Fare Thee Well, Reverends

Sunday, 27th December 2009

Two weeks ago, I had blogged about the farewell dinner that was to be held the Reverends Peter Koh and Tay Kay Leong, and how I was the very first one to buy tickets :-)

Well, praise God, because more than 700 other members of my church turned up as well, to give them a rousing and deserving farewell.
The event started at 6pm with a sumptuous buffer spread.  We then adjourned to the church sanctuary for a time of worship and sharing.

The worship leader, Mr Eugene Cheong explained the meaning of "farewell" which comes from the old English saying "fare thee well"  or may you do well in the place where you will be going.

On behalf of my church, I want to thank them both for their serving us and bid them to fare well in their new appointments come 1 January 2010.

You can catch some glimpses of the farewell dinner on Facebook at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=132035&id=751059341&l=7b0066d5f2

Xmas Back Home

Friday, 25th December 2009

Those of you who have been following my blog will be familiar with my spiritual journey.  I grew up in a rather traditional Methodist church which used to frown upon the raising of hands and the speaking in tongues during the service.  Now, these two are part and parcel of each week's worship services, thanks in no small part to Rev Dr Wee Boon Hup, who was our pastor-in-charge for 11 1/2 years long years from 1993 to 2005.

In fact, Rev Dr Wee had embraced the word of faith movement and our church was seeing rapid growth under his leadership -- from the fourth-largest Methodist church when he joined us to the second-largest by the time he left us to take up the appointment of TRAC President.

In particular, it was Rev Dr Wee and his wife who counselled my wife and I when we were going through a difficult period in our marriage in 2002.  Mrs Wee, in particular, shared with us Prov 18:21 and Rom 4:17, about how we should speak positively about our situation -- be it our marriage, children or career.

Unfortunately after Rev Dr Wee's departure at the end of 2005, my church took on a different spiritual direction.  From the pulpit, sermon after sermon was preached about how our salvation is not assured, and there was a very strong emphasis on our performance.  I recall one particular sermon in December 2006 preached by the senior pastor, Rev Peter Koh, in which he mentioned about how companies were doing their year-end performance appraisal, and to ask ourselves how God would rate us if He were to do a spiritual appraisal on us!!! 

Well, my answer to him is that He would give us an A+ because He sees us in Christ, and Christ in us :-)

Rev Peter Koh does not agree with the grace gospel and he thinks it to be heresy.  When he found out that I had embraced it, he made me step down as treasurer and cell leader in July 2007 and disbanded my cell in December 2007.  He even went on record to "write" an article entitled "Salvation Made Easy.  A look at antinomianism" in the Beacon in January 2009 (which turned out to be written by someone else). 

I feel very sad for him because that is the way he views our God -- never satisfied with us and demanding more and more of us.  And the more he tries to emphasise the keeping of God's Laws, the more he will end up breaking them, just like how Paul struggled in Rom 7.  My prayer for him is that he will stop kicking against the goads and come to realise that the grace gospel is in fact the true gospel.  Amen?

Anyway, due to the lack of spiritual food, I took a sabbatical in August 2008, only coming back to my home church whenever Rev Reuben Ng preaches.  But thanks be to God, the sabbatical will only last 17 months and will end on 31 December 2009. 

Having to assimilate back into my own home church, I attended the Xmas service today.  Here is a paranomic photo that was taken with my Samsung Omnia 2.

HAPPY XMAS EVERYONE!!!

Be It Unto Me

Sunday, 20th December 2009

Every year, on the Sunday just around Christmastime, NewCre will hold its Christmas Day service at the Indoor Stadium.

Since Rev Reuben was not preaching back in my home church, the choice of where to go was obvious :-)

Needless to say, Ps Prince preached a most awesome message about the Christmas story and how Mary had said to the angel Gabriel, "Be it unto me according to Your Word". One word sums up that sentence, and that is the word "Amen". When we align our words in agreement with what God's Word says about us (He became poor so that we may be rich, by His stripes we are healed), miracles happen. Oh ya, here are a couple of photos I took of the stage.

