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3rd 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 Chronicle

tHE

FIgHT

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b8Chapter 1 Editors Note.

Chapter 2 Know Thyself

Chapter 3 Knowing Thine Enemy

Chapter 4The Christians Art of War

Chapter 5 Taking the Fight to the Devil

Chapter 6 Jesus Vs. Satan

Chapter 7 My Bloo

Chapter 8 Over 25

Chapter 9 YF Speak

Chapter 10 Reports from Events!

Chapter 11 Short and Broad

Contents

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Editors Note

Dear Reader,

Being that I was one of those kids who wanted to grow up to be a soldier, it comesas no surprise that The Fight, which is this issues theme, is one of my favoritemetaphors for the Christian life.

(Of course, I have since mellowed and have found out that being a soldier in Call of

Duty, Battleeld or any other war game is much more fun than actually slatheringcamouage cream and lugging your gear about a muddy forest)

There are many things that enamor me to this idea of combat; the preparation inthe form of strategic planning, the beauty of properly executing maneuvers in themidst of battle, the sweetness of victory that ensues. However, the real spiritualwar is nothing like the pretty little picture I just painted. Often we are set againstan adversary or circumstances which are too much for us, we step onto thebattleeld not having any idea what to do, and the resultant defeat can produceexceedingly painful consequences.

And there is NO ESCAPE from The Fight.We are thrust into the fray from the verymoment that we are saved, and we areslated to suffer this assault from then,right unto the point we breathe our lastbreath. Such is the nature of ghting inthe LORDs army. There is no chance to

downgrade.However, take heart! The LORD of Hostsis our supreme commander, and we holdthe line alongside other saints. And now,the Uth Chronicle has produced its owncombat manual to help you out as you ghtthe good ght.

Conventional military wisdom holds that if

you know thyself and know thine enemy,you can survive a hundred battles withoutsuffering defeat. We acknowledge thatthis wisdom is also applicable to our

spiritual battles, and as such, we have Dn Simon Chua telling us about our strengthsand vulnerabilities, and how to leverage or otherwise cover them. Preacher KoLingkang provides the other half of the intelligence report, educating us on Satanby examining his many names.

God does not send us into battle unarmed, but provides every Christian accessto a spiritual armory whereby we can effectively withstand and repel the Devils

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assaults. Dn Han provides us with a study of Ephesians 6, instructing us on how tocreate an impenetrable defense and an irresistible offense with our many spiritualimplements of battle.

For your strategic considerations, The Fight between the two ultra-heavy-weights, Satan and Jesus Christ is examined by both Dr. Jeffrey Khoo and myself.Dr. Khoo provides a systematic overview of the mechanics of Gods salvation plan,

and I examine the ght to see if there are any stratagems employed by Christthat we may emulate.

Following on, we have Dora writing to us from Korea and Jon Jon exhorting usfrom beyond the age of 25. Ever wondered what the deal was with glorying intribulation? Jon Jon tells us how the various trials of life have affected him, andhow he has dealt with them.

In this issues YF Speak, our special operative Brian has surveyed the YFand asked what sins we are most susceptible, and has provided some specic

strategies to overcoming these sins.

Also note the many reports stemming from the myriad of events occurring in theMay/June period. What is FCM Camp? What is it good for? Special operative Brianinltrates the camp on your behalf and tells us whether it really is just anothercamp and whether it is worthy of our time. The Combined Youth Conference, YFOuting, Church Family Camp and Parents Appreciation Night. Look out especiallyfor the pretty pictures in the photojournalistic Family Camp report by Sophia! Andif anyone is in need of comic relief, I have withheld Joel Tans Parents Apprecia-

tion Night report in favor of Joanne Khors more serious one, but I will send you acopy if you ask me for it.

Do not neglect our Ex-Teenz that Talk section, where we thank God for yetanother new YFer who has successfully made the transition and now implores moreof the young ones to step up and be ready to receive many blessings. We also askChristie Yeo and Joy Khor who they think their ideal boyfriend from the Bible mightbe =D

Keep an eye out for future happenings of the YF in our upcoming Calendar of

Events, and past happenings in the lives of our YFers in Short and Broad. Also lookout for a new segment which will commence in the next issue, named Dunno, DoWhat?!

May this issue spur you on to ght harder for our LORD, holding the fort, eventhrough the second half of this year.

Agape,

jQ

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Introduction

is a well known Chinese proverb in Sun Tzus Art ofWar. It carries the meaning that by knowing self and the adversary, one will not

experience danger even after a hundred battles. This military proverb was pennedwith conventional warfare in mind, but shrewd businessmen of our age haveadapted it for application in their business dealings. If interpreted rightly in lightof Scripture, this proverb can also be used by the Christian to ensure a perpetualstate of safety even through numberless battles.

Is it really possible?

The previous sentence has answered this question. Upon rst examining thisproverb, one may conclude that its claim is utter exaggeration. We argue thateven with full knowledge of both self and adversary, there must surely be a fewoccasions of defeat, especially when protracted over a hundred battles! To this,I ask you to examine the promises of God to Israel on Mount Gerizim. ThroughMoses, God pronounced this blessing in Deuteronomy 28:7 The LORD shall cause

thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shallcome out against thee one way, and ee before thee seven ways. God did notsay how strong or valiant (or weak and cowardly!) the adversaries were thesefacts were inconsequential. Gods emphasis of this blessing is that He Himself willensure the unequivocal defeat of Israels enemies.

Know your battle

Sun Tzus Art of War was written for military strategists, and as mentionedearlier businessmen have adapted it for the battles of the business world. Nomatter the demographic group, each has identied the nature of their battle.What about the battle of the Christian? God tells us in Eph 6:12 that as believers,we wrestle not against esh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in

high places. The battles of the Christian are spiritual battles. You cannot ghtspiritual battles with mortal weapons.

Know ThyselfKnow Thyselfby Dn Simon Chua

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Know your state

I am assuming that this article isbeing read by a Christian. If you are not,I am afraid the battle is already lost.Outside of Christ you cannot win youcannot even ght because you aredead in sin (Eph 2:1)! How can you ghtagainst principalities when you do notknow the biblical principles, or maybeyou know them but do not subscribe tothem? Against powers and the rulers

of the darkness of this world, when youdo not know your real enemies? Againstspiritual wickedness in high places, whenyou do not understand what is theirconstitution and where exactly arethese high places? The Word of God tellsus that there is no salvation outside ofJesus Christ (Act 4:10-12), Gods onlybegotten Son (Joh 3:11-21).

A spiritual battle can only be fought bya spiritual person who is alive in Christ (1Cor 15:22). To the Christian, the battleis on! This is your state you can notsin (i.e. you have the ability not to sin).The promise and blessing pronounced toIsrael on Mount Gerizim is a promise toevery Christian, which is a perpetual

state of safety and victory at ev-ery battle! And here is the condition obedience (Deu 8:1-2). This is the solecondition.

Know your strength

You have none. Christian, I beseechyou to turn away from high mindedness.As descendants of Adam, we areinclined to sing our own praise. Wehave a strong sense of misplaced ormisguided self-worth and believe thatthrough our own determination we are

capable of all achievements this is theway of the world. David the Psalmisttells us in Psa 39:4-5 LORD, make me

to know mine end, and the measure ofmy days, what it is; that I may know howfrail I am. Behold, thou hast made mydays as an handbreadth; and mine age isas nothing before thee: verily every manat his best state is altogether vanity.Selah. This is the doctrine of mansfrailty and mortality, and the Christianwill do well to remember this truth.

