woo. this place sure looks like it could use a little traffic. nuff' said! :P

okay. it's been five days since i told you guys about the idea of having a blog, and sent out the email to the twenty seven (omgoodness twenty seven really!?) people who do or have once belonged to our cg. the email was sent as an invitation, although obviously i wish it were more forcefully presented so that the responses would be that much quicker. but i also thought it would be important to stress how much of an effort something like this would certainly demand, and i thought you guys deserved not to have anything tossed into your laps. and this was certainly supposed to be more than just a random blog of a group of people, so the buildup to this, i would think, would certainly serve to cause people to reconsider happily volunteering to join up in this enterprise without having given it much thought.

anyway despite that, we've had a decent showing, and at least people have stepped up to become authors of this blog. of the rest, there have been the odd email or two in a postive response, without the actual taking up of the offer to write, which is of course, acceptable either way, and besides, it's early days yet. i've tried to talk to some less represented members of our cg on msn, and will continue to do so in the hopes that they will at least keep an eye on this blog. i must admit i am slightly puzzled by the turnout in general, but i will certainly follow up on this, be sure of it. :) oh and thanks to kash, for our first two posts! haha. i am working on something else at the moment, something also for our cg, which i will reveal when complete. in any case, if inspiration should strike, please, vandalise our blog! better than empty like it is now.

and now, because i admittedly attest to a certain lack of blogging inspiration, i have decided to post some of the earlier threads that we ran through in our emails. whereas this should be the prerogative of their original authors and composers, i have nonetheless taken the liberty of copying them onto this blog, at least in the attempt to trace the foundations of our online fellowship system (OFS). lol.

first, that of j.lo. way back, way back then.

On 8/27/06, J. Low <jono11287@gmail.com> wrote:
To Ian, Kim Pong, Chris and John,
whose faith lies in my God, our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all honour and praise is due:

My dear brothers in Christ, I come to you with the deepest desire to start a small support group among the 5 of us after much procastination on my part.
I pray that we will share, encourage, and be humbled in this support group. My friends, it is not only because of the army of which why this is starting, but because of the
age phase which we are going through. It doesnt matter whether its the army or the poly, our main goal is to PRAY, SHARE and ENCOURAGE.

Due to our highly busy and extensive life, I believe E-MAIL and SMS are the best mediums to fulfill our Goal.

1. PRAY

This is YOUR responsibility. Enough said.

2. SHARE

Brothers in Christ, in this new dawn and age, many are not sharing freely and from their heart. It is my desire that WE will open up ourselves so that we
can be accountable to one another.
What to share:

Dudes, Im a guy too. Dont hold back your sharing, for i think like you too.

Sex(porn, Geylang, etc.), BGR, Girls
Vulgarities
Pride
Christian Walk
Evangelism
Army/Studies
Church
Bondages

Just some ideas for sharing :)

3. ENCOURAGE

Share with us what you learnt in QT, in school, in army, in life.
Share a verse or a testimony.
You know what I mean.

Brothers, I need to have all of your co-operation and comittment on this so that it makes me disciplined to keep this going and also that WE will all be lifted in Christ.
All it takes minimum is to check AND reply your email every weekend. (if you are home that is). Additional would be sms-ing one another during the week.

Guys, WHAT SAY YOU?

Yours dearly in Christ,
J Low :-D

and the next,

Dear Warriors in Christ,

Just a little update on this small group.
So far, Chris and Kim Pong have not replied, but Ian and John did. We shall not wait for them, for i believe they will check their e-mails soon. :P
It is time to kick start this E-mail, where E stands for encourage, edify, sharE and prE(a)y. haha...:-D

A psalm I read which I felt was rather cool:

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalms 19: 7-11

Don really get what it means, but it just sounds so beautiful :)

The Lord has really helped me in adapting for the past week, and I thank Him for that.
He is my peace and comfort.
Please pray for :
Continued discipline in doing QT
Forging good and healthy relationships with course mates, so as to help in evangelism and being a good testimony.
Wisdom and comittment in helping out in Sunday School. (I've just joined them)

Guys, i don ask for much. Just need all of us to CHECK & REPLY our mails at least once a week.
Let us get this going, for I do not believe the army or school should hinder us from edifying our peers in Christ.

