Project GPFC

Project Report #41 - Stand By Me

2010-10-01T17:09:00.004+08:00

It’s Friday again! Always look forward to the weekends because I know tonight there’s cell group and Sunday is coming up soon. I’m always very excited to see and experience what God has in store for us. We just celebrated our church 4th Anniversary! Harvest Generation Church is now 4 years old!

Last week at our Breakthrough Service, we had a breakthrough attendance for a normal weekend service; 109 people came! Then in the night, at our Anniversary Celebration Dinner, we had about 112 people! God has been so faithful to us as a church, we are really growing!

This month has been a very packed month for all of us, events after events, visiting our members, bible-study classes and a lot more that’s going on. I made a big mistake by neglecting my health in the heat of getting everything done; hence I was down with a viral infection and fever for 2 days. I literally couldn’t even walk straight without having ‘drum solos’ in my head.

Praise God, I’m completely healed now. It's a hard lesson I had to learn; despite being busy with everything, making time for people, I have to also learn to make time to keep myself healthy. I cannot be ignorant and arrogant about my health, I’m no ironman. It’s my responsibility to take care of the people under me and myself as well.

Next week some of us guys will be following Pastor Ryan to Penang again. This time we’ll be visiting City Harvest Church Penang because Rev Kong Hee will be doing a special service there. It’s very exciting and such a privilege to go see Pastor Kong preach in person again.

I have to admit that I was reluctant to go when Pastor Ryan asked me to follow him. You can say that I lacked faith because I’m not exactly in the best financial state now to travel. But after a day of just complaining and praying to God in my solitude, the Holy Spirit just convicted my heart to just submit and align myself to Pastor Ryan’s leadership.

I learned that submitting and aligning myself is not about being a ‘Yes’ man, it’s not about throwing my brains out and stop thinking, it’s not about giving up my dreams and vision, but it is about honoring the authority that God has placed on Pastor over my life. There must be something that Pastor wants me to catch; I know he won't ask me to do anything that will put me in a position of loss.

Obedience is greater than Sacrifice; Obedience is always much harder that Sacrifice. Why? Because sacrifice is by choice but obedience challenges your will and comfort.

Pastor Ryan is most anointed man in Harvest Generation Church. If I want to build this church, I must align myself with Pastor Ryan; to trust the anointing, leadership, guidance and authority of this man that God has placed as the Senior Pastor of this church. I know through this, my life will grow in every aspect. Discipleship is ‘strength under control’; There’s no point having strength, talents and abilities when there’s no control and direction.

I love my Pastor and I know God is gonna bring us as a church and individually from faith to faith, strength to strength and glory to glory through this man. Growth is never comfortable, progress always requires effort; Only dead things don’t grow and are motionless. Our church is ALIVE!

Tomorrow evening, we’ll be having a special Heart to Heart Talk with Hannah Yeoh, the State Assemblymen of Subang Jaya district. She’s one of the person I really admire; He tenacity in building an honest and honorable government in our country, yet not neglecting her commitment to her family and her service to her church. What a great testimony!

That’s all I have for today, I hope all of you will have a great weekend ahead! Last note, on behalf of Harvest Generaton Church, our deepest condolences to Whay Chiat and his family for the passing-on of his father. Our prayers are with Whay Chiat and his family.

Project Report #40 - Speak Up

2010-09-06T12:05:00.007+08:00

Another Monday, the very day that many people finds it a dread to start off. Mondays are days where I sometimes wonder if I am supposed to remain in this very mundane job. After having a great Sunday at church doing ministry, I always have to remind myself that Mondays are my time of ministry too; Ministry at the marketplace.

Some of us guy leaders went to Penang two weeks back to minister with Pastor Ryan in a campus camp and also to throw Calvin a bachelor party. We got to meet-up with Pastor Saras and some of his staff at his office. He showed us around his church premise, City Harvest Church Penang. It was quite amazing, simple and effective how they structure their office and their main hall.

In the evening, Pastor Saras took us to Hard Rock Hotel, Penang for dinner. I tell you, it was nostalgia to me because I haven’t had Hard Rock Café burgers in ages! It is still the BEST! We guys had a great time just eating, enjoying the music and chilling out, nothing spiritual =) By the way, the lead female singer for the night was really HOT STUFF! So cun voice!

When you put a few crazy guys together who have been serving in church together for a long time, you’re bound to have craziness all around. We joked about the stupidest things, talked about a lot of deep stuff, we ate and ate, laughed and laughed, made formal shirts and suit for the wedding; It was such a great time to relax after a long year of tireless working. Every morning after our personal devotion, we start our craziness all over again! This shows that leaders know how to work hard and play hard as well =)

We had the privilege to host Pastor Saras here in Subang Jaya and he did an illustrated sermon in our church two Sundays back entitled ‘Speak To Your Future’. The sermon covers mainly on the life of Jacob, in the Bible, as he progressed on in his life after he left his father’s house. We had a record breakthrough turn up of 110 people in our church! Praise God! We’ve been praying as a church that we will see 100 people in our church by the end of August and God blessed us with 10% more! Many lives were touched during the service and there were salvations!

Pastor Saras came with this family; his wife Pastor Felina and his 2 daughters. Besides just hanging out and having fun with him, he taught us a lot of biblical principles on church building and on really taking care of our Senior Pastor. I know that our mindsets have to be challenged and broken for us to move to another level. We have to progress together with the Holy Spirit.

We had a great time in church yesterday as well, we had 71 people in our church! Praise God for the new people that He brought in. It’s really exciting to build church and see lives being touched and changed. Pastor Ryan spoke on the Power of Words; how words spoken into our lives by ourselves and by others can have a major impact on us. Words were first meant for creation therefore what we speak into our lives as well as other people’s lives create either a positive or a negative product.

Pastor Ryan said this one thing that was really amazing, “If we think that our children are a gift from God, why do we speak so ill about them?” It invoked something in my heart that typically Asians always speak ill of people that they treasure the most and it’s still a mystery on why this is so. I grew up in an environment where people kept saying “Sure or not? You can meh? You that good meh?” when I share with them of what I want to achieve in life. Thus these things have engrave in me to respond others in that way as well when they tell me their dreams, sometimes unknowingly.

Constantly, I have to remind myself to not bring to the present the demons that have been sown in my life in the past. Now that I’m leading a cell, I constantly have to watch what I sow in their lives through my words, constantly questioning myself on what I want to see when I say something to them, what do I want to create in their lives and their future. I’m not perfect, sometimes I do say the wrong thing out of anger or frustration, but I’m working and believing that I will be better.

Pastor Saras said “Speak to You Future” and Pastor Ryan reinforced it in us by saying “Words can create; speak positively to create a positive environment!”. Words has such tremendous power and it is our responsibility to use it well. Even the world knows it “With great power comes great responsibility” – Uncle Ben, Spiderman. What am I doing with my words as a believer of the Most High God?

It’s wrong to speak the wrong things, it is also wrong to not speak at all when you know you’re supposed to. Being quiet doesn’t change anything if we’re going through a crisis in our lives. Yes, the Bible said ONCE that we ought to "Be still and know that I'm God” but that’s not an excuse to stay quite. We have to learn to speak out in faith to our lives, our situations, our future. There’s no such thing as a wordless prayer, even when we speak in tongues we are speaking mysteries that only God understands, it’s the language of the Spirit.

I’ve shared this before that the devil will do everything possible to keep us quiet when we’re down because even he knows the power of the spoken word. I’m teaching myself and my cell people to speak out in faith what they want to see in their lives, in their situations. Use the power given to us to create a positive outcome for our lives and the lives of others. Pray! Pray! Pray!

Carol’s 23rd birthday just passed, we had an awesome time celebrating with her family over the weekend. I bought her an iPad which she was so looking forward to have. I believe that it would really help her in her ministry as well as help her de-stress with the mindless games it can cater for. I pray and believe that this year will be a year of new levels for her in every aspect of her life; God’s going to elevate her to heights that would be beyond our expectation. I hope to celebrate with her many, many more birthdays to come.

That’s all I have for you this time round, hope you all have a great start to a new week. I’m expecting this week to be great! Speaking to my future and letting my words create a positive environment! God bless!

Project Report #39 - Crash

2010-08-25T13:08:00.007+08:00

It's Wednesday, the last day of this working week for me as I will be heading off to Penang with Ps Ryan and some of the Harvest Generation guy leaders for a ministry trip come Calvin’s Bachelor Party. Really looking forward for this trip after so long of not having a break from our very hectic lifestyle.

Much has happened within just this week itself, last Friday we all had a great time at cell learning and discussion what God’s dream is all about; what is the definition of a selfish dream and what is the definition of a God given dream? The presence of God was so strong during cell that even when we were worshipping, people started tearing already. Everyone one of us in I1 Cell, as well as the other cells, really responded well and received a lot through the session.

Then came Saturday, I followed Ps Ryan and Chris down to Singapore for a day trip to look for the iPad. We were all dead tired because of the stretching we had to take on the previous week; we took turns to drive and rest. It was rather amusing that we all knew how to get around by MTR but have no idea on how to drive around Singapore. Thankfully, with Ps Ryan kept telling us “go straight only”, we manage to locate the place where we could buy the iPad.

Just a little sharing of why we were willing to go all the way down to Singapore just to buy Ps Ryan the iPad. We believe in really taking care of the man of God, to cater to all his needs as we’re able to, so that he would be able to do his job well as the pastor of our church. We will do everything in our capability to unsure that his needs are all met so that he will not be distracted by lack, hence it will make him more effective and productive as our discipler and pastor. I personally believe the principle that if you honour, bless and take care of the man of God, God will definitely add on back to us so much more.

Sunday morning came, we were all prepared and excited to have a great service and God really moved powerfully. Pastor spoke on a very timely topic on ‘Letting Go of Our Past’. That message struck me right smack into my heart because I know I was still holding on to old mindsets that has been really slowing me down in my progress.

It has been quite a long time since we’ve had altar call in our Sunday services, but Ps Ryan opened up the altar for people to come up and be prayed for. When Ps Ryan and the leadership start laying hands on the people, the power of God just moved. A lot of the people were just crying their eyes out because God was working in their lives. It was just totally awesome, the presence of God was so strong in the hall.

After service, my cell group, I1 Cell, and S1 Cell combined for lunch. We ate at this moderate standard Pan Mee shop in SS15, which I will never EVER go back there again if I had a choice. Putting the moderate food aside, the company was great, we had a very good time chatting and chilling with each other. One of my cell members was very quick to run to the counter to pay for my meal, so proud of my cell for catching the spirit of generosity.

After lunch, we drove back to church for out Easter Play rehearsal. While driving back we were stuck at Persiaran Murni, USJ area. I was wondering why was there such a bad jam in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. As I inched my car forward closer to the traffic lights, I saw a car on its side. My first thought was, it’s just another accident. Then when I saw the people that were climbing out of the wreckage, I recognized one of the victim’s clothing. Then it struck me, that was Bethany, a member of our church, who just climbed out of the vehicle’s side window and that vehicle is John Sim’s Avanza!

I quickly overtook the cars infront of me, honking my way through, parked my car at the side and rushed to the scene. I saw a lot of blood everywhere, on the road and around the vehicle. Then I saw John Sim, with a bleeding elbow, standing at the side of the vehicle making sure that every passenger that came out of the wreckage was accounted for. Further down, sitting down on the curb, was a girl bleeding very profusely. When I went over to her, I realized it was Eunice! Passersby were all helping to stop the bleeding from her head, hand and foot. It was a very scary sight!

I quickly took some bandages and wrapped up her wounds, carried her to my car and sent her straight to SJMC with Amanda. In the car, it was amazing that although Eunice was still in shock, she asked me to pray for her and started speaking in tongues and singing to God. So I prayed for her while driving like a madman rushing to the hospital.

When we arrived at SJMC, the nurses really did a good job in responding to her emergency. Thank God that the ER was not packed with people. They tended to her wounds rather swiftly. After many hours of treating, X-Ray and stitching up her wounds, I really praise God that although it was a really terrible accident, she suffered only superficial wounds.

Every single person that was involved in the accident only had cuts and bruises, none of them broke any bones, none were seriously injured. If you were to have seen the condition of the car, you will be amazed on how God has really protected every single one of them.

It was very much later that I learnt that Eunice’s head was pinned under the vehicle when it was lying on its side. The part of the car that was over her head was twisted to an angle where it precisely cleared her head. If that piece of metal didn’t bend, her head would’ve been crushed under the weight of the vehicle. Our God is so awesome to preserve her life!

Priscilla came to SJMC as well to get the cut on her arm stitched up, John Sim had to go through 2 minor surgeries to get the glass fragments out from his elbow. Praise God that both of them went through all the treatments necessary without any complications. Now, every one of them are resting and recovering in their respective homes.

As church is growing, I know that the enemy is working very hard to deter and distract us to throw us off course. Through this incident, I’ve learnt not to take prayers for granted. We must always be constantly praying for our Pastor, leaders and cell members for God’s favour and protection. Prayer precedes every great thing and it also keeps the enemy at bay. Let’s grow together in our level of faith by praying for our church every day.

Other things that happened recently, Tay, a medical student from IMU that has been attending our church, has just officially received Christ as his personal Lord and Savior two Sundays back! Praise God! I’ve been doing Bible study with him and I can really see God working in his heart. I’m believing that I1 Cell will grow to 20 people by the end of this year.

That’s all the time I have now. Hope you all have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Tomorrow I’ll be on my vacation in Penang! WooHoo! This weekend, we’re having a Big Day on Sunday with Ps Saras Bany from CHC Penang! It’s gonna be such a power-packed weekend, can’t wait! Don’t miss out ya! Come to Harvest Generation Church this Sunday and have the experience of your life!

Project Report #38 - Despicable Me

2010-08-13T16:19:00.011+08:00

It’s another Friday again, another week has gone past just like that. It has very eventful though, got to spend quite a lot of time with our dear friends of the church, Rev T. T. Quah and Rev Maudrenne. They’re really been a blessing to us as a church, as well as to me personally as well.

What Rev. T. T. Quah spoke in church last week really challenged our faith, to really do a thorough checking on our belief in Christ. Many people have really mistaken that just believing in Christ would mean that we’re saved. Most do not pay attention the level of believing in Christ. The Bible clearly states that even the demons believe in Christ, but does that mean the demons are saved too?

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. Even people who are moving powerfully in their ministries, the Bible states that some of them may not even be able to enter heaven. - James 2:18-19

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ – Matthew 7:21-23

All these people mentioned above, who can prophecy, can do deliverance, can do mighty miracles, even they stand a chance of not entering heaven. Isn’t that so puzzling? So what does it really take to really be saved?

Rev. T. T. Quah explained that grace is free, Jesus died for our sins to redeem us from sin, many of us know that. But how many of us wonder the significance of the Resurrection? We’re usually always stuck at the free gift of grace and forgiveness, but salvation is not just about that. Through the death of Jesus, we are forgiven of our sin, but through the resurrection of Jesus, we’ve given the freedom to choose to live our lives in accordance to God’s will.

Don Moen, a great Christian song writer said this in of his articles on worship, “God will not anoint who we want to be, He anoints who we are”. We must understand that through God, we are given the chance to live life fulfilling the very purpose of why we are made, we don’t have to live day by day trying to become someone else, but the decision is still ours to make.

Grace is free because Jesus paid for it through His death without us having to lift a finger, all we have to do is confess that we believe in Him, but Living for God has a price. As believers, we cannot be stuck at the ‘Grace’ state forever, as we mature we must grow into living our lives for God. The highest expression of one’s belief is shown through his life. What we really believe will always be evidently seen in our everyday life.

Every day I drive my car because I believe that it can take me from one place to another fast, every day I put on my shoes before I go out because I believe that it will protect my feet from getting injured, every day I wear my glasses because I believe that it will correct my vision to help me see clearly, every day I make effort to go see Carol because I believe that I will definitely have a good time spent with her.

So what we truly believe in will definitely be expressed through our actions in our everyday life. How much do we believe in God that we will read His Word every day, pray every day and live our lives according to His will every day?

Some people just believe but they just are not assured of it. Example, if I’m scared of flying, I may believe that the plane can take me from country to another safely, but I’m not assured. Another good example, being overweight I may believe that having a good diet will give me better health, but I’m not assured enough to actually live out that lifestyle. The thing that hit me hardest is that I do believe in God, but am I assured in God enough to live it out? How much do I believe in God that I would trust everything I have and my life itself to Him?

It’s a good heart-check for someone as despicable as me can be saved by His grace without me having to do pay anything, and because I believe I'm saved, I now also am assured in Him. The fruit of this assurance is that I’m more excited about God and I’m more passionate about doing what I do for God. Belief with no actions is dead, nothing will happen. The power of our believe coupled with actions, be it with or without God, will always produce something. Can you imagine what we can produce if the power of our belief, with actions, is coupled with God’s awesome power?

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. . - James 2:14-17

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? – James 2:20-25

Let’s learn to live our lives as an expression of our belief in Him. We all know that God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, that He has thought about us to prosper us is and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future. So what is stopping us from living it all out for Him? The decision is up to us, make the right choice today.

This week has been awesome, we had our very first Cell Harvest, my 1I Cell group had to join with the S1 Cell group because most of my cell people were back in their hometowns. Nevertheless, we had 28 people who turned up! Praise God! We got to meet a lot of awesome new people, Grace and I got the opportunity to share our testimonies of God’s faithfulness. I believe God really touched the hearts of the people; the seed has been sown, now we have to continue to reach out to them and pray for them. I believe one day, they will receive Christ and join our church =)

I had the opportunity to play bowling twice with Rev T.T. Quah, Ps Ryan and a few Harvest Generation leaders. It was not just about playing bowling for having fun sake, although that is really important, but even through these little times spent, I have caught so many principles from these awesome people.

Really excited about this coming weekend for Cell and Church service, I know God has prepared something great for us to receive. For this Sunday, if you’re looking for a church to come or have not been to church before, come visit us at Harvest Generation Church. That’s all I have for you this week, till next time, God bless!

Project Report #37 - My Inception

2010-08-05T13:15:00.021+08:00

Hi people, it’s great to be able to blog again. My working hours are pretty much back to normal now after many months of working over the human threshold. Really thank God for sustaining me through all those late nights of merciless tasks but now things are looking a lot better for my current project.

The past month has been a both exciting yet challenging for me in almost every aspect of my life. Church has really grown to another level in terms of the quality as well as the quantity. We’re seeing a lot of potential people coming and joining our church. The leadership of the church is getting tighter, we’re more united now than ever before because things are getting so much clearer for each of individually as well as corporately.

In my cell group, I1 Cell, which comprises mainly of medical students, I can see tremendous growth in every one of my members. They’ve really caught what it means to be hearers and doers of the Word of God. Even in times of challenges, I am so encourage that most of their responses have shifted from being negative to speaking the positive promises of God.

Sometimes when I doubt my own capability to lead them, the Holy Spirit constantly reminds me of the changes that He has done in every one of my cell members’ lives, that encourages me to press on and further depend on Him

I’m now about to embark on the biggest decision of my life thus far, it will definitely change my life and the lives of the people around me forever. My heart is bounding in excitement, with a little mix of fear and uncertainty, but definitely having the peace that this is the right decision to make. The only discouragement right now is that I know financially I’m not able to support this decision yet.

Many times I look at my circumstances and wonder, “Will I ever be delivered from not having enough?”. I’ve been working for my company for almost 4 years now and still have not seen a promotion or significant increments. Yes, God has indeed blessed be with many things that I desire, many people look at what I have and always think that I’m from a rich family that can afford anything, few understand that almost every good thing I have was a blessing in which I did not need to spend a single cent on.

I’ve been reading this book by Rev. Dr. Cho Yoggi called ‘The 4th Dimension’. This is a really good book! It really has thought me to look at my situations in another aspect. Before any breakthrough or miracle can happen in my life, I have to first learn to dream it, build faith to believe it and confess it. Evert prayer must begin with a dream, we have to first learn to visualize what we desire in our spirit.

So when I’m down and discouraged looking at my current financial state, I spend a lot of time praying in the spirit to edify myself, then focus on the all the things God has provided for me, thanking Him for every single blessing as far as my mind allows me to remember. Finally, I start visualizing that I am no longer financially in lack.

When I’m visualizing, I dream of the one day I’m able to write cheques of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions, and place it in the offering bag in church. I dream of having the best, most grand wedding for Carol. I dream of being able to afford a nice house which both Carol and I can settle in after marriage and build our family. I dream of buying a nice white BMW 5 Series to chauffer my beautiful wife-to-be and kids-to-come. I dream of setting up a home recording studio with state-of-the-art equipments and musical instruments. These dreams, which are so defined and specific in its every detail, may not have materialized yet, but it encourages my spirit because I know that it’s not impossible with God.

