*+_Praise † Grace_+*

Introduction As of 31 October 2016, according to our Deputy Prime Minister, there are 290,437 stateless children currently residing in Malaysia. They are born in Malaysia but failed to get their citizenships, mostly because they were abandoned by their parents or born to a family with messy marriage arrangements. What does it mean to be stateless for these children? They better win the fight for their citizenship before they turn 21, else they will be in a state of limbo, with nowhere to belong to. They cannot get married legally, have no access to public education, employment and protection of their rights. They cannot even be deported because there is nowhere for them to be deported to. As the Malay Mail writer Ida Lim described, they are forever an alien. As I preach from Ephesians 2:11-22, I titled today’s message “You were hopeless” because I realised that we were no different from these children before we know Jesus. But at the same time, such hopelessness is not that one...

That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.   Esther 6:1-2 This is where the climax begins. One fateful night of a powerful Gentile king who was left sleepless and restless. Something did not sit right with him, and his heart was stirring. In the most ungodly hour, he decided to reflect upon his own reign. On a book (perhaps books) recording all the great things he had done, all the happenings of his kingdom, chapter after chapter, something out of the ordinary caught his eyes. One overlooked man who kept him alive and sleepless was left unrewarded for his act of loyalty. Mordecai vs Haman As a concerned father, Mordecai paced back and forward daily in front of the king's gate to check on his lovely adopte...

Introduction Happy Fathers’ Day. Allow me to start by sharing a bit about my father. This is my father about 30 years ago, and this is me about 7 years ago. Not only that I took after his look, I took after his personality as well. 3 months back when Pastor Matthew visited my dad in the hospital, he remarked “Now I know where you learn all your nonsense.” My father 30 years ago Myself 7 years ago My father is a man of virtues: funny, talented, outgoing, gentle, humble and loving. He’s also stern, honorable, respectable and dependable. At the same time, he is also stubborn, careless and a little foolish at times. Personally to me, my father is my role model. I look up to him as the man I want to be. I remember how my dad used to discipline my sister and I. I was always given a harsher scolding and a thicker stick. As the eldest son in the family, my dad wants me to be the protector of the family in his absence and to be the brother to my sister. Well, I got the beating...

PROLOGUE I was nudged awake by my ringtone that went "ONE PUUUUUUNNNNNCCCCCCHHHHHH!" Who in the world?! I took a look at the time, it was 3:34a.m. The caller ID ended with "AirBnB GUEST". Oh no! I thought you are the nice guest I've been waiting for? "Hello, sorry ah. No electricity oh." said the other side of the phone. Paraphrasing my mind, "Well, that is painfully inconvenient." I have to paraphrase this because it only had two words and one of them starts with the letter "F". I was kept awake by the matter for the rest of the night. TNB wasn't helping and there was no one to turn to. I had to do some PR routine and the guests were willing to go through the night without electricity. Of course, a discount must be in place. "God, please take care of my guests and help me to rest." I prayed. O me of little faith, I didn't. Sunday morning, 9am. Something didn't feel right. I had a feeling that m...

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:8-10 In the month of April, 1985, the Malaysian Government launched the first “Made in Malaysia” campaign. For everything that has the label “Made in Malaysia”, it has a purpose: to serve as a pride and identity for Malaysia that we are a country that is productive, creative and innovative. They were to send a message to all consumers and other nations about who we are as a nation. For everything that is made under the sun serves a purpose and it is for that purpose that they are made. A bread is made with the purpose to fill a hungry stomach and to provide energy for survival; a watch is made to tell time; a computer to compute; and even this box called “Useless Box” serves to entertain a bored mind a...

Day 16 They say a good start is half the victory, so I made myself a semi-victor's breakfast, and also for lunch so I can have another half of the victory. Egg and sausage wrap. While doing my morning inspections, an operator remarked that my hair, erm well, she placed her palm on her forehead and did a quick swipe upward. I think that meant that I looked handsome. Nope, I'm pretty sure that's what she meant, since no other explanation is possible. Still thinking about my trip to Sabah. Pretty excited for it. Browsed the internet looking for a new or secondhand camera. Set my eyes on a few and within my budget. My colleagues and I won a consolation prize in a Music Video Contest. Each of us got a WiFi Speaker! I couldn't sleep at night because I was troubled by an unstoppable spin of my mind. My partner can no longer help me out as often because of his role expansion at work. I am happy to see my best friend doing well at his career, but I'll h...

Day 11  Canggih Card Woke up earlier today to make my breakfast. Simple tuna sandwich. I made an extra for my light lunch but my lunch plan didn't turn out well. My colleague suggested that we go out for McDonald's Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken) so we can record a video and win something. Even that didn't go well. The Ayam Goreng Box, which is requirement for the competition, sold out. Guess McDonald's has been really successful with their latest campaign. I shot a video anyway. It was difficult to watch.  We took the longer way back to office because of a terrible jam and stopped by to take away Tau Huey (Tau Foo Fah in Cantonese, Sweet Bean Curd Pudding in the English that I made up) for tea.  Came home with a love letter in my mail box. From one of the youth who has left for further education in KL. Well I must be honest, I feel proud to watch these youth grow in Christ. It is indeed uplifting to know that they look to me as a role model. (Although I...