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DEVOTIONAL LIFE
As you are called into the full-time
service of the Lord, you can expect to face much testing, for the enemy
knows who to target first. As with all the saints, we all are engaged in
the Christian struggle, from which even the Apostle Paul was not exempted
(Rom 7:14–24). Yet, you also know that “the trying of your faith worketh
patience” (Jas 1:3). Thus, as we are exhorted, we will “let patience have
her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (Jas
1:4).
How can we be victorious in the midst of
trials and temptations? Only if we take care of our spiritual health! We
need to take care of our spiritual well-being by meditating on the Word of
God and being very close to Him. The tendency of the Bible College student
is to be so “soaked” in the Word for the academic accomplishment that he
forgets the devotional aspect of his life in the College. Thus, it is of
utmost importance that all Bible College students pay attention to their
devotional lives.
In order to provoke one another to pay
attention to and be disciplined in our devotional lives, certain policies
are necessary in the College, for the ultimate glorifying of God’s Most
Blessed Name (1 Cor 10:31; WSC Qn. 1), for the testimony of Jesus Christ,
our Lord (Rev 1:9), and for a witness of His blessing upon this College.
These are delineated as follows:
Ten Commandments of FEBC
Preamble: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This
is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt 22:37–39).
On these two commandments hang all the
rules written and principles unwritten of the College.
(1) “Worship is the mother of all
virtues,” says Augustine. The Student Prayer meeting everyday at 7:45 a.m.
and the Chapel at 8:00 a.m. are deemed the most important part of College
life and training. To miss them or be late in attendance will be deemed the
breaking a great commandment of the Lord. The Proctor is to take the daily
attendance of the Chapel Hour, and report to the Dean of Students each
week. Extra prayer meetings in the separate dorms are encouraged, to meet
at least once a week.
(2) BE PROPERLY ATTIRED for chapel, for
classes and throughout the day’s schedule of study, work or recreation. No
mini skirts, no jeans (for ladies), no long hair for men students, no
sleeveless T shirts/blouses, no slippers for anyone in chapel or class.
(3) EVERY STUDENT SHOULD TAKE PART in some
practical Church work or evangelistic outreach once a week. If no opening,
see the Dean of Students.
(4) SILENCE in the library! Books taken by
students must be properly checked out. Books otherwise removed from the
Library is tantamount to theft.
(5) THE COST of providing water,
electricity and telephone to the whole College, Beulah House, Church and
Kindergarten comes to over $80,000 a year, not counting maintenance and
repairs! How you use the Lord’s appliances: lighting, fan, fridge, cooker,
radio, wash basin, shower, toilet, reflects your character. No using of
HOT-PLATE! Love the Lord and His house more—use less! Forgetfulness to
switch off is a trespass and sin of negligence.
(6) THE CHURCH AND COLLEGE OFFICE is out
of bounds to students except for interviews or with permission. The
Coinafon outside the FEBC kitchen is for students’ use. Friends of students
phoning in should be advised of these hours: 7:15 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., 12:30
p.m. to 1:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.—the intervals within or after
meals.
(7) PIANO PRACTICES may begin after the
Chapel hour and end by 9:00 p.m. The grand piano in Church shall not be
used for practice, nor the electric organ.
(8) SEGREGATION of male and female
students: Male students are not allowed up in the Girls’ Dorm or girls to
the Men’s Dorm. No visitors of either sex to the dorms of married students
either.
(9) PUNCTUALITY at all times! 6:30
a.m.—Rising Bell. 7:15 a.m.—Breakfast. 12:30 p.m.—Lunch. 6:00 p.m.—Dinner.
10:00 p.m.—All students returned from outside and in dorms. 11:30
p.m.—Lights out. Students may have lights on by 5:30 a.m. The hour
governing lights out and coming in from outside applies to students staying
in on weekends. Friends of students are not allowed to stay overnight in
the dorms. Special permission must be obtained from the principal and
pastor.
(10) GRATUITY SERVICE of 2 hours per week
is expected of students. The duties are assigned by the Matron. Dorms
should be kept tidy and clean, for it is said, “Cleanliness is next to
holiness.” The toilets and baths should be meticulously scrubbed and kept
shining at all times.
Day of Prayer and Registration
Each semester commences with a Day of
Prayer at 8.30 am. It is a day when all the faculty and students gather
together to commit the new semester to the Lord. This is also a day of
praise and testimony of the Lord’s goodness upon the faculty and senior
students before the start of the semester, a time of testimony of the
Lord’s calling of the new students; indeed a time of mutual encouragement
as the College family gathers round the Throne of Grace.
