A couple of interesting quotes

My work colleague & team mate emailed a couple of interesting quotes these past couple of days.

Here's one:

The most difficult secret for a man to keep is his own opinion of himself. Marcel Pagnol

My first reaction after reading that quote was to ask my colleague: "That quote was meant for me, wasn't it?" He said no, though another team mate later said it was! Pfffhhh.....

I suppose that quote alludes to people having too high an opinion of themselves. When I read that quote, I think of the verse Matthew 23:12: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Here's another quote:

Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it. Honore de Balzac

True indeed. If only I find it easier not to envy, for there have been times where I am envious of others with what they got - their possessions, their achievements, their status. I should focus on what I do have & be thankful to God for that. Job 5:2 says: Resentment kills a fool, & envy slays the simple.

I dunno where he gets them, but I look forward to receiving more quotes from my colleague. You might see some of them on this blog ;)

My take on "7 Foods to Keep You Young"

That "7 Foods to Keep You Young" article was pretty interesting, I thought - which is why I blogged it ;)
So I thought I'd comment a bit on it, partly in view of the comment that my friend posted. Excuse any ignorance or silliness that I may display in my comments!

To make things a bit more "weird & wonderful", I'd also give a "frequency of consumption" rating out of 10 for each of the foods, just to give some idea of how frequent I currently consume these foods (of course, ratings may change in the future, depending on my food intake). As you will see, the 3 that I consume most regularly out of the group would be fish, chocolate & yoghurt.

Olive oil:
My olive oil consumption is almost negligible. Not because I don't like olive oil. It's just that it never crossed my mind to actively seek out anything with olive oil. That might change - perhaps it's time to up my consumption of Mediterranean cuisine? Then again, some of the food that I eat out might have olive oil content without me knowing it.
Frequency of consumption: 1/10

Yoghurt:
Yes, I like yoghurt. I used to consume yoghurt more regularly than I do now. And it's always the ones in containers with fruit. I prefer yoghurt with tropical fruit to yoghurt with berries. Now that we're on this topic, I suddenly feel like some yoghurt. So, guess what will be going into the basket when I go to the shops in a few days time?!!
Frequency of consumption: 6/10

Fish:
The article doesn't specify what type of fish or how the fish should be cooked. Perhaps it is fish in general that keeps us young. Hmm, dunno. Anyhow, I consume fish a few times a week, whether boiled, steamed or fried. And that does not count fish & chip takeaway!
Frequency of consumption: 8/10

Chocolate:
The article doesn't say what type of chocolate would be more conducive to keeping us young. Could it be be dark chocs? Possibly, because the article mentioned "cocoa". If I hear correctly, dark chocs contain more cocoa than milk chocs or white chocs. And also, I hear that dark chocs are better for your health than milk chocs or white chocs. I used to consume chocs every day, because social club at work used to sell snack-sized chocs (Mars, Snickers etc), & I'd be notorious at work for my choc consumption. Social club stopped selling snacks months ago, but all that could be back very soon. Woo hoo!
Frequency of consumption: 7/10 (would have been 10/10 when social club sold all those chocs!)

Nuts:
Article doesn't specify what sort of nuts are good for keeping us young. Off & on, I would eat salt-dried peanuts that I get from the Asian grocery shops (e.g. Formosa Asian Market, Yuen's Market). That's pretty much it. Otherwise, the other nuts I consume would be the almonds in the chicken & almond dish, or the nuts that go with chocolates.
Frequency of consumption: 5/10

Wine:
I don't drink wine that often. I tend to drink wine on certain occasions like wedding receptions or parties. I definitely drink beer more regularly. Oh, speaking of wine, I still haven't opened that bottle of Riccadonna (Italian red wine) that I got as a Secret Santa present last year. That might happen this Christmas.
Frequency of consumption: 3/10

Blueberries:
I eat fruits regularly. But that doesn't include blueberries. I can't remember the last time I ate blueberries on its own. I can only remember taking blueberry jam, but that doesn't really count, does it?
Frequency of consumption: 1.5/10


Addendum 30/11/2007:- I should also mention that the ratings given do not represent consumption every 10-day period. So for example, 3/10 for wine doesn't mean I only drink wine 3 times/3 days every 10 days. The ratings are indicative & meant for guidance only.

