Obey Without Delay

2009-09-16T21:50:00.000+08:00

Hello. Its the first time i'm posting! Woohoo.

2009-03-27T17:44:00.002+08:00

wah got new post!!!

ok for those who dont check emails, and also for those whom i never sent out the email, i'll just copy and paste it here, + COLOURS. haha

Alright dear sec 1s,

Since you all like to fill in surveys as i always seen in your blogs, and also through chain mails sent, now i have a survey from a good friend of mine which need you all to fill it. Its for her University project(i think), and this is probably the first useful survey which you might be filling in(its about fast food). Dont worry, i've seen the survey for myself, theres less than 20 questions, and dont really require you all to type out your answers, so it wont waste much of your time. Can pass on to your friends as well.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228YMKZN9GS

Disclaimer: Even if you do not pass this email on, dont worry, there will not be bad luck and no ghost will pop out of the screen to haunt you for the next 90172349 years of your life. haha. In Jesus Name we must reject all theses fears!

**Oh, since you all are sec 1s, you can just fill in under the 13 year olds, cos you all will be 13 year old this year**

Ok another thing, this one totally unrelated to the survey. Since no on wants to plan anything using the tuition funds, us teachers have to plan the thing(as usual, haha!). So leave your 1st of May free(tentatively). Its a public holiday. We teachers will be planning some thigns for you all, although the whole timetable for the day is not up yet. If any of you want to learn how to plan this kind of things, just msg us and we'll include you in the planning. You'll be able to learn quite alot. So remember, leave your 1st of May free!!!
(Try to ask people whom we have not met in a long long time, like dayn, matsuo, amelia, micky... and also can bring your friends along if you want. But have to tell us before hand so we can work out the budget)

this blog is not dead!

2009-03-23T23:43:00.002+08:00

No Kasia, this blog is not dead! and here is living proof of it! (:

Alright in an attempt to revive this blog to its former glory and activity, I shall break out of my studying shell and post something.

First off, I'd like to say that I'm really really very PROUD of all of you who came down and became a TEACHER at the recently concluded VBC! It's like that chinese cheng yu i learnt in secondary school, something about seeing your little saplings bear fruit, or something like that! Really made mommy proud to see all of you taking care of the little ones as though they were your own kids! I'm sure those of you who came down didn't regret your decision and hopefully you finally understand the pain you put us through each sunday XD joking joking. Kudos to Daniel, Garik, Gared, Clara, Shi Ri, Kelly, Janelle, Shi Ting, Faith Tiew and Janice! Special thanks to my 2 co-teachers Kelly and Janelle for helping me pick up the slack when I totally lost myself trying to control the rampaging meeblings! On a more serious note, I hope all of you continue your passion and service towards the Lord. (Refer to Aunty Cindy if you would like to sign up with CM today!)

For those of you who didn't go for VBS, don't worry because in the coming 5th week of May, all of you will have an oppurtunity to serve our Lord in the POWER PRAISE TEAM! please note it down in your schedules and start block clearing the rest of your weekends prior to that for rehearsals (:

Ok, now to touch on what made me decide to blog today.
It happened ytd when I was teaching lesson then suddenly this question popped up in class. One of my kids asked me with all the innocence in the world, "Is it ok to smoke?" I was quite taken aback by this question. Having being schooled in the ways of Health Promotion Board of Singapore and Health Education in primary school (You all did that right?) I thought it was quite well indoctrinated in us that smoking is well... simply BAD for health.
From a schooling medical professional point of view, smoking predisposes you to a whole plethora of diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and what not.
But more importantly, smoking in itself is an act of defiling your body, as is self-mutilation and actions such as consuming illegal drugs.
The bible states that

1 Corinthians 6:19 (New International Version)

¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Your body is like a temple of God. Now imagine coming to church one day and finding someone has chocked it full of black smoke, poisonous and foulsmelling, so bad that it makes you sick. That is the same extent you are defiling God's temple when you commit the act of smoking, or any other form of self-destruction for that matter.

I won't admit there are many factors that entice one to give smoking a try, such as the need to be accepted into a group or the false association with smoking being "cool". But all these are simply excuses laid on a foundation of propagandistic advertising campaign by tobacco companies back in the heydays of our parents' youth. Smoking (and studies have shown) in no way brings health benefits instead causing more problems for one's health. Furthermore, the addiction and consequential high costs of keeping up this expensive habit only leads to further disappointment and disatisfaction in the product.

If you are indeed going through such a stressful or difficult time that you are open to experiment with these sort of tools for relieving stress, may I share with you the one method that I myself have tried and perhaps you can try too, which is God. Come to him humbly, petition your requests and listen for his reply.

Ask, seek, knock and the door shall be open unto you. And if it doesn't, maybe you're just not knocking hard enough. (:

-love, lowell

2009-03-22T20:21:00.001+08:00

Thanks to all those who helped out in the VBC! Once again, impressive job!

Tai Yong

2009-03-04T22:58:00.002+08:00

Ok so today's Shiri's 13th birthday! One more teen in the group!

Oh just one little announcement/reminder: Kindly come up with a few suggestions abt what you all wanna do with the leftover funds in this march holidays, and tell one of us. Could invite the second service people if u all want. heh

2009-02-25T00:21:00.003+08:00

Oh, its coming to febuary end. Lets see.

On the 22nd of this month, which was the sunday which passed, was Kasia's birthday! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KASIA! You are the second of the whole lot to become a teenager (thir-TEEN).

And, on the 26th of this month, which is thursday, we shall see our third teenager appearing, and thats Clara Gan. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARA in advanced :D

Alrights, and not forgetting, Jie Jie Angela, who turned Twenteen on the 20th of this month! yeah its spelt as twenteen when it comes to females instead of the normal spelling of t-e-w-n-t-y because ladies find it harder to come to term with increasing age, unlike us guys, muahHAaha. haha. ok thats a joke.

Now and for the second sesion Sec 1s thsi year, if you happen to read this blog, ANNABEL and SHI TING both turning/turned teens also, on the 26th and 19th of this month respectively. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNABEL & SHI TING.

oh, and next up will be Shi Ri's birthday on 4th Mar. haha.

And, if i may rant on abit, i'm gonna say that i really miss teaching your class. Hope all of your are still coming to church, and if possible(if your parents allow), come for YPM, cos for now, i'll still be sitting into your cell group, but maybe in a month to a few month's time, i think i'll be gonig to full time to my cell group.

One last thing i would like you all to take note(take this as a short lesson, but I might explain more next time), at your age currently, you all will be making alot of new friends in school, attending cca... etc., in another words, you all will be going through a point in life when you find that you've got alot of commitments. However, do not overlook spending time with your family(which of cos includes your younger bro, daniel lai), haha. In another words, make sure you consiously spend enough time with your family. Most importantly, do not neglect your time with God everyday. If you want to be even half as successful in life as King David, than you gotta do at least half the amount of Quiet Time that he does right? David prays to God every morning. Its a good way to start a day. So, my advice is, start the day right, talk to God every morning :D

Psalms 5:3

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."

-A Psalm of David

A warning in love.

2009-02-17T21:46:00.002+08:00

In Galatians 5 after Paul writes of 15 "acts of the sinful nature", he sums up that "I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not enter the Kingdom of God".

The first 3 of this 15 acts are sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery.

Sexual immorality- I sum up simply as sex or sexual acts outside of marriage.

Impurity- The acts, as well as the thoughts.

Debauchery- Engaging in wild, impure acts. The direct opposite of chastity(being pure).

I can't call you guys and gals children anymore. You're all TEENAGERS. (woohoo!)

So dear teenagers, I bring to your attention the case of the 13 year old dad and the 15 year old mother. Apparently in the UK, a 13 year old boy called Alfie fathered a baby boy with a 15 year old girl.

I shall not disguise my very simple message to you guys and girls.

