Abundance of Favor

I'm Teik Min, I'm from Penang and I'm 20 this year and I would like to share a great story about the abundance of favor from God. It was the night of May 30th, the night before the 1st day of Re:Union 2012. 

There I was, sitting in front of my computer checking out Re:Union's 2012 Facebook page. Moments later, one of my friend posted that he was going for Re:Union 2012 and it was then when I decided that he could be my way to Re:Union 2012. Transport, accommodation and so on. So I called him up and told him that I wanted to go for Re:Union 2012. He told me that registration was closed and I had to try to get my registration confirmed by Acts Church on that very night.

 So out of desperation, I called up Acts Church office and was greeted by a lady named Sarah. So I laid down my scenario for her and she asked me to send my details to her through e-mail and she will get back to me as soon as possible. Soon, I was waiting anxiously. Pack or don't pack?

 An hour after I made my call, Sarah called my cell.She told me that registration was already closed but since I showed such enthusiasm to go for Re:Union 2012, the organizing team had made an exception and registered me. Amazing. I started packing and got ready for my journey to KL. Isn't God amazing? At the very last minute, He provided as He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. Other than that, my whole journey from Penang to KL and back was free. My friend fetched me there. My accommodation in KL was free as well. I stayed in one of my friend's house. Even my registration fees which was doubled from RM 50 to RM 100 for the late registration was paid by my sister.

 I only have to fork out my own money for my food and beverages. God is great. I believe this can be seen a shower of favor from God upon me. Things just fall in one by one perfectly and I got to experience God in such a different way during Re:Union 2012. I truly thank God for this amazing experience. God is great. He is our Jehovah Jireh. He is our provider.

The Dream: Chapter 1

 He was running and running but he had no idea what he was running from. He just knows that he is being pursued by something or someone and if he stops running, his life might be at stake.  Thump thump thump. James knew that whoever or whatever that was pursuing him was getting closer and he might be dead at any moment. Smack. James knocked into a tree. His head starts to turn. He is getting dizzy. In his mind, “If I don’t start running now, I’ll be dead. I’m sure of it”. With all of his willpower, he begins to run with a dizzy head. Every now and then James would turn his head behind to see whether that thing is catching up to him. Everything is a blur to him. He is getting double images. Branches smacking him in the face as he keeps on running.  THUMP THUMP THUMP. It is getting louder, which means whatever that is pursuing James is catching up to him. One glance back by James and out of a sudden, swoosh. A gigantic hand lands on his face and James went down immediately and landed on his back.

Whatever that had hit him wasn’t human at all. James don’t even know what his eyes are telling him. He is looking a mutated creature that looks like a combination of both an ape and a tiger. “What the hell is this thing?” thought James. It had intense eyes that was staring at James like it wanted his soul. Black and orange stripes all over its body, hands and legs. It was standing on its feet. At least 8 feet tall and currently standing over James. It was now, at this very moment, he knew that it was over. That this was it. It was the end. His life was going to end. Memories flashed by. His beautiful wife, his two kids, Michael and Stacy, both just in their teens, seventeen and fifteen of age. They were going to lose their beloved father. Lisa was going to lose her husband. He imagined all of them and in his mind“I love all of you”. The creature jumped at James, it was going to crush him. There was loud thunderous stomp! It felt like an earthquake.

“It is over? Where am I? Am I dead?” James asked himself. He feels a great sense of pain. He slowly opens his eyes. He realizes that he is on the floor. He looked around, he sees a bed together with some other furniture all around the room. He is in his room. Sound of a door opening. ”Honey, what are you doing on the floor?”. James glances back. It’s his wife, Lisa. She is still as beautiful as the first day he met her. Long shining black hair, the most beautiful brown eyes that he had ever seen, a heavenly smile. She is the most beautiful woman that he ever knew. An Aphrodite of his own. “I have no idea. Am I dead?”. “Yeah. You will be, if you don’t get up off your lazy ass and help me with breakfast. I still need to bring the kids to school ya know?". Lisa leaves the room and heads down the stairs. “I could do with some help!” shouts Lisa. James is still shocked. Did he just had a wild dream? But it seemed so real. It was like he was living the dream. He thought that he was going to die. James shrugs it off.  “Okay hon, I’ll be right down.”

