Exam over!

Good heavens..... Exams over! Now what? Hmm... I'm thinking we need to get the template of this site sorted. In other words, possibly find another one and adapt it to our needs. Just not enough at this point in time.

Blogger has some issues with SingNet users, (namely, May and myself), we investigated and found out that we needed to include the proxy server in the connection settings in order for some of the Blogger features to work! How lame.

Anyway, let's see where we can go from here. :P

P.S. Merv! I think blogger deleted your pic of Fern and Clarah somehow, you might wanna upload it again.

Upcoming events!

Say say say! As stated at the side, us Kingdom Friends/mates/lovers/football fans (OK, that's just for the few of us) are certainly looking forward to all the akan datangs coming our way!


A summary of all our get-togethers to look forward to (apart from our usual late-night piggings, of course :P)

1. FA Cup final

vs.

It's here, the season climax! We're rooting for the Reds to bring home the Cup for the record 9th time 12TH TIME! and to prove that Ru$$ian roubles don't win you championships and trophies! *hahahahaha*

Will post a vid a week, for inspiration for Saturday. Keep a heads up!

2. Kulai trip: MAKAN feast!

The (other) major feasting in May! (Besides the FA Cup lah ... kidding!)

Look out for email updates hor, I'll be posting an update sometime this week. Basically, summarize info in our emails.

If only someone took pics of the SUPER SUCCULENT 排骨王 the last time... I swear, I've renounced going kosher forever after that Malacca trip! *heh heh*


3. National Runway (or runaway?) Cycling

To quote Yuzhen:

Date: Sunday, 3 June 2007
Time: 8am
Venue: Paya Lebar Air Base

Family Route: 6km (Obviously we'll take this route)
VitaHealth Leisure Route: 15km
Shimano Endurance Challenge: Cyclists - 45km
Endurance Challenge: Inline Skaters - either 15km or 30km

Registration is free. You can bring your own bike or rent 1 for $18.

Normally our group only goes out to eat. Maybe this time we can do something more healthy!

Well, do give it some thought yah? We could always take this opportunity to burn off all we digest 4 days after our Kulai feast! *heh heh*

4. Kelong trip

As per Fern's suggestion. I think it'll be great to have a 'lil idyllic getaway together. As we're waiting for Pulsator (heh heh) to return to Fried Rice paradise, we're likely looking at about Sept or Oct for that kelong stay. Might have to book early though. KIV Eric's auntie's kelong?

Btw, Ben, to help you miss home food:

More later!

MerV
U da Man!

HAPPY Brother's *nope* Bother *ahem* MOTHER'S DAY!

Dear all,

Happy Mother's Day! Esp to the dearest mummy of all... the only one in our blog lah! (Edited: Following comments earlier directed to Fern deleted... for sensitive faith reasons o.O )



Here's to all our mummies - "HELLO MUM!" *waves* - and mummies-to-be here:
(in no particular order):

May

Maria

(Following list refers to FUTURE blessings: don't try to claim now hor! :P)

Jo

Yuzhen

Tomo

Cherie

Clara (and Clarah :D)

Michelle

and to all women of God (I may have left out),

whom God has anointed to be the guiding light to point us to God's love. This is for you!!! (erm...)



That's why we boys need God's love, hahahahahahaha...

MerV

Ben's Blog

Hi Ppl
Check out my blog @http://benedicttay.blogspot.com/
Post my latest pic here cos i wanted my colleagues to see as well
still got no time to blog..
But pics first

Why Manchester United is a Godly team :D

As promised...

I realize there're actually 4 Man U fans amongst us Godly people! Yiippeeeeee!!! *kallang wave: Kev-Bernard-Jason-MerV*

(so the score stands at:
4 non-football fans 0 )

If we include Fern, that's 5 of us *grin*

OK, just a short quip. For MANY years in our church, we have Pastors, Dn Jack etc (he's a Liverfool, I mean, Liverpool fan *yeughks* :þ) all sliming our beloved Man U, saying we're called the "Red Devils", why should we root for a team named after the devil yada yada yada... (at least we take comfort in the fact that Dn Azhar - a church leader leh! - is on our winning side *grin*

Well, one day, it just came to me lor! Why we declare the term "Red Devils" on Man U? Coz the devil had been defeated BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB LIAO MAH!!! Why you think we have VICTORY AFTER VICTORY??!?! COME BROS, LET'S CELEBRATE THAT WE'RE ON THE WINNING SIDE, AMEN!!!

