Baptism!

Hey guys, thanks for dropping by my blog! As you might have noticed, it has been more than 2 months since my last post! Sorry for letting this blog to rot pathetically, but here is the revival! So obvious that I wasn't achieving one of my new year resolutions (post a blog entry at least once per month). Ops! Anyway, please be acknowledged this post is going to be long, so please leave now if you're busy, otherwise you are welcomed to read it some other time.

Yesterday marked by far the most important day of my life! 12/03/2013. The date that I would remember for the rest of my life, the date that is so significant I couldn't bear to forget, the date that I got dunked into the water, signifying the death of the old self and the reborn of the new self, with a brand new flashy identity in Christ. Yes I have been baptised, with a grateful heart to my Lord Jesus Christ, and Equippers Church London City, the church that I have rooted in. Together being baptised with me were another 4 faithful children of God (Cherrie, Alicia, Joann and Dominique). Congratulations people! Well done for taking this significant step of faith! Thanks Pastor Mark and everyone involved! x) 

I was being told to share a testimony prior to being baptised, but I wasn't quite ready. I first started with my past stories. I was a child growing up in a typical Chinese family with Taoism belief or rather free thinker, being cultivated in an environment full of self taught values. However, amidst of good values being taught, all sorts of bad values were picked up as well. I was being raised as a self-centered person, a proudful boy thanks to my little intelligent brain who always topped the class in primary school, yet a rebellious and naughty boy who often sneaked out to KLCC/Jusco (shopping malls) just to buy toys with stollen money/steal toys. I was lucky enough to escape each stealing attempt. I used to think only of my own advantages, and deploy any practical strategy just to satisfy my desires. 

I then went on to tell how I came to know Christ, when I was 13. It was when my best friend/classmate back then (Noah) invited me to my school's Christian Fellowship weekly meeting. Ever since I decided to stay, to be very honest, credit to the refreshment and friends that I got to know. I didn't have many friends back then and I was an introvert, so I really appreciate the company of CF friends. Unfortunately I did not appreciate the Words back then as I thought it was boring. I am Chinese educated, and listening/reading to English words as my second language did not seem quite appealing to me, at such a young age. I also enjoy listening to worship/praise songs, and it has since became one of my favourite past time activities. I also like to think excessively (often unnecessarily), and used to be skeptical on the existence of God. There are just too many miracles performed in the Bible, many of which seem ridiculously illogical, that oppose the law of physics.

Little did I realise, God has planted a seed in my heart. I started to attend Sunday Service in a local church, also primarily for the same reasons (friends, hang out, etc), until the day I transferred to a boarding school when I was 16. When I was in the boarding school, I seldom read the Bible nor I pray often. I only pray occasionally when I was facing an exam, or when I was in deep trouble (rare). I was viewing God as a 'tool' for me, to alleviate my worries and restore my heart whenever I face disappointments/rejections. I was accustomed to rely on my own strengths to solve problems. Since Christian God is the most easily accessible and also the one that I'm most familiar with due to years of exposure, I decided to pray to Him, instead of other Gods (if they even existed).

I was separated from the House of God for almost 3 years, when I was finally invited back to a local church called Acts. I was in college by then, with a prestigious oversea scholarship award secured under my belt. I was being really thankful to Bank Negara (Central Bank of Malaysia) for awarding me such golden opportunity, but I also realised I had been missing out an important part of my life -- God. I started to attend Acts Church, but due to my priority placed in study greater than God, I did not sign up for any dream team to serve Him. Although I kept declaring myself as a Christian, occasionally I would still feel detached from God due to many tough circumstances. I still occasionally lived a sinful hell-like life, with God's presence only on Sunday. God was not my first priority.

"Have you been baptised?" That was the question occasionally popped up to me and I will gladly answered "No". Gladly? I was glad not to be baptised, as I thought there is no turning back once I have been baptised. Later in life I learnt that there is not much difference whether you have been baptised or not, but whether you have received the Word of God and acted upon it, that matters. But God continued to pour out His grace in abundance upon me, despite me not being obedient. God continued to answer my prayers, continued to work wonders in my life especially in academic. I managed to secure a place in my dream university to pursue my dream course, and here I am, in London.

Here is the bit that I believe I have missed out yesterday when I was sharing testimony. I started attending Equippers Church London City, and I believe I have grown so much more rooting here. No it's not a big church like Hillsong, All Souls etc, but this small church is precisely the reason that I found myself growing tremendously. In a big church there are just too many people, and it may seem that your presence can be redundant, in the sense that it wouldn't make much significant impacts with or without you in church (unless you were a leader). I found myself serving God in Equippers much more than when I was in Acts, and from within I found joy. Yes serving God is indeed one of the most joyous things you can do.