(From MSN) 7 Foods to Keep You Young

7 Foods to Keep You Young

Olive Oil

Four decades ago, researchers from the Seven Countries Study concluded that the monounsaturated fats in olive oil were largely responsible for the low rates of heart disease and cancer on the Greek island of Crete. Now we know that olive oil also contains polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that may help prevent age-related diseases.

Yogurt

In the 1970s, Soviet Georgia was rumored to have more centenarians per capita than any other country. Reports at the time claimed that the secret of their long lives was yogurt, a food ubiquitous in their diets. While the age-defying powers of yogurt never have been proved directly, yogurt is rich in calcium, which helps stave off osteoporosis and contains "good bacteria" that help maintain gut health and diminish the incidence of age-related intestinal illness.

Fish

Thirty years ago, researchers began to study why the native Inuits of Alaska were remarkably free of heart disease. The reason, scientists now think, is the extraordinary amount of fish they consume. Fish is an abundant source of omega-3 fats, which help prevent cholesterol buildup in arteries and protect against abnormal heart rhythms.

Chocolate

The Kuna people of the San Blas islands, off the coast of Panama, have a rate of heart disease that is nine times less than that of mainland Panamanians. The reason? The Kuna drink plenty of a beverage made with generous proportions of cocoa, which is unusually rich in flavanols that help preserve the healthy function of blood vessels. Maintaining youthful blood vessels lowers risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and dementia.

Nuts

Studies of Seventh-Day Adventists (a religious denomination that emphasizes healthy living and a vegetarian diet) show that those who eat nuts gain, on average, an extra two and a half years. Nuts are rich sources of unsaturated fats, so they offer benefits similar to those associated with olive oil. They’re also concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals, including antioxidants.

Wine

Drinking alcohol in moderation protects against heart disease, diabetes and age-related memory loss. Any kind of alcoholic beverage seems to provide such benefits, but red wine has been the focus of much of the research. Red wine contains resveratrol, a compound that likely contributes to its benefits—and, according to animal studies, may activate genes that slow cellular aging.

Blueberries

In a landmark study published in 1999, researchers at Tufts University’s Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging fed rats blueberry extract for a period of time that in "rat lives" is equivalent to 10 human years. These rats outperformed rats fed regular chow on tests of balance and coordination when they reached old age. Compounds in blueberries (and other berries) mitigate inflammation and oxidative damage, which are associated with age-related deficits in memory and motor function.

Recovering from neck pain

These past few days haven't been that great for my neck. It's been aching & hurting. I think I got a neck pain or stiff neck. I think it's got to do with the way I slept on Sunday nite, because the pain was was first experienced on Monday morning. Dunno why it (the way I slept) happened, but oh well, it did. Though someone pointed out to me that it could be due to sitting in front of computer for prolonged periods, or the way I sit in front of the computer. OK, that's possibly true.

But anyway, thanks to the neck pain, I haven't been feeling great this week. At some stage, my neck hurts if I even so much as look upward to the ceiling or turn my head even a bit. Neck movement had to be limited, so when I wanted to look in a particular direction (whether left or right), I have to turn my whole self to that direction rather than moving my head that way.

But thankfully, the neck is somewhat recovering, rather slowly at that. There's still a way to go before complete recovery. Meantime, I might go surfing the net to read up about neck pain/stiff neck. I might also go apply some more of the pak fah yeow (white flower liniment) to my neck. Some of my friends are amused at my usage of the liniment, when they see me rub it on my face, nose, forehead. They think I'm hooked on that stuff. But oh well, I find it useful, so I will keep using it.

