There is hope. We can be fixed.
God, life, people, music, and a humble trainwreck of colourful ponderings
Any position I lie down on seems to hurt. Gosh. When is this fever really gonna leave me?
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You know, I really hate that I ‘need’ to outsmart people before they outsmart me. In this money-centered dog-eat-dog world.
I’m just glad that the Forever that I’m going to be living in has no such company or organisation. Or people.
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I miss reading comics and novels.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NKJV)
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
1 Timotius 6:17-19 (AVB)
17 Perintahkan orang yang kaya pada masa ini supaya jangan angkuh, jangan berharapkan kekayaan yang sebenarnya tidak kekal, tetapi bergantunglah kepada Allah yang hidup, yang melimpahkan segala sesuatu kepada kita untuk dinikmati.
18 Hendaklah mereka berbuat baik, supaya mereka kaya dengan amal kebajikan, sedia memberi, rela berkongsi.
19 Dengan demikian mereka meletakkan asas yang teguh bagi diri mereka untuk hari kemudian supaya mereka dapat hidup kekal kelak.
1. Character
2. Influence
3. Positive Attitude
4. Excellent People Skills
5. Evident Gifts
6. Proven Track Record
7. Confidence
8. Self-Discipline
9. Effective Communication Skills
10. Discontent with Status Quo
– John C. Maxwell, Equipping 101
So, I have a simple idea of what the beginning of Monsters Inc. 3 could look like. Dear Pixar, do pick my idea haha! I love Pixar!
Wait….. Monsters Inc. 2 is Monsters University right? So this would be Monsters Inc. 3 right? ANYWHO…
Remember how Monsters Inc. ended with monsters coming out of the closet and bringing joy to kids to power up their monster city? So Monsters Inc. 3 could start 30 years down the road where stories of monsters coming out of closets or doors or from under the bed… were just stories. Kids slept through the night without being woken up.
Before bed, parents will tell stories of how when they were little, monsters will come out from the closet to make friends with children and always found ways to make them happy. There were even story books about it. But none of the kids these days ever experience it. It was one of those myths.
One particular parent told the greatest stories of her adventures with these monsters. Her real name didn’t rhyme with Boo. She had twins. One boy and one girl, and they loved her stories. She could make it sound so fantastical and real, and the twins were always so drawn into it, they believed it more than mom did. Mom was making up the stories from dreams and daydreams she had in the past. She was a creative kid. But the twins believed in this magical world. They didn’t think mom was just dreaming when she was little. Maybe it was the fact that her stories made sense from one another. Or maybe the they just really really hoped all the stories were real.
One night, the twins heard a shuffling of feet from their closet. They were overjoyed, and pinched each other to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Then the shuffling noise stopped. It was going to jump out! But after a whole minute of anticipation, nothing came through the doors of that closet. They looked at each other. Something was wrong. They had to check it out.
As the twins neared the closet, hand in hand, they heard heard a tiny sobbing. Curious. They opened the closet door and saw a kid monster that looked like a spotted blue ball of fur with big wet eyes trying to hide from them. Slowly, of course, the kid monster starts to warm up to them and they find out that they are about the same age. The three of them become friends and start to share stories and the twins find out about why monsters stop coming to make children happy: The monster world was in chaos.
Okay, so that’s my idea. I could also imagine a dark world with no electricity. Monsters arguing and fighting and stealing from each other. Everyone unhappy with each other and no one wanted to help their neighbour. These three kids want help to make things better. So, they had an idea that if electricity came back, people would start having a hope that things may get better. And the kid monster suddenly remembered that his dad used to work here at Monsters Inc. to power up the world. He would help. Right?
Okay, that’s all I thought of. If you can think of how it could continue from here, do leave a comment below so everyone can see.
Did your kindergarten school teacher ask you what you’d like to be when you grew up? Mine did. I wrote down in my book (actually, I’m pretty sure my mom wrote it for me, cuz I couldn’t spell it) that I wanted to be a surgeon. That was my first ambition. Then, I wanted to be a scientist. An inventor to be exact. Down the line, I desired to be a comedian, an actor, a writer, a business man, a spy, a soldier, a librarian, a director, a mathematician, a tutor, and a power ranger. And I’ve even considered being politician and a pastor. I realise now that I have a pretty whacked childhood imagination.
