|
[16 Jun 2009|07:59pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
David Archuleta - Touch My Hand |
] |
today i was reading the book Reaching For The Invisible God by Philip Yancy which Samuel gave to me. i always wondered why he gave that book out of all the other books he could have chosen.
anyway, Yancey was trying to reconcile the skeptic to the idea of Christianity. and after poking it in various angles, the last point was that in order for a skeptic to accept Christianity, he would need a change of heart. but in my opinion, a skeptic is unlikely to change his/her mind, and neither is a Christian likely to change his/her mind.
but ultimately, one has to be the truth and the other not. and i believe that in order to find the truth, you have to be open and exposed to both views in order to be able to discern. if you are open to the truth and not having a preconceived notion in your mind, then would you not find the truth?
a skeptic is likely to be closed to Christianity and hence will only experience one view.
a Christian, will experience the Christian perspective that's for sure. but whether we like it or not, we will at one point or another find ourselves spiritually dry, and far from God, questioning God. and for myself these days i know that i have been even thinking of how much easier it would be to slide away from it all, to be an atheist. instead of struggling so much to be a Christian. some days i live as if i were an atheist.
but at the end of everything, i still find myself running back to God. and that is true for other Christians.
after having a go at both views, i have discerned for myself what i hold to be true.
and anyway after talking to Tim, he reminded me of something. that it is not man who changes the heart of others, but God.
|
|
|
[08 May 2009|03:13pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Hillsong - Blessed |
] |
i wonder why Christians have no problem with watching Narnia, but some have problems with Harry Potter, Animorphs and the rest. i was watching Prince Caspian and the centaur said something about looking out for signs from the stars. i guess its the underlying source. since CS Lewis is some Christian pow wow and Narnia is said to have Christian themes. upon further reading, though Narnia did have a large Christian following, there are other Christians who criticise the series for incorporating pagan imagery.
i also wonder why people have no trouble accepting the concept of physical death as true, but cannot reconcile the concept of (the Christian perspective) of eternal death. i guess its because many people live according to the "seeing is believing" motto.
i also wonder why i am in leadership positions. and what it means to be in a leadership position. i believe that everyone is a leader. but then wont the name "leader" be meaningless? but not everyone can lead.
and now i realised that i am sleepy and lazy and all i want to do is rot at home. goodbye
|
|
|
[14 Apr 2009|09:05pm] |
hur hur. i think its funny when i answer the phone, "hello?" and then some cheena rattles on in mandarin, presumably asking me to do a survey? i wouldn't know because they talk too fast. and then i say "i don't understand" and anticipate their hanging up on me. and after a few seconds of stunned silence from their side, they either rudely hang up, or apologise in mandarin, saying its the wrong number or whatever crap. haw haw.
morale of the story: do not answer the phone in mandarin.
|
|
|
[13 Apr 2009|08:03pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Jason Mraz - Please Don't Tell Her |
] |
Haha. i quote from Mr. Wong Kan Seng when he was still Singapore's Foreign Minister.
"Former Minister Rajaratnam recalled that in 1965 after separation from Malaysia, Prime Minister (PM) Lee Kuan Yew called him and told him that Singapore now needed a Foreign Minister and that he had been chosen. As the new Foreign Minister, he was going to be interviewed by the press in a few days' time so he asked then PM Lee what Singapore's foreign policy should be. The Prime Minister replied, 'Raja, you had better wear a tie and a lounge suit. That's most important. Then after that, you just say what comes to the top of your head.' I am grateful that I was spared such a traumatic start."
hur. and Jason Mraz's - Please Don't Tell Her - is super emo. i loike sia.
...
There's no love for me no more
Say it isn't so
How she easily come, and she easy go
Please don't tell her that I've been meaning to miss her
Because I don't
So why after the all of everything that came and went
I care enough to still be singing of the bitter end and broken eras
I told you I don't but
I am only trying to be the best with my intent to cure
The rest is sure to lay me ease the plural hurts of the words of reverse psychology
That's easier said
Easier than done
Please don't dare tell her what I've become
Please don't mention all the attention I have drawn
Please don't bother cause she'll feel guilty when I'm gone
Because I'm crazy like the rest of us
But I'm crazier when I'm next to her
And it's amazing how she's so self-assured
But I know she'd hate me if she knew my words
Do I hurt anymore
Do I hurt, well
I don't
I don't
I don't
|
|
|
[10 Apr 2009|06:27pm] |
[mug rant]
i realised that i had been reading the ideals of Singapore's first Foreign Minister for the past few hours. yaya i took a few hours to cover a few pages -_-
i wondered if anyone ever criticised him. in my mind i doubted so, but i did a search on LexisNexis Academic and google and found .... NOTHING. the closest i got was "... resulted in his most serious critics walking away pondering over the views he offered." (Chong, 2006)
maybe my skills as a COM202 (information literacy) suck. but anyway.
i wondered why i was looking for a negative take on S. Rajaratnam. and then i figured its probably because in school we are taught to have a balanced point of view, to consider the good points and the bad points. and after reading about his ideals, i find myself starved of the bad points.
