The Transformation of a Life in God’s Own Time

Introduction

The Almighty sovereign Triune God intervenes in the affairs of the lives of man, transforming and moulding them totally as He wills. He did that to Ezra in training and used him as a ready scribe during the post exilic period for the awakening of the backslided nation of Israel. So Ezra prepared his heart to study the Word carefully and practised it and was nurtured and equipped to teach it in the great revival in the fullness of time during Nehemiah’s leadership. God lovingly moulded and transformed my life too and I was greatly challenged and charged by the life and testimony of Ezra and I have learnt to emulate his spirit In Ezra 7:10 which is my life verse (note the order of the verbs in this verse which is significant).

Early Years

I was raised in a non Christian home under the influence of Buddhism and ancestral worship in the oriental tradition. The saving mercies of the Almighty God was extended to me (Rom 8:29-30) through my eldest sister Yoke Ling in June 1972 (praise the Lord that all my five siblings and my mother are also saved by God’s grace and my father has started to read the Bible and attend church recently). I attended the Toa Payoh Methodist Church in 1978 for the next four years brought by Sharon, my second sister.

But due to the compromise of the Methodist Church in Ecumenism and Charismaticism, I left the church for Life Bible Presbyterian (BP) Church in August 1982 and I embraced covenant theology, Calvinism and biblical separation readily. National Service from Dec 1981 – May 1984 was a memorable time of physical and moral discipline in the secular environment of the SAF. The 9-month gruelling Officer Cadet School course in SAFTI was helpful for the soldier of Christ with stringent military warfare and weaponry training in the Temburong jungle of Brunei (2 Tim 2:3-4). I had to learn to say no to drinking liquor, swearing and smoking and other vices and the Potter is slowly moulding a depraved man in discipline, spiritual and physical fitness, perseverance, respect for authority and accountability in the fear of God (Gen 39:9).
One of the best gifts in my life (ie after salvation) came when I met a God-fearing lady in Angelina Chua in June 1983 by the providential hand of God and joyfully married her in March 1990 after almost seven years of courtship, blessed with a godly helpmeet for the ministry ahead (Prov 31:30)

The Summon from Heaven

After graduating from NUS in Economics, I worked in the Programme Planning and the Human Resource line for about five years. In Nov 1991, I was sent to Tel Aviv, Israel, for a one month course by my company and was spiritually enriched as I visited the sacred places of the land of the Bible. Elected as a Deacon of Life BP church in April 1990, I served as an advisor to the Youth Fellowship, the combined Fellowships Coordinator, a Counsellor with Life Bible Class and in the Missions Fellowship committee . In June 1987, I struggled internally with a compelling burden from God to give up my career and serve the Lord.
I prayed and asked the Lord for guidance and for five years to seek and wait upon him to confirm my call while working. June 1992 finally came after five years of prayer and waiting and the burden returned with greater conviction and prompted by the Holy Spirit, the creature submitted to His Creator (1 Jn 2:15-17) and enrolled in FEBC to prepare to serve Him fulltime after spending three weeks of seeking God’s will and soul searching in England and Scotland. Surrendering ourselves to the Maker’s will is the best for us (Eph 5:16 17, Prov 3:5-7) and we are but unprofitable and unworthy servants of the most High God. Below is a poem that records that incident:

22 Jun 1992, Ambleside, UK

Stewardship Time

In July 1993, the Protem Committee of MBPC requested me to assist with the Pastoral ministry of a fledging infant church of 20 people incepted in Oct 1990, Maranatha BP Church in the eastern part of Singapore. By God’s enablement, the congregation grew to what it is today with missions commitment in Bangalore, India. By God’s enablement, the Maranatha Messenger, a church weekly is produced for Maranatha BPC and is widely circulated to readers in more than 20 countries and beyond on the Internet. Theological and pastoral articles were also contributed to the Evangelical Times, a notable monthly reformed UK Christian newspaper distributed to more than 40 countries worldwide.
In January 1997, I was invited by Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow, the Principal to teach Church History in the college till the present time, learning from the Lord and the students in the process of preparation and teaching. (2 Tim 2:2). By God’s enablement and inspiration, God gave me the opportunity to share my biblical convictions in the following books, Reformation: Retrospect, Introspect and Prospect (1999), Examining and Exposing Cultic and Occultic Movements (2001) Frontlines in the Gospel Mission Fields (2003).

