Hi!
I'm Dr David Tay, a consultant anesthesiologist in private practice. Many years ago, I
completed a distance learning theological course (dean's list!) and received
a Bachelor of Arts in Bible & Theology. A few years ago, I
received a Masters of Social
Science in the area of counselling from the University of South Australia. I am currently a lay preacher, and
a counsellor at a school and a Christian halfway
house in Singapore. I, also, serve as a co-leader of a men's Bible study
group at Christ Methodist Church.
I was the eldest child born in 1949 to a young Christian couple. Three other siblings came onto the scene soon after. We were all brought to church each Sunday to learn about God and Jesus.
During my teenage years, many questions and doubts arose in my mind about Christianity: "Is the Bible really the Word of God?" "Did Jesus Christ truly rise from the dead?" "Why is there sin and evil in this world?" I attended Sunday School classes but did not find the answers to my questions. I was forced by my parents to attend church but resolved in my heart to give up the Christian faith the moment I was financially independent and able to live on my own.
When I was about 18, I had an encounter with God. I was sitting near the back of the church during a Sunday service. A lady pastor, Mrs Margaret Seaward spoke about how God, the Good Shepherd, was searching for His lost sheep. She seemed to be speaking to me. As she preached, she turned and looked hard at my direction time and again. I felt God speaking to me and calling me back to himself. At the end of her sermon, she asked those who wanted to return back to God to indicate that desire by lifting up his or her hand. I stubbornly refused. She persisted for a long time. Although I felt the prompting of God in my heart, I refused to respond. Finally, she closed the meeting with a hymn and a benediction.
I rose from the pew, relieved that the service was over. I walked to the back of the church, went down the stairs, opened my father's car and sat down - glad to be away from the pressure of the church service. To my utter surprise, the car door opened and Mrs Seaward was there. She said, "When I was preaching, God told me, 'This message is for that young man over there. Won't you come back to God?' " I was overwhelmed by the love and mercy of God. I knew that God had spoken to me. Now, I knew that He truly existed and loved me. That Sunday, I asked God in prayer to forgive me for my sins and to make me His child.
Some of the intellectual questions and doubts about the Christian faith were later answered when I discovered a book entitled "Know Why You Believe" by Paul E. Little. I was further grounded in the Christian faith by friends from the Navigators and Campus Crusade.
It is my prayer that as
you read, meditate upon and apply the thoughts from God's Word, He will
guide, direct, and bless your life!