Know your weakness

We are children of manyweaknesses, prone to leave the God welove. There are three things that God hasinstructed His children to do continually.Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in

everything give thanks (1 The 5:16-18). God knows that we are prone to dootherwise lets face it! We walk aboutwith a gloomy face and become angryover the slightest matter. We fail tocommune with God even for one hourwhen we should possess a p r a y e r f u lspirit all the time all the day. We are a

people with many complaints, countingour curses rather than our blessings.

Know Thyself

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IN Summary

Knowing that we have no strength ofour own and that we are weak, whatare we then to do so as to emergevictors at every battle? We dowhat every soldier does when onthe eld of battle we look to theCommander, our God! Very often, weare self- dependent rather than God-dependent, especially in themundane things that we do, and

we carry this attitude into ourservice in church a prayerlessattitude, the hallmark of depending onself. Some of us are bestowed withspiritual gifts, and thanks be to Godthat many youths are coming forwardto use these spiritual gifts in Godsservice. Examples of such spiritualgifts are good vocals, being musicallyinclined, apt to teach, being creative, goodleadership, etc. As you serve, do notneglect your duty to pray. You are aspiritual person, in a spiritual exercise,and you are not serving God if you donot pray.

May God help us to serve Him bydepending wholly and solely on Him,committing all things unto Him in prayer,and drawing wisdom out of Gods Word

that we may understand His will.

Know Thyself

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Dunno, Do What?

Dealing with difcult doctrines? Caughtin confusing conundrums? Got anissue with an indeterminateend? Look no further than

Dunno Do What? the Uth Chronicleslatest column where we tackle anythingpertaining to spiritual matters.Whether youve got questions regardingbiblical knowledge or theapplication of it into our lives, write into us atuth.chronicle@gmail .com or look out for the new Dunno, dowhat? box that will be placed at the

YF notice board and well address themand publish it in the next issue of theUth Chronicle!

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Know Thine Enemyby Pr Ko LingKang

According to Sun Tzus Art of War,if you know your enemies and knowyourself, you can win a hundred battleswithout a single loss. Whilst this is thesecular wisdom of an unbeliever, what

he says does indeed have some merit inour spiritual warfare. In this ght, wewrestle not against esh and blood, butagainst principalities, against powers,against the rulers of the darkness ofthis world, against spiritual wickednessin high places. (Eph 6:2). The chief ofthese spiritual powers is of course ouradversary the Devil, Satan himself. As

you read through the Bible, there are nu-merous passages and verses that speakof Satan, and there are thus multipleways through which we can know moreabout him. Indeed whole books have beenwritten on this very topic, of knowing thewiles of the Devil, or about understandingSatan. For the purposes of this article,I have chosen to do a brief study on the

various names of Satan, and throughthem to come to a better understandingof his various attributes and abilities.

I. Names Reflecting his

Character

A. Lucifer (Isa 14:12)

The origin of the word in theEnglish, comes from the Latin Vulgatewhich also translates the Hebrew asLucifer. The literal meaning of theHebrew word, hyll is shining one, lightbearer or morning star. The word onlyappears once in this place, and wasprobably his name before his fall.Then after, when his being wascorrupted with the blackness ofsin, he no longer shone but wasrather characterized by utterdarkness. Jesus Christ rather, is thetrue light that shineth in the world, thatthe evil and darkness comprehended not.(John 1:5)

B. Satan

This title is used a total of 56 times in

the King James Bible, 19 times in the OTand 37 in the NT. It is taken from theHebrew s

t n which literally means

opponent or adversary, or as a verb,to withstand. The Greek rendition,satanas, is simply aphonetical transliteration.

The aspect of character brought out bythis title is the idea that Satan is the

direct rival of God, who will oppose andbe an adversary to everything thatGod does. He is the direct opposite of aperfect holy God, himself being totallyevil, corrupt and self-serving.

C. The Devil

This name is used exclusively in theNew Testament, and comes from theGreek word diabolos. (Remember thecomputer game Diablo or the worddiabolical) Its literal meaning is that ofa slanderer, or false accuser. The idea

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behind this title is that of someone whowould maliciously give false reports thatwould injure the reputation of another.Satan is thus one who seeks to defameGod, usurping his glory. He would alsoseek to stumble believers, causing them

to lose their testimony and witness tothe world.

D. That Old Serpent (Rev 12:9)

This name here is an obvious referenceback to the Garden of Eden, where thedevil took on the form of a serpent andtempted Eve. The adjective old is anindication of his vast experience and

cunning craftiness. Serpent, wouldprobably be a reference to the factthat it was a beast that was moresubtle than any beast of the eld. (Gen3:1) To title him as that old serpent, is areection of the presence of this craftydeceiver who has been around since thebeginning, and is continually deceivingthe whole world.

E. The Great (Red) Dragon (Rev

12:3,9)

Added to the idea of his craftinessand subtlety is a title that portrayshim as a terrifying, great destructivebeast who is wroth against God and Hispeople, and seeks their totaldevastation. It is probably from this

passage where the commercial worldgets the image of a cute furry reddragon with two horns, a pointed tail andcarrying a pitchfork. But we must banishthat thought, for the image portrayedis that of a truly ferocious beast, whohas great might and power, who soughtto devour her child as soon as it wasborn (v.4), fought together with his

army of angels against Michael thearchangel (v.7), and is now deceiving thewhole world. (v.9). He is therefore notone to be taken lightly at all, and must be

faced with much vigilance and prayer.

F. The Wicked/Evil One (John

17:15, 1 John 5:18)

Often times in the Greek, thewriter would use the adjective with the

denite article as a name for Satan,ho poneros, which literally means TheEvil. A similar idiom in Greek would bethe term from which the word Saintis translated from hoi hagioi, whichliterally means The Holy Ones. (e.gEph 1:1) This name of Satan thus isdescriptive of his intrinsicevilness or wickedness, of

which his whole being embodies.Satan is thus simply evil. The denitearticle the gives this evilness a specicpersonality behind it. It is not just aconcept of evil, but a person behind itthat is simply pure evil.

II. Names Describing

Position

A. Anointed Cherub (Eze 28:14)

He was created as a Cherub, angelicbeings of the highest order or class,created with indescribable powers andprivileges. If we refer to other partsof scripture, such as Gen 3:24 (WhereCherubim [plural of Cherub] were placedas guardians of the garden of Eden),or Exo 25:18 (where the Ark of theCovenant was constructed withtwo cherubim overlooking andsurrounding the mercy seat)or Ezekiel 1:5-14, 10:4, 18-22 (where they had a mysticalappearance, and associated withthe glory of God), we are able to seethat Cherubim were designed to beproclaimers and protectors of Godsglory and holiness, having direct accessto the very throne of God. So Satan was

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originally a Cherub class of angelicbeings, and being the anointed one, ofthe highest rank. That was his originalexalted position which he lost when hechose to rebel against God and was thuscast down from heaven.

B. The Prince of this world (John12:31, John 14:30, John 16:11)

This title was used by Jesus himself,and appears thrice only in the Gospel ofJohn. Literally translated, the idea wouldbe ruler of this cosmos. The word usedfor world here, is the Greek word kos-mos, from where we get our word cos-

mos. This therefore speaks of the phys-ical dominion that Satan has over thisuniverse. He is acting as the de factoruler, having authority over all men andangels who are not in Gods kingdom. Thiswas the authority which Satan was ableto offer to Jesus when he tempted himin Matt 4.

Note also that twice when Christ usedthis title on Satan, it was associatedwith an impending judgment. Thus whileit seems Satan is having the upper handfor now, having dominion over the world,it is only for a moment. For in time tocome, God will judge Satan permanentlyand he will be cast into the lake of reforever.

