Temple found in Philistine home of Goliath

I have been following Aren Maier, a biblical archaelogist. Here's an update from the Jerusalem Post and his comments. Apparently there are findings that linked to the famous earthquake mentioned in the book of Amos and Isaiah!

Must dig more now to find out what earthquake. :)

Iphone 4 at M1 Paragon

Sharing the excitement with Henry in Singapore. It's crazy out there at M1 Paragon. Look at them queueing up for the latest iphones. :)

He Will Carry Me (Mark Schultz)

This is so beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i8siU40APM&feature=related

He Will Carry Me (Mark Schultz)

I call, You hear me
I’ve lost it all
And it’s more than I can bear
I feel so empty
You’re strong
I’m weary
I’m holdin’ on
But I feel like givin’ in
But still You’re with me

chorus:
And even though I’m walkin’ through
The valley of the shadow
I will hold tight to the hand of Him
Whose love will comfort me
And when all hope is gone
And I’ve been wounded in the battle
He is all the strength that I will Ever need
And He will carry me

I know I’m broken
But You alone
Can mend this heart of mine
You’re always with me

chorus
And even though I feel so lonely
Like I’ve never been before
You never said it would be easy
But You said you’d see me through The storm
chorus

Inception

This is showing in the cinema now about a group of professionals who plant a seed into your mind while you are dreaming so that you act in a certain way that have set out for you. I enjoyed its fast pace and 3 hours passed very quickly. I enjoyed the special effects. How did they shoot the zero gravity scene? I also could see through the work of the enemy the devil. I had no idea I was going to watch another “Matrix”. If I had known I may not have watched it. But watching it was like God sending me into the battlefield. Psalm 144 became so real to me that night when God said He was training my hands for war and my fingers for battle. I put Ethan’s tiny toy soldiers on my shelf to remind me of the battle I am in and that the Lord is with me.

Henry called it a challenging show and quite confusing because they had dreams within a dream up to 4 layers. As for me, I pictured these professionals as the devil and his minions at work in someone’s mind. There was so much uncovered and I just wanted to document it but unsure if anyone will get my drift. It is more for my own personal satisfaction I guess:

The maze – a dream within a dream

The “architect” sets out the visual platform and creates a maze so that it is not easy to figure out that the person set up is being deceived. The devil is not going to tell you so blatantly about a lie. It is an erosion of truths that once we are living in a lie so deep, it seems alright. Someone suffering from cancer shared recently that currently he is “..being caught in this maze riddled with puzzles of never ending mind games…”. It is great for him because he knows he is in a maze and he is trying to get out. He is coming out stronger and stronger everyday but how much more if we move by the power of the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the way to go and the things to do. He has many Christian friends praying for him and I pray too that his eyes will open to see Jesus. The maze will not make a difference because our eyes are on Jesus.

It also shows the many layers of deceit and lies. Even if you pull through one lie, there is another lie and another lie to contend without God, we’re always trying to put out fires in our lives, chasing our own tail. Again, the holy spirit reveals to us the mind of the devil and the deceit we are in and we can bind and break them in Jesus’ name. How powerful this truth can be for someone who is facing manic depression!

Familiarity – Familiar Spirits

In the movie, the person who is set up dreams of someone whom he is familiar who talks to him, explains and persuades him to do something. Similarly, the devil disguises as a familiar spirit within our dreams or worst still, visions (ie not dreaming). The familiar spirit could be our beloved who have passed away. Mediums do this a lot and the living communicate with the dead. Some communicate in their dreams. Sigh, if only they knew they are communicating with an evil spirit disguising to be their beloved. The bible says in Luke 16:19 to 31 that there is a great chasm that is fixed between the living and the dead, saved (Lazarus) or unsaved (rich man) so they won’t be able to roam the earth to talk to you. You are being deceived just like in the movie. And if you entertain familiar spirits, you are opening the door for more of his minions to attack you. Just command them to go from you in Jesus' name. Your loved one in safely in heaven. Father God sends angels instead to give you a message or to help you.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12
"When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. Everyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things.

Heavy Sedation

I like this one. One big tight slap and still the dreamer can’t wake up. This is the spirit of blindness that has come over the person who has been set up. Can’t see, can’t hear, can’t speak the truth. The topic of idolatry keeps popping up everywhere I read the bible for eg.

In Psalm 115, it is written:
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
6 they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
7 they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

Those who trust in their idols will be like the idol, blinded from seeing the truth. Hah, but there’s “the tilt” that once you start to fall, you realize you are in trouble and wake up. No wonder, God allows trials in our lives to draw us back to Him. Blessed are those who come to him when they trouble free. :) I believe it is possible because I was one of them. God is good, God is gracious for hearing my knocks when I sought Him 11 years ago.

Then, there’s Hollywood and their movies. They promoted Matrix the last time so I was quite surprised that in the middle of this movie, they talked about forgiveness and letting go. Finally, some truth? Truth that "Matrix" is all a lie maybe? Neh, it’s Hollywood – the top didn’t stop spinning or at least it got us guessing that they were still in a dream after they got back to “reality”. That’s Hollywood for you.

Nicholas asked me once (no, he didn't watch "Inception"). "Why are movies so filled with violence". We can’t escape evil. We can only teach our children between good and evil and equip them with the ways of God. Else, we will believe “Matrix” and “Inception” and believe that the reality we are living in is all a lie. It’s more like the devil is the father of all lies. Just look at the maze that he is causing us daily and the seed that he is planting into our thoughts. Beware of inception from the devil.

Psalm 144

Just wanted to share with you Psalm 144 that has been such an encouragement to me and I use this to talk to God, to claim His promises. I know He listens to me, He said so in the bible. Watching "Inception" (latest movie in the cinema) was like training ground to me (will blog more on the movie). The first few verses of the Psalm seems so real to me because I can see the deceit and lies of the enemy. He tells me He is training my hands for war and my fingers for battle.

It seems so timely just when I decided I will fight the battle even stronger with God in the battle. In this Psalm, He shows me what He is going to do that He will part heaven and come down and shoot arrows at my enemy. He has been every encouraging and I was almost in tears reading this and I decided to memorise it! I've succeeded the first few lines only from verses 1 to ....2. Oops! Two verses only? God bless my memory! :)

Psalm 144

1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
3 O LORD, what is man that you care for him,
the son of man that you think of him?
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a fleeting shadow.
5 Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
6 Send forth lightning and scatter {the enemies};
shoot your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach down your hand from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
from the hands of foreigners
8 whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God;
on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
10 to the One who gives victory to kings,
who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.
11 Deliver me and rescue me
from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.
....

Don't Stop Believing

Hamir’s name popped up in my mind today. I wasn’t sure whether to call him not wanting to seek encouragement but then I know God wouldn’t make his name pop up for no reason. Nothing is a coincidence when it comes to God. I am learning to listen to God and his prompting and Father God knows what I am going through. I know a lot of people ask me how I am and I thank you for your caring heart.:) I say I am strong when I feel strong and shaky when I am feeling shaky. Emotionally, the last 2 weeks has been challenging. Then I remembered what Hamir told me a year ago, that medical reports are mere man’s reports. In the beginning, I looked at him strangely thinking “You mean, you want me to deny reality?”. Now, I understand what he means.