It’s fun to grow up, find out my strengths and weaknesses (with this I cross out probability of most of my ambitions), and see doors open and doors shut, and even being thrust into some doors I never would imagine would open. For example, I’m a musician now more than most of those ambitions I’ve ever had. And I’ve never thought of being a musician.
It’s cool how God puts me on a path to finding myself. The real me. The me that God planned for long long time ago. It’s even cooler to realise that God is probably the one who placed those crazy ambitions on my heart in the first place. Because, I honestly see myself doing a little bit of all those ambitions I had now. Though I don’t qualify as a professional in any area now. But I know that God will use me and continue to mold me (not mold me THEN use me, mind you) into that perfect creation He planned in His original ‘Blueprint of Aaron Heng’.
I just have to allow it to happen and not mess it up too bad. No pressure.
You know, I’m not enjoying my job right now. Just as a confession. I have a great boss, and don’t misunderstand, I am super grateful to God for this job. But I’m just not looking forward to tomorrow morning.
I guess one reason is because I just don’t see myself doing this all my life. I don’t see me as an office worker. When I was looking for a job, it was hard when people asked me what work I wanted to do, because I can’t really do what I like doing. Not only that, my friend was telling me that I shouldn’t be looking for a job, but for a career.
That’s good, solid advice, but I just feel deep in my heart that God wants me to figure things out first. I gotta remember that I don’t have my skillset, life, and direction, figured out yet. So who’s to tell me what my ‘career path’ is?
I actually do long to be in the ministry. I’m pretty sure I have a heart for the youth and/or the teenagers. But I’m pretty sure God wants me to not go fulltime yet. I feel like He probably wants reveal me to me, slowly, out in the business world first (I’m not the only one who’s told me that btw), Train me in my giftings and talents, And expose me in the needed areas, Before I go fulltime into whatever God has called me into.
Here’s my reminder to you, future Aaron, as I lie here on my bed, being unexcited and not looking forward to day 4 of work tomorrow, remember why you’re in the business world. For now. It’s to figure out what God has planned. God will probably be molding you to be ready for your prime time ministry. This prime time may only be for a few years when you’re super old. Or it may happen when you’re young. You/ I’ll never know for sure eh? It took Jesus 30 years working as a carpenter on weekdays, and probably being a youth worker or some ministry worker on the weekends, to be ready for His prime ministry that only lasted 3 years.
30 years of perfection/maturity growth.
So old Aaron, look to God. Rest assured that your hope is not lost. God has a plan. Your dreams can come true, no matter how non-profitable it may sound. And you’re on the right track, as long as you’re willing to obey Him. Yet, keep dreaming. Also, Lean not on your own understanding. And don’t get too comfortable with where you are now.
Old Aaron, if you’re reading this, it means you’re in the future. For sure. It also means you’re alive. It means opportunity to grow/learn. It means opportunity bless/serve. It means opportunity to be a gentleman. It means please keep wasting energy on loving people, no matter how painful and tiring it is.
Old Aaron,
Doctorbutterfly at your service
I like non-business ideas. What do I mean by that? I mean like an idea that needs to run on a scale like a business, but it’s not for profit. Like most churches. And half of those NGOs. Anyways, I’ve had a dream of my own. This isn’t one of my older dreams, in fact, it’s a pretty recent dream. Only a few years old. This idea, in fact, is not original. It’s inspired by what I saw once on the news. However, I have no money to start such a store. If you would like to help me out here, I’m willing to give my life to this hehe.
So the idea is this, to open a second-hand-charity-library-bookstore. Whoa that’s a lot of different words put together. I might call the store The Books, just because it might sound funny in conversation haha. Here are the rules for this bookstore:
Firstly, it’ll be a free-will library. You may borrow any books, for as long as you like, with no registration, no membership, and no late-fees.
Secondly, this’ll be a free-will bookstore. Meaning, the books sold can actually be bought for free, or for any price you think it’s worth. You can decide when you’d like to pay too. If you don’t have money today, go ahead and take the book home to start reading, and you can come back and pay next week.
Thirdly, it’ll be free-will book collecting ground. You may sell us your second-hand books, or you may donate to us. Up to you. If we deem it in good condition or salvageable, we’ll add it to the shelves. If not, we’ll find a way to donate it to charitable organisations, or if in really bad conditions, recycle it somehow.
