A Response to Rev Kong Hee's "Questionable Teachings"

Sunday, 31st May 2009

A month ago, I mentioned that Rev Kong Hee had contributed to sg.christianpost.com entitled "Balance is the Key of Life (Part 3)". In that article, Rev Kong had listed down 11 teachings that he considered to be questionable, namely:

#1: You Don't Have To Confess Your Sins To Be Forgiven!
#2: Being Taught The 10 Commandments Is Like Taking Poison!
#3: Sin Will Never Break Your Fellowship With God!
#4: Your Sin Is Drawing You Closer To God!
#5: God Will Always Hear You, Even If You Regard Sin In Your Heart!
#6: Under Grace, Holiness Is Transferable Through Personal Contacts!
#7: The Only Sin The Holy Spirit Would Ever Convict Is Unbelief!
#8: Faith Is Just Believing, Nothing Else!
#9: By Just Having Faith, All Your Bad Habits Would Disappear Effortlessly!
#10: A Christian Can Never Be In The Flesh!
#11: The Moment You Receive Christ, You Immediately Achieve Perfection!

You can download Rev Kong's article here.

Well, the Holy Spirit has prompted fellow Best Christian Blog of the Year winner Stanley Wong to respond to that article with a series of blog entries which he aptly entitled Questionable "Questionable Teachings". It is indeed a great labour of love on the part of Stan because he painstakingly took more than a month to complete it .

Stan has so graciously granted me permission to compile it into a PDF document (that contains 17,653 words and runs for 51 pages, by the way), which you can download here. It certainly deserves a wider audience within the Body of Christ.

Those of you out there from City Harvest Church or who know Rev Kong personally, please feel free to pass him a copy of this so that he can respond appropriately, and we can all mutually learn together.

On my part, I have sent the following email to Edmond Chua, the editor of sg.christianpost.com to let him know the availability of this document so that he can likewise inform his readers and thus benefit from this truly anointed piece of work too.

Dear Edmond

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

About a couple of months back, your website featured an article written by Rev Kong Hee entitled "Balance is the Key of Life". In part 3 of that article, Rev Kong had listed down what he considered to be 11 "questionable teachings".

Well, a fellow blogger Stanley Wong has written a series of blog entries responding to that article by Rev Kong. He has also given me permission to compile these entries into a single PDF document, which is attached to this email and also available for download at the following link

http://www.box.net/shared/ja91j9bdq8

Please be so kind as to let your readers know about the availability of this document so that they are aware that there are others in the Body of Christ that have a different perspective from Rev Kong. Please also forward a copy of this to Rev Kong so that he can make the appropriate response he considers necessary.

Blessings
Malcolm

Edmond has so kindly responded as follows:

Hi Malcolm,

Thank you for your emails and for alerting us to the response by Mr Wong.

Unfortunately, we cannot publish his response in our Editorial/Column section because that section is reserved only for pastors and Christian leaders who are either our guest columnists or contributors.

However, such a response could be published in our upcoming citizen journalism section. This section is currently under construction.

I appreciate and understand where you are coming from and apologise that we are not able to publish the response immediately.

Thank you. God bless you.

In Christ Jesus,
Edmond Chua
Chief Executive Officer and Publisher
The Christian Post (Singapore) - www.christianpost.com.sg
Partner of The Christian Post International network - www.christianpost.com

Following (Jump)Suit

Saturday, 30th May 2009

Back in Apr 2007, I blogged about how my daughter has won lots of trophies.

Well, praise God because now my son is also following (jump)suit!

Yesterday was the last day of the 2nd school semester and what better way for ACS Junior to mark the end of that than with a talent competition. Junior Superstars 2009 is their version of American Idol /Britain's Got Talent. Amongst the judges were Jacinta Abisheganaden and Michael Loh of Budak Pantai.

My son and his classmate Joshua had signed up for the auditions that was held about two months back "just for the fun of it". There was no expectations of any kind. Well, he came back that day to tell us that they had cleared the auditions and would be participating in the finals!

To give our moral support, my whole family decided to buy tickets (that were priced at $15). He seemed nonchalant about the whole thing but as the day drew nearer, he began to feel slightly nervous and so we said a prayer for him, and told him that what was more important was that he enjoyed himself and did his best.

Well, God had better things in store for him, because he and Joshua, who called themselves The Blue Jumpsuit Apparatus (or TBJA for short) --- hence, the title of today's post about "following (jump)suit" --- actually won the Group Vocalists category with their rendition of We The Kings' Check Yes Juliet.

For doing so, they won a golden trophy and an iPod Shuffle each.

Check out their award-winning performance on YouTube...





But what really made the event different from other talent competitions that I have seen was that the Master of Ceremony Benedict Tan actually started it off with a word of prayer to commit it to the Lord, and ended it by getting everyone to stand and sing the school anthem "ACS Forever". And yes, there were many alumni among the crowd who sang along :-)

P.S. If you are on Facebook, you can check out photos of ACS Junior Superstars 2009 at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80900&id=751059341&l=ad3e37a957

Dead Works v Good Works

Friday, 29th May 2009

Last week, I blogged about grace being the source of good works. You can read about that here.

