I saw a copy of the latest Foreign Affairs at Kinokuniya yesterday, whilst I was there to pick up some books by Joel Rosenberg and Michael Oren ... the former writes about Israel and the Mid-East conflict from a Christian perspective ... As for Oren, his book "Power, Faith and Fantasy" was recommended as a good primer on US foreign policy viz Israel since times past. (All the books are extremely thick! I hope to get down to them!)
Incidentally, Foreign Affairs is also completely online... and I got sidetracked with a piece in the magazine titled "Is Turkey leaving the West?"
Singaporeans can hardly be called parochial. Because we live in a small, open economy, I think we're pretty well-read about international affairs. But following my recent Israel trip, I guess my reading has now been extended to Mid-East affairs, and not just what's happening in Asia, Europe & the US.
This article in Foreign Affairs was interesting to me. I didn't know that in the past, Turkey and Israel were allies... that in 1998, Turkish newspapers wrote headlines championing the Turkish-Israeli alliance: "We will say 'shalom' to the Israelis on the Golan Heights," one read. I didn't know that the tide has been turning since the ruling Turkish party came into power.
According to an article by Soner Cagaptay in The Washington Post in February 2009:
"For years, Turkey has had normal relations with Israel, including strong military, tourist, and cultural and commercial ties. The Turks did not emphasize religion or ideology in their relationship with the Jewish state, so Israelis felt comfortable visiting, doing business and vacationing in Turkey. But (Turkish Prime Minister) Erdogan's recent anti-Israeli statements - he even suggested that God would punish Israel - have made normal relations a thing of the past. On Jan. 4, 200,000 Turks turned out in freezing rain in Istanbul to wish death to Israel; on Jan. 7, an Israeli girls' volleyball team was attacked by a Turkish audience chanting, "Muslim policemen, bring us the Jews, so we can slaughter them."
Anti-Semitism is not hard-wired into Turkish society - rather its seeds are being spread by the political leadership. Erdogan has pumped up such sentiments by suggesting Jewish culpability for the conflict in Gaza and alleging that Jewish-controlled media outlets were misrepresenting the facts. Moreover, on Jan. 6, while demanding remorse for Israel's Gaza operations, Erdogan said to Turkish Jews, "Did we not accept you in the Ottoman Empire?" Turkey's tiny, well-integrated Jewish community is being threatened: Jewish businesses are being boycotted, and instances of violence have been reported. These are shameful developments in a land that has provided a home for Jews since 1492, when the Ottomans opened their arms to Jewish people fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. The Ottoman sultans must be spinning in their graves."
This shift in sentiment towards Israel by a long-time ally is interesting to note. Coming back from Israel, touring the Yad Veshem, and hearing about re-emerging anti-Semitism in Europe - this latest article in Foreign Affairs is sobering. We need to pray for the hearts of the Turks and the Israelis to be re-knitted back to one another! It is sad when friends turn their backs on one another. It's also a sobering reminder to an oft-asked question - at the last, which nations will stand with Israel?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Our secret history with God
From "The Elijah Legacy", a book by David Davis. I found this passage on the secret to Elijah's "divine authority" to be something we should all chew on:
"Every person has a secret history with God. No one really knows this secret life but God and that person. I believe that Elijah had been given such divine authority because of his secret, intimate life with God. He was a man of prayer, communion and dialogue with God. Every prophet is first of all an intercessor, otherwise he or she will be a false prophet. Our public ministry will only be as powerful as our private prayer life. The divine principle and standard has always been "purity before power". Character before commission. Many are powerless because they are prayerless.
Elijah prayed "earnestly" (James 5:7). He "pressed in" with burning, zealous prayer. He would not let go until he received the answer. This was key to his divine authority and power. "We have not because we ask not," Jesus said. We are to "earnestly desire the best gifts", and to "pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy" (1 Cor 14:1). We are to be zealots in prayer. The end-time Elijah company will be zealots for the cause of Jesus - salvation, not destruction - love, not hate.
Elijah lived in "the secret place". Jesus commanded us "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in the secret place will reward you openly" (Matt 6:6). The authority and anointing on Elijah was being produced in the place of secret communion with his heavenly Father. It is the place of stripping and equipping, and the place of prophetic preparation.
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalms 91:1). You can't be in someone's shadow unless you are very close to Him. Elijah accepted the divine invitation. He went and lived at the place of separation and preparation, and the Lord was faithful to His promise. Ravens brought him two meals a day for a year. His daily bread was the Word of God, as he fed on God's faithfulness and drank from the ever-flowing stream of the river of life, the Spirit of God."
