You know you have tons to be thankful for when...

Currently still reading: Prayer by Philip Yancey
Currently listening to: The Spirit Room by Michelle Branch

Listening to unconventional yet beautiful music played by an orchestra...

Unexpectedly bumping into a dear old friend you haven't seen in ages...

Going crazy in a park under the moonlit sky with the world's tallest twin-buildings as the backdrop...



& spending time with the people you have come to love despite their obvious insanity...



Oh yes, the night was almost perfect.

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"That kid has a BRIGHT future..."

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"Eh, I dare you to carry that thing & shout 'BOMB!' "

At which two security guards start walking towards us.

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"Eh, tomorrow we need to go back to Singapore already!"

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& a bonus, one of the rare times Marcel spoke more than three words in public:

"You just embarrassed me in public!"

Looking forward to June indeed. :)

Weekly Digest

These readings need to be shared.

Closer to home:

Tricia Yeoh, Research Officer to the Selangor Menteri Besar and member of the CPPS Advisory Panel (also former Amanian), was invited to speak at the Perdana Leadership Foundation 9th Discourse Series on the Separation of Powers in Malaysia.

The following is an excerpt from her speech. Do click on the link for the entire transcript. She gives a detailed analysis on the topic, aptly using the current Perak situation as an example.

“Restoring Institutional Strength and Separation of Powers”

Wednesday, 6^th May 2009, Perdana Leadership Foundation 9th Discourse Series, Putrajaya

Tricia Yeoh

"....Tunku Abdul Rahman on 16^th September 1963, the day Malaysia was formed, said, “Let us always remember that the Malayan Union was formed after many difficulties during a long period of national Emergency, yet its multi-racial society emerged, endured and survived as a successful and progressive nation, a true democracy and an example to the world of harmony and tolerance.” Malaysia’s formation was complicated by a host of factors: citizenship, cultural heritage, the Emergency, ethnicity, religion and so on. Despite this, and at the end of it all, our achievement should have been a true and healthy democracy; one where we are debating about the finer points of the rule of law and separation of powers, and not whether it exists or not. The rule of law simply means that no one is above the law. Not you. Or the police. Or the judges. Or even the Prime Minister. And in some cases even royalty. Everyone of us are supposed to be equal before the law..."

Click to read the whole article

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On church:

The next two articles were found on Boundless. I thought parts of it gave much-needed reminders on how a church should be & what roles we should play.

Again, these are only excerpts. The full articles should be read in order to get the whole picture.

"The body demonstrated submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

This one seems obvious, but a church that is consistently seeking out the agenda of Christ above its own is rare. And this goes beyond correct theology.

"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior," Ephesians 5:23 says. Just as the submission of a wife to her husband is difficult, the church yielding to Christ also takes daily effort. A church must constantly be checking its motives and bringing itself under Christ's authority."

Click to read whole article

This other article was written with America in mind - but I do think some of it are applicable to the rest of us as well.

"Maybe I'm just too simpleminded to grasp the full issue here, but it seems to me that the government usually steps in to help only when traditional agents — families, communities and churches — fail to do their part. Feeding the hungry, helping the poor, healing the sick, housing the homeless, comforting those who hurt — these are the privileges and duties of our faith. At least Jesus thinks so, and he ought to know.

Maybe if Christians did what Jesus told us, we could eliminate some of the taxes we pay to fund the "ministry" the government does in our shameful absence."

Click to read whole article

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& on a global view:

A thought-provoking series of photos from I-Heart.

Do these people really deserve this? Just because of a few bad choices they made in the past? Aren't we all humans who deserve a second chance to actually live like humans?

Think about it.


Click for full image


I found this next article, originally published in New York Times, featured on I Heart.

Did you know? Because in our safe, comfortable suburban lives, we sometimes forget that this things happen at our doorsteps.

"Prostitution in America isn’t as brutal as it is in, say, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Cambodia and Malaysia (where young girls are routinely kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured by brothel owners, occasionally even killed)."

*bolded word added for emphasise. Not bolded in original article

Click to read the whole article


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& that brought us full circle, back to home.

You know that you need to wake up & do something when...

You know how you always thought of doing community service? How it'd be good to go visit an orphanage some day, help the less fortunate & so on?

I wonder why. Why did we grow up with those thoughts? I don't think I've ever met anyone who would, admittedly, say that they hate the idea of doing something good for charity. Or maybe social conditioning makes them lie, for fear of other people brandishing them as "heartless".

If ever there was a concert in which proceeds were to go to charity, or maybe a charity carnival, or charity sale, people who are involved in it will probably say to themselves, "I did something for charity," forgetting the possibility that perhaps, if there was no 'charity' label attached to it, they would still have gone anyway, just to enjoy themselves.

