Picture Language

It's December already! The month has been very packed, rushed, nourished and yet satisfying. With so many things in hand sometimes it goes beyond the capabilities of what 24hours can do, but thankfully, everything fell just into its perfect place, just as if there was a mastermind behind making sure all the jumbled up puzzle pieces fits.

or maybe there is :)

It's December! And its Christmas! This year is a very different yet significant one. Christmas to me, use to be following my Christians relatives to the Cathedral where the roads jammed up and you barely can find any car park. Multitudes of people with their family would bee into the majestic Catholic Church where the song of organs filled the air. A large cross would hung in the air with Jesus hanging on it while the priest with the altar boys are things that my Christmas cannot miss. I would be singing with the church choir accompanying while making funny faces with my brothers on the wooden chairs with hymn books. And as the service end, we would stay overnight at our relatives' place and expect to be given presents the next morning. That was how Christmas was to me :)

But ever since I grew up and came to World Harvest, Christmas was very different. There isn't as much festivity and Christmas trees with the ever so familiar baby Jesus in a manger with mother Mary and Joseph beside. No more Santa Clause outside the church giving sweets to kids or car parking jams.

Well, i've learned that Christmas though celebrated in December, means more than a festival. And with all the years put in, I am still on my way to understand how much Christmas really means to me, to the Christians, the non-Christians, and the population as a whole.

For the pass 3 years, I've celebrated Christmas in KL with this church through staging up Christmas events to tell the world about the true meaning of Christmas. They may not be jolly carol-lings, but there is worship songs, real life testimonies, and sharing of Jesus.

I myself went up on stage to give my testimony of how wonderful the true meaning of Christmas really is 3 years ago. The true meaning of Christmas comes from Jesus Christ, and the first Christmas was when He was born to this Earth through a virgin birth as a God-man, to let us know God isn't someone that sits in the clouds waiting for us to do wrong, but is a God that understands our weaknesses, our inabilities and came to this Earth to die for our inabilities and imperfection.

I shared of how God blessed my life and blessed others through me. And non of this could have happen if Christ did not come and die to make me whole and perfect in His eyes.

I give thanks that the past two years after, more people went up and gave their life testimonies. And Christmas to me then changed its definition once and for all. It wasn't a one year thing for me to go to church and enjoy the festivity anymore. Christmas was a time for me to share the good news that Jesus loves us, and die for us. This year i was involved in two Christmas organizing, one in college and the other in my local church.

Despite the long hours and the time management, I understand it was a privilege to be able to give others a good Christmas experience, the give them something better than the most expensive Christmas presents, to let them know the true meaning of Christmas :)

16th December, 630pm, Canteen 1 TARCollege. 500 students gather in a confined area with a light up stage and a few musicians and actors. Above all that, God was there because when two or three are gather in His name, He is in our midst. That night, many heard of the meaning of Christmas, a few teared, and a handful accepted the Reason of Christmas into their lives.

19th December, was our church's Christmas Celebration. It was the first time that we used such a hotel and I knew this year was gonna be a different one.

I served in the worship team, helped up in the sketch team as well as the decoration team. I have no plans to write about how tough juggling these different roles are because it was such a great honor to be used in which ever area that i can be involved and help up in.

The church might be undergoing some challenging times but I am truly amazed by God to see how He strengthens and unite His people to run the race and labor for His kingdom despite the challenges. For all energy invested, even if one life could be change and transform, i would say it was totally worth it.

But that day, people didn't just felt peace in their hearts, they didn't just have a revelation of what Christmas is, they weren't just touched by the staged up programs; people gave their life to Jesus, i saw people in pain and hurts restored by the Lord right in front of my eyes, i saw people with physical illness and pain instantly healed by the Lord, i saw people went under the power of God, and above it all, i felt God myself.

Its December! And its amazing how everything changes once your heart comprehend on something greater than yourself. Even though the year is coming to and end, i don't feel the momentum going any slower. Things are working out pretty fine :) Even in hard situations or in broken heartache times :)

It's December! And my brothers are having their school holidays. I have two brothers by the way, one ran away to Taiwan for his youth exchange program after he finished his SPM, and the other who is one year younger seem to be stuck in KL.

I brought him around, malls, public transport, Uniqlo as the picture above, Chilis, my college, my class, my classmates, my room... but he doesn't seem to know what to look forward to. Well, he's still 16 so i guess it ain't wrong to be blur.

Oh, i guess something slightly more interesting to him (which he was still giving the "slamba" face) was the charity haircut in college. His older brother was asked to bald his head if the charity amount could reached RM1500 in a week's time :)

However the amount only reached RM272 that afternoon at 12am and it was 3 hours to the closing hour. Seeing this i bought two tickets to cut my hair and my brother's in the event and i ended up looking like this

I was quite happy with it, what a new look for Christmas i thought :) and so happily i went to KLCC for a movie. But right before the i bought the movie tickets, the charity event person called and say, they've reached RM1500 and i were to come back immediately to get my head shaved =.=

*The shavee list.....

And hence, i am officially a bald guy for next few months.

It's alright, for charity its worth it even if it means getting weird stares or wrong impression of being dangerous or a pervert, which i do get =.= Oh wells! Hair grows!

With a great year behind, a bald head and a great God, I am ready to face the new year 2011 with great boldness and faith!

Are you ready!

They want my hair =.=

For me, don't go near canteen two foyer for the next five days,

For charity and to cause a change in this cruel society of selfishness, go donate any amount everyday you pass my canteen two foyer

and so i saw the amount for today, RM10, Rm10...Rm1.50.

Wa, so cheap!

gotta need a lot of that to actually lose my hair

ahaha :P

hello! .... ops sorry

The ringing tone of my phone buzzed through my pocket as i rushed down the stairs. I didn't bother to answer because I knew it was Sung Nung trying calling me up for not being at the hostel gate at 9.30. With a heart that beats out of its routine i ran out from my hostel block towards the gate. Manners are not suppose to be forgotten even if you're not in the mood, so as usual I waved goodbye to the guard at the gates and rushed into the Kelisa parked right in front hostel. Hey, I didn't know Ah Nung brought a new friend along, and he's on the driver seat instead of Nung, i said 'Hi' anyway and cleared the backseat to let myself in. But the weird thing was, the new friend kept staring at me without returning the greeting. I look around wondering whether he was angry at me for being late. He exchanged looks with Nung and looked back at me with the utmost awkward expression,and then it got me!

I was in the wrong car!!!! O.O Embarrassment started to inflate me, I injected my deepest apologies both in words and facial expression and then rushed out of the car. Ah! Another Kelisa was parked behind this one!

What a great way to start a new day! Now i have a new story to tell on "the most embarrassing thing you have ever done".

Toilet Humor

May not be the best post after such a long time, but hey, check out my new hobby :) Its December everybody, and its the last month of this roller coaster year, so tighten up and savor the last bit of it!

Enlightenment

By a magical mismatched of accident and chance, i found myself sitting in a highly luxurious car with a handsome man in his thirties driving beside while tapping on his blackberry which looks twice the size of mine. The whole world looks different out the windows of a Mercedez Benz, the smell of luxury and the comfort of the moment lit up the heavy situation that was going on then.

The same bb message tone slipped out of someone's pocket and I checked whether it was mine or his. Mum texted me. And the tone of my mum sparks of the great expectations of my parents for me. They knew i had no problems in my studies and with that unconsciously ringing at the back of their heads, i believe the person driving beside me would be the exact person they would want me to be.

Caught in the moment of enjoying the powerful engine roaring smoothly on the road, I did agree with myself that this, the whole feeling at that moment would be what I want in my future, a goal of some sort, a benchmark that my life was good.

But then it hit me. Although it felt like that blow came far from the reality that my thoughts were dwelling in, an opposing thought kept disturbing me from dawning deeper into my self-indulgence. Although I know i would really look very good in those tailor made slacks, formal shirt button till my wrist, a fabric tie with tangible patterns on it, well gel up hair, and a slick car that passer-bys can't miss, yes all this really marks what everyone classify success as, but something just kept telling me that this isn't the picture.

All those things are awesome to have, really awesome. Who says material things can't satisfy us? If it can't, then why is everyone all out looking for iphone 4, blackberries, gadgets, shoes, fashion and more. To dawned myself back into the picture, those things really would bring much sparkles into my life if i were to have them.

But, putting aside all those for a while, i do feel satisfied with my life already. To have friends, to be able to learn new things, to have the privilege of helping others, to have personally experience God and talk to Him everyday, to see more people knowing this God that loves them beyond condition, that really fulfills me.

Do i still want all the luxuries then? Why not? But not to the extend of robbing away my sense of knowing how to enjoy each and every detail of my every day, the moments even though if it is just sitting beside a dirty road having dinner with a bunch of new friends while rats run along the corner of our eyes, the times where we kept on praying even though the rain was getting heavier, the compliments you get from someone you wished "happy birthday to", the snapshots of peace and joy in people around me, and that hyped of biting into a Ramly burger with a glass of limau-ice. Aren't all these much more fulfilling? :)


I guess the biggest thing that i would not trade away at any cost in my life now is just these two things, knowing God, and enjoying the life He gave and planned for me :)

By this time

there might be no one typing sushiloverice on the web address to crash on this site
there might not be any expectations of an update in this blog

but by this time,


i'm happy to say

things have been very awesome!

minus the occasional comments i get for my hair that is.