After I’m done visualizing, I start praying and confessing. This has never failed to lift my spirit because it reminds me, in my heart and spirit, that God has been in control in my past, He is in control now, and He will still be in control in my future. God has never failed, is not failing, and will never fail to provide.

There are a lot of things that are written in Rev. Dr. Yoggi Cho’s book that has tremendous truth to it, but the few things I’ve caught is summarized in the points below:

Have more of the Holy Spirit & the Word of God in my life
Always have an attitude of thanksgiving to God
Visualize in specific detail about the breakthroughs that I desire
Confess the breakthroughs with my mouth in prayer, never staying silent.

So now, every time I’m feeling defeated and bogged down by my circumstances, I do the 4 things stated above. I particularly love point 4 because when we pray, we use words, and in the Bible, in the very beginning of time, the first mention of the spoken word is for creation.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day - Genesis 1:1-3

This revelation dawned upon me when Pastor Ryan mentioned in one of his messages, Rev. Dr. Kong Hee said the same thing in one of his service videos, and Rev. Dr. Cho Yonggi said the same thing as well in Asia Conference 2010. With this revelation, the portion of scripture below made more sense to me.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." – Matthew 21:21

Having faith alone will not do anything if we do not confess it with words. The devil knows that there's power in words. He can never take away your faith, but he will try his best in every way possible to keep you silent. As long as we don’t pray and confess, no matter how big your faith is, nothing will happen.

Therefore, in any situation, I’ve learned never to stay silent, keep praying, keep confessing God’s promises. Through faith, coupled with specific and persistent prayers, we’re creating our breakthrough in the spiritual realm (the 4th dimension), which will directly influence our physical realm (the 3rd dimension). The Bible clearly says that all things seen were not created by the things which are visible, and words are invisible.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. - Hebrews 11:3

My situation has not changed much, sometimes with all the credit card bills, petrol expenses, highway toll expenses, education loan repayments and other monthly commitments, it can be very overwhelming. There's always temptations to just stay silent and sulk through it... but I constantly have to discipline myself to continue to pray in the spirit, give thanks to God, visualize my breakthrough and confess God’s blessings! I believe in time, my financial lack will be totally eradicated. I love this quote by Pastor Ryan; "Poor now... but not poor forever".

Hope this sharing has encouraged you as much it has encouraged me, just blogging this really lifted my spirit. Always remember that with God in us, impossible is never forever. It’s gonna be an exciting journey ahead!

The weekend’s is coming! I am super excited about the Young Adults Brunch on Saturday afternoon at Empire Hotel, Ministry in CBC PJ on Saturday evening with Pastor Ryan, Sunday Service with Rev. T. T. Quah and Cell Harvest on Sunday evening with S1 Cell and I1 Cell combined. Till next time, God bless!

Project Report #36 - 7 Tenants of Prosperity

2010-06-17T12:56:00.023+08:00

Hey people, it’s been awhile since I updated my blog. So much has happened in the past one year that has really blew me away in terms of church, my career as well as my own personal life. Testimonies after testimonies kept pouring into my life, God is indeed so faithful.

Let me begin by updating you on what has happened in December of 2009, Harvest Generation had it’s first Christmas play and we had a crowd of 220 over people over 2 days of the play, this is excluding the number of the cast and crew. Really praise God that our vision for last year came to past, that we will see 200 people in our church.

After Christmas, I was invited to go on a Singapore trip with my girlfriend, Carol and her family. Weeks before the trip, around Christmas time, her parents gave a very expensive facial pore cleanser thingy and a small silver paper box, which I found a bit weird at first. When I opened it up on Christmas Day, there was a large sum of Singapore Dollars in the box. The money was solely for me to spend on shopping in Singapore. Again, I was left speechless.

So we went down to Singapore, stayed in the awesome Hilton Hotel at Orchard road, and spent a few days there walking in EVERY mall there was there. We ate at really awesome places and I had the privilege to meet-up with Carol’s aunt and her family. They were really awesome and hospitable people. At the end of the trip, I manage to buy not one, but two Ed Hardy t-shirts at the Ed Hardy boutique in Heeren mall! It was my first time buying Ed Hardy for myself, breakthrough! We spent the New Year’s there, it was such a great way to end the year 2009, relaxing and having fun. This is my first testimony in 2010 of God’s providence, but it doesn’t stop there.

Right after New Year, after the Singapore trip in January 2010, I got news that a couple who was very close to me wanted to bless me with a Blackberry. I tell you, I was astounded! About a year or so back, when Chris got his Blackberry, I immediately fell in love with it. It was such an awesome tool to use to communicate with people, manage my schedules and surfing the net without limit. So I just turned over to my lovely girlfriend, Carol, and just told her, “I believe we will have this one day, together”, I prayed, and about a year later, it happened! So now, Carol and 1 are proud owners of the new Blackberry Bold 9700, Praise God! This is the second testimony of year 2010 for me, but it doesn’t stop there either.

The first few weeks of working in the New Year, my boss gathered the entire department to give us an annual summary of our company’s performance for the year of 2009. He said our company really did not do well enough, that we actually loss in the first half of the year. But thankfully, at the second half, our company managed to make enough to just cover the loss with hairline profits.

Due to this, we as employees were all very disappointed and de-motivated when our boss announced that there will be no promotions, raise and even bonus for 2009. Then at the end of the meeting he announced that the company however wants to honour five employees for outstanding achievement by giving them a pay rise. Then he started calling out the names one by one, after he called out the forth name, I was thinking to myself “Lord, could the next person be me?”. Then my boss turned and smiled at me… and he called my name! I got an 11% pay rise despite our company’s poor financial performance! Praise God! This is my third testimony of God’s providence, but again, it doesn’t stop there.

February, Chinese New Year came, I was just doing what I do every year, buy stuff for Carol’s family, for Ps Ryan’s family and for some of my friends that I wanted to visit. At every visitation, in my mind I was not even thinking about how much the ‘ang paus’ would be, because every year, I really don’t expect much. A little of my ‘ang pau’ history, I was never brought up in an environment where I’ve gotten few hundred in a single ‘ang pau’ pack before, and accumulatively it has never surpassed RM500 in total collection. That’s why I didn’t expect much. But this year, God broke my mindset.

As I visited every single family that invited me to their house or for dinner, they gave me ‘ang pau’ amounts in a single pack that just blew me away. Compare to the things I bought for them, my stuff seemed like nothing! It really taught me a lesson, if you are faithful to sow and not hold back from blessing people, God will definitely bless you back with so much more. Ps Ryan has always told us to be generous because it really attracts God’s favour and blessings, and really, I am experiencing it now! This is my forth testimony of God’s providence, but yet again doesn’t stop there either.

Let move on to the month of May, we had the privilege of having Ps Saras, from City Harvest Church Penang, in our church to speak to us. Ps Ryan, Chris and I had the privilege of chauffeuring him and his team around during their stay here, brought them to Pyramid to do some shopping. Seeing how Ps Saras can afford to have really expensive things, it really broke my ‘rigid’ mindset that day that God’s people can have the best things in life as well. It just made it so much clearer what Ps Ryan and Rev T. T. Quah has been teaching us, that serving God full-time doesn’t mean you have to live a second-class lifestyle.

The Holy Spirit used Ps Saras in such a powerful way over just one weekend, the direction of the church was made so much clearer. Ps Ryan and the leaders as well as the member were all spurred to bring church to another level. Now the church is more united and together than ever before, we’re expecting more that what we did before. We are all praying and believing that we will hit 100 members by August of 2010, I know in my spirit that this can happen. Building church is really exciting!

In the last week of May, we as a leadership of Harvest Generation Church, went down to Singapore to attend Asia Conference organized and hosted by City Harvest Church. We had the privilege to listen to great men of God speak, people like Rev. Dr. Cho Yonggi, Dr Reinhard Bonnke, Dr. A.R. Bernard, Dr. Phil Pringle, Dr Lee Young-Hoon, John Avanzini, Steve Munsey and of course Rev. Dr. Kong Hee himself. Our spirits were all so drawn towards what God had to say through them.

Before the trip I told Carol, “When we go down to Singapore, let’s break our mindset and buy something nice from one of Rev. Dr. Kong Hee’s boutiques, be it Ed Hardy, Christian Audigier or whatever”. So she happily agreed. We took out some money from our wedding savings and converted it over to Singapore Dollars.

When we were at the conference, the money we brought was not spent on buying stuff. At every session, speakers like John Avanzini kept on challenging the people give an offering beyond even what we can afford. Me and Carol were very deeply convicted in our hearts, so we gave amounts that we’ve never given before. It was difficult, but it was a breakthrough for us. Every other leader were also challenged to sow, and they did!

God is no man’s debtor, even as we sowed, God supplied all our needs and even our wants! At the end of the trip, although we sowed almost all our money into the offering during the conference, Carol came back to Malaysia with an Ed Hardy top, a pair of Laguna Beach jeans and a pair of Miss Me jeans. I came back with an Ed Hardy t-shirt and 2 Christian Audigier t-shirts. We paid for everything without owing anybody or and credit card any money, and we’re not living in lack.

This is first time that me and Carol bought these kind of stuff together because we use to not be able to afford it. It wasn’t only me and Carol that experienced this, all the core leaders came back with funky attire. Below is the picture of me and Carol in the our first Ed Hardy attire which we bought together in a single receipt. This is my fifth testimony of God’s providence, but it doesn’t stop there also.

Asia Conference was a life changing experience for us as a church as well as individually. We’ve learnt to love each other more, we are even more united than ever before, learnt to sow more than ever before, and we learnt to treasure even more what matters most for building church and our lives as well; Love the Holy Spirit, Love the Word of God! Pray, Pray, Pray!

When we were back in Malaysia, the atmosphere of our church really changed. The Holy Spirit moved even more powerfully in our prayer meetings and services than before. Now every week, we just can’t wait to get to cell meetings, prayer meetings and church services to see and experience what God has in store for us. The leadership is so aligned and united than ever before.

Now we move to the month of June, I was pleasantly surprised that the same couple who blessed me with the Blackberry earlier this year heard that my laptop and desktop had died on me. A little history, earlier this year, my laptop and my desktop just committed suicide, both couldn’t function properly because suspected that lightning struck it. So they asked me, “What laptop do you want?”. I was a bit reluctant to answer because the laptop that I’ve been trying to save for was quite high-end and expensive. So I told them I needed some time to think it through.

In my heart I was bombarded with the poor-man mentality of “Just take the second best of what you actually want, just settle with the basic of the basic”. But I know I will not be happy with just getting any Dell or HP laptops. So I prayed and Holy Spirit convicted my heart by asking me “What do you really want, Aaron?”. The question is what do I WANT, not what do I NEED. I already knew in my heart what I really wanted.

After a few days thinking and prying through, I gave this couple a call to thank them for their generosity. Then they said to me over the phone, “Just choose ANY laptop you want that you think is best for you, don’t worry about the price. Me and aunty, we want to bless you with it”. So I mustered up all the courage in my heart, I just said “Well, ummm… My dream laptop is the MacBook Pro”… But with a slight doubt in my heart I continued by saying “Is that ok with you both?”. The couple replied me saying “Yes, just get that one, don’t worry about the price”. Again, I was left awestruck.. I was gonna get the laptop of my dreams!

About half a year back, I was at a Mac Reseller store in Pavilion KL with Carol and we saw the MacBook Pro which was just released at that time. I just turned to her and said “Let’s pray and believe that one day we will have this”. Then she said “Yeah, the MacBook Pro would be very useful for your music and the iMac would be very nice for decoration in our home next time”. It was a bit of a ‘duh’ moment when she said ‘decoration’ but I am very happy guy to have a girlfriend that believes with me for not only spiritual and ministry growth, but even the quality of our lives. So I said a simple prayer together with her and we just believed that it will happen.

So on the 8th of June, 2010, I got my MacBook, Pro, 15 inch, Intel Core i7 processor and everything was paid with cash! No loans, no credit card debts! Praise God! This is yet another testimony of God’s providence over me and Carol’s life. I am proud to testify that both of us have not held back and in our giving, be it tithes and offering, or just blessing the people around us, even when we were financially tight. God has really added so much to our lives, more than what we can even imagine. Below are the pictures of my new MacBook Pro. This is my sixth testimony of God’s providence.

Other things that happened in the month of May and June, I did some exhaust upgrades due to my faulty muffler box which had a hole and some bodykit work on my car because the current bodykit at that time was cracking already due to age. Below are the pictures of some of my exhaust upgrade work in-progress and final product at AH Exhaust, USJ 1. I was very satisfied with the quality and the sound of my muffler is superb!

Below are the pictures of the latest bodykit work in-progress.

The pictures of the final product of my car bodykit work will be uploaded soon.

Before I end, I just want to say that God is indeed so faithful. He is a God that will never give us things that are second best, but it is our part to keep sowing, keep believing, ask specifically and keep expecting. I can confidently say that God has added so many things in my life that I once thought I can never have.

Above all these material things that God has blessed me with, the greatest thing that God has given to me is my relationship with Carol. Next to God, the closest person to you is your girlfriend, fiancé or wife. I’m glad that God has placed such a God-fearing, Bible loving, Spirit filled, loving, caring, supportive and of course, extremely beautiful girl in my life. Carol is my girlfriend you know, don’t play-play ah!

This is my seventh testimony of God’s providence in 2010. Can’t wait to marry her... soon =)

That’s all for today, people~! God Bless and have a great day ahead!

Project Report #35 - Close Encounters of The WEIRD Kind

2009-08-24T18:58:00.011+08:00

It’s the end of August already, many things has happened throughout the past one month or so. I’ve been extra active in a lot of things lately because God has placed me in a position where I have no choice but to stretch my physical and spiritual capacity. I just came back from a ministry trip in Kota Bahru with Ps Ryan and 4 other Harvest Generation leaders. We really had a great time there ministering in the adult and youth service. We were also fed beyond our capacity with awesome food, I had one of the best durians in the world there as well =))

Church is really growing at a fast rate! It’s so exciting to be able to have a hand in building God a great house! Ps Ryan kicked off the Financial Series in our church last weekend, a sensitive topic most church would not dare to even touch, but the church has really been blessed by the message. It is tough to NOT allow money be the master over our life, since every aspect of our life requires money, but by putting God first in our hearts and through His power, we can be masters of our money. The beautiful thing about being masters of our money is that we can control when and how money can work for us. If money is our master, it will control us. God is not against us having more money, but God is totally against money having us.

I have always been so disturbed in my spirit with people, long time Christians in particular, who always condemn other Christians for being rich and having much wealth. Obviously, these people don’t know the Bible and God very well, as they claim to know.

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 8:18

There are so many accounts of great people in the bible who do marvelous things that change the course of an entire nation, who love God fervently, who one of them is even called the very man after God’s own heart, that were very VERY wealthy not just in their sprit, but in their physical possessions.

You don’t believe me? Do open your Bible and refer to the following references:

Abraham (even when he was still Abram)

· Genesis 12:1-3

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

· Genesis 13:1-2

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

Isaac

· Genesis 26:12-14

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

Jacob (wealth inherited from Isaac)

· Genesis 37:1

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

Joseph (Pharaoh’s appointed Prime Minister)

· Genesis 41:44

Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift His hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

Job

· Job 1:1-3

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also, His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

King David (his preparations to build God’s temple)

· 1 Chronicles 22:14-16

“Indeed I have taken much trouble to prepare for the house of the LORD one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure, for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add to them. Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance: woodsmen and stonecutters, and all types of skillful men for every kind of work. Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit. Arise and begin working, and the LORD be with you.”

King Solomon (richest king of ALL human history)

· 1 Kings 10:14-22

The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.

And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. For the king had merchant ships[b] at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

Paul (a tentmaker-biblical time hotelier to wealthy travelers)

· Acts 18:1-3

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

· Acts 20:33-35

“I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the LORD Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' “

Jesus (He wore designer clothing of the new testament times, it was so expensive that the soldiers were very careful not to tear it, instead they gambled to see who wins it)

· John 19:23-24

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."

God desires to bless us and make us wealthy, otherwise He wouldn’t have given us the power to make wealth. However, the foundation of wealth is generosity. Without a generous heart, the wealth that we gather will never last.

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.
The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Proverbs 11:24-25

I still don’t understand where ‘so-called Christians’ get the idea that becoming a Christian, we must be poor. God NEVER related humility to being poor in the physical. However, Jesus did mention that we have to be poor in our spirit so that we will always depend on him (Matthew 5:3). Being poor in spirit doesn’t mean having nothing in our spirit. When we talk about being poor, it’s always related to being hungry, not having enough. It is the same in our spirit, being poor in the spirit means always being hungry and desiring for so much more of what God has for us, totally depending on His wealth. So in other words, we can be rich in the physical, having everything that’s top notch this world has to offer, yet we must continuously be hungry for more of God.

I personally had enough of the nonsense from the older generation of ‘christians’ condemning fellow believers because of their wealth. Being a strong believer doesn’t mean we must live scrapping the bottom of our buckets every month just to feed ourselves. My God is a God of Abundance! If I choose to put Him and His desires first in my life, He will add on to me all the things I need to live abundantly without any worry (Matthew 6:32-34). So personally think that ‘christians’ that have a problem with wealth are plain weird..

God promised us that if we give our offerings and tithes in obedience, He will bless us even beyond our own measure (Malachi 3:10-11). To the measure of our hearts in how we give, God will bless us back with so much more (Luke 6:38). Most of the time, people who have a problem with Christians being wealthy have a problem with giving and tithing in church. These people are so weary of what the church will do with the money that they have missed out on God’s blessing for them if they were to have sown (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

Giving and tithing is a personal thing between a believer and God, we don’t have to worry what happens to the money after we’ve offered it to God because true giving out of a generous heart is to totally release the wealth with trust. Do you think God will keep quite if someone were to steal from the church? I HIGHLY doubt, because God is a just God, even if they escape in this life, they won’t escape eternal judgment. So if Christians working outside church can make wealth through obedience, why can’t full-time workers in church be wealthy too? Does God practice double-standards? Definitely NOT!

How great would our testimony be if the God whom we declare as the creator of the entire universe, the one who supplies all our needs, can’t even provide for our daily needs? How great would our testimony be if full-time pastors can’t even send their children to the best universities? How high would people regard Christianity if full time church workers don’t even have enough to provide for their own families? If we Christians live in poverty, we are actually declaring God a liar and publically saying the Bible is fake! It is written in the Bible that we, as believers of Christ, shall not beg for bread (Psalm 37:24-26). So Christians, be very careful not to reject or condemn God’s financial blessings on other as well as yourself because rejecting or condemning God’s word is an outright blasphemy.

We can glorify God through our wealth. I believe God is raising up a new generation of millionaires and billionaires, who are strong in the Word and totally dependent on the Holy Spirit, to cause a major impact in world economics, moving governments and impacting nations. A new generation that doesn’t gather wealth for his or her own self consumption, but a people who will fund that many ministry and missions works, building many churches across the world, relieving poverty and giving welfare to the needy, all for the expansion of His Kingdom, making His Name great! All this is because we’re are blessed by God to be a blessing to the nations (Genesis 12:1-3).

Hope this little sharing has inspired you to live out your dreams, to make more money for the glory of God. If we choose to build God a great house, to go after what matters to Him first, He will add on much to us. I’m so glad I’m now planted and discipled in Harvest Generation, a church which believes in taking embraces EVERY PROMISE that God has for us as believers of Christ. I want to be very wealthy one day, and I want other people to see my wealth, particularly non-Christians, not to boast of my ability to make wealth, but to boast of God’s favour, goodness, blessing and greatness over my life and the lives of my future children, to be greater blessing to them not just in spiritual and emotional support, but also in physical finances.

Do mark my words, if you think money is a problem or even a curse, Please Bring Your 'Problems' and 'Curses' to me! I will gladly DELIVER you from ALL of it~!! HAHA!

PROJECT REPORT! I’ve just traded in my old car audio amplifiers to a more powerful one as the former was causing my sound system to produce a lot of white noise. I’ve also added 2 new Clarion mid range speakers to the back of my car to create a surround sound feel in my car. Now I’m blasting Eminem songs from it and it sounds fantastic! HAHA! Other than that, I’m currently planning my finances to change my worn-out clutch and clutch pressure plate. Planning to change to a Trinity 6-puck racing clutch couple with Exedy racing pressure plate from to be able to support the torque my engine is currently producing. It’s about time my gearbox is serviced also.

That’s all the time I have for now, thanks for taking time to read this post. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing it with you. Have a great new week ahead! Take care and God bless!

Project Report #34 - A Simple Plan

2009-07-22T13:55:00.016+08:00

Hey people, hope you’ve all had a great week so far. It has been a very eventful week for me, we had Rev Kumar to speak in our church last weekend, it was a very powerful time. He spoke on the 3 Ds of Success – Desire, Discipline & Dedication. To just briefly summarize the entire message, every dream or vision must begin with a desire, in the Bible it says that God will grant to us the desires of hearts, it did not say that God will grant to us our heart’s desires. So in other words, the desires of our hearts are God given. Get it? It was such a fresh revelation to me personally.

Then to carry out that desire, we need to be discipline to maintain the pace to head towards our dream or vision. Discipline will keep us going, but Dedication is what brings us further. Discipline will only bring us to the level expected, but dedication will bring us to supersede the expectation. However, dedication cannot be activated without first having the discipline, and discipline cannot be activate without first having the desire. So cool right?

Other things that happened in past week is that Carol injured her spine to the extent of not being able to walk or sit up straight for short periods of time. It was probably aggravated during the days where she needed to finish her final thesis, the chair she sat on for long hours didn’t give her good back support, which result to her having backaches every other day at the time. It just took one dance practice to trigger a chain effect that caused her back to sprain. Plus she had an accidental slip when she went shopping and fell on the floor, which probably made it worse – this I only got to know last night. The doctor diagnosed her condition as Acute Spinal Sprain. But really praise God that her condition is much better now, at least she can move more now compare to a few days back. Do continue to pray for her that God will bring about complete healing to her spine.

A team of us went up to Ipoh last Saturday to minister in a ministry called Song at YMCA building. We really had a fantastic time there, Calvin spoke a good message on Talents, encouraging the young people there to really put effort in developing and using their talents faithfully for God’s glory. Other than ministry, the food was fantastic too =) We went to the new Foo San dim sum restaurant and had a good feasting session there. Again, we saw Phebe Ting there, haha! Second time we caught her in Ipoh. She was there for makan session after doing a camp in Cameron Highlands. It was really nice to see her again, we are all so proud that she’s still so fervent and faithful in her ministry to God.

Speaking of faithfulness, it is so vital for us to remain faithful in whatever we’re given at this current point of our life. A few weeks back, Ps Victor Wong came to our church and gave a word to people saying that some of us are getting restless with the positions we’re currently in, be it in ministry or in our careers, everything seems like it’s static and going nowhere, but God is asking us to remain faithful in it because He is working something in us even in these mundane times. Stay in the small pot for because God is still grooming and preparing us, when the time comes, God will move us to bigger pot. We just have to remain faithful in our small pots for now, that’s our responsibility, whereas promotion is God’s responsibility.

When I was reading a Daily Devotion posted by Rev Kong Hee about God Uses Faithful People, the story of Gideon really stuck me hard. Upon further studies, I found that many principals that we could learn from Gideon even before he was called by God to do great exploits. A brief explanation on the situation during Gideon’s time, in Judges 6:1-10, because of the disobedience of the people towards God, there was great oppression on Israel. Every time their crops were ready for harvesting, the enemies will swarm them over locusts and take everything away. Nothing was spared, event all their livestock were either taken away of killed. It’s like one of those moments in our lives that we wonder “where is God?”

Then in Judges 6:11, God sent an angel to meet with Gideon while he was threshing wheat in winepress. If this statement doesn’t seem weird to you, let me further explain, pay attention to the words ‘threshing wheat’ and ‘winepress’.

Threshing Wheat – To beat the harvested wheat so that the wheat grain would be separated from its chaff. This is normally done on an spinning horizontal cylinder-like device to collect the wheat grains. Here is a picture, adopted from MyWarHistory.com website, of how wheat threshing activity looks like.
Winepress - A wine press is a device used to extract the juice from crushed grapes during wine making. Here’s how a winepress looks like, image adopted from Bible-History.com website.
Just by looking at the images of the how the two activities are done, it’s so obvious that it is not right, unnatural, senseless or even stupid to thresh wheat in a winepress or crush grapes on a wheat threshing device! Yet, Gideon had to do this ‘stupid’ senseless act in order to hide from the enemy so that he and his family could have food to survive. No one would suspect that he’s threshing wheat in the winepress because it doesn’t make sense to do so. During the oppression, Gideon didn’t have the luxury to thresh a whole lot of wheat at one time, he probably had to do it little by little to avoid being detected. He didn’t have to just do it once, he probably had to do it faithfully a few times a day, single every day.

This ‘stupid’ act in our today’s terms, if we refer to what we have today, is like mixing our bread flour in a juicer machine! Isn’t that senseless and downright STUPID?! I found this very amusing when the Holy Spirit revealed it to me, yet it stuck my heart to its very core. Would I be found faithful if I am called to do something diligently without complain, even if it seems stupid and senseless to others around me? Something that others view as valueless and insignificant, would I still be found passionately working at it? You see, Gideon had to do this, not only just for his own survival, but also for his family. This speaks to me personally that I have to be faithful in the mundane, boring tasks given to me not just for my benefit, but the benefit of my family, which is the church!

Many times, big things come crumbling down because small things were not handled or executed well. If your little toe’s bone is broken, did you know that your entire body’s balance while standing up is affected? So we have to be faithful with the little things, even the stupid things that others look down on, in order to keep the church going. Rev Kong Hee said that when the angel of the Lord appeared before Gideon, the angel found him being faithfully threshing wheat in the wine-press. When God appears before us, will He find us being faithful with even the smallest task given to us?

In the bible it says that for those who are faithful with the little, much will be given (Matthew 25:21) God found Gideon faithful, that's was why He could trust him with the great things that was about to happen. Gideon rose up to be a great man in battle, he defeated the enemies that were oppressing the people of Israel (Judges 7:22-25). He was used by God to deliver and bring salvation to an entire nation, such was the great exploit that God has enabled Gideon to do. When we’re faithful with the little, God can even trust us with the revival of our nation! Imagine that!

So in conclusion, I have to speak even to myself, that we have to remain faithful in our current positions even though it may be small and insignificant, be it in church, in our companies, or even in our families and among our friends. What we do and who we are now may seem insignificant to many, but if we’re found faithful in God’s eyes, He can use us in things far greater than what we can even imagine. There are days where I feel like what I’m doing is not much appreciated and sometimes even unnoticed. But I have to constantly remind myself that above everything, I am ultimately serving God in all I do and I know He notices me. Did you think that Gideon had in mind that he was gonna be used by God, to deliver an entire nation from the oppression of one of the greatest armies of the world, while he was threshing wheat in the winepress? I highly doubt so, he just faithfully did what he needed to do, even when no one else notices.

Hope you guys are blessed by this short sharing. This is something I hope that will open up your hearts and challenge you to be faithful at a greater level as it did to me. This short passage of scripture in Judges 6 has really spurred me on to serve in my church, company and family more diligently.

PROJECT REPORT~! Nothing much has happened to my car lately. I drove if up to Ipoh last week and noticed a lot of heads turning. They probably wondering why they haven’t seen this car around although it is a Perak number plate, or maybe they’re just thinking who is this Ah-Beng driving this Ah-Beng car? HAHA! Anyway, when I got home from Ipoh, I found that my break fluids are leaking a bit from one of the brake caliper pistons. Will have to send it in for repairs hopefully this weekend. I did however made a new personal top speed with my car on the way back from Ipoh. How fast? Hmmm… I won’t announce it on the this blog ;P But just for the record, there were no other cars on the highway that time and I was actually just following behind a BMW 5 Series when I realized how fast I was going, haha!

That’s about it from me today, hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Do pop by Harvest Generation Church tonight, we’ll be having Ps Frankie Khoo, a powerful prophet of God, to speak in our special service. We’re really expecting a wonderful time tonight. Take care people! God Bless!

Project Report #33 - Nothing But The Truth

2009-07-16T14:15:00.008+08:00

Hey people, it really has been awhile since I've last made an entry. Lately, I've caught up with a lot work in my company and church as well. It has been really physically, mentally and spiritually tiring but every effort has been worth it.

As some you know, I've been switched to a different market vertical in my company, it involves the automotive industry, something most of you would say that it suits me really well. Yes, I'm enjoying it but it's HARD work. On average, I now have to stay in the office for about 12 hours a day. It's a price I have to pay but I believe that God will never lead me where His grace cannot keep me.

My church just started a new cell group in IMU and I was given the huge privilege to head it up. God has really brought great people to join my cell group, most of them are really young in their faith but undoubtedly on fire for God. Many people may think, how can this 'Aaron' dude lead a cell group with his capability? Believe me, I myself don't think I'm capable as well, but when God calls, I just obey. I may not be capable on my own, but if I choose to partner with the Holy Spirit, I know His Zoe life will enable me to do all things.

After 2 months of leading this cell group, I've really learned to depend upon the Holy Spirit at a greater level. Many areas of my life have been challenged and I see myself learning to love people more. In fact, the cell group has been a blessing to me so much more than what I've contributed to them. One important lesson I've learned about discipleship is that if you're not willing to lay your life down for your disciples, you have not really discipled anyone. To lay down our life for something is not just dying for something, it's about giving all you have, giving the best you can give, even dying to you own preferences and self desires for the cause.

Yes, we lay down our lives for Christ, but laying down our lives for Jesus means to lay down our lives for what He layed down His life for, The Church! And the church is made out of people, so we to be a true follower of Christ, we have to lay down our lives to build people. One cannot say he loves God if he does not love what God loves. I am truely humbled by this opportunity given to me to lead and disciple future doctors that will make a difference in our nation and beyond.

A few outstanding people I see in mycell group are people like Rafaella, Amanda, Kelvin Khoo and Jim, these are the ones I'm really proud of because they have improved so much compared to when they first joined our church. Although sometimes they can be very innocently naive, but their passion to know and serve God is incredible. They're now the pioneering batch of our church's hip-hop dance ministry under Carol's leadership. Too bad I'm not gifted in dancing, I can only wobble around, haha! Check out their video dance video in HCA on Facebook Groups named Harvest Generation.

I just came back from India 2 weeks ago, had an extrodinary time there ministering, getting to know the people there and, of course, eating tonnes of delicious authentic Indian food! Me and Chris were there to facilitate Pastor Ryan who really preached his heart out at the youth camp we were invited to. You can check out the pictures and videos of our trip on my Facebook. I manage to buy myself a nice grey-ish silver coat which looks almost exactly like what Adam Lambert wears. It was dirt cheap! Plus it was tailor made to fit me exactly. I even managed to buy Carol a full leather jacket meant for export to Madrid, Spain for a mind- blowing price! It is a little too big for her but I'll send it for alteration in Bangsar.

Besides shopping and eating, we got a tour around Chennai. It's a beautiful city, very much busier than Kuala Lumpur. We were hosted by Rev. Kumar, his wife Sister Jesse, and the Harvest Apostolic Ministry leaders. Few people I'd like to commend during my stay in Chennais are Francise - a fatastic cook, he served us extensively, even to the extent of making sure our coffee is exactly to our liking; Ammi - he's been tirelessly chauffeuring us to and from the camp site to Rev. Kumar's house, he even took us on a tour of House of Hope, a shelter home for Tsunami victims and orphans, through this work anchored by both him and wife with, these children have been given hope to excel in the future, the kids all aspire to be doctors, teachers and engineers; Pastor Virmal - he has served us to a point where even our used tissues and food wrappers he will take from us by hand just we don't have to find the rubbish bin ouselves, he even braved many traffics jams to pick and send us to the airport. These 3 men of God, though leaders and pastors of the church, went all the way to serve us like we're kings, and obviously we're not. When complimented them, they acknowledged that they caught all this from Rev. Kumar and Sister Jesse, I was like WOW! What discipleship these people have! What great humility these people have, such respect for their pastor.

Through my trip in Chennai, the Holy Spirit has really convicted my heart on the topic of discipleship. I come to realise that the true mark of successful discipleship is when the disciple loves everything the discipler loves and hates everything the discipler hates. This is so evident throughout the Bible and even in today's time. Unity of the heart and spirit is mandatory for discipleship to take place.

Let’s take an example in the Old Testament, two men name Elijah and Elisha in the book of 2 Kings 2:1-12. Their hearts and spirits were so knitted together that Elisha refused to leave Elijah’s side until the very end when Elijah was taken away by the Lord. Throughout Elisha’s journey with Elijah discipling him, Elisha desired earnestly everything the Elijah had. This is not in a covetousness sense, but it was out of great reverence towards the qualities if Elijah’s life. Covetousness always results in one party gaining from another’s loss. Example when I covet your wife, I want to take your wife for my own and as a result, you have to lose your wife for my gain. But desiring something in a reverence sense comes from great admiration, respect and desire to apply the qualities of one’s life to his own, no one loses anything.

In 2 Kings 2:9, Elisha desired to inherit the anointing of Elijah, not just at the same level, but a double portion of it. Pay attention to the word ‘Inherit’; as describe by the Wiki Dictionary ‘Inherit: To take possession of a right; To receive property by legal succession; To receive a characteristic from one's ancestors by genetic transmission. So to inherit means to desire the right to own what the ‘person passing it down to you’ owns, in this sense. If you study the life of Elijah, the anointing of the Holy Spirit was ALL that he had throughout his life! So when Elisha asked for the inheritance of Elijah anointing, he was actually asking Elijah to give him all he had! Elisha saw the power of God’s anointing in Elijah life; a nation changed, people healed, signs and miracles took place, Elisha wanted all of that but at a greater level.

Another example in the bible would be Jesus himself. In John 14:15, 14:21, Jesus says that whoever that loves Him must follow his commandments. In John 15:9, Jesus says that the father loves Him and in John 14:30, Jesus says that He must do exactly what the Father has commanded Him to do. So because Jesus loves the Father so intensely, everything the Father desires becomes His desires too, even to the point of sacrificing His own life. Being a disciple, one must put away self-preference in order to grow. Jesus Himself had to put away His self-preference in order for a greater work to be done (Matthew 26:38). Does this mean we must give up our will to our discipler? No, it’s not a matter of giving up, but it’s a matter of surrendering. To surrender your will, in this sense, means to trust your well-being to the person God has placed over your life.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 and 1 Corinthians 11:1 urged the people to imitate him. To imitate is to be-like or even copy everything. Why would Paul be so confident that people imitating him will be able to grow in their stature? If you study the word carefully, Paul says “…just as I also imitate Christ” means that he is asking the people to take all the good qualities of his life and apply it to their own. Since everything that is good comes from God (James 1:17), what Paul imitates from Christ is definitely good!

So when we talk about discipleship, it definitely has to begin with a relationship. Some people actually misquote the Bible by saying the disciples didn’t know Jesus. I tell you now, people knew Jesus and were amazed by Him even before the first four disciples was called (Luke 2:41-51, Luke 4:16). Jesus was well known in the synagogue, He did many signs and wonders, He even healed Peter’s mother-in-law before Peter decided to follow Him. So doesn’t this prove that the disciples already knew and respected Jesus before they followed Him?

Discipleship is not just about any kind of relationship, but it is a relationship that bonds to the very core of both the discipler and the disciple’s life. Let’s take City Harvest Church, Singapore for example. I’m so amazed at the level of discipleship the leaders have. You’ll notice that every level of leadership, from the highest to the lowest, every single person is united together in spirit and heart. When 2 people are united together in spirit and heart, they are bound to look like each other in the physical as well! Why? Because the disciple will naturally love everything the disciple loves.

Take Rev Kong Hee and his group of leaders under him, everything that Rev Kong Hee loves, they love as well, not just in terms of fashion, but also their passion for they things of God. When you go to City Harvest Church, you all the leaders dressing the same way, talking the same, having the same passion for God, preaching the same way, worshiping the same way and so on and so forth. Is it wrong? Definitely not! Their physical expression is a reflection of their inner unity!

The Holy Spirit really convicted my heart in the area of giving up self preference. If I were to be disciple by someone, I have to love everything that person loves and hate everything that person hates. I cannot choose what good qualities I want from to take from my discipler and leave out what I prefer not to take. To be a true disciple, I must desire every quality that God has given to my disciple, just like how Elisha desired what Elijah had, just like how Jesus himself made the Father’s desires His own desires, just like how Paul encourages his people to desire what he has, just like how City Harvest Church leaders desire what Rev Kong Hee has…

Discipleship requires the disciple to be totally sold-out for the cause he is discipled for. Discipleship is powerful, even satan knows it. Take the infamous Al-Qaeda group from example, these people were discipled to an extent of committing suicide and mass murders for the cause they believe in. They are totally sold-out for the cause their leader believes in, but sadly the great passion in them is all for the wrong cause. Discipleship can make or break an entire generation, that is why is so important for us to be discipled in the church.

We as Christians are not called to just make known the Gospel to everyone around world, making God known to the world is what we’re currently doing very well, but we have a deeper calling to disciple others as well. Matthew 28:18-20, we all know this scripture really well, but we must realize that only through discipleship can we lead people to be baptized and to observe all things that Jesus have commanded us. Why do I say that? Because when we love God fervently, we will definitely desire to please and obey God fervently, and that desire will become your disciple’s desire as well. Don’t just stop at being preachers of the Word, but be disciplers of man as well, and it all must begin with us being first discipled…

I hope this sharing will bless your hearts and inspire you to be discipled to disciple others… I’m so glad my pastor, Pastor Ryan Foo, and my church, Harvest Generation Church, holds on firmly to the principle of discipleship… ‘Discipled to Make Disciples...’

PROJECT UPDATES! Much has been done to my car in the past months. I’ve upgrade my brakes from a normal 2-pot caliper to a now super strong grip RX7 FC3S 4-pot caliper brakes in the front! I’ve tested it on the highway and it works really well in high-speed braking, just don’t tell Carol I tested my car on the highway again ;P For those who are interested in upgrading their brakes, I can tell you now that it is A LOT OF WORK required. The cost is also quite significant, but it’s worth every penny. Now my braking is more efficient and stable.

I’ve also gotten my front and rear absorbers modified and serviced for better traction and I’ve enforced my chassis with custom anti-roll bars and 4-point strut bars from Ultra Racing for better handling. Now cornering is more stable and driving on highways feels so much better. I have not done any modification to increase my engine output yet besides putting in a management system and changing to 450cc injectors, may be by next year I can plan out serious modifications, but of course only if I have the spare cash because now I’m actually starting to do a bit of finance planning for my wedding =))

That’s all I have for you today, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this entry as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Take care, people! And God Bless!

Project Report #32 - Signs and Writings

2009-04-01T13:49:00.002+08:00

Hey there sponsors, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve updated the blog. Well, a lot has been happening in my life as well as the car. I got my appraisal last December, my team lead gave me quite good remarks. I got an 11% raise too! Really thank God for His providence, even in these times of uncertainty, God still provided and added on. On top of that, I got a one month bonus… Hee! Hee! I used it to settle part of my study loans.

So what else has been going on in my life? Let’s start from where I left off last year… In November 2008, I went down to Singapore with a group from my church, we attended the Asia Conference organized by City Harvest Church Singapore. It was a fantastic time! I had the privilege to listen to great speaks like AR Bernard, Ulk Ekman and Phil Pringle. I even got to meet Sidney Mohede in person! What really touched me is that everything the preachers preach about, everything they taught, it is exactly where our heart, as a church, is moving towards. Creativity, beauty, colours, talents… all tools given to us to engage culture. It just confirms in my heart that we’re heading the right direction as a church…

Sidney taught about the Art of Worship, and guess what? It is exactly what we are doing and have been doing since the times of Campus City! Amazing right? Prayer, prayer, and more prayer! Worship is about God and the people. Every musician and singer serves because they’re heart is for God and the people. He mentioned that wherever he goes, whoever that he has to play with, he will make sure he builds a relationship with them first before playing with them. He also said it doesn’t matter what equipment he has, he would make the best out of it even if he has to do it all by himself. When he said all these thing, I was like “AMEN!”, “YES!”, because these are the principles we’ve been holding on to and teaching our people as well. What a great spirit this man has!

He further elaborated that a worship band is not just a touch-base relationship. Sidney told us that he, as a worship pastor, is so close to his ministry people that even who his drummer likes (potential girlfriend), he will personally be the mentor for them to work a relationship. In other words, as a worship pastor, he makes effort to be involved in people’s life, to really care for every aspect of their life. There’s so much I can learn from this man of God, no wonder everything he takes stage, the presence of God just flows so powerfully.

Guess who I met at Asia Conference? Amanda Tan!! It was so good to see her again. But it was them also we found out that she’s been down with a rare disease. My heart just broke when her mother was telling us of their story, but I personally am believing for God to heal her completely. For those of you who are reading this, do keep her and her family in prayer as well. In the conference, I met Jay Loh as well! Okay, now have to call her Jay Yeoh actually. HAHA! She was also there with her mom and brother, if I’m not mistaken. It was indeed a great time to meet up with old friend again.