In other words, we do good works not "in order to" but we do works "as a result of".

Under the Old Covenant, man had to do good in order to earn God's approval and acceptance.

Under the New Covenant, God has already given us His acceptance, and because we are accepted, the gratitude overflows and we respond by doing good to others.

I recently received a message on Facebook from someone I would refer to as P.

Hi Malcolm,

i am having problem identifying "dead works" in my day to day life (i'm certain i have plenty of those as soon as i can tell the difference!). i read something recently from angie's blog and she cited some examples of dead works, eg. helping to ferry a neighbour's child from school. i have to admit that it confused me somewhat.

when does doing something good out of the kindness of your heart become a "dead work"? i'm hoping you can help shed some light.

thanks and shalom,
P


This was my response to her:

Hi P

For me, I will go by the presence and absence of peace.

Depending on the time and season, a work may be good at some stage but become a dead one at another.

For example, I gave out quite a number of copies of D2R two years ago and D2RD last year, and even went to the extent of going to the post office to mail out some of them. Back then, I felt a sense of purpose and fulfilment in doing so because it came out of an overflow, of being grateful to God for the extent of the undeserved favour He had bestowed upon me. There was much joy and peace that accompanied these acts.

Nowadays, I still get requests every now and then for the books but have decided to turn them down politely because it has become somewhat of an obligatory chore to do so.

The source has to be God's grace, and our deeds a response to that grace. If it is done out of an obligation, then it is better not to do so.

What I strongly believe is that the Holy Spirit in us, will give us both the joy and desire to carry out good works. If there is neither, then a work, however noble, is but a dead one.

After replying to her, the LORD brought to mind something that happened 2 weeks ago. I am currently on a sabbatical from my own church and as a result had informed my senior pastor that I will not be tithing to my church during the period of my sabbatical. You can read about that here.

Whenever Ps Reuben preaches, my wife and I will attend our home church, but when the offering bag is passed, I will not put anything in it. But 2 weeks ago, when I was attending the youth service and Ps Reuben was preaching on Jonah 3, somehow I felt the LORD prompting me to put a $50 into the bag. As the bag was approaching, there was another voice telling me "Hello? Aren't you on a sabbatical? Are you giving the right signal to your senior pastor if you do that? Save that and sow it into One-North instead."

Even though I struggled in my mind, yet there was sense of peace in my heart. So I went ahead to drop the note into the bag, even though I was under no legal obligation to do so. At that point, I was reminded of what Paul said about God loving a cheerful giver. If we give out a sense of duty and obligation, then it is better not to because it is not done in the right spirit.

And so what would have been a dead work on another occasion was a good work this time around :-)

CC14 and CC23

Sunday, 24th May 2009

In the mornings, after sending my daughter to school, I would drive to Lavendar MRT, and then let my wife take over the car to drive to work. I would then take the MRT to alight at Raffles Place.

In the evenings, If I can leave the office on time, I will then take a bus down and alight along Nicoll Highway (where my wife's office is) so that I can catch a ride home. Otherwise, my wife takes the BMW home, while I have to take the bmw (bus-MRT-walk) home.

When friends and colleagues ask me whereabouts I stay, I would tell them somewhere between Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio. The nearest operational MRT to my home would actually be Braddell station on the N-S line, but there are no buses plying from there to my home. Hence, if I happen to travel by train, I would alight at either the Toa Payoh station (from which I take a 20-minute bus ride, stop opposite New Tech Park and walk through a 5-minute shortcut around St Gabriel's Primary School) or at Bishan station (from which I take a 15-minute bus ride and stop along Braddell Road and walk for 10 minutes into the estate).

Well, on 28 May 2009, this is all going to change. The Circle (CC) Line will be officially launched beginning with 5 stations: Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount. And daily ridership is expected to be 55,000!

Finally, an MRT station that is within 5 minutes' walk from home, namely the Lorong Chuan Station. Thank you LORD! Which means I can dispense with the b, leaving just mw :-)

But that is not all. The Circle Line is being constructed in stages and I notice with great interest that there is one station that is going to be located at One-North in the not too distant future.

I am believing that it will be completed in time for NewCre's move there. Amen?

Oh ya, just in case you were wondering about today's blog entry title. CC14 and CC23 are the station names for Lorong Chuan and One-North respectively, and a reader actually made the observation that 1+ 4 = 5 and 2+3 = 5 too :-D

The Source of Good Works

Saturday, 23rd May 2009

Most religions, if not all, teach us to do good to our fellow men.

As Methodists, there is a very strong emphasis on "good works". Hence, there are outreach programs, funds set up for the poor and needy, evangelistic events during Easter and Christmas, and so on.

But how do we distinguish between what is "good works" which is pleasing to God, and what is "dead works" which is nothing more than filthy rags in His sight?

I like the illustration that Ps Prince gave in a sermon he preached two weeks ago entitled "Put the "Amazing" Back into Grace" in which he spoke about the River Nile.

