by Lee Kai Ling
My Sunday school class recently concluded our study on the Book of Job, a book that is set in beautiful, perfect prose and draws attention to numerous themes pertaining to the very nature of man - his righteousness, his suffering, his pride - and the sovereignty of God. Though dissecting nearly every chapter into its smaller bits to fully understand God’s word in a short frame of time was ‘mentally stressful’, I have been deeply blessed by the lessons. I trust that the youths in my class share similar sentiments and beholding these wondrous truths and teachings will certainly strengthen our spiritual walk with the Lord. The fiery interaction between Job and his three friends was heavily discussed as it reflects a larger picture of how society works today – how we view the actions of others and act upon them. As Job’s friends brandish their best weapons to smite him and persist in breaking down this most righteous man while he painstakingly tries to uphold his integrity to those who are ever ready to correct him in order to prove themselves right, the issues of Humility and Judgment set in. How often do we detect the errors other people make and spring up at the chance of catching them red-handed? How often do we stand on the pedestal and cast disapproving eyes on the sins of others in order to prove our worth? How often do we single out little details and minute errors and put a brother or a sister down whilst establishing ourselves to be better off? How often have we sat down with a brother or sister-in-Christ and speak to the person in the spirit of meekness and love, rejecting the sin, and not the sinner? Do we share each other’s burdens?
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by Lee Kai Ling
This world is so vast; this earth is marked by diversity and its inhabitants differ in beliefs. Once again, another classmate comes along with the ‘Big Questions of Life’. What do we live for? What’s the purpose of life? Can Christianity answer all questions? Are miracles for real? Do we look to religion just because we are weak and need something to depend and place our hopes on? Sometimes, they don’t bombard with questions. They hurl a statement in my face. Christianity is a blind faith, a figment of imagination. I swallow them in, all of them. Many a time, in order to prove my faith, I find myself embarking on this route where I choose to rationalize, painstakingly making use of all the logical arguments in my head. Yet these extensive table discussions and debates leave us without any conclusion and only more confusion. by Ho Leng Li
Daily, I am challenged to be creative about meals to meet the growing appetite and demands of my growing sons and unspoken high standards of my husband. (Why? He has been overly exposed to restaurant-style food due to his constant travelling and his many business social functions) I considered myself least fussy in my family when it comes to food. I love soft diet but to the ever growing male members, they need variety and meat dishes to feel like they have eaten something ‘sensible’. The only pork and chicken flavoring I was exposed to is dark soya sauce. Surely there is something I can create on my own for my family that originates from ‘Mommy’! by Lee Jia En
Time certainly flies. As cliché as that may sound, I have never imagined that my 3 years in Polytechnic would have gone by so quickly. Sometimes as I look back to the day I first entered Ngee Ann to pursue the Engineering Common Programme (ECP) course, I cannot help but feel that God has been blessing me so much throughout this whole new journey. Today, I have graduated with my diploma! I grew up in this church and it has always been comforting to know how much God has been with all of us, especially the youths. Watching how each and every one of us move from one stage to another, emerging stronger, bigger & taller; I know God has been good to us and as He has promised, “The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: (1 King 8:57)”. But most importantly, I have grown to learn that God has a plan for us and we should continually put all our faith and trust in Him. by Hazel Tan
Early April, I left Singapore for Los Angeles, California for a six month internship stint with an American company for academic credit. Prior to leaving Singapore, I was experiencing a lot of issues with my visa documents. They were severely delayed by three weeks, and initially I thought, “Maybe God doesn’t think this is good for me,” and if so, so be it. But somehow the Lord opened the door to LA, and honestly I did not have any idea what He had in stored for me. But through it all, I was aware that He was with me every step of the way as Psalm 121 says: 1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. by Sally Soong
Thanks be to GOD that I finally had the opportunity to share my testimony to my church, hopefully to touch the hearts of many unsaved souls who read this sharing. Throughout all these years, I must admit that GOD has been merciful, forgiving and generous in His provisions in various stages of my life. I believe He will continue to do so as long as I pledge my loyalty to Him. As our church celebrates another anniversary in July, it also reminds me of another year of safety back home in Singapore for me. by Peter and Alison Foo
Five years! Yes, five years have passed. I finally struggled through this part-time course, the Bachelor of Engineering [Mech.] Degree from Nanyang Technological University. Recollecting the past, it seemed like things just happened yesterday. During this period, I should say it was not a smooth road to travel without God’s strength and grace. Praise God for that! I remember that in year 1996, when I attended the admission presentation at NTU for the Pioneer Batch of Part-time for Bachelor Engineering Degree, the number of people applying for this course awed me. Despite the overwhelming response, I was selected, which was something I had not expected. I believe that it was God’s will for me. Thank God that He also granted me the sponsorship from my company. by James Ang
Back in the 70s, when I first came to know the Lord, my happy family environment was overturned. My mother was greatly affected. She strongly opposed my new found Christian faith. She forbade me to have any contact with Christianity. She was suspiscious to every book I read, so much so reading God’s word or Christian literature openly at home was simply asking for trouble! Sundays were trying days for my young faith. I knew it would break her heart if I went to church against her will. But God’s word challenged me to go and to trust in Him, and my Christian friends also encouraged me. And going I did, facing many consequences when I got home. Going home after church service was quite a nervous experience for me, not for fear of punishment. It was something else. But all this while I felt very sorry that my Christian faith ahd brought much unhappiness to my family, especially my mother. The constant thought of saddening my mother who had to take care of six children, including 2 subnormal siblings, almost overwhelmed me to the point of giving up the faith! At times I started to doubt if the God of the Bible was indeed real, as it claimed to be. by Bethany Khng
On June 4th, our f amily spent two lovely days in the Orchard Hotel, a 5-star hotel along Orchard Road. Nathaniel had won the complimentary voucher in a music competition organised by his music school. Strolling around the shopping arcade, we chanced upon a shop called ‘The Nail Shop’. It specializes in grooming nails, that is, finger and toe nails for a price of $30 per treatment. Strange, we thought, what sensible folks would spend their hard-earned money to groom their nails? But we were wrong! Through the glass panels, we could see at least two ‘beauticians’ working on their customer’s toenails! Business must have been pretty brisk to be able to pay for the rental of a shop in such a posh place besides the salaries of those ladies paid to pamper their feet. by the Khng family
Starkey Road Baptist Church, Largo Florida, held a service last year to honour five pastors’ wives whose husbands are at home with the Lord. These Christian women had served alongside their husbands ‘with effectiveness, faithfulness and distinction. Each of them was a vital part of ministries that God blessed with great abundance.’ What a testimony! The Khngs have had the rare privilege of knowing one of these great men of God and his beloved wife when the Lord first allowed our paths to cross nearly 14 years ago. Though we were ‘strangers and pilgrims’ in their land, they literally took us into their ‘heart and home’ and figuratively into their hearts. |
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