Let’s move on to what I did in December 2008. I had the privilege to be invited by Carol’s family to go on a holiday with them in Penang. It’s been so long since I made a trip to Penang, the last I can recall ever stepping foot into the island is to attend a friend’s father’s funeral. Anyway, during the trip I had the privilege to also meet Carol’s aunt, Aunty Angela, and her ozzie friend, Aunty Joanna. Aunty Angela is actually a town planner based in Melbourne, Australia whereas Aunty Joanna is a full time professional singer. It was great getting to know them and seeing Aunty Joanna’s face as she tried our different types of food. Surprising, unlike typical ‘ang mos’, she is one adventurous lady! Everything also she dare to try!

We stayed in Park Royal, a beautiful hotel in Batu Ferringi. I know it’s darn expensive, and believe me, I didn’t really feel very comfortable with Carol’s dad spending on me. But none the less, I made every effort to build relationship with her dad, mom, aunt and the little sister. I even played ping-pong with her mom and aunt, which by the way are exceptional players. I had a good time getting to know each one of them personally in a deeper level. Really thank God for His favour!

Let’s move on to Christmas 2008! We had our very, very first Christmas choir presentation! It was a superb experience! We had a dear friend of ours, Lenny Lysandra, to come train us on vocal techniques. Lenny is a professional singer who graduated from Sedaya College with a music degree. She is one fantastic singer with a powerful voice. We had the privilege of having her in our recent EP recordings.

We also had another teacher who came with Lenny, she is the head of the SIB KL Malay service choir, and her name is Joyce. With both of their help, we all improved a lot in our vocal abilities. Not just in singing, but in speech, breathing, pronunciation and enunciation. Chris, Audrey, Pricilla, and I came up with the medleys of Christmas songs with the input of Joyce and Lenny. I think we didn’t do a video recording of it but I will try to look for picture to upload for you guys to see.

Moving on to January 2009, we didn’t have much activity in January other than a whole lot of people’s birthdays! HAHA! Practically all the guy leaders in Harvest Gen’s birthdays are all in this month. Calvin, Chris and myself all back to back birthdays. I really kesian the people that gave us all gifts, I know it isn’t easy for students to contribute to so many birthdays at once, but they really have a generous heart. For Calvin, we bought him a guess watch, for Chris, me and Carol bought him a pair of stylo jeans, and for myself, my cell group and the leaders bought me a bling-bling beat buckle from Ed-Hardy. They were all on a mission to change my dressing style, and it worked! For those of you who haven’t seen me in long time, I’m a bit more stylo now. HAHA!

Moving on to February 2009, Harvest Generation had its first Valentine’s Day event! And we had a national celebrity, Elaine Daly, to do a workshop on Personal Grooming. She is one hot 30-year-old, haha! For those of you who don’t know who she is, you can Google her up. She was Miss Malaysia/Universe for 2003, appeared in numerous local television shows and currently she’s the mentor for Malaysian Dreamgirls, a reality show on aspirant models in Malaysia. I and the other guy leaders had the privilege to take a photo with her. You can check it out on my Facebook or the Harvest Generation website.

February was also the month that a big hole was burnt in my wallet, my car skidded and hit a guard rail causing quite severe damage to my left door. Not only that, a week later when I was driving my Wira, as I was turning into another junction, a car bang into me because we couldn’t see each other. So 2 accidents in 2 weeks, it was so demoralizing. I was down and very disappointed with what had happened. But I believe God was teaching me something as well… Until today, I still have to pay off the repairs but I believe God is faithful to provide. I believe that the moment we don’t what else to do anymore, that’s when God steps in.

What happened in March? The Harvest Generation leaders had a retreat to Damai Laut, Lumut. It was a long drive there because we had to use the trunk roads. When we reached the place, we were greeted with an unruly surprise. Our apartment rooms were BAD! Everything was so dirty and dusty, and the swimming pool was like mass bathing pond! Good thing we had one of our leaders Catherine Tan, a hoteller, to help us upgrade to the hotel rooms. It was a massive difference! At the apartment, it was so dirty that rash started popping out from my skin! But we had a great time there recharging ourselves for another year of hardwork! Calvin and Ern Suey even got their pre-marriage photoshoot there with our amateur photographers, Nick and Raymond.

What other stuff happened in March? Super a lot of preparations for the big Easter play we’re doing! This will be the very first play Harvest Generation has ever done. One of the wonderful things that came out in preparation of this play is Harvest Generation now has a dance team! Mind you that most of them have NO dance exposure or experience, all first timers. They only practiced together for about 4 or 5 times to date and they dance like they’ve been doing it for years! Chris, myself and Pricilla have been staying back in church almost every other night till the wee hours preparing the songs for the play. The director is our very own Jeffery Yeo, which most of really wanted to strangle because his demanded arrangements for the music were so complicated! But thank God, all is done now. We just have to practice the acting scenes, only 2 weeks left! But we CAN DO IT! Do come on Easter Sunday, 12 April 2009, at 10am in Harvest Generation Church to watch the play if you guys can ok?

So there you have it, a quick recap of what has happened in my life for the past 5 months. April is gonna be another exciting month, I’m believing for new souls to be added to the church this coming Easter!

Today I’d like to appreciate another sponsor that has made us, ex-CampusCity-ans very proud. It was sad that she had to leave us to study up north of the country but distance never doused her fire for God. In fact, she got involved in the CF there and really went all out in serving. This person is none other than Phebe Ting a.k.a. Phebe ‘The’ Ting!

We were taken by surprise when we saw her in Ipoh few weeks back when we were ministering there, but it was very good to see her! We found out that they actually did a GIG in Kampar! These people are really on fire for God, they’re willing to fork out their time and money to minister in a small town. That’s really the spirit behind the GIG ministry last time. She’s even more on fire for God now than before! We were so proud that GIG did not end when CampusCity closed, she took it up and continued with it in AIMS University, Sg. Petani!

I remember few years back when she was such a shy and quiet girl. Even when we asked her to play the keyboards for the worship team, she usually would be so scared and intimidated. Slow and gradually, after much encouragement, she started to break out of her former nature and took up the challenge in ministry. I am proud to say that she was one of our best Preaching Class students of her batch. This girl can preach up a storm! I had the honor of serving alongside her for 2 years I think, until she had to leave for AIMS and I graduated. I was indeed a very memorable time to watch people grow from where they were at initially to where they are now.

So to Phebe Ting, I believe there are greater days ahead of you. Don’t ever think that what you have achieved is enough already. The very day we say to ourselves that we’ve learnt enough is the very beginning of our destruction. So keep pursuing excellence in all that you’re doing now and never cease to advance with God and in everything else you’re involved in.

When times get tough, which I know it will, remember how God has been so faithful in delivering you from past problems. Always remind yourself who God is and make Him who He is in your life. A bit confusing? Well, it just means that whatever you’ve learned from the Word of who God is, place Him as that person in your life… He is a God who Heals, He is my Healer! He is a God who provides, He is my provider!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for participating in this project. Although I’ve mentioned to you before it’s not about the money, and I don’t need the money, but yet you were willing to contribute something even when you are located so far away. That is worth so much more than anything money can buy. Through your life, I believe many people will be attracted to God because you are an example of how God can elevate us from one level to another if we’re willing to be molded by Him. Keep up the good work!

Thank you people for taking the time to read! Just an announcement, the signing session will begin in April 2009! I will inform you guys via email on the meet-up times. Sorry for the long delay, it has really been an uphill task to organize anything for myself of late due to a lot of other commitments. But I promise you that we will meet-up soon! For those of your overseas, don’t hesitate to call me when you’re back! Awaiting your time to sign in the boot! Have a great rest of the week people! God Bless…

Project Report #31 - MonKee Business

2008-10-30T13:25:00.001+08:00

Hey there Sponsors! It has been a fantastic week so far. I just got went to Nilai yesterday night to do bible study with some of the Inti boys there, it was a great time. We studied about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and how it all begins by first getting the gift of tongues. One of them who has yet to receive the Baptism of the Spirit was really inspired and was eager to receive the gift of tongues.

One of the boys told me that his friend showed his a video of documentary that was disproving being slain in the Sprit, in other words, falling down when someone prays for you. I just told him bluntly, that no one who is walking right with God, whose heart is right before God, would want to fake such a thing. Falling under the power of God is just a physical expression, people can fake it but it is between them and God.

At the end of day, many people can fake it, but the ultimate proof that God has really touched them is that their lives have changed. The fruit of being touched by God is CHANGE! So judge by the fruit, and not by the expressions. After explaining that to him, I really felt in my spirit that a load of uncertainty has lifted from his shoulders, that now he knows how to respond when people challenge the truth of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Many will chase after signs and wonders, many people just pursue just the expressions of the gifts of the Spirit, but we must continuously guard out hearts to not chase after just the form but denying its power. We must always run after God’s heart, making His desires our desires and becoming a person of great substance and character. Becoming a vessel of honor begins inside… So speaking in tongues and all the other gifts are physical expressions of an internal conviction. Thank God for a fruitful time there doing bible study with the boys, as I was teaching, I too reminded myself of a lot of things..

Today’s the big day, I’m going to be facing my first round of appraisal for this year. God indeed has been so faithful to me this year in terms of career. He has blessed me with many opportunities to venture into various areas of the software development industry for F&B sector. I’ve grown a lot in my knowledge and character in handling tight scheduled projects. I also really thank God for a good, generous boss and also very helpful colleagues that have never abandoned me when I was facing difficult times. Praise God for His providence!

We’ll be going to Singapore for the Asia Conference hosted by City Harvest Church in a few weeks time. I’m really excited for what God has in store for us there. It’s gonna be a fantastic time of learning and ministry. The exchange rate for Ringgit to Singapore dollar is rather high now, but no worries, God will provide! Haha! I will not let money be an obstacle, this is an obstacle I know I can overcome through God! Be prepared for the report I will bring back from Singapore!

The Harvest Generation Worship Team is currently having vocal and choir training with our singers, believe or not I’m also in the programme. HAH! For those of you who think I can’t sing, be very amazed at the end of this programme, Ceh-Wah! Just kidding… Nothing to brag about, we’re just looking into avenues to grow our talents in music and singing. We have 2 very good instructors from the SIB BM church, Lenny and Joyce, who really pour their hearts out in teaching us.

Lenny is recording artist and vocal teacher by profession and Joyce is the choir conductor of SIB KL BM service which comprises of about 60 choir members. Joyce’s mother is a ‘big-shot’ choir conductor in Indonesia and is very well know by the locals there. When Lenny and Joyce did a demo in singing, we all felt so unworthy to sing anymore. HAHA! They are so GOOD! Even impromptu songs, they make it sound like it’s been practiced for months! But we really thank God for people who are willing to stand by the church and help build us up.

It’s been awhile since I wrote to appreciate the sponsors of this project. I shall continue today introducing a young gal, who was very timid and quiet when she first came up to Subang, but after she joined CampusCity, there was a huge turn around. She’s one of the strongest young gals I know, despite going through hard times, she has risen above the circumstances and really dependent on God all the way. This gal is no other than Amanda Tan aka Alamanda!

Don’t mistake her for a Chindian ok? She’s pure Chinese~! This gal is super athletic! She can play netball really really well. To see a young student who is willing to learn, willing to give 100% in her service to God and 100% in her studies really inspires me. I speak on behalf of all the CampusCity leaders of that time when I say that we’re all very proud of her!

When she first came to join us in CampusCity, I remember she was super quiet. She wouldn’t even say more than 4 words in a sentence. But after she opened up her heart for the Holy Spirit to work in her, things began to change. She started off serving as an usher, the later as a choir member, then she took up preaching class, leadership training and bible studies, and numerous GIGs. She even joined us to pray at 5.30am, way before the sun rose, for a week when Ps Ryan called for a prayer meeting.

I thank God for her life because she never looked down on the talents that God has given to her. She has always availed herself for ministry no matter how small the task may seem to be to most people. I mean, many people think that being an usher is a small thing, but every role in the Kingdom of God is vital! Your hand can’t tell your feet that it’s useless, neither can any ministry tell the other that they don’t need it. If you’re missing a little toe, did you know that you will find it hard to balance when you’re walking? That’s how important every part of the body of Christ is, no ministry is too small for God.

To Amanda, continue to keep that heart of humility before God. True promotion only comes from God alone, so never ever despise the days of small beginnings. I know you’ll be graduating and will eventually be working. Hold on to the principles of God, never ever let your foundations in the Word and Spirit be shaken by circumstances that will arise against you. Stay faithful to the call that God has placed in your heart and pursue the vision with everything you got.

Man may look at the outer appearance but God looks at the heart, continue seeking and pursuing the things of God and He will bless you abundantly. All the best in all your undertakings, remember to always put God first in everything that you do. Never compromise on the Word and Spirit, in everything give your 100%. Honor God with your life and He will definitely honor you.

PROJECT REPORT! I’m actually considering to install a piggy-back engine management system onto my car. Still looking into the pros and cons of doing so, it’s pretty affordable because I found a guy that I can deal with a very good bargain. I may even propose to help him sell these products if I’m satisfied with the work he’s going to do with my car. Will update you guys more about this when the job is done. Hopefully I’ll be able to land some car jobs in the coming months through this. I’m still praying and looking out for business opportunities and investments in can make to gear myself up to achieve the vision that has been placed in my heart…

Well, that’s all I have all of you today. It’s pretty short compared to me last few entries, but I guess I shouldn’t take so much of your time reading this. So take care people! Have a great weekend ahead! God Bless!!

Project Report #30 - They Came, They Saw, They Got Married (Part 2)

2008-10-16T11:57:00.005+08:00

Hey there sponsors, it’s been awhile since I last made an entry. As usual, I’ve been really busy, it’s better than having nothing to do. Like what Pastor Ryan always say, while we’re on earth let’s work hard because when we’re in heaven, we’ll have eternity to rest all we want. Haha~! I am really looking forward to where Harvest Generation is heading towards as a church. Things are getting very exciting!

We just went to Ipoh 3 weeks back to do 5 services back to back in 3 different places covered in a span of 30 hours, amazing eh? We’re going to take another service in CBC PJ this coming Saturday evening and it’s gonna be exciting! It’s like going for GIGs but at a more amplified version of it! This time, we’re stretched as working people! But it’s great because we really see the change in the lives of these young people.

Ps Ryan now is a very happy man! Finally, my senior Pastor is no longer a bachelor! This paves the way for the rest of us to even journey on towards marriage. We had a ball during the preparation of the wedding, the bachelor night and the wedding itself! Let’s just begin with the bachelor night that we had for our beloved Pastor… Writing this is not just for you folks to read for myself also to cherish these good times…

We all gathered at Calvin’s house week before the wedding day with everything prepared. I rushed here and there just to get pastor a nice ‘sexy’ underwear, Chris T bought some sex stuff and the others bought some sushi, body shaver and shaving cream. We had a good laugh shooting videos and taking pictures of the stuff we bought, here are some pictures of that very faithful moment…

After all the stuff was settled and the ‘plan’ was devised, we set out in 2 cars to Pastor’s house. Note that Pastor thinks that we’re only going to pick him up and go karaoke, heheh… So the plan was to ask Calvin to get Pastor to open the doors as we hid in the bushes nearby where we would ambush into Pastor’s house. However, the ambush plan totally failed because Pastor locked the doors behind him as he was exiting the house. So we had to say ‘we need to use the bathroom’ excuse and all that nonsense to get him to open the house doors again. Finally after much pushing through, we manage to get him in the house and sat him down in the middle of the living room as we surrounded him and prepared the ‘bachelor night’ torture…

First up, we prepared a box of nicely sliced salmon sashimi with wasabi on the side and laid it out for Pastor to eat it. NOTE: Pastor Ryan HATES sushi! But this was the request of his dearest bride-to-be for him to eat the sashimi. So pastor ate about 3 pieces but he could not finish it, by the third piece he said he was gonna puke…”all for the sake of marriage..”

Second up, we took out the nicely prepared briefs, custom designed by me, and made him wear it outside his jeans. I purposely bought the biggest size and the most nerdish undies I could find. So he wore it and we made him pose for picture taking… if any of you watch the Zohan movie, we made him do those poses… I shall not elaborate any further… HAHA!

Third up, we took out the ‘razor’~! It’s shaving time! We made Pastor roll up his pants and asked his most trusted assistant, Calvin Tay, to rub on some shaving cream on it. Then Calvin had to shave one part of Pastor’s leg… I personally think that it wasn’t enough because it can’t even be seen! But since he’s our Pastor, we let him off with only a patch of his right leg shaved. Before we could clean his legs, he got up in retaliation towards us and started to wipe the shaving cream on anyone that was around. Poor Nick Chan was on the floor at that time so he got most of the shaving cream on him… oh well, casualties of war… HAH~!

Finally, after all the shaving stuff is cleaned up, each of us presented Pastor with a sex thingy… HAHA… there were condoms, different kinds of lubricants, massage oils which can be used as lubricants as well and other goodies for a good night of ‘FUN’. Silly Jeffery was standing beside Pastor as he was pouring out some lubricants onto his hand… we all know what Pastor was gonna do, but either Jeffery was ignorant or he likes what Pastor is gonna do… so as predicted, Pastor whacked the lubricant on Jeff’s face as he was the nearest victim while we all stayed a safe distance since earlier.

So thus comes the end of the opening ceremony of the Bachelor Night for Pastor Ryan. We then head out to Neway SS17 to have out buffet dinner and crazy karaoke session. We sang the dumbest and funniest songs… well, I guess the songs were not to blame for the horrid noises we made with the microphone and speakers.

While we were all having fun doing crazy stuff at Neway, guess what the girls were doing for Brenda’s bridal shower? They were watching Olympics at Carol’s house. Oh well, the girls are just more composed than us guys… we had the night of our life!

Let’s move on to talk about the wedding preparations. The day before the wedding, all of us were working hard to get things together before 8pm so that we could rush for the Emerge Conference at Sunway Convention. Sadly that day when I loaded stuff to be shifted to the wedding location, some of the equipment tore off my back window tints causing scratches to my windows as well. At first it was frustrating because I very saying my car mah, but then again these things can be replaced whereas a good wedding for the 2 people we love so much is priceless!

All of us were dead tired by the time we were done with the logistics, dry runs and last minute settlements. Even after the Emerge Conference, some of us had to do some more preparations before the big day… I think most of us slept no earlier than 3am that night, some didn’t even sleep…

Then the BIG DAY came! Early in that Saturday morning, we all got up really early, grab some stuff from church and prepared ourselves for the Chip San Liong session, for those of you who don’t know Cantonese, this is the ‘going to get the bride’ session in Chinese tradition. I sent Carol to the hotel early that morning before meeting up with the others guys at Pastor’s house. After Pastor came down in his new suit, we prayed for the entire wedding day. Then we took some Heng Tai photos in and outside the house before we convoyed to the hotel to meet the bride and the nemesis Chi Muis…

When we arrived at the hotel, the first thing we worried about was to get the pulpit from the lorry that came not too after we parked, and unload the other stuff that we had in our cars to be set up at the wedding place. After sweating it out for awhile carrying and working the equipment, the Chi Muis gave us a rang and told us, “we are READY…MUAHAHAHA!”

So we went up to the 10th floor of Holiday Villa Tower and right outside the door, the Chi Muis were already waiting for us... They first gave us each a few tissues and we wondered what ever for? Then they made us do pumping aka push-ups… Haiyah, simple stuff la… not a problem at all… they wanted all of us to do an accumulated amount of 200 pumps.. Pastor, Doc Leong aka Kwong Yew, Calvin and I tapau-ed over 40 pumps each already… rest just had to do the remaining. So we succeeded through the first hurdle…

Then the girls brought out a tray covered with a cloth, we don’t know what was underneath it. They had stuff in 4 cups which were suppose to signify sweet, sour, bitter and spicy. Again, we guys drank until there was only a few drops left for Pastor to take… Thanks mainly to Calvin who took most of it by himself for the sake of his pastor… we guys nailed the second hurdle with ease!

The third hurdle, the girl brought out a cloth with different lipstick marks on it. Pastor was given 3 chances to guess which one belonged to his beloved bride. The first guess was wrong and Pastor was totally clueless about the correct one. Then our hero came, Mr Nick Chan… asked Pastor to smell the lipstick but of course he didn’t la, but Nick continued by pointing out the one that looked most like Brenda’s lips and guess what? IT WAS CORRECT! HAHAH! We were all puzzled how Nick would know Brenda’s lips so definitely… Pei Teng even said how come Nick knows Brenda’s lips more than Pastor? We all had a good laugh!

Final hurdle, the girls told us that they wanted RM308.08 angpau to gain access to the room where the bride was in. The celaka thing was the 8 sen~! Since our ‘beloved’ government introduced the rounding mechanism, where on earth are we gonna find 3 sen? But as guys, we always find a solution to a problem. We first went checked our pockets, car seats, under car seats, under car carpets and finally only wallets, but availed to nothing. This shows that Harvest Generation guys are not cheapos that bring around loose pocket change… HAHHA!