C. The god of this World (2 Cor4:4)

In distinction to the title above, theoriginal word from which world istranslated here is not kosmos, but isaion, which has a connotation more withregards to the time period. Thereforeto call him the god of this world, is an

indication that his reign is onlytemporal. True, that he is enjoying somemeasure of the worship attributed toa deity from the pagan religions of the

world, but it is only in this age. Therewill come a time where Christ will returnto take his place as the King of Kingsand Lord of Lords, and vanquish Satanforever.

D. The Prince of the Power of the

Air (Eph 2:2)

Again the word prince here can betranslated as ruler; the word forpower gives the idea of authority,jurisdiction; and air here would refer to theatmospheric region. Therefore thiswould refer to the dominion that Sa-tan has over the realm of his fallen an-

gels, and possibly over the elements aswell. (ref. the methods Satan used totorment Job)

E. Beelzebub, the Prince of theDevils (Matt 12:24, Luke 11:15)

Jesus was accused by the Phariseesof casting out demons by the authorityof Beelzebub, whom he later compared

to being Satan. This again shows theposition that Satan has as ruler overthe rest of the demons in the world.He is later in the passage described asa strong man who owns a house, butinterestingly, Jesus also mentions thatin casting out the demons, he has torst bind the strong man. This wouldindicate the absolute authority that

Jesus as God has over Satan.

III. Names Indicating

Activity

A. Tempter

This is Satans prime mode ofoperation. It was the act that he did incausing the fall of mankind, and wasalso the method which he tried to causeJesus to sin as well. It is also themethod which he is using on us daily, andcontinually causing us to fall into sin.

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Although this name is attributed toSatan only twice in the Bible, (Matt 4:3,1 Thess 3:5), it is nonetheless a veryevident activity that Satan iscontinually engaged in,and is what we should

always be wary of. B. Accuser

One name of Satan that is seldom usedand rarely spoken of is that of being anAccuser. Rev 12:10 declares him as theaccuser of our brethren...which accusedthem before our God day and night. Thisphrase gives us some insight to one

of the more malicious activities whichSatan is also engaged in. A referencecan be made to the account of Satanaccusing Joshua the high priest in Zech-ariah 3. Satan was standing with Josh-ua, before God accusing him of the sinson behalf of the Jews who had returnedfrom exile. He stood as the prosecu-tor proving his case that Joshua was

guilty, and Israel deserved to be judged.This is often the situation we facewhen we sin as well. Instead of seekingforgiveness immediately, Satan wouldcome and accuse us of our guilt, tofurther drive us away from God and tobe caught up in our own remorse andself-pity, but never coming to the Fatherto seek forgiveness. Such accusations

drove Judas to commit suicide beforehaving true repentance and believing inJesus Christ whom he betrayed. (Matt27:3-5)

C. Father of lies/ Deceiver

Satan is also described as Jesus in John8:44 as a liar, and the father of it. He isthe one who deceiveth the whole world

(Rev 12:9). Satan is a deceiver, and hasalways been deceiving man, since therst temptation of Eve when he askedher, yea hath God said? As Dwight

Pentacost notes,

Deceit is the characterization whichthe Word of God gives to us ofSatan, and it gives us the rst principleby which Satan operates. We want toemphasize this aspect of the truth. Until

we realize that Satan cannot, under anycircumstances, operate in therealm of truth, but must alwaysoperate in the realm of a lie, we will not beprepared for hismanifestations or for thetemptation which he presents to us.[Your Adversary the Devil, 50]

This is in direct contrast to God,whom the author of Hebrews says,cannot ever lie. (Heb 6:18) Thereforewe can rest secure in the truths of theBible, but trust nothing else in the world,however convincing they may be.Satan is a master of deceit, and can useall ways and means to trick us and temptus to sin. Our only defense against this

is the inerrant and infallible, perfectWord of God!

D. Angel of Light (2 Cor 11:13-15)

Along the same idea of Satan being adeceiver, Paul terms him as being anAngel of Light, which furtheremphasizes the idea of his craftyand cunning deception. He describes

Satan as one who appears on thesurface as one who isrighteous and holy, todeceive even the elect (Matt 24:24)This should come as a great warningto us, that when we go about in thisworld, we must be wise as serpents,always sober and vigilant, for Satan canappear as he likes to deceive at any

time.

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Summary

This list is by no means an exhaustive list. What it does is represent the scope ofthe titles that have been attributed to him, and thus presents the multifacetedaspects of his power, character and activity. Satan is indeed a very real anddangerous enemy that we must all contend with. This is a spiritual warfare thatwe are all involved in. Like it or not, we have been all drafted into the Lords army,and must thus be prepared to face our adversary, the devil. We must be alert atall times, and know the enemy well in order to fend against him.

In this battle, there is no downgrading or reporting sick. It is a 24 hour battlethat has no stand down. The end will only come after Christs secondcoming when he will vanquish death, hell and Satan forever. In the meantime, weare to watch and pray, and resist the devil always, looking to Christ and God asour shield and defender.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5:8

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A CHRISTIANS

ART OF WAREphesians 6:10-18

By Dn Han Wie Kwang

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren,be strong in the Lord, and in the powerof his might. Put on the whole armourof God, that ye may be able to standagainst the wiles of the devil. For wewrestle not against esh and blood, butagainst principalities, against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness ofthis world, against spiritual wickednessin high places. Wherefore take unto youthe whole armour of God, that ye maybe able to withstand in the evil day, andhaving done all, to stand. Stand there-fore, having your loins girt about withtruth, and having on the breastplate of

righteousness; And your feet shod withthe preparation of the gospel of peace;Above all, taking the shield of faith,wherewith ye shall be able to quench allthe ery darts of the wicked. And takethe helmet of salvation, and the swordof the Spirit, which is the word of God:Praying always with all prayer and suppli-cation in the Spirit, and watching there-unto with all perseverance and supplica-tion for all saints.

CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A WALK, A RACE,

AND ALSO A BATTLE

That our Christian life is a battle tellsus that it must not be easy or smooth-sailing, but will be plagued with stress,difculties and problems. Thats whythe apostle Paul exhorted the Christianbrethren to be strong in the Lord, andin the power of his might(Eph 5:10). TheChristian battle is not fought with thestrength of our mortal bodies. We needthe strength of the Lord and the powerof His might.

This ght is not optional. One is immedi-ately cast into the deep end on the dayof our converstion. When we pledge ourallegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ andour faith in him, we are immediately deliv-ered from the kingdom of darkness intothe kingdom of light, and it is from this

point that we must begin our service inthe Lords army. Through it all, the mostcrucial point to note is that we must notfear, but be strong in the Lord.

BE PREPARED & EQUIPPED

How then can we be strong in the Lord?

What should we do so that we can beprepared for the Christian battle whichrages daily? The Word of God is clear. Wemust put on the whole armour of God.Yes, the whole armor in its entirety, notmerely a part of it. This God given equip-ment is vital to the Christians efforton the battleeld, and we cannot hope

to succeed without it. It must ever beadorned, and never put off. If we do so,God assures us of victory. So, what isthis armour that Apostle Paul refers to

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in the epistle to the Ephesians, and whoreally are our enemies? Lets try to an-swer the latter rst.

OUR ENEMIES

The text in Ephesians 6:11 tells us thatthe armour of God is meant to equip usto withstand the wiles of the devil,and that refers to Satan, the chief ad-versary of God as well as his minions.But the war is waged on more than onefront. The Bible tells us that the Chris-tian battle is fought both from within

and without, that is to say, the enemiesare found both in us as well as outsideus.

