New Delirious? Live Album out in the US, October 17th! Awesome!




















Click here for the Official Delirious? MySpace

I suppose it's a lesson that lasts a lifetime.

It's been a hectic start of the week due to urgent presentation preparations for our MSC-APICTA award. We were shortlisted for the Best of Start-Up category. We were among the 9 companies selected among the initial 60 in this category alone. So, now that the presentation is behind us and all we could do is to wait for the results on the 18 September, I thought let's take a breather and I'll blog some pictures of the street ministry our cg took part in about 2 weeks ago.

Street ministry was awesome, fun and just bringing you back in touch with what is our purpose here on earth truly is. Seeing the 50 to 60 people there, mostly men, homeless, some were in the police's wanted list, some on drugs and other forms of substance abuse. They were very hungry, and the moment we served the food, they were all extending their hands out, with eyes longing that you'll catch their face so you'll give them the food on your hands. It was an awesome experience. I too, had the opportunity to do some translating work from Cantonese to Malay. See, my Malaysian friends, there IS a reason why God has chosen for us to be born here and learn Malay. Don't despise the language, 'cause you never know when God can choose to use what you learnt in that second.

On a lighter note, a guy nudged me and asked if we (the cg) were from Explorace, the Malaysian version of Amazing Race. I said no, we're from DUMC. He looked a litlte surprised, 'cause he was too. But I figured, that was how out of place we looked. We gotta open our eyes and see there's a world out there. Jesus said in His words "He had compassion when He saw the crowd." So, here are the pictures as promised:

This is for You, my King and my God.

http://www.elsewares.com/commerce/NOOKA_MCA2_140.html

Talk about revolutionary design! These watches from Elsewares are just awesome, and they certainly have the price tag to match too - USD$250 a piece. Nooka watches are the brainchild of Matthew Waldman, a multidisciplinary artist and designer in New York City.

And I certainly won't mind to have some of these T-shirt designs. They cost USD$17.99 a pop :)

His name is Agung Supriadi. He is 8 years old and he lives in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

He is the child that S k y e and I are sponsoring through World Vision Malaysia. I remember opening up the envelope that World Vision mailed me 2 weeks ago, and I was going through the many newsletters and brochures that were enclosed. I couldn’t wait to see the face of the child I’m sponsoring. When I finally opened a thin folder containing the details of this boy, I was touched. I felt the real joy of being able to give in such a deep and meaningful way.

Child sponsorship reminds me of this story of the boy and the starfish. One day, a boy was walking along the beach, when he saw thousands upon thousands of starfish washed up on the shore, most likely because of the tide. As the sun is rising in the horizon, the boy began to pick up the starfish one by one up and threw it back to the sea. As soon as the father realized what his son was doing, he told him “It’s ok, son... There’s just too many starfish and you won’t be able to save all of them. What difference does it make?” The son picked up another starfish, looked at it and said “Well, at least it made a difference to this one” And he threw it back into the sea.

For us, we know we made an eternal difference for a boy called Agung Supriadi. He shall grow up to be a strong man of God. He shall be the light in the land of Indonesia. He shall reveal God’s glory. He shall prosper in the land that God has given him. He’ll know God and do mighty exploits. The day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

It’s summer time in the state of New York and young people and missionaries are rallying up their army to evangelise and reach out. There are no walls, there is no denomination, there is only hearts of willingness of reach out and touch the community in the name of Jesus.

This article published in the New York Times feature the many lives of young people from different churches and backgrounds reaching out to the community of New York. Youths from the New York School of Urban Ministry, Guts Church, New York Urban Impact and from other states in the U.S have gathered to be sent as missionaries in their own land.

Urban Impact, a Christian ministry run by the Rev. Larry Holcomb, which has its headquarters on West 44th Street focuses on working with Muslim immigrants. “My personal mission on this trip is basically to bring back credibility to Christianity,” Mr. Beggs, a volunteer from Urban Impact said, “so that we’re not so much seen as, you know, goofy churchgoers from the South that can’t relate to the city, because how I read Jesus in the Bible is someone who is very much involved with the working class and the city and who is all about justice.”

And that’s exactly what all of these churches are doing. And doing it well. Urban Impact conducting English classes for West African immigrants in Bedford-Stuyvesant, some have chosen to serve the homeless by giving them a clean place to stay and food to eat, while some held excursions which are a powerful part of the draw of missionary work in the city. One team from Kalamazoo, Mich., planned to take in a Yankees game and the “Graffiti” exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. Some have also focused on a certain spot where homeless people are more likely to gather and do something about it. There was team from Kalamazoo distributing steaming bowls of stew and clothing from the side of a van from the Queens-based Street Life Ministries, while another, from a tiny town in Pennsylvania, passed out cards bearing directions to CityLight Church, on East Seventh Street.

