wanted to write this down because i wanted never to forget..

i've been recently looking into the option of furthering my studies in a Ministry-related field overseas. this might come as a shock to some but this decision did not come at a spur of the moment. i've been working close to 4 years now and i must say that the notion has presented itself a couple of times but i've brushed it away. everytime that i've attempted to change a job or find something 'new' to do, i've been reminded about full time ministry, one way or another, it seems to sneak in from someone or something.

i remember vividly many instances when i've found excuses to brush off even exploring the notion of full time ministry and in these instances, God putting in His own divine way his answers to my excuses.

1. i remember reading or listening to a missionary story where the missionary could not go out to the field because his wife was not willing to go. to this, God sent my wife the next day declaring "i'd like to go further my studies and do something ministry-related!"

2. i remember being really young and a singing preacher (yes! you heard me right!) telling me that i'd do greater things for God when i grow up

3. i remember telling Pastor Chris that i have not heard or seen any clear indication that God showing me furthering my ministry, just maybe a whisper. to this, God spoke through Dr John Yates from FBI saying "God speaks in a STILL SMALL VOICE.."

4. as i told my mum my decision, my mum told me that she remembers me running to her after a youth camp and telling her that i wanted to serve God full time.

5. i know deep down that if i brush this off once more, that i'll just be chickening out of what i am supposed to be doing.

i guess this sums up a few of the more vivid scenarios where i could remember specifics.

earlier in the month, i decided that i wanted to have a change of employment and started looking around, preparing my CV, etc. i even had a few openings which i wanted to explore at that instant. then the notion of doing something full time popped up again, through an SMS. that was one of the examples which i brought up above and i decided that i would not put it off.

my burden is for the children's ministry and i started looking around from that point. at universities with Masters Programs that had something related to the ministry. BJU, Maranatha and Northland... I "met" Benji online who 'pointed' me in the right direction which was the MAN has to be grounded in doctrine and the bible.

thank God for all the people that He has put in my path whom have helped me find direction with regards to what i want to do and how i can serve Him better. up to this point, i seem to have been talking about myself all this time but this is a decision that i thank God is being made by my wonderful wife and myself. She's been a great helper and support the past 2 years and i'm looking forward to serving God in a greater way together with her.

currently looking at International Baptist College.. sent them an email yesterday and am actually waiting for a reply from them. i never knew waiting could be so painful as i am pretty excited about it...

a question that i've been asking myself - "Does this mean i'm going full time 100%?" answer - "not necessarily so but that door definitely is one that is WIDE open, the focus we have now is equipping and we intend to serve our God with ALL that we can give Him."

our goals as we explore furthering our studies is this - that we might better equip ourselves for the ministry and to serve Him in a greater capacity.

i pray that God will show us clearly His will for my wife and i, that we do nothing out of our wisdom and depend on Him to do His work through us.

the successor to the dopod 900

recently got into the groove of scaling down the tech that "need" and so i dumbed down my dopod 900 for a spanking new Samsung i320N. after reading so much about going back to analog, i came to the conclusion that it would probably never work with me.

being in the profession i'm in, there are advantages to having all 1600+ of my contacts with me and i could not find a phone that could contain this number of contacts (plus show the addresses). thus, i decided on a smartphone, the i320N.

this lil fella is just 11.5mm thick and weighs in at a mere 95g. it's probably anorexic compared to my dopod 900. true that it doesn't have wifi, 3G, VGA screen, etc. but i guess there is a kinda liberation when you are a lil less "in touch".

so i'm currently back to "tricking" my device out but then again, there's not much you can do with a smartphone and i guess that's a good thing considering that there will less fiddling and "optimization". just adding a PIM that's a lil more functional than the inbuilt one and also an actual note taking program (which i'm still shocked that it's missing outta the box!!)

otherwise.. i'm pretty happy with this phone that doesn't create an unsightly bulge in my pants/jeans whatever! the QWERTY keyboard is also a joy to use. all in all, a fully functional (at least to my standard) phone in a really small package!

Who Says Macs Don't Play Nice with Pocket PCs?

i recently purchased a treo 750 for a friend who uses a Mac for most of his work. At first, it seemed like a daunting task. Getting a Windows-Powered Device to work with it's biggest competitor, but i must say that the peeps at Mark/Space have done a pretty good job with their 3rd party syncronisation software for PPCs.

after installing the software, the treo 750 just did it's thing! almost as well if not better than activesync. for those that are afraid to take the USD$39.95 jump, i'd say that it would be pretty much worth your buck!

also, boot camp also allows those who are a lil more frugal to be able to syncronize in the familiar windows environment.

Who Says Macs Don't Play Nice???

Going Back to Paper?

i recently sold my Dopod 900 as i found it too heavy and cumbersome for it to be effectively used as a tool. as i was looking around for my next device, i chanced upon this article PDA 24/7's Shaun McGill Goes Back to Paper and it suddenly struck me.. i AM the person in the article, the one who checks his device when he doesn't really have a need to, the one who feels a burning need to install new programs and make the device more efficient..

The question is.. Has the use of a device made me a better, more efficient person? Or has it just made me reliant on something that actually consumes my time more than i save it?

Multiplying my Social Network?

bumped into one problem and found another social network (thanks to daniel for pointing this out!) i'm snooping around to see what if this is really as good as it claims but i guess as the wise always say..

"when it's too good to be true, it usually is."

Of Bags & Wants..

recently i've been snooping around yahoo auctions and ebay looking for this particular bag. a lotta people have been saying i'm a lil nuts about it. firstly it costs an arm and a leg! secondly, no one sells it in SG.

i've finally found some peeps selling it on ebay but the shipping is more than the price of the bag itself!

it's difficult to explain it all.. but it's a crazily cool bag!! look at it!!

more over at this site ---> Japanese Boblbee Site

Viral Marketing At It's Best..

Here's a Mountain Dew Viral Marketing Ad that one of my colleagues pointed out! It's super cool and funny at the same time, capturing every aspect of a good ad.