Poly Dins

I came back from a Poly Dins camp recently and it has been a good time of fellowship with people from the various Polys and Ites. Initially, I thought that I would be going back to Huanyan's LG but my leaders had other plans =)! And indeed, God has been faithful! My current LGL is in the same course as myself, and he resembles Jan Ong! Dejavu! Nope his name isn't Feb Ong! (Huan yan asked!)

I'm quite impressed by the sisters and brothers in Poly Dins, some of them read vivaciously! There's also an incredible number of talented individuals. I think God will further mold and shape me as I serve in this ministry.

There were a few incidents which showed me more of God's finger prints: 1) When I transferred to Poly Dins a brother who was serving as a guitarist moved on to Ns minstry and somehow, the LGL know that I play guitar. 2) Many years ago, my boss's friend was migrating to Sydney and I asked if he would like my gf Susanna to meet up with his daughter to help her integrate better. He politely refused as Sydney was quite big and they may not have an opportunity to even meet. Recently, my gf was serving in worship with this sister who became her good friend. Lo and behold, this sister was actually my boss's friend's daughter!

God is good!

Training:

As many of you may know, I am using this program call "Tactical fitness" by Scott sonnon. Essentially, it's a method to train one in 6 degrees of freedom. A human being is designed to be able to move in different angles, but we have lost that through modernization.

Regardless of sport, I think every athlete wants to be able to move. Besides Tactical Fitness, I started to implement Gymnastic Rings to my routine. I think it has made pull ups really easy!

My goals have evolved as I now know what I really want.  For any parent reading this, if you want your child to be awesome, enroll your son/daughter into Gymnastics!

Gymnast can do almost everything!

But God can do all things!

NS Ministry

Wow! It's been 2 years and 6 months  in NS Ministry. I met lots of God loving brothers in this ministry and I feel that I've grown the most in NS. I came to learn of my strength and weaknesses, and that I wasn't the only eccentric person! =)

I think the Church is a place where all sorts of people can "survive" and be accepted. The world isn't that forgiving, make a mistake or two and you will be marked and hated like Cain. I have seen a lot of characters(myself included) which would be made fun and unaccepted if they were placed in the world. Thank God for His community of Love and Grace!

I think my eccentricity offended a lot of people when I was in camp, I have compulsions which makes me different in the way I do things. But, back in the Church I am accepted and my Ministry's brothers don't feel that I'm weird. It proves one thing: They met even weirder people in JC hahahaha! Or that they themselves are humming at my frequency.

Oh yes, my latest MBTI result was an ISTP, and I am amazed by God for putting me in Engineering! In fact, ISTPs natural career path is somewhere along the lines of Engineering and Police work. I find that I can complement the brothers in various ministry events.

God is really good lah!

I feel a bit sad to leave NS ministry but life flows on, I cannot hold it back. We have to grow up and move on in the Spirit. NS helped me to know what I want to do in the future, with so much time on your hands, you can actually choose to think. SAF was generous in giving me the vocation of a Signals Logistician, through this vocation I was able to stay in air conditioned rooms and plan out things.

On a side note, my unit was in charge of half of the cookhouses in SAF and every year there will be an IRON CHEF competition. I get to eat awesome food! Food that doesn't taste like camp food in any way!
Really blessed!

Anyways, I have to decide where to move on to...........

26/2/13

Edited 1/3/13

There has been a lot of "hoo-ha" with regards to PAP's policies. Well, for me I don't  have any thing against foreigners as I haven't really been exposed to working with them academically or within the market place. The ones that I meet are from church or martial arts academies. So, I don't have negative emotions towards them. The only negative aspect which I experienced was just the massive MRT congestion. Then again, Singapore has always had this problem even before the influx, so the imperative thing is for the Government to put on their thinking caps to solve or minimize it.

Perhaps, in my latter years I will understand the competitiveness or resentment my seniors are going through, but I know that I will not be swayed for I put my trust in the LORD, I have heard many testimonies of God putting people in places where their education could never allowed. I made mistakes which caused me to be delayed by a few years, but I believe that God will use my life to tell His story. He will elevate me and let Himself be known, I told myself that I will scale the highest mountains and proclaim that Jesus is God.

Part 2:

Reading notes from my Poly and Uni friends made me humble enough to know that I need to rely on God's strength in order to move forward. I know that even if I do badly in school, as long as I put my faith and trust in God; I won't die, in fact, when God's presence and favor is with you, you will be the head and not the tail.

God questioned me about something a few weeks ago:"Elvis are you living a life as if God is a fairy tale? Or are you living a life which shows that He is Real?" And my reply would be:"give me wisdom to live, a heart which listens to Your Spirit and love to show that You are real."

I think this question made me cringe a little, I repent for the fact that sometimes I answer non-believers in a  way which may seem like a mockery. Example: They share about this guy who does a lot of rubbish and I reply by saying :"He needs Jesus!" and everyone would laugh. Of course, I'm not trying to bring God down, I meant something good but I spoke in the wrong manner.

I conclude that I really need a lot of wisdom and love as I continue my journey into life.

Father, may You bless Your servant and let Your face to shine on me! Amen!

OK, I was bored and decided to make a video on how one can use everyday objects as a weapon. I think I've said for a million times that I do Filipino Martial arts. But, so far I'm still a beginner (3-4 months) of lessons only. September 2013 will mark my 1 year in FMA. I made a mistake on my last post. KALI means Kamut Lihok which means Hand Body movement. KALI/ESCRIMA and ARNIS mean the same thing or at least to me. 

It's a very time efficient art because the mechanics is the same for knife,stick or iphone! In a tradition art like karate or wushu, the form for empty handed combat and the form for sword play are totally different. The practitioner have to "re-learn" the forms every time they switch weapons. I don't have 20 years to spare, I only have a limited time so I had to choose an art carefully.

The funny thing was that I actually prayed and asked God to lead me to the right art to engage in. God has answered me through Kali. 

I don't want to spend too much time on martial arts in case I neglect my studies and fellowship with God. Everything I do , I hope to find a balance. God has been very good to me, His lead me to many disciplines which keeps me healthy and functional.

In terms of Martial arts I choose FMA and combative applications and in terms of physical training I'm doing Kettlebells/Clubs and Tactical Fitness. My body is a temple of God forged with weapons and health hah!

In terms of Spirit, I've came to like the NKJV a lot, I understand that Hope church is primarily using NIV but it's a very personal thing. I use a  NCV(cover to cover) bible to read the whole OT and NT. For academic study I use NASB. And when I'm in the toilet I read the KJV (I left it in the toilet so I can feed and crap at the same time!). At the end of the day if I could only use a specific version, I'll use the NKJV but it's all the same lah, only stylistic differences, as in the delivery. Same chicken rice recipe but different types of chicken.....bad example.

In terms of studying; I've started to do the poly notes which my friends have given me generously. I just need to cover 4 books: Basic maths, Engineering maths 1,2 and Principles of Electrical engineering. If I do finish them, I'll be able to be on par with the 2nd year students. My game plan is pretty simple: 1) Finish the 4 books, 2) Apply for all the scholarships and see which of them accepts me. 3) Do my best in God.

In terms of relationship: I want Susanna cheng to come here and be part of the white paper proposal! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come dear, Singapore welcomes you and will give you big incentives!

12/1/13

                                  

(Note: I have a lot of grammatical or spelling mistakes, so bear with it! =) )

My Martial arts teacher's teacher just came to Singapore a week ago and I was taught how to use move using sticks and knives in ways I never thought possible. The Filipino Kali system uses a lot of Triangular movements, oh yeah, do not mistake Kali for the indian god, Kali is a Filipino term which means "to Cut". I don't worship any God except Jesus Christ. Kali was created by the Filipinos when Conquistadors invaded them, this system practices a lot of drills and movements which are imminently transferable, meaning; The moves I use in sticks are the same as the ones I use with a sword or blade, same movement patterns but refined for each tool/weapon. I feel quite fulfilled when I am able to execute the moves well as I found out that I have low "body iq"/Kinematic awareness. I cannot catch or recognize movements unless I do shit loads of it! =)

