The First Belongs to God

Saturday, 28th February 2009

My church has embarked on a sermon series on the book of Joshua, which talks about how God gave the Israelites Canaan, the promised land which was flowing with milk and honey.

Consider the following passages:

In Josh 6:17;19, God told His people that
17 “The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord, only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live”
19 But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.”

Yet in Josh 11:14, we read that
“All the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, sons of Israel took as their plunder; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one who breathed”.

In Josh 6, God had specifically told the Israelites not to keep any of the spoils of Jericho. We read in Josh 7 how Achan took some for himself and was severely punished as a result. Yet the spoils from all the subsequent cities from Ai onwards were free for their taking!

How and why was Jericho different from the others, one might ask?

Now consider the cities that the Israelites conquered:

(1) Jericho (Josh 5-6)
(2) Ai (Josh 7-8)
(3) Gibeon (Josh 9)
(4) Makkedah (Josh 10:28)
(5) Libnah (Josh 10:29-30)
(6) Lachish (Josh 10:31-33)
(7) Eglon (Josh 10:34-35)
(8) Hebron (Josh 10:36-37)
(9) Debir (Josh 10:39)
(10) Kadesh-barnea (Josh 10:41)
(11) Hazor (Josh 11:10)
Other cities mentioned include Jerusalem, Jarmuth, Gezer, Geder, Hormah, Arad, Adullam, Bethel, Tappuah, Hepher, Aphek, Lasharon, Madon, Hazor, Shimronmeron, Achshaph, Taanach, Megiddo, Kedesh, Jokneam, Dor, Gilgal, Tirzah (Josh 12:9-24)

Jericho was the first city to be conquered and God declared that everything of it belonged to Him. By doing so, God was reinforcing a principle to His people – the principle of the firstfruits! The first belongs to Him! When we give that up to and set that apart unto Him, He will bless and sanctify the rest. Amen?

This very essential point was missed in the sermon based on Josh 7. Hopefully, it will not be missed in tomorrow's based on Josh 8.

Afternote: Unfortunately, this point was again missed in the sermon on Josh 8, which Rev Peter Koh preached which he entitled "Recovering From Defeat". The 6 discussion questions will be the subject of an upcoming blog entry, so stay tuned for the "model answers" :-D

Email from 22 Media

Friday, 27th February 2009

Several days back, I had blogged about my JPM collection. That same day, I received a call from Jeffrey Lim who works in 22 Media telling me about intellectual property concerns. He has followed up that call with an official email. To his credit, he has asked me to reproduce it in full below.

I seem to also have misunderstood him and for that I offer him my public apology. It appears that lending physical CD sermons to friends is acceptable with them as it constitutes "fair use". However, making MP3 sermons available for download is not, which was never my intention to begin with anyway. Having said that, I thank Jeff for making the official stand known to everyone.


From: Jeffrey Lim
Sent: Wednesday, 25 February, 2009 5:26 PM
To: Malcolm Loh
Subject: IPR & Copyrights

Dear Malcolm,

While we appreciate your enthusiasm in getting the Word out, we are uncomfortable with you sharing MP3s via email or via your blog. This is no different from file sharing on the Internet and once an MP3 is transferred it is no longer an issue of lending, but a transfer of ownership. This then becomes a violation and infringement of the intellectual property that 22 Media administrates.

To make it clear, we have no issue with you lending physical resources to your friends, as long as you do not profit from it, or use our resources to raise funds for yourself or for your blog in any way.

We also agree 100% that the gospel is free. Of course it is - it is purchased by the precious blood of our Savior.

Nevertheless, to suggest that all Gospel-related resources should be free can be rather myopic.

Have you considered how much you paid for your bible, or that Christian worship CD in your car? Do you really think that all Christian bookstores that carry gospel-related resources should give out all their books, CDs, DVDs and worship CDs free of charge?

