Belief

There was once a boy who had a bad past,
Because of which, he hurt himself,
And this troubled his father,

So he went to see a doctor and begged,
"Please, if you can, heal my son."

"If I can??"

The specialist, clearly irritated, replied:
"Sir, what DO you believe is possible?"

Immediately the boy's father exclaimed,

"I DO believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" - Mark 6:24

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Belief.
Its a word has been constantly in and out of my head.
Come to think of it, it maybe from God...

So much comes out of how much one believes in himself.
and it brings confidence, or otherwise
and hope, or fear.

its like, a total doubtless acceptance that something is true. Conviction.
The web defines it as: any cognitive content held as true
What you believe structures your thoughts and actions, attitudes and motivations.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

Belief, or Epistemology (lol, pronounced: A-'Piss-Them-All'-ogy... the scientific study of knowledge and belief),

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John Mayer also wrote about Belief in the album, 'Continuum',

Amidst the riffs, he sings:

"Belief is a beautiful armor

But makes for the heaviest sword

Like punching under water
You never can hit who you're trying for

We're never gonna win the world

We're never gonna stop the war

We're never gonna beat this

If belief is what we're fighting for"

Nice song, if you're into blues, listen to it...
A little morbid on the lyrics though.

He explains, later, that he thinks that it is futile to replace someones belief with another. "The only way that anybody can change a belief is internally."

True. Circumstances like accidents, inter-religious debates, and abuse have been known to dramatically change what a person believes in.

"Everyone believes...

From emptiness to everything"

Gavin DeGraw also has a song with the same title, giving belief a more protagonist-ic approach.

dedicated his to tsunami victims.

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I find it hard to believe in myself. Lack of confidence, maybe. But its been always easier when someones believing in me instead. maybe its reassuring...

Ah, its just decisions that i've got to make. I seem to be going in circles, its fun... Till the nausea hits. One minute its like, "screw the world, this is what i want", next, "wait, is this really going to work?". But hell, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger, right? So bring on the nausea...

Lets talk bout Allah...

Oh, please don't throw a Molotov cocktail and incinerate my blog... smirk...

Everyone (assumably) knows bout the church burnings/vandalism that's been going on around here... but for the ignorant, thus ends your bliss ;)

As of today, (Disclaimer: only as far as I've heard...) 8 churches have been burnt via homemade Molotov cocktails, a number of pastor's cars splashed with black/red paint, and rumors of people breaking into cars with signs of Christianity are spreading. Cause? A Catholic published an article and called his God, 'Allah'. Naturally, there are people of another faith who would feel offended. It was brought to court, which in turn ruled in the publisher's favour. Even more disappointment.. mhmm...

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Technically, the Arabic word 'Allah' and the Hebrew name for their God 'Aleim' (whom we now popularly spell 'Elohim') came from the same root Semitic word, 'Al'/'El'. So Islamic authorities cant actually claim the word 'Allah' to represent the Islamic God. That, adding to the fact that Allah is defined as 'the one God' or a mono-theistic God in most middle-eastern countries (possibly ALL other countries), makes one really wonder "Who really IS in the right?".

None the less, for convenience sake it would have been much simpler to keep things the way it was. its so much easier to stick with God, or even Tuhan (which, if you don't know, is God, mono- or poly-theistic). Stirring up a storm in a teacup? Well, i guess if something isn't right, someone has to try fixing it.

---

So how should we respond? (as Christians i mean... and as not to make this post any more cheong hei, we'll use bullet points):

- Understand. Hey, what if Hindus or Muslims start calling their god Yahweh, or Jehovah? Kinda feels a little insulting right? + Allah has always been a personal name for the God Malays worship. faham faham la...
- Think. Please don't act rashly, whatever you do. Be it burning a mosque, talking about this issue in public, or things like drinking and the language you use... the way people see it: You=Christian
- Act. Be ready to give an answer to those who question your faith. Not offensively, but be in the know and prepared to relate to those of other faiths. For God's sake, don't start a fight! And please, do pray always for all Malaysians.


Its not a time to celebrate, but lets stand confident and see things in Gods eyes.

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Personally, i feel that Malaysia has really grown and matured. Look, 30 years back, if someone burned a place of worship, race riots would start and many people will kill more people and lots would die and their kids would kill more people etc..