Most people would associate the river Nile with Egypt. This is because it spans the entire nation from the south to the north and provides its people with the irrigation required for its crops. In fact, the ancient Egyptians went to the extent of worshipping the Nile and that is why God turned it into blood, to show Pharaoh that He was the true God.

However, if one were to trace the Nile southwards towards its true source, one would be surprised that it goes all the way past Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda to the mountains in Burundi, which is in Central Africa! This is not obvious to most people. What is obvious is where it ends, ie. in the Mediterranean Sea just above where Egypt is.

And so likewise it is with good works, which is what is visible to others. The source of good works is not immediately obvious to most people too, even fellow Christians.

Paul tells us in Eph 2:10 that we are God's masterpieces, created in Christ Jesus to do "good works".

But let us trace that back to the earlier two verses to see what the source of good works is...

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Verse 8 tells us that God's grace is the source of our good works!

Yes, dear brothers and sisters, without His grace being the source and motivation for us, anything and everything we do, however noble, will all be in vain. That is what is so amazing about grace. Amen?

Right P(a)lace at the Right Time

Friday, 22nd May 2009

I want to give all glory and honour to my Lord Jesus Christ!

When I first entered the workforce back in 1991, I was told that it was going to be a dog-eat-dog world, that one had to look out for oneself, that one had to constantly watch one's back, that it was a rat-race where one had to slog like a horse to climb the corporate ladder, etc etc.

Well, thanks to the grace gospel, I now realise that what is more important is to be aware that as beneficiaries of the New Covenant, we do not need to strain and strive. Rather, we should learn to rest in Christ's finished work, and He will put us in the right place at the right time. As we work unto Him, He is the one who grants us the wisdom and ability to get the job done with a spirit of excellence.

And that is exactly what He has been doing in my current job as Financial Controller of a Canadian company. I joined them on April 1st of 2008 and was given the smallest room on the 35th floor, thanks to my predecessor. After two months, I was confirmed and moved into a slightly bigger room. Then, at the start of this year, I moved into the biggest room on the 35th floor, after my MD vacated it to move into the Executive Office (which is what we affectionately term "the palace" because it is a sealed-off area with restricted access and where all the highest-ranking officials are located).

Well, five and a half months later, guess what? Yep, God continues to shower me with His unearned and unmerited favour and has granted me to take up residence in the palace effective yesterday! I can say, hand on heart, that I did not need to resort to any form of politicking or in having to curry favour with any of my bosses. Rather, it is truly an amazing and wonderful testimony of how the Lord has granted me great favour with all of them.

When I was first told about this a month ago, I was actually slightly reluctant to move in because I do not consider myself to be a high-flyer or an outstanding performer at work. I would rather keep a low profile and sit amongst my department folk. But then, I felt the Lord impressing upon me, saying, "Son, I have a purpose for you to be placed in there. Enjoy my blessings upon your career".

I was also reminded of Ecc 9:11, which was the verse that Ps Prince expounded upon sometime earlier this year on Miracle Seed Sunday

I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

Yes indeed, it is not necessary that the fast wins the race, or the strong wins the battle, or the wise, brilliant and learned gets food, wealth and favour. Rather, what is important is right happenings that are ordained by God, like how Ruth ended up gleaning in Boaz's field.

Thank you Lord for putting me at the right p(a)lace at the right time! Hallelujah!

Jonah's Disobedience v God's Grace

Sunday, 17th May 2009

The Youth Service of my church (affectionately known as The Next Generation) is currently on a sermon series on the book of Jonah.

Two weeks ago, Ps Reuben preached on Jonah 1 and described to us how Jonah was asked to go northeast to Nineveh but decided to go in the opposite direction -- down south towards Joppa and then westward towards Tarshish (see map on the right for illustration). His sermon entitled "Running Away" can be downloaded here.

Today, he continued on Jonah 3 and that sermon entitled "Saved in 40 Days" can be downloaded here.

I must say that both his sermons were real eye-openers. Traditionally, this book has been used by many preachers to warn us of the consequences of disobeying God. In fact, I recall a song that we used to sing in Sunday School that went as follows:

Oh I don't wanna be a Jonah
And be swallowed by a whale
Oh I don't wanna be a Jonah
And be swallowed by a whale
So I'll obey the Saviour's way
Rain or shine come what may
Tell the people everywhere
they must be born again

But the real essence and message of the book of Jonah is not so much Jonah's disobedience but actually the extent of God's grace! Jonah did not think the people of Nineveh deserved to be spared because of their wickedness, and thus was extremely relunctant to go preach to them. In many ways, many of us are like that too, which reflects that we are operating on the frequency of the law -- do good get good, do bad get beat. But God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Jon 4:2).

In this book, which was written during the Old Covenant, we see a glimpse of things to come in the New Covenant whereby God's undeserved and unmerited favour is extended to all and sundry, and not just to the Jews or a particular group of Gentiles. Amen?

Special Midweek Service

Saturday, 16th May 2009

It's been quite a while since a Midweek Service was held at NewCre.

