Today, I learnt a staggering truth. The truth being that when Paul said in 1 Thess 5:9 "Be joyful always", he was saying it to a persecuted Church, a Church whose believers were undergoing tribulation and even martyrdom.
When he said to the Philippian Church in Phil 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord, always. I will say it again, Rejoice!" he was speaking to a persecuted Church too.
That makes the exhortation all the more poignant. It is not some platitude to "Rejoice" in the midst of first world problems. It's an exhortation that encourages the believer not just to hold onto God a la Job's "Though he slay me, yet I will trust in Him", but to rejoice in tribulation. It is almost other-worldly.
In the last year, I've seen so many more parallels to the persecuted Church in the world we live, as the days get darker. The Mosul Christians in Iraq for one, had to choose to recant their faith or be tortured or thrown out of their town, with nothing but the shirts on their backs.
So I was really convicted by John Piper's blogpiece on persecution. He says the believer's faith will polarise. It will draw a strong reaction - either conversion from those who see our life and are drawn to it, or revulsion by those who see it and hate us for it.
He says if we haven't drawn that reaction, it is that we are keeping our light under a bushel. "You are keeping the stumbling block of the cross well concealed (Gal 5:11, 6:12-13)."
"You don't let your distinctive values show." But he does go on to say "Neither persecution nor conversion will always happen immediately. In fact, many people are torn inside themselves, partly hating the claims of Christianity in your life, partly attracted by them."
"So we should all examine ourselves to see if we are playing a kind of cowardly Christian incognito. And if so, we should repent and resolve to be more sincere in the expression of who we really are. But we must not assume that, because there is no persecution right now and no conversion right now, the fault must lie with us. The gestation period for new birth may be nearing a happy end. Or the storm may be ready to break against you."
Either way, why can we rejoice?
Because as he reminds us in the Beautitudes, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And then "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
For a long time, in the Western world, and Westernised societies, it may have been popular to be a Christian. As we draw nearer to the End Times, I believe the body of Christ will parallel more and more the Thessalonica or Philippian Church, in that there will be increasingly more persecution. Will we be cowardly incognito Christians, hiding our light under the bushel, to avoid tribulation? Or will we be more sincere in the expression of who we really are, and pay the price as believers?
Praying for grace to be a true child of God, who will walk with the Father and our elder brother Jesus, guided and comforted by our best friend the Holy Spirit, until the end. Amen.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Singapore's prophetic destiny
Just concluded three days of the inaugural Singapore Gathering! All I can say is "Wow!" Or more accurately, my spirit says "Wow". My mind still cannot entirely fathom what happened :[ … So when a friend asked me this morning, what exactly is Singapore's prophetic destiny (or Malaysia's, or Japan's for that matter), it really was a good question. For during the Gathering, we prayed for the nations that we would fulfill God's purposes for us.
In all, 24 nations came this year to stand with Singapore, to seek God's face, and to release us to all that is on God's heart for us. During the meeting, we met a Danish young lady, who shared why she came. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband, and their mission is to Danish Jews in Israel. Given the size of their ministry, money is tight for them. If God released the finances, she had intended initially to go for the upcoming Global Gathering in Munich, Germany, because it is nearer to Israel geographically. But then she saw the livestream of Singaporeans on our faces, weeping before the Lord, at the recent Asia Gathering in Hong Kong, and felt that she had to come to Singapore to stand with us. She told her husband about the prompting, and in the end, God released finances just for her to come. So here she was!
Now, I had just chanced upon GoldBell Mansion at Pender Road on Mount Faber a few weeks ago, while searching out the places where Sun Yat Sen stepped foot on when he was here in Singapore between 1900 and 1911. The house used to be owned by Tan Boon Liat, and Sun Yat Sen stayed in it while he was here in Singapore in 1911. Today, the premises is used by the Danish Seaman's Church! I asked them if non-Danish can attend Sunday service, they said, sure! Except that service is in Danish, so language might be a problem! But I was excited to learn about the presence of a Danish community of believers here. So when I met this Danish girl, who exercised faith and obedience to come pray with Singaporeans at our Singapore Gathering, it was very moving. We are really an international city, and the nations make their home with us. So how are we blessing them?
But I digress. Back to the question of Singapore's prophetic destiny. Having attended a number of gatherings since 2010, and hearing David Damien share, these are the little pieces I've gotten:
1. Since the time of the early church, the Gospel has spread, first to Europe, then to US, and now to Asia. It has gone Westwards, and Peter Tsukahira in his book "God's tsunami" explains the path the Gospel took very well. The final lap is to bring the Gospel back to Jerusalem, and we are hearing increasingly that Asia will lead that charge. We are likened to the arrowhead that will make this Westwards push.
2. When Japan is aligned to God, the clash of the kingdoms will start. David Damien believes this happened last year with the first Japan Gathering. Japan holds the key to God's timing.
3. China holds the key to the strength of the End-Time army. The awakening of the Chinese Church is a mighty force in the kingdom of God. And they are a people who have been persecuted so much for their faith in years past, they don't fear persecution or death, which must be the price they are willing to pay if they are to evangelise the Middle East enroute to Israel.
