Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
BATS 3 alias Shadow
yeah! finally the BATS 3 - Shadow group is up and about! we had a funtastic first meeting playin cranium!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Are You Praying in Faith?
In John 5, the unbelieving Jews were seeking to kill Jesus because Jesus made Himself equal to God by Calling God His Father. And in verse 39 - 44 we find Jesus’ accusation of these unbelieving Jews:
39 “ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
>> these unbelieving Jews read the Bible to obtain eternal life, but they don’t realize that the Bible is all about Jesus
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
>> even though they seek after eternal life, they won’t get it since they are unwilling to come to Jesus
41 “I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
>> These unbelieving Jews don’t love God at all
43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
>> Jesus came, not seeking His own glory, but seeking the Father’s glory and yet, the Jews don’t receive Him which is not surprising since they don’t love God the Father. But, if a cult leader or a false teacher come along seeking his own glory; trying to glorify himself instead of glorifying God the Father; trying to establish his own kingdom rather than build God’s kingdom, these unbelieving Jews will gladly receive such a cult leader.
44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
>> So Jesus ask: how can faith arise in them when all they are concern about is receiving praise and affirmation and approval from each other rather than from God?
Verse 44 is a good verse to meditate on. Jesus ask:how can faith arise when the Glory of God is not on our agenda? I believe one key component of faith is having a mind that is concern for God’s glory.
This has implications on our prayer life: if we are to pray with faith, we need to be concern about God’s glory. In other words, one of the key contributing factor in praying prayers of faith is to pray, being motivated by God’s glory. We pray for things to happen for the purpose that God be glorified.
In our prayer life, there will be many things that will fill our prayer list. So let’s be mindful to be motivated by God’s glory rather than our own glory or our own ministry’s glory or our own church’s glory. We need to see beyond our little kingdom, and be focused on God’s kingdom, God’s glory. If not, our prayers will be stripped of a crucial dimension – the dimension of faith. And one key component of faith is the concern for God’s glory and God’s approval.
So I believe that the person who prays for things to happen because he is concern about God’s glory is the person who is praying prayers of faith! Think about that =D
39 “ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
>> these unbelieving Jews read the Bible to obtain eternal life, but they don’t realize that the Bible is all about Jesus
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
>> even though they seek after eternal life, they won’t get it since they are unwilling to come to Jesus
41 “I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
>> These unbelieving Jews don’t love God at all
43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
>> Jesus came, not seeking His own glory, but seeking the Father’s glory and yet, the Jews don’t receive Him which is not surprising since they don’t love God the Father. But, if a cult leader or a false teacher come along seeking his own glory; trying to glorify himself instead of glorifying God the Father; trying to establish his own kingdom rather than build God’s kingdom, these unbelieving Jews will gladly receive such a cult leader.
44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
>> So Jesus ask: how can faith arise in them when all they are concern about is receiving praise and affirmation and approval from each other rather than from God?
Verse 44 is a good verse to meditate on. Jesus ask:how can faith arise when the Glory of God is not on our agenda? I believe one key component of faith is having a mind that is concern for God’s glory.
This has implications on our prayer life: if we are to pray with faith, we need to be concern about God’s glory. In other words, one of the key contributing factor in praying prayers of faith is to pray, being motivated by God’s glory. We pray for things to happen for the purpose that God be glorified.
In our prayer life, there will be many things that will fill our prayer list. So let’s be mindful to be motivated by God’s glory rather than our own glory or our own ministry’s glory or our own church’s glory. We need to see beyond our little kingdom, and be focused on God’s kingdom, God’s glory. If not, our prayers will be stripped of a crucial dimension – the dimension of faith. And one key component of faith is the concern for God’s glory and God’s approval.
So I believe that the person who prays for things to happen because he is concern about God’s glory is the person who is praying prayers of faith! Think about that =D
Friday, March 27, 2009
"Does God EXIST?" Outreach 14 Mar 2009
Yup, here's Dr John Massey delivering the message :)
Shu Shu leading "whose line izzit anyway?" Hilarious game... we hadda awesome time =)
1 March BCBA Bulletin - Pastoral Desk - C L
Hearing God’s Voice, Knowing God’s Will
Time and again, this topic of God’s voice/ God’s will have been surfacing in my life. Last year, at the IDMC conference, Rev Edmund Chan talks about doing what’s most ‘efficacious’. But what’s most efficacious actually begins with knowing what exactly God’s will is. So in other words, doing what’s efficacious means doing God’s will no matter how silly that is in the natural. Problem is, discerning God’s will might well be one of the hardest things to determine depending on the complexity of the circumstance.