*big fat wide grin*


Oh, quiz time!
Q: What colour is Jesus' blood? Issit:

1. Red?
2. White?

*heh heh heh* ... OK, better stop my rambling for now, CHEERS!

MerV
"U da Man!"


For you (us) football fans: a tribute to our winning team who exemplifies courage in the face of adversity:



Which football team (Man U or otherwise) would you say characterizes our Lord Jesus most closely? And why?

random photos

i mean, i know this is sick, but i'm sure kev wants a record of his ordeal haha

May posing for the camera =P so fun to play with the camera in the Rock haha

wah i kena dian already, so beautifuls

what do you think of maria's new hairdo? i think it's v nice leh

The Story of Three bullets

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go but hunting and kill some wild game for dinner.

As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit and missed it. The rabbit ran away.

Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree.

As he went further, he saw a large wild "Tom" turkey in the tree, but he had only one bullet remaining. A voice spoke to him and said, "Pray first, aim high and stay focused."

However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake.

Still, the voice said again to him, "I said Pray, Aim high and Stay focused."

So, the man decided to listen to God's voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat for his family.

The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Moral of the story:
Pray first before you do anything, Aim and shoot high in your goals, and
stay focused on God. Never let others discourage you concerning your past. The past is exactly that, "the past."

Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God knows our future and that he will not put you through any more than you can bear .

Do not look to man for your blessings, but look to the doors that only He
has prepared in advance for you in your favor.

Wait, be still and patient: keep God first and everything else will follow.

What you focus on, you will expand!

What You Focus On, You Will Expand!
by Patricia King

1. We often feel inferior and have no confidence in our abilities or ourselves. Somehow, we have forgotten we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are made perfect in Christ. Why do we choose to look at ourselves with the eyes of the enemy instead of seeing what God sees in us? God thinks we are perfect – why don’t we believe God? Look into your heart and rejoice! You are made perfect and that’s exactly the way God created you.

“You dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you, is greater than the one who is in the world” 1John 4:4

2. Focusing on disease and fear instead of health and well-being. We speak about it, we think about it but we fail to see that none of those things came from God. What you focus on, you will empower! By allowing the enemy to convince us we are not good enough, we are not able to see others and ourselves with God’s eyes. Talking about a sickness and a disease will empower that very thing. We need to focus on the good and the healthy in our lives and in our bodies. Every time you feel like saying – my arms don’t work the way they used to, try saying, Thank God my legs still work amazingly. Praise God for the good in your life.

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength”. Philippians 4:13

3. We need to be aware of the confessions we make. Use caution in what we speak out. Words have power and we can give life to lies and the enemy. When we hear the enemy and we speak it out, we can empower the enemy and the very thing that we don’t want to happen. For example, we say, “We are not smart enough, not educated enough, not good looking enough”. We put power into these words. If you say you can never get that job, that house and speak it out, you have just put a curse on yourself. Even if you don’t believe it, say it. Keep repeating the positive until you believe it. The truth is a powerful weapon. Don’t let anyone take it away from you!

4. God looks at the heart so why don’t we? We need to focus on the positive in people and look at their heart; anything else is not from God. There will be days you won’t be able to look into the mirror and smile. There will be days you won’t be able to look at your husband/wife and smile. Those are the days you can change your life. It is vital that we concentrate on the positive! By looking at the good qualities in a person, we can change our outlook. Instead of saying, “My husband never brings me flowers”. Try saying, “My husband always makes me smile”. The rest will follow. The atmosphere in your home will change and the people around you will notice that you are carrying God’s love.

5. Fact vs. Truth - We have the facts/circumstances and we have the truth/God's Word, and we get to choose which to believe. That which you focus on you empower, and God's Word has much more life and truth than any fact. Choose Love!

