone.

Only a small percentage of people will be theologians and people with deep understanding to engage in religious debates. The rest are just people needing God's grace and a loving hand of guidance. People may call me a simpleton but its the simple theological doctrine as expressed in the Apostle Creed that got me to love & follow God when I accepted Him in a Chinese Christian Church 20+ years ago in Perth. And it'll be based on these simple theological belief that I will live my life and lead the ministry.

The Apostle's Creed expresses the essence of my belief. It's pure vanilla but powerful enough to transform my life and those whom I have the privilege to serve with. I'll probably go for toppings, later and sparingly.

Apostle's Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried:
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The Holy Catholic Church;
The Communion of Saints;
The Forgiveness of sins;
The Resurrection of the body,
And the Life everlasting.
Amen.

I always remember 2 ragammufin fact...

To always keep myself humble. And I will always recall Rich's illustration that God used donkeys in the past and has been using donkeys every since and we ought not to think too highly of ourselves when God decides to use us.

Another fact is that people has always been using the bible through the centuries to proof that he/she is right and others wrong when actually God is really using the bible to proof that He is right and everyone of us is merely guessing. I want to know what to avoid and what to devote my life to.

Hold Me Jesus - Rich Mullins

2011-10-17T21:54:00.001+08:00

Forgotten how ministering this song by Rich is. Just listened to it again and am reminded that once a ragamuffin, always a ragamuffin. Maybe a good time to dig out my copy of Rich Mullin's biography and Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel.

Often God brings you to encounter stuff that resonate with who you are and inspires you towards what you are to do on earth and it will always provide an enduring source of inspiration in the course of life. God has great sense of wonder and pours it out into this side of life for us.

New purpose for Ragsstudio.com

2011-09-22T00:28:00.000+08:00

After months (or is it years) of toying with ideas how to get Ragsstudio.com up again after it crashed out a few months/years ago, I have finally found a new purpose for Ragsstudio.com. It'll just be space for Work, Pray & Play, inspired by the Franciscan order's motto of work and pray with the added 'play',

I just want to be faithful with what's been given to me so that I can bless the world. Who doesn't actually? Just that I want to act on it. The vision of me doing something with my 'creative hands' hasn't come to pass but I figure I should do something. Anything. This is what will make me happy. It's crazy, but its fun and I believe in just doing things for fun because more work gets done with fun than without it. And we do take ourselves too seriously sometimes, we worry about too many things... so just want to cut the crap of serious things.

So the new purpose of Ragsstudio.com is pretty counter cultural. It's an anti-website, its anti-getting. I just want to give and do something that really help people. I hope it can. Maybe it can't. It doesn't matter. As long as its work and I can express myself and its fun.

Let's keep doing it. I commit it to God to allow me to have fun and help. Visit Ragsstudio.com

Work, Pray + Play

2011-09-20T11:14:00.000+08:00

I found an old graphic. It states one of my life motto

Work = We are created for such a thing.
Play = That's how work should be.
Pray = Fuels the work and brings it to a place call 'triumph'

I'm using it in for my Facebook & Google plus accounts

Downloaded 2 audiobooks

2011-09-20T10:58:00.001+08:00

Book 1: Francis Chan's Forgotten God. I am embarassed to say that I have never read a Francis Chan book. Now I've repented and downloaded this baby. Francis Chan is Asian American and he pastors a huge church but still goes radically small to connect each person back to God. I like everything about him, even his hairstyle (or the lack of it), especially love his love for God.

Book 2: Derek Sivers' 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Enterprenuer. Derek Sivers is authentic, he's anti-ordinary and most importantly he cares. He personally replied my question about children's ministry. He is not in children's ministry but I asked anyway... And he replied anyway.

Classic Rock Vinyls

2011-08-27T10:42:00.002+08:00

Got these 2 classic rock LPs

They are second hand vinyls and love playing them on my old Pioneer turntable because it reminds me a lot of my childhood listening to music. It gives me the warm fuzzy feeling.

This morning was spent with the family. Mei Si cooked breakfast, I was helping Chern Han with his fingerpainting homework and Mag with May Ann's PSLE preparation.

Everything we do now for them becomes memories for them in the future. It is wise to invest in good warm fuzzy memories

Stress the Teacher

2011-08-04T00:30:00.003+08:00

Stress is a funny thing. You can't do anything with it except to get rid of it. And when you do de-stress, you may as well learn about what causes it in the first place.

Stress is just the right time to learn what causes it and do things better next time.

God loves people so much

2011-07-27T14:17:00.003+08:00

"God loves people so much!"

We cannot not fully understand what that statement means....

Maybe we can if we were there on that day in Calvary where Jesus hung on the cross. Even then, probably not, as people thought he was a lunatic, a criminal and someone less.

Maybe we can understand if we were there to see the empty tomb. Hmmm... even then, perhaps as there were so few who did and even if we were that few, we would have dismissed it and not know the significance of it

Maybe we can when we were there during the Pentecost to experience the power from on high. ... But on second thought, perhaps not, as I could have taken it as just a spiritual experience but be unfaithful to it as nothing is felt after that.

OK ... now maybe the best way to understand it is not to be where it has happened in history. Maybe the best place and time to is in the present, in the now!

With the bible his Holy word in our hand and the move of His Spirit in the church we belong to. Maybe now is the best time to understand and experience "God loves people so much". We are the church of God today with his complete power and authority!

Life span of old ideas

2011-07-26T15:12:00.006+08:00

Had a old pair of slippers. 4 years old. Bought a new pair a few months back. Thought it to be a good replacement for the old pair. Didn't like it so switched back to using the old pair until last night, the strap snapped and it tore. Now I am forced to use the new pair with the old pair cast aside. I have no choice but to embrace the new.

Concidentally, last night my Mac Mini died as well. Sad but its true. Old things have a life span. Old ideas too.

If we hold on to old ideas too long, it'll do what it has to do, go. And when it happens, will our passion gets pull down to death with it?

Get used to letting go so we can keep both the contribution of the old while embracing the new. It's wise to be open to new ideas, strategies and methodologies as we grow. Its uneasy, I know.

But don't worry, its fine. Just never ever let go of the One who knows how to make all things new.

I don't like to be a leader

2011-07-24T17:32:00.006+08:00

I like leading but I don't like being a leader.

It works better for me if leadership is not a title. But in reality it is a title. It has its good and bad. Good that it gains instant respect. Bad in that it attracts holy expectations.

On hindsight, the good of instant respect isn't good as it gains it from people who really don't know you. That's disillusionment on the part of people willing to put you on a pedestal one day but then pushes you into a pit another.

The bad of attracting religious expectations isn't really bad either as it instantly tells you the area to grow as well as who you are to please and who you just can't. It helps to see those willing to grow with you and those who just wants you to get it together.

But regardless whether we are leaders or not, every Christian's call is to grow to be a better leader. My challenge is to grow to one of greater capacity. A ministry that is growing without the person is dangerous. Ministry becomes monsters when people are not embracing the needed change.

Lately, I have the rare experience of being in a phase where I don't know what to do anymore. Problems mount up, challenges escalate. Questions of if the vision is even possible mounts up. I have questioned if growing is worth it. But everytime my old self brings up that question, the new self challenges me with another; If fear and staying scared is worth the price of not growing? It is true that if we don't do what God has called us to do, we'll always be scared.

Bigger really means a bigger heart, mind and spirit to care. At the end of the day it isn't about how big is the size of our church, it's about how big is the size of our care.

Every area of every department needs to grow, the self, the people, the structure and the capacity to balance people and structure through listening to God. Without people, the structure falls. Without structure, people falls. This isn't a game. Its real connection and relationship with Him we co-labor with. If that involves a title, then let it be.

People will look at a title but God looks at our function and heart. If what is in the heart is good enough for God. It should be good enough for me. I like leading and I'm a leader in Him though I will never like being a leader.

The last 13 and 3 years

2011-07-23T22:17:00.004+08:00

Yes we did it! we celebrated our 13th anniversary recently. I don't take my marriage with Mag for granted. I’m grateful for how long we’ve been at it especially when Mag and I did our PE - Prepare/Enrich marriage assessment and the conclusion was we are a conflicted couple (that means of 5 levels, the first being harmonious and 5 being 'cannot make it', we are at 4 - conflicted). Can't believe it but the Lord's grace is sufficient for us.

Incidently I'm back to using Ragsjournal for my personal blog, leaving Ragsstudio as a site for the Lord's work and calling in my life. I've assigned hthiew.com as the domain to this site. It has been a great 3 plus years since I announced moving to Ragsstudio.com where God has lead me through great successes and setbacks, victories and trials. I've learned so much especially every ups having its downs and every downs, its ups.