Also last year, Gordon T. Smith, former dean of Regent College, (His published works include Listening to God in Times of Choice (IVP, 1997), Courage and Calling (IVP, 1999), The Voice of Jesus (IVP, 2003) ) was invited to Singapore Bible College to deliver a series of lectures. He believes that every Christian should be able to answer two questions. First, what do you think Jesus is saying to you at this point in your life, in the context of the challenges and opportunities you are facing? Second, what indicators give you some measure of confidence that it is indeed Jesus speaking to you rather than someone or something else? So I had the privilege of discussing Gordon Smith’s lecture notes with our two STEP intern, Leroy and Wei-long just two weeks ago. And going through the various pointers and guidelines that Gordon Smith gave in discerning God’s will was really helpful at least for myself in thinking through my own process of decision making. But alas, at the end of the day, we recognised that there are really no fixed formulas or foolproof methods in determining God’s will. I guess discerning God’s will is more of an art as oppose to an exact science.
Just last week, in one of our BATS CCG meeting, we were going through Nehemiah Unit 2 and we were discussing about how Nehemiah “prayed in line with God’s word”; requesting for God to grant him favour with the Persian king to grant him permission to embark on a wall-building project. One question that was raised was how does Nehemiah know that God had indeed called him for the job? Or that the timing for the job is now? Did God spoke to him audibly or did God impressed thoughts into his hearts during his time of fasting and prayer? Or did he act in faith (not knowing whether it is really God’s will) due to the burden that he had for the safety of his people? Since Nehemiah didn’t really specify, we won’t really know HOW he came to know God’s will (yet we do know that what he did was indeed in line with God’s word and will). Contrast this with the experience Paul had in Acts 16:6-10.
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
At this point, for Paul to preach the gospel to Asia or Bithynia would be in line with God’s word but not in line with God’s will. Here, we know very clearly HOW Paul knew God’s will (as to where he should preach the gospel) which is through a combination of “the Holy Spirit/ the Spirit of Jesus” and a vision of “a man of Macedonia”. Do you see it now? This is precisely why knowing God’s will is so super tough. Most of the time, the average Christian is not cracking his brains figuring out whether he should choose between what’s good and what’s evil; what’s moral and what’s immoral. But our battle in times of choice is between what’s good and what’s best. As Gordon Smith aptly puts it: “good is the enemy of best” which is why at times, in discerning God’s specific will, looking to the word is (let me say this very reverently) not very helpful. The word would have us know that we ought to give to the poor but doesn’t say which charity to give to. The word would have us know that we ought to preach the gospel but doesn’t say to which people group to preach to first (as in Paul’s case). So what then shall we say to all these? Again, as I have stated, earlier, no fixed formulas, no foolproof method. Discerning God’s will is an art that is founded upon our relationship with God and just as with any relationship, it may take some time, some trials, some errors (on our part of course) before we can confidently recognise that still small voice.
Time and again, this topic of God’s voice/ God’s will have been surfacing in my life. Last year, at the IDMC conference, Rev Edmund Chan talks about doing what’s most ‘efficacious’. But what’s most efficacious actually begins with knowing what exactly God’s will is. So in other words, doing what’s efficacious means doing God’s will no matter how silly that is in the natural. Problem is, discerning God’s will might well be one of the hardest things to determine depending on the complexity of the circumstance.
Also last year, Gordon T. Smith, former dean of Regent College, (His published works include Listening to God in Times of Choice (IVP, 1997), Courage and Calling (IVP, 1999), The Voice of Jesus (IVP, 2003) ) was invited to Singapore Bible College to deliver a series of lectures. He believes that every Christian should be able to answer two questions. First, what do you think Jesus is saying to you at this point in your life, in the context of the challenges and opportunities you are facing? Second, what indicators give you some measure of confidence that it is indeed Jesus speaking to you rather than someone or something else? So I had the privilege of discussing Gordon Smith’s lecture notes with our two STEP intern, Leroy and Wei-long just two weeks ago. And going through the various pointers and guidelines that Gordon Smith gave in discerning God’s will was really helpful at least for myself in thinking through my own process of decision making. But alas, at the end of the day, we recognised that there are really no fixed formulas or foolproof methods in determining God’s will. I guess discerning God’s will is more of an art as oppose to an exact science.
