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CLGC Blog
Easter Doodles
A self-professed non-practicing Christian and a leader recently told me what Easter meant to him. "It's a celebration that takes place at the start of Spring." A season when a fresh breeze gently permeates the earth's atmosphere. Green shoots. Budding flowers. The promise of new life. New beginnings. A renewed hope for better days ahead.
Even those who don't believe profess the turning point in nature's course. Consciously or unconsciously, they articulate the effects of Christ's resurrection - the offer of a second chance in life to make good all that we have naturally destroyed.
For many, Easter comes round but once a year. Christians ponder the death of Jesus Christ - the ultimate sacrifice for mankind's sin and separation from our Creator. His resurrection a sure sign of victory over sin and death paved way for the mending of broken relationships between man and God.
Easter is, after all, an opportune time for Christians, pastors and preachers alike to share the good news - the message of Christ's death but more so his resurrection that brought new life and the godly rule that enables the partaking of his goodness, today and everyday after.
Having lived in Malaysia and being Asian for the most part, Easter is just another special day, like every other day. Another day of blessed life. There is no greater or lesser outpouring of his Spirit on such days, but there certainly seems to be more people attending church.
May this Easter remind us of the new life that God's given us. A fresh start for those who misbehaved. An opportunity to reach out and offer encouragement - a hug and a cheer go a long way for many who see an endless journey of highs and lows, and steady plains stretching beyond the horizons.
Easter, a breaking dawn
Of new hope, a new beginning
Of new life, a journey of romance.
Others say - Easter bunnies!
Chocolate candies, rainbow colored eggs
And the weary, "Ah, a long weekend indeed!"
Churches display crosses and crucifixes
Christians gather family and friends
Strangers oblige their one of two visits each year
And yet others, regard this Sunday like any other
Wholly devoted to the true and living God
In awesome wonder of the Father, the Brother, and the Friend
Easter, a day like no other
And yet, a day like every other
Happy Easter everyone ... and everyday!
Christmas Gallery 2009 - Emmanuel, God with us
This year's Christmas celebration was themed "Emmanuel, God with us", reminding us of God's presence with us all year round. We received submissions from individuals, families, Life Fellowships and ministries, each portraying 'God with us' through photographs, origami/cutouts, figurines, poetry, painting, nature and handicraft. We transformed the foyer into a gallery, where guests are greeted with the testaments of how God is very present in our daily lives.
On Christmas morning, table hosts rose bright and early to set the tables for their family and guests, and dancers, singers and actors got ready to make the weeks of practices worthwhile. I'm not sure if repeating each item was what they had in mind to make it all worth while; but that was what Mr. MC (Wesley) ordered.
The message that was central to this year's celebration was that while we celebrate Jesus' coming to us in human form thousands of years ago, we can also celebrate His being here with us everyday. He is living and present. The message was summed up in the song "Don't save it all for Christmas Day" sang by the cast of the play as their finale...
Don't get so busy that you miss
Giving just a little kiss
To the ones you love
Don't even wait a little while
To give them a little smile
A little is enough
How many people are crying
People are dying...
How many people are asking for love
Don't save it all for Christmas Day
Find a way
To give a little love everyday
Don't save it all for Christmas Day
Find your way
Cause holidays have come and gone
But love lives on
If you give on
Love...
 
Photos courtesy of Freddy Lee
Posted by Sian Huey, 7 January 2010.
Is Jesus real?
I was having a conversation with a friend recently, and my curiosity got the better of me, when he started asking me about Jesus and if indeed he was real. It was so totally out of character on his part, that I had to find out more - why the sudden interest?
It was then told to me that he had a friend whose father was diagnosed with a terminal disease and was by then hospitalised, in a severe stage, awaiting death. A group of Christians went to visit him in the hospital one day and not only did they pray for him, they also - in the words of my friend - "brought a guitar and sang a few songs".
That night after the prayer and worship ended, and the people had left, that man had an encounter with God; in the stillness of the night, right there in the hospital room. He told his son afterwards, that he saw a room full of angels! He could not deny the presence of God with him in that room and the peace that he felt in his heart. He gave his heart to Jesus, and was completely healed of his infirmities.
What shocked my friend more than anything put together was the fact that this man in question, was a very staunch Buddhist for 30 some years. What is it about this God that is able to change a man overnight, literally? How powerful that encounter must be, for him to be able to walk away from all the beliefs he's so religiously subscribed to all these years. Who is this God that has the power to do that?
What was playing in my head long after the conversation had ended was this - how we sometimes take lightly and underestimate God's power and authority that inevitably flood the place when His people gather to pray and worship. Perhaps we too think its merely an act of "picking up the guitar and singing a few familiar Christian songs". What we sometimes fail to recognise is that when we gather to offer worship unto a great King - His presence, His power, His authority permeates over His people. What an awesome God He is!
Posted by Anon. 30 October 2009
Worship Team Jam Session - 22nd August 2009
The worship team organised a jam session for musicians and singers to come together and experiment with different sounds and their creative ideas. There was a time of sharing, teaching, teamwork in creating a new sound and finally experimenting with our instruments!
We were pleased to have Arlene, Joshua Arul, Daniel, Florence, Anna join us for the session.
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A journey of Self-Discovery |
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The idea to embark on a trip to Kratie, Cambodia was birthed in June 2009, during our LF potluck cum send off for Christine Law. I prayed for God to show me, give his consent or disapproval of my intention to assist with the work at the children's centre in Cambodia.
There being no disapproval, I started making arrangements- the process sped up by Tammy, who was very helpful in securing the tickets, detailing what had to be packed for the trip.
Upon arrival at Phnom Penh, Pastor Steve's wife took us to their home where we met a thinner looking Christine with Heidi and Tim, who had taken the trouble to make the 6-hour journey to meet us.
The next morning, we managed to catch the 8am bus for a Rock n Roll ride to Kratie accompanied with lots of honks, near misses and wonderful fruits to reach the village circa 2pm. Within a few minutes, Pastor Saret, his wife and a few others arrived on motorbikes to transport us and our barang-barang to 'Krontin'. Gee, they could carry almost anything (including me)on their bikes! A further 15 minutes of traveling on the dirt-road and we entered the vicinity of the big house, where most of the children shyly greeted us.
After dinner at around 5.30pm, came the highlight of the kids' day – worship time! The song leaders and musicians were full of enthusiasm despite the limited light and all out sweating (no fans, mind you). It was really wonderful to experience the fervour and passion of the kids for Jesus.
And so began a routine of sorts - up at 6a.m.(you can already hear the kids worshipping), devotion at 6.30, breakfast and then lessons at 7.30. I helped Christine out with what she had prepared and Tammy came well prepared with arts & craft stuff. We also had a treasure hunt, which lasted all of 5 minutes, thanks to the not-so-smart organiser, yours truly. Lunch was served at 11.30, followed by a siesta (under the big house - heavenly) and then more lessons after lunch. Dinner would be served at 6pm at the latest.
