God's Creation-Its Relevance

For the past weeks, I have been reading up on how creation & the bible is related. As I read, I find that the less I know. My reading schedule include the relevant biblical text, such as the book of Genesis, Hebrews, etc. I also scanned through pages of systematic theology. Wayne Grudem, Millard Erickson and Robert Reymond are all on my reading list. Then, I too see a need for books from William Demski (His Intelligent Design: The Bridge between Science & Theology. InterVarsity Press, 1999) & etc. As I would be writing the article in Chinese (which I plan to submit to my church for its quarterly newlstter!), I also read up how the various oriental philosophy (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism) view how the universe came into being, so as to provide an Eastern perspective. As I read & write, I see the article becoming longer and longer. At present, it about 5000+ words. .... However, it seem a bit too long to be included in a newsletter! So, I think I would be spending time trying to make it as concise and comprehensive as possible.... not an easy job!

My outline is as follows:

从上帝的“创造”看神的大能
从上帝的“创造”看哲学---佛教的“无常”和“无我”
从上帝的“创造”看圣经与科学
神的启示——圣经

创造的意义
a) 从上帝的“创造”看神的荣耀
b) 从上帝的“创造”看生命的意义
c) 从上帝的“创造”看世界：真实和“甚好”
d) 从上帝的“创造”看他的护理
——盼望的来源
——让我们得以自由的盼望
e) 从上帝的“创造”看神与人的关系

g) 我们的回应

What are we lacking?- The Church's Role & Responsibility

ON 13 June, I wrote on the Earliest Church in Singapore. Here, I reflect on the church's reponse & responsibilities. This is just some of my thoughts. Some of them are on what I see is lacking in the churches of Singapore. They are of course not exhaustive..., but there are nonetheless what I feel is the essentials!

Our Response & Responsibility

1) Giving Glory to God for what he has done

What does this entails? Is it only achieving success, health, wealth, and status? What about the ability to endure suffering, having the courage to face problems, …

2) The importance of a Living Theology (Bibllical & Systematic; NT & OT)

Theology (church doctrine) is not dull and irrelevant if it is living. Dorothy Sayers, a 20th-century, Oxford-educated dramatist, novelist, and lay theologian, reminds us that "The dogma is the drama!" Theology is the drama of God's remdptive act in history (since the beginning of time).

Theology is not simply the concern or the domain of a small group of academic experts. Rather, theology, by its very nature and function, is for everyone. Theology still matters today, as it did in the past. After all, an undogmatic Christianity is no Christianity at all. Christianity is about Christ, a living person. As a historical person with historical facts (i.e. his incarnation & atonement, also called doctrines) surrounding it, Christianity cannot as facts separating from doctrines. As B B Warfield puts it, “Christianity consists in facts that are doctrines and in doctrines that are facts” (I have benefited much from Dr Gary L W Johnson’s writing “Does Theology still Matter?” in the book The Coming Evangelical Crisis: Current Challenges to the Authority of the Scripture and the Gospel, edited by Dr John H Armstrong (Moody, 1996), p.57-73.).

Of course, ‘theology’ can be wrong at times too. For example, theological liberialism has questioned the authority of the bible. The theology we need be grounded in scripture. It should be biblical, exegetical, systematic, practical, and covers both OT & NT. Theology should not be speculative, or based entirely on human reasoning & logic.

The importance of theology could also be seen in the launching of the annual Earnest Lau Professorship Lectures by TTC. Its aim is to bring theology to the level that pastors and informed lay leaders could appreciate. The first annual lecture is entitled “Rediscovering the Catechumenate: How to Help New Converts Discover their Real Christian Identity”, and held on Jan 19, 2005. The speaker was Rev Dr Simon Chan, Earnest Lau Professor of Systematic Theology at TTC. The focus of the lecture is on the relationship between theology and some aspects of the church life and pastoral practice so that Christians can be encouraged to think through pastoral issues theologically and formulate theologically informed responses rather than merely resort to pragmatic solutions.

3) God’s Word

(a)- Authority & Sufficiency

God’s Word, as revealed in the Old & New Testament, is the authority for the church. The authority of any teacher (pastor, cell group leader, bishop, elder, deacon, even bible scholar! Of course, we should also examine our very own scriptural understanding with the bible. We could be wrong too!) must be judged by its faithfulness to the Scriptures.

The bible is true, sufficient and clear, there is no need for further revelation. There should be distinction between the canonical texts and what Christian writers say (in Christian literature), what pastors say (in sermons), what we ‘hear’ God say (‘so-called prophesy’; hearing from God). Christian writers, and preachers/pastors are channels of the Holy Spirit’s teaching (Spiritus Sancti fistulae), but we should always remember that sometimes, they may too have wrong interpretations (which arose from a lack of prayerful study of the bible, and thus erroneous understanding) Thus, when pastors begin their sermons, we sometimes hear this prayer, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalms 19:14, ESV)

(b)- Trusting & Studying

Sunday-morning sermons, though important, are never replacements for devoting time to consistent bible study.

Psalms 78:1 (ESV): Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

Job 23:12 (ESV): I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

(c)- Faithful Expository (Exegetical) Preaching in the pulpit

“Pastors are called to a ministry of exposition, not entertainment. We are to be warm containers of divine treasures. We must be touched and transformed by the message. It is a high calling to be a preacher of the Word.” (from Bishop Robert Solomon’s sermon at the Ordination and Closing Service of the 29th Session of the CAC in 2004, Methodist Message, Issue Vol. 107 No 1, Jan 2005) The reason why John Sung was so successful in his evangelistic effort was due to his Bible-centered preaching. He took the bible seriously and expound the bible chapter by chapter. When he preached in Singapore in 1935, he could preach for 80 minutes for each meeting, three times a day, and each meeting being two and a half hours. About 2000 listened to him each night. According to Bobby Sng in his In His Good Time: “Many brought their own food packages, for fear of losing their seats if they left the church hall. Some even brought mats and slept through the nights. About half of te students in ACS and MGS absented themselves during the day in order to attend the meetings. All English and Chinese Bibles were sold out and fresh supplies have to be ordered from kuala Lumur. Singapore town was in an uproar during those weeks. Everywhere people spoke of the meetings. In all, 1300 people accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour.” (p.173) Between 1933 and 1936, over 100,000 Chinese was converted to Jesus Christ through his ministry. In 1935 alone, over 5000 Chinese in this region were converted to Christ.

There should be consistent Bible study, so that Christians can come to a deeper and more personal understanding of God’s Word. Through God’s revealed Word, we can get to know God better and learn more about His will for them. As 2 Tim 2:15 reminds us, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (ESV)

In my bible study, for Chinese Bible, I use both the New Chinese Version (新译本, from The Worldwide Bible Society) and Chinese Union Version. For English, I use the ESV (Crossway) & NASB (1995) for daily reading. To compare translations & help in understanding, I check up NIV, NRSV, NKJV, and NLT. Having a parallel bible can be useful, but it's heavy & expensive. So, I buy personal size bible of different versions instead! Easier to carry around too!

4) Gospel- Not Diluted nor changed

As we obey Jesus’ command to us to proclaim the Gospel, the Gospel we proclaim should be what is revealed in the Holy Scripture, God’s Word to us (the canonical OT & NT). When the gospel is preached, it should be centered in the preaching “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). The Penal-substitutionary nature of Christ’s atonement should be taught. Christians sometimes forget that we depend on Christ's death on the cross for our salvation. The ‘disappearance’ of Christ from Roman Catholics’ crucifix, during the Reformation of the 1500s, tells us that Christ has risen. He is risen for our sake. If Christ is not raised, what we are preaching would be in vain. If we do not believe Christ has risen, what we believe would be in vain. Christianity is not a religion, it is a historical fact.

Paul’s words “and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19, ESV) is what we urgently need.