I believe the last one that was held featuring Ps Prince was as far back as Sep 2007, because I had gone there with 2 fellow PLMC members :-D

Well, praise the Lord, because there will be one that is going to be held as follows:

Special Midweek Service With Pastor Joseph Prince

Church, gear up for an exciting time in the Word of God at our special midweek service! It's going to be for one evening only, so don't miss it!

Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Time: 7.30pm
Venues: Rock Auditorium, Rock (Levels 4 & 6 Suntec Tower Four), SICEC* Gallery West
Speaker: Pastor Joseph Prince
Remember, there will only be one service on 20 May 2009. See you there!

*Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre

Those of who from other churches, come and hear for yourself what the big hoo-ha is all about and why this man is being paid more than S$500k per year...

Was Jesus...?

Friday, 15th May 2009

Some time ago, I was exchanging text messages with a brother about whether Jesus was good-looking. He was of the opinion that Jesus was just ordinary-looking, which was my stand previously as well.

But having embraced the grace gospel, I am persuaded that Jesus was extremely good-looking.

It is with this background that I feel prompted to start a series of meditations entitled "Was Jesus...?"

For a start, I will cover the following topics

1. Was Jesus handsome?
2. Was Jesus poor?
3. Was Jesus homeless?
4. Was Jesus always a nice guy?
5. Was Jesus a weakling?

The arguments would be supported with Scripture, of course.

Meanwhile, please feel free to suggest other topics that may be of interest.

Sexual and Citizen Awareness

Sunday, 10th May 2009

I am a member of the NTIUACF (Nanyang Technological Institute/University Alumni Christian Fellowship) Yahoo! Group.

A fellow member has made available the controversial pages of the Comprehensive Sexual Education teaching manual, and this in turn is now made available to you readers for download by clicking on this link.

If Josie Lau and her team's intention of joining AWARE was to make people AWARE of the sexual AWAREness programme that AWARE was using, then even though they were ousted at the recent EGM, they would consider it all to be worthwhile now that the Ministry of Education has suspended all external teaching materials. After all, Rom 8:28 says that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Thus, in the eyes of many (even those who do not agree with the way they took over control at the AGM), Josie and team may have lost the battle, but they have won the war...

Speaking of NTIUACF, here is a post a fellow member called PL wrote to the Straits Times forum, which many felt was very well-written.

Too bad the Editor of the Straits Times felt otherwise :-)


From: PL
Subject: Re: [ntiuACF] AWARE saga - what does your church say?
To: "CF Alumni"
Date: Tuesday, 5 May, 2009, 9:29 AM

This letter was sent to the Straits Times Forum yesterday. It was not published.

-------------------------------------------

The issues centering in AWARE saga is not one that concern only the Christians. I believe Muslims and other faiths or non-faith are similarly concerned. The intrusion of homosexual lifestyle as well as the liberalisation of sexual mores have left many parents deeply concerned about what is being taught to their kids. I would not have known what was taught in the schools if this saga has not happened and the training materials were not made known to the public. I am totally outraged that they have listed sex as a pleasurable and fun things and this is communicated to 16 year olds. Worse still is that such terms are not listed upfront but are kept as trainers’ guide. These are meant for the trainers to use in their discussions with the kids in the schools. Imagine the influence and the suggestions made to the students in the midst of discussions by the trainers. I am sure any parents who have read the materials will be similarly concerned if not outraged.

I give kudos to the past Exco who have gumption to stand up and be counted. They are willing to take actions to make right what they deemed wrong. It is true that they could have done better. It is true they should have a team of not exclusively from one church or affiliation. It is true that they should be more forthright in the beginning. It is also true that the rest of the parties involved could have done better, like :

AWARE itself could have done better. For 25 years they have not build up their processes. Claiming to represent women in Singapore , they only have 200 members before this saga happens. This can hardly be called representative. They have left their doors opened, perhaps because they have so much problem recruiting members that they welcome all. If they are representing women, why the need for men to vote. There are roles men can play in men’s groups. If they want to be all inclusive, then perhaps they should change their name too and not hide behind a woman’s skirt.

MOE could have done better in monitoring the curriculum sent in by external trainers. I am surprised that the MoS came out to say that they received no complaints. My wife sent in a complaint immediately after she read the training materials. I believe any well meaning parents who have a chance to read the materials will similarly do likewise.

DBS could have done better in examining itself before it came out publicly to chastise its own employee. Employing double-standards for its own board and its staff and to do it publicly shows the hypocrisy that organizations like that practice.

I save the last for Straits Times. Straits Times could have done better in publicising the matter. They have taken a biased stand from the very beginning. Reporters are to report news and not to make suggestions and innuendos. This is the job for the analysts. Where this is a matter between 2 groups who are deeply passionate about their causes, ST have made it to be a case between Conservative Christians and the secular. This is a case between any parents who are concerned about the type of education they are receiving from AWARE. It is only this group from the church who is willing to take up the action and walk the talk. It is for this that I gave them kudos for. If only more of our citizens can be like that.

Touching Another of the Lord's Anointed

Saturday, 9th May 2009

Yesterday, I blogged about the Facebook note that Lip Kee wrote. What I did not bargain for was to get into a written exchange with a gentleman by the name of Goh Pei Gian. I was told by Lip Kee subsequently that this chap was a pastor in the church that Lip Kee used to attend before he crossed over to NewCre.