herein possibly lies the reason why Lee Kuan Yew had said "They (the young generation) say, oh, let's have multi-party politics. Let's have different parties change and be in charge of the government."
because we have never had a taste of what it would be like to have a multi-party government. we find our bum bums itchy for the grass on the other side.
|
|
|
[10 Apr 2009|05:01pm] |
i had in mind to do a post on the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2008 and on a quote by our first Foreign Minister but i shall settle for this:
does anyone have dreams about music? like the tune is the most distinct part of the dream. but when you wake up you can't remember what song it is, or if its something your mind came up with.
or does anyone zone out with their eyes wide open? and then when you come back to reality you realise you don't know what you were looking at in the first place.
|
|
|
[06 Apr 2009|10:42pm] |
currently in Alpha Delta Mango studying. in a lecture theatre! woo hoo got the whole place to ourselves (ie. the study gang). i love doing illegal things that are not exactly illegal.
yesterday i went to the new FilmGarde cinema opposite Bugis Junction. since its new, other companies sent in flowers of congratulations. then the flowers were lined up on display. i saw an auntie picking out flowers from there and then walking away with the flowers poking out of her bag. HAHA
by the way, those flowers have a name right? not wreath. not stand. what's the name! can't place my finger on it.
|
|
| despite. |
[03 Apr 2009|03:21am] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Hillsong Live - You'll Come |
] |
it's good having a place where i can safely say "now is a point in my life where i'm not on a spiritual high", and know that i am not judged by the people present. and even have others who say that they are not on a spiritual high as well. and its encouraging to see them still living the Christian life out loud.
sometimes i have felt that after so many years of being a Christian, i know how to act. i know how to walk the walk and talk the talk. i know all the right things i should say, and i know all the right thoughts i should have as a Christian. and i couldn't help but feel fake sometimes, when i don't feel oh so holy on the inside.
but i think i've come to realise that its not that we're faking. rather, in spite of all the circumstances pulling us down, we can not help but continue to proclaim that God is God, and live the true Christian life. in spite of feeling spiritually empty inside, we know for sure that God is God.
i thank God for cell group in NTU. even though many times i do not feel like going because of the mountains of other things that need to be done, i never fail to come away feeling refreshed and encouraged by the lives of my fellow CF-ers. people who know exactly what i am going through and who are living so fervently for their God.
Hui Xian feels loved by the people of God.
|
|
|
[30 Mar 2009|11:58pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Hillsong Live - With Everything |
] |
i dont mean to sound like an opportunist of any sort, and i dont mean to revel in things like death.
but can you imagine if NTU pulled a Hogwarts? like when the dark wizards were set loose and then parents started calling their kids back from school because it was dangerous to be in school. if only the same thing could happen for NTU. CHILDREN RECALL. yeah baby.
its been a long time since i heard a song that made me breathless. but "With Everything" did it man.
|
|
|
[29 Mar 2009|12:09am] |
Hui Xian quotes from Searle, 1979:
In Searle (1969: chapter 3) I suggested that many such utterances could be explained by the fact that the sentences in question concern conditions of the felicitous performance of the speech acts they are used to perform indirectly - preparatory conditions, propositional content conditions, and sincerity conditions - and that their use to perform indirect speech acts consists in indicating the satisfaction of an essential condition by means of asserting or questioning one of the other conditions.
whatever mans. it took me 15min to understand what EXACTLY he is talking about.
|
|
| im not vulgar im just hooked |
[25 Mar 2009|09:17am] |
|
Today, I dragged myself out of bed to go for 202 lecture. More than half the class didn't bother showing up. I should be in that other half. FML.
|
|
|
[24 Mar 2009|01:58am] |
the thing about understanding just a teensy smidgeon of Cantonese and being a Chinese. being a Chinese means i look like a Chinese.
the manager at the restaurant says "oh you don't eat seafood" to me, in response to what my daddy said to him. so i shook my head. and then he said some other stuff which i more or less understood so i could nod or whatever.
then later on he asks me something FREAKING CHIM in Canto and im like ?!!??!?!?!?!?!??!? and i also dunno how to say I DUNNO WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT.
so i just give him the o_O??!?!?!?! face. and he looked rather taken aback. like dunno how to react.
and then later on when he says more stuff i can respond again hahaha.
whatever.
after doing my linguistics readings, the more and more i see myself as being able to relate more to the Anglo-Saxon culture than that of my own. and its not exactly a conscious effort? lots of it is from how i look at things through the years.
kantang in distress. HAHA
|
|
|
[16 Mar 2009|08:48pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Good Charlotte - Wounded |
] |
so i was thinking of what songs to choose cause i was leading worship with Jilun for NTU CF FOC 2009 meeting right. then during saturday's connect@5 service, pastor Charles was giving the closing prayer. and to be honest, my mind was kinda drifting off. but then pastor Charles said "blah blah blah great is Thy faithfulness". and my mind went CLICK. like i just knew it was something i should pay attention to. so okays "Great is Thy Faithfulness" was chosen as a song for worship.
and then just so happens that Jilun sang that song at his own church service on sunday. which is kewl. like affirmation.
and then today was the meeting. so i tried to think of a possible theme. and the word "anchor" was like stuck in my head. i tried to look for other possibilities but i kept thinking of "anchor" anyway. and from there branched out to other things like "float" and "sailing through". so when we were discussing possible themes for the camp, we decided on the theme Fellow-SHIP.
kewl. okay. anyways heard this on saturday. though it was rather kewl.
