Lord’s Day, Vol. 3 No. 48

(1) Home going of Elder Dr Tow Siang Yeow (6 November 1927 – 25 November 2015)

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Elder Dr Tow Siang Yeow was called home to be with the Lord on Wednesday morning, 25 November 2015.

Elder Tow was a faithful servant of the Lord. He was the President of the Far Eastern Bible College from (1990 to 2012). He loved the Lord and preached the Word of God fervently whenever he was called upon to do so. Though a medical doctor by training, the late Elder Tow enjoyed writing poems. One such insightful poem, entitled ‘Time’, is reproduced here with the kind permission of his family.

 

TIME

 

Time, thou unfathomable entity

Inscrutable and intangible,

Beginning in the mists of antiquity,

Lasting till the end of time.

Variously described by sages:
Illimitable, never resting thing

Rushing swift and silent;

The subtle thief of youth;

An ever flowing stream,

that bears all its sons away.

 

Yet, a gift of God to all

As it is the stuff that life is made of.

For does not Solomon intone,

‘There is a season and a time

for every purpose under heaven,

a time to be born

and a time to die?’ (Eccl. 3:2)

 

A time when we were young and naughty

viewing the world through blinkered eyes.

Ensconced with doting mums and dads…

A time to leave the roost!

Learning to fly the hard way –

one day soaring aloft;

the nest is empty,

The scene is over: time to reminisce.

 

It‘s God’s allotted time

to run the race patiently

and unswervingly to victory –

or straying from the straight

and narrow path, regrettably,

falling by the wayside!

 

O teach us, O Lord, to

‘number our days that we may apply

our hearts unto wisdom’ (Ps. 90:12).

Ever prepared to be on time

for that blessed hope,

the glorious appearing of

our Saviour Jesus Christ

and at the last trump,

to ever be with the Lord. Amen.

 

– Elder Tow Siang Yeow

 

(2) Family Retreat 

Thank God for 48 members and friends who attended BHBPC’s first family retreat at the Carlton Hotel Singapore from 27 – 28 November 2015. The theme for the retreat is ‘Rejoice in the Lord’. The book of Philippians was covered in 4 messages: (1) Vision for Rejoicing, (2) Going Through Trials With Joy (3) Guard Your Joy (4) Recipe For Joy. Thank God for a blessed time of studying God’s Word together and for sweet fellowship one with another.

We also launched ‘Reading the Bible through in one year’ programme during the retreat. Members and friends are encouraged to use the Andrew Murray 365-Day Devotional Bible for daily reading and to commit in this spiritual endeavour to complete reading the Bible through the year 2016.

The daily reading consists of 2 chapters of the Old Testament, 1 chapter of the New Testament and a portion from the Psalms or Proverbs and a short devotion from Andrew Murray’s writing. The January 1 devotion reading, entitled ‘Wait Upon God’, is as follows:

“He (Daniel) kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Daniel 6:10

The more I think of and pray about the religious situation in our country, the deeper my conviction becomes that Christians do not realize that the aim of conversion is to bring them into daily fellowship with the Father in heaven. For the believer, taking each day with God’s Word and in prayer is indispensable. Each day we need to wait upon God for His presence and His love to be revealed.

It is not enough at conversion to accept forgiveness of sins or even to surrender to God. That is only a beginning. We must understand that we have no power on our own to maintain our spiritual life. We need to receive daily new grace from heaven through fellowship with the Lord Jesus. This cannot be obtained by a hasty prayer or a superficial reading of a few verses from God’s Word. We must take time to come into God’s presence, to feel our weakness and our need, and to wait upon God through His Holy Spirit to renew our fellowship with Him. That we may expect to be kept by the power of Christ throughout the day.”

 

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee