Uth Chronicle 2011-IV

8/3/2019 Uth Chronicle 2011-IV

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4th Quarter 2011

T o E n g a g e , E d u c a t e a n d E d i f y

CPYF Uth ChronicleCPYF Uth Chronicle

SlaverySlavery



Chapter 1 Editor’s Note

Chapter 2 What Constitutes OT Slavery

Chapter 3 Profitably Enslaved

Chapter 4 Serving self

Chapter 5 Seven Sin-slaying Suggestions

Chapter 6 Yf Speak!

Chapter 7 Retrospect

Chapter 8 My Bloo

Chapter 9 Ex - Teenz That Talk

Chapter 10 Over Twenty - Five

Chapter 11 Reports from Events!

Chapter 12 Personal Points

Chapter 13 Short and Broad

Chapter 14 Calendar Of Events

Contents

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Editor’s Note

Dear Reader,

One would be hard pressed to source a

newspaper article, from any mainstreamnewspaper, from the past few decades,that would portray slavery in anypositive light. Slavery has provenitself to be one of the most taboowords in our vocabulary today, and itsapplication is possibly only justifiedin relationships between computercomponents and… National Service.

And even in the second instance, theytry to describe it in many other termslike ‘forced labor’. Not that its slightlymore palatable description has madeany of our young men any happier abouthaving two years taken from them…

Frankly, it is rather easy to seewhy slavery is conceptually soabhorrent. The prevalent philosophytoday is that everybody should befree to engage in their own pursuitof happiness! And without freechoice, it is impossible to be happy.

Eminently plausible statements, don’tyou think? Things are always more funwhen you want to do them, as comparedto when you’re merely told to do them.

Holidays are infi

nitely preferable to termtime, because you can do what you liketo do during the holidays, but all of yourtime is eaten up by this mandatory thingknown as school and your cruel overlords

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(also known as teachers) demandendless labor when school is in session.

Well, the Uth Chronicle is here todemonstrate that the above argumentsare nothing more than shallow, worldlythinking. We’ve got a whole bunch ofarticles lined up, but since I’m theeditor, I get first crack at the issue.

This entire “I need to be free before Ican be happy” idea presumes two things:

1. That free choice is possible, and

2. That I’m the best personto decide what makes me happy.

Martin Luther has actually written apretty good book on the subject, called“Born Slaves”. It’s pretty short, and onlyjust over six bucks in Tabernacle, so I’drecommend a read through. In this book,he convincingly argues that men don’tactually have any free will to speak of.

Now, most of you are Christians,and should be able to see where thisargument is going. All men are totallydepraved, and are in a state of sin.This is often described as slavery tosin. The only other alternative to thisgeneral experience (that ends up inthe lake of fire!) is to break free fromsin by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ

as our Savior, and crucially, as our newMaster. Effectively, then, it’s merelya choice between forms of slavery,and free will isn’t exactly possible!

I understand that this argumentdoesn’t seem to apply on the levelwith which we identify slavery. Non-Christians seem to be more free intheir conduct, being able to smoke,

drink, engage in promiscuous sex, andmany other activities that seem fun.Christian’s, conversely, are bound bythe Ten Commandments and so many



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other moral rules that their daily livesappear to be in fetters. They don’t evenpurport to live their lives for themselves,rather for some Master. Christianitydoes seem more a form of slavery.

The reasoning above is actually half

right. Christianity is a form of slavery.The argument I seek to make is merelythat Christianity is the form of slaverythat is preferable. The freedom that non-Christians seem to have is actually nofreedom – merely a bl indfold that makesthem oblivious to impending judgment.They may seem to have freedom now,but if freedom comes with such dire

consequences, is it truly freedom? Theirfreedom then is merely an appearanceof freedom, and not true freedom.Do not mistake it for true freedom!

On the other hand, Christians havethe Word of God, which is truth, andthe truth doth set us free. How? Bytaking off that metaphorical blindfold,understanding that the only way

to joy, true joy, and wonderful joy isthrough salvation by Jesus our Lord.

And slavery to Christ is fundamentallydifferent from the slavery that weknow today. Slavery in the world iscentered about exploiting the slavefor the master’s pleasure, producingno end of oppression. But is this anaccurate description of our relationshipwith God? Does anyone care for ourneeds more than God? Does anyoneknow how to care for us better thanGod? No doubt that we have asked topresent our bodies as living sacrifices,but did Christ not first sacrifice allto redeem us unprofitable servants?

So there you have it. The above premises

have been debunked, and one can nowconfidently say that slavery is notnecessarily a bad thing, and is actuallya good thing within the Christiancontext. And we have a shedload of

other articles to tell you roughly thesame thing, from different angles.

My favorite article is by Rev Quek,who tells us about slavery in the OldTestament. Some of it is sanctionedslavery, and God-honoring! Why would

someone drive an awl through his earto preclude any freedom for the restof his life? Rev Quek tells you why.

Uncle Lewis, who is the father ofPandan’s own Martin Luther, tells usexactly how to be enslaved to Christ isto be profitably enslaved. In the article,he explains to an African American

man how being enslaved can be a goodthing… read it to see how that goes!

On the other side of the coin, Sis AngieQuek writes an introspective articleand asks us whether we have brokenall ties to our life before salvation. Dowe still linger in sin? And if the answeris yes, and you don’t know how to getslay sin, Brian “Failboy” Lim, our UthChronicle Commando has compiled“Seven Sin-Slaying Suggestions”for you! All suggestions have beenprovided by actual members of our YF.

YF Speak, our quarterly survey, takea look at who owns our time. Bro Henrytakes a look at the data, and providesspiritual analysis, asking whether we

in any way resemble the proverbialthorn and thistle choked wheat.

At this point, I’d normally tel l you all aboutthe other regular features that we have,but this editor’s note has gone on for solong that I’m pretty sure your eyes aredry and need a moment to apply your eyedrops. But before you go, I will say two

words about all the other great articleswe have in the last issue for this year.

READ ‘EM!



There are five types of slaveryin the Bible. Slavery is not a bad thingwhen applied biblically according toGod’s instructions. In fact, slavery inthe OT was taught by God and carefullyenforced for the well being andbetterment of societal life inIsrael. This is in contrast to the

slavery we commonly know, a cruel andinhumane phenomenon.. We should,instead, understand slavery to be asystem taught by man’s Creator, andinstituted for God’s people. Whenobserved and obeyed, it achievesa God-honouring society. Man’sslavery is hideous and includes all formsof abuse and injustice as portrayedby Hollywood films. This leads to theconclusion that slavery iswrong, that there can be nojustification for slavery, even

bibl ical slavery. This is definitely not theapproach a believer should take.

The Bible defines a slave as a personwho has no rights at all. He is owned byhis master and the master can do whathe wants with him within the prescribedteaching of God’s Word. He submits to allthat his master wants and that makeshim a good slave. An obedient slave is agood slave.

1.

The first kind of slavery involved thosewho were captured in battle. They lostthe war and became slaves. Theseslaves were under forced labour whenthey lived in Israel. However, they werenot to be abused. Instead, they were tobe well treated and cared for by God’speople. The reason stems from Israel’smistreatment when captive in Egypt.

What constitutesOld Testament Slavery

by Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

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Israel had first-hand experience ofbeing enslaved under cruel mastersand were therefore forbidden by God toill-treat their slaves. They werenot to force their religion on them.However, the slaves must abide by the

Israelites’ way of life suchas keeping the Sabbath Dayholy. They were to rest on theSabbath Day. Deuteronomy 5:14-15(KJV), “But the seventh day is thesabbath of the LORD thy God: in itthou shalt not do any work, thou, northy son, nor thy daughter, nor thymanservant, nor thy maidservant, nor

thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thycattle, nor thy stranger thatis within thy gates; that thymanservant and thy maidservantmay rest as well as thou. 15 Andremember that thou wast a servant inthe land of Egypt, and that the LORD thyGod brought thee out thence througha mighty hand and by a stretched out

arm: therefore the LORD thy Godcommanded thee to keep the sabbathday.”

When Israel was captured, theybecame slaves and were at themercy of their captors. Thus, the rulesof slavery given by God for Israel

would not apply to the Israelites. TheAssyrians were wicked peoplewho tortured their slaves intosubmission. They would alsouproot them from their homes and putthem into different cities under theAssyrian Empire. Intermarriages wereencouraged and the worship of eachother’s gods was the end result.

Through this, syncretistic worship andloss of identity ensued. This was howthe Samaritans were formed with theirmixed religion of truth and error. The

Babylonians like King Nebuchadnezzarcaptured their slaves, fed them withthe King’s food, educated them withBabylonian philosophies and sciencesand changed their names intoBabylonian ones after the gods of

the Babylonians. This was to hijacktheir loyalty to the king of Babylon.Different countries treated their slavesdifferently.

2.

The second kind of slavery involvedthose who owed a large debt. Theamount would be so large that the only

way to serve out the enormous debtwas to become slaves (see Matthew18:23-35). If the debt is really huge,the entire family could be enslaved.Bad businessmen or farmers with poorcrops would find themselves in debt. Ifthe debt is small, they would “lend” theirland to the creditor who would farm theland and obtain crops from the land that

would pay off the debt. Once the debthas been paid up, the land is returned tothe debtor.

