Yesterday was fantastic! =) it was one of those days that was like a microcausm of my life.

i started the day feeling very woozy and i went to play tennis with chris, which wasn't very good. haha. lol. just got the ball off at all the wrong angles. lol. went to eat lunch with mel yesterday- hmms. i dunno i was quite off seemed like the conversation din go very well huh it was like hi and how are you - it is my fault mate. sorry. haha. dunno man. kinda like drifting alittle i feel. but well it's fine really.

i was hanging around orchard after that and i was thinking about life. went to darren's house to jam, play ping pong and just have fun -- the scenery from his house is gorgeous! esp when you walk out and the sunset was so nice. haha.

went to wala yesterday , drank some white wine (i like!) and beer. man got a bit high, writing some r n b songs and all that. dancing around to the music. went for a road trip for supper with jeremy darren mark which was really fun! hmms. to geylang to eat dim sum. nice trip man. lots of stupid comments made which makes it interesting ah. huh.

(i dont usually blog about my everyday life coz it gets boring but one has to remind oneself about the good things in life before the dread of monday-thursday).

at home it was really nice. i was just praying to God and talking to Him in a very personal way i suppose. i was reading a blog i stumbled upon about being close to God and i think that's really what i want. so i decided to really put down everything to seek the One who loves me and yeah just talked to Him as a friend, which was really nice. just prayed that He will empower me, He will guide me, lead me away from temptation, etc. just talked to Him as He leads. which was really nice. just worshipping God with the song 'worthy is the Lamb', worshipping Jesus, how grateful we are to Him for His sacrifice on the cross and His love for me- yay. i mean, that's really the essence of what it's all about. worship. putting aside our own pride and all that and just proclaiming that Jesus is Lord and He's God over my life. and i claim the promise that 'no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit'. a little comforting to know the Spirit's there. haha. (i get rather insecure). wrote a song about Jesus' wondrous love. Satan can never get me because Jesus is holding me and even the evil one / evil ones are scared of the very name of Jesus (like the demon was driven out just by Jesus' presence alone in the Bible~!) -- how comforting is that!

it's really nice. sigh. today when i woke up im so energetic and lively and vivacious, talking to my mother loads. and loving each other. praying for London. thanking Jesus for my life. i mean such things there are no parallels. no looking back.

i know sometimes my life goes through stages where im just messed up. insecure. no order in life. but that's not going to happen.
life is beautiful and orderly in Jesus and i'm going to live it this way.

This week has been both joyful and very testing as well=D while there have been moments of security and peace, some parts of it has been very testing. as though the evil one is trying to twist my mind out of shape. but thankfully, as JI Packer said in 'Knowing God', those moments don't last.
God is sovereign and I believe that totally. He's unchangeable. and in His word (which is always true) he gave us certain promises. and i believe i can totally totally cling on to those promises and they'll hold for me because His word is always true. and one of the promises i just thought of today was that he won't allow any temptation beyond what i can bear. and i will just claim that promise and believe in faith that the evil one cannot tempt me or bring me away from God/Jesus. yes Lord that is so true.
and everything's in its right place. God--Father/Son/Holy Spirit is the head of my life and my Heavenly Father. below that comes family and maybe some of my interests such as music. but they're never going to overshadow God. i shall not want, and there is such great order in this system where God is the head-- everything else will fall into place just nicely. it is stable. i'm just going to allow God to work in my life; i trust that He's going to make a way for me and that He loves me and is actively working in me for me for us, and i dont have to worry about where i'm going and all that, because He's always leading me by His Holy Spirit, just as a shepherd leads his sheep.
it's been a great day, today. i wrote a song yesterday about seeking God, and it was stuck in my head a little bit this morning during parade giving me gentle reminders about finding God first in my life--my one desire. afternoon and i wanted to live out what my master Jesus said- to love others. at night was nice because i just found a bit more stability and peace and claimed that promise stated above-- that everything's in the right place-- and watched Fantastic Four which was pretty fun; had supper at the esplande with quek and jem which was really nice. good company and nice atmosphere. nice stability and feeling. yeah. everything's good. wrote a norah jonesque song which i think is pretty useful and nice~ yay=)

tuesday was spent praising God on the piano and singing out to Him. seek God and things will be added to you.
-the ironic thing about a Christian is that we'll enjoy God's blessings, but we won't seek pleasure or happiness- we'll seek God, and everything else will be added unto us, but that won't be our first priority--more of a side-product perhaps? it's a good way to look at it i suppose.

wednesday was spent praying hard for family. and wrote christian song. praying and reading 'knowing GOd' which i think is great.

hope you are fine too!

today was met with lots of physical ailments, but thank God for an awesome quiet time today! praise God. i was just still before God and praying with all my heart, soul, and mind. no distractions. thank God i can be still. and i should really do it before i come online. it's much better that way. prayed the Lord's prayer, i think that's a great way of doing it. it's the way our Lord Jesus told us how to do it anyway.

my spirit sang 'Worthy is the Lamb' with the "chords" in the background. i kinda realise how all three persons of God (the Trinity) work together as one for the same purpose and fulfils different roles in it--The Father elects, the Son redeems, the Spirit seals our salvation.

I thank God for making it clear that I don't need to fear. alot of times i fear, i fear alot of things--the evil one satan, my own sin, my own insecurity, even my own irrationality. but God reminded me so wonderfully in His great mercy that He is always for me and will always be with me-- the Bible text was of Gideon and of his insecurity in fighting the Midianites (i think it was) and how he asked God to show him some 'sign' that he was the chosen one to go and fight and that God would be with him. and the message is, do not fear by having faith in the Lord. and i know that God You're strengthening my faith day by day and i know that with You in control nothing can ever destroy me or defeat me or seperate me from You. so i shall not fear because your perfect love will drive out all my fear.

thank You.

I'm on a pilgrimage to find and meet God. i believe there's no better thing and nothing more inspiring and worthwhile than to meet Him and obey Him. i mean this week i've learnt important lessons which i really really want to remember and internalise in my life.
i've learnt to put Jesus as the center of my life-- and everything will be well with me!. i've learnt the need to persevere against trials and temptations, for that builds character (James 1). i've learnt to submit and obey. i've learnt that God is for me. i've learnt to trust Him and put Him first.
how precious is the sweet name of Jesus! that saved us from our world of sin and brought us to fellowship with God and freedom from death and sin!

it's wonderful and truly awe-inspiring. God is. just pray that it'll continue and You'd find me faithful.

i mean alot of times i blog about these spiritual things because they're what concerns me. i mean i could blog about lots of earthly things but then again they're not that important in the light of eternity. you know, alot of times, our souls just yearn for God, our souls just crave for the living God and yearns to talk with Him. and we alot of times block out that need by filling our lives with busyness, with lots of music and rhythm and beats, by conversation and mental thoughts, when our hearts are really just craving for God. i'm glad that in the small moments of my life i'm able to sense a little bit of His direction and feel a little bit of God. just have to be more trusting and allow myself to be used by the Holy Spirit. but yeah i thank God that he's still merciful in spite of my sin.
i mean yesterday was band and the music was good thank God and i really wanted to write a song about the sweet name of Jesus because that was what i really felt, that Jesus' name is so precious and alot of pple just misuse it but really it's so precious it's the most precious name ever man. as the hymn goes, Precious Lord, take my hand.

today i was really quite off, because mebbe i was just trying to put the spiritual part away from me in order to get some rest. but it wasn't possible! in fact the whole day was really not that good. the only good part was the lunch and walking around with jing but other than that tennis was rubbish, and at colin's place save for the fantastic food and wine (Seifried Estate Winemaker's Collection 2001 pinot noir, fantanstic stuff, cost me a bomb too, sigh) the conversation was not good for me-- it was only when i was alone and praying to God about the day and actually slowing the pace down in the bus was everything much nicer, and much clearer-- i could find my soul and my peace again, and i din really need to talk so much because i was at peace, i was still before God and stuff. at leasat there was a bit of stillness. i could feel life in a totally different way i didn't feel before. which was great! so actually being with God (or not) makes so so much of a difference to me. it might not be, to others, but to me it is. i mean i am nothing without Him, truly nothing. my basic facilities are too rudimentary and crude to be of any use in this sophisticated world, and i'm just dumb without God--only with Him am i able to really be somebody and be myself. it was ironic it had to happen this way-- i was just thinking a few days back, is it any different with God or without God? Yes yes there is so much of a difference i don't want to go through this again. haha. ironic lesson.

anywae having said that the wine was really good.

praise God for my life.

