Far Eastern Bible College
Far Eastern Bible College reopened on Monday, July 17, 2006 with an intake of 20 new students from 12 countries:
1. Damien Choong (Australia)
2. Hor Ponlok (Cambodia)
3. John Saray (Cambodia)
4. Phan Narit (Cambodia)
5. SongWei Liang (China)
6. GideonWuaku (Ghana)
7. Bernard Hutabarat (Indonesia)
8. Fransiska Christin (Indonesia)
9. Samson Hutagalung (Indonesia)
10. Lyn Lawino Were (Kenya)
11. Jonah Kipkorir (Kenya)
12. Han Joung Hee (Korea)
13. Benjamin (Myanmar)
14. Puspa Shakya (Nepal)
15. Samuel Kwong (Singapore)
16. Ng Boon Choo (Singapore)
17. Apasia Roman Moshi (Tanzania)
18. Florent Paul Mtobwa (Tanzania)
19. Judah Kundael Pallangyo (Tanzania)
20. Le Thanh Tam (Vietnam)
The Faculty this Semester are:
1. Rev Dr Timothy Tow, Principal, MDiv, STM, DD
2. Mrs Ivy Tow, Matron, BTh
3. Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo, Academic Dean, BTh, MDiv, STM, PhD
4. Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy, Dean of Students, BSc, BTh, MDiv, ThM, ThD
5. Rev Koa Keng Woo, BTh
6. Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew, BArch, BTh, MDiv, STM, ThD
7. Rev Dr Jack Sin, BA, MDiv, DMin
8. Rev Tan Kian Sing, BEng, GDBA, MDiv
9. Mrs Jemima Khoo, BTh, MA, MRE
10. Miss Carol Lee, BBA, DipEd, MEd, MDiv
11. Elder Han Soon Juan, CertEd, CertTESL, DipTESL, MA
12. Elder Geoffrey Tan, BSc, BA (Hons), DipEd
13. Mrs Anne Lim, DipRSA, CertRK
14. Mrs Koa Keng Woo, Music studies
Why Bible College
(Message delivered by Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, Jul 16, 06)
Text: 2 Timothy 2:1-15
“Without the Bible College, the Church would die” said the late Rev Dr Paul Contento who was an OMF missionary to China and Southeast Asia. The Bible says that the absence of knowledge will destroy the Church (Hos 4:6). In the Great Commission, Jesus commanded His Church not only to evangelise the world—“make disciples of all nations,” but also indoctrinate His people —“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt 28:18-20).
The Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC) was founded by our beloved pastor—the Rev Dr Timothy Tow—in 1962. Pray for the College to be protected from the many attacks of the evil one so that she might continue to train up faithful servant-leaders for the Christian Church to take an uncompromising stand “for the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:9), and “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
In light of the Great Commission, the Church needs the Bible College to:
Prepare Faithful Servants for Christ
“And the things that thou hast heard me of among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2). This verse is a favourite of many a Bible College and rightly so. The Church needs faithful pastors, not “payful” preachers whose motto is “more pay more preach, less pay less preach, no pay no preach;” “whose God is their belly” (says Paul in Phil 3:19) and “whose religion is their kitchen” (adds Calvin). Neither does the church need playful pastors who goof or golf away precious time that should be given to the Word of God and prayer.
The Bible College crucible should weed out those who enter the ministry for the wrong reason. The grind of daily homilies with practical duties should test the mettle and worth of every student. FEBC is not a pleasure but a pressure cooker. This is in line with the Pauline injunction, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life: that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim 2:3-4); Those who endure suffering and prove themselves faithful usually emerge mature and equipped for ministry. Those not called will soon fade away and disappear.
The Church does not need the clever and the cunning, but the humble and the faithful. There are students who may not be ‘A’ academically, but they do their very best, and their hearts are right before God and man. Though weak, they are clean. The Church needs such men and women. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Cor 1:26-29).
In this day and age, Bible Colleges are needed to train strong doctrinal preachers who are faithful to the Perfect Word of God. The late Dr Carl McIntire—founder of the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC)—has rightly said, “Strong doctrinal preaching is absolutely essential if a church is to be a faithful church of Christ. There is no place in the church of Christ for a single preacher who denies the Word of God.” Hear Dr McIntire’s sermons from www.sermonaudio.com. We praise the Lord that the ICCC, in Amsterdam (1998) and Jerusalem (2000), under the leadership of Dr McIntire, upheld the King James Bible, and affirmed the 100% preservation of the words of God in the Canonical Scriptures.