The slaves who owed a great debtwould have to become slaves. Theirchildren would have to besold as slaves together with

their parents until the debt iscompletely paid up. After the debt ispaid up, the whole family was allowed toleave as free men.

3.

The third kind of slavery referred

to those who were born slavesbecause their parents wereslaves. Slaves who were singlecould be given spouses. These



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slaves would then start afamily. When the term of slavery wasover, they were to leave alone. They camein alone and they had to leave alone. Thefamilies of the slaves belonged to themaster who gave them spouses. The

slave had no right of ownership becausehe was a slave. His nature as a slavedenied him that right. If he had any rights,then he was no longer called a slave!Exodus 21:1-4 (KJV), “Now these arethe judgments which thou shalt setbefore them. 2 If thou buy an Hebrewservant, six years he shall serve: andin the seventh he shall go out free for

nothing. 3 If he came in by himself,he shall go out by himself: if he weremarried, then his wife shall go out withhim. 4 If his master have given him awife, and she have born him sons ordaughters; the wife and her childrenshall be her master’s, and he shall goout by himself.”

It does not matter how one became aslave. As long as he was a slave, he hadno ability to own anything.

4.

The fourth kind of slavery includedthose who were sold as slaves, likeJoseph, who were sold against theirwill. To be sold as a slave was verydemeaning. Before slavehood, he was afree man, with the ability to run his own life,go wherever he pleased and do whateverhe desired. Now a slave, he had to dowhatever his master dictated. It waseither obey or be punished. A

master might not like his slave and mightnot want him at all. He might sell him toanother master. Or, if he was in debt,he might sell h is slaves before he “sells”

(i.e. leases) his land. In Joseph’s case,his own brothers sold him as a slave toget rid of him for some money.

Side note: If the slave was a girl…

If the slave was a girl, thenScripture teaches a different way oftreating her. She was not to be treatedlike her male counterpart. A male slavewas not allowed to be a slave for morethan six years, regardless of the size ofhis debt. In the seventh year, he would

be set free. However, a female slavewas to be married and bear children.The master was to marry her and treather as a proper wife. If he did not wantto marry her, then his son was to marryher. If his son did not want to marry her,the master was to sell her to anothermaster (only a Jew). If this was also notpossible, then he was to set her free.

Exodus 21:7-11 (KJV), “And if a man sellhis daughter to be a maidservant, sheshall not go out as the menservantsdo. 8 If she please not her master, whohath betrothed her to himself, thenshall he let her be redeemed: to sell herunto a strange nation he shall have nopower, seeing he hath dealt deceitfullywith her. 9 And if he have betrothed her

unto his son, he shall deal with her afterthe manner of daughters. 10 If he takehim another wife; her food, her raiment,and her duty of marriage, shall he notdiminish. 11 And if he do not these threeunto her, then shall she go out freewithout money.”

5.



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The fifth kind of slavery involvedwilling slaves who loved their mastersand did not wish to be free. They will inglychose to be slaves for life. This was thebest condition of slavery whereby theslave regarded his master to be a fair

and most honourable man. He willinglyremained a slave to his master for life.He refused to leave a free man when itwas time for him to go free. He foundthat life as a slave under this masterwas most acceptable and he probablyloved his master very much.

It could also be that the master hadgiven him a woman (wife), that hehad children with her and he loved his“family”. He did not wish to leave forthe rest of his life. Exodus 21:5-6(KJV), “And if the servant shall plainlysay, I love my master, my wife, and mychildren; I will not go out free: 6 Then hismaster shall bring him unto the judges;

he shall also bring him to the door, orunto the door post; and his master shallbore his ear through with an aul; andhe shall serve him for ever.” This wasa not a small decision as this decision“sealed his fate” for life on this earth.Deuteronomy 15:17 (KJV), “Then thoushalt take an aul, and thrust it throughhis ear unto the door, and he shall be

thy servant for ever. And also unto thymaidservant thou shalt do likewise.”This was also to be done to the willingmaidservant as Deu 15:17 reveals.

CONCLUSION -- Slavery in the OTwas instituted by the LORD for thepeople of Israel. It was a form of social

help rendered to the downtrodden, forboth Israelites and Gentiles. This wasalso to engender responsibilities forevery action done because there are

consequences to every decision made.If an Israelite made a bad decision, thenhe had to pay the price for his mistakes.This would cause the Israelites to becareful and to not make hastydecisions.

On a more spiritual note, everyhuman being is born a slave. He is a slaveto sin the moment he begins to exist inthis world. Sin is his merciless masterwhose wages is death (Romans 6:23a).After the sinner becomes a believer byreceiving Jesus Christ into his heart,he remains a slave still but his masteris different. The Lord Jesus Christ

becomes his new Master. He is changedfrom an unwilling slave (under sin) to awiling slave in Christ Jesus. He is nowbound to live a life characterized byrighteousness. Romans 6:18 (KJV),“Being then made free from sin, yebecame the servants ofrighteousness.” The Bible is NOTagainst slavery but only abused slaverycommitted by wicked and sinful men!AMEN.



Profitably Enslavedby Bro Lewis Ting

Many years back when I was a youngman working for an American MultiNational Company (MNC), I was sent

to the USA for training. The trainingcocoordinator was an African Americanman. During our conversation he foundout that I was bonded to the companyfor a specified period of time as a resultof the training I was going to receive. Hewent off the tangent and angrily said hewanted to speak to my manager back inSingapore. He strongly felt that it was agrave injustice inflicted on me. In his mindI was doing a positive thing and showingmy commitment to the company in goingto the USA for training; the companyshould be grateful. Yet, I was bonded!

I had to cool him down and explainthat it was normal in Singapore tobond the recipient of such overseas

training as insurance because thecompany had to spend significantamount of money to do so. Furthermore,acceptance to the terms was willinglygiven – no one had forced me to accept it! Hesubsequently accepted my explanation.

The reason for my boss’indignation was likely that the African

American people, in recent past, had beenforced into slavery, which was a periodof great humiliation. They were in totalsubjection to their white masters; theirfreedom was taken away from them.

From a Wikipedia referencesource, systems of servitude andslavery were common in many parts of

Africa, as they were in much of theancient world. The vast majority of slavesinvolved in the Atlantic trade wereAfricans from the central and western

parts of the continent, who were soldby African slave traders to Europeantraders, who transported them to thecolonies in North and South America.

Now that they are free people, it wouldbe unthinkable for them that there

was still ‘bondage’ in Singapore andthat I was one of the victims! Bondage,slavery are all taboo words to the AfricanAmericans. They value individualfreedom very highly and cannotimagine anyone would want togive up this personal freedom forsomething else. However to me, I wasprofitably enslaved to my company, asI was receiving many personal benefits.

Although history tells us thatslavery was prevalent in Africa at and inmany parts of Asia including China, theearliest records of slavery are fromthe Bible when the Jews were held inbondage in Egypt and in Babylon. TheIsraelites suffered tremendously in

the hands of their wicked masters. Ina way the Bible is an instrument thattaught mankind the meaning of freedomwhen Moses led the Israelites free fromslavery under Pharaoh. Freedom was alsoin short supply during the oppression ofthe Papal authority during the dark ages,as well as during during the Japaneseoccupation in the 2nd world war.

Freedom is a prized commodity.The Western world, having enjoyeddemocracy and free speech, haspulled out all the stops to promotethe democracy and human rightsglobally. They sound logical, dignified,compassionate, and purport togo about their campaign for the

advancement of human society.However, the discerning person knowsthat there are many weaknessesinherent to such Western ideologies.

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Freedom without responsibility can lead tocorruption at all levels of human societies.

Slavery seems negative whichever wayyou look at it, since it eliminates freechoice and free choice is widely held tobe the prerequisite to happiness. But

is it really so? We saw in Exodus abouta servant who was in such a situation.

And if the servant shall plainly say,I love my master, my wife, and mychildren; I will not go out free: Exodus 21:5

This servant willingly made a choice tocontinue to serve his master whom heloved because he experienced lovingtreatment from his master, amongstother reasons. He believed that“slaving” under such abenevolent master is best for him and hisfamily. For these reasons, he waswilling to give up his personal freedom. Theservant was wise to choose this routein which he could be profitably enslaved

If a human rights activist wereconfronted with the above situation,he might take the view that it wasnot the genuine desire of the slave toremain enslaved. Rather, a result of sometrickery employed by the master. Afterall, It is unthinkable for anyone to giveup personal freedom! This reasoningsounds logical; freedom is precious andcannot be replaced by anything else! Wetoo have been indoctrinated with suchphilosophy. This is one of thereasons wefind it so difficult to submit toauthorities. We want to have freedom todo what we think is best for ourselves. Thisphilosophy is encapsulated in FrankSinatra’s song, “I did it my way”.

This is an extract of the lyrics ofthe song and you can judge foryourself that this song is full of self.

And now, the end is near,

And so I face thefinal curtain.

My friends, I’ll say it clear;

I’ll state my case of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full -

I’ve travelled each and every highway.

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

I planned each charted course -

Each careful step along the byway,

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

For what is a man? What has he got?

