Last week of my birthday month

It's a Friday! The weekends are here! And I'm off to meet up with my poly friends to attend the TP alumni! :D This time it's not held at some nice room inside TP, but it's held in Orchard Cineleisure! :D We all had to pay $9 for a buffet dinner & a movie ticket for the movie "Step Up 3" :D

Upon knowing this offer, I phoned all my poly mates and signed them up :) Haha! The people I called and were present were Joan Tan, Jill Chen, Chor Seng, Sam, Ee Kian and Serene. However, we saw alot of our other friends too...Andy, Hoon, Belvin, Nazia, Johannes, Adi and alot more people whose faces I recognise...but not the names...HAHA!

 Adi, Chor Seng, Joan Tan, Serene, Johannes, Mr Andrew Tham, Ee Kian, Jill, Sam, ME! :D Don't ask me why Serene's IPhone4 took such a bluish picture...Haha..Must the mode setting...

The buffet dinner was good man. Haha. Chor Seng & I were clearing up the chicken wings man. I ate 10 chicken wings if I didn't count wrongly...HAHA! Along with the rest of the dishes, I was really full after that man...Haha.

Next was what we were all waiting for...The movie! Haha. It was free seating. And before I forget to mention...we were all given this laser pointer as a gift for attending this event...

Here's the irritating thing about having a theatre full of TP-ians with laser pointers...Before the movie started, everyone was playing with their laser pointers...shining at the emcee, shining at the advertisements and all... -___-" But when the show started, they stopped la...If not I'd have personally went and take their laser pointer and shine it right in their eyeball. Haha!

Anyway, the plot of the movie was utterly hackneyed. Sam & I were able to predict the whole storyline and outcome of each scene... -_-" There was no twist or surprise element that'd prove your prediction wrong. When the producer doesn't outwit you, then I think he has failed in his job...

But I must say the dance moves were awesome! Awesome because none of us in the theatre could do what they did...HAHA! The moves'd be average if compared to other dance shows like Stomp the Yard.

Anyway, we all had fun at this event :) So yay! :D

The following day Melvin called and asked me if I wanted to join them for night cycling...I don't really enjoy cycling but I enjoy the fellowship so I went. Haha. Chris already had a hotel room in Changi Village booked so he simply called more ppl to tompang :D

We cycled like 40+ click? At the end of it, my ass was aching bad, real bad. It's still painful now if I apply pressure to the anal area...the part where all my body weight and the seat meets...HAHA! They say it's because the seat quality is lousy. Haha.

Anyway, we - Jon Wee, Melvin, Christopher Cheok, Yourong and myself - cycled from Changi Village to East Coast park Mcdonald's. :D I was singing all the way man and talking occassionally with them as we cycled. Haha. I think I improved my vocal range a bit through all the hitting of the high notes at midnight...Haha!

We stopped at a few gazebos to rest our asses and our thigh muscles...haha...At one gazebo we or rather, I decided to snap a few photos :D Haha.

Jon Wee & Yourong...Shagged out...an armour infantry trooper and a commando lei! Shag should be the last thing on their list! HAHA! :P

Me, Chris Cheok & Melvin :D It's the 2 ops spec & a pre-enlistee that's still got the life man! HAHA! Whatever...LOLS :D

We reached back the hotel room at about 5am. Bathed and knocked out. And I must really say a big THANK YOU to Melvin & Christopher for waking up at 8am+ to return the bicycles before we kena extra charges...haha. Will treat you to a drink for that :) That's if you read this sentence and quote it to me :D HAHAHAHA!

Sunday arrived and in a swift change of plans, I ended up attending Heart of God church with my dad, mum & sister...initially...Until Matthew & Marc called me and I told them I was going Heart of God church..that's when they joined me :D haha!

I must say they are very much like our church. The people there are ordinary people...not some class of elites as people have portrayed them to me. They're just simple, candid and engaging. The difference between HOG & BAG is that the people there bother to make the effort to engage you. Other than that, we're very much the same.

Ok, their musicians are better, the preaching is better, sound system is better, media is better, but that's not what makes the church! What makes a church is the genuine care, concern and interest shown to an individual! And that's what they have. And of course, that culture has to be inspired and maintained by the leadership.

Their church has only 2 pastors...Ps How & his wife. Haha. That's all the pastors they need to sustain a 1600 strong predominant youth congregation! Interesting eh? It's not the quantity of the people that are running the show for God, it's the quality of the people..

And their cell group structure is different. They don't group by where you live. They group you by chemistry. Whoever brought who will stay in that particular group. So that's an interesting factor there. No matter how far the members stay from the cell meeting place, they'll still go because they simply love the fellowship, warmth and growth of the cell group. I wonder is this the case back home?

