'Today I Will Make a Difference
by Max Lucado
Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark.
Today I will make a difference. I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving.
Today I will make a difference.I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It's OK to stumble… I will get up. It's OK to fail… I will rise again.
Today I will make a difference.I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. A man can own the world but be poor for the lack of love. A man can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Five undiluted minutes with my mate, children, and friends.
Today I will make a difference.
From Shaped by GodCopyright (Tyndale House, 2002)
Max Lucado
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Luke 16 : 9-12
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
---
Our treasure here on Earth is nothing compared to the treasure God has reserved for us in heaven.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
---
Our treasure here on Earth is nothing compared to the treasure God has reserved for us in heaven.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Barbaric, WE ARE!
Who, amongst us dared call ourselves a "CIVILIZED" nation? What achievement in life have you got, when you built ONE-OF-THE tallest building in the world, got modernized, got rich... but LOST your soul? Lost the basic essentials that made up the living being: LOVE.
Love for those who live under our rule/reign, who can't even speak for themselves? Dogs are well known "overseas" as man's best friend. And it clearly does not apply to our authorities. Who in their right mind will "get rid of" their best friend?
Stray dogs. Was it their fault to be borned? Is being alive a SIN in itself, which deserves the death penalty? Instead of focusing our blame at these poor creatures, it is time we open our eyes and look for the root of this "stray-dog" phenomenon. You don't eradicate grass/weeds by chopping off the leaves/brances, YOU LOOK FOR THE ROOTS.
What else can we do besides chasing, catching and shooting stray dogs, which at the same time also terrifies the public and haunts the children?
Education is where it all begins. Start educating the public to neuter/sterilize their pets. Start educating them to avoid their pets free-roaming and thus stop giving birth to innocent stray puppies n dogs! Start educating the public to STOP BUYING or adopting pets and later on abandoning them in the market/food stalls/etc. Is the authorities lending a hand to the NGOs (SPCA, Klinik Kembiri) in this? They ought to be.
Putting healthy dogs to sleep via "humane" euthanasia isn't good. It's fundamentally cruel. SHOOTING stray dogs in the public simply is outrageous, disgusting, sickening and horrid. Uncivilized.
And who said Taiping is a peaceful town? With people holding rifles aiming at innocent fleeing dogs? Ended up at shooting an old "civilian"?
It is time we start pondering on ourselves: Do we really know what is love? What is sympathy? What is caring? How do we express it? Are we doing it the right way?
---
With reference to The Star online, 16/1/08: Contractor shot in attempt to get strays by RASLAN BAHAROM. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/1/16/nation/20080116161906&sec=nation
TAIPING: An attempt by the Taiping Municipal Council to get rid of stray dogs went awry when a passing motorcyclist was shot in the leg Wednesday. ...
... "Shortly before that, I saw a dog running in front of my motorcycle. Then I felt a sharp pain and realised that I had been shot," said the father of two when interviewed at Taiping Hospital on Wednesday.
Wan said he stopped and showed his bleeding right leg to the shooters who were nearby...
.... Council secretary Shahrom Datuk Abd Malek said since the stray dog unit was formed 15 years ago, this was the first time a mishap had occurred.... .....two shooters using Ruger .22 rifles, were involved in the operation....
Love for those who live under our rule/reign, who can't even speak for themselves? Dogs are well known "overseas" as man's best friend. And it clearly does not apply to our authorities. Who in their right mind will "get rid of" their best friend?
Stray dogs. Was it their fault to be borned? Is being alive a SIN in itself, which deserves the death penalty? Instead of focusing our blame at these poor creatures, it is time we open our eyes and look for the root of this "stray-dog" phenomenon. You don't eradicate grass/weeds by chopping off the leaves/brances, YOU LOOK FOR THE ROOTS.
What else can we do besides chasing, catching and shooting stray dogs, which at the same time also terrifies the public and haunts the children?
Education is where it all begins. Start educating the public to neuter/sterilize their pets. Start educating them to avoid their pets free-roaming and thus stop giving birth to innocent stray puppies n dogs! Start educating the public to STOP BUYING or adopting pets and later on abandoning them in the market/food stalls/etc. Is the authorities lending a hand to the NGOs (SPCA, Klinik Kembiri) in this? They ought to be.
Putting healthy dogs to sleep via "humane" euthanasia isn't good. It's fundamentally cruel. SHOOTING stray dogs in the public simply is outrageous, disgusting, sickening and horrid. Uncivilized.
And who said Taiping is a peaceful town? With people holding rifles aiming at innocent fleeing dogs? Ended up at shooting an old "civilian"?
It is time we start pondering on ourselves: Do we really know what is love? What is sympathy? What is caring? How do we express it? Are we doing it the right way?
---
With reference to The Star online, 16/1/08: Contractor shot in attempt to get strays by RASLAN BAHAROM. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/1/16/nation/20080116161906&sec=nation
TAIPING: An attempt by the Taiping Municipal Council to get rid of stray dogs went awry when a passing motorcyclist was shot in the leg Wednesday. ...