5) Evangelism: The Biblical “witness”/ Be a Witness

The task of evangelism and disciple-making should be the primary and urgent task of our church. However, as a witness to Christ, there is no need to denigrate other religions. We should live in harmony with those of other faiths (though not obliterating the biblical teaching to keep our worship of God separate from these faiths).

Evangelism is telling others about the gospel, or to put it more plainly it’s about telling others about Jesus. But, do we really know what the gospel message involves? Too often, the latter (“telling others about Jesus”) often translates into “telling others about ourselves”! We simply talk about their ‘changed’ lives. We start recounting how Christianity has impacted our own lives. This is an underestimation of the power of the gospel! We try to add our side of the story. It is as though if we do not give our personal testimony, our non-Christian friend would not be lead to Christ!

However, there is a difference between our own testimony (personal experience) about our journey to faith and the Biblical “witness” to Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t replace the biblical testimony with our personal testimony. The content of evangelism should be the Biblical witness to Christ and God, not our journey to faith. Will Metzger in his very helpful book, Tell the Truth (IVP), says that, “the content [of the Biblical witness] is Christ and God, not our journey to faith. Our personal testimony may be included, but witnessing is more than reciting our spiritual autobiography. Specific truths about a specific person are the subject of our proclamation. A message has been committed to us—a word of reconciliation to the world (2 Corinthians 5:19).”(p. 24)

Before we are to be able to explain to non-Christians the biblical witness to Christ, we need to know our Biblical facts well. Before we start telling people the truth in love, we need to know what does it means to “tell people the truth”? To understand “the truth”, we need to be very clear about who Jesus is and understand something of the nature of his saving work. This is where theology comes in. The doctrine of God tells us the character of God (His attributes), the Trinity, and the Creation of the Universe. The doctrine of Man focuses on the creation of Man, it tells us why God create us, how did God make us like himself, and what does the scripture mean by “soul” and “spirit”. It also explains what is sin, and where did it come from. The doctrine of Christ explains the atonement. Was it necessary for Christ to die? What really happened in the atonement? What was the significance of Christ’s resurrection and ascension? What happened to Christ when he ascended into heaven?

The gospel is the saving work of Christ as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, together with the gospel imperative to repent and believe. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (ESV) reads:

v1) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, v2)and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. v3) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, v4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, v5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. V6) Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. v7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. v8) Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. v9) For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. v10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. v11) Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

v12) Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? v13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. v14) And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

With these basic presuppositions about God, creation, man, sin and salvation, we are then ready to engage in evangelism! These constitute the “truth” we must tell non-Christians in love. Through this message, God’s creates faith and enables sinners to believe.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (in his The Presentation of the Gospel), reminds us that the supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God. This brings us correctly back to the top on our list of “Response & Responsibility”, which is to give Glory to God.

6) The Church- A Witnessing Body

May we be reminded that the physical building we use for worship is not an end in itself. It should serve to remind us of our spiritual calling to be united in truth and holiness, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. If the building does not help us to be spiritually-minded, then it is a curse rather than a blessing to us. It is the spiritually-minded people that form the church, and not the bricks and cement. May that message serve our church well till the Lord's return.

In Ephesians, Paul reminds us that the church is not an institution, but a living organism of which all believers are members, and Christ is the head. Because the church is more than an association or an institution, believers must learn to out a life which reflect us being the body of Christ. When describing the Presbyterian missionary work in the 1880s to early 1900s period, Bobby Sng wrote that the reason why many were ready to accept the gospel was that the immigrant population “discovered in the churches compassion and practical help they needed so badly” (p. 102). [In His Good Time: The Story of the Church in Singapore 1819-2002 (Third Edition). Singapore: Bible Society of Singapore/ Graduates’ Christian Fellowship, 1980, 1993, 2003.] As Singaporeans become affluent, are we still able to show compassion towards one another. Are we still able to accept the differences (be it character, or socio-economic, racial) of others?

“be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10, ESV)

A Prayer of Ulrich Zwingli

Almighty, eternal and merciful God, whose Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, open and illuminate our minds, that we may purely and perfectly understand thy Word and that our lives may be conformed to what we have rightly understood, that in nothing we may be displeasing unto thy majesty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Timothy George, Theology of the Reformers (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1988), p. 129)

A Prayer of Martin Luther

Beyond, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled.
My Lord, fill it.
I am weak in the faith; strengthen thou me.
I am cold in love; warm me and make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbour.
I do not have a strong and firm faith; at times I doubt and am unable to trust thee altogether.
O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in thee.
In thee I have sealed the treasures of all I have.
I am poor; thou art rich and didst come to be merciful to the poor.
I am a sinner; thou art upright.
With me there is an abundance of sin; in thee is the fullness of righteousness.
Therefore, I will remain with thee of whom I can receive but to whom I may not give.
Amen.
(Clyde Manschreck, ed., Prayers of the Reformers (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1958), p. 79.)

The Earliest Church in Singapore

The Armenian Christians & CatholicsI was traveling along Victoria St a few days back. I saw a banner which says that the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (Catholic) (founded 1832), will be celebrating its 160th Anniversary (1846-2006) on Corpus Christi this year (18 June 2006). Wah …, that’s a long history, considering that Raffles only came to Singapore in 1819. Singapore is only 187 years old (1819-2006). But, the Catholics were not the first to start a church here. About 2 years after Raffles arrival, the first church in Singapore was founded. It is the Armenian Street of St. Gregory the Illuminator, located along Hill Street, which is just a few hundred meters away from the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (Catholic). The Armenian Church is Singapore's first and oldest church. In 1821, the Armenian community was already having regular religious services in rented rooms in Commercial Square (present day Raffles Place). The building we see today was completed in 1835. It was built by colonial architect George Drumgoole Coleman. It is named Armenian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator because the church was dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator, the first monk of the Armenian Church. The total cost of the building is recorded as 5,058.30 Spanish Dollars.

The Anglican Church

Straight cross Victoria Street, next to City Hall MRT, we have the first Anglican Church in Singapore, St Andrew’s Cathedral. The emergence of the Church of England has a rich and colourful history relating to King Henry VIII. For local Anglicans, they (St Andrew Cathedral) celebrated its 150th Anniversary Service of St Andrew’s church mission on June 4, 2006. St Andrew’s Cathedral was birthed on Pentecost Sunday in 1856. On 25 June 1856, the St Andrew’s Church Mission was organized. St Andrew’s Church (now a cathedral) was consecrated in 1838. In 1872, Rev. Gomes arrived in 1872 and was appointed superintendent of the St Andrew’s Church Mission. He was able to preach in Tamil, Malay ad Hokkien! Between 1872 and 1890, the mission had a total of 356 baptisms (Sng, p. 75). Rev. Gomes died in 2 March 1902 at the full age of 75 years. According to Bobby Sng, “In spite of failing health in his later years, he carried on his ministry right to the end”(p. 75). Today, the Anglican Church has some 40 congregations in 26 parishes, with an estimated membership of about 25 000. The parishes include All Saints Church, Chapel of Christ the King, Chapel of the Resurrection, Christ Church, Church of Our Saviour, Church of the Ascension, Church of the Epiphany, Church of the Good Shepherd, Church of the True Light, Holy Trinity Church, Light of Christ City Church, Marine Parade Christian Centre, St George’s Church, St Jame’s Church, St John’s-St Margaret’s Church, and St Matthew’s Church. Since the formation of the Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia (a grouping of the diocese of Kuching, Sabah, Singapore & West Malaysia), its current bishop Rt Rev John Chewis also the 3rd Anglican Archbishop of the Province.

The Presbyterian Church

Interestingly, another church nearby (about 3 bus stops away), the Orchard Road Presbyterian Church (ORPC) was also founded in 1856. Thus, 1856 saw the inauguration of both the Presbyterian and the Anglican Mission. Today, ORPC has four different language congregations (English, Mandarin, German, and Indonesian). ORPC is also celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year.