You will tend to feel more significant when you are given a responsibility to bear or a role to play (even a small one), and I really like that feeling. Maybe God has put in me the ability to lead others with wisdom. Even in my course, I played a few roles:
1) Team Manager of 2 teams for Actuarial Method presentations
     Result: Both presentations went really well, and we were applauded by the invited guest
                (an actuary).
2) Team Captain of Phoenix team for Probability & Statistics League
     Current Progress: Topping the League with 4 wins and 1 draw (2 matches more to go).

Praise God for all these achievements!

I believe many people around my age (20s) are still searching for their identities, by getting involved in certain groups or events mostly to find a sense of belonging, me is not excluded. But I'm really happy to declare that I have found it. I realised that my identity can only truly be found in Christ, as His lovely child and faithful servant. I learnt that I need not to worry of any challenges, as He has assured me that He will always be there for me. One thing that I can testify is, God never failed to provide whenever I pray for something. Whenever I face problem, God will just reveal His ways, so often in ways that I could not have thought of on my own.

I used to be arrogant, impatient, self-centered and everything bad that you can name it, I have had it in me. I used to hate shopping with friends as I was a very impatient person. I used to break many rules when I thought rules are meant to be broken (of course only to a certain extent that will not put me in deep trouble). I used to think the universe centered around me (what a narcissist!). But God just came into my life, and everything changed ever since. I learnt that God detests pride as it is the root of all evil. God gave me patience and as patience being developed, I see more fruitful results. Breaking rules? I admit I still occasionally break rules (traffic rules in particular) but there are many times that Holy Spirit just keep reminding me to obey the rules, to be more considerate and uphold safety first. God has transformed my life so much as time goes by. Praise God for these transformations!

Just a few weeks ago, I was presented this opportunity to be baptised by Equippers, and after praying to God, I decided to make this personal leap of faith. My inner voice just subconsciously agreed to the idea of being baptised, without much strength of refusing.

Post Baptism Thoughts:

A few of my friends asked me if there is any difference before and after the baptism. Physically there is no difference. However, spiritually there is. I finally feel the sense of belonging. I am belong to God. Often times I felt detached simply because I did not have the sense of belonging to God. I felt that God had abandoned me when He was in fact secretly watching me from above, making sure that I will pull it through every challenge and make wise decisions. I failed to realise the only missing element in my life was baptism until a few weeks ago, but thank God now it has been restored.

Indeed the walk of Christian faith is not meant to be taken alone, but with a group of God's people who are always there to support one another. The strength of a group of people with God's favour would definitely sustain anything coming their way, lead them towards achieving victories.

Now, I'm officially a man of God, with a heart of child like faith! Praise the Lord!

Here I will end this post with one of my favourite Scriptures.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."     

                                                                                                                       -Jeremiah 29:11

This is just the beginning.

New Year Resolutions 2013!

Hey people! As you might have already known, I am in good transition between college life and university life. There are just too many things to write within this one post as my blog has been in long hiatus since September, but I will keep it short and simple! Just so you know there are many things in my mind that hardly could be expressed in one post for my devoid of time, darn I still have progress tests coming up in less than 2 weeks time! =/

I was looking back at my New Year Resolutions that I have written last year, and I'm happy to say that I have accomplished many of them, surprisingly! The link is here so that you may refer back. Now I will present you with what I have accomplished thus far, with my last year's new year resolutions (not all as some were just plain concepts).

1) Reduce my weight for at least 10kg before my final exam in May/June 2012? I weighed 85kg in the beginning of 2012, and now I'm 70kg! One of my biggest achievements that I could hardly believe but with God's grace that fuelled my determination, it was made possible. Thank God!

2) Learn ice skating? So far I have yet to ice-skate in my daily basis (it will be so expensive lol) but I have ice-skated twice! I fell more than 10 times on the ice rink when I first ice-skated early last year with my new college classmates in Sunway Pyramid, and I slowly subconsciously grasped the theories behind ice skating (how it works etc). Just a few weeks back when I went travelling with my UCL friends, I ice-skated for the second time in my life in York Winter Wonderland (inside York Designer Outlet), and I was surprised that I skated many rounds without falling right on the butt! Definitely one of my happiest days to have picked up slowly my desired hobby.

3) Learn cooking before flying overseas? Well technically I did learn some very basic cooking skills before flying overseas, but over the period of 3-4 months I have brushed up my cooking skills although I'm still not adventurous enough to try out new recipes. Will definitely try out more new cooking recipes after my exam!
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What about this year? Here is the list of 20 new year resolutions! Sounds too many? I thought so, but it was not actually the case once I started thinking hard for the first few. One by one, it ran through my mind like countless sheeps, just when I broke down the new year resolutions into several categories. It will appear to be more specific and rather straightforward as compared to last year's.