Dr McIntire in a sermon on Psalm 12, preached in 1992, commented, “Now come verse 6, ‘The words of the LORD are pure words,’ not one of them is mistaken, ‘as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.’ All the dregs are out. Here is a marvelous affirmation and vindication that God’s Word is perfect. … Now, ‘The words of the LORD are pure words.’ And then verse 7, how I love this: ‘Thou shalt keep them O LORD,’ that is, keep His words; ‘thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.’ No matter what happens, one generation comes and another passes away, God is going to preserve His words … from one generation to another. The words of God will be preserved throughout all the generations.”
In the Far Eastern Beacon (Christmas 2000), the Bible is declared to be “Forever Inerrant and Infallible” (ICCC 16th World Congress Statement #2). The ICCC believes “the O.T. has been preserved in the Masoretic text and the N.T. in the Textus Receptus, combined they give us the complete Word of God. The King James Version in English has been faithfully translated from these God-preserved manuscripts” (ICCC 16th World Congress Statement #11).
Indeed, the Bible today is infallible and inerrant, 100% perfect without any mistake. A Bible College that does not believe in a 100% inspired and 100% preserved Bible does not deserve to exist.
How can a preacher be faithful if he does not believe in a perfect Bible? He cannot!
A Bible College needs Faith. Faithful men are needed to:
Promote the Fundamentals of the Faith
In any true Bible College, there must be a passionate proclamation of the foundational convictions of the Christian faith and of the good news of what Christ has done for the salvation of sinners. A Bible College curriculum must be first and foremost Bible-centred and steep in doctrine and theology with an emphasis on the biblical languages. Paul told Timothy, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15).
The promotion of the Christian faith cannot be had with a smattering of Bible and theology and “market-driven” practical ministry courses offered by many seminaries today. Practice comes out of doctrine. Doctrine begets practice. Proof of this can be seen in the intensive and systematic Biblical studies programme Paul conducted in the School of Tyrannus that led to many conversions and changed lives—“And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. … So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:18, 20).
FEBC makes no apology for emphasising a great deal on Systematic Theology, Reformed Dogma, and Church History. The Bible is also studied most carefully book by book and verse by verse. Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Theology students are required to be proficient in the Biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek so that they might be fully equipped to become effective expositors and defenders of God’s forever infallible and inerrant words.
In order to promote the Truth beyond the four walls of the College, faculty and student papers are published in The Burning Bush, FEBC’s theological and polemical journal. We agree with Spurgeon who rightly said, “A magazine which is not outspoken and is destitute of principle is a literary nuisance.”
The Truth is not only promoted through the printed page but also through the internet. The College has an attractive website rich with Biblical resources that can be downloaded freely at www.febc.edu.sg. The FEBC Bookroom serves both the college and the public by stocking up good Christian textbooks and literature.
A Bible College needs Truth. There is a need for honest and brave men to:
Protect the Purity of the Church
A Bible College is like a military institute to train godly Christian soldiers to protect the doctrinal purity of the Church. Paul told Timothy to pay attention to doctrine in his ministry, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Tim 4:16).
The Apostle Paul showed by example this important aspect of Bible College ministry. He told the Ephesian elders, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:28-31).
In these last days of falsehood and falling away, the Bible College can serve as the Church’s protector. The College must always be on the alert to spot the latest doctrinal virus that seeks to invade and infect the Church. She must be the first to sound the alarm.
In 2003, Singapore was well-protected against SARS because she had a well-armed institution in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and an expert staff of doctors and nurses to deal immediately and effectively with any incoming threat. How about the Church? Does she have a Bible College with a biblically well-trained and God-fearing faculty to fend off any invading doctrinal germ? Is it no wonder that Dr Contento warned, “Without the Bible College, the Church would die?”
May the Lord raise up more Bible Colleges that will prepare faithful servants to promote the Christian Faith and protect the Church’s purity in the Word of God. The Lord is calling devout and brave men to join His spiritual and ecclesial service. Will you not answer the Lord’s call?