You see, when Christ died for us, he not only died for the sins of the world, He was also made a ransom for many. Few days ago, I got up from bed with the word “RANSOM” in my mind. I started thinking “Who is the kidnapper?”, “Who was held as ransom?”, “Who was the ransom paid to?” I went on the internet and man, there was so much rubbish that I had to reject many of them in Jesus’ name!

Someone on yahooanswers asked “Why would God want to be paid for forgiveness?”. Some refered to Father God as a child abuser of what He did to Jesus. That to me showed a lack of understanding of the character of God. It’s because He is a holy God that He demands justice, that we are to be condemned for our sins. Yet, He is a loving God (like 2 sides of a coin), He is slow to anger, He is faithful, He never lies, He delivers His promises, He showed himself throughout history and He gave us the law so that we may understand that we needed a saviour. And He did send us a savior, His only begotten son, and everything was recorded so that we may be able to investigate and discover the truth of what He has done. He told us long ago of what was and is to come through prophets so that we cannot say that it is something else (yet we still do).

So, anyway, the reason why the Holy Spirit brought up the subject of “RANSOM” was to remind me that at the cross, upon Jesus’ death and resurrection, He defeated ALL the powers of the enemy including all the diseases that God allows to happen around us, including this enemy cancer. After all we live in a fallen world but for those who are believing, we have the Holy Spirit within us.

Luke 10:19
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

It says “ALL”, not “some” of the powers of the enemy. The kidnapper is the devil but Jesus has defeated the devil upon His resurrection. Jesus came to set the captives (us) free. And today, many are living testimonies of what God has done for them who are believing. Believe you can defeat the enemy because God said so. Believe that God will do battle with you because He said so. But many aren’t living out as children of God. Hamir was like crying in his heart. “Aiyo, so many Christian families have lost their trust in God. They do not believe we have an awesome God. Their families are torn apart”.

I told Hamir it is not that they have stopped believing but rather an erosion of faith from influence of the society around us. In a way, we have lost our saltiness and living as the world does, still loving God but of no use in His kingdom. No, I am probably wrong about that. God works in mysterious ways so even in our backslidden state still loving God, I think God will still use us for His purpose like He did me.

It’s really tough to explain just that God will bless us (Deuteronomy 28:1-12) and has given all we need to survive in this fallen world until He returns again as long as we continue receiving and believing His grace like believing Abraham.

Galatians 3:9
So that they who are on the principle of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Romans 4:16
Therefore, the promise is based on faith so that it can be a gift. Consequently, the promise is guaranteed for every descendant, not only for those who are descendants by obeying Moses' Teachings but also for those who are descendants by believing as Abraham did. He is the father of all of us,

Romans 4:20
Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

Faith is a continuous action of believing and receiving grace that comes with a love relationship with God.

Today’s conversation with Hamir reminded me of my purpose on earth, to share the gospel to help others find salvation through Jesus Christ. I shared with Hamir my discouragements and how I found hope in His word again, worshipping Him and singing songs to Him and the next morning I asked God to spell “LOVE” in the sky and He did. Then, suddenly, Hamir knew why I called him. He said because I have found an intimate relationship with God and beginning to be in tune with the Holy Spirit, he told me to use this relationship to ask God what to share with the people around me. “What is the key word to share with them O Lord?”. Although, I share through the blog but when it comes to sharing with friends, it is still a challenge. I do ask God to put words in my mouth when I meet friends and have been amazed at their feedback. Today, I realized that He is encouraging me along this path, to seek Him and to let Him lead to carry out His purpose for me in His kingdom.

Father God, I pray for my friends that your holy spirit will touch them and cause them to seek after you once again. Open their hearts to see you Jesus and to continuously believe everyday what you have done for us, that nothing is too hard for you because you are God who made the heavens and the earth. I pray that they move in the power of your Holy Spirit. Renew their minds O Lord to see that you are indeed an awesome God who sees and knows every detail of their lives and that you have defeated all the powers of the enemy and we have been given all authority under heaven to defeat all their powers too. Thank you Lord for equipping us. Thank you for your love. Thank you for saving us. In Jesus’ name I pray Amen.

Greatness of Our God (Hillsong)

Greatness of Our God (Hillsong)

Give me eyes to see
More of who You are
May what I behold
Still my anxious heart

Take what I have known
And break it all apart
You my God are greater still

No sky contains
No doubt restrains
All You are
The greatness of our God
I spend my life to know
And I'm far from home
To all You are
The greatness of our God

Give me grace to see
Beyond this moment here
To believe that there
Is nothing left to fear
That You alone are high above it all
You my God are greater still

No sky contains
No doubt restrains
All You are
The greatness of our God
I spend my life to know
And I'm far from home
To all You are
The greatness of our God

And there is nothing
That can ever separate us
There is nothing that can ever
Separate if from Your love
No life no death of this I am convinced
You my God are greater still

Check out youtube:
http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/greatness-our-god-hillsong-live/all

Be Magnified

Lynn DeShazo Be Magnified
Lyrics:

I have made You too small in my eyes
O Lord, forgive me
And I have believed in a lie
That You were unable to help me.
But now, O Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show Yourself strong
And in my eyes and with my song
O Lord, be magnified
O Lord, be mag - nified.

Be magnified, O Lord
You are highly exalted
And there is nothing You can't do
O Lord, my eyes are on You.
Be magnified, O Lord, be mag - nified.

I have leaned on the wisdom of men
O Lord, forgive me
And I have responded to them
Instead of Your light and Your mercy.
But now, O Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show Yourself strong
And in my eyes with my song
O Lord, be magnified
O Lord, be magnified.

Check out on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YrwyExJaUM&annotation_id=annotation_673970&feature=iv

Using Strongs Concordance - Sin a Noun

Hebrews 9:28

“So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him”

This morning, I tried my hand at finding greek translations and using the Strongs concordance. I always wondered how preachers use the Strong concordance. I see all this numbers and explanations but not sure how it all works. I guess it is only useful if you have a question in mind! This is my first time so I am sharing with you too :

Go to http://biblelexicon.org/
Choose “Strong”
Type the bible verse in the empty box above.
If you type Hebrews 9:29, here is what you will see:

Greek: ἁμαρτίας
Transliteration: Amartias
Strong's :266
Morphology :N-APF
English: sins

Put your cursor over the word to read the explanation or click on the Strong’s number e.g. 266 and it will give further details.

Original Word: ἁμαρτία
Transliteration: hamartia
Phonetic Spelling: (ham-ar-tee'-ah)
Short Definition: offense

Put your cursor on the Morphology eg. “N-APF” and you will find in this example “Sin” here is a "noun accusative plural feminine".

Therefore, in the above passage of Hebrews 9:28, the sin that Jesus bore is a noun and Jesus did not die for our sinful actions (verb). He died for the Sins of the world, the original Sin, the capital “S” sin, Adam’s sin that cause us all to be condemned.

