My Top 10

Because of some very mysterious reason that everyone refuses to blog, I shall try to get the ball rolling. [Just a reminder, Ann-Louise has promised to blog after her trials, which is now, so make sure she doesn't break her promise!] Lol.

So, hopefully this is fun..
Name your favourite top 10 worship songs, and if you would like why.

Here's my list:

1. How Deep the Father's Love for Us [Sarah Sadler]
2. Be Thou My Vision [Irish hymn] .. oi, it's not because it's Irish okayy..
3. The Old Rugged Cross [hymn]
4. King of Glory [Chris Tomlin]
5. Forever [Chris Tomlin]
6. Thank you for the Blood [Matt Redman]
7. I Could Sing of Your Love Forever [Sonicflood]
8. For Unto Us A Child is Born [Christmas song, from Isaiah 9:6]
9. Jesus, Lover of My Soul [Charles Wesley, hymn]
10. It Is Well With My Soul [Horatio G. Spafford, hymn]

Yeap, that's my list, in no particular order. I know there's a lot of hymns, but understand that I grew up in a Presbyterian church and hymns have a special place in my heart (fu yoh). Haha.

So now, I'm passing it to you! Do not be afraid, just log in, click create post and type out your top 10 favourite worship songs. Go lah. And yes, now I'm making obligatory. Heh heh heh.

Please Sit In My Chair

Something I got from my trip to St Louis Inner-city missions two years ago.



She's sixty-six, mildly retarded, dangerously overweight, twice a great-grandmother and a devoted member of our church. She lives with four generations of extended family in an overcrowded, dilapidated house, but her buoyant spirit is undaunted. Since losing her youngest son in a senseless murder last Christmas Eve (he was shot while riding with his uncle in a taxi cab), she has redirected much of her affection to me.


"You're my buddy,: she says with a broad, snaggle-toothed grin. "I pray for you everyday." Then she ives me a long bear hug. She wants to sit close beside me in every church service, and although the smell of stale sweat and excrement is often nauseating, she makes me feel a little special. Her internal plumbing doesn't work as well as it used to and she leaves tabacco smears when she kisses my cheek.



But I am pleased to have Mrs. Smith by my side.She often hints, sometimes blatantly, that she would like to come home with us for a visit. Nothing would delight her more than to have Sunday dinner with my family.But there is a conflict. It has to do with values that Peggy and I learned from childhood. We belive that good stewardship means taking care of our belongings, treating them with respect, and getting long service from them. Our boys know that they are not to track mud on the carpet or sit on te furniture with dirty clothes. To invite Mrs. Smith into our home means we will have filth anf stench soil our couch. There will be stubborn offensive odors in our living room.My greatest fear is that she will want to sit in my new corduroy recliner. I wouldn't want to be rude and cover it with plastic to protect it from urine stains. But I know it would never be the same again. Unknowingly, Mrs. Smith is forcing conflict, a clashing of values, upon me.



Preserve and maintain. Conserve and protect. They are the words of an ethic that has served us well. Over time these values have subtly filtered into our technology. It is increasingly difficult to seperare the values of capitalism from the values of the kingdom. Stewardship has become confused with insurance coverage, with certificates of deposit, and protective coverings for our stained glass. It is an offering, a tithe dropped into a plate to be used on ourselves and our buildings. Somewhere on the way to becoming rich we picked up the idea that preserving our property is preferable to expanding it for people.



Why should it be so difficult to decide which is wiser: to open the church for the homeless to rest or to install an electronic alarm system to preserve its beauty?Why should it be such a struggle to decide which is more godly: to welcome Mrs. Smith into my home and my corduroy recliner or the preserve the "homey aroma" of my sanctuary and get extra years of service from my furniture?Is this not precisely the issue of serving mammon or God? How ingenious of our American version of Christianity to make them both one and the same.