I conclude for these 3 years .. "If God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), there's always a better way. Perseverance is a virtue but perseverance by doing things differently may be the God thing for you"

Ultimately the Spirit is in control.

I continue my journey of my journey so far, maybe moving back to the roots. I hope to share more intimately here. All leadership, ministry and activistic stuff will be over at Ragsstudio.com.

What Kind of Parent?

2011-03-01T15:38:00.000+08:00

It's the kids exams time. Doing revision with them and realize it's so hard to it properly. Either the syllabus gets too tough for me to get it or I get it so much that I get angry they can't. It's times like this that I think that being a Christian parent with patience and gentleness built in is so so difficult.

Having the break in between to reflect is a life saver. As I was in one of those breaks, I keep thinking of what is going to motivate me to last in these sessions. I think its easier to be the best me than to be a good Christian parent.

A good Christian parent has standards which are hard to achieve. The best me has another type of standard which is that I become better and better.

Are we called to be the standard good parent or are we called to be the best that we can be. What impacts a child isn't going to be a frustrated parent with high moral standard and a weary pursue to achieve it but a parent who's realistic, humble and with a character to be always improving everyday.

I don't need to be a perfect or ideal parent because other than God, there's no such person. I just need to be a passionate and purposeful one.

Where birds can perch

2010-12-18T18:07:00.004+08:00

We moved to a new home we had spent months selecting. We liked this one because i'm a sucker for nature. Next to the dinning hall is a big tree 6 storey tall (which is the level our home is). I like it also because it reminds me of Mark 4:31-32 which describes what the Kingdom of God is like....

"It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

To complement that, in our recent trip to Vietnam we bought an oil painting of 3 nice houses beneath the shade of a big tree to be displayed in middle of our living room.

We are very proud and happy of the real tree and the fake one we own in our home.

Last month, 3 days before our Marriage Enrichment Redline Conference I was completely stressed out. It was the very first time running a conference with the team and I couldn't sleep 2 nights in a row having butterflies, pins and doubts if the conference will serve our people.

On the 2nd morning of that sleepless nights, I woke up feeling like drowsy and tired. During breakfast, I sat down on my dinning table with coffee and toast, when my son sitting next to me shouted excitedly "Daddy, look!". He pointed towards the tree outside the window. For the 6 months we have been living in this new home, we have never seen birds. When I looked out I saw, a kind of yellow bird flying around and landing on a branch. Next to it was another one. Couples perhaps. Wow! It wasn't one but two perching n the branches, happy and joyful like enriched couples enjoying the shade and providence of the tree.

I knew instantly it was God encouraging me. I left home for work that day with great inspiration and I believe if we build right in Family Life Ministry, we will provide shade and help for countless couples and families to come. We need to thank God for signs and rainbows, sadness and joy, and many other countless things that he uses to show us along the way.

In the journey with God, see carefully and enjoy the ride!

Taking the day off

2008-10-13T11:36:00.007+08:00

Taking the day off, really had to do it. I sms my boss "I sense some 'tiredness', taking leave today. Want to do some spiritual and emotional stocktake to charge for the week". She replied that October may be the month that I'm more tired. She recalled it was also about this time last year that I was showing signs of burn out.

Read John 14:1-4

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, i will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

The message God gave to me is not be let my hearts be troubled but to trust God.

If its concern about rooms, then there is no need to because the booking has been made for that future 'travel'. Right after, I listened to Burlap to Cashmere singing the chorus to their hit "Stored up, treasures in heaven". I'm adamant to invest in heavenly treasures ... yes, something like, a better looking place, maybe instead of sharing, to have my own room. Maybe with nice interior and a great view of the river. The river of life.

A strong spiritual life is a non negotiable. Everytime I think I can do something for God, I'm taken back by the fact that God wants to do something for me. After a while I notice that the something, is really a strong and blessed spiritual life. I can't fathom it or understand the ways of God sometimes. Maybe because sometimes a spiritual life to be enjoyed, and not be understood.

I want today to be fruitful and yet there's a nudging in my heart to let it be enjoyable because sometimes during rest, such industry is not necessary.

I have moved...