The sin nature, also known as the oldman in us, is the enemy within that is con-stantly at war with our renewed spirit.Our sin nature is not removed at thepoint of our conversion, but stays withus till we breathe our last breath. Hence,our old sinful self is the enemy within. Wemust be aware of it and battle against it.Paul mentioned this in Rom 7:20-23. Thesinful desires, thoughts and passionscome from the old man. The Bible tells usto yield to God in submission and obedi-ence to His Word, and let not sin there-

fore reign in your mortal body, that yeshould obey it in the lusts thereof(Rom6:12). In other words, we must daily mor-tify or put to death our old self.

Compounded with the enemy within arethe enemies without. Who are they?

Satan with his minions and the evilsystems of the world are the en-emies without. The Word of God callsthe Evil one by many different names:

Satan, the old serpent, the devil, theadversary, the fatherof lies, the deceiver, themurderer from thebeginning and the accuser of thebrethren[Editors note: See Kangs

article on Knowing Thy Enemy!]. Andeach of these names tells us thecharacter of the Evil one. He and hisminions control the evilsystem of the world topromote his evil work of deception anddestruction. His evil work is nothaphazard at all, but systematic and

carefully planned and executed. Thatswhat the word wiles of the devilreally means, which in Greekmethodeia meansmethodically.Indeed, we have a formidableenemy with all his company. Moreover, ourenemies outside areinvisible and cannot be

handled physically. Thats why ourChristian battle is spiritual and not phys-ical, for we wrestle not against eshand blood (Eph 6:12). The enemies arenot physical and visible beings, but arepowerful, evil anddeadly principalities, powers,rulers of the darkness of this world andspiritual wickedness in high places. That

sounds frightening isnt it?

DO NOT FEAR, BUT BE STRONG

We are not to fear, but be strongin the Lord. We must be fully aware

that the Lord Jesus is with us in ourChristian walk and He is for us in ourChristian battle. The Lord of Hosts is onour side of the battle. Isnt this thought

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very assuring and comforting? What wereally need to do is to lean on the Lord, tosubmit to Him, to resist the devil and indoing so, he will ee from us (James 4:7).Wherefore take unto you the wholearmour of God, that ye may be able to

withstand in the evil day, and having doneall, to stand (Eph 6:13). The days are eviland perilous, the enemies from within andwithout are formidable, but we have theLord of Hosts on our side and we haveon us the armour of God. So, we shall notfear. We must stand boldly in the Lordagainst all manner of sins, lies, falsehood,

deceptions, evil and all appearances ofevil. We do so by taking up the full armourof God.

THE ARMOUR OF GOD

Apostle Paul by the inspiration of theHoly Spirit used the imagery of the ar-mour of a Roman soldier to illustrate the

spiritual armour of a Christian in spiritualbattle. All the parts of the full armour ofGod are carefully described in Ephesians

6:14-17.

There are 6 parts of the armour of God,namely, the belt of truth, the breast-plate of righteousness, shoes of the

preparation of the gospel of peace, theshield of faith, the helmet of salvationand the sword of the Spirit. The wholearmour of God gives protection to theentire person. Of which, 5 parts are pro-tective in nature, while the 6th, that is,the sword of the Spirit, functions bothdefensively and offensively.

First, lets take a look at the sequence inwhich the different parts of the armourare listed. Obviously, the order in which

the various parts are listed is not theexact sequence in which a soldier put onhis armour. However, it is interesting tonote that our rst line of defense is the

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belt of truth. It is no surprise becausethe mode of operation Satan takeson is to propagate half-truths, lies ordeception. He and his minionsoperate by opposing God and His truth. Heworks through the various media, false

teachers, false pastors and false leadersin order to promote his course. Thats whyit is so essential that we esteem Godstruth so highly in our lives and that ourChristian lives are characterized bytruthfulness. We must speak truthful-ly and live in accordance to the truthsof God revealed in His Word. It would

mean that we reject anything or anyperson that sets itself against Godstruth. The belt of truth is so importantbecause it holds all other parts of thearmour together. If we professed tobe Christians and are found lying anddoing things just to what the word ofGod teaches, we become vulnerable to

spiritual attack and become an easytarget for the evil one.

Second, lets consider another partof the armour--the breastplate ofrighteousness. As an important partof the armour that protects the vitalorgans of the body, we cannot live our

Christian life without putting on thebreastplate of righteousness. Butwhat righteousness is it? All born-againbelievers areimputed with the righteousness ofJesus Christ. We are justied beforethe Holy God because of the perfectrighteousness of Christ. Therefore, the

accuser of the brethren has no caseagainst us because we are covered andcleansed by the precious blood of Jesusand are clothed with Christs robe of

righteousness. We must grow and con-tinue to mature in our Christian life. Wemust grow in holiness and in practicalrighteousness, which only makes sensewhen we already have the imputed orpositional righteousness in Christ. In our

spiritual battle, when we feel defeatedand discouraged, we must look to Christwho had victory over sin and death.This victory belongs to us. So, when wesin, we must repent from our sins andturn to Jesus and be sure that our sinsare forgiven. There is therefore nocondemnation in him who is in Christ

Jesus. We must put on the breastplateof righteousness. If we are children ofthe Holy God, our lives must reect Hisholiness. We must be people ofintegrity and purity in this dark and evilworld. If not, we would bring shame tothe name of our Lord Jesus and lose theopportunity to bear a good testimony

for the Lord.

Third, lets take a look at the shoes of aChristian soldier. The feet of a soldier areimportant for moving swiftly and stand-ing rm in battle. Yes, we are to standrm in the Lord, to be rmly groundedin Him and in the Gospel of peace. The

Gospel of peace is also called theGospel of Christ because it was JesusChrists vicarious death on the crossthat brought peace between us andGod. We are no longer children of wrathand we are no longer enemies of God, butfully reconciled with Him. Therefore wecan stand rm and know that we are

at peace with God and that He is on ourside in our spiritual warfare. With thisrm footing, we can advance the Gos-pel of Jesus Christ to declare it to our

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friends, relatives and neighbours whoare still outside the kingdom of God sothat they too will make peace with Godand be saved.

Fourth, we have the shield of faith,wherewith we shall be able to quench allthe ery darts of the wicked one. It isnot enough to have the belt of truth,the breastplate of righteousness andthe shoes of the Gospel of peace. Theevil one spares no effort to attackbelievers with ery darts, casting

doubts on Gods Word and His promises,discouragement, deception and fear.Faith, acting as a shield, keeps theseery darts as far away from us aspossible. A Christian soldier cannot goin the battle of Christian life withoutfaith and trust in the Lord of Host,who is all powerful, all knowing and allpresent, and in His infallible Wordthe Bible. He must look to Jesus, theauthor and nisher of his faith. True andgenuine faith comes only by hearing ofGods Word and through understandingHis promises. It is so important that weincrease our faith by spending muchtime reading and mediating on GodsWord. Faith is taking God at His Word.

Having a strong faith in Jesus and a deepunderstanding of the Bible drives awaydoubts, discouragement and fears. Itinstills in a believer God-condence andspiritual boldness.

Fifth, lets consider the helmet of

salvation. A helmet protects thesoldiers head from any fatal blow. Whatsalvation does it refer to? We knowthat all born-again believers obtain sal-

vation by the grace through faith inJesus Christ, and that salvationis of God. We were saved from thepenalty of sin, from the power of sin andin the future, from the presence of sin.The helmet of salvation here refers in

particular to the hope of salvation(1 Thess 5:8); the hope of the nalglorication of our mortal body. Inour daily spiritual conict, we mustnever lose focus on Jesus our Saviour,or lose hope of our future salvationglorication, which isthe ultimate victory in a

Christian. This hope isnot a wishful hope, but acertainty waiting to happen in the nearfuture. With this, we must battle on, andseize every opportunity to advance thekingdom of God by sharing the greatsalvation grace in Jesus Christ tomany.

