Power! Power! Power!

Adapted from Hughes, S. (2007, May/June). Power! Power! Power!.
Every Day with Jesus, Wed 30 May.

Acts 2:2-3
"2 Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them."

Acts 1:8
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth."

Romans 15:18a
"I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me."
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On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the believers in the form of a mighty wind. We sing songs like Wind of God, asking for the wind of God to blow in the church and in our lives.

This bestows power upon us to do great things for God; yet, this is nothing to boast of, since God has given this power to us.

He gave us the power of utterance [Acts: 2:4], vision [2:17], conviction [10:44], continuance [2:42], love [2:44], unity [2:1], contentment [2:41] and addition [2:47].

But remember: this power only came about after ten days of prayer. Let us pray steadfastly for His power.

Global Day of Prayer launch

In the end, two days took their toll. Jasmine and I were both not feeling well after insufficient sleep because of Saturate and early morning practice the next morning. We came at 8am and finished by 930am; we should've come at like 830 lor.

Anyway, Jasmine became feverish and literally had to nap in the National Stadium, and I had to be her pillow-cum-face sponger. I was feeling unusually itchy and so couldn't focus on the prayers at all. Was particularly irritated at a speaker's amazingly chiong hei description of post-event traffic conditions. Put those in the bulletin, for goodness sake! No one wants to pay attention to hear you ramble on! And he went on to refer to the hearing-impaired and mute as "deaf and dumb". How un-politically-correct can you get?!

Saturate worship conference

The last night was AWESOME! Just felt the move and touch of God like I've never felt before. Just felt so in sync with God and felt His love. God reiterated His promise of healing to me again. Prayed for my family present and future, my skin, Jasmine and so much more. Will blog more when at a less unearthly time.

Teasers

Question: If a durian and a coconut were to fall on your head, which would hurt more?

Question: Would you stir your coffee with your right hand or left hand?
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You are in a game show on television. On this game show the idea is to win a car as a prize. The game show host shows you three doors. He says that there is a car behind one of the doors and there are goats behind the other two doors. He asks you to pick a door. You pick a door but the door is not opened. Then the game show opens door that you did not pick to show a goat (because he knows what is behind the doors).
Then he says that you have one final chance to change your mind before the doors are opened and you get a car or a goat. So he asks you if you want to change your mind and pick the other unopened door instead. What should you do?

Are the odds of you winning the car higher, lower or the same if you change your mind and pick the other door?

Where'd the money go?

Three men walk into a restaurant for a set lunch. After their meal, they each hand over $10 to the waiter, which was the price of the meal. There were no additional charges or taxes. The owner was feeling rather generous that day and decided to charge the three men only $25, instead of the usual $30. So he instructed the waiter to return $5 to the men. The shrewd waiter thought it was inconvenient to split $5 equally among the three men, and decided to pocket $2 for himself. He duly gave $1 to each of them. Since the men eventually paid $27, and the waiter took $2, what happened to the missing dollar?
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This one still had me stumped momentarily three years on. Who can solve this?

Global Day of Prayer Day 10

Topic: Extending the Blessing of Christ [for promised blessing among all His peoples]
Concerning: hunger, warfare, gangs, corruption
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First, praise God for who He is, what He's done and what He's going to do. Spend at least 5-10min doing this, in tongues if you can. Then, we start our prayer. Try to claim God's promises from verses you know or have heard.

Adopt a position where you have been given authority by God to claim things in God's word. We are not minions and savants that we must meekly ask God for everything. In His word, God has already GIVEN us some things that all we need to do is claim them! Pray like you are a warrior of Christ tasked with taking down the strongholds of the evil one. Be forceful and aggressive with the devil as you can expect the same from him. Don't let him off lightly in your prayer. You can expect him to try to retaliate, so ask also for God's protection as you pray in this manner.

For the Glory of Christ:
Father, You say in your word of the prayer of Jabez as well as Your promise to Abraham, that You'd bless Your people abundantly.

We believe that You have only good things for us and so we want to claim all this in Your name. Bless Your children abundantly, that we can be an impact for You in our community. It is patently wrong that Your children should live in subsistence when we should be able to "export" Your blessing to people all around the world. Open the floodgates of Heaven that we might be a conduit to bless others.

Reveal Jesus Your Son to the world, that the world might hear of Your Name and believe on You. Raise up evangelists and missionaries to reach those who have not heard Your gospel, but most of all, imprint the Great Commission on the hearts of Your people, who should realise that evangelism is for all of us, as we can't wait to share the Good News we have received to others.

In doing so, I proclaim that churches of the world will not work independently, but learn to put aside doctrinal differences to come together as a united body of Christ, believing in Jesus Christ the Saviour, and work with You to impact the world for Your glory.

For the Blessing of the Nations:
May Your Holy Spirit touch the lives and hearts of our governments and authorities. Though they may be secular, we banish the scourge of corruption from the face of the Earth. It robs Your people of the money they need. Corruption and sin has no place in authorities that have been instituted by You and we condemn, rebuke and cast it out in Jesus' name.