1) Read sciptures/bible daily (at least 10 minutes, subscribe to bible reading plans on smartphone), and Study Bible at least twice a week (1 hour each, Wednesday and Saturday).
2) Read at least 10 books by the end of this year (carry a book inside my bag with me all the time might help although less effective, but I shall allocate some time out at night just to read the book of my interests).
3) Join badminton practice on every Friday with the university badminton club to keep fit.
4) Exercise consistently to reduce my weight to 60+ (ideally 65 or less), and maintain at that level (weight lifting, jogging etc).
5) Join a ministry in church and start growing, be a leader!
6) Make significant impacts on people's lives (join more volunteering works and church missions).
7) Pray steadfastly to God, allowing God's hands to move in unexpected better ways.
8) Be more forgiving, patient and submit less to anger.
9) Update my blog at least once a month.
10) Start writing a diary (similar to blogging, but with more personal thoughts and privacy).
11) Achieve top grades in my course (do revision at least 30 minutes daily without any distraction, reflecting the day's lessons).
12) Hang out more with people around me (coursemates, church family etc).
13) Pick up baking skills, learn at least 5 desserts by the end of the year.
14) Learn at least 10 new dishes by the end of the year.
15) Keep track of my bank accounts and monthly cash flow (record everything that I have spent on such as groceries, books, transport, entertainment, tithe and offering etc).
16) Initiate conversations and put people's interests above mine, be considerate! (I have been very very shy to strangers so far, not good! =/).
17) Learn at least one musical intrument (guitar, drum?)(Buy a new guitar and start practising from various sources like Youtube etc).
18) Make a study schedule.
19) Be more gentleman and submit less to mood swings.
20) Start investing?! (I'm not very sure about this, but as a student with tight budget, I guess I would be far better off depositing my money in the bank earning interest although it is as pathetically low as 0.8% per annum in saving account. You will definitely lose money anyway if you invest in stock market).

Sounds hard to be achieved? It's all actually up to YOU, whether you want to make space for it, okay me in this case haha! Space here means time and efforts. Lastly, I would like to wish each and everyone of you... HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013, and may this year be the best year yet! Till then.

Magnificent fireworks display around London Eye when the Big Ben struck twelve for the first time in 2013! :D  

Above is a 11.5 minutes long video clip showing the London fireworks presented by BBC One! :D I was there amidst the crowd on the London Westminster Bridge, but darn this looks much better! Nevertheless a priceless experience though!

Closure of Survival Series (9/9)! =)

Hello people! So sorry for the long hiatus (2 weeks?)! This would be a post solely reserved for sermon sharing on last Sunday, and I would include some of my afterthoughts after the sermon. But before that, I would like to announce (if you have yet to know), Acts PJ has been launched on the 9th of September (last Sunday) at 4pm! Woots! It is a new church plant of Acts, serving as an avenue for God to move His hands even greater to bring more people to Him, to bless the PJ community by making the church more accessible for the people.

Again, congratulations to the startup team of Acts PJ! They have really sacrified a lot and their obedience to God's mighty plan shall be applauded!

Excited for the Word of God yet? So here it goes! The speaker was Reverend Kenneth Chin, the senior pastor of Acts Church! God bless Pastor Kenneth! (:

Bible Verses: Matthew 5:3-10, James 4:8, 2 Corinthians 5:9, John 8, Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 3:11