Sixth, the last part of the armour isthe sword of the Spirit, which is theWord of God. Taking up the shield offaith with one arm and the sword of theSpirit with the other, we can wrestle in ourspiritual warfare. The 2 complementeach other. Both have to do with the

Word of God, that is to say, His revealedtruths and precious promises. But unlikethe shield of faith which is defensive innature, the sword of the Spirit is bothdefensive and offensive. It is the swordof the Spirit because it comes from theSpirit of God who is the Spirit of truth.It blocks every falsehood and error

that comes from our enemies without.It discerns and brings to light everysinful thought and evilmotive within (Heb 4:12). We must

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learn to use it, and use it well. It is not so much having the Word of God inour laptop or the iPhone, it is also not merely holding the Bible in our hands,but rather having the Word of God in our heart; and it involves knowing,understanding, remembering, believing and applying Gods Word in all situations. There isreally no short cut to it. It requires serious discipline, hard work, much time and deepcommitment. This is the calling of a Christian soldier. Be sure, this calling is demanding

but there is no other way to win this spiritual conict. To be ignorant of the Bible is topresent yourself a liability in the ght. Immature and ignorant Christians are likelyto be tossed to and fro by every wind of false doctrine and to fall prey to falseteachers and covetous pastors. We must not let up in our ght, for the spiri-tual battle continues to intensify. It is therefore no surprise that the sword ofthe Spirit continues to be a key target of Satans assault; a disarmed Christianposes no threat to him! We must study the Bible and pray without ceasing.

So, have you put on the whole armour of God? Do you have on you the belt oftruth, the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace, the breastplate ofrighteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of theSpirit? Even if you do, it is still not enough. We must also pray without ceasing. Bypraying, we ght our Christian battle against the invisible enemies with Godsstrength. Through prayer, Christian warriors communicate with the Lord in theheat of the battle. We must pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.We must both watch and pray with all perseverance. Are we praying for ourselves,family members, church leaders and fellow church members? We are not alone inthe spiritual battle, so lets encourage one another to stand rm in the Lord withthe full armour on, and to watch and pray, for the days are evil. May God help us.

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Taking theFight to the

Devilby His Active Obedience: A

Textual Study on Luke 4

Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo

The temptation of Jesus is recorded in

all 3 synoptic gospels (Luke 4:1-13, Matt

4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13). It was truly a

crucial event in the life of Christ. We are

told that Jesus, being full of the Spirit,

was immediately led by the Spirit into

the desert. There He was tempted bySatan for a period of 40 days and nights.

During this period of time, Jesus fasted,

and did not eat anything. This made Him

all the more physically vulnerable to the

devils temptations.

Why did Jesus have to go through

this time of temptation or testing?

Jesus had to go through this time of

testing because He had to earn the

righteousness His people needed to enter

the kingdom of heaven. It is part of His

active obedience. Just like Adam had

to be tested in the Garden of Eden in

order to secure life eternal throughobedience, Christ as the greater

Adam had to go through such a test to

secure our salvation. This is clearly taught

by Paul in Rom 5:12-21: Wherefore, as

by one man sin entered into the world,

and death by sin; and so death passed

upon all men, for that all have sinned:(For until the law sin was in the world: but

sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam

to Moses, even over them that had not

sinned after the similitude of Adams

transgression, who is the gure of

him that was to come. But not as theoffence, so also is the free gift. For if

through the offence of one many be

dead, much more the grace of God, and

the gift by grace, which is by one man,

Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so

is the gift: for the judgment was by oneto condemnation, but the free gift is of

many offences unto justication. For

if by one mans offence death reigned

by one; much more they which receive

abundance of grace and of the gift of

righteousness shall reign in life by one,

Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by theoffence of one judgment came upon all

men to condemnation; even so by the

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upon all men unto justication of life.

For as by one mans disobedience many

were made sinners, so by the obedience

of one shall many be made righteous.

Moreover the law entered, that the

offence might abound. But wheresin abounded, grace did much more

abound: That as sin hath reigned

unto death, even so might grace

reign through righteousness unto

eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam failed, but Christ passed the test.

We are not only saved by His death; weare also saved by His life (Rom 5:10).

In Luke, the temptation account

is placed immediately after the

genealogy of Jesus which Luke has

traced right back to Adam. Luke

through Pauls instruction has correctly

portrayed Christ as the 2nd Adamwho must accomplish what the 1st

Adam failed to do, namely, eternal

life. What Adam failed to do under the

covenant of works, Christ succeeded

under the covenant of grace. Christ,

being mans perfect

Representative, kept the Lawof God on our behalf through His

active obedience. Adam failed to

obey Gods commandment in the

Garden by yielding to Satans threefold

temptation (Gen 3:6, 1 John 2:16).

But Christ successfully resisted the

same threefold temptation, therebysecuring righteousness to every

one that believeth (Rom 10:4). The

threefold temptation consists of (1)

the lust of the esh, (2) the lust of the

eyes, and (3) the pride of life. Having been

tempted by Satan, Eve partook of

the fruit because it was (1) good for

food, (lust of the esh), (2) pleasantto the eyes (lust of the eyes), and (3)

to be desired to make one wise (pride

of life). By so disobeying God, Adam

and Eve plunged not only themselves,

but also the whole human race into the

condemnation of sin. Jesus Christ was

also tempted in the same threefold way:He was tempted (1) to turn stones into

bread (the lust of the esh), (2) with the

kingdoms of the world (lust of the eyes),

and (3) to jump from the pinnacle of the

temple (the pride of life). Christ was

victorious. He defeated Satan with the

Word of God quoting (1) Deut 8:3, Manshall not live by bread alone, but by every

word that proceedeth out of the mouth

of God; (2) Deut 6:13, Thou shalt

worship the Lord thy God, and him only

shalt thou serve; and (3) Deut 6:16,

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

The Word of God is the Sword of theSpirit (Eph 6:17). It is a very effective

weapon against Satans ery darts of

temptation. Christ conquered Satan. He

perfectly obeyed the commands of God,

and so saved us by His active obedience.

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Jesus vs. SatanA play by play commentary

By Joel QuahWhen the coaches of an American Foot-

ball team do their preparation to play an-other team, one of their most valuablegame planning resources is past gametape (recordings) of the other team.Coaches scrutinize the game tape toanalyze their opponents strategies,and then go on to modify their ownstrategies to counter them. If coach-es discover that a particular strate-

gy employed is effective against theirforthcoming opponents, they strikegold. Their task is made all the simpler,in that they can then copy that strat-egy, and begin practicing its executionimmediately.This sort of game planning is applicablein many adversarial situations. Gamers

often watch replays to the same ends.Debaters who can anticipate their op-ponents arguments based on tenden-cies hold a distinct advantage. Sincetimes of antiquity generals have real-ized the importance of discovering theenemys strengths and weaknessesbefore engaging them on the eld ofbattle.