If not himself - Then he has naught.

To say the things he truly feels

And not the words of one who kneels.

The record shows I took the blows

And did it my way.

Yes, it was my way.

(This is one important reason whyChristian should be discerning whenlistening to popular songs becausesong lyrics sometimes spout unbiblicalteachings that tempt theChristian to stray away fromour undivided love for the Lord.)

The non-Christians are very

disturbed that we Christians, not onlygive up our freedom but we are willing tosubject our life totally to the person JesusChrist. To them, Christians are the most

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pitiful, pathetic, spineless, andfoolish people. Why would Christianswant to give up all their rights todetermine the way theylive and submit to aninvisible God and His teachings in the Bible?

To them we are missing out life’s greatexcitements and becoming a slaveto our belief. Are we wrong and arethey right? They find the wordsof Christ difficult to stomach:

Giving up your rights and yourself?

“Whosoever will come after me, lethim deny himself and take up hiscross and follow me.” Mark 8:34

Giving up your life and all that you love?

“If any man come to me, and hatenot his father, and mother, andwife, and children, and brethren, and

sisters, yea, and his own life also, hecannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26

Jesus demands absolutely that we loveHim even above closest relations andassets most precious to us. It isunimaginable to the unbelieving worldthat such a high demand can be

reasonably placed on another. It isunimaginable because they don’tbelieve, as we do, that Christ is theonly begotten son of God, who came tosave mankind from their sins. Our faith,inspired of Scripture and enhancedby our own personal experience duringconversion gives us reason to sacrifice all.

What the Lord has done for each ofHis disciples is without comparison;

even the love of a parent for his childdoes not come close. The Lord Jesusgave up Heaven’s glory to be a humblecarpenter and then to live and die forsinful men; hung on the cross and shedHis blood to cleanse us of our sins; buried

and rose again the 3rd day and comingback to receive us again into everlastingfellowship with God. No wonder Jesus hasevery right to demand our unyielding lovefor Him and to wholeheartedly follow Him.

“For ye are bought with a pricetherefore glorify God in your body, and in

your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor 6:20

“And that he died for all, that they whichlive should not henceforth live untothemselves, but unto him which diedfor them, and rose again.” 2 Cor 5:15

Brethren, we have to be very clear aboutthis: we were hopeless people boundfor eternity’s fire, but Christ choseus from the thousands and gave to usunspeakable salvation joy. Aren’t wegrateful and therefore willing to followhim? He gives us abundant life on earth –the profit we gain is not of this world, fornothing can pay for the price for peaceand reconciliation with our AlmightyGod. Don’t you want to be profitablyenslaved to this wonderful saviorJesus Christ who wants us to live for Him!

A true Christian who does not livea grateful life to our Saviour does

not understand the love Christ hasfor us. In Ephesians 3:17-19, theApostle Paul wanted us to understand theenormous love Christ has for us. In

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Romans 8:38-39, Apostle Paul againwanted us to know that Christ’s lovefor us defies all situations and will remainfaithful even in the calamities of life.

“That Christ may dwell in your heartsby faith; that ye, being rooted andgrounded in love, may be able tocomprehend with all saints what is thebreadth, and length, and depth, andheight; And to know the love of Christ,which passeth knowledge, thatye might be filled with all thefulness of God.” Eph 3: 17-19

”For I am persuaded, that neither death,nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,nor powers, nor things present, northings to come, nor height, nor depth,nor any other creature, shall be able toseparate us from the love of God, whichis in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 8:38, 39

So while Frank Sinatra is so full ofhimself in crooning “I did it my way”,Apostle Paul is full of fear of God in hisconversion and walk with the Lord. He wasa Pharisee and an infamous persecutorof the Christians. But Christ appearedto him and saved him. From then on hislife was transformed; he lived a gratefulChristian life and remained steadfast inhis faith despite the great sufferingsat the hands of God’s enemies. TheApostle Paul was profitably enslaved tothe Lord Jesus Christ so much so that hehas the spiritual strength to withstandthe trials and temptations threw at him:

Of the Jewsfi

ve times received I fortystripes save one. thrice was I beatenwith rods, once was I stoned, thrice Isuffered shipwreck, a night and a day

I have been in the deep. 2 Co 11:24-25

Brethren, we have received truefreedom which only Christ can give. Allother freedoms are man’s concoctions

and cannot stand the test of stormsand time. “Stand fast therefore in theliberty(freedom) wherewith Christ hathmade us free, and be not entangledagain with the yoke of bondage.” Gal 5:1

Nevertheless this freedom fromChrist also drives us into service for

the Lord. Otherwise this freedomwill lack a purpose so fundamental tothe responsibility of the Christian.

“For he that is called in the Lord,being a servant, is the Lord’sfreeman: likewise also he that is called,being free, is Christ’s servant.” 1 Cor 7:22

In this respect, our Christianfreedom is resting on the solid rockof Christ; of giving ourselves to beservant of Christ and in all things we doit is the love of Christ that constrainethus. It is therefore Christ that hasenabled us to be profitably enslaved.

Beloved, to be profitably enslavedis the most blessed position for theChristian. It is a position that we willknow for sure that we are in the willof God and in this position, no matterwhat life throws at us we will be safe inthe bosom of Christ even as the seasswirl around us. Not to be profitably

enslaved to Christ is to be negativelyenslaved to self and to the world.

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As an older man and a more experienced Christian,I say with all truthfulness, be Profitably Enslaved

to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

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Serving Self By Aunty Angie Quek

Numbers 22:12 - And God said unto

Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them;thou shalt not curse the people: for they

are blessed.

Numbers 22:21 - And Balaam rose up inthe morning, and saddled his ass, andwent with the princes of Moab.

2 Peter 2:15-16 - Which have

forsaken the right way, and are goneastray, following the way of Balaam the

son of Bosor, who loved the wages ofunrighteousness; 16 But was rebukedfor his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking

with man’s voice forbad the madness ofthe prophet.

Numbers 31:16 - Behold, these causedthe children of Israel, through the

counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass

against the LORD in the matter ofPeor, and there was a plague among thecongregation of the LORD.

We all know the story of Balaam. He lovedmoney, position and power. His love for

money spurred him on to boldly disobeyGod and to do evil. Balaam devised anevil plan to cause the children of Israel

to sin against God. He chose to servemammon and to forsake the

Lord. There are many morelike Balaam in the Bible. Judasbetrayed the Lord Jesus Christ

for filthy lucre. He was driven by hisown desires with no thought for the

consequences. Balaam and Judas could

not have been true believers. Theyremained as slaves to sin till their

death.

Romans 6:16-17 - Know ye not, that

to whom ye yield yourselves servantsto obey, his servants ye are to whomye obey; whether of sin unto death, or

of obedience unto righteousness? 17But God be thanked, that ye were the

servants of sin, but ye have obeyedfrom the heart that form of doctrinewhich was delivered you.

Before a sinner is saved from his sins,

sin ruled his heart. He was a captured

slave to sin. The Lord Jesus’ preciousblood was shed on the cross for theremission of the sins of the whole world.When the sinner receives Jesus Christ

as his Lord and Saviour, sin is no longer hismaster. He has received liberty from thebondage of sin through Christ Jesus.

The truly born-again believer

becomes a servant or slave of ChristJesus his Lord. He is transformed from

being a slave to sin to a slave of Christ. Heis clothed with Christ’s righteousness. Hesurrenders his life to the Lord

Jesus who is His Master. No longer will heserve and obey sin. He is very repentant

when his sins are pointed out to him, like

David, the man after God’s own heart.His desire is to obey the Lord and do His

will. However, it is possible that somebelievers do not want to completelysurrender their lives to the Lord. The

Lord Jesus does not have first placein their lives. Thus they may not be

walking closely with the Lord, and they

may be serving self.

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Could the following be some of the

behaviours of a believer who puts self

first? :

His will be donefirst, not God’s;•

His wants and pleasures are more•

important than doing what ispleasing to God;

He’ll serve the Lord when it’s•convenient to him, when the children

are grown, when he’s more secure

financially, when he’s not too tired, andso on;

He forgets that everything he•does has a spiritual significance;

He procrastinates because he•believes that his time is his own;

He will not be inconvenienced, and•

lets others make the sacrifices;

His bedroom can be a mess because•

he tells himself: “It’s my room; I’ll tidy uplater.”

He’ll dress in a worldly fashion•

because he feels he looks good anddoesn’t care what people may say – it’s

none of their business – who are they tojudge?;

His speech is full of “buts”. He•

can explain his selfish actions verypromptly. He tells himself that hisactions and thoughts are not sins, onlya difference of opinion;

He’ll spend more time with earthly•

pursuits than with the study of God’sWord.

Some, if not most of us may be guilty ofat least one of the above. We may havetruly received the Lord Jesus as ourSaviour but have we fully surrendered

our lives unto Him? Are we adamant

about living our lives the way that wewant to live?

If we have fully surrendered ourlives to the Lord, have we become

lukewarm in our devotion to Him? Has“self” been creeping in more and more and

edging the Lord out of His rightful place?Have we conditioned ourselves to justgo to church on Sunday mornings and be

satisfied that we have done our duty asGod’s children?