Elevate God-fearing Christians to key positions in national governments and world organisations, that we can impact the world in a greater manner for You. The devil should have no place in the running of Your government and we cast him aside in Jesus' name.

As Your gospel permeates the Earth, shouts of praise will burst forth from every corner, praising You for who You are and the salvation that You have given to us through Christ Jesus Your Son.

In Jesus' mighty name I pray, Amen!

NB: Guys, feel free to add your comments and prayers!

Spiritual poliomyelitis

Adapted from Hughes, S. (2007, May/June). Spiritual poliomyelitis. Every Day with Jesus, Fri 25 May.

Ezekiel 37:6b
"I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

Psalms 20:7-8
"7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we depend on the Lord our God. 8 They will fall down, but we will stand firm."

1 Corinthians 11:29-30
"29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead."

We need to do our daily devotion, or we are like the valley of dry bones: Everything needed for life is present, but nothing happens without the breath of God. This only comes with sensitivity to God.

We must learn to depend on God and not our own strength [the Psalmist's chariots and horses].

Finally, disprespect God at your peril. Whether in Holy Communion, prayer or ministry, God takes it seriously. All the more we should give God the utmost reverence and respect.

Kaka thanks Jesus

I saw a picture of Kaka in The New Paper praising God after his victory. Let's follow his example and praise Him in good times and bad.

Practicum posting

Went there for induction today. Everything was hunky-dory, but as my soon-to-be Chinese-teaching colleague succinctly put it, "let's wait till we start working and then we'll know". Words of wisdom indeed.

Principal was impressive, school grounds even more so, but I could tell straight away that expectations are high at this school. Confirmation came when the P said that she deliberately left space in our timetables so that we would take the initiative to find periods from other teachers to teach their class. Like, what?! If I were a full-fledged teacher, I wouldn't really like pesky trainees meddling with my class' grades! Especially when you're expected to do so well at Rosyth. Still, I think I can do it with God's help.

The children seem normal enough, though I heard they are smarter and richer, and by design more spoilt. So therein lies the challenge to manage the classroom rather than manage them academically..

The school building itself is a masterpiece. Canteen and hall on fourth floor, indoor basketball court, music Centre of Excellence, two staff rooms, heritage centre, etc. This place really blew me away. Pity it's so far.
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Was supposed to find out tomorrow, but found out this evening that I'm posted to Rosyth School in Serangoon for my five-week practicum. And they changed it from 3+2, meaning three weeks of observation and two weeks of guided teaching, to 2+3. That may not sound like much, but it's 20 lesson plans man!

Was really looking forward to returning to Punggol, what with my ex-students and colleagues there, but I guess it was not to be.

On the bright side, I get to experience a new school; according to Jasmine it has some gifted students, so I get to learn from the best. She said maybe I was head-hunted. Ha! I wish. Could be true though, cos I did do well in NIE. But theory and praticum are two totaly different things.

I'll contact the school tomorrow to find out when I need to go down. But really it's quite far from my home. It'll probably take me at least 30 min to get there. No joke when school starts at 7am.

I don't know anyone there, nor are any of my friends posted there. Touch and go lor. Ironically, Jonathan got posted to Xinmin, Jasmine's school, and Angelica took my place at Punggol.

Pray for good supervisor and CT, both from Rosyth and NIE. As well as a sympathetic principal, though I heard otherwise from Aishah.

Here's where it is. Far out man.

I will laugh!

Went to Maggie's place so we could pray together for my healing. Jasmine was there too, of course.

What followed was an amazing time of fellowship, sharing and learning, full of the richness of God's word and truths. Not to mention a great dinner!

I realise now that there are so many things about God that we don't understand and that we've only scratched the surface. Through my daily devotion and prayer, I hope to know God in a deeper way and for Him to reveal His word for me through his Word.

I also shared quite a bit about my life for the first time, my frustrations and setbacks, my victories and God's deliverance. It felt really good to open up.

Towards the end, after we had finished praying, Maggie said she had a word from God about me. She said simply that I would laugh. I had to check myself. "I will what?" I asked, not believing what I had heard.

"In days to come, you will laugh. Laugh at your enemy, at your eczema," among other things, she explained. Unfortunately, "in days to come" is an indefinite adverbial of time. It doesn't literally mean days; instead it means "at some time in the future". And so I don't know when my healing will come, but I know it will come sooner or later. Pastor Koo had corroborated this yesterday. Maggie did warn that God gives us a word sometimes to prepare for spiritual attack. But God's grace is sufficient for me.

As I've shared recently, I am now at peace, because I am comfortable in my own skin. Pardon the pun. But what I mean is that I know that whatever happens, God is in control. Good or bad, He's in control. And I know He will come through for me, as He has promised.

As God (not luck) would have it, Joshua and Benjamin called me up and said they wanted to meet. So they cycled over and though we did not spend long and I spent most of the time scratching from sweat and mosquitoes, I stayed long enough to encourage them both and give my testimony. I'm sure it spoke to them, else God would not have arranged it as such.

As I type this, I am preparing to go to my practicum school (Rosyth School). And I feel a little less nervous knowing my God is going with me. I believe He will let me excel there, eczema notwithstanding.