Before bedtime, there was a bit of time for reflection on my purpose there, my relationship with God and also some of the issues from back home. A number of the kids would slide up and lean on you - a child's innocent affection! I also had a fantastic time revisiting my childhood through playing checkers, ludo and snakes & ladders with the kids.
It was sad to finally leave and I wish I had planned for at least a 2 week trip, taking into account about 2 days taken up for travel. All in all, a good experience with plenty of food for thought. I thank God for the opportunity to make this trip.
It is my fervent wish that more CLGCians will 'pray and just do it' and not wait for 10 years like moi! God bless!
Written by Joshua Arul. 28 August 2009
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CAMBODIA 2009
DATE: 08 AUGUST 2009 - 20 AUGUST 2009
LOCATION: KRATIE, CAMBODIA |
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Most of our days were spent at a children's center at Kratie, a 6-hour bus ride and 340 kilometers from the capital city, Phnom Penh. Having spent most of my life in the city, the change in landscape, lifestyle and living conditions in Kratie was truly an adventure. A usual day begins with us getting up by 6AM and going to bed by 9PM and not having the luxury of electricity to power our appliances or to light up the buildings at night...that means having to stumble through the darkness to the communal washrooms if ever the need be and the possibility of having additional company of the creepy crawlies.
As discomforting the thought may be, it turns out I really enjoyed the time I had with the children at the center. Christine Law and the team of missionaries from the United States of America, Heidi Joy, Tim and Dan planned a children's summer camp that started from 27 July and ended 19 August, 2009. The camp was held in the mornings every Monday to Wednesday during that period and both Joshua and I assisted in the execution of activities during camp. The children's camp program included games and teaching of the Bible. At the end of the camp, 20 children accepted Jesus into their lives!
At other times, we taught children to read English and had art and craft activities every evening. The children were always very receptive towards whatever was taught to them. On one particular week, when both Christine and I were teaching the older children in the center for two mornings, we shared on Hearing God and Obeying the Voice of God.
The children at the center came from surrounding villages where either the parents could not afford the children's education or even their meals. My experience with them has been very positive and their heart of worship is truly one that I continually marvel at when they sing praises and worship unto the Lord.
Joshua returned to Malaysia on August 15 while I continued my stay till August 20, 2009.
My last week in Kratie included a visit to a village named Koh Lad where a team of us comprising a couple of older children from the center, Christine, Heidi, Tim and I shared bible stories, sang worship songs and played games with the children at a house church.
Throughout my stay at Kratie, I experienced two incidents where medical aid was administered- the treatment a two-year old girl from a nearby village who had burns on her feet as she stepped on live electric wires near her home and a late night call for help from a seven-month pregnant lady at another village an hour away from the center.
All this makes me wonder and evermore believe that as we continually shine the light of Jesus in caring for the needs of others and giving of our resources be it time, effort, money or our skills, people will see that light and desire for this light that comes only from Jesus.
"let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven" Matthew 5:16
Written by Tammy. 28 August 2009
What Happened to the "Priesthood of all Believers"?
I couldn't help but feel so excited and wanted to leap for joy (deep, deep down, of course) when last Sunday (8/3/2009) Pat Ong (finally!) took the mantle of a 'nobody-rookie-preacher' and shared what God has impressed upon her for months. The rhema resonated in my spirit when she repeatedly urged that we focus on God and reminded that He has called us out to be "a priesthood of all believers". It's "us" - and is not limited to someone with title, seminary training or experience.
If we think that the pulpit, communion, baptism or the direction in which the church should be heading can or should rightfully only be ministered by certain people - the "clergy" (CLGC's context: visiting speakers, elders and other office/titular leaders), and the rest of us - the "laity" - sit in pews (CLGC's context: arranged chairs) to receive, then we are missing the point and unknowingly supporting an unhealthy division of God's people into two classes: the "clergy" and the "laity" - a distinction that is unscriptural. According to James DG Dunn, this "clergy" system does more to undermine the canonical authority of the New Testament (NT) than other heresies.
This "clergy/laity" distinction is embedded in many Christian denominations eventhough it cannot be found in the NT. The earliest evidence of the word "clergy" being used can only be found in the writings of the Early Fathers, Clement of Rome in the beginning of the 2nd century (i.e. after all Jesus' apostles died), and later in Tertullian's. The distinction got "uglier" when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 313AD. Imagine this, it was the Roman Emperor Constantine's religion then! In the Romans' minds, many things had to be changed to maintain splendour and change they did. Hierarchy in the church was formed, resembling the Roman administration of those days; church buildings having similar designs as those Roman government buildings/basilicas (which were modeled after Greek temples) were erected - and priests were ordained (like the Roman custom of appointing men to civil office and wearing the garb of Roman officials) and received salaries (tax-exempted) to take care of church buildings and to do the work of the clergy (e.g. replacing the Lord's Supper, from a fellowship meal by all believers, to become a symbolic act which can only be conducted by clergy). The Reformation failed to completely reform Roman Catholicism and had maintained (amongst many other things) the clergy-laity distinction, e.g. the one pastor-laity distinction.
So what does the NT teach? The NT teaches that: (1) the local church is to be shepherded/pastored and taught by a plurality of elders and does not rest on the one person having the office of the pastor; and (2) the congregational meeting is a place where believers exercise their spiritual gifts and encourage one another to love and do good deeds. However, nowadays, the focus is only on one part of the Body, i.e. the pastor/preacher, and this practice has silenced (and blinded) the rest of us. Where, in the NT, is it taught that one man's ministry or sermon is to be the focal-point of church gatherings? Why do most people in Protestant churches attribute (whether consciously or unconsciously) what they like or dislike about the church to the responsibility of the pastor/elders? Why is coming to church primarily a spectator event instead of a participating event? In such instances, we the church have lost the vigor and activity of a living community, and not conscious of our glory and of our responsibilities.
I believe that if CLGC is to grow organically (note: could be in various directions like tree branches!), it must divest itself of such unscriptural idea of leaving to the clergy/office-holding leaders only to do the work of ministry and return to the intended "one-another" relationships and ministries.
Posted by Ben.18 March 2009
Connected!
That's something you hear/read a lot today. Lots of companies promote their services with the "connected" tagline. Stay connected! Get connected with the latest, greatest gadget. Stay connected while you travel with the best possible roaming service. Get connected online while you eat at... Get connected at faster speeds!
It seems that being connected is such an important part of society today. Just look at the slew of gadgets we "need" today. Mobile phones, Blackberry, PDA's, laptops with wifi... etc. Being able to connect with others at all times is a need today, and the business world is making a lot of money out of it.
But we also speak about connecting in church. Connecting, to God and to each other is a crucial aspect of living the Christian life. I have been speaking on this a bit in emphasising Church as the community of God's people. Getting connected with others in the church, and connected to the life of God through the Holy Spirit is what being in community is all about.
