Remembering Our Roots
“Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Heb 13:7, 8).
On this special occasion of our 8th anniversary, it is good for us to look back and know why we are True Lifers, and how we became True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (TLBPC).
True Life was born out of controversy. The controversy was a doctrinal and spiritual one. It had to do with the question of whether the Bible we have today is 100% perfect without any mistake or not. This was in response to a number of books published by fundamentalist institutions in the USA saying that the doctrine of the perfect preservation of the Bible to the last word and iota is not taught in the Bible (Matt 5:18 notwithstanding), and that the KJV is not such a superior version of the Bible after all (note that the KJV was held up by the Bible-Presbyterian Church to be the very Word of God since its founding in 1950). Anti-preservationist and anti-KJV books like From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man (1999) by Bob Jones University, and One Bible Only? (2001) by Central Baptist Seminary started to disturb our members here, and it did not help that a certain church elder began promoting one of those books, causing confusion.
In the face of such attacks and undermining of our good old Bible, our founding pastor—the late Rev Dr Timothy Tow—in 2002 took an uncompromising stand “for the Word of God and for the Testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:9). “Holding forth the Word of Life” (Phil 2:16) and “holding fast the Faithful Word” (Tit 1:9), he taught and defended the Verbal Plenary Inspiration (VPI) and the Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP) of the Holy Scriptures, that the Bible is totally infallible and inerrant not only in the Autographs, but also the Apographs, namely, the Hebrew and Greek texts underlying the Authorised, King James Bible. He was faithful and true to the Bible of the Bible-Presbyterian Church since its founding which was the KJV, and the doctrinal resolutions on the superiority of the KJV over against the corrupt modern versions, and the inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures in the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus as adopted by the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) in Amsterdam in 1998 and Jerusalem in 2000 under the leadership of Dr Carl McIntire.
The Rev Dr Timothy Tow was the pastor of Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (LBPC) since its founding in 1950. He had two assistant pastors who served with him when he was still pastor of LBPC. Sadly, his two assistant pastors did not hold to his view of VPP, and in the faculty meeting of 29 October 2002 resigned from FEBC. They said they could no longer take the Dean Burgon Oath. It was their view that the Bible was perfect in the beginning, but the Bible today contains some mistakes—these mistakes to them are insignificant and do not affect doctrine. They said the Bible is only 99.9% and not 100%. Those who did not share their convictions but believed in a Bible that is 100% perfect without any mistake were maliciously ridiculed and denounced as foolish, schismatic, divisive, deviant, heretics, extremists, and even terrorists. But we are comforted by the words of our Saviour, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matt 5:11, 12). “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” (2 Cor 13:8).
It is important to know that the Rev Dr Timothy Tow in his capacity as Founder and Principal of FEBC (1962) instituted the Dean Burgon Oath way back in the ’70s. All Board and Faculty members were required to take the oath yearly at the annual convocation of FEBC, swearing upon the Bible that it is “none other than the voice of Him that sitteth upon the Throne! Every Book of it, every chapter of it, every verse of it, every word of it, every syllable of it, every letter of it, is the direct utterance of the Most High! The Bible is none other than the Word of God: not some part of it more, some part of it less; but all alike, the utterance of Him who sitteth upon the Throne; faultless, unerring, supreme!”
After the two assistant pastors resigned from FEBC, the Session of LBPC took issue with Rev Tow and FEBC for believing that God has verbally and plenarily preserved His inspired words, that the Bible today is 100% perfect without any mistake. Here’s Rev Tow’s testimony in the 5 October 2003 Weekly, “As you know I have been pressurised to resign from Life Church after 53 years of service.…For nearly a year a controversy has raged in Far Eastern Bible College between younger lecturers and those who stand with the Principal on the question whether the Bible has some mistakes or without any and absolutely perfect. As I take the view of a 100% perfect Bible and stand with Dr Jeffrey Khoo, more squabbles developed on August 20 at Life Church Session meeting which drove me to my resignation. Not desiring any further contention and following our Lord’s example, I determined to leave Life Church and begin anew with a fresh Service. The Lord wonderfully provided a place not far from Gilstead Road at the RELC, down Orange Grove Road from Shangri-La Hotel with immediate occupation. We take it as a positive sign from God.”
