My Encounter at the Overhead Bridge
Was at Library today and at 1535hours, I received Jo's email on core and cell group leaders meeting tonight at 8PM and I felt really tired and lazy to go because my trials is in a weeks time, plus I know Jo would understand. :) So at 1700hours or so, I was at home in my room chilling out: surfing the net and resting on the floor because I had not washed up yet (not comfortable sleeping on my bed with a stinky and sweaty body) hehe. So as I chilled out, time passed... and it's already 1830hours and there is this urge in me to go to the meeting, and I attribute this "urge" to the Holy Spirit; who prompts me often to do the right thing. :)
After some prompting by the Holy Spirit, I decided; "Yes, Lord I will go".. well I didn't actually said that, but I felt that way. ;) I switch off my laptop, the power socket and the lights & fan, grab my bag of leftover Gardenia wholemeal bread and went on my way to SS2 to take the Bus #12. As I was chomping down on my leftover bread.. I was having this naughty thought: "What happens if I throw bread on the cars from the top overhead bridge?"... but of course I did not realise this stupid thought of mine. :P
Anyway, as I was walking up the steps of the overhead bridge, which by the way connects Damansara Jaya to SS2. At the far end of the bridge, I see a wanderer. He looks really haggard, with long hair and tattered clothes, and he looks like he's from either Myanmar or Vietnam and I remembered I saw him a few days back along the streets of SS2; in front of Salvation. I was kinda afraid at first... because who knows? he might mug me! But then I felt pity for him. My right hand clutched the bag with remainding 2 pieces of bread and the Spirit prompted me to offer him this bread. But I had mixed feelings... a bit of shyness and fear, and as I walk up to him my mind is making a decision on whether to give the bread or to just leave it for myself.
I reached the end of the bridge and I was just next to him. It was as though the fear and the shyness had gone and my right hand stretched out to him with the bag of bread, offering it as a sign of good will. He looked at me with confusion and held on to the bread. It was all silent communication, because I do not know what language he speaks. I nodded my head twice to let him know that this bread is a sign of good will from me and he accepted it. :)
I turned and I walked down the steps to the streets of SS2, towards the bus stop.
------
I contemplated on what had happened and I felt that whatever that happened was truly not by chance but by God's choosing. I don't usually buy bread and keep it overnight and at that point of time, I really did not feel like going for the meeting, but I went anyway. Consider this: If I had not decided to come for the meeting, the man would not have received the bread and probably go hungry. I strongly believe all this is the work of God.
The Lord reminded me that I am truly blessed and I have all that I need and all that I want and need should be HIM only. The Lord also put me in the man's shoes and made me realised that this person really needs help and I should do my part in helping him. And also there are many others like him that needs the care and concern of the society, even though they are aliens. And yes, I was feeling rather guilty from that thought of throwing bread from the top of the overhead bridge, when there are multitudes who need to be fed.
Let us ask ourselves, do we feel blessed? Or are we lamenting to God for not giving us a "better" life? Look at the lives of others & then see how much better off you are. St. Peter (our first pope) once said to the crippled beggar "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you.." (Acts 3:6) Now, are we ready to say this to the less fortunate around us?
Peace <><
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Monday, March 15, 2004
My 'Solomon'
King Solomon (Book of 1st Kings 1: - 11:43) was probably one of the famous bible characters of all time. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God made him the wisest person to ever lived at that time (1Kings 3:12) ;) Solomon had very successful international trade and his kingdom is blessed with a treasury of riches. Solomon used his gift from God to rule his kingdom and also to show others the goodness of the Lord; so that people from other nations may come and worship the Lord.
Solomon sinned against God by marrying foreign women (700 wives and 300 concubines) who worship strange gods. And these wives and concubines of his "imported" their ideas into his kingdom and built shrines all and around Israel; what's worse: Solomon helped built them. So you see, instead of being faithful to the Lord, Solomon's heart turned to these strange gods which provide only temporary satisfaction. And because of Solomon's folly, God decides to punish him by dividing his kingdom - which is another story ;)
Although Solomon was the wisest man around at that time but I guess he was not wise enough to choose God over all things. And we can probably ask ourselves, have we been in that situation of having to choose God among all things but failed to choose Him? We have a part of 'Solomon' in our lives, which rationalizes the sins which we are going to commit. The 'Solomon' in us might say, "Well... God loves me sooOoo much He understands" or "Since I have committed a serious sin and have to go for Confession, I'll indulge myself in sin and commit another then; so that I can confess all of those once and for all" or this which I have heard before from fellow Catholics, "It's OK. Geomancy (Feng Shui) is not a religion, and it's OK to practice it because it has been deemed as 'science' anyway! [Note: another topic I shall blog for another day ;) ]"
If the 'Solomon' in us speaks of these things... well, I guess 'Solomon' is not very wise after all. I believe it is important for us to evaluate ourselves at the end of the day, to see whether what we have done have brought us closer to God or further away from Him.
Solomon was no doubt the wisest man and his folly is probably because he was too tied up in ruling his earthly kingdom that he failed to see what was more important. In comparison, Jesus knew his priorities, and told his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and told them by doing this, all things shall be added later (Matthew 6:33).
Let us replace the 'Solomon' in us with JESUS, for He is the wisest of all. And let us ask Jesus for more of His wisdom, that we may make choices that are according to His will.
<>< Peace.
King Solomon (Book of 1st Kings 1: - 11:43) was probably one of the famous bible characters of all time. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God made him the wisest person to ever lived at that time (1Kings 3:12) ;) Solomon had very successful international trade and his kingdom is blessed with a treasury of riches. Solomon used his gift from God to rule his kingdom and also to show others the goodness of the Lord; so that people from other nations may come and worship the Lord.
Solomon sinned against God by marrying foreign women (700 wives and 300 concubines) who worship strange gods. And these wives and concubines of his "imported" their ideas into his kingdom and built shrines all and around Israel; what's worse: Solomon helped built them. So you see, instead of being faithful to the Lord, Solomon's heart turned to these strange gods which provide only temporary satisfaction. And because of Solomon's folly, God decides to punish him by dividing his kingdom - which is another story ;)
Although Solomon was the wisest man around at that time but I guess he was not wise enough to choose God over all things. And we can probably ask ourselves, have we been in that situation of having to choose God among all things but failed to choose Him? We have a part of 'Solomon' in our lives, which rationalizes the sins which we are going to commit. The 'Solomon' in us might say, "Well... God loves me sooOoo much He understands" or "Since I have committed a serious sin and have to go for Confession, I'll indulge myself in sin and commit another then; so that I can confess all of those once and for all" or this which I have heard before from fellow Catholics, "It's OK. Geomancy (Feng Shui) is not a religion, and it's OK to practice it because it has been deemed as 'science' anyway! [Note: another topic I shall blog for another day ;) ]"
If the 'Solomon' in us speaks of these things... well, I guess 'Solomon' is not very wise after all. I believe it is important for us to evaluate ourselves at the end of the day, to see whether what we have done have brought us closer to God or further away from Him.
Solomon was no doubt the wisest man and his folly is probably because he was too tied up in ruling his earthly kingdom that he failed to see what was more important. In comparison, Jesus knew his priorities, and told his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and told them by doing this, all things shall be added later (Matthew 6:33).
Let us replace the 'Solomon' in us with JESUS, for He is the wisest of all. And let us ask Jesus for more of His wisdom, that we may make choices that are according to His will.
<>< Peace.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
My Nature of Rebellion
Every one of us here has a rebellious nature, which is a result of Adam's (& also Eve's) first sin. For those who do not know, Adam & Eve were disobedient towards God by eating the forbidden fruit, thus they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. The sin that Adam & Eve committed was not only mere disobedience; rather it was disobedience with a tinge of rebellion. Why? Well, Eve was told by the serpent (satan) that by eating the fruit they can be like God, knowing what's good and bad. Well, what the serpent said was half-true. Adam & Eve can certainly distinguish what is good and what is bad, but they did not become God. In exchange with this knowledge they lost eternal life.
Man is obsessed in creating "living creatures" (e.g. AIBO; the robot dog) that bear their copyright and I am quite surprised that many are amazed at the "advancement" of technology but often take for granted the truly amazing creatures around us that God has made, which is - us. As we can see, the obsession of creating "living creatures" has now become the obsession of creating live human replicas (cloning). One of the early objectives of cloning is to "live forever" (which means the person's clone continues to live the life of the person, doing what he did when he was alive). The irony is the first humans lost eternal life because they wanted to be like God and now eons later we are trying to "live forever" by trying to be like God. As the proverb goes,"the leopard never changes its spots".
It is not only the genetic engineers that are trying to be God; we too are god-wannabes... which is to be the god of our ownselves, because we desire things of the flesh (lust) and most of the time we believe we can do all things - but without first seeking the help from God. And the result of our own agenda of being who we want to be (instead of asking what God wants us to be) is either failure or emptiness. You see we have a God-shaped hole in all of us, and only God can fill that hole; so as long as we don't put God in our lives, we will be empty.
Jesus is constantly inviting us to come to Him, so that He can fill this emptiness in our hearts. Accept His invitation, by recognizing yourself as a sinner and truly believe that God has raised Him from the dead and He is now the Lord of your life - and you will be saved (Romans 10:9) and inherit eternal life. Although "the leopard never changes its spots" but through baptism we die to ourselves and are leopards no more because we have renounce our sinful ways and has begun a new life which is aim towards holiness.
<><
Every one of us here has a rebellious nature, which is a result of Adam's (& also Eve's) first sin. For those who do not know, Adam & Eve were disobedient towards God by eating the forbidden fruit, thus they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. The sin that Adam & Eve committed was not only mere disobedience; rather it was disobedience with a tinge of rebellion. Why? Well, Eve was told by the serpent (satan) that by eating the fruit they can be like God, knowing what's good and bad. Well, what the serpent said was half-true. Adam & Eve can certainly distinguish what is good and what is bad, but they did not become God. In exchange with this knowledge they lost eternal life.
Man is obsessed in creating "living creatures" (e.g. AIBO; the robot dog) that bear their copyright and I am quite surprised that many are amazed at the "advancement" of technology but often take for granted the truly amazing creatures around us that God has made, which is - us. As we can see, the obsession of creating "living creatures" has now become the obsession of creating live human replicas (cloning). One of the early objectives of cloning is to "live forever" (which means the person's clone continues to live the life of the person, doing what he did when he was alive). The irony is the first humans lost eternal life because they wanted to be like God and now eons later we are trying to "live forever" by trying to be like God. As the proverb goes,"the leopard never changes its spots".
It is not only the genetic engineers that are trying to be God; we too are god-wannabes... which is to be the god of our ownselves, because we desire things of the flesh (lust) and most of the time we believe we can do all things - but without first seeking the help from God. And the result of our own agenda of being who we want to be (instead of asking what God wants us to be) is either failure or emptiness. You see we have a God-shaped hole in all of us, and only God can fill that hole; so as long as we don't put God in our lives, we will be empty.
Jesus is constantly inviting us to come to Him, so that He can fill this emptiness in our hearts. Accept His invitation, by recognizing yourself as a sinner and truly believe that God has raised Him from the dead and He is now the Lord of your life - and you will be saved (Romans 10:9) and inherit eternal life. Although "the leopard never changes its spots" but through baptism we die to ourselves and are leopards no more because we have renounce our sinful ways and has begun a new life which is aim towards holiness.
<><
Friday, March 12, 2004
My New Blog Layout
Finally, my blog has been revamped! *Phew* took me hours to complete the revamping process! Praise God that it's up and running and ready to go! I have also added a comments thingie, right at the bottom of every post, so that you guys can voice your views! Please tell me what you think of this blog, ya? Anyway, I got to go now, really tired after all that revamping ;)
Peace. <><
Finally, my blog has been revamped! *Phew* took me hours to complete the revamping process! Praise God that it's up and running and ready to go! I have also added a comments thingie, right at the bottom of every post, so that you guys can voice your views! Please tell me what you think of this blog, ya? Anyway, I got to go now, really tired after all that revamping ;)
Peace. <><
Friday, February 06, 2004
My Day with CF
I have just attended Christian Fellowship(CF) just now and we had a talk by Pastor Danny Pollock from Sydney, Australia. Pastor Danny came today to talk about healing, and he touch on many areas of healing; the spirit of strife, moving mountains in our lives and also storing our spiritual "food".
Of all the areas Pastor Danny touched on, the one I remembered the most is the one on likening the story of "Jospeh and the draught in Egypt" to our own spiritual "food". He told us that when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he told Pharaoh that there will be 7 years of abundance of food and 7 years of draught. Therefore, in preparation for the 7 years of draught, they stocked up on food for the next 7 years. And when the draught came, Joseph has stocked up enough food to feed the whole of Egypt as well as people from other nations that came to Egypt to buy food. And it was the food in Egypt that drew the brothers of Joseph to him, and that incident brought upon a reconcialiation.
Now, what does this story tells us then? For starters, we should stock up on the Word of God and touchstones(like what I am doing now!) as our spiritual food, so that when times of "draught"/spiritual dryness we will be able to feed our souls and sustain it, as well as feed the souls of others to sustain them. What happened to Joseph spoke to me in a very profound way. :) Being Catholic, my spiritual food is not limited to the Word of God but my spiritual food is also the Eucharist, the true body and blood of Christ! Not a representation, not only the essence and not just the presence but the actual body and blood of Christ! Amen! Therefore, if I experience spiritual dryness, I can also celebrate Mass and receive the Eucharist to sustain my soul! Praise the Lord!
Besides giving a talk, Pastor Danny also did a prayer session, where he prophesied over us there in the meeting. I went up to him, and there he told me that he sees me in a arm-wrestling match, that I am about to lose... but suddenly gained strength, and won the battle! And he also mention that the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath my feet! Plus he spoke something on authority... Everything he said was in a fuzz in my head, and I can only remember parts of it. Anyway, what's important was before the CF meeting, I met Beng Hoe(Methodist) and we talk about Mother Mary and the Catholic Church. And I told him about Romans 19:20 which is "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" & how does this verse relate to Mother Mary, and also about the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, which is Jesus Christ(Authority)! Therefore, what was prophesied by Pastor Danny was confirmed earlier! Praise the Lord! :)
Got to go now. :)
Peace,
Celestine <><
I have just attended Christian Fellowship(CF) just now and we had a talk by Pastor Danny Pollock from Sydney, Australia. Pastor Danny came today to talk about healing, and he touch on many areas of healing; the spirit of strife, moving mountains in our lives and also storing our spiritual "food".
Of all the areas Pastor Danny touched on, the one I remembered the most is the one on likening the story of "Jospeh and the draught in Egypt" to our own spiritual "food". He told us that when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he told Pharaoh that there will be 7 years of abundance of food and 7 years of draught. Therefore, in preparation for the 7 years of draught, they stocked up on food for the next 7 years. And when the draught came, Joseph has stocked up enough food to feed the whole of Egypt as well as people from other nations that came to Egypt to buy food. And it was the food in Egypt that drew the brothers of Joseph to him, and that incident brought upon a reconcialiation.
Now, what does this story tells us then? For starters, we should stock up on the Word of God and touchstones(like what I am doing now!) as our spiritual food, so that when times of "draught"/spiritual dryness we will be able to feed our souls and sustain it, as well as feed the souls of others to sustain them. What happened to Joseph spoke to me in a very profound way. :) Being Catholic, my spiritual food is not limited to the Word of God but my spiritual food is also the Eucharist, the true body and blood of Christ! Not a representation, not only the essence and not just the presence but the actual body and blood of Christ! Amen! Therefore, if I experience spiritual dryness, I can also celebrate Mass and receive the Eucharist to sustain my soul! Praise the Lord!
Besides giving a talk, Pastor Danny also did a prayer session, where he prophesied over us there in the meeting. I went up to him, and there he told me that he sees me in a arm-wrestling match, that I am about to lose... but suddenly gained strength, and won the battle! And he also mention that the God of peace will soon crush Satan underneath my feet! Plus he spoke something on authority... Everything he said was in a fuzz in my head, and I can only remember parts of it. Anyway, what's important was before the CF meeting, I met Beng Hoe(Methodist) and we talk about Mother Mary and the Catholic Church. And I told him about Romans 19:20 which is "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" & how does this verse relate to Mother Mary, and also about the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, which is Jesus Christ(Authority)! Therefore, what was prophesied by Pastor Danny was confirmed earlier! Praise the Lord! :)
Got to go now. :)
Peace,
Celestine <><
Sunday, February 01, 2004
My Christ
Honestly speaking, the day I begun truly practising and knowing my faith did not start at birth or my early years or even during my early teenagehood, but was actually last year, when I first joined Lifeline College & Young Adults Ministry. My interest for the Catholic faith and the love of God took a dramatic turn last year and it is truly God's grace that I am sustaining my faith now. 2003, was not a smooth-flowing year rather it was a stormy one. But the Lord, lifted me up from the storm and brought me onto solid ground. And when I fell into mud, the Lord pulled me back up. :) I do not deny that my life is not without problems, rather I admit that my life probably has as many problems as the average non-Christian. Then what makes me different being a Christian?, you might ask. Well, for starters; I have Christ. Although, I face problems or suffering; but with Christ I know that my sufferings are redemptive just as His suffering is redemptive. So when I suffer, I know that I am blessed because the Lord trusts me enough to overcome this suffering/problem. For the Lord, never gives me a task which I could never overcome. All I had to do is to pray, for God's grace to sustain me in faith.
My journey with Christ will not be a smooth journey, because the more I devote myself to God, the more temptations I will encounter; which is a way the evil one uses to draw me away from the Lord. But I believe the Lord will sustain me, and make me stronger with every battle with the evil one. I pray that at the end of my life here on earth, I can say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith(2Timothy 4:7)" on my tombstone; just as St. Paul did.
"I will follow Christ, I will run the race, fight the good fight, standing on my faith.." - I Will Follow Christ (Bob Carlisle)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Honestly speaking, the day I begun truly practising and knowing my faith did not start at birth or my early years or even during my early teenagehood, but was actually last year, when I first joined Lifeline College & Young Adults Ministry. My interest for the Catholic faith and the love of God took a dramatic turn last year and it is truly God's grace that I am sustaining my faith now. 2003, was not a smooth-flowing year rather it was a stormy one. But the Lord, lifted me up from the storm and brought me onto solid ground. And when I fell into mud, the Lord pulled me back up. :) I do not deny that my life is not without problems, rather I admit that my life probably has as many problems as the average non-Christian. Then what makes me different being a Christian?, you might ask. Well, for starters; I have Christ. Although, I face problems or suffering; but with Christ I know that my sufferings are redemptive just as His suffering is redemptive. So when I suffer, I know that I am blessed because the Lord trusts me enough to overcome this suffering/problem. For the Lord, never gives me a task which I could never overcome. All I had to do is to pray, for God's grace to sustain me in faith.
My journey with Christ will not be a smooth journey, because the more I devote myself to God, the more temptations I will encounter; which is a way the evil one uses to draw me away from the Lord. But I believe the Lord will sustain me, and make me stronger with every battle with the evil one. I pray that at the end of my life here on earth, I can say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith(2Timothy 4:7)" on my tombstone; just as St. Paul did.
"I will follow Christ, I will run the race, fight the good fight, standing on my faith.." - I Will Follow Christ (Bob Carlisle)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
My Lunar New Year 2004
Wow! Blogging early today! It's the 7th day of the Lunar New Year(Blessed Lunar New Year, by the way ;) ), which is known as "Ren Ri" a.k.a. "Day of the Humans". :) And that also means more yee sang dinners! But too bad, I am already in KL, well.. PJ. *sigh* So I will not be having anymore yee sang dinners, at least for another 365 days later! haha.. ;)
Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time with my family in JB, visiting "annual relatives" and killing time by eating, eating, eating, and yes. More eating. Chinese New Year is the time where I consume the most amount of carbonated and sugar-saturated drinks, compared to anytime of the year..
The first day of the new year, I got up and took my bath; stole 3 oranges from the kitchen and greeted my Grandmother (all of these is part of the tradition of the Lunar New Year). Some of you might ask; "Why three oranges? Not two or four or eight.. but three?".. Well, I am trying to Christianize the Lunar New Year, so I decided that, three oranges represent; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And of course 2 oranges, is too little and four is too much. *grin* As for both of my parents, I greeted them with 3 oranges also but accompanied with a very Chinese New Year verse from the Bible.. Jeremiah 29:11; "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.".. The reason why I decided to replace the usual greeting with a verse from the Bible is because, IMHO the usual greeting(e.g. may you have a prosperous year ahead, wishing you wealth and fortune, may your dreams come true, etc..) is nothing more than an empty promise. Yup, you heard me.. an empty promise. Because no one can guarantee the outcome of the coming year, and certainly no one can guarantee the outcome by holding on to the usual greetings he/she receives! But with the Word of God a.k.a. the Bible, it is different. The Word of God, contains promises and truths, and the beauty of it: all of them are guaranteed by God, Himself. So by greeting my parents with a verse from the Scriptures, I am actually reminding them the plans God has for them, and also reminding them to be steadfast in their faith because ONLY God can fulfill these promises, simply because: no one else can. :)
During the New Year, I have met "annual relatives", which of course like the term implies; 'relatives that we meet once a year', that have become devoted to the Lord as well as had gain more understanding of the Faith. It was very encouraging to see them grow like this. And this affirms me, that the Lord has indeed brought a revival to His Church.
A friend of mine; Alvin, had sent me an SMS about the New Year, and it is truly an insightful and Spirit-filled message! Here it goes..
"Chinese New Year is a time people talk of fengshui(with Lilian Too jamming the Astro channel and newspapers giving tips on which golden frog to buy). The time is right, brethren, to tell people of Him who is Lord over 'feng'(wind) 'shui'(water). Who is this, who orders even the winds and the waters and they obey Him? LUKE 8:25"
Once again, I would like to wish all of you a Blessed Lunar New Year!
Peace be with you,
Celestine <><
Wow! Blogging early today! It's the 7th day of the Lunar New Year(Blessed Lunar New Year, by the way ;) ), which is known as "Ren Ri" a.k.a. "Day of the Humans". :) And that also means more yee sang dinners! But too bad, I am already in KL, well.. PJ. *sigh* So I will not be having anymore yee sang dinners, at least for another 365 days later! haha.. ;)
Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time with my family in JB, visiting "annual relatives" and killing time by eating, eating, eating, and yes. More eating. Chinese New Year is the time where I consume the most amount of carbonated and sugar-saturated drinks, compared to anytime of the year..
The first day of the new year, I got up and took my bath; stole 3 oranges from the kitchen and greeted my Grandmother (all of these is part of the tradition of the Lunar New Year). Some of you might ask; "Why three oranges? Not two or four or eight.. but three?".. Well, I am trying to Christianize the Lunar New Year, so I decided that, three oranges represent; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And of course 2 oranges, is too little and four is too much. *grin* As for both of my parents, I greeted them with 3 oranges also but accompanied with a very Chinese New Year verse from the Bible.. Jeremiah 29:11; "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.".. The reason why I decided to replace the usual greeting with a verse from the Bible is because, IMHO the usual greeting(e.g. may you have a prosperous year ahead, wishing you wealth and fortune, may your dreams come true, etc..) is nothing more than an empty promise. Yup, you heard me.. an empty promise. Because no one can guarantee the outcome of the coming year, and certainly no one can guarantee the outcome by holding on to the usual greetings he/she receives! But with the Word of God a.k.a. the Bible, it is different. The Word of God, contains promises and truths, and the beauty of it: all of them are guaranteed by God, Himself. So by greeting my parents with a verse from the Scriptures, I am actually reminding them the plans God has for them, and also reminding them to be steadfast in their faith because ONLY God can fulfill these promises, simply because: no one else can. :)
During the New Year, I have met "annual relatives", which of course like the term implies; 'relatives that we meet once a year', that have become devoted to the Lord as well as had gain more understanding of the Faith. It was very encouraging to see them grow like this. And this affirms me, that the Lord has indeed brought a revival to His Church.
A friend of mine; Alvin, had sent me an SMS about the New Year, and it is truly an insightful and Spirit-filled message! Here it goes..
"Chinese New Year is a time people talk of fengshui(with Lilian Too jamming the Astro channel and newspapers giving tips on which golden frog to buy). The time is right, brethren, to tell people of Him who is Lord over 'feng'(wind) 'shui'(water). Who is this, who orders even the winds and the waters and they obey Him? LUKE 8:25"
Once again, I would like to wish all of you a Blessed Lunar New Year!
Peace be with you,
Celestine <><
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
My Incense Holder
Hi guys!
In a few hours time it's aunt's wedding. Anyway, she had just received a wedding gift from me. A beautiful wood-craved incense holder, that has oriental ducks and lotuses as it's motif. What is special about this gift anyway? Well, the gift is not extraordinary but the person that prompted me to give it is. He is no other than my Lord God Almighty! :)
Two months ago, I went with a friend of mine to Central Market to do some window-shopping and I thought it would be good for me to get my own incense holder. So I went and I stumbled upon this beautiful incense holder.. I hesitated to buy the incense holder but after I went 'round looking, and did not manage to find another one like it... I decided to buy with a mere RM8 discount from the shopkeeper. I was satisfied with what I have bought, but on the other hand I felt that it was not necessary because I had no use for it. But since I have bought it, I decided I should not regret. ;)
Just a month ago, I came back to my hometown, for my aunt's wedding. And I displayed this prized treasure I bought to my soon-to-be-married aunt and also to the rest of the family. My aunt loved it and jokingly asked me to give it to her as a weddiing gift.. but I told her if she wanted it, I would willingly sell it to her at the cost price to get my money back. But then she didn't buy because she complained it was too expensive. But I ponder on whether or not to give it as a wedding gift for a while.. But soon, I forgot all about it untill: Today.
The Lord prompted me to give the incense burner to her as a wedding gift. I struggled for a moment, between my greed and my love for God. And praise the Lord; my love for God won. :)
I had a talk with my aunt just now, when I presented her the gift. I told her that, there are many things in this world I am not sure of, but one thing I am sure is that, the Lord has great plans for her and her husband(my uncle ;) ). I also told her that although she is not aware(note: my aunt's a Buddhist) of the Lord, but nevertheless the Lord is always aware of her every move and is always looking out for her.
How do I know? Well, because He told us that He carved our names on His palm even before we were born. And I also told her that incense is used in our Church to symbolize consecration to the Lord. And then at that moment the Holy Spirit gave me a revelation: the reason the incense holder was chosen as the wedding gift is because the Lord wanted my aunt to consecrate herself to Him! And of course, I told my aunt this revelation immediately. I assured her that I am not imposing my beliefs on her, rather I am letting her consider to rely on a Friend I know that never gives up and is always faithful.. The Friend that I am refering to, is God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As for whether my aunt would be Christian, I do not know but I do know that once she embark on this journey, she will discover that God has plans for her prosperity and not to destroy(Jeremiah 29:11).. I will keep her in my prayers, always.
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hi guys!
In a few hours time it's aunt's wedding. Anyway, she had just received a wedding gift from me. A beautiful wood-craved incense holder, that has oriental ducks and lotuses as it's motif. What is special about this gift anyway? Well, the gift is not extraordinary but the person that prompted me to give it is. He is no other than my Lord God Almighty! :)
Two months ago, I went with a friend of mine to Central Market to do some window-shopping and I thought it would be good for me to get my own incense holder. So I went and I stumbled upon this beautiful incense holder.. I hesitated to buy the incense holder but after I went 'round looking, and did not manage to find another one like it... I decided to buy with a mere RM8 discount from the shopkeeper. I was satisfied with what I have bought, but on the other hand I felt that it was not necessary because I had no use for it. But since I have bought it, I decided I should not regret. ;)
Just a month ago, I came back to my hometown, for my aunt's wedding. And I displayed this prized treasure I bought to my soon-to-be-married aunt and also to the rest of the family. My aunt loved it and jokingly asked me to give it to her as a weddiing gift.. but I told her if she wanted it, I would willingly sell it to her at the cost price to get my money back. But then she didn't buy because she complained it was too expensive. But I ponder on whether or not to give it as a wedding gift for a while.. But soon, I forgot all about it untill: Today.
The Lord prompted me to give the incense burner to her as a wedding gift. I struggled for a moment, between my greed and my love for God. And praise the Lord; my love for God won. :)
I had a talk with my aunt just now, when I presented her the gift. I told her that, there are many things in this world I am not sure of, but one thing I am sure is that, the Lord has great plans for her and her husband(my uncle ;) ). I also told her that although she is not aware(note: my aunt's a Buddhist) of the Lord, but nevertheless the Lord is always aware of her every move and is always looking out for her.
How do I know? Well, because He told us that He carved our names on His palm even before we were born. And I also told her that incense is used in our Church to symbolize consecration to the Lord. And then at that moment the Holy Spirit gave me a revelation: the reason the incense holder was chosen as the wedding gift is because the Lord wanted my aunt to consecrate herself to Him! And of course, I told my aunt this revelation immediately. I assured her that I am not imposing my beliefs on her, rather I am letting her consider to rely on a Friend I know that never gives up and is always faithful.. The Friend that I am refering to, is God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As for whether my aunt would be Christian, I do not know but I do know that once she embark on this journey, she will discover that God has plans for her prosperity and not to destroy(Jeremiah 29:11).. I will keep her in my prayers, always.
God bless,
Celestine <><
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
My Resolutions
Hey everyone!
Well, it's already the 6th day of year 2004 and this is my first blog entry for this year! :) What better things to write to kickstart the new year than to list out my NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION! WooHoo!
Resolutions
#1. Seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness!(.. and all things shall be added unto me!) Hallelujah! :)
#2. Score straight A's for my upcoming A-level finals! "A" for Biology, "A" for Chemistry and "A" for Math (by the grace of God! Amen!)
#3. Finish reading the Bible by end of December 2004! (Of course with the help of a devotional! haha.. Mine is "Cover to Cover: God's People" AMAZING BOOK! Thanks Sheena! ;) )
#4. Keep fit and stay healthy. More exercise, more vegetables and less meat, but more tofu(a.k.a. beancurd)!