Towards the end of the service, we were asked to think about 3 requests for 2010 that we want God to answer, and then Ps Prince prayed over us. And I am so looking forward to sharing on this blog how God will answer those requests, even exceedingly abundantly above and beyond what I can ask or imagine, so do stay tuned :-)

Having been spiritually fed, we decided to head towards Lau Pa Sat to be fed physically. Those of you who are of my generation will remember a fast food outlet known as Wendy's, that was operating in Far East Plaza during the 1980s. Well, they have re-opened their first outlet in the heart of the central business district, just a stone's throw from my office. In fact, you can see my office building just above the picture of Wendy in the photo on the right :-)

But what made today different from other days is that I was born exactly 42 years ago today.

And so tonight, my family had dinner at the Bukit Room in Singapore Island Country Club, ending with wonderful cheesecake. Thanks darling wifey for organising the dinner :-)

In addition to the above, I was given a pair of the latest Crocs design known as Linden (which are moccasins but without the trademark holes) from my youngest sis, a USB hub in the shape of a robot from my sweetie daughter, and a card and bookmark from my sonny boy. Thanks to all of you for your thoughtfulness.

Indeed, it was all in all a memorable day. Thank you Lord for family and loved ones. Be it unto me according to Your Word :-)

Sowing and Reaping in the New Covenant

Saturday, 19th December 2009

Every year, my church will give its members a birthday card.

For the past 3 years, the senior pastor of my church, Rev Peter Koh, will include "words of wisdom" just above his greeting.

This year, he wrote, "You will reap what you sow".

As I pondered over what he wrote, my initial reaction was not so positive because it sounded like a word of caution from Mt Sinai.

There is a verse in Hosea 8:7 that reads, "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." In fact, there was a song that UK syncpop band Ultravox made famous in the 1980s entitled "Reap the Wild Wind".

Young's Literal Translation reads, "for wind they sow and hurricanes they reap." In other words, the punishment far outweighs the crime committed.

And that was how it was like for the Israelites under the Law. It was "Do good, get good. Do bad, get bad". In fact, God even said that He would visit their iniquities to the third and fourth generations. In other words, even "innocent" children would have to pay for the crimes of their forefathers. No wonder the disciples asked Jesus in Jn 9 whether that man who was born blind was as a result of his own sin or the sin of his parents.

Well, thanks be to God that we are no longer under that performance-based Covenant. We, on this side of the cross, are now beneficiaries of the Covenant established upon the blood of the Lamb of God, a Covenant which is based on God's unmerited, undeserved, unearned favour. On the cross, Jesus took upon Himself all the curses of the Law. What we sowed in terms of sin, Jesus reaped on the cross on our behalf in terms of punishment. And because of the divine exchange, the flip side is also true! What Jesus has sown in terms of His right standing with God the Father, we now reap in terms of blessings. Hallelujah!

Coming back to the 6 pearls of wisdom from Rev Peter Koh which read, "You will reap what you sow". While this statement no longer true for us New Covenant believers in terms of bad things because Jesus took them upon His own body, it still holds true in two specific areas -- the Word of God and monetary support.

(1) The Word of God

In the New Testament, we read about the parable of the sower. The one who sows the Word of God gets to reap a harvest -- some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold and some hundredfold. The magnitude of the harvest depends on the condition of the ground -- whether it is stony or contains thorns or is fertile. This is the very reason why I have been giving away Ps Prince's books -- books so pregnant with the grace gospel -- that when sown into the lives of others, produce bountiful harvests. I have received testimony upon testimony from brothers and sisters who received these books about how the contents ministered to them and I give all glory and honour to God for the privilege of sowing into Ps Prince's ministry. May He raise even more grace preachers in the last days.

