Bernard speaks: "The Poor Widow"

Dear Bros and Sisters,

I am really glad that we are having this church wide simultaneous bible study. Knowing that there are other disciples who are reading at the same pace as I am encourages me to do my quiet time everyday.

Just want to share an insight about the poor widow who put in two small copper coins in the temple treasury.

The Widow's Offering
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

(Luke 20: 1-4)

Before, everytime I read this passage I always imagined that Jesus wants me to give more monetary contributions to the Church. But after being a Christian in our Church and being inspired at how insightful other Christians are when they read the Bible, I realize that there is more to this story than Jesus wanting more out of our pockets.

Certainly God appreciates a giving heart that does not hold back. To Jesus, the poor widow who gave her everything has definitely given more than the rich people who only gave part of what they can truly offer. To delve a bit deeper, I asked myself what does it mean to be a widow in those days?

In 1 Timothy 5:5 Paul says "The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help." For someone to pray night and day to ask God for help sounds pretty desperate to me. And Luke says that the woman who gave the only money she had is a poor widow- being a woman in those days she probably had no work, maybe no relatives to look after her, could possibly resign herself to begging in the streets, and most definitely had no resources or property. And yet she gave all that she had and did not hold back.

Luke 21:1-4 however does not denounce the rich people who gave what what is due of them. But it certainly gives a contrast between a person who gives more than what is expected (the poor widow) and those who just gives what is required of them (rich people). This passage encourages me to give more than what is required of me. Not just monetary but in every endeavour I do for the Lord. Like by serving Him, instead of just doing what is expected of me, I should cheerfully do more by giving my time and putting in more effort. In Jesus' standards, it is simply not enough that we just fulfill our responsibilities, but we should make it a point to bring things higher and do more for the Lord.

In Church I see alot of Christians doing this. Those who use their precious time and energy to give more to God. There are the leaders, the choir singers, the ushers, those who prepare communion every Sunday morning, the disciples at Kid's Kingdom, etc. These are people who go the extra mile to serve our one true Master and Lord and Father. And I am confident that Jesus Christ is very pleased by the acts of sacrifice these people make.

God bless you all!

Love,

Bernz

Marilyn speaks: "It's not the man"

Amen, Jer! Your email sharings are not just encouraging, but very insightful as well. Also you write in a conversational way which warms my heart, it's like i can imagine you talking to all of us in a bibletalk setting or morning devo. :)

Just some background info about the 12 apostles that Jesus had picked out... have you ever wondered why twelve? Why not eight? Or twenty? Like what Jer shared, why not every single person in the crowd then?

The number twelve is filled with symbolic importance. There were twelve tribes in Israel. And the religion of Judaism of Jesus' time represented a corruption of faith of the Old Testament. Israel had abandoned God's grace in favor of 'doing good works'. Their religion was legalistic, filled with hypocrisy, self-righteous works, man-made regulations and meaningless rituals. Therefore, in choosing 12 apostles, God was in fact appointing new leadership for the new covenant, judgement against the 12 tribes of Old Testament Israel.

None of the 12 apostles Jesus chose were from any religious background. They were common men, fishermen, tax-collecters etc. They were like us. In this world, there are no intrinsically qualified people. God Himself must save sinners, sanctify them, and then transform them from the unqualified into instruments He can use. Just like the 12 disciples...because of them, 2000 years later, millions of people know God! Sometimes, Satan will attempt to convince us that our weaknesses render us useless to God and His church. But God chooses the humble, the lowly and the weak so that there's never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world.

It's not the man, it's the power of God in the man.

Dear lambs, let's be cranking the ministry and save at least 2 men and 2 women this semester :)

Jeremy speaks, "Heart of an intercessor."

Jeremy is our brother, full of joy and inspiration. He brings smiles to everyone's faces and glory to God with his excitement for His word.

Hi campus,

it's really nice to see emails flying here and there. :)

anywayz today wanna share something after reading from mark 1-2 and Eze 22:30

As i was reading mark 1-2, i notice something. well, Jesus was preaching the gospel to the people and i noticed that a large
crowd followed Him.
Hmmm.. now... why did they follow Jesus? there maybe many reasons, they could probably be
- curious
- since they were there, might as well follow and listen and see if Jesus was really as great as what others proclaim Him
to be
- really believed that He is the Son of God
and the list goes on.

well, i was wondering, why is it that Jesus did not appoint all these people as apostles, imagine there wil be thousands of people.
Spreading the word can never be easier right?
But...
Maybe Jesus saw through them and knew that though there were numbers right before His eyes, but none was ready.

Eze 22:30 - "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on the behalf of the land
so i would not have to destroy it, but i found none."
Perhaps, Jesus was finding someone with the Heart of an Intercessor.

An intercessor is defined as a link between 2 parties. God will look into our heart and choose us. We may not volunteer to be
an intercessor, God will choose us. He will enlist us into His army of intercessor. As a disciple, being called by Him to the kingdom,
we ought to intercede for the lost.
Thinking back, before we got baptised, many pray for us, interceding for us, willing to stand between God and man.
so we should pass it on, right?

So how to intercede? well, i am no expert but the following are my personal opinion:-
- (in conjunction to today's devotional) we evangelise, but we must be sure what is our intention. we should evangelise with love and plant the seed of faith,
God will sprout it, well, we interceded by planting/sowing the seed, making the 1st move.
- We pray, but we stripped away all our status and all earthly authority before Him. Humbly asking for the salvation of
people ard us. Have faith and believe.
- We intercede, because we want to imitate God, imitate His love.