We did finally invite Mrs. Smith to have Sunday dinner in our home. And she did just as I feared she would. She went straight for my corduroy recliner. And it never has been the same. In fact Mrs. Smith even joined a Bible study in our home the next week. Every Wednesday evening se headed right to my chair. She even referred to it as her chair!I thank God for Mrs. Smith and the conflict she brings me.



In her more clearly than in Sunday School lessons or sermons, I encounter the Christ of scripture saying, " In as much as you have done unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me."

Special Guest Speaker

our special spaker this week for Klang Baptist Church

Join us this week at:

24 Sept 2005 ( Saturday )
4.30 - 7.00

25 Sept 2005 ( Sunday )
10.30 - 12.30


A teacher by trade, this passionate Pastor of Bethaney Youth Center, Kuching has touched many lives and has compassion for the young hearts who wants to know Jesus. He has Rised up many leader in school and also in Church. Come and see what U can do to see lives changed!!!!!

Passion Worship

Read Luke 7:37-50

In the book of luke: 7:36-50 tells us about Mary Magdelene was a sinner came to Jesus and fall on her knees, weeping. Then she uses her hair fromher head wiping Jesus feet with the tears while she was weeping, then she kissed his feet.Holding in one hand an alabaster flask, broke it and pour the expensive perfume on his feet.

The perfume that she poured was not just perfumed but its an expensive one too. Mary showed her passion for Christ by sacrificing an expensive perfumed, and wiping his feet with her hair. Worship can also be seen in this story cause she worship with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. She did not care to hear the mocking trown at her as her true purpose is to worship him.

Same thing aplies in life... worshiping God is considered and honor and has to be done with all your heart,soul,mind and strength. Worshiping is praise given to God, worship is give glory and honor to God. We must place our selfs as a living sacrifice ( roman 12: 1 ) upon God and worship him. Like what my mom always says " dont depend on people and worldly things, always depend on God"..and thats true. cause people will put you down.

Always focus on God let the holy spirit guide you.
This is a short article by "Raykhor". Pls read luke 7: 37-50 before readin this.

Desperate Housewives?

This is probably the hippest, newest TV series around, concerning 4 "Desperate Housewives" who have their own dirty secrets and troubled lives.

Newspapers and websites are having 'Which Desperate Houswife are You?' articles and stuff like that. A very big hype.

Recently someone, a Christian, told me that she felt she could relate to a certain housewife in the show.

To say the least, I was shocked. How can somebody, who has the hope and has already recieved the love of Jesus Christ say they feel their life is like a desperate housewife? The desperate housewives no nothing of the love of Christ, they don't have that hope. And to say our life with Christ is similiar to theirs, would be an insult to the faith we have in Christ.

I think I nagged at her so much, she changed her mind. If anyone out can "connect" with a deperate housewife, call on the name of the Lord, and He will save you. You have a chance of hope and joy, perhaps not happiness, but yes hope in the Lord. Grab the chance while you still can.

Really.. our lives are getting so sad till we have to compare ourselves to tv show characters.

PICTURES! of china..

here is my team !! ^_^ .... :




here is my roommate, Maggie and I .


here's when I started to go crazy:

and then I taught them to dance:

and then my craziness got contagious:

here is when I had my identity crisis.. hahahaha (just kidding):

anyways, i was bored...so i decided to post some pics up.....

bye bye!

The Lord's Salvation is by Grace

John and God stood at the side to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing againts Satan's team. The Lord's team was the batter and the score was tied zero to zero. It was the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. They continued to watch as a batter stepped up unto the base named 'Love".

Love swung at the first pitch and hit a single, because "Love never fails." The next batter was named Faith, who also got a single because Faith works with Love. The next batter up was named Godly Wisdom. Satan wound up and threw the first pitch. Godly Wisdom looked it over and let it pass: Strike one, strike two, strike three and Godly Wisdom walked through because he never swings at what Satan pitches. The four bases were now loaded. The Lord then turned to Freddy and told him He was now going to bring in His star player. Up to the first base stepped Grace. John said, "He sure doesn't look like much!" Satan's whole team relaxed when they saw Grace.