In our recent AGM, some members brought this subject up. How are we connecting? Why do people feel disconnected in the church? If the church is to be a real Christian community, we need to address this issue. So how do we get connected? What about times when we have attempted to be connected but instead we met with disappointment. All these are real issues that we deal with and there are no easy answers. Becoming community involves risk and effort. But when Jesus is at the centre of it all, its worthwhile.
One of the things that we try to do in the church is to create the time and space whereby people can begin to be connected. A thing like our small/cell groups is one example. Times like our Easter picnic last week is another. But we need to remember that the kind of connection we are looking for is also at a deeper level. A term that we can maybe use is spiritual friendships. That’s why the cell leaders are working through a book that talk about spiritual friendships.
One other time that has always been very good for connecting (with God and each other) is our church camps. Camps have always been a time where relationships are built/strengthened, and also times where God reveals a bit more about His desire for the church. So I hope that we all will try and make it to the camp this year. Not for any other reason, than to connect with each other, with God and to hear what He wants for us as a church.
Lets get connected!
Blessings
Posted by Raj.26 March 2008
Christ Centred Community II
The last time I wrote on Christ Centred Community I touched on the fact that authentic Christian Community must be centred around an allegiance to Jesus as Lord of our lives and a commitment to the work and ministry of Christ.
The flip side of Christ centred community is that this community must reflect the nature and mission of Christ in all they are and all they do. Steve Chalke, a prominent church leader in the UK says in his book "The Intelligent Church", that the main mission of the church is to demonstrate that God is Love. Now, that's a great way of explaining the mission of the church. Think about it. In all we do, and more importantly how we do it; we must demonstrate that God is Love. For example, when we talk to people, how can we communicate God's love in what we say and how we say it. In our acts of kindness, in how we share the gospel, in how we treat our spouse and children. All that we do and practice as a church must demonstrate that God is Love. If this is truly the mission of the church, then we need to rethink all we are doing in light of this.
I personally resonate with what Steve says. I find this idea is biblical and very relevant. Jesus came to show us the Father and His love. He has commissioned the church to do the same. The church is the "body of Christ". Christ is present to the world today in and through His church.
In the next few weeks and months in our Sunday services, we will be looking at what is the church and why does the church exist. What is God's plan and purpose for the church. Then we will begin to look at our church in particular and what we belive God is calling us to do. In other words, we will be learning God's plan and purpose for the church in general, and then contextualize it for our situation. I hope and pray that you will journey along with us as we look at these things. Let us come again to God's word and let our understanding of the church be renewed and challenged.
By the way, Happy Chinese New Year to all.
Posted by Raj.5 February 2007
"Christ centred Community"
"No man is an island" is something we often hear. We espouse that all humans are made for relationships. People long for friendships and for a sense of being connected. We are looking for fellow pilgrims, companions on this journey of life, and rightly so. The image of God is most reflected in us when we live in relationship, in community with each other. When we learn to care for and carry each others burdens.
However, just because we have a few good friends, hang out regularly with a few people does not mean we have good community. The goal is a Christ centred community: A community that forms itself around a common allegiance to Jesus as Lord of our lives. It is a group of people who enter into relationship with each other because they have a relationship with Christ as Lord. The defining relationship is not our relationship with each other, but our relationship with Christ. The activity of our community does not revolve around our preferences or interest, but around the mission of God.
My prayer and desire is that CLGC will be such a community. Then perhaps our relationships will move beyond the superficial. When it will be easier for us to overlook faults and offences because we have "set apart Christ as Lord" (1 Peter 3:15). When our focus will be on the kingdom of God, rather than just my preferences or needs. Then perhaps we will grow as Disciples of Christ. Because at the end of it all, if being a part of a community does not result in me growing as a disciple of Christ, then we need to ask is our community/relationships really Christ centred? And then ask ourselves the hard question: is Christ Lord of my life?
Posted by Raj.27 November 2007
Christian or "christian"?
I grew up in a charismatic, spirit-filled church back home and being a 2nd generation Christian, had spent basically my whole life in church. But despite having said the sinners' prayer at age 7 (or thereabout) and being in church week in, week out, much of what I knew basically consisted of the famous bible stories that demonstrated God's power and might and how Jesus healed and performed miracles in many places that He went. I spoke in tongues, my mom always made sure that I did my devotion every day and I could pray pretty decently too! I eagerly accepted teachings in the church and what my parents told me. I was living the "christian" life. Some even predicted/prophesied that I would go far in the kingdom when I grew up.
University came all too soon, but it was also exciting. The chance to go out and meet other people, see the world, experience independence, and all the other idealistic dreams that I had played in my head. No more curfews, no more parents telling me what to do, no more asking parents for permission before going out, hopefully get to know a few girls; the fantasy of the coming reality was getting better and better! I was going to get in touch with the Christian community there and be a part of the evangelistic explosion that I envisioned in my head. I was going to set the world ablaze!
Most of what I dreamt what a teenage university life would be was coming true, except the part of being part of a Christian evangelistic explosion. I joined a Christian Fellowship, but there seemed to be some differences in our understanding. I didn't like it, but I tolerated it because I was new, and I was also the junior student there. This was in spite of my own assertion that as a "christian" who knew better, I had a duty to slowly show them the right path and the right understanding. However, this did not stop me from visiting the churches of these "unenlightened" Christian friends of mine.
For the most part, I visited many churches mainly because I was restless staying in the same church environment that I had grown up in. However, it was the week that I chose to go to a Brethren church that really jolted the very core of my "christianity". There was no pastor, there was no song leader, they drank communion from the same cup and they kept standing up and sitting down! How could any church be like that? But my journey did not end there. The adventurer in me decided to check out a Catholic church as well. By the time I was in my final year, I had visited all sorts of churches, from huge mainstream churches to small independent ones.
Every time I went to these churches, every ounce of "christian" in me was crying out because what they were doing didn't seem right. Their liturgies were so contradicting with what I had learnt about praying from the heart and following the prompting of the Holy Spirit. The choir with only a pipe organ contrasted so vastly with what I had memorized from Psalms 150 about praising God with cymbals. The non-practice of speaking in tongues clashed with what I had learnt about tongues being a spiritual gift that all Christians needed to have. How could all these Christians be misinterpreting issues that I had already learnt when I was still a child? Didn’t they know that they were wrong???
But were they wrong? Or did the "christian" supremacist in me think they were wrong?
Was it the fact that I had been so used to the "christianity" that I grew up with that I was being judgmental of what I did not fully understand? An even more frightening thought that chilled the hot headed young adult that I had become was whether I feared what I did not know? Was it the fear that after years of having thought I knew everything about the "christian" life, only to find that I had merely scratched the surface of what it meant to be a true Christian?