2007-04-22T01:25:00.000+08:00

It'll be sad to leave ragsjournal but the new has come. In my exploration of wordpress and knowing things will and have to change, I've decided to jump over. Hope to see you in my new website.

www.ragsstudio.com

I'll no longer update this one.

Can't think of a title for this

2007-04-15T18:34:00.000+08:00

Thinking that I haven't been spending enough time with my family, I decided to take them to the Singapore zoo even though I was experiencing some pain in the stomach. When we reached there, we rejoined Friends of the Zoo after 4 months. By then my pain has reached unbearable condition that I couldn't go on. So Mag brought the kids in while I stayed in the car to rest (unfortunately couldn't rest very successful). An hour later at dinner time, I could barely walk to KFC to join the family. Then a friend called if I want to go out to watch soccer together. I gave him the I'm-in-pain-how-could-I tone. He understood. It was terrible.

When I reached home, i had developed a high fever which i knew I had to do something because the next day I'm to share God's word to the children. So I messaged my team members for prayers which they always obliged. The nextday (which is today) I woke up at 5am in a renewed state without stomach pain nor fever. I could feel a bit of a hangover but could rehearse my message and then at 10am preached one of the best I've ever preached. God is amazingly good.

Today, we also had some visitors to our children church. One of them from our church in Kuching. I realise I have so much to say about children's ministry that I speak faster (and more) than my mouth can say them. I was excited on an exciting day. I'm dead tired now and I think I am going to sleep like a baby tonight. It makes a difference with God on our side.

Knowledge of the plank

2007-04-14T07:37:00.000+08:00

Mag went for some course with Hope Centre this week. One of the course work requirement is that she has to do something weird in a crowded public place. She chose to walk backwards in crowded Eunos MRT last Wednesday. I was there to see it. It was really funny. The course is on cognitive behaviour therapy and its finally over after one whole week and her funny walk. It was a hectic week for her.

She's out exercising this morning and she had her course folder with her. She told me last night she needed therapy on herself. She wanted to use it to fix certain things about herself before she uses it on others.

As she's exercising and doing these stuff, I'm here reading the words of Jesus again. He talked about why do we look at the speck of sawdust on our brother's eyes and pay no attention to the plank in our own eye? He advised to first take the plank out of our own eye and then we will see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye. How ironic.

Yes, we do like to do therapy to almost everyone we meet. We judge others and sometimes think about how to fix them. The truth is that there's always a big plank in our own. When we have a big plank we do not seeing clearly ourselves and the people around us. What is important is the knowledge of the plank.

The second thing I learned from the word of Jesus was about fasting. He said when we fast we should not disfigure our faces to show men we are fasting but to put oil on our head and wash our face so that its not obvious to men but only to God our Father what we do. Things done in secret will be rewarded.

We do what impresses and look good on the outside. Often we miss what is really important. The important thing is the knowledge of the plank. Ourselves! We need to fix us! We need what is important and that is really a true vital relationship with God, our heavenly father who loves us so much and longs for us. We need some self therapy ... and before that, we ought not to even think about using therapy on others.

I believe knowledge or awareness leads to decisions and decisions to change. We need good awareness followed by good actions and then enjoy the change.

At Pasir Ris Beach

2007-04-08T22:20:00.000+08:00

I lied down on the beach at Pasir Ris after a long Sunday. I looked towards the sea and wondered what's life like in the sea. I mean if I'm not living on land and like sea villagers works and travels in the sea. With all things revolving around the sea, wouldn't that be a big impact on me and how I do things. Wouldn't that change my mind about how things are done. Wouldn't church be so different.

Thoughts like that helps me retain the fundamental of what being a Christian mean. There may not be church decoration, there may not be church blogs, they may not shake much hands of those who comes to church for they may fall into the water trying. They may not jump so much during praise and worship for they may also risk falling again. Preaching may be different as visuals may not be through power point. Stage lightings will be different. They may not even be a stage.. I don't know.

Love will remain the same. Praying, caring, fellowship and reading of God's word will still be the same. Visitation will still be done on boats and discipleship without a doubt. The love of God and for one another and all these fundamentals are what will make the biggest difference as a Christian whether it is on sea or land. I really like it when a trip to the beach refreshes me to what counts in our life. Think regularly and reflect deeply. It helps, especially after a long Easter Sunday. I feel like having my life lived on sea the whole of this week and I'll be trying to do just that. Hope I will survive the journey to keep you updated.