I told Lip Kee that at least Ps Goh was civil enough to be Lip Kee's Facebook friend; Rev Barnabas Chong, who was the previous youth pastor of my church until this very day still prevents me from being his Facebook friend although it has been two years after our "fallout" :-)
Here is an extract of the exchange between Ps Goh and myself:

Goh Pei Gian at 9:04pm May 7

Hi Lip Kee, I think I hold a slightly different view. It is clear that the bible state that homosexual act is a sin, so it is not up to us to say if it is ok or not, it is just a sin, and a sin is a sin.

Next, as a parent, I experienced that if we using only reasons to so call convincing our kids, we are imparting them that who even can reason ... Read Morebetter is truth. But sad to say, one day sooner or later, they might be picking up better conversation skill and outspoke us. It then means to them that they will be right then on. So, myself and my wife, we do reason, but on top of that, we will highlighted that it is sin against God.

My point is not to condemn the person, but the act. And also to educate my kid to acknowledge God's authority when he is young. And when he grow up further, then we will put in more details on the background of why God forbidden.

I agreed that all of us are sinner. We are no better than other to condemn them. But we have no right to say what God condemned as ok

Malcolm Loh at 11:12pm May 7

How was Jesus able to reach the prostitutes, tax collectors and lepers? The woman caught in adultery? The woman at the well? By labelling them as sinners? By insisting on God's authority upon them?

Au contraire, He reserved his labelling such as "brood of vipers", "hypocrites" and "whitewash tombs" for the self-righteous and religious holier-than-thous.

We can well learn from His example :-)

You can read the rest of that string of exchanges here

Just before I am accused of touching another of the Lord's anointed, here's another article on that topic worth reading lifted from the site Wicked Shepherds :-)

“Touch Not the Lord’s Anointed” Catch Cry

One of the first lines of defense for a preacher or leader under fire from the congregation is David’s famous statement, “Touch not the Lord’s anointed.”

This is used to prove that the preacher or leader, assumed to be ‘the Lord’s anointed”, is beyond criticism, rebuke, or human control. Fearful saints are often cowered into silence and subjection even when they are 100% convinced the pastor is wrong.

Can David’s statement be legitimately used in this manner by pastors today?

Well, not legitimately and scripturally of course. But nevertheless, it is most certainly used. I for one can attest to that. And if there are any honest people around, they too can attest to it as well.
I remember a few years back that there was an issue that I had with a “pastor” named Greg Nichols. I disagreed with him on a judgment matter that he arrived at in regards to myself and one other person. I wrote him a letter, indicating that he was wrong in his assessment and judgment.

Lo and behold, a few days later, I receive a phone call from Greg Nichols ordering me to come to the “elders meeting” the following Saturday. I asked him for what purpose. All he said was, “the letter!”

Here I am now, all nervous, arriving the following Saturday evening at the “elders meeting”. Present were Greg Nichols, and two other "pastor/elders" named Frank Barker, and Don Dickson. The "chief elder," Al Martin, was out of town. Frank Barker did most of the talking. He started off lambasting me for writing this letter to Greg Nichols and telling me, “Don’t you know that this is the Lord’s anointed!”

On and on he went about “touching not the Lord’s anointed”.

Absolutely nothing of the letter was addressed. The only issue of concern at this meeting was to confront me with my “sin” and my urgent need to "repent of my sin of touching the Lord’s anointed." Needless to say, in my immaturity and nervousness, I acknowledged my “sin” and asked for Greg Nichol’s forgiveness and after that, I was dismissed.

When I look back now on that incident, I sometimes scratch my head and say, “how could I have been so foolish and immature to let this happen.”

But in the leaderships’ mind, it all went according to plan. But how could I have let this happen? The reason is that I was doing, like many others have done, and many continue to do: checking my brains in at the door Sunday after Sunday. I just believed whatever was spoken from the pulpit, not even checking it out for myself.

I, just like many others, had nothing of a Berean spirit.

When you have had a false theological concept drilled into your head for many years it takes a long time to go back through the scriptures and realize where you have erred. Thank God that he has opened my eyes to see and gave me the feet to flee from that place and to flee from all of their pompous and demented ideas of what they think Christ’s church is.

Now you know, it’s funny on the one hand, and amazing on the other, that whenever I happen to hear about these men through the grapevine or happen to hear a "sermon" on the radio or internet, they sound so immature and childish. They contradict themselves whenever they open their mouths.

It is truly sad that the only way they can make a living is by threatening people with their twisted and insane ideas of God and how His “church” ought to function.

What a despicable perversion of God's truth!

Do these men ever truly listen to what they say? More importantly, do the people truly ever listen to what is being said?

But does the Bible really forbid church members from “touching the Lord’s anointed?” Can a member criticize the church leader if the leader is teaching something false? Can they disagree with him on an area of judgment? Elders would have us believe that church members cannot "touch" them with questions or criticism because they are "the Lord's Anointed". Only God Himself is allowed to correct an elder/pastor.

