See man's best friend in prayer

This picture says so much, and I just can't resist posting it here for all to see.

Look into the dog's eyes, can you see the sincerity and the meekness expressed, as if in total surrender of his all?

And here to help us pray along with the duo, is Perry Como's superb rendition of the Lord's Prayer.

Milo-Fuze Candid Picture Contest

I submitted this picture with the caption, "See, we drink Milo everyday!" in the Milo Fuze Energising Your Day Contest.

It is a candid shot of 2 of my grandsons, Shawn and Seth in action. They drink Milo a lot and I believe that's what energizes them everyday!

There are already 5 comments made of this picture, and you are encouraged to submit another one. Better still, join in the contest yourself and have fun.

You can view the said comments or submit one of your's, and get the contest info from the following website:

http://www.milo.com.my/fuze/viewentry.htm?galid=419

A Comedy from Jeff Dunham

They say laughter is the best medicine. So for today, to liven things up, here's a comedy for you and for me.

If you have seen this one before, I think a second look wouldn't hurt. It's from Jeff Dunham, and I hope it will make your day!



Wherever you are, have a Great & Blessed Chinese New Year!

Cheers!

A new era for the world?

Today, 20th January 2009, at precisely 12:00 noon Eastern time USA, America sworn in the nation's first African-American president.

Yes, Barack Obama at only 47 and an African-American, finally fulfilled the great civil rights leader, Martin Lurther King Jr.'s dream to become the 44th president of the United States, truly a historic day and reflects the sustaining maturity of the American citizenry.

You should read his inaugural speech which is full of challenges, hopes and fears, commitments and responsibilities and of course, he has not forgotten God's grace too. It is still available at cnn.com.

America has a new leader. For better or worse, a new era has begun.

It is hope that the new president will be able to bring about changes in our life time, that will make not only America but also our world, a better place for all to live in.

On this auspicious day, I am inspired by this beautiful song, sung by Brian Doerksen entitled "Creation Calls". Listen to the lyrics, can you see the beauties and wonders of God's creation?

The Alleycats

Who says our local artistes are not good enough? Listen to these 2 catchy Malay numbers from the Alleycats, and it will probably change your mindset about them.

Actually, I think they are pretty good! Relax-lah and enjoy...

"Balik Kampung" or Going home

The “migration” from the cities to their respective hometowns of the Malaysian Chinese has begun as Chinese New Year beckons. We Malaysians, have come to call it the “Balik Kampung” syndrome.

By the end of next week, the cities especially Kuala Lumpur will be quite deserted as most Malaysians of Chinese origin will be making their way back to their old hometowns. It is an annual affair, like a ritual performed by the faithful, every year come this time around.

It’s going home for many of us and we just can’t help reminiscing the difficult and eventful year that had just passed! Doesn’t that bring a tear or two to our eyes?

Thank goodness, if we survived the political upheaval, the market meltdown and the economic downturn with not too many scars, consider we are the lucky ones!

To the Malaysian Chinese, the event, which mustn’t be missed, is to be home on time with our loved ones for the very special and meaningful “reunion dinner” which is on Chinese New Year’s Eve itself.

It is also a time to pay homage to your elders and to seek forgiveness from the loved ones you have caused hurt.

Noticeably on Chinese New Year Day, it is a time to give (if you are already married) and a time to receive (if not married) “ang pows” (red packets with money inside) signifying good fortune and a blessed future for both the receiver as well as the giver. Children, who are naturally on the receiving end, just love these. Oh, how we wish we were young again!

Indeed, it is a time of celebration and big feasts to welcome the first day of Spring, which falls on Chinese New Year Day itself. No doubt, a time of great rejoicing for the Chinese!

Here’s wishing everyone celebrating, a Happy, Safe and Joyous Chinese New Year. May the coming year be one of your best if not the best ever. Cheers!

I shall leave you humming to the melody of these 2 beautiful songs (local hits) by our very own Sudirman, remember him?

You Raise Me Up

Here is another of my favourite songs, one that was made popular by Josh Groban. But this one is a female version, by Celtic Woman, which you have probably not heard yet. Listen, then tell me what you think?