Today has been great. so many things i've learnt! so many things i still need to work on.

firstly though, I need to trust more. and to know that God is always for me and always wanting me to come back to Him. i pray that i'll just come back to Him and trust in His unfailing promises. i only need God--that God is with me. nothing else will i cling on to lest Satan get footholds. Elder Ho just prayed that i'll resolve anything that's in my heart with You O Lord and Holy Spirit please remove my fear and anxiety. i keep fearing for myself i just need to know that in spite of my sin and unlovingness You still sent my Lord, Jesus Christ, to come down for me to save me. in spite of this you are merciful--i can just give thanks and praise You for your mercy. I can give thanks and praise you for your goodness and love. i shall not look back at my sin but praise you for the new life i have one of joy.

i struggle with sin. alot of times, we forget who we really are (For me, i'm a child of God) and wander off some lonely path hoping for some instant gratification, but then, we get lost there; we wanna come back, but it's a struggle, to put aside our pride and confess our disobedient sin. and so why should we wander? why don't we learn to keep on the straight and narrow path that God has created for us to walk in, under his cover and protection and authority, being obedient, living by faith and being obedient to his Word, and instead of being so distracted by the things of the world and the temporary temptations of pleasure. i want constancy. i want consistency. that's how i find my identity. i hate this compartmentalising of life that i sometimes do, as though praising God and worshipping is for church times, and in army i can do as i like coz it sucks anywae, and being with secular friends i adopt secular mindsets; that's just wrong. constancy, shawn. that's your identity and it shouldn't change. that's the only way to really walk with God. i am going to be judged for the deeds i do on earth on the whole time.

my soul longs for You O Lord. I am tired of this mundane existence sometimes. it's easy to just be happy about little things. but i realised that nothing else suffices except knowing You.


anyway batch reunion was good; talked to a few good friends i haven't met up with, met up with some ac pple, some classmates, some assorted friends from og and stuff, reminisced about the old times of BBTT. it was a great excursion. the music wasn't brilliant but the spirit was there. that's what matters.

help me God to live for You! To know you is the best thing. to have constancy. not to forget it when i wake up tomorow.

one thing i learnt: to do my QT before i go online/waste away/do other useless things! it's so important to put God first, even sequentially, because you'd be fresh and full of life and able to absorb what God wants to say and maybe your online life will be better. so what i've learnt today was:
1. spread the word! be like the honey bee. don't keep the good news of salvation to myself!
2. seek God first and everything else will come (after examining the patterns of my life;)

so well doing QT first and pt 2. are really quite the same point.


anyway the weekend has been good. friday was fun, playing tennis with chris. went to a tie-break, which i lost. but it was good coz i was able to strike at will. playing piano after that and teaching some guitar. saturday was really joyful. the music was good in the morning albeit the lyrics were wrong; the keys were right though, esp no such thing john mayer. pretty joyful later on at the civil defence academy doing IPPT admin. 'heart of worship' on the way back on the 172 really touched my heart as i worshipped God in the bus. but yeah you can worship God anywhere right. it's all about Him and not about me (yeah as the song goes. hmms). oh wells.

and maybe i shouldn't go to clubs and pubs too often. i realised it isn't very good and it isn't something that i really really want to do anyway.

the pristine shoreline of east coast malaysia  

nice scenery=)  

i'm looking rather kiddish in my shoes  

the trees are lonely, but not us!  

fabian doing the v  

me and lim yong, near the resort=)  

Me! 

Today was a wonderful day! Simply joyous. though, it didn't start off very well. i got sidetracked quite a bit, and did some things which i really shouldn't have done. but soon i realised that that wasn't what God wanted me to do. i meditated on Psalms 1, and i realised that the righteous, those who love God's law, are like trees planted in streams of living water, who will bear fruit, whose leaves will not wither (they will not die), and whatever they do will prosper. i imagined myself being like that tree, and the resolution was to follow God's Word more and to obey what He has said in His Book. I shall resist the evil one. I hate the evil one because he makes me do things i don't wanna do at all. And the verse 'resist the devil and he will flee from you' is so comforting. i have nothing to fear from Satan, because I belong to Christ and Christ is stronger than the evil one in the world. i thank God for that protection. he cannot hurt me. alot of times i just allow satan to just come in and mess up my life because i am so weak and all that. so any evil i'll just allow it to come and i'll just succumb to that without resisting. now let me be stronger O Lord to discern good from bad and to put up the armour of God to protect myself from the evil one! and that means, being strong in You, O Lord, and to have wisdom to discern.

on the way down to bras basah with ben k and before that at the MRT my resolution was to have a new start. last time i'm always on this up and down. and now i decided i will live for Christ. i will not care about what music sounds good or whether certain songs are in my head or not. those things are not important. my relationship with Jesus, who died for me, is not determined by music or what music is playing in my head now and how that symbolises what state i am in in my spiritual walk--it just doesn't work that way! i will live for others, to be salt and light to others. and stop living for myself no more. i will love others. this is a chance for a fresh start. i am thankful to God for that chance.

we always say, 'love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength'. alot of times we only know it intellectually, and how i wish i could practice it in reality! and in tecman, the bookshop, I could just feel the sweet love in my heart as I said the name of 'Jesus'--the Name of Jesus is so wonderful and sweet! I could feel how much I love Jesus. I love Him! i could feel it in my heart. and when i prayed for ben to find his book, the sensation was almost physical and so emotional, i could feel my spirit rising up inside me, in my heart, rising up to meet God's Spirit. i could feel the love in my heart, an uplifting of spirit. It wasn't just an intellectual belief in Christ (Which we all know), but it was truly manifested in an emotional and physical way. I thank God for that!! I am joyful.

i spent 30 min in QT today before that asking God to increase my love for Him. and i think that's why God helped me to open my eyes to see His love, shed on the cross for me. Tecman's great. it's so peaceful inside. God's love and presence is peace.

this post is a strong reminder that God still cares for me and that He is still for me, it's just that i have forgotten, in my weakness. so 'remind me, remind me dear Lord'.

church camp was good, by Dr David Sherbino. the location was very peaceful, the beach nice and rustic, the walkways almost foresty. a pity the older youth of my church didn't go, but there was still the younger youth for company. i thank God for all the youth, mark choo, tim teo, tim chua, tim tay, my cousin keith and kern, michelle w, jess and pam and clem, lionel etc. for company, and for my nice roommate fabian! lol. and the messages were all about drawing near to God, to build up the inner part of me. the first day was about solitude and silence, how to filter out the noise and slow down the pace of life in order for God to speak to us; the second day was about holy reading (lectio divina), which is about taking a piece of scripture, reading it, meditating on it, praying about it, contemplating what God wants to say in our lives, and to allowing us to internalise it; the third day was about prayer, saying short prayers like 'Jesus, Remember me', singing taize songs, singing the psalms, even being still before God as the Holy Spirit is interceeding to God with prayers for us. i really thank God for that opportunity for a fresh start to draw near to God. I pray that i'd be able to keep up what i've learnt and to apply it in my daily life and not let satan win the battle. i really pray that I'd be able to live up my life as a Christian.

I belong to Jesus, to God!
thank God i can live just as i want to, under His wings. no longer to be subject to a yoke of slavery!

Do good things for people. be obedient. have a fresh start. stop thinking about the past and comparing this time to that time and all that. it's about cultivating good habits and doing good works for God. stop that up down rubbish. you can control your own destiny. shawn. wake up! stop that ' today's a down day, today's an up day, today's down coz i'm in camp' mentality. it's not true! it's a lie that your life fluctuates based on your circumstance. control it! do good! you'd feel betta!

just be obedient huh. i'm going to chuch camp from wed to sunday, i'd hope it'll be good.

thank God for all the people around me. love you guys. i try my best i hope. when army brings negativity, thank you God you're always there to be light hope i can shine for you too.

i have to do good things for people. like the pastor says, care, give, love, show concern, share.... for the people around you. it's not for expectations of blessings in return, it's just a good habit. tis'a just a good way to live, is it not?

instead of being selfish.
lol.

God, you're my Heavenly Father. I proclaim that You are full of love. you're a loving God. you want the best for me, and if the best for me is to follow you because you're my Creator and you know my purpose, then what am i doing living for myself? argh. follow You! follow You! let me follow You because You love me. outta love. i have to have a fresh start. a fresh perspective. enough of these up-and-down days of wondering what it's all about and all that. a new start. a new start. everytime we have new starts. i gotta know where i'm going, what my purpose is, my direction, instead of just floating in space. it's too confusing this way. once i know my purpose i'd be more grounded and i'd be more effective for You O Lord. Thank You for the messages shared today at prayer meeting. how we are to be planted as trees near streams of living water where the roots grow deep. how we all have a purpose and we are to seek what God wants for our lives and follow that. have faith. love.


many times we get distracted and we run far away from that stream. but then coming back is difficult and painful. you have to uproot (literally). so please, stop running away from the stream. stay there. it's better there.

so help me to have a fresh start! lead me in the paths of righteousness!

The problem with me is that i'm just too judgemental. i look at people and go tsk tsk how can you do this and how can you do that? but it's all a journey, shawn, we're all going through this. just because you seem to be alright in some areas doesnt' mean you can criticize others in these areas, because well, you aren't mr perfect yourself anyway.

i feel absolutely rotten in NS anyway. what's the point of making us work so hard and study so hard for 18 years to leave us rotting in NS and wasting our brains away. i mean, what's the point in that. i know there isn't any other practical solution, but then, well, just a thought. when i'm there i just feel so hard-up, needing to get away, needing to connect, adrenaline, yet having no physical outlet to exert it.
it's incredibly rotten.