Euro 2008 - 200 days to go!!

Just hopped on to UEFA's website. According to the site, there's 200 days, 5 hours & 35 minutes to go till the Euro 2008 kicks off!! I'm feeling the excitement already. I can hardly wait for the tournament to come. It starts in June 08. What a month that will be.

I remembered the previous edition, Euro 2004, where a few of us (me, BT, Terence, Nigel, Ben, Carlos) rocked up to La Dolce Vita cafe in Milton to watch the matches on the giant screen. That was years ago, & it didn't seem that long ago. Gosh, how time flies! Not sure if we will be doing the same next year. Well for sure, Ben's no longer in Brisbane, & I doubt he'll be up in Brisbane in the middle of next year. As for the rest, well, I'm sure we will see some matches together somewhere....

By the end of this week, we will know the identity of all 16 teams who made it to the Euro 2008 finals. Some teams, such as world champions Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands & Spain have qualified already. A few more places are up for grabs. So watch this space. I will blog more about Euro 2008 over the coming months. Lots & lots of football to talk about - & not just about Euro 2008, either. Someone once said, too much football is not enough. So true!

Winston & Eilen's wedding, 17/11/07

Something really exciting happened on Saturday. A couple of friends from church & Bible study group, Winston & Eilen, tied the knot. It really was a fantastic day. One thing that's different from other weddings is that it was raining at the start, on the way to the church. I can't remember rain ever occurring on any previous wedding I have attended. But not even the rain could dampen my spirits. And in any case, the pouring did stop by the time the ceremony began. I'm very very happy for both Winston & Eilen - one lovely Christian brother & one lovely Christian sister, united in Christ in front of a large audience. Also adding to the marvellous day is the fact that the best man at the wedding, Nigel, happens to be a very very close friend of mine.

The wedding started with the best man entering the church, followed by Winston, then the maid of honour (Eilen's sister Chloe), & finally Eilen accompanied by her dad. They literally marched! Especially NC, he marched like a robot. I was seated near the pathway where they came in, & I did all I could to stifle my laugh. It's different from other weddings where the groom & his best man/men wait for the bride & the bridal party to enter.

Then the ceremony began. I remember seeing how Winston & Eilen sang so joyfully & heartily during the singing. The wedding sermon was given by an ex-YFer who is now involved in university ministry, Bill Colyer. Bill's sermon, if I heard it correctly, touched on how Christian weddings mirror the great wedding that await God's people in heaven, when we see Jesus again. Hmmm, something like that. But u get the idea.

Anyway, The ceremony (u know....exchanging of ring, kisses, pronouncement of Winston & Eilen as married couple) was then followed by group photos. And my goodness, some of the groups were so huge, it was a struggle to fit those large groups in. Then, we had reception lunch at the hall. The best man ran the show well, though I may be a bit biased in saying that (as mentioned earlier, he's a real close buddy). Firstly, he conducted the trivia quiz, ably aided by Phuong (his partner) & Alice. He handpicked a few people from the audience for the trivia quiz. Me & my friends (Ivan, Terence & Catherine) were not far behind him, & bolted out before he could pick any of us for the trivia quiz. Then, Nigel gave a nice best man's speech. Funnily enough for me & my brother BT, Nigel mentioned "Nebuchadnezzar" in the speech, as he & BT talked about it the night before.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. A great day for the newlyweds, a great day for the family, relatives & friends who witnessed the union. And I personally got to catch up with some friends, including Sherin (only seen her 1-2 times this year) & Ivan (now in Sydney, but came up for the wedding). I trust that God will richly bless Winston & Eilen's future.

Later on, some of us who attended the wedding had dinner together at Yahoo Restaurant in Sunnybank Hills, & then hung out at Sean's place. So that really made Saturday 17/11/07 a great great day for me. And I'm sure many others would feel the same way, too.

Nice! That's one heck of a pool!