Also, I’d like to probably buy the shop lot next to this bookstore shop lot, and make it into the reading area. It’ll be separate and called The Round Tables. Because I’ll be fitting it with round tables and chairs. And this lot will probably be where we do activities (if any). Maybe an English class for the kids who can’t afford to go to school, or those who aren’t allowed to register. We could get teachers in, and do Tuesdays and Thursday morning classes. No commitments. They come as they like and learn as much as they are interested to. Money from sold books can maybe be used to fund lunches for these kids. That’ll make them come.
I’m guessing you’d have realized the goal and vision of this idea. It’s just to promote reading. Not that I want to be a competitor of libraries, since they will still have a more extensive and more stable collection of books. And I want to promote sharing. Where we (the society) all help each other out. Especially to help those in need. This’ll be a good ground for people to just give, whether old books, or new books, or money. Some people want to help the needy, they just don’t want to join a church, or go to a temple, or sign up in an NGO. This’ll be a good place. Also, even if you donate a small amount (because maybe you’re a student or something) no one will notice or judge you.
So it’s just an idea. Any more ideas i can pump into this one?
For those of you close minded people, I’d like to say one thing. Bribing works wonders! It’s true. If it’s not true, why would it be so popular? We know it’s true because we see it. It’s a quick way to get wanted results. That’s a good deal right? Speed + results! And if you’re good enough, you can hide your tracks. Problem with this: conscience.
So before i talk about anything, let’s google-define the word ‘bribe’: to persuade (someone) to act in one’s favor, typically illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other inducement. Ah ok. So key words here are dishonest and illegal. So is ‘bribing’ your kids to study bad? No, because according to this, it’s not a bribe. Illegal bribes are easy to spot. They’re bribes in situations where bribing isn’t allowed by the law. Dishonest bribes are a bit harder to spot. Because of the unspoken rules. Generally, if there’s a queue to a counter, it’s understood that latecomers have to insert themselves in queue at the back of the line. We all understand that that’s fair. But maybe Mr. Aaron decides since there isn’t any law here that says to line up, I’ll just ask a favor (with the motivation of money) of the counter attendant to deal with me first. I am in a rush too. We all know that cutting line is bad, but mostly because it slows our queue. But it is still a dishonest gain right? Because according to the ethical scale embedded inside us, everyone has to have an equal opportunity. If a line is served according to how much money you can pump into bribing, then it’ll be rich first, and poor last (if ever). For me, a bribe is when it negatively effects other people. Which is the main reason why corporate laws on integrity are of big importance. Here are my thoughts, I think a bribe is a form of motivation. A bribe can be both positive motivation (reward) and negative motivation (threat/punishment). And they’re bad because they either break rules, or are against our conscience. But, is bribing a sin?
What does the bible say about bribing. Let me be honest, I was very confused/intrigued by what the God has to say about bribing. They seem to contradict. And the word of God CANNOT contradict, or else it isn’t God’s word. Proverbs 15:27 Greed brings grief to the whole family, but those who hate bribes will live. And Proverbs 17:8 A bribe is like a lucky charm; whoever gives one will prosper! Seems like on one hand, bribing is bad, on another bribing is good. I think we forget to think that bribing is an act. It doesn’t reveal the nature of the heart. To assure you, the evil nature of greed is addressed in the bible. Deuteronomy 16:19 You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly. Exodus 23:8 “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth. Proverbs 17:23 The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice. But the bible is also saying that bribing can be used for good. Proverbs 18:16 Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people! Proverbs 21:14 A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury. So let’s get practical and REALLY ask, can bribing really be used for good?
Like I said, bribing is an act. It’s not an attitude. God will judge the attitude and intention of the heart. We can bribe to send an innocent person to jail. And we can pay a bribe to release a wrongly accused. We can contract a killer to kill our boss. And we can ‘contract’ an authority to see that a missionary’s visa is approved. Honestly, I hate bribes. I’m against it, but if my daughter was kidnapped and they asked for money, I’d be more than willing to participate in that bribe to keep my daughter safe. And I doubt I’ll feel bad. I think I’ll have peace in my conscience about the bribe. My sin would probably not be that I participated in a bribe, but that I have hate against the kidnappers. I know this sounds pretty unchristiany, but bribes is not a sin. Especially not if you’re the victim of the injustice. However, if you’re the one who’s asking for money to act unjustly, then the problem is greed. Then it’s a sin. If it’s an ‘opportunity’, well, you’ll have to look at the intention of your heart of why you’re agreeing. Guess what, I think Jesus would have participated in a bribe if he needed to.