150 years may be long, but ORPC is not the oldest church in Singapore. At Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church (PSPC), we see God’s 163 Years of Faithfulness (1843-2006)! With 163 years of history, PSPC is the oldest existing Protestant church in Singapore. PSPC was originally a Malay chapel for local Malay-speaking Chinese. It was started by former LMS missionary Benjamin Keasberry in 1843. [Keasberry was born of British parents in India in 1811. He was conversant with the Malay language. When the LMS left Singapore, Keasberry resigned from the LMS as they wanted to remain so as to continue with their work among the Malays. He believed his main minstry was to the Malays. … but we know that he did church planting work among two ethnic groups - the Chinese and the Malays. Keasberry translated the New Testament into Romanised Malay and published it in 1853. This was followed 3 years later by an Arabic text. According to Bobby Sng in his In His Good Time, “Keasberry also compiled a Malay hymnal which remained as the standard hymnal for Malay speaking Christians for many decades” (p. 53). Keasberry also wrote numerous tracts. All these are in addition to his weakly Sunday preaching schedule, managing a printing-press and conducting a boarding school. …. This is sure hard work!! …. And for 38 year, he did all these! … … and we mustn’t forget that Keasberry “had a weak heart and was warned often to reduce his load of work” (Sng, p. 54). Isn’t this very much similar to Rev. Gomes (of the St Andrew’s Church Mission) who carried on his ministry right to the end of his life? Their pioneering ministry provided the springboard for the subsequent development of both the Anglican and Presbyterian Church in Singapore. According to the Department of Statistics 2001, 99.6% of Malays follow Islam. Of the remaining 0.4%, some are definitely Christians, and I believe the efforts of Keasberry remain today! 0.4% may seem small, but we must keep in mind that the “the very nature of lslamic dctrines and the close affinity of the Malays to their religion, posed formidable obstacles to their conversion to any other religion” (Sng, p. 55).] At its opening service, over 60 Malays and others attended. In a way, we can say that the Malay chapel is the forerunner of Presbyterian Churches. According to In His Good Time (Third Edition), Bobby Sng tells us that “[i]n its 20 years of existence, there were only 82 baptisms” and “a number backslided later from the faith” (p. 100). So, in Oct 1879, help was sought from the ORPC to supervise it. For PSPC, according to the website, it has “a rich heritage with members whose families go back many generations”. PSPC has also planted Adam Road Presbyterian Church (ARPC).

Diagonally across PSPC, we have another century-old Presbyterian church, the Singapore Life Church (SLC). SLC is a member of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore. It is located along Prinsep Street and has a congregation of more than 700 people worshipping in 3 different services- Teochew/Mandarin, English and Mandarin respectively. The English service has a congregation of 125 and the remaining 651 to the Teochew/Mandarin and Mandarin services.

As early Singapore is also made up of a majority of Chinese dialect-speaking migrants, besides the English speaking churches, there are also numerous Chinese dialect-speaking churches, and the Glory Presbyterian Church (GPC) at Bt Timah is the oldest Chinese-speaking church in Singapore. GPC (which Rev. Keasberry helped to found) was initially a preaching station and Bt Timah was still a village then. The success of the Chinese Presbytery of the present-day Presbyterian Church can be traced back to the work of Rev. J. A. B. Cook of the English Presbyterian Mission, whose “intent was to work among the Chinese abroad” and “heart was in foreign mission work among those who had never heard the gospel” (p.100). Rev. Cook first went to Swatow in China to learn the Teochew dialect. In 1882, “Cook’s first responsibility was to take charge of the congregation at Bt Timah, by which then had fallen to just 39 members” (Sng, p. 101). He undertook corrective measures to tackle problems, one of which is the unwillingness to set aside Sunday as a day of worship. From this congregation at Bt Timah, the present Bethel Church (at Jalan Lateh), Singapore Life Church (SLC) and the Jubilee Church was born.

In 1883, SLC was founded. It was started by group of members who rented a room at Prinsep Street. In 1885, this group moved to Keasberry’s Malay Chapel [our present-day PSPC]. At the Prinsep Street Presbyterian Chapel, Sunday services were combined with a Baptist church as there were not many members then. For a few decades, it shared the same premises with the PSPC. To me, this is an amazing display of cooperation and unity in Christ. Seldom seen today….! On 15 June 1901, the 1st Singapore Presbyterian Church (SPC) Conference was held at Life Church then known as "Teck Khak". In 4 Jan 1917, the land at 142-144 Prinsep Street (the site we are at today) was purchased and rented out. In 3 Oct 1928, Teck Khak began the construction of it's new building. Rev John Williams was invited to hold the ceremony and SPC sent relatives, Tan Lin Tian and Liauw Tian Yak to attend. In Spring 1929, Tek Khak invited Rev Kwok Jing Hoon and SPC representatives to participate in the ceremony celebrating the completion of the new church building and Pastors' building. The church was renamed "Say Mia Tng Teck Khak". The church's goal was to promote bible knowledge and Christianity. … … so what happened to the Teochew-speaking Baptists who had worshipped at this Tekka Church (our present Singapore Life Church)? They (30 of them) left Tekka Church to form the Oversea-Chinese (Swatow) Baptist Church of Singapore.

During World War II, Singapore was conquered and all Western preachers were captured. Under the Japanese occupancy, work of churches were mostly regulated. God was gracious to Life Church (SLC) as daily business, e.g., Sunday Worship and Outreach Ministry were allowed to run as per normal. Hey, this is what I call amazing grace.

After WWII, in Oct 1950, SLC’s English Worship was set up. The worship service met from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm on Sunday. The official number of members attending was more than a 100. It was then held at the Main Sanctuary of the church. On 18 Aug 1955, The members of Life Church separated into 3 congregations, namely, "Teck Khak", "Newton" and "English Service". Members voted to decide which church they belonged and the results were 332, 107 and 129 respectively. In June 1956, the church rented a piece of land at Changi 10 Mile Stone to build an outreach center called Changi Outreach Station. In Jan 1959, English Life Church purchased land in Newton to build a church which was completed on Oct 1960. They shifted into the new premises from Life Church on the 3rd Sunday of October 1960 and celebrated her 10th Thanksgiving Anniversary. She was then named "Singapore Christian Bible Presbyterian Life Church". In 19 Jan 1969, SLC decided to rebuild the church. The old building was over 40 years old and the roof was leaking and was infected with termites. Moreover, the existing space was not sufficient to meet the rising demand of the various departments. So, in 10 March 1974, the old church building was demolished. In 21 April 1974, a ceremony was held on Easter Sunday to commemorate the beginning of the church building project. In 26 Dec 1975, t he Registrar of Society approved the Chinese and English church name. The initial Roman pronunciation of "Say Mia Tng Teck Khak" (you would not be able to pronounce this if you do not know the Chinese dialect Teochew) given in 1929 was told to change to English by the order of Registrar of Society in 1975. Session decided to rename it to "Singapore Life Church".

On 29 May 1977, a Thanksgiving Service was conducted by Rev Paul Hsiu (The Presbyterian Synod's Moderator) to commemorate the completion of the new building. In 1983, SLC (then called Life Church) celebrated her 100th year anniversary. In Sept 1983, (04 Sept-09 Sept), a spiritual renewal cum gospel rally was held in Life Church. The first 3 nights were for spiritual revival meetings and the last for gospel rally. Rev Dr Maak Hay Chun was invited as speaker for this event. (Source: http://www.antioch.com.sg/sg/slc/history.htm)

However, as early Singapore is also made up of a majority of Chinese dialect-speaking migrants, besides the English speaking churches, there are also numerous Chinese dialect-speaking churches. For example, Jubilee Church (1883- ), was at first an endeavor of the Rev. J. A. B. Cook of the English Presbyterian Mission. According to the Church’s website:

He came to Singapore in 1881 after learning the Teochew dialect in China (in the region called “Swatow”). He immediately took charge of the congregation at Bukit Timah (later known as the Glory Presbyterian Church) which was set up by Benjamin P. Keasberry of the London Missionary Society and Tan See Boo in 1857. As the church grew, the congregation decided to plant new churches since some church members lived too far from the church. One of the extending groups, the Hokkien-speaking group started meeting at Hong Lim market. The year was 1883 and Singapore was an immigrant society under British rule. The church later gathered in the Eastern School in Ansiang Hill, and by 1898, it had installed its first Chinese moderator, the Rev. Tay Sek Tin.