6. Truth is powerful: We are in a season of change and LOVE and TRUTH are our most powerful weapons. I just started reading a book recently by Rick Joyner called The Final Quest and in the first chapter, he is talking about a dream. In this dream he and others are climbing a mountain and the higher they go the more tiny and slippery the ledges get. He is in a battle with the enemy, he has a sword and arrows, and at one point instead of using his sword to fight, he dug it into the ground as an anchor and tied himself to it. I could go on and on with all the significance in the dream, but the main thing is that he made a decision to anchor himself to the Word of God/truth and in doing that, had greater stability and accuracy in hitting the enemy with his arrows. Let's allow truth to be our anchor and tied to that nothing can shake us.

praise Jesus

hope this short devotional speaks truth to you. like what Pastor Prince said before, Proverbs 18:21 doesn't just say the power of life and death is in the tongue, but goes on to say that he who loves it will EAT THE FRUIT THEREOF.

it's my heart's desire that everyone eats GOOD and RIPE and HEALTHFUL fruit =) amen!

Kulai trip

FIRST POST! Sorry for being so procrastinistic about following up on all your posts, I sure cannot finish reading from day 1 one. Was thinking of writing about football aka Man U, but then more than 50% of us would probably roll his/her eyes. Happy to say that Fern wouldn't be one of them! (Right Fern? OI OI!!!)

OK, as per (very short) discussion after this evening's supper, here are the details:

KULAI TRIP

Main event: MAKAN in KULAI, Johor *wooooo hoooooooooooooo*
Follow-up: Hopefully followed by sweet fellowship, maybe even worship
Date: 31st May 2007 (Thursday)
Time: After 6pm (meeting time and place to be decided later)
Mode of transport: Available cars and motorbikes

The lovely people (I'd personally love to be there) for our get-together:

• Daniel
• Niq
• Yuzhen
• Jolene
• Kevin
• May
• Bernard
• Maria
• Eric
• Cherie
• Clara


(Just edited, sorry, left out our dear brother and sister -> My sotongity)

• Jason
• Tomo

Hope I didn't miss anyone else out? It'll be a wonderful time of makan (wah lau, salivating already just thinking about the KING pork ribs) and fellowship. It's gonna be on a public holiday, so I guess we can expect the causeway to be crowded with dinner-goers, Malaysian home-getters and political castaways (just kidding). As we're probably gonna fellowship til quite late, must bear in mind that next day is a working day (but it's Friday!). May's already indicated she can't join us

So, please write in comments to indicate if you can join in hor? No comments means "CAN" by default! *buahahahahahah*

More details on the way, cheers!
MerV

PS. My promise: Next post(s) would be on football (it's FOOTBALL, don't follow the American wussies and say "soccer"! :D)

National Runway Cycling

Found this on the safra website. Anyone interested? Thought it would be fun if we go as a big group.

Date: Sunday, 3 June 2007
Time: 8am
Venue: Paya Lebar Air Base

Family Route: 6km (Obviously we'll take this route)
VitaHealth Leisure Route: 15km
Shimano Endurance Challenge: Cyclists - 45km
Endurance Challenge: Inline Skaters - either 15km or 30km

Registration is free. You can bring your own bike or rent 1 for $18.

Normally our group only goes out to eat. Maybe this time we can do something more healthy!

Gratitude for Ungrateful Days

Gratitude for Ungrateful Days
by Max Lucado

“Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus”
(I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NCV).

Look at the totality of those terms. Always be joyful. Pray continually. Give thanks whatever happens. Learn a lesson from Sidney Connell. When her brand-new bicycle was stolen, she called her dad with the bad news. He expected his daughter to be upset. But Sidney wasn’t crying. She was honored. “Dad,” she boasted, “out of all the bikes they could have taken, they took mine.”

Make gratitude your default emotion, and you’ll find yourself giving thanks for the problems of life. Need spice in your day? Thank God for every problem that comes down the pike. Is any situation so dire that gratitude is eliminated? Some of the ladies at the Women of Faith Conference thought it was. This great organization fills arenas with women, and women with hope. The president, Mary Graham, told me about one particular weekend in which a shortage of space tested everyone’s patience.