- It's easy to bring people out of Egypt, but it's hard to bring Egypt out of people.
- We belong to God, we are made in God's image.
- Forgiveness, patience and faith are beautiful.
- Church need to give second chance to people, as church has received second chance.
- Everyone wants a second chance at least once.
- God is God of Second Chance.
- 1) The Reality of Opposites:
       God and the world is direct opposite.
       Once upon a time, we were our center of life; Now Jesus & God are the center!
       We are IN the world, but not OF the word.
       Spirit of God clashes with spirit of the world; the way world do things clashes with the way
       God do things.
       Kingdom comprises of a King, people and the ways.
       With fear of God, we obey Way of God (higher law than world's).
       If you chosen to be bullied because of obeying God, blessed are you!
       We go against the Earthly flow.
- 2) Responsibility of Opposites:
       It's a choice, not a chance.
- 3) Reward of Opposites:
      If you are obedient to God, reward will be yours.
- Challenge the church to be irresistable.
- Checklist of being an irresistable church:
  i) Grow spiritually in this church (full in spiritual food).
  ii) Witness a strong sense of mission/purposes (to care for the poor & community).
  iii) Long to go to this church every week.
  iv) Want to invest in the church for a long hawl (get involved!).
  v) Want to tell others about this church.
  vi) Feel relax in the church (don't feel judged & condemned but feel loved and warm acceptance).
  vii) Delightfully challenged (Word of God challenge me to grow, beyond myself, to be better).
- Church is not a building, but the people.
- Our first purpose is to be irresistable to God, not to people.
- Be a church that feeds the hearts, not only mind feeder.
- Stay away from arguments that don't change life.
- Irresistable is not perfect, but alive.
- It's the presence of God that draws people to church.
- Beatitudes attract God, hear Heaven's applause.
- What draws Him is call Him from the inside out.
- Be magnate for God's presense.
- It's living to please God that brings God down.
- Finish a degree/study with not only title, but a testimony.
- We live to please the Lord.
- Holy Spirit will baptise you through fire.
- We must be people of Holy Fire.
- Fire in Greek called 'pur' (also means lightning).
- How to attract God's lightning? Stand out from the crowd! =)
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Wow! What a great conclusion for the Survival Series by Pastor Kenneth!

One thing that I need to testify, is that God is really faithful and gracious to me. It's really true that when a servant of God is obedient, God will graciously reveal lots of great plans to him or her, and make the journey smooth despite some random trials and tribulations. Everything will be good in the end as God has assured us that if it's not good, it's not the end yet. Only by living with God as our center of life, He will draw close to us delightfully. I has served Revo Store for a month now and thanks to the Revo Store team, I have technically learnt most of the tasks involved such as MTG order, MTG collection, sales, cashier and assistant cashier! So I will write down a summary just to refresh my memory, hoping that I would be able to remember how the operations of each task work in future. When Revo Store team sets up the stall, first we need to count the opening stocks available, filled up the form and put some of the stocks on display.

MTG Order: Prepare adequate number of pens and assist people who are interested to order MTG
                   to fill up the MTG form, put a signature and kindly ask him/her to pay at the cashier.
                   Make sure the MTG forms are sufficient enough to avoid the problem of running out
                   of forms. (Remark: Fairly easy.)

MTG Collection: Receipt of MTG order will be showed by a person. Find the second copy of the
                         receipt (of the same name) at the folder, and according to the code stated at the
                         receipt, find the respective MTG ordered at the MTG container. Then sign at the
                         receipt. (Remark: I have never actually done this task so I'm not quite familiar
                         with the process).

Sales: Watch over the displayed items and assist people if they need help. (Remark: Fairly easy too)

Cashier: Set up the computer and cashier machine. Count the money beforehand. When there're a
            'customer', scan the item from codes list (read through the codes list to familiarise where
            the codes of items are, and make sure you return the right amount of money to the person.
            The main item bought is usually MTG, followed up by T-shirts. Others like badges, Revo
            H2O and books etc are less frequently bought. Close the counter, and recount the money.
            Make sure it aligns with the sales record.

Assistant Cashier: Help the cashier, especially with the MTG form, to stamp the form and stapler it
                          with receipt, then return it to the 'customer'.

(Remark: This is by far the hardest task of all. Just don't be panic when some problem arise at the
              computer screen. Everything else should be fine.)

Wooohooo! Praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity to serve Him at Revo Store! I would like to thank Revo Store team for assisting and guiding me throughout my intensive training for over a month! Specially thanks to Jamie for patiently explaining to me all the processes involved, particularly with cashier matter. God bless Revo Store! :D

Another door that God is opening to me now is Acts London! I'm getting excited whenever I hear of Acts London, and has already joined the Acts London Support Group in FB. London will be my home for the next 3 years, and it would be really great if Acts Church could plant a new church in London. For the past 9 months I have spent in Acts Church, I'm deeply attracted by the church's warm acceptance and God's presence in this church. I still remember there was one occasion when Ps. Kenneth was praying for me during the alter call, he prayed that I would be able to forget my past, which left me pondering deep about it.

My past? ... I'm a 1st Generation Christian, with my older sister and parents being Buddhist/Taoism (Praise God that my younger sister is a Christ believer now!). Hailing from a Buddhist/Taoism background, I wasn't really that fervent about teachings of Buddhism. I was self-centered, just like many other people who have yet to know Christ. I didn't have many friends during secondary school due to my personalities (selfish, pride, inconsiderate, kiasu, unforgiving etc). Some of the traits I believe I haven't fully improved but I'm working on it... with Christ! I was a school prefect in my old secondary school, but ironically a victim of bully outside school compound. I hated many things that people had done to me both verbally and physically, and perhaps the past that Pastor was talking about, was my unforgiving self. But all glory to God, that now I have found courage to forgive people by God's grace! I have also found a home in Acts, and most importantly, peace in my heart for me to root in this church. Thank you Lord. Definitely looking forward to Acts London now! God bless Acts London!