I received the pics below from a former colleague today. Just look, that really is one giant, unusual swimming pool. Funny enough, it's so near the beach. Very nice pictures, I must say. What a pool, & what a resort!

At first glance, I thought it was real, but after seeing the pictures a few times, realise it probably is not. Or, not yet, anyway. Now, I don't know where the resort is proposed to be built. The word "Chile" is included in the names of the 4 files sent by my friend. That may suggest that the resort may be built in Chile. On the other hand, if you look closely, the word "profimedia.cz" appears on the left of all the pictures. I understand "cz" to refer to Czech Republic (though I may be mistaken). But, Czech Rep is landlocked (i.e. enclosed by land), & since the pictures include the beach, I doubt it refers to Czech Rep. So, it's more likely to refer to Chile. Maybe....

But oh what the hey, just admire the pics. I wish I could own such a resort. I could then enjoy the resort, & float in the pool whenever I like, just like the guy in the third picture below. Right now, I can't afford to buy such a resort. But who knows, one day I might. One day.....hahaha.....

CM5 - The treble again!

I got back into the swing of things with my PC game CM5, since getting my PC fixed. And guess what happened? Under the guise of Roger Van Haaren, I won the treble in season 2027/2028, with Vitesse Arnhem. This happened a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I haven't touched CM5 - I've been practically "sitting" on my success, basking in all that glory. It's not the first time Vitesse won the treble - they also achieved the same feat in 2022/2023 & 2023/2024. So, 2027/2028 is the third treble by the club. Treble again!

Vitesse Arnhem won Dutch Premier Division/Eredivisie with a few games of the season remaining, making them club champions of the Netherlands once again! In fact, it was Vitesse' 9th successive Dutch championship! Some feat, that. After clinching the Dutch league, "manager extraordinaire" Van Haaren then led the club to the Dutch Cup, beating Den Haag 2-0 in the final. Just 3 days after that, the treble was secured with a 6-0 demolition of Italian side AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League final. That made Vitesse Arnhem club champions of Europe. What's remarkable is that the Champions League victory was secured after Vitesse had a man sent off in the first half. But that had little effect on Vitesse, since their football relies on skill & technique rather than physical endeavour (teams that rely on physical endeavour would tire & fade as the game goes on).

The treble success adds to Vitesse' bulging trophy room, so filled that they will probably need to expand to fit in more trophies that the club will surely win in the future. It's a great testament to Roger Van Haaren's managerial abilities, & also the excellent set-up & professionalism of the club. And it's not just Vitesse who have benefitted over the years. The Dutch national team too have tasted a fair bit of success, & Vitesse Arnhem supplied quite a number of players to the Dutch team. At some stage during the last few years, the Netherlands were European & world champions - they held the Euro Cup & World Cup simultaneously at one stage. Needless to say, this reflects very well on Vitesse Arnhem, which in turn reflects very well on ME!!





Vitesse finish top of the Dutch league. They may have finished "only" 6 points ahead of Ajax, but look at the number of goals Vitesse scored (120) & the goal difference (+84). Clearly the best team in the Netherlands.






Great last few days of the season - victory in Dutch Cup final & UEFA Champions League final, scoring a total of 8 goals without reply to secure both trophies.







Look at the list of trophies won by Vitesse, under manager Roger Van Haaren - from the Premier Division to the Club World Championship. I'm not too sure about what Conference means, though. Computer game glitch, perhaps??

Quote of the day (re: coming to work)

Got this from work colleague last Friday:

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"I don't mind coming to work, but that eight hour wait to go home is nonsense."

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Bring on Melbourne Victory!

Yes! Queensland Roar won - they beat Wellington Phoenix 3-0 at the Suncorp Stadium earlier this evening. The result means Qld Roar are in second place on the A-League ladder, 4 points behind Central Coast Mariners. All Roar goals were scored by the club's Brazilian players, forward Reinaldo & midfielder Marcinho.