He goes to the bathroom to wash his face. “It was just a dream James. It’s not real. You just had a bad night. That’s all.” James told himself. He turned the water tap and is greeted by the sound of running water. He washes his face thoroughly. He cleaned his spectacles. As he took off his shirt, he sees scratches. Minor wounds near his abdomen and all over his chest. He recalled that he never had all of this wounds. “The dream!” James thought. “I was punched in the face as well. Why isn’t my face affected by that punch? I’m sure that a punch that powerful can even knock a tank of its wheels but my face is perfectly fine.”. James is now confused. Is it real? Is it a dream? Why only certain parts of his body was affected? Is he going crazy? “What is all of this? What does this mean?” James questions. “I better get down, this is insane.” James wears a new shirt. He goes out from his bedroom and as he begins to close the door, he took a glance back at his room, suddenly there's a man appeared out of nowhere. Perfectly suited. Staring at James and gave him the most wicked smile he had ever seen. James blinked. He was gone. The mystery man disappeared. James fainted.

God's grace can be seen

Yes, it can be seen. Why do I say that? Cause I witnessed it myself. It was during the last day of my trials exam. I was taking my Pengajian Perniagaan (Business Studies) Paper 2. I answered all that I knew then I eventually fell asleep because I didn't sleep for the whole night before the paper just to study and memorize for the exam. So yeah, I was kinda tired. Soon after, I woke up. there was kinda like around 1 more hour to go. So I tried to answer as many questions as I can. But yet, I couldn't muster out the answers.

The bell rang, it was then Mr. Syamsul's period. He is my PP teacher. He came in then he started to look on the question paper. And during the exam period, yes, it wasn't over, during that time, he started to give hints on how to answer the questions. He told the whole class things like "Do you still remember? We did this before. It's suppose to be like this and like that." The more he talked about it, the more I could remember how to answer the question. I ended up answering 2 more questions which were worth like 18 marks. Which is a lot.

Well, I was very happy in the end. Probably because of Mr. Syamsul's hints. After a few days, as I was just randomly walking around. It kinda struck me. In my mind, a thought just came out like saying, "It must have been God's grace." I started thinking about it, and I was convinced that it was definitely God's grace. Knowing Mr. Syamsul for almost more than a year now, he simply do not come into class during exam periods and start giving hints. But this time, he did.

During the time when I was out of ideas & out of answers, Mr. Syamsul came and started to give hints. Definitely, God's grace. Well, it shows that if you reach out to God, He will answer you. Because He is the Almighty God and He loves all of us.

Glory to the Lord. Reach out to Him in prayers and He will answer you. Praise the Lord.

God is great! Amen?

Amen to that. Yes. It has been very very long. It has been almost a year. 8 months to be precise. That this blog wasn't updated. Well, what can I say? I was being lazy and sometimes (really!) busy. What had happened for the past 8 months was truly miraculous. I have been brought to church who is now my best friend, Benedict Weerasena. Oh, how I could ever thank him enough. Let's go back all the way back to December 2010.

December 2010, ending of my lower-6. Having my last scout camp as an exco knowingly 2 days after the camp I have a church camp to look forward to. My scout camp ended at 17th of December. A Friday. The next day was a Saturday. That very Saturday, it's a Saturday I will never ever forget. 18th of December. It started with the Saturday night service in Penang Christian Center (PCC). Pastor Kul Bal was the preacher for the night as he will be the preacher for the Fire Camp which was the youth camp I was referring to previously. It was a great night indeed. After a inspiring, fire-hot sermon from Pastor Kul Bal, it was that night, that very moment, where I received our Lord, Jesus Christ, into my life. On that night itself, I was spiritually baptized. There stood Benedict in tears. At that  time, I couldn't understand why. But now, I do, it's such a joy, such happiness to see someone to accept Jesus.

