I was browsing about at my church bookshop and library and noted that while we have lots of materials by Stormie O' Martian, not a single book or CD by Ps Joseph Prince can be found.
This is not surprising because there is an "unofficial" ban on his materials. When I was a cell leader, I remember having to get clearance from the Discipleship & Nurture department before I could broadcast the contents of "Humorous Bible Illustrations" to my cell
members.This particular DVD has 30 short clips. I remember asking which of these clips were not OK to show and which were OK to show. The reply was that "everything on the DVD is inappropriate". In other words, there was a blanket ban not just on this DVD, but on any material coming out from *that* church.
This is a very sad situation because while our heads are being buried in the sand (for want of a better analogy), the grace gospel is meanwhile taking the entire world by storm. Ps Prince is now on prime-time TV in USA, where his sermons are broadcasted to hundreds of millions across the nation. As a result, I am still getting emails from individuals in the USA requesting for a copy of "Destined to Reign".
The grace message has also been caught by Brian Houston's Hillsong Church. His church and New Creation Church have now established a symbiotic relationship. In fact, the keynote speaker at the upcoming Hillsong Conference 2008 in Sydney from 7 to 11 July 2008 is none other than Ps Prince himself.
He was also invited to speak at previous conferences. Just last month, Hillsong United was in Singapore on the invitation of New Creation Church, which I blogged about here.
By the way, just in case you didn't know, Hillsong is the church
that gave us wonderful songs of worship like "Shout to the Lord" and "Power of Your Love". Now that they are so closely-aligned with the grace gospel, one begins to wonder whether they will be next in line ;-)Stay tuned for more developments...
8 comments:
Hi Malcolm,
I am equally sad that our church is not open to Ps Joseph Prince's teachings. Like it or not,our pastors can't stop us from hearing his messages. They are now available at many bookstores in Singapore!
My wife used to go to your church but has stopped doing so. She is now attending NCC. I do join her there whenever I am working on Sunday morning.
Still waiting for you to loan me the DVD which you mentioned so much. Must be good right?
Shalom,
Joo
guess ur church bookshop would not have books by Max Lucado, the Haggins, the Copelands, Jerry Savelle, and even songs by Bob Fitts ... so sad, ... I came from a Chinese church, and it's really going services for the sake of going cos all my good friends were there. After more than a decade of attendance and serving, I honestly cannot remember a single sermons that were preached, and I never understood many verses and the will of God even though I was a cell group leader and a pioneer of the church ... what an irony ... with much sincerity I attended many conferences, talks and seminars, some with hammering messages from the pulpit, really hammer people until they thought the blood of Jesus was not enough to save them from hell! It's really LIES from the pit of hell, yet it came from the mouth of very senior preachers!!!!! .... then crisis came, and I could not see any difference between believers and idol worhsippers ... we were bunch of defeats, and lives under accusations ... I left the church and did not miss it at all, in fact, I felt relieved ... until God found me again through a friend, that's where the prodigal son returns home to the Father, and in NCC I finally udnerstood my true identity in Christ. I thank Pastor Prince and NCC for preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, Amen!
I am reminded of the story of Saul/Paul. He was fervently against the gospel, but after his Damascus experience, Jesus turned him around 180 degrees, transforming him into the messenger of the gospel of grace.
Please pray in agreement that the scales will likewise fall from the eyes of the one imposing the ban. After all, nothing is impossible with God.
Who knows, the Holy Spirit may even cause him to end up even more zealous than I have been :-)
Hi Mal,
Interestingly, Pastor Mark in last Sunday's sermon at NCC mentioned about Saul/Paul. Saul is the name of the first king of Israel. Paul, the roman name of Saul, means "little".
If we think too highly of ourselves as in "Saul", we will be too proud to listen and learn. We need to humble ourselves as "little", only then will we be able to receive like "Paul".
Thanks Stan.
I can already see in the Spirit that the breakthrough is coming. We just have to continue to pray and intercede in faith...
That was a simple yet awesome sermon Pastor Mark gave last Sunday ... he is so real ... that's the reason y I thank PAstor Prince and NCC...
Amen! =)
Yes Pastor Mark is so sincere in his sharing...
I truly thank God for Christ - it is because of Jesus that we can lift our heads even though we have done so many things that we can be ashamed of throughout our lives. He has wiped our slate clean so that we are no longer scarlet, but white as snow. =)
Pastor Prince's grace message has changed my life ever since I wandered into the church on my own one fine Sunday afternoon 3 years ago. I was previously from one of those churches that hammered people and make us more sin conscious than Christ/ Grace conscious.
I've been so blessed the last 3 years, i can't even start counting my blessings.
I pray that your church will start to receive great teachings that are truly annointed.
God bless.
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