"God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called."
alright. the end.
|
|
|
[15 Mar 2009|02:42am] |
even though seeing PDA on public trains make me go o_O
i must admit that there are plus points when its a crowded day. having two people whose bodies are stuck together definitely make for more efficient use of space. :D
|
|
|
[07 Mar 2009|04:03pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Thousand Foot Krutch - Breathe You In |
] |
I couldn't sleep I had to listen
To a conscience knowing so well
That nothing comes from indifference
I look inside of myself
Taking hold, breaking in
The pressures all need to circulate
Mesmerized and taken in
Moving slow, so it resonates
It's time to rest, not to sleep away
My thoughts alone, try to complicate
I'll do my best, to seek you out
And be myself, and not impersonate
I tried so hard to not walk away
And when things don't go my way
I'll still carry on and on just the same
I've always been strong
But can't make this happen
'Cause I need to breathe, I want to breathe you in
The fear of becoming
I'm so tired of running
'Cause I need to breathe, I want to breath you in
I want to breathe you in
I'm going in, so cover me
Your compass will, help me turn the page
The laughing stock, I'll never be
Because I won't let them take me
Took awhile to see all the love that's around me
Through the highs and lows there's a truth that I've known
And it's you
I've always been strong
But can't make this happen
'Cause I need to breathe, I want to breathe you in
The fear of becoming
I'm so tired of running
‘Cause I need to breathe, I want to breathe you in
I want to breathe you in
I want to breathe you in
I want to breathe you in
I want to, I want to
I want to breathe you in
I want to breathe you in
I want to breathe; I want to, I want to
Wanna breathe
I want to breathe you in
I want to breathe you in
I wanna breathe
jaded mans. can cope with things. but you know?
|
|
|
[05 Mar 2009|01:58am] |
| [ |
music |
| |
The Script - The Man Who Can't Be Moved |
] |
so there i was at this meeting right.
the meeting was for the Nanyang Technological University Christian Fellowship Freshmen Orientation Camp right. FYI i'm chairperson for the NTUCFFOC09. like HUH right haha.
anyway i suddenly realised that everyone was speaking rather weirdly. like whoever was making his/her point would speak slowly, deliberately, measuredly. like it was such a grown-up situation. i couldn't help but snigger to myself. and i was speaking just like them. hahaha. right. i wonder when i'll ever grow up. maybe never. wheee
YOU KNOW. this posts has so many "right"-s. and it's not even a conscious effort.
the lyrics for "the man who can't be moved" are so emo mans. upzz! dunno why i didn't think much of this song when i first heard it. but i loike very much mans.
Cos if one day you wake up and find that you're missing me,
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet,
And you'd see me waiting for you on the corner of the street.
|
|
|
[02 Mar 2009|09:19pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Taylor Swift - Love Story |
] |
aye yai aie.
i realised the importance of memorising Bible verses. not that i never thought it was important, but now there's a real life situation that made me realise it again.
someone asked for help. again. and the immediate thought that came to mind was the verse saying something like if someone slaps you, turn to him the other one also. so i said yes.
dear Lord, teach me what it truly means to love the unloveable.
i went to look for the verse. its Luke 6:29. and the heading for that chunk of passage is "Love for Enemies" haha. i read the rest of the chunk of passage. good stuff mans. and so happens the uconnect stuff for this week is on love. oh wells.
|
|
|
[26 Feb 2009|02:36am] |
wow.. the Backstreet Boys actually were/are good mans! i thinks the word "boyband" undercuts their talent.
|
|
| im fine and strong. i just need to get this off my chest. |
[26 Feb 2009|01:09am] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Amber Pacific - Save Me From Me |
] |
If you only knew the pain
The pain I keep inside
The pain that makes me "me"
Then without it who am I
In a room with broken walls
I lay in scene and dreams
I want you to see
I'm cold and white
I'm holding on
I'll try to breathe for you
I'm crying out
I'm singing loud
You could be all I need
And I'm losing my will
Just to hold you in
I'm giving up the hope
That you could have been the one
To save me from me
And now our lips will meet
and i'll taste their defeat
I'll give in this once
I'm cold and white
I'm holding on
I'll try to breath for you
I'm crying out
I'm singing loud
You could be all I need
Still I know I'll carry on
Guide me through the life I lost
To find these faults in me
To find these faults in me
I'm cold and white
I'm holding on
I'll try to breath for you
I'm crying out
I'm singing loud
You could be all I need
To save me from me
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
forandring's journal