"How Could You Do That?"

I've been thinking about the story of the two monks and the courtesan for quite a while. This one's for the legalistic-minded, modern day Pharisees.

One day, the two monks came to a side of a river and noticed a courtesan. As they got nearer they could see that she wanted to get across the river, but she couldn’t, she had no way of getting across the river without ruining her finery. The young monk is freaking out and inside his head he is saying “Oh my God, there is a courtesan, what do we do, what do we do?” We can’t touch her, what do we do?”

As he is doing this the old monk, without even breaking stride, scoops the woman up and carries her across the river, puts her down on the other side and carries on. The young monk keeps looking back over his shoulder, thinking to himself, “He touched that women, he touched her, what has he done, how could he have done that!”

He was driving himself crazy, until he couldn’t take it any longer and after about an hour he said to the older monk “What did you do, how could you do that?” The older monk says “What?” The young monk replies “You, how, you picked up that woman, you, you carried her across the river!” The old monk smiles and says “Oh are you still carrying her? I've put her down an hour ago”.

Life Lessons From Observing Family, Little Children and Myself

I had a wonderful time catching with relatives back from Melbourne whom I haven't met for years. My wife especially had a great time with my cousin sister and her daughters. Family moments like these are priceless and precious.

I notice that after all these years, some things had never changed in my cousin, even after marrying and having kids. I still notice the "inferiority complex" that's so apparent in her. There wasn't a thing wrong about her: she's good-looking, tall, strong and a great mom. Most of all, she has the most pleasant personality and a warm heart. No thanks to all the upbringing conditioning.

Ever since she was a little girl, she was "slower" in learning, thinking and picking up languages than her peers, and especially compared to her bright and quick younger sister. She was often compared to her sister and was "judged" less intelligent and capable. And she fed on these remarks and grew accordingly. I believe this is the worst type of curse a child could inherit from its parents and family, more than cancer cells. She led her life fulfilling all those prophecies cast upon her...

The Other Side of the River

I was told last night from someone that she enjoys reading my blog and feed on it like food!

Well, this story is dedicated to her, as she's leaving home for "the other side".

You want more food, here's something to take away and chew on the road. My parting gift for you shall come in the form of a story....

Once there was a man leaving his village for the other side down the long river. The boat journey is slow and lengthy, so he struck a conversation with the boatman.  

He asked, "What are the people like at the far side of the river?"  

The boatman asked, "What are the people like on the side you came from?" 

The man replied, "Oh, they're mean, good for nothing, unfriendly and generally bad people. Some of the worst people I've ever met. I'm really very glad I'm leaving them for the far side!"  

The boatman paused and then said, "Oh, I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate if I were you. You'll find that the people on the far side are just about the same".

On another day, another man was also leaving from the same village for the other side of the river. He also struck up a conversation with the boatman.  

He asked, "What are the people like at the far side of the river?"  

The boatman asked in return, "What are the people like on the side you came from?"  

The man replied "Oh, they're so warm, nice, friendly and generally great people. Some of the best friends I've made. I'm gonna miss them so much, I may never meet such nice people anywhere else!" 

The boatman paused and then said with a smile, "Oh, I wouldn't worry much if I were you. You'll find that the people on the far side are just about the same".

"Pain is Temporary..." (It's Not About The Bike)

I just finished the book "It's Not About The Bike" by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins over the weekend. Although I'd bought and had a copy with me for two years, I somehow wasn't motivate to read it until last week, after I realized Lance is also an INTJ (a MBTI type) like me. There aren't many INTJs I can choose to model after. After all, this is the rarest of all of the 16 MBTI types and I'm particularly particular about choosing a model.

I've tons of other books and things to read and do, but thought why not give this book a couple of minutes of reading and see how far I'd like to go. What's this guy's story? I already knew what Lance is all about: his survival from cancer and comeback to triumph in seven Tour de France championships. I knew the story in this book had inspire millions. But I'd never approach reading an autobiography from the angle of MBTI type, especially a fellow INTJ. This would be the first.

The first paragraph of the first page caught me instantly, which begins like this...

"I WANT TO DIE at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. I want to cross one last finish line as my stud wife and my ten children applaud, and then I want to lie down in a field of those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire, the perfect contradiction to my once-anticipated poignant early demise.

"A slow death is not for me. I don't do anything slow, not even breathe...."

...and with that I decided I'd never put down the book until I'm done with it.

The book didn't just inform or entertain me. Inspire would also be an understated word to describe it. I just needed a book like this for this particular time in my life.

"You're not the devil. You're practice!"

I appreciate a lesson I'd learned from the movie Batman Begins which I now use regularly. In fact I only caught it on my third viewing, sometime early this year. In the movie, Bruce Wayne deliberately got himself thrown into a prison so he could fight criminals behind locked doors. Well, that was probably one extreme way to reach his purpose...but there was something precious which I've kept with me ever since.  

Man (whispers to Bruce): They are going to fight you.
Bruce: Again?
Man: Until they kill you.
Bruce: Can they kill me before breakfast?

Big man: You are in hell, little man. And I am the devil.
Bruce: You are not the devil. You're practice.

(Bruce fights with men)
(Gunshots)

Guard (while carrying Bruce away): Solitary!
Bruce: Why?
Guard: For protection.
Bruce: I don't need protection.
Guard: Protection for them (pointing to men groaning in pain).

Ever since then, I always use that quote to remind myself when I face adversities or adversaries: They're not the devil, they're just practice. I've lost count how many times that one quote has helped to lift me up from the floor.

Today at my work place, a sales consultant was really down after being verbally assaulted by an idiotic shopper who had no intention of buying anything at our retail store. His sole purpose was to heap insults and "pee" on a particular brand (world renown) which my colleague represents. One minute into their conversation, I knew this guy was a trouble-maker. But I didn't stop nor interrupt them. Ten minutes later, I could see the physiology of my colleague changed into someone who was totally battered. He told me he just wants to quit working for that brand, and that he's in need of counselling ever since he became its specialist.


I really felt sorry for the sales consultant as this incident wasn't his first time, and it definitely won't be his last. I took him off the sales floor to have a drink outside. Everyday we have thousands of shoppers in our store, and every salesman probably talk to at least a hundred of them daily. During my observation over three weeks, I could see that less than one percent of shoppers really do have the intention to cost trouble. About five percent unintentionally cause problems, and some are just plain rude. And then there are the skeptics and there are those who perceive sales assistants as "stalkers"! But most are normal shoppers and many are happy buying customers. Many of them are even repeated customers. I mean, our sales reports don't lie, the numbers are there. The millions that we make in our monthly sales revenue (should) keep everyone in the company and the business partners happy.


So I suggested to the consultant that he could view such trouble-makers as just an insignificant statistical number which is part of the overall business. I said "that guy is just your practice" because I know over time, he's gonna make many customers very happy, so why focus on the few insignificant morons and let them knock him down. I also found out all these while, he had low self-confidence and self-esteem as he possess very little academic qualifications and being stepped upon and ill-treated by all his past and current employers. I advised him to focus on honing his selling skills. I'm both convinced and persuaded that if one could successfully learn how to handle customers' objections and face rejections courageously everyday, there is nothing too difficult for him, he'll be unstoppable in any chosen endeavour. The mastery of this ability has very little to do with formal education. I think this is a good place to insert another one of Jim Rohn's famous quotes, one of my favourites:

"Formal education will make you a living, but informal education will make you a fortune".   

Everyday, for the past three weeks I observe how the top sales people in my company engage in selling and serving their customers. Initially I couldn't understand why would their past customers keep going back to them to buy computers, often times buying a few over a ridiculously short period of time. Just didn't make sense to me! I patiently observe the differences of the top sales men from the average. One of them even revealed to me a few secrets on how he "catch his fishes". Those lessons are too lengthy to fit into this post. By the way, I had learned none of them from my so-called high and expensive formal education, I'm learning them from these so-called under-educated but hungry colleagues. A few of them sometimes earn (commission) higher incomes than their managers! I'm now sharpening my skills with them every day.


So, for my dejected colleague, I hope he realized that by practicing selling really well, he can one day "free" himself to do whatever he chooses to do. But for things to change, he has to change how he view himself, not the cruel world out there. Sadly, today is also my last day working together with him as I just received the call for relocation to a bigger store next week. Bigger store = more problems coming my way....I really meant more practices!

Four Major Lessons In Life (Part 4 - Fall)

"Last, is the fourth major lesson in life to learn: learn how to reap in the fall, without complain. Take full responsibility for what happens to you. It is one of the highest forms of human maturity: Accepting full responsibility. It's the day you know you've passed from childhood to adulthood. And learn how to reap in the fall without apology. Without apology if you have done well, and without complain if you have not. That's the best of human maturity. I'm not saying it's easy, I'm saying it's the best.

There's a hymn that says 'It's not my mother nor my father, not my brother nor my sister, but it's me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer'. See, I used to blame everything outside for my lack of progress, until I found the problem was inside. For a big share of my life, I kept looking for the answer to do well outside, and I found out the answers were inside. Success is not something you pursue, success is something you become.

You see, it's not what happens that determine the quality or the quantity of your life. It's not what happens. And the reason is because: what happens, happens to about everybody. The sun went down on all of us last night, a common event. And I found out the same things can happen to two different people, but one gets rich and the other stays poor. Why is that? It's because it's not what happens but rather what you do about it. There is an important phrase for your written and mental note: It's not what happens, it's what you do that makes the difference in how your life works out.

Anything can happen, right? I've heard all of the stories. Hey, I've been one of the stories. We could all tell stories for days on end. Anything can happen. Have you heard of Murphy's laws? Surely you have. One of the laws was, if anything can go wrong it will. That's one of the laws, anything can happen. I've fallen out of the skies so many times.

Everyone's got the same happenings. Someone says 'but you don't understand the disappointments I've had'. Come on, everyone has disappointments. Disappointments are not special gifts reserved for the poor, everybody has them. The question is: what are you going to do about it?"

These excerpts were taken from a Jim Rohn's audio program The Art of Exceptional Living. Listening to it is more interesting then reading these excerpts because of Jim Rohn's unique delivery style. This guy really had an authentic style. Read his book 'The Seasons of Life' for more insights on the four major lessons.

I think it'll take me years to truly take them all in. But hey, at least I know what to look for and do during 'my seasons'. I'll have no complains if I don't do well, and no apologies when I do.

Four Major Lessons In Life (Part 3 - Summer)

"The third major lesson in life is: learn how to nourish and protect your crops all summer. Sure enough, as soon as you've planted, the busy bugs and the noxious weeds are out to take it. And here is the next bit of truth: they will take it, unless you prevent it. And that is the third major lesson to learn. Major skill to develop: preventing the intruder from taking the goods.

Here are two key phrases to consider under the third major lesson. First, all good will be attacked. On this planet, all good will be attacked, and don't press me for a why. I was not in on some of the early decisions. So I don't know why. All I know is it's true. Let reality be your best beginning. Every garden will be invaded, not to think so is naive.

Here's the second phrase: all values must be defended. Social values, political values, friendship values, marriage values, family values, business values. Every garden must be tended all summer. If you don't develop this skill, you'll never wind up with anything of value."

To be continued with the final part, Part 4 - Fall...

Four Major Lessons In Life (Part 2 - Spring)

"Here is the second major lesson in life to learn: learn how to take advantage of the spring. Spring is called opportunity. And uniquely enough, spring follows winter. And pray tell how often? Is it reliable? Can you count on it? Well six thousand years that we know of, that's pretty reliable. And what a great place for spring, right after winter. If you were going to put it somewhere, that's the place to put it. God is a genius. Hey, day follows night. Isn't that terrific? Opportunity follows difficulty, expansion follows recession, and all with regularity. You can count on it.

However, make a special note of the two words: take advantage. That, is what we must learn to do: take advantage. Just because spring comes, is no sign you're gonna look good during the fall, you must do something with it. In fact, everyone must get good in one of two things: planting in the spring, or begging in the fall. So take advantage of the day, take advantage of the opportunity. And read every book you can get your hands on, to learn how to take advantage of the spring.

And one more thought: get busy quickly on your spring, your opportunity. There are just a handful of springs that have been handed to each of us. Life is brief even at the longest. The Beatles wrote 'Life is so short....', and for John Lennon on the street of New York, it was extra short. But it is short. Elton John sings, 'She lived her life like a candle in the wind...'. Life is fragile, life is brief. Whatever you're going to do with your life, get at it. Don't just let the seasons pass, pass, pass."

To be continued with Part 3 - Summer...

Four Major Lessons In Life (Part 1- Winter)

I've listened to this part of an audiobook by Jim Rohn a few times, and I'm still digesting the parts where he taught about the seasons in life. I recently got one of his classic books "The Seasons of Life" for RM10 from a book sale. I've bought books that cost far more which were rubbish, but this little gem cost me only RM10! I finished the whole book during my quiet trip at Cameron Highlands. And last night I was listening to the audio book part on the seasons, one more time. This time, I'm writing it down here for my record.

"The four major lessons. It is so important to study the majors. Have you ever notice that some people don't do well, because they major in minor things. Whatever you do, check at the end of the week, the end of the year, and make sure you're not spending major time on minor things. Otherwise, you'll wind up with a below average life.

Now, before I get into the four major lessons, here are two phrases to consider. First, life and business are like the changing seasons. That's one of the best ways to illustrate life. It's like the seasons, the change. Frank Sinatra sang "life is like the seasons". Here is the second phrase: you cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself.

Now, with those two key phrases in mind, here are the four major lessons in life to learn.

The first is, learn how to handle the winters. They come right after fall with regularity. Some are long, some are short. Some are difficult, some are easy. But they always come right after fall. Remember, it isn't going to change. Now, there are all kinds of winters, right? The winter when you can't figure it out. The winter when it all go smashed. We call it 'the winters of your life'. One writer call it 'the winter of discontent'. The winter when it turns upside down, when it all goes wrong. There are economic winters, social winters, personal winters. When your heart is smashed into a thousand pieces. Winter time, disappointments. Disappointment is common to us all. So learn how to handle the winters. You must learn how to handle the nights, they come right after days. You must learn how to handle difficulties, they always come right after opportunities. You must handle recessions, they come right after expansions. It isn't going to change.

So the big question is: what do you do about the winters? Well, you can't get rid of January simply by tearing it off the calendar. But here is what you can do: you can get stronger, wiser and better. Make note of the trio of words: stronger, wiser, better. See, the winter won't change, but you can.

Before I understood this, when it was winter, I used to wish it was summer. I didn't understand. When it was difficult, I used to wish it was easy. I didn't know. Then Mr Shoaff (mentor) gave me the answer from a part of his very unique philosophy, when he said, "Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom."

To be continued with Part 2: Spring....

Even Eagles Need A Push

This evening I came across an inspiring anecdote which is an excerpt from the book Even Eagles Need A Push by David McNally. I decided to Google it and found this video on YouTube. Watch the clip below and learn.




It moved me when I read it because I've experienced 'the push' before, from important people in my life. You're blessed if you've someone to apply 'the right pushes' in your life. The fear of falling always come before the thrill of soaring. How true!

The Empowering and Paralysing Effects of Belief

Beliefs are powerful. They determine how you perceive everything.

"As you woke up this morning and moved out into the day, you did so by gathering up a host of beliefs to take with you. You then put them on as spectacles through which to view the world. You have beliefs about yourself...about other people...about work, play, recreation...etc. You have beliefs about the world: politics, education, justice system, other countries, wars...etc. You have beliefs about about a thousand different concepts: time, history, the past, the future, personality, destiny etc. Further because you 'have' these beliefs, you operate from them as one uses a map to navigate territory. Beliefs are mental maps govern our life..." Michael Hall.

Can we change our beliefs like changing spectacles? Most certainly can.

