Extending the Sabbatical

Friday, 14th August 2009

Sometime last year, I wrote a letter to the pastor in charge of my church informing him that I would be taking a sabbatical and not to send me my pledge card since I would be sowing into other ministries. You can read the contents of that letter here.

Well, not only did I still receive my pledge card last year but this year as well.

Anyway, I felt led to write him another letter, which I reproduce in full below:


1 August 2009

Rev Peter Koh
Pastor-in-charge
Paya Lebar Methodist Church

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I refer to the letter which I sent you last year with regards to my sabbatical.

Having served in the LCEC before, I understand that my church has to give to TRAC $395 annually for each member on her roll, and so I enclose a cheque of $400 to cover this cost (like what I did last year as well). Please do not treat this as a pledge or an offering but simply an obligation on my part to at least ensure that my church is not out-of-pocket as a result of keeping me on her roll. Meanwhile, my tithes and offerings are being channelled to other more worthwhile ministries and sown into fertile soil that the Lord has placed in my heart.

Just in case you are worried about the lack of spiritual coverage upon me, I am very pleased to inform you that God Himself, the Good Shepherd, has been the One providing that. My wife and I have been attending New Creation Church and coming back to PLMC whenever Ps Reuben Ng preaches. As a result of feeding on grace-filled messages, my opinion of Daddy God has gotten better and better. We have also grown in the knowledge of Jesus His Son and what His finished work has accomplished for us as beneficiaries of the New Covenant of grace.

As a result of knowing our position and identity in Christ, we have unashamedly claimed all of Daddy God's promises for us which are yes and amen, and trusted Him to bless us exceedingly abundantly over and above what we can ask or imagine. In particular, Daddy God has really prospered my career and granted me extremely undeserved favour with my bosses.

Although there is an economic downturn out there, this has not only not affected me. On the contrary, Daddy God has caused me to have the means to tithe up to 3 times more than what I used to! In fact, Last December, on my 41st birthday, He allowed me to proclaim "(B)ehold (M)y (W)agon" by blessing me with an X5.

By the way, I do not hold any more hard feelings against you for removing me from leadership or for giving my name to the police in connection with that vandalism case. Neither do I expect any form of apology from you any longer. That is because Daddy God has so blessed and prospered me and filled my heart with so much joy and gratitude that whatever you did pales in comparison and does not matter to me anymore. What men may have meant for harm, Daddy God has turned it for good, and I stand here today as a living testimony to that.

My prayer is that when you hear testimonies like these, Daddy God will gradually reveal to you the reality of the grace message and transform the way you view Him as well.

Also, that invitation that I extended to you in January 2007 to take you out to lunch still holds. Please do let me know when you will be free to meet up.

Yours-in-Christ
Malcolm Loh

cc.
Rev Dr Wee Boon Hup, TRAC President
XXX XXXXX XXXX, PPRSC Chairperson
XX XXXXXXX XX, LCEC Chairman
XX XXXXXX XXXX, Layleader