While giving all the above free is a nice concept, it does not help to build a sustainable way for Christian resources to perpetuate themselves and to reach the masses. Bible publishers would go bankrupt, and Christian bookstores would become non-existent.

In the same way, 22 Media was set up to produce and distribute high quality Jesus-­centered teaching resources like books, CDs, DVDs around the world . It is not a charity that is sustained by donations, it is financed by the sale of the resources that it distributes in both Christian and secular channels, like Borders and Times. The sales of these resources helps us to create a self-sustaining model to continue to create, produce, publish and distribute world-class resources for a worldwide audience. A worldwide production and distribution house requires substantial backend infrastructure, from inventory production, quality control, editorial work, post-production sound and video editing, warehousing, IT infrastructure, order fulfillment processes, retail distribution management, etc… the list goes on as to what is required behind the scenes to make these resources available across various distributive channels.

We are on the same side Malcolm, we are all for Jesus and for His name to be exalted. While you may not agree with our operations, we trust that you will operate your Christian blog with the utmost honor, integrity and respect for our intellectual property. People should be drawn to register as a member of your blog not because of our resources but by the sheer quality of your blog entries.

Please post this on your blog for your community to understand our stand on this matter, as well as, to understand what goes on behind the scenes in making quality resources available for the world.

Blessings,


jeffrey lim
assistant manager business development


This email contains confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not view, disseminate, use or copy this email. Kindly inform the sender and delete this email immediately. While 22 Media Pte Ltd has put in place anti-virus programmes, We do not accept responsibility for any damage that has been caused by viruses passed on unwittingly. Opinions presented in this email are solely that of the writer and do not necessarily represent those of 22 Media Pte Ltd.

PDF Downloadables on Box.net

Sunday, 22nd February 2009

Besides the JPM library catalog I blogged about yesterday, here are other stuff in PDF format that have made available on Box.net for your downloading pleasure:

(1) Write-ups on Rev Peter Koh, Rev Barnabas Chong and Ps Reuben Ng

(2) Destined to Reign - Methodist Review and Response: the book review that Rev Dr Gordon Wong, a Methodist pastor and lecturer at Trinity Theological College did, and my humble response to his review

(3) Having It All is Not Enough: Jacelyn Tay's conversion testimony as published in Impact magazine

(4) Legacy of Faith: article on the only family that has had 5 generations of worshippers in the history of Paya Lebar Methodist Church

(5) Antinomianism debate - the article "written" by Rev Peter Koh as well as Stanley's response to his article

(6) The Holidays of God - the fall feasts and spring feasts which God told the Israelites to celebrate and what they signify to us as New Covenant believers

JPM Resources Catalog Updated

Saturday, 21st February 2009

Dear ROOTSS readers

I have updated my catalog of Joseph Prince Ministries ("JPM") resources, which you can view at the following link on Box.net

http://www.box.net/shared/erv8cz7kog

For those who are new to ROOTSS, please be informed that I have the entire collection of Pastor Prince's MP3 sermons (2001-2002), CD sermons (2003 to date), CD albums, DVD albums and books. As a form of ministry, they are being made available for those in Singapore to borrow and be ministered to.

To do so, just drop me an email at mloh77@yahoo.com.sg or text me at 9029-5677.

Afternote: I got a call from someone working in 22 Media that lending these materials out constitutes a breach of Pastor Prince's intellectual property. I offered to pay $8 for every CD sermon that I lend out, but he said that this was besides the point. I am waiting for him to officially write to me on this.

Meanwhile, you can download and listen to all 42 sermons (and counting) of my own church's Ps Reuben Ng at the following link. His sermons are equally anointed. But best of all, just like the gospel, they are FREE; there are no copyright issues with them :-D

http://www.box.net/shared/uzrv6pnyo8


After-afternote: 22 Media has responded and you can read that by clicking on the link below:
http://rootss.blogspot.com/2009/02/email-from-22-media.html

God Takes Christ Seriously

Friday, 20th February 2009

Last Sunday, Rev Peter Koh preached a sermon based on Josh 7 entitled "God Takes Church Seriously". It is from that sermon title that today's blog entry entitled "God Takes Christ Seriously" is derived :-)

One of the activities that take place during cell meetings is a discussion of the sermon that was just preached. To facilitate this discussion, a handout containing a series of questions is distributed by the ushers together with the weekly bulletin. Here are the 6 questions for that particular sermon, which I have also taken the liberty to come up with the answers to.