"Every person has a secret history with God. No one really knows this secret life but God and that person. I believe that Elijah had been given such divine authority because of his secret, intimate life with God. He was a man of prayer, communion and dialogue with God. Every prophet is first of all an intercessor, otherwise he or she will be a false prophet. Our public ministry will only be as powerful as our private prayer life. The divine principle and standard has always been "purity before power". Character before commission. Many are powerless because they are prayerless.
Elijah prayed "earnestly" (James 5:7). He "pressed in" with burning, zealous prayer. He would not let go until he received the answer. This was key to his divine authority and power. "We have not because we ask not," Jesus said. We are to "earnestly desire the best gifts", and to "pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy" (1 Cor 14:1). We are to be zealots in prayer. The end-time Elijah company will be zealots for the cause of Jesus - salvation, not destruction - love, not hate.
Elijah lived in "the secret place". Jesus commanded us "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in the secret place will reward you openly" (Matt 6:6). The authority and anointing on Elijah was being produced in the place of secret communion with his heavenly Father. It is the place of stripping and equipping, and the place of prophetic preparation.
"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalms 91:1). You can't be in someone's shadow unless you are very close to Him. Elijah accepted the divine invitation. He went and lived at the place of separation and preparation, and the Lord was faithful to His promise. Ravens brought him two meals a day for a year. His daily bread was the Word of God, as he fed on God's faithfulness and drank from the ever-flowing stream of the river of life, the Spirit of God."
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Two wonderful worship songs
We sung these two wonderful worship songs in Cornerstone today - We Bow Down (Lenny LeBlanc) and Everlasting God (Chris Tomlin). Love both of them!
We Bow Down (Lenny LeBlanc)
Princes and paupers
Sons and daughters
Kneel at the throne of grace
Losers and winners
Saints and sinners
One day will see His face
And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
For He is the love
Unfailing love
He is the love of God
Summer and winter
The mountains and rivers
Whisper our Savior's name
Awesome and holy
A friend to the lonely
Forever His love will reign
He's the light of the world
And Lord of the cross
And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
Worship Jesus
Worship Jesus
For He is love
Unfailing love
He is the Love of God
Everlasting God
We Bow Down (Lenny LeBlanc)
Princes and paupers
Sons and daughters
Kneel at the throne of grace
Losers and winners
Saints and sinners
One day will see His face
And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
For He is the love
Unfailing love
He is the love of God
Summer and winter
The mountains and rivers
Whisper our Savior's name
Awesome and holy
A friend to the lonely
Forever His love will reign
He's the light of the world
And Lord of the cross
And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
Worship Jesus
Worship Jesus
For He is love
Unfailing love
He is the Love of God
Everlasting God
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Allenby: Greatness and humility
In Israel, the name of General Edmund Allenby was mentioned twice to us, as one individual who lived out his calling as a great warrior for God.
As the commander of the British forces, he liberated Jerusalem, capturing the Holy City on 9 December, 1917. Although a victorious, conquering general, and the master of cavalry warfare, Allenby and his men famously dismounted their horses and entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate. One version of events is that this man of God felt that if Christ Jesus his Lord entered Jerusalem on a donkey, far be it for him to do so on a horse. So he walked in on foot. This is humility worth emulating.
I like this definition by Jack Hayford on how to live out humility (esp Points 6 & 7, when we find out how great is God's special calling on each one of us):
1. Never slight anyone who cannot help you to favour someone else who can
2. Treat everyone with respect, whether you like them or not
3. Be willing to admit you need prayer
4. Try to always encourage others
5. Always forgive quickly and be hard to offend
6. Always be thankful and never really sure why God wants to use you
7. Let whatever God does for you or through you never cease to amaze you
Speaking of making a difference, the Singaporeans among us on the SOM had a warm fuzzy feeling while in Israel when we heard about the good things our fellow countrymen had done. This latest SOM school comprised about 90 of us from the nations - there were Finns, Americans, Australians, Singaporeans, New Zealanders, Canadians etc, and a couple from Ghana. And guess what? The Ghanaian couple was there on the sponsorship of an annonymous Singaporean! Whilst in Israel, we also heard from the pastor of a thriving Arab Christian congregation that a number of years ago, God called him to build a new church. The building project cost millions, and at crunch time, when he needed finances in to pay the contractors, his banker called him to say that USD 50,000 had been wired to him. And again guess what, the money had come from an annonymous Singaporean!
