As a boy, I had followed my mother to pray in Chinese temples mainly for peace, prosperity and good health. But I was rather confused by the variety of gods that one had to worship and found such visits spiritually meaningless.

When I first attended a church service with my wife in 1988, I was indeed taken aback by the preacher telling the congregation that we were all sinners and that we must be born again in order to be saved. I simply could not comprehend why I was called a sinner given that I was law-abiding and had not committed any crime. But by God’s grace, I started to learn more about the Bible by my continuing to attend the weekly Sunset Gospel, participating in Cell Group, and joining the BSF in 2001. These activities have convinced me that God exists and He is my creator and keeper as stated in Psalm 100:3 "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."

God who is holy, perfect, pure and sovereign has created me in His image so that I could worship, honor, relate to and delight in Him. Yet I still continued to sin against God mainly due to my pride in wanting to decide the destiny of my own life thereby falling short of God’s glory, Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

It was when I was afflicted with the risky and extremely painful medical condition (C3-C6 cervical spondylotic myelopathy) that I turned to God for help. God has been most merciful, and I am indebted and thankful to Him for sending a pastor and an elder with their wives to the hospital on the eve of my surgery to pray for its success and quick recovery. Praise the Lord, our prayers had been answered – the operation was perfect and the Lord’s tender care, watch and healing touch had enabled me to recover speedily with no post-operative pains whatsoever. I now seek to be baptized in order to identify myself with the Lord and His family, 1 Corinthians 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

I pray that God will sustain me in my spiritual growth and to be His witness in the years ahead. —Tan Ee Seong

Life After Death. I was born into a Christian family. I grew up knowing the Lord since a very young age. My mom taught me to sing and pray daily. I was a mischievous and active girl. One day, when I was 7, my mom brought me to Batu Aji/Batam. In the car, I asked my mother, "Why must we go so late at night to Batu Aji?" Then my mom answered me, "I must comfort a lady. She just lost her baby in the womb. 7 months already." Then I kept quiet, but my mind was confused. Why must the baby die? To me, dying meant a person has to be old like my grandpa then they would die. I wanted to know more.

On our way home, I asked my mother the questions. I was also scared to die. "Mom, why must the baby die? So pitiful…so bad…It’s still so small… He can’t do naughty things yet… why must die?" Then my mom explained to me that God knew what He was doing. Everyone must die. Not only old people. Even a baby must die too if God wants his soul back to Him. At that time my mom knew that I was afraid to die. Then she asked me, "Are you sacred to die?" I replied: "Yes." She then took the opportunity to tell me about Jesus. My mom said: "Jesus also once died but he lives again. So if we believe in Jesus, after we die, we live again!" Then she asked, "Do you know about the Lord Jesus?"

I remembered about Jesus from my Sunday school. At that moment I felt that Jesus was very special and important. I kept listening to my mother’s explanation, that because of sin everyone has to die (Romans 6:23), but Jesus came to the world to wash away sin, so everyone who believes in Jesus, will one day die, just like the baby, but will live again in heaven. I was very excited to hear that. It was on that day, in the car that I accepted Christ as my own Lord. I prayed the sinner’s prayer lead by my mother. In the prayer I confessed my sins, I asked Jesus to come into my heart.

Before arriving home my mom asked me again. "Uli, are you still scared to die?" I shook my head and answered, "No, there is Jesus. He will bring me to heaven."

Now I am 13. To remind me of my salvation, my mom shared again the whole Gospel and God’s will for mankind that everyone will repent and believe in Christ in order to have eternal life in heaven. I’m happy, now that I have new life in Christ, but I need to grow. I need to grow in Him through reading God’s word, praying and fellowshipping with God’s children. Amen. —Ruthnauli Choi Hyun Jung

Just like most of my Christian friends, I was brought to the house of God when I was born, to be baptized as an infant and attended Sunday School till today.

When I was in Secondary One, I was asked whether I wanted to reaffirm my faith. At that time, I was hesitant because my walk with God was still not strong yet. At that time, I was also quite afraid to reaffirm my faith because I had sinned against God often and was unsure whether I would be bringing condemnation unto myself if I did that. However, I realized that I cannot do good in my own strength, and need to ask God to be by my side to guide me.

This made me give a strong and firm "yes" when I was asked the second time. On that day itself, I asked God for forgiveness for all the sins that I had committed and asked Him to come into my life to become my personal Lord and Saviour.