I am reminded of the story of Paul, and his dramatic conversion. Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was a Pharisee who had a great future ahead of him. His credentials were pretty blinding (Philippians 3:4-6, Acts 23:6): He was the son of a Pharisee, a Roman citizen, circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin and observed the laws religiously (in his words: blameless). He vigorously and zealously persecuted Christians who were regarded as a sect who did not adhere to Judaism and the Torah.
Saul had all the head knowledge and social standing that anyone in his time could have wanted, and yet he lacked a true understanding of a God that transcended race and social standing. His powerful encounter with the Almighty on the road to Damascus totally transformed Saul. The transformation from Saul to Paul was much more than just a name change. While the Saul of old would have easily discounted views from others (especially if they were not of the same social standing) and many more who were imprisoned (Acts 22:3-5), the new Paul was willing to accept that there are things that he could not fully explain (Galatians 1:11-24). To admit that he did not fully understand was something almost rare of for a learned Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin, especially one who was a student of Gamaliel, a prominent rabbi at that time. And yet, this merely magnifies that fact that those who come into contact with the Almighty cannot remain in their old ways.
And much like how Paul was shown that it was himself rather than the followers of Christ who needed to be shown the right way, I have been privileged and blessed to have encountered many patient friends who have in the same way shown me that the rest of the Christians didn’t need to be shown the right way. It was more that my brand of "christianity" was more akin to the judgmental Pharisees than the Christianity that changed the face of history and the world. My own brand of self-righteousness has burned more bridges and caused more to turn away from Christ than those perceived "unenlightened" Christians.
Years have passed since that visit to that Brethren church and a few more since my university days. But now, I count it my pleasure and a great joy to have Lutherans, Brethrens, Methodists, Baptists and Anglicans in my circle of friends. I may still not fully comprehend their liturgy or understand their traditions comprehensively, but in the footsteps of Paul, all I need to be is to be Christ like in approach "...and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:9).
Posted by Colin.26 October 2007
The Quest for Authenticity
The word "authentic" has been in my mind for some time now. It's a word that I heard being used to describe a virtue that Christians should posses. The vision of the church is to be an authentic Christ-centred community.
So what is authenticity and how can we live that out? The word authentic has been used many times to imply truthfulness, honesty and basically a lack of pretense. But I think sometimes authenticity has been wrongly understood. Some people may be rude and then justify it by saying that they are just being authentic. Or indulge in sinful behavior and then justify their continual failing by saying that that’s just "who I am". This is not the kind of authenticity that we long for.
According to wikipedia, "Authenticity refers to the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions". You see my friends, being an authentic Christian is more about a sincere commitment and devotion to following Jesus. It is about a group of people who take following Christ seriously and seek to follow His way and to do His works in our lives. At the same time, being authentic means that we are fully aware of our frailties and failures and do not seek to gloss over them. Authenticity also refers to transparency. It is about an intention to live a transparent life, willing to be known for who we are, and not just who we say we are or pretend to be. Authenticity the, includes integrity.
The road to authenticity is full of risks. It is a hard road requiring vulnerability, faith and patience. But the rewards are great. For when we experience true spiritual community, lives are changed and the kingdom of God is enacted. Let me close with a quote by Ray Anderson in his book "The Soul of Ministry" which I feel describes the fruit of authenticity. Writing about "Love" as a virtue of Christ and his followers, he says "We are committed to allow people in the world to see the interior of our Christian fellowship; and in knowing us, leading them to know God"
I have caught a glimpse of what Authentic Christ-centered community can be. My prayer is that all of us will see it, long for it and realize it.
Lord Jesus, let Your Kingdom come!
Posted by Raj.26 October 2007
So what will YOU do?
Here are some serious thoughts that we should perhaps consider as Malaysians, and more importantly, as Malaysian Christians even as we read about the economic catastrophe that Zimbabwe finds itself in, and the protests in Myanmar against the ruling military government:
Is being happy that we are in Malaysia and pitying other countries enough?
Is being thankful that Malaysia is not as bad as some other countries something to be proud about?
Will anyone deny that the crisis that engulfs this country gets more blatant and rampant and yet, nothing and no one seems culpable for all the corruption and misdeeds of certain individuals and parties?
I honestly believe that if left unchecked, Malaysia could well be on the way to heading down the road to becoming another Myanmar,where the ruling government do as they please, or become another Zimbabwe, where the economy has become so bankrupt and corruption so rampant that their money is worthless and their people exploited by the very people they voted into power.
Many Christians would often just offer empathy or apathy and probably say, "Let's pray that God will protect and prosper our country". And yet, at the core of it all, we do not know what's happening in this country or the turmoil that threatens the very fragile unity that we as Malaysians are so proud about. How can we pray for our country if we do not know what's happening in our "tanah tumpah darahku"? How can we pray for this country and hope that things will change, when we ourselves are not interested to know what we can do to turn the tide?
God forbid, if we do nothing now and should Malaysia succumb to the sins of its own making, don't expect to pray for salvation from other countries to save us. All the asking politely and imposing sanctions at the UN ain't gonna do anything... look at the two countries that have been brought up... Myanmar and Zimbabwe continue to oppress and govern as they see fit despite strong reproach from US, UK and Europe...