Father God remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 10:17) so even though we still sin today, we can easily nip it at the bud knowing that once we confess He WILL forgive us and cleanse us. We confess to acknowledge on our part where we have gone wrong and then, we can move on always with the strength of the holy spirit. We don’t have to wallow in our pool of depression and feel condemned and TRY to get up again and be victorious for that day. That’s legalism because we tried to be good and thought we earned it.

Instead, we can jump into Father God’s lap because He says we can come boldly before His throne of grace and say I am sorry and continue to have Him guide us daily. It’s a terribly fine line and it only takes a day to forget. That’s why receiving his grace is daily and not just once off.
Father God remembers our sins no more. We no longer have sin consciences.

In Hebrews 9:14, it says
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

If we try to fight the flesh, thinking we are mere human to react in a way that displeases God, we beat our consciences to the pulp further (the devil gladly eggs us on). Then we are crucifying Christ all over again, as if He has to be suffer on the cross again and again for our sins.

Hebrews 9:12
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place ONCE for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

We are no longer condemned now for those who believe in Jesus, not just on judgment day. Because we are no longer condemned (Romans 8:1) and are sin consciences-free, we can thank Jesus daily and be FREE to serve the living God, not out of guilt but out of His love for us.

Thank you Lord for your grace. Thank you that I can receive your grace all over again and know that I am no longer condemned. Thank you that you remember my sins no more. Thank you for all that you have done for me. I pray for the holy spirit to guide me into all truths, understanding and wisdom to know you deeper and deeper each day. In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Receiving His grace all over again

Everyday we get up, pray to receive His grace all over again. Then we realize how LITTLE we know about Christ. I think my journey started that way. They were simple questions - “Why did Jesus die for us?”, “What is the point of his death?”, “Where is the change for those who believe?”, “What does it mean to overcome?”, “Why don’t I feel I have overcomed?”.

This morning I laid in bed and thought it is really such a fallacy to just think that we can wait upon the Holy Spirit to change us day by day to become more and more like Christ. It is more like He is waiting for us to say yes to Him, to let Him move in our lives, to ask Him for strength etc.

In my mind this mroning, I laid down how I functioned in the past:

Daily routine (family+work) – love God but do nothing mostly - hardly read the bible - do devotion with kids but pushing through – serve God in any way I can – pray to God but not very sure He will answer – not very thankful when good small things happen thinking it is a coincidence – think it is human to be angry – ask for forgiveness – try again to be better – influenced by the people around us eg office mates, lukewarm Christians alike – open to ideas of new age, yoga- unable to answer tough questions from non-believers but not really seeking the answers- get spiritually demotivated – begin not to believe in God – spiritually dying – leading to death (falling sick etc)

…and compared to now:

Giving thanks to God for everything- daily seeking the truth and digging daily – praising and singing – watching Him bless us – seeing signs in the sky - believing that God can do all things – believing God will take care of my family, my health, my kids’ health, education, Henry at his work place etc – moving by the spirit in areas I think He wants me to do - watch in amazement the blessings others receive - am thankful for Him using me - try more baby steps out of old ways -using my spiritual authority to cast down all negative thoughts from the devil – growing in strength of the Lord – loving God more – sharing with others God’s love –serving in a more meaningful way - alive in God!

So, although we should not feel condemned (Romans 8:1) when we don’t read the bible, we should ASK the holy spirit for strength and cry out to Him for strength for His word to touch us. Then, you can start to read or listen to the bible or hear a sermon in church or in the car/computer etc and pray for the holy spirit to guide us to understanding. ASK God to reveal His love to us and then give thanks to Him and praise Him for every little blessing and open door (eg revelation of His word) that He gives to us. I pray you will be so blown away by His love! Get ready for an adventure of a lifetime for then His glory will surpass any awful thing you are experiencing knowing that He will guide you through all things! And THAT's reigning in life. :)

(Romans 5:17, AMP)

"For if because of one man's trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God's] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)"

Jesus died for our Sins (Capital "S") NOT sinful actions

Chor Hon put a question to us recently "Is it our sins that makes us sinners or do we sin because we are sinners?".

I thought "What was he going on about?" Elaine answered "What difference does it make now? It is more important to know that once we are born again, we are no longer sinners because we have God's nature in us". During the Hebrews class, Leong Tien Fook said in passing that Jesus died for our Sins, capital "S". He said Jesus died for our original sin and he asked the class whether they understood that and everyone nodded their heads and the class continued.

It wasn't until last week that I finally put everything together and finally I understand. Thank you Lord for this revelation! I tried to explain to my bible study members last night but I don't think they got it. I tried to explain again to Henry this morning and finally he got it! Praise the Lord!

You see, Jesus died for our Sins. It is a NOUN (place, person, Name) and not a verb (an action). Apparently in 22 times in the book of Romans, the sin mentioned here is a NOUN. There are only 3 exceptions in this book where it is a verb.

Romans 6:1,2
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

The sin here in Romans 6 is a NOUN not our sinful actions. Jesus died for Adam's sin. Through one man's disobedience, all of us following him were condemned. So in answer to Chor Hon's question it should be "We sin because we are sinners". We are sinners because of one man's sin. It doesn't matter whether it is fair or not. In reality, we would do the same as Adam. It is already in "the mould".

Last night, during bible study, some of us shared how as a result of our sin, when we do something wrong, we feel guilty and then we try to correct ourselves and come back to God. I believe it is more important to experience God's love and His love is this - that He sent Jesus to die for all the sins of OUR guilt, OUR shame and OUR condemnation (yes, the ones we might be facing right now) as a result of our fallen nature. All that sin was imputed on Him on the cross, He was cursed on the tree, He took the wrath that was meant for us. And when we reflect that, it means whatever guilt, condemnation, shame that we suffer now (past, present and future), Jesus HAD ALREADY PAID THE PRICE and we can be so thankful. And that thankfulness causes us to love others and that's the strength of the holy spirit that we ride on and not a legalism sort of "love one another".

Jesus did not die for our sinful actions. We still sin but when we rediscover His grace everyday (by breaking bread, by discovering him all over again from the bible, sermons etc), when His GRACE meets our sins, his grace overwhelms our sins. We confess to him 1 John 1: 9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and WILL forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." and then, we move on under His grace.

If Jesus died for our sinful actions, then God has failed. But Jesus died for our Sins, our original sins, the capital S, the noun and that He succeeded because now we have the Holy Spirit and we have power to defeat ALL the powers of the enemy. And He did it ONCE for all and Father God remembers our Sins no more! He has forgotten because He sees Jesus in our heart, He sees us receiving His grace and His righteousness and then, we reign in life!

Romans 6:10
The death he died, he died to sin ONCE for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Hebrews 10:17
– then He adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” (ESV)

That was God's rescue plan to us. And if we can grasp this understanding, it can be so powerful that our lives will be transformed! We realise that is nothing we can do but to just receive His love, His grace. Each time we agree with condemnation and guilt and shame, it is as if we did not agree that Jesus had put on himself OUR guilt, shame and condemnation on Him, that we would try to get it right with God again (on our own strength) but it does not work that way. It is seeking to understand grace all over again everyday. Everytime, we eat bread, let us remember that and receive Him all over again so that healing (spiritually, emotionally and physically) can flow through us again and His POWER, His HOLY SPIRIT will flow through us and in us again! To God be the glory!