The scoreline may suggest victory was comfortable. But the first half was tight, & it took a penalty from Reinaldo for Qld Roar midway through the second half to break the deadlock. And a retaken penalty at that - retake was needed because some Roar players encroached the penalty area when the penalty was initially kicked. Up until that first goal, Wellington had done reasonably well to contain Qld, though Wellington were down to 10-men before half-time as one of their players got automatically red-carded for elbowing Qld Roar's Korean player Seo. And up until that first goal, I was dreading a repeat of past home games where Qld appear to have the better of play but failed to convert whatever chances they create or failed to keep the opposition keeper busy. Reinaldo's (& Qld's) second goal was a back-heel off a well-delivered low cross. Marcinho's third goal was a result of a counter-attack.

So there u are - Qld Roar won handsomely. Finally, they won a home game that I attended! Previously, they never won the games that I watched, & their only other home win (2-1 win also against Wellington, the first time they played Wellington earlier in the season) was the game that I missed. So I had joked with a few people that my presence in the stadium was a jinx on Qld Roar, & the joke I received from a few in return was that I shouldn't attend the home games because they can't win while I'm in the stadium! Well, I did go to this evening's match, & looks like with the 3-0 win, Qld Roar managed to overcome the "DT hoodoo". LOL.

Jokes aside, I'm currently not carried away by Qld Roar's run of good form. It's fine & good for Qld to be second on the A-League table, but they must improve if they want to win the next home game, which is against Melbourne Victory. It's this coming Friday evening, & I am really really looking forward to the match - partly because Qld are on a good run of form, & partly because Melbourne Victory are my least favourite team (to put it mildly) in the A-League. Nevertheless, there's no need for Qld to fear them. If they play as well as they can, then they can beat Melbourne. There's no real need to be intimidated by them, & their results so far this season don't indicate that Melbourne are invincible by any stretch of the imagination. Qld Roar v Melbourne Victory this Friday should be a cracker. Bring on Melbourne!

The crows! They woke me up!

Arrrggghh! The blasted crows! (or are they ravens?) They just woke me up very prematurely. They are back again in our backyard, after being away for ages. And thanks to them, I got what - a bit more than 4 hours sleep, maybe 5-ish, certainly less than 6 hours. Much less sleep that I was hoping I'd get. Needless to say, I'm less than happy about that. Very unhappy, in fact :(

That's why I'm here. I got no punching bag, so decide instead to come here & create a blog post to vent my frustration & displeasure. I can also do a few other things here & there, since I'm now awake.....

Now, it sounds like those pesky birds are gone. Hmmphh, maybe they just came to say a quick hello to me. Maybe I should cover my ears next time, but dunno whether that will work. So, how to get rid of them the next time they come?
Garden hoses? Ehh, nope - there's level 5 water restrictions.
Yelling at them? I tried that in the past ("shut up, u @#^%"), & it didn't really work. Besides, that'll waste my breath & I might end up waking the neighbours.
Rifle? It won't be easy to get one, & I might end up shooting the wrong thing/person.
Scarecrows? Too much trouble creating one, I'm just too lazy.
Maybe I should just get a giant poster of my face & put it in my backyard. That is, a poster the size of my room floor. Hopefully that might keep them away. But then again, u never know, those pesky birds might be enchanted by my face & flock over to admire the view......

Arrggh, maybe I should just "grin & bear it". Or actually, just bear it - doubt I'd be grinning the next time the birds pay us a visit.

Come on Qld Roar, seize the chance!

OK, last time I blogged about Queensland Roar was when they lost the home game against Sydney FC, by 1-0. After that, they lost again, 2-0 away to Melbourne Victory.

The Melbourne setback was the last game in September. That was followed by a good October, where Qld Roar played 4 games without losing. The 4 games yielded 2 wins & 2 draws: 2-1 at home v Wellington Phoenix, 1-0 away v Central Coast Mariners, 1-1 away to Newcastle Jets & 3-3 at home to Perth Glory. Good month of October, that.