The Wondrous Cross

This one is one of my favourites. It's back by popular request. The singer is Kathryn Scott. Listen to the lyrics, it's so beautiful.

A man and his church

A man and his church – A tribute from David Chay.
(More aptly put: In Praise of God for sending Pastor Lim Soon Hock to PJEFC).

I don’t know what prompted me to write this, but until it is done, I am excited (you might said all fired up in my belly) over what Pr Soon Hock said in church service yesterday.

If there is a “Man of the year Award” from our church, I believe he would have easily won it hands down!

As usual, he delivers fantastic sermons, and yesterday not unlike any other Sundays, you could say, he was at his best! The message was strong and continues to reverberate in my heart hours after I have heard it.

Until his message came on, I didn’t quite accept the fact that the greatest investment that one can make is to offer up our lives for others. After all, we have only one life to live, but with this life that we have, are we willing to invest it on others?

The call was and still is, to make a difference with people we care, and he didn’t fall short to show us how, last Sunday.

However, the purpose of this note is not to write a synopsis of his Sunday sermon despite how good it was, that can be left for another day, but for now, I want to pay tribute to the man (our pastor) who has done so much in his time to make a difference with his life for others. He is literally giving back what he has received and not holding back!

Not only were his sermons soul-refreshing and heart-warming, often they were mind-stimulating, outright witty and funny! Through his sermons, he is making us fall in love with the church again. We hate to admit it but we know it is true.

Pastor Soon Hock is the type of preacher, if you heard him once, you would want to come back for more.

Do not be deceived by his size and his unassuming nature, if there ever was a "master story-teller in PJEFC with a mission for excellence", he is the one.

Sundays after Sundays we see and enjoy his superb and flawless presentations, but how many of us can actually see the “hours of labor and hard work” he has put in? Perhaps, Suet Ling (his other half) can enlighten us, one day.

For God’s sake, don’t just look at his sermons which by all standards are very good, look at what the man has done for the church.

First, the vision and mission statements were all changed for the better I must say, then haven’t you noticed, look inside the church and see the 6 banners, what do they proclaim?

These together with the new Shalem Ministry, the Youth Empowering Programs, the ML Disciple-making courses and many others, wow, are we not going places? In fact, some of these God-filled events are moving so fast, to my mind, faster than the congregation can take!

All of these of course did not happen by chance. Someone, somewhere, somehow has thought of it and set up a team that worked. Indeed, we are blessed. Praise be to God for sending to PJEFC, a preacher like him. Hallelujah!

I think the church could do well to publish his sermons and introduce him to a wider audience through a monthly newsletter or something which can be given to the un-churched, so that the many who have not heard him would want to come to our church to hear him preach. There must be something we can do about this.

Although I am a new comer, I find that PJEFC is still a vibrant church to be in. I say this because it is led by what I see as a forward-looking and dynamic leadership, which is constantly nudged on to improve its services by a visionary Pastor, one who is always on to something new and something better. I am amazed by his boundless energy and discipline.

Talking about being visionary, a word of caution though (an analogy borrowed from the pastor himself): We had a visionary PM in Malaysia once but see what is happening in the country today, a nearly failed state, in spite of all that. I guess you know why.

I think the above has taught us something, for it is written in our current vision statement which are found in the key words, i.e. “empowering generations” which I believe the former PM had failed to do, hence our current predicament. As a church, we will fail too if we forget to do that.

Finally, after all that is said and done, I believe the church will never have credibility in the community at large without “expressed individual responsibility” (the commitment) from members.

What I mean here is this that church leadership no matter how good, is at best only one half of the “collective responsibility” in transforming our local church, the other half must surely fall on the “expressed individual responsibility” of its members.

Let us all rise to the call and take up the challenge to make our church PJEFC the best there is in the Valley. Individually and collectively, united with a common purpose, we can do it. It is really all up to us. Are you enthused and willing?

Thanks for lending me your ears or rather your eyes.

Chinese New Year Song 2009

Chinese New Year is just about 2 weeks away and in Malaysia to celebrate it, we have come up with this brand new song. Hope you like it as much as I did.

I'll just let my pictures do the talking.