Happy Easter for the remaining hour of the day and remember Jesus is alive!

How I Watch Soccer

2007-03-31T23:42:00.000+08:00

I don't have sports cable TV. Everytime my favourite soccer team Manchester United plays, I would log into the internet, go to www.livescore.com and watch this screen.

When I started watching tonight at 50th minute it was

Manchester Utd 0-1 Blackburn

Then on the 60th minute it turned to

Manchester Utd 1-1 Blackburn

Then soon on the 70th minute it was

Manchester Utd 2-1 Blackburn

After that on 80th

Manchester Utd 3-1 Blackburn

I don't think I need to watch anymore. I'll just retire for I have a long day tomorrow in children's church. We are launching our bus routes tomorrow to faciliate kids from all corners of Singapore come to church. Our outreach teams just gave the confirmation of 12 kids on our transportation route tomorrow. Wow, that's perhaps the biggest visitor attendance on any normal Sunday (excluding Special Sundays) in HopeKids ever. Also we have someone came forward to donated the entire costs of chartering a bus in one of our bus route every week for the whole year. We are glad on the ministry front we are winning as well.

With goals and wins like these, it doesn't really matter how I watch soccer. It's thrilling to the bone. Honor and tribute to those who work tirelessly, those who pray fervently and God who grants sleep to those He loves.

Goodnight!

I was at a healing conference yesterday

2007-03-30T10:57:00.000+08:00

God is concern about His people more than about the environment. He has the hots for people's character greater than comfort.

I was at a healing conference yesterday. Many came, many were touched and many healed. One thing I notice when God speaks to his people. It is always encouragement to keep praying, to seek His Kingdom first, to keep trusting God for healing and for life and things along the line of persevering in good. It is seldom or almost never.. give up and try this other way, or go to another church you'll do better there, confront your debtor or change that guy in the corner, or try this other ministry or buy that stylish new stereo.

Brennan Manning onced said that trusting God is more important than loving Him. What love are we capable of anyway. Perhaps trusting Him is loving Him, perhaps that's all we need for a great life. A new stereo or a new church is not wrong, it's just something else. I'm not sure but to me that's shopping.

What do we do with our fears?

2007-03-22T09:13:00.000+08:00

This week is by far one of the toughest week in 2007. I'll spare you the details for if not, you'll not be edified. I'm confronted with what do I do with my fears. My greatest fears that is!

From experience here is the best thing to do! "Run towards our greatest fears" ... Not move, not walk but run...

The deal is this...
1) We can just not do anything about it. But then, it'll linger and never go away. What will become of our days? It'll be living in constant fear. The sad thing is that we can get used to it and be subdued all the days of our weeks, months and years.

2) We can run away from it! Yes maybe the change our environment will help. I thought so too but I realise fear follow you. Only that it'll change form just like a mighty mutant monster. It'll still be 'fear' but I'm afraid it gets stronger than before.

3) Our only choice is to run towards it. Confront it and here what I think we'll find. Most of these fears are unfounded and its not that bad after all. Why run and not walk. The reason is because you think too much when you walk. When we run towards fear, that's when it starts to run away from us.

Some hints to help: Don't run towards fear in our weakest state. Not when you are sleepy in the afternoon or tired at night. Run towards it when you are strongest which I would suggest to start your day early and confront your greatest fear as top priority. That's the most important task for you. Pray and let the Lord be with you. If you overcome our greatest fear in the morning every single day, it'll give us the victory and confidence for the rest of the day. Keep doing that you'll develop courage.

Run towards your greatest fear and shine. Don't fear fear. Strong and courageous living is God's prescription. I suggest to do this not because its a cool idea. So far to me it's the only way to live. I don't see any other way.

Upkeep our life

2007-03-18T17:28:00.000+08:00

Our broadband connection was down for 2 days, the tank was algae infested and the house was messy again after a wild water colour painting session yesterday. Nothing that is worth upkeeping upkeeps itself. I learned that a little bit everyday makes a lot of difference but sometimes when we couldn't do so, then a one time big effort can make a world of change.

I get daunted by efforts to run away, to lie, to pretend, to hide, to not be caught, to not be true to one's calling. I get tired knowing such efforts not only doesn't get us where we are to be but keeps us drawn from places to places with such urgency we are clueless about. And when we get there, realise that it's not it, everytime. Nothing that is worth doing works itself out without effort. We have to believe that and get accustomed to little but regular effort (and occasional big ones when necessary) Once we get the hang of it, we'll find these efforts no matter how small it is, grant us also little victories we need for a consistent great life!

