footprint

today is monday. for a majority of you, it’s teacher’s day celebration. sadly i didn’t attend school today due to a sprained ankle. its a convenient excuse of course. ironically my teacher called up my house to find out why i wasn’t in school,.weird eh, think bout it, your teacher calling you up on teachers day celebration for not being in school, a obvious hidden agenda to make me feel guilty.

i’ve been mugging quite abit recently, so i thought it was good to reflect why so especially when a friend reminded me that i was probably gonna be aiming for a business course in the university. as sad as it is, the business course really isn’t easy to get in, a substantial number of As and Bs, is of course the obvious pre requisite to entering into the prestigious course in our local university.

just reflecting on my not so academically inclined personality, only adds on to the rough idea of studying and mugging. But nonetheless, i am determined to make it to the business school. hence the improvement of my academic life in comparison to the obviously ill-prepared O’levels i had. thinking through, i should have given so much more.

recognizing further the opportunity presented by God to nurture and mature me. i give thanks. i know that it is not going to be a easy 2 and a half years ahead. but i know, God will be ever present. so i look forward to being more able and positive in my studies and grades, hopefully through it, a footprint of God can be left on my classmates or even the school.

oh and say hi to mr Eric Clapton-

now

i just sprained my ankle arghhh……

Once Churchill was speaking in Parliament and was slightly muddled and incoherent in his speech. A rather unattractive lady MP on the opposite benches declared to Churchill: ‘Sir, you are drunk!’. To which he replied ‘Madame that may be true, but in the morning I shall be sober whereas you will still be ugly’.

a heartbeat of force. a speech of conviction. a challenge of truth.

this man

“once you know jesus, you not only know what to live for. you’ll know what to die for as well.”- pastor marcus hope germany

will i die for God?

yes i will die for this man. will you?

john 3:16.

Donavan

i just re-ignited my love for technology, how it fuses and transform our lives? pondering in deep joy.

i found a guitar i know its gonna stick with me through thick and thin, eternity is the word.

and no its not made of wood.

keep guessing, cause i have set my mind on my birthday present.

birthday faster come, exams faster go… argh spoiler!

here’s introducing another one of my favorite country singer!

presenting darius rucker!

using my brains

hi faithful readers of Donavan’s blog, i am here to update on my life.

went out yesterday to supposedly study with a couple of churchmates, but apparently i spent 30 mins studying, 3 hours on my GP project with my schoolmates and another nicely knitted 2 hours of coreteam meet with sunny ….. phew thank God its all over ! looking back, i think it have been a real privilege to be in the church with really cool people and friends. and i really appreciate the joy and encouragements these individuals have brought to me. the leaders, the cls and well……, heir-achy  aside,  they are simply friends. i guess this is the kind of church i really want to see myself grow up in through the good times and the bad. what a blessing. what real fun is it to watch ourselves grow up, bearded and all mature hehe, boys to men, and girls to ladies. new motto eh?

which compels me to understand further, the roots of serving God, and identity of leadership. well just like tom dick and harry i guess i do often place myself on the illusion,  that leadership is predominantly number orientated and results based. hey don’t get me wrong, it does play a role in itself, numbers produces influence and results are ambition we should always have our heart beating for. But, i was honestly discontented with such a shallow and vague understanding of leadership, because i knew that the root of my motivation should and must be deeper then my current understanding and perception. and you know what the bible says- ask and you’ll receive. just like the wave of a wand,the magic of truth sat in my head. the word was love. if we don’t motivate our ministry on love then how lowly are we serving and basing our service on. God didn’t give us a group to go spastic over, he didn’t give you a sheep for you to pamper. he gave you influence to expand your heart. the intention of helping us to love more is God’s heartbeat by itself isn’t it? to be christ follower is to be more like christ. to be more like christ is to love like christ. and to love like christ, God have to expand our hearts. i am ready. are you ?

Lord, help us to male the best decision when its tough going.

Lord provide us with your assurance when we are in doubt.

Lord always be the guiding light in our lives when we are lost.

Lord  remind us of your faithfulness when we are forgetful.