From that day, I just had a sudden urge and joy to read God’s Word and to pray to Him. Whenever I did wrong, I would always feel the Holy Spirit pricking my conscience, making me want to put things right. This was when I knew that I was truly saved. If today is my last day on earth, I will not be afraid for I know that Jesus will be there to lead me to heaven and to enjoy eternity with Him because I believe in Him. —Rachel Tan Su Ying

Something bad happened in my family in the beginning of this year, I was very miserable and helpless. I really needed help, but I did not know where to seek. My family members tried but could not help much and neither could the counselor that I saw for a few occasions. My husband believed that God is the only one who can help me, so he brought me to Life Church on 6 April 2007. Previously, I was rather reluctant to attend church with him, but after listening to the sermon, "The death of Christ", on 6 April 2007, I began to see some lights in my life. I started looking forward to attend church on every Sunday to listen to the preaching of the gospel. The more I hear, the more I want to know (I really want to know how to end my misery) and a voice in my heart urged me to attend the catechism class. Through the sermons I have heard on every Sunday, what I learnt in the catechism class and the messages I read in "Our Daily Walk", I realized that I was in this miserable state because of the sins that I was born with and the sins that I had committed subsequently. I began to recollect the sins that I had committed, be it small or big sins. I know that there was no way these sins can be redeemed by my own efforts. I need the help from someone who is very powerful. This powerful and almighty individual is nobody else but Lord Jesus Christ who had died on the cross to redeem our sins. I know that turning to Jesus Christ is the only way to redeem all my sins and get me out of misery forever. I confessed the sins that I have committed and asked the Lord for forgiveness. I started praying to the Lord Jesus daily, praying that the Lord will guide me to be closer to Him, give me the wisdom to understand the gospels, give me strength to resist the temptations for committing further sins and that the Lord will be with me and guide me along in every aspect of my life to sanctify my body and soul, my thoughts and intentions, my words and actions. I will also submit myself to the Lord, obey and praise Him forever.

I am rather slow in reading and trying to understand the Bible, so I have only read a very small portion of the Bible to-date. However, I am trying to read as much as I can. I carry the Bible with me everyday, so that I can read it whenever time permits. I think I still need a long time to finish reading the Bible for the first round. To understand the Bible will take even a much longer time and I will have to read it many more times. However, I am trying my best and I am sure with the help of the Lord and guidance from the church’s ministry, I will be able to understand God’s gospel more and more as time passes.

I hope that I can also help my loved ones and friends to realize the one and only way to get out of the miseries in their lives and attain eternal happiness. Only through believing that Christ died for our sins, and we have a chance to confess and ask God for forgiveness, that our sins can be redeemed and we can be saved.

I have to thank God for choosing me and letting me realize my path to eternal happiness and I also have to thank the church’s ministry for teaching and guiding me through the preaching of God’s gospel. —Chong Pui San

I WAS BORN into a Christian home and grew up in an environment which would make anyone else an obedient son and a good Christian child. I was given great foundations to start my life and was always taught and reminded about God’s principles for living. I attended church since I was a child and grew up in Sunday school. I even attended a mission school that had chapel services weekly and also good Christian teachers. I had excellent Bible knowledge and could quote from Scripture quite fluently. In Sunday school, I often aced Bible quizzes and frequently came in among the tops.

Even though I had the best guidebook for living, I eventually still strayed.

Perhaps I never understood the importance of being called a Christian in the early years of my life. This was all despite being baptized at the age of 18 and knowing so many Bible stories that were taught to me since I was a child. Perhaps I never understood the importance of what Jesus had done for me on the Cross.

Perhaps what happened to me in my younger days is prevalent in the lives of second generation Christians who were born into the faith but who did not have a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. To me, God was just the creator who made me and made everything else. I “knew” God best whenever I ran into problems. I would pray so fervently hoping that my will and not His be done.

I led life, in my teenage and new adult years, dangerously on the edge. By dangerous I do not mean that I committed crimes and sped down highways in a car. By dangerous, I mean that I was seriously in danger of hell fire. I lost the concept of sin and at times could not clearly distinguish between good and evil. Bit by bit, I allowed my conscience to be seared and allowed the darkness in my life to cover God’s words which were written in my heart.

For many years I was a Christian in name, but I did not have a lift that was worthy of being called one. I was more like a great looking apple that had a rotten core and that was slowly being eaten by worms. I was slowly but surely losing my way and my life too was falling apart. This was all until my grandfather passed away about 2 years ago.

After my grandfather passed away, I though about my short frivolous life compared to the 93 fruitful years my grandfather lived. I thought about how I ought to have been living and started to realize that I had lost an important part of my identity as a Christian. My life then was a life of wretchedness and I needed divine intervention. I began to remember God’s words that were so deeply etched in my heart since I was a child and as I continued to ponder and rethink my life, I was brought to repentance at Jesus’ feet and have now recommitted my life to Him. May He continue to guide me as I journey through this life that in all that I do, he may be glorified.