So to Chor Hon's question, "Is it our sins that makes us sinners or do we sin because we are sinners?". The answer is :

We sin because we are sinners but no longer are we condemned, we are a new creation for those who believe, the old is gone! I am dead! I no longer live but Christ lives in me, who loved me and gave himself up for me. Now, that's riding on the holy spirit. :) Yee hah!

Jesus Walking on Water Kid's Bible Story

I shared my testimony of spotting the "OV" in the sky to the children during bible study last night. It was in line with a mime that I got the kids to do about Peter in the boat with the other disciples and Jesus walking on water. The children are between the ages of 3 to 9 years and they very active. Several of them wanted to play Peter at the same time and it was little Steffi that pointed out to me that I should have casted lots or used "One, Two, Jus?". Some crowd control please! The blanket became waves, the boat was rocking hard and there were screams when they thought they saw a ghost but it turned out to be Jesus. Still the kids (other disciples) wouldn't calm down except Ivan who played Peter. Whew!

The funny part was when I read out "Why do you doubt?" Yang Yang as Jesus repeated "Why are you so dumb?". I wanted to roll on the ground laughing. So funny. :) (the mime had turned into a skit).

My testimony of "OV" in the sky was supposed to reinforce that even when we doubt He can do something great, He will show His power and encourage us on. I asked the children "Do you think that Father God can write "LOVE" in the sky?". Yang Yang's response surprised me. With eyes rolling (just like his dad's) he said "Of course! God can do anything!". It shamed me because I doubted God until he showed His power to me in the sky.

Yesterday night, I wanted to teach the kids about faith from Matthew 14:22-33 but they ended up teaching me instead. I sensed God telling me "Do not doubt Liz. God can do anything. Have courage and believe in your living God!". Thank you children. Thank You Lord for your children.

Saw "OV" in the sky!

I went jogging this morning. It's a good sign for me that I am strong enough to exercise. Right up to last Sunday, I was still pretty shaky.

As I was jogging, I suddenly asked God in my mind "Can you write LOVE in the sky?" I know about testing God but it has been a tough week and not so great results from the last scan and having also heard Kim Kee's mum passed away on Tuesday morning from lung cancer. I know nothing is too hard for my Sovereign Lord and in a blink of an eye He can just heal me and yet He doesn't. He has a purpose for me and I know he wants to build me up in my faith. When I ask Him for vision or words to encourage me He just says "Stay close to me, love me, remain in me. I am the vine and you are the branch. Remain in me". So, I ask Him for more revelation of his love that I may know Him and understand Him more.

So, it is in this context that I asked him to write "LOVE" in the sky. But I didn't really think He would. It was just something to encourage me. Then, right in front of me I saw a big circle, almost like an eclipse of the sun. And suddenly, there was another circle overlapping the first circle like 2 wedding bands together. Then, I said to God "But God, I am turning the corner and I would love to see the words "LOVE" but I don't expect it would happen".

I turned the corner and looking at another part of the sky and I saw a big "V" in the sky. Then a big circle "O" appeared to the left of the "V" and the "V" opened up into the shape of a heart! I was so touched by God's love that He could read my mind and answer me in the sky and so beautifully too!

It's like in Psalms 139: 2, David wrote:

"You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar."

Then a thought came to my mind as if God was saying to me "Is it enough for you?" and I replied to God "Yes, it is enough for me. Thank you Lord for your love for me". I turned another corner and looked at another part of the sky and this time I saw a cross, laid down and a song came to my mind..

"You laid aside your majesty
Gave up everything for me
Suffered at the hands of those you had created "

..the rest I had to hum coz I could not remember the lyrics. It was a beautiful jog this morning, to breathe the fresh air and to receive a confirmation from God that He sees me, He loves me, He hears my thoughts and encourages me on. :)

You Laid Aside Your Majesty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxXrV-0JqoI
Lyrics
You laid aside Your majesty,
gave up everything for me.
Suffered at the hands of those You had created.
You took away my guilt and shame,
When You died and rose again.
Now today You reign,
And heaven and earth exalt You.
I really want to worship You my Lord,
You have won my heart and I am Yours.
Forever and ever, I will love You.
You are the only one who died for me,
Gave Your life to set me free.
So I lift my voice to You in adoration.

By the Rivers of Babylon

Finally! A "youtube" for Christians - http://www.godtube.com/. Thanks Vince for this link. Now I can blog with christian songs at the background and without sieving much. :)

When I was a kid growing up, I hated Boney M's songs. But few years ago, I realised their christmas song "Mary's Boy Child" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95mPUtHnFoY) is a very powerful song to teach to children who want to know the real meaning of Christmas..not snow, not Santa, not presents, not reindeers, not jingle bells. They just need to sing a few paragraphs and they would know what Christmas is all about. I used to hate this song because it is probably not as interesting as other pagan christmas songs. It is also long and draggy and I could not quite understand what it is all about!

Last week, I discovered another song I disliked only to find out that they are words from the bible sung by Boney M! I was reading Psalm 137 and I probably skimmed over it several times but this time, a melody came to my head...

"By the rivers of Babylon"...

No way! Not Boney M?! Then I continued..

"We sat and wept when we remembered Zion"

I can't believe it! It is that song - "Rivers of Babylon". Boney M, a pop group singing songs from the bible and probably aired over radio for all to hear? Amazing. You can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO1-skXZEvs&feature=related to go down memory lane. Oh how I hated that song.

Now as I understand the bible better and that the Israelites were exiled to Babylon, still, I can't figure out why anyone would write a song about being in captivity and their captors asked them for songs! It is actually a combination of Psalm 137:1-4 and

Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

I think it is that even when we are in trouble and in our darkest moments we are never to stop praising and giving thanks to God. Not even when we are in captivity and we are feeling depressed and down. We will still rise up as children of God to sing to Him, praise Him and give Him thanks.

These days, I sing it in the shower! God really amuses me sometimes. :) Thank you Lord for bringing me down memory lane even though they weren't nice ones and then turning it round to glorifying you. Thank you Lord for the music that people play that praise you!


Rivers of Babylon by Boney M

By the rivers of Babylon
Where we sat down
There we wept
When we remembered Zion

For the wicked
Carried us away captivity
Requiring from us a song
Now How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land
(repeat)

So let the Words of our mouth
and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight
here tonight (repeat)

By the rivers of Babylon
Where we sat down
There we wept
When we remembered Zion

God's Wrath as a Driving Wind Swirling Down

Jeremiah 30:23-24 (New International Version)

See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart.
In days to come you will understand this.

I was delighted when I stumbled on this verse while reading Jeremiah. I am reminded that in the battle against the enemy the cancer, I always have God on my side and I must put Him in the battle. The above verse enhances my imagination of the torpedoes aimed at each and every cancer cell - God's wrath bursting forth in a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked cancer cells. And His encouragement to me is that God FULLY accomplishes the purposes of his heart and in days to come, I will understand this. :)

Even when David was taking on Goliath, he put God in the battle whilst Saul and the Israelites momentarily forgot God. Their reaction was that "they were terrified and deeply shaken" from the words spoken by Goliath and at the sight of his size (about 9 feet) and the armor he was wearing.