May the peace of God be with us all,
j LOW

and my subsequent reply

On 9/15/06, Ian Ho <the_invisible_mirage@hotmail.com> wrote:

hey man

what a good bit of Word that is...

anyway lately... i realise that army life is changing me. i dunno why, i've lost sight of a lot of things i once held close. i'm becoming a bad person.a pretty bad person. maybe it's the system, and the people in this system,and then the people i'm with in this system, but nowadays, i don't care about a lot of things anymore. i can't see the need to be a good person, a holy and Christlike person, and it'sjust the little things like swearing and making stupid jokes, but after awhile i do a lot of mean and wrong things and stuff like that and i don't care if i do. it helps me fit in,it helps me get along, it helps make the bloody week go by faster. i know we always talk a lot about grand things like getting people to know Christ and being goodtestimonies,but it seems so much like nobody really needs God in their lives, and me being such a horrible testimony isn't going to help anybody see what a Christian life is. life nowadaysis so sian... and trying to be a nice person without all the usual nonsense seems soboring. i've become so short-sighted lately... it's like i'm looking only to the end of the day, the exercise, the week... and i'm blinded to the long term aim...of being a Christlike buddy to my mates past army life, of serving God with my life, of going to heaven with people i wanna help. i can't see it anymore, i'm losing hope of seeing Christ's plan here in the army. i know i should spend more time with God, and ... i wish it were easier. but i'm the onlyperson making it harder, and that's no excuse. it's not about the hours, and it's not about other people, it's about how much i want to do stuff like qt, and the rotten side of me always suggests that i don't need it. God's there when i go back to Him, because He shows Himself when i open my eyes, but i'm so stubborn and arrogant i think i can be an asshole and get away with it because of His mercy.there are so many things i know to be true and i used to hold on to, but now i neglect and ignore. like... trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. But now i just don't care, and i just do whatever i think needs to be done that works, i've forgotten what it means to lean on God's strength. I just can't see God working in physical direct actions, that i forget He's there and i don't really put my trust in Him to see me through my trials and my days. I wish i could see, i want to see. i don't wanna grow cold and hard-hearted, and blind to His will and His purpose.
well that's it so thanks for listening. pray for me and i'll try my best to qt every day so yeah i will. urhm until next time. haha.

ian
who is honker in camp
(honker is a bad person)

and jlo's reply

Dear Ian,

thanks for the honest sharing bro. that's what i'm talking about man, it's what i want to see happening in this E- mail, among the 5 of us.

Bro, i understand what you're going through man.
I've started swearing as well and it definitely does not help in our testimony of Christ.
The stuff guys talk about and the vulgarities really gets into my head. The monotony( is that how it is spelt?) and the bored-ness really leaves us with nothing much to look forward too eh?
So that emptiness is filled with many stupid and undesirable things that are born in the army.

bro, dont worry about others, worry about yourself first!
I'm glad you've thought this through and..
Did you realise that your email contains the problems AND its solutions? haha...
Its definitely not easy to be a good testimony AND evangelise, so let US take one thing at a time.
Dude, hold on to what you believe, for that determines your words and actions. examine yourself continuously and continue to change to the likeness of Christ .
At this point of time, I am struggling to be a good testimony, all for one reason: so that i can share Jesus with others.
If it wasn't for this 1 reason, I will be smoking and swearing my life away !

Ian, you are NOT a honker. please change this mindset of yours.
We are children of God, an instrument of righteousness, the apple of His eye. and that includes YOU.

"Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord God Almighty.

-Malachi 2:7

Guys, let us keep one another in prayer, especially in our spiritual lives.
It is so easy to lose it to the world, to conform to the patterns of this world.
For those who are happy with their spiritual lives, let us not be complacent, and continue to be disciplined
in doing qt and spending time with our Lord God.
Come to Church if you all can, for it is by fellowship that we are able to keep one another in check, at the same time to edify and pray for one another.

Just a side question for the army guys:
do you get sexually deprived because of the army? haha

Keep pressing on in Christ and remember to PRAY!!!!!!!!!!

yours faithfully,
j LOW

and another from j.lo

Hey guys,

How's the week been?
Just want to encourage you all to start/continue to post updates and encouragements on this E-mail. (pls remember wad the E stands for)
Ian, how is it going? Do let us know your progress so WE CAN keep you in prayer.
Ian turns 19 TODAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Especially for Kim Pong, the church is starting 40 days of community ( something like 40 days of purpose)
Want to encourage you to join us. I know it would be tough to be committed for those weeks, but something is better than nothing eh bro?
Make this an 'excuse' to come back down to church !

John, are exams coming up anytime? do let us know yr timetable if so.

I had a very tiring week, but let us continue to strive on for the Lord is our strength.=)
Have a great week guys.
God Bless.

j LOW

there's more where that came from, but that's quite enough to read. haha. i also revealed so much that even if i suddenly get protests to stop this it's probably too late. sorry! haha. right we'll have more in a while.

we actually have quite a lot of this kind of stuff, you know. feel free to pre-empt me in posting it here. until then,

take care, guys. weekend's coming!

honker