Valorous Halcyon

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...

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...

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...

As the most widely participated sports event by nations all around the world, Olympic Games that occurs once in every 4 years has been officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in London at 7.30am this morning. Although I didn't have the privilege of watching the opening ceremony live, I was definitely fortunate enough to be able to wake up at 3.30am (after sleeping for 3 hours) and watch the whole ceremony, thanks to our national television broadcast TV2! For once, as far as I can remember, they did a great job in it. Well done. =) It was definitely stunning to watch the whole ceremony and admittedly the whole idea was indeed brilliant, attributed to Danny Boyle with his opening ceremony namely The Isles of Wonder . It started off with superb imagery, as a pastoral scene slowly transformed into broiling evocation of British Industrial Revolution, and some great performances by National Health Service (NHS). Later on The Queen was dropped into the stadium to the audience by a liv...

Before going into the topic, I'm going to share the sermon preached by Pastor Kenneth Chin yesterday morning at SPCC! Yes Acts Central has once again moved on from Summit Hotel to SPCC, a great God-inspired move! =) Oh by the way, I would like to wish congratulations to my campus pastor Pastor Dave and Katherine for their wedding on the past Saturday! I attended their wedding in Luther Centre PJ, and God's presence was indeed very tangible for the whole ceremony! This was my first time attending a wedding, and I believe so do many of my campus brothers and sisters! The whole wedding was very lively filled with laughter and joy, and sacred with vow of bride and groom to each other! Kat even cried while saying the vow! :') Aww. So yeah, the whole ceremony was very very sweet! Haha! <3 Haha how sweet they are! <3 Praise the Lord! Anyway, time for the sermon preached yesterday at SPCC! =) Bible Verses: Hebrew 11:6 , Deuteronomy 8:1-18 - God is God, even when al...

Sunday Service (8/7/12) (by Pr. Kenneth Chin) Title: Blessings of Abraham  Bible Verses: Galatians 3:13-14; Genesis 12:4, 13:2, 15:6, 15:15, 20, 25:7-8; Romans 4:13-25  - Hold on to the unchangeable (God), and don't hold on to those changable.  - God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  - We can stand firm only on the solid rock foundation (Jesus).  - Righteousness is the key.  - None of us can be righteous by ourselves.  - Someone of same problem can end up with different outcomes.  - The blessing of Abraham is obtain righteousness just by faith.  - When you believe, you will be rewarded.  - By using our mind, strengths and experience, it will not go far.  - Only by faith, everything is made possible, miracles happen.  - Part of these blessings of Abraham are through faith.  - Be fully convinced.  - He is the Father of Impossible.  - Blessing of Abraham is Favour....

Hooorayyy!!! My exam is over, and let me tell you how I felt immediately after the exam. I felt happy ostensibly like many other friends, but honestly I felt really empty inside, for all in sudden I didn't know what to do after one whole month of nerding, burying myself with notes and past year papers. I actually felt so emo on the day after, thinking hard of what should I do. All in sudden, I thought of playing Texas Hold'Em Poker in Facebook. I bumped into playing poker a week before (just a day after my Economics Paper 4 exam), and I started to learn how to play. But the hard thing comes after learning. Learning how to play poker can be done in less than 10 minutes, but to master it takes a whole life! Just in case you don't know what is poker, poker is a card game that involves betting based on the two cards that you are holding distributed by dealer. You are required to put a blind (minimum stake) into a pot (if you decided to play that hand), and to call/raise/fold ...

It's been such a long time since my last update on myself! So yes people, I've finally finished my A-Levels wooohooo! xD Such a huge burden being lifted up from my shoulder, yet another great journey is about to start soon in 3 months time! As most of you know, I've firmed City University London (Cass) to read BSc Actuarial Science. According to my friends who are studying there, it's really not an easy degree to study. Every week they have tests and assignments, but I guess it's almost the same for everyone else. I know I can do it, as nothing is impossible with God! I have so so much to write yet was irresolute on where should I start it from. It has to start somewhere I realised so here we go, back to the my last personal post where I mentioned about potentially losing my A* due to my Economics Paper 4. I was counting on Paper 3 to at least pull back my deviated vehicle from its course towards the attainment of at least an A, and had one whole week to prepare f...

Today I woke up early, pondering over which service to attend. Eventually I decided to attend 11.15am service and I believe this is not a coincidence. I think I've decided on the right one to attend solely due to the amazing sermon preached by Pastor David Yeow! Pastor Dave is an Associate Pastor of Acts Church and also the head of Campus ministry, held responsible for the welfare and reaching out of campus students. Amazing sermon? Okay not that the other sermons preached were not amazing, but I believe this sermon has deeply touched me, and to a very large extent I was able to link myself with the sermon. He told us how he got to know Christ at the age of 11, and how he molded himself as who he is now, a strong hero in Christ, a role model for other brothers and sisters in their relentless attempts to continue drawing themselves closer to God.  Through this sermon I believe many of my questions and doubts have been resolved, thank you so much Pastor Dave! Before the sermon, i...