Joy of reading

Just a few days ago, I wrote to you on the “joy of writing”. Today, I am going to write on the “joy of reading”.

Before I say my piece, let’s listen to what these wise men and women had said about books and on reading.

"To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations--such is a pleasure beyond compare". ~ Kenko Yoshida

"When you read a book, you hold another's mind in your hands. ~ James Burke

I love to lose myself in other men's minds". ~ Charles Lamb

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for". ~ Socrates

"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider". ~ Francis Bacon (Essays)

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill". ~ Barbara Tuchman

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body". ~ Joseph Addison

"The love of books is a love which requires neither justification, apology, or defence". ~ J. A. Langford, The Praise of Books (1880)

"Books are the ever burning lamps of accumulated wisdom". ~George Curtis

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library". ~ Jorge Luis Borges

"Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree". ~Ezra Pound

Combining the 2 passions (i.e. reading and writing) if you are in retirement I dare say, you would have your retirement made, well almost. To me, there is a third joy i.e. the “joy of sharing”, which I shall write about on another occasion.

I would say that reading, and to a large extent writing and sharing also, is a special kind of language that catches and crystallizes our lives. It may surprise us to know that we are who we are largely not by what we eat, but by what we read, speak and write!

The English philosopher Francis Bacon nailed this down a long time ago when he said, “reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man”. Sooner or later, you will probably find that this is true.

Fame and fortune may buy us many things. But one thing for sure that fame and fortune cannot buy is “blessedness”. Indeed, blessed is he who will read, write and share.

Reading wonderful books may well be the closest we ever really come to experiencing true magic, for truly when we follow the author into the story, our imagination will literally take on wings!

If you have nothing good to read, then read the Bible, known to be the most widely read book of all time. I am told that it has the power to transform lives. Isn’t that magical and larger than life itself?

In reading, writing, and sharing, they enlarge our humanness and our humanity. You might say the world is made up of many good books and truly, the man who does not read any of these good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.

It has been said that men of power have no time to read, yet the men who do not read are unfit for power. How true is this? Think on it.

Every read of a good book or interesting article is an enriching experience. When we reflect on what we have read, we start to think, and the follow through thinking makes us a lot wiser. We are more able to discern between the good and the bad, and distinguish the right from the wrong.

The ability to discern is an enrichment of our mind and soul. It is an empowerment. We stand tall among men and women when we can bring to bear our knowledge which we have acquired through much reading. It is a joy, a personal satisfaction beyond compare.

My advice to you therefore, is to develop this invaluable habit to read, to read not out of pressure or a need to read, but to enjoy reading for its own sake, not hurried but at your own leisurely pace.

Echoing the much respected, contemporary literary figure of today, Richard Lederer, I would say in conclusion that I have never found another entertainment that is as inexpensive and accessible as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.

Happy reading!

Buddy Greene special

For harmonica lovers, here is an interesting piece of music by Buddy Greene. Sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy...

I have learned

I have been much inspired by this piece by Omer Washington written some years back which I shall reproduce here for those who have not read it. I hope it will inspire you too.

To those who have already read it, I am sure that a second reading of it wouldn't hurt.

I've Learned - by Omer Washington

"I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them. I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back. I've learned that it takes years to build up trust and only seconds to destroy it. I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts. I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes, after that, you'd better know something.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do. I've learned that it's not what happens to people, it's what they do about it. I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides. I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you'll see them. I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. I've learned that there are people, who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it. I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. I've learned that true friendship continues to grow even over the longest distance same goes for true love.

I've learned that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that. I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others, sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself. I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief. I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other and just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned that sometimes you have to put the individual ahead of their actions. I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different. I've learned that no matter the consequences, those who are honest with themselves get farther in life. I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I've learned that writing, as well as talking, can ease emotional pains. I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon. I've learned that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe. I've learned to love and be loved. I've learned."

(Courtesy: Omer Washington).

Question is, have you learned?

Joy of writing

Thought I would publish this piece which I wrote some time in July last year as an email to some friends. It’s entitled “The Joy of Writing”. Hope you like it.