Away From Home

In the year 2001, I took a sabbatical and enrolled in Pensacola Theological Seminary (PTS), USA for the DMin programme and by God’s providential guidance, I had the opportunity to pastor and initiate a small Chinese Christian Church (PCCF) while studying there. We had the privilege again to be in the opposite side of the class room and be ardent students of the inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative and sufficient Word of God (2 Tim 2:15, 2 Tim 3:16,17). Our educational stint in the USA was a period of life changing challenge and deep reflection of God’s direction, His work and Word (Jer 15:16). We had the opportunity to attend and address the 65th BP Synod meeting at Tacoma in Aug 2001 and also met with Dr Carl McIntire, the founder of the BP movement in New Jersey and were recharged by the venerable 95 year old servant of God to continue stedfast in the spirit of the Reformation before the latter went home with the Lord in Mar 2002.
We were also able to preach in five BPCs in the USA and Canada and visited four others in a 3,000 km drive that took us to more than 10 States in the US that year. In PTS, I was convicted of the doctrine of the providential and perpetual preservation of God’s holy Word (1 Pet 1:22-25, Matt 5:18, Ps 119:89, Isa 40:8, Psa 12:6,7) and also learnt how to write proper manuals, based on scriptural precepts for the practical use of the church, completing one for the biblical training of Deacons in the BPCs that is read and used by some today . When we returned, the Lord inspired us to start the Maranatha Resource Ministry (MRM) in Maranatha BPC in 2002 which provides useful practical resource training materials for local and foreign churches and members of BPCs.

I thank God that my wife, Angie (who is an accountant by training and a lecturer in USIM) also studied and graduated with a MA in Bible Exposition in 2002 equipping her to support the ministry effectively in MBPC. By way of application, wives, let us be committed and serve together with our husbands for the Lord’s sake as He wills. Thank God that I completed my studies finally with the defence of my doctoral dissertation which was accepted in April 2005. Praise God for the prayerful support of my dear wife, family and session and members of Maranatha BPC.

Final Contemplations

Solomon in Eccl 12:13,14 speaks of the whole duty of man which is to fear God and keep his commandments for there will be a day of reckoning before God at the Bema when the Lord returns (2 Cor 5:10). Do you love and revere Him and observe his commandments? Are you ready to meet your God (Amos 4:12)? It will not be too long before the Master returns and we are to be diligent, vigilant and watchful at all times.

We live in a troubled and fearful ephemeral world today and our lives are in the hands of God. The Lord is coming very soon. The devastating tsunami of 26 Dec 2004, the 2001 Sep 11 incident, the bombings in Madrid, Bali, Jakarta, Egypt and London recently, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, the tension across the Straits between Taiwan and China, North and South Korea, Pakistan and India, the alarming increase in occultic and cultic activity, the increasing lawlessness and moral declension, the proliferation of knowledge with advent of IT, the ecclesiastical confusion and compromise, SARS and the current endemic bird flu are just some of the many predicted clear signs of His second coming. (Matt 24:1-24, 2 Tim 3:1-7).
In these last perilous days and with God’s strength amidst our manifold weakness, we are also to faithfully proclaim the pure and unadulterated gospel, build up the saints and vigilantly defend the faith in these final moments of spiritual decadence and compromise (Jude 3,4, 2 Thess 2:15, 2 Cor 6:14-18). Life is fulfilling when you are under God’s holy will (Eph 5:15,16). Is anyone willing tonight to surrender and give up your life to serve the Lord if He calls you tonight? What does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul, Jesus said (Mark 8:36). Our life is like a vapour that can vanish away, make it count for eternity and apply our hearts unto wisdom (Ps 90:12). What is the chief end of man but to glorify Him and enjoy him forever.
Will you spend the rest of your life for this purpose? Will someone tonight reconsecrate your life to Christ and consider to surrender your life to Him and serve Him fully? With Christ, it is an endless hope, without Christ, a hopeless end. All glory, praise and honour be to the Lord alone for His bountiful grace and pardoning mercies upon my life and ministry.