All I'm saying is that perhaps, we can do a lot more than just live in our comfort zones and pray that God will continue to keep our country and families safe.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Posted by Colin.2 October 2007
Churning of the Sea of Milk: Passionate Patience, Alert Expectancy
On one of the bas-relief panels in the east gallery of Angkor Wat, the humongous temple originally dedicated to the Supreme Being, Vishnu, is a scene called the Churning of the Sea of Milk. According to Hindu mythology, thirteen precious things, including Amrita, the elixir of immortality, were lost in the churning of the cosmic sea. Finding them again required a massive joint dredging operation between the gods and demons. Assisting this endeavor was the giant serpent Vasuki, who offered himself as a rope to enable twirling of a "churning stick" and was yanked back and forth in a giant tug of war that lasted a thousand years. The reliefs are phenomenal to view up-close, for they depict the entire cosmic scene pictorially over breadth of tens of meters. In the past few weeks and months, I have felt a churning of my own personal, metaphorical sea. The elixirs of life that once paved the way for a semi-charmed life have given way to what seems like a major internal dredging operation that sometimes feels like the never-ending back and forth of a giant tug of war. But unlike in Hindu mythology, where gods and demons collaborate in a desperate scramble to recover the precious things that make life as we know it, we have come to know a God from whom life itself proceeds. Scrambling, therefore, becomes unnecessary. Nor is any thousand-year tug of war, though at times it may seem like everything tugs and pulls incessantly. And in my endeavor to inquire as to why it takes what seems like forever for such internal dredgings to occur, I am reminded of something Paul once said to the churches in Rome. This first part takes off where a previous post left off, that of entering into what God is doing, by trusting and then embracing all he is doing. "By entering... into what God has always wanted to do for us... make us fit for him... [w]e throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand- out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise." So, in this great passage, instead of being hemmed in, like we often feel at times like these, drowning in the quagmire of our own murky oceans, the writer of Romans says that as we enter into his work in us, we find ourselves in wide open spaces, doors to God flung wide open, where we stand tall, where praise and gratitude proceed from the exuberance of our hearts. Paul continues, "There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next." "Passionate patience." That is probably the first time I have ever heard those two words together in a phrase, and isn't that curious. We are used to thinking of patience mostly in terms of inconvenience and, ironically, impatience- waiting in line to pay for a groceries at a hypermart on a busy weekend (which weekend isn't busy these days?), waiting for a car park in a terribly congested lot, waiting for a sibling/partner/lover to finish using the bathroom while we tap our feet and hammer at the door, huffing. But here it says "passionate patience." Patience that is embraced tenderly, passionately. Where the whole notion of patience becomes inexorably linked to the intense emotions of an Argentinian duo after a fiery tango on a warm, star-soaked summer's night. Passionate patience. "Tempered steel of virtue." In metallurgy, tempering is a process where steel is "toughened" through the transformation of brittle martensite into ferrite. "Precise control of time and temperature during the tempering process are critical to achieve a metal with well-balanced mechanical properties," we are told. And isn't that how sometimes our internal processes happen? Through carefully ordered circumstances of differing timing and intensity, each one turning up the heat until the process is fully completed. Paul writes next, "In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged." At times of formation of the "tempered steel of virtue," we might feel shortchanged, which usually takes the form of "why is this happening to me," "groannnn," "can it end now please?" But that is not how the passage ends. It ends with us shouting praises even when we're hemmed in with troubles, in alert expectancy of what God will do next! Imagine us as individuals, struggling with our pasts, niggling raw things like "identity," the struggle of not knowing what is happening either now, or what will be in the near or distant future, learning to live in praise-like expectancy as Paul instructs. I don't know what will happen next. But whatever it is, it has got to be worth the bother, the pain, the tempering of our souls and the churning of our muddy insides, for at the end of it, we will not feel shortchanged. "Quite the contrary," says Paul, for when the Spirit pours into our lives, we will not even be able to round up enough containers to fill it!
Posted by Reuben.13 September 2007
Trust and embrace: the two-point pivot action plan
"Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own." I am tired of trying. I am tired of trying to be right on my own. I just read this portion of text, which is from Eugene Peterson's The Message, and was blown away. It really has nothing to do with what we do. We just have to enter into what God is doing. And it really is that simple. No trying, no need to hype up our moods, our needs, our intentions- just enter, and trust that God will set you right. For someone like me, this is incredibly hard to understand- that you can have a somewhat hands-off approach to this lifelong journey. No trying. Instead, we just trust that we will enter and become what he wants us to be. The text continues, "But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it... well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift." And that, simply, is justification by faith. There is something he asks of us, but of course, of course, it is too big. So we trust God to do it. And only he can bring it about anyways, and then it becomes a gift, sheer gift. And that trust sets us right with God. So we don't try, we trust. It continues, "This is why the fulfillment of God's promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does." So, the easy steps to fulfillment of promise is: one, we trust, second, we embrace simply everything he is doing. Even if that is hard drudgery. We trust, then embrace. Even if it is intense internal suffering, as what is happening to a few of us now. Trust and embrace. Even when it is denial of self, of pleasures, or pain. Trust and embrace. God is tender, loving, and just. So we trust and embrace. Just like a simple two-point pivot action plan. Like someone once said, "God has spoken, and the rest is just commentary."
Posted by Reuben.21 August 2007
First loved and First love
Some things Raj said on Sunday (15/7/07) stirred an excitement in my heart (and overwhelmed the "Transformers"-mania I had...), to search for more of what I was hearing. It was like the light bulb just lit above my head, jolted me out of my depression. Two verses, both written by the apostle John, stood out:
"We love because he first loved us." (1Jn 4:19) (ESV)
"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." (Rev 2:4) (KJV)
The Greek word for "first" in the 2 verses is protos, meaning "foremost (in time, place, order or importance)" (from Strong's dictionary). It could also mean the very first in time, place and priority.
I guess to truly understand what Rev 2:4 says, I better read Rev 2:2, 3,...which state:
"I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary." (Rev 2:2, 3) (ESV)
Leaving the first love does not merely mean getting cold or unresponsive to hear from God or do the things of God. Going back to "first love" does not merely mean trying to be like a new convert/believer again, being warm-hearted and zealous of the things of God. As can be observed in the said passage, the Ephesus church was also zealous in a different way, yet the Lord was displeased with them.
So what is "first love"? What prompts or starts the "first love"? What happened or occured before we had the first love? The Bible taught us that the fallen Man (meaning, woman is not excluded here) does not know what is true love or how to truly love, unless he knows God:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1Jn 4:7, 8) (ESV)
Without God, Man is totally depraved. Being totally depraved, nothing good can come out of Man (Rm 3:12). Everything the fallen Man does is sin. In sin, there is no love.
But when God first loved us and gave us the enabling grace through Jesus, we are no longer depraved and our spirit is quickened and became alive. Like a newborn/new creation, we suddenly became aware of our existence in God, out of nothing and we were then totally dependent on God, who we know is love, and we simply cannot do otherwise but to love Him:
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1Jn 4:10) (ESV)
For me, the happening of "first loved" is the happening of "first love". David Crowder, a prominent songwriter, beautifully puts it: "When our depravity meets His Divinity, it is a beautiful collision". It is the collision of Man's fallen state and his Maker's transcendence. It is where emptiness and despair meets eternal love. It is where God initiates and meets us and we respond to His love by loving Him in return, without knowing (or worrying) what will come next but knowing that He loves us and we can be totally dependent on Him for our whole being.
Let us be reminded (again, and again) not to leave God out of the picture in whatever we do as we are totally dependent on Him. God - the very first, the foremost, in time, place and priority, in our relationships, our homes, our work, our careers, etc, i.e. whatever we are. God - who loves us first and the first we love.
Posted by Benjamin.17 July 2007
Pause...
This word has been in my mind the last few weeks since I got back from London. It is as if God has hit the pause button on us and is asking us to stop for a moment. All our plans, activities and our business in life must come to a pause and we need to allow Him to re-orientate our lives. Personally and corporately
Does this necessarily mean that we need to change whatever we are doing? Possibly, but I think God actually wants to go deep and look into our hearts. It is not so much what we are doing but why and how we are living. I believe God is taking us to a place where He wants to work on our "being" first so that our "doing" comes out of who we are i.e. our being. I feel as if God is doing a work of re alignment in our lives and that involves coming back to our first love as many have shared. But I think more than that, He is re-creating us and teaching us new ways of living and being. It's a deep work and we must make the time and space for God to dig deep and work in us.
Therefore, I encourage you all to take the time to pause and be still. Slow down on our business of life, whether it be work wise, socially or even ministry and let's go back to the simplicity of love for God and for His people.
Pause...
Posted by Raj.26 June 2007
An X-Shaped Cross is not so cool...