1. Share with your group an experience when someone did something wrong but you were punished for it instead?

Back in May 08, someone vandalised my church carpark as well as the pillars of the flyover outside my church, writing words like "Peter Koh = pig". My name was given to the investigating officer and I had to go down to the police station to give a statement and give samples of my handwriting. Even though I was subsequently vindicated, no apology has been forthcoming from the one who implicated me, even till this day. But that's ok because God will make all things beautiful in His time.


2. In verse 1, why was God angry with all the Israelites (see 6:18-19)

He was angry because He had given them a command that everything belonged to Him but it was disobeyed. We have to keep in mind however that this happened during the Mosaic covenant. We are now of the New Covenant established upon Jesus' blood. In Isa 54:9, God swore that there would come a time when He would no longer be angry with us. That is because all His righteous anger and indignation against us was completely unleashed and extinguished upon the body of His dear Son on that cross 2,000 years ago.

Let us rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).


3. How did the Lord get Joshua and the Israelites back on track?

By cleansing the camp by utterly destroying Achan and everyone and everything that was of his (including his sons, daughters, oxen, donkeys and sheep -- see Josh 7:24). Remember though this happened during the Mosaic covenant, and that was God's way of getting his people back on track. For us of the New Covenant, God's way of getting us back on track was by cleansing us of all our transgressions once and for all by that perfect act of sacrifice 2,000 years ago.


4. What exactly was Achan's sin? Why do you think he did it even though he knew God's order?

Achan coveted the spoils of Jericho for himself. He did it because that is what trying to keep the law by self-efforts does to people. Paul shares about this struggle in Rom 7:15-24, wherein he did the very things he tried not to do, and vice versa. Particularly, verse 19 reads "For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want."

That is why Paul also says in 1 Cor 15:56 that the strength of sin is the law.

Paul then says in Rom 7:25 that it is Jesus Christ that set him free from that struggle. Pity that Achan lived during the Old Covenant.


5. What will happen to us when we sin and try to hide from it?

In the Old Covenant, God caused sin to come to light -- like what happened when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. In the New Covenant, this question is a moot point because Jesus has already paid the price for all our sins -- past, present and future. Through circumstances, wrongdoings may come to light (eg. Mike G of Planetshakers lying about his illness, or Rev Peter Koh plagiarising Rev Mathew's article) but if we believe that nothing catches God by surprise and that Jesus was already punished on our behalf for every single one of our sins, whether known or unknown to others because they are ultimately known to God, then we should not have a fearful expectation of bad, but rather a joyful expectation of good. And even if anything bad does happen to us, God will work all things such that they turn out good (Rom 8:28).


6. Do you think it is fair for God to punish Israel just because one person sinned? Why or why not?

Let me first answer this question with a question. Do you think it was fair for God to punish Jesus for another person (for that matter, every other person's sins)? Why or why not?

The obvious answer to both is that it is not fair, but that is what grace is all about, isn't it? It was not fair for Jesus, who had no sin, knew no sin (2 Cor 5:21) and did not sin, to be punished for our sin. In the same way, it is not fair for us, who deserved to be condemned to hell, to instead be considered sons and daughters of the Most High God. That is why in 1 Cor 1:23, Paul describes the gospel as scandalous to the Jew and moronic to the Greek because it goes against the human concept of fairness.

The parable of the workers in the vineyard is a great example of how God is unfair --- unfairly good. The one who worked since the morning got 1 day's wage, just like the guy who worked just 1 hour. He felt it was unfair but he got his full day's wage and not anything less. He got what he deserved and represents the law. The one who started working only in the eleventh hour did not complain, because he got what he did not deserved. What amazing grace our God bestows upon us. Amen?