#5. Study more apologetics(the art of defending the Faith)
#6. Bring others closer to Jesus!
#7. Recite the Rosary at least once a week. hehe.
Okies, I would love to list 10 Resolutions.. but since "7" is considered to be a perfect figure in biblical times. I'll list only 7 Resolutions. (The fact is: I am too lazy to commit to too many resolutions, hehe :P)
Today would be the 2nd day that I missed school.. tomorrow will be my aunt's wedding and the next day I will be able to go back to KL! WooHoo! :D *Sigh* Although I am excited to go back to KL but I'll still miss my family, my friends, the comforts and coziness of my own home here in JB...
To all my friends in KL: See you guy soon!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hey everyone!
Well, it's already the 6th day of year 2004 and this is my first blog entry for this year! :) What better things to write to kickstart the new year than to list out my NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION! WooHoo!
Resolutions
#1. Seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness!(.. and all things shall be added unto me!) Hallelujah! :)
#2. Score straight A's for my upcoming A-level finals! "A" for Biology, "A" for Chemistry and "A" for Math (by the grace of God! Amen!)
#3. Finish reading the Bible by end of December 2004! (Of course with the help of a devotional! haha.. Mine is "Cover to Cover: God's People" AMAZING BOOK! Thanks Sheena! ;) )
#4. Keep fit and stay healthy. More exercise, more vegetables and less meat, but more tofu(a.k.a. beancurd)!
#5. Study more apologetics(the art of defending the Faith)
#6. Bring others closer to Jesus!
#7. Recite the Rosary at least once a week. hehe.
Okies, I would love to list 10 Resolutions.. but since "7" is considered to be a perfect figure in biblical times. I'll list only 7 Resolutions. (The fact is: I am too lazy to commit to too many resolutions, hehe :P)
Today would be the 2nd day that I missed school.. tomorrow will be my aunt's wedding and the next day I will be able to go back to KL! WooHoo! :D *Sigh* Although I am excited to go back to KL but I'll still miss my family, my friends, the comforts and coziness of my own home here in JB...
To all my friends in KL: See you guy soon!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Saturday, December 27, 2003
My CASE FOR CHRIST
Hey everyone!
It's been 2 days since Christmas! And it's was good, because we(my family and I) started a new tradition this Christmas. What was it you ask? haha.. ;) Well this year, we started the tradition of saying what/who we are thankful for this year and prayed for the best for the following year, and we ended it with a glass(well.. a styrofoam cup) of wine ;) haha. As usual everyone was too shy to do it... or probably because they were unprepared.. so the person that suggested this tradition will have to do the honours ;) And the person happened to be ME. haha. So, I did it and summed it up for everybody on the things to be thankful for.. and I hope that next year, they will anticipate this tradition and be prepared for it! haha ;)
Not too long ago, i bought a book. Lee Strobel's: The Case For Christ... and my verdict for it was... EXCELLENT!
Some background info on this book:
A Seasoned Journalist Chases Down the Leads in the Biggest News Story in History If you were a journalist, how would you handle a news story so big it would utterly eclipse all other world events? How thorough would your investigation be? How many hard-hitting questions would you ask? How carefully would you consult with top experts to get detailed, accurate answers? Lee Strobel knows firsthand. It was as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and an avowed atheist that he first investigated the greatest news story of all--the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, in The Case for Christ, he presents compelling evidence and expert testimony for the claims of Christianity. As a seasoned journalist with a Yale law background, Strobel systematically tracks down his leads and asks the blunt, tough questions readers themselves would want to ask--questions that can make or break the Christian faith. He refuses contrived, simplistic answers. Instead, he pieces together hard facts through interviews with more than a dozen of the country's top scholars. Written in the style of a blockbuster investigative report, The Case for Christ is apologetics at its most imaginative--gripping, compelling, marshaling expert testimony and incontrovertible evidence. With unerring instincts, Strobel ferrets out Historical Evidence: Do we possess reliable documents concerning the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus? Scientific Evidence: Is there archaeological substantiation for the historical accounts about Jesus? Did Jesus perform miracles?
Psychiatric Evidence: Did Jesus really claim to be God? What evidence is there that he fit God's profile? Fingerprint Evidence: What does prophecy have to say about Jesus? Other evidence: Jesus' death, the missing body, eyewitness accounts, and claims of personal encounters. The Case for Christ reads like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it's not fiction. It's a riveting journey to the truth about the most remarkable event in history: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it's a revealing, personal testimony to his power to transform people yet today--even the most cynical, hard-bitten journalist.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This book fascinates me because the way the argument was presented is in a no-nonsense format. haha. It even has a bibliography at the back of each chapter, so that you can do your own research if you are not satisfied with the findings in the book! Wow! ;) I tell you anyone that read this book, even if they are non-Christian, they will be convince of the truth Christianity brings! And Christians that read this book, their faith will be strengthen further! Truly an amazing book. :)
Buy this book. You will not regret it. :)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hey everyone!
It's been 2 days since Christmas! And it's was good, because we(my family and I) started a new tradition this Christmas. What was it you ask? haha.. ;) Well this year, we started the tradition of saying what/who we are thankful for this year and prayed for the best for the following year, and we ended it with a glass(well.. a styrofoam cup) of wine ;) haha. As usual everyone was too shy to do it... or probably because they were unprepared.. so the person that suggested this tradition will have to do the honours ;) And the person happened to be ME. haha. So, I did it and summed it up for everybody on the things to be thankful for.. and I hope that next year, they will anticipate this tradition and be prepared for it! haha ;)
Not too long ago, i bought a book. Lee Strobel's: The Case For Christ... and my verdict for it was... EXCELLENT!
Some background info on this book:
A Seasoned Journalist Chases Down the Leads in the Biggest News Story in History If you were a journalist, how would you handle a news story so big it would utterly eclipse all other world events? How thorough would your investigation be? How many hard-hitting questions would you ask? How carefully would you consult with top experts to get detailed, accurate answers? Lee Strobel knows firsthand. It was as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and an avowed atheist that he first investigated the greatest news story of all--the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, in The Case for Christ, he presents compelling evidence and expert testimony for the claims of Christianity. As a seasoned journalist with a Yale law background, Strobel systematically tracks down his leads and asks the blunt, tough questions readers themselves would want to ask--questions that can make or break the Christian faith. He refuses contrived, simplistic answers. Instead, he pieces together hard facts through interviews with more than a dozen of the country's top scholars. Written in the style of a blockbuster investigative report, The Case for Christ is apologetics at its most imaginative--gripping, compelling, marshaling expert testimony and incontrovertible evidence. With unerring instincts, Strobel ferrets out Historical Evidence: Do we possess reliable documents concerning the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus? Scientific Evidence: Is there archaeological substantiation for the historical accounts about Jesus? Did Jesus perform miracles?
Psychiatric Evidence: Did Jesus really claim to be God? What evidence is there that he fit God's profile? Fingerprint Evidence: What does prophecy have to say about Jesus? Other evidence: Jesus' death, the missing body, eyewitness accounts, and claims of personal encounters. The Case for Christ reads like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it's not fiction. It's a riveting journey to the truth about the most remarkable event in history: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it's a revealing, personal testimony to his power to transform people yet today--even the most cynical, hard-bitten journalist.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This book fascinates me because the way the argument was presented is in a no-nonsense format. haha. It even has a bibliography at the back of each chapter, so that you can do your own research if you are not satisfied with the findings in the book! Wow! ;) I tell you anyone that read this book, even if they are non-Christian, they will be convince of the truth Christianity brings! And Christians that read this book, their faith will be strengthen further! Truly an amazing book. :)
Buy this book. You will not regret it. :)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Thursday, December 25, 2003
My Christmas 2003
Blessed Christmas everybody! ;)
I have just came back from Christmas Vigil Mass! There are many people there, until there are no more seats left inside the church, so many have to stand outside while some sit. :) Anyways, the Mass was enjoyable because today is the day where we remember the day of our Saviour's birth..
Isn't it amazing? Jesus; King of kings, Prince of Peace and Lord of lords came down all the way from heaven not to be an earthly king but to die in the hands of His own creation. Unbelievable? Believe it. Because God is love as stated in 1John 4:8! And one must know that God's love can never decrease or increase; to put it simple His love for us has an unimaginable magnitude! How imaginable? OK. Let's see... Our God, Jesus the one without sin came to earth; became man and was humiliated, rejected, tortured and... DIED. For who did He die? The answer: for you and for me.. for us!
So this Christmas, feel blessed. Because you are. Even if you feel the whole world is against you, rejoice because Jesus loves you! And how I know? He showed me so.
Blessed Christmas.
Celestine <><
Blessed Christmas everybody! ;)
I have just came back from Christmas Vigil Mass! There are many people there, until there are no more seats left inside the church, so many have to stand outside while some sit. :) Anyways, the Mass was enjoyable because today is the day where we remember the day of our Saviour's birth..
Isn't it amazing? Jesus; King of kings, Prince of Peace and Lord of lords came down all the way from heaven not to be an earthly king but to die in the hands of His own creation. Unbelievable? Believe it. Because God is love as stated in 1John 4:8! And one must know that God's love can never decrease or increase; to put it simple His love for us has an unimaginable magnitude! How imaginable? OK. Let's see... Our God, Jesus the one without sin came to earth; became man and was humiliated, rejected, tortured and... DIED. For who did He die? The answer: for you and for me.. for us!
So this Christmas, feel blessed. Because you are. Even if you feel the whole world is against you, rejoice because Jesus loves you! And how I know? He showed me so.
Blessed Christmas.
Celestine <><
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
My Child-like Faith
Hi everyone :)
It's been a loOoOong time since i last blogged... Miss me? haha. Just to let you guys know, I am already back in JB since last Friday(brought back by Kenneth, Martin, Anne and Father Larry; they were on the way to Singapore to attend Adrian Khoo's Wedding. THANKS GUYS! =) ) JB hasn't changed much for the past 9 months when i was in Selangor... except for the route for bus 52 and taxi stand rules & regulations near Tmn Daya area ;) haha.
