Magic?

This one is for all of you out there who used to play or are still playing Magic: The Gathering. Those who never did, well, hope you don’t get too confused reading this post, because I’m going to use a lot of M:TG terminology.

Been really strange the last few weeks, so many people have asked me either directly or via SMS about my involvement in the game. Well, let me say that it had a profound impact on my life and on what I am doing now. So here is my story.

My Magic “Career”
I have always loved reading fantasy novels, fantasy game books etc. When I was in primary 3 (1990) I started reading a game book series called “Way of the Tiger”. Its about ninjas; really interesting and really rare. I still have 2 books today, but they are in pretty beaten up condition.

I went one step up in Primary 6 (1993) when I started reading the “Lone Wolf” game book series. I still have the first 21 books kept in my cupboard. If I sell them on ebay, I can actually make quite a fortune.

But if that was not bad enough I got involved in Dungeons and Dragons. Not just the novels, but the RPG rulebooks. While most of it was reading material, I actually got down to playing the game towards the end of sec 4. Though only for a short while.

But the one game that I will forever remember is Magic: The Gathering. The very first collectible card game (CCG). It was released in 1993 and till today still has its legions of fans. Just some trivia for all of you, the Singapore Magic community was at one time one of the most powerful in the world. In my opinion, the mechanics of MTG are still the best in the business till today. No other game has lasted longer.

I picked up the game in Sec 2 (1995) while in Tanjong Katong Secondary School. It started of small, just 4 players in my class. Then it slowly spread to nearly the whole school. I was one of the pioneer players in my school. And you can say I was a pretty old school player all along.

I played the game at the height of its popularity, during the glory days of channel fireballs, mana flares and drop-hand decks. I started during the 3rd edition after Fallen Empires had come out and before Ice Age. It was during the days when basic land was actually in normal booster packs and the 10 Dual Lands cost less then $10 each.

My Decks
I started of playing with a “white weenie” deck; fast and almost unbeatable in my school. It worked by simply bringing out super low casting cost white creatures in the first few turns and dealing lots of damage before your opponent could bring out his larger creatures. Then finish him off with a serra angel or something big.

It was a pretty fun deck, but then my friend came along with a deck which worked on a much higher “technology” and soon everyone in school began to copy him. My deck started losing. Out of frustration I created a new deck, “Mass Destruction”.

It was white based, but used cards like Armageddon, Wrath of god, Balance, Neverynal’s Disk to destroy everything on the field of play. It had red for some destructive cards and combined white red defensive cards. It finally used an Island Sanctuary to stop drawing cards and prevent attacks. Then it was a long wait till the opponent ran out of cards.

Eventually, the Alliance expansion came out with pretty funky counterspells and I changed to blue white. White for the destruction cards, blue for the counterspells. It used a huge Ice Cauldron Braingeyser to run the opponent out of cards. That deck lasted till the end of sec 3 (1996).

I played Magic much less in sec 4, but I occasionally ventured out to buy some cards. It was during my sec 4 year that I began acquiring huge cards like Timetwister. But in sec 4, most of my friends had quit playing and most of us were pretty focused on studying for the O levels.

During my sec 4 year, during the times I played; I played a turbo stasis deck. 4 howling mines, 4 stasis, and lots of land. The whole idea was the run the opponent out of cards ASAP. It also had 4 black vices to kill fast. But around this time they restricted the black vice.

During JC, I more or less stopped playing. But I still played occasionally. I had returned to my roots. Spellfire deck; pure red; pure damage. 4 lightning bolts, 4 disintergrates, 4 chain lightnings, 4 fireblast etc etc. Get the idea? Unfortunately it had one major weakness, it lost steam too fast, if I did not win within 4 or 5 rounds, I was a sure loser.

It was during JC that I started to really acquire huge cards. Black Lotus, 3 moxes, many dual lands, 4 psionic blasts etc etc. I started to make a comeback towards the end of JC 2, just before entering the SAF.

And it was during my SAF days that I created my final and most successful deck, turbo counter-fire. It was a base red and blue deck. But it had a total of 4 colours; all except black. It used lightning bolts, disintegrate, shock, psionic blast, shock and chain lightning as its main weapons. Then 4 howling mines for card drawing; the addition of counterspells was a shock to many opponents who thought their stuff could not be countered.

The sneakiest part was the addition of 2 red elemental blasts which countered only blue cards. But since everyone has blue cards in type 1, I thought no harm done! It worked. The final part was 2 wildfire emissaries which had protection from white. In other words, protection from Swords to Plowshares, a standard in type 1 decks.

