The Start Of Something New...

Today was a significant day. I saw the beginning of a revival...

Went to the hospital today after hearing that one of my mum's friend (uncle fat man but he is skinny lor...) was going to be baptized. He is one of those uncles would spend lots of time at my dad's store. For the first time in my life, i saw my mum lay hands and prayed. I am amazed. I ever expect to see it. This is the first convert that my mum actually played a part in. Somehow, many people from my dad's store is starting to go to church and getting saved. I realized that sometimes, it takes a man at his lowest to see the truth but i also believe that God will heal uncle fat man. I know deep down, he has saw the power of Christ and i know that one day, his whole family will be save too. I see the power of salvation flowing through my mum. She is going to bring about a great revival at the store. My family is going to get saved and as for me and my house, we gonna serve the Lord. One day, my father will come to know Jesus. I know it's coming soon. really soon. My dad is going to watch a video on miracle healing given to him by one of the uncles from the store who is now attending His Sanctuary. Pray, pray hard.

The curse of the char siew pau...

Yesterday, with my first bite on a char siew pau, i heard a crack sound and my crown tooth started to hurt. The pain was so unbearable that i almost fainted on the bus. Spent the whole night waking up and taking painkillers. Went to see uncle henry this afternoon and received the bad news. My tooth split into half all the way to my nerve. He had to pull the pain part out and see if he can salvage the other half. Then the second bad news came. I have to take the whole tooth out cause it actually crack all the way till the bone area. thankfully, uncle henry made it painless. i can't believe that a char siew pau actually can do so much damage. I am amazed. No more char siew pau for me.


Finally no more pain for the night. It's just weird that i have to bite on one side cause the food will not be chewed if i bite on the side where my tooth is taken out. oh well... getting old...

In another 3 more days, it will be the start of my exams! once again, i will go into exile and you might or might not see any updates on this blog. perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Quote Of The Day

"When you bite into a char siew pau, bite with care..."

Back Again!

finally back after a long absence!

Looking at my last post dated 14 September which is 10 days ago and i realised how long it is since i last blogged. I decided to start blogging again to share more of my life with everyone.

For the last 10 days, many things have happened and many lives have been changed, including mine.

It was a long last week of school as presentations and essays were a big part of my life. Rushing for presentations and deadlines for essay took the most out of me and at the end of everything, i was dead tired. thank papa God, it is all over now. The next busy time will be exams which will be in 1 week's time. While in the midst of all these, i realised how much i need papa God in my life. His grace and mercies. His mercies are new every morning is the only thing that brought me through the last week.

This week, there was another period of grieve. On tuesday morning, i received news that mervyn's dad passed away suddenly. Received the news in the morning and we were there in the evening to offer our support and condolences. I spent the next 4 days helping out at the wake and offering my support to merv and his family. In those 4 days, i manage to know merv's mum a little more and also his aunties. Every night, i saw how close this YC family is, offering help in doing little things and giving support to merv. YC-ers just came and did their part, getting drinks for guests, opening doors, traffic marshalling, moving tables and chairs. Everyone just did what they can. It was a testimony. It was a showcase of papa God's family. Somehow, relationship building is part of the YC giftings. I never expect the little things that i do can bless someone so much. Heard about merv's mum's comments on me, i was blessed. not because of my abilities, but because of papa God's grace in my life. The glory all goes back to papa God. Had lunch with the family after the funeral on saturday and it was a good time to a closure for the long week.

From a time of grieve, it quickly changed to a time of celebration within a hour. It was charis' wedding on saturday and some of us attended the wedding at cornerstone church. it was a good time seeing her again and could really see how happy she is to get married. it was nice catching up with her and uncle timothy. After that, we went back to church to hang-out for a short while before proceeding to sentosa, palawan beach, for some north indian food at the invitation of Aunty Sally. it was good and the food was fantastic. after that, it was home sweet home to catch up on lost sleep over the last week.

Sunday as usual was spent in church. Arrived in church around 1.35pm and waited for service to start. The speaker today was Brent Chambers and his son, Nathan. I was blessed by his words and his music.