1 Samuel 17:8-11 nlt

Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, "Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!" When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.

Yet, David put God in the battle. His response was totally different.

1 Samuel 17:26 nlt

David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel?" he asked them. "Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?"

And that was the lesson for me this week, to remember to put God in the battle and that it is not by my own strength that battles the enemy, not by "being positive" but merely trusting in my living God.

Who are you spirit of cancer that you are allowed to defy the armies of the living God. I remind you that the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, and his driving wind will swirl down on your head you wicked cancer. Father God says that the fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart so you get out of me in Jesus' name because I am the righteousness of God in Christ and by Jesus' stripes, I am healed!

You say Lord that whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours (Matthew 11:24). I believe that I have received it and I thank you Lord for healing me and I thank you for giving me strength everyday and even coming out from this fever and cough. I give thanks to you O God and tell everyone of your wonderful acts. In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Happy Birthday Mummy! May all your birthday wishes come true! :)

Looks like we're eating in a grocery shop. Mummy, me, Tatt King, Sharon (my cousin) and my dear sis.

Brian, Ethan's cousin. You reckon they look alike? Ethan and Calvin in the background.

My mummy is a very sweet and simple lady. I can't believe the fact she turned down a 4 hour spa for her birthday from my sis! What clothes I try to donate she picks it up and wears them. Sigh. Waste not want not.

My mummy is very caring and has a heart for people. She extends her love to everyone in need and even to birds with broken wings. She loves gardening and somehow that has not been passed down to either of us siblings. But we thank her for good skin genes (well at least that's what my good friend Daphne tells me I have). My mum has a life line to Jesus coz like me she cries when she prays to Jesus (or more like I am like her). I believe the Holy Spirit touches us. I think everyone's experience is different but it has been consistent for us. I can tell you (he he) that Elaine gets goose pimples and her hair stands up when in the presence of the Holy Spirit. She would show it to me during class and then I would point to her my eyes. We have a good laugh. :)

So, I thought my mum would love to eat at this organic restaurant at 17 & 19 Jalan SS18/1B, Subang Jaya, called Organic Vegetarian Fresh Mart and Restaurant since they have good and wholesome food and nothing too fancy for mummy to turn down. :) This is our (Henry and I) usual stop after each check up at SJMC. The awkward part is people come around you with their basket while you eat but that gets quite quaint too.

It was a good idea to experience a different variety of food such as lei cha, vege hot pot, fruit rojak, mee sua miso soup and vege sushi. The kids had their own spaghetti and hawaian pizza. It didn't pass Calvin's test. Nic as usual would pull out everything from the pizza leaving only the cheese. Brian enjoyed a bowlful of asam fried rice. Ethan demonstrated his hearty eating of his spaghetti with a sprig of raw pea sprout for each mouthful! My sis said it was very heart warming to see him eat that way. I think it is the way he exagerates every bite with big mouthfuls.

Father God, I pray for Your blessings and favor to be upon my mum and that she will be filled with Your love joy and peace everyday. I know that we will have victory in this journey together as she prays to Jesus for me everyday. I loose the ministering angels to encamp around and about my mum always. I pray for Your blessing of good health and long life for her and that she will always stay close to Jesus.

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Update - Fever, Cough & Battle Prayer

I was down with fever last Thursday morning and just made it in time to see the doctor. I was down with 39 degrees fever and soon after I was too weak to even cook lunch. Thankfully I had covetted for your prayers and my mum (my angel sent from heaven) came over to rescue me by 1pm and made me my lunch. All praise to God! I was flat out till about 5pm and by then the fever had subsided but I was still so weak. I was feeling much better on Friday and Saturday and thankfully again, my mum and sister came on Saturday to help me prepare dinner for the family.

I think it all started last Tuesday I was feeling short of breath but as I prayed to God that fear is not from God, the shortness of breath also left me. Well, not exactly shortness of breath - it's just that when I do deep breathing, there seem to be smaller space to expand if you know what I mean. I had so much assurance from God when He said in James 4:8 that night

"Come near to God and he will come near to you."


By Wednesday night both Ethan and I were coughing and Ethan commented "We are both coughing right?" and would pat me on my chest each time I coughed. It was so phlegmy and by Thursday morning it was green phlegm and fever. I thought I caught the cough from Ethan but he is alright. Praise the Lord!

Another spiritual attack I believe, just when breakthrough is around the corner, the enemy comes in again so this morning as soon as I regained my strength I have come up with a battle prayer (with the help from the internet) and I am going to war against the enemy by the spiritual authority given to me by Jesus Christ in Luke 10:19 and that Jesus' death on the cross and his shedding of his blood He has forgiven my sins and He has defeated ALL the power of darkness including this horrible cancer. You devil you have no power no dominance over me! So I shall shout out my battle prayer this week and fight on.

And then..I shall sleep and try to get more rest to recover...

Battle Prayer

Father In the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, I now come boldly before Your throne of Grace. As I know You already know, I have been diagnosed with fourth stage cancer and it has been a year now and though I believe in your power completely the enemy this cancer is still coming against me. The doctor wants to introduce a new drug when you say I don’t need to take Tarceva any longer. I reject any drug that you do not recommend oh Lord and just completely trust in what you have in store for me. Father, you said to me oh Lord that you want me to tell everyone what you command me to say. I have dedicated my children to you, you know that oh Lord. I surrender my life to you, my body soul and spirit and everything in my life, my self, my husband my children, my all. Oh Lord, help me now oh Lord, strengthen me oh Lord and help me battle against this enemy cancer that has come against me. You showed me oh Lord from this adventure that you have put me through that I need to offer my all in all to you like a burnt sacrifice on the bronze altar and I understand that now and I surrender to you completely. I love you Lord. You know that. I pray that you now let me live because of your plans for me and because of what I need to do under your guidance to groom my children for your kingdom.

You say Lord
1. “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord … (Isaiah 1:18)
2. “… let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted.” (Isaiah 43:26)

I pray oh Lord that you be with me as I say this battle prayer against the spirit of cancer that has come against me. I pray for your whole army of angels to battle with me and I ask that you see me with Jesus in my heart and I ask for the power of the holy spirit to be with me as I battle against this cancer -for your word says not by my might or by my power but by your Spirit!

Father God, all sickness and disease is my enemy. I have a blood-bought right as Your child O God to take this enemy, this cancer head on operating under the full power, authority, and anointing of God Himself.

As I hold our my right hand and pleading the blood it shows that my right hand is the hand of power and deliverance of God the Father. As Your representative, as Your ambassador, I have been given legal right to be able to do this. I am the vessel in which in Father God’s power will flow through.