And one thing I learnt from them is...Their stage is off-limits to the congregation! I spoke to the guitarist and asked if I could play his guitar...He was like "Whoa, no you can't" In our church, even the kids can go up and play them...Haha.

Things are different there. And my church isn't far away from what it can actually be. It just needs a change of leadership. For everything rises and falls on leadership. The church is what it is because of the leaders that lead it...And interestingly, God is actually somewhat 'restrained' by man. He can only do so much as the people and the leaders avail themselves. So if they don't, God, so to speak, can't do much to change the church. But he can use circumstances to shake it up and wake them up and eventually, kick them out. Haha.

So yup, I hope our church will understand what the ecclesiastical church actually means. That's why doctrine is so important! That's the book I'm reading now by Joshua Harris "Dug Down Deep". He talks about how doctrine governs everything in this world.

And after service, Matthew, Marc & myself headed for dinner with Renee (marc's darling) at Raffle's City Shokudo :D

Renee & Marc...Check out the number of dishes we ordered...HAHA! Only 4 of us btw...LOLS.

Matthew with his fresh bout of sushis and sashimis....hahaha.

Marc & myself :D

Marc, Me & My big hotdog!! :D HAHA!

We over bought food there man. And I also got my Shokudo membership! :D Haha. And it's my birthday month so the discounts were good :D Good enough to offset the $30 needed to obtain the membership...Haha. So we got it. :D LOLS!

Yup, had a great weekend man :D I hope every weekend will be as fun and less-fattening...HAHA! :D On with the month of September... :)

Jaeson Ma & James Singh

You can call me holy. I went for 2 services last Sunday. haha. First, I went to City Church, a subsidiary of Cornerstone Church. Then, next was Bethel, a subsidiary of Rev. Fred & Margaret Sewart's ministry.. Haha. Ok the description of Bethel isn't that right but yeah...wana make it sound good. HAHA!

City church's service starts at 10am and they have a really good speaker in town - Jaeson Ma...He's a former drug dealer, an Asian American in his late 20s. He's really cool. And he's really, really passionate about what he's doing. Very much like I am...or was...haha. He also carries a bit of his gangster-ish flair in his dressing and mannerism.

Present at the service from Bethel was Matthew Thang, Regina Fluckiger, Serene Teng, Lee Xinjin, Athena and Regina's friend. :D And oh, I met 2 of my secondary school juniors there - Trudy & Timothy Teh...They're siblings. Haha. Glad to see them so faithful.

Their service was simple. And their worship style was also simple, very much like Bethel. The congregation was also like Bethel...reserved, semi-shy and all...But I think they put a bit more effort into hospitality than Bethel. I guess they know how important first impression is. Their ushers will really smile, shake your hand and guide you to a seat. And after service, their ushers go around serving cakes and drinks! :D That's their selling point. HAHAHA! Just kidding. But yeah, I think it's a good effort even though not many people came and introduced themselves to us and chat with us.

But I can see that they really love their pastor, pastor Daniel Chua. When he goes up to speak, he commands a silent respect and anticipation. He is really candid and funny. The stuff he says are really down to earth, realistic, sound, visionary and is spoken from his heart. Due to a combination of these factors, I must say he is inspiring.

Some pastors like to speak very aloof-ly; disconnected from the people and thus say things that don't catch people because it is not mixed with their heartbeat. A trademark of some of our pastors...Haha!

So yup, on with Jaeson Ma. He preached a sermon about recognising our God-given authority. A book I've read by Dutch Sheets "Authority in Prayer". Whatever he preached, I've read already. But hearing this re-mix from a cool, handsome, young, passionate pastor really inspires me once again to take up my cross and follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

His sermons together with many other writer's out there is the key to Revival. It's talking about a violent spiritual revolution that'll transform the world's spiritual landscape to look like what it originally was created to look like - Heaven.

He said that Christianity isn't a religion, it isn't a system called church either! It's a God-breathed mission to bring down heaven to earth as prayed by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-10 "This then, is how you should pray...Your kingdom come, may Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven" (GNB)

Jesus is telling to pray His will down on Earth! To make earth look like heaven! That's what Christianity is about! It's not about saving souls to go to Heaven! It's about saving souls such that they in turn can bring God's will down on planet Earth!

"If you accept Christ so that you can have that guarantee of going to heaven, then I might as well take an AK-47 right now and shoot you right in the head and confirm your guarantee! *WASAEI!!*" He was in his shouting, frustrated tone here and he ended with some Jap or Korean word of victory after killing someone...Haha. That's a little manifestation of his shadowy past...HAHA! His graphic usage of AK-47 and acting it out really tells his history. Haha.