I haven't been updating this page in a while, which is well, a natural progression to life.

anyway the weekend has been interesting. friday was spent playing pool at BTP. saturday was spent a little sick, resting at home, till the FA Cup finals at night; sunday was rather hectic and it was fun being at tania's house for a gathering--missed all those people! my past, the heyday of yesteryear-- all revisited. chatting away, met josh and bernard, lorraine and the others. interesting, interesting.

monday was spent playing tennis, which was not bad; managed to score some good points. went jamming but that wasn't very good at all coz there were just too many guitarists. i ended up hanging around. that was just, sigh. nvm. it's okay. still more a pianist, anyway. tried to write, didn't end up very well. got a few half-baked songs so far. hehs hehs. it was really fun later on at home coz all the aunties and uncles started singing their childhood chinese songs and i was laughing my butts off. i mean some of their songs are really so interestingly simple! they're so cute. laughable also. haw haw haw. and they came with actions. har harr...=D my auntie nad my mother were dancing away. i was there playing the guitar for them but laughing most of the time.

--

Jesus didn't just give me His talents, or material blessings, etc ... He gave me His life. now think about how big that sacrifice was: if i were to give my life to someone, it'll be so much more than just giving him my gifts, or my time, effort, money--it'll mean the end of me, the end of my entity, the end of everything else-- so it's only natural to be thankful and give everything I have to Him> and guess what, the keys are unlocked, the mind becomes clear, the past is revealed. music flows, songs come through easily, as though it's not me playing the piano but Someone else. to hear the bass notes of a chord. it's rather interesting. the dream-like states of existence. you're in the middle of it all, listening and wondering abt how everything came through. gotta find the swell.

if you give yourself to God (and this is for me to remember as well!) He'll give you far more than you can ever imagine, hope for, or even want (at this present stage). and this is what i really really really really really really really have to remember.

today's service was awesome, about how to be a great Christian-- to identify with Christ, to serve Him, to know His will and to know Him and to follow Him, to remain faithful. this vs the world's definition of greatness, which is how much you have, how much you own, how much you can do, all that stuff. so the main objective of our life is to be great for God. to identify with him and be an ambassador for Him to the world.

you know, it's difficult.


let me know you Lord
let me know you more intimately, and well, than i've ever known before
let me know your sovereign will, and follow it
let me feel what you feel, feel your heartbeat
let me obey what you're telling me
not on my own strength but yours
not for my glory but yours
(this is not a song btw)

it's difficult, but it's the only way. everything else leads to ruin and drivel.


worship is great. i hope it's the start of something good again. another good trend, please. it's the nitty-gritties of life that will truly be the true test of my mettle, whether i can stand firm against temptation or succumb in a moment of weakness; whether i make the right decisions each and every long arduous day; whether i manage to say the right things at the right times. it's difficult. but everyday i will trust.

It's been a nice ambling saturday, waking up at 2pm, going to church at 3.30pm, coming back for another snooze (Again), and basically relaxing. not needing to have alot of highs and joyful bliss and boom boom happiness, but simply enjoying a bit of melancholy, caressing the beauty of language, being nicely sensitive, content with myself.
going out is fun but being the introvert i am, just need my private space. well, not really.i enjoy meeting people. it's just that the hustle and bustle of a boys-going-out sessiont hat is rather tiring. heh.

i can't even begin to describe today's Quiet time experience. the day didn't start out well, with family issues and stuff, but later on i really immersed myself in prayer to the amazing Lord, and simply have faith, that the sovereign Lord of the heavens and the earth is more than capable to do much more than we could ever imagine of Him, beyond our wildest expectations. and i learnt to be still, calm my mind down, ask God to remove the distractions away, and be honest to Him. not say things that my mind thinks i should say, but say things that my soul really wants to say. and it made all the difference. as i continued to wait upon Him i could feel my body just cracking up, in a good way, in the same way that a massager will make your muscles crack up, but this was throughout the whole body; and moreover as i prayed that i would please God, which was one step greater than just knowing God (i started praying that I'll really know God, but later on the verse popped up in my mind "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)), and it is to seek to please Him, because God is a God who rewards, is an ever-flowing Spring of joy and happiness. And well even though I didn't articulate it well, His JOY suddenly welled up in my heart, flowed through my heart. and later on i felt those physical sensations. it was totally amazing. i thank God that as I opened my eyes all the hurt and the pain was gone. all the muscular tensions were gone. i found there wasn't any distractions. my mind was at peace. my soul was at peace. thank God for His amazing gift and now i realise that's where the best place is. under His wings.
and His joy will be my strength! and His strength will be made perfect in my weakness. it's total dependence. learning to surrender! yay.

live by faith
walk by faith
come to Him in faith

must have more discipline, to do my quiet time before i go online. (as responding to the previous post) i need to get my walk back with God again, i remembered a period when i was totally focussed on God, my body and my soul, getting right with God first before i do anything. last time i remembered to set aside my time first for God and then everything else will be good, because the body is important as well; later on i began to drift into sleeping through my quiet time. which is really stupid, because well, we have to be effective. and then i sleep with the lights on.
sigh.

gotta be good.

more discipline, O God, more discipline, to grow everyday, to learn new things, to be filled with a constant appreciation of you, an awareness of Your presence, to constantly grow, and to constantly walk with You. This is where I belong, and where i find rest.
"I just want to be where you are, in your dwelling place forever
Take me to the place where you are, I just want to be with You
I want to be where You are, dwelling in Your presence
Feasting at your table, surrounded by Your glory
In your presence, that's where I always want to be
I just want to be, I just want to be with You"

we always think that the world is always much nicer and we're always searching for nicer things, but the Beatitudes that I've learnt today taught me, perhaps, that it's important just to be content. just to be with God, and in Him, Lord you are the source, the centre, need nothing else. to be honest, and to be changed and sanctified everyday, because we always struggle with sin. but dead fish don't struggle. it's the battle we still continue to fight, that by His strength we'll overcome.

to surrender all to God and let Him take control. let it drift away, let all the hurt go. be thankful about joy.

but more discipline is important because it'll enable me to study His word more attentively and understand more about God through His Word, because it's divine and useful for so many things, and it is God-breathed. and thus how will i know how to please God if i don't even know what makes God happy? so i must be more consistent about my QT. because it's a marathon, and every little bit counts.

Great songs have great sentiment. it's warm and heart-warming, emotional. sentiment's the word. not extreme emotion, but just a light heart-tugging sentiment. sentiment's the key. i'm trying to write my songs with good sentiment as well, the sentiment that will allow you to feel with others, treat others sensitively, apologise to your mum for being so bad the afternoon before, apologise to God for thinking the world revolves around me, learn to love and be loved again. it's good sentiment, this. that song had it. sometimes i just revisit it and i'm amazed to find out how much good sentiment that song had. no wonder it was popular. it's not lush. it's more bittersweet, charming. that kinda thing. i'm working on another one now which is just pretty good too i'd think. really really really have to work on it. need lyrics!

and words are the key also. words convey so much meaning in them, it's criminal to take them so lightly.

Had a pretty interesting theological conversation with my friend about things we dont' really agree about. but mebbe we do and it's just misinterpreted. haha. alot of things are like that. but there is God's love that you can't misunderstand.
i never really realised how much God loves me. but then i read hebrews chapter 9 and 10 about how we have been already justified by faith through Jesus's sacrifice. for me perhaps i always lived in the shadow of guilt for the sins and for the fact that i want to be sanctified but keep falling into sin--but yet that isn't what God is. He is love, and now that the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from sin, I am righteous before Him, justified by my faith in Christ Jesus. i always think sometimes that i am unworthy to talk to God, sometimes, but i know that I am fully worthy. i am dearly loved. i am his beloved, his creation, as the song goes. and through the Holy Spirit I am truly blessed and empowered to live.

I just had a great 4-day break, seriously. it's one of the best, for several reasons. i just wish everyday were just as good. thank you Lord.

maundy thursday service was simply brilliant, as mentioned in my previous post. words can't do it justice. i felt truly worshipping and felt my heart being softened. i think in army sometimes your heart gets very cold and rough by all the politiking that's around you and you forget the soft-side that you used to have. i just want that soft-side back. it's Christ Jesus's real physical suffering that expresses truly God's love, and how God watched His son die on the cross and felt the pain and all that that shows we really must mean something to Him, i thought. hmm.

on friday i played soccer early in the morning, for about 4 hours. it was really good exercise, for me tired legs and my tired body needed some exercise. scored a few goals, some were quite nice. rested and chatted with mich for a while on MSN. slept. had family dinner. went to wala's with quek and joel etc for E.I.C which was not bad. a bit smoky, but good fun and company. songs were not bad, though i'm getting quite sick of rock, actually. lol.

saturday was great in the sense that i played tennis early in e morning and chilled out later. the brilliant thing was that the piano was finally tuned! i can't express how grateful i am that it's tuned. eh. because a tuned piano sounds much much better. i can hear the nice blend of chords again. i can hear the tinkling of the keys and not feel so odd 'cuz of an off-note. was tinkling with my bossa nova song that's coming up. on the way, on the way. went to church for music practice. hmms. in the end i was getting tired and things started to go downhill. ah well. sunday and i went to church. rested. went to fort canning park to watch electrico et al perform. only good bands were electrico and eic seriously the rest i dunno what they're doing. lol. wish i could perform too!


hmms. oh wells.

been trying to write Christian music. it's really difficult though. you have to really worship God at the point in time you're writing the song. it's easy to just cough up some verses about God and stuff, but to write a cogent and concise song that tries to bring people before God takes divine inspiration, seriously. i'm still waiting for it, if He wants me to write for Him. oh well.

