“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”  Genesis 12:2-3 (NAB)

“For I know well the plans in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (NAB)

one logo that will go down in history

I have been pondering and reflecting upon writing this post for awhile now, and as I was finding a suitable verse to accompany this post, praise the Lord that I chanced upon these verses.

I have spent a good number of years serving God in ministry. From the day I was confirmed a Catholic, I made a decision in my life that I want to serve Him, be it in music or reaching out to people. Per chance God’s plan, I met wonderful people in my church that brought me into ministry. From there, God worked in my life as my faith grew tremendously. I enjoyed serving Him through music, as I believed that it is a gift from Him that I enjoy and understand music so much. In 2008, the time came for me to leave home to further my studies in a “distant land” (though I was still in M’sia, but it was still across 2 straights and a sea). God led me to the wonderful “Land Below the Wind”, where He would still work in my life as well in the lives of others who have devoted their lives in serving Him.

I met a small group of Catholic students who were serving in, at that time, a newly organized campus ministry. Almost instantaneously, I knew that I wanted to serve there. So as time passed, I accepted the role of being one of the leaders in the ministry and worked together with the others in spreading the word and also in ministering through worship. As semesters went by, so did the old leaders while new ones came in by the grace of God. Many lessons were learnt along the way, both fun and painful ones. But one thing was certain though; god was working in the ministry.

I choose to view university life as the time to discover many things about ourselves, be it your future careers or even learning more about yourselves (strengths, weaknesses, gifts, leadership, and the list goes on). While some may seek to learn these through the various cocurriculum activities in campus itself, I found myself learning these things through the campus ministry in which I loved serving in so much. From growing with the leaders through various formations, to leading the community in worship and giving sharings on various topics regarding faith, these experiences and moments seem to stay close to my heart all the time.

Which leads me to how the 2 verses above connect with this post. One of the main challenges the leaders of the ministry always faced was finding new ones to replace the seniors once they’ve graduated and moved on to newer pastures. I’ve been keeping tabs with the progress of this blessed ministry with some of the leaders and also through the ever popular Facebook. To my amazement, God still calls people to his service. God still shows His plans for individuals as well as for the ministry. And I praise Him even more that these chosen Catholics have the courage to accept that call and have started to serve Him with open hearts and minds for the good of the ministry.

All I can say is that this ministry will continue to grow, to serve as a symbol for those who want to come to know God and serve Him. From having gatherings behind church halls and on a small obscure level in the university stadium complex to meeting in a wonderful youth center; from conducting worship sessions using laptops and mp3s to having faithful and talented musicians play on instruments, God never ceases to bless and work wonders in this ministry.

I pray that in the years to come, many more Catholics will come to serve in this great ministry, that many more will come to know God and how wonderful He is as He works in our lives, and how wonderful it is to serve Him in this ministry. To the current leaders who are helping to minister to the people in this ministry, have a blast ‘cause it’ll be one fantastic ride! To the past leaders who have served effortlessly, let’s be proud of how far the ministry has come for the past six years. After all, this is LIFEFIRE CAMPUS MINISTRY!!! 

Down memory lane with past leaders...

Ps: Please refer to my previous post “A Beautiful Contract” on being a member of Lifefire. Big thank you shoutout to Dass & Carmelita Xavier, Derek and Beatrice Chong, Mirina Lim, Denis Tsen and others who have helped guide current and past leaders in this wonderful ministry. 

I Want To, Not Cuz I Have To...

Falling in love is easy. Being in love is a whole different matter. I've been through some rather messed up relationships with women. Now this would probably make me an "experienced" man right? WRONG! Love is such a complex matter. It's not difficult, but it is complex. Til now, I'm still learning how to love. Love my family, love my friends, love that special person. 

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 states:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

This verse has always been my foundation for love. Cause this is how God loves us. Cause He chooses to, not because He has to. He does not have to love us. He chooses to love us. In the same way, it is right to say we WANT to love, not cause we HAVE to. Being a boyfriend, it's not about the flowery feeling of having a girlfriend, or that excitement you get when you hug each other etc. All that is just the physical part of love. Love goes in so much deeper. It drives us to be better; not cause we HAVE to, but because we WANT to. Am I making any sense here?