Wow. I was quite floored. God has blessed our little nation with prosperity for a reason, and I am soooo proud of fellow Christians in our land for blessing the nations. Go Singapore!
Prayer today: Father God, thank you that by your grace, we can be the force that changes the world. This is true wherever you have placed us - in the marketplace, in government, in the military, in education, in church, in the media, or the arts. When you enable us by your spirit to do amazing things for you, help us to be humble and never cease to marvel at what you do for us or through us. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Why Israel testifies to God's faithfulness
Many Jews today still bear the scars of the Holocaust - believing that God forsook them in those dark days. And that has been a large barrier in their coming to Yeshua, or Christ Jesus. Walking through the Yad Veshem, it is easy to see how deep the wounds are, and how much healing has to take place. But God is faithful.
My two weeks in Israel were spent with the Mt Carmel School of Ministry - a wonderful ministry by a bunch of Israeli believers (Peter Tsukahira, David Davis, etc) on what God is doing in the Holy Land. It is a vital ministry, because so few of us in the Gentile nations know the prophetic significance of what God is doing in our generation - particularly with regards to Israel.
In Ezekial 36:17-18, God prophesises that he will "disperse" and "scatter" the people of Israel throughout the lands and nations, to "judge them" for shedding blood in the land and "because they had defiled it with their idols". This was fulfilled, as we know, in the Jewish diaspora.
In verse 24, however, He promised through the prophet Ezekial that "I will take you out of the nations (plural); I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land."
The reason God said He would do this is that when the House of Israel was scattered, His holy name was profaned among the nations. But God said when He brings back His people into their land, "then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD" (Ezekial 36:23)
"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'but 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers." (Jeremiah 16:14-15)
"Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." (Isaiah 66:8)
I didn't know how staggering these verses were until it was explained to me at the School of Ministry. Then my eyes were opened. The formation of the State of Israel (following the Holocaust) on May 14, 1948, is a fulfillment of God's promises to the Jewish people in Ezekial, Jeremiah and Isaiah. Since 1948, millions of Jews (from the former Soviet Union - the north country), Africa, Europe, the US, etc, have returned to the land in one wave after another. God is restoring the glory of His great name.
Why is this significant for us believers?
Because Israel is the great prophetic event in our day. For 2,000 years, the Jewish people have wandered from nation to nation. God says that when they had no rights, no dignity, no identity, massacred, pushed from border to border, His name was profaned.
But He never forsook them. And His gathering of His people back to the land is testament to that. He is a faithful God who keeps covenant for all generations.
Our generation is a witness to these things, and to the fulfilment of one of the most prophetic events as laid down in the Bible.
We have lived to see these things. For that alone, we are highly privileged!
Let us not doubt it. No matter know the world defames or profanes His name, our God is a faithful, covenant-keeping God.
PS. The Mount Carmel School of Ministry describes itself as "an intensive two-week training course for men and women of God who are seeking a prophetic understanding of the Scriptures and an anointing from God for end-time ministry". Having attended the SOM, I highly recommend it to those wanting to understand the sign of the times, and God's calling on your life in this time and season. For more info, click here.
Holy fear for the dark days ahead
"A country is not just what it does - it is also what it tolerates." - Kurt Tucholsky, German essayist of Jewish origin
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."- Ps Martin Niemdler
Just returned from the land of Israel, where I spent two awesome weeks learning about the nation of Israel, and God's faithfulness to his covenantal people.
Whilst there, one of the places I visited was the Yad Veshem, the Holocaust museum. The Yad Veshem is really a very sobering place - and documents a very dark period in humanity. During the Holocaust, a staggering 6 million Jews died. Why? For no other reason than that they were Jews - God's prooftext. God has said He will preserve a remnant of Jews for Himself, and if they are annihilated as a people, God would be proven to be a liar. This is what the Evil One wants, and this spiritual dimension is behind the 52 genocides perpetuated against the Jewish people throughout history.
But while the Jewish slaughter is staggering, equally horrific is the small number of people who stood up as the voice of conscience during the Holocaust. And all this in Christianised Europe. While the killings were going on, the Church was largely silent. By its silence, it was complicit.
In the 1938 Évian Conference convened by then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the issue of increasing numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, only one nation out of 32 committed to take refugees. That country: the Dominican Republic. What a sad state of affairs that the world was sympathetic, but chose to turn a blind eye. Faith without works is dead.