Today, assuming (as everyone are) that the culprit are Muslim extremist, its so very touching and assuring to find what, 130 Muslim NGOs? All volunteering to ensure the Church's (in capital, because it means all of us :) safety.

Thank God :)
Hansel

12Jan10

THE GAME

The Game is an abstract concept.
It involves no tangible objects, nor is it played on any physical medium.
It exists in the minds of those who play it, and it never ends.
That's right, you can never win The Game (though this is debatable).

In order to lose the Game, you have to think about the game.
Upon thinking about the Game, you lose and must announce that you've lost.
This spreads the game to new people and forces others to lose the game.

So, you are now playing the Game.

You will soon forget about this definition, and maybe sometime soon be reminded of it somehow, thereby losing the game.

And, After All...

After all the mannequin pushing in 1st-Aid course...

2Artificial Ventilations + 15Chest Compressions
Now you can save a life too! Not...

Well, the Royal Rangers roped in St. John's Amblance to give a crash course on 1st-Aid

Me, Kester, Lily, Steph, shoulder...

kinda look real, right??

To Maniam, the instructor.. Sir, sometimes you just talk utter nonsense... sometimes you sound like an old man (granted, you ARE 65..) who's got nothing better to do than talk rubbish to little kids who would believe you anyways... sometimes, the things you talk about... well, lets just say its not right to say those things in church.
But whether you read this or not, Thanks! somehow, the stupidity of everything you said stuck, and, upon contemplation... has significant meaning.. mostly though the meanings arent what you intended, im sure... but still, decades of saving lives is an inspiration to us all. God bless!

Preacher of healing

And thank God, everyone passed… I honestly doubted myself k… hahaa..

After all the wood burnt in the HeART club Council Fire

This was another quickie Council fire done for the HeART club members in Calvaryland
Theme: Christmas. Kah Leong prepared a whole Councilfire plan by himself, and yeah... i think it turned out alright...

Makan...

Then work...

Then makan again...

Kids had fun with the games and skits and i guess the Cmdrs did too...

After all the awards given out in the COA

Thank God for a sore/sexy voice to Emcee the COA.. haha...
And thank God for making everything run smoothly, other than the little hiccup at the end...

The slideshow presentation Kester made really got to me… So much was done this year, it feels like 2 years in one...

Camporama
Setting up RR in Sri Lanka and Indonesia
Call of Duty & DR & HeART club Council fires
DR/AR camp
Calvary Carnival booths
1st Aid course

That's all I can think of now…
Thank God la…

After all the emotional alter calls of Youth Camp'09: Emerge

To quote Kerby, "this camp was anything but hype"

Quite true, this camp was much to my personal liking. Honest to its core.
God did an amazing job through Mike Pilavachi, i (as well as everyone else, im sure) learnt not to rely on how much we pray, or how much the speaker actually says…
But speak little, and wait more… another point much to my liking…

As for a first-aider's PoV, Thank God no one died… LOL… that is enough, really…
Quite draining job la... hope i didnt like.. give wrong medicine... gg wei...
Be grateful la…

After all the beautifully marinated and barbequed lamb/RR LG Christmas Fellowship

So we had this makan thing at Cmdr Lily's poolside…
A few Cmdrs and their spouses, and kids…
A bunch of us younger Cmdrs
And, yes… the lamb…
oh, the lamb... hahahaa

Lily's husband, John marinated them...
He's secret? Rojak every sauce you can find… yeah, right…

Other than that, Tim single-handedly prepared games, songs, and other activities to keep us busy… good job there…
Nice to see people talking and the kids mixing and all that…
And the swimming was fun too… major de-stressing points there…

After all... there was Zombieland!

Yess… after all the blood, sweat and tears… after all the aches, pains and strains… and, after all
the planning, contemplating and worrying
Ngeow and I unwound ourselves with sushi and a movie anyone can laugh at (whether it turns out to be good or bad)…

Confession I have never been inside a restaurant with a conveyor belt since… 10? Well, let's just say the cost was far beyond expectation…. Lol…

But, Zombieland was too, faaarrr beyond expectations…
Comedy, gore, romance, horror all blended nicely together… Movies like this prove that fun movies can be great too...

Rotten tomatoes gave it an 86 percent? That, my mainstream-following friends, is 3% higher than Avatar… Only it actually premiered in Oct…
Its time to nut up, or shut up. lol...