That deck stood its own and won me more matches than any of my other decks. It was fast and had the sustaining power. And when I finally quit in 2001, I had a final “ceremonial game” with my friends to end of my “career” so to speak. The deck worked perfectly, and it was the $300 Black Lotus which won me the game. I drew it along with a lot of damage cards to deal a whopping 10 points plus of damage in the final turn. (The final turn was like turn 3 of the game or something, and I and my opponent had less than 10 life combined)

Why I quit
I would love to say that I was convicted of the “evilness” of the game etc so I quit. But that was not the case. The real matter was that I stopped active playing in 2001 because I had joined the Youth Worship Team. And since the YMWT (as it was known then) met on Saturdays and my friends met on Saturdays for magic, I chose to come for YM practices instead.

But after a year of almost not playing magic, I did not feel the need to play the game anymore. I had no more interest in it. I had become more focused on my service to God. I realised then that Magic was just a distraction, I still kept my cards because of the “what if” factor. What if one day I feel like playing again? What if one day the cards would go up in price, and I sell it then! What if?

I finally decided one day in 2001 to give up the game for good. September 11 had just happened and I realised that there was more to life than just the “what ifs”. So I made a deal with my friends, I sold of every Magic Card I owned, save for a few that I still keep in my bedside drawer, for $900. They could keep the rest of the profits. It was a deal they could not refuse, as the cards were worth way more than that.

But with the money I bought my current Yamaha BB1500 bass as well as the Baby Taylor. I have since sold the Baby Taylor, but I used the cash to buy Isaac’s old Les Paul, so I guess it’s a good deal. The BB1500 still sees occasional service in church.

Those of you out there who still have issues in giving up the game, well, pick up a new hobby like me; I started to learn the guitar and the bass. I needed the money. That was a good motivation to sell the cards and finally rid myself of the addiction. It took me 6 years, but I did it anyway.

God’s mercy through it all
Is Magic The Gathering an “evil” or “satanic” game. Those who read my 20 page monster testimony will know the answer to that question. Many of you will disagree, but my answer is no. While it is true that the original set of cards did have demonic references and while it is true that it was one of the main reasons I strayed away from God, it is also one of the main reasons for what I am doing today.

Magic thought me a lot of things. Speed calculation, analytical thinking, exhaustive thinking, probabilistic calculation, logic etc. (Think of a game of chess but with over 6000 different pieces instead or the usual 16 per side.) All vital skills for mathematics.

Magic created by Professor Richard Garfield, a mathematician, and his Ph.D was in combinatorics. A branch of mathematics which relates to problem solving, counting methods (combinations and permutations etc), graph theory and algorithms. It is a very interesting branch of mathematics, and something which I began to have a great interest in lately. I am even thinking of doing an Honours project in this field if I am given the chance.

Although I had strayed away from God during those years, even though I nearly left the church, even though I messed with the “dark side” so to speak. God was still merciful and even when I played Magic, He used it to refine my ability in mathematics and brought me to where I am today.

My Magic years are to a large extent, one of regret. But it is an instance on God’s great mercy towards me. I have never had to ask those “what if” questions. And in fact, giving up Magic lifted a great big burden of my shoulders. I have never looked back since.

WOW!!!!

HAHA!! Been feeling a little depressed lately.. but the following sure perked me up!! :)

Did you know that the Bible contains 2 rough approximations to the number pi? (Ok, they were both talking about the same object... but hey... interesting right?!)

Both are refering to an altar (called the Sea) which was commissioned by King Solomon to be placed in the Temple of the Lord.

"Now he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and thirty cubits in circumference." - 1 Kings 7:23

"Also he made the cast metal sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was 5 cubits and its circumference thirty cubits." - 2 Chronicles 4:2

Both give 3 as an approximation to the number pi (do the math yourself, take the length of the circumference and divide it be the diameter). It is pretty good, by ancient stadards. Althought it cannot beat the approximation given by the Chinese Mathematician Tsu Ch'ung Chi which gave pi as 355/113.

But then again, The latter approximation was given only 1500 years ago and is correct to 6 digits, King Solomon's mathematicians approximation is over 4000 years old and is correct to 1 digit. Not bad... King Solomon had pretty good mathematicians! :)

Number theory is fun isn't it!

Once again, I assert that the Bible is a logically and numercially consistent book.

No More Practice

There will be no more practices till further notice for the rest of the year. I will try to squeeze at least one more meeting somewhere between now and 2005.

We all bow down

Prices and paupers
Sons and daughters
Kneel at the throne of grace
Losers and winners
Saints and Sinners
One day we'll see His face

And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
For He is the love
Unfailing love
He is the love of God

Summer and winter
Mountain and rivers
Whisper the Saviour's Name
Awesome and Holy
A friend to the lonely
Forever His l0ve will reign

He's the light of the World
And Lord of the Cross

(C) Words and Music by Lenny Leblanc

Practice on Saturday

There will be practice this saturday. 6.30pm in Aldersgate Hall.

In HIS Time

I wish I never saw you
I wish I never met you
I wish I never knew you
I wish I never fell for you

But it happened anyway
And sometimes I wish you'd go away
Instead I see you everyday
And my mind's messed up like a mountain of hay

How I wish you would not ask
About my bitter sorry past
For I long to say to you
My feelings of love so true

Wish I knew just what to say
I feel more hopeless with each passing day
How I wish you would be mine
O God, please show me the time!