Continuation of Survival Series! =)

Hey people! It's been a few days since my last update so yes, I'm going to update myself! But if you were busy, you may skip through the first 3 paragraphs and go straight to the sermon! Remember I was having trouble with my accommodation in London? I was contemplating whether to take up Sir John Cass Hall or Liberty Hall, in which I eventually settled down on Liberty Hall. The rushing of deadline for online payment (to secure the room) was stressful particularly when I had only a few days left before the deadline (24th of August). I kept myself busy dealing with emails from Liberty Hall Management and City University. Also, since the money involved are huge in amount (everything is in GBP), paying such amount is not possible with debit or credit card due to the exchange control policy imposed by the Central Bank since the 1997 South East Asian Currency Crisis, to circumvent speculation from international currency traders.

Apparently the only viable way is via bank transfer, and the whole process is a bit tedious for me (someone who has yet to get exposed to anything about banking). The amount of payment was not only large, but quite confusing as well. Also, I was required to send 2 passport sized photos to Liberty Hall for their security system. I was searching all over the Express Mail and Air Mail hoping to send the photos and reach there by the deadline, but to no avail. Thank God my mom came into rescue! She called up Liberty Hall Management for clarification, and everything is in order now. She also manage to send 2 passport sized photos of mine! I have paid the deposit of £200 by credit card via the online payment system to secure the room, and my mom has just carried out the bank transfer today! So all is well! Praise the Lord for such a wonderful mom! :)

Oh yes, I have done my medical checkup as well! Everything seemed to be smooth so far, praise the Lord! Tomorrow will be a busy day for me as I will be going to different places to settle everything in a day. I will be going to the Bank to collect my scholarship contract and relevant documents, KL Sentral to collect my medical report, and college to collect my statement of result. I shall sleep early tonight to store energy for tomorrow! But wait, I'm going to Quinnie's house tonight for PE1 BBQ class gathering! Wooohooo can't wait! :) 

Alright, since the title of this post is about survival series, I shall not digress too much from the main topic! Yesterday it was an awesome Sunday (every Sunday is an awesome day for me hahaha! :p) and once again Pastor Kenneth was the speaker! To be honest, whenever Pastor Kenneth is preaching, I will be extra alert to listen the sermon and it is almost certain that I would get something new. Pastor even said in Twitter later yesterday: 

Enjoy myself too much delivering God's message today. Totally lost track of time. Thank God for His presence and power... & people's patience. 

Thank you so much Pastor for delivering such a wonderful Word! Definitely looking forward to more of it! Excited for the sermon yet? Here you go! :) 

Bible Verses: Psalm 139:23-25, 1 Corinthians 13, Matthew 4:1-11 

- Church is an agent for transformation. 

- Greatest test in our life is success. 

- People tend to forget God amidst of success, not in hardship. 

- You don't have to do something external to solve internal issue. 

- Word of God is like mirror to reflect who we are. 

- Sometimes something that irks us is just a testing from God on us. 

- People don't turn into who they are in just days, but due to various circumstances around. 

- God has made it easy for us to follow His ways; He works in the principles of THREE (3). 

- Body, Soul & Spirit; we focus so much on body, but God is interested in our spirit! 

- Father, Son & Holy Spirit want to help us. 

- Learn 3 things from God: Jesus's Testimony, Teachings & Telling Off. 

- Teachings: Sometimes we just need to be taught. 

- Jesus: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

- Faith, Hope & Love -> All these 3 are internal. 

- If faith doesn't do it, hope will & if hope doesn't do it, love will. 

- Steal, Kill & Destroy -> Principles of Devil. 

- When reading Scripture, understand the process that we are in. 

- Worship God in Spirit & Truth. 

- Live in life of power that comes from the inside. 

- Where your marriage stands now? Has something been stolen? It's not too late to restore!  

- When a woman can no longer stand a marriage and give up, that show something deep has occur;

  a deep cut. 

- Even if you come from a divorce home, do not worry about your future. 

- While your body is still okay, make sure you invest in your soul & spirit. 

- Soul & Spirit are longing, therefore the body will react. 

- Sometimes a girl devoids of father's love, will keep searching for different male partners, in hope   

  of searching something to fill the hole inside her heart. What can truly cease her from giving away 

  her body to different guys, is Father's love; when soul & spirit is dealt with! 

- Come to a place with faith, hope & love, again! 

- Don't put value on internal from the external. 