At the Yad Veshem, a tree is planted for every single individual who is considered the "Righteous Among the Nations" - these are non-Jews who risked their lives to save the persecuted Jews. If they just saved one Jew, they would have been honoured. How many in the entire world did so? Just a paltry 18,000 (among them, Oskar Schindler and Corrie Ten Boom).
Why so few? The reasons boil down to the following: (1) Prevailing anti-semitic feeling (2) Apathy (3) Atmosphere of fear in Nazi Europe (4) Conformism.
The Gentiles who risked their lives to save the Jews did so even though there was a very real threat they would die doing so. They risked the constant fear of betrayal from their fellowmen; in Western Europe, they would have been sent to the death camps; and in Eastern Europe, they were in danger of execution.
When I reflect upon that, I dare not say that I too would be brave. That is why as the days get darker, one of my prayers is for God to give me a holy fear of Him. Fear of God, not fear of men.
"They overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." (Rev 12:11)
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."- Ps Martin Niemdler
Just returned from the land of Israel, where I spent two awesome weeks learning about the nation of Israel, and God's faithfulness to his covenantal people.
Whilst there, one of the places I visited was the Yad Veshem, the Holocaust museum. The Yad Veshem is really a very sobering place - and documents a very dark period in humanity. During the Holocaust, a staggering 6 million Jews died. Why? For no other reason than that they were Jews - God's prooftext. God has said He will preserve a remnant of Jews for Himself, and if they are annihilated as a people, God would be proven to be a liar. This is what the Evil One wants, and this spiritual dimension is behind the 52 genocides perpetuated against the Jewish people throughout history.
But while the Jewish slaughter is staggering, equally horrific is the small number of people who stood up as the voice of conscience during the Holocaust. And all this in Christianised Europe. While the killings were going on, the Church was largely silent. By its silence, it was complicit.
In the 1938 Évian Conference convened by then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the issue of increasing numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, only one nation out of 32 committed to take refugees. That country: the Dominican Republic. What a sad state of affairs that the world was sympathetic, but chose to turn a blind eye. Faith without works is dead.
At the Yad Veshem, a tree is planted for every single individual who is considered the "Righteous Among the Nations" - these are non-Jews who risked their lives to save the persecuted Jews. If they just saved one Jew, they would have been honoured. How many in the entire world did so? Just a paltry 18,000 (among them, Oskar Schindler and Corrie Ten Boom).
Why so few? The reasons boil down to the following: (1) Prevailing anti-semitic feeling (2) Apathy (3) Atmosphere of fear in Nazi Europe (4) Conformism.
The Gentiles who risked their lives to save the Jews did so even though there was a very real threat they would die doing so. They risked the constant fear of betrayal from their fellowmen; in Western Europe, they would have been sent to the death camps; and in Eastern Europe, they were in danger of execution.
When I reflect upon that, I dare not say that I too would be brave. That is why as the days get darker, one of my prayers is for God to give me a holy fear of Him. Fear of God, not fear of men.
"They overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." (Rev 12:11)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Amazing Grace - the life of William Wilberforce
I picked up a copy of the DVD "Amazing Grace" at a Gramaphone bazaar sale on Friday, and what an excellent movie it is! I am so glad I got it!
The 2006 movie is about William Wilberforce, who in his 20s, had a renewed conversion experience and came to know God. Awakened to God, he was torn between living a life as a man of God (in the Church), and staying in politics as a Parliamentarian. In politics, he would be able to champion the abolition of the slave-trade through legislation. It would be a battle that would require grand vision, moral fortitude, courage and bulldog tenacity ... In the end, Wilberforce was all of the above, and more.
This film is just soooooo inspiring, and having watched it, now ranks as one of my favourites. In one scene of the movie, Wilberforce, still unsure about his calling, is persuaded that he can be a man of God and be in the world (though not of the world). In the end, I can see how God used him greatly in politics to make the world a much better place.
God's people are called wherever they are - in church, in the marketplace, in government, in the arts, in education, in media, etc - to be the force that changes the world. Wilberforce proved just that.
Top-notch movie. Go get the DVD and watch it if you haven't!
The 2006 movie is about William Wilberforce, who in his 20s, had a renewed conversion experience and came to know God. Awakened to God, he was torn between living a life as a man of God (in the Church), and staying in politics as a Parliamentarian. In politics, he would be able to champion the abolition of the slave-trade through legislation. It would be a battle that would require grand vision, moral fortitude, courage and bulldog tenacity ... In the end, Wilberforce was all of the above, and more.
