| TABERNACELE WEEKLY ISSUE 20 Offering—It is noted that one-cent coins and Malaysia ringgit (and other overseas currencies) were given by worshippers as offering. Please refrain from doing so. Youth/Children Camp— Camp Fees collection will begin TODAY. Pay camp fees to Sister Dorcas. $30 for child/youth. $15 for friends who are newcomers. Note that the Children/Youth Camp Sign-Up List is at the table outside the sanctuary. Find Brother Edmund to sign up if you have not already done so. Deadline for registration: 28 May. Theme: Gideon. Children Camp: 11/6 (Sunday night after Church)—14/6 (Wednesday afternoon). Speakers: Shomerim Youths. Youth Camp: 14/6 (Wednesday afternoon)—17/6 (Saturday afternoon). Speaker: Brother Nelson Were (FEBC student). Venue: Calvary Tengah BP Church. Pray for the Camp Committee . There is a short introduction to the Camp after Worship Service TODAY! Vacation Bible School —2 & 3 June (Friday & Saturday). Keep 24 (Wednesday) and 25 May (Thursday) free, to help in giving out handbills to the children. Time to be confirmed later. There will be a briefing cum Prayer Meeting for VBS on 28 May after SS. All whot are involved are required to attend this briefing/PM. A Bundle of Joy — Thank God for the arrival Hannah Yeow Xianle 廖显乐 , daughter of Brother Alan and Sister Kezia Yeow, on 8 May 2006. Prayer—For Brother Joelson who is warded again. Email Addresses—Anyone who wishes to have an email address as XX@tabernaclebpc.com can approach Brother Ernest for help. Bless the Lord, O My Soul—for our mothers and all the mothers in Tabernacle.
LIFE, as I see it, is becoming more confusing and chaotic. In the secular world, what had been clearly perceived as being immoral is now openly being promoted as alternative lifestyle. We are persuaded by renowned journalists and Oscar-acclaimed movies the homosexual marriages and fornication amongst the teens are perfectly normal way of life. If you dare even to raise a frowning eyebrow, you are hit in double quick time with the label of being the ‘older conservative generation’ who has not kept up with the changes in society. Even extra-marital affairs which used to be the exclusive purview of the rich ‘towkays’ are claiming retired labourers who have come into some measure of wealth via their CPF. The Church is not spared this confusion and chaos too. Many of the secular thoughts of psychology and marketing techniques are brought into the Church to create a ‘revival’, albeit a man-made revival. From within conservative Churches, a cry comes for the Church to be more flexible and engaging. We need to adapt some of these proven man-centred techniques for the Church’s growth, so goes the cry. So if you stand to oppose it—in all likelihood you’d be the minority—you will be made to wonder if you are really wrong. In worse situations, such leaders get booted out of the Church. Stalwarts of faith whom we once looked to for advice and guidance are now endorsing the messages of liberals and apostates. How do we who desire to be sincere believers in Jesus Christ cope with these confusion and chaos from within and without? Perhaps we can learn from a wise saying of old: let us return to the fundamentals. For me, this means to return to a life of actively-seeking personal holiness. We personally take responsibility for a holy life. I’m not advocating that we therefore engage ourselves in frequent fasts and overnight prayers. Nor in committing ourselves to even more areas of service in the Church. These are important, but it must come out of a life of daily holiness; one in which holiness characterizes the daily routine decisions we make. It would involve not stealing on parking time in public car parks, being careful about the TV programmes we watch and computer games that we play, the kinds of friends we keep, the thoughts that we entertain in our minds, the type of conversation we enjoy, etc. Hence, be very careful that we do not adopt a relative sense of personal holiness, ie. if I perceive myself as less sinful than the others in Church, then I’m ok. The failures of others must not be the excuses for our own sins. Our standards of holiness are to be found in the Bible. They are absolute standards, not relative. Do bear in mind that we have been chosen to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood. We are to show this sin-cursed world what a blessed life it is to have God as our King, just as what God wanted the Israelites coming out of Egypt to show to all the heathen nations. We can only do so if each of us takes responsibility for our own daily, holy living. May God help us.
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