22Dec

Jeremiah 15:15-20

15 You understand, O LORD;

remember me and care for me.

Avenge me on my persecutors.

You are long-suffering—do not take me away;

think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

16 When your words came, I ate them;

they were my joy and my heart's delight,

for I bear your name,

O LORD God Almighty.

17 I never sat in the company of revelers,

never made merry with them;

I sat alone because your hand was on me

and you had filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my pain unending

and my wound grievous and incurable?

Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,

like a spring that fails?

19 Therefore this is what the LORD says:

"If you repent, I will restore you

that you may serve me;

if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,

you will be my spokesman.

Let this people turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.

20 I will make you a wall to this people,

a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you

but will not overcome you,

for I am with you

to rescue and save you,"

declares the LORD.

7Dec09

1524

XXV

Its the 25th,
Gona be Christmas in a month's time
and its been a month since my birthday
Pablo Picasso, Georges Bizet & Johann Strauss celebrated theirs a month ago too...
Oh, not forgetting Claryn Chong too

25 cents makes a complete quater
and it takes 25 points to win a volleyball match
25 is the size of a full roster in major league baseball
Pachisi, a national Indian board game, means 25

A silver anniversary takes 25 years of marriage
There are 25 points in Hitler's Nazi party
and there are 25 nabi's and rasul's chosen by Allah in Islam
25 divided by 5 equals 14
25 characters needed for Microsoft Office product key

The height of Solomon's temple was 25 cubits
Ezekiel's temple gate was 25 cubits wide
Equals the sum of the first 5 odd numbers (1+3+5+7+9)

Equals 3+4+5+6+7
Equals a square number which is the sum of two square numbers

Well, none of this really matters anyways...

Its funny how people (lol.. cant decide to use 'you' or 'i') look for significance in the littlest things.
how... WE.. try to find ourselves either in the core fragments that define our existance (like names, birth dates, being 6feet or blonde), or things completely random

Common ground between these two things seem to be incontrolable, definitive and distinctive
Its something that differentiates us, includes us, and not decided by us
Maybe when it seems like figuring out what our big picture looks like feels too massive we look to lesser things or things that has always been there

been thinking lots on this whole identity topic lately,
wondering what youl get if you strip off all the crap in life
searching for who you truly are

"In all truth..."
Jesus said that, 25 times in the the book of John

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Other than that,

Penang trip was quite fun,

Dare say i enjoyed myself more than i expected...

Too lazy to take pics tho, just wanted to unwind...

Guess i'll never eat dimsum, salted chicken, or char kuey teow the same way again.

Ever.

Oh, cant wait for the next XXV

25Nov09

2345

Second 2 Yourself

hey, hows it been?
listening to Renegade fighter-Zed

its funny looking at life from a second person point of view, huh? Think about it. you get to judge yourself, all the wrongs and rights, and be completely neutral. AND you don't get too emotionally attached to what happens to you. as in if something bad happens you just say, "oh man, tough luck..." and the feelings swept away just like that. yeah, i wish.

But in a sense, you don't get too much sorrow that you get hung over, not too much joy that you get proud, not too much love that you get obsessed.
flip side, you don't get to actually savour any of it, either. inhuman?

wonder, if you split youre conscience, between the person who lives your life and the person who looks at it, who would you be, really? between a micro and macro point of view = identity crisis?

kinda crooked way to live... but its funny coz...
nah, i wont say why...
(and i know I'll sound creepy, but trust me, its for the best...)

listening to Inside of Love... nice one, that..
speaking of funny
know whats funny?
trends.

just thinking of the effects of blogs and myspace and facebook on us in the long run...
how would people turn out after 30 years of Facebook?

think of the kids now exposed to so much and trying to grow up so fast...
how are our kids gonna turn out?

listening to... oh, i don't know, but its old skool and has a wicked bass riff...

okay, okay.. if you really want something bluntly funny here's one:
Yo mama sooo fat, when she wears a yellow raincoat, guys come up to her and say,
"Mak Cik!!! ada Digi spuluh Ringgit?"

check it out, man... m'sian yo mama joke..
anyways, this counts as a post la.. settle..

Going to Penang on Wed, don't know if I'm going to enjoy it... hm... see how la...
oh, wonder if Andrews still there...

listening to belle and sebastian's We Rule the School.
cant tell you how much i like this, relaxing... :)

17Nov09
0359