And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:31-32)                                    —Joshua Tay Tenzing

I grew up in a Buddhist family and had very little contact with Christians. Out of respect for my parents, I followed them to the temple and was taught to pray to idols for protection and good results in my studies. I never truly understood the religion and would only turn to it when I needed something. Indeed, I was a free-thinker who set my own beliefs and believed that with diligence, determination and a stroke of good luck, one could achieve my own definition of happiness in life.

My personal belief started to falter when my close friend shared the gospel with me about three years ago. It was the first time I heard the gospel and I remembered I was surprised to learn that we are sinners and Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.  I couldn’t fully fathom the gospel, though I wasn’t resistant to it. I didn’t reject the offer when my friend invited me to Life B-P church on Christmas’s Eve as I was curious to find out who is this God that my friend wholeheartedly trusted in and put first place before everything. 

Subsequently, I found myself going to church weekly with my friend and his family’s encouragement. I bought my first Bible and I started reading many Christian books as I sought after the Truth.  By God’s grace, I became aware of my sinful nature and unworthiness.  I realized how foolish I had been and that my past beliefs could not give me the joy and happiness of knowing Christ.  The two verses in Proverbs 3:5-6 struck me the most and I began to trust the Lord increasingly. I eventually abandoned my old beliefs and turned to God and accepted Him as my personal Saviour.

My Christian journey was tough in the beginning as I was often challenged by unbelieving friends and I couldn’t convince them of my faith as I was still weak in the biblical knowledge. My parents didn’t object to me becoming a Christian even though they were skeptical of my new faith and didn’t think it would last.  Thank God I stayed firm in my faith as I pursue His word, memorize the scripture and read more Christian literature. I continue to pray that my parents and unsaved friends will also turn to God one day. 

I am glad to have found a new and meaningful direction in life.  I am also thankful for the weekly Bible study and fellowship with a group of sisters from church.  Through which, my biblical knowledge has fortified and I have grown closer to God. There is now someone I could truly share my happiness with and turn to in times of despair.  God has really been good to me.  I thank God for His grace, mercy and love for choosing me as His child and blessing me.  I will continue to trust in God for all things and to commit my life to Him.        —Hayley Yap Hui Li

Being originally from a Taoist background, it is by God’s grace that I am His elect and become a Christian.

As my parents are Christians, they bring me to church regularly and I grew up well adjusted to the Sunday routine.  I have always assumed that I am a Christian because my parents are. Initially, I treated God’s gift of salvation as something that could be inherited. But that assumption was challenged when I stumbled upon a particular devotion. It was that God had no grandchildren. Then I referred to John 3:16. The verse said that whosoever believed in Jesus would be saved. That meant that I had to go to God myself and ask Him to come into my heart. The precious gift of salvation could not be inherited.

After I have asked God to come into my heart, I experience the grace of God time and again. Whenever I commit a sin, I can feel the Holy Spirit telling me to confess my sins to God so that I will be forgiven. When I carry a heavy burden, I know God is there for me and that I can place my problems in His hands. I know that no matter what happens, God is always there for me.

During one Junior Worship Service, there was a hymn, which we sang. The title of the song was: O Rejoice In The Lord - “God never moves without purpose or plan while trying His servant or molding a man.  Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long.  In darkness He giveth a song.”   The lyrics of the song really touched me as it reminded me to trust in God always. Though there are times when we are down or we are troubled by the world and its everyday challenges, we are reminded often by the Bible and by hymns that God will not forsake us. Isaiah 40:31 reminds us that if we trust in God, we will be renewed and strengthened.

God has been very merciful to my family and I for the past 12 years of my life and I know He would continue to be our loving Father in Heaven. When I was younger, I caught dengue fever and it spread to my father and brother. Thanks be to God that we recovered speedily. There had been cases in Singapore recently of people catching dengue fever and not recovering. God has done a lot of things for us. We ought to thank Him for everything, even for our lives. I pray that God would help us all not to take Him for granted and to thank Him for everything and to give Him glory when we succeed.

Through my years of attending church particularly through Sunday School, I have understood the purpose of man, the fall of man, the reason behind Jesus’ coming to Earth. We cannot comprehend God’s love. It is so great, to the point where He even sends His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross. Jesus came down to Earth, leaving all His glory in Heaven, to be born in a manger. He is the only perfect person, worthy enough to be the mediator between God and us. Through the sin of one man (Adam), all shall die. Through the obedience of one man (Jesus), all shall be saved. Jesus has therefore created a bridge for us sinners to go to Heaven. I feel very honored and thankful that Jesus loves us so much that He is willing to give up His life for us.

