Sera speaks: "1% Inspiration, 99% Perspiration."

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!


Hello Hello lovelies!!!

For the most of us, our term break has started! Yay!! Means more time for each other right? =) School for me is the same as usual, if you've already been listening to my stories from year 1 haha. But it's gotten so much easier to go through even though the modules are getting tougher. With God everything is possible, even me doing well in school. haha Yay!

Lemme go on to my sharing. Was in my rehearsal on day and my director, who is actually a really good and wise person but sometimes abit shout-y shout-y la, he told this to the actors. "It's 1% Inspiration and 99% Perspiration. You can't live with inspiration alone, u don't get anywhere else but under a tree." Haha!! What he meant was, if you're just gonna have vision and day dream under a tree all day, nothing gets done. And what he also meant was, to get what you want, or to pursue God's visions, it's mostly hard work and sometimes suffering a little for it.

In my case, I get an inspiration to lose weight, so I buy a dress 2 sizes smaller than what I would normally wear. The weight doesn't go away just by me staring at the dress and every few hours try it on to see if it fits. It takes a long time, and with exercise and a whole lot of discipline. =)

Lemme share a verse that taught me what it is to be a true disciple. =)

1 Corinthians 4:12
"We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world -- right up to this moment."

Not so easy huh? We all have dreams as disciples, but do we aspire to be the true disciple or do we just live with the name? It's not all daisies and pretty things, sometimes if not many times we have to break a sweat and work hard for what we believe in. Then our dreams come true. =)

There's a reason why it's called a spiritual battle. It's not just chess. We fight for who we are and we fight for God. Don't just look up to heaven and be inspired. =)

Here's something to encourage you. =)

1 Peter 2:9-10
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not recieved mercy, but now you have recieved mercy."

Let's give it our all for God. =)

Love you dearly,
Sera

Wilfred speaks: "Insights from Matthew 11 - Fashion Sense."

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I'm counting down the months to ORD (5 to be exact from 18/02/08) and I'm earnestly looking forward to joining you guys in the coming months! I'd also like to ask that you keep me in your prayers as I've re-applied to NUS & NTU to see what options will present themselves and to allow God to make it clear that SMU is His plan for me.

I believe I've received much in terms of the sharing that's been going around this emailing list so now it's time to give something back. I'd like so share from Matthew 11.

Matthew 11:7-9.
"7As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces.

9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. "

The following introduction is something i gleaned off from my Student's bible; thought I'd give credit where credit is due.

John the Baptist - Something New
Fashion starts with a single purpose: to turn people's heads. At first the new look is a shock. Many say "Wow!", some say "Ugh!" Whether it's shorts skirts or long, nose rings or ear rings, paisleys or pastels, the new must stand out to gain attention.

John the Baptist was something new, and he certainly stood out from his surroundings. Though he could have been a priest like his father, he exchanged those linen robes for a garment of coarse camel's hair. He took to the wilderness, scavenging grasshoppers and wild honey rather than settling in Jerusalem where he could have savored a portion of the offerings people presented to God.

John's unusual style helped direct attention to his burning message: The Messiah was about to arrive, and people must change their ways. Crowds flocked to hear John, and he baptized them in the Jordan River as a sign of their repentance, thus earning himself the nickname 'the Baptist'
Read Matthew 11:7-11 again and you find Jesus challenging the crowd about what they were looking out for.

Now imagine Jesus challenging the friends that we bring to bibletalks and Church. What have they really come to see?

What are we 'presenting' to them to see?

Jesus pointed out that through John's image and lifestyle people were drawn to him.
Take some time to think about our lifestyles and the image we portray to our colleagues and friends and how we are attracting them to get to know God.

Are our lives attractive spiritually? Is are they just just attractive materially?

When I think about spiritual attractiveness, I think of the Fruits of the Spirit and the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:13-17. I'll be focusing on the latter.

In today's fashion sense, how attractive can a suit of armor be? It's medieval for one, and others would probably think of it as bulky and burdensome but I'm grateful that the Armor of God we're to put on can be considered weightless! As disciples we ought to wear it like our second skin.

The 6 pieces of armor are:
the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Sandals of Peace, the Shield of Faith, the Helm of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit which is God's word.

This suit of armor's purpose is two-fold; it protects us from Satan's attacks and also makes us stand out in our schools and workplaces by being attractive.

Let's take some time this week to examine ourselves and check our armor; if it's rusty let's polish it and let it shine!

Matthew 5:14-15
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Let us strive to set an example and live our lives in such a way that it attracts people to God's Kingdom.

Amen that's all I have for you today.

Love & cheers,
Wilfred

Stefanie speaks: "Jesus Wept."

Stefanie, our dear sister from Indonesia, is currently doing her Masters in Civil Engineering at NUS. She's full of life and also full of child-like wisdom!

Dear brethrens,

Just catching up with u all and wanna share some thoughts about what I read today.

John 11:1-44, about how Jesus raised Lazarus from death.

21"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

24Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

27"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ,[b] the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

28And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you."

29When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.

30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

31When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32When 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."
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

34"Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.
35 Jesus wept.