I wait eagerly to laugh loudest, longest, and last. Muhahaha! =]

PS: Manfred has his own drum set!

How to pray

Just to share a few thoughts about prayer. Was having dinner with Pastor today and we shared a few things we learnt about prayer.

He said the greatest blueprint on how to pray was the example led by Jesus aka the Lord's Prayer.

A simpler version of this is the ACTS method:
Asking
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

In these four categories are all you need to start your prayer.
We ask God for things, confess our sins to Him, thank and praise Him for who He is and what He's done, and intercede for other people's needs. That's basically prayer in a nutshell. This is derived from the Lord's Prayer, which I reproduce below. May this help you in your prayer life!

Our Father, which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
in earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever. Amen.

This can be found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

Intercession

The GDoP video mentioned this that shows how important prayer is.

Intercession is holding the hand of God and holding the hand of the one you are praying for. You are the link between God and the person you are interceding for.

If we don't pray, that person is denied the chance to touch God.

Milan's superstar remains grounded

by Andrew Downie of ESPNSoccernet.com



SAO PAULO, Brazil - He is arguably the best football player in the world, his brother plays in the Serie B and is as religious as he is, his father is still friends with his son's old teammates and his mother makes exceedingly good cakes.

Those are just some of the things that help explain the phenomenon that is Kaka.

I watched Kaka come through the ranks at Sao Paulo. I watched him establish himself with Milan and Brazil. And I've watched him grow, both physically and mentally, to become one of the best in the world today.

During that time I've spoken to his friends, his family, his teammates and his coaches and no one has a bad word to say about the Milan midfielder.

Sometimes people don't want to criticise other players because they are afraid to stick their necks out or because they don't want to sound nasty. But the people who speak about Kaka do so with a real earnestness. Everyone seems to think the world of him.

That includes the youngsters who were with him when they came through the ranks at Sao Paulo. Kaka was different from most of the youngsters trying to make it into Sao Paulo's professional ranks. Many, if not most, were poor, dark skinned, came from broken families and lived far from the club's training ground in the impoverished suburbs of South America's biggest city.

Kaka was white, well off, had a stable family life and lived in the same Morumbi district where the club has its home. And as such he and his family were adopted as surrogates for many of Kaka's less fortunate teammates.

'Their family helped people who didn't have the money or time to go home,' Juan Maldonado Jaimes, one of Kaka's former colleagues, told me a while back. 'They took them to their house, to help them pass time. We'd play video games, play football, eat. Some players went there even when Kaka wasn't there. It was quite a close relationship between the players and the family. They are lovely people. His mother would make sweets or bake cakes.'

That stable family life is evident in the comportment of Kaka's father and brother Digao, who plays for Rimini in Italy's Serie B. They both look like Kaka, especially Digao, who is tall, pale and has the same toothy smile. (Digao is currently training at Sao Paulo while recovering from a ligament injury.)

Most noticeably, however, they are both impeccably mannered. As the saying in Brazil goes, the son of a fish is a fish. It means like father like son and Kaka is indeed like his father.

Engineer Bosco Izecson brought up his son to be a good Christian who values honesty and hard work. Although much attention is paid to the fact that Kaka is one of Brazil's few middle class footballers - and Kaka freely admits he does not fit the established stereotype - his father played down the wealth disparities and said he has tried to instill universal values in his son.

'What is important is their honesty and their character,' he said in discussing his outlook on life. 'Everyone wants to get on and better themselves. We lived our lives that way and Kaka has too. People helped us and we try and help people.'

That is not to say that Kaka has not had his problems to overcome. He suffered from a bone deficiency as a child that made him small for his age. He was two years behind his peers in terms of development and it was only his skill on the ball and his quick thinking that enabled him to play competitively with boys his own age.

'I saw him play as a kid and he was so small and thin but I could tell he had talent so I picked him out to play,' his former coach Milton Cruz told me. 'But he wasn't strong enough at first, the ball was bigger than his legs! One time he wanted to take a penalty and I wondered if he would have the strength to kick it all the way to the goal! He caught my attention, though, and he has shot up since then.'

Once he did cement his place in the Sao Paulo junior side he suffered another potentially crippling setback that helped shape who he is today. At age 18, Kaka jumped into a swimming pool while on holiday and fractured his spine. He didn't know how bad the damage was at the time. A local doctor told him he would be OK and he was back playing football three days later.

Kaka told his coaches about the incident but assured them he was fine and it was only after a couple of days training they realised all was not well. They could see he was holding back and sent him for more detailed tests. They showed he had fractured his spine. Every move he took during those days since the accident - including heading the ball - could have rendered him tetraplegic. And yet he survived.

Kaka puts that down to his religious beliefs - he is an Evangelical Protestant in a country that is overwhelmingly Catholic - and friends and family say his quick recovery from the accident helped him affirm his faith in God. It is not for nothing he celebrates every goal by pointing to the sky and thanking the Lord.

