Why Go to Church?

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

A church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

"I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column. Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this...

They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing....God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!

Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment. Don't give up hope always go to church/CF.

Keep The Faith

"Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ."
The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.


"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God's good, and I will Keep The Faith."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"



"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?"



"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"

"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"



The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"



"Er... Yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No." .




"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "From... God..."

That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."



"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?"

Again, the student has no answer.

"Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question, "Who created them? "

There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

"Tell me," he continues. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"



The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir. I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter."



"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."


The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own.

"Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than - 458 degrees. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."



Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"



The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester.

"So what point are you making, young man?"


"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"



"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it. Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?



The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier, let me give you an example of what I mean?" The student looks around the room.

"Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?"

The class breaks out into laughter.



"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"



Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

With TRIALS, we grow stronger in faith.
With FAITH, we move closer to God.
With GOD, we can do all things.
Keep the FAITH!

A Fruitful Farmer

About twenty five years ago, Mr. Keens bought an acre of farm land from a 60 year old farmer.

He was attracted by the watercress ponds and thought this vegetable could provide steady monthly income for his brothers who took over the farm later.

In fact, he was more impressed by the owner’s working attitude and professionalism in his farming than the farm itself.

Though the farmer was 60 years old, he was diligent and hard working. He was assisted by his wife and both lived a simple life in bringing up 6 children, three boys who furthered their studies in the United States of America; all of them are graduates from reputable universities.

The eldest son was appointed the Managing Director of an international investment bank in Hong Kong a few years ago. The old man migrated to USA after he sold the farm to M. Keens.

The farmer passed away two years ago, at the age of 80.

The farmer was grateful to have owned the farm and worked hard to plant vegetables at every available space of the farm so he could have harvest in abundance.

He noted that he saved every possible cent and worked at the farm barefooted with full dedication in his work.

He believed his purpose of working hard was to provide all the needs for his family including his sons’ overseas educations.
When Mr.Keens' brothers took over, regrettably, they were less diligent though they did their best to expand the farm land. He could easily see the difference in quality of work between them.

This experience gave Mr. Keens a greater insight into one’s life of what one can lose if one does not capitalize the opportunity that is offered or made available.

Sadly, instead of ploughing the land, sowing the seeds, some of us would begin to worry, complain and or even criticize about the land and leave it to waste, and not getting much fruits and harvest from it.
Man is born to toil the soil and to work hard so as to live a fruitful life. There is no short cut to success but to use all the gifts that God has created of us and work hard.
It may be just a small plot of land or something that may not be too big to be noticed, if we put our time and effort into it, we will reap good harvest.

Christian Fellowship

is allowed in school though it is not categorized as a part of the school curriculum. It is pictured like the piece of farm land described above.
We should encourage everybody whether young, old, rich or poor to attend the fellowship in order to keep its existence meaningful. The attendance should be respectable.
Likewise, if the students’ enthusiasm is not in the Fellowship, the school may not take heed of its existence.
It will then be too late to appeal or make any complaint if the school decided to do away with it.

On the other hand, Bible Knowledge (BK) is allowed by the Education Ministry as an elective examination subject.




But, in reality, how many of us really want to sign up for this subject? If we do not support such provision, isn’t it going to be a piece of land left to waste?

Later, when the opportunity is lost, we start to complain and murmur about the whole matter. Isn’t it too late to regret?

Be grateful with what we have, become a hard working and fruitful farmer without anymore hesitation!

God Bless.

Hand of Hope

Please read before viewing picture - it's worth it!

It should be 'The Picture of the Year,' or perhaps, 'Picture of the Decade.' Sadly, it's not really that recognized. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.
The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta . She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville , he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, 'Hand of Hope.' The text explaining the picture begins, 'The tiny hand of 21-week- old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.'

Little Samuel's mother said they 'wept for days' when they saw the picture.. She said, 'The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person.' Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.

Now see the actual picture, and it is awesome...incredible....

The world needs to see this one!

DUCF

Posted by Joel Lee

The Four Candles

Just a quick update...

Tomorrow's CF [Shing Shong Shang Day]
will start at 1245 sharp, so don't be late!!

DUCFers, here are your CG names!!

Isaiah - DUCF CG Committee

[in alphabetical order, so there's no favoritism...]

Amos - David Rosh's CG


Hosea - Aaron Wu's CG


Jeremiah - Khye Yuen's CG


Malachi - Kah Hoe's CG


Zechariah - Jen Wei's CG


Everybody, try to get your parents to come to the PIBG this saturday k?
There's comfort in numbers =)
We will be supporting the three parents...
We'll also be seeing the progress to making CF official =)

*DUCF is currently approved by the school but not yet by the ministry =(

so yeahh, grab your parents along if you wanna see CF official!!
________________________________________________

Back to the story...

THE FOUR CANDLES

The Four Candles burned slowly. The ambiance was so soft you could hear them speak...

The first candle said, "I Am Peace,
but these days, nobody wants to keep me lit."

Then Peace's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.

The second candle says, "I Am Faith,
but these days, I am no longer Indispensable."

Then Faith's flame slowly diminishes and goes out completely.

Sadly the third candle spoke, "I Am Love
and I haven't the strength to stay Lit any longer.
People put me aside and don't understand my importance.
They even forget to love those who are nearest to them."

And waiting no longer, Love goes out completely.

Suddenly...

A child enters the room and sees the three candles no longer burning.

The child begins to cry, "Why are you not burning?
You are supposed to stay lit until the end."

Then the Fourth Candle spoke gently to the little boy,

"Don't be afraid, for I am Hope, and while I still burn,
we can re-light the other candles."

With Shining eyes the child took the Candle of Hope and
lit the other three Candles.

Never let the Flame of Hope go out of your life.

With Hope, no matter how bad things look and are...
Peace, Faith and Love can shine brightly in our lives.

DUCF

Posted by Joel Lee

Tigers or Pork Chops =)

Disclaimer: DUCF would like to apologise to our muslim friends out there who are reading this blog as this post is not a halal post. Read at your own discretion. Everybody say it with me.....AWWWWW MAN!!!! In a zoo in California , a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans" that could be found quickly, were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops? Take a look...you won't believe your eyes!! Now, please tell me one more time.......... why can't the rest of the world get along?

DUCF Posted by Joel Lee *story adapted from an e-mail

I will ALWAYS Share My Spoon with You

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

The Lord led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, 'I don't understand.'


'It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. The greedy think only of themselves. When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you.'


Remember that I will always share my spoon with you.

JESUS LOVES YOU! =)

DUCF

Posted by Kah Hoe