..my battle stance..

So I posted 52 times in 2013. That's like once a week. The lowest figure since I started blogging here. But so do the other blogger friends I have. Guess people blog less nowadays. But of course new year must start with some optimism mah. So here's to a meaningful and productive blogging in 2014. Halah.. -__-" Resolution. This word is inevitable in January rite? What's yours? Mine.. physically.. to renew my commitment to regular exercise and healthier lifestyle. Note: I said regular. means.. even if it's once a week, it's still counted. Most important is consistency rite? And book. Yeah.. must catch up big time. Have not been reading much for years. Now.. related to that is.. to make it a point to remind myself every morning that.. I AM NOT WISE. Yeah..this verse speaks ever so loud to me at the moment: Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Proverbs 26:12) As for the rest.. will do some p...

I sense that 2014 is gonna be such an amazing year. Well.. God knows. Me.. I just follow. Too many things happened this year. But the last couple of months have been the most happening ones. Still far, miraculously far from where I need to be as of now. And that's why.. something amazing just has to happen right? As Holmes said.. when you have eliminated all the other possibilities, the remaining option, no matter how impossible it seems.. has to be the answer. And the answer or solution to this insane situation.. has to be Jesus. Alright.. sleep now. Hope to be back here tomorrow. God bless!

I once illustrated to someone what.. I think.. marriage is about. and she asked me.. where did you quote those words from? probably she thought those words were kinda.. too cool to come out from my mind. Ah.. but.. there is something you don't know girl. The thing is.. I have seen enough case of failed. broken, tarnished marriages. in my own way, I once was on my knees.. Praying and fighting to keep a marriage alive. in fact.. where 20-30 yrs old marriage is concerned.. I have not seen a perfect one. Anything close to that.. I merely heard about them. from the pulpit. Hence.. my belief. hence.. I. so today.. I was wondering.. well I thought I understood relationship and marriage. What I didn't understood apparently.. is courtship. It's the 'game'. Hated to play along. And I fail miserably. till today. So..at this juncture.. when heart is bare naked, and life is laid down. and all I get.. is.. a request. Well... I told my chat-till-morning-pgp-go...

I had about 4-5 paragraphs written about the recent article that went viral, and the responding article. The one about marriage. That it's not for me, and it's for us, bla bla bla. Then I deleted everything. What's the point right? If such articles could save relationships and marriages, well.. I dunno.. I guess it takes so much more than motivational stories. So what's the point of me commenting? Having said that.. there is this story that I always always remember.. http://www.snopes.com/glurge/carry.asp (I read the original version, without the tragic end). Maybe because I kinda wept when I read it first time hah.

This blogger is funny! especially her blind date stuff. Hah.. http://behindthebasics.blogspot.sg/

They have this saying, it's always darkest before dawn. In our walk with God, the moment when it seems absolutely impossible for our prayer to be answered is usually that defining moment when miracle is just about to happen. The moment when we sigh, "I am finished.." is the moment when He come and remind us, "It's done." That moment when we have no choice but to surrender.. He comes to deliver. And how timely is His deliverance. Never too late. And somehow.. never too early either. Think about Jairus (Luke 8). How beautiful was that story. This man was begging for Jesus' help to come and heal his dying daughter. Jesus duly obliged. But as they made their way to his house, something happened. The bleeding woman. In itself it was such a beautiful tale. It was not so much about how she was healed when she touched his garment, to me. But how Jesus actually made a point to stop. And looked for her. More than miracle, she needed that persona...

There's always that new old stuff that I didn't know.. Like the english origin (at least melody-wise) of that song selamanya cinta. till my eyes are shut by the sand of time.. I will dream with you. good nite crazy world.

GOD DOES know how to JOKE! of all days, I reach Malachi 2 TODAY. Awesome. Well.. I have not read bible back to back a lot. Heard many preachers quoting the words 'God hates divorce'. But where did that verse come from? I didn't really know. So let me log it today. It's from Malachi 2:16. Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce!” says the Lord , the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.” (Malachi 2:15-16). But... why does it have to be today? It is a cruel joke on me. That He would speak about marriage to me, today. Or so it seems to me. Well God Almighty.. I have no idea.  And I am totally shattered here. But it doesn't change the truth that.. You are t...

well... probably the only important thing that's left unsaid is this. that I forgive you.

I have not been to too many weddings this year. those 'wedding years' were over. which is good. and bad as well. because I was soo outdated with the angpao rate, I accidentally gave a very, very, er.. 'substandard' angpao to one of my friends. It was combination of my ignorance and unpreparedness cash-wise on that day itself. Still feel paiseh till now. But since we are not that close, also awkward to do anything about it afterwards. sigh.. Well.. if by some far-fetched possibility you read this blog, I just want to say sorry. And I would love to treat you dinner to partially make u for that hah. the last wedding I attended was that of Owen's. It was great in a way that it brought back so much memories. Almost like a recap of my 14 years journey here. All those familiar heartwarming faces :) Anyway.. of those couple of weddings I attended.. there was one that particularly stood out. It was my sembawang friend's wedding. or rather, kebaktian ucapa...