This film is just soooooo inspiring, and having watched it, now ranks as one of my favourites. In one scene of the movie, Wilberforce, still unsure about his calling, is persuaded that he can be a man of God and be in the world (though not of the world). In the end, I can see how God used him greatly in politics to make the world a much better place.
God's people are called wherever they are - in church, in the marketplace, in government, in the arts, in education, in media, etc - to be the force that changes the world. Wilberforce proved just that.
Top-notch movie. Go get the DVD and watch it if you haven't!
Knowing the intimate whisper of God
Today, I attended the 1st anniversary celebration of Covenant Vision Church. What a joyous time it was! But what struck me deeply was Ps Bruce Allen's message on what God is looking for in a people/ church of the Last Days. Preaching from the life of Samuel and Leviticus, the conclusion is that, ultimately, what God wants is a people who listen and obey the voice of God.
What is God looking for in a people/ church of the Last Days?
1. A people wholly given over to Him. Hannah, when she prayed for the baby Samuel, vowed to God that if she had a son, "then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head" (1 Samuel 1:11)
2. A people who can hear His voice. If we are to usher in the Lord of Hosts, to usher in a new move of the Spirit, we must know His heartbeat.
3. A people who will respond to the voice of God in obedience. "The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." (1 Samuel 3:19)
Ps Allen said there are 2 types of servants. The first type is a hireling - someone paid a wage for his labours, who is free to leave after his term of employment ends, who has possession of his family. Then, there is the second type of servant, a bondservant. Now, a bondservant voluntary chooses to surrender his freedom to his Master. He chooses to stay permanently with his master's household, to give up his rights to whom he will marry, and also his rights to pay. He does so out of love, and in turn, his master adopts him into his family and becomes his protector. We are all to be bondservants of the Lord.
What is interesting is that when the slave decides to be a bondservant to his master, according to Exodus 21, this is contractually sealed when the master 'bores his ear through with an awl". A gold earring is then placed in the ear of the slave.
Similarly, in Leviticus, when a person is pronounced free of leprosy, the priest ...
"shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot". (Lev 14)
Sequence of santification - ear, hand, foot. As bondservants, the first thing that needs to be sanctified is our hearing (ear), followed by our service (hand), then our walk (feet). We can have hands that work and feet that walk, but if these are not guided by God and His voice, a lot of our activity could actually be pointless. They might be a striving of the flesh, or contrary to what God wants.
Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. Ultimately, everything and everything comes down to our relationship with God.
May we all press in to know the very intimate whisper of God, because only then, will our walk and service be fruitful. Amen.
What is God looking for in a people/ church of the Last Days?
1. A people wholly given over to Him. Hannah, when she prayed for the baby Samuel, vowed to God that if she had a son, "then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head" (1 Samuel 1:11)
2. A people who can hear His voice. If we are to usher in the Lord of Hosts, to usher in a new move of the Spirit, we must know His heartbeat.
3. A people who will respond to the voice of God in obedience. "The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." (1 Samuel 3:19)
Ps Allen said there are 2 types of servants. The first type is a hireling - someone paid a wage for his labours, who is free to leave after his term of employment ends, who has possession of his family. Then, there is the second type of servant, a bondservant. Now, a bondservant voluntary chooses to surrender his freedom to his Master. He chooses to stay permanently with his master's household, to give up his rights to whom he will marry, and also his rights to pay. He does so out of love, and in turn, his master adopts him into his family and becomes his protector. We are all to be bondservants of the Lord.
What is interesting is that when the slave decides to be a bondservant to his master, according to Exodus 21, this is contractually sealed when the master 'bores his ear through with an awl". A gold earring is then placed in the ear of the slave.
Similarly, in Leviticus, when a person is pronounced free of leprosy, the priest ...
"shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot". (Lev 14)
Sequence of santification - ear, hand, foot. As bondservants, the first thing that needs to be sanctified is our hearing (ear), followed by our service (hand), then our walk (feet). We can have hands that work and feet that walk, but if these are not guided by God and His voice, a lot of our activity could actually be pointless. They might be a striving of the flesh, or contrary to what God wants.
Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. Ultimately, everything and everything comes down to our relationship with God.
May we all press in to know the very intimate whisper of God, because only then, will our walk and service be fruitful. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