So we went around the hotel to every restaurant and shop frantically looking for the 3 sen to make up the dumb 8 sen. Finally after much searching, we manage to get the 3 sen from a very nice florist near the entrance of the hotel. She was giggling with her other acquaintances in her shop when we told her what we needed the 3 sen for. YAHOO! The mission is completed and we all rushed back up to the 10th floor to greet the Chi Muis but with ‘something’ up our sleeves…

As soon as we arrived at the door, we started shouting and banging on the door for them to let the groom in. They said they wanted to see the money first, we tried to trick them into opening the door to pass the money to them but Harvest Generation girls aren’t so dumb la… sheesh… we scammed them by giving them the money little by little by slotting under the door. We gave them about RM100 over until we scam them by repeatedly saying that we don’t have any more money… but actually we had about RM300 over with us at that time… hehehe… the fun of Chip-Sun-Liong sessions…

So the opened up the door a little bit with the hinge still on and asked Pastor to sing the magic song to Brenda… Pastor and all of us have not a clue what is the magic song so we started to sing the song composed by Pastor himself a few years back… ‘In Your Presence’… HAHAH! I can’t believe we sang a worship song to get to the bride, it shows that Harvest Generation men goes through God to get to the women they love… HAHA! Later only I found out that the song they wanted Pastor to sing was the song he was gonna sing for the bridal entry.. And so finally, the doors were opened and Pastor got to see his bride in all of her glory for the first time ;)

The rest of us had to head down to the garden where the wedding was gonna be held to do more preparations and sound checks while Pastor, Brenda and a few other leaders stayed back to commence with the Chum Cha aka Tea ceremony with Pastor’s family. Then it started to rain heavily… oh no…

About half an hour before the wedding began, Rev Dr Kong Hee of City Harvest Singapore arrived with Ps Kevin Loo and another pastor. A lot of the younger members of our church were stunned to see him walk in to the hotel, so much so that they didn’t know what to do and just froze. But even when he walked pass me, I could really sense and feel the anointing on that man. It’s like he has an aura around him, just an amazing man of God. Donald, Alvin and Doc Leong were Rev Kong’s personal bodyguards for the day, they did a great job but they looked so funny because they were so serious… Normally they are very smiley people but that afternoon they really took on the ‘bodyguard mode’… As the guest arrived, soon the wedding began…

Sherene, one of our close friends from Harvest Times, Ipoh, took the stage as the emcee for the ceremony and kicked it off with an opening prayer. She then asked announced the entry of the bride and the crowd we ecstatic! Well, at least for the Harvest Generation and CampusCity people… Michelle Foo, Pastor’s niece was the flower girl, Carol was the bride’s maid of honour and Calvin Tay was the best man. Pastor Ryan sang the song “I Was Born For You” as the bride made her way to the altar… You could see that both the bride and groom were almost in tears at that time... It was simply a remarkable moment…

They joined hands as Rev Kong took stage to pray a prayer of blessing over them. Then praise and worship started lead by Calvin. After praise and worship, Rev Kong took stage again to give a short sermon, which was AWESOME! I have never heard a wedding sermon like that in my entire life! Was really convicted and moved in my spirit… Then he called on to the bride and groom to take stage for the exchanging of vows, communion and prayer of blessing… and finally the long awaited line, Rev Kong gave his blessing for Pastor Ryan to kiss his bride, we went ecstatic again! And Rev Kong announced the new couple “Mr and Mrs Ryan Foo Say Liang!”…

The wedding ceremony was relatively short but amazing time for not just the bride and groom, but for all of us as well. Remember I said earlier that it was raining very heavily? Well, we didn’t understand why God would allow it rain at first, but later we realized… Thank God it rained because of 2 reasons, 1) The place where the wedding was held would’ve been unbearably hot! 2) The rain drowned out the horrid karaoke session that was taking place at the restaurant just beside the wedding ceremony thus the ceremony was not distracted… So, PRAISE GOD FOR THE RAIN! HAhaha! It was also a personal breakthrough for me that day, for the first time I wore striped shirts and a polka-dot tie which cost me a bomb! Hahaha! What to do, Carol loved the shirt and tie ;)

We had a great time catching up with old friends from CampusCity that we have not seen in a long time. The bride and along with some leaders went on with another Chum Cha ceremony with Brenda’s family this time. After everything was done, the bride and groom went back to the bridal suite to settle some things and prepare themselves for the dinner. We were packing up stuff from the garden and working in the dinner hall making sure everything was organized and planned out properly. We liaised closely with the hotel manager and employees, even made some friends during the preparations. The wedding event manager, Catherine Tan, did a superb job overseeing to everything an ensured a perfect running wedding dinner.

At about 8pm, the dinner commenced with the emcees for the night, Chris and Sherene, introducing the newlyweds in. The bride and groom entered the hall holding hands with the crowd cheering them on. Then the best man and the bride’s maid entered the hall behind them holding hands too… it was so funny! Why? Like I said before, the bride’s maid was Carol and the best man was Calvin and for those of you who were in CampusCity in 2005, Calvin and Carol had some history together in our campus party drama… Calvin was so pai-seh when he sat at the table I was at and kept apologizing to me for holding Carol’s hand. It was really funny and we laughed like mad.

Then the stage lights went dim and the hotel staff put together a stage piece which involved 2 swans dancing together and suddenly 6 baby swans came out! HAHAHA! Common Pastor, You the Man! Then Sherene and Chris took stage again to emcee the entire dinner. They really did a fantastic job and had such good chemistry on stage. For most of us, we didn’t have much time to sit down and eat everything dish that was on our table. In fact, my table most of the time was empty because all of us were running around so much. I was up in the sound/lights control room half the time. The dinner went on with speeches from the best man, the brides maid then came the infamous Yam Seng session lead by Calvin Tay… it was really FUN! Hahah! Pastor Ryan and Brenda poured the Champagne on the stacked glass and delivered a speech to the crowd.

The dinner ended with the newlyweds Yam Seng-ing at every table. We joined in the fun and screamed to our hearts content till we had sore voice and a stomach full of Chinese tea. Although we had much fun but much work was also awaiting us to finish. A group of undisclosed people went to the save room with our in-house bodyguards to do the angpau counting, some went to help out the newlyweds with some final issues at the suite and the rest of us stayed back at the hall to pack up our equipments.

By the time we left the hotel, it was about 12.30am Sunday morning. Some of us guys went back to church to move the stuff back and prepare it for Sunday morning service. When we were done with moving, it was close to 1.30am. Like I mentioned before, most of us didn’t get to eat much that night and were hungry so we dropped by Taj Curry House for a quick supper. After we were done with supper, I sent Carol home before meeting up with the guys again at the hotel where we spent the night, because it was a complimentary room. We joked and laughed awhile but eventually we all ‘died’ all around the floor from exhaustion.

Next morning we got up at about 6am to prepare ourselves for church, we had to be in church by 7.30am, a little earlier than usual, because we needed to setup and make sure everything is running on stage for the service. We had a great service that morning! Pastor Ryan and Brenda thanked the church at the end of the service because they were so grateful to all who have worked hard to bring this wedding together and it all superseded what we expected. Another great testimony is that every bill, every expense was taken care of and the newlyweds had no debt. In fact, God blessed them with more! What a wonderful start to a journey together as husband and wife, without the worry of owing any one any money… God is indeed faithful!

So that’s the account of what happened in the events that led to the wedding, the wedding itself and the day after the wedding. For those of you who didn’t get to attend, well… you missed out on a great time! As tired as we were, it was so worth it! For those who are interested, there are pictures of the wedding loaded at http://www.creativeclicks.com.my/blog/?p=575

The past few weeks have been rather frustrating for me and Carol. We really had to juggle through a lot of unnecessary burdens that was laid on to us by irresponsible people, but then again, the bright side is that it has taught us to be more gracious and merciful. Sometimes people may not appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made for them, but that’s what grace is all about, to give something to someone although they don’t deserve it.

Why were we frustrated? I’ll just give you an example, if you loaned someone something because they needed it, and then when it’s time to ask for it back, that person conveniently ignores you, how would you feel? To add on to that, the person goes around telling people that you falsely accused him of stealing your stuff… WOW! And you just asked him because he was suppose to be the person responsible right? Since he borrowed it from you? That’s why we were bummed for that moment… but this is just ONE of the issues that surfaced over the months, not as simple as that lah.. It takes a lot to get me and Carol so mad. HAHA!

But despite all this, we continuously pray for that person and pray even for ourselves to guard our heart from not doing anything out of anger and vengeance, never fighting evil with evil. It’s tough, but only through God’s love this can be achieved. Injustice is all around us, if you live our lives to justify every injustice done to us, we’re just wasting time and, eventually, our lives away. We can just do all we can do and let God take care of the rest…

Leviticus 19:17-18
‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 32:35
‘Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’

So the lesson learnt, don’t try to correct everyone’s mistakes, if there’s no conviction within their spirit then there’s nothing more you can do until the person realizes that he needs God. We can be there to encourage, show mercy and help in whatever way we can for the person, but we should never waste so much time convincing the person to do the right thing if he’s not willing to… Feed those who are hungry, give drink to those who are thirsty… Disciple the ones who desire to be discipled…

Matthew 9:12-14
When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Me and Calvin are now making trips to INTI Nilai to do bible study with a group of boys there. They’re really passionate and hungry for more of God and His word. In fact, because of them, I began to pick up jogging again to maintain my health! HAHA! It’s no joking matter because I know for me to stretch myself between ministry, work, family, relationships and building my vision, I have to be both spiritually and physically fit. But the boys in Nilai have been really a great encouragement and blessing to our cell and our church…

God is really working in Harvest Generation, we can really see the type of hearts He’s bringing in to build this church together with us. People who are Church Based and Kingdom Minded… Our numbers may not be very great right now but with core values and foundations of this church built on the Word of God, our dependency on the Spirit, and our hands to the plow, we will definitely see an increase of not just numbers, but quality of the people’s hearts! So friends, believe with us for God’s best!

PROJECT REPORT! I just changed my front tires because it exploded the day after I came back from Nilai. The funny thing is both front tires burst at the same time. HAH! Cost me nearly 1k to replace just 2 front tires, but miraculously God provided. Was really worried where the money was gonna come from because my road tax is expiring this month and I had to prepare cash to go to Singapore next month for the Asia Conference in City Harvest.. budget was really tight… actually, NO BUDGET for the tires change at all would be the right term. HAHA! Praise God for His providence that I manage to pay it all off.

Well, that’s all I have for you people today. I hope you’ll have a splendid weekend ahead. Hope to bump into one of you sometime soon, I would be running around most of the time. Take care people, God Bless!!

Project Report #29 - They Came, They Saw, They Got Married (Part 1)

2008-09-04T12:21:00.006+08:00

Hey people, it has been a really packed the past month… ministry, work, travelling, cell teaching, music teaching, business, etc. Praise God that despite my very active lifestyle, I have not fallen ill. We had a wonderful time last month, 8th of August, we travelled to Kuantan to celebrate Uncle James’ wedding then we had Ps Victor to speak in our church Sunday service.

Let’s begin with the Kuantan trip, one thing’s for sure that we all really had fun! We departed from Subang at about 7am, we were suppose to leave at 6am but due to some miscommunication, our dear friend Tan Sri (to be) Jeff Yeo thought we were suppose to leave later. Calvin and I drove, there were 9 of us that went. Poor Carol was the only girl that went because the others had prior engagement or couldn’t take leave that day. I had noisy group of people in my car… Carol, Nick, Donald and Jeff… but at the initial part of the journey, all of them slept till we reached Karak R&R stop. From there, the geng made stupid noise and cracked dumb jokes… so laughed our way until the next R&R stop at Termeloh at 8.40am where we had our breakfast.

After breakfast, we continued our journey laughing all the way to Kuantan. In the midst of the journay, Jeff, as usual, stated a very mind boggling, yet interesting thing. He said that the governing body of Subang is planning to fight traffic problems by implementing Speed Traps in the future. At first thought, we were all like “WHAT?!!”… to a regular person, it is totally stupid and impossible to fight traffic jams with speed traps.. but as we pondered on the process and technical functions of speed traps, we began to slowly dissect how the functions of speed traps, not the stereotype purpose of it, can actually do a lot for traffic easing. How? Go figure out yourself! Haha!

We arrived in Kuantan at about 10.15am, we met up with Uncle James and his wife-to-be, Sister Pat, at a very nice but pricey kopitiam called Kemaman Kopitiam. There we had another round of breakfast again! Eating Spree! The food and drinks were superb, better quality than the kopitiam places (Old Town, Old Taste, etc) places we get in KL/Subang Jaya. The place is owned by a Chinese man, but every single worker in the shop is Malay, all the recipes for the food were also very Malay. It was a good time there. We saw 4 sizes of traditional coffee making strainers hung on the wall. At first glance, it looked like old saggy-baggy white underwear, FOUR SIZES! So we were making fun of it la, one for great-grandpa, one for grandpa, one for dad and last one for son. Plus the bigger ones had brown stains on it… looks quite bad la.. HAHA!

After breakfast, we went to MS Garden Hotel, where the wedding was going to be held. There we checked in to the room and continued making more noise. Once again, poor Carol had to be stuck there with all the guys laughing and doing crazy stuff. But of course, I tried my best to take care of her whenever I could la.. Hehe… We ran through the ceremony dry run later that evening and it was really funny. Uncle James and Sister Pat kept make funny gestures during the dry run. The rest of us practically changed the entire deco of the ceremony hall. The hotel had great deco stuff but the arrangements were quite cincai. So we did some adjustments here and there and at the end, the couple was very happy with new setting.

After the dry run, we went back to the room and rested before heading out to the mall next door to have our very late lunch. The mall really reminded me so much of Summit USJ. So ate, bought some stuff for the wedding ceremony, then went back to the hotel to prepare for the wedding.
At about 6.15pm, the entire guest had arrived and the wedding ceremony began. The couple made their entry with rousing applause, mostly from us la cause the other people were all so old! Calvin led worship while me and Raymond were on the guitars. Then Ps Ryan did the wedding vows, exchange of rings, communion and the unity candle. Before the ceremony ended, Ps Ryan invited the Kuantan pastor, Rev. Dr. Quah to pray a prayer of blessing for the newly weds. It was a very short but sweet wedding, I wouldn’t mind having such a short but so power-packed wedding myself next time. I dread long draggy weddings…ZZzzzZZZ…

We ended the ceremony at 7.15pm, then we guys went up to change into something more comfortable while Carol went to the dinner hall to prepare herself to emcee for the dinner. We proceeded with the dinner with Uncle James and Sister Pat making a grand entrance. Again, we were the ones cheering for them mostly. Carol took the stage and she did a fantastic job! She looked really good that night too… After the second dish, we guys took the stage to do a song presentation. Guess what song? Yup, you’ve guessed it! Our infamous Belaian Jiwa… for a wedding??! Well, Uncle James liked the song and it was the only Malay song Ps Ryan knew how to sing. I had the privilege to play the guitar for them with Raymond. I tell you, the singers were so emo when they sang… the picture speaks a thousand words…

After our presentation, we continued eating while listening to speeches from different ones. We had a good and ‘good’ time listening to different people go up to sing karaoke. Calvin also went up to sing, he did a really good job, karaoke kaki mah! While he was singing, my good friend Jamie went up to give him a flower. Don’t let Ern Suey know ok? ;P

We wrapped up the night with a group photo outside the hall. I took a lot of photos myself, but some I cannot upload la… for my own collection :)

We then proceeded back to the hotel room where we freshened up and changed. Uncle James and Aunty Pat later greeted us in the room, they were very happy with the whole ceremony and dinner. They couldn’t stop thanking us but honestly it was our pleasure and felt no obligation or pressure to do all that we did for them. We were very happy that everything went beyond what they expected. Praise God, it’s only through Him that we could’ve achieved this. After our long goodbyes, we packed up and left the hotel to go to a house Aunty Pat prepared for us to stay the night. We didn’t want to stay in the hotel because the room we had was just next to the newly weds… plus we didn’t bring our earplugs. We wanted to dump Carol at the hotel and all the guys to stay at the house where we can have our pre-bachelor party for Ps Ryan… but my conscience kicked in and Carol didn’t want to be left alone there also la.. darn…

Anyway, we arrived at the house shortly and unloaded our stuff. I accompanied Carol to her room downstairs just to keep watch because we found out that there were two other male occupants in the house, they looked like construction workers and were not very friendly. The guys took the other rooms upstairs. After I made sure that Carol had locked all her doors and windows, I went upstairs to join the guys. We were actually too tired to party. Jeffery went out to meet his dad and bought back some satay, which is actually no match to the Ampang satay, but all of us were too tired to eat. I fell asleep watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony repeat...

Next morning, we got up, washed up, packed our stuff and left for breakfast at a very famous nasi dagang stall. But too bad, we arrived too late and all the nasi dagang were sold out. Nevertheless, we ate the other goodies that they still had, nasi minyak, nasi kerabu, ayam goring, ayam merah, and etc… As usual, we stuffed ourselves la… After breakfast, we went off to Teluk Chempedak and walked around the beach. I could tell you the story, but I’ll just let the photos below do the job for me…

We left the beach at about 11.30am and wanted to go eat at a very famous stall that sells nice kerepok lekor, but our dear friend Jeffery forgot how to get there, after spending 20 minutes looking for the place, we gave up and just left for KL as William needed to go to work by 3pm that day.

On the way back, again everyone slept in my car until we reached the Termeloh R&R stop. The highway to Kuantan and back was really bad, the roads were so uneven... My car was practically bouncing on the road! By the time I sent everyone home and got home myself, it was about 4.30pm. I had a short rest before leaving again for cell group at 8pm. We had a great time at cell and after that we had our Sunday morning worship practice at 9.30pm. Guess who I saw there? My good friend Phoon Pei Teng! Yess, she’s back! For holidays only la, but it was really good to see her again. After practice, Carol went home to rest while I took the others along with Pei Teng for supper. Good time of catching up with her and showing the others the pics I took in Kuantan… So that’s all for our Kuantan trip story.

The next morning, we were in church by 8.15am. We had a good time praying with the other leaders and worship team members. Ps Victor spoke for our service and it was a powerful time! He spoke a message about failures… that every lasting success must be molded through heaps of failure. God allows setbacks to come into even out strongest areas so that we can be prepared to handle great success. Take the life of Joseph, just read through it in Genesis 37, 39, 40, 41. This is the account of Joseph’s life from the time where he arrogantly boast about his dreams, to the time he faced persecutions and setbacks, and in the end all that was to prepare him to be the man that he was destined to be. A lesson worth learning… Failures are not the end… True success can only be obtained when we learn how to handle failures… And there’s only 1 way to learn how to handle failure… TO EXPEREINCE IT FIRST HAND!

PROJECT REPORT~! I have not done anything to my car lately besides repairing my aircond. Found this really good aircond shop in PJ State which does a fantastic job with a superb price. I am in the midst of planning for the next upgrade which will be the base of all other major upgrades that I will be investing in the near future… Will provide you guys with more information when the time comes and when cash is sufficient.

Harvest Generation’s Second Anniversary is coming up soon in September! We’ll be having our anniversary service on the 7th of September 2008, with a very special guest speaker, Rev T.T. Quah. If you guys can come join us, it would be a great pleasure to serve you that day. Please do buzz me if you’re coming as we would need a head count because we’re catering lunch! It’s on the house!

That’s all I have for you all today, it’s gonna be a very exciting month ahead! For my next entry, I will write about Ps Ryan and Brenda’s wedding ceremony at Holiday Villa, Subang Jaya @ 30th August 2008. Stay tuned ya! Till then, take care and God Bless!

Project Report #28 - The Road Not Taken

2008-06-23T16:21:00.007+08:00

Hello people, making another entry as I’m a bit free-er now. It has been a long weekend for me and the team from Harvest Gen but we all came back feeling really fulfilled both in spirit and also in stomachs! We went to Ipoh to minister in 3 different places back-to-back all within 12 hours, something I personally have never done before. Challenging, but it was really worth it!