I was thinking about it the other day, as someone was praying out loud about wanting to see Jesus, and this thought hit me:
If I asked myself seriously:
I don't want to be close to Jesus.
I don't want to see Christ.
I don't want to give my all to him.
It wasn't that shocking after I admitted it to myself. It was not even because of a thought that was dawning on me on the "cost" of being a disciple. It was just the feeling of a certain "no" within myself, because it was all simply ridiculous, if I were to think sanely. And we only need to look at history and church tradition to confirm this. Being close to Jesus:
Meant for Luke being hanged in Greece.
Meant for Peter being crucified upside-down.
Meant to Paul being tortured and beheaded in Rome.
Meant for James, son of Zebedee, beheading in Jerusalem.
Meant for Matthew martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
Meant to Bartholomew, flaying by whip to death for preaching in Armenia.
Meant for Mark being dragged by horses on the streets in Egypt until he was dead.
Meant to Barnabas, one of the group of seventy disciples, being stoned to death in Greece.
Meant to Jude, brother of Jesus, being killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Meant for Andrew being whipped severely and crucified for two days on an x-shaped cross in Greece.
Meant to Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the Judas the traitor, being stoned and then beheaded.
Meant for John being boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil, and, surviving that, sentenced to work on mines on Patmos.
Meant to Thomas being stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.
Meant for James, leader of the church in Jerusalem, being thrown over a hundred feet from the southeast pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem when he refused to deny his faith in Christ; surviving that, James was clubbed to death.
Which brings me back to my point: I don't want to see Christ, I don't want to be close to Him, I don't want to have a "deeper" relationship with Him, or give my all to Him. It is simply too much, and too ridiculous to ponder the magnitude of saying those things. But as I said that, I couldn't help think that I already had, and it was too late to take my word back now. The journey had already commenced, for me, from at least the first quarter of 1998 in a dingy flat in Madras, India. I can't, won't turn back now. What is before me? Who knows: endless bliss sailing on a catamaran between the Mediterranean Isles and the south of Spain or being in shackles in China for the sake of the Gospel? I mean, out of that whole long list above, only John was to survive and die peacefully as the Bishop of Edessa in Turkey, but that only after surviving boiling oil and hard labor, so realistically, statistically, what are the odds?
Someone once said recently that your obedience might be your only reward. And how true. And if we look at the lives of the people in the list above, you see something like that in the death of Andrew, the one crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. Here goes the story: "After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired." He continued to preach for two days while hanging on a cross? Even Christ did not do that.
For some of us, the journey continues. For some, it is only just beginning. For some, it might tickle us silly knowing the details above, as we wave the whole thing away. But to each his own. There is not much solace, not many kind words that you can offer to a man about to be crucified for Christ. But the rewards are not merely in this life, but in the life to come. The reward is ours, when we are with our glorified Lord, in our glorified bodies, in a glorified creation, the half-merger of the heaven-earth that is so gloriously detailed in the Revelation of the apostle once boiled in hot oil. Redemption is not quite what we think it is sometimes.
Posted by Reuben.18 May 2007
Missional Caring for the Poor
Many (many) years ago I had the opportunity to go for a (less than a week) missions trip to Khon Kaen, Thailand with several church members. As part of the orientation, we had to learn simple essential phrases in Thai and such other cultural issues we have to note and do (and not do) so as not to offend anybody. One of the memorable things of that trip was when I told a lady selling "Kuey Teow Phad Thai" that I "put thai mai dai", i.e. "I don't speak Thai". She refused to believe and reacted with a mouthful of Thai words that seemed to me to be as long as the Chao Praya River, to which I could only respond by smiling (and be nice). But what made me think hard from that trip was when I had to go to the poor in the slumps on a day-trip to "evangelise and share the gospel" by handing out tracts and inviting them to go for a night meeting featuring a skit by our team. On reflection, something in this scenario didn't quite seem right... I don't speak Thai and most of them there cannot read, and do they really have to go a distance just to watch some young foreigners perform...?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? - James 2:15-16 (ESV)
Raj said on 2 consecutive Sundays (15 & 22 April 2007) that "missions has to be holistic". It is always good to be reminded of this, and especially so when it is repeated for the third time (!) here, like any twice or thrice-repeated phrase in speeches. The Thailand scenario would have been different if we had also attended to the physical and welfare needs of the poor there.
As a new believer decades ago, I was told by my counselor, relying on Ephesians 2:8, that "Christians do not need to do good works to be saved". So ingrained in me with that teaching that I am now wondering whether I am (and perhaps, many others are) shying away from good works altogether. Being a bit more matured and like most lawyers, I like to qualify that statement now. A possible legalistic-looking qualifying statement can read as follows: "Christians do not need to do good works to be saved SUBJECT ALWAYS THAT they do good works."
John Piper in his book "The Passion of Jesus Christ" described good works as: "Without limiting their scope, (good works in) the Bible means mainly helping people in urgent need, especially those who possess least and suffer most. For example, the Bible says, "Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need," (Titus 3:14). Christ died to make us this kind of people--passionate to help the poor and the perishing. It is the best life, no matter what it costs us in this world: They get help, we get joy, God gets glory."
The early Christians were known for their good works (especially for those within the fellowship - see Gal. 6:10). The Roman Emperor Julian, writing in the 4th century, regretted the progress of Christianity because it pulled people away from Roman gods, said: "Atheism [i.e. Christian faith!] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them" - Stephen Neill in "A History of Christian Missions".
Whilst we should have a global vision of preaching the gospel to those who have not heard of Christ, we should not neglect what is right in front of our face. I feel a "glocal" (global and local) missional attitude is needed now, so that our church can look beyond the borders of Malaysia but yet not neglect local needs or crises which God is leading us to.
Posted by Benjamin.25 April 2007
My Reflection of Camp
Church camp or what we call family camp has always been times I look forward to with great expectation and eagerness. As a young believer, and having unbelieving parents, I was never allowed to go for church camps. And for many years, this would be my yearly do - crying secretly in my room because I missed the camp. Why ? Why was I longing so very much to be a part of a church camp, be with people I hardly know because I was not allowed to go to church then?
All I knew then was that camp was a time you set aside to seek God.
Progressively, I saw camp as a time the church set aside to spend together with God and with one another. A time to be away from the normal routine of life and work (including school work!) and be refreshed through relationships with God and each other. A time of reflection on our lives, a time of getting to know and appreciating one another in the church. A time of finding out 'someone' actually existed in church. It is a time of enjoying what God has given to us, His presence and one another. And also, a time families enjoy family time with others around.
Perhaps , like many , camp has been a time of discovery- of ourselves and of others. I discover pleasant and unpleasant things in my life and others in the camp. I learnt to accept myself and others and that becomes milestones in my life as God intervenes.