Monetary Support

Another area where sowing and reaping still holds true for the New Covenant believer is that of monetary suport. There are some people who like to quote Gal 6:7-8 which reads

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

When read out of context, this does seem to indicate that evil deeds bring about punishment from God. However, let's look at the verses preceeding and following these 2 verses so that we understand the context within which Paul was writing:

6 Let him who receives instruction in the Word [of God] share all good things with his teacher [contributing to his support]. (AMP)

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (NIV)
10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (NIV)

Would it not be strange for Paul to talk about doing good and contributing in terms of monetary support at one moment, then talk about sin and punishment at the next, only to go back to the topic of doing good again after that? Would it not make more sense for him to be talking about doing good throughout the entire chapter 6?

Anyway, verse 6 is something which I hold on to very dearly, and have therefore been sowing into One-North as well as other fruiful ministries. This principle of sowing and reaping holds very very true in my life, and for that I give all glory and praise to Jesus again. As a result of sowing bountifully, God has caused me to reap bountifully as well. You can read these testimonies at the following links:

http://rootss.blogspot.com/2008/08/sowing-bountifully.html

http://rootss.blogspot.com/2008/10/reaping-bountifully.html

And so as I read those 6 words "You will reap what you sow" again, this time through the lens of the New Covenant believer, I can respond by saying, "Hallelujah! That has happened to me already and will continue to happen to me as far as the Word of God and monetary support is concerned. Amen!"

As for the other 2 pastors, Rev Tay wished me "blessed birthday" while Rev Reuben wrote "Grace and peace to you". Amen! Charis and Irene -- even Tiger Woods should have them in his life :-)

An Open Letter to the Outgoing Senior Pastor

Sunday, 13th December 2009

I was reading the Daily Devo on 6 December and noted that the scripture verse for the day was Rom 8:28, which is one of my favourite verses and the constant rhema word for me, given what has been happening over the past 3 years.

Upon doing so, I felt the Lord prompting me to write a letter to Rev Peter Koh, the outgoing senior pastor of my church, which is reproduced below:

To: Rev Peter Koh
Date: Sunday, 6th December 2009, 9:36pm
Subject: Rom 8:28

Dear Rev Koh

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Not sure if you remember the conversation we had in your room back in July 2007, when you told me to step down as Treasurer and cell leader. I recall at the end of the discussion telling you that I hold fast to Rom 8:28.

As I look back over the past 29 months, God has indeed caused all things to work together for good. The years just get better and better.

In 2008, God gave me a new job, my son a new kidney and my wife and I a brand-new BMW.

In 2009, He has really prospered me in my career, providing me with the means to tithe up to 3 times more than last year. Just a week ago, He also allowed me to end my sabbatical from PLMC. This has truly been a dektos year whereby His free favours profusely abound!
Oh ya, Villa also won Liverpool, Chelsea and Man U. That has never happened before in my lifetime...

And I believe that 2010 is going to be even better than this year :-)

God has no favourites, so I want to encourage you to claim Rom 8:28 for yourself. Even though circumstances may not be what you would like them to be at the moment, continue to trust God that He knows the plans for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.

Do not kick against the goads any longer. The grace gospel is not heresy nor is it antinomian. Rather, it is the power of God unto the complete well-being of men. The sooner you discover this for yourself, the sooner you will be aligning yourself with all the promises God has in store for you. When that happens, I am sure He will bless and prosper your ministry in Living Hope Methodist Church beyond what you can ever ask or imagine.

In closing, please let me share with you that daily devo for today that incidentally, is on Rom 8:28. May it be a rhema word of Christ for you too :-)

Shalom
Malcolm

God Makes All Things Work Together For Good

Romans 8:28
28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

In this verse, “all things” is literally all things — the good, the bad and the ugly! Now, it does not mean that all things are from God. Some things, such as accidents, sicknesses, broken relationships and divorces are not from Him. They are from the devil or just part of the fallen world that we live in. But what this verse does tell us is that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. That is our inheritance as God’s beloved children.