Guard your virginity jealously before marriage. Give it to no one but your husband or wife after marriage.

Not to your boyfriend or girlfriend. If they really loved you, they'd wait. Do not spoil the gift of sex that God has given you by unwrapping it too soon. It will lose it's value and leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled.

.

2009-02-02T20:54:00.002+08:00

Hey all.

Yeah, like Caleb says, must remember to keep each other in prayer, encourage each other in godly ways and come to church. Not that it's impossible to live as a good Christian without coming to church. Just a gazillion times harder.

Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good character. -1 Corinthians 15:33.

Let us not give up this habit of meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. -Hebrews 10:25.

A church is not a social group by itself. Yes we socialize, but our purpose is to be accountable to each other, to honour God, to witness to the lost, to win souls for God. Christ said in the gospels that the kingdom of God is here. We do not need to wait for Christ's coming to begin to lead godly, fulfilling lives. We begin now.

Hee Caleb and I coming out of the army in 10 days time. God has definitely provided for us. Heh heh. Guys look forward to you enlisting... (Yeah, still a long way off, but NS for guys is like Christ's 2nd Coming. "IT WILL COME"). Muahahaha.

Tai Yong

2009-02-02T11:19:00.006+08:00

oh finally its Febuary. One month since the school start for all you guys and gals. Hope you've been doing well. All of you should be taking more than the normal 4 examinable subjects as compared to when you were back in your Primary Schools. At this point in time, most of you would have already gotten into respective CCA groups, and also start to form new friendships in class and out of class. School, at this point in time, is still fun.

However, do not forget about your studies while you enjoy yourselves. One mistake which is common at this point in time is for fresh Sec 1s to think that they can enjoy all they want without doing much homework or even minding their studies. This will cause both the homework and studies to snowball (gather till it gets more and more), and the impact of the snowball will only hit when it is near exam period, and you'll get results which are not good.

In the last one year together with you guys, I've come to realise that most of you are indeed wittier and smarter than most of your age group. So, do not let laziness and enjoyment get into your way of the pursuit of your studies. For you all guys and gals, if you get bad results, do not use 'Stupidity' as an excuse for you are all intelligent. Rather, it might be because that you did nto study/practice your work enough.

Ok, on a side note, i've noticed that some of your friends have already stopped coming to church. All of you did not just come to church for one year just to skip the next. So please, do keep each other in your prayers, and encourage your batch people to come back to church. This is your responsibility as a brother/sister in Christ, and you will be held accountable to your brothers/sisters in Christ whether you like it or not.

-Caleb

2009-01-20T21:54:00.008+08:00

Yeah, you could say 'At Last!'. Your Baptism photos. Of course there are still more once i can get my irressistable fingers on the official baptism photos while you guys were in the pool. Now just one thing, if your fingers are too itchy and have already scrolled down, u might actually realised that the orders of photos are exactly opposite. It has something to do with the 'First come, Last served' theory that my bro's laptop(or blogger) has came up with.

Sec 1s gals in 2009 on 4th Jan, plus 2 gals who think they are sec 1...

them again...

again... and Isabelle look so blurr, like.. blurry :)

Hey Kelly! Camera man in front eh~?

and now, kelly just found the camera. Isabelle looking blurr still

So, everyone became blurr

and the 'Blurry' disease infected the rest of the p6 of the year 2008, as well as Aunty Cindy

Ok, i think its my hands that shook. haha

Now, baptism.

Kasia: I better keep my invisible earphones b4 they get wet...

Janice: Dear God...

Faith: Oh goodness, its my turn soon....

Shiri & Janice: OK, lets push Faith in, Hie hie hie...

Garik: Don't worry, my watch is water proof :)

Nat Boon: Hmm, the water looks deeeep...

Josiah, with short hair. I'm still trying to get used to it. haha

Shi Ting, Garik, Gared, Nat Boon.

Wow, attentive. Ruey Ling, Annabel, Joel.

Faith Tiew, Isabelle, Clara, Ruey Ling

Oh no! This person is so NOT Siyi...

and Nat Boon, so well concealed... where are you? ha

Some~~one~~two not paying attention to speaker... wonder who..?

Dexter(Lowell no.2) at the extreme left. and Dorcas, on the extreme right.

Joel: (Stunned)...

No Garik, you are handsome, but not taking you la! haha

Ok, this is the first batch of photos that i've uploaded. In all, for those who had taken the step of faith and had shown the whold that they are followers of Christ, I'm very proud of you. However, baptism is not the end, but a beginning. There are many trials and temptation that will come, because being a christian is not at all easy, but if you all continue to love God, continue to encourage each other, than surely you will all grow up together and become useful vessels for the Lord.

Missing you guys,

Caleb :)

2009-01-19T17:05:00.004+08:00

hihi kasia here. yeah lowell asked me to post so here i m! so yeasterday there was ymps and we played more games. this time was a game where each group selects a person whom they tink falls under that category. then i kana bcome talent. the frist one was the strenght. they were garik n gared n pastor matthew n one more forgot who(psps). so in the end of course pastor matthew won.
adult confirm very strong mah. then there was the iq test. then they had to do a trick question. there was the fear test where shi ri, kelly, anna n one more(oops psps again) had to scream their lungs out. the loudest wins, who were kelly n shi ri, the pro-s.the talent one where ee fu(sry if wrong spl), me, jessica n glen had to say this tongue twister which was super hard to do lor. then the eq test where josiah, dorcas, pastor matthew n clara had to smile there widest smile!! YPMS rocks!! smiling at 7.8 cm!!
n the winner grinning at 8.2cm!! someone's happy

2009-01-17T12:20:00.003+08:00

Hi guys, I'm currently in malaysia, so i won't be joining you guys for YPM today(anyway, today is only sermon, should be no cell group). Don't think will make it back to Singapore on Sunday morning too, so if u want to tell me that I'm super handsome, pls wait till next week till u see me. haha. Till then, Cya! :)

-Caleb

2009-01-12T00:07:00.001+08:00

Hey all, this post is super outdated, but,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSIAH POON, on the 6th of this month. haha

Caleb

Last sunday of 2008.

2009-01-07T21:39:00.005+08:00

The photos are here! uploaded it as promised to Kasia:)

take care guys:) miss you all!

Angela Kirk:)

Frankfurt!

2009-01-02T03:43:00.003+08:00

a big HELLO and a HAPPY NEW YEAR from Frankfurt Germany!

yup im in the last location of my trip now and I'll be on my way back and hopefully reach back home by Saturday night so I can attend service on Sunday!

Yes, I'll get to see you guys this Sunday! (:

Can't wait to get home really, miss the Singapore food, the Singapore weather (it's way tooo cold here) and Singapore people.

ok last post i promised a picture of the reputedly holy lance that was used to pierce Jesus' body so here it is!

haha its just a speartip wrapped in a gold leaf with some inscriptions on the gold leaf.

oh well.

but as korkor taiyong says, it may not be the actual thing, just some relic thats been passed down thru the ages by kings and queens cos well, they want to be famous.

anyhow during my visit to Munich, i actually visited a church that also supposedly had the Devil's footprint in it.

Now the story goes like this, the people in Munich were building a church at that time, and it was supposed to be the biggest church in the whole of Munich at that time, actually, it kinda still is the biggest church, the Frauenkirche, today.