Just last week, in one of our BATS CCG meeting, we were going through Nehemiah Unit 2 and we were discussing about how Nehemiah “prayed in line with God’s word”; requesting for God to grant him favour with the Persian king to grant him permission to embark on a wall-building project. One question that was raised was how does Nehemiah know that God had indeed called him for the job? Or that the timing for the job is now? Did God spoke to him audibly or did God impressed thoughts into his hearts during his time of fasting and prayer? Or did he act in faith (not knowing whether it is really God’s will) due to the burden that he had for the safety of his people? Since Nehemiah didn’t really specify, we won’t really know HOW he came to know God’s will (yet we do know that what he did was indeed in line with God’s word and will). Contrast this with the experience Paul had in Acts 16:6-10.
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
At this point, for Paul to preach the gospel to Asia or Bithynia would be in line with God’s word but not in line with God’s will. Here, we know very clearly HOW Paul knew God’s will (as to where he should preach the gospel) which is through a combination of “the Holy Spirit/ the Spirit of Jesus” and a vision of “a man of Macedonia”. Do you see it now? This is precisely why knowing God’s will is so super tough. Most of the time, the average Christian is not cracking his brains figuring out whether he should choose between what’s good and what’s evil; what’s moral and what’s immoral. But our battle in times of choice is between what’s good and what’s best. As Gordon Smith aptly puts it: “good is the enemy of best” which is why at times, in discerning God’s specific will, looking to the word is (let me say this very reverently) not very helpful. The word would have us know that we ought to give to the poor but doesn’t say which charity to give to. The word would have us know that we ought to preach the gospel but doesn’t say to which people group to preach to first (as in Paul’s case). So what then shall we say to all these? Again, as I have stated, earlier, no fixed formulas, no foolproof method. Discerning God’s will is an art that is founded upon our relationship with God and just as with any relationship, it may take some time, some trials, some errors (on our part of course) before we can confidently recognise that still small voice.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Young Adult Ministry Significant Dates for 2009
14 Mar sat YA Outreach #1 (evening) – N5
21 Mar sat YA Combine Social
06 Jun sat YA Retreat/Outreach #2 (daytime retreat with outreach in evening) – N5
13 Jun sat YA Combine Social
10 Oct sat Youth & Young Adults Night O Worship & Prayer (evening) – N5
19 Dec sat YA Christmas Outreach #3 (late afternoon) – Outside Church
21 Mar sat YA Combine Social
06 Jun sat YA Retreat/Outreach #2 (daytime retreat with outreach in evening) – N5
13 Jun sat YA Combine Social
10 Oct sat Youth & Young Adults Night O Worship & Prayer (evening) – N5
19 Dec sat YA Christmas Outreach #3 (late afternoon) – Outside Church
YA Ministry Calendar 2009 for 1st half of year
Studies for 1st half of 09: Nehemiah – 18 lessons
Studies for 2nd half of 09: Isaiah unit 5-9
15 Feb sun Bats 3 – Ne 2
18 Feb wed Bats 1 – Ne 2
21 Feb sat Bats 2 – Ne 2
22 Feb sun Missions Sunday 1
01 Mar sun Bats 3 – Ne 3
04 Mar wed Bats1 – Social
07 Mar sat Bats 2 – Social
08 Mar sun Bats 3 – Social
14 Mar sat YA Outreach #1
15 Mar sun Bats 3 – feedback / pray for outreach attendees
21 Mar sat Combine Social
22 Mar sun Bats 3 – Ne 4 (CAP 2 at 1:30pm)
29 Mar sun Bats 3 – Ne 5
01 Apr wed Bats 1 – Ne 3
04 Apr sat Bats 2 – Ne 3
05 Apr sun Bats 3 – Ne 6
10 Apr fri Good Friday Service
11 Apr sat Evangelism #1
12 Apr sun Easter Service
15 Apr wed Bats 1 – Ne 4
18 Apr sat Bats 2 – Ne 4
19 Apr sun Bats 3 – Ne 7
26 Apr sun CAP Block Visit 3
29 Apr wed Bats 1 – Ne 5
02 May sat Bats 2 – Ne 5
03 May sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Macro/ Brainstorm
10 May sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Micro/ details
13 May wed Bats 1 – Ne 6
16 May sat Bats 2 – Ne 6
17 May sun Family Day am & pm
24 May sun Alpha Sunday & AGM
27 May wed Bats 1 – Ne 7
30 May sat Bats 2 – Ne 7
31 May sun Bats 3 BANG Internship BEGINS
03 Jun wed YA Retreat/Outreach Planning
06 Jun sat YA Retreat/Outreach
07 Jun sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
13 Jun sat Combine Social
14 Jun sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
21 Jun sun Church Camp
27 Jun sat Subin & Michael’s Wedding
28 Jun sun Bats 3 BANG Internship END
03 Jul fri Alpha BEGINS
05 Jul sun Bats 3 join - Youth Sunday
08 Jul wed Bats 1 & 2 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
12 Jul sun Bats 3 - last Sunday before transiting to weekday
