Malaysia reality TV seeks young male Muslim leader - Yahoo! Philippines News

I thought this article is rather interesting as I seek to do discipleship with some of my young ppl in my church...

Malaysia reality TV seeks young male Muslim leader - Yahoo! Philippines News: "the prizes combine both worlds: An all-expenses-paid pilgrimage to Mecca and a car."

My Cousin...

Am so proud of my cousin who came out in a Malay Mail article today! Read more below:

Sky's the limit when determination conquers disability

Ng's determination to succeed conquers his disability

Joseph Kaos Jr

Friday, July 31st, 2009 06:56:00

TRUE GRIT: Ng says he is lucky to have helpful colleagues

HOW many able-bodied people can boast of having earned RM2 million in sales before turning 30?

Not many to be sure but Ng Kien Ti has achieved this feat despite having cerebral palsy, a condition that he has to live with for life.

"Basically, my legs do not have the strength to walk or stand," said Ng, who uses a walker to move around.

Still, this disability didn't stop him from chalking up nearly RM2 million in sales within 15 months. Ng is a business development executive handling group travel agency bookings online for hotels.

His achievement comes from his remarkable self determination.

At 28 years of age, Ng has already served at several major hotels in the city as a business development executive.

He is now the e-business development manager at Dorsett Regency Hotel, Jalan Imbi, which he joined two months ago. His job is to keep track of the hotel's website, generate online sales and deal with clients. Despite being new at this hotel, his colleagues have only praise for him.

"Despite his disability, Ng is a very confident person and is full of self-esteem," says colleague Anthony Edwin.

"I am simply touched by his positivity and optimism." Dorsett Regency Hotel general manager Christina Toh said she is very proud to have such a committed and disciplined employee.

"To me, it doesn't matter if one is disabled," said Toh. "Ng completes whatever tasks are given to him and does a good job of it. I only have praise for our ‘star' employee!"

Ng is thankful that he is blessed with having the right people around him. "Every where I go, there are always people who are willing to help me go up stairs or lift things, which I am very grateful for.

"My colleagues especially, are very nice people. Everyone is kind and helpful. The hotel is like a second home to me, which suits its tagline 'You'll never miss home'!"

Ng is grateful to his parents who were a major source of encouragement. "My father and mother insisted that I continued studying all the way to my degree so that I could secure a good career," said the computer programming graduate.

"My parents' faith in me to succeed in life is still an encouragement for me to do well."

An independent person, Ng has even travelled around the world to countries such as China and Singapore, by himself.

"I don't think my disability is any dissuasion for me to go out and visit other places in the world," said Ng, who enjoys computer games, comedy films and music by Andrea Bocelli.

"When I was little, I pondered why God chose for me to be this way, and it made me rather depressed," Ng revealed.

"Then I started realising that being depressed over it isn't going to improve things. I told myself that I am who I am, and I am going to make the best out of the worst."

The Medium Makes the Church

My friend, Channel C, highlighted this article in facebook and I thought that it's pretty good.

The Medium Makes the Church
by Meredith Whitmore

Excerpt:
Reflection vs. Formula
It's more than a little interesting to compare contemporary Christian books such as The Purpose Driven Life with the works of Edwards and his predecessors. I'm not criticizing Rick Warren or authors like him. But I do want to establish the typically massive difference in style, tone, vocabulary, intricacy of thought and even theology—between them and the older pieces.

Styles change, certainly. But such differences are deeper than mere preference. They seem to indicate that our very thought processes and concentration levels have changed over the centuries—and drastically over the past 50 years.

With today's American sermons usually clocking in at 30 minutes or less, how would modern churchgoers fare in Edwards' day of three-hour-or-longer services? (Or Nehemiah's and Ezra's day-long readings of biblical law?) And what accounts for our shift from theologically dense hymns and liturgies to more emotionally based praise choruses? How about worship services that include dance and even painting? Though Jesus captivated listeners for hours on hillsides sans microphone, backup singers and video screens, the prevailing fear among pastors now is that their churches—buoyed by hilarious skits, rock bands and audiovisual effects—will still be thought of as dull.

So what's caused these intellectual and spiritual shifts? Any number of sociological and technological factors, to be certain. But the biggest culprit is likely media; churches are competing with television, movies, cell phones, video games, concerts and the Internet for people's attention.