Friends, if I am boring you with this, go hit the delete button, if not read on…

To many of us, writing is so difficult to do. Actually, I think it is not.

Writing, even speaking, they all flow from the mind. It’s your thoughts or simply just your “plain thinking” that’s either vocally or visually expressed. It’s not the writing part that’s difficult, but it is the thinking.

Did you know that Dr Kenneth MacFarland in a survey in the US found that "only 2 percent of the people think, 3 percent think they think and 95 percent would rather die than think!"

Now I can understand why Henry Ford said a long time ago, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”

You will write well, even speak well on anything when you take time to think through an issue regardless whether it’s simple or difficult. Sadly and as pointed out above, there are not many “thinkers” amongst us.

It's funny but true, if most people were asked to say what they are thinking, they would be speechless! We are plainly too lazy to think.

If you can think clearly and can dissect an issue, any issue for that matter, why not write it down as soon as possible and share. You know, thoughts come and fly away very quickly. If you don’t catch them and tie them down in that instance, the irony is that they may never come back.

The pleasure of seeing your thoughts expressed in print right before your eyes even for your own consumption is indescribable, what more when your “print” is displayed for public reading and review. I believe with good writing comes that “philosophical joy” that’s second to none.

There is another aspect to this “pleasure”. When your thoughts are written down, it is always there for you whenever you needed it. It can be like “a faithful companion to you for life” so to speak.

The beauty is that you can form a collection when you have written many different kinds of pieces. This can then become a consuming hobby, which at worse is an enjoyable if not and enriching and interesting one.

Without doubt, you can leave “your writings as a legacy” for your children if not, for your grandchildren. Ever thought that someday, some child will stumble over it and read your writings and be so enthralled by what you said or did?

You must have heard the saying which is probably true that a man must do 3 major things in life to be remembered, i.e. he should during his lifetime (1) plant a tree, (2) bear a son, and (3) write a book. Ask yourself, if you have not done any of these, when are you going to start?

You can write on anything, let your mind float like a butterfly and when it settles down, your thoughts will crystallize, and this piece could be the result.

When your mind is full, it’s a lot like a cup; when it’s full, it overflows. When it does, the advice is don’t waste it. Why not let others catch and enjoy the spills?

Nowadays, with the computer and the word processor, it’s very easy to write. Your thoughts are just a few clicks away! Keep clicking and tapping if you know what I mean, and you could probably keep your doctor at bay!

Think of something interesting to write, it could be on current affairs (national or world), your faith or your walk with God, the universe and human life, the economy, politics, glimpses of your own life experiences or encounters, outings and adventures, even relationships. The topics are literally endless.

What you are rambling or mumbling about, for God’s sake, write them down. It will “take the heat away” and you will be so glad you did!

The advice is of course, try to be original and write with a sense of humour. Something of your very own that not only you but others will find refreshing and stimulating.

Who says you don’t have what it takes to succeed, even in writing? The power is actually inside you. All you need to do is, as Management Gurus teach us, “unleash the power within”.

See you real soon and have a nice day!

Resolutions

New Year Resolutions can be bad for you, screamed one headline in a London newspaper. There is indeed some wisdom in what is said.

The British Mental Health Charity “Mind” warned just yesterday that making self improvement New Year resolutions often leaves people feeling worse for when we failed to achieve our resolutions, that could spark feelings of inadequacy, failure and remorse. Think about it, how many New Year resolutions which we had before really made good?

New Year resolutions are like anything else, you get out of them what you put in. Like we always say, “This year, it’s going to be different!” but will it? We’ve got to ask ourselves, are we putting enough in so that we can achieve the difference?

Well, you and I are not the only ones who often fall behind (our resolutions). The UN is even worse. They are infamous for making resolutions, one after another, but how many of their resolutions have they been able to achieve?

I have stopped making New Year resolutions per se. They are meaningless if I have no intention whatsoever to achieve them. Instead, I will think positively about the year to come and what I can achieve modestly.

I want to focus on being active, connecting with nature, learning something new and working for one’s community.

In short, the advice is just BE YOURSELF, a self that's humble, reliable and friendly; and I think the world will be at our feet.

Cheers!