Father, I now come before You to plead for the blood of Jesus to come against this spirit of cancer and any other demons that has come against me. I now come boldly before You to help deliver me from this crisis. I belong to you Oh Lord and you possess every part of me.
Father, I have full faith and belief that You can deliver me from this lung cancer. You have told me to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Father, Your Word tells me that:
· “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
· and “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)
· Your Word tells us that You “are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)
· Your Word also tells us that Your “mercy is everlasting” (Psalm 100:5), that You never change – that You are the “same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

Father, I now come before You to ask for Your mercy and that You give me a second chance to live once again. There is much to do for your kingdom of Lord and I am only beginning to take baby steps to come out of fear and to follow you as you lead me guide me and to show me the way to serve you in your Kingdom. I ask, in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, that You spare my life and fully heal me from this lung cancer disease.

Father, You have said in Your Word that “whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). If it be Your will to fully heal me – then I fully believe, without any shadow of a doubt, that you will honor my request and fully heal me from this horrible enemy which has attacked me.

Father, You say in Your Word that “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). I am now going to turn around and take this cancer head on operating under Your authority, Your power, and Your anointing.

You have also told me in Your Word that we have Your power in which to heal all kinds of diseases, that You have given me power to trample over all the power of the enemy and that nothing by any means shall be able to hurt me!

The cancer that has attacked me is my enemy and as such, I am now going to war directly against it operating under Your authority and Your anointing. Father, before I go into actual combat against this enemy, I just want to let you know that I will be standing on Your Word and the promises of Your Word – that you

· “… will restore health … and heal you of your wounds …”(Jeremiah 30:17)

· that You are the One who “… forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases ...“(Psalm 103:2)

· that “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles” ( Psalm 34:17)

· that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit – the Bible also tells us that both of You are also there to help me out in a time of need – that we can approach both of You to help us intercede before God the Father on any specific prayer request that we may have with Him. Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit – I now ask the both of You to also intercede on my behalf before God the Father.

I now ask the both of You to also go with me before this life threatening cancer to take it fully out of my body and to restore my physical body back to perfect physical health.

Father, in the name of Your Son Jesus, I now ask that You answer this petition for my life and that You allow Your healing power to flow through me to fully heal me in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. I am now going to turn around and take this cancer head on operating under Your power, Your authority, and Your anointing.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I now turn around to face this cancer head on operating under Your full authority, Your full power and Your full anointing to be able to do so. Father, in Your Word, You tell me that:

1. “The Lord is a man of war … Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces.” (Exodus 15:3-6)

2. “The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.” (Isaiah 42:13)

3. “… that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly …” (Deuteronomy 9:3)

4. “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.” (Isaiah 45:2)

5. “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah 59:19)

6. “No weapon formed against you shall prosper …” (Isaiah 54:17)

7. “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.” (2 Timothy 4:18)

8. “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:2)

9. “… the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.” (Psalm 37:39)

10. “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:14)

11. “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed … but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” (2 Chronicles 32:7-8)

12. “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, ‘Destroy!’ (Deuteronomy 33:27)

Father, I now ask that You strengthen me as your mighty warrior. Father, I ask that You proceed to go before me as a consuming fire to make this crooked path straight again for me.
Father, I now ask that You deliver me from this incurable cancer. I now ask that You fight this battle for me, that You dash this enemy into pieces, that You cut this cord of wickedness that has bound me up, that You thrust this enemy out quickly, and that You completely destroy every single cancer cell that has invaded my body!

Father, in the name of Jesus, anoint me with Your power to trample on this serpent and scorpion and over all the power that this cancer has on me.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I now come against every single cancer cell that has invaded my body. I now come against whatever may be causing this cancer to ravage my body.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I now Plead the Blood of Jesus Christ against every single cancer cell that is operating in my lungs.

If there are any demons who are causing this cancer to invade my body – I now command you to leave me right now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I have now petitioned for my life before God the Father and you no longer have any legal right to torment me any further.

I now Plead the Blood of Jesus Christ against every single demon that has any type of hold on me. I now command you to loose me and leave me right now and you are to never, ever come back on me again. Go now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I repeat, go now in the name of Jesus Christ.

If there are any other causes that may be causing this cancer that I may not be aware of – I now come against whatever those other causes may be. In the name of Jesus Christ, I now Plead the Blood of my Lord and my Savior, my Lord and my deliverer Jesus Christ against whatever else may be causing this cancer to attack my body. I now command you to loose your grip on me right now – in the name of Jesus Christ! Your hold has now been fully broken. I now command the cause of this cancer to be completely broken, completely destroyed, completely severed and completely demolished under the full healing power of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

Father, let Your full healing power now flow through the shed Blood of Your one and only Son Jesus Christ against every single cancer cell that has invaded my body. Let Your full healing power flow through me as your anointed vessel. Let Your full healing power flood into my body from head to foot, completely saturating every single cell of my body.

Father, let Your full healing power flow now into every single cell of my body that has been invaded by this cancer. Father, completely destroy this cancer right now – from head to foot – in the name of Jesus Christ!

Father, I ask that you destroy this cancer quickly! I ask that you spare me from any more suffering from this horrible enemy.

Father, in the name of Jesus, let me be fully healed now! Father, fully destroy every single one of these cancer cells right now so that they never, ever come back on me again.

Father, I have full faith and belief that You will honor this request.

Thank You Father.
Thank You Jesus.
Thank You Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name I pray Amen.

(tailor made from www.bible-knowledge.com under spiritual warfare)

Sprouting wheat berries

Watercress, turnip, purple cabbage, blue berries, tomatoes, beet root salad wtih lemon, olive oil, pepper and braggs dressing.

Sprouting for the first time! A success! Thank you Jesus!

It has taken me one whole year to actually try it out. It is not difficult believe me. It is like school's science project minus the cotton. It was Dr Ted who told me a year ago to try it out. I was wondering where to get the seeds and how to sprout. You can buy the whole bag of wheat berries from Country Farm Organics at Bangsar Village (same floor as BBQ King). Soak a handful overnight with lots of water and cover it with muslin cloth. I used a food cover. The next day, sprinkle a thin film of water 3 times a day so that it does not dry out. I actually use a sieve to take out excess water. (Others use a cloth bag and hang it over the tap.) I harvested half of it by noon and put it into my salad today. It is nice and sweet.

Watercress, wheat berry sprouts, yellow capsicums, thinly sliced guacamole, chopped coriander, chopped leeks with lemon, olive oil and braggs dressing.

A handful of the salad is made into a sandwich with Adventist bread

Manna from Heaven

I least expected it and definitely not expecting it and still wondering how it happened so I shall say it is a gift from God, a blessing from Him. Praise the Lord! Recently, Henry passed me a letter to open from the Inland Revenue Board. I slit it open but could not open it as I was bombarded by the kids simultaneously and left it aside. I hardly open my mails and the only mail I watch out for are the bills. The rest are opened once in a blue moon. I know - it is something I have to work on. I've designed this in mail system with dividers and all but I still can't apply it! I envy how Henry sieves through his mails and I must interview him one of these days. :)

It was Chee Meng that made me search for my insurance policy and I almost turned my house upside down. But it was during then that I had a chance to open the mail from IRB and discovered that they had approved a refund for tax overpaid because I had made some application before but really, I didn't! It also said to wait for a cheque that would come in the mail later. I managed to meet Chee Meng and passed all the details he needed for the insurance claim and when I got back home I had to deal with all the mess on the floor.