However, Kaka and his family are well-balanced enough to know that life is a lottery. Players need talent but the ones that do well in life, not just on the field, usually know they are very lucky to be doing what they do - and to be paid huge sums for doing so.

Scottish football writer Hugh McIlvanney once wrote that Jock Stein was a living negation of all those arrogant young men who persuaded themselves 'their largely fortuitous ability to kick a football or volley a tennis ball or belt out a pop song or tell a few jokes more acceptably than the next man is actually evidence of his own splendid mastery of his fate.'

I thought of McIlvanney's quote last week when talking to people who know Kaka. It seemed particularly apt bearing in mind the words of Milton Cruz, his former trainer.

'He's centred,' Cruz said of his best-known pupil. 'He doesn't think he's better than other people, he doesn't think he's special. He's humble and polite.He simply has a broader vision of the world. Kaka is the young man any father would love to have as a son.'

Trying to be punny

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a childcare centre, where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools, sometimes they take debate.
A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.
We'll never run out of mathematicians because they always multiply.
The professor discovered her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
The dentist and manicurist fought tooth and nail.
What the definition of a will? It's a dead giveaway.

Hotel California [Eagles] cover

Wah I so wanna learn to play this song.

Learning bass/guitar

I taught Amos a little bit of bass today after practice. He seems to have the rhythm part as he just follows the kick, but we have to work on the notes, scales and fingering. Then Agape will have another bassist!
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I'm quite astounded by the progress Amos is making. He seems to have grasped the concept of notes pretty quickly and is able to find specific notes, although he takes a while. He's also learnt to mute the bass, use more than one finger to pluck the strings, and can press the frets hard enough. Now to get him up to speed. Will work on him every Thursday after practice.
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Started class with Wan Loong too. A little distracted but otherwise the interest is there. Started him off with a song he's interested in, Linkin Park's In The End. Interest is invaluable when teaching children. It makes learning so much easier and faster. He knows four chords, the names of the strings and how to read tabs. Now to work on changing chords quickly, notes and chord composition.
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Andrew seems to be interested in joining the band as a guitarist and bassist! My prayers have been answered. I'll have to work with him on Wednesdays before ALG, or on Thursdays if he's joining us.
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I'll work with Angela whenever I'm at Jasmine's place. Although there might be 'slower' progress. Just kidding lah. =]

Now and Forever by Richard Marx

Whenever I'm weary
From the battles that raged in my head
You made sense of madness
When my sanity hangs by a thread
I lose my way, but still you
Seem to understand
Now & forever,
I will be your man

Sometimes I just hold you
Too caught up in me to see
I'm holding a fortune
That heaven has given to me
I'll try to show you
Each and every way I can
Now & forever,
I will be your man

Now I can rest my worries
And always be sure
That I won't be alone, anymore
If I'd only known you were there
All the time,
All this time

Until the day the ocean
Doesn't touch the sand
Now & forever
I will be your man

For All You've Done by Don Moen

I normally don't like Don Moen songs, cos they're a little old-fashioned, but this one really spoke to me in church today. Well, actually we didn't even sing it, and God spoke to me while I was on the way to the washroom.

He assured me that He was in control despite my eczema, and that He still wanted the best for me. He also assured me that He would be glorified in this situation.

And so this is my prayer to Him, believing in my healing and submitting to His superior will.
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For all You've done
For all You're going to do
We give You thanks
And lift our praise to You

We give thanks
We give praise
For we know
That all things work together
For our good
We give thanks
We give praise
For by faith
We know Your grace
Will see us through

For all those things
That we don't understand
We come by faith
And place them in Your hands

Even if we stumble
Even if we fall
You will not forsake us
You are King and Lord of all
Lord of all

Submitting to Leadership

Pastor Koo spoke about this in 1 Corinthians SOD class today, and it spoke to me again.

Sometimes we may disagree with our church leaders. I know I have. The question arises: Why should we do something we disagree with? For all you know, the leader might be wrong?

The answer to this is simple:
The leader CAN be wrong! Because we aren't perfect, leaders have every possibility and right to be wrong. However, as a subordinate of a leader, it is my job, serving in the ministry, to submit ot leadership.

God says in His Word that every authority on Earth and in Heaven has ben instituted by God. This means that bosses, governments, church leaders, parents etc have all been chosen by God. If we disobey them, we disobey God. Unless obeying them results in direct contravention of God's law, we should submit.

If the leader is doing wrong in the Lord's eyes, it is not your say to punish him/her. Rest assured, God is in control of the situation and will deal with it accordingly. Many mighty men of God have fallen under discipline from God.

God is always in control.

Global Day of Prayer Day 5

Topic: Pursuing the Peace of Christ [for relationships to be transformed]
Concerning: racism, poverty, violence, crime
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First, praise God for who He is, what He's done and what He's going to do. Spend at least 5-10min doing this, in tongues if you can. Then, we start our prayer. Try to claim God's promises from verses you know or have heard.

For the Glory of Christ:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Lord, You say in Your word that we are one body in you, and you say that in 1 Corinthians that you cannot stand division in the body. So, Lord, we commit the body of Christ onto You, both here in Singapore and around the world.