I’ll start from the very beginning, we departed from Subang Jaya at about 6.30am, it took us slightly above 2 hours to reach Ipoh town. Calvin, Chris, Nick and were driving and surprisingly we were not that tired even though all of us have had a long week before this. As we were driving towards past Simpang Pulai, I notice that there was a police with a speed cam on the tower just beside the highway, at that time I was travelling at about 120km/h… wasn’t so bad la. I slowed down after that and as I was slowing down, low and behold, our dear Nick sped and overtook me. I was like “Oh no…”

To make things worse, just about 5km after Nick overtook me, there was a roadblock… Not just any roadblock, but a speed trap roadblock! And guess what? Both my car and Nick’s car were stopped by the police. I wasn’t really speeding though, the policeman who took my license and inspected my car just gave me a warning saying that I was a little bit over the speed limit… about 122km/h, so he let me off la. As I was driving out, I pass by Nick’s car and both he and Ps Ryan were talking to the policeman attending to him. We waited for them at the side of the road further up from the roadblock. When Nick came to meet us, guess what? He got a speeding ticket! HAHAH! How fast was he going? 123km/hour! We all laughed our heads off! So suay la he! Then he blamed me for not getting a ticket, he said he wanted me to kena sama-sama with him… haha.. Too bad, Nick!

Well, just after we continued our journey to Ipoh, we stopped at the Simpang Pulai petrol station and continued laughing at nick. So bad right we all? But it’s such a funny incident! Although I really pity him because he has to pay the saman, but I couldn’t help but to laugh! Here are some photos of the 'convict' and the car he was convicted in~! By the way, Calvin's just there to console him...

So Ps Ryan took over the driving from there and maintained our speed from there…

When we reached Ipoh at about 8.30am, we picked up Sherene Ng, the leader of Harvest Time Sanctuary Church youth, and went for breakfast at a Dim Sum place in town. We had a fantastic breakfast, ate like pigs! The food was fabulous! Definitely one of the best Dim Sum places I’ve ever been to.

After a great breakfast, we moved on to YMCA building at about 11.30am where we prepared for our first session. While we were setting up, some of our leaders went to meet with the YMCA leaders to discuss certain issues and programmes to be implemented for the youngsters there. At 1.30pm sharp, we began our session with worship lead by Ern Suey, it was really hilarious how she began. We were mainly ministering to students there, some non-believers as well, and she didn’t know how to begin. So she just shouted “Hallelujah! Let’s being!” So being supportive on the drums, I just had to bang my cymbals la… It was a rather abrupt start but it was no doubt a fantastic time of worship, the Holy Spirit really moved in that place. After worship, Calvin Tay took the stage for preaching. Although the interpreter couldn’t catch up in terms of scripture reading which cause a lot of abrupt pauses along the message, he preached still his heart out about Pressing On. 3 main things to catch from his message: 1)We have to face our trials 2)We were made to overcome those trials 3) We have to Press On to continuously maintain the overcoming nature so that we can finish the race of faith.

After the awesome session was over about 2pm, we met up with Ps Chan, the senior pastor of Canning Garden Baptist Church (CGBC). So we went to Ipoh stadium to have our ice-dessert stuff and more food. Again, the food was fantastic. We had a good time of fellowship with Ps Chan, he was a great host to us for that afternoon although he was still in pain from his appendix operation.

Soon after we finished our lunch some teatime, we made our way to CGBC at about 3.30pm to minister in the youth service. We had to setup and run through quickly some song for our sound check then we started praying. The presence of God was really strong as we began praying. Calvin lead worship and God really moved. Then Carol took the stage for the preaching of the Word. She preached about Not Having the Form of Godliness but Denying its Power. She spoke in the lines of not just serving in church to meet and maintain a ‘structure’ of else for sure we will burn-out, but we are to serve in full dependence on God and with a heart that is continuously charged with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Only when we empty ourselves of OURSELVES can God move powerfully in and through our lives.

The service ended at about 5.30pm, we mingled a bit with the crowd, I spoke with some of the more senior people of that church to catch up with them. We had to leave about 6pm for another youth service at Harvest Time Sanctuary. When we reached Harvest Time, it was about 6.20pm. Some of us started setting up our instruments immediately while some rested. It has been a very long a tiring day for all of us but we still believed that God will move mightily in for the next session we’re taking.

After a short rest, proceeded with sound check and began the service at about 8pm. Chris lead the worship that night, we really sensed the Holy Spirit moving in the midst of us. We could really see that the youth there came with heart really expecting an encounter with God. After the worship, Ps Ryan preached the word. He spoke about God Shaking and Stirring Us. The thing that struck me most in the message was when he said that when God shakes, everything that’s not meant to be there will be shaken off, but whatever that’s meant to remain will be STIRRED. It’s an amazing revelation to me personally. Ps Ryan goes on to say that after the every shaking, after the every stirring, our vision and purpose becomes clearer…

Ps Ryan opened up the altar for the people to respond and it was a great time of ministry. The youth really prayed their hearts out when Ps Ryan let them to pray in tongues! I felt so at home over there. At the end of the service, we sang the song ‘Shine Like Stars’ 3 times! By that time, I was really physically depleted… can you imagine playing drums, a very physical instrument, for 3 sessions in 8 hours straight? HAH! It’s like jogging 30km to me… but it was only by the grace of God that I manage to play right till the last beat that night. All glory be to God!

We ended the service at almost 11pm. Had a short time of fellowship with some of the youngsters there. We even had the privilege of meeting the Senior Pastor of Harvest Time Sanctuary, who is also Sherene’s father. Wonderful man, you can really see how much he loves the young people, and how much they love him. So we packed up, freshen up a bit, and had our debriefing which Ps Ryan and we funnily sat exactly the same positions as how Ps Kong Hee did when he met us in CHC Malaysia. Then we left for dinner to the famous curry mee place near Ipoh Garden.

Again, we ate like mad because we were really hungry! I personally felt like fainting already after the evening service because it was really drawing out as we ministered to the people. Physically tired, but spiritually so satisfied! We met some of the youths there as well and got to know some of them better. They are really a fantastic bunch of people. By the time we were done, it was past midnight already, so we said our thank yous and goodbyes and made our voyage back to Subang Jaya.

We stopped by briefly again to fuel up in Simpang Pulai, again! HAHA! While we were there, most of us went a bit high because we were happy for ‘someone’ who made great ‘progress’ in this trip. Hehe… but we’re very proud of him for FINALLY taking initiative. After fueling up, laughing like mad men, and buying bottles of Livita, we began our long journey back down the dark and car-less highway.

It was really torture for me to drive back, not just because I’m so physically tired, but also due to the poor vision of the NON-lit highways. We had only reflectors from the road lane lines and the dividers to guide us on the road. If there was a bend ahead, from a distance it’s as though there’s no more road more road. Took a lot of mental strength to endure through such a drive, having to be on tiptop alert the whole 2 hours of drive in pitch darkness… But praise God, we made it safely back, if not I wouldn’t be making this entry now. Hah! We reached Subang at about 2.30am, by the time I sent everyone in my car home, it was almost 3am. After showering, washing up and unpacking, it was already 3.30am, Sunday morning.

Yet, this did not stop us from going to church within the next 3 hours and prepare for a great service. In fact, the team that went for this trip were the same people who was serving the very next morning for Sunday service. Tired? Of Course~! I was on the drums again. Calvin and Chris had to pickup and send people back from Nilai. But did anyone complain? NONE! We still pressed on in our prayer and service to God. We played, sing and preached our hearts out! And the outcome? God move mightily again in our service… Calvin preach another powerful message which stuck many hearts. All this was possible only by the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit..

To end the story of our Ipoh ministry trip, most of us went home to ‘die’ on our beds. I slept a good 4 hours after Sunday service. By God’s grace, none of us fell sick. In Harvest Gen, we are always taught that we’re ordinary people who serve an extraordinary God. And because we choose to walk the path that is set for us by the extraordinary God, we no longer live ordinary lives. Many people say we’re crazy, even some of our closest friends wonder how we manage so to cover so much in such a short period of time… all I can say is that it can only be God! Because I ,myself, am amazed how God has chosen to use me in such an extraordinary way… to bring me through things I never knew I could do or achieve… All praise and glory be to God~!

That’s all I have for you guys for this entry, I know it’s a bit long but I hope this entry will be a testimony to inspire some of you to get out of your norm, comfortable lives and take up the challenge of pursuing the purposes that God has rightfully placed in your life, without making excuses, without complaints. No great thing ever achieved by anyone has come easy and without sacrifices. The old nature has to die for the new nature of God to prevail in our lives. Challenge yourself daily to walk with God closer, always remember that God will never ever lead to a place where His grace cannot keep you. Every challenge that you encounter is meant to make you stronger, every trial is meant for you to succeed over, every obstacle is meant for you to overcome it! Have a great week ahead and God Bless…

Project Report #27 - The Hills Have Bykes

2008-06-18T16:20:00.000+08:00

Hey people, it is with great regret that I was not able to make much entries the past few months. Things have been moving very fast in church, my work as well as other things that I’m currently involved in. for starters, I forgot to mention that earlier this year God has blessed me with an increment of 33.37%.. Praise God for His providence. I’ve been able to bless people with simple things like birthday gifts, meals and transportation. God blesses us to be blessing right? I’m trying my best although I’m still not perfect, there are a lot of things within me that’s birth from selfishness that I have to deal with day by day and I believe one day I shall conquer it once and for all. No war is won in a day..

Much has been happening in my life, I find myself being challenged within these past few months to forgive and let go of things that people wronged against me and the people I love. It’s not easy, I’m still dealing with issues of anger and grudges, it’s a learning curve for me but I’m praying really hard that I will be able to overcome this soon. Easier said than done? Definitely! This is because the only people that can hurt you are the people who are closest to you.

Being close to a person is like taking off your bullet proof vest in front of another person whose hand is still on the gun trigger. It’s a risk to love anyone, I’m not talking about romantic love, just plain close friendship… So would I stop loving people close to me and further develop more close friends? Of course not! What’s life without friends? Some may abandon you, but the ones who stick by you will be priceless in good times and bad.

Church has been fantastic the past few months! We’ve been ministering in Ipoh, Klang, and even had our first church baptism in May with 4 candidates! We’ll be heading to Ipoh again this Saturday, it’s gonna be an entire day. We’ll be leaving Subang Jaya at 7am or so and by the time we’re done and travelled back from Ipoh, it would be about 4am, Sunday morning! Mind you, we won’t be skipping church on Sunday morning. Is it tiring? YESS! We’re still human with physical bodies… but we believe that if we choose to pay the price today, the future generations that will come after us will reap the benefits.

What are we doing in Ipoh and Klang? We’re partnering with different churches there to do youth works. Training them in different practical ministry skills, helping them mold their character and never compromising on the things of the Word and Spirit. For those who have been through the CampusCity Leadership Training last time, this will sound familiar to you. This is rather similar, but we’ve made some changes to suit the culture and the level of the different groups that we’re ministering to. It’s amazing to see young guys and gals, age 14 to 17, to preach for their own youth service! We’ve seen many lives of these young ones changed… All glory to God!

About 3 weeks ago, our church had a mini outing to the well renowned Bukit Cherakah, which I refer to as Bukit Celaka due to a lot of unforeseen circumstances that has happened the few times I was there. This time, I did enjoy myself but with a certain price to pay la, let me tell you the story. We arrived there at about 10.30am after a breakfast. We had Indian breakfast by the way, which was not a good idea at all going cycling with your tummy full of spicy stuff. We rented bikes and off we went cycling in the forest reserve. This is where the pain began…

We just cycled without having any clue to which direction of the park we were going. The park was not all flat ground roads ok… it comprised of almost 70% slopes and most of these slopes were super steep! We practically cycled the entire park until then finally Ps Ryan decided to go to the 4 Seasons Climate thing, it’s just a building which gives you a feel of what season it would be if we were in a 4 season region. Not knowing where it was we just agreed to go, so we cycled all the way to the WRONG END of the park. Then only we realized that the 4 Season building was at the other FAR END of the park! It was like a good 15km of slope roads to get there. Disheartened, our dear friend Nick Chan wanted to give up already… I so understand why, with lousy bikes, hilly roads under the blazing hot sun, it was no joke that it was super taxing on our bodies!

Nevertheless, we cycled all the way to the 4 Seasons building with a brief rest at a small café in between. Upon reaching there, we saw the youth group from HCA there. We also met a kid who looks exactly like Shaun Foo! Both chubby, dark and has exactly the same mannerisms! Shaun’s look-a-like’s mother even said herself that she almost mistaken Shaun for her son! HAHA~! For those of you who don’t know who is Shaun, he is Ps Ryan’s nephew that attends our church as well.

So after the brief amusement of finding the ‘twins’, we moved on to enter the 4-Seasons place. It was really nice although the whole place smelt like a vegetable shop. We took a lot of pictures there, Ps Ryan and Brenda took some couple shots as well for their wedding purposes. I took a few shots myself but I never got to see the pictures even till today. HAHA! We had a good time there just chilling out in the cold breeze of spring. After that we made our way back to the exit of the park to go home already..

On the way back, our dear friend Nick Chan again, got his bike chain stuck deep in between the gears. It took 3 grown men and 30 minutes to pull that thing out because we didn’t have the tools to remove and the bicycle shack was really far away. Ps Ryan, Calvin and myself got our hands practically coated with black gear grease. Then in the middle of fixing the bike, Calvin had a little cramp on his leg and felt like vomiting. Remember what we had for breakfast? Haha! Thank God he didn’t throw up in the end. We just cycled slowly back to the park entrance.

At the end of that day, everyone of us had sore-muscles, especially our butt muscles. Cycling up and down hill with lousy bikes and under the hot sun was really an ‘experience’! But one that I’m really glad I went. Above all this ‘pain’, every one of us had fun and it brought us closer together. Heck, it even gave us a bit of the physical exercise we need… we’re lacking a lot of that your know =P

PROJECT REPORT~! Nothing much has been happening with my car lately, I’ve just changed my voltage stabilizer and iridium sparkplugs to improve my idling and fuel ignition. This month’s expenses will be a bit tight due to the fuel price surging. Last time I could survive with RM350 for fuel a month, now it’s a staggering RM500 a month! Worried? A bit… Fearful? Not really… But I know God will provide because He has said in His word that He will never let His children beg for bread…

Do read my flooble chat entries once in awhile. I do post some really good quote which I come across during Sunday sermons or things that I read. I hope it will bless you as much as it has blest me. I think this is a rather short entry, I will update you all more on the Ipoh trip when I return. Praise God that I will be able to go to Singapore for the Asia Conference in City Harvest! God is faithful to provide!

Thanks for making time to read, nothing really ‘preachy’ today, just sharing some little things that has happened in my life. Stay tuned for the upcoming update maybe by next week. Till then, take care people! Have a wonderful week ahead and God bless!

Project Report #26 - Chronicles of Car-Kee-Ah

2008-03-15T17:40:00.017+08:00

Hey people~! Sorry for long, long, LONG time of no updates. There has been just so much to do these past few months. Everything I’m involved in has been picking up pace, my work, my ministry, my relationships and etc. But nevertheless, God has been really faithful to provide all I need, it’s not been easy physically but I’ve survived and succeeded to overcome all obstacles to be where I am today.

Earlier this year my car met a minor accident, the catch is I WASN”T IN THE CAR~! Haha~! So for those of you who are saying “Sudah agak, kereta pantas pasti accident punya…” hear me out first before you judge me okay? It was 2 days before New Year’s, 30th of December 2007, early in the Sunday morning at about 7.20am, my can slid down my car park ramp and crash through my gate, collapsing the front gate and damaging the back portion of my car all together.

I was shocked when I came down and saw my car the opposite side of the road from my house when I came down. My front gate was on the floor, and my car’s back wheels were in the longkang. Upon further investigation, I found out that my handbrake cables were snapped, the previous owner had never changed them and the cable seal had already ruptured, hence causing the cables to rust and wear out. Without the handbrakes working, my car just slid down crashing through my gate…

That morning I was really upset when I saw the damages inflicted on my gate and on the car, it was heartbreaking because you all know how much I treasure the things I have. That Sunday morning, I was also on for worship and my mother encouraged me saying “Don’t let thing be a hindrance in giving your best to serve God today…” I tell you, my mom is one strong woman~! Because of what she said, and I believe it was from the Holy Spirit, I was determined to have a great Sunday in church no matter what, AND I DID~!

To cut the long story short, my repairs amounted to almost RM1800 for the car and RM1500 for the gate. Although I’ve been working for a year, I don’t have that kinda money in my savings. But praise God, my parents were generous enough to loan me the money to cover all my repairs. Although I know deep in their hearts, they’re willing to just give the money to me, but I’ve made a choice to take the responsibility in covering all cost because it is my car. So now every month, I’m setting aside some money to pay them back. Is it easier said than done? Obviously, but this teaches me to be responsible and take ownership of what belongs to me..

I went to Kuching with a few people from Harvest Generation last month before Chinese New Year, had a great time with Ps Cheli and his students. We helped setup a few things for him to be implement for his after school programs. I was really honored to be asked to do a Compute Demerit System for them, but in the end things didn’t work out. Nevertheless, I had a great time sharing my heart out together with me teammates in a career talk in Ps Cheli’s school, the students were really inspired. I believe, like what Ps Ryan always says, it is the anointing that God has given to us that draws the people to us, it not because of our own works.

The Kuching trip was really special not just because of the people and the FOOD, but also because we had a non-believer who came along with us and caught something from all of us. This friend of ours is inches away from accepting Jesus into his heart, but due to some family issues that he is very afraid of, he has not made that step. I believe the words that have been spoken, the love we have shown him, and the little Bible verses we have shared with him has sown seeds of faith into his heart. We just have to keep pressing-in in our prayers that he will one day accept the Lord personally. By the way, he does attends our church quite regularly, so praise God for that because it is a miracle in itself to see him so hungry for God’s word even though he isn’t a believer yet.

Let’s pause for a moment, to those of you who cannot tahan reading a long entry, you can stop here and continue another time because this entry is gonna be really REALLY long as I have many things to share. What to do? So long never make and entry already, HAHA~!

PROJECT REPORT~! The past one year with my car has been indescribable. I really enjoy the ride but there were also a lot of financial responsibilities to bear to have such a unique car. There were months where I had to wait for parts to come in and leave my car in the workshop for weeks, but in the end it’s all worth it (because it’s my passion mah). Below are some photos I’ve taken not too long ago on the recent modifications that has been made to the car the past 8 months, just sit back and enjoy the pics…

This first few pics are taken in my office basement parking. The angles I chose to take all the pics looks like those you see on cars-for-sale columns, but this is NOT for sale okay?! Haha~! This is the right front angle..

Here goes the left front angle, notice my car colour is different under different lighting conditions.

This is the back left angle..

Now the right back angle…

Notice there has been a few changes to the bodykit. This is the new rear-side skirting..

Now the new spoiler I had made from fibre… it’s a Subaru Impreza designed spoiler… I think I’m the only one who fitted to this car so far in KL-Subang area.. Compare it with the previous GT Wing I had... looks better right? By the way, my GT Wing was also damaged in the accident mentioned earlier...

The new front bumper diffuser, I had this installed about a month ago but some Mat Rempit broke off one side for fun when I was waiting at a traffic light. I knew he did it on purpose because he stepped on it and smiled at me some more. AND NO, I didn’t do anything to that stupid fella prior or after he broke my diffuser off, good way to practice forgiveness towards the unforgivable. Haha~!

Here’s the front left angle with the lights on… bright eh?

Here’s the front right angle with the lights on… still very bright eh?

Here’s the dead on front angle with my headlights and spotlights on… super bright eh?

The back angle with my brake lightings on…

The following pics from here on are taken in a different environment under the sun, you will notice again the colour of my car is very much different under different lighting conditions. These paints are known as diamond paint, and my car colour is Diamond Bronze…

Here’s the front left angle of the car…

The side portrait…

The back portrait…

And now the engine bay area.. notice the difference before and after… I had the engine parts cleaned and re-sprayed…

Closer view… you can see the intercooler stainless steel piping on the left of the pic with the blow-off valve welded on it…

Left side of the engine bay… notice the giant K&N open pod air-filter with the blue cold air-intake pipe on the far bottom right of the picture.

The right side of the engine bay…

Lower front right angle of the car… told you I’m a fanatic about taking pictures from different angles… things are seen differently when the angles are changed…

Lower front left angle of the car…

Lower back right angle of the car…

And finally, the lower back left angle of the car…

Hope you all have enjoyed the small pictorial show of the progress of this car project. I will be starting off the signing off session soon, I hope. It is rather difficult to meet up with all of you, but I will try my best to make some necessary arrangements to meet you all maybe in different groups or one at a time… there will be a photo taking session while you guys and gals sign the boot board, so be ready ya?

I would like to personally congratulate 2 couples who have recently gotten married, one is of course the infamous Jay Loh and Andy Yeoh, which I had a great privilege to attend their wedding ceremony. Jay has been a great inspiration to me the past couple of years because of her heart that never ceases to give God her best~! She is a very gifted and anointed worship leader and I’ve always enjoyed serving along with her when I was with Actstream. Keep it up, Jay~! There will be many people placed under you that will be inspired greatly through your life of service to God~!