The first church building was built in Tanjong Pagar in 1904 and was completed in 1905; it was named the Tanjong Pagar Church. As the congregation grew, the church again erected a new building in Outram Road in 1939. It then adopted the name Outram Road Tanjong Pagar Church. Meanwhile, some Tanjong Pagar residents still worshipped in the old building. In January 1946 the name “Jubilee Church” was officially introduced in conjunction with the forthcoming fiftieth anniversary (1954) and to celebrate the end of the Japanese occupation.

As a denomination, the Presbyterian Church in Singapore celebrated its 125th Anniversary this year. Its theme for its anniversary celebration is “Growing in Christ, Embracing the Future”. Organized as a Synod with 2 Presbytery (English and Chinese), the Presbyterian Church in Singapore currently has 40 churches with about 16000 members. The Presbyterian Church sees the need to “take stock of its Reformed Traditions and beliefs”.

Reformed Christians have a bad reputation for not being concerned about evangelism. However, as I look at the history of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore, who says the Presbyterian, with its understanding of Reformed Theology, is not concerned with mission or evangelism? In the book In His Good Time: The Story of the Church in Singapore 1819-2002 (Third Edition) [Singapore: Bible Society of Singapore/ Graduates’ Christian Fellowship, 1980,1993, 2003] Bobby Sng tells us that one of the reasons for the steady growth of the Presbyterian churches in Singapore between the 1880s and early 1900 was that the “Presbyterian churches had always placed great emphasis on evangelism” (p. 102).

A correct understanding of the Calvinistic/ Reformed Theology would not allow so-called ‘limited atonement’ to hinder evangelism and missionary efforts.

The Methodist Church

Of course, one shouldn't forget the Methodist (of which I am one [Calvinistic Methodist]) either. While the Methodists [America Methodist Episcopal Church] went to Foochow in 1847, and the Presbyterians [English Presbyterian Mission] only entered China [Amoy] in 1848, the Methodists arrived in Singapore later the Presbyterians. The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) celebrated its 120th Anniversary in 2005 (1885-2005). Its first church is Wesley Methodist Church (120 years). The second oldest Methodist Church in Singapore, is Tamil Methodist Church at Short Street. It celebrated its 118th Anniversary on Sept 25, 2005.As I was searching the web and found this, this came as a surprise to me. I never knew there was such an old Tamil church in Singapore. The third oldest Methodist Church in Singapore is a Chinese Methodist Church, the Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church at Telok Ayer Street. It celebrated its 116th Anniversary in 2005. The church building we see today at Telok Ayer Street is 80 years old. Foochow Methodist Church came into existence in mid-December 1897. As such, Foochow Methodist Church is the second oldest church in the Chinese Annual Conference (CAC). CAC’s Geylang Methodist Church is 100 years old (1905-2005), while TRAC’s Paya Lebar Methodist Church is 74 years ago.

The Methodist Church was founded by Anglo-American Methodist missionaries from India, William Oldham and James Thoburn. According to the MCS's website,

The MCS derives its beginnings from a missionary initiative of the South India Conference led by Dr James Thoburn (Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Southern Asia) in 1885. Its early foundations were laid by the Rev Wiliam F Oldham, who established the Mission and its first English language boys' school in 1886.Together with two girls' schools begun in 1887 and 1888, the Mission developed linguistic ministries in nearly all the local vernaculars,a medical clinic, and school hostels for foreign boys and homeless girls.

Thereafter, the Mission rapidly spread to the main towns of the Malayan Peninsula and Sarawak, where churches and schools that were twinned with them provided a base for missionary outreach in English and the vernacular languages. Like most other missions, the Methodist Mission in Singapore and Malaya expanded and matured - first becoming a Conference, then Conferences spanning South-east Asia, and the establishment of the South-east Asian Central Conference in 1950.

The Malaysian and Singapore components became autonomous in 1968, and thus became an Asian church with a bishop that was elected from amongst its ministers. In 1976, the process was repeated when it was restructured into The Methodist Church in Singapore,and Malaysia, respectively.

The Methodist Church in Singapore is currently made up of a General Conference (meet once every four years) and 3 Annual Conferences: Chinese Annual Conference (CAC), Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference (ETAC) and Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC). TRAC, CAC, ETAC has a total of 42 churches, with a membership of more than 32,000. The MCS represent one of the largest Protestant denominations and cater to all the languages used in the Republic: the vernaculars like Hokkien, Foochow, Hakka, Hinghwa,Teochew and Cantonese, as well as Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English, which is the language of choice. With Chinese (including its dialect) speaking, English Speaking and Tamil speaking congregations, the MCS reflects Singapore's multiple ethnic groups.

The MCS is Episcopal in its church polity. It is headed by Bishop Dr Robert Solomon (previously principal of Trinity Theological College, Singapore), who is elected at its General Conference. Each of the Annual Conferences is headed by a President.

The 16th World Methodist Conference was convened at the Westin Stamford (Singapore) from July 24 to 31, 1991.

(Further Reading: Robbie B H Goh, Sparks of Grace: The Story of Methodism in Asia. Singapore: The Methodist Church in Singapore, Dec 2003. 209 pages. $13. Associate Professor Robbie B H Goh is Deputy Head of the Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Signapore. He is also a member of Cairnhill Methodist Church. This book chronicles the work of the Methodist Church in Asia. It tell the “Methodist Story” in a country by country format of the Asian countries Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, The Philippines, Indonesian, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. We see how missionaries planted churches, how people spread their faith despite the social and political challenge.)

Mission schools

The Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians set up mission schools. They are also concerned with imparting moral values to the young and instilling in them the love for God.

The Roman Catholics built schools, such as Assumption English School (1953), Assumption Vocational Institute , Canossa Convent Primary School (1947) , the CHIJ schools (Canossa Convent Primary School (1947), Bukit Timah (Primary) (1955), Katong (Primary) (1959), Kellock Primary (1964), St Joseph's Convent (1938), Our Lady of the Nativity (1957)), St Joseph's Institution (1852), & St Patrick's School (1933).

The Anglicans have the St Andrew schools (Junior, Secondary & JC), St Hilda’s & St Margret School. The Methodists have the ACS schools (Junior, Secondary [Barker], Independent [Dover] & JC), Fairfield Methodist School (Primary & Secondary) and MGS, etc.. The Methodist schools represent the major educational trust of the MCS. There are 13 primary and secondary schools and a junior college. For more than a century, they have helped to play an important role in the human resource development of Singapore. The Presbyterians have ………..

As Bobby Sng in his In His Good Time remind us, the question to ask is this: “What is the church’s primary objective in promoting education? Is it an end itself, or does it serves as a means to fulfill the church’s evangelistic mandate?”(p.150). For me, I think it serve both purposes (though I see the latter as more important than the former) and they do not contradict each other. But, does the bible mention anything about mission schools? Is setting up of mission schools biblical? What about the problem of proselytization?