Lastly, "if we truly have God's love within us, we will feel compelled to plead with God on behalf of those who face His imminent judgement"
(taken from Experiencing God Day-by-Day by Henry T.Blackaby & Richard Blackaby)

Happy reading. Yawnzzz gonna sleep. lolx.
Take Care

Love
Jeremy

Victoria speaks, "Healing fo the deaf and mute man."

Victoria, a fresh psychology grad from NUS, is a full-time teacher in a secondary school. She enjoys cooking and that makes many of us in Campus very happy indeed!

Actually,

I think it's not exactly strange that Jesus brought the man away from the crowd. Jesus did that again in Mark 8. He's not someone who wanted to incite the crowd into excited frenzy due to his miracles. He wants people to listen but so the miracles are more to show that he's the Son of God rather than a publicity hype. I am not sure about his actions part but I read somewhere that Jesus might have put his fingers into the man's ears to demonstrate how he wanted people to listen as one of Jesus's greatest challenge was to get the people to listen to the right message.

(Quite similar to what we see now as well: Are we listening to the right message? Are we responding to the call of the Bible or to the call of the world?)

I do am curious about why Jesus used spit though. It's something rather rare. Is it some property of spit? Or is Jesus trying to say something as well?

Hmmm... anyone?

Wei Lin from the East speaks, "Thoughts on God's divine nature -- perfectly just, loving unconditionally."

Dear all bros & sis,

Coincidentally, my bible talk berean group was also doing a study on Matt 20. So, tot of sharing our insights with you all. We did our discussion based on the theme, Jesus as the servant.

Let's grow deeper in our love for god and his words this year as we embark on our journey of NT readings. :)

love,
weilin

Matthew 20: 1-16 – Parable of the vineyard workers

God is humble to invite outsiders to His kingdom. God is in fact doing the workers a favour by employing them; as the workers are all idling. Even though it is a losing business for the vineyard owner, he accepts all the idle workers; jus like how god accepts us through grace.

God is generous to give every sinner equal amount of grace and is impartial by not showing favouritism to anyone who enters His kingdom earlier than the rest.

Do our best to serve even though every follower will still receive the same reward from God himself at the end of the day.

The workers who started work earlier; they complained when they only received a denarius; the same amount as the workers who started work later. They feel that they deserved more than a denarius since they put in more hours of work. The workers who complained had a worldly mindset about servant hood. They forgot that it was the vineyard owner who first gave them a job when they were idling.

Do we have a worldly mindset about servant hood? Do we look at other Christians and compare how much we serve and how much we gained?

We need to remind ourselves that we serve because god chose us and gave us salvation first even before we started doing anything for him.

Matthew 20: 24-28 – Being a slave for god

As slaves, when we have victories, the credit is to the master. Sometimes, in the world when we have victories, we claim the credit for ourselves and we built on our reputation in the world. Serve with an attitude without claiming any credit and recognition.

As slaves, we do not have anything, there are no possessions owned by the slaves. They are fully under the control of the master; and submit to the master in obedience. Be grateful to God as a Master who is still willing to provide my needs even when I am His slave.

We are either slaves to sins or slaves to God. Make a stand to choose to be God’s slave to righteousness, letting Him take total control of my life.

Are we being slaves to God or other things in our lives?

Andrew speaks: "Men and Women of Teachable Hearts."

Dear bro and sisters,

I'm convicted by the fact that God wants us to share our learnings in order that we may grow as a body in Christ. God wants us to be the light of the world. He doesn't put the light in us so that we may hide under a bowl or our bed. Hence let us lead a radiant life as a disciple, glorifying Him in every single way possible.

Recently i've attended a seminar on asking good questions. A good question sounds like this:
1)Is most of our convictions from God? If they are from God, did we get them just from the bible?
2)Is our God-based convictions always applicable in every situation?

As i read Mark 2:23-28 i saw how strongly the Pharisees held on to their 'convictions'. They were a devout sect of Jews that abides the Mosaic Law whole-heartedly and in its entirety. What started out to be God-fearing 'convictions' drifted over time, diluted as it passes down from generation to generation.

Sometimes i find myself so used to doing things in a certain way that i no longer question what are my motivations are. I just do them in a mechanical fashion without much thinking. Do we review and reflect our convictions when other disciples gave us input or do we simply brush them aside because our convictions became the 'untouchables' in our lives. Be mindful that not all convictions are not necessary from God. There are good convictions and not so good convictions and there are cut-and-paste convictions used in a unsuitable situation because the circumstances are different.

Jesus asked the Pharisees in Mark 3:4 whether it is lawful to save a life or to do evil on sabbath. The Pharisees could not answer because clear cut black and white area became a 'grey' area for them. Jesus got angry with them because of their stubborn hearts that refuses to unlearn and re-learn the correct convictions. He was hurt because he saw how much man's heart has drifted from fervor and zeal to indifference.

Some points to ponder:
1)Do i have any not-so-good convictions that i'm not humble to unlearn and re-learn?
2)Have i tried to look at the circumstances before doing a cut-and-paste of other's convictions in my situation?
3)Do i share with people my convictions or the values/reasons behind those convictions?

Three things i've learnt: Question my motivations, Validate the situation, Re-learn the convictions

If we do these, we'll be able to have that teachable heart to allow us to respond humbly whenever we stand corrected by God's Word or by his people.

