As Martin Smith (of Delirious) led the song "Now Is The Time" he read a passage from the Bible which went like this:

"Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him."
- 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

In the verses 7 to 15, the passage, which is taken from The Message goes on to describe it like this. I love how descriptive and authoritative the passage is!

"The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a dazzling inaugural. Moses' face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?

If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?

With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn't notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn't notice. They didn't notice it then and they don't notice it now, don't notice that there's nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can't see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there's nothing there."

How awesome is the Word of God!

Quote of the day, I say. Courtesy of core77.com.

As I was helping my folks with the computer yesterday, I realised one of my aunts emailed my parents this photo. I personally really like this photo! It's the whole Chooi family, which is my mom's extended family. Seated in front are my grandparents with 13 of their sons and daughters. My mom wasn't sure when this photo was taken, but from a rough calculation I guess it was somewhere in the mid 1970's.

Ain't it awesome to find priceless photos like this? Now, my grand father has passed away, and most of my uncles and aunts are married with lots of kids and I have the privilege of being the eldest with a total of 17 cousins and counting. I thank God for families.

This morning, I went for a presentation in Jaring with my fellow colleague and boss. A year and a half ago, our company secured our client, TM Net, which is the nation's largest internet service provider. We sold them our VoIP product, which is now marketed as TM Net's BB Phone service. Just 2 days ago, we received news from TM saying they have a total of 50,000 registered users. Now, that's great news, 'cause it shows that they have renewed confidence in us and our product.

So, as Jaring contacted us, we presented to them our products, and so far it's been good. Jaring is the country's first internet service provider and it is not picking up pace to challenge the other big boys in the internet provider business.

I had a great and awesome time at dinner yesterday with some friends and our pastor.

Of course, when I mean our pastor I'm referring to Ps. Mark, City Church KL. There were 6 of us at the table last night at this nice Italian restaurant, PizzaUno at Centrepoint. There were Ps. Mark, Aaron Paul (the worship leader), Ben & Jo's (our future life group leaders) and Skye and I. We had an awesome time talking about church, about its really early days, about some of the future plans and events this year. And just about any random topic that you can think about. I enjoyed the company heaps and I really marvel at the way God puts people together and make their paths cross and just see how sometimes there is so much of a connection happening, not just on a surface level (because you can get those friends most of the time), but more on a spiritual level. The moment of magic that happens when one shares a dream or a vision about church or God and the rest reacting like its the best thing that's gonna happen in our lives and in church.

We talked about a range of topics, even things like church anniversary, church camp, new visitors and new Christians material, and just about anything. Food was great too, with Ps. Mark insisting on ordering dessert, which turned out like sin (in his words), meaning nice to see and tempting, but once you eat it you feel guilty, because of all the calories and the extra work out you need to do to burn them off.

I really thank God for putting awesome people in my life and people of the same vision, same heart, same dream and of the same spirit. I know that I know that I know this year will be AWESOME! I can't help but think that God will just multiply and display His awesomeness and glory through City Church KL this year, in 2007! There is no feeling like the feeling of having God right in the centre of your life and plans.

"Why is the church so weak at communicating (or relating) to the world, even though we know about the greatest story the world has ever known?"

- quote from a church marketing/communications blog.

The guy in the picture is Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Apple Inc. He is the man responsible for the design of the iPod. Ive have also designed the iBook, MacBook, Powerbook G4, MacBook Pro, eMac, Mac mini, Xserve, Xserve RAID, Mac Pro, Power Mac G3, G4 and G5, Apple's entire collection of iPods, AirPort base stations and Cinema Displays. He is also the principle designer of the recently launched Apple iPhone. Even U2's Bono has hailed him as a genius, declaring, "If he had a fan club, I'd be in it." In 2005, he even won the coveted President's Award at the prestigious annual D&AD award - the design world's equivalent to the lifetime achievement award in the Oscars. And when asked about the pure design genius of the revolutionary iPod, he answered "At the end of the day, it's all about the music."

And this is the interview with him and the British Design Museum when he won Designer of the Year in 2003. Click here to read.

Now, the question is: How did one man's design affect a whole world's culture and its impact on the generations?