We believe that Your church, when standing together, can be such a mighty Earth-changing agent for you. I pray you remove hostilities deriving from doctrine, custom and other beliefs, and infuse a spirit of peace into your people. Let us realise that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the devil. May the Church of God stand united against Satan that we might be stronger by doing so.

Then, people around the world will see you move through us so powerfully and clearly that they will be filled with awe.

Let us not focus on petty human differences, but instead focus our eyes on the common goal, which is to win souls for Your Kingdom. That alone is more important than our serving preferences.

For the Blessing of the Nations:
I also want to pray for your blessing and anointing upon your people. You say in Your Word that You have plans to prosper us and not to harm us: plans to give us a hope and a future. Lord we believe and claim this, but at the same time, let our head not be turned by material things, lest we hunger after that instead.

I pray we realise the importance of giving to you and storing up treasures in Heaven. Increase our genrosity in giving to You, that You might bless us even more abundantly.

Help us also to give to the poor and the needy. Help us realise that one reason why You bless us so richly is so that we can bless others in turn, by being a conduit or vessel for You. Use us mightily to help those around us through our generosity.

We also believe you are the all-powerful God, above any force Satan can throw at you. In this, I pray You bind the forces of corruption of the evil one, for example, terrorists who kill in the name of religion. I pray that Your will be done in all the wars and conflicts happening around the world, and I know that anything that happens has been orchestrated by You.

We believe You are the God of relationships and trust You will prevail in all these situations.

In Jesus' mighty name I pray, Amen!

NB: Guys, feel free to add your comments and prayers!

Vesak Day

Vesak Day is just a fortnight away and I hear of exciting plans for the evening before and the day itself. Pasir Ris Park's Fisherman's Village, cycling at Pulau Ubin and a movie marathon have all been touted as viable options. Can't wait.
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Our intrepid recce team has just completed their recce of Ubin. Looks good and they really did a good job. Can't wait.

Full Metal Jacket

Review from Movies.com

Divided into two sections, Stanley Kubrick's film tackles dual ideas — how a man becomes a soldier and how that mentality becomes part of his identity. The first half of the film deals with the severe harshness of basic training as Joker (Matthew Modine) and the rest of the boys become fighting men under the relentless, profane Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (Lee Ermey). Once the story moves to Vietnam, the film takes on a more abstract, fatalistic tone as it moves to a harrowing conclusion.

My take

I guess this movie is a victim of its time. This was made in 1987 by Stanley Kubrick, but since then better war movies have been made. This was making me want more, but it did not deliver. Still this is worth watching for R. Lee Ermey's gunnery sergeant Hartman, which brings all your BMT nightmares to shocking life.
The fat boy they called Gomer Pyle (actual screen name Leonard Lawrence) for his ungainly impression shows us what our teasing of the 'butt' of the jokes can drive them to do. He eventually shot and killed Hartman and then himself. Tragically so, as I think Hartman really believed he had motivated Pyle to become a Marine rifleman with his harsh, cut-to-the-bone words.
But Pyle's (Vincent d'Onofrio) eyes as he loaded his rifle with a full metal jacket, lingo for a full magazine of live rounds, was chilling. Imagine if the guy we teased in Hawk Coy Platoon 4 had done that.

Yahoo Fantasy Football 2006/07

I am now waiting patiently for Yahoo to tabulate the final scores for this weekend and last to confirm my coronation as Yahoo Fantasy Football Group of Death III champion for the nth season running. Trust them to screw up again at the final hurdle.

Waiting for this page to be updated.
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Yahoo has yet to credit certain second-game points from Week 38, so the score you see is not finalised yet. We just have to wait patiently if they'll update it at all.
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Finally the update we were waiting for. Here are the awards handed out:

- Aaron retains his title for the nth time.
- Jasmine improved 2 places from last season to finish runner-up.
- Ben improved 3 places to finish 3rd in a Champions League spot.
- Hsu gets a Champions League spot in his debut season.
- Andrew and Syafiq improved by 11 and 6 places respectively to get UEFA Cup spots.
- Rafizah gets a UEFA Cup slot in her debut seasons.
- Jeremy improved 4 places to get the Intertoto Cup spot.
- Ivan and Kimjin get respectable midtable positions despite missing the first week.
- Edgar, Theophane and Eddy also made significant progress.
- Hingyau, Amos and Kenneth's jobs are at stake after dismal second seasons.

Why do cats and dogs look at our eyes?

Teckseng brought up an intriguing question.

Why is it that cats and dogs no where to look at us i.e. in our eyes? Answers on a postcard please.

Why do we pray?

Had difficulty answering this in ALG today. Why do we need to pray when God already knows what we want?

We came up with answers like: God wants us to experience asking and waiting; so we learn to acknowledge God as provider; to build our faith.

Then when I came home, my mum shared this verse with me: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Never stop praying.

Just three words? Yep.

According to the Life Application Study Bible, a Christian's persistence is an expression of faith that God answers prayer. When you feel tired of praying, know that God is present, always listening, always answering - in ways that He knows are best.

