I Have Something Great To Reveal!

What if you wake up tomorrow and find that everything that we know of the earth today is completely changed? What if you wake up finding that the lives of the people you love are in grave danger? Who do we turn to? Who can save us?

Dear readers, I'm here to tell you that there is one person you can trust in these trying times. There is someone out there who is willing to stand up for what is right; for justice; for TRUTH!

Click here to watch the video and find out more. It takes a while to load, but it's totally worth it. Absolutely inspiring and breathtaking. Enjoy!


P.S.: You can be a hero too! Find out more at the end of the video.

What Will You Do With Your Life?

To every man, is given the gift of Life;
It is his own choice to invest it into the lives of others and make the fullest out of it; or keep it to himself, and let it amount to nothing.

Online Gaming Addiction

What do you do when your mom cancels your World of Warcraft account? You stuff a remote control up where the sun don't shine.

Comments Form Fixed!

Hi, guys! I just realised that my comments page was set in a way that only registered users could post comments on my blog (Thanks Tim!). I have since fixed the problem, and now everyone is welcome to comment.

Yes, I would very much like to hear from you guys too about the stuff I write on the blog. In fact, I would very much LOVE it to hear from you guys! I promise I will try to reply and/or acknowledge your comments on the page.



Hope to hear from you guys soon!

Reubz


P.S.: Here's an old picture of me before I underwent psychological treatment.

The Truest Form Of Worship

Today, I had the great privilege to witness with my own eyes, a woman who knew what true worship means. To her, it was not about the music; it was not about the singing and clapping; it was not about her being able to sing better than her neighbors beside her; it was not about how well the worship leader could sing or lead the congregation; it was about her relationship with her God – her Daddy.

You could see the sparkle in her eyes; the purest smile on her face. You could see her singing from the bottom of her heart, though she couldn’t. Yes, she literally couldn’t. She is an elderly lady who previously had a stroke which left her paralyzed on her right side, from top to bottom, with the left side of the body with very limited function and little strength. She moves around with a wheelchair, with the help of an assistant. Before the elevator in our church was completed, she climbed up three flights of stairs, every Sunday, to the main hall of the church, situated in the first floor of the building (with the help of her son– now moved to New Zealand – and an assistant). The words she uttered amounted to unintelligible groans and noises, and one had to listen really closely to understand what she was trying to say. In spite of all these difficulties, she worships.

Usually, because of her disability, she would sit down at her usual spot at the second row from the front (she gets off her wheelchair to sit on the pew), occasionally lifting her (left) hand in worship for a few seconds before putting it down due to the lack of strength. And because of her inability to support herself due to her paralyzed condition, she would occasionally slouch to the right side, almost falling, before her assistant or someone else would come to her rescue by holding her and securing her back in her original position. Occasionally, she would also stand up (with much help from her assistant, of course) to worship, but only for less than a minute before she sits down again from the lack of strength.

As you can see, I’ve been observing her for quite awhile now, but what I saw today moved me to tears. The presence of God was really strong as we were worshiping today, and I saw her lifting up her hands again as how she usually does. She then asked her assistant to help her stand up to worship. After standing for a little while, her strength waned and her assistant helped her back to her sitting position. But instead of sitting down, she tried to pull herself back up to her standing position. And with one hand held firmly to the pew in front, together with the support of her assistant, she stood for the longest time I could remember her doing so. And as she was worshipping, I saw the purest smile I’ve ever seen, etched on her face. And after some time standing up, she let go of the pew she was holding on to and lifted her hands up high while standing.

Seeing this, I heard from the Lord, “This is the truest form of worship I desire.”

And I realized the true significance of her worship. Worship that truly is a sacrifice of praise to God; worship denied of self and given wholly to God; worship that is beyond her physical conditions and circumstances; when she had a totally legitimate reason to hold back her expressions of worship, she worshiped God with all her strength – literally.

Though I do not know her personally, and she does not know me, I hope to be able to get a picture with her someday. When I do, I would be sure to post it up here for you to see. My prayer is that I would be able to offer that sort of worship that my Savior deserves, and for you to be able to discover the truest form of worship as I have discovered through her.

It brings me great joy to see a true worshiper offering her all to a God who gave her His all, and it puts a smile on my face, knowing that she will have a new and glorified body in heaven in which she can praise God with. I sincerely look forward to the day that I will see her do so in the presence of the King of kings.

My Take On Today's Events

A few weeks ago, I noticed a friend's Facebook status update that read, "Every bit of hardship we face is yet another opportunity for a great testimony for God." (paraphrased)


I think you all would agree with me that it is a very nice quote. Very inspiring.


I would like to think that this is true in my life, and remind myself at times of hardship about this. I read books and hear great sermons about how our suffering becoming an amplifier of God's message in our lives. And I try to live up that principle in my life.


