James 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”

Often we dare not question the rich man, the senior pastor of the largest mega churches. They may be God’s anointed like King David, but we are called to be Nathans that the body of Christ may not fall into disrepute and being mocked as greater sinners than the World.

In the ongoing trial of the key City Harvest leaders, It is easy to blame City Harvest for lack of integrity and dishonesty, but with the millions they had, it is easy to trust in ourselves and not in God.

We are tempted to sin, when we do not exalt the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Instead, we had believed that it is by our own means, even by our great faith that we had succeeded rather than by Jesus and His righteousness. Pride enters in and the delusion of how good we are. Continue reading →

The condemnation by some Christians against gays is typically summed up by a view that homosexuality is an abomination according to the Word of God. Despite being ordained, the bible colleges they come from would not have been particularly biblical.

Not all sins are equal. Jerusalem had pride in their over abundance, and didn’t care for justice for the weak, yet for God their greatest sin was spiritual abominations and being the harlot going after other gods and demonic beings. Because ultimately, God looks at our heart, our loyalty to Him which is the first and primary commandment.

In Eze 8:9, the Lord asked Ezekial to go in to the temple to see the wicked abominations they were doing there. But there were no gay orgies by gay people in the temple!

Instead, when Ezekiel went to the temple in Eze 8:10, he saw all the idols and abominable beasts. They were rather inclusive to accept all the gods.

What was surprising was that the 70 elders of the house of Israel were leading the worship of the idols in the temple of God itself. There was a failure in leadership to lead the people in the way of righteousness. Continue reading →

Homosexuality was still framed as a sin to be “struggled” and “not God’s intention”, and to be wrestled against with a need to be celibate by the likes of Wesley Hill, an assistant professor, in his book “‘Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality”. But the church is about 20 to 30 years behind?

Summing God’s gay agenda as an attraction to be resisted and struggled with in a supportive church community is what has led to the destruction of the faith of many innocent people. Such distorted notion of the church as “safe place” is a closet which has failed spectacularly in the ex-gay movement.

In a time where the ex-gay movement is at death kneel, the feeble attempts of compassion by the church summed up in articles such as “Focus of God’s gay agenda” in Blog Pastor is an uneasy conscience disturbing the church. Continue reading →

In Singapore today, the flashback of City Harvest Pastor Kong’s sermon that God said sorry to him for all his innocent sufferings has sparked a controversy.

Pastor Kong was telling the crowd that he was innocent, and unfairly persecuted by the dogs for the sake of the Gospel yet had to go through this suffering that the church may be glorified just as Jesus was crucified so that we might be saved.

The incident reflects the root of all the issues:

a. We believe that we are the innocent sufferer like Jesus, being of integrity and had abide with all the laws.

b. Like Jesus, even though sinless, we have to bear the sins of others and now at the Cross alone being judged but with no presence of God

c. God is saying sorry because we have to become little messiahs and sacrificed ourselves just like Jesus so that the entire church is lifted up to another level.

d. We are thrown to our enemies just like Jesus being given up to the Roman dog pack tearing him up of clothing, and dignity, until naked at the Cross.

Pastor Kong had wanted to portray the image of an innocent sufferer just like Jesus to the Australians at the Presence Conference in Sydney who may not have been aware that the strong factual evidence has been stacked against Pastor Kong that he has misappropriated at least 25 million. Continue reading →

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Mat 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Mat 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

When I was a young Christian, I had so much zeal to understand the bible that I attended three services a week at different churches. After 25 years, that zeal is no longer there even though I have much more knowledge.

Experiences and struggles have dampened the fire for the Bible which I once loved dearly. There is a call to return to studying, enjoying, resting and reflecting on the bible.

The bible is after all, the Word of God. Continue reading →

Ps 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

Pastor Khong of FCBC was the big bully this week in his sermon “God’s pattern for marriage”, calling gay rights as the onslaught of the evil one, and seeing his apostolic duty to defend Singapore. “I believe that God has awakened to face one of the greatest attacks on the family by the evil one”, said Pastor Khong.

In Matt 19:1-15, when Jesus talked about gays in the bible, in the eunuchs born as such from their mother’s womb, it was in the context of the sin of adultery that was prevailing in the straight community.

Jesus was lamenting on the hypocrisy of the religious straight pharisees who were divorcing their wives once they looked ugly, but then insisted that the letter of the law be complied with by the general population.

For these religious leaders of faith, bible believing and honoring, Jesus then applied a higher scrutiny to be judged by the spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law, ie they have already sinned when they lust for another woman even though still in marriage.

It is of course partially true that the evil one is using gays to “attack the family”. There is so much self righteousness within the leaders of faith, that when they see the gay community even though small and minding their own, the sin arises within these pastors to condemn gays even though marriage breakdown and abortions in the straight community is the issue.