Thinking he had won the game, Satan round up and fired his second pitch. To the shock of everyone, Grace hit the ball harder than anyone had ever seen! But Satan was not worried; his center fielder let very few balls get by him. He reached for the sky for that ball, but it went right through his firey glove, hit him on the head and sent him crashing to the ground; the roaring crowd went wild as the ball continued over the fence for a home run! The Lord's team wins!

The Lord then asked John if he knew why Love, Faith and Godly Wisdom could get on their bases but couldn't win the game. John answered that he didn't know why? Then the Lord explained, "If your love, faith and wisdom had won the game, you would think you had done it by yourself. Love, Faith and Wisdom will get you to the base but only by Grace canget you Home; "For by Grace you are saved, it is a gift from God; not of works, lest any man should boast.

" Ephestians 2:8-9 Psalm 84:11, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

"article by "unknown"edited by Raykhor cause got grammar mistakes"

question

Was just wondering.. what does it really mean when people say:
"last week youth very on fire leh, this week we like so dead" ?

On fire for God Again

haha....wooohoo!!! three weeks left!! and i'm startin to have the fire for GOD again...doesn't mean that I don't have the fire before this...but the flame is growing hotter/stronger and I can't help-it!!. The desire to push on and finish this training juz to serve God more and more

I began to think of the things that I want to do after the training!!! things like...see the youth change in wisdom and in spirit....I heard from my friend, The youth is dead again..come on!!! last week was so powerful when I worshiped lead but last week but this week, it suddenly died down!!! ...wheres the passion for God hmm !!! I think they need to get it rite!!! yeah....its not about the worship leader that sing so beautifully or cool songs that hypes you up!!!....it all about the Person Up there waitin to be worship. It's all about Jesus, but then you're too focused on this thing u will loose it. whats the real purpose of worship!!!

Its about Praising God the almighty...praising Jesus...that died on the cross for our sins so that we can come clean before God. Worship is:


1. Worship is Waiting upon God ( Isaiah 40:30-31 )
2. Worship is undistracted focus on God ( Jeremiah 30:21-22 )
3. Worship is an extravagant adoration of God ( Luke 7:38 )
4. Worship is an unconditional sacrifice to God

( 1,2,3,4 is taken from Ps Kong Hee's Message " worship" )

Therefore I urge u ppl to hang on to God. Pray and Worship him with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might!..

My report on China

Hi guys and girls!

Nice blog you have here. Anyway, I thought I would post my report on China here. I have not given it out to people yet, so you guys are the first to read it. It is pretty long, cos we were required to write a 10 page report. So don't fall asleep yah! hahaha...

Anyway, this whole report is more of what I have learnt spiritually and all. Other aspects of the trip are not included. It would be too long. So if you wana know more just ask me personally about it.

enjoy.... !

In the beginning

The thought of going to China was just an interesting but far-fetched idea. When Christian, my staffworker, announced at IVCF (Intervarsity Christian Fellowship) to those who were keen to come and see him personally, I decided to do just that thinking that it would not hurt to have a conversation with him. After the chat, I gave a more serious thought to the idea. As time went by, I discerned that that was what God wanted me to do the past summer. However, it was a very hard decision for me. I had other plans in mind for the summer. I was supposed to work the rest of the summer in order to collect all my internship hours needed in order to be licensed as a pharmacist when I graduate later. The hours collected were only valid if it was collected when I was not in school (meaning during holidays or school breaks only) and thus I needed about 500 hours in all. I have already completed 100 hours by then, but I needed 400 more hours. And the past summer was the only summer left for me to earn those hours. I would not be able to complete them unless I collect them after I have graduated from Drake's pharmacy school and try to get licensed much later after that. Also, I really wanted to go back home to Malaysia the past summer. And I knew that if I were to decide to go to China for summer, I would not be able to finish my internship hours and I would definitely not be able to go back home at all that summer. With all these thoughts still running through my mind the closing date was approaching fast. And one week passed the deadline, I had yet to decide if I should go to China or not. Then my friend, Shalina who also went on the trip with me) shared with me this word that she believed was meant for both of us.

