Thursday, June 29, 2006

one more step...

oh man... seriously got to press down the excitedness and remind myself that it is not yet over. shucks! i'm not that strong mentally though it is building up. must try to be like Dr. Xavier.

the second paper went well. haha... told you bruce that the question may come out. i wanted to finish the paper in 1 hour for the fun of it. then no lah... took more time for all the questions. it was do-able. though some multiple choice questions, i did not know but just did the long way around to cut out some answers and increase the chances to 50/50. dream a little here and there...

just one more paper tomorrow... wah... similar feeling to when there was easter camp. just had to cut down all emotions to focus. and besides, it is one day. just ONE more. let the perseverance process mature...

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Butter?

well, while studying, a friend came to the house.
the president of the OSA, had been studying hard and was quite stressed and was going to go out with my housemate.
upon leaving, he called me 'Butter'. why?

A - Arthur
B - Butter (me)
C - Carter
D - Darker (Danny)

so, he is clearly stressed.
one point to him, by the way. that was funny.

note: don't call me butter.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Chap 3

Untutored courage is useless
in the face of educated bullets.

- George S.Patton Jr. -

that kind of struck me. i believe many of us are courageous. but it is untutored courage. and in the end, it does more harm to us than the fighting. imagine us fighting something getting blows from the enemy and at the same time, our own sword is hitting our hands and wounding ourselves. its kind of a big disadvantaged.

the book, 'Finishing Strong' by Steve Farrar, mentions that there's no reason in the world that any of use shouldn't finish strong. i was like, huh? really?

in Scripture,
'His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world cause by evil desires.'
2 Peter 1:3-4

we've been given everything we need for life and godliness. so, why is it that so many guys who've been given everything still don't finish strong?

it's because they choose to step out from under the Lord's protection and power.
ponder upon it.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Chap 2

Beware of no man more than yourself;
we carry our worst enemies within us.

-Charles Haddon Spurgeon-

this saying was in chapter 2 of Finishing Strong by Steve Farrar. and i read this sometime ago.

it talked about men in the Bible who (in 4 categories) were cut off early, finished poor, finished so-so and finished strong.

it talked about 3 ambushes:-
- ambush of another woman
- ambush of money
- ambush of a neglected family

for all Christian men are not safe from any of them.

i took a look at it and thought, that's kind of not relevant to me at the moment. but another reading elsewhere talked about planting seeds. we always hear of good seeds being planted and the joy of reaping the harvests.
so exists also, the bad seeds, that will cause destruction as it ripens. it is something we don't want to reap, but we cannot stop it ripening within us.
given the necessary circumstances, you're finished. the full juice of the fruit will capture you.

that's where i thought again. okayyy... i'm still a student. its not that difficult, for now. but in the future working world, i'll face it.
and how am i to prepare after learning this? well, i can prepare myself by being careful and taking FULL notice of every seed that i plant, knowingly and unknowingly.

one example mentioned was when a Christian leader or a pastor falls into sexual temptation. who would expect that such a person would fall and so sudden?
they didnt fall into it, because of a one shot thing where it comes big and full blown in the face. surely they'd say no.

but satan knows and he plants seeds. the defenses are broken down day by day (he has our lifetime on earth), bit by bit. and when it ripens, there's the fall. the defenses are too small and weak to take the full blown force.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

victorious... for the first lap...

How Great is our God!

the portfolio theory management paper was do-able. i would be confident that a pass is definite. how high the mark would be, is another thing. i know i'll graduate now.

2 more papers left. at the moment making sure that i do not slack off or be overconfident. i'll aim for the highest possible for these 2 papers.

i feel that i haven't been growing much in terms of some areas that i'd want. but then, i think in this period it is most likely a time of trial and perseverance. i know its not the end yet (till 5pm on the 30th of June) but i kind of got a taste of what it is to have perseverance finish its work. in this case, its work of moulding me in this stage of life. of course its not the tops, but more of for me to think back on what has happened and to see change and difference - being more Christ-like.

James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

what's God's plans for me? i don't know. but let that question be pondered upon after my exams.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

exams...

well.... my portfolio project has been crazy... seriously crazy...
how crazy? i only spend 8 hours a day at home.
i sneak in a bit of time to type.

portfolio theory management... sigh... this subject is seriously testing and difficult.

pray for this subject on the 17th of June. two other papers are on the 29th and 30th. the portfolio paper tests us on our application. so its not a 'there are 5 apples and we take 1 away. how many are left' but more of a 'the farmer sells apples and has 5 acres of apples. how much profit would he be able to make in circumstances A or circumstances B? which is better and why?'

so we got to decipher what are in the circumstances and use the correct method to count the numbers and analyze and justify the numbers.

on another note, it is the last hurdle. this block of time is going to be one of the tests of myself. i pray... i pray and hope. the blog will be left alone.
i won't deny it. its going to be lots of determination required on my side, not to give up, not to burn out, not to waste time. in these times, it tests your faith as well. pray for me...

take care everyone...