now to the serious stuff. i'm just saddened by how so many people just live for today. i mean, somehow so many in army just live for the army and their days off are just, well, for them to goof around and have fun. nothing's wrong with that, i was a recruit once, before the days of the comfy 8-to-5 routines. i know how it feels, to be stuck in camp with no place to call home, no freedom, to listen to orders, and all that. it's like your soul being sucked out of you and you have no control over where it's going. and how you have no control over your moods and all, because there is authority, and there is everything. of course it isn't the best time of your life. so everyone wants to have fun when they're out. what really leaves me pondering is, well, what's life all about? surely it isn't just for today right. i mean. if i weren't a Christian i might have been stuck there. i'm not trying to be preachy here. but perhaps everyone should be working towards something. i don't know what it is, but it's pretty saddening to be living for nothing.

it must be the media. about how they tell you you're young and that you should be having fun and all that. well well. it's as though time is going to sneak up on you and one day tell you 'you're too old, be resigned to the living room or the old-mama-senior-citizen's-club' or something. so you hear things like 'you only live once' (which is true) and like you're 18 so you should be like this like this like this. come on, have your own identity. for your own sake. in singapore everyone's the same anyway.

my thoughts are wandering.

i feel sometimes that i'm hidden from others through a veil and that others can't see who i am. it's sad it's sad. i just wish that sometimes i may step out from it and say what i honestly feel and think and maybe i'll be able to connect somehow with the millions of people out there , the beautiful souls that they are.

Maundy thursday service was so very good; it was like i could just sing at the top of my voice to the Lord, and worship Him whole-heartedly, and sincerely, as hebrews 10 exhorts us to do, to draw near to Him with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. to see his suffering on the cross and everything. and to just worship and worship. i have left the life of sin behind, now all i want is to follow Him.

i can't describe it. it's no use, nothing can describe a worship experience. i want to use my music gifts to serve Him. as e Spirit leads, to write music to allow people to see Him. if, well, the Spirit wants to use me. up to Him up to Him.

anywae i went to record some old song 'Happy' at Sam Chee's house today. pretty fun experience, playing e guitar, with his effects pedal. if any of u want e song, can ask from me. download from here thanks+) it was fun it was fun.

thanks everyone for being nice.

shawn

Blogging is paramount because it creates an outlet to the world. And ironically I am now using not even my own connection, but someone else’s router, to the net. At least I still have a voice here.
I know most of you out there reading this column would hardly want to revisit my life and see the things I’ve done and whatnot. Sometimes it’s just a matter of me trying to remind myself about the good things that have happened. So here are some good dates. 16th February, Wednesday, was phenomenal, because of the presence of great music, tunes, and the ability to hear harmonics on the piano while playing some tune, namely ‘Fields of Gold’ the Eva Cassidy way. And then so Saturday 12th March 2005 was also rather brilliant. It started off with a hearing-in-the-mind of ‘Autumn’, accompanied by much prayer to get the delicate rhythm right. It was at such a languid tempo, slower than 60 bpm, that the verse is somehow too draggy. I still haven’t found a way of solving this mismatch. Hmm. Camp was fine. What was fun was the going-out-shopping cum dinner with tim, Jeremy and ben later on, meeting quek and joel after that. It was the usual heightened interaction coupled by my renewed sense of confidence in myself. I was finally able to actually communicate with tim for a while without all of us having ego problems. It could be me, or him, but anyway it was good. The band at indochine was lacklustre although the car ride home was pretty fun. Quiet time, though, was really good. I committed my life to God and said that I’ll serve Him foremost, and learning to have faith and believe strongly that things will be better in the future and He can do anything. I was focusing on John Bevere’s book ‘Undercover’, and the closing chapter included the parable of the mustard seed, and the power that faith could bring to our lives, manifested in obedience. I mean I’ve been down with cynicism for a very long time, being in the army and whatnot, and kept believing that my life had seen already its glory days back then in JC and Secondary School and this is now a preclude to the horrors of working life, but I realized that it’s not so. The ironic thing about Christianity is that it runs totally contrary to the world’s logic. I mean, as I grow in the Lord, things will be much better, I’m sure. And having seek God first, He also provided me that very day with music, and suddenly the delicate lilt and contouring melody of ‘Autumn’ surfaced again, once in the rush of prayer and later on while thinking back to it. And amazingly enough when I wanted to see what key it was in, the last note (so) was exactly the first note I played, which was the Eb (hence the key in my mind was Ab major). I mean I shouldn’t value songs so much but ‘Autumn’ had a special place in my collection of songs. There will definitely be better songs, there already have been, but ‘Autumn’ was the first real song.

Note: I write to amuse myself.

Back to the serious business.

On happiness

I find myself reeling between moments of euphoria and long drawn-out periods of stagnation and depression. For me I am scared of allowing happiness to last, maybe because I want to crystallize that moment in time, and freeze it, and label it as ‘happy’, and then afterward revert back to sadness, so that the period of happiness becomes even more magnified. What I don’t realize, of course, is that I’ll have to experience that sadness at the same time, which is quite a hefty price to pay for those moments. Perhaps I’m too scared of allowing myself to be happy all the time until the day comes when nothing will make me happy anymore. One has to fluctuate, one always does, because the mind is incapable of going beyond a certain limit, and no one knows where that limit is. Only God can provide that lush and abundant ‘more than life’ itself, and that’s what I yearn sometimes. It’s the only thing that can break the cycle.

On Experiences.

The trend of youth nowadays is to seek after experiences as though they were shopping for clothes. Buy, and then continue to shop, never to cease. Thus we chase high after high, not quite knowing when these highs will end, always needing something better than the current state of high for us to believe that it was a good night out. It is understandable that everyone wants to seek after pleasure, being the selfish people we are. I wonder, though, if there is anything concrete and lasting that we can take to the future from such chasing after pleasure. I wonder if the more sober ideals of love and hope will be more relevant. It is wonderful to have the bliss of pleasure in romantic love, less so, though, to love someone unrequitedly for a long long time, or to love someone who is decidedly ugly and unattractive. Who will do those things nowadays? Where are the movies that celebrate unrequited love as something noble, and not something to be laughed at? Gone, gone, gone. Everything is about instant gratification. But somehow, the more instant it is, the less cherished it is. No one cherishes a quick fling at a club. It’s too easy, almost too convenient. but the relationship that concretizes itself in marriage reaches a newer, deeper level of commitment, trust, and love, because it is a result of sacrifice. The movie ‘Closer’ emphasized it brilliantly. Those characters loved, but it was a selfish love based on physical intimacy. Was it just lust? Was it love? I wouldn’t know, but I didn’t think it was love. As far as I know, love doesn’t behave that way. I’ve seen my friends ‘platonically’ love other friends for a long long time without them actually responding in return, or even putting them in their hearts. But they continued anyway. Did their affections switch out of anger once their decision was made known? I doubt it.

I am still trying to think. It is rather difficult, some say almost impossible, in the army. But still I must carry on, if I am to prevent these raging hormones getting the better of me. It’s the army, after all.

Service was quite good...I was just in tears when the pastor was preaching about hudson taylor and how the mum was praying for his conversion....and the quote that he said, which was 'there was nothing left to do, but to accept his love and salvation and praise Him evermore...' and i was like, yeah, praising God is a result of that gratitude of His love.


went jamming today with my own band, pretty pretty cool! played bass at the start, was good (mebbe coz of the teh tarik)... tried out the jet's 'are you gonna be my girl?' and eh i think that was about it that we tried...haha. dunno. was quite messed up lol...=) what else did we try? still it was nice jamming, getting e energy up...yay. its nice coz i can decide a bit like what who's going to play and all that.... which i really can't when i'm playing with others. dont' want to impose, see. sians. justin came along for e ride, thanks alot man.

mm i think i've got a nice collection of songs for e band to work on already.... the pseudo-punk of 'happy', with the chord prog taken subconsciously from metallica which crescendoes into a chorus, the new song, 'time will slip by' (ballad style), 'i cannot expect', which is more a rhythmic guitar flaming-lips style song with a descending chord prog, 'nobody cares'' pop-punk, 'runaway now' dance influenced, and 'for you', a love song.... gotta keep writing songs and jam and jam man, i really want to record some kinda EP or something. for gang's part 'limbo' is still full of promise and the dynamic duo of 'holiday' and 'invincible' makes for interesting jamming with energy.

jamming is fun! lol.

the tele is good also.



mm the week has been rather interesting, but quite good. monday and tuesday was quite in limbo. got a new officer in town, who's from acjc. sigh. kinda weird esp when we have so many common friends, but it's fine, i'll respect authority. wednesday and the music started coming back, esp with midicode. u'll know. spoke with interesting people. thursday was spent sleeping early coz i was really so shacked. friday was good coz i managed to write songs and really feel so emotional, seeing the trees and thinking how beautiful they looked, how melancholic, how sad, the future and the past, well i can't describe it now, but there was a kind of beauty in its weakness, as though they had life: the emotions were welling, i wrote a song. the melodies were pitched nicely in my head, nergaard's 'the waltz' and all of them. that one also. lite jazz style, but melancholic. it was nice it was nice. played tennis later on wasn't good, ahhh, it really sucked. oh well. give and take i guess. physical and musical dont' go well together: i kept trying for e down the lines. mmm. gotta work on that.

saturday was really cool, got the italk...watched sideways which was really hilarious. great company really, seriously, esp during and after e show, and at dinner at fish n co, dave, gang, ck, zhihon, daniel, lim aik, zonglun...great company u guys were, pls invite me more! haha. tho i'm not from ri i'll behave myself i promise. had some meeting at starbucks, went to dan's house. fun. mm. okay u guys are cool i'd admit that=) ac not so cool at all. haha.

sunday and i'm jamming! yeah!