... "Shortly before that, I saw a dog running in front of my motorcycle. Then I felt a sharp pain and realised that I had been shot," said the father of two when interviewed at Taiping Hospital on Wednesday.
Wan said he stopped and showed his bleeding right leg to the shooters who were nearby...
.... Council secretary Shahrom Datuk Abd Malek said since the stray dog unit was formed 15 years ago, this was the first time a mishap had occurred.... .....two shooters using Ruger .22 rifles, were involved in the operation....
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
AsiaOneNews: M'sian state sued for demolishing church
M'sian state sued for demolishing church: church leader Country's only Muslim-ruled state tore it down because it was built without permission. -AFP -->
Mon, Jan 14, 2008AFP
KUALA LUMPUR - A GROUP of indigenous Malaysians has launched a suit against the country's only Muslim-ruled state for allegedly tearing down a church built on their property, a church leader said on Monday.
The church in northeast Kelantan was demolished by district officers in June last year, shortly after construction of the wood and brick building was completed.
Moses Soo, who was to have been the church pastor, said the case will be heard on Tuesday in the high court of state capital Kota Bahru.
'We are suing the state government and the Gua Musang municipality for tearing down the church. They have no right to tear down the church on orang asli land,' Soo told AFP.
The land belongs to the orang asli - original inhabitants of Malaysia - under traditional title, he added.
'The village headman sacrificed his orchard for the church,' Soo said, adding that they are seeking compensation from the state government to rebuild.
The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia has said it was told the church was torn down because it was built without permission.
Kelantan is ruled by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), the country's main Islamic opposition party.
Malaysian commentators have sounded alarm over the growing 'Islamisation' of the country and the increasing polarisation of the three main ethnic communities, who mix much less than in the past.
Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia - dominated by Muslim Malays living alongside minority ethnic Chinese and Indian communities - which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.
Recently there have been controversies over the banning of construction of a proposed Taoist statue on Borneo island and the destruction of Hindu temples by local authorities.
The orang asli make up less than one percent of the nation's population and are disadvantaged in terms of income, health, education and living standards. -- AFP
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20080114-44969.html
Mon, Jan 14, 2008AFP
KUALA LUMPUR - A GROUP of indigenous Malaysians has launched a suit against the country's only Muslim-ruled state for allegedly tearing down a church built on their property, a church leader said on Monday.
The church in northeast Kelantan was demolished by district officers in June last year, shortly after construction of the wood and brick building was completed.
Moses Soo, who was to have been the church pastor, said the case will be heard on Tuesday in the high court of state capital Kota Bahru.
'We are suing the state government and the Gua Musang municipality for tearing down the church. They have no right to tear down the church on orang asli land,' Soo told AFP.
The land belongs to the orang asli - original inhabitants of Malaysia - under traditional title, he added.
'The village headman sacrificed his orchard for the church,' Soo said, adding that they are seeking compensation from the state government to rebuild.
The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia has said it was told the church was torn down because it was built without permission.
Kelantan is ruled by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), the country's main Islamic opposition party.
Malaysian commentators have sounded alarm over the growing 'Islamisation' of the country and the increasing polarisation of the three main ethnic communities, who mix much less than in the past.
Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia - dominated by Muslim Malays living alongside minority ethnic Chinese and Indian communities - which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.
Recently there have been controversies over the banning of construction of a proposed Taoist statue on Borneo island and the destruction of Hindu temples by local authorities.
The orang asli make up less than one percent of the nation's population and are disadvantaged in terms of income, health, education and living standards. -- AFP
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20080114-44969.html
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Flee or Flea?
JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story.
His dad read: "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt."
Concerned, James asked: "What happened to the flea?"
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
sand-art - love 2008
Aawwww... i just luv this... how beautiful.. esp the final touch... n the saxophone.. ;') they're just so graceful.. both the fingers n music... aawww.... :')
so did you keep repeating the video again n again, like i did? :)
Sunday, January 06, 2008
being "RATIONAL"
Tis morning i went to church, and we had a special missionary pastor as our speaker "Pr. Thamwan." (i duno how to spell his name correctly, but i remember his website says, www.thamwan.org")
He talked about how he came to know about Jesus. Like me, he used to be a Buddhist. So one day, someone walked to him and told him, "You have only one life. No reincarnation. If you believe in Jesus you'll go to heaven, if you don't believe in Jesus, you'll go to hell when you die." The church broke into laughter. (I couldn't believe anyone in my lifetime would dare say this to me. :)
(ps. believing in Jesus does not merely mean, "yah, i know he was once alive." It means believing wat the bible says: he is God the Son, and receiving Him as Lord & Saviour of your life.)
However, instead of scolding tat person, he thought for a while.
Buddhism believes in karma: if you behave good this life, you'll be a better person ie. prince, in your next life. If you're a bad guy this life, you may end up being a rat in your next life. So he began to rationalize a little.
"Say I believed Jesus this life, and when I die, I realize that what Buddhism claimed was true. I will still have one more life to live, in fact i'll be a better person anyhow. But if I do not believe in Jesus, and when I die, I found that what He claimed was indeed true, I'll go to hell! And there's no second chance!"