I should have gotten my hands on the latest invention that was said to be the next big thing after light bulb. Yeah.. BBM for Android. Why? Because I have a couple of clients in Indonesia who use only blackberry phone. Because I can then advertise my bb pin on my online marketing platform targeted at Indonesians. And above all, because it's free. But I have resisted doing so. Till today at least. The hype is just too much for me. Seriously, do we really need to be THAT connected?? oh well.. even our anti-social-media friend Ms Lo has embraced instagram. I am giving up hah.

If you have 30 mins to spare, you might want to watch the following video. I don't know what's the real agenda of the folks behind this video, but I am quite sure there are some truths in what they are saying. The world is running on debt indeed. We do not necessarily know what to do to make a difference now. But at least, we should remember that there is something horribly wrong with the whole system today. We may not see a great collapse today or next year. But who is to say that there won't be 'Great Depression' in our era? A wise king once said.. "there is nothing new under the sun". What has happened could and would happen again. "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken...

Well.. we all know this guy, right? Probably.. the greatest worship leader that our country has ever produced thus far. At least.. exposure-wise. A regular in Hillsong Conf, well respected by people like Darlene, Israel, et al. Despite his small frame, this guy is Huge. But when you attend his local church, you will see how 'ordinary' he is. One day, I was at his church when he was preaching. He shared with us about how his wife was often amused by his popularity. Coz as he put it, he was really.. really.. an ordinary guy. Nothing special. If you don't know any better, it will sound like a fake humility. Seriously.. he is probably the Most Famous Guy there is when it comes to Indonesian Gospel. But he was saying the true. His church has so much talent that if you simply talk about talent, he was indeed 'nothing special'. In terms of voice, there are some younger WLs with better techniques. In terms of music instruments, his guitar is, ...

Habakkuk 3: 8  Was it in anger, Lord , that you struck the rivers      and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them?      No, you were sending your chariots of salvation! 9  You brandished your bow      and your quiver of arrows.      You split open the earth with flowing rivers. 10  The mountains watched and trembled.      Onward swept the raging waters. The mighty deep cried out,      lifting its hands to the Lord . 11  The sun and moon stood still in the sky      as your brilliant arrows flew      and your glittering spear flashed. Oh I am in love with this worship song every time I read it. We often quote verses 17-19, which I believe inspire the Desert Song. But the earlier verses are also very, very, powerful. Before the prophet was his fallen nation. There was no economy recovery ...

Tanah Airku.. tidak kulupakan. After some years of declaring my love for my country over facebook & twitter, I decide to stay quiet on the 17th. At some points you just feel that it means so much more than some writings on the wall. Or some anniversary routine. been almost a month here. in jakarta. so much going on. life has somewhat picked up here. and i have picked up journal-ing again. which feels great. nothing beats the feeling of actually writing with pen on a physical paper. typing and laptop, at some points.. just don't cut it. maybe the writer in us, the creativity in us.. somewhat is lost amidst the boring sound of typing, the convenience of backspace / undo button, you know.. learned this when I was reading 'Steal like an Artist', a good book. A part of me that has been half dead for so many years.. Is now half awake.

I have long been wondering about the issue, or rather the biblical truth of tithing, first fruit, etc. So if you never have issue with the above issue.. you probably won't need to read on. let me first admit that the 10% is indeed not easy. the first fruit is of course even more challenging. I truly admire those who faithfully and cheerfully give. Bless them! And they probably won't need to read on as well. I am convinced that as they sow generously into the Father's field, they will reap bountifully too. The question here is more towards the way today's churches instruct their members to tithe. How not tithing is similar to robbing God of His right, and the curse/blessing that goes with it. Is this teaching .. biblical ? a quick googling will lead us to various write ups. Some for, some against.. the teaching. Some point out that tithing is part of ceremonial law (along with those clean/unclean food, etc ). It is, firstly, meant for the Israelites. Wh...

I was thinking about Mary suddenly. Jesus' mom. Her life.. it was quite incredible, isn't it? No wonder that some of our friends would look up to her in such a special way. Think about it. From Genesis to Revelation.. has any woman ever conceived in such a way? by the Holy Spirit? which literally means.. God? I can't even imagine what that really, really means. If you watch anime, you probably know this show 'Beelzebub'. Well that baby was totally not normal. Only the characters in the show would believe he was human. But Jesus? He was born a baby. Human. I suppose Mary would have expected a glow in the dark baby at least. But there he was.. warm and tiny, in her embrace. Baby Jesus. And I suppose baby Jesus needed breastfeeding as well. So their relationship would've been truly.. that of a mother and child from day one. to try imagining Mary.. on one hand a normal mother, and yet on the other hand, doing her best to grasp this grand p...

so this song returns..

Hosea 3:5 They’ll come back chastened to reverence      before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love. (MSG) they will come trembling to Adonai and his goodness in the acharit-hayamim . (CJB) and they shall come in [anxious] fear to the Lord and to His goodness and His good things in the latter days. (AMP)   I pray that God will help me each morning.. to start the day with bended knees and humble heart. That I will start the day in the fear of the Lord. And before anything else.. that I may come to His goodness with reverence and awe.