It was supposed to last but I know some things wouldn't. Especially when you stray it's harder to come back. At least I believe, I believe. I have always believed and I will always believe. Some things wouldn't change, not when you've experienced it. It's just that the conditions change somewhat. i'm not sure if they were meant to change, but they just did.

oh heck the melancholia. it always ruins everything. always leaves everything dry and discarded and withered, as though you were just waiting to die, clinging on to your dear life, looking at the past and hope it doesn't slip away. that's the problem about looking back. it can only go downhill. surmising your life and wondering how you ever got to such a sad state from where you were must be so depressing. and since your frame of reference was the past, you'll never be able to match it anyway.
so you ask stupid questions like:

'why can't life be like last time?'

and you don't realise that, maybe if you stopped being so negative and started looking at what you could do in the future, of course things can be much better, if you'd only opened your eyes, and started looking at life. frustration and irreverance gets me nowhere, mister, you just have to work at the little bits and pieces and start over from there. and nothing is more disturbing than fear. fear has motivated so much, but promised so little. fear, like looking back, fear of losing everything.

i have just rediscovered 'belle and sebastian' again. i've been reading their blog. no wonder they actually write good music. i'd like to think it's a product of believing in God and also actually thinking about life. too many bands simply play, they hardly think or feel. but listening to 'fox in the snow' and 'get me away from here i'm dying', i got a small sense that they actually knew where they were coming from. it's timeless music that's designed to last.

today was oddly chummy. it was prancing down waterloo street with my camp prayer group singing phantom of the opera tracks. or singing 'dip it low'. or playing with the food or the water at the really nice restaurant that we went to, courtesy of shang's good recommendation. for your info, it's at the old mg along waterloo street, brilliant place, fantastic food. it was forgetting your cares and thinking:
if these are my friends, they'd accept who I am. i'm too tired to pretend any longer. i'm too tired to pretend I'm cool, I'm classy, I'm calculated, when I am really just a bundle of nerves and emotions.

I find pretending rather wasteful. especially to the mind.

God once asked Peter (in the Bible) "Do you love me more than these?". It's a really pertinent question to apply to my life as well. alot of times i inadvertantly lose sight of the PERMANENT and UNCHANGABLE fact that God is and always will be the centre of my life, and that creates alot of problems. because when things that aren't made to be God become God, then the whole system is skewed and messed up, because God didn't intend those things (they can be anything, i'm just saying) to be the centre. and when those things become the centre you can never enjoy them anymore, because they then become almost God-like and you are destroyed by the guilt that the Spirit puts inside of you that you are putting something above God. and so it's lose-lose. you don't put God first, which you should really do, and then you don't enjoy anything, because your life is just a sporadic clinging-on to something that is not meant to be clung on to, in that aspect, but is meant to just be enjoyed whenever it comes. and it will come.

so it's not so good. so help me God. please.


i will love you God more than any of these things. purify my heart so I may see you and your glorious will which is always perfect, better than anything else.

and i have to stop judging people. i realised that God made us all differently. even though we will in the end be like Christ, that's the moral aspect; we are still created differently, just as we have different names and different traits. and so i have to really empathise and understand everyone else and where they are coming from, instead of trying to force my agenda upon them, or trying to convert them, or change them to what i would like of them. i have rather to respect our differences and respect the fact that I am made differently. and to develop in all areas. to do my best. not to be tired and always so tired and stoned, like a dead person without any life in him. but i have to grow and to be human again. to revitalise myself. to ask God for nourishment and growth. and then will i run the race strong again. for i cannot save myself but He can.

so shall i remind myself.

The brain has to work. The brain has been left in utter lack of inspiration since the longest time--the SPH essay confirmed my utmost fears, that, to my horror and chagrin, what i thought was a brain was really just a stump.

a stump that blurs my eyes to a person i am speaking with, too afraid and insecure to look at him in the eye. a martyr complex that makes me refuse to protect myself in the event that i may offend. a syndrome, of being ignored. and most of all, the worst; a brain freeze. a brain freeze that leaves me even unable to actually capture what was really being said.

i should go and see a shrink. to allay my worst fears. perhaps i'm normal after all. i'm just misunderstood. but i've never seen myself as normal. no, no. it has always been, attention-seeking, perhaps. all because of my lack of natural abilities that such tactics have to come in to play a part. i can never accept the fact that i will never be like some others. (i have to learn, yes, God accepts me (after I repent, of course) the way He created me) but, oh, does it hurt sometimes. when you are incapable of saying anything useful.

i don't know, i always thought you could be life. but now whatever life i used to have might have been flushed out of me.

i have to sacrifice, yes, to give the best i have to love, and even if nothing comes back in return, it doesn't matter, perhaps i would be happy.
because one friend used to tell me that was all that mattered. what you believed in. it didn't matter what you would have gotten in return for what you did, but somehow you were happy with yourself.

that said, dont' go to max brenner. an absolute waste of time. haagen daaz is a much better proposition. that place is overrated and with lousy service. and i had such a weird dream which featured people that i had met last night, and it was quite weird just to say the least.

this week has been a good week so far, thank God. i've been reading a new book my prayer session brought me, which is 'Under Cover' by John Bevere. It's a wake-up call to obedience, to tell me to truly be a disciple and to intimately know God. to obey God = to love God, because 'if you love me, you will obey my commands.' what an important thought. there was quite a scary thought from Matthew 7 in how Jesus said 'Away from you, you evildoers! I never knew you!' and sometimes it just scares me and I hope i'll never be one of them. But perhaps I shall just take comfort in the fact that God will not tempt you more than you can bear. Hopefully. Please God.

been playing on the piano again, and i wrote a Christian song which was not bad. quite okay. i realised that usually my pitching is often too sharp and i just have to flatten it in my brain and then the chords on the piano sound full and nice and rounded. too often it just sounds outta tune, because my brain is outta tune. it's maddening. haha. 3rds flattened and 5ths raised are so really important, though. i keep harping on it but yeah.


i am tired but its chinese new year. happy chinese new year!

Mm im feeling very melancholic now, man. i can feel the emotions swelling and the feelings and all that. just feeling really lonely, needing people. sigh. when im in this mood i realise i treat people a whole lot better. and i really mean it. because somehow i value them more.

i was definitely more melancholic last time, say j1. i actually liked it. sigh. wonder why i've become all so sanguine and so insensitive nowadays. i was definitely more considerate and caring and sensitive last time. but now after the As (long time ago actually) i kept trying to get as much fun as i possibly could, which meant that i couldn't really care for others, couldn't really be sensitive, kept trying to be sanguine, to achieve, etc. losing all my humanity in the process. i just hope i can leave that train that is headed for ruin to find more humanity in my life, and for a new purpose.

It's been an eventful week. it's been very tiring. but still i'm glad and thankful that things are still relatively solvent. it's not been easy, like i said, but i can't hope for anything else.

it started off with a relatively nice sunday being damn stoned with churchmates at zouk and going out to TCC with darren n co and later played pool. it was not bad, really. had a really tiring tuesday doing the SPH test which got my brains all messed up. wednesday had to work until 10. thursday i had to work until 11 for band. took off yesterday to record at chee's house and later met liang sim mel and lijing for dinner. quite enjoyable. the bubbly was good. mm. and i was addicted to the smith's 'there is a light that never goes out'. brilliant song man. it absolutely got me hooked for a real long time.

ken was trying to sell me some network marketing concept thing which i obviously rejected. wont' want to tarnish the image of the company that he's working for, so i shouldn't say anything else.