This isn't a positive thing. (Read more here)

Sad News - Last Season of Monk

Took this from : http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20081115/en_top_eo/69018.. So sad - my favourite tv series will be finishing their final season soon.

MONK TO CLEAN UP FOR ONE LAST TIME
Los Angeles (E! Online) – After six years of getting his hands dirty and then vigilantly scrubbing them clean, Monk is gearing up—probably pretty carefully—for his last case. USA announced Friday that it has picked up its Emmy-winning detective series Monk for an eighth and final season that will air next summer.

The "Characters Welcome" network has ordered up 16 episodes, and E! News is hearing that the finale will clue Monk in on who killed his dearly departed wife, Trudy, the tragedy that turned him into the OCD-addled mystery-solver who cable audiences have come to love. "We want to build to a spectacular conclusion for this wonderful show," said Jeff Wachtel, executive VP of original programming for USA Network.

"By many measures, Monk is the most successful series in the history of basic cable television—and it was certainly the original tentpole of our 'Character' brand. Our fans have been extremely dedicated and season eight should prove to be a very satisfying reward." Monk, which marked its 100th episode last month, averaged 5 million viewers per episode in 2008, so the series definitely isn't being put out to pasture on a downswing.

On whether playing such a neurotic, tic-ridden character has rubbed off on him over the years, three-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub told USA Weekend in June: "I think I had low levels of those kinds of quirks, as a lot of people really do, but it's definitely grown over time. I'm not really the kind of actor who brings my work home with me so much, normally, but I sort of feel infected by this character in a way. I think about things that I normally wouldn't otherwise."

Article- "Spotlight on Egypt's marriage crisis" By Magdi Abdelhadi

This article somehow caught my attention.. Thought it gave some interesting insights to Egyptian culture.

"I want to get married" is a perfectly normal thing to say for a young Egyptian man. But when a girl says it in such a conservative society - let alone writes a book with that title - she is making a political statement.

"Girls are not supposed to be actively seeking something, a girl simply exists for someone to marry or divorce her," says the author of the top-selling book, Ghada Abdelaal. "To say she wants something is seen as impolite."

The book started as a blog, before it was spotted by an Egyptian publisher and printed as a series of comic sketches in which flawed and failed suitors came knocking at her parents' door.
A paranoid policeman, a hirsute fundamentalist, a pathological liar and other hilarious caricatures are portrayed in sparkling Egyptian vernacular.

Marriage anxiety
The veiled, softly-spoken Abdelaal is a sharp and witty observer of social incongruity in Egypt, a feisty spirit trying to tear up stifling tradition.

She says her target is not Egyptian men but a tradition known as "gawwaz el-salonat" (living room marriage), where a stranger is brought to the family home and the daughter must decide whether to marry him on the basis of this brief encounter.

"People who go for a picnic need to know each other a little longer than that - let alone make a lifelong commitment," Abdelaal says.

Read more here.

Article - Signs of division on Egypt's brow

By Magdi Abdelhadi
BBC News, Cairo

Public displays of devotion have become more common over the years.
The zebiba used to be the mark of an elderly Muslim man, the fruit of a lifetime's devotion, but it is increasingly seen on the faces of young Egyptians.

Literally meaning "a raisin", the zebiba is a patch of hardened skin where the forehead touches the ground during Muslim prayers.

Some welcome the trend as a sign of devotion, others say it is ostentatious piety.

Worse still there are fears public displays of faith like the zebiba and the hijab, or headscarf, are spilling over into vigilantism.

Liberals or Christians who don't conform in the workplace or on the street say they are being harassed.

Gift from God
A practising Muslim's forehead is meant to touch the ground at least 34 times a day - in symbolic submission to God's will - which could add up to more than a million prostrations in a lifetime.

But over the past few decades, as more and more Egyptians turned to religion, the zebiba began appearing among young men as the veil did among young women.

But not every Muslim gets one, and opinions vary as to where it comes from. It could something to do with skin-type, or created artificially, or come from particular kinds of matting. Others believe it is a gift from God.

Many young Egyptians I asked believe some kind of light will emanate from the prayer mark on their foreheads on the Day of Judgment, marking them out as truly devout.

One of Egypt's greatest living and most popular poets, Abdelrahman al-Abnoudi, has another explanation - in times of crises people turn either to drugs or to religion.

Read more here.

