FEATURE: Awesome Sketches!

If you guys/galz think you can sketch or draw, check these sketches out! They will mesmerize you!

I'd juz like to say this to a certain, special someone, you know who you are... This post is dedicated especially to you, to make you smile even in this time of frustration! You're NOT stupid! You juz need more time to consolidate the facts in your syllabus, and in time, you will get it, I really believe that! You're stronger and smarter than you think dear!

I believe in you! I trust you the same way that you've always trusted me! Been praying for you a lot, and for a lot of things concerning you. Thanx for opening up to me, dear! Thanx for always being there for me at the right time! Thanx for being my angel and calling me yours too! *hugs*

~Tim~

The Trinity: The Only 3-in-1 You'll Ever Need!

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son & Holy Spirit as 3 persons in 1 Godhead. Each of the persons is understood as having one identical essence or nature. not merely similar natures. The members of the Trinity are said to be co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will. All three are eternal with no beginning. It is one of the hardest concepts to grasp in Christianity... even for seasoned scholars of Christian theology.

If you're looking for a complete and thorough understanding of the Trinity, look elsewhere! This post isn't meant to cover it in detail, but merely to reiterate the fact that it does exist, or in this case, co-exist. However, I was rambling around with my personal Christian Database of Information (CDI)... and I came across this interesting conversation involving the 3 persons of the Trinity and the angels in heaven. Juz thought I'd wanna share it with you.. since it's simple to understand and defines the individual roles of each of the persons in the Trinity. So enjoy!

God: Angels, do you know what I was just thinking about?

Angels: Of course not! What were you thinking about, Sir?

God: Christians seem to have forgotten what kind of power they have available and the Devil keeps on deceiving them!

Angels: Sir, what exactly are you getting at?

God: I have made My children in such a way that when the world is sitting, they would be standing... When the world is standing, they would stand out... When the world stands out, My children must be outstanding... And when the devil dares the world to be outstanding, My people will be the standards to be used!

Jesus: They (Christians) are also forgetting the words in Ephesians 1:3

God: Please read it out!

Angels: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly places with every spiritual blessing in Christ! So what do we do now since the end is almost near?

Holy Spirit: My presence is still among men and I will teach and remind the Christians of all that we have discussed.

Jesus: I will also continue interceding for them and stand in for them even in their weaknesses.

God: I will make sure that I give to all those who ask of Me, seek Me, and try to find Me. The blessings I have promised them through My Son, Jesus Christ will be delivered to all those who discover that I, Jehovah, am ready to bless them! Not because of any special things that they have done, but just because I love them!

Jesus: I will also give all My followers who are willing to carry out My will, the strength to carry on!

Angels: We are all backing the Trinity, and even the devil cannot stop us!

Blessings,

~Tim~

Monash CF Camp 2009

Monash CF Camp 2009 may be over, but the wonderful memories and lessons I learnt from the camp still linger on! The 4 days of self-discovery was worth every second... and I know a good many of you who attended the camp wished it never had to end!

The theme of this year's CF camp was "Lego Me Brother!", a phrase synonymous with the notions of ego suicide, sacrifice, grace, forgiveness and consecration among our brothers- and -sisters-in-Christ. Luke 17:3-4 clearly talks about the importance of forgiveness and rebuking a sibling-in-Christ when he or she sins. It is easier said than done in most cases, and during devotions in the morning, my group did discuss the many crucial issues within this context of brotherhood. We agreed that the strength of the body of Christ rests upon the relationships between our brothers and sisters.

Personally for me, I felt that the toughest aspect of brotherhood to actually practise is ego suicide. In a modern world where kiasu-ism and perfectionism is widespread, it is not easy to let go of your pride for the benefit of others at your own expense, especially when it means that the other person, as a result, would be of a higher status than you in the political or social hierarchy. However, after this camp, I will always be reminded about the reassuring fact of Jesus Christ's humility when He came into this fallen world. Christ is known to many by many different names, but one of my favourites is Servant King. He demonstrated humility by washing his disciples' feet and setting an example that is followed even today by many Christian groups around the world. His greatest act of love for the world was His sacrificial act of death for the sins of the world, even to death on the Cross!

Anyway, lessons aside, let's move on to the memories! Hey, what's camp without all the wonderful memories from the hundreds of pictures we took collectively? So without further ado...

During the Team Fortress game... Yours Truly in action!

Definitely one of my fave pics from this camp: Angel & Mortal at WAR! Awesome pic!

The game where we had to form the phrase, "LEGO ME BROTHER!" from satay sticks

The guys and girls at my table during the girls Dish-up

All Blacks!

My group was doing "America's Next Top Model" based on the "Wild Wild West" theme

In our play on the final night, we had to cross-dress!

Lind & I =)

Lind & I again on the final day, who apparently didn't change her shirt! =p

From this pic and the one above, who wouldn't notice that Lind likes to stand on the far right when taking pictures? =p

The med fac students that attended the camp!