Are we truly servants of Christ and is

He our Master and Lord, thefi

rst andthe last? Can we sing this hymn with asincere heart?

More like the Master, I would live and

grow,

More of His love to others I would show;

More self-denial, like His in Galilee,

More like the Master, I long to ever be.

All believers will struggle with sin becauseof the sinfulflesh (Romans 7). There willbe times when we will fall into sin. This

will go on until we receive the glorifiedbody, which is why self-examination and

repentance are very necessary as wego through the sanctification process.When sin was our master, there was no

struggle at all because we were dead insin. It is not just the head knowledge that

is important; the application of God’sWord is so vital as well. Let’s not treatthe sins of pride and self centeredness

lightly. To serve self is definitely a sin.We must perpetually remind ourselves

to ensure that the Lord Jesus Christhas first place in our lives and to not letthe world’s attractions and personal

ambitions lure us into sin.14



We have been bought with a price –

God’s only begotten Son’s precious andsinless blood was shed to pay the

penalty for our sins. Let us not live toplease and serve ourselves, but onlyChrist Jesus our Lord. It should not be

what we want but what Christ wantsthat must matter the most! What willthe Lord say when we appear before Him

at the Bema?

2 Corinthians 5:10 - For we must allappear before the judgment seat of

Christ; that every one may receive thethings done in his body, according to that

he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

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Seven Sin Slaying

Suggestions Pointers given by our own YFers!

This world is not a friend to believers.

There is often a temptation at every

turn, waiting to snare us in sin. Some

of us may even now be entangled

in it, and struggling to get out of it.

However, we can take heart knowing

that God has not left us to fight these

spiritual battles alone; He is intimately

familiar with our weaknesses and has

left us enough instruction in His Word,

along with the promise of His grace,

to be able to overcome the sins in

our lives. Here are Seven Sin-Slaying

Suggestions offered by YFers:-

1) Starve the Sin

Romans 13:14, “But put ye on the Lord

Jesus Christ, and make not provision

for theflesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

Making no provision for the flesh is the

emphasis of this suggestion. Our sins

are sometimes fed by our tendency to

live as close to the edge as possible – to

see how far we can go before we fall.

This verse exhorts us to not consider

satisfying the lusts of ourfl

esh in eventhe slightest way. If we know we are prone

to sin in a given situation, then one good

way to deal with it is to starve that sin by

removing ourselves from the situation!

2) Follow After Righteousness

2 Timothy 2:22, “Flee also youthful lusts:

but follow righteousness, faith, charity,

peace, with them that call on the Lord

out of a pure heart.”

Thefirst portion of this verse echoes

the previous suggestion, but the focus

here is on what ought to replace the

lust. Separating from sin orfleeing

from lust will not be enough – we need tomake sure that we fill that breach with

the things of God, or we will soon find

ourselves returning to our old ways and

habits. The word ‘following’ also carries

the idea of chasing after, and that is

the kind of fervency with which we need

to pursue the things of God, to keep usfrom sin!

3) Guard Your Thoughts

Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brethren,

whatsoever things are true, whatsoever

things are honest, whatsoever thingsare just, whatsoever things are

pure, whatsoever things are lovely,

whatsoever things are of good report;

if there by any virtue, and if there by

any praise, think on these things. Those

things, which ye have both learned, and

received, and heard, and seen in me, do:and the God of peace shall be with you.”

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What occupies our minds has a very real

and direct impact on how we lead our lives.

If our minds are filled with the things of

earth, then we will naturally lead lives

that are focused only upon earthly

and carnal things. This suggestion

proposes that the best remedy is to fill

our minds with the things of God. This

suggestion can be seen as the natural

partner of the second suggestion. Once

our minds are focused on the things

of God, our actions will follow after.

4) Have Godly Friends

Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpeneth iron;

so a man sharpeneth the countenance

of his friend.”

A very useful weapon in the fight

against sin is the mutual edification and

encouragement that believers can enjoy

because of the common faith we have.

Building strong friendships based firmly

in the bond we share in Christ is importantbecause our fellow brothers and sisters

can serve as our keepers, and we can

fulfil that same duty, ensuring that all

of us stay on the straight and narrow.

And when we fall, a timely word of rebuke

is often instrumental in restoring us.

5) Hide God’s Word in Your Heart

Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine

heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Also described as the sword of the Spirit

in Ephesians 6:17, the Word is absolutely

vital in our battles with sin. Without the

Word, we have nothing! Christ Himself

used the Word to rebuff Satan when

He was tempted in the wilderness,

setting an example that we would be

foolish to ignore. God’s Word can help

us deal with sin only if we have first

hidden it in our hearts, and that often

means memorizing and understanding

it! Hymns can also serve us well here

if they help us recall God’s Word.

6) Learn to Ask Aright

James 4:3, “Ye ask, and receive

not, because ye ask amiss, that ye

may consume it upon your lusts.”

Prayer is a vital part of our battle against

sin, and because of that we must learn

to pray correctly. If our prayer lives are

stunted by a carnal focus, we will fall

when we meet with temptation because

we have not asked for the grace to live

a life that is in accordance to God’s willthat has been revealed to us in His Word.

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7) Remember that God is Watching

Psalm 139:2-3, “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,

thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest

my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”

The thought of God being ever with us is a comforting one that is often invoked when

we face a trial of faith, but it can also serve to stop us from sinning. If we have a

holy fear in our hearts of offending the Almighty God, then the thought of how the

same God is watching our every step will definitely keep us from sinning against Him.

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SlaveryWhat is the ultimate complimentyou may give a Christian?

An effi

cient committee member,devoted Sunday School teacher, orhumble behind-the-scenes worker?Or perhaps a meticulous bible studyleader or zealous evangelist?

No. The ultimate compliment, for abeliever, is that he is a slave of Christ.

Paul the Apostle was not one toflatter. Among the few people hepraised was a “slave servant”. In Rom16:1, he wrote, “I commend unto youPhoebe our sister, which is a servantof the church which is at Cenchrea.” OfPhoebe, we know little except she was

a dedicated servant, or slave, of God.

We are all slaves to something or someone.Put another way, we are all enslavedto something or someone. When we areenslaved to something, we are drawnto it with a power that overwhelms.We are mastered, we are owned.

When we read the concept of slave andmaster in the bible, we must rememberit is utter subjection of one to another,not an employee-employer relationshipwe are more familiar with. When we werelost in sin, sin was our master. We wereenslaved by it and dead to Christ. But

when we accepted Jesus as Lord andSavior, we are to have awakened torighteousness and become slaves toGod. Rms 6:16 to 18 tell us as much, “Know

ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselvesservants to obey, his servants yeare to whom ye obey; whether of sinunto death, or of obedience untorighteousness? But God be thanked,that ye were the servants of sin, butye have obeyed from the heart thatform of doctrine which was deliveredyou. Being then made free from sin, yebecame the servants of righteousness.”

To what are you enslaved?

The recent survey on what YFers spendmost time on yielded mixed results.Only 24 responded, so the resultsdo not cover the entire spectrum ofYFers, but should give enough color.

Only a quarter of respondents did not listspending time on computer / computer

games / social media sites / SMSing asa major item. More worrying, a few listedtexting, surfing the net, and having funon the computer as their top priority.

Many students have mobile phonecontracts that allow for unlimitednumber of SMSes sent. While that

sounds like a good deal, is it? That’s likehaving access to buffets everyday.Most human beings are hardwired tolack discipline, and having buffetseveryday will do more harm than good tomany of us. Likewise, having unlimitednumber of SMSes cannot be healthy forsomeone who cannot discipline himself.

When we are enslaved to something,we are drawn inexorably to it.For good or bad, the pull remains.

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Are you enslaved to your mobile phone?To social media sites? Do you need tocheck your email every other minute?Must you send that 17th SMS to afriend in the same minute? Ask yourselfhonestly how your studies, sleep, or

relationships have been affected byendless texting or surfing. Do this simpletest: compare the amount of time yourelax texting or surfing yesterday withthe amount of time you spend on your QT.

On surfing … I youtubed a Russianviolinist the other day, using his family

name. Along with videos on him was oneof a bikini-clad model by the beach. Turnsout this Russian’s first name coincidedwith the title of a men’s magazine. Thisanecdote must be one of many youknow, or have experienced. Dangerslurk in the Net. Spending that amountof time on it clearly exposes us tothem, so we all need to be circumspect.

God has allowed the inventionof computers and expansion oftechnology. Use them, enjoy them. Butbe in control of things. Technology canalso usher social suicide into lives. Howmany people you know live vicariouslythrough avatars and MMORPG games?

In your surfing, have you perhapsconsidered sites that steer us to adeeper knowledge of God? You mustknow there are a lot of sites that allowyou to read the Word, or commentaries,or grant access to hitherto thickdictionaries and concordances.

As we consider the concept of slavery,be reminded we are to pledge allegianceto only one King. This Potentate mustbe our dear Lord, not computer games,emails, texting, Youtube, FB, Twitter …

We are to be serious about our walk. Wesing, talk, read of “surrender to Jesus”and “give of your best to the Master”.In terms of the time you spend, howmuch do you really surrender to Him?You must have sung these words, “All toJesus I surrender, Humbly at His feetI bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken;

Take me, Jesus, take me now.” Were youa hypocrite what you mouthed them?