So being a mathematical n rational person, he received Jesus out of fear. But God was good. From tat moment on, God started perfoming miracles and answering prayers in his life. And then he truly began to believe by faith.
I smiled. God indeed has His ways to convict people.
I used to be a very stubborn person, deaf to all claims about Jesus. But God found His way to me anyhow, and turned me around. Many of my frens, n siblings couldn't believe tat I would end up believing in Jesus (I was HARD-NECKED n rebellious u see..). I can't explain.
It's a long, never-ending story.. of God's grace in my life. ;)
He talked about how he came to know about Jesus. Like me, he used to be a Buddhist. So one day, someone walked to him and told him, "You have only one life. No reincarnation. If you believe in Jesus you'll go to heaven, if you don't believe in Jesus, you'll go to hell when you die." The church broke into laughter. (I couldn't believe anyone in my lifetime would dare say this to me. :)
(ps. believing in Jesus does not merely mean, "yah, i know he was once alive." It means believing wat the bible says: he is God the Son, and receiving Him as Lord & Saviour of your life.)
However, instead of scolding tat person, he thought for a while.
Buddhism believes in karma: if you behave good this life, you'll be a better person ie. prince, in your next life. If you're a bad guy this life, you may end up being a rat in your next life. So he began to rationalize a little.
"Say I believed Jesus this life, and when I die, I realize that what Buddhism claimed was true. I will still have one more life to live, in fact i'll be a better person anyhow. But if I do not believe in Jesus, and when I die, I found that what He claimed was indeed true, I'll go to hell! And there's no second chance!"
So being a mathematical n rational person, he received Jesus out of fear. But God was good. From tat moment on, God started perfoming miracles and answering prayers in his life. And then he truly began to believe by faith.
I smiled. God indeed has His ways to convict people.
I used to be a very stubborn person, deaf to all claims about Jesus. But God found His way to me anyhow, and turned me around. Many of my frens, n siblings couldn't believe tat I would end up believing in Jesus (I was HARD-NECKED n rebellious u see..). I can't explain.
It's a long, never-ending story.. of God's grace in my life. ;)
Friday, January 04, 2008
This New Year - I'll S-M-I-L-E! ;D
- Smile at a stranger
- Listen to someone's heart
- Hug a loved one
- Tell someone you're thinking of him or her
- Drop a coin where a child can find it
- Bless someone less fortunate
- Learn something new then teach it to someone else
- Look a child in the eye and tell him or her how great he or she is
- Don't hold a grudge
- Repent and forgive yourself
- Don't be afraid to say, "I'm sorry."
- Look beyond the face of a person into his or her heart
- Make a promise and keep it
- Call someone for no other reason than to say "hello."
- Show kindness to an animal
- Stand up for what you believe in
- Smell the rain, feel the breeze, listen to the wind
- Use all your senses to their fullest
- Talk and sing to Jesus every day
- Feel God's presence moment by moment
- Live your life to the fullest
- Cherish all your todays
- Listen to someone's heart
- Hug a loved one
- Tell someone you're thinking of him or her
- Drop a coin where a child can find it
- Bless someone less fortunate
- Learn something new then teach it to someone else
- Look a child in the eye and tell him or her how great he or she is
- Don't hold a grudge
- Repent and forgive yourself
- Don't be afraid to say, "I'm sorry."
- Look beyond the face of a person into his or her heart
- Make a promise and keep it
- Call someone for no other reason than to say "hello."
- Show kindness to an animal
- Stand up for what you believe in
- Smell the rain, feel the breeze, listen to the wind
- Use all your senses to their fullest
- Talk and sing to Jesus every day
- Feel God's presence moment by moment
- Live your life to the fullest
- Cherish all your todays
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Amazing Grace
Recently i watched a dvd (tx to unc rowlance!), title: Amazing Grace. It's a very nice one, i dono how to describe. But in short, it's about a man's strive to change the world to a better one, William Wilberforce, in the 1800's.
This movie showed how he and his friends struggled to end the slave-trade in Great Britain, against all odd, as Great Britain's plantation and other industries were backed by slaves working there. In short, to end slave-trade is almost equivalent to destroying his own nation's rice bowl (chinese proverb :p).
They struggled hard... and the story was touching, not to the extent of me crying, but I would rewind the movie and rewatch through out again and again. I just luv it. ;) Thank God i was watching it alone.
William and his friends succeeded in the end, after 15 years of struggle. Isn't that long?
*hats off to them. =) *smiles*
This movie showed how he and his friends struggled to end the slave-trade in Great Britain, against all odd, as Great Britain's plantation and other industries were backed by slaves working there. In short, to end slave-trade is almost equivalent to destroying his own nation's rice bowl (chinese proverb :p).
They struggled hard... and the story was touching, not to the extent of me crying, but I would rewind the movie and rewatch through out again and again. I just luv it. ;) Thank God i was watching it alone.
William and his friends succeeded in the end, after 15 years of struggle. Isn't that long?
*hats off to them. =) *smiles*
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