And for me, my philosophy of life has always been to try to blend in, to have harmony. People always look at me and they immediately assume I have no opinions, no ideas, no nothing, and is just there to make up the numbers. They don't realise that it's so much more complicated than that. For me I'm always looking at the big picture, how are the personalities complimenting each other? Do I have to be the talkative one, or should I allow people to come more into the conversation? I hate hogging the spotlight. I used to, last time perhaps, when I wasn't at all mellow, being damn loud and don't-care-two-hoots-of-what-people-think. But now i've learnt how to take a back seat and look and observe more. i like it more, like this. it gives others breathing space. but how? people think i have no opinions. i have no nothing, no understanding of connotations. just bland, like milk. how wrong they must be. i shall not attempt to disillusion them (and they will never read this blog anyway, so i won't even have the chance to), why waste my time? but for the more enlightened souls out there, this is my defence.

damn i feel incredibly lonely today, on a saturday night with no one to connect with. it's the lows after the party highes.

hello mel! thanks a mil for going out with me! (for the uninitiated, she's not actually going out with me, she has a boyfriend for goodness sakes, but yeah, okay you could probably call it meeting up. )
but it's been fun man. i mean yeah thanks for understanding and everything and i hope i can update this blog more for your reading pleasure.

okay enuff.
hello everyone. just have to say i just got a call from SPH: my journalism writing test is on tuesday. quite excited. i mean this is like the first interview in a long long time and pray everything goes well. i just so hope it does. just today the going out was pretty good; i mean sometimes you feel so negative about life and you're wondering how you're really so isolated from everyone else being in army and stuff (okay the usual gripe) but then you meet someone who can bring you back to brighter days and days of sunshine and remind you of things that happened in the past and you realise that army is just a passing stage after all and very soon it'll end and we can go back to our normal pleasures. but it's been fun, huh.

one thing i've really learnt in church on sunday: God's suffering on the cross was truly physical. i mean christians had always known that but rarely did it sink in for me; i mean the fact that it was physical meant that everyone could relate to it. it wasn't just some postmodernist concept of pain. like, oh, it's all in the mind, and stuff, but it was really a fully-blown pain and suffering and of physical and emotional seperation from God that just makes me want to sing 'amazing love, how can it be, that you my king would die for me?' i mean that song has always been beautiful to my ears, but as I sung it on sunday it took on a whole new meaning. i felt i was singing it out to God.

on the music side, my new song has been called many things. 'wuxia', for one. like 'kongfu movies'. swordfighting. totally the opposite of what i intended. never mind, i'll try again. but i did like it quite alot and it kept playing in my head on friday, saturday and even on sunday as i visited my grandma in hospital.

seriously the last weekend was very rewarding for me, the long weekend of haji and everything else. i managed to find that bit of fun and joy in the things that i was doing. i played soccer on friday morning, managed to dribble past alot of pple especially at the start did one great run and later on beat weian on the right and crossed; managed to loft 2 good passes, lobang one person 2 times, etc. but on the whole our team played not so good. but it's okay. lan was a disaster. couldnt' do anything at all. haha. but later on the highlight was watching hotel rwanda, because it's such a show of soul and of humanity, tragedies usually are, that makes you want to appreciate life even more, and the happiness of it. the new song i've been writing also reared its head then. and the images were so real, and plus the fact that it's a real show also struck me even more. and when they sang the african song when the nuns came in i could cry at any moment. and today i watched e show again and tears welled up in my eye the moment at the end when paul met his 2 daughters and brought them to safety, with the haunting african song in the background. i mean it's a brilliant show definitely.

and saturday was quite a bore, seriously. but sunday was not bad. the service itself was very good, like i said before. and i managed to catch some sleep. thank God.

=)

I was just reminded that like 5 years ago I was still learning to play the piano, being fetched around to Mrs Cheah's house, playing soccer after MEP class in ACS(I), walking around in the refactory with my classmates, ordering funny sang mee....think back seven years ago and I'd just enrolled into ACS(I), buying my books and sitting in Math lessons with my 1A textbook. It seems so real far away, but it's only 5, or 7 years, ago. I used to think time passes so quickly, but really there is still enough time.

And i'm falling sick again, danggit...

I haven't blogged in a while, because I've been too busy having fun; it's when you're having fun that you're least inclined to blog, really: so that means that since last week things were looking pretty good.

Monday, 10/01/2005, and the day was absolutely horrible. listened to belle nad sebastian in the daytime but got bored after that; still, the music at night was very good. could hear the thirds and sixths flattened with the midicode program. like bliss, the music. i can't really remember what it felt but i was able to listen to music, tunes, and write some songs as well. being melodic. and on MSN i was really able to chat very well and connect with others, not having any of that negativity that used to bog me down, like when your mind suddenly shoots out questions like, 'is that right?' or 'really?' and you are just able to be positive about everything. it's a feeling.

tuesday, and i was able to write a very good song, in my opinion. melodic and easily accessible, yet lending itself to jazzed-up/souped-up versions more easily than my other songs, in other words, flexible. hopefully i'll be able to write some good lyrics for it. mm. we went for band practice too. still darn busy.

wednesday and it was band performance. nothing much to say.

thursday, and i wanted to take off, but i couldn't, so i just hung around. met daryl and friends later on and really i haven't had such a wacky time in so long. we were just laughing over ice-cream at haagen daaz, irritating the waitresses, (there's a certan perverse pleasure in doing that) and making stupid comments about some girl and other things and photos and a cheekopeh pose. hah. it's times like these that makes you want to relive them. just for the sheer high. HIGH. because gravity has no more effect on U=) (like this) the dominant song was ocean colour scene's 'the day we caught the train'--oh ooh lala. tried to tune the tele to play that.

friday, and i went out with chris tham and stacey and wen hui to play tennis at stacey's condo, which was quite fun really coz all of them can play quite well and it was funny. haha. we went swimming later on and later adjourned to novena square. i was damn shagged by then man. slept like a pig.

saturday and i had music practice. could feel the rhythm coming again man. and at night i tried to be a good friend and went with gang to ms lim's husband's pool place in clarke quay, freakin espensive. like, 22 bucks for covr and 12 per hour for pool. haha. ridiculous. man u won tho, and arsenal lost! bad day bad day at the games...

sunday, and i had a great time with samuel debbie plus the chiangmai mates. we were just so able to bond so well in the chiangmai discussions and even in dcg and all that. i found i've really started to grow and love mt carmel and the people and the fellowship there coz now i can feel like it's really home for me. i mean my old cell and the mission trippers are pple whom i can identify with and who really accept me and whom i respect and love as well. we went to watch tiger cup after that and the atmosphere was electrifying, it was like national day parade man. so many people all in red! but singapore really deserved it, their game plan was just perfect, and the spirit was really really good, i could feel it. wonderful. the cheering was all in good fun, and like our voices were sore after that. damn i'm almost falling sick arleady (monday). later on we went to el-amin to eat, and so concludes the nice week and weekend.

one thing that's real positive is that i'm so much more able to empathise with people again. as in, to realise that people are actually living, they have souls inside them, and they are able to feel emotions just as i can, (it's obvious really but sometimes you dont' realise these things) and so i try my best to be able to work sensitively to respond to them and to be able to bring about good emotions in them. (this sounds like so robotic but okay u noe what i mean) i mean sometimes i'm just so stoned and i'm so unable to catch what people are saying, but really sometimes like just then i was able to really feel and understand other pple. and to know that there are souls all around us. it's possibly to do with humility as well. i mean back in RJC, we were very democratic. everyone's opinions mattered. i mean, we valued diversity and we like learnt from each other and stuff. but now in army things are so different, because i see alot of things that i dont like and my immediate instinct is to withdraw and i feel like somehow im better but maybe (and most likely) i'm not. and i begin to become almost absolute-monarchy, trying to block out the rest, trying to influence others and make them like me, thinking that only i have the keys to knowledge and fine arts and eveyrthing good. but of course it's not true. and when i start having this new bad mindset to put out the bad influences ahd the people of army i inevitably bring that along to my own private life as well. which sucks. which means i'm blocking out the people whom i used to enjoy living with. sigh. so here's to democracy. and i realised that i'm so much more able to feel and love others again. when there's not so much pride inside me thats when things are much better. and i feel like i can communicate with God again. because i have to realise that God is a living God as well, a soul, a burning consumate fire, who feels and has emotions--not like the sun, who is constant but is not living--God, though, is living, and unless i realise that, and when i speak to Him i realise that i'm actually communicating and having a relationship by talking, i won't be able to really communicate effectively. but this weekend it seems like i was able to be sincere in what i said and feel like im actually speaking to a being. to love God is the foundation for everything else. and everything is about relationships, inevitably. i mean, we could all live by ourselves and love ourselves, but really if i love you and you love me it's ten times better than i loving myself and u loving myself. i mean sometimes i don't exchange gifts because i think practically it makes more sense to buy things that u like, that's so an economomist pt of view, but what u miss out with that mindset is that when people exchange gifts they put a bit of their soul into the present and that the gift will inevitably link you to the giver. same with relationships. much betta to share man.

God still cares about me, I'm so blessed. Thank you God. You may not actually feel the actual moment, but in the overall spirit, you know He's there. I can't expect too much but to thank Him for everything. I realised that He is there for me and that He loves me. The problem was that perhaps I used to think that our God is just someone who craves for your attention all the time and all that; that's just misguided; I have to realise that He is someone who loves, He's a God of love, and because of that great love for us, we can only love him, naturally, out of the fact that we are touched by His love, not because we are forced to do so by way of intellectual reasoning and logic, but because we naturally want to do so, we are voluntarily doing it, because we are emotionally touched. And today I somehow felt that love again. It's all because Jesus died for our sins and He died for all and for the worst sins, and so it's all been paid for. I am free. And if he paid for our sins, who are we to judge them? it's all been paid for. And how the devil is lurking at every corner trying to devour us, and how we have to recognise this and pray and ask for guidance and do what we feel is best in our hearts. Because your love covers it all.
And the obvious guide to whether God's with me or not is whether I'm confident or I'm just nervous and flippant and all that. With God His Spirit gives me strength and perseverance, I'll just allow Him to work in me to make me new again, fresh again, born again. No negative thoughts. Erase. Erase. But let good things flow. Like Joshua, to be bold and courageous, to step out in faith. And really when you know God's working is through people; I was at a prayer meeting today and the things that we just discussed just made me realise how beautiful and loving God is, and on my way home i started a song to Him about His love, and later on I said that I wanted to ask my parents to go for prayer meeting, I prayed about it and asked them to be receptive, and yeah they were. i mean it's these things that are important. when you are, yourself, willing to do something for God then you open the door for Him to lead you and all that, but I have to be willing alright. It's how this love is passed on; people love me for who I am, God loves me, so shall I pass that love on. it's too selfish to keep it to myself.

