I prefer Eugene Patterson's (The Message) version

Philippians 3:12-21

12I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. 13Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. 14I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
15So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision--you'll see it yet! 16Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.

17Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. 18There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I've warned you of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ's Cross. 19But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.

20But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

What is God saying this New Year??

Psalm 81:6-16

6 He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah

8 "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you-
if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not bow down to an alien god.
10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11 "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

13 "If my people would but listen to me,
if Israel would follow my ways,
14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."




Philippians 3:12-16

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.


Jesus will enable us to live fully in the present as we gain wisdom from the past and face the future with courage. -Dennis De Haan

Foo Chee is fine

I just got an email from Foo Chee to say he's safe. He's the friend I mentioned, who's in India doing his elective. Thank God he travelled north after his attachment. At this point he's not sure if he's flight back to Malaysia is affected. Is supposed to fly from Chennai.

While I'm writing this, many more thousand bodies are being found. And many more will die from water borne diseases, injuries, lack of clean water & food, etc. Argh....! I feel so helpless, sitting down here, typing this, knowing that there are people dying & that I can't do anything to stop it from happening. I feel even more depressed when I read about how the many deaths could have been prevented if only there was a device to detect the Sunday's tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

Today I called up Red Crescent to volunteer if they need help. They're supposed to call me. Will be going to Balik Pulau tomorrow to visit some ex-students of mine & to see how I could help. Then, on Sat (1 Jan), I'd be following EPCC's team to Tanjung Bungah to clear up mess & distribute food. That's the least I could do, I guess.

Don't feel the new year spirit....guess it's starting the new year on a sad note.... Will need some time to settle down, reflect on 2004 & move on to 2005, make new resolutions & directions. Heading to the Air Itam dam one of these days...maybe tomorrow...

relief agencies

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/tsunami.aidsites/index.html

christmas cantata

Am in the Sg Nibong + Burmah Road Gospel Hall Christmas cantata. Just wanna pen down a few lines from the narration & songs that ministered to me:

For every need, Jesus is the One:
To the hungry, He's the Bread of life
To those in darkness, He's the Light of the world
To the sick, He's the Great Physician, the Healer of broken hearts, broken homes & broken lives
To the thirsty, He is the water of life that quenches the thirsty soul
To the weary, He is the burden Bearer
To the confused & perplexed, He is Counselor
To the lonely, He's the Friend who is closer than a brother
And for the fearful, He is the King who protects His own
For those so stressed by the pressures of life, He is the Prince of peace
For the discouraged, He is the Hope of glory
For those who are lost, He is the Way
For those trapped in bondage, He is the Door to freedom
He is Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of peace
He is our Comfort, our Hope, our Healer....our Saviour

And Jesus You are Him
Born in Bethlehem
Redeemer of the world
Savior of all men
Jesus You are Him
Sweet Baby born of Mary
Precious Son of God
Jesus You are Him
You are the King
You are the Lamb
Lion of Judah
Seed of Abraham
The holy One
God's only Son
You are
You are
Jesus You are Him

Sometimes, I think that our world would like to hide the true meaning of this blessed holy day - to somehow remove Jesus from Christmas and redirect the focus toward a non-religious, all-inclusive, non-offensive, event. But in these troubled times, now more than ever, people need to know the truth of Christmas and the reason for the celebration.

Who but God
Would have chosen Bethlehem
To send His Son
And unveil a wondrous plan?
The hope of every human heart
In a manger lay
To know this Child
And understand the reason why He came
Reveals to us the meaning of this day

Christmas is Jesus
Jesus, born this day
Christmas, is Jesus
Jesus, born to save

God so loved each one of us
He gave the greatest gift
And all we need is wrapped in Christ
We must not forget

tidal wave

I find the news very depressing. Am kinda affected by it. Each time I watch the news on tv or read it in the papers, I have to hold back tears. And the numbers keep rising... Sigh....I've decided not to turn on that idiot box or turn to any of those Star pages.

Am glad though, that none of my students from SMK Balik Pulau perished. But there was a Form 5 class which was having a class party & some of them are injured, though I do not know how serious their injuries are. I have a student who's home is very near the coast & I hope he is ok. Also, many of their fathers are fishermen. I have no idea if they're alright.

Have a friend who is doing his medical elective in India. He was done with it last week & was gonna travel around India. I hope he is OK. I have no way of contacting him.

Depressing....

Of course, there are other things too that are contributing to this feeling. Roman 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice; MOURN WITH THOSE WHO MOURN".

Hope? Yeah. We, Christians have it..... but I do get depressed too because of things that happen around....

website for article

Use of Animation in Teaching Cell Biology
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=520841

another one of those

CONCERNING ME!!

psychotic moment

Yes....it's yet again another psychotic moment. Am at PGT class again. Ahhh....free internet access....how nice.... Hmmm...what should I write? I'm really sleepy I could fall asleep standing. Tonight's gonna be psychotic. I hope the surprise works. Almost didn't work cos I sent an sms to Yu Pei (supposed to be for Daniel) asking where to get balloons & a kite. Thank God she was at home & I managed to delete it before she read it. Whew!

the name

So, how did the name "proppers" come about? Combined Christmas Celebration is happening this Sunday, and I'm in charge of props - props director, kononnya. =) So, anyway, I have this group of people to help me. A group of jokers. A group of teachers + Peck Kuan & Rose. Gosh, at the rehearsal, we were laughing at everyone & everything & making so much jokes to keep ourselves entertained & to de-stress. It was during this time that someone coined the word "proppers". "We live in darkness, we are the proppers". We even have a theme song "We are the proppers, we carry props" - sung to the tune of "We are the reason".

2 days ago, Teorene & I were in Soo & Li Lin's room & we were so bored, we wrote each other emails. Read below:

I wrote:
Oiya......miss propper!!!!! Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper,Propper,Propper ,Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper,Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper, Propper.............. yay!!!!!

She wrote:
anne leong, u are the most properest proper of all the propers in the proper world....
"we live in darkness, we are the propers!"

and:
hey anne, the property of the propers properly belong to you..... so u are the properest proper in the prosporous proper world.... haha
right now u are acting like a mad conductor cos u so excited about the song playin.... worthy is the lamb!
MAD GAL!

bandage

I just had the best time of laughing in many months. Yu Pei & I were laughing till our eyes were wet with tears. You see, we went out for supper last night & she slammed the car door on her 3rd finger, suffered excruciating pain, then had a bandage done at the Hospital Pulau Pinang. Kesian... But today was different. She was doing all kinds of poses for the camera. We were trying to capture a sad, pathetic & painful looking Yu Pei. She tried hard. We got 2 pictures which looked like she was in a state of depression. Ok nevermind. Try again. This time looking funny. We got 2 again (after deleting a few of Xian Ling's photos to make space in the memory card). They were hilarious! Wish I could post them here. But she'll kill me. =)

killing time

Am in this PGT 436E class & waiting for lecturer to finish talking about webquests & blah. Had some time to kill. So, I've created myself a blog. Yay!!