"Look up, my son, and look at me
And the Bloodstained Cross of Calvary
The Bride I died for is mine yet be
Like you, I am waiting, so be like me

How I long to hold you close
Behold your beauty like a rose
The time is not right, be patient, like me
My plan for you, soon, you'll see"

My Father, forgive me for breaking Your time
For taking what's Yours and making it mine
May I always look up and see
The Son, who bled and died for me

And if the Lord above allows
We'll one day make a sacred vow
And then, I will hear you say
Your Whisper, to me, everyday

(OK, I have to admit that even my hair stood on end after reading that. But, you don't call me MUSHY-maro for a reason right?!?! And I'm a maths major not a lit major!)

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in ernest, you will find me when you seek me. I will found by you," says the Lord. - Jeremiah 29:11-14a (NLT)

How often do we get impatient for waiting for answer from the Lord. It is as though God owes us an answer, when in fact, we owe Him our LIVES! How often do we fail to wait for His timing and get impatient and do things our way, and fail.

Sometimes, we need to look up and see the Cross again. And count our blessings. The Lord told the prophet Jeremiah that He will deliver Israel from its captivity in Babylon and He kept that promise. That is the context of that verse.

In the same way, we have already been freed from our captivity to sin by the Blood of Jesus. The Lord's plan for us, is for good and not evil. But sometimes we equate the blessings that we received to material blessings, money, wealth good girl or boyfriend...

How often do we stop and think that the Lord may choose to bless us in a completely different way?
The Blessings of pain
The Blessings of suffering
The Blessings of loneliness
The Blessings of singlehood etc etc...

All this can be counted as blessings too, for our real blessings are already stored up in heaven. Let us wait on the Lord. Don't make the Lord wait on us. And let's look at the Cross and remember we have already been blessed.

To those of us who are impatient to get into a Boy-Girl Relationship. Wait on the Lord. He will reveal His plan for you in time. Take heart and know this, that the Lord has been waiting for us as well.

We, The Church, is the Bride the Christ. And He has been waiting for us for over 2000 years. Let's be lke Him, and wait patiently for His will.

Practice This week

There will be practice this week. 6.30pm in Aldersgate Hall. Jacqui will be leading.
Her songs are as follows:
1) Victory Chant
2) One Way
3) In the secret
4) Breathe
I know quite a number of you have exams and are probably grounded. If you are, please remain that way and study!!!! For the rest, I will take a break from my study on Galatians and have an extended prayer meeting instead.

An Exam Prayer

10 years ago, while I was in sec1, my Cell Group leader, Mok Pui Kay, gave me the following letter. It encouraged me a lot. May it encourage you all too in this time of exams.

A letter from Your friend... Jesus
This is your word of assurance for the examinations that lie ahead
You have many anxious moments
You have been fearful and dismayed
But hitherto have I helped you

I have not brought you this far to desert you
to leave you, to let you find your own way alone
I have begun a work of faith in you, in your life,
I have watched your progress
I have strengthened you

Thus your confidence and your courage can be quickened by this thought
I have brought you this far and I will see you through
But child, this is how you shall go forth and win the victory -
Not by your might, nor by your power but by My Spirit

You have leaned on your own understanding.
But your understanding has failed you
Therefore I will give you the Spirit of Understanding

You have applied your own wisdom
But your wisdom has not been sufficient
Therefore My Spirit of Wisdom shall rest upon you

Know this :-
That in all you set to do,
My Spirit will empower you and work a miracle for you,
And glory and honour will come to Me

Look not to your lack of wisdom,
Look not to your weakness
But look onto ME!
I remember you are dust and know you are fearful
But I have loved you with everlasting love,
I will continue My faithfulness to you.

Understand this:-
My grace is sufficient for you,
My power is perfected in your weakness,
What is done will be accomplished by the power of My Spirit in you.

You will see tremendous VICTORY wrought by MY HAND.

God Bless all of you who have exams.
Please do note that there are quite a few announcements below as well as an article. Do read once you have the time. There is also a new link. Do check it out.

FUSION 2005

IMPORTANT!!!!

On 22 January, Truthmin (TRAC Youth Ministries) will be organising a combined worship session for all the TRAC YMs as well as the schools. This is the 3rd time they will be holding it. I went down in 2003 and was greatly touched by what I experienced. Remember the song "Go Light Your World" (aka the Candle Song). That's where I learned it.

Anyway, Truthmin will be forming a COMBINED CHIOR and they are requesting support from all TRAC YMs. Those who are interested please inform me. Leave your name on the Tagboard or SMS me.

First practice will be on 13th November at Wesley Methodist Church (10am - 12pm). I know some of you have exams or won't be in Singapore, don't worry, if you are interested still tag me so I can pass your names to the organisers.