Be very careful, then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)

After reading that verse, I really felt that God was really calling me to China. However, I still did not know how I was going to finish my hours and also the thought of wanting to go home was still there. But I decided to go anyway partly because I was really tired of thinking back and forth if I should go or not. And I knew that if I did not go this year, I would not have the opportunity to go again another time. After I had made my decision to go, I felt much peace from the Lord. By faith, I felt assured that the Lord was going to help me work out my internship hours somehow and everything was going to turn out for an ultimate good. I did not know what was going to happen, but I just had the peace and assurance that it was going to turn out for the best. Some time towards the end of March and early April, I received an email from the Dean of Pharmacy School at Drake saying that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy has decided to cut down the required internship hours from 500 to 250 hours! It was like a miracle to me. It meant that I could go on this trip and yet able to finish my internship hours at the same time. I only needed 150 more hours now (since I already did 100 by then). The trip only took up 6 weeks of summer and then I had another 6-7 weeks to work on my hours. I think in the excitement of what had happened, I somehow forgot that I still had about 150 more hours to finish and booked a flight ticket back to Malaysia thinking that I could finish those hours in two weeks before I headed home. After purchasing my ticket, I realized it was not possible. However, just when I thought I had messed it all again, I received another surprising email from the Dean that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy had agreed to count the hours I worked weekly whilst in school up to a max of 10 hours per week to count towards my total internship hours too. So in reality, since I had been working all school year, I had actually completed my internship hours by then! It was amazing! I couldn't believe it! All of my concerns and worries about the internship hours evaporated from my crowded mind. God had been so good to me, and I knew by then that it was His will for me to go. So not only did God took care of my internship hours but He also gave much more by allowing me to go home before my China short term mission trip.

Funding was not too hard for me. God provided just enough for me to go and even provided me a free ticket to go to China. So I did not have to raise extra money since as my ticket would be more expensive than the rest of my teammates in my going back to Malaysia first and then only to China. God was so faithful from the start and He continued to be during the whole journey!

When I arrived at China, I expected myself to know a lot about Chinese culture and to be able to adjust easier than the rest since I am a Chinese myself. But I was wrong because by the end of the trip God had showed me how much I needed to learn even more. He stripped away all of my pride and my seemingly thorough knowledge about things Chinese. Also, in the beginning it was hard for me to trust them (the Chinese) because of my own prejudice that I had against Chinese people in China. So I knew God needed to help me deal with that distrust otherwise I would not be able to love them as He would want me to. It's kind of hard to admit but I came to China with full of suspicion, fear and superiority complex over my own race and culture. I needed to ask God to make me humble in so many ways.


So, God gave me Maggie

My roommate was Maggie. Much to surprise again, Maggie is a Han majority and she is a native of YinChuan, Ningxia. It was funny to see how she was so similar to me in more ways than I could remember. She is a quiet person and an introvert like I am. She loves music, though her liking for music is a genre different from mine. But, by His grace, she and I got along pretty well the first week or so. It was fun getting to know her better the first week.

By the second week, things got tough especially in my communicating with her. Even though her English was excellent compared to most of the other Chinese students, there were still barriers in our trying to understand one another. I also came to notice that by the second week she wanted to talk more than listen. So it was hard for me to keep listening and to be alert all the time when she was talking. I would say that I am a listener, but listening continually to her was indeed a test for me. She was also quite authoritative in that she would insist that her ideas were right and that I should follow them. It might just be her way of showing that she truly cared for me but it got frustrating on many occasions. With all those expectations coming onstream, it got harder for me to love her. And then, all of a sudden, everything that she did seemed irritating to me even her presence itself. It was then that I knew that I had to depend on God for a lot of patience and endurance and also to help me love her with His love and not just mine. A lot of things were way beyond my own ability. With a lot of prayers and support from my teammates, it got better and better.