His massive sermon is a summary of the book I've read. Try squeezing that in a 2 hour long sermon. But he kept us at the edge of our seats with really good off-the-cuff jokes and passionate pontifications.

Yup, it was a really refreshing service where the worship was authentic just like our church. Not the hyped up kind of worship, but the genuine and semi-restrained offering of our heart's song to God. They sang a song I really loved...I know the tune and lyrics...but don't know the song title and artist and all... -_-" haha. Here's the part of the chorus I remember:

Here is my heart

Make it Your sanctuary

For nobody else but Jesus only You

I shall go and find it out soon...I'll ask Timothy & Trudy la huh..Haha.

I think Cornerstone's very much like our church...in terms of expectation, culture and all just that they have leaders. We have managers. In a voluntary and complex organisation, leaders, not managers are needed.

Next service was ours :D Ps James Singh as usual in his confident candour approached the pulpit and spoke to us like we were his kids. He rocks man. Haha.

His word is deep and good and he is not afraid to 'scold' us for the things we do or are not doing...i.e. Giving.

I think God is speaking to me about surrender...again. As I've not fully surrenderred. Areas in my life are still closed to God...I needa go find the keys to those rooms and dig out the unwanted fears, insecurities, sins and all...

Ps James Singh's word is not as power-packed and inspiring like Jaeson Ma's, his preaching pierces your heart and lays bare your heart's condition before you and lets you decide if you want to let God do something by calling an altar call.

Yup, that Sunday I got a good heart resuscitation through Jaeson's Ma passionate preaching. Right after that, I got a heart surgery where God used Ps James Singh to shed some light on what's wrong in my life.

I really needa learn how to find a balance in my life between God and the rest of it man.

Anyway, got PT tml -_-" I'm half happy and half sianded because PT is good but it's held so early in the morning -__-" O well, I'll go for it. :D

Go get your IPPT Gold award Jon!! :D

Cashless, Cardless Shopping :D

If you're wondering how, let me tell you how. It's called Voucher Shopping! :D HAHA! For my 21st I received A LOT of vouchers. So, I chose Saturday after Fish4men street E to go shopping. :D

BTW, during street E on saturday, instead of street E-ing, we were street E-ed. HAHA! There were like 8 of these Indonesian chinese middle aged woman "evangelising" too! The reason why I put evangelising in inverted commas is because...they're not entirely Christians.

I nicknamed them "gan ma pai" HAHAHAHA! Because their mission is to "proclaim the message of God the MOTHER" WhOaA...When I heard that I almost laughed man. They were talking about how God created man and WOMAN in His image...So God has a motherly, feminine side too and they are harping on that.

When I asked them who Jesus is to them, they gave the correct answer "The Almighty God"

When I asked "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Have you accepted Him as your personal Lord & Saviour?" they said something an equivalent of a "Huh?" and went on sharing their gospel which starts from Revelation 22 and they go on to say they must find out who the bride is and who the spirit is...Doing some really shallow cross-referencing they linked the bride to the "wife of the lamb" and all...

They are using the same NIV Bible by the way. I've got 2 big problems with them...

1) Their poor understanding of the Bible. The way they cross reference verses is totally wrong. They are cross referencing the WORDS individually and not the intended, contextual meaning of the verses and chapters. Randomly cross-referencing and thereby deriving at a extrapolated hypothesis is very dangerous. They have, in essence, started a cult.

2) Their recognition of Jesus as their Saviour. I don't know if they do the conventional "sinner's prayer" and all, but from what they are saying, they are all sharing theories of what they understand of God. They come from an angle of motherly love and all...Which is not entirely wrong...but emphasis on that without painting the full picture of what Christianity is, in effect, sugar-coating the gospel. And it will also cripple it.

I can't really fault them for not knowing their Bible well, because, I myself don't really know it well enough to quote verses to guide them back.

The Bible says that in the last days many will preach in His name, but not all are preaching the right stuff about His name. Matthew 24:11 "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many."

I find that if we are not grounded in the Word, we'll soon be overwhelmed by such people who use the word to thumb us down with their own intepretation of the Bible. Thus, a thorough understanding of it is required in today's world where truth is not apparent and distorted so harmlessly.

Anyway, Winnie continued clarifying a few other verses with her. We left by then since Winnie is leaving from there. Haha.

After that, we had lunch and I had a quick, piercing session with Cai Jie & part 2's tomorrow (Wednesday). Haha.