Love ya all
andrew

Victoria speaks: "Jesus' Last Words."

Victoria, a fresh psychology grad from NUS, is a full-time teacher in a secondary school. She enjoys cooking and that makes many of us in Campus very happy indeed!

Hi everyone!

Am now sitting on a bench at NTU waiting for some campus brothers and sisters to turn out before we do some evangelism. I am also meeting a friend for dinner after my project meeting as well. Thank you God for allowing me to be a student for a year again! It's AWESOME to be a student but also very GRATIFYING to be a single as well. Amen? Amen. haha, hope u all 'miss' my rambling to myself.

I will just like to share abt what I learnt from Jesus's last words in Luke 23. Today, my key verse was to meditate on verse 34. Have you ever wondered why Jesus said those last words? Why did he choose to phrase the words as it is? It was his last few moments and he only uttered words seven times (Luke only recorded 3 statements he said when he was on the cross). Taking my Literature lesson to heart, I wrote the verse in a HUGE font. It's something like this:


Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing

So what did I learn abt the meaning of this verse?
- Jesus was interceding on the people's behalf to ask God to forgive them
- The people were ignorant of that they were carrying out the prophecies written in OT. (Isaiah 53:3-12)
- Jesus did not say this prayer just once.


Then I asked myself the question: why did Jesus ask God to forgive the sins of the masses? In Matthew 9:2, he told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Why did he not do the same thing now?

Because he's taking the sins of the humans... he's becoming one of us. He's offering himself as a offering to atone for the sins of you and me. Imagine the mighty judge now being wrongly judged so that the wrong can walk free. Very unfair right? It made me think abt how I often catch myself complaining abt how life is so unfair... Jesus's death illustrates the need for us not to hunger for justice but to be merciful. There will always be injustices in the world but hope and mercy made life on earth more bearable.

The whole statement above is in present tense. The people were ignorant that they were killing the Lord. " While they didn't know, they should have known. The prophecies were numerous and very clear. His teachings were profound and filled with wisdom and authority. His miracles should have convinced them. His perfect life and love should have removed all doubt about His identity. There was no excuse for their ignorance." (quote from a website) I can replace 'them', 'they' with my name and it will be a prayer for mercy on my behalf. Before I was a Christian, I was ignorant of the meaning of Jesus's death on the cross for me. Til now, I am still ignorant of the ACTUAL hurt that I am causing God and Jesus everyday with my sins. As humans, we will never fully comprehend God's love for us. We have the Bible aka God's Word with us. Yet everyday, we struggle to love. We struggle to forgive. We struggle to put God in the first place. We get distracted. We get discouraged. We get burnt out. We feel that God has forsaken us when we are the ones who have forsaken him. God knows we are responsible for our sins and what will befall us BUT He still forgives us.

He doesn't just forgive once when we are baptized. It made me think abt my heart to love and forgive. In order to forgive us, Jesus paid a very very painful price. He gave up everything for us. So what's the meaning of forgiveness? The word "forgive" is borrowed from the world of commerce and banking. "It means to cancel a debt or to pardon a loan.To forgive is to cancel the debt of someone so that they never have to pay us back for what they've done to us. It's to give grace to someone who doesn't deserve it. If we choose to not forgive we can end up letting our anger and resentment metastasize into bitterness." (quote from website) So have I put down my bitterness? If Jesus laid down his life to forgive, can't we lay down our bitterness towards others? Can't we lay down our insecurities towards ourselves? Let's write down what we struggle to forgive and ask someone to help us. Let's be VULNERABLE so that we can grow to be even more Christ-like. :)


Love, Victoria

Sera speaks: "It's not how big our faith is."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

Dearest All,

todays quiet time was really insightful and also a tear-jerker for me... Hee hee

Lemme share!

Matthew 17:20

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Can we really move mountains?

Jesus was talking in the shadow of the Mount of Transfiguration, he might have gestured to it as he spoke. The Jews knew the phrase 'to move mountains' as a metaphor, just like when we say we have a mountain of work. When the impossible comes near to us, we need to come to God in faith and ask him to remove that mountain.

Many times in the Gospels Jesus indicates that someone's faith has healed them.

From verses 14 - 20, it talks about the demon possessed boy's father. He admitted that there was unbelief mixed with his faith, and still, his son was healed. Why??? Because even with his so-so faith, he connected with Jesus, the Source of Power.

Jesus reminds us that it's not how big our faith is but how big our God is. The smallest faith, even tinged with doubt, can open the door for great miracles, as long as it is humbly presented before our almighty God. It may sound oh so easy when Jesus said with our mustard seed faith we could move mountains.

That's the mystery of faith and the paradox of prayer. Praying in faith is both easy and hard. It's easy because we now have access to the father.

"For through Him we have access to the Father by one Spirit."

Eph 2:18

It's hard because we struggle against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

"For our struggle is not agains flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Eph 6:12

It's about knowing how big our God is. He moves the mountain. We just call out humbly.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast."

Eph 2:8-9

Amen!

Have a great start to the day Brothers and Sisters!

Love you all dearly

Sera

Sera speaks: "A triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

Something I want to share that I'm truly convicted by. Really made me think about my 'partnerships' in the campus ministry.

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Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour. If they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up."

There is a need for us to be there for one another when the load is too heavy. We've got to carry each other's burdens. As a ministry, we're the body of christ and we work together with our strengths to complement each other. Everyone plays a part in strengthening each one.