Is the average Christian able to gaininsight on a being as powerful as theDevil, and in doing so get a leg up on theadversary? I put to you that it is, andone of our best resources is the ac-count of The Fight itself, between theDevil and the LORD Jesus Christ him-self, taking on His foe in His fully man,fully God form.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I invite youto tune in to Luke 4:1-15, which car-ries this epic bout. I believe it to be the

chronological account, given the logi-cal movement from wilderness to city.Coaches would never dream of watch-ing game tape only once, so I invite youto ruminate on it, using the instant re-play button as oft as ye can.We nd ourselves in the midst of thedesert, Jesus already in His 40th dayof temptation. Even though there isno indication of what occurred duringthese 40 days, we can safely assumethat it was spiritually intense. The evi-dence: Jesus had fasted all this time,and being subject to human frailties (as

He was also fully man at this point), Hehungered.The decision to fast is an intriguingone. It is a trade-off between physicalweakness and spiritual strength. It iscertainly no casual strategy, and onethat is not commonly employed, espe-cially in the modern era, where even mid-night hunger pangs can be assuaged bylogging on to www.mcdelivery.com.sgand clicking a few buttons.However, it is a winning strategy, andits application is logical. The battle be-tween Christ and the Devil was notfought on the physical realm, but on thespiritual. Sacricing physical comfortfor greater spiritual focus only enhanc-

es ones efforts against the Devil andhis minions. If the situation demands it,we must not be afraid to abandon oureshly needs and focus completely onGod, who will give us the victory if onlywe turn to Him and walk in His way. Whatof our physical needs? God will take careof them, as He sustained Jesus (as Hedid Moses) for 40 days without food.

It might seem that the strategy offasting has an intrinsic aw that theresultant physical weakness opensmore avenues for the Devils assault.

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However, if we execute this strategyproperly, as Jesus does in this account,the spiritual strength drawn will invari-ably be sufcient to thwart the Devilsadvances, for we rely on God, and Godnever fails.

Nevertheless, the Devils subtly word-ed concern for Jesus physical well-being was actually a carefully disguiseddart, and if an attack in kind is employedagainst us, we must be quick to recog-nize and quick to react.The Devil asks, If thou be the Son ofGod, command this stone that it be made

bread.It is unlikely that the exact form will beused again, for we are neither the Sonof God, nor are we able to make stoneinto bread by our own volition (I on theother hand, can easily make what shouldbe bread into very charred stone). Butwhile the exact attack will not be repli-cated, the underlying strategy is still vi-

able and extremely potent.One realizes on deeper analysis that therequest was not for Jesus to performan act that was inherently sinful. Turningstone into bread was not morally wrong,or against any written law. Therein laythe subtlety of the Devils inquiry! No-tice that it starts with If thou be theSon of God. The rst prong of the at-tack was to lure Christ into performingwhat seemed to be a morally neutral actout of pride, thereby rendering it sinful.Of course, one could take the sugges-tion and perform the act without suc-cumbing to pride, but even so, this wouldhave broken the fast, demonstrating alower priority for spiritual focus in favor

of satisfying physical desires whenthe Devil was still at hand, and strikinghardest.This strategy from the Devils playbook

is versatile and will likely be highly cus-tomized according to our strengths.The Devil might say to me, If thou beintelligent, get the top grades in school,and this scholarship, and that award. Orhe might say, If thou be good at sport,

compete hard, even on Sundays thereare many days given to the Lord already,and only a few that can be used to layhands on the trophy. He might even say,If thou be the leader of this committee,use this opportunity to do somethinggood and impress those that look on.We must be careful to guard ourselvesagainst our strengths, that our en-

ergy is not diverted from our service toGod by seemingly innocuous activities.The only way to keep our eyes on Christis to fast and pray daily, to deny selfand take up our cross as the Word com-mands us to.Following on, Christ is taken up into ahigh mountain (climbing mountain with nofood not funny), and is shown all thekingdoms of the world, and is offered allof them if Christ would worship Satan.This seems, on all accounts, an extreme-ly silly offer. All the world was alreadyChrists, and will be forever. PerhapsChrist did not exhibit the manifesta-tions of control at that point in time, butcould this sort of temptation hold any

power in it?

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Sadly, we are often the victim of suchtemptations, which can be categorizedas temporary instantaneous gratica-tion temptations. While the name mightbe long and unfamiliar, we are all certain-ly familiar with this sort of temptation.

Each time we tell a lie, we try to avertimmediate retribution, even though weknow from Scripture that our sin will ndus out and our punishments are simplycompounded. Each time we succumb tosexual temptation, we ludicrously be-lieve that the eeting moment of plea-sure will somehow outweigh the bless-ings that will come if we resist. The Devil

time and again will offer us nothing forsomething, and we must realize that ouresh is not to be entrusted with suchdecisions, as it will drive us to acceptthese ridiculous bargains. Our only hopeis to constantly renew our minds, battlehard and mortify (kill!) the old man, keep-ing our eyes on eternity, where our re-ward is, and where true value lies.

We also note that Jesus prefaces Hisreply to the Devil at this juncture withthe words Get thee behind me, Satan.If the Luke account is truly chronologi-cal, we must accept that even Christswords to the Devil were not sufcientdeterrent to stop the Devil in his tracks,and what more ours. If God sees us tenough to go through trials and tempta-tions, a mere request for the ordeal toend will not be honored by the Devil.The Devil now takes Christ to the pin-nacle of the temple, where in all likelihooda crowd had gathered, and tells Him tothrow Himself off, and let the angelscatch Him. This form of temptation isoften depicted as the pride of life,

and shares similar elements to the rsttemptation, albeit in a more accentedform.One might even think that Christs min-

istry would have benetted from Himcasting Himself off from the pinnacleof the temple, and reaching the groundunscathed. Would not such a feat per-formed in a public square be excellentpublicity and authentication for His

earthly ministry? Dont some pastorsresort to magic to draw the multitudesnowadays?Such thinking is worldly, and I speculatethat a ministry begun in glitz and glamorcannot possibly be God honoring. Suchactions point to self, which renders thesubsequent ministry dead before it evenbegins. Jesus began His ministry in the

synagogues teaching the Word of God,and in so doing gained recognition in theGod honoring fashion.The old adage power corrupts, andabsolute power corrupts absolutelyproves true in this instance. Part of themotivation for jumping off the greatheight would be to gain the satisfaction

from the validation of His unique posi-tion. Anyone of us who has ever wieldedany authority would likely have experi-enced this sort of temptation as well,and those of us who will come to wield au-thority of some sort will also most prob-ably be tempted to pull rank at somepoint of time.The term pulling rank should be famil-

iar to those who have been through themilitary, some other uniformed groupor have existed in some other powerstructure. For the girls, the young, andBrian, you can safely interpret the termas abusing power.Making people address you by your titlejust to feel shiok, ill-treating or over-

working a subordinate just becauseyou can, arranging events for yourpersonal benet rather than in the in-terests of the group you serve, com-

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ing late for meetings and getting awaywith it because you can these form anon-exhaustive list of abuses of power.Or maybe you just like to do things in afanciful way, to show off, to make peo-ple aware of the skills and talents you

possess. If you use your talents or thepower entrusted in your hands to serveself, you have fallen prey to the Devilstrump card.It hardly needs to be said that the onlyweapons against the Devil is the Wordof God and many hours spent on ourknees. Jesus parried each of the Devilsstrikes by skillfully wielding the sword of

the spirit. Can we do so with the samesort of skill? Do we spend time sharpen-ing our sword and devote time to prac-tice wielding it? Do we actually rememberto unsheathe our weapon when the Deviland his minions poke their heads roundthe corner? If we do use our swords,do we strike with conviction? Are thewords contained in that wonderful bookmerely words to us, or do we believe inthem in our heart of hearts?