My stay in JB has been proven fruitful, for I have discovered another testimony that prayer works! Praise God! Many months ago, Adrian(Ng) introduced me a new of using the rosary to pray, which is to include the person's name in the "Hail Mary".. which is, instead of "..pray for us sinners now at the hour of our death. Amen", I replaced it with "pray for [name] now, at the hour of his/her death. Amen.".. So anyway, I prayed the rosary for sometime(a month, perhaps) and included names of people I know(family, friends and foe; haha) on my 50 rosary beads and prayed for them.. One of them that I prayed for was my Uncle Thomas, and at that time I just felt that I want to pray for him. And little did I know, the Lord granted him the grace to stop smoking! Praise the Lord, he stopped smoking for 30 consecutive days, and it's still going on! I pray that the Lord will continue to shower him the grace to kick this addiction for good! Amen! Our God is an awesome God! :)
I have realised one really important thing during my journey to JB, which is "Why did Jesus wanted us to be like children?".. The answer is children have faith that could move mountains! I remember when I was a child, it is really unbelievable, how much faith I can put in to things and actually made it happen! From academically to my personal wants! Probably some of you guys might think, "yeah because you were a kid, plus maybe you were cute and that studies was easy".. to some extent that might be true. But not all true, you see I had faith.. very unshakable faith at that time.. ;) As I grew and went into adolescence, I was exposed to the cruel, so called "facts of life" and I grew conforming to that fact.. Sad huh? And since then, I have not been able to give my 100% faith in anything! Gosh!.. Untill.. this year(Praise God!), where I have started unknowingly pruning my once fact-conformed faith to a faith which is free to grow! Isn't that amazing?! But, my faith still has lots of room to grow.. :) To everyone out there: Believe that your faith in God can move mountains! Just believe! Jesus told us to be like children because, children are able to believe without much reason, but what they need is just a promise! Much like what God wants us to be! He wants us to believe in Him, because He can promised us eternal life.. but if we were to think of a reason, rational to our thinking, it is quite impossible because to put God's plan/logic in our minds is like taking the whole ocean and fitting all of those to a small hole dugged in the sand.. :) So be like children and believe, and be one of the heirs to inherit the kingdom of Heaven!
Anyway, I have got to go now.. :) So just in case I do not blog in the next few weeks.. I would like to wish everyone of you reading this, a very blessed Christmas and a Spirit-filled New Year!
Peace be with you always!
Celestine <><
Hi everyone :)
It's been a loOoOong time since i last blogged... Miss me? haha. Just to let you guys know, I am already back in JB since last Friday(brought back by Kenneth, Martin, Anne and Father Larry; they were on the way to Singapore to attend Adrian Khoo's Wedding. THANKS GUYS! =) ) JB hasn't changed much for the past 9 months when i was in Selangor... except for the route for bus 52 and taxi stand rules & regulations near Tmn Daya area ;) haha.
My stay in JB has been proven fruitful, for I have discovered another testimony that prayer works! Praise God! Many months ago, Adrian(Ng) introduced me a new of using the rosary to pray, which is to include the person's name in the "Hail Mary".. which is, instead of "..pray for us sinners now at the hour of our death. Amen", I replaced it with "pray for [name] now, at the hour of his/her death. Amen.".. So anyway, I prayed the rosary for sometime(a month, perhaps) and included names of people I know(family, friends and foe; haha) on my 50 rosary beads and prayed for them.. One of them that I prayed for was my Uncle Thomas, and at that time I just felt that I want to pray for him. And little did I know, the Lord granted him the grace to stop smoking! Praise the Lord, he stopped smoking for 30 consecutive days, and it's still going on! I pray that the Lord will continue to shower him the grace to kick this addiction for good! Amen! Our God is an awesome God! :)
I have realised one really important thing during my journey to JB, which is "Why did Jesus wanted us to be like children?".. The answer is children have faith that could move mountains! I remember when I was a child, it is really unbelievable, how much faith I can put in to things and actually made it happen! From academically to my personal wants! Probably some of you guys might think, "yeah because you were a kid, plus maybe you were cute and that studies was easy".. to some extent that might be true. But not all true, you see I had faith.. very unshakable faith at that time.. ;) As I grew and went into adolescence, I was exposed to the cruel, so called "facts of life" and I grew conforming to that fact.. Sad huh? And since then, I have not been able to give my 100% faith in anything! Gosh!.. Untill.. this year(Praise God!), where I have started unknowingly pruning my once fact-conformed faith to a faith which is free to grow! Isn't that amazing?! But, my faith still has lots of room to grow.. :) To everyone out there: Believe that your faith in God can move mountains! Just believe! Jesus told us to be like children because, children are able to believe without much reason, but what they need is just a promise! Much like what God wants us to be! He wants us to believe in Him, because He can promised us eternal life.. but if we were to think of a reason, rational to our thinking, it is quite impossible because to put God's plan/logic in our minds is like taking the whole ocean and fitting all of those to a small hole dugged in the sand.. :) So be like children and believe, and be one of the heirs to inherit the kingdom of Heaven!
Anyway, I have got to go now.. :) So just in case I do not blog in the next few weeks.. I would like to wish everyone of you reading this, a very blessed Christmas and a Spirit-filled New Year!
Peace be with you always!
Celestine <><
Thursday, November 27, 2003
My Day of Prophecy
Hullo!! Good day to you all!
I had just came back from Christian Creative Dance Consert in SS13 at Glad Tidings, it was fantastic throughout the past 3 nights, the dances were Spirit-inspired and worshipful.. but the reason why it's fantastic not so much lies in the performance itself, rather the fellowship I had with my pals from church(especially, my new Kota Kinabalu friends from Sacred Heart Cathedral)! It was truly amazing throughout these 5 days of COME & SEE, because I get to meet and know these people of faith! Amen! ;) My favourite sessions of all sessions had to be Jude's Session on Giving and Tithing, it really made me understand that all things belong to God and all else we have is just bonuses(diploma, degree, money, family, car, CDs, friends, etc..).. And it is today that I felt renewed & redeemed, and receive the gift of Prophecy as well as experience prophecy on myself! What a eventful day!
I had soOoOo much things to share with you guys, but for now I would like to share my experience with prophecy. Here it goes.. I am a real sceptic with myself and others in these sort of things..which is the gifts of the spirit. I can not really explain why but it is just me to feel so. Anyway, Eddy(the speaker for the Prophecy Workshop) told us(Gerard, Techla, Joneville, Nicholas and me) to joined hands and pray in tongues... and then when he clapped twice we must stop praying and prophesy whatever that comes into our minds.. So, we did and during the prophesying part.. Techla and Jon were prophesying lots, based on verses and phrases.. but I struggled within.. and rationalizing(which I was told not to because I filter out what I was on my mind) , and I felt real unworthyness(really wanted to leave the workshop).. and I told the Lord in my heart.. "Lord, forgive me".. because I felt that what was on my mind at that moment was not prophecy but was just my own thoughts.. Then Eddy, restarted the praying and the prophesying.. And it goes again.. I had not prophesy anything , and in my heart I kept being apologetic to the Lord by saying again.. "Lord, forgive me" and just then Gerard blurted out "You're forgiven".. I was like "wHooOA..!" and "huh?!? what had just happened?" I asked myself.. did the Lord spoke to me through Gerard or was it a coincidence? And just then I knew I had to tell Eddy what had just happened.. and praise God.. it was truly God who spoke through Gerard and not a coincidence. Not because Eddy told me so, but I know so.. because no one can know what is truly in my heart other than God.. and what are the chances, when there are a million words and phrases to pick from..? I was really comforted.. truly it was God. Because of that, I had spoke out in faith on what prophecy I had received later in the sessions.. :) and it was truly amazing.. because the prophecies we had and said were verses, and we connected them to make a phrase or a complete verse from the Bible.. Isn't God truly wonderful?
My dear friends, I truly felt blessed because I have the Lord, that loves me more than I love myself.. He never did forsake me.. and so I know I do not need to forsake myself.. :) Amen! I can see and feel that the Lord is truly working in our midst today, bringing a revival in the Church and to his people!
Praise God!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hullo!! Good day to you all!
I had just came back from Christian Creative Dance Consert in SS13 at Glad Tidings, it was fantastic throughout the past 3 nights, the dances were Spirit-inspired and worshipful.. but the reason why it's fantastic not so much lies in the performance itself, rather the fellowship I had with my pals from church(especially, my new Kota Kinabalu friends from Sacred Heart Cathedral)! It was truly amazing throughout these 5 days of COME & SEE, because I get to meet and know these people of faith! Amen! ;) My favourite sessions of all sessions had to be Jude's Session on Giving and Tithing, it really made me understand that all things belong to God and all else we have is just bonuses(diploma, degree, money, family, car, CDs, friends, etc..).. And it is today that I felt renewed & redeemed, and receive the gift of Prophecy as well as experience prophecy on myself! What a eventful day!
I had soOoOo much things to share with you guys, but for now I would like to share my experience with prophecy. Here it goes.. I am a real sceptic with myself and others in these sort of things..which is the gifts of the spirit. I can not really explain why but it is just me to feel so. Anyway, Eddy(the speaker for the Prophecy Workshop) told us(Gerard, Techla, Joneville, Nicholas and me) to joined hands and pray in tongues... and then when he clapped twice we must stop praying and prophesy whatever that comes into our minds.. So, we did and during the prophesying part.. Techla and Jon were prophesying lots, based on verses and phrases.. but I struggled within.. and rationalizing(which I was told not to because I filter out what I was on my mind) , and I felt real unworthyness(really wanted to leave the workshop).. and I told the Lord in my heart.. "Lord, forgive me".. because I felt that what was on my mind at that moment was not prophecy but was just my own thoughts.. Then Eddy, restarted the praying and the prophesying.. And it goes again.. I had not prophesy anything , and in my heart I kept being apologetic to the Lord by saying again.. "Lord, forgive me" and just then Gerard blurted out "You're forgiven".. I was like "wHooOA..!" and "huh?!? what had just happened?" I asked myself.. did the Lord spoke to me through Gerard or was it a coincidence? And just then I knew I had to tell Eddy what had just happened.. and praise God.. it was truly God who spoke through Gerard and not a coincidence. Not because Eddy told me so, but I know so.. because no one can know what is truly in my heart other than God.. and what are the chances, when there are a million words and phrases to pick from..? I was really comforted.. truly it was God. Because of that, I had spoke out in faith on what prophecy I had received later in the sessions.. :) and it was truly amazing.. because the prophecies we had and said were verses, and we connected them to make a phrase or a complete verse from the Bible.. Isn't God truly wonderful?