In an article entitled “Evangelism—Our Supreme Need”, I think Rev. Goh Hoon Keng’s comment when he examined the educational policy of the Methodist mission is also useful to our understanding on the role of mission schools in evangelism: “Our business is not merely to educate, we have a far greater and bigger task to perform. Our supreme task is, by God’s help, to get the thousands of young people in our schools and boarding schools into a vital relationship and contact with God through Jesus Christ, so that they may be men and women of solid, sterling character, who will go out and fill their places in the world, and be a blessing to mankind and a glory to God. In so far as we succeed in achieving this end, is the educational policy of the mission justified” (Wong Hoon Hee (ed.), Memoirs of the Late Rev. Goh Hoon Keng (Singapore), p.99. cited in Sng, p. 152.).

Though mission schools may be a means to fulfill the church’s evangelistic mandate, we should neither forget nor neglect the need for direct evangelism. I think the bible’s teaching is still on the power of the gospel unto salvation for those who hears it. The Catholics in Singapore have more schools than the Protestants, but I don’t think their percentage increase in numbers is not more than the Protestants.

20th Century Church Growth

Western missionary impulse and initiative led to the founding of several more denominational churches. The Seventh-day Adventists (I do not consider it a Christian church!) came in 1908. The Assemblies of God (1933), Salvation Army (1935), Southern Baptists (1950), United Lutheran Church of America (1952), and Church of Christ (1956).

The Assemblies of God

The Assembly of God Churches include Berean Assembly of God, Bethany Christian Centre, Bethel Assembly of God Church, Calvary Assembly of God Church, Emmanuel Assembly of God, Elim Church Assembly of God, Eternal Life Assembly, Evangel Assembly of God, Faith Assembly of God Church, Grace Assembly of God Church, Harvester Assembly of God Church, Herald Assembly of God Church, Living Spring Fellowship, New Life Church, Smyrna Assembly, The Harvester Force, Trinity Christian Centre, and Victory Family Centre.

Baptist Churches- Southern Baptists (1950)

In the outlining of the history of the Presbyterian Church in Sinagpore, I noted that for a period of time, Teochew-speaking Baptists worshipped together with the Teochew-speaking Presbyterians at the Tekka Church (our present Singapore Life Church). The Sunday services were combined as both parties do not have many members then. For the Teochew-speaking Baptists, their lack of effective leadership prevented them with organizing themselves into a church. To me, I think God sometimes use our lack of resources to unite us together. When we have too much resources, we think of spliting!! One should also not forget that TTC was also “birthed” in the prisons of Changi, during times of great desperation and anguish.

In 1937, these Teochew-speaking Baptists (30 of them) left Tekka Church to form the Oversea-Chinese (Swatow) Baptist Church of Singapore. In 1955, the church moved and came to be known as the Thomson Rd Baptist Church. In 1949, the Kay Poh Baptist Church, then known as the Oversea-Chinese (Cantonese) Baptist Church of Singapore, was formed.

The Baptist Churches in Singapore include Abundant Life Baptist Church, Acts Baptist Church, Agape Baptist Church, Community of Praise Baptist Church, Covenant Community Baptist Church, Calvary Baptist Church, Life Baptist Church, Faith Community Baptist Church, Gospel Baptist Church, Grace Baptist Church, Kay Poh Baptist Church, International Baptist Church, Leng Kwang Baptist Church, Maranatha Baptist Church, New Life Baptist Church, Queenstown Baptist Church, Redeemer Baptist Church.

The Lutheran Church in Singapore

Of the 4 denominations, the Lutherans only came in the late 1950s. In the late 1950s, Lutheran missionaries from America started work that led to the formation of the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore. However, since the early 1900s, there have been Lutheran Christians in Singapore and Malaya. They were members of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC). In August 1996, the Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS) was gazetted as an independent national church. Its doctrinal statement is(http://www.lutheran.org.sg/background.htm):

We confess Jesus Christ as Lord of the Church and acknowledge the Holy Scriptures as the norm for faith and life. We believe in the scriptural principle of the priesthood of all believers. As such, we encourage all our members to participate in the various works of the Church, through local congregations and central committees. The main objectives of the Lutheran Church in Singapore are:

· To proclaim the Gospel to all people in Singapore
· To participate in world wide mission
· To gather into fellowship & nurture those believers who respond in faith to the Gospel

The Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (LCOR) ) (at Duke’s Rd) is the first Lutheran Church in Singapore. It has a unique history in establishing a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic Church in Singapore. It was formed when the Tamils, Bataks, Chinese and Europeans came together to form the first Lutheran Church in Singapore. These groups brought with them rich cultural backgrounds, which enable one to learn and respect the other in the family of God.

The Lutheran Conference transpired from the efforts of Dr Anspach, an American Lutheran missionary working in Malaya. This comprised of representatives from the various Lutheran groups in Malaya (TELC, HKBP and United Lutheran Church Mission). The LCOR was a project from the Lutheran Conference. All the groups expressed a desire for inter-Lutheran co-operation and Singapore was chosen as the natural place for this type of co-operation to begin.

The conference saw a bright future for the growth of a Lutheran Church with the presence of Tamil Lutherans and HKBP members in Singapore. The three groups could share the land and building. On 6 March 1960, pastor John R. Nelson, then President of the Lutheran Conference, dedicated the Church. The name chosen for the Church, The Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer signifies the common faith in Christ who redeems our differences so as to make people free to serve the Lord and fulfil His mission on earth. (source: http://www.lcor.org.sg/oldsite/aboutus.html)

The Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Singapore is Rev John Tan. The Lutherans currently worshipped at several locations in Singapore, namely the Bedok Lutheran Church, Jurong Christian Church, Lutheran Church Of Our Redeemer, Mas Kuning Lutheran Church, Queenstown Lutheran Church, Yishun Christian Church (Lutheran), and the Thai Good News Center (http://www.lutheran.org.sg/worship.htm).

The Brethen Church

In the list of local churches with a history of more than 100 years, there is also the Brethen Church. The origin of the Brethren churches in Singapore is the Plymouth Brethren (also called the Open Brethren. They are also those who brought us dispensationalism), not the German Brethren (the Anabaptists). These two groups are not related to each other. The German Brethren movement was founded by Alexander Mack (1679-1735) and seven other German believers in Schwarzenau, Germany, in 1708], which celebrated its 140th years of “Bethesda legacy” a few years back (I think it is 2004). The first Christian Brethren congregation was formed by the English merchant Philip Robinson in 1864. From the history of the Brethen Church in Singapore, we can see that God do not only work through missionary agencies. The bible tell us that people can bring the gospel with them wherever they went and found churches (see the example of the Antioch church in Acts 11:19). In 1857, Philip Robinson (born in England but migrated to Australia when he was 19) came to Sinagpore and found employment as an assistant in a commercial firm. One of Singaporean’s favourite shopping outlet Robinson, was founded by Philip Robinson. Philip Robinson’s brethren upbringing led him to start the Brethen movement in Sinagpore in 1864. On 3 July 1864, the first Brethen Service was started in a rented room at 108 Bencoolen Street! On Sept 1866, a new meeting place with a seating capacity of 60 (which later increased to 150 through the addition of an extension) was built at 77 Bras Basah Rd. It was known as the Bethsda Chapel [which later become known as the Bethsda Gospel Hall]. The Chinese Gospel Hall was formed when See Boo and Rev. A. Grant left the Presbyterian mission to join the Brethren. Both of them were fluent in Hokkien. (both belonged to the Presbyterian mission! Rev. W. Jeffrey also resigned to join the Brethen!)

The Brethren believed that baptism must only be for believers and to be carried out by immersion. They believed that as an infant is unable to make a choice to receive Christ into his life, there is therefore no place for infant baptism. Only those who have conscientiously repented of their sins and have placed their trust in Jesus Christ are to be baptized by immersion. This mode is preferred for its parallel imagery to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is in contrast to the Presbyterians and Methodists who practice infant baptism and allow baptism either by sprinkling and immersion. As the Brethren see all Christians equal before God, they do not have ordained priests and pastors. This is in contrast to the Presbyterians Methodists who have pastors, and the Anglicans and Methodists who are Episcopal in church polity. The Brethren are committed to missionary work and hold that the Holy Bible is the first authority in matters of faith. AS they believe the revealed and inspired Word of God is a sufficient rule not only for faith but practice, they have framed no written creed. Each assembly (or congregation) is independent of the others in both doctrinal matters and church administration (have their own body of elders and deacons), and yet, in practice, there is a high degree of communication and cooperation between them.