So as they were building this gigantic church, along came Satan who spotted it and he swooped down to get a closer look. When he stepped inside, he saw that the entire church was very dark and extremely gloomy and he kinda liked it. The more he stood there looking, the more he decided that he liked how the church was turning out, dark and gloomy. So he pulled aside the architect and had a chat with him. Now at that point of time, construction of the church had stopped because the church had ran out of money. So the devil talked to the architect in charge of building the church and told him that if he could maintain the direction of the design of the church and build a church without any windows, that the devil himself would fund the building of the church! the architect agreed on the spot, signed a contract and went abt building the church with funds supplied from the devil.

so fast forward a few years later and the church is built and the devil returns to check on how the church without windows turned out and when he enters the door, he is shocked to find that there was light streaming into the church, it was well lit by the sunlight and people inside were worshipping and praising God! So obviously he got really mad and went to the architect in charge whom he had an agreement with years ago demanding why the terms of his contract had not been met. Calmly, the architect dragged the devil back to the same spot where they signed the contract and had the agreement and confidently pointing at the church saying, "look there, you cant see any windows!" What he had done was designed the church in such a way that from THAT spot, all the columns were exactly placed to block the windows so you literally cannot see any windows even though there are windows there!

So having been tricked the devil got really angry and grew really huge and stomped his foot on the ground and disappeared in a POOF!

and so we have the devil's footprint in the church!

haha obviously it wasnt the devil's footprint cos it was so small. its actually the footprint of the architect who designed it who decided to leave his own signature. but the part abt the columns blocking the windows in the myth is actually true and if you stand at that spot, you really cannot see any windows along the entire church walls. cool huh!

ok that's all i have for now, can share more stories when i get back to sunny singapore.
by the way, how come only teachers are posting! where are the posting by you all! new year, new school, new level! no thoughts, no comments, no feelings?
no prayer requests?
no reflections abt children's camp thanksgiving?
no thoughts abt your upcoming baptism?
wah sounds like some english compo.

oh yea and who am i teaching nxt year?
and any of the SEC1s teaching also?

2009-01-01T19:32:00.003+08:00

OF MOVIES and HAPPY ENDINGS

It's the time of the year where many of us go out with friends to catch a movie or two. In that 2 hours or so of screen time we perhaps witness the man go through a trial or two, before finally ending up with that girl of his dreams he never knew he always wanted.

The girl too, for she falls in love with the guy she just met.

And so, in rather olden terms, the knight in shining armour gets his lady.

And don't we wish in our lives that it turns out like that? That we soon meet the guy or girl of our dreams? That we begin our own happy ending.

More mature people often say that that is not how life is like. That happy endings often do not occur. Whether it be BGR, or studies, or your future success in career... etc.

But (and get ready for this), I'm here to say that if you're a Christian, there will be a happy ending for your life. There are 2 reasons for this.

1) The reason why life is imperfect and we often worry about exams, or have arguments with friends, or feel lonely, or anxious, or sin is simple. We lost 3 things in the fall of Adam.

We lost significance. Man had significance in God's first master plan. We were the lord of all living creatures. We tended God's garden. We were the second in command to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We had a purpose.

We lost a sense of belonging. Mankind fellowshipped with God. We had a close relationship. But apparently God did not see that as enough. He gave Adam Eve. And Eve Adam. They had belonging in each other, and in God. The first community there ever was.

We lost safety and security. God cared for Adam and Eve. Water came up from the ground to water the plants. Mankind's every need was abundantly met by a loving God.

Significance was replaced by us doing things that make us feel like we are something. We want to do well in exams. We want to win awards in school and in competitions. We want to win glory for ourselves. (Such things are not necessarily bad. But I'm talking about doing such things with the motive of making yourself feel significant.)

Belonging was replaced by desperately wanting to fall in love with a guy or a girl, just for the experience, the feeling. By wanting to feel loved. By wanting to feel like a part of a group of people. E.g. I want to fit in to my group of friends. So I buy new clothes, dress up the way they do. Style my hair the way they do, learn the musical instruments and talk about the latest computer games they talk about. I do things they would approve of.

Safety and security is replaced by feelings of fear and anxiety. Of being scared. Of losing our perspective many times. Failing to understand that God is above all.

With Christ's death on the cross. And on the condition that we live according to His word, we have all those things back. The ending is happy. We find significance in His plan for our lives if we submit to His will. We find belonging in the community of Christians around us (and I do hope, at least for myself, a girlfriend and subsequently wife in God's perfect timing and plans). We find safety and security in His words. (Psalms 56:3- Whenever I am afraid I will trust in Him... etc.)

But then again, admittedly, we go through lots of hard experiences. Which brings me to my second point. In layman's terms, really, the guy gets the girl. The Prince comes in white on a white horse for His bride.

2) He had eyes like flames of fire, and he was wearing a lot of crowns. His name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew what the name meant. The rider wore a robe that was covered with blood, and he was known as "The Word of God." He was followed by armies from heaven that rode on horses and were dressed in pure white linen. ... On the part of the robe that covered his thigh was written, "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

-Revelations 19:12-16

So we will be glad and happy and give him praise. The wedding day of the Lamb is here, and his bride is ready.

-Revelations 19:7

The rider on the white horse is Christ. His bride is the church. We, His church, will one day be reunited with Him. Yes, He is in us now. But the day will come when His promises will be fully fulfilled. And our ending, quite unlike our earthly trials today will be a wonderful, movie perfect, happy ending.

TY

hello from vienna

2008-12-28T06:04:00.002+08:00

Hi im at vienna now, no photos this time cos i'm using the internet whilst waiting for the Q to shower so i hafnt exactly uploaded my photos.

just wanted to share one cool thing, I saw the ACTUAL SPEARHEAD THAT POKED JESUS TODAY! its lying in some dusty imperial treasury in vienna and its wrapped partially in gold leaf. I'll upload the photo soon.
also saw some wood with a hole in it not sure if that was part of the originial wood that jesus was crucified on.

ok thats all i have to go shower now!
tooodles.

2008-12-27T22:47:00.004+08:00

Hi dears, hope you managed to read through the last 2 posts by gor gor Taiyong, for blessed are those who can understand and put into practice the things they learn from these 2 posts. Anyways, somethings more light hearted.

PHOTOS! yea, camp photos. I just got some of them, so don't be too disappointed if you are not featured in any of the photos. haha.

Alrights, spot yourselve above. So far, I can only spot Garik, Gared, Josiah, Kelly, Faith Tiew, with Janelle in the foreground. haha

Clara

Clara and Anna

Shi Ri

Kasia and Annabel

Janice

Thats all the photos i have for now. Anyways, great to see most of you guys there for the D24. I've heard specific praises from some teachers. One special mention would be Daniel Lai, who played the dual role of being a shepard, as well as Judas. Of course, all of you have done well, including the dancers and the VIOLINIST(kasia). lol. yup, and anna too, even though december 24th was her first rehearsal. haha.

More photos coming up next time. Till then...

Caleb

Anorexia and Bulimia

2008-12-25T20:13:00.003+08:00

"Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are both types of psychiatric disorders characterized by severe disturbances in eating behaviors. Both occur primarily in previously healthy young women who become overly concerned with their body weight and shape."

Source- http://www.diffen.com/difference/Anorexia_vs_Bulimia (But don't bother looking there unless you're Dr Lowell)

Ladies and gentlemen. I want to bring to your attention the issue of eating disorders. It is unhealthy. TV and the casting of extremely shapely actors and actresses does not help. Social pressure and so many slim friends do not help. The fact that you are coming of age and increasingly self-conscious does not help.

Remember that your body is the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20.

You are all growing people. Eat what you need to develop healthy bones and tissue. I assure you that when you come to my age, physical appearance is not half as important as character and friendship. Focus on those.

May I suggest an alternative to dieting. Exercise. Guys and gals, you'll look much better, much more alert and alive when you exercise. You will of course also naturally lose weight. The guys will develop more muscular frames. The ladies will have firmer arms, more healthy, beautiful complexions...

So guys, if you think that by dieting and losing so much weight you're doing yourself a favour, I appeal to you, think again. You'll be all skin and bones.

Girls, if you eat too little and think it's good for health, think again. A healthy diet comprises of less fried stuff, more soupy meals, less chocolates and less sweets... etc. It's okay to eat LOTS of HEALTHY food.

