RE to prev post: An hour to LIVE an hour to LoVe

This is the book that I came across as mentioned in my previous post ( Do read the prev post!! ). For those who are interested! (=

The Title is " an HOUR to LIVE an HOUR to LOVE " by Richard Carlson.



Haha this is truly a thought provoking title.. even though the book is very thin. I think its worth reading it. As most of us would think death is something far from us. So far but yet so ever near, simply because we might be taking our tommorrow(s) or granted.
I have began to think and re-access my LAST HOUR.
For christians, I'm sure you are familiar with Jesus Last Supper with his disciples. I'm sure most of you know just what He did or said during one of the last few hours of his life ( let's recap! ):
- Jesus washed his disciples' feet: "If I then, the Lord and the Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet." John 13:14
Explanation to the verse: by which he does not mean barely, that they should perform this single action; but as this was an instance of humility and condescension, and doing a good office to strangers and travellers, and was afterwards an expression of love to the saints, see 1Ti_5:10, so he would teach them hereby, to behave in a spirit of humility and condescension to one another, to do every kind and good office, and by love to serve one another in all things.
- Jesus also said his last commandment to his disciples: " A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:34-35
Explanation to the verse: as Christ has loved his people freely, notwithstanding all their unworthiness and ungratefulness, so should they love one another, though there may be many things in them observable, which are disagreeable; as Christ loves all his children without any distinction, so should they love one another, whether poor or rich, weaker or stronger, lesser or greater believers; and as Christ loves them not in word only, but in deed and in truth, so should they love one another with a pure heart fervently, and by love serve one another.

If YOU have only an hour left.....

EXAMINATION Timeline 07-08 Semester 1

Exams.... are finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!! But.. I'm not pleased with myself.. I have been too lazy and not taking academics seriously enough.. until.. its too late. Well, guess I'm resigned to poor grades for this 1st Semester in NTU. I feel guilty that I have not been a good testimony for God and to people around me. But.. every failure is a new beginning to do better! I now make a commitment to God to treat academics seriously again (* i promise*) :

1) Commit myself responsibly: NO more skipping lessons and not doing homework.
2) Finish homework before I go home.
3) Do revision and chapter summary consistently for each topic.
*if i can complete these 3 factor which seems easy yet not so easy i shld be fine after today*

Ha anw! I'm nt about to bore you guys with rantings.. hoho. XDD

Went on a mini- 伤心旅行 just now and came across an interesting book about a man who died suddenly leaving his wife in shock. In one of his love letters to his wife in their 25 years wrote, or at least tried to answer the question:

" If I had only ONE hour to live, Who would I call & what will I say to Him/ Her."

His wife obviously could not believe her loss of her husband so sudden BUT she found console in this letter that answered the question above.

This is reallie what I want to talk about for the day: cherishing what we have and not taking things for granted.

With all the huff & puff of such a busy life, we tend to lose the focus of our lives. We get so caught up in our routines: rushing to school/work, slogging lives out for results/money, fighting hard just to gain people's attention ( fame ), .... On and on... so & so

NOW if YOU are the one. I tell you now that you only have an hour to live. Will you still go spend that hour rushing [to school/work, slogging lives out for results/money, fighting hard just to gain people's attention ( fame ), .... On and on... so & so] or would you reallie take a step back and see WHO matters most in your life right now?

Would you call your university prof inquiring about studies? Does tt matter when you are gone in like... an hour!!?? Or call your boss? maybe you like to apply that day off for something more important than making $$. How much can you earn in your LAST hour?

Would you go around giving away all your money to poor people and do good deeds that you have never done before?

Would you call your best friends? Telling them how much they meant to you each time you were down, they shared the pain with you, and in times of joy laughed together?

Would you call your parents? They love you.. and would be devastated to know you will be gone.. in erhem.. an hour.

Would you call your girlfriend/boyfriend? Tell him/her how much you love and cherish each moments of life spent together? How sad will it be to part unwillingly?

Would you call someone who has offended you and tell them that you forgive them? If not you won't have the chance to do it anymore?

You see, we can now REALLY tell what's most important if we have given a serious thought about what to do... But if you have only ONE hour to live.. Its probably not a good idea to start thinking only when you have that hour left.