The floor had 150 fewer seats than needed. The arena staff tried to solve the problem by using narrow chairs. As a result, every woman had a place to sit, but everyone was crowded. Complaints contaminated like feedlot fragrance. Mary asked Joni Eareckson Tada, a speaker for the evening, if she could calm the crowd. Joni was perfectly qualified to do so. A childhood diving accident has left her wheelchair-bound. The attendants rolled her onto the platform, and Joni addressed the unhappy crowd. “I understand some of you don’t like the chair in which you are sitting. Neither do I. But I have about a thousand handicapped friends who would gladly trade places with you in an instant.”

The grumbling ceased.

Yours can too.

Impossible, you say? How do you know? How do you know until you give every day a chance?

Daily Word by Joyce Meyer

shalom to all...
Just wana share this Daily Word with you, taken frm Joyce Meyer website...

The Wonderful Holy Spirit - 6th May 2007

Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith... —Hebrews 12:2

Do you fellowship with your problem or with the Lord?
The devil wants us to think about our problem, worry about our problem, talk about and try to reason out our problem. God desires for us to spend time with Him, talk to Him, and think about Him and His Word.
Jesus is the One we are to look to in order to have our needs met. If we dwell in Him, our problem has no power over us, but if we dwell on the problem, we magnify it above Him. The more attention we give our problem, the more we feed it, the more power it has over us.
I remember when my husband and I were having financial struggles. I would give Dave the bad report, and he would give me the Word, telling me to cast my care on the Lord. He would fellowship with God while I fellowshipped with the problem. The more I did so, the more upset I became.
The devil starts the problem rolling. The more you think, worry, reason, talk, plan, and scheme about it, the bigger it gets. If you look to Jesus, you will experience the miracle power of God as you trust in Him.

Do This:
Forget your problems. Don't think about them, worry about them, or talk about them. Fellowship with God instead, and you will enjoy life tremendously.

Godtube

first there was youtube, then there was godtube.

www.godtube.com

check it out

Fractional Reserve Banking

Hi guys, did some research when i came back, thought you might be interested in knowing what our banking system is based on - "Fractional" Reserve Banking as opposed to "Full" Reserve Banking.

In 16th century England people who had gold would deposit it with goldsmiths for safekeeping. In exchange they got a signed receipt guaranteeing that they could retrieve it. The value assigned to that note backed by the gold in the goldsmith’s vault made it possible for one to use it in payment.

That means if A deposited £10 worth of gold and had in his possession a receipt, he could settle his debt with it. That receipt became money. The person who took it in payment could either use it as it is, or at some later point retrieve the gold in the goldsmith’s keeping.

At the same time B borrows £10 worth of gold from the goldsmith but receives a promissory note. He settles his debt to C with that note. Now there are two notes in circulation for one amount of gold. The goldsmith being smart realises that these notes can actually be in circulation for quite some time, several years even. He issues further notes knowing that it's highly unlikely that everyone would claim their gold at the same time.

According to contemporary economical calculations he can safely lend at least ten times the amount deposited. If there are two or more people who suddenly wish to retrieve their gold, he can also rely on the fact that he has debtors who owe him gold, although they originally received nothing but a piece of paper. They then have to pay him in gold, and should they default he could seize whatever possessions they had, sell these, buy gold and settle the claims. I might add that the goldsmith of course lent out promissory notes for non-existent gold at interest.

Today’s banks do the same.

Simply put, every loan given is a deposit. You go to the bank, ask for a loan of say $1000 and they open an account for you to that amount. If you ask for it in cash to settle a debt, someone else will eventually deposit that amount. You of course still owe your bank that money, which was created out of nothing the moment you opened your mouth. The money created is debt to which they add interest.

And that is Fractional Reserve Banking for you.

haha.

for further reading, check out gold standard on wikipedia, or investing in gold

ok v tired liao, going to sleep. gdnite everyone!

Our Father loves us

Read a fren's blog and felt that what she posted was very encouraging and i felt very comforted reading what she abstracted from a Rick Warren book.

God has a purpose behind every problem.

He uses circumstances to develop our character. Jesus warned us that we would have problems in the world. Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God's growth process for you.

Peter assures us that problems are normal, saying, "Don't be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for his is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you."

The Lord is close to the broken hearted, he rescues those who are crushed in spirit. Your most intimate time with the Lord will most likely be in your darkest day. When we are in pain, we don't have the energy for superficial prayers.

