River of God, a river of God's grace and mercy

River - East door of Temple (coming out from entrance of temple)
(Ezek 47:1 NKJV) Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.
(Ezek 47:2 NKJV) He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.
Water to ankles
(Ezek 47:3 NKJV) And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles
River to waist.
(Ezek 47:4 NKJV) Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist.
River to submerge
(Ezek 47:5 NKJV) Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed.
(Ezek 47:6 NKJV) He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.
River to heal
(Ezek 47:7 NKJV) When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other.
(Ezek 47:8 NKJV) Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed.
River for great revival
(Ezek 47:9 NKJV) "And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.
(Ezek 47:10 NKJV) "It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.
(Ezek 47:11 NKJV) "But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
(Ezek 47:12 NKJV) "Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine."

contradictions

Maybe we bash up gays to show that we or our family members are not gay.
Therefore, the most anti-gay church would have the highest percentage
of gay religious people trying to deny that they are gays. (I could never understand why
the churches that have most gays are the most law minded ones in Queenstown)

Why did the pharisees hated Jesus so much? maybe to show that they
can make it to heaven themselves and needed no saviour. The Pharisees did not bring gays to Jesus? i wonder why? since we would have dragged a gay queen to the feet of Jesus!
Perhaps, they knew that Jesus was so full of grace and truth and that the homosexuals
did nothing wrong and that the prostitutes far easier to find. (Try to find a gay den in Singapore
in Geylang!)

Why did they bring the woman adulterous to Jesus but not the men? But Jesus knew it was a trap yet showed so much grace and mercy, when He could have defended
Himself and agree with them to stone the prostitute. But that would
have destoyed Jesus' credibility and support amongst those that
He based His ministry on.

I am afraid, what would happen if the church entered deeper into grace, we have stepped
in just, clinging still to the law, which we have to one day let go as we have a lot of work
to do - that the water may reach to our knees, then to our shoulders, and finally to swim in it.
For too much grace scares me, as it may mean a Gospel revolution and living by faith.

Crossing the line of true love

Saw some blogs discussing how difficult is it to love gays and that
the extent of love would be that of a missionary who forgave the
tribes that killed her husband missionary. The missionary was willing to give
up his life for the pagan tribes whilst we took out our sword to hunt down the gay tribe.

Those people from the grace churches really need much more grace! but
they are still much better than the 10 commandment advocates above city hall mrt
who will tie to gay tribesman to a stake.

Thinking of the sons of Zabedee asking God to pour fire upon Samaria.

Yes, it is hard to love, but i imagine it would be harder for them to love us
since we do all the burning and hating.

Jesus love is dying for us, whilst our love is to condemn, to judge, to deny justice
and basic rights in the name of Jesus. Maybe its hate instead of love. Just that we call it love to
sound christian.

We love only those we find lovable. When will we cross the line that God
has set for us before revival comes! Maybe we will be left behind until we learn how to love.

True Blibical Spirituality

In the modern church life so filled with
loud worship, agressive prayers, consumerism,
teachings on prosperity on earth,
and what you can get out of Christianity, and
action against people groups outside the walls of the church, it is
useful to remind us what is true biblical spirituality.

Perhaps, the monks of ancient orders, saw into the future, hence
withdrew to the quiet and reflective abode to be close to God,
and away from this earthly indulgences of the church life.

Jesus gave us the simple way, owned little, needed little, and demand
little but gave everything - all the time treasuring and being in active communion with His
heavenly Father. Our church services are so loud that sometimes
it blocks the silent still voice of God.

In His grace

Fallen Nature

It is quite interesting that many claim that homosexuality is of a fallen nature because to me that it inconsistent, illogical and guilty by association. Therefore homosexuality
becomes a sin because of OUR associations with other forms of sins we deemed as fallen nature even though there is nothing linking them but only our associations. If homosexuality is
of a fallen nature, then

a) It should be specifically stated in the bible as such

b) Or, we in the same type as those the bible states as the result of the fall of Adam,
(pain at child birth, having to toil for work, death at 120)

c) Or, be the result of the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
(law consciousness, self righteousness).

However, since our own heterosexuality or sexuality or sex we deemed as not of a fallen nature by itself, other motives comes in. eg it is because of the fallen nature, that the religious have an issue with gays.