So is this scriptural? Is the whole “don’t touch the Lord’s anointed” catch cry being used out of context or can we find New Testament examples of ‘lesser’ Christians questioning ‘greater’ Christians? What do the Scriptures say?

The phrase "Don't Touch the Lord's anointed" comes from 1 Samuel chapter 24 and 26 where David refuses to kill Saul. Many present-day "elders" have taken this to mean that no one can question them, but they are taking the text out of context. The verse refers to killing Saul, not questioning him! In fact, immediately afterwards, David goes on to publicly question Saul’s motives in 1 Samuel 24:8-15 and 26:18-20. This is the truth of the text in 1st Samuel; not what somebody named Frank Barker and his pal's say of the text!

Not only that, but in the NT, Paul said he was the least of all the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15:9 "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."

Yet in Galatians 2:11 Paul the lesser publicly corrects Peter the greater. "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong."

This one example from Scripture of the lesser correcting the greater is enough to nullify the elder’s unbiblical nonsense.

Galatians 6:1a says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." Notice it does not read "you who are MORE spiritual" or "you who are GREATER". Also consider Acts 17:11, "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

GOD says it is MORE NOBLE for us to verify a leader’s words. I bet Paul would not have minded questions at all.

Also, the NT Scriptures tell us that every Christian is the “anointed of the Lord”.

(1 John 2:20,27) and not just the elder/preacher. Every Christian is both a king and priest, and as such has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to equip them for their ministry.

Actually, the clear counterpart to David’s words are found in Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians. He warns preachers and teachers not to destroy God’s anointed, the church.

THE PREACHER THAT TROUBLES OR CONFUSES GOD’S SHEEP IS “TOUCHING THE LORD’S ANOINTED,” not the other way around.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1 Corth. 3:16,17

Why have elders/pastors invented this interpretation of “touch not the Lord’s anointed?” Could it be that they are unable to answer questions and respond to disagreements, and so as a defense, have outlawed the very act of questioning itself!

Elders should always be open to questions. If a leader's teaching does not match up with Scripture, then surely they would want to know, since nothing should scare a leader more than teaching error. The ability for the church member to ask questions, and publicly criticize if need be, is a healthy mechanism to protect the Body of Christ from error.

I wonder how many elders/pastors have used David’s words to maintain their own authority even at the expense of the real truth.

It is absurd the lengths to which supposed “learned” men are willing to go to make God's Word fit into their false, blasphemous doctrines. Does anyone really imagine that God sees these men and these churches as his representative on earth?

Who Did Jesus Label?

Friday, 8th May 2009

As a result of embracing the grace gospel, God has caused many others who have travelled a similar spiritual journey to come across my path.

One such person is Lip Kee, who happens also to be an accountant like myself. But while I tend to be more curt and to-the-point in my blog entries, Lip Kee is super-patient and super-gracious in his.

As a result of the recent Aware Saga, he posted a note of Facebook entitled "Sexuality Education - some personal thoughts", which I felt was very well-written and thus put a link on my Facebook profile. This can also be found on his blog.

I especially like what he wrote about not "labelling" people:

NOT LABELING PEOPLE AND SINGLING THEM OUT FOR CONDEMNATION

As a principle, I am against labeling people. I think once we put a label on a person or a group of persons, the tendency is for us to treat the person or the group as a generic concept (e.g. the enemy, the threat etc.) instead of as unique individual(s).

I believe the Bible teaches us that God loves everyone, and that Jesus died for the whole world, including those who are considered homosexuals. As Christians, we are called to reject sins but to love the sinners. If we truly want to love and help the homosexuals, we should treat each of them as a person, with respect; instead of as a label, with prejudice or fear.

I personally don't think it is helpful to label homosexuals/ homosexuality as being "abnormal" or "unacceptable" or "not okay". Instead of using such value-laden words, I believe it would be more useful to use factual terms such as "minority" and "non mainstream".

The fact is that homosexuals are a minority in our societies. And I believe that because they cannot reproduce after themselves, they will always remain a minority.

The way I see it, to the extent that the homosexuals are not able to be fruitful and multiply, to that extent they are falling short of God's purpose for the human race. But should they therefore be singled out as being especially "sinful"? No, I don't think so. In my view, the homosexuals are no better and they are no worse than heterosexuals.

From the Christian perspective, ALL (irrespective of sexual orientation and reproductive success) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone (irrespective of sexual orientation and reproductive success) is equally sinful. Everyone (irrespective of sexual orientation and reproductive success) needs the tender mercy and saving grace of Jesus Christ. Everyone (irrespective of sexual orientation and reproductive success) should be treated with due respect.

I don't think it is necessary to single out the homosexuals as a group to condemn or to fight against.

As I pondered over what he wrote, I realised that was Jesus' style as well. That is why and how He could reach out to the prostitutes, tax-collectors and lepers.

He addressed the woman caught in adultery not as an "adulteress" but as "woman". He did not label Zacchaeus as a tax-collector or Mary Magdelene as "prostitute". He addressed the woman with the issue of blood as "daughter".