The Year 2 meddies!

Another fave! The FGT-ians jump shot!

Lurve everything about this pic of Yin & I... you go gal!

Von looks really nice and sweet here

Raymas & I after arriving back @ Monash

Our parting shot with Victor, who was leaving us as he juz graduated

Thanksgiving time! Praise God, the author and perfector of our salvation, for everything that happened during the camp, both good and bad, as it taught me so much and made me a stronger person in more ways than one! A special shout-out and personal thank you to Ms. Annette Arulrajah & Yuong Eng for sharing and speaking to us on this not-so-easy topic... it was good hearing the Word from 2 Bible scholars who have definitely 'tasted more salt' than any of us at camp. Also worth mentioning were the strengthening of beautiful, pre-existing friendships and the forging of new ones over the 4 days of camp: the joy and fun we had bonding as the people of God united in one heart at the lovely Golden Sands beach area in Port Dickson! Camp would not be possible without the hard work of our camp commandant, my bro Raymas and his committee, so kudos to them for doing a wonderfully splendid job, especially those who were in the many worship teams... you guyz rawk! Praise God for the good and lovely weather throughout the camp, especially during the games planned out by Yin/Kaede, Carmen & Rachel Lim, which I also wanna thank for planning ever so meticulously and burning a lot of midnight oil juz to make sure everything went well! A special thank you to my angel and fellow FGT-ian, Abel, who encouraged me with his notes which came at the right times; and for having fun together at the Team Fortress game! If you're reading this, I can still remember you telling me that my angel was closer than I thought... which turned out to be so true coz u were juz sleeping next to me every night! o.O Thx 2 my fellow Year 2 meddies, Rachel Ooi & Evonne, for being there for me with your warm hugs and prayers, let's finish the race well together! Last but not least, thank you Lind... for making camp that much more interesting; for helping me design a new brand of footwear indirectly =p; for asking and making sure if I was alright from time-to-time; for being honest and transparent with me; for having those heart-to-heart talks at night; and all-in-all for juz making me feel comfortable when I'm with you! *hugs* I'll continue keeping you in my prayers dear!! =D

~Tim~

Is He Enough For You?

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For every thirst and every need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

You are my supply

My breath of life

And still more awesome than I know

You are my reward

worth living for

And still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For every thirst and every need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

You're my sacrifice

Of greatest price

And still more awesome than I know

You're the coming King

You are everything

And still more awesome than I know

More than all I want

More than all I need

You are more than enough for me

More than all I know

More than all I can say

You are more than enough for me

Chris Tomlin - Enough

The lyrics to this song are simple, yet meaningful in its own unique way. Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Chris Tomlin's songs, especially the older ones. This is partly due to 2 reasons. The first being I 'accidentally' took my sister's "Hello Love" album to KL, and have been listening to it from time to time (as I have a 6-disc CD player in my CRV, I get to swap CDs with the touch of a button without the hassle of changing discs =D) The other reason is that I've noticed that the worship leaders in FGT's youth service a.k.a. 365 include many of his hit songs, namely "Sing, Sing, Sing", "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)", "God of this City", and this one, "Enough".

I like how Chris makes his own versions of popular songs and improvises them to suit his style of worshiping God. His voice is both authoritative yet genuine, and in some songs, the quality of his music is noteworthy, some stating that he is the best worship leader in the world right now. Even Time magazine has noted that he is the "most often sung artist anywhere", with millions of worshipers singing his songs every week in churches across the globe.

p.s. Btw, "He" in my post's title refers to Jesus Christ, and not Chris Tomlin. =p And this is a short post before my faculty's retreat to Pulau Tioman... so there will be no more updates till I get back... Till then, adios & tc!

~Tim~

How Heavy Is A Glass of Water?

Ask yourself this question, "How heavy is a glass of water?"

The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to
hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it
for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each
case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it
becomes."

And that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the
time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we
won't be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and
rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on
with the burden.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if
you can.

Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

The following are quotes that I've found to be witty, fun, and in a way, truthful. Enjoy.

*Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the
statue.

*Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat
them.

*Always read/see/surf stuff that will make you look good if you die in
the middle of it.

*Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled.

*If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was
probably worth it.

*It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to
others.

*Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

*We could learn a lot from crayons... some are sharp, some are pretty
and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different
colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

And finally my favourite of the lot,
*You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the
world to one person.

I pray that as my Monashian friends both in med school and CF go through this exam period, we will learn to put down our glass of water occasionally in order to discern what is needful to de-stress our oh-so busy life.

L4D, shopping, dining, reading, Facebook-ing, exercising/jogging/weights-training, heart-to-heart talks, movies, random stuff, watching TV dramas, listening to songs, driving aimlessly, church events, caring for people who matter the most...

ALL THE BEST PPL... 4 the exams and to living a HEALTHY & BALANCED LIFE!!