In closing, be encouraged by thetimeless and timely words in 1 Thess 5:5-8, “Ye are all the children of light, andthe children of the day: we are not of thenight, nor of darkness. Therefore let us

not sleep, as do others; but let us watchand be sober. For they that sleep sleepin the night; and they that be drunkenare drunken in the night. But let us,who are of the day, be sober, putting onthe breastplate of faith and love; andfor an helmet, the hope of salvation.”

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RetroSpect A letter to your past

By William Quah

Hi William,

You might think that it is cool to receivea letter from future-you, but I thinkyou will not be pleased upon reading thecontents of this letter. However, I hopeyou will listen, for it concerns your soul.

It is with much sadness that Iwrite to you, seeing how you are soconsumed with the things of

the world. You please yourown fleshly desires. TV andcomputer games have consumed you.You are wasting so much time andenergy, both of which are Godgiven. For someone who was born into aChristian home and hasbeen brought up in adoctrinally sound church and claims

to be a Christian, your life has beenhypocritical and has reflected thatof an unbeliever rather than that ofa disciple of Christ. Indeed, in church,you appear fine, serving in the teenscomm, YPC, and you have a goodreputation with teachers and peers,but behind that façade your mind isfilled with devilish computer games

that much of your life is spent on. Evenwhen you are not facing the screen,you think about it. You formulatestrategies about it, thinking of whento play it and talk to your friendsabout it. On the other hand, you havenot told your friends about Christ andhardly stand up for Him. The love forcomputer games has even led you to lie

to your parents that you are doing workwhen they are both away at work whenyou are actually playing games. Thecomputer has become one of your idols!

Repent! Check your own salvation,for a good tree will definitely producegood fruit. Matthew 7:17-23 is not forthe Charismatics but for YOU! You callJesus Lord in your prayers and wordsbut in your life He is not so. You hadbetter repent before you end up in thatsituation where Jesus says “I neverknew you: Depart from me ye that workiniquity.” Remember the words of theLord Jesus in Luke 9:23 “If any manwill come after me, let him deny himself,and take up his cross daily, and followme.” You say you follow Christ, so why

don’t you deny yourself and take up thecross? You might think a future-you willknow that he is saved and so why worry.It’s precisely because at that time youmade all these mistakes, thinking thatit is not serious, that a future-you isstill cleaning up the mess of sin and itsfar-reaching consequences.

What is wrong about computer games

you might ask? Two things I’d liketo bring up. The first is the devilishcontent of many of the games you playand the second is how the games havebecome an idol to you. Listen hard andlisten well, for this is not what I say,but what the word of God says aboutthese things.

Since young, many games that you haveplayed have an element of witchcraftand sorcery involved. Casting spells,necromancy and demons have all beenpart of these games, and these gamesare widely played by many friends youhave, and also many Christians. It seemslike it is ok, as long as you don’t actuallydo it in real life. This thinking is where

the devil, the master seducer, has gotyou. Matthew 24:12 says, “And becauseiniquity shall abound, the love of manyshall wax cold.” In Acts 2:40 the Apostle

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Peter calls it an “untoward generation”and in Galatians 1:4 a“present evil world.” Thedevil has made sin so common-place in yoursurroundings so that you donot hate sin as God does and

all Christians should. This isespecially true in prosperousSingapore where you don’t have to worryabout day-to-day living, so you can havethe time and means to indulge in thesethings and so become hardened againstsin. You know what the Bible says aboutsorcery?

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 There shall not

be found among you any one that makethhis son or his daughter to pass throughthe fire, or that useth divination, or anobserver of times, or an enchanter, ora witch, Or a charmer, or a consulterwith familiar spirits, or a wizard, or anecromancer. For all that do these thingsare an abomination unto the LORD: andbecause of these abominations theLORD thy God doth drive them out frombefore thee.

That’s right! Witchcraft is anabomination to God. You might notunderstand the word “abomination”. Itmeans that it is something that Godextremely hates. How can we even getcomfortable by treating what God hates

lightly?Galatians 5:19-21 Now the worksof the flesh are manifest, which arethese; Adultery, fornication… Idolatry,witchcraft… and such like: of the whichI tell you before, as I have also told youin time past, that they which do suchthings shall not inherit the kingdom ofGod.

Revelations 21:8 But the fearful,and unbelieving… and sorcerers, andidolators… shall have their part in

the lake which burneth with fire andbrimstone: which is the second death.

2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreementhath the temple of God with idols? for yeare the temple of the living God; as Godhath said, I will dwell in them, and walk

in them; and I will be their God, and theyshall be my people.

From these few verses you cansee that God says that those thatcontinue in witchcraft and idolatry willburn, for these are signs of unbelievers,and not the good fruit that comes fromGod. We are the temple of God. Can you

imagine God dwelling in us, walking in usto do something evil that He absolutelyhates? You see how you try to deceiveyourself into thinking it is ok and justharmless? God’s word is absolutely clearon this.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve twomasters: for either he will hate the one,and love the other; or else he will holdto the one, and despise the other. Yecannot serve God and mammon.

Now I move on to the part about beingensnared by the games. You might asknow. How about Winning 11 or any othersports games? Or strategy games?Or games like Gunbound? Surely they

cannot harm, right? It’s true that notall computer games are harmful to you.But look at your weak depraved self andyour feeble efforts to limit yourself.How many hours have you played, givingthe excuse of holidays or I must finishthis game or another? How many timeshave you snapped at your parents orbrother because you were in the middle

of a game and cannot leave for fearof losing? How many times have youbeen somewhere, including on Sundaymornings in church, or during prayer

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or teens class and then the gamesand the strategies and the thingsthat you must do in order to betteryour game play entered your mind anddistracted you from worshipping God?How can you say “Jesus, I love you and I will

follow you and do what you ask me to do”when your energies and mind is used onsuch things? Have you constantly beenpraying? Have you been thinking of howto share the gospel with your friend whois about to die and go to hell? Have youeven shared the gospel with a friendbefore? Have you repeatedly thoughtto spend time in encouraging a friend

in Christ in church? Do you even knowabout your friends’ spiritual states?Have you done your best in whatevertasks you’ve been given? Can you spendyour time better for Christ? Will He say“Well done my good and faithful servant”for spending time playing computergames? I know all the answers to thosequestions, one good thing about being

future-you. You cannot serve God andthe world. 1 John 1:6 says “If we saythat we have fellowship with him, andwalk in darkness, we lie, and do not thetruth.”

Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time,because the days are evil.

Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward

them that are without, redeeming thetime.

If you truly believe that Christ iscoming again, and you arewondrously saved by His grace, youwould not spend time in such frivolousthings, but go spend and be spent for Him.Remember, as in Ezekiel 33:6, how muchblood of your friends and loved ones ison your hands? Yet another thing doneby you that haunts future-you till now.

With all these problems, you are thinkingthat there is no hope for you. You eventhink that why fight against the fleshwhen you are bound to sin these sinsagain anyway. Well, future-you tells youthat God through His grace has shown

future-you through His Word that thereis a way out. God tells you in Matthew11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye thatlabour and are heavy laden, and I willgive you rest. Take my yoke upon you,and learn of me; for I am meek andlowly in heart: and ye shallfind rest untoyour souls. For my yoke is easy, and myburden is light.

You have to see how you really cannothelp yourself. I seriously tell you, youwill try many times to be resolute andtry to kick this addiction with your ownwillpower and you will failmiserably. You are really easilytempted to fall into the sin of idolising TV,computer among many things. Your pridealso makes you think you can do it (evenup till now it happens). And so you fail. Youbetter thank God that He is gracious andmerciful to you and shows you thatyou are such a wretched creature, anddoesn’t leave you there, but gives youthe way of salvation and to overcomesin. “For who is he that overcometh theworld, but he that believeth that Jesusis the Son of God? For whatsoever isborn of God overcometh the world: andthis is the victory that overcometh theworld, even our faith.” 1 John 5:5,4. Youcan overcome the world through God’shelp!

Keep on seeking God through His wordand through much prayer. This phrasemight be the most commonly used phrase

that you have heard other Christianssay, but it’s true.

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thytruth: thy word is truth.

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Ephesians 5:26 That he mightsanctify and cleanseit with the washing ofwater by the word,

Luke 11:9-10 And I say unto you, Ask,and it shall be given you; seek, and ye

shall find; knock, and it shall be openedunto you. For every one that askethreceiveth; and he that seekethfindeth;and to him that knocketh it shall beopened.

It may seem that you have tried to askGod with much tears and prayer, butyou still fall into sin. You try reading the

Word but you still fall back into sin. Forceyourself to choose not to go play gameswith your gaming friends and make thechoice to join all the Bible studies you canand prayer meetings too. Sometimes inthe future you are not sure what helpthey can give but know this: God uses Hisword to move your heart to live for Him.It’s true I tell you, believe me. Keep going

at these 2 avenues -- of God’s wordand prayer, for it is the only way you areever going to find deliverance from theburden of besetting sin and the powerof snares. The other hard choices thatyou have to make are to mix less withyour friends that bring you to do thesethings and mix with Christian brethren.The outside friends might be more fun

as they bring you to focus on the manyfun things of the world but realise this,it will all burn. If you continue indulgingin worldly pleasures with them, you willcause your friends to burn in hell by yourtestimony too.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evilcommunications corrupt good manners.