Yet, Jesus did label a group of others. He called the self-righteous, religious, holier-than-thous "hypocrites", "a brood of vipers" and "whitewashed tombs".

The Other Side of The Story

Sunday, 3rd May 2009

I was checking out my blog two afternoons ago and was pleasantly surprised to see a comment left by none other that Rev Barnabas Chong, the previous youth pastor of my church :-)

We used to be in the same cell (3L2) and we and our family members were pretty close too.

Alas, after he discovered my stand on the grace gospel, our relationship went downhill all the way from then onwards. He ignored my initiatives for a reconciliation and even barred me from seeing him on Facebook.

Well, for reasons best known to himself, he decided to leave a comment on my blog, primarily to "paint the other side of the story" in response to the 12 Jan 2009 entry entitled "Orbi Goot Chiak Chooroot Ang Moh Chiak Chooroot".

I have decided to reproduce our conversation as a separate blog entry, and leave it to you readers to draw your own conclusions as to whether my entries are indeed "one-sided". If so, his comments won't see the light of day here now, would they? ;-)

Anybody, including Rev Peter Koh for that matter, is free to tell his side of the story. I promise to publish all responses in full. The only reason why I moderate comments is to prevent verbal abuse, like what was happening on Stan's blog before he decided to moderate comments on his too.

The trouble is Rev Koh prefers to keep silent. I have gotten feedback from fellow church members that he chooses not to respond to emails they send to him seeking clarifications too. By burying his head in the sand, so to speak, he perhaps hopes the problem will go away. But doing so only isolates these members even further. The vandal who wrote "Peter Koh = pig" is a case in point.

Anyway, whatever Rev Chong's motives or intentions may be, I choose to see this as a positive step towards reconciliation. After all, God will cause all things to work together for good. Amen? Credit also to Rev Chong for not writing to me in a high-handed manner, which is so different from the time when he arrogantly accused me of "touching the Lord's anointed".

Please continue to keep us in prayer as I sincerely believe reconciliation will take place this side of heaven, rather than that side of it.


Barnabas Chong said...

Hi Malcolm, it is rather unfortunate that you're only presenting one side of the account regarding why you were removed from leadership. It is not true that Rev Peter Koh would remove leaders from their position just for embracing the grace gospel. There are others in the leadership (including cell leaders) who believe in certain doctrines that are not the same as the pastors, yet they have not been removed from leadership. From what I know, Rev Peter Koh removed you from the leadership not because you believe and embrace NewCre's version of the grace gospel. You were removed from leadership because of the following:

1. You blogged and emailed to many (even people in church and from other churches you didn't know personally but somehow managed to get hold of their email addresses e.g. via the ACS Junior Fathers' Prayer Group email distribution) against the pastors and their teachings; opposing what the pastors teach in public

2. You were repeatedly asked (over at least a 6-month period) to stop doing so, at one-on-one level, you-and-the-pastors-only meeting, your father was approached, spoken to and appealed to by the pastors, etc.; but you continued to do so believing that God has called you to reform PLMC

3. You were teaching doctrines that are inconsistent with the church's teachings in your cell group even though you were told not to; and your cell members and cluster leaders have also advised you not to continue to advocate your doctrines the way you did.

The above are the reasons, I believe, why Rev Peter Koh removed you from leadership. And do let me add that it wasn't easy for him to do so. He didn't like jump for joy over it, on the contrary, it was painful and difficult, though it had to be done to maintain unity in the church.

As I have asked you before, go to any church, including NewCre and ask their pastors, if any leader of theirs do what you did - i.e. oppose the pastors' teachings publicly including via electronic means, what would these pastors do to such leaders? Will you be so courageous as to take up this challenge? I think if you do, it would help you understand why your pastor, who is called to love and guard the flock, removed you from leadership.

Thanks for reading my comment. For your info, I haven't been reading your blog and emails regularly, in fact, i only read them extremely occasionally (no more than a handful of times in the last 12 months) because I'm rather busy with ministry and moreso, I really want to leave all these unpleasantness behind me and move on. However, I have chosen to make this comment today, because of the gross misrepresentation you have made here in your entry and many people as a result have been misled by you to think poorly of Rev Peter Koh.

As for offering to ferry my children when I was in hospital, well I truly thank you for your kindness and generosity. You are indeed a generous person, I don't think anyone would dispute that. However, I am rather disturbed and saddened by your frequent attacks on Methodist pastors' teachings. And by elevating one pastor over others, you are actually being used by the enemy to bring dissension between the pastors knowingly or unknowingly.

Malcolm, I believe every Christian is entitled to choose their own interpretations of Scripture. So if you truly see NewCre's teachings to be biblical, that's good for you and the many thousands who are blessed in NewCre. Indeed, I have met several wonderful brothers from NewCre and I must say that they truly understand grace, having received it, they now extend it to those around them. As for you, I never understood why you, a recipient of the gospel of grace, could be so ungracious to your own pastors?

I'll continue to pray for you.

Sincerely,
Barnabas Chong

Friday, May 01, 2009 12:37:00 PM


Malcolm Loh said...