This is an important event of the
semester, and all students are not to miss this time of prayer. For the
senior students who may have legitimate reasons to be absent, please obtain
permission from the Matron or the Dean of Students.
Registration and orientation will be
conducted after lunch at 2 pm.
Personal Prayers
As a person needs to breathe in order to
live, so the believer needs to pray to be spiritually vibrant—charged and
refreshed for the Lord’s work. It goes without saying that all students
should be engaged in personal communion with the Lord (Matt 6:6),
regardless of academic load, exams or no exams, service in the Church, etc.
(Matt 6:33). Only when you pray will you be strengthened and enabled to
accomplish much for the Lord.
Corporate Prayers
Besides personal devotion, students gather
each morning at 7:45 a.m. in small groups to pray together (Matt 18:20). As
the semester begins with prayer, so should each day be.
Once a week, students who live in the
dormitories meet to pray together every Thursday evening. This is a good
exercise, to praise God together, and to share and carry each others’
burdens. Participation in this meeting will draw the student body into
closer unity in the Lord.
Chapel Hour
After you have sought the Lord in private,
encouraged one another in your small prayer groups, the next best thing is
to hear the Word of God preached and expounded by the faculty and to
worship Him together.
Chapel hours should not be used to
complete assignments, to memorise Greek/Hebrew vocabulary or memory verses,
to study for a quiz, or to catch up on lost sleep.
Chapel hours are to be devoted to the sole
focus upon the Lord and His Word. It is a blessed time for drawing nigh
unto the Lord (Jas 4:8) and letting His Word fill our minds to guide the
day.
Evangelism
The Evangelism session each Wednesday
afternoon and the College Gospel Meeting each semester are two means by
which students put into practice the knowledge received academically and
spiritually. These are times when the Gospel is given to the unsaved, in
the fulfilment of the Lord’s commandment in the Great Commission (Matt
28:19; Mark 16:15). In these activities, students are also trained in the
skills required, not just in sharing the Gospel, but also in the
organisation of a Gospel meeting.
Church Attendance and Service
Local and international students are to
attend and serve in a local church. Students not attached to a local church
in service are expected to attend Sunday Worship services at True Life B-P
Church (10:30 am), 30 Orange Grove Road, near Shangri-La Hotel (about 15
minutes’ walk from the College. See
Map). Students will be
called upon to serve in some of the ministries of True Life B-P Church.
Students are expected to be involved in some church work or evangelistic
outreach in order to prove their own calling.
End-of-Semester Thanksgiving Dinner
and Service
The end-of-semester thanksgiving dinner
and service is a time of fellowship and worship. Students from different
nationalities shall present their praise items, and graduating students
shall share their parting testimonies.
College Retreat
Once a year (usually after the graduation
exercises in May), the College will hold a retreat in Mersing, Malaysia
(Resort Lautan Biru) for two or three days. All students are expected to
attend.
Christian Conduct
Attitude is probably the most important
thing for a Bible College student. The student’s attitude in the Bible
College and in his academic assignments probably reflects the attitude of a
potential full-time worker in the field.
Remember, however, in the Gospel field,
you are not affecting only your own life, but precious souls will be
affected by your attitude in your labour!
Things for you to check yourself:
(1) Are you always late for prayers, for
chapel, for classes, for church services? Will you then be the preacher who
is always late for a speaking engagement, a worship service? Do you want
the congregation to be peering out of the window to see if you have come to
preach the message?
(2) Do you seek to be excused from class
just because of the slightest ache here or there? Should the congregation
or fellowship group be without a preacher, just because he has a little
pain and would not come? What is important—that the Word is preached or
that the little discomfort “be soothed”?
(3) Do you schedule your going to the
immigration department or some other place during the very lecture hour
that you are to be present, when you do have other time slots available to
make the trip?
(4) Do you hold your assignments till the
last few days before the deadline? Have you redeemed the time (Eph 5:16)?
(5) Do you take your studies seriously or
you care not till the last week before the exams, and burn the candle
overnight (only to sleep at Chapel hour the next day!)?
(6) Have library books been taken out of
the Library but not in compliance with the rules? Have you paid for all the
photocopying that you do? God’s Word has an injunction in Exodus 20:15.
Scripture verses for consideration: Exodus
20:2–17; Galatians 5:22–26; Philippians 2:1–16; 4:4, 8; Colossians 3:23–24;
1 Thessalonians 5:11–22.
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