- Lust of the Eyes, Lust of the Flesh, & Pride of Life.

- Searching ourself can lead to condemnation & confusion; God wants conviction. 

- Don't let Devil to keep deceiving us from external. 

- Be a beauty from the inside, like Christ from the inside.

- Never fought over money, as we rule over money, not otherwise. 

- Don't put our confidence on external things that society treasures, such as: 

  1) Sustenance: Never bow to it! God will provide our immediate needs. 

  2) Success: Success is not your God; at the top of pinnacle? so what? 

      At top positions, temptation not to be held accountable, will come; eg: I will do what I want to 

      do, don't tell me what to do! 

      Don't test God, you have knowledge of God? Good, take it to draw yourself closer to God. 

      Don't tempt, don't take God's mercy and grace for granted, as God can call you home any 

      second He wants. 

      Be under authority, do what your God says, be a top man in God's eyes.

  3) Security: Security is not your God; find your security in God. 

- It's not your weight, your height, or your background to give you authority, but how you find 

  yourself in Christ.  

August Updates! =)

Hello people! Sorry for the 2-week hiatus as I was a little bit busy with accommodation stuffs and all. I was trying to find an accommodation cheaper than my own university hall in London. Oh by the way, if you have yet to know, my A-Levels result has finally been revealed! Praise the Lord that I've achieved 3A* 1A! As predicted, I've gotten an A (88 percentile) for my Economics. But still I thank God for it! A* for Maths, Further Maths and Physics are not easy to be attained! What more, I wasn't putting any hope on Physics to get A* since I've got only 90 for my AS. Enough with tears flowing and regrets, I shall be grateful that I'm still going to Cass Business School! All glory to God! Wooohooo~ :D

So what's with the accommodation? Apparently Liberty Hall (the university residence that I've applied for) costs £180 per week, which I think is quite expensive. It will then cost £720 per month just for the accommodation alone, out of £1056 monthly allowance sponsored by the Bank. In fact, I found another cheaper alternative, i.e. Sir John Cass Hall, which costs only £120 per week, but it's 10-20 minutes away by bus. Added to the monthly bus pass which cost £10 per week, it would roughly cost around £130 per week; at least £200 will be saved monthly. The only downside: It's located in Hackney area, which is densely populated with Muslim and African, indirectly signifying higher crime rate, thus a more dangerous place to live at. Eventually after discussing with my friends, I decided that I shall just live at Liberty Hall. It's nearer to the university (5 mins walk) and can bond with my university friends better. The first year is a crucial year for me to settle down, so I shall settle for a safer and better (although more expensive) option. Also, the time and energy spent on commuting might not worth the £50 saved per week.

Anyway, here's the sermon preached on the past Sunday Service (19/8/12) by Pastor Kenneth Chin! The sermon was so powerful and my heart was so touched throughout the whole service. Oh some updates on serving God through Revo Store! So far I've done MTG order and Sales, and they are not really that easy, considering the complication that might arise during closing. We are required to recount the T-shirts and other items (closing stocks - opening stocks = sales quantity), to make sure that it's tally with the record of cash counter. Anyway, everything was quite fun and personally I enjoy serving the Lord! Definitely looking forward to this Sunday for more! =)

Without further ado, here's the God-inspired Word! =)

Bible Verses: Psalm 139:23-24, 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 16:32, Proverbs 25:28, Matthew 4:1-10

- We grow up in different types of packages.
- Jesus values what's growing on in our mind and heart.
- External bondage (Egypt) -> Wilderness (internal breakthroughs) -> External blessing.
- Changes can start from you, then maybe everything else will flow smoothly.
- It's not only how to manage tough times, but also tough thoughts!
- Let go of anger and deal with other internal elemets.
- There are some people with nothing yet get everything.
- We can search our hearts, but in the light of God.
- Only God can search and review wickedness in our hearts, to go for everlasting.
- Search ourself without God will only cause condemnation and comparison.
- In God, there will be no condemnation and comparison, but only conviction.
- You will have reward if invest in external beauty (compliments from people); if invest in internal
  beauty, you will have reward of eternity.
- When you want to know how great a man is, ask his wife first! xD
- God's protection is so much safer than having the most secured army camp/police station next to
  your house.
- Control your own spirit, rule your self control, & you will be bigger than the ruler of a nation!
- If you have problem, ask God.
- Lie of the enemy/devil: External leads to internal.
- Surrender all your appetites to God.
- Don't sell your destiny short. I don't need anything, I have everything that God gives me.
- A good name is to be desired than great riches.
- Goal: Be like Christ.
- You are, before you do; so invest in who you truly are.
- Sow a thought, reap a desire; sow a desire, reap an action.
- Sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, ripe a destiny; sow a destiny, reap an eternity.
- Respond (not only react), take responsibility on our thoughts.
- Fear & guilt.
- Something might fall apart without you, but don't let the guilt continues to get you.
- Why am I stuck this way? Is it because of family?
- Commit your burden to God!
- The day you release burden is the day you have your life.
- You don't have control over others' life, but God has.
- What's driving you on, is your guilt and fear. Don't sink on the weight of guilt.
- Come to a decision, resolve internally in your heart.
- Something has to die inside, for something else to live.
- Sometimes you need to be hurt, before you can be healed.
- Sometimes you have to let go, before let God to take control.
- Let go of your burden and God will take care of it!
- Don't put burden on your children (as this will kill them on the inside), but rather let them live &
  dream high! =)