19 Jul sun DTC 2 takes over the room
22 Jul wed Bats 1 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
25 Jul sat Bats 2 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
??????? Bats 3 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
26 Jul sun
############### more details of 2nd half of year will be available at a later date
13 Sep CAP Block Visit 4
01 Nov sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Macro/ Brainstorm
08 Nov sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Micro/ details
15 Nov sun Bats 3 BANG Internship BEGINS
22 Nov sun Mission Sunday 2
29 Nov sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
06 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship CAP Block Visit 5
13 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
19 Dec sat YA Christmas Outreach #3 (late afternoon)
20 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship Christmas Celebration Service
24 Dec thur Christmas eve service
27 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship ENDS – Graduation from Internship
Studies for 2nd half of 09: Isaiah unit 5-9
15 Feb sun Bats 3 – Ne 2
18 Feb wed Bats 1 – Ne 2
21 Feb sat Bats 2 – Ne 2
22 Feb sun Missions Sunday 1
01 Mar sun Bats 3 – Ne 3
04 Mar wed Bats1 – Social
07 Mar sat Bats 2 – Social
08 Mar sun Bats 3 – Social
14 Mar sat YA Outreach #1
15 Mar sun Bats 3 – feedback / pray for outreach attendees
21 Mar sat Combine Social
22 Mar sun Bats 3 – Ne 4 (CAP 2 at 1:30pm)
29 Mar sun Bats 3 – Ne 5
01 Apr wed Bats 1 – Ne 3
04 Apr sat Bats 2 – Ne 3
05 Apr sun Bats 3 – Ne 6
10 Apr fri Good Friday Service
11 Apr sat Evangelism #1
12 Apr sun Easter Service
15 Apr wed Bats 1 – Ne 4
18 Apr sat Bats 2 – Ne 4
19 Apr sun Bats 3 – Ne 7
26 Apr sun CAP Block Visit 3
29 Apr wed Bats 1 – Ne 5
02 May sat Bats 2 – Ne 5
03 May sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Macro/ Brainstorm
10 May sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Micro/ details
13 May wed Bats 1 – Ne 6
16 May sat Bats 2 – Ne 6
17 May sun Family Day am & pm
24 May sun Alpha Sunday & AGM
27 May wed Bats 1 – Ne 7
30 May sat Bats 2 – Ne 7
31 May sun Bats 3 BANG Internship BEGINS
03 Jun wed YA Retreat/Outreach Planning
06 Jun sat YA Retreat/Outreach
07 Jun sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
13 Jun sat Combine Social
14 Jun sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
21 Jun sun Church Camp
27 Jun sat Subin & Michael’s Wedding
28 Jun sun Bats 3 BANG Internship END
03 Jul fri Alpha BEGINS
05 Jul sun Bats 3 join - Youth Sunday
08 Jul wed Bats 1 & 2 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
12 Jul sun Bats 3 - last Sunday before transiting to weekday
19 Jul sun DTC 2 takes over the room
22 Jul wed Bats 1 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
25 Jul sat Bats 2 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
??????? Bats 3 – Alpha Prayer Gathering
26 Jul sun
############### more details of 2nd half of year will be available at a later date
13 Sep CAP Block Visit 4
01 Nov sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Macro/ Brainstorm
08 Nov sun Bats 3 – Planning for Bats 3 BANG Internship – Micro/ details
15 Nov sun Bats 3 BANG Internship BEGINS
22 Nov sun Mission Sunday 2
29 Nov sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
06 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship CAP Block Visit 5
13 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship
19 Dec sat YA Christmas Outreach #3 (late afternoon)
20 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship Christmas Celebration Service
24 Dec thur Christmas eve service
27 Dec sun Bats 3 BANG Internship ENDS – Graduation from Internship
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Geek Terminal Photos courtesy of mr Hozea =)
yup, that's the place
the crowd was real cosy with a body count of 46 (we catered for 45 by faith haha =)
Gift Exchange!!! Everybody loves presents =)The Core of every Altar Call - Dec 08 BCBA Bulletin
I once went to a large evangelistic rally at the Singapore Indoor Stadium (I think that has to be at least 8 years ago). There was a fabulous drama being put up; very professionally done and the crowd was responsive and spontaneous; basically, awesome atmosphere! When the altar call was about to be given, the preacher spoke very dynamically about how people feel a sense of emptiness no matter how they try to fill their lives with friends, activities and achievements. He spoke about a God-shaped void where only God can fill and with that, he gave an altar call, getting non-Christians to come forward and allow Jesus to come into their lives and fill them with peace and purpose; no more restlessness, no more emptiness; just come to Jesus! And honestly I was pretty shocked at the immense numbers that responded. In my estimation