The Perth match was the most frustrating of the October games. Qld played casually & let in 2 goals before scoring to trail 2-1 just before half-time. Then Qld made it 2-2 from the penalty spot. The same player who took the penalty then scored in the 86th minute to put Qld 3-2 in front, but 5 minutes of injury time was given, & Perth equalised in the 3rd minute of injury time. So, the final score was 3-3. Aaahhh, so close to winning & yet so far. I was less than satisfied, my friend was disgusted.

Anyway, Qld started November well with a good 1-0 win away to Adelaide United last Friday. I was very surprised that they won that match, as I was expecting a defeat. But that's good, as it brings Qld up to 4th on the table.

The results so far in this weekend's round of A-League has been quite favourable for Qld: Newcastle 1 Perth 4, Central Coast Mariners 2 Adelaide 0, Melbourne 0 Sydney 0. Those results mean Central Coast extends its lead at the top, now on 23 points. Adelaide & Newcastle both remain on 17 points as a result of the defeats. Qld Roar are just 1 point behind, on 16 points. So the Roar heads into tomorrow evening's game against Wellington Phoenix (second time Wellington visits Qld) with an outstanding chance to solidify its top 4 position. That's because if they beat Wellington, they will get be on 19 points, & overtake both Adelaide & Newcastle in the process. I will be there at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow for the match & I'm feeling excited right now! That is one heck of an opportunity for Qld Roar! Come on Roar! Seize this opportunity! You can do it!

Sermon on Colossians 1:24 - 2:5 (by Dr B Winter)

Dr Bruce Winter visited our church this past Sunday (4/11/07), & he gave an excellent sermon, on Colossians 1:24 to 2:5. He started by referring to Turkey, which at once were thriving with churches, but then the people became cultural Christians. Dr Winter then referred to the passage in Colossians. Paul, the author, thought that one must not be deluded with arguments that sound so good. Paul had been worried that the Christians would be like Peter Pan (a child who never grew up).

Dr Winter made 3 points about the passage in Colossians:

# A Christian person is possessed by Christ.
# That Christian person must be mature in Christ.
# That Christian person must be united in Christ.

#1: Possessed in Christ

Paul was given the word of God. We are privileged to have the word of God. God wants us to understand what He has done for us. Paul wanted us to know what happened to the Christians. Refer v.26 - Christ is in you. God has come to dwell in your life. Our lives will go on forever. We are possessed people (i.e. possessed in Christ). We have a great future that lies ahead of us. There is a home already for us. Jesus said He will go to prepare a place for us & He will come again. We are now people who are possessed by Christ.

#2: Mature in Christ

We must grow in Christ. This is not a quick fix. Refer v.28 & v.29. There are 3 aspects of maturity:

Firstly, continual proclamation of who Jesus Christ is. He designed everything, the creator, the enlightener, the sustainer of the universe. Christ must be continually proclaimed to Christians. We are here for Him; He prepared a place for us. We need to focus on Him. We are here for Him, & not the other way round. We need to be continually reminded that Christ is not here for us; we are here for Him.

Secondly, warn Christians of the dangers of certain things. God has put in place His word. It is not an easy task. We live in a world which says "greed is good". The Bible teaches us different things. Our society tells us to indulge. God is a shepherd from us; every gift is from God. Christian maturity also involves in warning us of the dangers that lie ahead.

Thirdly, we need information to live our lives. We need to be taught; we need to read up instructions to understand how we are to live. God has given us a manual on how to do just that. To become a mature Christian, we have to learn & be taught from the Bible.

Recapping the 3 aspects: the greatness of Christ, the dangers that lie ahead, the wisdom we need to live our lives.

Paul wanted everyone that we may present everyone to be mature in Christ. It would be sad if we have a body of an adult but the mind of a child.