My teacher's teacher is a man call Mark Edward Stewart, his 52 but moves like a 16 year old! Fast and deadly! All the moves he showed were deadly but so attractive to me! =) Making me a full blooded combat soldier! Kali is scary because they use a lot of techniques which amputates or slashes the arteries, completely putting the threat to oblivion. I know that in Singapore, it's quite hard for me to use them as there are not many threats where I come from, I won't destroy anyone's limb in Church...duh! HAHA!

Had a fruitful discussion with Sifu Mark, I'm glad I was able to clear some thoughts he had about Christianity, though not completely but some of the questions asked. I guess God is putting me in places where I hang out a lot with people in the fitness or combat industry, and I hope that I can bless them wherever I can. Oh and Sifu said something interesting! Sifu :"Elvis, you like Martial arts and you do Engineering, why don't you do Security systems, it's a lot of money in there." A church elder also shared about that a few months ago so it's like a Dejavu. I like business, engineering and martial arts, it seems God can use whatever knowledge I have to bless me and His people, so at the end of the day; I don't know what I am going to do in the future but I know I can have a prosperous future in Jesus!

After the Martial arts sessions I had with sifu, I went to watch a movie call "Young and Dangerous Reloaded", it's a remake of the 1996 version. In the Young and Dangerous series there are many scenes where Christians were involved, apparently there's Pastor whose daughter was one of the gangsters and he condoned to it.

I do not know why but it seems to me that Christians are displayed through the Media in 2 ways:
1) Party popper or 2) Worldly. They are either the people who are old fashioned and hypocritical or they are showed to be the same as the world, claiming to be godly but doing all the wrong things.

To me, Christians are supposed to be wise like Jesus! Having God's wisdom in settling matters and yet have Godly values. But, how difficult is that without His grace? Very!

I think somehow, we have lost the idea of how a Christian show be like. The only way to get it back is to read His word. By examining the life of Jesus Christ, we can know the expectations.

I will expound on that at a later time, I am going to sleep now! =)

Regards,
Elijah Wan.

2013

In the past, when I read Ravi Zacharias' books, I just thought that he was able to write subjects in a very personal manner. But, recently I started to see how the things he wrote was accurate in real life basis. I believe that many of us heard of atrocities committed in 2012. The most recent one being the case of the Indian medical student. I see that without God, there are seriously no incentives to remain moral. One could kill, rape or steal without any conflict of conscience and one does not suffer Spiritual consequences. However, I'm not saying that Atheists are killers, rapists or thieves, I'm saying that there aren't good reasons for them not to. A lot of prominent Atheists and Evolutionists are using other types of reasoning for Morality, but I think it can't hold water without God. By stating reasons to be moral, one subliminally acknowledge a moral law giver; I know that it's wrong to beat the red light because there are traffic laws to keep things in order.

 I saw a video posted by a brother from church after the shooting in America, it's heading:"Where was God during the killing?" The host replied:"Where was God in all these? For 50 years we have systematically have God removed from the institutions...etc, we escorted Him out of our culture and was shocked when we found out how our culture became without Him."

I see the world degenerating and the importance of God. I also started to see how important our roles as His children are. Again I'm not claiming superiority, but rather I'm showing why there are adequate reasons to believe in  God. 

The progressive question to ask is:"So which God should I follow?". The wrong type of beliefs produces detrimental effects. For me, I worship and serve Jesus Christ Son of God. Father,Son and Holy Spirit 3 in 1! 

There are various religions in the world, but I find poly-syntheism to be immensely popular. These type of religion claims that they have Jesus,buddha,muhammad....etc mixed into one. 

But, Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, English Standard Version). Jesus claimed to be God and He could substantiate it, like the old saying:"Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk!"