4. The spiritual destinies of Singapore and Malaysia are intertwined. One is a lock and the other is a key. Yesterday, at the Gathering, I heard for the first time that Singapore is called to be an instrument to the sons of Isaac, and Malaysia to the sons of Ishmael. This was shared by Bishop Moses, and to catch his sharing, click here [Go to the 2 hr 2 min mark of the Wednesday 16/9 afternoon session, to watch this very meaningful portion].
5. Singapore is also called to be the Antioch of Asia, and to be a blessing to the nations. I think financing the End-Time work will be one of the practical ways of doing so… Exercising generosity. When I was in Peter Tsukahira's Mt Carmel school some years back, twice, we heard that Singapore had financed a work. The first was to an African couple who was in my school; their trip had been financed by a Singaporean. The second time was when we visited a Palestinian church in Israel. The pastor shared that he built his church on faith, because God told him to do so. He always prayed in the money. When his second installment was due, his banker called him, and asked when he was going to service the loan. He wasn't sure, since he didn't have the money. Then the next day, the banker called again and said, "Oh! Some Singaporean just wired over the money that's due, so it's all been paid for!" When I heard that story, my heart turned all warm and fuzzy. I was so proud to be Singaporean! We are called to bless the nations, and God has prospered us and turned us into a First-World nation in one generation not for ourselves, but for kingdom work!
To catch the full Singapore Gathering, it's all online here.
In all, 24 nations came this year to stand with Singapore, to seek God's face, and to release us to all that is on God's heart for us. During the meeting, we met a Danish young lady, who shared why she came. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband, and their mission is to Danish Jews in Israel. Given the size of their ministry, money is tight for them. If God released the finances, she had intended initially to go for the upcoming Global Gathering in Munich, Germany, because it is nearer to Israel geographically. But then she saw the livestream of Singaporeans on our faces, weeping before the Lord, at the recent Asia Gathering in Hong Kong, and felt that she had to come to Singapore to stand with us. She told her husband about the prompting, and in the end, God released finances just for her to come. So here she was!
Now, I had just chanced upon GoldBell Mansion at Pender Road on Mount Faber a few weeks ago, while searching out the places where Sun Yat Sen stepped foot on when he was here in Singapore between 1900 and 1911. The house used to be owned by Tan Boon Liat, and Sun Yat Sen stayed in it while he was here in Singapore in 1911. Today, the premises is used by the Danish Seaman's Church! I asked them if non-Danish can attend Sunday service, they said, sure! Except that service is in Danish, so language might be a problem! But I was excited to learn about the presence of a Danish community of believers here. So when I met this Danish girl, who exercised faith and obedience to come pray with Singaporeans at our Singapore Gathering, it was very moving. We are really an international city, and the nations make their home with us. So how are we blessing them?
But I digress. Back to the question of Singapore's prophetic destiny. Having attended a number of gatherings since 2010, and hearing David Damien share, these are the little pieces I've gotten:
1. Since the time of the early church, the Gospel has spread, first to Europe, then to US, and now to Asia. It has gone Westwards, and Peter Tsukahira in his book "God's tsunami" explains the path the Gospel took very well. The final lap is to bring the Gospel back to Jerusalem, and we are hearing increasingly that Asia will lead that charge. We are likened to the arrowhead that will make this Westwards push.
2. When Japan is aligned to God, the clash of the kingdoms will start. David Damien believes this happened last year with the first Japan Gathering. Japan holds the key to God's timing.
3. China holds the key to the strength of the End-Time army. The awakening of the Chinese Church is a mighty force in the kingdom of God. And they are a people who have been persecuted so much for their faith in years past, they don't fear persecution or death, which must be the price they are willing to pay if they are to evangelise the Middle East enroute to Israel.
4. The spiritual destinies of Singapore and Malaysia are intertwined. One is a lock and the other is a key. Yesterday, at the Gathering, I heard for the first time that Singapore is called to be an instrument to the sons of Isaac, and Malaysia to the sons of Ishmael. This was shared by Bishop Moses, and to catch his sharing, click here [Go to the 2 hr 2 min mark of the Wednesday 16/9 afternoon session, to watch this very meaningful portion].
5. Singapore is also called to be the Antioch of Asia, and to be a blessing to the nations. I think financing the End-Time work will be one of the practical ways of doing so… Exercising generosity. When I was in Peter Tsukahira's Mt Carmel school some years back, twice, we heard that Singapore had financed a work. The first was to an African couple who was in my school; their trip had been financed by a Singaporean. The second time was when we visited a Palestinian church in Israel. The pastor shared that he built his church on faith, because God told him to do so. He always prayed in the money. When his second installment was due, his banker called him, and asked when he was going to service the loan. He wasn't sure, since he didn't have the money. Then the next day, the banker called again and said, "Oh! Some Singaporean just wired over the money that's due, so it's all been paid for!" When I heard that story, my heart turned all warm and fuzzy. I was so proud to be Singaporean! We are called to bless the nations, and God has prospered us and turned us into a First-World nation in one generation not for ourselves, but for kingdom work!
To catch the full Singapore Gathering, it's all online here.
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