The famous Placebo effect is probably the most convincing evidence for the power of beliefs. Placebos are pills containing sugar or starch that contain no active agents. Yet research has shown time and again that people perceive them as therapeutic and actually get well. Ask those con men selling snakes oil! But Placebo do have a very important place in wellness if used correctly and effectively.

Beliefs are also paralysing. Many times we unconsciously use them to filter out the greats from the goods, and waste away many wonderful possibilities. Beliefs can stop us from growing as much as they can benefit us.

Here's a story from Abraham Maslow: A patient wouldn't eat because he believed that he was a corpse. After spending much time and energy trying to convince the patient that he wasn't a corpse, the psychiatrist finally asked him if corpses bled. The patient said he didn't believe they did, so the psychiatrist asked him to participate in an experiment that involved pricking the patient with a pin. The patient started to bled, and in astonishment said, "Wow! Corpses do bleed after all!"

That was probably funny for you as it was for me. But if we examine many of our beliefs closely, we're sometimes not that different from that patient, you know?

Where's Your Vision?

I read this story at the end of the ebook What's Your Target by Roy Palmer.

A young boy travelled across Japan to the school of a famous martial artist. When he arrived at the dojo (school) he was given an audience by the Sensei (teacher). 

 "What do you wish from me?" the master asked. 

"I wish to be your student and become the finest karate student in the land," the boy replied. "How long must I study?" 

"Ten years at least," the master answered.

"Ten years is a long time," said the boy. "What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?" 

"Twenty years," replied the master. 

"Twenty years! What if I practice day and night with all my effort?" 

"Thirty years," was the master's reply. 

"How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?" the boy asked. 

"The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the way."

What Are You Becoming In Your Pursuits? Behold and Beware!

For the last half year or so there was one man that have impacted my life and philosophy. That man is the late Jim Rohn. I've been absorbing lotsa stuffs from many sources but Mr Rohn stood up high, head and shoulders above them all. There are good reasons why he's considered one of the most influential thinkers and business philosophers of our time.

I'm recording this here for myself, and for a young man I talked to recently.

In his twenties, when he was broke and aimless, Jim Rohn was blessed with a mentor Earl Shoaff that came alongside and changed his philosophies, and inevitably turned his whole life around. In one of the goal-setting sessions Mr. Shoaff suggested why not he set a goal to be a millionaire among many of his goals, and here's why. Jim was thinking to himself, "Now, the man doesn't have to teach me why. Wouldn't it be great to have a million dollars?" Mr. Shoaff said "No. That's not it. Here's why...." And Jim Rohn received the greatest lesson of his life in one sentence that his mentor was about to give him.

"Set a goal to become a millionaire and here's why.....for WHAT IT WILL MAKE OF YOU to achieve it."

What a brand new way of setting goal, Jim thought. Set the kind of goals that will make something of you to achieve them. Many of Jim Rohn's philosophies are derived from that single sentence.

"If I set this goal and go for it, not only what will I achieve, but more importantly, what will it make of me in the process?"  

"Success is not what you pursue. Success is what you become."

 "The greatest value in life is not what you get. That greatest value in life is what you become."

 "Major question we should ask in our jobs is not "what am I getting here?" Major question we should ask is "what am I becoming here?""

 "It's not what you get that makes you valuable. It's what you become that makes you valuable."  

I don't know about you, but in my search in my personal journey, this major lesson blew a huge hole right though many things I thought I knew and created a clear path. Thank God it simplified my philosophy!

In spiritual matters, Jim Rohn confessed that he's just an amateur. But he could expound stuffs from the Scriptures so well, better than many preachers I know. He said when it comes to spirituality, the most important thing boils down to these three things: study, practice and teach it. That summary sounds over-simplistic, but it's not.

It's great that he drew references to the Bible on some of the major lessons. Here's one.

"....Here's the last part on goal-setting. Don't compromise, don't sell out. There were some things I went for back in the early years that I paid too big a price for. If I'd known how much it'd cost me, I never would've have paid, but I didn't know. Don't sell out. The ancient phrase said 'Count the cost, count the cost, count the cost'." 