Allow me to share with you that when I was around Pri 3 or 4 I couldn't see my toes when I looked down cuz my belly was too big. For a few years I stayed off chocolates and sweets. I peeled off the skin of chicken that I ate. I stayed off soft drinks/ aerated drinks. I played lots of soccer. But I still ate a lot food (homecooked, mostly), but not fried food/ fast food. And I think I was quite in shape by the time I was Sec 1/2. A healthy diet works. Dieting doesn't.

TY

-

2008-12-25T19:41:00.002+08:00

Of Vampires and Werewolves and well y'know Sex

I'm sure many of you have more than a little interest in the series by Stephenie Meyers.

Well, I looked through most of the storyline of the 4 books. It's quite entertaining, I agree. It's my personal view that all this interest in the book and movie is quite alright, but I do want to gently bring to mind a few things for you to remember.

1) I know the vampires and werewolves in the book are nothing like the Count Dracula type. I.e. clearly demonic, anti-Christian, afraid of crosses... etc. However, bear in mind that the root idea of vampires are demonic/evil beings. So just be cautious on this point ok? Just because vampires are romanticized in this series of novels doesn't mean we should accept everything about them.

2) Werewolves (Lycanthropes) are likewise, in European mythology closely linked with magical arts/ superstition... etc. While I personally feel these subjects are alright as pure entertainment, be careful not to internalize too much of this stuff.

3) Be aware that the author is a Mormon. That's not a Christian like us. It's a cult. She's prob from this cult called the Church of Latter Day Saints. Their doctrine is quite different from us. While that might not mean much, just know that her influences might not be very biblical at all. Don't be confused and think that a Christian wrote the book. She's from a cult.

4) What I'm most concerned about is the very adult themes of this series. There are talks about sex and Bella wanting Edward to have make love to her... etc. I understand Edward is portrayed as a very proper, gentlemanly boyfriend in the series, who refuses those advances as he doesn't want to hurt Bella.

In spite of all this, take everything with a cautious mind. Always go back to scripture. Understand that sex out of marriage is wrong. It is severely out of God's plans for us. Many youth these days are sexually active out of marriage. And probably most of you talk about such things already.

So guard yourselves. Know who you are in Christ. You are loved children. You must live to be holy, just as your God is holy.

Guys and gals. If you ever get attached in future, remember a few things.
Guys- honour your girlfriend. Guard her in a godly manner. Do not succumb to peer pressure and become sexually immoral.
Gals- Do not succumb to pressure when you see other people doing such things. Guard your own purity. If your boyfriend is Christian and loves you, he would not even suggest such a thing.

TY

2008-12-25T05:30:00.003+08:00

Hello again!

You asked for photos with me so heres a photo with me.

Yup thats the leaning tower of pisa right there! Now you know the real story behind why its leaning! The leaning tower of pisa was really leaning and quite cool to see what you read in storybooks as a child in person. too bad it was kinda misty.

random photo of a cute car i saw along the streets. surprisingly can fit 2 people in!
We manage to find and eat the 2nd best icecream in the wORLD! hahaha theres a newspaper clipping inside to prove it!

One thing that impresses me most here in Italy are the sizes of the churches. Churches here are really grand mega churches like super dupe huge and super duper old so its super duper impressive. Really makes you wonder how they built such structures in the past and also how it must be like to worship in such a place. So very big!The outside of the church, which imo is kinda ugly colour coordination but its super duper tall and huge. like 20storeys high kind. imagine an entire HDB block as a church. something like that, just prettier.

I also managed to catch a sneak preview of this year's thanksgiving performance right here in one of the churches!
If you look really closely, you can see faith yeo on top of the roof, and johnmiah in the foreground walking towards the manger XD
btw, they dont display a baby jesus, not sure if its part of some law/doctrine or they keep the baby jesus and present it as part of the christmas festival ceremony or wad not.

ok end of my random musings! gonna sleep now.
please someone else blog about something! anything! everything!

2008-12-23T05:24:00.003+08:00

Hello from Rome again!

Exciting times and whilst I have the oppurtunity to, I better blog!

So I visited the Vatican today. For those of you who don't know what the vatican is, go wikipedia it. in short its actually the smallest independent state in the WORLD. and its ruled by the pope. yes the catholic guy who is like the king of catholicism. but i digress, so its this tiny city in Rome and it has influence and power over most of all of the catholic churches in the world and as christians even protestant, we somehow do get affected by the going ons in the vatican. but i digress, what amazed me more was the visit to the famous Sistine Chapel and the St Peter's Basilica!

The sistine chapel is this place where they hold meetings to elect the new popes but more famously, it is known to house the work of Michelangelo. If you're a budding artist then you should know about Michelangelo, or if you watch teenage mutant ninja turtles, he's one of the famous artists of his time. So he was actually forced to paint this entire roof of the chapel by the Caesar at that time and it turned out to be a really beautiful work of art.

Below is one of his later paitings called the Final judgement where it shows Christ ressurecting people to Heaven and condeming others to Hell. try to see if you can spot the Christ!

Yea its the glowy one in the middle! and well you can see the obvious difference between the Heaven and Hell.

If you look at the big picture, you can see that its actually the shape of the 2 tablets of commandments that Moses brought down!

Cool huh.

And below is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, paintings after paintings after paintings, all scenes from the book of Genesis!

Most of you probably recognize the one in the middle of the roof of God and Adam and that famous touch! Still if you dont, its a good time to start knowing ;)

In fact alot of the paintings actually have alot of Christian or Catholic background to them and you'll find that alot of Bible stories you learn actually become subjects of these painter's arts! For example, David and Goliathe, Christ's death, betrayal etc. All are central themes and subjects that famous artists love to portray and recreate time after time after time. So it was really quite exciting for me to see how all those stories you read in print were represented in paitings in context of the civilisation at that time!

After the Sistine chapel, we went to the St Peter's Basilica. If you don't know what it is, its actually the biggest Church in the WORLD. and by big i mean big.

Thats a view of it, the obelisk is some decoration from outside. The dome is part of the church.

To give you an idea of how big it is, its about the size of (attn Josiah) 1.5 football fields. Yes its THAT big inside. And thats only the chapel without the rest of the little rooms. More impressively was how HIGH it was. It was so high, at the highest point (ie the dome) you can fit the statue of liberty in, and there'll still be some space left!

Huge huge church.

Here's a nice view of the 3 most impt things you can see inside. To the bottom right is a statue of St Peter's. Apparently you gotta touch his right foot to be blessed. Too bad it was closed.

In the middle you can see the huge bronze pavilion thingy that houses where the pope would stand to preach or conduct his ceremonies or whatever. Imagine like our stage, just much more ancient and much much more majestic.

In the background you can see the beautiful altar which is made from pure GOLD. crafted by Bernini himself and its really really really pretty.

Imagine if the fellowship hall looked as majestic with the lights beaming through the windows and what not. Very solemn mood indeed.

And this is the dome from below. Cos i'm too old and too poor to afford to climb all the way up XD

So cheers from Rome and til we meet again, God bless you all!

2008-12-22T06:54:00.012+08:00

The alps! Nice right! can use as wallpaper (:

The bear pit in Berne. A Swiss capital named after the bear!

The colosseum. actually an amphitheatre, called a colosseum cos Nero built some colossal statue next to it and well, the whole area was called the colosseum. still italy most's visited tourist attraction.

And inside the colosseum theres a cross! Ironically placed at the spot where the king sat and watched Christians get matyred for entertainment. The pope christened this spot and made them erect a cross here to make sure that the Christians who died here were never forgotten. and of course great photography skills by yours truly ;)

Bonjourno

2008-12-22T06:36:00.002+08:00

Hello from Rome!
There's free WIFI here so i dont need to limit my visits to tags!
So having read all your blogs, it seems thanksgiving was quite enjoyable and went rather smoothly i hope. How was Daniel's kiss of betrayal? Not as bad right?
Anyhow, goodjob to all and hope everyone has as much fun the second time round performing and doing an even better job since all of you are so familiar now with your roles and lines.

