INTRODUCTION

By now there must be millions around the world creating and posting Blog pages. My purpose to creating this blog is simply to journal my life's journey as much as I can remember now, before I leave this earth. I am not bothered about any form of followings on blogs or facebook etc, but just desiring to share a real perspective of life as a human being, who has encountered and am still journeying with God, laying down my thoughts in words.
Relating my personal experiences and testimonies are like building altars of remembrance and thanksgiving to God every step of the way. I guess it is only natural that I write with passion about God in the midst of living in the reality of pains, struggles and challenges that life has to offer but taking it a step everyday with Him that enables me to go through it.

I decided that the blog in which I am creating here will not be a common read, but one that share about God's revelation,proof and truth of what has been revealed to me in photographs, testimonies through the years since I became a Christian in 1998. It will probably be my personal compilation of experiences that I have gone through over the years and one that I openly share to the world with truth, sincerity and plainly as a fellow human being.

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Patrick Leong (the pudgy baby being held) currently a full time Gospel Singer and Songwriter called to full time Ministry since 2003. I am the founder of Oops! Asia www.oops-asia.com which is a Ministry that produces Christian albums of local individuals here in Malaysia, for the purpose of enlarging the blessings and knowledge of Christ through music and songs we produce. I travel locally as a well as abroad to share songs that I have written and my testimonies to all walks of life.

But before this "holistic calling" of my life, I was simply an ordinary individual like you. Born into a non practicing Buddhist family soon into a free thinker in my teenage years. Very Independent, strong willed and pretty determine to achieve what I wanted to achieve. Sports (tennis) was an inspiration to the molding of my self esteem and confidence. In short, God was not even thought of. Nothing of any sort of Godly influence was present or practiced in my life.
I was me who made me to be what I wanted me to be.

The very first person who tried to share Jesus with me got an ef'ing and told to get out of my room in my college days mid of 1991.
I remembered the feeling of being intruded, as if your personal space was being taken advantage of. It felt that way because, in my own personal relationship with people, I never barge into another person's personal space, but when it was happening to me, I opened fire to protect and guard myself in ensuring the other person knew where I stood.
God at that point in my life was insignificant, maybe because life was going really well, college was fun, doing all that you want to do without much constraint. Although I knew that there was a God, but it was an issue that really didn't need much dialogue about.

The years went by and before you know it, 7 years went by. One evening as I was entering the elevator of my rented apartment unit, I met someone and very quickly found myself openly accepting the invitation to her apartment. To cut the long story short, we ended up almost "doing it" when a flash of light sparked before my eyes, at the corner of the pitch black room. And when I asked her "did you see the light?" she said no. Are you sure I exclaimed! No didn't see anything.
As I wanted to ignore the visual sign by continuing, the next thing I heard was, thunder. Just one alarm. I ran to the window and saw the moon, stars and the skies above with nothing to point to any signs of on-coming rain or storm. I turned around, "Did you hear that?" No was the answer. I asked you sure? Yes.

I left with a sense of unknowing but yet knowing that it was a sign of warning. I knew that It was God. But at that point, I didn't know which God. All I knew was that both the visual and audible warnings were real to me and as if it was only meant for me at that point, that fateful evening.
It left such an impression in me that I had to find out for myself. I found myself in a church by the end of the week and couldn't remember the topic of the sermon. But when the pastor challenged those who have yet to accept Jesus, my right hand just went up. My heart and mind felt as if the time had come to realize who I am, and who God is.
I gave my life to Jesus mid 1998.

Looking back from today, which has been about 12 years, apart from that experience in 1998, there were other dramatic testimonies that I experienced.
Now as Christian, I have found that GOD is not a Christian God, He is simply GOD the creator over every human being He has created regardless of race, religion, cultures or backgrounds. The reason why I say this was because, I wasn't a Christian prior to that night in 98, But the Al Mighty God, choose to intervene and reveal Himself in such a supernatural and real way that I had to know.

God further revealed Himself through the person of Jesus Christ that is whom I have embraced since then, as a Christian.

God's first revelation to me of Him was how real He is in 98 as The Creator first.

His second revelation to me was in a dream I had soon after in the person of Jesus Christ, when I saw Jesus standing in front of me. An angel was drawing my hand to the edge of a cliff and I was challenged to jump. I turned around and saw Jesus as He spoke "Just Go" I leaped and never fell.

His third revelation was through the Holy Spirit when I heard His voice which I will share in my testimony that is related to the TSUNAMI in 2004, Dec 26.

As I develop and grew as a Christian, all the more the TRINITY of GOD the Father, Christ and Son and the Holy Spirit were not only factual reading material found in the Bible, but I had experienced all three of them in my faith as a believer.

What I have experienced and continue to experience till this day in a close relationship with God, are an immense power of His Grace in my life. Grace that has given me so much understanding and perspective of life that is so precious and worth living for, in the best possible way I can live to contribute and to encourage lives with the gifts and talents God has given me.

In the understanding of His Grace, it is to embrace and understand that God has tremendous compassion over me. It is what I am thankful for. I continue to remind myself daily, that I cannot take this grace for granted. At every end of the day in the night before I sleep, I reflect every moment of my thoughts, actions, words, response and choices throughout the day before God and confess before Him, should I have been careless to sin in any department of my well being and taking His Grace for granted.

I must confess that my prayer times are sessions where I tear, weep and at times just cringe because of the pains in my heart that is overwhelmingly depressing, because the nature of the flesh is just so sinful. Sometimes I exclaim to God, "Oh God, can't I go through a day without having to weep over the state of my flesh" Oh God.
But always at the end of each devotion before Him, there is peace, assurance and comfort that is beyond explanatorial words. I believe this is what relationship with God through Christ is like as a Christian.
There is a two way exchange where God never fails to deposit a touch from Him to us, through thoughts, words and His affection that comes in a tender loving way both physically and mentally. At a few instances when I was wrestling with my heart-pains, an overwhelming sense of my burdens instantly is taken away, as I lie soaking in the embrace of God.

All the more when the experiential relationship is tangibly real, you cannot ignore, disregards, or stop thinking about God in your every life, which then is an automatic response to Him in everything that you do and what you are as a person.

What I have experienced in both the past as a non believer, to a self Independently strong- willed self believer to a believer now, I look back and realize that GOD has preserved my life until a point when He knew, it was time to reach out to me.
Even in my wondering years, my Independent years and some depressing moments, He preserved my life. We can term it circumstance or luck, but now I believe its fate turned to faith.

Blessings
PL