Had a bite at kopitiam after service before going back to church for trainee jamming. Because of some miscommunication, we didn't do the intended training and did some jamming instead. It was good i guess.

Dinner was at Plaza Singapura's Long John Silver. Got home and decided to go online for a short while and well it ended up with me writing this blog entry. By the time i'm done with writing this blog, it was 1.15am on monday morning. i am tired. i need to sleep. goodnight...

some pictures of the 10 days of exile...

Me and May May...

Mr Wong connecting with his metrosexual side...
(bag courtesy of regina aka crooked wong)

Me once again playing with dana's glasses...
Come on! at least i look good...

Quote of The Day
"Life is for fulfilling the greater purpose. Find that purpose."

Finally, it's over...

after one week of project-headaching (came up with my own term), i'm done with all my project presentations (infact today was my last presentation) and lectures will be done by next week! after that, it will be preparation time for exams. exams will run from 2nd - 15th October. please pray for me and all my classmates. 4 modules this term. The dynamics of mass communication, techniques of professional speaking and writing, social behavioural studies and human mass communications. no mcqs, only essays for exam questions. time to put into writing, the stuff that i have learnt the last 10 weeks. the matter of fact that time is passing so fast! just a blink of the eye and i'm at the end of my second last term in MDIS. soon, it will be over and then it's time for the next phase of life. passing too fast! but with lots of things i learnt. i would say it's a worthwhile time of my life. it will always be a written part of my life. it cannot and will not be erased from my life.

life have been good and i'm coming to the end of my "sabbatical". lots of words from papa God and i know for sure that it's time for me to serve again. serve where and what? worship will be my first priority. time to step up on the calling that papa God have given me in worship. alot of times, i wanted to be someone that is able to do many things and any thing. that is a true statement and i also know that for the next season, papa God wants me to work on my calling and get equipped in the area of worship. leading worship and getting a understanding of biblical worship. Combining both the Word of papa God and youth worship into one will be one of the goals. word-focused, spirit-led, youthful worship for the young generations of today.

church building is finally up! it's beautiful and majesty. most importantly, it remind me of the greatness and faithfulness of papa God to kum yan and me. a place where i will never leave on my own accord, a place where my roots will be rooted deep, a place where my family and future generations will serve and love. the building blend into the surrounding smu campus but still retaining it's uniqueness. i love the building but more importantly, i love my church.

Some pictures of the new church building

Side view of my church

Close up front view

Nice front view

saw the building at night and it was breathe-taking. it look so nice and warm. papa God is leading us into a new place. preparing us for the national calling. just like what Rev. George said at family camp, there is a national calling and kum yan is part of that calling. i believe in that call totally!

16 more days to the end of my rest...

Busy week...

oh well... another exodus from blogging the last few days. can't help it... really really busy and tired...

after reading my post on sunday, i figure out that most people will be thinking, "so what is alvin going to do next?". to be honest, i am still praying but got some initial ideas for the next phase of life.

as usual... summary for the awol days again...

Monday

out shopping with brian and ben wu. became brian's fashion consultant. met eugene with the both of them after that for dinner at the hk cafe at novena. while we were there, the novena church, which was opposite, was having some praise and worship concert and the songs that they were singing were like ours. there is a revival out there.

Tuesday

was out in town with classmates after their presentation. haha... everyone of them were in formal wear and it's quite a sight to see them in formal. went to town to hang out and as usual, went to play cs. this is like one of our favourite activity. hahaha... left the group around 5pm to pick melody up for eileen's farewell dinner with the rest of the blue moo-ers. dinner was at chongqing steamboat near bugis and after dinner dessert, tcc.

Wednesday

full day of school and rushed home to get my bball stuff after class. basketball was fun and mr john heng actually joined us! hahaha... played till 10 plus before proceeding to ms dawn tay's house to surprise her for her birthday... hahaha... it was a fun time... hehehe... surprise she may be but the smell of durian will fill her house for at least a few days... hahahaha!!!!!!!!! 7 boxes of durians for the record...