Take heart as we take to the ght.Unlike in a physical ght,where the combatant growsweaker with each maneuver,the Christian is

strengthened with each dartwe deect and each blow wedeal. Certainly Satan wouldnot have relented after 40days if he thought Christsdefenses were weakening.On the contrary, he ed,witnessing that Christstood rmer than ever,His mastery of Scripturemaking His defenseimpenetrable. We too muststrive for such excellence,

and God has promised us the victory ifwe walk in His path.

Beware, soldier. Be sober, be vigilant;because your adversary the devil, asa roaring lion, walketh about, seek-ing whom he may devour; whom resiststedfast in the faith, knowing that thesame afictions are accomplished in theworld. But the God of all grace, who hathcalled us unto his eternal glory by ChristJesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, andstrengthen, settle you.

Swords out. Be ready.

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!ahnnyeonghaseyo!

According to the lunar calendar, today is buddhas birthday. and i know that because

it is a national holiday. this is the 2nd nh in 6 days, which also comprised a weekend.so ive been getting a lot of rest and i managed to mess up my weird sleep-wakehabits even more, haha!

things are good here! (: thank God i was able to settle down really reallyquickly, and there werent any big problems with paperwork. some of myorientation group mates had the wrong kind of visa and so couldnt apply for their alienregistration card, and it was quite a bit of trouble. i only had to deal with my mistake ofcarelessly registering for a business course thats taught entirely inkorean haha. =P but i managed to drop it, and ended up with a better (no essays orpresentations, just calculations woohoo!) biz module at a timeslot that suits mytimetable best. the Lord is indeed very good! (:

I really like the way classes are held here. its the classroom-style ofteaching, in a class of not more than 40 students (hurhur). and labwork is done on avoluntary basis without needing to submit lab reports! but on 2nd thoughts, i thinkits still good exposure that we have manymanymany compulsory lab sessions in

ntu. the pace of teaching is slower here, and im only doing 18 hours/week now, ascompared to about 26 hours/week if i were in ntu this semester. haha soeverythings nice, especially when i also get to miss yucky courses like biophysicsand advanced biochem heh. =P

one thing though, the biz prof especially likes to remind us that we are thetop 0.3% of the cohort. this kinda puts some pressure on me cos it means imsurrounded by really smart people, and although i only need to pass, i dont exactly

want to be the black sheep pulling down the class average. so yes, still have towork hard, if not harder!

food-wise, im glad they have a fair share of rice and noodles and spice and tofuhere, so alls good. craved carrot cake really badly when i fell sick, but its okay illbe back in less than 2 months! ordering food and getting around on my own isntmuch of a problem because i can read korean and i know basic vocab/ phrases. i onlyhave problems when random people on the streets start asking me for directions

(on average, 3 times/week) which i can hardly understand or reply intelligently to.or when we cannot understand each other when i want to pay my phone bill or wantto get letters posted. butnever fails, haha!

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also thank God for safety thus far! the streets are safe to walk in even atmidnight. and with the other korea and its nuclear nonsense just up north, andthe recent tsunamis and earthquakes that hit japan so badly, it is only by themercies of God that south korea is preserved. radioactive compounds were foundalong the coasts though, but the concentrations are way too low to cause anyharm, so thank God for that!

and whats an overseas experience if you dont fall ill, right? =P felt quite terri-ble during those few days but it taught me to lean solely on God for strength andhelp. and indeed God is our ever unchanging Father who is faithful to deliver andcomfort! (:

i attend yongsan baptist church here, and it felt like home when i rst walkedin. the familiar hymns were so good to hear! and when the pastor startedpreaching about being separate, and about not using the music of the world to

attract people to church, and sticking to the good old kjv bible, i literally heaveda sigh of relief. really thank God for raising up a faithful ministry to feed andevangelise to the foreign community here! and of course a place for me toworship at while im away from home! talked to a couple of people at church(because they talked to me rst haha) and we lunch together every churchlunch sunday thats on the 1st week of every month.

i had quite a bit of a shock to see how they perform baptism though. i thought the

candidate for baptism (is that what hes called?) would just squat into the pool ofwater that hes already standing in. but no, the pastor would cover his mouth andnose with a cloth, and support the guys back with his palm and get him to lie on hisback into the water. it was kinda scary to watch because it seemed like he wasgonna drown the guy. and how scary it must be to lie on your back from standingposition la. haha like suling said, kinda takes more courage to profess the faith likethat!

and thanks for the all the recordings of yf

messages and special items and even thedoctrinal defense. really appreciate the effort, and iwas richly blessed and encouraged, not to mentionthat they make me feel like im here with you guys!and thank you all for your prayers, i appreciate it! (:

hope everybodys well back home and i shall see youguys in singapore really soon (even sooner than when

this issue of uth chron is gonna get published haha)! ! God bless!

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Growing through

Struggles

By Jon Jon

I can still vividly remember

the day I asked my olderbrother how I would knowwhether I truly believed inthe Lord Jesus Christ. Iwas only six years old then.Looking back over the pasttwo point six decades, myknowledge of Christ beganwhen I was six. However,it was only fourteen yearslater, at the age of twenty

that I accepted him as mySavior and Lord.

Ever since being born again,everything felt different,and there was this greatgladness in my heart - all Iwanted to do was to servethe Lord. And that was ex-actly what I did. I servedGod and it brought me muchjoy (BIG joy).

The Bible says that allChristians are destinedto go through trials andtribulations

(1 Thessalonians 3:3-4).Over the past six years,God has sent many trialsinto my life. Looking back, Ifully agree with what Paulwrote in Romans 5:3

And not only so, but we

glory intribulations also...

I glory in the trials thatGod has sent into my life. Ithas strengthened my faithand has taught me valu-able lessons. I have learntto lean more on Him, to drawstrength from Him and that

man doth not live by breadonly, but by every wordthat proceedeth out of themouth of the LORD dothman live.(Deut 8:3b).

When I went through thosetrials and tribulations,there were times when Ireally struggled, and therewere times when it felt likea walk in the park. Thesetwo contrasting feelingsarise not because of thevarying intensities of thetrials. The variable was me.Whenever I fought againstGods will, and relied uponmy own strength, thesetrials seemed giganormous

(gigantic + enormous). Butwhen I completely submittedto God, and walked close toHim, the trials that I facedwere so easy to bear.

It is ironic that thisquarters Uth chronicle istitled The Fight. I guesswe got to properly dene

what we mean by Fight andwho we are Fighting with. Ibelieve this ght refers to 1Timothy 6:12

Fight the good ght offaith, lay hold on eternal life,whereunto thou art alsocalled, and hast professeda good profession beforemany witnesses.

Fighting obviouslydoes not meanghting against Gods willand relying on our strength.On the other hand,ghting refers toghting the good ghtof faith. We do so bysubmitting ones self to God,putting our complete trust

in Him, leaning not on our ownunderstanding, but insteadwe must truly truly trulyjust commit everything toHim, believing that all thingswill work together for goodto those who love God.

Thank God we dont haveto face these trials on our

own. I really thank God forYF for it was where I havefound so many brothersand sisters in Christ. Thesebrothers and sisters havebeen a great source ofencouragement, and haveoften pointed me back toChrist, reminding me of Hisgoodness and faithfulness.

Looking forward, I amcondent that many moretrials will come into my life.I pray that God will enableme to continue to ght thegood ght of faith, that Imay truly be the seed whichis sown on the good ground(Mark 4:20).