The Brethen Churches, or called the Bethsda Church (Gospel Hall), can be found at Bedok-Tampines, Frankel Estate, Bukit Arang, Ang Mo Kio, Katong, Serangoon, and Bukit Panjang.

After World War Two

Besides Western missionary effort, Asian Christians set up Syrian Christian and Chinese Baptist Churches in the 1930s. After WWII, several largely indigenous denominations were founded: the Bible-Presbyterian Church (1950), the Bible Church (1958), and Christian Nationals’ Evangelism Commission (1960).

The Bible-Presbyterian Church (1950)

The Bible-Presbyterian churches in Singapore includes Bethlehem Bible-Presbyterian Church, Calvary Bible-Presbyterian Church, Cana Bible-Presbyterian Church, Eden Bible-Presbyterian Church, Faith Bible-Presbyterian Church, Galilee Bible-Presbyterian Church, Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church, Grace Bible-Presbyterian Church, Hebron Bible-Presbyterian Church, Life Bible-Presbyterian Church, Maranatha Bible-Presbyterian Church, Mount Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church, Mount Hermon Bible-Presbyterian Church, Nazareth Bible-Presbyterian Church, New Life Bible-Presbyterian Church and Sembawang Bible-Presbyterian Church, Shalom Bible-Presbyterian Church, Sharon Bible-Presbyterian Church, and Zion Bible-Presbyterian Church.

The Bible-Presbyterian church has seven roots. Here I describe six of the more important ones.

1) French: John Calvin (the 16th Century Reformation) who wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion.
[..... ... .... to be updated!!]

Christian Nationals’ Evangelism Commission (CNEC) (1960)

The CNEC was formed during WWII through the joint efforts of three American businessmen and Dr. N.A. Kepson. These people knew that “the days of Western missionary efforts were probably drawing to a close and that Chinese nationals themselves must be involved with in reaching their own people” (p.212).

The Evangelical Reformed Churches in Singapore (ERCS)

The Evangelical Reformed Churches in Singapore (ERCS) was first established in 1982, though its early years in Singapore can be traced back as early as 1962 by a teacher in a government school (the Monks' Hill Secondary School) by the name of Goh Seng Fong. (Rev. Goh later went on to establish a Baptist church, known as the Emmanuel Baptist Church instead!)The ERCS is in the Dutch Reformed Tradition and uphold the Reformed Standard of the Three Forms of Unity, which comprise the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort. (See http://www.prca.org/singapore.html for a write-up by Pastor Lau Chin Kwee of the history of the ERCS’s history)

As in the history of the various denominations, other denominations’ is inevitably found. For the ERCS, in its early years, we see also early Baptistic influence. We see the Bible-Presbyterian (B-P) Church’s presence. Their pastors were trained at the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC). The Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) in the US rendered help to Gospel Literature and Tract Society (GLTD, ERCS) when it sought help from PRC.

For the ERCS, the Lord's Providence of Church Premises was seen. The Lord was also gracious in providing their two churches with their own church premises. This is indeed a marvel as the two ERCS’s churches has only a combined membership of some 300, and this is within 12 years since the institution of the first Reformed church.

The Pentecostals and Charismatics

1) Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC)

FCBC was established by Rev Lawrence Khong in 1986. In 1988, it became a cell group church. According to the church’s website (http://www.fcbc.org.sg/fcbc_milestones.asp), the Holy Spirit visited the church powerfully one Sunday in March 1990. The church became sensitive and moved in the things of the Spirit from then. In 1991, TOUCH Equipping Stations System (TESS), the comprehensive training programme was started to provide training for believers as well as pastoral staff. FCBC launched the 1st International Conference on Cell Group Churches (ICCGC). In 1992, FCBC's social welfare arm, TOUCH Community Services, was established to provide community-based services to strengthen the family and develop the individual. In 1993, TOUCHCENTRE, FCBC's first celebration centre with a seating capacity of 1,600 was opened. A year later, in 1994, FCBC had a greater challenge to take the cities for God through strategic-level spiritual warfare. In 1995, Vision 2001 was revealed to FCBC and churches in the Love Singapore movement to see the nation of Singapore know the love and lordship of Jesus. Having been a cell group church for 8 years, in 1996, FCBC mobilised 1,200 of its members into the mission fields for two weeks to model the cell life church in over ten countries. That year, it also celebrated its 10th year of existence and Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong led the first 40-day fast to build stronger relationships and have greater effectiveness in the ministry. In 1997, TOUCH Community Theatre was inaugurated as a second place of celebration, with a direct video link to TOUCHCENTRE. That year, we launched the Love Singapore Fund as the umbrella for churches in Singapore to help those affected by the Asian Economic Crisis. 1999 was a special year for FCBC. In that year, FCBC multiplied tremendously with a 79% increase in cells and some 3,000 conversions. FCBC also participated in the Carlos Annacondia Rally (I do not really agree with the teaching of Carlos Annacondia’s ministry), which witnessed an attendance of 100,000 and some 5,000 salvations and healings.

In the year 2000, FCBC’s Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong was commissioned as an Apostle by Dr Peter Wagner of the International Coalition of Apostles. (In the bible, I find that the office of Apostle is no longer available, but the role of Apostles is still functioning. As such, I do not believe that a pastor should be called an apostle. Though Dr Peter Wagner used to be a professor of theology at Fuller, I believe the bible is our final authority, and not man.) FCBC ventured into the media ministry to reclaim this industry for Jesus Christ. In 2001, FCBC was part of the LoveSingapore churches 7-Wave Harvest. Thousands came to know the Lord. Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong launched an evangelistic magic-musical, Magic of Love, which was attended by 40,000 people. In 2002, FCBC transitions into a Government of 12 (G12) cell church. The G12 movement, founded by Pastor Cesar Castellanos, is a strategy for winning the world through evangelism and discipleship. Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong was commissioned to be a member of Ps Cesar's International G12. In 2003, FCBC successfully transitioned itself into a full-fledged G12 cell church by meeting our target of 1,728 leaders each for our Men and Women networks. We witnessed 943 baptisms in our church services - the largest number in the history of FCBC in any one year. In 2005, FCBC baptized over 900 converts.

2) New Creation Church (NCC)

According to NCC’s website (http://www.newcreation.org.sg/aboutus/history/history.htm), the church had a humble beginning.New Creation Church was founded in 1984 when a small group of young believers in Singapore decided to gather together. Their vision was to start an independent, non-denominational church that is based solely on the unchanging Word of God. From an initial attendance of 25, the church gradually grew to about 150 members by 1990.In June 1990, Joseph Prince, a founding member and pioneer leader of the church, was appointed as the senior pastor. This marked a new beginning for New Creation Church. As Pastor Prince focused on Jesus Christ and His grace, God began to multiply the church. By 1998, the congregation numbered about 3,000.

NCC said that 1998 was the year the Gospel Revolution begins. In 1998, Pastor Prince received a commission from God to preach grace even more radically, without any dilution or compromises. Since then, Pastor Prince has been continually leading the church to rediscover the beauty of the gospel of grace. This gospel revolution led to even more phenomenal numerical growth. God multiplied the church to more than 12,000 members. The people began to experience breakthroughs in the area of finances. Miraculous healings of cancers, tumours, kidney conditions, Aids and much more took place. Testimonies of restored marriages and relationships, and transformed lives also began to pour in.
Even more precious are the countless testimonies of Christians who, set free by God’s grace, have rediscovered a fresh and vibrant love relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today, New Creation Church holds its services at the Rock Auditorium in Suntec City Mall. Every weekend, long queues would form outside the auditorium before each service. But the ministry of the church extends beyond the walls of the Rock Auditorium. Through the weekly broadcasts of the church services in Uganda, and the sermon CDs and DVDs distributed worldwide, many lives have been touched.