I then headed to Orchard to meet Melvin & I went voucher shopping :D I bought a brown POA (People of Asia) belt ($40), a really, really nice plimsoll (slim cut sneakers) from Everlast ($60) and a pocket "Pictureka" (pronounced peek-chir-ee-kah) for $10 :D

Didn't take pictures of any of my purchased merchandise...haha. And next time when we go out, we can play "Pictureka"! :D It's a really fun picture-based, reaction game. Facilitates interaction and brings out the competitive side in you. :D Haha. :)

Guitar Duck!

My Thursday night was spent dinner-ing with Serene & Regina :) We met @ Orhard for dinner :D As usual, I was early..HAHA! Ok, Serene was too...so we shopped around till Princess Regina arrived. LOLS!
So off we went finding our dinner place. After much hunting and debating, we finally settled for this Chinese Restaurant...If I'm not wrong it's called the "Asian Kitchen" in ION.

Upon opening the menu, one thing that caught my eye was the dish "GUITAR duck". The word "GUITAR" stood out boldly...Haha! The very instrument I love playing became something edible!! HAHA! Anyway, the menu showed just a normal duck picture...and in the end I didn't order it. HAHA! I should've man! LOLS.

Apart from the guitar ducks that really impressed me, the eggy bowl also really impressed Regina...haha. It's just a cute little dim-sum like bowl with rice, massive amounts of ba chor (minced meat) and half an egg...So much for the word "eggy". HAHA! Anyway, their selling point is the cute name and cute presentation I guess...haha.

Regina & her "eggy bowl" :D

Anyway, the main thing about our lil' meet up is the AWESOME CONVOs that we had :D Regina really inspired us with her testimonies from India...She talked about what faith can do in a faith-filled, desperate-for-God body of believers. She went on about how the presence of God was so strong during worship that the moment they stepped into the church, they won't begin to weep because the presence of God was so strong.

The reality of God's presence also caused demonised believers to manifest...There were so many manifestations that they couldn't handle it...Yining was so overwhelmed and helpless that she simply fell to her knees in worship. Regina when she laid her hands on a girl, the girl FLEW backwards and hit aside all the chairs. Whoa. Haha. Can't imagine man.

All the testimonies she shared begin to ring a familiar longing in my heart to see this astronomical power of God revealed in every believer. My heart began to cry out again...Thank God my eyeballs didn't cry out...Haha! My heart has grown cold after seeing the state of my church.

Sometimes, it's not their fault cos like Ps Daniel said "No one has bad intentions toward the church" but somehow along the way, people may discover that they're ineffective or that they don't have the skills required to fully assume that position and all...So all my blaming and all is actually uncalled for and I should talk it out with the big guy. But somehow, I feel that talking with him is also useless. Haha!

Anyway, we went on to shop around...

Regina got creative and decided to take photos with Serene's heart biscuits... -__-" Haha. She just wants to use her IPhone 4 la huh...haha

When we're at the MRT wanting to go off, we still stood there for a good 30mins chatting and talking...And I was telling them about my Sabbatical and all...Haha. And Regina still had more stories to encourage us with.......FINALLY, we decided to go. Haha!

The ride back with Serene was also cool, got to know what God's doing in her life and how He's confirmed His specific will in her life. Awesome man! I'm just waiting and seeking that "GO JON" 2 words from God and I'll give my all for Him man...But now God is interested in grooming me, my character through a really SSSLLLOOOWWW painful process of submitting, surrendering and dying to self.

Sometimes I wonder how much non-Christians stand to lose when they miss out all these in life. They enjoy themselves and all...and sometimes I do get envious as to why they are seemingly happier and more carefree etc...and sometimes I also wonder why they are seemingly so oblivious to the problems and depravity that plague our empty souls. Questions of purpose, longing, love, acceptance, desire, etc...I wonder how they fill that void in their souls.

Anyway, I'm just glad to have good friends to go out with occassionally to just have dinner and have a hearty chat.

Yup, that was my Thursday :D

Devastating PT

It's been at least 3 months since I ran more than 2.4km man...And today, I felt a little garang...I went for the AHM training...and ran 14km!! Whoa! I tell you, up till now my calf muscles are aching. I completed it in 2 hours...Quite an achievement citing the fact that my fitness level has dropped to like...Just pass IPPT standard? HAHA!

My CSB 10km run took me 50mins man...Look @ me now...+4km timing x2 liao...HAHA! Dua lao sai...Like what one of my Ops Room Spec 1SG Joshua said "I'm sliding down the hill...reaching the ravine soon" HAHA! The ravine of physical UN-fitness. I was at my peak in SISPEC...now...Even getting a silver medal may require 2 months of prayer & training. HAHA!

