Remember your Creator in the days of your youth

Friday, July 25, 2008

Lord,
did you allow the invention of diving so that divers can restore the water world?
Rescue the coral reefs and rebuild the homes of these marine creatures...
cos God.. you have commanded man to rule over the world, take good care of the earth and its resources and multiply...

"God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

"Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so." Genesis 1:28,29

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Saturday, July 19, 2008

"At the root of the Christian life lies belief in the invisible. The object of the Christian's faith is unseen reality" - AW Tozer in The Pursuit of God

"And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

"To seek God does not narrow one's life, but brings it, rather to the level of highest possible fulfillment." - describing A. W. Tozer's discovery in the Introduction to "The Pursuit of God"

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)
Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. for such a man, living itself will be sacramental and the whole world a sanctuary. His entire life will be a priestly ministration. as he performs his never-so-simple task, he will hear the voice of the seraphim saying, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.'" - A W Tozer in the Pursuit of God

Christ is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

"O God, quicken to life every power within me, that I may lay hold on eternal things. Open my eyes that I may see; give me acute spiritual perception; enable me to taste Thee and know that Thou art good. Make heaven more real to me than any earthly thing has ever been. Amen." - AW Tozer in the Pursuit of God

May my life be a sacrament and the world my sanctuary..

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." Rom 12:1
"you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Pet 2:5

My heart saddens to see this because I've been a disappointment. Yet God has always been merciful and good to me... holding me pure and precious in His sight.
The deeper you fall.. the greater the love of God to you. Do you realise no matter how much you achieve in life or try to be good to others, try to live a righteous life based on your own standard or societal standards, you can never escape the reality of death, of emptiness, of guilt, of sadness, of betrayal, of brokenness in relationships, in work, of incompetency, of unproductiveness...and the list goes on.

Do you realise the need for Jesus Christ?

"Cold" does not exist. It is not the opposite of hot, but the absence of heat.
"Dark" does not exist. It is not the opposite of light, but the absence light.
"Death" does not exist. It is not the opposite of life, but the absence of life.
Premise of duality doesn't prove the existence or non existence of God.
He's not finite.
Just as a thought cannot be explained,
magnetism & electricity cannot be fully understood,
God cannot be explained by science.
But Science can reveal God's intelligence & creativity.

"Evil" does not exist. It is not the opposite of good, but the absence of God.
A word has to be created to describe it.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8

Signing off...Tingyu^^

The DIFFERENCE
--------------------------

Science and God

'Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.' The atheist
professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his
new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely.'

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes.'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He considers for a
moment.

'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you
can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if
you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't..'

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He
doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even
though he prayed to Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can
you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of
water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

'Let's start again, young fella Is God good?'

'Er...yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student : 'From...God...'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there
evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything,
correct?'

'Yes.'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created
everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to
the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues:
'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible
things, do they exist in this world?'

The student: 'Yes.'

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his
question. 'Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the
lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is
mesmerized.

'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in
Jesus Christ, son?'

The student's voice is confident: 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you
use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen
Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not..'

'Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or
smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus
Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes.'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable
protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that,
son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem
science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a
question of his own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'

'Yes,' the professor replies. 'There's heat.'

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested.
The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat,
mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we
don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below
zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is
no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the
lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when
it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have
or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.
You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of
heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units
because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the
absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom,
sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as
darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night
if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the
absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright
light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have
Nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to
define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able
to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him.
This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is
flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time.
'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student
explains. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good
God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something
finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a
thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much
less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life
is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive
thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'

'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they
evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young
man, yes, of course I do'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he
realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work
and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you
not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a
preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the
Commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other
student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'

The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class
who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into
laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain,
felt the professor's brain, touched or smelled the professor's brain? No
one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no
brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain,
how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the
student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I
guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists
with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as
evil?'

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We
see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man.
It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.
These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at
least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.
It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe
the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when
man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold
that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there
is no light.'

The professor sat down.

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Thursday, July 17, 2008

finally set up my trial yesterday at Sentosa cove.
been busy with its preparation.
I'm such a perfectionist(hah to me la) and I spend so much time on my trial so much so that I'm kinda jaded now. Everything's still going well..thank God. I really enjoyed myself.. every part of my project so far. The people in the lab are nice, cheerful atmosphere, cute corals, fascinating new facts, interesting places to work, exciting fieldwork, meeting helpful people blah blah blah... who says biology is boring!