You think that you can change them? It’sunlikely that it will happen. What happensis usually the other way round. If youwant to test that, tell them about their

sin, the consequences and the gospel.If they still don’t mind being around you,and don’t find you weird, then that’sgood, and shine for Christ!

Lastly, with the all the extra time youhave, if you don’t use it well, you will

just fall to another snare placed bySatan. Besides spending more time onpersonal devotions and prayer, you cango join the YF and benefit from fellowshipand the Word of God! You can think andprepare to tell loved ones and friendsaround you about Christ. You can prayand encourage brethren in Christ. Youcan serve more and better in teens and

in YF when you go there. You can ponderof how you can be a better testimony athome, school and church. If you but openyour eyes, you will see that there’s somuch work to be done for the Lord thatHe calls you to! John 4:35 tells us not towait (for tomorrow that never comes)to do God’s work, but there’s already somuch to do now! Look and see!

That’s all I have for you now. Rememberthis point before I end. With all thenonsense that you sow, a future-youwill reap all the rubbish as well. All I cando is clean up and continue the fight. Ahwell, what to do but live now for Christ!

Sad regards,

Your regretful future-you

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Hellooooo dear yfers!!

Hmmm... I’ve been debating what to write about for nearly two weeks now, andyet, I have absolutely no idea what to write. So we’ll see how this goes.. !

Studying overseas has definitely been a huge challenge, but I am SOthankful that I have a God who cares for me and will never leave mealone. Indeed, sometimes it can get pretty lonely, people can make racistcomments about you, or people give you that “hate glare” :) but our God neverchanges and He will always love you the same.

The last year of high school (sec 3 – j2 age in case you werewondering) was definitely my most stressful year out of the four and a halfyears I’ve been at Bob Jones. For some reason, this time round, I had the

“home sickness” feeling wayyyyyyyy too early. I guess I kept having thatfeeling :) “Ahhh!! I’m graduating this year and I’ll be home soooooooonnnn!!!!” andthat definitely did not help. Also, having a 15-year-old roommate who alwayscomplained about wanting to go home every other day, if not every day sincelike :) one week into school:) yeah, totally did NOT help. At first whenever I felthomesick, I would “trick” my mind and just busy myself with school work or workitself. But then you can never really run away from that fact that you’re so faraway from home and how much you miss it, no matter how busy you are. I brokedown so many times just because I wanted to leave everything behind me and go

home. I felt that I did not belong because there were people who literally told methey hated me, or some that would tell racist jokes, or look down on you, and justvarious things l ike that. But through it all, God was always there for me wheneverI cried out to Him. Though at times it felt like He wasn’t listening, I knew that Godhears our every cry and He KNOWS what we’re going through.

Academics was another thing. I was taking a huge load, which even mycounselor had said was very risky but I absolutely did not want to stay forsummer school after my graduation so I decided to go ahead with it. Taking twolevels of English (sec 4 and j2) was definitely a challenge, with many papers to

write, lots to read, and many tests to take. And then there was US History which isnothing but memorization. But the tests were like :) “what was the horse’s name thatGeneral _______ rode on?” Like SERIOUSLY??!?!?!?! A horse’s name?!? And I wasalso involved in a musical my school did which took up a lot of my time after school.Juggling school, work and the play was VERY interesting indeed. Thiswas especially true when we had a choir concert, which meant extrarehearsals and piano performances/competitions which mandatedcompulsory attendance. Through it all, though, God gave me the strength eventhough I literally thought I couldn’t roll out of bed anymore because I was soexhausted from standing through rehearsals and work. Honestly, I really didn’tknow how I could have done it without God’s help. Truly, He’s the ONLY giver ofstrength and the patience when you need it.

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M y B l o o ! Bret hren L ies Over t he Oc ean



What helped me go through everything was singing songs andreading His Word. Really, nothing is more refreshing than talking with God.One of my favourite songs that kept popping into mind was “Lord, I Need You”because at that time, I really needed His strength though winds andwaves look tormenting and I feel so small like I’d never make it through.Reading the Psalms was also a huge help. Psa 18:7-8 “The LORD is my strength

and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatlyrejoiceth; and with my song wil l I praise him. The LORD is their strength, and he isthe saving strength of his anointed. ” These are probably my favourite versesand they were really appl icable to me at that time. Well, they still are.

Soooo :) Joel Tan kind of suggested I share a little about life inCalifornia since I had just moved here in August so here goes! The start ofcollege life has definitely been exciting. New environment, new friends, newhome :) can get pretty overwhelming sometimes, but I thank God for amazingteachers that care, nice friends, a place to stay, and the list goes on and on

and on. Please pray that I won’t yield to the temptations as I’ve already beenasked to go party/smoke/drink with them. Yeah, it’s only the fourth week ofschool and they already asked me to join them. Kinda scary if you ask me. Butyeah, I guess this is how the world works now. Also, please pray that I’ll be a goodtestimony at school and that I won’t let my guard down. I do love my coursesthough, they’ve been pretty fun and interesting. Political Science however, hasbeen messing with my brain so please pray for discernment..! Other than that, lifehas been pretty exciting and good. I thank God for protection thus far and for Hisprovidence. My brother is doing wel l too, missing home too of course but hey, what’sthere not to miss about Singapore? :DWell anyway, that was a long article and your eyes must be dried up and tired.Thank you for letting me write this article..! : ) I’m saving up all my laughs til l I comehome, so just wait! Haha. I miss you all and am praying for you guys!! Stay close tothe Lord always and give glory to God ONLY in all that you do! :) Wil l see you all soon,Lord willing!

Celeste

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Ex-Teens That Talk

By Serena Lok

My first impression of YF was when I attended my first Sept retreat in sec 2. I firststarted attending YF when I was in Secondary 3. However, I was not a regular andstopped during my O levels’ year. When I ended my Os, I decided to attend YF moreregularly. I also got to know more YFers because some of them came to teach in our Sec4 classes and some even offered to help me in my Os!

YF always offers mutual encouragements in Christ. Brothers and sisters in Christ wouldsend text messages of verses and ask about our spiritual walk and QT. The group leaderswould always be there to ask for prayer requests to pray for each and every one of us.They would also plan group outings to bond/to have fellowship with the members of thegroup.

In my opinion, attending YF and its various spiritual activities requires a certain amountof discipline. Amidst our busy schedule, it is always good for our soul to learn more aboutHis word and to receive His promises. We will also have the assurance that we are not

alone because there are all the YFers here for us. It is a blessing to be in such a ministryand I pray many teens will be more encouraged to share this with us.

In Christ,

Serena

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I wasn’t very old when I first heard the gospel. Yet, after being brought up inChurch, I had learnt to think like a Christian. I sung Sunday School songs, and readthe Bible in church every Sunday. If I was afraid at night, I would coax myself back

to sleep reading Psalm 23. I even had a Christian name.

The Bible informed all my moral beliefs, and they were aligned to the Faith. But theywere done… without a changed heart. I knew that you should be a Christian, (andI told my friends about it,) but I didn’t personally understood why. As a kid, I didn’tthink much about it—not blessed in the brains department, and was always toodistracted to stay on that question.

I would have died in my sins—even when I’m in church every week, and knew how tobe saved, and why we should be saved.

Over 25Of Slaves and Slavery

by Grace Au Yong

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Scary thought.

It’s only recently that I realized (andwill admit) how easily I could be seducedby the power of money, by wanting that

recognition of effort in school, by thatwanting to please others just to getahead in life… and just have my entirebeing consumed by that.

(While there’s nothing wrong withearning money, there’s everything wrongwith making earning money your master. I

need to write this down somewhere, I keepforgetting it.)

These desires give a small glimpse how much of a slave I was to sin, and that I couldnever redeem myself from it, unless the Lord revealed His truth towards me, whichHe did. (Thank you God.) While these desires still exist, (testament to the effectsof the old man, and the internal struggle that Christians will always have,) I’m verythankful that they no longer have supreme control over my life.

That saying, suggestions of pride and earthly grandeur till beset me. They neverarrive announcing themselves. Unless you’re walking close to the Lord, you never



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really realize the beginning of a sin, until you are in the middle of it.

Since being given the topic I’ve been noticing how my actions have been influencedby the sinful nature in me. I must admit that it’s all very subtle… the irritatabletone when I speak to my parents, the lies that I tell in life, a whisper in the back ofmy head saying I’ve done enough to deserve that youtube clip, procrastination,excuses, and more procrastination… God has given us the power over sin, and yetthe sin nature still afflicts us every moment. This is what I find most disturbingabout sin.

Although nobody walks around in physical chains, we know that everyone that isunsaved is a slave to Satan, and can engineer no escape of his own. God gave usan idea of what we were like, when He described the people of Nineveh to Jonah.Their mind is in such spiritual darkness that they could not discern between their

right hand, and their left hand (Jonah 4:11).

