FISHERS OF MEN

Mail from Marilyn Ho!

2010-12-25T05:17:00.000+08:00

Here's how our dear sister celebrated Christmas in Australia!

18th December 2010, Saturday.

There was this church that had people from Austria (But trained in Japan therefore mainly Japanese girls) dancing to a ballet of Joseph and Mary and their adventure to Bethlehem and having baby Jesus. (The Nativity story) Interesting, no speech, nothing. Just ballet dancing across the stage.

22nd December 2010, Wednesday.

We had an OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship, its an Christian organisation for students that come from overseas which Mel and I join.) prayer meet on our usual Wednesday nights but since it was leading up to Christmas, we decided to have a Potbless Christmas dinner where everyone brings a dish and we hang out, meet new people and share the joy of this special season.

23rd December 2010, Thursday.

Mum and dad (Auntie Belinda and Uncle KQ) went for a church friend's Christmas dinner celebration.

While Mel and I prepare for our next Christmas dinner the day after (Friday) and watch a late night move.

24th December 2010, Friday.

A evening service in church for Christmas eve where dad and I serve as ushers.

And Mel and I are going to a friend's place for Crabs (They love crabbing), Cranberry sauce (A common "jam" used to eat with meet especially meatballs) and Carolling. This is another potbless. You can tell, we love our food and parties.

25th December 2010, Saturday.

Yes, you guessed it, another dinner celebration! ;)

At our house again with our parent's friends. (All the aunties and uncles) While we little bubs try to tune in with that generation.

26th December 2010, Sunday. Boxing Day.

In Australia, there is this Christmas decoration competition that happen on houses where they register and compete for the main prize. ( I think its cash) These houses put up a great show. They can turn their plain old black tiled roof into santa's workshop with loads of lights happening, fake snow shipped in, Bubble machines shooting at you and blasting music to add to the atmosphere. Though we don't really have the "Orchard Road Deco" to enjoy, we have this. People usually have a little box placed outside of their amazingly well decorated house for people to drop in coins if they want. Usually they would use this money for a charity the family is supporting. Last year, it was reported that the house that won first prize had a total cost of a 10,000 dollars plus worth of electricity (I mean, c'mon imagine the whole neighbourhood's electricity is connected to you house. ITS JUST LIKE THAT!) and decorations. It was definitely insane. but it was beautiful. So we would be having a trail of OCF friends following us once I find out the top few houses that got judged and admire its beauty in the dark night sky.

That's just about it for us Ho's here in Perth, SEE YOU GUYS IN JANUARY 2011! :D

In Daddy God's love,

Marilyn.

Its Christmas again!

2010-12-21T10:55:00.003+08:00

You better watch out,
You better not cry,
Better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town.

As you walk around shopping malls during this season, you'll hear the familiar Christmas songs and melodies being played from the stereos of shops and malls. You may even catch yourself singing to the tune of "Jingle bells" and "Santa Claus is coming to town". But hey!? is that the song you should be singing?
Even as we enjoy the festive season and all the hype of buying presents and the christmas sales! We must remember the true meaning of Christmas. The ONLY reason why Christmas is a time of celebration!

Take time to pause and remember that Christmas is a time where God's greatest gift to all mankind was brought to earth - a baby boy named Jesus.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

Mark 10: No Glory Without the Cross

2010-11-09T22:00:00.002+08:00

As I recently read a section from "The Ordinary Hero" by Tim Chester, he brought out an interesting observation from Mark 10:35-52 by drawing a parallel between the incident when James and John asked to be at the right and left hand of Christ; and the incident of the healing of Bartimaeus.

Though in our bible study we brought out the contrast of the faith of Bart versus the faith of the rich young man (which I still think is a more suitable contrast based on the context), nonetheless Tim Chester has a slightly different take on the stories.

Notice that in both incidents, Jesus asked exactly the same question to both James/John (10:36) and Bart (10:51): "What do you want me to do for you?". It seems that Mark when he wrote the gospel was trying to draw us to see that parallel, that though Jesus asked exactly the same question in both incidents, the reply was different.

James and John requested for glory (10:37) but Jesus said that they will suffer like He would (10:39), that the pattern for following Him is suffering followed by glory. Yet they didn't see it, especially right after Jesus predicted His death for the third time, while they were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would face persecution and suffering and death (10:34). They were blind to that truth. Rather they should have been like Bart who replied to Jesus: "I want to see". They need to see that the Christ must suffer, see the importance of the way of the cross and to see the pattern of suffering followed by glory.

As for Bart, we were told simply that Bart requested to see, and Jesus made him see, and he followed Jesus (10:51-52). Whilst Bart was never mentioned again...we know that Jesus was on the way to the cross, and Bart "followed Jesus along the road" (10:52).

