M-18

bewaRE. M-18 [for the conservatives]

hi blog.

today I decided to update... I just came back from a church camp... and it was awesome...
and the topic for the church camp, at first thought seemed wierd... "SEXUALITY"

guys and gals and married peeps... and there's stuff on homosexuality... and dating... and yada yada... well, the camp was awesome because of everything in it

The people. The campsite. My photographs. and most of all, what I learnt through this camp...

photos first... these paint a thousand words.







and of course, camp had many surprises.

through this camp, one of my friends decided to get together with another of my friends...! haha. super happy for them :D and especially when both are friends who are really close to me... it's called double happiness. hahahaha

nowww... this is how I was told about the news...
my friend approached me while I was talking to another friend... and say he needed to tell me something... and brought me away from the conversation I was having. so I followed him... and it went like this... ...

"hey jordan, I think I have to tell you something... as a friend... "

I thought... "DIE la... sounds like something really really really serious... what did i do wrong..."
I mean seriously I thought it was something I did wrong...

but then, after my friend told me he became "attached" to another of my friend... I was like.... "surprised, speechless, smiling..." haha. it was ExcITIng news.... *thinking and just thinking "how cool is that?" haha. and when the news spread... and mann did it spread fast.
so I was happy, and even so happier for them cos of what I learnt from camp...well.... good, surprising news like that takes a while for reality to sink in. haha. and I congratulated them! not like marriage congratulations, but still, to a Godly relationship that looks towards marriage.

so to summarize what I learnt in camp,
It's good to be married, It's better to be single BUT in both,
do it in/for devotion to God... christ-centeredness.

and we spend 4days3nights looking at how women, and men should relate to one another... and different roles, some of which seem super controversial... but well, I learnt how these could actually fall into place perfectly. and the bible studies were intensed... questions after questions... and I learnt that biblical principles are really important.

for me, i think i went to camp with rather different intentions from people who are seeking to find a partner/going into a GBR/married couples... I wanted to learn about Godliness and the good of being single... wierd? haha. i kinda guessed most people are interested in getting into a relationship now, from the response of people signing up for an elective called "dating"... well, I signed up for the other electives instead... "singleness" and "Godly men"... in which, i found the 2nd elective really really good. many things i learnt from there...

and you see... I'm single... ***I am NOT advertising my single status... haha***
and i think now, it's really good to stay single, at least for now... cos it gives me so much more time to do many many many things... especially when half my week is gone just going to church/biblestudies/christian workshops and stuff. ANYWAY, how often can you ever find yourself free from the burden of "relationships?" but of course, when you're in it, everything goes... and you're willing to hold on to this "burden" or "love" depends on how u see it.... I guess as a single, you see it as a burden... as a BGR-wannabe or those already in a relationship.. it's love... for now, i'm really satisfied being single. haha. it comes with a feeling of "CAREFREE" ness that one won't ever get once you go in a relationship... and I thank God for that.

soo, anway...

Mind the taboo language...
the word "Sex" has never ever been mentioned more in a single day... definitely never in church, or even in my life than during this camp... haha. but then, even though it's a taboo word... I guess, the church still need to address issues on Sex.

I'd say, the word "Sex" alone was mentioned more than a few hundred times a day... ... to indicate gender... to indicate sex... haha. well, so much so that you become acustomed to saying, "Sex"... not that I mean we say it in our everyday language... but when you get a question, "What is marriage for?"... we become comfortable reducing the answer

"Oh... you see marriage is... Mm...for... *ahem.... when a guy... and a girl.... .... .... ... yea... ... you know... that one lor.... for that one.... " cough* ahem... coughs... blush blush... cough*

to plainly

"SEX"....

of course, sex is just one of the reasons on top of holiness, and partnership, devotion to God... and sex here, I mean in a godly christian context!


so other things I learnt:
1) SEX before marriage is not permissable
2) Only 1 single partner -> no promiscuity (you see, in the bible, it talks about the binding effects of sex between a couple, and hence the phrase... 2 become 1...)
3) being single is better as you can devote more of your life to God
4) being married is a gift from God... use it in holiness.
5) Roles of man and women (these issues are controversial, but true)
6) Homosexuality and Homosexuals


during the Question and Answer night, there were many questions being asked about, "How can I ask a girl I like out? How do I let the girl/guy know I like her? What if I like this person, and this person is already going out with my friend...?" haha. these were questions that brought laughter and fun for this camp session. and but, it reached one last question....
that really touched me... it goes something like that...

"Some of us have already gone too far too early in our relationships, and learning more about these things can only lead to more despair... makes you feel worse only... especially with what we have read in the bible..."

there are people who have done things wrongly, and people who feel guilty or feel condemned in many many many ways because.... just because the bible so easily points out your sins.

you know... the bible really exposes us, and lets us see how wrong and how sinful we can be... and it becomes so easy to start the whole "condemnation" process.

a friend told me in camp, and said that he knew someone who was a homosexual, but was too ashamed to come to church because she/he knew it was sinful... it just shows how sin itself can push us away from God... and sometimes, it not just ourselves, but even through churches who condemn sinners... ACTIVELY... "these are the minority of churches..."

and even through churches who do it passively and even unknowingly...

I mean, everything in church is so "perfect" and everyone's "holy"... that to say that "I sinned, I stole, I cheated, I slept with a prostitute, I'm homosexual, I'm not a virgin anymore, I'm ... ... help me overcome this" is soooo taboo that people shun it and keep it to themselves. and because sometimes the church becomes too PerFect, it causes "sinners" to run away... *while I'm not saying embrace the sin... I really want to see a church where people are honest, and where people don't hide behind a fascade of "holiness". Church-Pride can cause these things to happen... well, paul says, "confess your sins to one another..." i guess, by not confessing your sins to one another and keeping it behind a veil... can make the church too "perfect"

I guess, this is one important thing that I learnt through this camp... to be open about topics like that, and even topics like "SEX" which is a taboo one... probably most taboo of all sins being sexual immorality... and to let each and every person in the church know that some things are not a personal struggle... it's a struggle even common to christians... so non-christians who find themselve suffering in sin, can now find a place to go to... to help them overcome it.
chrisians and non-christians alike, still fall to sin time and again... so christians are no more "perfect" than non-christians, and only "perfected" because of what Jesus has done... and nothing we ever do by ourselves, can make us say we are more "perfect" than anyone else..

and then in reply to that last question,
Ps. Josh said, "it's never too late... just look at what Jesus has done for you on the cross... " you see, how much God loves you and I... ... some people just don't get it, some people just havent heard... but Jesus already paid the price for every wrong thing that has happened in your life and every wrong thing you will do in future. so... "it's never too late..."

I don't know.. but when I heard that, I felt really really thankful for what Jesus has done... and especially when I thought about these people who just needed to know

"it's never too late".

:)