Christians from all over the States is seeing a need in the heart of New York and various cities in their nation and doing something about it. The hungry is fed, the homeless is given a place they can sleep and the widows and orphans are starting to believe that someone loves them.

Click here to read the whole article and I pray that by doing so, God can put a burden or a word of what you can do for this nation of Malaysia. Jesus came, and He had compassion for the people. Also do visit some of these sites and see what some of these churches and ministries are organizing and planning to do in their city.

New York School of Urban Ministry
Guts Church
Urban Impact New York

I had the opportunity to pop by Canaanland bookstore in The Place during lunch with S k y e. Coupled with a 15% discount (due to special rates for full-time workers), these were 2 very good buys (after discount):













Hillsong, Mighty to Save - RM30.52












John C.Maxwell, Real Leadership - RM42.40

This is a video of Matt, a 29-year-old from Connecticut. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around the planet until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt the idea of dancing everywhere he went and recording it on his camera. This turned out to be a very good idea. Now Matt is quasi-famous as “That guy who dances on the internet. At the start of 2006, Matt left on a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents. In that time, he danced a great deal.

Watching the video makes my morning feel happy :)

How do you know when the preacher is Argentinean?

When he speaks, he will say something along these lines, “And God tells him to take the land!” An Argentinean preacher would say “But he said, God! That is a huge chunk of beef! Where do I start biting?!”

And he would also say things like “And when he entered the enemies land, he did so with courage, because he knows his enemies are waiting to slice him up like pepperoni salami…”

That is a double confirmation that he is a true blue pure beef-loving Argentinean preacher.

Lessons from Gideon, by Ps Ed Silvoso:

One: God has a different opinion of you than the one you have of yourself.

This is important as we see in the life of Gideon; he was in the midst of running away from the disaster, as he franticly put wheat into the jar to flee! As Ps Ed said, he wasn’t preparing to fight, but he was preparing his flight. The first thing that came to his mind was “I need to flee!” However, it was at that God-appointed moment, when he appeared to Gideon and said “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” In modern context, this is exactly the stuff of sarcasm and utter humour! But yet, God does not see you as the person that’s in the enclosed by the past nor the present, He sees the person that He has destined you to be in the future!

Two: When you live in that revelation, your family and friends will have a higher opinion of you.

As God develops the person in you, he will bring about a change in you and around you. In the later verses of Judges 6, God instructs Gideon to kill the bulls that belong to the father as a burnt offering and to destroy the alter of Baal and Asherah. We are talking about the same Gideon that tried to run away when faced with a terrible opposition a few verses earlier, however, as Ps Ed said, at this point, he was a big mouse, but a mouse nonetheless. Hence he brought 10 other servants to do the job, in the night. When the people woke up the next morning, they confronted the Gideon’s father, which was Gideon’s largest fear. Instead of invoking the rage of his dad, Gideon’s dad defended him and said “If Baal has a problem with my son, let him deal with him!” Now, that is having God’s favour and the favour of your family turned towards you.

Another point that is worth noting, is God’s instruction in destroying the alters. He said “When you’re done destroying the Baal and Asherah alters, I want you to build a proper alter to the true Lord God”. I find this very interesting and this step is as important as the previous step. This reminds me of the story of David and Goliath. When David killed Goliath with his slingshot, he did not just leave the scene and proclaim victory. What he did was to use the sword of Goliath to behead Goliath himself! In the case of Gideon, the used the destroyed alter wood, to burn the bulls as a sacrifice.

Now, I’m thinking this is probably why most social problems never really get solved in our nation. We are very very focused in destroying the drug-taking habits, executing rapists, punishing abusive husbands and fathers and deploying hundreds of security measures everywhere. But once these are carried out, there isn’t any steps taken in putting in place a proper alter of the true God. We let the cut up pieces of the Baal’s alter scattered around and we leave Goliath intact. Now, we can argue that we live in a Muslim nation, but there is no reason why the Church doesn’t rise up and present the nation with a cure perhaps.

Three: Ultimately, God will change the mindsets of your enemies so that they will have a different and higher opinion of you than what you think you were.

