For the Record

The only link to the first sermon I gave on the 12th of December 2010 at Wesley Methodist Church Johor Bahru (entitled 'The Gifts of the Magi') was posted in a Facebook comment, so it'll probably be buried soon enough. So for archive purposes, I decided to post it up here (http://memoirsofadinghy.blogspot.com/2010/12/for-record-12-12-10-sermon-now-with.html), together with my Powerpoint presentation. I also edited out the buzzing noise in the background, so the result is much cleaner (though you can hear some digitalization if you listen too closely). My apologies for early/late animations - audio and video sync gets a little screwy when recording Powerpoint to a fixed audio track.

DIY Success

The thing about headphones is, no matter how great sounding they are and how well they're made, they're bound to die on you sooner or later. Such was the case with my faithful Sennheiser PX 100s, which I got for RM 180 about 4 or 5 years back - the sound on one side kept cutting off unless I held the cable in a certain angle. My first thought was: 'Dang - just when I got a replacement pair of foam pads for the ear pieces from e-bay.'

I definitely want these headphones again - nothing can beat the perfect blend of sound, portability, comfort, and value for money that these babies offer. But I don't exactly wanna fork out RM 180 just because one stupid cable is broken inside. So after unsuccessfully looking for someone to repair it for me during my two months in Johor, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

This is the old plug. As you can see, the red wire (right channel) is frayed. The plug is molded and cannot be reused, so I just chopped the whole thing off.

I managed to order a 3.5 mm stereo plug from e-bay for US $0.99 (RM 3.11), but the real challenge was getting my hands on a soldering iron here. Thankfully, I knew someone who knew someone who could lend it to me... eventually. I also had to make my own makeshift clamp using a pair of pliers, some rubber bands, and a cello-tape dispenser.

And here's the finished product, nicely soldered, crimped, and screwed back together with the new plug. Most importantly, it was working 100%. I can't tell you how proud I am of myself, 'cause I'm really lousy with my hands, in general. This is pretty much my first attempt at soldering - it wasn't very pretty, but it worked.

I'm happy. :)

Puzzling Over Photoshop

(Click the image to enlarge)

This was part of a flyer I designed for JB Wesley (the church in the picture). I was thinking that it looked a bit like some kinda banking or insurance advertisement.

If the photoshop is a bit crappy it's not just because of my lack of talent, but rather 'cause I just learnt how to use the pen tool (can you say hallelujah?). That, plus the puzzle texture I downloaded had annoying gaps between every puzzle piece that I wasn't going to manually extract out with my newly acquired super awesome penning skills.

It's That Time of the Day

The following is an article I wrote back in 2005 (according to the file's date stamp): 

It’s That Time of the Day by Shearn Sya

Quiet time… The ever-elusive ingredient to healthy Christian living almost all Christians struggle with. What makes it so difficult for us to set aside a mere slice of our entire day to devote to our Almighty Father?

            Almost every Christian knows that quiet time is required of us. Indeed, it is not forced down our throats, but it IS something we should be doing every day without fail, and we know that. Before we go further into the matter, however, let us first have a look at the question of the hour: What is quiet time?

            There is no specific guideline to quiet time. The Bible does not say ‘Thou shalt doeth quiet timeth before thy head hitteth thy pillow’ or something. However, a fairly common definition of quiet time would be: setting a certain period of your time each day to personally spend with God, usually accompanied with prayer and meditating upon His word. This time is up to the individual. Some do it in the morning, before they even brush their teeth, some do it while brushing their teeth, and some even do it while driving (though this is not advisable. Driving + Closed Eyes = Bye Bye). King David did his quiet time before he went to bed at night - When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches. - Psalms 63:6.

            There is also no specific time limit for quiet time. The author of Psalms 119:97 meditated on God’s word all day long. Most of us do not do that, however. We usually need a specific time to allocate, turning it into a slot in our busy, busy schedule. How long each individual dwells and meditates on God and His word each day varies from person to person. Some may have so many responsibilities to fulfill that they have perhaps only ten to fifteen minutes per day to spend in God’s presence, when everything is still, before they have to jump back into their worker bee’s suit and buzz around as usual.

            The activities undertaken during quiet time also vary. Some prefer to follow a specific study guide to the Bible, others would use a daily devotional, such as Our Daily Bread, while some just read the Bible from cover to cover. Prayer is often an axiomatic ingredient in the quiet time recipe. It may be favorable to simply be still and meditate upon the Lord and His word, while some prefer turning on some soft music to help them worship at the same time, and a few turn up some rocking praise songs to jump about to (Note: This is not very conducive for being still….. obviously). Whatever works for the person coming before the Lord; it’s a personal choice.

Why is quiet time so difficult to be consistent in, then? Many people tend to allow it to fall into the ‘routine’ category. When the same thing is done day in, day out, at the same time, in the same posture, wearing the same clothes, etc., the mortal body will almost certainly try to go into self-automated mode. Can you imagine quiet time reduced to a three second prayer of ‘ThankyouforthisdaypleasseforgiveoursinsandblesstomorrowinJesusnameweprayamen.’ every single day at 9:23 p.m., on the floor, 14^th tile from the door of the room, head bent over at a 23º angle, clothed in a creased pair of Smurf pyjamas? Though the situation may not be so extreme in most cases, it isn’t particularly far from ridiculous. Those who find they are able to do quiet time consistently and meaningfully have found it helpful to keep it fresh with new material, new ways of worshiping God, etc. It does not hurt to have accountability in your spiritual life, either. Though it may not reach the scope of someone doing quiet time with their spouse, it is still possible to have a prayer partner to start off the daily devotional, then have your own personal meditations and so on, and wrapping it up with a prayer with your partner. United, we stand. Divided, we make excuses.