We also talked about good practices in prayer, like praying aloud, and agreeing with others' prayers. Also, prayer is just like talking to Your Heavenly Father. Don't worry about getting words wrong or not knowing what to say. God looks at our heart.

Economy on Legs

A guy is walking down the street with his friend. He says to his friend, "I'm a walking economy."

His friend replies, "How's that?"

"Well, my hairline is in recession, my stomach is a victim of inflation, and this is putting me into a deep depression."

Hamster Rescue Mission

Just a hamster rescue mission started by Yinglei.
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Hi brothers and sisters,

Just a few days ago, my bro's friend dumped a cage with 6 hamsters at my place. I've been fighting to keep the hamsters, but my mom just wouldn't let me keep even one of them. As for now, the cage is lying outside my house because my mom finds the hamsters stinky. I really feel for the hamsters and hope I can find them good owners, (before they die in my mom's hands). So if anyone is interested in adopting a
hamster or 2 or even more, pls let me know asap. Do ask arnd if anyone is keen abt keeping hamsters. Meanwhile, I'll try my best to care for the hamsters.

Agape,
Ying Lei

Bak Chor Mee Man II

Yes Mr Brown is back, this time acting as Bak Chor Mee Man again to talk about increasing prices and paying top dollar for top-grade bak chor mee.

Listen to it here.

We Are the Champions by Queen

Champions indeed. Despite a domineering performance, United managed to lose to Tevez's sucker punch, but all that didn't matter once the trophy came out and everybody started to party. Here's to another party next year, Messrs. Giggs and Neville!

All About My Mother

Synopsis by Flixster

Manuela, a nurse and single mother in her late thirties must come to terms with the tragic loss of her only son, Esteban, when he is struck by a car. She never told Esteban who he was, "your father died long before you were born" was all she ever told him. In memory of her son--who's his father's namesake--Manuela leaves Madrid and goes to Barcelona in search of Esteban's father. However, the man that she left behind, eighteen years ago when she was pregnant, is now a transvestite named Lola. The search for a man with that name cannot be simple. And indeed it isn't.

My take

What touched me most about this movie is when the mother of the nun, Rosa (Penelope Cruz), who got pregnant and subsequently HIV-infected, asked herself what she'd done wrong with her daughter. She said that Rosa had been like an alien to her since her teenage years. That really struck a chord with me. Parenthood is all about learning as we go along. No one really created a fail-safe guide to parenthood.

A parent may do everything right but still have a failure of a child, or vice versa. Look at Manuela (Cecilia Roth). She raised her son as a single mother, juggling that with her job as a nurse (just like my mum), and yet she lost a aspiring writer son to a freak motor accident.

Parents have to do the best they can for their children, and the rest are in God's hands.

I loved this movie because it spoke of a mother's love and the disappointments she faces. This was true for both Manuela and Rosa's mum. They rose above their circumstances: Manuela's husband became a transvestite and left her and her son died. Rosa's mum saw her daughter get pregnant and HIV-positive, and had to bury her.

Yet, a mother's love carries on. It truly is the greatest love in the world.

Jim Cymbala's When God's People Pray

We start this campaign this Wed.

Just thought I'd add that this campaign represents a challenge to the apprentices and I on many counts.

Firstly, this is a more "serious" and "spiritual" topic compared to busyness. Hence, discussions may be more serious. We must share freely to build one another up in this essential part of Christian living.

Secondly, each session requires us to be super on-time. Something we are, ahem, not very good at, myself included. So we really do need to keep to the time frame given.

Thirdly, this campaign requires us to be independent. If we take a closer look at Session 1 (which we should be doing), we'll notice a section called Personal Journey. This should be done ALONE, at home or at work. If we leave this out, then we are not fufilling the full potential of this book. However, only do this part AFTER ALG each week.

Fourthly, do pray along with all of us for a successful campaign. Not having Joey around is quite a handicap for the apprentices and I. However, I choose to look at it positively and see that people like Yewhock, Ben and Joycelyn are given an opportunity to try their hand at facilitating.

Anointing with Oil

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. 5:14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint 15 him with oil in the name of the Lord. 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.
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My mum gave me these verses to read in the morning. Our church sometimes practises this old ritual, and I figure, why not? As Selwyn Hughes said in the latest issue of Every Day with Jesus, "even after anointing with oil healing does not always come." But he concludes even that is "no reason to disobey a divine command."

I'll try it out soon.

Straw prank

Next time your friend sticks two straws in his/her drink, try this harmless prank. When he/she isn't there (e.g. in washroom etc.), remove both straws and bend one in half and stick it in with both ends facing up, so it looks that there're still two straws. Get your camera ready to record a priceless video that, truly, sucks. =]

Being John Malkovich

Review from Movies.com

A rather hirsute John Cusack stars as a down-on-his-luck New York City street puppeteer who is forced by lack of prospects and income to take an entry-level job as a file clerk on the seven and a halfth floor of an office building. Seven and a halfth? That's odd, certainly, but not half as odd as the passageway he discovers behind a file drawer one day that leads directly into the brain of actor John Malkovich (played by none other). Puppet boy and a vampish co-worker (Catherine Keener) on whom he develops an obsessive crush decide that this startling and serendipitous discovery presents a rather unique money- making opportunity, so they take out an ad in the newspaper and start charging respondents hundreds of dollars for the chance to enjoy their Warhol-ian 15 minutes of fame courtesy of Mr. Malkovich. Matters begin to get ever more complicated as the puppeteer, his wife (played by a seriously glammed-down Cameron Diaz), the co-worker, and Malkovich play out a rather convoluted round robin of sexual attraction within the arena of the actor's consciousness.