My dear friends, I truly felt blessed because I have the Lord, that loves me more than I love myself.. He never did forsake me.. and so I know I do not need to forsake myself.. :) Amen! I can see and feel that the Lord is truly working in our midst today, bringing a revival in the Church and to his people!
Praise God!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Sunday, November 23, 2003
My Second Day at COME & SEE
Hi everyone!
I have been out the whole day since 8am.. yup, and I just got back. Wonder where have I been huh? hehe.. I attended a whole second day of COME & SEE[the event I mention a few posts ago ;) it's a 5 day event by the way].. :) It was truly amazing.. The talks were spirit-filled and the worship was very anointed indeed! Gosh, it has been a really lOooOoOng time since I had such worship, and I praise and thank the Lord for the Kota Kinabalu Music Ministry and also for anointing the worship sessions that we had!
During one of the worship sessions, I had receive or rather acknowledge the will of God in my life.. which is to stripped of my ego and put on a sack-cloth of humility towards God, and to acknowledge his sovereignity over our lives.. What happened was this:
At the second worship session, I had this strange longing to kneel.. and my knees felt "wobbly", but I was really determine to stand because others were standing, and I do not want to be the odd one out kneeling.. Anyway, at the start of the song: "Give Us Clean Hands", I submitted to the will of God and knelt.. putting my "self-afflicted" shame aside.. I believe the reason why it happened to me is because the Lord wanted me to have the first step towards Him.. to be humble and to know or to acknowledge he is the Lord Almighty; no matter how much I deluded myself into believing that I have total control over my life.. And I personally believe that this is also my first step to be set-apart.. (I am sorry; I am still very much secular and H-O-L-Y is a "taboo" word, as what the four-letter word is to most people, ;) I am learning. )
Indeed to live out the Gospel is not an easy task but St. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2("Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect).. Do not think that I have attain holiness or I am becoming a religious.. I assure you that I am no holier than any of you guys nor am I becoming a priest or a monk; I am just trying to live out what the Lord request of me to do.. and do not forget that the Lord request you to do the same as well.. :)
I have got to go now.. and I am so excited about the next COME & SEE programme for tomorrow..! You guys take care!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hi everyone!
I have been out the whole day since 8am.. yup, and I just got back. Wonder where have I been huh? hehe.. I attended a whole second day of COME & SEE[the event I mention a few posts ago ;) it's a 5 day event by the way].. :) It was truly amazing.. The talks were spirit-filled and the worship was very anointed indeed! Gosh, it has been a really lOooOoOng time since I had such worship, and I praise and thank the Lord for the Kota Kinabalu Music Ministry and also for anointing the worship sessions that we had!
During one of the worship sessions, I had receive or rather acknowledge the will of God in my life.. which is to stripped of my ego and put on a sack-cloth of humility towards God, and to acknowledge his sovereignity over our lives.. What happened was this:
At the second worship session, I had this strange longing to kneel.. and my knees felt "wobbly", but I was really determine to stand because others were standing, and I do not want to be the odd one out kneeling.. Anyway, at the start of the song: "Give Us Clean Hands", I submitted to the will of God and knelt.. putting my "self-afflicted" shame aside.. I believe the reason why it happened to me is because the Lord wanted me to have the first step towards Him.. to be humble and to know or to acknowledge he is the Lord Almighty; no matter how much I deluded myself into believing that I have total control over my life.. And I personally believe that this is also my first step to be set-apart.. (I am sorry; I am still very much secular and H-O-L-Y is a "taboo" word, as what the four-letter word is to most people, ;) I am learning. )
Indeed to live out the Gospel is not an easy task but St. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2("Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect).. Do not think that I have attain holiness or I am becoming a religious.. I assure you that I am no holier than any of you guys nor am I becoming a priest or a monk; I am just trying to live out what the Lord request of me to do.. and do not forget that the Lord request you to do the same as well.. :)
I have got to go now.. and I am so excited about the next COME & SEE programme for tomorrow..! You guys take care!
God bless,
Celestine <><
My Thoughts On "Life"
Good day everyone!
It's been 5 days since I last blog.. haha. :) Hurray! My exams are finally over and I felt really free! My trials is coming soon in March, ..but what the heck :P I'll enjoy my freedom for now! haha. I felt much better for this term's exam, probably because I know that I put in more effort in achieving my goals.. than last term's ;) Even if I do not do very well this term, I'll still not give up but to continue.. as the saying goes.. "A Quitter Never Wins and a Winner Never Quits".. ;) Even if I lost the match but I will still win the battle!
Anyway.. Today I have somethings to share on life.. I am not giving you guys the sermon on the mount sort of talk but rather I want to share what I truly feel about life itself.. Whenever I thought about us human having the same elements(oxygen, iron, calcium, carbon, potassium, etc..) as the soil.. I find it truly amazing that even with the most sophisticated technology we still could not make humans from these elements..! Even if it is possible to construct every organ imaginable in the human body and put them all together, we still could NEVER construct life.. :) Isn't it amazing? And because of this I felt that teleporting humans is really not possible because the fact that one can never ionized a living thing from one place to another and expect it to be alive at the other end! Simply because life is not transferable! What does this tells us then? Well, in my opinion this tells us that God is the ONLY one that has the right and capacity to give life! But, life is just very temporary.. the reason i put the word "very" is because of the fact that life is short.. I am rather glad though we would not live like the elves or the hobbits, haha.. because I know that my life would not end here on earth but would continue forever and ever in heaven :) Because my Savior tells me that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will have eternal life.. and I believe Him. To some of you who are reading this, might be very sceptical about God being truly involved with our life.. but, I just tell you this.. you'll never know that the apple is sweet until you have tasted it.. ;) It's the same with God.. you will never know how good the Lord is until you tasted Him.. As it is written in the Psalms.. "taste and see that the Lord is good".. ;) I receive my Lord Jesus weekly at Holy Communion, and I have tasted Him and I know He is good.. :) As the saying goes, "You Are What You Eat".. so by receiving Jesus, I hope to reflect Him in everyway possible.. :)
I've got to go sleep now.. because I have got to attend COME & SEE at 8.30am tomorrow.. or rather today!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Good day everyone!
It's been 5 days since I last blog.. haha. :) Hurray! My exams are finally over and I felt really free! My trials is coming soon in March, ..but what the heck :P I'll enjoy my freedom for now! haha. I felt much better for this term's exam, probably because I know that I put in more effort in achieving my goals.. than last term's ;) Even if I do not do very well this term, I'll still not give up but to continue.. as the saying goes.. "A Quitter Never Wins and a Winner Never Quits".. ;) Even if I lost the match but I will still win the battle!
Anyway.. Today I have somethings to share on life.. I am not giving you guys the sermon on the mount sort of talk but rather I want to share what I truly feel about life itself.. Whenever I thought about us human having the same elements(oxygen, iron, calcium, carbon, potassium, etc..) as the soil.. I find it truly amazing that even with the most sophisticated technology we still could not make humans from these elements..! Even if it is possible to construct every organ imaginable in the human body and put them all together, we still could NEVER construct life.. :) Isn't it amazing? And because of this I felt that teleporting humans is really not possible because the fact that one can never ionized a living thing from one place to another and expect it to be alive at the other end! Simply because life is not transferable! What does this tells us then? Well, in my opinion this tells us that God is the ONLY one that has the right and capacity to give life! But, life is just very temporary.. the reason i put the word "very" is because of the fact that life is short.. I am rather glad though we would not live like the elves or the hobbits, haha.. because I know that my life would not end here on earth but would continue forever and ever in heaven :) Because my Savior tells me that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will have eternal life.. and I believe Him. To some of you who are reading this, might be very sceptical about God being truly involved with our life.. but, I just tell you this.. you'll never know that the apple is sweet until you have tasted it.. ;) It's the same with God.. you will never know how good the Lord is until you tasted Him.. As it is written in the Psalms.. "taste and see that the Lord is good".. ;) I receive my Lord Jesus weekly at Holy Communion, and I have tasted Him and I know He is good.. :) As the saying goes, "You Are What You Eat".. so by receiving Jesus, I hope to reflect Him in everyway possible.. :)
I've got to go sleep now.. because I have got to attend COME & SEE at 8.30am tomorrow.. or rather today!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
My Math
Good afternoon everyone :)
Both of my math papers are over and yes, i am definitely going to fail them.. that's without a doubt, because I had sort of done it on purpose.. Not failing it on purpose but rather I did not manage to study for it, because I was focusing on my two other subjects(Chemistry and Biology), which I hope will redeem the Math papers.. ArrrGGhh!! Yes I was prepared to face the consequences of failing Math, but there is still that side of me that says.. "Actually, you might not fail math if only you had manage your time better".. yeah i have bad time management or rather i am a procrastinator and i am good at it! :P
OK, i have decided.. (this is gonna be a historical moment) I am not going to procrastinate any further because #1 I don't want to see an "F" on my result slip in August next year, #2 My parents spent a great deal of money bringing me up and also to college and #3 Because I can do it. Now, that's the Top3 reasons to get an A for my Math! You people that's reading this be my witness :) Gosh, now.. what I am going to do next.. haha.. OK OK. I think I should start doing revisions on Pure Math especially because it is so simple and it happened to be the fundamentals of Mechanics(which is the subject I have to study for next).. :) Please pray for the grace of God to be showered upon me, so that I can persevere in my studying until June next year.. :) Thank you guys! ;)
By the way, I have put up a guestbook for those of you that would like to comment on this blog or contact me further :)
Anyway, I got to study Biology now, the test is at 9am tomorrow! :)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Good afternoon everyone :)