It has also been a time of building and equipping. That would include tearing down too in order to build. God speaks and does very specific things in church camps. He loves His church. When God breaks, He is also faithful to build up, but in His way. Whom He calls, He also equips. It is crucial that we allow Him to do that. I never cease to marvel at the testimony of God's goodness and His work in campers.
Celebration! Yes, it has been time of celebration. Not only on earth but in heaven. The whole of angelic host rejoicing over the salvation of man. Over and over again, there is such rejoicing and celebation as individuals make decision to follow JESUS and testify of their devotion through water baptism.
Years have passed and I that desire to go for church camp never died.
Posted by Lei Wah.19 April 2007
The Dream of God
God has a dream. It's not like the dreams we have. When we use the word dream, we can either mean... what happened while we were asleep (that is something not real) or a dream as in a wish. What we want to be, or see happen in our lives. Sometimes we say we have a vision.
God's dream is His aspiration for the world. His dream is for His kingdom to come to earth in all its fullness. The thought of the kingdom of God has been a lot on my mind the last 2 years. I taught a series on the Kingdom of God in 2005. The lessons learned while preparing for this series has laid a foundation for my understanding of my faith. Recently I have begun to think afresh on the kingdom. Brian McLaren got me thinking about how to describe the kingdom of God today. The word kingdom does not seem very relevant to a society where kings and royalty are mainly just figureheads and perform only ceremonial duties. God's kingdom is one where the King, God Himself, is ruler over all. In Him is true authority and not just ceremonial authority.
In "The Secret Message of Jesus", McLaren uses 6 different words to try and contextualize the term "kingdom of God" in a way that helps us understand it. One word he used is the "dream of God". Another is the "conspiracy of God". As I was thinking about this from a Malaysian perspective, maybe a way we can describe the kingdom of God is to say the "reformasi" of God? Think about it. God's kingdom is like a reformation of society that slowly works its way through the people, awakening them to another reality and helps them live in a different way of life. This is in no way suggesting that the way to this reformation is to do what Anwar Ibrahim's supporters did. That is not the way of Christ. This reformation is one of love, of serving and loving our neighbours. It does not seek to be on the front pages of the newspapers with its protests, but expresses its reality in small, subversive acts of love, kindness and generosity. Its effectiveness is like that of yeast on bread. Hmmm... I think someone has already used that analogy.
Posted by Raj.22 March 2007
Postmodern Discipleship
"Postmodern" is a word much mentioned during the various conversations with Brian McLaren during the "Friends in Conversation: Quiet Revolution of Hope" (QRoH) conference organised by Emergent Malaysia and held recently in CLGC. To an Asian on the street (who may not be well-read), it definitely needs a lot of clarification... because rarely we hear or speak of this word in our Asian conversations (unlike any generic word of "Eat", "Food" or "Makan" of our Malaysian culture).
However, "Postmodern" is not easy to define, even academicians and other experts can disagree on the definition. One academician said, "A simple definition of postmodernism is the belief that truth is not discovered, but created." But the renowned teacher/author, Scot McKnight said, "Postmodernity cannot be reduced to the denial of truth. Instead, it is the collapse of inherited metanarratives (overarching explanations of life) like those of science or Marxism. Why have they collapsed? Because of the impossibility of getting outside their assumptions". Hmmm... the latter definition may not be appropriate here…; need to explain and understand "metanarratives" first before one could even come to the understanding of "postmodernity" itself.
Many view that in a postmodern culture, it is simply the elimination or de-construction of truth. "Words mean only whatever we wish them to mean." Therefore, the aim of postmodernists is to deconstruct language and ultimately whatever truth. Truth does not exist except as the individual wants it to exist; possibly and dangerously to the extreme extent that that the person can create his/her own truth. To a hard postmodern, knowledge is uncertain. They view that God, being infinite, is beyond all words and grasp of language, a tool which is limited and can be influenced by culture.
Notwithstanding the various propositions and perspectives that can be presented on "postmodernity" and "emerging churches", I believe the sessions of QRoH were not intended to be just a feast of words exclusively for intellectuals (i.e. generally, people who feed or put words more often into their heads and mouths, rather than their hands and feet). I found the session on "Discipleship" inspiring and refreshing, partly because of Brian's excellent story-telling... on the making of a Stradivarius violin, involving a master and his apprentice.
Brian started by describing spiritual formation as "the development of people be, think, feel, work, relate, serve, play in the way of Jesus" and then went on to describe how a master violin maker could determine the suitability of the wood for a Strad by touching, seeing/observing, smelling, etc. the wood, without much need of words to describe the senses felt. The apprentice will be following and observing him and touching, seeing/observing, smelling, etc. the wood the same way. And soon the apprentice was able to pick up similar skill instinctively or unconsciously.
In a postmodern culture where there is no absolute truth and knowledge is uncertain, seems like it is not so much as to what can be put down into words when discipling or helping someone to grow spiritually. Discipling is not giving a set of principles or concepts to digest; if churches lean toward such system, they have (quoting Eugene Peterson) "traded the vocation of hand-crafting saints for the business of mass-producing sheep".
Discipleship is apprenticeship, i.e. being there with a person, studying the Bible together, teaching and learning what it means to follow Jesus in daily lives. The disciple tend to learn more when he pays attention to what is being said and done, i.e. by example, so that he will catch on his own what living in the way of Jesus is. When we look at the life of Jesus, we see a model for living and engaging with society and culture and in a way, be like Christ to people and thereby, proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
The emerging (postmodern) church thinks how a person lives is more important than what they believe - "We may not get it right when it comes to theology, so what we are called to do is live right." Scot McKnight has this to say on living right/spiritual formation: "The fundamental characteristic of a person who is spiritually formed is this: such a person loves God (by following Jesus) and loves others".
I don't know how postmodern we Asians are or are becoming. But from what I can draw from eavesdropping on the conversations made at QRoH (apart from terror words like "epistemology", "orthopraxis", etc.), I appreciate the postmodern perspective of the Church, being a community with all humanity strengths and flaws (and possibly with more questions than answers), is where we have our spiritual formation, how we commune and relate, and how we provide a safe place and encourage others to commune and relate, in the way of Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Posted by Benjamin.09 March 2007
Cambodia
Cambodia was a joy and a gift. More than any other trip, it felt like the actual things we did were far smaller than the longer-termed consequences of those minute actions (or so we were told by Steve and his team). And what we did offends in its simplicity- we lived at the center for children, read the Bible, taught guitar. There was a certain rhythm and simplicity that, if truth be told, most of us in our urban, sophisticated environments need to experience if only for the reason that it would do good to our, at times, harried souls. There, stripped and pared down of all external frivolities, you learn to really cherish and value what is of eternal significance- our relationships, our conduct and manner of our service, and communion with God. And, echoing the gospels, you end up caring less and less about what you wear, what you eat, where you sleep, and focus more on who God is, the people He has called us to love, and the way in which we carry out our service to Him.