I pray that as I continue to grow physically, I will also be able to grow spiritually in the admonition of Jesus Christ and be grounded more deeply in Him. He has done a lot for us, so much that we cannot repay Him. Thanks and praise be to God the Most High in Heaven!                                                                       —Leong Jiayi Charmaine

I grew up in a close knit family.  My parents came from China and since young, my siblings and I were taught the values of filial piety, obedience, respect for the elders and to worship our ancestors.  Our home was in Chinatown – in fact it was in the heart of Chinatown where the Chinese temples were just a stone throw away.  So it was not surprising that we enjoyed the many Chinese festivals where there would be interesting entertainment (such as Cantonese opera), good food (after they were offered to the idols) and warm fellowship (when neighbours got together to pray to the idols).

It is thus God’s miraculous Providence that brought my siblings and me to His Saving Grace.  We are thankful that God gave us a godly neighbour, Agnes, whom we looked upon as an elder sister.  Besides helping us with our school work, Agnes took every opportunity to tell us Bible stories and teach us Christian songs.  I could still vividly remember that we looked forward to Sunday evenings where we would stealthily crept over to Agnes’ home (because my mother strongly disapproved of Christianity and we could expect a nasty caning if she were to find out) where she would do Bible studies with us and encourage us to memorise Bible verses.  As we grew older, so did our thirst for God’s Word.  Though my parents did not allow us to attend church, we found other ways to know more about God.  In secondary school, I attended the Youth for Christ and the Navigators.  One day when I was in JC, I finally plucked up my courage to ask for my parents’ permission to attend Sunday school at the Jesus Saves Mission in Craig Road.  To my pleasant surprise, they said “yes”!  And then when I was in university, my parents actually allowed me to attend church (the then Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore) and eventually to be baptised (although my mother cried when I told her my desire).

Why this change in my parents’ attitude?  I think they had initially disapproved us of becoming Christians as they were afraid we would become rebellious, disobedient and “Westernised”.  We thank God that He allowed them to see His workings in our lives and for speaking to them.  We received one of His greatest blessings when my father received Christ as his personal Saviour when he was in his seventies.  A few years later, my mother accepted Christ too and disposed of the idols at home.  This is truly God’s amazing grace — who could ever imagine two elderly folks who used to be staunch idol worshippers would renounce their many years of belief and face the pressures and wrath from their relatives?

Indeed, God has been most merciful and gracious to me, an undeserving sinner.  It’s my prayer that I would continue to walk close to Him and be a good testimony to those around me. - Wong Suay Peng

6) GOD’S OUTLAW. A DVD screening to commemorate the 490th anniversary of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation. next Saturday, 27 Oct 07, 7-9 pm. Sanctuary. Please invite your friends to come!

7) Children’s Camp. 20-22 Nov 2007 for 9-12 years old. Theme: Overcomers Through Christ! Speakers: Eld Sng Teck Leong and Aunty Charlene. $35 per child. Please register with payment to Uncle Keng Khwang (Hp: 98293292). Closing Date: 4 Nov 2007. 36 vacancies left.

8) Our condolences to Herbert Gwee and family on the homegoing of his grandmother, Leong Ah Kew (99 years) on 16 Oct 07.

Preaching appointments: Rev Seet at Kebaktian Indonesia, 4.00 pm. Rev Wong at Life Chinese Service, 9.30 am; AF, 11.30 am; Thai Service, 4.00 pm.

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We congratulate the following who have achieved a score of 70% and above:

1. Analiza Payot

2. Andrew Lim Ian Chung

3. Angela Tan

4. Chiam Tok Ling

5. Claire Tan

6. Daniel Tan

7. Deborah Tan Hui Yi

8. Flora Lau Seck Hong

9. Florence I.Tabligan

10. Hayley Yap Hui Li

11. Janice Tan

12. Jennifer Goh

13. Joel Tan Zhi Wei

14. Karen Chan

15. Lee Hock Chin

16. Leong Li Peng

17. Leong Sow Mun

18. Leslie Tan Tat Seng

19. MA Teresa S Alde

20. Mercedita A.Talucod

21. Nathaniel Goh

22. Ong Phei Hong

23. Peh Siew Kuan

24. Peter Q Lubaton

25. Russell Joel Indran

26. Sim Mong Eng

27. Sim Siew Hoon

28. Sonnyluz G. Orpilla