Anyway, how has sunday school been? It should be like 2 more lessons before all of you are relegated from sundays in the fellowship hall and ushered into the chapel for PnW from now on. I do hope you enjoy your last few session with your teachers and enjoy having the freedom and space to dance during praise and worship, to lean on the wall at the back of the hall and to push each other whilst singing praise songs. Not saying you cant do that in the chapel of course, but the space will be much lesser ;) So cooperate while you can with your teachers and please blog here so i can find out whats going on!
Oh how's the last week PnW coming along too? Is everyone all ready and good to go?

Next, moving on to more serious things, it has come to my attention that some of YOU are guilty of harassing my brother much to his horror this sunday. What are you all doing! Why are you all bullying my brother! Don't make me line all of you up in a line when I come back and make him identify you like some witness identification stand. So who did it, fess up now and your sentence may be lighter...

Alright now for some photos.

2008-12-14T03:03:00.001+08:00

Hi all,

I want to say a big 'Thank You you' for those who had laid hands and prayed for my recovery when I was running a high fever during saturday's thanksgiving rehearsals. God heard your prayers for me and I am here writing this as a testimony to your prayers.

For those who went for thanksgiving 08, it was really a job well done! We are all very proud of you! Great job to the Disciples(Garik, Gared, Josiah, Dayn, Amelia, Faith Tiew, Isabelle aka Peter, Jessica, Michelle, Siyi, Nat Teo), Dancers(Clara, Faith Yeo, Shiri, Janice, Kelly, Esther) and the Wise ~~Man~~ Boy(Johnmiah)! Do post your pictures here so that I can kope them too. haha.

Ok lets do a little summary of our lesson on BLOGGING this Sunday, as well as elaborate on some of the points.

1. Remember that a blog is NOT an ONLINE DIARY.

It is open for everyone to read and hence, should be viewed sth like that of a publication(e.g. newspaper). Remember that even newspapers get sued if they report the wrong things or cast a wrong impression on people.

2. Blogs should NOT be used to CRITICISE.

Matthew 7:12 says "Do to others what you would have them do to you."

Putting aside even morality, the above reason is strong enough for us to reconsider scolding people on our blogs. If you criticise, others will end up rebutting and also scolding/criticising you, and in the end, you will end up hurt and angry. If ever anyone criticises you on a blog, pray and ask God to give you the strength to forgive that person and also to ignore. Such a way, not only will you prove yourselves worthy to be called Christ followers, but also, you'll lead a happier life. Remember, for the one who criticises, most of the time, they make themselves look bad and grouchy. :P

3. Learn to PROTECT YOURSELVES online.
Keep in mind that we love you all and do not wish you all to come to any harm. So, do not reveal your own handphone numbers and other personal particulars, because in such a high technological age, it is very easy to track your location(especially since Singapore is very small too). Even now, just looking at the ip. address of your internet connection, it is easy to tell which part of singapore you are using the computer from. Other forms of protection would include, not totally believe a stranger who tags on your chatbox.... blah blah.. I'm sure you all know...

4. PROTECT your FRIENDS.
Mark 12:31 says "...Love your neighbour as yourself..."

Good food must share, but secrets, you must never share(not without your friend's permission at least). Whenever your friends tell you something which is close to their hearts, like their feelings, opinions, or even results, it would be polite to ask permission before posting it. If you can do this, it will show that you respect them, and they will trust you more. Remember, trust takes years to build up, but can be shattered in a single day.

Now, for those who had been affected by your friend's blogging, I can only say that in life, there will be more of such occassion. Learn to forgive those who have exposed your secrets online, be it incidentally or accidentally. If you are unhappy about anything posted, please do inform in a nice way so that that particular post/comment could be taken down from your friend's blog. In such a way, not only will you stop yourself from making an enemy of that person, but your friendship might even grow stronger when both of you learn to respect one another.

So far, this is all I have from my own experience. If any of you has any to add, pls add on! haha

Caleb

2008-12-12T04:16:00.002+08:00

i couldnt resist ><
greetings from paris!

2008-12-07T21:05:00.001+08:00

Thought I'd post a pict for starters.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

2008-12-06T19:49:00.003+08:00

By the time you read this, I'll prob be on a plane on my way to chilly Europe for a month's vacation. But I just had to take time out of my last minute packing and freaking out to post this here cos as i realized whilst filming you people on the last day of the Oligopistos camp, its probably the last time I'll ever meet all of you as "children".

Cos come next year, I won't get to see Siyi sitting in the fellowship hall at 8am reading her chinese comic book when I arrive.
I won't get to fight with ShiRi over the drums before official rehearsal starts.
I won't get to bug Josiah who comes early and ask him to sms the other guys to ask them if they're coming.
I won't have to try to eavesdrop and understand what Nat Boon and Johnmiah are deep in discussion about.
Ok better stop here before i start to verbal diarrhoea again.
But you get the drift, I'll prob not see you all til next year when you're officially out of CM.
So I'd just like to say that I've really enjoyed the journey all of you have given me, seeing you through as my first praise team class, when all of you were still innocent precious little tots til now when all of you are 12 going on 13 youths, changed so much, grown so much and bonded so much over these 4 years.

So all the best whichever school you may go to, make the most of the rest of your life and enjoy conducting the last PnW session of this year! Just a tip though, choose EASIER songs!

PS GET WELL SOON DANIEL!

2008-12-06T14:48:00.002+08:00

Hey all

I thought I needed to clarify at least one point on the last post.

The bible does not say we are evil.

Yes, we have the seed of sin in us, due to Adam's fall. And yes, we are sinners. However, that is only half the truth.

Most Christians forget that the word of God also says we are seated in heavenly places, and that God has triumphed over sin, making them a public spectacle. We are referred to countless times in the NT as saints.

So please don't get it wrong people. We are not evil. We are saints, who have been made right with God. And if we are made right with God, we are no longer evil. No one has the right to call us evil or wicked, and that includes ourselves. Does not Psalm 1:6 say that the Lord watches over the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish?

So which are you? Romans 8:16 says that as many who are called children of God have the
Spirit of God. We are all children of God, made righteous, no longer considered evil, since we are sanctified by the blood of Christ.

"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died- more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceeding for us"- Romans 8:33-34

I am very concerned over this matter. Any thought that says you are evil is a lie. It is a very dangerous deception. Never believe in that. If we think we are evil, we give ourselves the excuse to act in evil ways. No, we are good. God has made us right. And we shall act in faith and live righteously, as He has enabled us to do. God's power is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20b).

P.S. Please don't be discouraged. Faith, that was a very excellent piece that you brought to this blog. I'm only trying to correct one small point that was wrong, out of many many good points.

TY

(I encourage any of you to continue the discussion. Can email me at tysurfs@hotmail.com if you have any questions you're too shy to ask. I'll tell you what I know.)

2008-12-05T18:28:00.003+08:00

Hellooooo! (:

I don't know why, but i felt like i should post something.

Since i received a very good Email, I should post it here.

Try to read it ALL ! (:

Heres the WHOLE THING. :

Subject: Re: Science vs God

A psychologist once said: 'Even if there is no God, men will invent one.' (cos of the inability of man to deal with fear of death, etc.)

'Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely.'

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes.'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He considers for a moment.

'Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?' (Quote “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” [Epicurus])

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'

'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could.

Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says.

He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'

'Er...yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student : 'From...God..'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes.'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued,

'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and

according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'

The student: 'Yes.'

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'

The student's voice is confident: 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe inhim?'

'Yes.'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the studentreplies. 'I only have my faith.'(A couple of gods to have 'faith' in www.godchecker.com)

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own.