#3: United in Christ

In 21st century, Christians can be polite & nice & smile but be different when you look underneath. It is easy for Christians to just be polite. Paul was concerned that there should be unity in the church - we should be united in Christ. Christians always chose to meet in homes. It is wonderful to come & share fellowship but bad when family members fight. We are to be united in Christ. We will love to come & meet up with our brothers & sisters. In Asian culture, family is important. When we become Christians, it is easy to transfer that cultural mentality into the church (family does matter).


Dr Winter then concluded by saying that if we are like all those 3 points, we can stand up to all the challenges in life.

Sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 - some notes

OK, my notes on Pastor Steve's sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 a couple of Sunday's back may seem sketchy to some readers. And it's most probably my fault (should have paid more attention & not let my mind be distracted by internal thoughts on other things).

But anyway, Pastor begin by saying that a lot of writers who claim to be Christian write materials which effectively say "Jesus, come follow me". A lot of people ask the question - Jesus, what can you do for me? It shouldn't be like that. It should be the other way round. The passage in Colossians is all about Jesus; Jesus is mentioned a dozen times. The invisible God, whom we cannot see, is made visible here. So, no longer can we ignore God & say He is not really relevant. He gave Jesus authority over this world, & we are to do what Jesus commands.

Jesus not only has authority over this world, He died to achieve salvation for this world. Pastor reminded us, & referring to the passage, that Jesus' death has paved the way for the world to change. Because He has achieved salvation for us believers, we are to live in line with that. We once rejected God & want to do things our way & marginalise or exclude God from our lives. But Jesus achieved salvation for us, & so reconciled us to God. Therefore, we are to continue in our faith.

Jesus Christ, Lord of creation, restorer of all things, Saviour of our lives. Since Jesus is all that, what then are we to do? As mentioned previously, we are to continue in our faith. We are to consistently attend church & not neglect meeting up altogether. Pastor then left us with a challenging question: What are we captivated by? Whatever it is we are captivated by shapes our lives. Pastor was basically saying that since Jesus has done so much for us, are we captivated by Him?

Reflection:

Am I captivated by Jesus? I'd say "yes" in the sense that I'm aware (from the Bible) of all the things that Jesus achieved while He was on earth, many of which only Jesus was capable of doing. Certainly in the case of His death & resurrection on the cross, only Jesus was capable of doing that, because He is the Son of God. So, from me, there is the awareness of all that Jesus has done & acceptance of who He is. Being surrounded by fellow believers at church & my Bible study group, I'm often reminded to focus on Jesus & what He has achieved on the cross. So yes, I am certainly captivated by Jesus.

But, in all honesty, at the same time, I'm also captivated by other things. I'm captivated by the things of this world. I watch football on TV & also clips on YouTube, & so am captivated by footballers, & their skills & all that. I'm captivated by materials I read on money, investments etc., & start thinking of what I can achieve in the future when my earnings go up & I start looking at various money making ventures/opportunities (e.g. share trading).

And, believe it or not, sometimes I'm captivated by my personal delusions of grandeur, of my perceived level of ability. I tell myself: "wow, look - I can do this, I have done that". And thump my chest & feel self satisfied.

I realise I should be more captivated by Jesus & less captivated on other things. Wow, it seems whenever I listen to sermons, I get reminded of the areas in my walk that I'm deficient in. I pray that God will help me overcome those spiritual deficiencies. But then again, I always talk like that. Remember DT, MTE talk by K Birchley - wisdom is more walk than talk. Or to modify for myself, wisdom is more walk than blog.

WW's Bucks Day & Night (3/11/07)

This past Saturday, a number of guys from Clay spent some time (male bonding, so to speak) with WW, just a couple of weeks before he "officially surrenders" his singlehood. WW's Bucks Day & Night was divided into 4 programs: lunch & lawn bowls at Sunnybank Bowls Club, zorbing at Zorb in Pimpama, Korean BBQ dinner at Sunnybank Seoul BBQ, & poker at Nigel's place (he's the best man). Not everyone (me included) got involved in all 4 of the programs.