One can be a fundamentalist - but on what basis - it is loving God, and loving others, loving the word of God, and believing it is God inspired revealing Christ within, our hope of Glory. True Christian fundamentalism demands that we do very little condemnation because the fundamentals of Christianity are

Grace NOT judgement

Mercy NOT revenge

Love NOT hatred

By yea Holy, for I am Holy says the Lord. We become unholy when our hands are raised against the weak and the outcasts of society who cannot defend for themselves, and whom the majority despised and rejected because they wear shades of pink and purple.

The safety net of Consistent Logic

It was reproted that during the Afgan war, when the Russians invaded Afganistan, there was strong support from Cuba and Iran. When told that if the same logic applies, then America could also invade Cuba!. The Cubans were very angry at the comparison but the logic could not be denied, and surpasses the cultural, and religious barriers,

Thinking about homosexuality - if the church says that it is a sin against the Jewish laws, then aren't we also sinning by not adhering to the other laws therein. For example, working on Sunday would be a sin. If it was so great a sin, why was it not in the 10 commandments?

The law also applies to actions with no mitigation of the context or the motives. ie it is a sin because it involves the same sex even though the motivation may be religious in nature done by straight men. If it applies unilaterry then the church must also stone and put to death the divorsee, and the women who does not cover their head at church.

Many Christians are extremely mad because the logic could not be denied (therefore red herrings such as pro-family, and defence of marriage is used). Instead of being mad, we should be humble and a contrite heart that we may be blameless before God and men and our actions be with much grace lest we ourselves come under judgement.

How come Law based christians are after gays?

Realised that they have not got much choice.
Once, they have made the decision long time ago, that
homosexuality was a sin as per the law, and started on a road to condemn and
persecute gays, you can't turn back even if there is very strong doubt
on the bible interpretation in this dispensation of grace.

So they start covering up, making stories of a gay aggenda,
and I think really believed in it themselves. More stories
are made up about gays destroying families and against marriage.
We are pictured as the protectors of the family.

The road is too far down because any admission to being
wrong on this issue, is admitting to coming under
judgement by God under the law.

That is why Grace is the power to change from our sinful ways,
because it offers forgiveness, yesterday, today and tommorow.
The law of judgement binds you in, and convicts you of sin,
rather than liberate us.

Grace - we have never been that far before

We live in the difference phases of the move of God. In 1517,
it was the Salvation by Faith alone, in 1904, the Azuza Street revival,
where the Holy Spirit fell on people, and now from the year 2000, we see a move of
the supremacy of grace versus law. All this are nothing new, we see it in the Gospels and
the book of Acts:-

Jesus Death - Salvaton by Faith

Holy Spirit at the Upper room - Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Extending grace to gentiles - Peter ministry to Cornelius

These are waves and phases of the move of God. Some churches are left
behind - eg many still do not believe in the speaking of tongues,
for some salvation is through outher intermediaries such as the saints,
and for others we are still very much bound by the Jewish Law. Churches
are formed because the existing structure, the wine skin, could not
hold the new wine, or the new move of God.

What we are seeing in Churches such as New Creation, is
like the Church in Antioch, which was a mixed church, where
they had gentiles, and God fearers, and begin to battle against the
judaist who insisted that Christians must also abide by the Jewish laws.
The 1st, 2nd and third missionarry trips of Paul was
plagued by Judaist who raised up a mob to cause problem. Paul
ministered primarily to the synagogues where the Jews and the gentile God fearers
would meet. It's all a repeat show. Therefore, Pastor Joseph Prince
is very much like a modern day St. Paul (with hair).

What we are seeing now is a move of God that was very troubling even
to the early church, that is the ministry of St. Phillip to Samaria, and the Eunuch,
for it breaks not only the gentile barrier of language, custom, and tradition,
but challenges the class structure, and discrimination of modern society,
just like Jesus making a clear statement when He chose to based
His ministry on the outcasts. He could have set up in the powers to be, in the
spheres of political, business, and religious spaces, but he chosed the least.

Whilst we desire to transform the Kingdoms of this World, to the Kingdom of God,
in Transformation 2009, Jesus only set up camp in the most despised part of town.
Much like setting up base camp, next to a gay bar and sauna.