However, fear of routine is not the only excuse for quiet time shirkers. A common excuse people use would be that they are too busy. A day is divided into 24 hours. An hour is broken down into 60 minutes. A minute is comprised of 60 seconds. Of the 86400 seconds per day, how many of those are spent unconscious? How many fly past when watching a half hour (1800 seconds) TV program? How many disappear in a 2 hour chat session with people you will probably see the next day in school/college? When you come right down to it, how busy can you be to not afford a slice of your 86400 second day to devote to the one who created you? The one who gave you the ability to sleep? The one who created the actors in the TV show you follow so religiously? The one who created topics to talk about for 2 hours?

Laziness is often another excuse. Or forgetfulness. Or exhaustion. Or opportunity. The excuses just go on and on, but that’s all they are – excuses. When there’s a will, there’s a way. When there’s God’s will, there’s a road map, BMW convertible, and an adorable puppy to accessorize your passenger seat.

God bless your time with Him.

The Loneliest Battle

This was a Youth Ministry assignment.

Blogger doesn't allow larger images, so the text would be hard to read... I chucked it down below for the benefit of those who want to look at something more legible than (what appears to be) dummy text (lorem ipsum dolor sit amet):

The Loneliest Battle

by Shearn Sya

Let me introduce you to John. John is a regular sixteen year old guy who attends church every Sunday with his parents, is the President of the youth group on Saturdays, does well in school, hangs out with the right crowd, and seems to have his life all together. Except for a certain habit that tempts him every night in the privacy of his room. A habit that no one would witness. A habit that he could not possibly share about during youth group. A habit that he couldn’t tell his parents about. A habit that he desperately tries to put a stop to but like a crown of thorns it digs into his flesh the more he tries to remove it. A habit called masturbation.

We live in a world that tells us that, as long as you’ve hit puberty, being a virgin is something to be ashamed of. Take a look at any magazine at a newsstand and you’re likely to find something to do with sex on the cover. Fashion demands for plunging necklines and shorter skirts. Sex scenes and jokes about sex in movies and TV are normal. And let’s not forget the Internet. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on Facebook socialising with your friends or you’re researching on communism - somewhere along the way you’re probably going to run into a banner about an x-ray scanner that sees through clothes or a social networking service just for sex. All this and more constantly bombard us with sex, sex, and more sex. Take this Gospel of Sex and mix it with a teen’s natural hormones and you’ll probably end up with someone like John.

John is not a rare breed. He’s as common as you and I and every other Christian teen. And let’s face it - what he struggles with is something many of us struggle with. Whether we were born and bred as Christians or we just said the Sinner’s Prayer last week, we are still vulnerable to all kinds of sin. So what makes masturbation so different? Let me give you an example.

Remember those epic battle scenes from the Lord of the Rings? Picture hordes of Uruk-hai and every assortment of Dark Creatures you can think of thundering their way across a flat plain towards your armies of Dwarves, Elves, and Men, all armed to the teeth and ready to do battle. Now hit Pause. Let’s start up our cognitive Photoshop and do a little editing on that picture.

Leave the forces of Sauron alone, but edit out all the Elves, all the Dwarves, and all the Men, except for one young soldier. Now zoom in and replace his broadsword with a pillow and substitute all his heavy plate mail armor with a pair of boxers. Click save.

That is a picture of John. He’s being assaulted by Uruk-hais each time he goes on the Internet. Nazguls lurk behind each page in every magazine he flips through. A Balrog leaps on him when he watches a movie. Cave trolls occupy the conversations his friends have with him. And he faces all these monsters alone.

John can’t fight the battle alongside others because even though sex is everywhere in the world he lives in, he can’t talk about it in church, the one place in his life that agrees with his conviction that masturbation is wrong. It would be too embarrassing to talk about it to anyone, or even to ask for prayer. So what is left for John? He prays for God to help him, and he makes a commitment to change. He dons some shiny new armor and wields a wicked sharp sword, and even gets a gatling gun air-dropped in. And it works... for awhile. Then one day when his armor’s cracked and rusty, his weapons are broken, and he’s tired, frustrated, and lonely, Sauron attacks, and he’s back in Mordor.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that even with God masturbation cannot be conquered. It’s very possible that God delivers you from the bondage of masturbation and that’s the end of it. If that were so, then all’s very well and good. I’m just saying that many times, God’s plan for us doesn’t include the easy way out, and a good struggle is in order to build us up.

So what does the sensible man do when faced with an army? The first thing he does is RUN! (Rambo would stand his ground, but notice I mentioned ‘sensible.’) Fleeing from temptation is one of the most crucial steps in dealing with masturbation. Rather than venturing into an Uruk-hai training camp hoping to avoid any unpleasant encounters, avoid the camp altogether! If you’re aware that going online at night gets you tempted, then don’t go online at night. Even safer, move your computer out of your room and into a public area.

What does the sensible man do next? He recruits his Legolases and Gimlis to help him watch his back. Knowing that you have a problem with masturbation isn’t enough. You need to find someone or someones to keep you accountable to the commitments you make. When you feel tempted, grab your phone and make that call right away. Whether your friend prays with you or just chats with you, it would be much tougher to yield to masturbation when you know full well that your friend’s going to ask you about it the next day.

“Now hang on a sec. That’s it?” you ask. “I just keep running with others watching my back as I run some more?”

Well, yes, that’s it. You just keep running and the running will get easier until eventually you look up one day and you notice that you’re nowhere near Mordor and that there’s not an enemy in sight. And while you were running, Gandalf the Technicolored came along and zapped the daylights out of Sauron and gang. God wins the battle for you. All you need to do is have faith and persevere.

That’s what John is doing. The battle still isn’t over for him. But it’s only a matter of time until it’s won, and until then, he’s not so lonely.

fin.