Cleansing the Camp?

Monday, 16th February 2009

I try not to blog on weekdays, but what happened yesterday warrants that I do so.

My wife and I decided to attend NewCre because it was Miracle Seed Sunday, and we wanted to be part of the multitudes that sowed into One-North.

Back in my own church, the pastors have embarked on a sermon series on the book of Joshua. The week before, Ps Reuben preached an uplifting message on Joshua 6. Yesterday, it was Rev Peter Koh's turn to take over the pulpit and he preached on Joshua 7.

I did not listen to the sermon (and I do not intend to), but from the scripture passage, sermon title ("God takes church seriously"), the discussion questions, as well as remarks from a fellow church member who happened to be at the 11.15am service, it is obvious that the focus of the sermon was the judgement that fell upon someone from the tribe of Judah and his family members.

Yes, it is a difficult passage to preach upon, but it becomes simple if preached in the context of Jesus' finished work. The Israelites were under the Mosaic covenant, one which was based on their obedience to the Lord. If they obeyed, they were blessed. If there disobeyed, they were punished.

The difference between them back then and us here and now is what happened at Calvary 2,000 years ago. The underlying principle when referring to any passage of scripture in the Old Testament is that it must be expounded upon and filtered through the cross. Otherwise, what results is an inconsistent and confused view of our God.

In Josh 6, we read
17 "The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.
18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.
19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."

God had told the Israelites that the entire city of Jericho belonged to Him. However, we read in the next chapter that someone named Achan and his family had kept some of the spoils of that city for themselves.

The next city to be taken was Ai, but they were losing that battle because there was "sin in the camp" that first had to be dealt with. We read in Josh 7:24-25 about how the cleansing took place with Achan and his family being taken out of the camp into the valley of Achor where they were stoned and then burnt.

"Yes, God is love. But God is a God of judgement", so the law-based people would declare. "Let us take church seriously."

My humble response to that would be "Yes, let us take church seriously, but let us take the finished work of Jesus even more seriously."

Fastforward to today. Does the church of today need cleansing? Only if we think that Jesus' work on the cross is not complete. The Achan of today who is a New Covenant believer needs to know that Jesus' blood has taken away his sin. The blood of bulls and goats only covered sin for a year, but the blood of Jesus which replaced the Old Covenant, is the better covenant established on better promises and speaks better things.

The irony is that people who insist on these type of spiritual cleansing are likely to be struggling with their own right standing with the Lord. Hurt people hurt people. Sure, there may a handful of members in every congregation who may be "living in sin", but what is the solution in helping them? By preaching condemnation and God's judgement, or by unveiling Jesus to them? I used to think it was the former but having understood the divine exchange that took place at Calvary, I now know that it is the latter. Behaviour modification is only temporary. What we need is permanent heart transformation.

Yes, I agree with preachers like Rev Koh that sin has to be dealt with... and it was... by Jesus on the cross! If not, then Jesus would have died in vain. Going by his own argument that one man's sin would affect others in the church if not dealt with, then maybe he should have followed Achan's example and confessed publicly there and then over the pulpit to the entire congregation his recent sin of plagiarism. Notice also that confession of sin was not enough in Achan's case; he was taken out of the camp to be stoned and burnt. Likewise, using his interpretation of that passage, the leaders of my church should have taken him down to the basement carpark (our equivalent of the valley of Achor?) to stone him! ;-)

Speaking of which, since the next sermon is going to be on Joshua 8, I shall pre-empt Rev Tay Kay Leong and blog about that passage next. It can be tied back to the principle of the firstfruit, by the way, so stay tuned :-D

Firstfruit of the Increase

Sunday, 15th February 2009

"Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase" Prov 3:9 (KJV)

Sometime in August 2008, I shared about how I sowed bountifully into One-North. Two months later, in October 2008, I shared about how the Lord gave me the news that I would reap bountifully.