I frequent SJI quite a lot these days, check on Jasper's tank, collect my corals, build my frames there just the previous tuesday~

Isn't it great to see this wonderful scenary every time you end your work on SJI...

Check out the Pocillopora fragments I brought home.. surviving pretty alright..hee.. all their polyps are out :D its an encouraging sign~ they didnt die from the bumpy ferry/car ride home!

The frames and corals wrapped in wet newspapers on the ferry.. oh.. and I brought back 10litres of fresh filtered seawater in a 'jerry' can.. super heavy la!

the container that Shuyi helped me make.. its to contain random coral fragments for trial~
and then the frames and the containers
.
.

Fragments I brought back on tuesday.. Lionel kindly further fragment them and separated them into their genus.. Thanks Lionel!

was working on my acrylic squares and grid for measuring the area of the coral fragments while my supervisor is....

ON THE PHONE! hee (caught red-handed lo.... Angie Mummy~ :P)
*Disclaimer : conversations are purely for entertainment sake.. its fictional!

The 3 musketeers~ (from the left : Tingyu, Shuyi, KaiYing)
We are Prof's UROPS students... there's another 2 honours students(Lisi & Ling Jing) + 2 NUS high attachment students... will upload more photos the next time. Took with the 2 honours students on our Sentosa trip! woohoo..

KaiYing and Shuyi's been a great help in my project.. especially Kaiying who dragged herself out of bed that few mornings to go St John's with me at 815am. not to mention Lionel and Angie who dived and fixed my trial for me hee... Angie's been a great mother to us hahaha. and Prof's our grandfather? lalala

In memorial of my beloved D900..

In its inverted form...
Sigh. and now im stuck with HTC touch. the most outdated version.. lol.. still adapting to the touch screen phone. bleah.. don't like it.
ok.. signing off... gotta read those honor students' theses and start on my draft intro!!!
Will upload the sentosa photos after Waxson and Lisi pass them to me hee..

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Shazzy posted this on her blog and wondering why there isn't the flush toilet step(that's her favourite!)
This is so nostalgic la!! I remember we had to do it in the 1990s.. all of us(pri 4..ya..or 5) were forced to do it. Think they changed some steps in some years and I was wondering why certain steps were omitted and then i had to learn new ones! lolx
I couldnt stop laughing when I saw this...
O then she mentioned her curses she threw at the person who stole her phone HAHAHAHA Its ssssssssssooooooooooooooo FARNIE!!

"my choice curses:

- may his shit come out of his mouth
- may his nose hair grow long so that he can't breath through his nostrils and cannot eat properly without chewing his mucus-laden nose hair.
- may his beloved phallus drop off the next time it rains. and if the arsehole is female, may her boobs shrivel and leave behind 2 prunes.

pick one, or come up with your own. thank you for your support. bye."

hahahaha her entries are always so entertaining! Shazzy you ROCKS! hee

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Beautiful song..
below's the lyrics...

Paris Twila Lyrics
How Beautiful Lyrics

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Who am I that you have called me by name?
Who am I that you loved me just the same?
In spite of all the times I broke Your heart
You promised we’d never be apart

Who am I that You have chosen me to be
Your salt and light for all the world to see
That You are God and there is none like You
My Saviour, My Lord and King

Chorus
And I say, “Here I am!”
I lift my outstretched hands
To You, Abba Father
They are cleansed by the blood of the lamb
Teach me Lord to carry my cross
To know that I am crucified with Christ
And in His death, I have everlasting life
We have this treasure in jars of clay

Hard-pressed on every side but not dismayed
Where we are weak, there You are strong
And I will go where You may lead
Send me Lord

G C
G C D
Em D C G
Am C D

G D Em
D C G
Am D
G D Em
D C G
Am D G

Eb F G
Eb F G
Eb F G
Eb F D

-- not too sure what's the title of the song but it is definitely something. Teck Hee the VCF Missions & Evangelism coordinator wrote this song in the middle of the night. By divine touch I suppose... i was moved to tears while singing this song. "In spite of all the times I broke Your heart, You promised we’d never be apart" I was broken. Knowing how unworthy and unfaithful I had been and there He is, ever watching me through his loving eyes, cared for me with his unfailing kindness, called me and chosen me.
Who am I to be so greatly honoured and shown attention to, by the Creator and Judge of the world.. Nobody. Apart from our breath that God has breathed into us, humans are nothing more than just a few grams of ash.(and water). Who am I to have constantly break your heart and yet loved. Its not about who I am.. but who You are, dear Lord. Because You are God. I am. Because You are love.