I'm gonna use myself as an example ('again about himself' my mum would say). I used to be a very impatient person. I wouldn't say I'm not kind but there are times I can be a really mean a-hole. I easily get jealous over everything, not just about my dearest love but with my own siblings as well. To summarize, I was nearly the opposite from all the characteristics of love in the verse mentioned. Fast forward many many years later (plus minus a few girlfriends who were deadweight in my life), some of my friends have affirmed that I've become a different person. My patience has improved alot (I think) basically because I try to entertain my dear when she's moody or cranky or having a rough time or whatever reason you can think off to try my patience in a relationship. Jealousy is an area I still work on every single day but I believe that it is within my control now (it was uncontrollable when I was a wee lad). My temper comes and goes occasionally, but I've learnt alot about  self-control being with her. I'm still working on alot of areas that I'm weak in but I'm not getting tired. I don't have to be. Cause I want to be better. For God, for my family, for her, and for myself. It's not compulsory. Rather it's a choice. We all have that choice to make.

"Jesus, thank you for loving me cause You chose to love me. Teach me to love like You, unconditional and cause I want to love. Teach me to love with a cheerful heart and not one that is burdened to for Your love is generous. Amen."

Indulgence in Hell...

oh, piss off!!!

I love eating. Who doesn't? Even the good Lord invited us to feast with him (go check John 21:12, Matthew 22:2). With that. He made so many talented and ingenious people to prepare banquets for us on Earth, just to give us (more like the ones with deep pockets) a glimpse of what banquets in Heaven would be. Now, I did NOT take a course in the culinary arts. Rather, I indulge watching other people do so. Let me correct that last sentence. I indulge in watching cooking shows so that I can learn how to cook on my own (my mum's eyebrows would be raised if she reads this) and hopefully impress some girl to show that I'm not that useless hopeless blur in the kitchen department. 

My endeavor into the culinary arts comes in the form of Sir (sorry, not knighted yet) Gordon Ramsay. Most would know him as the foul-mouthed bugger who hosts Hell's Kitchen, The F Word, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and the most recent Masterchef U.S., with the latter and Hell's Kitchen being my personal favorites. 

First of all, yes he's a foul-mouthed a-hole. Couldn't agree more. But then again, he's a foul-mouthed Scot who has earned 12 Michelin stars to date (for those who do not know what a Michelin star is, it's equivalent to an Oscar or Golden Globe award for chefs). He's known worldwide for his high standards and  scrumptious cuisines. Just watching the contestants prepare his famous beef wellingtons is enough to make my mouth water and get me out of the chair to look for anything equivalent to that (usually. it ends with me just finding snacks). He yells, he cusses, he screams at contestants in every season of Hell's Kitchen. Sometimes to the point his voice even breaks. But it's all due to the high standards he practices and upholds in  the kitchen. People may argue "why does he need to be like that?" and what not. A friend of mine who took a course in this field replied by saying that this IS the atmosphere in a fine dining kitchen. Chefs all around have to constantly make sure that the standards of the food prepared are maintained under all circumstances.

some people are just plain hard to work with

some just need to get screwed with Gordon to buck up

in the end, some people were meant to be great

I enjoy Hell's Kitchen cause it also brings out the very nature of a person. On Monday, I finished watching the entire 9th season of Hell's Kitchen. There were very interesting contestants in that season indeed. Some where indeed talented and deserved to win the competition. Some were just so arrogant and bossy that you'd wish Gordon would just kick her (it's a girl. No pun intended to girls ya) out. And then there were some that were just plain dumb and blur. Mr. Ramsay does push people to the limit. But it is only because that this will strive them to bring out the better part of themselves. My grandmother doesn't understand why I enjoy the series so much (heck, I even played a game based on it, which included the foul-mouthed bugger). Indeed, it's about the food. But then again, it really shows you the different type of people that walk the face of the Earth and how we would have to deal with someone like this one fine day. I'll just leave you with a quote from the man himself from an interview with the local newspaper in UK;

"I maintain standards and I strive for perfection. That level of pressure is conveyed in a very bullish way and that's what cooking is all about."