When one member is struggling and feels a need for help, we should give readily to their needs. No matter how strong they can be. Even the strongest can feel burdened.

Let's lift one another up and be there for each in good times, ok times and bad times.

This is a battle that will never end until we see God behind heaven's gates. Let's keep fighting for each other.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Amen Brothers and Sisters,

I love you all dearly,

Sera

Sera speaks: "Wasn't that awesome?!?!?!?!"

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

Hey campus!

We really had a great weekend didn't we?

Amazing lessons for the brothers and the sisters on saturday afternoon. Encouraging and also cut to the heart!

I really felt the lesson on saturday night was so simple and yet so amazing and heartfelt! Truly our treasures are in heaven, just like what Marilyn has share in our previous post.

What's our ATM??? Let's all be really thinking about the lessons and putting them into practice! I really felt very moved by Dennis' sharing on saturday night. It was different from what we normally would do, sometimes I really feel like during the services people just write notes then go home to meditate on what was preached. But Dennis made us pray about it right there! He gave us time to think about right there when it is still fresh in our minds.

Do we still think about lessons shared when it is still fresh in our minds? Are we urgent enough to not want to lose the essence of the lesson? =)

Let's all be sharing with one another what has impacted us the most about the weekend. Let's be wanting to share insights to build one another up in the Lord!

You guys are amazing and a wonderful family to me! Love you all dearly!

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I want to now officially welcome our new campus shirt!!! Yayeeeeeee!!!!!

I want people who read the blog to know about the shirt that represents who we are!

Version 2.0 of our campus shirt! "The armour of God!"

This verse was chosen by Poernomo. We want to shine in all our strengths so we can be the light to lead many to righteousness! =)

I present you the Campus Ministry of the Central Christian Church. We seek wisdom to inspire many to lead a Godly life. Many young lives have been changed and many spiritual leaders are born!

Amen!!

Marilyn speaks: "Treasures in Heaven."

Dear lambs in green,

I feel very inspired by the weekend with the Williams and the couple whose surname i've forgotten haha. It has been a fruitful workshop and i'm so encouraged that we have so many friends today to hear God's word with us. I was convicted by the humility of Dennis and Karla on Saturday when they gave God and the Williams the honour of their rags-to-riches testimony.



Here are some thoughts i'd like to share.

When i was studying in acjc, everyone around me lived in mansions or condos, my classmates /schmates /cca mates were sons and daughters of very affluent families - families who owned huge organisations or shopping malls like Paragon and Millenium Walk, ministers and foreign ambassadors and so on. They lived in Sixth Avenue and were chauffered to school, i was a heartlands girl and my dad gives me a lift in his taxi. Though i'm a simple girl living in a small flat, opulence and wealth do not faze me. A life of glitz is enviable to some, but it was nondescript to me. Show me small luxuries and i will gawk and appreciate. Show me simple pleasures, a good book, good music and exciting fellowship and i will be delighted.

Admittedly there was once or twice in my 2 years there that i wished i had a little more, or that i didn't have to work and study at the same time, but i was NEVER ashamed of my humble background. My parents loved me and worked their fingers to the bone to send me to university and sponsored my trips to China and Vancouver. We lived simply and thus my parents never or had very very little conflicts about finances - something that seems to be tearing marriages apart in Singapore lately. While my wealthy schoolmates had the latest cell phones and a credit card, i had home-cooked food everyday. For the many intangible things that my parents gave to me, i believe God really blessed me tremendously.

On a side note, i always think that the best parents are not the ones that fawn and splurge on you when you bring back straight As or a shiny trophy. The best parents are the ones that who keep the childish comics you've penciled, the unintelligble drawings you've scrawn, the lopsided paper cranes you've folded out of 80cents coloured paper. The best parents are the ones who appreciate every single thing you've done, big or small, nothing is too insignificant for them to be proud of.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:18-21

Sometimes you can tell what a person is like by the possessions they hold on to.

To store up treasures on earth is to set our heart on earthly things. It is difficult, even impossible, to desire the return of our Lord when we have made all of our investments in earthly things. Not only this but we also tend to put our trust, our confidence and hope in our investments. The great difficulty of the rich is that they are deceived into fixing their hope on the uncertainty of riches. Jesus is not telling us that it is wrong to have material possessions, but with material possessions comes responsibility as well; not that we are forbidden to enjoy many of life’s pleasures, but that we view them as temporary and, in the long term, unsatisfying compared to the riches God prepared for us.

Amen, have a great week ahead all :)

Alfred speaks: "A Sick Woman & Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute."

Alfred is our very cheerful, zealous and fired up brother. He loves children and is always inspiring others with his soft heart towards the word of God.

Matthew 9: 18 – 34

1) Believe in others

From the passage, the bible said that the dead girl’s father was a ruler. Though the father was someone with high status, he humbled himself and knelt before Jesus for help. He believed that Jesus can save his daughter. It was her father’s faith that saved the daughter. It was her father’s faith that made him approach Jesus. In verse 24, when Jesus said that the girl was not dead but asleep, the people were laughing at him. If the father had the same belief like the rest of the people, her daughter wouldn’t be saved. The daughter was saved because her father believed in others.

2) Believe in ourselves

When Jesus cured the sick woman who had bleed for twelve years, Jesus said to her…
Vs 22: "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you."