Both of my math papers are over and yes, i am definitely going to fail them.. that's without a doubt, because I had sort of done it on purpose.. Not failing it on purpose but rather I did not manage to study for it, because I was focusing on my two other subjects(Chemistry and Biology), which I hope will redeem the Math papers.. ArrrGGhh!! Yes I was prepared to face the consequences of failing Math, but there is still that side of me that says.. "Actually, you might not fail math if only you had manage your time better".. yeah i have bad time management or rather i am a procrastinator and i am good at it! :P
OK, i have decided.. (this is gonna be a historical moment) I am not going to procrastinate any further because #1 I don't want to see an "F" on my result slip in August next year, #2 My parents spent a great deal of money bringing me up and also to college and #3 Because I can do it. Now, that's the Top3 reasons to get an A for my Math! You people that's reading this be my witness :) Gosh, now.. what I am going to do next.. haha.. OK OK. I think I should start doing revisions on Pure Math especially because it is so simple and it happened to be the fundamentals of Mechanics(which is the subject I have to study for next).. :) Please pray for the grace of God to be showered upon me, so that I can persevere in my studying until June next year.. :) Thank you guys! ;)
By the way, I have put up a guestbook for those of you that would like to comment on this blog or contact me further :)
Anyway, I got to study Biology now, the test is at 9am tomorrow! :)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Sunday, November 16, 2003
My RCIA
Hey guys :)
Today started out as another sluUuuggish.. day..woke up at 11.59am. :) .. And continued to watch "Qian Nu You Hun"(A Chinese Ghost Story) drama series.. until 3pm.. haha, i watch 7 episodes straight! Oh my, it was really addictive, although it's a bit too modernized for the theme of this drama.. ;) I strongly recommend you this series, starring Barbie/Big "S" a.k.a. ShanCai and Chen Xiao Dong! :P
After that i went to McD in BU to do some studying(yes, i did study :) ).. until about 6.30pm.. i met up with Brian and Gus, came all the way from SFX(after Mass) to picked us up for RCIA(which is in SFX, btw :P)! [Thanks Gus!!] ;) Praise the Lord, for he provides! Had a wonderful session in RCIA, we have great table members and facilitators(Aunty Amy and Albert) and of course a good speaker(Marge)! RCIA ended a little earlier than usual at about 9pm or so.. I guess it's because the facilitators was tired after they went for the retreat :)
I can't wait for the Catholic Charismatic Convention, which is on the 4th(Thursday) to the 7th(Sunday) of December because it is expected that 12,000 Catholics would be attending this event! If you have not yet register, please don't miss this opportunity because i suppose this does not come very often :) For more information, visit http://www.pmst.org/
Anyway, on the 22nd - 26th of November, LIFELINE COLLEGE & YOUNG ADULTS MINISTRY is organizing an EXCITING 5 day event["COME & SEE"] and the programme is as follows:
22nd November (Saturday)
8:30pm Newbies Information Night for Kota Kinabalu Group
Our Structure: Core Group & Cell Group
23rd November (Sunday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 1 Beginning with a Vision(Josephine)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 2 The Man after God's own Heart(Eddy)
12:30pm Workshop: Ministry Time
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 3 The Hands of the Leader (Intercessory Prayer)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Praise, Worship and Intercession
24th November (Monday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 4 Transformed by the Word of God(Jude)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 5 Studying the Word of God(Mark)
12:30pm Workshop: Joy of Discovery
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 6 Dei verbum and the Spiritual Senses(Adrian)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Christian Creative Arts Concert
25th November (Tuesday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 7 Basic Counseling(Veronica)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 8 Sharing Your Personal Testimony(Marcia)
12:30pm Workshop: Writing our Personal Testimony
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 9 Discipleship & Small Groups Ministry(Adrian)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Christian Creative Arts Concert
26th November (Wednesday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 1 Giving & Tithing(Veronica)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 2 Tongues & Prophecy(Eddy)
12:30pm Workshop: on Prophecy
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 3 Evangelistic Preaching(Jude)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Christian Creative Arts Concert
.. And the good news is, it's FREE(except for the food)! So join us, and see what God has instore for you in this wonderful and exciting ministry, and how you can be a part of LifeLine to help build the Kingdom Of God! Amen! :)
Hope to see you there! Take care.. :)
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hey guys :)
Today started out as another sluUuuggish.. day..woke up at 11.59am. :) .. And continued to watch "Qian Nu You Hun"(A Chinese Ghost Story) drama series.. until 3pm.. haha, i watch 7 episodes straight! Oh my, it was really addictive, although it's a bit too modernized for the theme of this drama.. ;) I strongly recommend you this series, starring Barbie/Big "S" a.k.a. ShanCai and Chen Xiao Dong! :P
After that i went to McD in BU to do some studying(yes, i did study :) ).. until about 6.30pm.. i met up with Brian and Gus, came all the way from SFX(after Mass) to picked us up for RCIA(which is in SFX, btw :P)! [Thanks Gus!!] ;) Praise the Lord, for he provides! Had a wonderful session in RCIA, we have great table members and facilitators(Aunty Amy and Albert) and of course a good speaker(Marge)! RCIA ended a little earlier than usual at about 9pm or so.. I guess it's because the facilitators was tired after they went for the retreat :)
I can't wait for the Catholic Charismatic Convention, which is on the 4th(Thursday) to the 7th(Sunday) of December because it is expected that 12,000 Catholics would be attending this event! If you have not yet register, please don't miss this opportunity because i suppose this does not come very often :) For more information, visit http://www.pmst.org/
Anyway, on the 22nd - 26th of November, LIFELINE COLLEGE & YOUNG ADULTS MINISTRY is organizing an EXCITING 5 day event["COME & SEE"] and the programme is as follows:
22nd November (Saturday)
8:30pm Newbies Information Night for Kota Kinabalu Group
Our Structure: Core Group & Cell Group
23rd November (Sunday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 1 Beginning with a Vision(Josephine)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 2 The Man after God's own Heart(Eddy)
12:30pm Workshop: Ministry Time
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 3 The Hands of the Leader (Intercessory Prayer)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Praise, Worship and Intercession
24th November (Monday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 4 Transformed by the Word of God(Jude)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 5 Studying the Word of God(Mark)
12:30pm Workshop: Joy of Discovery
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 6 Dei verbum and the Spiritual Senses(Adrian)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Christian Creative Arts Concert
25th November (Tuesday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 7 Basic Counseling(Veronica)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 8 Sharing Your Personal Testimony(Marcia)
12:30pm Workshop: Writing our Personal Testimony
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 9 Discipleship & Small Groups Ministry(Adrian)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Christian Creative Arts Concert
26th November (Wednesday)
8:30am Praise and Worship
9:00am Session 1 Giving & Tithing(Veronica)
10:30am Tea Break
11:00am Session 2 Tongues & Prophecy(Eddy)
12:30pm Workshop: on Prophecy
1:30pm Lunch
2:30pm Session 3 Evangelistic Preaching(Jude)
4:00pm Rest
7:30pm Christian Creative Arts Concert
.. And the good news is, it's FREE(except for the food)! So join us, and see what God has instore for you in this wonderful and exciting ministry, and how you can be a part of LifeLine to help build the Kingdom Of God! Amen! :)
Hope to see you there! Take care.. :)
God bless,
Celestine <><
My Duplex
Hi everyone!
It's been a long day for me today.. Woke up at noon with a draggy legs unwilling to walk far.. so yeah, had a hard time walking from my place to SS2 for the bus(#12) to SFX.. haha! On my way to the bus stop, i had Value Meal #4.. all spicy.. but doesn't taste as good the last time i had but anyway i felt quite stuff, haha.. but i couldn't bear to waste those wedges(because i love potatoes), i just left 2 pieces of half eaten chicken breasts on the place.. :P Yup, as you guys can see, i have already recovered from my sore throat but not 100% yet, so i'll have to drink lots of water to counter all the fried food i had today!
After mass, I went to have some Bak Kut Teh in Subang Jaya with my gang of church pals ;) Yes, yes.. gluttony is a sin but i just couldn't resist the temptation.. it's been a while since i had my dose of pork :) It was very filling.. oh gosh.. the pork ribs.. the aroma of the stew.. crunchy stir-fried chinese cabbage.. and of course the you-char-kuai.. OK OK.. i shall not tempt you further.. i can sense your stomach is rumbling already ;)
Next, we went to Mid-Valley to catch the 11.25pm movie "DUPLEX"(Starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore).. It was good.. not spectacular but good. Much better than expected.. :) Drew still has the sweet girl-next door look and feel, which is why she stayed on my Top 10 list! haha.. But just a note: DUPLEX, IMHO is one of those one-time only movies.. which after an hour and half of good laughs you would want to watch no more.. :) Anyway, to reassure you that the movie was good; let me just say that I did not left halfway in that movie and felt my money gone wasted; as what I did after watching LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN :P The stubborn old lady is the key to the humour in DUPLEX, so look out for her! haha..
*YaWn* I have got to go grab some sleep.. you guys take care!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Hi everyone!
It's been a long day for me today.. Woke up at noon with a draggy legs unwilling to walk far.. so yeah, had a hard time walking from my place to SS2 for the bus(#12) to SFX.. haha! On my way to the bus stop, i had Value Meal #4.. all spicy.. but doesn't taste as good the last time i had but anyway i felt quite stuff, haha.. but i couldn't bear to waste those wedges(because i love potatoes), i just left 2 pieces of half eaten chicken breasts on the place.. :P Yup, as you guys can see, i have already recovered from my sore throat but not 100% yet, so i'll have to drink lots of water to counter all the fried food i had today!
After mass, I went to have some Bak Kut Teh in Subang Jaya with my gang of church pals ;) Yes, yes.. gluttony is a sin but i just couldn't resist the temptation.. it's been a while since i had my dose of pork :) It was very filling.. oh gosh.. the pork ribs.. the aroma of the stew.. crunchy stir-fried chinese cabbage.. and of course the you-char-kuai.. OK OK.. i shall not tempt you further.. i can sense your stomach is rumbling already ;)
Next, we went to Mid-Valley to catch the 11.25pm movie "DUPLEX"(Starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore).. It was good.. not spectacular but good. Much better than expected.. :) Drew still has the sweet girl-next door look and feel, which is why she stayed on my Top 10 list! haha.. But just a note: DUPLEX, IMHO is one of those one-time only movies.. which after an hour and half of good laughs you would want to watch no more.. :) Anyway, to reassure you that the movie was good; let me just say that I did not left halfway in that movie and felt my money gone wasted; as what I did after watching LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN :P The stubborn old lady is the key to the humour in DUPLEX, so look out for her! haha..