Hello! I know I'm super late to update this blog with the past sermon 2 days ago. So sorry for it! I will update you what I've been doing for the past few days in the next post but here you go, another amazing sermon preached by Pastor Kenneth! =) Bible Verses: John 4:23-24, Exodus 33-34, Romans 7, John 17:17, Genesis 3:1-4 - What is worship? - 1) Perspective:  When you start worshipping, perspective must change. God is God no matter       what you think of Him. - 2) God's name and nature is One! - 3) Submission. - Worship is to be bowed not only on our knees, but also our wills. - The opposite of Spirit is Law. - Love must alwas lead the way, and nothing can separate us (music, fashion etc) - If you look hard enough, problems will surely arise; so be thankful for everything! =) - Don't walk on the way of Law, but of Spirit. - What's your feeling on God doesn't change what God feels for you. - Those whose lips are near to God, their hearts might n...

Hello sorry that I'm late to update you the latest sermon! Haha anyway, I'm fine and sound now! Finally I've garnered enough courage to pick myself up from despair, regain my confidence and ready to beat the last battle! Thanks to all my family members and friends who have been with me throughout the day to provide moral support. I wouldn't know what might happen if nobody was right beside me. Thank God that He never gave up on me, and thanks to all my friends who kept consoling me. Thank you for just be there at the moment I need it the most. I reached church yesterday morning safe and sound in one piece, thank God. I was feeling down yesterday when I woke up and cried. Okay that might sound abnormal but yeah it's just me! Anyone who knows me well enough will not be surprised about this cause I used to cry a lot when I was a kid. When I was singing worship song, again my tears dropped as I was so touched by God's love to me. Though I may walk through the v...

I'm done with my Economics Paper 4 today, and I'm almost done with my A2! OMG~ Tell you  what, I really studied a lot these 4 days yet I wasn't that confident yesterday. I managed to finish the syllabus yesterday and just yesterday itself I was looking through the past year essay questions that my lecturer discussed with us during our extra classes few days back. See, I didn't have time to do my past year, but thank God at least I managed to finish reading the whole syllabus. Despite I managed to finish the syllabus, I wasn't quite sure of many topics and couldn't really memorise a lot of it. Well the syllabus are just so broad that I found it difficult to memorise everything in merely 4 days! Anyway, I'm happy that it's now over! To cut the long story short, praise the Lord that I managed to complete the papers! The paper was hard and I was having problem with time management. Time flies and poof! 2 hours 15 mins gone. =/ Just noticed I did some ver...

Today Sunday Service was held in Summit Hotel 5th floor Grand Ballroom and it was indeed grant, with lots and lots of newcomers in church! Around 80+ newcomers in church today! Wow! Praise the Lord for bringing people to know Him more and more! =) Today's sermon was preached by Pastor Mark Collard, Senior Pastor of Equippers Church London City! It was really a great and eye-opening sermon! It wasn't regarding hard to be understood sermon, but it was easy yet he preached it in such a way that sounded so different! Thank God for him! I just realised he's from London! Weee perhaps I could join his church when I go over to London by then? Praise God! =)) So here it goes! =) Bible Verses: Luke 17:11-19; 1 Timothy 4:4-5 - Whatever Jesus says, are going to be accomplished. - What is thankfulness? - Thankfulness is not about what you say, but attitude and the heart that is being thankful to God. - Attitude of gratitude creates the atmosphere of favour all over our life. ...

Well we had RE:UNION 2012 finale at Stadium Negara! It was really awesome and eye-opening with lots of sermons and performances by various local bands (and I just knew that a lot of them are from Acts Church)! Amongst the performers are Coex (Cody Foo), Altered Frequency, An Honest Mistake, Caipifruta, Army of Three, FourLetterStory, Joneil, Juwita Suwito and Flippin Pages, and Used to Wander! Wooohooo! xD Praise the Lord for the variety of talents in church! So that morning I hopped on a bus provided for delegates from Summit USJ to Stadium Negara! =)) Without further ado, I shall proceed to sermons shared by pastors! First one was by Pastor Sandra! Bible Verses: 1 Kings 19:19-21; 2 Kings 2:9 - Elisha the Prophet. - Many believers put a fullstop at times when we reach a certain age/status, under pressure. - Live out the abundance of our life! - It's a forever Kingdom, there's no fullstop! Everlasting love. - Start living the everlasting. - Don't wait for somet...

Now I shall proceed to sermons shared by different pastors! It was the Friday night after FM2 paper and the sermon was shared by Pastor Palan Ramasamy! =) Bible Verses: Judges 11:1-10, 29, 31-34; Hosea 1:1-3  - Story about Jephthah and Gilead - Sometimes you feel so messed up!  - God can use messed up people to expand His Kingdom!  - A lot of people take their past as an excuse not to serve God.  - They let their backgrounds to determine their present.  - Messed up past CANNOT hold you from good plans God has in store for you.  - Jesus doesn't look at our background, but to tell us how good it will be.  - 1) Revolutionary love disregards whatever our background is.         Jesus: 'I've made you new! Because I've died for you on the Cross!'        Don't respond to your past character!         when we have Spirit of God, Spirit of God will help us not to mes...