In that 2nd post, I mentioned that "I felt led by the Lord to sow the entire first month's sum back again into One-North as a firsfruit. Will share with you readers again when I sow that firstfruit back into One-North sometime in February 2009."

When I blogged about that back in October 2008, I had no inkling that 15th February 2009 would be declared another Miracle Seed Sunday! This was God's way of confirming what He placed in my heart back then. A current colleague told me about it 2 weeks ago, and so I made it a point to attend NewCre today. We had not been doing so since the start of this year, thanks to Ps Reuben preaching week-in and week-out at PLMC, either at the youth or the main service.

Anyway, I had done a Google search for the word "firstfruit" and discovered that besides tithes and offerings, there was a 3rd category of giving known as "firstfruit", viz

C. Firstfruits
The firstfruit offering is the first of any new stream of income or increase. For example, the entire first paycheck you receive on a new job after a period of unemployment is the firstfruit. Tithes are only paid on subsequent checks. If you are currently employed and receive a pay raise at your current job or by making a transition in jobs, the firstfruit is the difference between your new pay and the old. If a business owner, the firstfruit is the first profit you receive in a new business venture or from a new client or account. Note: The income source must be a new stream to qualify the first as a firstfruit. A one-time increase is not a firstfruit.

When I received news of this harvest back in October 2008, I had pledged in my heart to give that entire first sum to the Lord. Then last week, Ps Prince preach on Gen 47:23 about a fifth going back to the Lord as seed. I did a quick calculation and guess what? The amount that I intended to sow into One-North as a firstfruit offering also happens to be 20% of my January income!!! What are the odds???

My wife and I went to the 1st service at NewCre after dropping off our kids in PLMC. Usually we would be able to find seats in Eng Wah cinema, but today, it was packed full! The Rock auditorium and overflow rooms on Levels 4 and 6 also had standing room only!

When we streamed out of the service after dropping our Miracle Seed envelopes into the box, I was astounded by the crowds waiting patiently for the 2nd service to start! I

remember it was quite packed the last time we were here back in December of last year, but the crowd seems to be double than what it was before! Amazing! In other churches, the numbers would dwindle whenever a major offering was being collected. But here was the opposite. In fact, a brother sent me a message that all the ATMs in Suntec City had all run out of cash!

Thank you Lord for the privilege of sowing again into your kingdom work at One-North. Thank you Lord for the privilege to partner with Ps Joseph Prince and his other labourers in furthering the gospel of grace. May these miracle seeds which we are sowing during this time when there is famine in the land produce a bountiful harvest, to the extent that the Philistines of our day will envy us and know for themselves that you are Jerovah Jireh, our Provider! Amen?

The Lover and the Beloved

Saturday, 14th February 2009

This morning, brother Jeff Teo sent me an sms to inform me that Glenn Ong and Jamie Yeo have decided to go their separate ways. My response was one of disbelief and that it was probably a publicity stunt that Glenn was trying to pull on the radio. Jamie herself also blogged about some pretty "controversial" stuff.

They are considered a "celebrity couple" like Darren Lim and Evelyn Tan or Daniel Ong and Jaime Teo, and as a result, are under immense scrutiny by the public.

And all the more so when both of them have been seen at NewCre regularly, and with NewCre being increasingly in the limelight and scrutiny of late.

I read the article with a tinge of sadness. Surely, those who have had the benefit of feeding on the true and unadulterated Word of God should have blessed and sound marriages, no?

And then I realised that it is times like these that we should examine upon whom do we place our faith on. Jesus is our perfect example and not mortal men. Even the disciples who spent 3 years day-in day-out with Jesus failed Him, what less someone who feeds on Him just once a week.

Let us keep Glenn and Jamie in our prayers. They should not be made to feel condemned.

On this Valentine's Day, let us celebrate the greatest love of all, as typified in Song of Songs between the lover and the beloved, ie. Jesus and His bride.