*YaWn* I have got to go grab some sleep.. you guys take care!
God bless,
Celestine <><
Friday, November 14, 2003
My.. it's just another day ;)
Hey everybody!
I am feeling much better today.. I am so relieved that the fever has subsided lots.. and my flu bugs have left almost completely :) Praise God! Prayer really helps to be on a fast track to recovery(it's scientifically proven as a matter of fact) ;) What's left with me now is a couple of aches here and there on my body but minor ones.. but the one that's most irratating would be the neck ache which I am experiencing at this moment.. :P Anyway, I am just glad that I am on my way to recovery :)
Had my Moral Exam just about hours ago, it's not too bad.. most of the questions are on the common sense side, but don't get me wrong that the questions are easy.. :) It's simple but not easy.. it requires quite a bit of thinking.. Anyway, I believe this subject is one of the "passable" subjects.. Oh joy! I can't wait until Monday for the taste of Mechanics.. which by the way, I did not manage to revise for.. Yes, yes.. I can smell death too :P I just hope this semester's exam won't be as tough as last sem's..
On a brighter note :) I bought Chris Rice's : The Living Room Sessions from Salvation in SS2! OK OK.. i heard you say, "So?".. haha.. Well, this album is a compilation of Christmas Carols.. it's 100% piano played.. so it has this personal feel to it.. i think it's solo effort.. cause it sounds like it.. but nevertheless, it's really good! It reminds me of snow falling down on my window panes.. and the crackling of charcoal in the fireplace.. :) haha.. well, never experience real snow or seen a working fireplace anyway.. but that's how i'd imagined it to be.. ;) The conclusion: go buy it! I got it for RM23.90 only.. and if you are a Salvation Praise Club member you get discounts up to RM2.50.. that's not much of a savings but as you add up, it goes to quite a bit! :)
Anyway, pray for me for my coming exams OK? :)
God bless..
Celestine <><
Hey everybody!
I am feeling much better today.. I am so relieved that the fever has subsided lots.. and my flu bugs have left almost completely :) Praise God! Prayer really helps to be on a fast track to recovery(it's scientifically proven as a matter of fact) ;) What's left with me now is a couple of aches here and there on my body but minor ones.. but the one that's most irratating would be the neck ache which I am experiencing at this moment.. :P Anyway, I am just glad that I am on my way to recovery :)
Had my Moral Exam just about hours ago, it's not too bad.. most of the questions are on the common sense side, but don't get me wrong that the questions are easy.. :) It's simple but not easy.. it requires quite a bit of thinking.. Anyway, I believe this subject is one of the "passable" subjects.. Oh joy! I can't wait until Monday for the taste of Mechanics.. which by the way, I did not manage to revise for.. Yes, yes.. I can smell death too :P I just hope this semester's exam won't be as tough as last sem's..
On a brighter note :) I bought Chris Rice's : The Living Room Sessions from Salvation in SS2! OK OK.. i heard you say, "So?".. haha.. Well, this album is a compilation of Christmas Carols.. it's 100% piano played.. so it has this personal feel to it.. i think it's solo effort.. cause it sounds like it.. but nevertheless, it's really good! It reminds me of snow falling down on my window panes.. and the crackling of charcoal in the fireplace.. :) haha.. well, never experience real snow or seen a working fireplace anyway.. but that's how i'd imagined it to be.. ;) The conclusion: go buy it! I got it for RM23.90 only.. and if you are a Salvation Praise Club member you get discounts up to RM2.50.. that's not much of a savings but as you add up, it goes to quite a bit! :)
Anyway, pray for me for my coming exams OK? :)
God bless..
Celestine <><
Thursday, November 13, 2003
My Light
Woke up this morning and I am still feeling sick.. Body aching all over and my forehead is burning.. well.. not exactly but it's HOT! :) Praise the Lord, my flu bugs are half gone.. guess they decided to pack up and leave, so to not impose me that much, by staying in me! :) haha. Anyway.. I am feeling much better now.. after i slept for hours.. in the afternoon.. which by the way was scorching hot, and it felt like an oven even though i had the fan on! I thought I was gonna melt there and then..the agony.. :P But Panadol works magic! My pain receptors are not working right now so I am happily typing here.. until i need another dose of it.. :) and my fever has subsided.. Thanks for the prayers guys!
Oh yeah, before I forget! I would like to share something that I realised yesterday while studying Biology.. OK. Trust me, this will not be a science thesis.. but rather a spiritual one.. "How is that so?" you ask? :) Well.. I was reading something on Food Web and Food Chain.. and then it goes to say we(heterotrophs: organisms that can't make it's own food but to eat other organisms to gain energy) depend on plants(autotrophs: organisms which can make it's own food).. which is fairly true.. and it also goes to say.. the main source of energy is actually from the Sun(light) and then this struck me.. all this while we are indirectly solar powered? haha..and another thing struck me.. Jesus said... in John 8:41 ".. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, butwill have the light of life".. Oh my goodness! Before others in Jesus time knew about science, Jesus already knew that light sustains life.. and when he says he is the light of life, he is saying he gives life and indirectly meaning he is God.. :) But that's not all.. in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus tells us.. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father".. And so, Jesus tells us that whatever our actions are, make sure it glorifies the Lord! And what actions glorifies the Lord? Answer: actions that supports life.. :)
But, people living here on earth today.. sadly especially Christians, have forgotten about being the light of the world! And because of that we have things like pre/extra-marital sex, homosexual sex, abortion and a whole lot more of things going on that does not give life but rather suppresses life.. which is a whole lot contrary to what Jesus tells us to be..! One thing that is often overlooked is artificial contraception.. yes, that includes condoms, the pill, IUD, etc.. The objective of contraception is to prevent life.. and this interrupts God's plan in our lives! And sex becomes something that married couples do because of sheer pleasure.. and this makes sex leans closer to lust than to love.. where is the sanctity then? How is that an act of pro-creation? I believe the argument for them would be, "it's the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, thus preventing abortion." .. but my question is, who are we to judge which pregnancies is wanted or unwanted? And how would those individuals feel when their parents tell them.. "Well.. Jimmy.. you are an accident.." ? And if you ask.. "well.. is there biblical proof that contraception is not permitted by God?".. the answer would be yes. In Genesis 38.. Onan was to preserve his brother's line by having sex with his sister-in-law(widow) but because he knew that the decendants will not be his, he used coitus interruptus(withdrawal).. everytime he had sex with her.. and this greatly offended the Lord and the Lord killed Onan..
To have our actions being pro-creative may be a tough thing to do.. but it
is something that we must do because we are called to.. :) Our God is not a kill-joy God and because of this fact.. we know that whatever he approves/disapprove is best for us.. Everyone is called by Jesus to be pro-creative, especially Christians.. and our actions should reflect him.. :)
.. For we are the light of the world.. :)
God bless..
Celestine <><
Woke up this morning and I am still feeling sick.. Body aching all over and my forehead is burning.. well.. not exactly but it's HOT! :) Praise the Lord, my flu bugs are half gone.. guess they decided to pack up and leave, so to not impose me that much, by staying in me! :) haha. Anyway.. I am feeling much better now.. after i slept for hours.. in the afternoon.. which by the way was scorching hot, and it felt like an oven even though i had the fan on! I thought I was gonna melt there and then..the agony.. :P But Panadol works magic! My pain receptors are not working right now so I am happily typing here.. until i need another dose of it.. :) and my fever has subsided.. Thanks for the prayers guys!
Oh yeah, before I forget! I would like to share something that I realised yesterday while studying Biology.. OK. Trust me, this will not be a science thesis.. but rather a spiritual one.. "How is that so?" you ask? :) Well.. I was reading something on Food Web and Food Chain.. and then it goes to say we(heterotrophs: organisms that can't make it's own food but to eat other organisms to gain energy) depend on plants(autotrophs: organisms which can make it's own food).. which is fairly true.. and it also goes to say.. the main source of energy is actually from the Sun(light) and then this struck me.. all this while we are indirectly solar powered? haha..and another thing struck me.. Jesus said... in John 8:41 ".. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, butwill have the light of life".. Oh my goodness! Before others in Jesus time knew about science, Jesus already knew that light sustains life.. and when he says he is the light of life, he is saying he gives life and indirectly meaning he is God.. :) But that's not all.. in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus tells us.. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father".. And so, Jesus tells us that whatever our actions are, make sure it glorifies the Lord! And what actions glorifies the Lord? Answer: actions that supports life.. :)
But, people living here on earth today.. sadly especially Christians, have forgotten about being the light of the world! And because of that we have things like pre/extra-marital sex, homosexual sex, abortion and a whole lot more of things going on that does not give life but rather suppresses life.. which is a whole lot contrary to what Jesus tells us to be..! One thing that is often overlooked is artificial contraception.. yes, that includes condoms, the pill, IUD, etc.. The objective of contraception is to prevent life.. and this interrupts God's plan in our lives! And sex becomes something that married couples do because of sheer pleasure.. and this makes sex leans closer to lust than to love.. where is the sanctity then? How is that an act of pro-creation? I believe the argument for them would be, "it's the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, thus preventing abortion." .. but my question is, who are we to judge which pregnancies is wanted or unwanted? And how would those individuals feel when their parents tell them.. "Well.. Jimmy.. you are an accident.." ? And if you ask.. "well.. is there biblical proof that contraception is not permitted by God?".. the answer would be yes. In Genesis 38.. Onan was to preserve his brother's line by having sex with his sister-in-law(widow) but because he knew that the decendants will not be his, he used coitus interruptus(withdrawal).. everytime he had sex with her.. and this greatly offended the Lord and the Lord killed Onan..
To have our actions being pro-creative may be a tough thing to do.. but it
is something that we must do because we are called to.. :) Our God is not a kill-joy God and because of this fact.. we know that whatever he approves/disapprove is best for us.. Everyone is called by Jesus to be pro-creative, especially Christians.. and our actions should reflect him.. :)
.. For we are the light of the world.. :)
God bless..
Celestine <><
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