Sera speaks, "A truly godly person."

Sera is a theatre production student from La'Salle, she never fails to inspire others around her with her deep convictions and carefree expression of God's love. She's blessed with a beautiful singing voice too!

The truly godly person never forgets that he was at one time an object of God's holy and just wrath. He never forgets that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and he feels along with Paul that he is himself the worst of sinners. But then as he looks to the cross, he sees that Jesus bore his sins in His own body and that the wrath of God -- the wrath that he, a sinner, should have borne -- was expended completely and totally upon the Holy Son of God. And in this view of Calvary, he sees the love of God.

The love of God has no meaning apart from Calvary, and Calvary has no meaning apart from the holy and just wrath of God. Jesus did not die just to give us peace and a purpose in life; He died to save us from the wrath of God. He died to reconcile us to a holy God who was alienated from us because of our sin. He died to ransom us from the penalty of sin -- the punishment of everlasting destruction, shut out from the presence of the Lord. He died that we, the just objects of God's wrath, should become, by His grace, heirs of God and co-heirs with Him.

=)

Lingpin shares some thoughts

Lingpin works for the Army and is a full-time servant for God. He serves in many areas in church, including playing the drums for the church band and editing videos and taking photographs. He inspires many with his sacrificial heart.

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I posted anything.. I guess work has a way of catching up on you when you least expect it or want it.

I think in recent months it's been quite the rollercoaster ride for all of us. Of course the event that hit us most was the loss of our dear friend David. Now that the dust has settled, I felt that it's time to wipe of the dust and sweat and blood and let the emotions come out. It's time to sort out the emotion thing, so bear with me.

I certainly have felt the loss and the exasperation and frustration of not being able to physically do anything for David. Among the brothers we secretly felt the helplessness of getting front seats to the greatest tragedy playing out before our eyes. Oh yes I have felt helpless and felt the pain. But we bravely decided we had to carry on. The campus guys are a great bunch.

At some point in time i decided that i just had to numb the pain and go on doing the right thing, even ifit meant distancing myself from this whole thing. I felt that I had to take care of everyone else before sorting myself out, just to keep everything stable. Once the dust had settled it would be safe for me to come out of my protective shell again.

The best I could do was to make sure the special service went great, made sure the video was encouraging, make sure the songs would do justice to his favourite kingdom songs, make sure the flow of the service went well and that he could see what went on. Then when it happened I just had to grit my teeth and make sure the whole service was done with the greatest care and respect to the family. I made sure we organised the pall bearers and made sure that if I couldnt say anything to him then I should at least carry him and send him off. And to top it off I had the task of reliving every single moment when I edited the wake video for David's family. Oh I made sure that everything went just fine.

Now I just have to make sure that everything is fine with... me. Maybe shed a tear or two just to make sure.

I thought about my motivation to do all this. Is it glory that i want? Praise from Man? "Oh ling pin you have done so much and you should let people know!" Is it affirmation? I thought long and hard before I plunged into this difficult task of serving the family with all my heart. I promised myself that I shall love as Jesus loved, serve as Jesus served, and live as Jesus lived.

And really that was what I needed to weather the storm. How would i deal with personal tragedy and live to tell the tale? How would I find the stomach to grit my teeth and bear with the pain and still decide to do the right thing? How would I find the will to push my emotions aside and serve with all my heart?

I had no choice.

I just had to rely on Jesus for strength and courage... and love. In a time when everyone is in need of love, who will give it? In a time when I also need love, who will give me love? Who will be my friend? I had no choice but to rely on God more and more each day. That is the valuable gift that this whole thing has given to me and God has strange and mysterious ways to tell people things.

I will lament the passing of David, but I will cherish his memory, and the final gift that he gave to me. Am I ok? I guess I will be fine after a while. Now if only I would unclench my fist from the shovel and stopworking for a while and let God take more control of my life...

But you know what, melancholic-cholerics are all like that....:)

love you lots,

Ling Pin.

Wilfred speaks: "He ain't heavy, He's our brother."

During one of the hangouts of our small group, the
Awesome 5 (Lubin, Kelvin, Shawn, David and I), we
found ourselves discussing about our funerals. It may
seem odd for a bunch of young men to be discussing
this but for some reason we did and along the way we
made a pact - that since there's five of us, the first
one to depart would be carried by the remaining 4.

That pact was realized last Monday when a few brothers and I were pallbearers at David's funeral.

The thought of organizing the pall bearing was something that weighed heavily on my mind but I had no time to address it until after the second service on Sunday. I hesitated stepping forward to ask but as Kelvin put it best, there won't be another time.

I was glad that David's Dad was open to my suggestion and quickly gathered a group of brothers for the task- Ling Pin, Anthony, Andrew, Shawn and Kelvin. I really appreciate them for serving especially at such late notice. I knew for certain had Lubin been back in Singapore, he would've been there with us.

As did the Church say to David during the appreciation service, from 1 Thessalonians 5:13, 'We hold you inthe highest regard', so did the pallbearers expressthat by bearing the coffin on our shoulders. It was an honor to be carrying a hero on ourshoulders; one who has had tremendous impact on thepeople around him. As I look back on that last act of service we performed for our dear brother, the lyrics of that 60 shit by The Hollies, He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother comes to mind.

The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows where

But I'm strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

So on we go
His welfare is of my concern
No burden is he, to bear
We'll get there

For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother

If I'm laden at all
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another

It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on our way to there
Why not share
And the load

Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

The path leading to the hearse did seem long, but it was over too quickly. I knew my prayers for the six of us to be strong and stedfast were answered as we complete that final act of service. And no the load didn't weigh us down at all for He Ain't Heavy, He's Our Brother.

Love Wilfred

Sera speaks: "Total Responsibility and Total Dependence."

Sera is a theatre production student from La'Salle, she never fails to inspire others around her with her deep convictions and carefree expression of God's love. She's blessed with a beautiful singing voice too!

Though the power for Christlike character comes from Christ, the responsibility for developing and displaying that character is ours.

Philipians 2:12-13

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.

It is us who are called to self-activity, to have active pursuit of the will of God, to promote our spiritual life in himself, to realize the virtues of the Christian life, and to personally apply to salvation. =)

If this was all that was asked of us, we'd be left to our own devices, to our own strength of character and our own willpower.

But Paul does not stop with just our responsibility, he says, "For it is God who works in you."

The spiritual power that enables us to apply ourselves to the cultivation of Christian graces is of God. He works in us so that we can will and act upon it.

Dutch reformed pastor George W. Bethune quotes:

"While, therefore, we grow in the Christian life by divine grace, it is our duty to grow in grace. Besides, the quality of grace is such that, though it is strength from God, we must use it. Grace gives no new faculty, but strengthens the faculties which we have... hence the fruits of the spirit are the qualities and actions of the renewed man, not produced without him, but wrought through him... Let us then be ever mindful of our entire dependence upon the spirit of God... [but] let us be ever mindfu of our duty to maintain good works."

The fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5 are commands addressed to our responsibility. We are to have those traits because God has already given us the power to attain them. =)

With Philippians 3:12-14, we learn that there's a need to press on and strain forward. Paul even tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7 to train himself to be godly. =)

With God's power, we're to use it to develop our characters so that we can display them to please God. No wait for His power to work its way into our hearts. =)

Love you guys....