My take

This truly genre-defying Spike Jonze experiment is so weird on so many counts. The idea of controlling someone's life by getting into his mind just raises so many existential and ethical issues. In this convoluted story though, we just realise the tragic lengths people will go to prolong a fantastical life, at the expense of their own.

Mother's Day

I am a sinner. I have nothing planned for Mother's Day this Sunday. Maybe dinner will do. Even that is tricky to plan as my mum's on the Board, my dad's driving etc.
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Have decided to bring my mum to Bao Today at Marina Square or Vivocity. Going next Sunday to avoid the crush.

Spider-man 3

This was the best of the (supposed) trilogy. The focus was not on the SFX, acting etc. Instead, what we saw was the simple theme of forgiveness and doing the right thing coming to the fore. Guess Hollywood's now flying the moral flag eh?
The villains were truly disappointing though. Expected so much more of Venom (Topher Grace), but in the end just saw some plagiarising young hack unable to accept that he's to blame for his failure.
Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) too, just fell through my fingers a bit. Is the New Goblin better? No. Just another schizophrenic young man with false information. Took Albert the Butler to make him see the error of his ways.
A tad too long at the beginning, that left 30mins to tie all the loose ends together with the final showdown.
Venom is frightened by sonorous material? Please. That's like SpongeBob being defeated by a hairdryer.
And how Venom came to attach itself to Spidey (Tobey Maguire)? More coincidental than a Channel 8 drama.
I liked the emo-Spidey look though. And there were some genuine chuckle moments too.
And I think there will be a Spider-man 4, if the producers want to milk us for more cash.
And yes, Kirsten Dunst smokes.

Formula One comes to Singapore!

Yes, F1 is finally coming to Singapore decades after LKY first said no. We are having a street circuit, along with Valencia (seven-year contract), with the possibility of a night race. We will run the race for five years from 2008, with a possible five-year extension. I'll look to attend at least one race, although it's really gonna set me back.

You know how the ah peks climb trees to watch S-League matches? I've very sure these intrepid freeloaders will find a way to witness this expensive event for free too. Could be embarrassing for Singapore as the camera zooms in on a tree with people in it. But I'll be right behind them. =]

Cycling

Went cycling at East Coast Park again. Something was wrong with the handlebars as the steering felt so loose. Enjoyed it even more though it was tough towards the feeling hot and bothered with the eczema again.

Also managed to spend $120 at the dentist on sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) sand-blasting my teeth and getting a filling done. Turns out that I need to have a wisdom tooth removed soon. Oh no. Injection in the mouth? I'll just faint.

SAFRA screw-up

It took almost eight weeks, yes, EIGHT WEEKS, for SAFRA to issue me a cheque for $32 to reimburse my membership renewal that I didn't even want. This despite three reminders on my part. Nonsense.

My Freedom from Busyness Plan

My gosh, just finished writing out my 20-part plan. A few things I've already begun to implement, and have roped in Jasmine, Ben and Joshua to be accountability partners. The true test will come when I'm busy in July.

Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials

My goodness. I've sure learnt a lot just from watching half this DVD. I've covered only the 8-beat and 16-beat rock grooves, with a little funk, but it's enough food for thought to last me a while. But again, practice is everything, which I don't get enough of.

Chelsea 0-0 United

Winners all around here.

Sir Alex got to rest his players for the home game against the Hammers.
Mourinho got to preserve his unbeaten home record.
Sir Alex did a little snub with his First XI selection; only six of the players John Terry and co. applauded onto the pitch are eligible for a Premiership medal.
United fans got to see the future of United - not much there I must say.
Chelsea fans get to claim superiority in a meaningless game.

As Joey Tribbiani (Matt le Blanc) of FRIENDS said, "What's not to like?"

ESPNSoccernet's Match Report

Here's the guard of honour formed by Chelsea. Trust me, no point showing the match highlights.

High School Musical

As Simon Cowell would say, "It was... OK. It's not bad, but it's not your best performance either." Attractive leads, until you realise they're just 19! Esp Vanessa Anne Hudgens. Girls would like Zac Efron who looks like Matt from 7th Heaven (Barry Watson).

I can cycle!

Yes after years of ribbing from friends, frequent dreams of being able to cycle only to wake up disappointed and taunts from my sister after she learnt cycling recently, I finally took up the gauntlet to learn cycling. In the end, it took me just 20 minutes under Teckseng's expert tutelage to learn. Before long, I was hurtling down East Coast Park at unimaginable speeds. And yes, not a single fall. Who's the man!