Thursday

didn't go to school today cause i wasn't feeling well and needed the sleep. woke up around 12pm and had my favourite fishball noodle at block 65. haha... it's been a long time since i actually had it. it was familiar... the taste, the texture. met uncle henry at 5pm for discipleship. it was fun. nice talking to and learning from uncle henry. got home and cooked my own dinner. i like my dinner. honey glazed chicken and carbonara. delicious!

in the session today with uncle henry, i learnt so much about discipleship. i realised that discipleship isn't just about teaching but it's also relational. Jesus' model for discipleship was first, spend time with Him and then go out and actions. so it's all about spending time with Him. it was such a revelation. now i understand the basis of discipleship.

i am enjoying my life right now and i know it's a time of rest for me. i also know that very soon, it's time for me to step out again and do the things that papa God have called me to do. before that happens, i want to enjoy my rest. so i will only think about it when october come. anything before that, out of my mind...

tomorrow's going to be a long day. full day lesson and then cell group in the evening. papa God, i need strength from You. light my path and show me Your way!

Quote Of The Day

it's all about relationship and spending time with Jesus...

My last month of rest...

one more month to the end of my sabbatical rest and so much things is happening once again. AWE night and today's sermon really set the stage for the ending of my sabbatical.

i saw what was my passion yesterday at AWE. youth people worshipping papa God the way they understand and papa God loves it. i saw so many young people giving their all in worshipping papa God and how worship can actually change lives. the prayers that was prayed so many years ago for them are beginning to take place. praying for God to meet them in worship, worshipping in a way that is relevant to them, raising up youth ministries in the cac churches that will be relevant to the youths that they are reaching out to, youth ministries will be fun to the youths, papa God will be real in their lives rather than a god that is spoken to them by their leaders, are all being fulfilled now. one day, we will see an army of cac youths taking the arenas of the secular world by storm.

today we had Rev. George Annadorai speaking at yc. i know it was a anointed time cause it was today that set the stage for my sabbatical end. he talked about the connection between singapore's destiny and yc's destiny. it was co-related. the israelites were circumcised before they entered the promised land not because papa God wanted them to sacrifice something but it's because by circumcision, it prophetically symbolized the coming under the blood (which was referring to the blood of Jesus or coming under papa God's authority) and when they went into Jericho, it was because of the blood that they were all unharmed. no israelites were harmed but everyone on the side of jericho was killed. entering Jericho symbolized the founding of Israel as a nation and it was considered the national day of Israel. when they entered jericho, it was after 40 years and coincidentally, Singapore is 41 this year which means that like Israel, Singapore is entering into her promised land from this moment on. (1st similarity) when Israel entered jericho, the next things that they are going to encounter is the 7 giants of the land which is the 7 different nations or people occupying the promised land. what Singapore is also encountering is the 7 arenas of the nation. (arts and entertainment, business, church, dental and healthcare, education, family, government) (2nd similarity) i was amazed by this prophetic message. i know that papa God definitely placed this message in Rev. George for ky and yc. i know that papa God wants everyone of us to be "circumcised" and be able to move over to the other side of the gate unharmed. God knows that if anyone is to pass through the gate without being circumcised, they will be killed and be struck down by satan. Because satan will use everything that we have done wrong, without confessing our sins, ever since we became a christian to bring us down. in Malachi 3:16 talks about papa God writing down everything in a book of rememberance which records all our good deeds and satan also has one which records all the bad things that we had done. how come? (satan cannot pick on the things that we have done wrong before we become christians because the moment we receive Jesus as our savior, all those sins are already paid for but the sins that we commit after becoming christians will be recorded unless we confess those sins already) when israel entered into the promised land, it was the young people that was leading it. Joshua and Caleb were the caretakers of the new generation which was born in the desert. so none of them were circumcised and that's why they had to be circumcised before they enter the promised land.

so everyone of us need to be under the blood. when Rev. George asked for response, i knew that i had to response. it was significant. i knew i had a breakthrough today. it was time. time to raise the gear again. time to be fervent and time to be spirit-led.

the stage is set and so clear now. step up on the gear and move faster. i know i have to move myself. not about emotions anymore, it's about answering and fulfilling the call of papa God on my life. flowing with the nation and church's destiny. it's all co-related. everything is linked.

it was a time of recollections of papa God's words to me and also a time where i recommit myself back to Him. time to start working again. time to serve again.