That night while sorting the messy mail, I saw another mail from IRB with the cheque! Hoowheeeee! Praise the Lord!

Ladt week, I was looking up in heaven and then just decided there and then to tell God "I love you so much, I just want to give you an extra RMxxx over and above my tithe this month just to show you that I love you so much". But last Sunday because Ethan was with me due to chicken pox, I totally forgot to pass the money to Henry. Yet, despite all that He still blessed me. Actually, the money was always there but it is just the sequence of events that seems so unbelievable. I never got around to looking at my mail and it may have taken a long while more had it not been for Chee Meng. Interestingly, he would normally ask Henry for the information. It's so strange (the sequence of events) but true. Praise to God forever more! Thank you Lord for your "manna" from heaven.

Ah Foo Kai Fan Recipe

Step 1: Chicken Preparation

Rub 1 big free range chicken with sea salt. Wash.
Slices of ginger placed on top of chicken
Few tsp of soy sauce (Braggs)
Few tea spoon of sesame oil
Heat up water for steaming
Place chicken and innards (liver/heart) in a big metal container and pour in 1 ½ cups of water
(Alvin’s recipe does not dump chicken into water but lets the chicken oil ooze into the container of water to be used later)

Step 2: Chilly Sauce
5 red chillies
6 garlic cloves
10 slices of ginger
3 tsp soy sauce
3 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
lemon to taste
1 tsp vinegar
Salt to taste
3 shallow laddles of chicken stock
Blend all of the above. Voila! You have your chilly sauce.

Steps 3: Prepare the Chicken Rice
Prepare hot wok
Sesame oil
1 small knob of butter for colour
4 slices of ginger
Fry 3 cups of washed rice
Dish out rice into rice cooker
Laddle chicken soup in to cover rice and a bit more water to cook rice in rice cooker. (This is an art to observe! I would have used the 3 cup measurement of soup and water but Alvin just estimated with his finger!)

Step 4: Prepare Chicken Gravy
Chicken soup
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
A bit of shallot & ginger oil (from frying shallots & ginger in oil to be used on the tofu)
A bit of corn flour to thicken gravy
Pour over the sliced chicken (deboned), garnish with chopped coriander and serve it with chicken rice, chilly sauce, sliced cucumber, toufu and beansprout dishes.

This recipe serves 4 adults. For a few more people, Alvin says a bigger chicken, a bigger container and a giant wok with a deep cover would be required. Any more than 8 persons, I think it is wiser to buy chicken rice from outside! :)

I would cook this again for my family but I would eat just a bit of the breast meat, cook my own brown rice, and eat it with lots of raw vegetables like cucumbers and capsicums on the side. :)

Ah Foo Kai Fan - Part 2

Heavenly - looks exactly like in the stalls

Alvin with our family

It taste great Alvin! Thanks again!

Ah Foo's Kai Fan - Part 1

Some chicken gravy lovingly laddled into the chille sauce (that's the secret)

Kung fu slicing by Alvin Foo

The masterpiece

We were so blessed yesterday when Alvin Foo came over and lovingly prepared chicken rice, tofu and bean sprout dish for my entire family. It felt like the Ipoh Chicken Rice stall came to my house. I was a bit sceptical when he said the dish would taste just like the restaurant's but also delighted to get a first hand as to how to cook the dish. For Pete, Yew Jin and Choong Pang who couldn't make it, you can salivate over the pictures. :) We missed you! Hope that we can catch up another time. Thanks so much Alvin for the wonderful fellowship last night and the delicious dinner served! :) You can open your own Ah Foo Kai Fan restaurant!

Thank you Boys Brigade!

"Duo duo" lights up, dances to music, eyes with flashing lights that got Ethan dancing as well. :)

This was one of the prizes that Ethan won and chose for himself from redemption of the games coupon that we won as a family together last Saturday at the Boys' Brigade Carnival at Subang. I came with the intention to bless the Precious Home and received abundant blessings instead. Even Anne who saw me redeeming the games points wondered how it was possible to win so many points! Praise the Lord!

We had a wonderful time playing all the games - "roll the ostrich egg over the green hill to reach its target", "throw darts to shoot balloons", "dish out bugs, pins, buttons and marbles from icy cold water to score points", "toss a ring over the bottle", "tilt the board to get the ping pong ball through a maze to its destination" and "knock the cans down". Nic found a new sport - playing darts! Ethan tried all but he's a bit too young for any of the games eg his arm was too short even to reach the bottom of the pail to dig the treasures out from the icy cold water!

Nic won himself a monopoly set which is about a fun fair as well. So brilliant! We ate so much and bought a whole box of crafts and still had left over coupons we had to give them away for others to enjoy. We heard the Boys Brigade raised RM16,000 for the Precious Home. Well done BB!

Ethan's new pet

Two Turtle Doves - Forever Friends

Forever Friends

Saw Home Alone 2 the other day. Caught the scene where Kevin (the home alone boy) gave one of his two turtle doves to the pigeon lady in Central Park, New York saying "One turtle dove for you and one turtle dove for me to mean we are friends forever".

It reminded me of the song "The 12 days of Christmas"

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

In the world today, dove symbolises peace, love, friends forever. I wondered if the two turtle doves had any connection to the bible? So I started digging.

Yup. I found it in Leviticus 5:7

"But if you cannot afford to bring a sheep, you may bring to the LORD two turtledoves or two young pigeons as the penalty for your sin. One of the birds will be for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.

When Samson ate the honey from the carcass, he should have offered a sin offering because he defiled himself. But he never did! It is so difficult to keep God's laws. That's only one minute part. He wanted to show us that it is impossible for anyone to obey God's laws fully yet it was required of them before God can dwell amongst them and that too behind the thick veil (a barrier) in the tabernacle and that too only once a year during the Day of Atonement and that too only by a high priest appointed by God.

A sin offering is a sacrifice for sin which has brokened the relations with God.

Leviticus 5:8-10 NLT
You must bring them to the priest, who will present the first bird as the sin offering. He will wring its neck but without severing its head from the body. Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the sides of the altar, and the rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering for sin. The priest will then prepare the second bird as a burnt offering, following all the procedures that have been prescribed. Through this process the priest will purify you from your sin, making you right with the Lord, and you will be forgiven.


We deceive ourselves if we think we can work our way to God through sacrifices and repentance according to our ways because we fail even our very own resolutions, our very own standards, what more a holy God who is perfect who cannot stand sin. He gave us 1500 years to try before God (true love) sent Jesus into the world to demonstrate that we needed a saviour.

Jesus was the perfect lamb (two turtle doves/ pigeons if you are poor or flour if you are VERY poor, bullock if your are Tan Sri) who shed his blood for us, making us right with the Lord so that we are forgiven.