Joni Eareckson Tada notes: When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus. We learn things about God in suffering that we can't learn any other way.

Problems force us to look to God and depend on him instead of ourselves. As Paul testified: We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us."

Every of your circumstances are Father Filtered.

Six Unique Affairs

Not very edifying but quite hilarious.

The 1st Affair
A married man was having an affair with his secretary. One day they went to her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM. The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt. He put on his shoes and drove home.

"Where have you been?" his wife demanded. "I can't lie to you," he replied, "I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon." She looked down at his shoes and said: "You lying bastard! You've been playing golf!"

The 2nd Affair
A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a son. They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted. The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.

The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son. He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen. He told his wife: "There's no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?"

The wife smiled sweetly and replied: "Not this time!"

The 3rd Affair
A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery. Schwartz had the largest private part he had ever seen!

"I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz," the mortician commented, "I can't allow you to be cremated with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity." So, he removed it, stuffed it into his briefcase, and took it home. "I have something to show you won't believe," he said to his wife, opening his briefcase.

"My God!" the wife exclaimed, "Schwartz is dead!"

The 4th Affair
A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door. "Hurry," she said, "stand in the corner." She rubbed baby oil all over him, then dusted him with talcum powder. Don't move until I tell you, " she said, " pretend you're a statue." "

What's this?" the husband inquired as he entered the room. "Oh it's a statue," she replied, "the Smiths bought one and I liked it so I got one for us, too." No more was said, not even when they went to bed.

Around 2 AM the husband got up, went to the kitchen and returned with a sandwich and a beer. "Here," he said to the statue, have this. I stood like that for two days at the Smiths and nobody offered me a damned thing."

The 5th Affair
A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer. "Certainly, Sir , that'll be one cent." One Cent?" the man exclaimed. He glanced at the menu and asked, "How muc h for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?" "A nickel," the barman replied. "A nickel?" exclaimed the man.

"Where's the guy who owns this place?" The bartender replied: "Upstairs, with my wife." The man asked: "What's he doing upstairs with your wife?" The bartender replied: "The same thing I'm doing to his business down here."

The 6th Affair
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside He looked up and said weakly, "I have something I must confess." "There's no need to, " his wife replied. "No," he insisted, "I want to die in peace. I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!"

"I know," she replied, " now just rest and let the poison work."

Something to remember...

For the record.

Thanks guys. :) Y'all been great and very surprising! LOL

(A shot of Jo being interrogated by the gang)

Picture of Faith

hi guys

my photoshop skillz not so there yet... i doubt i'll get a job editing magazine covers haha (anyway i did this using GIMP) but God's word talks about visualisation and the power of faith pictures... so this is my faith picture!

Mark 11:23

in line with what pastor was preaching on sunday about the simplicity of speaking...

Mar 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he SAITH.

if you notice, in this passage of scripture, the word say or saith is mentioned 3 times, as compared to believe which is only mentioned once - personally i feel that the Lord is emphasizing the importance of SPEAKING out your authority and blessings!

Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

your victory is first in your mouth, then in your heart =) by speaking out your faith, the revelation will drop into your heart, and your miracles will manifest. even people of the world know that...

=)

feeling faithless? feeling down? feeling out? speak out your salvation, speak out your blessings and speak out your victory! your tongue is the rudder that guides your ship to the gates of victory!

i call forth victory and i call forth success!!

Kelong Trip (an update)

Dear Kingdom Friends,

this is a follow up on the last blog that was sent a week ago.
I spoke with Eric on Thurs at supper about this kelong thing and *surprise surprise* he says his aunt also has a kelong and has a package like this for tourists like us.
The package is S$65, 2days 1night. This is inclusive of transport from Sgp to M'sia (Kukup), meals and drinks provided. The rooms are furnished with air-cons (I can see Daniel lifting his hands and thanking God) and it's cold type not like the ones at Seri Costa. But fishing is not popular as there aren't many fishes. If we don't wanna take up the transport thing we can drive/ bike up on our own. The package will be RM$75 instead.

It sounds good to me cos it's Eric's relative - we would help bring her biz and we also can enjoy "VIP" treatment. *heh heh*

What say you all?