I am a Christian and wondering if I should I start a relationship with a non-Christian. The guy is sincere and willing to try to go church with me and know about Christ. What should I do?
Relationships
Choosing the right person to marry
I am quite confused about how to discern whether a person is the right person for me. What signs might God provide to help us better discern whether we are compatible with others?
Moving on from parents’ divorce
My parents divorced some years ago. I was already an adult when it happened. But till today, I struggle with feelings of betrayal, anger, disillusionment and sadness. I live my life in a constant attempt to escape from these feelings. My attempts at gaining closure by talking to my mother were met with, “You were grown up, don’t be so sensitive! / You shouldn’t be affected”, or it would end up in a huge argument. Henceforth, I kept everything to myself. When I think of old times, the tears still start to flow, like it happened yesterday. My mother has remarried, but I still pine daily for my parents and family to be reunited. I don’t want to live like this anymore. How do I move on?
Friendship with a female colleague
I am a married man. I have a female colleague whom I work with on occasions for certain projects, and we get along very well. She is supportive of the work I do, and my feeling is reciprocal. Is it okay for me to have a casual or close friendship with my female colleague? Would eating a meal alone with her regularly, say once or twice a week, be perceived as suspicious? Is avoiding being friendly with her the safest way of steering clear from an undesirable relationship?
LGBTQ at my son’s school
My 16-year-old son tells me that his school (an all-boys school) has a handful of students who have openly declared they are gay, bisexual or gender fluid. How should I handle this as a Christian parent, while showing that it is important to love all our neighbours?
When doing your utmost still isn’t enough
Life’s stories do not always have happy endings. Often, the endings are unexpected. Now this may fly in the face of some of us who consider ourselves somehow protected or blessed in life. Some believers may also hold fast to God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11 of his plans to prosper and not to harm.
Struggling to trust God in providing a life partner
I’ve had a few failed relationships and I seem to be unable to meet the right one. Friends or peers around me are all happily married with kids, and I feel like I am the odd one out. When I attend weddings, I genuinely share the joy of the couple, but I try not to be reminded of my singleness. Sometimes I struggle because I have been trying to be faithful to serve God and trust that he will give me the best, but my Mum (who is not a believer) especially wonders why my powerful God is unable to provide. How can I cope with my struggle to trust that God is good and believe that he wants the best for me, despite not seeing signs of the right one on the horizon?
Is it weird I don’t have a BFF?
I have a couple of good friends, some that I can share things with. However, I do not have a best friend. Also, though I have many friends from different social circles whom I meet with occasionally, I don’t have one particular close-knit group that I often hang out with. I have been wondering for years: Is it normal not to have a best friend at all, or a close-knit social circle? Is there anything wrong with me or my personality?
Change is more than a feeling or an intent
The final exam of a counselling course I teach involves my students analysing and proposing a plan of action for a hypothetical case. In addition to writing an essay to demonstrate their analytical skills, they do a role play.
How tough is your love?
Love is often associated with ideas of romance, roses, soft-focus pictures and gentle, kind words. Toughness, being stern and exacting, seem to be diametrically opposite. Yet many of us would have heard of “tough love”. What is it?
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The Church must recognise the complexities of suicide
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Building a media army for the Lord
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The Christian as citizen
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Majulah Singapura: Methodist contributions in building up a young nation
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A leadership roundtable with three kings—Saul, David and Solomon
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Social media and your body image
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His praise your loosened tongues employ
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Our identity in Christ
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Intentional love: Strengthening the heartbeat of Christian community
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Sharing life, health and peace through Jesus
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Rehabilitation doctor wakes up from a coma after nearly 5 years
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From inclusion to belonging
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The neurodivergent believer and the body of Christ
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More than human
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“His ways are better than our ways”
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World Vision Singapore: A commitment to support learning needs of children in out-of-home care
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Called to pastoral ministry
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...The Bible doesn’t talk about global warming and recycling, so what should we do?
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Let every heart prepare him room: Methodist Christmas events 2024
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Grandpa’s Greatest Gift
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The Bible doesn’t talk about stocks, bonds and bitcoins, so what should we do?
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Stewardship of the truth
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Why should churches care about mental health?
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The long road to healing
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Are John Wesley’s words to modern Methodists about community life still relevant today?