Well, it's the first time Jesus wept over someone, before he wept for Peter for going to deny him. He planned the whole scene, since He delayed His journey to Judea in order to show God's greatness. But even though he planned everything, He was still deeply moved and even wept when He saw the sisters' sadness. I feel that it applies to us, too. When God let us faces challenges and trials, He plans it well and He know through it we can learn and grow and glorify God after we conquer it. Nevertheless, He will also moved when we struggle in those challenges, for He feels what we feel. When we weep for the loved one we lost, when we feel why things happen to us in such a bad situation, when we try to persevere in our struggle Jesus is there.



Isaiah 63:9
In all their distress he (note: God) too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
So, for everyone, who struggle with the yoke God has put to you because He believes you can handle it, Jesus feels what you feel and relate to it. And, just like Lazarus, Jesus will come to save the day (watched Powerpuff Girls too much :P). For men, it may be "too late", but God has His own timing to give the best for you.

Cheers,

Stefanie C.
In a room with her laptop and tons of lecture notes

Jeremy speaks: "Don't worry be Happy."

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.

Was reading Mark 7 - 8 and some other supplementary reading. somehow, i just focused on the man and his dying daughter (or dead towards the end of the chapter).

The man approached Jesus for help, because his daughter was dying. Imagine his feeling. Every second that went away, i believe his anxiety, worries increases exponentially. This is his loved ones we're talking about. Though his daughter died when the man and Jesus was about to reach the man's house, but Jesus was able to heal his daughter back to life again!!! Awesome!!! :)

Coming back to the present, it is true that everyday we are bothered by tons of worries and anxieties.

Worries about school and how well we fare as compared to our peers - Students

Worries about meeting deadlines set by the boss, targets etc... - Singles

Worries about providing for the family, spouse, children and parents - Married

My goodness, our life is all about worries if u look at it.. Sad rite, so gloomy. But... that's if we handle everything by ourselvesor allow ourselves to be weigh down by all these anxieties of the world.

Forget not our heavenly Father. He is always here for us. We can bring our fears/anxiety/worries to Him in prayer.

Just like the man in approached Jesus with his worries.

God's peace will guard our mind and heart -> allow us to tackle any problems with a peaceful and calm mind.

God's wisdom will guide us in making the right decisions.

Let God drives us, not our worries in life.

Of course, pls do not have the idea that God is like our nanny/maid, that we throw everything to Him, thinking that life will be a bed of roses. We do our part, God will certainly do His. :)Nothing is too difficult for God. (I mean He can even raise the dead, what is deadlines, career prospect, exams to him? piece of cake :)To those who worries about donno what to do in the future, exams stress, loads of work, etc.... bring your anxiety to God.

Before i end, just wanna share the following with u all:-

Philippians 4:6-7 :-" Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which tanscends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

No matter what your circumstances are, turn your anxiety over to God and let His perfect peace guard your heart

(adopted from "Experiencing God Day-by-day. Henry T. Blackaby and richard Blackaby)

Have you prayed today? :)

Love

Jeremy

Alfred speaks: "The Rich Young Man."

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 Rich Young Man

Mark10:17-22
MK 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

MK 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: `Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "

MK 10:20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

MK 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

MK 10:22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.’

In this passage, we read about a man who did all the rights things and Jesus pointed out the sin in his heart that he didn’t know was there. Perhaps we can learn from his experience.

Jesus was quoted 6 out of the Ten Commandments. They are:
1) Do not commit adultery.
2) Do not murder.
3) Do not steal.
4) Do not bear false witness — don’t lie.
5) Do not defraud.
6) Honor your father and your mother.
I was brought up by my great dad & mum. They have taught me well and they have inculcated the right value in me. I have never steal… never cheat (actually cheated once, but my dad found out and he gave me a good scolding & caning…)… I honor my dad and mum. I never disobey my dad & mum before. (The only time that I disobey is when I make the decision to become Christian). I am a good son and I listen to my parents.

So when Jesus quoted the Ten Commandments, I will probably give the same answer as the rich young man, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”

When Jesus saw the rich young man, he saw that one major sin that stopped him to inherit eternal life. It is his love for his wealth…

I may have never violated any of the Ten Commandments. However, I do know that there are many other sins that I have fallen into which are not stated in the Ten Commandments.

Galatians5:19-21
GAL 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
MK 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."


Jesus did 3 things here. He looked at the young man. He loved him and then he spoke to him. Jesus knows our heart. He understands all our struggles. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. Jesus cares about us and he spoke the truth in love to the young man of how to inherit eternal life.

There were two things that the young man was not able to follow. He was not able to give up his wealth and he didn’t want to take up the cross and follow Jesus.
What are the things that we are not willing to give up for God? What are stopping us to take up the cross and follow Jesus?

Conclusion:
We may be good people but being good people doesn’t mean that we will inherit eternal life. In order to inherit life, 1) We must follow all the commandments in the bible, 2) Give up the things that stop us to be close to God & 3) Carry the cross and follow Jesus.

Sera speaks: "My little dream of being humble."

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!