I’d say at least 300 plus went down, if let’s say 100 of them are really rededications, then we’re talking about a 200 plus harvest! I recalled going out of that rally deep in thought. I remember on my bus journey back, I was asking myself why did the 300 plus responded to the altar call? At a human level, I guess it’s because they wanted the benefit of obtaining a purposeful life and eradicate emptiness and futility in their lives (which I believe is not the essence of the gospel). But yet on that bus, I came to the conclusion that God is gracious. God is able to use what deficient theology preachers deliver to fulfill his salvific purposes. And I believe by faith, that those 300 plus that responded will eventually find out about the essence of the gospel through follow-up sessions.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that those 300 plus are not saved, they probably are, since salvation is really more of a process of enlightenment and by faith I believe that the Holy Spirit is working in their lives to cause them to respond to the altar call in the first place and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in their lives to cause them to eventually understand and embrace the essence of the gospel. But like I said, I am speaking by faith, so I’m not entirely sure; but I am pretty sure that the preacher in the rally is really sincere about drawing people to God’s kingdom and God can use such a sincere heart. But the point I am making is that I believe nobody can be convinced that a certain person is a Christian unless and until that certain person has come to a clear understanding of the essence of the gospel. FORGIVENESS OF SINS is the essence of the gospel, without which the gospel message must be deemed deficient (but not unusable by God).
Psalm 103 verse 2 says: “Praise the LORD , O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”. It is so true that being a Christian comes with it a whole host of benefits (which is of course less apparent if the conversion stems from a persecuted nation) and I think it is fine to draw people to Christianity with these host of benefits but yet the main benefit to be highlighted ought to be that which is found in verse 3 of Psalm 103: forgiveness of sins. In fact, this I believe is the benefit that separates the sheep from the goats. Forgiveness of sins presupposes that you are a sinner on your way to hell – a key idea that contributes greatly to the gospel message being an offensive one. Overly “seeker sensitive” messages that takes the offensiveness out of the gospel simply won’t cut it. Indeed the gospel message must be offensive to those whose hearts are hardened and salvific for those whose hearts are humbled. Recently, the BATS young adults did a study on Isaiah 6 (unit 3 of the Isaiah guidebook), where Jesus quoted Isaiah in Mark 4:11-12.
He [Jesus] told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”
Pretty shocking to hear that the reason why Jesus spoke in parables is not because he wanted to help people relate to his message better but so that those whose hearts are proud and hardened against God will remain unforgiven for the purpose that they be kept out of the kingdom. When the unadulterated word of God is preached in its truest form, it always produces two different kinds of effects on two groups of people: those who are perishing (regarding God’s word as foolishness) and those who are being saved (regarding God’s word as the power of God) – 1 Corinthians 1:18. Do I believe that God’s desire is for everyone in the world to be saved? That’s a definite yes, but do I believe it is God’s will for everyone to be saved? I guess that’s a no, since I believe that God has willed that proud and hardened hearts be left out of the kingdom. God works by this principle: resist the proud, give grace to the humble (James 4:6).
As I am writing this, I am preparing for the gospel message that I myself will deliver at the Young Adult Christmas Outreach. By the time you read this, that outreach would have been over. My concern for this outreach is not for all to be saved but for the untainted message of God’s love to go forth without stripping away its intended offensiveness. Even if all the non-Christians present are offended by the message and nobody receive Christ in the end, that’s not really my concern. I’m more concern that the Holy Spirit is able to use the truth of God’s word to fulfill its intended purpose of saving souls on the one hand and hardening hearts on the other hand. Ultimately, people need to receive Christ for the reason that really matters. Come to think of it, forgiveness of sins is at the very core of the sinners’ prayer, I am of the believe that a “Christian” is not a Christian until the core benefit of forgiveness of sins is clearly internalized.