God bless you guys!
and if you feel like shouting that phrase, listen to "The Catalyst" :)

God bless us everyone!!!!!

:)

I Wrote Your Name On The Beach

<3

Multiracial

This may sound racist.... but i'm really starting to love Indians :)

photo taken at dusun eco

The Beach is Ours

A day when only the moments and the sun matters

Had a great time with mum and dad cruising around empty lands, snapping photos and making wild explorations. Love you guys!

To the Children of God

Differences, a word that is so beautiful, yet very often misused.

We are all made different, no two person on Earth is completely identical. This gives us the beauty of uniqueness, and individuality which offers us a variation to appreciate. I used to think that saying everyone is special only makes everyone normal but no, each person is actually very special, unique in their own way, because everyone is different.

But like the thousand times i blogged about differences, despite differences, we can't be completely different as well. You can bring a native from Sarawak and someone from the White house and despite their difference in race, social standing, background and religion, the truth is they are both creations of God, and they both belong to Him. Even if the former finds satisfaction in catching a boat-full of fishes and the latter is to be the President of the country, they both will find true satisfaction and the best things in life when they know God, which is of no difference through out the whole universe.

I really felt led to urge the Christians in my school or all around the country to look beyond our differences, to stop drawing lines just because we're different, to not submit to one another just because of our denominations. Truth is, we are forever different, we are made that way, but we do know our God is the same Almighty One, Our God has the same heart for each and everyone of us whether you're a Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Prespretarian, or "no denomination" as how i would usually say. Our God looks beyond our differences and He wants to reign in our life, marketplace and wherever we are despite how different we are.

I believe all of us have experience how great and awesome Jesus is! However, above enjoying Him and having a great God to ourselves, we know there is more than that. We know there is more than keeping our God as our personal provider that "whatever we ask and believe, we shall receive," we know that He is not just our personal Healer that died so that we may pray for ourselves or just our family and friends. We know that God's heart is for His people and this people are all around us walking by our lives everyday not knowing of this great God that loves them as much.

I understand that our comfort zone is truly comfortable if not it would not have been called that way but these few months i just know that there is something happening in our college, our area and this country. The whole spiritual atmosphere is changing and it is literally tangible! The great news is i believe Revival is gonna hit this land real hard and real soon! So i do encourage everyone us to take that step of faith out of our comfort zone because out there, there is where the true fun begins :D !

People called me "crazy", or "over" and at some point of a time i do feel discouraged, but the truth is, who do heck cares! We know what and how it feels like to walk in His will and its way beyond persecution. I have been constantly praying with a few brothers and sisters outside the hostel for more of His presence to filled our land and each time we do we know we're drawing closer to God and He is answering our prayers for sure.

I don't care if people don't read my blog no more cause i'm too Christian, i don't care if people think i'm showing off, what i do care is that if you're a Christian and you're reading this, i really hope you will have the fire for God to reign in our land, to pray and cry out to Him to shower down revival upon this place, that "all knee shall bow and all tongues shall confess this Jesus Christ is Lord!"

I may not have the best words here to share with you about what God can do in your life but let us just "boldly come to His throne of Grace" and let Him transform us into Christ-minded Christians, to ask for a compassion for the lost and a hunger for Him to show up in our campus, to pray like never before because without prayer nothing can happen but with prayers all things are possible!

Brothers and Sisters,

Let us invest our time and strength in seeking His kingdom and not spend it to save our lives because "those that love their life will lose it." We have a purpose on Earth, and to really think about it, what is our purpose on Earth? If we know God to go to Heaven we might as well die now, if we know God to ask for blessings then why can't any of those be brought to our everlasting home, and if we know God to be called Christians and go to church, would that be even close to purposeful.

Our purpose on is to be the light and salt to this world, to not go to Heaven empty handed seeing our dear ones not coming with us. We might all already have it planted in our head but how much is this purpose really burning in our hearts and our actions?

I'm really sorry if this post sounds cocky or whatsoever but you have my word that that's not my intention and i really do HOPE that we would all live out our purpose and to pray till Revival fall on this place. Try googling or check on wikipedia about revival, its just amazing and i can't wait for it to happen.

So if you're heart felt led to pray for revival, get a few friends and start seeking Him and praying for your area, 10 minutes a day for a start. (I was truly amazed when i found out that my form 5 brother and a few friends started a prayer group in their high school and pray from 6.4 5am till 7am every morning!) or if you're from TAR College you can join me and a few others which are praying outside the hostel gate where the buses are parked at 11pm on most nights. We're not promising great prayers with powerful preaching but all we know is, God is always there :)

God bless all of you!