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On 25th June, four months after the last Uth Chronicle o(pi)nion-inspiredsurvey, it once again polled YF about sins they are most susceptible to, andhow they tackle those sins. The focus is seeking out weaknesses in our

spiritual armour so that we may be able to address these aws.The sins and their remedies have been sorted into categories. In noparticular order of severity, here they are:-

Confessed Sin: Wrong Priorities

Under this category, some confessions involvedmaterialism, being inuenced by worldly philosophiesand tting in with secular friends. As Christians, allof us are surely faced with the struggle to obey the

biblical injunction to be in the world but not of the world.Proposed Remedy: Renewing the Mind

Romans 12:2 speaks of being transformed by the renewing of your mind, andone remedy that was offered rightly notes how this is necessary. But what isable to effect this transformation? Other responses have also provided theright answer: diligent study of the Bible. A greater understanding of who Godis and what He has done for us will surely making it easier to obey the commandto present [our] bodies a living sacrice, holy, acceptable to God, and to keep

things in their proper perspective by reminding us that it is but [our] reasonableservice (Rom 12:1) to such a gracious and merciful Heavenly Father!

Confessed Sin: Procrastination/Laziness

The problem with procrastinators being the leadersof tomorrow is that they will never be leaders today.Solomon writes on the dangers of procrastination inProverbs 6:9-11, How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, alittle slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shallthy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want asan armed man. This writer is denitely guilty of this sin, as

the survey was supposed to be conducted much earlier!

Proposed Remedy: Prayer and Action

Most of the remedies involve doing more QT and praying more. While thesecertainly are needful, we would do well to heed Proverbs 6:6-8, Go to the ant, thousluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Afterthe reading and the praying, action must follow! The ants receive no direction, yetthey work. May we, who receive direction from the inspired, inerrant, infallible Wordof God, work in a manner that demonstrates the worth of our instructions!

YF SPEAKS

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Confessed Sin: Neglecting the Word

The Psalmist clearly has a thirst and hunger forthe Word as he declares, O how love I thy law! Itis my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97). Yet itoften seems that we rarely demonstrate that kindof love for what is supposed to be the milk and meatto a hungry soul. Proposed Remedy: Discipline and Love

Discipline is the oft-cited panacea for a lackluster Quiet Timeand it appears again here. While it is certainly instrumental, itis also only half a solution since discipline alone engenders akind of dutiful study of scripture that may be without heart.Exposure to the Word of God must be accompanied with therealization that this is the Word of God. When we rememberthat the Bible is the Creator condescending to communicatewith the creature, a loving Fathers words to His children, aHoly Gods commandments to His chosen people then wemay make a proper study of the Bible, and nd it a joy insteadof mere duty.

Confessed Sin: Pride

We are all familiar with the statement of how Pride goethbefore destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall(Proverbs 16:18). Yet despite the Bibles clear warning aboutthe dangers of indulging in pride, we often nd ourselves puffedup on account of some perceived ability of our own.

Proposed Remedy: Humility

Apparently a no-brainer, but humility is perhaps one of the hardest things tocultivate. It goes against human nature, which means that the entireendeavor must be rmly grounded in spiritual things. To that end, many of the proposedremedies involve prayer.

That aside, the best place to begin is not by comparing ourselves with others, butby comparing ourselves with God. There will likely always be some aspect of us thatcan be deemed better than someone else and these may turn into occasions forpride to rear its ugly head, but looking at God will bring anyone into the right frameof mind; all are sinners before a thrice-holy God, and all are saved only by grace.The words of 1 Corinthians 4:7 are instrumental in reminding us of our abjectpoverty, and how all that we are and have is from God: For who maketh thee to differ

from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didstreceive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

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Confessed Sin: Temper/Impatience

We know of patience, or longsuffering, as one aspect of the fruit ofthe Spirit. That is not to say we will never get angry; there is sucha thing as righteous anger, but we must be angry at sin, not for anyother reason. As Christians, this is one of the things that should bemanifested in our lives. However, we often fall short of the mark,

particularly with those closest to us; they are the ones who areprivy to our temper and impatience on account of how were so usedto them. The result? Because of our lack of patience, these peopleget experiential knowledge of Proverbs 27:3, A stone is heavy, andthe sand weighty: but a fools wrath is heavier than both.

Proposed Remedy: Charity

The root cause of temper and impatience can usually be traced toselshness; a worldview that is rmly centred around I, whereanything that inconveniences us in even the slightest way becomesa nuisance. The perfect remedy for this is for us to consider thesacricial love of God and His demonstration of it on the cross. Inlight of that kind of patience towards sinners, any quarrel or con-tention that might engender anger or impatience will seem petty.And if it seems a tall order to always exercise that ability grantedto us by the Holy Spirit, Hebrews 12:3 tells us to consider him thatendured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be

wearied and faint in your minds.

As Christians, warring against theesh is inevitable. This survey has servedto show, however, that we are not alonein this ght. With Christ as our Master,with the enabling of the Holy Spirit, and

with the encouragement of likemindedbrethren, we are more than able to leadvictorious Christian lives!

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P.A.N.Parents Appreciation Nightwas held on 28 May, with about35 parents graciously takingtheir time off to be fed withGods Word by Rev Das Koshy,

and to be fed by *cue Beethovens 5th Symphony* us, with comparatively lessappetizing food.

The evenings programmebegan with singspiration, followedby a song item by the YF, Happythe Home where God is There, toreect our desire for godly homes.

Rev Das Koshy then spoke onRelationship with Parentsfrom several passages, rstaddressing the parents and thenthe children. Proverbs 23:19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. What a greatresponsibility parents have- to know good doctrine, and guide their children intruth! In turn, children are instructed to keep Gods law (Proverbs 28:7), and to do

all things (yes, that includes housework and homework) diligently (Proverbs 10:5).Have we been slothful in our duties at home, at school and at work? Have we failedto recognize how difcult it is for parents to bring us up? Have we obeyed them asunto the Lord or do we just brush them aside especially when we are busy with ourown work? These are questions we have to ask ourselves.

Thereafter, there was an activity that pitted parents against their children,which got pretty interesting responses. Thank God for the sporting parents who

participated! Brian, our friendly YF president, also spoke with our parents on whywe disappear every Saturday evening and what the YF does as a ministry. All glorybe to God for his very encouraging sharing (not my words but some parents thatgave feedback).

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Dinner was served in the fellowship hall, and comprised a very varied menu ofchicken teriyaki, black pepper chicken, chicken curry, chicken and beef satay,potato salad, crme brle and fruits. Even though FCM Camp had just ended thatmorning, groups worked hard to prepare something decent. And I learnt thatparents are very hungry people, because they cleared out the rice AND the dishes!(okay it was partially my fault for not portioning properly, apologies!). But all in all,

most parents were full and I got no reports of stomach u the next day so it wasoperation successful =)

I thank God for howeverything went smoothly.Operation Successful was onlysuccessful because of Godsenabling. Thank God for the laborof the committee members; theirenthusiasm to serve God was very

encouraging! Also thank God forthe many who stayed behind tohelp clear up after dinner, and for

Gods mercy in sustaining my health on theday itself (I crashed with a fever that verynight when I reached home after ParentsAppreciation and was bedbound for 18 hours!).There were also so many other little things

that I had overlooked/forgotten but by Godsgrace, things turned out relatively well in theend.

May Parents Appreciation Night remind us notonly to appreciate our parents on one night,but every day of our lives because they areplaced in our lives by God! And may our homestruly reect the words of the hymn:

Lord, let us in our homes agreeThis blessed peace to gain;

Unite our hearts in love to Thee,And love to all will reign.

~Joanne Khor

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The Last Page

A Publication of

Calvary Pandan Youth Fellowship

Calvary Pandan Bible-Presbyterian Church

201 Pandan Gardens

Singapore 609337