There is a new move of God, a new move of grace, that extends even beyond the roman gentiles,
but specifically to the Samaritans and the Eunuch - to the GLBT community. The whole cycle
now repeats its self again, from the micro events happening in Judea and Turkey, now happening at a macro scale world wide.

God's grace is really amazing.

What I would like to see at New Creation Church

1) Grace to give - Great to receive grace, but grace is truly shown when we give grace, for example the servant in the bible who showed very little grace, even when he himself was given extraordinary grace.

For example, a transexual visiting a church - do we shake the hands with two fingers only, lest we catch some diseases? or put them aside somewhere behind the congregation - in the last row - a position of dishonor and start to talk about them.

We see two lesbians - do we ask them aside, usher them to the counselling area. We may feel naturally uncomfortable and pastoral, but grace calls us to respond differently.

Jesus did not minister to the rich, the powerful, and the religious and rarely ministered to the Gentiles (like us), but finds His abode amongst the poor and the outcasts whom society and whom the majority has given little grace. It examplifies, that the grace of God extends to people groups that are despised even within the people of the same culture, tradition, language and religion. It starts with a Spirit to show grace.

2) Grace to fear God - Although God may forgive us in heaven. some actions have great impact when it involves injustice, the strong against the weak, and blood shed. We may think it is norm according to our tradition and biblical interpretation, but we may unknowingly be sinning - not just any sin - but sin against people groups who can speak out and cry to God for justice. When blood is shed, their blood cries out to God, day and night.

- Sodom, and Gomorrah - Strong Cities that abused the weaker nations around them - the strong abusing and raped the weak and put them into slavery - even the men were raped to destroy their dignity. God hears the cry of the innocent and where blood is shed.

- Israel/ Judah - Isaiah spoke of the religious persecuting the weak and the poor in their midst, using their majority strenght to violate their rights causing great injustice. Even though they had the temple sacrifices, and prayed in their temples, there is that spiritual hindrance to getting our prayers answered because of cries against us.

I am reminded of "Prayers for Bobby" and other gay men who died whose death is substantially caused by the condemnation of conservative christians. We may feel uncomfortable with gays and justify ourselves that the bible condemns homosexuality, but grace does not necesarrily save us if we were wrong. There is a need for a grace to fear God, always vary that we may be wrong especially fueled by the Law, religion, and tradition because it blinds us from interpreting the bible without bias and the end comes to justify the means. If we were extreme on anything, let it be being generous on showing grace, and giving people reasonable doubt for we ourselves are under such great a grace in Christ Jesus.

Obsession of the majority with naked women

Whilst the religious is seen to concentrate on men having the same sex orientation,
and assigning bible versus against sexual immorality as referring to them, could it be
that cities such as Jerusalem, Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome in the bible, were known for female
prostitution rather than anything to do with Homosexuals! which was
something exortic and a small minority then as today.

The conservative majority has never been conservative....... as we can see in the semi-nude
photos of Miss California who has marketed the aspect of her conservative faith.

It is no wonder that St Paul insisted that man should have at most one wife, and if
possible not to marry, but alas the obsession with sex would be too hard to bear especially
in the sexually charged environment of Corinth with its worship of the female goddesses.

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Obsession with Naked Women Dates Back 35,000 Years, Lifescience, 13 May 2009

If human culture seems obsessed with sex lately, it's nothing new. Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known artistic representation of a woman - a carved ivory statue of a naked female, dating from 35,000 years ago.
The figurine, unearthed in September 2008 in Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany, may be the oldest known example of figurative art, meaning art that is supposed to represent and resemble a real person, animal or object. The discovery could help scientists understand the origins of art and the advent of symbolic thinking, including complicated language.
"If there's one conclusion you want to draw from this, it's that an obsession with sex goes back at least 35,000 years," University of Cambridge anthropologist Paul Mellars told LiveScience. He was not involved in the new finding. "But if humans hadn't been largely obsessed with sex they wouldn't have survived for the first 2 million years. None of this is at all surprising."

The statue is notable not just for its symbolism, but for its style - particularly its sexuality.
"The figure is explicitly - and blatantly - that of a woman, with an exaggeration of sexual characteristics (large, projecting breasts, a greatly enlarged and explicit vulva, and bloated belly and thighs) that by twenty-first-century standards could be seen as bordering on the pornographic," Mellars wrote in a commentary essay in Nature.
Scientists guess that it may have represented female fertility, or been related to shamanistic rituals and beliefs.