Do the people of the world have this inheritance? No. When bad things happen to them, they are what they are — bad things. But when bad things happen to the children of God, it does not end there. God can make those bad things work together for good. In other words, the devil may throw lemons at you, but God can take those lemons and make refreshing lemonade for you!

For example, if you have been retrenched, believe that God, who makes all things work together for good, has a better job for you. Indeed, we have received testimonies from church members who have ended up with better jobs and higher salaries after they were retrenched.

It is important you remember that God is not behind anything bad or ugly. But when those things happen, know that He can make all things work together for good. And don’t let anyone tell you that all things will work together for good only if you love God and are called according to His purpose. These two things are not conditions but descriptions of believers. Believers are those who love God because they know that God first loved them. (1 John 4:19) And they are called according to His purpose for they have been born again and belong to Him.

My friend, because you have been born again, all things in your life will work together for good. This is your inheritance as a beloved child of God!

Thought of The Day: God is not behind anything bad or ugly. When those things happen, know that He can make all things work together for good.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version ®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
© Copyright Joseph Prince, 2009

Fare Thee Well

Saturday, 12th December 2009

There will be a farewell dinner for the outgoing pastors of our church, the Rev Peter Koh and the Rev Tay Kay Leong.

Date: Sunday, 27th December 2009
Time: 6pm to 8:30pm
Venue: PLMC Fellowship Hall

I was the first to buy tickets, 7 to be precise (hence the serial numbers C0001 to C0007). They are for my parents, my wifey, my 2 kids, my domestic helper and me.

Hope that you will buy them also, so a to give a rousing send-off to them, our dear pastors, Rev Koh and Rev Tay, who served us for 4 years and 7 years respectively and to wish them all the best in their new appointments in Living Hope and Christ Methodist.

See you there!!!

Only Jesus is Altogether Lovely

Sunday, 6th December 2009

Last Sunday, because Ps Reuben was not preaching in my own home church, my wife and I decided to go to Suntec to listen to Ps Lawrence Lim preach.

Ps Lawrence must have mentioned Jesus at least a hundred times during his sermon, and rightly so! After all, it should be all about Him and His finished work. Back in my home church, I have heard sermons whereby the name of Jesus is not even mentioned once, except when the pastor closes off his prayer after the sermon with the standard phrase, "In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen."

Anyways, the content of Ps Lawrence's sermon, which was so full of Jesus, is probably something that NewCre takes for granted. But believers in other churches need to hear such sermons and more of them, rather than being preached about an angry and demanding God, who is never ever satisfied with us. Faith comes by hearing the rhema word about Jesus Christ. Amen?

I found it extremely refreshing and nourishing to be fed the Bread of Life. Thank you, Pastor Lawrence!!!

In particular, Ps Lawrence mentioned that Jesus is "altogether lovely". Every which way you turn Him, there is beauty and excellence. Even when Jesus was in the temple overthrowing the tables of the moneychangers, there was an awesome wonder in what He did.

He said that even the nicest guys have an ugly side to them, but not Jesus.

I remember a Sunday School teacher who was the most avuncular person I have even known, even to this day. He was what one would term a "model Christian", always smiling and polite. Yet there was one occasion when he was so angry (for no apparent reason other than the boys in the class being a bit talkative) that he shouted at one of the boys to get out of the class. There was silence all around after what happened, and till this day, 31 years later, I can still recall that incident with such clarity as though it happened only yesterday.

Another case in point, is Tiger Woods. He may be the richest sportsman and be excellent in golf, his area of expertise. Yet, we read in the papers over the past few days about how he has been fooling around with other women behind his wife's back.

And this is a lesson that I myself have learnt over the past couple of years as well -- that we should not put any human or any church on a pedestal, lest he or she fails us. I have to say this extremely carefully in case I offend my newly-made friends from NewCre, but I used to think extremely highly of NewCre and thought that if I transferred over to that church, all my problems will be solved. After all, the messages preached week-in week-out are spiritually sound, and everyone in church should all be united in one spirit and purpose, all tuned into the grace frequency.