Eventful Sunday! =)

Hello people! Some of you might be wondering why you are being tagged and linked to this blog. Not so much on promoting my site, but to share the good news and testimonies available all over my blog (particularly the last few posts prior to this, so if you had time, why not just read through those posts?). If you have been following my blog faithfully since the beginning of the moment I decided to share the notes I've written down on the sermons preached on Sunday services, you will know I have had tagged quite a number of people to read the Word but that didn't last long. Sooner or later I found out that not everyone that I tagged viewed the post, some of them did not even bother to read. I felt discouraged to tag people anymore on the post, sooner or later I did not even bother to tag anymore. I felt that, if God really wants to touch a specific person's heart, Holy Spirit will nudge the person, while he/she was scrolling through the FB newsfeed, to check out the post I've shared. So I thought I had done my part well and surrender the rest to God.

Just a few days ago, I was having a conversation with Tricia, one of a few friends sharing the same birthday with me haha! xD In her case, same day same year! Anyway, we bumped on the topic regarding the sermons I've been sharing. I told her about the discouragement I was facing and she recommended me to continue tagging people. Credits to Tricia, Romans 10:13-15 depicts very well on this matter, just the right verse to solve my problem. I believe changes should come from within, from the inside out. I shouldn't gauge based on the result and focus solely on that. Instead, I should have focused more on the primary objective and the goal of the action. So yeah, I will continue to tag people! Also, thanks to her, I'm able to start serving in Revo Store in less than a week time after my registration. I wasn't expecting that coming so fast but really want to thank God for this great opportunity! 

For the first time I served in the Revo Store. My first task: MTG order. I wasn't sure what is MTG at first, but after my friends explained it to me, finally I understood. MTG is a voice recording of sermons in DVD form, used for self purpose or to bless someone else. Not only the sermons from Acts Central, but you can also obtain sermons from other plants like Acts Ampang, Acts Nilai, Acts Mandarin and so on. The task was easy, to facilitate church members on MTG ordering, in filling up the form and asking them to pay at the counter. Later after the serving, one of the team leaders Jamie had an informal interview with me, along with 2 other friends who are serving in Revo Store. It might seem formal but it wasn't. She told me everything about the Revo Store. 

Here's what I understood: Revo Store is a ministry in church, just like any other ministries. It was created to sell accessories that can bring people closer to God. Revo Store is not profit orientated, but rather God-centered. The reason why people in Revo Store continue to serve there is due to the satisfaction gained when you realised things from Revo Store are distributed out to spread the good news, to bless someone, to draw people to Christ and bring people closer to God. Badges, books, MTG, worship songs discs etc. All these are meant for one and only one purpose - to draw people to God. Not only for non-Christians, even Christians can be blessed by Revo Store, by consolidating their faith or even transform backsliders back to the right track. In short, Revo Store is a platform to complement people's faith in God. Pastor Kenneth also mentioned about church's plan to plant a new church (Acts London) in the UK, so I'm going to undergo intensive 7-week training about operating Revo Store and be a team leader. The responsibility seems really heavy, but I believe I can do it by drawing strength and ability to learn fast from God! =) 

Here is the sermon that Pastor Kenneth has preached on the past Sunday. It was the continuation of the series that he has started last week, on the theme of breaking internal bondage. As usual he made jokes while he was preaching sermons, one of which that I found it interesting was a watch that he was wearing, that can measure calories burnt! Guess what, by the end of the sermon, he has burnt more than 555 kcal! OMG! Preaching a sermon is even more effective in burning calories than running on a treadmill for 15 minutes. :O Wow! 

Theme: Beautiful People Series    Bible Verses: Proverbs 22:2; Matthew 5:20; Galatians 4:9; 

                                                                     Matthew 15:8-12, 23:23-27, 6:1-2, 6:5-6, 7:3-4, 

                                                                     7:24-25, 7:28-29; Psalm 34:6 

- Promise land needs beautiful people to live in it, to be beautiful. 