When the two blind men begged Jesus for cure, Jesus touched their eyes and said…
Vs 29: "According to your faith will it be done to you";

Jesus kept mentioning them that it was their faith that healed them. Jesus sees that great value in everyone’s life and wants us to believe that we can make a difference. When Jesus saw the life of the sick woman and the blind men, Jesus believed that they too can make a difference. They were cured because they believed in themselves.

3) Jesus Believe in us

I was touched when I read the account of Jesus healing the demon possessed. It reminds me that whatever bad state that I am in, Jesus still believes in me and still loves me. The demon possessed man was cured because Jesus believed in him.

Let’s us keep believing in others, believing in ourselves and keep reminding ourselves that Jesus always believe in us.

Love you deeply,
Alfred

Sera responds to "Faith of a Centurion" by Alfred

I really love the point on The Humility of the Centurion. About knowing his place before God.
I feel like in some ways we have forgotten our places before God. Who we are compared to Him.

We are UNWORTHY!

Unworthy to have him love us, unworthy to have him let His son die for us.

Who are we??

The more we need to be grateful because we are nothing but God thinks of us as perfect and he wants to love us. =)

Amen!
Thanks Alfred!

Sera speaks: "Biblical Judgements."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

Hey Lovelies!

Been feeling a little dry with the reading. I think my mind's not in the right place.

But! Do not fret! hee hee

I took a look at Doug J's website and read his insight on Matthew 7.

Woah!! CHEEMALOGY!! (singapore slang for really difficult to understand)

But after reading through again and again and also reading verse references he gave, I got a better idea of what he was saying. =)

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In verses 1 & 2 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

A lot of times I tend to see it has judging a person. Do not judge people or I will be judged by them. I never really took deep consideration of the overall meaning of judgement.

Judgement of the Scriptures

I find myself picking and choosing what I feel is right for me. And those scriptures that aren't right, I never consider them to be right for me in another situation.

Question posted by DJ for us to think about:
Does the fact that some sections of the Bible are especially "important" make me less motivated to study the sections I perceive to be less valuable? Or do I truly believe that all scripture is "inspired... and useful" (2 Timothy 3:16)?

Do I make judgement on what is valuable or not?

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

2 Timothy 3:16-17

This really applies to me because, not only do I make judgement, I don't make use of the opportunity to be humble an read the bible when it is right there infront of me. =)

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Hope this has inspired you as much as it has for me.

Let's take reading the New Testament together seriously.

Love you all dearly =)

Sera

Fierce Insights from DJ

hey guys,

for really FIERCE and IN-DEPTH studies for matthew, please check out douglas jacoby's website to get even deeper insight beyond what we normally see at http://www.douglasjacoby.com/

he is also at matthew and we can read it if we dontreally have insights on some days....:)

love you lots,

ling pin

Alfred speaks: "Faith of a Centurion."

Alfred is our very cheerful, zealous and fired up brother. He loves children and is always inspiring others with his soft heart towards the word of God.

The Faith of the Centurion (Matthew 8: 5 – 13)

A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Most centurions commanded a century (centuria) of 80 men, but senior centurions commanded cohorts, or took senior staff roles in their legion.
(Definition from Wikipedia)

1) The Love of the Centurion

The centurion cared about his servant so much that he went to find Jesus personally. The centurion could have given the servant a sum of money and find a cure for himself. But he didn’t. The centurion cared about his servant that he wanted to find a cure for him. In spite of his busy schedule, the centurion had time to care his people under him.

2) The Humility of the Centurion

Vs 8: "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof."

The centurion approached Jesus with Great Humility. He probably understood that it was unclean for Jews to enter a Pagan house. He was making no demands and he knew his place before God.

There is an interesting contrast between the testimonials of the Teachers of the Law and the centurion. The teacher of the Law say, “I am worthy….” But for the centurion, he said, “I am not worthy.” In the centurion’s heart, he felt that he don’t deserve God’s blessing. Let us imitate the centurion’s attitude of receiving God’s blessing with humility and gratefulness.

3) The Faith of the Centurion

The centurion’s faith impressed Jesus. It was the only time in the bible where Jesus cured someone without being physically there. I am amazed of what God can do when we have great faith in him. From my QT today, I learn about the centurion faith. In my daily life, I will strive to have that great faith which impresses the Lord.

Love you deeply,
Alfred

Poernomo speaks: "We serve a purpose."

Poernomo, a PHD student in chemical engineering from NTU, is a delightful person who inspires all of us with his awe and amazement for God's creations.

Hi all,

Thanks to Jeremy, Sera, Andrew, LP for all your encouraging sharings. Have been a quiet reader these days as I've been fighting fire here at school, yet no my own fire =(
Anyway, only got a chance to do my quiet time at night, but I'm glad I don't fall asleep before finishing it =)

Want to share something from Matthew 1, about the genealogy of Jesus. It always attracts me what insights I can get deeper. After several times reading it, it becomes more obvious to me about God's very own heart towards mankinds.

First, God shows how humble is Himself. This what makes him stand out among other "gods". He purposefully involves us, the sinful humans to fulfill His salvation plan. He is willing to let His Son born from the lineage of sinners, throwing aside His glory and might, to be a little infant, after passing through so many generation.

When I see how many people from very different background and characters that God has chosen to be media for His salvation plan, I am just blown away. He involves a prostitute, wicked kings, timid people, doubter, and even just ordinary people just like me. God trully can makes things possible. What the world sees as foolish, evil, weak, God can make something good, special and glorious out of it.