If you have something called "today". Would you spend a little time, thinking about who loves you, and who you Love?

Your parents do. Your friends treasure you. Your sweetheart holds you dear. And there is a God out there. If you believe, He loves you & me just as well. (:

are we pointing fingers at others?

Today had a fun lecture .. It showed us the common drugs in abuse in Singapore now.

Ever wondered why people abuse drugs..
- its expensive!
- people knows it destroys health!
- its illegal!! can land u in deep trouble with Singapore laws..

Look!!! Here are some of the synthetic (man-made) drugs. comes in wierd shapes n logos..

ah haha.. u won't find any of these food in the above picture.. it contains poppy seeds!! the stuff from Poppy flower they make opium from. contains morphine. So, beware next time u eat anything overseas or try bringing it back..

Anyway, I felt that people turn to drugs for following:
1) it helps "numb them from their troubles" ( but forget tt the troubles come back l8r)
2) they are already addicted to it, ( the drugs have replaced the body's own production of natural stimulants)
3) people in singapore don't give them a SECOND CHANCE.

SECOND CHANCE... I think our society is very intolerant against all these errors people make.
Be it drug abuse, HIV patients, jailed before people. Talk about all the "yellow ribbon project".. ask how many people out there who are willing to hire an ex-convict? Luckily todae we have opened up a bit. But to reach out to all these people, we have to deal with the social stigma associated with these people.
Which reminds me of a case in the bible where Jesus met a woman who committed adultery:
"1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,4they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5"Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" 6They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court." John 8:1-9 (NASB)
The key point is everyone of us has sinned by God's standards. We may not break physical laws like drug abuse, commit a crime. But certainly everyone of us has GREED, LUSTS, DISHONESTY, HATING SOMEONE ( if you have not, I praise God. you are perfect ).
In the verse above, a woman was caught for adultery. And at that time, it was a henious crime punishable by stoning ( kill the woman by throwing stone at her ).
BUT Jesus said:" He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
And what happened? Not a single one of the crowd stayed to do so. (because they knew deep down they haved sinned before and notice the older people started to leave 1st).
So, before we point an accusing finger next time at some one else, I beseech each and every one of us to examine ourselves and think. Who has not made mistakes before? Who are we to judge others?
Life is frail.. and not in our hands.

Life is frail.. and not in our hands.

Hmm.. this might be the 1st & last post of the month of November.. I'll be away on a exam retreat (exams are 13th - 27th Nov).

Attended Chuan Yu his Grandma's wake todae. Suddenly being reminded of my Own grandma who is currently bed-ridden in Malaysia.. I hope to be able to visit her this December. Because she is now 82, and a recent fall has caused her health to take a plunge. If I do not go back this year, I might not have the chance to do so again. pls pray for her thanks! =)

Man is one of the few beings to consiously know that we are all going to die someday. Even though we know that, we actually know very little of what it is like after we die. And, life is so frail that even though we know so much about medicine and technology to this date, we cannot escape death. We don't even have control of when we arrive in this world & when we die.

And we can "OWN" alot ( but do we own them? ). Have lots of money, drive a BIG car, live luxuriously, have a happy contented family. BUT we can take NONE of these with us when we die. So, what is the real purpose of life? Have you ever in your years wondered about it? YOUR LIFE IS JUST A SMALL DOT ON ALONG A LONG LINE. It may be 50? 60? 70? 80 years? No one knows. Our existence marks that few decades in creation's long years.

I sincerely feel the lost of a loved one tend to remind us of God's promise to us that whoever believes in Him shall be saved & be with Him in heaven. If given a choice to choose, I'm 100% sure no one will choose to go to hell knowingly. But if they have not heard the gospel and have a chance to choose, how can they know of God's promise? I hope as christians we can make use of what we call TODAY (yes that's today because how sure are you that you are not taking tomorrow for granted? ) to spread God's love:

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

This is a verse I think most christians know. But are we living our faith out by showing God's love to our neighbours?

One of the parting words Jesus said to his disciples was:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13: 34-35.

We can say alot to our non-believer friends to try to convince them but what else is better than using your own life with other fellow christians as a life testimony of God's LOVE?