Upkeep areas in our life and personal leadership that needs upkeeping. I'm glad to be online again after working out several phone calls. The fishes loved me for the sparkling clean up this afternoon and the house ain't looking too bad too. There's so much more we can do.

God Is Willing!

2007-03-11T07:10:00.000+08:00

That guy who has leprosy came and knelt before Jesus and said "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean". Jesus reached out his ahnd and touched the man " I am willing" he said. "Be clean" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

We sometimes do not ask good things for ourselves because we are afraid that He is not willing. Most often these so called good things are material things which add on to us.. such as a winning lottery number, a new job, some things we see in Orchard road, a new boss, a new wife..etc (and hence burden us which is not necessary the will of God). God's answer is then either 'yes', 'no' or 'wait' depending on what's good for us. Because we don't know his big plan, these things are worth asking for like a child would to his/her father. However we should be confident to ask for another group of things. These are things to be removed from us so to make us purer. Diseases, habits and limiting thoughts. Such things that when taken away help us be better and more effective human beings. Such things if you ask if God is willing, I have very little doubt that Jesus won't gladly answer and say to us "I am willing".

Going to church in half an hours time and I'm asking God to take away doubt and disbelief. To take away cynicism and pessimism. To take away impurities and stray thoughts to restore love and faith that is inbuilt in me. I have a feeling that its going to be a good good Sunday.

Helping Others

2007-03-09T08:46:00.000+08:00

I read from John Maxwell's book 25 Ways To Win With People and I found this chinese proverb which says

If you want happiness for an hour - take a nap
If you want happiness for a day - go fishing
If you want happiness for a month - get married
If you want happiness for a year - inherit a fortune
If you want happiness for a lifetime - help others.

Last week Mag smsed me this message: "Hi, just went to the dentist. He extracted my wisdom tooth finally. Now I feel a bit bodoh". Bodoh is Malay for stupid.

Helping others? Yes I thought its now a good chance to exercise help. ... But I learned very fast that "helping others" is an act of humility rather than pride. I'll spare you the details, but it is always good ending when we gain a lesson.

This morning I reflected on everything I'm doing again. I look at my life purpose. I check on my debt of love. I stocktake my everyday living (and dying). I asked the Lord for why does the road towards good always hard. The Lord gave me an impression. If we want to reach the peak of a mountain, the direction is always upward. If life's too easy, it's probably because we ain't doing much.

To aim for the mountain top, we walk, we run, we rest, we work and we enjoy the journey. By God's mercy our effort brings us a bit higher everyday. We have to remember while we may progress in work and effort but we only shine by helping others along the way.

A Motorola V3 Red Edition Surprise

2007-03-08T13:46:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I was caught with a meeting to coordinate and a handphone that died early in the day. So I went around the office asking for a Motorola phone charger and to my surprise not many cool people uses a Moto phone. When I asked Elaine the sister from Missions if she has one, she replied no. Before I walked away, she managed to ask further why I needed one. I told her my battery is dead and I needed to use my handphone urgently that day. She listened and thought for a while and then took out from inside her drawer a new handphone and said "use this, its a spare". I was thrilled that it was a nice Motorola V3 Red Edition, fully charged. Not only I got a working handphone, I've got a cool looking one too. I feel like David Beckham even if its only for a day.

On the same day I was at a CD shop. Being a big fan of local folks doing well world class stuff in the world arena I went to the counter to ask the assistant if they have local croner Jacintha's Autumn Leave live album?"....He gave me a quick reply "Oh, no, we don't". He was wide eyed as if shocked by my question. I looked at him expecting a follow through remark along the lines of ..." we don't but I know where you may be able to get it......" or "... we don't have, but we can order it for you ", or even "...oh we ran out but the new shipment is coming next week" .... Instead he just looked down and continued his work behind the counter. I was left hanging there, wondering... I was made to feel silly about going to a CD shop to look for a CD.

We can add value to people who come to us with questions. We may not have what is requested but we can be helpful and provide more than what's expected. It's about being thoughtful and about adding value to people. It's about shinning and making a difference. I truly learn this lesson yesterday.