Finally, in the realization of Gideon as the mighty warrior of God, God instructs him to go to the enemy’s camp. And only in there, He will give Gideon a revelation and speak to him. This is mighty crazy. But the fact is this, often times the battle is won in the enemy’s ground, rather than in your own turf. This is what God means by claiming enemy territory.

God managed to change the life of Gideon from a coward to a true mighty warrior. What has God called you? He doesn’t see who you are and how you’re feeling. He will only say “Be strong and courageous, rise up mighty man and woman of God. This is your time, this is your moment. March into the enemy’s camp and set the captives free!”

I’ll share more on some true stories of what’s happening in South America and how God is entering the government and the parliament of the nation. There are heaps of stories that really stir up your spirit. Click to the links below to read about them:

Transformation Hawaii

God transforming Argentina and high government officials

First, he directed "Titanic", now he's making predictions on how Moses parted the Red Sea scientifically. Could it get any worse (or hilarous) for Mr. J a m e s "I jump, you jump" Cameron? Read his absurd explanation here.

What are they gonna predict and "uncover" next? Get ready for this (haha). Apparently, a few scientists in Florida State University researched and found that Jesus actually walked on ice (insert lots of... ) Read the other absurd "findings" here.

So true isn't it? The wisdom of man, is as folly to God. Anyhow, I would like to thank these people for telling me these 2 good jokes in the morning. If there's any consolaton, I know God still loves these people. Although in my humble opinion, anyone who direct a movie like "Titanic" is seriously committing sin. I don't know what they're gonna predict and reveal next, but whatever it is, it's seriously funny. But remember, the Word says in the last days people will sway you with their so called knowledge and wisdom and philosophies, but those whose roots are in the Lord, will not be shaken.

This will be a long post, but I wish and I pray one thing; That the article below will inspire you not only to dream but to dream bigger.

Last Friday I read an article in the New York Times, titled "New Wealth, and Worries, for the Salvation Army." It featured the new home of a USD$2.5 million Henry Moore sculpture - the San Diego Salvation Army Community Centre. But more importantly was this, “The sculpture and the center, an $87 million complex featuring three swimming pools, indoor ice skating and skateboarding, playing fields and a 600-seat theater, were gifts from Joan Kroc, wife of the McDonald’s Corporation founder, Ray Kroc.

Mrs. Kroc, who died in 2003, also left the Salvation Army $1.5 billion to build 30 to 40 more Kroc centers now planned around the country, providing low-income neighborhoods the kind of facilities that even well-to-do communities can rarely afford” as reported by the article.

However, as much as this is cause for celebration and a breath of fresh air pumped into the age old charitable organisation of William Booth, there were a horde of questions and doubts beginning to rise in the organisation. Among the reactions within was this:

“We are at a crossroads, and the challenge for us is to remain true to our mission,” Commander Gaither said. “The whole idea is to build on what has been accomplished, not to build something completely different.”

I don’t know if there are any thoughts running through your head when you read this statement, but I understand if organisations have a strong stand in being committed to their vision and their mission. However, having said that, while the purpose remains the same, the method of doing it may change. Mal Fletcher once said in this sermon that the challenge of the Church is not to remain relevant, because the Church IS supposed to be relevant in the first place. But the challenge is to be at the forefront of the society, politics, education and the economics of the nation. We are meant to be the head and not the tail. I long for the day to come when the government body or the parliament approach Church leaders to ask where the nation should head. That is what vision should do – influence.

With the enormous resource that the San Diego Salvation Army possess in their hands, they are now planning to build new community centers in Atlanta, Phoenix, Honolulu and San Francisco, among other places. However, it is these plans that are drawing the most notice. This is what happens when the Church becomes relevant to their society. People take notice. If the Church is happy being the people that sings a few songs, clap their hands and go back to their own lives, the devil will be pretty happy about it and just leave them alone. Why? Simply because they’re too preoccupied with their belly-button gazing and too ignorant about being relevant and making an impact in their world.

The Salvation Army’s San Diego Community Centre was the pilot project that took off with a huge success. People from all walks of life came to the centre, because it offered a range of classes and services. Water aerobics classes, ice skating lessons, hockey, swimming lessons conducted in the Olympic-sized pool, pot-luck lunches and dinners, fund-raising activities were just some of the activities that are available in the community centre. Stories are told where once teenagers had nothing to do, but to roam the streets, now the come to the centre to socialize; they come for basketball sessions, swim, join figure-skating programs and skate in the in-house skate park the centre provides. The center also offers the Salvation Army’s traditional services like parenting classes, collecting and distributing food to the needy, and making referrals to social service programs.