Did Jesus do anything wrong during his time on earth? Contrary to popular belief, YES he did. It was so controversial, that moral codes and ethics were questioned. Tradition in a traditionally strong culture was shaken. People hated Jesus because of the rules he’s broken. Yet he dared to call himself King. Yet he dared to say that he’s the fulfillment of the word (wooooots). E.g. Luke 6:6-9 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.”So the man came forward. Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” So in the Torah (Jewish book of Law given by God) it was God’s law that the Sabbath day is made for rest. No work is to be done on that day. So the Jews started to make weird rules based on this Sabbath law. Eg. like you can’t walk past your neighbors house because walking is a lot of work. But Jesus came to earth to explain that the law is not a list of do’s and don’ts. The law is for the alignment heart and attitude, and for the growth of character.
Excerpted from Jesus’ sermon on the mount (Matt 5): … You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell… You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So Jesus came to earth to explain that it’s not the action that breaks God’s law (and His heart). No, it’s our hearts and our attitude and our character that breaks the Law. If I was paying a ‘gift’ to be released from jail early, whether I sin or not will depend on why. Is it because I don’t want to face the consequences of my actions? Is it because I don’t want my family and friends to know what I did? Or is it because I felt that I’ve been wrongly accused and I don’t think that’s where God wants me to be at that moment? Ask yourself what is the intention of acting the briber or agreeing to be bribed? Greed? Fame? Compassion? Love? Shame? Pride? Laziness? When asking yourself, our conscience will come into play and help us. And the Holy Spirit works with and guides our conscience. With choosing the right action, will come peace and joy. Acting against it will result in uneasiness and fear. Yeah. I agree that these are such subjective emotions to be using to weigh our action. But with practice, we’ll be able to make decisions as close to what is righteous as possible. Sure, we’ll never be perfect, but we can always try, right?
I guess my conclusion can be this, the problem is not so much the act of bribing, but the attitude and intention of the heart. The Church tends to get very traditionalized that the act of worship becomes the focus of christian lives and teachings. That’s very Pharisaical isn’t it? Jesus said their clean acts are just an outward show. What’s more important is the internal attitude and character. Clean the inside and the outside will be clean as well.
It’s about time I wrote about something to do with business (actually it really isn’t).
Here’s how it’s gonna go. Ever thought about “what if I could start my own business? What would it be? And what rules and regulations would I enforce?” I definitely have thought of it. In fact, I do like to think of it, because my ideas tend to get a bit out of hand, so it’s quite amusing.
If I were to start my own business (which I eventually would want to), one thing I’d implement would be the One-Hour-Read time. If I ever implemented music into my office (very probable, and I’d be the DJ as well), this would be the only 60 minutes where music or other noises would not be heard from the surround sound speakers throughout the office. Reading hour would start from 8am to 9am. Then only would daily meetings, briefings, and business activities start at 9am.
What would they be reading? You know, the newspapers, novels they have yet to catch up on, blogs they follow, (no facebooking, not counted), news websites, devotionals if they didn’t get to in the morning, bible, self help books, newsletters, magazines, up to them really. Not only that, I will encourage them to write too. Yes, simple journalling. After reading whatever they have read, they can process their thoughts and they could write it in their diary, or share their thoughts on a blog. Up to them. No pressure. But reading is a must.
Conversations would not be encouraged. Unless really really necessary. It’s supposed to be a hush time. “Good morning”s and “Good to see you”s are okay. Sleeping is not allowed too. Toilet and coffee breaks are allowed all around.
What about those who really won’t want to read and would come late for work? Well. They’r late for work. 8am is when the work timer starts. So they would need to replace, or… whatever the consequences of being late is.
What’s the point in this? I don’t know. You decide.
So, that’s a tiny taste of what I’d like my office to look like in the future. How would you like your business setting to be?
I may do more of these posts on business (not that I’m a pro LOL). Anyways, I’ve been getting a bit more traffic on this blog recently. Hooray.
There is hope. We can be fixed. 