Arsenal 1-1 Chelsea

Chelsea must know their game is up. The icing on the cake would be to see a mass brawl in this game or extremely destructive tackling from the erstwhile sissy Gunners. That would mean suspensions and injuries galore in time for the FA Cup Final. Anyhow, anything other than a win for Jose's Blues will mean party time for United, and Stamford Bridge being turned into the host for a coronation ceremony. Now that would be the cherry on top.
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And we've done it without kicking a ball. Arsenal did us a favour by holding 10-man Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. We are the champions!

ESPNSoccernet's Match Report

Man City 0-1 United

This is it. Our chance to reclaim the title on our neighbour's home patch. If Arsenal can do the business at home, then we are home and dry.
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And we've done it. A scrappy game but a much-improved performance after the San Siro debacle. Not good points-wise on Yahoo, but three points nonetheless.

ESPNSoccernet's Match Report

Let Me Let Go by Faith Hill & Vince Gill

I'm so glad Jasmine taught me to let go of friends that don't matter. Who do I mean? I'm talking about friends that don't make the effort to keep in touch or ask you out, despite your efforts. Simply put, the don't reciprocate your love. Which is fine.

I put it to you that these 'friends' simply hog your feelings and energy, to the point that your efforts are being taken away from the people trying to get your attention and the friends who truly matter. It's a no-brainer, really. Let's give our love, time and energy to the people who truly deserve it.

By letting these people go, they won't miss me, and neither will I miss them. It's truly a relief to be free from the desire to always live for their ensorsement and have them talk about only the things they like or want to talk about. Made me feel like a vanity mirror. You know the one in Snow White, where the evil witch keeps asking who's the fairest of them all? Yeah, stop using me to stroke your ego.

If your find some of your relationships one-way and energy-sapping, it's easier and better to let them go.

Of course, be aware of people who you are doing the same to, lest they let you go too. And don't let everyone go, too. Make the effort to keep in touch and involve them in your lives. If they reciprocate, you know that there's a friend worth having.

Milan 3-0 United (5-3 on aggregate)

As a concerned United fan, I cannot help thank God for a resounding 3-0 whopping rather than a narrow loss. I'm sure Kaka said his prayers the night before which could explain how he took his goal so well, but United were completely and utterly outclassed, outplayed, outthought and outfought.

The ineptitude was a sight to behold. The pressing game Milan employed has been weathered by United so often before and used to their advantage when their opponent tired. This time though, United just stood off their opponents even when 2-0 down, and only really got belatedly started after an hour. Even then, Dida didn't have a save to make. I dare say Roma played better when they were beaten 7-1.

I hope Ferguson sees that he must strengthen this summer. He will win the Premier League title because he is too far ahead for Chelsea to reel in. One suspects he wouldn't be as confident if the season ended in June.

Reinforcements, beginning with Owen Hargreaves, are needed urgently, especially ones that are good enough to displace those simply not good enough. Silvestre, O'Shea, Giggs, Scholes, Carrick, Saha, van der Sar, Brown and Fletcher all need to go because they're either too old or too inferior.

It was said Fergie was building his third great team. It seems he hasn't even started.

Will it Blend?

Watch as this intrepid BlendTec Inc. blends everything. And I mean everything. Including iPods and cylume sticks. Check out more here.

Blake Lewis remixes Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name

Whoa, this is good. Now I'm waiting for the MP3. Amazing interpretation of the song.

My eczema

Hi guys,

I really want to thank those of you who came on Monday evening for the Global Day of Prayer launch. Didn't we just have a great time of prayer together as a church and family of God?

On a personal note, I wish to thank all of you who prayed together with me for my eczema. As you know, I have been suffering from eczema since I was three. So that's about 21 years now. It hasn't been easy, and it's probably gotten much worse in the last two years.

Lately, I guess I've been feeling a bit frustrated with my condition and kept asking myself why there hadn't been any improvement despite years of treatment and prayer. I believed and still believe in God's power of healing, but I just didn't see it happening in my life. All along, I hear accounts of miraculous healing from people around me, but never to me. It's like hearing how all your cousins get ang pow during CNY, but you never get any. Or more pertinently, seeing all your friends get attached and married and finding you're left on the shelf.

As a result, I also got disappointed with God for not healing me despite my greatest desire to be healed. I kept thinking that there was something I was not doing right.

Today, however, I have realised that God still retains the power of healing in my life. When he does it, is purely up to Him. But I believe, together with my family and Jasmine, that it is only a matter of time. It is not easy waiting for this to happen, but I pray God will increase my patience and faith in Him to do a miraculous work.

It is a daily struggle, not knowing whether it will be a good skin day or a bad skin day when I wake up the next day. I certainly have never gotten used to it. As Jasmine can testify, I can also be moody and grumpy when it's a bad skin day. I am grateful to her for her patience and sayang-ing when I do feel under the weather. =]

I believe God will heal me one day. Until then, as Bon Jovi sang, I will keep the faith.

"For I will give health back to you, and I will heal you of your wounds." - Jeremiah 30:17a