But I have since gotten to know several NewCre worshippers that made me realise that she has also got her fair share of "works-in-progress". And this is one of the factors that contributed to my decision to remaining in my own home church because there is no such thing as a perfect church.

For example, there was this ex-colleague (who has been attending NewCre since it was founded in the early 1990s) that I thought would make a good lunch/prayer partner. I was thus shocked when I learnt from other female colleagues that he had been harassing them and touching them inappropriately, even though he is a married man with two kids! It took me some time to get over my disillusionment.

Another NewCre member actually told me that since the Law does not apply anymore, it was okay for him to beat the red light or make an illegal u-turn, so long as there was no policeman around!

And then, there are another couple of them who come across as proud and arrogant, as though they are God's gift to mankind. Not much of a testimony to pre-believers, if you don't mind my saying so.

I suppose out of a membership of 23,000, a handful of such cases here and there is not too bad a statistic. I know of many other NewCre members like Douglas, Angie, Joshua, Stan, Geri, Joshen, Lip Kee, Chong Sun, Kat and Pearly (just to name but a few), who are the most wonderful people one can ever meet.

But the point I am making is this. At the end of the day, our faith should not be based on a pastor, or a person who attends a particular church. Nor should we be hero-worshipping an actor or a sportsman. Rather, our faith should be solely based on the person of Jesus Christ, and He alone deserves our praise and worship. Because only He is altogether lovely. Amen?

Healing and Discipline in the Light of Grace Gospel

Saturday, 5th December 2009

A fellow NTU graduate sent me an email about 2 weeks back asking some questions about healing and discipline in the light of the grace gospel. He has given me his permission to reproduce our email conversation here so that others can also benefit from our discussion.

From: name withheld
Subject: Healing and Discipline
To: "Malcolm Loh"
Date: Sunday, 22 November, 2009, 1:43 PM

Hi Malcolm,

I have read your testimonies as well as some of your articles in your blog. I am also a Christian raised up in a traditional background. Your sharing opens up a different perspectives and could be what you said like scales fallen off from your eyes and unveiling of the veil. As I try to understand further, may I seek your advice on a few clarifications:

a) Healing - am I right to say grace gospel strongly emphasize that Christ has already finished the work, by his stripes that he bore he has healed us from all sickness and diseases. Therefore, we just need to believe, have faith and claim it. Does that mean that Christians in NCC or who subscribe to the grace gospel will not suffer from sickness or will not die of sickness? If they do, is it due to a lack of faith or?

b) Discipline - am I right to say grace gospel emphasize on God's grace vis-a-vis parable of the prodigal son. It emphasize that God does not need to discipline us further and if we were to fall into sins and wandered away, God will patiently wait for us to come back to him, and will welcome us like the Father in the parable. Therefore, God uses a "patiently wait" approach and not discipline (as in Heb he discipline those he loves) like the traditional churches believe.

c) "Inconsistency" of God in healing/blessing - This is related to (a) in terms of healing. You mentioned "The trouble with holding on to the doctrine that sometimes God heals and sometimes He doesn't, or sometimes God blesses us and sometimes He doesn't, makes it difficult for us to know how to pray or what to ask for. Imagine if an earthly father were to behave like that. One day, when he is in a good mood, he will bring his kids out for a good meal. The next day, when he gets up on the wrong side of bed, he will beat up his kids just for the fun of it. Is our God really like that?"

I supposed the traditional churches does not mean that God is fickle minded....but rather He is sovereign and His ways are higher than our ways and there have been many godly Christians who themselves or their families have met tragedies in life due to accidents, incurable sickness, etc.....we can never comprehend why God did not heal every case. But their comfort is in maintaining the faith (like Daniel and his friends) even if God chooses not to answer (which sometime we do not know why...it may not due to sin). Dan 3 - If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

In the gospel there was also one ocassion the disciples asked Jesus why a man was born blind, the answer Jesus gave was neither he nor his parents sin, but this was so that God's name can be glorified.