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Wokeness and the Church
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Our Stories, His Glory – Legacy stories of God’s goodness
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What does it mean for the Church to be “in the world but not of the world”?
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Can patriotism be Christian?
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The Bible doesn’t talk about 21st century politics, so what should we do?
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We are not a company
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Workplace inclusivity: Voices from the field
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AI and the future of work
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She deals with death daily while serving grieving families
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The Bible doesn’t talk about toxic social environments of today, so what should we do?
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A ministry of reconciliation
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ACS Oldham Hall Hope Fund celebrates 10 years of sheltering and nurturing Singaporean youth in need
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The Bible doesn’t talk about 21st century family struggles, so what should we do?
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Seeing the disabled in God’s image
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Whither the Church and disability ministries in Singapore?
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Gatekeepers launches a new meeting place in the heart of the CBD
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Saints in the marketplace
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How three outreach ministries in AMKTMC grew
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Chasing a pipe dream
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Work as the Christian calling
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The Christmas hymn with no manger, angels or shepherds
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The Gathering of the Gifts
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O Come All Ye Faithful: Methodist Christmas Events in Dec 2023
Ring in the Christmas cheer this season with uplifting events from our Methodist churches and age...
Back to the garden: Growing with your spouse
When David Ang was 24, he saw a photograph of a girl in his friend’s photo album. He was at...
Marriage: Contract or Covenant?
Since the sexual revolution, which burst onto the scene in Western societies during the 1960s, th...
Ten marriage myths you may have fallen for
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God is in the valley with me – A trauma survivor shares her story
This is the true story of Jane (not her real name), who worships at a Methodist church. She share...
A healthy theology of healing
One of the most influential voices in the Word of Faith Movement is that of the late Kenneth Hagi...
Healing beyond the physical
At TRAC Healing Ministry and Cairnhill Methodist Church, we have seen God heal all kinds of sickn...
Tips to teach preschoolers the Word
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Reading, meditating, hearing and doing
Christians from across the different ecclesiastical traditions—Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Pro...
By means of grace – How Disciple Agency is helping Christians live out Acts 2:42
We are all familiar with this Bible verse, or should be, for it is one of the seminal verses unde...
Yong-en Care Centre: Of good friends, teachers and church buildings
When Yong-en Care Centre was set up in 1996, it served the flats around Chin Swee Road, Jalan Kuk...
The Church’s role in being salt and light in the world
In his great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses two metaphors to describe his Church: salt and light...
Hospitality as justice: Addressing homelessness in Singapore
In the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s (LKYSPP) inaugural street count of homeless p...
New Age seductions
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Centre, roughly six in ten American adults who...
Embracing dyslexia helped her find her calling as a palliative care nurse while serving the needy
Initially labelled as lazy in school because of her poor grades, Emily Yap felt indignant and hur...
Are intergenerational mentoring and relationships possible?
In the 1950s, sociologist David Riesman coined the term “the lonely crowd”, in part t...
From earth to eternity
As I write this, my elderly mother is in hospital again. There are purple bruises on the back of ...
Biblical grandparenting: Rejoicing, Role and Responsibilities
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The storied self – Reflections on ageing and the elderly
The phrase “silver tsunami” is often used to describe the extraordinary rise in the n...
5 things I’ve learnt from the first year of motherhood
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God’s preventing grace
As we observe Aldersgate Day this month to commemorate Wesley’s transformative experience o...
Stars, planets and aliens: All in a day’s work for this theologian
If you look at Rev Prof David Wilkinson’s CV, the first thing that strikes you is that he i...
Our business is doing God’s Kingdom work
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us “… seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, a...
The Christian business leader
In the past several decades, there has been a steady stream of books on business leadership.
...Every member in ministry
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3 signs that you’re burned out from serving
29 September, 2010. That was the day I realised I was burned out. As a young Christian undergradu...
Clashing generations: Intergenerational challenges in the Church
Anyone who has served in a church ministry is likely to be able to share an anecdote or two about...
Your worth is not dependent on your ability, or your disability
Rev Lai Kai Ming, who is the pastor overseeing the Children and Youth ministry at Barker Road Met...
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral: What is it and is it relevant today?
How do Methodists do theology and approach issues? When Methodists try to answer questions about ...
Hymning our spiritual heritage
Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs have been an integral part of the life of the Christian Church ...
Behold, I am making all things new!
Our world at the beginning of 2023 is pretty much the same as it was at the end of 2022.