God started all over again.

But that wasn't the last time He started again. He started again, again.

The first time was when He wiped out the whole earth sans a family, the family of Noah. He saw the evil deeds of men and the wickedness of their hearts and God decided to start all over again. Imagine, the pain of seeing hundreds upon thousands of His creation swept away in the Flood. He decided to wipe away all the bad, but He preserved the good. He loved His creation and still commanded Noah to bring 2 of every kind into the ark. Even as Ps Mark was preaching last week, he was saying that as 2007 starts again, we need to see the areas in our lives that are bad and wash them away, but we need to preserve the good. We need to build an ark for our lives and our ministry.

And yesterday, as Ps Mark continued on part 2, he showed us how God decided to start again. Why? Based on the mentality and the mindset of the Israelites, who could not get out of the slavery mindset and the thinking of the wilderness. God wanted them to possess the land of Canaan, but were they ready? They needed to think of themselves as sons and daughters of the land, but instead they looked, spied, peered through the corner of their eyes and they shuddered at the thought, they cried (even before they saw the enemy!), and they decided to go back into their past. When they were standing at the fringe of their Promise and Destiny, they shrank back and wanted to even elect a leader to go back to Egypt. In other words, they rather be a slave than a son of the Promise.

When you can't see God in your future, you tend to go back to your past.

Based on their unbelief and disobedience, God decided to start again, again. He wiped out all the Israelites age 20 and above. One would think that after seeing the Red Sea part in front of your eyes, you would at least believe that God does have a plan for bringing you out of Egypt into your Promised land. But they decided to go back, go back into the past where its familiar, the whips, the taunts, and the familiarity of being a slave. Even God had to start again. He knew that in order for these people to possess the land, they had to have a renewed mindset. They had to possess first the Promise in their eyes, and hearts and minds.

What are some of the things you need to start again this year? What are the things that you have to preserve? Don't be afriad of starting again. God did. Until the fulfillment of His Promise.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc began his keynote address in the Macworld Expo 2007 with "Today, we will make history together." During the 45 minute presentation, he gave the world 2 very beautiful genius inventions - Apple TV and the iPhone.

Let this go down the record: iWant the Apple iPhone so so soooo muchhh! Retailing at USD$499 for the 4G version, and USD $599 for the 8G version, it will only be released in Asia in 2008. Enough time for me to store up the moolah and get one when it's here! Feel the wrath of the Apple, you boring, tech-nerdy Blackberrys, Treos, Palm what-nots and big-ol' caveman Nokia N-series! muahahaha...

Meanwhile, if you have an Apple fetish too click here to read New York Times coverage on the iPhone, and here to read Gizmodo's review. And of course, click to the Apple website for their iPhone feature here.

Third of January two thousand and seven.

I love the smell of fresh air. I love how the sun shone brightly this morning. I love how beautiful the Singapore skyline can be. I love how cool the air can be in the early mornings of the day. I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee and how little pleasures like half boiled egg and toast can be so satisfying. I love how God laid the foundations in 2006 for 2007. I love because He is a God that orchestrates Hope, Destiny and a Future.

I thank God for how He made 2006 lovely. Yes, there were times when it was difficult and rough. But God was there, and He is still here. I love how He kept everything going and together. It wasn't always easy, but there were times when God had to do a deep work in order to get the foundations right. And like Ps Ben Fewster once said, the work of the foundation isn't always the prettiest sight, yet vital, 'cause God will be using that very same foundation to build upwards.

I believe how 2007 will be a year where God will show me His glory in so many ways. I believe He will show me how awesome He is and what He can do through the hearts of one who believes and obeys. For obedience is better than sacrifice. To obey is to move when God calls you to move. 2007 is also a year where Malaysia will celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence. And it will be a year where God will proclaim a year of jubilee on this nation. He will pour out His blessings straight from the gates of heaven, He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It's the third day of the year. And I can't help but thank God that this will be an awesome year. We are but limited only by our imagination. It's time the church arise and shine, to be that city on a hill that cannot he hidden. To be a church of first class. To be a church that speaks to every generation of people in this nation. To be relevant. To be the out-of-the-box Christians that the world have never seen before.