Separation of State and Religion - a call to Holiness

(1 Pet 1:15 KJV) But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
(1 Pet 1:16 KJV) Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Jesus was well disliked by the businesses, and the Political Powers, and the religious groups, and ministered to a narrow range of the population. It was not a common mainstream ministry but ministered to those that nobody bothered, those on the fringes.

There was a distinctive separation of the Kingdom of God, which is said not to be the Kingdom of this world ie the plillars of Family, Religion, Business, Education, Authorities, Arts andMedia. The most pertinent point came when Jesus' mother came to seek after Him, and Jesus redefined family as His disciples and followers as equally His family. The Authroties - Herod and Gang, tried to kill Him since young. The Law based Religion tried to silence Him, and to say that He did not follow the Jewish laws. The Media turned against Him after being controlled by the religious authorities and they begin to potray Jesus as the cause of all their sufferings,

Jesus emphasised that His Kingdom, is not of the Kingdom of this world. He did not mixed the secular, with the Holy. He deliberately did not have a roof over His head, or a big auditorium, He had nothing because He did not want to be mixed with the Kingdoms of this World. For example, the Cathedrals in the medieval times were so expansive that they started to offer indulgences!.

So mixing the Kingdom of God, with the kingdoms of this World have taken away its Holiness. When there is call for Holiness, living a life of frugality and very few pocessions. And people came, because of Love, acceptance, and power evangelism. People flocked to see the dead rises, those with incurable diseases healed. Those despised as uncleaned by religion was accepted by Jesus. He touched them, when everyone especially the clergy stayed a mile away.

When we mixed the State and Religion, we ended up mixing the Holy and the common, we mixed the Outer Courts and the Market Place with the Holy of Holies. With mixed Law with Grace. At the end, people see religion instead of relationship with God.

Yes, the air conditioning, the audio system, the large auditorium ministering to thousands are important, but what is much more important is the presence and move of the Holy Spirit for Jesus ministered to outdoors without all that we have.

There is a call to return to Holiness, a separation of our lives, that we can listen, see, and touch God, and see Christ, the Hope of Glory.

Remaining In Conversation

I realised that people changed but do not change much unless there is an open heart coupled by a deep spiritual revelation by the Holy Spirit.

I have a colleague and friend, a very wonderful Christian, who did his best at his work, but due to fear almost freezes at work when faced with any small challenge, difficulty or something new or even minutely threatening. Thus he lived in a big closet ignoring the client's complaints and thinks he is doing well despite several incidents. It is easy to live without tackling our fears or problems and once we start to run away, we start running away from life itself amd live in a delusional world where everything is allright. Truth cannot be known by mere conversation. It must come from a heart of repentance and recognition of the issue.

In Acts, when Peter opened his ministry to Cornelius, it was the Holy Spirit that revealed that Gentiles were cleaned though by defnition against the law - to both Peter and Cornelius. It must be a revelation to both parties before a conversation takes place to seal the matter, when Peter saw them being baptised by the Holy Spirit, the very same upper room experienced which has set their own faith on fire for God.

I realised that in the areas of GLBT, it is useless to have a conversation with the Christian Church because their hardened hearts and pre-conceived ideas will not change even though the biblical interpretation is clear. If one interprets the bible as anti-gay, he must also consistently deny the work of grace in Christ Jesus. The boundaries of our revelation on the grace of God, is set by the boundaries of whether grace is sufficient to extend to the Gentiles first, and then the extent of Grace to the Eunuch, the natural Eunuchs whom the Jewish themselves knew well are born like that without being naturally inclined for women.

Therefore, when Phillip who himself was a gentile, spoke to the Eunuch whom after being rejected by the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, was on his way back to Ethiopia, it was breaking the law, but also extending the grace of God to the Eunuchs as was prophesised by isaiah, the very book that the Eunuch was coincidentaly reading aloud when Phillip passed by. The Eunuch went on to minister to the whole of Ethiopia.