It is the evil one whispering in the ears of the pastors to tempt them to condemn gays.

Why is temptation so effective? because there is sin within the church? there is sin within with a child born out of wedlock, a child growing up in their midst reminding them of sin. We have to cover up the straight heterosexual sin. What best, but to condemn gays, to wash our sins and placed it on the head of the gentle lambs.

It is straight divorces, adultery, and killing children in abortion by the straight community that is an attack on the family.

The answer to Pastor Khong came not from any ordained pastor matching his stature but in a young teen of 12, in Theo Chen’s YouTube message that it is not OK to bully gays. Bullying gays doesn’t make a person any more straight. Condemning gays doesn’t make the church/community less sinless.

Rather than listening to the whispering of the evil one about gays, why don’t we listen to Jesus, the start and finisher of our faith.

How did Jesus defined his family? It was not one man and one woman. When His mum visited to bring Him back home, Jesus answered

John 12: 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” 48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

For those who have no family, for the little children thrown out into the streets by their parents because they were gay, Jesus is our family when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

In John 8:6, When the Pharisees brought the prostitute to Jesus, He gently said go and sin no more, with no condemnation. But the people of faith, the religious pharisees, left condemned, and not forgiven in their hypocrisy and self righteousness.

When we throw stones to kill others, our own sins are left unforgiven.

For the religious Pharisees, Jesus wrote on the rock/stone, their due condemnation according to the law. For the prostitute, Jesus spoke love, and forgiveness and grace and touched her. How much more will Jesus defend the innocent, the gay community.

Gays are not prostitutes, they are the little children of Matt 19:11-15, innocent yet not allowed to see Jesus. Jesus spoke in Mat 19:12 “…. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.” for it is something that gays have to accept in their lives of their same sex orientation.

It is forgiveness that we seek from Jesus, being forgiven by Him at the Cross. Religion/faith seeks to judge and condemn by the throwing rocks of religious laws, but Jesus Christ gave the bread of grace, mercy and love.

We throw so many rocks at the innocent, and killed many, and they will be waiting in the courts of law in the land, and in heaven, with their cameras to take pictures of us when one day we too will be judged.

Out of the mouth of babes, wisdom and a word in season is given to the church because they could no longer hear in the midst of their loud applause for Pastor Khong of FCBC/Love Singapore in their tens of thousands.

We are all sinners saved by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Ex 22: 21 “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

In the aftermath of the May 1 protest in Singapore at Hong Lim Park against the increasing number of foreigners in Singapore, there is talk of restricting foreign intake and reserving jobs for Singaporeans. This is a fearful and emotional response to a changing world, yet understandable.

It is easy to blame others. Often we are at fault, for aren’t we taking away jobs from Singapore when we consume foreign made products (foodstuffs, phone, car, electrical goods, clothing, TV, refrigerator, handbags, cosmetics). The buses, trains, and construction companies that built our train stations are all foreign.

With manufacturing industry being taken away to lower cost countries, all that is left is to be in the trading business as a port city, a tourist place of hotels, shopping centers, exitement and fun, and a financial centre. Continue reading →

In this season where decriminalization of homosexuality is a hot topic in Singapore, we should be reminded that grace is the Gospel. It was not a Gospel of condemnation but of grace (John 3:18).

Many churches raged about the morality in the “sin of homosexuality” in Singapore as a nation, but what about the sin of violating the first commandment of worshipping other gods. Jesus condemns humanity for only one sin, the sin of unbelief (John 3:18).

The Gospel of the Kingdom (Mat 9:35) has come through God’s grace. For hitherto it was a struggle of religious works, but now Jesus the Messiah (Mark 1:1) became the bridge that through our faith in His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, we will cross that narrow bridge (Mat 7:14)into the Kingdom of God. The price was paid in full. Continue reading →

Ps 90:10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Gen 6:3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

During prayer, I was reminded to “number my days”. How are we to number our days, and in doing so, gain wisdom to live our lives. This is a fallen world, and our lives are limited in the number of days after the flood. But surely if we were to live till 120 years, we should still have the strenght of our youths when we are in our early forties.

When we number our days, we begin to have wisdom on how to live each day. For example, the Christian church/ Love Singapore will be more wise in the GLBT issues knowing their focus is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not take on the role of the religious pharisees and be found to be religious hypocrites. When we begin to number our days, we begin to ask whether the things we do matters eternally and brings focus in this world of materialistic aspirations, intellectual humanism and religious self righteousness. Continue reading →

Gen 28: 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

Staying at the hospital for the terminally ill to accompany my father is a challenge of faith. His Christian faith has returned after 40 years, and he now reads the bible and prays earnestly. Do you pray for Father they asked me? For my family knew I was once the most zealous Christian whilst they were more vary of the mega churches. Yet, during this period I had kept quiet about faith seeing a hopeless situation. Continue reading →