'Professor, is there such a thing as heat?'

'Yes,' the professor replies. 'There's heat.'

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.' ( No decent professor would be caught saying this.)

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest-458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation.

'What is night if it isn't darkness?' (same as above)

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains. 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'

(Can something that has never lived die?)

'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?'( AH HA!!! Typical creationist bullsh*t. Any decent student in university should be well aware of the theory of evolution. Homo sapiens share a common ancestor with the monkeys, they do not directly evolve from monkeys.)

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?' (mutation of germs? )

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work (mutation of germs? )and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student,

let me give you an example of what I mean.'

The student looks around the room.'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt theprofessor's brain, touched or smelled the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

(Lol. I would have retorted; if i do not have a brain, how do you expect im talking to you right now?)

Finally, after what seems an eternity,the old man answers. 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues. 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.' (Lol, why not blame ur wrongdoings on the imaginary flying spaghetti monster)

The professor sat down.

Faith

2008-12-05T13:52:00.005+08:00

Oligopistos SU-COS Children's Camp 2008

The end of this week sums up the Children's Camp for the year of 2008, themed 'Oligopistos'. I hope all of you who went had fun. haha.

Throughout the whole camp, us teachers did not have much time with you all, but i was really heartened by some of the things which i see you guys doing.

I like the way;

1) the guys(Josiah, Gared and Garik) were so concern over Daniel when he was sick on the third day, visiting him every break time, and that you all prayed over him for healing

2) Janice and Kasia took up the responsibilities of looking after the younger ones when the group leaders were busy doing other things

3) Faith Yeo looked after Ranice.

4) Dayn cheered together with his group

5) Josiah and Shi Ri led their respective groups in cheers during games.

6) Faith Tiew and Kelly managed to break the ice between the first and second session and even had fun together.

7) all of you looked when you show me your tired but radiant smile whenever i smiled to some of you, including Anna. It really encourages me even though I was really lacking sleep at some point in time during the camp.

8) Garik was so caring towards Gared when Gared had a headache.

9) Johnmiah's group woke up early at 6.45am to discuss about Finale Night

10) Siyi went to show her gratitude to Jie Jie Zhang Pei for helping her to fix her specs

11) most of you came together and decided to form a band so that you all can continue to play for praise and worship together.

Of course, I could not be always around, and alot of things you guys do that I do not see, but here is just some encouragement, to tell you of the good that I see in all of you. Continue to do well, and yes... the pictures will be uploaded soon. haha.

2008-11-24T10:49:00.002+08:00

>Short Post<

Just to prove someone wrong. Hee hee.

Lowell you remember a lot of things hor. ;) An A for grammar!

To all who are going for Childrens' camp, please start to pray for God's annointing and His power. Pray for spiritual and physical protection in the days that lead up to the camp. Pray for a loving heart, that you may be able to talk to and make friends with other kids who are not from our church. Pray for opportunities to bring those non-believers to Christ.

Hope you made it till the fourth paragraph. Cheeky grin.

Don't mind me.

TY

second!

2008-11-23T20:28:00.005+08:00

Ok i guess I shall post to keep the ball rolling, or rather the blog moving.
Please everybody tag or give me ur email so i can invite you to blog and contribute to the classs blogg! you know you want to (:

anyhow, thanks alot isabelle and faith for all ur effort to help the html incompatible teachers do up the blog design. i noticed though that there is a lost elmo above the right column who simply keeps bouncing back and forth inside his little square. please be kind to puppets and let him out already.

also i'd like to share this hilarious clip. ok for some reason if i stuff it here it overlaps into the right column. so ill just give u the link! haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7fkAF4nElA

so it seems, given that you all just got back ur PSLE results and haf kinda "graduated" pri sch, that is the topic most pertinent on your minds now. that and of course the choices for secondary school. well i dont really have any good analogies (refer to caleb korkor's post below on the train ticket analogy) to share so i'll just share my personal story of me going through primary school.

as i think back to a time not so long ago, when i was in pri 6 in the military school of TAO NAN, i manage only to remember certain glimpses of my primary school life. certain events that sparked off deep rooted memories, for better or for worse, that would probably stay with me for years to come.

i remember our vice principal then, the fierce "THUNDER" lui who liked to shout at us for doing wrong things and of course caning us personally. i personally was caned once for i forgot wad reason but i remembered he caned by hand, and he was rather nice about it. i still remember he was the first guy to introduce to me the word moron when he called our entire school a bunch of morons during silent reading to which i went home to ask my parents what it meant and got really upset and angry that he called all of us morons! and i remember i was quite angry with him for quite some time.

i remember my pri 1-4 class 4H when we had such joyous innocent times.

i remember charles lim the singer/guitar/aussie dude was in my class and i remember he was quite close to this girl prefect.

i remember he lost his wallet and i remember all of us being involved in some extremely detailed plan to bait the wallet thief during recess by us placing a fake wallet and lunchbox at the steps next to the basketball court and all of us running around pretending to be playing but actually playing police and secretly staking out the wallet. but the thief didnt show.

i remember there was this really disgusting guy in class who would do disgusting stuff to gross out all the girls and guys, shawn his name was i think, and he would snort out mucus all over his hands and short or eat grass and lead and go mucus attack the other pupils in class.

i remember in pri4 some boy in my class was too scared to ask for permission to go to the toilet he pooed on the class floor.

i remember all our teachers, whose names i have forgotten and i remember all my chinese and moral ed teachers were old and grouchy except in pri 1 or 2 which was a nice young lady.

i remember my class was quite smart and alot of my classmates did well in the school overall rankings and made it very pressurising for the rest of us.

i remember the long afternoons spent writing my PETS coursebook penmanship or xi zhi cos my mom will sit me down and cane me if i didnt write it properly. but that didnt stop me from becoming a doctor XD

i remember sitting in front of the class cos i couldnt see the board well and had to get my parents to write me a letter so i can sit right in the front row

i remember the first day of school when i went to school, couldnt bear to leave my mom and then waved to her from the 2nd floor down some hole where all the parents were gathered on the first floor.

i remember being in the TAF club for 5 out of 6years of my life in primary school. where all our food in our lunch boxes had to be screened by the teachers to be wholemeal bread or healthy food. and i remember the fatter ones rushing down after dismissal from TAF club to go down to the canteen to stuff a plate of fried rice in 3mins.

i remember sadly that my 1 year out of TAF club i didnt have many friends to play with cos i didnt know what to do without TAF club.

i remember playing erasers alot, spending loads on buying country erasers and shooting other people's erasers off the stonetable.

i remember stapling the bottom of my eraser to make it slide better.

i remember then graduating to pri5K and getting the nicest form teacher on earth mrs choo who really made an impact in my life.

i remember she taught me how to do the model method which i totally fell in love with and used it for the rest of my primary school life.

i remember i sat right in front in the middle of class with another girl joan choo who was very tomboyish and always talked to me during class. but i remember before her was another guy called weikiat who was from my kindergarten, but cos 2 of us boys were talking too much, she made a girl sit next to me.

i remember us making armies out of paper and playing paper war right in front of the class and trying not to get caught doing it.

i remember the ruler and colour pencils we used to make catapults and rocket launchers to destroy each other's armies.

i remember they made us guys sit with girls and made us talkative and naughty guys sit with especially good and well-behaved girls, preferably prefect so that we would have no one to talk to.

i remember being called talkative and very mischevious alot in primary school, something that my parents always heard during parent teacher meetings.

i remember getting sent out of class for talking too much in class before and getting suanned by the teacher from the next class who walked past me after lesson was over.

i remember another boy called alvan wang who always talked in class with me. i remember we got separated and he still kept talking with the other guy he was with. i remember him being punished by standing up for the entire duration of the class.

i remember then graduating to the class of 6L and being very sad that mrs choo was not going to be my form teacher anymore and i wasnt gonna be able to play paper army with the girl again.