Well, with my views with regards to morality and God strengthened in 2012 I began think of other things. I share similar humanistic views as Erasmus who was a great Bible translator, oh do note that the definition of a humanist in the past is different from modern interpretations. 

A humanist in the past was someone who believe that God has endowed gifts to each individual, who by cultivating them could also glorify God. With that, I'm constantly on the look out for what I display talent in, so that, I can develop it to the next level.

In recent years, I stop reading "self-help" books, what is there to help? What is there to build? I rather get my help from the Holy Spirit.

 I prefer books which teaches me how to think, not what to think but rather; How! I believe that elites in their field, be it sports, math, science...etc have a certain framework or way to process information. If I could replicate that, I am able to achieve succinctly similar results, though not completely but to a certain degree.

If I know how Bruce Lee trains, I know I could never be like Bruce Lee, but I SHOULD be able to replicate a neat level of skill! WADAAAA! I want WADDA Water! Oh yes, I still train in Martial arts, primarily Filipino Martial arts! Who knows? Maybe I will go to the Philippines for missions.

The thing is; I want to know what God wants me to know and what the situation demands. I know that in 3 months time I will be enrolled in an Engineering school, so, I'm meeting up with all the brothers from NS ministry to learn maths. I interviewed many of them to learn how their brain process data from the questions they see. I find it super helpful, as I "copied" them, I was able to figure out how to solve the questions! 

I don't know how well I'll do in Singapore Polytechnic, but if God allows, I want to go up on stage, to the highest place and say :"Today, I stand here because of God's Amazing Grace!"

Even if I don't do well, I know God is with me! If I do well, I know God is with me!

AMEN! 

Something to Excel in!

I couldn't really sleep last night as I was reflecting on myself. I saw that I wasted loads of time doing meaningless things; things like surfing the net for 4-5 hours a day, watching TV and Facebooking. I seem to have thrown it all away, and I think God is making me re-think about the concept of time. I'm 23 this year, and I have grown out of my teenage years, I really want to be good at something. I want to be good not because of pride or ego problems, it's just that between now and till the time I go back to Heaven I still have another 40-50 years, I don't want to live mundanely. I want to look back in retrospect and say: "Hey, praise God, I was good with this thing! I didn't waste my life away!"
 
I did an analysis, and I find that I was really good at one thing at one point of my life. I was really good with guitars! I even got a Grade 8 certification from Yamaha Music School, but I didn't know why I stopped. I guess, I was probably too bored and I wanted to do more sports. I was never good at martial arts; I guess I forced myself to engage in it, probably because I felt weak. I just couldn't find an art suitable for me, till recently, when I found out about a Filipino art call Arnis (stick fighting).
 
Personally, I think there are 2 things which a man should do regardless of what they are good at; 1) Fitness: I think a man should train up for fitness, either through the gym or through circuit training. A man has to be fit to take care of himself and the family, a weak man is incomplete. 2) Self-defence: Like I said earlier, a man must take care of his family, and also to protect them. A man who can't fight is also incomplete! I heard a Pastor say that Jesus was actually Muscular! He was a carpenter and in those days, carpenters had to manoeuvre heavy items.
 
So, Fitness and Self-defence are the two things I will do till the day I die. The thing is, I still haven’t found the thing I can achieve greatness in. I may do those two things which I think all men should do, but I may not be extremely proficient in it. I want to know what I can do well and invest my time in it. Though people may say the opposite, that find what I like then invest time in it. To me, if I can’t excel in it, why should I even put time into it?
 
I see a lot of people taking up hobbies which they will probably never be good at, if they have the time, money and interest then fair enough. I know I am going to have time and money when I have God, but I know that He has put in me a certain talent which when developed will bring me a lot of joy.
 
I started contemplating about guitars again; I passed my Ibanez Prestige worth 1.8K to Matthias. I may want to sell it to him and use the money to build a custom Stratocaster and start playing again. Oh well, I need to think more clearly with what I want as I have not much time to waste.
 
Do help me pray for wisdom to see! =)