There was once a sincere evangelist who was sent by God Himself to preach the gospel to a non-Christian household. So he went and spoke about how God accepts everyone without favoritism; how Jesus went about doing good through the power of the Spirit; how Jesus died and rose again and is now Judge to the living and the dead. He said all this, but it was only when forgiveness of sins was preached that the Holy Spirit saw fit to interrupt (yes, interrupt) his preaching and descend upon all who heard the gospel message. This evangelist is Peter, the household is Cornelius’ and the core benefit of Christianity was preached in verse 43 of Acts 10. Especially in this Christmas Season, whenever and wherever the occasion calls for us to share the gospel, let’s get back to the core of things shall we?
Chang Loong - 12 Dec 2008
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that those 300 plus are not saved, they probably are, since salvation is really more of a process of enlightenment and by faith I believe that the Holy Spirit is working in their lives to cause them to respond to the altar call in the first place and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in their lives to cause them to eventually understand and embrace the essence of the gospel. But like I said, I am speaking by faith, so I’m not entirely sure; but I am pretty sure that the preacher in the rally is really sincere about drawing people to God’s kingdom and God can use such a sincere heart. But the point I am making is that I believe nobody can be convinced that a certain person is a Christian unless and until that certain person has come to a clear understanding of the essence of the gospel. FORGIVENESS OF SINS is the essence of the gospel, without which the gospel message must be deemed deficient (but not unusable by God).
Psalm 103 verse 2 says: “Praise the LORD , O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”. It is so true that being a Christian comes with it a whole host of benefits (which is of course less apparent if the conversion stems from a persecuted nation) and I think it is fine to draw people to Christianity with these host of benefits but yet the main benefit to be highlighted ought to be that which is found in verse 3 of Psalm 103: forgiveness of sins. In fact, this I believe is the benefit that separates the sheep from the goats. Forgiveness of sins presupposes that you are a sinner on your way to hell – a key idea that contributes greatly to the gospel message being an offensive one. Overly “seeker sensitive” messages that takes the offensiveness out of the gospel simply won’t cut it. Indeed the gospel message must be offensive to those whose hearts are hardened and salvific for those whose hearts are humbled. Recently, the BATS young adults did a study on Isaiah 6 (unit 3 of the Isaiah guidebook), where Jesus quoted Isaiah in Mark 4:11-12.
He [Jesus] told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”
Pretty shocking to hear that the reason why Jesus spoke in parables is not because he wanted to help people relate to his message better but so that those whose hearts are proud and hardened against God will remain unforgiven for the purpose that they be kept out of the kingdom. When the unadulterated word of God is preached in its truest form, it always produces two different kinds of effects on two groups of people: those who are perishing (regarding God’s word as foolishness) and those who are being saved (regarding God’s word as the power of God) – 1 Corinthians 1:18. Do I believe that God’s desire is for everyone in the world to be saved? That’s a definite yes, but do I believe it is God’s will for everyone to be saved? I guess that’s a no, since I believe that God has willed that proud and hardened hearts be left out of the kingdom. God works by this principle: resist the proud, give grace to the humble (James 4:6).
As I am writing this, I am preparing for the gospel message that I myself will deliver at the Young Adult Christmas Outreach. By the time you read this, that outreach would have been over. My concern for this outreach is not for all to be saved but for the untainted message of God’s love to go forth without stripping away its intended offensiveness. Even if all the non-Christians present are offended by the message and nobody receive Christ in the end, that’s not really my concern. I’m more concern that the Holy Spirit is able to use the truth of God’s word to fulfill its intended purpose of saving souls on the one hand and hardening hearts on the other hand. Ultimately, people need to receive Christ for the reason that really matters. Come to think of it, forgiveness of sins is at the very core of the sinners’ prayer, I am of the believe that a “Christian” is not a Christian until the core benefit of forgiveness of sins is clearly internalized.
There was once a sincere evangelist who was sent by God Himself to preach the gospel to a non-Christian household. So he went and spoke about how God accepts everyone without favoritism; how Jesus went about doing good through the power of the Spirit; how Jesus died and rose again and is now Judge to the living and the dead. He said all this, but it was only when forgiveness of sins was preached that the Holy Spirit saw fit to interrupt (yes, interrupt) his preaching and descend upon all who heard the gospel message. This evangelist is Peter, the household is Cornelius’ and the core benefit of Christianity was preached in verse 43 of Acts 10. Especially in this Christmas Season, whenever and wherever the occasion calls for us to share the gospel, let’s get back to the core of things shall we?
Chang Loong - 12 Dec 2008
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