According to the church’s website, “as New Creation Church continues to increase and grow, it seeks to always remain true to its vision — to see Jesus in all the loveliness of His Person and the perfection of His work, and to make Him known through the preaching of the gospel in Singapore and worldwide”.

Evangelical Parachurch organisations

Alongside the churches, several new evangelical parachurch organizations started ministries among students in schools, colleges, and universities, notably the Inter-Varsity Fellowship (IVCF, 1952), Youth for Christ (YFC, 1957), Scripture Union’s Inter-School Christian Fellowship (1958), and Fellowship of Evangelical students (1959). The Graduates’ Christian Fellowship started its witness to professionals in 1955.

Scripture Union Singapore is an inter-denominational organization. It is registered as a society in 1961 and a charity in 1990. It is an autonomous national movement of Scripture Union International which began in Wales, England in 1867. (http://www.su.org.sg/Home/History.cfm )

Theological education

As for the theological education in Singapore, the two main theological college is Trinity theological college (TTC) and Singapore Bible College (SBC). Both are inter-denominational.

(a) The Trinity theological college (TTC)

The Trinity theological college (TTC) was founded at Mount Sophia with the initial support of the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Anglican Churches on 4 Oct 1948. TTC was started so that local men and women could be trained to serve the local church.

(b) Singapore Bible College (SBC)

With the China mainland closed to evangelistic efforts & missionary activities after 1949 (due to Mao Tse Tung’s Communism), the Chinese churches here which had previously depended upon China for their supply of pastors and other workers had their source cut off. According to Bobby Sng in his In His Good Time, a local Chinese Bible school was badly needed. Though the TTC was then already in existence, “the liberal theological position of the Western scholarship failed to inspire much confidence among the more conservative leaders of the Chinese churches” (p.213). In other words, many of the leaders of the Chinese churches then did not trust TTC due to its Western-dominance, more liberal Western leadership, and more liberal theology. There are two main reason for this: (1) Many of the Chinese pastors and Christians came from Fujian Province (& other southern provinces), where Reformed theology had been dominant, so the Chinese churches then were more conservative. (2) The influence of John Sung. His unhappy experience at Union Theological Seminary, where his Christian faith had almost been destroyed, caused him to detest liberal theology. Between 31 August and 15 September 1935, there was 40 meetings at Telok Ayer Methodist Church and all the meetings were packed.

With the cooperation of Rev. Guoh Kok Moh, Rev. Yap Kok Hu, Mr Lim Yao Chang and others (mainly from the Singapore Chinese Inter-Church Union), SBC (then known as the Singapore Theological Seminary) was established in 1952 with 8 students. In the initial stage, the Chinese Nationals’ Evangelism Commission (CNEC) supplied three lecturers and sufficient funds needed for the college. The Overseas Missionary Fellowship cooperated by loaning two couples as teachers. In 1958, the English department was opened. Later, it was renamed Singapore Bible College. “By 1975, 187 students had graduated and the majority was serving God in different parts of Southeast Asia, thus fulfilling the basic aim of CNEC to train nationals to reach their own people.” (Sng, p.213)

For SBC, there seem to be a stronger Presbyterian presence though. This may be due to the larger number of Chinese-speaking congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Singapore. It should be noted that last two moderators (Rev. Tan C.H. & Rev. Phua C.S.) of the local Presbyterian Church are from the Chinese Presbytery. SBC has its 53^rd graduation ceremony on May 2006, so I think it should be about 55 years old. Besides these two “major” seminaries, there are also about 15 others seminaries, such as the East Asia School of Theology (EAST), Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), BGST, etc. Thus, besides the more ‘mainline’ TTC, we also have several more conservative Bible colleges and seminaries.

Increasing Membership

Over the past hundred years, the both the RC and Protestant churches in Singapore experienced growth in membership. Several Charismatic and Pentecostal churches had significant numerical growth. But, Church membership does not equate to weekly worship attendance. Numerical growth does not equate to real converts! Church growth may not necessarily mean healthy church growth. Church growth is also not more important than church health.

For the established denominational church, may we not fall into dead formalism and unhealthy sectarianism. For the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches, may we not be deceived into believing that numerical growth means a healthy church. Increasingly, we heard of churches who say they want to be like the New Testament church of the bible. They want apostles, prophets, miracles and tongue speaking. However, they seem to have forgotten that the bible have many examples of New Testament churches. Not all are healthy and not all are Christ-like in all areas! May we not just strive for an external similarity, but also an internal Christ-likeness.

The Cost of Building a Church

When the first Armenian Church was built in Singapore in the 1830s, total cost of the building is recorded as 5,058.30 Spanish Dollars. This sounds cheap! …but this is more than 170 years ago! With inflation, a simple church building today in Singapore can easily cost more than 5 million dollars (and this is excluding land cost). Singapore’s most expensive church, the City Harvest Church, was built for $47.6 million (include land purchase and building construction)!

God's faithfulness

In the 19th Century, after the founding of Singapore by Raffles, Protestant and Catholic missions began work among the European residents and then the Asians. The earliest Protestant groups to arrive were the London Missionary Society (LMS), the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and the Church Missionary Society.

As I look at God's faithfulness in the past 160+ years, we have both seen and experienced God's amazing grace. As the hymn reminds us….

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me!I once was lost, but now am found;Was blind, but now I see. .... Through many dangers, toils and snares,I have already come;....

A book on the Reformers

I am currently reading K James Stein's book Spiritual Guides for the 21st Century: Faith Stories of the Protestant Reformers (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2000). This is the first time I'm reading a book by K J. Stein, but I think it was well written. ... ... as I had expected. In the market today, there are so many books on the biographies of Christians who lived before us. So, why did I choose this book. Firstly, I think it is non-academic. Some biographies are like history textbooks, but this is not. The next reason is that it is written by a church historian who has taught in a theological seminary (Garrett-Evanelical TS) for more than thirty years. With his wealth of experience & knowledge, I believe this would be a good book. Thirdly, the important reformers are all covered. There is Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Menno Simons and Thomas Cranmer. The author begins with an introductory chapter titled "The World into which the Reformation came", which provided the readers with a brief intro to the political-socioeconomic background and cultural changes of the 16th Century. In every chapter on the different reformers, there are also sections on the particular reformer's understanding of the Christian faith and his insight for Christian living. Thus, this is not just a book on the lives of the reformers, but also provided the theology these reformers believed and lived. After every chapter, there is questions for personal or group reflection. This is a feature something not commonly found in other books of Christians biographies. I love biographies (though they may not always be accurate portrayals!!), and when I read this book, as was with John Wesley, I felt my heart strangely warmed.

DVC talk at SAC

The talk (1 & 2 June) by Dr Ben Witherington had been informative, yet not boring. He has the ability to keep his audience awake through humor. "Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, stick with these and you can't go wrong." What amazes me also is his ablility to preach without any notes. I think he has repeated this talk so many times he has probably memorised the whole thing! ... also, not forgetting that he has written more than a dozen books. In the 2-day talk, Dr Witherington exposed the 7 errors of the Da Vinci Code novel. As a preacher, he is certainly able to captivate the audience. ... btw. ... he looked different from his photograph at the back cover of one of his books.

God's Soverignty & Prayer

Does our Prayer change God’s mind? A quick response by many would be ‘Yes!’, otherwise why did the Lord tell us to pray. On first thought, this response seems correct & logical, but is it biblical?