Anyway, the week's been good thus far...Only getting a little irritated with the PBL (problem-based learning) style of learning that Aidross (my upperstudy) is giving me...and the expectations heaved on me as a new guy...I find it unfair...I mean, who is he to tell me I'm underperforming when they refuse to teach properly? Saying only "You are the IC how come you don't know?" or "You go find out yourself ah" As if that helps at all. Then I might as well not ask him. Even boss doesn't tell me that.

But, in my good-mannered, wana keep the relationship good, me, I shall reserve my bullets and slaps. Cos I stand to lose the most if I offend him.

But sometimes, in this carnal world, his style of working is pretty effective as his nonchalance, guai-lan-ness and tao-ness will sort of make people "fear" you or distant themselves from you. People don't joke around or play around with him as crazily as they do with me. That's because they feel at ease with me and can express themselves w/o being judged or told off. To him it'll be "This stupid guy don't know how to draw the line...Look how he's being taken exploited now" kinda thing.

Well, we have 2 different mindsets and working styles. Let's see if I'll have to change mine to his.

Yup, I'm feeling the physical fatigue liao...from the running. So I guess I'll turn in early, or rather, earlier tonight :D HAHA! Bye :)

My triple-cool week! :)

There were 3 big "events" for me this week...Aaron Tan's birthday chalet party, Jeremy Teo's farewell and Andrina's housewarming :D

Aaron's birthday was pretty fun :D After makaning & the cake cutting, we went on to play Monopoly Deal!! :D As usual...Haha! Because there were 10 ppl playing, we paired up to play :D My partner was Ondrea :D

Before we could finish the game, Gabriel & Anthony "gave up" and we all went to play "Gestures" a game which Abigail brought :D
 
"Gestures" is something like Taboo just that you can only act out the words without talking. There's only 4 cards that you can choose from within the time limit.

We played with Aaron's school friends and relatives :D His relatives are really cool people...even though most of them are older than us by quite a bit, they're still really friendly, energetic and fun :D As for his school friends that were there, 90% of 'em were Malays -_-"

And you know...Malays...They can never have pure friendship kinda fun...everything they do has a self-glorifying motive...E.g. They must suan someone to make themselves look good and so that they can attract the ladies and all...you can see it in their actions la huh...Standard ah! I've known enough Malays in my academic life and army life to know that they are the ones that'll hasten the Lord's return. Haha.

Anyway, we still had a lot of fun :D And blur Abigail keeps adding to this malay guy's ego by being interested in him. And he'll wayang more and more with each question Abigail asks him. She's just being nice and wants to make a friend. He's just being egocentric and just wants a ego-boost. O well, hope she learns from her blur-ness...haha.

After we left the chalet, we still didn't go home...we proceeded to McDonald's for supper & Monopoly Deal-ed! HAHAHA! We're addicted man. LOLS!

And before I forget...Ondrea was really funny...She reached Aaron's chalet really early and there were no other church mates over there so she kept SMSing me "Hurry up come over!" and all...The funniest SMS was "Faster come! Social crisis!!" HAHAHA! LOLS! We were still shopping for Aaron's present then....OopsS :X :D HAHA!

So yup, that was Aaron's birthday chalet! :D Happy Birthday Aaron! :)

Next was Jeremy's leaving for Netherlands on the 10th. Boy, was it a sad day, another close friend of mine flying away. Lesser a person to go out with :( Haha.

I kept daring Daryl to a bet that Meryl will cry upon Jeremy's departure...But she didn't...ahaha. The last part was the hardest and the sweetest, a hug-kiss move and a reluctant wave of goodbye...Haha. O well, he'll be back right? Not like he's gonna give up his life for the Netherlanders there...HAHA!

After sending Jeremy...Guess what we did? We went to play Monopoly Deal...HAHA! Standard ah!! :D Abigail, Anna, Joshua (anna's bf), Daryl & Myself :)

The last highlight of this week is Andrina's housewarming! :D My family, Debbie Soh's family and a few other families were present. Me, Abigail & Debbie were the earliest youths to reach :D Haha! There we had a great time chatting & eating the awesome food! The best dish is still the "Almond-Cinammon pastry" WHOA! Thinking of it still makes my mouth salivate...HAHA!

Their house is really nice...3 floors of great design and all. The entrance has a lil' patch of grass and plants and a lil' open-air dining space...It's really nice. They also have a lil' garden which they call "spice garden" at the back of their house.

2nd floor is the master bedroom which is really big and nice...and the top floor is Maverick's & Andrina's room!! I wish to have my own room some time man! :D Maverick keeps his fish in a little bowl just beside his bed and he has a big poster of some korean girls...Can't remember what's their name...HAHA!

As for Andrina, her room's just as girly, princessy as before...A super typical teenage cutesy girl's room. Haha. We played monopoly deal there for 2 rounds! :D And guess what? I won! Only the second round...Haha! Abigail won the first...LOLS!

Next up was the dedication. Ps Pang led us in a hymn, a short word of exhortation and in a prayer of dedication for the house :D Straight after that, they did a surprise birthday celebration for Uncle Andy! Andrina's dad :D

Now here's the really funny part...The celebration was meant to be a surprise...So it should be stealthy and all...but guess what? Guess how did the cake arrive in the house?? A HUGE TRUCK drove right at their house unit and delivered the cake!! HAHA! Uncle Andy stood there stunt and was asking "What's this about? Why got cake?" And Andrina was like "Oh, it's for tomorrow's breakfast!!" HAHAHA! Which dad would believe that?? HAHA!

But well, he did...or at least I think he did...Maybe he feigned blurness so as not to spoil the surprise..Haha! That was really funny man...A surprise b'day with a super obvious method of delivery...HAHA! O well, it still worked out eh? Haha.

After that surprise b'day celebration, Gabriel arrived...with his new Iphone 4...HAHA! Shortly after, Anthony, Jake & Priscilla arrived...with Priscilla flashing her new Iphone 4 as well...haha. After another round of eating and chatting, finally, the late queen...Joselyn arrived...HAHAHA! :D Ok la...she has something on before right? LOLS!

We then played "Taboo" :D Using the "Taboo" application on Anthony's Iphone we really had a great time laughing, shouting, and screaming, making the presence of the new owner's felt in the vicinity...HAHAHA! :D

And today, Matthew Thang, Marc Wan, John Thang, Joshua & myself went to LAN! :D We're just short of a Luke to complete the first 4 books of the old testament...HAHA! Ok, fine, Marc's name isn't spelt correctly as in the gospel Mark...HAHA!

We had fun, definitely, chatting, eating and then LAN-ing...Just like old times... :D Haha. We were actually contemplating if we should go for service...I know, we don't do that last time. But now, the service practically is putting everyone to sleep and has little or no value-add. I mean come on, if the church doesn't inspire you or at least increase the awareness of God in your life when you step into it, then what's the use of going there?

Fellowship? That's also 50% gone man...Everyone will just rush off to their buses to get home and all...Everyone's more caught up with their own lives and all...less steady to go out and all, more cliquish and selective in who they go out with and all that it's saddening...Saddening to see how people are getting more and more disconnected in church. And saddening to see how church events are the point of connection and once that is gone, the friendship is also weakened...HaisS...

What more can I say? I'm also "sacked" for saying such stuffs which everyone knows. They'd argue.."No, who says everyone sees it that way?"...Come on, look who's faking who. The attendance is basically gonna wean to a basic 500-800 strong only soon. See what God'll do lor.

For now, I'll take a break, visit other churches to see what's the ingredient that makes a church, a church. I actually already know what the ingredient is la..but I wana experience it first hand man! :D people are longing for love and acceptance man, not some routine service and religious preaching. "My generation is aching for REAL" Starfield...how true are their words ringing as we lose hold of the youths of this generation.

BUT, amidst this bleak picture I've painted, lies an unshakeable, unchangeable truth that says "...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (Hell) will not overcome it." Matthew 16:18! "Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear." Isaiah 59:1!! This is the reason why I'm still holding on, praying and hoping. For what He has promised, He will deliver, in His time.

Satan's winning the skirmish, but God will win the war! Hallelujah!! :D Whose side are you on today? :)

My SUDDEN 21st!! :D

It started with an SMS from my mum 2 weeks before my birthday week..."Jon, Eastpoint Green function room not booked. You want to book it for your birthday?"
My reply was "Ok lor."
And then I started inviting my friends...

I actually wanted to book a chalet to celebrate my 21st. I wanted to make it like a 3day, 2night thing. On the first day would be for my secondary school mates, 2nd night for my poly & NS friends & last night for church mates! :D With my few besties with me the whole 3 days :D

Then we'd do all sorts of things like group games, board games, outdoor sports games & I'd do a little evangelistic 21st birthday speech and all...But all these didn't materialise because I didn't manage to get any chalet... -_-"

But anyway, this super last minute one was still really fun! :D Continuing from the story...

