FRIM & Port Dickson Trip

Roughly about two months ago, the campus saints in SJ hall 1 area went to FRIM and Port Dickson as a welcome gesture to all the saints who just came over to study. It was a pretty crazy idea to go two places in a day. We spent the morning in FRIM and the afternoon in Port Dickson.

Due to the low light condition in forest, not many photos were taken. Even those taken are not that good.

Everyone was waiting to walk on the canopy walk but was disappointed.

The two brothers.

Here are some portrait photos:

Eng Kong

Alex

Group photo in FRIM.

In Port Dickson, we sang some hymns together and later we played a few games together.

Sisters gathering under a tree.

The first game we played was (I forgot the name) a game where whoever gets the ball needs to answer the question of the session. Several questions of increasing difficulty were asked including: What is your greatest fear? What will you do if you can time travel? What will you do if this is the last day of your life?

Nelson explaining the first game.

Cheap newspaper ball.

Later we played the three-legged race. But for our case, it was the six-legged race. We were all full of spirit and shouted 1, 2, 1, 2 as we marched into the finish line.

Both the brothers and sisters in their preparation.

The first brothers team in excellent coordination.

The first sisters team was trailing while the second brothers team started moving.

Leading by a huge margin, we paused to take a picture.

Knowing that victory is secured, the brothers took another picture. Haha!

Nevertheless, the sisters pressed on until the finish line.

Lastly we played dodge ball. Whoever gets hit by the ball below the knees would be eliminated from the game. Whichever team that succeeded in eliminating the opposing team wins.

Fire!

"Watch my double cannon!"

The last two standing in the first match.

"Take that!" That surely was a hard one.

The losing team had to do the frog leap. You can't find me there. Wahahaha!

Brothers' frog jump.

Sisters' frog jump.

Some portrait photos:

Janice

Cheers before leaving the beach.

It was a long day for us. Even thinking about it now makes me feel the tiredness in my legs.

This may well be the last time I go out with the campus students.

The Ruins of the Papaya Kingdom

Dried up plants everywhere.

As I've introduced the papaya kingdom to you here (Sorry, I know the pictures before July 2011 cannot be viewed anymore due to my carelessness) and a follow up post here, I am going to give a final update on what happened to the papaya kingdom. As written in the title, it is now a ruins.

It has been three years now and the landlord wants to take the land back. So now it is pretty much abandoned.

Limau Kasturis turned orange on the tree.

Unpicked Limau Kasturi all around.

As mentioned in the previous post that the cost to reap the limau kasturi was more than the profit, they were left abandoned. The papaya trees were all and produce less fruits. That has also discouraged the reaping of the papayas.

Papayas left lying around.

Smashed papayas.

Knowing that the land is going to be returned to the owner, minimal effort were made to maintain the land.

Abandoned young plants.

There is not much to be said about the land. The investment ended in a tragic loss. The land is let to lay in ruins.

The Ruins.

After all, being a farmer is not that easy.

The King of Love My Shepherd is

E#528 Stanza 1
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine forever.
The King of love is our Shepherd. His love is so vast, immense, and measureless. When He shepherds us, He comes not with an iron rod but with such a rich love. All we need to do is to give ourselves to Him. When we give ourselves to the King of love, we will get more of Him. The more we consecrate ourselves to God, the more we get God.

A familiar verse reads: Jehovah is my Shepherd, I will lack nothing (Psalm 23:1). Often we like to hang this verse on our wall, make bookmarks with this verse, memorize it and even sing it. But do we really lack nothing?

We have many lacks. Not enough money? No children? Need a car? Want a house? Looking for a job? Looking for a husband or a wife? You need a Shepherd. This is experiential. If we say the Lord is our Shepherd but still have many lacks, I'm afraid all these are merely doctrines to us.

You need a husband, I have no husband to give you; you need some children, I cannot give you any children; you need a job, I have no job for you. But you need a Shepherd. When the King of love is our Shepherd, we will lack nothing.

Romans 8:37 says "...in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us." What are "all these things"? Tribulation, anguish, persecution, famine, no spouse, no money...everything! Is this for us to give messages after messages?

The Lord is our good Shepherd, and the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). Those who teach the little children always call themselves little shepherds. But will we die for the children? If we do not die for the sheeps, we are not a good shepherd.

The Lord is the good Shepherd. He is not a hireling who flees when the wolf comes (John 10:12). When He comes as a shepherd, He was prepared to lay down His life for us. Such a love of the Lord, what do we lack?

My Portrait

A brother here who is pursuing digital animation in The One Academy drew this for me.

What is to Love?

Suppose a child was diagnosed with a deadly disease. It is tremendously expensive to treat and even if treated, the child will have a very slim chance to survive. Even if the child survived the surgery, he would not be a normal child anymore.

Now, if you were the parent of this child, will you save him? Think about it.

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From the response of the parent, the doctor can easily distinguish if you were the true parent of this child.

In general, normal parents would not abandon their child; this is the love of parents toward a child. If you truly love someone, you won't give up. This is the way we love the Lord. When we love the Lord, we would not forsake Him so easily. In the matter of trading, we can easily give up the deal; but love can never be lightly given up.

Three times the Lord asked Peter if Peter loved Him. The Lord told him to feed His lambs, to shepherd His sheep, and to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17).

The Lord didn't want Peter to forsake His sheep, and Peter was faithful to carry out the commission that the Lord has given him and eventually paid the price of his life for this ministry--to be martyred.

With the same price that the Lord has paid, we should love the Lord in return for His love towards us. The Lord loved us at the cost of His life; we should also be likewise.

Paul also said that he will most gladly spend and be utterly spent (2 Cor. 12:15). We have many patterns before us who also sacrificed themselves for the Lord.

Watchman Nee knew that just by denying the Lord, he would be released from imprisonment to continue his work, and he would not need to die in the prison. He clearly knew it. But we know that he loved the Lord. We know that Watchman Nee loved his wife very much, but he still placed the Lord above all things.

In 1 Cor. 13, the apostle Paul gave us the definition of love: "Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not puffed up; it does not behave unbecomingly and does not seek its own things; it is not provoked and does not take account of evil; it does not rejoice because of unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

"Love suffers long." What is the meaning of long-suffering? Long-suffering is a blade stab through the heart; those who suffers long shall be saved.

What kind of person was Moses? He was one who never gives up, one who suffers long. Moses never abandon the 2 million Israelites. Even though the Israelites were always murmuring, and even though Moses knew that he would have no part in the good land, he was faithful to love and serve the Lord.

There is no shortcut in loving the Lord. The hardships that come when we love the Lord is also necessary for us to have a part in the reward. Perhaps in our environment, we do not have much sufferings, but we need to have a mind of suffering. If we love the Lord, we must love the church He loves.

This is not original. The actual speech was transcribed, translated, and slightly modified.