I thank God also for my Prov 31 woman, whom God first brought into my life in July 1988 as my classmate in NTU, and with whom I exchanged vows four years later on 21 November 1992.

Here is the 1st ever photo that we took together 20 years ago, courtesy of fellow classmate Eik Pin. He was staying just down the road from my wife, and had invited a few of us over for Chinese New Year. Halfway, he lured us out into the backyard and took this photo of us. It was in February 1989, 5 months before we officially became a couple.

The fact that he happened to have his camera with him and no other classmate was in the photo was all planned, by the way ;-)

Also, the background may have been quite an awful sight (what with the faded wall, planks of wood and run-down pipes), but I had the photo framed nonethless because in the foreground was the most awesome sight to me.

HAPPY V-DAY DEARIE!

Before Joseph Prince was, Paul was

Friday, 13th February 2009

"Before Abraham was, I AM" (Jn 8:58)

Jesus said these words to the Jews who revered Abraham more than Him.

The title of today's post is derived from this verse.

Many people have labelled NewCre as being antinominian, ie against the Law. But consider the following passages found in the Holy Scriptures

Heb 8:7-8

7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
8For finding fault with them, He says,
“BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,
WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT
WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;

2 Cor 3:7
"...the ministry of death written and engraved on stones"

1 Cor 15:56
"...the strength of sin is the law"

Gal 4:24; 30
24These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
30But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."

Looks like the detractors should not be giving Ps Joseph Prince too much credit, because by their definition of what antinomian is, looks like the apostle Paul was the original one!

Yup, before Joseph Prince was, Paul was :-D

The Plot Thickens

Sunday, 8th February 2009

Those who follow my blog would realise that while I am a member of Paya Lebar Methodist Church ("PLMC"), I am currently on a sabbatical at New Creation Church ("NewCre") and only go back to PLMC whenever Ps Reuben preaches.

Well, my wife and I haven't stepped into the Rock since the turn of the year because Ps Reuben has been preaching week-in-week-out this year, either at the youth service (what we call The Next Generation ("TNG") or at the main adult service. [But we will attend next week's Miracle Seed Sunday so that we can sow again into One-North and see how God continues to prosper us, yes even in the time and land of famine the way he prospered Isaac.]

This morning, Ps Reuben preached yet another wonderful sermon entitled "Invading Enemy Territory" based on Joshua 6 and tears were rolling down my face throughout as my spirit man was being uplifted by the powerful message. He told us that God has already given us the victory over the Jerichos in our lives; we have to take Him at His Word and activate our faith.

You can download that sermon (and the other 40 that he has preached thus far) here. Even our TRAC President Rev Dr Wee was present this morning to be fed by him :-D

Speaking of PLMC and NewCre, looks like there are several other "inter-connections" between the two churches. I was at my company Dinner & Dance last night and one of the Sales Division Managers who went up to get an award is a guy called Ann Hock Kee. He is married to Ruth Loh, who grew up in Sunday School with me, and is the grand-daughter of the late Loh Ah Bee, a senior church leader back in the 1960s. Hock Kee and Ruth now attend NewCre. In the speech that he gave, Hock Kee gave thanks to God and also esteemed his wife.

Oh by the way, the theme for our D&D was "Party Like Da 80s" and it was great listening to the songs from that wonderful era from the likes of Depeche Mode, Wang Chung and Bananarama.

Ronald Wong came dressed as Super Mario and deservedly won the Best Dressed competition. That's me basking in some "reflected glory" off Ron :-D

If you are on Facebook, you can check out the other photos here

As I sat there eating, I was also exchanging text messages with fellow Best Christian Blog of the Year awardee Stan, who told me that his Sunday School friend is married to the brother of my ex-cell leader! What a small world.

The plot thickens because PLMC's office staff are also somehow connected to someone in NewCre...