And yet, while we went about doing our thing, another quiet, unassuming force was working in tandem- church planters, many of whom make their home at the center, went out every day, into the scorching heat, being pastors to the communities around the province, some as far flung as the increasingly deforested jungles, or on red earth minutes from the Vietnamese border. When two families came to Christ, a house church came into being, worship was added to the church, and the Bible was preached in Khmer. The faithfulness and simplicity of faith of the church planters were at times astounding- they would come back quietly, often late in the evening, ate their dinners quietly, and would quietly leave early the next morning to do the very same thing the next day. The things of the Kingdom can be remarkably simple- to preach the good news and do justice to the poor. The center is making waves on both fronts- quietly, unassumingly; the very way Christ told us the Kingdom would come.
Posted by Reuben.01 March 2007
FUN IN LITURGY
I don't think many of us were prepared for what happened during last Sunday service (4/2/07) when CLGC's worship went liturgical, from the sharing by Sherman Kuek on the Holy Sacraments to the participation (and anticipation) of everyone at the Lord's Table. The refreshing experience prompted me to think more about liturgy; for instance, what happens if liturgy goes wrong or out of order?
"Liturgy" as described in the dictionary is a "fixed form of public worship used in churches". So why have liturgy in our unpredictable Pentecostal worship?
Dan Kimball in his book: "Emerging Worship", said that a "revival of liturgy and other ancient disciplines, when brought back with life and meaning, are a desired approach to worship in the emerging church. I'm not suggesting we abandon all contemporary forms of worship and music. I'm simply suggesting we don't ignore 2,000 years of church history. There are beautiful expressions of worship from various time periods we can integrate into how we worship today."
Brian McLaren in "A Generous Orthodoxy" encouraged an approach that "seeks to find a way to embrace the good in many traditions and historic streams of Christian faith, and to integrate them, yielding a new, generous, emergent approach that is greater than the sum of its parts. This approach is both ancient/historical and avant-garde/innovative. My friend Leonard Sweet uses the image of a swing to capture this simultaneous kicking-back/leaning-forward, kicking-forward/leaning-back. He also uses the image of a pole vaulter, who, in order to move forward and fly upward, begins by going backward to get a running start. He calls this an ancient-future approach, as does Robert Webber, another wise Christian thinker looking for ways ahead for the Christian faith by reaching back at the same time."
Robert Webber did say that "convergent worship should be liturgical, culturally relevant, participatory, holistic, and should express a variety of moods".
To a Pentecostal, it is hard to believe that there is anointing when God's people performed a liturgy. But what I observed on Sunday was really a move of God and the anointing was certainly unexpected. There were those who experienced joy and release as they stood waiting for their turn to partake the sacraments. Many, if not most, were awed in the holy presence.
While the breaking of the bread and the consecration of the wine were formal, there was a lot of participation by the congregation. The participation was not perfect (i.e. free of errors), and need not be. This was what I observed: There were those who fumbled with their words as they were handing out the bread and wine to their neighbour. There were those who were not sure of what they were supposed to say or do. There were parents juggling with a baby in one hand and holding the sacraments in the other (and every one of the babies was screaming for a taste of the red juice (tannic wine!) in the cute small cup!). I saw a good friend of mine, instead of picking a morsel from the loaf, broke a huge chunk of bread, big enough to fill the whole mouth, and gave it to his neighbour; and the brother he fed had to stuff the whole piece into his mouth in one go(!) like everyone else. I was wondering whether to laugh or hold my laughter, hurt my tummy doing so and pretend to act solemn, at that sight. Oh dear, all these errors, fumbling and lack of solemnity, does it mean God is not pleased with the worship now?
I don't think so. Whilst there are liturgy to follow, one must not forget to have fun and enjoy the holy presence of God among his people. Authentic worship, be it in liturgy or otherwise, can have a variety of moods, because we worship an amazing God.
Posted by Benjamin.06 February 2007
New Generation
Just a few days ago, I read out of curiosity a report on a recent study made in US on evangelistic efforts made by churches in 2006. The study found that 97% of 811 Protestant ministries surveyed engaged in evangelism during 2006, of which Vacation Bible School was the most popular action with 70% participating. Distributing tracts and other literature - the 2nd highest participation (59%). The study also found that evangelistic methods varied according to denomination. Non-charismatic evangelical churches were likely to participate in diverse evangelism activities, from pregnancy counseling to sports programs; but they were less likely to engage in community programs such as outreaches to the homeless, blood drives and domestic-violence programs. Pentecostal churches frequently used concerts, revivals, "invite a friend to church" days and audio-visual productions; but they were less likely to host vacation Bible schools. In general, 39% said it is more important to focus on programs that address spiritual needs rather than physical needs. If a similar study is made based on churches in Malaysia today (obviously in a different culture and religious environment and where I reckon Vacation Bible School would be the least popular action), I wonder what would the results be...
Bearing in mind the effect of Internet today, one can't disagree that the Church needs to break free of tradition, a mechanical model with a set of accepted principles and policies and think in new ways to reach this Internet generation. I tend to agree with the view that the older generation thinks in terms of big and small (e.g. the 70’s ad of a huge muscular man kicking sand onto the face of a skinny small man; or the catchphrase "Big, strong & friendly"); the new generation thinks in terms of fast and slow (e.g. "Submit your resume via e-mail or online", "Why queue when you can pay via phone or online?", etc.).
More than 2 decades ago, I was taught to start a conversation so as to share the gospel with this liner: "What do you think will happen to you if you die today?". There will be various responses to such a question today; some may be polite responses but most likely, negative ones. I think the "Accept Jesus for dying for your sins so that you can get to live forever in heaven" approach may not be relevant today, (and is certainly not THE reason for being called a Christian). The Church has a mission/commission: being and making disciples, in authentic community, for the good of the world – where people learn to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love their neighbors and enemies and teach others by word and example to do the same, whilst empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The old ways of evangelism have to change; so as to understand, reach out and connect with the world today. This impetus can be observed in the "Emerging Church", a network of "young/post-evangelicals" who believe the gospel needs to be made more relevant to a changing society with advancing technology. Participants of the Emerging Church refer to their interaction as a "conversation" (rather than a movement), and much of which takes place on the Internet, via blogs and websites.
Leonard Street in his book "Postmodern Pilgrims" said that the Church must strive to keep the past and the future in perpetual conversation - so every generation will find a fresh, relevant expression of the Gospel that is based on God's unchanging principles. The old structures of the Church must evolve to reach this new generation; doing the same things the same way will not suffice. As such, many share the view that the (post-modern) world today understands itself through biological rather than mechanistic models; it distrust institutions, hierarchies and bureaucracies; and because it is chaotic, connected and complex, it seeks structures that are formed organically, rather than structured and mechanistic one.
So what would the conclusion of a study made on CLGC be like? A mechanistic or a biological model for participation? What needs to be maintained or changed? The lines... (or if you prefer, the e-mail or SMS) for conversations are always open...
Posted by Benjamin.23 January 2007
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