Similarly in Habakkuk 3 - Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

So, is this teaching not right/accurate?

Here was my response to him...

To: name withheld
From: Malcolm Loh
Re: Healing and Discipline
Date: Tuesday, 24 November, 2009 12:51 PM

a) HEALING:

Actually one of the revelations that was recently unveiled to me is that faith is not just merely believing. There is a second element to it and that is “speaking it out”. I learnt that from Ps Charles Nieman, who was a guest speaker that NCC invited in Nov 08. His sermon was entitled "Faith = Believing and Speaking" and he quoted several portions of scripture to back that up.

You can read more about that sermon in the blog entry linked below

http://jimmytst.multiply.com/journal/item/49/Faith_is_believing_and_speaking_Sermon_notes

I suspect many word- of-faith Christians (and even those in NCC) may only have been believing in their hearts for healing, but are not speaking it out with their lips because the former is easier to carry out whereas the latter seem a bit more “far-fetched” and they have to overcome that mental barrier.

The Holy Communion is a means to keep oneself in divine health. When the Israelites departed from Egypt, every single one of them, young and old, were in perfect health because they partook of the lamb. If that was possible under the shadow, how much more for us today who have the substance. I have started to hear testimony upon testimony of God’s healing taking place in NCC. It is a progressive harvest that is being reaped.

So in essence, my answer to you is yes. Those who embrace the grace gospel ought not to suffer or die from any sickness. Rather, they should just be taken away the way Kenneth Hagin did. He was having breakfast and then he breathed his last.

b) DISCIPLINE:

My previous understanding of discipline was that of punishment. However, now that God has punished all our sin upon the body of Jesus, and Jesus declared that “it is finished!”, such punishment is not coherent with the grace gospel. The word “discipline” in the Greek means child-training. In the New Covenant, God corrects and child-trains us with His Word.

Take myself for example. I had the notion that prosperity was not for the Christian. However, as passages in His Word were being unveiled to me, I was being corrected in my thinking and now know that Christ became poor so that we can become rich (2 Cor 9:8) and that God gives us the power to get wealth (Deut 8:18)

c) APPARENT INCONSISTENCY

Don’t mind me saying this, but using the phrase “His ways are higher than our ways” is actually a cop-out when we don’t have the answers. If I tell my daughter or son “sorry, kid, my way is higher than yours” they may have no choice to accept it for now but once they grow up, they will not trust me anymore. Many Christians get bitter when told this and the more “daring” ones will give up on Him. The less “daring” will accept it reluctantly but there will be no true joy in the relationship with God.

In fact, if you look at the passage where that quote comes from (Isa 55), you realize that God is talking about Himself in a positive sense – it is an invitation to the thirsty, He talks about His word not returning to Him void but accomplishing its purposes. Yet, Christians have quote this verse in a negative sense – that God is shrouded in mystery and He can do whatever He wants with us, no questions asked. Sad to say, godly Christians may face tragedies in life because they do not know what belongs to them, what Christ’s blood has already purchased for them. They need not accept what the devil throws at them.

It is interesting that you have quoted Daniel and Habakkuk. These were men who lived during the time when the Old Covenant was still in effect. They had the mindset that God would not answer their prayers because of either their own sin or the sin of their forefathers. And God had every right to do so under that covenant, which was a performance-based one. We who are beneficiaries of the New Covenant need not see God that same way. When we look at the Sciptures this side of the cross, we see the author of Hebrews telling us to come boldly to His throne of grace, while the apostle Paul declares that all of God's promises are yes and amen.

But you are also right that God respects our choices; He will not force His blessings upon us. I remember attending this conference where a wheelchair-bound lady called Joni shared her testimony, about how she has embraced her wheelchair. I was touched and moved, and there is no doubt that God can use and is using her. Believers empathize and take pity on her. But there is no glory in her condition – a pre-believer will not be attracted to the gospel. I would rather she not embrace her wheelchair, believe in God for her complete healing and then, her testimony would achieve much more among pre-believers.