Hi Brothers and Sisters,

How've we all been? I know for me, it's getting a little tougher. Especially with direction in my life. But all's well, I guess. Need prayer that God will show me a clear path and that my eyes would be opened to see that path He has for me.

Was just thinking back when I was still in kid's kingdom, how my aunt Cynthia (some of y'all might know her) would ask me if I wanted to be a christian and I'd always say yes!! And she'd ask why.

My reply would always be, "Because I want to be humble." I had no clue what being humble was all about. haha. Since then, it has been my dream and it inspires me to know that God gave me that vision even when I didn'tunderstand it. But now I do. I'm glad I held onto that child-like dream.
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I'm gonna share something about humility that I've grown to understand and appreciate the difficulty of attaining.

Deuteronomy 8:3
"Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

Been reading quite a lot on humility on top of the NT readings. Just to give my QT a little more flavour.

This passage really taught me the simplicity of the term, 'we do not live by bread a lone.' I've even sung it in songs so many times. (Man shall not live my bread alone.... But by every word~~)

God gave them just enough to live with so that they would understand the greatness of Him. When I got that insight, I immediately thought about the many great worldly things that we have. They all distract us from God. Being humble is also about living our lives free of distractions, so that we can fully absorb the greatness of God and live by Him.

Proverbs 11:2
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

With humility comes wisdom. My two loves that I want to aquire, all in one simple sentence. I feel like, in situations when I've been humble in accepting advice and accepting other's view of me, I'm calmer and I actually make wiser decisions. And at that point I really see myself becoming the woman God wants me to be. Don't ask me how I know... You just do.

I'll leave you guys with that.

Love you all dearly =)

Sera

Alex Theo speaks: "God remembers you."

A big guy with an even bigger heart, Alex is a brother who is very contented and happy. He finds joy in the little encouragements God places in his life.

Hi guys!

What a privilege it is to be in the mailing list of the campus! Thank you God for that! It has been very encouraging reading all the sharing so far! Trust me, some of the sharing really did make my day better after a really really long one!

Wow! Its been a long time since I last shared my QT with u all! Been sooooo busy with school work over the past few weeks as I was developing a training seminar for my project. Thank God its over already!

Hmm..... Where do I start? I guess since we're on the NT reading thought I'd share some insights I've gained along the way.

My group, House of Rock, are doing something interesting. We have chosen 2 topics to be discussed on 1st Feb's burreans nite! But before I dwell into that here's something I learnt from Matthew 1.

As we all know, it is the genealogy of Christ! We can go away thinking, its just one mega long family tree! But if you look at it deeper, its actually an encouraging chapter! What I kinda gathered was that God was encouraging us by telling us He never forgets those who have served him. If you look properly, the names mentioned actually dates back as far as Genesis 16 or 17, this being Abram then but later known as Abraham! And it goes chronologically all the way till Christ's birth! I think any day if ya feel down, think bout how God DOES remember you as we are all His precious children, more precious than gems or treasures measurable!

The 2 topics my group are looking into are:
1. The Power of the Resurrection
2. The Importance of Hope

I'll share bout it a little further in my next mail out. In the mean time I hope u guys n gals will be encouraged by that short verse and sharing.

Love you all!
@ _ 3 X

Alfred speaks: "The Parable of the Two sons. (Matthew 21 : 28 - 31)

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.

Hi Campus,

The Parable of the Two Sons

MT 21:28 "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, `Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'

MT 21:29 " `I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

MT 21:30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, `I will, sir,' but he did not go.

MT 21:31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.


1) God desire a repentant heart.

In this passage, Jesus wants us to imitate the repentant heart of the first son. In the past when I did my QT on this passage, I misinterpreted it wrongly. I read it and thought that if I don’t fulfilled the promises that I ought to do, God will displease me. I felt very down when I missed my QT or fall into sin and I thought that I was like the second son who was not able to keep promises. However, after reading this passage again, I realize that Jesus didn’t say that he disliked the second son. Rather, he said that God desire the repentant heart of the first son. In the passage, God is not focusing on the unfulfilling promises, but rather focusing on the repentant heart.

2) What I need to repent on?

I will like to thank brothers and sisters in for all of your inputs. They have helped me to be a better brother, a better leader and a better son for my family. I am happy that I am now 7 years as a disciple. Without the Campus brothers and sisters helped, I won’t be able to grow much in my leadership, maturity and sensitivity. I am grateful to be in Campus. However, definitely there are many areas that I can grow in. They are…

3) Discipline with my time

In this semester, God has blessed me with a good timetable. I have many breaks in between lessons and I actually have lots of time to do the things that I always wanted to do. When I looked backed for the past few weeks, I can’t remember what I did with my time. I realized that I am far from the goals that I have set myself. I have goals like spending more time studying bible with people and spending more time reading Christianity books to build my knowledge of the bible and also prepare myself for biathlon. I pray that I can be more discipline with my time and to archive the goals that I have set myself.

4) Be a man of Courage

I pray that I can be bold in my area of evangelism and constantly share my faith in NTU.

Love you deeply,
Alfred