According to the bible, it seems that God’s does not change his mind because of our prayer. Prayer is one of the means by which God gets His will done on earth. "Effective prayer is, as John said, asking in God's will (John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”). As such, our prayer should be in line with God’s mind. Of course, we don’t know the specifics of God’s mind, but we can always pray “thy will be done” as it is what Jesus had taught us.

As God is not limited by time, it seems that it is also logical to say that our Prayer does not change God’s mind. In his Monologion, Anselm had argued from God’s immutability to his timelessness. Maybe God exists outside time and sees all events simultaneously. Thus, He knows the “future” totally. God does not have the human limitations of knowledge that would require Him to change his mind because of our prayer. Thus, different from Open theism, God does not take a risk in creation. God is not only omnipotent, but also omniscient.

Though God’s does not change his mind because of our prayer, our prayer affects the outcome. This is a mystery and difficult to understand with our fallen reasoning.

If God’s does not change his mind because of our prayer. If God works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11) and that He is omniscience, then what is the point of praying that anything happen? To this question, I think we need to be reminded that the aim of prayer is not to change God, but to change our mind, change us. Through prayer, we learn to listen to God, to seek God, to change our self-centeredness. In our prayer journey, we learn to persevere.

May 24, 1738- What happened at Aldersgate?

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.---- from The Journal of John Wesley, May 24, 1738

This was John Wesley's Aldersgate experience, it happened more than 260 years ago. It was 1738 and John Wesley was at the age of 34. On May 24, 1738, he attended an evening worship service in London which moved him deeply. In his journal, Wesley described this as his "Aldersgate experience". As I reflect on John Wesley's Aldersgate experience, it can be seen that God can use anything, including a preface to change a person's heart. ... truly amazing! To those who say that reading commentary make them fall asleep, I would say that without the Holy Spirit & an interest in the study of God's Word, regardless of what we read, we would fall asleep! ... this is not just a simple change, but a significant one. How significant? It is a turning point in Wesley's life. It was said that he was able to travel 5,000 miles a year, preaching about 15 sermons a week. Wesley's energy was simply amazing. The meetings were attended by thousands. However, Wesley had not been always successful in his preaching. From his journal, we know that his mission trip to America was difficult and discouraging. While he was doing his missionary work in America (which is before his Aldersgate experience), many things didn't go right. ... ... this caused John Wesley to question his faith. John Wesley returned to England discouraged and intending to give up preaching. However, God wasn't going to allow him to give up. In his time of distress, he met Peter Böhler, a member of the German Moravian Brethren, who encourage him to "Preach faith 'til you have it, and then because you have it, you will preach faith."

Indeed, John Wesley did. At his gravestone, we can see these words:

This great light arose
(by the singular providence of God)
to enlighten these nations.
Reader, if thou art constrained
to bless the instrument,
give God the glory.

May God give us strength & determination to serve Him as John Wesley did! ... in whatever walks of life we may be in. To God be the Glory!

Further Reading

Twentieth-Century Interpretations of John Wesley's Aldersgate experience: Coherence or Cofusion? [by Kenneth J Collins]

Spirit and Form in Wesley's theology: A Response to Keefer's "John Wesley: Disciple of Early Christianity" [by Howard A Snyder]

Be Discerning through Knowing History

"When you see this [The Da Vinci Code] as a historian," I asked Dr. Paul Maier, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, "what does that do to you?" "Well, I worry about the truth. I really do," Maier replied. "What happens if a majority of the readers of this novel will believe all the lies that are included in the second half of the book? Will this become the majority opinion? And will those historians who are really seeking the truth be crowded out in the future? Actually, I am far more furious at The Da Vinci Code as a professor of ancient history than I am as a Christian. The church has been attacked for two thousand years now. Well, what's new? But I cannot stand it when universally accepted facts of the past are falsified. This I cannot take." Then he gave the ultimate insult a college professor can offer. "If a student of mine had written something like this," he declared, "I would flunk him!" --- From Exploring the Da Vinci Code: Investigating the Issues Raised by the Book and Movie (Zondervan) by Lee Strobel and Garry Poole

“Can Jesus really be trusted as God incarnate, or was he merely a human pawn in the greatest scam in history?" --- From Lee Strobel, Exploring the Da Vinci Code (Zondervan)

Which came first?- The Bible(Canon) or the Church?

Do we need opinions/advices (experts'), miracles and/or reasoning to believe in God (hmm..., I'm refering to the one as revealed in the Bible!)? Maybe yes, but they certainly can't make us believe!

“Since for unbelieving men religion seems to stand by opinion alone, they, in order not to believe anything foolishly or lightly, both wish and demand rational proof that Moses and the prophets spoke divinely. But I reply: the testimony of the Spirit is more excellent than all reason. For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in his Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men's hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit. The same Spirit, therefore, who has spoken through the mouths of the prophets must penetrate into our hearts to persuade us that they faithfully proclaimed what had been divinely commanded ... " --John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.7.5.

Thomas Watson also said something similar:

The Scripture is both the breeder and feeder of grace. How is the convert born, but by `the word of truth'? (James 1:18). How doth he grow, but by `the sincere milk of the Word.'? (1 Peter 2:2)

When we had this view of the order of how we believe in mind, it is clear that different from Catholic beliefs, Calvin knew well that the Holy Scripture has its authority from God, not from the church. Rather, the church is itself grounded upon Scripture. Calvin said that, if the Scripture depends on the decision of the Church. then the result would be that:

The truth of God would thus be subjected to the will of man.
It is insulting to the Holy Spirit.
It establishes a tyranny in the Church.
It forms a mass of errors.
It subverts conscience.
It exposes our faith to the scoffs of the profane.

In explaining that the church is itself grounded upon Scripture, Calvin said:

Paul testifies that the Church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets," (Eph. 2: 20.) [The apostles and prophets constituted the foundation of the church since it was through them that
God revealed and established the church. John R. W. Stott in, The Message of Ephesians, said "In practical terms this means that the church is built on the New Testament Scriptures."] If the doctrine of the apostles and prophets is the foundation of the Church, the former must have had its certainty before the latter began to exist. Nor is there any room for the cavil, that though the Church derives her first beginning from thence, it still remains doubtful what writings are to be attributed to the apostles and prophets, until her judgement is interposed. For if the Christian Church was founded at first on the writings of the prophets, and the preaching of the apostles, that doctrine, wheresoever it may be found, was certainly ascertained and sanctioned antecedently to the Church, since, but for this, the Church herself never could have existed. Nothings therefore can be more absurd than the fiction, that the power of judging Scripture is in the Church, and that on her nod its certainty depends. When the Church receives it, and gives it the stamp of her authority, she does not make that authentic which was otherwise doubtful or controverted but, acknowledging it as the truth of God, she, as in duty bounds shows her reverence by an unhesitating assent. As to the question, How shall we be persuaded that it came from God without recurring to a decree of the Church? it is just the same as if it were asked, How shall we learn to distinguish light from darkness, white from black, sweet from bitter? Scripture bears upon the face of it as clear evidence of its truth, as white and black do of their colour, sweet and bitter of their taste. --John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.7.2.

As to the question of "How shall we be persuaded that it came from God without recurring to a decree of the Church?", I think Calvin is saying that the Scripture bears its own authentication.

So, how does God enable us (this is not against our will) to believe in Him? Diagrammatically, I think a simple order would be this:

God ---> God's Word (Scripture) via apostles and prophets [together with the inward testimony of the second person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit]---> We believe ---> Formation/Beginning of a Church community

Rather than:

Apostles' and prophets' word (= God's Word [certainty??]) ---> We believe [on what basis?? No canon yet!!]
---> Formation/Beginning of the Church ---> Verify God's Word (Scripture)!!??

As I try to organise my thoughts (in the above diagram) as to how the Canon is formed, I found it very difficult to do so for the view that the Scripture has its authority from the church.

... ... just some random thoughts!