True Lifers have been worshipping at RELC since 2003 under the pastoral care of our beloved founding pastor who did not forsake God’s flock but served faithfully until the Lord took him home in 2009 at the age of 88. Today we commemorate our 8th anniversary in thanksgiving to God. “Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Sam 7:12). We have been blessed with freedom of worship, and the Lord has graciously provided for all our needs. TLBPC began as FEBC’s Lord’s Day Worship Service. Those who care for FEBC—His School of Prophets—will get a prophet’s reward (Matt 10:41).
By God’s grace, not a few have come to a saving knowledge of Christ through our Bible-centred ministries. We thank God for the freedom to believe in the good old Bible and serve the Lord peacefully without hindrance. May we continue to hold firmly to the Word of Life—the forever infallible and inerrant Scripture, and be faithful to the Living Word—our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ—until the day He returns. And His return is nearer than we think! JK
Faith Strengthened Manifold
Pilgrimage Testimony by Elvin Liang
“Numbers 10:29—And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses’ father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.”
Indeed the Lord has been good to my family and me. During a time of much stress at work, my mother approached me to ask if I could accompany her to this year’s Holy Land pilgrimage. Knowing that I would definitely need a break, and to set my heart at ease, knowing the health limitations and conditions of my mum, I said yes.
This being the 16th Holy Land pilgrimage organised by FEBC, I knew that like Jonah, once the Lord calls on me, there is no escaping from His Almighty Hand. So, I ended up renewing my passport and applying leave early to overcome any form of disappointment which might arise.
We looked forward to the trip and by God’s grace and mercy, my mum and I found ourselves in the Promised Land in no time. But that is not all. We were in the company of fellow brethren, in Christian fellowship throughout the journey. One of our brethren mentioned that it was wonderful that we could have a glimpse of what would be like “a day in Heaven with the Lord”. If God wills, I look forward to the next pilgrimage for the plentiful lessons one can learn in the “open classroom” of the Holy Land.
Throughout the journey, I marveled at the very clues and relics which have endured thousands of years to this very day. But no matter how amazing the artifacts and archaeological digs which were discovered by the hard work of man, one “artifact” remained consistent and true and that is, the Bible. With every step taken in the Holy Land, it was impossible to deny the truth of the Word in Psalm 12:6, “the words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times”. How true and marvelous is the Word. Proverbs 30:5 states, “every word of God is pure”. How truly blessed are we that are able to read, listen and to keep His Word pure in our hearts.
As we journeyed to the places where Jesus walked, from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee and to other places like Capernaum and Tabgha, I was reminded that in those days, He must have endured much hardship to travel on foot to all those cities. His greatness in love for the salvation of many is truly touching. In John 4:27-42, Jesus spoke to His disciples on sowing and reaping in the land of Samaria. By sowing and reaping, He meant to save even the Samaritans (whom the Jews looked down on) by sharing with them His wisdom and promising them eternal life, in grace and in truth. In the context of being Singaporeans in the Holy Land, we are not Jews but Gentiles, yet we can be saved as well! The book of Romans (chapters 3-5) also confirms this! Praise be to God!
Truly remarkable are the pain and troubles our Lord suffered in those days. Even as He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane, He held steadfast, His will and promise to save us from sin, and to set us free. Even His mercies and blessings are upon us.
On the day of arrival into Singapore from our transit at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul, my mum and I were dismayed at our “lost” baggage. Our baggage failed to arrive at the belt in the arrival hall. After much follow-up with the airlines and the airport staff, we were somehow worried that we might not see our baggage at all. As my mum had brought back “the best products” of the Holy Land in that baggage, she was much distressed. However, we believe that the Lord answers prayers and that was precisely what we did. Simple as it sounds, we prayed really hard for the safe return of our baggage. True enough, what you ask the Lord in prayer, He will give you, in the most marvelous way you can imagine! Faith came by believing in Him! The following day, the airline staff called in the evening and delightedly brought us good news that our luggage was actually left at the Turkish airport during our short transit time-frame, and has now been delivered to Singapore. The airlines had even arranged for our luggage to be on expedited delivery to our very doorstep! My mum was so relieved that all the purchased “best products” in Israel were intact. How wonderful the way our Lord works wonders!
Well, while the earthly “best products” were unscathed, it was clear to me that upon returning from the trip, I had already obtained the best product from Israel—the plain Gospel Truth. I strongly encourage all brethren to pray for the planning and execution for the next trip, that you will not delay, but make haste for the Lord and register early. I am sure you will be comforted and your faith strengthened manifold. Glory to God in the highest. Amen.