By reading this passage, there is trully no reason for us not being able to be used by God. Then from this evidence, God undoubtedly has the supremacy over everything; He turns things up side down.

So when I think about my life here, I'm sure God is working something great through me, though I may not see it in my life time, I believe, I will contribute something to His plan. And this is supposed not only to make me grateful and proud to be His child but also reminded of how I should always live according to His command, for we serve a purpose.

Love,
Poernomo

Lingpin speaks: "Beatittudes."

Lingpin 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.

Something interesting from wikipedia

The Beatitudes:

The blessed nature that these characteristics endow is not meant to be considered from a worldly perspective, but from a psychological perspective.

The word traditionally translated into English as"blessed" or "happy" is in the Greek original. A more literal translation into contemporary English may be "possessing an inward contentedness and joy that is not affected by the physical circumstances".

The Beatitudes imply that people not normally considered blessed on Earth are in fact blessed by God/Reality and will experience the Kingdom of Heaven.

In other words, its the secret to true, eternal, happiness. Its the gateway to heaven.

But thats almost shocking because the world teaches us the exact opposite. And it seems that was Jesus' intent when he taught this, because he wanted to he wanted to shock people out of their worldliness and love of this world. How are we going to stomach this gut-turning way of changing our perspective of this world? I think it just underscores the difficulties of being a disciple in our world... yet there is light atthe end of the tunnel. Endure!

Attached is a picture of the Church of the Beatitudes on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee in Israel.The traditional spot where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.

But you know what, tradition tends to be fuzzy...

But still.... cool hor?

love you lots

ling pin

Jeremy speaks: "Heart of a volunteer."

Jeremy is our brother, full of joy and inspiration. He brings smiles to everyone's faces and glory to God with his excitement for His word.

Hi all,

How's ur day? Well, I just finish a lesson. lolx. 1st week of school was not too bad. hope u all have fun in school/work. :)

anywayz was reading mattew5-6 and today i wanna share some thoughts of what have inspired me.

i focused more on chapter 5 v13-16

i just got very interested abt the word salt and light. well, have u ever pick out a single grain of salt and taste it? is it salty enough to have arouse ur attention that salt is salty? do u ever single out a ray of light to measure its brightness?

well, i believe most of us wont.

as in i feel that light are bright, because collectively all the rays are bright. in the same way, i feel that salt is salty because collectively all the grains in a teaspoonful of salt is salty.

i just focused christian as the salt/light. well, it's easy enough for a person to shine. like people will say that christian A is holy,

just, righteous etc. they may have good impression abt christians. but then if that's the case, why do some pple shun away from us when we ask/invite them to church? since they are supposed to be together with a bunch of righteous pple, holy and innocent?

becos if only a few pple shine, it's not enough. just like in a teaspoonful of salt, only a handful are salty, it's not enough.

thus i feel that in order to shine and be 'salty' as a christian, as a whole we have to be salty and bright together. then can we be awesome!

so now the qns is how to be awesome?

then i was reading psalm 110:3 and the book that i'm reading says something abt volunteer. and thus i focus on the heart of volunteers. Thinking back from experience, for me i've been to the orphanage in batam and the hope for senior event. well, i feel we can be considered a volunteer. i feel that volunteers are a bunch of pple who serve, give, love out of their free will.

Serve - Serve the pple willingly, imitating the humility of Jesus, remembering the time He lowered himself from a God to being a human just like us.

Give - Give the pple from the bottom of the heart, imitating the grace of God.

Love - Love the pple with a true heart, imitating the unconditional love of God.

Then wat do volunteers gain in return? well, i feel that volunteers gain satisfaction after serving, giving and loving. But then more importantly we gain the satisfaction of God. He will be pleased. Because we showed His love through our acts to others, thus shining as a light and salt to people around us.

in conclusion

Let's have the heart of a volunteer

Serve from the bottom of our heart

Give with a graceful heart (not beautiful but with a heart full of grace)

Love with a true heart.

Let's be motivating each other to be a salt and light of this Earth

Happy reading

Hope u all have fun this week.

Love

Jeremy

Andrew speaks: Thoughts on God's divine nature - perfectly just, loving unconditional.

Dear bros and sisters,

It's been a great start to the year 2008. Hope I'm not too late to share something from my time with God. The common quiet time has helped me to really focus on my quiet time, knowing that about 900++ disciples are doing it together, i can't help but feel it's so unifying and encouraging. (There's no way I'm gonna be left out :P ) Hasn't been writing down my thoughts on email for a long while but the campus really inspired me to get my engine going again.

Just wanna share some things that convicted me yesterday. I was reading from Matt 20 about the parable of the vineyard workers. All this while when i read this chapter i would focus on the attitudes and reaction from the workers. Yesterday i decided to dig deeper and see what i can find from the other character - owner of the estate instead.

As we all can guess the owner would most likely be God himself, he owns the vineyard, a moral/spiritual vineyard. As i read I've noticed that the owner went out early in the morning and hired idle men to come into his moral vineyard to do some productive work. He went out for a total of four times and three hours apart each time just to see if anyone would be interested to work. Why would God do something like that? It was not logical and in business sense totally crazy.

Another interesting fact I've picked up in the passage, the owner's concern was not his vineyard but the people at the marketplace. He would hire anyone who would be willing to work and he made sure that he go to the marketplace often enough to not miss anybody. I'm sure nobody does that nowadays.