"An ancient story said 'Judas got the money'. You may say that's a success story. No, no. It's true thirty pieces of silver in those days was a sizeable fortune. If you say if a guy's got a fortune that's a success story. No, you don't understand. His name was Judas. Doesn't that ring a bell? Judas. You say 'Judas the traitor'? That's right! The traitor got the money. Doesn't that change the story? The answer is of course it changes the story. Interestingly enough when Judas got the money for becoming a traitor, he got the money in his hot little hands and now he's unhappy. Some say if you got a fortune how can you be unhappy? Well he was not unhappy with his money, he was unhappy with....himself. Key phrase: the greatest source of unhappiness is self-unhappiness...." 

"Judas was unhappy and thought 'well what I'd do is just take the money back', walked in where he got the money and said 'here, take this money, I'm unhappy'. They said 'Hey Judas, we got what we wanted, you got what you wanted. Out!' They threw him out with the money. Judas wondered what he'd do, he thought, 'I'll just throw the money away'. And he proceeded to throw his fortune away. Why would he throw his fortune away? He was so unhappy with....himself. That's not the end of the scenario. After he threw away his fortune, he couldn't change what he became, a traitor, and now in total frustration he goes out and hang his worthless self. Why such a tragic end? Because he was so unhappy with....himself. He sold out, he paid too big a price. The ancient script summed it all up: 'what if you gain the whole world and it costs you your soul. Too big a price to pay..."

"Don't sell out, don't compromise your values, don't compromise your virtues, don't compromise your philosophy." 

"....Two good words from ancient script. One, Behold. The positive word. Behold the possibility. Behold the opportunity. Behold the awesomeness. Behold the uniqueness. Behold the majesty. Behold, Behold. What a good word! But here's another word. Beware, Beware, Beware. Don't sell out...."

Behold! And Beware!

Good Luck? Bad Luck? What Perspective?

Heard this tale from Dan Millman of a farmer who had a horse. One day, the horse ran away. "Bad luck", the neighbours commented. But the horse returned the next day, with three wild horses following it. "Good luck", others told him. Until the farmer's son tried to ride on one of the wild horses, fell off and broke a leg. "Terrible luck", their relatives lamented. But soon, every young and able men from the village were enlisted into the national army to fight a war. The farmer's son was spared because of his broken leg!

So whether an event that occurs is good or bad depends not on its immediate outcome and consequences. It helps to view the bigger picture, from a broader perspective, in a larger time frame. It helps to look from the eyes of the Almighty, and His timeless Word.

No wonder the Scripture encourages us to "give thanks in all circumstances for it is God's will....", and "all things work together for good....." and "what can men do to us...?"

How blessed it is to be a receiver and a believer of the Word!

A Leadership Thought

Just a thought that I've learned from the projects I've led.

It is okay to make mistake.
But it is not okay to make the same mistake twice.

It is okay to fall.
But it is not okay to fall at the same spot twice.

And it is SUPER NOT OKAY to fall at the same spot where you saw someone before you fell.

Winning All The Way

Just read this excellent, short post by Chris Widener on winning. Totally agree with his idea of winning, and playing to win.

Here's the introduction:

Have you ever heard, “It isn’t whether you win or lose; it is how you play the game”? I’m sure you have. But do you know who said it? Some guy who came in second place!

You see, I have a problem with that statement. It presupposes, or at least strongly suggests, that winning and playing the game “right” are mutually exclusive propositions. Perhaps we ought to have this as our goal as we pursue success: We want to win, but only by playing the game the right way. I totally disagree with the statement that we should win at all costs. Rather, we should do everything we can to win at this game we call life. And we ought to do all that we can to help others win, too.

With that, here are some thoughts on staying in the game—to win.

Any game worth playing is a game worth pursuing to win. If I get into a game, I play to win. What nobility is there in playing like a slacker? What virtue is purposeful mediocrity? None. I live my life to be a winner—spiritually, financially, physically, emotionally, even relationally—in every area of my life.

Read the rest of the post here.

Straight As An Arrow

'The arrow is the projection of an intention into space' Paulo Coelho

What am I projecting into the new year? Into the new decade?