My ex-cell leader is currently PLMC's Executive of Outreach, while his wife is the personal assistant to the TRAC President. Both of his brothers are care group leaders in NewCre.

Fellow Best Christian Blog of the Week awardee Angie has also blogged about how her new neighbour is none other than Teo Soo Hoong, who is PLMC's Director of Spiritual Formation.

Let's call for things that are not as though they are and that through this multi-prong "assault", PLMC will catch the grace message and be the next "Christ-centred antinomian" church. Amen?

Best Christian Blogs of the Year

Saturday, 7th February 2009

Besides giving weekly awards, Cyberanger also gives out yearly awards.

The award for 2007 was given to yours truly. This was really a Godsend because that was the very year in which I was told to step down from church leadership in July and my cell was also disbanded in December. The award was God's way of telling me, "Son, persecution has come because of the Word, but persevere and continue to blog for My glory." I blogged about that here.

The award for 2008 was given to Stanley Wong, the Logical Christian. Although his blog was only set up in mid-November 2008, it was given the honour because God has blessed him with the ability to bring out biblical truths from everyday life and also to put across points in a logical manner. I'm sure many out there in blogosphere has been blessed by his sharing.

Blogpastor paid him 2 surprise visits a couple of weeks ago and blogged about it. Not to be outdone, I decided to do so as well... yesterday... and am now blogging about it too.

I also presented him with a laminated poster "advertising" both our blogs. This photo was taken courtesy of my son :-D

Changing Hearts Changing Lives

Friday, 6th February 2009

Two years ago, in June 2007, my church held its 1st Ohana Camp at the Palace of the Golden Horses, Kuala Lumpur. It was the most ambitious one that has been embarked to date with a total of more than 800 participants. I blogged quite a bit about that camp and readers that are new to ROOTSS can read those posts here.

Anyways, we were supposed to get Ps Benny Ho (senior pastor of Faith Community Church in Perth, Australia) to be our keynote speaker but alas, he had a prior engagement already. In the end, we had to settle for PLMC's own senior pastor.

Well, planning for the 2nd Ohana Camp started just after the 1st one. With the adequate notice given, we have managed to get Ps Edmund Chan (senior pastor of Covenant Evangelical Free Church "CEFC") to be its keynote speaker. The theme for this Camp is "Changing Hearts Changing Lives" (hence the title of today's post) and the church has targeted 1,000 this time around to make the trip up to Marriot Putrajaya from 7 to 10 June 2009.

According to Jeff Teo, who is a member of CEFC, Ps Edmund currently preaches a mixture of law and grace. Nonetheless, let us not be discouraged but claim by faith in line with the theme of the camp, ie. changing hearts and changing lives.

The signs are already very encouraging because God is working mightily among the clergy. Jeff tells me that Ps Benny Ho caught the grace message about a year ago. I recently discovered that Blogpastor has caught it too.

And if you read this article found in sg.christianpost.com, even Rev Rick Seaward (founder of Victory Family Centre) was said to have "expressed appreciation for the ministry of New Creation Church Senior Pastor Joseph Prince" when he said "[We] need his church and message to jolt the Church that’s legalistic.”

So, let us pray in unity that between now and the time the Camp commences in Jun 09, God will cause Ps Edmund Chan's heart to be changed. Wouldn't it be wonderful that as a result of catching the grace message, he will then share the gospel in its truest and purest form, and as a result, the lives of the camp participants will be changed, and PLMC also becomes part of the grace camp?

After all, nothing is impossible with God. Amen?

Memoir of a Geylang Streetwalker

Sunday, 1st February 2009

On Thu 29 Jan 09, I became a Geylang streetwalker :-D

While most people went back to work on Wednesday (the 3rd day of CNY), I did not because I have 15 days of carried forward annual leave to clear by the end of Mar 09, and took 3 of those days this week.