And about music. I was singing the song to God on my way home and voila it's amazing how everything just seems miraculously in tune, especially my ear. i mean, even the 3rds and 6ths are flattened automatically and i can hear melodies again. because I told God, that He has given me a gift for melody and I shouldnt' just waste it away, and He allowed me to write a bit of the verse with real melody. and when i played the guitar, i was shocked at how out of tune it was; immediately i could tell which note was off; i hooked it up to a tuner and yeah it was so off man. i mean, it's not that music and God is mutually inverse; God made music anyway, and so cleaving to Him first will then allow me to be in the right state of mind and have the right connections in my brain to write good music because I am with God and His peace will bring joy and comfort and that calm will bring good music, not to mention Him giving me melodies. I remembered last time I always trusted God first for music, and it was like, we were just little small computers plugged to a big server (God) (sorry for taht bad analogy, haha), and now im trying to download alot of the data to my own hard disk, but that's just bad. because it's pressurising trying to keep these data on my own, there's no security, and there's no inspiration for new songs and i just feel so insecure trying to keep them on my own. so shall i put these back into the server for the joy of the world and just rely on God for everything.

And the great thing about being with God is that I am less prone to being swayed by the ways of the world. I used to think that everything was cool, being flippant and all; now i stand firm and i know what is good and what is not, and there is plenty of things out there that i thought was cool and good but really are not. and i have to stand, firm, unwavering. yes. even lots of music that i thought were good are actually not very good after all.

Yay. I'm quite happy now. i'm trying to be a testimony to all, especially to my family. for it is written, "Let no one look down on you because you are young, but in speech, conduct, love, faith,
and purity, show yourselves an example to those who believe."
1st Timothy 4:12
I was always hampered perhaps by the perception that I'm young and unable to do anything, but yeah, I can still be testimony. youth doesn't hamper anything.

Man, there's been so much going on, so well, i thought i'd better blog and blog what i wanted to say:

CHIANGMAI

So I'm back from a wonderful mission trip in Chiangmai, of all things beautiful. And so, I thought I'd better blog a little bit about Chiangmai before I forgot everything that has happened, and the thoughts that accompanied it.

well, for starters, i wasn't really enthusiastic about it; i mean, I'll be spending one christmas there, leave my old friends back home (of course i'd have stronger church friendships), etc. and wasn't it a bit of a chore, as missions trips always are? But really they were just misconstrued thoughts that shouldn't have been, for the trip was enjoyable from the start. especially the weather, which was just perfect, cold for sleeping, a bit of sunshine in the daytime, and a nice peaceful calm about the whole place. we went to dr chaiyaan's house for a briefing, and what struck me was how everything we do is for the glory of God, everything. we were there to proclaim God's love, to be a living testimony for God. We were briefed about the strategy for the nong wai village (which was where we going to).

So the trip started; we proceeded to conduct an english camp at this campsite/chalet called sainanmin. about 23 youths participated, including some we got to know very well. a boy called view, who played guitar, and some youth from nong wai, etc. it was quite nice, we sang songs and played some games. acting games, telephone line, and other sports and stuff. ate this wonderful roti prata, took photos, and the place was really nice, had a running stream, and a really distinctive sainanmin lady character who was running the place; she was a former actress and she was still the joker (of course in thai), making everyone burst out in convulsive laughter during mealtimes. really started to blend in with the people there, the ladies, and all of them. i remembered the wonderful roti prata with condensed milk and sugar.

Later on, things became even better. We started actually staying at Nong-wai village itself, and it felt like a second home. On the first night there, I homestayed with this guy called jo, and he was really friendly and nice-- (i still keep in touch with him through email) ; I couldn't really communicate with his mom, but i guess the smiles and friendly gestures would more than suffice really for any lack of words. His house was quaint and nice, and we just sat at the mat and ate and talked with lots of smiling and a quick look at my thai-english dictionary (it didnt' really work ) before proceeding on to another villager's house where i met up with my other churchmates who were staying with that villager. and then everyone proceeded to look at photos of my churchmate's prom, girlfriend, et al, and then we were just communicating and talking in a wonderful spirit of friendliness, time just seemed to pass by so quickly.

I think what really struck me was the simpleness of the people, about how everyone was so simple and poor by our standards, but they were so content and happy, in this 'jaiyen' spirit of cool calm. nothing seemed to anger them, they just lived their lives in full respect of each other; there was just no stress, they were content. thats something we could learn from.

Later on we helped phi-tom and phi-am build a pathway between the house and the narada home (orphanage) that we were staying, which was sponsored by our church. It was really hard work going under the sun to lay the bricks one by one in the old cobble-stone way. Still, it was quite a bit of fun. saying stupid things (and having a competition to see who could say more) at the back of the home in the hot sun, pouring water onto cockroaches and ant farms and dipping each brick in water to get rid of ants, and even inscribing our names on the cement--it's still there! you can go see it! yeah, and besides, i really admire tom and am; it must take alot of commitment and effort to run an orphanage like that, in charge of 8 kids, without any real time away on their own, having to be at their best behaviour and all that; and somehow I realised maybe it's good and all, because you have the incentive to be at your best behaviour all the time, as a testimony for God to these people there. i realised man thats' what keeps them going, it's the love of God and the whole testimony thing. we sang 'jesus loves me' in thai at a local church too. other fun parts were playing volleyball on the village court, which was good for bonding, and i played soccer once with the thai youth, which was not bad. they were all damn fast but at least i could get into the game later on.

So the shopping began on a wednesday; went to the thai handicraft centre, got some photoframes, which i cant'f ind now, and some boxes; went to airport plaza, ate some wonderful beef noodles, couldn't find papaya salad, walked around with esther and looked for clothes, got myself a long-sleeved tee shirt and a really nice black shirt, though it's one size too big (L) but never mind, all my shirts are.... went to tesco, and later to a khantoke dinner with wonderful burmese curry, which left me coughing all over and asking for warm water-- in fact i still have a cough up to this day, one week since returning, thanks to the fried chicken there-- and later to the night bazaar, where i got some lamps. on thursday we conducted some christmas programme at a primary school. i was already feeling the weather; acted out a christmas skit, me as a wiseman, and later on we went shopping again, this time to central; ate beef noodles again. and later on there were lots of wonderful adidas tee shirts that i really should have bought, because they were very cheap comparatively. sigh. like 20 bucks. but again i procrastinated. and in the end, regretted. went over to a christmas party at someone's house with nice decors. really that's the only thing i remembered. but we went back to have some good rest. friday, and we conducted 6 christmas programmes in all for secondary school kids. all with games, like charades and stuff, and all with skits, and songs like the friendship song. man, damn shacked. went back to the handicraft shop to buy some souveneirs to sell in singapore and also to get a bag, which unfortunately was never used by anybody. (that's what always happens to my gifts, actually). at night was really fun! one of the highlights! CAROLLING! i always love christmas carolling, actually, because it's really nice just to be singing those joyful carols under the stars and having the christmassy spirit; we walked around the village singing songs like 'joy to the world' and others; i think the villagers must've been really touched and pleasantly surprised by our carols. it was really fun just walking in the dark also. mm. there was even one time where we were singing to an empty house with just a dog! man. my word. haha. and later on we sat on the back of an open-air pick-up and drove through the streets of chiangmai. i tell you, the experience of the wind rushing onto your face as you stick your head out of the pickup towards the front is just absolutely thrilling; it's fast, and its' cold, and there's a lovely scenery all around; especially in the night sky. at first it wasn't so good, but later on when the temperature drops all around and into christmas day itself one-two am in chiangmai, it was really surreal; everywhere the streets were quiet and there we were singing at the top of our voices 'i don't wanna close my eyes, i don't wanna fall asleep coz i miss you baby and i don't wanna msis a thing' with me playing the guitar even though my fingers were already half-numb--and we went to so many places, some really far away from nong-wai, and travelling on 12omph, now that's an unforgettable experience. we visited some ang-moh's house in this 'world club' part of chiangmai, which was quite big and nice, another ang-moh's house in the posh location somewhere near a school (i think), it was really antique and had an air of knowledge and history, and we were served thai porridge, good in the cold i guess. they had many guests...we travelled near the ping river and that was quite nice to watch as well, past the clubs. thai techno. haha. how interesting. visited dr chaiyun's house, was served really nice food as usual. took nice photos. LOL. on a staircase. visited the church pastor's house which was also nice. had wonderful tea and lovely dessert sweets.

so well. christmas day. woke up like at ten. slacked the whole evening. slacked some more. played more volleyball. and later on christmas programme: acted the skit again, played some games, sang songs, exchanged the gifts in a nice little game, took photos with jo and family...later on we had a nice sharing session and dr chaiyun gave us some certs and stuff, and then briefed us on how it was our testimony that was going to make the difference, for we believe because people we value also believed. something to that extent. sang songs late into the night, played bridge, talked a bit. man i can still remmeber all of that.

so the last day came, so sad. we went to church, sang 'fak kwam wang', ate a nice dish of wantan noodles, and set off for narada. all the homestay kids came to send us off to the airport, and we left narada with fondness in our hearts, for it was the place of great memories and where relationships were built and nurtured, and it was a place of joy. i'd remember it as a beacon of light in nong-wai. so we were at the airport, we prayed, we prayed for a continuation of everything that the mission trip has taught us, we learnt great things from it, and we prayed for the people in thailand that everything was going to be better than it was; we prayed for protection, we prayed for the kids that were coming down. hmm. we said goodbye with a tinge of sadness in our hearts to phee am and phee tom, for we really enjoyed their company and their warmth (at least i did), not to mention our immense gratitude for their hospitality. they are indeed a truly loving couple, one that loves, God, man, each other. so we went back on a plane that was quite interesting, perhaps because of a bit of gin tonic, and wine, which was nice, because getting into a bit of high was quite fun actually. because people think u're high so u can say what u like. tha'ts much better. =D LOL. okay i won't exactly go into details. but i wasn't exactly sleeping either, was i? i think not. there were intersting jokes. the water and the gin. etc. mm.