It was D-day! :D I SMSed my church friends "Hey church peeps!:) I hired a bus 4 u all from PLMGSS! :D Do board the bus that's going to simei MRT/Tampines n u can walk to my place from there! See you! :D"

Only one person called back and asked me "Jonavan, where's the bus you hired for us?" Guess who's that??? Who else'd be that cutely blur??? HAHAHAHA! :D

That's because my church provided bus services...and one of the service routes included from PLMGSS - Simei/Tampines...so I "hired" the buses for them...Get it?? Abigail, you got it? :D HAHAHAHA!! :P

Anyway, the next surprise I got was a phone call from my poly mates at 5pm+ "Jonavan, how to walk to your place? We are here liao :D"
I nearly flipped because I was still at home watching "Huang Fei Hong" in my unbathed, unshaven, not-dressed-up, state!! HAHAHA!
So I replied my friend "In a parade, CO always come late one right? After the parade formed up and all?" HAHAHA!
I immediately got changed and went there to meet them :D HAHA!

So we all got the place set up and we went to play pool! :D The poker-card version, where we all drew 5 cards each and each card will determine what ball we'll hit :D

Han Hui, Me, Leslie & Guang Yao as the photographer...HAHA! :D

Winner? Standard ah...Malaysian pool tournament open champion, Chia Han Hui!! :D HAHAHA! Actually, Guang Yao helped him to win....HAHAHA! He hit in Han Hui's last ball -_-" WowsS -.-" AHAHA! So it's a halved victory. LOLS!

After finishing that round of pool, the rest of my invited guests have arrived :D Walking in was my next BIG surprise...Mr. Matthew Thang walked in with exactly the same coloured OUTFIT AS MINE!!!

I was clad in a white diagonally-striped long sleeved shirt with my trademark white skinny jeans with white belt & white watch & off-white loafers...Full white! I chose that outfit because I wanted to "outshine" everyone there and because I didn't expect anyone else to dress that flamboyantly. HAHA!

Matching uniforms...AHAHA!

O well, great minds think alike. HAHA! Next up was dinner! :D

LCP Sam, DX1 Joan, 3SG Jonavan, 3SG Chor Seng, ME1 Leslie, 3SG Han Hui & 2SG Guang Yao :D HAHAHA!! :D

PTE Yourong, CPL Jon Wee, DX1 Zi Hui & of course, ME! :D HAHA!

Serene & Myself :)

After makan, Serene had to go...Typical Singaporean...Eat & chao...HAHAHAHA! Jk! :D She got something on la... Haha :D

Next up was group games! :D Starting with "whacko" to get to know each other's names :D And taboo!! To get to know each other's bimbo-level!! HAHAHA! :D I'll upload all the "Taboo" videos soon :D Got alot la siol...HAHA!

We split up into 2 teams to see who could act/talk/draw/fiddle with the puppet their way up to the STAR in the middle of the board!! :D Haha!

During the drawing round, Joan was so excited in drawing that she tore the paper she was drawing on!! HAHA! :D

Kan-chiong Joan with the torn paper...HAHA! :D If you can see the tear la...LOLS!

The purple puppet!! :D This is the puppet you have to fiddle with & to fiddle it well enough that others can guess what's the phrase you're trying to fiddle out. HAHA!

After that was.......Cake cutting ceremony!! :D HAHA!

I was "strumming" my guitar when this assassin came from behind & ALMOST splat my face into the cake! -_-" HAHA!

A few of my cell mates :D Anna, Sherry, Vivien, Cheryl & Abigail :) We took first because Sherry had to rush off.

Jerina, Me, Jeravan, Mummy & Daddy :D

The 3 musketeers...Han Hui, Myself & Leslie :) My SISPEC ASLC mates :D

Joan, Guang Yao, Myself, Sam & Chor Seng :) My poly mates :D

Zi Hui, Jake, Myself, Jon Wee, Yourong, Melvin, Matthew & Daryl :)

Meryl, Jeremy, Myself, Abigail & Anna :D The famous 5! :D HAHA! More like the board-game 5! :D LOLS!

All of us! :D

Now this is the really funny part...We were all smiling for the camera when...halfway through my smiling, I let out a really, really, super, uber, unnoticeable and silent *burpsS*...And guess who was sensitive enough to hear it???? ABIGAIL!! So while posing halfway with all the smiles, she burst out LAUGHING followed by me while everyone else was wondering what the commotion is about. HAHAHA!

LOLS! I also LOL-ed while typing this...HAHA! A smiling burp caught on camera :D HAHA! Who'd have noticed if not for Abigail's hypersensitivity...HAHAHA! :D

AnywaysS, after the cake cutting was just my usual going around and taking photos with everyone :D haha!

Yourong, Me & Zi Hui :D

Jon Wee, Myself & Daryl :)

Matthew & Me! :D The most matching couple of the day! HAHAHA!

Maybe Melvin can join the J-B club too :D HAHAHA!

Melvin & Me! :D

Me, Vivien, Cheryl & Anna :) Cheryl looks like she's laughing...HAHA!

