"i feel guilty a lot...and i don't know how to deal with it"

"i've confessed my sin, but i still feel guilty!"

this book made it so much clearer to me what guilt is, and understanding this made me appreciate once again the awesomeness of God's forgiveness. i encourage everyone to pick up this book (it's in the clubhouse now!), especially if you've struggled with guilt before, or struggle with it from time to time. i took only 1 day to read it :)

also, if there are words you don't understand, don't hesitate to ask any older korkor or jiejie! i'm sure they'll be very willing to help you understand :)

Are you unsure of your salvation?

Matthew 7:21-23 says that
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'  And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." 

This short book gives an overview to true assurance of faith, and whether or not we can truly experience it. It also mentions some sources of false assurance that we may get, which can be a very dangerous thing to have! The heart is deceitful above all things (Jer 17:9) so it is easy to decieve ourselves and to rest our confidence about the state of our souls on mere opinion! Also, the Bible tells us to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12)!

Thus, I recommend this book, not only for new Christians, but it has also been an encouragement to me, as it has given me practical ways in which i can be directed towards the Source of our assurance! (:

This book is part of a series of "Crucial Questions" books by R.C. Sproul.
Other titles include: 'Does God Control Everything?', 'Does Prayer Change Things?', 'Who is the Holy Spirit?", and many more!

Select titles are available in the YF Clubhouse, so do check them out! (:

the trouble with 'just friends'

I can promise you, and you may agree, that if there was a community where everyone could enter in and lay their armor down just for one second, where no one would feel judged, pressured or compared, where they could truly trust the people around them, that countless men and women would run to be a part of that kind of community. 

~ The Trouble with "Just Friends"

i love this article (check it out by clicking on the link!) :) i think we all see how the world has influenced our mindset of dating - that it's super important and that kinda makes us think a LOT about opposite sex relationships (even if it's not your but others' opposite sex relationships). if some guy hangs out with some girl, we immediately suspect 'something' is going on. for some of us who struggle with it more, if someone of the opposite sex just talks to you, you're already speculating about whether it would work out if you got together. and maybe for some of us, we only talk (or don't talk) to those whom we have a romantic attraction to.

but let's not let the world cloud the reality of our relationships with each other: we are BROTHERS and SISTERS in CHRIST! and it may sound very cliche but if you consider the implications of that truth, it's really amazing. we are family. and like the article says, we're not just friends. if we treat each other just as friends, we are missing out on a whole lot of what God intended our church to be.

Christ died for all of us and through that, we became part of His family. if we were just friends, it was be less permanent than that. friends may come and go, sometimes we argue and stop being friends, sometimes there is a misunderstanding and we feel awkward fixing it, sometimes we just drift apart. but family is a permanent bond, and for us, it is held together through Christ's sacrifice.

so what does that mean for us?
actually, it means a lot. it means that when we have something against one of our brothers or sisters or we have an argument, we fix it. it means we dont treat anyone as invaluable or invisible (all these are people whom Christ has died for!). it means we listen to each other and share our lives with each other. it means we stop seeing people as benefits or costs to ourselves, but as real people with real lives.

i think that maybe we have sidetracked from the model Christ gave us. He was concerned about people. sometimes we (me included) think too much about checklists - what do i need to get done, is it going to go well, is that person doing what he/she is supposed to etc etc. but i am realising that this is such an impersonal and programme-focused point of view! where is the concern about real people with real lives?

just as we know that we are real people who make mistakes, cant control the outcome of stuff, and in the end are just hopeless without God, let us also give our brothers and sisters understanding and love where they have made mistakes. instead of just pointing out mistakes, let us encourage each other in the Lord and point each other to Him! we are family after all. :)

and when we are able to treat each other in love, as a family in Christ, you can imagine what a wonderful community that will be. :)

let me be a little kinder 

let me be a little blinder

to the faults of those around me

let me praise a little more

let me dream when i am weary

just a little bit more cheery

think a little more of others

and a little less of me! 

elizabeth elliot's passion & purity

elizabeth elliot took this from 'the book of common prayer':

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

may we desire also to love what He commands & desire what He promises, and find our true joy in Christ! (:

isaiah 1 (:

in isaiah 1, God addresses Judah who has forsaken the Lord and angered Him, who are rebelling even though they have received God's grace, to be His 'children' (v.2).

it's just so interesting how God said to them,
wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause. (isaiah 1:16-17)

God says to be 'clean', they need to learn to do good + seek justice for the oppressed, which was something Judah was not doing! they were offering sacrifices, fulfilling the rites of the law, but had not seen the heart of the moral law: to love God and love others (v.11-15)! not only did they forsake God, their hands were "full of blood" (v.15) as they had not shown love to the disadvantaged and the lack of these actions reflected the state of their hearts.

funny how we ourselves also love to be so concerned with practices that we forget the point of it all, what's at the heart of doing these practices? have we started seeking to do actions rather than loving God? seeking the gift but not the Giver? because doing them doesn't make us right with God!

we seem to always forsake God like "harlots" (v.21), finding refuge in the world and in christian-looking practices even though we are God's children, and should be showing gratitude and obedience (v.2-3)!

are we willing to go back to what God intended for us to be, "the city of righteousness, the faithful city" (v.26)? after all that was His intent: not only for us to be a community that loves, but through that to proclaim His grace and righteousness to all! are we willing to live the way God had intended, after all His commandments are 'not grievous', but rather they are what was supposed to be!

this passage really reminded me about what i had learnt recently about being part of a Christian community that has the 'critical mass' to shine as lights in this dark world, how as a faithful and righteous city, we can show the world how life was meant to be lived: in love for God and those around us. (:

feel free to comment + add on other perspectives guys! (: