The Aftermath - Part 1

Thursday, 23rd August 2007

Wow, so much has happened since news broke about my being relieved from official leadership in PLMC, that I don't know where to start.

The number of visits to ROOTSS has also shot up fivefold. While it used to average about 10 per day, it is now about 50 per day, and reached a peak of 89 on 8 August.

Looks like God is indeed causing something good to come about from something bad :-)

I have received feedback from both PLMC and NCC members.

There are fellow PLMC cell leaders who embrace Pastor Prince's teachings, but I am sworn to secrecy not to expose their identities. I have also warned them to be wary and keep a" low profile" because my senior pastor said he would take similar action against them if word ever got to him that they were propagating teachings he did not subscribe to.

Then, there are also NCC members have extended their warm invitation to "cross over", saying that they look forward to seeing my entire family over there.

Take for example a dear sister who requested for my email address and sent me a 2-page letter. I have obtained her permission to reproduce its contents below, because I believe that it will minister to 2 groups of people out there.

The 1st are non-NCC members who can identify with the struggle that she and her husband went through and are currently at a spiritual crossroad.

The 2nd are NCC members who went through a similar spiritual journey, and can look back to say "been there, done that".

Her name has however been withheld at her request because she does not want her husband or previous church to be implicated.

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Hi. I am the ‘Anonynmous’ reader who asked for your personal e-mail yesterday. Thanks for your prompt response in providing me with your contact address to allow me to share some thoughts with you on a one-to-one basis.

It was at my hubby’s constant prodding that I read your blog last Sunday. In fact, that was the first time I read anyone’s blog. I heard that many people have put up blogs to share their thoughts and comments but have never gotten the interest to read them. This is perhaps the Holy Spirit in me leading me to read yours. I must say that I am very much impressed, blessed and amazed at your wonderful sharing. You definitely have a gifting in this area.

Your sharing on last Sunday about almost attending the 1st Service in NCC brought back a lot of memories for me. It had also shown me that how far my hubby and I have come in our Christian walk.

More than 6 years ago, like you, my hubby was a much respected leader in our old church where we have grown up in for almost 20 years. Thus we had very close ties with our pastors and many friends whom we have grown up with. But we had reached a point that we felt a sense of unexplained ‘restlessness’ in the church we were attending. I had cried out to Abba to show us what we could do about this ‘restlessness’ as it was getting ‘more serious each day’.

Abba was so wonderful and ‘constructed’ a chain of events shortly after my desperate prayers that led us to attend the Midweek Service in NCC in July 2001. I could still remember vividly how ‘shocked’ I was by the presence of God during worship at that service. Tears just kept flowing down my cheeks and I felt so very loved by Abba – a feeling which had deserted me for a long, long time. It was the same wonderful feeling that I felt when I accepted Christ 24 years ago.

The Bible Study session that followed worship was equally ‘shocking’ to me as I had never heard the Scriptures explained in such a simple and logical manner. In fact, there were some points presented by Pastor Prince that were so contradicting to what I knew before that I was getting increasingly uncomfortable. But something that Pastor Prince had said during the service really impressed me. He challenged the congregation not to believe everything that he had shared over the pulpit but to study the Scriptures ourselves to determine if he had dissected the Word accurately. He was the first (and still the only) pastor I know who has the courage to make such kind of comments. One must have done a thorough job before he can have that kind of confidence to make such remarks to the congregation.

We (my hubby and I) left the Midweek Service with a mixture of emotions – happy on the one side that we have ‘recaptured’ the feeling of being loved by Abba, confused on the other as the Scriptures were shared in a manner that is totally ‘foreign’ to us (bearing in mind that we had been Christians for more than 20 years). I kept wondering to myself, if what Pastor Prince had shared was true, what had I believed all this while???

My hubby was also faced with the same question and he decided to ‘check’ Pastor Prince out more – by studying the Word and referring to much bible-related literature and we continued to attend the Midweek Service for another 2 years.

During these 2 years, we were literally ‘straddling’ between attending Midweek Service in NCC on Thursdays and regular Sunday Service in our old church (as we did not want to ‘lose’ our ties with our friends and pastors). It was really tough as we had 2 young kids in tow. But the toughest issue we faced during these 2 years was the ‘conflicting’ message we received from both churches when the same scriptures were preached. Can you imagine the dilemma we were put through when we had just heard Pastor Prince’s sharing on a particular verse during Midweek Service and 3 days later, our senior pastor was sharing the same verse but with such a contrasting explanation that left us bewildered (rather than ministered).

Finally, I had enough of this ‘dis-ease’ and confronted my hubby that he, being the head of the house, had to decide which church we were to attend as a family. That really put him in a spot (looking back, I thank Abba for His wisdom in me to force my hubby to face up to his spiritual struggle which he had been trying to deal with during the 2+ years).

After much prayer and deliberation, my hubby made the tough decision that we, as a family, would move on from our old church as the spiritual feeding he had received from NCC had thoroughly quenched his thirst for the Word and intimacy with God. Hence, in Sep 2003, we officially attended NCC for their Sunday Service.

It’s been 4 years since we had moved over to NCC but we are indeed thankful that Abba had given us the strength and courage to move on as we, as a family, have been very blessed by Pastor Prince’s ministry. Each week, the message delivered is based purely on the unadulterated Word of God, doctrine- and denomination-free. This, to me, is so very precious and has greatly freed me of much religiosity and legalism. It really ‘simplified’ my faith in Him. I thank our Heavenly Abba for leading my hubby and me to this church to receive the true revelation of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ as He (Abba) wants it to be. It’s all about His Grace to us.

In your blog, you made the following comments:
As I sat there, I felt the Lord telling me, "Son, I know how much you hunger and thirst for My Word, but what are you doing here?"

I replied," Huh? Lord, I've been finally relieved of my church commitments, so here I am to worship you with the other 15,000 likeminded of your beloved."

"Yes, but where are your wife and kids? Are you honouring me if you attend one church, yet your family is still attending another? Moreover, remember you said you wanted to change things from the inside? How is this possible when you are outside?"

You then left the Rock Auditorium, went home and ended up going to PLMC... as a family.

When I read the above comments, something in me just wells up with the thought that perhaps the missing ‘element’ of coming to NCC today was that you did not ask your wife along. In the Father’s eyes, both of you are one. By attending NCC alone last Sunday, you have thus become ‘outside’ the circle of your marriage and family. I really don’t think that Abba do not want you to come to NCC but He would like you, as a head of your family, to lead your loved ones along to His Wonderful Grace.

I could tell from your blog that you have a wonderful revelation of this Gospel Revolution which Pastor Prince has been preaching with his heart and soul. Share this with your beloved wife and hear what she has to say. Abba had given her to you as your helpmate.

Shalom!
[Name withheld by request]