Abigail, Meryl, Jeremy & ME :D

Jake, Guang Yao & myself :)

Me, Leslie & Han Hui :D

Guang Yao, Myself, Sam, Chor Seng & Joan :D

Me & Daryl! :D

Grand Finale... -_-" They had to do this somehow...Smash cake on my face...

LESLIE TOH EE WING! I'll get my cake revenge!! HAHA! :D Now Leslie won't invite me to his birthday party...HAHAHA!

So that was my SUDDEN 21st BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!! :D Special thanks to Mummy & Yati (my maid) who cooked their muscles sore for all of us & to Daddy for forking out the $$ for the 3-digit-costing cake and the function room booking fee. :D HAHA!

I'm TWENTY-ONE and I don't feel like I AM!! MY GOSH!! Time really, really flies...Another wink and I'll be past my sweet youthful days! I don't wanna wink then...HAHA! :D

I'll blog another post on my 21st reflections sometime soon :D

Thanks to all who loved me enough to come!! Even though the social circles sometimes don't overlap that fully, I appreciate those who love me enough to overlook the social circles and come because of ME! :D Haha! That's what a true friend is :D

Happy 21st Jonavan! :)

Squashed week!!

Finally have the time to blog man...This is all thanks to my awesome boss, Mr Lim See Sing :D He let me go at 3pm today :) WHOO HOO! :D That's because everyone got a free quarter day off at 3pm yesterday...but I was still stuck in a meeting which ended at 4.40pm...that means I have to take the 5pm ferry -_-" So today, I had a skin layer thick enough to ask him to compensate me :D HAHA! And he did! Whoo hoo!

Anyway, what really sucked up a lot of my time is coordinating the coming "Fish4men 'Happy Feet' Gathering 2010", the Tekong Challenge (I've to coordinate and ensure the transportation and no. of ppl), and the 2 direct enlistments this week -_-" Slotted in between these are my appointments with Ps Daniel & Aaron, sending Regina, Yining & Xiuling off to India, meeting up with Jeremy, Meryl, Anna and Abigail before Jeremy leaves for Netherlands.

I was pretty whacked out by Wednesday (yesterday) because I had back to back meetings on Tuesday & after that I had to meet Ps Daniel & Aaron...and I had to return to camp the same night to sleep for only 4hours before I've to be up @ 5am to be at SFT monitoring the Tekong Challenge -_-" which ended yesterday afternoon. And yesterday night was my appointment with Jeremy & gang...

Guess what? My timing was so packed that I didn't have time to bathe and shave and all...Imagine my state when I met them...Haha! Thank God I'm in air-con almost all the while and thus I didn't stink at all...As for my unshaven condition, it made me look more mature :D HAHAHA!

Anyway, my fish4men event's this saturday! Whoo hoo! And, I haven't invited any friends yet!! DUA LAO SAI!! I'll call them right after I blog finish this post. Haha!

And, my meeting with Ps Aaron and Ps Daniel was to confirm something which I wanted to do long ago, but wasn't accepted then...My sabbatical leave. Along with my recommendation of sabbatical leave were allegations which I didn't fully agree with. Yes, I was wrong, but I'm not entirely wrong. And apparently, they were not willing to bring the other 50% up.

I shall not crystallise my thoughts in that encounter in this post...Probably another post or none at all, lest I come under fire again. But to me, the truth is the truth. Even if I don't say it, people know it, so I might as well say it to let the steam out.

Anyway, I've meted out my first punishment to one of my men in my entire service of being a sergeant...Not like I've been one for that long eh? HAHA! Persistently late for work and lying to cover up his wrongdoing. It happened a lot of times...Plus, a lot of admin errors...Upon hearing that he's been like this since my understudy's time and upon their recommendation of punishment, I took away half day off from him.

I hope he doesn't take it too hard and that we can establish a healthy work relationship and understanding.

And I almost forgot! Guess where we were??

Aaron, Ondrea, Myself, Serene, Bettina, Cherilynn & Athena :)

Aaron, Ondrea & Myself :)

The answer's stated on our green paper - Festival of Praise!! :D Once again, Don Moen & Planetshakers were our featured worship leaders :)

They were awesome man...apart from the fact that Don Moen didn't bring his full band along. He did a lot of solo renditions which were awesome and soothing to the ears and soul from the loud blast and energetic shouting from Planetshakers. Haha!

Overall, FOP was great :D And the company was even better :)

The pictures were only taken on the 2nd night...my first night I went with Ding Zhou, Cherilynn, Anthony and Pearleen.

Yup, I can't say the FOP was life-changing and all...not on a majority scale that is.

Anyway, I'm moving on to the end of my most hectic week...with the final events here! :D Whoo hoo! Hopefully all the preparation's worth it :D