One Step Closer to God
Chua Peng Hwa
I was born into a non-Christian family. My parents were Taoist worshippers. I completed my primary and secondary education in St Andrew’s School. Before lessons commenced, we sang hymns from our hymn book and my favourite was “Stand Up for Jesus”. I attended chapel once a week in school which was part of the school programme. Despite being exposed to the Word of God, I could not comprehend who Jesus Christ was.
I worshipped pagan gods and attended services in Novena Church once in a while. I had worldly thoughts that to be successful in life one must have a good education and the gift of the gap which was essential to climbing the corporate ladder. There was this sense of emptiness in me and I started to wonder if there was a true and living God.
I met my wife in 1988 and she brought me to New Life Bible- Presbyterian Church, and I was baptised in 1989. I was a carnal Christian for 14 years. I thought that as long as things went well in my life, I could tell myself that God has blessed me. I wanted the things of this world and I wanted God to bless me as well. Jesus said “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt 6:24). I had no desire to study God’s Word because the KJV was too difficult for me to comprehend. Each time when I read God’s Word, it would be skimming through without digesting the spiritual food He had given me.Crisis came in April 2003. I was warded in Raffles Hospital for a spine operation during the SARS period. As I was wheeled into the operation theatre, I prayed to God for His grace and mercy. My life was in His hands. The whole operation took six hours and by His grace I woke up. After two months of medical leave, I went back to work but was told by my employer that I had been retrenched. This was a severe blow to my family and me. I was jobless for six months. I was angry and I questioned God; why did He allow this to happen to me? I told Him that wicked people are getting away with their wicked ways and were prospering. One brother pointed me to Psalm 73. I was still not convinced after reading Psalm 73 and I continued to murmur against God.
One day, I read the Daily Bread and God spoke to me from Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” I was dumbfounded and I found inner peace coming from God. This was a very rich experience God had given to me. Nobody can take this away from me and I thank God for it. My faith in God was elevated and this brought me one step closer to Him and I felt this desire to study His Word.
My family and I came to True Life Bible- Presbyterian Church in 2009 for spiritual food. Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). My family and I have been blessed by the sermons that are preached week after week by faithful and God-fearing preachers. We thank God for these faithful preachers and we have been blessed by these sermons that have spiritually strengthened us during our pilgrim journey in this sin-cursed world. I affirm that the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God, and that the KJV Bible that we hold in our hands is the very Word of God because God said, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Ps 12:6), and “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35).
God Is Our Guide
Lee Yoot Ming (Mrs Chua Peng Hwa)
Like most Chinese families, my parents were ancestor worshippers. They also worshipped some other Chinese gods. As such, when I was a child, religion did not mean much to me, and I did not care whether there was a God or not. To me whatever my parents worshipped were just traditions passed down from one generation to the next.
In my school days and subsequently when I started working, I often received Christian tracts from classmates, friends and also from strangers (often at public places). I would just read and later throw them away. In my mind, Christianity was just another religion no different from other religions.
One day, I was given a tract which talked about God giving His only begotten Son who died to save us sinners. That evening I contacted a Christian friend, and arranged to meet her in church on Sunday. Basically I wanted to satisfy my curiosity because I have never attended a church service before. I also wanted to understand what was mentioned in the tract.
I met her at New Life Bible- Presbyterian Church located in Woodlands which was also very near to my home. That morning, I sat through the service, but did not understand what was preached on that day. However, I could still remember a few words from one of the hymns sung on that day—“God the Omnipotent …”. Since I did not understand the message, I was determined to return the following week, hoping to have a better understanding of the message the next time.
Soon I was invited to attend the Young Adults Fellowship (YAF) meetings, and the young people there lent me Christian books and other Christian publications to read. While reading one of those books one evening, I came across a passage where the writer said that we human beings are just like ants going about not knowing the dangers that are ahead of us. If we take the wrong route, it might lead us to a dead end. But if we have a guide who is able to see far ahead to direct us and warn us of the dangers around, then we can travel peacefully without fear. God is our Guide, and He can see everything ahead of us! This simple analogy made me realise there is God! How could I deny His existence all this while? I began to reflect upon my life and began to realise how God had guided me in every step of my life even before I knew Him. At that moment, I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour. Truly our God is almighty and gracious. Although I was so ungrateful, even doubting His existence previously, He did not let me perish but still saved me in His good time. I was baptised on Easter day 1988 in New Life B-P Church.
About 18 months ago my family started attending True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church. I found the weekly sermons a blessing, because I was able to draw many applications from them and they were beneficial to my daily living. In addition to the useful messages, I was also blessed with the faithful teaching of God’s Word during Sunday School. Most important of all, it was at True Life B-P Church that I understood the doctrines of the VPI (Verbal Plenary Inspiration) and VPP (Verbal Plenary Preservation) of the Scriptures. I can now confidently declare that the KJV Bible is the very Word of God (without any mistake, without any translation error).
Together with my family, we have decided to transfer our membership to True Life B-P Church. Indeed, it was not an easy decision for me to move out of my previous church after having worshipped there for over 20 years. But ultimately, it is the good spiritual food and the teaching of sound biblical truth that is of utmost important.
A Good Christian Forever
Amos Chua Zheng Jie
My parents are Christians. I was baptised when I was a few months old during Easter 1993, in New Life Bible-Presbyterian Church.
All this while, I have been going to church every Sunday with my parents without fail. Through the Sunday school lessons and the many Bible stories, I came to know who Jesus Christ is. I know that Jesus Christ is my Saviour. He died on the cross, so that when I believe in Him, I will have everlasting life.
Since Christ has died for us, I must be faithful and obedient to God. I must also spend time studying His Word and keep my Quiet Time everyday praying to God. I must behave myself in school at all times. I must learn to love my siblings, my classmates. I must learn to forgive them if they do me wrong. I must be kind to others.
Lastly, I prayed that I will be a good Christian forever.
God Is Very Gracious
Hannah Chua Rui En
I was born into a Christian family. I was baptised as an infant in New Life Bible- Presbyterian Church in November 1995 and have been a Christian for 15 years.
Since young, my parents would bring me to church without fail every Lord’s Day. From Sunday School I learned numerous things from the Bible like how Jesus died for our sins.
In the past, going to church was like a standard operation procedure every Sunday and sometimes it also felt like chore as I had to wake up early in the morning. During Sunday School I was not interested in what the teacher was teaching and was not really concerned who God was at that time.
I drew closer to Christ two years ago when I was in Secondary One. My father brought me to join a Bible study class. That was where I knew more about how God took care of His people when they were in the wilderness, and the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Despite sinning many times, I realise that He is still very gracious and have been blessing me continually.
