Seven Pounds

You are warned not to red this post if you have not seen the new movie Seven Pounds starring Will Smith. Also please do not read this post if you plan to watch this movie. However if you like spoilers, go ahead. If you don’t plan to watch, go ahead and read this post and I hope you will want to watch it after reading.

You have been warned =)

I watched the movie Seven Pounds a few days ago without knowing the storyline or having read the synopsis. So basically I did not know what to expect. The movie started off with a suffering Will Smith on the phone calling 911. The conversation goes something like this.

“Hello, how can I help you?” (911)
“There has been a suicide.” (Ben Thomas)
“Who is the victim?” (911)
…
“I am…” (Ben Thomas)




And then the movie starts with a flashback. Ben Thomas is seen being an IRS agent but a really good one with a very unusual heart. He loves to help people and throughout the movie we see that he is constantly going the extra mile to make someone happy. In the beginning I did not understand what was he doing and what made him do it.

He donated part of his liver to a patient who is dying of liver failure.
He gave his whole house, a beautiful and huge house beside the beach, to a poor and unwed mother with two children.
He went for a bone marrow transplant and gave his bone marrow to a dying patient.

Somewhere in the movie we see some vivid flashback and there was an accident scene and seven people were killed in the accident. But I did not know what actually happened yet. So the movie goes on.

Ben stalked a blind man and tested him to see whether he was a nice person or not. Then he called up the blind man and made fun of his blindness over the phone, taunting him and scolding him for being blind. The blind man did not respond by scolding Ben but instead gave Ben a warm thank you and hung up. Only at the end of the movie I understood why did Ben do it.

Then Ben made friends with this girl named Posa who was a heart patient and had a failing heart. She was going to die in one month’s time if no suitable heart was found for a heart transplant. As her blood type was rare, it was even harder to find a suitable heart donor. If she does not get a new heart in one month’s time, she will die. In the movie, we see Ben befriending her and making her happy.

Towards the end of the movie, a flashback was shown and in it we see Ben driving a car with his wife in it. He got distracted and met an accident. His wife, along with six others from the other car died from the crash while Ben was the only surviving one.

Then the puzzle started to come into place one by one. Ben was living a life of regret and he felt that he should pay for what he did by giving seven people a new leash of life.

In the end, Ben filled up his rented apartment bathtub with a lot of ice and cold water. Then he threw a dangerous and poisonous box-jellyfish into the bathtub. He went into it. The jellyfish stung him and he died a slow and painful death. The dying scene before, during and after was so emotional. Seeing how he killed himself to save other people was just so touching. The ice in the bathtub could preserve his heart and body so the necessary surgeries could be done.

He had planned for his heart to be given to Posa and his pair of eyes to the blind man. Both of them had a new life. Ben died. But before he died, he gave seven different individuals a new life.

This movie teases your emotion and makes you think. How far-fetched does it sound to hear about a man laying down his own life to give other people life? How real is that in the real world where people are so selfish? Ben’s story might sound ridiculous but it is not.

2000 years ago, Jesus Christ did what Ben in the movie did. Just that Jesus wasn’t living in regret and he did not give only to seven people. Jesus laid down his life to die a painful and slow death on the cross to give life to all of us.

Watch the movie to know more. It will make you think.

Barry And Stuart Wicked Wizards Show!!!

I went for the Barry and Stuart's Wicked Wizards magic show two nights ago with my Magic Annexe club members. It was a really good treat. The show was awesome. These two Scottish magicians can really make you laugh your ass off haha. They are a two man show and everything they did were planned out well. They gave us a one hour and forty-five minutes show with non-stop laughter and suspense.

Know what? I sat right in front of them haha. My seat was the first row and it was a really nice experience to see them perform close up though it is a stage setting. Felt as though they were performing to me only =) they even "mugged" me and took my mobile phone for one of their magic effects where Barry places my phone into Stuart's stomach. They did many wonderful effects including drawing a bowling ball on a piece of paper then from no where got a real bowling ball out from the paper and then the drawing dissapeared. Fantastic!

More reviews about their show soon. Got to go to church now for prayer meeting.

Go for their show!!! Don't miss it! You are in for a treat!

Guess what? I even got my card signatured by them after the show haha.



My ticket.

"Magician Offer Price" =) Magicians have special privileges too hehe.

The hall at KL Performing Arts Centre. So colorful.

Right in front! Lai is on my left. And Anslem Roy and his wife Rose is at the back seat on my left.

The stage!

Stuart with his famous Rubik's Cube effect. He throws the cube up in the air and in a flash the cube is solved on all sides! Magic!

Barry! He has this device on the table where he plays funny noices and voices out with it.

Audience participation.

You!!!

This is funny! Haha! See the show to know what is it.

Woo hoo!

Fans meeting them.

Aiya. How could I miss the opportunity to have this kind of shots with big time magicians like Barry and Stuart?!

=)

One more!

Now, sign my cards! =)

Yay!

Barry and Stuart!!!

Name Cards, Barry and Stuart.

I finally got my name cards printed out. And I am so satisfied with the company that printed it for me - M Generation.

Before going to this company, I wanted a quick print and so I went to this newly opened shop in Bayu Perdana/Taman Chi Liung called CCP Image Solutions. Paid RM30 to print 100 copies in 30 minutes. So I paid and waited. Then collected my name card and rushed home. Opened it and saw, to my dismay, the quality was TERRIBLE!!! They enlarged my picture that I gave them and printed. If they are wise, they should know that if you enlarge a picture the picture will be stretched and if you were to print it out it will look HORRIBLE! Wasted RM30 on that. Then I decided to email them telling them how dissatisfied I was. Waited few more days, no reply, sent them another email to tell them how unprofessional they were. No reply. Now I will send them another email asking them to check this post! They "deserve" a mention here. CCP Image Solutions, so sorry for you guys. Imagine, I can't even see my face in the name card. Gosh!