Throughout the Fire Camp, I was very inquisitive, asking myself questions on Christianity. As the camp goes on, there was serenity. It was truly an amazing experience. As life goes on, I start to realize God's work in me, and for me. I became a better person. I actually started studying. Something that I really don't do often for the past few years. God blessed me with an iPhone 4 too. Hah! That was really unexpected. It was truly a gift from God.

Of all times, I could really feel God's presence are during times when I have exams. It is truly amazing. From Form 1 until Form 5, to be honest, I really cared less about my exams. If I end up failing, I would just sweep it all under the rug. Taking things for granted really. But when it came to upper-6, (probably it's because the fear for STPM) but I really believe it's God's will. I would really pick myself up and study day after day after day. I couldn't care less if slept at 3am in the morning, I would wake up the next day, go to school, and if I'm not in class, I would be in the prefects' room studying or doing my homework or some revision. When it comes to the real exam, although I've barely read much, (but I did a little) ideas and possible answers would keep appear in my mind and I would just answer them. It was truly something to behold of. It's rare when you  don't see Teik Min sleeping during exams if you knew me for the past 5 years.

Now I'm having my trials. Oh thank God, that I'm going through it so well, so much better than how I thought I would. Yet again, God is having his way with me. I'm so blessed. This trials made me realize how much the presence of God, the presence of Jesus, had made me so different. Had so much impact on me. I am truly blessed to be a child of God.

God is great! Glory to the Lord! Amen.

A favor for an old friend. :)

I support [TCMAINE]

Good luck~! Hope that you'll get it. :)

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Manchester City vs Arsenal (Live on Astro Supersports (817), 24 October 2010, 11.00 P.M)

This weekend, the biggest match for the week in the Barclays Premier League, would be Manchester City vs Arsenal. Arsenal would be travelling to Eastlands facing an in-form Manchester City squad. The Gunners are well in-form themselves as they come into this match after winning 2-1 against Birmingham and the thrashing of Shaktar Donetsk. 

Arsenal will be going into this match without key players, Robin van Persie (Ankle Injury), Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles Injury), Manuel Almunia (Arm Injury) & Aaron Ramsey (Broken Leg). Manchester City has injury problems of their own as Yaya Toure & brother Kolo is out with knee & hamstring injury respectively. New signing Balotelli and Michael Johnson is also out with a knee injury.

This match is crucial for both teams. Arsenal need to win this as they need to catch up to the leaders on top of the table and close the gap on Chelsea which they now are drifted away by 5 points. While City have a chance to top the Premier Table for the 1st time this season provided if Chelsea loses their match against Wolves on Saturday night.

Gunners captain, Cesc Fabregas has issued a statement that he is out to gun for City as Arsenal failed all the 3 attempts of trying to beat City last season. City strikers, Carlos Tevez & Emmanuel Adebayor proves to be clinical in front of goal. Tevez has shown again and again that he can be a match winner & Adebayor will be raring to go after his hat-trick against Lech Poznan in the midweek Europa League clash. City's defense should have an eye on frenchmen Samir Nasri as he had scored 2 goals in 3 matches & he might fire Arsenal to victory.

Key Players to Watch (Arsenal): Cesc Fabregas - Fabregas is out to avenge the lost the Manchester City last season. City defense must be on their best not to let the Gunners talisman too much space as he can pull the strings for Arsenal.

Key Players to Watch (Manchester City): Carlos Tevez - City's main striker is in hot form. He proved to be a match winner over the past few weeks. With Arsenal's defense missing their key defender, Vermaelen, he will be ready to pounce on any mistakes in the back of the Gunner's defense.

Prediction: Both teams come to this match with good form. It's hard to call a win for either team. This will go down in a draw in my books. 1-1.