i remember that my primary 6 was very stressful because all of the people in my class were very smart.

i remember my pri 6 teacher was a legendary mrs seng and i remember that when i was in 5K i could hear her screaming at her class everyday for simple stuff like giving out maths workbooks. i remember that she didnt like those of us who came into 6L from the other classes and liked to call or rather scream and shout at us and call us idiots. BUT i remember the top scorer being one of the girls who she always called an idiot, her name was amy, and i remember that mrs seng told my mom that she was genuinely surprised at my score.

i remember she often got her daughter to stand in for her and relief teach when she was sick or busy and we were always amazed at how nice her daughter turned out to be.

i remember getting silver for my NAPFA in pri 6, an amazing feat for a TAF club veteran like me.

i remember having our NAPFA run in VJC in the rain of which i got a B cos of the cool weather.

i remember 2 of the parents of my classmates who were teachers then treating us to you tiao and tau hui at VJC.

i remember the red mark black mark system in which a good thing done like returning a wallet would give u a red mark and a bad thing done like talking in class would give u a black mark. obviously i got more black marks then red.

i remember an annual award for the wallet returned with the most cash inside and even that i considered "applying" for the award by simply giving a wallet with a large wad of cash inside.

i remember being made to sit beside this very guai prefect girl called serene.

i remember she was very nice and let me copy all her work and we always did finish our homework during lesson time so that we wouldnt need to do any homework at home.

i remember that was the first time i felt that i actually liked a girl. becos before that we guys always hated girls. blame it on the late pubertal growth.

i remember getting invited to the school and being very impressed by the entire school compound especially the pool with the logo on the bottom of the pool.

i remember the dorms looking very fun and enjoyable tempting me to join the school further.

i remember studying extremely hard for my psle becos i wanted to go to ACS.

BUT

i remember then that during one of my sailing regattas (races) the ACS sailors bullied me and made me drop positions so i willed myself to study even harder to not go to ACS but rather another school to beat them.

i remember my PSLE oral exam which was held on a saturday morning.

i remember reporting in the hall and waiting outside the classroom nervously for my turn.

i remember panicking about where to put my bag that i had brought along when everyone else did not bring any bags.

i remember that i got my tuition teacher as my examiner which was really God's grace and thus my oral went very very well.

i remember then the days leading up to PSLE where i studied alot and attended all my tuition classes constantly.

i remember the PSLE exams and i remember that i was very impressed by the nice books they gave us for answer scripts.

i remember the folding paged chinese answer script which was made like a brochure.

i remember the killer MATHS paper after which i came out sobbing because I could not complete the paper!

i remember i saw someone cheat during the english exam, and i felt very indignant and angry that the invigilator did not catch the person cheating.

i remember feeling sad that higher chinese was 1 more weekend longer than the rest of the world and that i spent my weekend studying the shou ce for my higher chinese paper.
and of course, i remember the jubilation that i felt when it was all over!

i remember the remaining days spent playing games in class and milling away time til our results came back.

i remember playing back again paper armies and making tanks and machine gunners out of foolscap paper.

i remember then school ending and us all counting down to the release of exam results.

i remember the day of exam results release, when all of us reporting to school at 1130 and went to our respective classes.

i remember our teacher coming into class and making us sit in a circle on the floor around her.

i remember her calling us up name by name and giving her comments about whether we did well or didnt do as well.

i remember that she said i did better than she had expected me to.

i remember opening the envelope but not daring to look at the marks.

i remember looking at my subject grades and using my thumb to cover my aggregate score.
and i remember the emotion i felt when i finally mustered the courage to lift up my thumb to peek at the number below. a rush of relief, a rush of excitement, a rush of release, a light wobbly feeling that my entire primary school life had come to past and it was all over.

Well back in those days, there werent any graduation like nowadays and certainly no prom parties to attend unlike HSM3. we just got our results and that was it, the last time i saw all my friends. to be honest, i was still a very childish boy back then. give me a playstation plugged into a tv and i would be content. i didnt really make alot of strong friendshipes or deep relationships with anyone during my time, perhaps due to me changing classes between pri 5 and pri 6. but i certainly still see my primary school classmates around. unfortunately, alot of them because i never keep in contact with, i cannot recognize. just 2 years ago some girl in my JC came up to me and asked me if i remembered her and i was extremely embarassed to say that i totally did not have any recollection of her. unfortunately, i only remember some people who for some reason or another impacted my life or spend enough time with me to engrave into my memory for years to come.

So dont be so surprised when, 5 years down the road, when u look back at pri sch like me, u find u forget alot of ur graduating classmates names. perhaps the avenue of technology would assist you all in keeping in close contact with each other and continuing to keep in touch with one another as you each go your separate ways. but i must warn you, the only way to upkeep relationships is time. and time needs to come from both parties. so you may have your besties now and your little cliques and clacks, but do not be too disappointed or too shocked when comes the day, because each and everyone of you go your separate ways, your gang falls apart and people, either you or them, become more attached to your secondary school friends then your primary school friends in cases of having to make a choice, leave either party emotionally injured.

that being said, if you value your relationship, maintain it by having regular meetings with each other! meet up often, keep in touch via msn, blogs or even through emails and take an interest in each others lives and keep both parties updated. yet, the inevitable will happen, some friends will come and go, some peers will fall away to be peers of others. it is but part and parcel of life which exists with you even until you grow up, have kids and grow old. which is perhaps why church friends are one of the most ideal lifetime friends you'll ever make. by coming to church each sunday or saturday for YPM as a group of friends, you will definitely see each other at least once a week and this opens up the oppurtunity to nurture your relationship with each other. which is all the more incentive to continually encourage one another to attend church faithfully and come to church each week. many of your parents and your family friends from church are a testament to this and i'm sure all of you know how it feels not to see another of your p6 classmate for even 2 weeks. you find that he or she's been away for so long and he or she has been through so much that you don't know where to begin talking to him from again.

So continue to come to church and continue to ensure that one another attend church, call each other when you dont see each other around, perhaps that person is terribly ill at home and needs your prayers? perhaps he or she may be facing a personal crisis and your simple act of a phone call out of concern will be like a light to their darkness. but also bear in mind that you come to church not only for your friends, but for God. to save the catching up for the fellowship at macdonalds after service, and to spend wisely the time in the church catching up with the most important person up above.

And hopefully, and most definitely one of us teachers' wishes, this graduating class of p6 from CM will grow up together in unity. coming back to church each week and becoming lifetime supports for each other, fostering a healthy relationship with one another and our Father above. and may each and everyone of you grow up to be God-fearing men and women who edify each other and encourage one another in spirit and in truth.

Love,
Lowell

PS sorry ty my english very bad. haha.

2008-11-22T21:32:00.002+08:00

Hello!!
Faith Here, Okay the new blogskin is Neater, and more Simple.
So it will be read.
(:
Teachers, please send me ANY photo of ANY of the P6 first session.
I might want to edit them and post them all up! (:

oh & guys, remember to choose your Secondary School WISELY!

&
Whoever posts here must sign off with your name, or else we
will have no clue who is it!

Love, FaithYeo

2008-11-22T00:21:00.004+08:00

Release of PSLE Results

By now, all of you should have received your PSLE results, less Janice who is overseas. Many many mixed emotions, some happy, some sad, some excited, and also not forgetting those who are disappointed. These are just normal, and is repeated every year. However, lets not forget to thank God that all of us at least passed the PSLE.

The Bible itself spoke very clearly about those who do not give God the praise He deserved. In 2 Kings 20, King Hezekiah of Judah was down with a deadly sickness which God was not willing to heal at first, but after King Hezekiah prayed to God and pleaded, God allowed him another 15 years to live. The king of Babylon heard about the miraculous healing and sent envoys to asked about how God had healed King Hezekiah, but instead of giving due praise and thanks to God, King Hezekiah became proud. The punishment for King Hezekiah was this; that all the riches which belongs to King Hezekiah will be taken away from him.