Another couple that I would like to congratulate is none other than the very poetic, Ps Alex and Wern Lu~! Ps Alex is one guy that would never allow you to feel bored or keep quite when you’re with him. His witty statements and flowery languages just really wows you, and sometimes causes you to think through what he said. He gift in writing songs has truly been inspirational. Plus his anointing to lead worship in church is really unique. I’ve really enjoyed serving with him back in Actstream. Now that he’s married (finally), I believe more songs of passion, love, and maybe I tinny-winny bit of misery will be birth forth in the coming future. All the best Ps Alex~! I believe your journey in marriage with the one you love will be stupendous~! NOTE: Ps Alex is the culprit in the invention of the word INVITATIONALISM…

That’s all I have for you guys today, hope you’ve enjoyed reading this entry as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Forgive me if I don’t get to make an entry anytime soon due to many commitments, but I will try my best to do so. Oh by the way, I am very, VERY happy that DAP’s Hannah Yeoh won this tims round for Subang Jaya. I didn’t get to vote because I registered in January and the EC people said I was a bit too late to be allocated to the voting polls… I was like “What the…? What nonsense?!”. Why? Because they can do a background checking before issuing me my passport in 3 days but they need over 3 months to register me as a voter… nonsense right?

Okay okay, politics aside. I’m supposed to close this entry now and get ready to go for cell group. Alright people, have a great new week ahead~! Champion everything you put your hands on~! God Bless~!

Project Report #25 - I Know What WE Did This Raya...

2007-10-15T20:35:00.000+08:00

Hey Sponsors, it’s been a long time since I made my last entry. I do deeply apologize for this because lately I’ve been assigned with 3 major development projects in my company and have been working late almost everyday for the past 2 months. God has been really good to me~! He’ has brought me to a place in my career where my skills are really being tested and proven to the max~! I’m now juggling between handling work, church stuff, family, friends, my small business and some investment planning all simultaneously and I’ve not been sick even for a single day~! That’s a great testimony in itself~!

Today is our Hari Raya holiday and our church had an outing this morning to Bukit Cheraka, or for me I always called it Bukit ‘Celaka’ (want to find out why? Ask Ben Shyen or Jon Foo about their experience there). When we reached there, guess what? It was CLOSED~! Haha~! All our efforts to want to cycle there went down to the drain. So we diverted our entire outing to FRIM in Kepong. For those of you super sheltered people who have never had a real jungle-trekking experience before, this place is a good place to start.

When we arrived there, we found out there were no bicycles available for rent, they had no such service there. So we decided to jungle trek instead. I tell you, I was super geram at some people who were so easily freaked by little insects and leaches. We were not even 200m from the entrance of the track and a few people already started to scream helplessly and demanded for us to turn back because they saw a few leaches on their shoes. Man, when I have kids, I will definitely expose them these kinda jungle stuff even though they will be raised in the city, then they won’t grow up as ignorant sissies~! Haha~!

Lesson of the trip? Never bring super-sheltered girls and guys to any jungle outings. I really wanted to whack up the sissy guys in our group though, but by God’s grace, I was merciful. Haha~! Just kidding... I got a leach bite by the way, I showed it to the ones that were freaked out and told them that it was not painful at all. I even plucked it out from my leg. So people, please go expose yourselves to jungle or forest adventures~!

The working people in our church have been experiencing breakthroughs lately. Many of them got their increments and even good comments from their managers about their work. Even for myself, my boss just sat down with our team and told us that we’re doing a fantastic job compare to the people who came before us. I believe that all of us are where we are today not by chance or by accident, but it’s because of the character that was build within us.

Ps Ryan has been going through a series of messages with us in the area of discipleship and it has been a great blessing to us as a church. The leaders have really been growing and progressing in the marketplace because we were challenged to develop and build an excellent character. Ps Ryan always told us that “Money can buy your performance, all the company has to do is to pay you more and you will work harder for them, but money can NEVER buy your character…” These every words have been stuck to my heart every single day as go to work and run my business.

It’s been challenging to keep up sometimes, there are a lot of times where I just wanted to react towards some of the situations in my company, but I believe it was God who has brought me through all this to develop character in me. And because of all that I’ve learnt in church and molded over time, I have not reacted negatively during my working days.

Many mistakes have been made, and I do regret making them. Sometimes I really felt hiding the mistakes hoping that no one else will find out, or maybe put the blame on someone else. Like the bible says, our hearts are deceitful. But every time there was a temptation to do such a despicable act, I was always reminded by the Holy Spirit that I am supposed to be salt and the light in my company. That I was called to make a difference and to live out the difference. Difficult as it may seem, and much remedial work to bear, I owned up to my mistakes and took responsibility over it. It was not easy, but I had the peace in my heart every time I admitted to my mistakes…

One of the leaders of our church, Calvin Tay, has always owned up to his mistakes and there have been a lot of testimonies about his employers commenting that he’s the only employee that receives criticism and correction with great attitude. These testimonies really inspires me to push myself to do the right thing even though the ‘escape’ path is prominent.

Is it very though to live for God in the marketplace? Nope… But is it very easy to live for God in the marketplace? No also.. As long as we’re walking right with God and have a strong solid relationship with Him, He will always see us through any obstacles and challenges. God will not put us in a challenge or testing which He knows we'll not be able to overcome. Our character can only be molded through trying times. It is these times that the filth in us will be purged out and dealt with if we choose to respond positively. Just like what someone once said, the only way to get rid of the worms from the ground is to heat the ground up~! I myself am not perfect but I know I'm being perfected when I choose to respond instead of react.

God is really after our character and attitude. If we desire to have great attitude and character, He will definitely grant it to us. But we ourselves have to walk with God closely. So people, if you desire for great character, get ready for great challenges~! The problems that will come maybe huge, but the rewards reaped after you overcome are beyond what mere words can describe. Press on people~! Those of you who are seeking a breakthrough, don’t give up~! God always has a promise in every problem, once you understand and harness that promise to you life, your breakthrough will come. The longer you take to harness the promise, the longer you will be in that same problem. So be ready for a great testings that will birth forth great testimonies~! It will be so so sweet~!

My annual appraisal will be coming soon and I’m praying that my bonus and raise would be sufficient for me to invest more in other avenues of profit. Yes people, I’m now a very business minded person since I’ve entered into the working world. It’s not because I just wanna get rich, retire and do nothing after that, but I know that God has given me a gifting in business that I’m slowly cultivating and nurturing as I progress in seeking Him and putting my hands to the plow. Plus I really need the money to ultimately build my music institute remember?

Project Report~! My car is now in superb running condition beside some minor stuff that needs to be replaced. I will be doing up the brakes next month because the current ones are really old and rusty, thus lessening my braking capability. It will cost quite a lot but it’s alright~! I know that as I’ve sown though my tithes and offering, God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory~! The signing session has to be put on hold for awhile as I am pretty packed almost every other day. so I’m planning to have the signing session on the next time I invite all you guys and gals to come over to my place for makan again. That would make it easier for all of us to meet. I really can’t wait to see all you again, especially some of you from Acts. It’s been so long since we’ve met up.

I will upload some of the recent minor modifications I’ve made to the car if I can get my hand on a digital camera. If you guys didn’t know, I’ve never owned a digital camera in my life. All the pictures in this blog project have been taken from the cameras of Ps Ryan, Daphne and Nick Chan. I’m still praying for a good digi-cam, but haven’t been able to afford one yet.

Alright people, that’s all I have for today. I hope that my little sharing has encouraged and blessed some of you. Please feel free to flood my chatbox as flooble is threatening to shut it down due to its inactivity. Haha~! Take care people, have a great week and God Bless~!

NEWS FLASH #4 - Harvest Generation EP Launch~!

2007-07-23T12:04:00.000+08:00

Hey people~! The time that everyone is waiting for is finally here~! We're launching our album this coming Saturday, 28th July 2007, 8pm at Harvest Generation Church. Please note that every single cent collected from the sales of this album will be contributed to the Street Church Ministry in Petaling Street, down town KL.

If you don't know what the Street Church does, let me briefly explain it to you. They focus on ministering to the homeless, drug addicts, and the even some street gangsters through acts of providence and love. Through their act of love and living out the Gospel instead of shoving it down people's throats, many hardcore druggies and street thugs are now saved in Christ and serving in this church. If you had the time to hear their testimonies, it will bring you to tears...

In summary, this ministry adds value to the lives of the people who never thought that their lives had value through their acts of compassion.

So come support us this weekend and I assure you that every cent you contribute will help add value to someone's life~!

For inquiries, please don't hesitate to contact me directly of ask my through my chatterbox.

I really hope to see all of you there this Saturday~!

God Bless~!

NEWS FLASH #3 - CHILL OUT BBQ TOMORROW NIGHT~!

2007-07-13T12:02:00.000+08:00

Hie people~! You are all welcome to our new church premise for a BBQ. It's gonna be great food and performances so come and chill out at out rooftop BBQ. There will be performances by Lenny, a Sabahan singer with a superb voice, a degree holder in singing performances arts, and also a performance by Jone Yeoh, the record holder of the fastest person to complete the entire drumming course.

Jone will be doing a drums duet with me, so don't miss this rare performance~!

For more inquiries, please don't hesitate to contact me directly~!

Looking forward to seeing you there~!

Project Report #24 - Cool Runnings

2007-06-23T15:18:00.001+08:00

Hey Sponsors~! It’s a nice Saturday afternoon, I’m finally a little free to make a blog entry. Just met up with a supplier not too long ago, trying to get some performance parts for my car and for some clients as well. Just to let you all, I’m currently trying to start off a business in the aftermarket automotive industry. In Malaysia, this business is really growing fast, so I’m just starting off really really small, but slowly I want to build contacts, seal contracts and launch out in the near future. Do pray with me that God will help me in this business…

Let me share with you the reason behind me intending to start a business. Sure, cars are my interest, but the purpose of this business is not just that. I think many of you know about my vision on building a full fledge music institute. Maybe now you’re wondering, what does cars have to do with music? Well, this entry will explain everything.

Music has been my passion since the early days of my life. I was found setting up pots, pans and containers in my kitchen and played with it as though it was a drum set with a cassette playing the background, this was when I was 4 years old. My love for music almost died when I took up piano lessons at about 6 years of age, one thing was because my teachers were not really good and I just didn’t like playing the piano at all, especially classical piece. I have nothing against classical music, but too much of it really drained the life out of me…

So I stopped piano when I was about 9 years old, took up contemporary keyboards with a good friend name Beatrice, I was also a frequent participant in Aubrey Suwito’s keyboard clinics. This was the time when I was so inspired to be a jazz musician because of the soul and life behind the music. But again, I didn’t continue pursuing my keyboarding because I knew it was not my passion.

So eventually I picked up the drums when I was 11, and have been at it ever since. At that time, my dad had just resigned from his well paid job to pursue his ministry. Thus my family couldn’t afford to send me to official drumming lessons from professional teachers. So I had to settle learning the drums from my church drummers, which actually helped me in developing the ability to worship and sing while playing.

I am very grateful to one person who has been always supportive of my music ministry since I started showing interest in the drum. His support in love, finances, encouragement and inspiration has really pushed me to be the musician I am today. He is none other than my uncle, Danny Siew, whom I’m so honored to have being a sponsor of the car project as well. He has taught me everything he knew about music and encouraged me to go on further. He was the first person to buy me a pair of drumsticks, guitar effects and many more other music equipment. The latest thing he gave me was a practice drum kit, which is in very god use now for me…

During my early secondary school days, I use to save up money to go for drumming clinics everywhere. I was very interested to learn from anyone who knew more than me. I was even ready to pay RM70 bucks for just 1 hour of class with a professional teacher. Though I couldn’t afford it on a weekly basis, I use to not eat during recess and use my money to pay off my drumming fees. With the connection with various drummers, I found a part time job as a sessionist with a band. We played in different hotels, restaurants and sometimes pubs. I was a very different person then, my friends would always bring me out to do stuff that I regret doing. I was practically backsliding because of my pursuance in music.

Only after my SPM, I got my fire back for God and this was when I got my vision to build a music institute. I still remember it so clearly. It was during the Youth Alive Conference in Penang, when Planet Shakers first came to Malaysia and held a big rally, Ps Chris Long was preaching about doing something for our nation. He said that we don’t have to look far and wide to make a difference in our nation, we just have to look at what we have in our hands and surrender it to God, and He will direct you. He asked each take up our passion and not look down on it even though it may be small at that time. He challenged us to think big with the little we have~!

As I sat there and listened, I was really moved in my spirit. I kept asking God, what can I do to impact my nation. Then there the Holy Spirit asked, “What is your passion? What is that something that has been burning within you that has not died since you were young?”…. I answered, “Music… my passion is to become a professional musician”. I knew then that God has plans for me to excel in my musical ability.

I went home and prayed, I continued to ask God over and over again, “How can I make an impact to in my country with music?”… I knew that the Malaysian music industry was in the dumps and there were no prospects other than mat rock~! It wasn’t until 1 year later that God revealed to me how I was to use music to impact the community, by teaching music, but at that time, my family still wasn’t doing too well I couldn’t afford professional certification. So how? Stuck again? Nope... because God was preparing me slowly.

Finally, during my early university days, my parents could afford to send me for official lessons with the well renowned John Thomas, one of the youngest drumming prodigies of Malaysia. I was under him for about a year plus, and eventually I had to stop because of other commitments. But my lessons with him really helped me develop my techniques in different kinds of styles and genres.

With these skills drilled into me, I could finally be good enough to teach drummers at initial grades. So I did so for about 2 years, first I thought in a small music school in SS2, then I went in to help Actstream Academy by teaching drums there. I’ve done many gigs in and out of church, many recording sessions with different people. But at the end, I still was not satisfied because it wasn’t enough. I still was not professionally certified to qualify as an official drums teacher.

So now comes the part where I explain to you how I will get my professional qualification. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve been pondering how I’m gonna fund my music education. I’ve been considering various businesses and second jobs. Lately for the past 8 months of praying, I felt the peace to start off something small in the aftermarket car industry. This business which I intend to build is for the purpose funding my music degree. Why a business? Main reason is because when this business becomes self-sustaining, and when I am able to hire workers to run things for me, I can free up my day to take up my music degree and still generate income to support my studies.

If I were to work a full-time job for another company, I won’t have time to do such a thing. I know it would take time for a business to self-sustain, but I’m willing to work hard to see my the vision that God has given to me come to past. Even if it doesn’t, at least I’ve tried my very very best.

FACT: Did you know that music has the ability to penetrate into all levels of society, young and old, any race of any religion of any social standing. I believe that the interest in learning music is not limited to only a small group of people. Therefore, by setting up a renown music institute which offers courses all the way to professional levels, I can impact the community through the teaching of music.

MY VISION: To not just to teach music and develop great musicians in terms of skills, but also to build character, commitment and moral values that will produce students who are great musicians in skill and stature. There’s no point in being high skilled but no character, it’s useless. But can you imagine the impact of music teaching when coupled with the principles from the Word of God. I’m not gonna preach to my students and force them to believe in Jesus, but as I teach, as my teachers teach, I pray that our lives will leave an impression that Christ lives in us, thus introducing Christ through our behavior, commitment, convictions, excellence and character.

So people, now you know why I want to start off a car performance business. Hope you people will support me in this through your prayers. If you wanna support me in my car business, please let me know if you need anything done with your car. I will gladly serve you and help you get the best deals.

Project Report~! My car is in the shop now for some upgrades. I’m installing a new front mount intercooler, a sports air-filter and a blow-off-valve. Please pray with me that everything will go through smoothly, no mishaps or mistakes. Below are some pictures of the car upgrading work…

This is the top view of the engine, look at the new stainless steel intake pipes I’m installing. The airflow will superb for improved engine response. Notice how clean the engine top looks now, I had to repaint it myself, but I’m gonna change the engine over to a Ford one really soon, it’s gonna be a nice dark chevvy orange colour tone.

Here’s the front of the car, my bumper was removed to fit in my front mount intercooler. It’s brand new, so still haven’t opened from the wrapper. If you wanna know briefly how an intercooler works, just CLICK HERE.

The intercooler brand is INFINITE. This intercooler has many good reviews about it and I got it at a very good price, brand new~!

Another front view of the intercooler, isn’t it a beauty? There will be stainless steel pipings running from the intercooler with blue silicon adapters to join the pipes with the intercooler.

Last picture from the top front of the intercooler. This item has been in my hunting list for very long already, but I was just waiting for the finances to come in so I can buy it.

Alright people, that’s all I have for today~! Sorry for the long wait for my entry, I will try my best to make another one by next week with the full installations completed. Then this car is gonna look and perform really well. Sponsors, take note that the signing phase will begin within the next few weeks~! See you all then~! God Bless~!

Project Report #23 - Backlash~!

2007-05-21T11:10:00.000+08:00

Good morning people~! Another new week to face whole new set of challenges for the purpose of making us better people, I sound so philosophical.. Haha~! It’s been 3 weeks since I last made my entry. Again, I’ve been caught up with many things at work, in church and of course, this project. I’ve also recently started up my drum classes again, so my free time is really being shortened as the days go by, but it’s alright~! I really enjoy th pace of my life… I rather be busy than to be bored with nothing to do…

We had Ps Chan from CGBC Ipoh to speak in our Sunday service again yesterday, we had a great time with him. His message this time was about Christians In The Marketplace. It was a very good message and I believe all of us were really blessed by it. What is the Marketplace? How do we define Marketplace? There are a lot of different people giving good definitions like “the market place is wherever God places you…” or “the marketplace where you’re working or studying…” which all of it is very true. But Ps Chan gave a definition that I heard for the first time, he said the marketplace is anywhere that is beyond the church and your close family.

It got me thinking awhile what he meant, then I realized what he’s saying is that the marketplace is beyond the people who we are usually comfortable hanging around with. That makes so much sense to me now. Ps Chan emphasized this by using Jesus’ ministry as an example, he said Jesus didn’t only minister to the people he knew closely…He also went out to the people that He didn’t know very well to minister, to teach them the word, to heal them of their sicknesses, to perform miracles…

Why would Jesus do such a thing? Why would He do good to people who He didn’t even know? The answer lies in the understanding of why Jesus came to us in the first place. Many people don’t know what Jesus’ mission was when He came to us 2000 years ago, I know all of you all will say that Jesus came to save the lost, to redeem and reconcile man back to God, but is that all Jesus came to do? The answer is NO~!

Jesus’ ultimate mission wasn’t just to conquer sin and death, His ultimate mission was to reveal the True God to us. What does it mean to reveal the True God? Simple, to live a life of obedience to fulfill every plan and purpose that God has so that God’s power is revealed to others through His life… Jesus never ever went against the will of the Father, that’s why He lived a live of revealing the True God…

We are called to be imitators of Christ, therefore we too are to live a life revealing the True God in our own marketplaces. Through what we do wherever we’re placed, the responses and reactions we choose, our conduct and behavior, our speech, all this will reveal the god that lives in us… If Christ is the one who’s living in us, all that we do and say would be Christ-like. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, no word release from your mouth is by accident… unless you got speak defect la… Haha~!

Always remember, we were never made for ourselves. The blessings that we have were never just for our own enjoyment. There’s always a bigger cause and purpose to why we’re blessed. The Bible clearly states that we are blessed in abundance to be a blessing to others. Since we were blessed with the love of Christ that is so abundant, why not share it with someone else? That love didn’t come from you anyway, it came from Jesus… It is like me giving you RM50 to bring someone out for lunch, you would gladly do it because the money was given to you and not from your own pocket… Jesus gave you the love to love others, don’t try to love people with your own strength, its very tiring… draw from Him and you will be able to be generous with your love... You will only feel that sense of fulfillment when you accomplish what God has made you to accomplish… Cheers~!

Project Report~! I’ve hit another dead-end in my car ownership grant. It seems that the worse case scenario has happened, I thought it was all settled but I was so wrong. It turns out that the information on my insurance is different from the information printed on my car grant. Therefore it has caused many problems in insurance coverage and ownership transfer. This has caused my new engine number to not be able to be inserted to my new car grant. My insurance agent and JPJ officer is working up a plan to remedy this situation. All I can do now is pray, so sponsors please pray with me… This is serious, if this issue doesn’t clear, the documents will be compromised and the car will be clamped down… Thanks people~!

Today I’m gonna share about a person that’s filled with hot air… No la, just kidding... Haha~! This person is a dear friend and a really cool person to hang out with. I have no idea why she has a great obsession to want to blast Britney Spears’ ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ song with my car sound system. I actually really hate the song… and the singer also la… glad that she’s bald now… Hehe.. Sidetracked~! Okok.. it is my great privilege to introduce to you my dear friend… Michelle Ng a.k.a. ZeeKEE a.k.a. Mitchy a.k.a. Michillee a.k.a. Monkey…

Did you realize that is you did anything to prank her or scare her, her first response is to call you “Monkey”? Haha~! Either she’s reminding of my surname of her own last name. Anyway, I can’t really remember how I actually first met Mitchy. We just got along as we mixed with the same group of friends. I use to think she was some spoilt rich kid from Muar… I meant what else can I think right? People drive Wira, she drive Waja… I accident my Wira and got an old Ford, she accident her Toyota Altis and got a new Honda Civic... Haha~!