Lunch at lawn bowls club was rather quick - burgers & chips (BT & Steve N had to grab McDonalds because they didn't RSVP for lunch at lawn bowls). This was followed by lawn bowls, where we were guided by one of the guys at the club. It was fun. Not because I particularly liked it. But fun in the sense that the guys enjoyed it, & fun in the sense that I managed to "entertain" the rest of the guys with a magnificent display of lawn bowling ineptitude, LOL. Some of my bowling was just woeful, that I was the worst performer by some distance! But hey, it was all good, & great to have some fun & laughs. I jokingly used the pint of beer I consumed during lunch as an excuse for my ineptitude. I could have also cited the heat or the "distractive presence" of the other patrons. Hehe. But the simple truth is, it's just not my game. For me, it's a fuddy-duddy's game.

Then off I went to attend a Sunday School Teachers' Meeting - which meant I missed out on the zorbing at Pimpama (some of the others also didn't attend zorbing). I was a tad late for the meeting, as I left the bowls club a tad later than I intended, dropping off BT & Steve N along the way. At the meeting, we discussed our plans for the last few Sunday School lessons for this year as well as the upcoming Sunday School Break-up Party/Prize-Giving.

After that, I headed back Southside to have the Korean BBQ dinner with some of the guys who returned from the zorbing - WW, Nigel, Terence & Sean. Kwang (who also was not at the zorbing) then joined us, so it was a party of 6 guys. I really liked the dinner; I don't often have Korean BBQ - last one I could remember was quite a while ago, at a Korean & Japanese place at Fortitude Valley. The food at the Sunnybank place was pretty good, though some of the meat provided were dry & not in particularly large portions (whereas the meat at that Fortitude Valley place were larger & not as dry). For that reason, the meal didn't seem completely filling. But anyway, it was good. After we had our meal, the 6 of us all chatted about all the nice food (including hawkers food) in Malaysia & Singapore. WW remarked (jokingly perhaps) that all that talk about food was making him hungry (he's not the only one). Shortly after, we departed.

Then we headed to Nigel's place for poker. We were later joined by Ed (who was not with us during any of the earlier Bucks' programs) & then Wong (who did come to the lunch & lawn bowls). We played 2 games. I didn't fare particularly well in either games - came second last in first game & third last in the second. First game, if I recalled correctly, Nigel & Ed called a truce/draw. Second game, the final 2 were Sean & WW & there were so many chips on the table, it was hard to tell who won if there was a winner (I thought either WW did or it was a draw, but WW later said Sean won). Anyway, the "funny" thing was Nigel made a rule where WW had to consume a glass of water if he did or say certain things (e.g. say "yes" or "no", or nodded) - effectively water torture. And some of the guys tried to get WW to do those things to get him to drink. WW only fell for the trick a handful of times.

Nigel then did all the necessary connections (with laptop & TV) for us to catch the English Premier League match between Arsenal & Manchester United, live (it was a lunchtime kick-off in the UK). I had been keenly anticipating this match all the while, & I might cite this as an excuse for not excelling in the nite's poker games as I was thinking about the game while playing poker & the guys might have noticed me being a bit "out of it" (goodness, I sound like a "master of excuses"). The final score was 2-2, with the home team Arsenal twice coming from behind - Arsenal's second equaliser happened in injury time. Me, Nigel & Terence, being the most football-crazy among the guys present, watched the game while the other guys went to the other room to play fuss-ball. All 3 of us were supporting Arsenal (Nigel's dad also watched; he was going for Man Utd). We looked on in disdain each time Man Utd scored, & cheered heartily with high-fives each time Arsenal equalised. Well before the game finished, the other guys (including WW) had departed. So me & Terence were the last to leave.

All in all, it was an eventful & very enjoyable day. I'm very happy for WW with his big day coming up & all that. May God bless that day, WW & his wife-to-be ES.

PS: Oh & yes, the pics are up on my Multiply blog. Go have a look.