A question floated into my mind - did the owner really needed the additional help? It seems to me that he was actually doing the men at the marketplace a favor by hiring them. I saw God's unconditional love in how he tirelessly reaches out to each and every one of us. He planned friends and relatives during the course of our lives to talk to us about him, he puts strangers along out paths to evangelise to us. He wants us to do productive work and get trained up instead of lazing around at the marketplace(world). He promises us a day's pay when we are done and it doesn't matter at which part of the day(our lives) we chose to respond. For disciples, this passage can be applied to certain areas of our lives that have slackened. We are lazing around, allowing the world to dominate in that area of our lives. Is God calling you to work? Is he prompting you to come into his moral vineyard/spiritual vineyard to get trained up?

At the end of the day God paid the last workers who came in first. It was because they were the most humble and grateful of all those who worked. Remember the gratitude and humility we had when we just got baptised! We have not done much, Jesus did the most and we are not worthy. God looks at our heart. Those who were there since the morning felt taken advantage of. They cannot believe that God is so unfair to pay the same salary to people who did so little work and those who did so much. We would only see it when we are those who felt we have done more and others have done less. Instead of focusing on our rewards, we should be thankful that God keeps his word. all the promises in the bible is 100% trustworthy. He does not change his standards, not for you, not for me.

Have a great day!

Love Andrew

Sera speaks: "What do we do with an open door."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

How have we all been? It's already the 2nd week of 2008. Let not our fires burn out.

I've something to share from reading revelations for some particular reason.. I guess God made it so I can inspire you guys with my insight.

"What He opens no one can shut and what He shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name."
Revelations 3:7-8

We're given open doors in our lives, opportunities to shine. And in that room and that room only, which God open's, we're to fill it with with glorification to Him! In whatever job, school, situation we're put in, we're to use it to glorify God. No matter how hard or how easy it is, we're to remember who opened that door for us to shine. Be it a blazing fire or twinkling sparkle, God is glorified. Amen. =)

That's just something short I wanted to share. Hope it inspires you as much as it has for me. =)

Love you all lots,
Sera

Wee Keong responds to "Our Marathon to God."

Weekeong is our awesome pastor and currently leading the East Sector and Campus Ministry of our church with his beautiful wife, Joyce. He has two adorable sons and enjoys running, sports and reading.

Hi Jeremy,

Yes I like your sharing and no, I don’t think its too long of an email J

Then again, I like anything on the topic of running :-p May I add my thots?

1) Training
Physical training helps us to overcome the lactic acid buildup. Spiritual training helps us overcome Satan’s tricks to slow us down.
Not only must we train, we should try to train in the right “zone” of our heart rate. If we train too high of a zone, we can’t last. If we train in too low of a zone,
we don’t benefit. Spiritual training consist of pushing ourselves, but not at the cost of no / low “self-care”. We don’t want to be a matyr then end up falling away.

2) Getting accustomed to the stress
Getting used to the lactic acid buildup in our muscles will help us in one thing at LEAST: not succumbing to the “survival” mode when our bodies undergo stress. Think about it; we all go through times of physical exertion when we are panting, breathless & almost feel like dying. That’s the “ah, ah, ah, ah staying alive, staying alive” mode. Then once we are out of that mode, we take our fitness for granted again, only to wait for the next time we have to exert beyond what we can take.
Spiritual training needs to be consistent so we won’t vacillate betw survival mode & complacent mode.

Have a great day, y’all!

Love,
WK

Jeremy speaks: "Our Marathon to God."

Jeremy is our brother, full of joy and inspiration. He brings smiles to everyone's faces and glory to God with his excitement for His word.

Hi Campus, Hope u all have a great day! :) Certainly this is the 2nd week of yr 2008, hope everything is well and good for u all.

Well, i feel like sharing something with all of u, so here i am. :)

It's been 7mths since im baptised!! haha. i can still remember the day i was baptised, 27th may 2007. whenever i look at my watch, i will count the duration of me being a christian. haha. i feel this is indeed something im proud of. Im sure all of us can still remember the day we got baptised right? lolx.

Well, i wanna share something abt this 7 mths of walking with God & i wanna start by sharing a personal experience during run-a-movie.

We started the run later than most participants. Though we started late, but i felt it's ok, cos i wasnt going there to win but to have a good run. Indeed the starting was good! I felt like the wind, weightless and felt like i could run for long distance. it was great to overtake some of the runners too, felt a sense of achievement. Viewing the scenery and feel the wind at my face definitely refreshes me.

but as the time ticks away, i slowly felt the lactic acid building up in my muscles. then breathing rate starts to increase per minute the burden on my leg is increasing and i dont feel that weightless anymore. at the same moment, my body starts to burn, as metabolism increases and i started to perspire and every now and then i have to wipe the sweat away to avoid feeling the irritation when the sweat touches the eye. the bottom line is i felt the weight of running the 8km.