Summary of Saturday and Sunday

Saturday
9am - Soccer
6pm - Guitar teaching @ woodlands
8.30pm - AWE

Sunday
1.30pm - YC
5pm - jamming
9pm - dinner with ben and ah lap @ PS' Carls Junior

Quote Of The Day
when papa God moves, make sure you are ready to move together with Him.

Day of having fun... hahaha...

oh well, looking at my title for this entry, you would have guessed that i had a great day! haha...

went to school today but realised that i actually didn't need to be there! haha... but the good thing is that i actually got my marks! i got a 8/10 for process of my project and 8/10 for my class participation. haha! cool! it pays to be there even when you are not required to. haha! had some fun in class talking to people and playing bluff... hahaha... then lunch was at the malay stall outside mdis along the row of shops under the flats. the food was fantastic! it is so good that now i totally refuse to eat from the malay stall in school. haha...

afternoon was ms benita's class. because it was a tutorial class, attendance was little and so she actually had a time of talking at the end of the class. we sat around and she started asking us where we were from and what we want to do. hahaha... it was like a career counselling session. haha... telling us to do what we really like and want, rather than just go with what we study and then spend our whole life there. hahaha... it was good... a really good time... i'm beginning to wonder if she's actually part of the kingdom. hmm... food for thoughts...

saw shermeen's email about her selling her "treasures" to raise fund for her volunteer trip to israel. called her and had a short conversation with her. manage to encourage her a little and also to tell her that whatever she is doing is something many people can't do. even in selling her "treasures", it was a sign of giving up everything for the cause. money can always be earn back but money will not be able to buy the experiences that she is going to get from this volunteer stint. seriously, if papa God calls me, i'm also ready to do it too...

after class was a trip down to the airport to send ben soh off... got there, had popeyes and then went to pray for him. we did it in a rush cause some of us actually need to go to naval base primary school for the combined sports day with the english congregation. that's why we didn't send ben soh off at the gate.

got to naval base primary school around 7.45pm and they were about to start. just in time... hahaha... thank papa God! haha... it was nice to see so many kumyanites coming together to play some sports... hahaha... we had floorball, line soccer, table tennis and board games for those that are less sporty. hahaha... it was just so heart-warming. all the families coming together to enjoy one another's company. having fun together is seriously what's lacking in the families of today. many families just doesn't come together to have fun and spend time together... i was tired... i didn't play any games but actually spent some time playing with chavelle and it was tiring... hahaha... but also contributing to it was edwin. (best friend!) haha... a small kid... had fun... hahaha... took pictures with jo and then erica... hahaha... waiting for jo to send me the pictures so that i can put it up here. took a ride after that from chao to school with jiahao so that we can take a bus home from there. hahaha...

on my way home on bus 61 from school with jiahao, we saw a accident near my house and it was a real bad one... the front part of the truck was actually smashed to the brim and there was only a small gap between the front and the back... the driver was stuck in the seat and the last i saw, they were trying to get him out. when i saw it, i began to start thinking of life.

i realised how short life can be. how life can just be taken away from you just in a matter of second. we never know when we will go back to meet papa God . this is not to live in fear but to understand that every second that we are still alive is by grace and it's a gift to be alive. the fact that no one can be sure whether one can wake up from one's sleep tomorrow just prove it. haha... i mean if papa God wants us back, nothing can change that but the only thing we can do is to know that even if we leave now, we will have no regrets and that we have lived our lives to the fullest. so live life and live it well. live it to the fullest and live it in the best way you can.

so today's summary will be one of life. learned so much about life today from papa God. is this a sign? i wonder...

Quote Of The Day
know your life. only you will know whether it's the best that you're living now...