But she’s a very pleasant person to be around with. You will hardly catch her in a foul mood or not smiling, even when she’s really tired she will make an effort to fit in a smile or a witty remark. Her willingness to serve others is amazing~! Last time when she was staying in PJ, she use to send Cheryl Mohan back all the way to Segambut, near Jinjang, every week without fail. Not just for one church meeting, but for a few church events as well. You could see that she’s dead tired after a long day of classes, but she has not rejected her offer to serve others…

She has this habit of eating that really pisses me off sometimes… actually, all the time la. Haha~! Did you know that when she finishes her meal, she would always leave at least a spoon-full of food on the plate? No matter how much or how little she orders, every dish must be left with a little bit of the food on the plate.. The more annoying thing is, she would refuse to just swallow that last spoon-full no matter you say. Like Jesus, I have to learn to love her with her shortcomings as well… Haha~!

This gal is one strong gal, she has been through so much in her life, her studies, church and ministry, and even crisis in the family. Yet she held on to the promises of God and made it through all the trials with great success and great testimonies. Her life is really an inspiration and an example to all of how God can come through no matter what the situations are if we just choose not to give up and hold on strong to His principals.

To Mitchy… we’re served together for quite some time already haven’t we? I want you to know that I’ve had a wonder time working alongside you when I was in CampusCity and Acts Church. Your façade always brightened up the room because we could hardly ever catch you with a long face. I know many people are scared of me when they first see me, but everyone feels really comfortable when they first see you and talk to you…

You have the gift of connecting with people, your genuine love and care for others is one of you very strong points. Continue cultivating that strength and I know many many people will be blessed and inspired. In many ways we are so different, yet we manage to become good friends. It’s really a miracle from God la, Haha~! But you’re life has really inspired me to put my trust in God no matter how bleak the situation is.

Don’t hold back in sharing those testimonies you have with others. They are accounted to you for a reason, many people out there need to know the truth that you have in you. Things may sometimes seem out of hand, times many bring more stress and pressure, raging tempest all around you, but trust in the Lord, renew your strength in Him, let His peace guard your heart and you will come out of any situation successful, becoming a greater person than you were before…

I’m looking forward to the day we get to meet up again for a meal or anything… It has been quite awhile since I really had any time to talk and spend time with you and the others. Although we chat a lot, nothing beats meeting up face to face. Thank you for being part of this project, thank you for being so willing to be a sponsor, thank you for all the thing you may have done unknowingly that has blessed and inspired me and so many others… Above all, thank you for being a sponsor of my life… the very least you’ve done has made me who I am today..

Another end to another entry, I don’t know when I will have the time to make the next entry but I will keep all of you posted~! If no entries are made I will make quick updates on my chatterbox, do check it once in a awhile to find out what’s going on. Thanks for reading, I hope this entry has been a blessing to you all… Have a great week ahead and God bless~!

Project Report #22 - Life House

2007-05-02T22:07:00.000+08:00

Hey Sponsors~! It’s been a great few days of rest for me because of the public holidays, other than my little eczema attack, everything else is going along fine. I just realized that I only made one entry in April, very sorry about that. I was really busy last month, I hope things won’t get too hectic this month though.

As promised, I shall now unveil the pictures of the new premise of Harvest Generation Church…. I shall take you on a tour with pictures and descriptions as though you were walking in the place in real life… Forgive me if the pictures are not so nice, I’m just a casual photographer… Without further adew, let’s begin our tour… *drum roll*

To start off the tour, I now invite you to our church premise. You would have to go through these beautiful crystal glass doors. It’s not so easy to clean them okay… So please keep your hands off it and use the handles to open and close it~! Haha~!

Now you are passing by the entrance aisle, the walls in this aisle are paneled with tainted glass. The lightings and the glass gives a very elegant feel to the surroundings as you enter the church… Soon, this area will be an information counter area.

As you walk in through the entrance aisle, right in front of you would be the lounge area. We had a few in-house designers pick out the colour themes, lights and furniture. The ambience of the lounge really gives a very relaxing and un-whining feel…

From the lounge, when you turn to the left and look, there you will see the stage. There’s a group of posers here in this picture to make this image look elegant… Just kidding… We were actually preparing for our Friday Night Church-Wide Prayer Meeting when I took these pictures…

This is the front audience view of the stage.. Just look at the fantastic way all the colours blend in together. Believe or not, we used the very minimum of lighting device to create all the colour effects.

This is the right audience view of the stage, notice how big the stage is? I usually try whatever little B-Boy moves I know on the stage because there so much room to experiment on~!

This is the left audience view of the stage. With the stage so big, even when all of us are on our instruments, it still looks rather empty. Praying for a choir to come in really soon… Haha~!

Now let’s move on to the stage. These are our church keyboards, the main is a KORG Triton and the secondary is a KORG X50. We have quite an bunch of anointed keyboardist in our church, so you better come check us out~!

This picture is of course my favourite view in church, other than looking to God la… It’s the church drum-kit, a Yamaha Tour Custom. A mid range set with a superb sound~! I fell in love with this set the very moment I played on it for the church album recording. In fact, this was the very same set I used for the recording… Haha~!

Next we move on to our amplifiers. We have a Behringer Bass Amplifier and a VOX Tube Guitar Amplifier with quite useable effects. Not bad for the price we got it. It’s power matched the size of the hall.

This is our very affordable but superbly warm sounded bass guitar. It’s an SX Bass with a nice warm wood finish for the case and the tail. The sound is superb for recording and also live playing, the downside is only its weight because it’s really heavy.

Now let’s see what the preacher and worship leaders see every service. This is the front view of the hall from the stage. The chair colours looks so elegant, it’s a wonder how simple things can do so much…

Next we have the view of the hall from the drummer’s stage. We elevated the drums with an extended platform. It does nothing in terms of making the sound better, but it just looks very nice… Now you know how the view is like behind the drum set..

This is the windows of church. At the time this picture was taken, there were no curtains yet, but now we have nice dark brown curtains to compliment the elegant corporate colours of the church premise…

Now we walk through the aisle between the chairs and move to the back of the hall. This is the entrance to the sound corner and also the church store room. The design of the sound corner is pretty simple, we just places a short swing door to partition it out. Then the entrance to the store room is so cun… Looks so oriental~!

This is our sound console, it’s a Yamaha 16-Channel Mixer, we joined two of these together so we have 32 channels to play around with. Our sound system is powered by two Wharfedale Twin Channel amplifiers with Wharfedale house speakers and stage monitors. Want more technical details? Come visit our church and I’ll show you around in person… Haha~!

Next we move from the sound room to the kitchen counter. This is the back right corner from the stage front which we have partitioned out to be made into a kitchen. The counter top is so high that some members of our church who are vertically challenged have a hard time looking over it… Ya, Ya… Me included la… Happy? Haha~!

From the kitchen, turn right and you’ll see the toilet aisle. At first glance it really looked like the Chinese ‘sun-toi’ (alter) to me because of the colour. Haha~! The walls to the toilet entrances are decorated with simple square mirrors...

The other wall is decorated with simple but elegant pictures. A small multi-level shelf is placed at the corner to fill up the space and make the ambience a bit homier…

Now that you’ve seen how our church looks like behind my camera lens, come join us in person some day to experience not just the warmth of the premise and the people, but also have an encounter with God. Our services are on Sunday mornings, at 10am. We also have prayer services going on every Friday night for this month. Any enquiries you can ask me here or you can email us at info@harvestgen.com. Looking forward to see you there soon~!

Project Report~! The car is now road legal~! I drove it around with all my engine stuff repaired~! I even got a new sound system, new spots lamps and other performance stuff for a bargain price~! Plus I got a superb Twin Sub Woofer for the lowest price you can imagine~! Now not only is my car powerful in terms of engine, but sound system also super cun~! The only thing left to do it to fabricate my boot top panel, collect my insurance documents and get my aircond serviced. Other than that, my car is all ready to hit the tar pavement~! Praise God~!

I hear the sounds of great happenings from a land far far away from here. Great happenings which can only be catalysed by a heart that has faith to do the impossible. Though obstacles may rise against her, she still stood strong in her believes and never compromised. Still don’t know who I’m talking about? Well, this girl in now doing her medical degree in UK. I’m proud to introduce you to the one and only, Khoo Wee Vien a.k.a. Wee Vee a.k.a. Wee Wee…

This girl has really done the impossible both in her hometown and also in UK where she is studying now. Let me tell you from the beginning how this small sized girl made such a big impact in my life and the lives of many others. It all began in the mid of 2004, when I first joined CampusCity, I heard about this thing called Get Into God rallies or GIG. These rallies were conducted to spread the good news to young people through concerts and workshops.

There was where I first came encounter with this girl named Wee Vien. She was a very quiet girl at that time, not many people saw the true potential in her until they got to know her better. I don’t quite remember how I met her, but I remembered how I got to know her.

As we were conducting GIGs in every other state, Wee Vien had a passion to bring GIG to her own hometown way up in Sungai Petanit, Kedah. When she heard that our team was willing to go up there, she was so passionate and zealous to organize and put everything together…

I know that I was not easy for her because she faced many oppositions from different people, some I’m ashamed to say that they are also Christians, but narrow minded ones la. Haha~! Despite such heavy pressure to cease this event from happening, she continues to believe and worked hard for it. We as a team prayed along with her and finally we brought a GIG team up to Sungai Petani in the year 2006.

Over 500 people came and many young people gave their lives to Christ for the first time. I really believe that it can only be God who orchestrated all this to happen, but Wee Vien chose to place herself inline with God’s plan and became a blessing to many. Did you know that now Sungai Petani is organizing their own rallies and a lot more people are giving their lives to Christ now? Praise God~! But it all began with one small girl’s faith to see the impossible happen…

She’s now in UK finishing off her medical studies, and believe it or not, she is really anointed to pioneer a movement wherever she’s placed. She started a small prayer group which was at first rather slow, but later on it grew and many more people were blessed. Now even a full fledge church there wants to back her up in her ministry. God is really working through her…

To Wee Vien… You’ve done many great things these past few years that have brought about many changes in many people’s lives. I believe that God has really given you the heart, power and anointing to perform what others may say is impossible. Your willingness and humility to listen and obey God’s voice really astounds me.

Don’t ever settle for what you have already achieved, but press on for greater things that are yet to come. Don’t stop dreaming and envisioning great things that you desire to do for the Lord. You may have a great pass, but the pass can never be relived… Pursue for even more for the future and you will see God’s hand moving in a great capacity than before.

Many people’s lives has been touched by the simplicity of your faith, therefore keep your heart simple before the Lord and allow Him to mold and shape you to be the person He wants you to be. The preparation for greatness may be very very painful and difficult, bu the outcome and the results will be much more beautiful than your mind can ever conceive.

New testimonies awaits for you to claim… Promises that are yet to be fulfilled... So live life to the fullest and always stay in the Lord in everything that you do. God’s plans are always the best for us in every aspect of our lives. All things are made beautiful in HIS TIME, so don’t rush or be anxious over anything, but in everything give thanks~!

Thank you for being a great friend to be… Thank you for always entertaining me when you’re online. Thank you for always sharing your heart out with me… Thank you for being such an inspiration to me… I truly admire your passion and persistence… Thank you for being a sponsor for this project but above all… Thank you for being a sponsor of my life… for all that you’ve done for me has made me who I am today… Thanks~!

That’s all I have for you people~! I’ve spent about 2 hours making this entry. I chose not to highlight much words for this entry because one of the sponsors complained that she could read some of the coloured words. You sponsors tell me what you think and the majority will win okay? Thanks for reading… Have a great week ahead and God Bless~!

Project Report #21 - The Patient

2007-04-16T13:55:00.000+08:00

Good morning people~! Another new week for a whole new set of challenges that will me us stronger~! I don’t know about you, but I’m super excited about what this week has in store for me. I am at work now, there’s tonnes of stuff to do but I just decided to take some time off to chill awhile to write this entry for all of you.

I had a great Sunday service yesterday morning, we had a very special speaker all the way from CGBC Ipoh, and he’s none other than Pastor Chan. This man has been tremendous support and encouragement to our church and to our lives individually. His life is fantastic testimony of God’s faithfulness and blessing… If you’d just sit with him for a half hour and allow him to share his life with, trust me you will be inspired~!

The word that came about yesterday was in the area of financial wealth. Thank God he’s not the kind of pastor who preaches on just financial prosperity alone, although he has nothing against financial wealth. Sometimes we, even as Christians, dub wealth and prosperity as only in terms of how much money we have. Well, the good news is that God really wants all of us to be wealthy in finances, but the BEST news is that God wants us to also prosper in every other areas of our lives, such as our health, relationships, ministries, careers, not forgetting the overcoming of our personal struggles and weaknesses, victory over our sinful nature… and so on…

Why should we just settle for the good news when we can have the BEST NEWS? There are principles to which we must always uphold for these blessings to be obtained. Almost all the time, prayer alone does not work. I know this statement is controversial, but hear me out first. In the Bible, the book of James it says that “faith without works is dead”... Now, our prayers to God are uttered by the measure of our faith in Him, we only ask of Him when we know He is able to grant it to us, but is asking all that is required of us?

Let’s take this verse into context, prayer alone most of the time will not produce anything if we just choose to sit around and do nothing. It is like being a really spoilt child just sitting there and waiting for everything he wants to fall on his lap. So you ask me, does this mean we have to work to get God’s blessing? My answer, I personally believe that prayer is the covering of our faith, but what we can do with our hands is the substance of our faith.

Please understand that works does not gain us points to go to heaven okay? But works is the seed that God has provided for us to sow. God requires something from us to work with in order for His blessing to come through for us. This principle is the same in the natural and the spiritual, an example, if you were to hold a seed in your hand, will it every grow and bear fruit? Obviously not~! What do you need to do to gain from that seed? You have to first let it go, plant it on good ground, and let that seed die. We have to wait and constantly water it and nourish it. Then only will it grow and bear much fruit…

The seed represents whatever we have in our hands now that God has blessed us with. If we just hang on to it in our hands and not sow it, it will never grow. We have to sow it on to good ground, which can represents the church or anywhere which God has prompt you to sow into. Then, note this, the seed has to DIE. Sometimes we feel discouraged at this phase because in our natural eyes, it seems like what we sow is in vain, meaning we start to wonder whether it was worth it to give our tithes and offerings although we have so little left. But the truth is this, only when that seed dies can it start the production of new life.

It doesn’t stop there, we have to continuously water our seed, nourish it and wait for it to grow. This phase is the most difficult phase for all of us because watering and nourishing the seed speaks about prayer… lots and lots of prayer… and waiting just means waiting la. Have you ever planted a seed one day and see it bare fruit the very next day? Never~! But the fact is if you want a tree to grow strong and bear much fruit, we must take good care of it when it is still at its initial stages of growth. This requires us to be patient, which all of us are not experts on… Haha~!

Finally, when the season arrives, we will harvest the plentiful fruits from what we initially sowed. Take note of this, it all started with only the sowing ONE seed. Like I said earlier, if you were to hold on to that one seed, you will never see that seed take growth and bare fruits. With simple mathematics, don’t you think you’ll gain so much more sowing your seed than to keep it held tight in you hand? Food for thought..

The bible says that it is God who supplies the seed to the sower. The sower is us, and the seed can represent anything we have in our lives, be it our talents, our money, our studies or careers. If you want to grow any of these, we have to invest it. Our tithes and offerings are investments to the kingdom of God, and believe me as I am a living testimony of this, that investment in God’s kingdom has 100% return profits. You are guaranteed to be blessed with so much more if you keep the God’s principles.

The world says, the lesser you have, the lesser you should sow… But the word of God says, the lesser you have, the more you should sow… and the more you have, even more you should sow~! It is written in the Bible says that we are allowed to test God in this principle, this is the only thing that God allows us to test Him in. God said that He will definitely pour out so much blessing in our lives that we will not be able to contain it if we uphold this principal of sowing in to His kingdom. So friends, go ahead and test God in the area of tithes and offerings, God never lies so you can expect a great increase, not only in finances, but in every aspect in your lives~!

Project Report~! The car is finally in my house~! During the car testing, JPJ ripped off my RM360 gold-dust window tinting because I refused to give them 'tea-money', by God's grace I shall forgive them. Patience, Aaron... Haha~! My legal documents have yet to arrive though. It seems that my car grant in was in Ipoh because JPJ has to check through the records of the car before the name transfer can be completed. For those of you who didn’t know? This car is from Sitiawan, Perak. That’s why have to settle some of the legal stuff in JPJ Ipoh.

I’ve always wanted a car number plate that starts with an A, now God has really blessed me with it~! Haha~! The car should be road legal by this week, I’ll have to settle my insurance renewal and roadtax before I can drive it around. Sponsors, please keep me in prayer for the speedy settlement of my legal documents, it’s been kinda delayed because JPJ is working so slow…

My engine has a slight problem with the some belts. I noticed that my aircond belt has some friction with the wall of my engine hull. So every time I turn on my aircod, there’s this bad smell of burning rubber. Will get it repaired once I settle all my legal papers. I also managed to DIY some interior to cut cost… and it worked~! I have already installed and repaired 30% of the interiors… the others will require proper handling and equipment from car accessory experts. The car will be ready within the next two weeks, prayerfully… Haha~!

Today I’m gonna share about an unsung devoted, super dedicated, super determined athlete. He’s one of the most fun guys I’ve ever met, always thinking of ways to bless people and throw crazy parties to keep his friends close. This guy has a really clear head, when I say clear I mean bald. Haha~! He looks really cun without hair though. I’m sure most of you can already guess who I’m talking about, so without further adew, it is my pleasure to introduce to you all, Alex Au-Yong a.k.a. DJ Pyros a.k.a. Botak~!

This dude is always so constant with new testimonies to share. He’s always ready to share what God has done in his life to anyone anywhere at almost any given time. Though some people may think that he’s a little over enthusiastic about his testimonies, but I certainly disagree. Isn’t our lives as Christians suppose to be exciting and always booming with great things to share with others? God’s mercies are new every morning, so everyday we should be living out a brand new testimony~!

Alex’s enthusiasm has really thought me to really look through my everyday life and spot out the things that I take for granted that God has blessed me with. I have a great testimony every single day that my life, every best of my heart, is held in God’s hands, I am still alive~! Haha~! I remember him sharing about his personal struggles during his varsity days, it wasn’t a normal thing to hear but he was so open about it. It’s not because he’s proud of what he did, but its because he is so grateful that God has set him free from all that and gave him the power to overcome. You can sense the immense joy within him when he is sharing his testimonies…

His life of testimonies has really thought many of us to not be ashamed to share with others about what God has done in our lives. Someone somewhere out there maybe going through the same thing, someone somewhere out there may be the one who needs to hear of the goodness and faithfulness of God. I’ve learnt that testimonies are given to us not for our own gain alone, but it is also to bless someone else’s life.

God has given to us testimonies to share with others, the more we share it, the more testimonies we’ll have. Why? Because sharing testimonies is also a form of sowing into God’s kingdom. If God can trust you to maximize the small testimonies you have now, He can trust you with even greater testimonies in the future.

To Alex… It’s not been very long since I first met you, but yet you have brought so much into my life. You were one of the first people to immediately support me in this project with no questions asked, I know you didn’t have much but you’re heart that is so ready to bless others really moved me. I am so grateful to you not only because you’re part of this project, but because of you generosity to share with me all the good things that God has done in your life which really inspired me.

I may not have very much to say about you because our friendship has not gone back very long ago, but even within this past one year or so, you have been such a blessing me and many other people. Never ever look down on the power of testimonies, you will never know whose life will be touched by the great things God has done in your life.

Continue to pursue the perfect plans and purposes that God has in store for you. Don’t ever settle just for the good or the better, but go all the way for the best that God has for you. Keep up your training for you tri-athelon competitions… I believe that if you continue to work with the Holy Spirit, He will make you a great influence and inspiration to many upcoming athletes.

If God is for us, nothing can be against us… Keep this word engraved in your heart and every single obstacle that stands in between you and your purposes in God will be conquered. Thank you for being such an encouragement and inspiration to me, thank you for being part of this project and thank you for your contribution in building this car and most of all, my life…

I am done for today~! It has been quite difficult to find extra time to make an entry. Been so busy adjusting to different commitments I have in my life. I will try my best to make another entry by this weekend. Will probably include some pictures of my new church premise. Till then, have a great week ahead and God Bless~!