- Let's embrace this wilderness. 

- Offences are bound to come, and inevitable. 

- Don't live according to other people's standards. 

- Don't let others to bring you down to their standards, making you less beautiful. 

- It's about mindset, change from the inside out. 

- Most of the victories are found in the internal exams/internal bondage. 

- Everyone has problem, but we don't have to remain there. 

- Every creator will create something that goes back to him/her. 

- What sets you apart from the rest is the internal strength. 

- We don't wait for the world to be beautiful, we can be the starting agent. 

- Poor in spirit is defenceless, for his only defence line is Christ. 

- Choose to be defenceless, dependent. 

- Most of us start up being rich in spirit (independent). 

- It's the internal victory that leads to external victory. 

- B coming and relying to God, you inherit everything, from nothing. 

- Pharisees are of righteousness to the highest level, but in external form. 

- Your righteousness can surpass that of Pharisees, by focusing on the inside. 

- It's easier to cast out demons than bad habits. 

- Be wise, by listening to spirit of the Word, and obey! 

- Become beautiful, by changing the spirit inside.

After the Sunday service, it was time for me to play badminton with my churchmates! It had been 2 weeks since the last time of me playing badminton! Badminton has been one of my favourite sports and I really enjoy playing it! It was fun! =) After playing badminton, we went to Silva Restaurant at SS15 (near my college) and had dinner! We planned to watch the Final match between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan too! The game finally started and both were really good! After playing really hard, Lee Chong Wei managed to win the first set. Most of the people screamed in joy, and that was really the first time I've witnessed on my own the unity of our people! I was exposed to the unity between races since primary school, but never had the chance to witness and feel it. Yesterday was my first time. 

For the first time with me in it, people from different races sat down together, and supported our national athlete Dato' Lee Chong Wei. We literally overjoyed for every score LCW managed to score! People from all walks of life, regardless of races, religons, political parties etc, sat down and supported our national player! It was an ineffable feeling, only people who were there could feel that. It was such a exciting moment when Lin Dan won the second set, and they were set to play the third game - the determining game of London Olympic gold medal for badminton man's single. It was a nail biting moment when Chong Wei and Lin Dan tightly fought against each other until 19-19, due to certain element in randomness, in the end Lin Dan won. It was indeed a heartwrenching moment to see Chong Wei being defeated, but he was incredibly amazing! 

Dato' Lee Chong Wei was all over Facebook posts and trending worldwide in Twitter. Despite his defeat, he is viewed as the national hero! He has fought his very best and managed to exert such a pressure to Lin Dan, the world no.1 badminton man's single player. Nobody has the ability to do that to Lin Dan, only Chong Wei does. Most Malaysians went into saddening moment when he even apologised to Malaysians on Twitter, and cried on the podium during victory ceremony. What he wanted was not the gold medal, but Negaraku being played in London's Wembley Arena for the first time in the Olympic Games history! He is a really great man, well respected national hero that has brought our people to unity! For the first time that I'm so so proud to be a Malaysian. As what this trending quote stated, "Lee Chong Wei is such a great guy while Lin Dan is a bit arrogant. Skills win medals, attitude wins hearts", by ESPN commentator. 

I even respect Lee Chong Wei for his persistence and determination! He was injured early this year in Thomas Cup during his match with Lin Dan, on his ankles. Directly after his recovery (he has not fully recovered yet at the moment), he went to play Olympic Games after training of mere 2 weeks. He had to eat a painkiller before each match that he was playing. His determination and skills has also once again proven by his ability to enter the Final and the tight match with Lin Dan. At such a moment of 19-19 on the third set, nobody can actually know who will win. It was all based on psychology and luck, in other word, randomness. Just so the element of randomness kicked in, Lee Chong Wei got defeated. But he did not lose! He won a silver medal! Indeed, he deserved every single bit of it!

Nobody in the entire universe has the ability to recover from a severe ankle injury, only trained for 2 weeks, managed to enter the Olympic final and almost defeat the world no.1 player, except Dato' Lee Chong Wei. For Lin Dan it was to retain his title, but for Chong Wei it was the whole country counting on him; with such a heavy burden, it wasn't easy to perform yet he carried it exceptionally well despite his injuries, for that he has already won a gold. He has fought greatly and made the nation proud! Very proud. I'm really happy for being a Malaysian, and for Malaysia having such a great sportsman. Really thank God for Dato' Lee Chong Wei! I hope he will be able to cheer up and continue to make contributions to the country, and I believe he will! The greater plan has yet to come! =)