Let the flames begin!!!

916

The sixteenth of September. I never really gave much thought to this date when i first came across it on my sejarah book, which has a picture of the "Jalur Gemilang" at the bottom right corner of that page. Few pages back was the independence day of Malaysia with the well-known "Merdeka" picture of black and white with Mr.Rahman lifting his hands up high that marks the significant date of August 31st. The date 16th of September was not mentioned much, just a light brush across.

Growing up in this country, one would never be foreign to the criticism and complains of the country. If it was the first thing that i learn about Malaysia it would be that its people did not like the country. Doubts and grapevines of politicians, stories of corruption from the highest to the lowest of society, the labeling as a developing country, the constant comparison with Singapore or any other countries, the list goes on and on.


But to pull myself out of the chaos of mouth battling and grandpa whining about the country, it is actually a horrible joke to see the citizens and locals of a country knowing nothing but criticism for their own country. Japanese fought till death for their nation's pride, American's are born to live up their national flags, people in Indonesia call themselves Indonesians, and even though having the size of just an island, Singaporeans love their country. And yet we Malaysians are a funny kind, who admire every part of the world except the land we're sitting on right this moment :)


I might not be the extremist which literally curses my homeland, but i wasn't a lover of my country as well. With a dream of going overseas all the time, i never bother to find out who's my local MP or what budget 1990 to 2009 says. I didn't know the legal age for voting cause i most probably won't be voting and i literally ignored the names of all our Agong's which can only be found in the uniqueness of Malaysia's ruling. ( I did memorize it for SPM essays though, gosh that's pathetic)


But i repent.


While in KL, i've came to know groups of people that gathers and pray for Malaysia once a week. My first reaction in mind was, nothing. I had no respond to what they were doing and have no conviction to do the same. Malaysia seems to be not even at the bottom most of my prayer list.

However, as time grows, i realize Malaysia is my country. I'm born here, not by accident. That statement does not just mean i have to live here because i'm born here. I am a Malaysian, and Malaysia is my country! I guess i need to repeat that a few times to truly grasp what it means. My generation may not have went through the war against independence so we never knew how to appreciate the country's independence. But of everything the country has gave me the least i can give back in return is to love this country.

Malaysia is our land, we might not have to fight in wars to protect the country's identity, but i think we should definitely uphold it with pride and gratitude. To be proud of our country isn't to deny its weaknesses and live with it, but i believe we can accept them and be a part of improving it instead of complaining as if we're not Malaysians. Talking bad about the very place we are born into is just bringing shame to ourselves.

Yes there is a lot of holes in this country that are yet to be filled, there is corruption in everyday life, there is poverty and unfortunates in areas all around the country, there is racial sensitivity that till now still remain a dilemma. I too wish they could be solved. But instead of creating a catastrophic bomb out of all the holes we can start being a part of solving it. To be deeply unhappy with our status quo and yet doing nothing about it , isn't that foolishness? ignorance?

Our young generation needs to snap out of the continuous adoration of United States or Korea or Taiwan and start living like you're actually in Malaysia. (we are actually living in Malaysia!) To stop criticizing and have a low-class mindset of Malaysian brands or artist or ministers, (you see we never discriminate Malaysian food, that's a good start :) To stop being ignorant and ungrateful for what this country has made us into. Think about it, we are unique! We speak at least three languages and some could even write in all, we never had a serious natural disaster and we have been heavily subsidized in petrol all this while. Our education is free and our poverty rate is going down year by year. We can have cross race marriage that could make babies of funny "mix race" like Ci-ban,Ci-dayuh, Melayu-Cina, Baba Nyonya and the newly booming race of Bananas.

A few months back, a few hostel mates and I met up and started a prayer group to pray for Malaysia. We were all blunt and confuse at first because the love for our country was so dried up that a simple act of praying for the country felt so distance and unbelievable. But as we went through prayers and prayers, God gave us a heart for our country. To love and not discriminate. Praying may have very different definitions to different people. The general meaning would be to seek God for help and for Him to intervene. But to be able to just start the simplest act of faith of praying for the country and to be able to put Malaysia in our heart, a revivalic change for this land would have begun. The heart to accept and embrace the country would have been sown into our hearts when we put Malaysia into our request to a Higher Authority.

Friends, Malaysia was formed in 16th of September 1963 where Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaya to form MalaySIA. Without this date, we would not be called Malaysians but Malayans, which is slightly less cool. So give thanks! And let us embrace this country and be a part of changing the country.

"If my people who are called by my Name would humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways and seek my face, then i will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land"- 2 Chronicles 7:14

I am proud do be a MalaySIAN, are you? :)

*outside my house, in Malaysia :)

Raining in Hostel