It was amazing because every time I shared with my teammates about it, I felt so much of my own baggage lifted off from me and I could start loving her so much better. It was God showing me how much He can do through me if only I depended on Him more. Also, He was showing me how it is important to be real and let my weaknesses be known and not be too guarded with myself. Sharing our struggles amongst one another not only helped me deal with my pride but also helped me to get to know my teammates better.

God also used Maggie to teach me so much about myself. Since she was similar to me in a lot of ways, God was showing me my weaknesses through her. At first, I could not accept that I was irritated with the things that she did because after awhile I realized that whatever she did was the very same things that I would do too! So it was a challenge especially when I got frustrated with something that she might be doing in particular or however that she might be acting, because it was how I would have acted too. It was like being irritated or frustrated with myself and the way I acted. In a way, it was hard for me to admit my own mistakes and weaknesses. But then I realized and started to see how much God loves me in spite of everything. His love for me was beyond what I could comprehend and it was definitely a greater love that I myself could ever offer to anyone else. And knowing that even through my weaknesses, He still chooses me and use me in ministering to others. That was really touching. And I knew that with His love, I was capable of loving Maggie too, just as He loved me.

On the other hand, in terms of where she stood on the spiritual side, she was pretty open about the gospel. She knew a lot about Christianity and had heard the gospel many times through her foreign teacher. One thing that was a highlight that summer was the fact that she enjoyed worship songs very much. She even shared with me one day that she felt that there was something different about Christian worship songs because it is something that one will never get bored like the other secular songs. Apart from that, she loved to sing, so I helped her with learning the songs and left her with a worship CD of mine. She practiced singing those songs everyday and was really keen to learn more each time. My prayer for her would be that she would one day come to believe what she sings and sing it with her heart to our Abba Father. Hopefully too, the songs would touch the chords of her heart and not give her the greater revelation about our faithful and loving God. I know that deep down in the crevices of my own heart, even though it was hard for me to talk to her, she was truly seeking for truth to fill the void in her that has been created by God.

She shared with me once how she felt confused about what is the truth; Christianity or the principles of Marxism that she grew up with. It was hard for her because she grew up with Marxism all her life and did not know if that thought of Christianity was really the truth as we claim it to be. I then encouraged her to continue seeking and not give up. She has done many Bible studies with her foreign teachers before and told me that she really like it. Hopefully, after our summer together, she would grow to be even more interested in God's word and continue to seek Him more.

Then contending the culture

The Chinese culture was not very different from the Chinese culture that we had experienced in Malaysia. It was similar in a lot of ways. However, what I grew up with was more of a mix bag of Chineseness fused with western culture. What was confusing to me at first was the fact that I am both an American and a Malaysian in nationality and a Chinese at the same time. It was never such an obvious identity conflict in my life but it became very apparent when I was in China. That was especially when I am in the midst of so many Americans in China and my being very Malaysian at the same time. I had never felt the three very distinct parts of my identity being brought to an expose for all to see!

I used to be able to clump it all as one, but in China, it stood out distinctively different! I knew I am ethnically Chinese, but yet I felt very foreign in China. I knew that I am American too since I was born there but I do not feel like I belong in the American group either. I felt like I am more Malaysian since that was where I grew up and because of that background, I tended to sub-consciously feel very different from everyone else. However, as we spent more time with both the Chinese students and American students at the same time, the more I felt that I was not Chinese. So it was interesting to discover that I am more American than I thought I was. What an eye-opener!

Some Chinese culture that I grew up with but did not embrace at all became a conflict of sorts when it was played out to the Chinese students. I had to learn to be humble and learn how to accept it as part of their culture and tried to be understanding in a lot of ways. One of the many things that I like about them is how they gave up so much of themselves to serve us, the guests. Though a lot of us were not used to being watched over all the time, but I knew the intention of the Chinese were sincere and it was just their way of showing that they care. I also like how being in a community is so important for them. I have grown to be used to be a part of a community over the summer because of that experience. Towards the end of the trip, the more I realized that it is alright to be different.