Something happened that got me thinking today; something pretty major (If you have my Facebook, you would probably have seen me spamming your Facebook home page). We prayed hard about it. I prayed hard about it. And we believed with all our hearts that a great testimony would come out of this situation.

Then I realised.

Do I have an expectation about the type of testimony that will come out from this situation? Yes I did. I realised that all this while I've been limiting God's hand with my expectations. And I believe some of you can identify with me on this; We believe with all our hearts that the same God who worked miralcles through Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, is able to work a miracle in this situation. We believe that the same God who was good to the guy who shared his awesome testimony last sunday would be good to us in our current situation. But we get disappointed and ask, "WHY?" when things don't go our way.

We should just let God be God, even when we do not understand it. Whether things happen or not, it still doesn't change the fact that God is still God, and we should let God write His testimony in us, instead of us writing the testimony on God's behalf.

Most of us, myself included, overlook the fact that WE should the testimony, instead of looking for the testimony in the situation. Situational testimonies only come to mind in seasons of hardship. What about good times? Where is the 'amplifier'? Where is the 'megaphone'?

But when we learn to glorify God with the testimony our lives, we don't even have to share our testimonies to people. The people who have seen God in us will share the testimonies on our behalf. And THAT is what a solid testimony is.

Personally I think that I don't really have a problem praising God in bad times. And I definitely don't have problems praising God in good times. But I realised that it is more than that.

"So what's the problem?"

I realised that it's NOT about praising God in good times; It's NOT about praising God in bad times; It's NOT even about praising God all the time - NOT when we do it out of our own strength; NOT when we do it out of our knowledge of God; NOT even when we do it out of our past experiences of God's goodness.

It's when we praise God for who He is.

Because He is God; because He deserves it. And not because we have to, or we want to, but because we can't help it.

"Father, my situations everyday be an empty page to write your testimony on;

But more importantly, let my life be a book with empty pages for you to write your story."

Of Conversations On Geography

I must say that interesting conversations seldom happen at the dinner table in my home. The sounds you usually hear are, "Clink-clink! Slurrrp! Clink! SLURRRP!!! Ahhh... BURP!" This feast of sounds is usually accompanied by the soothing background of the television.

However, a rather interesting conversation took place over the dinner table a few nights ago:

News on the television was reporting about the magnitude 7.2 earthquake near the Mexico-California border on Monday.

Mom: Wah, earthquake again ar?

Me: Ya, near the border of America and Mexico.

Sis: Wait, isn't Mexico a part of the US?

Me: No, Mexico is a country by itself

At this point, I'm thinking in my head that she must have mistaken the country...

... for the American state,

NEW Mexico

Sis: But isn't Mexico situated in South America?

Me: Yup, that's correct.

Sis: So, isn't South America a part of America?

Me: *Bursts out laughing* No.

Sis: *Confused look*

Me: Do you actually know how the US looks like?

Sis: *Doesn't dare to answer* Then what about South Africa?

Me: *Being a little mischievous* What do you think?

Sis: *Thinks for awhile* It's a continent!

Me: *Bursts out laughing again* No, South Africa is a country!

Mom butts in: Oh, then Africa must be part of Europe!

Me: *Laughs even harder*

Meanie me.

I Can Haz A Blog!

Whoop-dee-doo! I finally got around to setting up my own ranting space on the net, after such a long time wanting to do so. Ya, I know I'm a little late, but in my defence, I didn't want to start one unless I was sure I can maintain it on a regular basis. Actually I had a few attempts at blogging previously, and mind you, I was pretty good at it (*perasan*); but alas, I didn't have the discipline time to do so. Those blogs, however, are still out there somewhere. If any of you are interested to read them, go ahead, but I won't tell you where they are.

Back to the matter at hand, I'm hoping that this edition will last, seeing that I now have a wee little more time on my hands. And for the sake of all you readers out there (if any at all), I will try to maintain this on a regular basis.

Now, I understand that not all of you are big fans of Jazz music - don't worry, it's not all about Jazz. And although the title suggests a musical connotation, it's actually more about stuff in general. And before all you Jazz fans start pelting me with eggs, let me assure you that I will occasisonally review some of the music that I love in this blog, which includes a variety of genres like Jazz (*duh!*), Blues, Rock, Folk, Oldies and the like. I won't bother reviewing Lady Gaga or Akon, because they will automatically get a bad review (*ducks for cover*).

Apart from music, I will include blog posts about my personal views on Religion, Love, Relationships, and other random stuff. To sum it all up, it's my take on Life.

You can also expect some photography (when I finally get my hands on Nick's Nikon d60), from about next month onwards, and links of interesting websites, videos and links on the net, among other things.

So, there. Hopefully this first post will help you know what to expect from the blog. I shall stop here and restrain myself from writing too long.


P.S.: I know this post sounds quite formal. Do allow me some time to shift back into 'casual writing mode.' I promise you a lighter post for my next entry.