Like archery, there's no point in delaying the shot for the perfect aim. It'll result in accumulation of unnecessary tension.

Once an arrow is released, there's nothing I can do about its flight path. I can only relax and observe. Wait for its feedback.

If it misses its target, I'll just reload with another arrow and re-adjust my aim.

When it hits, I'll do it again until the process becomes a habit. Until there's no more thought. Until my mind, my hands and my bow are one.

Hard Questions

I'm supposed to be sleeping like a log after the youth camp (especially since I hardly got any sleep there), but I'm up early with my mind racing at breakneck speed again. So much to process. But some things have changed. Many things were said during the camp, but I'll just emphasize and write on one thing here.

Our camp speaker, Ps Daniel Ross urged and gave everyone the permission to ask HARD QUESTIONS. Ask hard questions in the camp during the Q&A sessions (he said the quality of the sessions are determined by the quality of their questions) or when one-on-one with him. Ask hard questions after the camp, to the leaders. Ask hard questions in their walk with God.

Hard questions aren't necessary smart alecky kinda questions.

Hard, because it's serious. So serious that some issues have become taboo subjects. In camp, light was shone on serious issues of like pornography and other habits and addictions.

Hard, because it challenges everything you know (or you think you know). And it pushes you out of your comfortable "play safe" zone.

Ps Daniel pointed out to one of my favourite verses in Acts 17:11: Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessolonians, for they receive the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Ps Daniel said to "question EVERYTHING in the light of scripture". I couldn't agree more. Many times in his messages he said, "don't take my word for it, go read....find out for yourselves....". Even the great Apostle Paul's teachings had to be questioned and tested with the Scripture.

I believe (and saw with my own eyes in too many lives) that the ability to ask great questions (or lack of) can make or break our journey in this life. Especially THIS GENERATION. You are blessed if you have someone in your life whom you can ask hard questions to, and that person is allowed to ask you hard questions in return to check where you are, every now and then. During a workshop, Ps Daniel said this is very crucial.

I believe young people are more than ready (in fact they're craving) for hard questions. They just need the right guidance and mentors. During my University studying days in England, my friends and I would do Bible studies with many chinese christians from different countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan. And they were allowed (strongly encouraged) to ask great, genuine questions from the Scripture texts we were looking at. Not just for the sake of satisfying curious minds, but to question boundaries (many are non-existent!) and everything that they came from. They were all from different countries, cultures, church denominations and personal biases, but every time when we search into the scriptures hard enough, there's UNITY. Objective truth MUST and WILL bring genuine unity. I saw so many lives transformed, as if their eyes were opened for the first time. But tragically many of them would not dare go back to their own countries, their own churches, where they would not be allowed to question like how they did then. When my time there was up, many of my friends questioned me why would I wanna return to Malaysia. Now that was one question I didn't ask myself hard enough!

In camp, Ps Daniel also said that we should submit to the leaders above us, to their stand on many hard issues. To be honest, this was really hard for me. Over the years I've been thrown to the "jungles" and the "deserts". In my darkest hours, no one was with me as I wrestled with tough questions. Now that I've formed my own biases, how could I submit? I struggled with that thought hard. Eventually I had some kinda answer yesterday night.

When I was young, I had to accept everything my mother taught me. When challenged, she said that I should be quiet and just accept the answer as it was. "Just accept things as they are". When older, I told my mom what certain things she did/taught were wrong. I'm glad that her understanding of things have evolved (for the better!) over the years and she admitted so. She's been a great learner herself. In the same way, when I look at myself, I never really have a problem with submission, as long as the one I submit to must learn as hard as me, if not more!

Nobody is right. Nobody knows. Nothing is sound. Everyone moves. Everything has to move...towards objective truths (I'm still thinking of my Part 3 to that).