...Answering the call
We hear the stories of two newly ordained Elders and one Member-on-Trial, all of whom were confer...
Should Christians make New Year resolutions?
Making New Year resolutions may have once been a more serious practice. Reflecting the optimism o...
Charis MC’s outreach ministry joins hands with other organisations in Joo Chiat to reach out to migrant workers
On a Sunday night, among the neon- lit signboards and back alleys along Joo Chiat Road, Gladys Ha...
O Come All Ye Faithful: Methodist Christmas Events in Dec 2022
This is the first Christmas since Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted. Many churches have resu...
A theology of Christmas carols
I hope lovers of Christmas carols will forgive me for saying that not all carols are created equa...
Behind-the-scenes: The making of the John Wesley graphic novel
“I grew up Methodist and attended Methodist schools but didn’t know much about the li...
Technological prudence
Since the dawn of what some scholars have called the modern Internet in the 1990s, the lives of m...
Digital disruptions and innovations for the post-pandemic Church
We are living in the frothing confluence of massive social, philosophical, ecological, economic, ...
Spiritual friendships
One of the many issues that the coronavirus pandemic has brought to our attention is the importan...
“We are not alone. Our kids are not judged here.”
The GEMs (God Enables Me) programme run by the Children’s Ministry at Faith Methodist Churc...
The story of the Methodist Message
So runs the tagline under the masthead on the cover of the inaugural issue of The Malaysia Messag...
Leaving a life of addiction
My name is Hannah Chun and I am married with four children. I spend most of my time with my famil...
A sacrament of divine love
As I write this article, many churches in Singapore are welcoming the return of their members to ...
How does meritocracy fit into our Christian worldview?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary refers to meritocracy as a “system, organisation, or society...
A Christian Response to the Repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code
At the National Day Rally this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the Government’s ...
Onward, Christian Soldier
I did not expect to receive an overseas education, much less to serve full-time in the Singapore ...
Roe v. Wade: What does the Lord require of us?
On 24 June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States of America reversed the decision in Roe v....
Youth Ministry: What the pandemic taught us
Abraham Sui is the Chairperson of Youthphoria, the Youth Ministry of Aldersgate Methodist Church. I ...
On nurturing the young
An article published on the CNA website in 2021 states that according to the Singapore Census 2020, ...
Here, for a Purpose
Methodist Girls’ School celebrates her 135th anniversary this year. Commemorating Founder’s D...
Father’s Day musings – Striking a balance between work, ministry and fathering
Paul Khoo, 45, is a familiar figure in Christian fathering circles. He is one of many key volunteers...
Look, it’s a pangolin! On attentiveness and wonder for creation
Have you ever seen a pangolin in the wild? The two times I encountered a pangolin in the wild, I was...
Virtuous Living and Creation Care
The question that is receiving some attention among politicians, policy-makers and stakeholders i...
KKMC: God’s faithfulness through the generations
In the middle of Little India, an elegant white building stands at a clearing where narrow roads ...
The sacrament of the ordinary
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A mother’s story: Hope comes with small steps
“When Lucien was a newborn, I had prayed to God to not let him grow up so fast, so that I could en...
Have you gone back to church?
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Making missions a vision for children
The team that produced Clean Hands, Pure Hearts and Beautiful Feet Daniel could not wait to tell the...
Just a hallucination?
In the fifteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth, we find the earliest...
The Jesus Prayer
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Keep calm and carry on serving others – A life gifted to serve
Henry (front, 3rd from right) and Mary (back, 5th from right) with Rev Philip Lim (front, middle) at...
Give your child a distinctive Methodist Preschool education
Space Buds programme Parents in Singapore are spoilt for choice when deciding the preschool to send ...
On saving the family
One of the most worrying developments that we witness in the West and also in some affluent countrie...
Three ways to have a better Lunar New Year
Ps Ian Wong, his wife Eeleen, and their four beautiful daughters To the Chinese brothers and sisters...
A time for meaningful conversations
Lunar New Year, in the recent few years, has become a season of poignant reflection for me. It was d...
Wesley on the Church
For many Methodists, John Wesley is a theologian of the Christian life par excellence. Wesley’s en...
Remember who we are
Bishop Dr Gordon Wong preaching at the opening service “Lord, what happened to all these churches?...
Nothing to do but to save souls
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