Recently, I have gotten to know Rev Kenny Chee (aka Blogpastor) through blogosphere and noted that his church World Revival Prayer Fellowship is located at Guilin Building, Geylang Lor 27A. I also discovered that Impact Magazine's office is located at Geylang Centre. Blogpastor had made reference to Jacelyn Tay's testimony, which was featured in that magazine, which he blogged about here and I blogged about here.

Since I was on leave, I decided to pay a surprise visit to both places.

My wife was at work and took the BMW with her, so I had to take the bmw (bus, MRT, walk).

I took number 155 from the bus stop outside my estate, alighted at Paya Lebar MRT, took the train one station westward towards Aljunied MRT and then walked from the station towards Geylang Centre.

Oh, for the benefit of readers who are overseas, Geylang is the official red-light district in Singapore.

Although it was only about 2pm in the afternoon, there were already signs of the "night life". I suppose when the economy is not so good, streetwalkers themselves have to put in extra hours by starting work earlier...

While middle- and old-aged uncles were being solicited and accosted left, right and centre, I was somehow spared.

Maybe it was because I was wearing my "Get Connected" T-shirt (pictured on the right) and had my headphones on, listening to the music of the 1980s on my Creative Zen X-Fi MP3 player :-D

Having heard Ps Reuben preach about Rahab the harlot two weeks ago, my perspective of these ladies have somehow changed from one of "judgemental-ism" to one of compassion (like how Jesus felt when He saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd). Back to this later...

Geylang Centre is a 4-storey building located between Lorongs 15 and 17, and Impact Magazine is located at #03-04.

Upon reaching the office, I gave the sales/marketing administrator Irene 2 mandarin oranges as well a handful of copies of Moses Lim's banned by Channel U "sermon". I also told her that I wanted to surprise Blogpastor by subscribing him to the magazine and would be paying him a surprise visit shortly thereafter.

Well, it so happened that Andrew Goh, the Chief Editor of the magazine was in the office and I ended up having a nice chat with him over a cup of coffee about the current Christian scene in Singapore. Andrew worships at Riverlife Church (which was planted by Bartley Christian Centre), located in Tampines/Pasir Ris and which congregation is about 4,000 now and growing, thus surpassing that of its mother church.

Armed with the latest copy of the Impact magazine (as well as another couple of mandarin oranges, a few copies of Moses Lim's "sermon" and a HBI DVD), I then made my way to Guilin Building. World Revival Prayer Fellowship occupies 5 units in that building, and their office is at #03-15.

Alas, Blogpastor was not in the office as he had gone out to do some visitations. Patricia, the church office administrator told me that it is better to come in the mornings. She then called him on the phone and we spoke.

I told him that I had read about his visit to Stan's place of work, and I wanted to do likewise to him. We exchanged niceties and even from that short 5-minute conversation, I discovered that he has caught the grace message! (Yes people, you read it here first!)

I mentioned that I wanted to pass him the HBI DVD so that he could continue to be "brainwashed", to which he replied that he had been reading the D2RD (which I sent him about 3 months ago) and he finds absolutely no problems whatsoever with the content! Hallelujah!

This calls for a celebration. Stan, Angie, Geri, Joo, Jeff, Kev, Joshua -- free desserts at Stan's stall all round!

Anyway, since I was there already, Pat was extremely hospitable and gave me a tour of the church premises. The office is on the 3rd floor while the "sanctuary" is on the 4th. It has about 450 members and they are going to be greatly-blessed, highly-favoured and deeply-loved because their shepherd will be feeding them good, solid food.

As a parting memento, I asked Pat's permission to take a picture of the name sign in front of Blogpastor's room door (Pat was too shy to pose in front of it).

As I left his office and concluded my stint as a Geylang streetwalker (literally), I reflected upon how God has placed both Impact Magazine and World Revival Prayer Fellowship right in the heart of the red-light district so that they can make an impactful revival there in reaching out to the ladies who ply their trade there, and the uncles who patronise such services.

The harvest is indeed plentiful, so let us pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more labourers like Andrew, Irene, Kenny and Pat there. Amen?