Mm, so well, apart from memories, (and the merits of duty free, of course) the more lasting things are the relationships you nurture over the trip. i really got to know the mission trippers much more, chris, ratty, evan, wenhui, esther, van, chunli, staccey, even chuckee, baoen and pastor jeremy, even though they aren't really my age-- yeahhh...i mean back in church today we were much closer. i could just sense that. comfortable with each other. able to joke and laugh at each other again. now that only comes through a relationship that is developed over time, and that's what i really desire with God also. what i really desire is a constant relationship, not one that only happens here and there at some points in your life. i really need that closeness. sigh. that's one of my new year resolutions--a closer walk with God. For today's message was just about that: psalms 23: it's about having a close walk with God, that you won't 'want' anything else, and you long for intimacy with him inwardly, and then the Lord will protect you even in the valley of the shadow of death. it's really the amazing truth. and yesterdays's saturday sermon was how we are to live an abundant life for Christ, by stepping out in faith, being bold and courageous (joshua), and being obedient to the Lord. our speaker yesterday defined success as being able to live the abundant life that God promised you as a believer, and i really want that: it just ties in with the whole idea of a closer walk.

so here are just some good christian song ideas that i might work with:

-laying down my pride and my crowns to follow God
-asking God to lead me and guide me wherever he might take me I will go
-having a close walk with God all the days of my life, from the morning to the evening, talking with Him intimately and knowing Him and all the plans He has for me. He's a living God, not one that is just up there and distant.
-Jesus, sweet Jesus, on the cross. it is because of the cross that I have life, and it is the greatest demonstration of His love, for greater love has no one than this, that he laid down his life for his friends.

-man i'm excited. just need to get good lyrics and music to frame these ideas into songs.

especially idea 3: i was just thinking, on saturday morning, how our God is just in control and knows every little nitty-gritty detail about my life, even the mundane, trivial, ones that I think he wouldn't be interested in; maybe i'm wrong. Nothing's too small and insignificant for Him to see. even the way i think which is pretty silly at times, or the small, even secular things, he also knows it. and he is interested in using that to shape me too. i was thinking about left-brain and right-brain, and i'm sure he would have known what i was thinking about. i was actually thinking that i needed to be able to use words more effectively to communicate, because in essence communication is all about using the right words to describe your feelings. using better words, and more accurate words, will allow me to avoid misunderstandings, and deepen friendships, because i am honest, because my choice of words can convey the message across better. because words have meanings that are so deep--that's the beauty of taking literature--and i need to regain that respect for words, individual words, choice words, before i get swept away by the flippant waves of slip-shoddity. (is there such a word? it's all about words)

So, about New Year, I celebrated it on a boat with some friends, mel, jing, nic, wenen, and the rj ac bunch... it was quite fun, drinking abit, looking at the stars and the scenery in the comfort and the nice rhythms of a boat, and how there was just the party mood there in the esplanade...lisetning to 'dig it low' and 'funkytown' in the bottom level of the boat, which was nicely wooden-panelled....it was quite fun. caught up a bit with mel and jing, talked, getting a bit high, taking photos with wen en and the rest of them, yeah, fun it was. caught up with adriel and mark also, people i haven't seen for ages. later on we went to crash a UWC party and that was really quite intesreting, because everyone just towered over us and everyone seemed to be drunk and slobbering in corners with girls. and the drinks were quite strong, no wonder. didn't really enjoy it. went back home and even had to call a cab to come. haha. well...

and on saturday morning, some thoughts came into my head:

"When i was in AC, or RJ, i was always known as an emotional person. I liked to have the whole range of emotions, the sadness and the highs, the laughter and the joy, all the works, it brought spice to everything. I just pray that I still have that, and have not stagnated to a one-fits-all medium which is a stale boring mediocrity, like plains that stretch for miles around without a hill in sight, without a hope to see the sea. it is those emotions which i crave now that can bring a sense of novelty and a sense of enchantment to each experience...For I traverse now the rugged terrains of every encounter before me, and keep with me a fresh new perspective, that every new encounter will bring about new joys and new relationships to keep, for we are never stagnant in time in the way relationships are never stagnant, but new people will come and old people will pass away. and i just have to be prepared for that eventual certainty, and move on and continue to live. not to go gently into the good night."

it has been a long post, and i'm tired. God bless the victims of the tsunami, and God bless 2005. God bless all of you, Amen.

i'll be off to chiangmai for ten days for mission trip; am rather excited though rather nervous too, not so sure how things will turn out; i covet your prayers, i know as this is God's work on the battlefield the evil one will be very vigilant and very aggressive in trying to detract us from His work, i covet your prayers for protection and for a great spirit and for the Holy Spirit to be among us all the time and for His presence to be with us. imperative, also, is for us to realise it's all for Him and not for us.

and hopefully i shall bring you great stories. yay. pray for my health too, please. thanks.

A great song; recommended....

Lamb-Gorecki

If I should die this very moment
I wouldn't fear
For I've never known completeness
Like being here
Wrapped in the warmth of you
Loving every breath of you
Still in my heart this moment
Or it might burst
Could we stay right here
Until the end of time until the earth stops turning
Wanna love you until the seas run dry
I've found the one I've waited for

All this time I've loved you
And never known your face
All this time I've missed you
And searched this human race
Here is true peace
Here my heart knows calm
Safe in your soul
Bathed in your sighs
Wanna stay right here
Until the end of time
'Til the earth stops turning
Gonna love you until the seas run dry
I've found the one I've waited for

The one I've waited for

All I've known
All I've done
All I've felt was leading to this
All I've known
All I've done
All I've felt was leading to this
Wanna stay right here
'Til the end of time 'till the earth stops turning
I'm gonna love you till the seas run dry
I've found the one I've waited for
The one I've waited for
The one I've waited for

Wanna stay right here
'Til the end of time 'till the earth stops turning
I'm gonna love you till the seas run dry
I've found the one I've waited for
The one I've waited for
The one I've waited for

just had an incredible time playing the piano. ahhhh. i must really play classical music to get in the mood for writing, and being musical. i can finally hear the halo again, the blend, and not just the individual notes. it's back to those old times when my fingers just glide over the keys with the right pressure and muscle again. it's been very stiff, but now hopefully it's coming back.
yay. nice.

i just had an incredible Quiet Time with our Lord; it was great. it was quiet, and just for about five minutes just focussing on Him and bowing at His feet. and an incredible sense of peace. to shut out what i do not need. i have to worship You with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind, for You are Holy.

i pray very hard for wisdom. please help me. to do your will Amen.

i am praying very hard i do not fall sick, just to catch maybe the first half of arsenal vs chelsea. it's one of the biggest games of the season, how could you miss it? and besides, ive got my basic theory exam tomorrow morning; if i fail well, okay, fine. nvm. 6 dollars to watch a match is quite worth it.

i am in the mood when i want life to slow down, to sip wine and eat french bread and do some chores and go to the supermarket to shop for tonight's dinner in lazy bliss. to write lovey dovey jazz songs which are oh-so-slow and so delightful. of course, i am never going to be the culture that you have to be (to be successful in being a creator of that form of art, true art, i would call it); i am never going to be so refined, because i was never born aristocratic--and for the noveau-middle-class, good manners follows rather slowly afterwards--and so, for the moment i shall sit and hope that my brain doesn't function so clearly so that perhaps the muse could send some music down.

i have had a hectic weekend which was a load of fun; sometimes the party has to end, and now back to the humdrum of work. with God there is still hope, of course; work is but a necessity in the everyday scheme of things, just like life itself is necessary, and the mediocre bits are there just to ensure that the sublime moments are well-received and enjoyed.

on to monday.

Today started off as pure drag; it was absolutely sickening, especially in the office. coudln't get the brains functioning, everything was pure drivel.

but it was amazing what the most High God can do, in the end. i went down to church, and later on the worship was simply uplifting; i could feel God's presence, and i just hope that more of this would happen and there'll be a great revival. i pray.

when your mind is distracted about how to write a melody, figuring out a melody, etc, and you surrender it to God and everything, suddenly there is a great flood of joy and an uplifting that comes from within (it's definitely not the wind), and you feel the wind blowing and the wonderful peace that is around and you are happy.

that's when you are closer to God and that's where I want to be.