Thanks Ps B. This comment from you shows that you are at least willing to engage in a constructive conversation.

I harbour no ill-feelings towards you or Rev Koh. After all, we will all be re-united in heaven some day, so the sooner we are reconciled this side of heaven, the better. How about dessert at Stan's stall?

I hold fast to Rom 8:28 that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord.

Yes, I was super-enthu about sharing the grace gospel with all that God put in my oikos (including the FPG). I was like that proverbial beggar who discovered gourmet food and wanted to share his discovery with his fellow beggars. If some took offense, my sincere apologies.

In retrospect, it was good that Rev Koh made me step down, because persecution actually helped to further the cause. And unlike Philip, I could attend NewCre without any encumbrances since I had no more church commitments.

You were transfered out by Rev Dr Wee because your law-based sermons were putting a yoke on the youth. Ps Reuben had his work cut out for him, but God has truly prospered his ministry because he unveils Christ. The concert hall is practically full whenever he preaches :-)

There is a transformation that is already happening in PLMC and my prayer for Rev Koh is that he does not kick against the goads. By doing so, he is unknowingly frustrating the Holy Spirit's work.

Will continue to pray for you too.

Most sincerely
Malcolm

Friday, May 01, 2009 9:08:00 PM


Barnabas Chong said...

Hi Malcolm, I guess I need to make another note here. By now, it should be clear to you and your readers that your perspective on things are at best one-sided, guess we can all be guilty of that until someone points out the other side of the story to us. I don't think I need to go into details about my appointment to Cairnhill, or about your accusations of me spreading vicious rumours about you and Reuben. Any intelligent reader would know better than to accept what you expressed in your blog wholesale without giving the concerned parties an opportunity to express their views. Thanks for praying for me, I certainly need it. May the Lord bless you and your family.

Barnabas

Friday, May 01, 2009 9:26:00 PM

Gan Xie Zhu

Saturday, 2nd May 2009

I was watching the Star Awards that took place last weekend, and was moved by the Christian actors and actresses who were not afraid to make known their beliefs when they went up on stage to accept their awards.

As part of their speech, they would say 感谢主 "gan xie Zhu"(which means "Thanks be to God").

Chew Chor Meng (周初明) , Zheng Ge Ping (郑各评) and Jesseca Liu (刘芷绚), you rock!

Easily Offended Christians

Friday, 1st May 2009

The recent saga that is happening at AWARE has not put Christianity in a good light.

If one had asked me what my stand on this would have been as recent as 5 years ago, I would probably be applauding the new Exco for standing up for their fundamentalist beliefs. I am sure many of my fellow church members would also agree with the tough stance the new guard is taking.

Now having encountered and embraced the grace gospel, my response can be summed up by the following article that Rev Peter Youngren wrote as his message for Easter 2009.

If we are easily offended, we should take a step back to ask ourselves if we are behaving more like the Pharisees or more like Jesus.


Easily Offended Christians - Peter Youngren

There are a lot of offended Christians these days. Some of the things which seem to cause outrage and offense are; profanity on television, open display of homosexuality in movies and on television, humor that degrades Christian values. Well, that’s just for starters. When Christians express outrage, shock and offense, it is as if that expression in itself is a badge of spirituality. “Look at me; how shocked I am at the sin and worldliness around me. Shouldn’t you react in a similar way? Aren’t you equally shocked? Well, maybe your spiritual sensitivities aren’t as fine-tuned as mine”.

There is only one problem with all of this. Can you think of a single time in scripture when Jesus was offended by the sins of unbelievers? The only time you could find something akin to offense in Jesus was when he spoke forthrightly to the self-righteous, hypocritical religious leaders. In fact, Jesus forewarned us that if we are persecuted for our beliefs we should not be surprised or offended. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”, (John 16:33).

Here is the catch. If we are easily offended or shocked, we become either isolationists or attackers of the very society, which we are supposed to reach. Isolationists live in a cloistered environment with little or no influence on those on the outside. Attackers are resisted, much like we would react on a lovely summer night when hornets start buzzing around our picnic table. We find no example in scripture that Philip was offended at the witchcraft in Samaria. What about Paul’s reaction in godless, sinful, Corinth or idolatrous Athens? In neither instance do we find offense or rebuke of pagan behavior, but rather a focused pointing towards Jesus Christ as the only hope.

Everyone of the individuals who carry out what you and I may deem as offensive acts, are included in the reconciliation that Jesus provided by His death on the cross. Easter reminds us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. The message of the Cross is the only power able to transform human behavior. Let’s not be shocked by the world around us, but let’s look for opportunities to get to know people, to share their lives and to tell them what Jesus has done for us. Happy Easter!


Having said that, the Bible does define a family unit as that being established between a man and a woman, and we should not be taking liberties to re-define it. My own personal conviction is that Focus on the Family, which has been accused of being anti-gay, is actually pro-family as the Bible defines it. That is why I am a regular contributor to that organisation in monetary terms and even signed up as a volunteer for their recent Flag Day. From a Christian's point of view, I think their sexual-awareness program is more appropriate.