Article - Lord I lift Your Name on High

Was browsing for some devotional materials for my worship ministry when I came across this article:

Lord I Lift Your Name on High
by Rick Founds
(Reprinted from Worship Leader Magazine - March/April '98)

Worship leaders know that "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" is a rare gem. The song is as effective in an intimate small group as a public praise outreach. Methodist Junior High kids settle into the song as sweetly as Baptist senior citizens, and it never seems to get tiresome. In less than a decade, Rick Founds' little four-chord flock-rocker has become known and loved internationally. It hurdles denominational barriers effortlessly, and is sung in every conceivable musical style. The song rocketed into CCLI's highest position several years ago and remains comfortably nestled there. It's unusual to find a modern songbook without "Lord, I Lift," or an evangelical church that doesn't sing it. More than an accessible and catchy praise song, "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" accomplishes something priceless: it summarizes the whole gospel, responds with adoration, and then places it on the lips of uncounted millions.

All this is quite a feat for a guy who does research and development at a fiber optics company.

Rick Founds, however, is far more than a techno-geek with a pocket protector; he's logged over 15 years in full-time ministry, and has authored nearly 500 praise songs. Dad to three teen-age daughters, Rick has been leading worship since he was a teen himself. Even so, Founds is awestruck at the impact of "Lord I Lift Your Name on High," a song that is at home around a campfire, or in the shadow of the Washington Monument with a million Promise Keepers. "It's an honor," he ponders, speaking slowly as he takes it all in again for the umpteenth time. "I'm happy about it. It's what anybody would hope for."

"Lord, I Lift Your Name" was written in 1989 during Found's morning devotion. Having developed the habit of playing guitar while watching television, he found it very natural to play while reading Scripture on his computer monitor.

"I'd just reach over and grab my guitar," he recalls. "I'd plunk along with whatever I was reading that day."

He remembers marvelling one early morning at the love of God who created the world though He knew we would rebel and fall. It amazed Rick that God had a plan to redeem us from the very beginning. As Founds meditated over his cyber-Bible and touched his guitar strings, God's plan struck him as something of a cycle. He thought of the cycle of rain that comes down, waters the earth, evaporates back into the clouds and then returns. Suddenly, the now famous chorus emerged: "You came from heaven to earth to show the way/From the earth to the cross my debt to pay/From the cross to the grave/From the grave to the sky..." Interrupting his own lyric, Founds explains, "The response to grasping even a little bit of that knowledge is praise, thanksgiving and gratitude!" When he completes the line, 'Lord, I Lift Your Name on High,' a moment of silent awe follows. Founds was worship leader for a large church, so the song found its way easily to Maranatha! Music and was soon recorded. A then new men's movement called Promise Keepers began to use the song at their rallies with both Anglo and Latino lyrics, helping lift the song into profound prominence. The composer enjoys visiting churches and anonymously adding his voice to their versions of his song. He has found many of these renditions to be... unique. He warns young praise songwriters to prepare themselves for this shock. "Every congregation has its own personality and style," he observes. "It's a lot of fun to hear things you have written done in the character of that church. I've heard 'Lord, I Lift Your Name on High' done in reggae, in 3/4 (almost a polka), and in a Spanish flavor. I've heard it done country. These were the musical characteristics of the praise band or predominant style [of that ministry]. That's exciting, because it means they have taken ownership of it, made it their own."

Founds says he is most touched when people tell him that his songs have given expression to the cries of their own hearts. He treasures letters from believers in Croatia and Russia thanking him for his songs. Founds is known for many other fine praise songs, including: "Jesus Draw Me Close," "I Need You," and "I Love Your Grace." WL

Taken from www.rickfounds.com

Modernity meets monasticism in Egypt's desert

Just thought this article was rather interesting:

AL ZAAFARANA, Egypt (Reuters) - A speck of green in a sea of sand, St. Anthony's Monastery in Egypt welcomes those seeking God in silence broken only by the whisper of the wind.

Monks at what is considered by many to be the world's oldest active Christian monastery still rise before dawn to chant and pray just as their predecessors did for more than 1,500 years.

Now, they also carry mobile phones, send e-mails and maintain a website (http://www.stanthonymonastery.org/), embracing modernity that has helped sustain the ancient monastery, nestled beside a spring where Egypt's eastern desert meets the craggy Red Sea mountains.

Read more here.