Therefore from this story, we can know that it is very important to give God the praise and glory due to Him. However, some of you might question and ask God, 'Why did I get so low marks?'. 'Why does God allow for me to score lousier than my friends who usually score worse than me?'. Also, some of you might feel that you have not met the expectations of your teachers, parents, friends, and worse of all, that you have failed yourself-that your results did not reflect your intellect. Do you still thank God in such a situation?

Well, the answer is 'Yes'. You must still thank God. Even King David, when he was still being chased down by his enemies in the dessert, still gave thanks for God. Thank God NOT because you scored better than the 1289570323 kids who did not passed their PSLE, but praise Him because He had, and will continue to see you through. Now, i want all of us to think of our PSLE result slip in this way.

Imagine your PSLE results as a 'Destination' for your train ticket. Some MRT tickets will allow you to go as far as Tampines, some to Hougang, some to Pasir Ris, and the list goes on. Not everyone belongs to the same place because simply, everyone lives at a different place on this island. In the same way, God does not give us all the same good PSLE results because He has a special 'Destination' which He had planned for every single one of us. The only thing we can do and should do is to ask God to reveal His purposes as to why it has to be that destination, and obey Him fully. This is so that we may be able to fully enjoy the plans that He had planned for us.

Now, the burning question might be; 'What is this destination?', or when translated to p6 language, would sound something like, 'Which school should I go?'. Well, the only way to find out is to take time and ask God to guide you to choose the correct school. Maybe in your own quiet time, take 5 mins to 10 mins to ask God, and than hear for His reply. You might not hear Him the first time, but don't give up. Great will be your reward.

In ending, I want to address those of you who feels that you have disappointed people, including yourself. Do not let this thought stay in your mind any longer! If you have not studied as hard as you should, it is time to learn from this and work harder next time. Move on and learn from your mistakes. If these thought continue to linger, say out 'In Jesus Name, I Bind all these thoughts of Condemnation. Devil, get away now because Jesus is with me, and I am Loved by Him.' Do not let the evil one have a foothold in your life. If Jesus does not condemn you, who are you to condemn yourself?

We teachers are very proud that all of you were able to discipline and focus on your studies. No matter your results, you have not disappoint us. Yes, when you feel happy, we rejoice with you. When you feel sad, we feel sad with you. However, do know that none of you have disappointed us, and we just want to say that, no matter your results, we still love all of you.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Love,

Caleb

Guest writer

2008-11-21T21:45:00.003+08:00

Guest Writer

Primary School Leaving Examinations. Never been through a major exam before this. Everyone says to study hard. Get into the school you want. It's important, sure.

So now the PSLE results are out. Some are happy, others sad. Some are just okay. Things will change from this point. You'll go on to teenage life. Go through the very present temptations of this age. You'll face temptations to join your friends who smoke, to play truant, to cheat during examinations. Even worse, pre-marital sex and other such issues. Most probably, you've already met some of these temptations.

If you haven't already started, you'll probably start to have crushes, like people, have eye candies around. Then you'll be met with the issue of whether or not to express your feelings for that person. And where to go, who to turn to? Your parents? (You must be going "yerrr right".)
Frankly, I'd never have considered that at your age. Your friends? Sure, but would they give you good, mature advice?

So much ahead. All I can say is this. Only God can help you through all the issues you are about to face or are facing. As the Psalmist has written in the 27th Psalm "Do not hide your face from me, do not turn away your servant in anger, for you have been me helper, O God my saviour, do not reject me or forsake me. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me". (Even your dad and mom who love you so much cannot be as trusted as our God).

You've heard it a thousand times before. Most of you, as I did, grew up in church. But I need to remind you that God is the only constant person you will ever have in your life. Your parents, your friends, your best friend even, your boyfriend or girlfriend in future, your teachers, your Sunday School teachers. These people you might trust. But only God will prove to be faithful and constant and loving every single time, at every single turn.

3 basic important habits.

1. Don't give up going to church. All through my life, God has used my close Christian friends to ground me to Him. A large part of who I am, I owe it to their presence as God's instruments in my life. If you give up on church, for whatever reason, be it busyness, boredom, broken relationships, you will effectively be giving up meeting with many people inside. "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching"-Hebrew 10:25

2. Do not compromise your quiet time with God. Right now it may be just 1 minute of reading the bible and 1 minute of prayer. That's excellent! Over the years, it is my prayer that you build it up into more time with God. Walk with God and some day, mark my words, if you're really serious with God and in seeking Him, you'll find that you can feel God's presence so strongly just behind a shut door in your room during quiet time. So strongly that you need to kneel down and worship His presence the way you do at a childrens' camp.

Do not let the devil fake you into believing that you are strong enough to stop or neglect your QT. You need to build yourselves up in this area.

3. Honour your father and mother. These are God-given authorities in your life. It is hard. I should know. I went through my share of issues with them. " They don't see eye to eye on many things, do they? They don't understand us young people at all. They don't give us enough freedom even when we're fully capable of taking care of ourselves." That's how you feel right? But God says that "you will live long and it may go well with you" in Deuteronomy chapter 5. And that is simply it. Oh and one more thing. The best way to get your parents to trust you is to earn their trust by obeying and honouring and being respectful to them.

I barely managed to skim the surface on a couple of issues I brought up. Temptations in their various forms, crushes... etc. Perhaps some other time if permitted. But my main point right now is this. Just one thing to remember if you forget everything else:

"...for you have been me helper, O God my saviour, do not reject me or forsake me. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me"Psalm 27:9

God will NEVER abandon you!

2008-11-18T23:36:00.003+08:00

yeah,made another blogskin(:
sorry that the previous one was so ugly.
so is this better?

lovee,

isabelle(:

2008-11-17T17:04:00.003+08:00

As we go on,

We remember,

All the times we,

spend together.... (Hopefully)

Thinking back when I just graduated from my primary school, Marist Stella High School(Primary)<-- [yes, its a primary school, they just like to make it sound 'high', maybe cos it rings better in the ear], I realised that at the age of 20, I had mostly forgotten what I had done in that blissful homework-less holiday. I only vaguely remember the joy of seeing my younger brother bitterly doing his p4 end of year homework, and me laughing at him. Ha, i hope Aaron reads this. lol.

Somehow also in my memory(which had been revived by reading some of your blogs), I was brought back to the times of closeness with my primary school good friends and bestie. Together, we would do the same things boy's these days will do; play soccer, BBQ, chalet, computer games... All these i had long forgotten till now when I see you all p6 go through the same thing.

Indeed, these friendships have been blessed by God, and through them we will learn many important things in life, most obviously being to learn to communicate and trust people who had been a total stranger at the beginning of the school year. After 8 years of leaving the school, I already rarely communicate with many of these classmates. Occasionally, I would bump into some of them while going about my life in this sunny island country, have a little chat, before we once again part ways. Superficial as these friendships may sound, but one has to agree that the seeds of relationships forged early in the childhood can really take root deeply in life, bringing back the nonstalgia... Similiarly, the way we grow up in our spiritual life is also quite the same.

Like some of you, i've spend many a good time of my holidays in church/christian-related camps, and my spiritual growth till now(though still got a long way to go before perfection) is not only a result of the constant sharpening of the iron against iron with the brothers and sisters in Christ around me, but also due to the positive influence and encouragements of the friends around me. Therefore, while you are still young, choose your friends well, to encourage and keep each other in the body of Christ. Pray, that God will continue to place god-fearing people in your lives, so that you may grow up enjoying the goodness and refuge of God and of being in the body of Christ.

Proverbs 22:6
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

- Caleb

First!

2008-11-12T17:11:00.002+08:00

Matthew 19:30
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.