No glory without the cross.

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 10:34

- Keith

SHOTS 5 ASIDE

2010-10-28T21:41:00.002+08:00

Are you badly in need of some exercise before THAT dreaded IPPT?Finished your EOY exams and starting to feel bored? Miss having a kick about with the lads? Or you simply just miss the speed, fun and finesse of futsal...

Young or Old, Skilled or Unskilled, this is an invitation to BTPC's one day Futsal League "Shots 5-a-side" to get to know more soccer kakis, and at the same time hear the Christian gospel.

Details:
5 teams(max)
6 players per team(5 on court, 1 sub)
Each game lasts 9 minutes with no half-time break
Duration will be 3 hours
Champion and Runner-up teams will stand to win prizes.

Take a shot at it!!

The Gospel Message

2010-10-19T15:50:00.004+08:00

A friend showed me this video and I thought this was a really cool way to tell people about the gospel message! Since nowadays, people are almost always online, feel free to share this with your friends through the youtube link!

Have fun watching it and don't forget to show it to your friends!

Tchoukball Lessons

2010-01-04T23:13:00.002+08:00

Tcoukball is back! Lessons starting from 9th January. Conducted by our qualified coach Richmond! Interested? Email us now!

Some thoughts to share after rock climbing

2009-11-03T00:43:00.007+08:00

Photo Credit: by Adventure Pluz

All of us really enjoyed ourselves during the rock climbing event. :) Besides the enjoyment, we also learned some truths out of this whole experience.

We shared and discussed some thoughts after the climbing experience.

Firstly, we discussed about which equipment were the most important to us during the climb. Here are some of the answers we gathered:
1) belayer (person who secures you during climbing)
2) ropes
3) carabiner
4) shoes

Out of the four, we identified the belayer as the unique one. What is different between a belayer and the other 3 equipment? A belayer can communicate with us, guide and encourage us as we climb, the other equipment can't. Whether we realised it or not, as we were going through the climbing or descending, we actually have to place our trust in the different equipment and people that supported us from the start till the completion of the excercise. If there is no trust in the first place, how then will we be able to climb without fear?

Next, we discussed about having a "belayer" in life. A belayer is someone whom we can trust and depend on. And some of the answers we gathered were: God, parents and friends.

However, can these belayers in our lives be trusted 100%????? Think about it.

We learned that all of us are not perfect people. We have a big problem causing this, and this problem is called SIN. Sin means rebellion and living our life independently without God, who is our creator. We were meant to have a relationship with Him.

Think about our relationships with our parents and friends, we depend and trust one another to keep the relationship going. When we disobey our parents and want them to stop interfering in our lives or leave us alone, we are telling them we want to live independently and this creates a barrier between them and us. Likewise, when we don't trust in God or turn back to Him, we will be separated from Him forever.

The result of not trusting God is judgement, which is death. People have come up with their own approaches of solving this. We think that by doing charity, trying our best to be a good person will help earn some credits to go to heaven. However, this is impossible. Imagine after committing an offence in school and your teacher is about to punish you and you plead with your teacher, telling him/her how well you did in the exams, how good you generally are as a student etc and try to escape the punishment? You can't do that. A wrongdoing can't be covered up by his past good deeds. Likewise, none of us can cover up our problem of sin. Therefore, we all face death.

This is what Romans 3:23-24 tell us:

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The only way to solve the problem is Jesus Christ. God sent Him to die on the cross. He died to take the punishment for us. Through His death, those who place their trust in Him may be forgiven and understand the meaning of life, which is to trust and obey God.

Upcoming Rock Climbing Event!

2009-09-26T01:04:00.009+08:00

Hey everyone! As shown in that poster, we'll be having a rock climbing event next month! Do join us and learn how to rock climb!

Click on the image for a larger view :) The details are all clearly stated. However, if you have any queries, do contact Justin @ 96925887 or btpcfom@gmail.com.

Hope to see you there!

P/S: F.O.Mers! There'll be training this Saturday at 3:30pm in church to prepare you for the actual day program. Please be there!

* PLEASE NOTE THAT DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 31 OCT 2009 :) (thanks Shaun for reminding us!)

The Ultimate Gift - Movie Learning Points :)

2009-09-01T17:57:00.008+08:00

This post came rather late, however, we hope it will be useful for all who had watched or missed the movie :) Perhaps you could read on, think and reflect about these few questions/learning points:

1) The Gift of Work
Why do you think discipline and hard work are important values in life?

Proverbs 6:6-11 says: ⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!⁷ It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- ¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

Do you have this gift of work?