Lord fill our cups when we are empty.

Lord be our everything.

Today’s a sunday morning and i’ve just popped out from the luxurious setting of my bed. couple of thoughts sprung through my mind with little resistance. However i thought i should just re align my mind with jesus. a fulfilling exercise i’ve come to realize over the many years as a follower of my faith.

i got back late last night, due to a movie outing with the church leaders. a real fun retreat i should say, movie watched was ‘UP’, – a funny movie, but nowhere near a critical depth i’ve come to expect as a regular movie goer. errmm, maybe i was expecting too much from as animated pixar production. but the companionship and friendship i’ve come to appreciate was bout the better takeaway of the evening. with that i thank God for the friends and individuals place around me, for us to enjoy encourage and to even correct one another in the times of need.

furthermore impacted was the envisioning and dead on speech of pastor jeff, the hunkiest and arguably one of the most influential male figure i’ve appreciated for a long time. i just love how real, honest and truth filled he is. a man of integrity and vision, a true follower after christ heart, to be even near his presence is a real honor to crave after. and no he’s not you ‘holy.holy’ pastor, he supports man utd, was a body builder and is just about the average singaporean except a little smarter, more spiritual and most importantly, he is different on the inside. we appreciate you pastor jeff.

wait!, here comes the gist of the message before you dismiss another long ranty post of Donavan. a vivid recollection of pastor jeff’s speech leads me to define and summarize his words in a phrase

‘ build our church big, build our church strong, build out church right’

following on i mentally scripted down a essay, but let me just define my conclusion shorter and in a less unthreatening fashion to avoid the adverse effects of reading many have come to realize through the psalm 119 syndrome.

-

it is in God’s and the church leadership heartbeat to build a church not rightfully restricted by the 4 walls of concrete and but on the undiluted and spirit filled hearts of people. producing a generation of christ loving individuals, who recognize the value of loving people and the power of influence through number. But to always be aligned with the bible and never compromising and short changing God. spirituality can’t be faked, neither can a church fake its growth. so build it big, build it strong, build it right.

let’s be part of this church yea

youtube time !

actually i’ve never really had a female artist that i’ve truly like or have been a fan of, and i’ve finally found one ! here’s introducing sarah mclachlan-

blackie

man, i just came back from a forum mate’s house. apparently he was selling a  1989 fender blackie at a ridiculously low price. here’s a rough re-enactment:

son*runs to the living room with his mac*: DAD!, YOU SO GOT TO CHECK IT OUT, CLAPTON’S SIGNATURE GUIT FOR ONLY 700 BUCKS!

Dad* not too impress*: yea sure why don’t you buy it yourself

son*acts pitifu*: i Don’t have the money……, AND ITS A REALLY GOOD DEAL!

- now look if you ever get a chance to buy a blackie for 700 you don’t think twice about begging ur parents for it. in case ur wondering what the heck is that?, well its ERIC CLAPTON’S SIGNATURE GUITAR!!! FOR GOODNESS SAKE, BRUSH UP ON YOUR MUSIC KNOWLEDGE. ERIC CLAPTON IS LIKE THE GUY WHO INSPIRED A GENERATION OF JOHN MAYERS!.

so i convinced my dad , and off we went to dover road where the beautiful 1989 blackie lays. here’s a few fast fact.

1. older guitar holds a much higher value

2. older guitars have the privilege of having the selection of finer woods

3.the blackie started production in 1988, mine that i was eyeing on was a 1989, making it still a 80’s piece. which is also one of fender’s golden era of guitara.

and every thing was good, the pickups were DROOLING HOT. the neck was CREAMY SMOOTH. It was pure CLAPTONISH TONE!. drools………… and at the ****** cheap price……….. it was almost a no brainer. till i inspect it further, and noticed the slightly bended neck. although he had informed me of the neck problem  didn’t recognise its severity till further probing…. man it was as if my heart sunk….. the points is that. it really was alright , i can easily replace the neck and the price will still be more then justifiable. however what’s a blackie when it doesn’t have the clapton’s neck on…. so i had to make a extremely heart wrenching decision of putting it down and regretfully explain my inability to purchase it. it was the longest walk over 3 meters of HDB flooring from the seller’s room to his main gate. the pain was unimaginable. imagine walking away from your idol’s instrument of tonal freedom. man. it just sucks. i quietly strolled back to my dad’s car,- he offered to pay for the instrument and drive me there. sat quietly on the front seat and idled into depression. so near yet so far. a obvious lost of one of the finest instrument i had ever laid hands on. it was…. down right inhumane. a torture not ever hitler’d warrant upon himself.

in memory of blackie.

i am here faithfully blogging as usual. wanna give thanks first and foremost for the successful followup on both yu hong and jia dong! hehe, loads of good news on how they are really responsive to the new life in christ. i just pray and hope that God will continue to shower them with the realness of his presence and truth in their lives ). Big thanks to the Cls on doing a fantabulous job on it as well. 2 converts may not translate to alot, but every life ought to be treasured with diligence and faithfulness.

didn’t attend the battlefield of education by default of fever and a sore throat. and i have been sleeping like  a pig. don’t really know why , but my body just seem to be in a unrepentant state of disaster. woke up this morning at 11!, very much unlike my usual self, before having lunch and falling back to la la land till 5pm. awkward. but i think it due to my body being overly strained the past week, with minimal sleep and maximum strain either through my exercises or the toll taken on my physical body having to travel great distances to and fro. man and its back to school tml just hope that i’ll be much better, pray for me yea if ur reading this.

random thoughts-

- was outside of a buddhist shop with the bling bling and gold of buddha and stuff like that

me: man, that’s their life bookshop

friend and me= breaks into uncontrollable laughter

grateful

Today was the second mcg, well turnout was not bad and overall mcg we had bout 19 for attendance with exclusion of peeps such as brandan and melvin who are sick and have a fractured leg respectively. And with a great expectation for more.

i ought to be really grateful not just because of the turnout. But even more so beyond the face value presented in such a period, but i am deeply indebted to God’s grace and providence in my life. Lets face it leading a group is tough as hell. You’ve got to put up with unmeasured disappointments and failures. you see more ’sian’ faces than ‘chiong’ faces. you are overwhelmed more times than you are spurred on. The unidentified rule of personal motivation amidst the leadership team, is just about the hardest recorded skill you will ever need to gain. That’s why members, for God’s sake, please appreciate your leaders, they shit and sweat blood for you. And i am blessed beyond measure to be working alongside 2 leaders who will die for God and will have their limbs severed for the lives of their people. When we accept leadership responsibility , we also recognize the attendance of a ‘ trouble, find me here’ sign hung vividly over our faith-filled head. And i have 2 friends who know exactly the meaning of carrying our cross. How privileged i am indeed to be working alongside them. A blessing i’ll never deserve in the next century or more.

The idea of miracle, struck one as the making of a impossible scenario. a state of disbelief and ill- ability to accept the unfamiliar reality. yet, it also exist so evidently in our lives. who else could be the mastermind of such a outcome? debate the government and the united nations, my votes is for jesus, he’s at least a thousand times ahead of obama in the grand aspect of handsomeness and beauty. opps did i mention, the world’s in his hand, a snap of his fingers and legion of the most advanced warriors will gather and bow in adoration of Jesus’s presence. now you know how cool my God is eh? where do you find the idea of a 2 person caregroup foliating into despair before being lifted up by the God himself? who else would have the ability to challenge the heart of a young 13 year old to make a stand in loving God , against his parents wish and desire to know of God’s future for him? who else could convince a backslider the love of the church and cause the heart of stone to be purified into a heart of flesh? God can. and he did. these are real lives testimony of my walk that i have engraved on the very cornerstone of my belief. And i am speechless in joy and admiration. Hence the grateful heart that i adorn in my spirit. looking beyond face value. discovering the heart of ministry.

you’ve got a story with christ too, why not lets start writing it together today?, no other better day right.

And i don’t wanna miss a page nor a moment with my best friend. you won’t want to either.