BY ELDER TAN KEH WHOO

It has been a year and a half and there seems to be no end to the bad news we are getting about Covid-19. This sudden surge in cases the past week and the emergence of the highly infectious Delta-variant are fresh reminders that human effort and ingenuity can only do so much to control its spread.  I confess that I never thought I would become a ‘casualty’ in the wake of this on-going pandemic.  From fearing for the survival of my law practice, to anxiety over strained relationships, to concern over the ‘exposure notification’ received in the Trace Together App.  I’ve come to realize that despite being a Christian for 3 decades, I actually live my life in varying degrees of anxiety and fear.

JOSEPH TAN, MINISTRY WORKER

PSALMS 34:4 (ESV) =- “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears”.

In December 2020, my left eyeball suddenly felt painful and tired. I thought it was just a migraine. But the doctor immediately told me to go to the A&E. As it was the day before New Year Eve, I was debating and giving excuses but a little voice in me kept nudging me to seek medical attention. The next morning, I woke up in pain, and my vision seemed a little blurred with coloured halos around. Finally, I obeyed the voice inside me and headed to the hospital.

PR EVANGELINE CHEONG

A 2021 survey in the US1 reports that the number of Americans who say they do not have a single close friend has quadrupled (from 3% to 12%). Of course this figure has been profoundly affected by the restrictions of COVID-19, but it is still alarming.

PR EVANGELINE CHEONG

“Why can’t you think more positively?” my friend asked me with all curiosity. I smiled and replied, “but let us be realistic instead? Things are really hard now.” Positive thinking can help us, to not get stuck in the negative things yet it may not be too helpful to (as a song goes) “always look at the bright side of life!” Especially when life is not so rosy, and all of us stuck waiting for a pandemic to end, it is hard to stay positive, to suck it up and keep going.

ELDER KOH SEOW KIN

As 2020 began, some of us were gearing up for our first short-term mission trip to Nepal, in collaboration with All Saints Presbyterian Church and riding on their previous experience there. Air tickets were purchased. Then the Covid-19 situation turned serious in quick time. The team leader made the decision to call off the trip and it proved to be the correct decision. Before long, the “Circuit Breaker” (lockdown) was in place and practically all Singaporeans were home-bound.

BY REV GOH YONG KUANG

“..I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.” - Paul (Acts 24:16, NLT)

Conscience... 

Some call it the voice of God.  To others, it’s simply a moral sense of right and wrong, which results in guilt feelings when one commits wrong. 

When people ask, “Where’s your conscience?” - it can either mean that the person in question lacks a conscience or that something is wrong with his or her conscience.  Perhaps, it has been ignored or suppressed for too long that it is no longer effective.