This description is very apt. It’s a spiritual bondage that we’re talking about, thismental burden of sin that weighs on your being. It is without doubt, a great andpotent burden, but because it is not tangible, sometimes people ignore it. And beingin church makes this very dangerous, because you can think you’re a Christian,when you are really not.

Friends, are you still in chains, bound to the service of sin? You might have grownup in Church, gone through Teens, and were even given the talk by Brother Milton—but are you truly saved?

If you’re saved, are you growing in the Faith? You’re not a slave to sin, and muststruggle against the Old man, this sin nature within us. The only way to struggle,and be victorious in that struggle, is to have a close walk with Christ, and a slave to

Christ. Slaves have no rights at all, and their will has to be completely tied to theirMaster. If you have your will tied to the Lord, then examine how your testimonyis, and you behave—is it befitting of Him? This is difficult, but not impossible. Andremember, we will fail lest we do it with God’s help.

May we all strive daily to be worthy of our Master.

Matthew 11:28-30

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Takemy yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shallfind

rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.



THE YF WENT ON A MISSION AWARENESS TRIP, WOOO~!!! (:

We thank God for the privilege to labour in the organization and the executionof this trip, and the fellowship we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The planning ofthis Mission Awareness Trip has been of great encouragement and also rebuketo me. It is indeed a joy to see how everybody labours together as many membersof the same body. Though there were bumps along the way and I get discouragedbecause I lose sight of God in the planning, God sends His children to encourage

and to lift up. God is good. He leadseach step of the way and taughtme the importance of waiting uponHim - it is truly not what I can do forGod but what God would have me to

do for Him.

There is a three-fold objective forthis Mission Awareness Trip:

(1) To generate awareness of the Mission Field

This is the primary objective of the Mission Awareness Trip. The YF ExecutiveCommittee initiated this idea to provide an opportunity for the YFers to servein the mission field and in the hope of encouraging them to participate in similaroutreaches. Therefore, in line with that purpose, the planning committee tried torope in the help of the YFers.

This was the reason for both the skit and the Art & Craft ideas. We thank Godfor the labour of JQ, Ivan and Lek Xuan in the coordination of all the details that

we had to iron out for the skit. God truly works in marvellous ways and He poursdown His grace in His ministry. For all the help rendered by those who have servedin mission trips – from the help in the preparation of the crops for the skit to thetranslation of the script, we could only praise and bless His Holy name.Thank God for the many YFers who were forthcoming in taking on roles inthe skit and for all the help in the cutting and in the preparation of the craft

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materials. It was encouragingto see how the YFershelped the kids in Batam

enthusiastically with the craftdespite the language barrier.



Truly as I look back, I could only thank God for His wonderful grace in helping us toserve Him though we are inadequate in so many ways.

(2) For fellowship among the Berean YFers and the Pandan YFers that we may forge a stronger bond in the Lord Jesus Christ

I’m sure all of us have gotten toknow the Berean YFers better evenif it is simply knowing their names(or the names they have in the skite.g. woman 1 or widow 1). Now whenwe see one another, we could say“SURPRISE”!! (:

It is heartening to see membersof the body of Christ worktogether to serve the Kingof kings and the Lord of lords in the different roles that God has called.Together with Ivan, we are privileged to be working with Ben and Lek Xuan in theplanning of this trip, of the times we see things coming to a haltbecause we know not how to continue and of the many emails we sent one anotherto update and to find alternatives to certain situations. Most importantly, I’mthankful to God for His Word and His promises. That is where wefind strength andencouragement not to be weary and labour on.

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Isaiah 40:31

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renewtheir strength; they shall mount up with wingsas eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and

they shall walk, and not faint.



(3) To encourage the teens in GAPPI Getsemani in light of God’s Word

This is another objective of our mission trip that our trip may be a blessing tothe church. Our decision to do a DVBS in GAPPI Getsemani was to bring thegospel message to the many kids in Batam that they too may hear of thewonderful grace of our God and come to salvation knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.Nonetheless, our focus of the trip was actually the Teens. We hope to be able toshare our spiritual blessings and the knowledge we have in the Word of God withthem. This was why we had a combined Youth Fellowship with the Teens on themessage of “Loving the Lord” where Kenny reminded us on why we should love theLord and how we ought to love the Lord. We had also station games which weremainly based on biblical events or objects. These games ideas were not simply raisedto take up the time we have set aside for games with the Teens but Joy Khor andElvin had spent effort in coming up with these ideas in the hope of encouragingthem.

The Sword Drill station was to help them familiarize with the books of the bible.The Pictionary station was to help them familiarize with the characters and theobjects in the Bible and the Still Shots station was to help them familiarize withthe events that God has written for our learning. These station games may havebeen seemingly easy for us who were given the privilege in the study of thesecharacters or events through bible studies or the many resources that wepossessed in our self-study but it may not be the case for them.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding inthe work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in theLord.

The Mission Awareness Trip was planned for our learning and in the hope that we

may participate in similar outreaches in the future. We do pray and hope that Godwill use us to be a blessing to other people. It has been a month, have we actuallyforgotten the purpose of the trip and treated it as an event of our life that hassince passed? I hope that we will count our blessings each day to know that we areindeed privileged to have the luxury of the air-conditioned cry-room and the manyfaithful preachers of God’s Word week after week for YF to help us grow in thegrace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. May this be a reminder notto take our weekly YF meetings for granted and to remind us to abound to everygood work for the Lord!

In Christ,

Su Ling



Mission Trip Reflections by Ivan Ting

It all started with a godly desire whichignited in the heart of our advisor. Domissions, and make aware the need of

missions. And of course, have blessedfellowship along the way. As the songgoes, ‘it only takes a spark to get afire going’. Soon, the combined Berean-Pandan YF caughtfire and we embarkedon a one day Mission Awareness Trip toGAPPI Getsemani B-P Church.

But even though initially enthusiastic,the winds of the Evil One soughtto snuff out the flame in my heart.I imperceptibly lamented thearduous preparation necessaryfor just one day of missions. Passion forevangelistic missions was slowlyinfected by a cold sense ofobligation to do what needed to be done.

How easy it is for the soul to be lulled toindifference!

The skit, the songs, the art & craft,the games, all went smoothly andenergetically. William, as Zacchaeus, wasbrave to the task, having to memorizedpages of script in a third language.The cast was focused in the actualperformance and executed their bestrun. The art & craft engaged theyounger ones by and large, and itsemphasis on the memorization of Luke19:10 was appropriate to the objectivesof the mission trip. ‘For the Son of manis come to seek and to save that whichwas lost’. Surely, for Christ’s sake, and

for the glory of His name, the Word whichwent out by role-play, preaching, andmemorization, must have accomplishedits purpose. For, ‘So shall my word be

that goeth forth out of my mouth: itshall not return unto me void, but it shallaccomplish that which I please, and itshall prosper in the thing whereto I sentit’.

But alas! It may be said of me, ‘Thispeople draweth nigh unto me with theirmouth, and honoureth me with their lips;but their heart is far from me’. Workdone for the Lord without true sincerityof heart, without that kind of love withwhich Hefirst loved us, is but ‘wood, hay,stubble’, unable to stand the fire of the

Bema seat of judgment.

May this personal sharing be awarningto us all of the danger of spirituallylethargic service. May the Lord rekindlemyfire, and yours too if it has dimmed.

May the Lord impress on us by HisSpirit the HIGH CALLING which all of us

Christians have been bestowedwith, the GRAND WORK that hehas called us to perform, and theU N I M A G I N A B L ESACRIFICE that has redeemed ourwretched persons and demands thegiving of our soul, our life, our all.

And with this high view of God, Hiscalling, and His sacrifice, may we echowith godly passion the words of thefather of modern missions, ‘ EXPECTGREAT THINGS FROM GOD, ATTEMPTGREAT THINGS FOR GOD’. Amen, andAmen!

‘I must work the works of him that sentme, while it is day: the night cometh, when

no man can work.’ John 9:4



Mission Trip Reflections by Joel Tan

On 20th August, a group of usfrom Pandan and Berean’s YouthFellowship took a ferry down from theHarbourfront Ferry Terminal to Batam

for a Missions Awareness Trip! BothYFs collaborated and prepared songitems, games, arts and crafts & a skitfor the day trip to Batam.

We headed down to GAPPI Getsemaniupon reaching the shores of Batam,and started preparing for theZaccheus skit and song

presentations to bepresented in front of the children fortheir VBS. We were introduced to thechildren, and had the very pleasantopportunity to shake their handswhile singing simple Christian songs inIndonesian! The children over theresang really loudly, and it was certainly apleasant surprise to see and hear howmuch they loved to sing to the Lord.

Following which, the skit and the songswere presented in Indonesian, and thankGod that everything went smoothly andthat the message behind the skit wasdelivered!

We then had an Arts and Craftsession with the children and the teens,where the children were supposed

to paste and put together pieces ofpaper to form the memory verse of Luke19:10, the verse they memorized fromthe Zaccheus skit. They also colored apicture of Zaccheus on thesycamore tree. The YFers stood aroundassisting the children and the teens,while interacting with them with theirlimited grasp of the Indonesian language.It was however a very enjoyable time to

interact with fellow Christian brethrenfrom Batam despite the languagebarrier. We were also treated to arefreshing honeydew drink preparedby the adults and teens from GAPPI

Getsemani, as the weather was muchhotter than in Singapore, and it wasvery nice!After lunch, we had a combinedYouth Fellowship with the teens fromGAPPI Getsemani. After themessage by Kenny, we proceeded for atime of fun & games with the teens. In ourvarious groups, we proceeded todifferent stations to play Pictionary,Snapshots and Sword drill! Throughthese games, we had the opportunityto get-to-know the teens better, andenjoy some friendly competition in thevarious games with them. Everyoneboth from Singapore and Batam hadan enjoyable time playing games andgetting to know each other better!

As the day was getting late, it was soontime for us to head back to Singapore.We enjoyed some local delicacies fromBatam, made by some members fromGAPPI Getsemani, and had more timeto interact with the teens over dinner.Finally, as the sun was setting, weheaded back to the ferry terminal tocatch our boat back to Singapore!

The entire day trip to Batam was avery enjoyable and blessed one. Itwas certainly a good opportunity tofellowship with the brethren in Batamdespite the difficulty in communication,but hank God that we could

encourage them through the skit,song items and even our presenceover there in Batam! Personally,it was rather encouraging tosee the young children sing soenthusiastically for the Lord before theskit started, certainly much louder thanhow we sing in our church! Thank God forthe opportunity to visit the brethrenin Batam, and I look forward to futureMission trips with the YF!



September Retreat by Hannah Woo

September Retreat was held on the 9th& 10th of September! It was a goodrespite from the long (half) semester

at school, spending a weekend awayfrom the demands of school and work ,instead spending time in church learningmore about His word and of course,

fellowshipping with the YFers :)

The theme of the retreat was‘Blessings in Disguise’, taken from thelife of Joseph. Brother Henry, the mainspeaker for the retreat, came up with 3

exciting message titles to substantiatethe theme.

1. Betrayed but Blessed

2. Tempted but Triumphed

3. Forsaken but Forgiving

How often can we be like Joseph, whodespite the harsh circumstances,managed to keep his good Christiantestimony? I’m sure that if we werebetrayed by our siblings or close friends,we certainly would not recognize it as ablessing. And we would certainly not beas forgiving as Joseph was towards hisbrothers who had abandoned and sold

him away when he was young.Blessedness, as mentioned in the bible,can only be experienced by those who aretruly saved. Why would it be in a disguise

then? God places trials in our lives, andthrough these trials he guides and leadsus till we overcome them. Only then,when we look back and see the hand ofGod protecting us through said trial,would we realize that it was a blessing.

Also, Joseph resisted temptation whenmet with Potiphar’s wife because hedared to be different and refused heradvances. Just like Joseph, we alsoought to purpose in our hearts not tofollow in the ways of the world and givein to sin and temptation. Every time wegive in to temptations and dwell on it,we succumb to sin, acknowledging that

Satan is our master. Hence we shouldlearn from the life of Joseph, and dareto be different from the world.

Forgiving the people who had caused somuch hurt to us can be a very difficultthing to do. However, forgiveness in thebible is a commandment. Colossians 3:13“Forbearing one another, and forgiving

one another, if any man have a quarrelagainst any; even as Christ forgaveyou, so also do ye.” Just as Christ hasforgiven us our sins, we too must alsofollow the example of Him and forgivethe people who have hurt us, just likehow Joseph forgave his brothers.

Indeed there is so much for us to learnand emulate from Joseph’s life!



Personal Points1. Name & age?2. What are you doing now?3. What do you want to be in the future?4. Hobbies?

5. Who in the Bible is your ideal girlfriend/ boyfriend?

1. Leslie Lim, 24 this year but nobody believes me... haha.2. Business Management student at SIM-RMIT3. By God’s Will, that I can be a good husband and having a happy family?

A stable job too :)4. I like jogging, cycling, swimming and occasionally stoning. [Editor’s note: Stoning, an ancient Israelite past time!]5. Hmmm… I’m still not versed in the Bible… so I can’t give an answer :)))

1. Raphael Goh, 21 years old.

2. First year student at the National

University of Singapore (likely majoring in Communications and

New Media)

3. Maybe a photographer…?

4. Hmmm I haven’t been doing much

recently. Used to run and swim when

I was in army!

5. Never thought of it before… I don’t know!!



1. J o e l l e C h e o n g , 16 ! : D

2. S e c o n d a r y 4 s t u d e n t a t R a f f l e s G i r l s ’ S

c h o o l , s t i l l s t u d y i n g

f o r m y e n d o f y e a r s a n d ‘ O ’ L e v e l s. : D

3. I w a n t t o o p e n a C h r i s t i a n o r p h a n a g e s o m

e w h e r e , w h e r e v e r t h e

L o r d l e a d s : D a n d o f c o u r s e i f i t r e a l l y i

s H i s c a l l i n g f o r m e t o

d o s o : D

4. S l e e p i n g , e a t i n g c o o k i e s , e a t i n g i n g e n e r

a l ,

p l a y i n g t h e g u i t a r , t a l k i n g , s m s i n g , r e a d i n

g r o m a n c e n o v e l s a n d

w a t c h i n g c h i c k f l i c k s ! x D

5. m m m J o s h u a ? : D I r e a l l y a d m i r e d h i s f a i t

h a n d t r u s t i n G o d t o

h e l p h i m l e a d t h e I s r a e l i t e s a f t e r M o s e s.

I g u e s s i t w o u l d p r o b -

a b l y h a v e b e e n q u i t e s c a r y a n d d a u n t i n g

t o k e e p t h e s t a n d a r d

t h a t M o s e s h a d s e t , a s t h e w o r l d w o u l d s e e i t , b u t J o s h u a w a s

a b l e t o t r u s t t h a t G o d w o u l d u s e h i m t o l

e a d t h e m i n H i s p e r f e c t

w a y : D [ E d i t o r ’ s n o t e : S o i t ’ s t r u e , t h e s p i

e s g e t a l l t h e g i r l s. ]



Short & Broad July

3

– Matthew Yeo, Jonathan Poon and Joshua Loh march 24km overnight to theirPassing-Out Parade

4– Jonan returns from the jungles of Brunei9

– Joy Ng graduates from the National University of Singapore and enters theworking world!

– Sophia graduates from the National Institute of Education and goes back toSecondary school!11

-Lingting returns from Manchester :)13– Jo-Ann Siew jets back to Melbourne on a night flight

– Brian finds himself being called “Mr Lim” for the next five weeks at RegentSecondary School– Joyce Huang successfully demonstrates her motor skills by passing herdriving test

– Jan takes her Grade 7 Piano exam and her Driving Basic Theory Test– Leslie successfully obtains a licence to blow bubbles. As an open water diver,of course.– Zhongyanfinds himself back in the army for reservist training from 14-30

– Kenny lands safely in Singapore after spending some time in Melbourne August

1– Jonanflies off for a free 3-week ‘holiday’ to Taiwan, courtesy of MINDEF9

– Zhongyan tests the stability of an MRT pillar with his head while cycling with anumber of other YFers and comes away from the experience with nine stitches.Some say the catalyst of the accident was a girl whose name starts with A andrhymes with whale.27

– (A) Working Faith and Scripture Seeking Saints go through a gauntlet of faithat Jurong Central Park28

– Jonan returns from his all-expenses paid trip to Taiwan



August continued...

– Sophia Huang fractures herfibular, which eventually leads to her purchaseof specialised footwear so expensive that she “can only afford one side”– William obtains a licence to hit the road on two wheels!

September17

– P.E.A.R.L has a wonderful time of fellowship at a group outing baking bread21

– Suling, Wanping and William travel to Batam as part of a project for theirBahasa class24

– P.E.A.R.L and Scripture Seeking Saints host a combined group outing atsunny Sentosa, while (A) Working Faith and LOGgers hit the ice on skates atKallang. It was easy to tell who went for what outing during that particularYF…

September continued....

– Gabriel embarks on an overseas outfield exercise between 20-23 Sept inhis service to the nation

– Sophia gets back on her feet (in a manner of speaking) and is once againable to come and have fellowship with like-minded brethren



October 2011: Men of Great Faith

1 Church Bible Study (CBS)8 Lessons from the Life of William Tyndale15 Lessons from the Life of Watchman Nee

22 Lessons from the Life of Robert Murray M’Cheyne29 Lessons from the Life of John Newton26th Oct: Deepavali

November 2011

5 Church Bible Study (CBS)12 Book Study on Nahum19 Book Study on Nahum

26 Book Study on Nahum6th Nov: Hari Raya Haji

December 2011: Prophesies Concerning Christ’s First Coming

3 The Christmas Story10 The Suffering Lamb of God17 The Hope of A Coming Life24 No YF in view of Christmas Eve PraiseService31 No YF in view of Watch Night Service

YF Camp 2011: 19th to 24th December

This Issue is

brought to you by:

Joel QuahBrian Lim

Dorothy ChiangSamuel Chia

Elvin SiewLim Siu ChenHannah Woo

Yeda KoJan Yap

Joelle CheongHannah Joy Chew

Uth Chronicle 2011-IV

Documents

Transcript of Uth Chronicle 2011-IV