SALVATION IS OF THE LORD
“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” (Jon 2:9).
Last Lord’s Day, 28 Dec 2014, Mdm Low Guay Keow (68 years old) confessed Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour and was baptised. Mdm Low is the mother of Shirleen who is married to Arthur Tow. After the worship service last Sunday, Shirleen shared with pastor that her mother was just operated on for a brain tumour, and that her mother who did not believe in the Lord Jesus now has a desire to believe in Him. Pastor said he would visit her mother that afternoon and asked Dn and Mrs Tai Mern Yee to come along since Mdm Low is Chinese-speaking.
Mdm Low was very alert when we visited her in Bright Vision Hospital. Dn Mern Yee read the scriptures and shared with her the gospel. When asked whether she wanted to believe in Jesus Christ to save her from her sins, she readily said yes. Pastor went through the gospel with her once more. When she was asked whether she wanted to pray to accept Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour, she straightaway clasped her hands to pray. She confessed that Jesus died on the cross for her sins, that the blood of Jesus can wash away all her sins, that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. She said yes to Jesus many times and wanted to be baptised. Assured she understood the gospel and believed in the Lord Jesus, Pastor baptised her right there and then. Dn Charles and Jenny Kan were also there to encourage Mdm Low in her newfound faith. What a happy day it was for Shirleen and Arthur who have been praying for their mother’s salvation. The Lord heard their prayers. Shirleen said it was a miracle. Jesus said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37). Praise the Lord!
HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE
FEBC’s 18th Holy Land Pilgrimage saw a total of 44 Christians from 10 churches and four countries participating. Besides Israel and Jordan, the trip this time included Cyprus which was the Apostle Paul’s first stop in his first missionary journey as recorded in Acts 13:4-12. We are thankful to the Lord for another blessed and successful pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Here is the testimony of brother Tong Hai:
“It has been my lifelong dream to visit the Holy Land. Usually, most of my friends will do it after they retire from work. I thought to myself, why should I wait till then? Should not I give my best time to God instead of my later years? The timing could not be better with both my children, Belle and Benn, completing their A and O Level examinations. It was also our best way to thank the Lord and for me to thank Pollyanna who was most stressed out seeing both children through their exams.
“We can read the Bible but nothing beats walking on the ground where Jesus and the apostles had trod. The song ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Hark how the angels sing!’ rang in our ears as we entered Jerusalem. I could sense the happiness in everyone. We could not contain our joy when we finally reached the Holy City. Many of us were jumping and stamping the ground hard. That was the high point of my trip as I said quietly to myself, ‘We finally made it safely as a family. Thank God!’
“There were many invaluable lessons that I have gained from this trip. I just want to sum up with my top three. Firstly, I treasure the Bible more after this trip. We visited an old Byzantine church in Cyprus and saw biblical mural paintings on the ceiling and walls. I learnt that people in those days relied on those paintings to understand scripture as they had no access to the Bible. They could only understand as much as what the painter could draw and there could be many interpretations. How fortunate we are to be able to read the Bible! We should treasure it.
“Secondly, traveling on the coach and walking the ground gave me a good feel of the distance, climate and living conditions of the people. For example, I now appreciate the Bible phrase ‘from Dan to Beersheba’ better as I had a good feel of how far apart they are. The weather and living conditions between these two places can be worlds apart although they are all within the same country, Israel. Hence, we should not see Israel in the same light as living in Singapore. How far did Jesus have to walk from Nazareth to Capernaum after being rejected by his own people? We travelled by coach and it took us quite some time. Just imagine Jesus had to walk that distance. It must have been very tiring for him. Also, the Sea of Galilee is actually a lake and how quiet it can be at night. I could picture that night when Jesus walked on water and how Simon Peter sank after he started to doubt. Nothing could beat the effect of listening to Pastor Khoo’s prayer in the quietness of the night in our boat with the engine shut off in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Both Benn and myself bought Tee Shirts with the words ‘I sailed the Sea of Galilee’ to remember that night.
“Thirdly, I have a better understanding of the Arab-Israeli relationship and God’s love for His chosen nation. The Six-Day War in 1967 is a testimony of God’s protection of His people. We saw the Golan Heights and the domineering location over Israel and could not help wondering how the Syrians could lose the battle with themselves positioned at such an advantageous position with the Egyptians attacking Israel concurrently from the south. God truly blessed Israel. God also bless those people who bless Israel. How fortunate we are in Singapore where our government is in good terms with the Israeli government. No wonder God also blessed Singapore.
“There are many more lessons but I can only share these three. I would strongly encourage those who have not visited the Holy Land to do so at least once in their lifetime. I can only thank God for giving my family the opportunity to visit Israel this year. We felt closer to God, closer as a family and also closer to True Life B-P Church. Our sincere thanks to Pastor Khoo and Jemima for working tirelessly to help all of us enjoy the trip and to understand and appreciate the scriptures better. Our utmost thanks to God for fulfilling my family wish to visit the Holy Land.”
More testimonies to come …
FEBC BEGINS A NEW CHAPTER
FEBC reopens tomorrow 5 January 2015 with a day of prayer. This semester sees FEBC starting a new chapter in its life and history. The Scheme to govern the sharing and use of the premises at 9, 9A & 10 Gilstead Road between Life BPC and FEBC was finalised by the High Court on 27 November 2014. The law of charitable purpose trust which is of public interest has been established and applied.
We pray for peaceful co-existence with Life BPC for the sake of the gospel and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We believe the Bible is 100% inspired and preserved in the Traditional Hebrew and Received Greek Texts underlying the good old Authorised Version (KJV). This is according to God’s power in history and God’s promise in Scripture (Ps 12:6-7, Matt 5:18). This is true to the Westminster Standards and our Reformed Faith of Sola Scriptura—the sole, supreme and final authority of our faith and practice is in the infallible and inerrant Apographa, not just the Autographa. Life Church still uses the KJV. FEBC is defending the KJV. As a faithful training institute for pastors and teachers, FEBC cannot but earnestly contend for the faith especially in these last days of doctrinal confusion and uncertainty (Jude 3).
This semester will see the College having a new library with increased shelf and study space. Hitherto, the library has been split up into three locations and very cramped. The library will now be in one central location at the 2nd storey of the Extension Block near the dorms for easy and convenient access. The three classrooms at the 4th storey of the new Beulah Centre will be used for our Hebrew, Greek, and English classes. Our offices, IT and conference rooms will be moved to Beulah House (the conserved building). There will be additional dorm space at the 2nd parsonage and 5th storey of the new Beulah Centre. The Lord knows we need family rooms and married quarters.
The Judge ordered that the College give up its Bookroom space. We see this as the Lord’s direction. The Bookroom has been operating at a loss for the last 10 years. Bibles are doing well, but not books. Books are getting more and more expensive and theologically liberal. Furthermore, with ease of internet access to resources, people are buying less books nowadays. As such the Bookroom will be downsized and stock mainly Bibles and textbooks. A manager of a large Christian bookstore in Singapore once said to me, “In the book business, it is not how much you make, but how long you can survive.” The FEBC Bookroom which was started by our late founding Principal in the 1950s will live on by the grace of God. The Bookroom sale is still on—50% off (well below cost) for most items till end January.
Renovations are currently underway. Please pray for a smooth transition and handover. The Judge has given us six months to do this. The old buildings at 9A need a lot of repairs. We hope to complete the necessary works in due time without disruption to the activities of the Church and the College.
The Basic Theology for Everyone night classes at FEBC begin tomorrow night at 7.30 pm with the Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew on the Book of Revelation. JK
FEBC Renovation