As i turned at the 4km mark, my brain starts to give way. my body starts to tell me to give up and to walk. But luckily i still have my logic. logic tells me to continue running because it is the only way to keep running. once stop, it will be difficult to start again. so i kept on.....

nearing the 6km mark, my logic gave way. my logic together with my body starts to scream at me to stop! to take a breaklogic reasoning with me to stop and walk. telling me reasons like 'i've no committment to keep running' and 'this is not a fitness test, why so hard on myself' and so on. frankly speaking i was very near to submitting to the idea of walking and my stride shorten by half.

at this time, a thought occurred to me. I told myself this. 'if God tells me now that if i am able to finish the run without stopping he will guarantee a place in heaven for me. If i stop, my place will be taken away, will i still wanna stop?' i then kept running, though difficult, but i cont to run/jog but not to walk, not to succumb to the idea of taking the easy way out. At some point after that i heard people cheering me on and offering me drinks, and i went on...

i don even know how long it was when i realised i was nearing the bend to the ending point. i suddenly felt strength and power that had already eluded me flow all over my body. i was able to sprint all the way till the end and finish the race.

Brothers and Sisters, i feel that this account is very similar to our walk with God. initially, after our baptism, we are very fired up and wanna do a lot of things. loving people, reaching out to our dear ones, hoping they will be able to join us in the kingdom. And we may at one point felt that we are at the top of the world, felt like with God we can do everything --> we were in love with God.

i believe everyone of us in some point of our life will have felt that pursuing God is burdensome. so many committments and there'sso many things to do. This walk with God seems endless and that we started to find ways to tell ourselves to relax and take the easy way out. 'Why do QT, aiya i prefer using the time for myself.' etc. at some point of time we may even feel like throwing in the white towel and just don't care abt our spiritual growth (just like the temptation and idea of walking)

Satan is just like the lactic acid, working his way to make us feel tired, make us feel like giving up our love for God. But... everything may fail, but God's love will never fail. He is mighty and He is more powerful than Satan. In my weakest, He's there. All we need to go is to call out to Him. (just like my reasoning to keep myself running)

We arent in this alone, there are pple around us to give us motivation and support us as we run, giving us 'drink' and cheering giving us their support. Our walk with God is like a marathon. Keep it up when we are feeling charged up and fired up. Call out to God when we are weak.

Exodus 15:13 - 'In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.' Indeed God will guide us to heaven. Let us remember why we fell in love with God. Let us rejoy together after the race and support each other before we get to Him.

Quote from Wee Keong :- "Can i have an Amen to that?" :)

That's all!Phew!

it is a long email, hopefully u enjoy it. happy reading.

With love

Jeremy

Sera speaks: "His yoke is easy and His burden is light."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

When a person is born anew and experiences repentance, his attitude about Jesus changes. Jesus himself becomes the central focus and the ultimate value of life. Before the new birth happens and repentance occurs, a hundred other things seem more important and more attractive: health, family, job, friends, sports, music, food, hobbies, retirement. But when God gives the radical change of new birth and repentance, Jesus himself becomes our ultimate treature. =)

Therefore, His demand that we come to him is not burdensome. It means coming to the one who has become everything to us. Jesus did not come into the world mainly to bring a new religion or a new law. He came to offer himself for our eternal enjoyment and to do whatever he had to do, including death, to remove every obstacle to this everlasting joy in him.

"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
John 15:11

When Jesus demands that we do things, like "Come to me", the essence of these demands is that we experience the life that most fully savors and spreads his supreme worth.

As Jesus looks out over the religions of the world, including the Judaism of his day, he sees people who are labouring under heavy loads to earn the favour of whatever deity they belive in. He did not come to replace that God-appeasing load with another one. He came to carry that load and call us to himself for rest.

"Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

Make no mistake, there is a yoke and a burden when we come to Jesus, but the yoke is easy and the burden is light. =)

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I really want to pray and also dedicate this message to those who aren't doing so well spiritually. I pray that you will understand the plans of God, to prosper us and not to harm us. Jesus called us into the kingdom because He knows how tough the world is out there. And he's given us a yoke that is light because he carries it with us, walking right beside us.

Some of us may think its so tough to follow Jesus and be a disciple and find that we have no strength to go on. Let me encourage you with this.

It says in Matthew 7:14 that the gate is narrow and the way to life is hard. The reason it is hard is not because Jesus is a hard task master. It's hard because the world is a hard place to enjoy Jesus above all. We have a suicidal tendency to enjoy other things more.

Jesus is not the burden. He is the burden lifter, the soul satisfier, and the life giver.

"Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink."
John 7:37

I pray that we can overcome what we naturally decide for our lives which is to follow our own desires. Let's know that God's desires for us outweighs any other... Amen.. =)

Love you all dearly...

Sera speaks: "A treasure chest of holy joy."

Sera is a theatre production student from LaSalle, 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!

In Jesus' final commission, there was authority and intimacy.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
Matthew 28:18

"Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:20

One says, 'I make demands because I have the right.' The other says, 'I make demands because I will help you forever.'

With all that Jesus demands of us, there is still compassion. He's there to guide us as we are imperfect.

What did Jesus demand from the world? From us? He demanded our hearts and mind be changed, because the kind of obedience He demanded moves from the inside, where the value of Jesus is savoured, to the outside, where the value of Jesus is shown.

For our hearts to be changed, Jesus demanded that we be born again, to repent, to go to Him, to believe in Him, to love Him, to listen to Him, and to abide in Him.

When all these demands are seen for what they really are, they turn the absolute authority of Jesus into a treasure of holy joy. =)

When the most glorious person in the universe pays all my debts...

"just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many." matt 20:28

... and then demands that I come live with Him and enter into His joy...

"His master replied, well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" matt 25:21

... there can be no more desirable demand imaginable. =)

When we choose to obey the authority of Jesus, we find ourselves in that treasure chest of holy joy. =)

Amen

Love you guys lots. =)