~Tim~

Tear Down the Walls: Across the Earth

NOW LISTENING: Hillsong United - Tear Down the Walls: Across the Earth

That's right, dear avid readers, visitors, friends & family, etc... If you guys are fans of Hillsong United, this album is yet another jewel from the youths of Hillsong church. Released on the 26th of this month, it is only 5 days old and already it's selling fast like hotcakes!

I've always been a fan of their music, and who wouldn't? With previous hits like Hosanna, Mighty to Save, From the Inside Out, and Saviour King, among others, their music is not only a joy to the ears, but the meaningful lyrics accompanying most of their songs make them a global phenomenon to many believers out there, all Across the Earth! I totally enjoyed their concert last year where they came to Glad Tidings Church, PJ and performed songs from their The I Heart Revolution: With Hearts as One album, which was more a compilation of previous hits than a totally fresh album. Sadly, it is almost certain that Hillsong United will not be visiting Kuala Lumpur this year unlike last year. :( However, for those crazy enough to go down to Singapore, they will be there on the 25th of July @ The Zone Youth Conference! I might go for it, but then I'd have to skip a few days of classes... who knows? :p

Quoting a reviewer of the album who wishes not to be named, "Hillsong United is called for this purpose to sing, glorifying God, glorifying Jesus, across the whole earth. Great album, slightly different style from previous albums and it's great. Keep listening. God bless Hillsong, Hillsong United. Your Ministry is reaching amazing number of people all across the earth. I am blessed!"

So if you have not purchased this album, what are you waiting for? Time and tide waits for no man! Hope all of you had a great weekend! I know I did! :)

~Tim~

X-er-CISE!

The sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive...

Your heart pumps double or triple its normal rate...

Sweat trickles down your face...

Your face starts to flush...

Your muscles begin to tire...

The anaerobic respiratory pathway takes precedence over the aerobic one...

Lactic acid starts to build up inside your body...

Lactic acidosis leads to respiratory acidosis...

I could go on and on about what goes on during intensive physical exercise, but what's the point? Some of you already know the facts and figures. My point is, you've gotta experience it for yourself to really appreciate the wonders of the human body, especially when it has to utilise its compensatory mechanisms to continue supporting life during exercise, stress, etc...

Homeostasis.

Exercise makes you feel good, even if it means spending about half to one hour of your life per day to do it. No pain, no gain.

Newaez, so the story goes... I went jogging today with a couple of fellow CF-ers... or more specifically, the Aquarium Fishes. Yin & I went for Cell but left earlier as we wanted to jog before it got too dark. After changing in Sunway Campus, we set off at our own pace. The other CF-ers were already jogging. We set our Mp3 players, did our warm-ups and juz ran like nobody's business. Loved the feeling of wind blowing in my face and the Lord knows I needed this. =D Gotta work on my jogging technique more though, as it helps in building my stamina and overall endurance. Perhaps I did not do as much running and jogging before this due to time constraints, lack of motivation, etc. =) Being a medical student means I'm learning a lot more about primary healthcare (prevention before disease(s) set in), and one of the key factors is exercise.

I almost left out the fact that I also did do my home workout too yesterday. Thankfully, it's routine, even though I've toned down a somewhat since I entered into med school. Basically, the regime focuses on building strength, rather than endurance. Currently, I'm training using weights for my biceps, triceps, forearm muscles, shoulder muscles and upper chest. Additionally, there are the norms: sit-ups for abdominal muscles, push-ups, chest stretches, arm rolls, etc.

That being physical exercise, I also had some spiritual exercise too! We had a really good cell meeting earlier before the jog. At first, I thought we would juz be celebrating Aaron's b'day, who turned 21 today (and thus being a member of Club 21 instantaneously!) However, with our 365 Youth pastors there, things turned out a lil' bit differently. Ps. Louisa decided that we should take turns praying for one another, and this was done with someone being in the centre sharing their most significant prayer request and everyone laying his or her hand on the person, hearing God speak, and sharing it in prayerful words to him or her. It was really good... not only was everyone prayed for, but everyone who really listened to God speaking to them was able to impart words of encouragement and wisdom to the person in the centre. (p.s. I requested for good time management)

Don't get me started on mental exercise, please! The reason: I kinda juz realised that over the next 2 days, I'm gonna have 14 lectures!! Arrgghh, only time will tell if I 'die' of boredom, restlessness, chronic neurolecturitis, or all of the above!

For all those perfectionist all-rounders who's been taking note on what I've been sayin, there's always the emotional exercise included too in the full round-up of exercise variants. Well, the people who know me best know I'm usually very emotionally stable. Recently, however, some people have really got me thinking about certain things e.g. aspects in my life, among others. The positive ones I shall try to maintain, the negative ones I shall improve on... hopefully. Unfortunately, no details for now, guyz. Period. =>

Is this the calm before the storm to come? Newaez, over these 2 days, I felt good... About myself, about the people I love and cherish a.k.a. family & friends, about life as a whole. That's all that counts... that's all that matters. Cheerz ppl! =D

~Tim~