Grace Yeo from M Generation and I had been conversing through email for a couple of weeks now to get the name card properly done. Finally I got my copies today, 100 of them, the other 150 had a little minor problem with the lamination and she rejected them and got new ones for me. They were in perfect condition and I only paid RM52 for 250 copies. That is equivalent to RM75 for 250 copies if I printed at CCP Image Solution and get some really lousy name cards.

Just vending out my frustrations as well as satisfaction here haha.

M Generation good job. And if any of you want to have name cards printed, or flyers, or whatever, do contact M Generation at mgeneration@gmail.com

Don't be mistaken, I don't get any commission for doing this haha. And no one told me to post this, I did it because I wanted to. Just wanting to thank M Generation and wanting to un-thank CCP Image Solutions =)

And tonight I am going to watch Barry and Stuart!!! Woo hoo!!! Will give my reviews about the show when I get back! And tomorrow night I am having a stage magic performance at Gold Course Hotel for Selangor State Police Annual Dinner cum Friendship Day! Woo hoo!!! Will be able to give away my beautiful name cards hehe.

Tata and have a good day!





By the way, my name card when through lots of toil and sweat to get done. I took the picture myself in my room haha with my camera and tripod. I edited them myself on my laptop with Photoshop CS2. And I am satisfied with the end result. =D





Do check out www.zlwinmagic.blogspot.com =)

Why Did Jesus Weep?

John 11:32-37

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
___________________________________________

This is the only verse in the Bible that records Jesus weeping. Take note the Greek for this word “wept” in the verse above did not meant mourning or intense crying. It means a silent weeping or the shedding of a tear or two. So be reminded that Jesus did not fall on the ground and weep like a baby.

But why did Jesus weep?

That is a question that I would attempt to study and answer in this post today.

Did Jesus cry because he loved Lazarus so much? I would say no. Jesus knew that Lazarus was “asleep” and he intended to resurrect Lazarus. Why would he weep then?
Many would argue that Jesus wept because of Lazarus’ death. This is not true. The Bible records that Jesus was deeply moved in the spirit and he was troubled. Why was he moved and troubled?

Jesus wept because of their lack of faith in him. The people would not have buried Lazarus and placed him in a tomb if they had known that Jesus will come to raise him up again. They would not have acted in disbelief if their faith in God was strong. Having been proving God’s power working through Jesus, the people had not yet believed in Jesus that he was the Son of God. For this very reason Jesus was saddened and troubled.

When Mary led Jesus to the tomb, Jesus probably wept silently when he saw that Mary led him to a tomb instead of a house. Because in a tomb, it could mean that they had lost faith in Jesus but if the body was in a house, it could have meant that they were expecting Jesus to come and heal Lazarus.

This little incident tells us that God has emotions too. And God is would be deeply saddened if we His children were to lose our faith in God. Let us think of all the little incidents that we did not trust God and believe in His power. Let us count each and every one of them and see how much we have made Jesus wept.

Mary and Martha were both close to Jesus and they had both listened to Jesus’ messages intently when he shared with them. But even with a personal encounter with God, they could still acted faithlessly. What more we who have not seen God? Could we then be more faithless than these individuals? I would not say so. God has sent us the Holy Spirit to live in us, making us closer to God than we can ever imagine.

Do not make Jesus cry.

O, Lord. Forgive me for my unbelief.

John 11:25
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies.

God Be Glorified In Everything

In the book of John chapter 11 we read of the dead and resurrection of Lazarus and in the same chapter we find that Jesus, for the first time, wept. The Greek for the word “wept” in John 11:35 denotes quiet weeping like shedding a little tear, not that of mourning. But the question is, “Why did Jesus weep?” I will not attempt to answer that question in this post. But I will bring your attention to something else.

Lazarus must have been a really close friend of Jesus because the sisters of Lazarus sent words to Jesus saying, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Jesus then said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

No one understood what Jesus meant. Lazarus then died and after four days, Jesus arrived at his place. Martha did not believe that Jesus could do the impossible. Jesus replied her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?”

Lazarus was then raised from the death.

A simple story but a great miracle with a lot of truths contained in it.

What was the reason behind Jesus’ raising of Lazarus? Was it because Lazarus was exceptionally special to Jesus and Jesus loved him more than any other people? Was it because Lazarus was a really good man and he did not deserve to die? Was it because the people were urging Jesus to raise him? No, no, no.

God wants to be glorified.

It was for God’s glory that the resurrection of the dead Lazarus be proved possible. It was for God’s glory that Jesus raised the dead. It was for God’s glory that Jesus did miracles to prove how powerful and loving God is. Whatever was done was done for the glory of God. Everything Jesus did, he had God in mind and he wanted God to take the glory. Before raising Lazarus, Jesus said, “I do this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe you sent me.”

Isn’t it our job then to say, “I do this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe you sent me.”

Yes, you are ambassadors of God and whatever you do must glorify God. Whatever that happens to us will happen because God knows better. God wants the glory. That is why certain things happen to certain people so that God’s power can be seen through our weaknesses.

Psalm 103:1
Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name.

This post was inspired by Adrian Yap from what he had learnt from his time of struggle. May God see it fit to resurrect you for His glory.