Therefore, conversion can only be meaningful where both parties are being led by the Holy Spirit. There is few precedence in the bible, for the lesser to be in conversation with the greater ie Cornelius, a God fearer did not insist that he was right or clean to Peter on account of the cross. Nor was the Eunuch expected to take the initiative to talk to Phillip. Conversation is useless unless the Spirit of God breaks the hardened heart especially in areas of certain religious dogma hardened by centuries of traditions. It is not the responsibility of the oppressed to educate the oppressor. It is by God's grace, we have voices urging constraint.

In summary, remaining in conversations are useless, to change people from believing that the GLBT population is not intrinsically unclean for they first must have the revelation that what is made clean by the grace of God is cleaned indeed. When Paul opened his tirade against the Judaist in Rome, it was that conversation stopped long ago, as he did try to talk to them in all the missionary trips but now opened with a strong condemnation. How we missed the entire argument by seeing it as a statement against homosexuals I can only wonder in our delusion and almost fear to face the truth lest our blibical interpretation and our bible be deconstructed. But we need to let the Spirit of God work in us in areas we fear most, that revival breakthough will come.

In His grace.

Miss California

Miss California Carrie Prejean who because of her Christian faith, ie biblical interpretation of the jewish legal codes, is against gay marriage. It seems that those who judged, may be judged themselves in the same manner. She was found to be in breached of contract, with semi naked photos. There is a call for consistent biblical interpretation. I thought women supposed to have their hair covered and dress with modesty according to the Pauline teachings!

Spaces for the Grace of God

Spaces for the grace of God...

"Two days before he voted to approve same-sex marriage, Larry Sirois stood and faced the congregation in his small Maine church. Word had gotten out that he was planning to vote yes, and Sirois, a retired math teacher, self-described born-again Christian, and state legislator from tiny Turner, was feeling the heat. He had already spoken to his pastor and offered to resign as deacon. Now he rose on May 3 to offer the church an explanation. "I knew probably 90 percent of them didn't agree with me, and I knew they were going to be upset with me," said Sirois, 62, who struggled with his decision. "I said, 'I'm not trying to convince you of anything.' . . . I told them I was leaning toward accepting it, and that it was purely an issue of fairness, that I don't agree with the gay lifestyle, but that these people deserve the same rights." Boston Globe 11 May 2009

I met up a friend yesterday who is a transexual, who is legally female on the IC, and "she" is older than 60 years old (she had undergone a sex change operation some 30 years back). She spoke to me about her church where people shake her hand only using two fingers - lest they get infected.
She is such a wonderful person - fervent in prayer and a mighty prophet but alas in her church she is not accepted to any ministry team, only to help out in the sidelines.
The church gives her strict instructions of appropriate behaviour. For the men, she must behave as though she is a women, keeping distance apart. For the women, she must behave like a men, keeping distance apart with the appropriate language. For the toilets, the women will not share the share toilet, nether can she go to the men's toilet.
She cannot find job, for who wants a retired transexual. So she spends her time in prayer, and fasting, and amazingly God provides always in time, and she is able even to go on mission trips.
I asked her, why dont you go to New Creation Church! She did a few times, but the ushers made sure that she was set aside apart from others, and started talking about her mockingly in the background.
I cried, for I felt for her, her pain and her rejection. But I cried for the Church too.

Aware - a time to blame

The Christianpost article 07 May 2009 on the Rev Yap Kim Hao, tried
to reduce his standing by saying that he is an elder rather than an ex-bishop,
and blame him indirectly for the Aware CSE program as he was a supporter
through the Chen Su Lan trust.

http://sg.christianpost.com/dbase.php?cat=church&id=2226

Tired of such Christians. Why can't they live and let live? and worship God
and not spend time chasing endless rainbows. I hope that we can live a life directed
by God, and delight in following Christ' way, our Saviour. Even when we do err, He will bring us up again. Time for us to delight in the Lord and not to finger point.

(Psa 37:23,24 NKJV) The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand.

Aware - a sad saga

The Aware saga has made me sad - that
we should have shown God's love and mercy
in a good spirit.

Are we too obsessed with Homosexuality
when the verses in context talks more
abour religious faith and actions in view
of pagan worship practices.

Perhaps God will bring good from darkness,
and hope of reconciliation.

Be Ye Holy for the Lord our God is Holy