Dear turtle dove,

Thank you Jesus that you interceeded for me. Thank you that like the turtle dove you offered your life for me - pierced, crushed, punished - to cover me with your blood to avert Father God's judgment meant for me. Thank you by your single act on the cross, you have adopted me into your family and made me right with God again and I am forgiven. Thank you my King, my friend. We are forever friends now.

Signed
Liz, the other turtle dove

PS: The other turtle dove was placed on the bronzed altar as a burnt offering symbolising the dedication of the whole life to God and it just means to receive Jesus into your heart and believe, yes he did come to the world to save me (what we could not do for 1,500 years) and just be thankful and stand back and watch how the holy spirit works in your life!

Ethan diagnosed with chicken pox

Thank you all so much for your prayers for Ethan. I really feel at peace knowing that you are there praying for us. Ethan just came down with chicken pox late last night. He had an immunity jab when he was 1. There was an outbreak in his school. Pray that it will be minimal and itchless and would go away quickly in Jesus' name. Imagine, Nic had it before Bali. Now Ethan has it after Bali and Camerons. Pray that it will not spread to anyone. I had an immunity jab during Nic's time of chicken pox. Nic recovered after 10 days but he was utterly bored at home with no play mate except Ethan.

Found out he has a spot at his bum and he cried when I washed his bum last night. That's when I realised it was there. Ouch!

He was tossing a lot and scratching last night. Kept praying and praying and suddenly I had this passage in my mind "Look to the Lord and his strength..seek His face always" from Psalm 105. So I translated to Ethan in baby language. "Look to Jesus and his strength. Look to Jesus. He is strong and mighty" repeating over and over again while he was scratching. Then the more he heard, he started to focus on Jesus and soon he drifted off to sleep. Praise God forever more!

Scrumptious Lunch

Oh, I have to share this recipe with you. One of those days when creative juices are churning and everything falls into place. :)

Shocking Pink Juice

This juice turned out a lovely shocking pink. Should be good in parties. :) Henry is the better juice maker believe it or not. He thinks of balance of sweetness while I think 3 types of vege/fruit are normally sufficient. He goes beyond!

Beet root (1/3)
Carrot (1/3)
Pear (1)
Strawberries (4)
Water chestnut (2)

Blend and pulp it into smoothie.

Yellow Omellete
This is inspired by Jamie Oliver who has taught me what vegetables are suitable cooked together.

Stir fry lots of garlic in medium flame
Toss in chopped fresh mushrooms
Toss in yellow zuchinni (or is that squash?)

Beat an egg. Toss the top ingredients into the bowl with egg and pop it back into the pan until omelette is formed.

Colourful salad
Actually I only had one thing in mind when making lunch today. "You Must Eat Quinoa Today". So, I set out cooking quinoa like cooking rice but with more water (2 water: 1 quinoa) . Then I tossed in a pandan leaf from the garden for some fragrance. Let it cool.

Salad
Strawberries sliced (3)
Water chestnut sliced thinly (2)
Small leaves from garden shredded (still don't know what it is!)
Tomato cubed (1)
Carrot grated (1/3)
Capsicum (1/2)

Dressing
Olive oil
Braggs (soy sauce)
little honey
pepper

Toss salad together with dressing and quinoa

Have yourself a srumptious lunch. Very colorful and delightful. Does not happen everyday ie all 4 together - hot, cold, colourful and tasty.

How Lai Met Agnes

It's a really touching story but it is all true. Lai confessed he thought he would be a bachelor forever but because he put his faith in God, not only did God provide him with a wife but a beautiful young wife, capable and organised and the list was so long, it caused her to tear!

And then he sang a song to her.... "From this Moment"..and that made me want to cry...

Henry said throughout the whole time we knew him, he never sang solo before and Agnes has transformed him! We're all really touched and happy for Lai and Agnes in their new journey together. So how did Lai meet Agnes? He met her in 2008 in an International Student Ministry gathering where they were both helping out. Then, they started jogging together and the relationship just grew from there. :) God is good all the time.

Lai and Agnes' wedding 5 Jul 2010

The candy bar

Flower girls

Colourful spring was the theme but we did not read properly. Still we made it coloufully. Praise God indeed! :)

Do not worship other gods

Steep steps at the Bee farm

beautiful garden wedding - fluffy sponge cake which I didn't get to eat. Had crepes of lettuce and tuna, yellow watermelon, green grapes, red grapes, tomatoes, salad and some pasta. They even had a candy bar for kids and Nic's favourite hash browns. Nic commented he loved the wedding because they served junk food..ha ha!

CCF gathering all over again. :)

Beautiful couple, beautiful surroundings, beautiful journey ahead in Christ! :)

Over the weekend, our family headed for Cameron Highlands to attend Lai and Agnes’ wedding on 5 July 2010. What a romantic garden wedding, every girl's dream come true! But other than the garden wedding, the bee farm, the tea plantation, the scratches from roses, the cold mountain, the mist, ice cream and the strawberry farm, the one thing that the kids brought home with them is “Do not worship other gods”.

It all started when we by-passed the road to Cameron Highlands via Simpang Pulai and passed several beautiful caves on our way to Ipoh! Ethan was enthralled by “the hole” in the mountain and stalactites. He also noticed that there was a temple built at every grand cave we saw. Ethan commented in the car “Oh no. Temple again?! Do not worship other gods”.

The bible says in:

Deuteronomy 5:7 “You shall have no other gods before me.”

and in

Deuteronomy 4:16-19
“…you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”

and in

Deuteronomy 6:14
Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

When we arrived at Cameron Highlands we decided not to check in at the Century Pine Hotel first but to proceed instead to the bee farm at Brinchang. After we enjoyed the walk in the garden, the cool crisp air, beautiful flowers, tall sunflowers and honey juice, we started to make our way down to Tanah Rata at about 6pm. Then, we were caught in an hour jam for just a 6km stretch! How dreadful! The kids were screaming in the car (screaming contest), no toilet breaks and I was getting quite stressed out.

Then, I decided to pray in tongues and also in the understanding for God to part the traffic, to remove what is causing the jam, to let the cars move again. The car would move a bit and I would praise God and thank Him. We later passed a pasar malam and thought that is the reason for the jam.

The next day during the garden wedding, Yen shared that there was a religious procession that caught fire. When I related to my mum yesterday, she was puzzled how it could have caught fire. Interestingly, Henry commented that it could be because I was praying in tongues! I never thought of it that way but I know when we pray, we pray according to God’s will as the holy spirit guides us how to pray. So, there was battle in the heavenly realm - that he would send his fire down in his anger.

After Lai’s wedding, we went to a strawberry farm and the first thing that greeted Nic was an idol which Nic quickly ran to me and said “Mummy, do not worship other gods”. I said ”Yes, do not bow, do not pray, do not worship, just walk past, do not say anything. Go on.”

We are told instead in Deuteronomy 6:5 to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” and to obey Him so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.

Our God of heaven and earth loves us each and every one of us very much. He implores you through us who believe to return to him. But He is also a consuming fire and a jealous God and does not want to compete with other gods for our attention. Turn away from your idols friends and back to father God. Hear how much He detests other gods in the books of Deuteronomy and even Isaiah.

2 Corinthians 5:20
So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!".