Labels: songs

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Monday, July 07, 2008

how much does it cost to befriend someone and then get stab at the back by the same person?
Guessed perhaps I went too close, stepping over the line, especially when this person is someone whom I had better not mess around with.

I would have been out of my mind to fall for someone like that jerk! Anyone but him lo.

So disturbed last night, especially after what was graphically described to me BJ and HJ by good old JC mates. argh. Why did I even ask. shd have just kept quiet. I even thanked them for 'educating' me. How silly! Fine. I was curious. I asked and regretted. Should have kept my mind pure and don't even bother about it. Argh.. things will naturally fall in place when it is required and since God has designed it, there's no need to dwell into all these.. what was even more traumatizing was... what my friend was shown in the name of some 'good education'.. sigh.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." -Phil 4:8

No wonder Paul says the Word of God is our sword... and faith our shield.

Class gathering at Liz's place :D was such a wonderful get together. Had lotsa good laugh.. Especially Chris's arrest hahahahaha she's silly... those who caught her were silly too lolx :P 4 years of friendship and counting :) *Nicole, Alex, Eddie not in picture*

Signing off...Tingyu^^

Saturday, July 05, 2008

how time flies.

its been 2mths and school is going to start soon! Been really busy...doing... hmm im not too sure what as well. I just know that my days have been really packed and tiring. fulfilled? Yep I suppose.

Last Monday was my last day at AON Spore..the notice came so suddenly. My sup told me there's still work to do at the showroom but its unfair to send me there cos its not stated in the contract.plus there's no need for 2 temps... so fine.. i left. My fellow temp worker there told me the next day she was sent to the showroom to do work...i felt like i was almost asked to leave. unwanted there. haha..its not like i wanted to stay anyway. heh. She gave me a bible though..after my conversation with her with regards to my giving away of my bday bible...it was really unexpected.*Honest~!*

Met Pat to pass him my diving theory test and assignments... hopefully i'll be able to get my licence soon.. so i can go diving with other people and then take advanced course well..that is if i have the money to do so>.<

Realise that I could probably have learned more with PADI then with this private instructor..perhaps its just this particular one. Cos Shirley(the other instructor) seems fine and strict and ... composed. hmmm.. if you want to learn diving.. I'll rather you go to PADI..through sch(NUS, cos they are heavily subsidised) or hee i can recommend some better instructors from SSI. Heard SSI is stricter though, which is in a way good also la..

My part time job termination allowed me to finally trim my hay hair and attend LPC without worrying about my job. God showed me what it means to really be part of His kingdom..people coming from all sorts of background, churches, nationalities..gathering for the same course. To know Him and to make Him known. These leaders be it from VCF or IFES are really passionate about God's word, God's work and His people. And hence the camp. Looking at the year ahead, VCF's direction for this year is SOSU FC(Stand Out Speak Up For Christ) challenges us to be bold in our faith. It tests also our belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if I can proclaim as Paul did to be not ashamed of the gospel and the gospel is truly the power of salvation. Sometimes I couldnt see beyond my own iniquities and forget about why I even call myself a Christian and honestly I do feel ashamed of the gospel at times... didnt know how to approach a person or just find that I'm in no position to tell someone else what to do when I myself is doing the same wrong thing... I was ashamed.