For all in all, I am still God's child and we all share the same Father. I do not have to try to fit in into any group and try to find out who I am. I just needed to be aware that God made me and I wish to become who God wants me to be. After being comfortable with who I am, I felt more comfortable with others around me, whether it was with the Americans or the Chinese. I was able to be more of myself and not try to act to please everyone like I always do. And through that process, I have become very close to a lot of them. It has been a blessing that God has made me realized that I could be that close to so many at any one time. Like I have shared with my team, before the trip, I never thought that becoming good friends with Americans would be possible. That was because I never thought I could relate well enough to build a deeper level of friendship with them. But the past summer, I was proven wrong, because I realized that I can relate with them in a lot of ways. More so when we all share the same goal and running after the same prize to see the gospel moving forward and hence pitching further afar the periphery of His kingdom.


Me and I

As for myself, this summer experience had made me see a lot of myself that I have never seen before. God revealed to me parts of myself that needed to be worked on but also at the same time He had also affirmed me in the disciplines that I am already doing fairly well. I knew I had a lot of pride in me to needed to be torn asunder in order for me to depend on Him more and more. Sometimes, due to my own selfish demeanor, I had always wanted to do what was most comfortable for me and not deal with difficult issues that were hindering God's working in my life.

He had not only made me see my weaknesses through my roommate Maggie, but He also brought up issues in my life that I needed to resolve. It was not easy at first because it was rather distracting but I knew I needed to face it squarely before I could really move on and be ready for God to use me fully. It was made clear that God wanted all of me, not only the good parts but even the broken pieces of me to be used for His glory. God changed my heart on a lot of things; He changed my heart about my own view of China and the Chinese people and but also about my fellow Americans. He gave me a whole new perspective of things and got me out of my own little box that I had known about Chinese and American culture.

Through this summer experience, I believed that I have grown to trust Him more. He took away all pretensions that I had the time I was quite freaked out by the visions we all saw during our listening prayer. Then, I knew I had no one else to turn to but Him. It was a spiritual battle, and I knew very well that I could not fight it with my own strength. At that point in the summer, I started to wonder why I even decided to come to China in the first place. Surely not to be frightened by the enemy. I felt like giving up, because having fear has always been a crippling thing for me. But God was faithful, He not only help me deal with fear but also made me see how much I needed to rely on Him and not on myself.

Here then is God

God has taught me a lot about prayer. Prayer has always been something that I relied on a lot in life. However, I was reminded again of its power on that trip and how important it is for us to meet to pray. We had daily morning prayers at 7 am every morning. It was not only a good time to seek for the Lord's help but it also helped us start of the day with God on our minds. It was a good time of bonding and to be able to pray for each other's needs too.

One new thing I learnt was the idea of listening prayer. It was interesting to see how much God can say through us when we actually listen to Him, listening to His heartbeats and re-orienting mine to reflect that of His. Most of the time, I would just present my request to Him and that would be all there is to it about prayers.

Often, I did not give God the opportunity to speak back to me. It was interesting to see how much God had so much to say to us if only we take time to listen to Him. It also gave me a lot of encouragement to be able to see clearly how God can be pro-active than I had earlier thought possible. Apart from prayer, scripture became very real during that trip too. It made me see how much wonder and awe God's Word can do and how it was the sword of the Spirit that had under-girded us all the time. And that I would not be depleted of His resources anytime if only the Word can be etched in permanence in my own heart. And I found it profoundly useful whenever I was gripped in fear and when I needed encouragement in the silence of the night. God reminded me of His love all the time by revealing to me in times of need though my favorite scripture verses. He never failed to remind me of His faithfulness and of His presence all the time.

Why U need to Go toChurch

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. I've gone and done it for 30 long years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the preachers are wasting theirs too by giving lengthy sermons at all."This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this...They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"When you are DOWN to nothing...God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical and our spiritual nourishment!When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say,""Jesus, could you get that for me?"

"This article is taken frm an unknown source"