My dear readers,
1. The Debt We Owe - I
Greetings of grace, mercy and peace to you in the blessed name of our soon coming Lord, the name which is above every name, before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father.
By the grace of God we are gathered for the 32nd Graduation Thanksgiving Service of the Far Eastern Bible College, also the 45th year of the founding of the College. Thank God, He gave the founder Rev Timothy Tow the vision: Life Church without a College will last but a generation: with a College, it will endure.
By this year, FEBC has trained over 600 men and women for the harvest field of the world. Today we have a Faculty of ten, but the College began with one: just the Founding Principal and three students. It is good to recall history, how the Lord’s hand has led, and nurtured, and blessed the College through one man who laboured alone, working on a “shoe-string budget,” bearing the burden of Church and College 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The Life Church Weekly carried his telephone number and, “Call any time.” How can that debt be repaid' Heaven is his reward.
The Apostle Paul confessed that he was a Gospel debtor. So are we: we owe a debt of gratitude to God our Saviour, Head of Church and College for what we see today. The Founder is physically laid low. But he is uplifted by God’s Word: “ … though (the) outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor 4:16 ).
We thank God the College continues to be blessed by Life Church in symbiotic relationship. The Church is blessed that makes the College the object of its care. God bless those who exercise charity to God’s College.
FEBC is a College of the Bible. Our Bible is one: the King James Bible or KJB. Users of the KJB may be few in numbers, yet our confidence is in the Lord our rock, our fortress, our strength. Before many days we shall see Him coming in the clouds of heaven whose name is Faithful and True, the Word of God; the Judge of all the earth. He looks for faithfulness, not numbers.
Why has the KJB declined, fallen from its near 400-year supremacy as “The Bible” of the English speaking people' The reason lies in history. If God’s people would study the history of the KJB, they would never forsake it for any Modern English Version. But this falling away is foretold in God’s Word (2 Thess 2:3 ).
Did you know that eighty-five percent of the KJB New Testament is Tyndale’s Bible' Most Christians are surprised by this. I too must confess that until recently this fact of history was not impressed upon me.
It is therefore with urgency that I tell the story of the Tyndale Bible and its historical link to the KJB. Such knowledge will give you a new appreciation of the Bible which came to us through the “blood, sweat, and tears” of the martyrs. (To be continued)
2. Redefining Singapore
“Casinos! Amusement parks! Alfresco dining! The stuffy old port is restyling itself as a destination city and playground for the wealthy.” These are the headlines in TIME magazine’s latest issue (4 June 2007). The article goes on to quote from MM Lee’s Chinese New Year speech earlier in the year when he spoke of art exhibitions, jazz bands, museums and alfresco dining. In fact, eating outdoors was mentioned no fewer than three times as Lee laid out the government’s vision for a multibillion-dollar residential and commercial real estate project located near the downtown core. The Marina Bay development would transform the way people live and work in Singapore, the Minister Mentor said. Electric golf buggies will whiz by diners as they gaze from the water’s edge upon the “sailing, boating, windsurfing and fishing.” Singapore aspires to be “a tropical version” of New York, Paris and London all in one, Lee said, adding, “the Marina will be like the St Mark’s Piazza in Venice.”
The feverish pitch of today’s constructions visible and audible all over this little island state tells one story: Singapore is in the process of an epic facelift that, in a few years’ time, will render the downtown waterfront district almost unrecognizable. “Monaco of the Orient” seems to be an appropriate title for the Singapore of the future, especially when F1 racing comes to town next year.
3. Further down the road “Sodompore”'
Socially speaking, Singapore is being left behind – its thinking and speaking is outdated. While the leading nations of the West had long ago liberalized their laws on homosexual sex, Singapore is still lingering in the shadows of outdated tradition, together with other Asian and African cities. But this world is not static and change will come. It is only a matter of time: the writing is on the wall. Who can control people’s thought process'
When asked by Reuters interviewers whether gay sex should be decriminalized eventually, our MM Lee replied: “Eventually I cannot put a finger on it. But I would say if this is the way the world is going and Singapore is part of that interconnected world, and I think it is, I see no option for Singapore but to be part of it.” These are words of sound judgment and great wisdom. In fact, prophetic. Again, we repeat: it is only a matter of time. At the rate things change, it will surprise nobody if you and I wake up one day to the reality that Sodompore has arrived. How soon' During my lifetime, more than likely.
But God’s Word said it 2,000 years ago. (Lk 17:28-30 ) What must we do' Be wise. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph 6:11-13 ). And stand we must.
Lovingly in the Lord
Dr SH Tow, Senior Pastor