2) The Gift of Friendship
Jesus says in John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

What kind of a friend is Jesus? And what kind of a friend are you? How would you rate yourself as a friend on a scale of 1-10?

3) The Gift of Problems
In this movie, one of the gifts Red wanted to give Jason was the gift of problems. Do you believe in the "gift of problems"?

James 1:2-4 says: ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Is perceiving problems as good or essential sentimentality or truth?

3) The Gift of a Day
Another gift Jason received is the gift of "a day". Have you ever had a perfect day? What was it like? If not, what would it be like?

4) The Gift of a Money
You've probably heard that there are 2350 over Bible verses about money - twice as many as verses as there are about faith and prayer combined.

Why do you think the Bible emphasizes this subject so strongly? Is it possible to be very wealthy and also be focused on eternal things? What are the pros and cons of wealth or poverty?

5) The Gift of a a Dream
Red wanted Jason to have a dream. Do you have a dream? Should every human have one? Should every dream be followed? How do we discern?

If you have any comments or wish to share your answers for any of these questions, feel free to comment on this post by clicking the "comment" button :D

Birthday Wishes to our one & only August Baby of F.O.M

2009-08-24T22:17:00.002+08:00

F.O.M wants to wish LEONARD a BLESSED & HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY!

Please check your facebook account!! :D

Tchoukball Lessons!

2009-08-10T19:08:00.004+08:00

Hi everyone! F.O.M is having Tchoukball lessons every Saturday.

Dates:
- 8 August 2009
- 15 August 2009
- 22 August 2009
- 29 August 2009

Time:
6pm to 7pm

It's ok if you've missed the first lesson! Just come and join us if u can :D

Take a look at this video to find out more :)

FOM Movie Night!

2009-07-19T22:30:00.000+08:00

Come join us for our movie night! We will be exclusively screening 'The Ultimate Gift'. You can't watch it anywhere else in Singapore!

Venue: Bethany Trinity Presbyterian Church

Date: 25th July, Saturday

Time: 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Price: Free of Charge!

Happy Birthday to all July babies of F.O.M

2009-07-10T18:08:00.004+08:00

We would like to wish a BLESSED and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to:

Bernard, Ray, Grace, Maynard!

And here's a gentle reminder to the 4 of you to check your facebook accounts soon!!

LOVE @ BTPC

2009-04-12T15:16:00.013+08:00

Although it was a very last minute planned event due to tiredness from the Youth Camp and Fundraising, the Youths did not give up this Easter opportunity to reach out to non-believers! In this event, the Youths made used of their God-given music talents in helping communicate the good news of God’s unconditional love. It was a live band performance, as the guests sat at the comfort of our cosy hospitality. The message of God’s love was communicated with the contrast and comparison of secular love songs and Christian songs about God’s love. An amusing explanatory video by SYFC was shown followed by a very meaningful testimony shared by our brother Keith Ma. The youth practically came to church every day for practice during the week prior to the event date, and they knew exactly what all these hard work was for. The day of the event turned out to be successful as we witnessed the seats filling up and expression of excitement from our guests. Every youth including the mentors contributed in efforts of running the whole program. We really thank God for His providence of strength and opportunities. We ask that the Church may continue to pray for our guests who heard the message, and for the Youths to keep up with the motivation in bringing the Gospel out to many.

Practice Sessions

Event

Youth Camp 2009

2009-03-23T15:04:00.001+08:00

The 2009 March Youth Camp took place in a bungalow at Changi Point. The topic was about prayer. It is important that young Christians must understand the importance of praying, and how to pray. Studying Paul’s letter in the book of Ephesians effectively helped the Youths understand why and how we should pray as Christians. The talks were given by Pastor Andrew Ong and Brother Marc Wang. With the help of many older youths and mentors, we could effectively help the youths apply the studies in their everyday practices. Besides effectively studying the Word of God, the youths had a great time bonding and fellowshipping with one another throughout the camp. Fun activities includes nightwalks, icebreakers, indoor games, wet & dirty outdoor games, bbq session etc. The times of fellowship so fruitful that the youths hardly touched the TV switch for 3 days! We really thank God for this opportunity for youths to grow and learn together as family.

Youth Camp Fundraising Event

2009-03-15T01:51:00.006+08:00

Fisher’s of Men wishes to say a big thank you to the Church for the support that was given during the successful fundraising event in March. With the combined effort from our Youths, we managed to sell over 200 muffins & brownies! The purpose of the fundraising was to help with the subsidiary of the Youth Camp fees. The purpose of the fundraising was also a chance for the Youths to work together as a fellowship to help make the Youth Camp possible. Through events like these, the bonding and unity grows within the fellowship, which enhances better team effort in the future as the fellowship step forth to serve our Lord.