Okay this post is going to be freaking long yet I'm so sleepy now after playing badminton with awesome church members this evening! Anyway, this was the first time ever that I've attended RE:UNION and believe it or not, it was awesome! How I wish I could make it for the next one though, I would be in UK by then. =) Anyway, we had lots of pastors coming from all around the world! Just to name a few, Equippers Church based in London and Auckland, New Zealand. We also had a few special local speakers, namely Reverend Sam Surendran and Pastor Palan Ramasamy. I will share more of them later. So I was late and only came for Re:Union in Friday evening as I had paper in Friday's morning. Alright before proceeding to sermons shared in Re:Union parties, let me share a testimony with you! I have one, and I really thank God for it! So as most of you know, I had the scariest papers few days back! Further Maths, a subject that never failed to twist my brain just to solve the question...

Hello people! I'm back after a week of drilling myself with  FM! Yeah, the freaking hard FM papers are  on next Wednesday and Friday!!! 2 more days. *gasp* Seriously, what I need now is definitely prayer and enough sleep! I need to be more alert and very careful when I'm solving the questions as I did many many mistakes throughout the exercises. Now that I still have at least 10 more papers to do, I doubt I would have enough time to rest. Anyway I can always find strength from God! =)) So today as usual I went to Acts Church for the Sunday Service! Yeah I don't really skip church unless there's something really really important that I have to do. Okay I don't mean FM is not important but whatever the mountain of difficulties and challenges that I might be facing in this whole week, God is good and is real! He will bless me and help me through! Amen. So excited for the Words? We had a really special speaker today, Pastor Andy Yeoh, preaching the sermon. So here i...

Wooohooo! I'm back! So far I've finished 3 papers over the week, i.e. both Maths papers and Physics Paper 4 (structured). Maths Paper 4 was okay, praise the Lord! Maths Paper 3... Oh well I lost around 4 marks but still I'm really thankful for it! At least I just lost 4 marks, not 20 marks. This year Maths Paper 3 was a bit harder compared to previous years (although October/November 2011 paper was tough too), and involved a lot of proving questions (around 5 out of 10). Hopefully I can make it! I need A* for Maths as Cass demanded it. =) For Further Maths students, proving questions are the best questions to be answered since you will be confident that your answer is correct if you could prove something. Physics Paper 4... I have not much comments on it. It was definitely one of the hardest compared to past year papers, since it involved one 7-mark experiment at Section A (Core) and not many people actually read it. A lot of random tricky questions was asked too in that ...

Helloooooo! Well I'm quite excited today for the Word of God and I reached church very early today, around 8.15am. Okay that was because my sister had to go somewhere so yeah that's why early. I'm very excited partially due to exam's starting tomorrow! A2 Final exam. I've been preparing very hard for the exam, and up to a certain point, I felt so restless and bored studying the same thing, over and over again. Well I just hope I could do well in the exam and aim for perfection, especially for Maths. I cannot afford to make mistakes as I need A* for Maths to meet my minimum requirement for A*AA. Wish me luck peeps! =) So the sermon today was rather short but of high quality! Even Pastor Kenneth emphasized that before started preaching the sermon today. So excited? Here it goes! Title: Sifting you as wheat! Bible verses: Luke 22:31,  Deuteronomy 8, James 1 - Only expectation can breed disappointment. - De-morning attack comes in the form of disappointment, disc...

So yes people! Just in case you were still living your life thinking that it was April, WAKE UP!!! Well I did, until I realised it's no longer April. It's already May now, exactly 1 week to the commencement of my A2 Final exam! OMG!!! =O Yet I'm still not quite prepared yet for my exam. To be precise, I still have 13 Physics past year papers to be completed, and I forgot a lot of the previous papers. I always fail to tackle questions asking for explanations and that's when I will get stuck. =( I'm just afraid I might explain it wrongly. But that shall be improved over this week as I trust in God! God will help me to get through this! Amen. So today Pastor Kenneth Chin is finally back after 3 weeks of attending mission trips and stuffs! And of course he came back with an extremely awe-inspiring sermon! Can't wait for it? Here it goes! Bible verses: Matthew 13, 2 Chronicles 20:20, Matthew 6:32-33 - It's important to be led by Holy Spirit when going to oth...

Most people are emotionally driven, and that includes me and most people I know. We feel sad and heartbroken when we lose something; happy and excited when we gain. But what I would like to discuss here is the overwhelming sadness engulfing us when we lost something. Losing something, in my opinion, is a very common experience that everyone would encounter at least once in a lifetime (even that also considered as extremely rare). The 'magnitude' of sadness engulfing us largely depends upon losses that hit us, either in the matter of finance, health, relationship with friends and family , and loss of a loved one. Seeing the sadness and heartbrokenness that overwhelmed me and some of my close people due to financial loss, I would love to go deeper into it and share some of my views on financial loss. This was particularly evident yesterday within my circle of close people. Some individuals kept emphasising the emotional pain of losing something expensive, without realising th...