That. Is Influence.

The article ended with this comment from a member of the community centre saying “I don’t know anything about the Salvation Army,” said Candy Henson, a water aerobics classmate of Ms. Hunsaker. “I just know what they’re doing for this community, and it’s good.”

That is my dream of the DreamCentre that DUMC is currently building. That people from the society will come and they will know of a place they can call home. They will know of a God that cares for them and love them. The outcasts, the dirty, the homeless, the prostitutes, the abused children, the widow, the hungry and the needy. Just when you think that going to church is about you and you having a good time. Think again. It’s for the people out there. Like what Mark Penny once said “It’s about the people, everything we do, it's for the people.”

Let us live the dream.

OK, I admit I like reading Dilbert comics for a myriad of reasons. I mean, I like Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, B.C, lately Zits and probably a few clever one-frame comics like Insanity Streak. But Dilbert has something a little bit more to it I reckon. It could be the clever sarcasm plus workplace humour plus randomness plus plain dumb character and remarks.

One of my favourite was this one:








A few reasons why I think this particular comic strip is just plain gold:

1. It highlights my 2 favourite character (after Dilbert of course) - the pointy-haired boss and Alice. To be honest, I do like Wally too. He quite a lovable character. But this is how Alice is described on the Dilbert website:

" Alice is the only female engineer in Dilbert's department. She's habitually overworked. Her cardiovascular system is basically coffee. She has a quick temper when confronted with the idiocy of her co-workers. She does not handle criticism well."

2. It highlights the stupidity of The Boss and his ignorance.
3. It shows the deep concentration of the employees while talking about things that make no sense and of zero importance.
4. It highlights the "wisdom" of Alice, which is quite looked up upon by gullibly by all the other characters.
5. It ends in utter randomness, in this case, referring to the planet Uranus (one of those "bone-density" moments - insider joke).

Anyway, it's kinda nice to end the work week with some humour. I'll be leading Welcome tonight! Very cool and looking forward to it. Have a good weekend folks!

Source: The Star

My good brother, Mr. Lim Ming Joe appeared in The Star today! It was featuring his awesome romantic proposal on a skating rink in Sunway Pyramid Ice on Monday midnight. It was just awesome and sweet to see him proposing to Cheryl, not just because he has been with her for more than 7 years, but it just seemed like I know him for a long time. The Ming Joe or ITM in OCF, the Ming Joe that I used to jam Planetshakers songs with, the same guy that lent his car when I picked my girlfriend from the airport on a cold and wintry day in the June of 2005, the same guy who stood next to me in the moshpit of City Church and the same guy that was proposing to his love on that fateful night. It was simply beautiful, and I'm majorly proud of you, bro!

"Dr Lim Ming Joe, 27, from Southern Park, Klang, popped the question to his girlfriend, Cheryl Tan, also 27, in a scene that looked like it came straight out of a movie."
- The Star

Click here to read the full story.

=)

Hello.

Children of the Lamb (derived from “long de chuan ren”) But you know, we’re not children of the dragon, hence the lamb. Speaking of lamb, do you know what the pork-eating Muslims in China call pigs? – “fei yang”, translated as fat sheep.

Can you imagine two good mountain trekking Chinese Muslim brothers saying (in Mandarin) “Hey Brother Lee, why don’t you go hunt a sheep for dinner tonight?” And the other guy shouts back “Which sheep? The fat or thin kind?” Man, I feel for the sheep you know what I’m saying? I mean, they’re feeling stressed. As for the pig, they’re just confused because of this mind-boggling name-calling from men.

Anyway, the reason I wanted to blog today was because I wanted to talk about cake.

haha, that’s a picture of me in cg last Friday. The good people in the cg decided to co-celebrate my birthday, hence you know the cake. I reckon, if your birthday is co-celebrated, you only get 50% of the attention, which can be a good or bad thing. Depending. As I was saying, the cake. It’s a Cream Cheese and Walnut Banana Cake.

And since we started joining this cg, we have tried a few cakes *bliss* they are as follows in chronological order:

1. Orange Poppy Seed Cake (topped with peeled Mandarin oranges)
2. Marshmallow Chocolate Cake.
3. Irish Cream Baileys and Cherry Cake (my favourite so far!)
4. Cream Cheese and Walnut Banana Cake

And now, about the after-effects of the cake i.e. the weight issue. Hmm.. never mind. Back to thinking about the wonderful goodness of cake.

*smile*