But I know God is merciful! And yep I am of cos not ashamed of proclaiming His wonders and excellence now..there'll be times when im pretty off still..yet God will lift me up every time I'm down..so hurray~

I'm convinced of the necessity of meeting up with the VCF main body and potential of doing so much more together, more joyful in partnering so many other likeminded Christians for the glory of God. ECF had been pretty self-contained. Perhaps we have never really enforced the vision, never really bothered or somewhere along the year..we forgot about the reason why we are gathering together as a CF. Hence this year. lets not forgot the distinctively good reason why we are meeting. ECF shall be the mission team sent by God for God in Eusoff! :D

VCF Leaders Preparatory Camp was good. Thank God that I was able to attend it.. Attend out of bo bian-ness.. walked out with a lifted spirit. Praise the Lord!

Following that I went St John's to contd with Jasper's project. Was late lo... Bus 30 took soooo long!! ok.. i went out late too la.. :X the ferry waited(if not it would have left on the dot)..and everyone waited. The boss in charge was so stern...when i reached..she was like"this is the last time we are doing this for you..and please mind your footwear the next time.." (i was wearing slippers..supposed to wear shoes on the ferry) argh. what a monday morning! And then we set off to St John's with Jasper and KaiYing and yea Dexiang(who hold the ferry for me) and everyone else. Pissed that lady off cos I'm just a student attached there..not even a part time worker. They have to pay $35 for an additional person and then I was late... hahaha

The work for the day = clean tank, clean the maintenance nubbin tray, measure the 120 coral fragments(of which Kaiying & Jasper did most of the work,i was cleaning the HUGE bath tub!)..hmm thats bout it. and we took a whole day. Done at 430.Left at 530...I did a silly thing. haha its unbelieveable. I stabbed myself in the left palm. Ok what happened was I actually forgot I was holding a retracted pen(was open..) in my hand while trying to slam a mosquito.. So I didnt manage to kill that pest but I stabbed myself and bled. heh! How stupid!!ok enough..stop laughing.
Met Esther and Jem in Vivo when De and I decided to have the claypot laksa in The Republic. it was such a coincidence! There was once I literally bumped into Esther in the evening of the same day they asked if I want to catch a movie with them & I rejected them.(hmm does this make sense..?)
Anw.. Then we had fun shopping..crapping..

Met Angie and Kaiying on Tues to talk about her project, and mainly help Angie with her choraline algae tiles.*got distracted..went to read some stuff on that haha* oh hmm we found pretty interesting stuff growing on these tiles and rubber.. there were baby corals, brittle star, annelides, tunicates & some other stuff that I really do not know. In fact Kaiying and I cant even name the things we found hahaha. only Angie knows lolx.
Kaiying decided on an 8MC UROPS. me too. decided yesterday. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programmes.. 8MCs = a year long project. Project Title : Growth and survival of scleractinian coral fragments in a man-made environment. My main project site would be at Sentosa Cove. Decided on this amongst the other project offers due to the fun factor~! And I can learn more on the job. Not that I cant learn from the Biochem lab under Prof Jeya or 'Leukemia' lab under Prof Khan of whom both I approached. Just that there were alot of complications..like Prof Jeya was still waiting for his honours student and then advised me to focus on just my academic modules, pull up my CAP and consider doing my honours under him inthe 4th year. Prof Khan (he totally has no idea what UROPs is) is under specifically the Dept of Medicine. So I cannot work under him at all.. different fac..If i really want to, I'll have to look for a co-sup which is quite impossible.. heh. Prof Jeya's offered project is on RNAi on the regulation of aquaporin in kidney cells(Caki cells?) while Prof's Khan who is dealing with Leukemia research will also be looking into RNAi, proteins and stuff like that. Argh its such a pity..not to be able to work under them. But perhaps its good also la. the work at Prof's Jey's lab for now is probably too much to bear. And for a year long project, I think I'll rather take something more outdoors and fun~hee so i can play while im on the job hahaha
Guess its all in the will of God. Started out wanting to work under Prof Chou and his corals, he said I could only do lab work cos I have no diving experience. but hey I can dive now(just no licence YET!) and the canal at Sentosa is only 2-3m deep.. perfect for beginners. hahaha. so.. at the end of the day..after going through so much hassle, all I can say is..

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Its another long post ... me and my lor sor ness hahaha. >.< well dun complain if you want to read it.. its my blog!!

Gotta go do some research and read literatures for my proj! Scleratinia``WHATS THAT! hee

Signing off...Tingyu^^