Perhaps it's our way of purging our own conscience - yes, I did my little bit for mankind.

Then we go on with our lives as if there aren't a million other people out there suffering, or starving, or dying...

The whole charity thing is always at the back of our minds, isn't it? We think it'd be cool to go volunteer somewhere or sponsor a child or something.

The question is, what next? Do we actually go ahead & carry our talk into action?

Social advocates are becoming the 'in' thing now. Loving the environment makes you 'hip' nowadays. Just look at the number of "Save The Environment" shirts (or those with similar themes).

I'm not dismissing them as fake or anything. It's possible that they really do care & genuinely want to do something for the world. But then life & its daily routine takes over, & you know how it's like...

I know. I used to be like that too. But increasingly this year, I've been finding that I'm growing to have more compassion for these less fortunate people. I'm beginning to ask myself again & again, "What am I doing to help them?". The whole social justice thing isn't just a "cool thing to try out" anymore, it's actually become something that is getting close to my heart.

This change in me is so cool, it's scary.

I know where the influence comes from. A combination of Hillsong United's I Heart Revolution, Brooke Fraser's Albertine, Switchfoot's Habitat For Humanity, Leslie Ludy's Set Apart Femininity, Philip Yancey's Prayer...

I don't know where God is leading me with this. It's still too early to come to conclusions.

But I'm excited.

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Just wanted to share this that I found on Switchfoot's MySpace blog. Didn't expect myself to end up writing all that up there.

Do read the blog, it's inspiring.

"We are Hosea's wife, we are squandering this life
Using people like ladders & words like lies
If we've eyes to see, if we've ears to hear..."

- Hosea's Wife, Brooke Fraser

You know we desperately need to pray when...

Currently reading: Prayer by Philip Yancey
Currently listening to: You're Still You by The Three Kuchingites

Tonight, my church meets to pray about the issue that has embroiled us for the past half-year. I don't claim to know all the facts; I definitely have heard some of the speculations, but one thing that is certain - the church is facing the possibility of losing our license under the Registrar of Societies in Malaysia.

For a long time, I chose to be silent about this. I didn't know the exact details of the whole situation & I felt that I wasn't in the position to pass opinions or discuss the issue when I only had grapevine news to rely on. The only black-&-white source I had seen couldn't be trusted - it was issued by the grieving party & thus biased.

Yes, we prayed. We understood the gravity of the situation - but perhaps we fell lax a bit, thinking that the issue would eventually solve itself out because after all, it has happened many times before, hasn't it? Different pastor, different scenario, but ultimately the same implication. The senior pastor leaves, a new one comes in. & the cycle repeats itself.

We never really do learn our lesson, do we? & perhaps this is God's way of telling us "This is the final straw. I will not tolerate your unbelief any longer! Clean your act together & start behaving like a real church!"

Because there isn't any other way to put it.

So many of what has happened throughout the past few months, how some of us have acted, are direct contradictions to Jesus' second most important teaching - "Love your neighbour as yourself".

& while doing devotion today, I came across these verses:

1 Corinthians 6:1-8

Lawsuits Among Believers

"¹If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? ²Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! ⁵I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? ⁶But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!

⁷The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers."

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Could the Bible get any clearer?

& that was when I realised, I cannot hold my silence any longer, or I will risk becoming lukewarm.

To the Church of FBC,

Please, stop. I will present no fancy arguments of any sort, but a simple reference to how the early church conducted themselves. It is written in Acts 2:42-47 that the early believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, & to prayer, selling their possessions & goods to share with those in need. Further on in Acts 11 & 15, disputes are resolved in front of church leaders, with everyone given the chance to explain themselves. When Barnabas & Paul could not in a short time come to an agreement, they parted company, but only because they wanted to continue to do the work of God without wasting any more time.

We need to ask ourselves, "Why does the church exist?" An obvious question, it may seem. To be salt & light to the world. To show God's love to the world. To be His hands & feet in this fallen world. (& also the more minor but still important role of encouraging other believers).

With these answers comes the even more obvious fact that every second spent contending over this issue is a precious second lost not being these things. How long more are we going to bicker like little children whilst people out there die? Our time & energy could be better employed in helping those who are suffering out there rather than finding fault amongst ourselves.

& if that still didn't convince you over the futility of this fiasco, let me tell you this:

You might say that it's complicated, that a young girl like me could not possibly comprehend the extent of the many factors that come into play, that it's easier said than done, that I'm being naive, that we all mean well, really, that it's all Satan's fault, not ours, that we're already trying our best but it's just not working out...

Well, to me, it's as simple as this -

Jesus died to save us, & this is how we repay Him?