Ps Daniel did challenged me with a question. It was raining heavily outside with hints of thunderstorm, and the camp's main watergame at the swimming pool was called off. We were at the small field and he popped up the crazy idea of playing ultimate frisbee under the pouring rain. He said something like "Come on man....let's do it....why not play in the rain, that'll be so fun, awesome etc." He came up to me and put his finger on my T-shirt (from Mt Kinabalu) that says "Nothing Is Impossible". Then he said "We can do this...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" And off he ran with Keegan (the South African-Australian dude he brought along to the camp) tossing frisbee to each other, playing like there's no tomorrow. My buddy Jacky and I looked at each other, and promptly took off our tops and ran after them into the field. And soon many began to join us when the rain was dying down.

How cool is that, to have such a pastor in our midst?

And yeah, why play so safe?

Could it be time to pick up my sword and raise the standard again?

The Objective Answer (Part 2)

How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows

That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

The answer is blowin' in the wind

- From Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind"

In his book "Don't Waste Your Life", John Piper agreed with Dylan's 60's smash hit song in explaining on the objectivity of existence and reality, in contrast to John Lennon's "Nowhere Man":

He's a real nowhere man

Sitting in his nowhere land

Making all his nowhere plans

For nobody

Doesn't have a point of view

Knows not where he's going to

Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Those were the heady days of the sixties. When existentialism was the thing people talked and sang about. The meaning of existentialism was that "existence precede essence", to quote Piper. You first exist, and then you create your essence by freely choosing to be what you will to be. There is no "God", "Meaning" or "Purpose" until you create it by your own courageous existence. The later postmodernism era echoed similar themes. Piper said "there is nothing new under the sun, only endless repackagings".

Like Dylan's song, the sky is up there whether we agree or admit it or not. What we think has absolutely no effect on its objective existence. The answer is not up to you or me to invent or create. It's outside of us. It's real and firm. Sooner or later we'll conform and bow down to the answer.

In his journey to stay on the road of objective truth, the writings of C. S. Lewis came with such "blazing brightness" (in his own words) to Piper. Lewis demonstrated that "rigorous, precise, penetrating logic" is never opposed to "deep, soul-stirring feeling and vivid, lively, even playful imagination". Lewis was the brilliant "romantic rationalist". He combined things that we today would think are mutually exclusive: rationalism and poetry, cool logic and warm feeling, disciplined prose and free imagination. During his days, C. S. Lewis had the courage to expose those who opposed  the values of objective truth.

In the book, Piper went on to write about how his path was led to be a minister of the Word. That meant seminary, with a focus on understanding and handling rightly the Word. He lamented on how groups had turned Bible study in a swamp of subjectivity. People shared their subjective "impressions" on what scripture texts meant to them ("for me....") without anchoring on their original meaning. One of the paragraphs goes like this:

"If there is only one life to live in this world, and if it is not to be wasted, nothing seemed more important to me than finding out what God really meant in the Bible, since he inspired men to write it. If that was up for grabs, then no one could tell which life is worthy and which life is wasted...."

 He was entirely serious about the whole objectivity thingy. And so was his determination not to live a wasted, useless life. And his burning passion to warn everyone else.

I've a hundred and one questions in my head, but I'll write more after I return from a camp next week. Plenty of thinking time for you, my friend!

The Objective Answer (Part 1)

What would you feel if something grab a certain words you've said, and interpret to create meanings which you've never intended?

What would you feel if your business partner signed the same black and white agreement with you, but understands its contents very differently than you do?

And what would you feel if your spouse interpreted the vow "creatively", but far from its powerful, life-binding yet simple meanings.....

Let's put a comedy spin into it. If you're a teacher and you've designed a test paper full of questions with their objective answers. What would you think if your students suddenly feels the "inspiration" to write answers outside the confined A, B, C or D. Meaning, he creates his own answers because he doesn't think the answer is found in your provided options.

Don't laugh. I'm not finished.

So, what would The Author feel if you and I interpret His written Word, according to how we "feel" everytime we take it up and read? According to where we've come from, where we are and where we think we're going? To fit the words of the Master of the Universe according to our tiny circumstances and crisis?

Now, that last paragraph was meant to probe and provoke, nothing more. So is this post today. And my next upcoming post.

It troubles me enough to yank me out of the bed so early to write this.